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Let Knowledge grow fuom more to more." — Tennyson.
03^
MAGAZINE OF S€IENC^
PLAINUf WORDED -EMCTLlDESCRIBfi
CONDUCTED BY RICHARD A. PROCTOR.
ado^d
VOLUME I.
NOVEMBER, 1881, to JUNE, 1882.
LONDON:
WYMAN & SONS, 7 5, GllEAT QUEEN STREET,
LIXCOLN'S-INN FIELDS, W.C.
1882.
INDEX TO VOL. I.
GENERAL.
ACTlsirsi, » metal found in white zinc pigment, 227
Address lo " Our Header'," 3
Alien, Gr»nt :— The ori|!>u of Buttercurs, 85 ; wh«t
is a grape? 1*>2; a winter weed, 217; hyacinth
bulbs, 261 ; our Bocestors, the 8ton« age men, 351 ;
our ancestors, the Cells, 402, 130 ; the beetle's
ciew of life, 508 ; llbe Teutons, 660
Amalgams, 497
Amateur electrician, the. 511 (i lustrated), 568, 619
Amphorte at Pompeii, 169
Ancestor*, onr, 351. 402. 430. 650
Ancient Kgjpiians, we'e the/ acquainted with the
earth's movements ? 379
Anec'otes of dogs. 138
Animal oolcnis. philosophy of, 21, 44
,, vaccination, 439
Animals, change of habit in, 429
„ colours of, 193, 224
intelli-eno- of, 28, 46, 69, 108, 177, 196, 245,
251 , 269, 28«, 361 , 3S0
Antiquity ot man in u estern Europe, 463
Aqua ammoniie. explosion of, 32'^
Astronomy, Newoomb's Popular, 423
Authors and Publishers (review), 72
BiDOON. biogrsphv of a. 381
Babylonian discoveries, 268
sun. worship. 174
Ball, Dr., Astronomer Royal for Ireland : — Birth of
the moon by tidal evolution, part i., 331 ; part li.,
362; part in, f'lture of the earth and moon, 420
Barrett, W. F., F.R.S.E., ProfesKor of Experimental
Physios in the Koyal College of SeiBnoe, Dublin :—
Bote on ihe spheroidal state, 169
Baiendell, Joseph. F.R.A S. ;— The Great Pyramid
measures aud the diameiers aud distances of the
SUB, earth, and moon, 50
Beckett, Sir Edmund, on the laws of nature (re-
view), 338
Beer, fermentation in, 257
Bees, are ihey s nuisance? 237
Beetle's view of life. 608
Betting and mathematics, 132
Birds, intelligence in, 499
,, with tcetli, 30
Birmingham and Midland Institute, egotistical remi-
niscences of the, ,('.; annivereary meeting, 81
Biting, relative to snakes, 367
Blooo. malanai organisms in the,379
Blowpipe chemistry, easy lessons in, 137, 295,359,
423, 471
Body, the human (review), 50
Roiling spring. 169
Brain troubles, 25, 45, 90. 175, 262, 291, 357, 427, 495
„ aud ils function, the (review), 378
„ aud skull (illustrated), 359
Brealhini!, 1»2
British ferns (review). HI
Brothers, A., F.R.A.S. :— Photography for amateurs,
400; part ii., 466; part iii , 494 ; part iv., 647 ;
part y., 669 ; part vi., 585 ; part vii., 602 ; part
viii., 821
Browning, John, Vice-President of the Tricycle
Association :— Tricycles in 18»2, 397, 450
Buckland, Miss A. W. :— Tr.e Wyandotte Indians,
158 ; Charles Darwin, 571
Buny, an electric, 213
Buttercups, origin of, 65
ButterQies and moths. 606, (illustrated) 624
CiiAiO •• Painter, " lh2
Cambridge and Oxford rowing styles, 633
Campbell, J. K. •.— Tbe principle of the vernier, 224
Canals on the Planet Mars. 619
Carbon, static caloric of, 237
Carnivorous parrot, the, 381, 471
Carpenter, Dr. W. B., F.B.8.:— The relation of food
to muscular work, 6 ; part ii., 23 ; on the conser-
vation of solar energy. 417
Cassiopeia, new star in, 227
Celestial objects for common telescopes (review) . 359
i-elu, the, 403
ChaloeiJony. as containing a liquid, 4S4
Change of habit in animals, 429
Chanie), a ride across the (review), 6«S
Charbon, preventive inoculations of, 483
Chess Column, 19; Mephisto's notes, 20; general
hints. 41; giving odds of queen, 41 ; two knights*
defence, 63, lOJ, 216, 269; Mephisto, an "end
game." 82; knights* opening, 82; game played
at Leamington meeting. Oct., 1887, 127 ; game
between Mr. Barnes and Mr. Gunaberg. 170;
chess by correspondence, 396 ; the Giuoco piano,
4-11 ; Lowenthn'. problem tonrney, 461 ; the
southern cross, 663; Vienna international tourna-
ment. 614. 633 ; also see 239, 2>-'2, 308, 330, 360,
369. 415, 485. 605, 525, 642. 680, 697
Chloroforming during sleep, 3116
Clodd, Edward :— Dreams, 107 ; part ii., 130 ; the
antiquity of man in Western Europe, 463 ;
part ii., 667
Coal and iron industries of Great Britain, new work
on, 328
Cod-sonnda and scientiflo privilege, 477, 620
"Cold-catching," 280
Cold week in May, the, 620
Collisions at sea, 610
Colour, curiosities of, 603
„ of Bunlieht, 18
Colours of animals, 183, 224
Comets (illustrated), 8, 26; comets' tails, 48. (iUustrs.
ted) 86; the destroyed comet (illustrated), 135;
the menacing comet, 3'20 ; (illustrated) 310, 311 ;
the Specttitor'9 comet, 404 ; the comet of tlie
SatarJii;/ Review, 450 : the comet, 608
Conic sections, an instrnment for dravring the (illus-
trated!, 160
Consumption (review), 546
Copying drawings, 637
Crete, labyrinth at, 189
Crustaceans and light, 306
Crystnl Palace electrical exhibition, 318, 335, 354, 372,
401, 135. 447, 493, 651
Crystals, 683 ; (illustrated) 601
Cultivated fields, 173
Daffodil, the first, 443
Darwin, Charles R., 618. 671
Distracted attention, 176
Dog, Niagara Falls safely descended by a, 574
Dogs, intelligence of, 341
DoUsnd's sidereal watch, 183
Draper, Dr. J. W. (with a portrait), 263
Dreams, 107, 130
Dress, modern, 464
Duchess of Connaught, illness of, 451
Dunman, Mr. Thomas, 614, 630
EiBlH and mnon, future of the, 420
,, tremors, ISl
K. C. :— New mode of growing plants, 51
Ejho sign, the, 427
Eclipse, the, 663 (illustrated); see also, 619
Edwards, Amelia B., the Pyramid of Meydoom,
Effluvia and health. 295
Egotistical reminiscences of Birmingham and Mid-
land Institute. 16
Egyptians and the movement of earth in apace, 470
Electric fire alarms, 1129
„ lighting and fire risks, 629
„ telegraph, the, 198, 607
Electrical generators, 611, 568
„ machine, a simple, 189
Electrician, the amateur (illustrated), 511, 568, 619
Electro-magnetic repulsion. 629
I „ „ theory of light, 130
Electricity and magnetism (review), 377
Elements, the so-caUed, 161
I Klephants, 514
I Engineering, 629
English as the speech of tbe future, 139
Equinoxes, precession of the, 218, 312
Excessive drinking in Russia, 189
Eve, the, and the microscope, 311
i Fairt folk-lore of Shetland, 510
I Fallacies about lock, 322, 311, 353
1 Faure accumulator, 158
Fermentation in beer, 257
i Ferns, British (revie.v), 111
Fields, onr, 85
Fiji Islands, the, 31
Fire alarms, electric, 629
„ risks and electric liehti.ng, 629
Fish sounds, 295, 380, 429
Fleas, the use of, 295
Floors, a new plan to deaden them, 640
Flowers in May, 688
Fluids, properties and motions of (review), 634
Focal length of deep convex lenses, measurement of,
005
Fog-bow before sunrise, 393
Food we eat, the (review), 338
„ its relation to muscular work, 5, 26
Foot-racing, development in, .'i71
Fossils in meteoric stones, 227
Foster, Thomas, illusions, 10 ; 'part ii., 70 ; seeing
through the hand, an optical illusion. 244 ; illu-
sions of motion and strobic circles, 121
Found links, 195 223, 288, 164, 488, 632
Future of knowledge, the, 663
Gas, manufacture of from wood, 348
Oeikie, James, LL.D., F.B.S., natural rubbish heap;
318
Geometrical problem, a pretty, 380
„ exercises for beginners (review), 377
Germs of disease and death, 67, 89
Ghosts, 269
Glass, new variety of, 213
Glories of the starlit heavens, 607
Glycerine leather polish, 348
Granville, Dr. J. Mortimer, breathing, 132
Grape, what it is, 162
Gray on Anatomy, 640
Green-beam paper, the, 496. fiol
Green light : is it made by the laminous mixture ol
blue and yellow ? 496
Growing plants, new mode of, 51
Hair turning white, -439
Hanlan and Trickett, 570
He«lth studies (review), 60
Healthiest cities, the six American, 169
Heliometers, novel, 393
Hemispheres, the two (review), 470
Hieroglyphic inscriptions of the Sakara pyramids. 111
Higgins, tbe Rev. Henry H., chalcedony containing
Liquid with a movable bubble, 151
Hints to local meteorological observers, 137
Holophote, an electric, 337
Honolulu, signal station at, 199
House martin, intelligence of, 289
Howie, Dr. Muir, the effects of tobacco, part )., 292 ;
part ii., 313
Human body, the (review), 50
Huxley, Professor, on science and culture (review),
622
Hyacinth bulbs, 261
ICEBBBOS, 637
Illusions (illustrated), 10; (illustrated) 70; of motion
and strobic circles, 421
Impaired memory, '15, 90
Inoigo, artificial, 270
Infinities around us, 663
Intelligence in animals. 29, 46, 69, 108, 177, 196, 245,
261, 269, 289, 361, 380
Irritability, 496
Jacko : a baboon's biography, 381
Jago, William, F.C.S., Assoc. Inst. Chem., crystals,
593 ; part ii., (iOl
Jelly-fish. 499
Jupiter, changes on the surface of, 382
KsowLRDOB, the future of, 663
Lauson case, the, 558
Landauer's blowpipe analysis (review), 339
Land and water, 609
Laws of nature, 339
Life, duration of, 228
Light, electro-magnetic theory of, 430
London fog, earliest date of, 306
Luck, trusting to, 39
Lungs, capacity of, 327
Lynd, W., the'Fanie accumulator, 168 ; the electno
telegraph, 19S ; the battery, 313 ; the wires and
insulators, 371 , circuits and galvanometers, 607
Maoio wheel (illustrated), 179, (illustrated), 198,
(illustrated), 247
Magnetic storm, the recent, 629
IV
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Mat 26, 1882.
Ocnerti— cnnfiMKrJ.
Malsnal uri:>niimt In th* blood, n7l>
M>ll>t'i •xiimomrton (illuttra' ■■<)), lli7
Mao, aniiqoifj of. in Wo8t«ni Kuropp, M~
„ IhpoTolulion of, l.-,7
,, ■ fruit-rmlor (roiiew), 01
Man's prop«r food, 1^2
Mu-l, ran>laon, Mil
„ p>lh of, from 197^ lo 18R2, 463
M>t>ri>l«, tlrxngth n(, 304
Mathf^matioAl Column T—IntrodQC-torT, 10; LoRar*
ithnii, 111; prarlioal nio of loxarlllima, HI, lllO;
to cif. aluna Muck into Ihrox part*, li>3; the
Wileh or Ai-nrai, 12H, l'k7; dilToronlJal oalculna,
ItM; alia ol cotio, :;it; tortoiro prohirm, 2r>ll ;
ut And Iho arra intrri-optod bctwprn a hTporbnIo
and an aaymptoto, 30i ; laws or probabi'luw, -U3,
4:111, 4<li', is;), r.ivt, 521, 6UI, 6110, 6I15, IIU; Iho
MoEul'a prohlcio, Uf-i ; Taluo of a diamond, «M ;
Ilornor's mrthod, 481; fair, bat nnwisc, bpItiiiK,
&7H ; aolntions of prohli<ms, ISii, also see 233,
25S, •i*i, 31)7, 328. 3HI, 3IW. 481
May, tbf ihrfo cold days of, «00
Mt>at presorTation, 635
Meroe, Kthiopio inacriptions at, 189
Meteoric oritaniaros, 'ITtl
Meteors, no oreatiic matter in them, 267
Meteorology, l^rofcasor Grant OD, 294
Mfydoom, pyramid of. 228, 380
Microscopic vision and minute life, 332
Microscopical science, studies in (review), BOO
Minnie life, a study in, 371, 4U, 627
Moon, birth of, by tidal evohitiou, 320, 331, 362
„ the, and the weather, 247
„ reproducing imitations of surface of, 439
,, true story of the (review), 2(>S
Momtne work. 4:10
Moths and butterflies (illnstrsted), 608, 024
Motion of the earth and the Egyptians, 510
Mould and worms (review). 14
Movement of the earth in space, and the Egyptians,
379, 470
Mumps, micrococci in, 439
Muybridge, Mr., and rowing, 609
Xabcotic indulgence, 673
>'atural ruhbish heaps, 318
Naval and submarine exhibition, 570
Nebula in Orion, 673
I^ewcomb's populac astronoiny, 423
Mew comet, the, 613
,, moon in April, 613
Neptune, a planet outside, 62
Newton and Darwin, 615
„ as to a metiaoing comet, 404
Niauara Falla falely descended by a dog, 574
Jfight minima of Algol, 330
Nights with a three.inch tele*cope (illustrated), 201,
(illustrated) 220, (illustrated) 20 ', (illustraled)
312, (illustrated) 371!, (illustrated) 445, (illus-
trated) 611, (illustrated) 685
November, a mi.d, 02
Old May-day. 582
Origin of the laws rf nature (reriew), 333
Orion, nebula in, 572
Our ancestors, 351, 4<J2, 430, 559
., fields, 1-6
Our unbidden guests. 133, 155
FALSSTtNH, survey of, 180
Panther, a, in Vermont, 499
Parrot, a carnivorous, 381, 471
Pasteur, M., 571
Pendulum, a compound (illustrated), 465
Perfect way in diet, the (review), 91
Perspective illusions, llo
Petroleum as fuel, 640
Philosophy of animal colours, 21. 41
Photography for amateurs, -WO, 4*6, 4M, 517, 569,
686, 802, 621
Plain words in science (review), 39
Planet outside Neptune, 52
Planets and solar spots, 10:1
Plants in bedrooms, reasons why unhealthy, 483
Populaliou of theearih. .".s4
Potato, something about the, 210
Prehistoric research in Kosaia, 108
Prevost, E. W., our flclda, 85 ; cultivated flelds, 173
Primarv colours, 179
Frobabilitv, laws of, 63
Proctor, Richard A.:— Science and R-lieion, 3, 4;
cometa' taila, 48 ; comets, 86 ; betting' and mathe-
matics, 132 ; the destroyed comet, 135 ; the great
pvramid, 103 ; prec ssion of the equinoxes, 218,
242 ; lal Boies about luck, 222 ; Dr. J. W. Draper,
2113 ; the great pyramid, 285, 316, 528; Young on
the ann, 286 ; the last transit of Venus, 333 ; the
menacing comrt, 310; the glories of the starlit
beatens, 507; Mr. Muybridge and rowinir, 5IKI ;
colliaioiis at sea, 6I0; the three cold daiaof April,
512; Charles K. Uarain, 618; Dr. Siemens on
solar energy, 665 ; population of the earth, 681 :
the coming transit of Venus, 686; the three cola
dais of May, 600
Punning. 367
P.iipl<of the ancient", 250
Pyramid, the great, n.easure oF, 60; (illustrated),
103; excavations at the, 216: see also 265, 316,
356, 308, 411, 4113, 629
RiiKDAHii, the (review), 36il
Kapid motions 1 holographed, 614
Red light, optical biiuJueia to, 630
Red I
, 638
RepulsioD, eleetro-mavnetio, 020
Riddle, the Tribunt, 18
Ri|hl-hanHednesa, 180
lUdwell, O. K :- Recent stadiM of Tolcanio aotioo,
1211 : part II., 164
Rosa, I.ieiit.-Col. W. A.. R.A. :— Raty lessons in
blow.pipe oberoiatry, 197, 206, 359, 428, 471 ; the
green beaoi paper, 61^1
Rotundity of the earth, new proof of the. 6tO
Rowing, notes on, I>I3, 118, 416, Ifll
R'>val Academy, science nt the, 681, 599, 617
Ru'akin, Mr., on educa'ion, 119
Ruasiu, eiceasive drinking in, 1-9
,, prebiatorio research in, 198
Safktt lamp. 180
-Sahara pyramids, hieroglyphic inac^iptious on the, 111
S.ilurilay Iti-rirw, comet 01 the, 1.W
Saturn, the planet (illustrated), 178
ficienco and religion, 3, z7l
„ and culture (review), 623
„ at the Royal Academy, 581, 699, 617
„ ladders (review). 292
„ plain words in (reviowl. 39
„ of the stars (review). 203
„ for all (review), 292, 330
,, teaching, 367
Scientific ghoata, 183
paradox, 203
Seal fisberioa, f.71
Seeing through the hand, 241
Selenography, first steps in (review), 268
Seychelles, language of 'be. 303
Phaw, James, right-handedness, 130
Shetland, fairy-folk lore of, 6'10
Siemens, Dr., eolar energy, 623
Silvered gUss telescope, 498
Slack. Henry J.. F.fi.S., F.R. M.S., the eye tnd the
microscope, 311 ; microscopic vision and minu'e
life, 527, 332; a study in minute life, |371, 411,
527 ; silvered glass telescope, 498 ; curiosities of
Colo
, 603
Solar energy, the conservation of, 417, 665, 623
,, motion and cometa from outside, 636
Solids, effects of compression of, 282
„ liquids, and gases, 43, 66, 87, 109, 166
Soot c. pollen, 439
Soun.l or swim bladder of fish, 439
South European volcanic system, 22
Southern hpmisphere, temp-rature of, 540
Speech, partial loss of, 262, 291
Spel ing and punctuation (review), 377
Suheroidal state, notes on the, 159
Solders, how they fly, .ilS
Standard time, comparing the, 318
Slar-lit heavens, the glories of, 517
btars, science of the (revi-w). 292
„ the, and the earth (review), 553
Stature alarm, an electrical, 327
Stone age n,en, the, 351
Storms, new me hod of forecasting, 537
Stove.heal, 367
rtove-heated rooms, the air of, 285
StC'ibic circles, 421
Studies in life (review), 60
Sulphate of quinine, new method of manufacture,
169
Sulphuretted hydrogen, 367
Sulphuric acid, discovery of, in its natural state, 189
Sun, the, in April, 463 ; in Mav (illustrated), 657
„ Pro'essor Young on the, 211
Sunday Lecture Society, 267
Society, the, 189
Sunlight, colour of. 18
Sun wirship, Babylonian, 171
Sulfide, statist'cs of, (review), 134
Swallows, winter flight of, 213
Tape-wosm, the, 233
Telegraph, the electric, 108; the battery, 313; the
wires and insulators. 371
Telescopes, lenses for, 610
Teutons, the, 550
Three cold davs of April, 612
Thre»-inch telescop»s, nighiswith a (illustrated), 201,
220, 2110. 312, 376, 4J5, 511, 680
Time signalling, 318
Toad in a hole, 136
Toads, Tilslity of, 203
Tobacco, the efl'ccts of, 292, 342
Total eclio-e, the, 610
Transit of Veona, 688
Train.ng, 102
Tribune riddle. 18
Tricycles in 1 882, 397, the use of, 420, tricycles in 18S2,
part 2, -154
Tunnel worm, the, 202
I^NUKALTiiY houses (review), 39
Vaccinatiok. Dr. Carpenter on, 319
Vegetable poisons, 226
Ventilation bv open tire-places, 373
,, domestic, 187, 636
Venus in April. 1832, 513
„ last transit of, 333
„ coming transit of, 686
Vernier, the principle of the, 224
View of life, a beetle's, 508
Vine growth and electricity, 169
Volcanic action, recent studi-s of, 129, 164
„ system, the Sonth Kuropean, 'it
„ in Central Asia, 169
Volume, onr new, fll7
WAimiro rooms, 303
Water, iia ripausion by beat, 257
Water-pipes, bursting of, IMO
Weather diagrams, 4li7, 619, 637, 5.S8, 673, 5^1. >•■ .
629
Webb, T. W., canals on the planet Mar«,tl»
Weed, a winter. 217
Williams. W. M*ttien, some egotistical reminiscence*,
the Dirn.ingbam and Mulland Inalilure, l« ,
solids, liquid., and ga>ea, part i., 4.'), IK), 87, Hf.
U6 ; aiiniversary meeting of the Birmingbaio
and Midland Inatilut« Union of teachers an<l
atudrnia, 81 ; the air of afivebeated ro ma, K,
ventilation br open flre-placea. 373 ; domestic ven-
tilation, a lesion from me coal-pits, 487, 130
Wilaon, Dr. Anilrew, P.R.S.K , the philosophy ol
animal colours, 21 ; pan ii., 41 ; germs of disease
and death, 67, part ii., 89 ; our unbidden gaesta.
133, LIS; load in a hole, 138; the evolution of
man, 167; found links, part i., 195; part ii..
222, part iii , 288, part iv., 461, part v., 488.
part vi.. 632
Whiat Column: imroduclion, 42: simple wliia'
game, 62 ; selection of a suit, 81; ib* " Yar-
boroui'b " baid, IzB, 171, 191 ; forcing at wbi.t.
149; the lead, 216; leading an ace, 239; lead in
trumps, 259 ; knave lead, 281; synopsis ol lead
in plain suits, 3< 0 ; wbiit problem, 349 ; an illus-
trative game. 394; double dummy problem, 416 :
the penuliimste, 410; Lord I,yiton as a »hi-i
plater, 6011; a two suit hand, 6I18 ; also *** li'5.
328, 370, 482, 481, 623, 64«, 681, 679, 616, 63J
Women, are they inferiorto men? 8, 47
Wood gas, ■1'15
Wyandotte Indians, the, 158
Yocno on the su», 286
Young. Prof. C. A., the so called elements, 151 ; hon
spiders fly, 313
COEEESPONDENCE.
Abstbact terms in science, 274
Address to our readers, 73, 112
Algol and Mil '
Alun
, 255
tplosion of, 433
Ancient man, '29d
Angle, trirection of, 166
Animal language, 323
,, phvsiology (the eye) 376
c. vegetable food. 277
Animals, intelligerce in, 91, 3'21, 638
„ longev.tyin, '231
„ reason in, 95
Apparatus, cheapening of, an aid to the diffoaion
scientific knowledge, 230
Aqueous vapour, 116
Arranged squares, 273, 408
Asbestos paint and the safety-lamp, 322
Astronomical curiosity, 252
,, sbdes, 164
Atmospheric absorption, radiation of heat, 113
Atomic theorv, the, 362
Aurora borealis, 63J
BABOUETBtc oscillations, 382
Bacilli, 339
Bear, the great, 161
,, memorv of language in a, 137
Beckett, Sir K.. invention in rcrew-drivers, hoV
Bees as flower fertilisers, 1«7, '208
Betelgeui, pronunciation of, "207
Blue and yellow, luminous iniiture of, 611
,, ,, and green light, 611
Botanical contrivance (illustrated), 253
Brain and brain cases, 121
skull, 130
Break for two-wheeled vehicle, 576
Buttercups, 203
,, the origin of, 167
Caddis-wobm cases, 638
Caligraph, the, 457
Cancer, mortaliiy from, 273
Card drawing, pfobabilities.in, 109
Cassiopeia, new atar in. 164
Cat, intelligence of a, 363
Cats and dogs, 339
Cat's-eve timepiece, 341
„ ■ „ Chinese, 468
Celestial maps, 252
„ objects, 77
Centrifugal force, 139, 409
Cheap telescope and micro'cope, 79
Chinese calculations, 272, 301
,, counting, 389
Choanites, 251
Christmas roses, 478
Cirrus clouds, 119
Coal age and internal heat, 207
Cod-sounds and scientific privilege, 675
Coini'idences, series of, 433
Collisions at s-a, 638
Colours at night, &(>1
„ in animals and plants, 143
ihe primarv, 96
Comet, the great, of 1861, 387
Comets, 65
Comets' tails, 99, 188
Coney of Scripture, the, 610
Conic section, figures of the, 55
Mat 26, 1882.]
fr."Sl?."r,rrur.''.ford.,er,bi,>g the. 230
jDservation of solar enerRJ, o93
oiisoaiption, SlU, ISIO
and tobacci, 830
orora, owner of the, 433
r«ui*l contour,
vied :
, 9t
.poMles 13!t
liBWIs and desirp, 160
i.rwin'« theort of eToluuon, ll»
thede.centofma.. 2 9
and the microscope, -.7
)ay,'ihort»ni'g of the, 3I>1
)eBOent and Darouism, - >3
)iet, the perfect w«t in, WJ,oO-
)oe, an intelllBent, 220
, in.elliBei.oe iu the. M7
an idiot. 179
log., the eyes.nht of, 3S9. 46/
3onati'« cometa, li3
[IreaniP, 345 ,
Dnnman, the late Mr. Th'-ma". 6;0
liAUtH, heat ol the interior, 433
„ popnUtion of, 6(o
Hfleminacy of appearance. 9&
Klectric teleeraph. ■»"», 601
Electrical aorumulator, new form 01, i->i
hells, 1«>
image*, 273, 40^
P lecVro-platini;, 3t>3
Elementary eleclricitT, 143
Kncores at concerts, tiiO
Eocr.i,it.B, 387
Kvemreens, onffin of, -/O
Evolution, 1«4. 252
Ei'Sight of dog», '388, *>'
FlBTHlns, interest on a, -3-
Faure accumulator, the, IIB
Ferrier Dr., ana vivisection, o8
Fla.h of lightnine, duration ol a, 121, 187
Flesh food, 2!9, 3.'2, 33U
Fleiure in planes, 362
Flowers of 1 he sky, IIB
Fluorescence, 611
Food question, a, 186
Fossils in meteors, 388
in meteorites, 302 .
" from London clay, their preservat.oi
" Sc how to preserve them, 433
Four fours, 184, J2»
> ox and guns, 229
Funei and lichens, 229
GiS, mannfacture of, from wood, .188
Gh'Sts, 233, 403, 501 ^^
Glacial epoch, time of the, -0- .,-
Glimpse ihr'Ueh the corridors ot time, -oi
Golden sa ids, 501
Grammar, 13D ; a question of, U
Gran me machine, reversihill'y nl th
Gravity, and Sir K Phillips b4
do comets obey n fVi
' what is the cause of, ost
cause of, 99
irrr^:5^^(~«a,,52i
Heads male and female, 209
Heatofthesnn, 74, 9«^
,, from the sta'S, -o-
High numbers, 478
Hints to correspondents, to
Histiiloey, books on, 207
Horseradish, 303
'"•'tBe.'the'tn'Qreat Britain, 3il, (dlu.trated) 315
yachts, speed of, 3-1,
„ can they sail
Illusions, IH, 139 , „^ . .,rt
"In Meiotiam," disputed passage in, 5r«
Inclination, the earth's, 36
Insnlators earthenware, W4
Intelligence in animals ls7. 2o2, ./3
Interior of the earth, 296
„ heat of tne earth, 36i
laterstellar space, temperature of, 25i
Intoning in synasogues, 59
Intra-mercurial planet, 3.1
JuttTiBT, 1S32, the weather of 303
Jombo-iotelligence in amines, 611
Jnpiter, D.nnine's comet, IW
in Cassiopeia, 1.8, o"l
Ksowl.«I>GH and the scientiBc societies. 14.)
for the yrung, 11/
technical t-rms, 78
I LiSKYank, the, 4-i7, 502
L Latin quo'aiions, 57
I Lectures, 3'i2
Life, duration of, 339
Light and heat waves, 2o4
.. and lanterns, 251
,. the invisibility of, 93
„ velocity of, 164
,, vibrations of, in ether, 163
lightning in November, 96
protecting houses from, 117
Link, the missing, 74, 93, HJ, 111, 429
Liquids and their vapours, L5-
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
Logarithms. 96
^ table of, 207
Longevity in animals, '231
Luminous phenomenon, I'-l
Lunar lUusions, 57, 93^230
Magic squares, 186, '^74
wheel, th.-, •2'29
Magnetic needle, the, 208. 263
Man, antiquity of. 18o. '2u7
descent of, 254
boilers, 253, 272
Marriaee and the death-rate, 139 „»,h»
M«w*li; Professor Clerk, and the reversibility of the
grainme michine. 113
Memory if language in a bear. 187
^'-''.^"'^'■.'"theyamaUerth.uofyore? M. 78
M.-ne9','d«teof,207
Mental physiology, 16S
Meridian.l (arts, tallies of, 94
Mesmerism, 301, 361
Meteorites, fossils in. 303
Metrical system, the. 99
Microscooical, 389
Mind-doolor«, 273
Minhocao, the. 302
Mock suns, '232
ikey, intelligence of a, 43S
,„. an «'-fi;'«J;;„'^j^ ti,, 233. 251, 277. 301
113
ill faster tha
' 16, 5t)
diamete
501
of the i
s 42 in. object glasi
rioB of light round the, 233
tthe, 184
321
1 Everest,
on of the, U4,:
npntiog the, 55
[[ the, and the weather
Moses, burial of. 431
Mountain, a, 3.000 feet higher tha
NiJIBS of stars, 143
Natural philosopiiy, history ot, 3i>-
Nautilus, the, 252
Navvies, health of, 251
Neolithic man, 456
Neptune, density of, 164
Newspaper science, 163
November meteors, 35 f o.^
Number 4, singular propertv of, 209
Nomerical eointidsnces, 2 9
Open lire-places, 603
OfS musions, 67, 95, 230, 341. 345, 339, 409
Ordnance maps, the 1-inch 9)
survey, the 1-inch map, do
Orrery, an. 164
Our unbidden guests, 208
PilsoiiiHic man, colour of, 4'8
Palizsch and Hallev s comet, 93
Papua, a high mountain in, 63J
Parable for Paradorers, 139
Paradoi, a mathematical, 432
Pasteur's plates of germs, 143
Pendulum, possible daily vans
variability of a, IM
Periphery of ellipse, error in c
Personal identity r tattoo marks, 20,
.. illusion, 433, 521
Phillips, Sir Kichard, 161
Phrenology, 69, 96
and the brain, 209
Planet, retrogradation of », 164
Planet's movements, 59
Planets hid ng stars, 163
Plauetary riurs, 1.4
Plans for the New Vear, 16J
Plants in bedrooms. 431
Plating, 363
alkaloids, 2o4
Pneumatic bell, 230 .
Poisons, a new comparison ot, lib, aits, -i
Polarsun, the, 362
Polarity r. Gravitation, 115
Pole at the north, 345
srar. the. and precession, 203
Popular electricity, 99
,, fallacies, -231, 276
Population of the earth, o75
Potato the 431. 520, 611
Precesriona'l reeling of the earth. 139
Pressure an instance of, 188
Primary colours, the, 18 1 _
Prisma.io analysis, new fact in, 2/8
ProbabiUties, 301, 610
Problem, a pretty geometrical, 229
Problems geometrically insoluble. U5
Psycho, 207
Purple of the ancients. 387
Puzzle, the hog, 232, 363, 43-
the three square, Ibb
•• the fifteen, 37. 74, 101, 18.5, 230
Pvrimid. the, and paradoxera. 113
' ,. the Great, 163
measures, 94, 114
.nntiquitvofthe, 168
„.. „ i'n Knowlibge, 184
loMETBE, the, 3=8, 457
baud, the, 433
naii.bow, a remarkable, 115
Rainfalls and forests, 122
Raf, why thev gnaw water-pipes, 140
Rattlesnakes. 231
Pyra
QCBI
R
K
Reflecting telescopes, 45«
Richter'a dream. -Hi, iii
Rowing, notes on, 4,9 „ „, .=7
SiluaN. physical appearance of. 4o7
Saturn's shadow, shape of, -33
Scent. 363 .
Schoolgirls, the flfteen 186
Science and religion, 3•^9
true spirit of, 140
Scientillo paradox, 254
Borew-driver, 478
tubes, 693
Seagull, a clever. 67
Seeking after a sign 4i6
irx! irflu-e;:: ofTrn'mf,^, 35, 78, 230, 276. 321
Sexes, comparison of, 3-18
Shortening of the day, 361
Sidereal time, 612
Singular illusion, 118
Sirins and Orion, 164
Small telescopes, 209
Bocieties, reports on, liH „,;,„„f ..11
Sodom and .«mo.rab. destruction ol, 131
Solarheat. 96, 164
,, waste ot, 06
illumioation. equality of, 144
puzzle, 276
„ storms, 165
Solution, cold saturated, ii ^
Sound, -208 „
Space, is it boundless r oa/
,, paradox, 478
Spectral lines, 345
Speech, partial loss of, 38J
Spherules, water, 1« ,..
Stamens, colours of, -o3, -/o
Starch in potatoes, 50- _
Starfiih, the common, IbJ
letters and numbers, Ibl
,, maps, 117
,, names, 77
Stats, the, in their courses, 29b
and the earth, 612
Stone on wheels, 115
Stove-warmed houses, 388
Sun distance of the, 99
,. ' is the, hot ? 15, 35, 06
'„ constitution of, 209
Sunday art exhibitions, 113
Sun god festivals, 278
Sunlight on fires, 252, 277
Sunspots origin of, 209
Synagogiies, intonation in, 59, 116
T-ATTOO marks, 253, 275
Technical terms, 121
Telephone, 479
(Illustrated), 408
Telescope, 275, 296, 389, 431
a £5, 121
how to construct one 2/0
practical work with the. / / , 1 1 6
Telescopes,_^che^ap. 232^ years' system, 456
Telescopic images, brightness of, 433
Terraces in Dorset valleys, 301
Thawing ice (illustrated), 207
Three-square puzzle, 116, 184
Thunderstorms, action of, 3il
Tides a new theory of, 68
Toads', 165, 231, 277
„ stuDg by insects, 207
Tobacco and consumption, b3J
,. and science, 3^8
Tricycles, 521, 559
T.-ioor'tin.' an ancle, 11/ ,,,.,
u"™htI of London, matric. exam., 432
Ursa Major, 230
■Variable magic square,//*
^rs°arVa"'m'f 25°l,"55,'3'i2', 3.?2, 389. 407, «1, 479
Ventilation by'opeu fireplaces. 457
Ventriloquism, 387
Venus in sunshine, IBl
Vermin, 209 .„ ■ . sa
Vivisection and Dr. Ferner. 53^^_^^_ ^^^
Volcanic projectaes, -276, 298
'Zt:Z-.ZTIt.t:m. '^ "276, '296. 34,, 3B1
WindmUl illusion. -276
Woman, social influence ol, 46/ 11)5,466
Women : are they inferior to men .- /7, 9.,, ,
Word-choice. 165
Worms, 296
ANSWERS TO CORKESPCNDENTS.
.icHROMATisixo tel»Bcopes. 577
Alcohol and work, 365
Altruism, 459
American humonr, 3Uo
Apes tails of, 613
Apsides, motion of, 327
Archimedes and the cylinder, 213
Axial rotation of the earth, 481
Bateachiabs and reptJes. 281
Hell's line-writing. 437
rr^o'r;d/yraor.ir?h;m\\^bou.,6:a
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 26, 1882.
Aniwrrl to CnrrMpondenU— <v)ii(i""«i*.
Hriiii ».»• Ihoory, 3«l . . ., „„„
llrow.lor Mil "olhMinhihIled worldi, M"
llrumih, Mr., anil tbo LoDdun loitilulioD, tHI
Ciauonic oiido, 306
('•!• and rain. 4HI
C.t'»to«cr of turning. 280
, luirucaiinKchildrrn, 3'i»
rh«Dc« >ad ih.- !•"• of n»lur«, ■W7
Clifford, Mr. .nd Iho cri..tion,4a7
CloudM. how foriDfd, 1A7
Coram" Kill, -Nnfton'i ihi-orj of, 4»>
Coprrnicntlirorr, Ihc. 317
Co«iuic»l ••IrmpnH, and line cqaationl, IHI
DlTi of thr wMk »«»ociat<-d "Uh colonra, 300
Dpciinal poinl, rule f.>r placnj th», 070
ll..,lol>mc(,t.r<>m.rl<»on,3W
l).(r.-reiili«l cftlo..lu« and phy.ici, 237
Unfita how to eipreas in oontrBCt«d form, OJI
DreanJa. pilra-ai ientiQo viewa of, tVi
K vKTU rlootric currents, origin of, 631
Klociriu curreuu, fatal cITecu of, 677
KIwtricitT, tell-boona on, 677
Koi .on < a..a,len.», lino, by Broagb, 306
Ktbor of spac" and aciencp, ISS
Krolution and fanntus, 522
KitraChrisiianandl'rofeMor Uniley.Snl __
Kvepitce of telescope, measuring the power of, 6/ <
K\TR and evolut'On, 366
Keata of atreugth under mcmono inQucnce, 2o«
FenoiDK, 603
Kixod stare, trembline of, 4'*2
Kocal image of a planet, 213
Koiis, 3»l
Kound links, 391
KroK a spawn and tadpoles, 237
FudglnK. 491 , , ,.„
DiLll-KO noi blinded by use of telescope, 603
•• Genre psinters," 280
•Jeology and astronomy, 302
t»«om-tric»l scries, dellnition of, 481
Glacial period eanh not approaching another, 481
tJod, th- einteuc- of, inferable from His works, 169
Grove's cell, to make one, 622
Ouillemio's " heavens," remnrks on, o*7
HiSDWiillixo and character, 237
Heat and light waves, 213
Hutlon, Mr., and vegelariasism, 43(
Hydrogen and balloons, 413
laisn curs. 3»3 .
Ladies and scentific di»cnsBion, 212
Lightning coodnciors, how they act, 391
Logarithms, .W3
Logarithm of a negative quantity, 4S3
Loxodrod.ic curve, the, 250
Mas's teeth, and their eigoiflcance, 330
Slacaulay ano iho semicolon, 603
MUtakes, on making, 392
Moan's history and Saturn a rings, 431
imat;e and telescope, 3t>0
Moses, butial o', 4S1
Sewiox, Sir Isaac, reference to, 392
0*a, 'he, a lever of the second kind, 481
Open lire's, 317
Optical laws, inversion of image, 4S1
Orbit of thee-rth, and distance of fiiet stars, H2
•• PabaLlxx," a theory of the earth, 413
Parenthesis, use of, 503
Wane of toe earth's p«th, nnchacging, 411
Peraoecti.e, la«s of, 236 • ■, j,„ ci
Photographs : pamtmg them on glass, m oil, Sc, bdl
Phrenology, 393
„ remarks on, 280
Polygons, 213
fopolation of the ear'h, 631
Primary colours, 236
Probabilities, theory of, 318
Problem, the Petersburg, 3S<2
Pyramid bu Iding, a theory of. 436
builders, and the grand gallery, 432
curious theory respecting the, 301
". measurement of great gallery, 436
Rainbow, curved shape of, 2l2
,, theory of, 522
Rotatory motion in nebulous masses, 303
BAiBi-l-iias, theory of their eipuUionfrom primaries,
481
Bayce on Assyrian literaiure, 459
Segment of a sphere, attraction of, 521
Shape of the head, character shown by the, 623
Short whist, 257
Sirins and the sun, 412
Sliding-seat. in rowing. 2S0 j >, ,j
Bounds, iroitalions of things described in sound by old
poets, •492
Rmall-pox and vaccination, 320
Smoking, effects of, 365
Snakes swallowing their young, 347
Space, dimensions of, 212
Buontaneous generation, 320 _ , „ -on
"^ , and Professor Tyndall, 639
Star m'ips, for whom intended, 280
Stars not seen where thev actuallv are, 327
refleciing same in water, IfJ
Ftorms, and their warning from America, 230
Strala, thickne.aof, 481
Bun, aitiaction of, 437
and moon, siie of, near horizon eiplained, 237
S'linhglit tutting out Ure a fallacy, 305
Sun's restraining force on tbo eatlh 326
Swan's lamps, 622
TiH(iK»TiAi.i.T moving maaa, energy or, 3-;
Telesoopaa, advioo ooncermiig ohttioe of, 67i
1 erro.tRal eompr-.ion, Se.t.n'a eslimat. of. 213
Ton at .arth's surface, how much attracted to the
ElictrioBl coil, ♦'M
Turning wheels, centrifugal tendency of, 612
Twinkling ol llied stars, to what due, 412
•Trpe-writer, the, 326
ViCCIlliTIo.x and small-pox, 459
pamphlet against, 481
Tegetaides and fruit, 481
Vegelarianis-n, 3110
Vernier, remarks on the, 366
Venlililion ol sick-rooms, 438
Venns, day of, 391
Vivi.colion, whether right or wrong, 301
vVABOAtifl as a river for rowing, '280
Worms, remarks on, 237
ZoDIACil. light, the, 491
QUERIES.
AnsiBACT reasoning, 316
Actinium, 390
After-images, 167
Air-pump. 324
Algol, li'2, '278
Algoland M.ra.inj
Almanacks and celestial maps, 234
Alpha Cassiopeia, 210
Aluminium,211
Ancestors, our, 410
Ancient man, 123
Angle, Irisection of, 101
Animals' food, 323
>\uimal Isnguage, 255
Aniline dyes, 303
Antarctic regions, 434
Anlipathv and sympathy, 1.2
Ants, industry of, 145
Aslr.nomieal slides, 101
Astro-phitography, 434
Atlaniic cable, 434
Atomic theory, the, 3"3
Axes of the planets, 167
Bahombieb. '324
Barometric oscillations, iis
Bear, the great, ml, 188
Bedrooms, plants in, 410
Beer, fermentation of, 168
Bees! 234
Binocular microscope, 4.j-i
Birds Md 'animals comparative anatomy of, 80
eg«s, colour of, 123
" a flight of, 38
BoUny,211,43t
lectures, 101
„ works on, 279
Botanical, H*
papers, 101
Blood analysis, 168
Blowpipe an.l^sis, 279 ; chemistry, 389
self-acting, 453
Braiu injuries, 123
Brewing, 210
Brick-clay, 231
Burni' e gas, smell from, 3UJ
CALCVLrs, the, 255, 410
Calculating machines 4;8
Cambridee, scholarships at, 410
Cards, 480 .
Ca-siopeia, new star in. 102
Centre of the earth. Ht>
Cheap telescope, 183
Chemical, 210
analysis, 303
heating apparatus, 273
problem, a, 323
queries, 123
questions, 101
treatises, 60
Chemist, 323
the, 12'
Cho
, 234
Climbing plants, 435
Coal age and the earth's internal heat, 167
Coflee leal', the, 168
Colour-hearing, 278
Commercial tables, 304 j ■ i ,
Comparative anatomy of birds and animals, S"
Compound pendulum, 378
Copper, engraving on, 101
Cotton, how to make it waterproof, 16«
Creation, las
„ vestiges of, 101
Daisiis, 323
Deep sea soundings, 80
Dout»le refraction, 168
Doubtful organisms, 310
Dreams, 80
Drying wild flowers, 364
KoiNBUBOH University, examinations «t, 210
KfHuvia, elTeots of, on health, 23*
Electric, 3i3
, circuit, '234
, organ, 434
ricity, 3»J
„ . jbUr, -TOa
F.leclro-platiog. 168
RUclrophote,the, 30^
F.lhpae, ioatraiaent for deecnbing, «»
KocnTtV; iTt axiom of Ih. flrst book of, 27^*
F.uskarians, 458
Evoluiion and origin of rrergre«i», 2*»
knd geologv, 435
E«ript)onal season, 410
Eye, the, a- one of the senses, 168
Kve'pitKe, 255
F.,e<i(ht, 4)4
Fallixo bodies, 14.5
Fanre's accamolalor. 90 234, 323
Korrier's inBuenia powder, 410
Fine drilling, lol
Fish, phosphorescence ot, 4J8
Flora of the Channel Islands, 168
Flowers, names of, 122
Flying bridge, 38
Food, forma of, 80
Fossils, preservation from decay, -Jw
Frogs, 211
Fungi, 188
., and lichens, 167
Gblatisi! plates, 123
Geology, 410
Geometry, descriptive, 410
fferman and Bnglish, 60
Glacial epoch, time of, 188
Glass, 390
Glycol, 602
Hold, 4'iO
Gravity, 210, 255 278, 303
cause of, 101
„ illusion, a, 123
Great Bear, the, 101
Greek verbs, future tense ot, lot
Gyroscope, 183
Haib. 323
Heat, 278
Heating room, 434
Hehx, a, 231
Homer's Iliad, 278
Horseradish, 23 4
Hot winds, cause of, 33
Humble bees, 188
ICB, 188
,, age in Britain, 25o
Inclination, the earth's, 38
Indigo, 103
' In Memoriam," 458
Inertia, 210
Intensity coils, 101 r uo
" rstellar space, temperature of, ll»
a-mercnrial planet, 2o5
Ivy-leaves, 303
.Tet, 502
John Bull, 167
,1 ordan ba'omeler, 210
Jupiter, 435
latellites of, 234
a..,.j„.. .anguages, 188
Lai-lace s theory, 101
Latitude and longitude, 168
Leases, 278
Lectures, 321
Lftingman's weight, 101
Light aad lantern, '231
Lighting, 3t)4
Lime liaht apparatus, 410
Lobster, change of colour in, 4»o
Link, the missing, 60, 133
Logarithms, 6il c iai aia
London Universitv, examinations of, 101, 4)4
Luminous paint, 39l>
Lying to, cause ol, 33
Magic lasiebx, 410
Magnetic neeole, the, 123
Magnelscope, 101
Marine boiler, 167
id the death-rate, 8D
,. 210
Materials, strength of, 390
iphone, 323
Microscop.", lOl
Moon, the, 234
influence of the, 122
atmosphere of the. 123
bright..efSof the, 324
rotation of the, 101
Milona of Mars and Saturn, 107
Moses, burial o', 410
Mosses, 435
Medieval, 323
Medical botany. 168
Mental physiology, 133
Mercury, revolution of, 102
Meteorological, 43-1
Name of star, 167
Natural history. Sfi
,, philosophy. 303
Nautilus, the, 231
Nebula;. 304
Neptune, densitv of. 101
Nickel-plating. 210
Obsbbtatioh of weather, 278
ilAY 20, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
Qaeriei^eontinued.
Old atlas, 361
Old pnnU of flowers, restoring the colours of, 316
Opium, 279
Optical illnaioiw, ICl, 167
Oreaoic compounds, tJS
Orrerr, SO
Paist, a DOQ-condnctor, 480
P»IiE'>notaDT, 279
ParaOio, 34U
ParallelopipedoD, 167
PeDcil-point protectors, 3»3
Fnoto^rapbic, 3&0
studio, 410
Photography, 364
Physiography, 323
PigmcDts, 364
Planetary movements, 122
ring', 101
Pneumatic bell, 167
Pole, the, 234
Polar sun, the. 323
Preserraiion of zouphytea, 4o., 255
Probabilities, 123
,, apparent paradox in, 410
Prose composition, 324
Psychology, 27S
Puzzle, a fifteen. 33
Pyramids, aotiquitj of the, 1>2
r-yrologicl, -434
QciBlz in ct a', 410
Qaiclisands, 410
Quicksilver, noD>poisonous, 279
Quotation, 502
Radiometbb. the, 122
Railway collisions, 167
Bainbow, 123
Baior, 410
Eefrigerator, 273
Ketrogradation of a planet, 60
Bnsr, »s9
Saksibi tablet, 435
8aJt, 3ao
Satelhtes, 273
Scent, what is a, 234
Scientitic terms. 390
Screw-propeller, 167
Seal lisbenes, 454
Seismometer, 122
Sertnlarias, the preservation of, 255
Shocking coil, 434
Shortest day, the, 234
Shorthand, 234
Sliver, 410
Singing voice, breaks in the, 459
Sinking Funds, 48 >
Sinus and Orion, 102
Smelling salts, 390, 410
Sodom and Gomorrao, destruction of 410
Bolar heat, 101
„ ,, experiments en, 123
,, storms, 122
„ system, illumination of, 101
Solids, illusory figures, 167
Solutions, cold saturated, 255
Sound, its penetrating force, 102
Sp.nisb botany. 323
Spectrum of Actinium, 346
Sphere, volume of, 38
Stamina, 390
Star letten and numbers, 102
., catalognes, 234
Stars, the, in nonhem and southern latitudes, 193
„ heat from the, 211
Stone on rolling wheels, SO
Stonebenge, 434
Strata, 364
Students' societies, 234
Sub-tegmine >>gi, 434
Sugar analvsis, 346
Sulphur cast, 364
Summer days and winter nights, 145
Bun at bis nea'eet, 234
„ diameter of the, 210
„ oial, 38
Sun's beat, cessation of, 210
Snnligbl on flres, 18s
TlLiPHO»I, the, 303
lalescope, 323
,» a cheap, 183
u a reflecting, 390
„ garden-stand lor, m
Telewopes. pou-schromatic, 234
Tennyson, 279
Terrible dreams, 123
Tertiary f.ssils, 410
Thoracic integritv. 384
Thuniierstoroiii, action of. 255
Tune and teuperature, measures of, 390
Toads, 123
Tobacco and science, 278
_ ., eflVcts of, 410
Tortois.s, 211
Training, 80
Transparent sobds, ijluiory fignies of, 167
Three-handed chess, 101
Trichice, 278
Tncycles, 453
UtTUn Thcls, 38
Dniyene, the unseen, 14j
University of London, B.So. Exam., 431
Uranus, sa'ellites ot 2"9
Vkgftablb food. 3t>4
Vegetarianism, 410. 434
Velocity of sound, 60
Ventriloquism, 364
Venus transit ol, 1883, 108
Vines, 316
Volt.io HlectricitT,279
Vulcan, the planet, 101
Wisp siiogs, 145
Warmth at night, 921
Wasted energy, 101
Watch jewels, 145
„ pivuta. 145
Water of Ayr stone. 1 15
„ spheroides, 64)
Weight and pulley, 211
REPLIES TO aUEElES.
Abstbact reasoning, 390
Algol, H«
Almanacks and celestial maps, 279
Aluminium, 236, 25B
Anatomy, comparative, of birds and animals, 102
123, 124
Ancient m.n, 146, 168, 279
Animal Unguaize, 324
Aniline dyes. 346
Antiquity of man shown in the Nile mud> 169
AsbestOB paint and the salety-lamp, 347
Atomic theory, the, 326, 346
Blowpifb. a self-acting, 521
„ chemistry, 435
Beer, fermentation in, 303
Biological — the ape and man, S46
Blue streaks in brick clay, toe, 303
Botanical, 48 J
Botany, 480
Brain injuries, 146
„ troubles, 189
Brewing, 390
Burning gas. smell from, 436
Burial if Moses. 458
Cancbb, mortality from, 325
Cassiopeia, new star in, 146
Cheap microscope and telescope, 134
„ telescope, 211
Chemical, 235, 256
„ analysis, 325, 346, 410
,, problem, 364
,1 queries. 168
„ questions, 125, 146
treatises, 123
Chemist, exaii.ination for, 4c., 364
Chin, the, 211
Choaoites. 303
Climbing plants. 502
Coal age and imernal heat of the earth, 211
Cold in the head, care of a, 453
Colliery tpoil banks. 602
Collodion plates, 169
Creation, 211
Dbsigxs, Messrs. J. and E. Hall's, 324
DoUinger, the Eev. W. H., papers of the 235, 256
Doubtful organisms, 235, 279
Drawing, 4.58
Drying wild flowers, 410
Kabth. inclina'ion of ihe, 60, 80, 123
Keinburgh University, exaiuiuaiions at, 235
Electric, 435
Electric.l, 346
Klectricitv, 34«, 436, 458
Electro-metallurgy, the art of, 324
„ plaliog, 435
England and Wales, map rf.410
Equatorial adjnstment <>f, 538
Evergreens, origin of, 279
Eye, the, as one of the i-eii'cs. 211
PatTBK's accumuUtor, 124, 324, 435
Flight of birds, 60
Flowers, names of. 211
Food, forms of, 102
Foraminifera of chalk, 435, 458
Frogs, 235
Fungi and lichens, preservation of, 211, 235
Gabde.v tripod for telescope, 145
Geographical maps, 410
Geometry, descriptive, 430
German and Engiish, 123
Glacial epoch, time of, 212
Gold, 559
Grammar, a question of, 146
Greek fntnres, 235
„ verbs, 125
Haib, 435
„ turning white, 364
Heat, 324
Heating room, 430
High frrmenlalion, 235
Histology, IS^
Ho
. 325
ible dreams, what due to, 146
Horseradith, 279
Hot winds, cans- of, 80
Humhie bees, 23i
Ics,235
Ice age in Britain, 324
Iliad, the, 364
Inchoatiou of the earth, 60, 60
Indigo, preparation of, 211
Insects, use of some, accounted noxious, 236
Intensity coils, 435
Jonx Bull, originof the name, 235
Jordan Barometer, 303
K»ows languages, 256
LaKGrAGss of the earth, 279
Leases, 324
Lectures, 435
Lepidodendron, 365
Life, duration of, 436
Light andlantein, 279
Lightning, 3y0
Link. toemiiBinB,169
Logarithms, li<2
London University examinations, 145
Luminous paint, 411, 436
Magic la-. tern. 458
Magiietic needle, the, 211
Marriage and the death-rate, 124 135
Material, strength of, 435, 480
Meat, parasites in. 236
Mental Physiology, 146, 211
Meridional parts, tables of, 146
Mercury's revolution, 125
Microphone, the, 364, 435
Microscope. 146
Miuimaof Algiil, 324
Miscellaneous, 435
Moon, rotation of the, 189
Mosses, an excellent work on, 480
Navbs of flowers, 211, 255
Navvies, health of, 326, 411
Nautilus, the. 279, 303
Neptune. 124
Nick 1-plating, 235, 435
,324
Optical illusion.
Organic compounds, 325
Orrery, 168
PAEASiTBsiumeat, 236
Pencil-pjint protectors, 436
Phosphorescence of tish, 480
Photography, 390, 411, 480, 502
Photographic, bromide solution, 436
Pole, the, 27a
Pular sun, the, 365
Prose composition, 435
Puzzle, a fifteen, 80
Pyramids, anfquityof, 168
Pyrological, 48o
QcABiz iu coal, 480
Quicksilver, 361
„ non-poisonous, 324
Rabbit, experiments with a, 279
Railway collisions, a practical suggestion, 235
Razor, 453
Refrigerator, 278
Bust of iron, 411
Sakkasa tablet, 480
Salt, 436
Scientific terms, 411, 436. 458
Sea-blue bird of March, 335, 180
Seal fisheries, 430
Silver, 458
„ residues, treatment of, 4.53
Sirius and Orion, 146
SoUr heat, 146
Solutions, cold saturated. 30J
S.'UDd, velocity of, 123
SmeUing ealf, 43li
Sphere, volume of, 61, 123
Spinning top, 559
htamens, colour of, 303
Stars, names of, 212
Star numbers and letters, 2."5
Stone on rolling wheels. 124
Sulphur modiflcatioos, 146
Sunlight on fire, 211
Telbpeone, 502
Telescope, 364
Tennyson: " Bar of Michael Angel j," 325
Thoracic integrity, 410
Thnnderstorms, action of, 303
Tobacco and science, 436
Tortoises, 279, 303
Tortoise, longevity of the, 236, 324
Training, 124
Treatise on chemistry, 146
Triangle, trisection of, 125
Trichinae. 346
Ultima Thclb. 60, 80
Vallbt terraces, Dorsetshire, 490, 430
^ egptable food, 4.35, 433
Vegetarianism, 458
Vegetarian bot'ks and pamphlets, 521
Ventriloquism, 39J
Venus by daylight, 125
„ casting shadow, 168
Vestiges of creation, 124
Vulcan, the planet, 145
Wj
,411
Warmtn at night, 365, 435
Wasted energy, 145
Water of Ayr stone, 43S
Weather guide, 212
KNO^A/'LEDGE
[May 26, 1881;.
B«pH«* lo (la»ri«i-««"»""'- I
Wild flnw»r«, S90
7.orr»jri, tho, IM
EEVIEWS-
.-« PnaiiriTioH. a cnnone guiii* to
l,.h,n« (Lon.1on • W,n,... * *- il.^j^, ,„„ ,h,
rs„T«d n.'^'.Tral.'it.bxC.pUia Hugh A. K.ocdr.
?;.T,'r,c;v?':"d r.«o:nr;b;8. p. Tho»>p.oo.377
377
llBuispnEBBS. th« two, 470
Muro.copic.l >«.•..>-. "Od... .n, B09
Moald »nd worm,. D»7"VJV John Jon-,, 2(15
Mood, the tru. f'';;^ ,"' } i,' gir Edmund Beckett,
l...Vrwora. in soienco. .n address by Dr. G. V.
VopJla? «tr^n''o'y' br>-0? ^""st' ''''•''■' '''
i^e'Lr;;^/cLterb»nu™.b.5ss
P^.%" and CoUure Projessor U l^e, ou. «..
Science for All (^ m i.'«„i!.r« •>»2
Spemn.':n^d;u;:;LUbruTnVrB\.dneU,W,n.an
R„,i!;f?n^lr^byH.Siue,air^^i^;^^^,
Suicide, staiisl.cs ot, by Henrr Morseui, w
Star., the. •"4 '"j* "'"i'^^X j Pe.-oe. 292
X^-W.l"^n7,ts:i: • 'eciure b, Pro.c.or de Chau-
moit, 39
Whist for beginners, 698
ILLUSTRATIONS.
BlSDi's comet in 1946 (3 figs-). 133
Botanical contrivance. 2o3
Batterme..ndmo.h,.6j4 ii9. lU. 161. 201,
romef 'thfmenJnc iUaitr.t\on. of. 310. 341
^ret;on?n(2fig;.).86.87
fanciful Tieits of. 9
;; (-1 BBS.). 21. 27
Comet paths. 572
Oomets'^t.ils. 48. 49
?>7,'J:iVfand perforated sholls, 360
Donatt's comet (?.fl8»- "f'^'^V ■?«!
Sir'a?d'oitr^:h:ffirl-r.of.533
Eastern skies in Notember, U,
ir«rri«i!;!'.h"".n,.t.ar : electric gon.rator., 669
f??;":';rpe";::"'a™;L,',r.::.nrof .an,.,, sa. 535 1
Kound link.. l».-.l.kcl.-tnn,nl.it.nol bird.). «88 1
OLiCIATKD hm-.ton« lieb-.le, ■iH j
iallary oVllie'gra.t pyramid, pwsptctire Tie",
"317
IUlo ronnd the moon. 621
IllCbioiib. a nest of, 71 ■ 1 . ini iff
of miition and slrob'C circlet. 421. \i-
Kaivojiboo. haunch-bone of, I>32
I.0OPIB path or » planet. 4S2
Maoio wheel, 179. 19i, 199. 247
mal.?; wi'.h'the 3.ioch leleacope. 20). 22 V290. 312,
37«. 44.'>, 611, 695
I Bhouldep-hones of. 5)3
PvMot.i.cu a comnonnil. 455
Xe;:;:tJi;;r'"^i:r:irn^£3
.i'r/-orti.%5:::'''^r.':;:'i^-A''"''
pyramid o.,erT.t..ry,.howu,g the object-end of
tboTre.t ohserriDB tube, 399 ; vertical section of
{be pyrliJ ob.erJ.tory. 399 : diagrams of «itro-
loKical .ch.-me and of pyramid, 0J8, oi9
Satlb.v. the planet, 17rt
Sun in April. 469
' Tei.epho.vb, 409
Toothed tiir.1, .keleton of, 33
j Transit of 1883, chart of, 699
Waibr-moik. Australian. o32
1 ZoDliCil. map. 235, 406
Fowls, speech among. 499
Fol atory, a. 3.>9 .
Fniil. in preservation for '"°t'%]\»
Ois iranufactare of, from wood. 240
Gift' to the New York Museum of Art, len
Uo.U lo protect sheep. :W5
(iraphite. new nso (or. 53..
Graves nesr Pratigorst. 167
llBAIandsunlmhi. 19
Heath. Mr. Franci. George, and the J01
Fur„lry.nH
Holy wrll ol Z-ro«m, water ol. l<»
MISCELLANEOUS.
AcCCHTI-iTlTEsinkinEfand, 514
Americ.u asriculture ti. hogl.sh 609
Ancient tablets from Sippara, 008
Animal instiuols, 381
Animals. intellit!enc»in, 337, 409, 430
reasming in. 430
rights of. .421
Ant town. Bu. 570
Asbestos ttre.proof paint, 2/ 1 ^
Asteroids. 53S
Asthma and tobacci, 419
Bear and ragaed stafT. sign of the. 4W
Bulldog, a generoOB. 358
Cedars of Leb«oon. 40
Chalcedony enclo8i..g liquors, 609
Coal, fjrmation of, 513
Cod sound. 36S
Collie, sense ofduty of a, 383
Colliery spoil banks. 47/
Cores, geography of. 188 _^
Crocodile's jaw, muscular force of, 0*8
Crow, reasoning power of J". I"f»°' **'
DiPBiBEBiA communicated by cats, 500
X).)t.s, eye. sight of. 437
Dog.'curious freak of a. 216. 616
EcMPSB map of Egypt, 631
i'lec'trica'i eihi'bitions and the Government, 12
Electricify. application of, 14
Eiplo-ive paint, 493
Fevbb tree. the. 608 ^ • „ 1
."ool-warmers, substitute for water in, 414
II
pailime of a. 369
11 water. 303
cargo of. 39
India-rubber gathering in ColnmWa 6.
Induction b.lance applied to surteiy. 4)
Imitation Dowers. 72
ln«brietv. history of. a. a disease. 449
Inlellig'n=e in animals, 337, 409. 4W
LlMSOK case. the. 47il
Lightning, eff-ct. of on trees. 61
Light, its penetrative power in a
L'ght of ine stATS, 169
Littri! and positivinm. 672
Luior. temjlo o». 513 », k» r.,-.
Macaclat. description of smaU-poi by. oiJ
N A'ii".:' HU?^y Society. Soith Middl««, 369
Nature's respirator, 90
Navvies, health of, 197, 455
Newton, Sir Isaac, light and colour, 505
NordenjWjold. Professor, 16.
Notes on science. 479
Nutmegj. how they grow. 644
OSE wire, separate sounds on. i/1
Uyat«r<. effects of sewage on. 2j1
Poi80!i003 crayons, 601
Poisons, new comparison of, bO
Police-court scionc in, 39
K'sio°n°arL.Uon^re»''.nd popular -tronomy. 41
Kbtoh:tio» in a herd of deer. 3oo
BAtTBD pork, inspection of. 188
Science and religion. 427
Sippara, ancient tablets from, o;k9
8mall-pox described by MaCAUlay. 545
Social problem, the French. 2/1
Societies, reports of. 52
dolar apparatus. .>S9
„ physics, the future of. 306
„ spectrum, the. 470 a \. mr.
Sound, the. or swim-bladder in Bsh. 4«o
Spectroscopic analjsis of light. 9-
storing electricity, new invei.tion for, 179
Structure of bodies, the ultiroate, 19
Studies in Venus' transits, 030
1 Sunlight and heat. 19 .
1 Sussex arcbKological society. 497
Swans, intelligence in. 499 ,„ ,„
Svnchronizing electric clocks, 106, 137 .
Tbi-bpho-ib the, and some meteorological phenomena.
llV)
.carrying. 375
Tortoises, wate
TQbercle»ndit». -..,..-
Ultimate structure of bodies. 19
ViCOlSiTioif, the protective eBect ol. las
Vermilion. Chinese, method of manufacturing, .
Vivisection. 451
Wbatbeb forecasts. 40
Weights of human body and brain, 3B»
Welsh "W." the. 600
Whale, plaster cast of, 199
I Wordy science, 138
Wliw « Boot. Pri«(.r., 74-6. G«<U Q«e.»-.«r.»*. ioiufo.. W.C
Nov. 4, 18aL]
KNOV/LEBGE
3
t V^ AN 1LUi&lRATED V>" ,
MAGAZINE o?5l^IENCE
P UlNLy^ORDED-EXACTlVPESCRIBED
LOXDOX: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1881.
CONTENTS.
FAGS. I
ToOmREiDKxs 3
Science and Relieion. By the Editor 3
Tho Relation of Food to Muscular
Work.— Part I. By Dr. W. B.
Carpenter, F.R.S. 5
Aro Women Inferior to Men ? 6
Cometx.— ilUuttrated) 8
lUusiona. By Thomas Foster— (IHin-
traltd) 10
The Eastern Skies in Kovember —
{nluttrated) 13
rAGB.
Darwin on Mould and Worms 14
CoRRBSPONDBNCB. — Introductory —
Hints to Correspondents — Is tho
Sun Hot ?— Can Ice- Yachts sail
faster than the Wind? 15
The Birmingham and Midland Insti-
tute. Bv W. Mattieu Williams ... 16
Colour of Sunlight 18
The rwjiiiif Riddle 18
Our Mathematical Column 19
Our Chess Column 19
TO OUR READERS.
" T^ ^'-^^-'-'^^^'^ ' *^ ^ weekly magazine intent^ed to
-l\- bring the truths, discoveries, and inventions of
Science before the public in simple but correct terms —
to be, Ln fact, the minister and interpreter of Science for
tliose wlio have not time to master technicalities (whether
of Science generally or of special departments).
KvowLEDGE will contain Original Articles by the ablest
exponents of Science ; Serial Papers explaining scientific
methods and principles ; Scientific News translated into
the language of ordinary life; a Correspondence Section
(including columns of Notes and Queries) for free and full
discussion, and especially for inquiry into matters whicli
the readers of original articles may find tliiEcult or per-
plexing; and Reviews of all scientific treatises suitable
for general reading. In addition to these portions, there
■will be a section for Mathematics, and columns for Chess
and Wliist (regarded as scientific games), conducted on a
novel plan intended to render these portions at once useful
to learners and interesting to proficients.
I have long regai'ded the material benefits derived from
Science, great though these unquestionably are, as small
by comparison with those to be derived from Science as
a means of mental and moral culture. Nearly ten years
have passed since, recognising this, I pointed out the
necessity for such a journal as the present. We have none
doing the work which Knowledge is mtended to perform.
But I felt that before attempting to conduct such a
Journal, I should obtain as wide an experience as possible
of the wants of the class of readers for which it is in-
tended. During the last ten years I have come in contact
as lecturer and writer, with tons of thousands belonging to
that class. The experience I have thus gained is altogether
exceptional. From letters addressed to me during my lecture-
tours in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Aus-
tralia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, as well as those almost
equally numerous written to me from other countries, T
have learned the nature of the difiiculties which commonly
perplex scientific students and the readers of scientific
treatises. 1 believe this experience must prove of great
value to me in conducting Knowledge.
The tone of the articles will be that which I have
found most useful in lecturing and writing. The general
public do not want Science to be presented to them as
if they were of intelligence inferior to their teacher's.
But they cannot be expected to take interest in state-
ments couclicd in absti-use or technical terms. Nor is
Science degraded when plain untechnical language, such as
we propose to use in Knowldge, is employed; when,
for instance, instead of speaking about the " mean equa-
torial horizontal solar parallax," a writer refers to the
sun's distance ; or when a race of men is not described as
"microseme and dolichocephalic," but as small-faced and
long-headed.
Discoveries and inventions communicaied to scientific
societies at home and abroad will not be presented until
they have been translated from technical language which
to the general reader is mere jargon.
The price of Knowledge is lower than that which has
heretofore been assigned to periodicals of the same class.
It is trusted that those who approve of the plan above
sketched, and wish to see the Magazine firmly established,
will help to
" Let knowlctlgc c^ow from more to more,"
by making its existence known to their friends. In this
and other matters cordial co-operation from all quarters is
invited. Rich.4RD A. Proctor,
SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
By the Editor.
MANY seem to imagine that the tendency of Science,
especially in its more recent developments, is irre-
ligious. Some give a special reason for tliis strange
opinion, namely, the inconsistency which they conceive to
exist between some of the results to which modem Science
\mmistakably points, and ideas which have been derived
from poetical descriptions found in the Bible. So far as
this particular form of objection is concerned. Science need
be at no pains to formulate a reply. It would be as
reasonable to do sof I conceive, as it would be seriously
to answer such a question as this : " How can the Dar-
winian theorj' of the remote cousinship of man and
monkeys be reconciled with Job's statement (Job, xxx. 29),
'I am a brother to dragons'^" or this: "How can thej
views of modern medical men sCljout the intestines be
reconciled with Job's assertion (Job, xxx. 27), ' My bowels
boiled and rested not'1" Moreover, the world is not
interested (or should not be) in hearing the views of
Science as to the real meaning of words which theologians,
after much time and trouble given to a matter lying
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. i, 16H\.
8p««cially within thoir province, arc not at one in inter-
preting. Hilt whon thr tpii'Htion i.s of tlio trutli of tlio.sn
si-inntitic vi<>ws wliicli aro oj>|)U(;noJ, or a.s to tlu> licariii^
of Scifm-f (fciioraiiy on llclijfion, tlii^ ca-so is dift'croiit.
rtoiimco may roa.sonalily an.swcr quo.stion.s relating to tho
infliinnco of .sciontitio di.sc'ovi-ric.s on tlin human mind.
Tho groat olijcction raised against modoni .science appears
to be in tho rnaii\ this, that it enlargas unduly our ideas of
the Tastne.ss of CJotl's domain in space, of tho immensity
of the time periods during whicli lleact.s, and in fine, of
Ilia inconceivaMo power and wi.sdoni. We may admire
the wi.sdom of the Almighty, aa .shown in the pebble, or the
rock, in the flower or in the tree, in tho in.sect or the
■animal, nay, we may even .so far ext<"nd our vision as to
iivognise th<" laws under which a stratum, or a forest, or a
race of animals, p(>rhaps even a continent, or a flora, or a
fauna, had their origin and passed through their various
stages of development But we must not e.\tend owr
survey further. To see Ood's hand in these. His wisdom
in the laws by whicli they are formed, is to be religious and
good, but to trace His power and wi.sdoni on a largiT scale
is to be irreligious and wicked. Evolution on the small
scale we may atlniit without harm ; but to see evolution in
the dov lopnient of a world or a world-.system, and still
more tooseo evolution throughout the entire universe as
revealed to man, this is " to set God on one side in the
name of Universal Evolution."
It is unfortunate that those who take this view of the
general scope of modern scientific research had not been
careful at an earlier date to explain, when admitting the
growth of a tree, a forest, or a flora — of an animal, a race,
or a fauna, according to natural laws, and even explaining
(a3 many of them did) the wonderful nature of the laws
according to which such growths took place, that they
wished it to be clearly understood that in thus recognising
the action of law tliey were rejecting the idea that the
Almighty fashioned the plant or the animal, the forest or
the race, the flora or the fauna, or indeed, aught| (animate
or inanimate) the development of which man is able to
study through all its stages. Because, if it Jiad been
clearly understood that wherever they recognised growth
and development as the results of law, they were assured
such results could not possibly be attributed to the
Almighty, Science might perhaps, (though it seems un-
likely) have been deterred from researches leading to the
distressing conclusion that there is development according
to law on the greater scale as well as on the less ; nay,
that to all appearance law prevails throughout the entire
domain of the Almighty in space and during the entire
period of time in which he acts — that is, throughout
infinity of space, and during eternity of time.
As regards the actual evidence of the vastness of space
and the immensity of time tliroughout which the action of
law extends, it may suffice to say that only the very ignorant
or the \'ery dull can for a monu^nt entertain doubt. Unless
tlie evidence given by earth and heaven has been specially
devised to mislead man, or unless the reasoning powers be-
stowed on man by God have been given but to lead him
astray (conceptions alike blasphemous and unreasonalile),
there can be no manner of doubt that on the one hand the
universe is infinitely larger than it was suppo.sed to be
before the days of Copernicus and Kepler, Galileo and
Newton ; or that, on the other hand, our earth has lasted,
and will last, thousands of times as long as had been sup-
posed liefore its structure had been examined ; the solar
system millions of times as long as had been supposed
before its movements had been studied ; the galaxy of stars
yet longer ; the higher order of systems to which that
"alaxv belongs for periods so vast, that to all intents and
purposes they extend (in our conception) to absolute
eternity — in tho paat as in tho future.
As to the influence which a result such as this should have
upon men's minds, it should perhaps suffice to say that those
who believe that the Almighty is all-wise eis well as all-
powerful ought not to fear le.st tho discovery of truth from
the study of His universe should produce evil effects.
But I go much further than thi.s, and .say that of all
possible forms of teaching, those derived from or based
upon science must be most Itenoficial in the religious .sense,
not using the words science and religion in their ordinary
narrow significance, but in their wide,st and noblest.
" Doubtless," as Herbert Spencer has well said, " science
is antagonistic to tho superstitions that pass under the
name of religion ; but not to the essential religion which
these superstitions merely hide. Doubtless, too, in much
of the science that is current there is a pervading spirit of
irreligion ; but not in the true science which has passed
beyond the superficial into the profound." Or, as Huxley
has even more pointedly remarked, " True Science and
true Religion are twin-sisters, and the separation of either
from the other is sure to prove the death of both.
Science prospers exactly in proportion as it is religious,
and religion flourishes in exact proportion to the scientific
depth and firmness of its basi.s. The great deeds of philo-
sophers have been less the fruit of their intellect than of
the direction of that intellect by an eminently religious
tone of mind. Truth has yielded herself rather to their
patience, their single-heartedness, and their self-denial,
than to their logical acumen." To which may be added
the noble saying of Carlyle, that " to know the Divine
laws and harmonies of this universe must always be the
highest glory of a man, and not to know them the greatest
disgrace for a man."
But we may fairly go even further than this. We need
not be content to defend, or merely to justify, or even to
laud. Science in its relation to Religion. W^e may assert
without fear of valid contradiction that the neglect of
science is irreligious. For what is such neglect (where
men have time and leisure for the work) but the refusal to
study the works of the Creator ? And ia what position,
logically, does a man stand who praises the Creator in
words, but declines to study His creation ? " Suppose,"
says Spencer, " a writer were daily saluted with praises
couched in superlative language. Suppose the wisdom, the
grandeur, the beauty of his works were the constant topics
of the eulogies addressed to him. Suppose those who un-
ceasingly uttered these eulogies on his works were content
with looking at the outside of them, and had never opened
them, much less tried to understand them. What value
should we put upon their praises 1 \Miat should we think
of their sincerity 1 Yet, comparing small things to great,
such is the conduct of mankind in general in reference to
the universe and its cause."
The study of science implies the surest belief that God's
works are worth study, the fullest recognition that the author
of those works is worthy of our reverence. It is the truest
kind of homage, in that it is not homage expressed merely
in words, l)ut homage shown in work, in service, in sacri-
fice. The man of science, in fine, refuses to ofler to the
Almighty "the unclean sacrifice of a lie." He oflers
him instead (in the search for truth) the sacrifice of time,
of labour, and of thought. His very questions imply the
fulness of his faith : —
This is his homage to the niiKhtior powers.
To ask his boldest question, undismayed
By muttered threats that some hysteric sense
Of wrong or insult will convulse the throne
Where Wisdozi reigns supreme.
Nov. 4, 1861.]
• KNOWLEDGE
THE RELATION OF FOOD TO
MUSCULAR WORK.
Bv Dr. W. B. C.«iPEN-TER, F.R.S.
[In an article on the " Use and Abuse of Food," repnblished in my
'■ Pleasant Ways in Science," tliere is a passage in which Liebi;;'s
mistake abont the relation between nitrogenous or flesh-torming
food and work is quoted without being corrected. I was not aware
when the article was written ,(1867) that scientific experiments
were in progress which were eventually to completely expose the
fallacy of Liebig's position. When the article was republished
these experiments had long since been brought to a satisfactory
issue. Although the point does not importantly affect my ess.iy
regarded as a whole (for the material of a machine, as well as tlie
source of its working energj' must be kept in repair, and the work-
man does not get less good from his food because he takes it under
a misapprehension as to the particular benefit it will do him), the
mistake is one which should hare been corrected. The interpreter
of scieotific statements, too technical for general comprehension,
must not be content with presenting correctly and intelligibly the
accepted teaching of an authority in any special branch of science.
He must assure himself, as time passes, that the teaching which
was regarded as sound when the subject was first dealt with, has
not undergone correction in the mean time. If I had done this in
the present case (as I have in general been careful to do), the error
in question would not have appeared in the pages of " Pleasant
Ways in Science." The following exceedingly interesting paper, by
Dr. Carpenter, puts the matter in the proper light. He speaks, I
need hardly say, "as one having authority." I may point out that
it is one of the great advantages of a journal like the present that
errors into which even the most careful will fall from time to time,
will here be corrected at once. In the columns of a monthly
magazine correspondence would be inconvenient, even if permitted.
Here the freest ((uestioning and discussion is invited, and it is par-
ticularly desired that those having special knowledge of a subject
will call attention to, and correct, any statements which may appear
to them erroneous. — Ed.]
PART I.
THAT " the evil which men do Uves after them,"' is often
exemplified by the continued prevalence of scientific
doctrines accredited by the authority of great names, long
after their fallacy has been demonstrated by the subsequent
researches of other inquirers to the satisfaction of all
competent judges. For, if these demonstrations be not
presented to the world under the sanction of a like
authority, tlie old errors are continually reproduced by
popular expositors, and unquestioningly accepted by ordi-
nary readers.
Having met with a notable instance of this kind not
long ago, in the reproduction, as an accepted physiological
verity, of the doctrine of Liebig as to the direct depend-
ence of muscular energy on the expenditure of nitrogenous
food, I think that a journal which aims to communicate
positive " knowledge " to its readers may be an appro-
priate medium for a brief statement of what are now
accepted by all scientific Physiologists as the facts of the
case.
It is no derogation to the well-established fame of Liebig
as one of the greatest Chemists of his day,* to aflirm that
when he passed out of his own domain into that of
Biology, he made many and flagrant mistakes. Looking
back after an interval of nearly forty years, at his " Organic
Chemistry in its Relations to Physiology and Pathology,"
I am really astonished at the reckless audacity of some of
his assertions; as, for instance (1st edit 1842, p. 219),
that " we know with certainty that the nerves are the con-
ductors of mechanical effects, and that by means of them
motion is propagated in all directions ; " and that "the
heart and intestines do not generate the moving power in
themselves, but receive it from other quarters." He might
• See "The Life-Work of Liebig," by Prof. Hofmann, the
" Faraday Lecturer" for 1875.
just as well have said that " we know with certainty that
when a charge of gunpowder or dynamite is exploded by
an electric spark, it is the conducting wire that supplies
the energy which rends asunder the rock." For nothing
was even then more certain, than tliat the heart, intestines,
and all other muscles fumisli, in virtue of their own con-
tractility, the power (or, as it would now be called, the
" potential energy ") which protluces their mechanical
effects, this being simply called into action by the nervous
stimulus.
Another most noteworthy example presents itself in
Liebigs denunciation of the " germ-doctrine " of fermen-
tation and contagion, which was then being built-up on
the basis supplied liy the microscopic discoveries of
Cagniard de la Tour on the fungoid nature of yeast, and of
Audouin and Milne-Edwards on the like character of the
^Muscardine-disease of silkworms. " A theory," he says
(3rd edit. 1846, p. 212), "of the cause of fermentation and
putrefaction, which is utterly fallacious in its fundamental
principles, has hitherto furnished the cliief .support of the
parasitic theory of contagion. The advocates of this
theory regard putrefaction as a decomposition of organic
beings caused by infusoria and fungi, and consider every
putrefying body as a breeding-place for infusoria or a
nursery for fungi ; and where organic bodies putrefy over
a large surface, the whole atmosphere, according to this
view, must be filled with the germs of these infusoria
and fungi. The germs of these organised beings are, in
this theory, the germs of disease or of the causes of
disease." Yet it is this very doctrine, the complete estab-
lishment of which by the admirable researches of Pasteur,
and of those who have followed in the line of inquiry
which he so clearly marked out, has not only given the
true interpretation of the phenomena of Fermentation, but,
in its application to Pathology, is now serving as the basis
for " preventive " medicine and " antiseptic " surgery.
And I feel sure that Liebig himself, had he lived into the
present era, would have been quite ready to admit its truth ;
for he was the last man to persist in views no longer tenable,
merely because he had himself advanced them. " There is
no harm in a man's making mistakes," he used to say,
" but great harm in his making none, for he is sure not
to have worked." And Professor Hofmann records ha%'ing
been exhorted by Liebig " not to keep in your house from
night till morning an error you liave become cognisant of."
Now Liebig's chemical diWsion of food-materials into
plastic, or "tissue-forming," and respiratory, or "heat-
producing," was unquestionably an immense advance ; and
the basis of it is still universally recognised as sound. I
can myself remember the time when it was a question
whether the nitrogenous components of the blood, and the
tissues formed at their expense, can be built-up in the
animal body, with the aid of atmospheric nitrogen, out of
starch, sugar, fat, and other non-nitrogenous h^'drocarbons.
Chemistry had not then shown the almost e.xact conformity
of many Vegetable compounds to the albumen which was
regarded as the fundamental constituent of Animal food ;
and while it was by Mulder that the doctrine of the
/(ro/t'in-compounds was worked out, which, with some
modifications, is now generally accepted, it was by Liebig
that the impossibility of supposing that animals can form
their tissues out of anything else than the "proteids"
originally generated by Plants, was first definitely insisted
on. He was not aware, however, that the formation of
" protoplasm " requires fat as well as proteids ; and that
thus fat is to some extent a tissue-food. But he was
unquestionably right in affirming that animal tissues
cannot be manufactured out of sacchariiie compounds (as
starch and sugar), unless these have been pre\'iously
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 4, 1881.
ilmnRod into fat — a cli.-ui),"" wliosc possiMlity In- went
fur to iirovc, — ami thrn only in tlio sanio iiicusun- iis fnt
itsi'lf. .Vnd lie (|uito oorrpctly nssi|,'nccl BR tliP ultiiniit<!
destination of tlii> p-cat l>ulk of the non-nitrogenous toin-
pononts of food, the beini^ (so to speak) " Imrned " within
the liody, l>y couiliinatiiin with oxygen taken in through
tiie lungs ; their liyilrocarlions lieing exhaled t>y these
organs in the form of water and carlionic acid. But he
assiimrtl that the only purpose served liy this o.xidation
was the protluction of h^iit ; alKruiing that all the me-
rhnnicnl force, exerted I'y the Animal Uody is the product
of a transformation of liriit'j muscular til>re into (had,
the " vital force " which was possessed by the living tissue
heing " expended in the shape of motion." The oxidation
of the dead material he seems to liave regarded as only a
consequence of its loss of power to resist chemical agencies,
and as a means of its removal, — serving, at the same time,
as an additional source of heat. And riglitly judging that
this chemical metamorphosis should show itself by the
increased excretion of urea in the urine (the kidneys fur-
nishing the channel through whicli most of the nitrogenous
"waste" is carried out of the body), he appealed, in
support of his doctrine, to what he supposed to lie the
fact of such increase, and its proportion to the amount of
work done.
Notwithstanding the general acceptance of Liebig's
doctrine among the Physiologists of that time, there were
those who saw that it was attended with considerable diffi-
culties, notably as regards the amount of work done by
man and animals upon a very small allowance of nitro-
genous food. It was well known, for instance, that
Bengalee labourers (who, for their size, are very fair
workers*) live all but exclusively on rice, which consists
almost entirely of starcli ; a pound of this, with a little
ghee (butter), or a small bit of fish, constituting their
ordinary diet. And it appeared from the carefully
conducted experiments of Mr. Joule, of Manchester, that
the quantity of work done by a grass- or hay -fed ox (taking
into account that done by its heart vnthin its body, as well
as that done outside its body) was more than could be
accounted-for by the metamorphosis of the nitrogenous
constituents of its food.
Mr. Joule was at that time engaged upon an
inquiry into the Mechanical equivalent of Heat, which
led him to suspect that the combustive oxidation of
the non-nitrogenous coiistituents of food might be a
source of mechanical poiver, as well as of heat. But
this doctrine was first definitely stated, and shown to be
one expression of the great general fact (or law) now
known as the Conservation of Energy, in the " epoch-
making " treatise published in 1845, by Mayer; who urged
(1) tliat the chemical force contained in the ingested food
and in the inhaled oxygen, is the source of the motion and
heat which are the two products of animal life ; and (2) that
the production of these forces varies in amount with the
chemical changes to which it is due. The animal body, he
maintained, is comparable, in these respects, to a steam-
engine, in wliich work is being done, and heat produced, by
the combustion of fuel ; and he calculated that the quantity
of carbon burnt off by the Ijody in a day (as measured by the
amount of carbonic acid given off in the expired air) is far
more than sufficient for the whole day's work, — about four-
fifths of it being used in the production of heat, while the
remaining fifth suffices for the prodiiction of the muscular
force ordinarily exerted within and without the l»ody. He
affirmc'd that " the muscle is the instrument by wliich
clieniical change is transformed into mechanical effect, not
the material wliicli is itself transformed ; ' and he regardi;d
the blood-stream that flows through the capillaries of the
muscle, as bringing both the fuel and the oxygen needed to
burn it. With the prevision which marks true geniii-:,
Mayer asserted that as soon as experimental motliods should
become sufficiently perfect to render it possible to deter-
mine with precision the amount of chemical change, either
in the whole animal body or in a single mu.scle, during a
given period, and to measure the production of heat and
the work done during the .same period, the result would
show a definite correlation between them.
This (as will be shown hereafter) has been completely
verified by subsequent research ; the only point in which
^Mayor's doctrine has been found to need correction, being
one of secondary importance.
[To he continued.)
• I have been informed by an engineer who superintended the
construction of part of the Bengal system of railways, that the
average quantity of earthwork done by a native labourer on the
above diet is about two-thirds that of a higlily-fed English " navvy."
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN ?
A FRENCHMAN named Delaunay has recently pul>-
lished a pamphlet, the object of which is to show that
women are intellectually and physically inferior to men. At
the outset it should be noticed that this M. Delaunay must
not be mistaken for the great French astronomer Delaunay,
(who died some nine years ago). The point requires noting,
because the present Delaunay has ere this dealt with sta-
tistical evidence relating to astronomical matters, en-
deavouring to prove therefrom that the planets Jupiter
and Saturn exercise a marked influence on the phenomena
of earthquakes. It is hardly necessary, perhaps, to say
that the proof was hardly so perfect as M. Delaunay
imagined. In fact, his reasoning would not have at-
tracted attention if his name had not sounded like that of
a very eminent astronomer, of whose death many had not
heard.
M. Delaunay now devotes himself to the task of showing
that those who regard the two sexes as intellectually or
morally equal, are absurdly sentimentaL He seeks to show
that women are in a lower stage of development than men,
on grounds wliich he describes as purely anthropological,
though he should rather, it would seem, have described
them as biological, since his inferences respecting the tests
of development are derived quite as much from the study
of other animals as of men. He admits that among certain
lower forms of life, as insects, some fishes, and reptiles, the
females show a superiority to the males ; but among the
higher races of vertebrates (backboned animals) it is dif-
ferent. Among birds and mammals (he might have added
marsupials, or pouched animals, as kangaroos, opossums,
kc), the male is nearly always superior to the female. The
inference is, that whereas in lower races the female is
superior to the male, the male is equal to the female in
races more advanced, and superior to the female in all the
superior species. "The supremacy of the female is there-
fore," he says, " the first form of the evolution undergone
by sexuality, while the supremacy of the male is the last
form." The conclusion is calculated to be so satisfactory to
men that they may be permitted, perhaps, to pass over the
manifest weakness of the reasoning. The law, which
should be universal to be of avail, is admitted to be only
general ; and it is noteworthy that the reasoning really
points to the conclusion that the higher the race, the lower
relatively is the female : so that it would seem tkat the first
Nov. 4, 1881.]
K N C W LEDGE
point to be established by one who would prove his nation
in advance of others, should be the inferiority of the women
of his race. If this were really so, we imagine that there
are some races of men, not supposed to be far from the
very forefront of human progi-ess, who would not care, at
such a cost, to establish their claims to a high position.
M. Delaunay is caref\d to show why he thinks the
female inferior to the male in the higher races. First, we
find that among birds and mammals, including man (who
shares with the pig, the monkey, the dog, itc, the privilege
of breast nourishment), the nutritive phenomena are more
intense than in the female. Man eats more than woman ;
and he is, therefore, incontestably her superior. " Yet,
although she eats less, the woman is more of a (jonrmande,
and eats more frequently." (This may be proved by com-
paring aldermanic feasts and club dijmers with the favourite
forms of feminine gourmandism.) " Xe.xt we observe that
the breathing of men is more intense than that of women.
For an equal height he has a greater capacity of chest, and
a larger thoracic index than the woman" (a greater breathing
capacity). " He also absorbs more oxygen, though his
breathing is slower." (Why should not this be regarded
as a proof of inferiority 1 Suppose a woman were writing,
and should put it this way, Woman requires less oxygen
than man, and is therefore superior to him ; how then f)
" The temperature is higher in man than in woman,' and
the pressure of the blood greater, though the pulse is less
frequent." This, again, might be quoted the other way by
women. It would be almost as logical to say, Man is
superior to woman because he wears a beard, and the hair
on his head is shorter than hers.
It appears that the frame of man, as compared with that
of woman, proves incontestably his superiority. He has
a heavier skeleton, absolutely as well as relatively. " The
woman in all the physical characteristics of her skeleton is
intermediate betweenjthe child and the man, according to
Topinaud." Must we then rank the elephant as man's
superior ? his skeleton is certainly heavier than man's, not
only absolutely Init relatively. " The woman is not so
right-handed as the man ; the pre-eminence of the right
side over the left is not so marked with her as with the
male." Charles Reade would probably regard this as
e%'idence of superiority rather than inferiority ; and many
men who have not been thought inferior to their fellows,
but the reverse, have been at no small pains to train the
left side to equality, or as near equality as they could attain,
with the right side.
Worse remains, however, to be told. " The male ex-
ternally is always larger than the female. The woman is
not so heavy as the man, although she would often appear
larger on account of the development of the adipose
system, which in her is greater than the man."
The next point, if established satisfactorily, would bo
rather more to tlie purpose. " In all our Hindo-European
races," says Topinaud, "the woman is more prognathous
than the man," that is, her jaws are relatively more pro-
jecting than those of man. This would be a strong point,
because there really appears to be a correlation between
the position of the jaws in animals and the capacity
(relative, of course,) of their brains. But it would be
desirable to have all the particulars liy which the pecu-
liarity referred to has been established. It would be easy
to select classes either of men or of women who would be
very unfair representatives of their sex taken as a whole ;
and though I would be far from saying that anything of
this sort has been done, I would note that it is a much
more difficult matter than many would suppose (who have
not tried) to obtain a large number of either sex who
could be regarded as absolutely free from class influences.
The task would be easier if men and women pursued
similar avocations. As they do not, the statistics collected
by Toi-pinaud may, for aught that appears, have tended, if
rightly interpreted, to show that such and such a\ ocations
either affected intellectual develojunent, or were selected
by persons of inferior intellect, rather than anything speci-
fically distinguishing men from women."
A similar objection applies, but yet more strongly, to
M. Delaunay's next point. He says that, " according to
his o\^^l researches, woman is more flat-footed than man,
and has a foot less ai-clied — a sign of inferiority — hence
tlie preference of women for high-heeled boots." It is a
rather bold assumption that the form of the feet thus
indicates intellectual development. But assuming that it
were so, I apprehend that the statistics of feet-forms would
show very diflerent results according to the classes that
might be selected. Supposing, for instance, M. Delaunay
had measured the feet of a few hundred waiters, and com
pared them with those of a few hundred opera-dancers,
he might, perhaps, have inferred either that opera-dancing
conduced far more than waiting at table to intellectual
development, or else that women were far superior to men.
1 do not say that a selection so unlikely to lead to a correct
result as this has actually been made: but we require
to know much more than we do about M. Delaunay's
statistics before we can accept his conclusion, even if we
admit that the mental and moral qualities can be deduced
from the shape of the feet. The fancy for wearing high-
heeled boots may reasonably be regarded as showing that
women regard a high instep as a natural feminir.e beauty,
to be enhanced where present or imitated where wanting ;
that, in fact, women are more particular in this respect
than men. So viewed, it would no more prove that women
are commonly flat-footed than their weai-ing chignons or
switches would show that they commonly have shorter
hair than men. In fact, M. Delaunay's argument here
is decidedly unfavourable to his theory, if a high instep
really is a proof of intellectual superiority ; for women try
more to enliance those qualities which they regard as
feminine, and therefore attractive, than those which they
share with men.
"The female voice is sharper than that of the male.
Both in wild and domesticated animals the male has the
muscular system more developed than the female." All
this may be granted ; but it proves nothing to tlie purpose.
The bull has a deeper voice than man, and the gorilla has
the muscular system far more developed ; but we do not
infer that the bull or the gorilla stands higher iji develop-
ment on either account than man.
" The movements are more precise in man than in
woman." (What movements 1) "Among pianists of the
two sexes the mechanism reaches a much higher degree of
perfection in men." As musicians, whether we consider
composition or execution, women certainly are surpassed
by men ; and I may note among the absurdities of our
system of education that almost every girl in the middle
and upper classes " learns the piano" (save the mark !)
though not one in a hundred has any natural aptitude for
music, while among boys music is comparatively neglected.
There is little, however, in feminine execution to justify
the statement that their movements are less precise. On
the contrary, numbers of girls acquire wonderful pre-
cision in playing ; only, unfortunately, most of them want
that aptitude for music which can alone make mere per-
fection of digital mechanism of any account. It is not
easy, however, to see why musical skill should be regarded
as a test of mental or moral qualities. I am disposed, on
the contrary, to consider that women in our day are
handicapped by their musical education ; and that pro-
8
KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 4, 1881.
)«il>ly, if so many w(>ro not conipollfd (without niUKical
talent to help them) to waste many years of their life
ill the weary work of " practi.sing," we might have
liettor opportunities of learning wliut WDmen are capalile
of in other ways than wt- are actually allbrdetl. Music,
at any rate, is one of the weak points of modern femi-
nine education, if not its worst feature. Even as musi-
cians, women would be far likelier to show power, if only
those who possessed aptitude for music received a musical
training. How can the ri-ul musician among tifty girls
get any chance, when she has to go through, with the
forty-nine who are not musicians the weary music-killing
work of our present system of so-called musical train-
ing i (Is not this matched, however, liy the existing
systems of classical and mathematical training for
boys, irrespective altogether of any aptitude for clas-
sical or mathematical work ?)
We come next, in M. Delaunay's paper, to the more
important question of cranial capacity and form ; for
certainly (setting aside, of course, i)hrenological absurdi-
ties), the shape and size of the brain are more likely to
indicate mental and moral capacity correctly, than are
the shape of the feet, the tone of tlie voice, and the
muscular development As, however, my limits are
already exceeded, I leave the rest of M. Delaunay's paper
to another occasion.
So far as we liave gone, M. Delaunay's arguments
remind us, more than we should have thought possible
in a scientific brochure, of the reasoning in a humorous
article which appeared a year or two ago in the Ifew York
Times, wherein it was gravely argued that the inferiority
of woman to man is proved conclusively by women's habit
of sitting on the ground to take off, or to put on, their
shoes and stockings. In fact, I am not sure that M.
Delaunay might not find more in favour of his theory ill
this argument than in any of his own that have thus far
been considered.
COMETS.
THE year which was to have seen the end of the world,
because of planetary conjunctions and perihelion
passages, because Mother Shipton had said so (or was said
to have said so), and because the ascending gallery in the
Great Pyramid is 1882 inches long (so that the year 1882
is to introduce a new era), has been remarkable in astro-
nomical annals for the number of comets which have been
seen. Already six hare been numbered, and the year is
not over yet. Something still remaining — more, indeed,
than we are always ready to admit — of old superstitions
respecting comets, has led many to regard the coincidence
as full of meaning. Others, not quite so credulous, have
supposed that though comets may not come in flights of
half-a-dozen together to portend the end of the world, they
may yet affect our weather in some way ; perhaps directly,
as the moon is supposed to do (with very little reason) ;
perhaps indirectly, by acting on the sun. To the astro-
nomer the appearance of so many comets — some of them
large ones — has been full of interest, because he hopes by
the application of the new methods of research discovered
within the last quarter of a century to solve some of the
myst<!ries with which the whole subject is still fraught,
despite a number of interesting discoveries which have re-
cently been made.
A brief inquiry into some of the facta which have been
discovered respecting comets, and a discussion of some of
those peculiarities which still remain among the greatest
mysteries of science, will probably prove acceptable at the
pre.sont time, when comets attract so much interest and
attention.
Klsewhero in the solar .system wo meet with relations
no( differing greatly in kind from those presented by our
own earth. W'e see a set of globular l>odi(^s revolving
around the sun in nearly circular orbits, nearly in one
plane, and all in the same direction ; we find that these
globes rotate upon their axis — still in the same direction ;
they have, apparently, atmospheres proportioned to their
dimensions ; and many of them are attt^nded upon by
bodies resembling our own moon. And therefore, without
enti-ring upon the vexed question of the plurality of worlds,
we are alilc to pronounce that, i/' these globes are inhabited,
dwellers upon them have, like us, their years, their days,
their sea.sons ; a sun — rising in the east and .setting in thi;
west ; twilight and moonlight ; air and vapour ; winds and
rain ; all things, in fact, as it would seem, necessary to
their comfort and convenience. Here and there — as in
the zone of asteroids and the rings of Satuni — we meet
with novelty of arrangement or configuration ; but even
then we find a stability, either of figure or motion, which
renders such objects comparable, so to speak, with those we
are accustomed to.
I'lUt with comets the case is wholly different When we
have said that these objects obey the law of gravity, we have
mentioned the only circumstance — as it would appeatr — in
which they conform to the relations observed in terrestrial
and planetary arrangements. And even this law— thi-
widest yet revealed to man — they seem to obey half un
willingly. We see the head of a comet tracing out
systematically enough its proper orbit, while the comet i
tail is all unruly and disobedient
The paths followed by comets show no resemblance
either to the planetary orbits or to each other. Here we
see a comet travelling in a path of moderate extent and
not ^ery eccentric ; there another which rushes from a
distance of two or three thousand millions of miles, ap-
proaches the sun with ever-increasing velocity until nearer
to him than parts of his own corona (as seen in eclipses),
sweeps around him with inconceivable rapidity, and makes
off again to where the aphelion of its orbit lies far out in
space beyond the most distant known planet, Neptune.
Some comets travel in a direct, others in a retrograde, path ;
a few near the plane of the earth's orbit, many in planes
showing every variety of inclination. Some comets regu-
larly return after intervals of a few years ; some after
hundreds of years ; others are only seen once or twice, and
then unaccountably vanish ; and not a few show by 'tht;
paths they follow that they have come from interstellar
space to pay our system but a single visit, passing out
again to traverse we know not what other systems or
regions.
The ancients believed comets to be of the same nature
as meteors, or shooting stars — either in the earth's atmo-
sphere, not far above the clouds, or, at all events, much
lower than the moon. These views are, liowever, much
less ancient than the more correct views maintained by
the Pythagoreans. Their doctrine was that comets are
planetary objects, having long periods of revolution. From
whom this opinion was derived is uncertain. Like other
opinions attributed to Pythagoras, it was doubtless ob-
tained froin Eastern philosophers ; but of what country —
whether Egyptian, Persian, Indian, or Chakhean — we have
no means of learning. Apollonius, the Myndian, ascribe.;
the opinion to the Chalda?ans. He says they spoke of
comets as of travellers penetrating far into the upper
(or most distant) celestial spacer Seneca and Pliny held
similar views, exhibiting in this respect says Humboldt,
the imitative facultv of the Romans. But the Greek
Nov. 4, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
philosopher preferred to look for a theory of the universe
in the conceptions of his own brilliant and imacrinative
mind. As if to show future ages how little was likely to
be achieved by the highest mental powers without the
habit of patient obscn'ation, he endeavoured to educe a
system of philosophy from fancies, and to found it upon
syllogisms. Aristotle — who may be considered the typical
philosopher of the Greek school — included comets iu the
wide range of phenomena which he claimed the privilege
firming Newton's views by results founded on actual obser-
vation, he collected all tlic records of comets which seemed
entitled to contidence, and attempted — as well as his meagre
materials would allow him — to calculate the elements of
their orbits. In this way he computed the paths of no
less than twenty-four. Among these, three presented a
remarkable similarity. One appeared in 1531, and was
described by Appian ; another appeared in 1607, and was
oliserved l>y Kepler ; the third was traced by Halley him-
of e.xplaining. To him was due the opinion men- i self in 1G82. The equality of the intervals between these
tioned above — an opinion confidently maintained during
the many centuries in which the philosophy of
Aristotle held sway over men's minds. To him,
also, was due a yet more remarkable opinion, the
view, namely, that the !Milky Way is a vast comet
which continually reproduces itself ! Xenophanes and
Theon, in the fifth century, adojited a rather singular view
of the Aristotelian theory of comets, when they spoke of
these objects as " travelling light-clouds."
To these fancies the ancients added the idea that the
shapes of comets indicated their character as portents.
Thus in Fig. 1 five views of comets are shown, as an arrow-
head, a sea monster, a sword, a lance, and in flames.
-Various fanciful views ■ L'o.i.ets, ajcorJing to Pliny.
From the CometojraiMa of Hevelins.
Tycho Brahe was the first to express doubts respecting
the ^-iews of Aristotle. From a careful series of observa-
tions, he demonstrated that the orbits of comets are cer-
tainly situated beyond the moon's orbit. He thought the
orbits must be circular, for he lived at a time when none
but circular orbits were conceded to the celestial bodies.
Diirfel, a native of Upper Saxony, proved that the orbits
of comets are either very elongated ovals, or parabolas, and
that the sun occupies a focus of the curve. It happens,
singularly enough, that this discovery was effected Viut a
year or two before Newton propounded the theory of gravi-
tation. Newton himself examined the orbit of the great
comet of 1680 (known as " Newton's comet") and others :
and he found that they all accord with the law of gravity.
But before long, Ne\six)n's friend and pupil, Halley,
effected a yet more remarkable discovery. In hopes of con-
epochs led to the suspicion that the same comet had
apjieared three times. And Halley found, on searching
historical [records, that a comet appeared in 1305, another
in 1380, and a third in 1456. Combining these appearances
with those mentioned before, he tliought he had satisfactory
evidence of identity. For he was sufficiently familiar
with the results which might be expected to flow from the
law of gravity, to be aware tliat absolute regularity of
motion was not to be expected in a body traversing
the solar system in an eccentric orbit, and swayed from
its proper path by the attraction of such giant planets
as Jupiter and Saturn. Indeed it happens, singularly
enough — one out of many remarkable coincidences in the
history of comets — that the comet
of 1830 was not Halley s comet,
which really appeared in 1378, a
date bringing in a yet greater dis-
cordance in tiie intervals than Halley
had suspected and accounted for
With remarkable acumen — since no
means existed in his day for anything
like accurate computation — he not
only pointed out the possible influ-
ence of the great planets in disturb-
ing the comet in past revolutions,
but he made a rough approach to an
estimate of the eflect that they would
have on the period of its next visit.
" Instead of appearing in August,
1757, as it would if its period re-
mained unaltered, it will not appear,"
he said, "until the end of 1758, or
the beginning of 1759, for it will be
retarded by the action of Jupiter.
Wherefore," he adds, with a pardon-
alile anxiety to secure the credit of
his ingenious investigations, " if it
should return, according to our pre-
diction, impartial posterity will not
refuse to acknowledge that this was
discovered by an Englishman."
As the time for the fulfilment
of the prediction approached, an
intense interest was excited in the minds of astronomers.
In 1757, Clairut, Lalande, and Madame Lepaute under-
took the comi)utation of the epoch at whicli the comet
might be expected to"" return. They applied methods
of investigation invented by Clairaut himself. It resulted
fi'om their laliorious computations that April 13, 1759,
was fixed on for the epoch at which the comet should
attain its closest approach to the sun, or, as it is teclmically
e.xpressed, should pass its perilielion. But Clairaut was
careful to allow a month either way, on account of un-
avoidaVile omissions in tlie calculation, and for the efiects
of unknown forces, "such as the action of some planet
too far oS" to be seen " (a happy anticipation of modem
discoveries).
And now the heavens were swept diligently by all the
telescopists of Europe, each eager to be the first to
10
KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 1, 1881.
announcu the discovery of an o1)j<M;t whose appearance
or non-uppeai-anee wus to I'ouKrni or to (li.s])rove the New-
tonian theory. It wa.s actually di.scovered, however, witli-
iiut tflr.Koo|>ii- aiil, by u i^uxun fiirnuT, Geor;;e I'alitscli, on
Cliri.stiiiius iliiy, 17r>8 It reuched its pl^rih(■iion on March Hi,
IT.'i'J, eontiniiin;,' at once the accuracy of (Jlaimut's coni-
putution.s and tiie justice of hi.s caution in assigning rather
wide limits of error.
It was now evident tliut comets travel, like the planets, in
iletermined patlis ; and also, tliat the investij^ation of their
motions is a suliject worthy the study of tiie alilcst niathi?
maticians, and sufficient to tax tli«r highest powers. An
account of their labours would be out of place in such an
article as the present ; but we recommend the subject to
the notice of the agricultural student, as one of the most
interesting chapters in the history of modern science.
One comet, however, discovered not long after astronomy
had achieved this triumpli, seemed at first to teach a
difl'erent lesson. In 1770 a comet appeared whose path
turned out to Ijc — not a long oval or parabola, as had been
the case with all the orbits yet examined — but an ellipse of
moderate extent, and not very eccentric. The orbit lay also
much closer than usual to that thin sUce of space (so to speak)
within which the planets are observed to move. Lexell, who
computed the path, found that the period of the comet was
about fiveand-a-half years. Its return was carefully watched
for, Iml no oiie has ever seen the comet since. The cause of
its disappearance, and also of its sudden appearance— for
tliis was equally remarkable, when we remember that so
conspicuous a comet could not have been circidating long in
its small orbit without discovery — was carefully inquired
into. The result was singxilar. On tracing back the path
of the comet, it was found that it must have passed very
near to the gi-eat planet Jupiter. " It had intruded," saj's
Herschel, '• an uninvited guest into his family circle —
actually nearer to him than his fourth satellite." Accord-
ingly, the comet's path, originally a long oval, had been
bent into a cirrve of less extent. Having once entered on
this new path, the comet was free to follow it — always
returning, be it noticed, to the point at wliich it had started
on it — so long as Jupiter was not interfered with. But it
happened, unfortunately for the stability of the comet's
motions, that, after going twice round the new path, it
again presented itself near Jupiter's track, when the planet
(which had meanwhile gone once round his orbit) was not
very far from the scene of his former encounter. He
accordingly again exei-ted his influence upon the luifortunate
comet, and this time dismissed it on a path wliich will not
admit of its approaching the earth near enough to be seen.*
Let us return, however, to Halley's comet.
It so chances that the comet which was the first to show
full obedience to the law of gravitation, was one which
exhibited in a very remarkable and significant manner
the characteristics which distinguish comets from other
heavenly bodies, and make them so mysterious to the
student of science. At the return of Halley's comet, in
1836, all that had signali.sed the return in 1759 was
repeated, but the mathematical triumph was far greater.
Damoiseau, Rosenberger, and Pontecoulant calculated the
comet's return to perihelion within two or three days,
instead of a month, and the time when it passed this point
of its orbit corresponded, within a few hours, to the mean
• It must be noticed, however, that Lovorrier, who very carefully
rc-cxamincd the question, was led to <iue.stion the accuracy of the
results recorded above. Admitting that Jupiter had twice disturbed
the comet, he thinks there is no certiiinty (for want of snfificiently
accurate observations) respecting either the original imth of the
comet, or that in which it is at present circulating unobserved — if,
indeed, it has not been absorbed by Jupiter.
of tlieir several estimates. On the northen heavens
where it was lirst seen, the comet present^-d a remarkable
appearance, with a long and brilliant tail stretching over
an arc of many degr<>es upon tlie sky. When it had pa.ss<-d
from our northern skies, it was carriwl (aft'-r a short interval,
during which it was lo.st to view in the sun's rays) to the
soutliem lieavens. Sir John Herschel, and Maclear (A.s-
tronomer Royal at th<; Caj)e), were prepared to receive it ;
but when first observed l>y them it showed none of the
features which made it .so remarkable in our skii^ It had
no tail and scarely any head. In fact. Sir John Herschel,
in one account, says, that as first s(«n it could only l>e dis-
tingui.shed from a fixed star liy its motion. The study of
its gradual change of aspect from that time threw so much
light on the nature of comets' tails and other appendages
(or at any rate of that particular comet's tail) that Sir
John Herscliel, not accustomed to be over confident, said
there could be no doubt as to the true interpretation of the
observed phenomena. What these phenomena were shall
be considered further on.
ILLUSIONS.
By Tuomas Foster.
THE senses are the means by which, directly or
indirecth', all observations are made, and science can
oidy make real advance in so far as it is based on observi-
tion and experiment. It is most important, therefoi-e, that
either our senses should be trustworthy in their action, that
is should give us true information, or (if they neither ai!e
absolutely trustworthy originally nor can be so trained
as to become so) that we should be able to test and to
correct their indications.
Now it very soon appears, when we put the matter to the
test, that the direct evidence of the senses is not to be
accepted without careful cross-examination. The science
of our day may be regarded as having been established in
opposition to the apparently obvious evidence of the sensefe.
Take, for in.stance, astronomy. Nearly everything that the
eyes tell us about the heavenly bodies, and nearly all that
the sight and touch tell us about the eartli (so far as
astronomy has to deal with the earth as one of the planets)
is false. Not one of all the stars we see in the skies is
really where we see it. The earth seems flat, large, and
fixed ; it is really a globe, small compared -n-ith the
seemingly small stars, and it is moving in many ways,
not one of which the senses correctly appreciate. It is
the same with otlier sciences.
W'e are not concerned, however, to discuss here how far
the apparent teaching of the senses has to be analysed
before its real meaning can be understood. The examples
illustrating this would cover the whole range of science.
For instance, to sliow how the real place of a star can be
determined — more or less exactly — from its apparent
place in the sky, we require to discuss the laws of refrac-
tion, aberration, the proper motion of stars, and a number
of other matters. In sucli cases as this, though what the
eye tells us is in a sense incorrect, the eye is supposed to
do its work correctly. The eye tells us truly that the rays
received from the star by it have come in such and such a
direction, and what science has really to do is to determine
in what direction those rays must have set out in order
after various changes of direction, due to the various
media through which they passed, to reach the eye situate
on a moving and rotating body like the earth, in the direc-
tion which they had, or at least seemed to have — or, more
Nov. 4, 18S1.]
KNOV/LEDGE *
11
strictly, in order to produce an image of the star on sucli
and such precise pait of the retina.
But there are many cases in which the senses seem
actually to convey false information, the eye telling us
wrongly about the shape, size, position, <tc., of an object,
the touch deei;i\ing us as to its form and qualities, the
hearing, the smell, the taste, each in its own way deceiving
us. It is such cases as these that I propose to examine.
It is most important for the student of science that he
should be aware of the various forms of error into which
the direct action of the senses may lead him. I could cite
instances where, for want of precisely such information,
the student of science has been at the pains to explain a
phenomenon which had no real existence, or which was
precisely the reverse of reality, ilr. Proctor mentions
somewhere a case where a French astronomer (Chacornac),
was careful to explain v:]iy the edge of Jupiter's disc is
brighter than the middle, the fact being that the middle is
brighter than the edge, the apparent brightness of the
edge being a mere delusion. It may be added that the
discussion of the class of illusions referred to is full of
interest The reader will tind that the careful considera-
tion of the cause of illusions will generally suggest other
illusory experiments, sometimes more striking than those
here described. There are few occupations more interest-
ing as pastimes, and at the same time more instiiictive,
than the invention and testing of various forms of illusion.
It should be mentioned at the outset that such illusions
as these are ^^Tongly called sensory illusions. As Huxley
points out, " there is no such thing as a fictitious or
delusive sensation But the judgments we form
respecting the causes and conditions of the sensations of
wliich we are aware, are very often erroneous and delusive
enough ; and such judgments may be brought about in the
domain of every sense, either by artificially-contrived com-
binations of sensations, or by the influence of unusual
conditions of the body itself." He adds, "mankind woidd
be subject to fewer delusions than they are if they con-
stantly bore in mind their liability to false judgment.
Men say, ' I felt,' ' I heard,' ' I saw' such and such a thing,
when, in ninety -nine cases out of a hundred, what they
really mean is, that they judge that certain sensations of
touch, hearing, or sight, of which they were conscious,
were caused Viy such and such things." It is precisely this
lesson wliich 1 want to enforce in the present series of
papers.
The simplest illusions are those
afiecting straight lines, causing
them to appear crooked, or curved,
or vice versa.
Take, for instance, the case
illustrated Ln Fig. 1. Here the
parts of the broken line AD
appear to be parallel, but not —
as they really are— in the same
straight line. The part CD seems
lower than the true prolongation
of the part AB. The explana-
tion of this is not so obvious as
in some less simple cases which I
shall consider further on. ilani-
festly, the mind recognises that,
owing to the interposition of the
space EH, the point where the
prolongation of AB should appear
must lie lower down than B, but it underestimates
the allowance to be made on this account. This
is equivalent to saying that the eye under estimates
the breadth of the strip EH. Why this should be 1 It
seems to me it is because the space EH appears t© lie
above the plane containing AB and CD, so that the real
breadth of EH is unconsciously judged to be less than it
really is ; for, of course, a strip nearer the eye than EH
is would seem broader than EH if really of the same
breadth, and if seeming no hroiuler tiian EH, would really
be of less breadth. The eye judges that EH is nearer, and
infers unconsciously that it is of less breadth than EH
really is.
Let us test this explanation, first seeing whether a strip
which breaks a curve, as EH breaks the straight line AD,
really secins nearer to the eye than the curve.
Describe a semicircle AD (Fig. 2) broken at BC, and
between B and C draw the outline of strip BF as in the
figure. We see at once that the space BF appears to be
nearer the eye than the portions ABE, CFD. Doubtless
the judgment unconsciously reasons that the strip which
breaks the outline ABCD must lie upon the semicircle and
hide the portions wanting.
Again, it seems to me and to some others, but not to all
to whom I have shown Fig. 2, that the figure formed by
carrying on the curves AB, DC, to meet over space BO
would not be a complete circle, but somewhat contracted
horizontally. This would correspond with the above ex-
planation of the illusion illustrated in Fig. 1. As, however,
all eyes do not recognise this second illusion of Fig. 2, let
us modify the experiment, noting that the same eyes which
might not recognise an illusion apparently affecting breadth
only, would readily be aflected by an illusion afiecting
direction. (We may remember what Brewster points out
in dealing with one of the illusions mentioned in his Natural
Magic, tliat in many cases it is the most observant eye that
is aflected bj' an illusion. In the present case the eye which
has the best power of estimating breadths would be the
one most affected by illusion as to the breadth of the space
BF.)
Draw then the strip GH, Fig. 3, crossing the semicircle
ABDF as shown. Here the curve CD seems to belong to
a smaller circle; than that of which it really forms part. It
looks as though the curves AB, FE caried on beyond the
strip GH would lie about considerably outside CD.
It will be found that if the parts CD, BE of the sides of
12
KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 4, 1881.
tho strip OH are rrasod, tho illusion cc-nsps. The erasure
rcstorpK, as it were, the Npaci- (ill to the level of the [laper
to which it really Ix'longs.
The ease illustnited in Fi>;. 1 is coininiiiily repirded (l)ut
without sufficient reiuson, or, inileed, any as-signed reason)
a-s belonging to the clas.s of illu.sions illustrated in Fig. 4
(first noticed liy ZUllner). Here the lines AB, CD, EF,
(HI, itc, which are really parallel, appear to converge alter-
nately towards AC', 1)F, Ed, IIL, and KM. This illusion
is ditierciit from that of Fig 1, as affecting the apparent
directions of lines, whilst the other does not (parallel lines
are regarded liy geometricians as in the same direction).
Fig. 4.
Tlie illusion of Fig. 4 appears to result from the
attention being drawn unduly to the circumstance
that the vertical lines pass athwart the other sets
at an angle, so that the angle is, as it were, exag-
gerated. The eye notices, for instance, that AB passes
the parallels in order from right to left, the uppermost
parallel crossed by AB l>eing farther to the right than the
lowest, and thus the idea is conveyed that B, instead of
being a point vertically below A, is to the left of such a
point. So D seems to the right of a point vertically below
C, and so on.
The illusion of Fig. 4 admits of being varied and, in
some cases, strengthened by substituting wairdng lines of
various forms for the diagonal hatching. Several cases of
this kind will be shown m the ne.\t number. I conclude
this paper with a few simple illusions, afiecting not only
the direction and position of lines really straight, but also
their straightness, making them appear as curved lines.
The lines AB, CD
of Fig. 5 appear to be
curved so as to be
nearer at the middle
than at either end ;
while the lines EF,
(JH, in the same
figure, appear to be so
curved as to be farther
apart in the middle
than at either end.
Obviously, the eye un-
consciously notes the
varying distance be-
tween the really curved lines and the straight lines, and
attribute* part of the change of distance to a curvature of
the really straight line-s.
This form of illusion may he modified, as Bhown in Fig. 6.
Some find the apy)arei]t curvature produced by the arrange-
ment of Fig. G stronger than the other. For my own
part, I find the apparent curvature of the lines AB, CD
strongest in Fig. 5, that of the lines EF, GH Btrongest in
Fig. 6.
'I"he illusion seems
intensified in the case
of lines AB (Fig 7),
which seem to be
convex towards each
other ; the symmetry
of the pair of curves
lying V)etween these
parallels ought theo-
retically to restore the
idea of parallelism.
The lines EF and
(«H in the same figure may be made to seem either parallel
or concare toward each other, according as the eye takes
together the cur\'es which approach EF and GH (re-
spectively) nearest, or the concentric pairs ; for the two
curves which lie between EF and GH produce opposite
elTects on each of the line'; EF, GH.
Kit'. C.
Kext week I shall consider other cases of apparent
curvature, but in the meantime I may note that I shall
be glad to hear from readers who have noticed illusions
akin to these, or may have been led to other explanations
than those I hare suggested.
What is a man,
If his chief good, and market of his time,
Be but to sleep and feed ? A beast, no more.
Sure, He that made us with such large discourse.
Lookin;; before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason
To fust in us unused. — Shakespeare.
Electiuc.^l ExniPiTioxs axd the Govek.xmeut. — Our corre-
spondent probably reflects the general opinion of British cxliibitors
in Paris when he says that " the conduct of oui- Government has
prevented our country from holding the place it deserved to hold
among European nations in an industry which promises before long
to be one of the utmost importance." But it is perfectly well
known to foreigners, and also to ourselves, that the British exhibi-
tor, so to sjieak. must swim without corks, lie m.iy not make so
large a show as some of his rivals ; but what lie does show is evem
more likely to be over-estimated, as being the result of his unaided
efforts, than to bo undervalued in consequence of any unfair com-
parison with those who have enjoyed advantages which he does not
possess. The difference between the conditions which surround
British and foreign exhibitors is thoroughly understood by all who
are interested in understanding it ; and we do not believe that a
steady adherence to the general rule of Government non-interven-
tion, although it may detract from the prettiness or completeness of
a display, will ever be really detrimental to the interests of a
national manufacture. — rimes.
Nov. 4, 1881. J
KNO\VLEDGE
13
14
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 4, 1881.
DARWIN- ON MOULD AND WORMS.*
No man of si-ionco of our clay uiKK'r.stancts l)ettt'r, or
applies iiioro tliorouglily, than Darwin, the principle
laid clown by Lord Bacon, that " Man, as the minister and
intorprotcr of nature, does and understands as much as his
observations on the order of nature permit hiui, and neither
knows nor is capable of more. " To one who rightly
apprehends this, the fundamental principle of modem
scientific research, small things and great, so only that they
illustrate the order of nature, are alike worthy of study.
He may carry iiis survey over the depths of space, or into
the^structure of a microscopic creature ; he may e.xtond liis
view into the remote past and the distant future, or he
may limit the range of his vision to phenomena taking
place in a second or in a yet shorter time : but only in so
far as liis pui-pose is to determine tlic order of nature's
works, is he the true minister and interpreter of nature.
The modern student of science, following this principle, is
in strong contrast with the pliilosophers of the Greek
school, who, little disposed to pursue observations, evinced,
as Humboldt has said, " inexhaustible fertility in giving
the most varied interpretation of half-perceived facts;" and,
as Bacon himself said, " Laid theii- whole stress upon
intense meditation, and a continual exercise and perpetual
agitation of the mind ;" and so were led to frame systems
on insufficent knowledge, and to explain false systems by
false hypotheses. Doubtless, a philosopher of that school
would have looked with contempt on a Darwin studying the
movements of plants, the ways of bees, the breeds of pigeons,
and analysing the plaj- of features in joy or in sorrow,
in anger or in pleasure. It would have seemed to him far
worthier to educe from his moral consciousness ideas as to
the true position of worms in the scale of being, than to
devote years to the actual study of their ways and works.
But by the humbler and more lal)orious method the student
of science in our day manages to attain, or at least
approach, the truth ; the more brilliant philosopher of the
olden school educed from his active mind multitudinous
errors.
Darwin's latest treatise, on Vegetable Mould and
Earthworms, alFords perhaps the best illustration of his
method of all the works that he has yet published. His
"Origin of Species" and "Descent of Man" mark an
epoch in science ; but such a work as the present illustrates
the way by which the new paths have been entered. It is
true no one can road those epoch-making works without
recognising in every page the kind of work on which their
author's mind has been engaged while establishing his
theories, or the tone of modern scientific thought. But
results have there to be touched on which, in a work like
his " Monograph on the Cirripedia," " The Movements and
Habits of Climbing Plants," and, above all, the present
treatise, are e.xhibited in detail.
Forty- four years ago Darwiu announced the first results
of his study of the formation of vegetable mould, in a
paper read before the Geological Society of London. In
the interval which has elapsed since then he h.as been
accumulating tlie stores of knowledge al>out mould and
mould-makers which are presented in the work now before
us.
Perhaps the most remarkable results of Darsvin's observa-
tions is the " stupendous work " accomplished by creatures
so small and weak. It was objected against the views which
he published in 1837, that worms could not possibly bury to
• " Tho Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of
Worms, with Observations on their Habits." By CnABLEs Dabwin
LL.D., F.R.S. (London : John Murray, 1881.)
a depth of several inches fragments of cinders, burnt marl,
itc, which had been strewn over the surface of mcaidow
land. But now Darwin is able to speak confidently of their
liurial of the remains of Roman villas and pavements. He
shows also how ancient encampments and tumuli have been
gradually lowered bj' the agency of wonn.s. Grass-covered
slopes undergoporpetual denudation through theirjoperations,
th(' covering of grass remaimng all the time intact, and even
the inclination of the slope remaining unchanged It may
well seem incredible to the superficial reasoner, that
creatures like worms, — small, weak, and soft-bodied —
should produce such results ; nay, results far greater in the
course of time, changing as they do the entire aspect of a
country. It is this inability, as Darwin well remarks, " to
sum up the effects of a continually-recurring cause, which
has often retarded the progress of science, as formerly in
the case of geologj', and more recently in that of the
principle of evolution." When men like Sir John
Herschel or Sir Charles Lyell have spoken of the efTects of
slowly-acting causes in modifying continents and seas,
they have been ridiculed by the thoughtless, who cannot
see how the downfall of rain, the slow movement of rivers,
the play of waves on shore-lines, can produce such results.
In like manner the biologist is ridiculed who, noting small
changes in various races in short periods (or even in periods
which to our conceptions seem long), points to the effect of
such changes when multiplied during the lapse of tliose
long periods of time of which the earth's crust tells us.
But our author has shown how even creatures so tiny and
weak as the coral animal have made large islands and
long lines of sea-resisting reef, by constant labour^'; and
now he shows how under our very feet the despised cairth-
worm is changing the form and nature of the land we live
on. When wc learn that the rich dark mould in which
vegetation thrives best, is matle by wonns, we see that not
only the aspect of a country, but the condition of its
inhabitants, and even its history, have been modified by
their work. So that we may accept in its widest signifi-
cance his remark that "it may be doubted whether there
are many other animals which have played so important a
part in the history of the world as have these lowly
creatures."
The study of the habits of worms in this work is full of
interest As in nearly all the author's books, the language
is clear and simple. It may be said indeed of this treatise,
presenting the fruit of observations so long continued on a
subject apparently so little promising, that great though its
scientific value unquestionably is, it is better fitted than '
nine-tenths of our works of fiction to while away a weary
hour. It merits, however, more than mere reading. It is
a work not to be tasted merely, but to be cJiewed and
digested.
We shall hereafter return to this work, to consider more
at length some of the interesting results of Mr. Darwin's
researches.
AprLU'ATioKs OK ELECTKiriTY. — Tlic public hardly realise, as yet,
a tenth part of the uses to which electricity can bo readily and con-
veniently adapted ; and exhibitions will furnish tho best possible
means of rendering them familiar with these uses, wliich, in many |
cases, are of an essentially domestic character. Electric bells, for I
example, although almost universal in large hotels, offices, and i
public buildings, make way but slowly in private houses, notwith- '
standing their many advantages. Telephones, in like manner, are >
far lo-ss numerous than they ought to be ; and many forms of
electrical arrangement ciuitc common in tho United States, and '
found to have great value in saving labour, are scarcely at all in
use among ourselves. The electric light is not yet employed in
many places for which it is eminently suitable; and its cmplny-
mont is still impeded by ditEcuItics of detail which a larger demand
would set aside. — Timea.
Nov. 1, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
15
ifttn'si to tt)t ©Jjitor,
[2Tk* Editor doet not hold him$elf rerporttitU/br the opinion* of kit correspondents.
He cannot undertake to return manuscriptf or to correitpoiid tcilh their leritert. All
communicationa should be as short a* possible, co/ttistently vith full and clear state'
nents of the writer's meaning.']
Alt Editorial communications should be addrested to the Editor qf Ks'OWLKDGB;
all Business communiculions to the Putli^hert, at the OJice, 74, Great Queen-
ttreet, W.C.
All Semittances, Cheques, and Post-Office Orders should he made payable to
Messrs. Wyman if Sons.
•,* All letters to the Editor trill be Numbered. For convenience of reference^
correspondents, when referring to any letter, kHI oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on which it appears.
AU Letters or Queries to the Editor which require attt^ntion in the current issue of
KxoynsvGV, should reach the Publishing OJice not later than the Saturday preceding
(Atf day qf publication. ^^^_^
"In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
state of transition Xor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fiiitT of opinion." — Faraday.
** There' is no harm in making a mistake, bnt preat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no miitakes, and I will show yon a man who has done
BOthing." — Liebig. _
<!^ur Coirrsipontirnre Columns.
I AM very anxious that Correspondence should become a distin-
gnUhing feature of this magazine. I wish all readers to feel that
in these columns, including the section for Queries and Replies, they
have a means of resolring doubts which may occur to them in
scientific study or investigation, when reading articles on science in
magazines and journals, and in studj-ing the pages of this magazine
itself. Our space will indeed be too limited to permit of our dealing
with all such questions as occur to students ; so that simple and
Basily-resolved questions cannot occupy space in these pages, which
could be better employed. Those who ask such questions must not
be angry if they find a rei)ly in our " Letter Box " couched in very
brief terms. Still the wish of myself and others, who will join with
me in conducting these columns, will be to leave, if possible, no
question unanswered. And as we shall in many cases leave reply
to readers who may have special means of information on particular
subjects, so also shall we often join the ranks of those who ask
questions.
A valued correspondent, who will, I Iiope and believe, help
largely in dealing with difficulties which come into these columns
for discussion, advises (see letter 1) that paradoxers should be
rigidly excluded at the outset. He has had a very wide experience
in this matter ; but mine has been even wider, and I must confess
to still feeling some tenderness for paradoxers. So many of them
have originally been victims of ill-written text-books, dilficultios
left unexplained, and so forth, that hopeless though the attempt
may seem of putting them on the right track, I do not yet feel
disposed to give it up entirely in every case. In these pages the
honest paradoxer, at any rate, may at least state his difiiculties ;
but space will not be given to him to urge theories in defiance of
known facts or established doctrines.' I shall venture to ask that
even those who are surest of their ground in meeting paradoxers
will deal tenderly with these weaker brethren. The paradoxer finds
it hard enough to give up a theory which he has, perhaps, nursed
for years in the belief that it was legitimate, without being loudly
ridiculed or harshly rebuked. {Nescit vox missa rererti ; were it
otherwise there are few words of my utterance I would more wish
to recall than those in which I have exposed, with unnecessary
energy, mistakes which might equally well' have been corrected in a
gentler manner.)
In more equal arguments, where, perhaps, each party to the
discussion has some truth on his side, a greater liveliness of tone
may, perhaps, be permissible. Yet, after all, it is neai-ly always
seen that tho loudor-voiccd in a controversy is the one who ia in
error.
One form of writing, and one alone, we purpose rigidly to czcludo
from these columns. No personalities will be permitted, whether in
tho form of attack, of adulation, or of self-seeking.
HINTS TO CORRESPOXDENTS.
[1]— Believing as I do that tho scheme laid down in your pro-
spectus is a sound one, and that, if it bo carried out in its integrity,
Kxowi.EnGE cannot fail to have a great futm-o before it, I would,
with your permission, crave a little space to put on record certain
ideas of n\ine in connection with one department of your journal
— I mean the " Correspondence Column." I am moved to do this
from the consideration that tho perusal of tho similar portion of
such of your contemporaries and predecessors as have had anything
like a kindred aim with that which you profess, has led me to the
conclusion that of all parts of a scientific paper this is the most apt
to degenerate into the weakest, unless a tight hand is kept upon
those whose chief glorj- it is to see themselves in print. Amid
many earnest students and seekers after knowledge, whose legi-
timate thirst for information it should be at once the duty and tho
privilege of the man of science to gratify, are always to be found
men who, under pretence of seeking instruction, will obtrude their
own " fads " on the public, and unless restrained in tho outset,
speedily develop into paradoxers of the most aggravated tj-pe. Or
again, there are the people who put solemnly on records things
which are as " familiar in their (and other peoples') mouths as house-
hold words," and who will tell you that two and two make four, as
though it were a direct and immediate revelation from Heaven.
Furthermore, we have the gentlemen who conceive that anything in
the shape of the observation of a phenomenon, no matter in how
slipshod a style it is described, must necessarily be of tho highest
scientific interest. These are the people who write to the papers
and say that " while crossing Salisbury jilain on Friday night
between nine and eleven p.m., I noted a sudden illumination of the
sky, which, I have no doubt, proceeded from a falling meteorite ;
inasmuch as, on turning round, I observed a bright object as big as
a good-sized stone just disappearing on the horizon." Or "happen-
ing to look at the sun on Monday I could detect two spots on it."
I would appeal to any who has studied the quasi-scientific cor-
respondence which appears from time to time in different journals,
whether I am caricatming no inconsiderable part of the letters
which, in some occult way, their editors suffer to pass ? The people,
too, who take counsel on matters of almost purely personal inte-
rest, who " have built a greenhouse W ft. by -1, and will feel obliged
if any of your readers will tell me how to keep it stocked with
plants throughout the winter." The youths enteriug into competi-
tive examinations, who wish to be told how to simplify the fraction
a
a + x + 3— and so forth. All these occupy space which should
.T
be devoted either to those who have something really to learn or
something to teach. The person, though, to bo rigidly excluded
and forcibly ejected from the pages of every scientific periodical
whatsoever is the paradoxer ; the man who has 8<iuared tho circle
with a two-foot rule and a bit of string ; who has been down into
the Essex marshes with a draining-level. and shown, eonclusively,
that the earth ia as flat as a pancake ; or he who, by dividing the
number of days in the year by the height of the Lord Hill Monu-
ment at Shrewsbury, finds tho number 31HG, and forthwith pro-
claims that Mr. ilaycock, the architect must have been " in-
spired."* There is a record, more or loss authentic, of a man, that
his servant ran up to him in great trepidation, exclaiming, "Oh,
sir, there is a bailiff down stairs ! " '• All right," was tho response
of the master of the house, " ask him to take a chair." " He has
taken six already, sir," replied the servant. Upon a cognate prin-
ciple I would, in litnine, try to deprecate tho offer of a chair in
these pages to any paradoxer whatswvcr. Depend upon it, should
such be made, it w-ill be found that he has taken his " six already."
I am. Sir, yours, &c..
A Fellow of the Royal Astbo.nomical Society.
IS THE SUN HOT.'
[2] — In your lecture on the Sun we are told that the sun is himself
hot, and the source of heat for this earth, just as a fire is the source
of heat for a room. Now, I would ask how this can possibly be tho
case, and I would take the very illustration you emjiloy to show
how entirely erroneous is the idea that tho sun can be the source of
the earth's heat, in the sonso, at least, in which you speak. If I
• For an amusing travestie of such reasoning, see " Tho Tribune
Riddle " further on.— £((. K.nowlecce.
16
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 4, 1881.
fl.'nw nearer to n. fire in my room, I got more of its hcnt — I find
myself warmer. But we know perfectly well that by drawing nearer
to the (ran we get colder instead of warmer. The tops of lofty
moantaing are nearer to liim than the valleys and the plains which
lie around their base. Yet, while it is warm in the valleys and the
plains, it is intensely cold at the tops of the mountains — so cold
that if the mountains are high enough {and are so much nearer the
sun) the snows never melt there. How can this be if the sun warms
the earth as a fire worms a room ? Again, if wc go up in a balloon,
we find that the greater the height to which we ascend the colder
is the air.
Indeed, if meteorologists arc right in saying, as they do, that the
highest clouds, the feathei-y ciiTus clouds, are composed of par-
ticles of ice, it becomes simply absurd to maintain that the sun
is himself an intensely hot body, for those clouds can be seen on
summer days in the full blaze of a solar heat (if that view of his
nature were correct). I do not myself understand how meteorolo-
gists can have sufficient reason for niaintaiiiing that cirrus clouds
are composed of ice crystals, unless they believe with me, that the
sun is not himself hot (though, of course, he is the source of heat
to the earth, acting, I believe, upon the atmosphere in such a way as
to generate much heat where the air is dense, and very little where
the air is rare) ; in fact, when I hear the statement made that the
cirrus clouds are composed of particles of ice, I recognise another
illustration of what I regard as the undue confidence of scientists.
They tell us in the same page that cirrus clouds are formed of snow
crystals, and (see the accounts of Glaisher's balloon ascents) that
even when a balloon is at its highest, the cirrus clouds are still far
above, looking no nearer than they appear as seen from the earth's
surface. How, then, can the idea that the cirrus clouds are com-
posed of ice crystals be other than a theorj-, and a veri.- wild theory
in my judgment, to be entertained by the very same men of science
who believe that the sun is a fire wanning the earth ?
Although I do not profess to be an astronomer or a meteorologist,
I have for many years given great attention to the subject on which
I now write; and I have collected together a number of considera-
tions which all tend to show that the solar rays only generate heat
when they act in combination with the atmosphere. I would
iBvite readers of Knowledge to study this question apart from any
preconceived ideas they may have, and uninfluenced by the names
of so-called authorities in science.
In one respect the theory which I have given above, besides
being obviously in better accordance with observed facts than the
accepted one (which is, indeed, entirely opposed to them), is much
more acceptable to those who recognise the mind of a Supreme
Being of infinite wisdom in all the workings of creation. For,
observe, if the accepted theory is true, by far the greater part of
the sun's rays are wasted. I think Tjrndall has stated that more
than two thousand mUlions of rays pass away from the earth for
each ray which falls upon it, and that even taking all the planets
together, only one ray falls on some planet for two hundred and
thirty millions which pass into space and are utterly wasted. Now,
what low, and, therefore, what utterly incorrect ideas are given of
the great Creator's plans, by a theory which thus tells us that only
an exceedingly minute fraction of the work done by the vast orb
which He has set to rule and illuminate our solar system is of anv
use to that system? What should we think of a man who wasted
£999 out of an income of .€1,000 y Yet that would be but a small
waste compared with that which scientists assui-e us is going on in
the case of our own sun ; and, by parity of reasoning, this waste is
repeated millions of times among the millions of solar systems of
which astronomers tell us. For my own part, I cannot believe
that the picture thus given of the Creator's ways, in the case of
these the noblest of the orbs Ho has made, canbe a true one. —
I am, sir, yours faithfully, AXTl-GfEBKE.
[" Anti-Guebre's " tone is rather dogmatic for one who desires to
oppose what he regards as scientific dogmatism. His questions
shall not remain unanswered; but wc prefer to wait until either he
or others who consider the theory of the sun's heat untenable shall
liave given more of their reasons for want of faith. — Eo.J
CAN ICE-YACHTS SAIL FASTER THAN THE WIXD ?
[3] — I have seen it stated that the American ice-yachts often
travel faster than the wind, and I have been told that in the New-
eaallc Weekly Chronicle yon have explained that, though before the
wind one of these yachts cannot go faster than the wind, which is,
indeed, obvious, yet with a beam wind they will go faster than the
wind — sometimes twice as fast. Surely there must be some mis-
take here. Everj'onc who has considered the usual explanation of
the way in which a ship sails with a side wind knows that the
driving force exerted by such a wind is but a part — often but a
small part — of the driving force which the same wind would exert
on a ship sailing directly before it. In determining the effective
force of such a wind we first resolve the full force into two— one
perpendicular to the sail, the other parallel to the sail ; each of
these is less than the full force, being represented by the two
sides of a right-angled triangle, while the full force is represented
by the hypothenuse. The latter of these, the force parallel to the
sails, produces no effect. The force pcrfiendicular to the sail is then
resolved into two, one perjiendicular to the ship's course, which
produces only leeway, the other parallel to that course, which is
the only part of the wind's force effective in propelling the ship.
Each of the two last-named parts is less than the force perpendi-
cular to the sails, which is itself less than the force of the wind.
A fortiori, the effective propulsive force of a side wind is less than
the full force, and must, therefore, produce a smaller velocity ; in
other words, the ship sails faster before any given wind than on any
other course. What is true of a ship sailing at sea must be equally
true of a ship sailing on ice. It seems to me, therefore, sheer
absurdity to assert that an ice-boat can go faster than the wind,
wlien we know that, sailing before the wind, she can never have a
velocity quite equal to that of the wind.
If there is any flaw in this reasoning I should be glad to have it
pointed out. UPsitON.
[" Ui)silon's " diffictilty is a very natural one, and his reasoning
seems at a first view just. It is, however, incorrect. It is quite
true that regarding a ship as at rest, a wind of given velocity
cannot exert a more effective influence than that which it produces
as a stern vrind. But the same is not true when the ship is in
motion. If "Upsilon" compares the two cases — an ice-yacht
running before the wind at the same rate as the wind, and one
running at the same rate with the same wind abeam — he will see
that whereas in the former case the wind exerts no driving action
at all on the ice-yacht, there still remains in the latter case a
driving force ; so that unless the f rictional resistance balances this
force, the velocity of the yacht will increase. I leave this as an
exercise for " Ujjsilon," but if he shoald find any difficulty with the
problem I will give a fuller explanation, with an illustration or two
later.— Ed.]
THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND
INSTITUTE.
Some EcoTisTiciL Remixiscexces, by W. Mattiei: Williams.
AN intellectual festival was held in Birmingham on the 20th of
last month, when a breakfast party, including the Mayor, his
brother, the President of the Board of Trade, Dr. Siemens, and
other notables, filled the Town Hall, the guests afterwards making
procession to inspect and inaugurate the new extension of the Mid-
land Institute ; and in the evening another meeting was held in the
Town Hall to distribute prizes to the students, and listen to the
thoughtful address of Sir. Siemens on the scientific training of
artisans.
This Institute having been established for the purpose of doing
for the Midland metropolis nearly the same work as Knowledge
promises to do for all English-speaking peoples, a short sketch of
the working progress of the institution by its first teacher cannot
be out of place in the first number of this magazine.
In 1S51 Birmingham was in a condition of intellectual destitution
that to a young native of the present day must be difficult to
conceive. A Mechanics' Institution had been tried, and had failed.
Various other minor efforts of the same kind had met with the
same fate, and the old Philosophical Society that at one time hnd
done honourable work, and was, if I remember rightly, associatt d
in its beginnings with the great Priestley and his friends, was dyincr
of inanition, little remaining but its physical home, at No. 7.
Cannon-street. It seemed as though the infamous outrages up n
Priestley by the "Church and King" mob had left a blighting cur«i'
upon the intellect of the town.
But in spite of this there were a few men of strong faith ; there
was Arthur Byland, the now justly recognised father of the Insti-
tute ; there were Captain Tindal, Sir F. E. Scott, FoUct Osier. John
Jaffray, William Matthews, and others, who refused to despair, .ii d
they united to do something worthy of so important a centre :is
Birmingham. They held meetings, subscribed money, and iniiuml
others to do the like. Charles Dickens gave readings in the Town
Hall, which left n clear profit of £339. 16s. A comprehensive
scheme was drawn out, including a "General Department." ■■"
supply the usual elements of a Literary and Scientific Institu;^ '
for the well-to-do classes, and a "School of Industrial Scicr.c
since named "The Industrial Department," in which should 1"
supplied systematic instruction, including " Chemistry," as applied
to the various Manufactures and Agriculture, Mechanics, Metallurg^ .
Nov. i, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
17
Mineralog)-, and Geology, Ventilation of Mines, and Mining Engi-
neering." Besides these, there were to be '" Museums common to
both Departments," and " arrangements for associating the School
of Design with the new Institute."
The first beginning of the practical work of the Institute was the
formation of three classes, "Class A, Physics; Class B, Chemistry;
and Class C, Physiology." They were conducted by myself in the
building of the old Philosophical Society in Cannon-street, where I
had already delivered an introductory lecture, and commenced work
in October, 1S54. Six months later I added to these two junior
classes (day and evening) for Elementary Physics, and two
" Female Classes " for the same subject applied especially to house-
hold matters, and other extensions gi-adually followed.
The public meetings and general agitation of the subject through-
out the town brought many students, who began with the enthu-
siasm of novelty, and held on for awhile, especially in tlie Chemistry
Class, where the first twenty lectures devoted to the metalloids, and
including the brilliant combustion experiments, seldom failed to
comply with Brande's formula for a successful chemical lecture,
"a Hash, a bang, and a stink." When, however, we came to the
common metals and their prosaic salts, there was a sad falling-off,
in spite of the local importance of the subject.
This alarmed the Council, but being behind the scenes myself, I
undei-stood it. Presently, however, some truly alarming symptoms
appeared. I found that we were exhausting our material, that the
whole population of Birmingham only contained a verj- limited
number of artisans and others who could appreciate the advantages
and the pleasure of systematic study of science ; that we had
already nearly satisfied their limited demand, and that the rate of
growth of a new generation of students was ruinously slow. The
further I extended my inquiries and the greater the efforts made
by the best men in our Council to recruit the classes, the more
clearly and seriously was the dilRculty presented.
What was to be done ? Must we follow the too common example
of substituting clap-trap for sound instruction in order to maintain
an appearance of success, or should we stand firmly by our original
intent and continue to supply solid instruction even to a beggarly
number of students ? Mr. Ryland, the majority of the Council, and
myself agreed in choosing the latter alternative, but in spite of this
it was evident that the Institution had arrived at a very critical
stage of its existence, and my anxiety was considerable, having been
so continually warned b_v "practical" men that "this sort of
thing" had been tried again and again in Birmingham, and had
always failed in the long run, however promisingly it may have
begun.
The time had now arrived for proposing a scheme that I had
been considering for some time past, and, accordingly, on one of my
Sunday afternoon visits to Mr. Ryland, I laid before him the project
of superadding to our regular courses of solid instruction occasional
single lectures of a very popular introductory character, which any-
body, however ignorant, might attend, and thus possibly be cured
of the common mental epidemic of supposing that science is neces-
sarily dry and repulsive, and ultimately be tempted to become
students in the classes.
Mr. Kyland cordially approved, and we anxiously discussed the
question of free admission, or a small charge of twopence, or three-
pence, or one penny at the doors, and finally decided on On'e Pe.nxv.
Mr. Ryland suggested the name, Penxt Lectures, then a new one,
as " Penny Readings " were yet unknown. He laid the project
before the Council. It was adopted, and on Jan. 22, 1856, I
commenced the first course of twelve penny lectures, the printed
prospectus of which is now before me.
It was a general outline of natural phenomena, taking in what is
now commonly taught as " Physiography." The success of the
experiment was complete ; the theatre was filled — at some of the
lectures not only the seats were all occupied, but the platform was
covered with a standing audience. The course was repeated "by
special desire," and thenceforth, until I left Birmingham in 1861, I
continued them every Tuesday during the session, with an occasional
break, when Mr. George Dawson, or others, volunteered to occupy
an evening. The subjects were various, in many cases determined
by the limited stock of apparatus then within nij' reach, as, without
ample demonstration, success was impossible. My object was to
make the lectures as attractive and as unsatisfactory as possible, to
awaken curiosity, but not to satisfy it there.
They had the desired effect. All classes of people, and of all ages
attended them, the little boys in the front row being especially
conspicuous. The classes steadily improved, instead of declining, as
heretofore, and I am able to prove how they were fed by the state-
ments of some of my best pupils, who told me how they were
tempted to have a pen'orth on passing, then another, then to go
every Tuesday, and finally to become what I then found them to be.
If space permitted I could state some interesting personal details,
among others, of the case of two notorious Birmingham burglars
who regularly attended the Penny Lectures until the force of pro-
fessional circumstances terminated their studies ; of other Penny
Lecture auditors who now stand well as scientific and technological
experts and teachers of science ; and how, through Isaac Smith, one
of my most enthusiastic penny and class pupils, his uncle. Sir
Josiah Mason, was induced to become the munificent founder of tho
" Mason College," which is doing for those who can afford to study
during the day, what the Institute does for evening pupils.
Penny Ueadinys followed the Penny Lectures, as tho first initia-
tion of the Literary Classes, and tho highly successful Penny Arith-
metic Lessons, by Mr. Rickard, revived the mathematical depart-
ment, which, at about the date of tho first Penny Lectures, had de-
clined so seriously that an attendance of tlu-ee, two, and oven only one
pupil was not uncommon in the Algebra Class. Tho present pro-
sperity of the Institute is largely duo to the remarkable energy
and ability of Mr. Rickard, who proves himself a true teacher by
throwing as much effort, earnestness, and enthusiasm into tho sim-
plification of simple addition as in the exposition of quaternions or
the differential calculus.
When I left Birmingham the Council wisely appointed as my
successor, both in the classes and the penny lectures, Mr. C. J.
Woodward, who had proved tho value of tho Institute by first
hearing a penny lecture, then entering the classes and gaining tho
Society of Arts gold medal while yet very young. lie still works
with untiring zeal and ability, and that simple-minded love of hia
work that is so contagious to pupils. His extended chemical labo-
ratory and new physical laboratory are so commodious that they
rival those of our great universities. A staff of able teachers has
followed, and are now working admirably. In the general glorifi-
cation of founders, patrons, Ac, which justly occupied the recent
meeting, there was a serious omission, viz., to do honour to the
labours of such men as W. Matthews, George Dawson, Sam. Timmins,
Dr. Badham, and others, who worked as unpaid volunteers in tho
pioneer labour of teaching classes when the Institute was too poor
to pay professional teachers. Tho Institute now counts 2,088
students in the industrial department, against tho 85 with whom I
commenced, and 2,,")01 memliers in the general department. It
has branches and affiliated institutions in every important suburb
of Birmingham. Besides these, there is an " Institute Scientific
Society," where original papers are read and discussed, an<l
possessing a good lending library of scientific books ; also a
" Union ef Institute Teachers and Students," for promoting the
welfare of the Industrial department.
These, with the unrivalled Board schools, the King Edward's
school and its branches, the great free library and public reading
rooms and the Mason College, are effecting a wonderful transfor-
mation of tho hardware metropolis, which will probably render it
the most intellectual town in England.
I must'not touch upon what may be termed the external history
of the Institute, tho visit of the great and good Prince Consort to
lay the foundation stone of tlie building, and the many other public
incidents connected with its growth ; these will be duly recorded in
" The Institute Book of Glory," promised by the lion, secretary ;
but I cannot conclude without a word or two respecting the analogy
before-named between the work of the Midland Institute and that
of KN0m,EDGE.
If Mr. Proctor were just emerging from Cambridge in the full-
blown pride of newly-acquired Academical honours, I should despair
of the success of this important effort to diffu.^e scientific know-
ledge among all classes of men, women, and children ; but learning
by the prospectus lately placed in my hands that ho has been taking
lessons from his own pupils, I have no doubt that ho will successfully
apply them.
Had I commenced as an Academical purist, with a cut-and-dried
course of instruction framed on academical lines, tho first classes of
the Birmingham and Midland Institute would have failed, with
serious consequences to the whole project. In like manner any
attempt to popularise science by jiresonting to non-technical readers
mere technical abstracts of technical papers or essays, must of
necessity fail again, as it has failed before.
As an example, I may mention the fact that in my first Physics
class not one of about forty students, mostly adults, knew what was
a parallelogram or a diagonal. How, then, could I teach them tho
composition and resolution of forces ? Such questions I had to ask
and solve continually, and though I have not seen Mr. Proctor since
his return from the Antipodes, I have no doubt that, during his
lecture tours, similar questions have been thrust upon him, and that
he has found answers for them, and will proceed accordingly.
The translation of the Latin word " Science " into plain Saxon
" Knowledge " is a good beginning, and as Science, thus translated,
is the natural food of the intellect of all human Ixjings, there can
be little doubt of the success of a well-conducted, non-pedantic
(or, I would rather say, anti-pedantic) effort to supply the natural
demand.
18
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 4, 1881.
COLOUR OF SUNLIGHT.
PROFESSOR LANGLEY throw out, scvcm! ycnrs ago, tlic idea
tlint oar xun is in ivniity not ii ^vllito sini, but a bluo one, hiu
apparent whitpncsa being duo cliiolly to tho absorptive action of
\\\p own ntmoaphoro, but finrtly to that of our own air. It should
bo noticed, in considering this view, that our sun is ])robably akin
to the stars which wo roRnrd as yellowish. Capella, for instance, is
decidedly yellow by comparison with Vega. The spectrum of Ca-
pella has been shown by Dr. Henry Draper to be so similar to that
of the sun that tho eye can detect no difforonce. .\rcturus, whicli
is somewhat more markedly yellow — and, indeed, is regarded by
some as orange-yellow in colour — has a spectrum very closely re-
sembling that of tlio sun, but still not exactly the same. Tho gi'oat
value of Dr. Drajjcr's evidence on this point, like that of his
evidence rcsjiecting the presence of oxygen in the sun (as sliown by
the comparison of tho solar spectrum with that of our own air), is
that it can be studied by all who choose to examine the photogr.aphs
which he has obtained of the spectra for comparison. On the
same small piece of glass are shown the spectrum of Capella and
tlio spectrum of sunlight reflected from the surface of a planet,
and the identity of the lines belonging to the two spectra can be
seen at once. N'ow, Professor Langley, pursuing tho idea which
he threw out several years since, lias been able to show that
oui- sun, though wo regai'd him as a white sun, and though,
seen from a greater distance, so that ho appeared as a star, ho
would probably ajipcar yellowish, is yet a blue, or at least a bluish
snn. We see that the sun appears red, or orange, or yellow (accord-
ing to the state of tho aii') when setting — that is, when seen through
a long range of our own atmosphere. Such action as our air exerts
on the sun when he is high above the horizon is similar in character,
though less in degree; it serves, therefore, pro tantn, to render tho
disc of the sun yellower than it really is. Again, the edge of the
sun's disc is markedly less luminous than tlic middle, though
to ordinary eyesight tho difference is generally rendered undis-
cemible by the sun's great lustre. Of course, in reality the same
amount of light is omitted from that part of the solar surface
which at any moment lies near tho edge of his visible
disc as from that part which lies near the centre. The
apparent difference can only be due to the effect of absorption
exerted by the solar atmos]ihere— tho line of sight passing through
a greater range of this atmosphere when directed toward the edge
than when directed tciward the middle of the disc. (In passing, I
may note that the difference of absorptive action is proof, not, as
Kirchoff erroneously supposed, of the depth, but of the relative
shallowness of the solar atmosphere.) Now, anyone who studies a
photograph of tho solar disc — as, for instance, that excellent
photograjih by Rutherford, which forms the frontispiece of
Schiller's German translation of " Lo Solid" — will have noticed
that the darkening toward the edge is much more marked there
than it is in the ordinary telescopic disc of the sun. It follows that
those rays which produce the photographic imago of tho snn
(chieBy the blue, indigo, and violet ray.s) are more affected by the
absorption of the solar atmosphere than those which form the
ordinary visual image of the sun. His atmosphere then acts more
strongly to absorb the rays belonging to the blue end of the spec-
trum than the rays belonging to the red end. The sun's apparent
colour, therefore, is less bluo than his real colour. If liis atmo-
ajihero were suddenly removed, he would change from his present
white or whitish-yellow colour to bluish, or perhaps greenish, pre-
cisely as the setting sun, if the air between the eye and him were
suddenly removed, would change from his apparently ruddy hue to
the white colour of the overhead sun. In this way it has been,
only by detailed experiments instead of by general reasoning, that
Professor I.angley has established the theory that our snn is really
blue, his apparent colour being due to tho effect of absorption
exerted by his atmos))herc of vapours, chiefly metallic.
THE TRIBVNE RIDDLE.
THE mystery of the Tribune Building* has long baffled the
inrestigations of our most learned archaeologists. I'utting
aside as unworthy of consideration certain wild theories of its pur-
pose, there remain three leading theories, each one of which has its
able advocates. By these we are told that the building was designed
either for a tomb, or for religious purposes, or for an astronomical
observatory.
Tho first of these rests on a comparatively slight foundation.
Tho most elaborate research has failed to show that there is any-
thing buried beneath the Trxhime Building, except beer.
• The oBice of the New York Tribune.
TIio learned volume written by Prof. Veranda Brown in gnpport
of tho theory that tho Tribune Building represents tho history of
tho Jewish and Christian religions, and contains a precious projihecy
as to the future religious belief of mankind, has a certain degree of
plausibility which will always commend itself to imaginative men.
As is well known, tho plan of tho building is unlike that of any
other architectural work, in tho curious and arbitrary way in which
it is divided into different stories. The lower part consists of four
stories and a basement. According to Prof. Broivn, this basement
represents tho patriarchal period before the time of Moses, and tho
four stories represent tho Jewish nation under Moses, under tho
Prophets, under the Kings, and under the Roman Empire. The
last story is smaller than the others, thus typifying the declining
condition of the Jewish state, and the marble capitals of its pilasters
indicate the luxury and splendour of the Roman Empire. Above
the Jewish division of the building we find a second series of
three stories, rcjiresenting the first three centuries of the Christian
era. Tho uppermost one of these is gorgeously ornamented with
polished granite columns, with Byzantine capitals— constituting
an unmistakable reference to the conversion of Coxstantixe, the
lixing of his capital at Byzantium, and the triumph of the
C'hrietian religion. Next wo find three more stories, each con-
taining five windows. These typify the fifteen centuries which
have elapsed since the conversion of Coxstaxtlve, and bring the
record of the Jewish and Christian religions down to the present
time.
Where the seventh story, or the third centurj- of onr era, begins,
the facade of the Tribune Building is divided into two large masses,
one being precisely twice the width of the other. These nndonbt-
edly represent the division of the Christian world into the two great
Churches — the Latin and tho Greek — the beginning of which
division really dates back to the rivalry between the Bishops of
Rome and Constantinojile. Between these two great divisions rises
the tower — a ejuadrangiilar structure, with clear-cut angles, and
standing boldly out into tho light. In this tower we recognise
Protestantism. Smaller in size than either of the two great di-
visions that represent the Latin and Greek Churches, it reaches
nearer heaven, and secures a greater share of both sunlight and
clouds.
The upper part of the tower is, in Prof. Veranda Brown's opinion,
prophetic in its teaching. Both the tendency of Protestantism to
bring all things to the bar of reason, and the refusal of any two
Protestant bodies to agree in their views of what is true, are pre-
tigurcd by the clock which occupies the upper ]iart of the tower,
with its four faces that so stubbornly refuse to make the same pro-
fession of faith as to the time. Still higher than the clock wo find
the lightning-rod. There the tower has reached its fullest develop-
ment— ending in a point — signifying " nothing," and a lightning-
rod, of all things the most thoroughly scientific and materialistic.
Prof. Verandah Brown, who is a pure rationalist, accepts with some
scientific enthusiasm this architectural prophecy of the fate of
Protestantism.
The astronomical theory of the building is ably advocated by
Prof. Pritchard Roctor. He maintains that had the builders in-
tended to erect an astronomical observatory, they would have designed
a building which should liave been both massive and high. Both of
these conditions are found in the Tribune building. They would
also have constructed a long, narrow tube of masonry through
which to observe the stars. We find precisely such a tube in the
Trib\ine Building, although the ignorance of the present day has
perverted it to the use of an elevator. They would also, says the
Professor, have constructed a subterranean cliamboras a receptacle
for water. The Tribune builders buildcd even better than tho Pro-
fessor knew, for they made a large subterranean chamber for the
reception — not of water, but of beer. From these censiderations ho
draws the conclusion that tho Tribune Building was designed for
astronomical i>urposes, and incidentally remarks that the arguments
of Professor Veranda Brown are fallacious, inasmuch as he forgot
to include the coal-cellar in his calculations, and the coal-cellar
cannot possibly be brought into any intelligible relation with the
Jewish comuionwcalth. — A'etc Yorfc rimes.
Ultimate STRrcTUKE of Bodie.s. — "As matters now stand," says
Mr. U. C. Sorby, "we are about as far from a knowledge (by
vision) of the ultimate structure of organic bodies as we should be
of a newsyiaper seen with tho naked eye at a distance of one-third
of a mile."
Poxd's Extract is a certain cure for Khcnmatisin and Oi>ut.
Pond's Eitract is a certain cnre for Hieniorrhoids.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Nouralpic pains.
Pond's Extract nill heal Bums and Wounds.
Pood's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Qet the geouine.' f Adtt.
Nov. 4, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
19
#ur i¥latl)fmatiral Column.
MATHEMATICAL columns in magazines arc too apt to de-
generate into puzzledom corners, collections of problems of
considerable difficulty, but having no real interest, and not valuable
as illustrating principles. We wish ours to be of real use to the
student of mathematics, but still more to those who, when studying
other branches of science, find that rightly to understand their
subject they require to be familiar with certain special departments
of mathematics. It must be confessed that most of our treatises on
mathematical subjects pay Uttlc attention to the requirements of
students of this kind. They are excellently adapted to prepare
students for examination ; because at an examination a student of
algebra must not be surprised if he be asked questions relating to
infinite series, a student of trigonometry if he be asked to establish
Dr. Moivre's Theorem, and so forth. But they do not meet the
wants of one who requires to know the methods and principles of
algebraical, trigonometrical, or other forms of calculation. There is
bttle in such works to show the use and value of the processes con-
sidered in them. Many a ready student has passed a fair examina-
tion in the differential calculus, who had not the remotest idea of
the practical value of its methods, or that in hundreds of simple
subjects of inquiry the calculus can be employed easily and advan-
tageously. There is no occasion for mystery respecting the use of
mathematical methods; but it would really seem, to read some
mathematical treatises, as though the last idea in the world the
student should associate with any mathematical subject was the
idea that it may actually be useful. Even the problems which are
given for solution are, for the most part, either useless or absurd.
This is not the way to render mathematical subjects inviting, or
to encourage the student to master the difficulties which are
inherent in them.
Of course, we cannot here give mathematical essays which can
render the student independent of systematic treatises. Such
treatises ho must have, and must carefully study. But we hope
to show that a number of departments of mathematical research,
supposed to be either too profound, or of too little practical value
to be worth taking up, can be readily and usefully studied. In
every case we wish to come as quickly as possible to the practical
application of the various methods we shall successively deal with.
We shall probably begin with a simple paper on the use of loga-
rithms, seeking to show that, instead of being regarded as a mere
mysterious collection of numerals, a book of logarithms should be
considered the great simjjlifier of all forms of calculation. Scarcely
anyone who has much to deal with figures, otherwise than in mere
processes of addition or stibtraction, should be without such a book ;
and a very brief study of the subject will suffice to enable anyone
to make ready and intelligent use of the tables which a book of
logarithms contains.
We may then discuss the Laws of Chance, the simple applications
of Trigonometry, and other such matters, avoiding, as far as possible,
those parts of a sr.bject which a student can readily study in set
treatises.
We shall be glad to receive problems of interest, either for solu-
tion or discussion, preferring, he never, those which illnstrato
general principles to those which are merely, as it were, casual.
In many cases where problems are sent to us for solution, wc
shaU only give hints, not complete solutions, believing that, so dealt
with, they are likely to be of more use to the student than if a
complete solution were at once given.
We need hardly say that this is not a suitable place for the dis-
cussion of very difficult mathematical problems, albeit those of our
readers who do not take interest in mathematics must not be angry
with ns if from time to time we devote a column, or even a page
or two, to matters of no interest, or even absolutely unintelligible
to them. They must remember that each of our lighter essays here
may be equally interesting to proficients in the subject dealt
with ; that, in fact, no one can expect all the contents of snch a
journal as the present to be interesting to himself individually. Wo
shall endeavour, however, to keep within close limits all matter
likely to be " caviare to the general."
Sunlight a-.-o Heat.— The intensity of sunlight at the sun's
surface is calculated to be 190,000 times that of a candle-flame ;
5,,30O times that of the glowing metal in a Bessemer converter ;
146 times that of the limelight ; 3'4 times that of the electric arc
at the brightest yet obtained. The heat emitted by the sun in a
single second would suffice to melt a shell of ice covering the entire
surface of the earth to a depth of 1 mile 1,457 yards, or to burn a
layer of anthracite coal 17'7 yards thick over the earth's entire
surface. This would be equivalent to a consumption of about
16,436 millions of millions of tons of such coal per second.
(Bur Cftrss Column.
MANY weekly and monthly periodicals in this country and in
others now contain a chess column, but it may be a question
how far any general knowledge of the game is encouraged in this
way. Usually these chess contributions are limited to problems,
games between first-class proficients, and replies to queries, with
occasional items of chess news. The problems are such as only
good players can readily solve, so that the learner, unable to
master them without an expenditure of time which he can ill spare,
is rather deterred from the study of chess than otherwise by these
masterpieces of chess strategy. The games, again, even when they
are sufficiently annotated, are generally too profound to have much
interest for the learner. He cannot see the purpose of moves whose
real significance depends generally on results five or six moves at
least in advance, and almost always on moves which are not played
on either side. The chess expert recognises the beautiful positions,
the brilliant attacks, the complex defences, and so forth, which
would result if a particular move were not met in that way in
which, in the game itself, it actually is met. A volume would be
required to show all such results of each move played on either
side by two first-class players ; and the beauty of a game between
two such players can only be properly appreciated by those who,
as each move is played, can follow oat the various consequences,
according to the way in which the move may be met.
We wish to cater for a wider circle of chess players — for those
who enjoy the game and can appreciate its beauties, while they
have no ambition to be able to meet a Steinitz, a Blackbume, or a
Zukertort without receiving odds.
It must be admitted that nine out of ten who call themselves
chess-players know very little about the game. They move their
pieces without any adequate idea of the value of position, or of the
manner in which the powers of the various pieces can best be
brought out. Of the importance of time, again, in chess strategy,
they seem to have scarcely any conception. A player of this class
will move his Queen out to some square where she can be attacked
by a piece which in attacking her will take up a strong position,
then to some other square where she can be similarly attacked by
another piece, and, perhaps, after four or five such moves, be fortu-
nate in being able to return her to her own square. He will then
complacently remark that he must try some other way of opening
his attack, utterly overlooking the fact that his opponent has
gained four or five moves, and that even a single move early in the
game often makes all the difference between a strong attack and
an unsatisfactory defence. If such a player moves his Knight
from King's Bishop's third to King's Knight's fifth, and on
the opponent moving Fawn to King's Rook's third (attacking the
Knight), finds no better move than to return him to his former
position, he would be incredulous if told that he had thus lost all
chance of winning against correct plaj'. Yet there is scarcely an
imaginable case, in the early stage of a game, where, if the game
had been equal before this had happened, it would not afterwards
have been seriously compromised. The opponent, be it observed,
has made a move of great utility (though often too slow, except as
in this case when a move is given away), while it is now his turn
to play instead of the first player's, who stands just where he did
before he rashly moved forth his Knight. (The opening, of wliich
the accompanying game is an illustration, shows that, even when
by venturing forth the Knight to the square in question a Pawn is
gained, the counter attack, after the Knight has been driven back,
compensates the second player fully for the loss. It also presents
at move 33, a case in which loss of time is equivalent to loss of a
game which might probably have been drawni.)
It seems to us that we may do something to encourage sound
chess play by giving our readers chess material of a different kind
from that which has usually been presented in chess columns. We
propose to explain in a scries of short papers the principal open-
ings, discussing their advantages for attack and defence, and show-
ing how the opening moves illustrate the general princijiles on
which sound play depends. We shall illustrate these openings by
games played by good players, but not played with quite so much
study (and, therefore, not needing .such skUl for their interpretation)
as the match games commonly selected for these columns. For this
purpose we have made arrangements with the proprietor of the
mechanical chess-player, Mephisto, to have games played with
Mephisto specially for our chess columns. By an extension of Mr.
Giimpel's kindness, the guiding spirit of that mysterious player has
been persuaded to make his own comments on the game. It need
hardly be said that only such games will be selected as have real
chess interest. The multitudinous contests in which tyros have
succumbed to Mephisto (and would have succeeded at the odds of
a Queen) would be quite as much out of place here as in the
20
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 4, 1831.
rolumna of tho Chess Chrnniclc, Immbler though our aim may
sconi.
Wc shall luiinmo on tho part of our readers a knowledge of tlic
olemonta of chess play — tho moves, laws, and so forth ; and suffi-
oiont familiarity with tho notation employed by Knglish-spcakinf^
players, accordinp; to which tho King (K), tho Quoon (Q.), the
Bishops (K.B. and Q.H.), tho Knights (K.Kn. and g.Kn.), and tho
Rooks (K.R. and Q.K.) are regarded as standing severally on tho
first sipiare of a file, tho other squares of which are numbered in
onier, the 2nd, 3rd, Ith, 5th, Cth, 7th, and 8th.
For onr chess readers' amusement wc give an illustration of weak
chess play, which occurred within tho last few days over our own
chess-bonrd. Tho first player had the idea that, knowing little of
tho usual openings, ho might equalise matters by playing on a line
ontirely unrecognised by the books : —
CHESSIKIX.
Remove Black's Q.Ii
Whit*.
Amatbcb.
1. P. to K.4.
2. I', to K.R.4 (?)
:!. Kt. to Q.B.3.
■I. R. to K.K.3. (?)
.'•.. U. to Q.3. (?)
(J. P. to K.B.3.
7. Q.Kt. to K.2. (■)
«. P. to K.Kt. 3.
!». Kt. takes Kt.
10. K. to K.2.
Black.
Chess Kditob.
P. to K.4.
Kt. to K.B.3.
B. to Q.B.-l.
P. to Q.3.
B. to K.Kt.5.
Kt. to K.R.4.
Q. takes P. (ch.).
Kt. takes P.
Q. takes Kt. (ch.).
Q. to K.B.7. mate.
a The game was still defensible, by —
„ P. take B. g P. to K.Kt.3. g Q. to K.B.3 .
'■ Q. to K.R.5. (ch.). ■ Q.Kt. takes P. ' B. take Kt.^
GAME No. 1.
Played between the Mechanical Chessplayer, " Mephisto," and an
Amateur.
Two KxiGHTs'
P. to K.4.
Kt. to K.B.3.
B. to B.4.
Kt. to Kt.5.
P. takes P.
P. to Q.3 C).
Kt. to K.B.3.
Q. to K.2.
P. takes Kt.
P. to B.3 {').
P. to K.R. 3.
P. takes B.
P. to Kt.4.
P. to B.4.
B. to K.3. (8).
P. takes P. (>■).
Kt. to Q.3.
Kt. to Kt.3.
Castles K.B.
K. to K.2.
Q. to Q.2.
Kt. to Q. 4.
B. takes B.
Q. takes Q.
Kt. to Kt.5.
Kt. takes P.
P. to Q.6.
K.R. to K.sq.
R. to K.2.
Kt. to Kt.5.
P. to B.3. C)
R. to K.7.
R. to K.Kt. sq. (I)
R. to K.B. sq.
P. to R.3.
P. takes P.
R. from B. sq. to K. sq.
R. to K.8. (ch.)(»)
R. takes R. (ch.)
B. to K.7. (ch.)
K. to Kt.2.
K. to B.sq.
Besigna (")
Defe.vce.
Black.
Mephisto.
P. to K.4.
Kt. to Q.B.3.
Kt. to B.3 (•).
P. to Q.4.
Kt. to Q.R.4.
P. to K.R.3.
P. to K.5.
Kt. takes B.
B. to Q.B.4.
B. to K.Kt.5 (•').
B. takes Kt. (<■).
Castles.
R. to K.sq. (').
B. to Q.3.
P. to Q.R.4.
R. takes P.
R. to Q.R.6.
Q. to R.sq. (1).
Q. to B.sq. (').
Q. to B.4.
Kt. to R.4.
B. takes P. (ch.)
Q. takes B. (ch.)
Kt. takes Q.
R. to R..5.
R. to Q.B.sq.
R. takes B.P.
Kt. to Q.G.
R. to Q.sq.
P. to B.4.
P. takes P.
Kt. to B.4.
P. to Kt.4.
R. to R.5. (">)
P. to Kt.5.
P. takes P.
P. to B.7.
R. takes R.
K. to B.2.
K. to B. sq.
R. to K.B.5.
P. to Kt.G.
MEPUISTO'S NOTES.
(•) This move constitntcs tho Two Knights' Defence.
C") This move gives White if not a ba/l, at least a difficult, game
to play ; the continuation C.B. to Kt.5. (ch.) is to \>o preferred.
(') This move is stronger than the usual move P. to K.R. 3. White
threatens an attack with his Pawns on the hostile Bishop, thereby
developing also his strong Queen's wing. P. to B.3. also provides u
refuge for White's Knight onQ.4. incase Black should Caatic, whicli
would leave the Knight en prise.
C) This certainly seems tho most attacking lino of play, in
addition to which Black could also play P. to Q.R.4. to prevent tho
advance of the Queen's Pawns or P. to Q.Kt.4., or Castles.
(■) This is better than B. to E.4., which would result to the
advantage of White, e.g. 11. -5 10 • ...
12..
13.
Kt. to K.5.
with the better game.
(') Threatening to win the Queen.
(«) This is the right move to stop any advance of tho Black King's
Pawn. Thus, for instance, 15. — — — '■ — instead, would not be
B. takes P.
fo, 15. PtoQ.B.5
P. to K.6
16. t»i....B^ ._ ^^^^jj ^j^g better
B. takes K.B.P-
game. White could not take the Bishop, for then Black would win
his Queen by P. takes P. (ch.).
C") Black has played P. to Q.B.4, with the intention of breaking
up the Pawns on White's Queen's wing. If instead of P. takes P..
as actually occurred. White should play P. to Kt.5, then P. to Kt.3
would stop White's Queen's Pawns. Black might, perhaps, also
reply with P. to B.3. The variations arising out of this move are
very numerous. The idea is the same as in 15. p to Q K 4
namely to separate White's Pawns, and then attack them singly,
e-0-
16.
P. to Kt. 5
17.
P. to B.5 (or see A)
P. to K.6
19,
P. to B. 3 ^'- B. to Kt. sq.
Q. takes P. QJ^sQ. Kt.toQ.2
Q. toQ.2 -"• Kt. takes Q^ ^^- B. to B.2
with the better game.
A. It would be disadvantageous to take with the Queen's Pawn,
thereby opening the tile commanded by the Black Queen ; therefore,
Kt.P. takes P.
17.1
P. takes P.
If now White should play P. takes P., then
Q. to B.2 would give Black a very good game, or if White should play,
P. to B.5 „ P. to Q.6 „„ Kt. to Q.2
18. 5-r~ir^ — 19- s-~r^.\> 20. , . ^ ^r — with the object of
B. to Kt.sq. B. to Kt.2 Q. to B.sq. •■
playing Q. to B.4, followed, perhaps, by Kt. to Q.2., Black should
again get a good game.
(') Threatening the capture of the Knight.
(1) By 19 Castles, White thought to evade Black's attack en tho
Queen's side, but only to exchange it for an attack on the King's
side, the chance of which Black at once follows up by Q. to B.sq.
C') White hopes to be compensated by his attack of R. to K.7 for
this move.
(') This is loss of time, as Black thereby advances his Pa\vn3
in support of the Bishop's Pawn. White cannot venture upon any-
thing tor fear of P. to B.7 ; if K. to K.3, then Black wins the Wliito
King's Pawn by Kt. to K.5 (ch.) ! therefore, 33 R. to K.B.sq. at
once was White's best play.
("') This is hardly necessary ; the object was to make tlio T.k k
available for support of the other Rook liil R. to R. sq.
(") This is weak again. R. to B.7 would have given Wliito :•. _ i
game; for, in reply to jj— r — jTv White would play K. to Kt.3 with
a fair chance of drawing.
(") Black threatens to Queen his Pawn by P. to Kt.7 (ch.),
which White cannot prevent.
KXOWI.KI'CI: AMI hiSORANXK.
'• Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing on which we tiy to Heaven."
— ShakeifeaTe.
*,• WuisT CoLCMN. — Our papers ou Whist will be comnicucod
in No. 2.
!sov. 11, 1881.]
KNO^A^LEDGE
21
AN ,li
LTRATED
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE
plainlyWorbed -ExactMescribej
LONDOX. FRIDAY, XOVEMBER 11, ISSl.
CONTENTS.
FAGR
i The Fiji Islands 31
CoREEspoNBENCB. — Th© One -inch
Map of the Ordnance Surrej— Is
the Sun Hot ?— Influence of Sei on
Mind— November Meteors, &c. ... 35
PAGE
The Philosophy of Animal Colours.
By Dr. Andrew Wilson, P.E.S.E . 21
The South European Volcanic System 32
The Relation of Food to Muscular
Work.— Part II. By Dr. W. B.
Carpenter, F.H.S 23 i Queries Jo
Brain Troul.les 2.5 Unhealthy Houses 39
Comets. Part \l.— (Illutlr<Ued) 26 i Plain Words in Science 39
IntelliKence in Animals 23 I Trusting to Luck 39
Birds with Teeth (lUiufraUi) 30 ' Our Chess Column 41
The Southern Skiea in November— | Our Wliist Column. By " Five of
(niutlraUd) 31; Cklbs " 42
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANIMAL
COLOURS.
By Dii. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E.
THERE is a suggestive passage in Butler's " Hudibras,"
which maintains that —
" Fools are knoini by looking wise,
As men find woodcocks by their eyes."
And if the axiom be correct, that a poet is only great
•when he is true to nature, it must be admitted that Butler
has been singularly felicitous in this metaphor. Whoever
has seen a woodcock in its ordmary summer plumage may
form a good idea of the truth of the poetic remark. As
that bu-d moves about amongst the fallen leaves of autumn,
the greys, and browns, and yellows of its feathers mingle
so beautifully with the like tints of its surroundings, that
the animal is absolutely concealed from any view but the
practised eye of the sportsman. As has been remarked of
the bird in question, oven the very conspicuous and orna-
mental tail becomes hidden from \-iew in a most singular
fashion. Below, these tail-feathers e.xliibit a white colour
tinted with a silver sheen and marked with a deep black.
Nothing more conspicuous than such an ornament can v\-ell
be imagined ; yet the tail and its belongings are, neverthe-
less, wonderfully concealed. For, as the bird reposes, these
under lines and tints are placed downwards ; and al)o\e,
the ashen-grey tints mmgle perfectly with the bird's sur-
roundings. As the woodcock, therefore, rests amid its
background of wood and its foreground of fallen leaves,
every line of its plumage is made to assimilate so closely
witli the objects around, that the bird's presence, even a
short distance off, is not suspected.
The woodcock is by no means alone in this liarmony
betwixt its plumage and its surroundings. The sand-
grouse of the deserts, for instance, exliibit a like harmony.
These birds cannot be detected, even as they run, amidst
the sand of their haunts — so closely imitated in the dull
tints of their plumage is the tone of the desert wild. The
well-known case of tlie ptarmigan is even more extraordi-
nary still. In summer the bird shows a plumage of pearly
grey, which conceals it perfectly as. it lies on its bed of
Scottish heather, mingled with the lichen and its kith and
kin. But when the winter snows descend and coat the
hillsides with a mantle of white, then a kindlv nature
still contrives concealment for the ptarmigan in a fresh
suit of colour. The pearly greys of the summer are re-
placed by a plumage of snowy whiteness, and, save for its
dark eye, there is little risk of the discovery of the bird by
the unwary or unpractised sportsman. The grouse and
common partridge are not less perfectly protected. The
lines of the grouse match the tints of the heather, and the
cartridge is almost as difficult to discover — say, in a ploughed
tield — as the ptarmigan on the hill-side. The birds just
mentioned are all rasorial birds ; that is, they are
allied to the type of the common fowl, and are typically
ground-livers. " Their tints, therefore, assimilate with those
of the ground and with ground vegetation ; and whatever
may be the ultimate philosophy which shows the origin of
such harmonies, it is very plain that the utilitarian is
bound to read "protection" in eveij line of the story.
Escape from their enemies must be favoured by the corre-
spondence in colour to which we allude. The harmonies of
colour present the safest, and therefore the best foil, to the
keenness of sight of the eagle, and to the agility of the
falcon and its kind. It is difl'orent, indeed, with the
songsters of the wood and grove. With well-developed
powers of flight, and with a close refuge amid the foliage
of the wood, the appearance of bright hues and tints in
these birds is by no means disadvantageous. Another law
that of the development of colour in relation to sex —
has taken precedence of the regulation of colour as a means
of protection. If concealment be necessary, nature wOl
teach the art of hiding in other ways than that whereby
she contrives to make the partridge face danger with a
stillness that almost rivals that of the stones, trustful in
the harmony of her plumage that so closely matches her
heather bed.
But there are wider fields open to the naturalist's survey
of colour and its meanings. Suppose that we peer for a
moment into the class of fishes, we shall find the adapta-
tion of colour to surroundings illustrated in a very apt
decn-ee. Whoever has tried to spear a sole or flounder, for
example, well knows that the excitement of the sport
consists in the endeavour to follow out the axiom of Mrs.
Glasse, and on the principle which that worthy lady laid
down about " first catching your hare," to first catch your
flounder. You cautiously and softly paddle out to shallow
water in your punt, and you drift over the flat, sandy
beach at a depth of from two to three feet. Below, the
water is as clear as crystal. Here and there you see a
lazy starfish on the march, exerting himself to the utmost,
as he slowly extends ray after ray, and crawls at the rate
of about a mile a month or so, by aid of his hundreds of
sucker-feet. The sand-eels annoy you as they burrow
dowaiwards and send up little clouds of dust on your
approach ; but the floimders you came to spear — where
are they 1 and echo seems but to answer " Where 1"
But the practised sportsman bids you learn (as in all other
sciences and arts) the first lesson — namely, how to see and
observe. As your boat creeps along, he points to what
seems a mere sandy lump, but 'm. which his keener eye has
detected the merest wriggle of a fin. Dash ! goes the
spear, and up comes a flounder, and as you watch the
<n-ound, you see dozens, it may be, of similar sandy patches
swimming off in rapid alarm. The flounder's " back " —
it is really the side of the fish — on which it lies, is white
enouo-h, as we know ; but the " other side " is as close a
representation of a sandy patch as you can see or as you
can imagine. Small wonder, then, that in flounder-
spearing you experience the difficulties which nature
throws in the way of capture through likeness in colour
to the animal's surroundings. It is the same with sole ,
turbot, and with the skates and angel-fishes. Watch th'.
22
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 11, 1881.
first H'limdor you sec rpstinf; on the sandy bed of the
Aiiuariiim-tank, and you will recpive ample proof of the
truth of the foregoing remarks. And should you chance to
see the lazy " monk," or angel-Cish, as it lies prone, heavy,
and indolent in the highest degree in the flow of its tank,
you may again understimd something of the value of colour
as a means of protection to animal life.
In the case of those " queer fislies," the little sea-horses,
or hippocampi, with heads like horses, and with a body
which, at large, reminds one most forcibly of some figure
from the Heralds' College on a crest, concealment is
effected in a slightly different fashion from that prevalent
among the soles. Here the body, as a rule, possesses long
streamers or fringes tliat mimic the seaweeds ; so that, as
the animal reposes, its body may well enough represent a
stone, to which are attaclied fragments of marine vegeta-
tion. The Australian sea-horses, which live among red
seaweeds, have streamers of that hue attached to their
bodies, and the mimicry and imitation of their surroundings
are thus very complete. Even their near neighbours, the
pipe-fishes, with green l)odies, when they fasten themselves
to some fixed object, and " loll " in the water, may closely
resemble an inert piece of green weed.
Amongst even the highest animals, protective colouring
is common. A lion's hue matches the sand, as a tiger's
stripes, according to Mr. Wallace, imitate very closely the
foliage and trees amidst which it crouches. The camel's
coat is sandy like its desert ; and the rabbits offer as plain
examples as any of the colour harmony in question. The
polar bear is white, like the arctic fox in winter dress ;
and the nocturnal rats and moles are dressed in shades
the opposite of the ghost-like hues that become so con-
spicuous at night.
THE SOUTH EUROPEAN VOLCANIC
SYSTEM.
rnHERE are reasons for believing that all the volcanoes —
X and, indeed, all the regions of subterranean dis-
turbance in Southern Europe — belong to a single volcanic
system.
It is, indeed, rather difficult to define the exact relation
between the different parts of a widely-extended volcanic
region. At a first view it seems unreasonable to assert
that if eruptions or other forms of disturbance in different
places are simultaneous, this must be regarded as evidence
that the two places belong to the same volcanian region,
while a similar conclusion should be deduced from the fact
that quiescence in one spot synchronises with disturbance
in another, and vice versa. For instance, it was noticed
that during the often-interrupted eruption of Vesuvius in
1868, Etna was more or less disturbed, until at length, as
if in sympathy with the Keapolitan volcano, the Sicilian
mountain gave vent to enormous streams of molten matter ;
and this of itself might be considered to afford satisfac
tory evidence of the existence of some sort of connection
between Etna and Vesiunus. But on the other hand,
we are told that when the great earthquake of Calabria
took place early in 1783, the inhabitants of Pizzo
remarked that the volcano of Stromboli, which is in
full view of Pizzo at a distance of about fifty miles,
smoked less and threw up a less quantity of he.ited
matter than it had done for several preceding years.
Then, a^ain, on the same occasion the great crater of Etna
gave out enormous quantities of vapour as the Calabrian
earthquake began, while Stromboli seemed exceptionally
active as the commotion of the earth in Calabria began to
diminish : yet no eruption occurred from cither of those
great vents during the whole progress of the Calabrian
earthquakes. Are we to infer from thLs, as in one place
Sir C. Lyell seems to do, that the volcanic tires of Etna
and Stromboli are "very independent of each other," or
that the same mutual relation exists between them as
between Vesuvius and the volcanoes of the Phlegrsean
Fields and Ischia, " a violent disturbance in one di.strict
serving as a safety-valve to the other?" Lyell complet<-.'i
the latter sentence, by the way, by adding, "lx)th never
being in full activity at once." But here it seems to us he
loses the full value of the evidence which the various dis-
turbances of the South European volcanic regions have
afforded. Rightly viewed, both forms of evidence equally
tend to sliow the inter-dependence, neither showing the inde-
pendence, of different parts of this great region. If an
eruption of Vesuvius begins precisely w^hen an eruption of
Etna seems for some cause or other to be checked, or
diminished in actiN'ity, the circumstance seems in itself to
suggest, if it does not prove, that the two vents ser\ e to
relieve one and the same volcanic region. If, again,
Vesuvius and Etna both burst suddenly into violent erup-
tion at one and the same time, surely that also is evidence'
that they belong to the same volcanian system.
There is no reason whatever for assuming that because
a disturbance in one region may serve as a .safety-valve for
another, therefore both can never be in full activity at once.
Experience has shown repeatedly that two regions of
volcanic disturbance, the movements of which .sometimes
alternate, may at other times be simultaneously active.
But it may perhaps be asked, if this really is so, how can
we possibly decide whether any two volcanian regions what^
ever are connected or distinct 1 For instance, when Chim-
borazo is active, Vesuvius is either active or at rest. If
Vesuvius is active, the two vents may be said to be working
simultaneously ; and so the preposterous idea may be
adopted that these two volcanoes, though separated by so
many thousands of miles, relieve the same region of sub-
terranean disturbance. If, on the other hand, when Chim-
borazo is active, Vesuvius is at rest, then the same absurcf
conclusion is derived fi-om the consideration that the action
of Chimborazo alternates with that of Vesuvius. In reality,
however, plausible though this objection seems, it has no
weight. The distinction lietween the simultaneity or the
reverse of the action of Ve-suvius and that of Chimborazo,
and the associated or alternated efforts by which Vesuvius
and Etna, or Etna and Stroml)oli, or Vesuvius and the
Phlegr.-ean Fields, relie\e one and the same region of sub-
terranean disturbance, is sufficiently well marked. Com-
pare the dates of the eruptions of Chimborazo and
Vesuvius with the actual range of time over which the
observations extend, and no connection whatever can be
observed between them. Vesuvius must, indeed, be either
quiescent or at rest when Chimborazo is in eruption, but
Vesuvius never (or only by the merest accident) begins to
be disturbed when an eruption of Chimborazo commences ;
nor has an eruption of Chimborazo ever synchronised,
except by the merest accident, with the cessation of an
eruptinn of Vesuvius, or vice vrfd. But whether we find
that an eruption of Vesuvius ceases very soon after an
eruption of Etna has begun, or that both volcanoes burst
at once, or nearly at once, into eruption, the coincidence of
contrasted conditions implies equally with the coincidence
of similar conditions, that the two volcanoes are outlets of
the same volcanic region.
In other large regions of suViterranean activity we notice
similar relations — namely, at times periods of well-
marked oscillatory disturbance, and at other times periods
of simultaneous action. We also find volcanic regions
where the outlets are nearlv alwavs in action together at
Nov. 11, 1881.]
* KNOWLEDGE
23
times of disturbance, and other regions where alternations
of activity are the only evidence of connection. Thus the
1' -vuvian and Chilian volcanic regions have seldom, if ever,
1 M ,11 simultaneously disturbed. A long period of disturbance
in the Peruvian region, culminating in the terrible earth-
c|uake of Riobamba, was followed by a series of disturbances
in the Chilian region, resulting in a permanent elevation of
the whole line of coast. Then came disturbances in the
Peruvian Andes, including the tremendous earthquake of
the year 1868, which so shook the shores of Peru, that the
sea wave then generated swept] right athwart the Pacific to
the shores of New Zealand, Australia, and the Asiatic con-
tinent. It is noteworthy that between the Chilian and
Peruvian regions of disturbance there is a space in which
no volcanic action has ever been observed ; precisely as
between the oscillating ends of a balance there is a region
of comparative quiescence.
It certainly does not seem probable that these signs of
disturbance in dift'erent parts of the South European
volcanic region which have followed or accompanied the
eruption of Vesuvius have lieen free from all connection
^^^th the activity of the great Sicilian vent. Certainly
earthquakes in SicUy have been associated with the cessa-
tion of the outflow of lava from Etna. Nor can there be
much doubt that signs of activity shown by Vesuvius after
Etna has been in eruption, and vice versd, indicate sym-
pathy between the Neapolitan and Sicilian volcanic regions.
It may seem extravagant to associate earthquakes in France
or in the British Isles with the activity of the Italian
volcanoes ; but there are many reasons for believing that
such slight eartliquakes as do from time to time occur in
these more northerly regions depend indirectly on the con-
dition of the South European region of subterranean
activity. It is certain that shortly before the great out-
burst of Vesuvius in 1868, an earthquake'more marked in
character than usual in this country shook the western
parts of England. It is well kno%vn, too, that when
another part of the great southern region of disturbance
was aSected, and Lisbon was laid in ruins, the lakes, rivers,
and springs of England were disturbed in a remarkable
manner ; the water of Loch Lomond, for instance, suddenly
rose, without apparent cause, against its banks, and then
quickly subsided to its usual level
THE RELATION OF FOOD TO
MUSCULAR WORK.
Br Dr. W. B. Carpenter, F.RS.
PAET II.
IT has been shown that whilst Liebig regarded the pro-
duction of Muscular Energy as an expenditure of the
" vital force " of the muscle-substance itself — involving its
death and chemical transformation, and requiring nitro-
genous or tissue-food for its regeneration — Mayer
attributed the production of that energy to the oxidation
of a portion of the non-nitrogenous or respiratory food,
regarding the muscular apparatus as the mere instrument
by which that oxidation is made to produce Motion in
place of Heat.
I shall now give a general account of the experi-
mental inquiries by which Liebig's doctrine has been
disproved and that of Mayer established. These have
reference to the relation of the amount of work done
by the body as a whole, — (1) to the relative consump-
tion of the nitrogenous and the non-nitrogenous com-
ponents of the food ; (2) to the amount of Carbonic acid
exhaled; and (3) to the amount of Urea passed off: —
whUe (t) another set of experiments upon isolated muscles
has demonstrated the dependence of tlic production of
energy upon a change in the substance of the muscle itself,
rather than (as Mayer supposed) in the blood passing
through it
1. If a man be carefully "dieted " for a time long enough
to determine the amount of nitrogenous aliment adequate
to repair the ordinary daily "waste "of his tissues, and
the amount of non-nitrogenous aliment needed to maintain
the heat of his body at its normal standard and keep liim
in healthful exercise, so that his weight remains the same
at the end of the experiment as at the beginning — and he
is then set to make a great addition to his daily exercise in
the shape of walking, pumping, turning a machine, or the
like — it is found that his body can be kept up to this extra
work by an increase in tlu; supply of non-nitrogenous
aliment, with such a small addition to the nitrogenous as
may suffice to make good the loss produced by the increased
" wear and tear " of the machine itself.
2. All observations concur in showing an immediate
increase in the exhalation of Carbonic acid, capable of being
determined with rigorous exactness, when the body, pre-
viously at rest, is put into motion. The late Dr. Edward
Smith made himself the subject of a long-continued and
diversified series of researches upon this point, by the use
of a portable gas-meter, through which he could breathe
when walking or working at a tread-wheel, as w ell as when
standing still, sitting, or lying : and he found not only that
when continually " getting up stairs " on the tread-wheel
he exhaled more carbonic acid than when walking, that
when walking fast up-hill he exhaled more than when
walking slowly on level ground, and that in the latter case
he exlialed more than when standing still ; but that he
exhaled more when standing than when sitting, and more
when sitting upright (without support to the back) than
wlien lying so fully supported as not to put forth any mus;-
cular effort. Further, he found that when, in walking, he
carried a weight even of a few pounds, the exhalation of
carbonic acid was sensibly augmented ; the increase being
still greater when the weight had to be raised (a.% in walking
up hill), as well as transported. These results have been
confirmed by numerous other experimenters. They are in
remarkable harmony with those long pre\iously obtained
by Mr. Newport, upon the relative amounts of carbonic
acid exhaled by a bee at rest, and a bee " buzzing " under
a glass.
3. The employment of more exact methods for the
quantitative determination of Urea than that used by
Liebig, has sho^^^l that he was altogether wrong in assert-
ing that a corresponding increase is produced by muscular
exertion in the (juantity of that substance eliminated by
the kidneys. An experiment which has now become
" classical " was performed upon themselves by Professors
Fick and Weslicenus in 1866; namely the determination
of the respective quantities of urea eliminated by each of
them for twelve hours be/ore, for eight hours duririg, and
for six hours after the ascent of the Faulhorn, whose
height is about 6,500 feet. They took no nitrogenous
food either for seventeen hours before the ascent, during
the eight hours of the ascent, or for six hours after the
ascent ; but then took a good ordinary meal. The mean
of the two determinations (between which there was a very
close correspondence) gave for the twelve hours before the
ascent, 062 gramme, being at the rate of 0052 gramme
per hour ; for the eight hours of the ascent 0-10 gramme,
or at the rate of 0'05 gramme per hour ; and the same
amount for the six hours following the ascent, being at the
rate of 0066 gramme per hour ; while for the twelve
hours after the subsequent meal, the mean amount was
24
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 11, 1881.
OlS j;raiiinip, or at tho rate of OOt grainine per hour.
TJK'ri' was thus a positive reduction in the amount of urea
oliniiiiated, which wa.s prol>al)iy attributable to the teni-
porarv alistincnce from nitro^^enous aliment; since tlie re-
sults of subsequent observations carried-on for a much longer
period upon men going througli severe exertion upon an
ordinary diet (as those made liy Dr. Austin Flint, of New
York, lipon Weston, the pedestrian, during a five days' walk
of 310 miles), show a slight total increase in the elimination,
which is fairly attributable to the general " wear and
tear " produced by the excessive strain put upon the
machine. There is, then, no foundation whatever for
the assumption of Liebig, that evei-y exertion of muscular
energy involves the death and disintegration of an equi-
valent amount of muscle-substance.
4. It now appears certain that the chemical change
which is the source of Muscular energy occurs in the
Muscle itself, not in the stream of Blood that courses
through it For the muscular tissue nourishes itself
at the expense, not merely of the protoplasmic con-
stituents of the food brought to it by the blood-current,
but also of the saccharine ; and, in addition, takes in
oxygen which the red corpuscles of arterial blood bring to
it from the lungs. A sort of explosive mixture is thus
formed, which is " fired " (so to speak) by the nerve-
discharge ; a certain quantity of the saocharoid being thus
caused to unite with the oxygen contained in the tissue,
producing at the same time tlie leat which raises the
temperature of the muscle, and the motor force exerted in
its contraction ; while the carbonic acid, which is the product
of this oxidation, together with the residual water,* is
conveyed away in the return - current of venous blood.
But that this " explosion " (tlie term is only used figura-
tively, to indicate the suddenness of the chemical change,
and its excitement by nerve-discharge) does not involve
the destruction of the tissues, is evident from the con-
sideration stated by Mayer, that the amount of work
done by the heart (which is capable of very exact
measurement) would require, ^if it involved the dis-
integration of the muscular tissue, a renewal of it at the
rate of « Jieart per vxek. But muscle-substance constitutes
no exception to the general rule that every tissue in the
body has a tenn of life of its o^ti ; as we see in the rapid
■waste it undergoes when entirely thrown out of use. And
it is the need of renovation thence arising, that gives rise
to a demand for 7dfro;/etious aliment ; this being used to
keep the machine, so to speak, in working order, not to
serve as its fuel.
Again, it was formerly supposed by jihyKiologists that
the conversion of ai-terial into venous blood (which chiefly
coiisists in the replacement of a portion of its oxygen liy
carbonic acid) takes place in the capillary network of the
system generally ; but we now know that it goes on at very
diverse rates in fliflerent part.s, and varies in tlie same part
according to its functional acti\"ity. Now, this \ariation espe-
cially shows itself in the blood tliat passes through the
Muscular substance ; for when a muscle is at rest, the blood
♦ The mcc)iarni(U may be regarded as consisting of carbon plus
the components of water, so that tho amount of energy (whether
manifested in Heat or in Work) produced by their o.^idation, is
proportional simply to the quantity of carbonic acid generated.
In oleaginous compounds, on tho other hand, the number of oxygen
atoms is not nearly ct|ual to that of tho liydrogen atoms ; so that
their oxidation generates not only carbonic acid, but also water.
It is pretty certain that this motamorpho.sis, like that of saccharoid,
takes place in tho substance of tho muscle, since it must be the
chief source of energy in carnivorous animals, whoso food contains
no saccharoid. But we have no means of distinguisliing tho water
thus generated from that which is otherwise present.
returned by its veins retains almost completely the cha-
ract<'r of that lirouglit by its arteries ; whilst, if the muscle
l)e thrown into contraction by nervous or electric stimula-
tion, the returning bloo<l at once assumes the ordinary
venous character — thus showing the dependence of its con-
version upon the action of the muscle. We get a corre-
sponding result by experimenting on a separated mu.scle ;
that of a cold-blooded animal being most suitable, as longes-t
retaining its vitality when removed from the body. If the
muscle of a Frog, placed in a closed chamber e'xhau.sted of
all save w'atery vapour, be repeatedly called into contrac-
tion by electric stimulation, the chamber is found, after a
time, to contain carbonic acid in a quantity proportionate to
the number of such contractions, showing that some compo-
nent of the muscle-substance has undergone oxidation ; and
since no other product of chemical action is discoverable, it
may fairly be concluded that what has been given off from
the muscle is part of the saccharoid matter which chemical
analysis proves to have been previously stored up in its
substance. The union of the saccharoid with the oxygen
also stored up in the muscle, produces an amount of energy
that can be determined (in the form of units of heat) by the
quantity of carlionic acid found in the vessel. This energy,
however, may express itself in motion as well as in heat ;
and the amounts of both may be determined with consider-
able precision — the former as units of work done, the
latter as units of /leat by which the tempei-ature of the
muscle is raised. Now, if the units of work be turned into
their equivalent units of heat, and the two amounts be
added together, they give a total so closely accordant with
that deduced from the quantity of carbonic acid produced,
as to afford the most striking confirmation of Mayer's
prediction : — " Convert into heat," he said, '■ the mechanical
product yielded by an animal in a given time, add thereto
the heat directly produced in the body during the same
period, and you will have the total quantity- of heat* which
corresponds to the chemical processes."
To sum up : — The mechanical working of the body of a
living animal is as directly dependent as its heating upon
the oxidation of the hydiy-carbons of its food ; and these
may be most economically supplied by non-nitrogenous sub-
stances. On the other hand, the mechanism can oidy be
kept in working order by the continual renovation of its
substance (its very existence as a living whole involving the
continual death and decay of its component parts) ; and for
this renovation a supply of proteids is essential, with a cer-
tain admixture olfal to serve as material for protoplasm.
I have tliought it worth while to enter somewhat fully
into the particulars of this inquiry, since it aflbrds an
excellent example of the truly scientific methods on which
Plnsiology is now being studied, and of the value of the
results that are being obtained \>y their use. It is by such
methods alone that the Physical and Chemical actions
taking place within the li\-ing body can be so determined
as to give to Physiology that place among the exactsciences
which its earlier cultivators could scarcely venture to hope
it would ever attain.
• It would appear from the experiments of Fiok upon frog's
muscles, that of the whole energy generated by the oxidation
process, about five-sevenths show themselves as lieat, whilst the
other two-sevenths do the mechanical work. In the bodies of Man
and other warm-blooded animals, however, the ju-oportion of heat to
work is ordinarily much larger ; the former constituting about five-
sixths of the total energy generated by the oxidation of the food,
wliilc the latter is only about one-sixth. Still, considered simply as a
contrivance for doing mechanical work, the human body compares
favourably with a steam-engine ; the very best form of that machine
only exerting about one-eighth of the power which is generated by
the combustion of the coalit consumes, the remaining seven-eighths
being wasted.
Nov. 11, ISSl.]
KNOWLEDGE
BRAIX TEOUBLES.
IN these days, when the energies of the mind have
become more important tlian those of tlie body, and
when even the health of the body is chiefly of value be-
cause of its direct association with the health of the mind,
it is well that all who liave much brain-work to do should
know and understand the symptoms mdicating derange-
ment or ovenvork of mental powere. Of course, in all cases
where, througli wliatever cause, any specific mental malady
is in question, the assistance of physicians who have given
special attention to cerebral diseases must be obtained. But
fortunately with most, even of those who work the brain
hardest, no more real occasion arises (whatever some
doctors would assure us) for medical advice respecting
mind troubles, than commonly arises in the case of
corporal troubles among men who pass their days in
hard but healthy bodUy toils. Tlie saying that every
jnan is either a fool or a physician at forty (thirty
would, perhaps, be nearer the mark) may be applied
at least as well to the case of the mind as to that of
the body. It is as easy for one who is not the fool of
the proverb to understand the signs which indicate mind-
mischief, and to minister to the mmd wlien out of sorts
(not actually diseased), as it is for him to note the signs of
bodily ill-health, and apply the remedies which experience
has shown him to be appropriate. And here we would
note generally, what it is one object of this article to indi-
cate specifically, that the analogy may be carried somewhat
further. There are few greater mistakes, so far as the
body is concerned, than to imagine every little ailment to
be a sign of actual disease, and to have recourse for such
slight troubles either to medical advice, or (which may
prove more mischievous still) to active medicines or other
strong remedies. The physician of the proverb, that is, the
man who, not being a fool, has learned to understand his
ovm constitution under ordinary conditions, may be watch-
ful, if he so pleases, of even the slightest indications of ill-
health, general or local, so long as such watchfulness does
not degenerate into hypochoncfria. But most of these in-
dications should suggest to him only such changes of diet,
exercise, hours of resting, and so forth, as his experience
has found to be suitable, and should in the greater number
of cases suggest negative rather than positive remedies even
of this kind. Many signs of illness, indeed, which obtrude
themselves on the attention even of those who watch them-
selves least in such matters, may far better be dealt with
by the patient himself than by the physician. For
instance, the present writer has learned to regard severe
headaches of a certain type simply as affording evidence
that certain articles of food (milk, butter, cheese, and the
like) must either be given up altogether for several dajs, or
taken in much-reduced quantity. When this course is
followed, he is freed from all such attacks, imtil after the
lapse, perhaps, of two or three months, a headache of this
particular kind shows him that he has taken such articles
of food in greater quantity than is desirable for one of his
constitution. A doctor might prescribe with advantage for
the cure of the attack itself, and there can be no reason
why a person troubled by some severe attack of headache,
muscular rheumatism, or the like, should not obtain from
a doctor some active medicine by which to diminish the
pain from which he suffers ; but it is a far more important
matter to ascertain the regimen by which such attacks
may be prevented from occurring, and this is a matter
which a man (not being the " fool "' of the proverl)) should
manage for himself. Kow what is true of bodily troubles
is true of mental mischief, short of actual disease, though
doctors who have learned, rather late, to leave men a good
deal to themselves, so far as the former are concerned, are
by no means ready to admit that mental troubles can also
for the mo.<;t part l)e remedied witliout calling in the phy-
sician. Writers like Forbes Winslow, and others who
have dealt with obscure diseases of the mind, have done
ser\-ice in calling attention to cei-tain signs of cerebral
mischief wliich laymen might be apt to overlook ; but they
insist rather too strongly on these as indicative of actual
disease, whereas it is within the e.Kperience of thousands
that such signs, in the majority of cases, are no more to be
regarded as necessarily indicating disease, than a passing
feeling of nausea necessarily indicates an approaching
fever, or than a pain in the bowels necessarily indicates an
approaching attack of Asiatic cholera.
It should also be noted, that much mischief may lie
caused by suggesting that tricks and failings of the mind,
whicli are quite common, are signs of serious cerebral
mischief. Xot long after the first edition of Forbes
Winslow's treatise on "Obscure Diseases of the Mind '
appeared, a friend of the writer's, who had begun to read
the book only because of his interest in matters scientific,
found that it possessed for him a strange fascination,
because nearly all the phenomena mentioned by Winslow
as indicative of approaching insanity were such as he had
fi-equently noticed in his own case. Thereafter regarding
these symptoms in the light in which they were thus pre-
sented, this unfortunate student of cerebral science found
himself presently possessed by a strange terror lest the
state which Winslow seemed to indicate as a necessary
sequel of these familiar signs should be close at hand in
his own case. The evil progressed until his mind was
really endangered by these mistaken fears ; but, fortunately
for him (if madness is rightly regarded as the greatest of
all evils), a series of misfortunes befell him which for a
time altogether withdrew his attention from the mental
phenomena which had so excited his fears. For two or
three years he had to contend against great pecuniary
difficulties, and to endure a series of domestic calamities of
no ordinaiy order. Compelled to withdraw his attention
from his owti mind, he forgot that, according to the
teachings of mental physiologists, he had been fairly on
the way towards either mania or idiocy. Four or five years
later, chancing to take down Forbes Winslow's Ixiok from
his library shelves, he read with amusement the passages
which had fonnerly excited his fears. He knew that tlie
mental symptoms graphically described by Winslow still
presented themselves from time to time — when, for instance,
he was tired or imwell bodily — but he had learned in a
very practical way that they are not quite so ominous as
the mind-doctors assert. It is indeed possible (perhaps
probable, or even certain) that no cases of acute mania may
be noticed wliich have not been preceded by such symptoms ;
but assuredly these symptoms are not in every case — pro-
bably not in one case out of hundreds of thousands — the
signs of actual mental disease, nor in one case out of
millions followed either by acute mania or by apoplectic
seizure, as in the exceptional cases dealt with by Dr. Forbes
Winslow.
We propose hereafter briefly to consider some of the
signs which show that the mind is temporarily out of order,
requiring rest, relaxation, or change of employment. We
may in some cases have to enforce the lesson we wish to
inculcate by citing cases in which such symptoms have
been followed by serious mental disturbance ; but we wish
at the outset to persuade our readers that, in far the greater
number of cases, these signs suggest only the necessity for
ordinary precautions, not for medical advice or active
remedial measures.
(To ie cordinued.)
26
KNO\A/'LEDGE
[Nov. 11, 1881.
COMETS.
Part II.
MOST persons know tlmt the name " comet " is derived
from the word coma, or hair, nntl is applied to
relestial objects whicli appear to have a hairy appendage.
Modem astronomers do not, indeed, use the word coma in
this sense, hut draw a distinction between the rnma and
Fig. 1. — Oianpes of a Comet whpn firet poen.
— would not be very applicable, by the way, to any comets
that ha\c appeared in modem times. The Chinese applietl
to comets the name aui, or " broom."
It might be supposed that the hairy, broom-like, or tail-
like appendage, so commonly seen in comets, is really a
distinctive feature cf these comets. This, however, is far
from being the case. A very large numl)er of comets have
no visible tails. We refer, of course, principally to tele-
scopic comets ; for very few comets which have been con-
spicuous to the naked eye have wanted this appendage.
The cornn — in the modem
astronomical sense — is never
wanting. This term is applied
to a misty, hazy light, surround-
ing on every side a small bright
spot, which is termed the
nvckus of the comet.
AVhen first seen in the
telescope, a comet usually
presents a small round disc of
hazy light, somewhat brighter
near the centre. As the comet
approaches the sun, the disc
lengthens, and, if the comet
is to be a tailed one, traces
begin to be seen of a streaki-
ness in the comet's light.
Gradually a tail is formed,
which is turned always frovj
*
the tail. There can be no doubt, however, that the part
now called the comet's tail was that from which these
objects derived their name. The word conwia or conwtes is
not a lately-formed one ; but was used by Cicero, Tibullus,
and other ancient writers, and it is worthy of notice that
all the names applied to comets by the Koraans had a
reference to fiairiness — s/e///r comanles, crinilrr, roneinnatce,
they are called by Ovid, Plin_y, and Cicero. The last term
— signifying stare which show a mrlcd or crisped hairiness
the sun (Fig. 1). The tail grows brighter and longer, and
the head becomes developed into a coma surrounding a
distinctly-marked nucleus. Presently the comet is lost to
view through its near approach to the sun. L?ut after
awhile it is again seen, sometimes wonderfully changed in
aspect through the eflects of sokir heat. Some comets are
brighter and more striking after passing their point of
nearest approach to the sun (or perihelion) than before ;
others are quite shorn of their splendour when they re-
Nov. 11, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
27
appear. The latter was the case with the comet of
1835-3G, as we have already seen. On the other hand, the
comet of 18G1 burst upon us in its full splendour after
peri/ielion-TpsiSSAge.
Some comets have more than one tail. One appeared in
17-1-1 which had no less than six tails, symmetrically dis-
posed (if one can trust the pictures handed down to us) in
the tigure of a half-opened fan (Fig. 2). Others have
presented a yet more peculiar appearance, having, besides
a tail in the usual position, a second " unconformable "
tail, at right>angles to the first, or inclined to it at some
incongi-uous, outof-the-way angle — for instance, in one
case, one hundred and sixty degrees. Sometimes the pecu-
liarity is presf-nted of a perfectly dark gap separating the
Uiil from the liead. More commonly a dark space is seen
liehind the head, but on each side of this space the light
from the head is continued so as to form a bright border
on each side of the tail.
away from the sun. Tlie same sun which attracts the
nucleus seems to repulse the emitted matter with
inconceivable energy. Consider for a moment what
took place with Newton's comet in 1680-81 (Fig. 3).
When this comet was about as far oft' from the sun as
our earth (ninety million miles) it began to throw out a
tail. But the comet was going far nearer to the sun than
this. Onwards it rushed under the powerful influence of
the sun's attraction, until it had crossed the whole space
of ninety million miles, making — almost in a straight line
— for a point only one hundred and thirty thousand miles
from the sun's surface. In four weeks it traversed that
vast distance, and then, suddenly (in a few hours) sweeping
half round the sun, started on its return journey. But
note this : as it approached the sun, the comet had thrown
out a tail continually increasing in length, and pointing
back almost along the orbit; then the comet is lost to
sight for a few days, and when it is next seen returning
Fig. 4.— Comet of 1843.
As a comet approaches the sun, we have seen that a
change takes place in the appearance of the coma and
nucleus, and that in some instances a tail is generated.
The process actually observed is generally this : in the
forward part of the nucleus a turbulent action is seen to be
in progress, leading to the propulsion towards the sun of
jets or streams of misty-looking matter. Sometimes a
regular cap or envelope is seen to be projected in this
manner towards the sun, or even a set of envelopes one
within the other. The matter thus thrown off is not
suffered to pass very far from the nucleus towards the sun,
but is swept away, as fast as formed, in the contrary
direction. If the funnel of a steam-engine were directed
forwards, instead of upwards, then the appearance pre-
sented by the emitted steam, as .the engine rushed on
(against a hurricane, suppose, to make the illustration
more perfect) would exemplify the process which seems to
be taking place aroimd the front of the nucleus, and far
behind it, as the matter formed is continually swept
rapidly from the "sun, it has a tail jiomtiDg forwards (a tail
which muH be a'diflerent one, since— as Herschel says—
" we cannot conceive a comet's tail to be brandished round
like a stick "), and ninety million miles in length. So that,
whereas the comet, already moving with a tremendous ac-
quired velocity, had taken four weeks in traversing a distance
of ninety millions of miles under the sun's attraction,
the matter composing the tail had been thrown to the
same enormous distance by the sun's repulsion in scarcely
one-tenth part of the time, possibly (for the tail was
formed when first seen) in a few hours I
The comet of 1843 (Fig. 4) was yet more remarkable
for the dimensions of its tail and for its close approach
to the sun. The tail of this comet stretched half-way
across the sky in March, 1843. Its real length was two
hundred million miles at least, for the end of thetailwas
lost to view through the excessive faintness of its light
So near did this comet pass to the sun, that many as-
tronomers chd not expect ever to see the comet again.
28
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 11, 1881.
