THIS

SCIENCE AND INVENTION.

IS THE UNIVERSE INFINITE?

HIS question, which is a favorite with some astronomers, and which has been discussed already at various times in these columns, is taken up by Prof. T. J. J. See in an article in The Atlantic Monthly (July), entitled “The Limits of the Stellar Universe." Says Professor See:

"To answer this question, we must first examine the nature of the problem which science has to deal with. Our only means of exploring the heavens is the combination of the eye and the photograph with the telescope and spectroscope. The rays of light which reach us from distant regions can alone inform us what is there, and a study of the phenomena revealed by the waves of ether can alone make known to us the nature of the universe. Compared to cosmical ages, the life of the individual, and even of the race, is very short, and wholly confined to the small space traversed by the earth during a few years or a few centuries. Thus the available sources of information are limited, and the difficulty of the problem is tremendous. In spite of this impediment, much study has been given to the subject, and results of no inconsiderable interest have been reached.

"After Sir William Herschel had attempted to sound the depths of creation by his mighty telescopes, and found nothing but world on world, with no sign of an end of space, the first man to examine the problem more critically was the illustrious William Struve. The ether of the celestial spaces had been a subject of speculation from the earliest ages of science, and Struve asked the question whether this fluid might not absorb the light of stars in the most distant regions, and thus render them forever invisible to the inhabitants of the terrestrial globe. He first showed, by an investigation based upon the theory of probability. . . . that if the ether be a perfect fluid, so that no light is lost in propagation, and the universe be of infinite dimensions, the stars being scattered promiscuously throughout immensity, the face of the heavens would necessarily glow like the disk of the sun; the whole heavens would be bright like the points now occupied by the stars. As the vault of the celestial sphere is in reality comparatively dark, even in the regions occupied by the densest masses of stars, it follows either that the universe is not infinite, or that the ether is not a perfect fluid. The light of the more distant stars fails to reach us, and we thus miss the empyrean of which the poets have written.

"If now we ask which of these two alternatives is indicated, we are reduced to the following answer: In the first place, it is not probable that a fluid like the ether, which transmits waves

faintly illuminated. The constellation Microscopium, in the southern heavens, offers regions which have a hazy background, while other regions, in various constellations and in the Milky Way, appear perfectly black. In view of these facts, Professor See inclines strongly to the belief that hypotheses 2 and 3 offer an adequate explanation of all known phenomena; for the elasticity of the ether does not seem to be perfect, and cosmic dust is evidently widely diffused throughout the immensity of space. He goes on to say:

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It may occur to some persons that we can not conceive of an end of space, and it is hardly likely that infinite space would exist without matter; and hence that the universe necessarily is infinite. This argument proceeds upon the supposition that we can conceive all things which exist, -an admission hardly warranted by experience. For as we can conceive of many things which do not exist, so also there may exist many things of which we can have no clear conception; as, for example, a fourth dimension to space, or a boundary to the universe.

"To make this suggestion more obvious, we shall draw on an analogy sometimes used in transcendental mathematics. The surface of a sphere or an ellipsoid has no end, and yet is finite in dimensions; and if a being be conceived as moving in the surfaces of either of these mathematical figures, it is clear that he would find no end, and yet he might start from a place and return to it by circumnavigating his universe. The space returns to itself. In like manner, tho we can not conceive of an end to our tridimensional universe, and it may have no end so far as we are concerned, it may in reality be finite, and return to itself by some process to us forever unknowable.

"Thus, while our senses conceive space to be endless, it does not follow that the universe is in reality of infinite extent; much less can the absence of an empyrean prove that the cosmos is finite, even to our experience; for this effect may be due to dust in space, or to the uniform absorption of light by the ether. In the exploration of the sidereal heavens, it is found that the more powerful the telescope, the more stars are disclosed; and hence the practical indications are that in most directions the sidereal system extends on indefinitely. But the possible uniform extinction of light due to the imperfect elasticity of the luminiferous ether, and the undoubted absorption of light by dark bodies widely diffused in space, seem to preclude forever a definite answer to the question of the bounds of creation."

