Indianapolis Times, Volume 42, Number 187, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 December 1930 — Page 4

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World Court Mystery Friends of the world court are asking why ratification probably will be withheld by the senate this winter. They point out that more than two-thirds of he senate favor ratification of the protocols for American adherence. They point out that a recent survey by the American *Bok) Foundation shows that more than twothirds of the daily newspapers of the country favor it, indicating an overwhelming public sentiment. They point out that the President, after a year's delay, finally has submitted the protocols to the senate, with an able message urging action. The question as to cause of delay, which threatens to postpone action for another year or longer, is not hard to answer. The avowed enemies of the court are not responsible. Tn the senate the lrreconcilables number hot more than twenty of a total membership of ninety.six. Obviously, that minority is too small to prevent action, except through filibuster tactics. But the threat of an effective minority filibuster ss more fancied than real. Some of the are old guard leaders who will do almost anything to prevent the extra session which a world court filibuster would force. Anyway, all senators recognize in the present economic emergency a tense national situation in which public opinion would not stand for a world court filibuster. No senator is apt to run afoul of the public’s raw nerves at this time if he can help it. A filibuster, If attempted, almost certainly would collapse quickly. If the small minority is not strong enough to force delay, then the alleged friendly majority Is responsible. We believe such to be the case. When the President tried to find one Republican, out of the dozens giving lip service to the court, to lead the senate fight for ratification, it Is said that only the lame duck Gillett of Massachusetts was available. The situation is hardly better on the Democratic side. There the obvious leader should be Senator Swanson of Virginia, ranking Democratic member of the foreign relations committee. But Swanson, after much evasion, has declared his opposition to consideration of the matter at this session. He is typical of most of the senate "friends” of the court. The irreconcilables would like to kill the court project, but they havdh’t the power. What is hapoening is that It is being slowly smothered to death by its senate ‘'friends '* Wc Must Keep Faith! To small boys and girls Santa Claus is as much a part of Christmas as the babe in the manger, the three wise men, and the angel who sang the first glad carol. Childish dreams have a habit of getting broken as the year goes on. Somebody else gets the new red wagon on which a little boy has set his heart. The pink bears that would have made a little girl grow stary-eyed hang around another’s throat. k But children have a secret place in their hearts •here a shining belief lives . . . the belief that on jjn night before Christmas, from some mysterious |l. a generous creature known as Santa Claus will ,Vs>me, bringing the presents that will make them glad. can forget that their coats are shabby, that there are no jam pots in their cupboards, when they think of the gala night. "very year there are many children who waken in the dawn light, to grope for stockings. Every year there are many children who bury their heads in the blankets and cry softly because, somehow, again this time, the dream is crushed and the stocking is empty. If every one who understands that Santa Claus is merely typical of that Christmas spirit which shares with others would accept his part of the responsibility, there would be no Christmas morning heartaches There are toys enough in the shops and packed away in our attics to make every limp black stocking fat enough to burst. Tears are so unnecessary on Christmas morning. When we hear a specific story about a child, our Interest is aroused. But when we read that thousands of children are needing our help, we grow indifferent. The number is too large to be personal, we seem to think. Yet every one of the thousands is an eager-eyed youngster whose heart misses a beat when he thinks that it is almost time for the night of nights, and whose nose is pressed against the plate-glass windows of the stores as he wonders what he will draw from the pack this year. To disappoint him would be a tragic thing. It would ruin his trust in the Spirit of Christmas which the benevolent old man represents. He wouldn’t trust life so far again. It is to keep a child’s heart filled with dreams and his eyes gay with laughter that we bring the gifts for his stocking. For Confederate Veterans The veterans of foreign wars, drafting a legislative program to be submitted to congress this winter, include a resolution urging that hospitalization privileges in government hospitals in the south be made free to confederate veterans. It is to be hoped that congress will adopt it. Disabled veterans of all wars can get free hospitalization in these institutions, with the single exception that Civil war veterans must be men who wore the blue and not the gray. But there are many aging confederate soldiers who need such attention very badly, and, as the V. F. W. points out: “They fought for a cause they believed to be right and today they are honored and respected citizens of this country.” Adopting this resolution would be a fair and gracious act. The Children's Bureau Annual report of the United States childrens bureau, headed by Grace Abbott, is out today, revealing again its significant work in behalf of the nation’s 45,000,000 children. Housed In another temporary flretrap of a building after being burned out of the last, under-financed, under-manned and under constant attacks from bureaucrats and special interests, the little Institution has toiled for eighteen years to protect the most helpless and Inarticulate of the race, the children of the poor* Babies born In squalor or out of wedlock, children bom to lives of toil, boys and girls who have “gone wrong,” little sufferers from rickets, tuberculosis, industrial accidents, handicaps of all sorts—these appear in Miss Abbott’s report. Because there are pending two remedial measures of immediate moment, two matters in the report are worthy of special study. One is the review of infancymaternity work administered for 6even years fcy Miss

