Chapter XLVI: Part II: Chronicle of Events (4)

Declination 15° 15.2´ west.
Dip 66° 50.5´.
Horizontal Force 0.1851 C.G.S. units.

J. R. A.

PHYSICS.

The constitution of the atom continues to be a subject of experimental inquiry. According to Sir Ernest Rutherford's views on the scattering of ~a~-rays the atom consists of a central nucleus of positive electricity around which one or more electrons revolve. Mathematicians have objected that such a system is not stable, but N. Bohr has evaded this difficulty by introducing Planck's theory of a quantum of energy, which states that energy is not emitted continuously but in discrete atomic quantities. For the simple atoms of hydrogen and helium Bohr's theory gives some remarkably accurate representations of certain properties of these elements; especially in relation to the spectral lines. Van der Broek contends that the nuclear positive charge is exactly equal to the atomic number, and certain experiments by Moseley on the _x_-ray spectra of the elements are regarded as confirmatory of this.

The quantum hypothesis of Professor Planck, referred to above, which regards energy as transferable in definite units and not continuously, is being applied to several physical problems with some measure of success. For example, Professor Nernst has recently investigated the specific beats of the solid elements at very low temperatures and by the application of a formula due to Debye, involving the quantum hypothesis, a very good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. An excellent review of this work and the bearing of the quantum hypothesis on such different subjects as photo-electricity, the line spectra of the elements, and radiation generally, has been written by Mr. J. H. Jeans and published by the Physical Society of London. Mr. Jeans inclines to the view that the classical Newtonian Mechanics must be revised to meet the conditions which the quantum hypothesis have called forth.

Professor Millikan has attempted direct proof of a cardinal feature of this hypothesis, namely the direct proportionality between the frequency and the energy of radiation, by showing experimentally that the energy of the electrons ejected from metals by the action of light is proportional to the frequency of the light vibrations.

An important discovery has been made by J. Stark that hydrogen in a state of luminescence when subjected to an electric field has its spectral lines resolved into three or more components, an effect analogous to the Zeeman effect in which the spectral lines are resolved into components by the action of a magnetic field. The effect has been observed independently by Lo Surdo whilst working on the positive rays in a vacuum tube. The two outer components of an electrically resolved line are polarised at right angles to the remainder, the separation of the components being proportional to the field intensity and increasing with decreasing wave length. The electric effect is not the same in all its details as the magnetic effect and is not always quite easily interpreted, but the discovery puts a new means in the hands of the physicist for the investigation of the structure of the atom.

Messrs. Kaye and Higgins have continued their researches on the emission of electricity from substances at temperatures of 2000° to 2500° C. from which currents, generally of negative electricity, are obtained of a density as much as 1 to 2 ampères per sq. cm. Boiling brass, however, emits a positive current of 0.5 ampères per sq. cm. The subject is of considerable interest in connection with the problem of the electric and magnetic state of the sun. These experiments, however, are not altogether in agreement with Professor Richardson's view that the emission of thermions from hot bodies is a kind of evaporation of electrons following a law like that of liquid evaporation under rise of temperature.

A most interesting experiment has been carried out by Professor K. Onnes as a branch of his low temperature researches. A coil of lead was constructed and cooled to within a few degrees of absolute zero at which temperature its resistance is 2 × 10^{-10} of what it is at normal temperature, consequently an induced current when started persists after the inducing electromotive force is withdrawn, as there is no appreciable resistance and therefore no dissipation of energy into heat. In this way it has been possible to realise the conception of electric currents continuously circulating round atoms, which was first introduced by Ampère to account for magnetism.

Professor Jean Perrin in a recent course of lectures has explained his striking and beautiful experiments on the movement of small particles suspended in liquids. When an emulsion of such particles is dilute the laws which are applicable to gases are obeyed, but when the emulsion is concentrated van der Waal's law for dense vapours then holds good, and in this way these important laws of the behaviour of invisible molecules can be ocularly demonstrated.

Hiromu Takagi has examined the change of magnetic properties of magnetite with rise of temperature and is unable to confirm the sudden changes of susceptibility which were said to occur at definite points above the critical temperature. These changes Professor Weiss claimed as one proof of the existence of an elementary indivisible unit of magnetism, which he named the magneton, and the evidence for this unit must therefore rest upon other experiments.

The very large intrinsic field of a magnet required by the kinetic theory of magnetism receives some confirmation by the application of an experiment, by Hurmuzescu, on the electromotive force developed in a cell consisting of two identical pieces of soft iron in dilute acetic acid, one of which is strongly magnetised. Calculation then shows that if the electromotive force arises from an intrinsic field, such a field must have a magnitude of the same order as is required by the theory.

Electrification can be produced by the splashing of water, a subject which has received a good deal of attention as it has a bearing on the origin of atmospheric electricity. Mr. J. J. Nolan has found from his experiments that the charge is of positive sign and inversely proportional to the radius of the drops, and he deduces the result that the charge is proportional to the new surface formed as the water breaks up, and that the magnitude of the charge produced per unit area of water surface is 2.7 × 10^{-3} electrostatic units.

An interesting example of how pure science is beneficial to industry is afforded by Professor Bone's experiments on surface combustion. It has been a popular lecture experiment for a long time past to exhibit the combination of combustible gases below the flame temperature when they are in contact with solids, and it is in this way possible to keep a solid incandescent by flameless combustion. Applying this result Professor Bone has constructed a boiler in which the water is heated by the metal tubes within it being raised to a high temperature by flameless combustion, and such a boiler has a very high efficiency. A trial on a large scale gave an efficiency of 92.7 per cent.