"(1) The universe is finite.

"(2) The universe is infinite, and the imperfectly elastic ether absorbs uniformly (that is, without producing coloration in) the light, and cuts down the magnitude of the more distant stars, so that the vault of the heavens appears comparatively dark even where the stars are densest.

"(3) The light of remote stars is obscured by dark cosmic matter diffused more or less abundantly throughout space.'

Whether any of these hypotheses represents nature, and, if so, which one, we have no means of determining, Professor See tells us. It is a well-known fact, he says, that the sky in many directions is not perfectly black, but somewhat brown, as if

NEARING THE ABSOLUTE ZERO.

'HE recent solidification of hydrogen by Prof. James Dewar in London resulted in the attainment of the lowest temperature ever reached in a laboratory. How much lower is it possible to go? The facts in our possession at present indicate that there is a point at which all heat is extracted from a body, and this point has been named the “absolute zero." Dewar's feat brings us much nearer to that point than we have been able to get hitherto; but he believes that we may go nearer yet. A writer in The Commercial Advertiser (New York, June 20) states the facts concisely thus:

"By the absolute zero' is meant the lowest temperature compatible with heat-that point of temperature, in fact, at which a body would be wholly deprived of heat and at which the particles whose motion constitutes heat would be at rest. This temperature is supposed to be about -274° C., or -461° F. To be sure, the term 'heat' is here used in its scientific sense, for as we use the word in our every-day language its significance depends on the temperature of our own body. We call 'warm' everything with a temperature higher than our own, and 'cold' all those objects which have less heat than we have. In reality, however, the coldest body known to man is far from being utterly without heat. Ice, for example, has heat only in a degree so much below our own that we can scarcely imagine it to be anything but 'cold' -a term which actually implies a comparatively low degree of heat. Accordingly, the zero of our thermometers is only a conventional point marking a certain degree of heat. There seems

they are his. But the college man has the benefit of definite and relevant knowledge, and he should be able to apply it for the betterment of his farm. In fact, he does apply it. His pride is quickened. He knows that he is a marked man. His place

shows it. With joy and enthusiasm he goes back to the farm, determined to improve every foot of its soil and every item of its detail. He works toward ideals. If education does not help the farmer, then it can not be expected to help any other man."

One of the most interesting phases of this work is that known at Cornell as the Extension Bureau, which is thus described by Professor Bailey:

"The work of the Extension Bureau of the college is novel. It originated on demand of the farming community itself and it has now grown to large proportions. Beginning with 1894 the work has grown until nearly or quite seventy-five thousand people in New York State are being reached directly by means of the extension teaching, and thousands more are being reached through teachers and other agencies. The extension work itself falls into three general divisions:

"First, itinerant experiments made on farms, in the testing of fertilizers, spraying of orchards, growing of particular crops, and the investigation of special insects and diseases.

"Second, the nature-study work, which attempts to reach the coming generation for the purpose of interesting the youth in the country and in rural affairs.

"Third, the farmers' reading-course enterprise, which makes an effort to reach the man who is actually on the farm and who is in need of specific advice."

Professor Bailey believes that these and similar efforts have placed the occupation of the farmer on a higher plane than ever before. He concludes:

"There is a department of agriculture at Washington, more powerful than any similar bureau in the world. There are state departments of agriculture, institutes maintained by public money, a large and growing agricultural press. Hundreds of trained and earnest men are devoting their lives to the develop ment of agricultural science and literature. The farmer has been touched at every point of his business. Immensely has the tone of farming been raised. So novel are the ideals of the farmer today that the writings of the last generation do not appeal to him; they belong to another age."

