426 A Century of Science 



and believes that " no man will be able to plant the 

 standard of his country on any land in that region 

 worth one dime to himself or any one else at pre- 

 sent." For this gloomy outlook we must try to 

 console ourselves with the knowledge that Mr. 

 Culmer has detected the true explanation of the 

 Aurora Borealis : " It is the sun's rays shining on 

 a placid interior ocean and reflecting upon the 

 outer atmosphere." 



A favourite occupation of cranks is the discovery 

 of hidden meanings in things. Whether we are 

 to say that the passionate quest of the occult has 

 been prolific in mental disturbances, or whether we 

 had better say that persons with ill-balanced minds 

 take especial delight in the search for the occult, 

 the practical result is about the same. The im- 

 pelling motive is not very different from that of 

 the circle-squarers ; it is pleasing to one's self-love 

 to feel that one discerns things to which all other 

 people are blind. Hence the number of mare's- 

 nests that have been complacently stared into by 

 learned donkeys is legion. Mere erudition is no 

 sure safeguard against the subtle forms which the 

 temptation takes on, as we may see from the inge- 

 nuity that has been wasted on the Great Pyramid. 

 In 1864, Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for 

 Scotland, published his book entitled " Our Inher- 



