NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12833, 5 April 1905, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

ENGLISH HOY'S, I'AST AM) I'HKSKNT.

Mam- people have been lately affirming that the modem Knglish boj, and particularly (lie public schoolboy, lias fallen from his high estate, and is no longer what lie was when "Tom Brown" was written. The editor of the Strand Magazine has af<ked the-headmasters- of some of the leading public schools their opinion on the subject. I 'Jr. Wane, headmaster of Kton.says: "My impression is that the public schoolboy of toil.iy is less rough in maimer and language than his predecessors of 50 years ago. 1. do not see that he is loss hardy, or in matters physical less eflicient than they.' On the- whole, I can boar witness to improvement." Dr. Joseph Wood, of Harrow, agrees with him: "The schoolboys of today are bettor, not woise, than the boys of 50 years ago. They are not less manly, and they are certainly leas rough and Jess cruel. Their code of honour is higher.'.' The Rev. 11. W. Moss, of Shrewsbury, writes:—"l believe that those special characteristics which have so long made the nation feel proud of oil! public schoolboys have undergone no deterioration." Dr. Fred W. Walker, of St. Paul's, also declines to believe that they are deteriorating : "In the course of my Jong life I have observed nothing that would lead me to believe iu the degeneracy, mental, moral, or physical, of my countrymen, old or young.'' The Rev. A. W. Upcott, Christ's Hospital, and the Rev. H. A. James, Rugby, hold similar opinions. The former says : "1 think that the public schoolboy of to-daj is better than the schoolboy of 50 years ago.'" The latter declares that: " It one may judge by books and by hearsay evidence, there has been marked progress—a progress, too, as I can personally testify, maintained steadily during the 29 or 30 years over which, my own life as a. public schoolmaster extends." Canon Lyttelton, Haileybury: "Whether there is quite the same grit of character and strength of will by the age of 20 or 25 is open to doubt. There may be. but there is room lor some slight, uncertainty." Dr. Gow, of Westminster: " I should say that boys are not really different from what they used to be, but, being imitative creatures, they reflect very faithfully the change in the habits of I heir elders. Their manners are far gentler than in Tom Brown's day, bub they remain on. the whole the same, careless, humorous, observant persons as of yore." A splendid testimony is that of the Rev. Charles Tancock, of Tollbridge: "I have no hesitation at all in saying that public schoolboys of to-day, taken in mass, are far more sensible, obedient, and maul}, than schoolboys of, say, 50 years ago."

LIQUID AIR, JfARVKLS. Dr. Maxim Boyd contributed to the London Magazine a. capital article mi. " What, Wo Know About Liquid Air." Liquid air marks an advance towards the attainment of what is called' "absolute zero," or, in other word?, ;v state in which heat is absolutely absent. Science has already declared that it is possible to reach, this state of absolute cold: "Every particle matter is in motion so long as it contain any heat; and the only way in which absolute rest of matter can bo attained is to remove all the heat from it, and thus reduce its energy to zero; and therefore the absolute zero is the temperature at which the heat-energy of matte,- disappears. It is somewhere about — 490deg. Falir. below the freezingpoint of water; and it is supposed that this is the temperature of the spacs beyond the earth's atmosphere." The liquefying of air is very simple, and depends on the fact that expansion of the gas lowers its temperature, and if this is done continuously the temperature is continuously lowered. Liquid air is stored in vacuum-glass vessels, which are silver-lined t< prevent the entrance of heat. It lends itself readily to a number of interesting experiments: "Certainly it is somewhat novel to sea liquid air wheu poured: on ice fly off, hissing like water from a red-hot iron; but when it- is slated 1 that, ice is 344deg. hotter than liquid air the apparent phenomenon is easily understood. Steam i« at once frozen into a kind of snow, the difference in temperature between steam and liquid air being 524deg." l is action no embryonic life is of deep interest: "The. writer has boiled mote than 100 eggs in liquid air, but in no case has he been successful in hatching them afterwards; whilst some seeds of the temperate zone, Mich as bailey, oafs, ami peas, have been for nearly live days in liquid air, and, after'being' slowly thawed and planted, they germinated and giew without any ill effect. Diphtheiia bacilli and some oilier noxious germs arc, killed by it, and it can be used a.s a local Kinesthetic. All liouids Hie. Frozen by liquid air. Mercury becomes as hard as iron, requiring only a temperature) ol— 40dcg. to solidify. Alcohol,' cbUnulonn etc., soon become solid."

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT ON! DIVORCE.'^; ; Th« "Inter-Church" Conference on Uniformity a* to Laws of Marriage and Divorce met recently at Washington, under thfi chairmanship of the Bishop of Albany. The members of the conference were received by President Roosevelt,- who, in reply to a brief address from the chairman, said: "While I do not know exactly what it is that you wish me to do, I can say in, advance that, so far as in me lies,' all will be done to co-operate with you toward the end that you have in view. One of the most unpleasant and dangerous features of our American life is the diminishing birth-rate and the loosening of the marital tie among Hie old native American families. ' It goes without saying that, for the race as for the individual, no material prosperity, no business growth, no artistic or scientific development, will count if the race commits suicide. Therefore, I count myself fortunate in having the chance to wort with you in this matter of vital importance to the national welfare." President Roosevelt has sent a special message to Congress, asking that provision too mad** for the collection . and publication of statistics as to the operation of laws as to marriage and divorce in the several States. It is to be remembered that the subject is one over which the federal Congress has no legislative jurisdiction. In his message the President said:—-"The institution of marriage is, of course, at the very foundation, of our social organisation, and all influences that affect that institution are of vital concern Xo the people of the whole country. There is a, widespread conviction that the divorce laws are dangerously lax and indifferently administered in some of the States, resulting in a. diminishing regard for the sanctity of the marriage relation. The hope is entertained that cooperation amongst the several States can be secured to the land that there may be enacted upon the subject o£ marriages and divorce uniform laws, containing all possible safeguards for the security of the family."