252 
NATURE 
[Jury 13, 1899. 
existing. The following statement does not assume 
convective equilibrium ; an outside radius, R, is assumed 
to exist. f 
Let temperature, pressure, &c., be functions of ~ If 
yz is the total mass bounded by the spherical surface of 
radius 7, 
dp _ m 
ip aA . » (24) 
m=4n [ GIN shies ks) oes » (25) 
/ 0 
the stuff being a perfect gas, 
MS 9 65 6 0 o . (26) 
If & is the specific heat (in ergs) at constant yolume, the 
total intrinsic energy of the mass is 
R 
haart | rpt . dr, 
nate 
o 
The work that would have to be done in taking suc- 
cessive layers to an infinite distance is 
W=+ | ae atfPs v= +4na [pm Lael @2-)) 
r 0 
0 
0 
Spriidr av patel 5 ake 
0 
Now (24) is 
pam= — Es 
so that 
R 0 
Wie - ar | pt. dr= ~an| dp . . (29) 
0 dr “ po 
Now in (27) 
R R 70 Fe: 
/ PP dr= [ sa | 7 | = dp. 
J 0 Py ty fo3 
The bracket term is 0, as is o at the centre, and =o 
at the surface. Hence 27 is 
-0 
h=- gee dp. 
vs a 
Dividing by (29) we have 
eee: 
W 30 
Now in gases, if K is specific heat at constant pressure 
o=K-—&£s0 that 
Ls 
Wis (i=) 93 (7 —2) 
If 
y=1}, h=W 
If 
y=1'4, h=°833W 
Here are very definite astonishing statements ! 
I must confess that I do not understand how if y=1} 
we can have A=W. It seems to mean that if a mass of 
this kind of gas gravitates by itself from an infinite 
distance it retains all its energy. But such gas must 
surely be imagined to be radiating heat, as it is not at 
zero temperature. Wherecan it get such heat? I come 
to the conclusion that there must be atomic energy avail- 
able somehow in it, even when we imagine the molecules 
at an infinite distance from one another, or else there is 
no such gas possible. J say that no substance for which 
y=1} can behave as a perfect gas. 
You will notice that we do not need to imagine our 
stuff in a state of infinite diffusion. If a gaseous star 
changes its size or the arrangement ofits stuff, the gravita- 
tional work done is exactly equal to the additional intrinsic 
heat energy in the star if y is 14. The paradox is greater 
if we think of coloured diatomic gases such as chlorine, 
NO. 1550, VOL. 60] 
which have values of y less than 13. We must either 
assume that there is more energy available than mere 
gravitational energy, or else that such substances cannot 
really behave as perfect gases. [It is to be remembered 
that by a perfect gas I do not merely mean that /¢p is 
constant, but that 4, the specific heat at constant volume 
is constant, a statement which does not follow from the 
first.] It is some time since I have come across a state- 
ment which looks better worth study than this one. 
WILLIAM HENRY FLOWER, K.C.B., FRCS, 
LL.D. D.CL, SEDMRES. ZS. BES 
HE distinguished naturalist whose death has recently 
occurred was the second son of the late Mr, 
Edward Fordham Flower, the founder of the well-known 
brewery at Stratford-on-Avon, and dear to all lovers of 
animals on account of his crusade against the bearing- 
rein. Sir William Flower was born in November 1831. 
He was educated at private schools and at University 
College, London, where he took Sharpey’s gold medal in 
Physiology, and Grant’s silver medal in Zoology. He 
became M.B. of the University of London in 1851, and 
joined the Medica! Department of the Army in 1854, 
serving in the Crimea, where his health broke down. On 
his return to England he became Demonstrator of 
Anatomy at the Middlesex Hospital, and Curator of the 
Museum, intending to practise as a surgeon. Here he 
published his first work, “‘ Diagrams of the Nerves of the 
Human Body,” and also wrote in Holmes’ “ System of 
Surgery” on “Injuries of the Upper Extremities.” 
In 1861, at the age of thirty, he was appointed to suc- 
ceed Queckett as Curator of the Hunterian Museum at 
the College of Surgeons, and later became Hunterian 
Professor. Thenceforward he abandoned professional 
work for purely scientific pursuits. Twenty years later, 
when he received the Royal medal of the Royal Society, 
the President stated with justice that “it is very largely 
due to his incessant and well-directed labours that the 
museum of the Royal College of Surgeons at present 
contains the most complete, the best ordered, and the 
most accessible collection of materials for the study of 
vertebrate structures extant.” 
Two years later (in 1884), on the resignation of Sir 
Richard Owen, Prof. Flower was appointed Director 
of the new Natural History Museum in the Cromwell 
Road, where he was incessantly occupied with the ar- 
rangement and development of the collections until 
failing health necessitated his resignation, which took 
effect in October 1898. Unhappily he did not long enjoy 
the rest and leisure which he had so well earned by a 
life of unusual industry and devotion to public work. 
His services in the cause of knowledge were recognised 
by many honorary degrees from Universities, and by his 
election as a Correspondent of the Institute of France. 
He was made C.B. in 1887, and K.C.B. in 1892, and was 
President in 1889 of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science. 
The mere enumeration of the incidents in a man’s life 
does not tell very much about the nature and value of 
his work. Sir William Flower’s chief work was in two 
directions: firstly, as a director and original artist in 
museum management ; secondly, as an investigator and 
discoverer in the comparative anatomy of the Mammalia. 
Besides these two chief lines of work, there were others 
to which he gave time and care. He was not unheedful 
of the popular demand for instruction and guidance by 
lectures. He frequently appeared at the Royal Institution 
and the London Institution, and always had a weighty 
and well-considered discourse to deliver. The most 
original and, from a social point of view, the most im- 
portant of these was one on “ Fashion in Deformity,” in 
which he gave very strong support to those who dis- 
