SCIENCE. 



143 



here sought to be made prominent, that relating to the 

 evolution of heat. Heat cannot come of itself ; some 

 other mode of energy must precede it. Suppose all matter 

 in existence to be dissociated, resolved to gas so attenuated 

 that no two atoms touch. It would have " potency " 

 for future development of every form of force, but at that 

 time only one would be in existence — gravity. It could 

 reign supreme only for an instant ; obeying the law, it 

 would suffer " conservation," and give rise to motion. 



Hence, motion is the second mode of energy, and all 

 the heat that ever existed came later. The only sources 

 of heat known are motion and chemical action, itself a 

 most rapid motion. Gravity caused the movement of 

 original atoms, bringing them near enough to be within 

 the influence of affinity, which acting, conserved heat, 

 the fourth form of force awakened in the evolution of 

 atoms hitherto separated. Or a little heat might have 

 been derived from collision of atoms not having affinity; 

 in either case heat had antecedent forces. Heat is not a 

 primal affection of matter, but secondary; being always 

 preceded by gravity and motion. And molecules must 

 be separated by space in order that gravity can cause 

 motion to appear and vanish in heat. It is not conceivable 

 that primordial dissociated matter should have obeyed any 

 impulse at first, save gravity, then motion, then Chemism, 

 then heat and subsequently all other states of force. 



The Nebular Hypothesis seeks to account for the evolu- 

 tion of all solar systems from primordial dissociated mat- 

 ter, requiring as Helmholtz says : " Several cubic miles to 

 weigh a single grain." Nearly all physicists accept this 

 theory, and admit that all existing matter was once in 

 this condition of gas. It seems, by reason of known 

 laws of matter, to be true. Thus, no two atoms coalesced ; 

 they were as far apart in proportion to their diameters, as 

 the Sun and Polaris. No ascertained law of nature dis- 

 putes this theory ; and within limits of human knowledge, 

 it must be so. Matter dissociated is in its most primitive 

 condition ; and nature begins in simplicity and develops 

 complexity. Matter in fluid states is complex, and shows 

 itself to have been wrought by force. All analogy points 

 to the fact that at one time in the history of matter, its 

 atoms were entirely separated ; in which condition no 

 force whatever save gravity was in existence to act 

 thereon. 



Yet, strange to say, some advocates of the nebular 

 theory teach that this rare gas was intensely hot ! They 

 call it " fire mist, 1 " and aver that it was hotter than the 

 sun is now ! We read 2 ; "There was a time when the 

 materials composing it (the Universe), were masses of 

 glowing vapor," and "we find that the further we go 

 back into time the hotter the sun must have been. Since 

 we know that heat expands all bodies, it follows that the 

 sun must have been larger in past ages than it is now, 

 and we can trace back this increase in size without limit. 

 Thus we are led to the conclusion that there must have 

 been a time when the sun filled up the space now occupied 

 by the planets, and must have been a very rare mass of 

 glowing vapor. " True, the materials of the sun extended 

 into a ball of gas thousands of millions of miles in diam- 

 eter, far lighter than hydrogen ; but the gas was intensely 

 cold. No law of matter or force known to man ; nor any 

 analogy in nature leads to the conclusion that the primi- 

 tive cosmical sphere of atoms was hot. It was cold and 

 dark, neither chemism, heat, or light appeared untd gravity 

 made conservation in motion, making chemical action 

 possible. Affinity must have been slow at first, so that 

 heat could not have appeared until after ages of chemical 

 and molecular activity had expired, and heated fluid nu- 

 clei begun to condense and shine. The original cosmical 

 mass was as dark, cold and silent as interstellar space is 

 now, and " fire mist " never had a place in nature. If the 



1 Winchell's Geology of the Stars. 



2 Newcomb and Holden's Astronomy, p. 494. 



primeval "glowing vapor " ever existed, then the great- 

 est monument ever reared by man, the "Law of Inter- 

 action of Force " falls crumbling to final ruin. 