The work of the National Physical Laboratory has been extended to include a new department for the testing of radium preparations and for certifying the strength of radio-active preparations. This department is under the superintendence of Dr. Kaye.

The death of Professor John Henry Poynting in March last is a loss to English science. His name will always be associated with the theorem on the transference of energy in the electro-magnetic field which he was the first to enunciate.

J. R. A.

CHEMISTRY.

The constitution of the atom is one of the chief problems in physical chemistry at the present time, and evidence is accumulating that the atomic weight of an element is not, as was once thought, a natural constant, like the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, but a quantity which can fluctuate within certain limits. Thus, according to Professor Soddy, radium F, on losing an atom of helium, has its atomic weight reduced from 210 to 206, and then becomes chemically indistinguishable from lead. Thorium C (212), in the same manner, yields another form of lead with the atomic weight 208, and radium C (214) a third form with the atomic weight 210. A species of lead from Ceylon, whose atomic weight is slightly different from that of ordinary lead, lends colour to these assertions, though it cannot be supposed that all the lead in nature is derived from radio-active metals of higher atomic weight.

The subject of catalysis is assuming a greater commercial importance than heretofore, it having been discovered that hydrocarbons are enabled by this means to take up additional atoms of hydrogen, and form oils, while certain oils can be hardened into fats. Thus acetylene can be changed into complex products similar to and even identical with petroleum, and according to Professor Sabatier of Toulouse, it is even possible to imitate the Galician, North American, Rumanian and Caucasian oils at will, by varying the conditions. It is not likely that this will be done on a sufficient scale to compete with these types in the market, though a considerable industry has sprung up of late, founded on a variety of the same process. Oleic acid, for example, can be made to take up two atoms of hydrogen, and becomes converted into stearic acid; fish oils lose their smell and are turned into a hard odourless tallow. In France, the United States, and Germany, large quantities of butter substitutes and lard substitutes are made in this way. The hydrogenation is effected by spraying the oil, and compressing it with hydrogen in the presence of nickel, under suitable degrees of temperature and pressure.

Thoria is a powerful catalyst, and can change organic acids to ketones, while titanium dioxide causes certain of the fatty acids to turn into aldehydes.

At the British Association meeting Professor E. Goldstein gave an address to the chemical section on the influence of the kathode rays on the colour of metallic salts. Sodium chloride is turned brown by this agency; potassium bromide a deep blue; sodium fluoride rose-colour, lithium chloride bright yellow, and so on. The effect is very rapid, and endures for a long time if the salt is kept dark and cold, but disappears more or less quickly under ordinary conditions. It is supposed to be due to decomposition, and both the metal and the acid radicle are concerned in the result. Similar effects have been obtained by Giesel, and also by Kreutz, who found that rock-salt, heated in the vapour of sodium or potassium, also became coloured. The changes so produced are more permanent than those produced by the kathode rays, though if the latter be allowed to act for a sufficiently long time there is less discrepancy in the results. It is interesting to note that ordinary acetic acid shows no colour change, while chloracetic acid is turned yellow, and chloral a bright yellow. Substances so acted on are sometimes phosphorescent, and the effect is due to ultra-violet rays excited by stoppage of the beta and _x_-rays. The therapeutic effects of kathode and _x_-ray treatment are no doubt dependent in some degree on these changes, and it may be possible to discover which rays are hurtful, and to cut them off.

The chemical world has been affected by the war in various ways. Thus the supply of potash from Stassfurt has ceased; saccharine, synthetic drugs, and glass apparatus are no longer procurable from Germany, and, most important of all, the dyeing industry is deprived of its mainstay, the aniline colours. With regard to the last, a scheme is under consideration by the Government to establish the manufacture of dyes in this country--which should have been its home after Perkin's discoveries--but the problem is fraught with many difficulties.

Sir James Dewar has recently been studying the composition of air from various sources with reference to rare gases contained in it, and finds that the breath expired by different individuals contains 23-52 parts per million of gases uncondensable at 20° absolute. From 2 to 20 or 30 per cent of this is hydrogen, the amount varying with the time of day and other conditions. In ordinary city air there are, in 1,000,000 parts, about 2.6 of hydrogen, and 22-1/2 of mingled helium and neon; country air contains 22.8 of the former and .5 of the latter. With regard to permeability, helium easily passes through highly heated quartz, a power not possessed by hydrogen, though it passes easily through hot platinum. Oxygen permeates more quickly through a rubber film than hydrogen, and hydrogen than nitrogen. The occlusion of gases, the permeability of metals and the ubiquity of hydrogen add to the difficulty of these investigations, all rubber connections and greased stopcocks having to be discarded.

C. L. B.

BOTANY.

The year has seen the publication of a considerable amount of research of a detailed and specialised character, but it does not appear to have been marked by contributions of immediate general interest or of outstanding importance.

At the meeting of the British Association in Australia, the Presidential address, by Professor Bower of Glasgow, dealt partly with the history of Australian Botany from Joseph Banks, who sailed with Captain Cook in 1770, to the present day; and partly with special Australian plants on which Bower himself has worked, especially with _Phylloglossum_, a very primitive Lycopod, and _Tmesipteris_, a link between living Lycopods and fossils of the group Sphenophyllales; and other primitive Australian forms. Numerous other papers dealt with the Australian flora, etc.

