June 26, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



933 



that tides exist in the solid masses, which are 

 of a viscous and not an elastic character. If 

 tides are raised in a viscous body the pro- 

 tuberances are carried past the line joining 

 the centers of the bodies and the differential 

 pull on the protuberances acts as a brake on 

 the motions of the system. The resulting ef- 

 fect is to slow down the rate of rotation and 

 increase the distance between the two bodies. 

 The tidal theory of the evolution of the moon 

 depends chiefly on the assumption that such 

 tides exist in the earth. The results of this 

 experiment show that the earth-moon system 

 has not undergone the evolution supposed by 

 Darwin unless the interior conditions were 

 formerly vastly different from what they are 

 at present. 



Professor Moulton's calculations show that 

 if the ratio of the observed to the calculated 

 tides is taken as 0.70 and the acceleration of 

 phase as the mean of the E.-W. and N.-S., 

 i. e., 1.8 minutes, the mean rigidity of the 

 earth is about 8.6 X 10^^, and the viscosity is 

 10.9 X 10", in C.G.S. units. These are of the 

 order of magnitude of the rigidity and viscos- 

 ity of steel. These calculations assume that 

 the distortion decreases in geometrical pro- 

 gression as the time increases in arithmetical 

 progression, and that the substance of the 

 earth is homogeneous, a condition which does 

 not, of course, exist. We may say, however, 

 that the earth tides are approximately what 

 they would be if the earth, through and 

 through, had the properties of ordinary steel. 



It would be a matter of very great interest 

 to have similar series of observations taken at 

 various places on the earth. Professor 

 Chamberlin is very hopeful that the whole 

 problem of ocean tides, now so intricate and 

 apparently insolvable, may yield to investi- 

 gations conducted along lines which take ac- 

 count of the joint action of the water tide and 

 body tide. There can be no doubt, as he has 

 pointed out, that the tides in many places are 

 largely influenced by the rocking of the basins. 

 It would be necessary to conduct a number of 

 investigations like the one herein described in 

 different regions to give definite knowledge of 

 the facts as to the amount of the body tide, to- 



gether with an ample series of inspections of 

 the basins of the great water bodies. Pro- 

 fessor Chamberlin also believes that we 

 should have further investigations of this 

 kind on account of their bearing on vulcanism 

 and seismic disturbances. These phenomena 

 are almost certainly connected with the elastic 

 state and degree of rigidity of the earth-body 

 and of its different parts. 



It is Professor Michelson's intention to in- 

 stall an automatic recording device, and to 

 continue the observations at Terkes Observa- 

 tory by interference methods. A considerably 

 higher degree of precision is expected. 



Henry G. Gale 



The UNivERSirY of Chicago 



EDUAED SUESS 



Eduard Suess, dean of modern geology and 

 geologists, passed away on April 26, 1914, in 

 the fullness of his eighty-three years, revered 

 by all students of his chosen earth science and 

 loved by all who came under the influence of 

 his, warm personality. 



The son of a German merchant of Jewish 

 extraction, Suess was born in London on Au- 

 gust 20, 1831. Here his parents resided until 

 1834, when they removed to Prague, and 

 eleven years later to Vienna, where the youth 

 was destined to rise to great eminence in the 

 university, in the council of the city, and in 

 the Austrian parliament. Suess was born 

 and lived in an environment that made of him 

 a great linguist, and during a period of his 

 life it is said that he acquired a new language 

 each year. Certain it is that he was at home 

 in many tongues; and more than once, on re- 

 ceiving one of his characteristic letters, has 

 the writer noted the ease with which he ex- 

 pressed his thoughts in English. 



While in the Polytechnic School, it became 

 apparent that Suess's natural bent was wholly 

 toward natural history studies, and at nine- 

 teen years of age he published his first paper, 

 a short sketch of the geology of Carlsbad and 

 its mineral waters. In 1851 he was appointed 

 as assistant in the geological department of 

 the Royal Natural History Museum at Vienna, 

 where for the next eleven years he devoted 



