166 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[July 2, 1894. 



whereas work, mechanical, electrical, chemical and so 

 forth, could always be got out of the two bodies as long as 

 there was a difference of temperature between them, now 

 that the temperatures are the same no work or effect can 

 be obtained from the interaction of the two. 



The tendency of all forms of energy to transform them- 

 selves into heat, and the tendency of heat energy to 

 become uniformly distributed and therefore ineffective, is 

 one of the most important modern generalizations from 

 the study of physical forces. A levelling process appears 

 to go on everywhere in the inorganic world, and if the 

 tendencies which are so distinctly seen to operate now are 

 a part of a continuing order of all things, then we cannot 

 avoid the logical conclusion that the world tends towards 

 a state of death in life in which all the mass and all the 

 energy of the present cosmos are undiminished but 

 impotent. Then there shall be no more change. 



Such is the dreary prospect afforded by the attempt to 

 push beyond the limits of our experience the conclusions 

 to which observation of inorganic nature undoubtedly 

 leads. What a different prospect is unfolded by the 

 doctrines which have grown out of the scientific study of 

 the animated world ! Natural selection, the .survival of 

 the fittest, evolution, familiar terms expressing the gene- 

 ralizations of biological science, point to differentiation, 

 development and progress. It is easy to observe the effect 

 of the doctrines of evolution and development in the 

 optimistic tone as to progress and the future of human 

 society adopted by many writers of the present day. 



How is it, one may well ask, that the tendency of things 

 appears so different when looked at from the point of view 

 of the physical and of the biological sciences ■.' Perhaps it 

 is that the progress of species, in which the exercise 

 of volition plays an important part, resembles the 

 processes of the industrial arts, in which the finer and 

 more serviceable forms of matter are produced by aid of 

 thought and contrivance rather than the ordinary opera- 

 tions of inorganic nature. We have pointed out how the 

 manufacture of metallic iron involves the simultaneous 

 production of greater quantities of the effete iron slag. 

 Something analogous seems to be indicated in the frightful 

 waste of animal life, and in the extinction of species. 

 Death, however, removes these from the sphere of action 

 — a difference between the organic and the inorganic 

 world, the importance of which will be realized more par- 

 ticularly by those who have studied the processes of 

 chemical change. 



Neither should it be forgotten that, after all, the student 

 of physical science deals statistically with the phenomena 

 he investigates, whereas the work of the student of biolo- 

 gical science, as the student of mankind also, is to a large 

 extent concerned with individuals. Physical science deals 

 with the properties of energy as exhibited by matter. The 

 units or individuals of matter are atoms and molecules, and 

 we cannot examine individual molecules. Could we do so 

 we might, and probably should, find that the history of any 

 one of the small number of molecules which we might 

 individually study would differ from the history of the 

 body of which they form a part, as much as the fortunes 

 of the individual man may differ from the general lot of 

 the human race. Referring back to the example of the 

 compressed air expanding into a vacuous vessel, it might 

 occur that certain molecules would receive impacts so 

 directed and so timed that their velocity of motion and 

 their individual energy would be greatly increased. If 

 chance directed our attention to such cases, we might be 

 led to suppose that the change which accompanied the 

 expansion of air had been "progressive" in its character, 

 since it acted for the " benefit " of the " fortunate " mole- 



cules. But the statistical study of the phenomenon as a 

 whole would show that, in spite of the " development " of 

 mdividuals, there had been a general lowering of vigour 

 all round. 



But, however these things may be, it is undoubtedly the 

 fact that the powers of the animated world are ultimately 

 derived from the inorganic source of physical energy, and 

 sooner or later the powers of organic development must 

 cease if the phenomena of degradation of energy as exhibited 

 by the inorganic world are really, as they appear, universal 

 in their application. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY FOR 



By Herbert Sadler, F.R.A.S. 



JULY. 



SUNSPOTS show little, if any, signs of decrease. 

 Conveniently observable minima of Algol occur at 

 llh. 32m. P.M. on the 1st, and at lOh. 3m. p.m. on 

 the 24th. 



Mercury is an evening star during the first 

 few days of the month, and a morning star at the end, but 

 is not very well situated for observation in July. On the 

 1st he sets at 9h. 23m. p.m., or Ih. 5m. after the Sun, with 

 a northern declination of 18° 18', and an apparent 

 diameter of 9i", one quarter of the disc being illuminated. 

 On the 6th he sets at 8h. 58m. p.m., or 43m. after the Sun, 

 with a northern declination of 16° 47', and an apparent 

 diameter of I0|", y^^ths of the disc being illuminated. 

 After this he approaches the Sun too closely to be visible, 

 coming into inferior conjunction with him on the 20th. 

 On the last day of the month he rises at 3h. 24m. a.m., 

 or Ih. before the Sun, with a northern declination of 

 18° 2', and an apparent diameter of 9V', just one quarter 

 of his disc being illuminated. While visible in the early 

 part of the month he is almost stationary in Cancer, to 

 the S.W. of PriBsepe, and on the 31st he is again almost 

 stationary in the extreme eastern portion of Gemini. 



Venus is a morning star, but, as we observed last 

 month, is becoming rather an uninteresting object for the 

 amateur. On the 1st she rises at Ih. 40m. a.m., or 

 2h. 9m. before the Sun, with a northern declination of 

 18° 52', and an apparent diameter of 14", three-quarters 

 of her disc being illuminated, and her apparent brightness 

 being about equal to what it was on February 5th. On 

 the 19th she rises at Ih. 3om. a.m., or 2h. 20m. before 

 the Sun, with a northern declination of 20^ 38', and an 

 apparent diameter of 13^", To°o*-i's of the disc being 

 illuminated. On the 19th she rises at Ih. 85m. a.m., or 

 two hours and a half before the Sun, with a northern 

 declination of 22° 4', and an apparent diameter of 12^'', 

 ■J^ths of the disc being illuminated. On the 31st she 

 rises at Ih. 47m. a.m., or 2h. 37m. before the Sun, with a 

 northern declination of 22° 29', and an apparent diameter 

 of 12", Yco'lis °^ ^^^ '^'^'' being illuminated, and her 

 apparent brightness being about equal to what it was on 

 February 7th. She is in conjunction with Jupiter at 8h. 

 A.M. on the 20th, 0° 51' to the south. During July she 

 describes a direct path through part of Taurus into 

 Gemini, being very near i; Geminorum on the 26th, and 

 jj. Geminorum on the 28th, being only 0° 3' south of 

 u. Geminorum at noon on the 28th. 



Mars is an evening star in the sense of rising before 

 midnight during July. On the 1st he rises at llh. 43m. 

 P.M., with a southern declination of 0° 30', and an apparent 

 diameter of 10-8", the phase on the preceding limb 

 amounting to 1-7". On the 10th he rises at llh. 17m. p.m., 

 with a northern declination of 1° 29 , and an apparent 

 diameter of 11-5 ", the phase amounting to 1-8". On the 