Professor Lang has published the first of a series of communications describing the structure of the Quillwort, _Isoetes_. This is a curious plant, a distant relation of the Clubmosses (Lycopods), all of whose immediate relations appear to be extinct. This investigation of a familiar but little understood plant promises to provide a thorough explanation of its construction and a sound basis for a comparison of the stock of _Isoetes_ with the Stigmarian bases of the fossil tree-Lycopods, whose morphology has long been a puzzle to fossil botanists.

Miss E. M. Berridge's recent account of the anatomy of the Fagaceæ (Beech family) is of much interest. Her observations lead her to the conclusion that the Amentiferæ (catkin-bearing trees) are not primitive, but derived from plants with large flowers. She finds the Fagaceæ connected by various links with the Rosaceæ.

Several American botanists have published investigations on the stem anatomy of flowering-plants, in which they have attempted to trace the changes that have occurred during evolution, and from which they conclude as others have done from more general considerations, that the tree-habit is relatively primitive in flowering-plants.

Our knowledge of fossil seeds has been augmented by two important contributions. One comes from Dr. Wieland of America, whose researches in wonderfully rich material have added so much to our information on the Bennettitales; he describes yet another type of complex inflorescence, helping to build up our conceptions of the evolution of the flower. The other, by Salisbury, is a most careful and detailed account of some new fossil species of _Trigonocarpon_, old seeds from the Coal measures which make one realise more profoundly how complex were plant organs even in those days.

Professor Bottomley has carried a step farther his investigations on the fertilising influence of "bacterised peat," _i.e._ peat acted upon by the bacteria of ordinary soil. In a paper in the _Proceedings of the Royal Society_ on "Some Accessory Factors in Plant Growth and Nutrition," he traces the increased growth of plants supplied with this fertiliser to certain organic substances of unknown nature present only in minute proportions, yet enabling the plants to make use of a larger amount of the food available in the soil. From quantitative cultural experiments he infers that wheat seedlings are able to form a certain limited amount of these substances during germination, from material present in the grain, but that after a time their rate of growth falls off considerably unless further supplies are available from without. These substances are obtained from ordinary soil, but are more plentiful in "bacterised peat" (though not in ordinary peat), so that their presence is due to bacterial activity. Professor Bottomley draws an interesting parallel with the substances that have been found necessary by Dr. Hopkins and others, likewise in minute proportions, for the growth of young animals. The diseases of beri-beri and scurvy have been traced to the lack of similar substances when the diet consists of polished rice or lacks green vegetables and fruit.

In a series of experiments Mr. F. Kidd has thrown new light on the conditions which lead to dormancy of the embryo in ripe seeds, and which must be removed if germination is to take place. Maturation involves a cessation, or at least a retardation, of the growth of the embryo, and this is shown to be the result of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the tissues, which acts as a mild anæsthetic. In the soil, carbon dioxide is frequently present in considerable amount, especially where manure and other organic matter is being decomposed, or in the deeper layers, and under such conditions the anæsthesis tends to be prolonged and germination delayed. During maturation the accumulation of carbon dioxide is due to the seed-coat becoming impermeable to it. If the seed-coat is removed the embryos, for instance, of peas can readily be induced to continue their growth without any period of rest.

Dr. W. Brenchley, working at Rothamsted with a view to the understanding of the peculiarities of certain natural soils, has found that zinc and arsenic have no stimulative effect on the growth of pea or wheat seedlings, but are toxic even in very minute proportions--a few parts per million--while boron has a small stimulating effect on growth when in very minute proportions, though it also becomes toxic when less diluted.

Knight and Priestley have begun an attempt to analyse the beneficial influence of an electrical discharge on the growth of crops, by examining its influence on the different functions of plants. Beginning with respiration, they find that an electric discharge has no appreciable effect on the rate of respiration until it is powerful enough to raise the temperature appreciably and that then the whole effect is attributable to the rise in temperature.

Professor Ewart of Melbourne has published an impressive account of researches on oxidation by organic and inorganic catalysts. He has studied the nature of the activity of enzymes responsible for oxidation in the Apple, Lemon, Maize, Parsnip, Beetroot, etc., and in view of his results controverts the generally accepted views, first promulgated by Chodat and Bach, that oxidising elements belong to several classes, differing in chemical value and their mode of action.

M. G. T.

ZOOLOGY.

Professor Arthur Dendy, President of the Zoological section of the British Association, which this year met in Australia, took as the subject of his address "Progressive Evolution and the Origin of Species." Darwin and Wallace established the main principle of evolution, but at the present time there is still great diversity of opinion among expert biologists as to the means by which organic evolution has been effected. Darwin and Wallace held that species originate under the influence of "natural selection"--the selection by nature of fit variations. Later, De Vries brought forward the view that species arise by sudden "mutations" or sports, and thus not by gradual changes, and the well-known Mendelian Professor Lotsy holds that all species originate by crossing. At present, it is mainly due to the impetus gained by the introduction of experimental methods that there exists so much difference of opinion. Professor Dendy's address was an endeavour to take a general survey of the situation.

A theory of organic evolution should account for the following principal groups of facts: (1) "that on the whole evolution has taken place in a progressive manner along definite and divergent lines; (2) that individual animals and plants are more or less precisely adapted in their organisation and in their behaviour to the conditions under which they live; (3) that evolution has resulted in the existence on the earth to-day of a vast number of more or less well-defined groups of animals and plants which we call species."

