302 



NA TURE 



[January 26, 1905 



tration ; on this the Saxon Government appoints a 

 representative or trustee whose duty it is to see that 

 the statutes are obeyed ; the works are supervised by 

 boards of management appointed by the adminis- 

 tration. 



The employes possess the right of combination ; 

 they can be represented by their own committees, 

 which may address the administration direct on any 

 subject relating to the affairs of the concern. Thev 

 are paid by piece-work, with a minimum time wage, 

 and there is in the scheme a proviso by which no 

 one, even though a member of the board of manage- 

 ment, can receive a salary greater than ten times 

 the average yearly earnings of workers of twenty- 

 four years and over who have been at least three 

 years with the firm. Moreover, when an employe 

 has once received a certain wage and drawn it for 

 one year his wage cannot be reduced because of 

 slackness of trade. In addition to the wages calcu- 

 lated on the work done, every worker receives a share 

 of the profits depending in any year on the net sum 

 realised. There is also a liberal pension scheme, 

 under which every employ<5 who enters the works 

 before his fortieth year is entitled, after five years' 

 service, to a pension calculated at a rate which 

 reaches 75 per cent, of his salary at the end of forty 

 years' service, while the widows and orphans of 

 employes have also pension rights. Finally, the 

 working day is eight hours, and Abbe has put it 

 on record in an address, delivered in 1901 to the 

 Social Science Association, that in the case of 233 

 piece-workers about whom accurate statistics could 

 be taken the total output was increased by 4 per cent, 

 in the first year that followed the change from nine 

 to eight hours. 



Such has been Ernst Abbe's work; until 1903 he 

 remained an active member of the board of manage- 

 ment of the optical works; then he retired, partly 

 on account of the state of his health, partly, if his 

 health improved, to devote himself to his scientific 

 work. The improvement hoped for never came, and 

 he died last week, leaving it to the trained band of 

 workers he had gathered round him to continue his 

 task, and to show still further what can be done by 

 the organised application of science to industrv and 

 manufactures. R. T. G. 



M. PAUL HENRI. 

 A BOUT the year 1S64, two brothers entered the 

 •'*■ meteorological department of the Parjs Observ- 

 atory, and for nearly forty years laboured with zeal 

 and success to promote the best interests of that 

 institution and of astronomical science generally. In 

 the autumn of 1903, one brother, M. Prosper Henri, 

 died suddenly on a holiday tour, and we now have 

 the melancholy duty of chronicling the death of the 

 second brother, M. Paul Henri. It is necessary to 

 recall the close and intimate relations that existed 

 between these two, because the scientific life of one 

 was that of the other. No one has ever thought of 

 them separately, no one has ever attempted to dis- 

 criminate between their successes and their triumphs. 

 The same day (November 8, 1889) they were both 

 elected associates of the Royal .Astronomical Society, 

 and other instances of similar recognition of their 

 united work might be quoted. We may quote the 

 words of the late M. Callandreau of these two : — 

 " si unis que nous ne voyons souvent en eu.x qu' une 

 seule personne pour ainsi dire, si oublieux de faire 

 ressortir leur m^rites respectifs qu' il est difficile de 

 distinguer ce qui peut appartenir a chacun dans 

 I'ceuvre commune." 



It is an oft-told talc to rer.-ill how these brothers, 

 NO. 1839, VOL. 71] 



with whom mechanical art was a conspicuous gift, 

 constructed their own instruments, and laboured to 

 complete the ecliptic charts on which Chacornac had 

 worked, how their systematic work and diligence 

 added to the number of small planets, and how, 

 finally, the necessity was forced upon them of adopt- 

 ing improved metfiods in registering the places of 

 stars in the crowded regions of the heavens. The 

 history of the " International Chart of the Heavens," 

 which has taxed the resources of so many observ- 

 atories, was the outcome of their skill and resource. 

 Not only did they provide the optical parts of the 

 instruments that were employed in many observ- 

 atories, but they laboured zealously on the zone 

 allotted to the Paris Observatory, and it is believed 

 brought their share to a successful issue. They led 

 the way in the photographic examination of clusters 

 like the Pleiades, and showed to others how un- 

 suspected nebulas might be detected. 



A new era of activity opened for astronomy in the 

 general application of photography, and few have 

 contributed more to the harvest of results that has 

 followed that activity than have the brothers Henri. 

 They not only supplied the instruments with which 

 the negatives were taken, but they suggested devices 

 for the construction of measuring machines by which 

 these negatives could be discussed. The reputation 

 of one and both rests on their photographic work. 

 Smaller work, such as the careful and accurate de- 

 lineation of planetarv markings, the observation of 

 minute satellites, and the more ordinary routine of 

 observatory work, are all forgotten in the large share 

 taken in the application of photography to celestial 

 measurement. His colleagues in the observatory 

 spoke of the many excellent qualities that dis- 

 tinguished M. Prosper Henri as a colleague and 

 friend, and one is sure that no less kindly expressions 

 will be used towards M. Paul Henri, who has enjoyed 

 the confidence and respect of all the directors of the 

 Paris Observatory who have followed M. Le Verrier. 



W. E. P. 



NOTES. 



The cross of officer of the Legion of Honour has been 

 conferred, La Nature states, upon Dr. Otto Nordenskjold 

 for his South Polar explorations. Mrs. Bullock Workman 

 has been appointed Officier de I'lnstruction publique for 

 her travels in the Himalayas. 



The autumn meeting- of the Iron and .Steel Institute 

 is to be held this year in Sheffield for the first time. 

 Mr. R. .\. Hadfield has been elected to succeed Mr. 

 Andrew Carnegie as president of the institute. The visit 

 will take place during the week beginning September 25. 

 The most influential members of the Sheffield steel in- 

 dustry have associated themselves with the invitation to 

 the institute, and a committee has been formed, of which 

 the Lord Mayor of Sheftield and the Master Cutler are 

 chairman and vice-chairman respectively. Colonel H. 

 Hughes, C.M.G., has been ' appointed chairman of the 

 reception committee, with Mr. J. Rossiter Hoyle as 

 honorary secretary. .Mr. Frank Huntsman — who is, we 

 learn from the Times, a descendant of the Huntsman who 

 founded the Sheffield industry of melting steel in pots 

 about 170 years ago — will act as honorary treasurer, and 

 Mr. John Wortley as honorary assistant secretary. 



On Thursday next, February 2, Prof. W. Schlich will 

 deliver the first of a course of two lectures at the Royal 

 Institution on " Forestry in the British Empire." The 

 discourse on Friday, February 3, will be delivered by Prof. 

 T. Clifford .-Mlbutt on " Blood Pressure in Man." 



