Indianapolis Times, Volume 42, Number 271, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 March 1931 — Page 4

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S e K I t>p J - H ow AJt D

Another Dry Bogy Crumbles In the old days when physiology was the hand maiden of Puritan morality, one of the horrors used to frighten pupils from the perils of the cup was the assurance that if one drank heavily and begat children, the said offspring would be feeble-minded, physical monstrostltles, or moral degenerates. Karl Pearson, eminent British eugenicist, investigated many family records to ascertain the truth of this assertion. His results were highly negative. Children of inebriates, not themselves defective, seemed to show no physical or mental defects, however deplorable their rearing by addict parents. But human beings can not be experimented on freely or rapidly with respect to problems of heredity. So Professor Stockard carried on experiments with guinea pigs in the United States. He reported that guinea pigs which consumed alcohol daily produced weak and defective offspring and that these defective traits were transmissible in perpetuity. Such conclusions were of the utmost importance for human heredity, so British eugenicists began to carry on similar experiments. After run* year, "'ey now have reported. The results are not reassu ing to the W. C. T. U. Thoy wholly fail to bear our I ♦essor Stockard’s claims. As the report expresses it: “On no essential point has it been possible to And any confirmation of Professor Stockard's results.” The core of the British findings is that though parents well preserved in alcohol may be grossly unfit to take care of children once bom, they may produce healthy and normal offspring. In short, the objections to parentage on the part of chronic alcoholics is sociological rather than biological. No More Bloody Kansas Governor Harry H. Woodring of Kansas deserves the praise of humanitarians and scientific criminologists. He has refused to be stampeded by the hysterical demand for revival of capital punishment. The severe punishment psychosis which nas triumphed in so many states found him impregnable. He vetoed the bills recently passed ordering electrocution as the maximum punishment for first-degree murder and robbery with fire arms. The Governor took the sensible view that certainty of punishment was more effective than theoretical severity of punishment in repressing crime. “It is axiomatic,” he said, “that it is not the severity, but the certainty, of punishment that deters the criminal.” For this the Governor could cite with propriety the example of England. He also could bring in as evidence Warden Lawes’ book, which shows clearly enough that the anti-capital punishment states have ns good a record in repressing murder as the capital punishment states. Dr. Calvert, the eminent British authority, upholds the same view. Governor Woodring could have gone even further and proved himself a scientist as well as a sane humanitarian. This he would have done if he had stated that it is neither severe nor certain punishment, 'but certainty of arrest, conviction and individualized treatment, which ultimately can repel crime. In the Land of the Liberty Bell The mayor of the City of Brotherly Love is said to have rung the cracked Liberty Bell with a hammer recently. We trust the gentleman had a sardonic sense of humor. Or perhaps he recognized that liberty, like the bell, is cracked in Pennsylvania. At the time two young girls were being convicted of sedition in Philadelphia and sent to prison for a term of ten to twenty years. They were charged with handing out leaflets to national guardsmen urging them to attend an anti-war meeting and help prevent another imperialistic war. If we recall our history aright, a. very seditious document, was let loose upon the world from Philadelphia early in July, 1776. Further, the very Friends who founded the Pennsylvania colony never have been exactly enthusiastic about war, imperialistic or otherwise. Moreover, it was in Philadelphia that Samuel Bryan wrote the famous “Continental Letters,” the fiercest criticism of our federal Constitution. When has William Z. Foster said anything worse than the following about our Constitution: The new Constitution, instead of being the panacea or cure of every grievance so delusively represented by its advocates, will be found upon examination. like Pandora’s box, replete with every evil. The most specious clauses of this system of ambition and iniquity contain latent mischief and premeditated villainy.” Why is there no serious study of local history in the great Keystone state, where eight persons have l4en convicted of sedition in the last five years? High Cost of Illiteracy Illiteracy's toll in crime and other social evils is all too well counted. As machines increase leisure, Illiteracy will become more and more a costly social burden. Few. however, realize the direct burden of Illiteracy on business. Alfred K. Stern, director of the Julius Rosenwald fund, says it is time business is shaking this burden from its shoulders. The illiterate has neither money to buy mapufactured goods nor the means of learning about them trough the ordinary channels of advertising.” Some $2,000,000,000 is spent annually in advertising in the United States. This mean S2O per capita out of a $750 per capita income. Illiterates are economic deadwood. Were each of the estimated 5,000,000 American illiterates able to read, the upward pull of advertising would begin operating to raise each to a buying unit. The national advisory committee on illiteracy is doing one of the nation's most important jobs. The new census, it is said, will reveal considerable reduction in illiteracy. So long as there are men and women unable to read and write, we can not. however, call ours a successful civilization. Proving Too Much There was so much public protest when Senator Herbert of Rhode Island instead of Senator Wagner of New’ York became chairman of the senate committee to study unemployment insurance, that an official explanation was made. Senator Glenn, the second Republican member of the committee, explained that Herbert was chosen because he was an insurance expert. That explanation did not answer the obvious fact that custom and courtesy to the author of the investigation resolution, as well as Wagner’s superior knowledge of unemployment insurance, should have dictated his election as chairman. But it did take away some of the in the

