43. Great scousers in history (part 1)

Here's an inspiring, brief biography of an inspiring, brief life. All the story of science that followed, from falling apples to men on the moon, is reflected at the moment an excited young clergyman rushes from his church, grasping a pocketbook of laboriously scribbled notes, toward a quiet spot where the dying light of the winter sun burns along the length of a brass telescope, standing patiently in the cold flat fields of West Lancashire.

"HORROCKS, JEREMIAH (1619-1641), an astronomer of extraordinary promise, blighted by a premature death, was born in 1619 at Toxteth Park, near Liverpool. Of the circumstances of his family little is known, further than that they were poor, but the register of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, testifies to his entry as sizar, May 18, 1632. Isolated in his scientific tastes, and painfully straitened in means, he pursued amid numerable difficulties his purpose of self-education. His university career lasted three years, and on his return to Lancashire he devoted to astronomical observations the brief intervals of leisure snatched from the harassing occupations of a laborious life. In 1636 he met with a congenial spirit in William Crabtree, a draper of Broughton, near Manchester ; and encouraged by his advice he exchanged the guidance of Lansberg, a pretentious but inaccurate Belgian astronomer, for that of Kepler. He now set himself to the revision of the Rudolphine Tables (Published by Kepler in 1627), and in the progress of his task became convinced that a transit of Venus overlooked by Kepler would nevertheless occur on the 24th of November (O.S.) 1639. He was at this time curate of Hoole, near Preston, having recently taken orders in the Church of England, although, according to the received accounts, he had not attained the canonical age. The 24th of November falling on a Sunday, his clerical duties threatened fatally to clash with his astronomical observations ; he was, however, released just in time to witness the punctual verification of his forecast, and carefully noted the progress of the phenomenon during half an hour before sunset (3.15 to 3.45). This transit of Venus is remarkable as the first ever observed, that of 1631 predicted by Kepler having been invisible in Europe. Notwithstanding the rude character of the apparatus at his disposal, Horrocks was enabled by his observation of it to introduce some important corrections into the elements of the planet's orbit, and to reduce to its exact value the received estimate of its apparent diameter.

After a year spent at Hoole, he returned to Toxteth, and there, on the eve of a long-promised visit to his friend Crabtree, unexpectedly expired, January 3, 1641, in the twenty-second year of his age. It is difficult to over-estimate the services which, had his life been prolonged, this singularly gifted youth might have rendered to astronomical science. To the inventive activity of the discoverer he already united the patient skill of the observer and the practical sagacity of the experimentalist. Before he was twenty he had afforded a specimen of his powers by an important contribution to the lunar theory. He first brought the revolutions of our satellite within the domain of Kepler's laws, pointing out that her apparent irregularities could be completely accounted for by supposing her to move in an ellipse with a variable eccentricity and directly rotatory major axis, of which the earth occupied one focus. These precise conditions were afterwards demonstrated by Newton to follow necessarily from the law of gravitation.

In his speculations as to the physical cause of the celestial motions, his mind, though not as yet wholly emancipated from the tyranny of gratuitous assumptions, was working steadily towards the light. He clearly perceived the significant analogy between terrestrial gravity and the force exerted in the solar system, and used an ingenious experiment to illustrate the composite character of the planetary movements. He also reduced the solar parallax to 14" (less than a quarter of Kepler's estimate), corrected the sun's semi-diameter to 15' 45", recommended decimal notation, and was the first to make tidal observations."

More, indeed probably all there is to find, can be read about this great, scouse pioneer of science at this page hosted by the University of Central Lancashire's Transit of Venus webpage. Unfortunately, if you missed it in 2004, it will be another 120 or so years before anyone can take the opportunity to repeat Jeremiah's historic observation. There are plaques and so forth to Horrock's memory at the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth (where he is presumed to have prayed and studied as a boy, and thought to have been buried in an unmarked grave), the nearby St Michael's church (the one with the pink tower), and opposite Newton's memorial in Westminster Abbey. Lower Lodge, where Horrocks is believed to have been born, stands no more, but was within spitting distance of Barleycorn Towers, where this electro-aetheric remembrance has been composed.

33. iii) This intricate ganglionic mechanism

"No one now doubts that consciousness has an anatomical substratum, but the great problem of the relation between the two is as far from solution as in the days when little or nothing was known of the physiology of the nervous system. Consciousness has been driven step by step upwards until now it takes refuge in a few thousand nerve-cells in a portion of the grey matter of the brain. The ancients believed that the body participated in the feelings of the mind, and that, in a real sense, the heart might be torn by contending emotions. As science advanced, consciousness took refuge in the brain, first in the medulla and lastly in the cortex. But even supposing we are ultimately able to understand all the phenomena - chemical, physical, physiological - of this intricate ganglionic mechanism we shall be no nearer a solution of the problem of the connexion between the objective and subjective aspects of the phenomena. [...]"