The Avoidance of Stimulation.-The utility of what is called a "bland diet" has been freely discussed of late in the European press. The gist of the discussion appears in an article contributed to the Hanover Courier. Physicians generally, the writer says, understand by a "bland diet" food that is free from those ingredients that excite and heat, but contains or can contain all the nutrients-albumen, carbohydrates, and fat-necessary for the maintenance of man. Wholly different districts of the nervous system are affected by stimulation and excitement. The usual effect of the substances in which these properties reside is quicker and stronger activity of the heart, accompanied by a sense of palpitation, heat, and so-called ebullition; sometimes the effect is a series of acute phenomena, such as headache, etc. When such stimulating and exciting substances are considered we think naturally of alcoholic beverages, also of coffee, tea, cocoa, sharp spices, and the like; but food does not always receive all its exciting and heating ingredients in the course of preparation in the kitchen; in many victuals these ingredients are already present, as the result of the origin, manipulation, storage, etc., of the food. Chief consideration must be given here to meat in consequence of the amount of so-called extractive substances it contains. Dark meat is more exciting than white, and the most exciting meat is that of hunted and pursued animals, venison especially. Moreover, in meat that is not touched for a considerable interval after the death of the animal, ptomaines appear which impart the haut goût to the meat, and which have a decidedly keen and exciting effect. A bland diet, one that does not excite, must contain nothing or very little of this. It is common knowledge that milk affords such a nutrient, and passes therefore, justly enough, as the true type of a bland diet; whoever seeks to spare his nerves should drink milk. The vegetable kingdom affords many suitable kinds of food. First in order are the cereals, then pulse, tree-fruits, and finally

potatoes. Fat of all kinds, when untainted and fresh, may be used with profit, and the various kinds of sugar; but tobacco is proscribed with rigor. From diet there is only one step to dietetics, which comprises the whole mode of life and takes not only eating and drinking, but also air, light, dress, movement, etc., into its province. What would bland dietetics be, therefore? It is an experience of every day, with which every layman is familiar, that various impressions of vision and of hearing produce excitement. The same may be said of the impressions of feeling conveyed by the skin. Professor Senator calls attention to the importance of "bland dietetics," and warns us against the inclination to rest content with a "bland diet" merely. The effects of stimulation and excitement can not be dispelled by a treatment that recognizes only eating and drinking.-Translations made for THE LITERARY DIGEST.

Imitation New Potatoes.-Since the days of wooden nutmegs, says Popular Science (July), there have been many artificial food products, and some of them are so real in appearance as to deceive even the best-informed. The list includes butter, syrups, jellies, jams, honey, essences, coffee, eggs, luscious gelatin strawberries, and now new potatoes. In California this latest industry flourishes. The manufacturing gardener is an enterprising genius of foreign extraction, generally Portuguese, Italian, or Chinaman. By his private process of making new potatoes, he gets at least two months advance on the market in many places, and the extent of this business must be somewhat gigantic, for these made-new potatoes are to be seen in all the markets from Denver to Albuquerque, and Salt Lake to Cape Nome. The method of their manufacture is as follows:

"Late in the season, after other crops are out of the way, the gardener plants a crop of late and good-keeping potatoes. The time has been chosen from experience, and is opportune for a yield of small potatoes before the frosts of winter come down upon the gardener's truck patch. These potatoes are dug and buried in heaps in the open field and left until spring opens and the new-potato season arrives. At the proper time the heaps are opened and the potatoes sorted according to size. In the mean time a large kettle or vat is set in the field adjacent to the potato heaps, and made ready by filling with water and adding sufficient lye to effectually curl the skin of the potato when dipped into the boiling solution. A crane and metal basket are rigged so that the dipping can be done expeditiously, and the way that new potatoes are turned out is astonishing. The effect of dip ping any potato, no matter how old, into this boiling lye solution is to crack and curl the skin, and at the same time it hardens or makes the potato much more firm, so that its resemblance to a new potato is so near that it would be hard to pick out the impostor, from appearance alone, from a basket of the genuine article. After dipping, the potatoes are rinsed in another vat and spread out to dry in the sun, and cure into perfect new potatoes, and the work is complete."

