47 8 



NATURE 



[October 12, 191 1 



II). idea thai some physical truth underlies Bode's 

 empirical law seems to persist in these addresses, and 

 we could hope that there lies the germ of Darwin's 

 attack on Ihe problems of cosmogony. We 

 naturally cannot agree with all the statements made 

 in what are essentially popular addresses, and wc 

 signal as one instance of doubtful reasoning the refer- 

 ■10 a condensing ring on p. 537. The effect of a 

 mobile central nucleus inside the ring seems to be left 

 out of account. 



Among the miscellaneous papers we select first for 

 mention those dealing with mechanical designs, where 

 the collaboration of the author's brother, Horace Dar- 

 win, is again suggestive of later developments; the 

 sandthrust and ripple experiments also give evidence 

 of a side of Darwin's nature not suspected from a 

 casual knowledge of his work. It was with some- 

 thing of a start that the writer found in "A Geo- 

 metrical Puzzle " a note (dated 1877) referring to an 

 old puzzle which has only recently had a return of 

 popularity. The papers on " Marriages between First 

 Cousins and their Effects " form an appendix which 

 is still of considerable interest to the biological statis- 

 tician. But if we may judge from the preface the 

 paper to which Darwin would ascribe the greatest 

 value himself is the one on "The Mechanical Condi- 

 tions of a Swarm of Meteorites." The author notes 

 that the paper has received but little notice, and the 

 reason for this does not seem far to seek. The seat 

 of the controversy has moved away from the point to 

 which the investigation was directed, as is indeed 

 clear from Darwin's own addresses referred to above. 

 The assumptions of a spherical distribution do not 

 apply to a spiral nebula— which has become of recent 

 years the chief source of speculative interest. Lastly, 

 we must mention the paper on the Antarctic tides. It 

 is curious to compare Darwin's forecast of a great 

 unsuspected bay in the Antarctic with Harris's fore- 

 cast of a large piece of undiscovered land in the 

 Arctic Ocean. Both suggestions have been based on 

 tidal observations, supported to some extent by rival 

 theories. Both are open to proof or disproof through 

 subsequent voyages of exploration. 



We have left until last the English text of the 

 important article, " Bewegung der Hydrosphare," in 

 the " Encyklopadie der Mathematischen Wissen- 

 schaften." Here again Mr. Hough has collaborated 

 and added a lucid discussion of the dynamical theory 

 of the tides. The practical application ol the theory 

 by the harmonic and synthetic methods are fully dis- 

 cussed, though the treatment is somewhat too con- 

 densed for the average reader. A useful bibliography 

 and schedule of the symbols in common use is added 

 and an account of many miscellaneous investigations' 

 such as the Bidston tidal-load experiments. It is 

 perhaps disappointing to gather that we cannot yet 

 with any confidence make any wide generalisations as 

 H> the nature of the tide- wave in the open ocean. 

 Bui in each unsolved problem lies the charm of the 

 unknown, the fascination which lures the born re- 

 searcher on to investigation alter investigation. That 

 ge Darwin by right of descent and by natural 

 aptitude is one who must pursue the search in the 

 unknown is amply testified in his collected works 

 NO. 2189, VOL. 87] 



That he has pursued his investigations in the right 

 spirit his own words testify. 



" Man is but a microscopic being relative to astro- 

 nomical space, and he lives on a puny planet circling 

 rounda star of inferior rank. Does it not then seem 

 as futile that he can discover the origin and tendency 

 of the universe as to expect a house-fly to instruct 

 us as to the theory of the motions of the planets? 

 And yet, so long as he shall last, he will pursue his 

 search, and will no doubt discover many wonderful 

 things which are still hidden. We may indeed be 

 amazed at all that man has been able to find out, 

 but the immeasurable magnitude of the undiscovered 

 will throughout all time remain to humble his pride. 

 Our children's children will still be gazing and 

 marvelling at the starry heavens, but the riddle will 

 never be read." 



THE SCIENCE OF MODERN ARTILLERY. 

 Modern Artillery in the Field: a Description of the 



Artillery of the Field Army, and the Principles and 



Methods of its Employment. By Colonel H. A. 



Bethell. Pp. ix + 393. (London: Macmillan and 



Co., Ltd., 1911.) Price 75. 6d. net. 

 HP HIS book is a welcome sign that the country is 



A beginning to wake up to the importance of the 

 study of artillery science, in which we see such 

 superior interest everywhere abroad. 



The territorial is very keen to make himself 

 acquainted with the science of his arm ; and in the 

 absence of official financial support this treatise of 

 Colonel Bethell will prove useful to make him with- 

 out practice into the theoretical gunner, contrasted 

 with the regular gunner, practical man without prac- 

 tice. 



In opposition with what can be seen on the Con- 

 tinent, here in this country we have no practice ranges 

 for artillery — Champs de Tir, so plentiful in France. 

 We shall have to trust to territorial enthusiasm in 

 antagonism to official neglect for providing at pri- 

 vate expense the best amateur substitutes possible, 

 which the regular gunner will be glad to utilise on 

 an emergency when once a system is started ; he too 

 is starved in practice to an equal extent. 



The retired general officer is not forgotten — land- 

 owner and on a pension, who at the end of the 

 last century was so decided in his refusal to give any 

 facility to volunteer rifle shooting; but soon was 

 sorry he had been so outspoken, when the bad news 

 came streaming home from South Africa shortly 

 after. 



Modern artillery has been revolutionised by the 

 introduction of the quick-fire (Q.-F.) gun, described 

 with useful diagrams by Colonel Bethell ; but the 

 name should be changed to Q.-A. (quick-aim). 



By allowing the gun a long recoil of three or four 

 feel ovei the carriage, the reaction can be reduced 

 until the wheels do not jump off the ground; 

 the carriage remains still, so that a slight adjust- 

 ment only is required for the next shot. 



Without this Q.-A. arrangement the Q.-F. prinJ 



ciple cannot be utilised; and one of these guns is a 



match for six of the type we used in South Africa. 1 



The gunner who fires the gun is still called by 



official misnomer the "layer"; but he does 



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