The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 23, 1897, Page 28

26 THE ,SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1897. investi Though California is commercially, and even intellectually, somewhat detached from the great centers of progress, it is atisfactory 1o know that it has within its limits a scientific institution that dis:ance cannot isolate, and that will long remain a center of interest to the entire astron- om world. The credicable work ot the Lick Observatory needs no repetition, and some of its achievements are known at the ends of the earth. Since its completion several colossal telescopes have been stimulated inlo existence in parts of the world, and it some- mes seervs as if the choicest laurels of scientific fame might hereafter be won in other climes. While true science knows no rivalry and rejoices at progress regardless of Jocality, still it will be pleasing to Cali- fornians to learn that tbeir astronomical g e =i gafions | skil'ed observer whose maihematical at- | tainments are of a high order. Professor W. W. Campbell, now con- | nected with the observatory for several years, is singuluily fitted for this, his | chosen work, to which his time during | the coming five years will be devoted, to the exciusion of nearly all other branches of research. Probably the most precise work done in this line previous to 1594 | was that of Dr. Keeler, formeriy of the | Lick Observatory, with the visual spec- troscope of that institution. By substi- | tuting a small camera for the eyepiece, Professor Campbell used it for some time | tor spectra-photography, but its weight | and construction were unsuited to long | continued exposures, in which stability is | of the highest importance. D. 0. Mills of New York having gener- | ously provided funas for the purchase of _——— | f.,;:;fln“— T st the place of the eyepiece, and the slit, which is variable in dimensions, can be reduced to.0lof an inch in length and .001 in breadth, smallness being impera- tively required to hinder the overlapping of images in the spectrum. The collim- ator conveys the light to the three prisms, composed of dense tiint glass, to insure sufficient dispersion, as the traveling gleam passes successively through them. A fraction which isreflected falls on a guiding prism and when viewed through the small tube above serves as a signal | that the ethereal herald has flown its des- | tined route. By means of a driving clock the giant telescope keeps pace with the diurnal mo- tion of the heavens to the west, but to in- sure easy and immediate correction of any | slight disparity that might arise a plain | wooden pole attached temporarily to the it i ey el LICK OBSERVATORY SPECTROGRAPH. Eye end of the tube of the 36. sbout t to parallel rays. e 1 ng the train of prisms. h telescope. feet in length and 2 inches in aper- ght that has been 9—F ectric coils. U ; ne isnow devoting a share ofits effi- [ 8 spectrograph, the' young scientist de- ch of earch the earth or away from it and the number of miles per second each observed star travelsin these directions. Stellar spec- and the photography of stellar were inciuded in the scheaule of suggested by Professor Holden in 1574 to the trustees of the Lick Observa- both have been efficiently car- ried on from time to time by members of the staff, but the aim, scope and methods of tk undertaken overshadow all previous efforts. Spectroscopy and photography in their most accurate form of development are required for its fuifillment, and also a | diameter. vised the details in accordance with the requirements of the great work he has undertaken. The delicate poise of condi- tions necessary to insnre ideal seientific results has been carefully eonsidered, and it is safe to assert that all previous work | in this line is distanced by the accuracy of adjustment, as well as by the light-gath- | ering power of the great lens. The illus- tration from a photograph taken for THE | CaLL shows the main paris of the appli- | ance, on the perfection of which rests to | some extent the fame of Mount Hamilton | spectrography. All the light of a star falling on the great lens comes to a focus, and at a distancs of 58 feet is condensed to 1-576 of its first arsa, or to 1} inches in But what is thus lost in size is gained in inteniity. The upper part of the spectrograph takes 5,5, 5—Rods attaching the spectrograph {o the large tube, ler's tube convement for use, ition of the points of the electric arc. 8—Telescope to view small zuiding prism atits base. | 10—Hotder of photographic plate. tube is within reach of the observer. There is little incongruity in the presence of the simple appendage, as utility is the plea. If the adjustments be perfect the refracting effect of the prisms causesits | ray of light to emerge at the farthest sur- face, not as it entered, but as an exquisite colored band, fraught with important items of star history. Above it a small telescope is attached ia a convenient posi- tion for a magnified view, and at this point the special devices of the spectro- graph become manifest. As its name im- plies it not only obtains the spectrum but also describes it, and accordingly near the aye end of the view telescope is a holder ior a photographic plate, on which the lines of the prismatic scroll are perpet- uated. 