MR SEVERN'S LECTURE.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2014, 18 June 1875, Page 2

MR SEVERN'S LECTURE.

Mr H. A. Severn delivered in the Academy of Music last night the first of a course of three lectures on " Light/ illustrated by experiments of a new and attractive character. The lecturer commenced by referring to the theory of the ancients regarding light, and passed on to the Emission theory of Sir Isaac Newton and other philosophers of later times; then to the Undulatory thoory which has been developed by modern scientific research and the discoveries in connection with spectrum analyses. The lecture was introductory in character, merely touching upon the prominent points of the subject, and the wonders of the spectrum. Mr Severn exhibited' and experimented with for the first, time his new and powerful lantern, but used the lime light instead of the electric, which is to be called . into requisition in future lectures,' and for the proper exhibition of which he has prepared one of the most powerful electric batteries inthe colonies. After treating his subject in a chatty, entertaining style for over ah hour, Mr Severn exhibited a number of; views—local and general—on a large curtain. The Bank of- New Zealand, Grahamstown, was the first shown, but from some cause or other the Brown street frontage was shown as if it stood in Albert street. The views wers beautifully distinct, ; and tserved to show what can be done by the powerful agencies employed in modern scientific investigation. The audience was not so good as we expected "to see. The pit was well patronised, but the stalls not so well. These lectures ought to possess a greater interest, as they conduce to bring before the public many scientific facts in a popular form, and the lecturer spares neither time nor expense in preparing apparatus for their complete illustration. Future lectures we .trust to see better attended.