58 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Nov. 18, 1S81. 



[26] — In liiH IiitprcBtinR article on "Illusions" in your first 

 nnmbcr, Mr. Foitor writos : — ■ 



■■ The lines A, H, C, I) of Kij». 5 npponr to be curved so as to be 

 noiirer lit the niiiltlle llinn at either end ; while tlie lines K, F, G, II, 

 in the snmo lijoire, a|i|ienr to be so curved n« to be forthor npiirt in 

 the middle than at cither end." 



The impression on my mind on 

 looking nt the ligiiro is rrarthj tite 

 reverse of this. Is tVe letterprci's 

 nt fault,* or docs the difference 

 depend upon my niontai reception 

 of the phonomena ? 



Referring to Fig. 1, might I be 

 allowed to suggest as an explana- 

 tion of the illusion, that the mind 

 unconsciously gm.'tps the impression 

 of the vertical distance between VA\ 

 and FU to the exclusion or deprecia- 

 tion of the greater distance between 

 H and C. I lind that if I construct 

 the figure as below, making the 

 di.stance of B'G from FU equal to 

 the diagonal distance BC, the illu- 

 sion disappears. — Yours faithfully, 

 Wm. H. Alt-ex". 



[27] — A corrospnndeiit .'jpiuIs (lie fo 



How much longer is the perpendicular than the horizontal cros.?- 

 bar ? 



A NEW THEORY OF THE TIDES. 



[28] — Your coi-rcspondcnt, " A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society," in your first Nnmbcr, was verj' hard upon paradoxers. 

 Would he be very much shocked to hear — if you will permit me to 

 utter tho contumacious opinion — that one of the most blundering 

 paradoxes with which I am acquainted is the Newtonian doctrine of 

 the tides? Let us examine this question carefully and briefly. 

 Evei-y one knows that the tide rises or falls simultaneously on 

 ojiposite sides of the earth. Newton endeavoured to explain this 

 phenomenon by the hypothesis that tho moon attracted tho water 

 on the side nearest to itself, and at the same time drew the earth 

 away from the water on the opposite side. This theory has been ac- 

 cepted with universal approval, but can anything be more erroneous, 

 not to say absurd y We are coolly asked to believe that when the 

 sun and moon are in conjunction on one side of the earth, drawing 

 up the tide, one of the most mobile of substances, the water, on the 

 other side, is left bulging out into space, where thei-e is no rival 

 attraction to hold it, and that it is capable of resisting three attnic- 

 tions — that of the snn, of the moon, and of its o^vn earth — all at 

 once ! 



If this is the best explanation that can be given of the tides, no 

 wonder that Aristotle proclaimed tho difficulty to be "the grave of 

 human curiosity." 



I maintain that it is a monstrous scientific fallacy. 



Those who jiull down ought to be compelled to reconstruct ; 

 those who denounce one system are bound to offer some substi- 

 tute which may be considered ])rcferable. Therefore, I must not 

 shrink from this imperative task. With your permission I will 

 here give a quotation from my paper on "The Astronomy of the 

 Future " in " Pith " : — 



" What we say is, that the magnetic attraction of tho moon, 

 as a magic wand or beam, penetrates tho earth from one side to 

 the other — sword-liko it sheathes itself in tho diameter of our 

 globe. At the spots where this spiritual and invisible falchion 



[• Tho error is in the figures; the upper should have been tlie 

 lower. — Ed.] 



makes its entrance and exit, the waters rise to meet it in obe- 

 dience to its mighty beckoning and summons; and as the ni'jon i« 

 for ever shifting its positiim, so tho waters are for ever chasing 

 over the surface of the globe tho two mundone extremities of 

 the moon's irreslHtiblc, triumphant electrical wand I Or we tuu\ . 

 as an alternative, assume that this magnetic influence, which i^ 

 attractive on one siile of the earth, l)ecoines rejifllnnt on the other." 