SCIENCE BREVITIES,

OSMIUM ELECTRIC LAMP.-An incandescent lamp which uses the new metal osmium has been invented in Germany. A source of light is more economical as it works at a higher temperature, says the Electrotechnische Zeitschrift in describing this new lamp, and this is the reason why a carbon filament is better than a platinum wire. The melting-point of osmium is the highest of all the metals and it is superior to carbon for this use. "At an equal expense of electric energy osmium gives more light than the carbon thread; or for an equal light it consumes less energy. Moreover, it lasts longer."

Kansas City, Mo., does not maintain a city fire-alarm system, but the fire department depends entirely upon the telephone for alarms for fire, we are told by The Electrical Review. "Statistics show that Kansas City has been remarkably free from destructive fires. The chief of the fire department gives the credit for the efficiency of his department to the promptness and correctness with which the alarms and exact location of fires are transmitted to the fire department by means of the telephone. Every telephone is a recognized fire-alarm signal The company. . . also maintains for the city a police signal system, and police headquarters may be promptly reached at any hour from any subscriber's telephone in the Kansas City exchange. These fire and police connections widen the scope of the telephone, particularly for residence purposes, and they are of special advantage to residence subscribers."

THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.

JUBILEE OF THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.

THE jubilee convention, held at Boston June 11 to 16 to cele

brate the fiftieth year of the foundation of the association

in America, has attracted more than ordinary attention this year to the organization. In spite of the protest of Bishop Mallalieu and a number of other members, who feared that the youth of the convention would be corrupted by the nude statuary in the Museum of Fine Arts, the meetings were held in that building without ill results, so far as publicly reported. Besides messages from Sir George Williams, the English founder of the Association, and from the German Emperor, the most noteworthy feature was an enormous exhibit illustrating the practical work of the association and its progress during the past fifty years in various branches of education, physical culture, and religious methods.

The following sketch of the association is given in the Boston Evening Transcript (June 8):

"Historically considered, the Y. M. C. A. is a plant of recent growth. It is a nineteenth-century product; the creation of priestless, successful, altruistic business men. Its founder was George Williams, Esq., a London draper's clerk, now a merchant and Sir George Williams by grace of Queen Victoria. He still lives and his son is expected at the Boston convention. In June, 1844, he gathered about him a band of young clerks and formed the first association of youths for whom the church of that time was not giving that Christian fellowship nor providing those forms of Christian activity which they needed or desired. To-day there are 6, 192 local Y. M. C. A. 's in the world, with 521,ooo members, resident in fifty nations of the earth and on every continent, and speaking thirty-five languages. These associations are housed in 640 structures, which with their sites are valued at $26, 322,000. They are supervised in their work by 865 paid general secretaries or managers, who are alert, intelligent, good men, with more or less special training for the work, who in this movement have found a new calling, with a stability and pecuniary reward nearly if not quite as substantial as that of the average clergyman. Leadership by trained experts, since 1871, is one secret of the remarkable success of the organization.

"The American Associations, 1,439 in number, have 255,000 members. Thirty-two thousand are students in colleges, universities and professional schools; thirty-seven thousand are employees on railways, for whose physical, mental, and spiritual betterment there is mutual cooperation by the Y. M. C. A. and the leading railway corporation officials of the country; the president of the Boston & Maine Railway system is to address the Boston convention. Five thousand are soldiers and sailors in the United States army and navy, who during the war with Spain in Cuba and during the suppression of the native uprising in the Philippines have become active workers in the association, as well as recipients of its beneficent care in hospital and on the battle-field; 1,650 are Indians on the reservations; one thousand are miners; five thousand are negroes in the South who are excluded from the white Y. M. C. A.'s, and must have special provision made for them; and twenty-three thousand are boys who need brotherly oversight at a time in their life somewhat earlier than permits their joining the adult departments of the association's work. New light from experimental psychology on the problems of the adolescent period is leading the Y. M. C. A. to this new form of activity.