But — aftor all l>ut jfrazing tlio sun — swopping round him
at a ilistanco of less than one-tonth of his diameter, the
comet escaped and passed hack afjnin into space.
When wo see the tail of a comet occupying a volume
thousands of timos greater than that of the sun itself,
the (|uestion naturally suggests itself, " how does it
happen that so vast a liody can sweep through the
solar system without deranging the motion of every
planet/" Conceding even an extreme tenuity to the
suVistaiice composing so vast a volume, one would still
I'xpect its mass to he tremendous. For instance, if we
supposed the whole mass of the tail of the comet of 1843
to consist of hydrogen gas (the lightest substance known
to us), yet even then the mass of the tail would have
largely exceeded that of the sun. Every j)lanet would
iiave been dragged from its orbit by so vast a mass
passing so near. We know, on the contrary, that no such
effects were produced. The length of our year did not
change Viy a single second, showing that our earth luul
been neither hastened nor retarded in its steady riiotiou
round the sun. Thus we are forced to admit that the
actual substance of the comet was inconceivably rare. A
jar-full of air would probably have outweighed hundreds
of cubic miles of that vast appendage which blazed across
our skies, to the terror of the ignorant and superstitious.
The dread of the possible evils which might accrue if
the earth encountered a comet will possibly be diminished
by tlie consideration of the extreme tenuity of these objects.
But the feeling may still remain, that influences, other
than those due to mere weight or mass, might be exerted
upiin terrestrial races in the course of such an encounter.
The subtle breath of some mephitic vapour might penetrate
our atmosphere, and, if it did not bring immediate destruc-
tion, might lea^•e dire forms of plague and pestilence to
w^ork their evil will upon the human race. This fear is
not, perhaps, wholly unreasonable, though — as will pre-
sently appear — the positive information we now have does
not favour the supposition that the tail, at any rate, of a
comet is likely to exercise such destructive effects. And
it is only the tails of comets that we have much chance of
meeting. On account of their enormous volumes, it is not
so utterly improbable that we should encounter them as
that we should meet the comparatively minute nuclei. In
fact, there is reason for supposing that the earth actually
did pass through the tail of the comet of 1861. At about
the hour when it was calculated that the encounter should
have taken place, a strange auroral glare was seen in the
atnjosphere, but beyond this, no effect was perceptible.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
FEW of the questions raised in Darwin's " Descent of
j\Ian '' are at once more difficult to deal with satis-
factorily, or more important in their bearing on the
subject of tliat volume, than the question how far animals
possess mental powers akin to those of man. It is some-
what singular, we may remark in passing, that Darwin
and Huxley, whose views in some respects are so similar,
and who arc regarded by the general public as standing
side by side in their advocacy of the theory of the relation-
ship of man to the lower animals, should seem to uphold
almost exactly opposite opinions respecting the cerebral
qualities of animals — one maintaining that in some cases
animals reason, while the other (if we rightly apprehend
what Huxley has said about animal automatism) will
Scarcely allow that animals even possess consciousness.
We propose here to consider some cases in which animals
have seemed to reason. The importance of the subject w i
be recognised if we remember Darwin's admission tli:.'
had no organic being except man possessed any mei;'
power, or if man's powers had been of a wholly diffen
nature from those of the lower animals, we should nt
have been able to convince ourselves that our liigh faculti
had been gradually developed. Darwin expres.ses his lx!i
that there is no fundamental difference of this kind. '• N'-
must also admit," he says, "that there is a much wid
interval in mental power between one of the lowest fish
as a lamprey or a lancelet, and one of the higher ap' .
than between an ape and a man ; yet this immense interval
is filled up by numberless gi-adations." But this has not
been so generally admitted, despite the evidence advanced
by Darwin, as might have been expected. The feeling is
still commonly entertained that a distinction e.xists between
the mental qualities of the cleverest ape and the dullest and
stupidest savage, which is utterly unlike any that exists
among animals. In this essay we shall have to consider
cases in which rats, cats, dogs, ic, — animals all inferior in
mental faculties, though not all in equal degree, to the
moi-e intelligent apes — have acted in ways which seem to
imply reasoning. We shall treat these cases rather from tlie
point of view of an opponent of Darwin's thesis above quoted
than of a supporter, endeavouring in every case to find ex-
planations not involving the exercise of reasoning faculties.
But we must admit at the outset, that we find ourselves
led to precisely the conclusion which he has indicated.
In the first place, we must recall to our reader's re-
collection those instances which have been selected by
Darwin as so satisfactory, that in his opinion any one mot
convinced by them would not be convinced by anything
that he could add.
Rengger states, says Darwin, " that when he first gave
eggs to his monkeys, they smashed them, and thus lost
much of their contents ; afterwards they gently hit one end
against some hard body, and picked ofl' the bits of shell
with their fingers. After cutting themselves only once with
any sharp tool, they would not touch it again, or would
handle it with the greatest care. Lumps of sugar were
often given them wrapped up in paper, and Reugger some-
times put a live wasp in the paper, so that in hastily un-
folding it they got stung " (the tenderness of some of these
students of science towards animals is quite touching).
" After this had once happened, tliey always firet held the
packet to their ears, to detect any movement vithin."
These were not monkeys of the higher orders, but Ameri-
can monkeys, none of which are so near man in cerebral
development as the orang, the chimpanzee, the gibbon, or
the gorilla. The next cases relate to the dog, and are im-
portant, first, because two independent observers give evi-
dence in the same direction ; and secondly, because the
action of the dogs can hardly be explained as resulting
from the modification of an instinct. " Mr. Colquhoun
winged two wild ducks, which fell on the opposite sides of
a stream ; his retriever tried to liring o\-er both at once,
but could not succeed ; slie then, though never before
known to ruffle a feather, deliberately killed one, brought
over the other, and returned for the dead bird. Colonel
Hutchinson relates that two parti'idges were shot at once,
one being killed, the otlier wounded ; the latter ran away,
and was caught by the retriever, who on his return came
across the dead bird. ' She stopped, e\"idently greatly
puzzled, and aft(>r one or two trials, finding she could not
take it up without permitting the escape of the winged
bird, she considered a moment, then delibemtely murdered
it' (the winged bird), 'by giving it a severe crunch, and
afterwards brought away both together. This was the only
known instance of her having wilfully injured any game.'
Nov. 11, 18S1.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
29
" Here," proceeds Darwin, " we kave reasoning, though not
quite perfect, for the retriever miglit ha\e brought the
wounded bird first, and then returned for the dead one, as
in the case of the two wild ducks." If the dog had followed
the wiser course, it would not have been quite so clear as
in the actual case that he had reasoned, though the pause
for consideration after an attempt to take both together,
would have gone far to suggest that explanation. But the
action of the dog in killing the bird seems quite decisive,
because such an act was entirely opposed to the instincts
of the breed and to the training which retrievers receive.
To these cases Darwin adds the statement that "the
mulateers in South America say, ' I will not give you the
mule whose step is easiest,' but la mas racional — the one
that reasons best " ; on which Humboldt has remarked,
" this popular expression, dictated by long experience, com-
bats the system of animated machines better, perhaps, than
all the arguments of speculative philosophy." Here,
although Danvin only quotes Humlioldt, he manifestly ex-
presses his own view, and we find him opposed in a very
definite manner to the theory of Kepler, afterwards sup-
ported by Descartes, and recently advocated by Huxley
and othei-s, that animals are automata, not possessing con-
sciousness (or at anyrate that this theory is admissible).
The next case to be considered is one which was described
a year or two since in Nature. It was not one which in
reality demonstrated, or even strongly suggested, the
exercise of reasoning faculties by animals. We quote it,
however, because it illustrates well the mistakes into which
want of care may lead the student of our subject. During
the cold weather of last January, the writer of the letter
in question put bread on the window-sills of his drawing-
room for the benefit of the birds. These, finding food
there, were constantly fluttering about the windows. " One
day a large water-rat was seen on the window-sill, helping
himself to the bread. In order to reach the window he
had to climb to a height of about 1 3 ft. ; this he did by the
help of a shrub trained against the wall. Neither instinct
nor experience," proceeds the correspondent of Nature,
" will easily account for his conduct, since he never found
food there before. If neither experience nor instinct, what,
save reason, led him % His action seems to have been the
result of no small observation and reasoning. He seems to
have said to himself : I observe the birds are thronging the
^^"indow all day ; they would not be there for naught ; it may
be they find there something to eat ; if so, perhaps I, too,
might find there something I should like. I shall try." The
way in which this story is told singularly illustrates the
difi^iculty which we, as speaking animals, find in under-
standing how a process of reasoning can be carried on
without the imagined use of words. Probably few men
whose mental powers have been well trained carry on a pro-
cess of pure ratiocination, without clothing with words the
thoughts successively suggested to their minds. It almost
seems to a mind thus accustomed to reason with a verbal
accompaniment (audible to the mind's ear only) that any
mental process not thus accompanied must be to some
degree instinctive, and any actions resulting from such a
process automatic. But it is certain that even the most
intellectual sometimes act in a manner which, if noticed in
an animal, would suggest the exercise of reasoning power,
not only without putting their thoughts into mental lan-
guage, but without, in reality, noting what they are doing.
However, the point to be specially noticed about the above
story is that the narrator overlooks the most oln-ious, and
probably the true, explanation of the rat's behaviour. The
rat could not see the food, but most probably he could
smell it. If so, his adventuring up the wall to get it was
not the result of reasoning, or, at least, not necessarily so.
for that was the shortest path to the much-needed food.
Possibly the birds themselves may have been an attraction
to him. Certainly the case is not one which compels us to
believe that water-rats reason.
This objection was so well urged, in company with other
points necessary to be considered in such inquiries, by a
German writer, Ilerr II. T. Finck, that we quote his re-
marks almost in full. " Before we ascribe to a rat such
complicated reasoning powers," Herr Finck remarks, " it is
necessary to ask if there is no other simpler way of
accounting for the phenomena. I think there is. It is
well-known that difierent species of animals vary greatly
in the acuteness of their senses. To man, sight is the
most important sense, and the same is true of many other
animals and most bii-ds. The cat is a representative of
another smaller class of animals, whose most perfect organ
of sense is the ear ; while the dog lives in a field of sensa-
tives, the most important of which are contributed by the
sense of smell." This point, as dogs afibrd many of the
most striking illustrations of reasoning, or of what looks
like reasoning, in animals, must be carefully remembered.
Few are aware, we believe, how imperfect a sense is sight
with all dogs, as compared with our own sense of sight.
We believe that there could not be cited a single instance
tending to sliow that a dog has been able to see as well as
a very short-sighted man would, while in the great majority
of cases, it can be shown by a few easily-tried experiments
that dogs scarcely see at all in the true sense of the word.
Our sense of smell is probably not more completely
inferior to the same sense with dogs, than is their sense of
sight to ours. To return, however, to Herr Finck. After
pointing out that the rat belongs to the class of animals
who are guided by the sense of smell, he says, " It is
evident, therefore, that the water-rat in question was led
to the window-sill by his nose, which in his case was a
more trustworthy guide than his eyes would have been.
I do not wish to deny, by any means, that animals
have reasoning powers. On the contrary, I am con-
vinced that human and brute intellect difter only in
degree, not in kind. But what we have to guard against
is not to ascribe [he obviously means the reverse, that we
are to guard against ascriViing] to animals reasoning
powers of a higher type than is consistent with the
development of their brain, especially when the actions
which seem to postulate such powers can be readily
accounted for by simply bearing in mind the extraordinary
acuteness of one or more of their senses. We are alto-
gether too prone to judge the intellectual life of animals by
the human standard — to imagine that the eye is every-
where, as with us, the leading source of knowledge. The
neglect of the important rvle which the sense of smeU
plays in animal life has been particularly fruitful of errors
in philosophical speculation. It has, among othrr things,
helped to give a longer basis of life to the old theory of
instinct, regarded as a mysterious power of nature." In
passing, we may remark that at the very beginning of our
own life the sense of smell is stronger and more useful than
the sense of sight ; as though during those first few days,
before the eyes acquire power to recognise objects or to do
much more than to distinguish light from darkness, we
belonged for the time being to that inferior class of animals
with whom the predominant sense is that of smell. In
that part, also, of their Uves, human beings seem so far to
resemble the lower animals that their actions appear to be
governed by instinct solely. In reality, probably, a sense of
smell much keener then than during the subsequent years
which alone we can remember, governs the actions in the
same way, though not so obviously, as sight governs them
in most of the actions of later years.
30
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 11, 1881.
BIRDS WITH TEETH.
IN the year 1861 a feather was found in a slab of litho-
graphic .stone from Solenhofen, which Hermann von
Meyer assigned to an animal as yet not otherwise known,
which he called Arcli(ioj)l<:r)/x litlingraplika. Later in the
same year, a large portion of the skeleton of Archjpopteryx
was discovered in the same formation. There were im-
pressions of feathers radiating fanwise from each of tlie
forelimbs. But Prof. Andreas Wagner, in a report to the
Royal Academy of Sciences in Munich, e.xpressed the
opinion that the creature was not a bird, but a reptile,
whoso natural covering presented a deceptive resemblance
to feathers. He called it the Griphosuvrus, which (con-
sidering he had not seen the fossil remains) was very
obliging on his part. Yon Meyer, however, regarded the
impressions as representing real feathers, belonging to
the same animal as the feather he had already dis-
covered. The fossil was secured for the British
Museum in 1862. It is contained in two slabs of
Solenliofen limestone ; one representing the surface of
tidal mud on which the bird lay at the time of its death,
the other the layer deposited over the dead body. The
lower slab shows the impressions of the tail, wings, and
parts of the skeleton. The right shoulder-blade and upper
arm (wing), as well as both the forearms, are well preserved.
The head, the neck, and the backbone are wanting. Two of
the digits of the wing (wing fingers we may call them) are
free, and anned with sharp claws or recurved spurs. The
right lower limb is well preserved, consisting of the thigh-
bone, the tibia or larger lower leg-bone, and the tarso-
metatarsal bones, or bones of the upper foot. To the me-
tatarsus, four toes are articulated, one hind-toe and three
fore-toes, which are jointed as with birds, and amied with
strong recurved claws. " The foot," says Mr. Woodward,
from whose description tlie above has in the main been
taken, " agrees well with that of a true perching bird, but
from the fanwise and rounded arrangement of the wing-
feathers, it would appear to have been a bird of feeble
flight."
Without entering further into the peculiarities of this
creature, we note that while a few naturalists were doubt-
ful as to its being really a bird, the majority were very
confident that it was so. Professor Owen, in particular,
pointed out that in one respect in which it difle.red
most from modem birds it resembles the embryonic bird.
Its tail-bones diminished gradually to the last, whereas in
modem birds, the last vertebra of the tail is almost always
the largest. But, said Owen, " AU birds iu their embryonic
state e.xhil>it the caudal vertebra distinct, and in part of
the series [of embryonic changes] gradually decreasing in
size to the pointed end one." The two-fingered and free
condition of the wing-hand, that is of what corresponds to
the hand in the bird's fore-limbs (which Owen pleasantly
descriljcd as the biunguiculate and less confluent condition
of the manus), he did not account for in the same way as a
feature of an embryonic bird ; but in some modern species the
forward wing finger supports a claw, and the Screamer has
two claws. All who at that time examined the fossil agreed
that in all probability the creature had a beak like a
bird.
But Mr. John Evans noticed somewhat later (besides a
rounded mass wliich he took for part of the lirain-pan, with
a cast of the brain) what he regarded as a fossil jaw, on
the slab on which lies the fossil body of the bird. It had
been supposed to be the beak of Archa-ojjteryx, but "great
was my surprise," wiitcs Mr. Evans, "when I detected
along its right-hand margin, towards the apex, the distinct
impression in the slab of four teeth still attached to it.
The teeth themselves remain adhering to the counterpart,
and are easily recognised by the lustre of their enamel"
The teeth are thus di'scribed l)y Jlr. Woodward. " Tlie three
which remain in a vertical position with regard to the jaw
are about one-tenth of an inch long, and at intervals of al»out
one-fifth of an inch. They consist of a slightly tapering
flattened enamelled crown, alwut a twenty-fifth of an inch
in width, and oljtusely pointed, set upon what is apparently
a more l>ony base, which widens out suddenly into a semi-
elliptical fomi, so that at the line of attachment to the jaw
the base of one tooth comes in contact with that of the
next. So sudden and extensive is this widening of the
base, that at first it gave me the impression tliat the teeth
were tricuspidate, with the middle cusp far longer than the
others. Tlio front tooth of the four, which slopes forward
from the rest, and is rather smaller than the others, shows
little, if any, similar enlargement of its base. Of the fifth,
which lies across the base of the foremost of the four, only
a part is visible. There appears to be a well-defined line
at the base of the teeth along their junction with the jaw,
but I can ofler no opinion as to the method of their
attachment"
It seemed so unlikely when the above description was
%\Titten that a jaw armed with teeth could belong to a
creature manifestly bird-like, that many supposed the jaw
belonged to some fish, though the jaws and teeth of fossil
fishes from the same bed were found to be unlike this.
Hermann von Meyer, referring to the drawings sent to
him by Jlr. Woodward, said that he knew of no tooth of
the kind in the lithographic stone ; nor were the teeth
like those of Pterodactyles (the great reptiles with bat-
like wngs). " An arming of the jaw with teeth would
contradict the view of the Archaopteryx being a bird or
an embryonic* form of bird. But, after all," he proceeds,
" I do not believe that God formed his creatures after the
systems devised by our philosophical wisdom. Of the
classes of birds and reptiles, as we define them, the Creator
knows nothing, and just as little of a prototype or of a
constant embryonic condition of the bird which might be
recognised in the Arch^opteryx. The Ai-chaMpteiTx is,
of its kind, just as perfect as other creatures, and if we
are not able to include this fossil animal in our system,
our shortsightedness is alone to blame."
Probably the theory that the Archaopteryx had teeth
would still be regarded as little better than an assumption,
had not other and more complete evidence been obtained.
Professor Marsh discovered two fossil birds in the creta-
ceous shale of Kansas, which had well-developed teeth in
both jaws. Of one of these birds — the Jchthyornis
Dispar — " the teeth were quite numerous," Marsh
wrote in SilHmaji's Journal for October, 1872, "and
implanted in distinct sockets. They were small, com-
pressed, and pointed, and all of those preserved are similar.
Those in the lower jaw number about twenty in each
ramus " (that is, on each side), " and all more or less in-
clined backwards. The series extend over the entire margin
of the dentary " (or tooth-bearing) " bone, the front teeth
being very near the extremity. The maxillary teeth " (those
in the upper jaw, that is) " appear to have been equally
numerous, and essentially the same as those in the mandible.
The skull was of moderate size, and the eyes were placed
well fonvard. The lower jaws are long and slender
The jaws were apparently not encased in a horny sheath. '
• The word embryonic is here used with reference to the species,
not to the individual. It signifies a form which creatures of the
species presented before the tj-j)e of the species had become, as
it were, distinct and established. Traces of such past forms of a
species are recognisable in the embryonic development of later
representatives of the species.
[CbfUiRMi on pa^f 33.
-Soy. 11, ISSl.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
31
^
Nov. 11, 18S1.]
KNOWLEDGE
33
Conlinuedfrom porje 3il,J
The shoulder-hladtts and the l)ones of the wings and legs
were all of the true hird-like type. The breast-bone had a
prominent keel. The wings were large in proportion to
the legs. The wing-bones corresponding to the hand in
man, were united as in ordinary birds. The bones of the
hinder extremities resembled those in swimming birds.
The bird was aliout as large as a pigeon. The species was
carnivorous, and probably aquatic. Professor Marsh called
the other form discovered by him Apatornis celer.
Later, Professor Marsh announced that having re-
examined another fossil bird — a large diving bird nearly
six feet high, found in the same cretaceous formation as
the Ichthyornis, he found that it also had tectli in both
jaws, not in sockets, like the Ichthyornis, but in (jrooves, as
in Ichthyosaurus, the great lizard-formed marine reptile.
The skeleton of this toothed bird is pictured in our
illustration. Prof. Marsh called it the Ilesperornis Regalis.
Before the discovery of teeth, Prof. Marsh had un-
hesitatingly classed the Hesperornis as a gigantic diver,
though recognising peculiarities of structure. But recently,
in a Monogi-aph on the Extinct Toothed Birds of North
America, he called attention to its resemblance in certain
respects to the Ostrich. He says that if these characters
are to be " regarded as e\-idence of real affinity, the Iles-
perornis would be essentially a gigantic swimming ostricL"
Professor Huxley, on the other hand, says that the bird is
" in a great many respects astonishingly like an existing
diver or grebe — so like it, indeed, that had this skeleton
been found in a museum, I suppose — if the head had not
been known — it would have been placed in the same
general group as the divers and grebes of the present
day."
The teeth seem to have been admirably adapted to aid a
diving bird (like a grebe) in catching its slippery prey. Tu
the Odontopteryx toliapicus of Owen, the bony denticles
were inclined at a considerable angle, but with the points
forward, yet Professor Owen concluded that even such pro-
jections (they could not pi'operly be called teeth) must
have greatly assisted the bird in holding captured fish. In
the existing bird, the Meryanser serraior, the tooth-like
serrations are inclined with the points backwards. These
serrations, however, were not teeth, but merely tooth-like
extensions of the horny covering of the beak. The teeth
of the Ichthyornis and Hesperoriiis, as is shown by the
smaller figure (showing a tooth, and, within it, a tooth
forming to take its place) were unmistakably teeth. It
does not take away from their dental character that they
were set in a groove in Ilesperornis and Archtropleryx,
instead of in separate sockets, as in higher-toothed races
and in Ichthyornis.
It should be added that Professor Marsh has examined
the specimen of Arc/iceopteryx in the British Museum, and
fully satisfied himself that it belongs to the class of toothed
birds. " The teeth seen on the same slab with this speci-
men agree so closely with the teeth of Hesperornis, that" he
" identified them at once as those of birds, and not fishes."
He describes the leading characters of the ancestral bird
in the following terms : — " In the generalised form to
which we must look for the ancestral type of the class of
birds, we should expect to find the following characters :
Teeth in grooves ; vertebra; biconcave " (that is, the bones
of the backbone shaped somewhat as we see them in fish) ;
" breastbone without a keel ; tail longer than the body ;
bones of the hand and wrist, as also those of the foot, free ;
the bones of the pelvis separate ; the sacrum " (or hind bone
of the pelvis) " formed of two vertebra; ; four or more toes
directed forward ; feathers rudimentary or imperfect."
If we consider the circumstances under which, according
to the theory of evolution, the race of birds came into
existence, we can understand that the ancestral creatures
whence birds are descended presented many features in
which they were not only unlike the birds of our time, but
unlike any other race of existing animals. Were they not
also, in all probability, very unlike each other? Probably
there were much wider difierences among the various
orders of animals, which included all the ancestry of the
modern bird, at the time when first any of the charac-
teristics now regarded as a-i-ian first existed, than there are
now among all the orders of existing birds. This certainly
appears from the evidence obtained, not only respecting
toothed birds, but also respecting those bird-like animals
of which Huxley and others have shown that they were
closely akin to reptiles — were, in fact, biped reptiles.
\Ve believe that the same holds with every species
now existing, even with man — that, for instance, if we
could have brought before us in rapid review all those
creatures from which the human race of our time has de-
scended (taking only tho.se which belonged to one particular
epoch, before man, specialised as we now find him, existed),
we should not oidy find a far wider range of difference
among these creatures than among the human races of the
present day, but a wider range of difference than even
exists between men and apes. There are tt priori reasons
for this view as regards the human race ; but, apart from
these, the evidence collected by Mivart in his work, " Men
and Apes," while not, we think, available to show that
there is no kinship between the Simian and Human races,
seems only explicable on the assumption that the Simian
ancestors of man differed widely inter se.
34
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 11, 1881.
THE FIJI ISLANDS.*
THE ideas generally entertained respecting the Fiji
Islands and tlu'ir inlial)itants are not such as to
encourage the idea tliat life to white men would lie very
pleasant there. ProliaMy most persons, who have not
followed the clianges which liaVc recently taken place in
this important group of islands, suppose that the Fijians
are still, as they used to he considered, the most barbarous
of all the Polynesians, addicted frightfully to cannibalism,
and little changed from those who, as Herbert Spencer
puts it, possessed such " extreme loyalty," that if the
king willed it, a Fijian cheerfully stood unbound to be
knocked on the head. The days are passed, liowevcr,
when a Fijian king could register by a row of many
hundred stones the number of human \ictims he had eaten.
The Conservative Fijian sighs in vain for the good old
times when the king's will reigned supreme. A visitor has
now only to take with him, as Mr. Home did, a circular
letter of introduction written in Fijian to all the chiefs, to
find himself a welcome guest at (instead of upon) their
hospital>le tables. " In each village some one, generally
the schoolmaster, ' teacher,' or native clergyman was found,
who could read and explain the letter to the people, who
were at all times attentive listeners." The Sunday schools
are well attended, and most of the rising generation of
Fijians can do something in the way of reading, wTiting,
and ciphering. In fact, with a few g\iides and an inter-
preter, a little sugar, tea, coffee, and biscuits, mats for
sleeping upon, a rug or so, and a mosquito net, the visitor
can enjoy himself immensely in the Fiji Islands, as Mr.
Home's work shows in almost every page.
While the cool weather lasts, Europeans in Fiji can wear
with comfort clothing adapted to an English summer ;
" indeed, at this season, the weather is delightful, finer than
the best summer weather in England." In the hot weather,
it is true, the heat is oppressive, wliile storms of thunder
and heavy rain are more frequent than pleasant. With
reference to the rainfall, by the way, which even for a
tropical country is very hea\'y, Mr. Home notes a circum-
stance of considerable interest. " Previous to and during
1861-2 the low hills around Levuka were thiekly wooded.
Since that time the woods have been cut down, and the
number of days on which rain falls has been reduced
from 2.56, the average for 1861-2, to 149, the average for
186.5-6 and 1876-7. It would seem that the number of
showers diminished sinmltaneously with the cutting of
the trees. The average rainfall has not been much dimi-
nished, however, and with an annual rainfall of 118 inches
the Fijians may be well satisfied, especially as the rain falls
most abundantly during the warm or summer season, when
vegetation most requires it. It was absolutely necessary,
moreover, to clear the forest region, for the thick woods
afforded shelter to the mountaineers, who, on several occa-
sions, appeared in large numbei-s, and threatened to sack
the town and murder the white settlcr.s. "These marau-
ders came from Lasoni, in the centre of Ovalan, just across
the mountains from Levuka ; stole down upon the town,
plundered the goods of the settlers, and then made off into
the woods, where it was useless and dangerous to follow
them." Unfortunately, since the woods were cleared the
rain falls more torrentially than before, and carrying away
the loose soil on the surface, where the ground is steep,
does great damage to both soil and vegetation.
The Fiji Islands number in all 2.55, having an entire
• " A Year in Fiji : an inquiry into tlio Botanical, Agricultural,
and Economical reeonrcos of tlio Colony." By J. Home, K.L.S., &c.,
Director of Woods and Forests, and Botanical Gardens, Mauritius.
area of about 7,403 .square miles, or about 738,.350 acres.
The largest island of the group, Vili L(;vu, has an area of
4,112 s<iuare miles, while the next in size, Vau na Lcvu,
has an area of 2,432i square miles. The others are all
much smaller. Al^out eighty of the islands are inhabited,
the white population being about 2,000 (in 1874), the
natives nundjering about 140,.500. As regards communi-
cation with the outside world, Fiji is not badly off.
Twenty-four hours after the arrival of the mail from San
Francisco at Sydney, a fine steamer of 1,000 to 1,500 tons
leaves for Levuka, the voyage occupying seven or eight
days. The steamer remains at Levuka nearly a week, and
leaves with the mails for England in time for them to be
transhipped to one of the Peninsular and Oriental steamers
at Sydney. From Melbourne there is direct steam com-
munication with Suva and Levuka once every five weeks.
There is also regular steam communication between
Levuka and Auckland (New Zealand), and between
Levuka and the Friendly Islands. A visit to the Fiji
Islands during the cool season would be pleasant for any
one who enjoys change of scene ; but it is clear from Mr.
Home's book that the naturalist (especially the botanist)
would find such a visit at once interesting and profitable.
The natives are hospitable, as also (which is of more
importance, perhaps) are the white settlers. The Fijians
are daring sailors, and good customers to the boat-builders,
who have taken the place of the native canoe-builders.
The natives play a number of athletic games, among which
may be mentioned throwing the tinika, or reed, wrestling,
and a game which is something like tennis, a little like
cricket, and a great deal like skittles. Thej' throw the
tinika (an oval-shaped piece of wood about four inches long
and two in diameter at the thickest part) a distance of
about 300 yards, or thrice as far as our best cricketers can
throw a cricket^ball. The natives are subject to elephan-
tiasis, ajid consider their children neither strong nor healthy
till they have experienced an ulcei-ous disease, which they
call coko. A kind of ophthalmia is not tincommon, but it
lasts only a few days, both natives and settlei-s being
subject to it. The natives have succumbed in great
numbers to epidemics of measles, and many consider that
the population has, in consequence, become greatly
decreased. But Mr. Home considers that the many aban-
doned " patches " may indicate rather a change in the
habits of the people than a diminished population.
The animals indigenous to Fiji are Viats, flying foxes, and
a small rat. The ten species of snakes found there are all
harmless. Pigs, introduced from Tonga (where Cook left
them), run wild in the forests. There are wild ducks,
snipe, sand-pipers, wild pigeons, and beautiful golden
orange doves, as well as parrots or parroquets. Whales
and porpoises abound in the seas round the group, which
swarm with many kinds of fish, edible and otherwise.
Sharks aliound in the seas, and travel long distances from
the sea to the deep pools in the rivers, which must render
them less pleasant to bathers than they otherwise would be,
Mr. Home's book is full of interesting facts, and though
it has been specially written in response to an official in-
vitation, it will be fomid very pleasant reading. There is
a copious index — indeed, the index is a little too copious, a
passing word in the text being, in many cases, all that is
found to bear on a cai-efully-pagcd index heading. The
facts gathered together here are the fruits of a year of
faithful and laborious research.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Rheumatism and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for lltcmorrhoids (Piles),
Pond's Hitract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wc
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by aU Chemists. Qet the genuine.
[Abtt.
Nov. 11, 1881.]
• KNOWLEDGE *
35
JTEF . '.: "r-sr?f
IfttfrsJ to t()f emov.
{The Editor doe» not hold Mm$elf retpontihU for the opinions of Aw corretpondentt,
B.e cannot undertake to retur^n tnanutcripfg or to correrpond with their vriteTS. Se
rtquest* that all comrhunication* gkould tte on short af possible, conttnt&fttli/ icith full
and etear MtatemenUt qfthe vriter'a meaning.']
All Editorial eommunicatioHa ahould be addre$aed to the Editor <if Kxowledgb ;
all BuMineta communications to the Fublishers, at the Office, 7-1, Qreat Q,ueen-
street, W.C.
All Semittancef, Cheques, and Fott-OJice Orders should be made payalle to
Mestra. Wi/man 4" Sons.
•^•All Utters to the Editor mil be Xumbered. For convenience of reference^
eorrespondenta, vhen rtferritiff to any letter, icill oblige btf mentioning its number
and the page o» tchich it appears.
All Letters or Queries to the Editor tehich require atiention in the current issue of
Ksowi.BDaB, thould reach the Fubtiahing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication, _____^
" In knowledge, that man onlr is to be contemned and despiaed who is not in a
Btate of transition Xor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in making a mistake, but ^eat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebig. _____
©\\v (CoiTfSjpontinur Columns.
THE 1-INCH MAP OF THE ORDNANCE SURVEY.
[4] — From timo to time we hear expressions of admiration at
the beauty and fidelity of those maps of Great Britain and Ireland,
based upon that {^rcat Trigonometrical Survey, which really began
in 17S1. In fact, an "Ordnance 3Iap" is with many people a kind
of synonym for all that is topographically acciu-ate in the shape of
cartography. I venture, however, to express my belief that praise
is bestowed upon these maps — be it observed that I am now speak-
ing only of those on the scale of 1 inch to a mile— I say, I believe
it will be found that praise is bestowed upon them in the inverse
ratio of their employment for purposes where minute accuracy is
essential. I have said that the suney began in 1781, because it
was in that year that the Triangulation for correcting the Observa-
tories of Grecnmch and Paris was commenced by the measurement
by IGeneral Boy of his famous base of 27,10t feet on Uounslow
Heath. I believe, however, that what is now known as the
Ordnance Survey had its beginning in 1701, when proceedings were
initiated by the remeasurement of the base of which I have just
spoken, by Colonel Williams, Captain JIudge, and Mr. Dalby. As
an illustration of the maimer in which, up to a pretty recent period,
the maps on which I am commenting were ])rodnced, I may hero
say that one purchased within a comparativch' few years lies before
mo as I write, and bears npon the upper jiart of it the legend,
" Published 1st February, 1813, by Lieut. -Colonel Sludge, Tower."
Now, it is abundantly evident from this, that an old plate
must have been worked upon and patched up year after
year, alterations being engraved somewhere about the place
in which they had occnrrcii ; but, as I shall immediately
show, they seem to have been put in merely by eye, so
erroneous are a large proportion of the minor details when
tested with minute precision. To give a single illustration : the
mark + stands for a church ujaon these Maps ; but a query as to
■whether the intersection of the arms of the cross gives the site of
the spire (the conspicuous part from which it might well be sup-
posed that all measurements would be made) is always met at the
head office at Southanijiton by the reply that the cross is merely a
conventional sign, and does not represent any part of the church in
particular ! Another stock answer, too, to complainants at head-
quarters is that distortion arises from shrinkage in drying
the maps : such shrinkage being unequal, and dependent upon
the manner in which the maps are hung up to dry after
printing. Whence it would appear that after between 70 and
80 years' practice and experience, the combined science of the
entire staff at Southampton is ilnequal to provide for the equable
shrinking of a sheet of damp paper. I have been led into
these remarks by a recent piece of personal experience, in the
shape of the attempted identification of all the chief objects visible
from a height, by the aid of a 1-in. Ordnance Map and a 6-in.
transit theodolite. One observation will suffice to illustrate the
ground of my complaint. It is that of a large and conspicuous
church-tower, Si miles from the place of observation ; the angle
between which and the meridian differed 51', as measured by the
instrument and on the map ; 51', 8 J miles off, representing,
it is almost needless to add, about 7067 feet, or 235i yards. The
fact seems to be that, while the greater triangles have been sur-
veyed with all the refinements of Geodetical science, the filling in
of the details has been done " anyhow." I have, I verily believe,
seen quite as accurate plans made by pacing, and with an
ordinary prismatic compass. Such of the 25-in. maps as 1 havo
examined really do seem to afford remarkable examples of pains-
taking correctness; and I am informed that those on the 6-in. scale
are equally i^raiseworthy. Moreover, 1 learn that a new scries of
1-in. maps, reduced from this 6-in. survey, arc in tlie course of pub-
lication. If this be so, wo may live in hope that we shall some day
be in possession of a series of portable maps, vieing in accuracy
with those issued by the German and other Continental Govern-
ments. Meanwhile, let no one go into a shop to inirchase one of
the present 1-in. Ordnance Maps under the impression that he will
receive a rigidly correct chart of the region professed to be repre-
sented : because he will not.
A Feliow of the Royal Asteonomicai, Society.
IS THE SUN EOT?
[5] — Will you permit me to remark that " Anti-Gucbre's " letter
(No. 1., p. 15) is in some respects a repetition of an article of mine
entitled " The Astronomy of the Future," which appeared in Fraser's
Magazine, Nov., 1876, since published in a volume, "Pith," in
which I endeavoured to maintain that, in spite of the revelations of
the spectroscope, the theory that the sun is incandescent is wholly
untenable and improbable. My reasons for thinking so are given at
length in the paper mentioned ; but perhaps it may be as well to
repeat here that if we start with the supposition that the sun is a
gigantic galvanic battery, there can bo no more reason for believing
it to be red-hot, than there is for assuming that the battery we use
in our laboratory is a sort of fiu'nace.
Light and heat are surely phenomenal products, caused by
magnetic and electrical forces, in a state of intense activity, acting
U))on atmospheric conditions ; so that we are at perfect liberty to
maintain that Mercury need not be any warmer or more iUuminated
than is our earth or Jupiter. The sun may possess the power of
producing the phenomena of incandescence, without itself being
incandescent.
The inflammatory action apparent on the face of the sun may be
merely the chemical conversion of substance into force ; and if we
could see the working of a dilute acid on the surface of the
metallic plates in a galvanic battery, we should probably discover
on a minute scale a corresponding commotion to that which is so
conspicuous on the snn.
As stars differ from each other in their material composition, it
is only natural that the revelations they make of themselves in the
spectroscope should be also constitutionally different. — Yours, Ac,
Newton Ceosland.
[6] — You wish for more reasons in favour of the sun's being a
cold body. Why is it that, although we have reflected sunlight from
the moon, we do not see that light on its way to that body ?
Surely there would be a broad flood of effulgence along the heavens.
Tyro.
INFLUENCE OF SEX ON MIND.
[7] — Permit me to take exception to the title of the article
" Are Women Inferior to Men ?" To hold that woman's mind is,
like her body, naturally weaker than man's, does not imply absolute
inferiority. Overwhelming evidence to prove woman intellectually
weaker than man can be classed under five heads : — 1. Anatomical.
— Head-forms, shape of skull, size of brain. 2. Physiological.
— Woman is always, more or less, an invalid. Hence, if supposed
equal to man in intelligence, she is hearily handicapped by her
physical organisation. Sex must influence mind. 3. Historical.
— If the sexes are equal in mind, why has man's intellectual work
so far surpassed that of woman ? Why was not the alleged sexual
mental equality asserted and proved long ago ? 4. Daily Ex-
perience that women cannot argue, and never see more than rne
side of any question. 5. Woman's Superior Instinct; a decisive
proof that she has less reason than man.
The subject is highly interesting and important, as determining
woman's proper sphere and education. If permitted, I would
gladly place my views concisely before your readers.
N'j'c. 5. Yours, &c., J. McGeigoe Allan.
[Certainly. — Ed.]
THE NOVEMBER METEORS.
[8] — In your first number you invite correspondence, and I there"
fore make no apology for writing and suggesting that, as yoiu' pub-
lication is intended for begiimers in science, it might be an advantage
;36
KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 11, 1881.
if, in your next niimbpr, it wcro puintod out at what hour, and in
what iliix'i'tiun, iutonding obscrvorH shuulil look out for tho Norcmbpr
raotoiirH — thot is, as proposed in tho c-urrcnt number, uso " plain un-
toc'iniciil hinguoge" ; and mny I further suggest that (making uso
of your own two typical words), if you write about small-faced
or jiing-hcaded men, you would cnmhino with them tho technical
word : c.'j., " the race was dolichocephalic, i.e., long-headed." By
thi.H moans }-our readers will understand tho technical terms, without
referring to their lexicons, when they come across them in more
advanced books.
London, Nov. 9, 1881. A. T. C.
[The meteors of November 13-lt will hardly be seen this year.
If seen at nil, it will be after midnight, and they may equally well
he looked for in all parts of tho sky. — Eu.]
TUE EARTH'S INCLINATION.
[9] — It may seem a ridiculous question to ask you to answer, but
I can find no satisfaction in scientific primers. Will you kindly
toll mo, simply and clearly, the reason of this : — The earth's axis is
at an inclination of 2.3" (?) to the sun. Very good. Now suppose
tho northern hemisphere be nearer that body, if the earth should
spin around itself and the sun, why, when it gets on the opposite
side, will the northern hemisphere be turned from it ? Does the
bottom of the body move out [? move ne;xrer], while the top
rOLodes in its annual revolution ? TvEO.
SPEED OP AMERICAN ICE-YACUTS.
[10] — With reference to your reply to my query at p. 16, I must
confess that while I see the reasoning I had supposed conclusive
is not 80 in reality, yet I fail to understand how there can be any
driving-force on a vessel driven by the wind when her velocity is
equal to that of the wind. It seems to mo the observed fact that
an ioe-yncht travels faster than the wind can only be explained by
supposing that the wind comes occasionally in blasts much stronger
than the average force of the wind. A fierce blast might give an
ice-yacht a velocity much greater than tho average velocity of the
wind, and owing to the slight frictional resistance, she might retain
that velocity with very little loss until the next blast came.
Dpsilon.
[U] — An explanation of the great velocity attained by ice-yachts
is given in the August number of Scribner's Magazine. It runs as
follows : — An ice-yacht makes "the greatest speed on that course
in which she meets with the least air friction, receives the strongest
push of the wind in a forward direction, and yet does not lose the
wind too much by her own speed. This course is running free, with
the wind on the quarter, or about one hundred and thirty-five degrees
off her course. Suppose the boat heads north-west, while the wind
blows from the west. Now, her speed diagonally across the wind
causes her to receive the wind on the beam, as if it blew
from the north-west. She practically has a wind on tho
beam ; this offers but little air friction against her forward
motion. Tiio running-friction is so slight that the boat keeps lier
Q "way, the direction of the sail-
push is sufficiently fonvard to
be advantageous, and, lastly,
her diagonal coarse, partly
with and partly across the
wind, saves her from losing
too much of the wind's force
by her own speed. Suppose
that a twenty-knot breeze
blows from li to C, and that
she heads towards D, while the
wind, represented by the arrow
A, blows in a given time to C,
it carries the boat with it in
nearly the same time ; but as
she heads diagonally across
the wind, she is obliged to
run the long distance from B
to D, while the wind blows
only from B to C ; she there-
fore beats the wind. Uor
speed is limited only by the
loss or change of the wind
through the effects of her
own velocity. The greatest
velocity of an ice-yacht is
not recorded, because her finest runs occur either at unexpected
moments, or when she sails over unmeasured distances. But the time
over short and long courses lias often been taken. The distance
^
/
/
F /
^ /
s
W^^ > /
/
/
/
/
Rg.i
/
from New Uamliurg to Poughkoppsie is over seven milnn. The
Sn'iirjhde ran this course in seven minutes. This is the quickest
time on record ; but many winters the trip has been mode in from
nine to ten minutes. This speed is attained with a stiff breeze on
tho beam or on tho quarter, and when tho ice is tolerably smooth
and clear of im]iasBablc cracks. But an ice-yacht ver)' seldom
runs a straight course for even a mile. Various obstructions l^vo
to be avoided j the wind changes direction vcrj- often, and also
comes and goes in fitful puffs over the hills. The consequence is
that she makes a very crooked course at very uneven speed ; she
goes more than seven miles, and sails at her full speed daring umch
less than seven minutes. Probably she flies at times from eighty to
one hundred miles an hour. The speed of an ice-yacht, in working
to windward, which is her poorest course, is from ten to fifteen
miles an hour, against an eight or ten-knot breeze."
Yachtsiux.
[Thanks to "Yachtsman" for his interesting extract. I do not
think the explanation, however, is strictly satisfactory. What wo
want to have explained is just what the explanation takes for
granted, namely, tuhy the ship runs the longer distance BD, while
the wind has gone over the shorter distance EC. Any account
which simply says that she does, or that she is obliged to, can
hardly be regarded as an explanation. When we consider, too,
that with every change ofj her velocity there is a change in the
direction in which tho sail-pnsh acts, of which the above so-called
explanation takes no account, it must be admitted that it is open,
as an explanation, to objection. The explanation referred to by
" Upsilon," which I gave in the Kewcastle Weekly Chronicle, ran
somewhat on this wise : —
Lot AB be the centre line of the yacht (bow at B), CD her sail.
Let CE represent the yacht's velocity at any moment, the effect of
which is, of course, equivalent to the existence of a wind blowing in
direction EC, and having its velocity represented by EC. Let the
actual wind be in direction FE (which would be, if the yacht were
at rest, a wind on her quarter), and represented in velocity by FE.
Then, by the principle known as the " triangle of forces," we know-
that the effective wind comes in direction FC, and with a velocity
represented by FC. Now, we must resolve this into the two velo-
cities FG, perpendicular to the sail, and GC parallel to it ; of course
the resolved part GC corresponds to a wind which could have no
effect whatever, and therefore may be neglected. What remains is a
wind blowing with velocity FG square to the sail. This winl wo
resolve in turn unto two, one IIG, parallel to the yacht's course, the
other FH, perpendicular to it. The last has no effect in urging on
tho yacht, only inproducing lee way. The effective driving wind with
velocity HG remains, and nnless the accelerating force of this wind
is counterbalanced by frictional resistance, it will increase the yacht's
velocity, which already exceeds that of the wind. — Ed.]
ARE MEN'S HEADS SMALLER THAN OF YORE?
[12] — In a letter to your contemporary Nature, Mr. W. B.
Kesteven states that in the hat trade the opinion is prevalent that
within the last thirty or forty years the size of men's heads has
diminished. " The following statement," he says, " has been given
to me by a hatter, whose name has attained a pre-eminence lasting
more than a generation." " Five-and-thirty years ago, when I was
a young man, we used to purchase hats for retail trade in the fol-
lowing ratio : —
Sizes 21— 211— 22— 221— 23— 23Hnches
Relative number 0 — 1 — 2 — 4 — 3 — 1
At the present time," he adds, " I am selling hats in this ratio : —
Sizes 21-21J—22—221— 23— 23i inches
Relative number 3— -1 — 3— 1 — 1— 0"
.\ manufactm-or writes : — " I should say that heads generally are
two sizes less than at the time you refer to. A head of more than
twenty-four inches' circumference is now quite a rarity, whilst wo
Nov. 11, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
37
make thoasands of hats for heads with a circamference of aboat
twenty-one inches." " I have received similar statements," Sir.
Kesteven says, " from other members of the trade, both wholesale
and retail. The statement comes to me not only from men of ex-
['L'rience in the trade, but from men of intelligence and observation
iNccrcised beyond the limits of the shop or the factory. It is, I am
informed, extensively believed among batters ; it may, nevertheless,
be merely a general impression. The diminution, it is said, is ob-
served mostly among grooms and men of that class in the social
scale. If this be really the case, the change shonld be noticeable
also among soldiers. The diminntion is possibly more apparent
than real, and may be traceable to alteration in the style of hair-
cutting, or of wearing the hat. It has been suggested to mo that
men of the present generation have from birth smaller heads, de-
pendent upon an alteration in the dimensions of the female pelvis,
in consequence of modem fashion in dress. Of this opinion, however,
I obtain no contirmation from eminent obstetricians of whom I have
made inquiries. The statement, then, as it stands, is wanting in
explanation, and calls for farther investigation." Mr. Kesteven
quotes the reply sent him by Professor Flower to his question as to
the statement made by the hatters, " that men's heads were smaller
than they were twenty years ago" : —
" Before drawing any important conclusion from such a state-
ment, it would be necessary to know much about the authority upon
which it is made. Who, for instance, are the hatters that make it ?
Do all hatters concur in the same statement ? Is it a mere general
impression, or is it founded upon actual arithmetical data 't Does
it refer to any particular class of men, and does it refer to the same
class of men ? If it should be true, may it not arise from some
change of fashion, if only founded upon the size of the hat, and
not of the head) other even than the one you suggest of hair
being worn shorter — such as hats being worn more on the top of
the head than formerly (in old-fashioned prints one sees the hat
■well down over the ears, which is certainly not the case now), or,
perhaps, hats of the kind specified being now worn by a different
(perhaps lower) class of the community, or by younger people ?
All these questions mnst be considered, and, perhaps, other sources
of error eliminated which may not occur at first, before the state-
ment can be accepted. If the evidence of the statement appears
to bear investigation, it wonld be well worth while following it up,
as, if true, it would be one of the most remarkable facts ivith
■which I am acquainted, that in the space of twenty years a
material diminution in the average size of the heads of the same
population had taken place — a fact so contrary to all theory and
to all experience."
Professor Flower's opinion seems to me very much to the point.
I may note, in addition, that the different material of which hats
were made thirty years ago may have something to do with the
supposed change. Those who remember the heavy beavers of that
period will hardly doubt, I think, that they must have been worn
more loosely-fitting than the lighter hats of the present time.
Can any readers of K.nowxepge throw Hght on this subject ? Con-
sidering that the hope of the future lies much in our growing men
with larger heads than now, it would be a serious matter were the
hitters right.
Are grooms and men of that kind drawn now from the same
classes as of old ? May not the jest of those classes now seek
better employment ? Or may not emigration have had something
to do with the supposed change ? — Tours, Ac,
CESEBBtm.
[The question raised by Mr. Kesteven seems to ns of considerable
interest, though it is utterly nnUkely that within so short a time,
any change, such as hatters suppose, can really have taken place in
the size of men's heads — even if, which is almost as unlikely, any
change in the direction suggested is going on at all. We may men-
tion one circumstance, which, however, would hardly affect grooms.
Wigs were certainly more commonly worn thirty years ago than
now, and wigs in those days were wigs indeed. TTie average size
of hats must have been quite appreciably greater in those times on
that account alone, wo should imagine. It is, however, really true
that hats of 23i inches are no longer kept in stock ? We should have
supposed, from our own observation, that in any 'good hat-shop
a hat of 2-t inches could generally be obtained. This leads us to
consider another point. Possibly hatters measured heads differently
in former times than at present. If they measured rotmd the head
then, instead of taking, as now, the two diameters of the cranial
oval, they wonld certainly have had a higher average for the circuit
of the head. Any one who has examined the head-shapes in
American hat-shops will know that nine heads out of ten are quite
irregularly shaped. We have seen some having an outline more
like a long oblong than the oval which a well-shaped head should
have. But taking the case of a regular oval (or egg-shape), or even
a truly elliptic head, the true circumference wauld be somewhat
greater than that inferred from the hatter's reckoning. Take, for
instance, a head section having diameters 6 and 7 ; then, if I
remember rightly, the hatter would call the circumfcreuce 3 times
Ci inches +1 inch (i.e., an inch moro than three times the mean
between the two diameters), or20t inches. Now the actual circum-
ference would be in the case of an ellipse —
l- * ao 6-1 (49)' ^
143303
49
31416
21952
or 20'58 inches ; that is, nearly a tenth of an inch longer. In the
case of an oval shape the difference would be about a tenth and a
half, while, in the case of an irregular head, it would be ftilly a
quarter of an inch. Where the section of the head is long
(dolichocephalic), the difference between the estimated and the
measured circumference would be much greater. — Ed.]
THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.
[13] — 1 am told that in a magazine article which appeared some
time since, yon have attempted to show that there are positions in
the Fifteen Puzzle from which the won position can never be ob-
tained. As I believe that the won position can be obtained from
any position whatever, including that in which the numbers 13, 15,
14 appear in that order on the last line, I should like to know how
the reverse has, in your opinion, been demonstrated. — Boss.
[I thought the Fifteen Puzzle was dead, and hoped I had had
some share in killing the time-absorbing monster. (It is an excel-
lent puzzle, by-the-way, except when the puzzled ones try to do
impossible things with it.) I have no doubt " Boss" has succeeded
in obtaining, from the losing position he names, or others of the
same class, what he regards as a won position. For instance, he
may have obtained the arrangement —
1 1 j 2 1 3
4 1 5 j el 7 1
8 1 9 1 10 1 11
12 1 13 1 14 1 15
or some other, which seems as satisfactory to him as the true won
position. But he cannot have obtained this last. The proof wonld
occupy too much space to be given here. But " Boss " may try
this. Taking any positions at random, let him take the fifteen
nimibers one after another as they occur, and for each let him
count how many come after it which ought to precede it (running
along the linesin the way in which wo read the lines of a book, or
as the numbers ruu in the won position). Let him add together all
the numbers he thus obtains, and call the result the " total displace-
ment." This number ■will be cither odd or even. The vacant
square ■will be either on an odd line (the first or third) or on an even
line (the second or fotirth), or, for convenience of expression, say
the vacant square ■svill be either odd or even. Now, he will find
that if the "total displacement" and vacant square are both odd
or both even, so they will remain after any change he may make by
sliding a block, after two such changes, after three, in fine, after
any number of legitimate sliding changes. If the " total displace-
ment" is odd and the vacant square even, or vice versi, so will
they be after any number of legitimate sliding changes. (" Boss "
will readily see the raisnn d'etre of this, after examining a few
cases.) No amount of changes, then, will cause the " total displace-
ment" and the vacant square to be both even or both odd, unless
they were so at the outset. As they have to be both even in the
won position (for which the total displacement isO, an even number,
and the vacant square on the fourth, an even line, whereas, when
the last line runs 18, 15, 14, the total displacement is odd and the
vacant square even) no amount of changing ivill bring the losing
position, mentioned by " Boss," to the true won position.
In the article referred to I showed that what, as I have above said,
will be found on trial in any given cases, must be universally true.
I also showed, in a part of the article which most readers found
rather tough reading (there were several misprints, too, the article
having been written when I was in Australia), that from any posi-
tion any other of the same class, either losing or winning, can be
attained. As there are more than ten millions of each kind, it is not
wonderful that the proof of this general proposition was not
altogether simple.
It is singular to think that though probably not fewer than
twenty milhons of persons tried the Boss Puzzle, probably not a
3S
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 11, 1881.
Iiuiiili-odlli of tlicm\iltitiidinnu!i iiositionsof wliich thopuzzli' admits
were occupied ninDiig all tho po!<iii(>nH (set up, nttninod, or pofsod
thruiif;li) ill the thoiiHnnds of iiiillioiiR of trials tlioKo iiiiilioDa made.
If " Ijosg" ia not content, let him try tlio easier task of briiij^inf;
oi^lit blocks from tlio position slion-n in Fig. 2 to that shown in
Fig. 3.
1 2(3
4 5 G
8 7 1
1 1 2
3
4 1 5 1 6
7 8
1 1
FiR. 2. Fig. 3.
This is a lesii complicated task than that of the original "Boss"
puzzle, for instead of more than 10,000,000, there are only 181,4'10
losing positions in a nine-square puzzle. Or he might trj' to cliange
from
! 1 I 2
4 I 5
There are only 360 losing positions in a six-square puzzle. Or finally
where ho has only twelve
losing positions to trouble him. He will see nt once that the last
task is an impossible one ; but he may rest assmcd it is not more
completely so than the others, and it wastes much less time. — Ed.]
(BmYit$.
[1] — Ultima Tnri.E. — One often finds the expression Vltima
Thule used as if indicating the remotest known regions of the earth.
Where in classical authors is this expression used, and in what
sense? — Alpha Sigma.
[2]— A Fifteen Puzzle.— Most of your readers are no doubt
familiar with the puzzle how to send out fifteen school-girls walking,
three and three, so that during seven successive walks no two of
them sliall be more than once in the same set of three. Is there
any mathematical treatment of this puzzle corresponding to the
mathematical treatment of jiermutations and combinations ? It
seems to me that there should be. For instance, one might begin
by showing that nine pei-sons could walk out three and tliree (with
the same restriction) for four successive days, and then apply the
method of demonstrative induction to show that if 3 {'.in — 1) pei-sons
can be arranged to walk ont in the required manner on (3h — 2)
different days, then also 3 (2n x 1) persons may be arranged in the
required way on (3n xl) different days. It will be obvious that
the number of persons must be of the form 3 (2«±1) ; that is, tlu-ee
times some odd number. The successive numbers to bo dealt with
are, therefore, 3, 9, 15, 21, ic, and the number of days in which
the three can go out in the required way arc respectively 1, 4, 7, 10,
&c. — BlSTICUS.
[3]— Flight of Bikds. — Is it the case or not, that the flight of
birds is greatly aided by the presence of warm, and, therefore, light
air in the air passages of the bones ? — AiiEiAL.
[4]— The Eabth's Inclixation.— In diagrams explaining the
season's differences, the figure of the earth is shown to rotate on an
oblique axis. Were it to rotate on an upright axis, would not per-
petual summer reign at the poles, mth greater heat at the equator ?
MOONSTEDCK.
[5]— Hot Wi.vns, Cause of ?— The difficulty is as to the force
from front or bock which will overbalance the tendency to rise over
the hot area. Take the case of a Mediterranean sirocco, why is
there not rather an iiii-ush to the hot sandy plains ? — L. S.
^[C] — Lying To. — Wanted, diagram of forces when a ship lies to,
1° under sale, 2° under steam. — L.S.
[7] — Flying Bridge. — Wanted, diagram of foi-ce.i, arrangement
of rubber, position of ropes, when tho vessel has passed the middle
of the river. — L. S.
[SJ — Volume of Sphere. — Is there any simple vmy of showing
that the volume of a sphere is two-thirds that of the enclosing
cylinder I-' — AncniMEnEAN.
[9] Srx-i>iAL. — Can any of the readers of Kxowleiice dcscrib*
any method of constructing a sun-dial by which the error arising
from the shadow not being sharj) may be got rid of ? — Bolab Tike.
[10] The Zoetrope.— In the zoetropc wo gel a series of picturec
of a moving body, showing it in a certain number of jiositions from
among the infinite number that it passes through in accomplishing
the movement illustrated. Can any one explain how it is that thjt
impression conveyed to the mind by this incomplete series of view*
is that of continuous motion ? It seems to me that we ought to
recognise a certain jcrkiness in the apparent movement. But ill
well-arranged xoetropic illustrations no jcrkiness can be noticed. —
Zulu.
A Cabco of Human Bone.s. — New York, Sept. 14. A special
from London says : — A great sensation was caused at Bristol hj
tho discovery of a cargo of three hundred tons of human bones
being discharged there to the order of a local firm engaged ia
manufacturing manure. The bones were shipped from Rodosto, at
Constantinople, and arc 8U])posed to be the remains principally of
the defenders of Plevna. There are complete limbs among the
horrible cargo, and in some cases the hair still adheres to the skulls.
Peter Cooper saj'S it is a common thing among the British to
buy human bones. " In fact, they will take all they can get at any
time and from any part of the world. They use them for mano^
ing their lands. I have often heard it said that England was
manured with bones taken from tho battle-field of Waterloo. There
is no finer to be bad." — Nciv York Herald.
Science in the Police Couet.* — At Bow-street last week, Mr.
Waddy, Q.C., attended before Sir James Ingham, with Mr. Besley
and Mr. Bernard Coleridge, to applj- for a summons under the Vivi-
section Act, against an eminent professor of science. Special
reference was made to the subsections providing for a licence to be
granted to any one practising vivisection, and for the administration
of some anaesthetic of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling
any pain during the experiment. If pain was likely to continue
after the effect of the anaesthetic had ceased, or any serious
injury was inflicted on the animal after the experiment, it was
to be killed before it had recovered from the effects of tho
anaesthetic. When it was desired to extend the experiments.
for a lengthened period, it was necessary to procure a certifi-
cate authorisirg the extension of the experiments, and tho
summons was asked on the ground that this provision in the Act
had not been complied with. In support of the application tho
learned counsel read extracts from a report in the Lancet ou
cerebral localisation, the subject having been brought under the
notice of the recent International Medical Congress. One of the
speakers was Professor Goltz, who had ex])erimented upon two dogs
by exposing the surface of tho animals' brains, and washing away
large portions of the substance by subjecting it to the action of a
powerful stream of water. With reference to tliis experiment.
Professor Ferrier has expressed his views upon the subject and
gave details of some experiments he had made upon two monkeys.
These animals had been operated upon some months previously,
definite motor paralysis being procured in one, and in the other
absolnte and perfect deafness. The animals subjected to these ex-
periments were jjroduccd by each of the ])rofe.ssor3, Professor Golti
asserting that he had removed the gi-eater part of both hemisi)heres,
includingall the sii])iK)Scd motor and sensory areas. That the operative
procedures to which the animals had been subjected had been exten-
sive was quite obvious upon examination of the skulls, large gaps in
the continuity of the upper and external walls of which were felt.
Saring some clumsiness in its movements, one of the dogs showed
but little signs of injuiy. It appeai-ed possessed of considerable in-
telligence, and certainly did not suggest to the onlookers t hat it was
a dog demented. In startling contrast were the two monkeys ex-
hibiied by Professor Ferrier. One of these had been oiH^ratcd upon
in the middle of January, the left motor area having been destroyed.
There bad resulted from the operation right-sided hemiplegia, wfth
conjugate deviation of eyes and head. Facial paralysis was at first
well marked, but ceased after a fortnight. From the first there had
been paralysis of the right leg, though the animal >vas able to lift
it uj). Its arms it had never been able to use. Lately rigiditj- of
the muscles of the paralysed limbs had been coming on. The other
monkey, as a conseciuencc of jiaralysis of its auditory centres, was
apjiarcntly entirely unaffected by loud noises, as by the firing of
porcussion-ca])s in close proximity to its head. — From the Times.
* Tho report would be somewhat clearer if it were not taken
throughout fi>r granted that the readers must necessarily be medical
students. Why should not paralysis of the right side be written,
instead of right-sided hemijdegia P wrj-neck and squinting for " con-
jugate deviation of eyes and head?" The " motor and sensory
areas " are, of course, those parts of the brain which are supposed
to regulate respectively the movements and the sensation.
Nov. 11, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
39
UNHEALTHY HOUSES.*
IX an interesting lecture at the London Institution, Prof. F. de
Chauniont mentions the following causes of disease : —
(1 ) Want of renewal of air in om- rooms.
(2) The pollution of the house aii- by admixture with sewer
emanations.
(3) The contamination of our water supply.
He says that could arrangements bo effectually carried out
in our dwellings for removing these causes of disease, certain
much^lrended maladies might disappear altogether. '' But we
must further remember," he proceeds, "that it is not death alone
we hare to dread, terrible as its effects often are in a house-
hold. For every case, we have to bear in mind, argues a con-
siderable number of cases of illness, which, even if recovered
from, may leave consequences behind them sufficient to affect
the health of a lifetime, and to diminish the power of the
sufferer for the work he has to do. The duration of illness alone is
often a serious break in the life of a professional man, artisan, or
labourer — a break which in some cases may mean the difference
between comfort and penury, or between a successful career and a
struggle for existence." " I think I shall bo understating the case,"
he says. '' when I say that each case of death argues about a dozen
cases of illness, although the number is somewhat less in the severer
diseases, such as enteric fever, which is fatal in one out of six cases,
and diphtheria, which kills one out of three." Taking even these,
however. Prof, de Chaumont shows that in London alone from
50.000 to 00,000 weeks of productive labour are totally lost to the
community from illness due almost entirely to the unhealthiness of
our house.*.
The lecture was delivered for the pm-pose of bringing before the
public the subject of sanitary assurance, and to advocate the cause
of the Sanitary Assurance Association, founded in Xovember, 1880.
The objects of the Association are as follow : —
" The practical application of Sanitary Science generally, and
especially the encouragement and development of proper systems of
house-drainage, water supply, and ventilation.
'■ The examination, inspection of, and reporting on houses and
buildings, or plans of houses and buildings, either erected, in course
of erection, or to be erected, as regards their sanitary arrange-
ments; the supervision by the officers of the Association of any
work done, or to be done, by or on behalf of the members of or
subscribers to the Association in coimection with the sanitary con-
dition of such houses or buildings ; and the granting of certificates
relative thereto.
" The publishing of reports on matters connected with the pro-
.irress of sanitary science in the United Kingdom and abroad, and
the distribution at the end of each year of any surplus funds, or
part of any surplus funds, to such institutions as are devoted to the
advancement of sanitary science."
If there is one application of science in which all should be
interested, it is the endeavour to diminish disease and suffering.
Were there no nobler reason, sheer selfishness might well cause all
men who claim to be reasoning beings to join, each to the best of
his abilities, in helping the cause of sanitary reform. But this is
in truth a case where the good of each is the good of all.
That the objects of the Association may be the bettor effected, it
has been formed of two classes — (I) Members who arc responsible
to a certain amount for the necessaiy expenses of the Association,
and who have a voice in the management of its affairs ; (2) Sub-
scribers who incur no liability, and who will take no part in the
management of the Association.
The Asscciation not being formed for executing works, leaves the
members and subscribers to employ any person they may select to
carry out the recommendations of its officers.
llcmbers and subscribers alike contribute an entrance-feo of
half a guinea and an annual subscription of half a guinea, or a life-
snbscription of five guineas, and on payment in accordance with the
graduated scale, they arc entitled to have one house in London
placed on the Assurance Register. The fees for houses outside the
metropolitan district mil be increased according to distance. The
secretary of the Association is Joseph Hadley, Esq., 5, Argyll-place,
Begent-street, W.
PLAIN WORDS IN SCIENCE, t
IN making use of language to express otir thoughts, we ought to
be sure — (1) That the words used really express the idea
which it is wished to convey ; (2) that they are the shortest ; and
* " Sanitary Assurance," a Lecture by Prof, de Chaumont. (J. &
A. Churchill, London.)
t From an Address by Dr. George Tivian Poore, F.H.C.P., Prof,
of Medical Jurisprudence, University College.
(3) that they are the most familiar words which are available.
Words must be as objective as possible, i.e., they should bring the
subject with the utmost rividncss before the mind's eye ; and,
therefore, those words to which the eye, and the ear, and the mind
had been accustomed for the longest time (vernacular terms used
from infancy) were the best ; and, other things being equal,
the shortest words were the best. If the advantages of expressing
themselves simply were so obWous, why, it would be asked, do men
continue to use the polysyllabic gibberish which passes cm-rent as
the language of science, but which proves that they have not yet
come to a right comprehension of the scientific use of language ?
By using a language " not understanded of the people " for
the expressing of scientific facts, they undoubtedly seriously
curtailed the area from which they drew their scientific
recruits ; and he took it that one explanation of the scien-
tific fervotir which pervaded the whole of Germany was to be
found in the fact that scientific terms were in that country
very largely derived from the German vernacular, and that he who
only knows the German language was not necessarily confronted in
a German scientific book with words which comiiellod him to close
the volume almost as soon as ojicned with a sigh of helplessness
and hopelessness. It must be admitted that our long words had
not hitherto been of much use as a means of international commu-
nication. For international communication they must make them-
selves familiar with each other's languages. That was certain.
And it was manifestly of importance that each nation should try
to keep its language pure, in order that it might be the more easily
learned. The practice of concubinage with the dead languages
merely had the effect of producing a mongrel language (as un-
productive as are all other mules), of huge bulk and monstrous
form, which has to be learnt as an additional study. It
seems to be the pitiable ambition of some writers to seize
upon a trifling fact, and to give it the longest name they can in-
vent with the aid of a lexicon. Some, possibly, are under the
impression that their dictionaiy-made expressions may gain for
them a reputation for classical learning. They cannot afford, as
did John Hunter, to rely for their reputation upon the facts which
they discover, who, when he was twitted with his want of know-
ledge of Greek and Latin, wrote thus characteristically to a friend;
" Jesse Foote accuses me of not understanding the dead languages ;
but I could teach him that on the dead body which he never knew
in any language dead or li^"ing." The defence has lately been put
forward for scientific jargon that eveiy trade or profession must
have its own technical terms. He confessed he could not see the
necessity. The tailor, as far as he knew, derived no advantage
from calling his smoothing-iron a "goose" ; and seamanship is not
advanced because a sailor's " companion " is one thing at sea and
another thing on shore. It seemed to him that technical terms
ought, as far as possible, to be discouraged, because the coining
of new words when they are not wanted, and the giving of
strange and cosventional meanings to common words, must
increase the difficulty of acquiring any art or handicraft.
Among unworthy motives which had induced them to ' have long
words, must be reckoned the desire to appear more learned than
they were. There was in human nature a tendency which was
expressed by the words, Orane ignotum pro magnifico — a tendency
to put an undue value upon the unknow-u. It was this natural ten-
dency which led the hero of Warren's famous novel, " Ten Thousand
a Year," to make the fatal experiment of applying to his hair the
pomade called " Cyanochaitanthropopoion," and it was the same
tendency which led the public to buy anything, no matter how
common or how worthless, to which the vendor had given a name
which was utterly incomprehensible to them. By pandering to this
tendency he doubted not that medical terms had been in reality an
unspeakable, though delusive, comfort to the public ; and that the
lady who was told by the physician " that there was still in her
husband's Itmg a perceptible amount of ' whispering pectoriloquy,'
although the ' tegophony ' had happily completely disappeared,"
derived from the information the same kind of consolation as did
the old woman who, listening to a deep and learned sermon by her
rector, foimd solace in " that blessed word Mesopotamia." — Times.
TRUSTING TO LUCK
IT is worthy of notice how little those who trust most to chance
understand of the laws of chance. This is shown in hundreds
of different ways, but by none, perhaps, more than by the strange
selections made by the venturesome among the various methods in
which they may risk their money : their preference for this or that
form of risk, rather than for some other, is scarcely ever based on
any real advantage which one form has over the other. Ask a
gambler, for instance, to pay £1 for a ticket in a lottery where there
are a thousand equal chances and but one prize of £1,000, and he
■K)
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. II, 1881.
will K'o^l'y P")' tbo money. Ho would most probably not refuso
even if there were two thonsand C(|iml chances, ond the prize were
still but £1,000, though the real viiliio of the ticket would bo but
10.1. If, however, yon neked him to pny £1 for the chnnce of Retting
£1,000 if n tossed coin comes up head eight times running, ho will
reject (probably with ridicule) tlio idea of accepting it. Yet in
reality the offer is a far better one than the other. Ho ought to par
very nearly .C2 for the chance ofTored him for £1 (the ciact valneof
till- chance is£l. 19s. OJd.). Or the " eight times running " might bo
changed to " nine times running" if tho £1,000 prize were increased
to £1,03-1, and the second offer would then bo as fair as tho other.
Hut the game gambler who thinks ho is quite likely, owing to his
luck, to draw the right ticket out of a thousand, would utterly
despair of tossing head nine times running.
" Inxeeaskd knowledge confers an increased feeling of duty, and
increased power to perform it." — ilaudsley.
The Cedars op Lebaxon. — The Vienna I'olitische Correspondem
says : — Tho once famous cedar forest of Lebanon, formerly so ex-
tensive, has dwindled do^vn to the dimensions of a mere thicket,
numbering about 40O trees. To save it from complete destruction
and preserve it at least in its present extent, Kustem I'asha, the
Governor-General of the Lebanon, has issued a special ordinance,
containing a series of stringent regulations calculated to check, if
not quite put a stop to, the vandalism and carelessness of most
travellers. It is expressly forbidden to put np tents or other kinds
of shelter within the district of the trees, or to light fires or to cook
any provisions in their vicinity. No one is allowed to break off a
bough or even a twig from the trees. It is forbidden to bring any
beasts of burden, be they horses, mules, asses, or any other kind of
animal, within the district. Should oxen, sheep, goat, or other pas-
turage cattle be found within the prescribed limits, they wiU be
irredeemably confiscated.
Professional Astronojiers and Popular Astronoits'. — Wc are
inclined to doubt whether the official chiefs of great observatories
are, as a rule, the persons best fitted to write treatises on popular
astronomy. Ttis not that they are unwilling to deal with astronomy
in a popul.ir manner. On the contrary, they are apt to adopt too
familiar and condescending a tone, as if writing for children. But
in reality, their astronomical labours, whether in the observatory or
in the calcnlating-room, are not adapted to give them that know-
ledge of the general science of astronomy, without which no man
can present a.stronomical truths at once simply and effectively.
Their work bears the same relation to the real living astronomy of
men like tho Herschcls that land-surveying bears to geology as
dealt with by a Button, a Playfair, or a Lyell. They find more
interest, as a rule, in the correction of a star's place by the tenth of
a second of arc than in the inquiry into the star's attributes as a
sun. A pcrturliation affecting the moon's position by the hundredth
part of her diameter is more important to them than telescopic
evidence of the most tremendous changes in the moon's surface
would be. In fine, their way of viewing the heavenly bodies some-
what resembles the way in which a certain Senior Wrangler is said
to have viewed Snowdon, who, when asked if he had climbed that
mountain, replied that he had not, because a neighbouring hill was
equally suit-able for trigonometrical purj^oses- The astronomy thus
taught differs as widely from the astronomy of the Herschels as a
series of anatomical plates differs from the Venus of Milo or the
Theseus and Ilyssus of the Parthenon.
Toe Induction Balance applied to Si'kgery. — It was stated in
the Timea of Aug. 5 that the place of the bullet in President
Garfield's body had been localised by tho use of tho induction
balance. The i>ost-mortem examination seems to have shown that
the diagnosis was incorrect. Tho Times Correspondent at the Paris
Electrical Exhibition makes the following remarks on the subject,
which are interesting as including a concise and sufficiently simple
account of the method in question. "I am convinced," he says,
" that if tho experiments were conscientiously carried out there
conld be no error. A remarkable confirmation of the utility of the
apparatus as a means of diagnosis has just come to my notice, but
1 will first give a short account of the action of the instrument. A
current of electricity is passed through two coils of insulated wire,
which are kept apart. The current is rapidly made and broken by
clockwork. Above each coil is a second similar coil of insulated
wire, and every time that a current is made or broken in the first
pair of coils a second current is induced in the secondary
coils. These secondary coils are connected together and to a
telephone, and the currents induced in cither coil tend to
produce a noise in tho telephone. But these coils arc so
connected as to induce currents in opposite directions in the tele-
phone, so that under ordiuary circumstances they destroy each
other, anil no noise is heard in the telephone. If, however, a piece
of metal be placed inside one of tho coils, the character of the
induction is changed in that coil, and the balance is destroyed, so
that a noise is heard in the telephone. The amount of noise depends
upon the form, mass, and conductivity of the metal placed inside.
By choosing pieces of metal all of the same tize. but differing in
their composition, it is possible to compare tho conducting powers
of the metals. A long scale of metal, wedge-shaped, is moved along
above the coil which does not contain the metal to bo tested, until
the thickness of the wedge over one coil is sufficient to balance the
metal inside thcothercoil. Thereadingof the scale on the wedge then
gives a measure of the conductivity. Some most astonishing results
have been thus obtained. It is found that pure copper electrically de-
posited has a conducting power far greater than the copper of com-
merce, the difference being far greater than was generally supposed.
I will now describe the experiment which has just been completed.
Mr. Elisha Gray, of America, whose name is so well known in con-
nection with the telephone and the harmonic telegraph, was a
disbeliever in the utility of the induction balance as a surgical
appliance. Ho said to Professor Hughes, ' Thirty years ago, when
working at some metal-work, a filing of iron entered my finger; the
more I tried to extract it the deeper it went in. I believe it is still
there, and if your instrument is of any value, you ought to be able
to tell mo in which finger it is.' The presence of bone or flesh in
the coil of the balance wonid produce no effect ; a metal or other
conductor is necessary. Professor Hughes tested Mr. Gray's fingers ;
none of them gave any sound until he came to the forefinger of the
right hand, when the balance of the coils was quite destroyed, and
a noise was given out. This was the very finger in which the filing
was buried thirty years ago. I need hardly say that Mr. Gray was
completelj' convinced."
■WE.\TnER Forecasts. — That the daily forecasts issued from the
Meteorological Office are often wrong I need not say. \\Tiy they
are so is simply because general disturbances in the atmosphere
only are taken into consideration, local disturbances being ignored.
And so long as the forecasts are based solely upon the distribution
of barometrical pressure this cannot be otherwise. When there is
no distinctly-developed area of high or low pressure lying over the
country or approaching our shores, the forecasts must be made at
random, for the observer has nothing whatever to guide him in his
prediction. He may say "wind light and variable." or "calm," or
" weather unsettled " ; but such forecasts are liable to falsification
in many districts through the operation of local influences. A little
hurricane may start np in one spot, rain m.ay pour in another, and
a thunderstoi-m may burst over a third, all unexpectedly, and the
observers in the Meteorological Office could not possibly have been
expected to warn the afflicted districts. I think, then, the import-
ance of local meteorology cannot be exaggerated. The distribution
of rainfall over the British Isles sufficiently shows the potency of
physical conditions, but a more striking example is found in the
fact that within a radius of twelve miles around Somersham Rail-
waj- Station (Huntingdonshire) hailstorms are so frequent and
destructive that all the insurance companies charge double the
ordinarj' rates per acre on crops growing within that district.
Violent winds, too, are often due to local causes. An instance of
this came undtr my notice some years ago in the Isle of Man, when
a violent gale blew over Ramsey from the westward, the air a couple
of miles to the north being almost still all the time. The storm
rushod along the base of North Barmle, lashing the bay into foam,
and apparently becoming dissipated out at sea. The afternoon
on which this occurred was bright and almost cloudless,
and the storm maintained its fury for several hours. Such
local disturbances may be quite as destructive as more
general ones, and forecasts, to be of any practical use, onght
certain!}- to take cognisance of the causes which produce them. To
render forecasts as reliable as onr present knowledge can make
them, I would suggest that a local obscr\-er be appointed in each
district to act in concert i\-ith the Meteorological Office, and to base
the forecasts upon the information and charts supplied by that
office, su]iplemcnted by his own knowledge of local conditions and
influences. Every district has its system of natural weather signs
dependent upon its physical features, and experienced farmers, and
others who have given attention to them, can predict tho weather
with far greater certainty than the functionaries in London. There
was a time when natural signs were our only aid to a foreknowledge
of the weather, but since the invention of telegraphy and the con-
sequent discover}- of cyclonic movements in the atmosphere, the
cat has been discarded and the barometer put in her place. Why
not use both ? Theoretical meteorology, so to call it, determines
the general distribution of wind and weather over tho country ;
local meteorolog}-, the p.articular kind of weather in a district. The
one is tho complement of the other ; and in order to obtain the best
result they should be used accordingly, the one supplying what tho
other lacks. — J. A. VTestwood Oliver in the " Times."
I
Nov. 11, 1881.]
KNO^VLEDGE
41
(JPur €!)rs!s Column.
WE propose to consider the chess openings in the following
general order : —
First we eholl examine the best methods of attack and defence
following from
P. to K.4. Kt. to K.B.3. ,„.,„.,, ^
2. or the King's Knight's Opemn'j.
■ P. to K.4.
Nest we shall examine those following from
P. to K.4. ^ B. to Q.B.4.
Prto K.4.
or the King's Bishop's Opening.
Wo shall then take the King's Gambit, examining first the
varioae forme of the opening which follow from
J P. to K.4. 2 P- to K.B.4 3 Kt. to K.B.3
■ P. to K.4 ■ P. takes P.
the King's Knight's Gamiit. Then those following when White plays
3. B. to Q.B.4
the King's Bishop's Gamhit.
P. to K.4
P. to K.4
We shall then consider other openings following from 1 .
Kt O B 3 P O B 3
,v> 2. — '^' the Vienna »pening j 2. '^' the Q's Bishop's
P to 0 4
Pawn Opening ; 2- ^' the Centre Gambit, and so forth.
Next we shall o\amine the chief openings resnlting from
. P. to Q.4 „ P. to Q.B.4 ^, ^^ . /. V •,
1- =r ~- i- 2: the QtiecTi s Gambxt.
P. to Q.4
.Vnd lastly, we shall examine the various openings called Irregular,
which include all openings beginning otherwise than 1.
P. to Q.4
°^^'fr~L — ^~7 ^'^ may note in passing that some of these so-
r. to Q.4
Palled irregular openings deserve in reality to be regarded as more
rpgnlar, becan.ee steadier and surer, than many of the openings
classed as regular.
We do not propose to give a deep analysis of any of these open-
ings, because our wish is to be of ase to the many, not to cater for
those who are already first-class players. We wish, in fact, to give
just so much of what is called book-knowledge of chess as may
enable amateur chess-players to start each game on sound chess
[irinciples. We wish also to show how, when they meet opponents
(if superior book-knowledge, they may avoid those openings in
Mhich book-knowledge alone can save them from disastrous defeat.
We shall occasionally deviate from this course to discuss the
various points illustrating general principles of play, as such
points may bo suggested by communications received from our
correspondents.
King's Knight's OrENi.sG. (Two Knights' Defence.)
There are only three sound replies to the move 2. *° KJ3.3 ;
"''■• *"*' ^- Q.Kt.toQ.B.3.; secondly, 2. p_ ^o Q.3 ; and thirdly,
-■ Kt. to K B 3 °^ which the third is rather a cotmter-attack than
a defence. There is a foorth way of meeting the move, by
-• p to K B 4 (oiled Greco's counter-gambit), which, though not
strictly speaking sound, is often used with great effect by an ox-
pericncpd plavpr against one unfamiliar with the opening. Wo
shall have therefore to consider it, though briefly, further on.
We take first the line of play which we should advise the learner
nearly always to follow till he has become tolerably familiar with
its various sequels, viz.; —
P. to K.4 , Kt^to K.B.3
' P7t0^74 "■ Kt. toQ.B.3
The continuation is now either 3. ^ — 1-1- leading to a
number of the most interesting openings known in chess or
3. y *° Q ^' the Scotch Gambit, or 3. B- ^ QKt 5. the strong
Rny Lopez attack, or 3. ° "' '—! a quiet continuation. If the
move 3. Q-"-4, ^ j^^^. ^^ ^^^ same move on Black's side
(Black is for convenience regarded always, in these analyses, as
second player), we have an opening which may be resolved into the
Giuoco Piano, or Steady Game, by 4. P- to QB.3. ^^ 4 p ^^ q 3^
eply to 3. ^- ^° Q-^-^ is, perhaps, 3.
nto the brilliant Evans Gambit by 4. — '- -Sl — 'L-L
Against a player well acquainted with the openings, the safest
— , which consti-
Kt. to K.B.3
tutes the Two Knights' Defence ; for this move saves the second
player from the Evans Gambit, to meet which requires thorough
knowledge of a great number of varied lines of play, while
declining the proffered Queen's Knight's pawn subjects the second
player to a cramped defensive game. We do not ourselves advise
3. „ — „ Tj o for general adoption, for the games to which it
leads are seldom so interesting as those following from 4. -5— — „ -,
But, properly played, it is a safe defence. And as the variations
following from it are not nearly so numerous as those from
it will be well to dispose of it before entering
B. to Q,B.4,
on the latter.
We shall begin the inquiry into the Two Knights' Defence next
week.
In the meantime we give for consideration two positions.
No. 1, which occurred a few nights ago in a game in which we
had given the odds of a Queen to a lady.
Vo. 1. Actaal End-Gunr.
Black. (Ladj) .
By Mr. F. Healey.
Buck.
1 wm ws
WHS p^l
% t •
i.
,
^ 'm^
mX'
M WT
■
m
White. (Chess Editor.)
Whit* to play and draw.
WHiTr.
White to play
Black's last move was R. to K.R. 2, imprisoning the King, while
learing the two Black Rooks free to move ad lib. along Black's
second row. This move, however, enabled White to draw the
game. The young player will readily sec how.
This, of course, as occurring in ordinary play is not to be regarded
as a Chess study. It simply illustrates one of the dangers which
a weak player, who, after a game at odds, finds himself with a
winning superiority of force, should carefully avoid. Position No. 2,
by the celebrated problem-maker, Healey (which appcaroil in the
n'estminster Papers, as nearly as we can recollect, in 1871) illus-
trates the same danger very prettily.
[1.] CnE.ss QrERT. — In an old number of the Wustrated London
Nevs I find the following problem given by the Chess Editor (then
Mr. Staunton. I believe), as a puzzle, by the Anonymous Slodencse.
White K. at Q.Kt.sq. ; Q. at K.B. 4 ; R. at K.Kt.5 ; B. nt Q.Kt.2 ;
Ps. at K.B.5. Q.Kt.3, and Q.R.2. Black K. at K.R.sq. ; Q. at Q.4 ;
R. at Q.sq.; Kt. at Q.R.5 ; Ps. at K.R.2 and K.Kt.2. White to
play and Mate in fotir moves. Can any one give me tho correct
position ? There seems to me to be no solution with tho position
as given. — Qiten's Knight.
K.vowLEPCE. — Although we offer our readers more in the way
of original matter (apart from correspondence, which is not to bo
estimated by mere bulk) than any other journal of similar price
and character, we wish to do better still. We hope so to extend the
circulation of KxowT,rnGE that wc may be justified in enlarging
each number, in giving more illustrations, and in extending the
number of our original contributors. To attain this end wc nee<I
the co-operation of our readers. Tho.9e among them who approve
our scope and plan can do more to improve Knowxedge than cither
editor or publishers. If every reader were to obtain but one new
subscriber, our circulation would be doubled, and our pow< r to
improve the matter placed before our readers would be increased in
like proportion. If our readers will remember this, they will follow
the best course for making Knowledge what we wish and hope
that it may before long become.
42
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov. 11, 1881.
(Bnv Wfyi^t Column.
By "Five of Clubs."
INTROIIICTIOX.
"»'V7"1IIST, properly played, is the finest of all card Ramos,
VV perhaps — not oven excepting chess — tlio finest of all
sedentary gnmcs. But Whist, ns it is often played, without any
knowledftc or appreciation of the real nature of the pame, seems to
have nothing making it better worth playing than Po|)0 Joan or
Casino, and to bo decidedly inferior to Euchre. There is an inter-
mediate kind of whist, tho game played by persons who have a
keen perception of tho strategy- of the game, hut no knowledge of
its language, which may be full of interest or full of annoyance, as
the cards may happen to lie. To watch a proficient in this kind of
whist, playing n good hand, and ably supported by a steady -going
partner who understands his ways, one would say Whist was the
most delightful of all games ; but to see him playing an average
hand, and to note his wrath when his partner, considering his own
hand, fails to play precisely .-is he wishes, one would say Whist was
a rather severe form of punishment.
The present series of papers on Wliist, and tho problems, games,
&c., which will accompany and follow it, are intended to indicate
the nature of the only game of Wliist which is worth playing —
Wliist as a game between two forces, two pairs of partners, each
pair having Ijetween them twenty-six cards. Tho game thus jilayed,
that is with constant reference by each player to the fact that he
has a partner, may be regarded as a really scientific game. It is
often called the book game, theoretical play, and by other names,
implying that a fine player need care very little about it. But it is,
in truth,'the only common-sense, practically-sound form of the game,
and no one can be regarded as a really good, still less as a fine,
player who does not play it. It has, moreover, the additional
advantage of being readily learned by those who have not
the capacity for really great play ; and when it lias been learned,
such players, though never brilliant, become good and safe partners.
Moreover, by learning the rules of scientific ttTiist, which seem at
first an extra ti'ouble to the memory, the learner finds that his
power of remembering the fall of the cards is greatly increased.
It is, indeed, the purjioseless nature of ordinary unscientific Whist
play which makes it so difficult for the bad player to remember
what cards have been played, and by whom. So soon as he has
adopted just princijiles of play, each hand is played according to a
plan, tho development of which is full of interest, so that the stages
are easily remembered. Each card is played with a purpose, and
whether tlie purpose succeeds or fails, the result is noted and re-
membered, whereas when there is no purpose, the memory has no
such aid.
Tho first great principle of the scientific game of Wliist is to give
your partner (always at the beginning, and almost always thi'ougli-
ont the play of the hand), all the information in your power within
the rules of the game- (There arise cases occasionally towards the
end of a hand where it becomes clear that the partner can do
nothing, and nothing can be lost by misleading him ; then, and then
only, false cards, deceiving him, but deceiving the adversaries also,
may be usefully played.) To this the objection is repeatedly made —
especially by brilliant one-handed players — "a player has but one
partner while he has two adversaries, and by playing so as to
give information to one friend, he gives information to two enemies,
or the harm exceeds the good two-fold." The true answer to this
objection does not seem to me to have been recognised by Pole,
Cavendish, Clay, and other great masters of the game, who have
yet, of course, known perfectly well from practice that it is advan-
tageous to give to your partner all the information in your power.
Cavendish says the objection would have considerable force if you
were compelled to expose tho whole of your hand, but you possess
the power of selecting what facts shall be annonnoed and what
concealed. Pole says tho objection " involves a confusion in
reasoning ; for if the opponents are equally good players, they will
adopt the same system, and the positions must bo equal ; and if
thoy are not good players, they will be incapable of profiting by the
indications you give, and the whole ailvantage will rest with you;
adding that " oven good players seldom pay so much heed to their
opponents' as to their jiartners' indications." Pole and Drayson
agree in saying that by not giving your partner information, you
mn the risk of having to fight three ojiponents single-handed. Clay
does not specifically consider the objection.
The true answer seems to me to be different from any of these.
The reply of " Cavendish " implies that there is a limit to the prin-
ciple that it is more important to inform your partner than to
deceive your adversaries. Pole's reply takes the system for granted,
by assuming that good opponents will follow it ; and certainly he
does not reason sonndly in suggesting that even good ojiponenta pay
less attention to their opponents' than to their partner's indications.
It is also an exaggeration to sfioak of a partner as becoming a third
opponent if not duly informe<l as to your cards : he may take ono
or two of yonr winning cards, but cannot play as an opponent
throughout the hand, as tliey seem to imply. (Tlio mischief is bad
enough, without exaggeration.) Tho real re<ison why informa-
tion to yonr partner is so important as to outweigh the knowledge
given to the adversarj', is that it is only by giving him information
that your cards can be combined with liia in the strategy of the
hand. You tell him points about yonr hand which he can utilise, let
tho opponents do what they will, althongli, of course, yon may also
give him information which he cannot utilise, whether because
the adversaries have also learned it. or not. Cases of tho latter
kind count neither one way nor the other ; if you had not suggested
such and such a plan, he would not have tried it, and when yoa have
told him ho has not succeeded, bo that you aro none tho worse ;
all the cases of the former kind are so much clear gain.
Take a familiar instance. I lead ace, and follow with qncen
of mj- best suit. 5Iy partner ];nov:s that I have the knave and
a small card left. Suppose he has the king',in his own hand
and a small one left after the first ronnd. Jiow according to the
state of the score and of his own hand, it may be better to let the
trick fall to my qncen, or to take it with his king, leaving me still
tho command of the suit with my kuave. By my play, showing
that I have the knave, I have left it open to him to do whichsoever
of these two things may be best for both of us, and tliis choice he
has, let tho opponents act as they please. But suppose that, in-
stead of following the recognised line of play for such cards, 1 lead
the second round with my small card. My partner plays his king,
and, let us sujipose, wins the trick. He cannot now play as he
would (as it might be absolutely essential to success that he shotUd)
if he knew that I had the command of the suit. On the contrary,
so far as he can understand me at all, he thinks 1 have three small
cards of the suit left, and that the queen lies with one of the adver-
saries. His consequent Jilay in this case spoils our common game,
whereas in the other case his play advances our common game.
In either case it is hi:^ play, not the opponents', which affects our
combined game for good or for ill.
In line, instead of the maxim, " It is more useful to inform your
partner than to deceive yonr adversary," I woidd substitute this —
" Tour single partner can do more good than both yonr adversaries
can do harm by utilising information you may give by your play."
(Good here includes the avoidance of harm ; we might supple-
ment the rule by saying that your partner is likely to do much more
mischief througli ignorance of your hand, than could be counter-
poised by any good which the adversaries might chance to do you.)
It is the recognition by good players of this first rule, as resulting
from the general principle that partners should play in harmony
and with a common purpose, which has led to the system of modem
wliist strategy. There ai-e commonly more ways than one in which,
if the partner's cards were seen, the qualities of the combined hands
might be used ; but there is only one system by which, in the actual
method of play, your partner can work in harmony with you. That
system being adopted, the principles guiding us in the opening of a
hand, and determining the play of first, second, third, and fourth
player, are deduced at once. Our books of whist seem, indeed (and
ii has always seemed to me a f.anlt in them), to require that the
learner should know multitudinous rules for leading, and for playing
second, third, and foiu'th ; but in reality all these rules depend on
one general principle. I do not say that the player ought at once
to know, from his knowledge of this principle, his proper course aa
leader, second, third, or fourth player. He has not time to go
through all the con.siderations involved in applying it to particular
cases. He must be content, therefore, to retain a number of rules
for such cases in his memory. But his memory %vill be greatly
helped, and tho number of rules will be greatly diminished, when
he recognises the general principle on which modern whist-play
proceeds.
In my next I shall show what this general principle is, why it
has been selected in preference to others, wliioh, at first ^-iew,
seem to have great, if not equal advantages. Afterwards we shall
consider how this principle suggests the various leads, the play
of second, third, and fourth hand, ic, endeavouring so to treat
the matter that the memory may be as much as possible helped
to retain the resulting rules, by recognising the string on which
these seemingly scattered beads of Whist wisdom are in reality
strung.
I may in the next number present a game actually pl.iyed,
mentioning the inferences which a player of the systematic game
would make at once. Tliose who follow our explanation of the
system will jiresently sec that these inferences are not, as they
might Suppose, recondite, but perfectly obvious, even after a very
moderate study of the modern system of Whist play.
Nov. 18, 1881. J
KNOWLEDGE
48
AN II
ilRATED
Q
MAGi^ZINEOF^IENCE
Pi. AlNtWORDED -£XACT&i)ESCRIBED
.:^a..?vM \.: ^r-:,,^...
LONDON: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1S8I.
CONTENTS.
Solids, Liquidi, and Gasos.— Part I.
By W. Mattieu Williams 43
The Philosophy of Animal Colours. —
Part II. By Dr. Andrevr Wilson,
F.R.S.E 4*
Brain Troubles. — Impaired Memory 45
Intellicencein Animals.— Part n -16
Are Women Inferior to Men? 47
Comets' Tails. By the Editor— (/«»»-
trated) ". 48
Reviews :— The Great Pyramid Mea-
Porcs, and the Diameters and Dis-
lances of the Sun, Earthj andMoon.
PAGE.
Br Joseph Baiendell. F.R.A.S. ... 50
NenModeofGrowing Plants. BvE.C. 51
X Planet Outside Xeptune 52
CoBEEspoxBEycE. — Error in com-
puting Periphery of Ellipse —
Comets — Figures of the Conic Sec-
tions— Waste of Solar Heat, &c. ... 55
Queries &)
Replies to Queries 60
Our Mathematical Column 61
Our Whist Column 61
Our Chess Column '.63
Answers to Correspondents 64
SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES.
By W. M.vttieu Willlois,
TART I.
THE gi'owth of accurate knowledge i.s continually nai'-
rowiiifj, antl often obliterating the broad lines of
•distinction that have been drawn between different classes
of things. I well remember when our liest naturalists re-
.^arded tlieir "species'' of plants and animals as fundamental
and inviolable institutions, separated by well-defined boun-
dai-ies that could not be crossed Darwin has upset all this,
*Ed now we camiot even draw a clear, sharp line between
the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The chemist is even
crossing the boundary between these and the mineral
tingdom, by refuting the once positive dictum that organic
su'bstances (i.e., the compounds ordinarily formed in the
course of vegetal)lc or animal gi-owth) could not be pro-
duced directly from dead matter by any chemical device.
Many of such organic compounds have now been made in
the laboratory from mineral materials.
We all know broadly what are the differences Ijetween
solids, liquids, and gases, and, until lately, they have been
very positively described as the three distinct states or
modes of existence of matter. Mr. Crookes suggests a
fourth. I will not discuss this at present, but merely
consider the three old-established claimants to distinctive
existence.
A solid is usually defined as a body made up of particles
•which hold together rigidly or immovably, in contra-
distinction to a fluid, of which the particles move freely
over each other. "Fluid"' is the general term including
both gases and liquids, both being alike as regards the
mobility of their particles. At present, let us confine our
attention to liquids and .solids.
The theoretical or perfect fluid whicli is imagined by the
mathematician as the basis of certain abstract reasonings
has no actual existence. He a.ssumes (and the assumption
is legitimate and desirable, provided its imaginary character
is always remembered) that the supposed particles move
upon eacli other with perfect fi-eedom, without any friction or
other impediment ; but, as a matter of fact, all liquids exert
some amount of resistance to their own flowing ; they are
more or less viscous, have more or less of that sluggisliness
in their obedience to the law of finding their own level
which we see so plainly displayed by treacle or castor oil.
This viscosity, added to the friction of the liquid against
the solid on which it rests, or in which it is enclosed, may
become, even in the case of water, a formidable obstacle to
its flow. Thus, if we make a hole in the side of a tank at
a depth of 16 feet below the surface, the water will spout
from that hole at the rate of 32 feet per second, but if we
connect with this hole a long horizontal pipe of the same
internal diameter as tlie hole, and then observe the flow
from the outlet of the pipe, wo shall find its velocity
measural.)ly diminished, and we shall be greatly deceived if
we make arrangements for carrying swift-flowing water
thus to any great distances.
Three or four years ago an attempt was made to super-
sede the water-carts of London by laying down on each
side of the road a horizontal pipe, perforated with a row of
holes opening towards the horse-way. The water was to
be turned on, and from these holes it was to jet out to the
middle of the road from each side, and thus water it all.
I watched the experiment made near the Bank of England.
Instead of spouting across the road from all these holes, as
it would have done from any ow of thcni, it merely
dribbled, the reason being that in order to supply tlieni all,
the water must run through the whole of tho lo\a pipe
with considerable velocity, and *\\h viscosity and friction
to be overcome in doing this nearly exhausted the whole
force of water-head pressure. Many other similar blunders
have been mide by those who have sought to convey water
power to a distance by means of pipes of such diameter a-s
should demand a rapid flow through a long pipe.
The resistance which water ofl'ers to the stroke of the
swimmer or the pull of the rower is partly due to its
viscosity, and partly to the uplifting or displacement of
some of the water. If it were perfectly fluid, our move-
ments within it, and those of fishes, itc, would be curiously
different, and, in fact, the whole face of this globe would
be strangely altered in many re.spects. I will not now
follow up this idea, but leave it as a suggestion for the
reader to work out for himself, by consiilering w'hat would
remain undone upon the earth if water flowed perfectly,
without any internal resistance.
The degrees of approach to perfect fluidity vary greatly
with different liquids.
Is there any such a thing as an absolute solid, or a body
that has no degree of fluidity, the particles or parts of
which ^vill admit of no change of their relative positions,
no movement upon each other without fracture of the
mass? This would constitute perfect riijidity, or the
opposite io fluidity.
Take a piece of copper or soft iron-wire, about one-eighth
of an incli in diameter, or thereabouts, and bend it back-
wards and foi-wards a few times as rapidly as possible, but
without breaking it ; then, without loss of time, feel the
portion that has been bent. It is hot — painfully so — if the
e.xperiiuent is smartly made. How may this be explained ?
It is e\-ident that in the act of bending there must have
been a displacement of the relative positions of the particles
of the metal, and the force demanded for the bending indi-
cated their resistance to this movement upon each other ;
or, in other words, that there was friction between theni,
or something equivalent to such intemp,l friction, and thus
the mechanical force exerted in the liending was convert^'*
into heat^force.
Here, then, w^s fluidity, aooordiu^ ♦-^ "' ^
tion : not perfect fluidity, b--^ .. tJie above defiui-
-.. fluidity attended with
44
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
resistance to flow, or what wc have agroed to call viscosity.
Hut wut«r also oHVrs such resistance to flow or viscosity,
therefore the (liflereiiee Letween iron or c<>l>pur-wire and
licjuid water as re^anls their fluidity is only a difterence of
dejirce, and not of kind ; tlie demarcation liutween solids
and liquids is not a liroad, cleiirlydetined line, hut a hand
of hlendiu),' shade, the dejitiis of tint representing varying
degrees of viscosity.
THE
PHILOSOPHY OF ANIMAL
COLOURS.
Bv Dr. Andhew Wilson, F.R.S.E.
PART II.
BUT, descending to still lower gi-atles of life, we may
discover examples of this " mimicry," not only of
surroundings, l)ut also of lifeless or inorganic objects, and
of, it may he, plant structures as well, on the part of
animals. The so-called " stick insects," or " walking
twigs," as they arc often called— the Phaumkla; of the
naturalist— present us with the most perfect reproductions
of bits of dried twigs. A figure of one of these insects is
before me as I write. It is represented climbing on the
delicate branch of a shrub, and but for the expectation
of what one is looking for, there would be considerable
difficulty in detei-mining which is insect and which plant
The bodies of these " tw ig insects "—which belong, by tlie
way, to the Orthoptcm, or that order which harbours the
familiar crickets and grasshoppers— are represented by
mere lines. The wings liave disappeared, and it has been
remarked that in their gait these insects exhibit a peculiar
habit of using their legs in a singularly awkward fashion,
and thus ujiparently aid the illusion of the .spectator that
he is regarding a" dried twig, moved erratically by tlie
wind.
More extraordinary still are the " Leaf insects ; " near
allies, indeed, of the walking-sticks." Here "mimicry"
of the plant proceeds so far as to fully justify- the eminent
naturalist's remarks, that it is strange to tind the a.nimal
assuming a mimetic disguise and apeing the actor's art.
The wings in the " leaf in.sects " exactly imitate leaves.
The venation, or arrangement of the veins in the leaf, is
clearly seen, and in one form (Plii/llium) even the chest
and legs of the animal assume leaf-like characters. When
such an insect rests amid foliage, the value of such a close
resemblance to its plant suiTOundings as a means of pro-
tection can be readily understood. In some "leaf insects"
—all of which are tropical species— the wings resemble
leaves that are dried and withered. In others, the minute
fungi that attack leaves are imitated. Mr. A. R. Wallace
tells us that one of the " walking-sticks " obtained by him
in Borneo, " was covered over with foliaceous excrescences
of a clear olive green colour, so as exactly to resemble a
stick grown over by a creeping moss or Jungennannia. The
Dyak who brought it me assured me it was grown over
with moss, though alive, and it was only after a most minute
examination that I could convince myself it was not so."
Lastly, there may be noticed in connection with these
curious traits of animal life, the fact that certain
animals, themselves liarndcss and inoffensive, may assume
tlie exact appearand! of offensive neighbours. In this
respect, certain butterflies are /'dci/e principe. Certain
South American butterflies, known collectively under their
*iinily name of J/rlironultr, exhibit a brilliant colouration,
••'se possess a very strong odour ; and, it may be
but liken- i.„ sequel, a highly disagreeable taste as
presumed from w- "^n'ipicuous' insects, and the under
well. They arc highly w. J
sides of their wings are as brilliantly coloured as the upper
surfaces ; so that, even in rr^pose, and when resting with the
wings apposed over tlie back, they are readily enough .seen.
Th(;ir colours are prominent, not to say gaudy. Yellow.s, reds,
and whit<-.s, coiniuingle with blacks, blues, and other tints
in a striking fashion. They are, further, by no means
rapid flyers, and, putting the foregoing circumstances of
their gaudy colour and their slow movements together, no
group of animals would seem more liable to tlie attacks
of bird-enemies than these Helicon butterflies. Yet the
reverse is the case. So far from being decimated, their
race flourishes apace, and this result is clearly duo to the
strong odour and nauseous taste they possess. The mere
touch of a Helicon is in itself a pungent matter, which
reminds one of nothing so much as the persistence of the
musk-rat's secretion, or the still more awful effluvium of
the American skunk. Their neighbour butterflies may fall
victims by the score to the rapacity of their feathered
enemies, but the Helicons are spared from even the sem-
blance of attack.
So far there seems nothing unusual or striking in a
gioup of butterfles being protected, through strong odour
and w'orse taste, from their natural enemies, the birds. But
now comes the most curious phase of this history. Another
and distinct family of butterflies, known as the LfptaUd<p,
allied to the common white cabbage butterfly, and removed
from the Helicons, also possesses representatives in South
-\merica. There are no points of agreement between the
Lc'ptalides and the Helicons, save, indeed, that both are
butterflies. Furthermore, the Leptalides are entirely de-
stitute of the nauseous odour and of the strong taste of the
Helicons, and in respect of their more agreeable presence,
should become a prominent article — as do other butterflies
— in the bill of fare of the birds. Yet, strangely enough,
the Leptalides escape persecution ; and the reason is not
far to seek or difficult to tind. When they are carefully
examined, certain species of the Leptalides are seen to be
exact facsimiles, in colour and appearance, of the stinking
Helicons ! Xaturalists at first classed both as Helicons,
until a closer examination showed the difference between-
these butterflies, and likewise proved that the Leptalides
had thus " mimicked " in the plainest possible manner the
colours of their strong-smelling neighbours. Nor are the
colours alone imitated. The ^■ery shape of the Helicon's
wings is reproduced in those of the Leptalides, and the
" feelers " likewise mimic those of the former group. Again,
special fonus of Leptalides " mimic " special forms of
Helicons. The flight has become of similar character in
both species, and the habits have been also slavishly copied.
Such instances as these certainly present " food for
thought ' to the reflective mind. It is the business of
philosophy to account for facts by placing the facts in
scientific juxtaposition — pihilosophy, in this light, is the
thread lipon which the piearls of knowledge are strung.
What, then, it may be asked, is the philosophy which can
explain the curious resemblances seen in the animal world,
ranging from, say, a mere likeness in tint to the surround-
ings (as in the flounder or woodcock), through more in-
t<!nsified likenesses, to the exact " mimicry " and to the
slavish copy of colour and form, a.s in the butterflies ?
A first and highly important feature in the consideration
of the case is found in the fact that there is a gi-adation in
the degi'ee of "mimicry." From tlie mere sand or ground
tinting of the flounder to the exact colouring of the
butterflies is, of course, a wide st<»p, but it is one which is
bridged over by intermediate examples and stages. Then,
secondly, we discover a purpose or use in the disguises : that
purpose, apart from any considerations of its origin, being
the protection of the animid from its enemies, and the con-
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
45
^ifiuent good and increase of its race. Thirdly, it appears
possible to account for these curious ti-ansformations and
disguises, by finding an initial step. It is the old story of
/■ premier pan qui route, applied to natural history
n search ; and this first step is found in tlie solid axiom,
that every living species is liable to variatiun and change.
Xi'.\t succeeds the consideration that such varieties as
:irc produced have to "struggle for existence." Suppo.se
a numWr of white varieties produced in a cold, snowy
r.-irion, along with varieties of more conspicuous colours.
It is evident that, whilst the white varieties would escape
fidui their enemies, the darker-coloured individuals would
succumb. Thus the white race comes to the front, and
holds its own, and its perpetuation and increase becomes a
mutter of surety. Summing up the argument, we find that
t«o factors are at work in bringing about these wonderful
(dour likenesses in the animal world. The one is varia-
tion, producing the colour - varieties ; the other is the
( ircumstances of life, which weed out the weak and give
the battle to the strong, which latter are those whose
colours best suit theii- surroundings. This is the philosopliy
which natural history to-day lays down for our acceptance.
Xay more, it is a philosophy which explains far more
important facts of life than mere mimicry. It is "evolu-
tion and development" reduced to their plainest and
fundamental terms — in a word, Darwinism in a nutshell,
lis illustrated by the variation and change that all life
knows, and by the warring of that life bringing the best of
its units to the front of the battle.
BRAIN TROUBLES.
Impaired Memory.
ri"^HE first mind trouble we propose to consider is the
JL apparent temporary impairment of the memory. The
gradual progressive decay of the power of memory with
advancing years is, of course, a change which all may
expect who attain great length of years ; tliough, as Cicero
long since pointed out, and as has been repeatedly exemplified
by modem instances, the change is to some degree under
control, and those matters in which an aged person takes
special interest may be well remembered, when others about
which he cares little are easily forgotten. " I never heard,"
says Cicero, "of any old man that had forgotten where he
had hid his treasure ; things which they regard, old men
remember — the securities the}' have out, and who are
indebted to them, as well as to whom they are indebted."
And so forth. The points to be noticed here are, first,
that memory is seen to be in large degree a question of at-
tention as well as of retention ; and, secondly, that decay
of memory implies a change in the mind analogous to that
which makes the old incapable of great bodily efforts. So
that when the memory of a person who is not old becomes
impaired, we may infer that unless there is actual disease,
the symptom indicates overwork of the mind, precisely as
bodily weariness indicates that the body haa been over-
\vrought We may, perhaps, be led to inquire here whether
a distinction should be drawn between loss of memory, as
shown bj' a weakening of the power of committing to mind
new matter (of whatever kind) which we may wish to re-
member, and the passing away from the mind of matter
which had been already committed to it, and retained so
long and so recently that its being forgotten can be ex-
plained only as due to some marked and recent change in
the state of the mind. Suppose, for instance, that after
carefully noting a number of facts, which under ordinary
conditions we should remember thenceforward for weeks.
we find that they liave left no suthcient impression on the
mind ; liere wo obviously have evidence that the power of
attention on which, in the first instance, memory depends,
is for the time being enfeebled. Can we, liowever, infer
tliat it is weakened in the same way and in the same degree
as we should judge- it to be if we found that numbers, dates,
names, or words which we had had occiision to refer to
daily for years, were suddenly clean forgotten ? Making
use, as we conveniently may (tliough we must not place too
much stress on the method), of the analogy between bodily
and mental relations, we may compare a change of the
former kind to a diminution of the jiower of accjuiring some
new feat ; a change of the latter kind, to the sudden loss
of a feat already acquired and long practised. It can
hardly be doubted that an athlete who should find liimself
unable to perform some n(>w gymnastic trick, which lie had
supposed well within liis powers, would not be so much
struck by the circumstance, as he would be if he should
suddenly find himself unable to achieve a feat in which he
had hitherto found no difficulty.
Let us inquire, however, whetlier known cases of loss of
memory of either kind atibrd any means of answering the
question which has thus arisen. Of course, those cases in
which the trouble has been only temporary, though far more
numerous than those in which loss of memory has been
symptomatic of actual disease, stand far less chance of being
kept on record, so that we may have to consider cases of
the latter kind to discover the relative importance of the
two forms in which loss of memory may be noticed. The
reader must not judge fi-om cases thus cited that either
class of symptoms is necessarily, or even probablj-, indica
tive of serious brain mischief.
We will begin, however, with a case in which the trouble
was only temporary, and, moreover, its cause obviously
indicated.
Sir Henry Holland gives the following suggestive account
of a transient loss of memory due to fatisfue. It will be
seen that the failure of memory belongs to the second class
above referred to, that, viz., in which what had been long
and well known is suddenly forgotten. " I descended,"
he says, " on the same day, two very deep mines in the
Harz Mountains, remaining some hours undergi-ound in
each. While in the second mine, and exhausted both from
fatigue and inanition, I felt the utter impossibility of
talking longer with the German Inspector who accompanied
me. Every German word and phrase deserted my recol-
lection, and it was not until I had taken food and wine,
and been some time at rest, that I regained thea." This
case would seem to show that transient loss of memory,
even of this kind, need not be regarded as necessarily an
alarming symptom.
The following case points in the same direction even
more decisively. "A gentleman," says Dr. Winslow,
" well known for his intense passion for field spoiis (living,
it may be said, upon the saddle during the greater part of
the year), frequently complained of transient attacks of
loss of memory after a hard day's run with the hounds.
His remedy for this affection was half'-a-pint to a pint of
port wine at a draught ! The effect of this heroic dose of
vinous stimulant upon the depressed energy of the brain
was evidenced by the memory immediately recovering its
vigorous activity." It would, however, be unwise to infer
tliat this sportsman, in thus prescribing for these attacks,
showed himself the " physician " of the proverb relating to
fools and physicians. The remedy was a dangerous one.
His was specially a case where prevention was better than
cure. The transient attacks of loss of memory showed that
the hard days run with the hounds overtaxed his strength.
He would have done wisely to have limited his exertions
4()
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
in the field (not giving up liunting, but restraining his zeal
on those occasions when the clay's run promised to be liardcr
than usual).
The ellect of wLno used regularly, not in pint draughts,
is in many cases undoulitedly good where the memory is
apt to fail. We have an illustration of this in the
following case, Ix-longinf; to tlie first of the two classes
above considered. A gentleman whose mental and physical
powers had been severely taxed, lost all power of recol-
lecting rt'ceut events. " Whilst engaged in active conver-
sation, he was able, by a strong effort of the will, to retain
possession of the ideas suggested by others to his mind ;
but if there were the slightest interruption, even to the
extent of a minute, in the conversation, he lost all recol-
lection of wljat he had been previously saying. This
gentleman had been living for some weeks below par, with
the view of enabling him to perform an amount of urgent
mental work, requiring for its execution the lengthened
concentration of a clear and vigorous intellect. He had
been in the habit of drinking a fair portion of wine, but
had unwisely abandoned the use of stimulants, fancying
that by so doing he would be better fitted for clear-headed
mental occupation." Under Dr. Forbes Winslow's advice,
the patient " lived generously, took iron tonics, quinine,
and valerianate of zinc, and resumed his daily quantity of
wine. This treatment eventually restored his memory to
a state of health." Dr. Forbes Wiuslow adds that he has
known other instances of temporary loss of memory cured
within a short time by the free use of tonics and
stimulants. " In these cases," he says, " the brain is
generally in a starved and impoverished condition, arising
from a deficient supply of blood ; it is in a state of
enervation and inanition." On the other hand, the
excessive use of stimulants produces unmistakably mis-
chievous effects. Temporary attacks of loss of memory
have been caused by intemperance. " By an old Spanish
law," Dr. Winslow mentions, " no person was admitted
into the witness-box to give evidence in a disputed case
who was proved to indulge in habits of intemperance, as
an excessive use of stimulants was considered to weaken
and destroy the memory."
(To he continued.)
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
THE next case cited also relates to the apparent exercise
of reasoning faculties by rats, and is interesting,
because probably their action was guided by the sense of
hearing, rather than by that of smell. " Some years ago,"
says the narrator, " a plumber told me that he had, on
several occasions, been called in to examine into the cause
of leakage of water-pipes under the flooring of houses, and
had found that the rats liad gnawed a hole in the leaden
pipe to obtain water, and that gieat numbers of them had
made it a eoniinon drinking-placo, as evidenced by the
quantity of dung lying about. The plumber brought me a
piece of leaden pipe, about three quarters of an inch in
diameter, and one-eighth of an inch in thickness, penetrated
in two places, taken by himself from a liouse on Haver-
stock-hill. There are tlie marks of the incisors on the
lead as clear as an engraving ; and a few hairs and two or
three of the rat's whiskers have been pinched into the metal
in the act of gnawing it This crucial proof of brute
intelligence— for a rat will not drink foul water — interested
me so much that I ventured to send an account of it to
Dr. Charles Darwin, asking his opinion on the means by
which the rats ascertained the presence of water in tho pipe.
To this he replied : ' I cannot doubt about animals rea.soiiing
in a practical fashion. The ca.se of the rats is very fturious.
Do they not hear the water trickling 1 ' " TDiis explauia-
tion would go far, it would seem, to do away with the idea
that tho rats in this case had rea.soned, seeing that if they
recognised the presence of water by the sense of liearing,
their action in biting their way through to wliat tliey
wanted would correspond precisely with what we have
been taught (erroneously, in all probability, but that w a
detail) to regard as instinctive. The narrator, however,
did not read Dr. Darwin's reply in this sense. " It may Ije
conceded,'' he says, " that this explanation is the most pro-
bable, and if it be the true one, we have an example of on
animal using his senses to obtain the data for a process of
reasoning leading to conclusions about wliich he is so
certain that he will go to the trouble of cutting through a
considerable tliickne.ss of lead. Obviously man could do no
more under the same conditions." If the rats had shown
in their boring operations some special aptitude for securing
most conveniently, with the least possible overflow, the
water they required, this would be a just inference. But
as we know no more than that, having found, probably by
the sense of hearing, that water was present in the pipe,
they bored their way through to reach it, we have in reality
no more proof of reasoning power than is afforded by the
familiar action of mice in biting their way through the
wooden or card casings of boxes of edibles thev like, of
whose presence within such boxes the sense of smell has
convinced them.
This objection is well put by Mr. Henslow in a letter
discussing this particular case, and Dr. Darwin's comments
thereon, only, as it seems to us, he carries the objection
rather farther than it will fairly go, extending it to cases
to which we think it can hardly be applied. " It has
always seemed to me," he says, " that brute reasoning is
always practical, but never abstract " (but he tries to
show that there is very little reasoning at all in the
matter). '"They do wonderful things, suggested by the
objective fact before them ; but, I think, never go beyond it.
Thus, a dog left in a room alone, rang the bell to fetch the
servant. Had not the dog been taught to ring the Itell
(which, on inquiry, proved to have been the case), it would
have been abstract reasoning ; but it was only practical. The
Arctic fox — too wary to be shot, like the first, who took a
bait tied to a string, which was attached to the trigger of a
gun — would dive under the snow and so pull the bait
down below tho line of fire. This is purely practical
reasoning ; but had the fox pulled the string first out of
the line of fire, in order to discharge the gun, and then to
get the bait, that would have been abstract reasoning,
^\hich he could not attain to." This, however, is assuming
more than can be proved ; the fox in the case referred to
did not act in the way which would have implied abstract
reasoning ; we do not know that no fox has ever done so, still
less that, failing a simpler way of attaining his object, no fox
could so reason. Albeit, we believe there are very few cases
in which a line of reason involving so many steps as that
suggested liy Mr. Henslow has been followed by an
animal. Mr. Henslow makes a good point in noting liow
like tho practical reasoning of animals is the reasoning of
young folk. " A boy the other day," he says, " found the
straps of his skates frozen. The fact only suggested
o'ltinij them. Not one of his schoolfellows reflected upon
tho abstract fact tliat the ice would melt if he sat upon his
foot a few minutes. Hence brutes and boys are exactly
alike in that nothing occurs to either beyond what the
immediate fact before them m.iy suggest The one kind I
call purely practical reasoning, which both have ; the
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
47
tlier abstract, which brutes never acquire; but the boy
(7/ as his intelligence develops."
Certainly the next case cited in tlie coJTespondence
~iii,'gests practical rather tlian abst'-act reasoning. " In
Ciiitral Park, one very hot day, my attention," writes
Mr. James J. Fumiss, of New York, " was drawn to the
■ I'uduct of an elephant wliich liad been placed in an
iiK-losure in the open air. On the gi-ound was a large
' ap of newly-mown gi-ass, wliicli the sagacious animal
s taking up t>y tlie trunkfull, and laying carefully
in liis sun-heated back. He continued the operation
til his back was completeh/ tliatclted, when he remained
itt, apparently enjoying the result of his ingenuity. It
ms to me that instinct should have prompted the
[ihant to eat the grass, and tliat it was rea.-;on wliieh
ised him to use it for the purpose of diminishing the
■ct of the sun's rays." Undoubtedly, had hunger been
• prevailing sensation at the time, instinct would have
:iii.sed the elephant to eat the gi-ass. But, as he was pro-
la lily much troubled by the heat, it was not more won-
il'iful that he should throw gra.ss on to his back, than it
uld have been if, had there been any shadow, he should
-\Q withdrawn under it. Doubtless, however, the true
I'lanation is that the elephant reasoned in a practical
\". The effect of the grass as a protection from the heat
i-i obvious to his senses, so he continued to add more and
iiHire grass to his covering until he felt comfortable. If
till- use of the grass for food occurred to him at all, it
\vi add have appeared obvious enough that even if all the
L.'r.ij;s were used for shelter, it would be none tlie less suit-
.ible for food \\hen luinger began to be troublesome.
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN?
MDELAUNAY next proceeds to compare the brain
• capacity of men and women. Huschke estimates
the mean capacity of the cranium for Europeans to bo
1,446 cubic centimetres (about 88| cubic inches) for men,
and 1,226 (about 74^ cubic inches) for women, or the
masculine brain exceeds tlie feminine, on the average, nearly
18 per cent, in capacity. However, before we too hastily
assume that this implies inferiority, we may as well
consider the relative dimensions of men and women in
other respects. We have to take into account rather the
relative than the actual dimensions of the brain. Now,
tlie average height of men in European countries exceeds
that of women by about one-se\enteenth part, that is, men
are taller than women in about the ratio of 1 8 to 1 7. Men,
therefore, exceed women in bulk in about the ratio of 18
times 18 times 18 to 17 times 17 times 17 (for the volumes
of bodies vary, not as their linear dimensions, but as the
cubes of these dimensions), or rather more than the ratio of
118 to 100. Hence, so far as Hu.schke's estimate can be
trusted, the cerebral capacity of women is relatively greater
than that of men.
We learn from Broca, though one would like to be
assured that the statistical evidence is trustworthy, that
the brain of man is heavier than that of women as 1 1 1
to 100. This, like Huschke's evidence, but in even greater
degree, would be unfavourable to M. Delaunay's position.
But Broca also notes that the female cranium is longer and
less high than the male. The broader-headed among men
will probably regard this as evidence of inferiority, while the
dolichocephalic, or long-headed, wiU regard it as proof
positive that at any rate women have equal, or probably
superior, brain fitness, so far as shape js concerned.
"The graphic curves of feminine brains of various races,"
says M. le Bon, " shows that even in the most ictelligent
societies, as the Parisians of to-day, there is a notable pro-
portion of the female population whose brains approach
more to the volume of those of certain gorillas than the
least-developed crania of the masculine sex." This soumls
unflattering, but in reality it means very littli!. For the
worst-de-veloped crania which are here compared include,
both among male and female specimens, abnormal cases,
from which it is not easy to infer the true relations of
brains of that class. Moreover, the men of worst-deve-
loped brains are more apt to get eliminated from society,
so that the very worst specimens of masculine crania being
removed, the comparison between the Ijad male and the bad
female heads is atlected unfavourably for the latter.
The frontal lobes, "the seat of the highest intellectual
faculties, are less developed in woman than in man, while,
on the other hand, the occipital lobes, which especially
preside over the life of sentiment, are more voluminous
in the woman than in the man." In its totality, according
to Professor Wagner, "the brain of the woman is always in
a state more or less embryonic." This must, of necessity,
relate to averages, not to individual brains. If the brains
of those women who have been distinguished for genius
were compared with the brains of ordinary men, there
would not be found any evidence of a state more or less
embryonic. This, of course, would by no means dispose
of the argument, but it indicates a circumstance to which
in all statistical inquiries attention should be carefully
drawn, the edict namely of selection, conscious or uncon-
scious, inafKecting the result. Is it certain that the female
ci-ania which ha%e been at the disjiosal of anatomists for
examination hav(^ come from the same classes (or in the
same degree from those classes) as the male crania ? Are
there not reasons for thinking that, on the whole (and in
considering averages this would be a sufficient objection),
the women whose crania have Ijeen examined belonged to
lower classes than the men ?
We note these points, not that we would confidently
deny the asserted superiority of male crania, on the whole,
in capacity and shape. Such superiority may exist, but
may indicate no original difterence of capacity. Broun
Sequard has shown how the brain grows with use ; and it
is certain that existent systems of education give, on the
whole, far less exercise to feminine than to masculine
brains. In America, where women are more faiily treated,
the customary tests of capacity show by no means that
degree of masculine superiority which might bo inferred
from M. Delaunay's reasoning. On the contrary, the
feminine brain holds its own so well against the masculine
as to suggest the thought that had equal chances been
given for as many centuries as years, the superiority might
be quite the other way. Nor has this been the case only
during the earlier stages of c<lucation ; but often up to
the final examinations.
In passing, we may note that at present it can liardly be
said that the frontal lobes of the brain have been proved
to preside definitely over the intellectual, while the
occipital lobes preside over the life of sentiment. The
animals whose brains have been experimented on do not
exhibit so clearly the respective action of intellectual and
sentimental ideas, tliat the ditlerent functions of parts of
the brain can be thus localised. Post-mortem examinations
are confessedly unsatisfactory. The relation assumed by
M. Delaunay without any doubt or scruple most probably
exists, but it has not yet been demonstrated.
To the objection that the intellectual inferiority of
women, assuming it to exist, is doe to the fact that for
centuries she has not received the same education as man,
M. Delaunay replies that it Ls unsound. " In past centuries
48
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 18^!
iho moss of tlie pnople were sunk in i^^orance ; neither the
one sfx nor thi- other rcceivrd any education." He there-
fore iimintaiMS, with Professor Hiseliod', of Munich, " Uiat
women have not had to the e.xercise and evolution of their
hruin.s any other hindrances than those proceeding from
their constitution and their capacity for development"
On this point lie uses Cyril's argument : —
"Tliry limit oUI trail.s," said Cyril, " vor)' well ;
Hut when (lid woniiin ever yi't invent !' "
" Female musicians receive," he says, "the same education
as males, an<l yet it is well known tliat, though there have
been some excellent feiriah; performers, there is no instance
of a great female coni[)os( r. It is the same with painters and
with the culinary art ; among the thousands of women who
liave exercised the latter, there liave been few, if any,
rori/oiin bletig. If we prepare a list of the men and
iinother of women most distinguished in poetry, painting,
sculpture, science, and philosophy, each containing a dozen
names, the two lists would not bear any comparison." He
cites the opinions of manufacturers and commercial men
who employ individuals of both sexes.
" They all agree that women are mon^
assiduous, but less intelligent, than men.
In printers' establishments, for example,
women work with minute care, mecliani-
cally, without knowing very well what
they are doing. Thus they make good
comiiositors in tlic case of reprints, a
work not demanding much intelligence,
but set up manuscripts badly, not under-
standing them so well as men." To which
it may be replied that as yet the capacity
of women for such work has not been
fairly tested. Miss Emily Faithfull
asserts, however, that well-trained female
compositors show as much readiness to
deal with manuscripts as the best male
compositors.
M. Delaunay touches, indeed, on the
moral qualities of men and women, re-
ferring to the many authors who ha\e
maintained that women are more prone
to every kind of wickedness than men,
though lie admits they commit j>ropor-
tionately fewer crimes. Poisoning is
more favoured by women — that is, the
poisoning of others — than by male
criminals. " Moralists liave noted that
woman is more playful, more change-
able, more capricious than man. She is also more de-
•structive and less circumspect. The number of women
run over in the streets is greater than that of men."
Quomnm liifc (am piilida Irndiinl ? What has all
this to do with M. Delaunay's subject ? The argument
which Mr. Delaunay uses to clinch his case, supplies the
best answer to this part of his reasoning. " All known
legislators take for granttxl the intellectual inferiority of
the feminine sex as compared with the masculine. Every-
where woman is regarded as a minor, incapable of taking
care of herself, and requiring a guide and tutor." The laws,
in fact, having been made by man, assert his superiority,
and so far as they can, ensure it. Woman is carefully
placed in an inferior position, and then assured that slie
is an inferior being.
COMETS' TAILS.
Rv THE EniTon.
IT^ROM what we liavc already seen, it will be manifcKt
that the fonnation of comets' tails is u j)roce&s of a
very marvellous nature, as apparently involving forces
other than those with which we are aciiuainted. 1'lie tail,
ninety millions of miles in length, which was seen .stretching
from the head of Newton's comet nearly along the ]>;itli
which the retreating comet liad to traverse (the comet tliis
passing away with its tail in front, instead of U-liind. i^
when it approached the sun), must, it would seem, b:i\ ■■
been formed by some force far more active than the t.T >■
of gravity. ITie distance traverse<l by the comet in thf la t
four weeks of its approach to the sun under gravity was nn
greater than that over which the matter of the tail, s. . ii
after the comet had circled around the sun, liad 1" ■•n
carried in a few hours. Yet we have no other evidemi- of
any repulsive force at all being exerted by the sun— ut
POUD'
s KxTRjicT is B certain cure for Rhemnatism an.4 Gout.
Pond'
ExInK-l IS a certain ourc for Hirmorrhoidn (Piles) .
Ertnict IH a certain cure for Xeurttl(;ic paintt.
Extract will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond'
Eltroct Kill cure Surains and I!rai»ei..
Sold by ali Chemibts. Get tbe genuine.
[Adti
i'ig. 1. — Uuuati's Comet, September 24, IboS.
least, no evidence whicli can be regarded as demonstrative —
and still less have we any evidence of a repulsive force
exceeding in energy the sun's attracting powei'.
This difficulty, and tbe circumstance that a comet's tail
lies in the direction opposite to the sun, or in the posi-
tion which the shadow of the head would occupy, has le<l
many, unl'amiliar with the laws of optics, to suppose that
the comet's tail may be simply the track of the luminous
rays which have pa.ssed through tlie comet's head. They
seem to think that the head may act in some way to send
a beam of condensed light along the region opiiosite to the
sun. It should hardly be necessary, however, to explain
that no such beam of light could ever be seen where we
see the comets tail. The cases supjxised to correspond
with the formation in this way of the tail-like appendage
are, in reality, of an entirelj- diti'erent kind. Thus, when
■we see a long beam extending from a bright light, we tind
that lirst the light has been caused to pass in tliat direction
only (as when light is admitted into an otherwise darkened
room through a hole) ; and secondly, there is matter along
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
49
the course of the light to he illuminated. The beam is
simply that long array of material particles which the light
illuminates while leaving the particles in neighbouring
I'uce in darknes.';. So understood, sucli a beam is seen to
■ utterly unlike a comet's tail ; for, in the first place, we
now of no matter beliiiid the head to be illuminated ; and,
n the second, we know that light is falling on the regions
il around the apparent array of illuminated particles, so
tliat these surrounding regions sliould be as brightly lit up,
which is not the case.
If any further doubt could remain as to this theory, it
would be removed by — first, the circumstance that the
tail of a comet is generally curved ; and, secondly, the exist-
ence of several tails extending from the head of one and
the same comet.
Professor Tyndall started a theory based on physical
experiments, and otherwise in better accordance with
scientific possibilities. Having found that certain gases,
even in an exceedingly attenuated form, form a luminous
cloud under the action of the electric light, he suggested
through which the comet had passed much earlier. Such
luminous trails as were formed more quickly would
account, he considered, for the straighter tails. He
overlooked, I think, the circumstance, that the shape
of the luminous cloud - trail would not in reality
depend at all upon the length of time which the
cloud might take in becoming \isible. Light would pass
with the same velocity through the ditlerent kinds of
tenuous gas, and whether the cloud became visilile at once
along the space thus passed through, or did not become
visible for several seconds, or minutes, or even hours, it
would become visible at the farther end of its course only
just so long after it had become visible at the nearer end,
as light had taken in traversing the length of cloud so
formed. This interval of time would be the same for the
quickly-appearing as for the slowly -appearing luminous
cloud, and there Mould, therefore, be no diflerence between
their forms. It would be necessary to account in this way
for the curvature of the larger tail in the figure, as com-
pared with the straightness of the smaller tails, that the
curved tail should have been more slowly
extended from the head ; whereas the
theory gives the same rate of extension
for both, namely, the rate at which light
travels.
We seem almost forced, by the phe-
nomena of such a comet as Donati's,
to the theory of the actual repulsion of
matter from the head of the comet into
the tails — matter repelled most swiftly
forming the straighter tails, while matter
repelled more slowly, and seemingly in
greater abundance, forms the great curved
tail.
We shall proceed to consider in our
next paper the e\4dence which seems to
show that, strange though this theory
of material repulsion may be, it is in
point of fact the only admissible theory.
If this shall be established, we shall
have to admit the existence of a re-
pulsive force, whose action on the
grosser material of planetary bodies is
insensible.
Fig. -■ — Donati's Cun\et, September 2(3, 1S5S,
that a comet's tail may be a luminous cloud of this sort,
formed in the a?ther of space by those rays of sunlight
which have passed through the comet's head. The rays
which, without passing through the head, fall on the aether
f space, would not call into existence this visible cloud,
■ cause their heating action would destroy what their
' lii'mical or actinic action b;/ itgelf wou\d produce. And
a> fast as, by the comet's motion, the cloud formed behind
the head came under full solar action, it would be
<lestroyed. So the tail would always be behind the head.
It appeared to Professor Tyndall that the curvature of
a comet's tail, or the existence of more tails than one, as
in Donati's Comet (Figs. 1 and 2), was not inconsistent
with this interpretation. For he noticed that, according
to the gas dealt with, the luminous cloud would take a
longer or shorter time in becoming visible. And he sug-
ijested that when the cloud formed slowly, the tail would
be curved, the part near the head being behind the position
which the head had recently passed through, while the
part near the end of the tail would be behind the regions
" All knowledge, and wisdom which ia tho
seed of knowledge, is an impression of pleasuro
in itself." — Bacon.
TiTE PopCLATioN OF THE Globe. — According to MM. Bohm A
Wagner's Bevolkerung der Erde, Europe has nsw a population of
315,939,000 inhabitants, Asia 831,707,000, Africa 205,679,000.
America 95,405,000, Australia and Polynesia 431,000, tlio Polar
regions 82,000, giving a total of 1,455,923,000, being an increase of
10,778,000, according to the latest known censuses. At the end of
1877 Germanv had a population of 43,943,000, Austria and Hungary
(1879) of 38,000,000, France (1S7C) of 36,900,000, 'IMrkey in
Europe of 8,l?60,000, Russia of 87,900,000. In Asia, China possesses
434,900,000 inhabitants, Hong Kong 130,144, Japan 34,300,000,
according to the census of 1878. The British possessions in India
number 2U),200,000 people (an estimate made before tho census of
this vcar), the French possessions 280,000, Cochin China 1,600,000,
the East Indian Islands 34,800,000, the islands of tho South Sea
878,000. Tlie area of Africa is estimated at 29,383,000 square
kilometres, divided as follows : — Forests and cultivated land
6,300,000, savannahs 6,235,000, steppes 4,200,000, deserts 10,600,000.
The inhabitants of British North America number 3,800,000, of
the United States 50,000,000, of Mexico 9,485,000, and of Brazil
11,100,000. The Polar regions extend round the Arctic Circle
with an area of 3,859,000 square kilometres, and the Antarctic
regions about 600,000. The population of the former is small,
with the exception of Iceland, which has 72,000, and Greenland
10,000.— Times.
50
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
^Rrbiftosf.
IN Mr. Prttcrsoii's " Stiulics in Life," • ho presents a
series of lectures delivered to the niemljcrs of a
Young Men's Christian As.sociation. His suliject is full
of interest, and his hook is interesting, and, on the whole,
Well writtt'n ; V)ut it would have been much more inte-
resting, and, as a literary work, it would have been far
lietter, if he had forgotten that he was addressing a reli-
gious body, or (which conies to much the same thing) if
he had rcmemljercd that he was speaking about sciences
Mr. Paterson seems to think that he must .state nothing
which he cannot prove to be in exact " accordance with
what we read in the Book, and what we might expect from
the narrative we have there." It is true that, after
starting on this principle, which for a student of science is
an illogical one, he is careful to discover an accordance
on a plan of his own, and then to say that it is not
because such and such theories oppose the Bible, but
because tliey are inconsistent with facts, that he rejects
them ; but he only makes his position more illogical still
by this most transparent device. The science writers of
a hundred years ago were wiser ii\ their generation. They
said (we (juote from the "Encyclopa'dia Britannica,"
1778): "This opinion, however plausible, we are not
permitted to adopt, being taught a different lesson
by Revelation .... we cannot doubt of the au-
thority of Moses." If Mr. Paterson were content to
do this, his position would be as logical as theirs. But,
after expressing in effect the same opinion, he proceeds to
argue the matter out, as though he were in doubt of liis
position. All the space thus occupied is simply wasted ;
and the reasoning can hardly fail to be as offensive to
those who accept the authority of the Bible unquestion-
inglj-, as it is to those who cannot see what place Bible
references can possibly have in scientific treatises. Mr.
Paterson should know, every real student of science should
remember, that science is of no creed as it is of no countr}'.
A writer of science has no more occasion to show that the
science he teaches accords with his or any one else's inter-
pretation of any religious book, than the tailor has to show
that the clothes he makes are on a pattern accordant with
Christian, with Mussulman, or with Buddhist doctrines.
Hence we must limit our praise of Mr. Paterson's work
to the remark that if one-fourth were removed and the
price propoi-tionately reduced, it would be a work which
students of biology would find worth getting and reading.
With the fourth referred to would go much false science.
We venture, too, to say that the interests of religion are, to
say the least, not advanced by such passages as we refer to.
It cannot conduce, for example, to the reverential spirit
Mr. Paterson inculcates, to read a paragraph, — beginning
■with the statement that Darwin's theory is essentially
atheistic, going on to refer to what Mr. Paterson knows
" in his inmost soul by the revelation of the Holy Ghost" ;
and closing with the statement that, even if the Bible does
not forbid, hybridity sets up an impassable barrier.
In " Health Studies " f and " The Human Body," } Mr.
Paterson appears to better advantage, though he loses even
here no opportunity of making science and religion simul-
taneousl}' ridiculous.
Yet all three works are full of interesting and, for the
most part, instructive matter j and but for the serious
defect wc have pointed out, they might all three l>e strongly
recommended. Ailxtit, there is another fault — to wit, an
affectation of simplicity, a very different thing from real
simplicity. No one could write more simply than Faraday,
yi't his siniphfst words never wanted dignity, and never
ofl'ended his reader's sense of self-respect : when we find
our author speaking of the features of the face as Mouth
gate, Nosegate, and so forth, and gravely telling us tliut
the nose is useful, " even though it may also beomament;il, '
and the like, we cannot accord the same praise to him.
"The Fiji Islands."— We omitted to notify in the foot
note to our review of Mr. Home's work on "The Fiji
Islands," that it is published by Mr. Edward Stanford,
Charing Cross.
• " Stadieu in Life," by H. Sinclair Paterson, M.D.
Uodclcr & Stoughton.)
t " Health Studies," by the Bamo author.
% " The Uuraan 13ody," by the eanie author.
(London :
THE GREAT PYRAMID MEASURES, AND THE
DIAMETERS AND DISTANCES OF THE SUN,
EARTH, AND MOON.
By Joseph Baxendell, F.R..\.S.
[It must not be understood that we accept our estccmod con-
tributor's views. They illustrate well the whole theory of pyramid
coincidences, but these coincidences disprove, in our opinion, what
Mr. Baxendell considers that they prove.^ED.]
A FEW months ago the results of a partial discussion of the
Great Pyiamid measures, given by Professor C. Piazzi Smyth,
in the fonrth edition of his work entitled " Onr Inheritance in the
Great Pyiamid," led mo to believe that the data which had formed
the basis of tho design for the Pyramid were the diameters and
distances of the sun, earth, and moon, combined with tho ratio
(it) of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — a quantity
which forms an important feature in the relations of the Pyramid
measures ; and, also, that in order to reduce the results of tho
astronomical data to magnitudes suitable for the design
and construction of the Pj-ramid, a scale of one pj-ramid inch
to a length, one -thousandth part greater than the present
English mile, or 63,360 pyramid inches, liad been used by the
architect ; but as I found that the values of the diameters and
distances given in various astronomical woi-ks, especially those for
the diameter and distance of the sun, would not yield results
agreeing exaclJii with the Pyramid measures, although they were
generally remarkably close a|iproximations, I was induced to under-
take a more extended discussion and analysis of the measures, with
a view to ascertain, if possible, tho exact values which had been
employed bj- the architect in his reductions, and it thus became
necessary to attempt a solution of the following problem. Given
approximate values of the diameters and distances of the sun, earth,
and moon to find the values which in simple combinations will give,
with .sdiVt exactness, the various Pyramid measures and numbers,
the scale for the reductions being one Pyramid inch for a Pyramid
mile of 63,360 Pj-ramid inches. For some time 1 had conside: able
ditficulty in forming the requisite number of suitable equations for
the complete solution of this problem, but ultimately succeeded, and
obtained the following values : —
Fvramid mil(*s. English miles.
Diameter of the Sun '855,938 856,793
Equatorial diameter of the Earth 7,917'7 7,9256
Diameter of the Moon 2,157'2 2,159-3
Mean distance of the Sun 91,758,800 91,850,558
Mean distance of the Moon 238,483 238,721
Let S = distance of the sun; i1f= distance of the moon; s =
diameter of the sun; c = equatorial diameter of tho earth; «i =
diameter of the moon. Then the following equations, in whicl*
pyramid miles and inches are adopted, will show the relations
between these numbers and the pyramid measures : —
1. — = l,00O,000)r.
It is probably owing to the remarkable relation in the magnitudes
of tho throe bodies shown by this equation that tho quantity x
forms so prominent a foatui-e in the relations of tho Pyramid
measures.
2. v's7r'^=9,13103= length of one side of tho base sf tho Pyramid.
3. ^^82^ = 5,81301 = height of tho Pyramid.
4. "'^.'^Qj^ = l,S81-59 = length of Grand Galler)-.
5. t±!!l^ = 41213 = length of King's Chamber.
25
Nov. lb, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
61
■151.11 u;.ij
C. ^ '^ =5'151,C16=tlie nnmber which has been called the
key number to the dimensions of the King's Chamber, and of the
I'vramid generally.
'„ ,._ 25,000, OOOe
= 119'37 = height of antc-chaniber.
11. "'' '•"'"' =3G,52-t-22 = perimeter of base of the Pyramid.
250t ■'
12. iiiiIL= 5,813-01 = height of the Pyramid.
500tn-
esir*
13. „ . — ■ '^l,881-59 = lc!igth of Grand Gallery.
11. g ,- — =-11213 = length of the King's Chamber.
Among the equations I obtained during the investigation were
voral which gave a smaller value for the diameter of the sun;
lul as I am not awai-e that any sensible difference has ever been
i served between the polar and equatorial diameters, this result
'ined adverse to the theory of a connection between the Pyratnid
isures and the diameters of the three bodies, until it occun-ed to
that probably one diameter referred to the photosphere, and the
her to the comparatively dark and solid or liquid body of the sun.
his latter diameter is 853,718 Pyramid miles, or 2,220 miles less
uiu that of the photosphere, and the following equations, in which
is represented by the Greek letter a, will show its connection with
le Pyramid measures : — •
15. — J- = 36,52 1-20= perimeter of base.
16. 2^.= 5,81301 = height of Pyramid.
17. 100 j = 116'2G = length of ante-chamber.
0V5.
50e" "
1^- 400;00(V«=l'«81-59-
18.
= 11213.
^- ?27l0i = l'®Slo9.
21- i;0007' = 51.51C.
The length of the earth's polar axis is assumed by pyramidists
to be 500,000,000 pj-ramid inches, or 7891--11 pyramid miles of
63,360 pyramid inches to tlie mile, or 7,899-30 English miles, while
the value derived by Col. Clarke, from an elaborate discussion of
measurements of arcs of meridian, is 7,899-11 English miles — the
difference being therefore, loss than two-tenths of a mile. I was,
therefore, much surprised to find that the Pyramid measures would
not yield a less diameter for the earth than 7,892-o4 pyramid miles,
or more than a mile greater than the generally-accepted length of
the polar diameter. The question therefore arose — Can this latter
lengtli be in error to the e.vtent indicated, or is the value 1 have
obtained connected in any way with some marked feature
of the Pyramid ? It seemed to be highly improbable, if not impos-
sible, that the results of the calculations of Bessel, Airy, and Clarke
could be in error to the extent of more than a small fraction of a
mile, and assuming, therefore, that the figure of th? earth is truly
spheroidal with major axis = 7,7177, and minor axis = 7,891-41
Pyramidal miles, I calculated the gco-centric latitude in which a
diameter will be 7,892-54 miles, and found it to be 78° 25' 33" ; and,
deducting this from 90°, we have 11° 31' 27". A glance at this
result at once suggested that it was the polar distance of the
Pyramid pole-atar, a Draconis, multiplied by the quantity jr, and on
diriding 11° 3 1.'27 " by tt 1 obtained 3° 41', which is a very close approxi-
mation to the calculated polar distance of a Draconis at the time
of the building of the Pyramid. Now a section of the earth through
the parallel of latitude marked out in so singular a manner has a
diameter of 1,5835 1 Pyramid miles, or exactly one-fifth of the
earth's equatorial diameter, and an area of 1,969,462 miles, cr one
twenty-fifth that of a section through the equator, which is
49,236,600 miles. The occurrence of the Pjiamid numbers 5 and
25 in connection with the diameter thus indicated in so striking a
manner gives a peculiar importance to it, and accordingly I have
found that expressions in which it is a factor can be formed which
give exact] u the various Pyramid measures. Thus, representing this
diameter by the Greek letter ij (eta), wo have
"• ''" 4,000 X 5-151,6 16~''^''-'^^-
23.
a'
-— — - =0 lol.blO.
4,000q
S
■" = 11,626-02 = 100 times length of ante-chamber.
S'Tr^TT
.i,0U0q'5,151,646
^/2e-,
= 36,521-22.
= lll'795 = height of granite wainscot in ante-chamber.
100 ^ °
450(T^n
149-37.
5-151,646e^)
SVy/ff _
400,0001,^
.S7r5-151,616
= 1,881-59.
32.
lOOi;
^=9,131-05.
S
7^ = 5,813-01.
= 1,881-59.
It may be remarked that the diameter >; is exactly one seven-
thousandth part greater than the polar diameter, and that the
parallels of latitude in which it occurs may bo regarded as the
limits of the habitable portion of the globe.
The results of my investigation haWng proved that a measure
corresponding to our English mUe, and containing 63,360 Pyramid
inches, was used by the architect of the Pyramid, it became a
matter of interest to ascertain, if possible, how it originated, and
ultimately I arrived at the folio-wing formula : —
33. 10*/ ''— = 17,724'5 miles, which is the circumference of a
^ m
circle whose area is 25,000,000 miles, or equal to the area of a
section of the earth through the parallel of latitude in which the
length of a diameter is equal to the mean of all the earth's
diameters (7,904-545 P. miles). Tliis area expressed in Pyramid
inches, is equal to a square, the side of whicli has a length of
316,800,000 inches, and this, divided by 5,000 = 63,360 inches.
My experience in the development of the theory which has
yielded the results given in this paper has convinced mo that there
is no feature of the Great Pyramid, or relation of its various parts,
which cannot be expressed in terms of the astronomical data 1 have
used, and in some cases, as 1 have already shown, two, three, or
more equations can be formed, each containing one or more factors
not in the others, but gi'ving precisely the same result. It is evident,
therefore, that the builder possessed a far greater amount of mathe-
matical and astronomical knowledge than it has hitherto been
supposed could possibly have been acquii-ed by the ordinary course
of observation and scientific investigation in the early age of the
world when the Pyramid was built ; and the fact that the values of
the diameters and distances used by him are within the limits of the
jjrobable errors of the means of the best astronomical determinations
of recent times proves that, so far at least as these values are con-
cerned, modern science has nmde no real advance upon the science
known to the builder of the Great Pyramid 4,000 years ago.
NEW MODE OF GROWING PLANTS.
By E. C.
TO Dr. C. W. Siemens, the celebrated electrician, we are indebted
for a series of experiments lately tried by him on the effect of
the dynamo-electric light in promoting the vegetation and growth
of plants. The idea that the electric current might be utdised in
this way first occurred to him by observing that the blistering
effect on the skin from this light was very similar to that produced
by a hot sun. Without the aid of the sun's rays, chlorophyll is not
formed, and this is an all-important element in vegetable life, as it
produces the green colour of the leaves, and supplies the plants
with carbon and starch for forming woolly tissues, by causing the
decomposition of the carbonic acid vapour absorbed from the atmo-
spliere by the leaf. The electric light, being, in fact, a sun on a
small scale, has been formed to produce chlorophyll and other
necessary chemical changes in a similar way to solar rays.
52
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
Tho np|>nrntuR oiiiploycd fi)r tlio aorioa of cxperinipnts vms a
small apri);lit Simnoiifi miioliiiio, worked by n giis-ciiffinc. Tho
two rnrboiiH in tlio rcffiilntor Ininp wrrc rrspoctively 10 nml 12
milliini^troH incliniiictor, iind tlio lijfVit it |.roiincprt wiib cqniil to 1,100
rnndlcfi. Tlin lirat pliin tlint wiis trie<l was by pliu'iii;^ tho lamp
about 7 ft. aliovo n melon pit. and a roflcctor was arranjfcd to con-
rrntnilc all the b'Kht on tho snah. I'oIh of rapidly-crowing plantH
woro, in Kiicrossion, brouffht nndor this inlluonoo. Bomo exposed only
to tho electric li),'ht, some to tho sun alone, and some to tho siiu
and electric liurht altoniatoly. Tho latter made tho most rapid
progress, and were the best in colour. In the next experiment, tho
lamp was put inaido a grecnhnuse, ami as near the roof as possible.
Various plants were placed in pots on tho floor, at a variety of
distances, and the light waskept burning all night foronowoek. Tho
plants nearest to tho influence of tho lamp made tho most rapid pro-
gross, and tho foliage and plants were of a far brighter hue than if
thoy hod only had sunlight during tho day. As regards forcing fruit,
tho electric light seems verj' oliicacious. In ten days time some
strawberrj- ])lant9, which had been kept alleniatcly under the
influence of tho sun and light, had large, full-flavoured fruit, while
plants which had only been exposed to tho rays of the sun for a
similar period, had merely green berries on them. There is no doubt
that tho u.so of artiticial sunlight in horticulture will be of immense
advantage; but whether it can be used by market gardeners and
people supplying the London markets, entirely depends on the price
at which it can bo produced. The machine used by Dr. Siemens,
of 1, too candle-light, costs about fivopenco an hour to work, ex-
clusive of a man, but including the cost of carbons. Dr. Siemens
is of opinion, that a light ei|ual to 0,000 candlos would prove
to bo economical in working. This would have to be fixed 20 ft.
above the ground. For forcing early fruits and flowers for the
iiondon markets, this discovery, if not too expensive, will be in-
valuable, as tho rays may bo concentrated on a brick wall, and by
ibis means fruit may be rapidly ripened. At a lecture at tho Royal
Institution, given by Dr. Siemenii, the action of the dynamo-electric
light was tried on some tnlijis, and it had the effect of causing tho
small buds to expand to full-blown flowers in about twenty minutes.
Tlie electric machine will apparently soon be applied to puqioaes of
general utility, as it enables work on a heavy scale to be carried
out, and it is already employed for telegraph work, superseding the
voltaic battery. Should Dr. Siemens succeed in producing it in a
cheap form, it would bo largely adopted, without doubt, in horticul-
turo, as the advantages of being early in the market are well
■known. It seems almost an undisputed fact, that plants subjected
to the influence of tho dynamo-electric light arrive at perfection in
rather loss than half the time they would have taken if left only
to the rays of the sun.
A PLANET OUTSIDE NEPTUNE.
RATIIKR more than lialf-a-century ago, astronomers were begin-
ning to suspect that outside the path of the planet Uranus
another planet must travel, whose attraction caused Uranna to
deviate somewhat from the motions which theory assigned to him.
We know how this idea eventually led to the discovery of Neptune.
From tho observed disturbance of Uranus, the place of tho disturb-
ing body was determined by Loverrier and Adams independently,
and when the telescope was turned to the region of the heavens
where this as yet unknown planet should be, there, quite close to
the calculated spot, was his disc seen. It seems not unlikely
that before many years pass another planet further away than
JJcptune will be discovered. When Profes.sor Newcomb, of Wash-
ington, published his " Tables of Neptune " in 186G, he said, " It is
almost vain to hopo for the detection of an extra-Neptunian planet
from tho motions of Neptune before the close of the iiresent
century." But since Newcomb's " Tables of Uranus "were |)ul)-
lishod in 1S73 the jtlanet (Uranus) has been found to pass increasinglv
more in advance of its calculated place. Mr. I). P. Todd, Assistant
in tho Nautical Almanac Oilice at Washington, has found that by a
graphical method (the problem not being yet in such a condition
that proces.ses of calculation can be applied), that the position of a
disturbing body outside the orbit of Neptnne can bo approximately
interred. lie places this body at a distance from the sun exceeding
tho earth's (iftytwo times, so that its revolution around the sun
would require 373 years. Its present i)Osition along (or near) the
ecliptic would be within ten degrees either way of longituto 170°,
so that it might bo looked for ten degrees along the ecliptic, on either
side of tho starTnu Leonis. A.ssuming tho distance correctly taken
(as in the case of Neptune, the real planet may be at a much greater or
at a much less distance than the hypothetical one, without greatly
affecting tho result as to the di.-tturbing body's apparent position),
tho mass would be such that, assuming the density similar to that
of the four giant planets, the apparent diameter would be abi.:.;
2"! (say about the {WWth part of the moon's), and it would npiienr
as a telescopic star of about the thirteenth magnitude. Ue puts
the point where the planet's path crosses the ecliptic in longitude
103°, and the inclination to the ecliptic as 1*21'. By the kindnesg
of Kear-Admiral Kodgers, supcrintondont of tho Washingttjn
Observatory, Mr. Toild wag allowed to begin the search for the
trans-Neptunian with the magnificent 2G-inch telescojw. A power
of '100 was employed, which would make the diameter eqaal to
nearly half the moon's, and shonld therefore show the disc verj-
obviously. On thirty clear moonless nights Mr. Todd searched
along tho neighbourhood of the ecliptic from longitude
120° 8' to longitude 180° 1', without learing any nnsearched
space between these longitudes. lie says, " if a trans-Neptunian
planet is ever discovered, having a diameter as great as 2", I shall
be very much surprised if it ia found that it must have eluded my
search." But he suggests that at and about the time of the
next opposition (which, if his assumed position is correct, would
occur within ten or twelve days on either side of March 20), a new
search should be made, with a telescope of sufficient power. If a
careful and sufficient search near the indicated longitude should
prove unavailing, it would be necessary to extend the obscrration to
a limited zone, all round the heavens. It is not likely that the
inclination of any trans-Neptunian planet to the ecliptic would b<'
more than 2°, so that an ecliptical zone 4° wide would probably
suffice for sunev.
Reports of Societies. — We have been requested to insert reports
of the meetings of various societies. But the papers read before
scicntiflc societies are, as a rule, unsuited to our columns, and we
prefer (for the present at any rate) to give our space, which is
limited, to matter not requiring translation before it can bo under-
stood by tho general reader. We shall be very glad to find spaco
for clear and simple accounts by tho authors of papers communi-
cated to societies, of the matter which they properly enough present
in technical terms to fellow workers. And when papers are of suffi-
cient interest, we shall present our readers with translation specially
drawn up for those pages. But reports of scientific societies as usually
prepared, that is condensed versions of statements too technical
even without condensation to be generally understood, would be
simply a waste of space in a journal expressly intended to be of
interest to tho general public. Moreover, a large amount of
matter communicated to learned societies has no interest (even
when explained) to other than experts. Our wish is not that all
such matter as is thought suitable for communication to scientific
societies should appear in these columns (by a sort of editorial
pitchforking), but that whatever is worth knowing outside those
societies may be sifted out and placed, when duly translated,
before our readers. The former course would be tho easier ami
the cheaper; the latter seems the more honest, as alone in accord-
ance with our programme.
Indiabibber G.iTHERiXG IX COLUMBIA. — Au interesting account
is given of this process in a report just issued by the United States
Consul at Carthngona. When tho hunter has found a rubber tree,
he first clears away a space from tho roots, and then moves on in
search of others, returning to commence operations as soon as ho
has marked all the trees in vicinity. He first of all digs a hole in
the ground hard by, and then cuts in the tree a V-shaped incision,
with a machete, as high as he can reach. The milk is caught as it
exudes and flows into the hole. As soon as the flow from the cuts
has ceased, the tree is chopped down, and the tnink raised from
the ground by means of an improvised trestle. After placing largo
leaves to catch the sap, gashes are cut throughout tho entire length,
and the milk carefully collected. When it first exudes, tho sap is
of the whiteness and consistence of cream, but it turns black on
exposure to the air. When the hole is filled with nibber it is
coagulated by adding hard soap, or tho root of the mechvacan,
which have a most rapid action, and prevent the escape of the
water that is always jiresent in the fresh sap. When coagjilatod
sufficiently, the rubber is carried on the backs of the hunters by
bark thongs to the banks of the river and floated down on rafts.
The annual destruction of rubber trees in Columbia is very great,
and the industn- must soon disappear altogether, unless the Oovern-
ment puts in force a law that already exists, which compels tho
hunters to tap the trees without cutting them do\vn. If this law
were strictly carried out there would be a good opening for com-
mercial enterprise, for rubber trees will grow from eight to ten
inches in diameter in throe or four years from seed. The trees re-
quire but little attention, and begin to yield returns sooner than
any other. Those that yield the greatest amount of rubber flourisli
on the banks of the Simu and Aslato rivora. The valuo of t! i'
whole indiarubber imported into the States annually is ab > ;t
?10,000,000.
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNO^^^LEDGE ♦
53
No-. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
55
Ifttn-g to tl)c (Btiitot,
IThe Editor dot* not hoU himself regpomible for thf opinions of hit cot'rgfpondenfa.
Be cunnot undertakf io return maiiuxrripts or to corregporid trtth their leriters. He
requests thai all commuuicatioiis thonld be a* nhorl as possible, consisfentlt/ tcith full
Uttd clear statements qf the writer's meaning.]
All communications should be addretted to the Editor of KsowxBDGE, 71, Great
Queen-street, W.C.
All Cheques and Post-OJice Orders to be made patfaUe to Messrs. JTt/man ^
•,• All letters to the Editor vill he yumbered. For co7icentence of reference,
correspondents, vhen r^erriitg to any letter, will oblige by mentioning its 7iumber
and the page on which it appears.
All Letters or Queries to the Editor which require attention in the current issue of
Kvo-WLSnos, should reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day <f publication. _
iinod and despised who is not in a
lything more adverse to accuracy
*' In knowledge, that man onlv is to b
state of transition 'Kor is
than fixity of opinion."- — Faraday.
*' There b no harm in making a mistake, but great hann in making
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man v
nothing."— ii>ly. ____
<J?Hr CoiTf^pontifnrf Columnd
ERROR IX COMPUTING PERIPHERY OP ELLIPSE.
[14] — Will you pardon me for pointing out a slight error on page
87 of Knowxedge ?
In the reduction of the expression
^ ^, 1 13 1 (13)» , -,
^<^-4- 59-61- iW^°-^
Yon give the result as 2058 in , instead of which it should be
20"508 in. I give the details as follows : —
7.[l_l. 15-1. (i£)l]
'- 4 49 frl (49=) ^
^ ^64. (49)' -16. 49. 13- (13)'-,
= '"t -ejrwf' ^
^ ^53661- 10192 -169t
= "r , -..,.^. J
= 21. P0012.
153664
143303
1536(3 1
= 20-508.
The solution by logarithms gives a similar result.
Yours faithfully,
WlLLUM J. Hardixg.
P.S. — May I suggest that the above expression may be given
as an example worked ont by logarithms to show their gi-eat
convenience ? — W. J. H.
[Mr. Harding is quite right. Turning to my computation, I find
logarithm of result given correctly as 13119321, which is the
logarithm of 2050841. I took out the number, however, incorrectly.
The difference between the circumference of an ellipse having axes
7 and 6, and the circumference of a circle having diameter 6J, is
only a tenth of what I deduced, and is in fact less than the hundredth
of an inch. Had I taken axes less nearly equal, there would have
been a greater difference ; but it is only when the very irregular
heads are considered that the difference arising in this way can bo
ivorth taking into account. — Ed.]
COMET.S.
[15] — I have read with interest tlie article on comets. I am
always on the look out for astronomical news, and turned to the
article in question in the hope that soiiie light might be shed on the
physical nature and purpose of these mysterious tourists in space.
I have long been expecting some definite theory to be broached to
account for them ; some facts have been collected, but comets are
still, apparently, without the pale of celestial civilisation and order.
The connection between them and meteor streams is estabhshed.
Are we, then, to regard meteor streams as the condensed material of
comets left behind, and separated from the main body in the course
of its revolution rnund the sun ? If so, how is the fact accounted for
that spectroscopic examinations shows that comets are mainly com-
posed of the vapour of carbon, while the meteorites that have been
examined generally contain a large proportion of iron, nickel, &c. ?
Is it possible that a flight of meteors at a great distance might pre-
sent the appearance of a comet ? Are comets to be regarded as
a primary condition of matter, to be afterwards condensed into
meteors, and these in turn to assist in tlie formation of new planets,
and the gradual increase of old ones ? I believe the theory, first
put forth by the editor of Knowi.kuge, that the rings of Saturn* are
com]io.sed of a multitude of minuto satellites, is generally accepted.
Would it be in accordance with that theory to go a step further,
and consider the riuirs to be dense meteor streams!-' and if so,
might they have been introduced to Saturn's system by a comet or
comets ? Any information on these points will, doubtless, be
acceptable to others besides
One wno Wants to Know.
P.S. — The crape ring of Saturn was well seen here (Hastings) on
the evening of Nov. 6, power 250, 4j[ in. refractor.
FIGURES OF THE CONIC SECTIONS.
[16] — When I am studying geometry, as in Euclid, I am able to
describe circles of any size and in any position with compasses.
But in studying the geometry of the conic sections, 1 am not able to
make such illustrations as I want. I cannot draw the parabola or
the hj-perbola freehand ; nor, indeed, can I draw a satisfactory
ellipse in this way. But, even if I could, I want something more.
I want to be able to draw with exactitude a parabola, hvperbola, or
ellipse, as occasion may require, in any position ami of any size or
shape (parabolas, of course, are all of the same shape, but hy])erbolas
and ellipses are not). I observed a few weeks since in a back
number of the Enfrlit<h Mechanic what seems to me a very simple
and satisfactory way of drawing parabolic and hyperbolic arcs, as
follows : —
For the parahola, set two straight lines AB, BC, (Fig 1) at right
angles to each other.and divide each into the same number of equal
parts in the points 12 3 4 5, join A\, .\2, A3, .44, A5, and through
B J
> A
i 2
/
1
-""'' eB
^^
r-
3'"''^
r^-
^^^''^
^
r\^ 1
^
Fi^.1
the points of division along AB draw parallels to BC. Then the
points p, q, r, s, t, in which the parallels through 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 meet
Al, A2, A3, A4, A5, lie on a parabolic arc through AC, which can
be swept ont as in the figure.
For the hyperbola, set two straight lines AB, AC (Fig. 2) at right
angles, and from a point O ontside BAC draw through any points
1, 2, 3, 4 on AB, straight lines cutting AC in 1, 2, 3, 4. Through
11, 22, 33, 44 draw parallels to AB, AC, meeting in p, q, r, s, then
the points A p, q, r, s lie on a hyperbolic arc which can be swept
out as in the figure.
This is well, so far as it goes j but it does not meet my difficulty.
• [The theory was first advanced by the Bonds, in America, and
independently by Clark Maxwell, of Glasgow. — En.]
oO
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 1», 1**1.
Wr get in Miig way a ]inriibolic nnd a hyperbolic arc (tlio rllipso
i'niinut bo roprcHcnti'd ut nil in tliis way by tlic Biniplu uso of
|ianillol HtruiKlit linvii), but wo linvo no mcaiia of drawing a pnra-
bulu or by|iorbola of K>^'''n Hizu, liuvinK a given fuciiH and directrix,
or in tlic case of tlio liyiierbola, having a given centre and given
niivni|iti>t<'i!. I am aware that there are mechanical means, eunic of
which seem i<in>|iIo enough, for drawing all the conic sections, but
they do not suit my |iur|iOse. I want to be able at any time, with
the instruments ftjund in an ordinary box of instruments, to draw a
parabola, hyperbola, or ellipse of determinate size, position, and
shape. Can you help mo to meet this difficulty ?
Geometeicl'.s.
[I will take an early opportunity to describe some simple methods
of drawing the conic sections in the way required by Geomctricus.
The methods described in his letter are correct j but in practice it
is well to have methods which give a scries of enveloping lines,
gniding the liand in sweeping out the curves after such points as
p, q, r, s, and ( have been obtained ; or the curve may be struck out
in that way without obtaining determinate points as above. To
illustrate my meaning, let Geomctricus join C 3 in Fig. 1, which line
will be trisected where crossed by ^ 5 and s -4. Join these points of
triscction with the points 2 and 1 (on A B) respectively; then the
two straight lines thus drawn and C 3 will touch the parabolic arc
at C, s, and q respectively. With A 13 there will bo four tangents.
If A 3 and C 3 (3 on A 15) be divided into six equal jiarts, and the
successive points of division along C 3, be joined with the succes-
sive points of division along 3 A, there will bo obtained seven
tangents touching the arc AC at A, p, q, r, .«, t, and C.
Tangents for the curve A, q, s, Fig. 2, may be obtained in
another way, which I will describe, as also methods for draw-
ing ellipses, either by obtaining any number of points along
the curve, or by getting a series of tangents enclosing it. In the
meantime, I note that A is the vertex, AD the axis of the parabolic
arc AC in Fig. 1 ; neither its focus nor its directrix is given directly
by that method, but by taking BC bearing a definite ratio to AB,
the position of the point which is at the extremity of the latus
rectum (or focal chord perpendicular to the axis) can be determined
at once, and thence the position of the focus and directrix. In
Fig. 2, A q, is part of one branch of a rectangle hyperbola, of which
Ois the centre, and OD, OE are a.svmptotes. The point A is not a
determinate point on the curve ^unless the rectangle OA is also a
square, in which case A is the vertex of the branch. By making
OA a rhomboid, a hyperbolic arc having its asymptotes inclined at
any angle, can be obtained ; and if the rhomboid is also a rhombus,
the vertex of the arc so described will be at that angle of the
rhombus which lies farthest from O. — Ed.]
CAX ICE-YACHTS SAIL FASTER THAN THE WIND ?
[17] — "Upsilon" (letter 3, p. 16) is one of the many and intel-
ligent men who have been perplexed by this apparently simple
question. I think the following considerations appeal to the judg-
ment, perhaps, more forcibly than those you append to"Upsilon's"
letter : —
H a ship is sailing before the wind, a pressure is manifestly
exerted on its sails, and i»«!consequence, the velocity increases until
the ship has the same velocity as the impelling fluid (the air). This
is the theoretical limit, for then the ])ressm'e ceases.
But if, on the other hand, a ship is sailing with the wind abeam,
no matter how great the velocity, the moving air exerts a pressure
on the sails. The component of this pressure resohod in the direc-
tion of the ship's motion tends to increase that motion, and since
the wind pressure is constant in action nnd direction, the ship may
be considered to be moving under a uniformly accelerating force.
Hence, if there be ne drifting to leeward (of course, a theoretical
consideration), there is no theoretical limit to the velocity which the
ship may attain. In the case of ice-yachts, the drifting and friction
are at a practical minimum, and the speed they attain may bo very
much greater than that of the wind.
Cri'sader.
[The reply we gave last week takes the lino which "Cmsader"
suggests. Ho will see, however, that the accelerating force is not
nniform, but diminishes as the velocity of tho ship increases. It
would be a pretty problem to determine, with certain necessary
assumptions as to .sails, frictionni resistance, ic, the maximum,
velocity uttuinuble with a given wind. — En.]
IS THE SUN HOT? (Abstract.)
[18] — Tlic sun is regarded as the fountain head of all terrestrial
energy. Tho gravitation of tho central mass of the sun causes
tremendous compression, giving birtli to the forces that are trans-
mitted to as. Now the forces that wc arc most gt'nsiblo to arc
heat and light, but there is another force that we a>v not so sensible
to, i.e., chemical force. Did " Anti-Gucbre," wlnxi ho drew near to
his fire, ask himself tho following question : Where did the heat
originate ? Tlie answer is : Tho sun. For tN sun transmitted his
energy (by the medium of the lethcr) to 'fto earth, tho force was
utilised by plants, plants in course of timo changed into coal.
Now, as regards tho "mountain pro/>osition." It is u well-known
fact that the "rays" of the sun pass Ihrowjh the atmosphere
without materially altering its frnperature, and are absorbed by
the earth, which gives out again the heat which it has absorbed to
the surrounding atmosphere. Now, on a mountain or in a balloon, wo
are further from the actoaJ source of heat, and the air, being thin
and rarefied, does not absorb heat like the denser and nearer-to-
the-<'arth atmosphere.
Tho explanation of the mountains, Ac, will also apply to the
ciri-us clouds. — Yours, 4c. .Sf.N.
[19] — With regard to Mr. Newton Crosland's letter (No. 5, p. 35)
on this subject, which is after all mere supposition, surely it is
more natural to suppose that a body which produces all the phe-
nomena of heat is in itself hot — at all events, till we find more
evidence to the contrary than N. C. can furnish. He says the
inflammatory action may be merely the chemical conversion of
substance into force. I should like to know what is combustion but
this ? Your correspondent " Tyro " seems under the impression
that light is visible ; perhaps when he hears it is not, he will be able
to account for the non-appearance of the broad flood of effulgence. —
Yonrs, Ac, C. J. Shaw.
[20] — I may, perhaps, be permitted to say a word in opposition
to " Anti-Guebre's " views.
Before discussing any point, I shall at once state that I take the
" conception of a medium filling space, and fitted mechanically for
the transmission of vibrations of light and heat " — in other words,
Ute himiitiferoiis (cther, an the foundation of my remarks. "Anti-
Guebre" leaves the subject of radiation and absorption untouched,
and here I think we have the explanation of his observations.
The conception of the a?ther filling space may now fairly be said
to be inductively proved. Prof. Tj-ndall's exiieriment, in which he
allows heat waves from a radiant body to pass through a glass tube,
taking the temperature by the thenno-electric pile, shows, beyond a
doubt, that air is incapable of absorbing heat.
He says " oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and the mixtnre, atmos-
pheric air, prove to be practical vacua to the rays of heat." Waves
of heat, then, travel from the sun to us without having been ab-
sorbed ; but directly they impinge upon the earth, and upon absorb-
ing and radiating bodies, they produce heat, and cause a brisk
radiation. Taking the accepted scientific definition of heat as " a
brisk agitation of the parts of an object," we can easily understand
that when the atoms of the a;ther "swing" with the atoms
of tho bodies upon which they impinge, a quicker movement
takes place, and consequent!}' heat is generated. Absorption,
then, is a source of heat, and heat so generated is radiated
into the air and turned to account. The power of the atmospheric
aqueous vapour to absorb heat radiated from the earth is immense,
and it is calculated that 10 to 15 per cent, of heat from the earth
is absorbed within 10 or 20 feet of the earth's surface. It has been
observed that where the air is dry, and remarkably free from
aqueous vapour, as in Australia, the temperature of the night is
50° to GO' below that of the day, because thero is no check to
radiation. Anti-Guebre's, 'and all observations fall in with these
explanations, and jirove them. The fm-ther we go from the earth's
radiation, the colder we get. It is a remarkable fact, proved by
experiment, that aqueous vaiiour has the power to absorb rays of
heat coming from the earth, but is incompetent to absorb rays from
the nun.
Bj' this remarkable adjustment the earth is rendered habitable.
G. F. P. DvBR.
1, Queen-square, Bath.
WASTE OF SOLAU HE.VT.
[21] — The letter in your present issue touches on a point in which
it has long appeared to me that scientific language is erroneous.
We talk of "Heat " coming from the Sun ; and under that impres-
sion, "Anti-Guebre's" complaint of tho "loss of Heat" has some
plausibility. But it appeal^s to me that the energy radiated by the
Sun is only one factor of the result called Heat.
Energy 4 or x Something = Heat
Energy -h or x Something else = Light.
Energy -t- or x Something else = Electricity,
and Heaven knows how many other yet unknown powers. There-
Not. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
57
fore, it is by to means certain that this energy should bo wasted,
although it fails to (i.e., is not designed to) form lieat on this littlo
globe. — CoGiio.
A CLEVER SEA-GULL.
[22] — During a rec n- passage over the North Sea, a flock of
sea-gulls followed the steamer for many miles. At last I noticed
that one of them, a remarkably fine bird, had, by some chance, got
an angler's line attached to its wing. The poor thing Hew about
the rigging, its companions, meanwhile, uttering loud cries. After
great cawing, the bird flew quickly towards the ship, dashed round
one of the ropes several times, and ultimately flew off, leaving the
line twisted round the rope. Was this what Mr. Herbert Spencer
wonid call " reason in inferior animals ? "
Hoping to see your journal succeed, as it deserves to do,
I remain, yours,
Geo. B. Eraser.
Helcnsburg, November 5, 18S1.
A LCN.UI ILLUSION.
[23] — With reference to geometrical illasions, I am sure that
many persons must have noticed the following, and yet my atten-
tion has never been drawn thereto either in conversation or in
print : — Tlio crescent moon being Diana's bow, we shall give the
name " sagitta" to the line drawn from the middle of the invisible
bow-string connecting the two horns of the moon to the middle of
the convex side of the crescent, or the illuminated limb of the
moon ; and we shall still apply the name, even when the moon is no
longer a crescent. The sagitta is necessarily aimed directly at the
8nn ; and yet, to the eye, it always seems to point above, often very
considerably above, the sun. The reason is that we are accustomed
in drawinir. and looking at, pictures on flat surfaces, to consider and
treat points or forms as they are projected on the '' plane of
yision " ; but they aro really presented to us as projected
on a spherical surface, whose centre is the eye. The differ-
ence is trifling when the angular field of view is small, and
from habit we neglect it, and we are led to do this even when
the difference is very imponant, and we know it to be so. Take the
simplest case of the illusion mentioned. The sun is on the horizon,
and the moon is 90° distant, not perceptibly different from half-
moon ; we shall suppose her altitude to be 25°. The moon is at the
highest point of the great circle of the sphere of vision passing
through the sun, the moon, and the point of the horizon opposite to
the sun. As the sagitta points directly to the sun, it lies on that
great circle ; but as it is at the highest part of that great circle, it
is horizontal. Now, when wo jiroduce the horizontal sagitta sun-
wards by the eye, we cannot help picturing to ourselves a line which
remains always parallel to the horizon, and our mental production
of the sagitta, instead of hitting the setting sun, passes 25" above it.
The illusion is connected with the fact that, in turning to look
from the moon to the sun, the observer rotates his head, or perhaps
his whole body, round a vertical axis, and not about an axis perpen-
dicnlar to the plane containing his eye, the moon, and the sun. By
taming himself properly in the latter manner, the obscner can, by
the eye, correctly produce the sagitta so as to hit the sun ; it will
be better, though not necessary, to screen off the horizon. We have
neglected refraction, the effect of vhich is small comparatively, but
in the case considered, the difference of refraction goes to diminish
the illusion, and not to help it. M.
[Five or si-t years ago I put tho question raised by " M " before
the readers of the English Mechanic. It is connected with a question
of some interest to artists, viz., the true rules of perspective for
pictures including a very large visual area. — Ed.]
LATIN QUOTATIONS.— OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[24] — I welcome with much pleasure the appearance of your new
scientific journal, and feel sm-e that it will meet with the support it
deserves. It is not cvei-yone who cares to pay sixpence for Nature,
and the cheaper ones arc sadly wanting in tho tone and character
which I think should pervade everything connected with science.
I should like, however, to make one dejirecatory remark. I think
that the too frequent use of Latin quotations should be avoided in
a paper addressed principally to those who have not had an uni-
versity education. Many who take a lively interest in science have
not had time to study the dead languages,* and to them (unless
• [There arc quotations so familiar that they can scarcely be
regarded as belonging to a dead language. Such was the one I
nsed, Nescit vox miitsa reverti, which means that " what has been
said cannot be unsaid." — Ed.]
accompanied by a translation) these quotations are simply
repellent.
I enclose an instance of an optical illusion just observed. It
will bo noticed that Mr. Smith's address appears to decline to the
left. — Yours trulv,
Xoi-. 9, 1881. ' C. J. Watson.
SMITH,
Blank Green,
SMITHBOEOUGH,
Near BLANKTtlWN.
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.
[25] — The No. 1 illusion I made an indopendent discovery of
many years ago, as also, no doubt, have many more who have been
much used to drawing geometric and mechanical patterns. Since
the advent of Knowledge, however, I have thought a little more
over it. Tho e.tplanation of this figure is, I believe, to be found in
the peculiar movements of the muscles of the eyeballs. The prin-
cipal movements of the eyeball are vertical and horizontal. Vertical
lines are followed b}- means of one pair of nmsclos, which move
the eyeball tlirough a vertical plane. Horizontal lines are
followed by corresponding muscles. Oblique lines are followed
by the eye through the combined action of both those pairs
of muscles. It is true that there is also an oblique pair
of muscle.?, but from their position, I do not think they assist the
eye to follow an oblique line, being more suited to rotate the eye
upon the axis of its lenses. Eeferring now to diagram No. 1, the
eye follows the line EG by a simple movement, but in following the
Ime AB, both pairs of muscles are employed. This movement
being more complex, is not so certainly continued when the guide
of the line is lost by the interposition of the space EH. The eye
is led away, as it were, also by the commencement at the point B
of the line BG, which breaks the continuity of the oblique move-
ment. It seems to me further complicnted b_v tho movement of
Fig. a.
Fig. b.
two eyes, -A'hich work more easily together in the vertical and
horizontal movements than in the oblique. Tliis may be noticed
when closing one eye, the illusion being then not so complete.
In confirmation of my remarks, I send yon two diagrams. If the
line EG be broken at B, tho illusion is almost destroyed, tho line
having lost its power of attracting the eve to a simpler movement
(Fig.o). ■
Again, if the same diagram bo set before the oye symnictrically
disposed to tho vertical position, so as to present to the eye similarly
situated oblique lines, the illusion will vanish, as then tho oblique
movements of the eyes are refjuired to follow both the parallel lino
and the one which is opposed to them. Tliis, then, brings the diagram
to the form of an ordinary Koman X (Fig. h) in which there is no
difficulty in following the single lino. If this same diagram bo set
before the eye with the parallel lines either vertically or horizontally
disposed, the illusion will reappear. Hoping Knowledge will be as
successful as it deserves, I remain, yours, &c.
W. D. RlUIMOND.
58
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 18, 1S81.
[26] — In liiH IiitprcBtinR article on "Illusions" in your first
nnmbcr, Mr. Foitor writos : — ■
■■ The lines A, H, C, I) of Kij». 5 npponr to be curved so as to be
noiirer lit the niiiltlle llinn at either end ; while tlie lines K, F, G, II,
in the snmo lijoire, a|i|ienr to be so curved n« to be forthor npiirt in
the middle than at cither end."
The impression on my mind on
looking nt the ligiiro is rrarthj tite
reverse of this. Is tVe letterprci's
nt fault,* or docs the difference
depend upon my niontai reception
of the phonomena ?
Referring to Fig. 1, might I be
allowed to suggest as an explana-
tion of the illusion, that the mind
unconsciously gm.'tps the impression
of the vertical distance between VA\
and FU to the exclusion or deprecia-
tion of the greater distance between
H and C. I lind that if I construct
the figure as below, making the
di.stance of B'G from FU equal to
the diagonal distance BC, the illu-
sion disappears. — Yours faithfully,
Wm. H. Alt-ex".
[27] — A corrospnndeiit .'jpiuIs (lie fo
How much longer is the perpendicular than the horizontal cros.?-
bar ?
A NEW THEORY OF THE TIDES.
[28] — Your coi-rcspondcnt, " A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical
Society," in your first Nnmbcr, was verj' hard upon paradoxers.
Would he be very much shocked to hear — if you will permit me to
utter tho contumacious opinion — that one of the most blundering
paradoxes with which I am acquainted is the Newtonian doctrine of
the tides? Let us examine this question carefully and briefly.
Evei-y one knows that the tide rises or falls simultaneously on
ojiposite sides of the earth. Newton endeavoured to explain this
phenomenon by the hypothesis that tho moon attracted tho water
on the side nearest to itself, and at the same time drew the earth
away from the water on the opposite side. This theory has been ac-
cepted with universal approval, but can anything be more erroneous,
not to say absurd y We are coolly asked to believe that when the
sun and moon are in conjunction on one side of the earth, drawing
up the tide, one of the most mobile of substances, the water, on the
other side, is left bulging out into space, where thei-e is no rival
attraction to hold it, and that it is capable of resisting three attnic-
tions — that of the snn, of the moon, and of its o^vn earth — all at
once !
If this is the best explanation that can be given of the tides, no
wonder that Aristotle proclaimed tho difficulty to be "the grave of
human curiosity."
I maintain that it is a monstrous scientific fallacy.
Those who jiull down ought to be compelled to reconstruct ;
those who denounce one system are bound to offer some substi-
tute which may be considered ])rcferable. Therefore, I must not
shrink from this imperative task. With your permission I will
here give a quotation from my paper on "The Astronomy of the
Future " in " Pith " : —
" What we say is, that the magnetic attraction of tho moon,
as a magic wand or beam, penetrates tho earth from one side to
the other — sword-liko it sheathes itself in tho diameter of our
globe. At the spots where this spiritual and invisible falchion
[• Tho error is in the figures; the upper should have been tlie
lower. — Ed.]
makes its entrance and exit, the waters rise to meet it in obe-
dience to its mighty beckoning and summons; and as the ni'jon i«
for ever shifting its positiim, so tho waters are for ever chasing
over the surface of the globe tho two mundone extremities of
the moon's irreslHtiblc, triumphant electrical wand I Or we tuu\ .
as an alternative, assume that this magnetic influence, which i^
attractive on one siile of the earth, l)ecoines rejifllnnt on the other."
1 now wish to invite your renders' attention to another point
connected with the Newtonian System of Astronomy. I fancy
that we must iliscnrd the theory of "universal gravitation" whieli
has been so belauded, in favour of tho theorj- which I have termed
" Tho Polarity of the Universe." Gravitation, with its clum.sy
addition of a centriHigal force, is simply an imi)ossible explanation
of the movements of the heavenly bodies. Centrifugal force, which
is entirely of a mechanical origin, cannot be originated and sus-
tained between two bodies unless they arc physically connected and
moved from a central power ; whereas magnetic polarity, with its
attraction and repulsion, is a satisfactory solution of the phenomena
of motion in the solar system. As long as a planet presents its
poles in a slanting direction towards the sun, the revolution of the
planet is an everlasting dynamic certainty, and it is quite possible
that the sun may possess a number of poles, one for each planet.
In the first article on " Comets," you say that Newton discovered
that their motion was regulated by the law of gravitation. 1
contend that this di.scovery was a delusion. We know that some
comets move off in curves, which render their return to our system
an impossibility; and if there occurs, in Nature, one exception to a
law, what becomes of such law ? It is null and void. I sabmit
tliat comets do obey the laws of polarity, and that they do not obey
the law of gravitation.
I believe that we must abandon the teaching of Sir Isaac Newton,
and consider him ono of the paradoxers and scientific old fogies of
the past.— Yours, Ac, Nbwtox Cbosland.
London, A'oi'. 12.
[I fear Mr. Newton Crosland belongs to the class of confirmed
paradoxers, those who having encountered difficulties which they
have been unable fo surmount, suppose that they have made dis-
coveries concealed from others. As a mero matter of fact, the
accepted theory of tides would give (apart from effects of oceanic
friction) low water under the moon and opposite that region ; yet
tho Newtonian theory that tho moon's attraction would of itself
cause a leaping up of the water, both under the moon and opposite,
is sound. Gravitation requires no centrifugal force, and, indeed, it
is only in treatises by ill-informed writers that the theory of a centri-
fugal force as such is propounded. What is culled centrifugal
force is in reality simply tho measure of what the centripetal force
does, it ia only another way of viewing tho centripetal force. I
believe Mr. Grosland's views wiU bo received when Newton is
entirely forgotten — but not till then. — Ed.]
DR. FERRIEE AND VIVISECTION.
[29] — A distinguished professor at one of our colleges once sai.I
to me : " The manner in which our countrymen receive the conjec-
tures of popular teachers of new doctrines only proves what mo>i
of us knew before, that they are the most gullible of all intelligoni
nations." Tlie remark maybe applied not only to the votaries of
science, but to the followers of any agitator who from the rostrum
calls upon his supjiorters to uphold or denounce what he considers to
be right or wrong. As a nation, we are opposed to cruelty and
oppression. We boasted in former days of our Anti-slaverv
Leagues, and our Society for the Prevention of Cmelty to Animals
recci%-es (and justly) a large .share of public support. If a man
kicks his donkey or starves his dog, he is speedily brought befon> a
justice of the peace, who rarely fails to punish the offender. I.a^t
Thursday the humanitarians a]>i)lied for a summons against Pr.
Fcrricr, under the Vivisection Act. for performing an experiniem
which was described as being " frightful and shocking."
The summons was granted, and long ere this many thousands of
kind-hearted people of both sexes have given rent to their horror of
the professor's experiments on tho two unfortunate monkeys, aiii
doubtless have settled in their minds that he is a fit subject to li ■
mnile an example of, and worthy of punishment.
The vexed question of vivisection has been well ventilated In
abler pens than mine. It is not my intention to say a word eitlui
for or against the practice, but the impartial reader should pans,-
before he passes sentence in this matter. A^tdi alteram partem shf^uM
be the motto of every right-thinking Englishman, and importani
subjects, pai-ticuUirly those relating to medical science, shouhl li..
carefully analysed before an opinion is expressed, and such a man
as Dr. Ferrier onght not to be placed in the category with tin'
human brutes who daily appear in the dock to answer charges of
wanton cruelty.
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
59
I have long watchrd with interest the results of Professor
I'Vrricr's labours in the cause of )iunianity, and a few words upon
tliG nature of Lis experiments may not bo out of place hero.
Physiolofry is, coni|iarativeIy speaking, a new science. Before
the discovery of tlie circulation of the blood, physicians were little
bettor than charlatans. Many of tlie early jihilosophers were mere
dreamers ; they made little or no advancement in tiie natural
sciences, but their extravagant ideas influenced civilised nations for
nearly twenty centuries. Aristotelianism and peripatetic dogmas
hindvrtd the progress of science. When tho great Bacon an>se
giant-like, amidst the chaos of hypotheses and Iruitloss doctrine,
and laid the foundations of the inductive and experimental philo-
sophy, then a new era commenced, and scientific progress followed.
There is no subject in physiology more attractive than the study
of the human brain ; that wondertul and complex organ has occu-
pied the attention of philosophers in all ages, but little light has
been th^o^vll upon its functions until recently. Several physiolo-
gists of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early part of the present
oentur}', wa.sted a deal of their time in fruitless searches after tho
exact seat of the soul. Some held that the soul was equally
diffused through every part of the body. Descartes maintained
that it is in the pineal gland of the brain, and Borri asseited that
in the brain is formed a certain very subtle, fragrant juice, which
is the princijial sent or residence of the soul, and that the subtlety
and fineness of the soul depended on the temperature of this
liquor, rather than on the structure of the brain. Now, all these
fanciful theories were very interesting lo read, but they did not
beneBt mankind, and it was not until Flourens cf)mmcnccd his
experiments upon the brains of animals that any definite knowledge
of tl'.e functions of the cerebral organ was arrived at.
A woithy follower in the footsteps of tho French physiologist is
Dr. David Ferrier. The work of the latter on the " Functions of the
Brain " has been justly described as " marking tho end of an old
era and the beginning of a new one in cerebral physiolog}'.'* In
briefly summing up the results of Dr. Ferricr's experiments on tho
brains of animals, I wish to direct attention to the localisation of
two or threo of the cerebral functions as demonsti*ated by the
learned professor. The upper end of the Fissure of Sylvius, called
tlie angi>!ar gyrus, is the centre of tho sense of sight. When that
part of the cerebral substance is destroyed, the sense of vision is
gone in the opposite eye, though all the other souses remain, and an
animal can hoar, and smell, and taste, and touch, and perform every
voluntary action as before. " It is a remarkable fact," says Dr.
Ferrier — and let it comfort you, oh ye anti-vivisectionists — "that tho
brain is unsusceptible to every kind of irritation except electricity.
Yoa may out and cauterise the brain without exciting sensation, al-
though it is the organ of feeling. This we have learnt from experi-
ments and the testimony of men who have had their brains injured."
In another convolution of the brain, called the temporo-sphenoidal
lobe, Dr. Ferrier found the centre of tho sense of hearing — from
the lower extremity of the lobe i»roceeds a large tract or process
which is called the olfactory tract. When this part of the brain is
destroyed, the sense of smell is abolished. All these discoveries
explain certain facts which have been observed in connection with
disease. Of course, I have only selected a few of the many illus-
trations of the Professor's experiments, and it only remains for me
to point out the vital importance of such discoveries to the medical
profession, and, I may add, to all who are suffering, or likely to
suffer, from cerebral disease. It is impossible to experiment upon
the- human subject. There is no alternati\e bnt to practise upon
the living animal, if an accurate knowledge of the functions of that
important organ is to be gained.
Surely, when the facts are known, few will accuse tho Doctor of
wanton cruelty. All his experiments are made for the benefit of
suffering humanity and the advancement of science. To conclude,
in the Professor's own words : — " You may rest assured of this,
that every addition to our knowledge of the brain will inevitably
lead to a better appreciation, and more succossfid ])revention and
treatment of a large, and it is to be feared, rapidly-increasing class
of distressing diseases of the brain and nervous system, which,
even to those best acquainted with them, aro still involved in pro-
found obscurity."
W. L.
A. PLANET'S MOVEMENT.S.-TUE TIDES.
[30] — In looking over the first number of Knowledge, I find on
page 13 tho following — for an explanation of which I shall feci
thankful.
1. " The planet Mars, it will be noticed, passes during this month
what is called a stationary point ; he is advancing (moving from
right to left) till November 17th, after which he retrogrades. But
he does not really come to apparent rest, owing to the wide sweep
of the loop he forms between his stationary points. Jupiter, Saturn,
and Neptune are all three retrograding." 1. Do the planets move
in their orbits uniformly, or turn backwards and forwards, or how 'f
2. What is the cause for this, and is this retrograde motion ])er-
formed during each revolution ; if so, how often Y 3. What am I
to understand by " Mars not coming to apparent rest, owing to thc^
wide swet'p of the loop ho forms between the stationary points ': "
What docs this loop signify ; and is there really such an occurrence
as Mars or the other planets coming to a rest, &c. ?
2. In Ciuillemin's " Ueavcns," page 391, in note by R. A. 1-, I
find the following : "If we consider only the dj-namical relations,
we find that the jdacc of low-water should be under the moon, and
at the opposite part of tlie earth, the place of high-water between
these regions." Will you kindly explain how the point of high-
water ought not lo be directly under the moon, but at a point at
right angles to it ? Zeta.
[The movements referred to are only the apparent motions of the
planet in the heavens. The planets constantly advance in their
own orbits. I will take a later opportunity to answer " Zeta " more
fully on both subjects. — Eu.J
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GRAVITY ?
[31] — 1 was glad to see the appearance of a paper like this, giving
the views of the best men of to-day about the more interesting
things in nature in plain language. As you invite correspondence,
permit me to state that, although a toiler who cannot find much time
for reading, I take, nevertheless, a very great interest in the study
of nature. It gives mo hope and affords me pleasure. And, as you
say, it is certainly religious and improves our feelings. As regards
myself, I take an especial interest in the law of gravity, not as to
how, but as to its cause. I have read that Sir Isaac Newton could
not tell. I should feel very grateful if you would give us the
various theories that have been given out on this subject, no
matter how silly they be, in as short a form as possible. On
inquiry, the answer is always "Attraction" — a meaningless
word. I have for many years observed every phenomenon
resembling tlie action of gravity, and have come to conclusions
as to what its cause is, that on careful comparison harmonise
with all tho well-known and undoubted fundamental laws of
nature. I have read of experiments made and theories submitted
that in no way come near the mark, but I may not have reached
the right source yet. Experiments to prove gravity are difficult to
make because we cannot exclude the earth's gravity from them
even for a moment. But, by the help of reason, it can be racide, and
even clear to a mind that can comprehend other natural jiheno-
mona that can only be seen by the mind's eye. But, as soon as the
idea has been grasped, numberless things come to view that
resemble the earth's gravity on a smaller scale. " Attrat'tion," as
a word, is misleading, for to attract there must be a substance
having these impossible qualities of pulling doivn every kind of
matter in a vacuum of any substance.
However, to write my view on this would be months of labour
and certain ruin. I merely wanted to suggest how interesting a
subject this would be to many more.
Yours, Ac, F. J. D., " Selest."
[The subject is, doubtless, most interesting. It is, al.so, ex-
ceedingly difficult. Does " Selbst's " theory accord with the de-
monstrated fact that the action of gravity is communicated far
more rapidly than light travels ? — Ed.]
PHRENOLOGY.— VECTORS.— INTONING IN SYNAGOGUES.
[32]— I don't know whether you will consider the following
questions worth asking or answering in Knowledge. —
1. Assuming that phrenology is all wrong, uhat are the causes
that determine the shape of the head ? I am myself a sceptic, in
the proper sense of tho word : but Lewes' ojiinion, that the brain
acts as a whole, and that its functions are not localised, seems to me,
a priori, highly improbable. 2. Having lately begun to take great
interest in mathematical physics, I read carefully Maxwell's little
book on " Matter and Motion." The mode of treatment was almost
entirely strange to me ; and what 1 want to know is, whether the
new method has any special value : whether any, or what peculiar
benefits are gained by the use of vectors in mechanics, as distin-
guished from the old geometrical and analytical methods. In any
case. Maxwell's treatise wants a good deal of expansion and illustra-
tion to make it intelligible to a tyro. 3. My last question, I am
afraid, hardly falls within your province, unless you take in omnc
srilile ; but it is one to which I have hitherto failed to get an
answer. In reading the Scriptures in the Jewish synagogue, a
certain intonation is employed. Is this expressed or expressible in
the ordinary musical notation, or in any musical notation whatever,
and if so, where could it be found ? G. P.
60
• KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
(©utrifsf.
[ U I LocAiUTiiMs. — Will you kindly etiito (lie Ijcst rlienp " Tnblo
iif I,of{iirilliin« iinil Antilognrilliiiifl," Ar., mitablp for a gpiioral
m'icniM' Rtiidriit, biU moi-o cspcciiilly for one piopariiiK for pxanii-
iiiiliiin ill '• niino siirviyinp," in cunnpction with thi' City nnd Guilds
of London? llo woul<l observe tlmt he bns Hecn a book of tables
iidvortiBed nt '^s., nml written by W. C. Unwin, and if you think
that will bo <|Uito Huitable, " yo8 " op])Osite the initials will be
deemed a suflioient answer. 'Die writer was intending to purchase
the above book, but on reading your remarks on logai-ithms in
No. 1 of K.vowLEDGE, determined to seek your advice.
Jameo Grindv.
[ Wc n.se ourselves Chambers's " Tables " for ordinary work, and
llnlton's when certain subsidiary tables arc required. We have not
used the work named above, but probably some of our readers can
give Mr. (irundy the information he rc<piircB. — Ed.]
[lij — 1.1 it possible for the same star to be both morning and
evening star on the same day ? Does not Tennyson's Ilesper —
Phosphor refer to the same star at different periods of its month ? —
|{. A. Bri.t.EX. [To the first question, No; to the second, Yes, only
for month should bo written synodical period, meaning the period
in which the planet goes tlirough all its apparent movements with
respect to the sun, from being in conjunction vrith him to its next
return to that position. — Ed.]
[13] — Watek Sphkroids. — If a little water is spilled from a
lieight of a few feet upon a surface of smooth water, a portion of
the Huid, instead of mixing with the rest at once, is formed into
small globes or spheroids which, I think, seldom if ever exceed
i inch in diameter, most of them being very much smaller. Tliese
little drops move over the water for distances varying from a few
inches to a few feet, and then gradually though rapidly diminish
and disapjicar.
In explanation of this reiy common phenomenon, I have been
informed that a layer of air of greater density than the atmosphere
is formed over the surface of the water, and that the part of this
layer between the globules and the plain surface of water offers so
much resistance that for a time the two bodies of fluid are unable
to unite. It would be interesting to know what causes this denser
layer of air, and why it is only for a time able to overcome the force
of gravity acting upon the spheroids. — E. C. 1{.
[11] — Velocity of Socnd. — 1 understand Tyndall to say that
the increase of temperature in the condensed part of a sonorous
wave augments its velocity one-sixth. Is the increase gained by
the rise of temperature in the condensed portion not counter-
balanced by the decrease of temperature in the rarefied part ? —
Socnd.
[15] — The Missing Link. — What is the " missing link," of which
we hear so much in connection with Mr. Darwin's books ? Is it
rtliat should come between an ape and a man ? An answer on this
]ioint would much oblige — An Ignoramus.
[10] — German and English. — Is there any work where I can find
an account of the progi'ess by which the English and German lan-
guages have come to differ so widely in character from each other ?
In good English ^n■itingwe find the arrangement of subject, predi-
cate, Ac, quite different from that adopted in good Gcrm.m wTiting.
Vet the languages had a cognate origin, and must once have re-
sembled each other somewhat closely in those jioints in which they
now differ. Strangely, too, while the Gcnn.an langu.ige has become
in stniclurc less simple than the English, tlic German words for
abstract ideas, and their scientific terms, arc much simpler than
ours. When wo speak of oxygen, a German speaks of sour-stuff j
l>ut where an English wi-itor would say that a mixture of oxygen
and hydrogen will ex])lodo, under such and such conditions, a
ficrman would say that soiu'-stnff and wasser-stuff, in certain pro-
portions mixed, and under certain conditions so-and-so treated,
explode shall. — Eclecticus.
[17] — RETROGRAnATioN OF A Planet. — 'Wliich planet has the
longest arc of retrogradation ? And on what circumstances does the
length of the arc depend ? — Astronomiccs.
[18] — Chemical Tbe.\tises. — Can any reader of Knowledge tell me
what hooks will give mo the best general idea of the so-called new
chemistry ?
Arctic Navigation. — Advices from Copenhagen state that the
news received from the Dutch Polar Expedition on board the
schooner iri/iiam Barents is very unfavourable. Owing to the con-
tinuous ico barrier which extends nearly to Norway, Spitzbergen
could not be reached, nor even the Bear Islands; and after one
more attempt to force through northward, theexpedi(ion will return
home, o-s the captain is convinced that this year Nova Zembia is
completely enclosed in a bnirier of ice.
3^fplif«5 to ©ufrieg.
[1]- Ultima Tuile.- The exjireBiiinn '■ Ultima Thu'e" occur-
in Seneca's " Medea," Act. iii., verse 375: —
Venient annis
Sirciila scries, qiiibus oceaKUs
Vincola rerum laxet, et ingens
I'atcat tcllas, Typhisquc novos
Dctegat orbcs ; nee ait tern's
Ultima Thole.
The passage has been quoted to show that the an>'ienia had lie ir I
of the New World, as our school books call the ancient continent if
America. It seems, however, to prove rather the revorse, a^
showing that Thule (whether "Tliule were Iceland or one of th ■
Orkneys, Shetlands, or Hebrides) was, in Senoc.Vs time, regardi- 1
as the remotest-known region of the earth. — X. Z. Z.
[1] — Ultima Tiiile. — Pytheas, a citizen of Massilia (Marseille^),
prcWous to the time of Alexander the Great, undertook a voyaj."
of discovery to the far north. The regions discovered by him wi r>
enveloped in fog and "chaos" and uninhabited, lie designatcl
the farthermost limit of his discovery Thule, whence " Ultima
Thule." llie actual identity of Thnle is shrouded in mystery. Oi
Jutland, Shetland, Norw.ay, and Iceland, each claims iirccedonco :>-
the Thule of Pytheas. Speaking offhand, I believe Pliny uses tlm
expression " Ultima Thule." I cannot recollect the way in which
he used the term. Some imagine Thnlc as a creation of the pixt-
to express the extreme limit of the world. — W. G. Kolfe.
[1] — Ultima Thule. — If your correspondent is a classic u
scholar he may refer to Ptolemy, Tacitus, and others. Pliny
describes it as "an island in the northern ocean discovered i.y
Pytheas after sailing six days from the Orcadcs." I tiuote il •■
following from Brewer: — "Called by Drayton, Thuly. Pliny, buW-
nus, and Mela take it for Iceland ; others, like Camden, consider ii
to be Shetland, still called Thylens-el (Isle of Tliylii) by seamen, in
which opinion they agree with Marinus and the descrijjtion of
Ptolemy and Tacitus." Bochai't says it is a Syrian word, and tlui
the Phoenician merchants who traded to the group called it Gczir;u
Thule (Isle of Darkness) ; but probably it is the Gothic Thule,
meaning the " most remote land," and is connected with the Greek
telos, the end.
Where the northern ocean in vast whirls,
Boils round the naked, melancholy isles of farthest Thule.
Thomson, " Autumn. '
Thule was the most northern part know>i to the ancient Roman.^^.
Tibi serviat ultima Thule
ViitoiL, " Georgics " i., 30.
— R. T. WniGUT.
[3] — Flight of Birds. — If " Aerial " considers for a moment the
very small proportion the bones of a bird bear to its bulk, and the
still smaller cavities he speaks of, 1 think ho will see that the
heated air the latter contains can but very slightly assist the bird's
flight, or rather bnoyanc}' ; besides which, the heat of a bird wouM
only cause a slight expansion of the enclosed air. Is " Aerial" sun'
the bone cavities do contain air, and not some gas I' — E. C. R.
[3] — Flight of Birds. — The flight of birds cannot be aided in
any appreciable degree by the presence in the air-passages of tin'
bones of air, lighter (because warmer) than the air in which th'
bti'd is flying. The actual supporting power obtained in this way
can be easily shown to be utterly insignificant. It is simply the
difference between the weight of the air in the passages and t\v.v-
of an equal volume of the outer air. This is less, of course, tli:iii
the weight of a volume of air equal to the volume of the air-
passages, and much less than the weight of a i>ortion of air equal
in volume to the bird, which would corrospond to a very small
fraction of the biitl's actual weight, perhaps about one aOOch part.
The supjiort obtained in this way cannot be at the utmost more
than the 10,000th part of the bird's weight, and is not worth con-
sidering in dealing with the question of flight. — Fitful.
[-1] — The Earth's Inclination. — In reply to " Moonstrnck's "
query, I should say that if the earth's axis was perpendicular to tlio
plane of the Ecliptic, the weather at the Polos would be much coMoi-
than a Polar Bumincr at present, because the rays of he:U would
fall very obliquely npon tho oai'th suiTOunding the Poles. At tlu-
Equator the heat would be greater than at present, because the sini
would daily appear to cross the zenith. — E. G. R.
[1] — The Eakth's Inclination. — If the earth rotated on an uji-
right axis, there would bo perpetual spring or autumn all over t: .■
earth ; but it must be remembered that spring and anfnmn at il •
equator are the hottest seasons of all, whilo at tho poles they nunn
■a sun just skirting the horizon, so that tho coldest winter in
temperate regions would not be so cold as this so-called poku
Nov. 18, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
61
spring. To put the matter more definitely. If the earth rotatoil
111 an upi-ight axis, the sun would everywhere, all the year round,
rise exactly in the east (apart from the slight effects of atmos-
pheric refi-action) and set exactly in the west, attaining at midday
an elevation equal to the complement of the latitude— 90° at the
I'liuator (which would bring the sun overhead, 70° in latitude 20;
111° in latitude 50j 20° in latitude 70 ; and having no elevation at
!l in latitude 90, or at cither pole. — Stcdext.
.S] — Volume of Sphere.— The simplest way of showing that the
'^'ume of a sphere is two-thirds that of the enclosing cylinder, is
-ivcn in the following sketch, which, if " Archimedean " is anything
• a geometrician, he will have no difficulty in tilling in : — Show,
r<t, that the surface of the sphere is equal to the curved surface of
" enclosing cylinder, by taking any two planes close to each other
rough sphere and cylinder, parallel to the top and bottom of
'lic latter, and showing that the part of spherical surface between
ihcso planes is equal to the part of cylindi'ical surface between
t licm. This having been shown, imagine the surface of sphere, thus
kiiDwn, divided into indetinitely small areas, each of which may be
> ■ '^'arded as the base of a pyramid, ha'ving the centre of the sphere
, vertex — all these pyramids together giving the volume of sphere.
I iiiir combined volume is equal to that of a p\Tamid having a base
t qual in surface to the surface of the sphere (that is, of its enclosing
cylinder, by what has been already shown) , and a height equal to
ilie radius of the sphere. This volume, by well-known property of
pyramid, is represented by one-third the product of numbers reprc-
siMiting the curved surface of cylinder and the radius of sphere.
Hut curved surface of cylinder
= circumference of base x 2 radius of sphere
= circumference of a great circle x 2 radius of sphere.
lliuce volume of sphere
= ^ radius x circumference of a great circle x 2 radius
2 4-)-''
= - (radius)- x 2ir (radius) = — — (if radius = r).
Hut volume of enolosing cylinder = area of base x 2 height
= 7rr- x2i- = 2-r».
Itcnce volume of sphere is two-thirds that of cylinder.
Matiie.matuus.
Effects of IjiGnixixc ox Tkf.es ne.ie a Telegraph Wire. —
Some instructive facts in this connection have been brought to
light by M. Montigny, in recent examination of poplars bordering
part of a road in Belgium, between Eochefort and Dinant. The
part in question is some 4,600 metres in length, and runs westward ;
it is level for some distance, then rises gradually to a height of 61
metres, through a wood, traverses a wooded plateau 200 metres
in extent, then descends, still through wood, to a plain. A tele-
graph wire runs near the row of Virginia poplars on the north side,
and it appears that, out of nearly 500 poplars fcrming this row, 81,
or a sixth, have been struck by lightning. Hardly any have been
struck in the other row. The trunks have been mostly struck on
their south side, and nearly opposite the wire. Comparing different
portions of the road, it is found that in the horizontal part none of
the (129) trees show injury from lightning, or at most only one (a
doubtful case), but as the road rises through the wood, the cases
quickly multiply, and on the wooded plateau as many as nine out
of 14 trees, or 64 per cent., have been struck. On the slopes the
proportion is 25 per cent. ^I. Montigny distinguishes three kinds
of injuries — (1) the bark torn and detached on a limited part
of the trunk ; (2) a furrow, straight or (rarely) spiral, made
on the tree, from near the wire, down to the ground ; and
(3) a peculiar oval wound, with longer axis vertical, and lips
coloured light brown. Now, the furrows, which are probably due
to the most violent discharges, are reUtively most frequent on the
platean and on the western slope, which the storms usually reach
first. M. Montigny is of opinion that the lightning, while attracted
by the wire, does not strike this first, then the tree, but strikes the
tree directly. His conception of the process is to the following
effect : — Suppose a thunder-cloud charged with positive electricity.
A long telegraph wire under it, though insulated, may acquire as
great negative tension in the nearest part as if in direct communi-
cation with the gi-ound, and the tension is greater the nearer to the
cloud. While the inductive influence affects the wire most, near
objects, such as trees, share in the influence according to their con-
ducting power. The lightning, attracted in the direction of the
wire, yet does not strike this, the insulating cups presenting an
obstacle to its prompt and rapid escape. It finds a better conductor
to earth in a neighbouring poplar, wet with rain. From the facts
indicated it results, that of two similar houses, one built on a plain,
the other in <a wood, .and having a telegraph wire fixed to them, the
latter is the more liable to injury by lightjiing, and the danger is
greater if the wood enclosing the house be upon an eminence. —
rimes.
(Buv iWatftrmatiral Column.
FROM the way in which logarithms are commonly spoken of, one
would suppose that they were originally intended to perplex
the student, instead of having been devised specially to assist him.
It may be that this is due chiefly to the use of a name whose real
moaning is not known, while, were its real meaning known, the uso
of numbers so named would still remain a mysterj- to all save
mathematicians. The word logarithm is really intended to signify
ratio-number. But hundreds who uso logarithms, and thousands
who would do well to use them, would not be one whit the wiser for
knowing that there are tables of numbers which may be regarded
as ratio-numbers. If a name had been given to logarithms which
suggested to all something of their real use to computers, we should
find tliem more valued and more commonly employed than they
arc. But unfortunately the singular idea that nothing but a long
unintelligible name is worth anything in science — an idea about as
worthy of respect as the liarbadocs mother's admiration for the
name Chrononhotontliologos which Captain Slarryat gave to her
baby — has caused these useful tables to bear a ridiculous because
un-English name.
In reality, a logarithm is a ratio number, though that says very
little to most men of its use. The logarithms of the numbers 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, &c., up to 100,000 in our books, are in reality the powers to
which 10 must be raised to give the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c.,
respectively. If we know the power to which 10 must be raised to
give the number 13, and also the power to which 10 must be raised
to give the number 17, we have only to add these powers together
to obtain the power to which 10 must bo raised to give the product
of 13 by 17, or 221. If our tables give all the powers of numbers
from 1 to 221, wo need not actually multiply together 13 and 17 to
get their product 221. All we need do is to add the logarithm of
13 to the logarithm of 17 ; the sum is the logarithm of 13 and 17
multii)lied together. We look out in our tables the logarithm cor-
responding to the sum of the logarithms of 13 and 17, and we find
that the number corresponding to this logarithm is 221.
Here, of course, wo have not been saved a particle of labour.
While we were looking out these logariihms, a charity boy could
have mnltiplicd 13 and 17 together half a-dozen times.
But, supposing we had occasion to nuiltiplv together the num-
bers 21,714, and 36,912, and to divide the product by 78,124 and
02,315 ; that is, to divide the product of the first pair of numbers
by the product of the second pair of numbers. Then, if we know
the powers to which 10 must be raised to give the above four
numbers respectively, we can tell, by simple addition and subtrac-
tion, the power to which 10 must be raised to give the answer to our
little sum ; and if we know also what is the number which would
result from raising 10 to the power just mentioned, this ntimber is
the answer we require. Suppose, for example, that 10» = 21,714;
10" = 56,912; 10'^ = 78,124; 10" = 62,315. Then we know by the
properties of ratios that
21714 X. 56012 = 10""'"''
7812-1x62315 = 10
H rf
while
21714 X 56912
78124 X 62315
= 10"
Now a table of logarithms gives us for all numbers from 1 to
100,000 the powers corresponding to a, 5, c, and d in the above
example. (We can find such powers also easily enough from the
tables for all numbers from 100,000 up to 10,000,000.) So that aU
the computer in the above case would have to do would be to look
out the powers con-csponding to a, h, c, and d, to add a to 6 and
c to (J, subtracting then the latter sum from the former. The result
would be the power to which ten must be raised to give the answer
to his sum ; and he would only require to find that power in his
tables to get the number he wanted. Ue would, probably, do all
this in about the time that a first-rate computer would have got
half way through the multiplying of 21,714 and 56,912 together.
This is, of course, only a general account of the use of a book of
such powers, or of a book of logarithms. It should suflice to shcT
that, despite their hard name, they arc worth understanding by all
who have much computing to do ; and there are few who would not
do well, by studying a little the use of logaritluns, to make them-
selves ready to em[iIoy the tables when occasion may arise.
Turn now to a few details.
The logarithms given in the tables aro in reality the logarithms of
the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 ; 1, 11, 1-2, 13, 1-4, 15, IG,
17, 18, 19; 2, 2'1, &c. ; that is, however large the number in the
letthand column, it is understood to lie between 1 and 10, so that
its logarithm lies in value between 0 and 1 (ten to the power nought
gives 1, and ten to the power 1 is ten). Decimal points are not
62
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 18, 1881.
"Iiown in the tables, bnt in reality they are implied. Thun, the
tiil>lc8 Rive —
the loKiiiitlini of .3191 us 5039208;
tlilH reiilly mcnnn that —
tl.o lo),nmtlini of 3 191 is 0 5U39268. (A.)
(The Btiuleiit should here tHrn to liis tables and boo for himself how
tho matter Btnnds ; ho should also ask hiniBolf what slatement A.
really means. On one side we have the number 3191 ; on the other,
a dceinml fraction slightly cxcoodin({ J, which wo are told is the
lo);aritlini of 3191. Now, remember that tho logarithm of a number
is that |iower to which 10 must ho raised to give the number, and
we see at once how A is to be iuterprotod. For 10 to power 4 is the
s;ime aa tho R<iunre root of 10, which we know to bo rather greater
than 3, so that in the equation
3 + sonio small fraction = v/10 or 10*
we have a rough njiproach, near enough to illustrate its meaning to
tho statement —
the logarithm of 3-191 - 0 50392C8.
A few inquiries of this sort, with a book of logarithms in hand, will
very soon give tho intelligent reader a good idea of their meauing
and use. Take one other C4i8e. We find from tho tables that
tho logarithm of 2 is -3010300.
30103 . , ,
This mcnns that 10 raised to the power ,qqqqq 's equal (very
approximatelj-) to 2. Now let ns see whether taking the simple
3 3
fraction ^ w-e find 10 to the pow-er .^ approach in value to 2,
though, of course, not quite so closely as would 10 to the power
3010300. We know that 10,'„- is the same as the 10th root of 10'
or of 1000 ; and we know that this is not very far from 2, for 2
raised to the tenth power gives 1024.)
