LETTER FROM BERLIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10079, 14 March 1896, Page 1 (Supplement)

LETTER FROM BERLIN.

GERMANY AND ENGLAND.

THE FEELING IN BERLIN.

THE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHIC DISCOVERY. The following are extracts from a private letter from Dr. W. C. W. McDowell, of Auckland, who is now completing his studies in Berlin. He gives an instructive description of the state of feeling in Germany against England, and also of the wondorful discovery of Professor Rontgen,

of Wurzburg. The picture which he has sent, and which we now reproduce, shows plainly what) this new discovery effects. It is a copy of a photograph made of the living; hand by the newly-found invisible rays. The bones and ligaments are as clearly seen as if in a skeleton. The fleshy parts through which the light) has penetrated are faintly seen. A ritier is on

the fourth fincor. The photograph is from Das Echo, of January 16, a weekly paper published in Berlin.

Bkrus, January 25, 1896.

What exciting events have beon stirring during the past few weeks I It has beon of especial interest to watch from this standpoint the varying pictures in the international kaleidoscope. First of all came the news about the warlikemessage of President Cleveland respecting the Venezuela question. It aroused a good deal of comment here, and, on the whole, the bulk of the sympathy was on the side of England, not, I four, out of a purely generous feeling, but because of Into there have arisen some differences of opinion between Germany and the United States, based upon curtain German regulations in regard to the cattle trade, and also to the recent exclusion of some American insurance companies from doing businoss in Prussia. Treading closely on the heels of the Venezuelan affair came the startling news of Jameson's march across the frontier of the Transvaal and his subsequent defeat. Then public feeling, at any rate as expressed by the press, quickly veered round to a quarter of bitter antagonism against Kngland. The Kaiser's indiscreet telegram, congratulating Kriiger on his victory, without! needing outside help," speedily whipped up this ill-feeling against England to its highest pitch. At first one could not but hope that the Kaiser's telegram had been solely due to his impulsive temperament suddenly aroused by the mere news of Jameson's expedition against the Transvaal. But when it appeared that the German authorities had full information of the action taken by the British authorities to check Jameson before the telegram was sent, the Emperor's action wore a different aspect, and especially, too, whon it came to light that Germany intended to send marines into the Transvaal across Portuguese territory. For soveral days the newspapers gave noisy expression to ill-feeling against England ; but it was most remarkable and gratifying to observe how promptly they began to adopt a more peaceful tone when they peroeived that England intended to stand no nonsense, &nd especially after tho news came that England had determined to put, in the short space of a week, a completely new "flying squadron" of war vessels into service. Indeed, now it fell to the task of the newspapers to quieten the alarm that this pioco of news had given rise to here. When one tries to find a solution to this problem of Germany's unnatural and unexpected attitude towards England, there are several possibilities to choose from. In the first place, it has beon thought that the Kaiser's ambition to strengthen the German navy may give a clue to his action. It seems that for a number of years he has hitherto unsuccessfully appealed to Parliament for funds for this purpose, and by being able to hold out a prospect of war with such a naval power as England, he may thereby now succeed in getting tho German navy placed on such a footing as he desires. Others, again, imagine that the Kaiser wishes to court the favour of Russia by irritating England. The fact of Germany going with Russia and France in elbowing the Japanese out of the Liao-tung Peninsula, is held to support tho view that Germany desires to improve its relations with Russia. A far more probable cause of this anti English feeling is to be found in the commercial rivalry between the two countries. During the last twenty-five years the industrial and commercial life of Germany has undergone a remarkable development, and in these respects stands second only to England. There aro two things which sorely touch the commercial interests of the Fatherland—the one is the " made ir.-Germany" legislation, and the other, and much more important, is the I enormous advantage which England possesses in its great over-sea colonies. What adds to this feeling of irritation is, I imagine, a shrewd suspicion that the time is not far distant wbon England and her colonies will arrange their commercial relations on a federal basis to tho disadvantage of foreign competition. I might add however, that I have been surprised to find how widespread hero is the idea that the colonies are pervaded with a feeling of disloyalty to the mother country. The sooner such a notion is disabused the better, and to that end the announcement of tho telegram sont by the Premiers of Australia to Lord Salisbury, and, I am proud to add, the patriotic resolution passed in the public meeting at Auckland, as telegraphed this week, are all contributing to impress upon the Germans that Great Britain and her colonies are indissolubly united. Apart from commercial jealousy there seems little else to cause differences between the two nations ; and I feel sure that at heart the bulk of tho German people have a kindly feeling towards their neighbour across the Channel, and strange would it bo otherwise, in view of the many uniting links furnished by a common descent, religion, and culture. PROFESSOR RoNTOEN's DISCOVERT, It is pleasant to turn from the troubled state of international politics to the peaceful paths of science. Within the past fow weeks Professor Rontgen, of Wurzburg, has startlod the world with the announcement of his discovery of a new manifestation of light. For a long timo ib has been known t.hss whan an electric current is passed through a glass tube which has beon exhausted of air (named Crookes' tubes, after their English inventor), ft brilliant light is produced, Professor Rontgen has now found that whon the tube is covered with black cardboard so that no visible rays escape—nevertheless, when a sheet of paper, painted with a fluorescent material, such as a compound of Barium-platinum and cyanic acid—it at once glows with light. This fact proves thabfrora the Crookes tube invisible rays of light must pass. These rays nob only pass through cardboard, but also through a printed book of more than 1000 pages, varying thicknesses of wood, aluminium, platinum, copper, and other metals, and can cause fluorescenb effects at a distance of two yards. That these rays possess chemical action is shown by their effect upon the photographic plate. _ An ordinary photographic plate is placed in a wooden box, on the lid of the box is placed a person's hand, and these remarkable rays have the power of passing through the fleshy parts of the hand through the lid of the box, and leave on the photographic plate the shadow impress of the impenetrable bones of the hand, and if a ring bo upon one of the fingers its impenetrable mass is also seen in the photograph. One of tho more immediate practical uses of this property of these rays is the application to medical science. It will prove of especial value to the surgeon as at) invaluable aid to the diagnosis of the site of fractures, or fragments of bones, or the lodgment of bullets, eto. At one of the medical societies here the other night there was exhibited a photograph of a hand, which enabled a surgeon to diagnose the site of a fragment of glass which could nol otherwise be detected, Every day are fresh reports of its useful application coming to hand. These wonderful rays conduct themselves in a way quite contrary to the laws of refraction, reflexion, i and response to magnetism, which govern

the other known rays of light. Until their nature is more fully known Professor Rontgen designates thera " X rays." Ho inclines to the belief that thoy are due to waves of light travelling in a longitudinal as contrasted with the transverso direction. Altogether this is a very marvellous discovery, and its further development and application will be awaited with the greatest interest.

Last Saturday (18th) the jubilee or twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the German Empire was celebrated here. The city was gaily adorned with flags, and in most of the shop windows busts of the three Emperors, Bismarck, and Moltke were to be seen. There was a great Court) function, and a parade of the troops; but the people generally, it seemed to me, did not enter into the celebration with such heartiness as might have been expected. We felt a sense of relief when it was known that the address of the Kaiser on this occasion was of a pacific character.