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solid matter thus thrown off, and that it might be the first stage of the development of a satellite. Some correspondence with observers followed this paper, and, among others, I called the attention of Professor Barnard to my theory, my hope being that he would, in the course of his observations, look for such satellites. I received from the professor a reply, dated the 2nd of January, 1892. On the 11th September, as we all know. Professor Barnard discovered a fifth moon to Jupiter. I am sorry the professor has not made some reference to my letter to him, for, though the red spot is not the satellite found by him, I have reason for supposing that my letter induced him to institute a more careful search than otherwise might have been made for Jovian Satellites, which, I have no doubt, exist.

Now, Mr. Elvins's prediction arose from a theory which had but a slender physical basis and, as he himself remarks, the satellite discovered was not thrown off from the Great Red Spot; yet it must be acknowledged that his speculation was a remarkable one and its apparent verification was indeed striking. One cannot read the history of discovery without occasionally harboring the suggestion that some men are so close to nature that they develop a sort of affectionate intuition into its mysteries, and an association with Mr. Elvins for twenty-five years has more than once caused such a thought to pass through my mind.

Though Mr. Elvins felt that he had been somewhat slighted, and that his name deserved to be connected with the discovery, he did not hesitate to send his hearty congratulations to Professor Barnard. Indeed, an achievement in science by a friend gave Mr. Elvins almost as much pleasure as if it had been his own work.

Farther on in the paper last quoted from, Mr. Elvins makes another prediction regarding a satellite between V and I, basing it on a relation between the periods of the Jovian satellites somewhat similar to Bode's Law. Arranging the periods in order, they are: 12, 422, 854, 172, 402 hours, which are roughly proportional to 1, 4, 8, 16, 32, a series in which 2, the second term, is missing. He predicted that a satellite exists with period about 21 hours and distance 166,000 miles. There has been no 'happy' verification of this, though four satellites much farther out have since been discovered.

III.

On rising to speak on any subject, Mr. Elvins would usually begin with a deliberation which often made the stranger fear that a wearisome disquisition was coming, but by the end of the second sentence all such fear would vanish. One could not but be charmed with his naturally choice diction, and though the words might not come quickly, the proper one always appeared at the right time. His language was always appropriate and pleasing, and through it all breathed a kindly spirit.

He loved to converse with his friends, and he was a most interesting companion. He might pass a few personal remarks, but soon one felt that trivial matters had little interest for him. He would discourse on his favorite scientific topics or on interesting incidents in his long life, or on other serious questions of the day.

The deep religious impressions of his youth were never effaced, but his views on the gravest problems of life suffered profound modifications. The most active period of his mature mind was during that time of religious unrest when the fires of criticism were fanned by the writings of Huxley, Darwin and others. With the writings of these and other contemporary thinkers he was well acquainted, and much of the traditional faith of bis early years was discarded. To the present writer he remarked that he thought every person was naturally religious; but he was deeply so. He found difficulty in building a logical structure of religious belief and so he simply lived the gospel of love and service. His wife predeceased him by exactly twenty-two years. Soon after her death a monument to the poet Burns was erected in the Allan Gardens, Toronto, and on this occasion Mr. Elvins put some of his thoughts in verse, in which he referred to the loss of Burns's 'Mary' and his own 'Alice'. This composition came under the eye of his old friend, David Boyle, who had it printed in The Scottish Canadian. I quote the last four stanzas, as they clearly show how the scientist tried to resolve the mystery of the hereafter:

That energy continues seems so certain

That there are few who doubt a truth so plain;
And though we cannot see beyond the curtain
Which hides the future,-something must remain.

All energy continues; that of Spirit,

As well as that of matter, cannot cease;

And that the spirit also, must inherit,

A deathless essence, should afford us peace.

Yes, we may rest, for surely God remaineth;"

He knows what's best, and from His throne above
He lights us, guides us, and His hand sustaineth
The whole creation; we can trust His love.

Nature is moving onward,-is evolving;

And there will surely come a brighter day;
When things which puzzle will not need resolving,

For sorrow, pain and doubt must pass away.