Bnt the tables are not the less complete that they only give the
logarithms of such numbers as 3-191, 9874156, and so forth. For,
since shifting a decimal ])oint one place to the right means multi-
plying by 10, while shifting the point one place to the left means
dividing by 10, and since the logarithm of 10 is 1, we have only to
add or subtract 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., to the logarithm given in the
table, to get the true logarithm of any number whatever within
the limits ranged over by tho table. Thus —
Logarithm of 3191 = 0-5039268
Logarithm of 31-91, or of 10 x 3191 = log. 10 x log. 3191
= 1-5039268
Logarithm of 319-1, or of W x 3191 = 2-5039268
Logarithm of 3191, or of 10= x 3191 =3 5039268
and so forth, the whole number in tho logarithm being always 1
less than the number of digits in the integral part of the original
number (that is. of digits on the left of tho decimal point).
Again, logarithm of 03191, or of 3- 191 +10 = 0-5039268-1, which
for convenience and symmetry is written —
Logarithm 0-3191 =1-5039268
Logarithm of 0 03191, or of 3191 + 10^ = 25039268
Logarithm of 0003191, or of 3191 4-10' = 35039268
and so forth, tho whole number under tho minus sign being always
1 more than the number of cyphers following the decimal point of
the number.
it will be observed that in the case of numbers less than 1 we do
not follow what might, at first sight, seem the obvious course, of
subtracting the tabular number from 1, 2, 3, or whatever is the
number under the ini)tns sign, leaving the logarithm negative,
llius we write 1 5039208 short for - 1 -^ 05039268 ; wo do not write
— 0-1960732. Tho reason is that it is found convenient to have all
the (|uantities on the right of the decimal point positive thi-oughout
all computations.
Mathematical Qi-e.stio.n.— Is there any solution of either or both
the following sets of simultaneous equations ?
x' + ijz-'a.'' (i) ,t' + xy + v' = a' (')
i/' + :.f = 1' (ii) and l/'-^ i/:-Hs' = 6' (ii)
^-^a■y = c' (iii) i»+:x + x' = c» (iii). A.N.J.
Wo know of no solution to tho former set ; that is, it cannot be
made, so far as we know, to produce a quadratic equation. The
second set may be solved thus ("A. N. J." will probably only
need to be shown the steps) : —
Subtracting (ii) from (i) gives (x + y + z) (,r — 2)=a' — b' (iv).
Subtracting the sum of the squares of (i) (ii) and (iii) from twice
the sum of the products (i) x (ii), (ii) x (iii), and (iii) x (ii), we obtain
rij + yz + xz=^i [aa'b'-' -t- 26V -h cW — a' — b* = c*
•=P' (say) (v)
adding (i) (ii) (iii) and 3 (v) we got
x + y + z=^i{a.' + b' + c'' + 3p'=iii (say) (vi )
From (iv) and (■vi) m {z — t)=a'—h',
and similarly, m (y — *)— b' — <:•
whence, subtracting, m (y + s — 2x) — 21'— a'— c'
= CT(m-3i)-26*-o'-c'
or a- = — (m»-fo'+e'-2l')
3m
^(m• + l'■^a'-20; : - i-(m'-t- a'-f !,'-LV,
By symmetry
(!Pui- ©abisJt Column.
1!y " Five of Clubs."
WK give this weik a simple whist game, showing the inferences
which can be drawn from the play by one of tho players
(the leader), and making notes also on the jday as it proceeds. Tho
inferences are all of the simplest kind, supposing the game to be
conducted according to the accepted principles for sound play.
This will appear as we proceed, in later papers, to develope these
principles.
The Hands.
Dtumoiids— Q, 9, 7, 2.
Spades— Q, Kn, 10, 3.
Hearts— Q, 6.
Clubs— K"-, 0, 4.
B
Diamoiuh—Kn, 10, S,
6, 4.
Spades— 8, 7, 4.
Hearts -Kg, 2.
Clubs— 10, 5, 3.
Y
Dealer.
z
Trump Card,
Ifiamond King.
A
Diamonds— \, Kg.
Siiades— 9, 5, 2.
Hearts— Kn, 10, 9, 8
4.
Clubs -Q, 9, 7.
Diamonds — 5, 3.
Spades — A, Kg, 6.
Hearts— A, 7, 5, 3.
Clubs— A, Kn, 8, 2.
Score : — A B = 0 ; Y Z = 3.
Note. — The underlined card i
A T B Z
3 trick, and card below it leads next.
A's INFERENCES.
1. Either 3C and 4C are both
with B, or else T or Z is signalling
for trumps. B has not tho Queen.
Note to tbick 1. — Uavinp five trumps,
one huiiour, and his partner haTing an
honour, Tnuuld be justified in si)^allinf;
for trumps were the score low, but not t
the
« ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
♦ ♦
Si
5
4.
4-
*
4-
+
+ +
4-
+
+
4. 4.
"
<?
<?
ni
1;
<7 <?
0
9
m
SB
<p
^
«
llE
9 <?
—
~^
KA
<?
<?
7
<?
m
<?
<?
nsI
<9
<7
^ <:?
2. BhasKnS, 10 S, and probably
one or more small Spades. Z is
not signalling for trumps, and
therefore has neither 3 C nor 4 C.
XoTB TO TRICK 2. — A does well to take
the trick and return ibe Ave, thus leaTing
B the command of the suit.
3. Y has signalled, and therefore
has either 4 C or 3 C ; the other
being with B. As Z tamed an
honour, T and Z are probably two
by honours, in which case A Ii
must make five by tricks to save
the game.
4. The last Spade is with B (the
Knave).
5. B has 40, but no more Clubs.
KoTS TO TBICK 5. — B rct ums t he highest
of two cards.
6. Z has not the King of Hearts ;
B has not the Knave (Uuorts
must be Z's best suit,'trumps being
NoTS TO TRICE 6.— Under the circiun-
Btancea T ehould have played the King.
It is his beat chauce of getting a lend.
Nov. 18, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE •
63
<y <y
0 ♦
<>^o
<? «?
0
(3 (5
<?
0 0
0 0
<;>^<7
<? <5
♦ 0
<? <9
O V 0 O
0 0 0 0
O O 0 o
7. y lias the Knave of Ueaits.
The only chance of saving the game
lies in the probahility (.1 having
four Hearts, and Z a long suit of
Hearts) that I? may bo able to ruff
Hearts next round.
8. If ¥ has played properly, all
his remaining cards should be
trumps, and the game is lost.
XOTE TO TRICK fi.—U Y I
he Hliould play his highest
at all
small
He should know that the
best ileart is with Z.
9. Z has the Ace of trumps
(Kn S being a thirteenth card).
Note to trick 9.— Z'* play hero is had.
He knoHS his partner has an honour, with
a strong hand in trumps, and two tricks
only are wan(ed lo win the name, besides
the two certain tricks Z holds in bis hands.
10. If B has not Queen and 10
or 9 of trumps, the game is lost,
for the remaining cards in Y's
hand must be trumps (one honour
at least).
11. Z sliould have led the Queen
of Clubs. The Knave of Hearts is
equally a winning card of its suit ;
but the play should have shown Z
that B has a small Club, and that therefore Y can win trick 1 1 with
his smaUcst trump. As it is, 1' has to play highest third hand.
JB does rightly in not over-trumping. If he did, the remaining two
tricks would be Y's, bnt by letting trick 11 pass, B remaining with
the tenace in trumps (and knowing Z to be without trumps), has
the two last tricks sure.
d^ur Cftrgg Column.
Sir, — In your issue of the 11th inst. you gave an admirably-
arranged perspective summary of the openings. In reference to
the Evans Gambit declined, you say : — Declining the proffered
Queen's Knight's pawn subjects the second player to a cramped
defensive game. I beg to draw your attention to the fact that
recent analytical researches have proved that by declining the
Evans Gambit with B to Kt.3, Dlack is in no way at a disadvantage.
The game may be declared even ; and should White attempt to
advance his Queen's pawns too vigorously Black would obtain the
better game. — MEPnisio.
Two Knights' Defence.
THE game having opened
Defence, or thus —
the lino of the Two Knights
1.
P. to Kt,4.
Kt. to K.B.3.
B. toQ.B.4.
P. to K.4. Kt. to Q.P..3. Kt. to K.B.y.
White has two ways of continuing the attack, and one line of play
which we recommend to the learner as based on the sound priucijile
of developing and strengthening his own position, rather than rush-
ing at his opponents. Tliis last-named line of play is simjdy
4. P. to Q.3., followed presently by Custles, B. to "K.3. (or to
K. Kt.5. if Black Castles early on King's aido)rKt. to Q.B.3., and
8o forth ; bringing all the pieces well into play before unduly
pressing an attack. If Black plays a similar game, a steady but
interesting and instructive game may be exjiected.
It seems, however, to be the generally-accepted view that first
player has to attack and second player to defend ; though theo-
retically, scarcely the slightest attacking power results from the first
move, and what there is may be most readily lost. Accordingly,
the usual way of continuing the Two Knights' game is cither by
4. Kt. to K.Kt.5, or by 1. P. to Q.4. The latter is probably the
sounder move. The former belongs to the class of premature
attacks ; though White wins a Pawn for the nonce if Black reply
correctly. Black's best move in reply is 4. P. to Q.4, on which
5. P. takosj'.
Black cannot now safely play 5. Kt. takes P., but we will follow
out the interesting attack ensuing if he shoiild play thus. There
follows 6. Kt. takes K.B.P. /jjja^ n,„gt (aj-e the Knieht, as it
K. takes Kt.
Q. to K.B.3 , ,
K. to K. -s. (""^ ""'>• i''"y ^y
. „ . , ,, s Kt. to Q.B.3. „ P. to Q. 4.
'"^'^'"S'")'^Q.Kt.toK.2 ''^ P.to Q.B.3
(Black cannot take the Q.P. without losing tho Knight bv
10. Q. to K.4 (ch), 10. B. to K.Kt.5. The position is then :—
Black.
attacks both Quceji and Rook), 7.
which Black can save tin
WniTB.
Position after White's tenth move.
It is obvious that White has now a very strong attack. If Black
pushes his K. Hook's Pawn to attack the Bishop, White simply takes
Knight with Bishop, and on Black's retaking (with Bishop, of course) ,
White Castles on Queen's side with an overwhelming attack. If
Black plays, instead, 10. P. takes Q.P., White Castles on Queen's
side, with a crushing attack, whether Black take tho Queen's
Knight or not. If Black play 10. Q. to Q.E.4 White Castles on
„. , ., .T e^ -,-, .« B. takes Kt.
Kmg s side, and after 11.
would probably follow-
Q.R. to Q.sq.
K. to K.B.sq.
13.
and we have the position-
P. to K.R.3
Q.Jo K^
k. to Q.2
12.
— there
B. takes B.
, P. takes K.P.
1
" k
k
X,
t
t
1
1
#
■^■
^
i.y
•Ui
^^
' '^ %.
~- -' --■
Poiition aflcr White's lolh move.
Here White threatens to take the Knight either with Knight or
Bishop, and if Pawn should retake to play R. takes P., winning
Queen for Rook. If Queen move to Q.bT2, Q.Kt.¥, or Q.Kt.5, or
if King move to Q.B.2, White would take Knight with Bishop, and
if Black then took Bishop with Pawn, White would win by
Kt. takes P. (Note, that if Black King remains on Queen's file,
or moves there from Q.B.2, he is exposed to a disclosed check by
which his Queen's Rook would fall.) If Black jilays away his King
to K.'s square. White takes Knight with Knight, then, if Black
retakes. White checks with Q. at K.Kt.'s 6th, winning the Rook
(by B. takes P.), if Black interposes it, and the Queen (for Rook) if
IJlack moves his K. on to Queen's file.
Returning to the [losition shown in the first figtire. Black may
play 10. P. to Q.Kt.4, on which Wliite retreats his Bishop to
Q.kt.3, and if Black pushes his Q.Kt.'s P., White takes Kt. with
Kt., and Castling on Queen's side obtains an overwhelming attack.
At his ninth move. Black might have played 9. P. to K.R.3^
instead of 9. P. to Q.B.3 ; but 10. Castles, followed by
10. R. to K. sq., gives White an exceedingly strong attack.
In fact, on tliis line, Black's game seems hopelessly compromised;
though we believe Zukertort is of opinion that this still remains to
be proved, and that precisely as the Muzio attack, formerly thought
irresistible, is now shown to be unsound*, so the sacrifice of the
* Even this, in turn, may be questioned ; at any rate, Winawer
played the Muzio against Zukertort in the Berlin Chess Tourna-
ment, and made a drawn game of it.
G4
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 18, 1881.
Kiiif;)>t in this form of the Two Knights' Gnnio may, nftor nil, bo
unioifi.'.
It appcarg to ua thnt Blnck nmy perlinpa find Biifoty from
10 11. ?Li2_*^'l^M (alnrtinp from rmsition nliowii
r. to q.KA., B. to g.Kt.2
in (Irnt llguro.)
Next week wo slmll consider what soomB to bo far n bettor
rourfic for Blnck than 4. 1'. takes Knight, namely l- Kt. to Q.K. t.
We shall bo glad to answer any questions suggested by tlic
o|ioning moves so far considered.
The following ond game from Ponzinni is of the same class as
t)io«c pvcn last week : —
No. 3. Buck.
■ B
■
irii
■
|B|^f.
i
^
jji?.
Wliite to play, and draw.
!3[nsliin£i to Corrcgponljrntij.
•,* OfmmnnteatioM tchtchare to rcceice earl*; atttntion ahould he addrcaed to ihe
SdHor of KiTOWL£D0B> 74 atid 75, Great Queeiu»treet, London, IV.C.
Hints to CoERESPONDEyTS,— 1. iVb quetthiis aakvtg Jot sctcnftjtc information
can he antKcrcd through the pott. 2. Letters unit to the Editor for correfpondent*
cannot he foricarded ; nor can the names or addresses qf correspondents be given in
ansirer to private inquiries. 3. iV'o queries or replies savouring of the nature of
advertisements can be inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies arc inserted, unless
eontraiy toSulcS, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should write on one side
only of the paper, and put dravings on a separate leaf. 6. 'Each letter, query, or
reply should hare a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should he
made to the numher qf letter or query , the page on Khich it appears, and its title.
W. H. Allbs, J.W. Brookbs.A.L. J., Peb
be a strong one, as it reraain.i, though, by a mispnnt, nieorrectiy descnbcd in Air.
Fostor*8 paptT. — Cymro. Your mathematical qucrv appears in raathematical
Ret'tion.— T. W. B. The work yon mention is publislietl by Messrs. Spon &. Co.,
Charinc-cross, who would inform you of the price. We do riot know, and have no
list of their works. We scarcely think *' Anti-Guebre" would be satisfied by the
account given of the sun in Ifuxley's Physiography—we mean that it would
M-arcely convince *' Aati-Guebre" of the inaccuracy of his position. See
Letter' 5 in Xumber 2. The correct answer to the mountain-snow difTiculty
is not nearly so simpltt as many imagine. But of course *' Anti-Guebre ''
i<« miHtaken. — A. B., Manchester. Thanks for the promised papers on
Photography, W© have no doubt they will prove very interesting to
our readers.— .7. K. M, We quite agree with you, but technical terms
which appear without explanation in articles meant for general reading are
decidedly objectionable. — Inqvibhr. (Your name is scarcely well cho3en ; there
are so many inquirem.) He has made mi?»liikes, but who that has been active in
scientific research has not. He is, wo think, facile prineeps in his own field of
labour, though we would not care toaay so ; comparisons fnnd th>* superlative i?> a
form of comparison) ore nearly always' offensive. —CosicoiD. Evjilam more fully
your requirements. If you only want ageneral knowledge of the properties of the
conic sections, Drew's" "Geometrical Conic Sections," puhlishea by Mnomillan,
would nerve your purpose admirably. But for thorough study of curves of the
nooond decree, you would have to read more advanced treatises, which we will
indicate, Bhould you doire it.— Gcrbbe. You will tlnd the information you
require in Lockycr's *' Physics of the Sun" (Macmillan) ; but you will do well
to read, a'i a more recent contribution to the subject, the excellent work on the
mn, by Professor Young, Anpletou & Co., New York. — Edw. Cl. Your
recommendations duly noticed, and will be attended to at once. Thanks for
the addresses. — A. W., Edinburgh. All exceedingly welcome. — A. C. R.
Could not send any copies of N*o. 1 ; none at the 'ofliee could he spared.
Twenty. tlve copies of No. 2 were sent. — Fbxncis M.triN. Your suggestion
haa, y»m will find, been attended lo. The pagination will now be right through-
out, a^ title-page will replace adverlirtcment leaf.— PvRAUiinusr. We are
not.<!ure whether the interest in the Great Pyramid proplieeiet is so wide as you
suggest; but you will find in a short paper by Mr. Jos. Baxendell, the well-known
ofttronomer, much that will interest ynu.— Dr. JrtRs Morbl. Many thanks for
your kind cTpres-siuns of sympathy with our plan. The work you have sent will
doubtless afford much interesting information to our readers on the subject
of food.— Ctclical. If you reallv want to ntu.lv the Geometry of Cvcloids
at trreat length (but is it worth while?) we cab only name " Proctor'a G«om<
of Creloidn," beeaute we know of no other work |Co>ng ojct the aame grrix.
But.'bo warned in time, and take a lighter subject. If " wilful will lo wn
wilful munt wet;" though, by th<* way, this i^ the loAt thing you have to f
for the book is dreo'lfully dry. Cyr'-loidat geom<-try i« not of overnh^'lii
im|>ortance in i»(.-irntifl<- study. We should say (>iut mind, we do not )txm
certain) that i
I hundred <
M.l.t -
irr, Bi mttw i»<»-, (iibi
feeling* would be ct'
M of ih" work ju't
Ic un»uitnhle for publication
It« (one is ab'olutcty contrary' to that which wr wi»h to n
contented yourself with th<> suggeitinn that thote who diffi
niislaken, we nhould still object lo your b'lter: but your irapli
they knom they are mi-.t«ken is inloh-rablc If you arc ^o warn
those whose opinions you opim^f
may he some as warm as your^-l
your remark-t and insinuations. In the words of one of the writer*
"" Is life worth living?" if we are continually fighting ?-T^c^^
Kbais. We do not object to the trouble, on which almie you dwell,
the eipcnse ; the three works you wish us to send you cost together *.>•. ' .n im r
the effect of multiplied " orders " of that kind.-K. C. Article* of the k.i..l
sent are such as sub-editors make with tbc help of pa«te and scissors. We mi;M
not encroach on their sphere of labour, or, rather, on this portion of it,— W. I,,
Thanks for the drawings; nlbeit wo by no means ace-pt either the twohe.i! 1
man or the alligator boy. The so-called man-dog and his son were real enouu'i,
though not correctly described even as to their appearance.— (K W. SrK.t. :
See First Hint to Correspondents. Delaunay's discussion about the Inferiontv
of Women to Men was a communication to a learned society, and has not, .^i'
beheve, been published in separate form. — 8. D. P. The nuor-fish is n .t a fi-h.
but a Conthfcrons UoUusc. one of the S<dena.-r<tnM, or Dimyary Bivilrfi. '■ I
trust I make myself understood." Seriously, it is what is commonly, but i.-.'-r-
rectlf, called a'shell-fish, the double shell somewhat resembling a razor.— Shr.
Gazbb. Seeonswersto " Perplcied " and others.— W. T. Lrrrx. Thanks fur
the correction respecting Palitzsch and Halley's Comt-t ; it shall appi-ar neit
week, if possible. The mistake is definitely made in Herschell's *' Familiar
Lectures." p. 114, though. ai you say, not in the " OutUne^."— Dr. U. Driper.
New York, Many thanks.- G. W'. D. Your letter is rather long, but fh^U
appear, possibly abridged, as soon as possible. — G. A. Thanks for your iDte-
resting article on Buttercups ; it shall oppear next week. — J. M. A star atlas
cannot include nil desirable features ; some muit be facrificed.- A. B. E.
Thanks. — Thom.is Wiltt, Hull. I scarcely think our readers would lik^ to ??c
any space devoted to the absurdities of the echool you mention. It is hardly
necessary for me to say that I repeatedly saw the sun south of the east and w- >
horizon points when I was in Australasia. I have also repeatedly noticrl "
two and two make four.— R. M. See answer above to Mr, Mazin. — A '
Yes. That point will be touched on in articles on Comets. A comet :-
necessarily seen both when approaching and when receding, or
under either condition. The word imconformable, on p. 27, is not i; ■ i
in a geological sense, or, indeed, in a technical sense at all. It i» rut
between inverted commas because borrowed {from Sir John Uerachel) ; tui
every dictionary has it. The cribbage query is not suited to these column-;
you will find that to make up numbers below nineteen the symmetrical armnLC-
ment9 which give large even numbers, as 6, 7, 7, 8, pairs royal, double pairs ro\ al,
are not so essential but that odd scores can be madj?. For scores above 18 vou
can only in one way get odd numbers, namely, by the *' one for his nob,"
this vnii not give 19, because the 18 which has to be made up to complete ih
score of 19 cannot be ma<le »p from a knave and four other cards ; 20, 22, 2i, i:*
and 28 can. This, after all, shows only hotr, not why it is. The engraver, unf*':
tunately, omitted, one of the tails of the comet of 1744. Will consider you
suggestion about covers.
E. L. R., I. C. H. W., Beta,W.A.R., J.A.M^O.. J. A.W.=0., T.W. Shori
W. D. R., Charles Hamtltox, A Ji , G. C. W.. G. G. D., J. McG, A . W. .1. M
J.J. H. (B.A. Lond.), W. G. (Bird's-byk View), Arthir Black, H. S , Ai
Letters received, and will appear or be answered in due cour-e.
,nd
Note.— We have received many letters calling attention to the difficulty c
obtaining copies of Xo. 1. The demand for copies was much larger than had be?:
anticipated. The matter had to be entirely reset for a second edition, w- <<
publishing. Our publishers will be obliged if subscribers will call their attento
to the fact, should they experience any difTiculty in obtaining Knowlsdob at an
of the railway book-stalb, or from their local newsagents. To ensure a supply ■
the back numbers, orders should be sent without delay. — En.
Contents of Knowledge Xo. 1.
PAGB
To OvR Readers 3
Science and Religion. By the Editor. 3
The Relation of Food to Muscular
Work.— Part I. By Dr. W. B.
Carpenter, F.R.S 5
,A.re Women Inferior to Men? 6
Con\e-U—{IUnstrated) 8
lllu.-ions. By Thomas Foster— (/««*-
trat^d) 10
The Eastern Skies in Koyember —
(Illustrated) 13
PAGI
Darwin on Mould and Wornts U
CoRRBSPOxnsKCB. — Introductory —
Hinta to Correspondents- Is the
Sun Hot?— Can Ice- Yachts soil
faster than the Wind? 15
The Birmingham and Midland Insti-
tute. By W. Mattieu WilUaraa .. 16
Colour of Sunlicht H
The rriAriHe Riddle IS
Our Mathematical Column 19
Our Chess Column 19
Contents of Knowledge No.
PAGB ,
The Philosophy of Animal Colours. l
By Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E .. 21 '
Tlie' South European Volcanic System 22
The Relation of Food (o Muscular '
AVork.-Part II. By Dr. W. B.
Caqienter. F.R.S '. 23
Brain Troubles 2-5
Comets. Part II.— [Illustrattd) 26;
IntelHgnice in Animals 28
Birds with Teeth (IllHstrated) 30 I
The Southern Skies in Novomber — '
{Plustrated) 31
The Fiji Islands 34
CoRKKSPorcDHNCH. — The One -inch
Map of the Onlnnnce Survey — Is
the Sun Hot ?— Inllirence of S'ei on
Mind— November Meteors, Ac. ... 35
Queries 38
I nhealihy House* 38
Plain Words in Science 89
Trusting to Luck 38
Our Chess Column 41
Our >\'1iist Column. By " Five of
Cluba" 43
Nov. 25, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
65
',></>>:H!>. I
.-VjL V"* AN ILLU&TRATED
; ^ MAGJ^ZI'NE orSGIENCE
j, ,, PLAINLY3!f ORJED -£XACTLY|ESCRIBED
LOXDOX: FRIDAY, XOVEMBER 25, 1881.
CONTENTS.
The Oriein of Bntteronps 63
Solids. Liquids, and Gases.— Fart U.
Bt W. Mattieu Williams 66
Geriilsofl)i<>-a«e and Death. Bt Dr.
Andrew Wilson, F.B.S.E .' 67
The Ijiws of Probability 68
IntelliK.'nce in Animals— (rai<.(ra/«i/) 69
Illusions. Bv Thomas Foster— (///lu-
trattd) ...'. 70
Reviews :— .\uthor3 and PnbUshers 73
Correspondence : — To Our Readers,
4c. —The Missing Link— The Sun's
Heat— The Suns Heat (AbflracI)
—Star Names :— Comets' Tails-
Practical Work with the Telescope :
F.KGE
Map of Eastern .Skies— Celestial
Objects — Are Women Inferior to
Men? {Abstract)— iipeeA of Ame.
rican Ice-Yachts— Are Men's iloads
Smaller than of Yore? Ac 73
Queries 8i)
EepUes to Queries.. 80
Anniversory Meeting of the Bir-
mingham' and Midland Institute
Union of Teachers and Students.
Bv W. M!>t lieu Williams 81
Onr Mathematical Column SI
Our Chess Column .. S2
Our Whist Column »3
Answers to Correspondents S4
THE ORIGIN OF BUTTERCUPS.
By Gkaxt Alien'.
HERE, in my hand, I hold a solitary little golden
buttercup, picked this morning in an autumn meadow,
but still as bright and sturdy as though it had grown up
in warmer days beneath the sunny skies of June. Common
and familiar as it is, the buttercup is yet a very interesting
flower from the point of view of its origin and evolution.
Not that it is a highly-evolved or very singular blossom,
with a long and intricate liistory at its back, like some of
the orchids and snapdragons, whose complexity almost
defies explanation ; on the contrary, the importance of the
buttercup in the eyes of the historical botanist is mainly
due to the extreme simplicity of its typical arrangement.
It is a very early type of plant, which has scarcely under-
gone any alteration from the form it must have acquired
already many millions of years ago. There are other
flowers of the same famOj', such as the larkspur, the colum-
bine, and the monkshood, which still bear obvious traces of
being derived from an ancestor exactly like the buttercup,
but which have diverged widely from the original stock in
their curious irregular flowers, sometimes spurred, some-
times hooded, and sometimes so altered from the primitive
radial shape as to be scarcely recognisable. What makes
our buttercup so interesting, on the other hand, is the fact
that it represents an early stage in the history of these
more highly-developed forms. In order to understand
them we must first understand it. This buttercup, in
sliort, is one of the most central members of the family to
which it belongs ; while some of its congeners have diverged
in one direction and some in another, it has still kept
unaltered for us the primitive lineaments of the common
ancestor from which all alike have ultimately sprung.
Buttercups, as everybody knows, are tall meadow weeds,
and the one which I hold in my hand belongs to the
tallest species of all, which we know par exceUenre as the
buttercup ; for we have in England alone no less than
some sixteen representatives of the entire genus. Let us
look a little closely into its structuj-e, and see what hints
we .can gather from its existing shape as to its past history
and evolution.
First of all there are the leaves. These, one notices at
once, are raised on long stalks, and deeply di\-ided into
several segments. Sometimes there are only three divisions
to each leaf, sometimes five, and sometimes seven ; the
reason why thej- thus run in uneven numljers being, of
course, that there is always a single terminal leaflet together,
with one, two, or three lateral leaflets or either side of it.
Again, each of these segments is itself further di\ ided into
three toothed lobes. Now, such a complex leaf as this
shows by its very nature that it must be the product of
considerable previous development. All very early
leaves are quite simple and rounded ; it is only by slow
steps that a leaf thus gets Ijroken up into many clividcd
segments. In this re.spect, then, the meadow buttercup
cannot be regarded as the simplest member of its class.
There are some other buttercups, such as the ivy-leaved
crowfoot, which creeps along the ml of ditches, or the
lesser celandine, which springs in t ^ meadows in early
April, whose leaves are entire ani. undivided. In the
lesser celandine they are almost cirt !ar, and in the ivy-
leaved crowfoot they are slightly anj,ular ; but both these
plants, ha\-ing pie. ty of room to spread in the unoccupied
fields of spring or the unappropriated ditches, have never
felt the necessity for subdivision into mmute segments.
They have free access to the air and the sunlight, and so
they can assimilate to their hearts' content the carbon of
which their tissues are built up. It is otherwise, however,
when similar plants push out into new situations, less
fully supplied with carbonic acid or with sunshine. For
example, there is the water-crowfoot, a mere divergent
variety of the i%y-leaved species, which has taken to grow-
ing in ponds or rivers. Here it cannot obtain the material-s
for gi'owth so readily as on its native mud-banks ; and it
has been compelled, accordingly, to split up its submerged
leaves into long, thin, hair-like filaments ; but when it
reaches the surface, its foliage spreads out once more
into the broad ancestral blades of the ivy-leaved crow-
foot. It is just the same with the true buttercups.
They have taken to growing in the open meadows,
where the competition for vegetable food-stufts is keen,
and the struggle for existence very bitter. Hence they
have been compelled to di^•ide their leaves into many
finger-like segments ; and only those which have succeeded
in doing so have managed to hold their own in the struggle,
and so to hand down tlieir peculiarities to futm-e gener.i-
tions. As a rule, just in proportion as vegetation is thick
and matted, do the plants of which it is composed tend to
develope minutely divided and attenuated foliage.
It is the flower, however, that most people think of as
the essential part of a buttercup, and it is by means of the
flower that all the higher plants are usually classified.
Now, the blossom of the buttercup is almost an ideally
simple typical specimen. It consists of three parts or
series of organs, from -n-ithin outward. First comes a little
central boss or cushion, supporting several carpels c^r
unripe fruitlets. Each of these carpels contains a single
embryo seed. Outside these comes a row of many stamens,
which are the organs for producing the yellow dust which
we call pollen. Now, no cai-pel can mature into a fruit
containing ripe seed until it has been imj^regnated bj'
pollen from a stamen, and these two sets of organs are,
therefore, the only really essential parts of the whole
flower. But in common language, what we mean by a
flower is not these little central knolis and tassels, but
rather the bright-coloured petals outside, which in the
buttercup are five in number and golden yellow in colour.
What, then, is the use to the plant of these expanded and
very strikingly-coloured organs 1
A flower is at bottom merely a device for producing seed.
But in order that the seed may prove capable of germinat-
66
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 25, 1881.
ini;, the ovules in its carpels must necessarily be fertilised
liy polleiu Now, all the earlii\st (lowers consisted merely of
stamens and enqiels ; they hud no petals at all. But, as
Jlr. l)arwin has shown, Howits which are fertilised hy
pollen from a neighliourinf,' plant produce more seed and
healthier seedlings than those which are fertilised liy the
produce of their own stamens. Hence, any modification
which promoted such cross-fertilisation would lienefit the
plants in wliich it occurred l>y giving them an advantage
over tlieir rivals in the struggle for existence. Now, there
are two ways in which flowers have thus acquired special
adaptations for fertilising one another. Some of them have
developed hanging stamens which shake out their pollen to
the wind, and such flowers are also provided with feathery
collecting surfaces to the carpels, so as to catch the stray
grains which may happen to be wafted to them from their
neighbours by the breeze. Plants of this type ne\er
possess bright-coloured petals. A second class, on the
other hand, have learned to utilise the winged insects
which visit their Ijlossoms in search of food. These welcome
little pilferers, in passing from head to head, carry the
pollen of one plant to the carpels of another, and so assist
the flower in efJ'ecting the desired cross-fertilisation. This
class, to which the buttercup belongs, has usually developed
various inducements of food, scent, and colour, in order to
attract the fertilising insects. Those flowers which best
succeeded in alluring their little winged guests would
naturally hold their o\m against all less highly endowed
competitors, and would hand on their own constitution to
their descendants. In this way insect-fertilised plants
have acquired the bright petals and sweet scents which
chiefly make them noticeable to our human senses. A brief
examination of the buttercup blossom will show us the use
which they subserve, and the way in which they act in the
simplest forms of insect-fertilised flowers.
Pull out one of the golden petals from the outside of
the head, and you will see at its l)ase a small hollow spot,
covered by a tiny concave scale. That spot is the nectary,
and it contains a single drop of pure honey. The honey is
put there to entice bees and other insects ; it is the wage
oflered them by the plant in return for the service which
they perform for it in fertilising its seeds. The golden hue
of the petals, again, acts as an advertisement for the honey ;
the Vices know that such bright hues are never found in
any flowers except those which specially lay themselves out
to bid for their favour. When a bee sees the brilliant
colour, he flies straight towards the blossom and settles
on the little boss of carpels in the centre. Here he
sips the honey for liis own behoof, and at the same time
dusts himself with pollen on behalf of the flower ; for,
as soon as the blossom opens, the stamens discharge
their precious burden, beginning from the outside
and slowly ripening towards the centre. At this
early stage, however, the carpels an; not yet mature
for impregnation, and so they avoid being fertilised from
the pollen of their own stamens. If the bee flies away to
another buttercup which happens to be still in the same
stage of development, he only collects more pollen about
his head and thighs ; but if he alights on a somewhat
older liuttercup, he finds its stamens withered and its car-
pels fully mature for impregnation. Some of the pollen is
then sure to fall on the sensitive surface of the carpels.
Thus, while he seeks honey for himself, he unconsciously
allbrds his host all the advantages of cross-fertilisation ;
and it is because he does so that the flower has been
enabled to develope its complicated arrangement of petals
and nectaries for his delectation.
The buttercup, then, with its five separate simple petals,
its many stamens, and its central one-seeded carpels, maj-
be regarded as a good example of the earliest type of
insect-fertilised flowers. In some other plants, such as the
harebell and the primrose, the separate petals have coalesced
into a single tubular corolla ; while in others, again, they
have assumed various fantastic shapes ; but all of them are
ultimately derived from flowers like the butt<-rcup, which
thus contains in itself all the essential elements of a perfect
insect-fertilised plant
SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES.
By W. M.^ttied Williams.
PART II.
MULTITUDES of examples may be cited illustrating
the viscosity of bodies that we usually regard as
types of solidity, such, for example, as the rocks forming
the earth's crust In the " Black Country " of South
Staffordshire, which is undermined by the gi'eat ten-yard
coal-seam, cottages, chimney-shafts, and other buildings
may be seen leaning over most grotesquely, houses spUt
down the middle by the subsidence or inclination of one
side, great hollows in fields or across roads that were once
flat, and a variety of other distortions, due to the sinking
of the gradual rock-strata that have been undermined by
the colliery workings. In some cases the rocks are split,
l)ut usually the subsidence is a gradual bending or flowing
do-wn of the rocks to fill up the vacuity, as water tills a
hollow or " finds its own level."
I have seen many cases of the downward curvature of
the roof of a coal-pit, and have been told that in some
cases the sun'ounding pressure causes the floor to curs'e
upwards, but have not seen this.
As KxowLEDGE will doubtless have many readers in the
colliery districts, some of them may be able to supply
reliable evidence of this, accompanied with careful measure-
ment of the amount of upward curvature or upheaving in a
stated breadth of road or working.
Earthquakes afford another example. Tlie so-called
solid crust of the earth is upheaved and cast into positive
billows that wave away on all sides from the centre of dis-
turbance. The earth-billows of the great Lisbon earth-
quake of 1753 travelled to this country, and when they
reached Loch Lomond, were still of sufficient magnitude to
raise and lower its banks through a perpendicular i-ange
of two feet four inches.
It is quite possible, or, I may say, probable, that there
are tides of the earth as well as of the waters, and the
subject has occupied much attention and raised some dis-
cussion among mathematicians. If the earth has a fluid
centre, and only a comparatively thin crust, as some
suppose, there must be such tides, produced by the gravi-
tation of the moon and the sun.
Ice presents some interesting results of this viscosity.
At a certain height, varying with latitude, aspect, Arc, we
reach " the snow line " of mountain slopes, above which the
snow of winter remains unnielted during summer, and, in
most cases, goes on accumulating. It soon loses its floc-
culent, flakey character, and becomes coherent, clear blue
ice by the pressure of its o^^•n weight
A rather complex theory has been propounded to explain
this change — the theory of regeJation — i.e., refreezing, a
theory which assumes that the pressure between the sur-
faces first thaws a film of ice at the surfaces of contact,
and that presently this refreezes, and thus efiects a heating
or general solidification. Faraday found that two pieces
of ice wnXh moistened surfaces united if pressed together
Nov. 25, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
67
when at just aliout the temperature of freezing, but not if
much colder. Tyndall has further illustrated this by
taking fragments of ice and squeezing them in a mould,
whereby they became a clear, transparent ball, or cake,
and schoolboys did the like long before when snowballing
with snow at about the thawing point Such snow, as we
all remember, became converted into stony lumps when
firmlv pressed together. We also remember that iu much
colder weather no such cohesion occurred, but our snow-
lialls remained powdery in spite of all our squeezing.
1 am a sceptic as regards regelation. I believe that the
true e.xplanation is much simpler ; that the crystals of
snow or fragments of ice in these experiments are simply
welded, as the smith unites two pieces of iron, by merely
pressing them together when they are near their melting
' point. Other metals and other fusible substances may be
similarly welded, provided they soften or become suffi-
ciently viscous before fusing. Platinum is a good example
of this. It is infusilile in ordinary furnaces, but becomes
pasty before melting, and, therefore, one method adopted
in the manufacture of platinum ingots or bars from the
ore, is to precipitate a sort of platinum snow (spongy
platinum) from its solution in acid, anil then compress this
metallic snow in red hot steel moulds by means of pistons
driven with great force. The flocculent metal thus be-
comes a solid, coherent mass, just as the flocculent ice
became coherent ice in Tyndall's experiment or in making
hard snowballs. Wax, pitch, resin, and all other solids
that fuse, gradually cohere, are weldable, or, in very plain
language, " stick together " when near their fusing point.
I have made the following experiment to prove that
when this so-called regelation of snow or ice fragments
occurs, the ice is ^^scous or plastic, like wax or pitch. A
strong iron squirt, with a cylindrical Ijore of half-an-inch
in diameter, is fitted with an iron piston. Tliis piston is
driven forth bj- a screw working in a collar at one end of
the squirt. Into the other end is screwed a brass nozzle
with an aperture about one-twentieth of an inch diameter,
tapering or opening inwards gi-adually to the half-inch
bore.
Into this bore I place snow or fragments of ice, then
holding the body of the squirt firmly in a vice, I work the
lever of the screw, and thus drive forward the piston and
crush down the snow or ice fragments, which presently
become coherent and form a half-inch solid cylinder of clear
ice. Applying still more pressure, this cylinder is forced like
a liquid through the small orifice of the nozzle of the squii-t,
and jets or sprouts out as a thin stick of ice like vermicelli,
or the '• leads "' of ever-pointed pencils, for the moulding
of which the squirt was originally constructed.
I find that ice at 32° can thus be squirted more easily
than bees'-wax of the same temperature, and such being the
case, I see no reason for imagining any comple.x operation
of regelation in the case of the ice, but merely regard the
adhesion of two pieces of ice when pressed together as
similar to the sticking together of two pieces of coblilers'-
■wax, or softened sealing-wax, or bees'-wax, or the welding
of iron or glass when heated to their welding temperatures,
i.e., to a ceiiain degree of incipient fluidity or viscosity.
If a leaden bullet be cut in half, and the two fresh-cut
faces pressed forcibly together, they cohere at ordinary
atmospheric temperatures, but we have no occasion for
regelation here. The viscosity of the lead accounts for all.
At Woolwich Arsenal there is a monster squirt, similar to
my little one. Tliis is charged with lead, and, by means of
hydi-aulic pressure, the lead is squirted out of the nozzle as
a cylindrical jet of any required diameter. This jet or
stick of lead is the material of which the elongated
cylindrical rifle bullets are now made.
But returning to the point at which we started, on the
subject of ice, viz., its Alpine accumulation above the
snow-line. If the snow-fall there exceed the amount that
is thawed and evaporated, it must cither go on growing
upward until it reaches the highest cloud, or atmospheric
region, from which it falls, or is formed, or it must descend
somehow.
If ice can be squirted through a syringe by mere hand-
pressure, we are justified in expecting that it would be
forced down a hUl slope, or through a gully, or across a
plain, by the pressure of its own weight when the accumu-
lation is great. Such is the case, and thus are glaciers
formed.
They are, strictly speaking, rivers or torrents of ice ;
they flow as liquid water does, and down the same channels
as would carry the liijuid surface drainage of the hills, were
rain to take the place of snow. Like rivers, they flow
with varying speed, according to the slope ; like rivers,
their current is more rapid in the middle than the sides ;
like rivers, they exert their greatest tearing force when
squeezed through narrow gullies ; and, like rivers, they
spread out into lakes when they come upon an open basin-
like valley, with narrow outlet.
The Justedahbrae of Norwaj- is a great ice-lake of this
character, covering a surface of about -500 square miles, and
pouring down its ice-torrents on every side, wherever there
is a notch or valley descending from the table-land it covers.
The rate of flow of such downpouring glaciers varies from
two or three inches to as many feet per day, and they
present magnificent examples of the actual fluidity or
viscosity of an apparently solid mass. This viscosity has
been disputed, and attempts have been made to otherwise
explain the motion of glaciers, but while it is possible that
it may be assisted by varying expansion and contraction,
the downflovi- due to viscosity is now recognised as unques-
tionably the main factor of glacier motion.
Cascades of ice may be sometimes seen. In the course
of my first visit to Norway, I wandered alone over a very
desolate mountain region towards the head of the Jnstedal,
and unexpectedly came upon a gloomy lake, the Styggevand,
which lies at the foot of a precipice-boundary of the great
ice-field above-named. Here, the ice having no sloping
valley-trough by which to descend, poured over the edge of
the precipice as a great overhanging sheet or cornice, which
Vient down as it was pushed forward, and presented on
the convex side of the sheet some tine blue cracks, or
" crevasses " as they are called. These gradually widened
and deepened, until the overhanging mass broke oft" and
fell into the lake, on the surface of which I saw the result,
in the form of several floating icebergs that had previously
fallen.
Something like this on a small scale may be seen at
home on the edge of a house roof, on which there has been
an accumulation of snow ; but, in this case, it is rather
sliding than flowing that has made the cornice ; but its
down-bending is a result of viscosity.
GERMS OF DISEASE AND DEATH.
By Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.RS.E.
MOST readers have heard of the " Germ theory," and
there are few persons who do not know what the
hypothesis of that name means and implies. Popularly
regarded, this theory holds that a very large proportion of
the diseases that aflect and afflict man and his neighbour
animals, owe their origin to minute forms of life — whether
animal or vegetable, or both, is still, in most cases, a
68
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 25, 1881.
matter of doubt To sploct a ainglo illustration of the
application of tliis tliwry, wo nmy take tlif> casp of small-
pox, and its aniilogous condition, tlio fcvpr produced by
vaccination. When an infant is vaccinated, the physician
introduces into its system, thro\igh an abrasion of its skin,
a minute quantity of vaccine lymph, which, as every-
body knows, is obtained either from the vaccination
pustule of an already vaccinated child, or direct from
the calf. In either case, there are ijitroduced into the
infant body, certain minute germs — suspended in and
living naturally amongst the vaccine lymph — and in
due course these germs multiply and increase within the
frame, tln-roby proclucing the characteristic fever, and the
equally characteristic pustule at the seat of the operation.
So, also, with smalt-pox, which vaccination imitates in a
mild way, and of which, moreo\-er, it is a preventive.
Here the germs of small-pox, obtained directly or indirectly
from an already infected person, attack the body. Gaining
admittance thereto, they propagate themselves within the
tissues and through the medium of the blood. Sooner or
later all the characteristic symptoms of the disease arc
manifested, and having run its course, it dies away as
mysteriously, to all appearance, as it came. Now, there is
something strikingly analogous in all this to the growth of
an animal or plant There is a period of " incubation " in
the fever, just as in the production of the living being
there is a period of development. Tliere is a growth of
the fever, as the animal or plant grows towards its ma-
turity ; and there is a decline of the disease, as the living
form passes to its old age and death. So far, then, the
parallel between ordinary life and the birth, growth, and
decline of a disease, is very close and clear.
But the analogies are not yet exhausted. Each fever
produces its like, as do animals and plants. Each disease
reproduces its kind, as Tyndall has somewhere observed,* as
rigorously as dog and cat reproduce their like. The pheno-
mena, or, as a doctor would call them, the " symptoms," of
each disease are, as a rule, highly distinctive. The
symptoms of scarlatina are not those of small-pox ;
measles is diflcrent from the other two ; whilst typhus
fever is again thoroughly different from all three. Analogy
may, as Darwin says, be a deceitful guide ; but when the
facts are so closely allied, as are the facts of epidemic
diseases to those of animal and plant development, the
use of analogy cannot be doubted in rendering the relation-
ship clearer.
\Ve are now in a position to understand more clearly
the utility and strength of the germ theory in certain of
those aspects which bear most materially on science at
large. It would only serve to strengthen the idea that
our epidemic diseases are .simply the offspring of lower life,
if we reflect in passing that there are known to science a
very considerable number of lower plants which produce
in man's skin effects and diseases as characteristic as those
which a fever induces in his system at large. Thus, the
disease known as " ringworm " is caused by the growth in
the human skin of a parasitic fungus, and a whole series
of skin affections is known wherein lower plants play the
part of direct causes. Thus, if it is a matter of certainty
that a particular skin-disease is caused by lower plant-
growth, so no less is it by analogy likely that all other con-
tagious and epidemic diseases are in reality the products
of life.
So much for the general idea that permeates the " germ-
theory " of diseas(\ Within the jiast few months some
highly important additions have been made to our know-
ledge of the part played by lower organisms in the produc-
* Quoting a romnrk by Miss Xiglitinfralo. — Ed.
tion of disease. M. Pasteur, whose researches into thf
development of lower organisms have placed him in the
foremost rank of scientitic workers, has detailed at length
the results of his investigations into the causes which i)ro-
duce the curious disease known a.s chnrhon, atUhrar, and
njilfnic ferer. This disease, whilst but rarely attacking
man, is fatal to horses, cattle, and sheep. France suffers
greatly from this " plague of boils," and it is also known
in various other countries as a literal scourge. Pasteur, it
should be mentioned, had already acquired much valuable
experience in the investigation into the cause of the
p'clirine, or silkwonn disease, which in 18C3 had devastated
the silk industry of France. Pa.steur showed that pihrine
was caused by the growth and multiplication, within the
bodies of the insects, of minute " corpuscles," which were
practically lower forms of life. Even the eggs from which
the worms were hatched were shown to bo liable to in-
fection from pchrin'' ; the eggs, in such a ca.se, inheriting
the disease from the parent moth which laid them. As
the result of a long and laboriovis series of experiments,
Pasteur showed that the pebrine would spread like an
infectious disease by the contact of whole with disea-sed
worms. He showed that, just as man isolates his fever
patients, so the French silk-grower had to isolate and
separate his diseased wonns. But the knowledge which
led to this effectual result was knowledge that had been
won by an u])hill fight, and that had been gainefl by the
object-glass of the microscope, and by the whole-souled
de\-otion of many months" industry.
THE LAWS OF PROBABILITY.
THERE are few subjects in which men take a more
general interest, yet few in which they make greater
mistakes, than the subject of probaliilities. From the
man whose mind is most perfectly trained in the analy.sis
of evidence, down to liim whose thinking apparatus can
scarcely be reg.arded as a mind at all, all men endeavour to
guide their conduct in matters uncertain, or at least to
form their opinion on such matters, according to the pro-
baliilities. They would use different words in describing
their purpose. A mathematician might, perhaps, speak
definitely of the a priori and ct posteriori probabilities in
favour of an opinion or of a course of conduct. Wendell
Holmes' " lout," he " who lies outstretched on a tavern
bench with just mental activity enough to keep his pipe
from going out," would hardly use the same expressions ;
but in his imperfect way he is all his life doing the same
thing. He does not even stretch out his ungainly limbs on
one liench rather than on another, or in one attitude rather
than another, without to some degree considering his chance
of comfort or security. But in all the ordinary relations
of life he more definitely weighs the chances, though often,
if not always, in an utterly inexact balance.
It is not the loutish mind only, howe\'er, nor the average
intellect, which inex.actly estimates probabilities. The
most profound knowledge of the mathematics of chance
does not save men from eiTor. Often, indeed, the grossest
blunders have resulted from an attempt to weigh ordinary
matters in a mathematical balance. The fault has not lain,
however, with the balance, but with the user. If a man chooses
to weigh groceries in a chemical balance, paying no attention
to the fact that either the parcels ho weighs come in
contact with other things lying round, so that the balance
cannot possibly show their true weight, or else, perhaps,
th.at the construction of the balance is such as will only
penuit of its indicating true results within cei-tain very
Xov. 25, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
69
narrow limits of weiglit, he will obtain a much less satis-
factory result than he would if he used a common wcifjliing
machine incapable of showing differences of a few grains or
scruples. Yet he should not condemn the balance, but
himself for misusing it.
Not unfrequently mathematicians haNe fallen into a
parallel error. Indeed, there are those who assert that
mathematicians are more apt than other men to err in this
way, because they try to apply the exact laws of proba-
bility to matters about which they only have inexact
knowledge. To use an illustration of Huxley's, mathe-
maticians possess a mill of exquisite perfection, which
grinds you stuff of any degree of fineness, but they are apt
to put peacods into it and to regard the product. of their
grinding as wheaten flour.
However, there is no real connection between profound
mathematical research and utter absence of common sense.
Mathematicians do not often err in this way. The laws of
probability would be worth knowing even if they did. Nor
is the application of these laws to many cases where they
really are applicable likely to detract from what is com-
monly called the common sense way of viewing matters.
Indeed, the common sense method may be regarded as only
a rough way of applying the just method. The probability
of its leading to a tolerably correct result is much less
than the probability of a correct result when due
account is taken of details; just as the chance of
coiTectly estimating the cost of a complicated work by
roughly adding a number of roughly-estimated items is less
than the chance of a correct estimate when these items,
separately estimated as exactly as possible, are properly
added together. In neither case do we get an exact result,
but the chances of gross error are much greater in the
former than in the latter ; for to the chances of error
arising from an exact estimate of the several items in the
latter case there is added the chance of a large error in a
rough estimate of the totality of these items.
It must be admitted that liy justly combining the \arious
probabilities on which a question depends, we are more
likely to attain a correct opinion than if we formed only a
rough idea of what would result from such a combination.
Yet the incautious application of the laws of probability,
combined with undue reliance on results which, at the
most, had been only shown to be probably true, has often
led to absurd blunders.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
PASSING over several cases whichseem to carry the matter
no further than those already cited, we come next to a
case which appearstous oneof the most .strikingever recorded.
Tlie wn-iter, Mr. E. H. Pringle, remarks that it is an instance
of sagacity which finally set at rest anj' doubts he had ever
entertained tliat the difference between human and animal
intelligence is one of degree only. We can see no way in
which the story can be explained without assuming the
exercise of something more than that mere practical reason-
ing which probably underlies all the so-called instinctive
actions of animals : —
Mr. J. W. Chen-y, of the Madras Forest Service, is
owner of a dog, a bull-terrier, called " Bully." (This breed
is notoriously not the most intelligent of the canine tribe,
so that the behaviour of Bully appears all the more strik-
ing.) " We lived," says Mr. Pringle, " in the bungalow A*
the compound of which was bounded south and west by
* The figure presents all tlie features essential to a correct under-
standinff of Jlr. Priiifrle's narrative.
public roads DC and GFC, both leading to the cantonment
of Ijangalore in the direction C. There were three gates
into the compound at C, D, and G, the main appi'oach to
the bungalow leading over a bridge B that spaimed
a public road FD. The compound was tilled with
trees and shrubs, and bordered by dense lantana hedges,
so that with the exception of a portion of th"
western road at F, neither of the cantonment roads
were visible from the bridge, nor could the footpaths
be seen thence. Now, Bully had a lady friend (canine)
living in the cantonment, and at times she was so attractive,
that absences without leave on the part of the dog were
frequent. After one of these excursions. Bully had been
brought back and chained up for the night. Next morning,
wliile his master and I were sitting at early breakfast, it
was decided that he should be released, and to effectually
stop further delinquency, a peon was sent down to the
bridge with orders to intercept him if he started for the
cantonment. Bully was brought in and unchained ; he had
that unmistakable air of detected guilt deservedly punished,
and spent some time in begging for scraps from the table in
a most deprecatory manner. Shortly, however, he strolled
into the \'erandah, and then down the front steps on to the
gravel walk. After wandering about aimlessly for a few
minutes, he quietly started down the approach AHB. We
followed, keeping out of his sight. At the turn of the road.
Bully met with the unexpected apparition of the peon
standing on the bridge. In a moment, though not a word
was spoken by the man, the dog turned and came straight
back to the room, whither we had in the meantime slipped
back unobserved, and re-entered it, wagging his tail vio-
lently, and looking exceedingly sheepish. He now lay down,
and closed his eyes. The cocked ears showed that sleep was
mere pretence, and he soon rose again, went out into the
front garden, and hunted for buried bones — purely imaginary
ones, I believe. His search gi'adually led him down the
hill by a footpath leading from A to G, we keeping him in
sight, as before, and he finally reached the road at the
bottom. There all disguise was dropped, and he started oft
for the cantonment. As he neared the spot F, the peon
ro
• KNOVS^'LEDGE •
[Nov. 2'., 1881.
c.tpird liiiii, nntl shoutrd out his iinmc. lie turned at oncp,
cliiiilifd tlip hill, and came into the bungalow, where the
Bnnip farce of repentance was gone through. Bully now
seemed to have made up his mind that escape was inijios-
Bilile ; lie lay down on a mat in tlie verandali, and remained
there for a loiij; time, liiit for tiie jiersi.stent cock of the
ears, we should have imagined tlio animal really a.sleep.
Mr. Cherry eventually went to hi.s otlice-rooni, and 1 re-
mained in the verandah, reading the morning paper and
occasionally glancing at Bullv. He lay very still, but once
or twice 1 detected him opening his eyes and raising his
head to look round liim. Each time he caught my eye lie
wagged his tail vehemently for a moment or two, and then
resorted to his sham sleep. It may liavc been for half-an-
hour or thereabouts tliat this state of things continued. I
then became interested in an article in the paper, and when
I next looked up, Bully was gone. 1 called Mr. Cherry,
and the house was searched for Bully. Tlie peon was sent
for and interrogated ; he liad not seen the dog. As a last
resource, in<iuiry was made of the horse-keepers down at
the staliles, D. The reply was " Yes, the dog had passed
through the gate, D, some time before." Taking advantage
of ni}' occupation, and the absence of his master, Bully had
left the house and taken his way to the cantonment by the
onlj- path by which he could have escaped unnoticed V)y the
peon — that shown by the dotted line.
It seems to us quite inipossilile to account for the dog's
action, as above narrated, without attributing to him tlie
exercise of reasoning powers, not merely in selecting the
route by whicli he finally escaped, but in the liianceuvres by
which he endeavoured to assure those who were watching
him that he had given up all hope of escaping. Doubtless,
if he had reasoned more perfectly, he would even have
allowed his ears to seem asleep, instead of leaving them
cocked. But very few of us human beings simulate sleep
without some such error, by wliich any observant person
would be enabled to detect the trick. Either the muscles
of the face are not perfectly relaxed ; or the hands or feet
are left in a constrained attitude ; or the position of the
body generally is unlike that which a sleeping person would
assume ; or else the breathing is unnaturally restrained.
And again, though Bully was too demonstrative in his
contrition, and afterwards in his attempts to hide the con-
sciousness of failure, it was not for want of reasoning
power. Few of us know how to act such parts as he tried
to play, with perfect correctness ; nor do those who know
succeed always in acting such parts as they could wish.
Probably Bully was as sensible as the onlookers that
he was not quite successful in his acting. It is obvious,
however, that he directed his eflbrts as carefully to the end
he wished to obtain as a human being of average reasoning
powers and skill in counterfiiting sleep, itc, could have
done.
ILLUSIONS.
By Thomas Foster.
IN my last jiapcr there were two mistakes, or rather a
single mistake, for it amounted really to the inversion
of one of the figures. In Fig. .'>, the lines marked AB, CD,
should have been put opjiosite the letters EF, Gil, and
rict; irrsH. As they actually stand, the description should
run as follows: — The lines AB, CI) appear to be curved, so as
to be farther apart at the middle than at either end ; whilst
tlie lines EF and Gil, in the same figure, appear to be so
curved as to be nearer in the middle than at either end.
Such illusions as are illustrated at pp. 1 1 and iL' vary in
etfect according to the position from wliich the illusory draw-
ing is seen. Thus, if we so place Fig. 1 that the eye looks
along, or nearlyjalong, the direction AB, we see at once that
CD is in the same straight line with AB. Again, although
we cannot look simultaneously in the directions BC and
ED in Fig. .'?, it will be found that when we look along
BC, so that the illusion ceases so far as the part of the
circle near C is concerned, the illusion eea.ses altogether,
the part near D no longer appearing to form part of a
smaller circle. In Fig. 4, the illusion is not at all efTec-
tive when we hold the lines AB, CD, Ac, upright, but Ls
very marked when they are looked at aslant. But again,
even when we look at thcin aslant, and the illusion is
strong, we yet find that running the eye backwards and
fonvards along the parallels, the illusion varies all the
time ; for the eye cannot fail then to percei\e that the
distance between the parallels does not vary as the illusory
eflect seems to suggest Thus, the lines CD, EF, which,
when the eye is at rest, seem to draw closer at D and F,
are found not to do so when tlie eye is carried from CE to
DF; and a singular effect of motion is produced, the line.s
CD and EF seeming to move apart as the eye i-uns down
them towards DF. Tlie other lines seem to move corre-
spondingly, and thus we have an illusion of motion, •which
will be considered later among illusions of that sort
In the illusory figures now to be considered, the lines
whicli appear curved, though straight, are set in different
positions so as to be differently aft'ected, and thus we have
illusions affecting the shape of enclosed figures such as
shall be considered separately further on.
If we look at Fig. 8 as it stands, that is with the point
A uppermost, we find the lines AB, AE looking strongly
curved ; BC and ED rather less curved ; and DC looks
almost straight — at least, this is the effect to my eye. (I
find EA most curved of all.) Thus the figure, which is
Fig. 8.
really a true pentagon with straight sides, looks like a
figure having unequally curved sides. Turning the picture
round in its own plane, we find that as tlie sides of the
pentagon by this turning motion pass to tlie top, they
appear more curved, so that tliey appear to change in shape
as tliev move, or to have a motion of their ovni.
The apparent cur^'ature of the really straight lines in
Nov. 2.-;, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
71
Fig. 9. — A Xest of Illusions.
Fi_'. ^ has been regarded hj Mr. Proctor as having possibly
.soiu- btariiig on the irregular shape, which the outline of
the planet sometimes seems to have. It is referred to by llr.
Webb in his " Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes,"
■ivho illustrates it, however, by a figure in which the dis-
tinctive characteristic is lost ; the straight line in his figure
<loes not cross the curved lines, and the suggestion of
curvature, if it exist at all, is too slight to be readily
recognised.
The eflect of position on illusions of this sort can hardly,
I think, be better illustrated than it is in Fig. 9, which
may be described as " a nest of illusions."
Thus, First, the sides of the square ABCD, which are
1 eallv straight, appear to be cuned inwards.
Secondly, the sides of the square abed, which are really
straight, appear to Ije curved outwards, as (in less degree)
do the sides of the square 1 2 .3 4.
Thirdly, the space between the two large heavy circles
mir and »:n, appears to be superposed on the rest of the
figure.
Fourthly, arc no (lighter curve) appears to belong to a
smaller circle, instead of belonging, as it really does, to the
same circle as the arcs Im and pr, the same holding with
the other corresponding circular arcs of the figure.
Fifthly, it is difficult to realise that the space between
the arcs st and ij is as broad as that between the arcs rv
and zz, &c.
Sixthly, the circles between no and zz appear to draw
closer together, though in reality concentric, as they
approach the heavj- circle noz, lirc.
72
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 25, 1881.
Seventhly, tlic saint' circles appear to draw further ajiart
along the region 2rrf, itc.
But it will lie found that the illusion varies in amount
for corresponding parts of ditlennt portions of the figure ;
Olid that, OS in the simpler case illustrated in Fig. 8, the
different jiarts of the tigure seem to vary Lu shape as the
picture is turned round.
AUTHOES AND PUBLISHERS.*
THIS work, -we are told in the preface, is intended
chielly for those who for the first time are about to
commit their literary productions to the press, and who are
unacquainted with the prtvailLng practices in regard to
printing and publication. " The information contained in
it will, no doubt, be more or less familiar to experienced
authors.'' This may be so, but all the same, it is a work
wliich every author, whether experienced or not, should
undoubtedly possess. And, unless we mistake, it is a
work in which the general public will find much to interest
them. It is described as a rudimentary handbook, giving
just those particulars concerning paper, printing, binding,
and jiublishing, the preparation of copy, the correction of
proofs, the embellishment and illustration of books, and
the relations of publishers and their clients, &c., with
which an author requires to be acquainted. The publishers
have endeavoured to touch upon eveiy point which is
likely to arise between the period of the preparation of
the manuscript for the press and the actual publication of
the book, presenting at the same time a precise and accu-
rate account of the mechanical details of printing. There
arc also most valualile notes on advertising, re\iewing, and
the law of copyright.
I am myself tolerably familiar with the matters dealt
■with in this work. At least, I have -written nearly fort)'
■works, which have been published for me by five or six
firms, with all of which I have had pleasant relations.
Yet even for so old a hand as myself, the work before me
is full of interest. When I began to write, it would have
been still more valuable to me. It would have taught me
one lesson, at any rate, which many have only learned by a
rather dear experience. Publishers have made mistakes,
■we know ; but, as a rule, the advice of an experienced
publisher should be followed by a comparatively inex-
perienced author, and it should always be carefully ■weighed.
I Well remember how thoroughly mistaken I supposed
Messrs. Longmans to be when the)- advised me to print no
more than a thousand cojiics of my first work — " Saturn
and its System." I had put so much hard -work into that
treatise, had filled so many pages with long and complex
calculations, had drawn the illustrations so elaborately,
that 1 thought many thousands must needs care for my
book, and buy it if it were not too dear ; while if but a
thousand copies were printed, it must of necessity be rather
dear. When they told me that very few cared for fornuihe
and diagrams, for the "great inequality" of Jupiter jukI
Satuni, and so forth, I thought they underestimated the
intelligence of the general reader. Tliat was sixteen years
ago, and the first edition of "Saturn and its System" is
only just approaching exhaustion. + They knew, and I
did not, what was best and wisest
• " Authorship and Publication : A Conciae Guide to Autliors in
matters relating to I'rinting and I'ubliahinp, including the Law of
Copyriplit and a Bibliograjihical Appcudii." (London : Wjman
t Sons.)
+ I was pratified to learn a few years since, from a criticism of
Wr. Goo. Uoldcn (then of the Washington Observatory, now of Ann
The advice of publishers abotit advertising, selection of
journals to -which a Viook should be sent for review, and
other matters of that sort, is nearly always sound, and is
always based on sound consideration.s. When advertising
is left entirely to publishers, they are apt, in some cases, to
be a little extra\agant, so far as my experience goes. At
least, I liave found two books, separately published by one
firm, .selling no better than t-wo precisely similar books,
pulilished under similar conditions at another time, by
another firm, which were much less expensively advertised.
But the selection among so many serials as exist, of those
in which a publication should Ijc advertised, is so difficult,
and requires so much experience, that the author does
wisely to avail himself of his publishers' ad\ice in this
respect.
The choice of a title is a point which authors wovdd
not care to leave entirely to their publishers ; yet more
than one of my own books bear titles which were either
invented by the publishers, or modified at their suggestion.
In the work before us, many curious illustrations of
authors' mistakes and weaknesses on this point are given.
The most curious, perhaps, are the titles selected by Puritan
writers, whose title-pages exhibit such eccentricities as
these : —
" Egps of Charity, laved by the Chickens of the Covenant, and
boiled in the Water of Divine Love. Take ye and eat."
'■ Some fine Biskets baked in the oven of Charity, carefully con-
served for the Chickens of the Church, the Sparrows of the Spirit,
and the Sweet Swallows of Salvation."
" A Eeaping Hook, well tempered for the Ears of the Coming
Crop."
" Hooks and Ejes for Believers' Breeches." (May we infer, by
the way, that in the seventeenth century hooks and eyes were used
" iu this connection " — that is, where buttons and button-holes are
used in ova time ?)
" High-heeled Shoes for Dwarfs iu Holiness."
The matter relating to choice of paper, sizes of type,
and corrections (this last especially) should be carefully
studied by all who write or intend to write books. Others
will find it interesting and instructive.
"Authorship and Publication" is eminently readable
throughout. Technicalities are avoided -where possible, and
explained where they cannot be avoided. There is an
amusing collection of technical expressions for the variotis
names used to define correctly difl'erent degiees of anony-
mity in authorship, the student of which will be able
thenceforward to distinguish an allonym from an anonym^
and a cryptoni/m from a bouslrophedoii.
1.M1TATI0N Flowebs MADE WITH LiQCiD FiLMs. — A pretty experi-
ment has been recently described by the well-known Belgian
physicist, M. Plateau. Ho bends fine iron -wire so as to present the
contour of a flower of six petals. The central ring, to which the
petals are attached, is supported on a forking stem, which is stuck
in a piece of wood. After oxidising the wire slightly with weak
nitric acid, the flower is dip])ed in glyceric liquid, so as to receive
films in the petals and the central part. It is then turned np, placed
on a tabic near a window, and covered with a bell jar. For a little
while it ai)i)ear8 colourless, but soon a striking play of colours
commences. In the experiment M. Plateau describes, the flower
continued showing modifications of colours for ten hours, when dusk
stopped observation. JJext morning several pet.ils had burst. The
li()uid used was of very mediocre quality. M. I'luleau recommends
preparation of the liquid thus : — Dissolve a fresh piece of Marseilles
soap, cut Uj) into small pieces, in 40 parts by weight of hot distilled
water. Filter after cooling, and mix thoroughly three volumes of
the solution with two of Price's glycerine. The solution should be
left at rest till all air bubbles are gone. — The Times.
.\rbor), in which he rather severely denounced a book of mine,
wliich is still in manuscript and was then unwritten, that the sales
of my fir.<t book had been so great as to tempt me to seek a fortune
by writing scientific treatises. Otherwise I should have thought
the book had involved a rather heavy loss. But we should always
believe what we see in print.
Nov.
1881.]
* KNOWLEDGE
TO
lttUt& to ti)t eUitor,
[I^* EJUor does not hvU kimtelf reppontihU for iheopinion» of his correspondents.
Be cannot undertake to return manuscripts or to correspond with their trrtters. He
requests that all communivatiotu should be as short as possible, consistently with full
and clear statements of the tcriter'a meanitiff.']
All eommunications should be addressed to the Editor qf Knowledge, 71, Great
Queen-street, W.C. ^ ,
All Cheques and Potl-OJice Orders to be madt payable to Messrs. Wyman 4-
SOHS.
•^* All letters to the Editor will be Numhered. For convenience of rtference,
correspondents, vhen referring to any letter^tcill oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on which it appears.
AU Letters or Queries to the Editor irAiV A require attention in the current issue of
Kjrowi.BDQB,»/iouW reach the Publishing OJice not later than the Saturday preceding
ike day <f publication. ,
**Iii knowledge, that m»" only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
BUte of transition Nor is there anyihing more adverse to acturacy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in making a mistake, but ^rreat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing.' ' — Liebig. ,,
(9ttv CorifSpontfitrt Columns.
TO OUR EEADERS.— NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS.—
THE SUN'S HEAT.— WASTE OF ENERGY.— THE EARTH'S
REVOLUTION.— THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.— FLIGHT OF
BIRDS.— CORRECTED SUN-DIAL.
We begin to see more clearly than we did at first the lines on
■which our Correspondence columns will have to be conducted,
though we shall always be glad to haye hints and suggestions from
our readers towards the improvement of this section of Knowledge.
Dropping the editorial "we," let me note that from the beginning
I have proposed to take my share in the Correspondence, not only
in answering queries, explaining dilEculties, &c., in subjects I am
able to deal with, but also in asking questions, inviting explana-
nations, and so forth. It will be found, also (indeed, I think the last
and present numbers give some illustration of the fact), that space
will as readily be found for corrections of the mistakes I make
myself, as for those into which others may fall. In the two first
numbers I appended, in several cases, my replies to the respective
letters to which they related ; but hereafter I propose to reply each
week to letters and queries falling into my department which have
appeared in the previous week. Others have promised me their
assistance in dealing similarly with other inquiries. But I hope
many who have information to give on subjects of interest respecting
which inquiries may be made, will do so. as occasion may suggest.
We wish to leave as few inquiries unanswered as possible.
I take this opportunitj' of reminding correspondents that their
letters should reach the oflice by Saturday at latest, if they are to
appear in the number for the following week. Already, owing to
the unexpectedly rapid growth of the correspondence, it has been
found necessary to arrange that no letters received after Monday
shall be even read till the matter for the following week has been
made up ; and, of course, in making room for letters, the rule " fii'St
come, first served" must be attended to, not indeed with absolute
Stringency, but in the main. We must also beg our correspondents
to bear with us if we are obliged to abridge some letters. There
shall be no favouritism, either in selection, or in inserting more or
less from letters which reach us ; in every case we shall be guided
by our view as to the wishes and requirements of our readers. Nor
need correspondents be surj^rised, any more than we are, if everj-
letter they may send us, or every part of each letter, should not be
thought precisely what would suit the plan and purpose of Know-
ledge.
Taking first letter 2, p. 13, I note that " Anti-Guebre's " diffi-
culty is one which I have found, during my lecture tours in Great
Britain, America, and Australasia, to be more common than any
other whatsoever. I suppose I must have received more nearly
a thousand than five hundred letters presenting precisely " Anti-
Guebre's" difficulty, so that, I may remai-Ji in passing, Mr. Newton
Crosland must not regard himself as sole inventor and patentee of
the paradox in question. The answer is not so simple as many seem
to suppose. None of our correspondents have, indeed, answered
"Anti-Guebre's" difficulty correctly and fully. K we remember
that the existence of snow in large quantities on mountain tops and
of ice particles in the cirrus clouds, implies the prior existence at
those heights of large quantities of the vapour of water, we shall
see that the asserted dryness of the higher air (and, therefore, the
unimpeded passage of "heat rays through such air) can hardly be
regarded as demonstrated. Again, to say that rarefied air has no
capacity for heat is, in reality, to speak in terms belonging to the
old and erroneous theory of heat as a sort of fluid. Many seem to
imagine that the mere rarefaction of a gas is a cooling process,
overlooking the statement which accompanies all correct accounts of
experiments on the subject, that it is not the rarefaction itself, but
the work done in expansion that causes loss of heat. In like manner,
when pas is compressed, it is not heated because of its greater
density, but because a considerable part of the extraneous work
applied to produce compression is transformed into heat. In one
case we have force obtained at the expense of so much heat, in the
other heat is produced by the expenditure of such and such force.
If the air around lofty mountain tops were simply veiy thin, and
there were never any interchange between the higher and lower air,
not a particle of snow would ever be seen on our mountain tops,
nor should -sve ever see the cirrus or feather)- snow clouds in
the upper aii-. Bat because theie is interchange, because the
air which rises along mountain slopes expands and docs work
in expanding, it is made cooler and cooler, tiU at great heights
it becomes altogether refrigerated, while the air which de-
scends to replace the air which has risen becomes warmer,
because in descending it is compressed by the action of gravity (an
extraneous force) and a portion of the force thus exerted appears in
the form of heat. Again, in the case of the upper feathery snow-
clouds, the refrigeration comes mainly from the ascent of aqueous
vapour. The wool-pack clouds wliich we see on a summer day are
the upper parts of cjlumns of ascending aqueous vapour, where the
vapour has bt en cjudens-nl to i\aer particles or vesicles, and so
appears in the form of visible cloud. At the upper surface of these
clouds a process of evaporation is continually taking place, and
currents of vaporous air are continually ascending. When these
ascend high enough to be sufficiently refrigerated, they form in
turn into water-drops or vesicles, but under different circumstances
from those prevailing where the cumulus or wool-pack clouds are
formed. The refrigeration is more rapid owing to the rarity and
relative dryness of the higher air, and thus the water particles up
there form snow-crystals, and (under the conditions stated) cirrus
clouds are formed. That they are not always formed is due to the
circumstance that these conditions do not always prevail.
As to the waste of solar and stellar energies referred to in the
same letter, it is probably only the limited nature of our knowledge
which causes that to seem like waste which may, for aught we
know, involve the most perfect adaptation possible of the energies
in question. We may say of such inquiries, with the poet : —
" Reason, alas ! it does not know itself ;
Yet man, vain man ! would with this tiny plummet
Measure the deej) profound.
He sees but part of the chain — the nearest links —
His eye not reaching to the equal beam
That poises all, above."
We need not infer that what we see is seen incorrectly because we
see not all.
In letter 5, p. 35, Mr. Crosland uses arguments which only
requii-e to be understood to be refuted. What meaning can be
found in the statement that " light and heat are phenomenal pro-
ducts, caused by magnetic and electric forces, in a state of intense
activity, acting upon atmospheric conditions " ? Why not equally
well say "Magnetism and electricity are phenomenal products,
caused by luminous and calorific forces, acting under aqueous con-
ditions " ? Again : the sun might " possess the power of producing
the phenomena of incandescence, without being itself incandescent."
But, as a matter of fact, he is incandescent, if incandescence means,
as it does, glowing. Electricity produced in another room may
make a wire on the table at which I write white hot ; but when
looking at the wire I see it to be glowing white, and when by actual
tests I find it to be radiating heat, I cannot agree that it is neither
incandescent nor hot, because something which is neither glowing
nor a som-ce of radiant heat may yet produce both light and heat.
Several correspondents think " Tyro's " letter (6, p. 35) should
not have appeared. It is not very pertinent, but it serves to show
one chief way in which paradoxes arise, viz., from want of thought.
" Tyro " must have seen hundreds of cases where a luminous
body causes a distant opaque body to appear bright, without any
flood of effulgence along the space between j yet he expects to see
that on the large scale which ho docs not see on the small scale.
I do not take exception to his remarks as relating really to light,
not to heat, because I assume he considers that where there is
lustre (inlierent) there is also heat. It is not always, though it is
generally the case.
74,
* KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 25, 1881.
" Tyro's" otlicr quorj" (lottor 9, p. 30) is one often made, thougli
rnont text-books siilliciiiitly explniii tlio ilifliciilty. The only kiml
of rovulution which some renUors of astrononiicnl works st'em
capable of iimlerslanding is such as wo boo where a ball at the end
of n riffid timI is swnyed by the rod round a centre. Tho real revo-
lution of the earth more nearly resembles tho motion of a spinning
top when thrown (on a curved path) through (he air, tho axis
moving oil the time parallel to itself, or retaining an unchanged
direction while ehanping constantly in place.
In my remarks on letter 13, p. 37, tho words ten millions, last
lino but two of second parafrraph, should bo ten billions. There
aro in nil more than twenty millions of millions of possible positions
in tho " fifteen puzzle," though some, overlooking the circuuiiitance
that every change in tho position of the blank square changes the
pnzzle, suppose there are only about li millions of millions.
As regards query 3, p. 30, on the flight of birds, it is quite certain,
as others, I sec, have pointed out, that tho air in tho passages of
tho bones cinnot help the bird by adding toils buoyancy. If an
absolute vacuum could bo produced in these passages, which (if the
passages remained unchanged in volume) would give the maximum
degree of buoyancy, the only lifting power which would result would
be simply e(|uivalent to the weight of so much air at tho actual
lenipei-iture of the air in which the bird is flying at tho moment, as
would till the passages in the bones. Air equal in volume to the
bird itself would not h.ivo nioro than a lOOtli jiart of his weight;
how much less, then, would the counterpoising of his weight by a
raising power corresponding to tho weight of the tiny quantity of
air which would till tho passages, be of any appreciable avail iu
helping him to tly ?
I will describe and sketch in an early number a very simple
instrument for telling time from a shadow (as in the case of the
sun-<lial), without any appreciable error arising from the shadow
not being sharp. Kich.\kd A. Peoctoe.
THE MISSIXG LINK.
[33] — I am glad to see a con-espondent ("An Ignoramus") has
asked for an explanation regarding the "Missing Link" of Dar-
winism and Evolution. Briefly stated, here is the problem. If, as
evolution postulates, the various forms of animal life have "sprung
from one, or, at most, a few, primitive forms, then we must con-
ceive of living nature as a tree of which all the parts are connected
together from root to topmost twig. Now, if man exists, as he
unquestionably does, at the top of the highest twig, it is evident he
must bo connected, by some forms more or less like himself, with
lower quadrupeds, and through these latter, with still loner
animals, and so on. Where, then, in tho case of man, are the
animal links that lead from the human to the pre-human, and
from the lu'ohuman to the purely animal ? When evolu-
tion was first promulgated, everybody asked " Where are
tho missing links ? " That common ignorance, which too often
passes for common sense or for science, at once inquired where was
tho link that connected man with the monkey ? This question is
founded on gross ignorance of what evolution requires. Xo evolu-
tionist assumes that man is descended from any existing ape, or
from an'j e^Hiict ape eilhcr. Sir. Darwin, in his "Descent of Man,"
is very careful to point this out. What evolution does say is, that
probably man and apes originated far back in some common root-
stock, whence the human branch proceeded, diverging for ever, from
the ape branch, on its own way of development. If we take the
four highest apes — gorilla, chimpanzee, orang, and gibbon — we find
no one of tho four to approach man as a whole more nearly
than any other of the four. If an approach to the human frame
were t» be made from tho apo-side, wo should require a bit from
each and all of the four to make up such a representation of the
human type. The orang's brain is, for instance, more like man's
than the gorilla's, but tho latter approaches man's more nearly in
some other points. It is the same with the gibbon and the chim-
panzee. The " old ladies of both sexes," who used to assume that
the gorilla as the " missing link " was a failure, did not know that
tho evolutionist thoroughly agreed with them. Where the " links"
that connect man to his lower neighbours are to be found, is a
difficult question to answer. Possibly we must go first to lower
human life, and find an ai)i)roach to animal characters in tho skulls
of savages and primitive men (e.g.. Neanderthal skull) ; but the
geological record is imi>erfoct. There are long gajis in tho series
which can never bo filled. All living foi-ms have not been preserved
in the fossil series. With human remains, the chances of preservation
aro few and far between. Even primitive man buries or burns his
dead; and thus tho record of man's past history may ever remain
obscure. liut all the evidence points indubitably to man's origin
from lower life. His development shows this idea to be true ; tho
presence of rudimentarj' organs (such as ear-muscles, which are of
no uso to him) tells tho same talo ; and anthropology, in its re-
searches into savage life and customs, verifies evolution. I hope
"Ignoramus" will feel satisfied with tho above answer. He
should road Darwin's "Descent of Man" and Mr. Tyler's "An-
thropologj-," and an article on " Missing Links," in a recent
volume of the Ociifd-man'n 3/(i^a:iiie, will also help him in his en-
deavour to understand what evolution demands and implies.
Anubew Wilson.
TUE SUN'S UEAT.
[31] — I mnst confess I was somewhat surprised to read " Anti-
Guobre's " letter in your first issue, considering tho preceding
remarks about " paradoxers ; " but since he asks for information,
I shall be glad to give it him.
In the first jjlace, the air is not capable of being directly warmed
by the rays of tho sun, but it is warmed by contact with the
heated earth ; consequently the air is much warmer in the valleys
than on the tops of the mountains, .\gain, in tho valleys tho air is
not so subject to disturbance by winds, Ac, as it is at a higher
elevation ; so when we ascend a mountain or rise in a balloon, we
recede both from the body of the earth and from tho heat thereof,
for air is a ver)- bad conductor of heat ; but though the air is colder,
the sun's rays aro not. If " Anti-Guebre" had ever ascended a
snow-capped mountain, ho would know that the rays of the sun are
insupportably hot there : for two reasons ; first, the traveller is
nearer tho sun, and unprotected by clouds and aqueous vajwnr ;
secondly, he is exposed to the reflection from the snow. The snow
protects the mountain itself from being much warmed, and is oidy
very slowly melted, as it reflects tho greater part both of the heat
and light. The deposition during the night makes up for the loss
experienced during tho day. Alpine climbers asually complain that
tlioir lower limbs are nearly frozen by the snow, while their heads
and shoulders are almost roasted by the snn.
Aqueous vapour jdays a very important part in the warming of
air, for it is the vapour rather than the air itself that receives tho
heat. Dry air cannot be warmed so easily as damp air. This is the
reason why the air feels warm in drv% ftosty weather, as it cannot
conduct away the heat from the body ; whereas, damp air feels
colli, since tho aqueous vapour does conduct aw.iy the animal
warmth of our bodies. (Of course, I am not considering the subject
of evaporation.) At high elevations the air is colder and dryer
than at the surface of the earth.
With regard to the icy nature of cirrus clouds, there is nothing
absurd iu the supposition.
Anyone who watches the sky in summer will see clouds disappear
and reform, often with great rapidity. Tliis is due to the varying
temperatuie of the air, or rather of the air currents, which either
condense or volatilise the aqueous vapour in the air, according to
their temperature. We know that certain clouds do consist of icy
particles when we see a halo round the moon making a particular
angle with the observer's eye. If "Anti-Guebre" thinks an ice-
cloud ought to be instantaneously melted by the heat of tho sun, he
is in error, as, putting on one side tho diathermancy of ice, and
granting that the action of the sun would bo to melt it, the
evaporation at that altitude would be so rapid as to freeze again
the water formed, consequently, the volatilisation of the cloud
would take some time.
" Anti-Gnebre's " " profit and loss " ideas of the solar system aro
too deep for me. It is true that we only receive
' 2,O70,650,tXK)
of tho sun's light and heat ; but what right has ho to say that tho
rest is wasted ? lie must fii-st find out what becomes of it, and
prove that it does no work. He might, with equal truth, say his
own time is wasted when in bed, because he is not conscious of
what takes place when he is asleep. — 1 am, ic, Sm.
THE SUN'S HEAT (Abstract).
[35]—" Anti-Guebre" says that when he approaches the fire ho
feels warmer, but that, on tho contran,-. an approach to the sun
produces a cooling effect, hence tho sun is cold. In the case of
the fire wo make a very groat difference in thobsolute [it should
bo relative] distance between us and it, by a very small movement
on our part ; whilst in the case of the sun, any difference in tho
absolute [relative] distance between us and that orb which we are
able to make is immeasurably small compared with tho absolute
distance ; and though it may be said there noiild be an augmenta-
tion, though small, there are other causes at work which more than
neutralise this augmentation.
It has, I think, been fully proved that the air itself is transparent
for heat, and that the air is narmcd by contact with the earth ; the
higher, therefore, we rise above the sea-level, the colder does tho
air become, and this effect is ample to overcome any slight increase
in tho heating power, owing to a decrease in tho direct distance of
Nov. 25, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
75
Nov.
ISSl.]
K N GwV 'LKDGE. ♦
77
the sun. It seems to me that the matter is of far greater com-
plexity than your corresponilent imagines. — Yours, &c., Veras.
[36] — Yonr correspondent " Anti-Guebre " (p 15, Xo. 1) takes
up rather a large amount of what I expect in future will be
very valnable space, with his question as to whether the sun is hot,
and in proof that it is not so, he brings forward the apparent fact
that as we ascend high mountains we get cooler. This, however, is
not exactly a fact, and it is very difficult to convince the unscientilio
public that it is not so, as I found to my trouble during a twenty
years' residence as a medical man in India. Now the amount of
heat which we are sensible of on a hot day does not come ta the
body directly or entirely from the sun, but from the earth, which
has been heated by the sun's rays. In the hills (I refer more
especially to tropical countries), the heat received by the soil
during the day is radiated to such an extent during the night, that
the surface becomes thoroughly cooled down. In the plains below,
probably from the greater density of the superjacent air, the i-adia-
tion is very small, and the heat is retained, to be added to by the
succeeding day's sun. The movement of currents of air, also, is
much more constant in the hills, and this acts like a fan in con-
tinually changing the air which has become heated by contact with
the surface of the earth. The heat received directly from the sun
should, of course, increase the higher we ascend, not because we are
a few thousand feet nearer to it, but because so much less of its
power is absorbed by the lower and denser layers of the
atmosphere. And so it does, as is proved by the fact, not
so generally known, that the black bulb thermometer indi-
cates the increased temperature as the elevation increases. The
readings of this at Ootacamund, in South India, average about 11°
above those tak?n simultaneously at the coast towns. I have re-
peatedly noticed that Europeans who come from the low country up
to the hill sanitaria, while enjoying the cool atmosphere, yet had
their faces completely peeled by the increased diiect action of the
sun's rays. I have seen a child's hat blown off, and before it could
be picked up again the child was stricken down by sunstroke, and
this at a time when there had been ice on the plain during the
night, and I have always noticed that while it was possible to walk
short distances in the sun in the low country with an ordinan* green
silk umbrella, yet that at six or seven thousand feet elevation this
became quite insufficient, the heat seeming to strike right through
it, at once rendering the addition of a white calico covering abso-
lutely imperative. B. M., F.R.C.S.
-Vor. 18.
[37] — In letter 2, page 15, your correspondent says that "the
sun is not himself hot'; but, of course, he is the sotirce of heat to the
earth." How does he reconcile the two statements ? He might as
well maintain that his fire, which he nses as a conclusive proof to
himself of the non-incandescence of the sun, is not in itself hot,
though it is a source of heat to things snrounding it. He also uses
that question which has been so often advanced by inquirers, and
as often replied to by scientists, Why is it that the higher you go
from the earth the colder it becomes, if, as people say, the sun be
hot ? He foi-gets the important part the atmosphere plays with
regard to our earth. I maintain that the nearer the earth is to the
sun, not the nearer we get up through our atmosphere to it, so the
heat transmitted becomes greater. When the earth is at its perigee,
the sun transmits more warmth than when it is at its apogee. To
this he may advance the argument that the perigee occurs in
January. .So be it. From this very cause winters are milder and
summers cooler in the northern than in the southern hemisphere.
Then, as he says the sun is not hot, can he erjilain why the earth
should derive more heat from the sun when its rays fall vertically
than when they fall obliquely ? If the source of heat be contained
in the earth itself, then should the poles be warmer than the
equator. We know the opposite to be the case. In Letter 5,
page 35, your correspondent says, " Light and heat are surely phe-
nominal products, caused by magnetic and electrical forces in a
state of intense activity." If so, why is there greater heat when
the sun's rays are vertical, if it has nothing to do with the produc-
tion of heat ? In this letter there is more dealing with probabili-
ties than with facts. Probabilities do not exist in Nature, and I
trust that through your columns we may arrive at a clearer idea of
the truth concerning this question of the sun's heat. I hardly see
that Letter 6 requires an answer, as this is not so much a question
of light as of heat. — Yours, verv faithfully, G. G. D.
Xov 15, 1881.
Posd's Eitbact is a certain
Pond's Extract is a certain ci
Pond's Extract is a certain ci
Pond's Extract wiU heal Bums and Wo
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises,
Sold hy all Chemists. Get the genuine.
re for Bhenma|ri9m and Gout,
for Hemorrhoids (PilesJ.
for Xeuralgic pains.
[Al>VT.
STAR NAMES.— COMETS' TAILS.
[3S] — May I suggest, in regard to your excellent star maps, that
it might be some ini])rovement to them if the names of well-known
stars, such as Capella, Aldebaran, &c., were marked in the map, as
well as the name of the constellation and the o, /?, y, Ac. ; or, at
least, attention might suitably be called to them in a note naming
the brightest star in each particular map.
I have annotated your first map for the benefit of my boys,
writing at the side —
Aldebaran = a Tam-i,
Rigel = ft Ononis, &c., &c.
No explanation I have yet heard as to the material, &c., of
comet's tails appears very satisfactory. Has the idea ever occurred
to you that a comet repels matter from its nucleus in the form of
vapour, or a highly-attenuated condition of solid particles, not in one
direction only, but lateraUij as well ? And that wo might only see
the portion of this matter through which a ray of light was pro-
jected from the sun or from the glowing mass of the comet itself,
at such an angle as to render its path visible to us in the same
manner as we see snn-rays at stmrise and sunset, or when the sun
is emerging from a cloud ?
Would not this account for the apparently incredible rapidity
with which comets' tails swing round the stm at perihelion, and
also for comets, when distant from the sun, not exhibiting any tail
at all ?
There are other points I wished to mention, but have not time
to-night. I heartily wish your excellent paper every success, and
am, yours faithfully, Speculum.
PRACTICAL WORK WITH THE TELESCOPE.— MAP OP
EASTERN SKIES.
[39] — I am verj- much pleased with the first two numbers of
K.NOWLEDGE, and I am doing all I can to make it known amongst
friends. I have had some difficult}' in getting the numbers, but
perhaps this will be all right hereafter.
I have been a " star-gazer" for a few years, and have read a good
many of the treatises on astronomy, but have never been able to
turn my knowledge into any practical shape. If you could throw
out a few hints as a guide for those desiring to start in this study,
I think they would be of great service. What particular branch
would you recommend to start vrith, and how ought the study to
be carried out ? What handbooks and instruments would you
recommend ?
Surely there is some mistake in your map of the eastern sky
issued with No. 1. In yotir map you place Saturn highest above
the horizon, then Jupiter, then the Pleiades ; whereas the reverse is
the order, Orion is placed verj- much on its side, and so on.
Wishing vou every success, I remain, veurs, &c.,
Ediubtirgh, yoc. 16, 1881. " G. M.
[With reference to the last question, has " G. M." understood
that the circtdar outline of the map is the horizon ? Thus it must
be held with the word south-east lowest to show the position of the
objects he names, which all lie, speaking generally, towards the
south-east at the hom- corresponding to the map. Note, however,
that by an unfortunate error, corrected in part of the present issue,
the hours named under the maps in Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are all, without
exception, one hour too late. This should be corrected in each
map, as t'.e maps, apart from the planets shown, will be as correct
for next year, or for twenty years hence, at the same dates, as for
the present year. — Ed.]
CELESTIAL OBJECTS.
[10] — I have obtained the first two Nos. of Knowledge, and am
much pleased with the contents; the star maps especially I was
veiy pleased to see. Would it be in accordance with j'our plans to
publish, from time to time, a few notes descriptive of interesting
and remarkable objects in the constellations? Several of my friends
to whom I have shown Knowledge have promised to become
subscribers ; and to those of us who dabble a little in astronomy,
the name of the Editor is a sufficient guarantee of the information
we shall get on that subject, at any rate. Wishing Knowledge the
success it deserves, — I remain, yours, ic. W. J. C.
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN ? (Ahstract.)
[41] — I perused with some interest in the first issue of your
paper an article on the question whether women are inferior to
men. The study of the human mind and character seems to bo
neglected by most publications, although it is a most interesting
subject. I am sure if you will open your columns for such subjects,
you will not fail to gain appreciative and constant readers. The
78
KNOWLEDGE
[Nov. 25, 1881.
Buljjt'cl ill qiU'Hlion in one of wliicli (liffcreiit views mny bo tiiken,
niitl 1 iicfil tlierifii-c make no npolo«y for writiii(f ii few words on
it. Tlio writer of the article soeins to \iv undei- 1 lie imjireRsion that
he hna only to prove tlio fallacy of SI. l)clauiiny'« arpinients to
show that woman is not inferior to man. 1 have no doulit but what
Ruch a (|iieBtiuu will more frequently |>rc8ent itself to the public
mind as the competition in the labour markets between men and
women becomes keener. The author of tko article throws just
ridicule on the comparisons made by M. Delaunay, yet he himself
does not hint in the least that tho comparisons are altogether im-
proper and most uiijust to tho fair 8C.\, as they really are. Men are
too apt to forget that the first duty of woman is to keep a home
and rear their young ; to unite with, and not struggle against men.
Man and women united form a perfect being ; they are one in every
sense of the word ; apart they are both imiierfcct. Wishing Know-
LKUOE every success, Yours, G. W. D.
[12] — In your review of tho above, in Vol. I., No. 1, p. 8, yon say,
" We come next, in M. Delauniiy'a paper, to the more important
cjue.'^tion of cranial capacity and form ; for, certainly (setting aside,
of course, phrenological absurdities)," Ac. 1. IIow doyou jjroie your
'^ assumptive statement'* as to phrenolo;fy being absurd, ergo, false?
2. Uow do you account for your special knowledge relative to capa-
city and form, apart from plirenologj' ? 3. Does the brain shape or
mould the form of the cranium or skull ? — Yours truly,
Charles Haiiiltox.
SPEED OF AMERICAN ICE-YACHTS.
[43] — I think I can show non-mathematical readers a way in
which they can satisfy themselves that an ice-yacht may sail faster
than the wind.
In a board or card cut a groove, or slit from A to C ; in it iix a
freely moving slider ; lay a ruler along A B, and, keeping it parallel
to itself, slide it down to CD. The slider represents the yacht, the
groove the effect of the yacht's runners, and the ruler the front of
an advancing body of wind. As, then, the slider moves faster than
the niler, describing AC, while the latter describes AB, so the
yacht may move faster than the wisd. Of course, I do not say that
the above arrangement explains all the forces in action ; but I'tliink
it removes the chief difficulty, which seems to bo in failing to see
how the effect (so to speak) can be greater than the cause.
W. J. M.
[The reader will notice that " W. J. M." carefully limits the ap-
plication of this reasoning. It shows only — as he mentions — that
an ice-yacht may move faster than the driving force. Any amount
of energy may be applied to move the ruler until the resistance of
tho slider is overcome. The ruler cannot move as described unless
tho slider gives way in the only way in which it can move ; in the
case of the yacht, the wind may blow over and past the yacht. But
" W. J. M.'s " experiment shows all he claims for it. — Ed.]
ABE MEN'S HEADS SMALLER THAN OF YORE?
[4-1] — In a letter on " Are Men's Heads Smaller than of Yore "
in your Nov. 11 issue, a quotation is given from Professor Flower,
in which several suggestions arc thrown out as to reasons why hats
ehoulil be smaller than they were twenty years ago, without a cor-
responding diniinutiiin in the size of heads. As a seller of hats for
many years, 1 am able to verify several of those reasons to account
for snmllor-sized hats being ri'qnired. No doubt, the hair being cut
closer nmkes at least half a size dilTerence, but the iiresont manner
of wearing hats on the top of tho head, instead of down over tho
b:uk of head and car.s, as formerly, would make the most difference
(at least half aa inch), which any one can prove for themselves by
mcagurcmcnt. Again, youths and young men now wear hats instead
of caps, so that in sorting up sizes for sale, I find it necessary, if it
is a fashionable ehope, and likely to be worn by young men, to
order —
Sizes 20i 20} 2U 21| 22 inches
Relative numbers... 12 3 2 1
while for older styles, just bccansc older men wear their hats
further on the head, and like an cosy fit, and not because their
heads are larger, I have to order —
Sizes 21i 21J ii2 22J 22} 23 J inches
Relative numbers ..1 2 3 3 2 1
Yours, &c. Uatter.
ARE MEN'S HEADS SMALLER THAN OF YORE?— THE
FLAT EARTH THEORY. (See letter 12, p. 3G.)
[45] — Has it ever been noticed that most grooms, and such men,
wear their hats, generally, on the side of the head ? Possibly this
may have something to do with the supposed change.
The following is from an article on Physical Geography, which
appeared in a book published a short time ago -. —
"It is remarkable that persistent efforts are stiU made, and
supported by a gloat display of mathematical technicalities, to
prove that it (the earth) is a ciicular disc ; and within the last few
years elaborately illustrated books have been produced in advocacy
of the supposition."
I should be glad if yon would say who are the publishers and
what is the price of the books. Or if you could teU me on what
facts the ^vriters base their theory. — Beta.
[See reply to John Hampden in Answers to Correspondents. — Ed.]
"KNOWLEDGE," TECHNICAL TERMS, SCIENCE, AND
RELICilON.
[4G] — I have been very much pleased with the first two numbers
of Knowledge. If the forthcoming numbers be as pood as Nos. I.
and II. promise, you will supply a great want, and deserve an
cfiually great popularity. I have done what little I can to adver-
tise it, by placing it in our school reading-room, and by sending it
by post or otherwise to various friends.
I had intended to suggest what "A.T.C." has mentioned, the
advisability of printing the technical terms side by side with the
more popular modes of expression ; by this means a double educa-
tion would be carried on.
I congratulate you upon your article maintaining the harmony,
real if not apparent, of the teachings of science with revelation, and
your remarks on the wickedness of neglecting to use the minds God
has given us in the study of the " outward and visible signs " of His
power. Yom- article must, I feel sure, have given great pleasure
to many whose belief in evolution is no less devout than their belief
in revelation. Would that all our religious instructors could act in
the spirit in which you intend to conduct Knowledge. With every
wish for yom- success, which I shall do all in my power to promote,
1 am, yours, &c.,
J. Johnson Hoyle, B.A.Lond.
[Have omitted remarks relative to some of the questions in
No. I., though fully agreeing with you. — Ed.]
INFLUENCE OF SEX ON MIND: CRANIAL CONTOUR.
[47] — To say woman's sknll is less than man's is ambiguous and
misleading. Of course, it is aisnliitcly less, otherwise woman's head
and body would be disproportionate. I think male and female
skulls relatively equal. Artists divide tho male figure into eight
heads, and tho female into seven and a half. Gi-ant, then, the
female skull relatively somewhat larger than the male. " The brain
diminishes and the nerves increase fi-om man downwards ; in
the foetus and child, the nen-es ai'e proportionately larger than in the
adult." (Lawrence: " Lectures," chapter vi.) Walker states that
the nerves connecting tho brain with external organs of sense are
comparatively larger in woman than in man. The eyes excepted,
external organs of sense are smaller in woman than in man. Does
anatomy support Walker's statement? If so, it helps to explain
observed fundamental difforenc<s in male and female intelligence.
AV'oman is perceptive; man reflective. Woman excels in sensibility
and observation. Man is a being of tho intellect ; woman of
instinct and emotion. Man reasons and reflects ; woman perceives
and feels. Man is active ; woman passive. To man belongs tho
kingdom of the head; to woman tho empire of the heart. Chamfort
epigramniatically says : — " Woman has a cell less in the head, a fibre
more in the heart.'
The sexes cannot exchange sovereignties. Women is less guided
by intellect than by feeling and impnlse. Her movements are more
Kov.
1881.J
KNOWLEDGE
79
easy and prompt, though loss sustaiucJ, favoured by ready obedience
of muscular action and short stature. She is less combative than
man. (This rule has serious exceptions.) She desij-es to please.
Man's mission is to protect and defend. Her disposition to sustain
mental and bodily exertion is much less than man's. She is fonder
of change, and more fluctuating in opinion. Varium et mutahile
semper ftemina. La dunna e inolilc qual piuma al vento. Not
by her understanding or mental force, but by her prompt and
easily-affected sensibility, is woman eminently adapted to sui-mount
maternal suffering ; through affection and pity, to bo interested in
children and household cares. Where her heart is touched, a woman
will make incredible sacrifices for a lover, a husband, a child, a
parent. She is constitutionally fitted to be wife and mother, to
'• guide the house," for minutia; of details. A girl of si.\teen makes
a better housekeeper than a man of Bixty. Woman is more
sedentary than man. Her disposition is milder. She is less
addicted to great crimes.
Woman's face resembles the child's in absence of beard, rounded
form, smooth skiu, and brilliant complexion. The infantile type of
head appears in smalluess of features relative to skull, and jicrpen-
dicular forehead. Welcker says, woman displays ortlionietopy
(perpendicular forehead) and a decided tendency to prognathism.
I have seen both combined in the same skull, though a retreating
forehead and projecting jaws generally go together; and ortho-
metopy generally accompanies orthognathism. Camper's facial
angle is a very uncertain measure of intelligence ; according to it
alone, the child would stand higher than the man. " If skulls are
ranged according to Camper's angle, the infant's skull, contrasted
with any animal's, occupies a higher place than the adult's ; but if
skulls are ranged according to the ijicreasing angle of the sella, the
series stand — man, woman, child, animal." (Welcker.) A front view
of head and face is well defined by the outline of an egg. The big
end represents the skull, the small end the chin. The egg's short
diameter gives the position of the eyes, which bisect the oval. If in
man, the part above be greater than that beneath the eyes, it is
Dot objectionable, because we associate this excess of coronal
elevation with intellectual qualities characteristic of sex. In
woman's head, a similar excess in the superior region is a fault in
beauty, for which the masculine qualities corresponding to this
bead-tyjie do not compensate. Ancient Greek sculptors perfectly
understood this important distinction in the cranial contour of the
sexes. The female head contrasts well with the lofty, massive
square brows of male heads. Of the Venus de Medici, Walker
observes -. — " The size of the head is sufficiently small to leave that
preponderance to the vital organs in the chest, which makes the
nutritive system peculiarly that of woman. This is the first and
most striking proof of the profound knowledge of the artist, the
principles of whose art taught him that the vast head was cha-
racteristic of a very different female personage. Phrenologists
have told us that the head of the Venus is too small. They might
as well have said that the head of Minerva or the Jupiter is too large,
or a hundred other ignorant, inapplicable, or ridiculous pedantries"
("Analysis of Beauty "). The Gradgrind utilitarian school depre-
ciate the fine arts. Independently of intellectual pleasure, what
actual knowledge in these masterpieces ! Ancient sculptors could
learn nothing of beautiful forms from phrenologists. The latter
may learn much from ancient sculptors of the influence of sex on
mind.
Nov. 14. J. McGregor Allan.
SPEED OF ICE-YACHTS.— THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.— CHEAP
TELESCOPE AND MICROSCOPE. — TECHNICAL TERMS
RELATING TO TELESCOPES.
[48] — There are two things in last week's Knowledge that I wish
to mention to you ; — 1. In explaining the ice-yacht, you say the
parallel wind HG (diagram) will increase the yacht's velocity,
which already exceeds that of the u'ind. It seems to me that you do
the very thing which you take exception to " Upsilon," doing, viz.,
take it for granted ; but, perhaps, I may have missed your meaning.
The other thing (2) is the " Fifteen Puzzle." I am sm-e many
of your readers would like, as well as myself, to hear more of this
puzzle; what "the true won position" means; in fact, to explain
what the puzzle means, as I candidly confess I have never heard of
it before.
There is another matter I wish you would help me in. For some
time past I have wished to become the possessor of a telescope and
a microscope, but have not been able to see my way to doing so. I
could afford to give abont £5 each in purchasing them. With
regai-d to the microscope, my ambition is to take, were it years
hence, a degree, both in surgery and medicine. I know that a
monocular is best suited for histological work ; but I should like
the time that I would spend at the microscope to materially
serve me aftenvards. Which should I purchase, a binocular or
monocular ? Could I get one to serve my purpose for £5, or would
I require to pay more ? Then, as for the telescope, I am puzzled
at the various technical terms used in the magazines I come across,
for instance : — (1), Equatorial telescope ; (2), astronomical tele-
scope; (3), terrestrial eyepiece; (4), reflector; (5), refractor;
(6), 11-iuch achromatic; (7), 6J-inch object-glass; (8), 9J-inch
mirror; (0), altazimuth stand; (10), equatorial mountings and
divided circles, &c. I shall feel obliged if you will tell me what to
purchase and whebe. I should like one that would do some good
work for me, and repay me the cost in knowledge obtained. I may
add that I have done my pait by getting you another subscriber,
and I sincerely wish Knowledge success. — Tours, &c., Twenty.
[The explanation at p. 36 shows that there remains a driving wind
whose velocity is represented by HG when the yacht's velocity is
represented by CE, or is greater than that of the actual wind FE.
A fortiori, there is a di'iving wind for all smaller velocities. Starting
from rest under the action of a wind in the quarter represented by
FE, the yacht will travel with constantly-increasing velocity until
the di'iving force is just balanced by frictional resistance, and it is
shown at p. 36 that even when a velocity exceeding that of the wind
has been attained, a di-iving wind remains, wliich may be quite suffi-
cient to do more than merely maintain the speed attained. Suppose,
for instance, that FE in Fig. 2, p. 36, represents a 40-knot breeze,
then HG represents (it will be found, on measurement), a six-knot
breeze. Now, an ice-yacht moves freely from rest under a six-knot
stern wind, so that the velocity of the ice-yacht under the conditions
illustrated in Fig. 2 would still increase, though CE corresponds to
a velocity of more than 50 knots per hour.
I supposed every one knew the Fifteen Puzzle. It consists simply
of a square space, witliin which are placed, first, sixteen square
blocks, numbered in order from 1 to 16.
Block 16 is removed. The rest are
placed in any random position within
the square space ; and the puzzle is, by
sliding the blocks successively into the
vacant square which remains after each
sliding motion, to get them into the
order sho«ni in the adjacent figure. A
prize is said to have been offered in
America to any one wlio should bring
the blocks into this position — called the
won position — starting from a position differing only from the
"won position" in having the three blocks in the fourth line
an'anged 13, 15, II, instead of 13, 14, 15 (a position which has
been called the " lost position "), and thousands wasted hours on
hours of their time in the attempt to do this impossible thing.
Some said they had done it, but were assuredly mistaken. Others
thought they had satisfied the conditions of the problem by getting
some such arrangement as these ; —
12 3 4
5 6 7 8
9
10 11 12
13 14 1 15 1
1 1 2 3
4 1 5 1 6 7
8 1 9 10 11
12 13 1 14 13
4 8 1 12 1
3 7 11 15
2 6 1 10 14
1 5 9 13
But the true won position never can be obtained from the lost
position. The problem, however, like squaring the circle, trisecting
an angle, duplicating the cube, and finding the perpetual motion,
has had a singular charm for many, and especially for those to
whom the word impossible is as a red rag to a turkey.
The question relating to telescopes and microscopes I must leave
others to answer ; I have never possessed a £5 telescope, and have
but little idea what an instrument can be made to do at that price.
The technical terms mentioned by " Twenty " are no more
mysterious than the terms binocular (for two eyes), and monocular
(for one eye), which he uses himself. An astronomical telescope is
one which shows objects inverted (avoiding the loss of light which
results from use of lenses for making the object appear upright) ; a
terrestrial eye-piece is the tube (next the eye) containing such
lenses ; it is sometimes called an erecting eye-piece ; an equatorial
is one which, instead of turning round on an upright axis, and
moving upwards and downwards round a horizontal axis, like
ordinary teiTcstrial telescopes, is carried round an axis directed to
the pole of the heavens, moving also on another axis, so as to be
inclinable at any angle to the polar axis; and so forth. But any
guide to the use of the telescope explains these points. We may
presently publish in these pages some simple papers on such
matters. — Ed.]
80
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Nov. 25, 1881.
©ufric£(.
[10]— CoMP.VK.VTIVE .V.NATOMV OK BiKDS .VXD AXIM,\LS.— Can J'OU
kindly tell me ihriiiiKli your paper the eorrcaponiling bones in man
imd other mnmmnU to the furcula of birds ? I have consulted all the
hooka to my linnd, and cannot find out. Wishing all success to
your interesting paper.— Ciiables Siiebdobx.
[20] — OiMiEBY. — Can you or any of your readers kindly inform
mo where an Orrery can bo seen ? — Vi'Uax.
[21] — Dkbp-Ska SorxniNos. — Could you tell me where I can find
an Bcconnt of " Deep-Sea Soundings " taken off tho coast of New
CJuinca?— .Stanhoi-e T. Speer.
[22] — FuMAi.HAfT.— Is this visible in England at about 9 p.m. ?
My little daughter having deciilcd, by a study of your star maps,
in the aflinnativo. — Sta.siiopk T. Speeb.
[Yes, it is the star n, in constellation Piscis Australis, showu near
the south-west horizon in map illustration No. 2. — Ed.]
[23] — Facbe's AccuMfL.\TOB. — Would tho editor oblige a reader
of Knowledge by stating how De Faure's battery for the storage or
accumulation of electricity is constructed, or in what publication
such an account is to be found ? — Nameless.
[21] — Dreams. — \Vhat position does science take on the subject
of dreams ? Docs it deny positively that dreams ever have been
sent as warnings, or that the warnings which dreams have appa-
rently conveyed have ever been fulfilled except by accident ? I have
seen it stated that faith in dream warnings is as much out of date
now as faith in astrology. Yet many accounts which have been
given of dreams which have been ap|)arently fulfilled, seem scarcely
to bo explained away so lightly. — A Dreamer.
[25] — Forms of Food. — Would not a short article, explaining the
meaning of some of the terms used in Dr. Carpenter's interesting
article on the " Relation of Food to Muscular Work," be of great
use to many whoso studies have not yet shown them the real
moaning of such words as hydrocarbons, non-nitrogenous, and so
forth f — Desdichado.
[2G] — Training. — It seems to me that it would follow from Dr.
Carpenter's theory of tho " Relation of Food to Muscular Work,"
that the system of training followed by our athletes is unsound.
Ought wenot to return to the system of the ancients, who trained
their athletes on barley cakes and oil ? — Oaesman.
[27] — Effects of Marriage on the Death-r.\.te. — I should be
glad if the editor of Knowledge, or any reader who can give the
desired information, could tell me how far it has been made out, or
whether it has been made out, that marriage acts as a preservative.
Is the death-rate of the married lower than that of the un-
married ? — Benedict.
[28] — Stone ox Rolling Wheels. — A long stone is rolled for-
ward on wheels 2ft. in diameter, or say 75in. in circumference.
There is no sliding, llow far does the stone advance for each revo-
lution of the wheels on tho top of which it rests? A mathematical
friend says the stone advances 150in. ; but I cannot see how it can
advance more than 75in. — Queensland.
A New Comparison of Poisons. — Comparative experiments with
different poisons have often been made bv injecting a given quantity
of each into the veins of animals, and noting the effects. M.Richet
Ijas recently tried another method (which offers some advantages)—
viz., poisoning the medium in which the animal breathes. If a fish
bo put in a poisonous solution, it dies sooner or later, according to
the concentration of the poison. M. Richet adopts as the " limit
of toxicity," the maximum quantity of poison (referred to one litre
of water) allowing a fish to live more than -48 hours. This limit he
has determined for various metals, always using the same acid
radical — viz., chlorides. The limit of toxicity was calculated, not
per weight of chloride, but per weight of combined metal. The
figures show that there is no precise relation between the atomic
weight of a substance and its poisonous power. Copper is t>00 times
n^s poisonous as strontium, though its atomic weight is less. Lithium,
with an atomic weight only the twentieth of that of barium, is
three times as poisonous, Ac. Even with metals of the same family,
no relation between tho two things was discoverable. Cadmium
(112) is only about half as poisonous ns zinc (tio) ; lithium (17) is
70 times as ])oisonous as sodium (23), Ac. Nor could any relation
l>o maile out between the chemical function of a body and its toxical
power. Thus, potassium and sodium, the chemical properties of
which are so similar, have very unequal toxicity ; one gramme of
potassium is nearly 250 times as poisonous as one gramme of
sodium. M. liichet means to prosecute tho subject further. — The
Timvf.
l\rpUfS to (Dun if g.
[1] — CiTiMA Thile. — In answer to Query No. 1 in Kxowlelge,
Nov. 11, "Alpha Sigma" will find " Ultima Thulc " mentioned in
Virgil's " Georgics," Bk. 1, lino 30, in the sense of some remote
country. — G. E. F.
[This qucrj' is answered in a similar way by many corre-
spondents.]
[1] — Ultima Thlle. — The following account is given by Lem-
priore in his " Classical Dictionary": — " Thule, an island 'in the
most northern i)arts of tho German Ocean, to which, on account
of its great distance from the continent, tho ancients gave the
epithet of Ullima. Its situation was never accurately ascertained,
hence its present name is unknown by modern historians. Some
suppose that it is the island now called Iceland, or ))art of Green-
land, whilst others imagine it to be the Shetland Isles. Stat. 3.
Syh: 5, v. 20.— 6'*ra6. l.—ilela, 3, c. 6.— Tacit. Auric. 10.— Plin. 2,
c. 75, 1, 4, c. 16.— rirj. G. 1, v. 30.— Jur. 15, v. iVi.—iioUn. 20.—
Servius ad Virj. loco. cit. — W. E. M.
[2]— A Fifteen Pczzle. — It is easier to solve tho Fifteen
Puzzle than to give tho demonstration for which " Rusticns "
seeks. The solution is as follows (or at least this is one solution) :
Let the fifteen girls be called A, B, C, lic, down to 0, then the
seven arrangements are these —
ABC I ADE AFG AHI | AJK ALM ANO
DIJ BFU BIK BJL ! BMO BND BGE
EFL CKM CLN COE CDF CGI CHJ
GKO GJN DHO DGM | EIN EHK DKL
HMN ILO EJM FKN I GHL FJO FIM
It is very easy for nine girls to
arrangement runs thus—
out on four days. The
ABC
ADE
AFG
AHI
DGH
BFH
BDI
BEG
EFI
CGI
CEH
CDF
MATHEMAHCrS.
[1] — The Earth's Inclin.ition. — Were the Earth to rotate on an
upright axis, the greatest amount of heat would alw.iys exist at the
equator, while the least would be at the poles. At all points of
longitude between, the heat would be in proportion to the distance
from the equator. I would express it so : perpetual summer would
reign at the equator, as tho sun would be always vertical to some
point there, and perpetual winter at the poles, as the sun would
always be on the horizon. — L. T. F.
[5]— Hot Winds, Cai'se of. — There is usually an inrush towards
hot areas, but at times the action is reversed. There is no reason
why at times a sandy region, like the Desert of Sahara, should not
become a region of high pressure (especially when we remember the
rapid radiation of heat at night), and in that case the tlow of air
would be from that region to surrounding regions, the air carrying
before it the heated air. Again, the heated air which has flowed up-
wards may descend not far from the region of greatest heat, and
travel as a hot wind from the hot, sandy region. — Meteobological.
Nature's Respir-vtob. — The season of cold, raw, damp, and foggy
weather is upon us, and many will be its victims. Among other
causes, the inhalation of cold, and especially of dirty, air must take
a high place. Man is, however, provided with a safeguard against
this danger. The double passage to the lungs through the nose and
through the mouth suggests some difference in use, and this become
certain when we find such a diffei-ence in the two routes as actually
exists. The air passing into the lungs through the nose in quiet
respiration is wanned as it passes over the lower turbinated bone,
with its very vascular mucous membrane, while, as the cavity
is so narrow, it is also to a great extent filtered, and in this way
deprived of its two dangerous characters even before it reaches
the larj-nx. Those, therefore, who in the cold and in the fogs wish
to avoid catarrhs should bo careful to inspire only through the nose.
With most this will recpiire some practice, but it will bo well repaid.
Some, too, will find the impure air of a London fog very irritating
to the nasal mucous membrane, and thus a demonstration of the
irritant jiroperties of the suspended matter which in breathing
through the mouth gets free access to tho lungs may be obtained.
Those who arc specially anxious to preserve their voice — as
preachers, singers, and judges — stand in special need of this )>re-
caution, which is as effective as it is simple, and has many and groat
advantages over all the artificial respirators yet invented. — Lancet.
Nov. 25, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
81
AXXIVERSARY MEETING OF THE BIRMING-
HAM AND MIDL.\.ND INSTITUTE UNION OF
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.
By W. M.vttiec Willums.
IN the first namber of Knowi,edge I communicated a skct''"
of the history of the Scientific Department of the Midland
Institute, so far as the classes are concerned. But there is another
tienient, viz., the Students' own Associations for Mutual Improvo-
ineut, which is well worthy of notice and imitation.
One of these, the Institute Scientific Society, has been remarkably
successful. It possesses a scientific library of no mean character,
:ind its members read admirable papers and carry on discussions of
considerable interest. Some of these papers or lectures on the
Birmingham trades, written by practical workers who, at the classes,
have attained sufficient scientific knowledge to discuss the philo-
fophy of their daily avocations, supply a kind of information not
t'asily attainable from books or the lectures of ordinary professors.
The Union of Teachers and Students, another and larger society,
I'.eld its anniversary gathering on Tuesday evening, Nov. 22. The
programme included a tea-party, the whole arrangements of which
were conducted by the female students, without external aid of
contractor or pnrveyor. This was followed by a meeting in the
new theatre, under the presidency of the Mayor, where an address
was read by the retiring President of the Union, Mr. C. J. Wood-
ivard. The subject was the history of the institute. I must not be
temjitcd to quote any more than the following — viz., that when Mr.
liickard commenced the Penny Arithmetic Classes, he had six pupils
to tlie first lessons. This session the attendance to the first lesson
was two hundred, and there are now held every week no less than
sixty-five " Penny " classes on different subjects in the central
institute and its branches, besides all the other classes.
Then followed a general coni'ersazione, distributed through the
various class-rooms and lecture-theatres, including an exhibition of
m'croscopes contributed by the members of the Institute Scientific
Society, scientific experiments by students of the Chemistry and
Physic Classes, vocal music by members of the Singing Classes,
German recitations, a French play — '' Un Quartier Tranquillo " —
by members of the Institute French Dramatic Club, with the usual
social and loyal conclusion of " Auld Lang Syne " and " God Save
the Queen " by everj-body.
Criticism would be out of place here, and description of details
possibly tedious. I need only add that the whole programme was
successfully carried out.
The attendance, which commenced with 450 at the tea-party,
grew to above a thoasand later in the evening, i.e., after working
liours.
The feature to which I wish to direct particular attention is the
sjiontaneous, self-originating, and self-supporting character of these
proceedings, and of all the other doings of these student associa-
tions. They constitute what appears to me to be a most important
adjunct to the classes and public lecttires of the Midland Institute,
and one which may be very advantageously introduced in other
kindred institutions, especially those of London. One of the most
shallow and mischievous of popular delusions on the subject of
education is the supposing that ivhen we have completed a certain
jirescribed course of study, and passed our examinations on any
subject, we have completed that part of our education — the fact
being that all class teaching and all book reading is but the first
stage of true, comprehensive education ; self -teaching, original
thought, the digesting and co-ordination cf such school knowletlge,
must follow, to render it truly fruitful, and social cooperation in
such supplementary work is most desirable. The meeting of old
students with their younger successors, the revisiting of the old
teachers, and sustaining of the old friendships between them and
their former pupils, gives vitality and moral warmth to the whole
institution, prevents the possibilitj- of that decay which too often
falls upon such institutions, when their existence is allowed to de-
pend upon the efforts of outside patrons and the beneficence of mere
endowments. Besides all this, the governing body is kept justly
informed of the real requirements of the students— those who have
good reason to be grateful to it, and know its workings by their own
experience as former pupils, remain attached to it, join in its
management, and otherwise substantially express their gratitude.
The genuine enthusiasm and hard-working efforts in carrj-ing out
the evening's programme, the genial friendship and high moral tone
which I witnessed as pervading all the proceedings of Tuesday's
meeting, convinces me that if such unions and friendly gatherings
of teachers and students, old and young, male and female, should
become one of the essential elements of all our literary and scientific
institutions, their general prosperity and practical effectiveness
would be greatly promoted.
(Bw iHatbrmatiral Column.
PRACTICAL USE OF LOGARITUMIC TABLES.
LET us now take a few examples of the practical use of a table
of logarithms, noting that the former paper was intended to
explain all that is necessary to be known respecting the theory of
logarithms. I did not then think it necessary to draw any distinc-
tion between the logarithms of our tables and logarithms to any
other base than 10; for the computers who mostly employ
logarithms, tise the decimal notation.
Let us first take the example afforded by Mr. Harding's calcula-
tion at p. 55, noting that the result, corrected for a " printer's
error," is
.21.0012. Ii552i
loSOW
We have to take out the logarithms of these three numbers.
Take first 21'9912. We turn to the number 2199 in the table and
ran our eye to the second column above which is the next digit, 1,
getting the logarithm 3-122150. (The first three digits of this are
shown in the first column, the other columns only giving the next
four for each number). But we still hare to provide for the last
digit, 2. Xow we might do this from the part of the tables already
used. Thus they show : —
logarithm of 21991 is 3422450,
and logarithm of 21992 is 3422647, or 197 more.
Xow, we see that 219912 is only two-tenths of the way from
21991 to 21992, so that we should add only two-tenths of 197 to
the logarithm of 21991 to get the logarithm of 219912, assuming
that the logarithm increases, for such small differences, propor-
tionately with the number of which it is the logarithm — which is
shown to be true by tlie circumstance that we have the difference
197 or 19S (oftener the latter) for several logarithms on either side
of the one we are using. Manifestly if in passing from 219E0 to
to 21991 and thence to 21992, 21993, and so forth, we have the
same difference*, the logarithm is hero growing in the same pro-
portion as the anti-logarithm (that is, as the number of which it is
the logarithm). Hence, we take two-tenths of 198 (note italicised
words above), or 396 (the nearest whole number to which is 40),
and add this to 3422450, the logarithm of 21991, to get the
logarithm of 2-19912. Thus
log. 219912 = 1-3422490.
But we are saved even this slight labour by good tables. All tables
give the difference as 198 in our example ; but in good tables there
is sho^vn on the right the table of proportional parts, giving the
amount to be added for digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c., respectively, and
opposite 2 is set 40, the amount to be added.
Let us proceed in the same way with 143303 and 153664. Wc
find in the tables, logarithm 1-4330 is 1562462, the '-difference"
is 303, and 3-lOths of tins are 91, which added to 1562402 gives us
log. 143303=5-1502552.
Again, we find in the tables, logarithm of 1-5366 is 1865608, " dif-
ference " is 283, and 4-lOths of this are 113, which added to 186560,S
gives
log. 153664=5-1865721
Thus, according to the principles on which logarithms are used, our
" sum " is worked thus -. —
log. 21-9912 = 1-3422490
log. 143303 = 5-1502552
Sum = 6-4985042
log. 153064 = 5-1805721
Difference = 1-3119321 [ = Iog. 20508].
We now turn to the tables, and looking first along the left hand
column of logarithms (next to the column of numbers) for the pai-t
311 of the logarithm we have found. This comes next the number
2047, but running along this part of the tables for the remaining
part, 9321, or what comes nearest to it, we find it opposite 2050
under the ninth column, corresponding to digit 8 (shown at the top
of this column). The logarithm given here is 3119233 while that
next larger is 3119445 ; the former is nearest to the logarithm
above obtained. 3119321. Thus, if we are content with this degree
of approximation to the result we want we write down 20508 as the
digits representing that result, but as in the bracketed part of above
computation we set the decimal point after the second digit, because
our logarithm has 1 on the left of the decimal point. As a matter
of fact, it would be absurd not to be content with this degree of
approximation, simply because we cannot get more out of the
• The same difference, for though the actual difference alternate? hereabouts
between 197 and 198, this is only due to the circumstance that the last digit has to
be the nearett to the true value, and cannot represent the exact vahie.
82
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Nov.
1881.
nombprn wc nro iisiiiK- navinR 210912 correct only to the ln«t
['lacc but one (the rcnl number runs aiiCJUSS, Ac.) our roMult
cannot bo correct to n (rrcntcr doRroo of npproximntion. Therefore,
wo not down only the third decimnl figure.
If, liowevcr, our dila would nllow us to tnko more out of our
logarithmic roRiilt than what was ]>u' in would permit, wc could
OBHily do it. ThuH :
log. of result = 1-3110321
log. of 20-508 = 1-3110233
Difference — 88
But wo SCO from the tables that difference between the logai-ithms
to 20500 and 20508 is 212, so that wc must add to 20-5802Y2-"'S of
-0001, or -00088 divided by 212, or 00012, making our answer
20-5081:J.
Hut it may be said all this is very long and complicated ; might
one not as w'ell multiply 21-9012 by 1 13303 and divide the product
by 15366I-. It will bo found, however, that with a little practice it
takes but a few moments to take out a logaritlim, or to find the
number corres])oiKling to one. A few points have to be carefully
attended to, which we shall discuss with further illustrations of more
difficult examples in onr next.
(!^ur €I)f«f£» Column.
LEA\^KG to nest week the further analysis of the "Two
Kniglit.s' Defence," we give this week an illustrative game in
that oiiening, and a singularly pretty end-game which occurred in
actual play with " Mcphisto."
GAME No. 2.
Played liy " Mephisto " and Mr. Marriott, of Nottingham.
Two Knights' Defknce.
White.
Mk. M.
1. P. to K.4.
2. Kt. to K.B.3.
3. B. to Q.B.4.
4. P. to Q.4. (•).
5. Castles C").
6. R. to K.sq.
7. B. takes P.
8. Kt. to Q.B.3.
9. Kt. takes Kt.
10. Kt. to K.Kt.3. (').
11. B. to K.B.I.
12. R. toQ.B.sq.
13. Kt. to K.4.
11-. P. to K.R.3.
15. P. to Q.B. t.
16. Kt. to K.Kt.3.
17. Kt. takes B.
18. Kt. to K.Kt.3.
19. Q. to Q.U.i.
20. Kt. to K.'l.
31. Kt. to K.B.6.
22. R. to K.6. (').
23. P. to Q.B. 5.
2-1. Q.R. to K.sq.
25. Q.R. takes B. C").
2G. Q. takes R.P.
27. Q. to R.sq.(ch.)
28. Q. to R.'l.(ch.)
20. R. takes Kt.
30. R. to K.2.
31. R.toQ.2.
32. P. to Q.Kt.4.
33. Q. to Kt.G.
34. P. to Q.R.4.
35. Q. takes Q.
.36. K. to B.sq.
37. R. ti. Q.Kt.2.
38. P. to K.Kt.4. (").
30. Kt. to Q.2.
40. Kt. to B.4.
41. R. to Q.Kt.sq.
42. Kt. toQ.C.
43. P. to Q.Kt.5.
4t. P. takes R.P.(ch.)
Wliite resigns.
1. P. to K.4.
2. Kt. to Q.B.3.
3. Kt. to K.B.3.
4. P. takes P.
5. Kt. takes P. (•=).
6. P. to Q.4.
7. Q. takes B.
8. Q. to K.R.4.
0. B. to K.3. C).
10. Q. to Q.4.
11. Castles.
12. B. to K.Kt.5.
13. P. to K.R.3.
14. B. to R.4.
15. Q. toK.B.4. {<).
16. Q. takes B.
17. Q. to K.B.4.
18. Q. to Q.2.
19. P. to K.Kt.3.
20. P. to K.B.4. (s).
21. Q. to K.Kt.2. {•').
22. B. toQ.3. {').
23. Q. to K.B.2.
24. B. to K.4.
25. Kt. takes R.
26. P. to B.3. (I).
27. K. to B.2.
28. K. to Kt.sq.
29. Q. takes Kt.
30. P. to Q.6.
31. K.R. to K.sq.
32. Q. to B.6.
33. Q. to B.5. ("').
34. Q. to Q.R.3.
35. P. takes Q.
36. R. to K.5.
.37. P. to K.Kt.4.
38. P. to K.B.5.
30. R. to K.7.
40. P. to Q.7. (").
41. P. to K.B.6.
42. R. to Q.2.
43. Q.R. to K.2.
44. K. to R.sq.
NOTES BY "MEPHISTO."
(*) Although, ktrictly considered, Kt. to K.Kt.5 is the stronger
move, P. to Q.4 nevcrthelosH gives the first player a goo<i attacking
game ; it mostly leads to interesting variations of the (jiaoco jiiano
kind.
C") If, instead of 5. Castlos, White plays 5.P. to K.5, the game ia
transformed into a (iiuoco piano. Black replies with 5.P. to Q.t,
and by proper play ho will withstand the subsequent attack of
White, and retain the Pawn.
(') If, instead of 5. h.t.take8P., Black plays 5. u. to Q.B.4,thpn we
have the Giuoco piano variation known as Max Lange's attack, fr»m
the name of its author, in which White again proceeds with
P. to K.5, as before.
('') 0. B. to K.2 is given as best for Black, but we prefer the move
in the text.
(') Here 10. B. to K.Kt.5 is given by the books, with the object
of preventing Black from Castling, if then P. to K.B.3, B. takes P.
The move in the text, however, shows a steady determmation to
attack the Queen's side, as shown in his 11th and 12th move.
(') 15. P. takes P. en pass, would have been correct ; Black had
nothing to fear from \\1iite's attack j e <j., if, instead of Q. to K.B.4,
IK i.^T 5- ,„Q.takesQ. ,„ Kt. takes P. _
15. P.takes P. en pass. 16 nT^bes Q. ^^- B. takes Kt. ^8- ^ ^^<^'> ^-
(if Kt. takes R. then B. takes Kt. with a far better game).
,Q R. to K.8(ch.) „., R. to K.4. ... ,
IS B in w R I 19. ^ ' 20. — With a good
18. K. to K.B.4 J, j^ y2 P. to K.Kt.4.
(») This is weak. Black, by P. to K.kt.3, tried to prevent the
entry of the Knights into his game. The move in the text allows
the Knight to play to K.B.6, and, if so inclined, afterwards to
the commanding position on Q.5. Black ought to have played
20. B. to K.2, in order to prevent this, followed, perhaps, by
P. to K.B.4^
C") 21. Q. to K.B.2 was the correct move. White would then have
obtained a very fine game by playing his Kt. to Q.5, followed by
the advance of the Queen's Pawns.
(') This is a very fine move, and initiates a combination belonging
to the highest order of Chess play. We give a diagram of the
position.
Position after Wliite's 22nd move.
Blace.
1..
•^
^ E.^
1 i
t
w
- y t
iHi
mj
(>) The position is one ol great .liHiculiv for Black. If Black
R\ takes^t^ ' ^ Q. to R.6. (ch.)
l''''y^ "■ Q. to K.B.2
25. Kt. to K.5 winning
K. to Kt.sq.
C") In reply to 25. R. takes Kt. instead of Q.R. takes B. Black
would play 25. B. takes'^!.
(') The only move to save the game. If, instead, Kt. takes Kt.
(ch.), with the idea of winning another piece, then Black loses his
^ P. takes Kt.
Queen, c.j., 26. -rrrTTirr. ^ET /„i. \ 2/.
28.
R. takes P. (ch.)
P. takes R.
Kt. takes Kt. (ch.)
29.
Q. takes Q.
P. to B.3
whilst the move in the text
("■) White still tries for a favourable chance by pushing his
Queen's Pn\vns on to the Black King, which plan Black, however,
frustrates by forcing the exchange of Queens.
(") Played to stop the advance of the Knight's Pawn ; the
Pawn cannot be captui-ed, as, after P. tf.kes P., and B. takes P.,
White plays Kt. to K.5.
(•) Threatening to Queen or win a piece if Kt. takes P.
Nov.
1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
83
Ending which occurred in an nctnal game played by '' Mophisto '
II Nor. 15, 1881, at 48a, Ucgent-streot.
AUATKrB.
■ -©I
f 1 1^
<2
t
#• g
1-
j^V
■m-
1
^r~^^
m
[m^
5 ■;-:
■White.
Mephisto.
Black to move.
White. Bl«ck.
Mkphisto, Amatkitb.
.... 1. Q. takes Q.
2. P. takes B.
This fin5 move, as will be seen, wins the game. If White had
played, B. takes Q. instead, then B. takes P., would give Black the
better game.
2. Q takes B.
Best ! for if the Qneen should
retire on B.i. or R.4., then White would play B. takes R., and his
Pawn on Kt.7. could not be prevented from Queening, which would
leave White with a Rook ahead and a winning position.
3. B. tabes B.
This again is right, as will be seen
3. Q. to R.2.
1. B. to K.8. (throatcning
mate). 4. Kt. to B.3.
If Black plays 4. P. to Kt.3.
then White Queen's.
ItJWhitc would play 5. B. to Kt.5, discovering check, and on the
Black King moWng to 5. Kt.2. G. B. takes R. 6. Kt. to B.3.
(beet.) 7. R. to R.sq. 7. Q. to B.4. 8. Kt. to K.4. 8. Q. takes
Kt. 9. B. to Kt.5. 9. Kt. to Kt.sq. (best.) Q. to R. ; and White
weuld have a very unsatisfactorv game.
5. B. take-s Kt. eh. " 5. K. to Q.2.
6. Q.R. to Q.sq. (ch.) 6. K. to B.3. (If K. takes
R. 7. R. to Q.8.
mate.)
7. R. to K.R. 8. 7. Q. to Kt.3.
8. R. takes R. 8. Q. takes R.
P. Queen's Q. takes B.
And White mated in two moves.
Chzss Queries.— [2] — A few errors occur on page 20 of Know-
I.8D6K which may confuse young chess-players, viz. : — Oame No. 1 :
White's 17th move should be Kt. to Q.2; Black's 34th move should
be K. to Q.R. 5. Jii Notes to Game No. 1: C") White's 18th move
Bhonld be P. to Q.6 ; variation A, Black's 19th move should be
B. toR.2; (') White should be if K. to Kt.3; (°) This note I do
not understand ; In A'ofe.5 on " Ches^iin " : Black's 7th move
ghonid be Q. t.ikes R.P.(ch.) ; Black's 8th move should be K.Kt.
takes P.— WniTE Pawn.
[3] — I beg to call your attention to what I think is an error in
Mephisto's note (*), Knowledge, No. 1, page 20. Having
16. B. takes P. .j. ^ ^ white takes B. Black would win his
B. takes K.B.P.,
Qaeen by P. takes P. should this not be R. takes Q. ? — Tours,
G. N. Sherbohn. — [Mr. Shcrborn misunderstands Mephisto's note.
It is at move 15 that White cannot take B. Of course, if White
played 16. B. takes B., Rook would take Q. — Chess Editor.]
Black Pawn. — Tour game is very interesting, and shall appear,
with some additional notes.
iLL-HUMOtTR. — A great deal of what we commonly call ill-humour
springs from the ill-conditioned state of the body. We familiarly
talk about people " rising from bed on the wrong side," and there
is a very suggestive meaning in the plirase. They may have been
sleeping all night in a very badly-ventilatefl room, or have gone to
bed after taking a heavy and indigestible supper. The consequence
is, that in the moraing, from want of pure oikygen, or from over-
loading the stomach, the whole organism is out of order, the nerves
are on edge, and they rise fretful and impatient, and continue so
throuffhont thp dnv — PatorcATi'o " TTonlfl, .SJtnHJoo "
&m miin^t Column.
By " Five of Clubs."
So soon as wc have accepted the general principle that in whist
each player is to consider his partner's hand as well as his
own, and that for this purpose each must inform his partner by
every legitimate means of the nature of his own hand, we are at
once able to decide on the proper way of conducting whist strategy.
Were it otherwise, the first consideration of each player would
naturally be the nature of his o^vn hand. He would play so as
either to make all his strong cards at once, or to adopt the course
which seemed to him best for making them in the long run. If
he had a short suit, he would try to get rid early of the cards of
that suit, in order presently to trump the remaining good cards of
the suit. And he would play his trumps solely with the object of
making as many of them as he could. If every jjlayer followed
such a course as this, the fortunes of the different hands would run
^•ery much as they do with good I'lay, but the game would not be
whist. It would be simply a chance game, each player's success
depending on the number of good cards which happened to fall to
his share, or on the fortuitous occurrence of short suits with oppor-
tunities for trumping them. The advantage of the scientific game
is that it requires skilful strategy, and calls into action many useful
faculties.
To tell my partner anything about the constitution of my hand,
I must in the first place follow a systematic and generally under-
stood method of selecting a suit to lead from, and, in the second
place, I must open a suit so selected in the correct way.
Now, considering first the selection of a suit, we note that there
is only one quality which, being common to all hands, can be
adopted for systematic guidance. A player tells his partner nothing
useful by playing out his good cards, even if he made the best use
he could of them for himself by showing them at once. Leading
from a short snit again is not only bad in itself — especially the
atrocious lead from a single card which young players affect, — but
it is not a method of leading systematically available, for not every
hand possesses a suit of fewer than three cards. But every hand
must possess a suit of four cards, at least — that is, a long suit. If,
then, for no other reason, still for this, that, by so opening the hand,
partner learns that one holds four, at least, of that suit (save in a
few exceptional cases), the long suit would be a good one to lead,
if that were always understood to be the meaning of the lead. But,
apart from this, there is a manifest advantage — other things being
equal — in leading from the long suit. This suit always has an
element of strength, even though every card be small. Suppose,
for instance, I have 2, 3, 4, 5 of a suit, an opponent have Ace, King,
Queen, and the remaining six cards equally divided between the
other players. Then, though we by no means advise a lead frcm
2, 3, 4, 5, if the holder of Ace, King, Queen drew tliree rounds, I
shonld remain with 5 ; and, when trumps are drawn, that small
card, if I get a lead, is as good as a trump ; or, it I obtain a lead
before all the trumps are drawn, that small card would either make
a trick or draw a trump from the enemy as well as an Ace or a
King. By leading from a long suit, and getting that suit so far
exhausted that I have commanding strength in it, I secure an element
of strength for my hand which comes next in efficiency to strength
in trumps.
For the double reason, then, first and chiefly that in that way I
can tell my partner the chief constituent of my hand ; secondly,
that by so playing I am likely to strengthen my hand, my first lead
should be from my longest suit.
Of course, this rule, like all rules relating to a game so varied
and complex as Whist, is not without exceptions.
I showed just now that a hand of four veiy small cards has a
certain element of strength, which is wanting in a suit of the three
highest cards ; yet the latter has, of course, the greater strength. If
you have two suits thus constituted, one long, but very weak, the
other a three-card suit of great strength so far as the indiviilnal
cards are concerned, you would be showing your partner best the
chief constituent of your hand by leading from the shorter very
strong suit, than by leading from the other. But a tliree-card suit
must be very strong, or a four-card suit very weak, for the former
to be preferred in this way. There are several reasons for
this, besides the general reason that long-suit leads, followed syste-
matically, instruct the partner best. A suit which is short with you
is likely to be long with one or other of your opponents ; and, if so,
yon are playing their game by leading it. Again, commanding cards
of a short suit are more useful as cards of re-enrry, that is to give
you a lead later in the game, than tliey can possibly be if used early
in the play of the hand. If your long suit is vei-y weak, your
partner will very soon find that to be the case, and by showing you
where his strength lies, can serve your game, as a rule, better than
you can serve his by opening a three-card suit, unless it be of
ol^onliifol,. ,-r>Tr.tr>!ir.<i;n<r Qtrnncrfli
84
KNOWLEDGE •
[Nov.
1881.
[1] — Whist Qocnv. — 1 have read your introUnctory artii-le «n
WliLit ill tills Kci'k'fi KNuaLEnuE, ami was much intcTo«ti'<l \i\- its
Uoud fOiiHc, l)iit allow nic to ])oint out to you what Rcpm to lie two
orrora in tlio only illustnition you give. You say, " I lead Act', niid
follow with tjueon of my host suit. My partner knows that I have
the Knavo and a small card left." This is by no means a nccssary
inference. It i< a neressarj" inference, according to the best Jilay,
that the leader has not Ace, Queen, Knave, to five; and the play
would b-- I ro.ier if he had Ac, Queen, Knave, to four; but he may
oquiilly have Aee, Queen, Knave alone, in which event he would also
iday Ace, followed by Queen.
Yon say also (and for this purpose I must assume the leader to
have Ace, Queen, Knave, and a small one, and the partner to have
King and two small once, as in your illustration), " PU]ipofe that
instead of following the recosniised line of play for such cards, I
lead the second round with my small card. Jly partner jilnys his
Kinfr. and, let us suppose, wins tlio trick. So far as he can under-
stand mo at all he thinks I have three small cards of the suit left,
and that the Queen lies with one of the adversaries." It is true that
the lead would have simulated a lead from five, but why is it a
necessary inference that the Queen is not with the leader. It is the
commonest thing at Whist to le.id from Ace, Queen, to five, Ace and
then a small one. The only iuferonce a partner from such play
could draw (as the leader ought not to have both Queen and Knave,
is that one or the other of these two cards was with occ of the
adversaries. Excuse my pointing out to you what seems to me to
be wrrth your re-considering, if you ever collect your article for
re-publication. — I am, yours, &c.
Fkep. H. Lewis.
[Our correspondent is, of course, quite right in his criticisms.
What the partner of leader in the case supposed would inoic, if lead
were made correctly, is only that Knave remains with his partner.
If, subsequently, he iinds that his partner has not been forced to
lead from a short suit, he knows that a small card of the suit
remains ; but otherwise he cannot be certain of this. In the case
where the play is incorrect, a small card being playe<l after Ace, the
inference would be that three cards remain, and that Queen and
Knave are certainly not !<o/7i among the three. It is two to one
(nearly) that Queen I.'es with an adversary, but it is not certain.
"Five of Clues."
!3[n5lurrij to ConrfiponUrnts'.
*»* Commiinieation» tehich arc to receice early alteniion sJiontd be aJdreased tc the
Editor qf KxoWLBDGB, 7* and 75, Great Qncrn.$treet, London, JV.C,
Hints to Cobrksponde.vts.— 1. Ko qnertiom a«king for ncientifie information
can be atiMKered through the pott. 2. Letters tent to the Editor for corretpondents
cannot be for tcarded ; nor can the na men or addresses of corre*pondentii be given in
itnstrer to private inquiries. 3. 2fo queries or replies savouring of the nature of
advertisements can he interied. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
eontrarv to Rule 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should icrite on one aide
only of the paper, and put drawingx on a separate leaf. 6. Ea^h letter, query, or
reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference shouU be
made to the number of Utter or query, the page on which it appears, and its tlth.
Dixos K. Thanks ; your letter beinff mnrlccd private, we assume you do not wish
TOur remarks in Field to be touched on here. — Martix Hinton. See replv
below to "Old Christian," in so far a« they relate to the general subject on which
you have written.— M. B. Aldkr. Later.'-J. C. H. W. You ask whether the
remark of Huxley's, quoted at p. 4, is not incompatible Tvith his riews as a
materialist. Of one thing you may be well assured— it represents his real views.
Prof. Huxley's %-iews a.s a materialist are indicated in his admirable lecture on
Descartes' "Discourse." He savs there: "When the materialists stray bevond
the borders of their path, and begin to talk about there being nothing else in the
universe but Matter, and Force, and Necessary Laws, and all the rest of their
grenadiers, I decline to follow them." Perhaps if tou carefullv .ascertain what arf
Prof. Huxley's views as a materialist, you may find them to he less inconsistent
than you suppose with his opinion on " True Science and True Rehgion."— John
Uaupdbn'. We are quite "aware that you takea position antagonistic to all
the professional astronomers and geographers of the present dav," We are not,
however, "disposed to earn the everlasting gratitude of the upholders of the
Jie^vtonian theory by showing the impropriety of" your " charges against it."
You say " if the professors are too cowardly to'defend'thoir own system, they are
not competent to write upon any subject."' AVhen the Newtonian system needs
defence, it will be time cnoogh to undertake the work. How could reasoning
-1 with the followers of Parallax? They believe that the earth is shaped Ukei
I travels in a path
cle, vertically abo
flat wheel about 25,000 miles in diameter, and that the
alwnyi parallel to this flat disc, and some 4,000 miles abo
autumn day the tun's path, they tell us, is appreciably a
the equatorial circle, from w'hich circle no part of the flat earth
than 6.250 miles away ! R^'asoning would be thrown away on any one who eould
even for a moment imagine this to be the case. Repeatedly they have been
shown what should be perfectly obvious— that, were this the case, (i) t'he sun could
r set ;^ (ii) that he would vary greatly in apparent size as seen from different
at different hours, or on dilferent days ; (iii) that
Ds would be entirely different from those wo see ;
le pole of the heavens, and that many other con-
are utterly unlike any actually observed. Their
limply vituperation and abuse of those wlio hapjien
r. It would be utterly contrary to the dictaies of
: argument'* against the absurdities of Parallai
places, or from the
all the phenomena of the tieavi
(iv) that there could l>e but oi
sequences would follow whicl
answer to thin has always been
to possens some rea^-ouing pow<
common sense to find room for
and his followers, in any journal intended fur sensible beings. We mil not insult
readers so grossly . To yt.urself personally, a-^ undoubtedly believing what you profess
to believe (incredible though such credulity may seem)', wc would remark (though
the rudeness of many of your letters would justify absolute silence on ojr pan)
that the phonomennn whirh you paid w« nboukl nerer tec— tiz., the sun to th«
pouth of thr cn-t and wcot |H)rntM in AuittrnLi«iB, we f>a«r repeatedly, and that on
everyday the Run moved lu the ttouth/rn f^kies pre^niM'ly a^ he <»H"ijId more on
Iheaeeeptrd lhe<iry, and m be never eould move were' the tbeort of Parallax
true. But we must ask our readem' forgiveness for making so unneci-sptary a
statement, even in this conier of the paper, and in the smallest type ourprinten
use.~Ix»uuiKDUN. We know of no Woman's Righu A^ooriati'on. There is a
ScKHety for the Protection of Women and Children, Secretary. Hev. J. G.
Roberit, a>, Strand.— J. J. O. Portions of your letter appear m the "Corw-
spondenco " columns.— B. H. T. (F. C. S.) thankflfor your encouraging note.—
W. C. T. Have not yet neen the work you mention. l)oubtle»s the communi-
cations you promise will !«■ of intereit to our readem.— G. O. I can weD
believe it.-ll. AuuaosE Smith. The article on the Fifl«-«n Pujtzle to which
your refer appeared in the Cfentlemain Magazine, but tte date and number
of the ma;;azine ne do not know. It roui^t have been >ome time last spring,
We were in Australia when the article was written. It U-rm^ one of a series
of " Familiar Science Essays," which Mcfisrs. Chatt.. & Windus are about
to publish.— M. Y. W. One tail omiiletl in engraving. The editorial note
at foot of left hand column of page 30 related to a letter which was at the
last moment removed to make room for another relating to the November
meteors. The note should have been removed too.— G. G. D. and L. T. F. Your
replies to "Tyro's" query in letter 9, involve the same dillMulty which has per-
plexed him in the text books and primers. These all speak of the axis remaining
m the same direction (tbey all use the knitting-needle illu-tralion also) ; but
"Tyro" finds a difficulty, it seems, in understanding what isnu-ant by "the same
direction." The expression, "moving always parallel to jtM-if," i'* I'quallv per-
plexing to many begmners. Your answers a're, of course, quite right.— A. Haet.
" To settle a dispute," we inform you that though the planets are often called
stars, a star is not a planet. We do " gel bght from a planet ; " but it is not the
planet's own light; it comes from the sun, and is reflected by the planet.—
A. H. SwiNTOX. The general idea that, after all, the sun's bciit may l»e some
form of electricity, without confirmation by facta or rea*oning. would hardly
justify us in publishing so long a letter as yours.- A:? Old Chkistu:!.
With gome regret, we find ourselves obliged to decline puMiKhing your letter
on Science and religion. So far as we are concerned, we should have been
glad to do so, because it chiefly relates to our own remarks on the same
subject . But you emphasise the differences which you lielieve to eiirt
between "the notions of modem scientists, and the plain statements of the
Bible," and we emphatically decline to discuss the question whether such dif-
ferences even exist. We are only concerned here with the question whether
scientific statements are correct ornot. Any scientific opinion expressed inthese
pages you are free to oppugn on scientific grounds. WTien you find a line here
su(jgesting the opposition of scientific opinions, sound or otlierwise, to any re-
ligious opinion whatsoever, then— and not till then— you, or any man, may
express or defend religious views in these columns. " In such a then,
I write a never." To use the words of Professor Huxley, "Science and
Philosophy, within the range of which he all the topics on which we can venture
to speak here, are neither Christian, nor un-Christian, but are extra-Christian."
I entirely agree with _vou that "no intelbgent Christian" (or Buddhist, or
Mahometan, you might have added) "can raise an objection to modem science on
the ground tfiat it enlarges unduly our ideas of the vastness of God's domain in
space, or of the immensity of the time periods during which He acts;" but the
objections raised by many well-meaning persons to modem scientific teachings
amount in effect to this. They do not see that to beheve in the evolution of a
solar system or of a system of such systems, no more amounts to setting the
Almighty on one side iii the name of universal evolution, than does belief in the
growth of a plant, or even of the tiniest bud or Ic-aflet. It may save correspon-
dents, and it will save ourselves some trouble, to define our position precisely,
which we may do as follows :— " With reh^ion, properly so called, all the truths
of science are in necessary accordance ; and so far, what is taught in these pages
will be essentially religious : but this journal is intended to spread scientific know-
ledge ; and DOGMATIC BELIGIOX SHALL HBBE BE XEITBER ITTlCEED XOB
DEFENDED. "—Bird's Ete View. You may be very right, but this is hardly the
place for advocating your views. Remaining letters unavoidably croKded out.
PAGE
To OcR Readebs 3
Science aad Rehgion. By the Editor. 3
Conteyits of Knowledge Xo. 1.
FAGS
Darwin on Mould and Worms 14
CoRRESPOXDENCE. — Introductory —
Hints to Correspondents — Is the
Sun Hot?— Can Ice-Yachts sail
faster than the Wind.=* 15
The Birmingham and Midland Insti-
tute. By W. Mattieu Williams ... 16
Colour of Sunlight 18
The rriiiine Riddle 18
Our Mathematical Column 19
Our Chess Column 19
Relation of Food to Muscular
Work.— Part I. By Dr. W, B.
Carpenter, F.R.S 5
Are Women Inferior to Men? 6
Comets— (i//H*^ra(frf) 8
Illusions. Bv Thomas Foster— (Illus-
trated) ....' 10
The Eastern Skies in November —
{Illustrated) 13
Contents oj Knowledge Xo. 2.
PAGE ?16l
The Philosophy of Animal Colours. , The Fiji Islands 34
By Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E ... 21 Corrbspoxdesce. — The One-inch
The' South European Volcanic System 22 Map of the Ordnance Survey — Is
The Relation of Food to Muscular : the Sun Hot?— Influence of Sex oa
Work.- Part II. By Dr. W. B. ' Mind— November Meteors. Ac. ...35
Can^enter. F.R.S 23 Queries 38
Brain Troubles 25 Vnhealthy Houses 38
Comets. Part U.— {Illustrated) 26 Phiin Words in Science 39
Intelligence in Animals 2S Tmsling to Luck 30
Birds with Teeth {Illustrated) 30 Our Chess Cohmin 41
The Southern Skies in November— Our Whist Column. By "Fiye of
{Illuttrated) 31 Clubs" 43
Contents of Knowledge Ko, 3.
PAGB. I
Sohd-s Liquids, and Gases.— Part I. I
By AV. Mattieu Williams 43 ,
The' Philosophy of Animal Colours.-
Part II. Bv Dr. Andrew Wilson, I
F.R.S.E. ...;. 44 i
Brain Troubles.- Impaired Memory 46
Intelligence in Animals.— Part II 46
Are Women Inferior to Men? 47 i
Comets' Tails. Bv the Editor— (///i(». '
trated) '. 4d ,
Rkviews :— Great Pyramid Measures, i
and the Diameters and I)istances I
of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. By |
PIGS.
Joseph Baiendell, F.R.A.S 60
New Modeof Growing Plants. ByE.C. 61
A Planet Outside Neptune 62
Cobbespondescb. — Error in com-
puting Periphery of Ellipse —
Comets- Figures of the Conic Sec-
tions-Waste of Solar Heat, Ac. ... 66
Queries 60
Rephes to Queries 60
Our M.tthematical Column 61
Our Whist Column 6J
Our Chess Column 63
.luswers to Correspondents 64
Dec. 2, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
85
i ^ MAG^dNEOF^tyENCE^ I
I PLAfNrrVfORDED-EXACTDflDESCRlBED |
LOyDOX: FRIDAY,-! DECEMBER 2, 1881.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
tmi- Kii-liis. Bv E. W. Prevost 85
Comen anil Cornels' TaUs. By the
Kdilor— (/«"•'••'■'"') ■"• 88
Solids, Liquids, and Gases. — Part
III. Bv W. Mattieu Williams ...8/
Germs of' Disea.«e and Death. Bv
Dr. Andrew WUson, F.R.S.E.—
Part II «1
Brain Troubles. — Impaired Memory IH)
Man a Fruit-eater 91
.1 .Mild November 92
CoiiREapo>l>ESCE. — The Invisibility
of Light — Inclination of the
Earth's Axis— The Zoetropc— The
PiGE.
Missing Link— The 1-indi Ord-
nance Slaps -Palizsch & Halle.v's
Comet — Do Comets obevGraritv?
—The Crimson - circled Star-
Tables of Meridianal Parts, &c .... 93
The Eastern Skies in December —
(nimtraled) 97
Queries 101
Replies to Queries UK
Training 101!
Our Mathematical Colunm 103
Our Chess Column IM
Oar ■must Column 101
Answers to Correspondents 106
OUR FIELDS.
By E. \V. Prevost.
IT is not probable that very many of the readers of
Knowledge have ever thought, when walking tlirough
tlie fields, how those fields came to be in the condition in
which tliey now are ; not as regards the crops which they
bear, but as regards the fine powdery state of the earth,
when below are only to be found hard rocks. We do not
propose to enter into the question why the rocks below
occupy their present position, but rather to consider some
of the means whereby rocks generally have yielded, and still
do yield, a material difierent in character to themselves, and
one suited to the gi'owth of plants. For simplicity's sake
we will assign the origin of a soil to two rocks known as
Granite or Trap ; for although a soil is not wholly nor
directly derived from these two, yet tiie changes, such as
those experienced by granite and trap, are the same in
character, though differing in degi'ee, in whatever be the
rock under consideration.
Granite, a substance produced by the agency of heat in
the early geological ages, is a mixture of three different
minerals — quartz, a white lustrous mineral, also known in
certain forms as rock-crystal, fel.'^par, and mica. Felspar,
of which there arc several kinds, is a silicate of the metal
aluminium, together with the silicates of potash, lime, or
soda, according to the variety of felspar. Slica appears in
the form of small bright shining scales, and is a silicate of
potash or magnesia. Together with these three minerals,
which may be called the elements of tlie soil, there are
always present small quantities of other substances, sucli
as iron. Sec.
The trap rocks, divisible into two great classes, called
dioiite and dolerite, contain soda, lime, magnesia, and
potash ; and phosphoric acid is also present, but not to a
large extent. Here, then, we have the materials necessary
for the formation of soil, but its quality is dependent not
only on the composition of the minerals contained in the
rocks, but also upon the proportion in which they have
contributed their constituent parts. The first agency to
which the disintegi'ation of a rock is due, reducing it from
the original massive condition to that of a powder, is frost
aware of the fact that when water freezes, it expands to a
considerable extent at the moment of solidifying, and
that this expansion is irresistible, the vessels en-
closing the water being destroyed. This same iiTe-
sistible force is continually at work during the winter,
destroying the cliffs on the sea-shore and iiJand ; for
there are always a number of clefts or fissures that
ridmit of the entrance of water, which, when the tempera-
ture is low enough, is there frozen, and in freezing expands
and splits the stone : and then, if the position be favoui'able,
this splmter from the main rock falls down as soon as the
ice melts, in consequence of a rise of the temperature.
Again, the alternations of heat and cold, without the inter-
vention of water, produce rifts, because the rock, being
composed of substances which are not affected to the same
extent by the same rise of temperature, expands unequally,
and the" result is the separation of the parts from one
another. It is thu.s that the bed.s of torrents, rushing down
glens, are in part tilled by stones of various sizes, which,
raising the level of the bed at the same time by theii- re-
moval from the banks, alter the character of the glen.
Even before the boulders become detached from the cliff,
they are subjected to a slow but sure process of
destruction, for every drop of rain which beats against the
bare stone has its effect in wearing the surface away. In
these processes of destruction w-e recognise mechanical
agencies : but this is not all ; chemistry plays also a very
important part in reducing a block of stone to powder.
The rain, in falling through the air, dissolves some of the
oxygen and carbonic acid gas which it contains, and then,
when this rain, holding carbonic acid in solution, comes in
contact with the rock, a part of the more soluble portions
is dissolved. It is, therefore, evident that the rain is a very
powerful destroyer of stone, in that it works in two distinct
■ways — mechanically, whereby the rock is powdered, and
chemically, whereby a part is carried away in solution.
Now, let us see what is the result of this partial solution
of an apparently insoluble material. In the case of granite,
Ijearing in mind that there are at least three different sub-
stances present, which are firmly and solidly mixed together,
simple powdering would result in a separation fi-om one
another of the quartz, felspar, and mica ; and if a cm-rent
of water be passing over the rock at the time, the heavier
particles would be left behind and the lighter ones would
be swept away. This is what actually occurs : the quartz,
finally known as sand, is left behind, while the lighter
particles of felspar and mica are removed ; now, seeing that
tlie water, whether rain or river, contains carbonic acid,
the felspar is slowly acted upon by the acid, is decomposed
into silicate of alumina, and potash, which passes into solu-
tion, while the silicate of alumina remauis behind or sus-
pended in the water, and is now known as clay. As for the
mica, it is not easily afl'ected chemically, and may either be
left behind wnth the clay, or, if the stream be rapid, it is
carried away and deposited elsewhere. Such a process as
is here described explains the destruction of a rock, and the
consequent formation of beds of sand and clay, which are
ill-fitted for the growth of plants, and to explain tliis we
pictured to ourselves the rock in its original position, and
undergoing all the pi-ocesses at one time. To account for
the production of loam, it is not necessarj- that every pro-
cess should occur at once ; but rather that, firstly, the
boulder, removed by frost from the main rock, should be
further broken up in the bed of a stream, and the particles
so produced be then can-ied down by the stream and de-
posited where the current is less swift ; this deposit, in
time, becomes bare of water, as the stream alters its course,
and finally becomes dry land. Now our new soil is not
vet fit for nlants. and as it consists of particles of the
86
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec. 2, 1881.
original rock, it will, if sulijecUcl to the same influences,
yield the snmc products wlicn docomposfd ; lying exposed,
lis it does, to tlio rain and air, the slow chaiif^es al>ove
described take place, and we finally li:ivc a mixture of sand,
clay, potash, lime, Ac To aid this slow action, which at
the present day is not yet complete, the fanner plou-^hs his
tield, which, hrinying up fresh soil from helow, exposes it to
the air and rain. We have before staU'd that the fertility
of a soil is dependent upon the minerals of the soil and the
extent of their decomposition. If, therefore, no aid is given to
the solvent action of rain by ploughing, no great amount of
fertility can be expected. The variety of felspar, whether it
be a soda or a lime felspar, is of great impoi-tiinc^e — the second
kind, when decomposed, producing tolerably fertile land,
the former not so. When mica is present in large quanti-
ties, extreme infertility is the result, and for reasons before
stated. It would occupy too much space to allude to all
the various circumstiinces productive of the various classes
of soils, and we therefore jiroceod to account for the pro-
duction of the humus, or vegetable matter, which gene-
rally gives the dark colour, for a soil destitute of humus
would be of varying .shades of yellow and red. It has
been proved by experiment that plants can grow
without humus, or vegetable mould, and we need
only refer to the growth of lichens on stones, ifci . ,
as an example ; therefore, the first crop which grew
on the new soil, whate\er that crop or its origin
might be, would flourish to a cei-tain extent, and,
dying, leave its remains behind ; these would rendi r
the growth of the next generation of plants more
vigorous ; these, in their turn dying, the supply of
humus would gradually increase. It might l>e sup-
posed that the formation of humus would in time
become excessive, l>ut, as a rule, this is not so,
because humus gradually decomposes, and in do
composing supplies carbonic acid to the soil, so
aiding in the decomposition of the minerals present.
In all these changes we see the marvellous useful
nessof that gas which, under certain circumstances,
is so fatal to man ; but here we find it as a most
useful servant, for not only does it supply air-food
to the plant, being absorbed by the leaves, but,
entering into the earth with the rain, it there pre-
pares that food which the plant must have, and
which it absorbs by its roots.
COMETS AND COMETS' TAILS.
By the Editor.
BEFORE we proceed to consider the theory by which
alone, so far as can be judged at present, the ])henoniena
of comets' tails can be explained, it may be well that we
should consider the evidence derived from other comets
than those hitherto considered.
In the first place we would direct special attention to
the comet of 181 1. In this comet, as may be seen from its
j)icturc in Fig. 1, the various parts of the comet and its
tiiil could be distinguished by the naked eye. There was
the condensed part, called the itttcli'i'.g, which in this case
was apparently gloVmlar in form ; the nebulous envelope
which .surrounds the nucleus, the so-called romfi : the bright
side parts of the tail where it seems to be swe)it away from
the coma, leaving a comparatively dark region behind the
head, and the tail, widening and growing fainter with
distmce from the head. No one, we think, who considers
this picture will for a moment iniiigine that the comet is a
mere lens, and its tail merely the track of light condensed
by this lens along the region behind the head. Here,
again, the hollow structure of the tail seems indicated by
th(- bright tracks on either side, though, as we shall en-
deavour to .show lat<-r, the exceedingly well-defined nature
of the dark track Ix-liind the nucleus in many comets seems
to force uj)on us a difi'erent int<:rpretation of this singular
and characteristic feature.
In some respects the comet of 1811 tells us more of
cometic poFsibilitie."*, so to speak, than any other comet
that has ever yet been observed. Discovered on March 26,
1811, this comet remained visible for a longer time than
any yet seen, viz., for 16 months, 22 days. It had a tail
120 millions of miles in length, and 15 millions of miles in
diameter at the widest part The diameter of the nucleus
was about 127,000 mOes, that of the envelope round the
head about 643,000 miles. But what was so remarkable
about this comet was, that it obtained this remarkable
development without approaching the sun, as other comets
have done. The usual rule with comets is that the nearer
they approach to the sun, the more their heads and tails
are developed. But the least distance of the comet of
IHll from the ruti was little less than 100 millions of
Fig. 1. Comet of 1^11
miles. Again, although it made so remarkable an appear-
ance, as seen from the earth, the distance of that comet
from us was at no time less than 110 millions of miles.
Its true magnitude, therefore, as Professor Kirkwood well
remarks, "has probably not been sui-passed bj- that of any
other comet which has j-et b(>en observed.'' If its path had
carried it nearer to the sun, its appearance would probably
have been terrible in the extreme. If we consider the
enormous volume occupied by this comet and its tail, its
Million cubic miles of hen>l,
Ten billion leagues of tail,
we shall see that the phenomena we have to interpret
ought not to escape us in \irtue of minuteness of scale,
Next consider the great comet of 1861. This comet
was discovered on May 1.3, by Mr. John Tebbutt, jun., of
New South Wales, and first accurately observed at the
Sydney Observatory, on May 26. It passed northwards
from the southern skies, and first became visible in Europe
in the last week of June, 1861. The first recorded obser-
Dec. 2, 1881.J
KNOWLEDGE
87
rations were made on the evening of June 30, nineteen
days after it had passed its point of nearest approach to
the sun. We remember well ol)ser\ ing it on the
morning of July 2, 18G1. For some reason, we
found it impossible to sleep tliat morning, and getting
up about three in the morning (the exact hour we
do not remember, but it must have been very early), we
saw in the east what looked at first like the rays of an
aurora borcalis. But presently we noticed that these rays
proceeded (unlike tliose of the aurora) from a bright centre,
which had been hidden by clouds wlien our observations
began. We used at that time to keep a four-inch telescope,
mounted on a three-legged stand, in our bedroom. This
we had quickly re^idy for action (noting that tlic object,
owing to the approach of sunrise, was getting fainter every
minute), and turning it on the comet, we drew a picture of
the nucleus and coma so closely resembling that which
appeared a week or two later in the lUustrated London
News, that we might have supposed our picture had been
surreptitiously sent to the office of the Illustrated, had we
not found it resting just where we had put it in our
scientific portfolio.
path almost at right angles to the plane of the ecliptic.
Thus the comet could be tracked on its retreat until, finally,
distiince concealed it from our \ iew.
Now, the tail of the comet of 1861, as seen iii Fig. 2,
had something of the fan-like expansion observed in the
tail of the comet of 1744 ; but what was known of the
comet's position at the time when this fan-like form was
seen, explained the peculiarity, and showed the necessity
of taking into account the position of a comet before at-
taching undue importance to the apparent figure of its tail.
For the fan-like form seen on this occasion was a mere
effect of perspective. The end of the tail appeared very
much wider than the part near the head— not that it reall}-
was so, but simply l)ecausc it was very much nearer to the
observer on earth. When we were actually immersed in
the tail, the part nearest to us, being all round, had, to all
intents and pui-poses, an infinite extension. But even when
the comet was beyond that position, or a few days earlier,
before it had reached it, the end of the tail was much
nearer to us than the comet's head, and thus appeared far
more proportionately widened than was actually the
case.
Such considerations must always be taken
into account in dealing with cometic pheno-
mena. Comets, more than any other celestial
ibjects (the Milky Way, regarded as a whole,
I leing, perhaps, alone excepted), are affected in
shape, and apparently, even in their very
)iatiu-e, by position, and consequent foie
shortening.
The comet appeared to the eye as shown in Fig. 2. Sir
John Herechel, who observed it at Collingwood, in Kent,
icniarked that it was far more brilliant than any comet he
hud ever seen, not even excepting those of 1811 and 18.58.
■Jhe Padre Secchi, at Rome, found that in the clear skies
of Italy the tjiil was fully 118° in length, corresponding to
nearly one-third more than the distance between the horizon
and the point overhead. This comet, by tlie way, though
only favourably visible for a very .short time, I'einained
witliin the range of telescopic vision much longer. Hind
remarks that the number of separate oljservations for the
(It-termination of its orbit exceeds 1,150, and extend over a
period of Hi months. It travelled on a course favouring
observation, coming from remote distances south of the
plane in which the earth travels to the northern side of
that plane — and as it chanced, crossing the plane (about five-
sixths of the way from the sun to tlje earth's orbit) just
when the earth lay in the same direction from the sun, so
that for a time she was within the Ijounds of the comet's
tail-like appendage — and then travelling northwards on a
SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES.
By W. Mattieu Williams.
TART III.
''pHAT the solid and liquid states of matter
JL are not distinctly and broadly separable,
!iut are connected by an intermediate condi-
tion of \ iscosity, which is more or less common
ro both, has, I think, been sufficiently shown
in the previous papers, and the proofs of this
ire familiar enough.
We now come to the question whether
there is any similar continuity between
liquids and gases. Ordinary experience de-
ci ledly suggests a negati\e answer. We can
point to nothing within easy reach that has the properties
of liquid and gaseous half-and-half ; that stands between
gases and liquids as pitch and treacle stand between solids
and liquids.
Some, perhaps, may suggest that cloud-matter — London
fog, for example — is in such an intermediate state. This,
liowever, is not the case. White country fog, ordinary
clouds, or the so-called " steam " that is seen assuming
cloud-forms as it issues from the spout of a tea-k(!ttle or
funnel of a locomotive, consist of minute particles of
water suspended in air, as solid particles of dust are also
suspended. It ha.s been called "vesicular vapour," on the
supposition that it consists of minute vesicles, like soap-
bubbles on a very small scale, but this hypothesis remains
unproven. London fog consists of similar particles, var-
nished with a delicate film of coal-tar, and interspersed
with particles of soot
In order to clearly comprehend this question, we inust
define the difference between fluids and gases. In the
first place, they are both fluids, as already agreed. What,
88
KNO^A^LEDGE
[Dbc. 2, 1881.
tlifii, is the essential diflerenee lietwoeu liiiuid fluidity and
, iseous fluidity '? Tlie expei-t in molecular mathematics,
'iscoursin;; ti) his kinematical l)rcthren, would produce a
tivmeiidous reply to this tjuestion. lie would descriljc the
.iscillations, gyrations, collisions, mean free paths, and
mutual olistructions of atoms and molecules, and, by the aid
<if a maddening aiTay of symbols, arrive at the concluaion
that gases, unless restrained, are liable to indefinite or vast
■ xpansion, while liciuids, of their own accord, retain definite
limits or dimensions.
The mattor-of-fact experimentalist demonstrates the same
by methods that are easily understood by anybody. I shall,
therefore, both for my own sake and my reader's, describe
some of the latter.
In the first place, we all see plainly that liquids have a
surface, i.r,., a well-defined boundary, and also that gases,
iiidess enclosed, have not. But as this may be due to the
invisibility of the gas, we must question it further. The
air we breatlic may be taken as a type of gases, as water
may of li(iuids. It has weight, as we may prove by weigh-
ing a bottle full of air, then pumping out the contents,
weighing the empty bottle, and noting the difference.
Having weight, it presses towards the earth, and is
squeezed by all that rests above it, and thus the air
around us is constrained air. It is very compressible,
and is accordingly compressed by the weight of all the
air above it.
This being understood, let us take a bottle full of water
and another full of air, and carry them both to the summit
of Mont Blanc, or to a similar height in a balloon. We
shall then have left nearly half of the atmosphere below,
and thus both liquid and gas will be under little more than
half of the ordinary pressure. What will happen if we
uncork them both 1 The liquid will still display its definite
surface, and remain in the bottle, but not so the gas. It will
overflow upwards, downwards, or sideways, no matter how
the bottle is held, and if we had tied an empty bladder o^ er
the neck before uncorking, we should find this overflow or
expansion of the gas exactly proportionate to the removal
of pressure, provided the temperature remained unalteied.
Thus, at just half the pressure under which a pint bottle
was corked, the air would measure exactly one quart, at
one-eighth of the pressure one gallon, itc.
We cannot get high enough for the latter expansion, but
can easily imitate the effect of further elevation by means
of an air-pump. Thus, we may put one cubic inch of air
into a bladder of 100 cubic inches capacity, then place this
under the receiver of an air-pump, and reduce the pressure
outside the bladder to y^u*'' ^^ its original force. With
such atmospheric surrounding, the one cubic inch of air
will plump out the flaccid bladder, and completely fill it.
The pumpability of the air from the receiver shows tliat it
goes on overflowing from it into the piston of the pump as
fast as its o\vn elastic pressure on itself is diminished.
Numberless other experiments may be made, all proving
that all gases are composed of matter which is not merely
incohesive, but is energetically self-repulsive ; so much so,
that it can only be retuincd within a.v\ bounds whatever by
means of some exti'rnal pressure or constraint For aught
we know experiineutttlly, the gaseous contents of one of
Mr. Glaisher's balloons would outstretch itself suftlciently
to occupy the whole sphere of space that is spanned by the
earth's orliit, provided that spac(! were perfectly vacuous,
and the l)alloon were burst in the mid.st of it, and the
temperature of the expanding gas were maintained.
Here, then, in this self-repulsiveness, instead of self-
cohesion, this absence of self-imposed boundary or dimen-
sions, we ha^e a very broad and well-marked distinction
between gases and liquids, so I'road that there seems no
bridge that can possibly cross it. Tliis was Itelieved to be
the case until recently. Such a bndge has, however, Ijcen
built, and rendered visible, by tlie experimental researches
of Dr. Andrews; Imt further explanation is required to
render this generally intelligible.
Until qiiite lately it was customary to divide gases into
two classes — "pennanent gases" and "condensable gases"
or "vapour.s." Ga.seous water or steam wa.s usually de-
scribed as typical of the latter ; oxygen, hydrogen, or
nitrogen of the former. Earlier than this, many other
gases were included in the [lermanent list ; but Faraday
made a serious inroad upon this classification when he
liquefied chlorine by cooling and compressing it. Long
after this, the gaseous elenients of water, and the chief
constituents of air, oxygen, liydrogen, and nitrogen, re-
sisted all efforts to condense them ; but now they have
succumbed to great pressure and extreme cooling.
We thus arrive at a very broad generali.sation, viz., that
all gases are physically similar to steam, (I mean, of course,
"dry steam,' i.e., true invisible steam, and not the cloudy
matter to which the name of steam is popularly given,)
that they are all formed by raising liquids above their
boiling-point, just as steam is formed when we boil water
and maintain the steam above the boiling-poiiit of the
water.
But some liquids boil at temperatures far below that at
which others freeze ; liquid chlorine boils at a temperature
below that of freezing water, and liquid carljonic acid below
even that of freezing mercury, and liquid hydrogen far
lower still. These are cases of boiling, nevertheless, though
it seems a paradox according to the ideas we commonly
attach to this word. But such ideas are based on our
common e.xperience of the properties of our commonest of
liquids, viz., water.
When water boils imder the conditions of our ordinary
experience, the passage from the liquid to the gaseous state
is a sudden leap, with no intermediate state of existence
that we are able to perceive ; and the conditions upon
which water is converted into steam — the liquid into the
gas — while both are at the bottom of our atmospheric
ocean, are such as to render an intermediate condition
rationally, as well as practically, impossible.
We find that the expansi\c energy by which the steam is
enaViled to resist atmospheric pressure is conferred upon it
by its taking into itself, and utilising for its expansive
efforts, a large amount of calorific energy, ^^^len any given
quantity of water is converted into steam, under ordinary
circumstances its bulk siidden/i/ becomes above 1,700 times
greater — a cubic inch of water forms about a cubic foot of
steam, and nearly 1,000 degrees of heat (9GG-6) disappears
as temperature. Otherwise stated, we must give to the
cubic inch of water at 212° as much heat as would raise it
to a temperature of 212 plus 96G-6, or 1178-G° if it
remained liqiud. Tliis is about the temperature of
the glowing coals of a common tire ; but the steam
that has thus taken enough heat to make the water red
hot is still at 212° — no hotUr than the water was wliile
boiling.
This heat, which thus ceases to exhibit itself as tempera-
ture, is otherwise occupied. Its energy is partly devoted to
the work of increasing the bulk of the water to the above-
named extent, and partly in confeiring on the steam its
gaseous speciality — that is, in overcoming liquid cohesion,
and substituting for it tlie opposite property of internal
repulsive energy which is charact<n'istic of gases. My
reasons for thus defining and sejiai-ating these two functions
of the so-called " latent " heat will be seen in the next
paper, when we come to the philosophy of the interesting
researcl'.es of Dr. Andrews.
Dec. 2, 1881.]
KNOW^LEDGE ♦
89
GERMS OF DISEASE AND DEATH.
Bv Du. Andkew Wilson, F.R.S.E.
Paut II.
rpURNTNG now to the Clun-bon or Sph-nk Fever, we
.1 witue.'is another veritable triumph of Pasteur's industry
juid research. In 1 850, certain observers noted the interesting
fact that minute, rod-like bodies, wliich appeared to be
lower forms of plant life, existed in the blood of animals
artected with this disease. The " rods," it was observed,
originated from jiarticles which might, with ]ierfect
accuracy, be called "Germs." And as we watch the
'■ rods " in turn, we see that, sooner or later, micro-
scopic specks appear in their substance ; these grow
to form regular bead-like rows within the " rods ; " and
when finally the " rods " themselves break up and fall to
pieces, these beads are liberated as the "germs,'' which in
time will grow into new rods. Thus countless myriads
of rods and germs grow and are reproduced within the body
of the animal suffering from splenir fevi'i: The fever, in a
word, is the result of the growth and development within
the living -soil, of these rod-like plants. But exact demon-
stration of the truth of the latter statement can be
had.
If we grow and culti\ate in a proper fluid — such as the
aqueous humour of the eye of an ox — the " rods," we may
inoculate with our " rods " the Ijody of a healthy animal.
We may sow in that animal's body the germs of splenic
fever. Thus a drop of a solution containing the " rods "
sown within the body of a guinea-pig, produces splenic
fever in that animal. And more wonderful still, it has
been shown that the dried blood taken from an animal
affected with this fever will reproduce the fever, even after
an interval of four years, if the dried particles of blood
with their " rods " be introduced into the body of a
healthy animal.
Pasteur, armed with knowledge of the kind just detailed,
set himself to ascertain the " reason why " splenic fever
should suddenly appear in districts which knew it not, and
wherein only healthy animals lived. Obviousl}', if the
germ theory wci'e true, such sudden and apparently isolated
outbreaks must be capable of lieing explained on this
liypothesis. The idea of the " spontaneous," or de novo, or
ex id/iilo origin of the disease would, if supported by facts,
prove fatal to the "germ theory." Here, then, was a
typical case for scientific investigation. Let us see how
the genius of Pasteur overcame the difficulties of the
situation.
The localities in which splenic fever seemed to burst out
suddenly and witliout warning were, as Pasteur learned,
former seats of the disease. But the interval between the
%'isitation was to be measured by years. How, then, could
the new outbreak be accounted for ! It seemed, in truth,
as if the one outbreak had little or nothing to do with the
other. The infected animals which had died, or had
been killed, ^\■hilst suffering ' from the fever, were duly
buried, and that very deeply, in the soil. Such a
method of interment would seem to ob\iate all risk of
infection. But tlie possibilities of nature are illimitalile,
and no man knew this better than Pasteur. If the poison
had been buried in the soil, wh}- should it not be there
still 1 And, further, why should it not be conveyed up-
wards to infect the fresh flocks that fed on the graves of
their- predecessors'? With a gift of scientific divination,
Pasteur sought in the earthworm, the type of the " middle-
man" betwixt the living and the dead. He now examines
the bodies of the worms which live in the soil wherein the
bodies of the animals infested with splenic fever, years
before, were entombed. By experimental means, he solves
his problem. He makes a preparation of the contents of
the digestive system of the worms. This he administers in
the food of health}- animals, entirely removed from the
pastures. And once again a scientific principle dawns
in view. The rabbits and guinea-pigs which devoured the
matter obtained from tlie worms at once developed splenic
fever, whilst in their blooil the rods were seen developing
in full force. Once again Pasteur had sown the fever, and
had argued thus from the result, backwards to the cause.
It has also been proved that even grain may convey the
subtle "rods" to healthy animals, and may in this way
engender splenic fe\er. Following close upon the heels of
the disco^-ery of the germ-origin of this fatal malady comes
the gratifying announcement that, as small-pox is modified
by vaccination, so splenic fever may be modified by an
analogous process. Pasteur has proved that we can
inoculate sheep and cattle with a mild form of the fever
which protects the animal from a recurrence of the disease ;
and this protective influence, as we write, is being practi-
cally utilised Ijy the breeders of France.
Such is a brief recital of a new step towards a perfect
knowledge of the nature of the diseases which decimate,
not merely animal life, but human existence as well. It
may not be inappropriate if, by way of close, we remind
our readers of two vei-y noteworthy points in connec-
tion with this all-impoi-tant topic, bearing, as it does, in
the most intimate manner upon the physical welfare of
man.
The first of tlu; points to \\'hich we refer concerns the
apparently trivial origin of an all-ijnportant suliject. It
was in the city of Florence, some two hundred or more
years ago, that a certain physician, Francesco Redi
by name, demonstrated to the Florentme wiseacres
that the maggots in meat do not arise fi-om the dead
meat by " spontaneous generation," but were produced
from the eggs of the flesh-flies. This result he acliieved
liy covering over the meat with gauze, so that wliilst
the meat-decay proceeded, there was likewise a con-
vincing absence of maggots. Childishly simple as was
Redi's experiment, it laid the basis and method of all
succeeding research ; for from his day down to ours the
progress of the " germ theory " — or of that doctiine which
holds that all life, however mysteriously generated, must
spring from pre-existing life — has b(^en uniform and
triumphant.
But the second point to which attention is worthy of
being directed, exists in the statement that the ]iractical
and actual benefits which have flowed to human health, and
which are likely to flow in the future as well — the saving
of life by the prevention and extermination of disease —
arise from a simple study in natural history. So-called
" practical " minds are often given to loudly express their
disapproval of any science which deals with what, to them,
seem mere abstractions. Doubtless, to such mmds the
study of the development of the " rods " of splenic fever
under a watch-glass must seem a piece of scientific dilet-
lantism ; just as information respecting the solar system
may seem despicable enough, because its results cannot be
measui'ed by a profitable currency, or, in plain language,
because it "doesn't .seem to pay." The best answer to
such foolishness is found in a recital of the results to
human and animal life to which natural history study seems
likely to lead. Just as two hundred years ago, in Florence,
Redi began the good work liy a simple study in zoology,
so to-day we are reaping the reward of the earnest work
of the botanists and zoologists who toil and labour to spread
abroad their saving knowledge.
90
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec.
1881.
HRAIN TROUBLES.
Impaired Memory — (coulinued).
rpilE following rase is onr of those in which su<l(l<n
I failure of inoinory iinpliid serious cf-rebral mischief.
" An eminent provincial sur;:eon, of large and anxious prac-
tice, was seized with a sudden failure of memory. He forjjot
all liis ap{)ointment.s, and to sudi a degree was thi' fa<ulty
of retention impaired" (so far as the names and cases of
patients were concerned) " that he was obliged to make
memoranda of every trifling and minute circumstance
which it was important for him to reniemlier, and to these
he was constantly referring in order to refresh his memory.
This attack was preceded by headache, of which he had
complained for nearly a fortnight.'' Up to the period of
the case being brought to the attention of Dr. Forbes
Winslow, who treated it, no suspicion had been entertained
of tlie existence of any [)rior state of cerebral ill-health,
sufficient to account for the patient's sudden loss of mental
power. Dr. Winslow ascertained, however, that " about
eight weeks, or nearly three months previously" (not a
\ery clear way of putting the matter, by the way), the
l>atient had been seized, whilst in the act of applying a
stethoscope to the chest of a patient, with severe epileptic
vertigo. FoT about a .second he lost consciousness. 'fhis
liad been succeeded by an attack of distressing sick liead-
ache. " Three days subsequently he had a second paroxysm
of giddiness, and nearly fell out of the carriage in which he
was sitting at the time. His spirits subsequently became
mudi depressed, but in a few days he again rallied,
flattering himself that he had quite recovered. He made
no mention of these attacks to any member of his family,
and carefully avoided all conversation on the sidiject of his
health with his medical brethren." "When I saw this
gentleman," says Dr. Winslow, "the only appreciable
mental symptom was inability to retain in his mind, for
many consecutive minutes, any recent impressions. His
pulse was feeble, face pallid, and general health shattered.
His spirits were, however, at times buoyant, and the
j)rognosis whicli he formed of his own case was favour-
able." Tlic result showed that he was a false prophet.
Two weeks later he had an epileptic fit. He then became
rapidly worse, and ten months after he died " in a de-
j>lorable state of mental imbecility."
But against such a case as this, which was obviously
exceptional, may be set the following case, in which, under
similar conditions, so far as appearances were concerned,
a complete cure was effected : — A barrister complained to
Dr. Winslow of occasio7ial attacks of enfeebled memory.
" Heattril)uted this mental impairment, ' says Dr. Winslow,
" to the fact of his ha\ing been engaged as counsel the
pn^vious year in several anxious and severely-contested
election cases. I advised an entire cessation from all pro-
fessional work, but had great difficulty in persuading him
to recognise the necessity for a completi; abstinence from
mental occupation. He promised a guarded actpiiescence
in my strict injunctions, but finding himself relieved after
an interval of a few weeks, he returned, in opposition to
my solicitations, to his chambers, and recommenced active
practice. As 1 predicted,' proceeds Dr. Winslow, "he
soon broke down, and 1 was once more conferred with.
]fe then acknowledged it to be a matter of vital necessity
th.at he should give his mind prolonged rest, and agi'eed
unreservedly to do so. I kept him for a period of /i/<i
i/rnrs from all anxious and severe mental occupation, and
by that time his powers of mind had rallied to a sui-prising
extent ; in fact, they became, according to his own impres-
sion, more vigorous than they were prior to liis attack of
illnecs. P'or many years tliis patient has continued
steadily at work, never ha\ing had a return of loss of
memory. I should )iremise tliat I exacted from liim a
promi.s<- that he wrjuld read no briefs aft'T dinner. He has
rigidly adhered to this understanding, but being an early
riser and a man of remarkable quickness of apprehension,
he is enabled to ma.ster a large amount of work before
breakfast. I also made it a aim f/uil >io,i that he should go
abroad every year for a periocl of two months, thus ensur-
ing for him a com[)lete diversion and relaxation of mind
from all injurious jiressure. He has scrupulously complied
with my instructions, and the result is an entire freedom
from all symptoms of mental impairment and cerebral dis-
order." A case such as this is full of encouragement,
because here it would seem that at tlie outset overwork
had seriously injured the brain, yet attention to a few-
simple rules resulted in a complete cure.
Apart from actual injury to the substance of the brain,
transient loss of memory seems to be usually caused by a
deficient supply of blood to the brain, whether through
loss of blood generally, or owing to defective circulation.
This is illustrated V'y the following ca.se : — A lady had
been reduced to a state of such extreme prostration by
liH'morrhage, that for nearly a week she seemed simply
lingering between life and death. After this she remained
for a long time in a state of extreme mental depression
and vital prostration. When she was able to articulate, her
husband was astonished to find that her memory was
paralysed. " She had forgotten where she lived, who her
husband was, how long she had been ill, the names of her
children, and, in fact, her own name was obliterated from
her recollection. She was unable to call anything by its
right name. In attempting to do so she made the most
singular mistakes. 8he had been in the habit, before her
illness, of speaking in French, her husband being a French-
man ; but while in the state of mind described, she
seemed to have lost all recollection of the French language.
When her husband spoke to her in French, she did not
seem to understand in the least what he was saying,
though she could at this time speak English without diffi-
culty. Seven or eight weeks elapsed before her memory
began to improve, and months passed before her mimt
regained its original strength."
Intense cold seems to have the power of paralysing tip
memory. During the retreat from Moscow, many vi
Bonaparte's officers and men found their memories gi'eatly
enfeebled. Bonaparte himself was atlected, especially as
to dates and names. " For a time he was constantly
confusing one person witli another, and making odd
mistakes in date.s." In his case the att'ecticn of the.
memory lasted only a few days ;* imt one of Bona-
parte's aid<'!<-(h'.-fiimp lost his memory tor several years.
Instances such as these enable us to understand the true
meaning of those comparatively slight attacks of failure
of memory which most of us experience from time to time.
In the fir.st place, we do not find much evidence enabling
us to assign to one or other of the two da-sses of memory-
failings above indicated a gi-eater or less degree of im-
portance, whether such failings occur in a marked or sliglit
• Duriiiq^ this time Bon.apartc's mind seems to have been
afToctcd. " He merely made some pc'twres of melancholy resig-
imtioii on every occasion when,'' durinp the baTtIo of b'cinenowskn .
the aides-de-camp sent by Xey "informed him of the death of his
best generals. lie rofe sevenil times to take n few turns, but
imnictiiately sat down again. Everyone looked at the Emperor
with astonishment. Hitherto, during these great shocks, he had
displayed an active coolness ; but \\eTP only a dead calm, a milit
and sluggish inactivity." Count Segur, referring to Napoleon's
state at this time, says: "The Russian autumn had triumphed
over him."
Dec. 2, 1831.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
91
degree only. Inability to commit new matter to the
iiieniory witli customary facility seems as likely to be a
sign of niiscluef as inability to recollect matters forming
(ordinarily) a part of our stock of familiarly known facts.
Again, it is clear we need not fear that mind is necessarily
1,'oing astray because for a time the memory fails in slight
degree. Wc see that very serious failures of the power of
memory may occur where the brain has suffered no irre-
parable mischief. But since we see that nmch overwork
will cause serious temporary mischief of this particular
kind, we learn that where a slight lapse of memory is
noticed, the indication may l>e taken as a sign that rest is
needed. But there arc, as we have seen, other ways in
which this special [lower may come to be affected ; so that
if the memory should show signs of failure where we have
no reason to believe that overwork has caused the mischief,
we may infer that some one or other of the causes which,
as we have seen, may affect the memory seriously have
operated injuriously in slight degree. Nor in general need
we be in much doubt as to the true nature of the cause,
simply because we cannot fail (usually) to recognise in the
■ ircumstances preceding the attack the origin of the mis-
' hief. Thus, although a serious failure of the memory
' onsidered apart from the circumstances preceding it might
Kave the pliysician in doubt whether depletion or plethora
(to mention two possible causes) had produced the mischief,
\ et the physician, apart even from an examination of the
patient's condition, could leam at once from him whether
■ither of these two opposite conditions had existed before
tlie attack. In like manner, any person whose memory
•-addenly seemed weakened could, as his own physician,
ascertain (unles?;, indeed, his memory failed to remind him
how he had passed the hours or days preceding the attack)
whether the ujiscliief resulted from deticiency or excess in the
amount of food or stimulants he had previously taken, whether
the proper remed) would be, on the one hand, some such
uiedicine as a glass of wine and a chop, or, on the other
liand, a diminution during two or three days of the amount
f food consumed or the avoidance of some of the more
imulating articles of diet. Here, however, we are con-
■ lering rather those mental troubles which are produced
liy mental work, whether relating to subjects of great
difficulty or carried on too long. We would notice also
that in dealing with other indications of mental mischief
we need not be careful to show how the more serious cases
'f each kind suggest the significance of the slighter and
fir commoner mental troubles which form our real subject
if inquiry ; for this reason, simply that what we have here
-aid about failure or loss of memory applies equally to
'ither signs of temporary mischief.
MAX A FRUIT-EATER.*
MAN'S nearest of kin among the animals is the aj)e.
Tliis is shown not only by those outward features
' hich all can recognise, but more clearly and more cer-
Minly by the structure of the nervous sy.stem. The animal
in which this system resemljles most closely the nervous
system in man is the ape, and of all apes, that which comes
nearest to man in this respect is the orang. The brain
' onvolutions, which in rodents (gnawing quadrupeds —
i-ats, squinels, ic.) and edentates (toothless quadru-
peds— ant-eaters, ground-hogs, <kc.), are very simple,
* " The Perfect Way in Diet; a Treatise advocating a return to
'Jie natural and ancient fruit of onr race." By Anna Kingsford,
Doctor of Medicine of the Faculty of Paris. (London : Kegan Paul,
Trench, i Co.)
in the flesh-eating animals are more developed, and in
the ajies, especially the orangs, tliey are developed still
more fully. '• We are authorised in concluding," says
Professor Mi \ art, that "the difference between the brain of
the orang and tliat of man, as far as yet ascertained, is a
difference of absolute mass ; it is a difference of degree,
and not of kind."
Starting from this relationship. Miss Kingsford, in the
book before us, proceeds to indicate the bearing of man's
kinship to apes on the \ exed question of man's proper or
natural food. Carefully studying the entire digestive
apparatus of animals and men, and especially comparing
this apparatus in men and apes, she is led to the conclusion
that man approaches nearest in this respect to tho.se
animals whieh are eaters of fruits and herbs. " If," she
says, " we have consecrated to this sketch of comparative
anatomy and physiology a paragraph which may seem
a little wearisome in detail, it is because it appears
necessary to combat certain erroneous impressions aflecting
the structure of man, which obtain credence, not only in
the vulgar world, but even among otherwise instructed
persons. How many times, for instance, have we not
heard people speak with all the authority of conviction
alx)ut the 'canine teeth' and 'simple stomach' of man as
certain evidence of his natural adaptation for a flesh diet ?
At least we have demonstrated one fact, that if such
arguments are vaMd, they apply with even greater force
to the anthropoid apes — whose ' canine ' teeth are much
longer and more powerful than those of man — and the
scientists nmst make haste, therefore, to announce a recti-
fication of their present division of the animal kingdom in
order to class with tlie carnivora (flesh-eaters) and their
proximate species all those animals which now make up
the order primates (men and apes). And yet, with the
solitar}- exception of man, there is not one of these last
which does not in a natural condition refuse to feed on
flesh I " Pouchet says that all the details of man's
digestive apparatus, as well as his dentition, are proofs
of his frugi\orous (fruit-eating) origin. Professor Owen
agrees that the close analogy between apes and man
demonstrate his frugivorous nature. So Cu^-ier, Linnseus,
Lawrence, Bell, Gassendi, Flourens, and a host of other
authorities.
Yet another belief is as common as it is erroneous, viz.,
that '■ flesh food contains the elements of physical force,
and that to be strong, robust, and endowed with muscular
energy it is necessary to partake largely of animal food."
Yet no flesh-fed animal rivals in strength the herb-eating
rhinoceros, in endurance the horse, the mule or the camel.
A gorilla feeding on fruits and nuts is more than a match
for the far heavier lion. '"Tlie butt'alo, the bison, the
hippopotamus, the bull, the zebra, the stag, are types of
physical power and vast bulk, or of splendid development
of limb. Only in ferocity ai'e flesh-eating animals superior
(1) to tho.se who find their food in fruits and herbs."
As regards man himself, the idea that the flesh-eaters are
the most powerful, is erroneous, as is the cognate idea that
to acquire strength, a man should eat daily large quantities
of flesh meat. " In the palmy days of Greece and Rome,
before intemperance and licentious li\-ing had robbed those
kingdoms of their glory and greatness, their sons, who were
not only soldiers but heroes, subsisted on simple vegetable
food, rj-e meal, fruits, and milk. The daily rations of the
Roman soldier were one pound of barley, three ounces of
oil, and a pint of thin w ine. It was no regimen of fle^li
that inspired the magniticent courage of the Spartan
patriots who defended the defiles of Thermopyla;, or that
filled with indomitable valour and enthusiasm the con-
querors of Salamis and Marathon." Among the nations of
92
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec. 2, 1881.
t'ulay, also, wc find the fruit-eaters and lierl>c-ators as en-
during, to say the least, ns the Hesh eaters, — and healthier.
Are we then to infer with our author that a diet of fruit
and seeds, prefcraldy uncooked, is the best for the human
race? Or, if we infi'r this, nmy we conclude that all would
do well to adopt sui-h a diet i It might he unsafe to accept
the lattiT inference, for haliit and custom count for some-
thinj; in such matters. l>ut we may very safely adopt
the opinion, now f;enerally prevalent among experienced
physicians, that fruit and seed, hevhs and vegetahles, should
form a lar^^cr jiroportion of our food than they do. Pre-
cisely as many who do not accept, in its entirety, the views
of Dr. Richardson ahout alcoholic stimulants, yet hold that
these stimulants, if taken at all, should lie taken in much
smaller (luantity than is customary, so, many who would
not agi-ee with ^liss Kingsford, that animal food shoidd he
entirely displaced (which is Dr. Richardson's opinion also),
yet see that it would he well if flesh meat were taken in
much less fjuantity than at present.
How much custom has to do with the use and efTects of
flesh meat is shown hy cases such as Miss Kingsford men-
tions, in which persons unaccustomed to flesh meat have
heen actually intoxicated by its use. Dr. Dundas Thomp-
son tells us fif some Indians accustomed to vegetable food,
who, dining luxuriously on meat, showed an hour or two
later, by their jabbering and gesticulations, that the same
eflect had been produced upon them as if they had taken
some intoxicating spirit or drug.
Apart from the special doctrine which !Miss Kingsford
advocates, her little treatise is well worth studying for its
clear and correct account of the various forms of food used
by man. There is much matter for reflection, also, in what
she says about slaughter-houses, fox-hunting, pigcon-shoot-
iiiL', and the cruelties of the fur trade.
The Spectroscopic Analysis of Light. — We may illustrate this
process by a similar one, whicli we jiiiglit imagine mankind to per-
form. Supjiose Xature shonid loan ns an immense collection of
many millions of gold pieces, out of which we were to select those
which wonld serve us for money and return her the remainder.
The Englisli rummage through the pile, and pick out all the pieces
which are the proper weight for sovereigns and half-sovereigns; the
French pick out those whicli will make 5, 10, 20, or 50-franc pieces ;
the Americans the 1, 5, 10, and 20-dollar pieces, and so on. After
all the suitable pieces are thus selected, let the remaining mass be
spread ont on the ground according to the respective weights of the
))ieccs, the smallest pieces being placed in a row, the next in weight
in an adjoining row, and so on. AVe shall then find a number of
rows missing— one which the French have taken out for 5-franc
pieces ; close to it another which the Americans have taken for dollars ;
afterwards a row which have gone for half-sovereigns, and so on. By
thus arranging the pieces, one would bo able to tell what nations
had culled over the pile, if he only knew of what weight each one
made its coins. The gai)S in the places where the sovereigns and
half-sovereigns belonged would indicate the English, that in the
dollars and eagles the Americans, and so on. If, now, we reflect
how utterly hopeless it would appear, from the mere examination
of the niiscollanoons ))ile of pieces which had been left to ascer-
tain what i)cople had been selecting coins from it, and how easy the
problem would appear when once some genius should make the
proposed arrangement of the pieces in rows, we shall see in what
the fundamental idea of spectrum analysis consists. The forma-
tion of the spectrum is the separation and arrangement of 'he light
which comes from an object on the same sj-stem by which we have
supposed the gold ])ieces to be arranged. The gaps we see in
the spectrum tell the tale of the atmosphere through which the
light has passed, as in the case of the coins they would toll what
nations had sorted over the pile. — Xe^'comb's Popular Astronomij.
7oyTi*9 Extract is a certain cure for Rhoumntism and Gout,
Pond'a KitncI ia a certain cure for Ilirniorrlioida (Piles).
Pond's Kxtract is a ccrtiiin cure fur Neuralpc pains.
Sold l.y 1
Get the genuine.
[Adtt.
A MILD NOVEMBER.
'PIIG weather of the month that has just claps>cd has boon ift
1
unusually mild, that a few statistics respecting mild Norembrrs
ill general, and the past one in ]iarticalnr, may not be withfuit
interest.
It appears that in London the uvcrage tcmpcTatorc of the lii
twenty-five days of the past month has been as much as 7° above
the mean of twenty years' obnervations ; and, if it is fair to compare
the London temperatures with those of fireenwich, the past Novem-
ber has been decidedly the warmest ctperienccd during the present
century. Relatively warm Xoveml)cr8 were observed in the follow-
ing years :—lSOG, 1817, 1818,1821, 1822, 182t, 18-15, l&t«, 1847,
1850, 1852, 1857, 1863, 1805, 18GC, and 1877. The wannest of these
was 1852, when the mean temperature in London was tS'!*°, or rather
more than a degree lower than tliat of the month that has just
passed away. The maximum readings observed during the month
under review have been exceptionally liigh, and those of the Sth
and 10th, when the thermometer in the shade rose to 61°, have
only been exceeded once daring the present century. This was on
Xov. 8, 1847, the reading then being ns high as 07'.
On looking over the meteorological returns from seveml English
stations, wc find that, while the thermometer has been annsoally
high throughout, there have been three periods of especially warm
weather. The first of these occurred on the Sth, the second about
the 13th or Utli, and the third about the 20th or 21st. In the sub-
joined table, the temperature on each of these occasions has been
comiiared with the mean for the corresponding day of thirteen
rears : —
51h.
13th or 14th.
Differ-
ence .p
from T""P-
mean.
Differ-
ence
from
3(Hhor21f
Temp.
deg. deg. I
Xorth Shields 510 -I- 62^
York 51-5 + 6'7
Yarmouth 52"5 + 6"5
Cambridge ' 58-0 ;-h 128
Nottingham 560 -HlO-o
Leicester ] 546 '+ 92
Birniingham 561 -HlO'6
Hereford . 56 6 + 98
Oxford 570 -HOB
London 595 -I- 197
Marlborough 54.2 + 7'5 j
Dover 545 + 69
Hastings 51-5 + 69 j
Silloth (Carlisle) i 49-7 + 4-7
Bariow-in-Funiess ' 50'5 '+ 5'2 j
Manchester | 502 j -h 5-0
Liverpool I 53-0,+ 68 1
Holyhead 54'5 ; ■^ 7"5
Pembroke \ 54-0 + 62
Plvmouth 56-8 -I- 7-2
deg.
550
deg.
+ 12 2
550 -H20
52-5 '+ 8-9
54-5
570
55-3
-Hll-3
-+13-7
-t-12 0
deg. deg.
500 I + 8-5
500 -1- 8-4
500 I + 7-6
52-5 1 + 10-5
50 6 + 13-2
57-9 +\3G
54-5 -HlO-6
560 -4- 11-4
55-5 -fll^
520 :+ 6 8
52-7 + 7 5'
54-1 UlOS
51-5 + 8-3
55 0 -tll-O
56o + 12-3
83 0 -^ 7-5
540 + 7-7
548 + 75
525
501
500
510
-I- 10-7
+ 9-3
+ 7-4
•i- 81
54-5 -(■12-3
54 5 ■ +11-6
496
530
52-5
49-7
500
47-6
51-5
52-5
530
53-8
+ 6-8
+ 9-7
■+ 9-2
+ 71
+ 7-2
+ 5-7
-I- 8-7
+ 8-3
+ 7-3
+ 7-7
It will be seen that on the 5th, the average temperatnre was from
5° to 7° above the mean in the north of England, and also on the
south coast, but that in the Midland counties it was between 9° and
11° above, while at Cambridge and in London the excess was nearly
13°. On the 13th or 14th — for in some places the greatest heat was
on the former date, and in others it occurrcdon the latter— the excess
was between 7° and 8° on the west and south-west coasts, but
between 11° and 13° at most of the inland stations, while at Notting-
ham and Hereford it amounted to more than 13J°. On the 20th and
21st the weather was not quite so warm, but even then the tcmpera-
ttire was more than 10° above the mean in many i>arts of central
England, and as much as 12' in excess at Oxford.
(in e-xaminaticn,_it appears that a warm November is usually
associated with great storms, ami frequently accompanied by dis-
turbance of an electrical nature in the shape of thunderstorms and
displays of aurora borealis. The month under review has certainly
been distinguished for these phenomena, nithongh their influence
has been chiefly confined to the more western and northern parts of
the kingdom. F. J. B.
Dec. -2, 1881.]
KNOAVLEDGE
93
Xfttn-s; to tl)f etJi'tor.
ITht Editor Joe$ noHolJhiiiuel/mponsible/or iheoptmoM ofhit corretpondenlt.
He caitnol uadfrlal-e lo return manuscrifit or to correspond irilh their rrtlert. Jie
TtquetU thai all cctamuniealiom ihould be as short at possible, cousisteiitli/ leith full
and clear statements of tlte icriter's meaning.'^
Alt cotnmi4«i<-atio,is should be addressed to the Editor cif KxowLIDGB, 71, Qreai
Queen-street, W.C. r- i.
All Cheques and Fost-Office Orders to he made payable to Messrs. Wi/man e;
Sons. , ,
*.• All letters to the Editor icill be Kumhered. For conrenierice of reference,
correspondents, schen r^erring to any letter, urill oblige by mentioning its numjer
and the page on which it appears.
Ml Letters or Queries to the Editor irhich require attention in the current usue of
Kyowt.svax, should reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day <if publication.
" In knowledge, that man onlv is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
Plate of transition 'Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fiiity of opinion." — Faraday.
" There is no harm in makine a mistake, but preat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makea no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing.*' — Litbig. ^^^_^
0\\x CoiTfgponlifnrt Columns.
THE IN\aSIBILITY OF LIGHT— JNCLIXATIOX OF THE
EARTH'S AXIS— THE ZOETROPE.
[49] — Without entering — at all events for the present — into the
discussion of the question " Is the Sun hot ? " I should like to
suggest to " Tyro " (letter 6, p. 35) a simple experiment which
will give him ocular demonstration that light is invisible. Let your
correspondent, then, ntake a pasteboard tube, ten or twelve inclies
long, and three inches in diameter. Close the bottom with a disc
of cai'd, and line the whole with black velvet. This done, let him
cut two holes, say half an inch in diameter, ojiposite to each other,
two-thirds of the way towards the closed end of the tube ; and
between those a third hole. If he will hold tliis simple piece of
apparatus so that the sun shall shine across the tube, i.e.. so that
sunlight shall enter in at one of the side holes and pass out at the
other, and will look into the tube through its open end, he will see
— nothing; the interior being totally dark. Now, let him introduce
a strip of wTiting paper through the hole between the two others
(which should be at the lower side of the tube), and push this
l)aper up until it enters the beam of sunlight. Instantly the
interior of the tube will become illuminated, because the previously
invisible liglit will be reflected from the paper, and so become
perceptible. " Tyro " has presumably noticed that abeam of sun-
light entering a darkened room through a hole or chink in tlie
shutter is traceable as it cro.«ses the apartment. This, however,
arises from the reflection of the light by the particles of dust which
till the atmosphere of the apartment. Were it practicable to
eliminate these by burning, or other^^^se, the path of the ray would
be quite invisible, and the round sjiot of light on the floor or
opposite wall, would be the only inilication we should receive of
the entry of sunlight into the darkened chamber at all.
I do not know whether the " Tyro " of letter 9 (p. 3C) is the same
" Tyro " as he to whom I have just been essaying a reply. At any
rate, I will suggest another experiment as a means of clearing up
this second ditiicultj-. It is this. Let your querist obtain a lamp,
an apple, and a knitting-needle. Fuinishcd with these, he must
thrust the knitting-needle diametrically through the apple, and place
the lamp in the middle of the table. The lamp will stand for the
sun, the apple for the earth, and the knitting-needle for its axis.
Now, he must incline the needle 23°, and we will suppose that, in
doing so, he causes the top of it to point to the north wall of his
room. Then he must carefully preserve the direction of the needle
constant in this position, and, doing so, carry it round the lamp.
An instant's reflection will show him that, should he start from the
north side of the lamp, the upper or northern end of his needle (and
obviously the northern half of his apple-earth) will be inclined from
the lamp ; and that w-hen he brings it round to the south side of
the lamp, the top of the axis, still pointing to the north wall of the
room, must be inclined towards it. The end of " Tyro's " query is
not quite so intelligible as might be desired ; but he seems to con-
ceive in some occult way that the earth's rotation must affect the
position of her axis. If, while studiously keeping his knitting-
needle axis parallel to itself during its revolutions round the lamp,
he twists it so as to make the apple rotate on it, he will at once see
how the two movements may bo independent of each other.
As " Moonstruck" (query l-, p. 38) has a question on a cognate
subject, I may say that perpetual spring, rather than perpetual
summer, would reign at the poles of the earth, were its axis perpen-
dicular to the plane of the ecliptic. Summer would, of course, be
continuous at the Equator, where the sun would be always verti-
cally overhead.
If "Zulu" (query 10, p. 38) will reflect, imprimis, how much
what we call seeing is a matter of inference, and, in the next place,
remember that the image of any object is retained by the retina
for something like 01 second after such object has disappeared,
he will get some idea of the way iu which the images in the
Zoetrope are caused, as it were, to shade into each other, the mind
unconsciously supplying the intermediate steps. The real images,
in the case of an actually moving object, must, so to speak, overlap
in a way which must render it impossible to predicate definitely
that any one given instantaneous attitude of the body iu motion has
been actually observed.
A Fellow of xnE Kov.^l Asteoxomical Societt.
THE JIISSIXG LIXK.
[50] — Dr. Antlrew Wilson does good service in making known to
youi" readers the erroneousuess of the widespread notion that man
is descended from monkey. Concerning the question to which he
makes excellent reply, I think the following remarks in Professor
Huxley's Preface to Hoeckel's " Freedom of Science " (p. xiii.) will
be serviceable.
"All the real knowledge which we possess of the fossil remains
of man goes no further back than the quaternary epoch, and none
of these remains present us with more marked pithecoid* characters
than such as arc to be found among the existing races of mankind.
But then the equine quadrupeds of the quaternary period do not
differ from existing Equidw in any more important respect than
these last diiier. Yet it is a well-established fact that in the course
of the tertiary period, the eqnine'quadrupeds have undergone a series
of changes exactly such as the doctrine of evolution requires.
Hence sound analogical reasoning justifies the expectation that
when we obtain the remains of pliocene, miocene, and eocene
anthropidce, they will present us with the like series of gradations."
— Edward Clodd.
THE 1-lXCH OKDXAXCE MAPS.
[51] — In the first numbers of Knowledge, attention has been
called to the fact that the 1-inch to the mile Ordnance maps are not
trustworthy. A very good case in point has come to my knowledge.
From Handcross, in Sussex, three roads run to Brighton, one
through Crabtree and Heufield, one through Cuckfield, and the
other through Hicksted and Bolney. The one through Crabtree
leaves the other roads about a mile south of Handcross Gate, and
is showH in the right place on the map. The one through Cucklield
leaves the one through Bolney about a furlong lower do^vn ; but on
the map it is a good mile and a quarter, and, consequently, for
about three miles run is shown entirely in the wrong idace. — I am, &c.,
G. W. BCCKWELL.
PALIZSCII AXD IIALI.KVS COMET.
[52] — Allow me to point out that, in an article on Comets in the
first number of Knowledge (p. 10), you have inadvertently adopted
an oft-repeated error, that when Palizsch re-discovered Bailey's
comet on Chiistmas Day, 1758, he found it " without telescopic
aid." A complete account of his discovery, in his own words, will
be found in the " Berliner Jahrbuch " for 1828, by which it appears
that it was made with a telescope of 8 ft. focal length, and was the
result of a search for the comet in the part of the sky where he
expected it to appear. With this he noticed, about six o'clock on
the evening in question, a nebulous-looking object, between i and
S Piscium, which he had not seen there before ; and subsequent
observations, on Dec. 26 and 27, proved that it was indeed a comet.
Thus did Palizsch (who, though certainly a farmer, was not a
peasant, for he was a man of education, and an amateur in botany
and other sciences, besides astronomy) first observe the predicted
return of a comet nearly a month before anjone else ; Messier
being the next, and observing it at Paris, mth a 4i ft. X'ew-
tonian, on Jan. 21, 1759. I presume the mistake that Palizsch found
it casually, and without telescopic aid, was founded on a misunder-
standing of a note iu Uerschel's "Outlines," which certainly conveys
that impression, but docs not actually state it, so that it is difficult to
be sure whether Sir John really thought so. But at any rate, it has
been repeated in many books on astronomy, and Miidler thought it
* Ape-like.
94
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 2, 1861.
ncocMnry to contrHdirt it in lii« " CJcBchiclito (Icr Himmplskundo "
(vol. II., |i. 400). ruli/.H('li was Iciw fortuimtc in I7H0, when lio
thought hp hiul ili»c()vi'rc(l nn^tlicr coinct in C'nncor, nhlrh provcrl,
however, to be n now well-known nebniii. He (lied nt Lun^^ruii,
uer.r l)re«den, on Feb. 22, I7HH, In the (i.">th year of his »).'<? ; hiw
momor»ble discovery on Chri.s(niii8 Uay, 175H, was inndo at I'roliliH,
botwi-en Dresden mid I'iriio. — Yonra, Ac,
BInekhonth, Not: It. W. T. Lyn.n.
DO COMETS OBEY GRAVITY?
[53j — Ah I nm probably the victim of ill-written text-books, such
as you allude to in your introduction totlie correspondence columns,
pcrhnjis you will kindly ])ermit me to be set ripht in rpRard to a
little matter which has occusionnlly troubled nic, and which isnf^ain
suRgcsted by the article on comets.
It is stated in that article that comets obey the law of gravita-
tion ; and also that the matter of which they (or at least their
tails) arc composed is of inconceivable tenuity.
What jtu/.zles me, then, is liow these flimsy concerns can po8.*iibly
be obeying the laws of gravitation, which I understand to mean
that bodies attract each other in proportion to their mass. How is
the sun's attraction, which fixes the masxive jAanets to their present
paths, to be reconciled with the fact that these airij bodies wander
round orbits so gigantic ?
If you cannot alTord space for my ditficulty, a reference to what
you consider a reliable work will greatly oblige, yours, &c.,
COMF.T.
THE CEIMSON-CIliCLED STAR.
[54] — Will you kindly inform me to what star Tennyson refers in
" la Memoriam," LXXXVIII., verse 12 —
" And la.'it. returning from afar,
Before the crimson-circled star
Had fallen into her father's grave."
The use of the feminine possessive pronoun would naturally suggest
Venus. But why "crimson-circled"? Would this be effect of
refraction on the horizim ? If so, though only a dilettante astro-
nomer, I do not remember having observed it.
I wish every success to your new Magazine, whose motives and
virtues I diligently proclaim everywhere.
Quite apart from punning, I think you have taken as your motto,
" Sublinii feriam sidera vertice."
Yours faithfully, M.R.C.S.
[I have always supposed crimson-circled here to mean surrounded
by the crimson sunset glory. Is it not LXXXIX. ?— Ed.]
TABLES OF MEH1D1.\KAL PARTS.—THE FL.\T EARTH.