3 Highly sensitive vlates prepared by the most approved methods are in readiness and in a .few instants, minutes or hours, as the case may be, receive impressions afterward developed in the adjoining photographic room. As the spectra of terrestrial substances are needed for comparison the upper sec- tion of the spectrograph is furnished with a Geissler’s tube, which can be instantly put in place and the glow of incandescent hydrogen and other gases be substituted for the celestial gleam whose identical track through the collimator and prisms they are made to traverse. In the ilius- tration is shown the position of the elec- tric arc for procuring the spectrum of iron, and the'elecrical coils used are con- veniently stored in a large triangular wooden case near by. This might be a dangerous adjunct elsewhere, but scien- tific pursuits engender forethought and wariness. By a slight adjustment of the photo- graphic-plate holder and a momentary screening of the star spectrum that pre- viously left its impress, the plate can re- ceive celestial and terrestrial spectra ranged one above the other for compari- son. The lines of the latter will hoida normal position, while those of the former will be displaced to either side, if it be- longs to some swift orb earthward bound or else speeding directly from our vision. The mystic handwriting on the wall in Babylon, but for its tragic import, could not haveawakened more thrilling interest than does a first experience in decipher- ing the prismatic scroll; but habit is a speedy eraser of emotion, and no lawyer reads the pages of Blackstone more calmly than a spectroscopist scans the faint rec- ord that has come from afar. To counteract the faintn‘ss of starlight a powerful microscope is used to inspect | the plates, and as displacements due to motion in the line of sight are entirely in- dependent of distance they are nearly as measurable with the aid of micrometer wires as the more distigct sun and planet lines. As changes of lemperature have a tendency to alter the positions of the lines the spectograph, when in use at night, is enshrouded in a black velvet case, for a reliable record of displacements 1s the chiaf aim of the carefully devised appar- atus and of the tireless solicitude as to ad- justment, That expressive phrase, the star depths, which contradicts the vaulted aspect of the sky, applies chiefly to the range of ar- tificially aided vision, though the ordinary observer also fathoms more or less with every glance. It is easily discerned that Sirius shines with a bluish white light, that Arcturus, now on the meridian at 10 P. ), hasa yellow tint, and that Antares at the same bhour scintillates from the southeast with a fiery gleam. The use of the prism emphasizes these differences and reveals that the aiscerned tint of each really predominates in its spectrum. The dark lines crossing the re- fracted beams differ in number, position and aspect, thongh a few are identical in all. As these lines are a clew to many of the constituents of an incandescent body the materials of a distant star are not al- together unknown. Absorption lines of hydrogen predominate in the spectrum of Sirius and of all white stars, which are accordingly classed as of the first or Sirian type. The spectra of yellow stars may be briefly described as faint copies of an- alyzed sunlight, and are known as of the second or solar type. These two classes comprise very nesrly the entire celestial host, but & few hundrei being as yet known. The latter are subdivided into a third and fourth type. While there is a marked difference in the typical speci- mens of each class, as shown in the illus- tration, there have been found, however, a few intermediate spectra that suggast a gradual development of stellar conditions. It is not known as yet that the theoretic age of a star—itse!f a very unsettled ques- tion—has any bearing on its proper motion, direct or otherwise, but there is now an impression that the solar type as a whole are nearest to the sun, as if the solar stage of development found a correspond- ing allotment in the starry realm. But neither the discovery of stellar constitu- ents, nor the goal of the sun, is the aim of the spectrographic work in progress at Mount Hamilton; though there is no doubt but that it will eventually benefit both branches of research, which are akin to it in different ways. Professor Campbell engages in bhis rduous task unhampered by preconceived