Professor Dendy seeks to explain the fact that organisms throughout nature show a slow progression by the "law of the accumulation of surplus energy." From Jennings's work on the "Behaviour of the Lower Organisms" one is led to the conclusion that the lower animals learn by experience to make the appropriate response to stimuli without having to pass through the long process of trial and error. They are thus able to perform a given action with less expenditure of energy. The same is true for higher animals, and the power of profiting by experience is apparently a fundamental property of living protoplasm. Jennings speaks of this property or principle as the "law of the readier resolution of physiological states after repetition," and this law probably lies at the root of progressive evolution. As a corollary to the principle enunciated by Jennings, the "law of the accumulation of surplus energy" would follow. In the organism or in the egg cell, the oftener the process of absorbing food-material is repeated, the easier does the process become, and thus the organism tends to accumulate surplus energy in excess of its own needs. Professor Dendy lays emphasis on a progressive accumulation of potential energy by succeeding generations of animals and plants--each generation having a slightly greater amount than the previous one--and that by means of this cumulative energy, structural progressive changes are evolved, or in other words there is progressive evolution. He holds that there takes place in nature in the stricter sense something similar to that which seems to occur in human life, when certain families rise in general well-being and prosperity through the gradual accumulation of capital in successive generations, and in virtue of this handed-on capital each later generation starts with an advantage over the previous one.

Professor Dendy also holds that the law of recapitulation, which may be stated thus, that the life-history of the individual is a recapitulation of the life-history of the race, is a logical necessity if evolution has taken place. Leaving out, for the present, the complication introduced by the union of two germ cells of separate sexes, the behaviour of the germ cell during development is conditioned by two factors, namely its own constitution and its environment. It is now accepted that the living matter of the germ cell is continuous from generation to generation, and given the same environment, the germ cell should develop in a similar manner in succeeding generations, but with a difference arising from the "law of the accumulation of surplus energy." The organism developing from the germ cell will have a greater capacity for responding to stimuli--it will be a slightly more capable and efficient being in each successive generation. The organism must repeat in its life-history the stages passed through by its ancestors, because at every stage there is an almost identical organism exposed to the same environment, but there will be an acceleration in the individual life-history owing to the cumulative storing of potential energy.

As in human life, however, an organism really inherits from its parents two things, namely, living protoplasm with potential energy and an appropriate environment. When we say that an organism inherits a particular character from its parents, we really mean a special feature which is handed on if the appropriate environment is also present to bring out that character. The inheritance of the environment is as important as the living protoplasm, for in each life-history an animal is capturing and assimilating from the environment handed down to it from its parent.

The response which an animal makes to its environment is probably not merely purely mechanical, for Jennings has pointed out that in the case of the lower organisms, the response to stimuli is to a large extent purposive, namely that the organism has the inherent capacity of selecting those modes of response which are best for its own well-being. Those responses to stimuli may result in change of structure, and thus the evolution of the body will be adaptive and follow along definite lines. One has, however, to remember that while the germ cell may be slightly different in successive generations, the environment is also changing in these generations.

In trying to understand evolution and the doctrine of recapitulation by the individual of the life-history of the race one must proceed slowly and by single steps, for there is no difficulty in understanding how any particular stage is related to the corresponding stage in the previous generation, but the whole series of changes is simply the sum of successive terms.

Space does not permit a complete review of Professor Dendy's contribution. Its most important part seems to be the "law of the accumulation of surplus energy." The complications introduced into the problem by the union of two cells of different sexes Professor Dendy regards as less important than is generally held, as the parents must have been alike in main respects or they could not have interbred. He also recognises the very important recent work on "mutation" and "hybridisation" from the point of view of heredity, but regards the unit characters arising by mutation and interchanged by hybridisation as chance characters due to chance modifications of the germ-plasm, and having comparatively little influence upon the general course of evolution. The characters inherited in the Mendelian manner are apparently non-adaptive, and with no particular value in the struggle for existence. Probably the nucleus of Professor Dendy's position may be found in the following quotation: "Surely that much-abused philosopher, Lamarck, was not far from the truth when he said, 'the production of a new organ in an animal body results from a new requirement which continues to make itself felt, and from a new movement which this requirement begets and maintains.' Is not this merely another way of saying that the individual makes adaptive responses to environmental stimuli?" As a counteractive to the foregoing, however, the reader may be referred to Professor Bateson's "Problems of Genetics," in which he writes: "When ... we contemplate the problem of Evolution at large, the hope at the present time of constructing even a mental picture of that process grows weak almost to the point of vanishing."

J. S. T.

ART, DRAMA, AND MUSIC.

I. ART.

In the history of art in England the year 1914 will be remembered chiefly as a period of trouble, unrest, and disappointment. To the picture lover the first disappointment of the year was the failure of the Royal Academy to hold the exhibition of Old Masters which had been arranged for January; a disappointment caused, not as some imagined by the difficulty of obtaining works, but solely by the death in the preceding autumn of Sir Frederick Eaton, the Secretary to the Royal Academy, who had been chiefly responsible for the organisation of the Winter Exhibitions almost from their commencement. The endeavours of enthusiastic supporters of the woman's suffrage movement to call public attention to their propaganda by attacking works of art resulted in serious damage to pictures in various galleries, several of which were closed for a time wholly or in part (pp. 71, 112). At the National Gallery the most serious case was the injury to the famous Velasquez, the "Venus and Cupid." This picture, which had been given an unfortunate prominence two or three years earlier by a ridiculous agitation about a supposed signature which proved to be imaginary, was now the victim of a more serious attack. Early in March a woman named Richardson broke the glass in front of the picture with a hatchet and managed to slash the canvas several times before she could be arrested. The outrages at the National Gallery caused the partial closing of the exhibition for some time, and the normal conditions had not been resumed when the war broke out and still further disarranged affairs at Trafalgar Square.