[55] — Can you toll me liow it is that the Table of Meridianal
Parts in Riddle's Book of Tables differs so much in some parts
from the corresponding table in Cliambers' and Norie's books ? The
fact is the more strange, because the formula which Riddle gives for
calculating that same table yields results identical with those tabu-
lated in the two latter works. Which is likely to be the more
trustworthy. Chambers' book or that of Riddle ?
Have not you, and men of science in general, a right to ask your
impassioned friend and determined enemy " Pai'allax " to prove
that he has some clearly-defined, or, at all events, some intelligible
theory of the motions of the heavenly bodies, and some conception
of what that theon,' involves, by (1) constructing a set of tables
which would enable lis to find our way about on the earth ; or (2)
by forecasting for us such events as eclipses, planetary transits, Ac. ;
or (3) by showing how it comes to pass that if the upholders of the
Newtonian theory be the fools, or impostors, or emi)irics which ho
assorts them to be, their forecasts arc so invariably justified by
results ?
.\nd if he refused, or were unable to give an account of himself
in some such way, to forbid him, on ])ain of a writ " Dc Junafiro
i II qnirendit," to open his mouth, or write, or ever send telegrams on
this subject as long as he lived, to any liWug man, saving only Mr.
Newton Crosland.— Your obedient servant (and admirer and well-
wislier), Wintkr.
P.S. —It would bo interesting to discover what would be the
result of the meeting and intermingling of chaos with chaos (in
the way hinted nt above) — whether it would be order orannihilation.
[It was a favourite idea of the late Professor Do Jlorgan's to set
paradoxer against paradoxer. It is singular that they only agree in
attacking the theories which men of science agree in accepting.
They never agree among themselves. Each may have a follower
or two, or even ten or twentv ; but they do not follow each other. —
E...J
PYRAMID MEASURKS.
1 50) —With reference to your remark about the coincidences, I
may remark that my mathemnticul knowledge does not enable mo
to prove that it is possible to prr«iuce the same coincidences by the
use of any other values of the diunieters and distances of the ihrco
bodies, and of the scale of reduction, than those 1 have given ; if,
however, it can be proved to be possible, then I lulmit my conclu-
sions will not be entitled lo (he consiileralion which at present I
claim for them. And further, if the next transit of Venus be
observed, as it ought to be, and the resulting value of the sun's
distance proves to be identical, or very nearly so, with the value I
have derived from the pyramid measures, will it be quite satisfac-
tory to a mind of average inteliigence to Siiy that the agreement is u
mere coincidence ? Of course, you may reply that this argument
has no present value ; iior am I inclined to attach much weight to
it, because, looking at the results of past transits, it is scarcely to
be expected that the next will finally settle the question of the sun's
distance, and yield a I'esult in which all astronomers will concur,
and wliich will be more reliable than the one derived from tho
pyramid measures. Probably the results of Professor Winnecke's
new method of determining the sun's distance from Venus observa-
tions will be more accurate than any of the results obtained by-
other methods.
I thiuk a much greater interest is now being taken in the pyramid
than you seem to be aware of. An active correspondence has been
going on this week in one of the Manchester papera, in which, how-
ever, I have taken no part ; and a lecture was delivere<l there on
Wednesday evening. Lectures arc also being given in other towns
and districts, and the jiyramid is apparently fast becoming a house-
hold word.
I notice printer's errors in four of my equations which render
them unintelligible. I enclose a list of corrections of four of tho
formula; in my paper. — Yours, &c., JosiPH Baxkndkll.
Corrections of formula- in paper on " The Great Pyramid
Measures, and the Diameteis and Distances of the .Sun, Earth, and
Moou."
read
\c'2v lO"/
9m.s
•'2v'10'
0. for
20. ,,
31- ,. i
/Se 1.
33. „ 10 \/— „ 10 ,\/,
.Stt
4,
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
[57] — Some years ago my father, who was a medical pr.ictitioner
ia Somersetshire, had a valuable horse, which eventually he was
obliged to part with, as it was vicious, and not always safe to drive.
During the time my father drove it, he had occasion to visit daily
for several weeks an old gentleman who had met with a serious
accident. His patient lived at the bottom of a steep lane, which
branched off at right angles from the main road, at about 3J miles
from the town where my father lived. This horse was always used
for visiting this patient, and during the first two or three weeks,
when there were dangerous symptoms, was frequently driven down
the lane twice a day.
The farmer to whom my father sold this horse lived at a distance
of several miles beyond this turning on tho same i-oad, and attended
regularly the market in the town where my father lived, and neces-
sarily passed this sharp turning both going and returning there-
from. .Some three or four years after purchasing this horse, he had
occasion to drive into tho town to fetch my father to attend his
wife. As the case was urgent, he got into the gig, and was driven
by the farmer towards the farm where he lived. .Suddenly, without
the slightest warning, the horse turned down the lane he knew so
well, nearly capsizing them.
As soon as they had recovered themselves, the farmer exclaimed that
" he had never known the horse do such a thing before all the years
he had had it." My father was surprised, and said, " Not when you have
driven this way to and from the market ? " The farmer replied, "that
the horse never oven so much as looked at the turning, whilst he had
driven it, until now." " Well," said my father, " he must associate
me, knowing that I am in this gig, with the many visits he used to
pay with me down that lane, when 1 attended my poor old patient
at the bottom, after his accident. I patted his nose before starting,
and he knows by my voice that I am behind him. His memory has
served him well, and he concluded that I must be going the same
journey we performed together so many years ago." My father
always considered this fact evidence of reasoning powers in the
Dec.
1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
liorse, and although I incline to the eamo opinion, I will not
•omnient upon it, but content rayeelf with simply relating this
inecdotc. A. H.
anecdote
Noi: 19, 1881.
[58] — A sinpilar instance of apparent prescience in a dog occurs
in an account pivon Xov. 21 of a father shot by his son. Here is
the evidence of tlie wife and mother : —
" We heard notliing to di.sturb us after retiring to bed until
about half-past two o'clock neit morning. About that time a little
do;^ which belonged to my husband, and was a great favourite,
oavio upstairs, and jumjied upon our bed. My husband tried to
make the dog po away, but he could not do so, as the little thing
Roemed so ' fussy.' At last he thought the best thing to do would
be to take the dog downstairs, and by shutting the door at the
bottom, prevent it from returning. My husband got out of bed, and
took tlie dog in his arms for the purpose of carrying it away. In
about half-a-minute, and when he was on the stairs, I heard a loud
leport, as if a pistol or a revolver was being fired. This was re-
iwatod twice, and the deceased then shouted out at the top of his
voiie, ' I am shot !' "
The peculiarity here is that the coming danger, of which the
animal appeared cognisant, could only have been imparted by the
footsteps or other movements of a meuther of the family ; this,
iimUr ordinary circumstances, could have given no such premoni-
tions of danger to the dog. Has any similar case been observed ?
Bark.
[59] — In tlie article on " Intelligenee in Animals," in Xo. III. of
KxoHLEDGE, p. 46, the writer speaks of animals possessing the
power of practical reasoning, bnt not abstract. Does not the follow-
ing anecdote show a power of moi-e than merely practical reason-
ing ? I do not know whether it has been quoted by anyone else in
this relation to Darwin's theory.
Two students were in the habit of visiting each other at their
respective rooms; each had a dog. On one occasion both dogs were
left outside the room while their owners were inside. The dogs
began to tight, which ended in their being admitted into the room
and kept at a distance from each other. On a subsequent visit one
dog was absent, and the other dog was put outside as before.
The two students were soon after surprised by hearing what they
thought was their two dogs outside fighting. On opening the door
the dog walked into the room, which was the end he desired. He
bad remembered the reason why, on a previous occasion, both he
and the other dog had been admitted into the room, and he had
icted accordingly. — Yours, &c. Feedeeick G. Abbiss.
REASON IX AXIMALS.
[60] — In support of the view that animals possess a certain
anount of reasoning power, I would contribute the following
iistance, which has not hitherto been published.
During my boyhood my father had the shooting over some
poperty adjoining a deer-park, and we owned at this time a very
itelligent setter, which used also to retrieve. One day my father
sot and wounded a hare, which made its way through a hole in the
p«k-i)aling. Tlie dog leaped the paling, caught the hare, and
bought it back to the fence in its mouth. It then tried several
til es to return by leaping tlie paling, but the weight of the hare
l)riVonted it from reaching the top. After resting awhile it
behought itself of the hole through which the hare had come, and,
tatng the hare to this hole, it ))ushed it through, then leaped the
pak paling, and brought the hare to my father. — I am, sir, your
obdient servant, B. Clemext Lcc.is, B.S., F.K.C.S.
lav. 18, 1881.
ARE WOMEX INTERIOR TO MEX ?
[1] — I read with much pleasure your remarks on the question,
" A» women inferior to men ? " It occurs to me that if we are
infdior in brain capacity, the reason may be that sufficient care is
not tken to develope the brain. We all know tlie size of the hand
is inceased by constant work— at least of a particular kind. And
constnt use of the other parts of the body usually leads to an
alterd and probably heavier formation. Xow, in a girl's education
the bain is but slightly exercised. Music and needlework, which
oecup, so much of her time, scarce exercise it at all. And even
the ]iat of her education which does require brain-work seldom
calls itforth vigorously. She has fewer rewards to look forward
to if sb succeeds, and fewer punishments if she idles. Many idle
boys rquire whipping — and get it. Many idle girls require
•whippic; — and do not get it. Then, just when the boy is about
enterin! on the most active part of his brain-work in a Univer-
sity, th girl is taken from school, and sets out on a new
course i flirting and husband-catchin:;. She is sometimes at this
work, and jierhups even married at iin age when the bov who idles
woulii be wlii|iped — as she ought to lie. Again, in her after-life, she
has but rarely much bniin-work to do, and the development "of the
brain is probably not maintained. But I should be surpirised. to
hear that the brain development of George Eliot, or George Sand,
for instance, was inferior to that of tlje average male, and if it was,
it would prove that the quality, not the quantity, of brain was the
reajly important point. If girls were aawell taught at schools as
boys, got as much bniin-work to do, and were then sent to uni-
versities, and did not begin to look for husbands until they were
twenty-two or twenty-three years old, I have no doubt their brains
would be much improved. 1 know my views en whipping will be
unpopular, but if the se.xea arc Jiqual, as I contend, why not treat
them alike ? — I remain, <4c., Susan G.
EFFEMINACY OP APPEARAXCE.
[62] — Can any of your readers give me a description of the
characteristic difference between the physiognomy of the male
and female of the human species ? You may sometimes see men
whose features might be called effeminate ; now in what does this
peculiarity consist ?
The article on the question "Are women inferior to men?"
brought this to my mind. Physiognomist.
OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[63] — In regard to the optical illusions, there may be added to
the instances adduced in Mr. Foster's article, one of circles.
If, say, a 2-inch hole be cut in a piece of brown paper and an inch
jieriphery left round it. and, again, another 2-inch hole be cut with a
three inch periphery, the two holes, although exactly the same size,
will appear not to be so. — 1 am, &c.,
Pehcival a. Fothegill, F.R.A.S.
A " LUNAR ILLUSION."
[64] — 1 have frequentlj- noticed what your correspondent M.
calls a " Lunar Illusion " (No. 23, p. 57), but I have always supposed
a different reason for it, and I hardly think that M.'s arrow hits the
mai-k.
Let us suppose a lighthouse on our horizon ; we know that a
straight Une from it dra\vii through the moon would bisect it very
differently from a line drawn from the setting sun (below, in fact),
though the sim would appear in the same place as the lighthouse,
and a line from it would, of course, seem as if it ought to bisect it
in the same way. The enonnoiis cnmpnrntii'e -distance of the sun
seems to me the true reason ; and I have sometimes thought that
a rough idea of his distance might be made by taking the angle of
JI.'s sagitta when the moon is near the zenith, knowing, of course,
the distance of our satellite from the earth. — I am, sir, yours, &c.,
Cleveland Lodge, Sydenham. S. H. W.
TELESCOPES.— OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[65] — Would it lie in accordance with your plan to give a popular
description of the different kinds of telescopes, with the apparatus,
giving a few hints to amateurs in obtaining them, explaining among
other things the following : —
The Terrestrial Telescope.
„ Astronomical ,,
,, X'ewtonian ,,
., Equatorial ,,
,, Huyghenian Ej-e-Piece.
,, Pancreatic ,, ,,
„ Kitchener's Pancreatic Eye-Piece, &c., &c.
„ Different ways of mounting.
>, ,, kind „ stands.
,, Power that object glasses will bear, &c.
As the circulation of Knowledge increases, as I am sure it will
do, you may be able to spare a portion of space in each number to
the above subject.
The above appears to me very striking, the circle on the left
looking very much larger, though they are the same size. The
illusion vanishes when a card is placed at the top of the circles.
F.H.S.
06
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Dm 2, 1881,
SOLAU HEAT.
rSC] — HoforrinR to I^cttrr 2 (ynga 15), I am of opinion ttiiit
wliiitovrr conditions iipi'lv to this ciirtli npply also to tlir sun, only
in n (^rontor tli'^jn-o. Tlii' mnltor of which iho iiirth (and all the
|iliinctH anil Hatcllitcs) is composed, onco formed jiart of the sun,
which has (frnilnally condensed and left each ]>lanet behind in its
Inm, Geolof^ists tell lis that at a period inccmceivably remoto our
t,'Iol>e was in a state of intense heat, 'niis is i)ractical proof that
the sun is in a similar state. Ri'ferrin^j to Letter 28 (paRO 58), Mr.
Nowton Crosland endeavours, by one fell blow, to anniliilato the
KTpat law of universal gravitation. In promulgating tliis great law,
Newton cleared away heaps of tho cumbrous rubbish with which
the old schools of astronomy were hampered. Emerson says : " Tlio
tendency of all science is to 8ini|)lify." Mr. Crosland endeavours to
complicate. — Yours, &c., John Tiio.mson.
IS TUK SUN UOT?
[67] — It may interest your readers to know that this subject was
discussed in Desitin mid U'nrk, Vol. VII., under the question, " Does
the Sun Warm tho Earth?" Tho leader of that discussion en-
deavoured to prove that we receive our heat from tho earth, and
nut from tho sun ! Under tho title of " Tho Great Primordial
Korce," it has also received tho attention of Henry Raymond
Rogers, M.D., of Dunkirk, X.Y., in a paper published in tho
September number of /'I'o^irss of Science. In this paper, Dr.
Rogers propounds a similar oi>inion to that eipressed by your coitc-
spondent, " Co^ito," in letter 21. G. E. Bonney.
THE SUN'S HEAT AND THE EARTH'S RADIATION.
[68] — I have read the replies to Anti-Guebre's question (which,
like yourself, I have freqneutly encountered before) ; but in all of
them, including your own, one important factor is omitted — viz., the
difference between the obstructive or absorbent power of atmo-
spheric vapour to the raj'S of heat from different sources. Tho
sun-rays, as several correspondents have stated, pass tlirongh our
ordinary atmosphere with but little al)Sorj)tion ; but this is not the
case with *' obscure rays," or rays from a less heated and non-
luminous source. Hence the earth warmed by the sun doos more
to wann the air than tho sun itself does, because tho heat it
radiates is absorbed by the air, and also because it warms tho
air by direct contact and the commingling of tho portion of
air thus heated with that above, or " convection." It appears to
me that even our best treatises give too much credit to tliis
latter action, and too little to the first. Tho following
experiment which I tried many years ago ou Slont Blanc, at an
elevation of between fourteen and fifteen thousand feet, is instruc-
tive. My coat was wettod bv falls on tho sloppy surface of tho
glacier Ijelow, and at the elevation above-named, I noticed that the
coat-tail opposite the sim was thawed, while that in the shade was
frozen and stiff. By slowly turning round like a joint of meat
before a roasting fire, I alternately thawed and refrozo all sides of
my coat-tails in about one minute, as nearly as I can remember.
The direct rays of the snn woro painfully scorching, and skinned
my face and ears completely, but in tho shado, tho thin and highly-
dried air ponnittod a far greater degree of radiation of obscure
beat to tnko place than down below. Hence the freezing. I do
lint write this to controvert the other explanations given by your-
self and correspondents, but merely to supjily an additional factor.
Thus, the cooling effect of night radiation is far raoro effective
above than below, seeing that the amount of resistance to tho
passage of tho obscure rays is so greatly diminished there. This
is strikingly shown by tho sudden freezing of tho rills and stream-
lets, which are such remarkable features of a glacier surface during
the summer's day. They all stop as the .sun sets, and tho sloppy
surface of ice is dried, as waa the shady siile of my wot coat.
W. M.\TTiEU Williams.
LIGHTNING IN NOVEMBER.
[69] — Last night (Nov. 4) at 10.30 p.m., in a perfectly cloudless
sky, tho flashes of sheet lightning were vivid and incessant. Is not
this very unusual at this lime of tho year ? A strong gale was
blowing in the Irish Channel at the time.— Yours, A-c,
Liv.ri>o(,l, .Y,;,r. 23, 1881. E. S.
LOGARITHMS.
[70] — Mr. Grundy asks for information on an important item in
connection with Logarithmic work, viz., the tables. Many students
give up in disgust this simple procesis of calculation bocouso they
have been unfortunate in their choice of books.
I have been in tho habit of using Logarithm Books for many years,
for work of every description, and with pleasure give him my
exporienco.
In a long seriea of logarithmic calculations, the bo<jk to uflo will
depend on the number of figures wo re<iuire in tho desirofl result.
For instance, in doing ■t-flgnro work, it would Ixs a loss of lalxiur
and tinio to uso a 7-tiguro table.
Tho following are tho tables I have u-sed with great comfort]: —
For i-J>;;iire Wnrk; —
Table of Lnyit and Atitt-Logii, published by Ijiyton, price Is. (Ver)-
nsoful.) This requires simple interpolation.
Table of Logs and Anti-Loga (Uannyngton), published by Layton,
])rico 58. A comfortable table, bnt rather dear.
For B-fi'jiire TVork : —
Table of Logs, published by Smith, Elder, 4 Co., price iB. 6d. A
good book, and well worth the money.
Table nf Logs bij Oavnn. Better than the above, bnt requires a little^
more practice. It contains many other useful tables. Can be-
had of Triibner, i>rice about Is. Od.
For 7-f 'jure TVork:—
Table of Logs by Bruhns. Tho best book published ; I strongly
recommend it. Can bo had of Triibner, price about 4a. or less.
Table of Anti-Logs by Filipowski. This is a useful book when many
Anti-Logs are required. Published by Bell & Daldy.
Abaci's.
THE PRIMARY COLOURS.
[71] — In the little Treatise on Optics, forming part of the conrso-
of " Natural Philosojihy," published in 1862, by the Commissioners
of National Education in Ireland, a statement is put forward with
respect to tho constitution of the solar spectrum, which differs from
that set forth in other similar works upon chromatics.
The correctness of that statement is borne out by what I myself
conceive to be the appearance of tho character of the colour of
violet light, yet I confess I am puzzled to make out how, upon the-
explanation offered, the colour of the light in question is to be
accounted for.
Tho commissioners, after describing in detail Newton's experi-
ment of breaking up solar light into its seven coloured constituents,
continue their statement as follows : —
'' In reality, blue, rod, and yellow are the only colours present, the
rest being combinations of them. For the spectrum consists of a
layer of each of these colours, superimposed on the other — the blue,
tho red, and the yellow apj>earing distinctly at those points at which
they are most vivid in tho superimposed and corresponding layers."
" Tho three colours of which tho spectrum is really composed arc
thus divided among tho seven which it contains, calling red rays R.
yellow Y, and blue B.
White Red. Orange. Qreon. Blup. Indiijo. Violet.
20R-i-3OY-f50B 8R 7R + 7Y -lOY + lOB 7Y-I-12B 12B 16B + 5B.'
Thus far tho commissioners.
As I have said, tho impression produced on my eyo bears out dis
tinctly the statement as to tho occurrence of red light in the violol
exhibited by a really pure prism of dense flint glass. Yet if tl)
spectrum con.sista simply of tho layers of the three colonra a
question superimposed, it is difficult to conceive what appearane
each of those spectra would present, could wo manage to obtoinit
isolated. In what form, for instance, would tho red spectim
present itself ? From tho above table we learn that no red exits
in the yellow, green, blue, or indigo, while a considerable amountof
red is met with again in tho violet. Wouhl the rod spectrum oxhi>it
a wide, blank interval, extending from the yellowish end of ho-
orange up to tho violet end of the blue ?
An explanation of this matter, "plainly worded, exactly Ic-
scribcd," will doubtless bo an easy task for you, and will iiroboly
prove a boon to others besides,
Yours, A-c,
Mabel Wi.npbed L.us.
PHRENOLOGY.
[72] — Will you allow me to make a few observations, in aswcr
to tho first query contained in letter 32, p. 50, entitled " Pkeno-
logy " ? " G. P." says : "Assuming that phrenology is all 'rong.
what are the causes that determine the shape of tho head' " I
would observe at the outset that if we assume i)hrcnology to b " all
wrong," there can bo no satisfactory explanation given of thtdiver-
sities in tho shapes of heads. A common answer to tho query" ^Vhy
aro no two heads alike 'f " is, " Why aro no two faces o! hands
alike?" Tho simplest answer to this last seoms to be, hat no
two human natures are alike, and this will apply to to first
also, when wo consider that tho varieties we discover in tho
[Con/iilBn* on nge 99.
Dec. 2, 18>!1.1
• KNOWLEDGE •
97
Dec. 2, 1881.]
KNOWL.EDGE
99
ConliunrJ from page 96]
sliapc of tlie licail arc the same varieties that exliibit thcin-
soItcs in the whole external form of man. Now, if the.<^e
iliffcrences of bodily structure arc marks of diversity of
nature, the inequalities of the skiiU (which cannot be exempt
from the process) will also indicate the same, or to come
to the point, will indicate diversity of brain conformation, which
is just 'the doctrine of plirenologj-. Assuming it to be established,
then, that the " cause that determines the shape of the head " is
l>ecnliar conformation of brain, the pertinent remark of Professor
Lawrence forms a fitting supplement : — " If the mental processes
be not the function of the brain, what is its office ? In animals,
which possess only a small part of the human cerebral structure,
sensation exists, and in many cases more acute than in man. What
<'niployment shall we find for all that man possesses over and above
I liis portion — for the large and prodigiously developed human hemis-
pheres ? Are we to believe that these serve only to round off the
ligureof the orgjin, or to fill the cranium ? "
With regard to the opinion of Mr. G. H. Lewes, that the brain acts
as a whole, and that its functions are not localised, one merely
requires to point to Dr. Ferrier's researches in cerebral physiology,
by which it has been proved that the individual convolutions ore
^t*parate and distinct organs. A. B.
POPULAR ELECTRICITY.
[73] — I write to suggest that now that electricity is becoming of
such vast importance in the world, it is very desirable that a sound
elementary knowledge of its principles should be widely dissemi-
nated, and that Knowledge might be an available medium for con-
tributing to this result. Would it not be a good thing that a scries
of papers on this subject (including magnetism) should be pub-
lished in Knowledge ? The papers should be simple, and should
suggest experiments which any person of intelligence might try for
himself without elaborate or expensive apparatus. Sometliing in
the style of Tyndall's "Lessons on Electricity," but extending, of
course, to current electricity. I venture to think that such a series,
if produced bj' a competent hand, would be extremely popular with
young people, whose desire for information in this direction is very
great. — Yours, &c., Daniel Jones.
COMETS' TAILS.
[74] — I have read with great interest your excellent paper on
Comets, but am sorrj' to find no other theorj- can be introduced to
account for the tails always pointing away from the sun, exce))t
that of solar repulsion. Such a theory, I am sure, should not be
adopted without the most conclusive and perfect evidence of its
existence ; because, if we introduce a resisting medium into the
solar and stellar system, we see in it the germs of its own destruc-
tion, which, although for a time making no effect upon the move-
ments of the ])onderous planets, must, in the end, make itself felt,
oven though that medium be of the rarest tenuity. I once heard a
theory propounded, that comets were simply lenses, and the sun
shining through them produced the appearance of a tail ; that
might apply to telescopic comets, without any indication of a
imcleus, but not otherwise, for Sir John Herschell tells us the
nucleus of a comet is opaque. The theory is, as far as I know, a
novel one, and the readers of Knowledge must jndge for themselves
of its value. — Yours, Ac, J. D.
THE SUNS DISTANCE.
[75]. — The latest determination of the velocity of light, by
Michelson, gives 186,305 miles per sec. in vacuo. Supposing that
the time interval for the passage of light across the major axis of
the earth's orbit, which is given as 9866 sees., may be relied on to
tbe f*^ part of a second, as is likely, considering the numerous and
accurate observations on Jupiter's satellites ; may not the deduced
semi-axis of the earth's orbit, which, is 91,904,256 miles, be trusted
as far as the first four figures '' The corresponding parallax wonld
be 8"'895, round which all the best determinations seem to centre,
such as 8"88 from transit of 1874, 8"'91 by Hanen's lunar method,
8"894, and 8"'855 from observations on Mars. It appears that
Michelson's method, which is based on an extension of Foucault's,
gives a result which may be relied on almost down to the unit's
place : for the interval to be measured was the passage of light over
a distance of about 4,000 yards, and the direct deviation obtained
was about 150 times that obtained by Foucault. — Yours, &c.
Marlborough College, Nov. 19, 1881. , H. L. Callendab.
[Considering the somewhat wide discrepancies between the
observed time of appearance and disappearance of Jupiter's satel-
lites, according to the telescope employed and the observer's eye-
sight, we should be disposed to doubt whether the method referred
to can be trusted as likely to give results to the degree of accuracj*
you mention. Aberi-ation is regarded as more trustworthy. — Ed.]
THE METRICAL SYSTEM.
[76] — Sir W. Thompson, in his address at Y'ork, referring to the
metrical system, says, "to it we are irresistibly drawn in all
scientific and practical measurements, notwithstanding a dense
barrier of insular prejudice most detrimental to the islander."
It would be superHuous to enlarge here upon the many advan-
tages of the metrical system of weights and measures which are tet
forth and explained in so many elementary treatises ; but if you
oould find space in your columns for two or three examples, illus-
trating the saving of labour that their adoption would introduce
into the computations of every-day life, I cannot but think that you
would make converts, and by facilitating calculation, promote
accnracy, the stepping-stone to all knowledge.
Take an ordinary example from agriculture ; —
A field of 6 hectares, 41 ares, CG square metres, so\vn with wheat,
at 250 litres to the hectare, would require
6-41G6 X 250 = 1,543-8500 litres,
= 15 hectolitres, 44 litres of seed.
If the wheat is of specific gravity 0'80, the whole quantity would
weigh 1544 x 60 = 12352 kilogi-ammes.
Again, the seed required would be
2*5 litres for every are,
or 0'25 litres for every square metre.
Let the same field be ploughed up to the depth of 2 decimetres
(nearly eight inches) , and suppose that the specific gravity of the
soil is 2, every square metre of the soil ploughed up will weigh
2 X 2 y 100 = 400 kilogrammes, and the whole soil of the field
ploughed to the depth of 2 decimetres will weigh
64,166 X 400 = 25666100 kilogrammes,
= 256664 metrical tons.
It then becomes very easy to compute the proportion of any
manure to the available soil.
Let the amount of manure applied be 1,000 kilogrammes per
hectare : —
1000 kilogi-ammes per hectare
= 10 kilogrammes per are
= 100 gi-ammes per square metre
= 1 gram per square decimetre, or 2 cubic decimetres of soil,
=i= 00025.
If tlie amount be 600 kilogrammes per hectare
= 6 kilogrammes per are
= 60 grammes per square metre
= *6 gram per square decimetre
-i^=00015-
When great accuracy is required, the u£c of logarithms will, of
course, much facilitate the calculation, but they may be disiJcnsed
with for ordinary practical purposes. Now, let anyone trj- to work
out such simple problems with a field of the same size expressed in
English measures, viz., 15 acres, 3 roods, 17 poles, and the seed
sown at 3 bushels per acre. He will see what an amount of labour
they involve. Indeed, at the outstart, we are met with such an
anomaly as this, that while the yard is our standard measure of
length, few persons could give the length of the side of a square
statute acre, such side being 69 yards and a long fraction (695701).
Nor is the matter much facilitated when we find that 30] square
yards go to one pole.
Should you think these remarks not too technical, I shall recur
to the subject with some other examples in a future number, and
beg to subscribe myself, yoiu:s, Ac,
MlCBOCBITH.
[We thank ," Microcrith " for his excellent illustration of the
value of the metrical system. It is actually easier in dealing with
the second form of the above problem to convert the English
measures into the metrical system, then to work the problems
as " Microcrith " has done, and to turn the answers into English
measures, than it is to work them tlu'oughout with the English
measures. — E d.]
CAUSE OF GRAVITY.
[77] — In your note to letter No. 31 (page 59) on this subject, it
is stated as a " demonstrated fact that the action of gravity is
communicated far more rapidly than light travels." I beg to ask
an explanation of this, as I was not aware that the action of gravity
was "communicated" at all in the sense of "travelling" (or of
crossing over a space during a greater or less lapse of time). An
far as my present knowledge goes, the statement reminds me (I give
100
KNO^A/'LEDGE •
[Dec. 2, 1881.
lliiM to illimtrnto my particular difliciilty) of tlio rcinnrk (if a friend
who said ho know RoniothinK whirh " trnvclled " quicker than light,
and on beinn^ osked to exphiin, answered ni'jhl. I had some difliculty
in ex|ilninin|^ to him tlml sinht «ii« merely a mental interpretation
■ ■f sensation produced on a ^ifuwin- orfjan by the light which had
iilreody "travelled" from the distant object to tho organ in
i;uestiun.
Uidess I have been misinformed, tho present tendency of scientific
thought is to do awny with the idea of "attraction " altogether, as
a ligment of the inlcllcct. \Y\ial wo call gravity, or any other form
of BO-cnllcd attraction, is merely the tendency to fall in the direction
of least push. Thus, suppose a railway truck between two engines
lending to push it in opposite directions. It cannot move both ways
ot once. It therefore moves in tho direction of the weaker engine.
Something analogous to this is the modern explanation of attraction
so-called. A stone falls to tho earth because the pressures exerted
on it aro least in the direction of tho earth — no attraction at all in
nature — all push and strife. — Yours, Jkiinr.KsiiRouGii.
[78] — 1 was much grutilied to find this (piestion raised in the last
nutnber ot Knowlepge. It is an exceedingly interesting subject,
and one I would like to sec treated in a competent manner. In an
article by yourself, entitled "The Mystery of Gravity," you inti-
mated that you might at son)e future time describe a method by
which gi-avity might be generated and propagated, founded on the
views of Lc Sage. I write from memory, and therefore cannot bo
certain of the exact words. Will j'ou kindly say whether this
promise has ever been fulfilled ? If not, would you kindly favour
the readers of Knowledge and myself by stating your views on this
truly great question. — Yours, &c., T. J. HiCKix.
ELECTRICAL BELLS.
[79] — As a subscriber to your promising weekly, I have come
across the extract from the Times, No. 1, page 14, wherein the
writer recommends electric bells for private houses.
1 beg to say from long experience, electric bells arc very trouble-
some in private houses, however they may answer in hotels, where
there is generally a yearhj charge to keep them in order.
There is a better system in use in Government offices, and that
system is tho pneumatic, which is so simple and durable, that I
wonder the Times should ignore "pneumatic" while writing up
" electric."
I have pneumatic in my house, and the excellency of the whole
arrangement is, beyond question, worth bringing to tho front, cer-
tainly quite as much so as electric is by the Times. There is no
battery nor anything whatever to attend to. — Y'ours truly,
M. Tester.
THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.
[80] — I enclose a sTiorl proof, which I gave in the Bri-jhtrm Herald
for May 22, 1880.
Take 15 tickets, numbered from 1 to 13, and arrange them in a
row in any order. Let every instance in which a lower number is
further on in the series than a higher number be called a disarrange-
ment. Note whether the number of such disarrangements is even
or odd. A cyclic interchange of any odd number of tho tickets will
make an even difference in the number of disarrangements, and,
therefore, no combination of such interchanges can convert an order
with an odd number of disarrangements into an order with an even
number of disarrangements.
Now arrange the 15 tickets in a square, and bring the blank
space to the place it is to occupy finally. Then after this, the game
consists of the travels of this blank space over the board, finally
ending where it started. The route pursued consists partly of
tracks followed and again retraced, which make no ultimate dif-
ference to the number of disarrangements — and partly of closed
paths travelled round, which are cyclic interchanges of an odd
number of tickets. No number of such ojierations can make the
number of disarrangements zero if it happened originally to bo odd.
—Yours, A-c, AuTiifR Black.
[81] — .\s you invite cin-respondence, I send yon the enclosed very
remarkable arrangement of figures. A year or two ago 1 sent thorn
to the publisher of juvenile books. I believe it was not attended
to. If so, I am of opinion that it is unknown.
At first sight it seems a confusion of figures ; but, on examina-
tion, tho arrangement will be found to be very simple.
You will perceive that the unit 1 is placed under the central
square ; if yon follow the fignres to tho end, all confusion will
Tanisli. To understand it is a verj- different thing.
West Brompton, Km: 11, 1871. H. S.
The Hi|unre of all ndd numbers may be so arranged that the totals
of all tho columns — perjiendicidar, horizontal, and diagonal — shall
bo the same. And the totals will be the larger* half of the H|Tiaro
multiplied by the odd number. 'I'hus the totals of —
5x 25-i-2 = 13x 5 = 05, the total.
7x 49-»-2 = 25x 7-175 „
Ox 81-!-2-)l X 9 = 300 „
11x121-4-2 = 01x11 = 071 ,,
SqiAiiE.s OF "Onu" NiMBrn.
5 tolaJ»=65.
11
24 7
20 1 3
4
12 25
8 ! 16
17
5 13
21 9
10
18 ' 1
14 22
23
6 19
2 j 15
Square 25h-2 = 13 x 5 = 65, the total?
7 totals =175.
22
47
16
41
10
35
4
5
23
48
17
42
11
29
30
6
24
49
18
36
12
13
31
7
25
43
19
37
38
14
32
1
20
44
20
21
39
8
33
2
27
45 1
46
15
40
9
34
3
28
Square — = 25 x 7 = 175, the totals.
9 totals=S69.
37
78
29
70 21
62
13
54 5 1
6
38
79
30 71
22
63
14 46 !
47
7
39
80 ' 31
72
23
55 15
16
48
8
40 1 81
32
64
24 56
57
17
49
9 41
73
33
65 25
26
58
18
50 1
42
74
34 66
G7
27
59
10 51
2
43
75 ; 35
36
68
19
CO 11
52
3
44 76
77
28
69
20 j 61
12
53
4 1 45
Square of 9 x 81-i-2 = 41 x 9=369, the totals.
[This is a known method of making magic squares. We find
in the magic stpiarc for the numbers 1 to 9 ; thus : —
3 .". :
in which also other methods of solution are indicated.— Eo.
• The larger half means the actual half plns-s J.
Diic. 2, 1881.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
101
©ufiir^.
[2U"' — Gaepex Tripod Staxd foe Telescope. — Could any of
1 .in- rcadcx-s tell me how to make a cheajj gai-deii tripod stand for
3-iii. glass, and where to get the several parts ? The cheapest 1
.an buy is £1. Is., and that seems so dear for so simple a thing. —
IcXOHAMlS.
[30]— Solar Heat. — With respect to the sun beiiiir hot, will you
kindly explain to nic why some countries are warmer than others ?
If it is because they arc nearer the sun than the cold ones [but it
is not — Ed.], why, then, should not the top of a mountain be
warmer than the bottom ? On a man going into a tropical country,
he naturally gets brown-burnt by the sun (?). Does the sun act
directly on the man, or docs it first enter the earth, and the man,
as it were gets the reflection ? — Warmcs.
[31] — Intknsity Coils. — Can you inform me how to estimate the
maximum battery-power which may be used with any given in-
tensity coil, without incurring the risk of destroying the insulation ?
Can yon afford me any practical hints as to the best way of restoring
one so damaged withont having recourse to a coil-maker? I
presume it will be necessary to replace the secondary coil with a
new one — but how ? — A.
[32] — ExGRAViXG ox Copper. — Want to know the usual method
of engraving on copper, what the plate is covered with, and the
materials used ? Is it sulphate of copper and salt, or what ?
Engraver cannot get any clieap handbook bearing on the subject. —
KXURAVER.
[33] — AsTROXOMiCAL SLIDES. — Can any of your readers give me
a few hints how to prepare the above for a lecture on popular
astronomy ; also, how to make a good opaque black for same ? —
C. J. S.
[34] — Three-handed Chess. — Can any of your readers inform
me of a way of playing chess with three players only ? The fom--
lianded g.ame is well known to me. — Geo. H. Verney.
[35] — With reference to the calculations concerning the four
asteroids and the magnitude of the third satellite of Jupiter,
have there been found any great differences since 1846 ? — S. S. S. S.
[36]— Laplace's Theory. — Do you consider Laplace's conclu-
sions with reference to the physical forces and evolution sound,
as tar as we now know ? — S. S. S. S.
[37] — Vestiges of Creation. — Who is the author of " Vestiges
of the Natural Historv of Creation," and do you consider it reliable ?
— S. S. S. S.
[38] — Density of Xeptuxe. — What is the density of the planet
Xeptnne, and how many of his satellites have been discovered ? —
S. S. S. S.
[39] — The Moox's Rot.wiox. — The moon turns once on its axis
in exactly the same time that it takes to revolve once round the
earth. Is there any law or theory ag to the cause of this, or is it a
mere coincidence ? — C. 0. K.
[40] — Fixe Drilling. — Professor Edward C. Pickering, of Harvard
College, says that in undertaking to measure the intensify of the
light of the satellites of Mars, he 1-ad occasion to need an extremely
small hole. Among the artisans who essayed to furnish what was
required was one who had succeeded in making a hole edgewise
through an old-fa.shioned three-cent piece, and another who had
pierced a needle tlirough from end to end. A hole about the
twenty-five-hundredth part of an inch in diameter was finally
secured. — {Puhlic Opinion, Nov. 19, 1881, p. 658.) Have you any
knowledge of the above? Assuming that there is no mistake, an
account of the mechanism employed, and of the boring instrument,
would be of interest. — A. T. C.
[41] — The Plaxet Vllcax. — Is anything more knoivn of the
planet Vulcan ; and is it believed to be certainly in existence ? —
S. S.
[42] — Magxetoscope. — Is there any instrument made for the
purjiose of measuring the amount of magnetism, and also electricity
in the human body ? I think I have heard of a " magnctoscope,"
but know no particulars. — S. S.
[43] — B.Sc. AXD D.Sc. Examinations, Loxdon Uxi^-ersity. — I
am desirous of obtaining such a knowledge of science as would
enable me to answer such questions as are set in the B.Sc, and
even the D.Sc. examination papers of the University of London.
What books would you recommend for this purpose ? I shall be
extremely obliged for an answer to this. — Ax Exthcsia.st.
[44] — iLLfMiXATiox OF THE SoLAE SYSTEM. — Ma}' I, as a reader
of KxowLEDGE, requcst you to give me and my fellow readers some
sound instruction on the subject of the new theorj' started by Mr.
Collyns Simon, on the " Solar illiimination of our system " ? I have
seen attention called to it by several foreign periodicals, but none
by the English. Are wc to accept it as possible, or reject it as
impossible ?— V. A. T.
[45] — Cavse of Gravity. — What is the cause of gravity ? There
is an interesting article, if I recollect rightly, in the old '" Encyclo.
Lend.," giving the views of Sir Richard Philips on this matter.
Philips believed that all the phenomena attributed to attraction
might be accounted for by the laws of motion. — Meter.
[46] — Plaxetary Rings. — Are these not evidences of matter
more or less plastic beyond tlie solid planetary nucleiTS, the pheno-
mena presented by the denser and cloud portions of the atmospheres
of planets, ranging themselves centrifugally, in belts ? This globe,
in my view, would appear belted in other planets. This explanation
might be illustrated experimentally. — Meter.
[47] — Optical Illi-sions. — Are these not all due to the simple
law of contrast ? — Meter.
[48] — Teisectiox of ax Axgle. — I shall be glad if any of your
readers can inform me how to trisect any angle. A small diagram
will greatlj- assist. — Euclid.
[49] — LiFTixG Max's Weight. — Could you kindly inform me how
it is that four men appear to lift a fifth so easily when they all
inspue their breaths together ? Is it simply a trick, or is there
some scientific explanation of it ? I should esteem it as a favour to
have an answer in your next issue. — D. U. B.
[50]— Wasted Exergy ? — A certain amount of energy is supplied
to an electric lamp in the form of current electricity. A small part
reappears as heat, the rest as light. What form does the energy
radiated as light ^■ibrations take as the light is constantly absorbed
by surrounding objects ? — A. H. H.
[51] — Botany Lectures. — Can the Editor or a reader of Know-
ledge tell me of any first-class lectures on Botany, embracing such
subjects as are not included in the ordinary lectures given at the
various science schools, but are required for the S. and A. Honours
Exam. ? Do not any of the masters of the subject teach, either bj-
lecture or correspondence ? — Nemo.
[52] — Microscope. — Can anyone oblige by recommending what
they consider from experience to be the best microscope for botani-
cal and biological work ; cost, mth all necessary appliances, not
to exceed £10. ? — Nemo.
[53] — Suggestion. — Botanical Papers. — If the Editor of
Knowledge should see fit to introduce into his useful and interesting
paper a series of articles on botanical subjects, I think many
readers would welcome them with pleasure, as the subject is one
that is now so widely studied, and the new discoveries and theories
of the learned do not appear in the text-books till long after date.
A column devoted to this subject would surely be as appropriote to
Knowledge as a chess or whist column. — Nemo.
[54] — Chemical Questions. — 1. In testing a solution of ferro-
cyanide of potassium with chloride of ammonia, ammonia in excess,
and hydrosulphm'ic acid, no precipitate was obtained. Could you
e.vijlain whj' no precipitate was thrown down, since iron is one of
the third group of metals ? 2. Strong solutions of bisulphate of
potassium and prt:i.'?.sic iodide were separately treated with tartaric
acid. No effect, fven when stirred on a glass sm-face. Why was
there not a white precipitate following the com-se of the stirring-
rod ? — Castor and Pollux.
[55] — Future of Greek Verbs. — Is there any rule for the
lengthening or otherwise of the vowel when forming the future of
a pure verb in Greek. For instance : —
"fiXfw makes "tiXijirw
KaXfto ,, Ka\t(T(jt}
riftato „ 7i,i,)(7w
(\)Ow „ cpanu,
Why should the e be lengthened to >( in "tiXew and not in naXiui ': —
Castor and Pollux.
[56] — Can yon kindly recommend a book covering the chemistry
for the South Kensington Honours Syllabus ? — Castor and Pollux.
[57] — The Great Bear. — In what latitude wotifd this constella-
tion become invisible for three months of the year, by dipping
below the northern horizon ? Is the upper pointer (Dubhe) the
most western star of the constellation, and the tail star (Benct-
nasch) the most eastern ? What is the difference of celestial
longitude between the most eastern and most western stars of the
constellation— i.e., how many hours and minutes of longitude does
the Great Bear spread itself over ? The Surya Siddhauta, a text-
book of Hindu astronomy, which seems to teach a medification
of the Ptolomean system, attributes to this constellation a cycle
of 2,700 years. The translator (Rev. Ebonezer Burgess) is at a
loss to faiow what this refers to. Can you solve the difficulty ?
1(H2
KNOWLEDGE
[Dkc.
1881.
Uu tlio Gront Bcor boon mndo u»o of by "ony people for
inoasurinK time, in connection witli the Dog-star or nny other?
Bentley, in lila Hindu AHtronomy, siiyH tUat the Uindux had the
following method of nieiiHuring the amount of preeeMtnii ; They
U88unied an imaginnrv line, or great circle, passing through the
poles of tho ecliptic and the l)e)^inning of one of their lunar
astcrisms called Mo'ilin (instead of tweke solar signs, they had
twenty-soven lunar asterisms). This great circle, which was
called tho line of tho liishis, was supposed to cut some of tlie stars
of tho Great Hear, and the precession was noted by stating the
degree, Ac, of any iiu^iviMc lunar nstcrism cut by that Hied line
or circle as an index. That is to say, their asterisms shifted, pre-
cessionally, juit as our " Aries " has got into I'iseea, and they
measured the amount of precession by the passage of the asterisms
over the assumed fixed line. This fact suggests to me to ask
whether the Egyptians made out nny similar connection between
the Great Bear and Sirius, or between the Pole-star and Sirius. I
know that a lino drawn through " the pointers " would not pass
through Sirius, because the Kight Ascension is so different ; but is
any sort of connection knonn to have existed? — tiF.oiiCK St. Ci.air.
[58] — SiBius AND Orio.n. — I have met with a statement that Sirius
is in the shoulder of Orion. Knowing that Sirius was in the Great
Dog constellation. 1 was puzzled. Did the Orion constellation at
any time include Sirius ? — Geo. St. Clair.
[59] — Mkrci'ry's Revolutiox. — The "Science Primer on As-
tronomy" (by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S.), p. C2, says that
Mercury is 8-1 days in traversing its orbit. Jlost books which I
liave looked into give Mercury's sidereal revolution as S7 days
23 hours 15 minutes 43 seconds. Is the sidereal revolution some-
thing different from the " traversing of the orbit ? " — George
St. Claib.
[GO] — Sound. — How does sound penetrate through a brick wall ?
— S.
[61] — Will the Editor, or anyone else, inform me the name of the
great comet that appeared in our northern sky this last midsummer;
also, how long it takes to make one journey round the sun ? —
S. C. H.
[62] — Alool. — Wliere abouts in Pcrsius is the variable star
Algol ? If this is tho same star as in the head of Medusa, I suppose
the latter constellation is a i)art of the former. Is it so ? — F. H. S.
[63] — Algol and Mika.— When are Algol and Mira at their
brightest ?— F. H. S.
[64] — Star Letters and Nvmbers. — Not having examined a
stellar map before those that appear in Knowledge, will you kindly
explain the following ? I have been under the impression that tho
stars of all constellations are named after the Greek letters, aud
when these arc exhausted, the numerals are then resorted to, begin-
ning, of course, at 1 ? I find this is not the case, e.g., take Lynx,
as marked in tlie map on No. 1. The brightest star is of the fourth
magnitude, and is n ; there are only two others marked in thi.s
•constellation, but instead of their being /3, y, or 1, 2, thev are called
31 and 38.— K. H. S.
[65] — New Star in Cassiopeia. — I am told that a periodical star
in Cassiopeia will shortly appear, and it will be so bright as to be
seen at noonday. Is that so ? — V. H. S.
[66] — Has Venus ever been seen in the daytime ? — F. H. S.
ixrplifg to ©iifrifsf.
[11]— LoGARiTnus. — Without knowing the extent of accuracy
desired by Mr. (Jrundy (query 11, p. GO) in his computations, it is
difficult to advise him as to the class of tables he retiuires. Copies
of the ordinary " Seven-place " tables of Uutton, Habbage, Sang.
and others are easily procured second-hand (tho first for pre-
ference) ; (Jcrman tables to |six places, by Ursinus and Bremiker,
can be purchased at Nutt's; and tho best of several five-place logs,
will be found in Oalbraith it Haughton's series, now published by
Cassell. This includes u table of " Sum and difference" logs, by
Gauss. Tho last table is made si)ccially applicable to Life con-
tingencies and the general formation of tables by a continuous
method, by P. Gray, who inserts it in his " tables and forniuhe,"
tabulating for each log. that of tho function 1-h.r. An error in
Babbage may hero bo noted. In the eight-figure series attached to
his larger table, the log. of 103 (an important figure, as being the
initial 1, plus its interest at 3 percent.) should be 01283722, not
01283723. Tho most complete table of Anti-logarithms is the old
folio of Dodson, frequently to be picked up at the stalls; see also
S'lortrede's tables to seven placesin the usual form. — Yours faithfully,
H. S. A.'
[19]— Comparative An.vtomy of Bibor and A.mhaiji. — Charloi*
SherlMjrn asks, What are the corresponding bones in man and other
mammalH to the " furcida " (furculum) of binls ? I am surprised
Mr. Slierborn hag not iliscovered the answer to his ipierj- iu any
good manual of zoology. The " furculum " of a bird (anyli'^, the
** merry-thought ") is composed of the two c'>llar-bones or claviclcH
*if the bird, which are, in nu)8t cases, firndy united to form one
l)One. This bone, in turn, is joined to the breast-bone, and forms
a strong arch, or, rather, keystone, of the shoulder. It should
be remembered that in a bird's shoulder there are three typical
bones — scapula, or shoulder-blade ; clavicle, or collar-bone ; and
coracoid bone — on each side. The coracoid bone, developed as a
distinct bone in birds, reptiles, and lower vertebrata, is represented
in all mammals, except the lowest, as a mere process (coracoid
process) of tho shoulder-blade. In the lowest mammals ('.'J.,
Ornithnrhijiichuii and Krhidtta of Australia) tho coracoid. as in the
bird, is articulated with the brea.st-bone. In this resi>ect,ii.s well as
in the absence of sutures or distinct lines of union between the
skull-bones, and in other joints of internal anatomy, the lowest
quadrupeds present a striking affinity to birds. — Andrew Wilson.
[25] — FoRM.s OF Food. — As explanatory of the terms relating to
food in Dr. Carpenter's paper, which puzzle " Desdichado," I would
advise him to read a simple elementary treatise wherein foods at
large are treated. Such a book as Corfield's " Laws of Health,"
Is. Gd. (Longmans), will assist him. Foods are divided into (1)
Nitrogenous (containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrf>gpn,
and sometimes sulphur and phcsphorus) and (2) non-nitrogenous.
Of the latter, there are four chief varieties: — (1) Water (11 j' I) ;
(2) fats and oils (CHO) ; (3) sugars and starches (amyloids or
hydro-carbons) (CHD, but differing from fats in the amount of O
they contain) ; (4) minerals (e.g. lime, salt, iron, 4c.) " Desdi-
chado " will obtain all necessar}' information concerning foods from
any primer of physiology, and such knowledge should form, indeed,
part of every .system of school training. — Andrew Wilson.
TRAINING.
WE have before now spoken of the singular views which have
prevailed with regard to the diet best suited for men who
were desii'ous of developing their physical powers to the highest
degree, and of the harm which has been done by the empirical, and
in many cases ridiculous, rules which were laid down. Some of the
most objectionable of these are now happily set aside, and the
opinions of those intelligent persons who taught that mutton was
better than beef for " wind," that all fluids should be avoided by
men who wish to "get into condition," that meat was to be eaten
without salt, and that pedestrians should drink sherry and boxers
port, would be laughed at, even by tho most ardent fanatic in an
Eiglit ; but, though a good deal of nonsense has been got rid of, a
bad system still prevails, and there is no exaggeration in stating
that harm is still done by the regulations respecting diet which,
even in these days, are unhesitatingly obeyed. At one time, no
doubt, some of these rules appeared to liave a certain scientific
sanction ; but it has now been well established that tho views on
which this sanction was based were not only erroneous, but directly
opposed to the truth. In so far, therefore, as rules which are in
accordance with them have any effect, they must have a bad effect.
It is true that they do not work so much ill as might be ex|>ected,
but this is because the men who follow them are usually very
young, very vigorous, and lead, ajiart from diet, a most healthy life.
Still, unless moilern physiological teaching is altogether wrong,
even the modified system now followed nmst cause some evil, and
the sooner it is swept away tlie better. If it be siiid that the men
who train steadily often attain very " high condition," the answer is
tliat this is due in no way to their food, but to constant and fitting
exercise in the open air, to regular hours, to strict temperance with
regard to alcohol, and to abstinence from, or great moderation in,
smoking. Strength is attained not by diet, but in spite of diet.
That erroneous views should at one time have been held is not
wonderful, for in support of them the great name of Liebig could
be quoted by those who had sufficient energy and intelligence to
attcmjit a scientific study of the question. It is now, however,
well establislicd that in some of his conclusions Liebig was wrong,
and notably that he was wrong in thinking that muscular or
mechanical effort was entirely supported by nitrogenous food, and
that the heat-giving foods sustained the process of combustion
which is constantly going on in the body, but did nothing morc.
If he was right, of course, the more muscular work a man did, the
more nitrogenous food he would require ; and trainers were there-
fore not mistaken in favouring meat, and in looking with great dis-
like on those foods which are commonly thought to produce fat ;
but then, unfortunately, Liebig has been shown to have been in
error, and any system of diet which is in accordance with his views
cannot be a good one, and is in all probability a very bad one. The
Dec. 2, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
103
erroneous nature of views based on Liebig's doctrine is well known to
physiologists ; but, nevertheless, is hardly as yet .w generally known
as it onght to be, and very likely on the banks of Isis and Cam there is
no suspicion of the truth. Possibly every year a certain number of
men break do«ni in training, with more or less injury to their con-
stitutions, owing to a faulty diet. Instruction on this subject is
therefore anything but supcifluous, as a deeply -rooted error is not
by any means enidicatcd ; and all wlio are interested in athletic
sports should welcome the appearance of two articles which a
writer on physiology of the lirst eminence has contributed to Mr.
Richard Proctor's new magazine, Kn"owledc;k — a periodical, we
may observe, which promises to satisfy a want that luis long been
felt. In this magazine Dr. Carjientcr has come forward to protest
against the belief in Liebig's views which apjjears unfortunately
still to exist. As need hardly be said, he docs not write specially
on training or diet, bat generally respecting food material and
physical effort, Iiis articles being on "The Kclation of Food to
Muscular Work." They are written with all his accustomed clear-
ness and powerful simplicity, and we hope to aid in calling attention
to them, as they cannot fail to do much good if they reach those
who habitually misfeed young men with a view to producing " high
condition."
It is not necessary to reproduce hero the careful and minute
account which Dr. Carpenter gives of the process involved in
muscular effort. Tliose who wish to understand this must seek
the pages of Kxowledge, and they will be very well repaid for
their pains. His summing-up, however, which states briefly the
views of modem physiologists, should bo given in his own words,
which are as follows : —
" The tncfhanical working of the body of a living animal is as
directly dependent as its heating upon the oxidation of the hydro-
carbons of its food ; and these may bo most economically supplied
by non-nitrogenous substances. On the other hand, the mechanism
can only be kept in working order by the continual renovation of its
substance (its very existence as a living whole involving the con-
tinual death and decay of its component pai-ts) ; and for this reno-
vation a sujiply of proteids is essential, with a certain admixture of
fat to serve as a material for protoplasm."
Xow it is scarcely necessary to point out how entirely these
truths are opposed to the' system followed in training, which did
seem to receive some kind of sanction from Liebig. It is true,
no doubt, that nitrogenous food is required for the renovation of
the muscle, whicli wears out as all the tissues of the body wear
out ; but the consumption of muscle caused liy effort — which, as
we have said, has been likened to the wear and tear of a machine
— is small when comi)ared with the consumption of the non-nitro-
genous 6ub.stancps, which represent tlic fuel that is burnt to
maintain the force developed. It is therefore clear that when
there is severe and continuous physical effort, a large supply of
the latter kind of food-material will bo required to make good
the loss occasioned by that effort, while of the fonner only a
slight increase will be made necessary. The principle followed in
training is exactly to reverse things. It is true that men are no
longer encouraged to gorge themselves with underdone meat and to
avoid sweets as if they were poison ; but still, in the main, the
trainer favours meat, and watches with some jealousy and restricts
the other kinds of food. He ought to do just the opposite. We do
not, of course, mean to say that the resources of the French
cuisine should be placed at the disposal of young men in ti-aining,
as it is sufficiently obvious that those who desire to attain a high
state of health must confine themselves to simple and digestible
food ; but of simple food it is the non-nitrogenous kind that is the
most needful, and it is about as reasonable to fear a large propor-
tion of nutriment of this class as it would be to fear the oxygen of
the air. Nay, more harm may be done by abstaining from the food
indicated. Natural laws cannot be disobeyed with impunity ; and
when nature points distinctly to one kind of diet, and men choose
to adhere to a diet of precisely the opposite kind, evil of some sort
is not unlikely to follow. The argument that the diet is right
because men who adopt it do get into " high condition" we have
already answered, and there can be little doubt that the ailments
which assail men in training and the occasionally serious results of
training are in part due to a vicious system of diet which, in so far
as it has any scientific basis, is founded on a doctrine which
is now thoroughly exploded. Much, therefore, do we hojio that
Dr. Carpenter's valuable contributions to Knowledge will be read
at the Universities and other places where there is devotion to the
BOTerer kind of athletics. If these and some other writings are
studied, we doubt not that, before long, the foolish rules which still
remain will be swept away, and that the h.appy young athletes who
are able to enjoy gcod and wholesome dinners, which tend to
produce, not to retard, the much-desired " condition," will fervently
revere the name of the man of science who released the victims of
training from an odious thraldom. — From the Saturdaij Kevieti:
dBm- il1atl)rmatiral Column.
Mathe.mathai. Query [1], — A mason has a block of stone— as
in figure. — square at top and bottom. Peqiendicular height, S)' =
10 feet ; AB, side of base, = 8 feet ; CD, side of top, = 6 feet. He
desires to cut it in three parts of equal solidity. Will one of your
mathematical readers kindly tell him an easy way of doing it Y—
Cymro.
The practical answer to this question is simply to mark off HI,
01; Hi; Ap each equal to 2783 ft., or to about 2 ft. 9|in. ; and
/)(!, kn, rs, pt, each equal to 3-269 ft., or about 3 ft. 3i in., and cut
off by pianos parallel to ABGH, the pyramidal frustra pG and tk.
Prcsunuibly the block is to be cut by planes parallel to the tci]i
and bottom.
The best way of treating this question is, perhaps, the following :
The block EB may be regarded as part of a pyramid, having
ABGH as base. The' height of this pyramid would bo 40 ft., ioi-
its linear dimensions narrow one-fourth in 10 ft. of ascent, and
reduce, therefore, to nought (or the vertex is reached) at four timci
this height.
Of this pyramid, the part or frustum EB has a volume bearing
to the volume of tlie pyramid the ratio (40)^- (30)" : (1-0)^
= 61-27 :64 = 37: 64
In other words, putting V for volume of pyramid, volume of block
EB = — -V- Now we require to determine two points L and M in
54
YX, so that planes through L and M parallel to AIIGB may cut oil
from the lower part of the pyramid one-third and two-thirds re-
spectively of the volume EB. The volumes thus cut off will, then-
fore, be respectively —
1 37 ,. , 2 37 ,.
_• — I and I , or
y (11 3 61
±" V and -Zi V
192 192
Now, if L and M be respectively distant x and ;/ feet from the
vertex of the pyramid, we have the volumes cut off from the lower
part of the pyramid by the planes through L and M, respectively
equal to —
W^-'V and (fy-yy
(40)= (40)3
ITencc («')'-/ = i7 ; and m_l:Z^j' = 1±
(iOy 192 (40)'' 192
, 64000 X 155 155000 ., «/.-;.«
or '- = = — - = 51o()OD
192 3
„„. ==64000x118 ^Ji8000 ^ 39333.3
■' 192 3
101
• KNOWLEDGE *
[Dec. 2, 1881.
Wo can rondily nbtnin approximate volutions by lognrithmR, thus :
— Kor r, wo liuvo ; —
Ipjr. 51000-67- 4-7i;t210l
ouo third of which - 1 57 10701 = log. .37-215
whence x = 37-215 feet,
and FL = 40— ,T =. 2-755 feet.
For I/, we have :—
log. 39333-33 = 1-5017608
one third of which = 1-5315809 = lo';. .11 COS
w-hencc >i = 3 1008 feet,
and YM = 10— i/ = 5992 feet.
Thus—
YL = 2-755 f t . ; L.V = 3237 ft. ; ' and MX = 1008 It .
In )iracticc, I suppose it would be more convenient to know
whereabouts the planes of section respectively cut the lines Dl},
I'd, EH, t'.l. For this purpose all we have to do is to divide each
of these four lines in the same proportion as the line XY. This,
w-hether it is done by construction or by computation, is too simple
te need further explanation. I may just note, however, that —
liD' : YX'::(ioy+{Yliy : (40)»
::iG32 : 1600
::5i :50
so that, for the divisions along DB, FO, EH, and CA, the above
values for YL, LM, and MX have all to be increased in the ratio
i/sT '. v'so" or api)roximating as 101 to 100. Increa.siiig tliem by
one-hundredth, we get, supposing Im, the required points of
division along DB-Bt = 2783 ft.; (m = 3-209 ft.; and »i 0 = 4018 ft.
#ur €l)t^^ Column.
The Two K.\ight.-j' Defence.
WE take next a sounder form of this opening, where Black,
instead of retaking the Pawn at his fifth move, plays away
his Qneen's Knight to Queen's Book's fourtli. The game opens
R. to K. I. Kt. to K.B.3. B. to Q.B. t.
thus :— 1. p j^ jj ^ 2. Kt, to Qu_3_ 3. Kt. to K.B.3.
Kt. to K.B.5. P. takes P.
"*• pTtTQi: ^- Kt. to Q.B.l. '"''""^ '"'^ "''^' "^° '""^^ °f
play; he may cither check with the Bishop or play P. to Q.3, de-
fending the Bishop while leaving it to protect the forward Queen's
Pawn. The first, which is the better play, will now occupy oiu-
attcntion. Note, that whatever play is adopted, White's attack is,
for the moment, over. Ue has to provide for the safety of his
King's Knight, in attacking which Black can dcvelope his game.
The opening proceeds thus : —
6.
B.Q.Kt.Sch.
P. to Q.B.3.
P. takes P.
P. takes P.
B. to K.2
P. to K.K.3 ' ^
Kt. to K.B.8
P. to K.5 •
Kt. to K.5
Qrt^"Q^ ' "'■
P. to K.B.l.
11. to Q.IM
(A)
In position 1 ^Vliite, Hocnis to be the better off. Black has his
game more open, and, in fact, the attack rests for the moment
with him. But the attack docs not seem suflicient to compensate
for the Pawn which Black has lost. It will be obsenecl that at
move 12 Black hud to provide against the move P. to Q.B. 3, attack-
ing Queen, followed by P. to Q.Kt.-l attacking Iwth Knight and
Bishop. He might have done this by playing Bisho|> instead of
Q. to Q.'s third. In this case White would" still pnsh Q.B. Pown,
attacking Q., and on her retreating to Q.'s fourth, her best
move, would play P. to Q.Kt.'s fourtli. with decided advantage. Or
Black might have played away his Q.Kt. to Q.Kt.'s second, leaving,
however, his Q.B. P. undefended, and on White taking it, Black
Queen has to retreat to Q.'s tliird.
On the other hand, in position 2, Black's game seems as good as
White's. He is a Pawn short, but his forces are better situated.
Next week we shall carrv on the variations A and B, arising from
White's plaving 8. B. to" Q.R.4, or 8. Q. to K.B.3, instead of
B. to Q.2.
Young players will find it a useful exercise to play several games
from each of the positions 1 and 2, taking the attack and defence
alternately, and, in everj- case, playing through the opening moves
till cither position 1 or position 2 is reached.
Instead of 11. P. to K.B.4, bj- which position 1 is reached at
twelfth move. White may play 11. Kt. to K.Kt.4. On this Black
takes the Kt. with his Q.'s Bishop, White retakes with Bishop, and
Black plays Kt. to Q.B. 5. This leads to an even game.
Several of our readers appear to find considerable difficulty with
Mr. Healcy's little problem at p. 41. two declaring flatly that there
must be some mistake. The solution is simply —
■HTjito.
1. E. to Q.Kt. 7 (ch.)
2. R. to Q.Kt.5.
3. R. to Q.B.5 (ch.)
Black.
1. K. to B. sq. (If K. to
R. sq., there follows
]>erpetual check, unless
K. goes to B.sq.
2. P. Queens.
3. Q. takes B., stalemate.
The other position, and Ponziani's position in oiu- last number,
are easy enough. Black's choice is divided between perpetual
chock and stalemate.
We give, in conclusion, a little problem of our o^vn invention.
It presents no difficulty whatever for those who are at all proficient
in problem-solving ; but may amuse, for ten minutes or so. those
who kave not given much attention to that department of Cl.i -.,
(The very feature which makes the problem interesting for i' , -
directs the former at once to the solution.)
-PrMlileii! l)v the Editor.
H'il' m
•t-
a
^
'11 ';
©
il
White to play and mate in two moves.
&m- e©I)ts;t Column.
By "Five of Cluds."
A (IAIN we give a simple whist g-ame, taken from actual play.
-/r\. It is boiTow-ed from the "Westminster Papers" for 1877.
The first player, A, was our correspondent (and friendly critic), Mr.
Lewis, whose Double Dummy problems long formed so marked n
feature of the '' Westminster Papers." We give this time B'(
inferences, with notes on the play as before. The game is interest-
ing as showing how a good jilnyer may be led by the fall of the
cards in the first two or three rounds to lead out trumps even when
short in them, and when one of the adversaries probablv holds four.
Dec. 2, 1881.]
KNOV/LEDGE
10^
We show also how two tricks might have been .saved by correct play
'•r the weaker hands, Tand Z.
The Hands.
Spades— Kn, 10, 3.
Hearts— 6, 2.
Clubs— Q. 7, 5, 2.
Diamonds— A, S, 4, 3.
Upades—K, P, -l.
Hearts— 10, 0, 7, 3,
Clubs- G, 4, 3.
Diamonds— Q, Kn, 7.
B
■<i<aiUn—q, C, 5, 2.
llearts-A, Kn, 8.
Dealer.
Clubs— 10, 9, 8.
Y
z
Diamonds — 10, 6, 2.
Spades \.
A
Spades— X 8, 7.
Hearts— K, Q. 5, 4.
Clubs— A, K, Ku.
Diamonds — K, 9, 5.
€ .—A B = 0 ; Y Z
Note.— The underlined card i
A Y B Z
9"
+ A +
+4.*
*
•^
*
<> O 0*0 0 0
o-ol !5^ ?7^ 1^^
0.<) '■',-■.: -_>/ b^<?
0 < ' '■ h'o'''
o ■:• J_"i,i' J/;---'.', h?^
s trick, and card below it leads next.
B's INFKRENCES.
1. A has Queen of Hearts and
probably two other Hearts ; nei-
ther A nor Z (who has not sisj-
nalled) is very strong in trumps.
2. r has led from 10 C and two
small ones, probably from 10, 9,8;
Y's hand must be very weak, but
in all probability he has four
tmmps. A has Ace of Clubs and
King of Clubs.
Note to tbick 2.— 'U'ith such a liaiiil
T should have led a tnunp.
3. A has strength enough in
trumps, with command in other
suits, to justify a trump lead.
(This is B's inference, and also our
comment.)
4. Z, if he lias played rightly,
has no more Clubs. 4 C was the
lowest Club in hand, and Z cannot
have two more, for B can place
four of the remaining five, viz.,
9C with Y, Ace with .4, and two
in his own hand. But B knows that
6 C cannot be with Y, and if with
A, then A would have onginally
led Clubs unless holding at least
thi-eo Hearts besides Ace and King.
B is for the moment liable to be
misled by Z's false card.
Note to tbick 4. — Z i
retuminK his partner's lead
in the suit are declared against them. If
leading Clubs at all he sliould have led
6 C, if only for the sake of unifomutv.
5. The Ace of trumps lies with
A, the Queen with Y.
Note to tbick 5. — Y might well have
played his Queen of Spades. The .\ce
certainly does not lie with B, and is far
more probably with A than with Z. Even
if with Z there is the chance of Z having
also a small trump.
6. The long trump is with Y.
7. Z played a false card, or at
least incsrrectly, in trick 4.
8. A holds 4 and 5 of Hearts, see
Trick 1.
9. 10 H is probably with Z.
10. B knows that Y has led from
a weak suit, not from King, Knave,
10, for otherwise Y ijould not
originally have led a Club. He
knows also that Z cannot be strong
in Diamonds, or he would not have
returned Clubs in which his part-
12
13
m
0 0
0 ♦
O 0
O 0
O 0
o
0
0 0
0%
uer showed weakness. The King
of Diamonds probably lies with A,
as A led trumps from so weak a
suit as Ace to three. B therefore
boldly plays his Ace of Diamonds,
and with the long Club forces out
the long trumi).
11. It matters not how Z dis-
cards. It he discards a Diamond A
discards 5 H, and wins the remain-
ing tricks, as in the actual game.
.4 I) make three by cards. Had 1' led trumps at trick 2, or
played his Queen of Spades at trick 5, A B could have made but two
tricks. But the game might have gone bettor yet for I' and Z if, 1'
having led as he actually did, Z had led 7 U (bad as returning an
opponent's lead usually is) at trick 4. This would have fallen to
A's Queen; and Y, knowing Z with two more (for he never would
have returned opponent's lead unless with four, at least, of the suit
originally), would place 9 H and 10 H at once in Z's hand (having
the 8 himself), i' would therefore play away his Knave of Hearts.
-•1 would have followed with a trump lead as in the actual game, V
taking the trick with his Queen. Y would not then lead 8H,
because, though his partner could win with 9 H, and then lead the
winning Heart, B would ruff, lead a Club for his partner to take, who
would then lead trumps, <Stc. But, leading a Club, Y would throw
the lead again into A's hand, who would then have taken out another
round of trumps, and playing then Ace of Clubs, as in trick 7 of
actual game. If next .4 played a small Heart, Z would take the
trick with 9H and another with 10 H. If A led a small Diamond,
B, winning with the Ace, would force the long trump with Queen of
Clubs, and on F leading 8 H, Z would make both his hearts as
before. Or if B returned a Diamond instead of leading his Queen
of Clubs, then, whether A led a Diamond or a Heart after taking
the trick with his King, the remaining tricks would be with 1" Z.
The last five tricks would run in one or other of the following ways,
A leading in trick 9 : —
A Y B Z A Y B Z , A Y B Z
0. 4H 8H3D 9H oD10DAD7D | 5D10DAD7D
KD 2D 3D KnD
9D 6D 4D QD
4H 8H 8D 10 H
5HQSQC9H
10. 5 H 2 D 4 D lOH ! 4 H ^S Q C KnD
11. oDlODAD 7D loH 8H 3D9H
12. 9DQ;SQCKnD!9D2D4D lOH
13. ^D CD 8D QD KD^ 6D 8D QD
The other eight tricks wotild be the same respectively as 1, 2, 3, 8'
5, 4, 6, and 7 of the annual game, except that at trick 4, corres-
ponding to trick 8 of the actual game, 1' would play Knave of
Hearts instead of 8 H, while at trick 5 (of both games) he would
plaj- Queen of Spades, and B 3 S, the 6 S and Knave of Spades fall-
ing at trick 7 (corresponding to 6 of actual game). Y and Z
would have lost only the odd trick, which, with such w^retched
hands, would have been getting oft easily.
The Telephone as Affected by some Meteokoi.ogical Phe-
NOME.VA. — Several Continental observers appear to have been lately
studying the sovmds which may often be heard in a telephone that
is connected -with a wire stretched, say, between the roofs of two
houses, and connected with the water or gas pipes. On the occur-
rence of lightning, more especially, sounds arc heai-d, and at the
same instant (according to II. Bene Thury, of Geneva) as the flash
is seen, whatever the distance of the latter. Even when no
thunder was heard, and the discharge must have been at least 35
kilomMres off, M. Thury observed those induction effects. M. Lala-
gade, who has experimented similarly for some time past, thought to
amplify the sounds, and did so by placing two microphones on the
plate of the receiving telephone. The arrangement is set up in a
quiet room, where all foreign vibrations are guarded against, and
the author is able to hear the least sound at a distance of one
mJtre or more from the second telei)hone. Again, M. Landerer, at
Tortosa, finds currents produced in his telephone-circuit by atmo-
spheric electricity in three different ways. First, the condensation
of aqueous vapour results in a sound recalling the cry of tin. A
sensitive galvanometer in the circuit is not, or hardly, affected.
These sounds are strongest at night. Next, there are the sounds
which occur diuing lightning (and the currents producing which
affect a galvanometer considerably). Thirdly, the wind generates
currents which do not act on the telephone, but act on the galvano-
meter strongly. At Tortosa the very dry west winds produce the
greatest oscillations. Telluric or earth cui-rents set both on the
galvanometer and on the telephone ; they are distingtiished froni
atmospheric cuiTents by the regularity and continuity ot their-
action during prettj- long intervals. — Tl\e Times.
106
KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec.
1881.
QnsJlurro to ConfEfponticntsf.
•»• Cemmunientiona rAiVA art to rrrficr fitrti/ attnitioH fhould be addrtinfd tv the
Klitor nf KICOWI.IDOII, 71 and "6. Oreal Quern.itrefl, London, ll'.C.
IllNTa TO COBRRJil'OSDKXTH. — I. jVo quettiont aaking /or geirntific ittfortuation
can le tintirfred throuffh the pout. 2. Lettcra aent to the Editor /or corre»ponJent»
cannot be /oncarded ; nor can the nainet or addreeeee q/* correapondent* be gicen in
aH'ieer to private inqitiriea, 3. yo qucriea or repliea aavoitring q/* the nature n/
adcerttaementa can ba inaertcd. 4. Lcttcrt, qucriea, and replica are inaerted, unlraa
contrary to Rule 3, /ree o/ ckari/e. 6. Correapondenta ahriuld write on one iiile
O'ltit of the paper, and pnt draieinffa on a aeparate lei{f. H. Eaeh letter, qucn/, or
replf ahould have a title, and in repli/inei to lettera or qucriea, re/erence akouid be
made to the number qf Utter or quert/, t)te page on vhich it appeara^ and ita title,
Jonn Hautdeit. Lot us take it for (granted that I am the "coward and sneak "
you oonsidor mo ; '* my fripnd" the eminent naturalist you name (whom I have
never met in my life), "a cheat, a swindler, and a'^huflUn^' cur," and our
learned societies "seltlsh, dishonourable, and mischievous conspirators." Ohlige,
also, by noting outside vour letters an address to which they can I>e returned.—
Kditob of Bbitisii dnsss Magazinb. Manv thanks.—.!. Baxrndell. In
saying that the coincidences appear to me to disprove instead of provin(,' your
position, I refer to the circumstance that several of them are obviously niore
coincidences^ existing as such apart from the pyramid or its measures. They
show that coincidences of the most remarkable kind can he found in this case, and
presumably, therefore, in other cases, by those who look for them, and yet be,
lo all intents and purposes, meaningless, )>ecause accidental. Coincidences, there-
fore, do not supply that convincing evidence which the believers in what nmv be
called the Great Pyramid religion Hnds in them.— W. Paonvx Nbviks. You are
right; the comet is that of 1680. The comet of 1861, referred to at p. 28, was not
seen by so many as the comet of ldo8, being conspicuous only for a lew days, and
in the early morning, v^■herea8 the comet of 1858 was for months a brilliant
object in the skies. But the comet of 1861 was in some respects even more
remarkable.— A Fbllow of the Rotal Astbonouical Socibty. You might
regard meas "the kettle objecting to the pot its sordid superficies," for, like vou,
uiilitaci: ray zc:il is tempered now by the consideration that the world is "cen-
sorious, and easily led to misintcr|)ret warmth aa necessarily implying personal
feeling. Have we not both found it so ? Moreover, most people are more easily
pained than I should have thought possible when I first took part in controversy. -—
S. BiDDLB. It would save me a good deal of trouble to exclude thefifth magnitude
stars ; but many who use the maps want to have these stars in. It is very easy
for those who want them excluded lo take j)en and ink and put them out.— J.
T._ Lbightox. Occasional papers on quantitative chemical analysis might be ad-
miss-ible, if popular in tone; but at present we cerlainly have not room for a
series of papers on the subject.— J. Nobman Lockybb. We regret that you cannot
at present spare timo. Prof. Young has promised to write on the subject, and
your treatment of it from another point of view would doubtless have been
interesting to our readers. Perhaps at some future time you can oblige us. — W.
SijioNs. The quotation was sent in a letter from an eminent physician. Did
not notice the inaccuracy. The lines run, as you say —
fgnoranee is the curse'of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to Heaven.
Thanks for encouraging words in reference to Knowlbdce. — J. W. C, .\verillo.
Thanks; corrected in Xumber -1. We began with the idea of a fortnightly
limp of the whole heavens, which would have made the pictures too small
in scale. In chanjiing our plan the mistake you notice arose, the first,
rbird, fifth, &c,, maps being taken with dates and hours, for the second, fourth,
and sixth, instead of the true dates and hours.— Mar. S. Ridley. Book
received, and forwarded to an enthusiast on the subject, for notice.— G. E.
Bo.vNFY. Many thanks. The bookseller who thought the public likely lo be
interested in Kno\vi.edge would be less than we expected has certainly not
thus far been confirmed Ijy the event. The sale we hoped to attain in perhaps
half-a-year or a year has already been exceeded twofold. Booksellers have
a theory that nine-tenths of the" journals started from time to time perish
at the critical sixth number; possibly when we have reached the seventh your
tiookseller may have faith in our existence thereafter. We shall see.-J. B.,
.Vorxich Adcertiaer. Thanks.— F. C. Armstrong. Your query is uot suited to
our columns, though le^al matters may tie regarded as included in knowledge
taken in its wider aspect.- P. A. Fotheroii-i., F.R.A.S. Thanks— Eiclid.
We have inserted your queiT; but though you maybe readily shown how to
tnseet an angle by aid of a hyperbola, or" the cycloidal curve called the
'naectrix, you may depend no one will ever show you how to trisect an
angle by use only of the straight line and cirele,'as in Euclid.— A Studext.
We are not free to comment on instruments advertised in our columns.
)nit in this case the names of the advertisers stand very high indeed. We feel
satisfied that you could rely entirely on any statement their house might make as
lo Ihe quahtics of theirinBtruments.-J. ir. HoDD. Manv thanks. Mr. Foster has
some kindred illusions ah-eady in hand, and finds the explanation in a peculiarity
of Fig. 4 in No. 1. Your illusory picture shall be added lo his collection, drawn
"■■ suggest.- H. Griffith. Thanks for encouraging letter.— Hbnby Nobtox.
make out your letter. Possibly y
You
der that readable writing and ordinary spelling would have been thrown away
on persons so " hinevolint " as to cater for " circle squairers, petty school-
iiianters, and enquiring schoolboys." Your letter is absolutely alone thus far, and
alone among so m.any, that we venture to conclude you are aa exceptional in your
views about KNOwtKiioK as in your system of orthography.— Ja8. O. Jacksox.
On consideration, does il not appear to you that vour request is a little unfair?
To oblige many readers, we printed the map on a' separate leaf. It is thus better
printed, onr numlier is enlarged by a full page of matter, and the map is
made more convenient for study. As a reward tor thus considering our
readers' wants, you ask us to go lo the expense of having each map separately
pasted in Apart from the consideration that most of our readers prefer to have
1 he map loose, do you not think that your Society could pin or paste the map in ?
We pnnted »),000 copies of each of t1ie last two numbers, and these 20,iXX1 extra
h'aves added considerably to the cost of those numbers ; to have had Ihem piistert
in or an extra fold made for each would have involved additional expense, and
have been unsatisfactory to many of our readers.- O. W N'lVBK. Your long
article on "Clairvoyance" (seventeen very large and eloeely-writteu pages of
M.S.) would occupy much more space than we can afford even for objects other-
wise perfectly suitable for our pages ; vour subject can scarcely be so described.—
t. Cl. We shall be d.-lighted u. receive your paper on '• The Place of Dreams in
the Growth of Primitive Beliefs. "-Akurbw Aitkeh. Thanks for the construe-
tione of parabola, which shall appear if v\e can make space. First and fourth arc
scarcely suitable for " Oeomclricus," being so obviously deducilile, one from the
definition of a parabola, the other from the fundamental relation between the
ordinate and the abscissa, that he could not have failed to recognise them, lie
wants on easier construction. The two others arc in reality one, depending on
Ihe proposition that a series of equidistant concentric circles cut a iwries of equi-
distant parallels io a series of parabolas, having the centre of the circle* aa
focus, and a line through that point perpendicular to the parallels aa axis. Therr
is a simiUr property for the ellipse, and the hyperl»ola, equidistant concentric
circles replacing the parnlleln. Diagrams illustraling these relations have already
been drawn for KxowLl-lir.E, in accordance with promise made at foot of " Geo-
melricus's " letter. There are simpler and belter methods tlian these, however.
— M. E. Prxobfu. Yourlirsl letter does not appeared, bec-auseunsuitalile. If you
areso fearful of science you had better leave it alone. We cannot ..trengthen your
faith; we can only wonder why vou are troubled.— Joiix Steele. Many thanks
for nroflered M.S. (16 pp. clo"'-ely written foohtcap) in favour of ihe sun's tieine
rigidly cold, and showing that we are chiefly indebted to water for both light and
heat." Rut- please don't,- Hbxbt GRiusnAW. Your illusions next week, if
possible. We know nothing ourselves aliout Ihe Extract referred to ; the adver-
tising and edilin;; are distinct departments.— A Loveb of Kxowlbdgb.
Declining and inclining are different matters. The lines of the addreoa, which
arc really horizontal, appear to decline— that is to be lower down — on the left.
As to the other point, we hibour under great difllcullies with regard to corre-
spondence. We should require twice the space we have, to find room for all.
We will do our beat to make room early for all that needs early pubhcation, and
in the long run for all that is worth preserving.— loxoRiui'S. "'Vou misinterpret
my remark in " Ualf-hours with the Telescope." I do not say Mars shows a
larger disc or more striking features, but the reverse. \\'hat I say is, that we see
him on a larger scale ; as, of course we do, seeing that he is much nearer the
earth. No doubt you were looking at Mars. He is a disappointing object in
the telescope. — B. H. Tuwaitb. Your letter is too long for what, after all, is
an exposition of a very unsound doctrine. Take such a sentence as this ;— " May
not tne rings of the planet Saturn be produced owing to that planet having
two atmospheres capable of absorbing lipht from the solar rays?" Without
wishing to discourage your efforts at original theorising, or to quote authorities
against you, we must yet point out that a study of the facts known about
Saturn's rings will enable you at once to decide that your explanation "may
not " be accepted. — Again we find a great pressure on our correspondence
columns. Our own letter, promised in Number 4, was the first sacrificed.
SvNciiRoxizi.NG Electric Clocks. — At the first ordinary meeting
of tlie Society of Tele<,'raiih Engineers and of Electricians for the
autumnal session, Professor G. C. Foster, president, in the chair, a
paper was read by Jlr. John A. I.und, on " The System of
Synchroiiizing Clocks adopted in London and elsewhere." Mr.
Lund said his paper was an attempt to demonstrate the re-
sults to he obtained by even a limited acquaintance with the
science of electricity when patiently and perseveringly brought
to bear upon some of the practical demands of daily life. The
attention of electricians in the early dajs of their science
was, he stated, as much devoted to synchronizing clocks as to
message telegi'aphy, but the repeated failures in the former
field, as contrasted with the triumphant successes of the latter,
caused the application of electricity to tclegi-aphy to become the
favourite path of the electrician. Electric clocks were capable
of being divided into six kinds. None of the old forms of electric
clocks obtained a general public acceptance, the most successfnl,
the Wlieatstone, having only worked some five or six clocks from
one motor. Their failure was due to the desire to make the clock
subservient to the system, inste.ad of vice versa. The criteria of a
successful system of synchronizing, to obtain the approbation of the
public while receiving the sanction of science, were that each citx'k
should have a vitality distinctly independent of the time signal, and
not stop through a failure of the regulating electric current to reach
it ; universal application to all kinds of existing clocks ; lastly,
due provision for the correction of errors. The system exhibited
satisfied these conditions. Mr. Lund proceeded to say that, how-
ever perfect the mode of synchronising might be, it could not be
successful without a complete " system." The system consisted of
a coiTcct standard clock, which, assisted by a well-erected and well-
maintained system of telegraph wires, should send out the needed
signals to the synchronisers. Two " standards " were osed (one to
fall in automatically should the other fail) for transmitting the
currents of electricity, and those [standards received their motion
from a standard clock. The applicability of time current wires for
telephone purposes was instanced by telephones being placed
at each end of a circuit between the lecture-room (Institution of
Civil Engineers) and Messrs. Barraud i Lund's establishment, Pall
Mall, upon which wire there were also twelve electric clock
.synclironiscrs, through which conversation was carried on.
CotUetUs of Knowledge No. 4.
The Origin of Buttercups 65
Solids, Liquids, and Gases.— Part II.
By W. Mattieu WiUiams
Ger'msof Disea.se and Death. By Dr.
Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E
The Ijiwsof Probability 68 I Qi
Intelligence in Animals— (///utfrafrrf) 69 Kepli
FACE
Map of Eastern Skies— Celestial
Objects — Are Women Inferior to
Men? (J6»<rMcO -Speed of Ame-
rican Ice- Yachts— Are Men's Heads
Smaller than of Yore? ic 73
lllu
trated) .
By Thomaa Foster— (i««,
itoQu
70
-Authors and Publishers 72
COBRESPONDKSCK;— ToOur Readers,
*c.— The Missing Link The Sun's
Ueat-The Sun's Heat (.\bitract)
—Star Names :— Comets' Tails-
Practical Work with the Telescope :
Anniversary Meeting of the Bir-
mingham* and Midland Institute
I'liiou of Teachers aud Students.
Bv W. Mattieu WilUams 81
Our' Malhcnuitical Column 81
Our Chess Column 82
Our Whist Column 83
Answers to Correspondenta 81
Dec. 9, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
lo;
AN ILLJJfelRATED
MAGiZlNEorSmENCE
PLAINmf ORJEJ -£XACTI%ESCRIB£D^^.
LONDON: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1881.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Dreams. Bv 1>1« anl Clodd 107
Intelligoncem .^niinals . 108
Solids, Liquids, and Gases.— Part
iV. By W. Mallieu Williama ... 109
Persppcliv,. Illusions. By H. J.
Slack, F.O.S 110
Reviews :-British Ferns Ill
Hi<T,-;lvphital Insoriptions of tUe
< I'.ij Pyramids. By a Member of
< I. ietyof BiblicaHrchaiologv 111
i_ -iixDEXcB:— ToOur Reader's
- Pi f,.ssor Clerk Maiirellandthe
Keversibililv of the Gramme Ma-
chine— Suudav Art Exhibition —
PAGE.
The PiTamid and Paradoxers^
P>Tamid Mea-sures — Possible Daily
Variation of Pendulum Darwin's
Theory of ETolution— Problems
Geometricallv Insoluble — A Re-
markable Rainbow, &c 112
The Southern Skies in Deccmbei^
{lUmtrated) 119
Queries 1J2
Replies lo Queries 12.3
Our Mathematical Column 126
Our Whist Column 126
Our Ch<>ss Column 127
Answers to Correspondents 12S
DREAMS.
By Edward Clodd.
THE remarks which follow some questions concerning
the attitude of science towards dreams, asked in
KxowLEDnE of Nov. 25,* indicate how belief in their quasi-
supernatural character lurks in the minds of intelligent
persons who would resent being called superstitious.
Certainly, the antiquity and persistence of that belief
are small matter of wonder when we reflect that the
phenomena of dreaming are precisely of a character to
sustain that feeling of mystery wliich man's surroundings
awaken within him ; but an inquirj- into its origin and
growth may best dispel it, while such an inquiry will add
its witness to that of tlie " great cloud of witnesses "
concerning the survival, often in least suspected form, of
i-ude priuuti\e philosophies among the elaborated beliefs of
civilised races.
The youngest and most vigorous of the sciences, Anthro-
pology, has already made us familiar with the nature of a
vast body of evidence, uniform in character, unearthed
from old river-valleys, caverns, mounds, and tombs, wit-
nessing to the primitive savagery of man and his slow up-
rising therefrom ; but such evidence touches us only on the
intellectual side. Even should desired skeletons of veritable
men of mioceue times — still better, of the " missing " homo
simitts — turn up, we should yet be within the limits of
palseoutology and zoology. Such relies of our remote
ancestry would remain specimens onlj- — " a little less than
kin." It is not until the evidence from the Drift and from
surface remains (about which Knowledge may liereafter
tell its readers more in detail) gives place to that supplied
by immaterial reUcs — articidate speech, myths which were
for the time real, and sufficing explanations to him — that
man touches us as feUov;-vassi, as fhinAer,f striving to read
" the riddle of the painful earth," and to peer into the
mysteries of being.
* " Qnery at," p. 80.
t " Man, a derivative root, means to think. From this we have
the Sanskrit mann, originallv thinker, then man." — Max iluller's
Lcct. Lang. I., 437.
Now, for the purpose of this inquiry, it is needful to
have understanding of the mental condition of races in low
stages of culture, and, generally, it may be said that the
modern savage is, as the primitive savage was, in a state of
" fog " concerning the nature and relation of what is in the
mind to what is outside it. In this he may perchance com-
mand the sympathy of the modern philosopher, there being
this important dill'orence between the two, that while the
philosopher speculates upon the nature of the connection
between his mind and the external world, and confesses
that " his knowledge of matter is restricted to
those feelings of which he assumes it to be the cause,"
the savage has no capacity for such thought at all. He
has nothing in his slender stock of words corresponding
to the terms " objective " and " subjective ; " that stock has
no substantive verb " to be " — as, indeed, few of the lan-
guages of the world have ever had. He cannot distinguish
between an idea and an olyect, an illusion and a reality, a
substance and its image or shadow ; and under bodily
ailment, indigestion born of gorging, or delirium caused
by starving, gives shape and substance, a " local habitation
and a name," to "airy nothings," spectres of diseased or
morbid imagination. Misled by superficial resemblances,
he jumps at the most absurd conclusions ; ignorant of the
necessary relation between cause and etiect, he is " carried
about with every wind of " fancy ; nor has he the capacity,
which is the measure of intellectual growth, to strip the
special of its accidents, and sink it in the general.
For example, he gives a difterent name to the tails of
various animals, but has no name for " tail " in general ;
he can speak of sunshine, candle, fire-flame, etc., but
" light " is an abstract term which he is unable to grasp.
Such is his confusion between a thing and its symbol, that
the name of a man is held to be an integral part of him-
self ; he shrinks from revealing his own, lest the man to
whom he imparts it injui'es him through it ; still more does
he recoil from naming the dead, or powers credited with
baleful influence. He dreads having his portrait taken,
feeling that some part of himself has gone Ln the process ;
the better the likeness, the more has " virtue gone out of
him." Catlin relates that he caused great commotion
among the Sioux by drawing one of their cliiefs in profile.
" Why was half his face left out ? " they asked ; " Mahtoo-
chega was never ashamed to look a white man in the face."
The chief liimself did not take offence, but Shonka, the
Dog, taunted him, saying, "The Englishman knows that
you are but half a man ; he has painted but one-half of
your face, and knows that the rest is good for nothing."
Which led to a quarrel, and in the end Mahtoochega was
shot, the bullet tearing away just that part of the face
which Catlin had not drawn.
We may now more clearly understand how the savage
will interpret phenomena of a more complex order, and
why he can interpret these only in one way. The phantasies
which have flitted across the brain in coherent order or un-
related succession when complete sleep was lacking, leave
the traces of their passage on the memory, and they are
strong of head and heart, "true peptics who have no
system," as Carlyle says, whose awakened consciousness is
not afl'ected by the hai-monious or discordant, the painful or
pleasant, illusions which have composed their dreams. But
while for us they fill an empty moment in the telling, albeit
now and again causing "eerie " feelings, and quickening such
remains of superstition as slumber in the majority of us,
they are to the untrained intelligence of the savage as solid
as the experiences of his waking moments, true not only
" while they last," but for ever afterwards. And the
limits of his language only deepen the confusion withm
him when he tells what he has seen, and heard, and felt, and
108
KNOWLEDGE
[Dkc. 'J, 1881.
wliitlipr he has lieen. For the speech cunnot transcend
tlu' thought, and, thcrcfori', can rpprpspnt neither to him-
self nor to liis heiirers the tlid'erenco between the illusions
of tlie night and tiie realities of the day. The dead rela-
tions and friends wlio ajipear in dreams and live their old
life ; with whom ho joins in the battle or the chase ; with
whom, the toils over, lie sits down to fea.st, not, like the
Psalmist, in tlie jiresencc of his enemies, liut \ipon suc-
culent slices of the enemies themselves ; tlie foes with
whom he struggles, the wild lieasts from which he flees, or
in whose grip he feels himself, and, shrieking, awakens
his squaw ; the long distances hi' travels to dreamlands
lieyond and above — are all real, and no " basi;Kss fabric of
a vision." The belief is strengthened by that intensified
form of dreaming called " nightmare,"* when gaping,
grinning, spectre-monsters sit upon the breast, stopping
breath and paralysing motion, which has helped to create
the vast army of nocturnal demons that till the folk-lore of
the world, and that under infinite variety of liideousness
have had lodgment for centuries in the beliefs of higher
races.
What Schoolcraft says of the Indian mind, that " a
dream or a fact is alike patent to it, ' ajiplies throughout
tlie whole range of the lower culture, a marked and wide-
spread form of the confusion being in the belief that the
soul leaves the body during sleep. Among the Zulus,
when dead relatives appear to a man in his sleep, he
concludes that their spirits still live, and the savage notion,
that a sleeper should not be wakened, because of the
possible absence of his soul, finds some continuity in the
l)elief of inediieval times, that trance and catalepsy were
proofs of the temporary departure of the soul from the
body. Hence, as ]SIr. Fisko has remarked, "it was no
easy matter for a person accustxl of witchcraft to prove an
alibi; for to any amount of evidence showing that the
body was innocently reposing at home and in bed, the
answer was obvious, that the soul may, nevertheless, have
been in attendance at the witches' Sabbath, or busied in
maiming a neighbour's cattle ! "
(To be continued.)
INTELLIGENCE IX ANIMALS.
WIGAN, in his " Duality of the Mind," says that he
once offered an apple to an elephant, letting the
apple drop at the moment the elephant was about to seize
it, so that it rolled out of its reach. The elephant waited
a moment to see if Wigan would pick it up, and Ijeing dis-
appointed in this expectation, set himself to blow violently
against the opposite wall, and the recoil forced the ajijile
to his feet. 'This may be regarded as a case of pnictical,
rather than of alistract reasoning. Yet, as M'igan remarks,
it was a trick which no one could has c taught the animal,
and "it must have arisen from a process of reflection per-
fectly similar to that which takes jilace in the human
mind " under similar conditions. We have, indeed, he
justly remarks, " examples of human minds not even
capable of the degree of thought po.ssessed in this instanci?
by the elejiliant, yet performing, by a sort of automaey (sir)
all the ordinary functions necessary to their occupation.
In some of the mechanical processes in our great manu-
factories, where the minute subdivision of labour reduces
the art of each individual aliiio.st to the veiy ultimate
elements of muscular motion, 1 think that I have seen
individuals incapable of a similar process."
In the following instance, from the same work, we have
• i.e. Night-spirit. A.S. mare, nympli.
ingenuity combined with, and suggested hy, indignation :
" A largi' grey spider established himself in a recess
formed by a shed and a projection of the house, and taking
his long line diagonally from the corner of the house to the
eaves of a small building which was at the lx)ttom of the
recess, he then filled up the triangular .space with a well-
defined circular web. I had noticed with atlniiratioit
during the day his wonderful skill, the accuracy of his lines,
and the e<|uality of the spaces, and observed how carefully
he pushed down his line, and fast«'ned it securely v/ith
his two hind feet to each radius in succession. When he
had finished al>out two-thirds of his concentric circles,
or rather of his helix, he went to the centre and swallowed
a ((uantity of white t<'nacious mucus, which he had depo-
sited there at the commencement, having apparently spun
himself out ; he then proceeded to complete his work,
wliich having accomplished, and thus reduced himself to
very small diiaension.s, he hung hiiii.self up by the hind
legs, and I presume went to sleep. The slightest touch of
a fly was, however, sufficient to make him start out,
and having wi-apped up a few of them in his toils
and well stocked his larder, he again betook himself to
repo.se. In the meantime, one of the smaller spiders, con-
sidering that the diagonal line of his neigh) lOur was strong
enough to bear two webs, began to attach his lines to it,
and having so done in four or Ave places, proceeded to spin
his own web. My older friend tolerated tlie intitision very
patiently, and acquiesced in the use his neighbour was
making of the " party wall," though against spi<ler hn'-.
By-and-by the newcomer, having partly fitted up his nv. n
trap, and finding that no flies came into it, obsenini;, I
presume, the ample supply of food in his neighbour's \<f
mises, advanced along one of his own lines, seemingly f' r
the purpose of open burglary. My old friend had tolerat d
much, but tliis was a degree of impudence for which l.^-
was not prepared, and wliich he determined to punish
forthwith. He proceeded to the centre of his web, and
giving the whole fi-amewoik a violent shake, hoped to .shake
the intruder down upon the gi-ound. He did no more, how-
ever, than turn him round on the line, where he hung vrj v
patiently till the shaking ceased, and then resumed his mai\ li
towards his neighbours territory. Again and again, and
with increasing \ iolence, did the large spider shake hi.<!
web — it was all in vain ; there was the enemy advancing,
and though so small as to be easily overpowered, should he
reach the mainland, the insult of the attempt was intoler-
able. On looking round, my elder friend saw that, during
the violent shakes, he had V)roken two or three of his own
short lines, and he left his opponent and set himself to
work to mend them. Having completed the task to his
perfect satisfaction, he returned to the burglar. The latter,
when he came near, saw at once that he had been rash in
provoking such an enemy, and hurried back to his own
web. When his opponent saw him on his thin line in his
retreat, he again set himself to his shaking fit, and made
the most \ioleiit eftbi-ts to throw him down ; it was all in
vain, however, and he got safe home. After a moment s
consideration, the other .seemed to think tliat so audacious
an attenijit ought to be condigiily jiunished, and he deter-
mined to retort the invasion. The thin lines of his dimi-
nutive antagonist, however, did not aft'ord a sutlicient
sujipoit for his heavy bulk, and as he advanced, he carefully
spun a strengthener upon the other's tenuous cord. It was
now the littli' one's turn to shake ofl' the intruder, and
twice did he break the thin part of the line, and leave his
enemy dangling. At last, the latter gave up the attempt,
and went back to the centre of his own web, after carej'uUi/
(ktac/iiiiff ereri/ oar of thf linen which Ids neighbour had
had the impudence to fasten to his long diagonal."
Dec. 9, IbSl.J
KNOWLEDGE
lOlt
In tliis case we seem to recognise on both sides reasoning
which approaches at times tlie absti^act. In the calculation
of means to an end, and change of plan in consequence of
unexpected obstacles, there is practical reasoning. As
^Vigan well says, " Had the human race spun webs, and
dared one another to single combat, they could not well
have shown more judgment and skill in the attack and
di-fence. The .strengthening of the lines to bear the
shaking, and doubling the smaller spider's lines while using
tlirm as lines of advance, belonged also to the order of
]iractical reasoning, though of a rather advanced kind.
But there was abstract reasoning, it seems to us, or a near
approach to it, in the conduct of the smaller spider, first of
all, in considering, as it were, how far he might trespass
en the patience of an enemy whom he recognised as his
superior, and again in the conduct of the larger in deciding
when the time had come to giv(> his small enemy a
lesson, and in retreating finally without persisting, as if
1 eflecting that his purpose was as well achieved as though
he had actually driven the smaller spider from his web.
His removing the lines which had supported the smaller
web, though he had previously allowed them to remain,
looks very much like a result of abstract reasoning.
We find illustrated by such instances the remark of
1 )r. Prichard, that among insects, if we take the different
trilies collectively, manifestations of all the psychical
([ualities which we observe in mammifers and birds (re-
garding as a whole the properties di\-ided among dif-
ferent departments), may be recognised in the most strict
analogy. Attention, memory, the faculty of combining
means to attain ends, cunning, the desire of revenge, care
of offspring, and all the other psychical qualities which
have been traced in the former class of animals (niammi-
firs) are likewise to be observed in the latter as typical or
ihai-acteristic phenomena — sometimes m one combination,
sometimes in another ; or, in different groups, sometimes
strongly, sometimes more feebly expressed.
SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES.
By W. Mattieu Willi.\ms.
VS alreadv explained, all gases are now proved to be
analogous to steam ; they are matter exj)anded and
iindcred self-repulsive by heat. All eb'ineiitartj matter
liiay exist in either the three forms — solid, liquid, or gas,
aicording to the amount of heat and pressure to which it is
subjected. I limit this wide generalisation to elementari/
substances for the following reasons.
Many compounds are made up of elements so feebly held
together that they become " dissociated" when heated to a
temperature below their boiling-point. Or their condition
may be otherwise defined by stating that the bonds of
chemical energy, which hold their elements together, are
weaker than the cohesion which binds and holds them in the
condition of solid or liquid, and are more easily broken by
the expansive energy of heat To illustrate this, let us
take two common and well-known oils, olive oil and tur-
pentine. The first belongs to the class of "fixed oils," the
second to the " volatile oils." If we apply heat to liquid
turpentine, it boils, passes into the state of gaseous turpen-
tine, which is easily condensible by cooling it. If the liquid
result of this condensation is examined, we find it to be
turpentine as before. Not so with the olive oil. Just as
this reaches its boiling point, the heat, which would other-
wise convert it into olive-oil vapour, begins to dissociate its
constituents, and if the temperature be raised a little
higher, we obtain some gases, but these are the products of
decomposition, not gaseous olive oil. This is called " de-
structive" distillation.
In oli\e oil, the boiling-point and dissociation point are
near to each other. In the case of glycerine, thf se points
so nearly approximate that, although we cannot distil it un-
broken under ordinary atmospheric pressure, we may do so
if some of this pressure is removed. Under such diminished
pressure, the boiling-point is brought down below the disso-
ciation point, and condensible glycerine gas comes over
without decomposition.
Sugar affords a very interesting example of dissociation,
commencing far below the boiling point, and going on
gradually and visibly, with increasing rapidity as the tem-
perature is raised. Put some white sugar into a spoon, and
heat the spoon gradually over a smokeless gas-flame or
spirifi-lamp. At first the sugar melts, then becomes yellow
(barley sugar) ; this colour deepens to orange, then red,
then chestnut-brown, then dark; brown, then nearly black
(caramel), then quite black, and finally it becomes a mere
cinder. Sugar is composed of carlion and water ; the heat
dissociates this compound, separates the water, which passes
off as vapour, and leaves the carbon behind. The gradual
deepening of the colour indicates the gradual carbonisation,
which is completed when only the dry insoluble cinder re-
mains. An appearance of boiling is seen, but this is the
boiling of the dissociated water, not of the sugar.
The dissociation temperature of water is far above its
boiling-point. It is .5,072° Fah., under conditions corre-
sponding to those which make its boiling-point 212°. If
we examine the variations of the boiling-point of water, as
the atmospheric pressure on its surface varies, some curious
results follow. To do this the reader must endure some
figures. They are extremely simple, and perfectly intelligible,
but demand just a little attention. Below are three columns
of figures. The first represents atmospheres of pressure —
i.e., taking our atmospheric pressure when it supports
30 inches of mercury in the barometer tube as a unit,
that pressure is doubled, trebled, ttc, up to twenty times
in the first column. The second column states the tem-
perature at which water boils when under the different
pressures thus indicated. Tlie third column, which is the-
subject for special study just now, shows how much we
must raise the temperature of the water in order to make
it boil as we go on adding atmospheres of pressure, or the
increase of temperature due to each increase of one atmo-
sphere of pressure. The figures are founded on the ex-
periments of Regnault.
Pressure in
Atmosphere.
1
Teiiipcraluro F.
212
Eiae of Temperature
for euch udditional
Atmosphere.
37-5
2
. . . 249-5
23-8
3
2733
179
4
291-2
14-8
306-0
12-2
318-2
11-4
7
329-6
99
8
. . . 339-5
8-9
9
348-4
8-2
10
356-6
7-6
11
364-2
6-9
12
371-1
6-7
13
377-8
6-2
I'l
3840
60
15
3900
5-4
16
395-4
5-4
17
. . 400-8
5-1
18
405-9
4-9
19
410-8
4-6
20
415-4
It may be seen from the above that, with the exception
of one irregularity, there is a continual diminution of the
110
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Dko. 9, 1881
lulditioiiat temperature which is reciuirtxl to overcome an
tulditioual atmosphere of j)ressiire, aiul if this goes on as
tlie pressure ami t«>niperatures advance, we may ultiniatcly
reach a curious condition — a temperature at whicii addi-
tional pressure will demand no additional temperature to
maintain the gaseous state ; or, in other words, a t<>mpera-
Lure may be reached at which no amount of jiressurc can
condense steam into water, or where the gaseous and liquid
states merge or become inditl'erent.
But we must not push tliis mere numerical reasoning
too far, seeing that it is quite possible to be continually
;ipproaching a given point, without ever reaching it, as
when we go on continually halving the remaining distance.
The figures in the al)0ve do not appear to follow according
to such a law — nor, indeed, any other regularity. This pro-
bably arises from experimental error, as there are dis-
crepancies in the results of diflerent investigators. They
all agree, however, in the broad fact of the gradation above
stated. Dulong and Arago, who directed the experiments
of the French Government Commission for investigating
this subject, state the pressure at 20 atmo.sphercs to be 1181
at 21=4-i20, at •J.3 = 427-3, at 2.'5 = 431-4, and at 24 atmo-
spheres, their highest c.vperi mental, limit 435-5, thus re-
ducing the rise of temperature between the 23rd and 24th
atmosphere to 4'1.
If we could go on heating water in a transparent vessel
until this ditterence became a vanishing quantity, we should
probably recognise a visible physical change coincident with
this cessation of condensibUity by pressure ; but this is not
possible, as glass would become red-hot and softened, and
thus incapable of bearing the great pressure demanded.
Besides this, glass is soluble in water at these high
temperatures.
If, however, we can find some liquid with a lower boiling-
point, we may go on piling atmosphere upon atmosphere of
elastic expansive pressure, as the temperature is raised,
without reaching an unmanageable degree of heat. Liquid
carbonic acid, which, under a single atmosphere of pressure,
boils at 112° below the zero of our thei'mometer, may thus
be raised to a temperature having the same relation to its
boiling-point that a red heat has to that of water, and may
be still confined within a glass vessel, provided the walls of
the vessel arc sufficiently thick to bear the strain of the
el.istic outstriving pressure. In .spite of its brittleness,
glass is capable of bearing an enormous strain steadily
applied, as may be proved by trying to break even a mere
thread of glass liy direct pull.
Dr. Andrews thus treated carbonic acid, and the ex-
periment, as I have witnessed its r(>petition, is very curious.
A liquid occupies the lower part of a very strong glass
tube, which appears empty above. But this apparent void
is occupied Ijy invisible carbonic acid gas, evolved by the
previous boiling of the liquid carbonic acid below. We
start at a low temperature — say 40° Fahr. Then the
temperature is raised ; the liquid boils until it has given oil'
sufficient gas or vapour to exert the full expansive pressure
or tension due to that temperature. This pressure stops
the boiling, and again the surface of the liquid is becalmed.
This is continued until we approach nearly to 88° Fahr.,
when the surface of the liquid loses some of its sharp
outline. Then 88° is reached, and the boundary between
liquid and gas vanishes ; liquid and gas have blended into
one mysterious intermediate fluid ; an indefinite fluctuating
something is there filling the whole of the tube — an
etherealised liquid or a visible gas. Hold a red-hot poker
between your eye and the light ; you will sec an upflowing
wavy movement of what appears like liquid air. The
appearance of the hybrid fluid in the tube resembles this,
but is sensibly denser, and evidently stands between the
liquid and gaseous states of matter, as pitch or trea. '.■■
.stands 1)ctween solid and liquid.
The temperature at which this occurs has been named
by Dr. Andrews the "critical temperature ;" here the
gaseous and li(|uid states are " continuous," and it is
probable that all other sub.stances capable of existing iu
both states have their own particular critical temperatures.
Having thus stated the facts in popular outline, I shall
conclude the subject in my next paper by indulging in
some speculations of my own on the philosophy of tliesf
general facts or natural laws, and on some of their pos-sibl.-
consequences.
PERSPECTIVE ILLUSIONS.
Bv H. J. S=!l.\ck, F.G.S., Ac.
SOME persons have very little perception of perspective,
and whole nations, as the Chinese, whether or not
impressed by its effects, are not offended by drawings made
in defiance of its rules. If experiments are made with
English folk of diflerent ages and degrees of education, a
large proportion will be found obtuse in perceiving, and
inaccurate in observing, the optical aspects of buildings,
pieces of furniture, crockery, ic, as seen from different
positions. On the other hand, the more artistically-cul-
tivated or more naturally-endowed persons are extremely
sensitive to all such effects ; and, in some cases, most easily
deceived. Etchings in simple lines, without shading, such
as Flaxman's illustrations of Dante, show how easily the
eye is led, by slight tliickenings, curves, and angular
approximations, to conceptions of distance or super-
position, and it is probable that the illusions thus pro-
duced are strongest in the sharpest observers. Persons are
sometimes met with who see nothing of the kind, and to
whom all drawings look flat. Illusion figures are most
deceptive when they give no hint of the real facts. Thus,
your Fig. 8, p. 70, deceives an observer who finds no illu-
sion in Fig. 9 on the opposite page. I see the illusions in
both, but strongest in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 is more like a mosaic
pavement, in regard to which the knowledge that the
surface is flat makes it seem so, in spite of the Unes. In
looking at pictures and engravings, the mind willingly
accepts their perspective indications. In Fig. 8 the illu-
sion is produced by the series of diminishing arcs from the
edge of the outer circle inwards. These correspond suffi-
ciently with the representation in perspective of a series
of curved objects of the same size, but looking smaller and
smaller as the distance increases. This makes the centre
of the line AB appear to bend inwards.
Compound vibration curves described in fine lines on
paper are very deceptive. Mr. Washington Teasdale, who
has great skill in these matters, has supplied me with many
beautiful illustrations of this fact. He has also enabled
me to make a variety of experiments with similar patterns,
minutely ruled on glass as microscopic objects. The optical
illusions are strongest when the lines correspond with those
used in perspecti^•e di-awing ; and high magnification
(say 1,000 x ) does not dissipate the impression, if enough
of the pattern remains visible in the diminished field.
When bands of lines of the same thickness cross each
other, it is extremely difficult to illustrate them so as to
make them look on one plane. Of two such series, either
may be made to look uppermost. With large angle of
operation and high powers, I believe it is quite impossible
to obtain certain information of the structure of many
objects, unless there are good reasons, independent of
vision, for supposing one optical appearance more corre-
spondent with fact than another.
Dec. 9, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
111
Mr. Teasdali- o))lif;e(l na- «ith a number of the com-
„ i)ound vibration ami curve slides, done in testing his
apparatus, mure or less imperfect. These are highly
instructive. One especially, a spiml, with the initial part
roughly scratched, and the subsequent parts wholly clear
and fine, appears as a deep hollow under the microscope
with minocular \ision. A well known pliysiologist and
microscopist, to whom it was shown, saw this perspective
effect strongly when using one eye, but lost the illusion
the moment both eyes were employed with the prism.
This observer has both eyes better matched than usual,
and trials with various persons show that the illusion is
oidy partially dissii>ated when the binocular apparatus is
used by pei^ions v\hose eyes differ in focus, as is very
common.
lAfbiclusi.
HRITISU FliKN.S.*
MANY lind the stiu'.y of ferns a diflk-ult task, on account of the
difficulty of lecognisinfc tlio distinguiahiugcliaracteristics of
each j^cnns or class. Tlic book before us is intended to remove
I his obstacle. At the beginning, a careful explanation is given of
rlie general divisions of Howerlcss plants; of the different parts of
ferns ; of terms apjilicable to the shapes, etc., of their fronds ; the
grouping of ferns ; and tlie genera of British ferns. Tables are
given of each species separately, and according to the following
plan, the technical terms used iu which will be found fully ex-
plained in Miss Ridley's work.
1. First the scientific title is given, with the abridged or full
name of the botanist who first gave this name, and after that the
common name by which the fern is known.
2. In each instance the special points of the 'genus are indicated
under the heading of generic characters.
3. Under distinctive sjjccitic characters are noted the special
peculiarities and the points of difference by which the fern is
known from all others of the genus to which it belongs.
•1-. Whether the fern has a rhizome orcaudex.
5. The characters of the stipes and rachis.
•>. Tlie scales of the stipes.
7. The shape of the frond ; its average size, the length and width
being ascertained.
8. The textm-c of tlic frond, some ferns being hard and leathery,
others very soft, thin, and transparent.
9. Whether deciduous (that is, shedding its fronds in autumn) or
not.
10. The arrangement of the veins in tlie fronds.
11. Position of the receiitacle.
12. Sori, shape of, and usual quantity.
13. Whether the sori are dorsal or marginal.
14. If there is an indusium or involucre, or neither; when present,
shape and character of such.
15. Locality, or where found.
16. Lastly come the general remarks to each species.
At the end of the book is an index containing a list of technical
terms used in the book, Ijy which easy reference can be made to the
page on which the meaning has been given. With such a help as
this little pocket guide, many difiiculties will be removed, and the
Btndy of ferns will be made both easy and interesting.
HIEROGLYPHIC INSCRJPTIONS OF THE
SAKARA PYRAMIDS.
By a Me.«bee of the Society or Biblical Aech.eology.
THE recent magnificent discovery of royal mummies, papyri, and
numerous other relics at Egyptian Thebes lias been so sur-
prising, as to throw unduly into the shade the almost equally
important results attending the opening of jnTamids at Sakara
earlier in the year; doubly interesting, because their chambers and
passages, contrary to those of pyramids previously explored, were
'•"A Pocket Guide to British Ferns," by JIariax S. Kidley'.
(London ; D. Boguc.)
found, except where mutilated, to be covered with hieroglyphics
The literature thus so marvellously preserved was soon seen to be
of a very similar chai-acter to the most archaic chapters of the
" liitual," or " Book of the Dead," and of great mythological and
theological value. They are, however, owing to their extreme anti-
quity, notwithstanding the distinctness ami delicacy of the carve<l
and painted pictorial hieroglyphics (which are equal to that of
almost any other epoch), very diilicult to translate, because many
signs and ideas are used, er cxjiressed differently from those of
more recent texts with which pcholars have hitherto chiefly been
acciuainted. Some of the inscriptions have now been published by
Lepsius, in his " Egyptian Roview," and a tentative translation of a
portion of them made by Bruscgh Bey.
The most valuable fact brought to light by a careful study of this
decipherment of the texts is the decisive manner in which it
enforces an immediate reconsideration of wh.it were previously
considered as axioms in Egyptology-. Most, if not all, the myths
and legends supposed to have been engrafted into the Egj-ptian
religion at long subsequent dates are here found to be fully rife ; not
so much because some either appear in part or even amplified in
the texts themselves, especially the Myth of Nut, but on accovmt of
the numerous allusions to, and short quotations from, legends which,
to the initiated, at once called up, by a long train of associations,
the story thus frequently only indicated bj' a sort of double entendre.
The whole histoiy of Osiris, with his consequent belief in one
supreme ever-existent deity, and account of a future judgment, with
subsequent states of reward or punishment, is in full sway. It is
distinctly and emphatically asserted of one deceased King, Pepi,
that he is not really dead or annihilated, but that he has " received
his spirit," or become spiritualised in the abode of the blessed. The
legend of the struggle and triumph of Horus over Set, or of good
over evil, is seen fully developed, as are many others. Ra, Sele,
Harmachis, Turn, Tefunt, Harpocrates, Buto — in fact, nearly all the
pantheon, liitherto considered to be a gradual accumulation of
centuries after by many authorities — hero burst into view in full
splendour, and especially even Amen has his place.
The dog-star Sirius is mentioned iu respect to its chronological
importance, proving a careful observance of the constellations for at
least two periods of fourteen and a lialf centuries previous to the
writing of the inscriptions, or perhaps still older copies from which
they were taken, and the objects depicted in the hieroglyphs
indicate fully as advanced a culture and higii civilisation as that of
any epoch prior to the shepherd kings. The Elysian fields of heaven,
besides many other places and events described in the ritual of the
dead, are prominent, showing that this Bible of Egyjit had long
before been compiled and reverenced.
From this short n'sHm<< it will be gathered that these pre-
eminently ancient texts afford no ground for arguments based on a
theory of gradual development of Egyptian religion, from gross
fetichisni or anthropomorphic ideas ; on the contrary, the theology
exemplified is more spii'itual, and diverges less into pantheism and
animal worship by far than that of subsequent times. What are
now believed to be divine truths, whether evolved out of necessity
from man's spiritual nature, or imparted by primseval revelation,
are, in fact, less buried beneath a dt'briK of idolatry and ignorant
superstition, thau iu the era when Egyptian religion (because
misunderstood) became a jest to the writers of Greece and Rome.
A fortunate result of these explorations is also to terminate for
ever the apparently endless controversy as to the original purport
of the pyramids. These newly-opened pyramids are certainly the
mausoleums of the monarchs whose names, creeds, and coffins they
contain, and there can be no doubt but that such was the Great
Pyramid which formed the basis for the wonderful conjectures of
Prof. Piazzi Smyth and his school.*
These discoveries are almost certainly but the commencement of
others equally interesting, for there are in the Nile Valley quite a
mimber of pyramids yet unopened, aiul it is M. Maspero's an-
nounced intention to inaugurate his accession to the post of
Jfariietto Pasha by completely exploring every one that is known.
[* I do not accept the wonderful conjectm-es of the Astronomer-
Royal for Scotland ; but no astronomer can doubt the astronomical
significance of the structural details of the Great Pyramid. Whether
intended as a tomb or not, it was certainly erected by men exceed-
ingly well skilled in astronomy and mathematics, and as certainly
astronomical observations, of considerable difficulty and requiring
great exactitude, were carried on during its erection. Whether the
Great Pyramid was erected with so much precision in order that
astronomical observations might be made from it with great ex-
actitude, or whether astronomical observations were made from it
with great exactitude in order that it might be erected with great
precision, may be a moot point. I have scarcely any doubt myself
that both purposes were in view, the former as the primary one.
—Ed.]
112
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 9, 1881.
Ittttv^ to tf)c etiitor.
[ n» EJilor dtie$ Hol hold himtrlf mpoiitiHt/or Uropiniont of hit rorretpondenlM,
Br cannol tindrrlakr to rrliir„ aonyirriplt or to rorrrtpoud iriV* Ikrir tcrilcrt. He
rtgntrit Utat all nmmitniealioiii thoald be OJ tkort lU pouMe, coniulentl) trilk /««
and cUar tiatrmenU <iftha trriler'* mfittiinp.']
All EdUorial eommuxifaliont tlioulj U addreutd lo Iht Editor (^ KKOWLKDOB ;
•iH Biitintu KmiKunicaliani to the PublMeri, at the Office, 7*, Great Qii»n-
•Ireet, W.C.
All Remillaitce; Chequei, and Foil-Office Orderi should be made payable to
Mnn-t. irymui. * Son..
•.'All Uttert to the Editor rill be y«t»herrd. For concenience of reference,
correepoudentt, ichm rejerrinf} to any letter, rill oblige b) mentionins itt uumier
and the page on irAicA it appeart.
All Letter! or Qaeriet to the Editor irAiVA require attention in Ike current ume of
KxoWLBDOB,»A«u/</rMc* the Publithing Office not later than Ike Saturday preceding
Ike day tf publication.
1 only 13 to be conlemnert and despised who is not in a
there anything more adverse to accuracy
" In knowledge, that
»t«te of transition N
than tiiity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in making a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
me a man who makea no mistakes, and 1 will show jou a man who has done
nothing," — Liebiy, ^__^_
#ur Co irrsiponti nut Columns.
TO OUR READERS.
[82] — Last week we had to add two leaves, incltiding three
pages of matter, to what we had intended to be our full weekly
supply for at least the first half-year, and, probably, for the first
year of our issue, and yet no less than 14 pp. of matter remained
over. Our readers will see, therefore, that we lie under a consi-
derable difficulty. We wish to find room for the better part of all
tlie correspondence which reaches us. But we cannot do so without
condensing most of the letters ; and even so, we run over the limits
which prudence dictates to us as suitable for a journal at the low
price wc liave adopted. On the other hand, we have much to
encourage us, even in the verj- circumstance which occasions our
difficulty. Before we reached our fiftli number we were receiving
more correspondence than we expected to receive after we had
been a year before the public; and the amount of this corre-
spondence really measures the kindness of the welcome extended
to us. That the friends we have already made are finding for
us a welcome elsewhere, we know by the rate at which our
circulation grows. We have had to reprint both our first
and second numbers (every line having to bo recomposed) ;
and the indications are, that large though the second edition of
No. 1 was, a third will before long be required. All this is very
gratifying, and it leads us to hope that, long before we had
expected, we shall be able to enlarge our weekly number. It may,
perhaps, be said, that there are journals larger than ours at the
same price, and that therefore we might at once enlarge our issue.
There may be such journals, but if there is one giving anything like
the same amount of original matter on scientijic subjects at the
same price, we have yet to hear of it. With the size we already
have, and the amount of original (and costly) matter we give our
readers, a very large sale is required to enable us permanently to
enlarge each number. We shall not wait till such a sale is attained,
but shall increase our weekly number in anticipation — probably
long before. Bat our readers will understand that their co-operation
is still needed. In the first place, each reader who contributes to
our correspondence columns is earnestly requested to limit his
remarks to subjects suitable to K.nowleuge, and to condense them
to the utmost of his power. Then, each who approves our
purpose can greatly help by making us known to others, noting to
them in turn that they also, if content with us, can help to extend
our sphere. We may point to the last four weeks' issue in evidence
that we arc anxious to meet our readers' wants by enlarging our
numbers— without, however, engaging that such enlargement shall
be permanent yet awhile. We may, indeed, note this, that if wc
had so kept down our correspondence and original matter as not to
exceed what was given in our first number, our present i.«sue,
though the growth of only five weeks, would be remunerative. We
have preferred, however, to increase our number, even at the risk
of loss, and wc ahall continue to follow that policy so long as we
reccivo such oncouragemcul as heretofore from our readers an-l
correspondentH.
Tilt: Kditor ANn I'boi'Kiktois oi " Knowledge."
".I. I'. .'^." suggests that we sliould do as other papers dealing
H ith popular science have done, in having rr|>iirt8 of the meetings
of Hcienlitic societies. We would gladlv, if wi- could nllord the
s|)ace to do It properly. But let our friendly adviwr consider how
tiic matter stands. We already find it difficult to find spHCc for
what is ab.solutely essential as regards the purpose set before u«.
Now, the reports of scientific societies in the AthrnaiKm for Nov. 2*">,
which devotes only a section to science, and therefore condens*-
.such reports as much as possible, occupy a jiage and a third, which,
in the larger type of our correspondence columns, would be alniut
a page and three-quarters. Now, let us ask how the readers for
whom we specially cater, would care for so much space bcinf^
occupied with reports like those in the Atliejittmii, excellent as
those reports are in their proper jilacc there. For instance, und< r
the head " Chemical Society," we find this. " The following papir-
were read: — 'Aluminium Alcohols, P.irt 11. Their Products •(
Decomposition by Heat,' by Messrs. J. H. Gladstone and A. Tribe,—
' On the Chemical Action of Decomposing Vegetable Matter on thv
Rock-forming Sediment of the Carboniferous Period,' by Mr. E.
Wethered, — 'On a and /3 .\mylam,' by Mr. C. O'SnIIivan, — ' On the
Action of Oxides on Salts, Part IV. Potassic Chlorate and Ferric
Oxide,' by Messrs. E. J. Mills and G. Donald, — and ' On the Steejiin?
of Barley,' by Messrs. E. J. Mills and J. Pettigrew."
Or take the following report of the Royal Society (Mr. W. Spotti--
woode. President, in the chair) : — '" The following papers were re:i'! :
' Preliminary Note on the Photographic Spectrum of Comet ' .
1881,' by Mr. W. Huggins, — ' Note on the Reversal of the Spcctmii
of Cyanogan,' V»y Profs. Livcing and Dewar, — 'The Sum of tl ■
Series of the Reciprocals of the Prime Numbers and of tli''i'
Powers,' by Mr. C. W. Merrifield, — 'Further Note on the ilimri'-
Anatomy of the Thymus,' by Mr. H. Watney, — ' On the Production
of Transient Electric Currents in Iron and Steel Conductors,' 1.
Prof. Ewing, — 'Experimental Researches on the Propagation <■>
Heat by Conduction in Bone, Brain-tissue, and Skin,' by Dr. Lom-
bard,— 'On Allotropic or Active Nitrogen, and on the Compl' ■■
Synthesis of Ammonia,' by Mr. G. S. Johnson, — 'On the Com-
parative Structure of the Brain in Rodents,' by Mr. W. B. Lew>.
— ' The Prchensores of Male Butterflies of the Genera Papilio ai.l
Ornithoptera,' by Mr. P. H. Gosse, — 'On the Propagation of Ir.-
hibitory Excitations in the Medulla Oblongata,' by Dr. U. Kr. -
necker and Mr. S. Meltzer, — ' Researches on Chemical Equivaleno .'
Parts IV. and V., by Mr. E. J. Mills,— and 'On the Refraction .1
Plane Polarised Light at the Surface of a Uniaxal CiTStal,' bv il r.
B. T. Glazebrook.""
Or let us turn to a paper more especially devoted to science —
Nature. Here the reports, as might be expected, are fuller; buc
they would scarcely correspond with our si>ecial purposes. Here is
the report of the Entomological Society : —
H. T. Stainton, F.R.S., President, in the chair. — Exhibitiotis : An
aberration of Vraptcrij.r eamlucaria, L., Mr. C. O. Waterhouse.— A
new species o! Anthcrda from the Gold Coast; and some micro-
scopic preparations of the saws, ic, of various humennptera,
prepared by Mr. P. Cameron of Glasgow, Mr. W. F. Kirby. —
Pieces of honeycomb constructed on a bare wall, without any
protection; and specimens and figures of new varities of Arma-
(Jillium vulyare, L., and PorceUio icahcr, Latr. Rev. A. E. Eaton. —
A specimen of Lijccena teams, Rett., var. Icarinus, Scriba, Dr.
U. G. Lang. — An undescribcd sjiccies of Cicadlda: from Borneo.
with unusually developed opcrcula, Mr. W. L. Distant. — A
female specimen of Dii/ourca iliiiiita, Lep., Mr. T. R. Billups.
— A specimen of Scleroderma domeftica, Westw. ; the lar\a w:ii
found parasitic on that of a Longicorn beetle in a ]iine-tree iit
Lyons; and some Diptcra which attack figs in Turkey and Egypt,
Sir S. S. Saunders (this led to an interesting discussion on tig-
parasites and caprification). — Some remarkable tubes formed by
Lepidopterous larva> at Aden ; and a specimen of t'criira rinula, L.,
which it was thought at first might belong to t^. frniinca, Esp., the
President. — Papers road : Descriptions of new genera and species
of Ileterocerous Lepidoptcra from Japan (concluded), by Mr. A. G.
Butler ; and a memoir on the various Dipterous insects (Mufcid<v
and TipiiUda) destructive to cereals in Britain, by Professor
Westwood."
The report of the Geological Society runs thus : — " H. Etheridge,
F.R.S., President, in the chair. The follow^ing communications were
read : — "On the genus Stoliczkaria, Dune, and its distinctness from
I'arkeria. Carji. and Brady,' by Prof. 1*. Martin Duncan, M.B.
Loud., F.R S., F.G.S., Pres. R.M.S. ' On the elasticity and strength-
constants of Japanese rocks,' by Thomas Gray, B.Sc, F.R.S.G., aixl
Dec. 9, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
113
John Milne, F.G.S. ' The glacial deposits of West Cumberland,' bv
J. D. Kendall, C.E., F.C.S." "
It would be the ea-siest thing in the world to fill four or fire pages
■weelcly with suih reports. Indeed, it is easier to use them than to
decline them ; but however excellent such things may bo in their
place, we must point out that they would not at all correspond with
the promises hcUl forth in our prospectus. When we increase our
space, it will be to find room for matter more likely to be widely
and generally interesting. Of course, the paper.^ read before our
learned societies are full of interest for experts in the respective
branches of science to which they belong ; and their subject matter
may be made veiy interesting by suitable treatment ; but their
mere names, or abstracts of their contents, could have no interest
for the great majority of our readers. Even our scientific readers
-would only be interested,- -each, perhaps, in one or two out of a
■dozen Buch titles or abstracts. Riciiarh A. Proctor.
TROFESSOR CLERK MAXWELL AND THE REVERSIBILITY
OF THE GRAMME MACHINE.
[83] — Listening to Professor Sylvanus Thomjison's paper on
■"Storage of Electricity," at the Society of Arts, last Wednesday, I
heard to my surprise the following story (as an introduction to his
subject) : — " Xot many months before he was seized with the
niortal illness which robbed us too soon of his rare and unique
■genius. Professor Clerk Maxwell was asked by a distinguished living
man of science what was the greatest scientific discovery of the last
twenty-five years. His reply was, 'That the Gramme machine is
reversible. ' "
Now I fully subscribe to Professor Thompson's statement about
the loss we have sustained by Professor Maxwell's death, of his rare
and unique genius ; but the latter part of the above citation I
listened to as to a story told of great men ; one of those stories
•which often have their origin in insignificant incidents or expres
eions, and are used for the purpo.se of raising the subject of which
the great man speaks in the estimation of the listeners, or are in-
tended to give a certain halo to his fame, and show his abstracted,
simple mind. A story of this latter category I heard told of Arago.
To enable a favourite cat to enter his study, he had a hole cut in his
door ; and when this cat had a kitten, he had a small hole cut at
the side of the big one, to give facility to the kitten also to enter.
We may look ujion such stories as the spice with which sometimes
scientific subjects are dished up ; and in that light I accepted the
«cc lunt of Professor Clerk Maxwell's opinion about the greatest
discovery within the last twenty-five years.
But I was astonished to fiud this story printed in the paper as
rgiven in exten^o in the Society of Arts Journal, and hence offered to
the reader as an undeniable fact.
Professor Thompson's paper itself contains the reason, why one
may doubt, that Professor Maxwell should have made such a reply
■seriously ; and the reason is, that ever since Ritter built up his first
secondary pile, or Jacoby his first electro-magnetic engine, or
Oacinotti his electro-magnetic engine with the first ring armature —
nay, since Newton's law, as given by Professor Thompson himself in
his |>aper (" to every action there is an equal and contrary reaction "),
•was enunciated, there could be v_o doabt whatever that the Gramme
machine was reversible. But, principally, it follows directly out of
Lenz'a law of magneto-electric induction, published in 183'^, and
■could have been foretold from all practical experience made with
the electro-magnetic jiower engine which was intended and expected,
some thirty to forty years ago, to supplant the steam-engine.
We will set aside for a moment Newton's "immortal" law per se,
■and its application to the secondary battery ; and take the phe-
nomena of the electro-magnetic motor, and of magneto-electric
induction alone, into consideration.
Clerk Maxwell, in his " Electricity and Magnetism," 2nd edition,
section 530 (Vol. II., p. 167), gives the latter phenomenon in the
following wonls (under the heading Magneto-Electric Induction) : —
'' in all cases the direction of the secondary current is such that
the mechanical action between the two conductors is opposite to the
fTirection of motion, being a repulsion When the wires are approach-
ing, and an attraction when thev are receding. This ven,^ important
fact was established by Leuz." '(Pogg. Ann XXI., 4S3.— 18;U.)
Surely no great logical powers are required to interpret this law,
as, in fact, years ago it has been interpreted — viz., the same arrange-
ment of conductors and magnets which, by motion in relation to
each other will produce a cuiTcnt in the conductor, will produce
motion when from some electric source a current is sent through
the conductor.
This "reaction" was applied in some of the earlier forms of
magneto-electric " induction machines," ^vhich were used for illus-
trating the aj>plication of electricity as a "moving power" ; and
P.icinotti, when describing his electric motor, in which the ring
armature was for the first time applied (1860-6^1), stated already
that, when rotating the armature, his machine could be used as a
generator of electricity.
Lastly, Jacobi showed nearly fifty years ago (about 1835 or 183G)
that the efficiency of electro-magnetic motors was seriously inter-
fered wiih by the electric cuiTents induced in the machine. Hence,
ever since the production of electric currents by means of magneto-
electric induction was underetood, and since the application of
electricity for the jiroduction of motion has been studied, there
could not have been any doubt about the reversibility of a magneto-
electric or dynamo-electric generator into an electro - magnetic
motor. And this story of ProfcsSor Clerk Maxwell declaring this
" discovery" as the greatest scientific discovery of the last twenty-
five years loses, to say the least of it, its point.
Perhaps some of your readers can bring some further light to
bear upon this question, and witnesses will bo forthcoming to prove
either pro or con.
I may incidentally remark here that Professor Thompson's paper
was the most complete account which it is possible to give of the
important question of the storage of electricity, as he has thoroughly
exhausted the subject in its scientific and practical bearing, for
which lie deserves the thanks of every electrician and engineer
interested in this latest phase of the development of the science of
elect ricitv.
Xoi: 26, 1881. C. G. G.
SUNDAY ART EXHIBITION.
[84] — The exhibition of works executed by students of the City
School of Art, which was opened on two Sundays in December last,
having proved very interesting to a large number of people at the
East-end of London, we have great satisfaction in announcing that
arrangements have been made for again opening the exhibition on
Sundays.
The Exhibition, which is the twenty-fifth Sunday Art Exhibition
opened under the auspices of the Sunday Society, will be held in
the Skinner-street Hall, Bishopsgate, and will be open from three
to six o'clock p.m. on Sundays, Dec. i and 11. Admission will be
free (without ticket), and we are pleased to be able to state that, in
addition to the work of the students, some valuable pictures from
the collection at South Kensington Museum will be exhibited.
In order that the widest publicity may be secured for this effort
to provide innocent recreation on the leisure day of the week, we
ask you to insert this letter in j^our columns, seeing that the facili-
ties in London for visiting collections of art are far too limited, and
that the want of open museums and art galleries on Sundays is
especially felt by the inhabitants of crowded districts at this season
of the year, when our climate so often practically closes the parks
and gardens to them. — We are, 4c.,
William Rogers, M.A., Chairman. "( City School
R. H. Hadden, B.A., Hon. Sec. ) of Art.
TH0M.4S Burt, M.P., President. \ Sunday
Mark H. Judge, Hon. Sec. I Society.
7, Conduit-street, W., Nov. 30, 1881.
THE PYRAMID AND PARADOXERS.
[85] — If I were called upon to classify paradoxers, according to
the good or evil effects they have had upon the community, I should
give the Pj-ramid craze a very honourable place, for it has served
to carrj- a knowledge of certain elementary facts connected with
astronomy and geometi-y into dark regions where attention to
such matters would probably never have been aroused by other
means. There are thousands, possibly I should be nearer the truth
if I said hundreds of thousands, who would never have known that
the pole of the earth's axis is moving amongst the stars if it had not
been for the Pyramid paradox, and the literature which has sprung
up around it. There seems to be something connected with such
speculations which has a fascination for a large class who would be
wearied by a more cautious search after truth. We have only to
notice how a statement, that three of the major planets will be in
perihelion next year, and, consequently, something e.'ctraordinar}'
may be expected to happen on the eartl(, goes the round of English
and Colonial papers, to see that such speculations are fitted to do a
sort of missionary work for science.
I wish to enquire what attitude those who would like to see the
scientific spirit spread, shonlil take with regard to such speculations.
There are some who think that this tendency of human nature may
be utilised to obtain money for science; and they have not thought
it nnworthy of them, as seekers after truth, to pose before the
nninstmcted, as weather prophets or alchemists. Give us money to
study the sun, they say, and we will tell your fortune by snn-spots.
We will show that the elements are not elementary, and, perhaps.
lU
KNOWLEDGE •
[Dkc. 9, 1881.
'II time, wu mny transmute them. I expect tlint there nro n gootl
many brsidcii myiiclf who feel thnt surh a, method of trailing upon
the pamdoxical |)roi'livltie>i of our ncifjhbours is not honest, nnd
must not fori* monioiil be indul^eil in. Uow, then, enn wo utilise
the interest stirred up hy such pnnidoxcs to spread n love of science,
nnd to bring to our nei^'hbuurs all the bcnclils which follow from a
patient scorch after truth ?
It seems obviously unwitc to ignore the pamdoxers, or even un-
necessarily to hurt their feelings nnd snub them, as some oblc men
Boem inclined to do. I'uradoxing is an approach towards science,
nnd, nt nil events, is better, nnd more worthy of being spoken of
■with respect, than purely selfish or uuintcllcctuni forms of enjoy-
ment. Most of us are, no doubt, jn-etty frecpiently thrown amongst
l)nradoxers. or with those whom we believe to bo pnradoxerp. I
would suggest that when we have mndo up our mind that our friend
is a parndoxcr, we should endeavour to put our objections to his
paradox in the form of questions which raise difficulties thnt he has
probably not yet considered. We may thus Iea<l him on, and at the
fame time exercise ourselves in the art of seizing the difficulties of
others.
Let us take an example. Sir. Baxendell, in your number for
Nov. 18, says that ho has been led to believe " that the data which
formed the basis for the design of tho great pyramid wore the
diameters and distances of the sun, earth, and moon, combined
with the ratio tt of the circumference of a circle to its diameter."
He proceeds, let .■!= the diameter of the sun, c = the diameter of
the earth, m = the diameter of the moon. Then wc have
(1). je ^ 1 ooO.OOOt.
«i
(2). v''" T'=length of one side of the base of the IVramid.
And then follow thirty-one more such relations. I will not occupy
space by repeating them. We might commence by asking whether
the relationships discovered refer to the solar system at its present
temperature, or to the temperature which its various parts had at
the time when the Pyramid was designed. Let us sujipose our
imaginary pyramid paradoxer to answer that the relationships must
be true for the temperatures and magnitudes of the designer's
epoch. We might then proceed to inquire whether the probable
errors in the determinations of the quantities made use of in the
equations are sufficiently small to enable one to determine whether
there has been any change of magnitude in tho various parts of the
solar system since the Pyramid epoch. The answer to tliis question
will give an e.^ccllent opportunity for inquiring into the amount of
the probable errors in determining the height of the Pyramid — the
length of its base — and other pyramid magnitudes, compared with
the probable errors in determining astronomical magnitudes. If
we succeed in convincing him that the moon's distance can be de-
termined with greater accuracy than the height of the great
Pyramid, the rest is easy. It follows that there can be no advan-
tage in attempting to determine astronomical quantities from
)»yramid measures.
But let us suppose that our companion is not sufficiently ac-
<|uainted with astronomical methods to understand such reasoning.
Wc can point out to him that the relationships he has found are
not homogeneous. His first equation iseijuivalcnt to the statement
that a length multiplied by a length is equal to a length multiplied
by a number. Such a relation between quantities can only be true
when a particular unit is used ; and we can point out that all
relationships in nature can be expressed so as to be true, whatever
unit is nsed. We may then show him that his different equations
involve different units ; for example, his second equation involves the
use of Pyramid miles on the one side, and Pyramid inches on the
other.
In such a conversation, do not on any account refer to authority
or endeavour to crush your opponent with facts that he cannot
verify for himself, but patiently plod on, using your ingenuity to
ntilise the interest in the study of nature which has been begotten
in his mind by tho paradox, and, if possible, stir up his enthusiasm
for the further study of such things, and endeavour to leave him
with a sense of your perfect fairness and an appreciation of the
scientific method which you strive to apply in satisfying yourself as
to truth, A. C. iIaxvakd.
y„i: 28, 1881.
PYRAMID MEASURES.
[80] — I do not profess to be nmster of the whole theory of pro-
babilities, and it is perhaps owing to this that I have failed iu my
ttcmpts to apply it in proving thnt tho coincidences given in my
paper arc merely nccidentnl. So fnr as I understand tho theory,
and have been able to ajiply it, the results indicate in a marked
manner thnt the coincidences nre not nccidental, and, therefore, till
the contrary can be sho^vn, I think I nm justified it my conclusion
" that eo far, at least, as the values of the distances and diameters
of tho gun, earth, nnd moon nre concerned, modern science hua made
no real advance upon the science known to tho builder of the Great
Pyrnmid four thousand years ngo."
The subject is cmc of considerable interest nnd importance, nmi.
whether I nm right or wrong in my conclusions, I shall be glad ty
sec it fully and impartially discussed in K.nowi.kdge, and leave it to
bo decided from the results of such discu.ssion whether it is de.sirjible
to enter into the questions of inspiration nnd prophecy. At presml
the genernl feeling nppenrs to be decidedly against the coincidenci-
theor}', and the verj" few who object to the in.xpirntion theory argue
thnt in remote ages n high degree of civiIi«ition existed, nnd that
knowledge had been acquired which, when men afterwards rcl.ipRe<l
into a state of superstition and barbarism was almost entirely lost.
But on this theory the question again rises, In what way did men in
those early times acfiuirc this knowledge, and what evidence have
wo of its existence except that shown in the Great Pyramid ?
I am, dear sir, yours fathfully,
Joseph U.^xexokll.
[87] — I venture to offer an explanation of the remarkable nu-
merical relations between different parts of the (ireat Pyramid.
pointed out by Mr. Baxendell in your number of Nov. 18, more
probable, I think, tlmn the supposition that its ancicTit builders had
anticipated the discoveries of modem astronomy as to the distance
of the sun and moon and the size and shape of the earth, but
buried their marvellous attainments in a mass of stone-work, with
no explanation, till, thousands of years afterwards, they were
brought to light by the indefatigable zeal and scientific skill of
Professor Piazzi Smyth.
The measures are, I believe, founded on astronomical observa-
tions, but observations of the most primitive character — the length
of the year, the length of the month, the length of the week, and,
what .-ippears to have symbolised tlie course of time, tho number
60, which meets us in the 360° of the zodiac, the 60 hours in India,
and, I believe, also in Egypt, of the day, 60 luinutes of tho hour,
CO seconds of the minute, &c.
It seems to me impossible to reason with any assurance on this
matter unless we knew more certainly than we do what their cal-
culations were. We cannot ascertain this positively from the actual
measurements, unless we assume that the old builders measured
as accurately as Professor Piazzi Smyth, which is very improbable.
It is quite possible that if we had the plans of the architect before
us, wc should find relations simpler than those stated above.
There is no necessity for attributing to the Egyptian builders any
preternatural knowledge of astronomical facts in order to account
for the peculiar relations subsisting between the measures of the
Great Pyramid. — Yours, Ac, G. Vansittart Nealr.
[We have been obliged to omit the numerical relations indicated
by Mr. Neale. They correspond with the measurements as woll as
others which have been devised. One could explain tho proportion*
of the Pyramid in a dozen different ways. — [En.]
POSSIBLE DAILY VARI.\TIOX OF PENDULUM.
[88] — There is a question that I have long thought might be
worth trying respecting the earth's motion. In round numbers,
say, the centre of the earth travels round the sun at the rate of
1,000.000 miles ])er day, or say 10,000 miles per hour; and the
earth revolves at the rate of 1,000 miles per hour. One side of tlu-
earth will be going at the rate of 10,000 miles + 1,000; the other
side 10,000 miles — 1,000; difference of velocity to be imparted in
12 hours, 2,000 miles per hour.
If a heavy and steady pendulum of great length were properly
suspended and protected, some daily motion might be discovered,
due to this varying velocity being communicated through the sus-
pending-rod. The direction of revolution round the sun and the
earth's revolution arc both known. Perhnjis some indication of
some other motion might be found. A long pendulum would be
essential. This, 1 ajiprehend, wotdd not be so nmch affected by
minute, rajiid tremors, but would more clearly show the action of
long duration. My own experience has been only with transits and
other instruments in engineering work.
No. 1 of KxowLEDOK has been sent to me to-day, as a sample, I
presume. I shall take it. Receiving this has led me to trouble
you with these remarks.— I remain, yours truly,
Hknry CvRR.
DARWIN'S THEORY OV EVOLUTION.
(.•16«(nKt, iiiucJi condensed.)
[89] — Sir John Lubbock, in his able and luminous address
delivered before the British Association at York, told us that »o
ought to believe " that tho horse nnd tho ass, the sheep and tho
cow proceeded from common ancestors." 1 cannot find a tittle of
Dec. 9, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
115
satisfactory evidence to prove the conclusion advocated by Sir John
Labbock. Let ns take a single instance of Mr. Darwin's " method "
of treating facts and inferences. He tells us that the rattle of tlie
rattlesnake was probaby evolved by the desire of the creature " to
frighten its enemies." [Darwin says nothing abont the rattle-
snake's desire. — Ed.] Xow the " enemies " of any animal seek it
out in order to attack and destroy it ; and, therefore, tlie rattle, so
far from being a source of alarm, would act rather as an invitation
to the snake's " enemies " to pursue and overcome it. [How if
thev dislike the noise ? — Ed.] Further, if the desire to frighten an
enemy is a creative cause of such an organ as a rattle, why does
not the same desire develop the same product in other creatures ?
Asimilar cause ought to produce a similar effect under similar
conditions.
Sir John also alluded to those kno\m transformations which occur
in a short time, and whicli have been observed in many objects of
creation; and he cited them as collateral testimony of those greater
and more profound transmutations which have been supposed to be
wrought in higher organisations during remote ages. I subn\it that
this argument is altogether illusory. Those obvious minor transfor-
mations, to which Sir John referred, take a certain course — pursue
a certain round — in obedience to regular processes and laws of
being, and then terminate their career under known conditions.
Tlie attention of the audience was also invited to the circumstance
that the stripes of the tiger correspond with the long grass in which
he makes his habitat ; and that the spots of the leopard resemble
the speckled appearance of the light falling through the leaves of
trees. Now, if this eminent teacher really means that we should
believe that in these instances the long grass and the specks of light
are in the remotest degree the caxifes of the stripes of the tiger and
the spots of the leopard, then I must say that the impression he
wished to create is the most astounding and intolerable tax upon
our credtjity ever levied by the greatest scientific fanatic.
London, Nov. 19, 1881. Newton Croslaxp.
[Mr. Crosland entirely misapprehends the Danvinian theory and
Sir J. Lubbock's remarks on it. We feel justified in excluding ob-
jections based on mere misinterpretation of the theory attacked ;
though inquiries suggested by such misinterpretations will always
find a place here. — Ed.]
PROBLEMS GEOMETRICALLY INSOLUBLE.
[90] — Would the geometrical solution of one or two problems,
hitherto unsolved by geometry, bo suitable for the pages of
Knowledge ? One is to determine the centre of gravity of a semi-
circle, and a computation of its distance from the centre of the
circle by trigonometry. This, of course, is analogous to what is
called squaring the circle.
Another is to determine the diameter of a sphere equal in volume
to a given parallelopipedon. I should esteem it a favour if you
would let me know what you think about them. — Tours, etc.,
J. G. Moore.
[The trigonometrical computation of the centre of grarity of a
circular arc is well-known. If our correspondent knows of any
simpler form of it, we shall, of course, be glad to have his demon-
stration. If, as a preliminary to either of his problems, he proposes
to " square the circle " geometrically, we shall be content to wait
awhile. If he has squared the circle geometrically, we shall never
succeed in showing ** where tlie error comes in." — Ed.]
A REMARKABLE RAINBOW.— LOGIC versus MATHEMATICS.
[91] — About three o'clock in the afternoon, one day last week, I
observed a very bright rainbow, accompanied by its secondary
external arc. "To my great surprise, I noticed that the primary
bow consisted of a triple series of colours, the red of the second
band being in close contact >vith the violet of the first, and so with
the third. The colours of the third band were very faint, and it
was only distinctly visible for a short time at the stmimit of the
arc ; but the second band was visible over almost the whole length
of the bow for three or four minutes. I should be glad to know
whether this phenomenon has been noticed before, and how it may
be explained.
I am rather sorry to see that, not^vithstanding the warning of
" F.R.A.S.," in No. 1, your admirable j»per is being seized upon
by the crotchet-mongers to air their remaikable notions, and I trust
you will not think that I wish to dispute accepted and infallible
laws of mathematics or of logic because I send you a paradox in
which they appear to confute one another. Jly paradox is as
follows : —
For every whole number there is a square, which is also a whole
number. No two whole numbers have the same square.
Tlierefore there are as many whole numbers which are squares
as there are whole numbers.
But there are many whole numbers which are not squares to
other whole numbers.
It follows that there arc whole numbers which are not whole
numbers.
I prefer, however, to infer that the series of numbers being
infinite, and the series of their squares being therefore also infinite,
the latter infinity includes the former. I should like, however, to
see a more satisfactory explanation. — Faithfully yours, Theta.
[We do not see how there can be a more satisfactorj- explanation
than the one" Theta " has himself supplied. If we considerany cor-
responding parts of the two series, 1, 2, 3, i, &c., 1, 4, 9, 16, &c. ; we
see that, taking them together towards infinity, the latter will run on
to a higher infinity, as it were, the highest number in the latter
series being always the square of the highest number in the former.
Or, algebraically :"— 1' -t- 2' + 3' -f -)-it^_J)i(n -f l)(2>i + 1) ^2)1 + 1
3
1-1-2 -H 3 -I- + n
or is infinite when n is infinite. — Ed.]
i"( + l)
STONE ON WHEELS.
[92] — The results obtained by "Queensland'' and his mathe-
matical friend (Querj- 2S, p. 80), with regard to the stone rolled on
wheels, probably differ through their not understanding each other.
It " Queensland " means the wheels to be supported by and revolve
on fixed axles, then the stone will move, as he supposes, through a
distance of 75 in. If, however, he intends the wheels to rest on the
ground, they will themselves move along a distance of 75 in. for
each revolution, carrying the stone with them, and at the same time
they project the stone forward (with regard to their own position)
an equal distance; it will, therefore, move a total distance of 75 in.
+ 75 in. = 150 in. G. M.
POLARITY versus GRAVITATION (Ahs'rr.ct).
[93] — I AM too old a stager to take umbrage at any usage, however
rough, which I may experience in the arena of debate ; when,
therefore, you tell your readers that I am " a paradoxer," who
hardly knows what he is about, I accept the imputation in the par-
liamentary and controversial sense in which it is meant. Iprestune
it is your mode of saj-ing that you differ from me in opinion.
Mv ideas must natm-ally suffer some loss of cogency by the
necessity which exists of compressing their exposition within tie
space which you have kindly allotted to me.
Permit me to submit a few words of reply to your remarks
on my letters. With regard to my objections to the Newtonian
theory of the tides, as you merely content yourself with reiterating
that theory, and asserting its correctness, I can, of course, say
nothing more on this subject. Discussion becomes profitless when
one disputant sets up what the other knocks down.
Touching my criticism on the centrifugal and centripetal forces
as regulators of the motions of the universe, I beg leave to say that
" the ill-informed writers" who used the term " centrifugal force"
in the sense which I condemned are Joyce, in " Scientific Dia-
logues ;" Milner, in " The Gallery of Nature ;" Ferguson, in his
" Lectures edited by Brewster ;" Dr. Lardner, in his " Astronomy ;"
and " Keith on the Globes " — all well-known expounders of the
Newtonian system — and Sir Isaac Newton himself. When you say
that " centrifugal force is only another way of viewing the centri-
petal force," I know what you mean, but I fancy that the general
reader will require further explanation. The revolution of a
planet round the sun is supposed to be effected by the attraction of
gravitation or centripetal force of the sun drawing the planet out
of the straight line on which it was first impelled by its Maker.
In one part of its orbit the sun draws the planet nearer to itself,
and thereby accelerates its speed. This increase of speed is sup-
posed to generate " a centrifugal force " which has a repellent effect,
and thus sends the planet off again on its proper course. Now, here
comes in the ticklish part of this theory. When once the attrac-
tion of gravitation overcomes a rival force, nothing can stay its
career of conquest, except the intervention of a third power of
equal potency and independent jurisdiction. As the accelerated
speed above-mentioned has no such independent origin, but
proceeds directly from the centripetal force which draws
the planet towards the sun, the planet cannot, by any straggle
of a centrifugal force, escape from the catastrophe of ulti-
mately being precipitated upon the face of its ruler, and there ter-
minating its blundering career. Fortunately for us, the planet
know.ii better, and obeys the lay of polarity, not that of gravitation.
I submit that my theory of polarity— attraction and repulsion —
gets rid of the difficulty here so patent, and enables us to arrive at
a sounder idea of the laws of revolution.
I now leave my ideas to their fate. If thej- are good for any-
116
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Dec 9, 1881.
tliiiiR. tlicy will floiirish ; if tliov iiro worllilpHS, tlipv will die. I
dliimlil conaidiT tlicm of not iiiucli vjiluo if I tlioiight they would
Roiu'rally bo ncrpptcd witliimt n linrd Imltlr.
It may perlinps bp ns well to iiifomi tlie general render tlint my
views do not in any way affect I lie working of tlioge mathematical
problems which are based upon the facts and phenomena of Nature.
Newton Ckoslanh.
THE FAURE ACCUMULATOR.
[01] — As one who has read and recommended several friends to
(fct KsowLKnoR, might 1 nsk a favour?
Much mention has lately been made of the " Faure Accumnln-
tor," and the benefits likely to accrue by this addition to electrical
appliances, but I, like a good many more, have no very clear or
precise idea as to what this invention is.
Would you therefore give in a future (and let mo lioi>e near)
number of Knowlekge, an account and description of it ?
A SCIKNTIFIC- SmATTERER.
FAURE ACCUMULATOR.— GRAVITY.
[95] — Would you kindly furnish me with a short account of the
■construction and mode of action of the Faure Accumulator ? also,
if not asking too much, the proof, or where it is to be found, of your
statement concerning gravitv, on page 59, No. 3, of Knowledge ?
G. T.
PRACTICAL WORK WITH THE TELESCOPE.
[96] — In reply to your correspondent " G. M.," letter 39, I would
suggest for his use the Rev. T. W. Webb's " Celestial Objects for
Common Telescopes," new edition, and R. A. Proctor's " Larger
Star Atlas," 4th edition ; and that he might do very u.seful work in
carefully observing and recording the colours of stars, and the
changes of brightness of some of the variables.
With best wishes for the success of Knowledge, I am, dear Sir,
yours faithfully,
JosErn Baxexdell.
THREE-SQUARE PUZZLE.
[97] — The enclosed has never been published in any book or
periodical, but you are welcome to insert it in yoiir paper, Know-
ledge, if you think well to do so. If a piece of cardboard is
cut into the five pieces, A B C D and E, it is not easy to form
the third large square with them. This makes a good puzzle for
Christmas.
Arrange the five pieces A B C D E, which compose the two small
squares Nos. 1 and 2 into a single square. No. 3. This, when done,
is a mechanical proof of the above proposition. — Yours &c.,
Alf. a. Lanoley,
Engineer-in-Chief, Groat Eastern Railway Co.
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES.
[98] — Truly, as the " announcement " of Knowledge was
originally gratifying to those who seek it, and equally as truly as the
publication itself proves so, still, you will not wish the compliment
of having got " one subscriber " to be often rci>eatcd to you. In
my humble case I ordered three on " spec " of No. 1 before publi-
cation, and at once posted one off to the Australian up-countrj- —
the latitude somewhere where you did sec what " Parallax " says
lot.
And after saying this, may I find a little fault ? I mil venture.
It is in the omission of any chronicle of tho proceedings of the
learned socicticB, both home and foreign. For instance, the
Meteorological met on tho ICth, and discoursed on the big storm of
Oct. 11. Now, sir, this feature is a great desideratum, and, there-
fore, let me urge it strongly ; and also that the reports, however
brief, be systematic and real. There surely would have been
something most interesting to report concerning Professor Tliompson
on the " Storage of Electricity." And even the mental science
societies should not be left out in the cold. The " Aristotelian," for
instance, could tell the world briefly of its goings on in the " know-
ledge " of its mind-work. — Yours, &c , J. F. S.
AQUEOUS VAPOUR.
[99] — In letter 20, on page 50 o{ your welcome paper, G. F. P.
Dyer makes a statement about aqueous vapour, of which I venture
to question the accuracy. He sjiys " that aqueous vapour has the
jjower to ab.sorb rays of hent coming from the earth, but is incom-
]>etent to absorb rays from the gun.'* Now, in " Heat as a Mode of
Motion," Professor Tyndall stales (paragraph CRl) that experiment
proves that the aqueous vapour of the atmosphere absorbs about
four-tenths of the heat radiated from the sun towards the earth.
Has subsequent experiment disproved the Professor's conclusion, or
has Mr. Dyer made a mistake ? I think in this case Dr. Tyndall
must be right. H. P.
[H. P. will find, on more careful reading of paragraph 68^1, that
Dr. Tyndall docs not say exactly what U. P. has stated above. It
is, however, true that aqueous vapour absorbs a portion of the sun's
heat-rays, but in much smaller jiroportion than it absorbs the obscure
heat-rays from the earth. — Ed.]
FLOWERS OF THE SKY.
[100] — May I take the liberty of calling your attention to certain
passages in your work, " Flowers of the Sky ?"
In page 2, the velocity of light, "at a rate exceeding more than
ten million times the velocity of the swiftest express train."
In page 15, " that light carrj'ing its message at a rate exceeding
sis thousand times the velocity of the swiftest express train, would
be utterly unable to give a tnie account of the position and move-
ments of the celestial bodies."
Again, in Figs. 17 and 18, the remarks that apply to 17 belong to
18, and vice-versa. — Yours, &c., Wilhelmina K.
[I have not the book by me, but, unless I mistake the passage at
(jage 15, it does not indicate what the velocity of light is, but a
velocity which, though enormous, would utterly fail to do what
light does. Figs. 17 and 18 got interchanged somehow after the
book had been passed for press. — Ed.]
INTONATION IN SYNAGOGUES.
[101] — In an.swer to your coiTespondent ".G. P." The accents in
the Hebrew Bible supply the place of musical signs. Warschawski.
in his "Progressive Hebrew Course and Music of the Bible,"
(London: Longmans, 1870), gives a series of equivalents for each
of these accents in modern musical notation. For the accents
themselves, see any large Hebrew Grammar. With regard to what
may be called a cognate matter, the chanting of the Koran, Lane,
in his " Modem Egyptians," gives the musical notes which would
express the mode in which the first chapter is chanted. There are.
of course, full treatises in Hebrew and Arabic on these subject .■',
from which deductions could be drawn : this, however, would
require much patient research. W. A. S.
A NEW COMPARISON OF POISONS.
[102]— In your last number (No. 4) you give an abstract from the
Times, quoting the result of a number of experiments of the action
of poisons in solution upon fish. Is there not some mistake in
relation to the poisonous properties of lithium and barium. The
paragrajih runs thus :— Lithium (atomic weight 7, not 17), with
an atomic weight only the twentieth of that of barium, is three
times as poisonous. Now, it is generally kno>>Ti among chemists
that barium (especially the chloride) is an exceedingly poisonous
metal (er salt), whereas lithium, even in comparatively large quanti-
ties, is not poisonous, the citrate, for instance, being often pre-
scribed for gout.
I think some mistake must have l>een made in copying the
original, which, of coarse, is no omission on your part, it being
merely an abstract. Wishing your valuable journal all success. —
Yours, A-c, Technical Chemist.
[The " copy " was the paragraph itself . Thanks for pointing out
the inaccuracy. Newspaper science needs such correction, as we
know from articles and jjaragraphs on subjects more especially our
own than technical chemistry. — Ed.]
I
Dec. 9, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
117
ETOLUTIOX— STAR-MAPS— BRITISH MUSEUM.
[103] — While defending, to the beat of my ability, the theory of
evolution, I have been asked the following question, which I have
been unable to answer : " If man be an ' evolved ' being, why has
ho not improved ? "
I should like to be informed whether — (1) Since man has existed
has the process of evolution effected any change in him ? (2) If so,
what change r (3) If not. why not?
With reference to your star-maps, you say in No. 4 of Knowlkdge
that the times given in Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are one hour out, but that
the error iscorrectod in Xo. 4. Vet taking the same dates, the times
in Xo. I agree with the others. I would bo glad if you would
explain this.*
Could you, or any of your readers, inform me on what conditions
and by what means admission can be gained to the British Museum
library and reading-room ?+ G. M.
PROTECTIXG HOUSES FROM LIGHTXIX(i.
ri04] — I msh to protect a square house which has iiiiio
chimneys, all of eqnal height, from lightning, by means of iwo iron
rods 3 ft. above two of the ccnfrt^ chimneys, connected iWth the
iron water-pipe which supplies the ci.>itenis from the nuiin, by a
galvanised iron mro conductor. Will you kindly tell me if this
protection mil be sufficient, and whether I have chosen the right
chimneys. I prefer using the centre ones, as the conductors will
be less conspicuous than if they were placed on chimneys near the
corner^i of the house, the roof being nearly hidden from view by a
parapet. 1 am delighted «-itli Knowi.kdok. but I vfish you would
print the names of the stars of the first and second magnitude on
the map. B.
A QUESTION OF GEAMMAK.
[105] — Is '"Nameless" (query 24) correct in writing '" v:ould the
editor," Ac. ? Should not he have written " u-ill the editor" ? " Xame-
less's " mode of asking his question, I know, is frequently adopted,
and my eye just now lights upon a letter in the Guardian, where the
writer has " 7nighf I call your attention," &c. Would not maij have
been the proper word Y Again, '" I cannot but think " i.=! an expres-
sion of e very-day occurrence, and I presume right ; but is " I can
bat think" wrong? "I can but think" seems only another way
of saying " I can only think," which is also of common occurrence.
If " I can but think" is not wrong, then we have both expressions,
one ■\\'ith the negative, and the tither without, meaning the same
thing. Wo have the word "annul " and also " disannul," both meaning
much the same thing, but '*dis" is not used as negative, but as
intensive. Would that be the cage with the word " not," in the
tirst instance ? A. T. C
THE MISSING LINK.
'[106] — Jlr. Wilson, in Letter 33, admits " where the links that
connect man to his lower neighbours are to be found is a difficult
question to answer," but until it is answered satisfactorily, I am
afraid that common ignorance (?) will continue to ask the unfortu-
nate question. One evolutionist to whom I put the question
answered that he supposed the remains were all under the sea.
It seems to me that evolutionists would call everj' one that doe.s
not agree with their dogmatical statements an ignoramus. — I am,
&C., A.VOTHKB IGNOKAMUS.
THE MISSING LINK (Abstract).
[107] — I aijproach a criticism of Dr. Wilson's remarks (p. 74,
No. 4) on the " Missing Link " with a ner\-ousnes8 that is only
equalled by my desire to know and possess the tnith respecting the
circunustances surrounding the c.nse.
Your correspondent. '' Ignoramus," if not satisfied as to the
foundation of evolution, has, I think, a right to ask for that which
evolutionists declare exists, and is the only fonndation upon which
evolution is s?M to exist.
ProfessorH nxley (" Encyclopaedia Britannica," 9th edition, vol. iii.,
p. 690) speal;8 thus: "The only perfectly s.ife fonndation for the
doctrine of < ivolution is in the historical, or rather archa?ological,
evidence that, particular organism, have arisen by the gradual modi-
* When ■■ m wrote as above, we supposed oui" correction was in
time ; but, as a matter of fact, the map, which, to ensure perfect
blackness, was printed separately, had been for hours in the
machine-r oom, and nearly half the impressions had been already
struck off when the correction was made.
+ By I etter to chief Librarian, accompanied by a letter from a
househo ider, certifying respectability, and stAtiag objects of appli-
cant : r ,ge must be over twenty-one. — Ed.]
fication of tlieir predecessors (which is) furnished by fossil remains."
Similarly Bastian, Darwin, Herbert Sjiencer, and others.
Now 1 ask for one species from the lowest to the highest strata in
any of the geological periods that have been transformed into
another ?
Secondly, if the truth of evolution rests on fossil remains
(■' Missing Link "), where are those fossil remains ? Whore found r
Who found by ? Where are they now ? Ha>ckel, Buchnor, Darvrin.
&c., have failed to find or give any. Evolution's foundation doo?: not
rest on rudimentaiT organs, but on fossil remains.
I only plead for wliat evolutionists declare has led them to teach
and hold the doctrine of evolution. To tell me that the fossil remains
are gone down to the bottom of the sea — that where men first lived
is all ocean — is to mock me in my earnest cry for more light. —
Yours. &C., MlTCHELI..
KNOWLEDGE FOR THE YOUNG.
[108 j — 1 am very pleased with Kxowr.EDOK. and am endeavouring
to make my children like it. Parents do not sufticiently estimate
t)ie imporiance of watching boys' literature. I have great diffi-
culties before me, but if, when my boys are young men, these diffi-
culties right themselves, I may be satisHcd, but not before. The
penny weekly journals started vrithin tlio last few years by the
Religious Tract Society and others, pi-ofessed to supply an improved
literature, but I fail to see it in such brutal tales of adventure as
" From Powder-monkey to Admiral." &c. Boys eagerly read them,
and the principles they learn are carried into practice in their
every-day life. The few chapters similar to those in Knowledge
are not read at all. I find it much easier to read " The Land of the
Midnight Sun." with the map before me. to my boy aged nine, than
to get his elder brother to look at it — he is too bu.sy over some tale
of the ■■ to be continued in our next ' class. I was really astonished
to watch the interest the younger boy took in Darwin's book on
worms, which I read to him, and he has since studied their habits
to a surprising degi*ee. How, then, will it be possible to rectify the
mischief already done by the penny journals ? Can you offer a
column of inducements to boys for short essays on scientific or
natural history subjects suited to certain ages (with permission to
consult a parent or guardian in the composition) ? It seems to me
this would bridge over the difficulty I am now experiencing ^vitli
the two elder of my eight children. Wishing your magazine much
success. R. Gii.i..
[We fear it would not be possible yet to give a column to short
essays by boys ; but possibly a colunm or two especially for boys
would be a useful addition. — En.]
KNOWLEDGE— ILLUSION— TRISECTING AN ANGLE.
[109] — In addressing you a few words of congratulation on your
success in producing K.\owledge, I beg to suggest that there are
a great many questions which may be elucidated in it (such as the
method used by the American meteorologists in predicting storms,
the present theory of the spectrum colours ss diflfering from that
taught in ordinary text books, papers on biology, &c.) which are
caviare to the general public, and, therefore, exactly fitted for its
pages, even at the risk of crowding out chess and whist, which are
very fairlj- dealt with in the ordinary magazines, and hardly coma
within the special sco]je of Knowledge, as it seems to me. How-
ever, the many must be studied, of course. I personally should
like to see it exclusively devoted to the dissemination of sound
natural science, hence this hint. Your interesting notes on illusions
have recalled to me the following, wherein the oblique lines
enclosed within the parallel straight line A and B cause the latter
to appear zigzag instead of straight — which they really are. I
send also a mechanical way of trisecting an angle, in reply to
Query No. 48, thinking it cannot be done by pure geometrj'. It
was got by me from " Wormell's Plane Geometry," and I find it
([uite correct for angles under 120". ABC is the angle to be tri-
sected. From B draw a semicircle, as in the figure. Then mark
off the radius used for the semicircle on the straight edge of a piece
of paper, which must then be placed so that the edge cuts through
118
KNOWLEDGE
[Dbc. 9, 1881.
tho point of intorwrtion <', rind dn tlint one of tlio two niarko on it
lies in tlip dcniicirrlo, nn<l tlio otlinr in AB prodnrod, nH in E nnd D
rcopcctivply. Thr point /> thus olilninpfl (fivcn fho (ingli< CDA,
whith in tho roipiircd third of AUC. Thr proof is interoating.
For tho exterior ani;]r\ AIIC ia — C + P. But sinro BC is " to
BK nnd to EP. the nnglo BCE is = to BEC, and this to
tBD+EVB-, that is, to twice the nnplo Z>. Therefore ABC is
equal to 3 limes D. — Yours, 4c., James Wabben.
SINGULAR ILLUSION.
[110] — A RinRulftr nnd pmr-
ticnl ilhistrntion of the opficd
illusion, FiK. 2, of Mr. Foster's
eamo under my notice a short
time ago. Tho tower-arch of a
church had been rebuilt, and
during its construction a tall
strut was set at an angle to
the base, with its head filed
against tho wall juat above
the apex of the arch. Whilst
KtJinding at the chancel steps,
tho arch presented a most
singular appearance, and I
called the contractor, who
liKikcd somewhat alarmed nnd
astonished, and we both thought
the arch must have dropped on
<mo side. Tho accompanying
drawing will explain what wb
saw. The pointed arch shows
better than the semicircle tho
apparent illusion of the two
lines belonging to different
circles. F. Long.
In order to make the illusion
more plain, the strut is drawn
out of proportion.
ILLUSIONS.
[111]^A few remarks upon the paper by Mr. Foster, on " Illusions,"
may be of some slight interest. The effects which angular, curved,
and straight lines, in juxtaposition, have upon one another with
respect to the e}e are certainly very curious, and few eyes will fail
to perceive the apparent distortions in the cases figured. I should
like to remark, however, that in Figure 5, to my eyes, and to those
of the one or two persons to whom I have presented the figure, the
effect of the curves on the straight lines is just the reverse of that
stated to be tho case by Mr. Foster.
In Figure 6, to my eyes the straight lines AB and CD appear
nearer in the middle, and EF and GH appear farther apart in the
middle, thus agreeing mth what is stated, and being tho reverse of
the two previous pairs of lines, which is what one would expect. I
cannot by any method of gazing cause the straight lines in the last
two pairs. Figure 7, to appear anything but parallel.
Below will be found a figure which shows the " flattened "
appearance of a circle at the four comers of an inscribed squaro
— a distortion of the same nature as that shown in Figure 3.
Th<- figure beneath shows the same effect on the circle, and
nlwo gives tho i«iuare the apf.earance of being drawn in at the
middle of each side. Both these efforts arc shown much better
with larger figures. All these diagrams form pregnant comments
on tho oft-repeated adage : " Cannot I believe my own eyes ? " — I
am, yours, Ac, Habbt Gbimshaw, F.C.S.
Clayton, Manchester, Nov. 2Ut, 1881.
CIRRUS CLOUDS.
[112] — In reply to " Anti-Guebre " (letter 2. p. 15), scientific men
believe cirrus clouds to be composed of ice crystals because no
other reasonable explanation is available. These clouds are found
to produce certain optical effects upon light transmitted through
them which can only be explained by the theory of their crystaUine
nature, ice being tho only substance which will produce the
observed phenomena under tho conditions. This can be mathe-
matically proved. In conclusion, I would ask your correspondent,
Mr. G. F. P. Dyer (letter 20, p. 56), to refer to page 463-t of
Tyndall's " Heat," where it is stated that the aqueous vapour of
our air does absorb a very considerable amount of direct solar heat,
about four-tenths of the entire radiation ; these being chiefly dark
rays, which are the most effective as regards heating purposes. —
I remain, sir, yours truly,
Birmingham. T. J. Hickin.
VIVISECTION. INJURIES TO THE BRAIN.
[113] — Most people think that of all cruel operations upon animals,
that of cutting the brain is beyond all the most cruel. The first
two extracts from recent numbers of the Laneet may modify their
opinion. The third extract is from " Body and Mind," by Henry
Maudsley, M.D., F.R.C.P., &c., &o.
G. A., aged 15 years, met with an accident by which one-half of
the scalp was torn from the skull, which was itself fractured. From
between the edges of the broken bone, brain substance was oozing,
and this kept on for thirty-six hours. Recovery took place. The
points to be noticed are : —
1. When the boy was found, he had already walked sixty yards
without any assistance from the place in the coal mine where his
head was crushed between a waggon and a rock, which forms the
side of the " waggon way," and he afterwards walked home.
2. Although the injury was inflicted on March 6, 18St>, tho in-
tellect is not impaired or mind affected in any way.
A man, aged 44, in an attempt at suicide, sent a small dagger
through his skull into the brain. He had held the dagger in his left
hand,l and given it with the right severnl blows with a mallet, be-
lieving that he would fall dead at tho first blow. To his profound
surprise he felt no pain. He struck the dagger in all about a dozen
times. When [seen, about two hours after, the handle was pro-
jecting, 9 centim^tre3 of the blade being sheathed in tho head. For
half-nn-hour unsuccessful attempts were made to pet the dagger
out with a strong pair of pincers, the patient being held firm on tho
ground by two vigorous persons. The patient, who walked well
and complained of no headache, was taken to a copjiersmith's, and
the dagger fixed to a chain passing over a cylinder turned by steam
power. The man was fastened to rings in the grotind. .A.t the
second turn of the cylinder the dagger came out ; the patient, who
had submitted to these mananivres, suffered no pain or incon-
venience. He walked to tho hospital, remained there for teB days
without fever or pain. He then returned to his work, and tho wound
healed.
R. E. Wn-LUMS.
[CundBiicJ on pane 181.
Dec. 9, 1881.]
- KNOWLEDGE •
119
Dec. 9, 1S81.]
• KNOV/LEDGE
121
CinlinMd from page 118]
BRAIX AND BRAIX CASE.
' 114] — In Letter 42, page 78, of Knowleuge, Charles Hamilton
k< tliree pertinent questions. Leaving you to answer the first two
you best cm, allow me to make a few brief remarks on the
; .-(, viz., " Does the brain shape or mould the form of the cranium
..r skull '^ " Dr. La^rrence, late Professor of Anatomy and Surgery
ii> the College of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, in his
l.i-cturea on Man," says of the skull that " the general capacity
I particular forms depend entirely on the size and partial de-
.pment of the brain." While Dr. Mayo, late Trofessor of
A .atomy and Surgery to Royal College of Surgeons, in his work on
■ Human Physiologv-," after considering the relation between mind
:iihI brain, says, "Then it is certain that the skull is formed after
ill'' brain, and moulded upon it ; and that very moderate attention
1 enable an anatomist, for the most part, to distinguish those
Miinences which arc caused by inequalities of bone from those
;ili mark the proportions of brain." Dr. Turner, Professor of
^ "itomy in the University of Edinburgh, in a paper read before the
i; yal Society of that city, on Jan. 19, 1874, says, " The outer sur-
I;"'' of the skull does not correspond in shape to the outside of the
bniin."
Now, sir, what is the meaning of all this ? Out of mere curiosity
1 liave consulted medical men with regard to the mutual relations
v'f skull and brain, till I am tired, and, although they set out with
I !['■ observation that the question is simply one of fact, no two of
thrni give rae the .same answer. Indeed, they are completely at
!\'S and sevens. What I wish to point out as the moral of all this
1- I liat for us there is nothing left but to fall back upon nature,
"liich, as Dr. Gall said, is the only infallible testimony, and bring
till' inquiry to the test of observation and of fact, leaving medical
mi'M to dogmatise as they choose.
Glasgow, Xof. 25, 1881. A. B.
TECHNICAL TERMS— SCIEXTIFIC NEWS— ILLUSION.
115] — I take the liberty of sugggesting that you request ojrre
-i'"iidents to place the technical terms they employ side by side
■• iMi the popular modes of expression, for the reason given in letter
p. 78. In letter 46, p. 79, in the fourth line of the second para-
ph, Mr. Allen, in alluding to the shape of the forehead, uses the
■'1 " orthom^topy," bracketing the meaning. So far so good, but
i'lily in the next line he makes use of the term " prognathism " ;
three lines further appears " orthognathism," and again five lines
below the word " Sella." Writers must know that only speciali.sts,
or classical scholars, would understand the meaning of terms such
.'13 these. What, therefore, I take the liberty of suggesting would
be your placing a standing notice to correspondents at the com-
mencement of the correspondents' column. Also that, under the
head of " Scientific News," you give weekly, or from time to time,
t!i'' most recent inventions or discoveries in physical and mechanical
^' i 'nee that would be of popular interest.
F. H. S.
In reference to the drawing I sent you last week illustrating an
o| tical illusion (letter 65, p. 95), the effect is much more striking
with the horizontal line uppermost.
I It seems to us more striking still when the angle is put upper-
most or lowest. — Ed.]
THE DURATION OF A FLASH OF LIGHTNING.
! 116] — Can you or any of your readers give me information on
1 1ll' following two points ; —
1. Did Wheatstonc or anyone else ever make an experiment on a
ll:isli of lightning to determine the time of its duration ?
2. If so, what was the nature of the experiment, and where is it
do.'icribed ?
I may state, to prevent misapprehension, that I am quite aware
tliat Wheatstone made experiments to determine the duration of an
' trie spark produced under certain definite conditions, and that
^'' experiments are fully described in the '' Transactions of the
il Society." But I find it explicitly stated by several ivriters of
iiiwii authority — for example, Mascart,* Daguin,t Ganot,J — that
Wheatstone made experiments on the lightning flash itself. They
say he employed a white disc with black ray.s, ver^- close together,
whichhe put in rapid rotation, and so placed that it was illuminated
1 V each succeeding flash of lightning. The details of the experiment
U'- fully given by Dcschamel,§ who, however, does not ascribe it to
'Electricife Statique, ii., 561. iTraiU de Phiisique, iii., 213.
t " Treatise on Physics," translated by Atkinson. Sixth
Edition, p. 828.
§" Natural Philosophv," translated bv Everett. Sixth Edition.
p. 641.
Wheatstone. Now I have searched in vain for the authentic
record of this experiment, and 1 should feel greatly obliged to
anyone who can give me information about it in the pages of
Knowledge.
I think you will agree with me that the subject is not without
interest for your readers, when I mention the widely different state-
ments that have been put before the public, quite recently, regard-
ing the duration of a flash of lightning. According to Mascart,*
it is less than of a second ; according to Deschanel, + it is less
1,000 ^
1 _ , ,. . ™ , „. , ,, 1
than the -
and according to Tyndall,* less than
10,OL'0 " ' - '" ■" 100,000-
" Wheatstone has shown that it certainly lasts less than a millionth
part of a second. "§ Of course, if this last statement be true all the
others are, in a certain sense, true also ; but they do not give us
the whole truth. — Yonrs, &c. Geh.ild Molioy.
Catholic Universitv of Ireland, 86, Steplien's-green, Dublin,
Dec. 2, 1881.
LUMINOUS PHENOMENON.
[117] — I find in the volume of the Leisure Hour for 1853, under
the title of "Astral Wonders," a pamphlet on a lecture delivered by
the Rev. J. Craig, M.A., a short time before.
I wish to call your attention to the following. He says : — '' When
I was a boy, from some cause'or other I was put into a dark room and
tried to escape out of it. I had a knife in my pocket, and I began
to cut a hole in tte door to try to get quietly away by coming at the
latch. Still, something occurred which induced me to remain where
I was. I heard a footstep, and I knew I was not doing quite right.
When I pulled my hand back the sun happened to be shining very
much and I saw little globules running off in all directions. I
thought even then this was very remarkable. I again put out my
hand, and on pulling it back I saw the little globules running off as
before, When I grew up to be a man I began to think of that childish
thing. I felt certain then that light was a fluid and could run off
our fingers like water ; and if you feel any interest in light and will
examine for yourselves you will see that light is truly a fluid ; it has
its waves, its currents, its ocean deeps, and our telescopes may yet
tell us something of its tidal surroundings."
I shall be most happy to receive any information on the above sub-
ject, viz. (that of light being a fluid) which you or any of your corre-
spondents may afford me. — Yours faithfully, W. M. M.
[Mr. Craig seems to have mistaken a physiological for a physical
phenomenon. His experience showed, as many others do, that
'' seeing is not always believing." In a railway accident I have seen
" astral wonders," as I have when I have been pitched on to my
head by a galloping horse, but I do not infer that stars reside in my
head. — Ed.]
A £5 TELESCOPE.
[118]— "Twenty " (letter 48, p. 79) cannot obtain an absolutely
perfect instrument for £5, but for this sum he can obtain from
numerous opticians a telescope which has all that is necessary for a
beginner, and the other apparatus he can get from time to time (and
at no considerable cost), as he becomes more experienced. The £5
telescopes advertised are refractors ; that is, the usual sort with a
lens (object glass, of 3 in. diameter) at the end of a tube. The
other sort, termed reflectors, having a silvered mirror at the bottom
of a tube reflecting the image to a focus at the top, are less costly
(if a large instrument is wanted), but require verj- nice manage-
ment, and should only be purchased after considerable experience
is acquired. The £5 glasses are very good ones indeed, containing
all the groundwork of a first-class instrument, and will be found all
that " Twent}' " wants to commence with. After a time, he will
like a tall wooden tripod-stand (which can be made by a handy
man), and will want to add a " finder ; " that is, a miniature tele-
scope fixed at the side, by looking through which a celestial object
can be immediately brought into the field of view of the larger one.
He will also want a couple of extra eyepieces of different powers to
the one supplied with the instrument, as different objects require
different powers to show them at their best. After this (if his taste for
observation developes), he may like to replace the object glass with
one by a celebrated maker. These things, however, only result from an
increased passion for the study of the heavenly bodies. The instru-
ment, as supplied for .£5, contains all that is necessary for a
beginner, and one who simply wishes to observe the stars for occa-
sional plea.surc will never want anything more. Such accessories
• Electrici'i! Sfatique, ii., 561. t Traits de Physique, iii., 642.
X Fragments of Science, fifth edition, p. 311.
§ Lecture delivered in the City Hall, Glasgow, published in
Nature, Vol. ixii., p. 341.
122
KNOWLEDGE
[hvic. 0, 1881.
lu the tludtnt wants cnnalwnyKlio ndilcd, and the clionp instnimcnt
mnde as complete on tho most expensive. It ie a great iiiifltake for
a bOLTtiiier to liave loo lnrf;o and complex an ini>trument, and the
iliffercnce in view through a very large glass coni)iared with an
onlinary one, such as is here referred to, is not so great as would be
imagined. 1 may add, that the eye can bo educated the same as
the hand, and, after a time, "Twenty" will be able to see mnch
more tliroufrh his glass than when ho storted. A novice looking at
.lupiter, for instance, will see but a small blank disc, but a practised
observer, looking through the sunio telescope, will sec a multitude
of interesting details on the planet's .surface quite invisible to tho
former. It is scarcely necessarj- to add to the foregoing that for
£."> a very good second hand instrument can sonictimes bo got by
ailvertising. There is no occasion, either, to reply to " Twenty's"
other telescopic qneriea, as I see the Editor promises an article npon
the subject. Albkkt P. Holden.
107, Hoxton-etreet, N.
COMETS' TAILS.— RAINFALL AND FORESTS.— THE OLFAC.
TORY TRACT.— INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
[1 10] — 1. There is a question I should like to ask you with re.spect
to comets' tails, viz. ; Has the spectrum of the tail ever been
obtained ; if there has been one taken, was there any alteration or
new band observed in the spectra ? I look forward eagerly to the
continuation of your articles on the stxbjcct, for, I am sorry to say,
I am very ignorant on the subject.
2. With respect to your article on the Fiji Islands, I noticed the
interesting circumstance of the rainfall diminishing simultaneously
to the cutting down of timber. Was it not the same with the Island
of Ascension, onlv in a still more remarkable degree ; for had not
the inhabitants to plant trees again, so that they might be a^in
blessed with rain ? I should be glad if you would inform me if I
am correct in the above, for I do not know where to look to refresh
my memory on the subject.
3. In reading " M. L.'s" article on " Vivisection," an idea occurred
to me connected with the olfactory tract, on which I should like your
opinion. It is this : — A good many years ago my cousin and self were
working in the same " Lab.," and by accident he smashed a full
Winchester of N 11,110, with the natural result that he was half-
snffocated ; but the part I am curious about is, tliat from that daj-
to this he has had neither taste nor smell. Do yon think that the
dose of NHj destroyed that part of the brain referred to by
W. L. ?
4. "Intelligence of Animals" : — I am in a position to give
rather a curious case of the intelligence of rats, proving — as does
your article — the practical, but if wo look at it in rather a favour-
able light, might prove even the abstract, which is wanting.
The rats in this case also " bored " through a lead pipe ; so far
there is no difference to the example in your p.aper, and you will think
this is one of the " two and two equal four letters " ; but this lead
pipe, unfortunately for my father, was in the *' hold " of one of his
ships, and through their (the rats) craving for fresh water, and
getting it, a great <leal of damage was done ; they actually did hit
on the fi'esh uater lead pipes in preference (may I say) to the other
salt water ones (leading from the W.C.'s on deck, I mean, which, as
you arc aware, are cleaned by salt water.) This, I think, is a curious
coincidence, for might it not be turned by scientists either
way, either to accident or to sagacity on the part of the rats ? —
Yotirs, Ac, F. C. S.
MEN'S HEADS.
[ 120] — I have read carefully the letters on the size of human
heads. I am inclined to think that our heads, as a nation, are
smaller. The size of the head corresponds to that of tho body, so
that large heads mean large bodies. This is seen amongst navvies,
agricultural labonrers, and Irishmen from country places. Now-a-
days machines do a great deal of our mechanical work, and our
muscles getting less exercise, are not so large, .\gain, living in
towns, and having little bodily exercise or hard work, means small
bones and smaller frames altogether. The size of the head
increases with that of the body, so exercise ought to bo part of the
system at our public schools, and then we get a sound brain in a
healthy body. T. R. Allinsox, L.R.C.P., Ac.
[Ou'inj to the extraordinary pressure of correspondence, our article
on " Comets" (illustrated uilh views o/ the destroyed comet of Biela)
is deferred till next u'eek. Wc must earnestly entreat our corre-
spondents to he concise, and only to write when they have somelhing
really interesting and new to communicate.^
©ufnesf.
[C7] — Rainbow. — I should very much like to know why it in that
a rainbow is semicircular!' — G. 8. JI.
[68]— Solar Storms. — By what method is tho velocity of wind.
Ac, in the sun ascertained ? — G. S. M.
[09] — The Moon'.s iNfLCENCE. — It has been stated by Dr. Ball
that the result of the moon's action on the tides is to drive the
moon further and further away, and that the consequence of this
is that the day is getting longer and longer. He says that
50,000,000 years ago the mofm must have been very close to the
earth, at which time the day would be only three hours long.
Will yon kindly say if what Dr. Ball says is correct 'f and how the
action of the tides drives the moon further and further away, and
how the distance of the moon regulates the length of the day? —
E. K. [Will shortly make the question the subject of an article.
Dr. Ball's general conclusions are sound ; the detailed results he
would not, of course, regard as exact. — Ed.]
[70] — Seismometer. — A description of an approved form of
seismometer would be much valued by M. A. F.
[71] — Names ok Fi/iwers. — Can you let me know, by means of
your valuable paper, ofjany botany which will give the Latin and
English names to all flowers, 4c., and thereby mnch oblige. — R. D. j
[72] — Antiquity of the Pvramids. — " Sir John Lnbbock, .speak-
ing of the antiquity of man, in his address at the late meeting of
the British Association, said that ' The researches in Egypt seem to
have satisfactorily established the fact that the pj-ramids them-
selves are at least 6,000 years old,' and mentions Professor Raw-
linson's researches in support of this." What is the evidence on
which this alleged antiquity is based ? — Actinolite.
[73] — Clouds. — Is there any explanation of the peculiar forms of
Cirri and other clouds, esiiecially that known as a mackerel sky ?
If a large, flat vessel of water containing a little sediment is agitated
slightly, the sediment is deposited on the bottom in forms resem-
bling those of some clouds. Are the latter supposed to be formed
in a similar way ? — E. C. R.
[74] — Experiment on Solar Heat. — I have read somewhere that
if one side be removed from a box (the interior of which is blackened),
and in its place tliree panes of glass w-ith spaces between them con-
taining air are inserted, water placed in a vessel in it may be raised
to boiling-point by the exposure of the box in its modified form to
strong sunshine. How is it that the heat, when in company with
the sun's light, can penetrate the successive layers of glass and air,
yet when deprived of its Inminoas companion, is retained in the
heat-trap ?— E. C. R.
[75] — The Radiometer. — Would it be asking too mnch of onr
Editor to request that a series of papers explaining and describing
the little that is known as yet of the forces and phenomena con-
nected with the high vacua and radiometers might be given before
long in the very interesting pages of Knowledge ? — E. C. R-
[76] — Planetary Movements. — The earth moves round the snn
because of the latter's attraction, i.e.. but for the sun's attraction,
the earth would move forward in a straight line. The attractive
force of the sun must, therefore, necessarily retanl the forward
motion of the earth. Is not this so ? If yes, does the earth s.'o
more and more slowly round the sun, and will it not ultimately stop
and be drawn into the sun, and when ? If no, what is the force
which causes the earth not to go more and more slowly'" — E. F. B.
Hab.^ton. [The answer to first question is " no" ; and that, there-
fore, no force is required to prevent the earth from being retarded.
Why should a force at right angles to her course retard tho e.-u'th f
Her path not being absolutely circular, the force of the sun some-
times slightly hastens and at others as slightly retards the e.arth -.
but in the whole year changes not her speed at all. — Ed.]
[77] —Terrible Dreams. — What explanation can be given of the
horrible dreams that sometimes occur to persons ? — S. S. S. S.
[78]— Antip.\thy and Sympathy. — What is the explanation of
the extraordinary antipathy felt by some persons against some tame
animals and things ; and the converse— extreme sympathy, almost
amounting to infatuation, shown by other persons (innate, not
acquired) ? — S. S. S. S.
[79] — Mental Physiology. — Whose works are now the best
authorities on the study of mental physiology ? — S. S. S. S.
[80] — The Cuin. — It has been said that man is the only animal
having a chin. Long before recent attention was called to the de-
ficiency of this feature in a certain homicidal criminal, observation
had led me to note various ca.ses of cruelty perpetrated by almost
chinlcss people; once, indeed, by a very young creature of twelve
years old, described truly, I think, as " a perfect brute." Where
Dec. 9, 1881.]
KNO^A^LEDGE
123
( ruplty has not beer, observed, glnttony lias been the marked fail npr.
1 have seen a chinless man eat like a pis;, and look exactly like a
pii; while eating'. Does not the paucity of this characteristically-
iniman feature point to the animal propensities being in excess of
the moral, if not the intellectual, tendencies ? The Papuans are
said to ha%-o little chin, and to be very cruel. Ethnologist.
rsi] — TnE Jfoox's At-MOsphere. — By whom and when was the
iliscovery made that there is no atmosphere around the moon ?
Swidenborg claims the honour of having the fact communicated to
in by angels, and that he was the first to know and publish it.
"^2j — Probabilities. — Has not the writer of the article on
1 rusting to Luck " put " eight times running " and " nine times
running" where he should have written "nine times running" and
■ tpu times running " respectively, the chances being
— and — equal to and
2» 2'" ' 512 102 1
1 -liectivcly?— H. A. N.— [Yes.— Ed.]
S3] — Chemical Qveries. — (a) Arc there more than three allo-
ipic modiScations of sulphur? The two crystalline forms and
■ plastic modification I am acquainted with, but in Miller's " In-
' p.'anic Chemistry " (" Longman's Text-Books"), 187-1-, it is stated
t hat " a fourth may be procured by placing in carbon disuli)hide
tlie hard mass furnished by keeping the viscous sulphur till it
■umes solid. The carbon disulphide discloses all that can be
noved from the mass, and a gre[i amorpltoua powder is left"
142). Roscoe, in his "Elementary Chemistry," simply says
'! '■ the tenacious " (i.e., viscous) " form is insoluble in " carbon
ilphide. Does the latter refer to the amorphous powder men-
nod by Miller? (6) In Roscoe's "Elementary Chemistry,"
i'. t>2. edit. 1880, referring to nitrogen tetroxide, 1 find it stated
that " this substance forms the greater part of the reddish brown
fiimos evolved when nitrous oxide gas escapes into the air." Should
•' :s not not be nitric ? (I may s.iy that at present I have not an
1 ortnnity of trjiug these for myself.) — TllEION'.
St] — Ancient Man. — In Darwin's " Origin of Species," I read,
-Mr. Uorner's researches have rendered it in some degree probable
tl.at man eutficiontly civilised to have manufactured pottery existed
in ilie valley of the Nile thirteen or fourteen thousand years ago."
I -1 inll like some information about these researches, and their
r, ii ,l,i:,iy.— Clio.
, sj -A Gkavity Illusion. — The Toricelli tube, or a long glass
tulio filled with mercury, and turned upside down, when full, into a
mil of mercury again, is said by some acquaintance of mine to be
unexplained, in so far that in theory, he says, the mercury glass-
tube, when lifted up, should not weigh more than the weight of the
(.'la.us, considering that the mercury is carried by the cup on the
uible in which it is. But, instead of this, it is found to weigh very
much more. I was not many minutes in solving the mystery to
myself, but do not yet know if it is really a mystery to professors of
I riysics, OS my acquaint.ance maintains. I can hardly tliink so, as I
tanov to have read the law that gives the cause. Uowever, I vnU
■_"vo my version of it, after seme one of yonr readers answers. —
K J". D. " Seibst." [There is no mystery in the matter, but the study
of this question, as of others in our Query columns, may be a useful
exercise to beginners in physics. — Ed.]
[86] — The CoLorR of Birds' Eggs. — Are the different markings
on birds' eggs considered to be merely accidental, or designed for
special purposes ? — Araohnida.
[87] — ToADs.^What is the internal construction of the common
toad, which permits of its existing for many years enclosed in blocks
of solid matter ? — AR.\cnNiDA.
[88] — Brain Injuries. — How is it the brain can be cut and
cauterised without exciting sensation ? If true, this contradicts,
apparently, the statement that the brain is the organ of feeling,
made in W. L.'e letter (29, Xo. 3). Is electricity necessary to
convey the least feeling or irritation to the brain ? — Bee.
[89] — Gelatine Plates. — I have just now a few gelatine plates,
in which a red streak appears, either on the top or at the bottom,
and seems to eat its way through the film, and so spoils them ; also
the silver from the paper coming on to the plate. A remedy for
the above would oblige. Have any photographic readers of Know-
ledge tried to develope their gelatine plates by flowing over them a
weak solotion of silver, and developing afterwards the same as a
wet plate ? If so, kindly give me their experiences. — Pebskvere.
[90] — The Magnetic Needle. — I should be glad if any reader
can give me any information why the needle of the compa.ss always
poin's to the north, what is the attraction, .ic. — W. H. Pertwee.
[91] — Missing Link. — Knowledge for Nov. 25, p. 71, has anai'ticle,
"The Missing Link," in which it refers to an article that has ap-
■ pcared on the same subject in a recent volume of the Gentleman's
Mag<i2i)ie. Please say name of month in which this appeared. —
Teastlant.
Jxtplirs to C^ufrtfS.
[1] — The E.arth's Inclination. — The motion of the earth is best
shown by suspending a small globe by a piece of string, and carrying
it round a candle (the candle being in the centre of its path). If
the globe is carried on a level with the caudle, it is seen that the
poles will both just see the candle, i.e., tho poles and the whole
earth will have perpetual spring. The true motion will be obtained
by making the circular path dip half below and half above tho level
of the candle as it is carried round, so that at the lowest part the
whole of the North Arctic zone may be in light, and at its highest
point in shadow. — H. A. N.
[8] — A'oLustE OF Sphere. — Given that area of sphere = area o
J great circles = -Itt)^. Let the sphere be divided into pyramids,
with the apex at the centre. If the number of pyramids is great,
the base of each is nearly plane, and the pyramid
"l
=; X height X base
1
=^ X rx base.
The whole sphere is one of these pyramids multiplied by tho
number of times the area of the sphere contains the base, i.e.,
1 ■STrr' l
5i-(base') X ; =^irr'
3 "■ • base 3
= ^ of cylinder.
This implies, however, the knowledge that the area = four great
circles, which cannot be proved without the calculus. — H. A. N.
[10] — The Zoetrope. — The isipression of any sight remains on
the retina for the seventh part of a second ; if a new impression is
received before the first has faded, the two are seen simultaneously,
and if the Zoetrope is turned too quickly, tho images run into one
another. If it is turned so that one-seventh of a second intervenes
between two impressions, the motion will appear continuous ; if it
moves slower than this, it will seem jerky. — H. A. N.
[14] — Velocity of Sound. — "Sound's" difficulty arises, I think,
from his not considering that the air is sensibly devoid of absorp-
tion and radiation, so that the heat generated in tho condensation
remains there to augment the velocity — or, rather, the elasticity upon
which the velocity depends. In the rarefaction, tho elasticity is
lowered, both by the separation of the particles and the cold de-
veloped by such separation ; and consequently " the cold developed
augments the difference of elastic force upon which the propagation
of the rarefaction depends." It is because the heat generated in
the condensation augments the rapidity of the condensation, and the
cold developed augments the rapidity of the rarefaction, that tho
heat and cold both help to augment the velocity of the sound wave.
In gases possessing considerable absorptive and radiative power,
" Sound's " objection would be perfectly valid. — T. J. H.
[16] — German and English. — In reply to " Eclecticus," Messrs.
Macmillan & Co. publish a work which I think would suit him.
entitled " A Comparative Grammar of the Teutonic Languages."
By G. Helfenstein. Its price, I believe, is ISs.— W. G. Uoi.fk.
[18] — Chemical Treatises. — I have before me the ninth edition
of " Fownes' Chemi.stry," on the old or equivalent notation, with an
appendix epitome of tlie new system. Then 1 havo Hoffmans'
work on " Modem Chemistry ; " also the little volume by Wurtz,
" Chemical Philosophy according to Modern Theories," translated
byCrookes; also "The New Chemistry," by Cooke (International
Series) ; and, lastly, " Pilden's Chemical Philosophy." I would
especially award the prize to the little work of Wurtz, which is
exceedingly good and clever ; but many years' study convinces mo
that "Modern Chemistry" is wholly based on very slender hypo-
theses, and that the consequent complexity and confusion must
necessitate a change. An independent inquirer has little chance in
England, but in France the Chemical Hierarchy is untainted with
inconsiderate revolution; and M. Berthelot must bo considered one
of the greatest chemists of the age. If old or equivalent chemistry
means knou'led<je, and new chemistry means hypothesis, it is
especially a propos for this Paper to ventilate and make clear the
difference. — Eclecticus.
[igi — CoMp.iRATivE Anatomy of Birds and Mammals.— The
furcula of birds are formed by the nnioH of two bones called the
clavicles. These arc almost entirely absent in mammals. \Vhen
present they are very rudimentary, and usually unoseified ; so that
no trace of them is found in the dried skeleton. In man, the
clavicles are more developed than in the other mammals, and con-
stitute the so-called collar-bones. They are very rudimentary in
dogs and rabbits. In the felida) (lions, tigers, cats, &c.) they are
more developed than in other camivora, but have no particular
124
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. 9, 1881.
funrtion. Tlioy nro ontiroly absent in tlip iingnlnta. Claviclos nro
very cimrnctcrislic of the lower vortebrntn, being well developed in
reptiles and fiKlies. — Oko.
[10] — Cosir.»nATivK .\natomy of niiiiis .\su Animals.— In answer
to Query 1!) p. 80, the fiimihini. or " merry-thoiiglit," of birds
corresponds to the collrir-boneB, or clavicles, in man, wliicli, instead
of beinjif separately joined to the sternum, or breast-bone, are joined
toffethcr into a V-s'">I'ed nrcli of bone, the apex of which is
commonly attached to the Bternum by a ligament. The fonction of
the furcnluni, according to Owen, is to oppose the force which
tends to press the humeri or upper-winjf bones townnis the middle
lino during the downward stroke of the wing. — Mkdicis.
[23] — Fatrk's .\r(UMi-r.ATOK. — "Nameless" will find some infor-
niution in regard to Fanre's accumulator in Nahirv, vol. 2i, p. OS,
" Storing Electricity j " and p. 238 " Fauro's Seconilary Battery." —
A. T. C.
[23] — Fai-re Acci-MiT.ATOR. — A Faure accumulator may be made
as follows ; — Take lead foil such as used for iiutting on damp walls ;
cut the plates, leaving a long tongue at one corner — I made the
plates 4} X 2i inches, with a tongue 2 inches long and about i of an
inch wide ; ne.Tt take some flannel - 1 used common, at lOd. a yard ;
cut it in strips one inch more in length than twice the length of the
lead i)lates, and one inch wider than those plates ; then take some
blotting-paper and cut it into pieces, one inch each way larger than
thele.id plates; mi.T one pint of sulphuric acid, by measure, with
ten pints of water, by measure, and with this and some red lead,
make a paste ; now, paint over one strip of Hannel, on one side only,
with the paste, leaving a half-inch margin of clean flannel all round,
so that the painted part of the flannel will be exactly twice the
size of the lead plate ; paint over one of the lead plates on both
sides, keeping the tongue clean j lay it on the painted Hannel, and
riouble the flannel over it; lay this covered plate down on any
convenient board or [liece of glass. On this covered plate Lay one of
the pieces of blotting-paper, or, if the blotting-paper is not thick
and good, two pieces. I'reparc another plate of lead with the
flannel and red lead, as before ; place this on the top of the blotting-
paper, taking care that the tongue of this latter plate is on the
opposite side to the tongue of the first plate. Lay another piece or
pieces of blotting-paper, and so go on until you have a pile of as
many plates as will go easily into the jar or cell you intend to use.
See that the tongues of the alternate plates are on alternate sides
of the pile of plates, then tie the pile round loosely in a couple of
places with some paraffined twine ; pinch the tongues on one .side
together, and tho.se on the other side together, and attach termin.al
wires. Put the bundle of plates into the cell, fill up witli the acid
and water, and keep it fulir I have tried this plan, and found it
answer. — H. B. T. Strangeways.
[26] — Training. — There are some facts, if one could collect
them, which seem to support " Oarsm.an's " question. Thus I
know of two or three bicycle riders who ride a hundred miles a day,
and yet who never taste animal food ; and, again, a teacher of
swimming who uses no animal food. The last few autumns a
number of gentlemen have set out for walking tours, and they
never use aninuil food, and yet get on very w^ell indeed, saying they
experience less thirst and less fatigue than if they eat meat, lic. —
T. R. Allin.son.
[27] — Marriage DE.\Tn-nATE. — With reference to "Benedict's"
<|uery respecting the marriage death-rate, I may say, for Ida in-
formation, that the result of an estimation made, showed that a
number of married persons gave a mean death-rate of 6G"(3 ; and
<?f unmarried a mean of 62 OO.* I may also state that at the age
of 15 to 20 the mortality is increased considerably, especially
among women — the majority of deaths resulting from consumption
jmd childbirth. A greater proportional number of deaths occur
among those who marry at an early age. — Michael W. Reynolds.
rRest of letter not strictly ail rciu.— Ki).]
[27] — Marriage and the Death-rate.— I refer " Benedict " to
the follMwjng extract from the Times (Weekly Edition), Febuary
14, 1879 :—
" It has been shown from statistics that in general, married
people have a less mortality than the unmarried or widowed.
.\mong facts indicating the relation between marriage and physical
health, it has been proved by M. Janssens, of Brussels, that at all
ages widowers are about twice as liable to phthisis as other men,
but that married jicople are generally more liable to this disease
than celibates. This law is constant for women ; for men it holds
good only before 25 years of age and after to. Such facts and
their meaning are discussed by M. Bertillon in a recent pa|ier on
tbe inflnenco of the family state on morals. Not only do married
people die less than others, but they show less tendency to suicide,
to montnl derangement, to asBixsination, to theft, and other like
evils or crimes. . . ."
And the extract goes on to show that this is probably owing to the
influence of children. — B. J.
[27] — ErpECTs OF Makriagk on the Death-rate. — Dr. Bertillon,
a French uttvattt, some two or three years ago wrote an essay on
" Nuptiality, or the Conjunctive Attraction of Human Couples."
By comparing the mortality statistics of cverj- countrj- in Europe,
he shows that, without exception, marriage is condacive to
longevity. Uo arrives at the conclusion that a bachelor of 25 is
not a better life than a married man of 15. French bills of mor-
tality show that the annual death-rate among married men
between 20 and 25 is rather under 10 per 1,000, ond for bachelors of
the same age, 16 per 1,000. For Paris itself the difference i.s still
greater. Between 30 and 35 years of age the mortality is 69 per
cent, greater among bachelors than among married men. Space
will not permit further quotations from this interesting essay, bnt
a more complete summary of Dr. Bertillon's conclusions " Bene-
dict" may find in the Lancet for May 31, 1879. — Mewcis.
[28] — Stone on Rolling Wheels. — If the stone was poised
exactly in the centre of the wheels, it would then be carried forwanl
75 in. for each revolution, and the relative position of the stone and
wheels is not altered. But, as the stone rests on the circumference
of the wheels, it receives a motion from the revolution, and the
part which rested on the wheels would be 75 in. beyond them for
each revolution ; and the forward motion of the wheel being 75 in.,
therefore the stone has advanced loOin. It has travelled the same
distance as a spot on the circumference of the wheels, which de-
scribes a cycloid for each revolution, and is equal in length to
* There is some mistake about this statement. — Ei).
double the circumference. I beg to inclose drawing, where A is
commencement of a revolution, and B the end. — W. Stevens.
[28] — Stone on Rolling Wheels. — "Queensland's" "mathe-
matical friend" is quite correct in saying the stone advances 150 in.
for every 75 in. advance of the rollers. ••Queensland," or any one
else, may easily convince himself of the accuracy of the statement
by a few minutes' experimenting with a two-foot-rule and an oflic©
ruler.— E. H. R.
[37] — "Vestiges of Cre.a.tion."^I have seen it stated that the
late Dr. David Page, the geologist, was the author of this book. It
has also been attributed to Mr. Robert Chambers. Both may have
been concerned in it, as Dr. Page was for a long time connected
with Chambers's Journal. I think Lieut. -Col. W. A. Ross announced
in the columns of the English Mechanic^ some time ago, that he
believed, and could prove, the author to be Sir Charles Lyell.— J. A.
We.st«ooi) Oliver.
[37] — Ve.'^tiges of Creation. — This book was written by the late
Dr. Robert Chambers, of Edinburgh. It foreshadowed, in softie
measure, the speculations of Darwin on the origin of new species
through the nioditication of the old, as opposed to the doctrine of
their " special creation." It advanced further than Lamarck ; but
Dr. Chambers' ideas were necessarily crude, for lack of the know-
ledge of later days, when compared with the certainties of motlem
evolution, which is founded on evidence derived from the develop-
ment, structure, and distribution of animals and plants, as well as
from their fossil history. " S. S. S. S." should read Darwin in pre-
ference to the "Vestiges," which possess, nowadays, more of a his-
torical than a scientific interest. — Andrew Wilson.
[37] — Vestiges of Che.\tion. — This work was published
anonj-mously. Some — the majority — attribute it to Chambers,
others to Sir C. Iivell. The subject was discussed recently in the
columns of the Kn'jlish Stechanic. I should advise "S. S. S. S." to
read it bv all means, and mark, learn, and inwardly digest it. —
W. G. Ro"lfe.
[38] — Neitine. — One satellite of Neptune has been discovered
by Lassell, period 5d. 21 h. 8 in., at a distance of 220,000 m. from
the primarj-. — W. G. Rolfe.
[Let. 48] — CHE.4P Microscope and Telfjmtope. — If your correspon-
dent " Twenty " is not disposed to spend more than £5 on each of the
aliove, he must restrict himself to a monocular microscope, and I
should advise him to procuro one of the so-called medical forms
made by Swift, Beck, Baker, and several others. It is rather in-
vidious making a selection from the several makers of low-priced
microscopes, but 1 am bound to say that of the instruments which
have come under my notice lately. Swift's are the best value for the
money, taking into account the appearance and general qualities of
Deg 9, 1881.J
- KNOWLEDGE
12i
the stand and the quality of the lenses snppliod. This is very much
like an advertisement ; but yon, sir, may possibly know enough of
me to tell you that I am not an advertising agent. Anyhow, wherc-
ever the instrument is jiurchased, let " Twenty " see to it that he is
not misled by more apjiearance. Get a solid stand — one that won't
fhake and twist about ; and don't trouble about a lot of so-called
accessory apparatus. You won't want it. Then see that you have
a gooil inch and a good quarter-inch objective. You can do plenty
of work with them ; enough to make yourself a name in the world,
and get plenty of recreation too. I am the possessor of a £5 tele-
scope bought to let my bairns see the mountains in the moon, spots
on the sun, and something of Jupiter, Saturn, Ac. ; but shall I say
it, sir, and so shake your faith in my powers of replying to the
query, that is all the " astronomy " 1 have done with it. What it
does show it shows well, and enough for my purpose. That is all I
can say. — H. P. 11.
[48] — Trisectio.v of Triangle. — There are three problems now
given up as beyond the power of Geometry, namely, (i) to trisect
any angle, (ii) to tind a straight line equal to the circumference of
a circle, and (iii) to find two mean proportionals between two given
straight lines. Thus, " Kuclid " is beyond the range of helji. — \V. G.
RoLFE.
[54]— CiiEMKAL Q1EST10N.S.— The explanation of (1) is that the
iron of the ferrocyanide is not a base, but forms part of an acid,
which, however, has never been isolated. Potassium ferricyauide
acts in a similar way. A parallel case is chromate of potassium, or
any metal which will not ])recipitate, as hydrate, unless reduced by
zinc, or tin and acid. (2) To this part of "Castor and Pollux's"
(picry, I cannot see an answer, unless the solution were alkaline;
alkalies dissolving potassium tartrate. — C. T. B.
[51] — Chemical Qiestioxs. — In the first case given by " Castor
and Pollu-x," the reason he has obtained no precipitate with ferro-
cyanide of potassium on adding the re-agents mentioned is this,
that he has been inattentive, I might even say careless, enough to
add hydrosnlphuric acid instead of ammonium sulphide. He very
correctly states that iron is one of the third group of metals, but
the metals of that group are precipitated by Am CI, Am HO and
Am HS, and not by U.S. And in the second case it is quite pos-
sible that the solution of tartaric acid was not sufficiently strong,
although the salts under examination may have been so. This test
is extremely delicate, and requires much more care than the ques-
tions of " Castor and Pollux" lead me to believe he has taken in
his analysis. — Theophilus Pitt, A.K.C.
[55] — Greek Verbs. — Lengthening the vowel is the rule, devia-
tion from it the exception. Those verbs which retain the short
Towel take a in pf. and ppf-, med., or pass. ; also in their verbal
adjectives. — W. G. Bolfe.
rSO] — Mercury's Revolctiox. — Undoubtedly 81 was a misprint ;
it should have been 88. — W. G. Rolfe.
[00] — Sound being the effect produced on the car by any vibra-
tion, within limits of fastness and slowness, any substance that will
vibrate can transmit it. Tyndall compares ti-ansmission of sound
to a blow passed along a number of balls touching side by side ; the
last of the row only moves, so the last vibrated particle gives the
sound, and can pass it on from one substance to another. The
greater the elasticity — as steel, glass, ivory — and the lighter in
weight, the better does a body transmit sound. — C. T. B.
[66] — Vexi's. — Tliis i)lanet is frequently visible in the day-time,
and often casts a shadow at night. — W. G. Rolfe.
r66] — Vexus by Daylight. — Taking the above query of F. H. S.
to refer mainly to the planet's visibility in England, I may tell him
that, owing to the unfavourable atmospheric condition that generally
obtain here, she probably is not often visible during the daytime,
although I saw her plainly several times tliis summer, on different
days in (I expect) the month of July, when she had a considerable
north declination, and was at her extreme westerly elongiition from
the sun (or thereabouts). I should mention that by visibility I
mean visibility to the naked eye. If F. H. S. has sufficient know-
ledge of astronomy to understand the meaning of the terms " right
ascension " and " declination," he will know how to find the position
of Venus in the sky at any time by her bearing from the sun.
Abroad, within and without the tropics, I have seen Venus day after
day, for weeks at a stretch, and at sea have often determined the
latitude daily for like periods, both in the mornings from about 9 to
10, and in the afternoons from 2 to 3, according as she was, res-
pectively, to the west or to the east of the sun. In many of these
cases, however, she would not be visible to (he naked eye. If yotir
correspondent has not that slight skill in astronomy with which I
h&ve credited him, I am afraid yon would hardly allow me space to
explain to him how and when to " spot " Venus. — Winter.
INFLUENCE OF MARRIAGE OX THE DEATH-RATE.