"Seventy-seven thousand youths and men received physical training in American Y. M. C. A. gymnasiums, and twenty-six thousand persons studied in the evening educational classes in 1900. Two schools for the training of association secretaries are maintained on a generous basis, and three periodicals with a large circulation are published. A new building, every nine days during the year, is built and dedicated to association uses; and the total receipts of money for carrying on the work and for building new buildings in the United States and Canada during the year 1900 were more than $6,600,000. To such proportions

under American skies has the tree grown whose seed was first planted in English soil by Sir George Williams in 1844. On the more obvious results of the Y. M. C. A., in altering the religious atmosphere of American towns and cities, it is not necessary to dwell."

The New York Independent (June 10) remarks:

"The great lesson which the Y. M. C. A. has given to the world is not that of service, excellent as that is, for Christian men are banded for service in a multitude of ways; but in its proof that denominational lines need not separate those engaged in such work. We know of no other society which so well proves this. The Evangelical Alliance has had this purpose, but it shows little more than spasmodic life. The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was begun on lines of generous inclusion, but sectarian jealousy and the greed of publishers' profits drew off half its constituency to denominational societies. But the Y. M. C. A. has remained true to its first plan, and has proved that churchmen and dissenters, that Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Episcopalians, can, if they will, work together for the Kingdom of God. This is its best work."

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES.

THE

HE religious situation in the Philippine Islands is one of considerable moment both to Protestants and Roman Catholics. On the one hand, questions of the first importance are apparently just about to be settled finally in Rome; and, on the other, movements of unique coherence and force are about to be inaugurated in the islands by the federated religious bodies of Protestantism. In Rome, Archbishop Nozaleda, the head of the Philippine hierarchy, is already in attendance at the Vatican; while Cardinal Gibbons, primate of the American church, has lately been in conference with the Pope; and Archbishop Chappelle, delegate apostolic to the Philippine Islands, is on his way to that city. Roman Catholic papers have persistently denied, as is their habit in most similar cases, that there is any significance in these facts, claiming, that the prelates in question are on the periodical ad limina visits to the Holy See. But after the interview with Mgr. Nozaleda recently published in the Philadelphia Catholic Standard and Times, and referred to by the San Francisco Monitor (Rom. Cath., June 5) as "a perfectly calm, intelligent, and uncolored presentation of facts," it seems impossible to doubt that an important conference is about to be held in Rome upon the questions involved. In the interview, Archbishop Nozaleda gave his views of the report of the Taft commission. He agrees with the commissioners in what they say of the Filipino's extreme sensibility to outside influences. He says he would lay great stress upon this trait, which is a very important factor in the native character. "Constancy he has little of," the Archbishop asserts; but, he adds, "in one thing I am convinced he will be constant,”—in his desire for independence. This extreme susceptibility to outside influence will be a great danger to his Catholicity, adds the Archbishop: "He will be easily influ enced by imposing figures, by persons invested with prestige. It is a grave peril." Only by one means can this foreign propaganda be neutralized, he says, namely, "by introducing Catholic missionaries of the white race among the native people."

The Archbishop does not believe that the religious orders in the Philippines can be dispensed with. The interview at this point proceeds thus:

"Referring to the question of the status of the religious orders in the archipelago, the Archbishop said: 'The personnel of the missionaries must belong to corporations. Our missionaries simply can not be isolated persons. They must have some bond which will preserve their spirit. The individual life of the missionary is utterly impossible.' After some remark of mine the Archbishop continued: "This is proved in China, Cochin-China, Japan, and India also, where the missionaries all belong to cor

porations. This corporation is invariably a congregation, even if a modern one of secular priests. Even the foreign missioners of Propaganda and of Foreign Missioners of Paris form fraternities.'

"We were approaching the root of the ecclesiastical question of the Philippines. My next question pressed further, and it elicited this answer:

"Any insistence of the American Government for spoliation of the religious orders would be quite useless, and besides other reasons on this account-that the goods of the corporations are already alienated. They are no longer in the hands of the religious, because they have been sold to companies, to financial syndicates. This was done before the end of the Spanish domination. Absolutely all the goods of the corporation were got rid of. Moreover, any attempt of the kind would be the greatest injustice.'

