Sept. 28, 1882] 



NATURE 



54i 



appear- as but efflux of one and the same all comprehensive law 

 of nature The great law of the conservation of force thereby 

 finds its universal application, embracing al-o those biological 

 provinces which hitherto appeared closed to it. 



In face of the surprising velocity with which in these last 

 years the development theory has paved an entrance into the most 

 diverse departments of inquiry we may here express the hope 

 that its high pedagogic value also will be even more reco.;ni-.ed, 

 and that it will quite perfect the education of the coming gene- 

 ration*. When five years ag i, at the fiftieth Meeting of Naturalists 

 in Munich, I laid stress on the high significance of the develop- 

 : v in relation to education, my remarks were so misunder- 

 stood that a few words of explanation may here be allowed me. 

 It stand to reason that with these words I could not mean to 

 claim that Darwinism should be taught in elementary 

 That is simply im ossible. For ju-t like the higher mathe- 

 matics and physics, or thehistory of philosophy, Darwinfandemands 

 a mass of previous knowledge which can be acquired only in the 

 higher stages of learning. Assuredly, however, wemayde 

 all subjects of education be treated according to thegemtic method, 

 and that the fundamental idea of the development-theory, the 

 Causality of Phenomena, find everywhere its acknowledgment. 

 We are firmly persuaded that by this means, thinking and judging 

 conformably with nature will be promoted in far greater measure 

 than by any other method. 



At the same time through this extended application of the de- 

 velopment-doctrine, one of the greatest evils of our day in the 

 culture of youth will be removed — the cramming of the memory, 

 we mean, with dead lumber, which smothers the best powers and 

 prevents both soul and body from coming to a normal develop- 

 ment. This excessive cramming is based on the old fundamental 

 ineradicable error that the quantity of factual knowledge is the 

 best measure of culture, while, in truth, culture depends on the 

 quality of causative science. We would therefore deem it espe- 

 cially useful that the selection of the material of instruction be 

 much more carefully made, and that in making the selection, 

 those departments which cram the memory with masses of dead 

 facts do not receive the preference, but those which cultivate the 

 judgment through the living stream of the development idea. 

 Let our worried school youth only learn half as much, but let 

 them understand this half more thoroughly, and the next genera- 

 tion will in soul and body be doubly as sound as the present. 



In the most gladdening manner these requirements are being 

 met by the reforms which are simultaneously in process of 

 accomplishment in the most diverse provinces of science. Every- 

 where is stirring and moving fre-h young life, stimulated by the 

 idea of natural development — in the Comparative Study of 

 Languages and .in the History of Culture, as also in Psychology 

 and Philosophy ; in Ethnography and Anthropology no less than 

 in botany and zoology. Everywhere the most joyful blossoms are 

 bursting forth from the most varied branches of science, and its 

 fruits will concurrently testify that they all spring from one single 

 tree of knowledge and draw their nourishment from one single 

 root. Thanks and honour, however, to the great masters who 

 by their genetic and monistic theory of nature have led us to, this 

 clear height of know ledge from which with Goethe we may say: 



" DieserschSne Begriffvon Macht und Schranken, von Willkur 

 Und Gesetz, von Freiheit und Mass, von beweglicher Ordnung 

 Vorzug und Mangel, erfreue dich hoch ; die heilige Muse 

 Bringc harmonisch ihn dir, mit sanftem Zwange belehrend. 

 Keinen hohern Begriflf erringt der sittliche Denker, 

 Keinen der thalige Mann, der dichtende Kiinstler ; der Herrscher, 

 Der verdient es lu sein. erfreut nurdurch ihn sich der Krone. 

 Freue dich hochstes Geschopf der Natur, du fiihlest dich fahig. 

 Ihr den hochsten Gedanken, zu dem sie schaffend sich aufschwang 

 Nachiudenken. Hier stehe nun still und w-ende die Blicke 

 Ruckwarts. prufe, vergleiche und nimm vom Munde der Muse. 

 Dass du schauest, nicht schwarmst, die liebliche voile Gewissheit." * 



OUR ASTRONOMICAL COLUMN 



The Binary Star 70 Ophiuchi. — This star has received 



even more than a fair share of attention at the hands both of 



observers and computers, but there remain notwithstanding 



1 This fair idea of might and limit, of will and law, of freedom and mea- 

 sure, of order in movement, of excellence and defect, gladden thee deeply ; 

 the holy Muse brings it harmoniously to thee, instructing thee with generous 

 constraint. No higher idea achieves the moral thinker, no higher the active 

 man, the creative artist ; the regent worthy to rule finds happiness in his 

 crown through this idea atone. Rejoice, oh highest creature of Nature, that 

 thou feelest thyself able to think after Nature the highest thought to which 

 the creatively soared. Here now stand still, and turn thy looks backwards, 

 examine, compare, and hear the words of the Muse, that without illusion 

 thou mayest contemplate the full, lovely truth . 



large outstanding differences between observation and calculation. 

