TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13105, 2 May 1908, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

That great imaginative The authority upon the affairs Martian of Mars, Mr H. G. Wells, Again, has been revising his impressions of its inhabitants to acoord with scientific disooveries since "The War of the Worlds." We are already forbidden, he holds, "to adopt any foolish fantastic hobgoblin or any artietio ideal that oomee into our heads, and call it a Martian. Certain facts about Mars are definitely known, and we are not entitled to imagine any Martians that are not in accordance with these facts." Even upon strictly scientific lines, however, Mr Wells constructs a highly interesting person. We are permitted to think that in certain features the Martians resemble man. "They will probably have heads and eyes and back-boned Their .heads are big, Because of their high intelligence, and their bodies big to match the more majestic size of everything in Mare. "And as likely as not they will be covered with feathers or fur. ,. There is reason to suppose them bipeds, but they may have some extra feet; "and the famous canals have proved that they must have hands, proboscis, a group of tentacles, or some other prehensile organ, because in no other way could they have got such engineering done. Feather-covered men of nine or ten feet high, with proboscides and several feet, and a vast intellectuality, may eeem quite fantastic enough, and Mr Wells kindly abstains from specifying all the weird artificial aids to match with man's invention of clothes, boots, false teeth, wigs, and epectaoles, by which a fashionable Martian may present an appearance still more remarkable Yet wild and extravagant as these thoughts of unseen creatures may seem, Mr Wells is quite convinced that it is logic and ascertained 1 fact that such superior beings are awaiting our acquaintance in the red plang* Mars. As for any eccentricities of form, after all, he asks, "has the reader ever looked at -a cow, and tried to imagine how it would feel to come upon such a creature,. with its 'knobs and horns and queerprojections, suddenly for the first tinwff"

America, m her welooono Americans in 1905 to the British and Squadron commanded by British. Prince Louis of Ba-fcten-berg, sat up a high standard in international Jhcstpdtality, .to equal which Australians and New Zealandera will have to work Irard. An Australian who was in New York at tlie time, gives it-he "Sydney Morning Herald" a graphic account of the enthusiasm which ipervaded the community. Admiral Evans ...took his fleet ouit to meet the dftrsfciaib vessels, and the American Bailors yelled themselves hoarse when the two fleets came within call. The visitors were treated to a round of gtaaety, from which, the committee, mindful that ithedr gueste were sailors, barred ejiitertainmeate on tho water. "Banquets and theatre parties, sports and excursions, suppers and athletic contests succeeded each other in endless variety. The eoalare wore in a libtfle heaven for the tdanebei'ng, end breajthed oraly by accident." Ait mcbt ovary large (buDding blazed with, li'ghifc, and here and tihere the British and American coate-of-araiß ehone fonth vn eleotrio Jamps. On the ni,gh(t of the King's Birthday the splendid illU'minaitiion of the city was edited 'by the dazzling eight of five "miles of iwarshiiipe owUined in light. The American sailors established a selfdenial fund six mouths 'before tihe vosift, for the entertainment of the English sailors, and, saved £800. Coney Island was given- to them diroe of charge, and for two days the Br&trish tars had the time of their lives "tihere. The two Admirals were the guests of the men at dinner, and the men paid their chiefs the compliment of placing champagne before them for the drinking of toasts. TTho Admdrals refused to uncork the bottles, and drank the toasts in <jQnglish and American been. Everyone was wildly enthusiastao. The display of British) iranting vras so lavish that an Ameraoan> officer remarked that bad so much been shown before the Spanish-American war, all the troops in the cotmtry would have been, required to quell 'tho resulting riots. After gating from the top of the ihrighest building in New York ait the (magnificent scene at Prince Loads telegraphed to his Government tfaofc the days -wore too short to absorb the magnificent hospitality of the Amencen people. Wilt the American Admiral be able to say the same thing of colonial hospitality?

A Birmingham, phyA' sician describee in Somnambulist's the "British McdiFeats. cal Journal" a remarkable case of somnambulism. The patient is a girl of twenty-one, a typist, a teacher, and a student of music, and was brought to the Birmingham Hospital last year suffering from sleep-walking. She got out of bed between orio and two in the morning and did extraordinary things,

from crochet work to writing letters, and -composing essays on music- . One night she went downstairs, played the piano, put new strings on her violin, and tuned it. Another night ehe found the door looked, and at once went to a table, wrote a letter in German, and threw it away. At other times ehe took books down and read them, studied harmony, and did crochet work, in. the darkness or eenii-darkness. It was noticed that when there was a faint light from the gas she took her book or work ( to the darkest part of the room. The letter written in German was shown to her, and while she did not remember writing rfc, she iwognieed the address as correct. She was then asked to write the same address under the same conditions ol darkness, but this she could not do properly. The lines ran into each other. Her most astonishing performance was ai essay to her musio teacher on the sonata form. It was accurate and intelligent, and accompanying it was a letter. Both were written quite clearly in pencil, in light in it was a letter. Both were wribtoea which she could not write legiNjy when awake. Part of the essay ran. as follows :•—"The introduction consists of two simple themes both written out shortly (P strictly) on the Tonic. The Development is sometimes very long and in it both themes are worked out thoroughly at great length. The Development is always written in the Dominant. Recapitulation in a brief summary of tho whole piece which is written again in the Tonic Some sonatas also contain a short Introductory Theme, and snatches of this Theme will be found are generally found running all through the sonata. A good instance is the 'Pathetique' of Beethoven." She does not appear to be asleep in this state, but she has no sense of her surroundings. Doctors cannot find out why she can read and write in the semi-darkness when asleep, when she cannot do bo while awake.