The Indianapolis Times (A BCJRIPPS-HOWAKD NEWSPAPEB) Owned end published daily (except Sunday) by The Indianapolis Times PubUshicg Cos., 214-220 West Maryland Street Indianapolis, Ind. Price In Marion County. 2 cents a copy: elsewhere. 3 cents—delivered by carrier. 12 cents a week. BOYD GURLEY. ROY W HOWARD. FRANK G. MORRISON. Editor President Business Manager * PHONE—Riley 5551 TUESDAY. MARCH 24. 1931. Member of United Press Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. Newspaper Enterprise Association Newspaper Information Service and Audit Bnreau of Circulations. “Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way.”

charge that Herbert never had shown interest in the unemployment debate in the senate. Now it appears that the explanation explains too much. Informed by the Republicans that Herbert was an insurance expert, the Democrats looked up his record. They found that he was registered officially in Rhode Island as a lobbyist or agent for half a ; dozen fire and life insurance companies, and that he also has acted as an insurance company lobbyist in other states. With such connections can Herbert bring to the j investigation of government unemployment insurance the objective and impartial mind expected of the committee chairman? Apparently the country Is going to have a chance to find out, because Herbert has the iob and is holding on to it. But Don’t Go Near the Water Isn't President Hoover going too far when he orders all American officials with special passports to stay out of Russia? Does he not know that this includes senators and representatives who have found it necessary to go to Russia for first-hand information, just because the administration refuses to permit consuls and an ambassador to represent the United States there? Congress has been very patient with the Presidents who have blocked diplomatic recognition since 1917. But when an administration violates the rights of senators and representatives, the result is apt to be a mighty howl. Assuming—as the President seems to assume—that a brief visit and study of Russia might poison and communize our senators, have they not the inalienable right to travel where and when they please and on any kind of passport which their official position merits? Our guess is that th; senators and representatives can and will take care of themselves in this argument. Our sympathy goes rather to poor Mr. Stimson. As secretary of state he deci led that he could not conduct foreign policy intelligently rtthout getting some facts about Russia. * He appointed a special assistant and was about to get the facts, when the Whit-3 House decided that no American official hereafter could visit Russia. That seems to throw the state department back where it has been for the last thirteen years of ignorance and dependence upon second or third hand information about Russia. So the state department will go swimming, but it won’t go near the water. * For Better Families Sanity and fine humanity distinguish the decision of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America to approve “careful and restrained” birth control of married men and women. For many years this matter has been befogged with superstition, prudery and ignorance. The result has been misery, unhappiness, broken health and unbalanced minds. It never will be possible to estimate the tragedies that could have been prevented, the moral crises that could have been averted, the lives that could have been saved, if we had had the courage to look at this problem years ago as intelligent adults instead of fearful primitives. The churches have done a service to the morals of the nation as well as to its physical well-being by tne r federal council decision. Men and women who are moral through fear and ignorance are not moral. Only when knowledge is put in their possession, to use for good or for evil, are responsibility and conscious morality developed. These churches have done a distinct service also to the family and the home. Birth control can make parenthood more than an accident or a punishment, can insure children a loving welcome into the world,’ the food and care necessary to health, and the start in life physically, mentally and morally that is so essential to good manhood and womanhood. It is only a matter of time until enlightened public opinion will demand that government follow the lead of the churches and modify existing laws to make birth control knowledge -available to all, instead of to the few. If it comes a little watery, no one will blame you * if you cry over spilt milk. s;ouve got to be tight-fisted to succeed as a prizefighter.