The Indianapolis Times (A SCRIPPS-HOWAKD NEWSFAPZB) Owned and published dally (except Sunday! by Tbe Indianapolis Times Publishing Cos„ 214-220 West Maryland Street. Indianapolis. Ind. Price In Marion County, 2 cent* a copy: elsewhere. 3 cent#—delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W. HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON. Editor President Business Manager PHONE—Riley Wsl MONDAY. DEC. 15. 1930. Member of United Press. Sctippa-Howard Newspaper Alliance, Newspaper Enterprise Association Newspaper Information Service sod Audit Bureau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

Abbott under the old Sheppard-Towner act. The other is the revelation that the machine age is increasing child labor in America. We learn that federal aid stimulated nineteen states and Hawaii to carry on infancy-maternity work. Much of the work, however, lapsed last year when the Sheppard-Towner act failed of re-enact-ment. The Jones-Cooper bill, re-enacting the aid law by giving $1,000,000 a year to states, today is before the senate. In view of Miss Abbott's report, it certainly should carry. A general increase in child labor in 1929 is indicated in the incomplete statistics furnished by the states. Approximately 200,000 full-time working certificates were issued in 1929, compared with 150,000 in 1928. The figures do not include the greater army of agricultural and domestic workers. The estimate of child workers between 10 and 16 gainfully employed Is more than 1,000,000. Before the state legislatures this spring is the child labor amendment, ratified by only five states. Miss Abbott’s work, the most fundamental of human endeavors, is cramped by lack of funds. "Additions to the technical and clerical staff of the bureau should be made, to enable it to meet the obligations imposed by the increasing number Os opportunities for service,” concludes the report. The federal budget, recently submitted to congress by the President, proposes to run the children’s bureau on s399,ooo—compared, for instance, with $732,000 for the “national board for the promotion of rifle practice.” Perhaps congress will see this rather grim joke and will decide that $399,000 is hardly a fair share for the children’s bureau out of the federal budget of more than $4,000,000,000.

Mechanized Agriculture The agricultural department of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States points out that one of the big factors in the scrambling of the farm situation is the steadily increasing mechanization of agriculture. More and more, such crops as cotton, wheat, and corn are being produced with mechanical assistance. This calls for more room. Mass production tactics come into play—and the com, cotton, and wheat belts, in consequence, are slowly moving away from their old habitats to new ones. Thus cotton is perceptibly moving to the west from the deep south. Wheat is heading for the wide open spaces. Even com is shifting its base. Where this all will lead to is not quite clear. In the end, probably, it will make agriculture as a whole much stronger. But tfce period of transition is not very pleasant. If in doubt, Just ask any farmer. Bonner’s Public Service It is pleasant to be able to speak at least in praise of the federal power commission's executive secretary. Too often during the two years In which he has held office it has been a disagreeable, and an extremely monotonous duty to disapprove of his official acts. But Mr. Bonner is planning now to do his country a real service. He has announced that he does not wish in the future to be connected with the power commission. There may be places where Mr. Bonner, an engineer with many years of experience, can be of service to his government. We delight in congratulating him on his perception of the public will and his readiness to serve the public interest. We thank him for those water power properties that still remain to us, and for what is left of the federal water power act. _____— / Cornell scientists have discovered what is said to be a cure for the dope evil. But sports writers will still continue to pick losers. The disappointed amateur detective has turned pharmacist so that he might know what it is to work out a solution. There Is a growing sentiment against using X in the spelling of Christmas. But the drys have always been fighting against the use of XXX in Christmas. A scientist has made a movie of molecules in action. There may be suspense in such a film, but the solution is apparent at once.