[XoTE. — The enclosed is an answer to the query of " Bcnedioi "
upon the effects of marriage on -the death-rate, if you should
consider it worthy of insertion. — W. H. Peetwee.j*
Foil several years it has been noticed by statisticians that the
death-rate of unmarried men is cousiderably higher than the death-
rate of nnirried men and widowers. 1 believe that Or. Stark,
Registrar-General for Scotland, was one of the first to call attention
to this peculiarity, as evidenced by the results of two years' returns
for Scotland.
But the law has since been confinned by a far wider range of
statistical inquiry. The relative proportion between the death-ratci
of the married and of the unmarried is not absolutely uniform in
different countries, but it is fairly enough represented by the fol-
lowing table, which exhibits the mortality per thousand of married
and unmarrietl men in Scotland : —
Ages.
Hiislianas anj
A\'idowers.
Umuarrit
20 to 25
6-26
12-31
25 „ 30
8-23
14-94
30 „ 35
8-65
15-94
35 „ 40
11-67
1002
40 ., 45
1407
18-35
45 ,.50
1704
21-18
50 ,. 55
19-51
26 34
55 „ 60
2614
28-54
GO ., 65
35-63
44-54
05 „ 70
5293
60-21
70 „ 75
81-50
102-71
75 .. 80
117-85
113-94
SO „ 85
173-88
195-40
From this table we arc to understand that out of one hundreil
thousand married persons (including widowers), from 20 to 25 years
old, 026 die in the course of each year; w-hi!e, out of a similar
number of unmarried persons between the same ages, no less than
1,231 die in each year, .^.nd in like manner all the other lines
of the table are to be iutei'iircted. Commenting on the evidence
supplied by the above figures, Dr. Stark stated that " bachelorhood
is more destructive to life than the most unwholesome trades, or
than residence in an unwholesome house or district where there
has never been the most distant attempt at sanitary improvement
of any kind." And this view has been very generally accepted,
not only by the public, but Ijy professed statisticians; yet, as a
matter of fact, I believe that no such inferences can legi-
timately be drawn from the above table. If death strikes
do-wn in five years only half as many of those who are un-
married between the ago of 20 and 25 (as appears from
the above table), and if the proportion of deaths between
the two classes goes on continually diminishing in each suc-
cessive lustre (as is also shown by the above table), it seom.s
reasonable to infer that the death-i-ate would be even more strik-
ingly disproportionate for persons between the ages of fifteen and
twenty than for persons between the ages of twenty and twenty-
five. I believe, indeed, that if Dr. Stark had extended his table to
include the former ages, the result would have been such as I have
indicated. Yet few will suppose that very youthful marriages can
exercise so singularly beneficial an effect. It may appear at first
sight that we are bound to accept the conclusion that matrimony is
favourable to longevity. In the present instance we have simply to
deal with the fact that the death-rate of unmarried men is higher
than the death-rate of married men and widowers. All that we can
can do is to show that one of three conclusions must be adopted.
Either matrimony is favourable (directly or indirectly) to longe-
vity, in a degree sufficient wholly to account for the observed
peculiarity, on a principle of selection — the effect of which is such
as, on the whole, to fill the ranks of married men from among
the healthier and stronger portion of the community — operates in
a sufficient degree to account wholly for the observed death-rates ;
or, lastly, the observed death-rates are due to the combination, in
some unknown proportion, of the two causes just mentioned. No
reasonable doubt can exist, as it seems to us, that the third is the
true conclusion to be di-awn from the evidence supplied by the
mortality bills. Unfortunately, the conclusion thus deduced is
almost valueless, because we are left wholly in doubt as to the
proportion which subsists between the effects to be ascribed to the
two causes thus shown to be in operation. It scarcely required the
• As I considered this article worth sending to the Daily News,
I suppose I may accept Mr. Pcrtwee's suggestion. Passages from
the article are quoted by Darwin, in his " Descent of Man," and his
approval led me to include the article in my " Light Science for
Leisure Hours." Mr. Portwee's quoting from the original suggests
that the matter may be new to many of our readers. — R. A. Proctor.
126
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec. 9, 1881.
I'vidcncp of Rtiitialics to provo Ihnt cnc-Ii cause must operate to
fonu'oxli-nt. It iH prrfeitly dbvioiit", on the ono hand, that itlthoiiffli
liiinclrcds of men who would bo held by in.surnnce conii)anies to be
*■ bad liveH " may eontruct ninmiigo, yet, on the whole, a principle
of selection in in oponition which u\\i»t tend to bring the healthier
portion of the mule community into the rankH of the married, and
to leave the unheiilthier in the Htiito of ba<'helorliood. A little con-
sideration will show, al«o, thnt, on the whole, the members of the
loss healthy trades, \ery poor persons, hitbilnni dmnknrds, and
others whoso prospects of lontf life nrc unfavoui-able, must (on the
uvcrngo of a hir(,'e number) be more likely to remain unmarried
than those more favourably situated. Improvident maiTiagcs are
undoubtedly numerous, but i)rosperity and adversity have their
influence, and that influence not unimportant, on the marriage
I'uturns. On the other hand, it is perfectly obvious that the
life of a marrietl man is likely to bo more favourable to
longevity than that of a bachelor. The mere fact that a
man has a wife and family depending upon him will snflice
to render him more careful of his health, less ready to un-
dertake dangerous employments, and so on ; and there are
other reasons which will occur to everyone for considering the
life of a married man better (in the sense of the insurance
companies) than that of a bachelor. In fact, while we are
compelled to reject Dr. Stark's statement, " bachelorhood is
more destructive to life than the most unwholesome trades, or than
residence in an unwholesome house or district, where there has
never been the most distant attempt at smitary improvement of
any kind," we may safely accept his opinion that statistics " prove
the truth of one of the tirst natural laws jovealed to man, " It is
not good that man should live alone." Whether the law required
any proof is a question into which we need not enter.
From the Daily Neivs, Oct. 17, 1868. W. H. Pkrtwee.
(Bm iWatOfmatiral Column.
MATUEMATICAL QUE1UE8.
[2] — TnK Witch of Agnesi. — Will you kindly furnish a fen-
particulars respecting the history, properties, and practical applica-
tion (if any) of the above-named curve? If these are accompanied
with a tracing of the curve all the better. — E. II. R.
[3] — Appakeki Paradox . —
Let ,T = )j,
then ,r' = y.r,
!/' - y' = x'j — >/,
-•• (•• + ;/) (.<= -v) = y (^- - !')> (-<)
.T + 1/ = ./, (B)
V + ij = V, since x = i/ bv Hyp. ;
' 2 ij = V
2 = 1.
Anyone who kindly explains the fallacy in the reasoning which
brings about this impossible result will much oblige — Puzzled.
[The fault lies in passing from A to 7}. Interpret them, and we
see this |at once. A really means that (,r + ;/) times nought is
equal to y times nought, which is, of course, true ; just as it is
true that twenty times nothing is equal to ten times nothing. But
wo can no more infer that ,c + y = y than that 20 = 10. In fact,
we cannot divide both sides of an equation by any common factor,
unless we are sure that the factor is not equal to nought. In this
case we know that it is. — Ei>.]
[4] — I shall be very much obliged if you will kindly favour rao
with a solution of the following problem. Data. JJ ■= 2 j S = v/3 ;
1^ = 1; )', r„ r,,, r„ being radii of inscribed and escribed circles :
prove that lir, = a', and r^ = )•, = perp. from angle A on side BC
of inscribed triangle. — Amici'S.
d^ur mWn^t Column.
By "Five of Cluds."
A '• YAUBOltOUGU" HAND AT WUIST.
Sir, — I was told the other day that a forn\er Earl of Yaiborough
was always ready to wager i;i, 000 to £1 against the occurrence of
a hand at Whist in which there should be no cai-d better than a
nine. Was the bet a fair one ? ALETnEi's.
[The bet was decidedly unfair, and if made a great number of
limes must have resulted in large gains to the person who made it.
It is easy to calculate the odds before the deal, (after the deal, or
if the cards are cut and the lowest card is known, the odds are
slightly altered). In each suit there are five cards, ace, king, queen,
knave, ten, above a nine, or in the pack, 20 cards above a nine.
From the remaining 32 cardu a hand of 13 cards may lie formed in
32 • 31 • 30 • 29 ..^^ 20
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 13
different ways. The whole pack, however, will form
52 • r,l ■ GO • 49 40
T~^ 2 ■ 3 " 4 13
different hands of thirteen cards. The chance, then, that any hniid
taki'n at random will hove no card Ix'ttor than nine is roprescntwl
by the i-ntio which the former of these amounts bears to the latter,
or bv the fraction
32 • 31 • 30- 29 20
52 • 51 ■ 50 • 49... ......40
32 • 31 ■ 30 • 29 • 28 • 27
"51 -lO- 47-45 -43 -41 2'
31 - 15 - 29 • 14 - 27 31-29-2-3
""61 - 40 • 47 - 45 ■ 13 -41 " 17 • 7 ' 47 • 43 • 41
It will be found, on reducing, that this fraction is rather less than
1K9S' "" ''""' ^"^ Yarborough, if he had been fair, (assuming
always that he knew liow to calculate probabilities) should have
offered rather more than £1,828 to £1 against the occurrence
of the hand in question. It must be understood, of course,
thnt he wagered with one of the players against that player
having a " Yarborough," not against the occurrence of a
"Yarborough" among the four hands dealt. The chance of this
latter event is, of course, considerably gi-eater. It might
sooni at a first view that it was exactly four times as great,
since there arc fom- hands for each deal, but this is not the cage,
any more than the chance of the occurrence of a Yarborough in 1,828
hands amounts to 1,828 times , or to absolute certainty. The
real chance that a Yarboi-ough will not occur in four hands is thus
obtained. The chance that a Yarborough will not occur in any
1827 . /1S27\'
given hand is rrrr^ ; that it will not occur in two hands is I ,;^., I
1828 /18*^7\^ \i^->/
that il will not occur in three hands is ( 7-^ ) , and that it will not
/1827\' \1^28/
occ lu- ill four hands is I — — I . Tliis is very nearly, but not exactly,
equal to , " , or to -^- ; so that the chance of a " Yarborough "
1832 4ob
occurring in any four hands, taken at random in different deals, is
Cfinal to about —^ ; nor is the chance different when the four hand.'*
4o8
are iu the same deal.
Supposing Lord Yarborough offered a wager of £1,000 to £1 to
each member of a whist party, for ten deals, on each of 100 nights
in each of ten years, he w-ould have cleared about £18,0OO.J
'■ Mogul " writes to us that there are mistakes, some of them
serious, in our Whist Column. It is very likely ; but the principle
on which this column, like the rest of Kxowledge, is conducted, is
that of free di.ocussion, and the correction of errors as soon as
detected and pointed out. " Mogul " o-jly notes one, and there he
misapprehends us entirely, lie says wo in effect say that the rules
for leading are based on the principle of giving information to your
partner. Wo have said nothing of the sort. We have said that
the first great principle of the scientific game is to give your
partner all the information in your power, consistently with
the rules of the game. This is a very different thing. " Mognl "
states rightly enough that the primary consideration in se-
lecting what card to lead, especially what card to lead from any
peculiar combination of cards in a suit, has been the best chance of
trick-making. Of course, this is true ; but, as an objection to our
statement, "Mogul" might as reasonably have told us that the
primary object in Whist was to make tricks. " Mogul" will find, as
we proceed, that all questions of leading and play, second-hand or
third-hand, are priniai-ily weighed with reference to the chance of
making tricks (w-hich, by-the-way, has not yet been fully done, even
the ablest Whist players being apt to shirk the mathematical pro-
blems involved). But that is not at all inconsistent with the state-
ment respecting the distinction between scientific and unscientific
Whist, or between what may be called the twenty-six card and the
thirteen card games.
" Mogul " invites our attention to lloyle and Cavendish. The8e>
with Matthews (though Uoyle and Matthews are now a little out of
date), Pole, Clay, Dmyson, and others are our guides; to this
degree, at any rate, thnt we should not depart from their teaching
without assigning our reasons and speaking under correction from
our readers. But vague corrections, like " Mogul's," arc of little
use to us.
Dbc. 9, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
127
<!^ur CI)fs!s Column.
Great pressure of other matter compels us to limit our chess this
week to a single game. It is, however, annotated fully, as promised
in Number 1.
Game Plavf.d at Leamington Mkeii.vg, Octobkk, 1881.
QnecM'si 1
'iauchetto.
WHITE.
BL.VCK.
Mr. Walton.
Mr. Bowlev.
1.
P. toQ.Kt.3.
P. to K.4. (")
2.
B. to Kt. 2.
Q.Kt. to B.3.
3.
P. to K.3.
P. to Q.l.
4.
B. to Kt.5.
B. to Q.3.
5.
Q. to K.2. (^)
B to K.3
6.
P. to K.B.4.
P. to K.B.3.
7.
P. takes P.
P. takes P.
8.
P to B.4. (')
Q. to R.5.(ch.)
9.
P. Kt.3.
Q. to K.5.
10.
Q. to B.3. {■>)
Q. to B.7.
11.
B. to B.3. (')
K. to K.2. (0
12.
Kt. to K.2.
R. to K.B.
13.
Q. to Kt.2.
Kt. to B.3.
14.
Castles.
P. to K.R.4.
15.
P. to Q.-i.
Kt. to K.Kt.5.
16.
P. to B.5. (6)
R. takes R.ch. (^)
17.
Q. takes R.
R. to K.B.
18.
P. takes B.(ch.)
P. takes P.
19.
Q. to K.sq.
Q to K.5.
20.
Kt. to Q.2. (i)
Resigns (')
Q. takes P.(ch.)
NOTES BY MEPHISTO.
(Incorporating Mr. Bowley's comments.)
(■) In reply to 1. P. to Q.Kt.3., it is not advisable to advance
P. to K.4. and Q.4. too hasHly . V. to KJjTand Q.l. brings about a
normal and safe development.
(') Loss of time : White might ha\e played P. to K.B.4. at once if
that was liis intention ; but this attack was premature. P. to
E.B.4. would have been better than Q. to K.2., to prevent the
check with the Queen on R.5. Proper play was to develop the
ftame by 4.P. to Q.B.I, Kt. to Q.B 3., &c., after the fashion of
Queen's openings.
(') Having missed the flood tide of the opening, fortune turns
against White. P. to B.4. here is weak, as it opens up his game, of
which Black at once takes advantage. In view of the good position
of the Black Bi.shops, it would have been dangerous to castle on
the King's side. 8. Kt. to Q.B.3. might have been played. Mr.
Bowley points out that Black could not venture on
B. takes Kt.ch.
8. — p~tev^g R — followed by 9. B. takes P., because of
P. to K.Kt.3. . .
9. Q. to R.5. (ch.) 10. Q t„ K 5- wmnmg.
C) 10. Kt. to K.B. 3. would have been better. If then Black
plared 10. Q. to B.7. 11. P. to Q.3. would have equalised the game ;
or, if B to Kt.o.;^ in reply to 10. Kt. to K.B.3., then 11. Castles with a
safer game than that obtained through the move in the text.
, , „ „ , , . P. takes P. Q. takes B.
« Mr. Bowley thu^ks that H- b. takes P. ^2. ^^g 2.
13. %' !^r,^'^' U. Q- '° "•^- would have been better. Should
Q. takes B.
Black venture on 11. Q. takes B., White ought to win, as the
r 11 • • .- , ,, P- fakes P. ,„ P. takes B. ,
followmg variation shows:- 11. q ^^^^ ^ 12. KrTrK72T ('°
avoid the mate, and at the same time prevent B. takes Kt. (ch.),
Q. to B7. (ch.)
K. to Q.sq.
Kt. to K.2 _ Castles
15. ^; — TT~TT _ ; hest to avoid the mate by
followed by Q. takes P. and Q. to Q.B.3.) 13.
14
Q. takes B. R. to K.sq.
Q.toQ.B.3.(ch.) IG. Q^^t. to B.3.» Q. takes P. ^hitcnow
Q. toKt.7. ^'•
threatens to win by R. to B.8. If, to prevent this, Black plays
17. Q. to B.7., with the object of bringing her to K.Kt.3., then
White plays 18. P. to K.4. first. The only move for Black would be
iQ TT . ^1. I i. „ ,„ R. to B.8. B. takes Kt.
18. Kt. to Q.5. ; then follows 19.^,^ ^_,.._rrx /-■. \ 20.
■Kt.takesKt.(ch.) '
P. to B.3.
to avoid the mate by
22 R. takes Kt.(ch.)
R. takes R.(cli).
Q. takes B.(ch.)
R. takes R.(ch.)
Kt.toR.4.{cy
B. takes R. """ K. to Kt.3. "'' K. to R.t.
.,, Q.toB.5.(ch.) and win.s. Wegive a diagram of the position.
Position after Black's tenth move, Q. to B.7
Black.
Tl
#
,.l
t
t
t t
"j
.•J-
1
2
S
i>
^'
p.
5
'&
t
'#
■t-
(') Played to make the Rook available for attack. White cculd
not now plav 12. P. takes P., as pointed out by Mr. Bowley, as
Q. to Kt.2. . .
Black would win by l^-^-to K.B.sq. l^Bn^eTpT '^"""°"' ^'
Queen cannot take the Bishop on pain of Mate in two by
Q. to B.8(.ch.) and Q. to K.B.8 Mate.
(K) White's game is now seriously compromised. If he had
tried to pl.iy 16. Kt. to B.4., instead of P. to B.5., then Mr. Bowley
points out that he would have played the fine move of K. takes Kt.)
and after the subsequent exchanges Black would retain a slight
Kt. to B.4. K.P. takes R. K. takes Q.
superiority, e.g..
,&c. Of
R. takes Kt. Q. takes Q. Kt. to K.C.(ch.)
course White could not play Q. takes Q. in reply to R. takes Kt.,
for then Black would win by"R. takes R.(ch.) and Kt. to K.6.(ch.)
(>■) If Black play Kt. takes K.P., White's reply would be
R. takes R. Kt. to R.3. . , „ ^ , ,
19. :p: , 7\ 20. forcing the Queen back, and re-
Kt.takesQ. °
taining three pieces for the Queen.
(') A slip, of course. Mr. Bowley tells us that Kt. to B.4.,
giving back the piece would have been White's best ; but even then
Black would retain a superiority.
(') White must lose the Queen, or be Mated in very few moves.
In last week's Chess column position numbered 3 should have
been 4. In the solution to Mr. Healey's Problem 2 it is unneces-
saiy to consider the reply, 1. K. to Q.R.sq., for if Black so play
White can win by 2. R. to Q.B.7.
In replv to numerous correspondents, we note that solutions of all
problems'we may give will appear a fortnight later. Names of any
who, having correctly solved problems, care to forw ard their results
will also appear.
■\Vhilo adhering to our plan of giving fully annotated games, and
analysis of the openings, we shall be glad to publish problems and
games, &c., of interest, which correspondents may send us.
Our friend " The Enemy " (need we say we refer to Mephisto)
sends us a three-mover, recently published in the Glasyov: Herald,
by Mr. C. R. Baxter, Dundee, which we shall venture to publish
next week. In this problem our two-mover of last week would
seem to be embodied. Sometimes such coincidences are accidental
(we may give a case in point presently). As our two-mover was
published in the Ilhistraled London Xevjs more than twenty years
ago (more exactly, on May 7, 1859), we presume Mr. Baxter will
hardly claim priority.
SvNXHRONiSED ELECTRIC CLOCKS. — It appears that an error has
occurred in the Timex, and most of the papers, including Knowledge,
in noticing the lecture lately given by Mr. John Lund, on the above
subject at the Society of Telegraph Engineers. In mentioning the
practicability of utilising the telegraph wires for the di.uble purpose
of telephoning and synchronising, it was stated that communication
was effected between the Lectm-e-room and Messrs. Barraud &
Lund's jiremises in Pall Mall, whereas it should have read,
between the Leetnre-room and the premises of Messrs. Lund &
Blockley, in Pall Mall, who are concessionaires for the West-end
district. The two firms are, however, otherwise distinct.
128
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 9, 1881.
9n^cr«( to CorirdpontirntsJ.
*«*.!'/ commumcutioH* Jvr tkt EtUtor rrqttiring eartj/ tUifnlioit thould rtttck the
Offic9 on or h^ur€ tkn S^ttnrdfiy prtrfding tkr current isMUf of K^owlkdok, tkt
iNfr/iMiN'/ rircu/«i/tu(i oj trAici tomiirU tt» to qn to prtM ftrlj/ itt thr week.
HlHTdTO CoRHKNl'ONDKSTJ*. 1. Xo qtteUion, iitkint fur Mrir„tijlc iu/ijrmalion
€am be artficfreti through tkr pott. 3. Letters ^r tit to the Editor for corrftpomimtM
cQHnot be fortrartird ,- nor ran the namet or addretaen qf correipondenta be giteit in
anerer to primte inqnirio. 3. Xo queries or rrplirt tacouring qf the mi'ttre qf
adcertieemeMtf cnn be imerled. 4. Letter/, gneriei, and repli*» are interled, ttitlrrt
roMlrarjf to IluU A, free nf rh.trge. 5. Corretpondfnls ehouLI vrite on OM aide
oitlg of the p'inrr, and put drmrhigt on <l nepurale leaf. (t. Enth letter, qiieri/, or
reptg ahouiJ haee <i tUte, and JM replying to leltere or queriet, r^erenee ehouid be
made to the number qf Utter or query ^ the pnge oh which it appears, and it$ title.
K. II. R. The Witch of Agne^ i-i one of thone rurves jiivpntna in former times
for the solution of ceoniL-trical probloma which cannot bo HOlved by use of the
cin'lr und atrsiRht hno only. Wo find little about it in our books. Its equation
is given in Brnnde's '* Dictionary of Art and Scnenccs." We must study it u
little ourselves before answering your question ; und, nnxt week, hope to {p%r a
drawing of the cur^-«andabricf aromint of it : Reometriial, if possible.— Pi zzi.ed.
We do not wonder you are puzrled. The ^ttoteraent in the 'J'imea ift out of date
where it is correi't, and the rest of it aniUKingly inexact. Newspaper flrieuco is
apt to be "mixed" in this way.— O. O. Wakkkiklb. Your form of Holution
was specially deluded when the prize was offered. We have, however,
pivcn your solution as a jjood illustratiim of the way of writing down to any
required position, altcrinf;, however, your notation, which occupies too much
space. — W. W. WiLLMOTT. Your query appears, and number containing
it has been sent to author of the paragraph'.— h. C. R. Thanks for interestinf;
-W. A. S. Very K'ad i"^*<'c<l to "''"i" from vou. How lonfj it '
met. Your reply is a specially welcome one, for I feared that particular
query would remam unanswered. Roucht everywhere for information, but
knowing no Rabbis could pet none that was trustworthy.— Walter E. R. We
hope to have many papers on BioIo*ncal subjects ere long; but Science is
ialinite, and Knowleugo is not.— JoHX Blind. In your long letter you
urge the familiar objections to the sun's being the source of heat, and advance
a new theory of the tides. Of the former our readers have had a fair supply
already, and the latter is quite inconsistent with known facts. You are
alfto evidently unacquainted with the facts on which the accepted theories
are based. For instance, you say the sun exercises greater attractive
power than the moon, yet raises no double tide, the facts being (1) that
the Sim's tide-raising' power is less than the moon's in the proportion of
2 to 5, yet (2) that he does raise a double tide of proportionate height. We wish
vou and others who propound paradoxes, to understand that your objections are
in reality your difficulties. Those objections were difficulties "to science students
some two or three centuries ago. There is an unscientific objection to your com-
munication on the ground of po.stage underpaid. — J. McGbigor Allan. We
agree with much that you have written, but our pages are scarcely suited for the
physiological study of the subject. We agreed to a concise presentation of your
views, but supposed the column in Number 4 was what you meant ; or, that if
section 2 were treated at all, it would bo very briefly. The other sections will be
more suitable. Vray understand that we are satisfied no student of science could
by any pos^ibility object to your riewa or your way of putting them; but we
write not for students of science only — firginibue puerisqne caiUaniuf. —
Bkbtrjind K. Dawson. There is no real difficulty. Binders have repeatedly
to insert hulf-shectA. They will have to do so in the case of our star
maps. There is much less risk of the single page separating from its
fellows than of a full sheet coming out through imperfect sewing. — J, F. D.
Sbldst. It is impossible to insert your '* intentionally ambiguous" remarks on
the cause of gravity. Your replies to "Queries" 13 and 3 are unsatisfactory
from a similar ambiguity. Your fears eeem uncalled for. Publishing a new
and sound theory on any subject whatever, by no means involves, as a neceesary
oon^tequence, " utarvatioii, despair, and early death." Wasting many years over
a false theory, through unwise caution, may be more likely to lead to such unde-
siralde results. — .1. lIi?fEs. Your communication is too long for the subject, now
nea.ly ezhauHte<l (though the sun's tea' is not). The '* prevailing hypothesis of
the action of nndulatory forces" is by uo means inconsistent with the
heat of the sun being " true heat in the naked form," that is (as we under-
stand you) such heat as there is in a fire or furnace. Your theory is qiiite in-
consiNlent with facts ; and the growinfr pressure on our space, though it does not
forbid our weighing objections and considering doubts, w ill not allow of our devoting
columns tothe careful enunciation of untenable hypotheses. No paradoi-monger
who can honestly say {and eflfectively show) that he has thoroughly mastered
the accepted tlicorieH and the researches on which they rest, sliall be refused
ample space here. But paradoxes evidently based on misconceptions like those
of Mr. Newton Croslandand others can no longer have the space which we earlier
allowed them. They must make way for the sounder matter which reaches u«. —
U. M. Haasskn, You can scarcely form an idea of the pressure on our space.
Such a list as you suggest would be useful only to a small section of our
readers. Almost every one who attends such meetings knows when thev
arc to be held without our assistance.— John Spillbh. Thanks for your
letter, which shnll appear, unaltridged. It is very much to the purpose.—
ACTiNOHTK. Have mserted the gist of your query, but have omitted the
closing words. What has Knowledge to do with Professor RawUnson'a behef,
or want of belief, in Mosaic chronology? We know nothing about the
matter, to !)egin with; and we do not want to know.— Aldbbt E. Holpbn.
Thanks for your useful letter.— E. Kaycb. Thanks for your BUggestions. We
are proceeding tentatively at present, and, indeed, just now our unexpectedly
rapid success involves certain practical difficulties which will presently dis-
appear. The principles which will guide us in the choice of subjects will be
Darwinian,- to wit, natural selection and the survival of the fittest.— John
Phillips. We consider art questions altogether suited to our columns ; and shall
be glad to admit correspondence on such subjects as you mention.^S. P. Eastick.
Wc have been promised a paper on Faure's Accumulator by a skilful electrician ;
but there has neen great dehiy. If your suggested contribution were short
and simple, we should be glad 'to use it. Spare not illustrations nuch as the
Bubject may reouire.— Dixon Kkmp. Many thanks. We should be gUd to hear
of the resulta of your experiments.— Nkhton Cbosland. Can insert only por-
tions of your very voluminous letters. You misunderstand our comments ; but
not more than you have misunderstood the teachings of science.— Hbnby
SiooiN. We by no means intend to forget geology.— E. F. B. Habston. Thanks
for kind wishes. Query appears.— A. irBOOD. Many thanks for your offer, but
original matter, correspondence, queries, Ac., leave no room for reports of
lectures, which are nearly always unsatisfactory.— T. J. H. Your remarks on
*' Anti-Guebre's " letter are 'sufficiently sound, but he has been already
answered. Wonderful to relate, he sees and admits his error. We pay
wooderful, because when anyone haa allowed Diisapprebension to bloeeom
into fali.e theorien, bis ci»e m too often past cure. Thorn are the mokineit
of a man of Mnencn in " Anti-Gmbre."— 8. 8. H. 8. Wr think it biHer
lo let our read»-ni inin in annwcring qui^tiotia eten on thtme- nibjecti which *•.-
hn\e specially fftudo'd. Where no f>ther antner come* wo shaU endeaToor t..
supply the omistion, and nomelimei, a<« you may have noticed, we take ihe
initiative. Hut we «i^h tni" lo l>c a mo^zine of general knmvlodge. not a ni*Te
orRan for the expre-Kion of Mr. Richard A. Proclora opinion! on thine* in
general. JFe have, indeed, a number of qoevtiooa to oAk. only hitherto we hair
not been able to find room. Your quer^ about Bpihtuolism'i* omitted. W*-
could not find space for the eiidence which would pour in from all nidei, for »nd
n^'ainAt, still lesB could we find time to sift it, and without tifting, it would be of
little worth either way. Another que5tion is omitted a« not Quite suited to <>ur
jwgCTi. We must not offend even the weakest brethren. Mill lesi the weaker
histers.— K. C. R. Your letter about parhelia in lft79, ii lery inte-
resting, but crowded out by more recent matter. — K. E. ^<'I,'iT^.■.
Note answer to Mr. McOrigor Allan.— B. M.. F.R.A.3. Many thanki.
Your interesting stories of intelligence in animals shall certainly ' appear —
J. Parkeb Fowlbh. In the great pressure of more strictly scientific matter.
T hypothesis that ghosts and spectres, ef hoc genus oniae, may, perchance, be
»-. _-..!._- _ 1 --.1 _» _ ^ 1. . ^,^^ cannot appear
r colu
.lolct (
ultra red, and
able to cert a
any
slight degree probable " We agree vrith you thoroughly, and also in considering
that it is original. "If it has ever been started before, we, like yourself, " have
never seen anything of it."— Habbib Rcssell. You will see that many starn
are named in the maps for this month. We may shortly find space for the noirn
you suggest ; but being astronomical ourselves, we 3o not wish to giye our
readers too much astronomy.— F. H. G. We hope to be able soon to gixe
short biographies of eminent men of science. Space is our trouble just no«.
As we grow we shall do all we can.— F. Cowlbt. Many thanks —B. C. Cowfli..
No advertisements need be bound in ; of course there will be a litle-pnge.— P. M .
TrsSBi'LL. Compare the date of the passage you quote with that of Huxley s
later utterances about automatism in|animala.—EfN(jriBKB. ^Vhere do you get the
" hydrogen of the air " in sufficient quantity to account for the heaTy'minfaU? —
C. T. B. The Question of the infenority of woman has been now* sufflcientlv
discussed. Mathematical answer well known ; chemical answer inserted.— R. J.
BcBNsrnE, W. Most, and others. Thanks.— Mart B. Aldbb. See reply
above to C. T. B. Thanks.— J. D. Uabdt. We regret that space cannot
be found for your ingenious speculations about comets. Most probably
the coma may consist of crystalline particles ('* of the particular
nature belonging to the gas " forming the comet as a whole) ; but
the laws of optics will not permit us to regard the tail as produced in
the way you suggest. Moreover, the motion of the particles under solar at-
traction would not be what you suppose. Each particle would travel on its
proper ellipse as certainly as a planet would. AVe, unfortunately, must limit
greatlv the space we allow to the unsound, however ingenious, in order that we
may fceep room for scientific truths.— A. S. Fabqihabs^on. We would rather
not insert your query. Sleep preventatiyes are not rashly to be meddled with.
Better yield to nature's hints that she needs her " sweet restorer." — Amicus.
Y'our mathematical problem belongs to an easy class ; we have left it for our
mathematical readers to deal with. — D. C. Anderson. Your kind suggestion
noted. — W. H. Pertwbb. Have printed the passage you have kindly sent me;
recognised an old friend in it, as you will see. — Vbga. ' Thanks ; an ofevious mis-
take.— E. M. King. The article was not such easy reading as we coold have
wished; but the author is yen* eminent in that department.— J. A. L. R.
Y'our reasoning, which is perfectly sound, has already been employed (p. 8) . —
Wbather Gl'ide. a correspondent suggests that a weather gm'de might Vie
Iramed " without difficulty," in which the indications of the heavens, stars,
moon, sun, clouds, movements and cries of animals and birds, the human body,
plants, flowers, liquids, apparent nearness or distance of hills, &c., would help.
We beUeve such a guide might be framed, but not without difficulty. "Excep-
tions" would, probably, occupy the larger part of the guide. But the matter i»
worth considering.
We are sorry to say that we continue to receive many letters calling attention to
the difficulty of obtaining copies of Knowledge. We can only repeat that we
have dime all in our power to prevent this, and that our publishers will be obliged
if subscribers will call their attention to the fact, should they experience an^ diffi-
culty in obtaining Knowledge at any of the railway book-stalls, or from their local
newsagents. To ensure a supply of the Back Numbers, which are rapidly becoming
scarce, orders should be sent without delay,— Ed.
Knowledge. — Although we ofiFer our readers more in the way
of orijjinal matter (apart from correspondence, which is not to be
estimated by mere bulk) than any other jonrnal of similar price
and cliaracter, we wish to do better still. Wc hope so to extend the
circulation of Knowledge that we may be justified in enlarginj;
each number, in giving more illustrations, and in extending the
number of onr original contributors. To attain this cud ive need
the co-operation of our readers. Those among them who approve
our scope and plan can do more to improve Knowleuge than either
editor or publishers. If every reader were to obtain but one new
subscriber, not only would our circulation be doubled, but our power
to improve the matter placed before our readers would be increased
ii\ like proportion. If our renders will remember this, they will
follow the best course for making Knowledge what we wish and
hope that it may before long become.
Contents of Knowledge Ko. 5.
PAOB.
Our Fields. By E. W. Preyost 85 '
Comets and Comets' Tails. [By the
Editor— (///uWru/^-J) 86
SoUds, Liquids, and Gases.— Part
III. By W. Mattieu Williams
TAGB.
Missing Link— The linch Ord-
nance Maps-Pahzsch & Halley's
Comet— Do Comets obey Gravity ?
—The Crimson • circled Star —
Tables of Meridianal Parts. Ac... 9S
of" Disease and Death. By The Eastern Skies in December—
Dr. Andrew WUson, F.B.S.E.— {Itlusirated) 97
Part II 89 Queries 101
Brain Troubles.— Impaired Memory 90 Kephes to Queries 102
Man a Fruit^ater 91 Training 102
A Mild November 92 Our Mathematical Column lOS
Cobrbsposdemcb.— The InyisibiUty , Our CheLS* Column 104
of Light - Inclination of the Our Whist Column 104
Earth's Axis- The Z«etrop©— The Aaawera to Correspondents 10«
Dec. 16, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
129
AN. U0JiSI«j^ED
MAGplNEOf^NCE
MLAM^RBED -EXACTlfesCRIBEDJ
LONDON: FRIDAY, DECEMBER lo, 16S1.
CONTENTS.
PAGS
Recent Studies of Volcanic Action.
By G. F. KodvreU 129
Dreams. — Part IT. B/ Edward
Clodd 130 ;
Betting and Mathematics. By the I
Editor 132
Our Unliiddrn Guests. Bjr Br. |
Andrew Wilson. F.R.S.E 133'
Statistics of Suicide 134 |
The Destroyed Comet. By the
Editor (ni'iulrattJ) 135
To«i in a Hole. Bv Dr. Andrew |
Wilson, F.K.S.E. '. 136'
EasT Lessous in Blowpipe Chemistrv. I
By Lieut.-Col. \V. A. Eoss, K.A. 137
PAOB
Hints to Local Meteorological Ob-
servers.—I. Hailstorms 137
Anecdotes of Dors 13S
CoBBBSPoyuESCB. — Editorial
Letter — Jupiter : Denning's
Comet — The True Spirit of
Science: Water Spherules 130
The Westerm Skies in December—
(lUntlraltJ) 141
Queries 1«
Replies to Queries 145
Our Mathematical Column — The
Witch of .^gnesi 14^
Our Whist Column 149
Answers to Correspondents 149
RECENT STUDIES OF VOLCANIC
ACTION.
By G. F. Rodwell.
ALTHOUGH, during the last few years, no great
eruption of a European volcano, similar to that of
Vcsu\nus in 1872, has occurred, and no great earthquake
comparable with that which devastated Calabria in 1783,
the records of minor volcanic disturbances have been
unusually numerous. In 1878 Etna poured out a stream
of lava wliieli ran for .six miles ; a few months before,
Hekla threw up a new monticule, from which a quantity of
lava issued ; Vesuvius more than once since 1872 has
furnished enough lava to run into the Atrio del Cavallo ;
Santorin was active from 1866 to 1870 ; Stromboli is
always more or less energetic ; and Volcano has given
evidence that its vitality is by no means dormant Again,
within the last year, three disastrous earthquakes have
occurred in Europe — at Agram, in Ischia, and in Chios
— and many minor shocks have been recorded. In fact,
earthquakes arc much more common than we gene-
rally realise. A year ago (Nov. 28, 1880) an earth-
quake was reported from no less than fifty different
stations in Scotland ; some days ago a severe shock was
announced from Agi-am ; the previous day from Switzer-
land. During a few months of 1879, earthquake shocks
were felt in such widely-distant places as Florence,
Aachen, North Wales, Carinthia, Agram, Athens, and
Swizerlaiul. In 1878 there were more than a hundred
earthquakes and twelve volcanic eruptions.
For another reason it appears to be a not inappropriate
time for reviewing recent European Vulcanology. The
literature of the subject has lately received some important
additions in the form of such books as Dr. Arnold von
Lasaulx's " Der jEtna " ; il. Fouque's " Santorin et ses
Eruptions" ; the " Studien uber Erdbeben ' of Dr. Julius
Schmidt ; the United States" " Report of the Geology of
Utah," by Captain Dutton ; the '• Mineralogie Micro-
graphique " of MM. Fouque and Michel Lewy ; and the
treatise on '■ Volcanoes " of Professor J. W. Judd, which
only within the last few months has issued from the
ponderous and iron jaws of the pre.ss. The rapid growth of
the literature of the subject may be fairly judged of from
the fact that Von Lasaubc prints sixteen quarto pages
of " ^tna-Literatur."
Vulcanology is a recent science. If any one man can
originate a science, Spallanzani must be regarded as the
father of vulcanolog)-. There had been many observers
before his time, for the great phenomena of nature receive
the earnest attention even of unlettered men, but they
had observed Vjlindly, and without method. They recorded
their observations, but they made no attempt to classify or
correlate them, fonued no hypothesis to embrace them,
and did not follow up the particular line of thought sug-
gested by one or other of them. The value of a good
working hypothesis, even in the early stages of a science,
cannot be overrated. Moreover, the earlier %'ulcanologists
did not go to work in the right way ; they either watched,
necessarily at a distance, some grand paroxysmal outburst,
or they visited the scene of its action when the main effects
had died out Spallanzani did otherwise. He chose as
the source of his obsenations an ever-active volcano, which
never approaches the paroxysmal violence of Etna, Hekla,
and Vesuvius during their gi-eat eruptions, and never sinks
to the quasi-dormant condition which a Volcano commonly
presents. Stromboli has been active for more than 2,000
years, and so moderately active, that the scene of its opera-
tions can be closely approached, and from a projection
which is situated a little above the crater, the observer
may sit for hours when the steam and vapours are blown
out to sea, and watch the phenomena which are taking
place within the crater. Spallanzani did this ; and for the
first time realised and enunciated the important fact, that
volcanic phenomena are mainly, if not entirely, due to
tlie violent escape of steam and other gases at high
pressure from molten matter.
In 187i, Professor .J. W. .Judd, already an accomplished
disciple of Scrope, visited Stromboli, and minutely ex-
amined, from the vantage-ground erst occupied by Spal-
lanzani, the operations taking place upon the floor of
its crater. He divides them into three classes. From
certain large apertures in the floor steam escaped in loud,
irregular puffs ; within, some lava could be seen, which at
intervals rose and swelled out, at the same time emitting
large volumes of steam ; while within the depths of other
openings, viscous molten matter was seen to be hea^TDg up
and down, and violently agitated, like boiling water. Ever
and anon, as the agitation increased, a great bubble of lava
would swell put, and suddenly burst, emitting steam at
high pressure, the force of which hurled the red-hot scum
high into the air. Thus, the three essential conditions for
the production of \ olcanic phenomena appear to be : —
(1) apertures or fissures affording communication with
the interior of the earth ; (2) highly-heated matter beneath
the surface ; and (-3) subterranean water which, in the
form of high-pressure steam, is competent to produce
all the crater operations. A mass of lava within a small
active crater precisely resembles a boiling fluid. In one
of the lateral cones of Vesuvius the writer once saw a
veritable geyser of fire, imitating in all respects its great
prototype at Haukadalr. The \tscous seething mass of
lava within the bocca contains water entangled in its ma.ss,
and when this rises to the upper part of the column of
lava, it is relieved from pressiire, and flashes explosively
into steam. This restores equilibrium for awhile, during
which more steam is being generated, and presently another
outburst occurs. The pressure of the steam which thus
accumulates may be judged of by the fact that, during the
eruption of Vesuvius in 1872, masses of vapour (and, it is
said, fragments of scoria;), were projected to a height of
nearly four miles. The friction of this steam against the
130>
• .KNOWLEPGE ,♦
[Dec. 1G, 1881.
loik niaK!*.'s };«nerate,s niiormous quantities of oloctricity,
wliich iippcnra lus liiushw of liglitiiing issuing from the
roluiuii of steuiii above the crattir. The generation of tlie
steam within the molten ma.ss, and its con)pet<!nco to pro-
duce all volc4»nic phcnomeiKi, are ably diseus.sed hy Prof.
Judd from a thoroiigldy Kcicntitic .standpoint, and the
result of the diseussion ho gives us in the eardinal genc-
ndisutiou — the keynotf^ of modern vulcanology :-r"T]ie
v.inctl appe.irances prcscuted, alike in the grande.st and
tVeble.st outbursts, can all be referred to one simple cause,
viz., the escape from tlie midst of molten materials of
imprisoned atoani or water-gas." ^^
Now the presence of large quantities of water within
the recesses of the earth is by no means difficult to account
for ; but tlie cause of the inti'mtu heat is a far more diffi-
•ult and yet unsolved probU^m. .Y-'^^''*^"*^'"}' ''^^ taught us
tiuit the world is not, as was loi)g believed, a liquid mass,
surrounded by a thin solid shell. Sir Humphry Davy en-
deavoured to account for the heat of volcanoes on the
supposition that large quantities of uucomhined alkali
mcrtals oxist in the earth, which, when water finds its way
beneath the earth, violently decompose it, generating heat
and evolving hydrogen. Mr. Mallet considers that the
contraction of the earth's crust can develope enormous
<]nantitics of heat. It has been calculated that if a portion
nf the earth's crust, fifty miles in thickne.ss, were to have
its temperature raised 200° Fahr., the surface would be
raised by expansion more than a thousand feet. Moreover,
crumpled and distorted strata clearly prove that enormous
pressures have been exerted by contracting rock-masses.
Hopkins imagines that the earth has solidified both at the
centre and circumference, while cavities of molten matter
are distributed between them. Captain Dutton Iielieves
th.at lava is pressed to the surface by tlie weight of super-
incumbent rocks, and he admits that we cannot allow one
general reservoir, because lavas of dilTcrent composition
come from the same crater at different periods, and a lower
volcanic vent sometimes remains open, wliile the lava rises
and flows from a higher one. Soine have assumed that the
interior of the earth, although intensely heated, remains
solid on account of the enormous pressure, and that the
efl'ect of any local diminution of pressure is to lower the
fusing point, and thus cause the solid to become liquid.
Volcanic phenomena would thus ibe exliibited at the points
of diminished pressure. . , ,
But, although we seem to be as far as ever from deter-
mining the ultimate cause of volcanic efTects, the phenomena
themselves, as pre.scnted to our observation, .are far better
understood than heretofore ; and this is mainly due to two
causes, viz., the establisliment of seismological observatories,
and the microscopic study of erqptjye rocks. Of course, w-e
nmst add to these the applicati.o)j of moi-V; exact and scien-
tific m(!thods, and the advances due to the perfection of
.such uistrunicnts as the spectrosvppe and recording seismo-
meter, 'i'ho Vesuvius observatory was the first to be
(.itablishcd on anythiiig like a scientific basis, and several
valuable volumes of reports have l)een published by
its director, PalmierL For slxU'cn years, Tacchini, of
Palermo, and Silvestri, of Catania, have ui'ged the erec-
tion of an observatory near the' summit of Ktna, and,
tliaid<s to the liberality of the Italian Minister of Agricul-
ture and Commerce, and of the i^funicipality of Catania, it
is now aji acoouiplishcd fact, in .\\igust, 188l', the obser-
vatory will bo ready for use. It adjoins tlie site of the old
Ca.sa Ingl(!se, nearly 10,000 feet above the sea, and it is in
telegraphic communication with an observatory in Catania,
21 ft above the sea level, and also with observatories in
tlie seven principal towns upon the flaiJjs of the mountain
— Aci Reale, Randazzo, Paterno, Ademo, Bronte, Giarre,
aind Linguaglossa. It will be furnished with all the most
approved metf;orological and seismologic^d instruments,
with spectroscopes, and with a fine refractor by Merz, of
Munich, the object glass of which, during the winter
months, will be tranKport«I to the Catania observatory and
mounted iji a similar toleiicopa Owing to the persevering
ellorts of Prof. M. S. di Ro.ssi, of Rome, who is the editor
of the IhtllHinc dfl Vulcaniamo JCaliaiio, seismological
oli.scrvations are now made in more than fifty towns of
Itfily, and although we could wish that they were better
f)rganised and placed under the control of some central
(jovcrnmcnt observatory in Rome, it cajinot be denied
that the Bulkdno (now in its .seventh year of publica-
tion) has placed on record a multitude of observations
of high intere.st to vulcanologists. Observatfiries are .
now lieing instituted in very distant volcanic centrea In
January la.st, Lord Granville forwardi-d to the Royal So-
ciety some valuable " notes on the earthquake of July,
1880, at Manila," by Commander W. B. Pauli, which
record the first scientific account of an eai"thquake in the
Philippine Islands. It occurre<l along the line of the Taal
volcanoes, and affected an area 220 mili-s by 7.5. The most
severe shock last(;d for 70 seconds, and combined oscilla-
tory, trepidatory, and rotatory movement. Some very in-
teresting engravings of pendulum curves accompany the
paper, which appears in the Proceedinf/s of the Royal Societi/ .
for February, 1881. The curves are of great complexity,
and show both the direction antl relative intensity of the
earthquake shocks, which were sometimes so violent that
the pendulum was jerked upwards from the paper, and thus
broke the continuity of the curve. Seismological instru-
ments, although far from perfect, have l>e<'n much improved
since the time when the patient student of vulcanology
contented himself with watching a lx>wl of treacle. The
electrical seismograph records tlie direction of the shock,
its intensity, and the moment of its occurrence and its .
cessation. Professor M. S. di Rossi has ingeniously applied
the microphone to the detection of the slight subterranean
noises which may be heard at any hour of the day or night
in some districts. He affirms that both in his observatory
in Rome, near the Ara C<i'li, and at Rocca di Papa, he has
often, while watching the point of a seismic pendulum in
a microscope and simultaueouly applying the telephone to
his ear, heard harsh sounds in the latter at the instant when
the pendulum has been seen to quiver.
di{Ea:ms.
, Bx ' Ep^i^^D OLObDl
KEEPING in mind what has Tseen said about savage
mental philosophy, it is not surprising that the
inference drawn from the phenomena of ilreams is belief
in a double existence. Besides that waking self of wJbioh
the savage is hazily conscious, th(>re must be another nei/]
which, roaming the world while tlie body is at rest, sees and
does the things dreamed. Waliing, the savage knows, or
will be told, that wliat<'ver his dreams reveal to the con-
traiy, he has not moved from the place wliure he lay down ;
therefore it is that ghostrsoul — that ofh/;r self — which has
been away on the strange or familiar errand. And such,
belief in another self — 171 the body, yet at times not<)/"it —
is confirmed by daily experience. There are the suspensi«us,
of consciousness witnessed in swoon, apoplexy, catalepsy,
and other forms of insensibility. Then there are the.
phenomena of shadows and reflection, actual existences
to the savage, mocking doubles of liimself. The shadow
Dec. 16, 1881.J
KNOWLEDGE
131
accompanies, gws beforo, or follows him by sunlight
and by moonshine, disappearing mysteriously only when
these are -n-ithdrawn or intercepted. Still more com-
plete in its mimicry is the reflection of himself — the image
repeating every gesture, while perchance, as he stands
shouting by the stream, tlie echo of his voice is tlu-own
back from the hOl-side, and adds confirmation to his notion
of duality. How else can man at low stages of thinking,
ignorant of the laws that govern the reflection of both
sound and light, interpret the shadow and the echo ? Hence
it is that we find the word for " shadow " chosen to express
this other-self in both barbaric and civilised speedi, from
the dialects of North and South American and African
tribes, to the classic and modern languages, as wit-
ness the skia of the Greeks, the maiies or umbra
of the Romans, and the shade of our own tongue.
Did the limits of a brief paper allow, it would be easy
to show, from the evidence of language, liow man explained
to himself the mode in which this other self makes the
passage from the body to the external world, and wlierein
lay the difference between the sleeping and waking, the
living and lifeless body. It must suffice to say that
throughout the entire savage and civilized world, the life,
the spirit, the soul of man has been identified with breath.
Not ■nnth that alone; but with the blood, the heart, ifcc,
although chiefly and universally with the act of breathing,
" so cliaracteristic of the higher animals during life, and
coinciduig so closely with life in its departure."
It is interesting to watch the primitive nebulous theories
of another self, a vaporous, ethereal, or otherwise unsub-
stantial, impalpable thing, condensing into theories of semi-
substantiality, or of rude or refined resemblance to the body,
theories which become indispensalile to account for the
appearance of both the living and the dead in dreams,
■when their persons were clasped, their forms and faces
seen, their voices heard.
Such theories dificr not in kind, but only in degree of
refinement, and unite, as Dr. Tylor remarks, "in an un-
broken line of mental connection," the savage fetish
worshipper and the civilised psychologist adding their
welcome witness to the similar working of untrained
intelligence in different ages among diflerent races on
corresponding levels of culture, and therefore, to the
underlying unity of our race. This we shall realise only
as we realise that the laws of mind, like those of matter,
are uniform, and appro.ximately calculable in their opera-
tion ; the phenomena of one interrelated and inter-
dependent as are the phenomena of the other, and
equally the subjects of observation and comparison, if
not by identical methods, yet on like principles.
It would be an intere.sting and informing chapter in the
historj" of the illusions tlirough which man has made con-
tinuous, and as yet unaccomplished, passage to the truth, to
show how belief in indwelling spirits, of fitful habit and
varying form, was enlarged to belief in souls in the lower
animals, in plants, and in lifeless things, from stars to
stones ; how the phantasms of the brain have filled earth,
sea, and sky with spirits innumerable, from white-winged
celestials to the degraded ghosts of haunted houses. But
this would be an undue extension of the subject, for the
completeness of which some reference must be made to the
part played by dreams as supposed media of communica-
tion between gods and men, and as monitions of coming
events.
The awe and wonder excited in the savage mind by
waving trees and swirling waters, by drifting cloud,
whistling wind, and stately march of sun and moon — all
invested by him with personal life and will — were im-
mensely quickened by his dreams. In their unrelated and
bewildering incidents, the powers indwelling in all things
around him seemed to come nearer than in the more
monotonous events of the day, uttering their warnings and
conveying their messages. There needed but slender data
to reach conclusions. Let tlic death of a fi-iend be dreamt
of, and the event follow ; or a hunting-feast fill the half
torpid fanc}', and a d.ay's privation give the lie to the
dream ; the arbitrary relation is made. Lord Bacon says : —
" Men mark tlie hits, but not the misses," and a thousand
dreams unfulfilled count as nothing against one dream
fulfilled. Out of that a canon of interpretation is framed
by whicli whole races of men will explain their dreams,
never staying to wonder that the correspondences are not
more frequent and minute than they really are.
" To this delusion," says Cornelius Agrippa, an ancient
rationalist, "not a few great philosophers have given a
little credit ... so far building upon examples of dreams,
which some accident hath made to be true, tliat thence they
endeavour to persuade men that there are no dreams but
what arc real." When Homer says that "dreams, too,
from Jove proceed,"* painting the vi\'idness and agonising
incompleteness of those passing visions ; when Tertullian
saj^s that " we receive dreams from God, there being no
man so foolish as never to liave known any dreams come
true," both classic and patristic opinion are clearly survivals
from the lower culture, its lineal and thinly-disguised de-
scendants. For the savage, the bard, and the theologian
lived in days when the conception of orderly sequence was
unthinkable to them ; where the arbitrary act was wrought,
the isolated or the conflicting influence manifest, there the
deity or the devil was present ; while for us, could we dis-
cover where law is not, thence God would seem to have
withdrawn.
The passage from the crude interpretation of his dreams
by the savage to the formal elaboration of the dream-oracle
is obvious, the more so as this latter was only one of many
modes by which it was sought to divine the will of heaven,
and read that " book of fate " hidden from men. This
dream-lore, as ancient records far back to Accadian times
show, not only called into existence a class of men whose
position as interpreters of royal and other dreams ensured
them commanding place, but gave rise to a mass of litera-
ture most prolific in classic times. It maintained an almost
canonical supremacy down to the Middle Ages, finding its
befitting level in our day in the " Libri dei Sogni " which
the Italian lottery-gambler consults, and in the " Imperial
Dream-Book " by which the English domestic forecasts
whether ICing Cophetua or Police-sergeant X 32 is to be
her fate !
At this nether depth, Science, content with having shown
the persistence of primitive modes of thinking in all subse-
quent interpretation of liis own nature by man ; finding its
evidence and the warrant of its conclusions in that human
experience which the sources of our knowledge cannot
transcend ; may well let the matter rest. It need not
concern itself witli denials that dreams have been sent as
warnings from Heaven to man ; this were as foolisli as to
take pains to disprove the existence of ghosts, or to
seriously challenge the predictions in Zadkiel's Vox Stel-
la/ni.m. Science need not argue ; it explains ; and to such
matters explanation is death. For the changes which reve-
lation of the order of nature and the establishment of that
doctrine of continuity, which has no "favoured-nation"
clause for man, involve, will bring about, in quiet and
unmourned, the departure of belief in dreams as omens or
warnings, just as tliey have brought about the decay of
belief in witchcraft and astrology.
» " Iliad," Book I., 77.
132
• KNO^A/'LEDGE
[Diea 16, 1881.
BETTING AND MATHEMATICS.
By tub Editor.
WHEN I was ti-avc'lling in Australasia, I .saw a good
deal of a class of uit'ii witli wliicli, in this coiiiitiy,
only Ijotting men arc likt'ly to conu- much in contact —
l>ookniakcrs, or men who niak(^ a profession of ln'tting.
VVliat struck me most, perhaps, at first was, that they
regarded tlicir business as a distinct profession. Just a.s a
man would say in England, I am a lawyer or a doctor, so
these men would say that they wen^ bookmakers. Yet, on
consideration, I saw that there was nothing altogetlier
novel in this. Others, whoso business really is to gain
money by making use of the weaknesses of their fellow-
men, have not scrupled to call their employment a trader
or a profession. Jladame Kachel might have even raised
her special occupation to the dignity of " a mystery " on
Shakespearean grounds (" Painting, sir, I have heard say is
a mysterj', and members of mj' occupation using painting,
do prove mj* occupation a niysteiy ") ; and if aught of
wTong in his employment could be made out to the satis-
faction of a bookmaker, his answer might be Shakespearean
also, " Other sorts offend as well as we — ay, and bettoi-,
too."
My own views about betting and bookmaking are re-
gai-ded by many as unduly harsli, though I have admitted
tliat the immorality which I find in betting has no exist-
ence with those who have not weighed the considerations
on which a just opinion is based. I regard betting as
essentially immoral so soon as its true nature is recognised.
When a wagor is made, and when after it lias been lost and
won its conditions are fulfilled, money has passed from one
person to another without any "work done ' by which society
is benefited. The feeling underlying the transaction has been
greed of gain, however disguised as merely strong advo-
cacy of some opinion — au opinion, perhaps, as to whether
some horse w-ill run a certain distance faster than another,
whether certain dice will show a greater or less number of
points, or the like. If here and there some few are to be
found so strangely constituted mentally as really to take
interest in having correct opinions on such matters,
they are so few that they do not affect the general
conclusion. They may bet to show they really think
in such and such a w-ay, and not to win money ;
but the great majority of betting men, professional
(.save the mark) or otherwise, want to win money
(which is right enough), and to win money without
working or doing some good for it, which is essentially
immoral. Tliat in a very large proportion of cases this
negative immorality assumes a positive form — men trying
to make unfair wagers (by betting with unfair knowledge
of the real chances) — no one acquainted with the betting
world, no one who reads a sporting paper, no one even who
reads the sporting columns of the daily papers, can fail to
see. Why, if half the assurances of the various sporting
prophets were trustworthy, betting, assisted by their in-
structions, would be as dishonourable as gambling with
marked cards, as dishonest as picking pockets. Here is my
" Vaticinator,"* the betting man might say, who says that
Roguery is almost sure to win the " Beggar my Neigh-
bour " stakes, but if he docs not, that speedy mare.
Rascality, will unquestionably win. Here are the book-
makers, who seem all (juite as ready to lay the odds against
Roguery and Rascjility as against any of the other horses,
to say nothing of my friends, Verdant and Flathead, who
• I hope there is no turf prophet with this nom-d,'-ptumir. I
know of none, or I would not use the namo ; but it may have bccu
hit upon by eome sporting man with a taste for polysyliables.
will freely l)ack any of these latter. Now, if I back
Roguery nnd Itascality with the Ijookmakers, and lay
odds against tlur certain losers in tho race, I .shall
certainly win all round. Of cour-so, "Vaticinator" is not
the pro{ih<'t he claims to Ix;, but tlic betting-man of our
soliloquy supposes that !ie is, and so far as tho morality of
the course the latter follows is concerned, tho case Ls the
same as though " Vaticinator's " projihecies were gospel.
There is not a particle of real distinction Ijctween
what the bettor wants to do, and what a gambler,
with cogged dice or marked cards, actually docs. The
more knowing a betting man claims to be, the ea-sier
it is to see that ho wants and expects to take unfair
advantage of other men. Either he knows more than
those he bets with about the real conditions of the race or
contest on which they wager, or he does not. If he does,
he wagers with thern unfairly, and might as well pick their
pockets. If he does not, but fancies he does, he is as dis-
honest in intention as he is in the former case in reality.
If he does not, and knows he does not, he simply lies in
claiming to know more than he does. In claiming to 1)6
knowing, he really claims to be dishonest and (which is
not quite the same thing) dishonourable ; and pro-
bably his claim is ju.st. Of course, this is only a
comparatively mild case. Men have been known to
take the odds against a horse after they knew certainly
that the horse would not run. Others, a shade more
advanced, have been known to bribe a jockey to '• hold,"
or " rope ' a horse, or a stableman to poison or stupefy
him. Owners — aye, even " noble ' owners^have been
known to work the market in ways fully a.s flagitious.
Every one agrees about these. But the majority are dis-
posed to stare, and perhaps to sneer, when Herbert
Spencer describes ordinary, and what is commonly called
fair gambling, as immoral ; and the calmness with which a
betting man claims to be knowing, shows that he, at any
rate, does not think wagering with unfair knowledge (with
any knowledge, I suppose, short of absolute certainty)
dishonourable. He argues, and many who do not bet argue
for him, that he takes his chance with others ; as if it
might not quite as justly be argued that the pickpocket
takes his chance between a successfid transaction and the
prison cell.
As one of our " Five of Clubs," I gave last week a
ease in which a certain man of title used to offer freely
— and possibly with a sense that he was acting quite
fairly — a most unfair wager, though it seemed a very
generous one. Odds of a thousand pounds to one are
very tempting to the inexperienced. " I risk my pound,"
such a one will say, " but no more, and I may win a
thousand.' That is the cliaiicc ; and what is the crrtaiiU;/?
The certainty is that in the long run such bets will involve
a loss of £l,cS"2S for each thousand pounds gained, or a net
loss of £828. As certain to all intents as that two and
two make four, a large number of wagers made on this plan
would mean for the clever layer of the odds a very large
gain. Yet Lord Yarborough would probably have been
indignant to a degi'ce if he had been told that in taking £1
for each hand on which ho wageretl which did not prove
to be a "Yarborough," he was in truth defrauding the
holder of the hand of 9s. Ojd. — notwithstanding the pre-
liminary agreement, simply because the preliminary agree-
ment was an unfair onei As to his being told that even if
he had wagered £1,828 against .£1 the transaction would
have been intrinsically immoral, doulitless he and his
opponent woidd equally have scouted the idea.
A curious instance of the loss of all sense of honour, or
even honesty, which betting begets, occurred to me whea I
was in New Zealand. A bookmaker ("by profession," as
Dec. 16, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
133
he said), as genial and good-natured a man as one would
care to meet, and with a strong sense of right and Justice
outside betting, had learned somehow that ten liorses can
come in (apart from dead heats) in 3,C2f<,800 dillereut
ways. This curious piece of information soenitd to him an
admirable way of gaining money from the iue.vperienced.
So he began to wager about it, endeavouring — though,
as will be seen, he failed— tD win money by wagering
on a certainty. Unfortunately, he came early across a
man as cute as himself, and a shade cuter {a britjand
brigand et demi), vho wordetl the question on which
the wager turns, thus : " In how many ways can
ten liorses be placed ! " Of course, this is a very dif-
ferent thing. Only tlie first three horses can be placed,
and the sets of three which can be made out of ten
horses number only 10 times 9 times 8, or 720 (there
are only 120 actual sets of three, but each set can be
placed in six diflVrent ways). My genial, but (whatever
he thought himself) not quite honest friend, submitted
the matter to me. Not noticing, at first, the technical use
of the word " placed," I told him there were 3,628,800
different arrangements, he rejoiced as though the money
wagered were already in his pocket. ^Vhen this was
corrected, and I told him his opponent had certainly won,
as the question would be undei-stood by betting men, he was
at first depressed : but presently recovering, he said, " Ah,
well ; I shall win more out of this little trick, now I see
through it, than I lose this time."
I shall hereafter give some illustrations of the true prin-
ciples on which all chance questions shoidd be determined.
There is no hope that men general!}' wiD give up gambling,
but it is, at any rate, desii-able that when they gamble, the
chances should be as equal as they can be made ; that, in
iiict, they should not play (as the opponents of Lord Yar-
borough and my New Zealand fi-iend \\ere certainly playing)
against cogged dice or marked cards. The matter is one
strictly appertaining to tlie subjects with which Knowledge
claims to deal. There is science in chance, certainty in
probabilities. What is thus scientific and certain is what
we propose to bring before our readei-s.
OUR UXBIDDEX GUESTS.
Bv Dr. Akdrew Wilsox, F.R.S.E.
' PHE fact that iu most animals there may reside, as
i "guests," within unconscious or unwilling "hosts,'
if-riain other animal forms, is, of course, widely known.
riiese animal "guests" form the "parasites" of the
natural historian. Bvit, although the fact of their existence
18 known, the general liistory of even the commonest para-
sites is a matter concerning which the general public are,
as a rule, lamentably ignorant. I say " lamentably," and
I mean what I say. A vast amount of disease, and that
of a preventible nature, is caused by the carelessness of
inan in the preparation of his food. This carelessness is in
*ts turn founded upon gross ignorance, for there are not a
few persons who believe that parasites come, like Dog-
berry's reading and writing, by nature, and that they
are part and parcel of an animal's constitution. That
this opinion is very far removed from the true state of
mattei-s can easily lie shown. It is perfectly provable that
animals were not created with the parasites infesting them
as we find them to-day. Common-sense forbids such a
supposition, and the organised common-sense we call
" science " shows us that the reverse is the case. All
parasites are acquired, and not original "guests." This
alone is provable by the facts of parasite-development.
There is a bag-like parasite called SaccttHna, for instance,
which attaches itself to the bodies of hermit crabs. Nos\-,
sac-like though this parasite is, and destitute as it is of all
the ordinary belongings of animal life, it yet begins its
existence as a little free-swimming animal, exactly resem-
bling a water-llea. The first stages in a sacculina's
devolopment are, in sliort, like the beginnings of the
development of some shrimps, of barnacles, of water-fleas,
and of crabs themselves, though in a less marked degree.
Only after becoming degraded in structure does the sac-
culina become the " guest " of the crab. The mere facts
that sacculina is at first as free-living as a fish, and that it
afterwards settles down on the crali, testify, if we read
nature's story aright, that " once upon a time " the saccu-
lina race was not a parasitic one. Whether or not the
sacculina-stage itself Mas the beginning of the attached
existence, we do not know. It is most probable that the
bag-like body we term a " sacculina " was the result of the
adoption of the lower and rooted way of life. But, apart
from all other considerations, the main facts that a young
sacculina is always free, and tliat it begins life under a
similar guise even to some of the shrimp race, shows that
its parasitic life has been acquired, and is by no means an
original condition.
Now the same rale holds good of all "parasites." The
development of most of them shows us the lingeruig
remnants of a once-free life. But there are other proofs
at hand of this assertion. There are degrees and stages in
the perfection of the parasitic state. There exist animals
which are mere "lodgers," so to speak — who "dine out,"
but who repose within the anatomical establishment of a
"host." This is the case with certain little fishes, which
choose the very "jaws of the Hon " as a dwelling-place,
since they appear to live in the interior of certain big,
tropical sea-anemones. These fishes may be seen to swim
in and out of the anemone's mouth, and they may be
enclosed within the anemone's body when that animal
contracts itself, and yet swim free and unharmed out of
the mouth when these flower-like animals once more
resume their normal and expanded state. Here, then,
there is mere " association," but it is in some such associa-
tion that the beginnings of pure parasitism have orginated.
Suppose the case of an animal which, at first merely
" lodger," took to feeding upon the tit-bits secured by its
host for home-consumption. The " lodger," in such a case,
would practically become a " lioarder " as well. But
nature has a law as fixed as the edicts of the Medes and
Persians, called the "law of disuse." This law enacts that
whatever structures or organs of living beings are not
normally used, will waste and tend to disappear. It is the
operation of this law which has caused the two outer toes
of our horse to grow '■ small by degi-ees and beautifully
le^s," until they now appear as the " splint bones" on each
side of the single toe upon which the horse walks. And
ap2)Iying this law to the case of the animal lodger, we see
how an animal which does not require to move about
when resident within another animal will lose its organs
of motion. If it obtains fluid food, all ready digested, the
probabilities are its digestive system will become rudi-
mentary. Not requiring eyes or other sense-organs, these
will disappear ; and thus we see represented a kind of
zoological backsliding, which I'educes the parasite to the
elementary and degraded condition we, as a rule, discover
in the races of animal "guests."
The histories of some of the most common parasites are
fraught with instruction, not to speak of the curiosity that
invests them. Take, for instance, the history of the fluke
{F(fsciola hepaiica), found in the bile-ducts of the li^er of the
sheep and ox. It is the presence of this parasite that makes
Ml
. KNOWLEDGE •
[Dbc. 16, 1881
Klieep fttU into a fJfi'lii"', tiiown to vctfrinarians as thv
" rot" A fliik.^ i« a littlo, llatt-nwl, oval Iwdy. aliout
1 in. or 'I ill. in Icn^'lli, uml ul)o\it h i". i» Iwadth. It
possoKses 11 nervous systeu), a set o£ wati-r ve-sscls, two
suokiT.«, a l)raiiL'liMi (li<,'<sti\e system, and an ogfj-prodiicing
nppnmtuR. It htm no or^juns of motion, but it i.s by no
nieana a very ileRnuled being after all. Its development is
very ciirious'. The e};gK, liberated from the animal " liost,"
get scattered abroiwi. Many — as in the case of all para-
sites—must ppri.sli, but a proportion findint; their vay into
water, enter the body of the water-snail, where thoy develop
intocurious little tailed beincp called CfrcarKf ; aad tliore are
sundry other forms assumed by the fluke in the days of
its yoiith, b\it which neetl not be mentioned here. Sooner
or later, however, these C<^curi<e escape into the water or
into the meadows ; and it is I)cHevKl that from the damp
meadows, or from tlie water itself, the, sheep obUins thes(;
little beings. Once within the sheep's stomach, each C''r-
caiia seems to waken up to its ultimate destiny. It drops
its tail, and bores its way through the ti.ssues of tlie sheep
towards the liver, where it soon appears a.s the young fluke,
which will develope eggs that will repeat its own curious
history. The most notable fact, however, of this de-
velopment is that it a sheep swallowed tlic cyy of the.
fl«ke, no development would ensue. The egg requires to
pass through its water-snail stage, ere the sheep can obtain
the new fluke.
STATISTICS OF SUICIDE.*
IN these days, when the question is asked, as a not un-
reasonable comment on the phenomena of social life,
" Is life worth living," the statistics of self-slaughter
have an exceptional value. Suicide could not le regarded
as a subject of scientific investigation at all, until after
statistical researches had been made. As Professor Mor-
selli says, the character which classical paganism attributed
to suicide was simply individual. Tlie famous phrase of
the Stoics, " Mori licet cui vivere non placet " (he whom
life pleases not has a free riglit to die), was the product of
ancient philosophical individualism. Law and religion
alike declare suicide criminal. But as yet the crime has
not been considered .as u tendency — hurtful, unquestion-
ably, tx) society, but connect<"d witli society's natural
development It in this aspect of suicide which Professor
Morselli discusses in the book before us. "The old philo-
sophy of individualism," he remarks, "had given to suicide
the character of liberty and spontaneity, but now it has
become necassary to study it no . longer as the expression
of individual and independent faculties, but as a social
phenomenon allied with all other r.acial forces."
.\t the outset, we may notice that if there is one thing
which would render the statistics of suicide pre-eminently
valuable, and if there is one thing which Dr. Morselli
seems to regard as little worthy of di.scu.ssion, it is the
re-rognition of the motives which lead to suicide (and
rather in their psycliical than their social aspect). Can we,
or can we not, from the statistics of suicide, determine the
motives most potent to drive men to self-slaughter ? By
studying the statistics of times and seasons we may dct<T-
minc the physical condition which best favours the influence
of such and such motives. When we find that the hot,
bright months of summer are those in which the suicidal
tendency .preyqils rnpst, we seem to recognise physical.
• "Suicide: An Essay on Comparative MornI .Statistics." By
Henry Morselli, M.O., Professor of Psvcliolofjical Medicine, 4c.
(l.ondon : C. Kegan riinl A Co., 1881.) Price, 5s.
ratlier than psychical influences; or, to speak pluinly.'we
seem to sec that the state of the body, ratlier than that of
the mind, in important, so far as this special peculiarity
is concerned. When we learn that suicide. i.s wore couunoii
in tlie daytime than at night, and that there are threc-
hnui-s of maximum suicidal tendency — viz., about 8 a.Di.,
about noon, and alxiut .'! p.m. — we recognise the influence
of social i-elations ; as wo do again when we notice thf*
greater number of suicides on Monday, Tuesdaj-, Wednes-
day, Olid Thursday, as compared with those on Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday {e.\cept among women, with whom
Sunday is the favourite day for suicide). But in tJbese
statistics the influence of motive is not readily tp be
recognised.
The case is somewhat different when we consider the in-
fluence of marriage on suicide. Here it comes out very
clearly, as we might naturally expect, that responsibiUty
has its influence even on those so weak that, but for some
such restraininf; influence, they would "shuffle off this
mortal coil." When in one and the same nation we find
that the number of suicides among married men is far. less
than among single men, we may be in doubt how far the
dirterence is due to difference of motive, or to the difierent
stull'of which (taking tlie average) tlie ranks of the married
and of the unmarried are made. It might be that the
men who are either less likely to be selected as desirable
mates, or who arc averse to marriage, are more likely an-
tecedently to lie life-weaiy. But we can have no such
doubts when we see that widowers without children are
nearly twice as likely to commit suicide as widowers with
children. It seems aJmost certain here that the restrainii.g
influence is tlie sense of responsibility. As Douglas
Jcrrold, when the doctois pronounced his death-wariTint,
looked round at wife and children, and said, " I will i:o<-
die " ; so we may well believe that even the weakest among
men, who, on his own account, sees nothing tiiat makes
" life wortli living,' will yet feel th.at he cannot die and
leave his little ones without a protector, or, it may be, in
w.ont. He feels that though his life may be worthless to
himself, it is worth something still for them, and haplj' he
may find later that in its worth to them it htis had a worth
to himself also.
We take it, indeed, that ninety-nine self-slayers out of a
hundred show by their act that they feel their life to be
worthless not only to themselves but to everyone.
Suicide is, to all intents and purposes, an admission of
utter worthlessness. Even in cases where a sort of halo
of romance or heroism has surrounded the act, this has
been so (we except, of course, all cases in which suicide
has meant self-sacrifice — that is, no more self-mnrder than
homicide in self-defence or defence of others is murder or
even manslaughter). The lover who kills himself or herself
because rejected or slighted, admits inferiority, if not worth-
lessnoss, as certainly as the man who kills himself because
he has failed in the struggle of life. The Cato who kills
him.self rather than yield to his country's enemies, admits as
certainly th.it his best has proved a failure, as the man who
takes away his own life because he fears poverty or
misery. Thus viewing suicide, one might, at a venture,
predict tliat, other things Ixnng equal, suicide would be
most frequent amona that set of men who most feared
contempt. Other things are not equal ; but it does so
happen that the proportion of suicides is greater in Paris
(and the Ih de France generally) than anywhere else in
Europe, four times greater th.an in London and the south-
eastern parts of lingland, and nearly ten times greater
than among the self-contented people of Southern Holland.
When we take employments, we find a similar lesson,
tliough wc cannot lie quite so sure of our interpretation.
Dbc. 16, 1681.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
185
Men of art, science, and literature, witli their keen sus-
ceptibilities, and their tendency to watoh with anxiety, if
not with envy, the success of their fellow-workers, stand at
the head of the professions and trades in suicidal tenden-
cies, despite the enormous increase to the value of life
wliich the study of art, science, and literature brings with
it Military men come next, in Italy at least (with 40+ to
the million of their class, as compared with 618 to the
million among litei-ary men). But this may lie due to
other causes, as Dr. Morselli notes. " MilitaiT life " (in
Italy), he says, " has the misfortune of incre:i.sing the loss
of active and vigorous elements by means of unhappy
.sacrifice to suicide ; whether that is owing to distiince from
home and disgust for military life, or to the severity of
discipline, this is not the place to discuss."
Dr. Morselli's work is full of curious statistics, singularly
ill-arranged, and at time.s rendered almost unmeaning for
want of fuller information, or by the badness of the trans-
lation, yet well worth careful study. The conclusion to
wliich he comes is melancholy. The cure of the suicidal
tendency is indicated, he says, in one precept : " To develope
in man the ponxr of tcell-orderht'j sentiments and ideas bij
tnhirh to r'arh a certain aim in life ; in sJiort, to give force
will be turned from the idle question : " Is life worth
living?" Life is always worth living when any good work
remains to be done.
THE DESTROYED COMET.
Br THE Editor.
BEFORE considering the theory of repulsion as applied
to interpret the phenomena of comets' tails, it may
be well to consider a case in which some acti\e force (other
than gravity), exerted by thc^ sun, seems to have wrought
the destruction of a comet, or, at least, to have broken up
the comet into unrecognisable fragments.
Kg comet ever observed has exhibited phenomena more
remarkable than those displayed by the comet known as
Biela's (more properly called Gambart's). We wish we
could agree with a modern astronomer, who has said that
no comet has thrown more light on the nature of these
bodies ; but, in point of fact, it is only promise of light, not
light itself, that we have obtained.
Discovered in 1826, Biela's comet was presently found
to be identical with one seen in 1772 by Montaigne, and
-Biela's Comet in 1^6, before its divisiou into two.
atid enerrjy to the moral ohoracter." This amounts, in fact,
to saying that, since the weak and idle are more apt to
commit suicide than the strong and active, it is necessary
to become strong and energetic in order 1>o avoid the sui-
cidal tendency. But how? "Intemperance and dissolute-
ness are powerful causes of weakness, and consequently of
suicide." Therefore we must avoid intemperance and dis-
soluteness. But ma}' it not with as much truth be said
ihat weakness is a cause of intemperance and dissoluteness ^
We are no nearer the cau-sa cajMan/ 7Jjrt--i-no»nearer thaa was
Hamlet when he reasoned how • • ■ li ■/ i: , ' '■ ;
Oft it chances in particular men,
That for some vicious mole of Nature in them.
As in their birth (wherein they are not gailtr,
Since natnre cannot choose his origin)
By their [query *' tho "] off -growth of some coinp lesion,
Oft bre.'vking down the pales and forts of reason
Their virtues else
Shali in the general cengnre take coiTuption
From that particular fault.
The true cure, it seems to ua, is from without, not from
within. Show a man that his life need not be a useless
one ; give lijxu some worthy end to achieve, and his mind
2. — Biela's Comet on January 15, after its division into two.
again by Pons in 130.5. A careful study of the obser\-a-
tions showed that the comet travels round the sun in a
period of about 6 J years, or, roughly, thrice in twenty years.
Its path was found to approach very near to the path of
our earth. The comet returned in 1832, when the ignorant
were scared much as they have been recently by the
threatened influence of the larger planets in perihelion.
The comet crossed the earth's track several weeks before
she herself came to the place where the two orbits approach
nearest, and it is hardly necessary to say that the comet's
passage did not injure the earth's roadway in any appre-
ciable degree.
In 1839 the comet returned, but was not seen, travelling
across a part of the heavens only above the horizon in
the day-time, so that the comet's light was hidden by the
.sun's.
It was at the next return in 1845-46 that the comet first
attracted special attention. On that occasion, instead of
behaving as comets usually do, Biela's, which in the first
days of 1846 had presented the appearance shown in Fig. 1,
was found to have divided into two. There Ls some little
doubt as to the time when the comet underwent division.
Lieut. Maury reported on .January 1-5 that he had seen the
186
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 16, 1881.
coinu't tloulilc on January 1.1; luit Wiclmiann observed it
lis a single comet on tho 1 Gtlu But Professor Challis, in
his account of his own oluscrviitions on the comets, stat<'s
tlmt even on January l.'i tho second comet might ea.sily
have lieen overlooked. M. Valz saw nothing unusual on
the 18th and 'JOtli ; l>ut on the 27th; "I was struck with
amazement," he says, " to tind two nebulosities, separated
by an interval of two minutes of arc, instead of one
nebulosity alone Eacli head was followed by a
short tail, wliose direction was perpendicular to the line
joining the two nebulosities." Earlier, only the larger
fomet had had a tail, the appearance presented by the
double comet being that ."ihown in Fig. 2.
Tlie two comets travelled along, side by side, until at
la.st both passed out of view, at which time the distance
between them amounted to about 157,000 miles.
In 18.t2 both comets returned. Sir John Herschel says,
in his " Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects," that
when they returned, the distance between them was un-
changed. Tliis, however, was a mistake. The distance
now amounted to about 1 ] millions of miles. Again they
passed before the interested gaze of astronomers, travelling
side by side, tliough rather far apart, until finally tliey
disappeared from view — we say finally, for neither lias
ever been seen again.
Whether the two comets returned in 18-59 is doubtful.
It is certain that if they did, they would have been in^-isible,
for the same reason that the comet was invisible when it
returned in 1839.
But in 1866 thedoulile comet should have been well seen.
It should be remembered that each return of a comet of
short period (like that which our correspondent Mr. F.
Denning, of Bristol, discovered this year) gives the astro-
nomer more perfect mastery of the comet's motions. The
return could be predicted with sufficient accuracy in 1832
to cause the comet to be easily redetected. The next visible
return might have involved a difficulty, because the comet
had in the interval made two circuits. But that return
was successfully predicted. The return in 1845-16 was
.still more accurately calculated. Nor did the breaking up
of the comet into two on that occasion interfere with the
successful calculation of the return in 1852. The case may
he compared to the rating of a clock, which is more satis-
factorily efiected in a week than in a day, for the simple reason
that any error of observation is spread in one case over seven
times as long a period as in the other, and therefore aflects
the estimate of any given circuit of the hands by an error
only one-seventh as large. Just so, whatever error an astro-
nomer might make in observing Biela's comet in, say, 1843,
was distributed over all tlie revolutions of the comet which
had taken place since 182G (one might almost say since
1772), and in a correspondingly small degi-ce affected the
astronomer's estimates of the comet's motion during any
single revolution. This being so, astronomers had good
reason for believing that in 186G Biehi's comet would
return. 'When the time came that it sliould have been
\i8ible, telescopes were turned towards the spot where
it should liave been seen. Xight after night from
that time its calculated track was swept with the
finest telescopes in Europe and America. But no
trace of the comet could be seen. " It is now,"
wrote Sir John Herschel, in February, 18G6, " over-
due. Its orbit has been recomputed, and an ephemeris
calculated. Astronomers have been eagerly looking
out for its reappearance for the last two months, when,
according to all former experience, it ought to have been
conspicuously visible, but without success ! giving rise to
the .strangest surmises. At all events, it seems to have
fairly disappeared, and that without any such excuse as in
the case of Lexell's — the preponderant attraction of some
great planet. Can it have come into contact, or exceed
ingly close approach to some asteroid as yet undiscovered ;
or, peradventun-, plunged into and got bewildered among
the ring of meteorolites, whicli astronomers more than
suspect 1 "
Be the cause what it might, the comet was not seen in
1866. In 1872 it wa-s looked for even more carefully.
Every possible contingency depending on planetary per-
turtiations was considered ; and the telescopes of a.stroao-
nu?rs swept, not only the calculattxl path, but ta a con-
siderable distance on either side of it. No trace of the
comet was seen, however, in 1872 any more than in 1866.
Bo far as tele.scopic observation is concerned, Biela's comet
seems to have come to the end of its career as a comet.
Yet the observations of 1852 were not the last which
were made on this interesting object. It has been seen
again, though not as a comet. Nay, the occasion on which
it was seen in the way referred to was predicted, and the
prediction fulfilled, even in details. We shall return to
the consideration of this remarkable apparition of the
comet in changed fonn — a form which but a quarter of a
century ago no one would have thought of associating in
any way with the long-tailed star whose approach had
been regarded as heralding some great change in the
fortunes of men and nations.
TOAD IN A HOLE.
Bv Dr. a. WiLso.N, F.R.S.E.
IX letter 87, " Arachnida " asks, " What is tke eonstmction of
tlic common toad that enables it to be enclosed for many years
in blocks of soUd matter ? " " Arachnida" should first of all hare
asked, is it true tlmt loads aie ever found so enclosed 'i The usnal
story is that of some quarrj-men, who, blasting stones, see a lire
frog or toad hopping about, after the blast, among tho dehrii.
Because tho toad is found thus, it is assumed that it came from the
interior of the rock. Xot a particle of evidence exists to show in
such a case that the animal had anything whatever to do with the rock.
If " Araclinida " will read in the " English Cyclopaedia " the account
of Dean Buckland's experiments, he will find that the Dean
enclosed healthy frofjs and toads in holes cut in limestone and
sandstone blocks. He buried the blocks in his parden three
feet deep. At the end of the first year most had died, and
tho living ones, rc-buricd, all died long before the end of the
second year. Common sense, apart from exact knowledge, would
tell us that animal life of higher kind, >rith all its demands in the
way of food, lic, could not exist under the circumstances of the
popular tales and superstitions " Arachnida" inquires about. Tho
oldest fossil toads and frogs occur in Tcrliaru rocks. If, there-
foj'c, a live toad liopped, as has been alleged, out of a Cretaceoiti
or Devonian rock, such a fact would amount to the declaration that
the live toail could be ages and ages older thnn its fossil rela-
tives, wliieh declaration is, of course, the height of absurdity.
There is no doubt that a frog or toad has an elastic constitu-
tion. It is cold-blooded ; it can live under water for months ; it can
live for months after excision of its lungs, because the skin takes on
the functions of lungs in snch a case ; and these animals (as in
Dean Buckland's experiments) can live without food for a year or
two, but, like all other animals (and plants), ilic starved and meagre,
sooner or later. If "Arachnida" will only take the trouble to
inquire into tho evidence on which such stories as those he mentions
ore founded, he will find not one single proved or provable fact
which will warrant any belief in the utterly impossible existence of
toads or frogs in rocks. I may refer him for a fuller account of
snch coses to the essay on " Some Facts and Fictions of Zoology"
in my " Ivcisure Time Studies " (Chatto A Windus). As a naturalist,
I stake my reputation on the correctness of the riews stated above,
and also repeated in my book.
Pond's Kxtkact is a certain cure for Rhoumftti.«in and Gout.
Pond's Kitmct is a certain cure for lla-morrhoida (Piles).
Pond's Kxtroct is a certain cure for NeuralKio pains.
Pond's Kxtract mil heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's EitracI will cure Spnsins and Bruise«.
S^'ld by all Chesnists. Get the genuine. [Al>rr.
Dec. 1G, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
137
EASY LESSONS IN BLOWPIPE CHEMISTRY.
BT LlErTENAXT-COLOXEL W. A. RoS.>i, tATE R.A.
I FEEL some difficulty in expressing the satisfaction experienced
by myself, in common, no donbt, with thonsands of others, at
seeing what has been for so long the great moral and intellectaal
deiiderattim of London — a cheap and simply-WTitten, but at the
same time thoronghly scientific magazine — so well supplied as it
promises to bo by Know-ledge ; and I beg, therefore, to offer you
ray humble efforts towards the accomplishment of this praisewortliy
object. First, if I have your permission, in tho simple exposition
of a scientific subject which has attracted my most ardent atten-
tion, and extracted evei-y leisure moment for its study, during the
last twenty-two years of my life ; secondly, by getting all the
working people I can in my neighbourhood to spend their spare
twopcnces weekly in tlic acquirement of Knowledge iu the way of
literature, instead of (as most do at present) in the purchase of
trashy penny and halfpenny novels, boiled-down Scott, police
richauffies, &c., &C.
Lesson I. — How to Make a Blowpipe Axn Use It (Chemically).
Many Englieli working young men already know how to use a
common month-blowpipe in soldering and goldsmithing, &c., so that
I shall have less difiieulty in explaining how very little more trouble
or pains are required in using it chemically. And first, as to
making a blowpipe. We all know that a common conical, or '' Black's
blowpipe" (invented by the celebrated Dr. Black, of Edinburgh),
made of tinned iron, with its brass nozzle, can be purchased for9d. ;
but I would strongly advise evei-y investor in
such nine pennyworth, to add to his blowpipe
a trumpet- mouthpiece (invented by the
German chemist, Plattner), which any wood-
turner will make of some hard-seasoned wood
for 2d. more. If, however, my young friend
is determined to make a blo^vjiipe for him-
self, I will now sliow him how to make a far more powerful in-
strument than the above, and one, also, which does not require any
art in blowing. A child can use it without being tanght ; indeed,
my little boy (age 7 years) has already done so.
First, he must procure about a foot, in 2 in. pieces, of brass tubing,
half of which should be 7-10 in. iu diameter, and the other half a
little smaller, so as 'to draw in and out of the former like a tele-
scope, and yet fit air-tight. He must now solder a round piece of
brass into one end of the wider tube, so as to close that for ever.
These tubes are called the "Body-tubes" of the blowpipe. He
can then make the jet of a suiall brass tube, tapering to a point,
this form and xi:c. Two holes are now to be correctly bored through
the sides of llie wider body-tube above mentioned, about i in. frotn
its closed end, so that this jet shall pass into them, closing air-
tightly the larger hole at a and the smaller at b, which places are
exactly 7-10 in. apart in the figiue. A smaller hole like that in the
figure is to be bored tlirough one side of the jet, between a and h.
A Ijrass nozzle, this shape and size, having a bore
tlie width of a good stout sewing-needle, is to be
fitted (but on no account screwed) on the tapering
end of the jet. A child's indiarubber air-balloon,
at the smallest size procurable, is tied ou the tliick end of the jet,
with waxed silk-thread, and this part of my j-oung friend's blowpipe
is complete. To complete the whole, all he has now to do is to
procure a wooden trumpet-mouthpiece to fit air-tightly into one end
of the smaller of the body -tubes above described ; but before fitting
it, he must fasten over the inner end of its bore a strip of oiled-
silk cloth, rather loosely, so that ;iii' blown upon the silk from the
outside shall pass into tho tube, but cannot pass back again into
the mouth. This silk, in fact, forms a simple valve.
The young " pyrologist," or blowpipe-chemist, now possesses a
blowpipe which, with proper "re-agents," — cheap chemical sub-
stances with which to heat and treat his minerals, &c. — will on-
able him, after lie has been through a course of these lesson*, to
"analyse" — that is, take to (chemical) pieces, so as to show what
they are composed of — the "rocks" of the geologist or the
"stones" of the mineralogist, belonging to a whole continent, if
necessary (and if a decent time is allowed him for the purpose).
The Editor vaU explain far better than I can, that everyone's eyes
see objects (small print, for instance) best at a certain distance.
This point is called their "focns," and this distance their "focal
distance." Most people's eyes hare not only a different focal dis-
tance, but the focal distance of the same pair of eyes is apt (un-
happily !) to alter through age ; also in consequence of sickness
or accident. The telescopic form of this blowpipe (which was
invented by me about a year ago) enables each operator to draw it
out or shut" it up to the length suitable to the focus of his eyes. In
packing, he draws out the jet, and, folding its air-bag as closely as
possible, slips the whole into the smaller body -tube ; that, with its
contents, is passed into tUe wider body-tube, and tho whole shut up,
te!esco])e fashion, foiTuing a single short tube which can be carried
in the waistcoat pocket.
In using the ordinary blowpipe, a little art is at first necessary,
wliich generally reciuires from one to three days' practice, according
to the capability of tho learner. The best way to acquire the re-
quisite proficiency I believe to be for tho student to sit down
with a lighted candle, having tho wick bent to one side, on a table
before him ; to take his blowpipe in the right hand, not gingerly
between three fingers, as some ivriters recommend, but firmly
grasped in the fist ; to apply the mouth-piece to his mouth with
his cheeks puffed out, and elbow on table ; to thus try to produce
from the candle-flame, a " iiyroeone," which is simply a cone ef
blue flame, breathing through his nose all the time. He will find
this quite easy, but after a time, the air, or rather breath, in his
cheeks will begin to fail, wlicu all he has to do is to pronounce the
word cow without opening his mouth. The effort to do this will
replenish his cheeks with air.
HINTS TO LOCAL METEOROLOGICAL
OBSERVERS.
(Reprinted, with the Author's permission, from Science Gossip.)
I. H.U1ST0EMS.
AS hailstorms are essentially local phenomena, it is to local
observers that we must look for any addition to our knowledge
of them.
A reference to any Encyclopaedia article will show the sadly con-
fused state of our information on the subject. Flat contradictions
will be found on every page. It will be seen that while some
authorities assert that hailstorms occur most frequently in summer,
others maintain that winter is pre-eminently the hail season. There
must be an error somewhere. As a matter of fact, false statements
have been so persistently reiterated, that by mere repetition they
have come to be regarded as truths.
Let me allude to one fertile source of eiTor. I have referred to
it before.* It is the confusion of hail proper, or French grele, and
winter hail, or gr^sil— -two entirely different phenomena. Orisil is
the small round powdery snow which often falls towards the end of
a snowstorm and in the early part of a very frosty night. I suspect
that Dalton and other observers did not distinguish between the two
kinds of hail, and spoiled their results in consequence.
The following points are of prim.-iry importance, and should not
be overlooked in taking down an account of a hailstorm : —
1. Penod.— The date and hour at which a hailstorm occurs,
though apparently small matters, are of the utmost importance. I
am inclined to think that while each country has distinct maximum
and minimum periods of hail-fall, the distribution of tho quantity
over tlie year varies materially. For example, in this cotmtry, the
maximum occurs in summer, and is verj^ strongly marked ; while in
Germany, the maximum is iu spring, and is not so decided. If the
periods of maxima and minima all over the world could be deter-
mined, a comparison of them would doubtless throw much light
upon the nature and cause of hailstones.
2. Area. — When a Irailstorm is not purely local, it usually assumes
the form of the tornado, and sweej-s over the country in one, or
sometimes two, narrow bands. In the former ease, it is sufficient
to ascertain the area covered by the storm, but in the latter, it is
necessarj- to detei-mine («) the length, (b) breadth, (c) direction of
motion, and (d) rate of progression of the storm-band. Such par-
ticulars can only be obtjiined by the co-operation of numerous local
observers. Our organised observatories are quite incompetent for
such work, being too sparsely distributed over the country.
3. Pht/Kical features of the localitij. — The proximity of mountains
seem to induce the fall of hail, while that of forests has the oppo-
site effect. Progressive storms often diverge from their course on
encountering a river or valley, aud follow that of tho depression.
It is therefore useful to note if any of those physical features be iu
the neighbotirhood of tho storm, and if so, their effect upon it. It
is also of importance, especially in the tropics, to determine the
elevation of the country above the sea level. It is frequently
asserted, on what authority I know not, that hail never falls in the
* Mature, vol. xxiv. pp. 1S7-90.
138
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 16, 1881.
tropical roKioni* tit a long olerution tliiiii 2,000 fort. It is wurtli
while i<«8tittK tho stiitomont.
4. Tmiyrritlure.—'tho nuctimtions of tompomturc during a hail-
Rtorm aro often very remarkable, and xlionld be cnrc<fiilly obgorvod-
A roadinf; of tho thennomoter may be taken shortly before the
storm bo|[^nH and another direetly on its cessation.
6. liarometncal rcadinys should be taken, if possible.
(5. Wind. — Its (a) direction near the earth's surface, (b) direction
in the hi);her regions as indicat<'d by the cloud motion, and (c)
force, are important points. ,Some observers have noticed that the
eloads move in various directions while a hailstorm is in progress.
Kiimtz actually went the length of attributing tho formation of hail
to tho conflict of opposing winds ; and Beccuria says, " While
clouds aro n^^itated with the most rapid motion, rain generally falls
in the greatest plenty ; and if the agitation be very great, it gene-
rally hails." Howard, in 1809, noticed the wind change from K. to
8., then to W., back again to E., and finally to W., during a hail-
storm.
7. Rain. — Rain sometimes falls l>ofore hail, sometimes after it.
Tho area of a hailstomi is generally fringed with rain, and in the
case of a moving storm, rain falls along both edges of the track.
Ilain before hail is somewhat rare, and its occurrence should be
carefully noted.
8. Clouds. — Hail clouds arc invariably cumulus. Volta and other
theorists have assumed that there are always two strata of clouds at
different elevations. Arago pointed out that they aro generally of
an ashen hne. Their aspect, apparent thickness, and height above
the earth may be noted.
9. Electric^tl phenomena. — It is frequently stated that thunder
and lightning always accompany the fall of hail, but such is by no
means the ca.se. When there is lightning, it is important to observe
tho relation between the discharges and tho fall of the hail —
whether the lightning jireccdes the liail, or vice rersi. If possible,
the electricity of the air before and after the storm should bo ascer-
tained by means of an electrometer.
10. Ihiration. — The duration of tho storm at one spot may be
noted.
11. PreUminary sound. — Kahn, Tassier, Peltier, and others affirm
that they have heard a peculiar rumbling or pattering sound in
the air immediately before the descent of hail. This cannot be
a common phenomenon, or it would have been more generally
remarked.
12. Structure ard size of the hailstones. — Observ.ations of the
structure of hailstones are seldom of any use, as the necessary pre-
cautions are generally neglected in conducting the examination.
Tlie ice of which they are composed undergoes a rapid change when
exposed to a high temperature, so they ought to be collected
immediately on descent. Further, as collision with the ground is
liable to cau.se alteration of shape, it not entire fracture, it is well
to oatch tho hailstones destined for examination upon a piece of
flannel, which not only preserves the stones in their entirety, but,
being a bad conductor of heat, keeps them from dissolving rapidly.
The scrutiny may then be couducled in a cool room. Size should be
determined by accurate measurements. Such vague terms as the
"size of peas," or the "size of eggs," or "like large nuts," are
useless for scientific purposes.
The alwvo jjoints may bo supplomeutcd by any others that the
experience of observers may suggest or that peculiarities in
individual storms may re(iuire.
.1. A. Wi'.sTWooD Olivkr.
Athena>nm, Glasgow.
ANECDOTES OF DOGS.
I SENT) you some .anecdotes of dogs, whirh, I think, show most
strongly that they not only have powers of reason of the same
nature as ourselves, but that they share with us distinctly some of
our virtues. To me, dogs have always nppeai'od to be by far the
nearest animals to man in their intelligence, and in their evident
sympathy with their masters, and they show this latter by a power
(»f expression in their faces which no other animals have a trace of.
Nothing can be more distinct than tho smile of pleasure which lights
up a dog's face at the ap]>roach of a kind mrister, and th.at such an
animal should ever become the victim of the tortures of tho physio-
logist is to me inexpressibly horrible.
The following facts, though not actually occurring under my own
eyes, were related to mo by friends who witnessed them, and I
nra as certain of tho truth of the stories as if I had been myself
present : —
A lady residing in a house not a hundred yards from mine has a
pag dog, also a oat of which tho dog was always very jealous,
chasing it about whenever it saw it. Not many weeks since the
pug astonished its mistress by coming up (o her, sitting up nod
begging, then barking and running a little distance from her, till it
apjjeared evident that it wished to persuade her to come with it.
It continued to beg and to run on in the same manner till it led her
out into tho garden, to the foot of an apple-tree, against which the
dog raised itself on its hind legs and barked vehemently. On
looking up the lady saw the cat with a trap on its foot, evidently in
great pain. She got it down and relieved it of the trap, the dog
showing the greatest joy, and on the cat being placed on the ground,
the dog, who before had never done anything but hnnt and »Torry
it, licked it all over and over till it was quite wet, and over since
they have been the best of friends.
A dog had a kennel in the yard of a house which was overlooked
from one of the windows. A lady, my informant, saw this dog
hiding some of its dinner in a comer behind tho kennel, and this
performance, she noticed, was repeated for a day or two. On tho
third day the dog was missing some little time from the yard, but
before long it was seen to return, followed by a small, half-starved
canine friend, which it took up to tho store of hidden food, and
stood by, wagging its tail with evident pleasure, while the strange
dog consumed it. Now, if these two stories do not show the virtue
of charity in a dog, I don't know what can be required to prove it.
The following is of a different nature. In Ceylon the large
Lambur deer is hunted by dogs, the huntsmen going on foot. The
deer generally comes to bay in a stream among the hills, and the
huntsmen, guided by the sound of the dogs, make their way to the
spot as quickly as they can with knife or spear to end the combat.
Sometimes, however, as the distance, or tho form of the hills, prevent
the sound of the dogs at bay from being heard, the huntsmen do
not arrive, and the deer, if strong, may escape, or is, perhaps,
killed by the dogs. On one of these occasions, the owner of a pack
of hounds, who related this to me, lost all sound of tho hounds,
and came back home to breakfast. After this ho sallied
forth again, thinking he would go to a distant part of
the jungle, where he imagined the pack might have taken
the deer. Before he had gone a mile or two ho mot two of his pack
by themselves, coming straight for home. They no sooner saw
their master than they expressed tho greatest delight, and at once
turned round, went before him, and led him straight through several
miles of jungle, to where he found all tho rest of the pack, with a
large buck Lambur at bay. They were quietly waiting round
it, preventing its escape, and, on seeing their master, the jungle
at once resounded with their voices, as they went in with renewed
energy at their quarry, till the knife of their master put an end to
the battle. Now, it was perfectly clear to my friend that these
dogs had agreed among themselves that two of their number should
go home and fetch their master, while the rest kept the deer at
bay.— B. M., F.R.C.S.
Knowledge. ^Although we offer our readers more in the way
of original matter (apart from correspondence, which is not to bo
estimated by mere bulk) than any other journal of similar jirice
and character, wo wish to do better still. We hope so to extend the
circulation of Knowleooe that we may be justified in enlarging
each number, in giving more illustrations, and in extending the
number of our original contributors. To attain this end we need
the co-operation of our readers. Those among them who approve
our scope and plan can do more to improve Knowledge than either
editor or iniblishers. If every reader were to obtain but one new
subscriber, not only would our circulation be doubled, but our power
to improve the matter ]>laced before our readers would be increased
in like proportion. If our readers will remember this, they will
follow the best course for making Knowledge what we wish and
hope tliat it may before long become.
WoUDV Science. — It has always been characteristic of a science,
real or so-called, which for any reason was not advancing, that its
professors have endeavoured to give it an unreal importance by
heaping over its facts a mass of incomprehensible verbiage ; and
tho traditions of .such a time have survived, in many instances, long
after the branch of knowledgo concerned has begun to share, or has
shared even in the most marked manner, in the general advance of
the human mind. Botany, chemistry, the smaller ramifications of
natural history, aro all still concealed beneath technicalities which
aro neither English, nor Greek, nor Latin, nor hybrid of any
declared description, which convey no meaning, are not generally
intelligible to the learned, and are not intelligible, indeed, to any,
save those who have wasted precious time in learning them by heart
from text books. Such technicalities are unmixed ovils, because
they do nothing in reality to facilitate the acquirement of knowledge,
and they hinder many from even attempting to acquire it. — Times.
Dec. 16, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
139
Xetttrsf to tt)t eiiitor*
[The Editor doei noi hold Mnuelfretpoiwible for the opinions of hit correspondent*.
Be cannoi undertake to return manu$>:ripts or to correspond tcith their Kriters. All
ccmmumrafiOMt thould be a» ahort a* poenbU, <:ontiigfently Kith full and cteur state-
menit of the vnriter'g m^an\n(i.'\
All kditorial (^mmunicaiiont should be addretseJ to the Editor qf KnOwi,bdgb;
(,n Sueinesa comnunicutiona to the Publiahera, at the Office, 7-i, Great ^uem-
ftreet, W.C.
All RemittiTtice.*, Cheque/; and Fofi-Office Order» ahovM be ntade payabU to
2t£egara. ffyin<in Sr Sana.
'^•All tHtera to the Editor tnll be Kxtmherfid. For comenience of reference,
corretpomtenta, when r^errxng to aui/ Utter, kHI oblige by mentioning its numher
and the pa^e on v\ich it appear*.
All Lett'era or (Queries fo the Editor tahifh require attention in the current issue of
KyovrtJiDGii,rhould reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication, ^
"In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
state of transition. , , , , "Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is Do harm in making a mistake, but preat harm in making none. Show
me a man -who makes no mrstakes, ana I ynlX show you a man who has done
nothing-." — lAebig, ______
<^m Corrrgpontrnice CoIunutEf.
DEMANDS OX OUE SPACE. — CURIOUS PUZZLES. —
GRAMMAR.— CEKTKTTrGAL FORCE, &c. — A PARABLE
FOR PARADOXERS. — THE EARTH'S PROCESSIONAL
REELING.— ILLUSIONS.— BRAIN AND SKULL.— MAR-
RIAGE AND THE DEATH-RATE.
[121] — A coiTespoiidciit remarks, and with eojne justice, on
I he spare awarded to correspondence, queries, and replies to
iicriea in No. 6. It is natnral that in the first number of a
nngnzine admitting coiiespondence at a)l, the siiace devoted to
;iL-h matter should be nnich Icbs than in later numbers. As
I orrespondcuce (iucludin? notes and queries) was mentioned in the
prospect U.S, I caunot consider ihat the increase of this section in
Xos. 2. 3, Ac, was inconsistont with o\ir promises. But, while
noting this, and that, indeed, number 6 was enlarged to.obhgo
correspondents, I must admit that it would not do to allow cor-
respondence often to occupy so much space. As letters come in
more and niore freely each week, and as we hare not room for more
than a third of them, it ia clear that two-thirds must be oraitted.
Those that are most (U'iginal and interesting will naturally have the
l'"st chance of being ret:iino(l, and among these the concise will be
ipfenvd.
Some Icilcr.^ will be ^ivc-n iu abstract, with, Such reply a.s may
^■cem necessary, in a w.fwkly cimimunication from '' the Editor."
" H. A. S." notes that tliere is. an e.^hauativc solution of the pro-
Heui of tlie Fifteen Schoobgirli, in the " Ladies' aud Gentlemen's
Diary " for 1862. Mapii' .sijuarcs are treated fully iu Hutton's
"Mathematical Recreations." Nevertheless, I tiiink the tliree
letters on these two subjects published in this or following numbers
will interest many who would not care to look up the above-named
writer. They may suffice, however, for matters which are rather
curious than scientific.
"L. F." remarks (see " A. T. C.',s" letter, 103, p. 117) that
■would the editor" is more deferential thau "will the editor,"
"might I" less manly than "mayl,""l caimot but think," " I
<au but think," and " t can only think " equivalent expressions,
lie notes justly that such a sentence a.s " the editor requests that
' tters may be addressed,' is inconeet. " May " should be omitted.
Ibe same with "he requests that all communications (should) be
addressed," Ac. "should" should be left out; or, better, "he
requests that " shoaJd bo left out. We have under our corre-
spondence heading " he requests thai all commnnications should
be as short as possible." PHsewhere in our remarks, be it noticed,
we adopt the correct form. Perhaps we meant to say editorially,
" we request that the ))innciple be adopted ' all communications
should be as short as possible.' " We take " L. F.'s " hint, howerer,
and put this principle down definitely as one which we are obliged
to insist upon.
Mr. Newton Crosland is, I fear, offended because I have said that
he misapprehends the principles on which the accepted theories
which he opposes are basod. I am very sorry. I have no wish to
-offend him. I have simply stated the facts as I see them. He
describes the'ccntrifugal force in terms entirely inconsistent with the
real nature of this so-called force. (He is quite right in saying
that Newton spoke of the centrifugal force; so also Newton spoke
of the force of inertia. Newton, however, carefully distinguished
those from " impressed forces." Modern science, to avoid precisely
such misconceptions as Mr. Crosland's, ceases to nee the term force
except in the case of ivhat Newton called an impressed force.
Joyce, Milman, and Ferguson are not anthorities in such a matter,
not one of them having had any masteiT of the higher mathe-
matics.) Again: Mr. Crosland. in dealing mth the Darwiniait
theory, uses words only applicable to the Lamarckian hypo-
thesis. A student of science knows the Newtonian theory
and the Darwinian theory, attacked by him, to be unlike
what he supposes ; .ijid, therefore, is justified in saying to
him that very likely these theories, so misunderstood, appear
egregionsly absurd. And there the matter should end. I am
not interested, aud I am sure readers of Kxowiedre would not
be, in defending the straw-giants which Mr. Crosland attacks after
having constmcted them. But there is nothing which need offend
him in the remark that he misunderstands the teachings of Newton
or of Darwin. Many minmderstaiid both. Of the former, at any
rate, which belongs to my own ' special department of study, I may
say that few understand them. Many who understand the Dar-
winian theory, reject it, or regard it as so far not perfectly proven.
But no one who imderstnnds the Newtonian theory questions its
truth. Any one who, understatiding it, yet objects to the former
theory, will find his reasoning admitted here. Any one who does
not understand any particular point about either theory can ask
bore for explanation. But all our space would be wasted if we
allowed correspondents— first, to set np burlesques of scientific
theories; secondly, to overthrow these shams ; and, thirdly, in the
triumph of an imagined victory, to invent vagtie theories of their
own, in establishing which they assign to imaginary forces incon-
ceivable effects.
A chemist iu New Zealand once asked me, as a believer in the
Newtonian theory, how I explained a balloon's ascending. Before
I replied, he went on to say that, to his mind, the ascent of a balloon
proved that the earth exerts a repulsive as well as an attractive
influence. There was a pair of scales on the counter, in ono of
which I put a half-ounce weight, and as the other scale went up, 1
asked if its motion was due to terrestrial repulsion. " The cases arc
different," he said. " The cases are similar," I answered ; "the light
scale ascends becansc the heavier one has a greater tendency to de-
scend, and cannot descend unless the light one rises ; the lighter gas
in the balloon ascends (taking its silk coat along with it), because
the heavier air around it ha.s a greater tendency to descend, and
cannot descend nnless the lighter gas rises. The heavier scale pulls
up the lighter, which would else tend downwards ; the heavier air
thrusts up the lighter gas; which would otherwise descend as cer-
tainly as a globe of lend would." Whether the chemist understood
or ac<?epted my explanation, I do not know ; but this I know, that
if he had based on his misapprehension of the effects due to gravity
a theory of polarity and magnetic repulsion, I should not have felt
lidund to discuss his ViSws vvith'biWt. In a similar way. acting-^'"'^
iiccordiiig to my lights, iihd with the object of occupying the columns' '•
of Knowledge .so as best to serve the wants of readers, I must',
decline to assign inortfthttn a'vfffjf'ih'ddest allowance of space here'
to I iaradosi(?al theories.' " " '■•";!,;"
"Sirius" asks for an explanation of the "Precession of thd''
Equinoxes." ' As this is a subject of general interest, I do not put
this letter among the other queries, but reserve it for an answer ■
in an early number. I note here that the change is not such as to
catise tho northern pole to be inclined from the sun in June 13,000
years or so hence. Nor is the motion of the poles such that 6,500
yours hence, or at any time, the, axis of the earth will be at right
angles to the ecliptic. The inclination of the axis varies only within
a very narrow range, and the seasons remain almost unchanged in
each hemisphere, throughout the long precessional period of nearlv
2.5,900 years. " i
J. E. Okill remarks that the ""liest of illusions," p. 71, is illusive' '' '
to, him, as respects tho apparent superposition of the space between
the t-wo hea-v^' circles, only when he expects to find an illusive
effect. If he looks along the h'ues as a carpenter looks along a
]iieco of wood, they Seem straight, and the circles seem oval.
(This, of course.) He describes as an illusion what is in reality an
effect of diffraction. Closing one eye, look at the edge of a window
with the other, covering this eye gradually with the hand till only
a fine slit is seen, when the colours of the spectrum are displayed.
He remarks on letter 114, p. 121 (Brain and Brain Case), that the
two doctors are in agreement. Naturally, tho skull takes first a
form determined by the groivth of the brain, while later the brain
may shrink away from its bony enclosure. Also, " may it not be
that the son of a man noted for skill in some art or science may
inherit the shape of his sknll," but. forwent of stndv, the brain
140
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dbc. 16, 1881.
nifty not lill thr correnpondinj^ expansions of tlio hniin-cnso. Ho
ixpliea to yiipi-y 27, llint tlio groiitor niimbcr of doiitlm any
unninrricJ mm may tip (iiio to evil living, wliirh ihr nil
liBvinj; liomo comforts, avoid ; also, in part, to m ^;l.i U'd nilinonts.
The quOHlion really of interest is, however, wlirihcr the married
life is in it-self a prophylactic. Wo want liettir siafisties than we
have. The pfrcater death-mto amonjf widnwi is scoqib to support
the views of Uertillon and Stark ; but, miinif.stly, a cause may net
in their cuso which affects the statistics npart from any influencx
the mnrriod life may have. KiC'irABn A. rr.ofToR.
.lUPITEK— DENXING'S COMET.
[122] — 1 trust that some of your re;idera will obtain observations
of u remarkably britfht spot situated slightly 8. of the equator of
Jupiter, and on the X. edge of the groat S. belt. I have observed
til transits of this spot since October, 1880. The tollgwing are
iho appro.xiniato times when it comes to the central meridian of
Jupiter : —
Dec. II. H.
17 10 40
18 6 20
19 U 51
20 7 31
21 13 1
22 s -11
23 1 22
24 0 52
25 5 32
26 11 2
27 6 43
28 13 13
Its period of rotation is Uh. 50m. 6s.G., or 5^ minutes less than
that of the ird spot, which is Oh. 5om. U5s. It is in the same
longitude as the middle of the red spot on Dceomber 25, and these
conjunctions occur nt intervals of lij days.
The last time I saw the bright spot it was very jflain. This ^vus
on the night of December 7, when it was noted exactly on the
central meridi.in, at -Ih. 41m. and llh. S3ra. These double traneits
are not imfre(|iiently visible now that Jupiter is above the horizon
during the gnvitcr ]iart of the night.
The new cimiet (of 18S1) was observed here on November 25, at
lOh., and again at midnight. It was pretty bright and large, with
ill-defined and apparently flashing edges. There were many faint
stars in the background, so that I could not be certain as to tho
characterof the nucleus. — Yours, &c., ^Y. F. DKNNrNc.
Ashley-down, Bristol, Dec. 8, 1881.
THE TRUE SPIRIT OF SCIENCE.— WATER SPHERULES.
[123] — Let me venture to expi-ess a hope that the concluding
portion of tho lines from which you have taken your motto may, as
1 doubt not they will, tind ex])re!!sion in your magazine, —
" Lot Knowledge grow from more to move,
.\nd more of rcrcren<:e in ns dwell."
The spirit of reverence and of humility, the S])irit of Newton,
Herschel, and Faraday, seems gra<iually vanishing in many high
scientific circles, and a spirit of sclf-snfticioncy and of arrogance
growing in its place. It is sad to see how frequently the student
of nature of to-day, in the consciousness of his acquisitions, rofcrrod
to yesterday, forgets the absurd littleness of his knowledge referred
to tho sum of all things.
But I must not stay to pursue this thonglit, as my object in
writing to you was to refer to a qncstiim asked in the copy 6f
Knowledge sent to me, No. 3. p. tJO, where a coiTespondent asks
what supports or causes tho spherules of water which are often seen
rolling on tho surface of water. The explanation hy])Othcticnlly
given in your columns is, as you suspect, wholly imtenablo. Tho
probable cause is a rfi^erciKc n/fem^)crafi(ro between the drop and
the surface on which it rests.
Aprnpnn of this, the accompanving short paper may, perhaps,
interest some of your readers. It was read at a meeting of the
Royal Dublin Society on Doe. l.">, 1877, but, so far as I know,
has not been published out of the innceGdings of that Society. —
Yours, &c., W. F. Barkftt.
[The paper shall appear shortly. — En.J
THE WEATHER FORECASTS.
[124] — Taking great interest in the daily weather forecasts ns
efforts made by tlie director of tho Meteorological Office and his
BtafE to predict tho weather in advance, I have for nboui two years
past been in the habit of noting briefly tho charactcristlen ef each
day, and comparing them nt night with the predictions as piibiislied
in tho Daily News. I note occasional discrepancies — not nil tiie
inting thorn alike. Tho variations in phraseology an,
_ tUiy unimportant, consisting in the elision of tha
word "vpxy," or making iiit'in'_' variations in tho direction of the
wind. For the period of tl.i I-i six months my notes have lieon
fuller than formerly, so lh.it 1 v, ill eonline my observationa to those
moro particularly.
As the main conHnsion, I am Ixmi'l i'< say that they aro about as
often wrong as right in the mctropolitu ■ i .irea, to which my attontion
has been almost exclusively confined. I'hcre is great difflcalty in
drawing a sharp lino between " sucr'ie.jcs " and "failures," for
often the tempemturo, force, and direotien of wind have proved
right; but tho forecast a« to rain or fair -iv. it her has frequently
been altogether nnsucccBSfuI, so that it is it e,-isy to state tho
percentage of successes.
I have noted particularly eight occasions oi f vretsivo rain or
thnnder-storms happening within the months ol 1 ■ mmmcr, not
one of which had been predicted in our daily foi i^ts, although,
strange to say, clenr warning had sometimes 1.' . n sent from
America, as was noticed by a writer in tho TiMt'S oi July 9 last,
signing himself "Observer." The dates I now refi r ^o are — May
28, when we had a thunderstorm and torrents of m:iyin the after-
noon, certainly not predicted in tho forecast, "cloniii:,innt /air and
warm ;" June 5, when we had more than half an inrjto^rain — nobj
predicted ; Juno 25, eight hours' rain, from 10 a.m. nil Bo'el'ck ia ,
London — not predicted, but coining after 4 week of L'forionBly bright "'
weather. Then came the heavy thunderstorm of .li/y 5-6, £>' whict—
I have already referred, bringing down tho temper;iture &att> aboutt^
92'P. to 70'F. inoiie day; adi-turbaneenotforet ij by our Meteoro-
logical Othce, althjugh a warning from the A'. ■ I'orfc Herai ? ha«p3
aliealy appeared in all the newspapers. July i."^, when tho prodiG-_'
tion was "J'xi , but cool in the morning." Right aS regards tcraj'ora.- ,
turo, but wrong as failing to give notice of the i .rpcntsof rain ^ucK"
fell before midnight. August 8, the woather jTijdicted was " clcudy "
or dull at first, then clearing arrain, and yite trd warm," insb .: 1
of which the weather in London was fiio until 4 p.m., t ■!-
lowed by six hours' rain, which brought d iura tho temperatmo
so low, that at noon ne.xt day tlie thormonieter only registoi-1
55° I'\ August 12, the prediction "cool, jhangeable, showon."
did not prepare tho sportsman for contii:aons rain from mom
ing till night (si.vteen hours, at least, without ceatinp) ni:l
not well described by "changeable " or " .■s'/owery." The dirpcti n
of the wind was wrongly predicted, pro\-iag East and Korth-ea-t, ,
instead of " Westerly to North-westerly," and almost calm in Loii loii,
instead of "strong and S'jually." Passing over August 16, whun '
wo had a fine morning, succeeded by a ^vut evening (tho reverse "f
tho prediction), and August. 18, a lino c /Im day, not "squally" it
" sliowery," ns predicted, we come to Ai,^fust 25, rjiining all d,ay nil
over England (see the column of repr>ris in the Daily yeics of tlie
following day), and certainly not fiillilfing tho predictions "lino.
gcnevnlly," or "gre.atly improved w,»ther" promised for tho
English districts Nos. 2 to .■> inclusive , fcut, on tho contrary, erery-
where spoiling tlie harvest prospoctt, <^d remaining bad we^herd
for the rest of the month. ' •• \-
Later instances of " bad shots " n rii Sn ray noto-lxx^k, but for the.-
purposo of discussion tlie above niiy suffice, iind with every desiro"^
to keep witliiu the bounds of fair cjriticism, I wish only to pointy I
attention to the facts, in tho hope ilat the causes of failure irttiy ho '
discovered and eventually remedii li* , ilr. K. H. Scott, in his tuticle
on " Forecasting the Weather," pii' iiehcd in Good irurrfj; of Jnly and
August, admits his "inability to t *m any estimate of the amount j i g
of rain which is likely to fall I'uany day," although ooniiuually, M
professing to take acOount of rain Ui his daily forecasts. Tin' wliol©3 W
subject gained inipoi-tanco from lie question asked last .\n.'iist, in '
tho House of Commnns, by Mr. li,irp, M.I'., as to the fniHties fer
the ))riimnlgation of those woat ! ir-forcc.osts which the l'u>t?n;i~ier-
General might be inclined to ijvoP and tho soapons and agri-
cultural towns have now tho cl.Jjlco of getting iufomiation on very
easy terms. It remains to i^'soen whether the Iieal authorities
rightly estimate tho efforts •■ the Meteorological Oilieo to jn-ovido
this much-needed infovmation ; The end can only le attained after
many failures, for, as ProlV^'Sor Huxley says, "nil true science
begins mth empiricism." In Wiat directions, then, are we to look
for improvement in the ch ii*cter of tho weather-forecasts ? And
■what new means can be il'iVised to give them greater accuracy?
These aro questions which :i))(>ear to bo well worth discussion in tho
pages of Knowledgf, — ^I anl/yonrs, &c.,
JonX SPItLER.
^^
WHY RATS GN.\# THROUGH A WATER-PIPE.
[125]. — The moisture of the atmosphere" is condensed on the
outside- of the pipe dming a change of temperature (the cold
water in the i>i|ie and the moist warm atmosphei-e), which induces
^Continued on pagt 143.
Dec. 16, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
141
no Ion ai dieo f iii-'oo od^ k-'SOC}
Dbc. 16, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
143
Continued from page IW.J
thorn to drink, and as the supply is only small, they naturally
^aw through the pipe. This, in my opinion, is the more correct
view than to imagine thev reason from hearing the fluid pass
through the tube. " W. Maeshali,, F.B.S.E.
ELEMENTAEY ELECTRICITY.— SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS.—
MYSTEUY OF " PSYCHO."
[126] — Having read letter (No. 73), signed "Daniel Jones," I
should like to point out that it seems to me very undesirable that
you should use your valuable columns for any such papers, which
can bo read in any good text-book on electricity.
May I suggest that you shonid find room in your columns for a
notice of times and days of the meetings of scientilic societies
during the ensuing week, with the titles of the papers to be read.
I should also like to ask through your columns whether a solution
of the mechani.sm employed in the automaton " Psycho " has ever
boon given ? — Yours, tic. H. W. 13.
[We quite agree with our correspondent on the first point. As to
the second, we believe that only a small proportion of our readers
care to know the days on which the various scientific societies
meet ; and that all who do care, must be in the way of learning
those dates elsewhere. It seems, therefore, better for the greater
number — by far the greater number — to save for other purposes
the space which such notices as " H. W. B." suggests would occupy.
—Ed.]
NAMES OF STABS.
[127] — I am making a collection of the ancient names of stars.
In this I have been much assisted by the list given in your larger
.\tla3. I should be very much obliged to yon if you could point out
;iny books in which I could find more of these names, as well as
any traditions about them. A friend of mine, who is an Arabio
scholar, has promised to translate those which arc not tfio much
corrupted. It seems a pity that these names should stand a chance
of being forgotten, as much of the popular interest in stellar astro-
nomy dies out when stars are only designated by a letter in
a shapeless constellation. Apologising for thns troubling you,
Yours, Ac, J. H. Thomson.
R. A. Mess, Shoeburyness, Nov. 28, 1881.
[There is much that ,will interest Mr. Thomson in " Smyth's
Bedford Cycle," the old edition. From the new one we understand
the matter in question has been removed. — Ed.]
DONATI'S COMETS.
[128] — In Figures I. and IT. on page 49 we have two pictures of
Donati's comet, as also, judging from the stars given in the dia-
grams, the distance and direction travelled by the same. Now, if
the stars depicted on the plate have relative places in the firmament,
the comet must have been travelling in a side direction, and conse-
quently the tail mnst not have been pointing from the snn.
A Young Astkonomeb.
[The picture is right. There is no such difficulty as " Y. A." sup-
poses. The comet's path is not on a line towards the sun. — Ec]
PASTEUR'S PLATES OF GERMS, &c.
I [129] — Would Dr. A. Wilson, if possible, kindly give us Pasteur's
plates in connection with the subject. He may intend to do so ; if
1 80, my suggestion is premature. I am sure they would be interesting.
' A friend, a few years ago, lent me Pasteur's plates on the germs
generated in brewing, and many a pleasant hour have 1 spent
I in trying to obtain the different germs by erperiments on beer,
yeast, &c.
I have read a good many of the scientific papers of the day, but
hare never been so interested in any of them a.s I have in Knowledge,
•rhich, I feel sure, has only to be known to be a complete success
I and boon to the public. — Believe me yours, &c.
" F. C. S.
COLOURS IN ANIMALS AND PLANTS.— DARWIN ON
WORMS.— REASONING ANIMALS.
[130] — The tendency of men of science to run investigation to
extreme tenuity is become a danger. Knowledge whittled to a
I pomt is knowledge reduced to nothing. Casual inquirers recoil
from infinitesimals and the overwrought.
I Dr. Wilson, in Knowlege, No. 2, labours to show that the colours
I of wild birds and beasts are designed by Nature to obscure the
I animals from their enemies, and, when predatory, from the eyes of
their prey. It might be affirmed that the colours of flowers are
oeaigTied to put the flowers conspicuously before the eyes of men
and insects. Nature is not given to special amenities and provi-
dences. The dark colours of the sole and the fljunder are no
protection. When in repose, they are concealed by a cover! ig of
sand.
Mr. Darwin's theory of worm action on the soil is, to my mind,
an elaboration of exceptional minutia; to huge paradox.
The paper on Intelligence in Animals is in another category.
Anyone capable of accurate observation, and daily among them,
knows that animals do reason. 1 could name many instances, but
one shall suffice. A duck came opposite our day-room window,
which looks into the orchard. Mrs. D. noticed her uneasiness and
persistent waiting, and concluded that it indicated hunger. She
took madam duck some corn. The food was simply looked at, but
the look was followed by movements that plainly meant " come with
me." The request was accorded to, on supposition that the duck
was shut out of her cote. But, no ; the cote was open, and the
duck urged "come on, come on." She led to a hole in the hedge
that fenced the stackyard from the orchard ; and there, on the
other side, was a lame duck, that could not make passage of the
hole, in a fever of despair. Mrs. D. went round and brought the
poor bii-d into the yard. Meanwhile, the kindly-hearted duck made
her way to where she knew her mistress would return, and the rest
of the flock gathered irith her. The meeting of the two ducks was
a little drama. Between them there was a wonderful talk, soon
joined in with by the whole flock ; and they marched off with what
was taken to be loud cheers.
Reason ! Surely animals, furred and feathered, reason j some
better than others, but all reason. The fox is a rapid and acute
reasoner.
I hare but limited intimacy with pigs. So far, however, as 1
am acquainted with them, nothing is so manifest to me as that they
reason ; and thej- are humorous and inclined to fun, when at
liberty. A well-knovm sportsman had a pig for pointer. Dogs all
reason, the high-bred sheep-dog in particular ; and more, under-
stand sentences of speech addressed to them directly, or in their
hearing, and in the latter case, they will, if so minded, circumvent
you on the knowledge they have gained.
Ducks and dogs have the human propensity to sulk with you, or
with one another.
Memory, no observer will deny them. Bnt is not an effort of
memory reasoning ; calling together ideas previously known, and
linking them, absolutely or tentatively, in sequence, till the desired
lost idea is regained ?
Professor Jevons' logical abacus, in work, really represents the
mode of an effort of memory, as well as a logical concatenation. —
Yours faithfully, B. DoNBAVAND.
Picton, Chester.
ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION AND TERRESTRIAL
RADIATION OP HEAT.
[131]— In his " Heat a mode of motion," (1880) page 317, Prof.
TyndaU says : — '■ I never on any occasion suffered so ranch from solar
heat as in descending from the ' corridor' to the grand plateau of Mont
Blanc on Aug. 13, 1857. Though Mr. Hirst and myself were at the
time hip-deep in snow, the sun blazed against us with unendurable
power." Mr. W. Mattieu William's letter 68, page 96, and
B.M., F.R.C.S., No. 36, page 77, bear similar testimony. I think
Prof. TyndaU explains the whole matter (page 317). '' The
beams of the sun penetrate glass without sensibly heating it ; the
reason is, that having passed through our atmosphere, the heat has
been in a great measure deprived of those constituents liable to be
absorbed by glass." Prof. TyndaU refers to the invisible (the
hottest) rays, see page 316. It seems to me too much stress is placed
on the atmospheric absorption of terrestrial radiation. From the
foregoing references a large proportion of the sun's invisible rays
are intercepted before they reach the earth ; and then all those
which do impinge on the earth raise its temperature, and by " con-
vection," more heat is transferred to higher altitudes of the air, so
that only a comparatively small proportion of the heat is radiated
from the earth compared with what enters the atmosphere as solar
radiation. J. A. L. R.
[A large portion of the invisible solar rays remain (compare
figs. 112 and 113 in Tyndall's book) after passing through the air,
and to these, constituting at least twice the visible rays, the
reasoning of Mr. Dyer (in letter 20, p. 56) applies. — Eh).]
"KNOWLEDGE" AND THE SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES.
[132] — I see that some of your readers arc asking for Reports of
the Proceedings of the Learned Societies, and that you have replied
very practically by showing them a sample of what the most meagre
outline would amount to.
In confirmation of your decision, I may state my own practical
experience. When my genial friend, the late George Dawson,
started the BirmingTiam Morning Ne^vs, I undertook the functions of
144
KNOWLEDGE
[Dao. 16, 1861.
"Our London RciPTitific nnd EflncotionnI CorroRpondcnt," whose
work was to supply n weekly column or two, by monns of wliich the
renders uf the piiixT Hlumld bo kept iic(|uninti'd with the general
progress of science and scientific education. My original programme
included an account of the proceedings of the Scientific Societies,
but I met with a rebuff at the outset. Tho secretary of the Royal
Society informed me tlint I sliould not be admitted to any of their
meetings if I reported any portion of tho discussions or conversa-
tions following tho reading of their papers, and that thoy would
rather not have any newspaper anticipiitions of tho oHicial publica-
tion of the pajjcr themselves. Tho titles of the papers were at my
service- I began by heading each of my communications with a list
of the papers read at the principal Ijondon Societie>i, and supple-
menting this by a short notice of some of those likely to be popu-
larly interesting ; but alas ! how few were they — not !> per cent, of
the whole. This was in January, 1871. By tho middle of May, I
gave up even tho titles of the papers, finding them about as readable
as the Post-ofiico Directory, and practically worthless as a record of
scientific progress, seeing that London is not all the world. If I had
added tho titles of papers rend at foreign societies, my weekly
colnmn would have been tilled with these alone.
To give your readers an idea of what would become of
Knowledge if you gave abstracts of current scientific papers, I
have counted the number included in one month's Journal of the
Chemical Societtj, wherein abstracts of papers read outside of the
Society are given : —
General and Physical Chemistry 26 papers
Inorganic Chemistry 25 ,,
Miner.xlogical Chemistry 74 ,,
Organic Chcmistrj' 113 „
Physiological Chemistry 7 ,,
Chemistry of Vegetable Physiology and Agri-
culture 10 „
Analytical Chemistry 23 „
Technical Chemistry 23 ,,
Making a sum total of 371 papers
in one month (June last) on one branch of science only. A staff
of thirty experts. Fellows of the Society, are engaged in making
these abstracts. Tho annual volume of abstracts (all very short)
averages above 1,000 pages, besides tho transactions, which usually
run to about 800 pages.
To tho professional chemist these are invaluable ; to tho genera!
public they are mere waste paper.
W. M.\TTiEf Williams.
THE MISSING LINK.
[133] — This question seems to genei-ate new ideas (and not
always reasonable ones) as time passes. One correspondent,
" Another Ignoramus," says : " Common ignorance (?) will continue
to ask the unfortunate question. " Why "unfortunate" is more
than I can imagine. In my previoES answer I tried to show that
the phrase " missing link " was a misnomer. It implies that there
was but one link connecting man in the past with lower life, and it
thus implies an amount of knowledge which honest science declares
it does not yet possess. Persons whoso demands arc all for the
" missing link," generally ignore tho overwhelming evidencff of
evolution as a fact of nature that Mr. Darwin, Mr. Wallace, and
others preseut. Nobody calls anybody else an " ignoramus "
except those bigoted minds who object either to receive evidence,
or who are unable to appreciate and weigh evidence of evolution or
any other topic. I certainly colled no ono an " ignoramus." On
the contrary, I did my best to assist a comprehension of the
question concerning man's relationship to his lower neighbours.
Any ono may object to the views of another, but objections should
be stated in full. Quenilons complaint assists no cause, least of
all that of scientific truth.
" Mitchell " likewise writes on the " Missing Link " subject. Has
" Mitchell" any knowledge whatever of geolog\", or of the history
of fossils ? I ask this, because if (as I suspect) ho expects to find
every animal and plant sjiecies that lived in the past preserved as
fossils, he is simjily quarrelling with Nature's flaws, and neither
with evolution nor with mo. I refer him to the " History of the
Horse," as disclosed by Professor Mai-sh in America, for an e^tcellent
illustration of the transformation (or evolution) of ono order, genus,
and species into another. He will find the account in Huxley's
" American Addresses." To answer his second inqnirj-, he should
acquire a knowledge of geology. " The imperfection of the geo-
logical record," as treated by Dar«-iii in tho " Origin of Species,"
will give him a capital outline of the whole case, and an acquaint-
ance with geology as a whole will show him that tho probabilities
of evolution are overwhelmingly supported by the conclusions dnnvn
from fossil history. People must know there is no " royal road " to
the truths of natura, either in the pages of K.sowlrdce or anywhere
else. My advice to " Mitchell" and to "Another Ignoramus" ia,
to acquire a general knowledge of bjjiogy and geology in a cla<s-
room, or by a course of wide reading. Otherwise they will alwayi
bo encountering difficulties, or, perchance, complaining of the lack
of light in others. Andkew Wilsok.
DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING " KNOWLEDOK."
[13'1-] — Can ynu tell me why there is so much difficulty in pro-
curing KxowLEnoE? I never had to much trouble in procuring any
periodical or paper before. So far, I have never been able to procure
any of the numbers until perhaps six, seven, and eight days after
date of publication, although it is regularly ordered (every day) by
my bookseller here, who has a London parcel daily. Everj- time I
call at the bookseller's I meet with the same disappointment — "not
yet arrived ; must be published irregularly, or perhaps it is dying."
Now I think it fills a great want, and would be sorry if it ceased to
exist, although I myself will be obliged to give np, as I cannot go
on calling at the bookseller's eight, nine, and ten times fur each
number.
However, wishing Knowledge all success, as it deserves to
succeed, — Yours, &c., H. Abmstbono,
[We regret that our correspondent should havo been so badly
treated. Not knomng either his bookseller or the bookseller's
London agents, we cannot tell where the fault lies. One or other
must have neglected to do what he was asked to do. KNOffLEDOl'
is published exceptionally early, and with perfect regularity. So
far from dying, it thrives amazingly. — Ed.]
THE EQUALITY OF THE SOLAR ILLUMINATION
THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM.
[135] — I have lately fallen in with a rather curious theory con-
cerning the " Solar Illumination throughout the System." It8
originator appears to be perfectly satisfied that he has completely
disposed of the long-accepted law of inverse squares, and seems to
think that he has conclusively demonstrated that the sun's light is
equally intense throughout the system. According to his theory,
scientific men have for ages been labouring under a great delusion.
Their idea that light decreases as the square of tho distance, is-
a mistake. In our atmosphere, he admits, there is a decrease
with the distance ; but this, he affirms, is due to absorption
by the air, and he is prepared to prove (to his own satis-
faction, at any rate) that in space, where there is no
absorbing medium, light does not diminish as the square of
the distance. This theory is so bold and startling, that I should
like to have the opinion of the readers of Knowledge 00&.
ceruing it. For my part, the arguments the author of the theory
(Mr. CoUyns Simon) uses are not conclusive enough to warrant ont
rejection of long and [firmly-established principles. The admissioa
of the truth of the theory necessitates a number of absurd con*
sequences. The stars should appear to us as bright as our son.
And if the sun's ! ii;/i ( follows this law, so also must his radiant heat^
which amounts to saying that the sun's heat would remain constant,
even although it were possible to approach to his surface. Hoping
to hear other of your readers on the subject, — I am, &c.,
An Admires of Knowlkdge.
[Our correspondent is right in rejecting the theory of Mr. Collyns
Simon. It is utterly untenable. I have had many letters from him,
as well as books and pamphlets. Analysing his ease, I find he mis-
understands the eridenco which leads to the sound theory, that apart
from absorption, a luminous body presents a surface of equal appa-
rent brightness from whatever, distance it may be viewed — so long
as it presents a visible surface at all. If we receded from the sun
till our distance was twice as great as it is, his disc would look just
as bright, but only onc-foiu'th as large, as it does. The correct
inference is that we should get but one-fourth of the light we actu-
ally receive. But somehow Mr. Simon makes out that we sliould get
quite as much as we do at present. — Ed.]
[NoTK. — We have been compelled to emit the Chess Column for
this week, owing to tho pressure of coiTcspondence on the ono
hand, and the necessity of assigning a certain portion of our space
to original matter on tho other. Our correspondents must not be
surprised at the compression in many cases, and the omissioa in
others, of letters, many of which we should have been glad to
publish in full, had space permitted. .^. long letter from our
esteemed correspondent, " A Fellow of tho Royal .\stronomical
Society," is deferred till next week. It contains answers to many
of the questions which have been asked by oorrespondenta. — En.]
Dbc. 16, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
145
(©llfrifEi.
[92] — Failing Bodies.— Would a body, let fall from a height
lall directly towards the centre of the earth or not ? If not, irould
deviation be cuuscd
(a) by the attraction of neighbonring bodies,
(b) by ceutrifugal force,
(c) by the velocity imparted by rotation round the earth's
axis ; or,
(d) by a combination of these canses ?
Would not a body in the northern hemisphere fall to the S.E. ; and
■\y
one in the southern hemisphere to the K.E. ? — — [Wo have had
g-
W
greatly to shorten — 's question ; but the above gives its purport.
g-
Wb answer it ourselves, to save space, and also the trouble of
■decting between several answers. Fiist, then, cause (a) is usually
Teiy slight, but in the case of a mountain or other great irregularity
of contour or of internal structure of the earth's crust below the
point of suspension, would produce a slight deviation from the
Vertical ; (6) and (<■) really relate to the same cause of deviation,
which operates everywhere except at the pole. If h be the height of
the point of suspeuion above the surface, and r the earth's radius, then
before falling, the body has a velocity due to rotation which bears to
the velocity of the point on the earth's surface vertically below it, the
ratio (A X r) : r. Owing to this difference of velocities, the course of
tli'^ body as it falls is not directly towards the point below but is,
-uili as to carry the body somewhat to the east of that point (in
li hemispheres). There would be no deviation north or south in
'_'r hemisphere, because a plane through the earth's centre and
point of suspension, and tangent to the circle in which this point
irried round the earth's axis, cuts the earth's surface at the
t below the point of suspension in an east-and-west line. All
motions which affect the falling body, considered \>'ith reference
-he earth, take place, during the fall, in this plane, and therefore
not cause tlie body to leave that plane or to deviate from the
-[•and-west line. If the time of fall be t, the earth's rotation
leriod P, height of the point of suspension h, and latitude of the
jilace X, the easterly deviation will be 2vh — cosX. — Ed.]
[93] — Water of Aye Stone. — I should be glad if any reader of
Knowiedge would tell me how water of Ayr stone is cut into slips
I in. by li in. by C in. ? They have the appearance of being sawn
with a circular saw. If they are, is the saw blunt, or with teeth ;
1 if with teeth, coarae or fine cut ? Also if sand or water is used in
cutting, or both ? — T. G. H.
[i>4] — Watch Pivots. — How is arbor held and revolved in turns
to reduce a pivot ? Also how to proceed in renewing a broken pivot ?
— T. G. H.
'5] — W.VTCH Jewel. — What tools are used in putting in new
Is, and how to proceed ? — T. G. H.
, t'O] — The Earth's Centre. — If pressure (or weight) at the sur-
face of the earth depends on gravity, then at the centre of gravity
''i the earth this attraction >\-ill be upwards in every direction, and
. weight will consequently be nil. The region of greatest pressure
I will thus be situated somewhere between the centre and the surface.
Will this have any influence on the relative densities of the earth's
interior; and will not the matter at the centre be "light as air ? " —
J. A. L. R. [J. A. L. R. confounds pressure with attraction. At-
traction vanishes at the centre, but the pressure, which results from
the weight of all matter between the centre and the surface, is there
at a maximum.— Ed.]
[97] — We know the inclination of the earth's axis produces the
change of seasons, and that the northern winter occtu's at perigee,
and the southern winter at apogee. Also, that in about 12,000
years this condition of things mil be reversed, and the northern
hemisphere will then be most favourable to a glacial epoch, which
undoubtedly the southern hemisphere now experiences. Is there
any significance (bearing in mind the preceding statements) in the
fact that the land predominates in the northern and the water in
the southern hemisphere ? And may we assume that when the
cUmatic conditions of the two hemispheres change, the physical
features likewise will change, and the maximum of water then be in
the northern hemisphere ? Or is it a mere coincidence ? — J. A. L. R.
[A French student of science, Adh^mar, started the theory that the
relation referred to by ""J. A. L. B." is not a. mere coincidence, but
there is no evidence to show that the hemisphere where there is
most water is necessarily that where the earth's nearest approach
to the sun occurs in the summer time. The changes in the eccen-
tricity of the earth's orbit, and the position of the place of nearest
approach, are not quite so regular as Adhcmar supposed. See my
article "Astronomy," in the " Encyclopaedia Britaimica," pp.795
and 796.— Ed.]
[98] — Kindly inform me when JIars will be at its next best point
for telescopic observation, and the simplest method for arriving at
the result. — Algol. [On Dec. 27 Mars will be most favourably
situated for observation. What result do you mean ? — Ed.]
[99] — Simmer Days and Winter Nights. — My almanack tells
me the sun reaches its most northern declination of 23° 27' 14" on
June 21, when it rises at 3 h. 45 m. and sets at 8 h. 18 m. ; that on
Dec. 21 the declination south is 23° 27' 12", sunrise at 8 h. 6 m.,
sunset 3 h. 51 m. How is it, if (as I have always understood) the
condition of things is exactly reversed on these days, that! the
length of the lomjest day and longest night are not ecjual ? Why
does not the winter day commence at 8 h. 18 m., the time the
summer night begins ? The June day has a duration of 16 h. 36 m.,
the December night a length of 16 h. 12m. How is this.' — F. F.
[The difference is due to the refractive action of the air, which
causes the stin to appear to riso sooner than he actually does, and
to set later. This causes every day to be longer than it otherwise
would. The actual iuterval between sunrise and sunset (for sun's
centre) would be 16 h. 24 m. on June 21, and this would also be tho
interval between sunset and sunrise on Dec. 21, were it not for
refraction. — Ed.]
[100] — Stings of Wasps, &c. — How do you account for the
stings of hornets, bees, and wasps not affecting the toad when it
cats them r — Ornithokynchcs.
[101] — Industry op Ants. — Are ants in reality the models of
industry which they are proverbially reputed to be ? — Okni-
thorynchus.
[102] — The Unseen Univekse. — Can you refer me to any book
or lecture of Professor Tait, of Edinburgh (I tliink it was Tait, not
Crum Brown), in which the wonderful theoiy was expounded, as
part of the idea of conservation of energy, that our words and
actions, whether good or bad, come not to an end on the spot, but,
converted into some form of indestructible energy, wander away
into space, there, in some passage of eternity, in their accumu-
lation, to work for the good or ill of the producer ? I am so cer-
tain that I have seen something like this from Tait, a sort of
scientific demonstration of the possibilities of a future state, that
an early reply in K.xowledge would much oblige. — A. A. F. [Pro-
bably the " Unseen Universe," by Tait and Stewart, is the work
A. A. F. requires. — Ed.]
[103] — Could you recommend me a good book on "Histology"
(of animals), and one on the Undulatory Theory of Light, treated
mathematically ? — D'Artagnan.
sKepIifss to (©iinicg.
[29] — G.uiDEN Tripod for Tele.scope. — Let the top of the tripod
be a circle, 4 in. diameter, and 1 in. thick ; into this the brass leg
which the telescope probably now has may be screwed, or it may
pass thi-ough and be clamped at any height, preferably the last, but
I could scarcely explain it without an illustration. The legs should
taper from 2 in. square to Uin., of whatever length you require, so
that they touch the ground about 4 ft. apart. The upper ends must
be bevelled, so as to fit accurately against the circular top, and had
better be hinged on the inner side, that they may fold inwards when
not in use. The whole must bo firmly made, or it will be useless.—
Paugul.
[30]— Solae Heat. — (1.) The difference in distance is as nothing
compared with the distance of the sun. Any physical geography
will explain that it is because of the less vertical direction of the
sun's rays. (2.) Both the sun's direct action, and the reflection of
his rays from bright objects, snow, sand, <ic. Radiation from the
earth plavs no part in the matter. — PAroCL.
[•il] — The Planet Vclcan. — I don't believe that Lescarbault
ever saw an intra-mercurial planet, but it appears that not only one,
but three or four have been seen.— Paugul. [The existence of an
intra-Mercurial planet is very doubtful. — Ed.]
[42] — B.Sc. AND D.Sc, LoND. — Surely this "Enthusiast" has
no conception of the vast store of learning for which he is asking
when he speaks of the questions set in the D. Sc. Exam., Lond. ^ If
he intends to graduate in science, he should study at a university.
If he will write to me, I will give him a long list of works which
i\-ill cover a portion of the syllabus he mentions. — Paugul.
[50]— Wasted Energy ? — The light which is absorbed is con-
verted into heat, and raises the temperature of the body which
receives it. — Alfred J. Shilton.
146
• KNOVV^LEDGE ♦
[Dkc. IC, 1881.
[52] - MirRo*u-<irK. --Ono of tho kind callo'i n»o<liriil mirroscopop,
baviiift tho body-tuho alidinK in tho stnnd, nnd in two pnrtn. Tho
objoctivcH Rhuiild bp mndr to slide into position nnd not to screw —
it anvrs time. ThiH niiiroKCO|>o permits n, more rapid chnnifc of
ampliliration, while stiM giving all other facilities for work as well
ns any other. — Pai'gi'l.
|6iJ — CliKMK'Ar, QuKSTiON.i. — The expIn.nntion of (I) given by
C. T. B. is viry good, but he is wrong in supponing tlwt hydro-
ferrocynnic noid has not boon isolated. Mr. Thoophilus I'itt accuses
" Ca»tor nnd rulhw " of being "inattentive" and "careless,"
adjectivoa which arc very applioiiblc to himself, as he has misread
tho qaostion, or else he is ontiroly ijjnorant of the faot that am-
monia and hrdrosulphuric noid form ammonium unlphide ; and ho
apparently thinks that feiTocyanido of pot.issiura should give a pre-
cipitalo with ammonia and ummoniuni sulphide, which is a serioua
mistake. With rogjird to quosti-n (2), C. T. li. suggests that tho
eolation might be alkaline. How can a solution of potassium bi-
galphate be alkaline ? Tho true explanation ia that tartaric acid is
unablo to displace sulphuric acid from potassium bisulphatp, al-
though it cjvn take up one equivalent of potassium from the neutral
sulphate (K„SO.,), forming bisulphate (KHSO.,), and bitartrato
(KHC,H.,0„). Potassium iodide should give a precipitate if tho
solutions are strong. The tartaric solution ought to be very strong
(1 part in 4 of water). A solution of platinum tetrachloride is a
far more delicate and reliable test for potassium j it should be used
in tho same way as tartaric acid, and, like it, also precipitates
ammonium salts. — E. F. H.
[55] — Tabi.e.s of Merioional Pakts. — The meridional parts in-
serted in most works on navigation, as in Noric, Bow^ditch, Inman,
Bajwr, Chambers. 4c., arc very old, and were computed for com-
pression 0, in fact, for the earth as a sphere ; these differ among
themselves only in so far as Chambers and Inman give tho quantities
to two places of decimals. Mendoza Rios used compression -g^j,
and these are the tables givon by Riddle. Riimkcr used compres-
sion 3^3, and are the samo as given by Caillet ; but, by far tho best
table of meridional parts is that given in the " Projection Tables "
computed for the United States Coast Survey Department and
Hydrographic Office, and reprinted in England in the last edition of
Eaper's " Nautical and Logai'ithmic Tables " ; the compression is
here taken as , based on Bessel's determination. — ^W. H. R.
299152S
[56] — Roscoo and Schorlemmer's " Tieatise on Chemistry " (Mac-
millan). — Alfred J. Shilton.
[58] — Smros and Oeion.— The statement was, of course, wrong.
Betelgoux must have been meant. — Paugul.
[62] — Algox. ^Perseus is represented as holding tho head of
Medusa ; the stars he mentions are one. — Paugul.
[C3]— Algol and Miea. — Mira was at its maximum early last
Jnly, and will be a month earlier next year. Algol every couple of
days. — Paugul.
[65] — New Star in CAssioPEiA.^We do not know. A staj- has
been seen, or is said to have been seen, two or three times in or
near Cassiopeia, at such dates that, if correct, it ia nearly due now.
That is nearly all we are able to say ; a small star has certainly
been seen lately in Cassiopeia where one was not noticed before, but
it may have nothing to do with the supposed variable. — Paugul.
[77] — Horrible dbkams are often dne to the quantity and
quality of food taken at supper. I think Pliny tho younger tolls
you to eat heartily of roast pork just before retiring if you want
horrid dreams. The worst dream I ever had was due to pickled
cabbage and cheese just before going to bed. The results are
thought to be duo to pressure on the solar plexus of nerves in the
abdomon, which set up some irritant action in the brain. To
avoid bad dreams, oat light suppers, at least three hours before
retiring ; take a little gentle 6.xercise if possible, and avoid startling
romances .it night. — T. R. Allinso.n, L.R.C.P.
[79]— Mental Puysiology.— " S. S. S. S." should have stated
lujw far ho wished for works of a "specialist'* physiological cha-
racter. Outside these, 1 don't think he can have a later, or a better
or more complete work on tho mental side of tho subject (and which
gives references to all needful works) than " An Inquiry into the
Process of Iluman Experience, &e.," by 'WUliam Cyples, published
by Strnhan & Co., 31, Paternoster-row, price 21s.— S.
■- [79]— Mental Phvsiologt. — Dr. Carpenter's "Mental Physio-
logy " is a capital book. " S. S. S. S." should look over the list of
tho " International Seicnco Series" (Kegau Paul & Co.) for several
works on tho brain and mind. Dr. Mnudsley's books on mental
subjects will also be found very useful by a student of mental
science. —Aniibew Wilson.
[83] — In answer to (a), Berthelot describes tho powdery form of
sulphnr in vol. xlix. of " Annales do Chimie." It is formed also at
tho zincodo of a battery, in the electrolysis of sulphurous and
sulphuric acids, (b) Nitric oxide in ine.'»nt. — C< T. B.-
[83] - SuLniuR Modification. — Tlicrc- air- five modifications of
sulphur known. The two crystalline forms, the plastic form, a dark
brown powder lift on treating the plaxtic form with CS,, and a
light yellow powder insolnble in CS, (c/irbon disulphidc) dop<j«ited
from solutions of sulphur in CS,, on being allowed to stand. The
above is from " Roscoe and Schorlemmer's Chemistry," Vol. 1.,
paragraph 156. (C.) It should be ftitric oxide.— A GBEF.Ninr ii
STUDENT.
[81] — Anciknt Man. — "Clio" (Query 81, p. 123) desires some
infomyilion as to the reliability of the researches o^ ProfesK^
Horner. The Professor published them in 1851. He states thati
made ninety-five vertical borings in the alluvial deposits'of the Nil
valley, and at the depth of 39 ft. fragments of pottery were found, aiL
the conclusion drawn is, to use the Professor's own words, "if the^
is no fallacy in my reckoning, these fragments of pottery most 1
held to be a record of the existence of man 13,000 years ago.'' ~
whole data of his conclusion rests upon the assumption that tU
deposit of the Delta was gradual and uniform. This he assuma
from calculating tho interval between B.C. 1450, the time of th
erection of the statue of Ramesos II., and the time at which tn
exploration took place. And judging from the thickness of tn
deposits around the statue, from its base npward.s he infers th
the Delta accumulated, if my memory serves me, at tho rah
of two and a-half inches a century. It will be perceived
that this calculation takes as its basis that the accumulation was
successive ; but we have no means of ascertaining how far the
base of the statue stood above the reach of the inundation when
first put up, and so have no basis for any calculation. Again, the
water of the inundation having been for ages kept out, according to
Egyptian custom, from the enclosure in which the statue stood, the
accumulation of the deposit there was the more rapid when, in aft4r
times, the water was admitted. This accounts for the thickness 4f
the sediment without any successive deposit. Herodotus (Book it,
p. 99) mentions that Mencs, first king of Egypt, ii.c. 2350, was
supposed to have diverted the course of the Nile by a dam twelve
miles south of Memphis, and thus to have dried up the old bed. It
may be that tho statue of Ramesos 11. stands on the old bed, and
the fragments of pottery were depo-«ited by after inundations. Legs
than n thousand years ago the Nile flowed close to the western
shore bf Cairo. It is now separated from it by a plain more than a
mile in width. At a depth of 30 ft., fragments of pottery were
found Jess than a thousand years old. Professor Horner says that
"fragments of burnt brick and pottery were brought up from the
lowest part, viz., 50 ft. from the surface." Now it is an undoubted
fact that there is not a single structure of burnt brick from one
end of Egypt to the other, earlier than the Roman dominion. Mr.
Birch, the Egyptologist, refers the burnt brick to B.C. 1300. On
these and other grounds I think it may safely be said that the
evidence for man's existence as derived from the researches of
Professor Homer is not reUable. — R. S. Corcn.
[88] — Brain Injuries.— The brain is divided into two parts. One
controls involuntary motion, as breathing, tho heart's action, 4o. ;
tho other is used for thought, the reasoning powers, and passions.
The brain is also double, so that, injure one part, and the other side
takes np its action. This is true with the reasoning and thinking
powers. Injure a part governing any member, and yon Bee at once
paralysis of that member. From this is inferred that injury to the
intellectual part is not followed by any noticeable change, l)ut
injure any of tho motor parts, and yon got at once paralysis. Thv
brain is the organ of feeling, in that it makes us aware of injuries
inflicted anywhere on the body : so that we make an effort to
remove the injured part from the irritant. — T. R. Almnsok, L.R.C.P.,
ic, 2, Kingsland-road, E. ',
[90] — The lx>st theory is, th»t the earth is an elect*o-magnet ;
currents of electricity travelling round at about right angles to the
axis. If is ba.sed on the fact that lodes of metal.^ generally lie in
the same direction, and they would be able to keep np thermo-
electric currents at the expense of the earth's heat. This theory
does not explain magnetic variation, — C. T. B. •
[105] — A Question of Geamsiar. — " A. T. C." will, perhaps,
nnderstand the phrases, "I can but think "and "I cannot bat
think," by remembering that the word " but " is used in three
senses : — (1) As an .adverb = " only," as in " I can but think " ; (2)
ns a conjunction, its most common use; (3) as a preposition =
" except," as in " I cannot but think " — this expression being ellip-
tical, for " I cannot do any other thing but think." In this last
case (which, by-tho-bye, some older gramm.arians ignore) " but" is
the representntivG of the Anglo-Saxon bWaii = without ; and is used
by Chancer in tho lines : —
" But meat or drinke, she dressed her io lie
In a dark corner of tho house alone."
The broad Yorkshire dialect has such expressions as " I can do bout
it " ; where the " bout " is not merely a corruption of " without,"
but the old Anglo-Soson • " but." —J. H. I*
Dec. 16, 1881.]
KN.OVi^LE]>GE
147
^■'
(Buv i^latOnnatiMl Column.
THE WITCH OF AGNESI.
[Reply to E. H. B., Mathematical Qaery, 2.]— The Witch of
Affoesi is a cnrve of the third order described in the " Analytical
liistitntos " of Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1748). It may be thns drawn
geometrically ; —
Take a circle OBA and draw a diameter OA ; then if QN por-
pendicalai' to 0.1 be produced to the point P, snoh that
NP : NQ . : AO : no
P is a point on the " Witch of Agnesi."
'■ It is evident that the curve will extend indefinitely on either side
of OA (we only show one branch) ; and that the tangent to the
circle ABO, at 0, will be an asymptole to both branches. Again,
if C be the centre of the circle; OC, CA, bisected in m and n; and
f SC, qn, and tm, perpendicnlar to OA, axe produced to meet the
. emre in b, p, and r, it is obvious that
bC=0A = 2a (putting OC = n)
V3a
-3pn
OA J -4
Ott 3 a
,m = ^^. t7n = 4to = 2v'3a =
Oft
Thus, a straight line drawn from Atop and produced will jmss
through r.
Again, if we draw AkM a tangent at A and LPS, IQk parallel to
OA, it follows from the fundamental property of the curve that
rect. LN^rwt. lA,
whence Q is on the diagonal OK. Tims, we have a simple
geometrical method of drawing the cur\-e, as follows ; —
On AM take any point K, and join OA' cutting circle OBA in Q ;
then parallels KP, QP to OA and OY, intersect in P a point on the
curve. (We give the construction for the point a on the cnrve,
joining MO, which cuts OBA in 0, and drawing the parallels
Ma, Go.)
For the ec|uation to the curve, take OA as axis of ir, and OL as
axis of V. Then, we have —
ON.PN=qA.QN; that iB
xy = 2ay/2cu — x' ; OTxy'=4a^(2a — x).
l''rom tliis equation to rectangular co-ordinates we can deduce the
properties of the cnrve. Differentiating —
^=-=^(2cu^-x=)-
dy __2a'^
^y = ^ (3o - 2x) (2a<E - x') "
(i)
(ii)
=0, ov !
From (ii) we see that — disappears when 3n — 2;
so that there is a point of inflection at p.
Putting ,c successively equal to— , a, and — in (i) we find: —
d,j
dy
at pi.
- -(•■-?)-'--
V3
'11 at pt. b =
J-^tpt.p = -^[s-
From these values, remembering that
— (2a=-a=)"»= - 2
4 / 3\/3
= 2\/3a; bC = 2a; and pn =
v^3
we see that the tangent at r cuts O^at a point, [i, such that mz = — ;
4
the tangent at 6 passes through A ; and the tangent at p cuts OA at
3o
a point X such that nx-= — ,
A geometrical construction for finding the point x in which a
tangent at a point p cuts ^the axis of x is easily obtained. For we
dy 2a^^Q„..,_„,.j — i
have— =
d.t
whence fi
(2a^-x»)
nco ijn = v^2nr —
it follows that
OA.OO ^ pn.On^OA.OC
On. in'
OA. (jn OA. OC
or {qny=OC.
Hence, if we take ntn = OC, a perpendicular at q to mq will cut OA
(produced, if necessary) in the required point x, such that xp is a
tangent at p.
We have not by us any treatife bearing on the history of this
curve, and are, therefore, unable at the moment (o state the pro-
perties which led to its invention. In Brando's " Dictionary of
Science and Art" the definition of the curve is given, and we have
based on that the above investigation. Most probably the cnrve
was one of those which mathematicians were fond of inventing (in
the 17th and 18th centuries) for the purpose of squaring the circle.
(Such a curve they would call a quadratrix.) It is manifest that
the cnrve can readily be swept out mechanically. Thus, let there
be a semicircular groove OBA (Fig. 2) and a straight groove
OT square to OA, and let bars Nn', LI slide between the partUlels
.4T, Oa (square to 0-4) so as always to bo parallel to ^ITand 0.4
respectively. Then if a rod OG swinging around 0, carry
points along AT and ABO, which respectively bear with them the
parallels LI, n'N, a pencil so carried as to lie always at the inter-
section of these parallels, will trace out the curve APb.
It is readily seen that the cnrve is a quadratrix. For, take any
two points, KJ. near together on 0.4, and about 0 as centre take
circular arcs Kq', Jq to the semicircle AqO. Draw OqL, Oq'L', as in
fig, 2, and parallels L'Pl', LPl, mPq'M, n'PqN, giving two points, F, P,
on the curve. Draw qn perp. to inM. Let Oq LI, cut mM in e' and i
respectively, arc q'K cutting Oq in o. Draw the quadrant Ara about
148
KNOWLEDGE
[Deo. 16, 1881.
I) as cciitri', cuttinff OL, 01/ in i-, i' rcBpoclively, and join Jr, Kr'
which ore obviounly perp. to OA (trianjflc AqO PC|unl in all rcBpocts
to trianKlp rJV. Ac.) Thi-n trinnplc c'f/'i/ is in the limit obviously
isOBCclcH, q'o pcrp. to qc, iind e'q ^2f"i='2KJ.
OA
Now area PM^PN. ^11 = 3^. jrrz eq. 00.=;. nqe'
= qN.
OA
ON
ON
OA
KJ
ON Oq Oq
= 2qA. KJ=2rJ. AV=2 root. rK
This being true of all such areas, as OL pa.sses from OA to OL
and onwards, it follows (proceeding to the limit) that
area PNA = 2 area rJA
and entire space between OA, Oa produced indefinitely, and the
curre APb carried on iudeliuitely
= 2 quadrant AraO
— ■!• semicircle OP A
Therefore, entire area between the " Witch of Agnesi " and its
asymptole is eqHal to foui- times the area of the circle from which
the curve is formed in accordance with its definition.
It may be noticed that wo can thus (after a fashion) square the
circle, withont>arrying on tlio curve to infinity. For, let CP perp.
to OA meet the witch in fi, and lot OP produced meet the quadi-ant
in c. Then we know that
Area APhG = 2 area AcN.
= 2 (sector JOc -triangle cO.V).
= quadrant ^Ou — triangle 0.4 T.
= circle .4iJ0— its inscribed square.
= va' - a'.
So that if APbC be regarded as detei-mined by this mechanically
constructed curve, na' — a' is determined, too ; or since a? is known
wn' the area of the circle OPA is determined.
In passing, it may bo noted that from the above construction
follows a ready demonstration of tho property of the tangent, esta-
blished analytically above. For the limit PP' is a straight lino, and
the tangent of the angle which PP" makes with OA is ultimately
tho — :- of our analysis.
Now tan. P'PL =
Pi
Pi
q'e'
LL'
nq
PN
qN
P'Pl = -
0L_
Oq
OL
04 ^
ON^ Oq
9% ^'^ ,
717 qN '
Cq. P£
qN qN
,.pir
- £2-
~(qN)'-'
This in the same relaliim as wc have already obtained ; for if a
tangent at /' meets AO prwhiccd, in a point «•, we have
py DC „,, .
(qSl
OC Bd.J
tan. r'PI. = - rr- =
•• G. P." considers that he has solved tho very difficult siimd*-
tancons equations '"
r^ + y.^a' (\) v' +:« = !(' (ii) s« + ry » r' (iii)
by showing, what is in truth obvious, that '
x'- a'j = y'— 6'!/ = 2'- c':.
" It is now reduced to a cubic " (wo fail to see this) '' which might!'
bo solved in a variety of ways. For instance, if wc suppose x=tiy,'
we get : —
(Where we have written h^, "G. P." writes 1, through some error.)
From which by substituting in (i) (ii) and (iii), wc find n, and'
hence .t, y, and t. It is evident G. P. has not tried substituting in
(i) (ii) and (iii). If ho had, he would have found, first, that sub-
stitution in (i) or (ii) would suffice [(iii) giving only an identity],
and that the resulting equation in n would be of the Cth degree !
[5] — DlKFERENILlL CaLCULCS.
tho relation
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
" G. P." next asks why, if we take
2 + J
and differentiate with respect to J-, we get'
COS. ir= — .
instead of cos. r-
(2 + .r)>
as by trigonometry. "Whence the contradiction?" Simply be-
cause " G. P." has applied the differential calculus the wrong way.
His relation assigns a definite value to x and to sin .r, and that
being so, we cannot differentiate. Take a simpler relation, and we
may find the differential calculus, applied in this way, contradicting
common sense. Thus take .1=1, and differentiate both sides with
respect to j, and we get 1 = 0.
[G] — In'Dktermi.v.vte Eqc.wiox. — Is it possible to solre
1 = 12 + 2;/ ?
to find the value of x and y, without assumiri'j any numerical value.
— J. A. L. R. [There must always be some assumptions in the
solution of iudetcrmiuato equations. — En.]
[7] — Could yon kindly favour me with a solution to the follow-
ing rider on II. Book of "Euclid": — "The angle A of a triangle
ABC is a right angle, and D is the foot of the perpendicular from
A on BC ; DM, DN, are perpendicular on AB, AC, respectively ;
show that the angles BMC, BXC are equal."— Nemo Impixe.
[As a filler on Book A*I., thus : —
Triangle BAG similar to triangle AND,
.-. BA: AC :: AN:ND ( = AM).
Hence BA.AM = AC.AN, wherefore points B, M, N, C, lie on
circumference of a circle,
.-. angle BMC=anglc BNC.
But the problem can be as readily solved without the aid of any
properties beyond those in Book III., thus : — Join MN. Then,
triangle .\MN being in all respects equal to the triangle NDA, the
angle .\MN is equal to the angle ADN, and then fore to the angle
ACD (.\CD and ADN being obviously equal, because each with the
angle DAN makes up a right angle). Hence the angles BMN and
BCN together are equal to tho angles BMN and AMN together,
or to two right angles. Therefore B, M, N, C are points on tho
circnmferonco ef a circle, and therefore as above
Angle BMC = angle BNC. —En.]
Dec. 16, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
149
dBm aeabi'gt column.
FORCING AT WHIST.
SiK, — I gat)»cr from the character of your published articles that
\ on presuppose in your readers some knowledge of the theory of
wliist. So much, in fact, has been written upon whist that it i.s
Jiflicult to find anybody absolutely ignoi-ant of its principles. It is
uf great value, however, to the young player, to place before him in
a condensed form the digested experience of the best players, and
llius raise him gradually from domestic to scientific play. " When
may I force my partner?" is a question frequently put. There
;^re, undoubtedly, many positions in practice where the thoughtful
li.it inexperienced player finds himself in difficulty. It is ea.sy
t nough to understand the reasonableness of forcing an adversary
■' ho has shown great strength in trumps, or a partner who has
j«Ti great weakness. But suppose, for example, as an original
III, a player were to lead from manifest weakness, an honour
,,i-. ing been turned to his right, that which in ordinary cases
ajipears to be an invitation for a force, would, in fact, amount
almost to a direction to lead through the honour. But I will
endeavour to lay dovm the cases when a player, not having trump-
strength, may, nevertheless, force his partner : — (a) When, with no
indication of strength, he asks for a force, (h) When the position
sliows a cross-ruff, (c) When the adversaries have signalled. (J)
To make the fifth or odd trick, or to save the game, when the hand
of the forcing player, or the development of the game, does not
r'ise a high degree of probability that the necessary trick may
\orwise be made. But an interesting point relating to the force
where the player, in a position to force, has trump-strength
.. .il'Iy justifying it. It often happens that a player renounces to
t'ne lead of his partner, who, with ample trump-strength, has no
strength in the tlien declared suit. If he forces, and the declared
-lit bo not headed by Ace King, or King Queen, the result is, after
■ irce, a lead up to ruinous weakness. No trick is gained by the
ee, for another trick is lost in the suit. If, however, the player
OS his partner his declared suit, the adversaries may infer that
lias no strength in trumps, and lead trumps to their disadvantage,
•nd you a game illustrative of this position, and hope it may be
.. -resting to your readers. Fkedekic H. Lewis.
The Ha.vds.
•iha—q. 9, 4.
arts— 6, 3.
ides— A, K, 8, 7.
imonds — Q, 5, 4.
••f.s— 10, 7, 6.
trta— K, Kn,
.des— 4.
amends— Kn, 10, 6, 2.
5, 4.
Dealer
z
Trump Card,
Shi3 of a.iij.
Cluis—Kn, 3, 2.
Hearts -A, 10, 9.
Spades— Q, 10, 5, 3.
Diamonds — A, K, 3.
Z.
CUihs—K, 8, 5.
Hearts— Q, 8, 2.
Spades - Kn, 9, 6, 2.
Diamonds — 9, 8, 7.
NoiB.— The nncierUned card i
A
T
B
♦
♦ ♦
I
fm^
♦
^^
4
♦ ♦
♦ ♦
0
♦ ♦
^ ®
0
9
<?
9 9
R®»
9
9
9
9 9
9 9
M
9
9
c? <;?
iSr^
9
= 1 ; Y Z = 4.
IS trifk, find card below it lea4s neit.
INFERKNCES.
1. — A leads from his strongest
suit.
2. — The fall of the cards, and
the discard of Two of Diamonds,
the lowest of the suit, shows -I
that no one is signalling for trumps.
3. — A, having here two honours
in trumps, might very well force
his partner, but, having only Six
and Three of Hearts, prefers to
give liis partner his suit.*
•
If he had forced him, the
game would
, prohablv, har
e proceeded as follow.s :-
A
r
B
Z
A
T
B Z
3.
37
sio
C6
S9
9. H6
HIO
HI H4
1.
H3
n9
H5
H2
10. C 4
HA
117 HQ
5.
D4
DK
DC
D7
11. C9
CKn
CIO C5
«.
D5
DA
DIO
D8
13. CQ
C2
HKn C8
?•
DQ
D3
DKn
D9
13. C A
Qi
HK CK
8.
ss
SQ
cr
SKn
9 9
9
9 9
9
9 9
9 9
+ 4-
+ 4-
4. 4.
4.
4. 4.
4. 4.
'•
4-
9
19 9
9
*.
if
9 9
4 4>
1
4.*4-
4.-!-4.
4-
4-
4^
9 9
9
9 9
1
4-
9 9
4. — B, although having no
strength in ti-nmps, is hero quite
justified in returning the Heart.
If his partner has avoided forcing
him, in consequence of weakness,
the chances are that the game is
lost. If, however, a cross-ruff can
be secured, such a position would
be most advantageous.
5. — r sees that a cross-ruff must
be secured. He has the tenaco in
Spades, the best Heart, an honour
has been turned ; he has the com-
mand in Diamonds, and A has
avoided forcing li. All this is too
much for weak human nature, and
he cannot resist a trump lead ; he
therefore loads the highest of his
three trumps.
6. — .1 is now iu a position to
force his partner advantageously.
7. — Tlie cross-mff : conveying also
to 4's mind, from the fall of the
cards, that the two remaining
Hearts are mth £.
8. — A is in a position to give
another force.
9. — B cannot lead one of his long
Hearts, such play would be very
bad, and accordingly he leads the
best of his remaining Diamonds,
treating the suit as though he had
originally but three.
10. — A now has the tenace in
trumps, but he requires three
tricks to win the game. If he
keeps the Queen of Diamonds he
can make only two ; he, therefore,
cleverly throws the Queen, taking
the chance of his partner having
the Ten of Diamonds. The fact
being so, he secures four by cards
and the game. The rest of the
hand plays itself.
Slnstotrsf to Contsfponlifntsf*
Offici
'All ,
mmunications for the Editor requiring early attention should reach the
b^ore the Saturday preceding the current isfue of Knowledge, the
ing circulation of which compeh us to go to press etirhf in the week.
Hints to Cobbesposdests.— 1. No quewtiona aekinq for scientific informatien
can be anetpered through the post. 2. Lettera sent to the Editor for correspondents
cannot be forwarded ; nor can the names or addresses of correspondents be given in
anstcer to private inquiries. 3. No queries or replies savouring of the nature of
advertise mentu can be inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to Side 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should write on one side
only of the paper, and put drawings on a separate leaf. 6. Ea«h letter, query, or
reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
made to the number of letter or query, the page on which it appears, and its title.
and the reauh would be two, instead of four, bj cardj.
W. We cannot afford space for your long letter, containing only assertions with-
out evidence. Newton waited uineteen years before advancing his theory of
gravitation, because, though it agreed in rdl other respects with observed facta, it
would not stand one test — the reason being that the accepted measurement of the
earth's globe was incorrect. Cannot Mr, Crosland's friends allow his astronomy
of the future to wait until it has been shown that it accounts in measure ani
number for at least one single observed fact ? We promise to give all the space
you ask for vague generalities, for the first demonstrated case of the kind.— H. J.
Pbabson-. (1) Strictly speaking, the eiact sciences are those which are based
on mathematics, as optics, astronomy, &c. ; but the tearm is usually extended to
all sciences depending on observation and experiment, so thai it include-j
chemistry, and other physical sciences not strictly exact. The term is not a well-
chosen one. (2) It cannot be " demonstrated " that the nearest way from one point
to another is the straight line joining the two points; but we show that the latter
path is shorter than any path made up of straight lines, and since a series of very
short straight lines may be made to approximate as nearly as we please to a
curved line, this can at lany rate be demonstrated, that a curved line from one
point to another differs by'an indefinitely small amount from a length which ia
greater to an assignable degree than the straight line joining the two points.—
Thos. Smith, Jun. Phrenology is not so young that, were it really a science, it
should be imable to take its own' part. It is much older than spectroscopy, which
can stand alone very well. We did not, however, mean that phrenology is
absurd, when we spoke of the absurdities of phrenology; there are reason-
able features as well as absurdities in it. Much may be said in favour of a
rational phrenology. Gall and Spurzheim were both scientific observers, aad both
made useful scientific discoveries ; but their system of mapping out the cranium
has now no adherents among men of science.— W. J. M. We have ourselves
seen and heard a dog which was said to speak ; but one had to make believe a
150
KNO^A^I-EDGE
[Dec. 16, 1881.
grr»t iir«l. Thu^. if )-f
uia
• (H.ifi. " to him (Im wno « French iloj,-) ho -^
^k.< > nui.e'.bi)ul u nnir (o the -oud.I of th« »or.l iw Ihn ..■•t;' »' "'".^/i""". '"
™ ho .,.rd cuckoo, but uo o-«r<.r. If cno hnd b«cn loU he «";' " h"^ 'h^""^''
......1.1 l.i.,...lonniu«l oa well for ihnl word, or forhalf-n-donu olhom. Jn sonicnucn
r^T dm.Mir X d" "•' cen ind herd by M . Uibnilr, " could ..jr. in Oerm.n
r«!'coS;i ,U; Wo hid a doK „n,.o «hich could ,ing, but ib.t "HU'rcd » Ro^'
di^l of "iA«lio believe " too.-.Ioiin Stkhlb. Your eipUnnlion not ncim«r>.
b^ wcU rTeived tteienoo no more quclion. tho .un'» heal th.n «. quo.t...n
Ih. he.t ofTflrc »hich ..rm,. u,'-Alt..b. Query »' "'7.;^/ "»«"■';
r^^.eirn->" "f '^^ "o «S ■tV^n'ot.-XtM;'^ 3;M.^
i, nn«und. for the ar^gl i» obv.ou.lv ""'/""''":?- "'"^"^"b^'^i
Your flrrtri-nll uraount. to th.R, that ■' T"" ''7« .'n':\?i^r r^m Xh you
moves in the Fifteen I'uizle, you can como back to the po.ilion Irom wlucn you
■twted- your .ccond, to thi». that startinR from a cerlmn ponlion and nmkinK
„" number of move, you cannot work b«:k to a certam other P«'''°". f^'^^y
re/emblinR, but not identical with, the former. But thui does not depm e ho
puicle of ita interest as a mathematical eniRma. 1 ou can .>>»'-'i';i' ,"■>*". P™'':';
Kh, numerous eiperimenta ' ' (only) that those ''-">'«"« '°7"»''';'/°! Xr
arc twenty billions of different roi.l.ons which can bo attained from one or oiner
of your two sUrting pontions. If you had (that is. if vou had worked at the
puiilo ten Umes or so a day. durinR a life of some twenty thousand years) there
puiiic 10 _u ^ ^^^ problem-pretty, though not difl!cult-of showing why
variablj- be attained. T'"^°^''«''°'f,"""'™'„P""'®Jfihp'smXsl
Tbaskitar
that on p. 117, but if o». «,
for your commimication all the same,
with regard to space. Note bcginni:
and reply toW. K. W. below.— Jauk
shall appear shortly.— Eclkcticcb.
lla\c been obliged 1^ much shorten y
IferUit
eive such note* M Jtn
iderstand. — J. P. B,
'enpondctio*
woald still
these rMiUts can invariably be atlamea. incnmereis iiicii,:oi ^.^
how to attain any assigned position from another of the samoord
number of movei. On the whole, it is as pretty ahttle pu^^le, I ""f. ff""^ '^
vented since "Sohtaire," which involves "on""'"-? neat mathematical reAat.ons^
C.IROMO. Thank, ; but question, suffic ently <^^Y."i'^"'^^~^^^oIZ^^ov,
Your feara were expressed for others, but seemed to be yours. Anyhow, we know
your lettor would have raised most undesirable controversies.— !■ . 11. »• '",';
lunar iUusion is not dependent on the vastness of the sun s distance "• »
eiplanaUon was sound. The plane through the observer s eye and '!"' ^''""'''*;
sagitta due south passes through the east and west points on the horinon. \\ omcl
mfntyour letter did space permit - R. Ravmbnt. Hope shortly to insert your
fe7ter^-A.v Admikbh'^ You are very good, b"' fTJT'^rSl^?,°uTenU "
would not quite Uke it.-E. BlKOEss. Thanks for " Help to Chess Students,
Crowded out at present.-ATHOS. Of course you are "K'>1 ■",'^7"'^^''' ''i''
solar dark bnes, as interpreted, prove the sun to be intensely hot The argu-
ment would beabove comprehension of the paradoiere, ho^evei-.-RoD S. Coccn
Letter «li.<ill shortly appear, it possiblc.-G. W. NivEN. Short notes on such
trick, would suit well enough.-tS. N. H. O. No space at present Thanks for
replies.-A. L. 8. Thanks for account of lunar rainbow (wl'V call it Ins
Lunaris?). No room for it at pre.sent.-J. Fbaseb. Still hold the
i^'epted theory of the tides. No earthly reason why 'he earth should
fidl into the moon. Your theory wholly untenable. ^T. Thanks. -
F. W. C. Cannot insert answers recommending instruments by parti-
cular make™. We are sure of your bona-JiJe, ; but others """''1 '^''',", "f"
to do Ukewise with less worthy motives.-J. M. Many thanks; but the
question had been answered suffii-ienlly, though we could not lind room at once
lor reply -W F Dknni-X-o. Thanks; your letter shall appear.-CABLO f.
JonssoN. Thanks; but we tnko replies respecting comets as part of subjectwe
are discussing in articles-if only we could get a line or two m 'f ««*"£;, O'^"
qoestions aiiswered.-H. O. HoLliNOWOETU. WiU try to Bnd tfom-D Aktag
iJax. Airy'B Essay on " Undulatory Theory of Light" (m his malhematical
essays) Lloyd's and Potter's treatises were what we used to read at Cambridge.
-IsQuiKBB. Moore-9 "Lalla Rookh " is not a recognised astronomicjJ
authority ; stiU " half retired •• (from the earth) ivoukl correspond nearly enougn
with Ume when Venus •• looks loveUest."-S. N. W. \ ou evidently have not yet
"rasped the meaning of the modem theory of evolution, lour remarks apoly
well to such theories as Lamarck's and others ; but they arc dead; why play
Falstaff at Shrewsbury over them?-J. D. " As fast as we fil a telescope, you
say, "the earth's motion ought to displac'c it." That is just what the earth 8
motion does. It is this motion that the driving clock of a telescope is devised to
.■orrect, by constantly carrying the clock the otherway.-F. H. 8., J.Gotti-bied,
and otherJ. Thanks ; " Mapc Squares " crowded out for the present.-L i-EBllBBS.
Received ; thanks.— Mabel W. L. Pressure of time was the cause of printer s
error ■ but it was of the less importance, as Brewster's ideas were entirely incorrect.
- S U F — Wepreferour " happy laughter " to be independent of comparatively
" low repUes." Your method of studying the luminary in ouestion is uiisound.—
.1 Gottfried. Thanks for your magic squares; the method shall appear. Ihereare
others yet.— ANoairw Aitkbn. Your answer to Cymro's question is sutftciently
sound, but we have not room for second solutions. The arst was correct The
llrst pivrt of answer to Query « is also omitted, as the triseclion of a nght angle
famiUar to all students of geometry. The other solution is really the same as
.. ,,r >,...:» „„.,._„,. „ot BO crowded we would pive It. Thanks
We must ask you to consider our position
ig of our letter in correspondence column,
s SUAW. Article on " Right-handednc-ss"
We give you alone this fiom de plume now.
jur letter.- W. U. R. Thanks, but longer
parts could not be placed. There is no
Utin word meridionalii). MerUmmm is the word. Albeit we leave such
point, to the printers.— W. T. Lynjt. Thinks, but the ciact time when
Halley's comet was Brst obsen-ed in 1759 is not Ukely to interest the majority
of our readers and space considerations trouble ns. We put in your flrst letter,
heinuse it involved a correction of our own statement . Otherwise, these questions
<pf dates priority, manner of observation, and so forth, seem of httle importance
How often has the error about Tycho Brahe and the new star been repeated, and
what harm has it done? We must not be microscopical in such matters.—
HtBlus. To save space, have been obliged to incorporate your letter in our own.
— Alki. J. E. Your 3-equare punr.Io is very neat.— Musicus. Why want to
learn how to " get in the way of talking " while you play the piano? Did you
ever hear anyone do so who had the least feeling for music? hone such can play
well when oiJieri talk. Probably, it i, as easy for a mere " performer to talk
while he phiy, as to talk while someone else is playing, and as diUlcult (rather as
impossible) 'for a real musician to do one as the other. To anyone with the
.lighteot particle of musical feeling, there can be nothing much more trying
than to hear people talk while a noble air is nobly rendered, unless it be
to hear a skil'ul executant talking while the notes of a noblo J;r P»«»
wilhout life or eipression under hi, agile but not musical lingers. —K. F. H.
■Hianks.- Herheet R. Weller. Unquestionably a meteor. Some meteors move,
apparently, quite slowly, and the larger often have the comelic appearance
vou indicate -H. A. S. " Puizled's " problem is sufficiently eiplained. It is
"much older than the publication you mention, though, doubtless, new to him.
Your other problem, depending on half a live man being equal to a man half
dead is amusing, but would be out of place here.— K. J. P. Why w-iU corre-
spondent, take 80 much care to make their communications too long for inser-
tion ?— A BioLonisT. Your reply to No. 62, if inserted, would lead to others
being sent, which might read Uke advertisements. Thanks equally.— J. H. W. L.
We will
Si[i'B.Moi"muci;;' we fear, over Ih.- «"•""";;■■"
K. J. Baonm. Com-ction inwrted. ^''*"''"- -— J,,; „„dor.i
suggest with }'l"f-"J'^''l ^™':^;.5rcnT" n° t;^ ^..^^^^
Unow«--th«l fancy often mimic, reason. . .
anow, iimi i»" J g^j misjoming •hapea
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreama
111 matching words and deeds long pastor late.
lU roalcning wo™ ;, hard^ eip inatorj. The oo««0on
the ■"'^^'"'..iH" n o°i tfe "arth JuffidentiT prov^e that these ?<?!«. k"«
already answered, we omit, "P^* ,*" ?f "?XSent "-H. E. W. W.
'h"ol'ut'';:ind"a.;"d rh":Velo";ory ch"'e"eed'','trat of^ither The prindjl.
absolute wind, ana 'ne veiotiij "■ j Lampbet. UnqucstlcliaWj,
^L'"" Iniwle r o"f '?hrA"de'nt.?- wo'u'ld L Juu'of interest ^f-' --a™.. .*
I'de^^Lowle ge; andocc.iona.pape™ onth^.^^^^^^^^^
cannot, as yet, arrange for '"e sysieniaut " ^, ^jjeduo attenUoB.—
{<Vv»v.-i'i"Lvr ffiVs fV7S«V.^'^^^^^^
'sfarT^n S^ove^ber,^"!^ M^ » ^^^^^^^^
unfair ? There was, of oouye less ^"""P™*''''?^"'^^ ' th"^4«'p^DdJSS
not have been strange h^^'*""' ^7" r°"„ were interesting. TwoVeren*-
occupled.too much space ^^^^-^vVbeVn pur.rong "he origi'nal article, .^
^L'^i^:" r, mXt?;'.uT|ested that the" -"" should J.e put a^ong^
„„„j„r,..o Yoii must remember that we have to consider tnose woo »ui
nereafterwemu.stbe more 8tr,ct, though as -ti. ^^ ,«h«ic.l
l:r'"M';rlin°8fof . p^£cLf^^^^^^^^
"3 hT^th. However, the Indians who B.f .''"Sl'l.rof flesh-L?°t wWd.
cated otherwise. The ouestion "hither it is the use of flesh meat
has raised man above \is ''I'-'j^, ,*^"'?»'!L''jJe of "he^dL.«ed high
cussion. It scarcely seems probable m the face 01 tne a b_
p, to lower prices.— T. K. ALttusos. '^»'_ "5 1, A„ better than cet
„,„. ■-"Orable.-ABNOtD Ramspbx^ y^ebb'^ "cele^tfi Obiectl lor Comio.
Midler's smaller map »« <he m^n or Webb^ Ce^e ^^ ^^^^^^.^ ^
Telescopes," '°,«hich there ,s an eiceiieni map g ^^ pubUshere, would
book is about lOs.; Madler 8 map alone, from the Ixep^^^ inst^ent
cost, 1 suppose, a shiUing or •"■yThomas ^°^^k^ > °"^ 6^ g p , eorrectrf
tS^'w^ n "ne who ha: rea'd LyeU's ramarks on 'he book in b.
Children differ singuhirly. Certainly «'"^^,^f ''°,' ' ',^''1^ but her novel-writing
not of itself show that h-r br«n was ab,j^,™aUy <U,v elo^^^^^ h^^ ^^^^^^ ^ B
rp-e^^c'^:fTori^t^terr;?ur ¥te ^i^ -J^,"- ^'tik'T^^ltllSl:
fc"g?vrw^e^?y^rthTrrp^ortii?.wof^rf - b^e a-a.-w.,^.
tiopc lo ^>t ,**'^" J . j„„„ „;tVr,„t imurini' the maps. Doubt it. — A. ■*•
vclumoneeii not contain them. _ ' nis iB_»irt« j ^^_^^^ ^_^^^^^^^ Onioi
page is now numberwl
and 2. -Ed.]
;Tofo™ p«t TtThi f^^d volume. Compare N... I
(he
Dates aitd Hocbs for thb Stabs ei NoTJMBB.-These are «i follow.
Jt foTr n:::be.;-Oct. 30.at 10» o-cloek; Nov. 3 lOJo'cloc.; Nov. VOoa^
Nov. 10. Oi o'clock ; Nov. U, H o'clock; Nov. 18, 9} o clock ; Nov. 2B, 9 o cUh±
Nov. 26. 81 o'clock ; Nov. S9, 8i o'elock ; and Dee. 3, «< »i ■"J""''- .
Contents of Kkowledge ^o. 6
P10«.
Dreams. By Edward Clodd W
IntelUgeneem AnimaU^ ^-^ ""
Bohds, Liquids, and Gases.-Part
IV. Hy W. Mattieu WiUiama ..
Perspocti'vo Illusions. By H. J.
Bla<-k. P.O. 8 ,,,
Rkviews —British Ferns , ■ ■•• '"
Hiercglvphieal Inecription, of the
RakariVvramid,. By a Member of
the Society of Biblical Archn-olegy 111
CoRBRsro.vDKNCBr— ToOur Reader,
— Prof esoor Clerk Marwelland the
Reversibility of the Gramme Ma-
chinc-Sundav Art Eibibition—
not-
The Pyramid and Paradoiei»—
Pvram'id Measures— Possible DliJy
Variation of Pendulum Darinn •
Theory of Evolution- ProblOM
Geometrically Insoluble — A R«-
eoroeincaiiy iu»v.»»~ - —
jarkable Rainbow, ic _ "»
The Southern Skies in December—
(llluitratiJ)
11»
Q„„,<,, IM
liephes to Qtiories }~
Our Mathematical Colomn »»
Our Whist Column •"
Our Ch.>M Column }"
Answers to Correspondento »-"
Dec. 23, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
151
Ofb^NCE
FLAiNLfWoRDED -EXACTOTESCRIBED
LOXDOX: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1881.
CONTENTS.
Ih- So-callcl Elements. Bv Prof,
r. A. Yt.
131
\Vlml is a Grape ? By Grant All.
siudies of Volcanic Action. Part II.
Bv G. F. Rodwell 151
Our rnbiddon Gnesls, Part II.
Ht Dr. Andrew Wilson. F.R.S.E. l"^
- 'ids, Liquid'', and Gaseg. Part T.
rvW. Mnttieu Williams l.iC
■ li^olution of Man _ l.'w
I .Met's Seismometers {Tlliutmle't) 15"
T\w Faure Accumnlator. By W.
I.vnd 13S
Tlr.' Wyandotte Indians. By Miss
.U W. Buckland loS
TAOB
Xote on the Splieoridal Slate. By
W. F. Barrett, F.li.S.E 159
An Instrument for Ih-awint: the
Conic Sections. By Thomas Thorp
{lUiutratei) 160
CORBESPOKDENCB , 160
The Northern Skies in Decembor—
(niuslraled) 161
~ ■ 167
RcpUea to Queries
Xotes on Art and Science i... 169
Our Mathematical Column 169
Our Chess Column 170
Our Whist Column 171
Answers to Corrospondejits 172
THE SO-CALLED ELEMENTS.
Bv Prof, G. A. Young.
Y own spectroscopic oliservations bearing on the
elcraeutary constitution of matter have not been very
mimerous or important, as compared with those of several
other investigatoi-s ; at the same time, they liave liad a
place in the discussion of the subject, and I cheerfully
comply with the Editor's rciquest to present a short account
of them to the readers of Knowledge.
The idea that our so-called chemical elements are not
i-.all}' and absolutely elementaiy, but arc built up either of
atoms of some one universal matter, or of some few sub-
stances of a higher order of simplicity than themselves, is
neither improbable nor new. As Mr. Ijockyer points out,
I?umas in 1836, and Brodic in 1867, not to mention
others, have expressed themsehes very clearly in this
direction.
But the present special Uitcrest in the question is due
mainly to Mr. Lockyer himself, who, in 1873, by an able
ind extensive induction from all available spectroscopic
-i-rvationR, put the theory in a new light, and brought
,'cther in its favour a great Ijody of evidence, to which
he has since then been continually adding.
In tlic discussion of the subject, certain observations of
ray o^Ti have been made use of along with those of others,
always, I believe, with due and courteous acknowledgment,
and in a manner to which I have nothing to object, unless,
perhaps, that too much weight ha.s sometimes been gi\en
to certain numbers which I had assigned only provisionally,
and on a very short experience.
These observations of mine were for the most part made
iii.July and August, 1872, during a six weeks' stay at
Sherman, the summit station of the Fnion Pacific Iltul-
road, at an elevation of 8,300 feet above the sea Isvel.
Tlie party was connected with the organisation of the
Coast Survey, and the results of the observations are
published in the " Coast Survey Report " for 1872.
_ The work consisted mainly in a record of the bright
Imes observed in the spectrum of the solar prominences,
and of the lines which were widened or otherwise modified
in the spectra of sun-spots. The resulting catalogues con-
tained respectively 273 and 1-56 lines, but only that portion
of the .spot spectrum lying between B and b was included.
In these catalogues an attempt was made to assign numbers
indicating the relative intensity of the lines and their pro-
portional frequency of appearance ; but, as has been inti-
mated, the number of observations was far too small to
make such figures very reliable.
Several remarkable facts were, however, very clearly
bi-ought out. In the first place, those lines of the spectrum
of any particular substance (iron, for instance) which
are most conspicuously and frequently seen, as brir/hl
Imes in the spectrum of the chromosphere and prominences,
are not generally the same as those most notably widened
in the sun-spot spectrum ; nor are either of these the ones
wliich are most prominent in the ordinary solar spectrum
or in the spectrum of the electric arc. Each of these four
spectra selects and emphasizes, so to speak, its own set of
so-called iron lines, and the same is true of other sub-
stances. Second : Where distortions and disturbances of
the lines indicated rapid motions of the solar gases alonn-
tlie line of sight (approaching to, or receding from, the
observer), it frequently happened that neighbouring lines,
due to different substances, were differently affected ;
certain lines of iron might be violently displaced, while
the adjacent lines of calcium were not disturbed at all. In
some instances, also, it was noticed that lines, given in
the maps as belonging to the same element, and actually in
the same field of view, behaved very differently ; one of
them indicating violent motion of the gas concerned, the
other showing nothing of the kind. But this observation
seemed at the time so strange, and the instances were so
few, that, in view of the possibility of mistake, it was not
thought best to publish it without further confirmation,
which it has since abundantly received.
In the third place, and most important, it was found
that a very surprising proportion of the lines con.spicuous
in the spectra of the chromosphere and sun-spots are lines
which on the maps are given as common to tlie spectra of
two or more elements — lines which Mr. Lockyer has since
designated by the term "basic." Nearly one-third of all
the lines in the two catalogues belong to this class, while in
the ordinary solar spectrum, they amount to less than four
per cent, of the whole.
At that time the prevailing opinion, I think, was that
these common lines were due to impurities in the .specimens
of the metals employed in mapping the spectra. If, for
instance, in making a map of the spectrum of iron, the bits
of iron used for the electric spai'k to play between (techni-
cally the " electrodes '') were slightly contaminated with
calcium, then we should expect the more important lines of
calcium to appear faintly in the map of the iron spectrum ;
and the difficulty of getting perfectly, or even " spectro-
scopically," pure iron is enormous.
It was evidently possible also that these coincidences
might be such only in appearance— cases of accidental
juxtaposition too close for resolution by the existing
spectroscopes.
But the instances were so numerous, tliat, on the whole,
it looked more prolialile that the true explanation of such
coincidences would be found in something common to the
elements concerned; and at the time, I thought a siuiiiarity
of molecular structure! more likely than a community of
substances. It appeared very possible that metals so closely
alike in many of their properties as iron and chromium,
for instance, might owe this general resemblance to such a
likeness of their molecular arcliitecture as would also carry
with it certain identical vibration-periods. If atoms are
vortex-rings in a continuous medium, the likeness might Vjo
in the size and configuration of the rings ; if, on the other
152
KNOWLEDGE •
[Ukc. 23, 1881.
hand, we arc to tbink of the ultimate atoms as little hard
balls, all exactly alike, and the chemical (elementary)
molecules as aggregations of a gi-eatcr or less number of
these atoms, variously arranged, it would be easy to
inm"ine some such likeness in the molecules of allied sul>-
stances as would account not only for the spectroscopic
facts, but many others.
Mr. Lockyer, however, after experimentally disposing
of the theory that these " basic " lines arc due to impuri-
ties, has preferred tlie hypothesis that what is common to
two elements which show certain identical lines in their
spectra, is some constituent substance, found in both, and
liberated in greater or less proportion with change of tem-
perature ; and he finds in the existence and beha^dour of
tliese lines one of his strongest arguments in favour of the
compound character of the chemical elements.
But I fear that the foundations of this argument are
insecure, however it may bo with the other evidence upon
which he rests his case.
My observations in 1872 were made with a spectroscope
inferior to very few then in use. It had a dispersive power
equivalent to that of a train of twelve flint-glass prisms
of 60°, with collimator and view-telescope of 10 in. focal
length. In optical perfection I have never seen, and do
not expect to see, its superior ; of course, it easily showed
every line laid down upon the maps of Kirchhoff and
Angstrom, and a multitude beside.
But soon after this time Mr. Rutherfurd's ditt'raction
gratings V)egan to come into use ; and as they were made of
continually -increasing fineness and excellence, something
like a new world opened before observers in respect to the
details and structure of the solar spectrum. Up to 1877,
no gratings were made with a ruled surface exceeding about
one s()uare inch in area ; but in that year Mr. Chapman
(Mr. Rutherfiu-d's mechanician), at my request, and with
Mr. llutherfurd's hearty concurrence, altered the machine
so that it could draw a line 1 \ in. long, and ruled for me
three plates on speculum metal, with difiraction surfaces of
nearly four square inches. One of these new plates allows
the use of so much larger object-glasses, that, by giving a
suitable focal length to collimator and telescope, the avail-
able dispersion is increased four-fold over that obtainable
from the smaller plates, with the same apparent brightness
of the spectrum. Perhaps I may mention in an aside that
one of our most distinguished American physicists has now
in hand a machine, nearly completed, and bidding fair to bo
perfectly successful, which rules lines four inches in length.
With this he expects to make gratings ha^^ng a ruled
surface 4 in. by G in., and with 20,000 linos to the inch, or
even finer. Quod favstnm sit. One would be almost
ready to die after a good study of the solar spectrum with
such a grating and accessories to match. But with one of
Mr. Chapman's best gi-atings, l^in. by 2| in., containing
over 10,000 lines (17, .100 to the inch), combined with colli-
mator a!id telescope of 42 in. focus and 3 in. aperture, and
a magnifying power of 2.">0 (which is perfectly l)orne under
the Viest conditions, when the grating is in good humour,
perfectly flat and of uniform temperature throughout) — •
with this instrument, I say, one reaches about the limit of
present abilities. Hundreds of lines shown .as single in the
older maps of the solar spectrum turn out to be double,
triple, or multiple, and the vacant spaces of the spectrum
are filled with crowds of fine lines and details of shading
before undreamed of.
When attacked with this instrument, nearly every one
of the " basic " lines of the solar spectrum is resolved ; out
of seventy such on Angstrom's map, only .seven withstand
its power, and three of these seven are probably on the
"basic" list by mistake, as the numerical tables of llialen
are at variance with the map regarding them. With an
instrument almost identical with my own, ProfesaorB
Living and Dewar have recently investigated the elec-
tric-arc spectra of nearly all the metals involved. Their
results accord with mine in almost every instance. They
find that the apparent coincidences between the lines of
difterent sul>stances always lireak down under powerful
dispersion ; so that as matters now stand, I see no evidence
to be drawn from such coincidences in favour either of
Mr. Lockyer's view, or of the slightly-different hypothesis
which I advocated myself.
The spectra of different metals, so far as we can now
make out, have absolutely no points of exoct agreement
As to the remarkable and disproportionate number of
these apparently common lines which are found in the
catalogues of chromosphere and sun-spot .spiectra, may not
the explanation be substantially as follows : — A line which
is really composed of two or more belonging to different
elements is much more likely to catch the eye than others.
In the first place, this line will appear when either of the
metals vigorously reverses its lines, even though the other
does not ; and again, in cases where both metals reverse
their lines, but too feebly to be detected against the back-
ground of the atmospheric spectrum, this line, of double
brightness, will be clearly seen. Since, prol>ably, all, or
pretty nearly all, of tlie lines are actually reversed close to
the sun's limV), though only a few arc usually blight enough
to be caught by ordinarj* instruments under ordinary
atmospheric conditions, it is ea-sy to see that a slight ad-
vantage of tliG kind indicated above would give a composite
line a great lift in the scale of relative frequency and
brightness.
I have not yet been able to apply the highest obtainable
dispersion to the examination of the spots and promi-
nences, as the great spectroscope is too large to be attached
to the eye-end of our 12 ft. equatorial I have, however,
used the same grating with collimator and telescope of
12 in. focus, giving about one-fourth the resolving power of
the large in.strunient. Even this is more than four times as
powerful as the piismatic spectroscope used at Shemian,
and with it, it becomes perfectly clear that the catalogues
of prominence and sun-spot lines contain many serious
errors, the correction of which will be likely to remove
some puzzling anomalies. In a nunilwr of cases, lines
which are noted in the catalogue as bright in the spectrum
of a prominence, or thickened in that of a spot, turn out
to be entirely unaffected, the real culprit being a neigh-
bouring line, so tine and so close to the larger one, as to be
absolutely indistinguishable from it with the old instru-
ment.
^\^len our great equatorial (of 23 in. aperture, and 30 ft
focus) is mounted, as it will be next spring, it will be able
to carry the large spectroscope without difficulty, and I
shall then hope to review the catalogues with power enough
to settle most of the questions of this sort. Until such a
review is made, it seems to me that generalisations founded
ou our piesent data must be very cautiously liandled.
WHAT IS A GRAPE ?
Bv Gr.\st Allen.
^I"^IIEY make n beautiful picture, these big English hot-
_l liouse Vilack 1 lambros, with their purple bloom and
their waxlike texture, clustered thickly together in rich
luxuriance on their slender and heavily-weighted branching
fruit stalks. Indeed, we have Jiow cultivated them to such
a pitch of excellence, that tlieir old wild ancestors would
hardly recognise them to-day for members of the same
Dec. 23, 1881.]
. KNOV/LEDGE ♦
153
©rigiual woodland family of Oriental climbers. Yet, after
all, we have only been able to carry a little further, by
careful selection and tillage, the peculiarities which Nature
had long since produced in the priniiti\ e native stock. At
best, man can only develope more fully what the plant itself
has well begun. Our ornamental flowers are but the hand-
somest chosen wild blossoms ; our cereals and edible roots
are but the starchiest wild seeds and tubers ; and our
garden fruits are but the pick of the hips and haws
and wayside berries, improved and altered by ages of
cultivation.
The grape-vine, they say, comes to us originally from
the shores of the Caspian. Even in its nati\e condition it
produces little sweetish acid grapes, hanging in purple
clusters among its green festoons. The question is, then,
of what use to the plant itself are thest; juicy fruits ?
For we now know that whate\er use nan may make of
this, that, or the other organ in any particular plant or
aoimal is, so to speak, an accidental after-thought ; the
organ always subserves besides some useful purpose in the
economy of the plant or animal itself to which it belongs.
Now, of course, tlie main use of all fruits is to produce
or contain the seeds. They are merely seed-vessels, and,
in most cases, they are dry and brown when ripe, like
the pea-pod, the poppy-head, or the capsule of the mig-
nonette. The problem we have to answer in the case of
the grape is therefore this : Why should it be pulpy and
prettily coloured, while these other fruits — and, indeed, the
vast majority of all fruits — are mere dry and unattractive
organs t
The analogy of red and white and yellow flowers aflbrds
us a good hint towards the solution of this problem. "We
know that flowers have acquired their bright hues, their
honej', and their perfume, for the sake of attracting the
insects which fertilise them by carrying pollen from head
to head. Is there any way in which fruits can similarly
benefit by alluring the eyes of any anitnal race 1 At first
sight this would seem impossible ; but a little consideration
vrill show us a way out of the difliculty. Most plants, it is
true, can only lose by allowing their seeds to be perceived
and eaten by animals. In such cases the fruit, be it pod
or capsule, is usually inconspicuous in colour, and drops
its tiny little seeds quietly out upon the ground beneath.
Those plants which best succeed in diverting the attention
of seed-eating birds or mammals from their fruits, outlive,
in the long run, their less adapted neighbours ; and so the
survival of the fittest has brought it about that ninety-
nine kinds out of a hundred in our own da)' have unnotice-
able little green or brown seed vessels, such as those of the
chickweed, th.e pimpernel, and the clover tribe, which no-
body but a botanist ever observes at all. Suppose, how-
ever, that any plant happens to have its seeds covered
■with a moderateh hard and indigestible outer coat, would
it not then be rather benefited than otherwise by having
these seeds enclosed in a .soft antl juicy bed of edible pulp 1
For in that case birds and other animals might eat the
seeds, fruit and all, for the sake of the pulpy covering ; and
as the hard little shell would protect the young embryo
■within, this vital part would not be digested, but would
pass uninjured through the creature's body. By such an
arrangement the plant would not only get its seeds dis-
persed— in itself a most important matter — but would also
have the young seedling well manured and started in life
under unusually favourable auspices. ' If such a tendency
were ever to be set up even in the slightest degree by a
mere sport or chance variation, we may be sure tlie variety
in which it appeared would be so favoured by circum-
stances, that it would soon become a marked and distinct
species.
As a matter of fact, it is pretty certain that such has
been the origin of all edible pulpy fruit.s. Take, foi'
example, these giapes here. If you cut one of them open,
you will find inside a number of hard little seeds. Slice
one of these again with a sharp penknife, and you will see
that it consists of a tiny embryo plant in the centre, sur-
rounded by a \ery solid bony shell. Each seed is in fact a
miniature nut ; and the kernel, so to speak, consists of th<'
tiny plautlet within, together with the albumen on which
it feeds when it first begins to germinate. Now, if any
bird were to swallow and digest this vital part of the seed,
the plant would, of course, be an obvious loser. But the
hard shell prevents such a catastrophe from happening ;
and, therefore, the plant is benefited by the soft, eatable
pulp which surrounds these little mimic nuts. Observe,
too, that the fruity part of the grape is sweet ; it contains
grape sugar. Now sugar is always laid up in those parts
of plants which specially seek to attract the animal world.
In flowers, the nectar allures the fertili-siug bees and butter-
flies ; in fruits and berries, the sweet juices allure the birds
which disperse the seeds ; nay, even the pitcher plants
secrete honey to wile flics into their insect-eating cups ; and
certain acacias store it up in hollow thorns to attract the
epicurean ants, wliich, in turn, protect the tree by driving
away their leaf-eating relations. In almost every case, one
may say that where sugar is found in any organ of a plant,
it is placed there for the sake of engaging the attention of
some animal ally ; while conversely, all flower-feeding and
fruit^eating creatures always manifest a marked taste for
sweet substances, dependent upon their long habituation to
sugary food.
Not only, however, are the grapes sweet, but they arc
also brightly coloured. Naturally, among succulent fruits
bidding for the attention of birds, those would best succeed
which were most visible at some little distance. Ac-
cordingly, just as the insect-fertilised flowers have developed
brilliant pigments in their petals, so the fruits which
depend upon birds for the dispersion of their seeds have
acquired prettily-coloured coverings. We all know how
noticeable are the hips and haws, the holly-berries and
rowan-berries, even among our northern woodlands ; while
the oranges, mangoes, and pomegi-anates of the tropics
appeal even more vividly to the sharp eyes of monkeys,
parrots, and toucans. At the same time, it is noteworthy
that the tastes of birds with regard to colour seem to difiei'
somewhat from those of insects ; for, as jStr. Wallace
points out, white, which is a common colour for flowers, is
rare among fruits ; while piu'ple and bluish-black, which
are seldom met with among flowers, may almost be con-
sidered as the ordinary colours of most wild fruits.
Looking closely into my cluster of grapes, again, I see
that it still contains two or three imripe and stunted
specimens. These, of course, are pale-green, like the
leaves, and when I taste one of them I find it unpleasantly
harsh and at id to the palate. This reminds me that grapes,
like other fruits, are not at all stages of their existence
sweet and brightly coloured. While the seeds are still
immature, they would only lose by Ijeing eaten, because
they are not yet fit for germination. In this stage, there-
fore, the skin is filled with green colouring mattei-, and the
cluster is quite inconspicuous among the foliage which
surrounds it. It does not want to attract attention in its
present stage. Furthermore, the pulp at this period is
filled with tai*taric acid and other sour juices, to repel any
too-inquiring or too-impatient visitor. But as the seeds
mature, the fruit ripens — that is to say, a chemical change
goes on in the pulpy portion, which results in the formation
of grape-sugar. At the same time, other chemical changes
taking place in the skin result in the production of the
164
KNOWLEDGE
[Dkc. 23, 1881.
purple l>loom, wliicli nclvfrtises to tlic birds tlio presence of
the sweet Juice within. The whoh^ process obviously aims
at concealing the fruit and rendcrinj; it unpalatable while
the seeds are immature, and at making it conspicuous as
woll a.s plea-sant the moment the .seeds are ripe for dis-
persion. Hence we are justilied in conchiding that the
develn].ment of the grape is due to the long selective action
of fruit-eating birds. Originally, no doubt, the primitive
ancestral vine produced smalh-r and harder seed-ves.sels,
which were probably green when young, and brown when
ready to fall upon the ground. But some "of them hap-
pened to show a tendency towards producing larger and
juicier fruits, and these were constantly favoured by the
unconscious friendliness of the neighbouring birds. Tlie
colour and the sweetness would soon follow, as they have
followed a thousand times over in the development of eacli
separate edible fruit. A grape, in short, viewed from the
standpoint of the vine itself, is merely a cunning device
for ensuring the assistance of birds or mammals in dis-
persing the little, nut-like seeds of which man takes, as a
rule, such scanty notice.
STUDIES OF VOLCANIC ACTION.
By G. F. Rodwell.
PART II.
OF late years the microscopic study of eruptive rocks
has revealed many facts of importance. The most
opaque black lavas and basalts are seen to be maiiily made
up of colourless transparent crystals, when a slice less than
a hunflredth of an inch in thickness is placed under the
microscope. Polarised light enables us to distinguish the
nature of the crystals, and the angles can be readily
measured. Zirkel, Rosenbusch, and Rutlcy have done
much to promote this branch of petrology. One of
the most recent and beautiful works on the subject
is the " Min6ralogie Micrographique " of MM. Fouqu^
and Michel Levy, which contains more than fifty
coloured quarto plates of rock sections seen under the
microscope, usually by polarised light. The rocks are, for
the most part, eruptive. A peculiarity of thi; book is an
ingenious plan for recognising in a moment the diflerent
mineral constituents of the section ; for this purpose each
plate is covered by a loose piece of transparent paper upon
which an uncoloured outline of the engraving is drawn,
and each mineral has its own number placed within the
outline. The same number is used throughout the book to
designate the same mineral.
The fronti.spiece of Prof. Judd's "Volcanoes" shows six
beautiful sections of eruptive rocks, in which the passage
from the perfectly glassy to the highly-crystalline structure
is strikingly ilkistrat*'d. The first specimen is that of a
volcanic glass or obsidian, a lava which was rapidly cooled
from a condition of comphsto fluidity, and which shows
nebulous patches scattered through a glassy base. A very
high power re\eals that these patches are composed of
minute crystals, culled microlith^ or cri/atallili's ; and we
are forcibly reminded of the resolution of the heavenly
nebuliP into thickly-clustered stars by tlio microscope's
twin-sister. Sometimes the microliths are built up into
genn-like forms within the ground mass of the lava ; and
again, as the crystalline forces come more and more into
play, the microliths form radial groups about definite
centres, and thus build up globular masses, called " sphajru-
lites." Crystals are made up of microliths grouped aboiit
certain axes, and a completely amorphous glassy lava may
and thus giving the molecvdar forces time to act in the
gi'Ouping of the microliths. Most lavas, when viewed
under the microscope, e.xhiVjit a glassy pa.ste or ground-
ma.ss, containing microliths, among which distinct crystals
are distributed. Or again, when lavas consolidate at a
gi-eat depth lieneath the surface, the ground-ma.ss is made
up of small crystals, through which larger crystals are dis-
tributed. And, finally, we arrive at the granitic structure,
in which the rock is completely made up of large crystals
without any ground-mass. One and the same rock may
exist in each of these fonns, according as it has been cooled
slowly or rapidly, at a great depth beneath the surface, or
near to it. Thus, while basalt represents the lava form of
a volcanic rock, yahbro is its granitic or crystallised form,
and tachijhjtn its glas.sy or obsidian form. They all have the
same ultimate chemical composition.
The larger crystals probably separated from the amor-
phous masses beneath the volcano, and were carried up to
the surface bj- the fluid material forming the ground mass
of the lava. Crystals frequently furnish abundant evidence
of ha%ing been formed under enoimous pressure. When
examined by high powers of a microscope the crystals of
granitic rocks are sometimes seen to contain cavities filled
with liquid or gas, or with two liquids and a gas. Some-
times the liquid is water, sometimes a hydrocarlx)u like
the mineral oils which are found in abundance in deep-
seated rocks in various parts of the world. Not unfre-
quently the inclosed substance is liquefied carbonic acid, a
gas which requires a pressure of nearly 600 lb. on the
square inch to liquefy it at the freezing point of water, and
a much higher pressure at the temperature which exists a
short distance beneath the surface of the earth. We hav»
tlius every reason for believing that the crystals of a rock
have been formed in deep recesses in the earth, while the
ground mass has solidified at the surface.
Of recent volcanic outbursts, there can be no doubt
that the eruption of Etna in May, 1870, was the most
considerable. It was studied very fully by Professor
Silvestri, who considers that it was the fulfilment of the
abortive attempt made by the volcano in 1874. On the
■29th of August of that year a rift opened on the N.E.
side of the mountain between the crater and Mojo, and
thirty-fi\e monticules were tlirown up along its course,
with one large crateriform mound from which lava was
discharged. After seven hours of activity the dynamic
forces suddenly decreased, and in two days all the efl'ects
ceased, but the rift remained open, and earthquakes were
common in the vicinity. Silvestri then predicted that
when the next eruption occurred the rift woidd prove
the line of least resistance, and that lava would flow
from it, and craters be opened along its course,
and this prediction was completely verified in the
eruption of 1879. The fissure then extended itself
to a length of six miles, passing tlirough the great
crater. Eight eruptive mouths opened on the south
side of the mountmn, and discharged a small amount of
lava ; but the lava presently found an exit at a lower level
on the north side, and on May 28 Silvestri obseived a gi-eat
column of smoke, soon followed by the gloomy leaden tint
observed during an eclipse, and by showers of volcanic sand.
In ten minutes he collected more than two pounds of this
sand in an inverted umbrella. He then approached nearer,
to the scene of action, and, when about 6,200 ft. above the
sea, he heard loud dt'tonations and experi(>nced considerable
oscillations of the soil. As he approached the great rift, he
noticed three new cratei-s near Monte Nero, from which
issued dense clouds of steam. From one of them lava flowed
which formed a considerable stream, reaching to a distance
Dec. 23, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
155
half a mile from the village of Mojo, and then had a breadth
of 23 ft and a height of 32 ft When the lava stieani was
e.-caniined near its source by the spectroscope, it showed the
lines of hydrogen, calcium, sodium, and potassium. Sil-
vestri has embodied liis observations in a monogi-aph ;
he has also just finished an important work, illustrated by
photographs showing various pluxses of eruption of Etna.
