Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/135

Rh of all who have the interest of the present and future generations at heart; and the less we hear of the separate and conflicting claims of men and women the better. There is ample scope to-day for the efforts of all, and if any stand idle in the vineyard it must be from lack of will, not from lack of opportunity.

a valued contributor and prominent man of science offered us for publication recently an article over his own signature intended to cast not undeserved ridicule upon the insatiable craving which so many have for marvels, and particularly for marvels that seem to possess the crowning merit (in their eyes) of casting uncertainty upon the methods and conclusions of physical science, we decided to publish it; and it appeared in our last number, under the title of The Sympsychograph. The result, to speak frankly, has almost caused us to doubt the wisdom of the step. Nothing, we know, was further from the intention of the writer. Prof. D. S. Jordan, than to hoax or mislead intelligent readers; and we need hardly say that no such purpose could possibly have commended itself to our approval. There is reason to believe, however, that the great weight attaching to Prof. Jordan's name threw many persons off their guard who would otherwise have scanned the article with sufficient closeness to perceive not only its lack of scientific coherence, but the mischievously sportive intent underlying it. To such, we feel like offering an apology: they read in good faith, as a serious article, what was written as a burlesque, and, doubtless in some cases, puzzled very unnecessarily over the incoherences and obscurities which naturally entered largely into its composition. Many a one doubtless said: "This does not read like an article by Prof. Jordan, yet his name is signed to it; it must be his, and there must be something in it." Well, there was nothing in it except a burlesque; and if any of our friends feel that they were unfairly entrapped into taking it seriously, we can only express our sincere regret.

It is worth while, however, for those who took it seriously to reflect for a few moments over what it was that they thus gave credence to. The statement was that photographs were produced in absolute darkness; that in the darkness a photographic plate became sensitive to thought; and finally, that the thought of a cat in the mind could so decompose the film on a prepared plate as to produce thereon the image of a cat. This was a feast of absurdities which our contributor doubtless supposed, and which, we must confess, we ourselves supposed would prove too rich for all but the most credulous; and if, on a review of the case, those who were taken in are led to draw the inference that a certain independent exercise of judgment is always in order, and that no name should be accepted as sufficient voucher for stark absurdity, the annoyance to which the incident has given rise will not be unmixed with benefit.

If any reader should perchance ask whether there is anything more incredible in the alleged performances of the "Astral Camera Club" than in what we have learned this year in regard to the X rays, we answer: Yes, there is, on the surface, all the difference in the world between the two cases. In the case of the X rays. Prof. Rontgen made his announcement in a carefully worded memoir addressed to a learned body, and fully discussed therein the work done by predecessors in, if not the same, an adjoining field of research.