The German threats of attacks on London by airships called attention to the possible injury to the nation's pictures in such a case, and Sir Claude Phillips was especially prominent in urging that protection should be given to them. Numbers of the best works were removed accordingly to places of safety, and during the winter the Foreign side of the National Gallery was occupied mainly by second-rate pictures, and each room was disfigured by one or more huge bins of galvanized iron, filled with sand. At the Victoria and Albert Museum special precautions were taken with a view of protecting the Raphael Cartoons and certain other famous works of art.

At the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy the Hanging Committee for oil paintings was composed of Mr. David Murray, Mr. Seymour Lucas, Mr. W. W. Ouless, Mr. S. J. Solomon, Mr. H. H. La Thangue, and Mr. Lionel Smythe; the last named of whom also arranged the watercolours, which for the first time were placed in the Tenth and Eleventh Galleries. Another new departure in Academy hanging was the arrangement of the Fourth Gallery by Mr. H. H. La Thangue, who allowed no pictures to be "skied," and did not overcrowd the lower lines. The result was eminently satisfactory, but it is to be feared that Mr. La Thangue's example will not be followed extensively unless the wall space at the Academy is largely increased. During the season several pictures were attacked by women, and Sir Hubert von Herkomer's portrait of the Duke of Wellington; Mr. Sargent's portrait of Mr. Henry James, the novelist; and Mr. Clausen's study of the nude, "Primavera," were all injured. Mr. Henry James, whose portrait by Mr. Sargent was one of the most discussed pictures in the exhibition, was also the subject of another portrait of great interest, a bust in marble by Mr. F. Derwent Wood. This bust was a commission from Mr. Sargent, who, however, surrendered it to the Chantrey Trustees, by whom it was purchased for 100_l._ A marble statue "Dawn," by Mr. C. L. Hartwell (1,100_l._), was also bought by the Trustees; and two pictures, Mr. F. Cadogan Cowper's "Lucretia Borgia reigns in the Vatican in the absence of the Pope" (1,500_l._); and Mr. Maurice Greiffenhagen's "Women by a Lake" (420_l._). The general sales at the Academy were fairly numerous although not up to the level of some recent years. The King, when he paid his first visit to the exhibition, purchased Mr. B. W. Leader's landscape, "The River Llugwy, near Bettws-y-Coed" (150_l._); and the other pictures sold included "The Annunciation," by Mr. J. W. Waterhouse; "The Little Archer" (400_l._), by Mr. Charles Sims; "The Silent Woods" (350_l._), by Sir Ernest Waterlow; "A Farm Loggia, Veneto," and "A Riva on the Grand Canal, Venice," by Mr. Henry Woods; "Primavera" (250_l._), by Mr. George Clausen; "Noon, Equihen, France," and "To the Sea: Equihen, Pas de Calais, France," by Mr. Hughes-Stanton; "A Greek Water Carrier in Egypt" (250_l._), by Sir W. B. Richmond; "And step from glowing heat to welcome depths of shade" (300_l._), by Mr. Reginald Vicat-Cole; "Where Aspens Quiver," by Mr. Lionel P. Smythe; "Eternal Eve" (500_l._), by Mr. Gabriel Nicolet; "Rag-time, Rio Mendicante, Venice" (250_l._), by Mr. David Murray; "Dawn and the Shepherd" (200_l._), by Mr. George Wetherbee; "The Silver Strand" (630_l._), by Mr. Julius Olsson; "A Winter Morning" (350_l._), by Mr. Harry W. Adams; "The Toast is England--Lord Nelson handing the loving cup to Benjamin West, R.A." (500_l._), by Mr. Fred Roe; "Room at James Pryde's" (300_l._), by Mr. Oswald Birley; "The Meadow Pool" (105_l._), by Sir Alfred East; and "Napoleon's last Inspection of his Army" (315_l._), by Mr. J. P. Beadle. It is curious that the largest picture exhibited in the Royal Academy at the time England declared war upon Germany was the portrait group by the late Sir Hubert von Herkomer of "The Managers and Directors of the firm of Fried, Krupp, Essen, Germany."

The exhibitions held in the earlier part of the year, before the declaration of war, included those of pictures by artists of the Venetian School, at the Burlington Fine Arts Club; of Old Masters and of the work of Mr. John Lavery, both at the Grosvenor Gallery; and of paintings or drawings by M. Steinlen, Sir Alfred East, Mr. H. H. La Thangue, and Mr. L. Campbell Taylor at the Leicester Galleries. An exhibition of Italian studies by Sir William Richmond was held at the Fine Art Society's gallery. The famous portrait by Millais of Mrs. Heugh, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1873, and afterwards sent to America, was shown in the spring at the International Society's exhibition, to which it was lent by Mr. Edmund Davis. A loan exhibition of examples of modern French art was held at Grosvenor House by permission of the Duke of Westminster. It was of singular interest, but, unfortunately, was opened too late in the season to attract the attention it deserved.