REASON by fr l e ™

'T'HERES one thing about this depression that mak , e f i L the mosfc remarkable in the history of pkce to p7rk. ereS n ° PlaCe t 0 WOrk and there ’ s 110 tt tt Henry Ford chinned himself six times the other day down in Florida, according to the papers, but this is nothing, for any number of senators have oeen known to chin the senate for six days. # a There’s one thing about this Mahatma Gandhi jou have to admire and it is his refusal to commercialize his fame. If he were willing to write a testimonial for just one little liver pill he could get enough to buy swans for the pool and iron dogs for the lawn, but he doesn’t seem to have any business judgment at all. tt tt tt J. B. PRIESTLEY, the English author who is now lecturing in this, country and making fun of us, appears to be doing a wonderful business. There are enough Anglo-maniacs in the land to make such a mission as Priestley’s highly profitable. We wish there were some way to ship them all to England. tt tt tx The papers say that Admiral Byrd's overcoat was stolen from him in Jacksonville, Fla., but what is a mon who's been at the south pole, doing with an overcoat in Jacksonville. tt tt tt There seems to be a concerted effort to publish every instance of a world war soldier’s bloving in his money, but we’ll venture the percentage isn’t any higher than among other folks. Most of us have been working at it for the last twelve years. a a a READING of Charley Chaplin’s immense success abroad suggests a way for us to lift our foreign service to a popularity never known before. We have only to put our motion picture stars in the diplomatic berths now occupied by politicians. We would not remove General Dawes from the court of St. James, because he has great museum value, as much perhaps as one An gain without being on the screen. But we would remove Ambassador Edge, now at Paris, and put Douglass Fairbanks in his place. Then we would send Bull Montana or Tom Mix to Berlin in the place of Ambassador Sackett, but our greatest stroke would be to send Joe E. Brown to Rome in the place of our present representative there. Joe is just the man to do business with Mussolini. Their declarations are so alike.

