438 



SCIENCE. 



HISTORIC NOTES OF COSMIC PHYSIOLOGY.* 



By Dr. T. Sterry Hunt. 



[Abstract.] 



The author began by insisting that genera! physiology, 

 as the philosophy of material nature, is co-extensive with 

 general physiography, in which sense it was employed by 

 the best writers up to the first year of this century. In 

 the abridgements of the Philosophical Transactions of the 

 Royal Society up to 1700, and lo 1720, the chief division 

 is into Mathematical and Physiological subjects, the 

 latter including the phenomena of the three kingdoms of 

 nature. There is a physiology not only of animals and 

 plants, but of the inorganic world, and from terrestrial 

 physiology we rise to a conception of the physiology of 

 the Cosmos or material universe ; a subject which from 

 the earliest times has attracted the attention of philoso- 

 phers. One of the most evident of the problems thus 

 presented is that of interstellar space, and its relations to 

 our earth and its gaseous envelope. After noticing the 

 views of the ancient Greeks, the author referred to the 

 discovery by Alhazen of the refraction of light, from the 

 phenomena of which the Arab philosopher attempted to 

 fix the limit of the terrestial atmosphere. He then noticed 

 the similar attempts of later observers, and adverted to 

 the well-known hypothesis of Wollaston, who endeavored 

 to assign thereto an absolute limit on grounds which are 

 inadmissible. He adverted to various views as to the 

 so-called ether of space, which Newton thought, must 

 include exhalations from celestial bodies, and noticed the 

 hypothesis of Grove that the medium for the transmis- 

 sion of radiant energy through space is but a more atten- 

 uated form of the matter which constitutes the gaseous 

 envelopes of the earth ana other celestial bodies, between 

 which, through this medium, Grove supposed material in- 

 terchanges might take place. The suggestion of Arago 

 as to the possibility of determining the density of the rare 

 matter of interstellar space was noticed, as well as that 

 of Sir William Thomson, who has even attempted to fix 

 the minimum density of the luminiferous medium, which 

 he, like Grove, conceives may be a rarified extension of 

 the terrestrial atmosphere. Mattieu Williams, adopting 

 the hypothesis of the atmospheric nature of the interstel- 

 lary matter, has attempted to show how the sun in its 

 course through space may condense this matter with the 

 evolution of heat and thus replenish the solar fires. 

 From this ether also by a stoichiogenic process the various 

 chemical species are perhaps generated. 



The author had endeavored to approach the study of 

 interstellary matter from a wholly different side. From a 

 consideration of the chemical and geological changes of 

 which we have evidence in the earth's crust since the be- 

 ginning of life on the planet, it is clear that enormous 

 volumes of carbonic dioxide have become fixed partly in 

 the form of carbon, with evolution of oxygen, and partly 

 as carbonates — equal in the aggregate to 200 atmos- 

 pheres or more. This enormous volume, it is held, must 

 have come from outer space to supply the gradual ab- 

 sorption of the gas from the atmosphere, while by a re- 

 verse process of diffusion the great amount of liberated 

 oxygen may have been got rid of, and the equilibrium of 

 the atmosphere in this way maintained. The conse- 

 quences, both meteorological and geological of this pro- 

 cess were discussed by the author in 1878, and more fully 

 in 1880 in an essay on The Chemical and Geological Re- 

 lations of the Atmosphere in the American Journal of 

 Science. As a farther contribution to the history of these 

 views, the author proceeded to show that Sir Isaac New- 

 ton not only held to the presence in interstellar space of 

 exhalations from the sun, the fixed stars, and the tails of 

 comets, which he supposed to become diffused in and to 

 form part of the ether, but even suggested that this 

 etherial matter is the solar fuel and essential to planetary 



* Read before the A. A. A. S., Cincinnati, 1881. 



life. From a consideration of the processes of vege- 

 table growth and decay, Newton arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that elements from interstellar space, brought by 

 gravity within the terrestrial atmosphere, serve to 

 nourish vegetation, and by its decay are converted into 

 solid substances. In this way are, according to him, 

 generated not only combustible (sulphureous) bodies, but 

 calcareous and other stones, whereby the mass of the 

 planet is augmented. These views put forward in New- 

 ton's famous Hypothesis concerning Light and Color in 

 1675, and in the Queries to the Optics, are. more definitely 

 enunciated in Propositions 41 and 42 of Book III of the 

 Principia. 



ON THE UNIFICATION OF GEOLOGICAL 

 NOMENCLATURE. 

 By Richard Owen. 



With a view to proposing such Geological Terminology 

 as would probably be acceptable to a large majority of 

 the scientific representatives of those nations sending de- 

 legates to the International Congress for the Unification 

 of Geological Nomenclature, it seems necessary to offer 

 for discussion some principles, and to lay down some 



SUGGESTIVE RULES ! 



1. To agree that all questions shall be decided by a 

 plurality vote ; or, if thought best, by a two-third ma- 

 jority. 



2. To assign distinctive names for the headings of 

 geological divisions and subdivisions, instead of calling, 

 for instance the " Silurian," sometimes an " Age," at 

 others a " Period, System, Era, Formation," or as by the 

 French " Etage," which is translated by Surenne as 

 meaning (when applied to Geology) stratum or layer. 

 Further suggestions on this point will be given in the 

 "Conspectus of Headings." 



3. To arrange under these heads, when thus decided 

 upon, such formations as are generally considered of 

 nearly coordinate value, in lieu of giving the same ap- 

 parent importance to a minor subdivision, say of Upper 

 Silurian (such as Salina), or one of the Devonian (e. g. 

 Chemung) that we assign to the whole Tertiary. The 

 subjoined Tabular View offers a modified coordination. 



4. To select, as far as practicable, for the geological 

 formations thus arranged, geographical terms, indicating 

 the areas where these formations prevail extensively, or 

 have been studied very thoroughly. This would obviate 

 any controversy on mooted points regarding the litholog- 

 ical or paleontological character of the formation. In 

 order to illustrate the practical application of this rule, 

 let us take for examination the nomenclature proposed 

 by the illustrious Sir R. Marchison, in his great work 

 of 1854, " Siluria," descriptive of the geological forma- 

 tion in the country inhabited by the ancient " Silures." 

 His work of 1839 was entitled " The Silurian System," 

 but his later publication showed a preference for the 

 shorter and more expressive form as a noun. The ad- 

 jective has, with slight modifications, been adopted in 

 most modern languages ; but by selecting the noun 

 " Siluria," we unify for universal recognition. The same 

 may be said for " Devonia." If it is not considered too 

 great an innovation to alter terms already so well re- 

 ceived, we might say " Silur-Britannia," "Devon-Cale- 

 donia," and proceed then to distribute the honors among 

 different nationalities, as more fully exhibited in the Con- 

 spectus. The term Carboniferous is not correct when 

 applied to Mountain Limestone or Millstone Grit, be- 

 sides Coal Measures cannot be so rendered into other 

 modern languages as to make a suitable subdivision, it is 

 therefore suggested to name the system after the region 

 having the greatest Coal area (the United States), and 

 the Coal Measures after a European country in which 

 coal is well developed. This would give us Appalachia 

 or Carbon-Appalachia for the system, and Belgia for 



