8 



SCIENCE. 



was known to come from sonorous bodies, and light was 

 known to come from luminous bodies. This was a rela- 

 tion — but a relation of the vaguest and most • general 

 kind. As compared with this vague relation the new re- 

 lation under which we know them is knowledge of a more 

 definite and of a higher kind. Light and Sound we now 

 know to be words or ideas representing not merely any one 

 thing or any two things, but especially a relation of adjust- 

 ment between a number of things. In this adjustment 

 Light and Sound, as known to sense do "in themselves " 

 consist. Sound becomes known to us as the attunement be- 

 tween certain aerial pulsations and the auditory apparatus. 

 Light becomes known to us as a similar or analogous at- 

 tunement between the ethereal pulsations and the optic 

 apparatus. Sound in this sense is not the aerial waves "in 

 themselves," but in their relation to the ear. Light is not 

 the ethereal undulations " in themselves," but in their rela- 

 tion to the eye. 



It is only when these come into contact with a pre-ar- 

 ranged machinery that they become what we know and 

 speak of as Light and Sound. This conception, therefore, 

 is found to represent and express a pure relation ; and it is 

 a conception higher than the one we had before, not because 

 it is either less or more relative, but because its relativity 

 is to a higher faculty of the intellect or the understand- 

 ing. 



And, indeed, when we come to think of it, we see that all 

 kinds of knowledge must take their place and rank accord- 

 ing to this order of precedence. For, as all knowledge con- 

 sists in the establishment of relations between external 

 facts and the various faculties of the mind, the highest 

 knowledge must always be that in which such relations are 

 established with those intellectual powers which are of the 

 highest kind. Hence we have a strictly scientific basis of 

 classification for arranging the three great subjects of all 

 human inquiry — the What, the How, and the Whence or 

 Why. These are steps in an ascending series. What things 

 are, how they come to be, and for what purpose they are in- 

 tended in the whole system of Nature — these are the ques- 

 tions, each rising above the other, which correspond to the 

 order and the rank of our own faculties in the value and im- 

 portance of their work. 



It is the result of this analysis to establish that, even if it 

 were true that there could be anything in the Universe ex- 

 isting out of relation with other things around it, or if it 

 were conceivable that there could be any knowledge of things 

 as they so exist, it would be no higher knowledge, but in- 

 finitely lower knowledge than that which we actually pos- 

 sess. It could at the best be only knowledge of the " What," 

 and that, too, in the lowest conceivable form — knowledge 

 of the barest, driest, nakedest existence, without value or 

 significance of any kind. And further, it results from the 

 same analysis that the relativity of human knowledge, in- 

 stead of casting any doubt upon its authenticity, is the very 

 characteristic which guarantees its reality and its truth. It 

 results further, that the depth and completeness of that 

 knowledge depends on the degree in which it brings the 

 facts of Nature into relation with the highest faculties of 

 Mind. 



It must be so if Man is part of the great system of things 

 in which he lives. It must be so, especially if in being part 

 of it, he is also the highest visible part of it— the product 

 of its "laws" (as regards his own little corner of the 

 Universe) the consummation of its history. 



Nor can there beany doubt as to what are the supreme 

 faculties of the human mind. The power of initiating 

 changes in the order of Nature, and of shaping them from 

 the highest motives to the noblest ends — this, in general 

 terms, maybe said to include or to involve them all. They 

 are based upon the ultimate and irresolvable power of Will, 

 witli such freedom as belongs to it ; upon the faculty of 

 understanding the use of means to ends, and upon the 

 Moral Sense which recognizes the law of righteousness 

 and the ultimate Authority on which it rests. If the 

 Universe or any part of it is ever to be really under- 

 stood by us — if anything in the nature of an explanation 

 is ever to be reached concerning the system of things in 

 which we live, these are the perceptive powers to which 

 the information must be given — these are the faculties to 

 which tli e explanation must be addressed. When we de- 

 desirc to know the nature of things "in themselves," we 



desire to know the highest of their relations which are con- 

 ceivable to us : we desire, in the words of Bishop Butler, 

 to know "the Author, the cause and the end of them." 



ASTRONOMY. 



ELEMENTS OF SWIFT'S COMET. 



Computed by Professor E. Frisby, U. S. Naval Observa- 

 tory, Washington. 



| Communicated by Rear Admiral John Ro J gcrs, U. S. Navy, Superin- 

 tendent.] 



To the Editor of Science : 



The following elements of Swift's comet have been com- 

 puted by Professor Frisby from three observations made 

 with the Transit Circle at Washington by Professor 

 Eastman on the nights of October 25th, November 7th 

 and 20th, with these results. No assumptions about any 

 periodic time have been made. 



Epoch — Perihelion passage. 

 November 777568d, Wash. M. T. 



ft= 296 48' 19". 9 ' 



T= 42 59 15 .8 

 <t>= 42 26 48 .5 



«'= 5 30 35 -9 

 log «= o .517002 



2". 774504 



Mean equinox 1880.0 



The comet approached very near to the Earth on No- 

 vember 20th, its distance being less than |th of the Sun's 

 distance. We have for the dates given : 



log r log A 



October 25 0.035328 9.221510 



November 7 0.029018 9.141693 



20 0.034558 9. 1 19295 



Its perihelion distance thus appears to be a little greater 

 than the distance of the Earth ; and its aphelion lies 

 just beyond Jupiter's orbit. The periodic time from 

 these observations being about 2i78d., or a little less 

 than 6 years, there can be no doubt that the preiodic 

 time of about 5^ years is the correct one. 



U. S. Naval Observatory, Washington, D. C, 

 January 6, 1881. 



The Solar Eclipse. — The last contact of the par- 

 tial solar eclipse on the morning of December 31, 1880, 

 was seen at Harvard College Observatory under quite 

 favorable circumstances. The mean of six observations 

 by as many different observers gives : 



Last contact, December 30, 2th. 13m. 3s. Cambridge 

 Mean Time. 



At the United States Naval Observatory the last con- 

 tact was observed by Prof. Hall, with a comet seeker of 

 4in. aperture and magnifying power of 19 diameters, as 

 follows : 



Last contact, December 30, 2oh. 32.T1. 36s. Washing- 

 ton Mean Time. Owing to the extremely low tempera- 

 ture (11 degrees below zero, P'ahr.) at Washington, the 

 images were very poor and the observation somewhat 

 uncertain. W. C. W. 



NEW YORK MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting for the selection of officers for the 

 yeari88i, took place on the 31st ultimo, when the follow- 

 ing officers were elected : President, Romyn Hitchcock ; 

 Vice-President, E. C. Bogart ; Recording Secretary, W. 

 II. Mead ; Corresponding Secretary, Benjamin Braman ; 

 Treasurer, W. C. Hubbard ; Curator, Dr. Deems. 



This Society will shortly give a public conversazione, 

 when a variety of interesting objects will be exhibited, 

 and an opportunity afforded to Microscopists to examine 

 many new forms of Microscope stands which have been 

 recently produced. Those who desire to assist or be 

 present on this occasion should address Professor Romyn 

 Hitchcock, 53 Maiden Lane, N. Y. 