REASON

A FELLOW out in the state of Washington predicts another flood in 1932 and he's been getting ready for it for the last eight years. He’s been building an ark and hopes to have it done in two years. The neighbors are all giving him the laugh, but, as we recall that’s what they did to our old friend, Noah. a a a Tire business of predicting the end of the world isn’t as flourishing as it used to be some years ago, when the general windup was billed for every spring and fall. There used to be a lot o # fellows who got to work only about half time, tbs ist of their days being" taken up by serving on a reception, committee for Gabriel. a a a We recall one crowd in particular that used to specialize in forecasting the ultimate crash and every once in a while they took their stations out where everything was clear so they wouldn’t run into any wires as they went straight up. a a a THEY put on their ascensicn robes and were all set, but nothing ever happened. More fellows got tonsilitis from sitting around on hay stacks in their nighties, waiting for the final summons than from all other causes combined. a a a Down in New York City four fox terriers were found guarding the dead body of their owner, who had lived the life of a hermit. The authorities decided they would have to shoot the dogs, unless somebody provided for them and they put an article in the papers, saying so. a a a IN short order, people began to telephone in and there were hundreds of applications for the dogs and now they are all happily housed. Think of New York even thinking of shooting four perfectly good fox terriers after electing to public office some of the people they do! a a a Russia did some wonderful world-wide advertising when she refused to execute those five men who confessed they were guilty of treason against the Soviet government. ■ She knew the World would have been dispatched immediately, had she committed the same offense against the government of the czar. Some advertisers! a a m Every time we can grab off a warm day this time of year we are taking a cartridge out of the belt of Old Man Winter. ■

RY FREDERICK LANDIS

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy ! SAYS:

The People of the South Still Stay Close Enough to the j Soil to Help Themselves oj Bit if the Pay Envelope Fails Them. Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 15. The south refuses to be depressed. You can go to her ledgers and prove an enormous money loss, but you can’t look at her people and see the scar. Bank failures, drought, poor trade, part-time work and unemployment, but very little gloom. Five hundred miles through the mountains from Roanoke down here to Birmingham, and not a darkle in the sulks. Cabin., where poverty resigned supreme, but with the occupants still able to raise a smile. What’s the answer? These people have as much to complain about as some others I could mention,, but they waste far less time complaining. Maybe, it's because they have an anchor to windward in their retention of the small comi iunity and love of rural life. # * Stay Close to Soil THE south still is a region of farms, villages and mediumsized towns, where most people are close-enough to the soil not only to feel its inspiring influence, but help themselves a bit in case of emergency. Say what you will, but a man’s ability to draw his own water, raise some chickens, or cut a little wood, does a lot to keep up his morale when the old pay envelope fails to come around. He can see a way out, albeit a narrow ohe, and he can see the nonsense of wildeyed remedies preached by some soap-box orator. The south has not thrown away her opportunities as a manufacturing section by preserving agriculture and clinging to the small town. More than half the textile mills in this country are below the Mason-Dixon line, but as yet there are no Fall Rivers or Lowells,

Industry Out in Open SOME southern cities are growing rather rapidl; coo rapidly ior their own good, perhaps—but as a whole, the tendency is to keep industry out in the open. You can find some surprisingly big plants in some surprisingly small communities. Even the larger communities retain faith in the single house, garden patch, and well spread out suburb. While in Knoxville, I talked with two textile mill operators, each of whom has from 1,300 to 1,400 people in his pay roll, and each of whom told me that about one-half of them came in from the country where they occupied partially selfsustaining homes. Birmingham is a much larger city than Knoxville and has a vastly more concentrated group of industries, but, even so, it lias a wonderfully roomy appearance compared to northern towns of the same size. Birmingham, however, seems to have been rather fortunate in weathering this depression, though, as one citizen explained it, this may be due to the fact that Birmingham had her slump about a year ahead of time. At all events, she has little more unemployment than she did before the crash last fall, while she has spent upward of $10,000,000 for expansion of her industrial plants during the current year. tt a tt No Soup Kitchens Here LIKE every other American city, Birmingham has gone through the pros and cons of relief work in every form, but thus far she has not sanctioned the soup kitchen or the breadline. What is more, she does not intend to. Her steel mills are keeping their full complement of men at work by putting®many on part time, and other establishments are pursuing the same policy. For needier people, Birmingham has devised a system of meal tickets which can. be bought for 15 cents each and which are good at any of a large number of designated restaurants throughout-the city. These tickets can be purchased by any one—by the man who can not afford a 25-cent meal, but who is too proud to beg, by the man who dees not want to turn down a beggar for fear he may be hungry, but hesitates to 1 give him the cash. Whether bought by those in straitened circumstances, or by those who wish to contribute, they keep the whole thing on a business basis, which, after all, is of no small consequence.

