Sept. 24, 1885 | 
pressed—the desire for salaries which has been so con- 
spicuous whenever professors have descanted on the merits 
of research. We have not the slightest obiection to 
scientific departments, and quite agree with Sir Lyon 
Playfair that if the State wants fishes it could learn how 
to get them better by inquiring of the fishes—who, at 
least, tell no lies—than of the fishermen, who often 
do ; but still the picture he draws of the United States 
Government, with its dozen departments of inquiry into 
geology, paleontology, ichthyology, chemistry, and the 
rest, does not inspire us with enthusiasm. It is all very 
excellent, no doubt ; but it wasall consistent with slavery. 
France may be handed over to Paul Berts and its judges 
still take bribes.” 
The Glasgow Herald pronounces Sir Lyon Playfair’s 
address a signal success. Those pedantic persons who 
fail to see the uses of science might find in the address an 
admirable lesson against the perpetual sneering at what 
they are pleased to term the abstractions of scientific 
teaching. Sir Lyon, in a word, has emphasised the 
teaching that the safety and the progress of every country 
are one with scientific advance and the growth of scientific 
precision. 
On the whole, then, it may be pronounced that the 
movement in favour of State aid to science, in the interest 
of the State itself rather than of any particular branch of 
human knowledge, has advanced and has taken a hold of 
the public mind. The need is universally acknowledged ; 
in many quarters it is proposed to meet it by the applica- 
tion of endowments, ancient and modern, to the changed 
requirements of the present day; in others—and these 
amongst the influential—it is boldly declared that the 
State must link itself, at whatever cost, with science if 
this country is to hold its high place amongst nations 
“The same considerations by which State interference 
has been justified elsewhere—its greater certainty, its 
ampler resources, its wider range—are all equally applic- 
able here, and will come to be equally applied.” 
LEDERER S: LO) DERE LDLLOR 
[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 
by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, 
or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts. 
No notice ts taken of anonymous communications. 
[The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their letters 
as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 
that it is impossible otherwise to insure the appearance even 
of communications containing interesting and novel facts.) 
The New Star in Andromeda 
ON seeing the report in yesterday's Standard of the remark- 
able change in the nucleus of the nebula of Andromeda, I 
decided to write to you to mention that, accidentally noticing 
the nebula on Sunday evening, the 6th, I was struck by its 
conspicuousness, and set wondering how the ancients came to 
overlook an object so prominent. As frequent watching for 
meteors has made that region very familiar to me, it seems 
likely that an increase in general brightness has occurred, and 
made me specially notice its appearance. 
What is of far more interest, however, I have learnt this 
morning that one of our scholars, Lawrence Richardson, noted 
and vecorded an apparent change in the nebula, as he saw it in our 
4% inch Cooke’s refractor, about 9 p.m. September 1. I append 
a verbatim copy from his diary of what is perhaps the first 
English observation of this remarkable phenomenon. 
J. EDMUND CLARK 
Friends’ School, Bootham, York, September 9 
(Copy) ‘Sept. 1... As a beginning [of the season’s work] 
looked at Polaris, e Lyre and the great nebula of Andromeda. 
Noticed a small star in the centre of the latter which I do: not 
NATORE 
499 
remember having seen before, and which is not down in a small 
drawing I made on September 15, 1884. 
Norwegian Testimony to the Aurora-Souni 
How widespreid in our days is the belief in the sound of 
the Aurora in Norway, the following may show. In March, 
1885, I despatched some thousand circulars to all parts of the 
country containing different queries regarding the aurora, and 
amongst these also the following :—Have you or your acquaint- 
ances ever heard any sound during aurora, and, in this case, 
when and in what manner? Up to this date I have received 
answers to these queries from 144 persons in different parts of 
the country. Of these there are not less than 92, or 64 per 
cent., who believe in the existence of the aurora-sound, and 53 
(36 per cent.) of these again state they have heard it themselves, 
whilst the other 39 cite testimonials from other people ; only 21 
(15 per cent.) declare they never have heard the sound or know 
anything about it, and the other 31 (22 per cent.) have not 
noticed the query at all. 
21 negations. 
There are thus 92 affirmations against 
The sound is described in these answers in the following 
manner :— 
Sizzling (3) 
Creaking or sizzling 
An intermediate sound between 
sizzling and whizzing, some- 
times as if a piece of paper 
were torn 
A kind of sound as when you 
tear silk 
Sizzling, th—ss 
Soft whizzing, alternative with 
sizzling 
Soft crackling, sizzling 
Hissing and crackling : 
Partly hissing, partly as a kind 
of rushing whiz 
Whispering and glistering 
Strong whiz (3) 
Whiz or whispering 
Whiz, or distant, soft, continu- 
ous whizzing 
Arather heavy rush, as from a 
distant waterfall 
Quiet whizzing, hissing 
Hissing, or hoy ! hoy ! hoy! 
Whiz (2) 
Rush, as from a stream 
Soft but distant crackling, as 
from a lighted match-cord 
Whizzing (5) 
Whizzing in the air 
Rush, as when sheep are chased 
Soft whiz or hissing 
Soft whiz 
Soft hissing, soft whiz 
Whizzing or whistling 
Rippling 
Crackling (4) 
Hissing 
Hissing noise in the air 
Crack in the air 
Din in the air 
Continuous sounding, rolling 
din in the air 
Clashing 
Flapping, as a flag before the 
wind 
Partly as rustling or flapping 
of sails hanging loose fore the 
wind, partly as hissing from 
fire 
Like the noise from a distant, 
before the wind-flapping flag, 
which now and then sends 
out a creaking sound 
Like the sound from sails of a 
ship hanging loose in stormy 
weather 
Monotonous whizzing and 
creaking, as when a sheet 
flaps before the wind 
Like burning juniper-boughs 
Brustling or crackling as if 
burning juniper 
As from a feeble burning flame 
Like burning dried juniper 
As from the flames of a con- 
flagration 
Cutting, hissing as from flames 
Crackling and creaking, a noise 
as from a large fire-flame— 
as, for instance, burning dried 
boughs 
Like the sound from a flight of 
birds 
Noise as when a bird flaps in 
the air 
Strong flapping noise, as when 
a bird passes very near you 
Crackling from fire and flapping 
from wings 
As of a bird flying through 
the air with great velocity 
Whizzing noise, as when strik- 
ing the air with a whip 
Noise as from the dart of an 
arrow 
Like the buzzing of a bee 
Roaring noise, as when strong 
gushes of wind dart through 
the tree tops of the wood 
Creaking sound as from the 
blowing of the wind 
Distant roar, as from a storm 
Roaring as from a storm 
Roaring as from a whirlwind 
As from a soft-blowing wind 
Soft breeze 
Like the soft breeze through a 
wood 
Whipping with whisk-brooms 
Fanning 
Soft noise, as when fanning 
with a piece of paper from 
a distance 
Soft flapping with a piece of 
cloth 
Roaring of the sea 
Heavy, hollow roar from the 
sea 
Sweeping sound, as when dry 
snow is sweeping over an 
ice-field 
As when one holds a cloth by 
two corners and flaps with it 
