September 21, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



449 



his scheme, imparts a velocity V to mankind, 

 M. ' ' Human energy will then be given (measured) 

 by the product A MV% in which M is the total mass 

 of man in the ordinary interpretation of the term 

 ' mass, ' and V is a certain hypothetical velocity 

 which, in the present state of science, we are unable 

 exactly to define and determine." How learned 

 all this looks ! and how foolish it all is ! Man- 

 kind has a physical mass, no doubt. The en- 

 ergy of mankind is the sum of a million differ- 

 ent energies, of very different qualities as well 

 as of different amounts — spiritual as well as 

 physical. These different energies, being of 

 different kinds, cannot be expressed by a single 

 term. Mr. Tesla's algebraic formula is mere 

 solemn rubbish. It has absolutely no meaning. 



There are three ways of increasing human 

 energy, Mr. Tesla says : I. To increase the 

 mass and energy of mankind more children 

 must be born, fewer individuals must die, and 

 the children must be of ' higher velocity ' than 

 the parents (and velocity Mr. Tesla takes as 

 exactly equivalent to enlightenment). Here 

 Mr. Tesla pauses to discourage college athletics, 

 and to say that although whisky, tea and to- 

 bacco shorten human life, yet he does not think 

 that vigorous measures should be taken to sup- 

 press the habits of using them. On the con- 

 trary he would leave whisky alone, and im- 

 prove the quality of drinking water. ' Gamb- 

 ling, business-rush, excitement * * * uncleanli- 

 ness * * * laxity of morals * * * the society- 

 life, modern education and the pursuits of women ' 

 and other matters tend to diminish the mass of 

 mankind, but want of food is the chief cause. 



Cattle are food of ' low velocity ' (enlighten- 

 ment) Mr. Tesla says, and he does not ap- 

 prove of raising cattle, therefore. ' It is 

 certainly preferable to raise vegetables. ' Here he 

 has forgotten his basic principle, unless, indeed, 

 he is prepared to prove that turnips are food of 

 'high velocity,' i. e., enlightenment. Here, 

 again, as in the case of rhythmic motion, he no 

 sooner lays down a principle than he abandons 

 or neglects it for something quite different. 

 However his vote is for vegetables, and more 

 are wanted. To fertilize the soil more nitrogen 

 is needed. He has an electric method for ob- 

 taining nitrogen from the atmosphere (so has 

 Sir William Crookes) and the world's food sup- 



ply is safe. All this is very well known. There 

 is nothing new about it except the solemn man- 

 ner in which it is said. 



II. The second point is to reduce the force 

 that retards the human mass. This force is 

 a compound of ignorance, stupidity, imbecil- 

 ity, insanity, religious fanaticism, etc. It is 

 not so simple then as Mr. Tesla's 'force i2' 

 with which he began. Warfare is a retard- 

 ing force but Mr. Tesla thinks it will be with 

 us for some time yet, and indulges in a short 

 excursion on flying-machines. " TAe flying- 

 machine is certainly coming and very soon. I see 

 no reason why a ruling power like Great Brit- 

 ain might not govern the air as well as the sea. I 

 do not hesitate to say that the next years will see 

 the establishment of an ' air-power, ' and its center 

 may not be far from New York ' ' (possibly in Mr. 

 Tesla's laboratory?). After a couple of pages 

 devoted to warfare, harbor-defense, flying-ma- 

 chines, foreign invasion, international agree- 

 ments, eternal justice, prehistoric man and his 

 weapons, Mr. Tesla concludes that future battles 

 will be decided by matching one complicated 

 machine (say British) against another (say Rus- 

 sian). 



' ' Machines will meet in a contest without blood- 

 shed, the Nations being simply interested, ambitious 

 spectators. When this happy condition is realized 

 peace will be assured." "Bloodshed," Mr. Tesla 

 thinks, " will ever keep Jip barbarous passions." 

 Hence we must 'produce a machine capable of 

 acting as though it were a part of a human being. ' 

 Such a machine may be destroyed but no blood 

 will flow. Mr. Tesla has not yet produced a 

 machine of the sortbut he means to do it. 



He tells us that as a boy he noticed that 

 whatever he thought of he saw. He visual- 

 ized words in his mind. By attention he dis- 

 covered that every occurrence in his mind was 

 suggested by some previous outside occurrence 

 or object. Hence, he was not a free agent, but 

 played upon by his environment. He was the 

 sport of the universe — an automaton. "I have 

 demonstrated, to my absolute satisfaction, that I 

 am an automaton endowed with power of movement 

 which merely responds to'^external stimuli beating 

 on its sense-organs, and thinks and acts and moves 

 accordingly." He maybe an automaton; but 

 if he thinks that the foregoing argument proves 



