September 20, 1900] 



NA TURE 



497 



In the " Outlines of the History of Ethics for English 

 Readers," Sidgwick has supplied a most useful guide to 

 the study of the subject. In the " Principles of Political 

 Economy" (ist ed., 1883; 2nd, 1887) and in "The 

 Scope and Method of Economic Science" (1885), there is 

 a return to the older English thought, but the subject is 

 treated with an acuteness and originality specially 

 characteristic of Sidgwick's intellect, which have given to 

 these works real value as contributions to economic 

 science. The third book of the principles contains the 

 "Art of Political Economy," which, together with "The 

 Elements of Politics" (ist ed., 1891 ; 2nd, 1897), 

 shows the keen interest always felt by Sidgwick in 

 political and social questions, and the practical sagacity 

 with which he handles these problems. In politics, 

 Sidgwick combined the freedom from prejudice of the 

 Radical with the caution of the Conservative. 



Perhaps the most important practical work with which 

 the name of Sidgwick has been associated is in connection 

 with the higher education of women. He was the virtual 

 founder of Newnham College, through the scheme of 

 lectures for women which he initiated in 1869, and the 

 house of residence which he started and persuaded Miss 

 Clough to take charge of in 187 1. In 1880, Mrs. Sidg- 

 wick having consented to become vice-principal of the 

 second Hall of the College just opened, they both came 

 to live there for two years ; and when, after Miss 

 Clough's death in 1892, Mrs. Sidgwick became principal 

 of the College, they made it their permanent home. 



In 1882 Sidgwick accepted the presidency of the 

 newly formed Society for Psychical Research, in the 

 subject-matter of which he had been interested for many 

 years. The spirit which has characterised the proceed- 

 ings of the Society, and the success which it has achieved, 

 have been largely due to the sobriety and wisdom of 

 Sidgwick's constant counsel and control. 



PROF. JAMES EDWARD KEELER} 



'X'HE sudden death of Prof. James E. Keeler, director 



-*■ of the Lick Observatory, which occurred at San 



Francisco on August 12, removes one who stood at the 



very forefront of astrophysical research. 



James Edward Keeler was born at La Salle, Illinois, 

 on September 8, 1857. His qualifications for scientific 

 work clearly showed themselves at the Johns Hopkins 

 University, where he took an undergraduate course, and 

 served as assistant to Prof. Hastings, with whom he 

 observed the total solar eclipse of 1878 in Colorado. 



Shortly after this he was appointed assistant at the 

 Allegheny Observatory, where he had an important part 

 in the long series of bolometric investigations carried 

 on by Prof. Langley, then director of the Observatory. 

 In July 188 1 he was a member of Prof. Langley's well- 

 known expedition to Mount Whitney, in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, where an extensive region in the extreme infra- 

 red of the solar spectrum was discovered with the bolo- 

 meter. Later he studied for two years in Berlin and 

 Heidelberg under Helmholtz and Quincke, and returned 

 to the Allegheny Observatory, where he remained 

 until appointed a member of the staff of the Lick 

 Observatory. His work on Mount Hamilton commenced 

 in 1885, and for some time he was the only astronomer at 

 the Observatory, which was still in process of construc- 

 tion. In May 1891 he was elected professor of astro- 

 physics in the Western University of Pennsylvania and 

 director of the .\llegheny Observatory. 



Keeler's work at the Lick Observatory was continued 

 in a most effective manner with the modest instrumental 

 resources at Allegheny. With a full understanding of the 

 art of making the most of his means, he took up photo- 



1 Abridged from an obitu.irj- notice contributed to Science of September 7 

 by Prof. George E. Hale. ' 



NO. 161 2, VOL. 62I 



graphy for the first time, made himself thoroughly familiar 

 with photographic processes, and then, with the aid of a 

 spectrograph whose general design has been followed in 

 the construction of the great modern spectrographs at 

 Mt. Hamilton, Potsdam, Pulkowa and Williams Bay, he 

 obtained the photographs of the spectra of red stars 

 which excited so much interest at the dedication of the 

 Yerkes Observatory. He also made an admirable series 

 of drawings of Mars, which was published in the 

 Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. 



In the spring of 1898 Keeler had practically decided to 

 accept a position on the staff of the Yerkes Observatory, 

 and would have done so had he not just then been 

 appointed director of the Lick Observatory. His recent 

 woik on Mt. Hamilton has not been confined to the 

 direction of the affairs of a great observatory. The re- 

 markable success of his experiments with the Crossley 

 reflector, of which a full account is fortunately preserved 

 in the June number of the Astrophysical Journal, has 

 impressed every one who has seen the wonderful photo- 

 graphs of nebuL-B and star clusters made with this 

 instrument. 



Of Keeler's other contributions to science two in par- 

 ticular deserve present mention : his determination with 

 the Lick telescope of the motion in the line of sight of 

 the planetary nebulae, and his demonstration of the 

 meteoric constitution of Saturn's rings. The memoir 

 which describes the first of these investigations already 

 ranks as a classic of astrophysical literature ; while the 

 spectroscopic demonstration of the meteoric constitution 

 of Saturn's rings is perhaps the most striking of the many 

 effective applications which have been made of Doppler's 

 fruitful principle. 



Much more might be said of Keeler's work, but this 

 should suffice to indicate its lasting value. It is a satis- 

 faction to add that its merit has been widely appreciated, 

 as has recently been evidenced by the award of the 

 Draper and Rumford medals. He was president of 

 the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and a councillor 

 of the Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 

 America. He was elected an Associate of the Royal 

 Astronomical Society in 1898 and a member of the 

 National Academy of Sciences at its last meeting. His 

 kindly and genial manner, combined with unusual tact 

 and rare judgment, drew to him many friends, who will 

 long mourn his loss. 



NOTES. 



The annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute was 

 opened at Paris on Tuesday with an address by the president, 

 Sir W. Roberts- Austen, K.C.B., r.R.S. It was announced 

 that Mr. Andrew Carnegie has offered to the Institute the sum 

 of 6500/. for the purpose of founding a medal and scholarship 

 to be awarded for any piece of work that may be done in any 

 works or University, and to be open to either sex. 



It is slated by the Paris correspondent of the Times that M. 

 Yersin, to whom the Academy of Moral Sciences recently 

 awarded a prize of 15,000 francs for philanthropic acts, has 

 devoted the sum to his anti-plague serum establishment at 

 Nha-trang. 



The British Medical Journal announces that the prize of 

 4000 marks voted by the Berlin Congress of Tuberculosis for 

 the best popular work on tuberculosis as a .social scourge, and 

 the means of preventing its ravages, has been awarded to Dr. 

 S. A. Knopf, of New York. The work will be published by 

 the German Central Committee. 



A TABLE of standard sizes of conductors for electric supply 

 mains has been drawn up by the Cable Makers' Association 

 and sent to electrical engineers. The table shows the nominal 