At the regrettable expense of neglecting further colourful references to vivisection (including an intriguing method of removing monkey grey matter using pressurized jets of water), we close our all too brief examination of Prof. McKendrick's contribution to PHYSIOLOGY with the above.

For all the doubtless marvellous advances made by neuroscience in the years that have followed, I have the idea that the problem of consciousness would be couched in similar terms today, and remains unanswered. Similar terms, but I would not expect the same language. There is a certain poetry in the professor's writing, coloured by a certain hint of melancholy and the macabre, and this final section somehow reminds me of Hamlet's soliloquies. George Bernard Shaw, so the Wikipedia informs us, read the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica in its entirety - excepting the scientific articles. Mr Shaw missed out.

33. ii) More fun with pigeons

"Flourens and the older observers were aware of the fact that as successive slices of grey matter are removed from the cerebrum an animal becomes more dull and stupid, until at last all indications of perception and volition disappear. A pigeon in this condition (see fig. 29), if carefully fed, may live for many months ; to quote from Dalton -

"The effect of this mutilation is simply to plunge the animal into a state of profound stupor, in which it is almost entirely inattentive to surrounding objects. The bird remains sitting motionless upon his perch or standing upon the ground, with the eyes closed and the head sunk between the shoulders. The plumage is smooth and glossy, but is uniformly expanded by a kind of erection of the feathers, so that the body appears somewhat puffed out, and larger than natural. Occasionally the bird opens its eyes with a vacant stare, stretches its neck, perhaps shakes its bill once or twice, or smooths down the feathers upon its shoulders, and then relapses to its former apathetic condition."

Similar observations have also been made on reptiles and mammals, but the latter survive the operation for a comparatively short time. In watching such an animal it is difficult to divest one's mind of the belief that it still feels or hears. It may be observed that it rarely makes movements unless stimulated from without. Thus it may remain motionless for many hours ; but if pushed, or gently touched, it moves. As remarked by Prof. M. Foster -

"No image, either pleasant or terrible, whether of food or of an enemy, produces any effect on it, other than that of an object reflecting more or less light. And, though the plaintive character of the cry which it gives forth when pinched suggests to the observer the existence of passion, it is probable that it is a wrong interpretation of a vocal action ; the cry appears plaintive, simply because, in consequence of the completeness of the reflex nervous machinery and the absence of the usual restraints, it is prolonged. The animal is able to execute all of its ordinary bodily movements, but in its performance nothing is ever seen to indicate the retention of an educated intelligence.""

33. i) Fun with pigeons

"If the cerebellum be removed gradually by successive slices - an operation easily done in a pigeon - there is a progressive effect on locomotive actions. On taking away only the upper layer there is some weakness and a hesitation in gait. When the sections have reached the middle of the organ the animal staggers much, and assists itself by its wings in walking. The sections being continued further, it is no longer able to preserve its equilibrium without the assistance of its wings and tail ; its attempts to fly or walk resemble the fruitless attempts of a nestling, and the slightest touch knocks it over. At last, when the whole cerebellum is removed, it cannot support itself even with the aid of its wings and tail ; it makes violent efforts to rise, but only rolls up and down ; then, fatigued with struggling, it remains for a few seconds at rest on its back or abdomen, and then again commences its vain struggles to rise and walk. Yet all the while sight and hearing are perfect. See fig. 26. It attempts to escape, and appears to have all its sensations perfect. The results contrast very strongly with those of removing the cerebral lobes. "Take two pigeons," says Longet ; "from one remove completely the cerebral lobes, and from the other only half the cerebellum ; the next day the first will be firm on its feet, the second will exhibit the unsteady and uncertain gait of drunkenness.""

(from Professor J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D.'s fascinating contribution to the article PHYSIOLOGY, volume XIX of the 9th Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1885.)

30. Relevancy update

What with the manner in which news and events have a habit of occurring somewhat continuously, I am occasionally confounded by an absence of serendipity, which would otherwise lend me an authoritative air of prescience and relevancy.

Days after posting about Britain's 19th century dominance of the opium trade, the newspapers were full of reports about Helmand province's soaring levels of production, quoting levels of production that would perhaps have inspired approval from EB9's statisticians, although they may have needed to reconsider their views of racial characteristics considering which peoples provide today's moral imbeciles.

With possibly the headline of the year (Pope urges crackdown on reported visions of Mary) The Times last week reported Benedict XVI's admirably robust stance on the verification of visitations by the BVM.

The pontiff believes bishops should resist being swayed by the emotional reaction of believers and be guided instead by strictly applied "scientific, psychological and theological criteria".

A rational approach which would have warmed the heart of Andrew Lang, M.A., and which promises to bring the church of Rome to the leading edge of critical 19th century thinking.

