method, with a small telescope, upon the brightest of all the stars, he was supplied by the Royal Society of London with a larger instrument to pursue the investigation. The results of his spectroscopic inquiry into the motions of many stars have been published. Where these results have conflicted with the foregone conclusions of astronomy, Huggins has not hesitated to arraign the accuracy of astronomical data and methods. I have freely admitted the delicacy and difficulty of the geometrical process. The spectroscopic analysis, when applied to the same problem, walks upon slippery ground and must take heed lest it also fall. The alleged displacement is a nice quantity, and instrumental sources of error have been pointed out which may explain away the whole of it. I lay no stress upon the large difference between Vogel and Huggins in the quantity of motion which spectrum analysis ascribes to Sirius, inasmuch as the direction of the motion is the same. We do not yet know all the elements which the earth contains. The spectroscope has already added four to the number. There is reason to think that the stars, though having some substances in common with the earth and sun, are not without their peculiarities. The lines in the stellar spectra may be out of position, not because they are the displaced lines of sodium, magnesium, and hydrogen, but in consequence of novelties in the gaseous atmospheres of the stars. Still, there will be a presumption, perhaps a probability, in favor of Huggins's deduction, if it rests on a sound basis of theory. If there is any weakness in the physical and mathematical foundation of his argument, gratifying as it is to the imagination and the aspirations of science, the whole superstructure must fall.
| THE EARLY STUDY OF GEOGRAPHY.[1] |
By Major WILSON.
BEFORE concluding this portion of my address, I would draw your attention to the appliances used in the minor schools of this country for teaching geography, as they would seem to need some improvement. The appliances to which I allude are models or relief maps, wall maps, atlases, and globes. The use of models as a means of conveying geographical instruction has been too much neglected in our schools. If any one considers the difficulty a pupil has in understanding the drawing of a steam-engine, and the ease with which he grasps the meaning of the working model, and how from studying the model and comparing it with the drawing he gradually learns to comprehend the latter, he will see that a model of ground may be used in
- ↑ From the Opening Address of the President of the Geographical Section of the British Association.