People’s Voice

Editor Times—Having been a reader of The Indianapolis Times for many years, I wish to express my opinion of an article written by A Hoosier. He attempts to explain the reason for the downward trend of Indianapolis real estate by saying that the owners are hogging the last dollar out of their tenants and will not do anything for them. I certainly disagree with this statement. While there may be a few cases of that kind, they surely are rare- Here is a little example which may show Mr. A Hoosier that he is mistaken I am not a member of the real estate board, but a man working seven days a week for an honest living, and the owner of a rental property, for which I am sorry. I believe I am, in a small way, able to answer some of the charges made. I have a good, clean, five-room modem home, in a good neighborhood, on which I recently spent more than SI,OOO, and this property is not drawing 2 per cent interest on my investment. This is only an example, but it might explain what the owners of rental properties are up against at the present time. So far as jokes are concerned, the best joke of my last seven years of existence is the comparison between Chicago and Indianapolis. I have visited Chicago several times. That’s why the joke is so good. There is oodles cf transportation to Chicago every day. A Real Hoosier, Not A Knocker. When was Prince Henry, son of King George of England, created duke of Gloucester? March 31, 1928. How long has Brooklyn been part of New York? The two cities were united in 1898.

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Serious Study Given Auto Deaths

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hyeeia, the Health Magazine. 'T'HERE are more than 30,000 deaths every year in the United States due to accidents in automobiles, hence this is a leading cause of death and is arousing the interest of every one concerned with human health and life. More boys and girls were killed last year by automobiles, according to W. V. Bingham, than died of diphtheria, scarlet fever, or typhoid •fever. Safety engineers and traffic engineers have given special attention to modifying the external physical conditions that lead to accidents, but an insufficient amount of attention has been paid to the person who is doing the driving. One-fifth of all accidents reported seem to be due to sudden inattention on the part of the driver; his mind was wandering because of the person he had with him, an il-

IT SEEMS TO ME

IT is a fascinating story about the creation of life in a laboratory test tube, even if, as I gravely suspect, the announcement is premature, Newspaper medicine has a tendency to be wild and woolly. Yet there is no doubt that the research men have been on the trail of some such achievement for several years. They have pursued life and tried to catch it in an old, familiar fashion. According to the newspaper announcement, among the chief ingredients in the mixture which fizzed into existence were “certain salts.” Asa child, I was informed that birds could be captured in just this manner. But even more basic than the “certain salts” were ashes. All of which serves to complete with neatness a traditional cycle. Professor Copeland of Harvard used to express a wish that he might eliminate Manuel Garcia of Cuba, “who lived to be 90 and then turned into a cigar.” Dr. Crile’s experiment suggests that the process may be turned into reverse and that any Manuel who becomes bored with cigardom may turn back into being a Garcia once again. In spite of my skepticism I hope that the story is accurate. It has dramatic quality—this laboratory romance. u tt Test Tube “-ORAIN tissues form a freshly £> killed animal were reduced to ashes electrically,” it reads. From the resulting substances certain salts and other elements were obtained. To this substance was added portein and perhaps some other elements and chemicals. “The whple thing was treated electrically. Before the eyes of the scientists there appeared a ‘thing’ with characteristics of a living cell, or protozoon. The ‘thing’ possessed! the power of procreation by fusion or ceil division.” This, it must be admitted, is couched in something less than scientific language. The phrase “perhaps some other elements and chemicals” is not enough to encourage anybody to try the same experiment in his own kitchen. After all, science has known for these many years most of the material which went into any living organism. The catch always lay in that selfsame “perhaps.” But if Dr. Chile has done this amazing thing, or something like it, the old squabble between religion and science will rage once more, as it has not done since the days of Darwin. And that, I fear, will be a pity, for the preachers and the research men seldom define the issue with any clarity. They talk with violence, but not about the same thing. Still Mystery IF a man in a white coat can take ashes, salts and “perhaps some other elements” and find in his tube a “thing” after tfce current has been turned on he will have performed an incredible feat. But the mystery of life will still remain beyond his grasp. One inay produce life without having the conception of what life isi' Indeed, that particu-

Try This on Your Piano!