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

M. E. Tracy SAYS:

We Face the Necessity of Taking Steps to Increase the Consumption of Our Goods Abroad or of Forcing Curtailed Production at Home. /CINCINNATI, March 24.—The federal farm board announces that no government funds will be available for purchase of 1931 wheat. Only those who expected the impossible are surprised. A surplus can’t be removed by the simple process of having the government buy it, though some good-hearted politicians seem to have thought it could be. The government now is holding 200 million bushels of wheat from last year’s crop which nobody seems to want, except at prices that would demoralize the market. Os the $500,000,000 originally allotted to it, the farm board already has tied up $300,000,000 in loans, commitments, or purchases. With such a vast amount of wheat on ' its hands and such a limited amount 'of money with which to stabilise other crops, the farm board virtually -was compelled to adopt the course it has. tt tt tt Not Enough Logic 'T'HE plan of farm relief repre- ! sented by this unsuccessful | flier in wheat appears to have orig- ! inated in the idea that surpluses were more imaginary than real, that they were manufactured largely by speculators to scare producers and depress prices at the end of each season, and that they had a habit of disappearing as soon as speculators came into possession of the crop. Then, too, there was the idea that if even a majority of people throughout the civilized world had what they needed, there would not be a surplus of wheat, or much of anything else, and having bought the surplus, the government w-ould be able to find means to step up competition. A good deal of logic in both ideas, but not quite enough. Owing to a change of conditions which increased production, especially in Russia and Argentina, the suiplus of American wheat has be-1 come a reality. Owing to a change I of conditions which made it impossible for millions of people to buy what they needed, especially in China, the market for w'heat has been reduced. o a a China May Be 'Key 5 IT may almost be taken for granted that President Hoover’s reported intention to take up the silver situation on his return from the West Indies was inspired by the wheat situation. The United States wheat has too much of both wheat and silver, while China has too little. If we could arrange to loan China silver with which to buy our wheat w'e would be killing two birds with one stone. At the same time he would be helping rehabilitate China, not only by giving her financial support, but by enabling millions of her people to get a square meal. tt u tt Need Cash and Credit WITH regard to wheat and. silver, as well as many other commodities, we face the necessity of taking steps to increase consumption abroad, or of forcing curtailed production at home. Curtailed production at home means more impoverished farmers, more unemployment, and more depression all around. Increased consumption abroad is the only reliable road to better times. It involves something more than the ballyhoo of salesmanship, however. While the slump in our foreign trade may be partially accounted for by an unwise tariff policy, it should be obvious to every one that a great many people are not buying goods from us for the very simple reason that they can’t, that they have neither the cash, nor the credit. tt a tt U. S. Must Be Banker IN the long run, we must develop foreign trade the same way that we have developed domestic trade, by a liberal and scientific method of financing it. The notion that debt-smothered foreign countries will or can provide us markets while we hang on to our money bags is ridiculous. If the United States would be merchant to them, she must first act as banker, and that, too, in a way big enough to fit the exigencies of the situation. Because of our preposterously solvent condition, we have it within our power to produce billions in foreign trade by helping some other countries get back on their feet—notably China, Mexico, Cuba and Brazil,

Questions and Answers

What is the difference between a twenty-year endowment policy and a twenty-payment life insurance policy? An endowment policy combines life insurance with a secure savings investment. The amount of the policy is payable to the insured, if living, at the end of a certain term of years, or to his beneficiary at death during that period. A twenty-payment life is a limited payment life policy, which is the same as an ordinary life policy, except that the total premiums payable instead of being distributed over the whole life, are limited to a fixed period of years, after which the policy is paid in full, and the face amount is payable at death. How long must an al'en live in the United States befove Le can apply for his second citizenship papers? At least five years continuous and legal residence is necessary. Which European countries have presidents? Austria, Czechoslovakia. Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland. Which is the fastest Jong distance railroad train in the United States? The Twentieth Century Limited from New York to Chicago. Its average speed is forty-eight miles an hour.

TICKLES } ; V /

DAILY HEALTH SERVICE Blindness Caused by Glaucoma

BY DR. MORRIS FISHBEIN Editor, Journal of the American Medical Association and of Hygeia, the Health Magazine. /GLAUCOMA causes about onethird of all the blindness occurring in human beings after 40 years of age. It is a condition which pressure within the eyeball brings about loss of sight. The blood that comes into the eye to nourish it must pass out, or there takes place an accumulation of fluid. This is what occurs in glaucoma. If the outlets from the eye get stopped up, the pressure is felt, particularly in the form of pain. The eye gets hard and red, the front of the eye getl gray and cloudy. This condition is called acute glaucoma, and in almost every case the person concerned goes at once to a physician and probably gets prompt relief by operation. The second form of glaucoma which is more serious is the form that results from gradual obstruction of the drainage system; some