ideas as to star drift, and in a certain sense, holding his mind aloof from all inferences derived from previous inves- tigations, spectroscopic or otherwise, as to steliar motion, turns the grand equipment at his command to the sole aim of accu- mulating the best procurable dats. That this expectation is fully warranted, there is no doubt, as the most eminent explorers in the past have not been equally equinped for this work. Vogel, thouBh using a spectrograph since 1883, until quite recently, had but a medium sized tele- scope; and the excellent equipment of Professor Pickering for spectra photo- graphy, as it includes a slitless spectro- scope, is unfitted for observations in the line of sight. The contradictory evidence of observers as to the rate of recession of Arcturus, which is one of the orbs at present under spectrographic scrutiny at the Lick Observatory, shows the extreme difficulty of such estimates. Formerly the supposed rate was filty- five miles per second, but this is now cor- rected by the concurrent measures of Vogel, Keeler and Campbell to four miles per second. An idea may be gainea of the spaces to be measured by glancing at the space between the two close lines un~ der the letter D in the representation ot the sun’s spectrum. If a line were dis- placed one-fortieth of that space it would indicate a journey in the line of sight of sbout four miles per second. It is customary to express the wave lengths of light in tenth meters, and as they range from less than 4000 in the vio- let to nearly 8000 in the red, the wave length of a line explains its position in the spectrum. Professor Campbell’s observations will be chiefly confined to those lines between 4250 and 4420, which correspond with those under G in the illustration. Many of these are well-known hydrogen lines, but he also expects to use calcium and iron lines. This is the violet end of the spectrum to which the photographic plate is most sen- sitive. Sirius yields the impress of its spectrum in twenty seconds, whereas Arc- turus requires three minutes, chiefly ow- ing to the scarcity of actinic rays in its spectrum. At present solar stars are being observed, and later on attention will be given to Sirian and red stars, accord- ing as favorable specimens of each class come to view. As three nights per week will be devoted tothis work during the comineg five years it is expected that about 600 stars will be used, inclading orbs from first to fifth magnitude of the Birian and solar types, and from first to third or fourth magnitude of the red types, thus accumulating a large amount of data of the highest order of accuracy. The C rossley reflector, already renowned for its photographic work, will take the place of refracting light gatherar for the spectrographic prisms st times and also the 12-inch refractor according to the re- quirements of the object viewed and at- mospheric conditions. That the scope of these researches will lead to grand and reliable results can scarcely be doubted, but they may be partly negative. They may be confirmatory of the meager evi- dence before gleaned, or they may re- fute previous testimony as to motion in the iine of sight and perhaps too as to the apex of the sun’s way. There may be some drawbacks as yet unknown to the value of the daata, as is suggested by W. H. 8. Monck, who says, in writing on such observation in general: “It will probably be a long time before we can depend on the accuracy of very small motions in the line of sight, and larger motions are liable to be disturbed by the vicinity of aark satellites or companions. It may be also tnat the spectral lines are liable to be displaced by other causes than motions in the line of sight.”” The spectrum of the Nova in Aurigais rather startling, if such velocity is the only admissible explanation of it. Miss Agnes M. Clerke, in allusion to the increas. | ing facilities of this line of research, as- | serts: “It may be confidently expected to play a leading part in the unravelment of the vast and compiex reiations which we {can dimly detect as prevailing amongz ! the mnumerable orbs of the sidereal world.” It is safe to predict that the investiga- tions recently commenced at the Califor- nia Institation of Astronomical Research | will not be surpassed for many years, and the skill and earnestness of Professor Are Now Being Made to Determine the Motion of the Universe Campbell in his sublime labor will insure for the results, whatever they may be, a prominent and a permanent place in the scientific annals of the future. Rose O’ HALLORAN. Gifts to Employes. The firm of Frederick Krupp of Essen in Germany last year presented the sum of £10.000 to their workmen’s pension jund and shortly afterward gave £25,000 to the fund for the widowsand orphans SECCHI'S TYPES OF FIXED STARS. of those in their employ. In1892 Fred erick Krupp, on the occasion of the un- veiling of a statue of his father (founder of the Essen works) devoted £25,000 to the erection of a sufficient number of cot- tages, with gardens, for the infirm and invalided of his men and the widows of the men who had died in his employ. On the conclusion of the unveiling ceremony there was a march past of 17,000 of the men employed at Essen and also deputa- tions from the other establishments of the firm.