The work will no doubt be in print before the end of this
year.
From Sicily, we pass at one stride to that country of
which the Danes say : " God made the rest of the world ;
the devil made Iceland." A few months prior to the
outburst of Etna, Hecla, which had not been in eruption
since 1845, showed signs of disturbance, and threw up a
Jiillock about four miles to the X.E. of the Great Crater.
A large quantity of very piuniceous lava was emitted, and,
at the time when tlie writer visited it, gi'eat quantities of
hydrochloric acid were discharged from crevices in the
lava, but the eruption was otherwise unimportant.
Since 1872, Vesuvius has been only active at intervals.
Palmieri has published a full account of the 1872 eruption,
and in annual reports has given the history of the mountain
since that date. The eruption of Santorin, which began in
January, 186G, and lasted tUl October, 1870, has furnislied
results of great interest to vulcanologists, and it has led to
the publication of M. Fouque's magnificent " Santorin et
ses Eruptions," in which the whole history of the volcanic
phenomena and the products is given. The mineralogical
results have been of especial interest. Also we may note
the peeuliarit)' that, in the most violent period of acti\ity,
inflammable gaseous exhalations, which took fire on coming
into contact with red-hot lava, were emitted. The flames,
when examined by the spectroscojie, were found to consist
of hydrogen, containing small quantities of copper, sodium,
and clilorine. As the gaseous emanations of Santorin are
emitted inider water, they are not burned at the point of
issue, and can lience be examined readily. As much as .56
per cent, of hydrogen was found in some of the exhalations,
and the author concludes, we think without suflicieut war-
rant, that the enormous quantities of water-vapour emitted
in volcanic eruptions exist in the red-hot magnia of lava,
not as water, but as dissociated hydrogen and oxygen.
The record of recent earthquakes will be fresh in the
minds of our readers. Tliree calamitous earthquakes
have occurred witliiii the last eight months — at Ischia, in
Chios, and at Agram. In the latter 4,000 persons
perished, double that number were maimed, and 30,000 were
rendered homeless. It commenced on April 3, but several
months aftenvards a minaret and a tottering wall were over-
thrown, and in all there were at least 2-50 shocks. In
1870, a great earthquake occurred in Phocis, north of the
Gulf of Corinth. Professor Julius Schmidt, the Greek
Astronomer Eoj'al, has gi\en a detailed account of it.
It is asserted that during the first three days a shock
was felt every third minute, while Schmidt himself
counted nearly 2,000 in the twenty-four hours, four
days after the great outbreak. Altogether, during
five months of 1870, it is calculated that the shocks
and detonations exceeded half-a-million. In October,
1870, the most severe shock of earthquake observed during
the present century in the north-eastern states of North
America was felt at Quebec. It was instantly telegraphed
to Montreal, and tlie message arrived nearly half a
minute before the shock. The Peruvian earthquake
of Aug. 13, 1868, was felt the same evening in Hawaii,
6,300 miles distant
We are as far as ever from the knowledge of the cause of
earthquakes, but, undoubtedly, high pressure steam has
much to do with it The author of the article-, " Earth-
quakes," in the July Quarterly Review, propounds a
theory- to the ettect that electricity is the true cause, but in
what manner he has not clearly defined. We do not consider
that his arguments will bear criticism. Hero is one of
them : — " The vicinity of hot springs, volcanoes, mud lakes,
regions of intense heat, and centres of electric influence,
are the special haunts of earthquakes, and science has
pretty well proved that heat and electricity are conver-
tible.' * One word in conclusion as to volcanic products.
But few new minerals have lately been found. Professor
Scacchi announced two years ago the discovery of a new
element, which lie termed vesbium, among the lavas of
Vesuvius, but we have not heard that it has ever been
isolated. The most remarkable volcanic product lately dis-
covered is undoubtedly a substance from the crater of
Volcano, analysed by Professor Cossa, of Turin. It was
found to contain seven non-metals and eight metals, among
the latter the rare and recently-discovered elements, caesium,
rubidium, and thallium.
OUR UNBIDDEN GUESTS.
By Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E.
IT is much the same with the tapeworm-tribe as with the
fluke (considered in Part I.) The common tapeworm
of man [Tcnnia Solium) consists of a very minute " head,"
attaching itself bv suckers and hooks to man's intestines ;
of a slender " neck," and of hundreds of "joints." Each
"joint " is really a semi-independent animal ; and the tape-
worm is therefore a coinpoimd animal, and presents us with
a colony of similar beings. A large tapeworm may measure
20 or 30 ft. ; and new joints are continually being " budded "
out from the head and nock. Hence the physican can never
be sure that he has cured a case of tapeworm until he has
seen the head and neck of the animal If a man swallowed
the egg of a tapeworm, he would not be infested thereby.
The young worm has to pass its early life in the body of
another wann-blooded animal ; and in the case of the
common tapewoiin, it is " the gintlenian that pays
the rint," wliich acts the part of nurse or first host.
Man, in other words, obtains his common tapeworm
guest from the pig. When this animal swallows the
egg of a tapeworm, the young worm bursts through the
egg-case and bores its way to the pigs muscles. If the
porker is aff'ected by numerous embryos, tliat is, if it has
swallowed a large number of eggs, it will become feverish
and ill, and it • will then be said to have developed
"measles." The " measles " of the pig are the visitations
of young tapewomis. In the muscles of the pig, then,
these young worms rest. Je suis ici ; f;/ reste, is decidedly
the motto of the young wonn. It developes a little head
and neck, and it also, by way of a tail, produces a little
bladder or bag. Before naturalists knew its true nature,
it was regarded as a special kind of parasite, and was
named a " cystic worm. "
If the pig dies a natural death and is respectably in-
terred, or if the pig should live long enough, these
youthful tapeworms will respectively perish, or will dege-
nerate and disappear from the tissues of the aged porker.
But assuming that the usual Kemesis of the pig race over-
takes the animal, then, in the form of pork, it will gladden
the heart of certain members of the human race. Now,
let us suppose that a man eats a portion of the " measly
pork." Let us further suppose that the pork has been
* The article is utterly without ecientilic value. How it found
ts way into a magazine of good position is a mystery. — Ed,
ISO
KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. 23, 188^
imperfi'i-tly cookwl ; then comes the "tide «i fortune" to
the youuf; worms. For when the young worm lias l)een
.nten l«y the man, tlie 1 .ladder- tail drops off. Each little
liead and neek finding it.self in the human stomach, recog-
nises its lawful hubitat. Each atta-lies itself to the lining
niemlirane of the liunian intestines, and each l)y a process
of budding produces joint after joint, until man is pre-
sented witli his matured "guest"
If we tjihulatv matters thus, the history of the tapeworm
will liecome clear: —
l.t Epoch.
f Stage 1. The egg derived from iiarcnt "|
I tapeworm of man. I
,, 2. Swallowed by the pig; do- |
) veloping. l_
i„ 3. The " Resting Larva," or |
cystic worm, in tlic pig's I
musclee, and forming |
Passed i
the
2nd Epoch
" measly" pork. J
, 4. Swallowed by man. ~|
I, 5. Development of the head and | ,,.,,•
necK, and attachment to 1 ' "''*'^" '"
,'..,. f man as
man s inteetine. ' ii \ t
I „ 6. The production by budding of | "" '""'^•
|_ the adult worm. J
As a last piece of parasite biography, we may glance at
the history of a form which now and then attracts the
notice of even Imperial Parliament itself. This form is
tlie famous Trichina, which acquires an unenviable noto-
riety, in that it may, unlike the tapeworm race, cause the
death of its " host." Each trichina is a minute worm,
coiled, in its immature condition, within a little sack or
bag, which in numbers may be found again in the muscles
of the pig. Where the pig gets its trichinw fi-om is hardly
cei-tain, but rats are believed to be the sources of supjily
for the pig race. In the muscles of the pig each trichina
is, as already remarked, in an imperfect and youthful
condition. If the pig lives long enough, the trichina; will
disappear from its muscles, or will degenerate to become
mere specks of lime. But should a man eat a portion of
trichina-infected pork, the youthful worms will undergo,
in his digestive system, a rapid and extraordinary
development. The trichina; will develope enormous
numbers of young ; and the young lirood will now
naturally seek the muscles of man for a habitation, as their
parents before them sought those of the pig. Then ensues
the tug of war for the afflicted human. The paiu caused
by the boring of these microscopic worms from stomach to
muscles is intense. It is this pain and attendant symptoms
that constitute the disease known as trichiniasis. If the
patient's strength holds out, he is safe whenever the young
trichina-brood enter the muscles. There they rest, and re-
main to degenerate — unless, indeed, cannibal instincts were
represented in the human race ; in wliich case the cannibal
world experience n few of the tortures and trouliles which
are said proverbially to afllict the just and unjust alike.
The great lesson to the learned, from om- survey of para-
sites, is care in the choice and increased care in the cook-
ing of our food. It .should be remembered that the germs
of these parasites are killed by a sufficiently long exposure
to heat. I[ence, whilst underdone meat may ha\e its
charms, it has likewise its gi-ave dangers. Pork, in any
and every fashion, should at all times be thoroughly cooked.
In this latter case, the parasitic horde may not merely be
destroyed, but m.ay even contribute in a microscopic way,
to human nutrition.
Mb. S. L. JI. Barlow, one of the trustees of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, has presented to that institution, through
its director, Oenornl di Cesnoln, a collection of vnscs lately discovered
SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES.
By W. >r.\TTiEU Williams.
PAKT V.
AS already .stated, in Part .'5 of this .series, page Ht^, tJic
conversion of water into steam under ordinary atmo-
spheric pressure demands 9GGG° of heat over and above
that which does the work of raising the water to '212'^, or,
otherwise stated, as much heat is at work in a given weight
of steam at 212°, as would rai.se the same quantity of
water to 1,178'6'' if it remained liquid.
James Watt concluded from his experiments tliat a given
weight of steam, whatever may )>e its density, or, in other
words, under whatever pressure it may exist, contains the
same quantity of heat According to this, if we reduced
the pressure sufficiently to bring down the boiling point to
112°, instead of 212", the latent heat of the steam thus
formed would be 1,0GCG° instead of 966 'G', or if, on the
other hand, we placed it under sufficient pressure to raise the
boiling point to .'? 1 2", the latent heat of the steam would be re-
duced to 8G6G°, i.e., only 8G6'6° more would be required to
convert the water into steam. If the lioiling point were
412°, as it is between 19 and 20 atmospheres of pressure,
only 7G6'6° more heat would be required, and so on, till wi-
reach a pressure which raises the boiling point to 1,1786^,
when the water would become stetm without further heating,
i.e., the critical point would be reached, and thus, if Watt
is right, we can easily determine, theoretically, the critical
temperature of water.*
Mr. Perkins, who made some remarkable experiments
upon very high pressure steam many years ago, and ex-
hibited a steam guu at the Adelaide Gallery, stated that
red-hot water does not boil ; that if the generator be suffi-
ciently strong to stand a pressure of 60,000 lb. load on the
safety valve, the water may be made to exei-t a pressure of
56,000 lb. on the square inch at a cherry red-heat without
boiling. He made a number of rather dangerous experi-
ments in thus raising water to a red-heat, and his assertion
that red-hot water does not boil is curious when viewed in
connection with Dr. Andrew's experiments.
I cannot tell how he arrived at this conclusion, having
been unable to obtain the original record of his experiments,
and only quote the above second-hand. It is worthy of
remark that the temperature he names is aliout 1,170^, or
that which, if Watt is right, must lie the critical tempera-
ture of the water. Perkins' red-hot water would not boil,
as he states, being then in the intermediate condition.
So far, we have a nice little theory, which not only shows
how the critical state of water must be reached, but also
its precise temperature ; but all this is based on the assump-
tion that "Watt made no mistake. Unfortimately for the
simplicity of this theory, Regnault states that /(i.< experi-
ments contradict those of Watt, and pro\ e that the latent
heat of steam does not diminish just in the same degi-ee as
the boiling-point is i-aised, but that instead of this the
diminution of the latent heat progi'esses 30^ per cent, more
slowly than the rise of temperature, so that, instead of the
latent heat of steam between boiling-points of 212" and
312^ falling from 966 6° to 866 6° it would only fall to
895-1° or 69-5° for every 100°.
If this is correct, the temperature at which the latent
heat of steam is reduced to zero is much higher than 1,178"6°
and is, in fact, a continually receding quantity never abso-
lutely reached ; but I am not prepared to accept these
figures of Regnault as implicitly as is now done in text
• Watt's own figure f»r the latent heat of steam at 212° was 950*
Dec. 23, 1881.]
♦ KNC^A^LEDGE
157
liooks (I was nearly saying " as is now the fashion"),
sicing that they are not the actual figures obtained by his
' xpcriiiients, but thoso of his "empirical formul;*;" based
iilion them. His actual experimental figures are very
irregular; thus, between steam temperature of 171 '6° and
1S3*2^ a difference of 11 '6°, the experimental difference in
tlie latent heat came out as 4 '7° ; between steam temperature
of 183 -2° and 194 -8^, or 11-6° again the latent heat differ-
once is tabulated as 80°.
Regnault's experiments were not carried to very high
trinperatures and pressures, and indicate that as these
ad\ ance the deviation from Watt's law diminishes, and may
liiially vanish at about 1,500° or 1,600^, where the latent
lieat would reach zero, and there, according to the above,
tlu- critical temperature woidd be reached. Any additional
heat applied after this will have but one function to per-
form, viz., the ordinary work of increasing the bulk of the
heated body witliout doing anything further in the way of
conferring upon it any new self-repulsive properties.
Our notions of solids, liquids, and gases are derived from
our experiences of the state of matter here upon this earth.
L'ould we be remo\cd to another planet, they would be
curiously changed. On Mercury water might rank as one
of the condensible gases ; on Mars, as a fusible solid ; but
what on Jupiter '
Recent observations justify us in regarding this as a
uiiniature sun, with an external envelope of cloudy
matter, apparently of partially condensed water, but red-
hot, or probably still hotter within. His vaporous atmo-
sphere is evidently of enormous depth, and the force of
gravitation being on his visible outer surface 2| times
- ater than that on our earth's surface, the atmospheric
'ssure in descending below this visible surface must soon
cch that at which the vapour of water would be brought
its critical condition. Therefore we may infer that the
■ans of Jupiter are neither of fi-ozen, liquid, nor gaseous
■■■ ater, but are oceans or atmospheres of critical water. If
any fish-l)irds swim or fly therein they must be very
critically organised.
As the whole mass of Jupiter is 300 times greater than
that of the earth, and its compressing energy towards the
litre proportional to this, its materials, if similar to those
: the earth and no hotter, would be considerably more
use, and the whole planet would have a higher specific
'.gravity, but we know by the movement of its satellites
tliat, instead of this, its specific gravity is less than a
fourth of that of the earth. This justifies the conclusion
that it is intensely hot, for 'even hydrogen, if cold, would
become denser than Jupiter under such pressure.
As all elementary substances may exist as solids, liquids,
or gases, or, critically, according to the conditions of tem-
perature and pressure, I am justified in hypothetically
concluding that Jupiter is neither a solid, a liquid, nor a
gaseous planet, but a critical planet, or an orb composed
internally of dissociated elements in the critical state, and
surrounded by a dense atmosphere of their vapours, and
those of some of their compounds, such as water. The
same reasoning applies to Saturn and the other large and
rarefied planets.
The critical temperature of the dissociated elements of
the sun is probably reached at the base of the photosphere,
or that region revealed to us by the sun-spots. When I
wrote "The Fuel of the Sun," thirteen or fourteen years
ago, I suggested, on the above ground^, the then heretical
idea of the red-heat of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune, and showed that all such compounds as water
must be dissociated at the base of the sun's atmosphere,
but being then unacquainted with the existence of this
critical state of matter, I supposed the dissociated elements
to exist as gases with a small solid nucleus or kernel in the
centre.
Applying now the researches of Dr. Andrews to the
conditions of solar existence, as I formerly applied the
dissociation researches of De\-ille, I conclude that the
sun has no nucleus, either solid, liquid, or gaseous, but is
composed of dissociated matter in the critical state,
surrounded, first, by a flaming envelope due to the re-
combination of the dissociated matter, and outside of this
another envelope of vapours due to this combuiation.
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN.
By Dk. a. Wilsox, F.R.S.E.
IX letter 103, " G. M." asks, " has evolution effected any change in
man ? If so, what change ? If not, why not ? " These are
weighty questions, and " G. M." will tind difficulty in answering
them. Let him remember firstly that evolution has only been
studied — rather nature, in the light of evolution, has only been
studied — for some twenty-five years or so. That is, of course, a
mere fractional space in the history of human thought. If we re-
fuse to admit (as science does) that man was created a perfect
being, and then became degraded, there exists only another sup-
position— that of evolution. If man has arisen from a savage to a
civilised state, that surely is evolution. We do not yet know,
because such knowledge is difficult to acquire, if the human frame
is subject to the same influences as those of lower animals. But
there is little doubt that elevation from savagery to cirilised life
means and implies " evolution," and that of considerable extent.
Mentally, man's evolution cannot bo doubted ; the ever-widening
sphere of thought has sprung from small and rude beginnings,
like language itself. But man's wai,-s of life, his power of adapta-
tion to his surroundings, and countless other circumstances, have
made the facts and course of his " evolution " very difficult to trace.
If " G. M." will read Tyler's "Anthropology" (Slacmillan) he will
find there summarised facts and phases of human life which go
powerfully to answer the interesting queries he puts to Knowledge.
MALLET'S SEISMOMETERS.
THE " Encyclopa-dia Britannica," 9th edition, "Earthquake,"
mentions and describes a seismometer of extreme simplicity : —
" Its construction, which is due to Mr. Mallet, will be understood
by reference to the figure. Two sets of right cylinders are turned
in some hard material, such as boxwood. The cylinders are all of
the same height, but vary in diameter. Two planks of wood are
fixed to a level floor, one having its length in a north and south, and
the other in an east and west direction. The cylinders stand
upright on the planks in the order of their size, with a space
between each pair greater than their height, so that when one
pillar falls it does not strike its neighbour. The surroimdiug floor
is covered np to the level of the planks with dry sand. When a
shock passes, some of the cyUnders are overturned, the number
depending on the velocity of the wave. Suppose the shock knocks
over the narrow-based cylinders 4, 5, 6, leaving 1, 2, 3 standing,
158
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[Deo. 23, 1881.
then the velocity of tie horizoDlal component ' must liavc been
gronter timii tlwt needed to overturn No. 4, but not great enough
to overturn No. 3." Z
1'hen follows a formula for determining upproximatcly the velo-
city—which, perhaps, it may not be necessary to trouble you with.
A. T. C.
THE FAURE ACCUMULATOR.
Bv W. Lynd.
TnANKS to Professor Sylvanus Thompson, who has just sent me
the results of his latest expcrinionta with secondary batteries,
I am able to give a brief pkrtch of the Faure accumulator.
So far back as 1860 M. I'lanti; constructed a secontlary battorj-,
consisting of nine cells, in each of which two long and wide strips
of lead, scp.oi'atod by coarse clolh, wore rolled together in a spiral
form and immersed in dilute sulphuric acid. A few months later ho
modified tliis form by plucing side by side in a rectangular box two
scries of lead ])Iates, alternately connected together, each plate
being about eight inches high. Uo recurred afterwards to the spiral
form as being more convenient, but replacing the coarse cloth by
narrow strips of gutta-percha. Cut the cells thns constructed
were not ready for immediate action. Two clean lead plates give
no current of their own j they are only intended to receive
and store U]) what is sent into them from some external source ;
and at first, while the lead is bright, when a current is sent tlirough
the cell from some suitable source, such as three or foui- Grove or
Bunsen cells, the separated oxygon and hydrogen gases bubble up
to the surface, for the most part leaving only a very small per-
centage as an adherent film, and, in consequence, yielding only very
transient secondary currents. The plate of lead by which the
current enters ia, however, attacked by the oxygen, and becomes
covered by a thin layer of brown peroxide of lead, and this film,
though thin, is i)0werfully electro-negative towards metallic lead
and towards the film of hydrogen on the Kathode plate. The cell
in this condition will therefore produce a current, and in so doing,
the peroxide is partially reduced to the metallic condition, and
assumes in its reduction a spongy or loosely ci-ystalline texture. If
now the cell be again charged, and charged in the opposite direction,
the other plate of lead becomes in like manner peroxidised, while
the hydrogen bubbles are less freely evolved, for the atoms of gas
unite as fastas they are liberated with the oxygen of the peroxide and
reduce it to the metallic condition ; everj' time the charging|current
is thus reversed, the films of peroxide, as of spongy metal, become
thicker, until the lead to a considerable depth is bitten into. And
every such operation increases, therefore, the power of the eel! to
store up in this electro-chemical fashion the energj- of the currents
sent into it. M. Plante ascribes tlie process of " forming " to a
sort of electro-chemical tann ijtg. The first day the alternate charging
should be done at intervals of a quarter to half an hour, tlie cell
being discharged between each operation. The next day the dura-
tion of the alternate charges may be increased from a quarter of an
hour to a whole hour; the day after to two hours. After repose for
a week or a fortnight, the charges may last several hours ; and by
thcend of several months, the cell will be well " formed ; " after
which, it should, wlicn used, be charged in one direction only, other-
wise the whole thickness of the lead plates will be bitten into, and
transformed into peroxide. These magnificent researches were carried
on by Plante through more than twenty years, and it seems remark-
able that even in the scientific world, that gentleman's claim to the
discovery of the accumulator arc not duly acknowledged.
M. Camille Faure, who has been awarded by the public ]>ress
the lion's share of the glory, conceived the idea of constructing a
secondary battery, in which, though the tedious process of "forma-
tion " is modified and shortened, the ultimate result is the same ;
namely, to produce upon lead plates, immersed in dilute sulphuric
acid, a coating of peroxide of lead that can readily be reduced to
the loosely crystalline metallic condition.
The Faure accumulator, of which we have heard so much lately,
is >imply a modification of the Planti? secondarv battery, and is
constructed as follows :— Eleven sheets of lead, ofsuch thickness as
to weigh about 2 lb. to the square foot, aro cut to the size of 12 in.
by 10 in., an ear-piece being l)urnt on at one corner. Or six sheets
are taken, five of them being twice the above size, and folded double.
Tliese are painted thickly with red lead on both'sides. and ngainst
each side is pre.ised a piece of felt, the face of which is also thickly
coated with red lead, there being about 17 lb. of lead and 23 lb. of
red lead altogether. These sheets are jilaced side by side in a
water-tight case, alternate sheets being connected together by the
projecting flaps. The cell is filled up with dilute acid, the total
•weight being about 50 lb.
When thus prepared, the cells are formed by a pi-ocess of
the current being sent tlirough them for six or seven days withou
iutermissiuD before they are ready for use. The red lead ia rodaood
gradually on one side to the metallic state, and on the other
assumes the condition of peroxide ; but the coll does not attain it«
fast condition for some weeks. Such is a brief n'jciMt' of the won-
derful accumulators which arc destined to work a revolntion in
electrical science. Those who desire to gain a thorongli knowledge
of the theory of the secondarj- batteries cannot do better thui
purchase a copy of Professor 'J'hompson's work on elcctricily and
magnetism. It is published by Macmillan & Co. ; the price is only
48. 6d.
THE WYANDOTTE INDIANS.
By Miss A. W. Bucklaxd.
AS bearing upon the subject discussed in Ksowr.Encr, Are
women inferior to men ? tte account given by Mr. John W.
Powell, vice-president of the .American Association for tlie -Advance-
ment of Science, of the form of Government among the Wyandotte
Indians, will probably be found interesting.
In the Wyandotte Government, says Mr. Powell, four groups
are recognised — the family, the gens, the )>liratrj', and the tribe.
Tlie family is nearly sjTionymous with household. The head of
the family is a woman.
The gens is an organised body of consangninoal kindred in the
female line. " The woman carries the gens," is the fonnulatcd
statement by which a Wyandotte expresses the idea that descent is
in the female line. Each gens has the name of some animal — the
ancient of such animal being the tutelar god.
There are four phratries in the tribe, and this division seems to be
used chiefly for religious purposes, in the prejiaration of medicines,
and in festivals and games. The eleven gentcs, as four phratries,
constitute the tribe. Each gens is a body of consanguineal kindred
in the female line, and each gens is allied to other gentcs by eon-
sanrcuineous kinship through the male line, and by affinity through
marriage. The family or household is not a unit of the gens or
phratry, as two gentcs are represented in each — the father most
belong to one gens, and the mother and her children to another.
The civil government belongs of right to a system of councils and
chiefs. In each gens there is a council composed of four women.
Tliese foiu- women councillors select a chief of the gens from their
brothers and sons, and this chief is the head of the gentile conndL
The tribal council is composed therefore of one-fifth men and fonr-
fifths women.
The f )ur women-councillors of the gens are chosen by the heads
of hciuseliolds, themselves being women. There is no formal elec-
tion, but by frequent discussion it is decided that, in the event of
the death of any councillor, a certain person will take her place.
When a woman is installed as Conncillor, a feast is given by the
gens to which she belongs, to which all the members of the tribe
are invited. The woman is painted and dressed in her best attire,
and the sachem of the tribe, who is chosen by the chiefs of the
geute.o, places upon her head the gentile chaplet of feathers, and
announces in a formal manner to the multitude, that the woman
has been chosen, a councillor.
The gentile chief is chosen by the council women, after consulta-
tion with the other women and men of the gens. At his installa-
tion, the council women invest him with an elaborately ornamented
tunic, jilnce u])on liis head a chaplet of feathers, and paint the
gentile totem on his face.
Meetings of the gentile council are veiy infoi-mal, but the
meetings of the tribal councils are conducted ■with due ceremony.
The chief of the wolf gens, who is of right the herald and sheriff of
the tribe, calls the assembly to order, fills and lights a pipe, sends
one puff of smoke to heaven and another to the earth. The pipe is
then handed to the sachem, who, filling his mouth with smoke, and
turning from left to right with the sun, slowly puffs it over the
heads of the councillors, who are sitting in a circle. The pipe is
then smoked by each person in turn. The sachem then explains
the object of the meeting, and each person tells what he thinks
should be done. If the majority agree, the sachem simply announces
the deci.'ion ; but if there is a tie, the sachem is expected to speak.
It is the function of government to preserve rights and enforce
the performance of duties.
These rights are : — 1, Rights of marriage; 2, Rights to names;
3, Rights to personal adornment j 4, Rights of order in encamp-
ments and migrations ; 5, Rights of property ; G, Bights of person;
7, Rights of community ; 8, Rights of religion.
Jfarringe between members of the same gens is forbidden. Poly-
gamy is permitted, but the first wife remains the head of the house-
hold. A man seeking a wife consults with her mother, and the
mother of the girl tries to obtain the consent of the women council-
Dec. 23, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE •
159
dies, llie cliildren belong to her sister or nearest female kin, Uie
matter being settled by tlie council women of the gens. Ouce a
jear the council women of the gens select the names for the children
bom daring the year, and the chief of the gens proclaims them at
ihe festival. So person may change Ins name, but by honourable
Condnct he may win another.
Within the tribal area, each gens occupies a tract for cultivation.
~! The women councillors partition the gentile laud among the house-
holders. The ground is rep.irtitioned once in two years. Cultiva-
tion is communal, that is, all of the able-bodied women of the
gens take part in the cultivation of each honsehold tract.
The wigwam, or lodge, and all the articles of the household. belong
to the woman — the head of the household ; and at her death are
inherited by her eldest daughter or nearest of female kin. The
■ lattor is settled by the council women. If the husband die, his
ropcrty is inherited by his brother, or his sister's son, except such
portion as may be buried with him. His property consists of his
clothing, hunting and fishing implements, and such articles as are
used personally by liimself. Usuallj-a small canoe is the individual
property of the man. Large canoes are made by the male members
of the gentes, and are the property of the gcntes.
Each gens has a right to the services of all its women in the
cultivation of the soil. Each gens has the right to the service of all
its male members in avenging wrongs, and the tribe has the right to
tlie service of all its male members in time of war.
This is a short abstract of Mr. Powell's paper, as far as it re-
:;:tcs to the status of woman among the Wyandottes, and I feel sme
will be a surjirise to many to find that the despised Indian squaw
ids a position so honourable; one to which her civilised white
Nters may never \ ope to attain; but the truth is, we find here,
, i:iong the Wyandotte, the snrrival of a social state once very
■ idely spread, and which pi'obably existed wherever we find kinship
traced on the female side — that is, tlirongh the mother instead of
the father. It was, perhaps, the earliest of all forms of govern-
ment, especially among people of Mongoloid affinities. Among
the Semites, the government was patriarchal and paternal ; but
even among the ilebrews, we find prophetesses, possessed^ of no
small amount of authority. It remained for the Aryan races to
deprive woman of every shred of real power, whilst professing to
treat her with chivalrous deference, and it is to this probably that
we may attribute the diminution in the size of the heads of women
in modem times, as compared with those of men — a difference
which is not to be found in the more ancient skulls, as the late
Professor Bolleston and other able anatomists have so often pointed
oat ; and which it might be safely affirmed would not be found
among the Wyandotte councillors ; for there can be little doubt that
the brain develops by use, and that in a tribe or nation whereiullie
burden of government is divided between the sexes, there will be
no disparity,in the brain power of men and women, nor in the skulls
wherein those brains are contained.
NOTE ON THE SPHEROIDAL STATE.
By W. F. BARnETT, F.R.S.E.
(Professor of Experimental Pliysics in the Eoyal College of
Science, Dublin.)
IX a paper read before the Eoyal Dublin Society, Mr. G. John-
stone Stoney has given a new and beautiful explanation of the
so-called spheroidal state of liquids, wherein he showed that the
force detected by itr. Crookes, and which is the cause of the motion
of radiometers, was also competent to explain the phenomena of the
spheroidal state. A liquid diop is said to be in the sphcrodial state
when falling upon a hot body it does not come into contact with the
surface but rolls over it as a flattened spheroid. A mobile clastic
spring evidently buoys up the drop tmtU such times as the hot body
cools, when, w^ith a sudden rise of temperature and generation of
steam, the drop comes into contact mth the surface below it, spreads
out into a film, and rapidly disappears into vapour.
Hitherto this pheuomenon has been regarded as due to the fact
that the proximity of the liot surface converts a portion of the
liquid into vapour, the elastic force of which sustains the drop.
There are, however, several phenomena, applied to the spheroidal
condition, to which this generally received explanation gives no
solution, — such, for example, as the mobility of light powders in a
hot crucible, or the formation of globules on the surface of water
and other liquids. Mr. Stoney's explanation, on the other hand,
embraces the whole of these outstanding and hitherto enigmatical
phenomena. Briefly stated, this theorj- is based on the fact that
■whenever two bodies at different temperatures are brought sufficiently
Bear each other, a modification takes place in the molecular struc-
ttire of the layer of gas or vapour between them, given rise to the
so-called " Crookes' force," wherein there is an excess of pressure in
the direction joining the hot and cold surfaces over the pressure in
transverse directions. Now this excess of pressure depends partly on
the quantity of heat making its way across the intervening layer of
gas or vapour, and partly on the proximity of the two surfaces, — a
proximity not to be estimated absolutely, but with reference to the
length to which a molecule of the gas will travel in the intervals
between its encounters with other molecules. Hence there are
obriously three modes whereby the excess of pressure, this Crookes'
force, may be developed or aagincnted : —
1st. By lengthening the paths of the molecules between the
warm and cool surfaces, accomplished by attenuating
the gas.
2nd. By bringing the hot and cold surfaces very near together.
3rd. By increasing the difference of temperature between the
two surfaces.
Xow if the support of the spheroidal drop be due to this Crookes'
force a difference of temperature must exist between the drop and
the sui-face over which it stands, and the greater this difference of
temperature the larger the drop that ought to be supported, and the
more persistent the phenomenon, Mr, Moss has shown (Proc,
E. D. S., Dec, 1877) that by securing a continual difference of
temperature a globule of ether may be supported on the surface of
its own liquid for upwards of an hour, until in fact some accidental
derangement occurs. The conditions of the two theories being thus
defined, it is easy to see that several crucial experiments might be
devised which should help to decide the question at is.'iue.
The following experiment the author has made with this object
in view. Upon the surface of the ordinary petroleum of commerce,
liquid globules ef transient duration can readily be formed, simply
by removing a small quantity of the liquid in a pipette and care-
fully depositing a drop on the surface of the liquid. These drops
are clearly in the spheroidal condition, and they are easily and
abundantly formed by dipping a vibrating tuning-fork into the
liquid, or by drawing a fiddle bow over tbo edge of the vessel
containing the liquid. According to the ordinary explanation the
drops are supported by the elastic force of the vapour of the
liquid, which would, of course, be greater the higher the tempera-
ture of both liquid and drops. According to Mr. Stoney's theory
the drops are supported by the Crookes' force, generated by the
proximity of the drop and liquid, and by the fact that they are
at different temperatures. Evaporation rapidly cools the drops
jerked up from the liquid, and thus a slight difference of tempera-
instantly comes into play. If, however, Mr. Stoney's theory be
true, then a drop of cool petroleum would be more easily and
longer sustained on a stu-face of warm petroleum, or rice vcrs&,
than a drop taken from the mass of liquid below it, where only a
slight temperature difference is created.
■Two beakers were filled with petroleum from a common source,
one (.i) at the temperature of the air, the other (b) at a temperature
of 100° F. With a pipette some liquid was taken up from A and a
drop carefully deposited on its o«ii surface, a globule was formed,
floated for a fraction of a second, and then disappeared. The same
occurred with a drop from B placed upon B, A drop of B was now
removed and deposited on A, a large globule was easily formed on
the surface, floated about from 10 to 20 seconds, and then
disappeared. A drop of a was now placed on B, the same thing
occurred, but the duration of the drop was not quite so great, owing
to the greater density of the cool drop tending to sink it below the
surface of the warm liquid, thus rapturing the Crooke's layer and
destroying the difference of temperature.
There is no doubt or uncertainty whatever about this experiment,
and it shows that, if the ordinar)- explanation be correct, the second
case, where B rests on B, should give the best result, whereas the
reverse is the case. Further, the experiment wherein the best
result is obtained, is such as best fulfils the condition of Mr. Stoney's
theory.
The limit of formation of these spheroids, when the liquid is
unifomtly dropped through a gradually -increasing height, may be
employed to test the relative degrees of force which sustain the
globule, and careful experiments made by the author in this
direction still further corroborated the truth of Mr. Stoney's views.
The Light of the Stars. — For a number of years the special
work carried on at the Harvard Observatory, under the direction of
Professor Pickering, has been the measurement of the intensity of
the light of the heavenly bodies. Some of the results presented at
a recent meeting of the Society of Arts, at the Institute of Tech-
nology, Boston, indicate measurements almost incredibly fine. The
light which falls upon the earth from the satellites of Mars, for
example, is about equivalent to what a man's hand on which the
sun shone at Washington would reflect to Boston. The labour of
measuring the brightness of all the visible stars was begun two
years ago. It has since gone on at the rate of about 40,000 a-year,
and will be completed next fall. — Scientijic American.
loO
KNOWJ_EDGE
[Dec. 23, 1881.
AN INSTRl'MKNT FOR DRAWING TTTF CONIC
SECTIONS.
By TfioMAs TiioHp.
rjlll E I'astriiment sho^vn in tlic nccompnnjing .ski;tch, Fig. 1, may
-L be nsed for ibtaining (igarca of the cniuO flections. It ia
Huito origimil with me, ami can be iiirulc Trithoat any orcnt
.lifficuUy.
Fig. 1.
The rod throngh the ball and socket joint at A should be as
enlarged at B, the edge in line with the scribing-point being exactly
central, as shown at C.
The instnimeiit is sketched as describing a parabola, but is
equally suited for any other of the conic sections. Fui-ther details
if required.
For describing ellipses, the instrument shown. Fig. 2, is extrcnuly
useful, and may not be known to many of your readers.
OiR Next Ximber.— We have been «bliged to defer to next
week two illustrated articles, one by a "Fellow of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society," on Work with a Small Telescope; the other by
the Editor, on the Great Tyramid. in compliance with the wishes
of many readers, the star maps, which have hitherto appeared
weekly, will be combined into a single map (on the same scale),
which will appear in the first week of each month. In the other
weeks some subsidiary maps will be given, illustrating the motions
of the heavenly bodies during the month. There will also be
given each month a pajier dealing with star names, constellations,
figures, <tc.— [^Kd.J
Errata. — The comet referred to in Mr. Denning's letter of last
week (letter 122, p. IK)), was not the one which bears his name
(comet /. 1881), but comet ';, 1881. The letter .7 was. misread.
Ill llniilv to ;■>.•; n 1 U! Incf i;>,o I.„t ,i„., f. ... 1)..„„_ .'.„„.1 D„.„„.
icttersf to tfje eiJitor.
[The E'iifor doe» not hold himte{f retponnbU/or Ute opinions of hU correfponJnU.
B0 cannot undertake to return manuacr\pi$ or to corrftiond ycith their itriftrt. All
commnni/^atiotu thonlJ be a* $kort a* patnblt, consUttktiy tcith full and clear Halt'
menlM of the writer's nuaninff.}
Aff Editorial eommuniciitiont should he addressed fo the Editor o/ K^owiMTtot ;
aH Jluinegs ccmmumcations to the Pullishers, at Ue ffjirf, 74, Great Queen-
street, H'.C.
Alt Remittances, Cheques, and Fost'OJtce Orders should be made payahU to
Messrs. Wym.tn 4" Sons.
•»• All letters to the FHtar riH be Xnmhered. For eome'iience of reference,
correspondenis, vhen r^errinff to any letter, kUI oblige by mentioning its number
and the ptige on which it appears.
All Leff-.rs or Queriei to the Editor vhich reqnire attention in t^e current issue of
KVOXTLYHOH, should reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication. _^^__-.
*' In knowledge, tbat roan only is to be contemned and despised irbo is not ia ft
state of transition Nor is there anything more ftdrerse to accuncj
iban fixitj of opinion." — Faraday.
" There is no harm in mukin^ a mistake, hot preat harm in makiag none. Show
me a man who makes nu mistakes, and I wiU show yoa ft miia who b&a dona
nothing." — Liehig. ^_^™_
#111* CoiTfSpontitnrf Columns.
PLANS FOR THE NEW YEAR.— DARWIN AND DESIRE.—
SPIRITUALISM. — PLANETS HIDING STABS. — VIBRA-
TIONS OF LIGHT IN ^ETHER.— VECTORS VESTIGES
OF CREATION.— NEWSPAPER SCIENCE.— THE (xEEAT
PYRAMID.
[136J — With the iirst number of the year 1882 we shall some-
what modify onr plan, experience and the suggestions of many
correspondents having shown that some features which we have not
yet introduced wonld be desirable, and that others which we had
thouglit desirable are cither not so, or inconsistent with seme pre-
senting greater advantages. The task of selection is not altogether
easy. We have been reminded much of the old man with bis
donkey and two sons in the fable, whose fate, it will be remembered,
when he tried to please every one, was to be thrown into the river,
along with his three companions. We are urged — (I) to widen our
space for correspondence ; (2) to keep out correspondence ; (3) to
encourage paradoxei-s t o disport themselves in our pages; (4) to
silence them utterly ; (5) to explain simply the principles of every
science on the face of the earth, all at the same time ; (0) to
leave all such explanations to text books ; (7) to increase
our size ; (8) by no means to do so ; (9) to publish all the
four maps for the month at the beginning of each month;
(10) to publish them ♦.eekly, as we do, but with a page or
two of explanation, ic. ; (11) to have the stars punched out of
the paper; (12) to have the names of all the stars; (13) to have as
little writing on the maps as possible ; (14) to leave out the small
stars; (15) to letter them as well as the others; (16) to give also
weekly zodiacal maps, with paths of planets, moon, comets, &c. ;
(17) to announce all astronomical phenomena; (18) to remember
that the almanacs do that for us; (19) to h.iT0 more astronomy;
(20) to have less astronomy ; (21) to be rather less simple ; (22) to
be more simple ; (23) to give reports of societies ; (21) to give
digests of reports; (25) to give no reports at all ; (26) to announce
meetings of societies; (27) to devote space to no such purpose;
(28) to limit the mathematical column to the discussion of really
difficult problems; (20) to use it to explain matters for beginners;
(30) to omit it altogether; (31) to extend the whist and chess
coluinns; (32) to sliortcn them; (33) to leave thoin out; (34) to
have exchange columns, sixpenny sale columns, Ac. ; (35) to have
none of these ; (36) to offer prizes, have essay columns for girls
and boys, A'C. ; (37) to eschew such allurements ; (38) to have longT
articles ; (30) to let no article exceed a page, and few be longer
than a column; (40) to have articles on ancient philosophy, modem
scientific biographies, ait and the drama, puzzles, enigmas, hints for
collectors of shells, medals, seaweed, Ac, Ac, Ac, ad infinitum. To
.•ill which, all that wo can reply is that we will do our best to please
the greatest number.
iir. Newton Crosland, accusing me of verbal shuflling, claims
from me an apology. Darwin, he says, does speak of the "endea-
vour," though not of the " desire," of the rattlesnake to frighten
aw»v its enemies ; and the two mean the same. Truly they differ
i;,.i« . u..* ...1...* Ar^ /^«..r.!«,..4 c^',A ...n.. ♦!..,» " nn.-.-;.. nt«,.;KiitAH th**
Dm 23, 1881.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
161
Dec. 23, ISSl.]
KNOWLEDGE
163
Continued /rom page 160.J
ovolntion of tho rattlesnake to the desire — or endcavoar — of the
animal to frighten its enemies," and it is just here that he mis-
understands Darwin. The theory he attacks is Lamarck's, not
Danvin's. Darivin and Lamarck may agree in saying that the
rattlesnake uses his rattle with the desire (or in the endeavour) to
frighten its enemies; but whereas Lamarck attributed to such
desire or endeavour, and the resulting " habit," the development of
the rattlesnake, Dan\-in would do nothing of the sort (rather attri-
buting the habit to the development). If Mr. Crosland will read
Darwin's remarks on the views of Lamarck (preface to " Origin of
Species," and elsewhere), and remember that Lyell became a con-
^e^t to the general theory of evolution only when the Danvinian
theory replaced Lamarck's, he will see that there is an important
difference between the two. J[r. Crosland's diatribe on Dr. Darwin
would only be permissible if he had been violently and personally
attacked by that eminent geologist, which, I take it, has not hap-
pened. May I venture to remark that if Mr. Crosland thonght me
really guilty of shuffling, he would not " expect to receive an apology
from me." He has quite wrongly accused me of shuffling, but I do
not want an apology, and certainly I do not expect one.
" Tentative " thinks we do ^n•ong in excluding spiritualism. He
thinks it would bo *' a great gain if we would encourage a searching
inquiry into the causes, electric or other, of the singular mind
problems continually presented to us.'* We will do so, by publish-
ing the first scientitic results of such inquiries which may reach us.
A story he relates seems to illustrate only the effect of an excited
imagination.
Ebenerer Kelby writes respecting my remarks about the Great
Pyramid, that if certain singular coincidences wei"e noted, and
tliose who had noted them were told it was mere accident, they
would say, with a sceptical sneer, " it is a very strange accident,"
and many readers of KxowLEPGE say the same of my " opinion with
i-egard to Mr. Baxendell's wonderful calculations showing the won-
derful con-espondence of pyramid measures with astronomical data."
If Ebenezer Kclby will wait awhile, he may find I can give reasons
for my remark that the very closeness of some of the coincidences
noted by Mr. Baxendell, and of some other coincidences which he
has not mentioned, disproves the argument from coincidence.
"0. K. B." asks why occultations of stars by planets, which
must be continually occurring, are not alluded to or tabulated ?
They occur far less often than he imagines. Very few are recorded,
aad still fewer have been properly observed. I know, indeed, of
only one really satisfactory case, viz., the occultation of a sixth
magnitude star in Aquarius by Jupiter, well observed by Ellery and
Turner with the great Melbourne reflector. The star disappeared
gradnally, and was visible (just before it disappeared) at a depth
of more than 500 miles below the apparent surface of Jupiter —
doubtless, therefore, through a great range of the planet's cloud-
laden atmosphere. " 0. E. B." is mistaken in supposing the size
of a star could be determined by noting how long it was in dis-
appearing behind the comparatively slow-moving planet. If a
planet's outline were sharply defined, the disappearance even of the
largest and nearest star would be to all intents and purposes in-
stantaneous.
"Practical" sends an interesting letter on the use of flesh meat,
which shall appear as soon as we can find space for it.
" 6. P." asks how it is that if the elasticity of the .fther is almost
infinite, vibrations set up in it by solar influence have such short
duration ? Why should darkness so soon follow sunset ? The
vibrations may be compared to those on the surface of water.
When a stone has been thrown into water, the vibrations travel all
aronnd, ceasing first at the place where they began, and thence all
ronnd as the wave circle expands. The elasticity of the water
shows itself in the wide expansion of the wave circle, not in tho
continuance of the oscillation at any point or points traversed by
the wave. So with the aether of space, its elasticity is shown by
the great distances to which light travels without appreciable ex-
tinction. The £Bther cannot at the same time cam- on the light
impulse from each point passed, and continue its %-ibrations there.
Another question by '' G. P." has not been answered, that respect-
ing the nse of vectors in Maxwell's little book on Matter and
Motion. I venture to express the opinion that in a work of that
tind, the use of vectors is as entirely out of place as the use of
Latin and Greek technical terms would be in a treatise on domestic
medicine. To the mathematician, vectors are of use to shorten
reasoning and simplify statements, precisely as technical terms are
of nse in science. But they should have no place in elementaiy
treatises.
We have received many letters besides those published, relating
to the " Vestiges of Creation." Pressure on our space, and the
comparatively small importance of the subject, prevents our publish-
ing these. It is well knoivn that Robert Chambers was the author
of the work, but that he had excellent reasons when he wrote it.
and during many years after, for not desiring to acknowledge that
it was his. Lyell, in his Antiquity of Man, says of the work, that
" written in a clear and attractive style, it made tho English public
familiar with the leading views of Lamarck in transmutation or
progression, but brought no new facts or original line of argument
to support those views, or to combat tho principal objections which
the scientific world entertained against them." Darwin says,
" from its powerful and brilliant style, tho work, though displaying
in its earlier editions little accurate knowledge, and a great want of
scientific caution, immediately had a very wide circulation ; in my
opinion it has done excellent service in this country in calling atten-
tion to the subject, in removing prejudice, and in thus preparing
the ground for the reception of analogous views." Lieut. -Col. Eoss
writes us that he has ovenvhelming evidence to show that Sir C.
Lyell must have written it; but Lyell opposed the Lamarckian
hypothesis ; also that Chambei's could not have written it, but in the
later years of his life Chambers acknowledged to many that he had
done so. A.T.C., Eclecticas, and others, have written very fully on
this subject. " Eclecticus" regards Darwin's work as a fit and com-
plimentary (query complementary) sequel to the " Vestiges," which
reads to me very much as though one should say that Xewton's
" Principia " was a fit sequel to Kei)ler's " Prodromos." The ques-
tion of scientific value, be it understood, is not as between the
work of Darwin and Chambers, but as between the theory of
Lamarck and that of Natural Selection.
It is pointed out by a writer, who desires that his name may not
be published, that a newspaper paragraph recently commented upon
in our columns somewhat unfavourably, correctly represented the
statements of a French chemist in the Comptes Rendus, and that
newspaper science does not deserve all the vilification it receives.
As I have myself written a good deal about science in the news-
papers, I need hardly say that I am not disposed to regard all
newspaper science as nnsomid. Still, it remains true that newspaper
science cannot be regarded as trustworthy, simply because the
general reader cannot distinguish the sound from the unsound, and
has no means of ascertaining to whom particular statements are due,
while it is well known that some editors of leading daily papers have
themselves no knowledge whatever of science, and would as soon
insert a column of utter nonsense, if foisted on them as the work of
a known science student, as the most carefully-reasoned article by a
Darwin, a Tyndall, an Airy, or a Huxley. From my own experience
I know that many newspaper editors have no idea whatever of the
progressive nature of science. Articles which I have written, the
appearance of which has been delayed for one reason or another,
would have been inserted just as they were written, had I not insisted
on the proofs being sent to me for changes rendered necessary
by the lapse of time. In one case, an article which I wrote for
the Times immediately after the eclipse of June, 1878, was
recast by me in this way several times, at 'great cost of labom-,
until at last, when I left England for America in the autumn of
1879, I gave up further attempts to make the article fit for reading
at the time of publication. I had supposed my labour lost, but, to
my horror, I saw that vei-y paper quoted in an American newspaper
in December, 1879, and thus first learned that at last it had
appeared in the Times. Other papers were delayed with the
intention of eventually using them, until, at last, I gave up all
idea of their being patched into fitness for later dates. Some
articles I have seen in the daily papers suggest to me, by their
time-worn aspect and other evidence of decrepitude, that all
writers are not honest enough to remind the editor of the
deterioration a scientific article is undergoing as time passes (or
has already undergone), preferring that an article should appear
long after it has ceased to have any value than that they
should lose the money which is 'only paid after an article has
appeared. In America, the editors of leading papers adopt a plan
which is at once more sensible and — in my judgment — more
honest, making the question of payment (so my esteemed friend,
the editor of the Xeiu Yorl; Tnbvne, tells me) independent of tho
use of an article which has been accepted and sent in type to an
author for correction. This surely is better than the system of some
of our English leading papers (the Times amongst others), by which
an tmskilful editor, after inviting and accepting more contributions
than he can find room for, calmly suffers the loss to fall on the au-
thors, and selectively on those who may be honest enough to tell
him that their papers no longer have the value they originally
possessed. It is because all writers are not careful to do this that
we so often see old truths presented as novelties, and exploded
errors presented as accepted truths, in our daily papers.
Mr. Baxendell has written a letter, in reply to Mr. Ranyard's
remarks, letter 85, p. 113. We would insert the letter, though it
does little more than express Mr. Baxendell's unchanged confidence
in his views, were it not for passages showing that Mr. Baxendell
has entirely misapprehended Mr. Ranyard's remarks respecting
fortune-telling, weather prediction, alchemical promises, and so
164
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 23, 1881.
forth. Mr. Banyai-d, we arc sure, had no thoughl of citing Mr.
Baxcndcll as an example of the objectionable clasa of iicicncG
workors (or nithcr uf iicrsoiis who wout to work ncioiicc) to whom
ho n'forrod. Mr. liaiiyanl's lutter has been rof^ardud by quite a
large uunibcr of corrcspondcuta as unduly considerate towards pnra-
doxers, while othei'S consider it aa very gentle towards them, but
not unwarrantably so. UlCllABb A. Fuoctou.
SIE KICUABD PHILLIPS.
[137] — "Delta" offers to send weekly paragraphs, pirinR start-
ling and important theories propounded by Sir Richard Phillips,
which he believes would be read and studied with profound interest
by readers of K.vowr-EPGE. After reading the specimens " Delta"
forwards, I decide that only one paragraph relating to Sir B. Phillips
shall appear in these columns so long as they are under mj- charge.
It is not one of his own writing, but by the late Professor De
Morgan, and runs thus : —
" Sir Eichard Phillips had four valuable qualities — honesty, zeal,
ability, and courage. Ho ap])Ucd them all to teaching matters
about which he knew nothing, and gained himself an uncomfortable
life and a ridiculoiis memorj-." Ricii.MtD A. Pkoctor.
RETROGRADATION OP A PLANET. — ORRERY. — SOLAR
HEAT. — ASTRONOMICAL SLIDES. — DENSITY OF NEP-
TUNE.—VULCAN.— THE GRAVITY OF SIR R.PHILLIPS.
-PLANETARY RINGS. — THE GREAT BEAR. — SIRIUS
AND ORION.— ALGOL AND MIRA.— STAR LETTERS AND
NUMBERS. — NEW STAR IN CASSIOPEIA. —A'ENUS IN
SUNSHINE. — VELOCITY OP LIGHT. — EVOLUTION. —
RAINBOW. — SOLAR STORMS. — ANTIQUITY OF THE
PYRAMIDS. — MENTAL PHYSIOLOGY.— THE ANTIQUITY
OF MAN.— TOADS.
[138] — As no one, so far, appears to have replied to the Query
(17) of " Astronomicus," on page 60, perhaps 1 mar say, shortly,
that the seeming retrogradation of a planet is a differential phe-
nomenon, arising from the fact that the earth moves less rajiidly in
her orbit and describes a larger ellipse than the interior planets
Mercury and Venus ; and more rapidly than those exterior to her —
Hars, Jupiter, .Sattirn, Uranus, and Nei)tune, whose orbits must
obviously increase in size as they recede from the sun. If " Astro-
nomicus" ^vill describe a series of concentric circles to represent
the paths of the planet.i, and suppose them to travel round such
ciixles in a direction opposite to tliat of the hands of a watch, and
at rates proportioned to their periodic times (to be obtained from
any Primer of Astronomy whatever), he will soon see how, taking
the case of Mars, for example, when the eaith is between that
planet and the sun, she, as it were, overtakes him. Evidently in
doing so Mars will appear to go back, as it were, among the infinitely
distant stars; as will, in a similar manner, the planets outside him
when in and near opposition. So far the appearance of retrogi-ada-
tion may be called subjective. I may now add, what I abstained
from saying in connection with Mercur)' and Venus, for fear of eon-
fusion, that they have also an objective movement of retrogradation,
when they come between the sun and the earth, as your correspondent
may see from his own figures. Mars is the planet whicli describes
the largest retrograde arc, the reason for which will also bo appa-
rent from his diagram.
" Vulcan " (query 20, p. SO) may see an orrery at South
Kensington.
If "Warmus" (query 30, p. 101) possesses a pair of compasses,
he may clear up part of his difficulty by constructing a simple
figure ; or he may even do so by tlie aid of a bronze halfpenny.
Let him, then, describe a. circle one inch in diameter, and from the
top and bottom of this draw two parallel straight lines, between
wliich he may rule as many more as he likes strictly parallel to
them. These he may take to represent the sun's rays. Now, let
liim get a strip of card one-inch long, and hold it square across his
series of lines. Obviously they will all fall upon it. If, .however,
he holds it slantingly across them, ho will see that fewer and fewer
of them touch it as its obliquity increa.'-cs. Now this is just what
happens on tho earth. Within the tropics, where the sun is always
somewhere overhead, all his rays tall squaie to the obscn'er's hori-
zon. Where, however, as in high northern and southern latitudes,
the sun never, even at noon, reaches any great elevation above the
horizon, his rays necessarily fall obliquely, and we receive com-
paratively few of them. With reference to the concluding i>art of
" Warmus's" question, the gentleman who gets tanned by the sun
in a tropical country has his complexion spoilt by the direct and im-
mediate action of the sun on the re(e mucosum, or under layer of
the skin. It is this that sunlight enters directly, and not the earth
first !
It " C. J. S. " (query 33, p. 101) only wants bia slidei for one
night, he will find that patent plate gloss, dciUMily smoked by burn-
ing camphor, will give him an absolutely opaque ground, on which
very effective diagrams may be made by the aid of etching and
sewing needles and compasses with a needle point. He must gnm
a little bit of paper on before smoking hia slide, as a centre for one
leg of the com|)a88e8 to rest on, as otherwise they slide about the
glass and make undesirable lines and scratches.
Assuming that wo arc looking at the outline of the solid body of
Neptune, then I may tell " S. S. S. S." (query 38, p. 101) that bil
density must be something like 096; that of water being 1. Only
one satellite is known. Its period is od. 21 h. 3 m.
In answer to " S. .S." (query 41, p. 101), there is a practical con-
census of opinion among astronomers that Vulcan has no existence
whatever. I am not denying that there may be a planet, or planets,
between Mercurj- and the Sun, but the pseudo-observation of Les-
carbault was suOiciently definite to enable computers to calculate
the orbit of the alleged body. This having been done, it niu»( havs
reappeared on tho sun's disc on several occasions since, when the
most skilled observers, employing powerful instruments, have
wholly failed to see anything. It is the "Mrs. Harris" of the
solar system.
" Meter" (query 45, p. 101) appears to be unaware that scientific
men pay about the same kind and amount of attention to the lucu-
brations of Sir Richard Phillips that they do to those of, say,
"Parallax," or Mr. John Hampden.
The same correspondent (succeeding query) should buy and read
" Saturn and its System," by the Editor of this journal.
Mr. St. Clair (query 57, p. 101) will find that the principal stars
in the Great Bear all set in latitudes below 25° Nortli. The second
part of his query is, in one sense, meaningless ; because in the
case of a circum-polar constellation, what is east below the Pole,
becomes west above it, and I'ice-versi ; but, in the sense that the
right ascension of Benetnasch exceeds that of Dubhe by some
2 hours 47 minutes, of course the latter star is the westernmost,
as by " longitude " your correspondent obviously means right
ascension. I may say that Ursa Major straggles over six hours in
the sky, as nearly as may be from o on one side to 2 1830 on the
other. I quite fail to understand the meaning of the constellation
having " a cycle of 2,700 years ; " nor am I in any better position
to clear up the diiiieulty as to the supposed connection between
Sirins and either Ursa Major or Minor.
In answer to query 58, p. 102, Sirius was one of Orion's hounds,
but that it was ever placed on the " shoulder" of the giant is news
to me.
The great comet spoken of by "S. C. H. " (query 61, p. 102),
has no other designation than comet b, 1881. Its orbit was seem-
ingly parabolic, and the parabola — as " S. C. H. " doubtless knows
— is a curve which does not return into itself.
'■ S. C. H." (query 62, same page) will find Algol marked on the
map on p. 97. It is in tho head of Medusa.
" F. H. S." (query 63, p. 102) asks when Algol and Mira are at
their brightest ? In the case of the first-named star, he should
rather ask of the date of its minimum, inasmuch as itshines as a
star of the second magnitude for about 2d. 13h., diminishes to the
fourth in tliree or four hours, remains as a fourth magnitude for
about twenty minutes, and again increases iu brightness until it
regains the second magnitude. It passes through the entire cycle
of its changes in 2d. 20h. 48m. 553. For its next minimum,
" F. H. S." must really watch for himself. Mira Ceti should attain
its next maximum about June 16 or 17, 1882.
Stars, I may say, in answer to query 64 (p. 102), are both
lettered aud numbered in their order of right ascension.
By the periodical star, concerning which "F. H. S." puts hia next
query (65), his informant pi-obably meant to imply that if the one
which blazed out somewhere about RK Oh. 19m., and Dec. 63° 24 'N.
in November, 1572, was identical with those which appeared in or
near the same spot in 945 and .1264, it may possibly soon reappear
now.
Next, I would tell him (query 66) that Venus is always visible to
the naked cyo in bright sunshine to anyone who knows where to
look for her — at and about the time when tho Xaulical Almanac
gives the intimation " ? at greatest brilliancy."
It may be worth while to remark, in connection with letter 100
(p. 116), that the latest and best determination of tho velocity of
light, gives it as 186,380 miles a second. Hence, as the pace of the
fastest express never exceeds sixty miles an hour, it must travel
jijjth of a mile in a second, so that the velocity of light must be in
reality about 1,118,000 times that of the train.
Mr" Mitchell (letter 107, p. 117) might advantageously study Pro-
fessor Huxley's lecture on the convincing evidence, from fossil
remains, of the direct descent of the horse from the Hipparion,
delivered before the Zoological Society iu December, 18S0.
'■ G. S. M." (query 67, p. 122) should readTyndall's " Six Lectures
Dec. 23, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
166
ou Light," pnblislicd by Longmans, for an orplanation of tlio rain-
bow. It is too long to give here. Unless the same conespondent
(quor)' 68) knows something of the theory and action of tlie spec-
trosi'ope, I am afraid that he will not be much wiser when I tell
him that the velocity of solar storms is measured by the displace-
ment of certain lines in the spectrum of the sun's surroundings.
I am not familiar with Rawliiison's researches in E^ryptiau liis-
tory, but "Actinolite" (query 72, p. 122) will find an exhaustive
argument in Buneeu's " Kgypt's Place in History," tending to fix
the date 3620 B.C. as that of the P\Tamids.
" S. S. S. S." (qnery 79. p. 122) cannot possibly do better than
L'lt Carpenter's most interesting and amnsiiig " Mental Phj'siology."
The researches of Mr. Homer, concerning which "Clio" puts
lory 81 (p. 123), were undertaken between the years 1851 and
I ^iH, partly at the cost of the Royal Society, but mainly at that of
111' Viceroy, Abbas Pacha. No less than ninety-five shafts were
' ired through the alluvium of the Nile Valley, through sediment
V. hich the French engineers calculate is formed at an average rate
f 5 inches in a century. At depths varj-ing from 16 to 21 feet,
jars, vases, pots, and a small human figure in burned clay, a copper
kiiifi>, and other entire articles were dug up." "Pieces of burnt
iirick and pottery. Sir Charles Lyell moreover tells us, were
I xtracted almost evei-ywhcre, and from all depths, even where they
-ank 6i) feet below the surface." If then we divide 60 feet, ».".,
720 inches, by 5, we get 114, and as the estimation of the French
< iigineers appears entirely trustworthy, that 5 inches of Nile
■Ihivium are deposited in a century, this shows that pottery and
ricfcmaking were practised by the Egj-ptians at least 14, -100 years
In connection wnth query 87 (p. 123), I should like to put one my-
■ If. 7)(i toads ever exist "for many years, enclosed in blocks of
•lid matter?" 1 fear that "Arachnida" is the victim of the
CIreat Gooseberry" column of some local newspaper.
A Fellow of the Koyal Astronomical Society.
"THE COMMON STAR -FISH, CROSS-FISH, OR FIVE
FINGERS iVHASTER RUBEXS, LIN., AG.), OCCASIONALLY
THE FOOD OF THE SUN-STAR {SOLASTER PAPPOSA,
LIN., FORBES)."
[139] — Sir John G. Dalyell, in his excellent work, " The Powers
of the Creator displayed in the Creation" (Vol. i., p. 3), in
speaking of the common suu-star, states that " the fishermen
believe that this animal devom's the Asleiias glacialis" (I'rasfer
glacialis, Ag., Lin., Spiny Cross-fish). I am able to confii-ni this
assertion, so far, at least, as it relates to the closely-allied, but far
more common species, the Uras'er rubens, or common five-fingers.
Whilst on a visit for some weeks at Colvvyn Bay, North Wales,
during the mouths of September, October, and November last, 1
had ample opportunities of observing some of the habits of tlie sun-
star, great numbers of which I found amongst the sea-tangle
[Laminnria) beds, which, forest-like, waived their fronds in the
tidal waters close to the fishery weir at Rhos, in the [wssesfeiou of
Mr. Parry Evans. At the time of the low equinoctial tides, this
locality abounded iu specimens of fiolaster papposa ; it was the
commonest species present. I conld have collected wheel-barrows
full. Of course, the common star-fish, or five-fingers, was there
also — it has " a finger in every pie " ; but it did not abound to the
same extent as the sun-star. Here and there I met with Crihellce,
both Oculata and Rosea, as well as other members the Asteroidean
and Ophiiu'idcan order of the Echinodermata. It was a veiy com-
mon thing to notice within the stomachs of the larger individuals
of Solasler, rays of the five-fingers ; sometimes there were two, but
more generally one ray in a stomach. Now the ray was fresh,
having been recently swallowed, and miaffected by any digestive
process, now in a state more or less pulpy from the results of that
process.
It has been long kno^vn that the food of star-fish consists, in a
great measure, of the succulent portions of different kinds of mol-
Inscs, such as mussels, oysters, scallops, &c., small Crustacea, and
other animals, which they kill and devour ; but so voracious are
they, that they will sometimes make a meal of one of their own
kind. It is ditficult to keep sun-stars alive for any length of time
m an artificial state ; they soon die, so that I was unable to discover
by experiment in what form of diet their propensities might be
snpposed to lie. Neither was I able to ascertain whether the sun-
star attacks the whole living five-fingers, by fir.st of all seizing the
pointed part of the r.iy and gradually sucking in its whole portion,
thus causing it to break o£E from the disc, or whether the remains
found in the stomach consisted of rays which had been, either
voluntarily or otherwise, detached from the body. Tlio destruction
which the five-fingers cau.9e to mussel and oyster-beds is wellknown,
and statements to this effect are corroborated by ample testimony.
Fishermen and others pi-actically interested in oyster fisheries,
when examined before appointed Commissioners on this subject,
bear testimony, one and all, to the havoc occasioned by these star-
fish. Captain G. Austin, some timo ago engaged in the oyster
business at Whitstable, giive evidence before the Commissioners iu
the follomng words : — " They (the five-fingers) come like a flock of
gulls, and, unless the beds were well dredged, they would soon
destroy the spat. There is one kind that will cat an oyster itself,
yet it is a singular thing with regard to them that after they have
been dredged for a time, they roll themselves up and float away.
So much is that the case, that in jilaces where the fishermen have
caught ten bushels of five-fingers one day, they will go out the
next day and not catch one." (See Report of the Commissioners
appointed to Inquire into the Sea Fisheries of tho United Kingdom.
Vol. II., 1865, p. 1,.'?63.) There is every reason to believe that the
siua-star is also destructive to 03'sters ; if these asteroids are found,
which is often the case, on oyster beds, it is presumable that they
are there for some ]nirpose, and when we know that other closely-
allied members of this order possess in an eminent degree, and
when opportunity offers gratify, oyster-eating proclivities, it is
almost certain that their presence on the oyster or mussel beds
has a gastronomical explanation. Sir J. G. Dalyell has recorded
instances of sun-stars exhibiting cannibalism, and has been an eye-
witness of larger specimens devouring their smaller brothers. The
destructive agency of the sun-stars with respect to oysters must
be small compared with that wrought by the ubiquitous five-fingers,
for though the former are widely distributed round our coasts, they
are not so generally abmudaut as the latter. That the suu-star fre-
quently feeds upon the five-fingers I have lately had proof, but
whether the good they do in this respect is outbalanced joj' the evil
they cause to oj-sters, or whetlicr the good has any appreciable
effect on the natural increase of the five-fingers— these are ques-
tions I cannot answer. — Yours, W. Houghton, M.A., F.L.S.
WORD-CHOICE.
[1-10] — I hold that au Editor who amply lends his pages for the
actual use of the public at large, as well as for delight and teaching,
has a right to look for every aid that public can give him. Each
writer offering matter for insertion should be asked to consider the
length of every word he sets down. While thus sparing the printer's
costly time, and leaving blank the space otherwise needlessly filled,
he will at the same time be serving his own ends, since more space,
more letters. Not only so, but in another way he will be a gainer.
He will soon find that he is getting to write better Saxon English.
Rather write enough than sufficient, for instance ; hegin than com-
mence ; as well as letting us have using instead of employing whea
the sense permits. You can use your time, though you must employ
a workman. In the above few linos I had myself tripped. I was
about to write "entertainment and instruction." Besides being
shorter, " delight and teaching," arc, I think, better.
WORD-LOVEB.
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN?
[Ill] — I have just seen Knowledge for December 2, and have
read with much regret a letter (numbered 61), signed " Susan G.,"
relating to your interesting article " Ai-e women inferior to men? "
If the writer is to be considei-ed a representative of her sex, I fear
she has injured the cause she wished to advance. In the first place,
some of her statements are not accurate. She says " in a gii-l's
education the brain is but slightly exercised." Now in point of
fact, in the jiresent day, girls' education is quite as comprehensive
as boys', with less relaxation in the way of cricket, football, &c., to
counterbalance the study. " Music and needlework," your corre-
spondent thinks, " scarcely exercise it (the brain) at all." I
wonder what Haydn, Handel, and Bach would say on that point ?
If music is music, and not mere mechanical "strumming," it cannot
be called a brainless study. And yet it has to be worked at in the
hours that boys devote to football.
As to " Susan G.'s" theory that whipping would develope brain, it
appears to me that people with brain do not want whipping. The
two great incentives to study are " interest in the work" and "love
of the master," and if those who have tlie training of boys and girls
can inspire these, as every good teacher can, the brain results will
be much better than those shown by a girl of eighteen taken from
her natural pursuit (?) — "husband-catching," and whipped into a
course of study for which she has no inclination.
; Having entered a protest against the whipping theory, may I ask
you, for my own information and that of others, whether a compari-
son, to be quite fair, should not bo between those whose surround-
ings are similar ? Do you not think that as the mind of a man
having the care of motherless children or of a sick "wife, becomes
insensibly domesticated, and almost womanly (as distinct from
effeminate), so the mind of a woman called upon to enter a profes-
sion or manage a business becomes widened and strengthened by
1G6
KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec. 23, 1881.
contact with the outer world, for tho work before it? But wliilHt
the lot of most women (without beiiiff doomeJ to " suckle fouls and
clironiclc smnll-hccr ") is yet to fill, ns intelligently and happily as
may be, tho domestic posts of daughter, sister, wife, and motlicr,
would it not be unfair to call upon them to exhibit qualities for
which they would have no exercise, and which, if ever needed,
come with the need? The "Jack Sprat" story of our nursery
days wouUi be falsified if men and women were made exactly alike,
and I fear the result would sometimes be that the domestic platter
would not bo " licked clean." I may bo wrong, being
Only a Woman.
P.S. Let me add one word of grutcfid thanks for your paper.
May it have tho .success it deserves.
Kdinburgh, Dec. 9, 1881.
ANOTUER TRISECTION' OF AN ANGLE.
[142] — I send you another method of trisecting an angle, more
suitable for practical purposes. Of course it rccpiircs the ordinary
mechanical contrivance, but as the point P is iirbitrary, and CD is
double BP, these measures can be permanently marked on tho
scale. To trisect any anirle :- - .IRr is the riTitrlo. 'niki^ niiv point
I' in Mi, draw i'Jf parallel and I'N perpendicular to BC ; from B
draw BD so that VD=2.BP; bisect I'BD. The lines BD and BE
trisect the angle. The proof I leave to the ingenuity of your
i-eadcrs. It is very simple. — Voms, &c., ,S. B.
15, Bessborough-street, St. George's-sq., S.W.
[This is the method invented by Pappus, of Alexandria. From it
we can easily see that the hj-perbola is a trisectrii. — Ed.]
VARIABILITY OF PENDULUM.
[113] — There is a misapprehension here founded on want ot
precision in ideas. The writer points out " a difference of velocity,"
but omits to specify to what point he refers as the standard.
Apparently, however, the centre of the sun is intended, for which
his statement is approximately correct ; but tho motions of the
pendulum are controlled by the mass of the earth, generally
reckoned as a force acting from its centre, and with reference to
this latter point, no such inequality of velocity exists ; so there is no
ground for anticipation of any ditu-nal variation dependent on this
(supposed) cause. Couito.
ANTIQUITY OP THE PYRAMID.S.
[Ii4] — It is impossible in the spac-e which could be allowed in
Knowleugk to give adequate reasons for believing some of the
l>yramid8 to be 6,000 years old. If " Actinolite " (querj- 72, p. 122)
wishes to know the best authorities on tho subject, he will fiud
Rrugsch's " History from the Monuments," Uawlinsnn's or Erasmus
Wilson's " Egypt," and a work published by Macmillan, entitled
" A Rido in Egypt," by Mr. Loftie, give him ample information.
If Egyptologists are correct in assigning tho Pyramid of steps at
Siikkara (which, by-thc-way, differs from all others in not following
the cardinal points of tho compass) to Vauepbes of the first dynasty,
.Sir J. Lubbock would probably be within the mark. The Pvramid
of Scnerferoo, eighth king of the third dynasty, is at Mavdoum,
and may well be as old as ti.OOO years. For the date of Jlenes is
fixed as 5702 ii.r. by Ba'ockh, 5,000 ii.c. by Prof. Owen, Marriette,
and Manetho, 1-,155 by Brugsch, for which he gives excellent reasons,
■1,500 B.C. by Maspero, 1,000 n.c. by Chabas, and 3,892 B.C. by
Lepsius. English authorities prefer a shorter chronology, Mr.
Stuart Poole even favouring 2,717 n.c.
It may lie said that all tho occumnlating digcovcrics go to prove,
with sliglit exceptions, the validity of Manetho's list and dates.
For instance, one of bis supposed mythical assertions with regard
to a King Apappus, that he was a giant, and reigned one hundred
years, lias recently been confirmed by a monument now at Boulaq,
mentioning tho one hundredth year of his reign, and bis hieroglyphic
name Papi means a giant. This longority is 8urpa.ssed by tliat of
Assa and )iis son Ptah-hotep of the fifteenth dynasty, who, according
to tho Prisse papyrus, must have lived over 130 and 110 years
respectively. See " Smith's Bible Dictionary," I., 322, where these
facts are used aa arguments in favour of the long lives of some of
the patriarchs.
It is important to recollect that if the monuments are held to
confirm tho old supposed chronology of about 4,000 years from the
creation to the time of Christ, they witness in favour of the plurality
of the humau race, because they show (|uite as great a divergence
between tho negro, Egyptian, and Asiatic ty])e8 on the earliest
monuments as at the prefent time, and so there could not possibly
have been a sufiicient period for such a differentiation from the
progeny of a single pair.
A Membee of the Society of Biblical ABcn.EOLOGV.
SOME SUGGESTIONS RESPECTING " KNOWLEDGE."
[115] — 1. 1 think it would be a great advantage to many of your
readers if in your notices of books (which I hope to see soon) you
stated the price as well as the publisher's name and address.
2. Sale Column. — Do not you think that a sale and exchange
column (such as in the Enylish Mechanic) would be a good addition
to K.NuWLEDGE? Through it Subscribers could exchange and sell
scientific works, telescopes, aquaria, &c.
3. Collections. — Shall you have papers on making collections ot
all kinds of natural objects, such as a herbarium, butterfly collec-
tions, geological, bird and fish stafiBng, skeletonising, insect taxi-
dermy, &c. ?— [Freshwater aquaria. — Ed.]
4. I hope you Avill foretell all natural phenomerm, such as
eclipses, meteoric showers, &c. (as far as you are able), asd how
best to be seen, by naked eye or telescope. E. R. C.
THE THREE-SQUARE PUZZLE.
[146] — Mr. Langley's note (Xo. 97) reminds me of an old puzzle
which was set to me in Germany a good deal more than forty years
ago. It is, in fact, a variant of his, and shows how his five pieces
are obtained. It also always seemed to me to bo the best proof of
the celebrated 47th proposition of Euclid's first book.
Take any oVilong piece of paper and fold down two csmers, as
along AB, BC in the figure ; then, by cutting along AD and CK,
you obtain two adjacent squares, AGBD and KBHC. Now, the
puzzle is by one cut with a pair of scissors to cut these two squares
into three pieces which will themselves foi-m a square. I>et those
wlio arc foiiil of puzzles attempt it mthout reading what follows.
Solution. — Fold the paper so that the point C lies on the point X.
Then the fold will be along the line EF, giving tho poiut E, where,
of course, EH = GB. Cut with the scissors through both of tho
folded sides fi^om A to E, and C to E, by one cut. Then you have
the two triangles AGE, CUE, and the shapeless remainder. This
done, I may leave any child to fit them into a squai"e, and any young
geometer to prove that that square must be that on the hj-po-
tenuse of a right-angled triangle of which the sides are also sides
of the two S(iuares. Observe, that if you also cut along BD, you
get Mr. Stanley's five pieces. — Yours, &e., Alexander J. Ellis.
Dec. -23, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
167
THE OEIGIN OF BUTTERCUPS.
117] — I am sure tliat most of our readers could not fiiil but
iL-e the clear and highly descriptive article upon " The Origin of
torcups," a valuable treatise upon a botanical snbject. without
: anical technicalities, and rendered in such a manner that even
ti.e least unscientific person reading the article would have his
knowledfre considerably extended respecting buttercups.
1 cannot, however, understand Mr. Grant Allen's theory of evolu-
:; re.«(iectiug cut leaves. Ue says, " As a rule, just in proportion
vegetation is thick and matted, do the plants of which it is com-
- d tend to dcvelope minutely divided and attcnaated foliage." I
i that the rule is the very reverse, for iu traversing any waste
L> of land where the struggle for existence is left to itself, one
^ the very plants that predominate are those with entire leaves,
. grasses, daisies, primroses, docks, ic, &c., and hold their o\vn
- Liiist the finely-cut leaved species; indeed, one scarcely sees the
:ercnp with its cut leaves growing in any prof usion on uncul-
tivated ground.
It is only in protected meadows that it flourishes in abundance ;
"ivliereas the farmer carefully uproots those having entire leaves,
:, 'wing well that under their broad leaves no grass will grow.
Tliose plants having cut leaves are, as a rule, "tall growers,"
1 have a weak and slender stem compared with the height of
t ■.<• plant. Have not these developed cut leaves in order that the
v.;iul may not break them'down, but allow it to pass freely through?
I :'. on the contrary, they had to dcvelope entire leaves, they would
at a disadvantage in even an ordinary breeze. Upon the same
uciple many tall plants have entire leaves, but as they approach
top of the stem, the leaves are invariably smaller. Conse-
titly, where the plant is weakest the leaves .are smallest.
A -rain, many [plants having entire leaves throw up a flowering
.1 entirely devoid of leaves, probably learning by experience
.at if they had to produce leaves there, snap would go their stems
— viz., plantain, foxglove, hyacinth, grasses, ic.
U maybe argued that few of ottr large forest trees have cut
ves, and that, therefore, my theoiy respecting the wind would
But I hold that they possess advantages equal to cut leaves
.aWng their blades placed at the end of petioles, and articulated
the stem, so that they may bend and allow the wind to pass
:;out injuring the tree. I hold that petioled leaves are merely a
Iilication of cut leaves. Few of our radical leaved plants
I j'ussess petioles to their leaves, not being required for such a
I "lowly" position. West Riding.
BEES AS FLOWER FERTILISERS.
[1-18] — In the suggestive article by Mr. Grant Allen iu K.NOW-
LEDGE Xo. 4, on the " Origin of Buttercups," an error has crept in
with regard to bees. I am a bee-keeper on a somewhat large scale,
and, consequently, interested iu knowing from what flowers bees
make their collections ; but, though we have abundance of butter-
cups here, the hive bees do not visit them. Certainly buttercups
are not included by bee-keepers among honey plants.
I do not, however, take exception to the assertions of scientiiic
men, that bees are important aids in the cross fertilisation of
flowers. When I say that the nnmber of good honey-producing
plants are comparatively few, and bees select the best yielders
for the time being, I mean the probabilities appear to me to be
verj- much against flowers being dependent upon bees for the fer-
tility of their seeds.
Another circumstance is worth notice. When hive bees make
collections of pollen from osiers, they fly straight to and from the
tree, without passing from the male to the female flowers, a fact
which may be easily verified in almost any district where bees are
kept. It appears to me that bees might be of service as an aid in
cross-fertilisation in this case ; but it is fair to add that pollen is
much needed in early spring when osiers bloom. This shows that
the presence of honey in flowers is not the only attraction for the
industrious bee. — Yours, &c., Alfred Doxbavaxd.
Picton, Chester, Dec. 16, 1881.
PE0FES.S0E XoRDExsKJOLD is going to Russia, where the Govern-
ment wishes to consult him on the best method of opening North
Siberia to European navigation.
At the late Archaeological Congress, held at Tiflis, Professor
Samokvasoff gave an account of his discoveries in the graves
near Pyatigorst. He excavated about 200 places of interment
belonging to the stone, bronze, and iron periods. In the larger
graves, bronze implements were found with stone ones. As there
were in these graves, besides the bones of sheep, several split
human bones not belonging to skeletons, he inferred that during
the bronze-period the people in that part of the Caucasus were
man-eaters. — Frank Leslie's Magazine.
©ufrirsf.
[104] — Moo.vs OF Maris and S.itirn. — 1. Can you inform me if
Mars has any satellites ? If so, how many ? What is their period of
revolution, and at what distance are they from the planet ? — [Mars
has two moons, discovered in Angust, 1877; periods of revolution,
30h. 14m., and 7h. 38m. ; distances from the planet's centre, abont
e,000 and 15,000 miles.— Ec] 2. What are the names of Saturn's
two outmost satellites? — [Hyperion and Japetus (the latter the
outermost of all). — Ed.]
[105]. — Ft'XGi axd LiCHEXS. — How are specimens preserved, and
which are the best books on the subject Y — J. S.
[106]— PNErM.VTic Bell.— Will M. Tester (Letter 79, p. 100)
kiudly favour me with insti-uctions, " plainly-worded, exactly-
described," for making and fixing (down staircases, &c.) a
pneumatic bell ; taking for granted — as is really the case — that
I have very little native ingenuity? Also stating the price of
materials used. If he could possibly supply a simple diagram,
where necessary, I should be greatly obliged. — E. R. C.
[107] — Xame of Star. — How would you pronoimce "Betelgeux,"
one of the stars (a) in the constellation of Orion. [The question is
one for Arabic students. The name Betelgeux is, we believe, a
corruption from Ibt al Jauza, the giant's shoulder.— Ed.]
[108] — After-Images. — These seem to be best obtained, not by
closing the eyes and keepiug them closed, but in the act of vigorous
winking. When I do this after looking at the sun, I soon obtain an
after-image of the following nature : An interior green disc ; round
that a narrow circle of red, and beyond, an undefined space of
^'iolet or dark blue. Has this been noted and sufiiciently explained,
and, if so, what is the explanation ? Is there any significance in
the fact that those three colours arc the fundamental colours ? —
MAi.
[109] — Railway Collisioxs. — From the history of these, are any
practical rules deducible for the case of imminent collision (rules as
to position and attitude in the carriage, &c.), the observance of
which might somewhat limit the power of railway companies to
maim and murder us ? — Max'.
[110] — The Coal Age and the Earth's Ixterxal He.vt. — As
an ignoramus, may I ask you whether the earth's own internal
heat had anj-thing to do with the gigantic flora of the coal age, on
the principle of a hothouse ? Is it supposed that the earth was
at one time in a state of intense heat, and will gradually cool like
the moon has done ? Does not the temperature increase the deeper
you sink into the earth ? What is a good text-book on this snbject ?
— Igxobamcs.
[Ill] — Axes of the Pl.ixets. — WiU you inform me if the axes
of the planets are all inclined the same way — that is to say, if the sun
and all the planets could be placed in a line at their respective dis-
taaces, would all the axes be inclined in the same general direction ?
— Oriox. — [The axes of the planets have no community of direction.
Our earth's axis points towards Ursa Minor, Jupiter's to a point in
the constellation Draco, not far from Omega, Saturn's to a point
near the northern extremity of Cephens, and so on. — Ed.]
[112] — Optical Illusiox. — A remarkable optical illusion is
caused by holding the hand, with the fingers close together, near a
gas flame. One seems to see through his fingers. What causes the
illusion ? Does the light shine through the skin at all ? — G. P.
[113]^ — Illusory Figures of Traxsparext Solids. — How is it
that in looking at the figures of transparent solids that it is possible
for you to imagine the figure in two positions ? And what adjust-
ment takes place iu the eye whilst so doing ? For instance, in the
case of the cube it is possible for you to see it as having a cer-
tain face as the front one, and without moving the eyes you can
make the opposite face appear as the front one ; or in the prism, the
edge xy can be made to appear either at the back or front, just as
you please ; but no motion of the eyes need take place. Yet there is
a slight effort felt as you change, so to speak, the position of the cube
or prism." — P. B. S.— [Mr. Foster will discuss such illusions. — Ed.]
[114] — M.iRiKE Boiler. — What is the increasing temperattire on
the furnace crown of a marine boiler required to keep the steam at
a pressure of 1001b. per square inch ; with the scale formed by the
deposit of salt within the boiler increasing by sixteenths, from J„ to
iin. thick ? How can this be calculated? — Ceaxkshaft.
[115] — Screw Propeller. — Is there a vacuum on the following
side of a screw propeller blade when revoh-ing ? If so, does it
materially affect the power of the engine ? .4ny information on
either of the above will greatly obUge. — Cranksb.4Ft.
[116] — John Bull. — Can any reader refer me to the origin and
meaning of the term "John Bull." — G.
[117] ^ Paeallelopipedox or Pakallklepipedon. — Why do
1G3
KNOWLEDGE
[Dkc. 23, 1881.
EngliBh writiTH dpcll " I'jinilk'IapuliKlon ? " Hutli in GcTmnn niui
French thii worJ is iihvays gpolt " PnmlloU'pidudon " and paialliW-
pipi'dii (c iinji. Dictioiinniro do I'Acndi^mio nnd Littru's Diclion-
iiairo), and ono «! tlm prcati'st iiuthoritios in clndsicnl phil<di<fry
usoarcg mo tliut the o of " pamllolos," boinR on un-ussontial tcrnii-
nution, muni yield to tho initial o of "cpi." — G. L.
[118] -How TO Make Cotton WATEurnooF. — Will any of tho
readers of Knowledge bo pood euougli to indicate a proccsB by
means of which raw cotton wool, juat as the plant furnishes it, can
bo mado iinporvious to water, without changing tho libi'e or colour
of tho cotton ? — CorroNi.vN.
[110] — Electbo Plating. — By mistake, nearly six ounces of a
cyanide of ooppor eolutiun have boon thrown in two gallons nearly
of a double cyanide of silver solution. Would any of yonr readers
be kind enough to tell ino liow to purify my silver solution ?— W.
Van Ev.-i.
[120] Transit of Venvs, Dec, 1882.— As the above transit will
take place in December next year, I should vei-y much like to know
how the calculations are made in order to a.scortain tho sun's dis-
tance from the earth. I have a slight knowledge of how the work
is performed, but should like to understand the sy.stcm properly. —
Hesketm. [Will, before long, give a simide account of the matter.
—Ed.]
[121] — Latitude and Longitude. — I am an.vions to be able to
determine the latitude and longitude in a practical manner. Will
you kindly, at your earliest convenience, give me the necessary
instructions in Knowledge ? — IlESKETn. [The best advice we can
give " Hcsketh" is to obtain Loomis's excellent treatise on " Prac-
tical Astronomy," in which the best methods of determining longi-
tude and latitude are clearly and fully explained. — Ed.]
[122]— Blood Analysis — Is there any method by which the
amount of the albumen, or, at least, of tlie saline constituents of
blood, can be estimated quantitatively, in cases where only a small
quantity can bo obtained, say 5 c.c. ? Can tho spectroscope be
applied to quantitative analyses in such cases ? — iiifia.
[123] — Fermentation in Beer. — Will you kindly allow mo to
ask if any of the readers of K.vowledge will explain to mo the
process of fermentation in beer ? — In Re.
[124]— The Coffee Leaf.— Have you heard anything lately of
any experiments made in this country to introduce the coffee leaf
among us ? My reason for asking is that I think our labourers
would derive a great benefit from its use, if it could be introduced. —
F. C. S.
[125] — Indigo. — Is it possible to prepare indigo on a large scale
artificially, and at the same time profitably ? I have heard rumours
that there is a manufactory in France for doing so ; but have looked
through, as they have arrived, my society's journals to sec if I
could find an account of the experiment, if any has been made, but
it has been without success. If you could enlighten mo on the
above you would oblige.— F. C. S.
[126] — Flora, and Plants, and Insects of the ChanneI'
Islands. — Why are the plants of the Channel Islands included in
the British flora, while the insects are usually considered French ? —
B.J.
[127] — Double Refr^ution. — I should bo very glad indeed of
information upon tho following points : — When a spot of light
is viewed through a piece of Iceland spar, twe spots are seen,
as a consequence of the double refraction of tho ci-ystal ; and if
I understand rightly, one of them consists of vibrations, say, in
vortical, and the other of vibrations in horizontal planes. Now,
if we look at these through a second piece of spar, we see four spots
of light, each of tho former pair being doubled or " resolved."
What I want to know is tho moaning of " resolved." If ono of the
first pair consists of vertical vibrations, -where do tho horizontal
ones come from to form its second imago ? and if the other consists
of horizontal vibrations, how do we come by the second imago ?
Each pair behaves, when tho spars arc revolved, in the same manner
as the first pair would if seen through a Nicol prism.— Polar. [It
depends how the second piece is held. If it is held with its prin-
cipal section parallel to the other's, only two images are seen, one
by ordinary, the other by extraordinary refraction. The same if the
principal sections are 1K0° from each other, unless tho crystals are
of equal thickness, when there is but one image. If the principal
sections are at right angles, only two images arc seen, which are
(I) the ordinary image after extraordinary, and (2) tho extraordinary
after ordinarj- refraction. In intermediate positions, four images
are seen, because neither the ordinary nor tho oxtraordiaary refracted
rays would have, in order to pass through, to turn through quite a
right angle, which, and which alone, would involve total extinction.
—Ed.]
[128] — The Eve as one of the Senses. — I wish to give an
essay, or a reading on this subject at a Working Man's Mutual
Improvomont Society. I should be extremely obliged with any
information that would enable mc to get a cheap pamphlet, or any-
thing that will help me to prepare such an essay on " The Eye, one
of tho Gateways of Wisdom."- T. T.
[129] — Me1)I< AL Botany. — Will you kindly tell me thronifh
your valuable paper tho iinmo of the beat inn.ifivil l,.,f..i.v w-iii
dingrama.— Henky Hawkes-Spink.
iUpIifS to funics.
[20] — Orrery. — In the Museum of Philosophical Apparatus, at
University College, Gower-street, London, wag, and probably now
is, the Orrery made by the celebrated self-taught astronomer, Jamea
Ferguson. — W. H. Hardy.
[06] — Venus Casting Shadow. — In India 1 have repeatedly seen
Venus at least two hours before sunset. In 1819 or 1850, while
driving on a moonless night, wo perceived on the road a distinct,
though faiot, shadow of a clump of trees, of two large poles, Ac.,
cast by Venus. This was not far from Delhi, in a very dry, clear
atmosjiherc. — Cogito.
[72] — A.STIQUITV OF TQE PYEAillDS.— Notwithstanding Sir John
Lubbock's statement, there is no trustworthy evidence that the
Pyramids "are at least 6,000 years old." The Great Pyramid of
Geezeh is generally admitted to be not only the greatest, but also
the oldest, and astronomical considerations based upon the position
of its entrance-passage — which constitute evidence of a much more
reliable character than that of ancient Egv-ptian ti'aditions — indi-
cate that its age does not exceed 1,051 years. — J. Baxendell.
[Mr. Baxendell fails to notice that the direction of the entrance-
passage fulfilled the condition of pointing towards Alpha Draconis
at its sub-polar'passage, at two epochs during the last 25,000 years —
one that which he mentions, the other some 6,*->00 years ago. More-
over, what no one seems to have noticed yet, tho ascending passage,
which 4,051 years ago would have been directed towards no im-
portant star, would have been directed towards the most interesting
orb in the whole star-sphere — namely. Alpha Centauri — at its
southern culmination, at the earlier epoch. It has been supposed
by pei-sons unacquainted with astronomy that the Pleiades occupied
the corresponding position 4,V!00 years ago. But this is not the
case. The relation indicated by Prof. Smyth was only a symbolical,
not an observational one. — Ed.]
[83] — Chemical Queries. — In reply to "Theion" (a), there are
sevei-al allotropic modifications of sulphur, as the following table
shows (Valentin's '" Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry, p. 53) : —
1. Octahedral.
2. Prismatic.
3. Plastic.
1-98
1-95
4. Amorphous. 195
( Arc
in; Po
115
on verted inl
■ oetaliedral
motUfication.
) Ini
) In;
Si.lul.ili(y in C8.».
Soluble.
Insoluble before
transformation.
Insoluble.
soluble.
Another modification insoluble in CS. is contained in flowers of sul-
phur, and is of a light yellow colour (Roscoe and Schorlcmmer's
" Treatise on Chemistry," vol. i. p. 292). If " Theion " will carefully
read Roscoe's " Lessons" again, ho will find that the plastic modili-
cation, while (ciiai ions, is insoluble in CSj. When the tenacious form
has become hard and brittle, a portion will dissolve in the CS., and
leave a dark-brown powder (" Treatise," vol. i. p. 292). Miller
and some other chemists call this a grey amorphous powder. This
latter modification corresponds to No. 4 in the above table, (h.)
The word -nitrous should bo nitric. It is stated correctly in the
" Treatise on Chemistrj-," vol. i. p. 42G. — C. W. D.
[84]— Ancient Man. — Mr. Homer's researches were published
in the " Philos. Trans.," 1855 and 1S5S, and reviewed in the
Qiiarterhi Review in 1859. His argument for an extreme antiquity
of Egyptian civilisation from finding fragments of pottery at con-
siderable depths in tho alluvial soil is now considered iusuflicient.
Sir C. Lvell says, ''it is not worth while to notice such absui-dities."
Other pieces of Greek origin have been exhumed at greater depths,
and 1 believe the Greek honeysuckle ornament was found on some
of Mr. Horner's. Stephenson turned uj) a brick of Mehemet Ali's,
even at a lower level. Stone implemeuts from Egypt have fre-
quently been exhibited at the Anthropological Institute, by Sir J.
Lubbock in 1874, Capt. Burton in 1875, and General Pitt Rivers in
1881, but with regard to many of these, there is great doubt as to
whether they are hand-fashioned, and even those which are, do not
prove the existence of a stone age in the Nile Valley, for Prof.
Owen 'says, " Chert, chipped to an edge, or flint flakes struck off
by percussion, being the onlained materials for circumcision and for
tho abdominal cut in mummifying, tho finding of flint knives in
Egypt requii-es evidence of the date when they were used, or of
previous manufacture, before they can apply to the question of a
Dec. 23, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
169
lace anterior to the historical life of the country." Mariette says,
■ tlio O30 of stone and flint tools extended nearly 1,000 years,
tlirough thirty dynasties." Brugsch tells us, " Kjryptian history
llirows scorn on the supposed periods of stone, bronze, and iron ; "
and Chabas shows that similar tools were in use at the latest
historical period, and even now are not uncommon among the Arabs.
— A Membku of the SofiETY OF Biblical Arch.eology.
[84] — Aktiquity of JI.vx, .\s Shown by the Works of Art in
Nile Mud. — Your coiTcspondent " Clio " may find Mr. Horner's
H'soarches in the "Philosophical Ti-ansactions," 1855-8, or ptrhaps
-he will do better by consulting an admirable summary i,n Lyell's
Antiquity of Man," p. 35 and 11, Ith edition, 1873. The result
,1 simple rule of three sum. As is the thickness of Xile mud de-
: '>>ited by the annual inundations over certain historical monuments
!'■ their known age, so is the greatest depth at which the works of
art occur in like mud liard by to their approximate age. — A Tramp.
[89] — CoLLODio.N" Plates. — "Persevere" does not say whether
the red stains appear after tlio plate is developed, or whether they
are on the plates as received f«om the maker. In either case, it
would be almost impossible to detei*miue cause without inspection.
The vagaries of gelatine plates are innumerable. If the negatives
are not varnished, they are very liable to be spoiled by the silver
i from the paper ; the gelatine readily absorbs moisture. The remedy
i- obvious. Evidently " Persevere " has not tried to answer his own
i|UC3tJon as to developing gelatine plates; let him trj', and give liis
• \|)erience, if successful. — A. Brothers.
31] — " Missing LasK." — Dr. Andi-ew liVilson's article is on
-Missing Links " (not on the "Missing Link"). It appeared in
:u' Gentleman's ilayaxine for September, 1879.— Ed.
fioU^ on 2vt anti Jriniff.
A.MOXG recent finds at Pompeii were several amphorae, on some
of the largest of whicli was written the exact date of the extraction
of the wine contained within, and on smaller ones the names of the
wine.
Ir is announced that Dr. King, in charge of the Government
cinchona factory at British Sikkim, has succeeded in manu-
facturing, for the first time in India, sulphate of quinine from local
cinchona bark. I'he samples produced are said to bear com-
parison, on analysis, with the pure sulphate of quinine of commerce,
and preparations are being made for undertaking the manufacture
on a large scale.
The famous spring of boiling water in the middle basin of Hell's
Half Acre, in the Yellowstone region, has lately become still more
wonderful as a geyser. Four or five times every twenty-four hours
it discharges a great column of water, freighted with stones and ob-
scured by a dense volume of steam. The hollow formation for
hundreds of yards around the orifice trembles under the upheaval,
and the water is thrown to a height of a hundred feet.
The six healthiest cities of the United States are said to be in
the order following : — Utica, Dayton, New Haven, Portland, San
Francisco, and Lawrence. Tlie unhealthiest are Charleston,
Memphis, Cleveland, Chicago, and Lynn. St. Petersburg is the
unhealthiest city in the woi'ld. and is followed by Charleston,
Malaga, Alexandria, Warsaw, and Buda-Pesth.
M. Macag.vo, in Les ilondes, states that he has been making ex-
periments on the influence of electricity upon the gi'ov/th of the
vine. An electric circuit was formed by copper wire between the
extremity of a bra»ich beai-ing fniit and its origin near the soil.
More wood was formed in the branch, which contained less potash
than the other parts, and the grapes ripened more readily, containing
an excess of sugar.
It is said that a marked improvement has been noticed in the
acoustic properties of the Grand Opera House, Paris, since the
introduction of the electric light. A layer of heated gases acts as
a screen for sound, hence the volumes of hot fumes arising from the
old gas footlights obstructed and marred, to some extent, the voices
of the singers. With the electric light, inclosed in air-tight bulbs,
no fumes can be emitted, and very little heat is given off. Hence its
benefits to the ear as well as to the eye. — Frank Leslie's Magazine.
The question of the existence of volcanoes in Central Asia, esjie-
pecially on the Kuldja frontier, has always- been a matter of doubt
and discussion among geologists and Bussian explorers. The
GoveiTior of Semfretchinsk, General Kolpakofsky, had already
fitted out expeditions to settle the question — one in 1878, and again
in 1879 ; btit owing to the difficulties of reaching the mountains,
which the Chinese considered impassable, and also to disorders
which were then taking place in Kashgar, both expeditions were
unsnccessful. This year General Kolpakofsky again set himself to
the task, and now rei)orts that ho has at last discovered the per-
petual files in the Thinn Shan range of mountains. Ho telegra|)hs
that the mountain Bai Shan has been found t«T?lve miles north-east
of the City of Kukija, in a basin surrounded by tho massive Ailak
Mountains, and that the fires which have been burning there from
time immemorial are not volcanic, but proceed from burning coal.
On the sides of the mountain there are caves emitting smoke and
.suliihuious gas. — Frank Leslie's Magazine.
0\\x iWatlKinntiral Column.
THE USE OF LOGARITHMS.
IX our last, we took a simjile case of the multiplicatiou of two
numbers, each of six digits, and the division of tlie products by
another number, also of six digits. Working this sum by logarithms
seemed rather long, just as in practice nearly every one finds the first
two or three sums he works by logarithms requii'O more care and
watchfulness than he afterwards finds necessary. We may now,
however, proceed more freely.
Let us consider a few cases of taking powers, or extracting roots
of numbers.
Take first the familiar problem of tho horse with 24 shoe-nails,
for which a price of id. for first nail, Jd. for second, Id. for thu-d,
2d. for fourth nail, and so on, doubling to the twenty-fourth nail,
was to be paid : to find his price by the aid of logarithms. This
is a case somewhat unlike those \isually dealt with, ivherc an answer
exact to so many decimal places is required, not an answer abso-
lutely exact. However, it can be readily solved by logarithms.
Thus, for the first nail, amount is ^d. ; for fii"st and second, Jd. ; for
first three, \\A. ; for first four, 3|d. Start from the fifth, for
which nail 4d., or a third of a shilling, was to be paid, and let the
third of a shilling be our unit (the reason being that if we take
pence or farthings, we should not be likely to get an exact result).
Then there is to be paid for fifth naU 1, for the sixth 2, for the
seventh 4, or 2 to power 2 ; for the eiglith 8, or 2 to power 3 ; and
so on : and for the twenty-fourth, 2 to the power 19, while wo know
that the total paid for all the nails from the fifth to the last is twice
this, less 1, or 2''" — 1.
Now, turning to the tables we find — ■
log. 2 = 0-3010300
Multiply by 20 20
log. :
= 60200000 = log. 10485G
log. 10485 = ■0205684~|
difference for 70 =
316 I This part of tho calculation
292 y is simply working out
the logarithm.
240
IdifEerence for G = 250J
We know that 2™ must be a whole number, and can end
on'y with one of the digits 2, 4, 6, or 8; so we take with confidence
the number 1048576. This, less 1, is the number of 3rds of a shilling
for the nails from 5th to 24th inclusive, and the first four give us
one-thu-d of a shUling, less a farthing. So the answer is 1048576
thirds of a shilling, less a farthing.
Or 349,525s. 3|d.
Or £17,476. 5s. 3p.
This is an unfavourable example, because of the necessity for an
exact instead of an approximate result. If we had only required to
know the amount rouglily, that is, within a shilling or two, we
might have proceeded thus : — The amount in farthings is 2'* — 1, Or
in shillings tho amount is 75, neglecting the farthing.
Now log. 2 = -3010300
log. 2^ = 7-2247200
log. 48 = 1-6812412
log. (2°-<+48) =5-5434788
log. 34952 -5434720
difference for 50 62
5 6
5-5434788 = log. 349525
Ans. = 34952-5 shillings.
=£17,476. 5s. 6d. ; and the conditions of
the problem show that the pence really amount only to Z\d.
170
• KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. 23, 1881.
In nearly all problems roqiiiring tlie use of IngnritlniiEi, however,
wc do not rp<inirc rxiict nocnnicy, but may be content with nji-
proximntion tu the thinl or fourth plnoo of (Iccinmls.
I/Ct UR tnk<" n cnso not soipiititic, bnt pnictical.
Rcqairod thi' nmoiint of £1,K28 nt oom]K)mid interest, five per
cent, per unniiin (pnynblo yearly), nt the end of ten years.
Any sum nt the pven mte of interest, is iiicronsed in the ratio
at the end of the first year : therefore, at the end of two years,
(105\'
I ; and so on ; and at tlie end of
100/
ten years it is increased in the ratio ( — 1 Thus we have to find
VlOO/ •
the value of the following expression : —
/ 105 \'»
Now log. 1828= 3 a; 10702
Ten times log. 105 = 20211Hi«0
Sum = 23"472S0!i2
Ten times log. 100 = 20-
Log. (answer) = 3-17280a2 = log. 2i»70
There is an error in tlie addition, log.
(answer) = 3'4738C92. True answer
somewhat greater than stated.
Answer is £2,970. 15s. 5d.
Here is another question relating to compound interest : — In
what time will a sum of money, say £100, be doubled at 5 per cent,
per annum, payable yearly, compound interest ?
If X be the required number of years, we have
/105\
(ioo)(nro)=2oo
or 105x = 2xl00i-
This is the same as saying that
.r log. 105 = log. 2+1 log. 100
or (20211893) v = 0-3010300 + 2,v
_3010300
* ~ 211893
We can again use logarithms to determine the value of this
fraction.
We have log. 3010300 = C--1786098
log. 211893 = 5-3251107
1
20
15,420
12
5,040
difference =l-152t'J31 = loR
14-207
12
Answ-er is 14 years 2i months, very nearly.
For gi-eater exactness, multiply -207 liy 305, giving 75555, and
making answer, 14 years, 75 days, 13 hours, 19 minutes.
The student of our subject is advised to go carefully through
each comjiutation. lie will note that in taking out the'logaritlim
of 211893, we jnit down for the first three figures not 325, but 320,
though the logarithm is found in a section which seems to have
325 for its leading digits. In this section we find 325 followed by
numbe£8 continually increasing up to 9875 ; then on the same line
comes 0080, which, of course, means that the logarithm has increased
from 3259875 to 3260080. The student must be careful on this
]>oint, esjjccittlly in the earlier jmrt of the tables, where the changes
are more rapid.
One other example illustrating an application of logarithms, in
■which great time is saved.
Suppose we want to find the cube-root of a number, say, 21,793,
correct to the third or fourth decimal place. By the ordinan-
arithmetical process this would be a long job, and we should have
oarefully to test the result to insure accuracy. But by logarithms
the process is very easy, thus : —
Log. 21793 = 4-3383170
Divide by 3 giving 1-.WG1057 = log 2793224.
Thus the cube-root of 21793 is 2793224.
Take a more complex case, the solution of which by ordinary
arithmetical processes, with the same degree of accuracy, would
t.ike halt-a-day at the very least, even in the cuso of an arithme-
tician knowing how to take out the fifteenth and seventh roots of
numbers.
Find the value of the expression : —
(1828)"<''^(0-17C3)^
(715) MOOOol)*
log. 1828-3 2G19762
2-lSth8 or 4-30th8 of this -04349302
log. 0-1763 = 1-24C2523
1-third of this, or of-3 -^ 2 21C2523 = 17487508
0-1836810
log. 745=2-8721563
Ismnth of this _ -0-4103080
log. 00051 = 3-7075702
1-fifthof this, or of-5 + 2-7075702= 1-5415140
(A)
1-9518220 (B)
A-B =0-2318590
Answer = 1-705529
The student will notice how the negative characteristics are dealt
with in such problems. We must always add enough to the nega-
tive characteristic to make it exactly divisible by our divisor,
treating the number thus added as a positive characteristic for the
rest of the division.
G
©uv CftfSs Column.
AME recently played at Simp.son's Divan between Mr. A. P.
Barnes, of New York, and Jlr. Gunsberg.
■While. Black.
Mr. BamcB. >[r. Gonsbeig.
Qucou'* Gomt.it Jeclini-d.
1. P. to Q.4. P. to Q.4.
2. P. to Q.B.4. P. to K.3.
3. P. to K.3. Kt. to K.B.3.
4. P. to Q.R.3. (•) P. to Q.B.4. ('')
5. P. takes P. B. takes P.
6. P. to Q.Kt.4. B. to K.2. (')
7. P. to Q.B.5. Castles. (")
8. Kt. to K.B.3. P. to Q.E.4.
9. B. toQ.Kt.2. P. toQ.Kt.3.
10. P. takes Kt.P. (') P. takes P.
11. B. to K.2. V. takes P.
12. B. takes P. B. takes B.
13. R. takes B. K. takes E.
14. Kt. takes K. Q. takes P.
15. Castles. B. to R.3.
10. Q.Kt. to Q.Kt.5. (0 Kt. to K.5. («)
17. Q. to Kt.3. Kt. to Q.2.
18. K. to Kt.sq. R. to Kt.sq.
19. Q. to R.3. Kt. to Q.3. ('■)
20. Q. to Kt..J. B. takes Kt.
21. B. takes B. Q. takes B.
White resigns.
NOTES BY "MEPUISTO."
(") This is prepaiatory to advancing tlie Pawns on the Queen's
wing. We cannot approve of such a course mth all the White
pieces yet undeveloped.
C") In most openings, w-liere the first player opens up the Queen'g
wing first P.io Q.B.4 (to be followed, if feasible, by Kt. to Q.B.3)
will bo found effective, as it attacks the centre pawns, which
threaten to domineer over Black's game.
(') The Bishop is sometimes withdrawn to Q.B.2 i-i'd Kt.3, the
idea being that on B.2 he is available for attack on the King's side
(this is problcmationl). We prefer B. to K.2, for, in the first
instance, it affords some protection against B. to Q. Kt.2. Secondly,
w-e consider the hostile Queen's wing weakened, and from K.2 the
Bishop will render assistance in attacking the Wliite Pawns success-
fully (this is positive).
(") Necessary before begiuning the attack. Many good
games arc often thrown away through rashness in attack and
insnflicieut reg.ard for one's own safety.
P takes E.P., then
(') There is nothing bolter : if 10.
10. 1'. takes B. P., and the Rook's Pawn is lost; or if 10.
P. takes B. P.
Q. to B.:
P.takesB.P.
11
Kt. to K.6.
(') If B. takes Kt., then Q. to B.3. would w-in the piece back.
White intended to bring his Knight to Q.4, but it w-ould have
been much simpler to have brought him ii'a B.2.
Dec. 23, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
171
!«) Taking the proper advantage of White's weak move, Black
: atens to win a piece bv B takes Kt., or, if the Knight retires, fcy
K: toB.6.
('') This ends the struggle. Black now wins the Knight, for if
20. Q. Kt. to B.3, then 20. Q. takes K., and the Wliite Knight
cannot take the Qneen on pain of mate in 4 moves. If 20. K.Kt. toQ.t
then P. to K.4. wins.
Our problem Xo. -t (wronglv numbered 3) in No. 5 is solved by
R. to Q.R.8.
We have received correct solntions from Gamma, Arkansas,
E. F. K., Caissa, A Yonng Player, Try Try Again, S. D. P., R. M.,
Afternoon, Worcester, Etoniensis, D. Sec. Others incorrect.
Edward Sarpant points ont that Mr. Hcaley's problem is unsound.
If black Pawn becomes a Book, white cannot ■win. This is so.
The point appears to have been noted in " Westminster Papers "
several months later. By putting the black Book's Pa^vi\ one
square further forward the flaw is corrected.
From the Glaiffoic Xcttf,
By Mr. C. B. Baxter, Dundee.
Black.
-^s
k
■ Ih
t
. ^:^
■hi
■^'
S
i
Wliite to plav and mate in three move?.
r!;is is the problem to which we referred in Xo. 6. 5Ir. Baxter
y ns that he had never seen our older problem. We had not
posed he had. Xext week, or later, we shall give an instance
vliich we were anticipated. He notes the resemblance of Carl
_-'?rt"3 problem, in Illiistrated London yens for November 26, to
■ own, which appeared the same day.
&m ©afti'sft Column.
By "Five of Clubs.'
HP. H. points ont a mistake i i our discussion of this matter.
• Lord Y. should have wagered 1,827 to 1, not 1828 to 1, the
chance being l-1828th, and the odd-s, therefore, 1,827 to 1. Of
course " H. P. H." is right. The numbers representing the odds
and the chance arc so nearly the same in such a case as this, that
WQ were not careful about a point which in others of our papers on
chance we have insisted on clearly and often. In dealing with
another point, " H. P. H." misconstrues us. He says, " the
chance that a Yarborough will not happen in any deal is
nof the same as the chance that it will not happen in a
given hand in four successive deals ; for in the former case one
hand depends on the other to a certain degree, whereas in the latter,
the chance of any combination happening is quite independent of any
combination which may have preceded it. 1 agree that the chance
of a Yarborough is ro55i ^^^ consequently the chance of a Yar-
1 . .
boTOngh in four consecutive deals is Tcocc Following your prin-
ciple, this would be the chance of four Yarboroughs in one deal,
which is a manifest absurdity, for we ascribe " (thus) " a mathe-
matical chance to a clear impossibility." The question we were
really considering was what odds should be offered to each member
of a party of four at whist that his hand would not be a Yar-
borough; and we (practically) aflirmed that £1,827 to £1 should be
offered to each. " H. P. H." seems to consider that this is the
same as offering £457 to £1 (roughly) against the occurrence
of a Tarborongh in a single deal. But this is not the case. Take
a simple case illustrating at once his difficulty and our position : —
Suppose there are four cards marked respectively A, B, C, D, to be
dealt, one to each of four persons. Then the chance that any par-
ticular card, as A, will be dealt to any given person of the party of
four, is obviously one-fourth, or the odds 3 to 1 against that event,
so that with that person any one might at once safely and honestl\
wager £3 to £1 against his getting that card. Xow our position is
that the same odds might be offered with each one of the four,
although it is certain, in this case, that some one of the four must
have card A. (In the Yarborough case it is not certain but more
probable that one of the four will have a Yarborough than that
any particular one will have such a hand.) Well, " H. P. H." might
reason that this is not the case, for if the chance is i that a
particular person will have card A in any given deal it is (i)* that he
will have it in four successive deals, and on our principle the same
is the chance that each one of the four persons will have the card A
in a single deal, or, in other words, the odds are only 255 to 1 against
the manifest impossibility that each member of the party of four
shall have the same card dealt to him out of four. Yet it is per-
fectly clear that the just odds are 3 to 1 with each person of the
fotir, and the proof is that if these odds are wagered with each
the event can bring neither gain nor loss to the laj'er of the odds ;
he will have to pay £3 to one of the fom", and receive £1 from each
of the others. So, if a person wagered £1,827 to £1 with each
of four persons, before an ordinary whist deal, that that person
would not get a Yarborough, he would be laying the just
odds. Xow let us see what his wager really amounts to in this
case. If he loses to one, he loses £1,827. One of the others might
have a Yarborongh, but the chance that this would happen is verj'
small : it is really this, that out of thirty-nine cards dealt to three
persons, one would only receive cards belonging to a particular
group of nineteen — a chance very small indeed. Begarding it for
the moment as zero, we may say that it is certain, or all but certain,
that from each of the remaining three players the layer of the odds
will receive £1. Therefore, the layer of the odds pays £1,827 ami
receives £3, or loses only £1,824. His case is, therefore, similar to
that of one who had laid against a Yarborough occurring in each of
four successive deals to one only of the four players, except that
this one might have had to pay £1,827 for each of the four deals,
whereas the other could only have to pay for two at the outside, an<l
would most probably have had to pay for one only. The difference
exactly makes up for the interdependence of the four hands in any
given deal.
Take a simpler illustrative case to show what we mean.
A person, P, wagers with another, X, one of four to whom four
cards, A, B, C, D, are dealt four times running, that X will
not receive a particular card A, offering £3 to £1 at each of
four deals. Unquestionably each wager isr fair. X may have
A each time, in which case P will have to pay £12, or X may
not draw A at all, in which case P will receive £t. There are
other eventualities easily followed. But the wager is manifestly
fair. Xow take a single deal. P wagers with W, X, Y, Z severally
£3 to £1 that they will not have card A. In this case, one of the
fotir must have the card, and to him P must pay £3, receiWng from
each of the others £1, or neither losing nor gaining. ,Since each
wager, or rather each set of wagers, is manifestly fair, we see that
the possibility in such cases of ha^Tng to pay the odds more than
once when successive deals are considered, exactly counterbalances
the certainty of winning in some cases (most probably in three
when a Yarborough is in question, and certainly in three where four
cards only are in question), in the case of wagers with the four
parties to a single deal. We have, in fact, only to ask whether a
certain wager with one party to the deal is fair or not. If it is
fair, we may be well assured that there is no unfairness (either way)
if the same wager is made with each of the four players.
However, although this, and this only, was what we were con-
sidering (as should be obvious from our remark beginning, " Sup-
posing Lord Y. offered £1,000 to £1 to each member of a whist
party for ten deals," &c.), " H. P. H." very naturally misunderstood
us, seeing that we wrote,*carelessly, as if we were considering " the
chance that a Yarborough will not occur in any given hand " (these
are our verv' words, and naturally misled him). The chance of this
is not to be inferred so simply, as our words might have suggested,
from the true odds against the occurrence of a Yarborough in a
single hand. To return to our simpler case. The odds against a card
A being dra^vn by one of the four is i, and the true chance of its
being dealt once to a given person in four successive deals is (|)* or
-—r ; so that the odds in favour of its being dealt to him once in
2o6
four deals are 175 to 81. Thus only £81 can be safely wagered
against £175 that the card will not be dealt once, at least, in four
trials to one of the four players ; but the chance of the card being
dealt to one of fonr persons in a single deal is, of course, certainty,
or 1 ; so that no sum, however small, can be wagered against any
sum, however large, that the card will not be so dealt.
172
KNOWLEDGE
[Dec 23, 1881.
SiniSUjcrsf to Conrsponlirntd.
'.'All ctmmunUalioff /or «*. Sdilor «»i.irin.« ,arl, all>nlio«,hoM rtacM JA.
Om'r on or htTor. Ikr 4W..rJ..y pr>cf.li>g Ihr c«rrr,t i..u, ^ KKOWLr.DOK, th,
,«>rrjii»o<-ir.-«/u/io.io/«-*ioAfoi»t''»"» io ;>> to jirtu tor\<, in (*« «-»f*.
lllST. lO COEHP..O»D«.1«.-1. .V„ ,,.,.f,o,.. aMn, S.r ,cirnt,Jic ■n/or»,»/..»
ra"»rj!,.r.r„/ (»r»,-tf» M, p».f . 2. If"'" .«,( to tU Editor for corrrrpo«d.«,.
cannot bt formardr,i ; nor can tic n«mt> or aJJrrt.M qT corrcipoiiJcnIi be gtve« ■»
amwtr to ,<r,cale inquiric. 3. Xo qucrif or rcpl,c.,arour„u, qf the nature .J
IT^^iLinl.canbX.crlcd t. Letter, qucric. and "f '",'" """''i' "'''"•
^■onlrart to JluU 3, JVf of elkar<ie. 6. Corrttpondenli Mhould <cr,lt on one tut
onl, o/ihe paper, and pal draxtngt on a teparatt leaf- 0. La.l, Ulter, query or
,Jl, tioud kat, a mU. and •» repUing to Ullrr.orqaer,,,. refercnct.hoM be
made to the number qf letter or qitert/, the page on which it appeari, and >ti lilli.
A " PislDOI-MoxoBB." Vorj- liki'ly you ore rii!lit ; »illi llio kindest wi.shos an.J
Iho bent inlciitioni men malco cnemif«. It will he unfortunate if our evasion ot
any particular lubject should be attnbutod to " pri-djudicc ; but wc inKil onut
somclhinRs, and amoncst those vour letlor.-S. II. Wbioht ^ousecm to me
entirely to mi«under.tand Dr. Wilfon'n first lelter-.t km eiplanatory not .on-
trovernial The spider's «eb is not a ereater dilTiculty than the cell-makine
instinct in beo3 ; the study of Darwin's reasoning on the latter subject would
-how you that there is no real objection iii the arpumcuts you consider vabd
li»ain/t the Darwinian hypothesis. If vou remember that of five letters received
fSixrmutl be omitted, Vou will see that you have no real rea,son to complain
that your former letter was not inserted. It would seem that we are bound
to offend fonr-llfths of our correspondents if we keep open a correspondence
section at »U.— Rodert Kidd. The point has been corrected already.— Pascal.
You are. of course, right ; but is it worth while to reason back so earefully
to the Original eqliationP-G. B. Studbs. Thanks. Our Che.,s Editor
and " Mephisto" will analyse it.-.T. Jkffabe.s. In his reply to Archimeaean,
P. 61. •• Mathemalicus " took it for granted that the former would at onee see
what TOU have established, and what H. A. N. says the differential calculus
is required to est.iblish. As you say. the substance of the proof w to be found in
books; we mutt not find space for it.-F. S. Pilkikgtom. The eipenmen
proving that ono part of the retin.i is insensible to visual impressions is well
tnown Must reser^■e space for newer matter.--Jis.H. STMiNOTO^f Letters
relating to Vivisection will receive due attention, but the matter is hardlv worth
discussion; it seems so 'clear that those who hold eitrcme views on either side
.ire mistaken. The editor ot the paper you mention is weU known to he an
Mtreme opponent of vivisection, one who would not allow a tom-eat to have a
hair plucked out if the lives of all his relatives depended on the experiment. On
the other hand, there arc some who would let a thousand dogs be tortured to
death to estabUsh a physiological law ot no benefit to a hving creature.
Fanatics of the first sort consider all who approve of any cipenmcnts whatever
on animals to be brutes, while those of the second sort consider all who
oppose the wantonest cruelty, to be drivelling idiots. Xo amount of discussion
wifi reconcile these, or either sort, with the moderate persons who hold that
researches reaUy directed to benefit the human race may be conducted at the
expense of pain to animals, provided that every means be adopted to reduce
such pain to a minimum. Tour story hardly establishes the intelligence of
that particular collie. What did ho gain by taking the chop under the sofa,
and returning it uneaten? Are we to assume that he was planning
how to get the bone out without injuring the chop? If he had done this it
would have shown intelligence ; as it was he only showed the eflect of craving.—
R.S. Couch. Tou will find a reply to some of your questions in Found
Links," presently to appear in Kvowledge.— H. D. Ocneral information on
the subject of your letter will be given in numbers beginning December 30,
or January 6, at latest, in a series ot papers by a TeUow of the
UoyalAstronomicalSocictv.on work with a 3-inch telescope. Most of the objects
he 'will consider will bo perfectly well suited to your telescope, though it is of only
3i inch aperture.— F. J. BaODiE. We cannot at present make any arrangement :
probably we may follow a plan which we pursued some eight years ago. when
editing the natural science department of the Mechanic (not the English Mechanic
but the older paper, now merged in Iron).—JoB:i Bbnsett. Thanks. ^ on wiU
<ee that the ^' Witch ot Agncsi " has been fully dealt with ; the ceometncal
instructions being better suited to these pages than the analytical methods
though not so easily phmned. Thedotted curves in your figure, I see, correspond
with the cquationw\enj-2 ois writtenfor2o-r.— ACo-vstantRe-ideb ambScd-
SCBIBE8. It is not the case that the moon never sets in the polar regions and is
never seen inthe crescent form. The moon is only well seen as afull moon in the
arctic winter months, and when so seen does not set. The erescent moon can be
seen in the day time in the arctic summer months, not at aU in the winter months.—
.T A. R. I fancy I have seen your views respecting comets before. ^ as it not
in the E'tqlith 'Mechanic? 'They seemed to mo unsound then, and I must
.onfess I find no reason now to view them more favourably. They are ineon-
sistent with many known facts.-Ron. Oodi-ret. Thanks. Have yon heard the
family anec.'.ote ibout R. C.'s eleven reasons for not acknowledging the work?—
CooiTO. The triseclion described by Mr. Warren may be extended to any angle
liy flrat bisecting, then trisecting the half angle. It is impossible by Euclidian geo-
inetry to draw from C a Une CKD suchthat DEshall be equalto OE.— J. Bacox.
You are quite right . Sir D. Brewster wrote when the true nature of the spectrum
was not understood.- .1. M'Grigob Al.tiAX. Many thanks. Your interesting discus-
sion of Sections shall presently appear.— C.T.B. Hardly room for Gems at present.
— O. M. The method of trisecting an angle described in Mr. Warren's letter will
not do for angles above VHf. simply because when the angle 120° is reached, the
point D comes up to the circumference of the semicircle— A. .T. You do not
seem aware of '.he fact that the precession of the equinoxes is not explained
empirically by the modem theory, but is shovni to be an inevitable conse-
nuence. in measure and degree, ot the action ot gravity. It is one of bi-^niost
beautiful of the proofs of the Newtonian theory, 'iour theory would be all
right it, first, it were certain that there would be no such etfects as the law of
-ravity assures ns there must be ; and,seeondlv,if we knew that the sun were circling
m a mighty orbit, such as you picture, in •i.i.llOO years or thereabouts. As we are
quite certiin the sun is not so moving, and equally certain that the earth being
spheroidal must reel preoessionallv precisely as she does, your theory cannot lie
-atisfactorilymaintained.— J.T. E. Mr. Foster has yourillusioninhisoollection. It
was puWished thirteen years ago in Ihe 7n/e»e.^io( Ol.erier. Mr. Foster complains
that the increase of correspondence is destroying all his illusioas.— K. bvMOSS.
Mere extravagance. -EnwARD Coi. You arc quiteright ; but proving the earth not
fiat is killing the dead. The argument you use ha« been employed olten-by
myself am-n- others —but llie Flat men cannot or will not see what to persons of
average brain power is so obvious.-TllOMAS novTTKl.i.. You misunderstand Dr.
Wilson's reply to "Ign. ramus," whose "frankness," you say, " brought down
the wrath of his opponent." There is no trace of warmth.far less of wrath, in
Dr. Wilson's letter. The tone of yours is, therefore (you will admit, I think, on
.on»ideration).unsuited to the wcasion. Your letter is also not SMlIleiently
rondeused. If you had read Dr. Wilson's excellent essays on evolution, you
iiiper 1
hit tympanum." wctild h*
ride'nee von adduce to " raniih the
leni whic^ pujtitles to nuaif ot ut." is
ist quotes in supjiort of his positioa.
» Anatomy in the EiLubur|^
* "srledge whispered
would t>« aware that what you desire to
werr far from being news to him. The
phantom t..ucliing lliose rudimentary mera
precisely the evidence which the eioluiioi
In any caM. the leitorer on Zoology and Compi
Me.lieal School, does not nee<l to have su.h . -,' ,
in his ear — T. Smbtiuksi. Wehopc to giie, before hmg. such arli. les vu ,,mr
a.youdesire.-CoQ.TO,C.E.,ALOOl, ic. Thant. ; question, alrca-ly answcred.-
W:II.Ja,oii. The explanation is simi.lo Your nght eye Wing rerr short-
sighted, takes no part ordinarily in the vision of objects beyond it. IffrnBgf.
When iou close it you see such objects (vour finger and i lie distant hght, (or
instance, in the experiment you de,cribe|j„.t n, you d-d "hen it was opeo.
But when you close the left eye U.» right eye is at onee called into action. \oj.
see the distant object and your finger willi this eye, though not well defln»l
Moreover you see your finger to the left of the light, because the hne from the
right eye to the finger muSt obviously fall to the left of the hn- from the sum
ej-e t.i the more remote ..bject (this object, the finger and the left eye being in •
straight line) .—Titos. IlKBliKS. Thanks. It shall appear early.— W. 0»
ROLPB
Thanks
our article on Seismology to;! .-.-;.- _ ,.
,._. the subject are already in tyTf-"- Ki'MOSBS, B.Sc.
liardlv do so without apparently recommending that of whi. U i
personal knowledge.-llABBls. toomis's " Treatise on Pnu^t.eal Astr
one ot the best.-J. II. G. If there were any recognised connec ion b-twe. n miU
Xovembersand the winters following we could a,k -'""■■ n"'»"°". ';'''"',^"'f
not -.1 Mitchell. Thanks; but no room. Cho sqiieryalreadv answered. Manrtte.
R. Lenormant, and Wilkinson quite out of date, liunsen nearly •»• } »" q'^*;"
about first infant, and how it fed, reads like a Joke.-^ BOA. Question 65 now
sulHcienlly answcred.-EscELSloa. \Ve were referring to another. Have DO
knowledge of the instrument you mention. Why not wnteto makers,asking what
cuaraiitees they can give as to performance, ie.->\ . C. Bltthb Thanks ; your
rnleresfng letter slialT appear. I'bof. Lvm.e. Thanks.-CHAs Moclto». ioo,
•■- submitted to publislers , t-"! i' '•'^'^ <>?'y '°"'»'^=" ''',° P^ff" '' '° P"i
' ,gh the paper for thcmselves.-p. K.\ourjdea thai the snn-spota
ndS'hemer
the stitch througn tne paijcr lor iuciu»e..i-^.--y. «• * — • ■—
maybe intra-mcrcurial phinets was the hrst which Gahleo, Fat:
entertained (and disposed of) when the spots were di.scovered 271 ..
F. W. DiLLOX. The cat who put her paw on your knee when you were eatmg,
so that she might receive a share of your attention and of > »" '"Plf ■•. ;;^°-"»
intelligence im doubt ; but the case is not so unusual aa you seem to thinkj-
Ervest C a A:to:». Thanks.-TuoJiAS Xbwbitt. Thants. Query now suffl.
cent" aniwered.-T. R. Regret that we have no space at pr«ent for your
sound discussion ot the moon's rotalion.-CcPIDLS SclEXTIJi. Puzzle marked
^""insertion early-A. J. Mabiin. The eyepiece of a telescope is a microscope,
by which the i^ge formed at the focus of the object.gla.H9 is ^?"'«f;J-
Testativi. We cannot admit the ordinary stones of sp.ntualism but anything
tested by due experiments, properly conducted and ;°"'^>>'^. '';;"^.^°"'''' °|
course be in our line. — Mbmb. Soc. Bibl. Abch. Many thanks for your
interesting letter Wc slightly alter one or two passages, lest they
IhouTdTe^ad to rejoinders ol an ""desirable kind - Cesa. The leU™
S P 0 R were used on Roman banners, *c. They stood for SenatOB
Populusque Romsnus (the .«enate and People of R™")-"^ "•,h\°'T£;
Your 8uS"e3tion is a good one. but at present something more than tae
name sfeS wanted - A. A. YorXG. '^Questions sulHciently ««wer,d.
T>'AnT*rvAX " EncTaver " wants more special instructions.— J. A. K. i^uer on
r«ib"wpr:sentl,^Xan make space, bu.?benroof belongsto '"^';;=«1= matter-
J. F. SiVpsox. Many thanks. Corresponcfenee occupies so much t™^ •n*
space that other matters, which I regarcf as more important, stand a chance of
b'eii^g neglected, unless a very strict hand is kept ™, °"/?,""/™deno,t eol>^-
-AiPHA Certainly, " would " and " could." tor " vnll 'and can, are si^-
gestae of Mr? Brown.-H. E, Pareeb. Chemical question answered si£-
cienly-E F. B. Habsto>. It is easier lo eiphiin than to name
suitable book. You only get the t''"^o.,^'^'^""\^J''"^^i £.
body outside the circle. So long as it ">.»"' ..■° ,'.''' .^■L^'tlJi'
forci always act at right angles to t£e direction m which the '^''.y move.,
and therefore neither hastens nor retard, it.-A HAyiLA>-T.^ W '" .'ffi,^^?°'„'^i
-C. J. Shaw. Thanks. Q'><-ries already answ_ered.-b.o«A. The iUusiotd^^
striking in the picture, which would cost a good df"' '» ^"S"".:^"^'^'^
The advertisement may or may not involve a reference to KsowLgpoE. At any
rate wrclim no ri"alVy in one of the subjects named . The last thing we shouhi
"ink of wTldb? to assert any claim i to the other. \\ e must let readers
aec"de-OEio" We cannot see that there is any difficuty, even now; later
fhe numbers will bo widely different. Enough has ^"I'Ys^i'ln^'jfntdl^W
question we cannot but think.-SoxXET. Our heart is hardening rapidly.-«.
ABTHrB How many have other knowledge than from books on tlie subject
named? and if Ihose^ho have are inarticukte what 8°°^ «ou M they do our
readers.-.A^s OLt. BoT. We qmte agree with you ; (:assell s £«, . .^ewt-
?XT-sh"wM;„w^^. ^gfe-lf l'3.Tmatt ^ZJ^-^'c^LJ^..
K a. angle s equal to fhe half of threi- right angles or to three half right
anirles this can hardly be regarded as the solution ot the general problem,
" hfch is vJhatTs w2nt<^l. The%ther angle trisected '-yrjrZtoiT^^t
nient ot 221 degrees, <" ^'i degrees, tRe third of "';■'''» °";-'°"'";r»X
nnele Ksowledge should reach Liverpool earher than 1.30 p.m. on Saturday.
- \ A McmI^ster You are certainly nght. The length of tlie rope niakes no
differenclu the action on the weight i. afong ">' '»r.,.e*J,7»1u Tn etw^s
the axletrees would make a difference, because part of '*',%'!;»■" "","•?? ''^t^J
parallel totheaxle, and, of course wasted.-F J. D. Selbst ^J'" ^."PJ.'JJ
remarks about water spheroids tor t"rtl>",^»n''d""''''"'--,fj' J^,^' ,>'„; '^v,
find room for your question about worms. It seems clear V"^' "f^^^'^4"S^j
W. A. U. Should have put in note, but hoped to publislj "< "^ '^"•-^- ''• ■*;
Thanks. Would insert\your answer to f beta's paradox had "<• n»«- ^
paradox is usually regafded as opposed to what is orthodox^ - M J H.
Wnossible to answer your query without breaking through rules— W . A. L.
S^e'Tei'iy above to J. H^^SymiV'ton-H. A, Bvllev Will repeat ^." on yon
lunar iiews.-W. G. Rolfb. Alas 1 no room '"^f.P'.'-; I'. » "„" ," 1"1!'"'y;„
"may" and " might," but of " """s^""' »"* ™>no'- -P«"»'f.^^^^°
shallkeep your "knowledge in a box," we keepmg our flv^e shilling with no
further tA.uble." Seriously, that is not the way »'. ™'^■ "J'-Tf^*"-^^;, "g^
not know CvTles' book. We might reply to all queries if we kj'«"J.°''- B"!
knowledge is very wide.-FBKsBllas. The reverend doctor of medicme said
Kiiowieui.o IB r . „_-...rt A man who would say that 'not a little of
much more than he could prove. A man wnowouiu ~...i , p ^ Von
idence could be found for evolution," would say anvthmg.-J. r. t. lo"
misunderstand the way in which according to the '^~ry of "»'»"
- 'opards have become spotted. The case more nearly resembles
rath
selectit'i.. ....( - V""\.-
modem breeding than the Jacobii
1 svste
rrfer to.
Pojto'b Bctbict is a certain cure tor Rheumatism and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure tor Hoemorrhoids ( I lies) .
- - - • , certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract
Pond's Extract
rill heal Bum
..d Wo
^ and Bruises.
ill Chemists. Oct the genuine.
riort.
Dec. 30, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
173
MAGMINE OF^IENCE
PLAlNirSf ORBED -£XACTUfjDE$CRIBH>,
LONDON: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1881.
Contexts of No. 9.
PAGE.
CultiTatrd Fields. By E. W. Pre-
TOjt, Ph.D 173
Babylonitui Sun-'Worsliip 174
Brain Troubles.— Part UI 175
Intelligence in Animals 177
The Planet S»UTa—{IUuttraUS) ... 178
The Magic Wheel— (/Uii»(ra/<ii) ...179
Primary Colonrs 179
Bight-Uandedness. Bj James Shaw ISO
Barth Tremors .^. 181
Breathin?. Br Dr. J. Mortmier
Granville ...: 182
Man's Proper Food 182
jCallao "Painter" 182
PAOK.
Colours of Animals 183
ScientiHc Ghosts 183
CoRKSSPONDBKCE : — The Primary
Colours— Hed at the Blue End of
the Spectrum— The Moon's Rota-
tion— Four Fours, Singular Nume-
rical Eelation, &c 181
Queries 1*8
Replies to Queries 189
Notes on Art and Science 189
Our Chess Column 190
Our Whist Column 190
Out Mathematical Column 191
Answers to Correspondents 192
CULTIVATED FIELDS.
By E. W. Peevost, Ph.D.
IN a former number (No. V.) of Knowledge, the forma-
tion of the soil of a field was described as succinctly
as possible, and it was then shown how a certain class of
rock was caused to j-ield a loam tit for the gro^rth of plants.
It is now proposed to continue the subject, and to point
out how, by the present methods of cultivation, soil can be
brought into a higher condition of fertility than it would
Otherwise possess, if left only to the action of the weather.
It is generally found that there exists below the surface
soil a layer of earth of a chai-acter somewhat different to
that of the upper layer. This has Ijeen termed the svhsoil,
and we shall see later on that its composition may exert a
considerable influence on the fertility of the surface soil.
The methods of cultivation which we propose to consider
(as also the reasons why they are employed), are draining,
ploughing, and manuring. If water be poured upon some
clay soil, placed in a suitable vessel, it will be noticed that
some of it will pass through the soil, and that the rest will
be retained ; but, depending on the class of soil under ex-
amination, the amount of water retained will be greater or
less, a clay soil retaining much, a sandy soU but little ;
this property of holding liack some of the water which
falls upon soil has been termed the retentive power, and it
exerts a very great influence on tlie luxuriance of crops,
for when a soil remains wet, its temperature cannot rise
as high as if it were dry, and is consequently " cold."
Such a '■ cold " land militates against the germination of
seeds. On the other hand, if the retentive power is low,
then the land dries quickly after a fall of rain, and the
plants run the risk of being scorched by the heat of the
sun. Now, it may occur that a soil is not naturally reten-
tive of water to any great extent, yet an excess of water
may be observed incapable of passing away from the sur-
face ; the cause of this stagnation may be found, on exami-
nation of the under-lying portion of the land, to arise from
a bed of clay that will not admit of the downward passage
of the water. This or another arrangement of the deeper
portions of a field has given rise to the modem system
of draining, which by causing the removal of the excess
of water, and its more even distribution through the soil,
permits of the entrance of air into its pores, whereby de-
coinposition of the insoluble minerals is occasioned, and
of a higher temperature being attained. Nor are these
the sole advantages, but an excess of soluble saUue matter,
injurious to plants, such as stagnant water will deposit,
is deviated, and the roots of plants are enabled to seek for
their food at a greater depth than they otherwise could.
Apart from these considerations affecting the well-being of
the crops, there is also the great gain to the cultivator, in
that the labour of tilling a soil sodden with water is far
greater than when the land is fairly dry. The various
methods in use for breaking up the surface of a field that
pass under the name of tUlage operations produce effects
both physical and chemical ; for by ploughing, the condition
of the soil is improved, the soil being rendered less com-
pact, dried from superfluous moisture, and exposed to the
decomposing action of the air, whereby as before stated,
solution of the minerals is facilitated. This decomposi-
tion has, however, been in progress but more slowly
all the year round, and some of its products have
been carried deep down by the rain ; these the plough
brings to the surface, thus adding to the stores requisite
for the future crop. Sometimes, when the ploughing is
carried too deep, the results are far from satisfactory, the
land becoming for a short time less fertile than previously.
When such an event as this happens, we may be nearly
certain that the sub-oxide of iron has been brought to the
surface, where it must remain until it becomes peroxide by
exposure to the air, and after that the land may resume
its original condition of fertility. Hence it is desirable on
all accounts to allow a newly-ploughed field to remain
untouched for some time, and the more so if the ploughing
has been deep. It appears, then, that ploughing is in
some measure supplementary to draining, and vice versd,
as without draining, a hea\'j' wet soU can only be imper-
fectly ploughed ; or, rather, the advantages following on
plougliing are but in part gained.
By the removal of a heavy crop off" a field, a consider-
able quantity of mineral matter is lost to the soil, which
cannot be replaced under natural conditions in amount
suflicient to produce a heavy crop in the succeeding sea-
son ; to get rid of this difficulty it is customary to apply
manure to the exliausted field, manures being substances
which either of themselves supply food, or else by their
action on the soil cause it to yield an increased quantity of
available plant-food — at the same time improving its
character. It would occupy far too much space to describe
the properties, itc, of all the manures in use, so that we
will confine our attention to two which are well known to
the general public, namely, lime, and farm-yard manure.
In the first of these two we have an example of a sub-
stance used not so much as a food — for, as a rule, all soils
contain a sufficiency of lime for the plants — but as an agent
whereby the stores in the soil are rendered accessible ; but
before being able to appreciate wholly the virtues of lime,
we must call to mind what are the chief substances which
are of value, and which are likely to be affected by the
presence of such a manure ; these substances are potash in
combination with silica and alumina, and nitrogen con-
tained in the organic matter or humus.
Lime may be applied as caustic or quick-lime, and as slaked
lime (quick-lime to which water has been added), but as
regards the action of either of these forms, there is no
absolute difference, but only one of degi-ee, in that quick
lime is more energetic in its action than slaked lime ; but
to counterbalance the deficiency in energy of the latter, it is
more capable of even distribution through the soU, by reason
of its fine state of division. Rank and luxuriant herbage
174
♦ KNO^VLEDGE
(Dec. 30, 1881.
is indicative of "soiim('s.s" of the soil. By this expression
is t<) l>c understood tlie presence of an excess of acid humic
inatt4'rs ; tlie.se acid niatt<Ts on the application of lime are
neutralised, and the nitro;;en, held in conil)ination in a stat<;
dillicult of solution, is converted into ammonia, and (inally
into nitric acid which, comluninr; with the lime, foniis a
most valualilc manure, and one easily ahsorbcd liy the plants.
The felspathic particles are likewise slowly act<'d on, the
lime taking the place of the potash, which then becomes
soluble in water, and fit for alisorption by the plants.
These, then, are the changes produced liy lime ; but there is
considerable danger incurred if they are allowed to take
place too often by repeated applications of the manure, for
the organic matter will be reduced t^o much, as also
the potash minerals, which in a poor .soil may not be too
abundantly present J!ut lime jiroduccs other as well
as chemical changes, in that it lightens a heavy soil, and
consolidates a light one, merely because it is a substance
whose texture is opposed to a clay or to a sand. The
lightt'iiing of heavy soil is, however, not to be ascribed
wholly to the physical admixture of lime, but also to a some-
what complicated chemical change which occurs in the soil.
To explain what actually does take place, it is necessary to
know that when lime is exposed to the air, it gradually
absorbs carbonic acid, and is transformed into carbonate of
lime, or chalk : when, then, th<- acid humic matters of the
soil come in contact with the chalk, carbonic acid is set free,
but not being able easily to escape, it remains enclosed in
the pores of the soil, causing the soO to swell and to become
lighter, and, if the evolution of gas be not too great, much
benefit is the result; but if, on the other hand, this porous
condition is excessive, a loss of fertility ensues, in which
case the land is said to be " over-limed." As a proof that
this is one of the causes of " over-liming," it may be
stated that rolling the land is found to be highly beneficial,
as thereby the soil is rendered more compact, a portion of
the imprisoned gas being forced out. To produce this
porosity, it appears that we are not wholly dependent on
lime, as the addition of carbonate of lime tends to produce
the same result, and without such violence of action as
is exerted by caustic lime.
Considering, next, farmyard manure, we see how different
is its working, for by its application, actual food is given to
the plant, though not in the form best suited for assimilation;
hence the manure is slow in action, and produces its effects
over a period of three years, as its constituents are but
slowly brought into the soluble condition. Farmyard
manure may be considered as consisting of nitrogenous
matters, capable of conversion into ammonia, potash in a
soluble state, and some phosphoric acid ; and besides these
compounds, there is a certain amount of organic or vegetable
matter, such as straw, partly transformed into humus,
and partly in its original condition. When this manure
is applied to the fields, the soil retains all the valuable
portions as they become soluble, handing them over to the
plants seeking for food ; but, at the same time, it is im-
proved in character, for, if hea\y, it is lightened. It is
found that it is principally the straw which renders a
heavy soil lighter ; for, as it slowly decays, giving off
carbonic acid gas, it leaves, as it were, its cast in the soil,
thus forming passages which the air can readily tra\erse.
In tliis decomposition of the straw, we liave one of the
sources of the carbonic acid which acts upon the lime, as
referred to above, and which also aids in the destruction of
the minerals, as previously stated in No. V.
According to an analysis of Professor Frankland, the water of the
Holy Well of Zemzcm, at Mecca, is spwago more than seven times
as rich as the average sewage of London.
BABYLONIAN SUN-WORSHIP.
NABUPALIDDINA was the contemporary of the
Assyrian kings, Assur-naziqial and Shalmanesar,
and the sculptured, in.scribed memorial of his reign, which
has been restored to us, is cortaiidy one of the most im-
portant records that have rewarded the explorer in Baby-
lonia. In the upper part of the tablet, the dimensions of
which are 2 ft long by 1 ft broad, is a small sculptured
panel representing the worship of the Sun-god by Nabu-
paliddina and attendant priests. The god is represented
as seated on a throne beneath a baldacchino, or open
canopy shrine. He has long beard and hair, like most
conceptions of the Sun-god, and holds in his hand a ring,
the emblem of revolving time, and a short stick ; too sm^
for a sceptre, we may, perhaps, see in this the fire-stick
which was closely connected with the Sun-god. Before
him, on a small table-altar, is a large disc, ornamented
with four star-like limbs and four seti of wave-like rays.
Above this group is cut the in.scription : " The Disc of the
Sun-god, and the rays (of his) eyes." The scene here
depicted is clearly indicative of the fact that the priests
of Sippara were worshippers of the solar disc and
solar rays, and their creed seems to bear a close re-
semblance to that of the disc - worshippers of the
eighteenth Egv-ptian dynasty, who, under Amenophis III.
and his son Khunaten, for some time held their ground
against the priests of Amnion. This heretical creed was
introduced into Egypt by Thi, the Asiatic wife of Ameno-
phis III., and its tenets have been made the subject of &
special memoir by Sir Charles Nicholson. The discovery
of this sculpture and inscription from the ruins of the
temple of the Sun-god at Sippara tends very strongly to
place the origin of the creed in Babylonia. The inscription
on the back and front of this memorial tablet is a valuable
record of the religious life and ceremonial of the Baby-
lonian temples, and the list of the solar festivals in the fifth
and sixth columns shows how far back into the remote past
we must place the rise of Babylonian sun - wor^p.
Astronomers will welcome this ancient list of festivals, as
it proves veiy clearly the high character of the astrono-
mical knowledge of the Babylonian priests. The six fixed
festivals recorded in this inscription are : —
1. Nisan, seventh day, Festival of the Rays (vernal
equinox).
-. Airu, tenth day. Festival of the Rays.
■i. Ulul, third day, Festival of the Illumination of the
Temple.
4. Tasrituv, seventh day. Festival of the Illumination ot
the Palace (autumnal equinox).
■''. ^Marchesvan, fourteenth day. Festival of the Rays.
fi. -Vdar. fifteenth day, Festival of Illumination of PalaceL ,
The discovery of an impoi-tant list of solar festivals such
as we have here is an important addition to our knowledge 1
of Babylonian astro-theology. The first month of thftti
Babylonian calendar was the " month of sacrifice, ' or "the ,
altar,'' and its position was fixed by the venial equinox,
wliich was in the time of Nabupaliddina, in the sign of I
Aries — the ram being the chief object of sacrifice. Students
of Biblical ai'diiixilogy will find an abundant fund of matter
in the caaefully compiled rules as to the distribution of the
sacrificial victims. " Sheep,"' " oxen," " rams," " fruits of
the earth," were objects of sacrifice, and portions of each
offering were set aside for the priests. Tliese offerings
were burned on the great altar of the temple discovered by
!Mr. Rassani in the chamber adjoining the record room.
The great central court of this temple seems to have been
styled " the court of the Sun-god,'' and there was also an
outer court " called the court of Bel.'' — Times.
Dec 30, 1881.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
175
BRAIN TROUBLES.
Part III.— Distracted Attention.
THE next of these signs — one, indeed, which many
mental physiologists set first — is an inability to fix
the attention on any subject till the mind has done
\\ ith it We have taken the failure of memory lirst,
dimply because we believe that this symptom can ordi-
narily be recognised earlier than inability to fix tlie
ttfiition. The fact would seem to be that, since in
I i nary processes of thought, we first recognise or
trtaiu particular facts, and then commit them
the keeping of the memory, tht; latter process is
-turally the one which first fails us. That it should be
taken first is indicated, too, by the circumstance that
although many cases can be cited of persons who, although
able to direct their attention to a subject, are unable to
ritain in their memory what has been suggested to their
thoughts while thus directed, no case is on record in which
this state of things has been reversed, and a person has
been al)lo to remember recent facts distinctly after he has
lost the power of an-iving at fresh ideas by efforts of
attention. To mention only one case of the fonner kind,
Iir. Winslow tells of one patient whose memory as to
ricent events was seriously damaged, while yet his per-
ci ptive faculties and reasoning powers were not at all
' •'• cted. "He conversed with great sagacity, fluency, and
iteness on every subject, but if I permitted a second to
Ipse in the conversation, he entirely forgot what he had
II previously talking oi" From the time when his
mory thus failed him, he retained his former power of
1' asoning. " He could discuss at short intervals the most
subtle and abstruse political, professional, and literary
matters with apparently unimpaired mental vigour ; but
his memory never recovered its healthy tenacity." It may
hence be inferred that temporary loss of the power of
fixing the attention (which must be carefully distinguished
from mere forgetfulness, that is the habit of being in-
attentive), is more likely to be a sign of serious mental
mischief, than faOure of the power of memory. Yet the
fiinnor, like the latter symptom, indicates in the great
majority of cases no serious mischief, though it would be
' A cedingly unwise to overlook it.
The failure of the power of directing the attention to a
subject may show itself in several ways. Thus the mind
may be unable even to begin the study of a subject ; or it
may begin the study and presently wander off to other
subjects, despite the most anxious efforts to restrain it from
so doing; or suddenly it will seem to cease its action, re
maining for a short time confused and, as it were, lost, and
then resuming the consideration of the same subject at the
point where it had left it, and apparently as acutely and
attentively as before. These three forms of distraction are
of difl'ercnt significance as symptoms of mental trouble.
The first, though undoubtedly it would be very serious in
this respect, if persistent, nearly always indicates only that
the mind wants rest, and no one who is wise will neglect
the warning. The second equally implies that the mind
wants rest, though not in equal degree. But the third is
usually a sign of serious mischief. We consider it here,
not as belonging to those indications of mental disturbance
which, without being alarming, should be attended to by
aU who wish to keep their brains in good working order,
but because the nature of the cerebral mischief indicated
by such symptoms has been ascertained, and we may hence
infer the general nature of the mischief indicated when the
less serious symptoms of distraction are recognised, and
may so judge what is the appropriate remedy. For, unfor-
tunately, several of the cases in which the mind has been
observed suddenly to become confused or lost, resuming its
activity and clearness after a short interval, have been
followed by severe illness, which has proved eventually
fatal.
Among the most remarkable and carefully-observed
cases of this kind is that of King Oscar of Sweden, the
circumstances of which were minutely detailed by Dn
P. O. Liljcwalch, the king's first physician. King Oscar
had enjoyed fairly good health during the greater part of
his life ; but before his last illness it had been noticed
that occasionally the heart's action was irregular, oftener
in spring than in other parts of the year. In 1851 the
heart became vei-y irregul.ar in its movements, and the
digestive functions were impaired. Althougli he soon
after recovered to some degree, an attack of typhus fever,
following the loss of a beloved son, severely tried his con-
stitution, when, slowly recovering strength after this, he
unwisely omitted his usual autumn rest and excursion,
and devoted his mind to political matters requiring close
and anxious attention. In 18.57 his health again gave
way, and it was at this time that the nervous mischief was
first noticed which subsequently proved the characteristic
feature of the king's illness, and, in Dr. Liljewalch's
opinion, " brought him to his death." The first trace of
this nervous disease, says Liljewalch, " manifested itself
long since, although it was not until the last six or eight
years of his life that, as we have seen, it occurred with
more definite and at last with such threatening symptoms.
No one who had an opportunity of observing him during
a long period in his daily intercourse, could avoid being
amazed at the very extraordinary power the king always
e.xhibited of retaining in his memory the most varied
details, or could cease admiring " (really one could imagine
that some few could achieve this, however impossible it
might seem to the courtly Liljewalch) "the rapid appre-
hension, the unerring judgment, and the singular clearness
of statement which were exhibited whenever he spoke.
But at the same time he could not fail to recollect
how the king sometimes, in the middle of a con-
versation to which he was directing all his attention, would
of a sudden appear to be abstracted, and would actually
transfer liis thoughts to some other subject on which
unless he might be disturbed, he would allow them to rest,
usually only for a few moments, but sometimes for many
minutes, after which the conversation would be resumed
as if it had not been interrupted. The peculiar expression
of the king's features — particularly his look, assumed on
such occasions, and the spasmodic state, or the involuntary
movements which at the same time took place in one or
other part of liis muscular system — render it probable that
this distraction, which at times was of frequent recurrence,
was due to an incipient affection of the central organ of
thought. This symptom, referable to the most important
organ of the nervous system " (the care and ingenuity with
which the court physician avoids any direct statement that
the king's brain was affect«;d is worthy of all praise) " was
of late years accompanied, as has been already mentioned,
with increasing weakness in the muscles of the lower
extremities, and with uncertainty in the combination of
movement, probably depending on a commencing organic
change, either in the organ alone on which the power of
motion depends or else in that by ^\hich the co-ordination
of movements is eflected." The king himself was not misled
by the phraseology in which the court physicians endea-
voured to cloak the fact that his brain was disordered.
" Incapacity to discharge his royal functions now brought
on a deep melancholy, and the king, even in the commence-
ment of his illness, expressed his conviction of its incura-
17C
KNOWLEDGE
[Due. M, 1881.
bility." Tho eta-ength of the body failed more and more as
" the organ on which the power of motion depends "
h(>camo more and more diseased. " The lower extremities,
the muscles of which were always weak, liegan to totter
under tlie wciglit of tho hody, and at the sam(! time
tiiP. power of combination for the motions of those parts
was impaired, and the king was troubled with vertigo,
jiarlieularly accompanying the movements of the head,
and witli vomiting, which symptoms, iu combination with
diminution of strength and the occurrence^ of involuntary
muscular spasms, indicated tlie exLstence of a more deeply-
seated affection, probably a softening in the central nervous
system." (One could imagine that as, of old, Spanisli
courtiers adopted the conventional hypothesis that a t^ueen
of Spain has no legs, Dr. Liljewalch held that the Kings of
Swedi-n, and " royal personages " generally, have no brains).
'I'lie means employed to combat tho disease produced
no good effects; "the paralysi.s, which commenced
in the lower extremities, gradually increased, and after
the king, feeling his inability any longer to fill the high
position to which Pro\-idencc had called him, transferred
into the hands of the crown prince the government of the
United Kingdoms, his deep melancholy gave way to a
progressive indifference, even for those things which in his
health he had regarded with the most lively interest." The
rest of Dr. Liljewalch's account relates to the gradual
failure of King Oscar's powers, mental and bodily, and is
too technical to bo quoted verbatim. It is noteworthy that
the power of speech began to be affected early during the
progress of the disorder, and later was lost altogether.
From this we should be led to regard failure in the power
of verbal expression as a later, and therefore a more
alarming, symptom of cerebral mischief, than diminution
of the power of fixing the attention. The post-inortcm
examination of King Oscar revealed extensive disorganisa-
tion of the brain.
A case somewhat similar to that of King Oscar is thus
related Ijy Dr. Forlies Winslow : — " A gentleman connected
with the Stock Exchange was suspected to have disease of
the brain. His symptoms were as follow : general muscu-
lar weakness, occasional paroxysms of severe lieadache,
slight paralysis of the supeiior palpebral and of the left eye,
occasional sensation of numbness in the right foot. The
mind was not apparently at all impaired. He continued,
up to the period of my being consulted, fully competent to
discharge all his commercial duties, attended to] liis
accounts, and wrote letters of business with his usual
ability and clearness. His brother informed me that at
times he was greatly abstracted and f/ii'tractcd ; that
whilst engaged in conversation, he would suddenly pause
put his hand to his head, and appeared vexed with himself
at having lost all consciousness of wliat ho was saying.
This symptom was observed tico years before any question
arose, or suspicion existed, as to the state of the brain !
The family, judging from the subsequent progress of the
case, were of opinion that the cerebral disorder was first
exhibiti^d by the sudden lapses of thought to which he was
subject for many years pre\'iously to tho manifestations of
other and more unequivocal symptoms of brain disease.
Such, also, was my opinion In about a year
and a half he died, quite paralytic. Considerable organic
disease of the brain was discovered after death."
In a'lother case, which also ended fatally, an Irish bar-
rister, three yeai-s before an attack of acute mania, was
observed to stop occasionally whilst addressing tho courts
of law, as if for tlie moment lost. " So marked was this
symptom, that a professional friend, often associated with
him in tho conduct of legal matters, considered it his duty
to direct the attention of the gentleman's wife to the fact.
considering that such attacks of mental distraction, on
occasions when it was of essential importance for the mind
to bo in a state of continuous activity, looked suspicious,
and, according to his judgment, were not consistent with
a healthy state of the brain." Alx)ut two years after this
peculiarity had been noticed, this patient experienced a
slight epileptiform seizure whilst at his chamljers, t'uring
a very hot day in the month of July. "As tliis attack
was considered to have been one of syncope, and to be
caused by the then high state of the temperature, little or
no notice was taken of it. Previously to travelling on the
Continent, he had been working unusually hard, eating and
drinking very sparingly, sitting up late at night, and rising
early in the morning. In fact, he acted with great indis-
cretion and imprudence, and the result was an acute attack
of brain disease, affecting the mind, a fortnight after his
arrival in Paris." In this case, the posl-mortem examina-
tion revealed the existence of chronic disease of the
membranes of tho brain — mischief which seemed to have
lasted for a considerable time before death.
As we have already explained, it is not so easy to find
illustrative cases of the less alarming forms of distrac-
tion. Even in cases where serious mischief has followed
these slighter mind troubles, the symptoms immediately
preceding such serious illness have commonly been of a
more marked kind, and these alone have usually been
regarded as reaUy belonging to the case. Nevertheless, all
who have given careful attention to mental maladies, caU
speak of instances in which the less serious forms of dis^
traction have been noticed early in the progress of cerebral
disorders ; so that though they need not alarm those who
note them in their own case, they should not be neglected'
They are al^\ays signs that the mind wants rest, and they
may be signs that some more specific remedy is required,
which can be readily determined by noting whether rest
brings relief. " I am anxious," says Dr. Forbes Winslow
(and it could be wished that throughout his valuable work
he had been similarly careful to avoid occasioning unne^
cessary alarm), " to attach no undue impoi-tance to this
evidence of morbid intelligence, but I cannot close my eye^
to the fact that a debilitated power of attention is a prO;
minent symptom in the early stage of cerebral disorder.
Cases of incipient brain disease have occurred in which
patients have, pre%'iously to other symptoms, lost all ability
to read continuously twenty lines of a book without a
painful effort of thought." It will be noticed that Dr;'
Winslow here puts distraction as a phenomenon preceding
in cases of cerebral disorder, the loss of memory : albeit^
we believe that had he had the means of ascertaining the'
precise progress of mental disorder, in cases where he
supposed this to have been the case, he would have found
that the memory had begun to go in the first instancft
" If," ho proceeds, " there be impairment of attention and
debility of memory, it is illusory for the patient to imagine'
that he is able, until his physical condition of ill\
health is attended to, by repeated and persevering efforts,
to resuscitate these prostrated powers. In his attempt 'to
do so he still further taxes tho morbid state of these facm-
ties " (meaniiig, apparently, that he overtaxes the facultior
and makes their state still more morbid), "and, instead of
invigorating, still further debilitates, and often entirely
extinguishes his intelligence." This caution cannot be too
carefully attended to. Returning to the analogy between
bodily and mental powers, which we touched upon at the
outset, we may compare the power of attention to actual
muscular strength, — as the power of memory may l*
compared to skill in mastering such and such feats of
muscular dexterity, and acquired mental knowledge to
the various athletic exercises which a man has learned to
Dec. 30, 1881.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
177
:u-lueve. Now if an athlete linds that l»Ls bodily strength
is unequal to a task wliich has hitherto been well witliin
s powers, he would not think (if he were wise) of trying
iH'atedly to achieve tlie muscular eflbrt which he has
und too niueli for him. Or (extending the analogy to
lior ways in which the power bf attention may fail) if
1 athlete finds that he is unable to continue some mus-
1 lar effort so long as usual, he doe^ not compel Nature
achieve the task which for the nonce has become too
■at for him. In either case he perceives that for the
: le being he is not himself, and, by rest or change of
i.ie kind (diet, mode of training, or the like), he seeks to
^tore his powers. At any rate, if he is so unwise, in
her case, as to endeavour to master Nature, he increases
■ mischief, and may entirelylosethepowers whichhadbeen
;ikencd, and might otherwise have been soon restored, or
l^ht at least have been saved from further weakening. So,
::\embering how close in reality is the analogj- between
• ■ mental and bodily powers, we can well believe Dr.
:l)es Winslow, when he tells us that when the attempt
lix and concentrate the thoughts requires a continuous,
-inful, and vigorous effort of the will, "serious and irre-
rable injury may be done to the delicate organisation of
brain and mind by injudicious attempts to e.xercise,
niulate, a.nd force into acti^-ity the morbidly flagging and
_'gish mental faculties." These symptoms show that the
tin is for the time being unfit for sustained action or
■ intense action, though not necessarily (or even pro-
'y) diseased, and that rest is essential to restore its
!■ ebled energies. Whether such rest should be long-
:,nntied or not, will depend on the question whether the
mptoms of weakened powers of attention are marked or
l.iTwise, and also iii no slight degree on the lengfh of
1, > during which these symptoms, whatever they may he,
e been neglected. If they are attended to so soon as
.- are noticed (in which case they wUl probably be
.'ht), a very brief rest will generally restore to the
ir.d its wonted energies. Many a man who, in the
L'lst of prolonged and arduous mental exertion, has
ticed signs of flagging in his power of attention, has
;!id in even half-an-hour of sound sleep a remedy more
■jtive than a three months' rest would be after such
jns had been neglected during several successive weeks of
rital labour.
Some physiologists assert that defective speech, the next
■iiptom which we have to deal with, has been the first
rnptom noticed in cases of cerebral disorder. Dr. Forbes
Winslow says : — " The first evidence of approaching
apoplexy and paralysis is occasionally a sudden loss of
speech." This may have been the first symptom noticed,
but we question very much whether it has ever been the
first symptom which has existed.
We ought to distinguish, perhaps, here, between defective
speech and defective power of expression (by words indi-
cated otherwise than by actual articulation). In fact, an
important distinction exists even between the loss of the
power of articulation and the aflection of the vocal organs
indicative of cerebral disease. Here, however, we consider
generally the impairment of the power of linguistic expres-
sion which usually precedes serious mental trouble, and is
oft«n enough noticed where rest only or change of diet is
necessary as a remedy. Usually, however, this symptom
IS serious. Indeed, one writer on the subject of cerebral
disease remarks that it is a most unusual circumstance
for the symptom to exist without being followed by acute
cerebral mischief. Possibly the remark refers onlj' to
the absolute loss, whether for a short or long period, of the
power of expressing ideas by language, spoken or written.
That the power of expression may be affected, and even for
a time affected seriously, while nevertheless there is no
serious cerebral mischief, is within the experience of most
persons who ha\e occasion to exercise this power freely.
The -symptom, like others we have dealt with here, is one
to be noticed, and its warning voice sliould bo heeded
early. This done, there is usually little occasion for alarm,
startling though some of the stories now to be related may
appear.
Dr. Winslow relates that "a literary gentleman, whose
vocation in life was that of a public lecturer, noticed for
nearly eight weeks before he was seized with paralysis, that
occasionally whilst speaking he lost for a second or two all
power of articulation. This occurred on five, or six occa-
sions previously to an attack of decided hemiplegia. This
patient had taxed his powers of mind to their utmost by
lecturing twice, and often thrice, a day* ; but independently
of this amount of Literary labour, he had been exposed to
much anxiety respecting family matters, and this had pro-
duced restless, and, in Some instances, sleepless nights."
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
LET us next examine a few cases in which animals have
done things which they have seen done by the
persons with whom they live, and more or less obviously
with the object of obtaining the result which they had
observed to follow from such actions. For this would
seem, if the animal can be clearly shown to have had suck
a purpose, to be distinctly the result of reasoning. Monkeys
may or may not reason when they imitate actions which,
when performed by themselves, are of no advantage to
them, or are even mischievous. Indeed, it is not impro-
bable that they suppose their human fellow-creatures would
not perform such actions except for a useful purpose,
though what that purpose may be they may have no con-
ception. But whatever opinion we may form on this
point, we can have, it would seem, no room for rejecting
the belief that an animal has reasoned who performs an
act dcmonsti-ably for the purpose of producing a certain
effect, such as he has observed to follow when human
beings have so acted. Now in some of the cases which
follow, this does seem to be most clearly made out.
A writer in Nntitre gives the following case : — " My
sister, who lives just opposite to my own house, possesses a
cat (now about thirteen years old), whose intelligence is veiy
remarkable. He has a habit of making use of the knocker
of a side door, which is just within his reach as he stands
on his hind legs, whenever he desires admission. A single
knock is tried in the first instance ; but if this is not an-
swered promptly, it is followed by what is known as the
' postman's knock ; ' if this is not successful, trial is then
made of a scientific ' rat-tat ' that would not disgrace a
west-end footman. I should say that ' Minnie ' holds the
knocker in his paw as we should hold it in our fingers, and
not by simply tipping it up. How far this practice involves
' abstract reasoning,' I will not say, but somethiilg like an
approach to it is suggested, for he was never taught 4o
knock at the door, and adopted the habit some three years
ago, evidently to gain admittance, very often to the annoy-
* The writer of these lines has lectured twice a day for a week,
fillii:p; up four or five hoars of each day with literary work, without
feeling any effects which seemed to .suggest that he had taxed his
powers of mind to their utmost. But, on the other hand, he has
noticed that after lecturing only once a, day, or even oaly four times
a week, while travelling great distances each d.ay, several of the
symptoms of incipient cerebral mischief have appeared; and even
less lecturing, accompanied by much mental anxiety, has caused
such symptoms to appear.
178
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Dec. .'!ij, 1881.
aiice of my sistor's family, who have occasionally been dis-
tiirbwl in this way at uiiswmly hours." The rest of the
l«tt<T ha.s no lirrtrii\j» on the .mil^jfot wc are upon, but it is
too amusing to be omitted. " 1 should be sorry," says the
writer, "in thus referriiif; to tlie sagacity of poor pussy
(who is now also soniowhat feeble), to reflect upon him by
noticing some other of his peculiarities, one of which is his
fondness for a little brandy-and-water, and other alcoliolic
stiniuIant-K." It would be, perhaps, to inquire somewhat
too curiously to ask whether this story shows that the
fondnes.s for stimulants is associated with an advance in
reasoning power, or whether, perhap.s, Minnie's brain was
aroused to abnormal activity l)y the tippling in which alone
(we way a.ssume) he was indulged by his mistre.ss. The
point established by the story is that in some cases — at any
rate, as in animals so low in cerebral development as cats —
the consequences of a certain action are observed and
remembered, the action being repeated by the animal when
he wants those particular consetjuences to follow. This
cannot be explained by any theory of mere instinct.
In the last story, the cat was an old one, and though tliis
does not modify the conclusion to be deduced from the
animal's behaviour, yet it in some degree diminishes our
estimato of the activity of Minnie's reasoning power. In
the following case, a young cat showed equal intelligence ; —
" I may mention a case," says the writer, " of a kitten
about half-grown, having mental reflection of some sort.
I was sitting in one of the rooms at a hoiise where I was
stopping in Somersetshire, and hearing a knock at the front
door, was told not to heed it, as it was only this kitten
asking admittance. Not believing it, I watched for my-
self, and very soon saw this kitten jump ©n to the door,
hang on by one leg, and put the other fore paw right
through the knocker and rap twice. The knocker was an
ordinary shaped one, fixed in the centre of the door half
way up ; the top part of the door was glazed. I saw this
performance dozens of times afterwards, and often nsed to
put the kitten outside to see it done. It was never known
to knock wlien anyone stood in the garden, but if one went
indoors and shut it outside, in a few minutes came the
usual knock. A sister kitten to this one was never known
to knock, but sat on the doorstep and entered when the
door was opened, and in nine cases out of ten the knock
was successful. The kitten was never taught in any way ;
it would knock at both front and back door."
In the following case, the object of an animal's action in
such cases was tested by an experiment, but the evidence
is less satisfactory in one respect tlian tliat afforded by the
two previous cases, the animal liaving been taught the
action : — " A small English terrier belonging to a friend,"
says the narrator of the story, " has been taught to ring
for the servant. To try if the dog knew ivhy it rang the
bell, he was told to do so while the girl was in the room.
The little fellow looked up in the most intelligent manner
at the person giving the order (his master or mistress, I
forget which), then at the servant, and refused to oliey,
although the order was repeatcid more than once. The
servant left the room, and a few minutes aftenvards the
dog rang the bell immediately on being told to do so."
Here it is to be noticed that the dog did not ring the bell
(as, in each of the preceding stories, the cat knocked at the
door) to get some end of his own accomplished. He rang
to save his miister or mistress trouble. And the fact that
he had been taught to ring for this purpose, although
making the act itself less obviously a sigii of reasoning
power than the cat's action in knocking at the door, makes
his refusal to ring when told to do so a more manifest evi-
dence of reasoning than it would otherwise have been. If
the dog rang for the servant because of some advantage he
always gained from the servant's conrinj^, it would have
been natural enough that he should refrain from ringing
when the servant was in the room. But his refusing to do
what he had been taught to do, at t)ie risk of oflending his.
nia-ster or mi.stress by such rc-fusal, makes it absolutely
c('rtain that he had clearly recognised the object which
was to lie attained Viy ringing the liell.
THE PLANET SATURN.
ALTH(>U(!H the ringed planet is passing away from
the position where it shines most brightly, and being
nearest to the earth, is, on tlie whole, most favourably
situated for observation, yet, as he passes away fiom this posi-
tion he shows certain features of int/Test which are either less
favourably seen, or not seen at all when he is nearest to us.
Just as the full moon shows no shadow.?, being seen from the
(^arth when it is between the moon and the sun, .so the
sliadow of the planet Saturn on his rings is less invisible
when Saturn is in opposition (as it is called) to the sun, that
is, when the earth lies on, or very near, a line drawn from
the sun to Saturn. But when the eai-th has, by her more
rapid motion, passed away fiom this position, the steadfast
shadow which, " as the planet whirls, sleeps on the luminous
ring," is well seen. This shadow is an interesting object of
t<»lescopic study, because, instead of presenting at all times
those uniform outlines which the laws of pei-spective teach-
us should be presented by the shadow of a spheroid on
a plane, or nearly plane, surface, the outlines are oftett
very cunningly distorted. Thus, in the accompanying
picture, we have a view of the shadow as seen by
Trouvelot, an excellent American observer, with the
magnificent 26 in. telescope of the Washington Olwerva-
tory, and this shadow is so distorted that one would say
it was entirely " out of drawing' if one were not certain
that Trouvelot depicted correctly what the perfectly trust-
worthy and most powerful telescope he employed, showed
him. We would invite telescopists to examine the planet
carefully during the next few weeks, and note any pecu-
liarity of shape which the shadow on the ring may present.
We shall be glad to indicate, for comparison with drawings
which may be sent us, the true shape which, according to
the laws of perspective, the sh.-idow should have had at
the epoch of the respective drawings.
Dec. 30, 1S81.]
KNOW^LEDGE
179
THE MAGIC WHEEL.
ItT^E had lioped to prosent our jounger readers this
Vt week with a drawing of a trotting horse if ji.?
various positions successively assumed by the aniir . (as
instantaneously photographed), for use with th. —genious
instrument illustrated in the accompanying cut. But,
on carefully examining the picture in the Scientific
Americiin, we found that there was an error which
would have caused tlie picture to produce an imperfect
illustration of the horse's action. Twelve positions had
been taken from the photographer's series without its
being noticed that the last two were almost exact repe-
titions of the first two (in other words, a complete double
step was illustrated in the first ten pictures). The delay
caused by the corrections prevents us from giving the
picture this week, but next week we shall have a set of
tea positions of a trotting horse, arranged for use as in the
accompanying figure, illustrating a highly ingenious
method for avoiding the difiiculties involved in the con-
struction of a zoetrope. We shall later give a series of
views of a galloping horse. In the meantime we leave
our younger readers to puzzle out the meaning of the
accompanying cut, and in particular to find out how it is
that tlie various parts of a properly-constructed zoetrope
are provided for here by so simple a construction.
PRIMARY COLOURS.
IT is impossible to construct a consistent theory based on three
primar)' colours, whether the three be the older set — bine,
yellow, and red, or violet, green, and red — the newer set of the
theory considered by some to have been established by Clerk
Maxwell in his paper to the Royal Society in 1860.
Clerk Maxwell's paper contains serious errors. He forma equa-
tions with different kinds of quantities, implicitly attributing to the
units of those quantities values which, regarded relatively to each
other, are purely accidental or arbitrary, and his results are, con-
sequently, fallacious.
As is apparently recoscnised by Rood, in " Modern Chromatics, "-
a correct and complete theory of colour vision ought to enable us to
construct a circular diagram of colours, with complementary colours
diametrically opposite to each other, and with the colours distri-
buted with uniform gradation round the circle, and in accordance
with their true relations to each other. Now, such a diagram cannot
be constructed on the assumption that the primaries are three in
number, without assuming certain colours, or combinations of colour,
to be complementary, which are proved by actual experiment not
to be so. The assumption also involves the absurdity that a colour
can be (in a sense) complementary to itself ; or in other words, that
two diametrically opposite colours or combinations of colour which
are complementary.to each other may each contain the same colour
as an ingredient.
When proceeding to arrange colours in a circular diagram, we
have first to classify them. For this purpose I take so-called
primaries and secondaries together, and for convenience call them
simply distinct colours. To the blue-yellow-red theorists I say that
to my eyes green and violet are as " distinct" as any of the three,
but orange is not to the violet-grcen-red theorists. I say blue
and yellow are as "distinct" as any of the three, but purple
or crimson is not. How many " distinct " colours, then, are
there to be assigned to equidistant points on the diagram ? In
my opinion the human mind cannot conceive of more than five
colours which are as distinct from each other as red from yellow
or from violet, or as blue from green or from violet, or as yellow
from green. If, then, there are only five colours of the first class,
or of the first and second classes together, it is impossible to con-
struct a theory with three primaries, for such a theory implies three
secondaries, or six colours of the first and second classes taken
together.
^V'ith reference to seeing red in the violet of the solar spectrum,
I may mention the case of a person who sees the violet of the
spectrum as a dim grey only, and yet, when itwo spectra overlap,
so that the red end of one combines with the blue part of the
other, he apparently experiences the same sensations of violet and
purple as normal-eyed persons.
It is held by Helraholtz and others, and I think there can be no
doubt of the fact, that mentally we cannot really distinguish in any
colour-sensation any components, but only a single resultant sensa-
tion. We may experience a sensation which may be called pure as
regards its colouredness ; for example, we may experience the
sensation of a green, which inclines neither to yellow nor to
blue, but it is quite certain that for a normal-eyed person
it is impossible for light to act on the eye in a perfectly
simple or pure manner. In this sense a perfectly pure colour
is not obtainable even from the solar spectrum itself, how-
ever much it be dispersed, or however narrow a portion of it be
t.akeu. To explain my meaning, I will suppose separate nerve
fibres of the retina are sensitive to the different primary colours,
whatever they may be ; then, what I assert, and can prove, is that
no part of the spectrum, however small, acts on a single fibre (ex-
cepting, perhaps, at and near the extreme ends of the spectrum).
Assuming this to be true, it follows that experiments, like those
recently described by Lord Rayleigh, in which the green and red
of the spectrum are combined and produce the sensation of yellow,
do not in the least prove that the sensation of yellow is neces-
sarily a compound sensation, or that yellow is not a primary colour.
A great deal of the difficulty arising in the consideration of the
effects of mixing colours disappears when it is understood that
colours neutralise rather than combine with or add to each other,
the resultant sensation being one which may be described as a mix-
ture of more or less white or uncoloured light, with as much of the
colouredness as is not neutralised. E. H.
Glasgow, Dec. 3, 1881.
Chari.es Brush, of Cleveland, Ohio, is declared to have perfected
a new invention for storing electricity. The design consists of a
battery in the same sense as in Plante's and Paure's, but the details
are entirely different, and do not infringe upon the rights of either.
Mr. Brush uses for his storage reservoir metal plates, so arranged
that they are capable of receiving a very large charge of electricity
and of holding it for an indefinite time. The storage reservoirs
van' in size as desired, may be transported from place to place, and
used as desired. Each citizen may then run his own electric light
as he pleases ; the plates can be put on street-cars, connected with
the axles, and made to run the cars without horses, .and steam-cars
mav be ultimately run in the same way. The practical character
of the invention is said to be settled, and it is simply a matter of
expense, but the details of the methods are not made public.^
Frank Leslie's Magazine.
180
KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. :50, 1881.
RIGHT-HANDEDNESS.
Bt .Tamks Shaw.
THERE is ft difference both in structure and capacity bctwrcu
Iho left and the riKht lun^. The former has two lobcH, the
latter bus three. Suppose 240 inches of air have been inUaluil,
about 130 have been taken into the ri^ht lung, and 110 into the left.
Watch at tho name time the riRht sido of the chest, and it will bo
gcen to bo mciro bulged out during inspiration. Meanwhile, the
lower ribs, as tlioy roredo from an imaginary middle line, aro firndy
bound by a ligament, or short cord, to the liver. Tho liver, a
heavy organ of ubont 4 lb. weight, inclines tho centre of gravity to
the side to which it swings, and tho greater expansion of the right
Inng and the shifting of the liver to tho right aide tend to shift tho
centre of gravity to that side.
Tho heart, li'rmly attached to tho spine and midriff, rcTnains
immoveable, but the stomach and spleen incline to follow tho liver.
'J'hey cannot follow tho left ribs in a contrary direction, for they
are not joined to them. The shifting of the lino containing the
centre of gravity towards the right has no countervailing-force
opposed to it, for although the greater part of tho heart and the
spleen is on the left side, it is not enough to balance the part
carried towards the right by tho descent of the diaphragm, daring
nspiration.
It has been estimated that tbe viscera of the abdomen and tho
chest weigh heavier, by about a jionnd, on the right side than the
left. Now it must be plain that if the right side be heavier
naturally, and still heavier during the inspiration that precedes
effort, tho foot that supports it will be more leant upon ; and if we
loan more upon the right foot, it will afford a steadier basis of action
for the right arm than for tho left. According to this view, first
clearly put fortli by Professor Buchanan, there is a mechanical
reason for right-handedness. Tlie right leg is first preferred and
utilised in action, and upon this preference the right hand and
arm come more readily into use, and are then taken up con-
sciously and educated as the skilled limb. No sooner is a beginning
made of preference than the muscles oftenest or most strenuously
used get stronger.
Violently exercise the right hand and arm, and you might expect
that both lungs would inflate to their uttermost. But this is not the
case. The right Inng is better filled with air in proportion to its
capacity than the left. If we exercise tho left arm, tbe left lung is
more inflated, according to capacity, than the right. Wo may even
ivitness the right cheek of a man, violently engaged in lifting a load
with the right hand and .arm, inflating unconsciously. In some
jihysical efforts, such as throwing a stone, in which the centre of
gravity advances from tho right, fonvard, and towards the left,
the dilation of both check and lung has been observed, passing over
from tho right to the left. Tho temptation to prefer the right
shoulder, the right arm and hand, in lifting a dead weight, because
of the centre of gravity being more nearly over the right foot than
over tho left, is quite a natural one. So, when a carter puts his
shoulder under the shaft of his cart, he prefers to hoist it up with
tho right shoulder, as having more power in raising it.
But the question m.iy be urged, why are burdens gener,ally carried
on the left '< Although portable loads are generally placed on the
left shoulder, thii?, instead of being at variance with the mechanical
theory, is really a proof of it. When a man has a hea^■y weight
upon his left shoulder, the burden is, in reality, borne by tho right
rather than by tho left lower limb. The body is inclined to the
right, so that the mechanical axis passes from the left shoulder to
the right foot, and tho load is retained over it by the help of the
right arm. In tho case of burdens, such as fishwives' baskets,
borne on the left side, it must be remembered that as tho right side
is the heavier, these burdens help to restore equilibrium with less
of a bend towards tho opposite side, and so leave the motion of tho
limbs less constrained. This is probably one of the causes why a
nurse carries her child in her left arm. although we must recollect
that, by doing so, she has another advantage, namely, the freedom
of the right hand for work.
Professor Perrier informs us that the brain has a cross action.
The left hemisphere governs tho right side, and the right hemisphere
governs the left side. Therefore, when wo see with our right eye,
we see with the left side of our brain, and when wo see with our
left eye, we see with tho right aide. Now, not only has the right
side a mechanical advantage; but it is strongly suspected
that tho left hemisphere of tho brain, which governs tho
movement of tho right side muscles, is, so to speak, a batteiy
of greater power than the right hemisphere. Dr. Boyd made
observations on the patients in St. Magdalen's Hospital, and he sets
forward as a cnrious result, that, after weighing separately the
hemispheres of 200 indiviil-uals. almost invariably tho left hemisphere
exceeded by an ounce the weight of the right hemis}>here. To do
so exactly, bowovor, reqairca groat nicety, aa there is no deftnit*
division between the two hemispheres ; and so wc arc not surprised
that in Dr. Wagner's experience tho proportion of cases having
heavier left lobes wiui as five to two. In the Iteport of St. George's
Hospital (1S69), there is recorded a case of loss of speech and
paralysis of tho left arm of a left-handed lad, whose brain, after
death, exhibited a softening of the right homisphore. The question
of how much tho strength and dexterity of the right hand depends
on the shape and nature of the brain substance is beset with difficul-
ties ; but the balance of the eWdcnce is in favour of the constitution of
the brain itself being a reason in favour of right-hand predominance.
A reason founded on nature is much more satisfactory than the
notion, somewhat prevalent, that right-handedness is a fashion.
True, there is a percentage of our fellow-creatures left-handed;
and there is a diliiculty to account for this peculiarity. Bat it ia
not easy to account for many peculiarities equally striking ; such as
tho want of beard in some men ; the greater or less number of teeth,
toea, and fingers ; tho heart being found occasionally on the right
side ; and the transposition of the viscera. Some men can shut one
eye and keep the other open at the same time. Others can only do
so with difficulty ; and others, again, aro quite unable to do so.
From the evolutionist's point of view, it seems to me as if our
destiny were to become more intensely and more generally
right-handed than we are. If we go far enough back in
infant biography, we arrive at a period when locomotion is
chiefly performed by tho aid of all four limbs. This is the case
with adult apes and monkeys, who shamble along on a plain, or
climb more gracefully in the woods, by tho aid of all their limbs.
With the infant, the difference of internal structure — throwing the
centre of gravity to the right — is scarcely perceptible.
It is argued by some writers that it would be a gfreat advantage
were we ambidexter, using both hands with like skill. Now, no one
doubts that the specialisation of hands for the purpose of grasping,
and feet for locomotion, is of more advantage to man, than if he
had four hands fitted for both functions. As the child grows older,
the difference of hands appears; and this difference, in all civilised
countries, is eagerly helped by precept and example. As in playing
whist, it is better that partner should have many trump cards and
self few, than that each should have an average number ; so it is
found that in a world where time is so valuable, where art is long
and life is short, it is better one hand should be verj- well educated
and the other comparatively neglected, than that each should have
a moderate aptitude.
We can go back, in imagination, to the time when the grasping
of a stick or stone was all the education received by a human hand.
We can suppose the make of the body at that time more symmetri-
cal, as an infant's is with us now. It is like going back to the time
when the ancestors of our horses had more of a normal foot — three
toes, instead of the one toe of our present steeds. Right-handedness
would not be so regular nor so apparent then; just as it is said to
bo with Fijians at the present day, or, as it has been observed
with the African elephant, which has a tusk called the " servant,"
with whch it burrows more freely, but which is not so regularly the
right tusk as the working hand ia the right one with us. As soon,
however, as man combined, either in labour or in war, the necessity
for preferring one hand to the other would become apparent.
Indeed, the evident advantage of shielding such a vital organ aa
tho heart from wounds, and pushing forward the less vital right
side, would incline men to place the shield in the left hand and the
sword in the right. At all events, tho thickening of complex cir-
cumstances would be unfavourable to a state of unstable equilibrium.
When once tho movement of preference began, everything would
tend to strengthen it. Many of the implements by which man con-a
quers nature would require to be made either to suit the supinatingl
motion of the right hand or of the left. ■
The slightly stronger side would gain the day, and become the
more apt and stronger after it had gained it. Now, since it has
become an accomplislied fact that screws, gimlets, seJAors, scythes,
Ac, are all made for right-handed men, he who woulTcducate us to
the ambidexter must have two handles on every door, two methods
of winding up every watch, Janus-shaped carpenters' benches and
printouttors' gauges, duplicate sets of screw-nails, scissors and
scythes.
Not only is the right hand the most dextrous, but, as far as I have
extended my observations, in those cases in which there is a dif-
ference in the strength of vision between the right and the left eye,
the advantage, more frequently, lies with the former. It may be
thought that investigations of this kind aro unpractical, but it will
not appear so when it :s stated that they have been the means of
discovering serious differences in the organs of vision of the same
individual, which drawbacks can be greatly modified by the spec-
tacles of the optician. The relief, in reading, given to such a lop-
eyed person when he has got a lens suited to either eye, is so great
that, when on«e discovered, it is never forgotten. It is wonderful
Dec. 30, 1881.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
181
bow late in life some persons have been in detectinfj ench inequality
of yision. Indeed, there is a case mentioned by the youiifrer
Herschel, of an individual not knowing of complete blindness of
one eye until advanced in years. ^Vhcn there is a weak one and a
stroup, it is generally the we.ik one that is most liable to disease,
from its unconsciously straining to share the labour of rcading,
painting, or engraving with the other.
EARTH TREMORS.
(Feom the Tunes )
ONE day during the past summer, at the end of a long uphill
beat after the partridges, I threw myself breathless on the
i,Tound, and on my back waited for the others to come up. As they
drew near, five or six strong, tramping heavily through the turnips,
1 was strnck by an apparent tremor of the earth beneath me. It
•ivas shivering like a jelly — or I was; for a moment I was in doubt
'.vliich. Spreading out my hands upon the surface, and lying as
« I'lsp and flat as I could, I was soon made sure that the tremor was
1 ;dly in the eai-th and not in me. It grew more and more distinct,
keeping time with the tramp of the walkers. When at last they
reached me I told them of their Neptunian feat, and, making them
jump altogether a few yards off was gratified to find that I could
Ihu- liing about a very respectable earthquake at will. The
nii ; 1. was very peculiar, and I can well believe that a queasier
siMiiiiKjli than mine would soon be conscious of something very like
'iia? do terrc. We examined the structure of this skipping hill,
ut found nothing that helped us much to an explanation. It was
!iiainly made up of a thick |cap of gi-avel on a base of red sand-
stone, and so was not likely to contain anything like a high-arched
hollow or concealed morass within.
This vivid little experience made me readier, perhaps, than some
to accept the striking statements about earth-shaking made by the
brothers Darwin at the York meeting of the British Association.
Especially was I prepared to give credit to what they quoted from
the Astronomer Boyal about Greenwich Hill and the Observatory.
He wrote : —
" In the old times of Greenwich Fair, some twenty years ago,
when crowds of people used to run down the hill, I find the
observers could not take reflection observations for two or three
hours after the crowd had been turned out. . . We do not have
anything like such crowds now, even on Bank holidays, and I have
not heard lately of any interference with the observations."
There is as little foundation for the calumnious hypothesis that
the observers whose reflections were thus agitated had been visiting
the fair themselves as for the suggestion that the above experience
of my own took place after luncheon. No, the truth is, the solid
rtirth is a very elastic solid after all, and Greenwich Hill and the
'"servatory and all that it contained were trembling like my High-
md knoll. The howdah of the Atlas-elephant that stands on a
tortoise is a rather ricketty structure, and quakes with every jog of
the Titanic beast. But is it not being tugged at by every petty
planetoid, pullod from its path by every planet, heaved all awry
through its yielding bulk by sun and moon in their cotirses P It is ;
but over and above these longer, graver motions, there are incessant
tremblings and quiverings in quick periods measured by seconds or
less. This unlooked-for sensitiveness to small stresses, this inces-
sant vibration when all obvious disturbing causes axe eliminated,
■ire the new facts that the Darwins have so strikingly brought out.
How solid rock and massive piers of stone warp under heat and
cold hke unseasoned wood, how a wide stretch of ground may swell
and rise for hours together after a little water has been poured on
it. how the passage of a train miles away, or the pressing of a finger
on the ground near at hand, may be enough to deflect the plu>nb-
line to a visible degree — these and many other new phenomena are
detailed in the full and most interesting preliminary report on the
Lanar Disturbance of Gravity handed in to the Section of Physics
by the ingenious brothers.
The title reminds us that, as so often in science, it was in looking
for one thing that they found another. Every one knows that as
the earth pulls the moon round in its monthly orbit, so, too, the
moon puUs the earth and everything upon it. If a plummet be
hnng up right under the moon, so to speak, the earth is drawing
the bob downwards, the moon verj- much more feebly pulls it
upwards. The result is that the bob weighs a trifle lighter than if
the moon were abolished. Thanks to the moon, the string is less
severely strained. If the moon be not right overhead, but down a
little towards its rising or its setting point, the bob will be a little
drawn aside out of the straight and the plummet will no longer
give a true plumb-line. As the moon rises, crosses the sky,
and sets, then the direction of the plumb-line will change
through a small angle. Of course, even when no moon
la seen, its sUent influence must be felt, and the plumb-line
will return to its position by the time the moon is ready to rise
again. Uow small the change really is wc may gather from the
fact that with a pltimmet 300 yards long the travel to and fro of
the bob could scarcely in this country reach a thousandth of an
inch. This is what is meant by the lunar distttrbanco of the direc-
tion of gravity ; and there must, of course, be a solar disturbance
also, the .same in kind, but naturally very much smaller in amount.
To investigate these disturbances experimentally clearly calls for
refined skill and very delicate apparatus ; but Sir William Thompson,
to whom instrumental difficulties are always but child's play, in
suggesting the investigation three years ago, had in view the detec-
tion of an influence still more recondite and refined.
I have said that the moon, in pulling asido the bob of the
plummet, pulls also on the earth beneath it. If the earth were
peifectly stiff and unyielding, this pull could have no effect on the
deflection of the plumb-line. But if, as we have reason to believe,
the earth yields like a great viscous mass to great stresses as well
as to small ones, a hump of solid earth — a land-tidc-^will travel
round the globe in obedience to the moon's attraction. This hump
in its course will pass under the suspended plummet, and the actual
deflections of the plumb-line as obser^-ed will no longer agree with
those reckoned on the supposition that the earth is rigid. If we
had an instrument, then, by which the minute aberrations of a
carefully-suspended pendulum, isolated as far as possible from all
local disturbance, coilld be magnified up to the point of visibility,
we should have it in our power to settle some very pretty points in
the physical theory of the world. Such an instrument, after various
trials and failures, the Darwins have erected in the Cavendish
Laboratory at Cambridge.
A massive stone, weighing three-quarters of a ton, is bedded in a
pit upon the native gravel. It is surrounded by a trench, a foot
wide, to isolate it completely from the floor and the building. The
pendulum is a massive cylinder of pure copper, hung, by a brass
■wire about a yard long, inside a hollow cylindrical copper support,
that rises from the stone. - A tiny galvanometer mirror is hung by
two fine threads, one of which is fastened to the bob, and the other
to a projection of the fixed support. This suspension is so arranged
that any movement of the bob displaces the mirror to a much
greater degree. A ray of light is sent from a distant lamp on to
the mirror, and thence reflected to a scale seven feet away. The
magnification resulting from this double process is something like
50,000 times. To stiU and quench accidental tremors, the hollow
copper cylinder is filled up with a mixture of spirits and water. It
is a fact, made out by physicists that a boiled mixture of gin and
water is much more viscous and clogs the motions of bodies im-
mersed in it much more effectually than either the neat gin or the
simple water. Further, to ward off the effects of external changes
of temperature, the whole instrument is immersed in a tank of
water resting on the stone ; and lastly, after the precedent of the
Tishbite, the surrounding trench is also filled up with water. Tims
protected, the apparatus might seem sufficiently cut off from local
influences, but as a fact its sensitiveness is 'now so great, that
the observation has to be carried on in another room by means
of a window and a telescope. Standing in the room itself
IG feet away, it is enough to shift your weight from one foot to
the other to cause the speck of light to run along the scale. The
same restilt follows if you press steadily with your fingers on the
stone edge of the trench, but you may strike a good sharp blow
even on tho stone base without effect. It is the distortion of the
soil by slight, steady pressure that is transmitted through solid
gravel and stone, and shows itself as a microscopic deviation of the
pendulum. Such being the case, the instrument should be delicate
enough, in all conscience, to determine lunar and even solar dis-
turbances in the direction of gravity; but, unfortunately, having
got so far we seem almost to have done too much. When
regular series of observations are made it is found that the pen-
dulum is hardly ever steady. The image on the scale dances about
incessantly. "The ground is never really still. Some days it may be
quieter than others and generally there is evidence of distinct diurnal
periods, but the minor zigzags constantly interrupt, and at times
reverse for an hour together, the slower march northwards or
southwards. These tremors have been hitherto so persistent and
so wildly irregular, that for the present, at least, the prospect of
unravelling from them the perturbations due to the moon does not
seem very near. Mr. George Darwin talks of the probable neces-
sity of building a gravitation observatory at the bottom of a mine.
There, it may bo hoped, the railway train and the market cart will
cease from troubling, and the plummet, save for the steady paces of
the moon, wiU be at rest. The work of examining and observing
these tremors of the surface is, however, still going on at Cam-
bridge, and already several sharp seasons of microscopic earth-
quake unsuspected outside have been noted. Sometimes a very
storm of tremor breaks out, for which no sufficient local cause can
be traced.
lf^2
KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. 30, 1881.
Even BO for tlic ontcomo of thoRO ozporimcnts mny prove of high
vnlai' to pmotirat natrimomcrs. Tho piorfi on which thpir grnat
tolowopcB turn nro built of solid Riono, lilthcrto rognrdcd lui tho
mnlorial most insuHCo|itil)lo to change or disturbance. Tlio Oarwins
have rthown that surli piers arc really most sensitive to ino<|uaIitiefl
of lempemliire and to small stresses. They yield and warp to a
most unexpected ilegree. Their bad conducting power is responsi-
ble for this in part, and it is fruitfully snggcated that it might Ix
well to plato the piers with copper and to swathe tliem with flannel.
Astronomers, who, to their vexation, have to redetermine the level of
their insi rumen! s from hour to hour, and who have long suspected
the occurrence of microscopic earthquakes, will take note of this
practical hint. They will make ready u.sc, too, of the observation
here recorded as to the effect of the observer's own weight. They
will think more of the drainage of the soil around their instniments
after the observation on the irregular and long-continued swi^lling
of the ground that results from the percolation of water. Mean-
while, tho British As.sociation and Cambridge may be congratulated
on the now and valu.ibIo field of work thus opened out under their
auspices, and esi>ccially on their liaring enlisted the services and
energies of two workers who 80 worthily keep up the tradition of
an honoured name.
BREATHING.
Bv Dr. J. MoBTIMEB GCANVILLE.
(Abstract.)
EVERY act of life, every movement, evorj- thought, involves the
final use of some particles of the body. In tho groat majority
of instances the material used cannot be used again, and must be
disorganised and removed. This is effected tlirough the agency of
the blood, which brings tlie materials of food within roach of the
living colls of which every tissue of the body is composed. These
draw nourishment from the blood, just as tho plant takes up
material nourislimcnt from the earth through its rootlets. Side by
side with this process of feeding and growth, and an indispensable
part of tho process, is the interchange of elements — oxygen, hydrogen,
carbon, nitrogen, and the like. In short, the vital process is in a
large measure chemical, and the oxydising agent — oxygen derived
from the atmosphere — is the most potent agent and factor in the
production of the general result. If the supply of this agent is not
sufficient for tho vast purposes which it is required to effect, the
animal must suffer a diminution of health, and in the end die. It is
plain, therefore, that the phrase "breath of life" is full of the
deepest significancc. If the animal cannot breathe— using that
term with its broad meaning — it must cease to live. It follows that
the first concern of the living being, for himself and other living
beings, should be to secure a full and fresh supply of pure air. In
the case of children, this is especially necessary, for the obvious
reason that the chemico-vital changes of structure in their organisms
are more active and persistent than those wliich go on in the adult
body. The child is growing in bulk, as well as constantly using up
the materials of its body and requiring to replace them by new.
The result is a large, continuous, and inexorable demand for copious
supplies of fresh air. How is that demand complied with in the
majority of cases ? Growing children ought to live in the open air ;
but wo mow them up in schoolrooms and confine them to tho house
on the smallest pretence of weather or indisposition. When a child
is ill, its systemic demand for air is not diminished, but rathor in-
crea-scd, as is plainly shown by the quickened pulse and breathing.
Bad weather is no excuse for the C(;nfineraent of children indoors.
The danger of "cold " is increased by this treatment. Children are
made delicate, and susceptible to the depressing effects of sudden
or great changes of temperature, by the practice of calUiig or
keeping them indoors for every shower of rain or cold wind. They
are also rendered generally weakly by wrappiug-up. Later on in
years the requirement is very much in proportion to the activity.
But, even in a state of rest, the need for oxygen is considerable.
It health is to be maintained, it must bo in excess of the actual
chemical requirements. la truth, the more air of tho purest de-
scription which cau be taken into the lungs the better. Wind is, as
a rule, an advantage, because there is less chance of tho atmosphere
wo inhalo having stood stagnant over bad soil, or around sources of
poisonous or dolotorious exhalations, and thus contracted pollution.
Breathing bad air is disastrous. The "stifling feeling" and " head-
ache" which are so commonly produced by sitting in a public
meeting, arc the immediate and more pronounced effects of
breathing bad air; but, long before those inconveniences are
consciously experienced, and even when they aro entirely absent,
linmi is being doue. The robust may not feel tho effects, but they
too aro injured, whilo the weakly aro onfoeblod, and tho seeds of
disease arc sown, and will probably spring up later on, and cause
troablo of some kind. Katuro'g proventire remedy for diaeaae,
whether in tho individnal or in the mnltitade, is a bath of pure air.
The E/itateii Roll.
MAN'S PROPER FOOD.
LONO Ijeforo reading Dr. Carpenter's articles in Knowledgb, I
hud believed that, as a race, we aro prone to eat more meat
than is necessary. I must, hoivcver, protest against Miss Kingaford's
argument, which, put baldly, is this : —
" Men and ajws are closely akin ; apes eat fruit and herbs only,
therefore mon ought to eat fruit and herbs only." '
I cannot, however, sec why it is desirable for men to go out of
thoir way to assimilate themselves to apes, and 1 even think it
possible that the divergence of tho human from the ape stock began
when men became omnivorous. I cannot assent either to the validity
of the arguments derived from tho animals mentioned by Min
Kingsford and in your article. I say that tho wolf is incomparably
superior to horse, mule, or camel in endurance, and I would myself
gladly back cither a lion or a tiger against a gorilla. There may be
no tiesh-fcd animal equal in strength to the rhinoceros, and the
othor grass-fed animals mentioned are also grand 8pccimc9&<>f bulk
and strength (and often too of unwieldy inertness) but, xceight for
u-fiijht, they cannot compare in strength or activity with the car-
nivorous animals. Were tho vegetarian Indians, who became
intoxicated from eating meat, equal in stature, strength, or intellect
to the omnivorous European r I guess not ; it does not appear indeed
that they were not South American Indians, some tribes of which
are scarcely human. And that even a purely flesh diet may not be
prejndioial is, I think, pretty well shown by the physique and
strengtli of the Sioux and some of the other sufficiently fed tribes
of North American Indians. I have lived with them in tho buffalo-
hunting season, when they and (after my biscnit was done) I too
practically lived on buffalo meat only, and if I li.ad not seen it in
them, I could not have believed in man's having such wiry endur-
ance ; whilst for myself, I can say that, though blessed ordinarily
with health and strength beyond the average, I have at no other
time known either in anything like the perfection in which I
enjoyed them then. Of course, the active life in the open air
accounts for nmch of this, but the diet must, at least, have been
wholesome. Personally, I believe in a mixed diet, but I also believe
that man's cajiability of eating anythinj is one great element of his
superiority to the beasts of the field. Certainly his adaptability to
any climate is owing to that cajiability. Are the northern regions
to be depopulated on the ground that, as there are no fruits and
herbs there on which Miss Kingsford's apes can live, man also has
no right to live there ? Practical.
CALLAO "PAINTER."
ON approaching Callao in a steamer, at a certain season in the
year, the traveller suddenly becomes aware of an unbearable
stench in the cabin and everywhere else on board ; he naturally
asks " what is the matter," — he is informed " it is the ' Painter,' "
the traveller, not yet knovring what really causes the vile smell,
wishes " the painter would clear out with his smells." The next
thing to bo noticc*d is that the white paint on board becomes black-
ened. If the person who has observed the offensive smell for the
first time, as well as the gradual blackening of the paint, has any
knowledge of chemistn,-, he at once sees the cause of mischief, viz. :
a great excess of Free Sulphuretted Hydrogen in tho atmosphere —
this is reallv tho case, the air smelling abominably strong of "rotten
eggs"— i.e.'. H^S.
If ho now looks at the sea around him, he notices that the vrater
has a yellowish milkish appearance, .showing tho presence of sulphur
in the water — anyone who has seen Harrogate Sulphur Water will
see what I mean, for the cases are similar.
His next thought is naturally what causes this singular phe-
nomenon.
In answer to his question to those on board, "are you troubled
with earthquakes at this time on land (Callao) and sea? " he is told
that such is the case.
That earthquakes are felt at this time, the traveller, whether
scientist or not, has rather a questionable gratification of fielding
out for himself before he has been long in the neighbourhood of the
" Painter." That some of these earthquakes arc serious occurrences
our Geographies show us, though nothing is said about the
" Painter."
The conclusion I have come to is one which anyone else would
come to respecting this disagreeable local phenomenon, viz. : — that
at a certain season of the year a submarine volcano breaks out
impregnating the sea with its sulphurous vapours, then when the
sea has absorbed its share, the air bcoomos filled with the gas.
Dsa 30, 1881.J
KNOWLEDGE
183
It seems hardly necessary to explain why the white paint shonld
become black. It is simply due to the action of the gas — already
alluded to above — on the white lead of the paint, sulphuretted,
hydrojjon having the property of changing the white lead or oxide
into the sulphide of lead.
Bitumen is, I believe, tlirown up onto the shores of Callao, just the
same as it is on the shores of Mexico, where it soon becomes a hard
mass. F. C. S.
COLOURS OF ANIMALS.
PERMIT me to reply to " B. Donbavand," [let. 130] that hi.s
remark concerning floundcra being " concealed by acovering of
<r.iid'' is entirely beside the question ventilated in my paper on
< ''iour in animals. If your con-espondent has ever seen a sole or
'under, be must know how accurately the sandy hue is mimicked
V the upper side of the animals. — If ho had (as I doubt) ever seen
^ ilounder lying motionless and uncovered in an aquarium tank, he
■'■ ' 'uld never have penned his sweeping statement above referred to.
r.rmit me to say that I have repeatedly had the greatest possible
'litliculty, both in gazing into shallow water, and in aquaria, in dis-
tingui%liiDg the outline of flonndcrs of whose presence I was aware,
trom the sand on which they reposed. '" B. Donbavand's " remarks
n the " extreme tenuity " of scientific investigation (he might have
;sed a plainer term than " tenuity ") strike at the root of all scien-
lic advance. Who, pray, is to decide what is important and what
- insignificant in scientific research ? Wlio can tell the bearing of
ven apparently the most trifling fact on future research? " B.
Ilonbavand " arrogates to himself just a little too much authority,
wlien he writes cynically of " extreme tenuity " in such a case as
Mr. Darwin' s observations on '* Worms." The single sentence in
' B. D.'s " letter, wherein he speaks of Darwin's work as a " huge
paradox," is just a trifle too near silliness to warrant further
remark.
In anffn"er to " Omithorhynchns " [100], who asks why the stings
of bees and wasps do not affect a toad when it swallows the insects,
1 may simply refer him to the common-sense explanation of very
plain differences between the constitution of a low vertebrate, such
as a toad or frog, compared vrith the higher warmblooded ver-
tebrates. Your correspondent is evidently thinking of the effects
of the insects' sting on the human type when he puts his question
r nnoerning the uumunity of the toad. But analogy reveals many
amples of the fact that the powers of different quadrupeds to
■sist the evil effects of noxious foods, must be due to differences in
ihe nervous sensibility, and to other features in the constitution of
the animals in question. A donkey eats raw nettles, a dietary that
would kill a man by producing severe throat inflammation. A
^'cretary bird devours serpents, which may contain poisonous
itter suflScient to kill a legion of birds; and man is in the same
sition as the bird, inasmuch as he can sivallow safely poisons
v.iuch only act when introduced directly into the blood-circulation.
In a word, individual or race peculiarities serve to render innocuous
to one animal what is a poison to another. Tlie black races of men
't'l not suffer from yellow fever, which kills off the white. A
ipical sun burns and blisters a white skin, but leaves the black
kin untouched.
The second Query [101] of "Ornithorhynchus," regarding" ants,"
\Niil be best answered by referring him to Sir John Lubbock's
" Scientific Lectures " for a full exposition of what is known about
the habits of those insects.
AXDEKW Witsox.
SCIENTIFIC GHOSTS.
THE following paragraphs are from the " Leaves from a Natu-
ralist's Note Book,"* by our esteemed contributor. Professor
Andrew Wilson, a work we can cordially recommend. It contains
articles (some of which many of our readers may have seen in
various magazines and journals) on many and very various subjects.
Giants, Kangaroos, Food and Pasting. Jelly Fishes, Whales, Science
and Crime, Leaves, ic, &c., all treated clearly and correctly, and
all treated in a most attractive manner. The subject we select for
extract is a good illustration of Professor Wilson's method : —
Modem science has made us aware that the old belief in appa-
ritions rested on nothing more than illusive fancies caused by some
kind of physical derangement of the person so affected. It is im-
portant that young persons should be made thoroughly aware of the
tact that there never was and never will be any such fancy which
w not capable of being explained upon natural grounds. A person
• " Leaves from a Naturalist's Note Book." Bv Andrew Wilson,
F.E S.E., kc. (Chatto & Windus, London.) Price 23. 6d.
in weak health, though in perfect possession of all his faculties,
begins to be troubled by waking visions of persons with whom he
may be familiar, or who may have been long dead, or who sometimes
may appear as perfect strangers to him. The spectres who flit
before him, " come like shadows " and " so depart." They represent,
in the most perfect manner, the reproductions of things that are or
were — utterly intangible creations. The subject of these visitations
may hear the spectres converse, and they may even talk iu turn to
him. He is perfectly aware of their visionary nature, and is as
conWnced of their unreality as is the friend who sees them not, and
to whom the phantoms are described. No suspicions of insane
delusion as to these visitations can be entertained for a moment,
and the question may therefore naturally be i)ut to the naan of
science, " How can these illusions be accounted for ? " The answer
is to be found in one of the simplest studies in the physiology
of nerves and of mind, and shows us that these illusions have a
material basis, or that, in the words of the poet, the
" Shadow proves the substance true."
One of the most interesting cases of vision seeing by a person of
culture and intelligence is that related in the Athenirum of January
10, ISSO, by the Rev. Dr. Jessopp, who, in Lord Orford's librarj',
when engaged in copying some literary notes, saw a large white
hand, and then, as he tells us, perceived " the figure of a somewhat
large man, with his back to the fire, bending slightly over the table,
and apparently examining the pile of books I had been at work
upon." The figure was dressed in some antique ecclesiastical garb.
The figure vanished when Dr. Jessopp made a movement with his
arm, but reappeared, and again vanished when the reverend narrator
threw do\vn a book with which he had been engaged. Dr. Jessopp's
recital called forth considerable comment, and amongst others a
letter from the present writer, detailing the familiar theory based
on the principles of subjective sensations, treated of in the present
paper. After noticing the fashion in which subjective sensations
become projected forwards, the author sa3-s (Athenwum, January
17, 1880) : "The only point concerning which any dubiety exists,
concerns the exact origin of the specific images which appear as the
result of subjective sensory action. My own idea is that almost
invariably the projected image is that of a person we have seen and
read about. ... In Dr. Jessopp's case there is one fact which
seems to weigh materially in favour of the idea that the vision
which appeared to him in Lord Orford's library was an unconscious
reproduction of some mental image or figure about which the
Doctor may very likel3" have concerned himself in the way of anti-
quarian study." It is most interesting to observe that in the
succeeding number of the Athen(Tum, Mr. Walter Rye writes :
"Dr. A. Wilson's solution 'that the "spectre" . . . was an un-
conscious reproduction of some mental image or figure about which
Dr. Jessopp may very likely have concerned himself in the way of
antiquarian study,' seems the right one, and I think I can identify
the ' ghost ' The ecclesiastically dressed large man, with closely
cut reddish-brown hair, and shaved cheek, appears to me the
Doctor's remembrance of the portrait of Parsons, the Jesuit Father,
whom he calls in his 'One Generation of a Norfolk House,' 'the
manager and moving spirit ' of the Jesuit mission in England. . . .
Dr. Jessopp when he thought he saw the figure, was alone in an old
library, belonging to a Walpole, and Father Parsons was the leader
of Henry Walpole, the hero of his just-cited book. Small wonder,
therefore, if the association of ideas made him think of Pafeons."
All such illusive visions are thus readily explained as the creatures
of an imagination which, through some brain-disturbance, is enabled
to project its visions forward, on the seats of sense, as the " ringing "
in our ears is produced by some irritation of hearing-centre of the
brain. The known vision is a reproduction of a present memory,
and the unknown vision is the reproduction of a forgotten figure
^vhich has nevertheless been stored away in some nook or cranny of
the memory chamber.
We may thus dispel the illusion by its free explanation ; and
science has no higher function or nobler use than when, by its aid,
a subject like the present is rescued from the domain of the
mysterious, and brought within the sphere of ordinary knowledge.
A VEKY Impoet-^nt Gift has been made to the New York
Museum of Art by its President, John Taylor Johnston. It consists
of a collection of 331 engraved gems made by the Rov. C. W. King,
of Cambridge, England, a connoisseur and authority on glyptic art.
For the most part these antique gems follow in chronological order
the Di Cesnola collection, which Mr. King, in a treatise, called "a
true revelation in the history of glyptic art." Speaking of this
addition to the museum. General di Ce.snola said that with it two
more departments were now unsurpassed by any similar ones in the
great European Museums. Each of the pieces is accompanied by a
plaster cast. The catalogue is in Mr. King's handwriting, and a
treatise on glyptic art, by Mr. King, accompanies the collection. —
Frank Leslie's Magazine.
18 J.
KNOWLEDGE
[Dbc. 30, 1881.
3Lfttfrs{ to tl)t €iiitoi-.
{Tht Editor doe » noihold hintelf rttpontihle/or Vf opiniona of hi» corrftpondtmU.
Se cannot undertake to return manutcriptt or to corretvond itith thrir terit^t. All
communicationB tftovld be aa ahort a* ptuiible, contittgntlif vith /ull and cltar Btate-
mentr of tht trrtter'a fUMwinp.]
All Editorial communication^ tihottld be addreaitd to the Editor qf KirowLEDCE ;
ail BuMn<$t eommunicQtiona to the Fubli^hert, at th« OJftce, 71, Great Queen-
ttrert, W.C.
All Eemittancef, Cheguei, and Fost-OJict Ordera should be made payable to
2i^**r$. ITymtiH S( Sana.
•,• AH Icttera to the Editor itill be Xumbered. For conrettience of reference,
corrctpondenta, when r^erring to any letter^ tcill oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on whtch it appear*.
AH IMt'cra or Queriea io the Editor vrhich require attention in the current iaatte of
Ksowledob.jAomW reach ike PuUiahing OJice not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication. __^_
" In knowlrdce, that man only is to bo contemned and dcBpieed who is not in ft
Btate of tran!iition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
t-han ftiity of opinion." — Faraday.
) hami in raakini; a mistake, but preat barm in making none. "^^
le a man who makci
othing." — Liebig.
[niakes, and I will show joa a man who has done
(Buv Corrrjjponlrfnrt Columns.
THE PRIMARY COLOURS.— RED AT THE BLUE END OP
THE SPECTRUM.
[140] — I venture to suggest the following explanation of tlie
difficulty raised by M. W. Laing, letter 71, p. 96. The sensitive
ends of the optic nerve take the form of cones ; each cone is divided
into three parts, and each part is able to vibrato independently of
the others. As a violin string of a certain length, thickness,
density, and tension is only able to vibrate a certain number of
times in a second, and is set vibrating by those vibrations of air
only which synchronise or keep time with the string's periods of
vibration, vibration for vibration, or every second, third, fourth,
&c., air vibration to each string vibration, so each part of the cone
is act vibrating by those vibrations of ether which synchronise with
its periods of vibrations, and by those only. The sensation of red
colour is produced by the vibrating of the thick end of the cone,
green, not yellow, by the middle, and blue by the thin end, these
three being the primary colours ; about 392 billions of ether vibra-
tions in a second synchronise, vibration for vibration, with the
periods of vibration of the thick end of the cone, and about 757
billions with the thin end of the cone. Now, it is evident that with
784 (twice 392) billions of ether vibrations in a second, every
alternate ether vibration would synchronise with each vibration of
the thick end of the cone, and the result would be a weak red,
contiguous to and beyond the blue of the spectrum. Thus we
should have about
392 billions of other vibrationa in a second, represented by rod.
