32 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Mar., 1934. 



Its aspect, if we venture to look at it in its entirety, is 

 vast and formidable. Not now, as in former times, with 

 a mere fragment of creation — a single star and its puny 

 client-globes, one of which happens to be the temporary 

 abode of the human race — but with the undivided, 

 abysmal cosmos, the science of origin and destiny con- 

 cerns itself. The obscure and immeasurable uncertain- 

 ties of galactic history invite, or compel attention. We 

 know just enough to whet our desire to know a great 

 deal more. The distribution of stars and nebulae is easily 

 seen to be the outcome of design. By what means, w-e 

 cannot but ask ourselves, was the design executed ? How 

 were things ordered when those means began to be em- 

 ployed ? How will they be ordered when all is done ? For 

 an ultimate condition has, presumably, not yet baen 

 reached. And if not, agencies must be at work for the 

 perfecting of the supreme purpose, which are not, 

 perhaps, too subtle for our apprehension. Meanwhile, 

 facts bearing on sidereal construction are being diligently 

 collected and sifted ; and we shall do well to suspend 

 speculation until their larger import is made known. 



The inquisitions of science do not cease here. They 

 stri\e to penetrate a deeper mystery than that of the 

 scattering in space of stars and nebulie. What are they 

 made of is the further question that presents itself. 

 What is the nature of the primal world-stuff? Whence 

 did it obtain heat ? By what means was motion im- 

 parted to it ? If it be urged that such-like topics elude 

 the grasp of finite intelligence, and belong to the secrets 

 of Creative Power, we may reply that we are not entitled, 

 nor are we able to draw an arbitrary line, and impose a 

 nc plus ultra on our thoughts. Tiie world has been, by 

 e.xpress decree, thrown wide to their excursions, and it 

 is not for us to restrict their freedom. W'e need not fear 

 getting too near the heart of the mystery ; there is no 

 terminus in the Unknown to which we can travel by 

 express: in a sense, we are always starting, and never 

 get nearer to our destination. But that is because it 

 retreats before us. We do, in truth, advance ; and as 

 we advance, the mists clear, and we see glimpses beyond 

 of imperishable order, of impenetrable splendour. Our 

 enquiries need not then be abandoned in despair at the 

 far-reaching character they have spontaneously assumed. 

 From the earliest times there has been a tendency to 

 regard varieties of matter as derivative. They have 

 been supposed to be procured, by supra-mundane agency, 

 or by the operation of inherent law, from some universal, 

 undifferentiated substance. We moderns call that sub- 

 stance " Protyle,"" and believe ourselves to be in experi- 

 mental touch with it. The implications of this view we 

 shall consider in the next chapter. 



' A term signifying " first matter," constructed from corre-pjnd- 

 ing (ireek words by Roger Bacon, and revived by Sir William 

 Crookes. 



The Conductivity of Seleniunrv. 



Mr. E. A. llopius, in an investigation recently presented to 

 the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, has made a series of 

 experiments with an apparatus constructed by Mr. M. Kohl 

 and another apparatus designed by himself on selenium sup- 

 plied by the firm of E. MerU, Darmstadt, the former apparatus 

 beinf; illuminated by a standard amy! acetate burner at dis- 

 tances ranging from 10-200 cm., and the other by a Nernst 

 lamp placed at the same distance. The measured current 

 intensity agreed fairly well with the hypothesis of a direct 

 proportionality between the increase in the conductivity of 

 selenium and the cubic root of the intensity of illumination. 



Borings on Ql Corad 

 IslacHLd. 



The Atoll of Fvinafviti. 



Xeari.v a quarter of a century ago Charles Darwin 

 penned the following words in a letter to Prof. .Alexander 

 Agassiz : " I wish that some doubly rich millionaire 

 would take it into his head to have borings made in some 

 of the Pacific and Indian atolls, and bring home cores 

 for slicing from a depth of 500 or 600 feet." The pro- 

 found interest which Darwin had himself long previously 

 aroused by his theories regarding the structure of coral 

 reefs and their mode of origin could not do otherwise 

 than henceforth make the subject an integral part of 

 geological science, and one. too, of striking significance. 

 It was, therefore, to be expected that the hopeful 

 words of the master-naturalist would ripen with time 

 to bear fruit in effort. Not, however, until 1893 did 



Sand iv/'t/i some cora/ b/ocks. 



Cora/ reefs and blocks iv/Ch 

 ■some se.nd. 



Sand ivitb some cora/ b/ocks. 



Fig. 1.— Structure of abandoned Bore.hole, Expedition i.Sc,6. 



a project for such a survey become fairly launched, and 

 then chiefly through the strenuous endeavours of Prof. 

 W. J. S"illas, F. R.S., who succeeded in at last promoting a 

 "Coral Reef Committee." Prof. T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., 

 assumed the chairmanship, and on this body several of 

 the most competent among English geologists, with 

 other authorities, consented to serve. It is unnecessary 

 to say that, whatever the latter-day millionaire may do 

 for science, none made his appearance at this initial stage. 

 The primary idea was to investigate, by means of a 

 boring, the depth and structure of an oceanic coral reef, 

 and thus make it tell its life story. Ultimately it was 

 decided to attack the problems surrounding the question 

 at Funafuti, an island in the Ellice Group in the Pacific 

 Ocean, and a comprehensive scheme for an exploring 

 Expedition was drawn up in i8g6. Professor Sollas 

 being unanimously designated as leader. Although the 

 difficulties that lay in front were by no means under- 

 rated at the commencement, yet the news of the failure 

 of the first attempt in 1896 was indeed unwelcome. 

 (I-"ig. I.) However, nothing daunted, a second Expedi- 