—Ti:-Bits. An Irreverent Dissertation on the Delicate Relation of Mo Turning over a published collection of Thackeray's letters the other day I came s the following to his friend Brook- Dear Vieur: When 1 came home bt Iiound a beautiful opera ticket Jenny Lind; charming box I am going to dine at th the children, and shall go to , and will leave your name down ; and we will sit, we 2, and see the piece like 2 lords; and we can do the other part afterward. I pre- sent my respectful compliments to Mrs. Brookfield, and am yours, W. M. T. If youcan come to dinner curry. In that postcript we have a glimpss of the man as he real , and the invita ic h i te characteristic of tless a good one and flavoréd with assaicetida—hence his gen- erous mention of it. By the way, the Brool who received the invitation is 1the “Old Brooks” of one of Tennyson’s sonnets, and, doubtless, deserved all the good things offered him. Thackeray gave much time to the sab- ject of dining. I am not bere concerned h the evanescent material banquets that he actually put under his waistcoat, but with those far nobler ieasts that he spread with such lavish liberality and good taste everywhere in his books and the savor of which never palls on ope’s palate. He paid more attention to the solids—an altogether brutal and inade- quate word—than to the wines offered to his readers at these barmecide banquets. Wine has had its panegyrists since it was 1 made, and poets and writers of all s and nations have vied with each her in singing its praises; but whoever thought of writing a sonnet to a sauce or an ode to a cheese soufiie? Take up any of the current magazines, or examine the works of any of the poets of the latter half of the nineteenth century, and what doyou find? Merely the old, old theme of he and she, and the stars and flowers and children (too much about children, of late, and in bad taste), and such other trivial matters. No serious poet has for ages given a thought to some of God's no- blest works — the things we eat and whereof we are made. Why shouldn’t Ina Coolbrith, for in- stance, turn her attention from roses to roast beef? Joaquin Miller, one of the greafest of contemporay poets, beside whom his cherished .dol, James Whitcomb Riley, is a gnat, might add fresh laurels to his al- ready great fame by making the Califor- nia oystef, the prince of bivalves, the theme of his next poem. The subject is surely of sufficient interest and impor- tance to engage the attention of lns muose. Should he undertake this magnum opus Iventure to say he will tarn cut some- thing that shall rank as high as ““The Ship of the Desert,” which is no “siouch’’ of a poem in my humble opining, there’s a Every one must admire the beautifol | work than Mr. Charles Tdwin Markham | is doing at present. e is as true and | painsiaking an artist as Monsignor Jose- Maria de Heredia, who was but iately | been elevated to the French academy. I: I could say anything finer than that of Mr. Markham’s work I should, of course, do so. He publishes as seldom as does Monsignor Heredia and his poems are as clear-cut and polished as gems of the purest water. To bim I would assign the delicate and difficult task of writing u son- | net on cafe noir, and a quatrain on lemon- water-ice, beside which ice-cream of any flavor whatsoever is a brutal compot. But, bless me, I bave strayed away from Thackeray and his love and rever- ence for food and feeding, and his adapta- tion of them to literary ends. In all his | books he servesusnot only with feasts ala | carte, but with choice single dishes—teste, | our first introduction to Fred Bayham as | “he was walking up and down on a land- | ing in a dressing-gown with scarcely any. other clothes on, holding a plate in one hand and a porkchop he was munch with the other’’ Tnat porkchop wa doubtless, transmuted into some noble thought, worthy of one of the Kkindest gentiemen in English literature; one who retained his » simplicity and was not ashamed to say to Clive Newcome, “‘8ir, your father acted like a gentleman, a Christian and a man of honor’; and whose goodness was further attested by his quotation from Juvenal on the same memorable occasion: “Maxima debetur | puero reverentia.”” By the way, has any Christian said anything much finer than the above by the great heathen satirist? So take down any volume of Thackeray and you cannot turn over a score of pages but you shall be refresned either witha dinner or a snack of pickles surrepti- tionsly