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE

luminated advertisement, or perhaps some financial or domestic trouble. The driver suddenly turns right when he meant tn turn left and finds himself in the ditch. People who are slightly ill, who are intoxicated, or who frequently develop nervous headaches are likely to get into trouble in guiding a fast or powerful motor car in the midst of modem traffic. It generally is reported that women have a smaller number of accidents than do men, which is true, simply because there are at present a smaller number of women drivers than men. When men and women have a chance to run the same kind of automobile over the same streets for the same number of hours a day, the women have three times as many collisions as do the men. This was determined in a study of men and women taxicab operators in Philadelphia. Color-blindness arid other visual defects are not among the major

lar process has been going on upon the surface of the earth for years. Some will be inclined to dismiss the problem in any easy sentence and say, “Life is electricity.” But that merely shifts the terminology of your inquiry. After that you will have to go around saying, “What is electricity?” and not even an Einstein will be able to tell you. tt tt tt First Thoughts IT is interesting, of course, to speculate upon the emotion of Dr, Crile and the rest who crowded around the laboratory table, but I would be even more fascinated if I could learn the emotions of “the thing” when first it began to move and have being. To be sure, you will tell me that in such a low form of existence emotions are unknown. All of which brings us to that other puzzler as to what is an emotion. At least, “the thing” moved and made decisions. It decided that two could live as cheaply as one in Dr. Crile’s test tube, and thereupon it undertook the hazardous adventure of cell division. tt n tt Almost Eden ALMOST it must have seemed to the scientists in the ringside seats as if it were present at another Eden. The uncanny accuracy of Old Testament symbology must be a

kirf SiisLss •; *3j •■si**?. - •an

BATTLE OF VERDUN December 15 ON Dec. 15, 1916, the French army, commanded by General Nivelle, achieved one of the most significant victories of the World war when it vanquished the Germans at Verdun after ten months of heavy fighting. Verdun was the primary objective of the German campaign of 1916, and the failure to capture it had a far-reaching influence on the course of the World war. Nivelle had attacked on a front of six miles after a three-day artillery preparation. He succeeded in penetrating the German front for a distance of nearly two miles, and, according to a Paris report, captured more than 11,000 prisoners. The moral effects of the victory on the French troops and nation were great. Asa reward for his heroic work at Verdun, Nivelle was made commander-in-chief of all the French armies, succeeding General Joffre.

Daily Thought!

If the wicked will turn from all his sins ... be shall surely live, shall not die.—Ezekiel 18:21. Os all acts is not, for a man, re- j pentance the most divine? The | greatest of faults is to be conscious ’ of none.—Carlyle. *

causes of accidents on the highways, neither is slowness of reaction. Furthermore, people who are hard of hearing or those who drive with only one arm seem to be able to compensate considerably for their physical defects. Tire chief form of mental disturbances responsible for motor accidents seems to be emotional instability. Investigators are inclined to believe that examination of drivers is essential toward reducing the number of accidents. It is particularly important that people who repeatedly are in trouble should have their licenses revoked. When investigations are made to determine whether the unsafe driving is due to constitutional slowness or lack of muscular control, to ignorance, to bad health, or to emotional instability, the factors that make for safe driving are determined, and perhaps at least one dangerous source of disturbance removed from circulation,

Ideals and opinions expressed in this column are those of one of America’s most interestinz writers and are oresented withont rezard to their aereement or disazreemeot with the editorial attitude of this naDer.—The Editor.