“Of course the parochial holdings and property are to be excluded from this, as the Archbishop said in answer to a further question.

"Then why is such a delay in the settlement of the question?' I asked.

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But what further question is there to be settled if, as I read in the American papers, there are now so few religious in the islands that they are all within the walls of Manila?'

"It is true that they are in the convents of Manila, but this fact is due not to the hostility of the population, but to the opposition of the American authorities. Indeed, the people are continuously calling for their return to the parishes. It is the American Protestant missionaries who by their influence with the authorities secure the absence of the religious.'

"My surprise was expressed without words. The Archbishop continued:

"It is very sad. If any of the religious has returned he has been received joyously and festively by the population, but bidden to return to Manila by the order of the military comman

dant.'

"So,' I said, 'there is a veritable persecution of the church in the Philippines?'

"It is indeed all too true,' replied the Archbishop.

“But,' I said, ‘if the parishes are nearly all abandoned by the religious, and if the religious are almost the totality of the clergy, the ecclesiastical centers are desolate?'

"There are a few native priests, but of by no means a sufficient number. With these few exceptions the state of religion is as you infer it to be.'

"I felt that every answer of the metropolitan had cut deeply into the Philippine tangle, and that only the moral question was left. On this point the Archbishop's statements were equally decisive, tho uttered gently according to his wont.

"He said: 'Regarding the aspersions cast upon the lives of the religious, these are the result of a campaign of calumny invented and circulated by a group of natives, themselves irreligious. These men have always been haters of the religious corporations. Their information was taken up by the Taft commission. It was well known in Manila that at least some of the members of the commission were enemies of the religious. One (Dean Worcester) had actually written a book against the religious. The commission stood suspect for bias, for parti pris.' "Did it hear the other side?'

"It did not hear the other side.'

"Thus the various elements of the question, so far as I am possessed of its bearings, having been one by one set in a clear light by the highest ecclesiastical authority on the condition of religion in the Philippines, it seemed useless to put further inquiries. In the course, however, of a lengthy conversation, which continued to treat of the various headings here dealt with and which seem to exhaust the substance of the question, the Archbishop told me to insist upon the fact that before as well as after the submission of Aguinaldo the people of the islands have on various sides been clamoring for the return of the religious to the various parishes, but all to no purpose.

In The Independent (non-denom., June 20) appears an exceptionally significant article by the Rev. Homer C. Stunz, superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Philippine Islands, telling of the organization of the Evangelical Union, a practical federation of the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, United Brethren churches, and the Christian Missionary Alliance, the Young Men's Christian Association, American Bible Society, and British and Foreign Bible Society. At a meeting of representatives of these bodies on April 26, a plan for the amicable division of the Protestant missionary bodies was agreed upon. Says Mr. Stunz:

"The report of the committee on division of territory was amended (as to the island of Luzon), so as to make the Presbyterians responsible for the evangelization of that portion of the islands south of Manila province, the Methodists for the provinces north of Manila as far as the northern limits of Pangasinan, and the United Brethren Church for the coast provinces of La Union, Ilocos del Sur, and Ilocos del Norte. The city and province of Manila to be common ground for the Methodists and Presbyterian missions. This involved no little sacrifice on the part of the Presbyterian brethren. They had begun very promising work north of Manila, at San Fernando, Mexico, Haganoy, and other points with nearly two-score members and large congregations. But after united consultation, in the interests of harmony, they agreed to the motion of their own special commissioner, and the allotment of territory was completed, subject to revision at the end of three years. It was also agreed that the names of our Filipino churches should be 'La Iglesia Evangelica of -,' with the name of the denomination in parenthesis if desired. The idea of the use of a common name is that Catholics will recognize all Protestant missions as one great force. The Catholic Church in the Philippines is divided into a number of orders, but all are Catholics; so while there are some divisions among the Protestants, all are Evangelicals. On the 29th of April we elected officers, as follows: President, Major E. W. Halford, U.S.A. (Methodist); Vice-Presidents, Rev. Mr. Briggs (Baptist), Rev. E. S. Eby (United Brethren); Secretary and Treasurer, Rev. L. P. Davidson (Presbyterian); Chairman of the Executive Committee, Rev. J. C. Goodrich (American Bible Society).