prigged by a seedy club man from the sideboard or be invited by the Begum to “have some curry bawt’’ with the tre- mendous Major Cahagan. All this is by way of preliminary to the announcement of an original discovery, which is here formulated: Thata writer s position in letters has a close relation to his literary treatment of food. - There! _ The subject of food for literary purposes isso vast and dificalt to handle that but few writers have ever made a stagger at it. Those who have dealt successfully with itare all great writers. The iliad is per- vaded with & ‘“fine, manly, wholesome sense of roast and boiled, so to speak,” 1o use Thackeray’s own words. Three of the satires of Horace (II, 2,4, 8,) are concerned with food, but, in spite of his noctes, cenmque deorum, it is plainly to be seen that dining out was only in its infancy in tbe time of Cwsar Augustus. They had only begun to guess at the importance of hors-d’@nvres in those days, and the acria rapula, lactuce, radices, with which they used to stimulate a weary stomach, are still set before us in every place of enter- tainment. But beyond that, they did not proceed in the gracious art of dining. Hors-d’euvres were employed for a spe- cial purpose in those days, when, accord- ing to Cicero, men “‘ate to vomit and vom- ited toeat.”” No wonder the stomach of the Augustan bon vivant was weary, but they had no conception of the raticnale of courses, of complementary dishes rousing sated gustatory nerves by new sensations, or of artfnl combinations, such as nuts and raisins, black coffee and cognac, resting on physiological and chemical grounds. But though their customs were beastly the Romans of the empire are to be for- given much, for they ioved much and pro- duced Lucullus, and did their brutal best in tne interests of food. matter for wonder tha iShakespeare had material for the picture of the justice bearing a ‘fair, round belly, with good capon lined.” The fairy banguet spreaa in “The Tempest” would not satisfy a butterfly, and® the “funeral baked beans” mentioned in “‘Hamlet” are not at all sat- isfactory. Milton says very little that is memor- able or quotable about food—but then, as Cromwell’s Latin secretary, he was, per- force, a Puritan and in direct antagonism to “'the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.” Nothing worthy was said of food till Fielding wrote of the notable wayside hostelries, wherain men feasted on noble joints and spent the best part of their Coming to more recent times one is at | lives. first surorised that Shakespeare said so Little about food—a mere two-pennyworth sbout breid and intolerable quantities concerning sack. But this is not to be Wwon.ered at when one considers that | Queen Elizabeth used to drink two quarts | ofale at her breakfast every morning! is within common schoolboy knowledge With Scott began the serious regard for food as matter for literary treatm int tiat her subjects lived grossly, and it is L7 AND THEN THE Tysyicp INFAR Roun Beuy WITH 608 CApony Lingp® TAACKARY Gives us A SQUARE MEAL on NEARLY BVERY pace SHAKESPEARE'S CULINARY TRBUTE Burns’ ode to a haggis is good enough in its way; but what should a plowman have known about dining, though he wrote some of the finest lyrics in the world ? Scott excelled in his descriptions of Scotch breakiasts and *'scratch” suppers. I have often ameliorated the homeliness of my @omestic cold mutton and chutney by meditating on the genial venison pasty that served Friar John and King Richard in “Ivanhoe,” Next came Charles Lamb with his im- OUR POETS SHOULD IMMORTALIZE THE N/OYSTER. AND Porato SALAD THE ILIAD. o LIAD.I 1 SENS| ROAST AND BOILED'E mortal “‘Dissertation on Roast Pig.” Itis a matter for regret that he did not choose some nobler dish for the panegyrics—al- though the sucking pig is a toothsome beast. I never eat asparagus without be- ing reminded of his saying, “that it in- spires gentle thoughts.” Between Charies Lamb and Thackeray only a few years intervened, but in those few yvears men kad stepped from the bratal orgies of George IV to the refinea and rational dinners of the Victorian era, influenced, as time went on, by tbe luxu- rious requirements of the second empire and by the crowning glory of the dinner -| one of the *‘corps” there, and had fought ern Literature to Food 8 la Russe, which spared the fastidious diner-out the horrid spectacle of gory gravy pouring out of a rare joint. In nothing else are we so far in advance of the past as in the art of dining out, and in this respect we are proceeding from glory to glory, as we import foreign dishes and foreign manners and customs. The relation between tobacco and food, for in- stance, is one that has not as yet received adequate treatment. The matter has been hinted at by a contemporary Mohammedan poet, Achmet Fazi-ood-deen, of Aligunj, in apoem, of which a translation ap- peared