1 now wish to invite your renders' attention to another point 

 connected with the Newtonian System of Astronomy. I fancy 

 that we must iliscnrd the theory of "universal gravitation" whieli 

 has been so belauded, in favour of tho theorj- which I have termed 

 " Tho Polarity of the Universe." Gravitation, with its clum.sy 

 addition of a centriHigal force, is simply an imi)ossible explanation 

 of the movements of the heavenly bodies. Centrifugal force, which 

 is entirely of a mechanical origin, cannot be originated and sus- 

 tained between two bodies unless they arc physically connected and 

 moved from a central power ; whereas magnetic polarity, with its 

 attraction and repulsion, is a satisfactory solution of the phenomena 

 of motion in the solar system. As long as a planet presents its 

 poles in a slanting direction towards the sun, the revolution of the 

 planet is an everlasting dynamic certainty, and it is quite possible 

 that the sun may possess a number of poles, one for each planet. 



In the first article on " Comets," you say that Newton discovered 

 that their motion was regulated by the law of gravitation. 1 

 contend that this di.scovery was a delusion. We know that some 

 comets move off in curves, which render their return to our system 

 an impossibility; and if there occurs, in Nature, one exception to a 

 law, what becomes of such law ? It is null and void. I sabmit 

 tliat comets do obey the laws of polarity, and that they do not obey 

 the law of gravitation. 



I believe that we must abandon the teaching of Sir Isaac Newton, 

 and consider him ono of the paradoxers and scientific old fogies of 

 the past.— Yours, Ac, Nbwtox Cbosland. 



London, A'oi'. 12. 



[I fear Mr. Newton Crosland belongs to the class of confirmed 

 paradoxers, those who having encountered difficulties which they 

 have been unable fo surmount, suppose that they have made dis- 

 coveries concealed from others. As a mero matter of fact, the 

 accepted theory of tides would give (apart from effects of oceanic 

 friction) low water under the moon and opposite that region ; yet 

 tho Newtonian theory that tho moon's attraction would of itself 

 cause a leaping up of the water, both under the moon and opposite, 

 is sound. Gravitation requires no centrifugal force, and, indeed, it 

 is only in treatises by ill-informed writers that the theory of a centri- 

 fugal force as such is propounded. What is culled centrifugal 

 force is in reality simply tho measure of what the centripetal force 

 does, it ia only another way of viewing tho centripetal force. I 

 believe Mr. Grosland's views wiU bo received when Newton is 

 entirely forgotten — but not till then. — Ed.] 



DR. FERRIEE AND VIVISECTION. 



[29] — A distinguished professor at one of our colleges once sai.I 

 to me : " The manner in which our countrymen receive the conjec- 

 tures of popular teachers of new doctrines only proves what mo>i 

 of us knew before, that they are the most gullible of all intelligoni 

 nations." Tlie remark maybe applied not only to the votaries of 

 science, but to the followers of any agitator who from the rostrum 

 calls upon his supjiorters to uphold or denounce what he considers to 

 be right or wrong. As a nation, we are opposed to cruelty and 

 oppression. We boasted in former days of our Anti-slaverv 

 Leagues, and our Society for the Prevention of Cmelty to Animals 

 recci%-es (and justly) a large .share of public support. If a man 

 kicks his donkey or starves his dog, he is speedily brought befon> a 

 justice of the peace, who rarely fails to punish the offender. I.a^t 

 Thursday the humanitarians a]>i)lied for a summons against Pr. 

 Fcrricr, under the Vivisection Act. for performing an experiniem 

 which was described as being " frightful and shocking." 



The summons was granted, and long ere this many thousands of 

 kind-hearted people of both sexes have given rent to their horror of 

 the professor's experiments on tho two unfortunate monkeys, aiii 

 doubtless have settled in their minds that he is a fit subject to li ■ 

 mnile an example of, and worthy of punishment. 



The vexed question of vivisection has been well ventilated In 

 abler pens than mine. It is not my intention to say a word eitlui 

 for or against the practice, but the impartial reader should pans,- 

 before he passes sentence in this matter. A^tdi alteram partem shf^uM 

 be the motto of every right-thinking Englishman, and importani 

 subjects, pai-ticuUirly those relating to medical science, shouhl li.. 

 carefully analysed before an opinion is expressed, and such a man 

 as Dr. Ferrier onght not to be placed in the category with tin' 

 human brutes who daily appear in the dock to answer charges of 

 wanton cruelty. 