"The territorial division affects only the island of Luzon and those two southern islands jointly occupied by the Baptists and Presbyterian missions. It is quite open to any mission represented in the Union to enter any of the scores of unoccupied islands, such as Cebu, Mindanao, etc. Should churches not now at work in the islands decide to plant missions here, the Union stands ready to advise with their representatives as to the most fruitful islands yet unoccupied. It is the very earnest hope of the members of the Union that no new mission will seek to establish itself in territory already occupied."

The chief promoters of this federation were the Rev. James B. Rodgers, senior missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the islands, and Bishop F. W. Warren, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It will be noticed that of the chief American Protestant bodies, the Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Disciples, and Lutherans, are not represented in this federation (except indirectly, as they may be represented in the Bible Society and Y. M. C. A.). With regard to the first, it is probable that Anglican traditions would not permit acquiescence in such a division of missionary jurisdiction. The other bodies have not as yet undertaken any considerable missionary work in the archipelago. The Independent, commenting editorially upon this remarkable union, says:

"We understand that of all Protestant denominations only the

Episcopalians hesitate to join. Such a union of forces would have been impossible on any foreign mission-field ten years ago. The attempt to accomplish it in Japan was a failure. Such a union seems impossible now in the United States, but we believe it would be easier to accomplish than it seems. We may accredit this first success in part to the resolutions passed not a year ago by the missionary conference of the United States and Carada, held in this city. Those resolutions indicated just such a mion as has now been provided for at the inception of missionary work in the Philippines."

HOW MUCH DID PAUL KNOW OF THE HISTORIC LIFE OF JESUS?

THE

HE careful student of St. Paul's epistles has often asked: How much did Paul know about the actual life of Jesus on earth? A recent article by Dr. Rhys Rees Lloyd, professor of New-Testament Greek and exegesis in Pacific Seminary (Cong., San Francisco) seeks to answer this question from an examination of the thirteen epistles usually attributed to this apostle, and confines himself strictly to these, leaving out all references in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Writing in Bibliotheca Sacra (April), he says:

"The apostle gives us no information respecting the place and the attending circumstances of this famous birth. Did Paul know anything about the thoughts recorded in regard to the birth by Matthew and Luke? We can not tell. Speculation, therefore, about his knowledge on these points seems useless."

All the incidents connected with the "baptism" and "temptation" of Jesus, even the bare events themselves, are "passed by unnoticed," remarks Professor Lloyd. One is, moreover, surprised to find to how slight an extent Paul is a reporter of even the most striking sayings of Jesus:

"Weary of the silence and of the general statements respecting the birth and the early life of Jesus, we pass with eagerness to His public career. This period brings before us the two forms of the Savior's activity, His teaching and His deeds. Upon each of these we must now seek for light. A careful search of these letters finds only three possible allusions to the teachings that kept the people of Palestine hanging in wonder upon the gracious lips of Jesus. Two of these allusions are so general as to give us no conception of the forms and contents of that teaching. In 1 Tim. vi. 13 we read that 'Christ Jesus witnessed the good confession before Pilate.' What was this 'good confession'? Was it a particular statement? If so, what were its contents? No answers are given to these questions. The other general allusion reads as follows: And might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the [or His] cross, having slain the enmity thereby; and he came and preached peace to you that were afar off, and peace to them that were nigh' (Ephes. ii. 17). . . . Only in 1 Cor. xi. 23-25, do we find Paul quoting any of the words of his Lord."