in Tne CALL two Sundays ago. Some one has pithily said that he could tell whether a man were a gentleman or not from the linen he wore; but it is easier to establish this point from the way in which a man orders his dinner. The fol- lowing personal experience bears on this point aad iliustrates Oliver Wendell Hoimes’ asseriion that it takes several generations to make a gentleman: Ten or twelve years ago I had the felicity to travel on the same steamer from Hobart Town to Melbourne with two young Aus- tralians who wers returning to Murrum- bidxee after doing Europe for five years. They had made pretence of studying at Heidelberg; they had been admittea to duels with honorable distinction; they had lived in Berlin and Paris and lunched at all the notable restaurants in those great centers of cooking, and were alto- gether delightfulin a dozen ways, so that when they asked me to dine with them at Menzies' Hotel in Melbourne I accepted gratefully, anticipating a feast of reason and, therewith, savory meats. The menu, as usual, was overburdened with dishes in every course. This is one of the inevitable evils that one has to con- tend with in every great caravansary, and 1wy heart has often bled for the artists who are compelied by the exigencies of the public maw to write these catalogues of eatables, and to bring incengruous dishes into juxtaposition, but the way these young tellows discussed the menu and the wines convinced me that I could safely leave my stomach in their hands 80 to speak. Between them they planned the following dinner for our party: Huitres de Califorale sur Coquilte. POTAGE. Creme de Voiaiile, a la Greer tarrison. HORS D'&UVRYS. *Bombay Duck.” Po1ssON. Pompano, ala Joe Redding. ENTREES. ‘Tereapin en Caisses, a Ia Maryland. Sopremede Volaille, a Ia Chauncey Depew. The matter of “punch” at this juncture was thrown ont of court incontinently, and it was carried nem. con. that the in- novation ot bringing a sweet savor into the miu_dl- of a dinner was frighttully ex- asperating. The rest of the menu was constracted as follows; LEGUMES. «Jerusalem Artichokcs,” ala Mikede Young Petits pols, a la Bon AmL ROTIS Selle de *Welsh Lamb,” Saute Menthe. Perdreanx. ENTREMETS. Vaniile souflle. Fromages varics. Demi tasse, Alas, it was on the cafe noir that we dissolved acommunity of interest. Every gourmet will bear me out when I affirm that a choice Havana is the crown of such a dinner as we had been eating, and that its flavor is enhanced by a thimble- fal of cognac and a “small black.” Im- agine my disgust when these, my familiar friends, with whem I had taken sweet counsel during the past two hours, “'went back’’ on their liberal education at the last minute and ordered a ‘‘dish’ of tea as they [it their cigars. It was the most dis- gusting exhibition I ever saw. 1 required no further proof that their grandfathers had been transported convicts. (So many of the ‘“first families’” 1n Australia are thus descended.) 1 possess a little book written by the famaus surgeon, Sir Henry Thorapson, entitled *'Food and Feeding,” which I es- teem nearly as highly as the Rubaiyar, both for its matter and its manner. 1t first appeared in the Nineteenth Century Review in 1879, and is one more proof of the versatility of its author's genius. In addition to being the greatest lithotomist in the world Sir Henry ias had his paint- ings “hung on the line” at the Royal Academy. He used to play first violin in the Aibert Hall orchestra, and, though he had a larger practice than any othér sur- geon in London, yet he found time for lit- erature and cookery, which ke combined 80 happily that, when his fame as a great operator has become dusty, he will still be esteemed by gourmets. Soyer acnieved disknction as a chef, but his famous cookery book bas no literary merit. Thackeray was never known to h.ve cooked anything, though he ex- celied as a gourmet, but here 1s a man who is cook, gourmet and litteratenr, In conclusion, 1 would seriously beg abounding poets to turn to the wunex- plored field of the table for fresh topics. There are such possibilities here. If the following sonnet, addressed to bread sauce, attract others in the same direction, the object of this paper will have been fully attained: TO BREAD SAUCE. Hail! best of sauces! dearsst to my heart! Fit for a gourmet! . Light must be the hand That siirs, encourazing, thy savors blund. He fares through ticklish seas, without a chart (Xove worse Charyidis from fell scy.la part), ‘Who steers through lumps thy bark, and shaves the strand Where poul ices Inhabit—horri1 band! Thy safety is fit task for highest ar:. Cate noin On, Iet not onion and his wicked crew, Or any condimen. with bprty tanz Or snap. thy virginal sweet breatb imbue! Piump be the partridee—free from susage-meat, That oft conceals foul garlic’s poisonous fang— wn:::‘. J¥iih due Hock, thy fair tureen should J. Larp. )