218 



« KNOW^LEDGE 



[Oct. 5, 1883. 



what I Lave said to what I knew and understood, not 

 thereby always escaping error (for this none can do) 

 but escaping the blunders which necessarily arise when the 

 blind undertake to lead the blind. This rule, carefully and 

 honestly followed, should be all that is necessary to keep 

 newspaper science above reproacli. 



But unfortunately many who write for our daily and 

 weekly papers are not troubled with much fear of bringing 

 reproach upon newspaper science or on the particular news- 

 papers to which they are good enough to contribute. The 

 editor of a newspaper cannot be familiar with every de- 

 partment of science, if even with any. He cannot always 

 be able even to distinguish those who are competent to 

 write on any subject from those who are not. If a man 

 known to have done good work in one department of a 

 particular science offers to write on any matter connected 

 with the subject, and possesses a tolerably effective 

 literary style, an editor can hardly be blamed if he accepts 

 and inserts the proffered contribution, even though it 

 should turn out to be in reality utterly valueless and full 

 of egregious blunders. The dishonesty of the writer is the 

 real trouble, not the editor's want of scientific knowledge — 

 a kind of knowledge not to be expected in a man who has 

 to give his attention to other and very different matters. 



These remarks have been suggested by the reading of a 

 leading article in the Times of Saturday, September 22, on 

 the subject of Dr. Ball's excellent discourse on the Sun's 

 Distance now appearing in these pages. Who may be the 

 author of the article, I have no means of knowing. That 

 it has appeared in such a paper as the Times is sufficient 

 evidence that the writer has done some good work, or has 

 the general credit of having done such work, in astronomy ; 

 for otherwise the article would never have been accepted. 

 But that the writer is hopelessly ignorant of the elemen- 

 tary mathematics of astronomy is equally obvious. It 

 becomes very ditficult, therefore, to explain how, without 

 dishonesty, this article came to be written for the Times. 

 If there is a less unpleasant explanation, let us hope that 

 before long it will be given ; for, while the occurrence of 

 occasional errors or even blunders in newspaper science 

 may cause no great harm in the long run, the display of 

 deliberate dishonesty such as has in this case, I fear, been 

 shown, would be a serious misfortune. 



It is not to correct the errors in the article in question 

 that I point them out, but because they are part of the 

 evidence of what appears to me deplorable want of prin- 

 ciple in some writer unknown. Here is an article on 

 astronomy in a tone implying right to speak " as having 

 authority." The writer talks condescendingly about 

 " the mind of the average man," about " non-scientific 

 persons," and so forth, and about the enlarged conceptions 

 which such folk should form of " the laborious and patient 

 accuracy of scientific work." But while, in the whole 

 article, there is no trace of original thought or of any real 

 grasp of what Dr. Ball himself had clearly explained in 

 his lecture, there are blunders such as none liut a 

 charlatan writing of what he knew nothing about 

 could possibly have made. We are told that Neptune was 

 " looked for in the position from which its disturbance 

 was exercised," which is preposterous ; that the " larger 

 of the asteroids, under favourable conditions, come 

 within " such and such distances of the earth, as if size 

 had anything to do with the matter ; and that Dr. Ball 



saw Venus (at Dunsink) in the middle of her transit last 

 December, the middle of the transit occurring long after 

 the sun had set at Dr. Ball's station. But these are only 

 blunders, showing indeed the ignorance and inaccuracy of 

 the writer, and otherwise insignificant. What, however, 

 is to be said or thought of the deliberate statement that, 

 " in consequence of the motion of the earth round an 

 elliptical orbit, the distance which separates us from 

 the sun is variable, being greatest when our planet 

 is on the major axis, smallest when it is on 

 the minor axis of the ellipse " 1 If the statement 

 had been less precise in its nature, we might have supposed 

 that the error had arisen from mere carelessness ; but in 

 the sentence as it stands the writer deliberately expresses 

 and even emphasises his ignorance. Xobody who knew, 

 as every one familiar with the elements of astronomy must 

 know, that the earth is nearest to the sun when passing 

 one extremity of the major axis of her orbit, farthest from 

 him when passing the other, and at his mean distance when 

 on the minor axis, could possibly have made such a state- 

 ment as we have quoted. One would only too willingly 

 ascribe it to mere carelessness on the part of one who 

 really knew better ; for by so doing the evidence of dis- 

 honesty might be overlooked. But unfortunately no such 

 interpretation seems possible. 



Completion of Second Million Issues at Mitchell 

 LiBEARY, Glasgow. — This library has now completed the 

 second million in the number of volumes issued to readers, 

 and advantage .may be taken of this circumstance to draw 

 attention to the very remarkable degree in which Mr. 

 Mitchell's benefaction has been appreciated and made use 

 of by all classes of the citizens — artisans, clerks, students, 

 and professional men. The first book, " Liber Officialis Sancti 

 Andree " (Abbotsford Club), was issued at ten o'clock in 

 the morning of Nov. 5, 1877 ; the first million issues were 

 completed Jan. 14, 1881, being 982 working days 

 from the opening ; the second million issues were 

 completed at 6.4.5 p.m. on Saturday last, Sept. 1, 

 1883, and occupied 808 working days. It is be- 

 lieved that there is no previous instance on record of the 

 issue of two million volumes within so short a period of 

 the opening of a public library. As will be seen from the 

 statistics below, the reading of fiction forms but a small 

 proportion. It should be stated, too, that in addition to 

 this large number of volumes asked for at the counter 

 there has been a very great use made of the current 

 periodicals — literary, artistic, scientific, technical, profes- 

 sional, and other — which, to the number of more than. 

 200, lie openly upon the tables. The following is a 

 statement of the number of volumes issued in each of 

 the classes in which the library is arranged, with relative 

 proportion of the whole issue: — 



Per Cent. 



Theology and pHlosophy 184,681 (9-23) 



History, biography, &c 435,326 (21-77) 



Law, politics, and commerce ... 51,094 (2'73) 



Arts and sciences 402,485 (20-12) 



Poetry and the drama 147,115 (7-36) 



Language 54,971 (275) 



Prose iiction 1-15,605 (7 73) 



Miscellaneous literature 566,123 (2831) 



Total 2,000,000 (10000) 



Of the whole issue, no more than 10,481 volumes have 

 been issued to ladies, or only 5 per cent. This small 

 attendance of ladies is regretted, but is probably due to 

 the absence of separate accommodation of a suitable 

 character. 



