Hutchins and Holden — Elements in the Sun. 451 



ification, if it has any value whatever, is merely a generalized 

 expression of the facts of observation, and is outside the do- 

 minion of the voter. If it comprises all the essential facts, its 

 sufficiency will eventually be recognized, whether its author- 

 ity is individual or collective. If it does not comprise them, 

 it will inevitably be superseded, by whatever authority it may 

 have been instituted. For this reason I am opposed to the 

 classification by the congress of the sedimentary formations, 

 and likewise to the classification of the volcanic rocks, and I 

 also regard it as ill-advised that the congress undertook the 

 preparation of a map of Europe, for that — if more than a work 

 of compilation — is a work of classification. 



If we examine the other undertakings of the congress — the 

 definition and gradation of taxonomic terms, the systematiza- 

 tion of terminations, the selection of a scale of colors for geo- 

 logic maps, and the selection of other conventional signs for the 

 graphic expression of geologic phenomena — we find that they 

 all belong to the means of intercommunication of geologists. 

 They affect only the verbal and graphic technical language of 

 the science. Of the same nature is the arbitrary time scale 

 whose preparation I favor, — a conventional terminology for the 

 facts of correlation. So we may say in general, that the proper 

 function of the congress is the establishment of common means 

 of expressing the facts of geology. It should not meddle with 

 the facts themselves. It may regulate the art of the geologist, 

 but it must not attempt to regulate his science. Its proper 

 field of work lies in the determination of questions of tech- 

 nology; it is a trespasser if it undertakes the determination of 

 questions of science. It may decree terms, but it must not 

 decree opinions. 



Art. XLIX. — On the Existence of certain Elements, together 

 with the discovery of Platinum, in the sun. Contributions from 

 the Physical Laboratory of Harvard University ; by C. C. 

 Hutchins and E. L. Holden. 



[From the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xxiii.] 



Late in the fall of 1886 it was decided by the writers, who 

 were then at work in the Physical Laboratory of Harvard Uni- 

 versity, to attempt a revision of some of the previous work in 

 regard to the chemical constitution of the sun, as well as to> 

 discover, if possible, new facts bearing on the same subject. 

 For the purpose of this investigation a magnificent diffraction 

 grating, made by Professor Rowland of Baltimore, was kindly 



Am. Joub. Sci— Third Seeies, Voi-. XXXIV, No. 204.— Dec, 1887. 

 30 