Edgar L. Larkin. 

 New Windsor Observatory, 111., March 21, 1881. 



NOTES. 



Solution of Starch. — Zulkowsky proposes to make 

 starch perfectly soluble in water by heating it to 190 C. 

 along with glycerine. This process is most successful 

 with potato-starch, less so with wheat-starch, and very 

 difficult with rice-starch. 



Salicylic Acid in Textile Manufactures. — Dr. F. von 

 Heydon recommends salicylic acid to be applied in dilute 

 solution to woollen yarns, and to be mixed with sizes to 

 prevent mildew, unpleasant smells, &c. Five grms. acid 

 are sufficient for a litre of size. 



Action of Hydrochloric Acid upon Metallic Chlo- 

 rides. — The chlorides which are rendered more soluble by 

 hydrochloric acid are divided into two groups ; the one 

 (e.g., mercuric chloride) exceedingly soluble in the concen- 

 trated acid form with it crystalline compounds ; the other 

 {e.g., silver chloride) very sparingly soluble, even when 

 heated, yield on cooling the chloride considered as anhy- 

 drous. — A. Ditte. 



Action of Caustic Lime upon Pure Solutions of 

 Sugar and Raw Beet-Juice. — If free alkalies or alkaline 

 earths are added to a solution of sugar the rotation which 

 sugar occasions in polarized light decreases, and is restored 

 on neutralizing the alkaline liquid with acetic acid. — F. 

 Desor. 



New Studies on the Part Played by Bone-Black in 

 the Sugar Manufacture. — Free lime is almost entirely 

 absorbed by bone-black. Salts of lime and potash are also 

 absorbed to a certain extent. Potash and lime, the latter 

 in saline form, promote each other's absorption. — H. Pel- 

 let. 



Chemical Change of Starch on Exposure to Steam 

 at a High Pressure. — A heat of 140° to 150 , and conse- 

 quent pressure of 3^ to 4^ atmospheres convert 71 per 

 cent, of starch into glucose. Dr. M. Stumpf considers that 

 with the aid of 1 to 2 parts of acid per thousand saccharifi- 

 cation may be carried so far as to render the use of malt 

 unnecessary. 



Decomposition of Salts by Liquids, — The laws of 

 dissociatian by heat, applicable to the decomposition of 

 salts by pure water and saline acid solutions, apply also to 

 decomposition by alcohols. — A. Ditte. 



Influence of the Soil upon the Tannin of Oak 

 Bark. — A comparison was made between the bark of 

 young oaks grown respectively upon sandy loams, upon 

 peaty soil which had been once burnt, and upon a similar 

 soil thrice burnt. The proportion of tannin was found 

 higher in case of the peaty soils. — M. Fleischer. 



Influence of Manures on the Appearance of Dis- 

 ease and tIie Proportion of Starch in Potatoes. — 

 Three plots dressed with stable manure showed 6, 6, and 5 

 per cent, of diseased tubers. Plots where superphosphate 

 and small quantities of ammoniacal superphosphate were 

 used did not increase the percentage, but with larger pro- 

 portions of the latter it rose to 8 per cent. Chili saltpetre 

 was attended by a proportion of 11 percent., and when 

 used as a top-dressing 12 per cent. — M. Marcker. 



Influence of Borax on the Decomposition of Al- 

 bumen in the Animal Organism. — The ingestion of borax 

 is found to increase the decomposition of albumen. — M. 

 Gruber. 



Titration of Bismuth Subnitrate. — This process is 

 based upon the facts that as to 9 9074 grm. of monohydrated 

 sulphuric acid correspond to 1 grm. anhydrous nitric acid 

 these two weights of acids will require the same quantity of 

 alkali for exact saturation, and that bismuth subnitrate is 

 capable of yielding all its nitric acid to an excess of alkali 

 on boiling. — E. Baudrimont. 



