Jr.vK 1. 1900] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



129 



works for acceptance, arc such as can only be bestowed 

 by a highly trained and a high-minded body of men. 



Works in sculptuiT, oil and wator colour, black 

 and white, and archit-ectural designs, pour into the 

 cellai-s of Burlington House during the tliree days 

 granted to would-be exhibitoi's until they total some 

 14.000. The names and addresses of the authors of 

 each work have to be recorded, and the thousands of 

 pictures, or framed works, have to be sorted and arranged, 

 more or less according to size, in order that they may be 

 viewed. 



When the viewing day comes, a council of ten Mem- 

 bei-s of the Academy sit and see the whole of these 

 works. It is obvious that men of the highest standard 

 in their art, trained in eve and mind, are able to reckon 

 up the relative merits of very many of the works 

 brought before them in a moment. A Council of 

 Examiners conducting a rire rare examination on some 

 hundreds of students, seeking to pass in French, would 

 dispose in an instant of such as could not speak three 

 words of that language. Thus fall some thousands of 

 works, which their authors and friends esteemed highly. 

 no doubt ou the principle " Where ignorance is bliss 

 'tis folly to be wise." Tolerable works receive more 

 attention, but the greater number of these follow the 

 multitude downstairs into the cellars. Anything that 

 the eagle-eyed Council regard as good v/ork is set aside 

 as doubtful (that is, accepted to be hung if space 

 permits), and these works are so numerous that it is 

 utterly impo.ssible for anything like the whole of them 

 to obtain a place upon the walls. A very small quantity 

 of exceptionally good works — seldom more than eighty — 

 are " accepted " to be " placed " in excellent positions. 



The labour of viewing some 14,000 works is enormous. 

 A procession of bearers carry the pictures in a stream 

 before the Council, the names of the various artists not 

 being mentioned. Sometimes the stream rolls on, dull 

 and heavy, at other times it sparkles with " good things." 

 Woe to the mediocre work that finds itself amongst the 

 pearls ; had it appeared in the midst of the dull and 

 heavy it might have had a chance, but in all things com- 

 pajisons, if odious, tell. A very small part of a second 

 can be given to the larger number of the works, as here 

 described. 



A vast number of the works have now to return to 

 the cellars. As the works leave the large gallery, 

 where the Council sit, they are classified at once by 

 a staff of commissioners stationed in the various galleries, 

 and are thus alphabetically registered. Some thousands 

 of cards are issued to the authors of these works, the 

 educational effect of which should be to make each 

 recipient " A sadder but a wiser man." 



The first part of the Council's labour is now over, and 

 so great is the strain of the concentrated attention 

 given to the work, that most of its members are ex- 

 hausted. This portion takes from seven to eight days. 



Then there comes a selection of the selected works — a 

 second viewing. The " doubtfuls ' are far too numerous 

 for the space yielded by the walls of the Academy, and 

 hence this fresh sifting. 



The duty of the Hanging Committee, consisting of five 

 Members, now begins. 



The Academicians, whose works have been passed in 

 outside the turmoil of the 14,000, have first to be con- 

 sidered. This year the Academicians are particularly 

 strong, and their works are, as a whole, such as have not 

 been seen for many years. Each Academician is en- 

 titled to have four only of his pictures upon " the line," 



a graceful act to the outside artists, who otherwise 

 would hardly ever obtain this desired position. Places 

 of honour are apportioned to the finest works of Mem- 

 bers, and after that, places of honour and position ai'e 

 given to the " accepted ' works, and the best of the 

 doubtfuls. 



Tlic mass that is left is picked over for the remaining 

 space. The sizes of pictures tell for or against their 

 being hung, as also does the subject, and the colour 

 of the work. Let anyone sit down in a room of the 

 Exhibition and observe how well balanced in size, sul> 

 ject, and colour, most of the walls are, and consider 

 the labour of the Hanging Committee. 



No Member of the Council (with the exception of 

 the President and Keeper) is allowed in the Galleries 

 until the hanging is complete. Then the other half of 

 the Council, together with the President and Keeper, 

 go through the rooms. They pass the work of the Hanging 

 Committee, should it be approved, but it very often 

 happens that what is considered an injustice in the 

 hanging of a picture is at this final viewing altered by 

 the Council. 



But the labour is not yet over. First and foremost, 

 the endeavour of the Hanging Committee has been to 

 give as good a show as is possible; still eiTors may have 

 crept in. Has any " acceptetl " picture, with its red 

 star, been overlooked? Has an old exhibitor who once 

 earned fame for himself been lost sight of? If such is 

 the ea.se, the Committee orders such works to be hung, 

 and down must come other works to make room. No 

 alteration can take place after this. 



Everything that can be done to act justly and gene- 

 rously has been done, but there are hundreds of " doubt-- 

 fuls " for which no place can be found, and some, no 

 doubt, are better than works that are hung. Perhaps 

 these did not fit, perhaps they were overlooked. Also, 

 as it is impossible to satisfy everyone whose work finds 

 a place in the Exhibition, there must always be a con- 

 siderable amount of annoyance caused to exhibitors 

 whose work is poorly located. 



The Royal Academy of Arts holds itself highly. On 

 the Press day none of its Members appear. The critics 

 are left severely alone to say their worst or best. The 

 critic who finds fault is less likely to be laughed at for 

 his ignorance than he who falls into the error of lauding 

 an inferior piece of work. 



ARTIFICIAL "RESEAU PHOTOSPHERIQUE." 



By the Rev. Arthur Eabt. 



Every student of solar physics is acquainted with Sir 

 W. Huggins' drawing of solar granules which is given 

 in all the text books. Since that drawing was made, 

 some thirty years ago, we have had the magnificent 

 photographs of Mons. Janssen taken at Meudon, .showing 

 with marvellous detail the granulation of the solar 

 surface, and exhibiting somewhat the same rectilinear 

 arrangement of certain portions of the photosphere, 

 which Mons. Janssen has named the " rescau photo- 

 spherique." So far no explanation has been given for 

 the disposition shown in Sir W. Huggins' drawing, so 

 that failing a better the following is offered, derived 

 chiefly from a study of artificial granules — that we have 

 here a beautiful demonstration of the exchange we know 

 must always be going on, by means of vertical currents 

 between the upper and lower levels of the photosphere. 

 Masses of the heated lowest strata must of necessity 



