August 30, 1883] 



NATURE 



4i7 



in the denominator of 

 read 1 - e 2 cos- o>. 



P. 150, line 2. For 1 e'- cos - o> 



the last term of the value of — , 



n 



P. 214. Fig. 44, the letter P out of place; compare 

 with Germain's Fig. 9S ; in the letterpress "angle 

 A P C = to" should be = it. 



Also the numbering of the sections seems to require 

 some revision. Section VII. referred to in p. xiii. of the 

 introduction, as containing Mr. Schott's account of the 

 polyconic projection, is not of course the Section VII. of 

 the text, and though Part II. is not divided into sections, 

 yet in p. 230 " The Tables " appear under § xii. 



PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE IN CHINESE 

 SCIENCE 



UNDER the title of " Science a la Chinoise," a writer 

 in a recent number of the excellent North China 

 Herald dwells on what may be called the disparity 

 between the promise and the performance of Chinese 

 science. The ancient classics contain beautiful maxims 

 on the necessity for research into nature. The " Great 

 Learning " tells us that knowledge is perfected by the 

 investigation of nature ; Confucius urged his pupils to 

 study the " Book of Poetry," because, among other things, 

 they could become acquainted with the names of plants 

 and animals ; Mencius tells us that the careful study of 

 phenomena is the road to knowledge, and in illustration 

 says: "Though heaven is high and the stars distant, 

 yet, having investigated their phenomena, we can sit 

 down and calculate their revolutions for a thousand 

 years." It has long been a proverb among the learned 

 that to be ignorant of a single thing is a disgrace to the 

 true scholar, and to be ignorant of nature is as if nature 

 did not exist. When the revered ancient sages of China, 

 whose words are in the mouths of all, thus encourage 

 scientific research, we should be led to anticipate great 

 results from the patience, 'ntelligence, and ingenuity of 

 the Chinese. But, as in so many other respects in that 

 anomalous country, we have excellent maxims and little 

 more. There is, says this writer, neither research nor 

 knowledge ; science has no existence. There is indeed 

 a considerable natural literature. From ancient times 

 the Chinese have taken note of natural phenomena. 

 Their record of solar eclipses is perhaps the most ancient 

 and accurate in the world. They have more or less 

 elaborate works on astronomy, mathematics, botany, 

 zoology, mineralogy, physiology, and many other sciences. 

 Yet there is scarcely any true science in them. Classifi- 

 cation, even in regard to plants and animals, there is 

 none. Mineralogy is mainly a description of curious 

 stones. Nor is there any progress, for the more ancient 

 works are generally the best, and as a consequence the 

 Chinese to-day are as their fathers were thousands of 

 years ago. The superstitions respecting natural pheno- 

 mena, which are as living active truths to day for all 

 classes in China, remind us rather of man in his state of 

 barbarism than of the ancient culture and civilisation 

 of the Middle Kingdom. The sun and moon are to the 

 Chinese as they were to primitive man, living things, gods 

 to be worshipped. The stars in their courses powerfully 

 influence, if they do not absolutely determine all human 

 events. In them the wise may read as in a book the 

 destiny of man and the fate of empires. Their combina- 

 tions make lucky and unlucky days, and we shall do well 

 to note carefully their signs and silent warnings. Comets 

 are the precursors of famine, pestilence, and war — prog- 

 nosticators of the wreck of empires and the fall of kings. 

 Eclipses are the periodic efforts of the dragon fiend to 

 destroy the lights of heaven, and every notice of an 

 approaching eclipse sent by the Imperial astronomer to 

 the provinces is accompanied by a Government order to 

 employ the usual methods of gong-beating and so forth 

 in order to rescue the threatened luminary. Again, 



thunder is the roar of the anger of heaven, and to be 

 smitten by a thunderbolt is to be marked as a thing ac- 

 cursed. Wind is born in the heart of great mountains, 

 whence it issues at the command of the wind-god. Most 

 districts have their wind-mountains. That at Lung-Shan 

 in the northern province of Chihli is the most remarkable. 

 It has a cave at each of its four sides. The spring wind 

 issues from the cave on the eastern side, the summer 

 wind from the southern, and so for the others. Wind 

 eddies or whirlwinds are raised by the hedgehog in his 

 rapid passage from one place to another, the dust serving 

 to screen him from the vulgar gaze. Rain is produced by 

 the dragon god, who carries up vast quantities of water 

 from the lakes and rivers in his capacious jaws, and pours 

 it down in showers over the earth. Every mountain has 

 its spirit or genius, every valley its nymph, every spring 

 its naiad. Hence mountains and rivers, old trees and 

 curious rocks, become objects of worship. 



These and the like superstitions which enter every 

 domain of nature are not confined to the poor and illite- 

 rate ; they are shared by the rich and learned, nay, they 

 are repeated and acknowledged by the Imperial Govern- 

 ment itself in its decrees in the Peking Gazette. The 

 highest scholar in the empire knows no more of nature 

 than the humblest peasant. The years have come and 

 gone, repeating the same old story, but there has been no 

 ear to hear it, no mind to understand it. Nature has 

 found no interpreter among the Chinese ; during their 

 long national life they have contributed nothing to 

 science. How are we to account for this ? In other 

 fields of national effort, and especially as inventors, they 

 mtijt be allowed a high place. It cannot be indifference, 

 for they have written largely on the beauties, marvels, 

 and mysteries of nature, and many have shown keen inte- 

 rest in the discoveries of science. It may partly, perhaps, 

 be due to the fact that the intellect of the nation is em- 

 ployed in the struggle for place and power along grooves 

 in which sjience has no part. The writer we quote thinks 

 it is mainly owing to the narrow and perverted system 

 of education ; and while the present system continues the 

 study of science will be impossible to the youth of China. 

 The cleverest young men find it as much as they can do 

 to tike their first degree at twenty. The higher degrees, 

 which are also the avenues to office, can scarcely be won 

 for years later, and thus they cannot afford a thought for 

 anything beyond the common curriculum. 



ON THE PROPERTIES OF WATER AND ICE X 



DR. PETTERSON'S memoir is a most valuable con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of the natural history 

 of the waters of the globe. Every reader of Arctic voyages 

 must be familiar with the variety of names attached to the 

 different kinds of ice met with in these regions, such as 

 "pack-ice," "bay-ice,'' "brash-ice," and the like. To 

 one who has never seen them, the names convey very 

 little information either of their appearance or of their 

 mode of formation. Dr. Petterson's paper explains in a 

 satisfactory and very remarkable manner the nature of 

 the difference between the different kinds of ice. 



In the first part of the work the subject is treated 

 physically, and in the second chemically. In both parts 

 there is much that is new and valuable. 



In the Arctic Ocean, and especially in that part of it 

 visited by the / ega, the saltness of the water varies much 

 from place to place. The large rivers of Siberia con- 

 stantly pour forth fresh water which lies on the surface of 

 the ocean and spreads round the coast like a fringe. 

 This layer often extends a considerable distance out to 

 sea, where it gradually thins out. Nearer the shore it is 

 thicker, but wherever the depth exceeds 20 or 30 metres 

 the dense ocean water is found below and the two layers 



'" On the Properties of Water and Ice." By Otto Petterson. Publica- 

 ' ti n of the Vega Expedition. (Stockholm, 18S3.) 