One of these exhibitions, that of Old Masters at the Grosvenor Gallery, was organised to raise funds for the purchase of modern pictures for the nation. It was so successful that the committee was enabled to purchase works by Mr. W. Orpen, Mr. Oliver Hall, Mr. H. Muhrman, Mr. A. McEvoy, Mr. W. W. Russell, Mrs. Mary Davis, Mr. John Lavery, and Mr. Gerald F. Kelly; all of which were presented to the Tate Gallery in July. A noble gift of some twenty examples of his art was made by M. Auguste Rodin to the Victoria and Albert Museum in November. The London Museum, admirably arranged in its permanent home at Stafford House, was opened in the summer; and other events of interest in the year were the unveiling of the Royal Academy memorial to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (designed by Sir George Frampton) at his birthplace in Holland, and of a memorial to the late Sir William Orchardson in St. Paul's Cathedral. An important new departure was made at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where the "sixpenny" days were finally abolished and free admission given to the public throughout the week. In the summer plans were made, for the consideration of Mr. Asquith, for a proposed Ministry of Fine Arts; and a non-party and unofficial committee was formed of members of the House of Lords and House of Commons for the purpose of noting and examining questions connected with the acquisition of pictures for the nation and other matters relating to the arts.

The outbreak of the war was from every point of view disastrous to artists and picture dealers. The sale of pictures was brought temporarily almost to a standstill; the opening of some exhibitions was postponed indefinitely, and that of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters abandoned for the year. In these conditions, when artists were suffering severely themselves, it is to their credit that they made great and successful efforts to aid the funds of the war charities. For the Artists' War Fund they contributed more than four hundred paintings, pieces of sculpture and prints which were distributed by lot to subscribers. Mr. Sigismund Goetze defrayed the cost of collection and distribution; and Messrs. Dicksee lent their gallery free of charge; and the honorary treasurers and secretary, Mr. O. Wynne Apperley, Mr. Louis Ginnett and Mr. Martin Hardie, were therefore enabled to hand over the entire receipts, amounting to 2,615_l._, to the Prince of Wales's National Relief Fund. The Royal Academy called a meeting of the Presidents of the principal art societies to arrange an exhibition of pictures to be sold for the same purpose, and also lent several of its galleries to the United Arts Force whose members practised military exercises in the courtyard of Burlington House.

In the auction room the season was uneventful even before hostilities commenced and later there was so little doing that Messrs. Christie did not reopen their rooms in the autumn, according to custom. The Grenfell sale was the most important. It included the portrait by Titian for which the collector paid 30,000_l._ a few years earlier, and now, under the hammer, realised £13,650. Other pictures sold in the spring and summer included a Peter de Hoogh (at Messrs. Robinson & Fisher's) for 8,200 guineas; a Gainsborough landscape, 7,000 guineas, and a portrait of a lady in white by the same artist which fetched a similar price; and a portrait by Lawrence, 5,600 guineas. The price paid for the de Hoogh was a record; and another auction room record was made when Valentine Green's mezzotint of Sir Joshua's portrait of Lady Betty Delmé was sold from the Northwick collection for 1,750 guineas.

W. T. WHITLEY.

II. DRAMA.

The drama of the year 1914 falls, like every kindred subject, into two sharply defined parts: the first, seven months of normal conditions; the second, five months of conditions not only abnormal but absolutely unparalleled. It is difficult to believe that any branch of art can have suffered more severely than the drama during these later months. No doubt, in times to come, this European war will furnish material for innumerable plays, good, bad, and indifferent; it will be treated, dramatically, from every point of view, as long as the world lasts; but while we are actually engaged in the struggle the chief incidents inseparable from a "war-play" are almost too poignant to be reproduced; artistic values are lost sight of in an overpoweringly painful impression. On the other hand, the average "drawing-room play"--to say nothing of the "problem play"--has been reduced to triviality by the readjustment of the public sense of proportion; domestic quarrels and social theories are shorn of their interest. Lastly, apart from sentimental or intellectual considerations, the darkening of the streets at night, and the all-pervading need for the reduction of personal expenses, have had disastrous results. There is reason to hope that the lowest ebb has now been reached, and that, even if the war should be prolonged, public tension cannot be kept always at the extreme pitch of the past autumn; but for the moment, the post of dramatic critic can be little more than a sinecure.

To deal first with those plays which enjoyed ordinary chances of success or failure, the year up to August had presented no very striking features. Perhaps the greatest promise of novelty was offered by Sir Herbert Tree's production of "Pygmalion," a new play by Bernard Shaw (His Majesty's, April 11). The prospect of seeing Sir Herbert Tree and Mrs. Patrick Campbell in first-rate comedy parts was inspiriting; but, frankly, it must be owned that the work was not of Mr. Shaw's best, and that the splendour of His Majesty's is less suited to his methods than the intimacy of the Court or the Little Theatre. The author may possibly have felt that the subtle effects of "Candida," or of "John Bull's Other Island," would be lost in so much space; what is certain is that in "Pygmalion" the humour is far more obvious--one might almost say crude--than in the earlier plays. Sir Herbert Tree as the "professor of phonetics" who undertakes the education of a Cockney flower-girl, and Mrs. Patrick Campbell as his pupil, did full justice to their parts, each proving once again a gift of comedy too often neglected. Mr. Edmund Gurney, as a London dustman--father of the flower-girl--was the chief vehicle of Mr. Shaw's opinions, and expressed himself effectively, though at inordinate length.

A clever, though in some respects painful, play was "The Land of Promise," by Somerset Maughan (Duke of York's, February 26). The heroine, an English girl of good family, is forced to emigrate to Canada, where she finds herself incapable of earning a living, and marries a back-woodsman, whom, after some severe experiences, she learns to love. The process of "breaking her in" is partly conducted by brute force, and made the audience feel at times like eavesdroppers of the worst description; an impression much heightened by the really admirable acting of Mr. Godfrey Tearle and Miss Irene Vanbrugh in the principal parts. Indeed, Miss Vanbrugh won more sympathy for "Norah" than the character by right demanded; her personal distinction made us believe in the gentle breeding of Mr. Maughan's heroine, even while we felt that this very refinement would have taught her that the washing of cups and saucers is in itself a less degrading occupation than fighting and wrangling between husband and wife. The subordinate parts were well written and acted, especially those of Norah's peace-loving brother and shrewish sister-in-law.