IT SEEMS TO ME >*

QPRING is here. Calvin Coolidge has come out and, failing to see any shadow, is remaining above ground. In a telegraphic dispatch which must have made the operator tremble with excitement, Mr. Coolidge writes: “The sugar season is opening. It is time to bring out the sap buckets and the great pans. . . . The dropping sap will make pleasant music mingling with the cry of the blue jay and the complaining of the squirrels.” Cheer up, Cal. Every columnist gets some mean letters sooner or later. tt n tt 'We 5 Write a Book GEORGE BRITT and I have written a book. And in a pleasant review in the Herald-Trfb-une, Lewis Gannett writes: “Mr. Broun, quite without his ususal excitement ... or perhaps it is Mr. Britt who dug out the facts with such objectivity . . . tells the story of anti-Semitism in America.” But what I want to tell now is the story of collaboration. I don’t know that I can speak for all who go down to the printing press in pairs, but I imagine that probably the same rule holds good in most cases. A collaboration represents the combined effort of a lazy man and an assiduous worker. One does most of the job, and the other signs his name upon the frontispiece. Mr. Gannett’s “perhaps” represents no idle guess. All I can say it that I warned George Britt in advance. 'After all, I had basked in collaboration before. Several years ago I remarked ; quite idly at a tea party that it might be exciting if somebody would write a life of Anthony Cornstock, since it seemed to me that he was the granddaddy of all the censors. Fortunately (for me) there was present at that party a young woman of capacity and determined character. Miss Margaret Leech spoke up and said: “Yes, that’s a good idea for a book. I’d like to work with you on it.” A collaboration begins with a conference. And so two days later we conferred. I said, “Just now I’m terribly busy, and so don’t feel that I’ll be able to do much of the research on this biography. “My idea is, if you are willing, that you should go out and get all the facts and bring them in, and then we’ll assemble them together and I’ll do the writing.” tt tt tt Miss Leech Works MISS LEECH agreed to this arrangement. And that was the ; last she saw of me for many months. Every now and then she’d i telephone and announce the discov- ; ery of some rich, new vein of Comi stock material. She explored libraries, waded through diaries, interviewed magistrates and policemen. Finally, she had to spill out In written words. Eventually- she nailed me for a

The Reducing Machine

of the fluid gets through, but not all of it. In this case the pressure increases very gradually. The loss of sight also takes place gradually. An expert physician can look into the eye by the use of the ophthalmoscope and determine whether the pressure has been sufficient to cause a depression in the optic nerve head. He also can measure the pressure in the eye by means of an instrument called the tonometer. With the gradual development of glaucoma, the person can see in front of him as well as he ever could, but not so well on the sides. As the disease progresses, vision in front also is gradually narrowed, with a final loss of sight. The expert ophthalmologist is able to measure the contractions of the field of vision by the use of the machine called the perimeter. Thus the person affected can see, but it is as though he were looking through a rifle barrel. In a few simple, direct sentences, r ne professor of ophthalmology of the medical school of Harvard uni-

moment bearing seven chapters in her left hand. “When are you going to get to work?” she asked severely. “Next week,” I said, and went back to the poker game. Finally my collaborator cornered me in a lonely farmhouse north of Stamford. Menacingly, she stood over me and shoved blank paper into the typewriter which she had carted up from New York. “The book’s all done now,” she explained, “excepting the first chapter. I really think you ought to be in on this.” Groaning and protesting, I hammered out 900 words and tossed it to her. We had, finished a book. tt tt a George Makes Him Tool BUT in the case of George Britt all this was known to me. And, as I remember, I intimated as much to him. Perhaps he thought, “it will be different now. This time the big loafer may put his shoulder to the wheel.” It is true that I had carried around with me for many years the notion of a book about anti-Jewish prejudice in America. Annually I tried to get some editor to take it on as a special newspaper series. But each one balked. Yet, though it was my own notion, I found the same difficulty in getting it started. All may collaborators have been strong-minded to start with—or at any rate, developed into executiveminded persons. George Britt was