 As regards the orbit a very complete discussion of all the reliable 

 measures to 1S6S, was made by Dr. Schur of Strasburg, while 

 with eight years later measures, the elements were rigorously 

 investigated by M. Tisserand in a memoir published by the 

 Academy of Sciences of Toulouse. If Dr. Doberck in the 

 course of his skilful and elaborate researches on the motion of 

 the binaries his given attention to this star, his results have 

 escaped our notice, but we subjoin the orbits deduced by Dr, 

 Schur and M, Tisserand : — 



Schuk. Tisserand. 



Periastron passage ... 1S08791 1809664 



Node 125 22' 127 22' 



Node to periastron ... 155° 44' 149 " 44' 



Inclination 57° 56' 6o° o' 



Excentricity 0^49149 0.472S7 



Semi-axis major 4^704 4" - 770 



Period of revolution ... 94370 years 94*929 years. 



In 1S79 the star was measured by Prof. Asaph Hall on five 

 nights with the 26-inch refractor at Washington, generally under 

 a magnifying power of 600 ; his epoch is — 



1879588 ... Position, 7i°'32 ... Distance, 2" - 93o 

 Comparing with Schur's elements we find — 



dP(c-o)= + s°-6i dT> = + o"726 



While the errors of Tisserand's orbit are — 



rfP = + 3°-oi dT> = + o"\497 



The question naturally arises, how is it that after the most 

 careful and complete determination of the orl>it, it happens that 

 in so short a time after the date of the latest measures employed 

 in the calculations, the star appears to bolt, so to say, from its 

 predicted course. 



There have been suspicions from time to time that perturba- 

 tion is indicated by the apparently anomalous differences between 

 observation and computation. Madler, discussing the elements 

 of the orbit in 1S42, when truly he had but a very limited and 

 comparatively imperfect series of measures at his command to 

 what we can now utilise, went so far as to doubt the efficiency 

 of the theory of gravitation to explain the motion of the compo- 

 nents of this double star, or at least he considered the question 

 reduced to one of two alternatives, which he thus presents : — 



(1) " The motion in this binary system does not follow the 

 Newtonian law." 



Or (2) "The middle point of the images which the stars 

 form to us is not the centre of gravity of the mas-es." 



And he recommended the star to close scrutiny with the most 

 powerful instruments, with the view to ascertain whether there 

 were any visible disturbing body. 



The existence of a third star was suggested by Jacob, to ex- 

 plain similar anomalies which he believed to have been indicated 

 by the measures, but Mr. Burnham, in 1878, examined 70 

 Ophiuchi with the l8J-inch Alvan Clarke refractor at Chicago 

 with only negative evidence : " Both stars were perfectly round, 

 with the highest powers on this occasion, . . . and no trace 

 of any third star near." Such had also been his previous 

 experience. 



It thus becomes all the the more desirable to ascertain how far 

 the suspected deviations from unperturbed motion may exist in 

 the observations themselves, and more attention might perhaps 

 be given with advantage to the investigation of personal equation 

 between the variou- observers, the elimination of the effect of 

 obliquity of direction of the components, or other cause which 

 could possibly affect the comparison of the separate results. The 

 evidence that such influences exist is pretty evident in the case of 

 this particular star. For instance if we compare the above orbits 

 with an epoch, only one year later than that of Prof. Hall, viz., 

 Jedrzejewicz's for iS8o'6s6, giving the position 62° - 82, distance 

 2"75, we get the following differences between calculation and 

 observation : — 



In Schur's orbit rfP= + lo°-8l ... tf"D=+o"72 



In Tisserand's orbit ... dP-+ fSS ... dD=+o"-Sl 

 Exhibiting an increase of errors in the course of a year which 

 cannot be wholly attributed to errors of elements depending 

 upon a long course of measures. 



Another circumstance connected with 70 Ophiuchi, which is 

 attended with some difficulty of explanation, may be mentioned 

 here. Prof. Hall, in addition to measuring the principal com- 