"My Lady's Dress," by Edward Knoblauch (Royalty, April 21), showed an original idea, but one exceptionally difficult of treatment. The author's aim was to show--as a rebuke to vanity and extravagance--each stage in the creation of a triumph in dressmaking. We saw, among other episodes, the silk weavers toiling at the loom, in Lyons; the trapper in Siberia; and the cripple girl making artificial flowers in a London slum. Last, but not least, we were taken behind the scenes in the establishment of a famous man-milliner, who tyrannised with fiendish cruelty over the unfortunate _mannequins_. These scenes, some half-dozen in all, were linked together by a slender thread of story, but each might stand as a complete one-act play, with a distinct list of characters. In each, the chief parts were taken by Miss Gladys Cooper and Mr. Dennis Eadie, who thus appeared in six or seven different _rôles_ in the course of an evening. The scenes were, naturally, of very varying merit; taken altogether, it may be said that the most dramatic was the episode of the Provençal peasants, who stake their fortunes upon silkworms. With regard to the acting, Miss Cooper succeeded best in the pathetic part of the flower-maker; and Mr. Eadie as the bully of the show-rooms.

Among the new works produced by well-known dramatists are "Plaster Saints," by Israel Zangwill (Comedy, Feb. 5), which had a career of some months; "The Clever Ones," by Alfred Sutro (Wyndham's, April 23), a comedy on somewhat obvious lines; "The Dangerous Age," by H. V. Esmond (Vaudeville, May 5); and "Outcast," by Hubert Henry Davies (Wyndham's, September 1). Mr. Stephen Phillips' blank verse drama, "The Sin of David," courageously produced by Mr. H. B. Irving (Savoy, June 9), proved no more successful than other like ventures in recent years. Adaptations from novels included "Helen with the High Hand," by Richard Pryce, and Arnold Bennett (Vaudeville, Feb. 17); and "The Impossible Woman," by Haddon Chambers, from Miss Anne Sidgwick's novel "Tante" (Haymarket, Sept. 8). This last should, if produced in happier times, have had a longer career, although the delicacy of Miss Sidgwick's character drawing can scarcely be altogether reproduced on the stage.

Shakespearean revivals have numbered no more than three: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Savoy, Feb. 6); "Henry IV.," Part I. (His Majesty's, Nov. 3); and "Henry V." (Mr. Benson's company). Some surprise and perhaps a little disappointment were felt at Mr. Granville Barker's choice of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as the successor to "Twelfth Night." Few of Shakespeare's plays offer more difficulties to the stage-manager, or give less scope for the greatest acting. It was even rumoured that these same difficulties were the attraction, and that the revival was in the nature of a _tour-de-force_, undertaken in reply to a challenge. In any case, Mr. Barker, if he did not triumph over all obstacles, might be trusted to avoid certain obvious pitfalls. His fairies were in no way reminiscent of pantomime; his Oberon was not a "principal boy" but a well-grown young man (Mr. Dennis Neilson-Terry); above all, his clowns were human and delightful, without a touch of exaggeration. The grouping of the fairy scenes was exquisite, and the forest background among the most beautiful ever seen on the stage. The fantastic element, however, was on some points overdone, as in the gilding of the fairies' faces; while the figure of Puck (Mr. Donald Calthrop) in scarlet clothes and a flaxen wig, was more grotesque than supernatural. The acting honours rested decidedly with the clowns; Mr. Arthur Whitby as Quince once more proved himself the first Shakespearean comic actor of the day.

The two later revivals--"Henry IV.," Part I., and "Henry V."--were a response to the patriotic enthusiasm called forth by the war. Sir Herbert Tree's Falstaff, and Mr. Benson's Henry V., are both too well known to require much comment. Sir Herbert, as we cannot but think, is still inclined to take the part too slowly; the tavern scenes all alike suffered from a certain heaviness, the result of over-elaboration in by-play and scenic effects. The tableau of the battle of Shrewsbury should have been entirely omitted; it was not only ineffective in itself, but it interrupted the action of the play at a crucial moment, and so lessened the effect of the later scenes. As to the innovations in the caste, Mr. Basil Gill showed great rhetorical power in the difficult part of the King; and Mr. Owen Nares was an ideal Prince Hal in appearance, though he did not, in all respects, give the character quite its full value. Mr. Matheson Lang's rendering of Hotspur must, unfortunately, be confessed inadequate; it was inclined to be ponderous rather than fiery, and was further marred by the assumption of an unnecessary and irritating stammer. Whether Sir Herbert Tree or Mr. Lang was responsible for putting this construction on the reference to Percy's "speaking thick," we cannot pretend to say; but surely it may be taken for granted that if Shakespeare had intended his Hotspur to stammer aggressively in the delivery of blank verse he would have given some more definite instruction to that effect.

