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Show SCIENCE IN CLEEICAL ROBES. A priest from Portugal and a priest from Manila Ma-nila contributed more to the interest of the late exposition from scientific point of view than any ten other professedly scientific exhibitors on the grounds. Of the latterV work the papers have contained con-tained frequent and extensive accounts; of the former little has been written, the reason of this seeming neglect being the fact that Father Himalaya Himal-aya was, on his arrival, a total stranger in tho eity aud did not belong to any religious community, and the other fact that upon his arrival here he could not speak one word of English. But his pyrheliophore drew scientific men around it, and' before the close of the exposition Father Himalaya's Himal-aya's lectures were largely attended. To those who have visited the exposition it is not necessary for us to describe the huge reflector, nearly fifty feet high, with a radiating surface of nearly one thousand square feet, the number of mirrors being 6,117. The object of this instrument instru-ment is to enable the student of science to study the true nature of the radiation of the sun; the source of the. energy that planet is constantly throwing off in the form of light, heat and electricity; elec-tricity; the properties of matter, the essence of matter and force, and the possibility of completing the scale of high temperature, the anti-climax of the absolute zero. Father Himalaya has already, by means of this instrument, discovered that the radiation, of the sun is produced by' electricity; that the great luminary lum-inary is only a transmitter, and that the stars of heaven are in reality only incandescent lamps; that the real source of the energy thrown off by the sun is as yet unknown and belongs to the occult storehouse store-house of nature's forces; that the elements of matter mat-ter and force, the latter term being restricted to its physical, chemical and astronomical sense, are two absolutely distinct and different orders of things; and that biographical forces belong to a third world of substances infinitely dissimilar. Father Himalaya, Him-alaya, is a life-long student of physical sciences, but he has always studied in the interest of theology. theol-ogy. He hopes to be able to demonstrate that life and matter have nothing in common but being. After completing his course in Portugal he studied five years in Paris, and he proposes to devote five years more to studv before leaving this country. coun-try. Father Himalaya claims no commercial value for his instrument. It is simply an apparatus for the laboratory. But he is inclined to believe that from the researches in which he is at present engaged en-gaged results will follow that will revolutionize the industries of he world. Ho looks to the sun for the energy; that, will move iill the machinery on land and water, and expects to find solar raTiiation applied ap-plied to all th purposes of heating and manufacture. manufac-ture. He says that the problem of integral and easy transformation of heat into electricity can be solved by patient, conscientious and methodical investigation in-vestigation by men of science. Empirical experimenters experi-menters with immediate financial ends in view cannot can-not hope for success. Father Himalaya intends writing a hook embodying em-bodying his discoveries, and hopes to have it ready for the press before the end of the year. He is a singularly modest man. and possesses the enthusiasm enthu-siasm without which no great discoveries were ever made. During his seven months' stay in St. Louis he has acquired a working knowledge of English., and can express himself quite clearly on scientific subjects in that language. He is destined some day to take very high rank among men of science Western Watchman. |