On

Mr. Elvins's health was never very robust and some fifty years ago he was not considered a first class risk by a life insurance company. He had several serious illnesses, but the way in which he had ordered his life carried him through them all. For a considerable number of years he had found a happy home with his grand-daughter, Mrs. W. A. Clarke, in Toronto, and for several summers the family had lived near the lake, in the eastern portion of the city. During the last season his health had been comparatively good. Towards the end of October, however, some bronchitis appeared, but it caused no serious misgivings. Sunday, the 27th, he was in his bed much of the time, but yet was able to get up. He expressed a desire to converse with one of his friends, Mr. Z. M. Collins, and, in answer to a telephone call, the latter came to see him. Mr. Elvins talked chiefly on religious matters. When about to leave, Mr. Collins remarked: "The war is still going on." "Yes," was the reply, "it is the greatest curse this world has. I suppose there always will be war until Messiah comes. When Messiah comes the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ."

At midnight a visit to his room showed him to be resting quietly, but on inquiring at 6 o'clock next morning it was discovered that he had passed away in his sleep.

He most lives

Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

RECOLLECTIONS AND APPRECIATIONS OF

THE LATE ANDREW ELVINS

FROM strange and small beginnings often arise unexpected endings. In the Kingdom of Nature from the small seed. embedded in the ground arises the tall and stately tree. In the Kingdom of Life it is the same. William Carey, the shoemaker, became the world-wide famed missionary of the Gospel. David Livingstone, the bare-legged cotton-mill spinner, opened up Africa to the British Empire. Prophets, priests and kings of science have also come from humble and lowly origin. Carlyle, in "Sartor Resartus", has given us the philosophy of clothes. Andrew Elvins was a humble artist in cloth, but his soul was above that, for in thought he linked himself with the immortals who read the Scriptures of the Sky, and thus he rose from Nature up to Nature's God. His mind had a distinctly scientific bent, but without any technical training. I do not suppose he could solve a simple equation, and "Newton's Principia" or Mathematical Astronomy, was to him, as to many other amateur astronomers, a sealed book and a forbidden mystery. Yet, for all that, he pondered and worked and wrote on astronomical subjects with wonderful success, and with such a modesty that he shrank within himself, and with such ability that he "blushed to find it fame".

Looking through the pages of the transactions of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and its predecessor, I find him to be the author of many suggestive papers, and among others these appear: "Auroral Display"; "Thoughts on Radiant Matter"; "Solar Heat"; "Terrestrial Magnetism"; "Meteorology"; "Spectrum of the Lightning Flash"; "Earthquakes and Volcanic Phenomena"; "The Moon's Present Condition". The pure mathematician rather wonders at papers from this humble seeker after truth on such recondite subjects; he was not panoplied with a university degree, but just an ordinary man among men, and with

a certain definite scientific instinct he lived and pondered in a world of his own.

Carlyle has it: "Produce! produce! if it be but the pitifullest infinitesimal fraction of a product, produce it in God's name!" And Andrew Elvins produced. Nor did he hesitate to join battle with some of the foremost astronomers of the day, although he had only a Davidic sling, and it did not always result in a victory. It is death to falter, not to die-and he never faltered.

On the 28th of October, 1918, it grew late and dark with Andrew Elvins, and now the cypress blooms above the laurel. "Twilight and evening star, And after that the dark."

The Father gives to every man to read in the Star Book of Nature that what He has written, and to reveal what is still unread in these Manuscripts of God; and when the man has read these marvellous tales and interpreted them to his less gifted fellow-man, then the Father calls him home to read other volumes with brighter vision and clearer mind.

We are in the early days of 1919; the future is rich in promise; it is already flushed with a coming glory; the golden age is not behind us, it is before us. To read the Book and Volume of the Sky more correctly, and to see therein and on every page of it emblazoned the name of the Creator, yea, every letter of it a glistening sun, is the lesson for every man, whether amateur astronomer or not, to learn. Lalande impiously said: "I have swept the heavens, and searched the Universe, and find no God." Andrew Elvins searched his own heart as well as the firmament, and being rightly attuned, it responded to the thrilling chorus of the morning stars when they sang together and rejoiced; for Nature never says one thing and wisdom another thing.

JOHN A. PATERSON.

I first met Andrew Elvins towards the close of the summer of 1882, in the work-shop of James Foster, where the mounting for my 4-inch telescope was under construction. I had called

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