SCIENCE. 
237 
SCIENCE: 
A Weekly Record of Scientific 
Progress. 
JOHN MICHELS, Editor. 
Published at 
229 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
P. O. Box 3838. 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1880. 
At the request of Col. W. A. Ross, of England, 
we publish his open letter to Professor Sorby, 
who was President of the Chemical Section of 
the British Association recently, when that body 
declined to permit a paper, prepared by Col. 
Ross, to be read. 
Col. Ross forwarded this paper to us, and we 
published it on the 16th ultimo, so that those who 
desire to judge of the propriety of its rejection, may 
form their own opinion. 
A writer in the last number of the Che 7 nical 
News , of London, a journal well able to appreciate 
good chemical work, who gives Col. Ross credit 
“ for his interesting and valuable chemical re- 
searches,” offers in detail an instance of their utility, 
and acknowledges that Col. Ross’s two works, 
Manual of Blowpipe Analysis , and Pyrology , are 
the standard English authorities on this branch of 
analytical chemistry. It appears to be a strange 
state of things when such a man must contend 
against a system of repression and bitter anta- 
gonism from those following the same line of 
investigations, and would seem incomprehensible 
if similar cases were not continually coming to 
the surface ; thetreatment of Prof. Mohr, and other 
instances mentioned in Dr. Akin’s letter, which 
recently appeared in “ Science,” however, gives a 
key which solves much of the mystery. 
We are not prepared to offer an opinion in re- 
gard to the dispute which gave rise to the letter of 
Col. Ross to Professor Sorby, but the mere fact of 
a man suggesting “ boric or phosphoric acid as a 
fluid menstruum, instead of borax or microcosmic 
salt,” hardly appears to justify this ostracism from 
the society of scientists, unless such an innovation 
is an indictible offense. We have heard of the con- 
sequences of speaking disrespectfully of the Equa- 
tor, but we should have thought that the conduct 
of a man who insists on using “an aluminium 
plate ” instead of “ sticks of messey and obscuring 
charcoal,” would arouse the compassion, rather 
than the resentment of his fellow chemists, if he 
be in error. 
Seriously, we regret any obstruction to Col. 
Ross’s work ; when we consider that the studies 
which he so ably describes may be conducted with 
apparatus costing only a few shillings, and that re- 
sults of the highest order in analytical chemistry 
may be arrived at, who cannot desire to see en- 
couragement extended to such a practical scientific 
pursuit? We advise Col. Ross to quietly continue 
his work, and cease to notice any apparent opposi- 
tion ; if he is ignored by authority , let him on his 
part ignore authority , and trust to the sterling 
merit of his work for its ultimate vindication; his 
time is surely too valuable to devote to a useless 
correspondence. 
We published, in our issue of the 23rd ult., a paper 
by Dr. George W. Rachel, claiming for the late Pro- 
fessor Friedrich Mohr, the honor of first publishing 
the now accepted principle of the Conservation of 
Energy. Like the original article of Professor Mohr 
on “ The Nature of Heat]' which was at first declined by 
publishers, this just tribute to his memory, penned by 
Dr. Rachel, was denied admission to the pages of the 
scientific monthlies. To-day we publish a later con- 
tribution from the same source, in which a biographi- 
cal sketch of the late Friedrich Mohr is presented to 
the readers of “Science” by Dr. Rachel, who has com- 
piled it from original papers placed in his hands for 
the purpose, by the trustees and family of Mohr. The 
author has accomplished his task with fidelity and 
moderation, and the authentic record he presents of 
a life of utility and self-sacrifice will doubtless be read 
with interest by our readers. In the Popular Science 
Monthly for J uly last, a short sketch of the life of Pro- 
fessor Mohr was produced, written by Dr. Fredrick 
Hoffman, of New York. The essay was brief. We 
are not aware of the extent of the materials which were 
at the command of Dr. Hoffman, who, while giving 
the highest praise to Mohr for his high chemical at- 
tainments, made the briefest reference to his claim of 
making the great discovery of the Conservation of 
Energy , which must forever link his name with phy- 
sical science. 
A meeting of the National Academy of Sciences 
will be held at Columbia College, New York, com- 
mencing on Tuesday, the 16th of November. We 
trust that the President, Professor William B. Rogers, 
who is at present sick, may recover sufficiently to pre- 
side at the meeting. As yet only seven papers have 
registered. 