Professor Lloyd is particularly impressed with the slightness of Paul's allusions to the trial, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The executioners of Jesus are spoken of only as "the Jews," "the rulers of this age." As to the burial, there is only a reference to the bare fact (1 Cor. xv. 4), without specification of time, place, or manner. About the resurrection, however, Paul is very explicit, and refers to the event some twenty times. Of the ascension no details are given as to place, time, witnesses, or to the form and manner of the event. The writer continues: “Our surprise at the meagerness of the information imparted to us is far from being matched by the satisfaction of its strength. The phenomena presented to our attention show clearly that these letters were designed by their author only for the churches and individuals to whom they were written. If we insist on claiming that these epistles were penned for the permanent instruction of the churches of the world,' still their form and contents will show palpably their lack of fitness for such service. . . .

"Are we authorized to teach that Paul was ignorant of all of

the things? By no means. There was no necessity for crowding all of his information upon any one of these topics into all, or even into any, of these letters. Yes, letters,' not treatises. Four of them are private letters to individuals, who were not expected, as the form and contents of the respective missives clearly demonstrate, to give them publicity. These epistles were written to persons who had heard Paul preach at length, or who had conversed with him leisurely in private. The letters supplement, therefore, more or less the oral instruction which had been given to these readers."

The writer concludes that while Paul may have known about many of the events stated in the Gospels, many of the statements which we now have in the New-Testament documentswere probably unknown to him.

THE GREAT FIELD FOR EXCAVATIONS IN PALESTINE.

THE

HE growing appreciation of the need of increased facilities. for archeological study in Palestine resulted last year in the establishment of the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Jerusalem, with Professor Torrey, of Yale, as its first director. The school, as we noted at the time, was founded under the auspices and with the help of the Archeological Institute of America, as is the case with the similar schools of classical studies in Rome and Athens. The many forces of destruction and disintegration now at work in the Holy Land render it of pressing importance, in the opinion of all archeologists, that immediate excavations should take place; and under the leadership of the presidents of the principal American universities and of many prominent rabbis and Christian clergymen, an effort has been made to raise a fund of $200,000 as an endowment for the exploring work of the American School of Oriental Study in Jerusalem. Biblia (June) prints the following editorial statement, which appeared originally in the New York Tribune. The writer says:

"It is a curious fact that Palestine, a center of interest to the whole civilized world, should be almost virgin ground to the excavator. Its surface has been carefully studied, but less than five per cent. of the promising archeological fields have been excavated. Yet there is reason to believe that under the surface of the hundreds of 'tells,' or great artificial mounds in the plains and valleys, and in the buried ruins of the rocky ridges are remains of the greatest value for the elucidation of the Bible and the enrichment of our knowledge of the arts, history, and languages of the various races identified with this meeting-place of Eastern and Western civilization. Articles so far found in the mere scratching of the surface range from the paleolithic age down to the time of the Seljuk Turks, including remains of Babylonian, Egyptian, Hittite, Philistine, Amorite, Moabite, Jewish, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, early Arab, and Crusading occupation. The cities of the Philistine plain, Samaria, Beth Shan, Jericho, Heshbon, Hebron, Beisan, and many other places offer tempting opportunities to the archeologist. Probably no country so promising in interesting results still remains practically untouched and in need of immediate attention. According to the report of the Rev. Dr. James B. Nies, who has made a preliminary survey of the ground with a view to undertaking the subsequent excavation, ancient buildings are largely used as stone quarries, and the depredations so familiar to students of Rome and Greece threaten to destroy priceless historical evidence. The demand of tourists for curios has stimulated the rifling of ancient tombs, and at Beisan the Khan el Ahmar, until now one of the best preserved of Saracenic khans, was recently partly pulled down to furnish stone for the roadbed of the HaifaDamascus railway. At Jerash the Circassians are rapidly destroying some of the most complete Roman ruins, which include two almost perfect theaters, several temples, a forum surrounded by columns and containing a bema, an almost perfect street of columns, a practically perfect naumachia, baths, and a triumphal arch.

"If American liberality can be sufficiently enlisted to occupy