NATURE 



\March 25, 1880 



that this country is fast losing its old industrial supremacy 

 through sheer lack of the scientific knowledge which other 

 countries are turning to such practical account? But it 

 is not on these grounds we would urge the leading 

 scientific societies in our great provincial towns to follow 

 the admirable example set by Birmingham. Scientific 

 research, for its own s.ike, is a worthy and ennobling 

 pursuit, blessing those that give as well as those that 

 receive the funds for carrying it on, when these are given 

 in a generous spirit and with a discriminating hand. We 

 feel quite sure the Birmingham Philosophical Society 

 would have not only little difficulty in raising the modest 

 sum with which they have ventured to start, but that the 

 wealthy Birmingham manufacturers, and probably even 

 the Birmingham Corporation, will see it to be to their 

 best interests to make the fund a permanent one, and so 

 increase it as to produce wide and substantial results. 

 The example, it is to be hoped, will be followed by other 

 provincial towns, as Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, 

 and Glasgow, all of which have reputable philosophic or 

 other similar societies, plenty of money to spare, and 

 everything to gain and nothing to lose by such a wise 

 and noble use of it. 



May we not also hope that the example set by this 

 provincial Society will strengthen the weakness of knee 

 which, in the opinion of many, the Royal Society ha; 

 displayed in its administration of the fund which Govern- 

 ment has committed to its care for the endowment of 

 research ? At Birmingham the endowment becomes an 

 honour, and not an alms to be sued for on the "proper 

 form," and it is not frittered away so as to miss the 

 real object of the creation of the fund. That some 

 such fund is necessary seems to us clearly proved, if 

 further proof were needed, by the action of the Bir- 

 mingham Society; and the Royal Society will show itself 

 scarcely worthy of its position as the leading Society 

 of the kingdom and the only Society which demands 

 original research as a condition of admission, if through 

 feebleness or any false sense of dignity it should allow the 

 modest sum it now administers to lapse from its hands. 

 It need not fear that in administering this fund, and in 

 taking all the trouble that must be taken to do so wisely 

 and honestly, it sustains any loss of prestige. There are 

 certain things with which to meddle would certainly be 

 undignified on its part ; but in doing w : ork of this kind it 

 seems to us it is performing a proper function. 



Perhaps nothing would sooner convince our ignorant 

 and one-sided politicians of the reality of science, and of 

 the necessity for its national recognition than efforts 

 similar to that begun at Birmingham, carried out in all 

 our great industrial centres. In the somewhat humiliating 

 agitation now being carried on all over the country we 

 hear much from both sides of the country's highest 

 welfare ; and yet not a single statesman of them all ever 

 gives a hint that he knows what science really means, far 

 less what important national issues depend upon the 

 results of its cultivation. Let our great municipalities 

 take the matter up as Birmingham has done, and we are 

 confident that while much will thus be done for the pro- 

 motion of scientific research throughout the country, their 

 action will not be without its effect upon the Government. 

 For while such action in the provinces is in the highest 

 degree desirable and laudable, it is no more a substitute 



for the national recognition of science than municipal 

 government is a substitute for a central administration. 



Meantime the Birmingham Philosophical Society, what- 

 ever may be the final result of its enterprise, will be en- 

 titled to hold an honourable place in the annals of English 

 science. 



ECLIPSE OBSERVATIONS 

 Observations made during Total Solar Eclipses. Collated 

 by A. C. Ranyard, M.A., Sec. R.A.S. Memoirs of the 

 Royal Astronomical Society, vol. xli., 1879. 



THE idea of collecting different accounts of the same 

 eclipse, and breaking them up, so that all descrip- 

 tions of one and the same phenomenon should be found 

 side by side, first originated with the Astronomer-Royal, 

 who began to collect all accounts he could procure of the 

 eclipse of i860. As pressure of work prevented him from 

 carrying out his idea, Mr. Cowper Ranyard took it up at 

 his suggestion and gradually extended the plan, so as to 

 include all the more important physical observations 

 which have ever been recorded during total solar eclipses. 

 This enormous work has now been published in a volume 

 of nearly 800 pages, and there cannot be two opinions as 

 to its usefulness and value. It must, however, be borne 

 in mind that this is a mere work of compilation, and the 

 reader who expects to find a general and correct account 

 of the conclusions to be drawn from the observed pheno- 

 mena and the results which have actually been arrived 

 at, will be bewildered rather than instructed by the 

 perusal of the book. The volume is simply intended to 

 classify the observations which have been made, and not 

 to discuss them. A gooddiscussion is very much wanted, 

 but it could hardly have been made by a single man, and 

 certainly not without consulting the chief authorities on 

 the subject. It is of course impossible to avoid altogether 

 reference to theories which have been proposed, and their 

 comparison with observations for which they are supposed 

 to account, but Mr. Ranyard has acted in this respect 

 with commendable self-restraint, and whenever he departs 

 from his general rule, he only makes us feel how grateful 

 we ought to be to him, that he has not more often in- 

 dulged in such vague, confused, and unsatisfactory dis- 

 cussions as here and there disfigure the book. As it is, 

 it will not be difficult to draw a pen through all state- 

 ments involving debateable matters, and we shall then 

 have a volume which will do credit to its author and to 

 the Society which has published it. 



In order to gain an idea of the great variety of obser- 

 vations which are dealt with in the volume, we have only 

 to look over the table of contents. 



The first chapters contain accounts of phenomena of 

 minor importance, yet of considerable interest. Most of 

 these can also be observed in partial eclipses, such as the 

 occultation of sun-spots by the^moon, the darkness of the 

 moon compared to sun-spots, the fringe round the moon's 

 limb, &c. 



Chapter IX. contains an account of the remarkable 

 moving shadow-bands which have been observed just 

 before and after totality. There can be no doubt that 

 these shadows originate in our own atmosphere; but 

 whether the currents which give rise to them are pro- 

 duced by the chilling effect of the eclipse, or whether 