Now we have boffins at Harvard telling us that evolution has hard-wired superstition into our brains. Well, you lofty egg-heads, we're one step ahead of you at According to the Ninth : your news is no news to us. Have you never heard of Mysterizingness? Away with your effete heresies!

At this rate I should hardly be surprized if, in a week or two, I open the papers to read that someone has drilled their way into the Gold Melting House of the Royal Mint. Please remember, Accordingianists, you read it here first.

23 (iii) Modesty, thy name is Professor J. B. Pettigrew

"To Professor J. Bell Pettigrew is due the merit of having first satisfactorily analysed [wing] movements, and of having reproduced them by the aid of artificial wings. This physiologist in 1867 showed that all natural wings, whether of the insect, bat, or bird, are screws structurally, and that they act as screws when they are made to vibrate, from the fact that they twist in opposite directions during the down and up strokes. He also explained that all wings act upon a common principle, and that they present oblique, kite-like surfaces to the air, through which they pass much in the same way that an oar passes through water in sculling. He further pointed out that the wings of flying creatures (contrary to received opinions, and as has been already indicated) strike downwards and forwards during the down strokes, and upwards and forwards during the up strokes. Lastly, and most important of all, he demonstrated that the wings of flying creatures, when the bodies of said creatures are fixed, describe figure-of-8 tracks in space, - the figure-of-8 tracks, when the bodies are released and advancing as in rapid flight, being opened out and converted into waved tracks.

Professor Pettigrew's discovery of the figure-of-8 and waved movements, concerning which so much has been said and written, was confirmed some two years after it was made by Professor E. J. Marey by the aid of the "sphygmograph."

from FLIGHT, FLYING MACHINES in volume 9 of the Ninth Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Author : Professor J. B. Pettigrew. Including credits to illustrations and tables, I count no fewer than 45 named citations of the illustrious academic, which must surely be some kind of record.

It is a great shame that for all the time and energy the professor invested in the study of flapping, not a single flying machine following that model has ever sustained flight. Perhaps surprisingly, J. B. P. was not entirely blinkered in his view of the problem of flight, and although containing a great deal on the subject of flapping, his article does eventually move into other areas.

"In flight, one of two things is necessary. Either the wings must attack the air with great violence, or the air in rapid motion must attack the wings : either suffices. [...] The flight of the albatross supplies the necessary illustration. If by chance this magnificent bird alights upon the sea he must flap and beat the water and air with his wings with tremendous energy until he gets fairly launched. This done he extends his enormous pinions and sails majestically along, seldom deigning to flap his wings, the breeze works for him."

The article continues at length, describing with enthusiasm projected and attempted models, in many (but not all) of which some kind of flapping motion is a key feature. It would be far fairer to Professor Pettigrew to reproduce his text in full : however fairness is not my object at this time, so we will finish with the professor's final, patriotic words, and do our best to forget two bicycle-salesmen brothers from Ohio.

"The unremitting efforts of Mr Moy and other British engineers to construct flying machines deserve well of science. They are significant as showing that the great subject of aerial navigation is at length receiving a fair share of the thought and energy of a country which has already produced the locomotive engine, and which, there is good reason to believe, is destined also to produce the flying machine."

[You can now enjoy the article FLIGHT, FLYING MACHINES in full at the 1902 Encyclopedia, complete with all illustrations.]

23 (ii) A physical problem to be solved by mechanical skill and ingenuity

"FLIGHT, FLYING MACHINES. Of the many scientific problems of modern times, there are few possessing a wider or more enduring interest than that of aerial navigation. To fly has always been an object of ambition with man ; nor will this occasion surprise when we remember the marvellous freedom enjoyed by volant as compared with non-volant animals. The traditions of Daedalus and Icarus illustrate the attempts in the past ; and at the present day societies exist in Britain, France, Austria, and other countries, for the purpose of solving, if possible, the knotty problem. These societies embrace men of the highest scientific attainments, and as they evince great activity, and publish their proceedings at regular intervals, it is not too much to expect that the problem of artificial flight will be actually solved, or at least much simplified. For the first time in the history of the world, the subject of aerial navigation has been taken up in earnest by practical men with the necessary degree of preliminary knowledge and training. Investigators no longer dream about flight : they experiment upon and work towards it. It is, they maintain, a physical problem to be solved by mechanical skill and ingenuity. But while writing thus hopefully, it is necessary to state that as yet no one has succeeded in constructing a fully equipped flying machine. The number of successful flying models, however, is so considerable as to inspire the cultivators of aeronautical science with a very confident hope of success."

So begins Professor J. B. Pettigrew's delightful and compelling essay, a companion to AERONAUTICS in EB9's first volume, available for your perusal at our old friend 1902encyclopedia.com . [As is FLIGHT, FLYING MACHINES in full now, complete with the illustrations in their original, undistorted context]. The thrill and excitement of man's incipient conquest of the air hums from the very pages. There are many charmingly potty allusions and speculations, but the writing is clear and informative, and conveys to the reader a great and insight and appreciation of the particular problem.

