230 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No 429 



SCIENCE: 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES 



PUBLISHED BY 



N. D. C. HODGES. 



47 Lafayette Place, New York. 



Subscriptions.— United States and Canada $3.50 a year. 



Great Britain and Europe 4.50 a year. 



Communications will be welcomed from any quarter. Abstracts of scientific 

 papers are solicited, and twenty copies of the issue containing such will be 

 mailed the author on request in advance. Rejected manuscripts will be 

 returned to the authors only when the requisite amount of postage accom- 

 panies the manuscript. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenti- 

 oated by the name and address of the writer; not necessarily for publication, 

 but as a guaranty of good faith. We do not hold ourselves responsible for 

 any view or opinions expressed in the communications of oar correspondents. 



Attention is called to the "Wants" column. A]l are invited to use it in 

 soliciting information or seeking new positions. The name and address of 

 applicants should be given in full, so that answers will go direct to them. The 

 *' Exchange " column is likewise open. 



THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WAVE THEORY. 



At brief intervals of time the scientific world is startled by 

 the announcement that some one of its favorite and sup- 

 posed permanent and well-established theories in science is 

 annihilated by a new genius in the field of research. On 

 investig'ation, however, it lias thus far invariably proved 

 that the supposed iconoclast is sligiitly in error; and the 

 theory usually stands firmly until another bold martyr ap- 

 pears to shake but not to overthrow it. The last of these 

 brave but unknown and unknowing martyrs to science, as 

 we fear, may be found quixotically attacking the wave the- 

 ory of sound in the columns of the Monthly Journal of the 

 British Society of Musicians, in the issues of March and 

 April. 



Mr. George Audsley supports the "substantial"' theory of 

 sound with courage, if not with knowledge and discretion, 

 and puts to flight such advocates of the old notion of vibra- 

 tion as Professor Tyndall in Britain and Professor Mayer in 

 America; at least, those gentlemen seem not to have re- 

 mained on the field of battle. Mr. Audsley points out the 

 fact that the stridulations of the locust affect the air for 

 miles around, remaining, audible even when reduced four 

 thousand millions of times, and takes this as ample and 

 positive proof of the folly of the accepted theory, a reductio 

 ad absurdum, in some sense, certainly, beyond the sus- 

 picion of a question. Unfortunately he has no exact meas- 

 urements and no accounts to give us of experimental 

 research to sustain his onslaught; but that fact seems to him 

 unimportant. 



Scientific authority in the United States conies to the sup- 

 port of Mr. Audsley also. "Professor" E. J. Drake, pre- 

 sumably an authority, and accomplished in experimental 

 investigation, — although we lament that we must confess 

 our ignorance on this subject, never having heard of these 

 " authorities '' at such meetings of the learned societies as 

 we have had the good fortune to attend, — gives Mr. Auds- 

 ley the benefit of his victory over Professor Tyndall, and the 

 "startling-" results of experiments at the Pennsylvania 

 Military Academy by Capt. Carter as related to Professor 

 Tyndall, without, unfortunately, convincing that hard- 

 headed "scientist." who replies only thus: "You may go 



to rest with the assurance that the wave theory of sound is 

 perfectly secure." 



Mr. Sedley Taylor ventures to mildly uphold the endan- 

 gered theory, however, and presents very admirably what 

 little can be said in favor of the sound-wave; but both he 

 and Tyndall, and presumably Mayer, are met by the some- 

 what intimidating accusation of "scientific cowardice," and, 

 it is feared, may be driven from the field, leaving the sound- 

 wave theory to stand as best it can. 



Nevertheless, every one studying the physical sciences 

 will be interested in learning who these bold soldiers of a 

 forlorn hope be, and what is the experimental evidence oa 

 which they rely. Trutb must in the end prevail; and it is 

 only necessary to secure experimental evidence of the new 

 ideas to insure their acceptance. Facts, not words, are 

 needed. What man of science of known ability and experi- 

 ence in research will bs the first to prove the material theory 

 of energy-transmission thr.ough elastic substance ? Messrs. 

 Audsley and Drake are with him, and will bravely claim for 

 him deserved honor. 



If we may venture the suggestion, however, to such able 

 and learned men as are engaged in this grand crusade, we 

 would modestly intimate the possibility that the trouble is 

 not so much with the wave or any o'.her "theory" as with 

 the facts; not that one or another explanation of the modus 

 operandi \s unsatisfactory, but that a minutu insect can, by 

 any natural process, shake such enormous masses. Is it 

 not, after all, a miracle which our bold crusaders have dis- 

 covered? 



UNIVERSITY EXTENSION. — HISTORY OF THE PHILA- 

 DELPHIA LOCAL MOVEMENT.' 



The success of the university extension movement in England 

 has been closely watched liy these iufcere^ted in higher education 

 in this country for a numVier of years; but, as the problems here 

 presented were in many re-pects radically different, there has 

 been a great feeling of liesiiancj anent the initiation of the work 

 in this country. 



Before any general movement was attempted, it seemed advisa- 

 ble that an experiment should he made in some one place, and a 

 thorougli lest had. To secure this end, an informal meeting was: 

 held in Philadelphia early in the spriusf of 1890, at the request of 

 the provost of the Univer-ity of Pennsj'lvania, to discuss the 

 feasibility of transplanting the English system. It was seen at 

 once that Philadelphia and its immeiliRte vicinity offered, as a 

 place in which to try the experiment, advantages possessed by no- 

 other. Here was a compact city made up of parts originally inde- 

 pendent, here were in close proximity not only flourishing suliurbs,. 

 but a large number of towns and villages; and last, but not by any 

 means ihe least important, in this field, there wei'e found more 

 inslitmions for higher education with which it would be possible 

 to CO operate than in any other section of the country. 



Immediately it was resolved to make the experiment, and the 

 first step was tlie organization of the society. The co-operatioo 

 of the teaching bodies in and adjacent to the fie'd was asked, and 

 it became evident from the beany responses received on all hands 

 that there would be sufficient teaching force availal^le for the 

 work. The next step was to invite the co-operation of existing 

 bodies interested in liberal culture. Again the hearty responses 

 received, in a measure foreshadowed the successful iuaugui-ation. 

 of the work. 



It was then resolved to send the secretary abroad to make a 

 study of the movement at its fountain head. During his sojourn 

 in England, he made a careful examination into the plans of 

 organization and method of work of the Cambridge Syndicate, the 

 Oxford Delegacy, the Victoria University, and 'I he London Soci- 

 ety for the E.^tension of University Teaching. Upon his return 



' From Bulletin No. 1 of the American Society for the Extensi'. n of Univer- 

 sity Teaching. 