HEYWOOD bY BROUN

constant source of amazement to the scientists. I have often wondered why it furnishes so little comfort to the dogmatically devout. Personally, a million Adams and a like number of Eves impress me more than a single pair. I am not dissuaded from my religious beliefs when I am told that some festival of my faith merely affirms an old nature myth. Such affirmation is to me confirmation of the deeply rooted and imperishable nature of the fundamental facts in creedsLife will seem to me no less significant and important if it is true that it can be stirred up by the electric motivation of salted ashes. Nobody can grasp the idea of creative force unless it is expressed in some symbol. Electricity will do admirably as the outward manifestation. It has dignity, power and the quality of mystery. And, after all, even if the story of Dr. Crile’s test tube and “the thing” turns out to be true it will not be quite accurate to hail the doctor as being himself the ancestor of this plasmic forerunner of a Senator Heflin or some higher form of life. It was not Crile but the current. So, cosmically speaking, we are back precisely where we were at the beginning.

(CoDyrleht. 1930. by The Times)

COMPARE-AFTER ALL THERE IS A DIFFERiHCi ... that "looks like a million dollars" It’s the Strauss Five" L. STRAUSS AND COMPANY

_DEC. 15,. 1930

SCIENCE

BY DAVID DIETZ Dr. Harlan True Stetson's New Book, “Man and the Starsls Written Simply* for the Layman. The m’graw-hill co., well known in the scientific world as the publishers of text books and scientific treatises, has extended its field of operation to that of popular science. Its books for laymen will be published by a division of the company known as Whittlesey House. Whittlesey House makes an auspicious beginning with the publication of “Man and the Stars,” by Dr. Harlan True Stetson, formerly of Harvard university, now director of the Perkins observatory of Ohio Wesleyan university. (The price of the book is $2.50.) Here is an up-to-the-minute book of astronomy, placing the emphasis where astronomers place it in their work today, and yet written simply enough for any layman to understand it. Three things are outstanding In the world of astronomy today. Ono is the union of astronomy with atomic physics into a branch of study known as astrophysics. The second is the progress being made in attacking the problem of the universe in its entirety. The third is a reawakened interest in the historical development of astronomy. All three receive adequate treatment at the hands of Dr. Stetson. # tt tt Changing Universe DR. STETSON has divided his book into four sections. He calls them “Looking Skyward,” “Changing Concepts,” “The Changing Universe,” and “Man Wonders ” The first section is brief aid serves as an introduction to the subject. The second section concerns itself with the history of astronomy and the development of astronomical ideas. The chapter headings will serve to show the ground which is covered- They are: “Copernicus, New Beginnings;” “Tycho Brahe and Kepler. Explorers of the Sky;” "Galileo. Science in Conflict;” “Newton. The Triumphs of Genius;” “Herschel. New Worlds and New Concepts;” “Cosmogony, The Beginnings of Evolution.” The third section, “The Changing Universe,” is an exposition of modem astronomical research and theories. Here again, an adequate idea of the ground covered can be gained quickly from the chapter headings: “The Birth of Astrophysics,” “Atoms and Stars,” “Surveying the Universe,” “Our Changing Sun,” “Sun-spots and the Earth,” "Cosmic Clouds.” The reader familiar with older books of astronomy—let us say those published prior to 1920—will note that there is a far different table of contents from the older books, which usually followed the general outline of text books. The fourth section, “Man Wonders,” departs even farther from the orthodox treatment of the subject. Here the chapters are headed, “Is There Life on Other Planets?” Has Life Any Cosmic Significance?” and “Has Science Displaced Religion?” tt tt tt Writes Clearly DR. STETSON writes clearly and lucidly. A brief quotation will serve to show his style. He writes: “One may read cheer or gloom, hope or despair, into the laws of nature in accordance with one’s mode of reaction to his surroundings. The story of life ts the story of adjustment to a changing environment. “Birth, growth, age, and death are but incidents of adaptation in a whole life cycle. A drama of creation is going on in which man appears for a moment and then passes off the stage. “His existence on this little planet we call the earth is an event in a cosmic scheme. Just how significant this event is in the whole play we can not tell. “To view the spectacle in which we perform, to try to see ourselves as others see us, has lured many a philosopher and poet to the study of nature and to reflection upon her changing moods. “Some with cheerful optimism look confidently into the future of the world. Others read a catastrophic tragedy, in which man plays but the puppet’s part. “The scient-st sets up for himself the difficult task of being moved neither by ecstasy nor by melancholy- His chore is impartially to observe, record and impart the story of events.