August 19, 1920I 



NATURE 



1^2^ 



eclipse of 1898, the true wave-length of the chief 

 corona line being- then determined as 53037. 

 Further knowledge was secured from the eclipses 

 of 1898, 1900, and 1905, and it was all brought 

 into relationship with the laboratory work and 

 discussions of stellar types carried on at the Solar 

 Physics Observatory. 



When the. first Solar Physics Committee was 

 appointed in 1879, reference was made to the 

 desirability of an inquiry into the possible eft'ect 

 of solar conditions on meteorological phenomena, 

 but it was not until 1898 that Sir Norman 

 Lockyer undertook, with his son, Major W.J. S. 

 Lockyer, a definite and searching inquiry into the 

 most trustworthy meteorological records, with 

 the view of discovering indications of solar influ- 

 ence on weather factors. It was established that 

 the oscillations of annual pressure in South 

 America are closelv related to those of the Indian 

 Ocean, but inverse in character, high pressure 

 years in India being represented by low pressure 

 years in Cordoba. This " see-saw " phenomenon 

 was found to hold good for numerous other 

 districts, and its importance for long-period fore- 

 casting is now being recognised. Drs. Helland- 

 Hansen and Nansen refer particularly to the work 

 of Sir Norman and Major Lockyer upon this 

 subject in their valuable memoir noticed in 

 Nature of August 5, p. 715. 



A report on the work of the Solar Physics 

 Observatory during the period 1 889-1 909 was 

 issued by Sir Norman Lockyer when the Solar 

 Physics Committee was dissolved and the 

 observatory transferred to Cambridge. This 

 abrupt break in his life's work was acutely felt 

 by Sir Norman, and he never really recovered 

 from its effects, though he was as keen as ever 

 upon progress in astrophysics. What he desired 

 particularly was that the observatory should be 

 transferred to a site which would permit increased 

 opportunity for observation, and when, to his 

 great disappointment, the institution to which he 

 had devoted so many active years was summarily 

 reorganised without consideration for his interests 

 in it, and placed in a position little better than 

 that which it had long occupied under his 

 directorship, his hope for the development of 

 astrophysical researches started at the observa- 

 tory received a sudden and pathetic check. 



Obstacles were, however, always used by Sir 

 Norman Lockyer as opportunities. When ihe 

 Solar Physics Observatory was taken from South 

 Kensington to Cambridge in 1913, and his official 

 connection with the observatory ceased, he de- 

 voted himself to erecting a new observatory at 

 Salcombc Regis, Sidmouth, where he spent his 

 declining years. Later, the Hill Observatory 

 Corporation was formed to promote the develop- 

 ment of this observatory and to carry on its work 

 permanently. Sir Norman and Lady Lockyer 

 gave the site of seven and a half acres upon 

 which stand the present buildings, and there is 

 ample room for extension, while the position of 

 the observatory is as fine as could possibly be 

 desired. Thanks chiefly to Sir Norman's gifts 

 NO. 2651, VOL. 105] 



of instruments and to the generosity of Lt.-Col. 

 Frank McClean, Mr. Robert Mond, and 

 others, the observatory is already one of the 

 best equipped in the country, and it could become 

 one of the best in the world if wealthy benefactors 

 here were as much interested in ihe promotion of 

 astronomical science as they are in the United 

 States, where the most notable work is now being 

 done in astrophysics. No memorial to Sir 

 Norman Lockyer could have a more appropriate 

 object than that of providing means to increase 

 the staff and develop the work of the Hill 

 Observatory. 



Sir Norman Lockyer's archaeological observa- 

 tions are not so well known as they should be, 

 for most of them belong to the first rank. In con- 

 tinuation of his work on the astronomical uses 

 of Egyptian temples, he turned his attention to 

 some of the stone circles and other stone monu- 

 ments in this country, and he was able to establish 

 the conclusion that such monuments were built 

 to observe and mark the rising and setting of 

 the sun and other heavenly bodies at different 

 times of the year. The date of construction of 

 Stonehenge was thus found to be between about 

 1900 and 1500 B.C., and it appeared that a thou- 

 sand years before circles were built in Cornwall, 

 commencing about 2400 B.C., avenues were 

 erected in other parts of Britain. 



When president of the British Association in 

 1903-4, Sir Norman Lockyer delivered at the 

 Southport meeting a notable address on "The 

 Influence of Brain-power on History." This 

 address attracted wide attention, but the nation 

 was not then ready to learn the lesson taught by 

 it, and it has taken the greatest war of all time 

 to awaken national consciousness to its signifi- 

 cance. - A strong plea was made to prepare by 

 intellectual effort for the struggles of peace and 

 of war, and it was added : — " Such an effort 

 seems to me to be the first thing any national 

 or Imperial scientific organisation should en- 

 deavour to bring about." Sir Norman Lockyer 

 hoped that the British Association would expand 

 one of its existing functions and become the 

 active missionary body adumbrated in his address ; 

 but his appeal did not meet with the active 

 support he expected from the council, most of the 

 members of which were more interested in scien- 

 tific work itself than in national aspects of it. 

 With characteristic energy, however. Sir Norrnan 

 set himself the task of establishing an organisa- 

 tion which would bring home to all classes of the 

 community the necessity of making the scientific 

 spirit a nationaJ characteristic to inspire progress 

 and determine policy in affairs of all kinds, and 

 as a result the British Science (iuild was 

 founded in 1905. 



Throughout his career Sir Norman Lockyer's 

 public activities made contact with national life 

 at many points, and the British Science Guild 

 is an institutional representation of them which 

 remains to attain the objects at which he con- 

 sistently aimed. The purpose of the Guild is to 

 stimulate not so much the acquisition of know- 