JOHN POWELL’S BIRTH March 24 ON March 24, 1834, John W. Powell, an American soldier, explorer, geologist and anthropologist, was bom at Mt. Morris, N. Y. At Oberlin college, Oberlin, 0., which he attended for but a year he first discovered his bent toward natural science. When the Civtl war broke out, he enlisted at once as a private. He rose to the rank of major. He lost his right arm in the battle of Shiloh. At the close of the war he became professor of geology at Illinois Wesleyan uinversity and two years later, in 1867, made his first journey of exploration to the Colorado Rockies. In 1869, he made a voyage of great danger and hardship through the grand canyon of the Colorado river, the valuable results of which brought him into scientific prominence. Congress voted him funds to continue exploration. A few years later he made a second voyage down the Colorado river, surveying an area of 100,000 square miles. Largely upon his recommendation, congress established, in 1879, the United States geological survey, of which he was director from 1881 until 1894. He died ty 1901

versity describes the essential facts in relationship to this disease. “Glaucoma if untreated,” he says “leads to blindness. Glaucoma recognized late is exceedingly difficult to control. Glaucoma recognized early lends itself much more favorably to treatment.” This disease may be treated by the use of drugs which lower the pressure in the eye and contract the pupil. If seen early and treated correctly, these drugs may enable the affected person to avoid operation. However, the condition can not be controlled by the use of glasses. If drugs do not control it, the establishment of anew method of drainage by surgery to keep the pressure in the eye permanently low is an approved method of treatment. The National Society for the prevention of blindness has a pamphlet on the subject which it sells for 20 cents. Anyone who wants to know more about glaucoma should send for this pamphlet to 370. Seventh avenue, New York City.

Ideals and opinions expressed in this column are those of one of America’s most interesting writers and are presented without regard to their agreement or disagreement with the editorial attitude of this oaoer.—The Editor.

even more accommodating than Miss Leech had been. He didn’t merely fling a typewriter at my head. He caught me unawares in the penthouse. And with him he brought Miss Beatrice Norton. “Now,” said George Britt, with a fierce look in his eyes, “go ahead and talk & little, and Miss Norton will take it down.” That’s an invitation difficult to refuse. And so, while prone upon a couch, I’d ramble for ten or fifteen minutes, pausing at last to say piteously: “Wont’ that be enough for today, George? How about us all having a cocktail?” But Britt was made of sterner stuff, and would reply: “That’s only 300 words; go on ... ” “But what shall I talk about?” I’d want to know. George Britt would tell me. And then, after much wrinkling of the brow, I’d say it. Except for two weeks, when he was called out of town, we made rapid progress under this system of convict labor. There were days when I talked as much as 600 words. Finally, the tyrant relented. “I think you can stop now,” he said kindly. “We’ve got a book.” “You mean just a little bit of a book,” I suggested. “I don’t think I’ve done more than 4,000 or 5,000 words.” ‘Nevertheless,” replied George Britt, “we’ve got a book of about 70,000 words.” (Copyright, 1931. by The Times) What is the mileage of tne Italian railways and what is the estimated national wealth of that country? In 1923 the Italian railways operated an average of 10,358 miles. The national wealth was then estimated at $21,250,000,000. What role did Anita Louise play in “The Third Alarm?” Milly.

Through GERMANY by Motor 28 Days Under the Lloyd Flag by Sea and Land The excursion, designed for persons of moderate, means, sails from New York on June 2nd on the liner S. S. Columbus, arriving in the old port city of Bremen Under Personal Escort Rhine \alley SOI O sft ~ Mosselle Bremen | U p Cologne 5 0 ? 111 ** Coblenz Trier Frankfort Leipzig Mainz Berlin The itinerary for the motor trip, which will be made in new, comfortable de luxe motor cars, includes beautiful old Cologne, Potsdam, Coblenz, Trier, Berlin, the most fascinating of European capitals. Complete Details May Be Obtained From RICHARD A. KURTZ, Manager Travel Bureau Tbe Leading Travel Bureau of Indianapolis HuNION TRUSTS 120 East Market St. RI ley 5341