For the last five months of the year, revivals of more or less recently successful plays have been seen at almost every theatre; an inevitable resource for stage-managers in this time of dearth. Among these we may note "Milestones" (Arnold Bennett and E. Knoblauch); "The Flag Lieutenant" (W. P. Drury and Leo Trevor), a particularly happy choice; "Raffles" (E. W. Hornung); and "His House in Order" (Sir A. W. Pinero). Two most popular American importations, "Potash and Perlmutter," by Montague Glass (Queen's, April 14), and "Peg o' my Heart," by J. Huntley Manners (Globe, Oct.), appear to hold their own through all vicissitudes; but, as both are given by American companies, they cannot be reckoned under the heading of English dramatic art.

It is impossible to close this record without mentioning the tragic death of Mr. Laurence Irving and his wife (Miss Mabel Hackney), who were drowned together in the wreck of the _Empress of Ireland_ on May 29. Laurence Irving was an actor whose gift matured slowly, hindered by certain superficial defects; but his work, which steadily increased in merit, was never weak, and never insignificant. His loss will be felt by all who value enterprise and sincerity on our stage.

EVELINE GODLEY.

III. MUSIC.

Roughly speaking the year 1914 may be divided into two diametrically opposed halves, the first in which London suffered from almost a surfeit of music, the other, on the declaration of war, when she was almost entirely devoid of music. But in spite of this absence of music during the last six months the year was one of the most remarkable for a quarter of a century. It was essentially an opera year, a fact which, coupled with the success of one of the opera schemes, confirms the statement. Not in living memory were so many operatic performances to be seen in London between the beginning of February and the end of July. This _annus mirabilis_ began on February 2 at Covent Garden with the first performance here of "Parsifal," the copyright of which had expired only on the night of the previous December 31. Of course the world was agog to hear this much-talked of stage work, and in consequence the original number of performances was increased to twelve from ten, while in the summer or so-called "grand" season five further performances were given. The conductor at first was Artur Bodanzky, from Mannheim, and the opening casts included Burrian and Sembach as Parsifal, with Mélanie Kurt and Rüsche-Endorf as Kundry. In course of the first season several performances were given also of "Die Meistersinger," "Tristan und Isolde," and "Die Walküre," while Méhul's "Joseph" was staged for the first time in a London opera house. Albert Coates, an Englishman of Russian birth who is musical director at the Imperial Russian Opera in Petrograd, created a fine impression as conductor of the Wagner operas on this his first appearance here as operatic conductor. The "grand" season opened on April 20 and lasted uninterruptedly until July 28. As usual operas were given in Italian, German and French, but not in English, and the changes were rung chiefly on well-worn operas such as "Aïda," "La Bohéme," "Madama Butterfly," "Samson et Dalila," and so on. But two new works were produced, namely Zandonai's "Francesca di Rimini" and Montemezzi's "L'Amore dei tre Rei," neither of which survived, however, for more than the customary three performances. But the point of the season was the revival of Verdi's "Falstaff," with Scotti in the title rôle, after neglect of twenty years; three performances were given also of "Don Giovanni," two of "Le Nozze di Figaro," and three of Boïto's "Mefistofele" which was restored in an entirely new stage setting by Bakst. Two cycles of Wagner's music dramas were given and included "Der Ring" under Nikisch, "Lohengrin" under Coates, and "Die Meistersinger," the last of which was actually played on two consecutive nights. Of the new-comers the most powerful impression was made by Claudia Muzio, but among the season's singers were Melba, Caruso, Destinn and Matzenauer. On May 11 a gala was held for the visit of the King and Queen of Denmark.

But opera at Covent Garden was intrinsically of secondary importance, for the Russian season at Drury Lane, organised for Sir Joseph Beecham, Bart., by his son Thomas Beecham, very easily took pride of place from both the musically interesting and the dramatic and stage points of view. Indeed it is in no degree exaggeration to state that London had not previously seen opera given to ultimate advantage, at least for years too many to recall. The Beecham season, in fact, was a veritable riot of gorgeous performances. It began on May 20, and ran contemporaneously with that at Covent Garden till July 25; the prospectus was issued in February but not one single alteration had to be made in it, so that it was also a triumph for the management, a rare thing in metropolitan operatic affairs! Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier" and "The Magic Flute" were capitally given several times in the early part of the season with Margarete Siems, Frieda Hempel, Claire Dux, Charlotte Uhr, Knüpfer and Bechstein, Beecham conducting. But it was not the German opera that was the thing, albeit much gratification came from the revival of Mozart's masterpiece. It was the extraordinary succession of magnificent Russian operas, ballet-operas and ballets, magnificently staged and performed, that completely revolutionised the Londoner's idea of opera. Moussorgsky's "Boris Godounov" and the brilliant "Khovanstchina" with Rimsky-Korsakov's "Ivan le Terrible" formed the nucleus of the season, in all of which the incomparable operatic artist, Chaliapin, reigned supreme. But there was much else that was entirely unfamiliar yet not a whit less attractive. An immense success followed the production of Borodin's "Prince Igor," Rimsky-Korsakov's "Le Coq d'Or" (this a particularly fascinating new form, for the singing was accomplished by the soloists and chorus who remain in uniform seated at the sides of the proscenium while the dramatic action was achieved by the _corps de ballet_), "Un Nuit de Mai," Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol;" Strauss's "La Légende de Joseph" an ultra-modern version of the tale of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, proved momentarily exciting rather than permanently valuable. Strauss himself conducted the first performance. Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloë" and Steinberg's "Midas" were given here for the first time, as also was Joseph Holbrooke's opera "Dylan" (in English). At a War Fund function in Covent Garden in the autumn Thomas Beecham produced a stage setting of Bach's cantata "Phoebus and Pan," which proved highly interesting and seemed to have provided Steinberg with his idea for "Midas."