575 „ ,, „ „ green.
757 „ „ „ „ blue.
784 „ „ „ „ red.
Higher numbers of vibrations arc probably absorbed or reflected by
the refracting media of the eye (i.e., the conjunctiva, cornea,
aqueous humour, crystalline lens, and vitreous humour).
In giving yellow as a primary colour, the " commissioners" were
probably guided by their knowledge of pigments and their com-
pounds, whiob knowledge only misleads in the matter of coloured
lights.
I trust tliat my explanation, be it right or wrong, is " plainly
worded," and the assumed facts " exactly described " ; but I cannot
hope to rival " M. W. L." in these matters.
W. Rayment, Amateur of Sc.
THE MOON'S ROTATION.
[159] — CO. K. — [39]— Newconib, in his " Popular Astronomy,"
says : — " Tbc most remarkable feature of the motion of the moon is
that eho makes one revolution on her axis in the same time that she
revolves round tho oarth. . . . The reason of this peculiarity is to
bo found in tho ollipticity of her globe. That she should originally
have beeu set in revolution on her axis with prooisoly tho same
velocity with which she revolved around tho earth, so that not the,
slightest variation in the relation of the two motions should oror
occur in tho course of ages, is higlily improbable. . . . Tho effect of
the attraction of the earth upon tho slightly elongated lunar globe
is such thot if tho two motions arc in the beginning very near
together, not only will tho axial rotation accommodate itself to tbo
orbital, revolution' around the earth, but, as the latter varies, the
former will vary ^. with it, and thus the correspondence will be
kept up."
Uerschel, " Outlines of Astronomy " (S. 436*), refers to arcmark
made by Professor Hansen, viz., " that the fact of the moon turning
always the same face towards the earth is in all probability the
result of an elongation of its figure in the direction of a line join-
ing the centres of both the bodies acting conjointly with a non-
coincidence of its centre of gravity with its centre of symmetry."
He then gives a practical illustration.
" Suppose, then, its (the moon's) globe made up of materials not
homogeneous, and so disposed in its interior that some considerable
preponderance of weight should exist oxcentrically situated, then it
^vill be easily apprehended that the portion of its surface nearer to
that heavier portion of its solid content under all the circumstances
of a rotation so adjusted will permanently occupy the sitaation
most remote from earth." — A. T. C.
FOUR FOURS, SINGULAR NUMERICAL RELATION.
[151] — It may be as new to some of the readers of Knowiedce
as it was to myself when first shown the other day that all the
numbers to twenty inclusive (and many upwards), with the single
exception of nineteen, may be expressed by four fours, using any
signs necessary except those of squaring and cubing, in which
figures are required. Only four, but at the same time, the whole
of the four figures are to be used. I do not say that it is impossible
to obtain the number 19 in this way, but neither myself nor the
gentleman who showed me the above has been able to do so. With
the hope that this may prove interesting to at least some of the
readers of your valuable paper, — Tours, &c., CtJPmus Scientl«.
[Our correspondent gives the solutions for all numbers from 1 to
20, except 19. These shall appear next week. In the meantime
v.c leave tho problem as an exercise to our readers. — Ed.]
THREE SQUARE PUZZLE.
[152] — A great number of letters relatingto this puzzle have been
received, nearly all of which we should like to print, but we have
nearly tweniy pages of correspondence already in type, besides the
correspondence received since No. 8 appeared. We have, there-
fore, absolutely no choice but to omit matter which otherwise would
suit our pages exceedingly well.
Mr. Langley's puzzle has been solved and explained fnlly and
exactly by J. 0. M., W. T. Y., Mathematicus, F. F., J. S., and
others. T. Turner, Thomas Mactaggart, and J. T. E. point out
that it is in Todhunter's Euclid, p. 266. There is a pretty way of
obtaining Mr. Langley's pieces, which none of these mention. It is
simply taking the fig. of Euclid I., 47, and conceiving the largo
square turned over round the line liC, giving
We thus liavc tho five pieces of Mr. Langley's figure, and, at tho
same time, see how they arc to be arranged to fill the square BE.
Wo leave 2 where it is; put 1 where BAC is, 4 on Eab, and then
5 and 3 together cover tho triangle lEc, divided as shown by the
lino cd. R. A. Pbociok.
THE QUERIES IN "KNOWLEDGE" (Abstract).
[153] — Perhaps you will forgive my making a few observations
on Knowledge. Like many, doubtless, I have profited very much
by such essays as those in the first half of each number. But, Sir,
Dec. 30, 1881.]
♦ KNO^VLEDGE •
1S5
t is very hard that space shonld bo taken op with qncBtions, the
answers to which are in well-known text-books. May I suggest
that such questions be not inserted, but answered shortly in the
pmall print " Answers to Correspondents."
1 also thought it very hard that so much room was given for
■ that the sun is cold," to men whom you say cannot comprehend an
argument derived from the solar dark lines. — Yours, &c.,
Anti-Pakadox.
[Anti-Paradox's letter is allowed to appear as a rather remarkable
■pecimen of the class to which it belongs. Among some twenty or
ihirty kindly letter, recognising what -we are trying to do in
Knowledge, and, indeed, giving us credit for a degree of success
Idch we ourselves would hardly claim, will come a letter or two
:ih as the above. Anti-Paradox's complaint reminds us of a
mark of a theatrical agent we met in New York, -who said there
,ire some who would not go to the theatre " uidess they had
: i!ers given for all their family, and then they complained unless
r.-t-class carn'agcs were sent to take them along." Putting
.usido the question whether those who have queries to ask
have not a right to expect some space, and nating that many
(irimers and text-books are not simply worded, even when
(which is not always the case) they are exactly described, we
would invite " Anti-Paradox," and the small proportion of our
readers who view matters like him, to consider things from the
(loint of view of the proprietors of such a journal as this. " Anti-
Paradox " pays twopence for each copy, of which sum more nearly
the half than three-fourths reaches the proprietors of Knowledge.
Let " Paradox " inquire how much twelve, fom'teen, or sixteen double
I paves (as the case may be) of good paper is likely ts cost, even at
V, liolesale rate, and the probable expense per copy of such matters
~ composing, printing, folding, advertising, and so forth, to say
■thing of editing. When he has done this, and notes the nature
uf the margin between a penny-farthing and such costs per copy,
let him ask himself if it is quite reasonable for him to expect us to
crowd queries, correspondence, &c., into "the small print ' Answers
to Correspondents,' in order that lie may have as nearly as possible
the entire contents of Knowledge devoted to original matter.
Obser\-ing that a page of small print in itself involves a loss (cost-
ing more than twice as much as a page of largo print), let him
notice that, on the average, we give him, as it is, as much original
matter as would make the sixth part of such a work as my
"Light Science" or Professor Wilson's "Leistire Hour Studies"
— so that, for a shilling, he gets as much of such matter
(fresh and fresh) as in such volumes costs six or seven
shillings. It is " a very hard thing," he considers, " that we
do not fill our entire space \vith matter so costly that if we
did, the greater the sale, the greater would be the proprietors'
lo-s. It would be, we venture to tell him, a "very hard thing"
■ our reward for givivg six or seven pages of extra space to corre-
■indencc should be a claim for so much more original matter. It
" a very hard thing " to find room for so much original matter
- we insert, and also to give space for correspondence, queries, &c.,
ithout making the proprietors cry out lustily at our extravagance
' onsidering the price of Knowledge). If we had many snch
'ii erful correspondents as "Anti-Paradox," this " very hard thing "
■ >i;ld simply become impossible. We beg, on the proprietors
'half, to remind " An ti- Paradox" that the " verj' hard thing"
which affects him is an infliction of his own choosing. He is not
obliged to bring this terrible hardship on himself by expending the
Buni of twopence weekly on Knowledge, and then groaning because
we answer queries in other than our smallest type, or admit in-
quiries from readers who do not fnlly appreciate the significance of
The solar dark lines. To our more just and generous readers we
ay that we do the best we can to oblige all ; we gi'.o to each class,
rrcspondcnts, querists, mathematical students, chess and whist
I aycrs, and original writens, more space than we can fairly afford.
We feel satisfied that so long as wo do so, the proportion dis]>osed
to be as unreasonable as "Anti-Paradox " and a few others have
hown themselve.o, will be very small indeed. — The Editob.]
THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.
[154]. — The following is a solution to the Fifteen Purzle, starting
from the lest position : —
1
2
3
4
5
G
7
,8
9.
10
11
12
13
15
14
Let R = right L = leftU = np .and D — down.
12. D.— 11.10.9. K.— 13. U.— 15.14.12. L.— 11. D.— 10.9.13. E.—
15. D.— 14.L.— 13.D.— 9, &c., to L until the figures of the last two
rows read.
10 11
12
Then move: 15.14.13. R.— 9.5.1. D.— 2.3.4. L.— 8.12.13. U.—
14.15.9. K.— 5.1.2. D.— 3.4.8. L.— 12.13.14. U.— 15.9.5. R.— 1.2.3 D.
—4.8.12 L.
Then turn the box so that
4 8 1 12
3 6 1 7 1 13
2
10 1 11 14
1 5 1 9 1 15
1 1 2 1 3 1 4
5 10 6 1 8
9 11 1 7
12
15 1 14 1 13 1
Then move: 14.13. R.— 11.10. D.— 6. L.— 7.U.— 14. U.— 15.11 R.
—9. D.— 10.14. L.— 11. U.— 15. R.— 14. D.— 11.12. L.— 13. U.—
15.14.9. R.— 10. D.— 11.12.13. L.— 15. U.— 14. R.—13.D.— 12.11. R.
—10. U.— 9.13.14. L.— 15. D.— 12.11.10. R.— 9. up.— 13.14.15. L.
Wishing success to your valuable paper, — 1 remain, yours trtUy,
Yawnups.
[The position attained by '■ Yawnups," which, of course, he does
not regard as an actual solution of the problem, for which a money
prize was offered in America, can be more readily reached ; in fact,
we do not see the plan of " Yawnups' " solution, many of the moves
in which seem to be wasted. The actual number of moves in his
solution, counting such a move as 9.13.14. L as three moves, is 102.
By the following method the position is attained in 57 moves. It
may, perhaps, be done in fewer, but the solution is straightforward,
and its stages illustrate the method of dealing with snch difficulties
as occur in all " fifteen " problems :— 4.8.12. D.— 12.3. R.— 13.9.5. U.
—15.14.12. L.— 3.4.8. D.— 5.1.2. E.— 15.13.9. U.— 14.12.8. L.—
2.3.4. D. — 1. E. Now turn the box so that right hand runs
iH N CO -^
after 28 moves. We next get 5, 6, 7 right by the following
moves:— 7.11. L.— 10. U.— 6. L.— 11. D.— 7. R.— 5. U.— 6.11. L.—
10. D. — 7. K. — 6. V. The two upper rows are now right, after
12 moves more, or 40 moves in all thus far. The last two lines
now run thus : —
01 r^ ,- ^
To get these right proceed thus : — 11. R.— 9. U.— 13.15. L.— 10. D.
11. R.— 15. U.— 10.14. L.— 12. D.— 11. L.— 15. E.— 10. D.— 14. L.-^
15. D. — 11. L.12.— U. The last two rows are now right, after 17
^
CO
C5
■*
U5
to
»>
00
m
o
r-t
(M
S
l-t
2
more moves, or 57 moves in all. The blocks are now in the order
which we may regard as one of the only possible forma of solution
from the " lost position." — Ed.]
We have since received the following solution in 60 moves —
13.15.14. E.— 1.5.9. D— 2.3.4. L.— 8.12.14. U.~9.13.15. E.— 2.1.5 D.
—3.4.8. L.— 12.14.15. U.— 5.9.13. R.— 3.2.1. D.— 4.8.12. R. One Une
is now right in 33 moves. Then : 14.15. U.— 10.11 E.— 6. D.— 7. L.
Two lines are now right in 39 moves. 15. E. — 11. U. — 13. U. — 9. E.
—10. D.— 15. D.— ll.L.— 14. D.— 12. E.— 11. U.— 15. U.— 13. L.—
14. D.— 15. R.— 11. D.— 12. L.— 15.14. U.— 13. B.— 10. U.— 9. L.— or
all the numbers right in 60 moves. 0. F. W.
18G
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 30, 1881.
THE FIFTEEN SCHOOLGIBLS.
[155] — In default of bettor, I enclose a Bort of analysis and
for doinR the puzzle of lifti'cn, which is the simplest 1 ha%o
nblo to find. — Yours, iltc. K.
Tlie blnpk dots stand for the numbers in the same line
them in the A column.
rule
been
N.
A
1- 6
A
G- 7
A
8- n
A
10-11
A
12 13
A
1H5
■II
II
II
X
0th
'ru-ise —
A b
c
1
A. d
c
B
d
t
C
d
K
A F
K
B
e
K
0
e
f
A H
i
B
H
J
0
H
K
D
h I
K
h
m|.'
li
n
U
h o
A J
K
B
i
K
C
1
J
D
1 m
E
i
LF
1
o
(x
I n
A L
m
B
h
n
C
L
0
D
J n
E
J
o F
J
L
(}
J m
A n
0
B
m
o
c
m
n
D
K o
E
K
n F
K
m
G
K L
The order of walking is then-
ABC
A D E
AFG
A HI
A JK
ALM
ANO
D 1 M
B LN
BMO
BEG
BDF
B H J
B I K
E J O
CHK
C I J
C LO
CMN
C E F
C D G
F H N
F I 0
DHL
D J N
GHO
G I N
EH M
GKL GJM EKN FKN EIL DKO FJL
If the black dot formula is committed to memory, the puzzle
can always be done nearly off-hand but, if not, a sure way of
getting to the same result is to set down the 105 combinations of
two letters from which the 35 combinations of three letters have
to be formed side by side, and then amalgamate with perfect
ye^ularity from the top, cancelling all the used pairs.
A FOOD QUESTION.
[156] — If you think the following extracts have enough of
general interest for your "Correspondence" columns, their in-
sertion might lead .to our getting some further useful information
on the matter: —
In a recent number of Chamherg's Journal (Nov. 12), under the
head "Some Queer Dishes," it is said: — "In the Wesit Indies,
where meat becomes tainted very rapidly by the agencies of the
damp motionless heat and abundance of insect life, it becomes
necess.'vry to cook it almost as soon as it is killed. To obviate the
toughness which would result from this, it is HTapped in a large
fleshy leaf, which has the curious property of softening the mus-
cular fibre and rendering it tender. If left on too long, the juice
permeates the moat and disintegrates it altogether, hastening its
decay. I do not know the proper name of this leaf — the black
people call it " sungulo " — nor the nature of its action ; there is a
large tree in the market-place, near the King's Wharf, at St.
Thomas."
This is probably the same plant or tree that is mentioned by Mr.
11. Stonehewer Cooper, in his" Coral Lands," Vol. I., page 75. Ue
says : —
" The one drawback to Fijian beef is that it is sometimes very
tough, in consequence of being cooked the very day it is killed.
The papan {Ccrirn papaiia) grows lu.iuriantly all over the Pacific,
and according to Mr. Wittwach, a German naturalist, papau is the
remedy. The juice of this is found to possess the property of ren-
dering tough meat tender when boiled with it. If the unripe fruit
be placed in the water in which the toughest moat is to bo cooked,
it is found to render it perfectly digestible, and the same reiiults are
observed if the meat be merely washed with the juice of the fniit.
The thick, white, milky juice, when extracted from the unripe papau,
in fact, contains properties similar to those of pepsine; and it is
possible that it may be susceptible of chemical prescr^-ation, and
become a valuable preparation. Tough meat is not unknown in
England, and rarely papan could bo canoed and sent oror here, oven
if no mode of pre8cr\'otion is arrived at."
If this leaf or fruit has the virtues attribnted to it, it is strange
that wo have not had it here in some form. " Coral Landa " wu
published lost year. — Yours faithfully, F. C. M.
Nw. 28, 1881.
MAGIC SQUAEES.
[157] — lam glad to see that your correspondent " U. S." haa
started the subject of magic squares in the last number of Know-
LEnoE ; but though he gives examples of odd squares, he does not
give the rules for making them. The subject is of great interest,
and some squares are so very curious that 1 should like, if you will
allow me, to bring it more fully before your readers.
Of magic squares there are two kinds ; 1, those whose root is an
odd number ; 2, those whose root is an even number ; the rules for
the construction of each kind differing from each other.
The examples of odd squares given by " H. S." are made by
Bachet's, or the Indian method ; and the result is not capable erf
variation; but by the methods of M. Poignard and others, the
resulting squares may be varied in many ways. I will now describe
these methods for odd squares, and in a future paper will give the
rules for squares with even roots and squares with borders, &c.
B.^chet's Method.
Example : A square of 49 cells whoso root is 7.
Fig. 1.
1
1 ®
2
-1
9
3
22
16
10
4
36
29
23
24
17
11
18 1
12
5
~T
30
43
37
31
25
1 19
13
7
44
38
32
26 1
20
14
45
39
33
27
21
46
40l
34
28
i ■^^ i
41
35
48
42
49
22
5
30
13
38
21
46
47
23
6
31
39
15
16
48
24
~
32
8
40
41
17
1
33
10
42
18
43
26
2
34
35
11
36
44
27
4
29
12
37
20
45
3
28"
After having filled in Fig. 1 with the seriea, aa shown above, pw^
ceod to transfer the figures in the colls outside the square into *""
Pottd's ErTRACT 13 ft certain
Pontl'd Extnwt is a certain v\
Pond's Extract is a certain ci
Pond's Extract will heal Bum'* an.l Wounds.
Ponds Krtract will oure Sprains and Bruiaca.
Soldbj aU Chemists. Oct Iho gomv
■e for Rhetunatism and Oout.
for Hirmorrhoids.
for TS'curalgic pains.
DT^^^
Dec. 30, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
187
nty cells in the sqnare directly opposite to them, as seen in
_■ 2 — which will then be a magic sqnare, whose root is 7 — and
1" snm of the nnmbers in each vertical and horizontal band, and
-o of those on the two diagonals is 175.
POIGNABC'
lor a square whose root is 7.
In the sqnare, Fig. 1, place
in the top horizontal row the
lirst eoven numbers of the
progression 1 to 7 in any order
whatever, as 3, 7, 5, 1, 6. 4,
-. Then choose a number
Wiich is prime to the root 7,
I which, when diminished
unity, does not measure it,
iv ;t. Begin the second row
null the third figure of the
tirst. The third row with the
ihird figure of the second, Ac,
and fill up tlie sqnare.
Method.
Fig.l.
3
5
7
1
4
3
5
6
2
5
6
a
7
1
4
3
1
4
6
2
7
1
4
3
5
3
5
~
2
7
1
2
7
1
4
3
5
6
6
2
7
1
4
3
5
6
7
In the top row of Fig. 2,
I uce the multiples of the root
beginning with a cipher,
. 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, in
y order at pleasure ; and fill
1' the square on the same
principle as in Fig. 1, taking
care not to assume the same
number for varying the order
of the figures. As 3 was
taken for Fig. 1, we may take
4, or 5, or 6, for Fig. 2, say 4.
Then the square will be filled
np as in the margin. Now
add the corresponding numbers
in each cell of Figs. 1 and 2,
and place the sum in Fig. 3,
which will be a magic square.
It is easily seen that by this
method the position of the
numbers in the finished square
may be varied greatly, and I
leave it to the readers of
Knowledge to say how many
ways there are of varying the
square of 7.
J. A. Miles.
28
7
42
0
14
35
21
0
14
35
21
28
7
42
21
28
7
42
0
14
35
42
0
14
35
21
28
7
35
21
28
7
42
0
14
7
42
0
14
35
31
28
14
35
21
28
7
42
0
Fig. 3.
31
14
47
1,
20
39
23
5
15
41
25
30
10
49
27
32
9
45
7
19
36
44
3
21
40
22
34
11
42
8
48
29
13
46
38
2
28
17
33
4
16
18
37
24
35
12
43
6
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
[158]. — Referring to Mr. Henslow (p. 46, No. 3), is not his
Icaeoning somewhat curious ? He tells us that had the dog not
been tanght to ring the bell, his reasoning would have been abstract.
As the fox was not taught to do what he did, why was not his
reasoning abstract ?
Another story is still more apropos. In this case the fox cut the
line connecting the trigger with the bait, then went up deliberately
(aa seen ty his track on the snow) and ate the latter. In this case
the fox cdnld not scrape a trench, so as to get safely at the bait, as
there were only a few inches of snow on the ice where the bait lay.
In neither of these cases had the foxes been tanght to do what
they did, yet each in his own way used reasoning powers which
enabled him to accomplish his object in the only way by which it
oonld be safely attained by an individual fox (or man), ignorant of
the mechanism of firearms. Was this abstract reasoning ?
Mr. Henslow is rather hard upon brutes and boys. Every day
we find what are supposed to be educated, reasonable, aad, I pre-
sume, reasoning men and women, doing as silly things as the most
Btapid " boy or brute " conld be guilty of."
Ask twenty persons what they would do if, whilst exposed to
great cold, they found their faces freezing ? Probably, nineteen of
the twenty would reply, " mb with snow." This would be proper
treatment if a person frozen was brought into a warm house, but
is not right whilst he is exposed to the low temperature that is
freezing him.
This snow application was improved upon by Major Bumaby.
when, on his ride to Khiva, ho thought his hands were freezing.
He added brandy to the snow before rubbing it in, and thus made a
sort of freezing mixture, as anyone can easily provo by trj-ing it on
some cold day, and exposing the part rubbed to the air. The brave
lady who ascended Mont Blanc in >vinter adopted the same plan.
and thought it successful. J. Rae.
[In a paragraph, which we have omitted, Mr. Rao appears to
have misunderstood Mr. Hcnslow's remark about " pulling the
string out of the line of tire." Mr. Henslow meant the fox being
out of the line of fire while pulling, not the fox pulling the string
away from the Une of fire. — Ed.]
[159] — In favour of the lower animals possessing reasoning
powers, I submit the following ; —
While living in Dublin, a few years ago, we had two female cats —
one a " tabby," the other a " tortoiseshell." The tabby, my especial
pet, was of rather fierce disposition, but an excellent mouser, and
was in the habit of bringing her prey, generally alive, to show me
before devouring it. The tortoiseshell — a feline beauty— passed the
greater part of the day on the rug before the fire. One day,.
"Tabby" brought no less than three mice, consecutively, into our
sitting-room. The first two she ate; but the third, after playing
with it for some time, she hid under a mat at the door, evidently
meaning to reserve it till a hungrier moment. As soon as she left
the room, the tortoiseshell, who had been sitting, as was her wont,
with half-closed eyes before the fire, went to the mat, poked out the
mouse, and gobbled it. This theft amused me so much that I
resolved to watch the consequences. Tabby did not come in again
till evening, when she proceeded instantly to fetch out lier mouse.
She searched well under the mat, but not finding her bonne bouche,
began growling ominously. At length her eyes fell upon the guilty
tortoiseshell, upon whom she rushed, and beat and scratched her
until in pity we rescued the culprit. Another time both cats were
with kitten. The tortoiseshell disappeared for a few days, and
returned looking very lean and miserable. Tabby, who had mean-
while brought forth her j-oung, received her more amicably than
usual, and after some rubbing of noses and purring, the tortoiseshell
took charge of the kittens, and suckled them. This was not the
only time she was seen doing duty as wet-nurse, whilst the other
was rambling somewhere round. A. F. R.
A BEARS MEMORY OF LANGUAGE.
[160]— The strategic shifts of Colonel Perkins' (Purtons' ?) dog.
Bully, at Bangalore, reminds me of another story connected with
Bangalore. The late Rev. William Campbell, who was formerly a
missionary there, on visiting Dublin, to advocate the claims of the
London Missionary Society, went with some friends to see the
Zoological Gardens in that city. While walking through the gardens,
their attention was drawn to a particular den by the excitement of
a small crowd before it. On approaching the place, they found it
was the den of the Indian bear. Bruin was in a bad humour, and
sat resolutely on his haunches, with his back to his visitors. Some
tried to coax him with buns, others to startle him with shouts, and
a few tried to stir him up with walking-sticks and umbrellas. All
their efforts were in vain. At last it occurred to Mr. Campbell to
address the bear in the language he was accustomed to in his youth,
so he shouted " Cuddapah ! Cuddapah ! " (Get up ! Get up !) To
the surprise and amusement of the spectators. Bruin immediately
turned round with a delighted grin. — Yours, &c. Cuddapah.
AN ILLUSION.- DURATION OF FLASH OF LIGHTNING.—
RAINBOW.
riGl] — Wheatstone calls attention to the following illusion
first mentioned by Professor Necker, of Geneva. The rhomboid
AX is dravrn so that the solid angle A
should be seen the nearest to the spectator,
and the solid angle X the farthest from him.
But in looking at the rhomboid, it will
occasionally so change that the solid angle
X will appear the nearest, and the solid
angle A the farthest away. Necker attri-
buted the alteration of appearance not to a
mental operation, but to an involuntary
change in the adjustment of the eye for
obtaining distinct vision. Wheatstone, on the other hand, supposed
the effect to depend entirely " on our mental contemplation of the
figure intended to be represented, or of its converse."
I think Mr. Molloy (letter 116, p. 121) will find no account of any
experiments of Wheatstone's on the duration of a flash of light-
ning in the collected volume of his papers issued by the Physical
188
KNOWLEDGE
[Dkc. 30, 1»81.
Sooipty of London. In tiio paper to which Mr. MoUoy roforn, " An
Account of sonio E.<poriniontH to Moimure tho Velocity of Electricity
and thr Duration of Electric Li^jht." Whoatstone f^ves nn account
of exporimoiita made on the duration of tho oloctric spark, iia pro-
duced in the laboratory, and towards tho conclusion of his paper he
states that " tho light of electricity in a state of high tension has a
less duration than tho millionth part of a second."
If " (i. S. M." (quorj- 07) could gee a rainbow under perfect con-
ditions, it would appear not semicircular, but circular. If, for
example, ho were up in a balloon, at a great height, with tho sun
overhead, and a rain-showor beneath, he would Boe a circular
rainbow below, probably with tho shadow of his car and its occu-
pants fair in tho centre. A rainbow being formed by those rain-
drops which aro placed at a particular angle with regard to a lino
drawn from tho sun tlurough tho hoad of tho observer, it is appa-
rent that as our balloon descended towards tho earth tho coloured
ring woulil descend also, until finally it impinged on tho earth's
surface. Upon going lower still, tho continuity of tho ring would
be broken, tho earth having taken tho place of some of tho rain-
drops, and, probably by the time the obBerver had reached the
ground, he would be only ablo to see a semicircular rainbow.
Wm. Ackuovu.
COMETS' TAILS.
[162]— In reply to the query by F. C. S., p. 119, Mr. G. M.
Scabrook, Temple Observatory, Rugby, writing to Nalvre, says : —
"The comet (b. 18S1) was examined spectroscopically here last
night. The nucleus gave a bright, continuous spectrum, while the
coma and brighter portions of the tail gave the throe least refrangible
hydrocarbon bands superposed on a faint continuous spectrum. On
moving the slit of the spectroscope towards the fainter part of the
tail the bands died out, leaviii;:: a faint continuous spectrum, which,
again, gradually faded away us the end of the tail was approached.
I have not measured the position of the bauds, but they are sensibly
the same as those from an alcohol flame."
Mr. Percy Smith, of tho same Observatory, on July 1, writes : —
"On the 27th (June), the bright jet extending from the nucleus
was very plain, and gave tho hydrocarbon spectrum very distinctly.
No bands were seen in the tail, but only in the immediate proximity
of tho nucleus."
M. Wolf, in a paper read to the Paris Academy on July 11 (in
regard to the same comet) says : " . . . " When the slit of the
spectroscope is passed over the comot, starting from the head, one
finds the three bands all round tho nucleus at nearly the same
distance from all the sides. They disapjjear in the tail properly so-
called, the very pale spectrum of which seems to be continuous.
Thus only the nebulosity surrounding tho nucleus contains incan-
descent gases. The light of the tail comes to ns from a pulvoralent
matter luminous or simply illuminated. Snch are the data of
spectroscopy." ..\. T. C.
AN INSTANCE OF PRESsUEE.
[163]— Tho readers of KNonxKDGKhave, doubtless, been interested
in tlie scientific controver.sj- on the subject of toads being enabled to
live, enclosed by blocks of solid matter ; probably the following fact
will be unknovra to many of them, and may afford additional proof
of the frog's vital tenacity : —
A few years ago an experiment was made in the Arsenal at Wool-
wich, the jiarticulars of which were published by the well-known
Mr. Tegetmeior, of tho Field. A frog was subjected to the enor-
mous pressure of three tons to the square inch, for a period of
thirty-six hours. At the end of the experiment the frog appeared
prostrate, but recovered a perfectly normal condition in a few
hours, and as a reward for his severe tost, was taken back to his
native marshes. R. 0. Prasee.
A GEOQIUPHY of the almost unknown kingdom of Corea has been
compiled by a member of the suite of the Japanese envoy to that
country. Several valuable papers, containing accounts of travels in
Corea, have been read before the Oeograpliical Society of Tokio, and
have appeared in its transactions. As they arc written in Japanese,
they are unfortunately all but inaccessible to European geographers.
— Frank Leslie's Mayaziiif.
TiiK French Minister of Commerce has just issued a notice
regarding tho inspection of salted pork imported from abroad.
Inspector.s are to bo appointed at the different ports to which tho
entry of this commodity will be confined. A course of lectures on
the .subjix't of micrography is to bo instituted at tho School of Phar-
macy for the preparation of tho experts who will be required for
these posts. These measures foreshadow the eventual raising of tho
embargo on American pork.
(©utrifsf.
[ 130J — Known Langl'ages. — 1 shall bo glad if you, or any of the
readers of Knowlkuge, can tell me the number of known languogcji
spoken at the present day. — J. A. L. K.
[131] — Ckkatios. — Will any correspondent versed in this sabjoct
give his views aa to what aro tho proofs of man havi[>gexisle<l more
than six thousand years ?^U. I. P. [R. I. P. should read, amongnt
■ither works, " Quatrofagcs on Man," in tho International Scrieji,
published by Kegan Paul & Co., London. Price 5s. — Ed.J
[132] — FiJKOi. — I shall be glad to have any information respect-
ing the nature of fungi and trutBcs ; h»w they are produced, and
what their place is in tho vegetable kingdom. — Ionotus.
[133] — Would you kindly inform mo if you know of any works,
articles in magazines, or anything whatever by the Rev. W. H.
Bollinger, P.R.S. ?— Quekist.'
[134] — TtiK Stars in Northern and SocrnEBN Latitudes.—^
Would you oblige a boy by explaining the reason why we in northern '
latitudes do not see the whole of the southern constcllationB, as
people in southern latitudes see all our northern constellations 7
Vide page 12 of " Easy Star Lessons." You state the fact, but do
not give the reason. — Qoisquis. — [At the North Pole, the pole
would be overhead, and tho heavens turning around on upright or
vertical axis, we should see only one half the star sphere, even if .
wc watched through twenty-four hours of an arctic winter's day.
(really night). At tho equator, the poles being on the horizon, we,
should see tho whole star sphere, turning as it does round a hori-
zontal axis, in tho twelve hours of an oquatorial night. In inter-
mediate positions, more or less of the star-sphere would be seen the
nearer the station to the equator. You must not confound latitudes
south of ours with southern latitudes. — Ed.]
[135]— CoEAP Telescope. — I am wishful to have a cheap tele-
scope, such as would answer a beginner ; say a 2i" or 3" object-
lens. Would any reader give me a few hints as to construction,
what would be probable cost, including tube, ic. ? — R. I. P.
[136] — Sunlight on Fikes. — Does bright sunlight interfere with
ordinary combustion ? If, as I believe, it does, I should be glad to
have a scientific explanation of the fact. As evidence, let me qnota
tho housemaid, who says she cannot get her firo to bum if the sun
is shining upon it. And the smoker, who says that he cannot keep
his cigar alight under the same circumstances. — N.
[137] — Humble Bees. — What success has attended the attempt
to introduce humble bees (Bomhus terrcstris) into New Zealand, to'
fertilise the clover there ? The first attempt was unsuccessful, but
I have been unable to learn the fate of the second attempt. —
Thomas Chandler.
[138] — The Gyroscope. — What particular laws of motion are
illustrated by the gjroscope ? Does it thi-ow any light upon plane-
i;arj motions ? And what ? Of what motions is the instrument
capable, and can they be popularly explained ? Is there any simple
treatise on the subject ? Can you give some easy papers upon it in
Knowledge ? — T. W. F. [Newton considered the movements of a
rotating body under gravity among tho most difficult problems which
mathematics can deal with. Wo have tried elsewhere to make
this difficult matter clear, and may try again soon in these pages.
—Ed.]
[139] — TEMrER.\TUHE OK Interstellab Sp.\ce. — What is the sap-
posed temperature of interstellar space, and how has it been'
ascertained ? — E. C. R.
[110] — Ice. — Does the volume of ice vary as other solids do'
with variation of temperature ? — E. C. R.
[141] — Time of Glacial Epoch. — Is Dr. Croll's theory of ther
time at which the ice age existed in Britain probably correct ? Aza
there other theories on the same subject ? — E. C. R. •
[142] — The Great Beak.— Will some reader of KnowlidsM
inform mo if it is possible to see the Great Bear 174° south of the
equator ? I read in a book (and tho author ought to have known);
that it is so, but it seems hardly credible. M'ould some one 6tat»
how far south it may bo seen ? — Marian. [Any star of the Great
Bear can be seen just as many degrees south of the equator as thai)
star is distant from tho polo of tho heavens. — Ed.]
The biggest thing yet in tho way of plaster casts is the cast of a
whale, taken at Provincetown by Mr. Palmer, modeller for the
Smithsonian, at Washington. A papier-mache fac-simile is to bai
moulded from tho cast, tho entii'e skeleton of tho samo whale isUfJ
be inserted, and the monster will be suspended in the museum,
show tho arrangement of the skeleton, one aide of the whalo '
be loft open.
Dec. 30, 1881.]
KNOWLEDGE
189
J\fpllf5 to ©UfllCS.
103] — Histology. — Your correspondent may bo glad to know of
.'following books on "Histology": — " 1. ffrey's, translated iyr
■ irker (expensive) ; 2. Kutherford's " Outlines of Practical His-
i itfT," is very good for students; 3. Klein's "Atlas" is a grand
rk on this subject, but too erponsive. — B. Tom Tint.
39] — Moon's Rotation. — I give a quotation from the lecture
livered by Dr. Ball, at the Midland Institute, Birmingham,
' t. 34, ISSl : — "For many centuries it had been an enigma to
-ironomers why the moon should always turn the same face to the
ii-tb. It could be shown that there were many million chances to
' in favour of this being due to some physical cause. The ordi-
11 V theory of gravitation failed to explain the cause. Everyone
1.1 noticed this phenomenon, yet the explanation was never given
U lately. It was HclmhoUz who sliowed that this was a conse-
;.nce of ancient tides, and this simple and most satisfactory
planation has been universally accepted." — A. T. C.
[88] — Brain Teoubles. — The division of the brain into two parts
will certainly not take in all the functions of the brain ; at least one
more must be added. The division into a, involuntary motion, b,
centres of reasoning, higher emotions, &c., cuts out entirely the
function of voluntary motion presided over by the brain. Also the
function of the cerebellum, that of co-ordination of muscular
actions, or muscular sense, is left out, and is certainly important ;
for a pigeon, having his cerebellum removed, cannot stand, but
topples over, and although seeing a blow threatened, cannot avoid
it. When lying down, it was not in a state of stupor. — P. H.
^otfS on Sit anti .^nrnrt.
At Gnosso, in Crete, Professor Stilman has excavated the
remains of what he believes to be the historical labyrinth famous
from the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
At Honolulu, a signal station in communication with the United
States Meteorological Bureau will be established on the volcano
Eilauea, and a series of observations will be taken.
The Sunday Society. — The twenty-sixth Sunday Art Exhibition
of the society was opened on Sunday, Dec. IS, at the Hanover
Gallery, from half-past one tdl four o'clock, when there was an
attendance of 512, the admission being by ticket.
Db. Schondorff has constructed a safety lamp which can only be
opened with the help of a strong magnet. A lever presses against
a toothed wheel, which allows or prevents the movement of the
screw fastening the glass door-holder to the socket. The lever
must be moved in order to open the lamp, and this is done by
means of a strong magnet.
Bbcosch Pasha has succeeded in deciphering the Ethiopic inscrip-
tions of Meroe, the language of which resembles that of the
Ethiopic graffiti on the walls of Phila; and other Nubian temples.
He thmks that the language has some similarity to the pre-Semitic
Snmerian dialect of Southern Babylonia, and quotes in support of
this view words like sher, " King."
A MOST remarkable discovery has been made in the Sweetwater
country, in Wyoming territory. It is a deposit of sulphuric acid in
its natural state. The odour, chemical action, and general appear-
ance of the stuff demonstrates it to be a pure quality of sulphuric
acid. The ground is impregnated over a large area — 100 acres or
more — and parties have filed claims upon it.
A CONGRESS of experts has assembled at St. Petersburg to iiv-
quire into the evils caused by excessive drinking in Bussia. By an
overwhelming majority they hare advised a diminution in the num-
ber of public-houses ; while they also passed a resolution in favour
of vesting in the communal authorities the right of opening liquor-
shops under regulations to be determined by a sub-committee ap-
pointed for this purpose. — Frank Leslie's Magazine.
The survey of Palestine east of the Jordan is proceeding
rapidly under the superintendence of Lieut. Condor. When he last
wrote, several hundreds of mUes had been measured with accai-acy,
atd a number of places having more or less modem names were
identified as those mentioned under different titles in ancient
luBtory. He discovered a great many cromlechs, or flat stones, sup-
ported like a table by others set on end. Not less than fifty of these
monuments were sketched in three days. Some of them had small
chambers near them from 3 ft. to 5 ft. long, and 3 ft. high, exca-
vated in detached cubes of rock 10 ft. to 15 ft. on each side. The
interest in the work is increasing, and the result cannot fail to be
of great archajologioal importance. — Fraiik Leslie's ilagazine.
A Simple Electrical Machine. — As a domestic electrical ex-
periment, few are simpler or more demonstrative than that of first
drying and warming a piece of paper, then smartly stroking it
with india-rubber and placing it against a wall, to which it electri-
cally adheres. Electric sparks may thus be obtained in the dark,
and a variety of other experiments performed. When the wind is
from the east, and dry, a small Leyden jar may be charged by
using a long strip of paper, equal in width to the outer coating, and
drawing this repeatedlj-, when excited, along the outside of the jar.
An improvement on this simple electrical material has recently
been made by Wiedemann. He takes Swedish filtering-paper (pro-
curable wherever chemical apparatus is sold), steeps it in a mixture
of equal volumes of nitric and sulphuric acid, then washes with
abundance of water, and dries it — the same process as making gun-
cotton, into ^rhich the fibres of the paper are thus converted. It
is stated th.it with this gun-cotton paper, nearly all the stock ex-
periments of the static electrical machine may bo performed by
laying a sheet of it on waxed paper for insulation, and rubbing it
briskly. This was announced in the Comptes rendus of the French
Academy about the beginning of the year, but I have heard no more
of it since. As Christmas holidays are coming, I recommend it to
my juvenile readers, who may possibly be able to improve upon the
original suggestion by coating a fig-box, or other wooden cylinder,
with a non-conducting surface of gutta-percha varnish, or shellac,
or wax, then covering tliis with the prepared paper, and mounting
it like an ordinary old-fashioned electrical machine ; or by making
an electrophorns of this material. — W. Mattieu Williams, in Gentle-
mans Magazine.
The Bpesting of Watee-pipes. — In a country like England
where the obstinate natives persist in the practice of burning their
fuel in a hole made in the wall, with a shaft rising perpendicularly
above it, in order that the greatest possible quantity of the heat of
combustion shall be devoted to warming the clouds, and the smallest
possible amount shall be radiated from only one side of the fire into
the apartment, anything like a severe frost becomes a national
calamity. Last winter, though far less severe than an average
winter in Germany or the United States, is made miserably memo-
rable by the domestic calamities connected with the bursting of
water-pipes, and is recorded in the household accounts of expendi-
ture for mending the same and repairing the damage done by the
general house-and-fumitnre-soaking. If English houses were
equally warmed throughout, as they are in other countries
where domestic civilisation has made some progress, the freezing
of any water-pipe inside would be impossible in any weather,
and all outside water-conveyance can be made underground.
But as the domestic fetish of the Englishman and English-
woman, the hole-in-the-wall " cheerful " fireplace, must be wor-
shipped ; as the fire-worshippers must continue to scorch their
noses while their backs are matriculating for lumbago ; as the
cheerfulness of the fetish must be maintained, and its devotees
must demonstrate that cheerfulness by staring vacantly at the
glowing coals which roast everything and everybody at one side of
the room, while the rest of the house is at the mercy of the ofttside
fluctuations of temperature ; as all this must go on for a generation
or so longer, in spite of Kyrle societies and smoke-abatement exhi-
bitions— some adaptation of water-pipes to our existing domestic
barbarism is very desirable. A very little geometry is required for
understanding that if a pipe of circular section be flattened in any
degree, its internal capacity must be proportionately lessened ; and
conversely, that a pipe thus flattened, or made of elliptical section,
may have its internal capacity enlarged by simply squeezing it out
towards the circular shape. Lead being flexible, a leaden pipe
made of elliptical section and filled with freezing water ^vill swell
out towards circular shape, and thus allow room for the expanded
ice without bursting. It is proposed that such pipes be
made and used, and I think the idea an excellent one
though plumbers are not likely to favour it, but their
disapproval should be a strong recommendation to the house-
holder who has to pay for mending ordinary pipes. I am told
that a patent has been secured, but do not know by whom, and as I
am going to suggest an infringement, he is entitled to any advertise-
ment this note may afford. I recommend all householders to save
their existing pipes by simply flattening them with a mallet, taking
care to place behind the part which is struck a flat piece of wood,
where the pipe rests upon rough brick-work. The freezing will
simply reverse the work of the mallet, and lead of good quality wiU
bear this double-bending. If freezing water were a rigid solid, the
transverse expansion of the cylinder of ice within the tube would be
proportionate to its diameter, and thus the elliptical form would be
maintained ; but freezing water is not a solid ; it exerts an equal
expansive pressure in all directions ; and the walls of the pipe being
equally pressed, give way in the direction of least resistance. — Ibid.
100
• KNOWLEDGE
[Dec. 30, 1881.
(Pur CI)f£!s Column.
TN thn llliuslral.d London A'tiis for Nuv. 5 last, tlir following
problem appeared
Problem, No. 6.
(Hy W. Crimshaw.)
Black.
1 F* IT" 'f^.^M
t ^ i ^
^€m
1.
i -^ m^
i
.tt®
i i li^ 2 '5'
s«
k®
WHITB.
White to play and mate in throe moves.
The solution, which appeared on JJot.iO, is —
White. Black.
1. Kt. to K.B..5. 2. B. takes Kt.
2. Q. to K.6. 3. Any move.
3. Q. or B. mates.
The above problem, assuming this were the only solution, would be
neat, bnt not particularly difficult. Its point, as thus solved, lies,
not in the placing of the Knight on the Black Bishop's line of action,
for that is an idea obvious cnoiif;h ; but in compelling the Black
Bishop to occupy such a position that, when the White Qneen goes
to K.'s 6th, she will (though putting herself en prise by going
there), threaten mate in two ways instead of one, as would be
the case if she moved there at the outset.
There is, however, it so happens, a second solution, which in-
volves a very pretty stratagem, one which hitherto wo have not
seen embodied in a problem. Wo leave our chess readers the next
fortnight wherein to discover this second solution. They may sup-
pose the other prevented by the addition of a Black Knight at Q.'s
8th, or simply that a second solution is required as a condition of
the problem.
We mentioned last week a case in which a problem by the Editor
(in chief) had been unmistakably anticipated, somewhat as a part
of Mr. Baxter's idea in the problem of last week (No. 5, it should
have been entitled) had been anticipated by the Editor. The case
was on this wise. In the year 1858, the Etlitor sent several
problems to the Chess Editor of the Illustrated London Neies,
among which was the three-mover No. 7. The Chess Editor
Problem?. By the Edilo
Problem 8. By D'Orville.
HI
m T'
rri
fMjm
jr,
]
Wn
mr t^^
f/Ljtli
r:.-^
0
■H
K
^l
©
@
^i^B^inini
Whitt* to play niid mate in thn
White to play and male in three i
of the Ilhuitratcd remai'ked that he had seen something like this
problem in the collection of D'Orville and Kling, and on the
Editor writing that he had not seen that collection, the following
pleasant remark appeared in the Illustrated London News for Oct.
9, 1858 :— " R. A. P., St. John's College, Cambridge.— The follow-
ing is the position by D'Orville, to which wo referred [see Position 8
above] ; we leave you to judge whether the resemblance is acci-
dental." Mr. iStaunton paid no attontion to a diaclaimer bj the
Editor of all knowledge of the position in qaoHtion. Wo leave both
problems as an eiorciso to our chess readers, leaving them to jadge
whether the resemblance is <|oito so close as to justify tho remark
above (jnotcd, which followed (be it observed) a statement that the
author of the later problem knew nothing of the collection by
D'Orvnllo and Kling. Strangely enough, the Editor's problem wa«
published later (in August, lh6U) in the chess column of tho /I(u«-
trated. The Editor considers his problem so far snperior to
D'Orvillo's as to have ju.stified him in claiming it as his own, even
if ho had known iJ'Orville's. But let others decide on that point.
What tho Editor would chiefly call attention to is that an experience
such as his in this matter, makes him far readier than he might
otherwise perhaps have been to see that even a close apparent
resemblance in chess problems docs not necessarily prove that there
has been any borrowing.
The problem sent us by Mr. G. B. Stobbs is not quite up to pub-
lication standard. It is scarcely ever permissible for a three-
mover to begin with a check, or capturt (though a few instances
arc known of really strong problems so opening) ; but in the case of
a two-mover like tliat by Mr. Stubbs, a check at the first move is
quite inadmissible. There is a flaw still more serions in tho exis-
tenco of a dual solution, which, as Black has only one move, is a
rather more serious matter than iluals affecting only White's reply
to moves by Black, which are not defensive. Thus there are duals
in the Editor's Problem No. 4. If Black moves his Qneen to Q.R.7,
or S, or to Q.B.8, or makes other purposeless moves. White can
mate by moving his Rook from Q.5 to any free square ; bnt that
Black should have but one possible move, and AVhitc then be able
to mate in more ways than one, is, of course, a fatal flaw in a two-
mover.
(0ur Qllljist Column.
By "Five of Clubs."
WHEN, having the original or first le.id, we arc obUged to lead
from a short suit, as in the case considered in No. 4, p. 83, or
when wc have four trumps not very strong, and three of each of
tho other suits, we should, in general, select that suit which is
least likely to injure our partner or to benefit the adversary. Of
course, if your best short snit is very strong, as ace, king, queen,
ace, queen, knave, ace, king, knave, or the like, yon lead as from^
strength. Again, if you have to lead from ace. or king, or queen, and
two small ones, you lead the smallest, so as not to throw away the
command of the suit. Yon suggest, indeed, to your partner that
you have led from numerical strength ; bnt that is the misfortnne
of your position. It is better to do that than to give up the
command in what may be a strong suit of one of the adversaries.
When you have knave and two small ones, yon should load knave;
because tho card cannot help you against strength held by the
adversan,-, and if your partner is strong it may help him.
But your best way of helping your partner, when yon arc obliged
to lead from a short suit originally, is to play from a suit in which
you have a strong sequence---such as queon, knave, ten ; or queen,
knave, and another ; or knave, ten, and another. By leading the
highest from such a sequence, you help your partner, if he is strong
in tho suit, without materially weakening yourself, if the enemy
should be strong in it. Next to such hands come hands in which
you have two honours and a small one. The proper leads from
three-card suits, as well as from long suits, ^vill be considered in
detail later.
It can scarcely ever bo advisable, no matter how your hand is
constituted, to lead from ace, king, or queen, and one other. To
lead from ace king, or king queen, or queen knave, alone may, in
certain cases, be better than leading from a weak three-card suit.
But in most cases of that kind it is better to lead from your fonr-
card trump suit, even though it be weak.
In considering thus far the lead from a snit of three cards, ire
have dealt with the original lead. If you have not the original
lead, then, even though only a single round has been played, you can
generally form some idea of the suit you should select from among
three weak non-trump snits. Thus, if your partner has led, and
you have taken the trick, you should of course retiuTi his lead.
Leading any other suit would imply that you had considerable
strength in that suit.
If you are fonrth in hand, you know at least one suit which you
should not lead — viz., tho one opened by your left-haud adversary.
Unless, indeed, the fall of the cards in the first roimd showed that—
Dec. 30, 1881.]
KNOVV^LEDGE ♦
191
hi- is not very strong in that suit, in which ease, by leading through
him, you put hira at a disadvantage. Many pUvyers seem to think
tliat the cxcellont general rule, lead through strength (that is, lead
■■nit in which your left-hand adversary has high cards), is a
■ to be universally followed when you have no good suit
your own, and do not know which is your partner's
-t suit. Bnt if yonr left-hand adversary leads from
suit both strong anil long, and you, making first trick,
ul through him in that suit, you are simply playing his game.
the other two suits (outside trumps), you select that which you
:: lead with least chance of aiding the adversaries, and, as a rule,
I play the kest of the suit. It is an even chance that your partner
strong in it.
I I you are second player, and take the first trick, you can
inlly go wrong. Leading the suit your right-hand adversary
a led would be doubly disadvantageous: you would be pro-
lily leading up to strength, and certainly helping to establish
- suit. Of the other two suits, outside trumps, you select the
-; . and play the card most likely to help your partner. If you
■.!■ thus led from a suit in which your left-hand adversary is
I ing, you at any rate lead through his strength. If your high
r-.l makes, and yon then play a low one, youi- partner knows you
■■•• led from a short suit (or that you have made a forced lead),
I infers that either you have four trumps, and no other four-card
i: . or that yonr only four-card suit is very weak. His own hand
will help to show which of the two explanations is the more
[iroljable. .
With a five-card suit, however smaU the individual cards, it is
■ rircely ever wrong to lead from tha long suit. Cavendish, in an
I ising story in his " Card Essays," gives it as his opinion that
long suit should be led from, even with such a hand as this : —
, King, Queen of Spades; Eight of Clubs; Ace, King, Queen,
1 Three of Diamonds (trumps) ; Nine, Eight, Six, Four, Three of
A YARBOROUGH HAND AT WHIST.
\T the close of the letter to which we referred last week,
H. P. H." suggests a plan far calculating the odds that there will
r. t be a Yarborough at a given deal. He says : " We must find the
number of ways in which the pack must be dealt so as not to
include a Yarborough. Suppose, for instance, one hand contains
one of the high cards, another three of them, the third six, and the
fourth ten. This arrangement may happen in
20 . 19 ■ 18 . 17 . 16 . 15 .'14 . 13 . 12 . 11 ^ ,
2.3.6.5.4.3.2
By taking all such arrangements as these, and adding the number
of ways, we get the number of different arrangements of the whole
pack which will not include a Yarborough ; the ratio of this
number to the number of different arrangements of the pack,
namely, - — is the chance against a Yarborough happening.
This would give a long piece of work, but, perhaps, some of your
leaders may find a short method."' H. P. H.
• The reasoning here is unsound. We leave the problem as an
exercise for our readers (not proposing, however, to publish all
eolations which may be sent to us).
(9uv iHatftfmatiral Column.
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
[8} — Are there any exact solutions of the equations : —
l+v/l-:c
= v/l-
and
1 -H v/1 + J
Vl-.-^
1 ■*■ v^l ■^ X 1 + v^l
[The equations are really the same, so far as any difficulty in their
solution is concerned, for they differ only in the sign of x, so that
whatever root we find for one, the same quantity, taken negatively,
is a root of the other. But it will be found on trial that 0 is the
only value of x which satisfies either equation. The solution may
run thus (taking first equation) : —
1 + v/i^==V'l-j'H- (l + .T)yi-x
l = yi-x(v/l-fx--t.T (A)
l = (v/l + x-^x)(^l-^-.l.■-a,^ (B)
v/l-i=v/l4-x-x (C)
2-2v/l-i:'=x'
l-.r'-2v^-x= + l = 0
V'l-.t' = l
x = 0.
Bnt
Whence
and
It might seem that since, after obtaining (A) and (B), which give
(yi-t-x + x) (v/l + x-x) = v^l^» (s/lTe-n)
wo divide by v'l -H x -H x to get c, the equation should be satisfied by
the roots of
which are
v/l + x + x=0
1 + ^/5
2
but this is not the case. Neither root will satisfy the original
equation, whatever signs wc give the quantities ■^l—x and t/l-t x.
—Ed.]
[9] — Arithmetical Pbobi.em. — Would any reader of Knowledge
favour me with a solution of the following problem : — If twelve
horses eat ten acres of grass in sixteen weeks, and eighteen horses
eat ten acres in eight weeks, how many horses will eat forty acres
in six weeks ? The grass is supposed to grow uniformly. — G. H.
Mapleto.v.
[10] — On base J)C are triangles BAC, BPC\ having equal peri-
meters, AB being equal to AC. If ACBD intersect in 0, show that
A0> DO. M.iTHEMATiccs. — [Like most problems of the kind this is
best dealt with indirectly. Thus, take at point 6 in OA (produced
if necessary) such that 06 = OD, and from OB the greater, cut off
OF, equal to OC the less, and join FG. Then obviotisly
fG = DCand GC = FD
Hence FG + 6C = FD+DC
But BF+'^ + GC=BD + DC = BA + AC
^ <BP + FA + AC
.-. FO*OC<FA + AC
or PG + GO<FA + AO
whence it follows that 0 miiifc lie between 0 and .-1. For if G were
at A, FG + GO would be the same as FA +A0 ; and if G were in OA
produced FG + GO would be greater than FA + AO. Therefore AO
is greater than GO, that is, than DO. — Ed.]
[11] — Perimetee of Inscribed Triangles. — Show that the peri-
meter of an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle is greater than
the perimeter of any other isosceles triangle inscribed in the same
circle. — Mathematicus.
[Prove as follows : — Let ABC be the greatest triangle with a
given perimeter. Then, if it be not equilateral, there must be, at
least, two sides not equal to each other. Let AB and BC be unequal.
Through B draw KBL parallel to base AC, draw CM perpendicular
to KL, and produce CM to N, making MN=NC. Join AN, cutting
KL in D, and join DC, BN. Then BN = BG, and therefore AB + BC
= AB + BN> AN> AD + DC, so that there must be same point P in
D:V, such that if PC be joined AP + PC = AB + BC, or there is a
triangle greater than ABC, and having the same perimeter, contrary
to our supposition. Hence, no two sides of the greatest triangle
with the given perimeter can be unequal, or the triangle is equi-
angular.— Ed.]
[12] — I wish to prove that
2n (2n - 1) (2>t - 2) ■ • ■ (n + 1)
1 • 2 ■ 3 • ■ • ■ n.
The middle term in the expansion of 2^" is equal to
/n (n - 1)Y
the sum of the squares of terms of the expansion of 2".
Proposing to do this by mathematical induction, I find, calling
the first expression 2, that when in it I write n + 1 for n, it
becomes
<i-orTi)0
Can I, at this point, without more ado, conclude thai since
(by hypothesis) when n becomes n + 1 that 2 will become
which would prove what I want ? — F. B.
[Your demonstration is beyond us. If you write (»+l) iu thc-
first expression, calling it S before the change, it becomes —
S/2(27.-H)\
V (n + 1) )
The best way to solve your problem is this ; —
(l + x)°=H-C, x+C„ x' + &c.+ C^ x"-'-hC, x°-'-hx"
(x-f l)'' = x°-H C, x'-' + Cj x"-2 + &c.-H Cj x'-i- Ci x-l-1
where C,, Cj, C^ are the well-known co-eflicients, in the expansion
of the triunial (l-fx)°. Multiplying —
(l-hx)™ = l-)-(C, + 1) x-H(2 C„ + C.^) x-x&c.
+ {\ + C;'+C^^+C^-+ +C.^- + C,' + l) c"
■v&c. -t- (1-h Ci) x'"-' + .C"''
192
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Dec. 30, 1881.
Honco, oqnating tho co-officiont« of x", wc have —
2 n (3 71-1) (2n-2) . . ■ ■ (n-fl) _ j, ^ ^^,
—Ed.]
1 . 2 . 3 . . . . n
("j!Lr})y + ...« + '+!
f 13] — Dividing an Ellipse. — I wish to know how to divide an
ellipse (1) thftt the radius vector may cut off pqunl parts of tlio
pcriphorv, and (2) thnt it may divide tho ellipse into equal areas. —
J. A. Ij. R. [The latter problem is solved in my " Geometry of
Cycloids," soction vii. The construction for o given oUipeo is suiB-
ciently simple, and can bo supplied if " J. A. L. R." particularly
requires it. The former problem cannot. W solved by any geo-
metrical mithod of construction. — Ed.] "^
anstofrsf to Correwittitntsf*
O/ffr.
mmunieations /or the Editor requir
b^orf the Siiturdajf preceding the
irfulatioii o/trhick compel* u» to po to
nirrr3''TO CoBTtRSPONDKirTS.— 1. No qtie^tioiu
can be answered through the pott. 3. Letter* ten^
cannot be forvarded ; nor can the namet '^
answer to private inqniriea. 3. A'o qtter
adcertUemenl' ran be inserted. 4. Letteri _
contrary to Rule 3, free of charge. 5. Correepc
onlv of the paper, and put dravingn on a nepa
reply thouU have a title, and in replying to ,
made to the number of letter or query, the page
'.ifflr/y attention thould reach the
* %t i*$iie of Knowlbdgb, the
I early in the ireelc.
^^wj for ncientijic informalion
t the Editor for corrr»pondent»
qf correnpondenta be given in
savouring of the nature of
replies are inserted, unless
I should write on one side
f. 6. 'Eash letter^ query, or
• queries, r^ercnee should be
jticA it appears, a7id its title.
Newtow Cbosland. That would be your beAr course. It would plcaso you,
and everyone would understand why youJTBtters could not appear here.—
J. Bblchbb. Whewell's *' Plurality of WorlBs" is now vcr^ much out of dite.
It is full of sugtjeslive matter, but even when yrhewell wrote it the work was not
re(jarded as of mut-h scientific weight.— >'. Kailway noise next week ; thanks.—
M. E. Pendbed. Having made no "vutsdn statement against a certain
bodv," nobody, certain or uncertain, %as a right to space here in reply.
Yoii simply wont out of your way to drag in the very, subjects we had
decided not to admit. the article you think we should not have pub-
lished was practically a part of our programme. You go on to Bay that
you would like to send U3 '& letter auent the article on suicide, anent
which, you ask U3 "this plain, straightforward, question : Is it or is it not
our intention to publish correspondence anent any social question?" We
an.^wcr, Not about any social.'questions, but about some such questions we should
admit correspondence. Suicide is not an inviting subject by any means— though
a review of a work recently published, on the statistics of suicide, suited our
pages well enough. Whether any letter you mi°htsend on that subject appeared
or not would depend on what you said in it.— J. M. Brown, Thanks for your
kindly expressions about our' chess. We were absolutely obliged to omit' the
column the week before last.— Young Staqee. If phrenology bus no absurdities,
then " none have we offended," for we objected only to its absurdities. Thanks for
the illusion . which has been submitted to Mr. Foster. Wo do not know who wrote
the elegant lines you quote.— G. F. J. Thanks.yourlettershall appear before long.
— E. C. R. asks where an explanation ha-s been offered of his auery, 13, p. 60. Jle
has searched in vain through Knowi-kdge, he says, for any such eiplanavion. If he
will tuni to querv- 13, p. 60, ho will see, over the initials E. C. R., the explana-
tion referred to. — M arias. *' Oh, no ; we never mention him " (inthe.se columns).
A. B. ^-Phrenology has been fairly tested, and the discrepancies between theory
and observation arc found to be far too numerous to be overlooked. There have
been marked cases of agreement, of course, or the theory would never have had
any adherents. Our readers would not care, we believe, for the article you suggest.
— BbxTbovato. We understand : correspondents are to be wholly neglected, or
they are to be left onl^ a page or two of the smallest print, and we are to fill
Kkowledok with articles by "able individuals," preferably perhaps enlarging
each number to twice the present size. We should displease correspondents, and
each number would involve a heavy loss. But those are mere details. Bkx
TaoyATO "prefers such articles to tho uncertain lucubrations of unknown
individual-^." — Jas. Obbex. Thanks. The illusion you illustrate had
already been sent by Mr. Ilodd, and before that Mr. Foster had had
it in his collection.' It shall appear soon, but not, as you suggest,
at the back of a star map.— Chtef Librabian. Thanks; but we are too modest
to nre.'^ent Knowledge as published. We wait retiringly till sought for.-
.1. E. OoBR. Wo will trv to find room for your note on the star in Cassiopeia.
Thanks.— .1. A. L. R. Wo know beforehand that no one can tell you the
number of known languages; still we insert your query.— Jas. Grke'n. Do
not you think it would be better to study the theory of evolution a little before
attacking it ? If you had, you would know that the theory, as now understood,
involves, as an absolute necessity, the "survival of the fittest" o»/v. You ask
why there are not, at the present moment, examples of every gradation from one
extreme to the other (from monads to monkeys, and thence to men), this being
precisely the question which you would refrain from asking if you hod studied
even Buperficially the views of Darwin, Wallace, IlaMkel, Spencer, and the
re^«(. They show that the fittest survive, and you ask. Where are the others?
Understand, wo are not saying that they of necessity are right, and believers in
the doctrine of multiplied special creations of necessity wrong. We are not
urging our own or any man's opinion against yours. AVe are simply saj-ing that
A you do not as yet know what the doctrine. is which you are attacking. If you
*• did, you would' not find the points you mention militating against it.— R. C.
Thanits ; but thnt particular solulion of the magic square problem has !»een
suflicientlv di.touHsed in lotters recoived during the last four weeks,— Mrs. Dr.
KiNGPORD. The reviewer of the *' Perfect Way in Diet" nhoutd have wrillen
Mr<. rather than Miss; but s» long as our present manner of Kueaking English
remains unchanged. " Dr. Anna Kingsford" will not be regarded as a k-gitimate
expression. A gentleman may recognise to tho full a lady's professional skill, and
her title to a diploma, but he' can no more address her ad *' Doctor " or " Pro-
fo"jior," without smiling, than he could gravely atldre-'^s her as "sir." Even in
Amorica, where ladv professors, doctors, Ac. are more numerous than here, ihis
is found to bo tho case. Miss Mitchell, for instance, at Vassar College, knows
' than many professors of the science in her own country and this
nore astronomy than many professors of the science in her own country and this ;
hr is also distinctly entitled (o be called Profasnor, and she prefers to be so called.
man has ever yet been abl^ so to address bor in a perrectly natural manner.
Bui
and tb« younit ladie* who att/<nd her cUammi, though th«j try hard to do •», moil
certainly fail. — H.FiTz Hart. Ask youmelf lbnujnialqumtioni*hieb»ci««ee putsia
such coiiei ; li there any noniiblp relation of tmD"f* and eff»yrt in tLiiir we ' .\ri.] too
will at onee mc« (hat the hazel twig mu^t harft hA^n h«<UI by < «
whoro water-springs were. 1'ho trick tit b« old oa th(« hill* htj .
come. — W. A. We agree with you that there it, a rlear diitr I
.an but think " and "I cannot but think. "—Bkii. S'^m" part- ..-
been injured without any notireoblo cbang'>, but certainly it i' n ■: " -'r; tly
true," as a general itatciDent, that injury to the bnin i^ not followed br aoj
"noticeable injur)-." — CLbDAFAU. Thanks for interesting story, nn-i for
poolry ; but we could not well offer a prize of £100 for a poem on knosfI.'d|;*».—
v.. JuKR*». Propose to havo some papers on the Arabic nam^a of the iitan
Mhortly in Ksowlbdob.— J. W. Chestkb. It i!i, we believe, out of print.- W.
KiDD. Your solution is not ot'rrect. Will give the solution in the next number.
The problem is not m simple as you scorn to think. As an exercise try thii. A
l>ody projected vertically upwards will not fall to the east, but to the west of the
point whence it was projected ; moreover, it will bo traveUiog weetwardi not only
when ascending, but when descending also.
This week being the Christmas holidays necessitates some slight changes of
arrangement. We take the opportunity to publish matter which has been lyiDf
over for seyeral weeks. More recent correspondents will understand the delay.
Later.- Christn
s holidays, and in particular Bank Monday. catLne someiinet
lient delays, increased br postal delay.s due to multitndiwiai
ChriHtmos greetings. We are prevented this w<M>k from giving our paper on Iht
Pyramid, and a paper on the Telescope, by a Fellow of the Royal Astronomioal
Society, because the illustrations for both these papers were not in hand in good
time. However, so far as the latter paper is concerned, it is fitting that it sboidA
appear in tho first number of the New Year, in which also will be the first of oar
monthly Star Maps, in which &ome features have been introduced whicfa^ wv
believe, our readers will regard as decided improvements.
The Protective Effect of Vaccination.— Dr. Henry Tomkinaj
medical superintendent of the fever hospital belonging to the Man-
chester Koyal Infirmary at Jlonsall, in a paper which he read
recently at Owens College, said : — " The most strikinj* of all evidence
is, perliiips, tliat derived from tho small-pox hospitals themselves.
Here tho protective influence of vaccination is seen and proved in a
manner beyond all cavil. At Highf^te, during an experience of
forty years, no nurse or servant, having been re- vaccinated, has ever
contracted the disease, and evidence of the same character I can
myself bring forward, for during the whole time that I have had
charge of the fever hospital, more than a thousand cases of small-
pox have passed under my care, yet no servant, nurse, porter or
other person engaged there has, after re-vaccination, ever taken it,
though exposed daily to infection in its most concentrated form.
One woman, a laundress, who escaped vaccination, took the disease
and died ; one nurse, who some years before had suffered from
small-pox, and was then considered protected, had a very mild
attack; and this summer a workman, who did not live on the
j)remises, but came in to work as a painter, was not vaccinated,
and liad rather a sevoro attack; and still more recently a
servant, who by an oversight was allowed to go about her
work three days before being vaccinated, had, before the latter
had run its course, a slight abortive attack. Again, among all the
students who during the past two years have attended the hospital
for clinical instruction, not one has suffered, all having been re-
vaccinated before being permitted to enter tho small-pox wards.
And in their case the false argument which opponents of vaccination
have brought forward to explain the immunity enjoyed by nurses
and others in attendance on the sick, — viz., that constant interconrae
and exposure to infection renders them proof against it by the
system becoming inured to the poison, cannot be applied, as these
gentlemen attend tho hospital only a few hours once a week. I
defy the most enthusiastic or conscientious of anti-vaccinators to
I)roduce evidence liko this on his side of the (piestion, or to brin^
for^vard even half-a-dozen persons, choose them whence he may,
who have not been protected against small-pox, and expose them i
the students are exposed, without more or less of the number taking
the disease. Facts such as these should convert the most ardei^
anti-vaccinator from his folly, and convince him that a weapon of
defence so powerful ns vaccination should not be left to the pleaeore
of the individual, but that the State has the right and duty to look
after its most thorough performance. — Times.
Contents of Ki^owledge No. 8.
PAGB
The So-called Elements. By Prof.
C. A. Y'oung 161
What is a Grape ? By Grant Allen 153
Studies of Volcanic Action. Part II.
Bv G. F. RodweU IM
Our" I'nbidden Guests. Part IT.
Bv Dr. Andrew WiUon, F.R.S.E. 155
Solids. Liquids, and Gases. Port V.
Bv W. Mattieu Williams 156
The Evolution of Man 15"
Mallet's SeLimometors (Illustrated) 157
The Faure Accumulator. By W.
Lvnd 158
The Wyandotte Indians. Bj Miss
A. W. Buokland 168
Xotc on the Spheoridal State. By
W. F. Barrett. F.R.S.K. ]
An Instrument for Drawing the
Conic Sections. By Thomas Thorp . ,
(IllHstrateJ) 10
CORHBSPOXDKXCK UO f
The Northern Skiea in Decembar—
(Illustrated)
Queri^s
HepUes toQuerios «.
Notes on Art and Science
Our Mathematical Column Ifj
Our ChR*n Column
Onr Whist Column
Answers (o Corrcspondeots
Jan. C, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
193
MAGAZINE OF SGIENCE
PLAlNLTlf QRBEJ -£XACTLTDESCRIB£D
LOXDOX: FRIDAY, JAyUAl^Y (,, 1882.
Contexts of No. 10.
PA6B
ireat Pyramid. By the
r (lUiulra(ed) 1«3 j
Links. Part I. By Dr. '
1 Wilson, F.L.8., &c. I
■Iraled) 195
nee in Animals 196 I
/ctric Telegraph. By W.
198
PAGK
CoRBBSFOA-DENCB :— The Weather
Forecasts, &c. — A Correction :
Date of Menes — Personal Iden-
tity wrsin Tattoo Marks— Thaw-
ing Ice— DilBciiltT o£ Obtaining
Knowlbdgs — Our Unbidden
Guests— The Pole Star and Pre-
.•;l' Wheel (lUiutrated)
inetsand Solar Spots 199
>Wth a Three-Inch Tele-
,IUuitrated) 201
illed Tunnel-Worm 302
:: Paradox 302
, of Toads 202
4c.
207
Queriee 210
Keplies to Queries 211
Answers to Correspondents 212
Notes on Art and Science 213
Our Mathematical Colomn 214
Our ^Vhist Column 215
Our Chess Column 215
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By THE Editor.
IT seems to me a misfortune that the researches made by
Professor Piazzi Smyth into the proportions, position,
. . of the Great Pyramid, should have their value and
■st impaired by being associated with wild, visionary
! i«s. As De Morgan said long since, Smyth's views
paradox of a very high order, backed by a great
tity of useful labour, the results of which will be
available by those who do not receive the pai'adoxes.''
t it has been said (the question has been asked me
iiedly, not only in this country, but in America and
lustralasia), how can the numerous coincidences which
iProfesscr Smyth has shown to e-xi;t between pyramid
Ftatures and the most advanced astronomy of our day
N plained without supposing that the builders of the
.:iiid were acquainted with a number of astronomical
laiTS. which yet could hardly have come to tlieir knowledge
unless tliey were divinely inspin^d ? Or, if some higher
civihsation existed before the building of the Pyramid, and
|the facts in question were discovered as they have been
jre-discovered by modern astronomers, how is it that we
|have no traces of such civilisation older tlian the Great
jPyramid itself? To these questions anotlier lias been
iadded, especially for my own benefit, viz., this : — How can
ithe great number of the coincidences be regarded as an
larguinent against their significance? How can they be said
1*0 prove too much 1
r It appears to me that if we carefully study what the
fatures of the Great Pyramid may be regarded as certainly
ing, we shall readily distinguisli the diflerence between
'. rong and the right way of using the argument from
tomcidence.
! We find first, in all the Egyptian Pyramids, the evidence
of an astronomical plan; and in tlie Great Pyramid we
find evidence that such a plan was carried out with great
skill, and with an attention to points of detail which shows
that, for some reason or other, the edifice was required to be
most carefully built in a special astronomical position. It
'■'.atters little at this stage of the inquiry whether we
suppose the Pyramid was erected for astronomical oliscrva-
tion or not. It was cei-tainly constructed in acconlance
with astronomical observations of great accuracy, and con-
ducted with great skill. Moreover, it is obvious that to
obtain such accuracy, the building was made to serve, while
it was being built, the purpose of an astronomical obser-
\atoiy. Just as the astronomer in our own time uses the
instrument he is setting up to adjust and make exact the
position of the masomy on which it stands, so the builders
of the Great Pyramid' used the passages which they made
within it to determine, with the greatest accuracy attain-
able by them, the proper position of each part of it, up to
the so-called King's Chi^mber, at least, and probably higher.
So much is certain. ^JTEvery feature thus far discovered
in the Great Pyramid^ ^corresponds with this theory, and
some features can be explained on no other.
I have shown at som^.length elsewhere — but the matter
scarcely needs demonstrtJIon — that the only possible way in
which the Pyramid coul(^|Jave been oriented so accurately
as it has been, was by stellar observations. Of all obser-
vations for that pui-posaj <^se made on the Pole-star of the
time would have been ^Me most effective. If there is a
star which the astronomer observes less than another when
using his observatory for^that chief of all purposes to
which a great public obswrvatory, at any rate, can be
applied, it is the Pole-star, simply because that star moves
so slowly round its small circle. But for determining the
direction of the true north point (and also for determining
latitude) the Pole-star is invaluable. No astronomer who
thinks over the problem at all, can fail to see that the
builder of the Great Pyramid would have been driven by
the requirements of his case to make just such a slant
descending passage as that which opens out (now that the
casing-stones have been removed) on the northern side of
the Pyramid, not far above its base. It is equally certain
that such a descending passage would have been directed
to the position of the Pole-star when it was due north and
at its lowest. The position of the Pole-star when exactly
above the pole woidd have been just as well suited for
determining the direction of the true north, but the slant
passage would have had to run deeper down into the solid
rock to give the same degree of accuracy, and the extra
lal)Our would have been wasted.
When, after marking the position of the base, the ques-
tion of obtaining the true level came to be considered, only
one method eflective enough to give the required accuracy
would have been available — viz., the use of water, flooding
the squared space cut out in the solid rock. A difficult and
costl}' task, doubtless, in itself, but a mere nothing con-
sidered with reference to the labour and cost to which the
builders were prepared to go. For this purpose, the de-
scending passage would have to Vie temporarily plugged ;
and as soon as the water-level had been marked at several
stations on each side of the base, the plug could be removed,
and the water run off into the pit which had been excar
vated underneath. A depth of a few inches of water all
over the base would have sufficed for this purpose, but
more probably a mere channel all round the base was
prepared.
After thus orienting the base by aid of the Pole-star,
and levelling it by using a property of liquids which was,
of course, well known to them, the architects would place
layer after layer, carrying towards the north the passage
for observing the Pole-star, so that as each layer was
placed, the work of orienting, and possibly of levelling,
might be repeated, and an ever - increasing exactitude
secured.
But they would know that ere loug the direct pole-star
observations would fail them ; for the passage would pre-
194
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 6, 1882.
sently rcaili tho northern face of the Pyramid. By again
using a well-known property of liquids, however, combined
with a well-known property of light rays, they would con-
tinue the process of orienting to a much greater height.
(When I say well-known, T mean well-known to them :
they were manifestly skilful engineers and architects, and
iis surely .■vs they were wi'll acquainted witii the properties
of matti^r, so surely must they have been actiuainted with
the mathematical relations on which the simpler optical
laws depend. Possibly they knew laws more recondite ;
but the simpler laws they certainly know.) Now, the plan
which would (juickly suggest itself to anyone knowing these
laws, woukl be to make use of the reflected rays fi-om a star
when the direct rays could no longer be employed. We
know that when a ray from a luminous ol>ject is reflected
at a plane surface, the reflected ray and the incident ray
make equal angles with a lino perpendicular to the surface
at the point of incidence, and are also both in the same plane
with that perpendicular. Now, what the Pyramid archi-
which are taken from Smyth's book, " Our Inheritance in
the Great Pyramid," shows. AE is the long, slant passage,
which for convenience we may call the descending passage,
I3C is an ascending passage of exactly the same character,
which, therefore, we might have presumed was intended for
a similar purj)ose, e\en if the consideration of the natural
course which intelligent l)uildors would liave pursued had
not led us to e.xpect to And precisely such an ascending
passage here. But it may be asked how the reflected rays
from the star were obtained 1 Nothing could have been
simpler. The very same process which had been applied
in levelling would be all that would be needed here. If
the descending passage were for a time (a day, or even an
hour would suftice) plugged at B, and water poured in
so as to partially fill the angle thus formed at B, the
surface of that water would reflect the rays of Alpha
Draconis up the ascending passage BO. The direction for
the south line thus indicated could be marked, and then
the plug left to slide down to the subterranean chamber.
tocts wanted was to have a constant means of determining
the direction of north and south — in other words, a con-
stant knowledge of the position of what modern astronomers
call tlio plane of the meridian. They had this so long as
they could observe the Polivstar wlien due north, through
a passage opening out within the square layer they were
adding to the Pyramid. Wln^n, as their work continued, this
passage opened out in the partof the sloping side already com-
pleted, tliey could .still dotrmine the meridian plane if they
carried up a passage through the masonry in such a direc-
tion as to contain the rays from the Pole-star after reflec-
tion at a horizontal surface, such as that of still water.
For a poipendicular to the surface of still water is directed
to the zenith, and tlio direct and reflected rays ft-om the
star (due north) lie, therefon^, in the meridian plane which
passes through the north and south points and through the
zenith.
Now this is precisely what the Pyramid builders seem to
have done, as tlie accompanying tigure, the dimensions of
Once a year (supposing one layer of stones added each
year, as Lepsius surmises) would have sutticed for this
operation.
Not only do we thus find a natural and perfect explana-
tion of the circumstance (hitherto unexplained) that the
ascending passage is inclined at the same angle to the
horizon as the descending passage, but precisely as we
might e.xpect from a true theory, wo find that other points
of difiiculty have here their explanation. It is olivious that
at B the casing stones of the descending passage would have
to be very closely set and carefully cemented, so that the
water used, year after year, in obtaining the reflected rays,
might not percolate through and do mischief. Now, just
here, we find the stones of the descending passage arranged
with greater precision and made of better material.
" Whj'," says Smyth — who notices everything, but seems
always to insist on some forced explanation — " why did
the builders change the rectangular joint at that point, and
execute such unusual angle as they chose in place of it,
Ja.n. 6, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
195
ill a better material of stone than elsewhere, and yet
witli so little desire to call general attention to it, that
they made the joints fine and close to that degree that they
escaped the attention of all men until 1865 a.d. V "The
answer came from the diagonal joints themselves, in dis-
covering that the stone between them was opposite to the
butt end of the portcullis of the fii-st ascending passage, or
to the hole whence the prismatic stone of concealment
through .'5,000 years, had dropped out almost before Al
Manoun's eyes. Here, therefore, was a secret sign in the
pavement of the entrance passage, appreciable only to a
careful <ye and a measurement by angle, but made in such
hard mat<Tial that it was evidently intended to last to the
end of human time with the Great Pyramid, and has done
so thus far." In other words, the stones were thus care-
fully fitted that thoy might be a sign to Prof. Piazzi Smyth
and the pyramidalists in 18G.5, just as the descending and
ascending passages were all to be signs. It may show great
want of tiiste to say that all these features indicate the
builder's plan, and were in no sort intended for the benefit
of remote generations of men belonging to an alien race ;
but it seems a long way more natural.
At any rate, it is certain that men having no knowledge
of the telescope, and no means of securing accuracy of
direction as our astronomers do by matjuifying, would have
adopted precisely such plans as thus far seem most clearly
intlicated in the Pyramid structure, making long passages
in solid materials, and where necessaiy, changing the Lines
of sight by simple refiection. When we consider that this
would be their natural course, and that even minute de-
tails of structure (some hitherto unexplained) correspond
with the theory that they adopted this course, the conclu-
sion seems fair that the theory is a sound one. Of course,
it cannot be acceptable to pyramidalists, who prefer to be-
lieve that tlie labours of tlie Pyramid builders were directed
by architects knowing all that is now known in science, and
more ; b\it we are, at least, sa^•ed fi'oni the incongruity of
assuming that these wonderously-gifted architects were
idiotic enough to adopt the blundering plan assigned to
them — hiding away for preservation their sacred sym-
bolisms and prophetic teacliings, in a building so con-
structed that its interior could only be reached by beuig
forcibly broken into, and would as a matter of fact be never
properly measured until it had lost in great part the per-
fection of form on which its value for the supposed pur-
pose depended.
This will appear still more clearly when we consider the
great gallery, wliich to the astronomer is the most obviously
astronomical part of the building, but to the pyramidalist
is a sort of " Zadkiel's Almanac " in stone.
FOUND LINKS.
By Dr, Andrew Wilsox, F.L.S., ic.
P.\KT 1.
AS the question of " ^lissing Links " appears to be
exciting a considerable amount of attention amongst
the readers of Knowledge, I liave thought that a paper or
two on the general aspects of the beings that link together
distinct groups of animals, may prove interesting and in-
structive to i-eliective minds. It is very necessary that in
the first place we should remember the special form which
the rational demand for such "links" should take. I have
already shown, for example, that there exists no necessity or
demand whatever for any theoretical link, either l)etween
man and any existing ape, or between man and any extinct
ape. Such a demand is simply the outcome of an igno-
rance both of natural history at large, and of e\olution
also ; and, as often iis not, such ignorance is of the most
prejudiced type. That whicli the evolutionist aii.l natu-
ralist desire to know, is the nature of the forms wliich, on
the theory of "development," must havo lonnected the
human root -stock with the prehuman root. The
connection, or "link," cannot be sought in the ex-
isting world. It must be obtained, if ever it comes to
light at all, from the world of fossil life, and from the
stores of life relics which the geologist is year by year
adding to our stores of knowledge. It is true that Nature
IS not bound to furnish us with " links " because we see a
logical necessity for their existence. But all analogy leads
us to expect that sucii " links " once existed ; and I wish
now to describe certain iutt-resting examples of such inter-
mediate forms, as they are called, culled from \aried groups
of the animal world. In a word, if I am able to" show-
that we possess at present in the world around us certain
animals which undoubtedly connect distinct groups, I may
claim the strong support of such examples in favour of the
idea tliat " links " that are now " missing " wJiero we desire
their presence, once did exist
Lepidosiren annectens, or Mud-lish, Khowing the limb-like fins.
One of the most curious groups of fishes is that named
by zoologists the Dipnoi. This name means "double-
breathers," and the significance of the name will become
apparent later on. Of this order of fishes, there are two
chief examples. Tlie Lcpiilosimis, or " mud fisiies,'' fouinl
in the rivers Amazon and Gambia, form the first of these
examples ; whilst a curious fish, occurring in Australian
waters, and known as the Ccralodus, or " Barraraunda,"
represents the second type. This latter fish is the
" Jeevine " or " Teebine " of tlie Australian natives. Now,
in looking at eitliei- of those fishes, the observer would
never for a moment suppose tliat they presented any
features out of the common. Yet a very sliglit ac-
quaintance with natural liistory lore proves the sin-
gular natun^ of their position in the fish - class.
Everyone knows that fishes breathe by gills; that
they are cold-blooded ; that their " limbs " are repre-
sented by certain of their fins (the " paired " fins) ; and
that their bodies are covered with scales. If we add to
these facts the declaration that fishes pos.sess a heart con-
sisting of only two chambers, we shall have nearly com-
pleted our definition of the fish-type ; and we might add,
lastly, tliat the nostrils in fishes are typically closed pockets,
and do not, as in higher animals, open backwards into
the mouth. It is necessary for oui- present purpose to
point out that most fishes possess a singular sac or liag,
lying just beneath the spine, and called the swimvdng-
bladder, air-bladder, or sound. From the "sound " of the
sturgeon we obtain isinglass ; and in a herring, for ex-
ample, the "sound" may be seen as a silvery, glistening
bag, which is removable along with the other organs of
the fish when it is "gutted." This bag contains gas, and
its use is that of serving to alter the specific gravity of the
fish — that is, to render (by compression or expansion of the
gas) the body of the fish heavier or lighter than the
surrounding water. It thus enables its possessor to readily
rise or sink in the medium in which it lives. The air-
l bladders of all fishes, as Dr. Giinther tells us, at first open
19G
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. C, 1882
into tlifir digestive systems hy means of n tiil)e or duct.
Hut ill many tislies fliis tulic disappears, Ir-aving the air-
bladder a dosed saf (as in the tod) ; or tlie iluct may
persist, and place the sound in communication witli the
digestive tract, as in the sturgeon or herring. Again, the
air-liladder may lie a simplf and single sac ; or it may lie
variously divided, and its interior may ho smooth or may
he divided into cells. We shall presently .see that in the
mudfi.shes and the " Jeevine," this structure assumes a
form and function for which its variations in common fishes
in some measure prepare us.
I^'TELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
IT may he olijected that in cases such as those we con-
sidered la-st, the animal has merely imitated an action
which it ha.s seen performed liy others, and has subsequently
learned to associate the action with its ordinary consequence.
Apart from the consideration, however, that although in
any single case such an interpretation might possibly bo
correct, it would be most improbable that it should explain
all cases in which cats or dogs have .used knockers or rung
bells in the usual «ay, cases may be cited in which animals
have devised a way of their own for producing such
signals. Thus Mr. E. L. Layard, of the British Consulate,
Noumea, relates the following case in which a cat acted
in a way which can hardly be explained, save by assu-
mrng that she reasoned : — " Many years ago," he says, " we
lived in Cambridge, in Emmanuel House, at the back of
Emmanuel College. The premises were partly cut off from
the road by a high wall ; the body of the house stood back
some little di.stance. A high trellis, dividing off the garden,
ran from the entrance door to the wall, in which was
another door, or grate. A portion of the house, a gable,
faced the trelli.s Wo were, after some time of resi-
dence, extremely troubled by runaway rings, generalh'
most prevalent at night, and in rainy, bad, or cold weather,
which was a great annoyance to the servant girls, who had
to cross the space between the house and the wall to open
the outer door in the latter, and were thus exposed to wet
and cold." The annoyance became so great, that Mr.
Layard and a cousin watched behind the trees on 'Jesus'
piece,' armed with stout ash saplings, wherewith to ad-
minister a sound thrashing to the ringer, whomsoever he
might be. iJut though the rings continued, no one pulled
the handle. Hence the theory of ghosts was naturally
suggested, but Mr. Layard, having brains, rejected
that interpretation. At length chance cleared up the
mystery. -'Being ill," he sa3\s, "I was confined to
the wing facing the trellis, and one miserable, blowing,
wet day, gazing disconsolately out of the window, espied my
favourite cat — a singularly intelligent animal, much petted
— coming along the path, wet, draggle-tailed, and miserable.
Pussy marched up to the house-door, sniffed at it, puslicd
it, mewed, but, finding it fairly shut, clambered up to the
top of the trellis, .some eight or ten feet from the ground,
reached a paw over the edge, scratched till she found the
bell-wire which ran along the upper rail from the wall to
the house, caught hold of it, gave it a hearty pull, then
jumped down, and waited demurely at the door. Out came
the maid ; in ruslie(l puss. The former, after gazing
vaguely up and down the street, returned, muttering
' blessings,' nf) doubt, on the ghost, to be confronted by me
ill the hall. ' Well, Lydi.i, I have at last found out who
rings the bell.' 'Lard, master, ye haven't, surely' — she
was broad Zumer/etsheer. ' [ have ; come and see. Look
out of the, bri-akfast-i-oom window, l)ut don't .show your-
- '■■' Meanwhile I vent into the drawing-room, where
.sell.'
Mrs. Puss was busy drying herself before the fire. Catching
her up, I popped her outside of the door and ran round to
my post of observation. Pu.ss tried the door, and mewed,
thinking, probably, .someone must be near, and, after waiting
two or three minutes in vain, again sprang up the trellis
and renewed her attack on the bell-wire, of course, to \>e
immediately admitted by the delighted maid, who this
time did 710/ cross the yard, nor ever again, I fear some-
times to the inconvenience of \isitors, if puss was waiting
for admi.ssion."
In this case it is possible that the cat may have only dis-
covered by accident that the bell-wire could be reached in
the way described. Tliis is Mr. Laj-ard's explanation. He
considers that puss, in clambering up the trellLs to the house-
top, accidentally moved the wire and caused the bell to
ring. It seems at least as likely that she noticed the wire
moving when the bell was rung, and afterwards deliberately
moved it to produce the desired effect. But in either case,
it is clear that neither instinct nor mere imitative faculty
can explain the cat's action in this case. In passing, I may
remark that the imitative faculty, which some regard as a
merely automatic quality, seems to me far better explained
as the result of reasoning, though, of course, the reasoning
is not of a very high order ; an animal seeing a man per-
form some action, infers that some advantage is to be
gained by the action, and repeats it in the expectation
that some good result will follow, though without knowing
what this may Vie. However, in the present case, there
was no imitation, nor certainly could any instinct have
been in question. Mr. Layard mentions other cases, of
which the same may be said. " I have known dogs shake
a door violently," he says, " to attract attention and be let
in. A dear old spaniel of ours at the Cape used to rattle
the empty bucket if he was thirsty, and then come and
look in our faces. My horse will come up from his pasture
to the pump in the yard, and whinny till someone giv<
him water Surely all this is abstract reasoning." he
proceeds. " Tliese things are not taught them, and they do
not do all of them even by imitation. I don't go to the
pump and whinny if I want drink ! nor rattle a bucket !
No ! they come by a process of mental reasoning, and I am
convinced all animals have it to a certain degree, more or
less."
There have been cases which have afforded opportunity
of noting the behaviour of an animal when first some new
experience has occurred to it, and (as it would seem) new
ideas have been suggested. Such cases are of extreme
importance in determining whether animals really reason
or not ; because it must be admitted that in some instances
where animals have appeared to reason, the action noted
may possibly have originated, in the first instance, by acci"
dent, and have been continued subsequently as a men
h;ibit. It is rather unfortunate that the only animal/
which we can observe under favourable conditions — do
mestic animals, and those which, though not domestic
affect the neighbourhood of houses — are not those whos«
cerebral development is of the highest order among animalsi
If monkeys were commonly domesticated (which would
for other reasons, be by no means desirable), we should pr
bably have a number of far more striking and convincing
in.stances of animal reasoning than we at present po.ssess,
for nearly all monkeys are far higher in cerebral develop-
ment than the most sagacious dogs, while horses, cats, rats,
A'c, are lower than dogs in this respect Still, if wo.
remember that whatever e\-idence we obtain from the;
behaviour of dogs and cats must be regarded as suggest-
ing, for this very reason, a powerful argument a fortiori
as to th<> reasoning faculties of monkeys, and especially of
the higher orders of simians, we may be well satisfied with
Jan. 6, 1882.J
• KNOWLEDGE *
197
such instances as have been adduced above. The following
case, showing how a cat reasoned out the meaning of a
phenomenon brought for the first time under its notice,
seems to afford decisive evidence of the capacity of animals
to deal with cases when neither instinct, habit, nor imita-
tive faculty can afford them any assistance : — A house-
hold cat was observed to enter a bedroom which was being
cleaned at spring-time : a looking-glass stood on the floor,
and Tom, on entering, found himself confronted by an
image which he naturally supposed to be another cat, an
intruder on his domains. He made hostile demonstra-
tions, which were presently followed up by a rush at his
opponent, who, nothing loth, seemed to rush also at him.
Knding an apparent obstacle to his vengeance, Tom ran
round behind the glass, where he found no enemy ; so he
came again to the front. Here he again found his foe, on
whom he again made an onslaught, only to be similarly foiled.
He repeated this two or three times, applying manifestly the
inductive method to the problem before him. The result
of these experiments was to suggest the theory that the
cat in the looking-glass, if actually existent, was unlike
{hose specimens of the feline race with whom Tom's
experience had hitherto made him acquainted. These
repeated failures must have a meaning, Tom seems to have
reasoned. Either he was the victim of some illusion, or
the cat behind the glass was of altogether exceptional
activity. But, however active that cat may be, Tom
proceeded to reason, he cannot be on the further side and
yet not on the further side at the same moment of time.
If, then, I look at him and see him to all appearance on
the further side, while at the same time I feel for him there
with my paws and find him not there, then the cat in the
glass must be a mere fraud. No sooner was this experi-
mentuni cruets devised by the clever cat than it -was put
into execution. Tom deliberately walked up to the
looking-glass, keeping his eyes fixed on the image ; then,
when near enough to the edge, he reached out carefully
with his paw behind the glass for the supposed intruder,
whilst with his head twisted round to the front he assured
himself of the persistence of the reflection. He also
must have recognised, what the narrator of the story seems
to have overlooked — that the looking-glass was not, as it
seemed, transparent, for the paw with which he was
feeling about for the other cat was not visible, though
the supposed intruder remained in view all the time.
The apparent presence of the feline foe, though the
feeling paw could not be seen, satisfied Tom fully. " The
result of his experiment," says the naiTator, " satisfied the
cat that he had been the victim of delusion, and never
afterwards would he condescend to notice mere reflections,
though the trap was more than once laid for him." It
would, by the way, have been worth while to try whether
a looking-glass without a frame deceived him after he had
discovered the meaning of an ordinary mirror, or whether
a cat placed on the other side of a transparent framed glass
would be at first mistaken for a mere reflection — his conduct
in either case being carefully watched. A cat which had
shown such excellent capacity for reasoning was worth
experimenting on.
Whether we suppose that the cat of the preceding nar-
rative judged of the position of his supposed foe solely liy
sight, or may partly have been influenced by the sense of
sound (very slightly, in any case), it must be admitted that
he showed a fitness for original research which some
amongst ourselves might be found wanting in, if we may
judge from their actions in certain cases. But it is an
mteresting question how far an animal may really be
deceived by the image of another animal, or of some object
in which the animal observer takes interest. There are
stories of birds pecking at painted fi-uit, and the like, of
which some are unquestionably apocryphal. When we
remember, too, that some savages fail utterly to under-
stand the meaning of pictures,* even of the most familiar
objects, we may well doubt whether animals can possibly
mistake a painted figure for a real object. Yet there are
some stories which seem to show that animals cer-
tainly recognise pictures of persons, animals, or objects
familiar to them. It would almost seem as though such
cases could only be explained as depending on the
exercise of a certain amount of reasoning power, the animal
inferring that, because a certain picture presents details of
shape and colour corresponding to those belonging to a
familiar object, the picture is in some way connected with
that object, although other senses — as of sight, smell, hear-
ing, kc. — must serve perfectly to prevent any possibility of
actual deception. A letter in Nature, by one who remarks
that " his own observations lead him to suppose that dogs
very rarely take notice of a painting or any representation
on the flat," seems to me especially interesting, as illustrat-
ing how the sense of sight may for a moment deceive an
animal which usually trusts chiefly to other senses. " I
only know of one instance," he says. " A bull-terrier of
mine was lying asleep upon a chair in the house of a friend,
and was suddenly aroused by some noise. On opening his
eyes, the dog caught sight of a portrait of a gentleman on
the wall not far from him, upon which the light was
shining strongly. He growled, and for some little time
kept his eyes fixed upon the portrait, but shortly satisfying
himself that there was no danger to be apprehended, he
resumed his nap. I have often," proceeds the narrator,
" endeavoured since to induce him to pay some attention
to portraits and pictures, but without success, though
sometimes he will bark at his own reflection in a looking-
glass. He knows it to be his own image that he sees, for
he very soon tires of barking and looking."
The Health of Navvies. — In view of extensive canalisation soon
to be done in France, the Minister of Commerce lately consulted
the Academy as to measures that should be taken to preserve the
health of workmen engaged. A report by M. Colin is the result.
In it he notes the persistence of a depressed vital state in certain
parts of the country, especially the coast departments, which are
chiefly concerned in the works projected. Marshes, with their
miasma, are not the sole cause of this "impalndism" (as he calls
it) ; but virgin soil, newly turned, emits morbid germs, whence arise
intermittent fevers, &c. With regard to precautionary measures,
the report specifies the following: — 1. Fragmentation of work, not
attacking too many points at once, not entering on a piece of work
before the piece next it, begun previously, is finished. 2. Choosing
strong, vigorous navvies, by preference inhabitants of the region.
3. Diminishing the time of contact with the soil. The work
should be stopped at times when it is known to be dangerous — viz.,
July, August, and September, and in the extreme morning and
evening hours. Evening vapour on plains and low-lying parts is
very dangerous. Large fires should be lit in the works morning and
evening. 4. Lodging of the navvies in the neighbouring centres of
habitation, as much as possible in the heart of towns and villages,
and on high ground, or, where near the sea, in pontoons moored at
some little distance from the shore. Fevers do much less injury
among workmen who reach their liomes at night, than among those
who remain on the works. 5. A special diet — before his work the
na\-vy should have a substantial hot meal ; preventive medications
(such as arsenic, extract of nux vomica, and sulphate of quinine)
have not yielded such results as recommend their use. G. Imme-
diate conveyance to the hospital of a navvy attacked by fever, and
caution as to premature re-engagement of men discharged from
hospital. 7. Early filhng of the excavations, admitting water, in
urgent cases, to parts which prove peculiarly infectious, and stimu-
lating vegetation on ground newly upturned.- — Times.
* There are some illustrations of this in the Editor's little book
called " The Flowers of the Sky," in the article relating to " Fancied
Figures among the Stars."
198
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. C, 1882.
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
Bt \V. Lynd.
" Go<] 1ms hri'ii hounlirul to llio liuman mco in thi« ago. Ho has
^ivon us t'> SCO 1'iUiiiN niHlurcil !>y niiin ; stoam harnoHH«?<l to our
nirrinRps and sliips ; pnlvanism tanu!(l into an aphabi't — a gamut
and jti mi'tal liarp-Btriugs gtrotohod acrou the partli, >nalyr4
ninuntaiiii) and the «on, and so mon's minds defying the twin
monsters Time and Space." — Chakles Eeade.
HAIjF-.\-CENTTTRY af»o railways were in their in-
fiiuy, Oporgo Stephenson was bravely fighting
against ignorance and prejuclice, and founding his gigantic
scheme wliicli has revolntionised the world and proved one
of the greatest hles.sings ever bestowed upon mankind.
Half-a-oentury ago there was not a single mile of tele-
graph wir(> in the unirersc.
Stt'phenson's name and fame have been trumpeted far
and wide. Biogi-aphies without number of the great
engineer have been written ; only recently Dr. Smiles has
given to the -world liis admirable " Lives " of the pioneers
of railways, George and Robert Stephenson.
But, wlio has heard of that other Titan of the nineteenth
lentury, ^\■iIliam Fothergill Cooke 1
The name of the man wlio introduced the first practical
electric telegraph to this country is almost unknown outside
scientific circles ; yet, what a debt of gratitude we owe to
the inventor of the instruments, by meaiis of which that
potent but mysterious agent we call electricity %yas first
made to record int(!lligil)le signs which could be translated
into human language ! The first electro-magnetic telegraph
was pro<hiced between 1820 and 1832 by Baron Schilling,
of Lanstadt. Mr. Cooke was, in 1836, occupied in the
Anatomical Museum at Heidelberg, preparing wax models
for his father, who had been recently appointed Professor
of Anatomy in the University of Durham.
It is a remarkable fact that he had no knowledge, or
very little knowledge, of either physics or electricit)'.
When Baron Schilling exhibited and explained his primi-
tive telegraph, Mr. Cooke was so struck with the vast
importance of an electric telegraph to the railways then
I>rogressing with such marvellous rapidity in the United
Kingdom, that he immediately gave up modelling, and
devoted all his time and energies to the realisation of his
hopes. To be the means of establishing instantaneous
communication liy electricity between towns, particularly
the great centres of commerce, was to become a lienefactor
of the human race. And Mr. Cooke -was so sanguine of
succes.s, that he left Germany and came to Endand in
April, 1836.
On Feb. 27, 1837, while engaged in perfecting a set of
instruments to be tried on the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, he was introduced by Dr. Rogel to Professor
Wheatstone, who had been devoting much of his time to
the subject of electrical communication. The meeting was
a happy one. The two electricians entered into paijner-
.ship, and in a marvellously brief space of time the first
really practicable electric telegraph was ready for trial.
There w('re, however, other chumants for the honour of
having iuvont«id tlie electric telegraph as a practical reality,
but there can be no question of Cooke and Wheatstone's
priority in date over the other inventors, Alexander and
Morse.
The first line of electric telegraph was constructed upon
the Black wall Railway in 1838. A sight of Cooke and
Wlieatfltone's instrument, witli its five needles, would sur-
prise the telegraphista of tlie present day, who are used to
duplex and (juadruplex working !
The five needle iiLstrument required live wires ; now four
e.i can }>o .'ihot along one wire !
The double-needle instrument, which will be described
lat*-r on, was the next improvement nece.s-sitating the em-
plojTTient of two wires only, and that form of apparatus can
.still be seen at work upon one or two of the railways in the
United Kingdom.
Although Professor Wlieatstone assisted Mr. Cooke, and,
no dou))t, contributed in no small degree to the perfection
of the instruments, we are in duty bound to regard the
latter as the fatlier of practical telegraphy.
THE MAGIC WHEEL.
WE are able this week to give the series of \-iew8 of a
trotting-horse to which we referred last week ; and
to explain how the picture is to be arranged to produce a
life-like effect, we repeat Fig. 1, as the two have to be con-
sidered togetli' r.
Cut out the series of views (following the outer circle)
with the scissors, or carefully copy it on a separate piece
of paper : and paste the circular disc thus obtained on
a circular piece of cardlward. Cut out the oblong
space under each figure, so as to make a series
of oblong slits through the cardboard. Then fasten
the wheel to a stick or handle, Viy means of a pin
through the centre, on which it can freely turn. If now
you stand opjwsite a mirror in the way shown in Fig. 1,
and twirl i-ound the disc before the eyes, looking through
the upper slots, the hoi-ses will be seen to move as in life.
The views have not l>een made by guess-work, as in most
of the series used for zoetropes, 1>ut are from a series of
actual photographs taken instantaneously at e<]ual succes-
sive interv.ils of time during the trotting past of the cele-
bi-ated racer, Abe Edgington. They were obtained by
Jax. 6, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE *
199
Muybridge, of San Francisco. Next week, or the week
after, we shall give a series showing a galloping horse.
The above views are from the Sciendjic American ; but,
as mentioned in our last, the series showing a trotting
horse had to be modilied before it could be used for the
purpose of the magic wheel
It is hardly necessary to say that the wheel can be
readUy made to turn uniformly by being put on a small
axle, round which a string may be twined. But twirling
with the hand will suffice to show how well worth while it
is to pro\'ide for a more satisfactory method.
THE PLANETS AND SOLAR SPOTS.
MDUPONCHEL considers that the maximum of solar spot
. frequency will not occur " as all the world, and JI. Fagcin
particular," predict, in 1882, but not earlier than 1890. It may
possibly occur as early as 1888, but far more probably will be as
late as 1892. He bases this on the supposed relation between the
sun spots and planetary movements, a relation which has not
been established, but on the contrary, seems more and more un-
likely the more the evidence is examined. Those who fondly
imagine that the world is to come to an end in 1882 (the prediction
of Mother Shipton — of fully equal value in our opinion — having failed
for 1881) because of planetary perihelion passages, and resulting sun
disturbances (also because the pyramid grand gallery is 1881"59
inches long, or ought to be), may breathe freely again, that is if they
are disposed to prefer M. Dnponchel as an authority to Professor
Grimmer. For our own part we believe the world is quite as likely
to come to an end in 1888, or 1890, or 1892, as in 1882. It has
been coming to an end, at intervals of two or three years, for the
last century, and probably, though we have no evidence as to
details, ever since it seemed so certain to every one that the year
1,000 was to see the end of all things mundane. And so far as can
be seen, one prediction in the past and for future dates has been as
good as another — in other words, not one has been worth a straw.
J AS. 6, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
201
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH TELESCOPE.
TTXDER the above heading we propose to famish the beginner
\J in astronomy with such directions as shall enable him to
imploy, to the greatest pos.sible advantage, the kind of instrument
«-ith which he will, in all probability, at first provide himself. But,
be it noted at the outset, that this series of papers is not intended
for the possessors of telescopes of considerable aperture, equato-
rially mounted • or furnished with elaborate rackwork movements in
altitade and azimuth.* For theo^vnersof such, an abundant Utera-
ture is already in existence ; and they, at present, have such
admirable works as Webb's '" Celestial Objects for Common Tele-
scopes," Crossley, Gledhill & Wilson's " Handbook of Double
Stars," Chambers* one volume edition of Smyth's '' Celestial
Cycle," &c. We shall presuppose nothing on the part of our
readers, then, beyond an ardent desire to become familiar with the
beauties and glories of the celestial vault, and trust, if we can
secure their attention, to put them fairly in the way of gratifj'ing
such a high and laudable aspiration. To this end, we shall use as
oar text the maps of the face of the sky which appear monthly in
Knowledge, although we should strongly recommend the student
to possess himself of the smaller " Star Atlas " by the editor of
this journal, as well.
As it is of the first importance that the workman should be
familiar with the tools he has to use, we shall devote this intro-
ductory essay to a description of the telescope itself, which wo will
imagine to be a 3-inch achromatic one, of about 42 in. focal length,
mounted apon an ordinary " pillar and claw " stand. Such an
instrument, as ordinarily sold, is shown in Fig. 1, which, however,
represents it as famished with a valuable little subsidiary contri-
vance (to bo immediately described), which the observer will have
to make, or get made, himself.
Fi^. 1.
And here, albeit wo are earnestly anxious to eliminate the com-
mercial element altogether from our considerations, we are com-
pelled to caution the student against supposing that a first-class
3-inch telescope for astronomical purposes can be made for £5, or,
in fact, for any sum approaching it. The object-glass alone must
cost the maker himself something like this amount. Hence,
as we propose to deal ivith and describe celestial objects, as seen in
an instrument of the highest class, we give this preliminary
warning, lest the young observer should spend his money in a
cheap glass, and then wonder at the discrepancy between our
delineations of stars and planets and his own views of them.
There is a vast amount of rubbish vended in the form of (so-called)
cheap telescopes, and no tvro should ever purchase such a one
mthout its previous examination and testing by a skilled expert.
Makers like Cooke, Dallmeyer, and Wray will not imperil their
great and deserved reputation by selling an inferior object glass,
even to a total stranger ; but instruments of unknown opticians
require the most rigid trial before they can be safely bought. We
shall give further on, a few tests by which the student himself may
judge somewhat of the quality of his purchase. It is time, how-
ever, to turn to our figure. Here we see the brass tube T, into
•>ne end of which screws the cell containing the object glass 0.
Through a tube projecting from the brass disc which covers the
other end of T, the smaller tube S is worked in and out by the
milled head F, acting in a rack and pinion. This is for the purpose
of focussing the telescope, and making the image of the object
• These terms will be explained as we proceed.
observed sharp and distinct. Into the tube S screw the eye-piece
E, consisting of two lenses mounted in a short piece of tubing.
Shortly, the action of the instrument is this. The object-glass
forms in its focus an image of the object to which it is directed, and
the eye-piece — which is really a microscope — magnifies this imago
before it enters the obser^-er's eye. So much for the telescope itself.
It is bolted, as will be seen, by two screws and nuts to a brass
plate, which has a vertical motion, by means of the knuckle-joint
at A, at the top of the stout brass pillar AB ; and a horizontal one,
furnished by the rotation of the whole of this top-fitting, inside the
pillar. Three massive feet form its support. The arm BM
shown in our drawing forms no part of the ordinary fitting of the
instrument ; it constitutes the subsidiary contrivance of which we
spoke above, and we shall explain its use presently. L in the
figure represents a terrestrial or four-lens eye-piece, which shows
objects erect, and hence is nsed for land-purposes. It screws in at
the extremity of S, just as E does. The ordinary astronomical, or
so-called " Hayghenian" eye-piece contains, as we have previously
said, only two lenses, and inverts, or turns objects upside-down.
This, however, is obviously immaterial in a star, and this construc-
tion of the eye-piece enables us to obtain high power with com-
paratively small loss of light. X is another astronomical eye-piece,
and P a dark cap or shade, screwing on to every eye-piece, for the
purpose of observing the sun. The student is earnestly warned
never to look at the sun through a telescope without first covering
the eye-piece with one of these shades. When, however, we come,
in a future paper, to speak of the sun, we shall describe how the
solar details may be telescopically shown >vithont looking through
the instrument at all. The powers usually supplied with a telescope
of the size we are describing are one terrestrial one, magnifying,
perhaps. 45, and three astronomical ones, giving powers of some-
thing like 50, 100, and ISO. If, however, the observer intends to
devote his instrument wholly to the sky, we should advise him to
replace the terrestrial eye-piece by two Huyghenian ones, magnify-
ing 25 (for comets, nebulae, and clusters), and 250 (for close doable
stars) respectively. For night use, too, a '" Dew-cap " will be
found indispensable. This may be made of a tin tube, bright
outside and blackened within, about 8 inches long, and fitting over
the object end of the telescope at 0. This prevents direct radiation
from the object-glass, and the consequent deposition of dew upon
it. Never u-ipe your object-glass if yoii can possibly help it. Expose
it to the heat of a fire (not too near) or of the son, should it become
heavily dewed.
A word may now be said as to the use of the bar BlI shown in
our sketch. It is a fact famOiar to nearly everyone who has ever
opened an astronomical primer (and, at any rate, to be estab-
lished by a single winter night's observation of the sky from dusk
to dawn), that the stars all seem to describe circles round a centre
in the Northern sky, called the Pole, very close to which is situated
the star we call the Pole-star. The farther we go from this centre,
the larger these circles become, up to a distance of 90°, beyond
which they begin to diminish again. Moreover, the point round
which they turn is something over 50° above the Northern horizon
(depending on the observer's latitude) , so that they are all described
obliquely to the horizon. Obviously, were the apparent axis of the
concave celestial vault vertical, the Pole would be overhead, and the
stars, seeming to describe circles parallel to the horizon, would
neither rise nor set. In this imaginary condition of things
(imaginary in England, for it really exists at the Poles), the
mounting of the telescope shown in our figure above would enable
the observer to follow a star by merely turning the telescope round
the vertical axis, AB, when once that star was in the field ; but a
moment's thought will show that a simple movement round a
vertical axis will by no means accomplish this when the star's
path is described round an inclined one. The vertical move-
ment of the telescope, we may here say, is spoken of as its
motion in altitude ; its horizontal motion as that in azimuth.
It may require a little more attention to see that if we so tilted
the axis AB that it became parallel to (or practically coin-
cided) with the apparent axis of the sky ; that then the
simple motion round it would follow any star to which it was
directed, from its rising to its setting. A telescope thus placed is
said to be equatorially mounted. Now, the little device in our cut,
for which, in its existing form, we sire indebted to the Earl of
Crawford and Balcarres, is intended to communicate an approxi-
mately equatorial motion to the ordinary altazimuth mounting of
the instrument. It takes the form of a bar BM, extending from
the base of the pillar AB. In it, at such a distance from the point
B vertically under A that the angle ACB shall be = the latitude of
the place, a hole is bored, and a thumbscrew (shown at C) inserted
through the bar, so as to nip a light chain or thin wire tight when
it is passed through the hole. The other end of this chain is
fastened anywhere towards the end of the telescope at C, and
sufficient weight is put on to the eye end of the telescope to keep
202
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. G, 1882.
tho ohnin C.C tight. PrrhapB we mny finy that if the height from
A to B in (im ia vorj' oitninon) 11 in., tho hole ftt C may lio 8J in.
from n. ThiB will t;nv a i|inisi-cqiiatorial movement to the
tclescopo for Ujnilim unci places not very far north uml smith
of tho Bnmo latitmle. Tho nao of this contrivance is very
simple. Tho bar BM is placed duo north and snutli
(M, of cmirse, towanls tho south). A star is Kot into the
field, and tho chain C.C Btretched ti)?ht and made fast. Then the
obscn-er will find timi on rotating the telescope horizontally round
A, the end O will be so shackled as to constrain it to follow the
given object. A few miscellaneous hints may conclude what we
have to say im the telesco|x; itself. First, the reader may wish to
test it for ils freedom from colour and aberration. For the first,
lot him turn tho instrument on to tho round edge (or " limb ") of
tho moon, and first move tho eye-picco mthin tho focus by means
of the milled hcml F, then a purple fringe should appear on the
lunar limb. On moving the eye-piece outside the focus, this should
give place to a green ring. A telescope that exhibits this setiucnce
of phenomena is achromatic. For spherical aberration, focus the
tcIe8CO))c on a tolerably bright star, with the whole aperture, and
then put a diaphram of, say, li in. aperture over the object glass.
Fig. 2. Fig. 3.
and see if the star remains accnrately in focus. If it does, spheri-
cal aberration is cured too. A bright star in focus with a power of
150 should present the appearance of Fig. 2, by no means that of
Fig. 3, which latter indicates a practically worthless object-glass ;
nor should any light haze appear about bright stars or planets.
Next week we hope to set the young observer fairly to work.
THE SO-CALLED TUNNEI^WORM.
IN La Nature, for December 10, M. Maximo U^lJne remarked
that exaggerated ideas are prevalent respecting the defective
ventilation of tho great, tunnel of St. Gothard, and in particular that
tho supposed development of a special parasite, the tnnnel-worm,
must bo regarded as problematic. To this Professor F. A. Forel
replies that tho malady is perfectly authentic, and is due to a
parasitic worm, the Duodenal Anchylostoma (the stiff-jaws of the
first intestine, one might say), which attacks the mucus membrane
of tho jejunum and duodenum (the first parts of the small in-
testines), and sucks the blood like a leech. He says that Dr. Ed.
Bngnion, a professor at Lansanne, has recently published a remark-
able investigation, in which he has discussed the question thoroughly.
He has examined forty-one well authenticated cases among the
workmen in the Gothard tunnel, attacked by chloron and anaemia
(ghastly paleness and bloodlessness). The presence of the
tunnel-worm was established in these cases either by post-mortem
examination or from the recognition of tho eggs in voided matter.
As for the origin of the disease, it is not, as has been thought, a
new one, or produced by either the high temperature and bad venti-
lation of tho tunnels. The worm is very common in Egyjit, where
it causes Egyptian chlorosis, and in Italy. Its appearance in the
St. Gothard tunnel is easily explained, when wo consider, on the
one hand, the habits of tho thousands of workmen employed there
(all Italians, crowded in tho villages of Airolo and do Goeshenen),
and the migrations of tho intestinal worm. It passes, says M.
Bugnion, the first part of its existence in tho mud and slime of
watcr-|>ools*, and it ia from drinking dirty water containing young
larviu of the parnsito that tho infection is received. Since tho
nature of the disease has been known, worm medicines have been
oaod, and the doctors of the St. Gothard tunnel have lost no more
of the patients attacketl by the ailment, which had been called
provisionally the St. Gothonl ana'mia, and which should hereafter
be calleil, ProfcBsor Forel thinks, by the pleasing name " Anchylo-
atomasia."
SCIENTIFIC PARADOX.
TIME was when itinerant lecturers made a great point of what
was then called the " hydrostatic paradox," by which the
weight of a pint of water might be made to burst asunder the
strongest cask — but although that age has passed, yet we ore not
without some paradoxes which yet remain in the ordinary treatment
of physics.
That steam at lOO'C. should heat a bath of Calcium ClUoride up to
ItS'C, is jiaradoxical at first sight ; but it is an established fact,
and well understood by those who are familiar with the lawB of
specific heat.
That getting nearer to the sun as a source of heat should result
in pcryietual ice, is jiaradoxical at first sight ; but it is a fact, and
well understood by those who are familiar with the complex
conditions.
The following case may or may not enter this categorj-; but after
much trial, I have failed to understand the conditions.
(a.) <Jnc Oas docs not behave as a Vacuum to another. — If I trnder-
stand the books rightly, there is no difference between the pressoie
of two separate pound weights in a pair of scales, and the pressure
of two separate units of gas (be they similar or different) in an
exhausted vessel. In both cases, each presses with its own indi-
vidual pressure ; and in every case, the joint-pressure upon the sides
of a vessel will be exactly as the sum of the individual tensions.
Volatile substances have different maximum points of tension,
beyond which they will not volatilise. A cubic inch of water at
100°C. will evaporate into an exhausted vessel of 1,700 cubic inches
capacity, and produce a pressure on the sides of 7C0 millimetres of
mercury (or one atmosphere) ; and if more water bo added, it will
not be evaporated ; while, if the pressure be increased, water in
proportion would be condensed.
Such points of maximum tension for water are at 100° = 760 mm.
„ alcohol „ 1,697 „
„ „ ether „ 4,953 „
(b) One Gas docs hehavc as a Vacuum to another. — If I under-
stand the books rightly, one cubic inch of water wotdd evaporat*
into the aforesaid vessel, equally whether it be a vacuum, or filled
with air, or any other gas ; so that if the vessel were previously full
of both alcohol and ether vapours, their joint pressures would b©
6,C30 millimetres; against which the cubic inch of water would
evaporate ; but more slowly as the pressure increased.
In the books these two aspects are confusedly mixed up together,
and perhaps a novice has not been quite clear in separately and
strongly stating the paradox.
It is rather cmious that Clerk Maxwell, in his treatise on
'* Heat,'* while admitting that one gas may be a vacuum to another,
yet says nothing in justification of the second aspect.
ECLECTICUS.
VITALITY OF TOADS.
• Le Union cl la laur des fla<iucs d'eau, amusingly mistranslated
by a daily contemporary : " the lemon and vase, port of water
ilaska."
THE following passage from an old number of the "Cosmos,"
m.iy interest those who have taken part in the discussion abont
the vitality of toads. It is an account of various experiments on
this subject, by M. Victor Legrips, of Chambon. JI. Legrips put
some toads in chambers hollowed in the earth to the depth of
sixteen inches, placing thcni on a tile, and covering them with »
pot. Others were immured between two discs of glass in plaster
cells, without access of air ; and some were imprisoned in masses
of mixed plaster, which touched evei-y part of them. Tho first
were ex.amined monthly, and exhibited no meirk of decay till towards
the twelfth month, their excretions being taken as nutriment. They
lived thus, on an average, for twenty-three months. The second
lot, examined through the glass, presented tho following phenth
mona : —Abundant excretions of the debris of insects and larvtB;
torpor while in darkness ; sparkling of the eye at approach of
light ; powerful efforts to escape ; progressive emaciation, till
death, which took place generally after fifty-six days. Among the
third class some toads were living after twenty-eight months OT
absolute sepulture. These facts prove that the toad can live a long
time without aliment or aeration ; he lived longer in the chambers
where his movements were unimpeded than in the cells where he
could hardly change his position ; but his life was very much longer
when ho was completely embedded in the plaster. Not being aMe
to move, he lost nothing; and thus it will be easily comprehended
that alimentation was much less necessary, and that his life, as if
suspended, might continue for an indefinite period. M. Lcgnps
states that toads are not only inoffensive, but exceedingly useful m
gardens, and that he is not at all surprised at the increasing com-
merce in these animals, who live exclusively on worms, caterpillars,
and insects, great and small, and are thus protectors of a host of
useful and ornamental plants. Market gardeners wUl find them
invaluable.
KNdWl.r.IKii:, Jan. i", 1682.
On December 31, at 10.30 p.m.
On January 3, at 10.15 p.m.
On January 7, at 10 p.m.
On January 10, at 9.45 p.m.
On January 14, at 9.30 p.m.
On January 18, at 9.15 p.m.
On January 22, at 9 p.m.
On January 25, at 8.45 p.m.
On January 29, at 8.30 p.m.
On February 2, at 8.15 p.m.
[KNOWLEDGE, Ja.n. 6, 1882
Our Star Map. — In response to the
wishes of many correspondents, we show
this week the star maps which would other-
wise have been divided into four weekly
maps, in a single star map. It will be
understood that the circular boundry of
this map represents the horizon. The map
shows also the position of the equator, and
of the ecliptic, with its signs. We propose
next week to give the position of the Zodiac,
now most favourably situated for observa-
tion, with the motions of the planets thereon.
Jan. 6, 1882.]
* KNOAVLEDGE
207
fLttUvi to ti)t eiiitor.
\_The Editor does not hold himnelf rerponsible for the opinions ofhiscorrestpondenU.
He cannot undertake to return manutcripts or to correvvojid u-Hh their trritera. All
Lommunicationt should be a* short as possible, consietently icith full mnd clear state-
mentt of the icriter's meaning.']
All Editorial communications should he addressed to ihe Editor o/ Ksowledgb;
all Bu»ineK$ commujiications to the Publishers, at the OJice, 74, Great Queeji-
rtreet, W.C.
All Remittances, Cheques, and Post-Office Orders should be made payable to
Jdetsrs. Wyman Sf Sons.
*^* All letters to the Editor teill be Numbered. For c07tvenience of reference,
correspondents , vhen r^erring to any letter, icilt oblige by meritioning iti itmnber
and the page on vhich it appears.
All Letters or QMries to the Editor tehich require attention in the current istue of
KyowL^OQE, should reach the Publishing Office not later than ike Saturday preceding
the day ^publication, ^^_^^
" In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in s
8tate of transition Nor ia there anything more adverse to accuracy
ihan fiiity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in makinff a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebig. ^^^^_
(Bnv Corrrsponlinur Columns.
THE WEATHER FORECASTS.— PSYCHO. — TOADS STUNG
BY INSECTS.— BOOKS ON HISTOLOGY AND THE UN-
DULATORY THEORY OF LIGHT. — TABLE OF LOGA-
RITHMS.—DIAGRAMS WITHOUT DESCRIPTION. — PRO-
NUNCIATION OF "BETELGEUX." — THE COAL AGE
AND THE EARTH'S INTERNAL HEAT.— ANTIQUITY OP
MAN.
[164]— The letter [124] of Mr. Spiller, on p. 140, is a very in-
structive one, and may well stimulate inquiry into the procedure of
that rather remarkable department, the Meteorological Office. I,
like Mr. Spiller, took considerable pains some time since to com-
pare the daily vaticinations issued from Victoria-street, with the
actual weather obtaining at the periods for which they were made,
and with the following noteworthy result. At first I found that the
predictions were very much more frequently wrong than right, and
this suggested the idea that the oflicials were on the track of some
law, but were merely misinterpreting it. Later on, however, I
came to the conclusion, in common with your correspondent, "that
they are about as often wrong as right." It is absolutely needless
to point out to any one with the least smattering of mathematics,
what this indicates. Put shortly, it is that equally valuable
weather prophecies might be made- by the simple process of tossing
up a florin and calling "heads" fine and "tails" ^ormy. Now this
suggests to me at once, as a scientific man and as a taxpayer, that
the British public has a distinct right to know why it should be
called upon to pay £14,500 annually for such results as these ?
Moreover, it is rumoured that the office is supervised by a certain
" Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society," who divide
£1,000 a year among themselves. One would be pleased to ascer-
tain definitely what is actually done by these gentry for this modest
little sum. The Meteorological OiBce exists for the benefit of the
nation— not the nation for that of the Meteorological Office, and the
sooner this is realized the better for all those concerned. It seems
ridiculous that we should receive such accurate forecasts of gales
gratis from a New York newspaper proprietor, and that we should
be reading about the " calm," prophesied by our own paid servants,
while those gales are howling around us. As a very humble effort
towards the solution of this concluding part of Mr. Spiller's letter,
I would venture to suggest Payment by Results.
May I say, in connection with the question put by W. H. B.
(letter 126, p. 143), that three or four visits to Psycho sufficed to
convince me that a small boy is concealed within the figure. Some-
thing I once observed through a powerful field-glass satisfied me of
this.
Omithorynchus (query 100, p. 145), is'wrong in supposing that
toads are not affected by the stings of the Hymenoptera. 1 have
myself seen a toad stung by a wasp which it attempted to swallow,
its tongue subsequently protruding from its mouth in the form of
an inflated bladder, obviously causing it serious, if not very pro-
tracted, inconvenience.
If D'Artagnan (query 103, p. 145), does not mind reading a book
thirty years old, he may derive an immense amount of information
from Quekett's " Lectures on Histology." It was originally pub-
lished by Bailliere ; but one of the second-hand scientific booksellers
would be the likeliest place to procure it now. Dr. Lloyd's
" Elementary Treatise on the Wave Theory of Light," published by
Longman's, is excellent too, for the purpose for which he re-
quires it.
To the list of books of Logarithms, given on p. 102, I should like
to add Cape's " Mathematical Tables," published by Longman in
18C0 (3rd edition), as the most convenient G-figure set -with which I
am acquainted. The arrangement is excellent. In the trigono-
metrical tables the successive differences are given for 100" instead
of GO", thus saving a quantity of calculation. I use these in my
observatorj-, and Chambers' in my library-.
May I venture to suggest that Mr. Thorp's drawings on p. 100,
by themselves, are scarcely sufficiently explanatory of the instru-
ments they represent ? Notably Fig. 2, in the absence of verbal
explanation, fails wholly to show how an ellipse can be described by
the piece of apparatus delineated. It looks as though it must draw
a circle — and nothing else.
In answer to query 107 (p. 167), astronomers, in practice, always
pronounce the projier name of (a) Orionis " Beteljews."
"Ignoramus" (query 110, p. 167) should obtain and carefidly
read through that part of Page's "Advanced Text-book of
Geology," which treats of the Coal Measures. It is not now sup-
posed that the internal heat of the earth had anything to do with
the production of the carboniferous flora ; in fact, it is a grave
question whether such flora was, in any legitimate sense, tropical at
all. A humid and equable, rather than a tropical climate, would
seem to favour the tyjie of vegetation of wliich our coal measures
are composed. The earth's superficial temperature is quite un-
appreciably afforded by her internal heat (Fourier says ^th of a
degree), such surface temperature being practically wholly derived
from the sun. This influence extends to a depth varying from 60 to
90 feet. Don-nwards from this stratum temperatm-e rises 1 degree for
every 60 to 65 feet ; so that at a relatively short distance from the
earth's surface, it would seem that the most infusible rocks must be
molten. Possibly, the sun may one day cool down, and the earth
with it, but it will not be in " Ignoramus's " time, or mine either.
Any one reading the isolated words quoted in inverted commas
from Sir Charles Lyell in reply 84 (p. 168), will imagine that he
did not believe in the great antiquity of the objects discovered by
Mr. Horner in Egypt. Those who have been misled into this belief
had better read Chapter III. of Sir Charles's own " Antiquity of
Man," as recommended by " Kemp" in the preceding answer.
A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
A CORRECTION: DATE OF MENES.
[165] — I perceive that " A Member of the Society of Biblical
Archaeology" quotes Mr. Stuart Poole as an authority for the date
B.C. 2717 for the period of Menes. Permit me to say that Mr. Stuart
Poole has long since abandoned that position in favour of a much
more remote epoch, as may be seen by reference to his articles in
The Contemporary Revieiv for 1879.
Anothek Member of the Society of Biblical ARcnj:oLOGY.
PERSONAL IDENTITY versus TATTOO MARKS.
[166] — Am I right in understanding that, owing to the Physio-
logical waste and decay, our bodies virtually change in every part,
so that our bodies to-day are not the same bodies seven years hence .'
If so, may I ask the following : — When a boy, I tattooed my arm
with Indian ink ; my body must have changed four times during
that time ; the design is as distinct and permanent to-day as ever.
Will some of your correspondents kindly enlighten me upon this
subject ? — Yours, &c. Walter H. Maguire.
Dec. 5, 1881.
P.S. — I wish your valuable journal every success.
THAWING ICE.
[167] — In a book which I have— a translation from the French
of Professor A. Cazin — the following experiment is described ; —
" Take a piece of clear ice and place it so that a pencil of sunlight,
condensed by a lens, shall enter it parallel to the planes of congela-
tion ; then -with a microscope, placed at right angles to plane of
congelation, examine the illuminated part, in which many limiinoue
specks will appear, gradually increase in size, and send out little
branches, generally six in number and of varying forms, &c."
I have tried this interesting experiment with several pieces of ice,
but failed to see any traces of these beautiful little branchlets.
What I saw was the specks of light rapidly increasing in size, and
208
• KNOWL.EDGE ♦
[Jan. 6, 1882.
of a more or lemi nearly-circular form. Encli of these cai'itieB con-
tained water nnd n bubble (of attenuated ntoam, 1 suppose) ; some
of these bubbles remained in the centre of their colls, but others
aoon (e»i>eciiilly if the sun was hot) bcf^un to mo%-e round their
cells, sometimes in jerks, at others smoothly, occasionally oscillntin^j.
I should be plad to know why I woa unable to see the branchlcts,
and should be greatly obliged to any reader who would explain the
cause of the little bubble's curious movements.
Enclosed 18*8 drawing which will give a good idea of what I
observed. The larger discs represent the cavities containing
liquid, while the small circular black and white spots are the
bubbles. E. C. R.
DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING " KNOWLEDGE."
[168] — Having experienced the same diflSculty as mentioned by
your correspondent in No. 7, I would recommend your would-be
readers to order Knowledge of their newsagent, insK'ad of the
bookseller, who, for some reason best known to himself, professes
ignorance of the publication. — I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
A. Gacbert.
[We have received several letters to the above effect. — Ed.]
[169]— In reference to Letter No. 134, page 144, the fact that I
have generally obtiiined Knowledge from my bookseller in North
Shields before 9 a.m. on Friday mornings may convince Mr. Arm-
strong that either his booksellers or their London agents arc alone
to blame. — Tours, Ac, Geordie.
" OUE UNBIDDEN GUESTS."
[ 170] — Surely " the great lesson to be learned " from Dr. Andrew
Wilson's frightful disclosures in the last number of Kxowxedge,
respecting tapeworm and trichinoe, is ouo iiuite different from that
proposed by him , and not " thorough cooking," but total avoidance
of the substances liable to be infested, is the true and sensible
remedy. From the " Perfect Way in Diet," recently favourably
noticed by you, it would appear that man is, by his constitution and
structure, not carnivorous at all, but becomes so only through
degeneration of habit. From this it ought to follow that man can
attain to the perfection of his nature only by subsisting on the sub-
stances indicated by his structure. My own experience favours
this conclusion. Having abstained fron\ llesh-food for some seven
years, I find the results — physical, intellectual, and other — such as
to make me regret that I was not a follower of the " Perfect Way "
from the first, and my experience is by no means a singular one
within my own circle of acquaintance. — Yours, &c., E. M.
THE POLE STAR AND PRECESSION.
[171] — In your promised paper on the Precession of the Equi-
noxes, can you give us a star-map, showing the circle described by
the North Pole, and therefuro all the stars which have been suc-
cessively Pole-stars ? One meets with the statement that about
4,000 years ago n Draronis was the Pole-star ; but no full informa-
tion is given in popular books. With such a star-map as I suggest,
we could find for ourselves the Pole-star for any period of the past.
— Yours, Ac, Geobck St. Clair.
[Will supply such a map the week after next. — Ed.]
A NEW COMPARISON OF POISONS.
[172] — Notwithstanding your approval of "Technical Chemist"
(Letter 102, p. 116), I venture to think be i« not quito right. The
allegation is that li. cc. is three times as poisonous as ba. ce. ; and,
while admitting that ba. ce. is poisonous, it is urged that li. ce. ia
often prescribed in comparatively large quantities for gout. Now,
why mystify M. Richet's plain proposition? Li. ce. has 20 per
cent, of metal, where the citrate has probably much less than 7 per
cent. ; liesides, iron and mercury may be very poisonous in one
form of combination, and very innocuous in another. S. E. P.
SOUND.
[173]— "C. T. B." (query 60, p. 125) may', be right in saying
" the lighter the weight, the better does a body transmit sound '
but only in conjunction with a mysterious function of elasticity,
which figures so largely in scholastic formulae and ideas. We know
that air transmits sound in round numbers, about 1,000 ft. per
second ; water 4,000 ft. ; and some dense woods and metals, 10,000
to 15,000 ft. per second. A great chemist on the Continent is
holding up to ridicule a kind of weekly anthology of modem
chemical utterances ; with some sueh feeling I would try to fairly
paraphrase the sound contentions of '* T. J. H." (query 14, p. 123).
The condensation augments the elasticity by the heat generated in
the condensation of particles. The rarefaction augments the elasti-
city by the cola generated, and also by the separation of particles.
The heat generated remains there to increase the velocity. It is
because the heat generated in the condensation augments the rapi-
dity of the condensation, and the cold developed, augments the
rapidity of the rarefaction, that the heat and cold both help to
augment the velocity of the sound wave. Eolecticvs.
THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE.
[174]— Tliere is no attraction of the kind " W. H. P." (query 90,
p. 123) seems to suppose. The affection is one rather of polarity
or deflection. Let "W. H. P." imagine a globe with convolutions
of wire conveying electricity round the equator, representing atrtual
earth currents, then he will find that particles of air or iron will
have a binarj- polarity induced in them, at right angles to the
direction of current. There will be a field of magnetism where
the lines of force point N. and S., or to the two poles ; but there
is no tendency to movement or change of position of the polarized
medium.
N
ma
^
_>
In order to remove any ambiguity about these poles, it may be
well to explain that this same field of force subsists all round any
wiri- conveying a current. Here, then, we have a circular field of
force with no poles. Let (a) be a section»of the wire carrying a
current downwards or from the point of view ; then small un-
magnoti/.ed needles (with no directivity) would have polarity
induced in them such as to point east, west, north, or south, as per
diagram. If the current flow upwards, these polarities would be
reversed.
In very many cases, arrows indicate motion or a tendency to
motion. In this case, they only convey the idea of polarity in the
media, where iron is immensely more sensitive or conductive than
air. Eclecticcs.
BUTTERCUPS— BEES AS FLOWER FERTILISERS.
[175] — In answer to "West Riding," I should like to remail;
that where grasses, daisies, and docks predominate, I have never
obsen-ed that the vegetation was "thick and matted;" I was
alluding rather to tangled hedgerows and overgrown spaces. " Weet
Riding" can hardly exjicct me to explain the whole philosophy of
leaves, among other things, in a single short article. Oddly enough,
my intention, before seeing his letter, was to write a paper for
Knowledge on the foliage of daisies and plantains, and, with the
Editor's kind permission — [Gladly accorded. — En.]— I will now do
so shortly. The subject is one which I have long been observing.
Mr. Dunbavand is mistaken in supposing that bees never visit
Jan-. G, 1882.]
KNCWL.EDGE ♦
209
orcups. Whether the hive-bee in particular does so, I cannot
\rith certainty; but I am sure that the common bumble-bee is
II found among the flowers. Of course, other insects also aid in
ilising them. Grant Allen-.
NUMERICAL COIXCIDEXCES.
[176] — This numerical disease is not confined to the Pyramids
and astronomy.
M. Berger, referrinfr to the failure of Front's theory, that all the
atoms might be multiples of the unit hydrogen, finds out that by
dividing the chief elements into five groups, then all are multiples,
or submultiples of five specified values, which are aotated
H, D', D', D^, and D*. He attaches much value to this classification,
but admits that *' these five divisors have no value or relation
among themselves."
A professor of iHarvard College, America, professes to see
farther into a brick wall than M. Berger, under the attractive title,
of "Atomic Phyllotaxy," to wit : —
Berger. Phyllotactic.
H = -9997 = l-16th of O = -998
D' = -769 = 5-13th of D» = -768
ID' = 1-995 = l-8thofO = 1996
D' = lo59 = (i X |)> of 0 = 1-559
D' = 1 215 = 5-Sths of D- = 1-247
ECLECTICUS.
THE SUN'S COXS'HTUTIOX, AND ORIGIN OF SUN-SPOTS.
[177] — I have noticed that in many modem text-books of
astronomy (especially' those published since 1870), doubts are
expressed as to the truth of Herschel's theory of the sun's consti-
tution (to which for so many years astronomers had inclined) viz.,
the theory of a comparatively cool nucleus, enclosed in two con-
centric shells of matter, analagous to our clouds, of which the
outer forms the visible surface of the sun. In your " Poetry of
Astronomy" you say, "We know the sun to be infinitely more
complex in structure .... than it was formerly supposed to be.
.... We have learned that .... the gloiving veil of air hides by
day .... the largest (though not the most massive) part of that
enn " Would you give us a paper in Knowledge on this
most interesting of astronomical subjects, as in your books you do
not explain what you intend to convey by the above ? I presume
you speak of the sun's chrom^at]osphere, corona, and the atmo-
sphere discovered by Professor Young. I should be much obliged
if you would insert my letter, as I should much like to see corre-
spondence on this most interesting subject. Discussions on it
would be far more interesting than those on Anti-Gnebre's absurd
"■-iiy. Hoping for the favour of insertion, — -Believe me, yours,
ViGNOLES.
'>^*e shall be only too glad. Our fear is lest readers should think
'■ - ^ive too much space to our own subjects. — ^Ed.]
SINGULAR PROPERTY OF NUMBER 4.
[178] — The following is a solution of this interesting property of
I numbers for the number 19.
|4 - ( 4 + r) = 19 Ti t-
I — V 4/ H. Snell.
[Functional 4, or the products of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, can hardly
be regarded as a fraction of 4 in the sense required for the solution
of this little problem. Neither can 4, or 4 divided by 10. — Ed.]
SMALL TELESCOPES.
[179] — As I am about to purchase a telescope for astronomical
purposes, I am at a loss whether to invest in a refracting or a
reflecting telescope. The work I want it for is the course specified
in Webb's " Celestial Objects," at least as far as an ordinary 3iin.
refractor, with powers of 70 to 200, would snflice ; but I do not know
whether to purchase a refractor of this aperture, or a reflector with
corresponding powers. I am not prepared to invest beyond £15
for the instrument, and should feel extremely obliged if you could
advise me as to what to buy. By so doing you wonld infinitely
oblige, yours truly, " " W. Eidd. '
VERMIN.
[180] — I should be glad if you would insert an article in your
valuable paper upon the uses of those apparently useless insects,
bugs, fleas, flies, roaches, &c., or if yon could name a good book upon
the subject.
Hoping that your paper will have the utmost success. — Yours,
Ax Amateur.
[We hope our readers -will not say, -with Mr. Pecksniff : — " Oh,
vermin! Oh, bloodsuckers I Begone! abscond!" — Ed.]
MALE AND FEMALE HEADS.
[181] — It appears to me that in the correspondence on this
subject, too little prominence is given to the effect of long-continued
training in the development of the male head and its faculties,
while, in estimating female powers, few writers or speakers care to
remember that, till within the last few years, a liberal educa-
tion was beyond the reach of average" women. Among the
uneducated classes, is it not frequently the woman who is
the manager, the shrewd head of the household ? It would
be fairer to measure relative power where both sexes are
comparatively untaught, rather than in the classes where
the men have for generations had the benefit of schools and
colleges, while their sisters were indulging in " vapours " and
" sensibility." Of course, there are plenty of fashionable fools
still (whose waists are as small as their sense), but it would be rude
to suggest that they might easily find their parallels among the
loungers in St. James's-street, especially during the Derby week. I
heard lately of a singular case of growth of the head of a student
who has begun his work somewhat late ; and, pace the artists, I
hope that in a few generations our women's brains may show the
result of broad education. If it is true that sons take after their
mothers, the future Englishmen should not be the wors<? for increased
intelligence and culture among those who make their homes.
M. McC.
PHRENOLOGY AND THE BRAIN.
[182] — I was very much pleased with your remarks on phreno-
logy in "Answers to Correspondents" the other week, and must
certainly concur with them. 1 think that the whole drift of modem
physiological experiments tends to a disproval of the conclusions
of phrenology. Dr. Fem'er's experiments, for instance, have shown
that the individual convolutions of the brain are separate and
distinct centres, and that " in certain definite groups of convolu-
tions, and in corresponding regions of non-convoluted brains, are
localised the centres for the various movements of the eyelids, the
face, the mouth and tongue, the ear, the neck, the hand, foot, and
tail." We have thus certain definite areas of the brain superintend-
ing variotis motions of the body, but we can find no trace of the
numerous "esses" with which the phrenological vocabulary
abounds. Certain lesions, moreover, prevent the voluntary move-
ment of special groups of muscles. J. H. H.
DARWINISM.— THE DESCENT OF MAN.
[183] — The Darwinian theory of the origin of man, of aU forms
of vertebrate life — that is, of all animals having a backbone and
internal skeleton — is not, apparently from communications to
Knowledge, so generally accepted as I supposed. There can be,
then, no singularity in the apparition of another doubter.
"Vestiges of Creation" initiated the great public in the
doctrines of the evolutionists. The work is a reputed hash of
matter and ideas from German and French sources. The work had
a great run, lived its day, died, and left no permanent impression.
Mr. Darwin's unique works have influenced the entire civilised
world. His profound investigations and remarkable method of
developing his labours to the public gave Mr. Dar\vin, almost at a
bound, a scientific and literary position such as few other men hold.
But, with all this, I cannot reconcile myself to his theories, nor to
the theories on which they are based.
I am neither biologist, nor ethnologist, nor anthropologist ; I am
simply one of the common herd of readers, with the difference,
perhaps, that occasionally I venture on the more diflicult labour of
thinking. I may not have, but I presume I have, discernment enough
to follow the lines of Darwin, and his co-labourers, .so far as the steps
of what, to me, is doubtfully the propyla^um of the impenetralium
that conceals the secrets of the Almighty Intellect we name Nature,
and adore as Jehovah, Lord, and God.
" Vestiges" excited theologians, but the "Decent of Man" pro-
voked them to rancour. The forcibly disagreeable, which the
" Descent " is to very many, bites into the mind ; the feeble slides
over it. But the idiocrasy of the caste, the fenced lines of thought
they habitually move in, blinded them to the actuality. They beat,
and continue to beat themselves against a gross misapprehension of
their o>vn. Mr. Dar^^in presented his thesis as an argument to a
pro'oable conclusion ; not as demonstrative of the absolutely certain.
He has not arrived at a perfect induction, and makes no pretension
to it, that I perceive.
Darwinism is based on the labours of the German transcendental
anatomists, and on later theories by fitienne Geoffroy. Mr. Darwin
elaborated on their principles bj- an organon of his own.
Geoffrey's epigrammatic enunciation, " There is but one animal,
not many," involves the whole case of the evolutionists. The plain
meaning of this dictum is, that all animals of the vertebrate class
are formed on one plan ; that all animals are a printogenial animal,
repeated through time, in modified plan.
210
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Jan. 6, 1882.
(lOtliv's theory in, apparently, Idnntical with GeoCTroy's; bat tho
it'veliitiuii of tho (iormnii comos to us a great thought, in chaato
gruntleur of expression. " " Comporutivo anatomy,** ho writes,
" huJi united all organic natnro under ono idea; it leads na from
form to forms, and while we contem))lato near or far-removed
luiturcs, we rise above them alj, to see their individualities in ono
ideal tj-pe." The entire literature of biology can show no equal to
this unfolding of tho transcendental idea of evolution.
This is Darwinism, in my conception of it. Tho " ism,'* then,
rests on the assumption that all animals arc descendants from one
common ancestor.
Linked with this fundamental, there are four propositions wo
may expect without endangering any agreement to negative the
fundamental. Indeed, save to present tho case of the evolutionists
in completeness, they need not have been brought in here. They
arc : — 1. That no two animals aro comi)lctely identical. 2. That
offspring tend to inherit peculiarities of parents. 3. That of
unimala brought into existence, but a small number attain maturity.
■1. That those which aro best adapted to tho circumstances in which
they are placed, arc most likely to leave descendants.
Wallace, who worked on lines conterminous with Darwin's,
without being conscious of tho fact, put this matter in a much
better manner. Ho postulates : — 1. Peculiarities of every kind aro
more or less hereditary. 2. The offspring of every animal vary
more or loss in all parts of their organisation. 3. Tho universe in
which these animals live is not absolutely invariable. 4. Tho
animals in any country (those, at least, which are not dying out)
must at each successive period be brought into harmony mth the
surrounding conditions. " These," ho affirms, " are all the elements
required for change of form and structure in animals, keeping
c.\act pace \vith changes of whatever nature in the surrounding
universe. Such changes must be slow, for tho changes in the
universe are very slow."
1 have, I believe, now put before you, briefly but accurately, the
basis and principles of tho evolutionists — of Danvinism, so called.
The first, I might say the only, difficulty of the theory is the
foundation. That all animals are the issue of one common parent,
and are but v,iried plans of that parent, brought about by time and
change of telluric and climatic conditions, is a postulate that has
no support in tangible fact, or appearance of fact, may be as safely
affirmed as we may affirm that it is tho expression of a phantasy of
brains driven to overreach their powers.
What was the first-born animal, the common parent of all
animals ? How did it come to be, and in what form did it appear ?
There is no answer to these two questions ; to neither of them.
If we could rid ourselves of Pasteur's disproof of spontaneous
generation, we might imagine a segregation of atoms that should
actjnire life, and develop into a catorpillar-liko creature, which
would pass through several transformations, embryonic, we maj-
say, after the jnanner of butterfiy development, ending in an
animal of some kind, even man — the requisites, heat and food,
being present. Verj' big things are produced from very small
germs. Admit a beginning of this kind, wo admit probability of
innumerable various organs, and so account for every distinct
animal in creation ; for the endless kinds of insects, and the living
myriads of the sea. In reality, the admission would put ns in
accord with the prodigious fecundity of Nature.
Then, how shall we account for the many kinds of vegetable
forms? tho ash, tho oak, the beech, the elm, the pine, the birch ?
Are they evolutions from each other, or from imaginary trees of a
long past epoch of earth-history ?
But my main object is man. How came he? whence ? and in what
shape ? Settle that, and all is settled. Dar\nnism tells us ho is a
lower animal, moulded by time and environments into his present
form. The popular chiint, " Tho long-tailed ape was the primal
shape that led up to Adam and Eve," is not exactly an expression
of Mr. Dar%vin's notion, though it is of Monboddo's. But Mr.
Darwin might just ns well have assigned us to au ape origin, as to a
featureless thing of his own prolific imagination.
Tho origin of man has not been reasoned to. We cannot go back
to it, fact by fact, for the needed facts aro not. From first to last,
we run through conjectures, and arrive at nothing but a final con-
jecture, worth no more than tho conjectures that preceded it.
Whether the Caucasian man and tho negro man have the same
origin, is a jiroblem standing from tho general question for sepamte
solution. Following the genn theory I have hinted at, would the
germ from which the Caucasian would issue bo one and the same,
chemically, with that from which tho negro would issue ? But
liinging on this is another question, Did tho men appear con-
temporaneously ?
Here, however, I must stop without completing my design. I
have, I fear, already overrun the space I should have confined
myself to.— Yours faithfully, B. Domiavand.
Picton, Chester.
©ufn'rs.
[113] — Gravity. — Docs tho orthcKioi dctiniiion of masis in terma
of gravity 'j M = W mean that it requires j'j part of the weight of
a body to overcome its inertia f — Zahe.s. [It is a numerical state-
ment, not a definition. — Ed.]
[1'14] — Mass. — If a weight, say one ton, bo suspended by a per-
fectly llexiblo line of infinite length, what forco in ponnds would
overcome the inertia of the mass in a direction at right angles to
tho direction of gravity? — Zabbs. [Any force, however small.—
Ei).]
[115] — I.NEBTiA. — How is it that when I make 10,000 gallons of
water pass over a perforated plate per minute, in a level position,
there is a loss of 20 gallons per minute, but when tho velocity af
the water is reduced so that only 5,000 gallons per minute pass
over, that then there is a loss of 250 gallons per minute through the
perforations ? — N.B. — 50 per cent, of the plate has been punched. —
Zares.
[146] — Chemical. — (1.) Wliy is the nitrogen contained in admix-
ture with the oxygen in atmospheric air not absorbed by the lungs,
as is the oxygon ? (2.) If — as stated by Dr. Pavy and others — the
value of hydrates of carbon as food is to be estimated onlij by the
amount of uu>xidised material they contain, what is the part played
in the living body by the portion of the food already oxidised?
Starch and sugar, e.g., contain about 49 per cent, of carbcn and
hydrogen, and 51 per cent, of oxygen ; so that but a very smdl
amount of carbon remains nnoxidiscd and available for combustion
in the organism. What becomes of the bulk of such food ? — E. M.
[147] — B. Sc. E.X.AM1NAT10N, Edinbirgh University. — I am
desirous of obtaining information regarding the degree of B. Sc-
at the Edinburgh University Examination. Would any of our
correspondents kindly inform mo through the medium of Knov-
LEDGE what the subjects of examination are, and if it would be
possible to pass without attending the University? If not, how
long would I possibly have to attend, and what would be the pro-
bable costs for fees, books, &c. ? I have attended evening classes
in connection mth the " Science and An Department," and haTe
passed first class in tho elementary and advanced stages of
chemistry (theoretical and practical), electricity, and acoustics,
light and heat. Would the passing of these examinations be of any
assistance ? I have also an elementary knowledge of geols]
botany, zoology, theoretical mechanics, and mathematics. An
answer to the above will greatly oblige — A PHiLosopnicA.L Bbcsh-
MAEER.
[148] — Brewing. — (1). Having been in the habit of separating
dextrose from cane-sugar by dissolving out the former in common
alcohol, and having read in Prof. Graham's " Chemistry of Bread-
making," that dextrose is less soluble in alcohol than caue-sngar, I
am anxious to ascertain which sugar is the more soluble in the s
reagent. (2.) Does basic acetate of lead precipitate dextrin?
All text-books I have read state so, and yet I cannot obtain a pre-
cipitate on adding small or large quantities of the said salt of lead
to cither dilute or concentrated solutions of dextrin. — E. M. D.
[149] — DiAJiETEK OF Sun. — As we cannot see the half of a globe
whoso diameter is greater than the width of our eyes how mndl
larger is the real diameter of the sun than the diameter we see ?
As I have not seen this taken into account in any book I have read,
an answer would oblige, yours truly. — A. B. J. [The ratio of leal
diameter to apparent is that of tangent to sine of apparent angnlar
radius, or, say, of 16 minutes. The logarithm of this ratio
00000047, the number corresijonding to which is about 1000001 ;
so that tho sun's real exceeds his apjmrent diameter by about one-
millionth part, or rather less than a mile. — Ep.]
[150] — Alpha Cassiopeia. — Can you tell me what is the magni-
tude of tho companion of Alpha Cassiopeia ? — Harris. [Estimated
as about eleventh magnitude — bluish in colour. — Ed.]
[151] — Jordan Barometer. — What is the density of tho glycerine
in this, as used in tho Times office f I make it 1'202 by calculation.
Is this pure glycerine ? — C. T. B.
[152] — Nickel-plating. — How is this done on iron withont a
battery ?— C. T. B.
[150] — CEs.-iATioN OF THE Sun's Heat. — It was stated by Sir 3.
Lubbock, at tho last British .\ssociation meeting, that, after the
Ia|)se of seventeen million years, the sun would be cooled down to
such an extent as to cease to emit light and heat. Will you kindly
inform me on what grounds this is ascertained, and, if true, what
must be tho ultimate condition of the solar system, especially that
of our own globe ? — A. von Koulte.
[153] — DoiiiTFCL Organisms. — Kindly give me the names of
those organisms, the nature of which, whether plant or animal, is
doubtful. — H. J. C. W. — [Aro any organisms doubtful, according
to tho modern definitions of plants and animals? — Ed.]
Jax. 6, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
211
[154] — Fbocs. — Why are frogs excluded from the class Reptilia ?
— H. J. C. W. — [We always supposed that the class Reptilia
included the Amphilia, and that frogs were classed as Batrachian
Amphibia. — Ed.]
[155] — ToETOiSES. — Wliat is the average duration of life of the
tortoise, and how long can they remain under the earth ? —
H. J. C. W.
[156] — WoKMs. — How is it that when a worm is severed in two,
its parts still show signs of activity ? — H. J. C. W. — [If you
consider the nature of the nervous system in worms (and all
articulated animals) that a double chain of ganglia, one may
almost say of brains, runs along the body, you vaU see that the
phenomenon is natural enough. — Ed.]
[157] — An-MUMM. — The characteristic ingredient of common
clay — what is the present process of obtaining this metal, or is
there a treatise published on its extraction ? Will any one of the
metallurgists of Knowledge kindly furnish the information to one
who believes that (by a new process) the price of aluminum might
be reduced to that of copper ? — Luna.
[158] — A 1 lb. weight is carried to the top of a tower. Would
this, if allowed to fall, raise another 1 lb. from the ground ? They
are connected by a thread passing over a pulley. Xeglect, of
course, the weight of thread, and assume it to be perfectly flexible
and to move without friction. — H. Rolfe. — [" H. Rolfe " should read
a description of Atwood's machine. The weights would not move
aniess some impulse were communicated to one or other. Such an
impulse downwards on the upper weight would cause uniform
motion of both weights, until the one which had been uppermost
reached the ground. — Ed.]
[160] — Botany. — Can any one tell me who was the author of
" The British Garden," a descriptive catalogue of hardy plants,
indigenous or cultivated, in Great Britain, with Latin and English
naines ? Two vols., published by S. Hazard, of Bath, 1799. —
El-PTKBIS.
[161] — Heat fbom the Stars. — Does the earth receive an appre-
ciable, or any amount of heat from the stars ? — Stcdent. [From
measm-ements of the heat of a few bright stars and comparissn
with heat received from sun, as also of light of star with light from
sun, the inference seems sound that the total heat received from
stars, bears to solai- heat something like the same proportion that
tlie light received from all the stars bears to the sun's light. — Ed.]
^fplifsi to ©unirs.
[79] — Mental Phtsiology. — As " S. S. S. S." seems anxious to
test the accuracy of my information concerning Mr. Cvples's book,
1 can only tell him how it came under my notice, which was by
press reviews, particularly one from Prof. Groom Robertson's organ.
Mind, which carried conviction to my mind that a ver^- unique and
able work on the subject was referred to. I at once obtained it,
and (as stated before) on the menial side, and as being exactly in
keeping with its title, have never had any regret in so having pur-
chased it. It would be out of place here to say further. If he
wont to Strahan's and asked to see the book, he might get a little
idea thus of its character, &c. — S.
[125]. — It is possible to prepare indigo on the large scale, but,
unfortunately, not profitably. The well-kno^vn German chemical
factory at Baden succeeded in producing artificial indigo, which
made its appearance in the market as a commercial article, but it
was announced in the newspapers a week or two ago that operations
have been discontinued, as at present it cannot be made to pay. —
H. Gbimshaw.
[136] — Sunlight on Fire. — The draught of a fire depends in
great measure on difference of temperature between air in chimney
and air in room. Sunlight, by heating' the air round a fire, tends to
create a draught in wrong direction. A smoker's draught, being
created by the lungs, does not seem a parallel case. — C. T. B.
[71] — X.iSTES OF Flowers. — Haj-ward's " Botanist's Pocket-
Book," 4s. Cd. (Bell & Sons), gives both scientific and common
names, with concise characteristics. Dr. Hooker's "' Student's
Flora," 10s. 6d. (Macmillan), though giving fuller particulars than
any other handbook, contains comparatively few common names.
Bentham's "British Flora," 12s. (Reeve & Co.), contains many
common names and a complete " English scientific nomenclature,"
also outlines of botany. &c. ; but it includes fewer species and
varieties than either Havward's or Hooker's. — Eupteris.
[80] — The Chin. — ■■ Ethnologist's " observations are not in
accordance with the remarks of Lavater, who says that " flatness
of chin bespeaks the cold and ilrj- ; smallness, fear ; and roundness.
with a dimple, benevolence." Elsewhere, he adds: — "A long
broad, thick chin — I speak of the bony chin — is only found in rude,
harsh, proud, and violent persons. — Eupteris.
[90] — The Magnetic Needle. — I believe it is considered that a
current of electricity is constantly passing round the earth from
east to west, causing the magnetic needle to point north and south.
Similarly, a wire from a battery, passing over or under the needle,
will make it stand at right angles to the current. — Eupteris.
[105] — "J. S." can obtain all the information he requires from
Mr. James English, naturalist, of Epping village, who is to bo
congratulated as the discoverer of a very ingenious, and, I believe,
the only sure process of preserving fungi and lichens, and not only
these, for in his hands even flowers of the most delicate structure
and hue retainjall the grace of form and richness of colour provided
by nature. Having myself seen many remarkably perfect and
beautiful examples of Mr. English's work on both fungi and flowers,
I can recommend (as it gives me much pleasure to do) your corre-
spondent and others interested in this really valuable discovery to
communicate with him. In consequence of the great success of the
method, and the largo demand following upon it, I understand Mr.
English is engaged upon publishing it in full — a generous act for the
benefit of the world at large — and the subscription-list is open to any
wishing to obtain a copy of his book. It only remains for me to add
that, personally, I am entirely disinterested in the production, and
offer this information as well for the profit of those botanists who
are as yet unacquainted with this somewhat obscure but worthy
worker, as for his own reward, and knowing that every nature-
loving student will be glad to learn that the longed-for end has
at last been secured, and that he can, without difficulty or expense,
avail himself of its accomplishment. It may also be here recorded
that it was the same industrious and deserving naturalist to
whom we are indebted for introducing the largely-adopted practice
of '' sugaring " for moths. — W. W., Highbury.
[105] — Fungi axd Lichens. — In answer to "J. S.," in last Fri-
day's Knowledge, Mr. D. Bogue, publisher, 3, St. Martin's-place,
Trafalgar-square, publishes a book on British Fungi, by M. C. Cook,
M.A.. LL.D., which is, I believe, generally considered to be an
excellent work.
[108] — The Eye as ont: op the Senses. — In answer to " T. T."
(query No. 128), the same publisher advertises a little book by Dr.
Dudgeon, entitled, " The Human Eye : its Optical Construction
popularly explained." Price 3s. 6d. — R. T.
[IIOJ— The Coal Age and the Earth's Internal Heat. — The
fact that in the lower levels of the silver mines on the " Comstock "
lode in Nevada (say 1,600 feet from the croppings), the men can
only work fifteen-minute shifts, owing to the heat, may throw some
light on this subject. — E. F. B. Harston.
[110] — The Coal Age and the Earth's Intern.il Heat. — The
theory that the earth was once in a state of fusion, has many sound
arguments in its favour, one being that the oblate-spheroidal
shape of the earth was produced by the exertion of the centrifugal
force on the molten mass of the earth, like a similar shape would be
produced if a mop were whii-led rapidly round in the hand. We
have the evidence of geysers and hot springs, and, to some extent,
of volcanos and earthquakes, that some of the original fire in the
earth's internal regions still exists. The increase of temperature
as we descend into the earth is 1° F., for every 50 or 60 ft. The
gigantic flora of the coal period was perhaps as dependent on the
internal as on the external heat which was exerted on it ; that is,
supposing, as most likely was the case, that the regions of fire
in the earth were, in those remote ages of time, much greater than
now, — each age "witnessing a decreased space of internal heat com-
pared with the preceding. — Herbert E. Weller. — [The answer
is rather crude, but some of the relations indicated are worth
studying. — Ed.]
[131] — Creation. — Read also Lyell's "Antiquity of Man" and
Lubbock's " Pre-historic Times." — Paugul.
[133]. — The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for science article
every month. Good Words, of coming year, for articles on " Science
and Religion " ; also " Proceedings of the Royal Society," for a year
or so ago, contain — or will contain — articles by the Rev. W. H.
Dallinger. None of Mr. Dallingcr's lectures have been published, I
believe. — Paugul.
[134] — Cheap Telescope. — Complete instructions to make a tele-
scope would, I fear, be too voluminous for this journal, requiring.
as it would, a page or two ; but if the querist will write to me I will
give him the information he wishes for. — Paugul.
[136] — Sunlight on Fires. — It is useless to quote housemaids
about such things. It is absurd to suppose that sunlight prevents
a fire or a cigar from burning. The fire will appear to be out when
a bright light shines on it, and you let it go out when the sun
shines, because it is warmer then than at other times. The fire in
my study is in sunlight every day (if the sun appears), and sun-
light has never yet put it out. I can also testify that in India the
sun never puts out either fire or cigar. — Paugul.
212
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 6, 1882.
[141]— Time or Glacial Erocn.— Tliie querist need not trouble
liiniBcIf about any othifr theories than Croll's. There are others,
however, uiiil if he is ambitious of wasting some valuable time ho
may read Col. Drayson's " Ijist Glacial Epoch." — Pacocl.
Namks of STAB.S. — In reference to letter 127, paffo 143,
there is no work in Gn^tlish on the names of the stars. There is
one in German, by a writer named Ideler, and is called " Ueber
den Ursprunp; nnd die Bedeutun« der Sternnamen " — " On the
Origin and Sijjnitication of Starnames." It is a pity that there is
no translation of this work into Enjflish. Of the great interest
scientific, archa-ological, and poetic, attaching to the names of stars,
there surely can be no question. — Zkta.
Weathek Gi'iiiE. — (Page 128). Allow me to mention that
Messrs. Routledge publish just such a guide, entitled " A Manual
of Wcathcrcasts," Is.— Euptebis.
9[nstorr£{ to CoiTtspontinits.
•,• All communifatitmM for iKt Editor requiring tarlg atttniion thould reach tht
Office on or h^ore Ike Saturday preceding the curreiU issue of EsoWLZDOB, <A«
inrrearing circulation o/ tchieh compel* ne to go to pre" early in the «eek,
UlsTS TO CORBESPOSDESTS.— 1. Xo qiteitiont asking /or scientific information
can be ansvered through the post. 2. Letters sent to the Editor for correspondents
cannot be fonearded ; nor can the names or addresses (f correspondents be given in
ansKcr to private inquiries. 3. -Vo queries or replies savouring of the nature qf
advcrlisemcnts can be inserted, -i. Lctttrs, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to RuU 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should irrite on one side
only of the paper, and put drawings on a separate let^f. 6. Ea^h letter, query, or
repUf should kate a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
wtade tothe nunler of letter or query , the page on which it appears, and its title.
K,^Y. Your 8nf,'gestion, that ladies should meet for discussion of
matters scientific, educational, phrenological, and physiological,
instead of tea and small talk, is no doubt excellent ; but our
space is too crowded for the in.'^ertion of your remarks in full. —
Zarks. We agree with you that all paradoxes should not be
omitted from a paper like the jiresent. We propose to act in
accordance with that view. — T. Pkeston Batteksbye. From
some of my published essays, you will see I take great interest
in the pheuomena of mesmerism : I would like much to see
your papers. — W. A. C. What we said about vivisection was
very moderate. We, of course, have nothing to say to the
change of law, which you suggest as logical. If you
had ever known the torture of one dear to you
alleviated through knowledge accjuired from such experiments
as you denounce, you would possibly see that the question
has two sides to it. — O.ne I.ntekested ix Science. Heat
waves and light waves are of the same nature, and both travel
through the ether. JIany light waves are heat waves, and rice
i-ersi. Your second question belongs to a region outside of
knowledge. The gratings referred to by Prof. C. A. Young, are
what are called refraction gratings, in reality, series of fine
parallel lines cut on glass very close together. The formation of
a spectrum by means of such a grating requires a fuller explana-
tion than we can give here. A collimator is a portion of the
spectroscopic apj>aratus by wliich the rays are made parallel
before entering tlie spectroscope proper. — Gcs'. The dimensions
of space may be described as length, breadth, and depth. In a
plane wo have only two dimensions, length and breadth. Some
geometers think they can imagine the possibility of a fourth
dimension. When they can show us that a point may be neither
in a piano nor out of it, we may begin to think with them. —
W. WiLSo.v, M.A. Is it not purely a question of words?
You would say, wo seo the light that comes from an
object ; others would say (and, I think, rather more
correctly) that wo seo the object by means of the light. — Hexky
Wkntworth JIo.nk. You suppose I " have not forgotten pub-
lishing" for you" in the English J/cc/innic about nine years ago ;"
1 remember writing a short notice in the Paradox Column of your
theory of Re-Cre,ation, but "publishing" for you would have been
a different matter. I have read your letters headed " The God of
Israel" and "The Lord of Hosts" in the Jewish World. Thanks
for sending the paper to me ; but the letters are hardly suited for
notice in these columns. — F. P. No ; at least that was not the
name given. Sleep preventatives are not safe. Drowsiness
(unless following after too heavy a meal, tho use of stimulants,
opiates, and tho like), means that rest is needed, and that, there-
fore, rest should be taken. Your other (jucry would hardly be
understood. Even Dr. Andrew Wilson could not, off-hand, tell
you tho name, origin, and habits of creatures about which you
only say that they are minute, have developed themselves
recently within your aquarium, are white, have numerous legs,
and dart through the water with a jerky, spasmodic movement,
some of them carrying what you suppose to be their young upon
their backs. But if yon were to describe briefly the original con-
tents of your aquarium, give the exact number of legu, and state
something definite as to the size and shape of the small white
creatures, yourquery should appear. — Uaeky Whate.h. We should
have to insert rejoinders if your article were published. We have
definitely stated more than once that onr subject is science, and
that in theso pages the religious doctrines of no sect whatever shaU
be either attacked or defended. — E. Bl'Rke. Declined with thanks;
no space. — R.T. Thanks; but we ought not to insert what amoimta
in fact to a definite advertisement of the books named. Cause
of curved shape of rainbow has been explained in recent nnmben.
Along lines inclined at a certain angle to the line from sun
to observer (they make an acute angle with this line produced)
come the rays giving, after internal reflexion in rain drops, each
particular colour. Therefore, the rainbow arc of that colour is ft
circle on the sky, having the point directly opposite the snn
(with reference to the observer) as its centre. Loomis'e
" Treatise on Practical Astronomy " is, we believe, to be obtained
of Triibner, if not jmblished by them. Its y>rice is Ss. or 8s. 6d.
— W. B. KcssELL. The promised paper on the subject of moon's
former proximit}' to the earth shall presently appear. (The
moon was not i)rojected from the earth, according either to this
theory or to any other regarded as admissible by science.)
Xo. 7 can still be obtained from the publishers. — Toper. Your
question is vague. You can get a useful knowledge of the
elements of astronomy with the time yon mention as at your
disposal, if you use it well. But the books you have are not very
well suited for your purpose. Herschel is too diflicult. and the
" Elementary Lessons " (though written by one who has done
excellent work in some departments of astronomy) has too
many errors in it to be of much use, unless, indeed, yon
could get from Appleton's, New York, the American edition,
in which the errors arising from the author's want of familiarity
%vith mathematical and theoretical astronomy have been corrected.
— Excelsior. We thoroughly agree with yon, though we have no
room for 3'our letter. Whipping means, in ninety-nine cases out of
a hundred, laziness and bad temper on the teacher's part ; where
the teacher is also a parent, you may say a hundred instead of
ninety-nine. — Amiccs Scienti.e. We have already reprinted back
numbers, but third editions are rather costly affairs. — M. J. H.
As a rule, extra outlay for larger size telescope will repay. Few
ever buy a telescope who do not before lung wish they had bought
a larger one. I would advise yon to get the largest and best yon can
afford. Such an instrument as you describe would do a great
deal of interesting work for you, if the object-glass is by a good
maker. The question about nebula; and double stars is vague.
Every telescope will show some double stars, and give interesting
views of some nebute. See answer to "Amicus Scicntise" as to
back numbers. — J. C. Lloyd. The constellations revolve around
the pole, the pole itself remaining unchanged in position. The
pole-star revolves in a small c'lrcle around the pole. — M. M., alias
J. H. Have we not requested that yon would put outside your
letters an address to which they may be returned ? Did you think
we were blind, that we should not see through so thin a disgnise ':*
— W. StoTT. Mr. Allen shows that where such and such qualities
appear, such and such results follow. If the results you suggest
followed from the silveriness of whitebait, natural selection wonld
cause the species to become less silvery, generation after gene-
ration. But doubtless the colour is protective. In what yon
suggest as to creatures animate or inanimate having anything
to do with the matter, of their own will, you are, of course,
joking. — William Fredericks. Is there a bump of spelling in
your phrenological system ? Or are we to suppose that the
" prooff" and "infamation" you require are some articles
of which we have not yet heard ? We have not asserted
that "to term a system a science it must have adherents
among men of science," because that needs no assertion, and
requires no proof. To be scientific, a system must be able to bear
scientific tests. — J. Baretz. You say, amongst other remarkable
things, that the celebrated Courvoisier was a great admirer of
Gall and Spurzheim : surely you must mean Corvisart. Cour-
voisier was a murderer. — W.B.G. You arc right, but the fact is
pretty well known that Archimedes showed tho sphere and cir-
cumscribing cylinder to have equal cur\-ed areas, as a iircliminary
to establishing the relation between their volumes. It has never
yet been shown that the ir relation in the great pyramid should
replace that given by Herodotus as the one determining the
pyramid's height — namely, that surface of each face is equal to
si|uare on diameter. The pyramid fulfils this quite as closely as
the other. — Cosmos. Wo sympathise with your views ; but we have
to combine several quaUties in oixler to appeal to as many as pos-
sible.— W. .Cave T. Longmans, Chatto A Windus, and Smith,
Elder, & Co. — S. E. O'Dell. Xo, sir. We are obliged to you, but
desire no continued articles in favour of phrenology, or against t
Jan. 6, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
213
either. — Zabes. When did we promise to insert authentic abnormal
mental phenomena ? We promised to insert accounts of scientific
experiments relatinjr to mental matters. Tlie story yon relate,
"told you by a reliable person," can hardly be so described. It
is, in fact, one of those which we considered likely to reach us
too freely if wc opened the columns of Knowledge to accounts
of spiritual manifestations. — H. Woolley. Wo are inclined to
agree with tou, perhaps because it would save us much trouble
to exclude "such letters as you refer to. — Amos Hinton. Because
fresh cold air continually replaces that which had been in contact
with the body, which in a calm would be warmed. — A
CE0SSI.EY. The nebular hyjjothesis of Laplace is seldom correctly
explained. An intcrcstinsf account of it is given in Nichol's
"Architecture of the Heavens." — G. H. Mapleton. Printing the
star-maps on a separate loose sheet involves extra expense, and
this is a rather important consideration in a journal so cheap as
ours. — A. T. C. Absolutely impossible to find room for your
solar puzzle. But it is certain that if you had got up while the
phenomena were in progress, and looked tlirough the holes,
at the sun, you would have seen some object, near or far
off, obscuring his disc. — Osw.\ld D.^wsox. You require our
correspondents to be somewhat too precise. They know what they
mean, pretty well, when they speak of the relative position of the
sexes (to take one of your examples) ; why insist that they should
define when, where, and how, in precise detail, thej- mean the
sexes to be compared. — A correspondent, who gives us no name,
asks us to explain the electro-magnetic theory of light. We know
of no such theory. The writer who says the undulatory theorj' is
fast being swallowed up piecemeal by the electro-magnetic
knows very little about the matter. The evidence for the undu-
latory theory is simply overwhelming. — W. E. Blythe. Thanks
for abstracts, which shall appear. — Fred. Denier, Milwaukee.
Thanks for encouraging words. — Harri.s J. J. Brum, and J. P.
GiLMoUR. Thanks ; one sees the silver side, the other the
golden : but it is the same shield. — J. Calvert. Your advice
to the emiHcnt professor, coupled with that which you are good
enough to give us, brings to the mind, somehow, the instructive
lines ; —
Teach not a parent's parent to extract
The embryo juices of an egg by suction ;
The good old lady can the feat enact
Quite irrespective of your kind instruction.
A. J. Maas notes that he receives Knowledge regularly every
Sunday in Switzerland, so that booksellers who supply it in
England on Tuesday or Wednesday might presumably do better.
— Edwin Wooton. Fear we cannot in any way advance youi-
scheme. Personally we are not in love with the society system
of science work. Most scientific societies seem, somehow, to act
as nurseries of disputes and diflScnlties. — Raven. Whether the
account you refer to is reconcilable or not mth the theorj- of
evolution is a question not open for discussion in these columns.
The account, whether right or wrong, is extra-scientific. — F. S. C.
Your original polygon was an octagon. The polygon which your
later communication requires could be readily drawn if any angle
could be trisected, othcnvise not. Consider the trouble taken by
Euclid in Book IV. to show how polygons whose sides subtend
particular angles may be described, and yon will see that we
cannot give as part of a solution such a direction as this -. " The
apex of angle being at centre of circle, inscribe a polygon which
shall have three of its sides between sides of angle, commencing
the polygon at one of the sides," wnthout showing first how this
is to be done. Your other communications thankfully received. —
H. C. (i.) The accepted theory of light is that it arises from an
undulatory motion in an ethereal medium occupying all space.
(ii.) Cold water is heavier than warm, (iii.) We have heard of
no new theory respecting the formation of the coal-measures.
(iv.) I.H.S. stands for Jesus hominum salvator. — Philadelphvs.
The writer of the article in question in no sense infringed our
rule. He puts it as a scientific view that faith in di-eams as
supernatural visitations is one among many survivals of rude
primitive philosophies. He indicates also pretty clearly his own
telief that the phenomena of dreams are all readily interpre-
table without any appeal to the supernatural. This is unques-
tionably the attitude of science in the matter. I, at any rate,
should be very much surprised to hear that any man of science
\iewed the matter differently. Well, now, you quote certain
statements which do not seem reconcilable with these views.
But science has nothing whatever t6 do with those state-
ments. They are entirely extra-scientific. You might as well
([uotc other statements, found in company with those you
mention, to show that an account here of scientific views respect-
ing floatation must be regarded as a breach of our rule that
dogmatic religion should not be attacked in these columns. Or a
Brahmin might as reassonably object to the views about distracted
attention under head, " Mind Troubles," that they seem to him
inconsistent with correct views about the Xirvana. Can you not
see that the supernatural has no i)lace in arguments relating to
the natural ? .\s to the inconsistency you indicate, we may or
may not, Mr. Clodd might or might not, agree with you. What
can it matter one way or another, when we positively decline to
have such questions discussed hero ? In reply to your other ques-
tion, Whitaker's Almanack decidedly overrates the prolificness
of Bradford folk. It should be not 83-1 but 3S1 per thousanil.—
F. St.\nley. Newton's estimate of terrestrial compression was
based on an incorrect hypothesis as to density at different levels
below the surface. Joyce is not an authority, any way. The
true compression is about l-300th, or polar radius about 13i
miles less than equatorial. — A. J. Makti.v. Rightly understood,
what we said was an answer to your question. The focal image
of a planet is examined by the eye-piece (which is really a micro-
scope), and cannot be examined with an eye-piece of more than a
certain power, because its imperfections are such — no matter
how excellent the object-glass — as to preclude more than a cer-
tain degree of magnifj-ing. By receiving the image on a screen,
eveu were the screen perfect, we do not diminish its imperfections,
and we lose light. Therefore, wo cannot use a microscope in the
ordinary way with any advantage. In fact, if an eye-piece is
used to throw the rays on the screen, the image so formed can
be best uiagnified by simply increasing the screen's distance from
the eye-piece. We are then magnifying without any of the
optical disadvantages which would result from using a micro-
scope. But we find no increase of distinctness in this way after
a certain convenient distance has been reached — only loss of
light and such increase of all imperi'ections that the image
becomes confused and indistinct. — Paugol. Thanks; but at
present no space. — Excelsior. If you only knew how much
labour we should save by doing what you ask ! But then many
would say it was pure selfishness.
^otx6 on Srt anU ^nrnre.
A New Variety of Glass. — A Vienna chemist has recently
discovered a new variety of glass. It does not contain any sUica,
boric acid, potash, soda, lime, or lead, and is likely to attract the
attention of all professional persons on account of its pecuUar
composition. Externally it is exactly similar to glass, but its lustre
is higher and it has a greater refraction, of equal hardness, per-
fectly white, clear, transparent, can be ground and polished, com-
pletely insoluble in water, neutral, and it is only attacked by
hydrochloric or nitric acid, and is not affected by hydrofluoric acid.
It is easily fusible in the flame of a candle, and can be made of any
colour. Its most important property is that it can be readily fused
on to zinc, brass, and iron. Is can also be used for the glazing of
articles of glass and porcelain. As hydrofluoric acid has no effect
on the new glass, it is likely to find emplojinent for many technical
purposes. — Wiener Oevjcrbe Zeitung.
An Electric Buoy'. — A daily contemporary states that experi-
ments are being made in the Lower Bay, New York, with a new
electric buoy, the invention of Mr. Bigler, of Newbnrg. Mr. Bigier,
it appears, owns the patent of the old Courtney Whi.'stle Buoy, the
principle of which he combines with an intermittent light, the same
power which blows the whistle being used to generate the electricity
that furnishes the light. The rise and fall of the waves compresses
the air inside the buoy. When this pressure has reached a certain
point, it works a dynamo machine and burner furnished by the
Edison Electric Light Company. This machine is supposed to gene-
rate enough electricity to show an intermittent light. When the
pressure ie exhausted by the action of the machine, which makes
about 300 revolutions per minute, the light goes out until the pres-
sure is renewed by the motion of the waves. The more violent the
waves the more powerful the light, nji to a certain point. Thus the
light is at its brightest during a hurricane. — Scientific American.
The Winter Flight of the Swallows. — The swallow is one of
the best known, and, therefore, most interesting, of migratory
birds. Excepting when kept in confinement, this bird knows
neither the extreme of hot nor cold weather. As soon as the cold
weather approaches, he migrates with his family to a warmer
climate, and again to the northward when the temperature of its
second home becomes inconvenient to its sensitive existence. In
England, as a general fact, the swallow does not arrive until the
second week in April, and takes his departure about the middle of
September. Before the time of their flight, they assemble in vast
numbers in a comfortable locality, and are seen chattering very
eagerly, as if holding a huge convention for the settlement of affairs
before starting on their long journey. Although starting off
214
KNOWLEDGE -
[Jan. 6, 1882,
togcDior, tlioy <lo not rrmnin so, preferring to ocparato into in-
niimcnible Kfo"!'"' '''''' f""iil'f» or tribes, and sometimos making
the lont; transit in companies of two, three, or five. While
remarkable for the jiowcr nutl speed of their flight, they become
fatigued in passing the sen, and will Hock in great numbers
npon tlie rigging of a ship passing their course for a rest.
Sometimes tlie birds are so utterly worn out with fatigue, that when
they have perched npon the side of a boat they are unable to take
again to the wing, and, if disturbed, can scarcely fly from one end
of the boat to the other. They have even been seen to settle upon
the surface of the waves, and to lio with outspread wings until
they were able to resume their journey. Guided by some won-
derful instinct, the swallow always Ends its way back to
the nest which it had made, or in which it had been reared,
as has frc(|uently been proved by afhxing certain marks to
individual birds and watching for their return. Sometimes it
happens that the house on which they hud built has been taken
down during tlieir "season abroad," and in that case they
exhibit a most pitiable distress, flying to and fro over the spot
in vain search after their familiar domiciles, and filling the air with
a mournful cry, announce to their friends that they have been dis-
possessed or cvict_Hi in the interest of local improvements. The
swallow is widely spread over various parts of the world, being
familiarly known tlironghout the whole of Eurojje, not excepting
Norway and Sweden, and the northern portions of the continent. —
Frank LesUe's Magazine.
#ur iWatlKmatical Column.
MATUEMATICAL QUERIES.
[14] — Can you inform me — (1.) Whether the axis of any cone
passes through one of the foci of every ellipse formed by a section
of that cone ? (2.) Whether the two ellipses formed by the section
of the two cones having a common apex and a common axis, by the
same plane jiassing through both, at aiiy angle to the common
axis, are of similar eccentricity ? (3.) Whether or not the angle of
inclination of the ecliptic to the axis of rotation of the sun bears
the same relation to the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, as the
angle which the plane of any ellipse forms with the axis of its cone
bears to the eccentricity of such ellipse ? — No Mathematician. —
[None of these relations hold. The simplest way to determine the
foci is this : — Take a i)lane through axis of cone and at right angles
to the cutting plane. A circle inscribed in the triangle in which
the plane cuts cone and cutting plane will touch the axis of ellipse
in one focus. The escribed circle touches it in the other. — Ed.]
"T. B." sends an ingenious solution of No. 7, p. 148 (Know-
ledge, No. 7), in which he claims (erroneously) that no proposition
beyond those in Euclid Book II. is employed. We have slightly
modified the construction in what follows, in order that the figure
may bo more conveniently sha))ed, but the solution is in effect the
same that " T. E." has kindly sent us.
E M
We have in right angled triangle BAC, AD perpendicular to hypo-
thcnnsc, DM, DS perpendicular to BA, AC ; and wo have to show
that angle /}J/C=anglo BNC.
Kect. BM. MA = MD' (whereabouts in Books I. and II. is this
proved ? It might bo given as a corollary from II., 14, but not
witboot some proof bringing it within the range of Book III.).
Hence, adding MA' to each, we have —
BA. ^M=.lD' = (simiIarly) AC. AN.
Complete rectangle .^NO/J, take j4/i = .4.U; draw h'L parallel to .•IB,
cutting BN in F ; and draw Kt'Q parallel to AN. Then rect. E0 =
rect. AL (K4 and FO being complementary) ="Iii4. >IA'=CV1. AN.
Hence Bh! must bo equal to ,iC; and EF'^MA. llenco triangle
Bi'J' is equal in all respects to triangle CAM. Thus angie ACM
(=alt. angle C3fi)) — angle i'l(>'=alt. angle BNO. Adding a right
angle to tlio equal angles CM D an(\ BNO, y/e have angle BMC"
angle BNC. — QHD. The jiroof is not so easy as cither of those we
gave, but it illustrates a useful method. — Ed.
W. Ridd obtains a result, in examining the problem dealt
with in (pierj- 92, p. 115, slightly different from onrn. Wo
gave for the eastwardly defli-ction of a pmjectile lot fall from
a height A, tl cos .\ where (is the time of the fall, Xtho latitude,
and P the earth's rotation-period. He gets instead zZlL LL cos X
Mr. Ridd overlooks the circumstance that the point below moves
eastward at such a rate as to bo carried a distance
2Trr( CDS X
ward in time /, so that the actual eastwardly deflection is only the
difference of these,'or ~J[_ — ^ _ The result ia not slightly, but
very, different from that wo gave, being more than — timcsas great,
h
so that if h be 88 yards, W. Ridd's result would be greater than
mine in the same degreelthat the earth's radius, or about 3,9C0 miles,
exceeds 88 yards, or 3,960 x 20 times, or 79,200 times ! In fact, Mr.
Ridd's error is the converse of Tycho Brahe's, who, in a letter to
Ilothmann, asked, " how it was possible that a ball dropped from
the summit of a tower should always fall close to the foot of it,
since the tower must have moved a considerable distance towards
the east while the ball was falling ; if the height of the tower were
WO feet, the falling body should strike the ground IJ miles west-
ward from the foot of the tower, which is contrary to all observa-
tion."
But, as a matter of fact, the result we gave is only correct when
we neglect the circumstance that during the fall the direction of
gravity on the falling body varies, so that — first, the direction of the
body's excess of eastwardly motion over the eastwardly motion of
the point vertically below the point of suspension, is not always at
right angles to the moving vertical, and, secondly, gravity acts
during the fall to partly diminish this part of the motion. These
may seem very unimportant matters, but, as a matter of fact, when
they are taken into account, the calculated eastwardly deflection is
27r?itcosX 47r/jfcosX
found to be diminished from p to ^p .
We leave it as an exercise to the student to
obtain this result by analytical methods. (If any
difficulty should be found, we shall be glad to
give the solution.) The following geometrical
method will be readily understood by a larger
number : —
Let .4 be the point of suspension, B the point
vertically below it, C the earth's centre, BEF the
earth's surface along a great, circle tlirough £.4,
and touching the latitude-parallel (or small circle)
through i), so that BF may be regarded as part
of this latitude-parallel. 'The body falling from
.4, with such eastwardly motion as belongs to the
point of suspension ,4, travels in an elongated
ellipse, AFA', having L', the earth's centre, as a
focus, and reaches the ground at F, the arc APF
being appreciably jiarabolic. Suppose that while
this descent is taking place the point of suspen-
sion, A, is carried by the earth's rotation to D.
and join DC and FC, DC cutting BF in E, and
Al'F in P. Also let arc AD produced meet OF
produced in (t.
Then, since the point of suspension A, and the
falling body when just leaving .4, are sweeping out
equal areas around C, and continue to sweep out
areas uniformly during their motion (the former
because of the uniform rotation of the earth,
the latter by Kepler's second law), it follows
that
Area ^ CO = area APFC.
Whence, taking away from each the area APC
Area ^PD= area CPF.
Whence approximately (since PE and EF are each verj- small,
compared with .4U, BF, &c.)
Area .41) = area CEP,
1 1
or, approximately, s^^- BE — 5Ef.BC
2.iB.BE.
Whence Ef =„
3 BC
or, since .4B=/i, and B£ = 2»-i- cos X
2 h
°3
tI,I
■JP
(f)
the easterly deflection i'E=^ • -• 2aT cos X./^— J
-cos X
• Iax. G, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
215
0ur Siaaftistt Column.
Bv "Five of Clubs."
The LEAn.
THE cnstomnry war o{ treating leads at Whist i.s found perplexing
bv beginners. A number of suits are considered, and the pro-
ih 1- leail from each is indicated, with perhaps the play second
:id ; until the learner wonders how much he is expected to
lu'inber of what appears to him a perfectly heterogeneous collec-
of rules. Thus, take Captain Campbell Walker's very useful
k, ''Tlie Correct Card." In this there are 36 cases of suits
l.d hv an Ace, with the play for each ; 18 cases of suits headed
King; 7 of suits headed by Queen; Oof suits headed by Knave ;
suits headed by 10 ; and two of suits headed by a small card.
ill, 7C cases are considered. The natural idea of the learner is
he ought to commit to memory all these 76 cases, with the
[itions noted in 19 notes, before he can le.ad properly; while,
'T that, he will have to leam an equally voluminous series of
. > for play second hand, third hand, and foui'th hand. He
11 aurally despairs of accomplishing this without giving much more
; ime to the matter than the game, good though it is, seems worth.
But even when the learner has committed all these rules to
innry, he still finds that there is something — embodied, indeed,
i.'m, but notobviously expressed by them — which it is absolutely
utial that he should grasp. He requires to know not only what
liould lead from a given suit, but what each lead means.
\..w it does not seem to have been noticedjby writers on Whist,
: by beginning at this end they get rules much more easily re-
ihcrcd, because at once made practically available, and also
: li fewer in number. In point of fact, the rules which seem
'.out sj'stem have a system at the back of them, and this system
t once displayed when we reverse the usual method of present-
I lie rules for leading, and begin by asking what particular leads
-1 mean. Afterwards we may collect together a hundred or so
aoh rules and exceptions, as appear in Captain Walker's book,
; hen each rule will be easily remembered as a necessary inference
I the principle on which the lead and the interpretation of the
1 alike depend.
i\ 1' begin then by considering, not the multitudinous leads from
> headed by an Ace, but from what suits containing an Ace, the
> should be led. It will be seen that there are only a few cases
ill which Ace is led, and these easily remembered ; and also that
:i^i^ we know when a!i Ace should be led, we know what the Ace
1 means —
Vlicu, then, should an Ace be led?
iriim long suits, and from suits of not less than three. Ace is only
led:—
(1) from Ace and four or more others (not including King).
(2) from Ace, Queen, Knave, with or without others.
From suits of two cards (which it can hardly ever be right to
open — and never as an original lead), containing an Ace, Ace is
always led.
From long suits, then, or suits of three, which only are in question
in ninety-nine cases oat of a hundred, there are only two cases to bo
considered. The play second round, supposing the Ace not tnimped,
will show from what sort of stiit the Ace was led. For,
(1) If Ace is led from Ace, four or more, a small card is led
second round.
(2) If Ace is led from Ace, Queen, Knave, and others, either the
Queen or the Knave is played second round — the Queen, if the
suit did not originally contain more than four cards, the Knave if
it did.
Thus when your partner leads an Ace, you know at once that he
has not the King. If you have the Queen or the Knave, you know
he has not led from Ace, Queen, Knave, and therefore that he has
four more cards in the suit.
If the lead is not an original lead, and the play has given reason
to believe that your partner has been driven to a forced lead, the
Ace may have been led from Ace and another. This can scarcely
ever happen, but when it does happen the previous circumstances
of the play and what follows the forced lead (together ivith the study
of your own hand) will almost always show you that the lead has
not been from strength.
In our next we shall consider why Ace is only led from long suits,
under one or other of the circumstances stated above. We may
nete, indeed, in passing that on the Continent, Ace is led from Ace
and three others (not including King), though the laws of probability
point to the play as not the best. It is well to remember, however,
when playing with Continental players, that this is the rule with
them.
(Bnv CftfSs Column.
TWO KNIGHTS' DEFENCE (Continned.)
rF White on his 8th move should play B. to Q.R.I., Black will
- soon obtain the better game, e.fj.y
P. to K.4.
■ P. to K.t.
Kt. to K.Kt.5.
■ P. to Q.4.
P. takes P.
., Kt. to K.B.3.
"■ Kt. to Q.B.3.
- P. takes P.
^' Kt. to Q.R.4.
g B. to Q.R.4.
■ P. to^TRlT
3.
B. to B.4.
Kt. to K.B.3.
g B. to Q.Kt.S.ch.
■ P. to Q.B.3.
Kt. to K.B.3.
P. takes P.
In reply White has no satisfactory move, e.g.
,„ Kt. to Kt. so. ,,, Kt. to K.5.
10. L or 10 or
B. to Q.B.4., Q. to Q.5.,
P. to Q.B.3. _,_^ „ B. takes P.ch.
9.
or(a) 11.
12.
Kt. takes B.
Kt. takes Kt.
11.
P to K.5.
Q. to K.2.
■ B. to K.3.
Kt. to K.5.
Q. to Q.B.4.,
inning the Knight.
Q. to K.R.5.
•ith a winning game.
^^] Kt. to Kt.sq.
■Q.toQ.5..°'^(-^)
•1^2 B. takes Q.B.F.ch.
Kt. takes B.
n„ Kt. takes Kt.
" Q. to Q.B.4.
j,j Q. to Q.R.6.
B. toQ.sq.
15 P- to Q.Kt.4.
Q. takes Q.B.P.
jg Q. to Q.Kt.5.
Q. takes B.ch.
j^y K^to K.2.
Q. takes R.
with a winning superi-
ority.
13 Q- to Qsq.
■ Q. to Q.Kt.3.
J, IVtoQ.RS.
B. to Q.B.4. "" B. to Q.B.5.
And Black has a fine game.
In this variation an interesting novelty has recently been dis-
covered on White's 13th move, viz..
P. K^.
■ JP.K.4.
Kt. to K.Kt.5.
to K.3.
11
Kt^K^B.3.
■ Kt. Q.B.S^
P. takes P.
■ Kt. to Q.R.4.
B. to Q.R.4.
P. to K.R.3.
Kt. to K.5.
Q. to Q.5.
instead of the usual move 13. Kt. takes Kt., which, as we have
shown, results to the advantage of Black. White can also play
13. Q. to Kt.5.,* out of which reply some interesting variations
Position- of 13. Q. to Kt.5.
Should Black now play the likely looking move of 13. B. to Q.2,,
__ .^ 11-1 II Kt. takes Kt. , - Q. to K.S.eh. . .
White would win by 14. 15. -* remaining
Q. to Q.3.
with two Pawns ahead. The proper reply to 13. Q. to Kt.5. is
,. , •,, • iA Q. takes Kt.ch. .,„,.,
which we will examine. 14. ^ White
B. to Q.B.4.,+ K. to K.2.
has now three moves at his disposal.
• Plaj-ed at St. Petersburg, in a game between Prince Dadian,
of Mingrelia, and M. Liselle.
+ This defence was discovered by Signer Constantini, one of the
strongest amateurs in Italv.
216
KNO^A/'LEDGE
[Jan. 6, 1882.
1.
Q. to Kt.T^h.
K. to g.3.
P. to K.B.t. ^
H.taki>Bl'.cn.p
Kt. tnkos P.
Q. to B.7.cli.
K. toQ.si|.
Q. takes Kt.P.
y. to K.G.ch^
K7to \i.2.
Q. to KJl.sq.
uTto'K.u.or
P. to y.4._
y. takes'g.'
It. takes Q.
B7take3 R.
P. takes B.
y. R. to y.sq.ch.
H. to Q.2.
K. R. to K.sq.
Kt. toQ.B.3^
Kt. to K.5.
Kt. takes Kt^
R. takes Kt.
Black wins.
15 QJ<»J8-7ch.
' K. to B.8(|.
3.
Castles.
Q. takes Kt
^ •'y. takes I'.ch. ^' K. R. toy.B
j» K. to y.sq
K. to y.B.sq.
J, y. to Kt.7.
"y. to K.B.l.
and wins.
y.B.sq.
J- y. to y.R.4.
' Kt. to K.Kt.5.
JO P-Jo K.Kt.3.
■ P. to K.6.
and wins.
y. to y.o.
winning the Knight.
(«)
,^ Kt. takes B.P.ch. ,- y. takes B
Iti. 1 — . — tt: " ^'•j=^ — : — ;~ ?r
19.
B. takes Kt.
R. to K.sq.
20.
y. takes P.ch.
R. to K.2.
K. K. to K.B.sq.
jg K. toJ3^q^
■y. takes Kt.P.
2j^ y. to y.Kt.7.
■ Kt. to y.4.
■y. to Kt.o.ch.
and wins.
If ^Vhite on his 8th move should play Q. to K.B.3., Black ought,
likewise to obtain the better game, e.g.,
P. to K.4. g Kt. to K.B.3^ 3 B. to y.B.4.
• P. to K.I.
Kt. to K.Kt.5.
5.
Kt. to y.B.3.
P. takes P.
■ P. to y.4. Kt. to y.R.4.
. P. takes P. g y. to K.B.3
' ■ P. takes P.
In reply. Black has three moves, viz.,
8
Kt. to K.B.3.
g B. to y.Kt.S.ch.
' P. to y.BTa;
10.
11
12
y. to y.B.2.
B. to y.R A
B. to y 3.
p. to y.3.
Castles.
Castles.
pTtol<.1^3.
Kt. to K.4.
Kt. takes Kt.
to be followed bv
P. to K.B.i., ■
with a good game.
y. to y.Kt.3.,
^ B.^ y.R^._
"B. to K.Kt.5.
y. to K.Kt.3.
P. to K.R.3.
Kt.to K.B.3. /,v„
or(.4) 11.
B. to y.3. ^ '
P. to K.R.3. J,
Kt. to K.5.
13 9i 'fh??.?-
■ Kt. takes K.B.P'
14 ^:_^'*!5'^^ P-,
' kt. takes R.
y. takes R.ch.
k. to y.;
10,
11
12
15
n y. takes K.
' ■ B. to y.B.4.
10 Q- t° K.B.3.
■ B. to y.Kt.2.'
y. to K.Kt.3.
Castles.
,, P. to y.3.
"' P. to K.5.
,„ Castles.
P to y.Kt.5.
B. to K.3.
14.
15
B. takes B.
y. takes B.
Kt. to y.4.
winning the yueen as ,p y. to K.Kt.3.
he threatens Mate by ' P. takes P.
y. to B.T.ch., .,„ P. to y.B.3.
y. to B.S.ch.,
and Kt. to B.T.ch.
17.
y. to K.B.3.. or
to y.Kt.3., and Black
has a good game.
(.1) If White .ihould play Kt. to K.R.3., the following would ensue —
Kt. to K.R. ,„ Castles. ,, Kt. to y.B.3.
11.
14
B to y.3.
y. to K.3.
"'Castles. y.R.
- Kt. takes P.
15,
13. "_--_^
P. to K.5.
,p K to R.sq.
' K. R. to k.sq.,
t^. to B.2. B. takes P.ch.
and Black has the better game. Of course he could not play
11. y. take^ P.ch., for Bjack would reply with K. to y.2., which
would win, as ho tlireatens R. to K.sq., and the white Knight is
also en iiri.ie.
A. J. Sl.i.vs. Thanks for cnd-ganio, which shall be analysed. —
11. .\. N.. R. Kelly, S. K. L. L., and others. Problem No. 5 cannot
be solved, as you suggest, by 1. K. to y.Kt. 7. If Black take Kt.
with B., there is no mate, or Black may play Kt. to U.'s 5th ch.,
taking B next move. — J. B. M. and S. K. L. L. In our note on
problem 6, we should have said, "by adding a Black Knight at Q.'a
sq., not Queen's 8th." Better consider, howei-cr, that a wcond
solution is required, the position remaining anchangcd. — D. See. If
eight first moves are given as odds, none to be acrcM the
board, the receiver of the odds can make the game absolutely
certain in a number of ways. We do not know that there
is any way by which mate in a given small number of
moves may be announced before Black plays a move. There
may be, however. — H.A.L.S. Thanks. Your solutions of Xos. 7
and 8 correct, of course. The question was not as to the justice
of rejecting Xo. 7, but of ignoring its author's statement, that,
so far as he w^ concerned, it was original. As a part of the idea
had been anticipated, there was a valid — though, wo think, in-
sufficient— reason for declining to insert. You admit that the
editor's is superior in finish, Ac, to D'Orville's. The idea is one
which would be apt to suggest itself to a problem composer ; but
in D'Orville's problem the solution can hardly be escaped ; in
the editor's there are several promising lines of attack. — Jas. D.
Meek. Yon are right. White could not draw ; though, of course,
he would not throw away his Rook by checking, as when yueen was
made.
Curious Fbeak of a Dog. — Dr. Onderdonk sends the following
story of a freak of a dog to the Scientific American : — " Simmons "
(that is the dog's name) is verj- remarkable for her sagacity, and
often excites remark by the "reasonableness" of her actions. She is
a constant companion of the boys, and seems to consider herself one
of them. She has been a mother three times ; the third time some
ten days or so ago. At her two former accouchements she did her-
self credit by the respectable .size of the family she brought to
light ; but this last time she gave birth to but one pup. TVo 1
three days before the birth of this pup there was a litter of kittens
bom on the place. Simmons, disgusted at the smallness of her
family, and evidently thinking that the cat had more than her
share, captured one of the kittens in the absence of the old cat, and
carried it in her mouth to where she kept her pup, and deposite<l it
in her basket. In a short time she was suckling both the pup
and kitten, who were hard at work side by side. 'The next day the
kitten was taken away in the absence of Simmons, but on her
return she hunted up her adopted child, and brought it back to her
basket, where it has remained until now. Simmons has now been
nursing the kitten for more than a week, the kitten seeming to be
perfectly satisfied with her foster-mother.
Contents of Knowledge No. 9.
TAOS. I PAGI.
Cultivated Fields. Bj E. W. Pre- Colours of .\iiimals 183
vost, Ph.D ir3 I .Scientific Ghosts :
Bnbvlonian Sun- Worship 17J ' Corkbspoxdbsce : — The Primarr
liram Troubles.— Part UI 175 I Colours— Red at the Blue End of
Intelliijence in Animals 177 1 the Spectrum— The MiKin's Rola-
The Planet Saturn— (/Murtroferf) ... 178
The Magic Wheel— (/«iM<r<i<ed) ... 179
Primary Colours 179 ' Queries
Righl-llandedness. By James Shmw ISO Replies to Qu
Earth Tremors 181 1 Notes on Art and Science 189
Breathing. By Dr. J. Mortimer Our Ches<» Column ,
Granville 182 Our Whi.«t Column
Man's Proper Food 182 Our Mathematical Column 191
Callao '* Painter" 1S2 : Answers to Correspondenta IJB
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P*md'8 Eitract wiU heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Siimiiis and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine. fAsTT.
Jan. 13, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
217
AN ILLitaiBATED
MAl^lNEoTSOENCE
PUINl^RJED -EXACTI^ESCRMD
LOXDOX : FRIDAY, JAXUARY 13, 1882.
Contexts of No. 11.
PAGE.
A Winter Weed. Bv Grant Allen 217
Precession of the Equinoxes. By
the Editor 218
Nights with a 3-inch Telescope 220
Found Links. By Dr. Andrew
Wilson, F.L.S., ic— Part II 222
Fallaeies about Luck. By the Editor 222
The Principle of the Ve'mier. By
J. R. Campbell 224
Colours of Aoimjils 22i
Zodiacal Map 225
The Pvnumd of Meydoom. Bv
Amelia B. Edwards '.. 221
Vegetable Poisons 226
The New Star in Cassiopeia 227
Actinium; a Metal found in White
Zinc Pipment 227
Fossils in Meteoric Stones 227
Duration of Life 228
Knowledge for the Young 229
COBBBSPOSDBXCB 229-233
Queries 234
Replies to Queries 2.35
Answers to Correspondents 236
Notes on Art and Science 237
Our Mathematical Column 238
Our 'Whiat Column 239
Our Chess Column 239
A WINTER WEED.
Bv Grant Allen.
A DAY or two of warm weather, wafted to us by the
westerly breezes, has brought out the daisies on the
lawn as vigorously as if it were ilay, instead of January.
The sward is dappled all over with their little timid white
blossoms in a way that quite defies the decencies of the
season. The fact is, modest and shrinking as they seem to
be, daisies are very hardy and hard-working small plants,
which never miss an opportunity of pushing their way in
the world ; and no doubt they have their reward, for
probably no other flowering kind, except, perhaps, one or
two grasses, have been lialf so successful in colonising the
fields and hill-sides as these unobtrusive, wee things liave
been. In the spring, they are the very earliest plants to
bloom ; and since the early flower catches the bee, they
begin setting their seed before the other blossoms are well
awake ; all tlirough the summer and autumn they go on
blooming uninterruptedly ; and even when winter comes,
they are readj' at a moment's notice to take advantage of
any brief gleam of sunlight which may happen to occur,
putting forth their pretty buds fearlessly, and alluring the
last stray insects of the season to visit their tiny golden
bells.
Here in my hand I have grubbed up one entire daisy-
plant, root and all, with my cane ; and when one comes
to look closely at its structure, the secret of its success
in life is not ditficult to decipher. In the first place,
there are the leaves. These we seldom notice when we
are examining a daisy, because they are so very retiring
and unobtrusive. They lie flat upon the ground, in a
small, round, spreading rosette, pressed as tightly as pos-
sible against the soil beneath. That is one of the tricks by
means of which the daisy secures itself a place in the world.
It grows generally in open pastures and commons covered
with grass ; and as the grass tends always to raise its tall
blades as high as possible, the daisy' might easily be over-
shadowed by that powerful competitor. Now, there are two
ways in which diflferent plants li\-ing in such circumstances
can avoid being elbowed out of existence. One way is by
sending up taller and bigger leaves than the gi-asses, so as
to intercept the air and sunlight ; and this is the plan
adopted by sucli weeds as dock, burdock, coltsfoot, and
some plantains. As a rule, however, such tactics can only
be followed by plants which possess a reserve fund of food-
stutls laid by in their roots or stocks, for otherwise the
young leaves would be choked and starved before they
could gi-ow high enougli to overtop tlic competing grasses.
Or, to put it more definitely, those kinds alone have suc-
ceeded in this way which happened to devclope both large
leaves and rich reserves of starcli at one and tlie same time.
The second plan is tliat followed by the daisy, the hoaiy
plantain, and many other field-weeds. These plants have
learnt to press their foliage closely down in a little circle
upon the ground, so as to prevent any grasses from grow
ing up around them and intercepting the sun and air. In
other words, such individuals among them as happened to
display this tendency, in a slight degree, survived tlie best ;
and among their descendants, such as can-ied it out further
and further, spread most afield, while such as fell short of
the desired quality, got killed oflT young by neighbouring
weeds. Thus, at last, the daisy acquired its present suc-
cessful haljit of gi-owing close to the ground, and so check-
ing competition in the bud, or rather in the very seedling.
But why, it may be objected, do not all other plants do
the same ? The answer is, because all are not adapted for
the same sort of life as the daisy. One kind survives in
virtue of one point of vantage, another kind survives in
\'irtue of another. The English meadow plantains are three
closely-allied types of weed, hardly diflfering from one
another in any essential point ; yet each of them has solved
this problem of foliage in a separate way. The great
plantain sends up big, liroad leaves on longish stalks, some-
thing like those of garden lettuce, which overtop most of
its neighbours ; the lioary plantain spreads a little tuft
close to the earth, like the daisy ; and the ribwort plantain
meets the grasses on their own ground, by reducing its
leaves to mere long, thin, lance-like blades. In each case,
the explanation must be accepted on its own merits, with-
out prejudice to different explanations elsewhere. The forms
of leaves, indeed, are among the most difficult problems of
botany, and it must not lie supjjosed that we can account
for them all at once by a single simple and easy formula.
One might as well ask why the rabbit is not as big
as the red deer, or why the fox is smaller than the lion.
Each fills its own niche in nature ; so each has been
developed into exact correspondence with that particular
niche and no other. And different means often subserve
exactly tlie same end. The fleetness of the hare is produced
by quite other adaptations than the fleetness of the stag ;
the foliage of the daisy succeeds by being compact and
rounded, the foliage of the buttercup by being cut up into
numerous small divergent segments. In short, whatever
accidental habit happens to give a plant or animal any
advantage in the struggle for e.xistence is perpetuated in its
descendants, and gradually perfected by natural selection,
and thus the mo.st diverse means often lead up in the long
run to the same end.
The reason why the daisy is able to send up buds and
blossoms at a moment's notice seems equally clear. The
buds are always l}"ing by in readiness close to the little
perennial tufted stock. I cut it down the middle with my
pocket-knife, and see, in tlie centre of the tuft, there are
two or three unopened flower-buds even now lurking un-
seen and waiting for their turn to appear. Practically
speaking, the daisy is an evergreen, for it always has
green leaves upon it all the year round ; and these green
leaves are perpetually engaged, summer and winter, in
manufacturing starch from the carbonic acid of the air,
which starch is at once laid by in the root-stock to feed
218
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 13, 1882.
the young (lowoi-s when tln'y arc ready to sprout. So the
moment a littlf warm wcatlier arrives, the liud l>e<j;iiis to
start into lite, and is supplied with food from the starcli
laid by in the root, as well as from the constant gains of
the ever-husy leaves. All annual plants have to grow from
the seed in a .sin^Je season, and they have to produce a
large numher of leaves ))efor(! they have digested food
enough in these their expanded stomachs to feed the future
rtowers and seed ; so that they cannot hegin blossoming
till comj^aratively late in the season. But the daisy, being
a perennial, with slightly starthy root and practically
persistent foliage, gets the .start of them from the
beginning, so a.s to put forth its flowers at the earliest
possible moment.
And now let me look briefly at tliis flower itself. It is
made up, as everybody knows, of two parts. The centre
or disk is yellow, while tlie outer r.ays are white. But if
one pulls it to pieces, one sees that the disk is really com-
posed of many separate little golden bells, eacli one some-
thing like a harebell on a very small scale. The daisy
head, in fact, is not one flower, but a whole lot of distinct
flowers crowded together into a single truss. Taking one
of the little central j'ellow bells in detail, I find that its
petals are not separate, as in the biittercup, Imt are aU
united together into a long tube. The ancestors of the
daisy had doubtless ages ago five distinct petals, like those
of the buttercup ; but at some time or other these petals
showed a tendency to coalesce, and as this tendency
proved useful to tlie plant, by more certainly securing its
fertilisation liy insects, it rapidly grew through survival of
the fittest into a fixed habit, not only of the daisy, but of all
the great group of flowers to which it belongs. The reason
why the tubular shape is more useful than the arrangement
with five spreading petals becomes clear enough if we re-
collect that the insect has to thrust his proboscis down to
the bottom of the tube, past the pollen-bearing stamens and
the sensitive pistil, in order to reach the tiny drop of honey
concealed within. In doing .so, a little of the pollen natu-
rally adheres to his proboscis, aiid is then brushed olT
against the sensitive surface of the next blossom which he
visits, so as thus to impregnate and fertilise its seed. To
this day, however, the daisy still retains a reminiscence of
the distant period when it possessed fi\e separate petals ;
for each of the central florets has a vandyked edge of five
points, these points being the last representatives of the
original distinct flower leaves in its remote progenitors.
The tubular arrangement is common to many flowers
besides the daisy family ; but the daisies and their allies have
carried their development one step further than the rest, for
they have learnt to collect several tiny blossoms together into
a single compact liead, and thus to bid foi- the attention of
insects far more powerfully than they could do in single
display. More than that, in tin; dai.sy itself, and one or
two others of its near relations, the outer florets of each
head have become flattened into long ornamental rays, so
as to play the part of petals tf» the compound group. In
this way they make the little bunch very noticeable to all
passing insects. The ray florets, when closely examined,
look like tube^ split down one sid(' and opened out, so as
to produce as much show as possil)le. They are the attrac-
tive part of the flower-head, and they do little acti\e work
themselves, having no stamens and no pollen,but laying them-
selves out mainly to look pretty alone. For tiiis purpose they
are coloured white, with |)inky tip.s, instead of lieing yellow,
like the central florets. Yet, of course, the v\hole plant is
ultimately benefited by this ari-angement, because the
insects are thus induced to visit the entire little colony at
once, and Viy carrying pollen from one floret to another, to
fertilise the whole row of yellow bells then open. For if
you look int<'ntly into a daisy, you will see that it does not
open all over at the .same time, but Ixrgins opening from the
idge, and gradually proceeds towards the centre ; so that
in most daisies yo\i will find a row or two of over-blown
florets outside, a row just open or opening half-way through,
and a lot of unopened litth- buds in the very middle.
]Joubtles.s, this arrangement also conduces to the good of
the plant, by ensuiing the highest and liest sort of cross-
fertili.sation — that which is obtained by impregnating the
blossoms of one individual with pollen brought from those
of another.
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES.
By the Editor.
THE precession of the equinoxes is. properly speaking,
the observed motion of the ]>oints oii the earth's orbit,
where she is when the sun pa.sses from north to south, or
from south to north of the celestial equator, these points
moving always in a direction contrary to that in which the
earth circles round her orbit, so that they travel backwards.
As precession really means going forwards, it may seem a
little strange that this travelling back%vardsof the equinoctial
points should have received such a name. But, as a
matter of fact, the motion of these points (which are those
where spring and autumn begin) in a direction opposite to
that of the earth's motion, causes them a.s it were to meet
the earth, shortening the time she takes in reaching them,
so that the beginnings of spring and autumn precede the
epochs at which otherwise the}' would have occurred.
But usually the term " precession " is understood to
include all the circumstances on which the observed change
depends, and writers will often speak of the precessional
reeling of the earth. The reeling itself is, of course, not
precessional, it is but the cause of precession.
The change in the position of the points where spring
and autumn begin was first discovered by Hipparchus,
though Ptolemy usually gets the credit of it. It was
found that the point of the ecliptic where the sun is when
spring begins — we may say when the year of seasons
begins — is slowly moving backwards among the zodiacal
constellations. It was once in Taurus, which was spoken
of even by Virgil (long after the relation had ceased to
exist) as opening the year with its golden horns. Then it
passed to Aries, thence to Pisces, in which constellation it
is now.
The effects thus produced in the position of the celestial
equator, poles, kc, will occupy us hereafter. For the
present we wish to consider their cause, or, rather, first we
wish to describe what is the actual motion of the earth to
which they are due, the real cause of precession being
the forces which cause the eartli to move in the particular:
manner in question.
Let us for the moment leave out of account the motion
of the earth round lier axis, and regarding her centre as at
rest, h^t us consider wliat is the real nature of that motion
of hers which causes precession.
Observation shows that the plane of the ecliptic, in
which the earth travels, is almost unchanging in position.
The course among the stars along which the sun (if we
could see the stars when he is shining) would appear to
travel, is almost exactly the same now as it was in the
time of Hipparchus. Again, the inclination of the t>arth's
polar axis to the plane in which she travels varies very
slightly (the variation shall presently be described, and its
physical cause indicated).
But the line in which the plane of the earth's equator
Jax. 13, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
219
cuts the plane of her motion (the ecliptic) is constantly
shifting in position. Suppose ABDF a view of tlie earth
from a point on the northern side of the plane of her
motion, tlie North Pole being at P. Then, again, let
ABDF be a section taken through the earth's centre, C,
and let AD be the line in which the plane of the equator,
AEDE' (E' being on the farther or southern hemisphere),
Fig. 2.
cuts ABDF. Then, if the arrow outside ABDF shows
the direction in which the earth moves round her orbit, the
small arrows inside show the direction in which this line of
intersection is constantly travelling. In some thousand
years, for instance, it would pass from the position ACD,
to the position aCd : tlie equator would have passed to the
position acil (one h;df only is shown), the northern pole
from the position P to the position p.