"The subject of aerostation is admitted on all hands to be one of extreme difficulty. To tread upon the air (and this is what is really meant) is, at first sight, in the highest degree utopian ; and yet there are thousands of living creatures which actually accomplish this feat. These creatures, however varied in form and structure, all fly according to one and the same principle ; and this is a significant fact, as it tends to show that the air must be attacked in a particular way to ensure flight. The flying machine of the future, there can be no doubt, will be constructed on the type of flying animals, - the insect, bird and bat. It behoves us then at the outset to scrutinise very carefully the general configuration of flying animals, and in particular the size, shape and movements of thei flying organs.

Flying animals, it may be premised, differ entirely from sailing ships and from balloons, with which they are not unfrequently though erroneously compared ; and a flying machine constructed upon proper principles can have nothing in common with either of those creations."

It would no doubt be of satisfaction to the professor to learn that in the 21st century, comparisons between flying creatures and boats and balloons are now happily unfrequent.

There follows a discussion of the similarities and differences between those creatures and objects which move through water and through the air. Professor Pettigrew is contemptuous in his dismissal of the balloon, inferior to both the ship and the true flying machine in its inability to steer : it is a "mere lifting machine." His assertion that the "force required to propel a balloon against even a moderate breeze would result in its destruction" would of course later be disproved by the invention of the airship ; it is difficult to dismiss the notion that the spectacular demise of that particular form of aerial navigation would have caused the professor no small degree of schadenfreude.

Balloons operate by being being lighter than the air and so rising, passively - but weight and power are discovered to be the secret of the true flying machine, which

"need not necessarily be a light, airy structure exposing an immoderate amount of surface. [...] It should attack and subdue the air, and never give the air an opportunity of attacking and subduing it. It should smite the air intelligently and as a master, and its vigorous well-directed thrusts should in every instance elicit an upward and forward recoil. The flying machine of the future, there is reason to believe, will be a veritable example of "multum in parvo." It will launch itself in the ocean of air, and will extract from that air, by means of its travelling surfaces - however fashioned and however applied - the recoil or resistance necessary to elevate and carry it forward."

Rousing stuff, professor!

Next : more.

17. What I have learned this weekend

The Clavicle, or Collar Bone, is an elongated bone which extends from the upper end of the sternum horizontally outwards, to articulate with the acromion process of the scapula. It presents a strong sigmoidal curve, which is associated with the transverse and horizontal direction of the axis of the human shoulder. It is slender in the female, but powerful in muscular males [...]. The clavicle is absent in the hoofed quadrupeds, in the seals and whales, and is feeble in the carnivora ; but it is well formed, not only in man, but in apes, bats, and in many rodents and insectivora.

(From ANATOMY, by Sir William Turner, M.B., F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, in vol. 1 of the 9th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1875)

As the derivation of the term implies, the chief component parts of this machine consist of two wheels. The word is applied to those two-wheeled machines which have been brought to their present state of perfection for human locomotion during the past five years.

[...] There being no lateral support to the machine, the first thing to be learned is balancing, after which it is best to begin riding down a gentle gradient without using the treadles [...] Falls are inevitable at first, and they are best avoided by slightly turning the driving-wheel in the direction the machine is inclining, not the contrary way.

(From BICYCLE, uncredited, EB9 vol 3, 1875)

A bone may be broken at the part where it is struck, or it may break in consequence of a strain applied to it. In the former case the fracture is generally transverse and in the latter more or less oblique in direction.

(From SURGERY, by John Chiene, M.D., Professor of Surgery, University of Edinburgh ; Charles Creighton, M.A., M.D. ; F. M. Caird, M.B., C.M. ; and Prof. A. W. Hare, M.B., Owens College, Manchester, EB9 vol 22, 1887)

If we consider our mental condition as regards sensation at any moment, we notice numerous sensations more or less definite, [...] such as a feeling of general comfort, free or impeded breathing, hunger, thirst, malaise, horror, fatigue, and pain. These are all caused by the irritation of ordinary sensory nerves in different localities, and if the irritation of such nerves, by chemical, thermal, mechanical, or nutritional stimuli, passes beyond a certain maximum point of intensity, the result is pain. [...] The intensity of pain depends upon the degree of excitability of the sensory nerves, whilst its massiveness depends upon the number of nerve fibres affected. The quality of the pain is probably produced by the kind of irritation of the nerve, as affected by the structure of the part and the greater or less continuance of severe pressure. Thus there are piercing, cutting, boring, burning, throbbing, pressing, gnawing, dull, and acute varieties of pain.

(From TOUCH, by J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, University of Glasgow, EB9 vol 23, 1888)