.MARCH 24, 1931

SCIENCE

BY DAVID DIETZ Scientific Observations Point to a Definite Act, or Series of Acts, of Creation. TN the beginning, so the Book of Genesis tells us, God created the heavens and the earth. The astronomer in his theories carries back the evolution of the earth to a time estimated by some to be 200,000.000,000.000 years ago. But when he faces the problem of the beginning of the universe, he can say no more than the author of Genesis. All observations, says Sir James Jeans of England. _..c the leading cosmogonists of the day, point to a definite act, or series of acts, of creation. Dr. Edwin P. Hubble of Mt Wilson observatory, studying the spiral nebulae, finds that they can be arranged into a definite series. This series fits exactly into a scheme of evolution outlined by Jeans. The spiral nebulae, it will be remembered, lie at immense distances from our own galaxy, or Milky Way The nearest is 870,00 light-vears away. They are very large, containing enough gaseous matter to equal from one to ten billion stars Hubble finds the sequence begins with great globular nebulae which axe masses of undifferentiated gaseous material and extends to spiral forms, resembling Fourth of July pm wheels in appearance, whose arms are shown by the telescope to have condensed into great clouds of stars. tt a a Cosmic Cloud OIR ISAAC NEWTON, theorizing in a day when the true nature of the spiral nebulae was unknown, speculated upon the evolution of the rw S +i nd Eaid that ifc seemed to him that the. stars might have arisen from a great cloud of gas. itw S (i dea T aS that any Regularities in such a cloud would form centers of condensation around which more material would gather and that in time, the cloud would break up into stars. mJcf IS tl hoUgh ,L likely by J eans and most other authorities that our own galaxy evolved in some such fashion from a great globular nebula and that a similar process accounts for the formation of stars in the arms of the spiral nebulae. But Jeans goes further and revives Newton’s idea of a cosmic cloud to account for the origin of the globular nebulae. He pictures the whole universe beginning as a great cloud of uniform density stretched throughout space. Such a cloud would be of almost unbelievable thinness. It w’ould consist of one atom every two or three cubic yards. How thin such a cioud would be can be visualized from the fact that there are millions upon millions of atoms in a cubic inch of air. Any disturbance in such W’ould result in the beginning of condensations. Once condensation had be- ; gun, they would continue, according to Jeans, until the whole cloud had broken up into globular masses. tt tt tt Acts of Creation TEANS shows from calculations of ; the rate of atomic vibrations and the strength of the gravitational field of the atom, that such a cosmic . cloud would break up into globes of approximately the size which observations show to be the size of the globular nebulae. Os course, Jeans neither accounts for the origin of the cosmic cloud nor the original disturbance which set the cloud to condensing into globes. Those are the “acts of creation” to which he refers. There is a tendency among modern cosmogonists to regard matter as a form of energy. They believe that the energy of the stars and the sun is released by the annihilation of matter within those bodies If we regard the electrons and protons which compose the atoms as concentrated bits of energy, then the annihilation of matter in the stars is merely the conversion ci energy from a more concentrated to a less concentrated form. Jeans says that if we regard electrons and protons as concentrated energy, w’e then can imagine the cosmic cloud as having come into existence through the loosing of energy of extremely short wavelength into the universe. Such energ: would crystallize into electrons and protons. If we wish a picture of how this energy came into existence, says Jeans, we can think of “the finger of God, agitating the ether.” Thus does Jeans, in an attempt to fathom the beginnings of the universe, leads us back to a statement no different from that of Genesis. From a study of the energy content of the physical universe, Jean.’ is led to the conclusion that the universe can not be more than 200,000,000,000,000 years old.

Daily Thought

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.—St Luke 5:32. True repentance is to cease from sin.—St. Ambrose.