Now, if we consider this motion carefully, paying
especial attention to the mov«>ment of the pole, we see
that it precisely resembles the reeling of a top. P might
be the middle of the top's upper surface, C the peg, CP
and Cp two positions of tlie axis of the top as it reeled
around C.
Or, instead of a top, the middle of the body of which is
not the centre round which the reeling occurs, imajcine a
globe as GEPEH ha\-ing a section such as is shown by the
dotted lines in Fig. 2, GCH indicatuig where a conical hole
has been cut into the globe, right to the centre. Such a
globe set rapidly spimiing in an inclined position (as in the
fig.) on the top of a vertical spike like KCL, would be
found to reel in a direction contrary to that of its rotation
(just as in the case of the earth's precessional reeling), and
if a circle EE' were drawn to represent the equator, and a
point P marked exactly opposite the small circle GH,
this point (or preferably a point p at the end of a polar
spike P/<), watched from above, would be seen to move
round just as the pole of the earth supposed to be watched
from the direction indicated in Fig. 1.
The motion of the earth, then, bj' which precession is
caused, resembles that of a reeling body, like a great
spherical top. The period of this reeling motion is, how-
ever, so much longer than that of the revolution, that its
eflects seem, by comparison, \ery slight. The whole Ufe-
tinie of a man may pass, and only tlie astronomer would
notice the effects which it had in reality produced.
Let us see what these effects must be.
The poles of the heavens are those points on the celestial
sphere towards which the axis of the earth is directed,
while the celestial equator is the great cii-cle of the celestial
sphere lying midway between the poles. The celestial
equator, in fact, corresponds with the eartli's equator, inso-
much that, if we imagine a straight line drawn from the
earth's centre to any point of the terrestrial equator, and
prolonged indefinitely outwards, then this line as it was
carried round by the earth's rotation, would sweep out the
circle which we call the celestial equator.
Now, since the earth is reeling like a gigantic top, its
axis moves — ^just as the axis of such a top moves — over the
surface of a gigantic cone. Neglecting — as relatively insig-
nificant— the range of the earth round her orbit, we may
regard the earth's centre as the apex of tills gigantic cone.
The points in wliich a line perpendicular to the plane of
the earths motion meet the imaginary celestial sphere, or
the poles of the equator, are those towards which the axis
of the great precessional cone is directed. Around these
points the poles of the heavens revolve in two small circles,
the distance of each pole from the pole of the ecliptic round
which it rotates corresponding to the inclination of the
earth's axis, or in arc to about 23|°. The equator moves
coiTespondingly, and a complete circuit is accomplished by
each pole in rather less than 2.'), 900 years.
Next week I propose to consider more particularly the
efiects of this reeling motion, so far as it affects the appa-
rent position of the heavenly bodies — showing in particular
how it has affected the positions of certain constellations.
Then we have to consider how the seasons are affected by
the change. Lastly, it will be well to consider how the
reeling motion is produced, and how certain peculiarities in
its progi'ess are brought about.
In the meantime, I would invite the student to notice
that very interesting illustrations of the earth's precessional
220
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 13, 1882.
reeling can lip quite easily made. A convenient way is to
have a f;lol)e of iron hollowed out, as in Fig. 2, and set in
rnpiil rotation— which may most conveniently he done l>y
having a projectinj;; rod at the top, pierced to receive a
string, as /Ij, and pointed, so that a metal plate, as JIN,
with a hollow to receive the end of axis /), may he held
against it while the wound-up string is sharply drawn off.
The heavier the globe the steadier will its motion be found
to be, the slower and the more constant its reeling.
Tiiere is, however, a morn perfect method of illustrating
the precession of the equinoxes or the earth's rerJinr/, and
also the nutation (or nodding, still to be described), in the
instrument invented by my esteemed friend, the late Mr.
Burr, of the Astronomical Society. This instrument I will
sketch later.
NIGHTS WITH A 3-INCH TELESCOPE.
PRESUMING the reader to be now in possession of
such a telescope as that described in our first article,
and that he has placed it on a tirm stand of convenient
lieiglit, with the bar, BM, as nearly as practicable in the
meridian, we will begin our examination of the heavens
by turning towards the western and south-western sky,
inasmuch as th(! stars there situated will set sooner and
sooner every night until they disappear for the season.
.Vrming the instru)neiit, then, with a power of 160 (a
lower eye-piece may be employed to find the object), we
will begin by directing it towards the star marked y iu
Cetus {vide Map on p. 119).
Fig. •!.— y Ceti.
At the first glance, probably, the student will see nothing
but a yellowish star of considerable Ijrightness ; but, by
careful attention, ho will not be long ere he catches its
small companion, seemingly to the left of and just below
a horizontal line, passing through the larger star. Its blue
or dusky tint will at once strike the observer, as well as its
small size as compared with that of its primary. This elegant
'pair form what is known to astronomers as a "binary
-■.ystem " ; in other words, the stars are physically con-
nected, and the smaller star revohes round the larger
one — or both round their common centre of gravity — in a
very long period, the exact duration of which is as yet un-
determined. There an^ other objects of interest in this
constellation, but tht- dilliculty of recognising them without
the aid of an equatorially-mounted telescope, furnished
with graduated circles, compels us to omit reference to
them in these very elementary pajiers. Among them, G6
Ceti may l)e mentioned as a charming pair. It may be
found— with numerous other doubles — on Map 3 of
Proctor's " Star Atlas."
Above, and to the right of that jiart of Cetus in which
y is situated, will be seen a curved line of three stars (Map
on p. 201) ; the chief ones in Aries, the bottom, and
le.ast of which is remarkable as being the one of wliich
Hooke wrote in IGGt, " I took notice that it consisted of
two small stars very near together ; a like instance to
which I have not else met with in all the heaven." It is
almost needless to tell the student that double stars arfl
now numbered by thousands. Viewed with a power of
100, y Ai-ietis presents the appearance shown in Fig. .'5.
Fig. 5. — y jVriotis.
The components of this asterism will be observed to I>e
pretty nearly equal in size. The apparently lower and
slightly smaller star of tlie two will be seen to be of a
grej-ish hue. If now the observer will follow an imaginary
line from y through /3 in the map, it will strike upon
star, not lettered there, but fairly well seen by the naked
eye to the right of a. This is X, a wide but pretty double.
Here, again, the smaller star is more distinctly coloured
than thi^ larger one. Forming the apex of a right-angled
triangle, with a and \ Arietis (whereof n is at the right
angle), is a wide triple star, 1 -1 Arietis. Sweeping where
Aries and Triangula are conterminous, several pairs of
small stars will pass across the field of view. Some 2°
(four times the diameter of the Sun or Moon) above, and to
the right of /5, Arietis (as seen by the naked eye) will Ije
found a beautiful close double star, which will tax the
powers of the incipient observer to see fairly separated. It
is 1 79 of Hour I. in Piazzi's Great Catalogue. The yellowish
tinge of the larger component contrasting with the blue of
the smaller one renders this a very pretty object.
And while his telescope is directed to this region of the
sky, the student will not fail to turn it upon the planet
Saturn, still employing the same power. The aspect of the
planet as seen in an instrument of the size of that wliicb
we are supposed to be ming is shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 0. — SatHru,
It was (li-awn with a 3-in. telescope of the highest class
expressly for these papers, and exhibits what the possesso
of such an one may fairly expect to see under similar cii
cmnstances. A little careful attention will show how th
ring is divided into two by a dark line which will be mos
ea.sily traceable in what are called the " ansa^ " (or handlci
— i.e., in tlie easternmost and westernmost parts of it Th
inky-black shadow of the ball of the planet, rfo the right o
it, on the rings, and the slight curvature of this shadow
will also be made out without much difficulty. Thedarke
shading on the southern half of Saturn's globe, and th
bright belt on the planet's equator between tliis pola
capping and the ring, will be recognisable without difl
Jan. 13, 1882.]
- KNOV/LEDGE •
221
culty. His largest moon, Titan, will be seen at once, and
Japetus (wliich was visible, as shown, when the drawing
was made) may, perhaps, be picked up. Tethys, Dione,
and Rhoea, are too severe tosts for a 3-in. object-glass, and
the other three satellites are hopelessly beyond much larger
instruments. The incipient astronomer must not expect to
perceive all the wonderful Saturnian detail shown in astro-
nomical books. Should his 3-iii. telescope show him ex-
actly what is exhibited in the engraving, he may rest
assured that he is the possessor of a first-rate instrument.
Neptune, who may be found from the map, will be undis-
tinguishable from a fixed star with the optical means at our
command. Jupiter, however, represented in our next figure,
Jupiter.
is a brilliant and most conspicuous object, and the eye of
the novice will have to become accustomed to the brilliance
of his light before much detail can be made out upon his
surface. At the period in his rotation, corresponding to
that at whicli our sketch was taken, the great red spot
which has been such a conspicuous object on his disc for
the last two or three 3-ears wOl be at once recognised ; a
dark belt to the east, and somewhat above (or south of) it,
bending down seemingly towards it. Then, north of
the great spot, we note a well-defined band, the darkest
portion of the planet's surface. The northern edge of this,
and the southern edge of a belt nearly on the planet's
equator, enclose an irregularly-formed lighter area between
them. They are succeeded by a third dark belt, after
which the whole of the planet's limb up to his north pole
is covered ^vith a continuous shading. Jupiter has four
moons, but their positions are so continually shifting as to
render it impossible to insert them in any drawing, unless
its exact epoch be given. They may all four be outside of
the planet's disc, or on the same side, or some on one side
and some on another. Or they, or one or more of them,
may be hidden in the shadow of Jupiter, or be passing
across his face. In this latter case, the shadow of the
crossing satellite may be detected like a little circular dot
of ink upon his face. Our sketch of Jupiter, we must warn
the young observer, is made on a smaller scale than that
of Saturn, the latter having been enlarged to exhibit
detail. When the observer has gazed his fill upon tliis
superb planet, he may raise his telescope to that lovely
object y AndromediB (above Triangula in the map). The
contrast between the yellow of the large star and the ex-
quisite green of the small companion is very striking, tt
AndromediB to the right of /3 is a very pretty object, the
contrasting colours being in this case very pale yellow and
blue. 59, 2 3, P. XXIII., 240, and other beautiful pairs
will be found marked in Proctor's "Atlas."
Exchanging now his high power for the lowest one
supplied with his telescope, the beginner should fish a
little abov(> to the right of y Andromedffi (see map, p. 204)
for that most remarkable object, 31 of "Messier's Cata-
logue," the well-known great nebula in Andromeda. Sir
John Ilerschcl quotes Simon Marius as describing the
appearance of this nebula as resembling that of a candle
shining through horn ; and this really does not give a bad
idea of it, as viewed in such an insti-ument as that which
we are using. We purposely abstain from giving any
figure of this nebula, inasmuch as no woodcut is competent
to reproduce the peculiar effect of a nebula, and our object
is to show as exactly as possible what the reader, furnished
with a first-class 3-inch achromatic, may expect it to show
him.
None of the larger stars in Taurus present any features
of interest in small telescopes, j^ Tauri is a somewhat wide,
but pretty pair. It is the one above the letter S in the word
"Taurus" in the map on page 119. Identification of the
smaller ones without graduated circles is almost hopeless.
Using a low eye-piece through, the Pleiades present a fine
spectacle ; and about two diameters of the moon, above
and to the right of i Tauri, will be found a pale, elongated
nebula. A low eye-piece, too, must be used for this. Nearly
over head, just now, Perseus will be observed ; a constella-
tion rich in objects of interest, of which, however, we can
only give an account of a very few suitable for the instru-
ment we are employing. Reference, as before, must be
made to the maps on pages 97, 119, and 204 for their identi-
fication. £ is a very tine pair, but the small er star requires
some little looking for. It is as shown in Fig. 8 below,
and just to the right of its primary. I Persei is really
a quadruple star, although the student will scarcely discern
more than three out of its four components with the aper-
ture we are considering, i) is another pretty pair, too,
but somewhat difficult, from the faintness of the com-
panion. Perseus contains several interesting clusters —
notably one of the most glorious fields of stars in the
whole heavens, in what is called the " Sword-handle."
This may be seen by a sharp-sighted person with the
Fig. 8. — t Persei
naked eye between Perseus and Cassiopeia (map on p. 75)
as a bright spot in the MOky Way. This superb object
requires the lowest eye-piece in the observer's possession to
do it anything like justice. No view of it, however, with so
small an aperture will give any idea of the gorgeous effect
it presents in a large instrument
South of Aries and the Pleiades lies the straggling con-
stellation Eridamus. It contains numerous interesting
pairs of stars ; but for them the student must sweep, if
confined to the maps in Knowledge, as they are not
numbered there ; and hence, any attempted description of
their localities could only be confusing. 32, 39, 55, and
P III., 98 will all be found to be beautiful and attractive
objects, and are marked in Proctor. A curious planetary
nebula ^ IV. 26, seen best witli a low power, will be found
there too. Having then furnished the incipient star-gazer
with a good hard night's work, we take leave of him for the
present. In our next lesson we propose to deal with that
splendid and all-repaying constellation, Orion.
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 13, 1882.
FOUND LINKS.
Bv Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.L.S., ic.
TURNING now to the la.st-named fi.shes {Lepidosiren
and Cei-aUxlim), wo di.scovcr tliat their tisli-characters
exist on the very surface of tliinj:;s. Their blood is cold ;
thfir bodies are .scaly ; they have fins and liii-rays; and
above all, they possess gills existing in tho sides of the
neck, and in which, so long as they swim in the water,
their blood is puritiod. IJut here the fish-characters end.
Another aspi-et of the niud-fislies and the barramunda
re\eals characters whidi startle us as lieing not those of
fishes, but those of frogs ; and frogs, toads, and newts
form, as every on<! knows, the second higher class of
vertebrate , that of the Amphibia.
Firstly, dIici), the Lrpido/tiren possesses a heart, which
is not that of a fish, but modelled on the type of the frog
or reptile heart. Instead of being two-chambered, it
is throe-chambered ; and no other tish save itself pos-
sesses such an advance on the ordinary type of fish-heart.
But, secondly, their " paired fins," which represent in all
fishes the " limbs " of higher animals, resemble — in the
mud-fishes at least — rudimentary limbs. Then the nostrils,
thirdly, open into the mouth^a character agreeing with
frogs and all higher vertebrates, but possessed by one other
fish-group only — the low hag-fishes, which are poor relations
of the lampreys. Tliese characters, then, are the characters
of frogs, and not of fishes. But a far more interesting
likeness to the frogs and higher vertebrates yet remains
for notice. The " air bladder " of the mud-fisli and of the
" Jeevine " alters wonderfully, both in form and function,
from its nature in other fishes. It becomes divided in two,
and it opens into their throat by a windpipe, at the top of
wliich is a " glottis," corresponding to part of our own
organ of voice. Furthermore, it is divided internally into
cells — in a word, tho air-bladder of the mud-fish and its
neighbour Jtas heroine a Iuikj. But this wonderful trans-
formation is not quit<: ended with the recital of the altered
structure of the air-bladder in these fishes. A lung is an
organ which not merely receives blood in an impure state,
but which, as in ourselves, returns that blood pure to the
heart for re-circulation through the body. If, therefore,
the " lung " of the tish is to he accounted a true " lung,"
we should be al)le to show that it performs the functions
and discharges the duties of an organ of lircathing.
Now the life of these fishes exhil>its exactly the pecu-
liarities which demand the exercise of an air-breathing
organ like a lung. The mud-fishes iidiabit their native
rivers during the wet season ; but when the dry season
approaches, they bury themselves in the mud, and lie there,
baked as in a kind of mud-pie, until the return of the per-
sLstent rains. During this land-existence their " lungs "
come into play. So long as they live in their native
wat(!rs, they breatlie by their gills like ordinary fishes ;
but, ensconced in the mud, they breathe air directly
from the atmosphere, like ourselves. The air-bladder
purifies tho blood, which the heart pumps into its
ve-s-sels, and from the " lungs " the purified blood is
returned to the heart. Tho fish is thus truly a "double-
breather ; " it exhibits in itself the combination of the
characters of the frog and the fish. Dr. Giinther tells us
that whilst the mud-fi.shes remain in the "torpid state of
existence, the clay-l)alls containing them are frequently
dug out, .and, if the capsules are not broken, the fishes
imbedded in them can be transported to Europe, and re-
leased by being immersed in slightly tejnd water." The
" Jeevine," with its sirailar " luns;," is said to leave the
Australian rivers at night, and to waddle its way to the
marshes and swamps, there to feed upon the vegetable
mattJ'rthat forms its .staple food. In the nocturnal joumey-
ings of the fish we can readily perceive the utility of the
"lung."
It may lastly be remarked that other fishes are known
to leave tlie water and to exist for a time on land. The
climbing perch of India, and the Ophiorephali, also of
India, illustrate! such fishes ; but in these forms the
breathing in air is contrived in a different fashion from
that process in the mud-fishes, and has no connection with
any " lung."
Let us now reflect that a frog itself begins life
as a fi.sh. Tlio "tadpole" has gills and a fish - heart,
whilst it lias no lungs. Ultimately it acquires lungs
and loses gills and tail as its mature shape is attained.
Summing up these plain facts of zoology, I think it
is not difficult to see that in the mud-fishes and " Jee-
\-ine " we find a " link " between the lower water-living
fishes and the air-breathing frogs. If we sup)iose that
a form like the mud-fish could rid itself of its gills when it
became adult, and that it could throw off the scales of the
fish, and develope the limbs of the frog, we might figure to
ourselves the ascent of the frog-typo from the Csh-type.
There is nothing more wonderful or impossible in this idea
than in the veritable fact that every frog is at first a fish,
then a tailed newt, and only ultimately becomes the
amphibian. Anyhow, one fact seems clear enough, that
fishes and frogs — two utterly distinct classes — are " linked "
by the mud-fishes and " Jeevine ; " and this single fact in
itself supports powerfully, in a rational view of matters,
the theory that the air-breathing tribes of animals sprang
originally from water-living forms. We shall see in future
papers that " links " even of stranger kind unite classes of
animals as dissimilar as the fishes and the frogs.
FALLACIES ABOUT LUCK.
Bv THE Editor.
"TTTALKING down to the boat-houses, one day, when I
\* was at Cambridge, a friend (now a clergyman)
who was taking part, like myself, in the four-oared scratch
races, remarked that his boat w'as sure not to draw the
unlucky first place that clay. "How's thatT' I asked.
" Why, because we have had to row first every day until
now, and the luck is sure to change to-day." (It may be
necessary to explain that boat-races on the Cam are bump-
ing i-aces — unless where time races are i-owed between the
last two or three left in — and that the first place is,
of course, the worst in a bumping race, for the simple
reason that the first boat shares with the others,
all but the last, the risk of being bumped, but can-
not make a bump. In the eight-oared races, indeed, the
first place is the place of honour, attained by bumping
boats below ; but where, before a race, lots are drawn for
position, the first place is the worst, the last place the best)
I tried to explain to my friend what seemed so obvious as
to need no explanation, that his fate in the day's drawing
could not possibly be affected by the results of previcv.s
drawings. The simple circumstance that to draw a given
place day after day, for six days (fivo were pa-st), was a
thing unlieard of, so far as he knew, sufiiccd to assure him
that his coxswain would not that day draw a particular
ticket. It so chanced that what he was sure would not
happen did actually hajipen, though it would in no way
ha\e affected my argument if his hopes had lieen fulfilled.
Jas. 13, 1SS2.]
KNOWLEDGE
223
The mistake made by my friend on this occasion is one
of the commonest fallacies respecting the laws of chance.
Of course, it requires no mathematical knowledge or reason-
ing to show the opinion to he quite erroneous that past
events can in any way inliuenee events which are of their
very nature entirely independent of them. If there is an
urn in which we know that there are a number of white
and a number of black lialls, and we draw one after another
several white balls, 7wl reticrniiitj (hem, we have some
reason for thinking that ■we are more likely to draw
a black ball at the next trial, for every white ball
drawn diminishes the chance that the next one drawn
will be white. But if each ball after being drawn is
replaced, it is evident that the chance of drawing a white
ball at any given trial must be the same as that of drawing
it at the first or at any other trial. Or take the tossing of
a coin. Antecedently it seems so unlikely that head (say)
will be tossed ten times running, that we can easily imagine
how anyone who had tossed head nine times running might
entertain for a moment the idea that he was less likely
to to.'^s head the tenth time. But if he had any reasoning
power at all, and used it, he would see that no number of
past trials could in any degree affect the next tossing.
There is a fallacy equally common, and held commonly by
the same persons who make the mistake just considered,
which yet is opposite to it in character — in fact, directly
contradictory to it. Tlie mistake we have dealt with above
may be called belief in the change o£ luck, and in a some-
what disguised foriii it is this foolish fallacy which leads
the weak-minded piceon to fall an easy prey to the rooks,
from the fond delusion, in whicii, of course, they encourage
him, thst though he has lost — or rather because he has lost
for a long time — he must presently begin to win. The
fallacy we have next to mention is faith in luck. You will
hear people say tliat they never have luck in games of
chance, or that they always have luck ; and you will find
hundreds ready to believe in the good luck or bad luck of
others. We say that this belief is contradictory to the
other. If it Ije considered for a moment, this is seen
to be the case. \Miat does belief in a man's good or
bad luck mean but that, because he has been foi'tuuate
or unfortunate for a long time he will continue to be so ?
and what does the other belief mean but that, because the
luck has been one way for a long time, it will no longer
continue to be so ? One would suppose that two ideas so
incompatible with each other could not exist in company ;
that everyone must see one or other to be fallacious, or
(which, of course, Ls the actual case) that both are so.
Both views are in fact ridiculous, though both, with many
other equally preposterous superstitions, are entertained by
persons who are not supposed to be wanting in keenness of
perception, and in other matters are intelligent enough.
Here, for instance, is an account given by one keen card-
player of another who was as keen, or keener. " He was
very particular about cutting the cards ; he always insisted
on the pack Ijeing perfectly square before he would cut,
and that they should be placed in a convenient position.
There is an old adage that a slovenly cut is good for the
dealer, but whether there is truth in the statement
we know not. He was superstitious to a degree that was
astonishing." (It must be a rather startling superstition
that would seem astonishing to a man who could gravely
ask whether there is any truth in the preposterous adage
just quoted.) " We are not aware that any one has ever
attempted to solve the problem why so many great minds "
(among card-players, fighting men, and men who have to
work much at odds ^\^th fortune) " are superstitious. This
is not the time or place to attempt that solution. We
record the fact He believed in dress ha^'ing something to
do with luck, and if the luck followed him, he would wear
the same dress, whether it was adapted to the weather or
not. He believed in cards and seats. He objected to any
one making a remark about his luck. He had the strongest
objection to our backing him, because of our bad luck, and
we have often had to refrain from taking odds, because of
this fad. He was distrcss(!d beyond measure if any one
touched his counters. His constant system of shuiiling
the cards was at times an annoyance." This was a great
card-player.
It will be asked, perhaps, how cases of notoriously
lucky men are to be accounted for, if there is no such
thing as luck. If the laws of probabilities say that no.,
man can be regarded as a lucky or unlucky man in matteis. .
of pure chance, how is it that so many men have been.
lucky or unlucky 'i But science by no means denies that
men have been or will be lucky or unlucky ; on the con-
trary, the laws of probability can prove that among the
millions who try their fortunes in matters of pure chance,
thousands must be exceptionally lucky or unlucky, and a
few must have luck perfectly marvellous to all who witness
it. Given the nature of any chance game and the num-
ber who play at it, science can tell, within very narrow-
limits of error, how many will have ordinary luck, how
many will have moderately good, or moderately bad luck,
how many will be very lucky or very unlucky, and how-
many will have absolutely astounding luck of one sort or-
the other. When Science is asked how, with her absolute
rejection of all faith in luck, she can account for men who
have had amazing runs of good or bad luck, Science can
reply not only that she has no difliculty in accounting for
them, but that she can prove this to be to all intents and
purposes inevitable.
What, then, is it that science rejects as untenable, or
how, with such views, can science be truly said to have no
faith in luck ? The answer is, that the laws of probability
— and (rightly understood) the laws of common sense —
forbid our belie\'ing that a man is either lucky or unlucky.
He may have been so ; but, so far as matters of pure
cliance are concerned, the man who has been most unlucky
is as likely as not to be lucky at any given trial as one who
lias been exceedingly lucky. He is not more likely to be
so, as the fallacy respecting change of luck implies, nor is-
he less likely, as the fallacy of faith in luck implies ; he has
simply just the same chance as another, neither better nor
worse.
If twenty million persons in England were to begin
tossing a coin, each stopping so soon as he tossed " tail,"
and each to receive a pound for one head, two for two
heads, four for three, eight for four, sixteen for five, and so
forth, it is practically certain that several would win a
prize of o£131,072 after tossing head eighteen times running,
and all but certain that some would get the prize of
£262,144 for tossing head nineteen times running, and one
or two perhaps the prize of £524,288 for tossing head
twenty times running. These would all have been very
lucky persons (and as long as they kept their winnings, we
may say that they were in luck afterwards as well as before).
The laws of probability show that among so many trials
there must be some such lucky persons. But, supposing the
experiment repeated, science assures us that those persons
who had been so lucky would have neither a better nor a
worse chance of success than those who had had but moderate
luck, or the unfortunates (some ten million in number)
who had tossed tail at the first trial. What would be-
lievers in the two fallacies we have considered, think 1 If
they had watched one of the luckiest tossers, would they
say that, as he had tossed head so many times running, he
was unlikely to toss a single other head in the second trial
224
♦ KNO^VLEDGE •
[Jan. 13, 1882.
or that, as lio hatl shown himself a lucky man, he was
Bure to continue tossing heads in the second trial also ]
One idea is as consisttint with the conimcm fallacies about
luck OS the other. Both cannot be true ; hut, in point of
fact, they are alike erron(!Ous. Carefully studied, eaoJi is
seen to involre an absurd mistake.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE VERNIER.
By J. R. Campbkll.
THE vernier is a short scale, which, applied to the eflgo of
another, on which wo measure a len^tli, enables us to road to
within a certain fraction of the smallest division of the latter scale.
Thus, suppose the scale wo measure on to be divided into tenths of
an inch, by means of a suitable vernier wo can read to within the
hundredth of an inch .
which do not coincide, thereby rendering a minute subdivision of
each division on SS unnecessary.
Verniers are mostly applied to tho mcaauremcnt of arcs of
circles, and form an important clement in the theodolite, sextant,
and other instruments of that class. In those, tho scale .SS forms
a portion or tho whole of a circle, and tho vernier is an arc having
tho same centre. In measuring an angle by means of these
instruments, we move the vernier, tho scale of degrees, SS, being
fixed.
COLOURS OF ANIMALS.
THE colour and flesh of trout are affected by the water and
bottoms they haunt. I know a rivor, tho upper water of
which passes over gravel and sand. Bolow that length, it streams
through bog and alder scrub. In the first length, the fish are
golden, well-formed, and good food. In the bog length they are
black, bull-headed, and flabby — utterly good-for-nothing. He must
p
m,
PU
p*2
p^-3
p*4
s
s
0
, .
i
4
5
6 7
8
9
10
V
V
Fig. 1.
In Figs. 1 and 2, >SS represents a portion of an ordinary scale of
equal parts, reading from left to right, p being p"" graduation from
the zero on the left, and p + 1, p + 2, p -t- 3, Ac, the graduations
which follow ; the distance between each being = 1 unit.
Suppose m to be some point lying between p and p -I- 1, at a dis-
tance X from p, then the vernier VV is a contrivance for giving
us the numerical value of t, to within a constant fraction of the
unit, supposing its zero to be on m.
Let us suppose tho fraction to be -t'u- I" this case V V has a
length = 9 divisions of SS, but is itself divided into ten equal
parts, figured 1, 2, 3, to 10. Each division of the vernier will,
therefore, be -,*;th of a unit. If now we find that (as in Fig. 1) the
graduation 1 on the vernier coincides with the graduation p -h 1 on
SS,
9 1 1
r = l — rn=Tj;, and for the measurement we read P + Ta'
If 2 on W coincides with p -i- 2 on SS,
9 2 2
x = 2 — 2y.rx='TK, and we read P + T7T-
If 3 on VT coincides with p -H 3 on SS,
9 3 3
r = 3 — 3xr7;=T7;, and we road P + TT;,
be a stai-ving otter who would make a meal of them. WTien these
trout passed into good water, they recovered shajie and condition.
Again, I once lived in a wild part of Ireland. Opposite, and close
to my house, there was a lake connected to another lake by an out-
flow. The water of the one, or upper lake, was clear, resting on bril-
liant white sand — a thoroughly raw bottom. The trout in it were bright
and light in colour, not plump, white fleshed, and tasteless as dace.
The lower lake was on bog and blown sea-sand. The water was
darkish. In this, the tront were something to look at. Dark backs,
merging into bright olive on tho sides, and shading into white on
the belly. They were beautifully spotted. Cooked, these fish ex-
celled in delicacy of flavour any salmon I ever tasted. Now, these
lower lake trout were the same as the white lake trout, but changed
in appearance by different conditions of water and food. That the
upper lake trout came down to the lower lake was notorious ; but
none was ever caught in its original condition. Was this change
for concealment ?
The flying-fish in the Gulf-stream have markedly the blue tint of
the stream, and are of darker hue in the darker sea-water. Was
this for concealment ? [We should say yes. — En.]
A lady, accurate in observation, has told me that the eggs of the
cloth-moth vary in colour with the colour of the cloth they are
deposited on. Is that for concealment, or from an explainable
cause ?
Z> mT> +> V ±2
p^
0-t^
t>+
1
f
+ e
/>+7
p+S
P
+P
s
S
D 1
1
3
4
i
6
7
t 9
10
In Fig. 2, 8 on VV viorc ncnrlij coincides with p-t-8 on SS than
either 7 with j> + 7, or 9 with p + 0. In this case, therefore,
7 1 8
1 = 7^+ a fraction less than tx, and we take p + .-xas tho measure-
ment required.
Were the length of tho vernier = 29 divisions of SS, and that
29
length portioned into 30 equal parts, each would be the rr: tli of the
unit; and it is easy to see that such an arrangement would read to
within tho oq th of a unit on SS. Generally, if tho vernier be of a
length =n — 1 units on SS, and consist of n equal divisions each
n-l 1
, it will moasuro to within the - th of a unit.
n 71
Tho advantage gained from the employment of a vernier arises
from tho fact that the eye can determine the coincidence of two
ines, when it cannot accurately judge the distance of other i/ne
I cannot accept ilr. Darwin's worm theory in its totality, and I
repeat that which Dr. Wilson affirms is "a trifle too near silliness,"
namely, that the theory of worm action on the soil is an elabora-
tion of exceptional minutiae into huge paradox. [Might it not be
well if our correspondent would mention some statement or con-
clusion in tho work, to which he objects ? — En.]
Dr. Wilson's answer to ' Ornithorhynchus," on the toad's im-
munity from tho common effect of bee poison, misses the fact.
The toad that munches a boo is not stung. He darts his long
rapier tongue like a flash of lightning at tho bee, and as rapidly
withdraws it, with the bee fast to his mouth. The bee is killed
before it recovers sense to sting. Neither bee nor >vasp will sting
when in a state of sudden terror. B. Doxb.xvand.
Erratim on Page 179, No. 9.— In the sixth line of the fourth
paragraph of tho article on " Primary Colours," insert a colon after
" not," and delete the full stop after "theorists." — E. H.
Jan. 1:1, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
225
Pu
<
I— I
P
o
i I -2
^ -*^ S3
° a o
o S Se
-3 a, g
•3 -M c;
^ be g
-a ^ rJ2
o •-3 _
dj "^ •-
-.s « S
:^ i
^ I
1 >^^
a, l-l r-
*^ S fl
O. K '=- ^
=3 ci ■:p S
*= 5 =*. '-
I ^ ^ -3
3 <D o 2
S* ^ - ^^
3 3 3 "o
jj O "m m
oj -3 ~ :5
i § ^ J
- "s ^ ■:
a =- 5 .s
50 V! -r —
5 ^
5; 3 -^
*3 0 „
CL, 3 =
is M '
s •- o
- -a j3
226
♦ KNO\VLEDGE •
[Jan. 13, 1882.
THE PYRAMID OF MEYDOOM.
By Amelia B. Eowarhs.
TO o]*!) the Pvnimid of Mpydoom was one of tlic uiifullilli'd
lirojccta of tlio Into Sfariotto Taslia. Prof. Maspcro takes
Efvptologists by fiur|>risc in achiuviiip this ;frcat work iluriii;; the
tirsi weeks of liis socoihI year's cauipai(ni. For more than a month
it hail Ix-en known to a few of Iiis |>rivnto fricmls that lie hail a fran^r
of fellaheen nt work npon this pyramid; hut the secret lias been
faitlifitlly kept ; and not till success was actually achieved was it
oven suspected in the public offices and liotels of Cairo.
The Pyramid of Moydoom, situate about a mile and a-lialf to the
north-west of the villaj^e of Meydoom, is built in three staffes, each
inclined at an an^'le of 71° 10'. It rises to a height of 122ft.
from tliu midst of a hi^di hill of fallen masonry and rubble.
The first stage shows a lieiglit of CD ft. ; the second measures
20J ft. ; the third, which is much ruined, measures 32 ft. in lieight.
The outer masonry is of admirable workmanship, and consists of
polished blocks of JIuknttam limestone. The general effect of the
stnicture is very imjiosing. It has been aptly comimred to the
keep of a Xorman castle, if we can imagine a keep built in three
gnperimposed stages. Archaeologists have till now believed that
this pyramid was inviolate. Dominating a vast burial-field con-
taining the tnastaha.':, or bnilt sepulclues, of many nobles and
" royal relatives " of Scneferoo, the last king of the Third Dynasty,
it is supposed to be the pyramid of that monarch. It would in
such case be of earlier date than the pyramids of Ghcezeh.
Professor JIaspero began his work by opening a vertical trench
down the northern face of the mound out of which the pyramid
rises; the first result being to show that the masonry goes down to
the level of the desert, and that the mound is entirely formed of
accumulated sand and debris. Pi-ofessor Maspcro believes this debris
to be very ancient, and thinks it may even date as far back as the
end of the New Empire. The entrance was found precisely in the
centre of the north face of the lirst stage, about 20 metres above
the level of the plain ; which would give about 134 feet for the
actual height of the first stage as now laid bare. This entrance
was opened on the 13th of last month. It gave access to
a descending passage about 1 m&tre 60 centimetres square.
The incline of this passage is very steep, and for the first
10 metres it is lined with masonrj' finer, it possible, than that of
the external facing. At a depth of 10 metres the passage strikes
the living rock, and becomes in its continuation an excavated
sloping shaft of the same dimensions as before. The pyramid, for
at least half its height, is therefore fonned upon a core of rock,
around which the jiyramidal structui-e is elevated. About 5 metres
from the entrance there was once a '*stopj5er" stone, which closed
the mouth of the jiassagc. This "stopper" has disappeared; but
the construction of the j)assage shows that it was contrived quite
differently from the portcullis-stones of the Gheezch pyramids.
There is no void in the roofing above where it is placed. It must,
therefore, have been inserted after the nmmmy was laid in the
sepulchre; then filled up to the level of the outer wall,
and covered with the same reri-tcment, so leaving no ex-
ternal trace. The removal of this stone must have been
effected at a very distant time, there being three hieratic
inscriptions of the jieriod of the XXth DjTiasty scrawled upon the
ceiling at the very point which the stone formerly occupied. These
inscriptions, written in accordance with a brief formula common to
the Jepoch, merely record the visit of two Egyptian tourists — the
scribe Sokari anci the .scribe Amenmes. Hence it would seem that
the pyramid of Jleydoom was open, and Wsited by the curious, as
early as the XXth Dynasty. The descending passage has been
cleared to the depth of -R) metres, without any lauding, branch-
passage, or chamber having yet been reached. Thus far, the struc-
tural arrangement seems to reproduce the internal plan of the
Great Pyramid. The work is of extreme difficulty, owing to the
want of air and light, and the overwhelming heat. The workmen
faint from time to time, and have to be carried out. Prof. Maspero
finds it impossible to stay inside for moro than half-an-hour tflge-
her. — From the Academ y.
VEtJETABLE POISONS.
TllK evidence in refi'rence to the death of Percy Malcolm .lohn
was of a chnracter which seems to leave no doubt that the
deceased was jioisoned by aconitinc, however or by whom it may
have been administered. Tlic medicinal <|ualitics proper to various
of the moat active members of the vegetable kingdom, such as
opium, hemlock, aconite, hellebore, cinchona, and others, have long
been known to be due to the presence in their jnices of substances
called their active principles, and known chemically as alkaloids. Of
these, ([uinine, the active principle of cinchona bark, and morphia,
the active principle of opinm, are of snch comparatively slender
potency that they are constantly admvniatered in medicine, and
their names have become household words — e\en to the extent, in
the case of morphia, that it has lost its original French designation
of morphine, and has become 'Latinised or Anglicised in common
use. When the active principles were first discovered, they were
almost entirely manufactured or separated in Prance, for the
reason that the process recpiired the enipIojTnent of a large
quantity of rectified spirit or pure alcohol, and that the excise
duties on alcohol had not then been relaxeil in favour of chemictgj
manufactures, and were practically proliibitorv- in this country.
The analysis of vegetable poisons, in quest of the active principles
which they might contain, fell almost exclusively into the hands of
French chemists ; and hence these active principles, when separated
and identified, were naturally called by French names. With
those which are so powerful as to be dai gerons in any but
the most skilful hands, and which have never l>een popu-
larly known or talked about, the French terminology- has been
commonly retained ; and hence the active principle of helle-
bore is still called veratrine, and that of aconite acoiiitine. The
aconite itself is the plant known to botanists as Acmiitui-i yapellus,
and familiar in many old-fashioned country gardens as monkshood,
and its graceful form, dark and deeply indented foliage, and tall
spikes of large dark blue flowers, are attendant npon one of the
most deadly poi.=ons which are contained in the vegetable kingdom.
The root bears a superficial resemblance to horseradish, and there
have been numerous instances in which this resemblance has led to
fatal consequences. It cannot strictly be said to resemble horse-
radish in taste, but it produces upon the tongue a peculiar sensa-
tion of tingling, followed by prolonged nmabnoss ; and it has
been eaten as horseradish over and over again, in sufficient
quantities to cause the deaths of many persons, and serions
illness to many others. When such is the virulence of the root
itself, it cannot be matter for surprise that its alkaloid, or active
principle, separated from every inert constituent, should be dan*
gerous to man in a dose of the fiftieth of a grain, and fatal in the
dose of a tenth of a grain ; or that it should produce, in an intensi-
fied degree, the peculiar tongue sensation which is produced by
chewing the plant itself. It is by these characteristics that the
analysts. Dr. Stevenson and Dr. Dnpre, have bocn able to identify
aconitine as the poison which proved fatal to the deceased.
The vegetable alkaloid?, when administered for criminal pur-
poses, were long thought to present peculiar d-fficidties to chemists.
The fatal dose might be so small in absolute amount as to be easily
lost among the other ingredients of a meal, or the other consti-
tuents of the animal body ; and the substances themsi'lves do not
offer the facilities for analysis with wliich we are f.'uniliar in the case
of the mineral poisons. A preparation having a metallic base, such
as arsenic or antimony, is practically indestructible ; for, if it is
swallowed in sufficient quantities tocause death, this base must always
be present in the remains in a condition in which it can be separated
and identified by processes of the simplest kind, with which it is
the business of every medical student to be familiar. The alka-
loids, on the other hand, instead of haviig permanent bases
peculiar to themselves, are con\posed of the same elements which
build up the fabric of the body, and of the food from which its sus-
tenance is derived, and there are very few of them which,
in the presence of any tests, j-ield reactions that can be
described as ])0sitively characteristic. In these circumstances
physiology has come to the help of chemistry, and the
practice which is pursued is, in the fii-st instance, to
treat the contents of the stomach, or tie s-nbst.ince of the
^Hscera, in such a way as to extract from then any alkaloid which
they may contjiin, and then to test this extra t by its effects when
administered to small animals, instead of by its l)eha^^our in con-
tact with re-agents. The evidence of Dr. Stevenson is to the effect
that he made an extract from the matters subntitted to him for
analysis, and that he administered minute quantities of this extract
by injecting it under the skin of mice, which therenpon died with
symptoms of aconite jioisoning. It fnither ]>rofluccd upon his own
tongue and upon that of Dr. Dupre the characteristic tingling and
numbness which would be produced by aconite, and which lasted from
four to six hours ; and, finally, some mice were jioisoned with gennino
aconitine, and their syn\i)toms were compared with those exhibited
by the mice poisoned by the extract. In this way the chemists
were able to arrive at a conclusion which they appear to have
placed beyond dispute. The body of the deceased contained
aconitine enough to have killed a dozen people ; and no one who
had swallowed the alkaloid in the amount in which it was shown
to have been jiresent could have hail, from the lirst moment, even
the smallest chance of escape. In its legitimate uses, indeed,
oconitine is scarcely ever employed by physicians except as an
external application. A minute quantity of it is sometimes pro-
Ja\. 13, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
227
ribed as tlie basis of an ointment, which is rubbed into tlip skin in
u.' forms of obstinate neuralgia, but its internal administration
111 be attended by perils, from accidents in dispensing or in the
isuremont of the dose, which no prudent practitioner would be
. Iv to incur. — Times.
THE NEW STAR IN CASSIOPEIA.
rpiIE following particulars respecting this wenderfnl star may be
L of intere.-^t to your querist and otlier readers (see query 05).
star known as the "Pilgrim," which suddenly blazed out in
-sinpeia in 1572, was, according to Smyth, tirst seen by Schaler,
Wittenberg, in August, 1572. Tycho Brahe, whose name is
ally associated with the star, first saw it November 11. It in-
ured in brilliancy until it surpassed Jupiter, and equalled Venus
irighmess when it was visible at noonday. This state of things
~ not, however, of long duration, as it gradually diminished, and
March, 157-i, had completely disappeared. Its curiois changes
..ii thus described : — " As it decreased in size, so it varied in colour;
at first its light was white and extremely bright ; it then became
yellowish, afterwards of a ruddy coloxir. and finished with a )>ale
livid colour." Smyth incorrectly gives its position as north of 55
Cassiopeia^ This mistake has not been coiTeeted by Chambers in
his new edition of the Cycle. A reference to the original sketch,
by Tycho Brahe, accompanying his description of the star, shows
that it was situated close to i- Cassiopei;c — a star of about fourth
magnitude. The place deduced by Argelander, from Tycho
Brahe's observations, is. for the year 1878, R.A. Oh. 18m. 2s. 1;
N.P.D. 2G^ 31' 43". The position thus indicated is very void of stars
to the naked eye, and even in an opera-glass.
Within one miimte of arc of the place assigned by Argelander,
d' Arrest, in 1865. observed a small star of the eleventh magnitude,
of a reddish hue. By frequent comparisons made by Hind and
Plummer in 1873, they found that this small star, which is No. 129
of d' Arrest's catalogue, is sensibly variable to the extent of nearly
a magnitude. " It frequently presented a more blurred appearance
than the neighbouring stars, and on several nights was remarked
to flash up very sensibly for moments, assuming at these instants a
redder tinge than at other times. The star assumed to be Tycho's
will be readily identified by means of a bright ninth magnitude —
80 according to Argelander, which is No. 22 of his Zone 60. It
follows this ninth magnitude 29"6. and is south of it IO'4'I.""
IVAn-est's star was also observed by Espin in 1878. Sir J. Herschel
thought it probable that the object was identical with temporary
stars which are said to h.ave been seen in the same region of the
heavens in the yeai-s 015 and 1264. Should this be the case, the
next few years may possibly witness a repetition of this extra-
ordinary phenomenon. J. E. Gohe.
ACTINIUM ; A METAL FOUND IN WHITE ZINC
PIGMENT.
acetic acid. The residue, well washed, is then treated with strong
hydrochloric acid, to which a little nitric acid is added from time to
time. The solution of the chlorides thus obtained isliltered to sepa-
rate free sulphur and the insoluble sulphate of baryta, and remaining
sulphur in suspension after filtration being oxidised by a few crystals
of chlorate of jjotash. To this solution of chlorides, somewhat di-
luted, a considerable excess of caustic soda is added, and the solution
heated. The zinc oxide goes into solution, and the white oxide of
actinium remains ; the latter is received upon a filter, washed,
dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and the solution again treated with
excess of caustic soda (these opei"ations may be repeated two or
three times, in order to eliminate the zinc oxide as mnch as pos-
sible). Finally, the oxide of actinium, still impure, is washed on a
filter, and dissolved in a considerable excess of hydrocldoric acid.
The solution is neutralised by ammonia, and then the latter is added
in excess. All but a little iron oxide remains dissolved (if not,
dissolve again in HOI, and add ammonia in excess, which this time
will only precipitate the iron). The iron oxide is .separated by the
filter, and to the filtrate sulphide of ammonia is added, which
throws down the sulphide of actinium as a bulky, pale, canary-
yellow precipitate, the colour of which is best seen when it is
received on a filter.
Ovide of Actinium. — The hydrate, as precipitated by soda or am-
monia, forms a bulky white precipitate, tnore gelatinous than oxide
of zinc; unlike the latter, it is only very slightly soluble in caustic
soda, even when the liquid is heated ; it is not precipitated by am-
monia from solutions containing ammoniacal salts. It is a per-
manent white, with a sliglit tinge of salmon colour when seen in
bulk, and it does not change colour when exposed to the air, as
oxide of manganese does, neither does it appear to be affected by
the direct rays of the sun. It is readily soluble in acid. The
anhydrous oxide is not volatile nor decomposed by heat. It has a
pale, fawn-coloured tint.
Sulphide nf Actinium. — The hydrate, as precipitated from its
neutral or alkaline solutions by sulphide of ammonium, is a bulky
pale canary -yellow precipitate, insoluble in excess of sulphide of
ammonia, scarcely at all soluble in acetic acid, readily soluble in
mineral acids, even when they are diluted. When exposed to the
direct rays of the sun, it darkens and becomes quite black in twenty
minutes, except in those places where it is protected by a piece of
ordinary window glass.
The amount of actinium sulphide obtained from the white pig-
ment amounts to no less than about 4 per cent. This yield is enor-
mous. The presence of this new element in zinc will probably
account for the discrepancies noticed in the equivalent of this metal,
as determined by various observers. The new element differs very
essentially from manganese, zinc, and cadmium, but has, perhaps,
some points of similarity with lanthanum. It exists, evidently, in
considerable quantities, in at least some kinds of commercial zinc.
FOSSILS IN METEORIC STONES.
THE question whether life exists, or ever has existed, in any
the celestial bodies, under conditions similar to those which
prevail upon the earth, has been one of deep interest ever since
astronomy in modern 'times dissipated the old theories and set up
correct ideas in regard to the solar system. It has been, however,
a mere matter of affirmative belief, irithout any sort of proof to
give it a foundation. It has been quite rationally argued that the
All-Wise Father of the Universe would not allow such vast worlds,
as we are now certain the heavenly bodies are, to remain waste
places, without making them the abodes of life. Such was one of
the sublime ideas of Thomas Dick, the famous " Christian Philo-
sopher." And some of the materialistic evolutionists of more recent
times, who exclude every idea of s))ecial creation from their doctrines,
have suggested that possibly '• in the beginning " life originated upon
this earth m one or more germs which fell from some of the circling
orbs above us. coming down with or upon those meteoric stones. But
aside from the fact that science has shown a strong analog)' between
the physical conditions of our earth and some of the planets, there has
not been until now any other proof of the existence of life as it is
manifested to us outside of our own earth. But in the Popular
Science Monthlij for November, Mr. Francis Bingham has a very
remarkable and interesting article ou the discovery of organic re-
mains in meteoric stones, in which he avers that "we are able to
see with our own eyes the veritable remains of animate beings from
another celestial body." These stones, which have been falling
upon our eai-th during all historic time, and doubtless from periods
far more remote, have been believed by astronomers to bo the re-
mains of a planet which had been destroyed in some manner
— shattered into fragments by forces which to us may be set doivn
as unknown or mysterious. Two German scientists — Dr. Hahn, a
geologist, and Dr. Weinland, a zoologist — have recently investigated
228
KNOWLEDGE
[Jak. 13, 1882.
this 8ubji-ct to iioinn extent, nnd the rcsnit of their labours in that
they fiiitl in thoHo Htonns fo8*»il sponges, corals, and crinoids. They
are also of the opinion tliat tliey have discovered a trace of vopctable
remains. The best delined fossils aro tlioso of corals and sponfres,
and in rcj^ard to these there would seem to be no doubt. The
corals belong to clas.ies which on the earth are foun<l only in
some of the oldest geol<)),Hcal formations, and they differ from
onrs in being extremely small. Of the sponges, the remains were in
such excellent preservation, that " Dr. Weinland succeeded in actually
determining three genera. "
*' Of one chanicteristic bluish sponge which occurred in several
favourable shavings (into which the stone was cut), both as young
and old specimens, he was able to make a drawing of its interior
construction as easily as from a living specimen."
These startling discoveries i>oint to the fact that in the world
where these rocks and animal forms originated, the course of organic
evolution was very similar to that which has taken place upon our
earth. But these eminent savants are of the opinion that discoveries
will yet be made of organisms for which no place can be found in
our systems of zoology. The petrifactions all belong to the sub-
aqueous classes of animals of the lower and more ])rimitive forms,
and up to this time no trace has been found of any higher animals,
as mollusks, &c.
Dr. Hahn has published a book giving an account of this won-
derful discovery, which is illustrated with engravings of more than
one hundred specimens of these organic remains, no two of which
are alike. These have been reproduced by photography, which docs
not lie. Further investigations in this new and untrodden field of
research will be awaited with the most profound interest. — Chicago
Herald.
DURATION OF LIFE.
AX article lately appeared in the BritUh ifedirnl Jnuriial on
" Has the duration of Human Life in England increased
during the last thirty years ? " by Dr. Rabagliati. I have con-
densed most of it for jour readers. From 1838-40, the average
death-rate was 22-3 per 1,000; in 1876-9, it was 21 per 1,000; or
an average of -l-iy years agaiii.st 47'6 years ; this gives an addition
of 2"8 years to each one's life. If our population is 25,7y8,922
people in Great Britain, then 72,236,981 years of life are added to
a generation.
The improvement, he says, is due to better ventilation and
drainage, less overcrowding, the destruction of fever dens, &c. This
addition, when analysed, shows that infant life is more certain,
whilst males above 35, and females above 45 are dying faster than
thirty years ago.
Between 1851 and 1878, 3605 male children under five ye.ars died
]ier 1,000; in 1879 only 3195 per 1,000; this is an addition of
11'4 per cent, to life. If we still compare these dates we find that
between Sand 10 years, 19 per cent, was added ; 10 and 15 years it
was '24 -i i)er cent. ; 15 and 20 years it was 220 per cent. ; from
20 to 25 it was 22'6 per cent. ; from 25 to 35 years it was 113 per
cent. In females, comparing same data, it was 141, 22'4, 24"4,
254, 237, 167 ; and from 35 to 45 years there was a saving of
5'8 per cent, in 1879. Males in 1879 from 35 to 45 years died
15 per cent, faster than before ; 45 to 55 years, 26 per cent,
faster ; 55 to 65 years, 11'9 per cent. ; 65 to 75 years, 7'8 per cent.,
and above 85 years, 7 l>er cent, faster than from 1851 to 1878.
Females between 45 to 55 years 6 or -jSj per cent, died faster ; from
55 to 05 years, 12-2 per cent.; 05 to 75 years, 116 per cent.;
75 to 85 years, 95 per cent. ; above 85 years, 48 per cent.
<lied faster. Examine, then, every 10 years and wo find
in 1841 to 1850 the death-rate was 22-4" per 1,000; 1851 to
1860 it was 222 per 1,000; 1861 to 1870, it was 225 per 1,000;
nnd from 1871-9 (nine years) it was 21-5 per 1,000. The
improved rate of health has taken |)lace since 1870. Deaths
from zymotic (infectious) diseases have lessened ; thus from 1850
to 1854 they were at the rate of 5,231. per million living people;
1855 to 1859, they were 5,039 per million ; 1860 to 1864, they were
4,899 per million ; 1865 to 1869, they were 5,172 per million'; 1870
to 1874, they were 4,849 per million ; 1875 to 1879, they were 3,911
per million of living beings. From 1850 to 1854 the death-rate was
high from these causes ; in 1877 to 1879 it was lower from them ; but
from other causes it was higher than from 1850 to 1854. minus these.
Thus it sccm.s that in those days the people were healthier than our
present race — it was a ca.se of survival of the fittest, the weakly
ones then died and .so increased infant mortality ; now the weaker
ones live, and die soon aft<?r manhood, and swell its mortality, in-
stead. The diseases that attack young lives are also becoming less
fatal, such as scrofula and consumption, whilst diseases of more
ivdvanccd life arc, on the other hand, increasing in fatality, such as
cancer. 'ITiis reads us a terrible lesson, and one to which everyono'*
attention shfiuld be drawn, for we undoubtedly hold our lives in our
own hands ; so it depenrls with ourselves, in a great measure,
whether wo die at 35 or 75 years.
T. li. Ai.LiN.-o.\, L.R.C.P.
KNOWLEDGE FOR THE YOUNG.*
AN idea seems to prevail that the best way to make knowledge
palatable to the young, or to beginners generally, is to dilute
it : if a reader finds one fact in a page ho can digest it, and better
still if ho finds one fact in half-a-dozen piigcs. Then, again, many
imagine that knowledge must be sweetened to suit the taste of
young folks : we must be poetical and use flowery lacgnage, or
they will turn from knowledge in disgust. We believe all this (we
may say we know it) to be entirely erroneous. If it were true, the
book before us would be utterly unsuited for young people ; but, as
a matter of fact, it is just the sort of book they want. There is no
poetry, no flowery language, no attempt to interest by fine talking ;
and yet the book is full of interest from cover to cover, and full of
poetry, too, for those who can read between the lines. Take the open-
ing words. " Coal. — When wood or woody matter such as roots, bark,
leaves, moss, peat, and so on, lies buried in the earth for a very
long time, it changes into coal. Wherever coal is now found, there
were once forests, or woods, or peat, or else mouths of rivers or
other places where plants grew, or their dead parts, or leaves, or
branches, and roots got heaped together. Then such places get
covered with water, often because they sank below the level of the
sea, and the sea covered them, and they were at the bottom of the
sea. Then the mud which rivers bring down to the sea sank down
and covered them, and the shells and skeletons of dead sea animals
fell also upon them, so that they got covered deeper and deeper."
Then the later stages of coal formation are described, without a
wasted sentence. And at the foot of the second jiage the coal has
been followed to ashes, cinders, coke, and breeze (broken up coke),
and so the first chapter ends.
How much more sensible tliis than a page or two of pretty talk
about the cheerful blaze of our home fires, the comforting warmth
of stoves, and so forth, followed by vague mention of the work coal
does in manufacture, &c., with then, perhaps, a reference to the
forest primeval, and poetical picturings of the work done by river
and sea. We have before us a work, on another subject, in which
just such a course is followed. Six pages are employed in saying
what might very well be said in half a page, aud then the author
has the face to say, " let us recapitulate ", — the reader being all the
while treated as a child might be to whom a bitter medicine was to
be given in a spoonful of sweetstuff.
Now, children as a rule (though elementary books arc best
WTitten when not specially meant for children) care very little for
poetical descriptions, and a great deal for facts. They often find a
good deal of poetry in the facts ; indeed, we can imagine few better
lessons for tliose who want to jiut poetry into their science books
than to tell their facts to a bright child, and to listen to its com-
ments. If you want thoroughly to interest a child you must not
dilute, but condense. An intelligent child's digestive capacity for
information is greater (not less, as many fondly imagine) than that
of most grown persons. The usual way of treating readers of
" first books " is as unwise as would be the use of baby food for
growing boys.
Let parents try the experiment. Give a boy a so-called scientific
book full of poetry and platitudes, with the science disguised out of
all knowledge, and note how he will weary of it. Then give him
such a book as Professor Guthrie's "First Book of Knowledge,"
and see how much the lad will prefer good meat to pap. Some
reviewers criticise such books as this on the score of what they call
a common-place style, not knowing that the true eloquence of the
scientific writer resides in clearness and plainness of speech. So
judged. Professor Guthrie's style is excellent.
The subjects dealt with in this capital book are classed onder
the following heads : — " Things and Stuffs used for Honse-
building. The Elements, Wood, Heating and Lighting, Finishing
and Furnishing (of houses), Clothing, Food, Cleaning, Writing,
and Printing." There are questions at the end of each chapter,
Imt wo believe that what is learned for i|uestion - answering is
not properly learned at all. A clever boy should take such a
book as this for the mere pleasure of satisfying the mental
craving (natural in all healthy minds) for information, — which is
the mind's plain food.
• " The First Book of Knowledge." By Frederick Guthrie, F.R.S.
(Marcus Ward iS: Co., London.)
J AX. 13, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
229
iftttrsi to ti)t etii'tor.
{The Editor doet no( UUhinwelfrtrponsihUfor the opmioni of hit KrrttpondnU.
Be coitiiof undertake to return nuimitcriptt or to correspond u-tlk Ikeir icrilefs. All
ccmmunieatiom tkould be ae ihort at fottilile, oonnietentli/ tcUh full and clear ftate-
menti of the vriter't meaning.'\
All Editorial eommunuratiom should te addrened to the Editor of KnowiBDOB;
all Butixeu cemtnunicationt to the FubUsheri, at the Office, 71, Oreat (^ueen-
etreH, W.C.
All Semiltanee), Cheques, and Fott-Offiee Order! should he made pat/able to
ilestrs. Wyman If Som.
',' All letters to the Editor vill he If umbered. Tor eonvenience of reference,
eorrefpondents, when referring to any letter, viU oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on vhich it appears.
All Letters or Queries to the Editor ir»i<-» require attention in the eurrent issue of
"KnowLBvan, should reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication. ^^_^_^
"In knowledRe, that man only is to b* contemned and despwed who is not in a
state of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
ihan tility of opinion." — Faraday.
harm in making a mistake, but preat harm in making 1 ^^
me a man who makes
notlling." — lAebig,
mistakes, and I will show you a :
0m' Cont^ponticmt Columns!.
A PRETTY GEOMETRICAL PROBLEM.— FOX AND GUNS.—
INTELLIGENT DOG.-FOUR FOURS.— MISSING LINKS.--
THE MAGIC WHEEL.— FUNGI AND LICHENS.— FLESH
FOOD.— URSA MAJOR, VENUS, AND THE NORTH POLE.
[184]. — " Student" gives the following puzzle, to which he says
there are twenty-five solutions ; but there are really many more.
We withhold his solution : —
Take a s<{uare piece of paper, and remove from it a corner square
(equal to one-fourth of it), Icavinf,' three small squares in one piece.
It is required to divide this tliree-square piece so that the parts
can be jiut together to form a single square.
At the same time we submit the following puzzle, sent us by
" Mogul," who promised, but did not send, a solution : —
Given any rectangle, to divide it by the fewest possible straight
cuts, so that the parts can be put together to form a square.
J. Rae points out that from the way in which the string is
fastened, which Mr. Henslow considered a fox might pull " out of
the line of fire," our interpretation of these words (letter 158,
p. 187), cannot be correct. The fo.'C would inevitably be in the line
of fire in touching the string ; and in the condition in wliich the
String usually is, would run great risk. Such a fox would "do a
most foolish thing, as foolish as a sportsman who should drag his
gun on full cock by the muzzle tlu'ough a hedge."
The Rev. J. P. Sandlands describes how a strange dog stopped
him in Westboume-park, until lie responded to the appeal in the
dog's eyes that a gate leading to the dog's master's house should be
opened.
E. Clarkson,'Geo. D. Brown, J. A. Miles, Nemo, F. J. J., and others,
give solutions of the four fours, for numbers from 1 to 20 inclusive,
except 19. Other problem, Yarlotoman gives for 19 the formula;.
L± -4- 1
4
( + )
and
F. J. J. gives -—
V -4. 4
which is manifestly erroneous. E. Clarkson and F. G. Hooton give
4 + 4 _ -4.
for 19, — — — J. Bosworth points out that four S's will give
the same numbers as three 5's (except for number 17) ; and
that 19 may be given for any number whatever by the formula
* -I- e — '1^ r. ■ ,
: = 19. It seems to me that as " Amicus Scicntise '
X
gives, like the others, for 11, the formula •
44
v/4-(-v'4
in which the first 4 in numerator really stands for ten times 4. '4,
which stands for 4 divided by 10, is admissible for 19. Otherwise
11, as well as 19, must be reg.arded as insoluble. I'he solutions
given by "Amicus Scientije" are as follows i —
44
10.
4 -H 4 -h 4 - v/4
44
No. 11.
■14
4 . 4
v/4-h v'4
4 4
12.
4x4-(v^4+v'4)
4 -^ 4 -I- 4
13.
±i+v^4
4
4
4-l-4-(v/4-l-
v^l)
14.
4x4-(t-v/4)
4 X 4 -H 4
15.
^ + 4
4
4
4-f4 + 4
IG.
i-^i + i + i
Vi
17.
4x4-1--
4x4-^/4
4
v/4
18.
(4 X 4 -^ 4) - ^4
(4-»-4)x4.
A.
20.
4x4-^(v'4-^v/4)
9.
(4 » 4) -I- n/4
V'4
" Another Ignoramus " writes that the argument of the evolu-
tionists is not strengthened by showing that there are many missing
links. He supposes Prof. Wilson " would have us believe that man
is connected with some anomalous creature which exists only in
his own imagination." Dr. Wilson holds in reality, as every evolu-
tionist holds, that man is related to the Simians ; and it is not a
mere fancy, but an obvious common sense deduction from what is
kDO\vn about evolution, that the Simians must have changed from
the common ancestor as much as man as changed ; so that since
man differs widely from all Simians, however obWously related to
them, both man and Simian must differ widely from the common
ancestor of both. "Another Ignoramus" seems to overlook the
circumstauce that no one has called him an ignoramus but himself.
At the close of his letter he says he can see no reason why we should
cease to admire the wisdom of God in creation. Neither does any
one else. ^Vhat the evolutionists really say is that we do not quite
so thoroughly understand that wisdom as men formerly thought
they did. Instead of a finite, and therefore possibly intelligible
plan, we find a plan which is infinite alike in time and space,
and therefore for us absolutely unintelligible. We can follow
its workings over an over widening domain, but, -with the
widening of this domain, the domain around, wliich may be
regarded as that of the unexplained, is ever enlarging. Man in the
past may be compared to a child, who, having been in ignorance up
to a certain age of all the laws of nature, all which constitutes what
we call knowledge, should have been told that everything had been
fashioned just as he sees it, in a moment of time, out of nothing. If
such a child, observing what takes place around him, should gra-
dually learn something of the operation of the simpler laws of
nature, he might imagine in his ignorance that they implied, not
the operation of a Being lining in and through all things, but the
blind action of mere matter. Or if, instead of observing these
things himself, he was simply told about them by others, he might
wish to close his ears and his eyes, lest he should " cease to admire
the wisdom of God in creation." The fear would be very idle and
foolish, we know. Even the opponents of evolution must see that.
But they act in this way themselves, and expect to be regarded as
exceptionally devout admirers of the wisdom of God, because they
would limit His domain in time, and narrow it in space.
C. n. Wingfield points out that by having eleven slits (at equal
distances) instead of ten, the horses round the magic wheel seem
not only to move their limbs but to advance. Certainly with the
same number of slits as horses, the liorse presents a somewhat
singular appearance, flourishing his legs about, but not getting over
the ground. In La Nature the picture in the Scientific Ainericuti. is
given without change, viz., twelve figures of the trotting-horse, the
u|)pcrmost of our view and the one next to it on tlie left being given
twice over. We have tried the magic wheel with this arrangement,
and find that the horse seems to trot with a singularcxtra kick once
in each double stride. We liave not yet tried Mr. Wingfield's plan,
but have no doubt it would act as he says.
E. 0. Cowley desires to learn Mr. English's address from Mr. W.
W. Highbur}-, and to know in what sense the " subscription list is
opeu " to any one desiring a copy of the book.
" A Fellow of the Chemical Society " points out that if it can be
shown, as he believes -Mrs. Kingsford has shown, that man in
physical formation is nearest to the apes and iti striking contrast to
the flesh-eaters, the natural food of man must be that which we
find apes eating. Might one not argue, almost as effectively, that
men should limit their pursuits to those which satisfj- their Simian
cousins ? I do not say men might not live, and thrive, and work,
and think, on a diet of nuts, fruits, and vegetables, or that they do
not, as a rule, eat much more flesh than is good for them ; but we
must not adopt a false system of reasoning even to establish the
truth. " F. C. S." states what is more to the point, that many who
230
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 13, 1882.
Iinvp suffered from flyspopnia when living on mixed food, Imvo been
freed from tlie miilady after (und presumably on account of) a
chanjfe to a vep'tnblv diet. I wisli Uicro were epoco for his letter
in full, hut there is not.
" A. (!. I'." has scon parts of Ursa Major in lat. 20° soutli, and a
shadow thrown by objects in lijjht of Venus. Ho asks what pheno-
mena beyond total absence of centrifugal force might reasonably be
eipcctod at the pole ? E.\treme cold, wo should say, the pole of
the heavens over head, sun visible for more than halt a year and
invisible for the rest of the time. Uiciiarm .\. I'm u tor.
CHEAPENING OP APPARATtTS, AS AN AID TO TUE
DIFFUSION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGK.
[1S3] — At the beginning of a New Year, I venture to suggest that
the most worthy and laudable end to which Knowlkdgi: so especially
addresses itself — that of the diffusion of sound popular scientific
information — might be very considerablyadvancedby that invaluable
class of men, the optical and philosophical instrument maker.", if
they would only address themselves to the production of apparatus
at a cost to bring it within the means of those whose pecnniarv
means are (like the joint-stock companies) "limited." Conducting
some experiments in chromatics recently, I required a double-image
prism, for the purpose of superposing coloured discs ; but on a
friend inquiring on my behalf at two separate shops, he was asked
12s. Od. for one at one of them, and 15s. at the other! Now, we
know pretty well what Iceland spar costs in the rough, and I feel
tolerably confident that a prism mounted in a simple bit of brass
tnbing might be sold at a good profit for half-a-erown. Such, though,
is the trade consen-atism among those concerned in the manufacture
of such things, that they would much rather sell one prism at 15s.
than eight for a sovereign, ilutatin mutandis, these remarks wotild
equally ap)ily to the transit instrument. There can be no doubt
that a real want exists for a simple meridian instrument, which
shall be at once trustworthy to use and cheap to buy; but £15
represents the present price of the smallest transit made which is
really serviceable. Here, then, is an opening for some enterprising
scientific artificer, at once to benefit himself and the community at
large. An economical transit instrument once produced, it mav be
worth the while of clock and chronometer makers to try whether a
cheap compensated sidereal clock is quite an impossible thing to
construct ? The achromatic telescope has been cheapened, and a
really efficient photographic camera can now be bought for a small
snm. In other types and classes of instruments, however, the opti-
cians are content stare super vias aniiqvas. It is in hopes of
rousing a few of the more energetic among them to a course of
action which must ultimately benefit them as much as it un-
doubtedly must the great army of scientific students in this country,
that these lines are written.
A Fkllow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
INSTRUMENT FOR DESCRIBING THE CONIC SECTIONS.
[186]— In answer to "F. R. H. S.," I may say that in Fig. 2
(p. 160) the central leg of the instrument is licld at an angle
corresponding with the amotmt of eccentricity of the intended
ellipse, while the moving leg slides up and down the same, thus
describing a section of a cylinder.
As to Pig. 1, the idea was snggested by the shadow of the upper
part of the glolie on the gas bracket, cast by the glimmer of light
usually left in, on the walls of my bedroom, the style shown moving
ronnd a circle simply performing the part played by the rays of
ligl't- TllllMAS 'I'llORP.
A LUNAR ILLUSION.
[187] — " S. H. W." will perceive, on reconsideration, that he has
made a mistake in his letter. No. 61, with the above title. The
illusion mentioned is only an illusion, and it is solely connected
with the projections of the moon and sun on the sphere of ■vision,
which may have any radius we choose to give it, and not with their
unei|ual distances from the eye. In the case supposed by him, viz.,
when the moon is in the zenith, there will be no illusion ; the
observer would naturally stand facing the sun, and he would look
" square " at both moon and sun, and bo able to produce the sagitta
correctly, by the eye, to hit the sun. '' S. II. W." seems to bo
thinking of the plane containing his eye and both luminaries; ho is
thinking, too, of the sun itself, and not of its above projection.
The sagitta never points to the sun itself, except at half-moon. If
we know the angle between the sagitta and the lino joining the
moon and the sun itself, and observed the angular distance of those
two luminaries, wc could get their proportional linear distances from
the earth. Hut we can never sec that angle, since wo are in the
plane of it ; wo know, however, its value at half-mrjon, viz., zero;
but wc cannot tell, by the eye, any better than .\ri»tnrchuB, when
it in half-moon precisely, and therefore should fail, as he did, to j^et
the relative distances of moon and sun. M.
OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[188] — Take a strip of thin card about three inches long and one
wide, bend up the ends at right angles, perforate one end with a
pin-hole and the other directly and cenccntrically op)>oeito with a
square hole about ene-eighth of an inch square ; place a small pin in
From Nature, vol. x.xiv., p. 53, 5t.
this end, so that the'head may be in the middle of the square hole;
apply your eye to this end, and look through both holes towards the
sky, and the pin will be seen apparently beyond the pin-hole and
reversed in position. A. T. C.
THE FIFTEEN PUZZLE.
[189] — If we are allowed to turn the board we can pass from the
lost to the won position in thirty-nine moves.
For instance, wo may move the pieces numbered 12, 8, 4, 3, 2. 1,
5, 9, 13, 15, 11, 12, 8, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 9, 13, 10, 14, 12, 8, 4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 9,
13, 10, 14, 11, 7, 6, 10, 14, 15.
There is no solution in less than thirty-nine moves, for thirty-seven
moves are needed to move the blocks by the shortest (laths from their
fii'st to last places ; and the other two moves are needed because the
four blocks in the middle cannot move round until one of them
steps out into the outer row, from which it must again return.
I gave the above solution and proof in the Brighton Herald in
May, 1880. — Yours, &c. Arthiti Black.
J. Watson gives a similar solution, thus : — 4.8.12. R. — 12.3. U. —
5.9.13.L. — 12.14.15.D. — 3.4.8.R. — I.2.U. — 6.10.14.L. — 8.12.D.—
2.3.4.R.— 5.G.1.U.--9.13.L.— 11.14.D.— 6.7.R.— 9.5.U.— 13.14.15.L.
PNEUMA,TIC BELL.
[100] — The pneumatic bells referred to by me (letter 79, p. 100)
were supplied and fixed in my house for me by a firm at King's-
cross, where " E. li. C." can obtain every information. I could not
instruct in the manuf.icture of the article. Although the fixing of
the tliree requisites, \-iz. (1) pipe, (2) press-button, and (3) bell, is
very easy, yet space in Knowledge is, I apprehend, too ^-aluable
for such detail as gas-fitter's work. All I can say and assure
" E. R. C." of is this -a more simple, reliable, cheap, and instant
signal, produced only by compression of the ail- we breathe, cannot
possibly be obtained. — Y'ours truly, M. Testes.
P.S. I am sorry to say I could not procure Knowlepge at the
bookstalls of Birmingham or Lichfield, where I have been staying
the last fortnight, so I have not seen the recent issues until my
return to London.
INFLUENCE OP SEX ON MIND.
III. UisTOEicAt Evidence.
[101] — History is conclusive as to man's mental supremacy.
The inventing, creating, cogitating mind is masculine. Men carry
on the world's business in thought and action. The ideas on which
depend all the marvellous acts of human intelligence, scientific
discoveries, jurisprudence, political, civil, military institutions,
maintaining the social structure, are elaborated by men. In the
donmin of pure intellect it is doubtful if women have contributed
one profound original idea of any permanent value. Jlen legislate,
govern, invent, colonise, fight, build, and dig. So little demand is
there for woman's direct help in the mental departn>ents which are
men's special province, that, could all the male intellect in the
world be suddenly paralysed or annihilated, there is not in woman
Jan. 13, 1882.]
♦ KNOWI^EDGE
231
safficient development of the abstract principles of justice, morality,
truth, causalit}', inventive, and executive power to hold society
tcjjethcr for one week.
" In matters intellectual and moral the lonfr strain beats them
(lead. Do not look for a Bacona, a Xewtona.a Handella.a Victoria
Huga. American ladies tell us education has stopped the growth
of these. Xo ; these are not in nature. They can bubble letters
in ten minutes wliich you could no more deliver than a river can
play like a fountain. They can sparkle gems of stories, flash little
diamonds of poems. The entire sex has never produced one opera
or one epic that mankind could tolerate for a minute — and why ?
These come from long, high-strung labour." (Mr. Charles Reade,
in ■' White Lies.")
Women lack the hiu'hest quality of the human mind— j«s'i<'e .'
Tliey never see two sides of a question. A woman makes a firm
friend — a dangerous enemy. ,
The eternal subordination of woman is conclusively exemi>lified in
her exaggerated admiration for the male prerogatives — strength and
intellect. Were intellectual sexual equality not an idle dream, it
would long ago have produced practical results. The strong-
minded woman would have proved her pretensions. Woman's
individuality and independent action in important matters are more
apparent than real. Savage life shows the nearest approach to
sexual equality, physical, mental, and moral. Yet among savages
woman is a slave ! In civilised countries, where she is free, almost
every woman is steered through life by the reflecting brain, strong
will, and protecting arm of a husband, father, brother, or son. A
woman with no male relative has her spiritual director, her con-
fessor, or favourite preacher, her conscience-keeper, whom she
regards as a superior being. Even revolutionary women are guided
by men. Platform ladies worshipped Mr. J. S. Mill. They could
not understand his works on Political Economy and ^Metaphysics,
but he advocated Woman-Suffrage ! If there is one woman ^-ithont
such a director, she is guided by male public opinion, supplemented
by oracles uttered by men in the past.
Mentally, morally, and pln-sically woman is subordinate to man ;
although the Tneek idolator sometimes adores a brazen god !
J. McGeigor All.\x.
POSSIBLE VAKLiTION OF PENDULUM.
[192] — A letter from "Cogito" in Kxowledge(Xo. 8, p. 113)
refers to mine (in Xo. G, p. 88). He speaks of "want of pre-
cision of ideas ; " true, I am alluding to a stationary pendulum ;
he is speaking of a vibrating pendulum.
The point is this : suppose a pendulum suspended in a railway
carriage. On the train starting, motion must be communicated to
the bob through the rod, and the pendulum will be thrown out of
the perpenibcular backward.*! ; on slackening, the bob wnll be thrown
! rwards, momentum having been given and then withdrawn. The
"tion of the earth round the sun in the short space of twelve hours
ly be considered as in a straight line, a b, the centre of the earth,
; veiling uniformly a to 6, but the sides nearest to and furthest
■m the sun will travel, the one 1 000 miles faster, the other 1,000
li'S slower (as the upper and lower points of a carriage wheel).
!• velocity of the bob in the direction a 6 will, therefore, vary
- "<I0 miles per hour between midday and midnight, the accele-
■ ion and retardation being communicated from the point of
=]iension through the rod to the bob. If this action were ra])id,
• effect would be evident enough, the difference 'of velocity being
- at. but the time is long, and in consequence the movement of
■ bob would no doubt be extremely small. The question is, would
with a rod say of 100 ft. in length, be perceptible under suitable
licate meastirement ? Hexry C.iRR.
KATTLESXAKES.
'^193]. — You enjoy one great advantage over me. You are like a
•at in a pulpir, who from his elevated post can, with impunity,
rl his censures on the devoted heads of obscure sinners like
. who occupy the low free seats, and are debarred from saying a
rd in our own defence publicly.
Mr. Darwin's discourse on the rattlesnake is to be found at pages
1U7 — 110, in his book on "Expression," <tc. (first edition)." I
maintain that the passage is susceptible of the meaning I attached
to it ; for if your explanation is correct, Wz, that Darwin attributes
"the habit of the snake to its development,',' — [We did not .say this.
"Rather," we said. " he would," <tc. — Ed.] — then we are landed in
the poor, paltry platitude, that when an animal possesses an organ,
the creature makes use of it. Most wonderful, traly ! But surely
it was hardly worth while to write three pages of " information "
to establish such an obvious, vapid circumstance — such a feeble
inanity.
The cause and mode of developing the rattle are, however, a
secondary consideration in comparison with the use to which the
snake is said to devote its organ, when it is found, viz., " to frighten
its enemies." I contend that the means of accomplishing the as-
signed purpose are simply suicidal, and that the noise of the rattle
attracts the snake's enemies who seek its destruction.
I have read somewhere that in America, when the workmen in
the woods hear the rattle tliey are sure there is no danger, but
directly the sound ceases they infer that the snake is bent on
mischief. So here it is not the noise of the rattle, but its silence,
which is a source of alarm.
You are quite right in thinking that Jlr. Darwin has never done
mo any injury. On the contrary, I believe him to be an estimalile
man, and incapable of injiu'ing any one intentionally ; but his
writings appear to me to be a great offence to the Creator, to
Nature, and to common sense, and therefore that his i)roductions
ought to be denounced. They have also set an example of a lax
scientific method. In your own columns, at page 153, a disciple of
Darwin's writes in this style on the origin of the grape : — " Suppose,
however, that any plant happens to have its seeds covered with a
moderately hard and indigestible coat," &c. And again : " If such
a tendency were ever to be set up even to the slightest degree bj- a
mere sport or chance variation," &c.
1 venture to think that we shall never properly comprehend
God's works in aU their might and majesty of original design while
we deal with them in such a puerile fashion ; and with this senti-
ment I now respectfully take my leave of you.
Newton Cbosland.
[We insert this letter, though doing so is, we fear, rather hard
on Mr. Crosland. — Ed.]
LONGEVITY IX ANIMALS.
[194] — In your article on " Food and its Relation to Muscular
Work," you only appear to treat with what I would call active
beings. I should like to know what you have to say about inactive
animals, such as tm-tles and tortoises. I presume to call them
inactive on account of tlieir sluggishness and their dormancy. It is
a well-known fact that they will live a long time without having
partaken of any visible means of sustenance. I have known turtles
to live without food for weeks out of their oivn element. A wrong
idea exists with a good many people as regards the heart of a
turtle. Many do believe that they have three hearts. I have
examined the heart of a turtle, and I have come to the conclusion
that what is taken to be three hearts is but one externally divided
into tliree parts, not like the human heart, which is lUvided into-
four, and then encased in a membrane, called a pericardium. Can
you tell me if I am right ? The late Frank Buckland, when looking
at the turtles in the tank at the Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool, supposed
they live on the water they take in, then on their fat and blood.
How is it they live a long time without water and pass urine ? If
any of your readers can explain, it would be cordially received by
those readers physiologically inclined. — Yours most respectfully.
Physio.
TOADS, &c.
[195] — In reference to query 87, and the doubts expressed as to
the existence of toads in rocks of an earlier than the tertiary forma-
tion, it is an acknowledged fact amongst miners that toads have
been extracted living from the solid coal, at various depths. I heard
of one found two months ago in a pit 100 yards deep, near Oldham,
where the coal, with the hole where the toad had been imprisoned
for countless ages, was preserved, and the toad, although alive when
reached, died on being exposed to the atmosphere. If " .\ Fellow
of the Royal .\stronomical .Society" will make inquiries of scientific
men in that district, he will learn the wliole truth.
I have heard miners relate the extraction of one from the Lanark-
shire coalfield, which was heard croaking before it could be libe-
rated, and so frightened the working colliers that they fled, and
would not return without the manager was jiresent, and under these
conditions the toad was hewn out, in the presence of several wit-
nesses. Although it was rolled carefully in a wet cloth, it died
before it could be taken out of the mine. It was deposited in a
local museum, and no one dared to contradict the fact at that time.
Zakes.
[196] — I am only an inquirer without time or means for syste-
matic observance, but I am interested in the query of " Arachenda"
(87), and submit that I was disappointed in " A Fellow of the Roval
.\stronomical Society's" treatment of it (1.38), page Ifio, which
must be my apology for troubling you with the copy of " cutting "
from my scrap-book herewith enclosed.
A tradesman at Bromley, Kent, observed me examining flint
pebbles which abound in that district and volunteered the state-
ment, that on breaking a similar one to that I held in my hand, a
232
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Jan. 13, 1832.
ivo tond Iioppwl out, not very long ngo. No nlhigion hnd Ijoen
iiuidi< to nnyiliiiiK of the kind previously, mid lie could havo hud no
motive for saying wlmt was untrui".
I proRunio tliespfofisilifonius Mints in " thocnij?" aro well known,
although I find no particulnr notice of them in geological works in
my possession ; but considering the colls in them and the channels
by which they are approached from outside, is it possible for a new
tenant to bo inducted and dovoloped such as tho toad ?
If Sir W. Thomson could 8|>eak seriously of a Colorado beetle
surviving a voyage through space in a meteoric stone (see report of
British Association Meeting at Plymouth, 1S77 — Mathematical anil
Physical Section), I hope you will pardon mo if 1 havo strained a
point on the capabilities of a toad. — Yours, Ac, Vf. B.
"A CcBious Fact.— Many years ago a friend of my father's built
a country house, which he fitted up and furnished according to his
ownt.i3te; to aecorapli.sh this ho caused to be brought from Italy
a piece of pure white marble, out of which a nianteljiiece was con-
structed for his own particular sitting-room. The manteli)iece was
of singularly pnro marble, in one block, and free from (law, save
in one part. Shortly after its crc>ction, the owner of the houso
noticed a small damp-looking stain, no bigger than the nail of his
little finger in the very centre of the mantelpiece. This, however,
was so Blight a blemish that it did not trouble him, till, as months
and years went by, it became evident that the mark slowly but
aurely increased in size. For twenty years tlie good man of the
house sat in his arm-chair facing the curious .stain and marvelling
what caused its certain spread. At the lapse of that period it had
increased to the size of the palm of his hand, and he could no
longer rest in patient contemplation of it. Masons were sent for
and desired to take down the marble and break it in two, so as to
disclose the mystery. This was done, and to the amazement of all,
out hopped an enormous toad ! " — " H. A. F.," in Chatterbox.
INTEREST OX A PARTUING.— AX APPLICATIOX OP
LOGARITHMS.
[197] — As the nature of compound interest is little understood
by many, we will assume that a farthing was placed out, at com-
pound interest at 5 per cent., payable yearly, commencing at
the Birth of Christ, and extending over time till the end of the
year 1880. Now, tho moan diameter of the planet Jupiter is
88,(>4.5 miles ; the weight of a cubic foot of pure gold equals
17,486 oz. ; and the value of the gold being at the rate of £3. 18s.
per ounce ; how many globes of pure gold, each as large as
Jupiter, would that interest purchase ?
The principal and interest of £1 for one
year 103 log. 0021189
Multiply by the years 1880
1695120
169512
21189
Baised to the ISSOth power
Subtract the log. of the farthings in a £. 960
Log. of the amount of interest for the
gi%-en time, eipials 7120-1-
7129 4- (thirty-three more figures).
Diameter of Jupiter in miles 88615 log.
Feet in a mile equals (1760x3) 52S0 „
Feet in Jupiter's diameter
Baise this quantity to the 3rd jiower
The diameter raised to tho 3rd power
Add tUe log. of 1- (31 116) -5236 „
Solid contents of Jupiter
Weight of a cubic foot of gold in oz 17t86 „
Value of one ounce of this gold, £3. 18/. 39
Valne of a solid globe similar to Jupiter
equals 3661 -h
3661 -H (twenty-six figures)
Amount of Interest (Log.) 36S5.30t9
Valne of Jupiter 30563609
Log. 19 17331 =- 6 289 1-10
It therefore appears that tho interest upon a furthi
39-835320
2-982271
ng for 1,880
years, at 5 percent., would purchase 1,917,331 solid globes of pare
gold, each as largo as the planet Jupiter. — Yours, Ac., Pascal.
[The calculation is a pretty illustration of tho valne of logarithnu.
The mean diameter of Jupiter is much loss than 88,fX)0 miles, lo
that the legal representatives of the original owner of the farthing
can claim from tho bankers with whom that farthing was placed
at interest, a much greater number of gold Jupiters. But that ia a
detail. — Eo.J
TUE HOG PUZZLE.
[198] — The following problem may Ber\-e to amuso some of the
many young readers of Knowledgk who aro conversant with the
elements of Algebra. It was given mo by a young lady, but the
analysis is my own.
Question. — Three Dutchmen. Hendrick, Elas, and Cornelius, and
their •wives, Gurtriin, Katriin, and Anna, purchase hogs. Each buys
as many aa he (or she) gives shillings for one. Each husband pays
altogether three guineas more than his wife. Hendrick buys 23
more hogs than Katriin, and Elas 11 more than Gurtriin. Require
the name of each man's wife ?
I call this a " puzzle," because I venture to think that nineteen out
of twenty would attempt its solution by the common process of simul-
taneous equations, and would certainly fail, because there are more
unkno^vn quantities than tho number of independent equations it ifl
possible to construct. The solution is, however, obtained in a very
simple manner, thus* : — ■
For brevity, denote the men and women by their initials H, E, C,
G, K, A, and let the corresponding small letters h, c, r, g, A-, a,
represent the number of hogs (equal to the payment for one) pur-
chased by each respectively.
Then /i', e', c', ;r, k'', a' aro the sums expended by each.
Thus H purchases h hogs for h- shillings ; E, e hogs for e' shillings,
&c. Also 3 guineas = 63 shillings.
Observe (1) that It, e, r, g, k, a must be positive integers; and
(2) that if m and n are any positive integers, such that
711- — 11 - = 63
or (m-m) (m-j0 = 9x 7 = 21x3 = 63x1,
there are three, and only three, possible values of m + n correspond-
ing to three of m—n.
If m-H?i=9, m—n. = 7, which gives in =8, n = l
,, m-H7i = 21, m— » = 3, ,, m = 12, 7i = 9
„ m + n = 63, ra-n = I, „ »ii=32.n = 31
Suppose now m to be the price (in shillings) paid for a hog by a
man, and n that paid by his wife. It follows that m may have
three values, viz., 8, 12, 32, corresponding respectively to three
values, 1, 9, 31 of n. Also, since each man is the husband of some
woman, and each woman the wife of some man, whatever arrange-
ments may exist between the quantities h, e, c, and g, k, a, each is
susceptible of three values. Any one of the quantities, h, e, e, may
have a value of 111, provided its corresponding quantity in the
groups, g, k, a, has the corresponding value of 11.
But there are two equations of condition.
A-it = 23 (1)
"-." = 11 (2)
Referring now to the values of m and 11, we find that to satisfy
(1) we must havo A = 32, 1: = 9;
(2) e = 12,., = l.
Wo may infer from this that c= 8, a = 31.
But to verify our inference, substitute for h, c, k, g in the general
equation
y -^ e' -H c' - (3' -f i' -1- a') = 3 X 63
the values just found, and we have
a'-c»=89r,
which can be satisfied with no other possible values of a and c than
0 = 31, c = 8.
Having obtained the number of hogs each man and woman has
purchased, we at once observe that —
Ji'— n' = 63, ond therefore that A is the wife of H,
e^-k'-GS, „ K „ E,
c'-i7» = 63, „ G „ C.
Y'ours, &c., I. R. CAUPBELt,
MOCK SUNS.
[199]— On Monday, Dec. 19, 1881. between two and half-past in
the afternoon, on Wandsworth Common, 1 saw two s|wctra, irreg
in shape, with apparent diameters about twice that of the sun, one
on each side of and apparently oiiuidistant from the sun. They
were at the same apparent height from the horizon as the sun. and,
liv guess, appeared to be 25° from the sun. The colour-bands wen>
• The young reader should try to make out the solution for 1 '
self, before rending what follows.
\N-. 13, 18S2.]
* KNOWLEDGE ♦
•al and distinct, the red band being: nearest the sun. A band
• lute liRht descended from each spectrum half way to the
on. These bands appeared slightly curved towards one
•her. The sun was shining through light, ill-defined, massy
Is. Fred. W. Foster.
Distance, theoretically, about 22J° from the snn. — Ed.]
SHAPE OF SATURN'S SHADOW.
[200] — Is not the distorted shadow caused by the irregularity in
the density of Saturn's rings ? I offer this as a suggestion, because
I have frequently observed most eccentric forms thrown by a strong
light upon mist, totally out of drawing with the object causing the
shadow, — Yours, &c., F. Ybles.
[The irregularity of the shadow may be partly due to this cause,
but cannot be wholly thus explained, as Mr. Ybles will see it he
considers that we see the shadow in nearly the same direction that
it is thrown. — Ed.]
RING OF LIGHT ROUND MOON.
[201] — Last night (Jan. 1), at 10.5 p.m., I and several others
saw a complete ring of light round the moon at a distance from her
of about twenty-six moons' diameters. The sky was somewhat
hazy at the time, and half-an-hour later was covered vrith heavy
clouds. If you can afford space for an explanation of this fact I
shall be much obliged. — Yours, &c., E. W. P.
[What you saw was a lunar halo, caused by the refraction of
the lunar rays through ice crj'Stals. Y'ou nmst have considerably
under-estimated its apparent distance from the moon, which would
be nearer forty-two than twenty-six diameters of the moon.— Ed.]
WINDMILL ILLUSION.
Referring to the letter 161, p. 187, I dare say you will remember,
at Cambridge, another " illusion," whose discovery was ascribed to
Dr. Wheweil — viz., look from a point about a quarter of a mile
distant, edgeways, at the sails of a windmill in rotation, and you can
make them go whichever way you please. Thos. S. Bazley.
[So also, if any one at some like distance whirls round a ball
attached to a string, the plane of the ball's motion being aslant, so
that the ball seems to describe an ellipse, it is difficult to tell which
way the ball is travelling, when the distance prevents na from seeing
whether it passes on the nearer or farther side of the swinger, when
lowest. — Ed.]
RICHTER'S DREAM.
[202] — When lecturing at Sheffield in connection with the
Gilchrist Fund, you, on two occasions, concluded your lectures with
a splendid recitation about an angel taking a man through the
realms of space. Will you kindly inform me who is the author of
the poem, where I can obtain it, and — if it be not asking too much
— the price ? I have been told it is one of Jean Paul Richter's
"Rhapsodies," and have ordered it at my booksellers, but he could
not obtain it for me, though he tried for several weeks. I suppose
you would consider it too long to find a place in Knowledge. —
J. W. Staniforth. — [It is given in my book, " The Stars and the
Universe " (Longmans), also in Mitchell's " Stellar and Planetary
Worlds."— Ed.]
POPULAR FALLACIES.
P! [203]— The letter of your correspondent " N." (No. 13C, page
188) affords the opportunity of suggesting that Knowledge might
advantageously publish an article or two on " Popular Fallacies,"
with a view to the destruction of some of the many time-honoured
but baseless notions "which, handed down from generation to genera-
tion, even amongst the fairly educated classes, are accepted witliout
investigation, and believed in with the firmest faith. As examples,
I might point to the common practice of placing the poker cunningly
over a dull or dying tire, with the idea that "it will draw it up,"
to the frequently expressed belief in the maleficent influence exer-
cised by the moon when " Ijing on its back " (whatever that may
mean) on the weather, &c.
In the meantime, however, let me advise " N.'s " housemaid to
bestow as much care on her fire when the siin shines as when the
day is dark and cold, and she need not then fear its going out. I
am a pretty regular smoker myself, but I have never yet observed
niy cigar manifest a greater tendency to go out in sunshine than in
cloud.
I suppose that the notion of the snn putting the fire out has
arisen from the fact that the brilliancy of the sun's rays overpowers
the feeble light of the fire. Let " N." light an ordinary spirit lamp
in the sunshine. He will hardly see the flame at all. But if he
will put his finger where the flame should be, he will, I think, be
less inclined to believe that " bright sunlight interferes with
ordinary combustion " than ho now professes to be. — Yours, &c.
Wm. H. a.
GHOSTS.
[204] — Referring to your article on this subject (p. 183, Dec. 30,
1881) with an extract from Dr. Wilson's work, may I ask if all the
ghosts, of whose appearance we have well authenticated accounts,
are to be accounted for on the principle of the '* physical derange-
ment" of the person who saw them r' How many ."iuch accounts
we have of persons seeing an iiidividual exactly at the time of his
death, though the said individual was miles away at the time, and
had not been thought about for years. Lord Brougham, for instance,
made an agreement when a young man at college with a friend, that
whichever died first should appear to the other, and very many
years aftewarda was startled by an apparition of his friend, just at
the time of his death. — Yours, &c., Ebenezeb Kelby.
[205] — Will Professor Andrew Wilson kindly explain how he
reconciles the case of the War Office ghost with his disbelief in
ghosts ? In that case I think three friends in different parts of
England saw the deceased officer at the corrected date of his death
abroad. T. D.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE MOON.
[206] — I have seen it stated that a French philosopher suggested
the possibility of communicating with the inhabitants of the moon, if
such there were, by means of mathematical figures, constructed on
a very largo scale, in some such region as the Desert of Sahara,
Siberia, or the like. Can any readers of Knowledge give me in-
formation as to this idea, and the reasoning by which it was
supported? X. Datine.
[Probably some reader may be able to answer "X. Davine's"
question. I have not myself seen the passage he refers to, but
believe it was a German, not a French writer, who suggested the
idea. |I find a passage in an old number of the Maijasin Piitoresque,
running as follows : — " If the Selenitos are beings endowed with
reason, men may establish a system of intellectual correspondence
with them. In fact, if the a.Tts and sciences are as much advanced
among them as they are amongst us, they must often have gazed on
the immense globe which shines in their firmament, having an ap-
parent surface sixteen times as great as that of the full moon as
we see it. That globe is the earth on which we live They
can see our rivers, ovir great lakes, our chief cities Thus,
some gigantic telegraphic signal might be seen from the moon . . .
What signal should be employed ? to what language can we have
recourse ? All the signs by which we translate our thoughts are
arbitrary and conventional How arc we to correspond with
beings who, perhaps, have nothing in common with us but intelli-
gence ? Yet there is a method — the mathematical sciences furnish
it." The writer goes on to show that if the Selenites have
succeeded in constructing telescopes to sec such signals as we
might make, they must have also mastered tlie first principles
of mathematics. Among the fundamental propositions is one
due to Pvthagoras, called the theorem of the s(|uarc of the hypo-
thenuse (thiforeme du carrS de I'hypnthfnuse) " (viz., that the square
on the longest side of a right-angled triangle is e<iual to the sum
of the squares on the two shorter sides). He shows that if the
Selenites are mathematical at all, they must have discovered this
truth. "If, then," he proceeds, "we were to construct, as a
German geometrician has suggested, a figure illustrating this
theorem on a scale large enough to be seen by lunar telescopists,
they would understand its meaning, and would probably reply with
aiio'ther figure, or some other signal. Then wo should know that
inhabitants existed in the moon, and that they were endowed with
reason. Once this correspondence was started, who can say where
it would end i " Our author says he sees the smile of incredulity
on the lips of his readers. The idea must seem to them ridiculous.
and none wonder that it had its origin in a German brain. " But
do not judge too hastily : " the word impossible is hurtful to
human pride ; and if communication with beings in other worlds is
not impossible, it must be conducted in this way, for there is no
other. — Ed.]
Poitd's Exthact is a certain cure for Rhenmatism and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cnre for Hffimoirhoida.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Neuralinc paina.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruisea.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine.
234
KNOWLEDGE
[Jam. 13, 1882.
©UfltCSf,
[162] — I.VSTBDMENT FOR Descwbixg El.tlPSE.— On paRe 160, No.
8, vol. 1, of Knowledge, Mr. Thomas Thoro gives a desifcn in Fig. 2
of an instniment for describing ellipses. I shall esteem it a favour
if he wll ilescribo the mechanism of it. — W. G. [It seemed to me
clear that tho stem of the instniment is intended to be held in a
fixed slantins; position, wliile the moveable branch is carried around,
sliding at the same time backwards and forwards on the fixed stem.
See Jlr. Thorp's rcplv. — Ed.]
[163] — Sun- at his Ne.\rest. — At what season of the year are
the British Isles nearest the sun ? — Gko. D. Pattebson. — [About
Jan. 1, when the sun is nearest to the earth. — Ed.]
[ICl] — XoN-AciiKOMATic Telescopes. — Would a 3-in. OG non-
achromatic telescope be of any uso for a beginner, or do the tints
vei-y much affect the clearness of the object ? Also is there any
simple way of overcoming the difficulty ? — G. W. L. — [Such a
telescope would bo of very little use; a very small acliromatic — one,
perhaps, an inch in diameter — would show much more, and a great
deal more conveniently. There is no way of correctijig t lie diffi-
culty.— Ed.]
[165]- — HoRSERjVDisn. — What are the properties of horseradish,
and how does it act on the gastric juice when partake i: of? — T.
Hexerman.
[166] — Shorihaxd Writing. — Can you, or any of the readers of
Knowledge, inform me which is the best system of shortlmcd ?
Has there been any system of late years which is thought an im-
provement on, or is more easily learnt, than Pitman's ? — -Skqpirer.
[There is no doubt whatever that Pitman's is the best, most easily
learnt, and scientific ; it is used by all tho most skilful steno-
graphers.— Ed.]
[167] — Star Catalogues. — Will you kindly favour me with the
titles and dates of one or two star catalogues, both of ancient
(comparatively) and modern dates. Is there one to be depended
on of an earlier date than "Flamsteed's Catalogue of 1676?" I
cannot meet with one. — Alfred Champness. — [Flamsteed's is tho
earliest reliable catalogue. — Ed.]
[168] — The Moon. — How is the absence of atmosphere and
water in the moon accoimted for ? Lockj'er, in his elementary
astronomy, saj-s that the dark portions of the moon are old ocean
beds, but does not attempt to account for the disappearance of
water. — G. P. — [The general belief is that, as the moon's mass has
cooled, the water originally forming lunar seas has been withdrawn
(soaked up as it were) into the moon's interior, the atmosphere
partly following, partly entering into chemical combination with tho
substances f^jrming the moon's surface. The moon probably shows
the condition the earth will have attained in two or three hundred
millions of years. — Ed.]
[169] — Light and Lantern. — Required names of good book or
books for the study of "Light" with the use of the lantern. —
J. W. Stow.
[170] — Scents. — What is a scent ? That it is a substance, I
suppose, will be generally admitted, for it is blown along by the
wind. It has occuiTcd to me that objects which omit scents do, for
tho most part, lose some of their weight or bulk — that is, the sub-
stance shrinks or becomes lighter, and if so it must tlirow off some-
thing in infinitesimallj' small particles or otherwise, which affect
the sense of smell in animals and human kind. Please explain
what is known about it. — Prester W.
[171] — Choanites.. — Arc tho flints, commonly called choanites,
" silicified sponries from the chalk," or are they petrifactions of a
higher kind of animal, an anemone (if, for instance, indeed a sponge
can be called an animal at all, which seems to be doubtful with
Professor Ansted) ? Arc sponges, similar in form and arrangement
to the flints above named, found in a living state ? 1 have never
seen any; on tho contrary, living specimens aro similai- to tho
sponge of commerce, and to a fow only of the petrifactions ; ex-
hibiting per]>endicular tubes only, not lateral or horizontal, as in
ohoanites. Is tho spiral worm round the body or cup of tho
choanites, a parasite or a part of tho intestinal arrangement of tho
animal itself? I am aware that, if the worm is a parasite, such a
conclusion is fatal to tho idea of an anemone, for how could a para-
site obtain admission into the bodily substance of an animal so
organised ? And some choanites are found without the worm.
Nevertheless I incline to the belief that the choanite is the sea-
anemone silicified. — Prester W.
[172] — Shortest Day. — Please tell me why the snn rises latest
(8h. 9m.) on Dec. 29, and seta earliest (3h. 49m.) on Dee. 12,
though the shortest day is Dec. 21 ; and also rises earliest (3h. 44m.)
on .lunc 16, and sots latest (8h. 10m.) on June 26, though the
longest day is Juno 21. — J. K. U. P. — [llicse and similar anomalies
arise from our using the mean snn, not the real sun, to measure civil
time. At civil noon tho sun's centre is not due south, except on
certain days in each year, when the imaginary mean sun and the
real sun are together. — Ed.]
[173] — Will you tell me, does the electric circuit Ijegin in a
battery at the zinc or at the copper plate in tho acidulated bath?
— [Not knowii : any more than whether action of sun on a planet
begins at the sun or at the jilanet. — El).]
[174] — Sti-dents' Philosophical and Scientific Societies.-i-I
should be much obliged if you could tell me whether there are in
London any .Students' Philosophical and Scientific Societies, as I
should much like to belong to one. — Horace Davies.
[175] — Helix. — In a recent lecture, Jlr. Spottiswoode said,
" The curve fulfilling these conditions will be a helix, whose pitch
is half a right-angle." What measurement is this ? In the most
ordinary form of hoUx, viz., a screw, tho pitch is merely a distance,
or, say, a straight line, tho space between two threads, measured
from apex to apex, parallel to the axis. What is this angle ? —
CoGiTo. — [Mr. Spottiswoode was, of course, (juite right. The pitch
of a helix is an angle, not a distance. It is the complement of the
angle at which the curve is inclined to the axis. — Eb.]
[176] — Brick Clay. — Are the blue streaks in brick clay caused
by dissolved sea-weed ? — M. Webb.
[177] — The NAUTiLrs. — Is it known for what use is the gut
running through the chambers of the nautilus ? — M. Webb.
[178] — Satellites of Jcpiteb. — I have seen two of the satellites
of Jupiter with my naked eyes ; is that an unusual thing ? — M. Webb.
■ — [Exceedingly. — Ed.]
[179] — Falre Accumulator. — Wai you kindly tell me if the
quantify of electricity that a Faure Accumulator can contain
depends upon the size or upon the number of the lead plates?
Would one or two large plates contain as much as half-a-dozen
small ones r — R. P. H.
[ISO] — The Pole. — Kindly state how Arctic explorers will be
able to tell exactly when they reach the North Pole. How will
they know that they are not some miles wide of the mark ? —
PiLULA. [Astronomical observations showing any given star at
same height all round the heavens would give their place near
enough. — Ed.]
[181] — Bees. — I want to keep bees, and want a list of the best
honey-producing flowers to cultivate in my garden. Will you be
good enough to tell me where to get this knowledge ? — Pilula.
[182] — Evolution. — Will Dr. Andrew Wilson or Mr. Grant Allen
kindly let me know what is the probable origin of Evergreens ? I
have tried hard to think it out for myself, but am unable to see
what advantage it is to the plant, unless it be that it gives it an
opportunity of spreading while the other plants are at rest, or
that the exposure to the cold makes it more hai-dy, and, there-
fore, better adapted to carry on the struggle for existence. —
Plesiosaurus.
[183] — Effects op Efflcttla on Health. — In our dye works
here we use a great quantity of bullock's blood, which comes to ns
in a highly putrid state ; in fact, the smell of it at a distance of
several yards from the tanks is overpowering to strangers, and
causes one to cough. Is it healthy to work amongst it ? This is a
question which has often occurred to me, and, natm-ally, I look to
the health of those who work during a whole day with this
cflluviura continually ; but, instead of finding them weakly, and
exhibiting symptoms of pulmonary disease, I am astonished to see
them grow fat and ruddy, and in many cases persons of known
weakly constitutions have improved much in health by being put to
work in tho dye-house. — J. Maccinslane.
[184] — Almanacs and Celestial Maps. — Could yon kindly
inform me through your" Correspondence Column" — 1. Where can
I get " Dietrichsen's and Hannay's Astronomical Almanac " [no
longer published. — Ed.] and "The Nautical Almanac" for 1882,
and the price of each (where are they published) ? [Murray, price
2s. 6d.— Ed.]; 2. The publishers of " Middleton's Celestial Atlas "
and of " Gall's Atlas," and the price of each ? — W. Habdy.
He that wyll wryte well in any tongue, muste folowe thys councel
of Aristotle, to speake as the common people do, to thinke as mse
men do ; and so shoulde euery man onderstande hym, and the iudg-
raont of wyse men alowo hym. Many English writers haue not
done so, but vsingo straunge wordes as latin, french, and Italian,
do make all thinges darke and harde. — Roger Asciiam, 1545.
Jan. 13, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
235
l\rpUf£i to (©iirnesi.
[55] — Greek Fi'tukes. — Mr. Ernest J. Wcrnham points out, in
answer to " Castor anfl Pollux," that the rules for forming Greek
futures are given in Matthi;Bs's Greek Grammar. He kindly makes
an extract, but we cannot afford space for grammar rules occupying
so much space. — Ed.
[105] — Prej'Ervation of Fungi. — " J. S." may preserve fungi in
the following manner : — Take 2 oz. of sul. copper, or blue vitriol, and
reduce it to powder, and pour upon it a pint of boiling water, and
when cold add half-a-pint of spirits-of-wine ; cork it well, and call it
" the pickle." To 8 pints of water add li pints of spirits of wine,
and call it '' the liquor." Be provided with a number of wide-
mouthed bottles of different sizes, all well-fitted with corks. The
fungi should be left ou the table as long as possible, to allow the
moisture to evaporate ; they should then be placed in the pickle for
three hours, or longer if necessary ; then place them in the bottles
intended for their reception, and fill with the liquor. They should
then be well corked and sealed, and arranged in order, with their
names in front of the bottles. — J. G. Patterson.
[100] — Railway Collisions. — In the worst of these accidents
the carriages are " telescoped," the seats of the compartments are
driven together, causing fractured legs. To avoid this, draw the
legs on to the seat and clasp the knees tightly with the arms.
I know of cases where tliis has been successfully tried. — Engineer.
[116] — John Bull. — Dr. Arbuthnot, in his ludicrous " History of
Europe," represented an Englishman as a bluff, kind-hearted, bull-
headed farmer. The character he called John Bull, and since it has
become the national nickname. — J. J. W.
[12.3] — High Fersientation. — In this process, which is the one
used in the manufacture of English beer, the yeast rises to the
surface of the fermenting liquid ; hence its name. It is carried on
by running a wort prepared from malt, or from a mixture of malt
and other saccharine bodies, into a circular vat, partially covered on
top to maintain proper temperature, and to prevent access of excess
of air, at about 70' Fahr. Yeast is now added, and, having a
plentiful supply of the food necessaiy for its growth, it soon con-
verts some of the soluble albuminous matter of the malt into
protein bodies of its own structure, while at the same time it con-
verts a small portion of the glucose sugar 2>resent into the cellulose
necessary for the construction of its cells. The mother yeast, while
thus reproducing itself, not having suflScient oxygen for its action,
decomposes the glucose, changing it into alcohol and carbonic acid
gas according to the following equation : —
Glucose. Alcohol, Carbonic Acid.
C^H.^Og = 2C„H, HO + 2 CO,
Small quantities of glycerine, succinic acid, and other products are
also formed, and the action continues, unless checked by reduction
of temperature, until the whole of the saccharine matter is decom-
posed. " Low Fermentation." This process commences at about
50° F., and the yeast on reproduction sinks to the bottom of the
liquid. It is the process mainly employed on the Continent, and
beers so fermented cannot be preserved in wamt or temperate
weather, unless surrounded by ire. The decomposition of the
saccharine matter is the same as in "high fennentation." Stahl,
Willis, Liebig. and other writers considered fermentation to be due
to the oxidation of complex albuminoid bodies which decompose the
saccharine matters present, in order to obtain sufficient oxygen for
such oxidation ; but, according to Pasteur and the greatest of other
modern authorities, it is due to the action of living organisms which
fall accidentally into the liquid from the air, er ai-e purposely added,
as in the case of adding yeast to wort. The yeast organism is the
one which sets up alcoholic fermentation, and the reason why it is
artificially supplied to wort is to supersede other fermentations that
may be induced by germs of another nattire gaining access to the
liquid by means of air. The other most common ferment germs
are those which set up the lactic and butyric fermentations. —
E. M. D. — [Answered in the same sense by T. G. Browne.]
[133] — I observe a correspondent inquiring "where he can find
the Bev. W. H. DoUinger's papers. If he will read the index to the
recent volumes of the Pojitilar Scieyicc iJerieic, he will find papers
by that gentleman on microscopical subjects therein noted. The
" Proceedings of the Eoyal Society " should also give him Mr.
DoUinger's papers. — Andrew Wilson.
[137] — Humsi.e Bees. — I beg leave to state that in December,
1880, at the request of some persons in New Zealand, I shipped
eighteen fertile humble bees (Bombus Lvcorum) by the John Elder,
one of the Orient line of steamers, to Melbourne, Messrs. F. Green
& Co., the owners, kind]}- instructing their officers to take all needful
care of them, and see to their re-shipment in the Arawata to New
Zealand. From a newspaper (the Timaru Herald') sent me, I learn
that two out of the eighteen arrived alive, and when released, on the
morning of Feb. 5, 18S1, flew away briskly to seek, as we may hope,
nests in which to multiply and increase, and thus bring about that
long-desired work, the fructification of red clover. I may mention
that these bees were searched for and sent to me by Mr. Duncan Keir,
an intelligent nurseryman at Paisley. I packed them in small boxes,
and supplied a little sugar in case they might require food in a
warmer latitude ; but the great point is if possible to keep them
dormant during the voyage, and for this purpose 1 placed the
package under the care of the butcher, to put in his ice-house. It
is well known that none other than fertile mothers hybernato.
Three other humble tjueens were sent Jan. 20 of last year by the
steamship Norfolk, which sailed dii-ect to New Zealand, under pre-
cisely similar circumstances, and the supply was obtained from the
same source, but no tidings concerning them have yet reached me.
The experiment has not been repeated this vrinter, owing to the
veiy scanty encouragement received of these and previous efforts.
Your correspondent, no doubt, alludes to an attempt made some
years since by the late Mr. Frank Buckland, in which I had the
pleasure of giving some assistance. — Alfred Neighbour.
[I'lO] — Ice. — Ice contracts and expands as other solids do, by
valuation of temperature. This is best seen in travelling over the
ice on a large lake (say Lake Wiimipeg) in winter. If a cold
" snap" suddenly comes on, and the temperatnii'e falls 15° or 20° in
the course of the night, loud noises, like pistol shots or distant thunder,
ore heard ; if encamped near the shore, on resuming the journey
in the morning, large cracks, several feet wl^«le, caused by contrac-
tion, will be met with, and are often difficult to cross ; if the severe
cold continues for a day or two, these cracks freeze up. Milder
weather comes, the ice expands, and there being now more ice on
the lake than before, ridges are forced up. Another period of great
cold occurs, there are fresh cracks formed, with subsequent ridges
when the temperature rises. These contractions and expansions,
caused by changes of temperature, I believe to be an important
element in the motion of glaciers. — J. Rae.
[146] — Chemical. — (1). It is a property of red blood-corpusclea
to absorb oxygen. This absorption changes them to bright red.
Carbonous oxide can displace O, and thus acts as a poison. Nitrogen
has no such power. (2). The value of carbon hydrates as food can
only be estimated thus in compounds of the same class ; e.g., we
cannot compare ether with its 22 per cent, of 0, with sugar having
51 per cent., the fact being that sugar, &c., are more assimilable
than many substances having less oxygen. — C. T. B.
[146] — _Chemical. — E. M. must remember that the "Carbo-
hydrates " are just those bodies which contain the hydrogen and
oxygen in the proportion of water — that is, in a saturated condition
— none free. Cane sugar, for example, is Cj.j Hoo On, in which
" E. M." will find eleven times HoO, leaving 12C to answer liis
purpose. — Lewis Arundel.
[1 17] — B.Sc. E.XAMiNATiON, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY. — In reply to
" A Philosophical Brushmaker," I may say that attendance upon
the Univei'sity classes necessary for the above degree (or upon
classes conducted elsewhere, but recognised by the University
Court), is imperative upon candidates. Full information may be
obtained in the University Calendar. — Andrew Wilson.
[152] — Nickel Plating. — In the first part of " Amatem- Work "
there is a recipe for this : — Make a bath of tin tartar, boil with
some grain tin, and after cooling, throw in some red-hot nickel
oxide. When the solution turns green, dip in your articles (brass
or copper, of course, and perfectly clean) and in five minutes they
will be coated. Though \ understand chemistry well, I should be
glad to know what tin tartar is. — Lewis Arundel.
[153] — Doubtful Organisji.s.— The creatures you allude to are
called Protista ; they partake equally of the nature of the lowest
animals and the lowest plants. — Lewis Arundel.
[153] — There are certain living beings — if these are what " H. J.
C. W." means by "doubtful organisms" — which present in them-
selves a singular combination of the characters of animals and
plants. Such are the Monads. If " H. J. C. W." will read Huxley's
lecture on " The Border Territorj- between the Animal and Plant
Kingdoms" (to be published in his new volume of essays, " Science
and Culture " — Macmillan), he will find therein a full statement of
the likenesses which exist both to animals and plants in certain of
the lower forms of life — Andrew Wilson.
[154] — Frogs are excluded from tho class Eeptilia (as any ordi-
nary primer of zoology would have shov\Ti " H. J. C. W.") because
they possess gills in early life. No reptile {i.e., tortoises, snakes,
Uzards, and crocodiles) possesses gills at any period of existence,
but breathes from the first by lungs. Frogs, newts, toads, &c., are
amphibians. They all begin" life with gills, and afterwards develop
236
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 13, 1882
lungs ; tlio gills cithor disappearing when lunf^s appear (as in the
frogs, toailB, iinil newts) or persisting (us in jirotcus, the nxolotl,
<ic). Frogs unil other amphibians further differ from reptiles
in undergoing a metamorphosis during their development, und
in the want of seales or bony jilatcs on the skin.— Andrew
Wilson. [1 find what "I had always Bup|)o8ed " (viz., that the
class Reptilia included the Amphibia, and therefore the Batra-
chians) is an error. (It was not given, be it noticed, as
a reply.) I know, of course, thot sonio naturalists regard
the Amphibia and Heptilia as distinct clas.ies ; ond I see that in
I'rof. Newton's primer they are so given. I know also that Lin-
nicus's mistake in classing the abranchiate reptiles as amphibia
had been corrected. But there must have been some change in
classification of late, if that I mentioned has been definitely re-
jected ; for I find Prof. Owen, in " Brande's Dictionary of Science "
(1867), writing (1) under head "Reptilia," that those which retain
gills during a part of their existence are called Batrachians ; (2),
under head "Ampliibio," calling those which retain their gills
during the whole of their existence peribranchiate reptiles ; and
(3), defining Batrachia as "an order of Reptilia, including all
reptiles which, like frogs and toads, have naked skins and external
branchiae in the early stage of existence." — Ed.]
[155] — I have known of a tortoise living ten years ; but I should
say the duration of life is longer, especially in the larger species.
I should imagine they do not remain " under the earth," in ordi-
nary circumstances, longer than the winter or cold season. —
Andkew Wilson.
[157] — Aluminium. — Any good Chemistry, as Fownes', or Watts',
or Hitler's, gives a full account. It is too much to expect in these
pages. Spell aluminium with two i's, and emphasize the " min."
— Lewis Akundel.
[170]. — " E. M.," in Knowledge, for Jan. 6, thinks that the
existence of ])arasites in meat is an argument for vegetarianism.
Permit me to remind " E. M." that parasitically-infested meat is
not normal meat. If " E. M.," as a vegetarian, acquired a tape-
worm guest from a lettuce, he would not abjure his vegetable food,
I suppose, because of his liability to infestation therefrom, anymore
thaii he would cease drinking water because some waters contain
young flukes. The lesson taught by my paper is not the abjuration
of flesh as an article of food, but the careful selection of healthy
flesh; and, I will add, of healthy and normal food of all kinds —
vegetables and drinks included. The pros and cons of vegetarianism
lie quite outside your correspondent's letter and my article. —
Andrew Wilson.
[180] — "An Amateur" inquires the "use "of bugs, fleas, flies,
and other "apparently useless insects." He should first learn that
ihe word " use" has a sole meaning and application (as he employs
it) to human life. Ho should learn next that each animal and
plant exists for its own sake, and independently of any " use "
which men may conceive it adapted to serve. Thus " An Amateur"
might as legitimately ask the use of seals, and might receive the
reply " to furnish sealskin jackets for ladies ; " and humming-
birds might similarly be regarded as existing for the purpose of
decorating ladies' hats. In a word, science can take no heed of
such a question as that put by " An Amateur." Like the Smith
of Perth, each animal and plant fights " for its own hand," and
lives and exists independently of all human ideas of use and no
use. — Andrew Wilson.
!3[n6lDfr5 to Cori-fSponlirnts.
* ^* All eommunicaHoiu Jbr tha Editor requiring early attention thould reach the
Office on or bffore the Saturday preceding the current ittuc of ExowLBDOB, <*«
\ncreanng circulation of ichich compel* ut to go to preii early in the veek.
lllHTS TO CoBBKsl'ONDKNTS. — 1. Xo qucrtion» asking for ncientijic information
can be answered through the post. 2. Letters sent to the Editor for correspondents
cannot be forvarded ; nor can the names or addresses qf correspondents he given in
anncer to private inquiries. 3. JV*o queries or replies savouring tf the nature qf
advertisements can be inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to RuU 3, free of charge. 6. Correspondents should vrite on one side
only of the paper, and put dravings on a separate /*n/". 6. Each Utter, query, or
reply should nare a title, and in replying to letters or queries, r^erence should be
made to the number of Utter or query, the page on vhich it appears, and it* titU.
W. A. C. Mr. Hutton points out that if we cease to eat meat we
shall destroy animals more certainly and more cruelly than at
present, by leaving them no vegetable food j and ho is an anti-
vivisectionist of the most pronounced type. We had better not
insert your objections to the toad-pressing story, lest boys should
try the very experiments you say the story suggests — which cer-
tainly would not have occurred to us. — A. St. Clair. We know
of no French educational paper whose editor woald take English
stamps in payment. — W. H. H. Soamks. Certainly the i;i i.
occults the planets. Such phenomena' are announced ir.
" Nautical Almanac." The outer satellite of Jupiter often | :.-, -
considerably above or below the planet. In an article we wrote
in 18G7 for the Popular Science Rei'iew, we discussed the question
fully. — Fred. Blackett. Our price is small, our modesty great;
beyond sending sjjecimen copy, we would not force ourselves on
your society's notice. — W. R. Bland. The proprietors consider
that Buch notice should appear as an advertisement. — W. H.
Pertwee. Arctic explorers want, 1 suppose, to find what there
is at the Pole — land or water, greater cold or less cold, and so
forth. As to the other question, evolntionists may or may not
believe in the statement you refer to, or some of them may and
some may not; it is no business of ours. If you hod asked me
what I believed on that or kindred subjects, I might have replied
that it was no business of yours, which, though it would have
sounded abrupt, implies something which may be usefully
remembered. A man says he believes a certain scientific fact,
and he is asked — without rhyme or reason — whether, so
believing, he can believe something else which the inquirer
says he and others regard as a truth of religion. What
sensible answer can he make to a question so absurd, with-
out being somewhat plain-spoken ? To such a question, as to
my belief, asked me in public at New York in 1874, 1 answered, " My
belief is that there is a deal of nonsense in the world," and 1 believe
still that I could not have answered the question more precisely,
unless for " nonsense " I had used a stronger exjiression.—
Frank R. Thomas. It certainly appears that " the mind ia only
partially active, and that the sounder part of it — the reason — is
dormant when we are dreaming." You ask, '"to what does this
point ?" We are not quite sure that we understand you. It seems
to us what might very natural!}' be expected. — E. H. Thanks for
pointing out that Newton, in his work on fluxions, descril>ed the
Witch of Agnesi, calling it a " eonchoidal." We agree with you
that the curve cannot properly be called a qnadratrix. — F.
Wilson. The laws of perspective are purely geometrical, and
the slightest acquaintance with geometry would show you that
perspective cannot possibly account for the disappearance of a
hull of a ship before its masts. The hull is unseen because there
is something in the way, namely, the rotundity of the earth. —
Wm. H. Allen. Thanks for extract on actinium. VeryliUleis
known yet respecting the properties of the new element. Several
have been discovered since spectroscopic analysis was invented. —
Desideratum. The delay you refer to is explained by the circnm-
stance that we receive so many letters like the one signed " De-
sideratum."— A. CnAMPNES.>;. We cannot reply by letter to queries,
even when a stamped and dii-ected envelope is sent. — An Ixquiher.
If we put in your query about cats falling on their feet, we shall
have all our school-boy readers trying experiments — applying the
inductive method, with projective illustrations. — .^^OLUs. No; the
Americans do not (we believe) " fire their storms at us out of a
gun." Ships reaching America give news of storms travelling
eastward across the Atlantic, which had been already traced
across part of the American continent. The prediction is based
on the belief that such storms will travel farther east before they
die out. Y'oii are more correct as to solar heat being the cause of
storms ; but they may arise without the sun being " in some
vagaries." The heat he pours on the earth is tolerably constant.—
One who wants Knowledge asks for information respecting the
mantifacture of Portland cement, or titles of books relating
thereto. — E. S. We have not room for your letter on primary
colours. If a definition of primiuy colours were given, which
should carefully distinguish what is physical in the matter from
what is physiological, we might get more satisfactory statements.
As to your questions relating to religion, I reply that to exclude
religion, in its wider and nobler sense, from our columns would
be to exclude science. But dogmatic religion we cannot away
with. One might as reasonably speak of a Mussulman spectro-
scope, or of Brahminical hydrogen, as of Christian science. Science
is neither Christian nor un-Christian, but extra-Cliristian. We do
not want such matters to be treated in a calm, philosophic spirit,
but simply left altogether untouched. They have no proper place
here. As a mere matter of detail, we may note that they never
are treated in a calm, philosophic spirit, perhaps because no
calmly philosophic person would be so unwise as to treat of them,
at all. — Dai.eth. About comets' nuclei later. — Mercury. For
names of Mr. Wallace's books apply to Messrs. Macmillan. They
will well repay study. Read also Dai-win's " Origin of Species"
and " Descent of Man." — Mabel. W. Laing recommends " E. H."
to read Dr. J. Reade's " Experimental Outlines for a Now Theory
of Colours, Light, and Vision," 1818, and W. Crum's "Experi-
mental Inquiry into the Number and Properties of the Primary
Colours," 1830 (books entirely out of date) ; also, if be reads
Dutch, N. Folmer's " Alpha van het Alphabet der Klenren,"
J AS. 13, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE *
237
Groningen, 1875. Prof. Ogdcn Rood's book on " Modem Chro-
matics " (Kegan, Paul, & Co., price 5s.) is far better worth study-
ing.— Er.nest J. Wer.vdam. There aro manj- proofs, aud as many
disproofs, of the tlieory tliat character can be learned from tho
liandwriting. The method has no scientific interest. — B. Dox-
BAV.1ND. We insert one of your letters, but yonr last, on the
colours of animals, is too long, and we have not time to abridge
it. You take three pages of MS. for initial sarcasms against a
valued correspondent, who has really shown a verj- kind
desire to explain matters; another to show that "a tank
naturalist must be contemptible in all the ins and outs of
him"; then possibly yon come to business. We cannot say —
life is too short to get through more of such letters. Stay. Wo
will not at once consign your letter to W.-P. basket, but only
the tirst four pages, keeping the rest for another trial when we
have refreshed ourselves with matters more ud reui. Understand,
you are as free to say in so many words that Prof. Wilson seems
angry, as he was to say that a remark of yours seemed to him
silly. But we cannot find space for elaborate sarcasms. We
want to get at facts, and invite our correspondents to join in tho
work, not to try who can say the smartest things. — M. E.
Pe.vdrep. It would take much more time than we can afford to
go through your letter of some score of closely-wTitten pages,
scoring out all that is not to the point ; and we can only insert
what is to the point. — J. H. Symixgto.n. We misunderstood you
about the Collie. Excuse us. — H. A. Bclley. Lunar influence on
weather is conceivable, though never sho\vn to be really effec-
tive ; but planetary influences, or the absurdities called Astro-
meteorologj-, we cannot even discuss here. We must draw the
line somewhere. — Z.iees. Dr. Ball's experiment, of dropping
one of his namesakes on the floor of a railway carriage, has alto-
gether the advantage over yours of firing a bolt from a catapult.
How did you test the horizontality of the bolt's flight, and how
eliminate effects of atmospheric resistance ? We are sure, when
we drop a ball in a railway carriage, that its only initial motion
is horizontal, and that air-resistances are the same as on a body
let fall from rest. — PiLUL.i. You are evidently not aware that
advertisements of the kind cannot be refused. — C. J. BaowN.
" Assuming the earth's diameter to be 8,000 miles," (or 8, or
8 millions, if preferred,) the pressure is greatest at the centre. —
R. W. If the solid be transparent, farther edges should be
shown like nearer. The cases are different. Science finds no
evidence of man's having become degraded. It does find evi-
dence that some creatures have. — Jas. Elias. Your letter is too
long for insertion ; but your idea is well worth considering, that,
in some cases, frog's spawn might have been deposited in some
fissure where running water passed, and so a tadpole develops
there, which, adapting its mode of living to its narrow surround-
ings, would become a frog, and might live comfortably enough.
A quarryraan, as yon say, would not be apt to notice the fissure,
and the stone would nattirally split in a plane running tlirough
the cavity. — H. D. KixcnON. Quite impossible to appoint meet-
ing.— Daniel Jackson. Gambling on the Stock Exchange is
undoubtedly no better than gambling elsewhere. The two books
you refer to are the " Expanse of Heaven " and " Infinities Around
Us," published by Chatto. — J. K. Mellor. Thanks, but fear
we can find no space for biographies at present. — Jas. Douglas.
The change of eccentricity of earth's orbit, and not the pro-
cessional reeling per se, causes changes of climate you men-
tion.— E. W. Will try to find room for your letter in full.
In the meantime, we may note that the applications of the
differential calculus to Physics are so nmch more difficult
than those to ordinary mathematical problems, that the
course pursued in books seems natural enough. Do you mean
to say that, given the linear dimensions of a curve, and the
length of the limits between which you integrate, you find
difficulty in ascertaining the number of square inches, feet, or
miles in the area ? I cannot see where the difficulty comes in.
In a series of papers I once wrote on the calculus for the English
Mechanic, I showed how a number of problems in everyday life
may be dealt with by means of it. The translation of the symbols
into concrete quantities should be one of the first, not one of
the last, things to which the student's attention is directed. —
A Xew Sl'bsceieer. We shall presentlj* give a description of
some comets of the present century ; but we must refer yon to
treatises on comets for an account of all, or even of the principal
comets. — Pleiaiie.s. (1). It is better for querists to give their
real name (not for publication), but, not essential. (2). We
may presently give weekly notices of astronomical phenomena.
(3). No. 1 of Knowledge has now been reprinted for tho
third time ; the proprietors are not likely to reprint again, so
that if 3-0U wish tor No. 1 you should apply in goo<l time. (4.)
'• Abstract " in headings of letters means that we have had to
abridge them. — One Wishful to Learn. Heat is not generated
at the sun by his attractive action on planets. When a cord is
pulled, or a bar either pulled or pushed, the heat is generated
by the impressed forces, i.e., comes from without. — E. B. T.
Thanks, but the idea is much older than Babbage's time,'or — R. F.
Gardiner than Rev. Mr. Hitchcock's.— W. Hardy. "Dietrichsen's
Almanac," no longer published ; " Nautical Almanac " for 1882,
1883, 1884, and, probably, 1885, can be obtained of Murray, price
2s. 6d. each. — Florence E. Boyce. Pray excuse us for "leaving
yonr interesting communication so long unnoticed. It got lost in
our troubled sea of letters, MS., &c. The proof for sum of
squares is verj' neat. — Arthur Vizard. Your remark answered
by last number. But the analysis of chess openings need not
be hurried. We mnst not make a toil of pleasure. Chess and
whist are our scientific recreations. — F. H. S. Have been
obliged to limit answers to magic square questions. — J. RusSELL.
How far should we be advanced if we agreed to regard comets
as having " the same place in tho inanimate solar system as
is occupied by jelly-fish in the animal world ? " — J. Sharp.
You article somewhat too diffuse, and much of its contents
generally known. — Ursula. Reply to query about rainbow on
page 212, second column, lines 11, &c. — Lewis Arundel.
Your remarks about my replies to 153, Ac, remind me some-
what of Moliere's "Nous avons change tout cela." I was not
answering " according to Cuvier," but according to Owen and
other more recent authorities. In exjilanation of a certain
property of worms, I referred to their being articulated. Do you
conceive that when worms were formed into a sub-kingdom
Vermes, they cca.sed to be articulated, or that the chain of
ganglia I mentioned ceased to be present in their annelidan
bodies ? They have no articulated limbs, but they arc articulated
animals whether classed as Artliropoda or Vermes, whether called
Abranchiate Annelidans, or common earthworms. Equally,
classing toads and frogs as Batrachian Amphibia has not made
them change their reptilian habits. — D. C. Jones. Recently
answered, — A. T. C. Pardon me for repeating that there must
have been something near or far off between the sun and the holes.
In saying that the sun's light ceased to pass through the holes
(there being nothing between the holes and the opposite wall at
the time), you in effect say that something intercepted the sun's
ravs. If you insist on it that there was nothing between the sun
and the blind to cast a shadow — cloud, flight of birds, or of
dust, or of leaves, or flying object of some sort, near or far off —
all one can say is that nothing can explain what you saw. No
shadow ever yet existed ivithout something to cast it. — Major.
The illusion about letter S is well known to proof correctors. The
lower half looks very much larger upside down. — C. F. B. The
reason why the sun and moon appear larger when near the
horizon is, I take it, because the heavens appear to form a flat-
tened not a spherical dome, and tho sun or moon subtending
really the same angle when near the horizon (appreciably) seem
to be' nearer than the sky beyond. The eye seems to misinterpret
what it actually sees, making the sun seem nearer instead of the
sky seeming farther.
flott^ on !^rt anil ^n'cnre.
Mr. J. H. A. Macdonald, Q.C, tho late Solicitor-General for
Scotland, has constructed an " electric holophote course indi-
cator," which he has lately been exhibiting in Edinburgh. An
electric light with a reflector is placed in a prominent position on
the deck of the vessel, and is controlled by the movement of the
helm. The direction of the powerful beam of light indicates the
course of the ship, and at the same time shows whether or not the
sea is clear over a large area. The model is to be shown at the
Crystal Palace Exhibition.
Mr. Jacob Reese, in a paper read before the Engineers' Society
of Western Pennsylvania, remarks : " The great want of the present
a"e is a process by which the static caloric of carbon may be set
free by non-luminous combustion, or, in other words, a process by
which coal or oil may be oxidised at a low degree within an insu-
lated vessel." This "cannot be too prominently brought forward.
"If it can be accomplished," as Mr. Reese says, "we would be able
to produce from twelve to fifteen million foot pounds of electricity
from one pound of petroleum, or from ten to twelve million foot
pounds of energy from one pound of good coal." — Atheneeum.
Abe Bees a Nuisance ? — An unusual case is being tried in the
Cumberland County (Penn.) Court this week, that of testing by a
jury whether the keeping of a large number of bees in a town or
borough is a public nuisance or not. The case is from West Fair-
238
KNOWLEDGE
[Jajj. 13, 18^:.^
view, a small town on tlio opposite Bido of tho river from Uarris-
barg. Two cil!r.on8 Imd about 130 skops of bcos, itnd aa tho
suinm<'r was Hcnn'c* uf matoriul hucIi ms tho bees food u|»on. they
cunio iu largo niiuibers into thu houeos, stores, ^'rapo arbours, and
wherever there was nnytliinjj for them to feed upon. In one
instance they swarmed in a neighbour's kitchen, and were tlicre for
days, ho not being able to hive thom, tho queen being killed. 'Jliey
wore especially bad ab<iut canning and preserving time, compelling
the housewife to do her preserving in tho evening, and in one
instance the wife had to climb in and out of tho window for
days, not daring to open the doors, for the bees would go in by
liundreds ; persons were stung passing along tho streets and
highways ; entire houses became infested with bees, so much so
that tho inmates could not retire to rest at night without being
stung by the bees ; trays of fruit put out for drying were entirely
consumed. Indeed, a reign of terror was experienced for several
inonths, until a committee of citizens agreed to abate the nuisance,
and, after several efforts, appealed to the court. The defence
claimed that the raising and keeping of bees was an industry, and
as such could not come under the head of a public nuisance, and
that suit could not be brought nor damages recovered for the
keeping of honey-bees. Tho attorneys on both sides presented the
opinions of severtil judges and the law points in tho case, after which
tho court decided the case sliouUl be tried, and tho testimony was
received. But one case seems to be on record in the State, and
that was tried before Judge Pearson, in Dauphin County, years ago,
in which the defendant was adjudged guilty, and had to pay a fine
and abate the nuisance. — Scientific American.
The T.vrE-WoRM. — Most of my readers know that the domestic
pig is subject to a disease known as " measles," in which, the muscles
are more or loss filled with cysis, which render the pork unfit for
food ; but I tlunk few are acquainted with its cause, llan, it is
well known, is occasionally infested by a parasitc^the so-called
" tape-worm " (Tccnia solium) — which may be described a,s having
a tape-like body of varying length, with a differentiated " head," or
scolex, at one extremity. This apparently single animal is in reality
a colony of mothers and daughters, the scolex being the parent of
all. This " head " is provided with a rosfellum, or, as it might be
called, proboscis, encircled by a crown of hooks, below which arc
the suckers ; each segment added to the scolex is a complete indi-
vidual containing a complicated and perfect reproductive system.
The last sognient — profjlottidcs — which are filled with eggs, break off
at intervals, and either the eggs are set free within the intestine of
their host, when they are passed out with the fseces, or the seg-
ments themselves are evacuated. The rape worm feeds on the juices
ef the bowel by absorbing tho nutriment through its skin, and does not
appear to seriously inconvenience its host in any way. In Abyssinia
tania hehninthosis is constant and general ; indeed the animal is
there regarded as a sort of hygienic agent, and cultivated rather
than discouraged, yet the people arc healthy ; certain it is also that
vfild animals, almost without exception, harbour at least one species
of tape-worm as a natural condition. But what has this to do with
** measles" ? Now to the point. Let us suppose one of the before-
mentioned eggs taken into the stomach of a pig, either by its eating
the excrement of a person affected or through the water or air ;
here it hatches, not into a tape-worm, but into an animal of oval
form, transparent, contractile, in the middle of which are six stylets
arranged in pairs ; with these it cuts its way through the tissues
until the muscles are reached, when, having arrived at its desti-
nation, it stops burrowing and surrounds itself ^\'ith a sheath.
Here the stylets atrophy, a new and quite different crown
of hooks is produced, and the parasite becomes a cijuticerctis,
or vesicniar worm, tho cyst being about the size of a hazel
nut. This constitutes "measles" ; the exhaustion or oveu death
attendant on the disease is caused by the scores, hundreds, or even
thousands of animals boring through the tissues. Once encysted
there is no further suffering or danger. The cysticercus remains
encysted for months or years, or until tho piece of flesh enveloping
it is iutrodiiceil iiit" the stomach of mnn, in which case it instantly
quits its torpitl condition, leaves its sheath, makes its way to the
intestine, where, attaching itself by its suckers and hooks, it grows
— or rather reproduces — so rapidly, that in a few weeks a tape-
worm of several yai-ds in length is formed, which reproduces
eggs, and so ad infinitiiyii — from pig to ma», from man to
pig. Should tho eggs bo introduced into man himself or animal
other than the hog, tho cysticercus penetrates the tissues in
the same manner, but it is " not at home," and instead of resting
in the muscles, it makes its way to other organs, such as the brain,
heart, or eye, where its presence has caused in man several in-
stances of insanity and death. Should a piece of meat containing
a vesicular worm be eaten by a pig or animal other than man, a
tcenia is developed, but it also is " not at home," and does not
attain its full development. Both eggs and cysticerci are killed by
a temperature of 200° Fall., so there is no danger in eating well-
rooked pork, even if it contains cysticerci. To prevent hogs con-
tracting "measles," it is only necessary to prevent them having
access, either through their food or water, to the secretioni of
man, and they will not suffer. Throughout the gcninn Tiznia wo
find this dual life ; for instance, tho cat has a tapeworm, tho cysti-
cercus of which she gets frcini the mouse; and the dog ono which
ho obtains from the sheep. — Hcientifie American,
Oiiv iBatlKinatiral Column.
Algkbkaical Equation. — In reply to " E. H.," there is no
method of solving the equation
v/100-V'+ v'8y-Gi-6 = 0
other than by reducing it to a cubic, and applying one of the
approximate methods to the resulting equation. We got by scjuar-
ing both sides, &c.,
!/* + 161/'- 192y'-3200v + 25G00 = 0
ori/(y-8)-f 24!/(y-8)-3200(y-8)-=0
Whence y = S, and i/' + 24!/— 3200 = 0
As " E. H." points out, 9'74 is an approximate root of this equa-
tion. Tho other roots are imaginary. — Ed.
[12]-"F.B.," admitting that if s^^^" ^'^J^-^ ■■ ■ ■ (^"^'^h
1 . Z . 3 . . . . *7i
asks whether we might not at once conclude from this that if
and it can be shown that
p>(^--i)'h
+ &c. +'n-rl,
s„+i=s„r?i?i±in
L n + l J
then S„=Sn.
We might, if we could prove the relation in question, but we must
do this first. How does " P. B." propose to show that when n
becomes 71 -F 1 in the expression for So, the result, or Sn + 1, is equal
to Sn multiplied by T. ? It is easy to infer this after showing
that So = Sii, but as a step towards proving this it is not at all
easy. — Ed.
Square axd Ccbe Numbers. — J. A. Miles sends the following,
respecting some curious properties of square and cube numbers : —
The first term of an arithmetical progression of n terms having a
common difference d, and whose stun is n° is equal to
n^-' + A(i-,.).-
IfS = n=, the first term is =»+-|- (1-")—
Every square n" is the sum of an arithmetical progression of »
terras, the first term of which is unity, and the difference 2.
Every square n" is the sum of au arithmetical progression of 11 j
terms, tho first term of which is — — and the common difference 1-
If S =11', tho first term is
Every cube n' is tho sum of an arithmetical progression of M
terms, the first term of which is unity, and tho common differcncol
2.(ii +1).
Every cube n' is the sum of an arithmetical progression of n
terms, the first term of which is the root n, and the differerce -n.
Every cube n' is tho sum of an arithmutical progression of n
terms, the first term of which is )i' — n + 1, and the difference 2.
Evei-y cube n' is tho sum of an arithmetical progression of n
terms, tho first term of which is a triangular number — - — , and
tho difference =«.
Everj' cube n' above 1 is the sum of an arithmetical progression
of 11 terms, the first term of which is (n— 2)', and the differeuco
= 8.
i.vN. 10, leeii.j
tS^l^KJW J-iHiUljrn.
2oy
(!3ur 22Jl!)i6t Column.
By "Five of Clibs."
W
THE LEAD (Continned)
LEADING AX ACE (PI-AIX SllTs).
omitted to mention one case — quite exceptional — when an
Ace is led from Ace, King, and others. This is dealt with
111 I lie next section.
LE.iDIXG A KING (PLAIN SUITs).
'r m a long suit, or from a suit of three at least, King is only
under two cnnditions, viz : —
(1) From Ace, King, and others.
(2) From King, Queen, and others.
o case of a forced lead from King and one other, the King is
vs led.
:e we may answer a question often asked by young players
corrected for leading Aco from Ace, King, and others. What
r cnce can it make, they ask, seeing that both cards are of equal
jih ? To this they add sometimes that as it is a recognised
lO lead the highest of a sequence (following suit with tho
-t) there seems a disadvantage in making what appeai-s like an
.i.ji.icessary exception.
tio far as making the strong cards of your suit is concerned, it is
a matter of indifference whether you load Ace or King. But if you
foUoiv the rule of leading King from King, Ace and others, you
enable your partner to understand you better. You make jour
Ace leads more intelligible. If you led Ace uniformly from Ace
King, an Ace lead might mean any one of three things ; (i.) Ace
four or more, (ii.) Ace, Queen, Knave, with or without others, and
(iii.) Ace, King, and others. Your partner would often be in doubt
which of the three you led from ; whereas he can scarcely ever be
in doubt which of the two ordinary cases is in question, even
though you should be unable to follow up yom" load.
As for the lead of King from Ace, King, and others being an
exception to the useful general rule, "lead the highest from a
sequence," the point is of no importance ; for the exception is not
one that can ever canse any confusion. In fact, it is becoming a
recognised whist principle, that one of the great uses of general
rules is that they afford an opportunity for giving your partner
information, by departing from them in certain recognised cases.
Of this we saw an example last week, in tie lead second round
from Ace, Queen, Knave, with or mthout others. After winning
with the Ace, the Queen would be the proper lead, if we followed
the general rule of leading the highest of a sequence. Wlicn
the original snit is only of moderate length, (three or four) the
Queen is led ; but when the suit is of more than average length (five
or more) we depart from the rule, and lead Knave second
round. Thus, whether wo follow the general rule, or depart from
it, we give om- partner information, yet without in any way
affecting the strength of our suit.
There is one case, and one only, in which from .\ce. King, and
others. Ace should be led ; —
If, before getting the lead, we have trumped in one suit, and
should then lead King of another suit, our partner, if he had no
cards in the suit (a contingency always to be considered) might see
an opportunity of establishing a cross ruff or see-saw, by which,
perhaps, four or five tricks might bo made. He would, therefore,
trnmpyour King, considering that Ace might lie with fourth player,
and lead the suit which you had trumped. To avoid this, you lead
in such a case your Ace first, then your King.
When a King has been led first round, your partner knows from
the way the cards fall wliether the lead was from Ace, King, and
others, or from King. Queen, and others. If you have led from
King, Queen, and he does not himself hold Ace, one of the oppo-
nents wiU cover your King with Ace. If it passes, he knows you
have Ace. But as a matter of fact, no one at the table remains in
doubt about the meaning of a King lead, unless the King is
trumped. For if the King makes. Ace follows at once if the lead
was fiom Ace. King ; and a small card if the lead was from King,
Queen (in which case, of cour.se — the first round having passed —
the Ace is with partner).
Thus, just as when the Ace is led, in any case except that of a
forced lead, the second round at once shows which of those two suits
from which Ace should be led has actually been opened ; so is it
when a King is led — we can always tell from the second round at
latest what suit has been led from — Ace, Kin", and others, or King,
Queen, and others.
There is one exception — very seldom advi.'sable in plain suits —
viz., when the King is led from Ace. King. Knave, mth or without
others. Then leader sometimes changes suit, that he may be led up
to and finesse with the Knave.
LEADING ejUEKN (PLAIN SUlTs).
The Queen is led from a long suit, or from a suit of three, at
least, only in the following cases ; —
(1) Queen, Knave, ten, with or -without small ones.
(2) Queen, Knave, and one small one.
In the case of a forced lead from Queen and one other, the Queen
is always led.
After Queen from snit (1), Knave is led, if there is only one card
or none below the ten ; ten if there are more.
LEADING KNAVE (PLAIN SUITs).
The Knave is led from a long suit, or from u suit of three, at
least, only in tlie following cases : —
(1) Knave, ten, nine, with or without others.
(2) Knave, ten, and one small one.
In the case of a forced lead from Knave and one other, Knave is
always led.
After Knave from suit (1), ten is led it there is only one card
or none below the nine ; nine if there are more.
LEADING TEN (PLAIX SflTs).
Ten is only led in the case of a forced lead from ten one other,
or from ten two others.
LEADING A .SMALL CARD (PLAlN slITs).
A small card is led from Ace, two or three small ones (except by
continental players, who lead Ace, as already mentioned, from Ace
three small ones) ; from King and others, not including Queen ;
from Queen, Knave, and small ones (two or more), from Queen or
Knave and small ones ; from ten and small ones (three at least) j
from a suit of four small ones, when the lowest is jilayed ; and from
a suit of fewer than four (a forced lead), when the highest is played.
N.B. — From a suit of five cards or more, not headed by the Ace, tho
lowest but one is played. This lead is called the Penultimate.
Ouv Cl&rss Column.
SOLUTIONS.
Problem Xo. 5, p. 171.
White. Black.
1.
K. to Q.2. 1. K. takes Kt. (best).
2.
R. to Q.Kt.7. 2. An>-thing,
3.
Mates ace.
Problem Xo. G., p. 100.
■Wliite. Black.
1.
Q. to K.Kt.5. 1. P. takes Q. (best).
2.
Kt. to Q.Kt..5. 2. Anjthing.
a.
B. or Kt. JIatesacc.
Problem Xo. 7, p. 190.
White. Black.
1.
B. to K.Kt.5. 1. P. takes B.
2.
B. to K.B.3. 2. P. moves, or takes Kt
3.
B. or Kt. Mates ace.
Problem Xo. 8, p. 190.
White. Black.
1.
B. to Q.Kt.6. 1. P. takes B.
2.
B. to Q.B.I. 2. P. moves.
3.
B. Mates.
TWO EXD GAMES.
THE following end-game has been sent to us by Mr. A. J. Maas.
We leave it for awhile as an exercise to our readers. It
occurred in actual play : —
Problem, Xo. 9.
i e
1 k
H !^ 3f - i
■>A
White to pb y
240
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Jajt. 13, 1882.
Ill ilio folluwinf; cnd-gnrae, Mr. Morphy (white), who hud givuii
I hi' udds of a rook, drew tho Kama : —
I'uoHi.KM Xo. Hi.
•ft/©'
i
^
1
1 ^h
''. 1
mm mm
m
White,
White to play and draw.
Game No. 6,
I'layod in the International Tournament at Berlin, on the loth of
September, 1881.
Ruy Lopez.
Black.
Whitk.
Herr S. Winawer
1. P. to KA.
2. K.t. to K.J3.3.
3. B. to Q.Kt.5.
4. Castles.
5. Q. to K.2.
6. B. takes Kt.
7. Q. takes P.ch.
8. Q. to Q.R.o (')
9. P. to Q.3.
10. B to B.t. (')
11. Q. takes K.P.
12. Kt. to K.5 («)
Dr. C. Schmid.
P. to KA.
Kt. to Q.B.3.
Kt. to K.B.3. (*)
Kt. takes K.P.
Kt. to Q.3 C")
Q.P. takes B.
Q. to K.3.
B. to K.3.
Kt. to B.t. ('')
Castles (')
Q. to Q.Kt.5.
Black resigns.
(Sonntaysblatt, Berlin.)
NOTES BY MEPHISTO.
(") Tho defence of P. to y.R.3. jnstly deserves preference to the
move in the text. It leads to a safe development, for after
4. ^ .", ', . 5.-,- — —^ ~, this Knight, on being attacked, can
Kt. to K.B.3. Kt. takes P.
retire to B.t., attacking tho Bishop, and thereby gaining time.
C") This move must be condemned on principle ; it blocks Black's
game entirely. Kt. to K.B. 3. is the proper move.
{') This move, which to some might look rather strange, was
played to prevetit Black from Castling on the Queen's side, as that
was his intention ; it will be seen that tliis, though only a small amount
of forethought on the part of White, opened the door to a large
amount of luck.
C) As pointed out bj' the Sonntagshlatt, it would not have been
feasablo for Black to play 9.P. to K.Kt.3 with the intention of pre-
paring to Castle on the King's side, as White would have replied with
10
B.toK.Kt.i
Kt. to Q.-t
' P. takes B.
Kt. takes B.
and the Queen cannot
■p.toK.B.3.
retake on account of R. to K.sq. If in reply tolOB. to K.Kt.S.BIack
should play Q. to Q .2., then White continues with bTTo^B.G. Black's
best course would have been to play P. to Q.11.3. and then Castle.
{") Taking proper advantage of the position. The Knight back to
Q.3. was about the only thing to save tho Pawn, for if P. to Q.Kt.3.,
then the Pawns on the Queen's side would be weakened still more by
g. to R.4.
(') Tho idea of Black in giving up the Rook's Pawn was to play
Q. to Q.Kt.5, thinking that the Bishop would bo compelled to retire,
wliich Black would follow up by B. to Q.B.I, getting an attack.
Checking with the Qnoen would obvieuslv have been bad, i.e.,
„ Q.takesH.P. .., Q. toR.fi.ch. ,., Kt. tok.S.ch. , „., ■.
ll.i- - - - l-^-— i'-r-r. .) ^•^■x.- , -u-- and 'iV hito would
Q.toQ.kt^). K.toQ.2. K.toK.sq.
lose a piece. Black, however, overlooked tho force of 12. Kt. to K.5.
at onco, which i)rovcd fatal. The wliolo idea of Black of e.vposing
himself to the great danger of the position, for tho purpose nf
extricating his game, was unsound. In chess, as in everything else,
you must not indulge in such risky speculations ; no move ought to
be made but what a sound judgniont would ai>prove, as otherwise
an unseen danger, or an overlooked resource, is almost sure to aid
your adversary in demolishing your unsound speculation ; though
in many instances, it might be highly ingcnioos, and, in a few
instances, might succeed,— only as an exception to prove tho rule.
(«) There is notliing to save Ithick'i gamo. This is a remarkable
collapse of a lirHt-class player, of which there were a go'jd many
instances at Berlin. Dr. Schmid played Black, and we apprehend
ho must have also looked block, after White's 12th move —a rather
remarkable instance of a Smith tnming into a Blacksmith doring
a chess game of 12 moves.
Problem Xo. 11. Hy Herr Gunsbcrg.
(From the " Westminster Papers.")
i
m
;w,^, ^
^
i __..__
■ '■
White.
White to play and mate in three moves.
Solutions of problems 6, 7. and 8, bv G. W. Middleton, T. H.
Symington, J. K. L., Gamma, Try Try Again, S.D.P., R.M., After-
noon, Etoniensis, correct. Of problem 8, by J. A. Miles, Arcadian,
and See Saw, correct.
Alpha Beta. — The solution you send of problem 5 is based on an
incorrect idea as to the nature of chess problems. When mate is
to be given in three moves, what is meant is, that against the best
possible defence White is to give mate on his third move. You have
shown how, after a certain move by White, and a certain reply
by Black, White can mate. But after White, l.B. to K.R.3.,
Black can play Knight to K.R.S.ch., and there is no mate either
on the move, or in sevei-al more moves.
Contents of Knowledge Xo. 10.
PAGB
The Great Pyramid. Bv the
Editor llllmtrated) 193
Found Links. Part I. By Dr.
Andrew Wilson, F.L.S., &c.
(niuilratei) 195
InteUieence in Animals 196
The Electric Telegraph. By W.
Lvnd IBS
The' Magic Wheel (Itlustraled) 198
The Planets and Solar Spots 199 1
Nights with a Three-Inch Tele-
scope (Illmtraltd) 201
Scienlific Paradox 202 I
Vitality of Toads 802 1
Star Map for January 204-5 I
risi
CORRESPOXDBKCB : — The Weather
Forecasts, &c. — A Correction ;
Date of Menes — Personal Iden-
tity rer«i<* Tattoo Marks— Thaw-
ing Ice — DilEcultT of Obtaining
&c.
Replies to Queries
Answers to Correspondeats .
Notes on Art and Science „
Our Mathematical Column .
Our Whist Column
Our Che«s Column
.m
.2V
NOTICES.
Tito ruMi»hers b«>^ to nonounce that in future Monllilj Farts of KttowlSOM
ill hi' issued. The following nre now published ; —
T I.— (November, 18S1.) ContoiuiD^ the first four numbers. Pric© lOd. Post-
RT 11.— (December, IdSl.) Containiup flre numbers. Price Is. Post-fre«,
Pa
The Biu'k lumbers of Knowlkdgb are now in print, nntl can he ohtaised
from hU buokseUera and newsagents, or direct from tlie Pul)li»<hen). Should aiii;f
dini<'uUy arise in obtainini; the pupcr, an appUcation to the Publishers is rctpect"
fully requested.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTIOX.
The terms of Annual Subscription to Knowledob are as follows :—
To any address in tho United Kingdom 10 10 r
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VvuAN JL Sons, Loudon, at the High Uulbom DUtrict Posl-olHcc.
OFFICE: 7^ & 75, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
Jan. 20, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
241
AN ILLJL&XRATED
MAGAZtNEo?S€IENCE^ ^
PlainltWorded-ExactlIPescribed j
LONDON: FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1882.
Contexts of Ko. 12.
Profawor Toung on the Sun 241 i
Prwcssionof theEquinoiM. Bvthe ;
Eilitor. With an lUustritivc
Map %J3, j
Seein? through the Hand. Br
Thomas Foster .'. 21* |
Intelligpnce in Animals 245 j
Excavations At the Pyramids, By
W. M. Flinders Petrie 246
The Magic Wheel (UUilrated) 24"
The Moon and the Weather. By II.
A. BuUer 2«
Something aliout the Potato 249
The Purple of the Ancients ... 250 ]
Meteoric Organisms. By Carl Vogt 251 ;
PAGE
CoBBBSPOITDBycE : — Vegetarianism
— Communication ^vitn the Moou
—The Xautilus— Celestial Maps-
Cheap Telescopes — Sunlight on
Fires — Liquids and their Vapours
^Botanical Contrivance — Marine
Boilers — The Descent of Man —
Plating .Alkaloids, &c 251-255
255
Replies to Queries
.\nswers to Correspondents 256
Xote^on Art and Science 257
Our Mathematical Column 258
Our Whist Column 259
Our Chess Column 259
PROFESSOR YOUXG OX THE SUN.
PROFESSOR YOUNG, although no one would imagine
it from the book before us, is one of those to whom we
owe some of the most impoi-tunt of tlie discoveries which,
during the last few years, have added so mucli to our
knowledge of the sun. It is well that we should have
treatises such as this from the workers themselves to whom
our knowledge is due. For, though the most skilful
observers are not always the ablest either in dealing with
known facts and deducing sound theories from them, or in
presenting them to the unscientific world, there is always
in their >vritings a special value and something of the
charm which v.e find in accounts of travel Ijy those
who have seen what they describe. Professor Young,
however, possesses much more than mere observing
skill. He is a sound and careful reasoner, and
if there is a certain terseness and preciseness (more than
mere precision) in his writing, which detracts a little
from its literary charm, this has probably been rendered
necessary by the limited nature of the space at his dis-
posal, and in no sense deprives his work of its claim to be
regarded as exceedingly well written. This treatise pos-
sesses also another quality, very important, we conceive,
in astronomical writing.* Professor Young is a mathe-
matician, and the formulas he gives, even when they are
not of his own devising, are given with adequate under-
standing of their meaning and value, which, unfortunately,
has not been the case with all the treatises on astronomy
recently published.
Taking first Professor Young's treatment of the dimen-
sions, mass, and power of the sun, we note that he adopts
for the sun's distance an estimate very near that which
the labours of his countryman. Professor Newcomb, seem
to indicate as nearest to correctness, viz. : gijSS-'SiOOO
miles, with a probable error of about a quarter per cent,
or 22.5,000 miles. This would correspond with a mean
iquatorial horizontal solar parallax of 8"-80, or, in un-
technical terms, the earth seen from the sun at his mean
^ " The Sun." By C. .\. Young, Professor of Astronoiny in the
College of New Jersey. (Messrs. Appleton & Co., Xew York.)
distance, would have an apparent maximum diameter of
17""60 (about one 106th part of the apparent mean dia-
meter of the moon or of tlie sun as we see these orbs from
the earth.)* We may note in passing, that in comparing
the methods of determining the sun's distance by observa-
tions of Mars on the stellar heavens and of Venus in
transit. Professor Young omits to notice that whereas
the full displacement of Mars, as seen from difterent
parts of the earth, is available, the displacement of Venus
on the sun's disc is only a part of lier actual displace-
ment, the sun himself being displaced (roughly, only
about seven-tenths of the displacement of Venus is avail-
able). His account of the American photographic method
of observing the transit of Venus is full of interest,
though calculated to make Englishmen somewhat ashamed
of the relatively unscientific method which (despite good
advice to the contrary) was adopted at tlie English stations.
The mass of the sun, deduced from this estimate of the
distance, is about 330,000 times that of the earth.
Expressing this in tons. Professor Young uses what we
take to be the erroneous Ameiican system of notation,
saying that the earth's mass amounts to about two octillions
of tons, where we should say two thousand trillions of
tons. Respecting the sun's attracti\-e power, as exerted
on the earth, Professor Young quotes the following im-
pressive illustration from a recent calculation by ilr.
Warring : — " We may imagine gravitation to cease, and to
be replaced by a material bond of some sort, holding the
earth to the sun, and keeping her in her orbit. If, now, we
suppose this connection to consist of a web of steel wires,
each as large as the heaviest telegraph wires used (No. 4),
then, to replace the sun's attraction, these wires would
have to cover the whole sunward hemisphere of our globe
about as thickly as blades of grass upon a lawni. It would
require nine to each square inch."
It should be added, however, and still further enliances
our conceptions of the sun's might, that were the connec-
tion between the sun and earth of this nature — that is, by
steel wires — more than three hundred da3S would be re-
quired to make the pull of the sun felt at the earth. The
action of gravity is e.xerted certainly in less than a second.
In fact, the most careful observation of the planet's mo-
tions reveals no evidence that gravity takes even any
appreciable time at all in traversing the spaces separating
the various members of the solar system from each other.
This apparent iustantaneity of the action of gravity is one
of the greatest mystei-ies known to science.
Sir John Herschel has well remarked that Giant Size
and Giant Strength are little without Giant Benevolence.
It is the light poured forth by the sun on the planets, the
heat whereby he nourishes them, more than his vast bulk
and his mighty mass which fit him to be the central ruler
* " To borrow the curious illustration of Professor Mendenhall,"
says Professor Younf,', " if we could imagine an infant witli an arm
long enough to enable him to touch the sun and bum himself, ho
would die of old age before the pain could reach him, since, acconl-
ing to the experiments of Helmholtz and others, a nervous sliock is
communicated only at the rate of about 100 feet per second, or
1,637 miles a day, and would need more than 150 years to make tlie
ioumey. Sound would do it in about 11 years if it could bo trans-
mitted through celestial .ipace, and a cannon-ball in about 9, if it
were to move uniformly with the same speed as when it left tUo
muzzle of the gun." These illustrations are striking — we have
seldom used them in lecturing on the sun without noticing thattlioy
produce a strong impression on the audience. But we find another
illustration in the book before us, still more impressive. While the
earth is travelling 20 miles along her circular path, her path
deviates from the tangent at the first point of the arc of 20 miles by
onlv one-eighth of an inch. This is the distance which the sun,
with all his tremendous attractive energy, draws the earth towards
him in a second of time.
242
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Jax. 20, 1882,
of a schcuip of circling worlds. It is estimated that the
intensity of sunlight at the sun's surface exceeds 19,000
tuues tliat of aeandin flame ; S.SOO times that of metal in
a Bessemer idiivrrti'r : 111) times tlmtof the calcium light ;
3'4 times that of the electric arc at its greatest attainaliLu
brilliancy. Tiio lieat euiittt^il l>y tlu^ .sun in every second of
time is as much as would be obtained by the consumption
of 1G,43G billions (millions of millions) of tons of coal per
second.
Passing tO the consideration of the aspect of the mighty
globe, which thus rules, light-s, and nourishes the earth
and her follow planets, we find in this treatise one of
the most complete, though conci.se, accounts of telescopic
study of the sun which has yet been published. The
nature and appearance of the spots, the facula' and the
granules, the way in wliich the spots are formed, vary in
structure and disappear, their motions in different solar
latitudes, ami other phenoiiiena of interest, are described
succinctly and reasoned upon with skill and caution. We
luust leave, however, our remarks on this important part
of Professor Young's subject to another occasion.
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES.
]}y THE Editoh.
SINCE the whole globe of the earth reels in the way
described in Ko. 11, while the sphere of the li.ved
stars remaiiiB all the while unchanged in position, the poles
of the heavens (the points towards which the axis of the
earth is directed) must move in circles around the pules of
the ecliptic (the points towards which a perpendicular to
the plane of the earth's motion is directed). The inclination
of the earth's axis being about 2.3^°, the circles thus de-
scribed by the poles have an arc diameter of about -Ll^.
In our illustrative map we show a part of the circle de-
scribed by the north jiolo of the heavens around the pole of
the ecliptic. This part shows the course pursued by the
pole from between live and six. thousand years B.C. to
about 8500 A.d.
We must, however, note two cii'cumstances in the part
of the Xorth Pole's path thus given. There is a reeling
motion due to what is called nutation, a sort of small reel
executed in about eighteen and a half years, the effect of
which is to make the course of the pole wavy, instead of
the simple circular path we have shown ; this does not
much affect the accuracy of the picture. There is another
and somewluit more important correction, which would not,
indeed, make much difference in our map, but in a map of
the pole's course, on a larger scale, would have to be taken
into account The pole of the ecliptic is itself moving. The
plane of the earth's ])ath is slightly inclined to the median
plane — the so-called invariable plane — of the solar system.
This invariable plane is nearly coincident with the plane
of Jupiter's orbit, but not (juite. It crosses the eclip-
tic ascendingly, in about longitude 103°, and is inclined
to that plants at an aiigh^ of about 1° 'S'^\' (the
plane of Jupiter's orbit crosses the ecliptic ascendingly
in longitude 9'J", and is inclined to it at an angle of aljout
1° 18 J'). The pole of the ecliptic describes then a small
circle about the pole of tlu- invariable plane, tliis small
circle having a diameter of about 3° 11'. The time of
circuit is not as yet known, because of uncertainties which
exist as to the exact ma,sses of tlie members of the .solar
system. Sutfice it hero to notice that, owing to this change,
it is calculated that, during the last 3,000 year.s, the pole
of the ecliptic luis diminished its distance from the pole of
the equator by about 25'. That the physical tlieory is not far
from correctness is shown by the circumstance that, from
observations made Viy Tclieou Kin^ 1,100 years licfore the
Christian em, the obliquity v. to have Ijeen then
about '26' greater than at pr'
Apart from this slight cji...... . j:i.th shown for the
pole in our illustrative map is sufficiently near to correct-
ne.s.s. Wo note that the only eonsjjicuous star which has
been very near the ])ole during the last live or six thousand
years is the star Alpha Draconis, or Thubaii, yet this star
mu.st have heen far more conspicuous in Uayer's time (still
more, therefore, in all probability, in tlio time when it was
tlie Pole; Star) than it is in our own ; for Bayer lettered
th<" stai-s in each constellation in the order of their briglit-
nes.s, as nearly as he could estimate that wder with the
conqjaratively rough light-measuring methods available in
his time ; and the most cursory study of the stars of the
Dragon shows that both Beta and Gamma are now much
brighter than AljJia.
Thubau was nearest the pole about 2,700 years ago;
but, of course, it was the Pole Star for a long time befor*
and after tlie period when it wa.s nearest the pole (just as
Alpha of the Little Bear is now the Pole Star, though
some 300 years will elapse liefore it is at its nearest
to the pole). In dealing with the Great Pyramid,
and trying to determine when it was built, it is not
the time when Tliuban was nearest the pole that we have
to consider, but the time when it was at a certain definite
distance (about 3'^ 40') from the pole. Now, a study of
the pole curve in our map shows that the star Thuban was
at this distance from the pole (about I Jths of the distance
between the successive circular lines in the map) at two
epochs. We open out a pair of compasses to the distance
just named, and placing one point on « Di-aconis, describe
with the other a circle ; this will cut the path of the pole
in two points, one corresponding to aViout 3350 b.c., the
other to about 2170 b.c. Either of these would correspond
with the position of the descending passage in the Great
Pyramid ; but Egyptologists tell us there can absolutely
be no doubt that the later epoch is far too late. If, then,
we regard the slant passage as intended to bear on the
Pole Star at its subpolar passage, we get the date of the
Pyramid assigned as about 3350 years B.C., with a pro-
bable limit of eiTor of not more than 200 years either way.
Be this as it may, we know that in tlie past the constella-
tion of the Dragon was at the pole or boss of the celestial
sphere. In stellar temples, like those of which Rawlinson
gives examples, the Dragon would l>e the uppermost or
ruling constellation. And here, in passing, it may interest
the reader to note that some find evidence in this relation,
that when writei-s of old spoke of the Old Dragon as having
been cast from heaven, carrying two-thirds of the celestial
• Fellows of the Astronomical Society will rciiipinber, with sotuo
amusement, how, a few vears ago, Lieru.-Col. DrnysOn (.*> mathnma*
tician of some skill) pravely told astronomir.'* at tho obsrrvcil
diminution of the ecliptic obliqnity, as if it wore siinic iinoxplaincd
chanfje, instead of being one of the most beautiful oontirmation.s of
the tlicorA- of pr.ivity. On the one hand are the calculated effects
of the pcrlmbing action of the st-vcral planets; on tho other, on
observed change, precisely corresponding; with calculation; yet,
instead of "confirmation strong" of accept ihI vimvs. Col. Drayson
could only find a source of perptoxity. (In this itnnginary dilficuJtT
he based an entii-oly imjiossible theory of tho glacial period. Yet,
when he described his views about tho ohaujring oliliqnity of tho
ecliptic, one of the greatest mathematiciuns living explained to him
that the change ho found BO peri)loxinjy was a necessary conw-
(pience of the action of gravity. He had been too many years
fostering his delusions to give them up. Such is the birth and
growth of pai-adoxes : an cm>r which could have been readily cor-
rected at the outset, seta a man wn><iin.' v.ars ,.l l:ib(.nr in devclo|v
iug a false theory j and when, a.t '■ ■ nocte<l, ho is
too much in love with his o«Ti W' : ;>.
JAK. 20, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
243
244
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[JA.H. 20, 1882.
Iwiiigs with him, rcferencp was iiiadr (unconsciously, per-
haps, on tlic narrator's part) to sonic tradition of the passin;^
away or full of the Draffon from its former niling position
among tlin constellations. Those who thus int<'rpret
ancient records (much more ancient tlian Jewish history)
find in Hercules, with his heel assailed \>y the serpent, as in
our constellation figures, the first Adam ; in 0[)hiuchus, the
serpent holder, the second Adam. In Argo they find the
Ark — in fact, in a whole series of constellations they find the
story of the Flood. In Aquariu.s, with the streams pouring
from his water-jug, they find the beginning of the Flood.
In the river Eridaniis and the seas in which PLsces and the
great sea monster, Cetus, seem to swim, they soi; pictured
the prevalence of deep water over the whole earth. The
Raven of tlie heavens is the Haven of the Flood-narra-
tive. Argo is the Ark, shown as if only the stern half
of a great ship lodged in the mountain. The Cen-
taur, bearing sacrifice, as Aratus says, to Ara, the altar,
is Noah oll'ering sacrifice after he had left the Ark ; and the
Bow of Sagittarius in the smoke (the Milky Way) which
seems to ascend from the altar, —
Ara/i-ivi'.^ tliuris, stellis hnitaulibvs, iynem, —
is the Bow of the Promise.
These may, of course, only be fancies, but it is singular
how closely these constellations, which are among tlie few
really seeming to picture recognisable objects in the
heavens, correspond in seriuence and in range of right
ascension with the events recorded respecting the
Flood. For my own part, I am not of those who wonder
that the ancients should liave seen figures of the animals
and other objects with which they were familiar in the
heavens. From my boyhood upwards (and the boyhood
of the individual is like the childhood of the race) I have
seen figures among the stars, the figures being always
such as I was familiar with. Evoii so late as my recent
visit to the southern hemisphere, I found that almost
despite myself the novel-looking star groups formed
figures* with which I was ever after compelled to asso-
ciate them ; and I cannot doubt that it was the
same with the childhood of the human race. There
is certainly a well -shaped ship where Argo was
seen by the ancients ; the water streams of Aquarius
and Eridanus arc distinctly visible ; Ara is a well-
shaped altar; and though at present the figure of the
Centaur (the man part) is not so tipright as it was before
precession had tilted it over (as it has the ship), we can
still see there the figure of a portly man bearing something
towards the altar. The bow is clearly seen, and nothing
can be better in accidental picturing than the curling
streams of smoke (figured in the stars of the Milky Way),
which seem to ascend from the flat summit of t'lie
altar.
But precession has altered the configuration of all the
star-groups as seen when most favourably situated for
observation. Take a star globe, and, holding it with
one forefinger near Thuban (Alpha Draconis), and the
other at the opposite point of the sphere, notice the con-
stellations as they slowly rotate. Note how steadily the
ship sails past its highest point, on upright keel ; how
• I li.->d always oxpoctotl, from Sir John Ilcrschcl's description,
to find Orion wlicn inverted, as wo see liim in tlie southern skies, a
very noble and imiires-sivo lig-nre. But the very first time I so saw-
it, I immediately recognised in the tigure, Clivo Newcomc's picture
ot Fred Bayham, and I never afterwards saw the constellation
without at once seeing in it that ridiculous figure. When people
tell me they cannot see a Bear in Ur.sa irajor, I can only wonder at
their blindness ; the head of the bear being to mo as obvious and as
obviously ursine as a group of stars could well be.
upright the Centaur and the Altar ;* and how many groups,
now almost unrecognisable, are seen in their new aspect to
bo fairly entitled to the names which the ancients 1x.'Stowed
upon them.
SEEING THROUGH THE HAND.
AN OPTIC.VL ILLUSIO.V.
By Tho.m.vs Foster.
rpHERE is a series of illusions affecting the apparent
JL shapes and positions of solid figures — not only regular
geometrical figures, as prisms, parallelopipeds, Ac, but all
solids whatever — drawn as if fonned of a transparent
material, .so that their farther as well as their nearer out-
lines or edges can be seen. It can be readily shown that
there is a law connecting in e\ery ease the false figure
with the real figure. I have prei)ared a paper on illusions
of this sort, with suitable illustrations, and another paper
witli illustrations on some curious cases of apparent motion
in sets of concentric circles. But these and other papers
on illusions are, it appears, kept over for the present by the
pressure of other matter. [Circles next week. — Ed.]
In the meantime, I wish to submit to readers of Kxow-
LEDGE (as occupying less space) an illusion which seems
to me exceedingly instructive, as bearing on the question
how we see. Everyone knows that the eye itself is simply
the organ by which the optical nerve is affected by light,
and that it is liy this nerve that the brain becomes cogni-
sant of these light eflects, the brain interpreting the mes-
sages brought along the optica! nerve into information
respecting the objects of sight.
Now the tw^o eyes, and the optical nerves which extend
to each, convey at all times different messages to the brain,
which yet, as a rule, combines the two sets of messages
into a consistent account (so to speak) of what is seen
with both eyes. Even when the eyes differ in focal length,
so that, as separately analysed, the views obtained by the
two (^yes are utterly unlike, the mind is very seldom per-
plexed by the two different accounts conveyed to it. But
fti the following experiment the eyes entirely deceive the
mind, conveying to it the. absurd impression that there is
a hole right through the palm of the hand, or of a book
or other opaque object which may replace the hand in the
experiment.
Roll a slieet of card or paper (or the number of K>'OW-
LEDGE now in your hand) into a tube nine or ten inches
long, and about an inch in diameter. Holding this tube
with the right hand, say, look through it with the right
eye, while the left hand is held six or seven inches from
the eye, the palm facing you, and touching the tube a little
below the lowest joint of the little finger, that is, at about
the level of the middle of the palm. Then, if both eyes
arc open, the tube being held touching or close to the right
eye, while the left eye looks at the left palm (at about the
nearest distance for distinct vision), the appearance pre-
sented is as though there were a circular hole about an
inch in diameter through the palm of the left hand.
Now, in this case, the mind does not need to be told
that it is deceived. The observer knows as well as possible
that while he seems to be looking with the left eye through
the palm of the hand at objects beyond, he is in reality
looking at those objects with the right eye through the
tul)e. Yet the mind does not correct the illusion, clearly
though it recognises that there is illusion and its nature.
The illusion is as preposterous as that experienced when
• Only the modern figure of the Altar is absui-dly drawn upside
down. In old globes and charts we find it properly drawn.
Jav. 20, 1 882. J
KNOWLEDGE
245
crossing the second finger over the first, we feel the tip of
the nose with these fingers thus interchanged in relative
position. In this case the obser\er seems to feel two nose
tips, though lie knows certainly that he has but one ; he
knows, too, just how the illusion is occasioned, but for all
that the illusion remains.
The two most trustworthy senses, sight and feeling,
being thus able to deceive — to palm off upon us, so to
speak, what each of us knows to be false, — we see (and feel)
how very far from the truth is the saying that seeing or
feeling is belie\ing. If these senses deceive us when we
know precisely what they are doing (as when conjurors
explain and illustrate in action the manner of their tricks),
is it to be supposed that they do not often deceive us, and
still more thoroughly when we have no means of testing
what they tell us by what we already know ?
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
IN the case last considered, we see that a dog, belonging
to a species not distinguished for keemiess of scent,
was not long deceived by a picture, even under circum-
stances favouring the deception — as his previous sleep, the
position of rest from which he saw the figure, and the
strong light shining upon it. As this was the only instance
known to one who was familiar with the ways of dogs, the
negative evidence respecting the recognition of pictures by
animals is rather strong. However, there have been cases
where animals, if not actually deceived by a picture, seem
certainly to have understood what it was intended to repre-
sent. The following case seems to nie full of interest It
is related by Mr. Chas. ^Y. Peach, of Edinburgh. He
remarks, first, that in certain publications dogs are said
ne\'er to have recognised a painted likeness. " During my
residence in Cornwall," lie goes on to say, "I had a most
intelligent and faithful dog for fifteen years. I had him
when a month old. His mother was a beautiful liver-
coloured spaniel, rather large ; his father, a black New-
foundland ; my dog took after him in colour and shape. In
184-3, a young and self-taught artist asked me to allow him
to paint my likeness in oil colours, and I consented. His
studio was in the next town, three miles distant, and, as
often as required, I went over. I, however, did not take
my dog with me. It was done in " kitcat " size, and he suc-
ceeded so well in the likeness and artistic work, that,
when exhibited at the annual meeting of the Polytechnic
Society at Falmouth, a medal was awarded for it ; and, as
well, it was highly commended. The artist was so grate-
ful that he presented me with the painting, and I still
have it When it was brought to my house, my old dog
was present with the family at the " unveiling " ; nothing
was said to him nor invitation given him to notice it. We
saw that his gaze was steadily fixed on it, and he soon
became excited, and whined, and tried to lick and scratch
it, and was so much taken up with it, that we, although so
well knowing his intelligence — were all quite surprised ;
in fact, could scarcely believe that he should know it was
my likeness. We, however, had sufficient proof after it
was hung up in our parlour. The room was rather low, and
under the picture stood a chair ; the door was left open
without any thought about the dog ; he, however, soon
found it out, when a low whining and scratching was heard
by the family, and on search being made, he was [found to
be] in the chair trying to get at the picture. After this I
put it up higher, so as to prevent its being injured by him.
This did not prevent him from paying attention to it, for
whenever I was away from home, whether for a long or
short time — sometimes for several days — he spent most of
his time gazing on it, and as it appeared to gi\e him com-
fort, the door was always left open for liim. When I was
long away he made a low whining, as if to draw attention
to it This lasted for years, iu fact so long as he lived and
was able to see it. I have never kept a dog since he died ;
I dare not, his loss so much affected me."
A similar anecdote is related of a painting by the elder
Phillips. " Many years ago," says the lady who narrates
the tale, " my husliand had his portrait taken by T. Phil-
lips, sen., E.A., and subsequently went to India, leaving
the portrait in London to be finished and framed. When
it was sent home, about two years after it was taken, it
was placed on the floor against the sofa, preparatory to
being hung on the wall. V\'e had then a very handsome,
large, black-and-tan setter, which was a great pet in the
house. As soon as the dog came into the room, he recog-
nised his master, though he had not seen him for two years,
and went up to the picture and licked the face. When this
anecdote was told to Phillips, he said it was the highest
compliment that had ever been paid to him."
We ha\e seen how a bull-dog, the least intelligent, per-
haps, of all dogs, behaved in presence of a portrait. We
have now to consider the behaviour, under similar circum-
stances, of the British mastiff, a more intelligent animal
than the bull-dog, though not regarded as standing l)y any
means first among dogs in tliis respect. The particular
mastiff in question is one to whom I had the pleasure of
being introduced some tive years since, Dr. Huggins' dog
Kepler. He is worthy of a brief biographical sketck He
was a son (that is, Kepler was) of the celebrated Turk,
and was born about the year 1871. "He stands," wrote
Mrs. Huggins of him, towards the close of 1876, a few
months before his lamented decease, " thirty inches high,
and is lion colour on the body ; his face, the tips of his
ears, and the tip of his tail, are marked with black. In
disposition he is usually exceedingly affectionate and
gentle, though he can be otherwise. Probably he thinks
[though here I must confess that, strongly though Mrs.
Huggins's opinion would support my case, I cauziot alto-
gether agree with her] that the words of George Herbert
may apply to dogs as well as to men, and so reasons that —
He is a fool who cannot be angry.
But lie is a wise doij ivlio will not.
He has a clear idea of his duty in life. As Mr. Carlyle
woidd say, ' he has found his work to do,' and considers it to
be — to borrow the expression of an old writer — ' to kepe
his mastre and his maistirs hous.' To this end he is con-
tinually on the watch, barking in quite different ways as
different comers approach. He has a bark of welcome
for those he lo^■es ; of courtesy for mere acquaintances ;
of inquiry for strangers ; of warning against enemies," an
ap])roach here, one may say, to language.
Kepler first attracted scientific attention by a pecu-
liarity which, most probably, must be regarded as a result
of instinct, or as, at any rate, inlieritcd, since nothing in
Kepler's own life explains it as the result of any process of
reasoning. " When he," that is Kepler, " was very young,"
writes Mrs. Huggins, " his master discovered on taking him
for a walk one day, that he " (Kepler, not Dr. Huggins)
" was very much frightened at the sight of a butcher's shop,
and some little time afterwarils, when he was out with a
servant, the feeling again sho^ ed itself, but in a much
more marked manner. On this occasion Kepler threw
himself upon the ground near the butcher's, exhibiting
every appearance of terror, and as no amount of coaxing
could induce him to pass the shop, the servant was at last
obliged to bring him home again. His master, upon this,
wrote to ilr. Nicholls, from whom he had purchased
24G
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Jan. 20, 1862.
Keplor, asking if he could tlirow any liglit upon this
strange dislike. Mr. NichoUs replied that it had bf ja
strongly niiirked in Kepler's father and grandfather,
and was unusually strong in one of his brothers, bo
much .so, indeed, that he would tly at a Imtcher, even
when dressed in jiliiin elothes. These faets being
very striking, Mr. Hugijins- Kepler's master — wrote
details of them to Mr. Durwin, who was so much interested,
eonsidering the circuni.stances a clear instance of iidierited
antipathy, timt he sent aTi account of them to Xntare.
'I'he faets attracted much attention at the time, and various
tlieories were put forward to explain them. In connection
with this dislike to butchers shown by Kepler and his
relations, it is interesting to notice that a similar antipathy
is noted by .Jesse to dog-killers, as mentioned both by Lord
Bacon {'Sylva Sylvarum '), and Sir Kenelm Digby
(' Treatise on tlie Nature of Bodies'), as having been common
among dogs in their tinuj-s. The pass.age from Sir Kenelm
Digby 's Treatise runs thus : ' We daily see that dogs will
liave an aversion from glovei-s, that make their ware of
dogs' .skill ; they will bark at and be chuilish to them, and
not endure to come near them, tliough they never saw them
before.' Dog-killiug was an old custom in August."
Perhaps, after all this intense aversion to butchers, dog-
killers, and others who may be supposed to bear about them
some scent of blood, suggesting to the dog-mind the
slaughter of his kindred, may be an efl'ect of reasoning,
not, as I have suggested above, of instinct only. A dog
may argue that the scent can only be explained in one
way, and that the explanation is such as to suggest danger
to himself — " hinc illw lachrymfi.''
EXCAVATIONS AT THE PYRAMIDS.
(From The Academy.)
The Tombs, Gheezeh Pyraniirls. Sov. 26, 1881.
DURING the past six weeks excavations h.-ive been carried on by
me bere, under the anthoiisation of M. Maspero, not for
obtaining portable antiqnities, but for detidint; riuestions of archi-
tecture and measurement. Many poiiils of interest Ij.'ive boon un-
covered for the first time in modem history, though the work \va9
not on a large scale, and tho number of excavators never exceeded
twenty. There have been over 280 holes sunk, varying from a toot
deep to shafts twenty feet deep and trenches ninety fte t long.
A brief notice of the work done may be worth giving at once,
without waiting for the conijilcte publication of it, along with my
survey of the pyramids (made dining (ivc months of last season),
to which it is a necessary sctiuol, for fixing the exact fiducial points
of the ancient construction.^.
At the Great Pyramid, tlie entrance passage has been cleared
enough to cramine it throughout, and to enter the subterranean
chanibL'r freely. Some of tho loose gravel in the "grotto" of
the well has been moved, sliowing that there is a natural vertical
lissurc filled with the gravel. The casing and jiavemcnt of the
pyramid have been found in situ, at about the middle of the west,
east, and south sides ; it was already exposed on the north side, on
which alone it has been hitherto known. Tho outer edge of the
rock-cut bed of the pavement has been cleared in parts of tho sides,
and at the north-east and south-west corners. Tho great basalt
pavement has been cleared in parts, and tho edge of the rock-
cut bed of it has been traucd along the north-east and
south sides; but its junction with tho limestone pyramid
paving (which is at the same l>-vel) could not be found, as
both arc destroyed at that part. The ends of the great trenches
around the basalt pavement have been partly cleared. Tho bottom
and sides of the east-north-east troucli have been cleared in i)arts
to show the form. No bottom was found under nine feet of sand
in the north trench. Tho small north-north-east trench has been
cleared in parts up to its inner end at the basalt paving, where it
is much smaller, and forks into two. The various rock cuttings and
trenches north-east of the pyramid have been cleared and surveyed,
but refilled, as tho road passes over them. A piece of the casing
of the pyramid, found near tUo base on the west side, lias Greek
inscriptions, apparently I'to .... Sot .... (perhaps I'tolumy VIII.,
as the 8 i» round) ; anil .Murkos K over wliiVh is hammurcd
rouKhlj' ... ni a j ... in Arabic. Nothing, lie.siiles a few frag-
ments with lingle leiteis, had bcin previously discovered of the
many inscriptions thai existed on the easing.
.\t the second [lyramid the comers have been all cleaned. The
site of the edge of the easing has been found in six places near thoj
corners, and the casing itself uncovered at the south-west,
edge of the bed of the )iavcment has been found on the north an
west sides. The pcribolus walls of the pjmniid have Ijeen cleane
in many parts, showinj; that they are all carefully built, and not <
" heape'l stone rnbbish," as had been hitherto supposed. .VIso, th0
so-called " lines of stone rubbish " on the west side of the pjTan
prove to be all built walls, forming a series of long galleries about sixty
in number, each abour 100ft. long, Oft, wide, and 7 ft. high, wit«
end.s and thresholds of hewn limestone. They would suffice to hoose""
two or three thousand men, and I can only suppose that they were
the workmen's barracks. Fragments of fine statues in diorite and
alabaster were found here, like those in the temple of this pyramid.
Tho great bank of chips on the south side of the Cyclopean wall!
north of the jiyramid proves to have retaining walls built in it to]
hold up the stuff. The peribolus wall on the south-south-ea-st of
the Jiyramid is of fine limestone, of good workmansliip, like most
of the tombs of the period. The enormous heaps of rubbish son'h
of this wall were slightly cut, and found to consist of tippeil cut,
stratified, clean chips of limestone, like the rubbish banks of the
Great Pyramid, but inferior stone, i
At the third pyramid, the granite casing Iwis been uncovercdVt
its base in five places near the corners. The jjeribolus walls hate
been cleared in many parts all round, and found, in every case, n<f
to consist of heaped stones, but to have carefully-built vcrtii
faces, like tho second pyramid peribolus, but of inferior work ; ai
the wall on the south side is better built, and very wide.
The small pyramids have not been cleared for Kick of time, up
tliey are rather deeply buried ; but a part of the rock-cut bed i<f
pavement of the northern one near the Great Pyramid was acci-
dentally uncovered clo.se to the edge of the bed of the basalt
pavement.
Though I am obliged to suspend work here at present, yet I sU^ll
be very glad to receive any suggestions of points needing examiaa-
tion (addressed to Poste Kestante, Cairo) ; and, if they are pra^cti-
cablc, 1 may find an opportunity for further work two or tliree months
hence.
When all the paperwork of this survey is finished, we shall know
the sizes and distances of the pyramids within a quarter of an inch ;
and there will be fresh soil for the growth of theories, ai thit Great
Pyramid proves to Ic several feei smaller than hitherto siippfiseJ, the
sockets not defining the casing at tho pavement levil, though
defining it, perhaps, at their own respective levels.
W, M, Fl.IXDJRS PETHrE.
[Let not 'pyrnmidalists despair. It will be just as easy to find]
all the features of the solar system in the Pynnnid >vith the new
mea.sures, as it was before. The newcoiiKidencos will be worth jnsf
as much, too, as the old ones. — En.]
Mani'FAitvkk of G.ts from Woon, — When wood is burned, the
chief product of the combustioij is a gas called carbon dioxide or
carlionie aniiydryde (COj), i.e., one of carbon united with two of
oxygen. The gas is the same which gives tho effervescence to so<la- I i
water, &c. This fact is made use of in New York, by a process |l
called Wilkinson's, for the manufacture of wood-gas, COj is itself I"
a non-supporter of combustion, extinguishing a light when plunged
into a jar of this gas, when it is inhaled destroys life, as in the fatal
valley of Java (Johnston's "Chemistry of Common Lite"), or any-
where else where persons have got into an atmosphere where it jirc<lo-
minates. It we, however, get rid of one of oxygen in COj, i.e., reduce
CO J to CO, or carbonic oxide, wo obtain the " Wootl-gas " now used in
New York. This is done " by forcing tho gas through red-hot
charcoal" (abs. Chem. Soc. Jour.). By doing this we get rid of the
one of oxygon which was in excess, ami so obtain a gas which has
differont properties — for it is now a " .supjiorter " of combustion.
The gas needs very little piirificaiion, the dangerous, obnoxious,
and otherwise objectionable products being absent. Tho wood is
only drawn from the retorts twice a day, " to prevent too great an
accumulation of chareoal," whereas coke is withdniwn each time.
" 53, 8^)2 cub. feet of gas are produced fixjm a cord of wood, costing
525 dolUrs (about 21s.) per coni of 3,300 lb. The qnantity
of gas alone is thus four times a.< 'treat as that which can be
obtained from coal, costing an equal sum jier tcm as wood does per
cord." In New York, wood-gas is sometimes mixed with an inferior
coal-gas, forming what is known there under the name of " com-
mercial," which has a great candle jwwer.- F.CS.
.Jak. 20, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
247
i
THE MAGIC WHEEL.
\T"E give, this week, the series of pictures of a galloping
\ * horse. We have to notice, however, that the instruc-
tions given in the Scientific American are erroneous. If
a slit is cut exactly beneath each figure of a horse, we get a
\iew of a horse galloping without* advancing. Eleven slits
should be cut (which the reader will find no difficulty in
doing), at eriual distances, when the horse will not only be
found to move his legs, tail, itc, but to advance, as might
reasonably be expected from a galloping horse. The same
remarks apply, of course, to the trotting liorse, in number
,10, in fact, the trotting horse alone is taken from the
Scifiitific American, the ten views of a galloping horse
being from a series kindly supplied to the editor by Mr.
Muybridge, of San Francisco, who photographed them.
Twelve slits will produce the desired illusion even better
than eleven, a coirespondent notes, and their places arc
more easily measured.
THE MOOX AND THE WEATHER.
IT 18 held by a larf,'e luimbpr of cfliu-ntod people that a belief in
the influence of the moon on the weather is a remnant of a
past and now discredited system of divination by wliich all the
events of life were referred to the influence of the heavenly bodies.
It should, however, be borne in mind that the Kcrms of truth may
be found in every system of religion and i)hilosophy, and that tho
interests of truth are served better by seokinjr for the trath under-
lyini? any particular theory, than by denouncing it as false because
it lies beyond the range of superficial observers.
In the' first place, the theory of lunar influence upon tho atmo-
sphere stands apart in a great degree from tho old system of astro-
meteorology ; for, as may be seen in the toxt-books containing tho
Jan. 20, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
249
data on which predictions were founded, notably Hamescy's
" Astroloj^a Mundi," it was the conjoined influence of tlio sun
and planets, rather tljan the moon's position relative to the earth,
which was mainly relied on as causing atmospheric changes, and what-
ever nucleus of truth the system contained was necessarily obscured
and rendered almost valueless by the imi)erfect observation and
boundless credulity of the times. And, in tho second place, it must
be clear to every tyro in natural science, that if it be rational and
in accordance with the verifications of science, to assert that tho
moon's influence acts upon the waters of the ocean, it cannot bo
foolish and irrational to hold that the same influence affects the
waters of the clouds and the air in which they float — both ponder-
able bodies equally subject to the laws of gravitation. So much
may be taken for granted.
But the most tangible objection urged against the theory of lunar
influence is that atmospheric changes are not coincident — or, if so,
only accidentally— with changes of tho moon, and, therefore, it is
unreliable. This reasoning, however, is in itself fallacious. Those
who predict changes in the weather from the moon's influence,
allege that the disturbing force is felt when she is on the equator,
crossing from north to south declination, or, life I'frst'i, arriving at
one of the stitial colnres at its extreme north or south declination.
And, of course, she may or may not at such times be at the points
called syzygies (tho new or full moon), or at the quadi-atures.
Thus, an atmospheric change is not necessarily to be expected at
every change of the moon ; but it may reasonably be when slio
arrives at one of the cardinal points, and it is found by experience
almost invariably to occur.
But, without the knowledge of what the theory really is, the most
acnte critics mnst fall into error in judging a system whose principles
they misapprehend. To give a striking instance — It is asserted by
no less an authority than Professor Jevons, in his Science Primer,
" Logic,' that the belief in lunar influence on the weather is an
illustration of " fallacy." He says : — " In one sense it is a fallacy
that the moon governs the weather, because long and careful
enquiries have sho^vn that there is no correspondence between
changes of the moon and clianges of the weather." This i-easoning
clearly shows how the subject is misunderstood by those who accept
the popular notion of the theory. Certainly, a change need not be
expected if the syzygies and quadratures are alone regarded. The
same writer says furtlicr ; — " There are at least twelve new moons
in each year, and changes in the weather take place in this country
at least once a week on an average. It is, therefore, quite likely
that a new moon and a change of weather mil happen together now
and then." To this the reply is that it is quite likely, for the moon
usually, in the course of each week, either crosses the equator or
arrives at one of the stitial colures.
And those who have made atmosplieric changes a subject of
special observation, are compelled to admit that the theory of lunar
influence cannot be tabooed as unworthy of attention. In a number
of the Journal dts D^bals, published last summer, M. de Parville, in
an article on the temperature of the present year, says: — "A very
long series of observations has also shown that the moon, which
passes every month from one hemisphere to the other, influences the
direction of the great atmospheric currents. The changes in those
currents, in consequence of the prevailing moisture or di-yness, are
intimately connected with tho relative position for the time being
of the sun and moon."
Admitting that the time of atmospheric changes, taking local
and climatic conditions into account, may be approximately known.
It remains to be seen how far the relative positions of the other
members of our solar system affect the character of the change ;
whether, for instance, the chemical rays of one planet, when sta-
tionary, or in conjunction or opposition of the sun, incline to heat,
and those of another to cold, is a legitimate matter of investigation,
always remembering that the wider the scope for surmise and as-
sumption, the more carefully must hastily-propounded theories be
tested by verified conclusions. To formulate into a system the effects
of solar, lunar, and planetary aspects and motions, requires long-ex-
tended and careful observation, but, on the other liand, it must not
be too hastily assumed that an error in detail proves the princijile
to be false — a sweeping condemnation which no logical mind should
accept. When mathematical or scientific demonstration cannot be
given off-hand, and when, consequently, so much dejicnds on the
even balance of the judicial faculties, scepticism is as dangerous to
the interests of the truth as credubtv. H. A. Blllev.
i
The Pki.nciple of the Veexieb, vide last week's K.vowledge, page
284, 11th line from bottom,
7
for " x= jTT + a fraction," Ac,
8
read ". =35 -fa fraction," &c. j^^,^. g Campbell.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE POTATO.
HOW few of us ever give any thought to the food we eat, beyond
the fact of its being well or badly cooked. Very few know
that the potato for years past has, amongst other articles of food,
received the earnest attention of investigating chemists at homo
and abroad. A few of the facts resulting from their work during
the last few years, I now propose to try — without going into that
part of the researches which can only be of interest to the chemist,
sncli as giving the results of analyses, or the names of the various
alcohols which we are able to extract from the potato — and put before
3"ou as an interesting article.
I daresaj- some, or rather most, of you have heard of potato spirit,
to obtain which, potatoes may be mashed either with mnll or sulphuric
acid. Mull, if anything, gives a trifle betterrcsult. In manufac-
turing this spirit we obtain an oil, called fusel oil, from which we
can extract nine different alcohols, as well as other organic sub-
stances, the names of which I will not trouble you with. Besides
the spirit and ether we obtain from potatoes, wc may soon advan-
tageously obtain pressed yeast. At present there is a little diflicnity
to be overcome in the working of the process, the diflicnity being
that the yield of spirit is less in proportion to the yield of yeast ;
but in a short time the chemists, who are working the solution of
this problem out, expect to overcome this obstacle.
Another important produce manufactured from the potato is
potato starch, which, by the action of acid, is converted into
glucose-sugar, or syrup, which is chiefly made in America and Ger-
many, though we have, at the same time, some important works in
this country, and one quality is, from tlfc samples which I have seen,
for brewing and sweet manufacturing purposes, the purest. Owing to
the large amount of sulphuric acid present in some of the prepared
syrup in America, it has been found to have had an injurious effect
on the health of those people who have taken tho syrup, but this
acid should not be present in so large an amount as this. Some
samples I have tasted were perfectly free from it, and yon could
only taste the very sweet taste of glucose. On the other hand, other
samples have really been unbearable, owing to the large amount of
acid present— in one case, in the form of sulphurous acid, wliich
leaves the same taste in the mouth as a mouthful of burnt sulphur
would do, if inhaled. As glucose is one of the chief ingredients re-
quired for brewing, it is easily seen what an important substitute
for malt this must be to the brewers, though a few years ago
brewers would not acknowledge using it ! Its nse has since then
become more general, so brewers are not ashamed to own to using
it. Without going into detail, I will here give a general average
analysis of the potato : —
Water Nitrogenous q;, Non-Nitrogenous eeUulose.
substances. Substances.
75-77 1-79 -16 20-56 -75
A full analysis of the above, giving the names of all the non-
nitrogenous substances, &e., with their percentages, would take up
a good deal of space, without making the general reader any the
>viser than he was at the beginning.
The next thing to bo considered is the general cultivation of the
potato, as made known to us by the chemists who have been study-
ing this branch of the tuber. Generally speaking, large seed pro-
duces more large potatoes than small seed. Most people might take
this for granted, without corroborating the sup])osition by numerous
experiments, as the chemist does, for the chemist mnst bring
forward positive results only to bear out his suppositions.
The inlluenccs of the blossoms makes a great deal of difference in
the yield of the crop, as the following results show: — 208centrs.
191b. of tubers were obtained from plants from which the blossoms
had been removed, and only 181 centrs. 48 lb. from plants not so
treated. I do not think many readers of Knowleice would have
thought that the difference could have been so great.
It has been found that the growth of sprouts on potatoes
depends on their nearness to the apex of the tuber ; if they aro
treated with water in sunlight, the growth increases forty or fifty
times, although this not the case in the dark. Absence of light is
necessarv for the growth of young tubers.
Heat produces very beneficial results to the growing plant. On
this account too early planting is injurious, for potatoes require tho
same total heat to bring out the leaf buds; so, should the jilants bo
planted too soon, it would require, as experiment shows, perhaiis
forty days instead of fourteen to bring them to this stage, but it is
well', at the same time, to bear in mind the fact that if they are left
too late, the ground will become equally unsuitable.
Potato rot is the next point to be considered, of which there are
three kinds— viz., dry, wet, and sweet rot. In the dry and wet rot
it has been found that the potatoes with the maximum starch resist
the disease most effectually. Potatoes grown on moist soils and
soils containing much organic matter are most liable to the disease.
The starch in diseased potatoes is yellow, but can be used for manti-
250
KNOWLEDGE •
[Jan. 20, 18«2.
fncturin)^ o Booond quality of dextrin. In dry rot the taber is looso
and A|i(>nxy. ooatod uii the outsido with moald. Tho di«oa80 i8
origiiinlly iliic to Hfictoriic, and another parasilc is often present at
the saniti tiiiio. Wot rot, I forgot to say, (liffers from drj- rot in this
respect, the interior of tlie tuber is partially liquid and tho outsido
coated with mould. During rotting, tho potato loses half its nitre-
jfonous constituents and the whole of tho sngar.
The Swectwort is formed by a paraoitc called 3/ucor mxicedo. The
mycelium of the parasite travels to a certain distance inside of the
potato, and then disappears. Bactoria rapidly destroys the plants.
Thers is another paru.site, called Afpfijillus niycr, which produces
a similar result. It seems rather uncertain as to whether cane
sugar or glucose is formed : some chemists say the one, others the
latter.
We all are familiar with frozen potatoes, but not many of ns know
in what manner the frost affects them. Frost has the effect of
doubling the amount of sugar in the tuber, the starch diminishing
in proportion ; part of the protein passes from the congulable to the
soluble form.
To prevent rot in potatoes, the tubers, whether sound or diseased
when taken from tho ground, are left in a weak solution of calcium
chloride — one part to a thousand of water — for half-an-hour. They
are then transferred to a soda solution of the same strength, after
■which they are washed with clean water and uir dried. Halt kilo
of calcium chloride and the same amount of soda is Bufiicient for
250 kilos of potatoes. A kilo is a little over 2 lb. 3 oz.
Even though potatoes axe badly diseased, they are still useful for
cattle food. They are best cut up and boiled or merely scalded,
mixed with chopped straw or cliaif, and stored in narrow trenches
covered up with clay. So stored, they will keep for many years. If
steamed, they should be kept in casks, as there is more adhering
moist\ire. If it is not convenient to heat them as above, they
should at once be sent to the distillers.
With regard to the be.st kind of potato for yield and quality,
there seems to be a good deal of difference in opinion, as tlio fol-
lowing examples will show. 1. For quality and quantity: Cham-
pion, Richtnr's Imperator, Eos, &c. 2. Ilichter's Imperator for
yield is far the best ; is of a hardy nature, smooth, .and the stalk is
tall and straight. Next in order are Violet, Victoria, Irlachin,
Eichtcr's Snowrosc, &c. 3. For starch and yield : Eos, Aurora
Alcohol ; lower in yield but very high in starch, Achilles and
Ceree. Eichter's Imperator Early Rose, &c., very heavy yields.
The above forms three opinions of three chemists ; they all seem to
agree that the Imperator is the largest yiolder.
I think I have now put before the readers of K.voWLKnGE tho
most important points in the potato which have received the atten-
tion of chemists during the last few years. There is one more
branch of the researches on which a few words may be said, and
that is on a few of the re.sults obtaining through jnntiuriyiy. At the
same time it must be mentioned that experiments on large scales
are still being carried out with respect to numerous manures on
different kinds of ground.
The most successful way of manuring is to partially dig the
manure into tho ground. Tho application of nitrogenous and
phosphate manures without farmyard manure is much less to be
trusted on a poor soil than on a rich one. Manuring on fertile soil
is not productive of any great gain. Sheep-dung produces a yield
of 50 per cent, higher than any other artificial manure, and GO per
cent, higher than if no dung be apjdied at all. Extra supplies of
ommoniacal and superphosphates produce no increase. Compost has
the same effect as if the land were unmanurcd. except that there
is an increase of starch. The unmanurcd plots are highe.st in
disease. A good mixture is Chili saltpetre and Baker's snper-
phosphate in the proportion of one of the former to two of the
latter mixed with stable mannre. Bcme meal, one author says,
increases the weight of product, and it is also verj' likely that the
whole plant likewise increases in weight. There is another sub-
stance which has been tried, viz., peat, and good peat is found to
give even better results than good stable manure.
If I have interested, and at the same time shown the readers of
K.>cowi,EDGK that there is a good deal of matter for reflection, even
iu the use of every-day articles of common food, such ns the
potato, 1 am satisfied. F. C. S.
THE rURPLE OF THE ANCIENTS.
FROM the interesting "Notes on the Purple of tho Ancients," by
Edward Schunk, Ph.D., F.R.S., the following abstract, which
may be interesting to the readers of KNOwr.inioE. is taken ; —
After briefly referring to the works of Pliny and Aristotle as
containing accounts of the shoU-fisli used in their days for tho
purpose of dyeing, and also of the proces.'ses incidental to same,
the author proceeds to lay before the Fellows of the Chemical
Society tho history of this intereBting dye as known to modem
authors and investignforB.
A sholl-fiah from which this dye can be extracted is found on our
own coasts. Cole, in 1683, having discoTorod on tho coasts of
Somersetshire and South Wales a species of fish which, by proper
treatment, could be made to dye linen and silk a fine purple.
Reaumur, in 1710, discovered the same animal on the coast of Poitou.
Tho shell-fish is known to conchologists by tho name of Purpura
capiltus.
The results of the various observers— Cole, Bcanmnr, Dnhamel,
(1736), and Bancroft (1803), may be summed np aa followa : —
1. The colour-producing secretion, which resembles pus in appear-
ance and consistence, is contained in a small whitish cyst or vein,
placed transversely under, but in immediate contact with, the shell,
and near the head of the animal.
2. Tliis ims-like matter, either diluted with water or undiluted,
on being applied to bits of white linen or calico, and exposed to
sunlight, rapidly changes its colour, passing from yellow through
light green, deep green, and " watchct-blue," to purplish, red or
crimson. While these changes are in progress, a strong odour like
garlic or asafa-tida is given off.
3. To produce this change of colour, the light of the sun ii
essential. It is effected more rapidly by the direct action of the
sun's rays than by that of diffused light, but it does not take place
in moonlight, or in artificial light. If the linen or other fabric to
which the secretion has been applied is kept in the dark, it remains
unchanged, but when exposed to the sun it becomes pmrple. even
after the lapse of years, though a little more slowly than at first. The
metamorphosis which the change of colour indicates is not sensibly
jiromotcd by heat. It proceeds in a vacuum and in hydrogen or
nitrogen gas as speedily as in air, on exposure to light. It seems
to be hastened by the addition of certain chemical reagents, tliongh
these cannot replace sunlight, which is indispensable for initiating
the change.
•i. The colour produced is remarkably stable, resisting the action
of soaps, alkalies, and most acids ; being destroyed by nitric acid
and chlorine.
Bizio, in 1855, experimented with the \furer hranduris; the con-
clusions deduced were similar to previous observations. A. and G.
do Negri, in 1875, experimented with the ilurex iranduris and
il. truncuhts.
They state that the purpurogenic secretions of these two species
are not identical, the secretions of the former being photogenic,
i.e., not coloured when protected from the action of the light,
whilst the latter becomes violet, even in the dark, by tho sole action
of the air.
Observers on the subject say that the action of light is india-
ponsable in the action of colouring matter in mollusca.
The author conducts his experiments wi'.h the Purpura capillxu,
which he found on the rocks at low water near Hastings. He
worked them up immediately after collecting, as it is necessary to
use only live .inimals.
Breaking the shell, he easily found the pale yellow vein at tho
back of the animal, which may easily be cut out for examination.
Putting some of the yellow viscid secretion on linen, the following
changes occurred : the colour changed from yellow to green, and
then to purple — emitting during the process the peculiar odour
referred to in No. 2 of the summary of previous observations. The
author finds that on linen, at least, the colour is not such a very
brilliant purple, though it seems permanent, resisting the action of
a strong soap liquor.
A temperature of 100° had no effect, either in retarding or
hastening the formation of colouring matter.
Besides the above, the author found that simlight was no( tho
only agent which would bring out the deep colour, for hydrochloric
acid likewise possesses this i>roperty on the veins of this remark-
able .shell-fish J but he thinks, at the same time, that it is open to
doubt whether the action in this case is similar to that produced by
insolation. It is interesting to watch the changes which occur in
colour through a microscope, and if any of the readers of Knowi.epgb
desire to pursue tho interesting investigation of tho properties of
this shell-fish, I shall be glad, at any time, to furnish them with
particulars of the author's observations on this point.
Although we have, in the Old World, long since left off using the
shell-fish as an article for dyeing, it is still used, to some extent, in
America for this purpose, more especially on tho Pacific coast of
Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The following is one of the interesting accounts, given in the
paper, of the process as practised in Centnxl America: —
"Some of the cotton fabrics manufactured by the Indians are
very durable, and woven in tasteful figures of various colours. The
colour most valued is tho Syrian puriile, obtained from the mn«>x
shell-fish, which is found on tho Pacific Coa.'Jt of Nicaragua. This
colour is pro.lucod of any desirable depth and tone, and is ]<erma-
Jan. 20, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
251
ucnt, unaffected alike bj" cxposvu'o to the snn and to the action of
alkalies. The proce-sa of dyeing the thread illustrates the patient
assiduity of the Indians.
"It is taken to the seaside, when a sufficient number of shells are
collected, which, being dried from the sea-water, the work is com-
menced. Each shell is taken out singly, and a slight pressure upon
the valve which closes its mouth forces out a few drops of the
colouring fluid, which is then almost destitute of colour. In this
• 'ch thread is dipped singly, and after absorbing enough of the
1 :\;ciou3 liquid, is carefully drawn cut between the thumb and
iMger, and laid aside to dry. Whole days and nights arc spent in
; liis tedious process, until the work is completed. At first the
liread is of a dull blue colour, but upon exposure to the atmosphere
..rquires the desired tint. The iish is not destroyed by the opera-
1 Ion, but is returned to the sea, where it lay.s in a new stock of
colouring matter for a future occasion."
The author had some of tliis fabric sent him, but the colour did
;.' it quite realise his expectations. The yarn and calico were of a
II piii'i'Ie, which is rather different from the general idea of the
kimous Syrian dye. They were harsh to the touch, and emitted a
peculiar smell. A shell was sent with the articles; it resembled the
P«rj)ura capi7/us of our coast, but is much larger, belonging, the
author says, to the Purpura patula of conchologists. The author
informs us that in the process which the natives who dyed the
goods used (samples of which he received), the whole animals were
picked out witli a pin. So we see there are various ways of making
use of the animal. F.C.S.
METEORIC ORGANISMS.
By Carl Togt.
rimK organisms in meteorites (chondrites), announced by M.
J_ H.ihn, have no existence; what has been described and drawn
:is such, results from crystalline conformations, which arc absolutely
inorganic, None of these imagined organisms has the microscopic
-'incture belonging to the organisms with which they have been
;-30ciated. In particul.ir, the asserted sponges do not show the
.-tnicture cither of existing or fossil sponges; the so-called corals
do not show that of polops or anthozoa ; and the imagined crinoids
dn not show the structure of knoivn crinoids. The observed struc-
iiires are duo to an opaque crust, or result from optical illusions,
niscd by an incomplete method of conducting microscojiical re-
' arches. Apart from pulvcnilent masses, metallic substances, and
M n-crvstalline encrusting matter, ordinary meteors are composed of
<rystalliiio elements collected into granules, as ia shown by their
ilisaggrcgation, either by wearing do^vn, or by the use of acids.
— Les Mondes.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
AN acquaintance of mine, Mr. H., is the possessor of a cat
that is a great admirer of bii'ds as an article of food, and he
has more than once devoured a chicken, for which he received con-
dign punishment. A short time ago Mr. II. placed a number of
eggs under a duck, but the orly result was a single, weakly
duckling. This my friend laid on the fender before the kitchen
fire, and tended the little creature for some time. Eventually he
jKit it into the garden, in order that it might get its own living,
and then resumed the sowing of some seeds. On looking round in
a few minutes, he saw the cat seize the duckling and dart into the
house. Mr. H. followed with the intention of punishing the thief, but
he found that the cat had set the duckling in its accustomed place
on the kitchen fender, and was caressing and carefully licking some
dirt stains from the down of his new friend. Mr. H. frequently
afterwards took the duckling into the garden in the presence of
some of his neighbours, and the cat invariably carried its little
(fivourite back to the kitchen fire. I think this is a remarkable
iDstance of the suppression of a stroilg instinct on the part of the
cat, w4 '""y it ""t ^'s° have leanit a lesson of kindness ?
■ ■ ■ Sttdest.
The Effect of Sewage on Ovsteks. — Many people liave com-
Iilained of feeling ill after eating what they have aftenvards thought
were stale oysters. But the microscope has now shown that this
has been caused by "germs" present in the liquid of the oyster.
These " germs " are similar to those found in sewage — hence the
deduction that the presence of sewage pip^s near oyster beds has a
poisonous effect upon the oysters " especially the northern side of
Dublin Bay" (Abs. Chem. 'Soc. Jour. — C. A. Cameron). When the
oysters were submitted to analysis it was found that the fact
asserted by the microscopist was fully corroborated. This now
accounts for the reason of people complaining that the oysters were
stale.— F. C. S.
ifttn-sf to t!)t eiJitor.
[The Editor doet notlioUhim$elfrerpomihle/or the opinion/ of kit corrnpondenU
He cannot undertake to return vtiinuicripti or to corre::pand uilh their xntere. All
communication) ihould be at thort an fouiUe, contitlently vilh full and clear utate-
mentt of the tcriter't meaning.']
AH Editorial communication* ihould i« addrened to tht Editor qf KNOWiEDCH ;
all Sunijteti communicatiunt to the I'ullithert, at the OJJlce, 7J, Great (iueen-
Itreet, TT.C. . ., .
All Remittance.', Chequa, and Fott-Office Ordert ihould he made payable to
Metsre. Wyman Sc Song.
•,• All tetter! to the Editor vill le mtmbered. For convenience of reference,
corretpondenta, tchen rej'erring to any letter, v:ill oblige by mentioning ite number
and the page on vhich it appears. , ,
All Letters or Queriei to the Editor tthich require attention in **♦ current utue iff
K!lowt.v.DOB, ehould reach the Fubliihiug Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day (^publication. ^_^__^
"In knowledge, that man onlv is to be contemned and despised who ia not in ft
state of transition 'Nor ia there anj-thing more adverse to accuracy
ihan fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
•• There is no harm in making a mistake, but groat harm in making none. Show
me a man mho mokes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebig. ^_^_^.^
€>\\v Coirf*Jpontifnre Columns^.
VEGETARIANISM.— COMMUNICATION WITH THE MOON.—
LIGHT AND L.\NTERN.— CHOANITES.— THE NAUTILUS.
—CELESTIAL MAPS.
[207] — Those amiable fanatics, the vegetarians, seem determined
to force their way into the columns of Knowledge; and there, as
elsewhere, to insist upon every one, high and low, rich and poor,
young and old, adopting their panacea on pain of being branded as
idiots for rejecting it. Now, X have no particular faith in the
'■whole heg" system, and believe that I may oat a cutlet without
tomato sauce ; and even di-ink a glass of claret or sherry without
imperilling either my longevity, my digestion, or my intellectual
powers. May I express a hope, then, that some of those who would
send all mankind back (like Nebuchadnezzar) to graze, will listen
to what Dr. Wald says, in Carper's Quarterly Journal, as quoted by
Dr. Drysdale in the Echo newspaper. " Some prisoners in a castle
at Waltcnburg, who had a mortality from 1810 to 1851 of 48 per
1,000, in 1852 had a mortality of 380 per 1,000, the causes of death
being diarrhcea, scurvy, and drop.sy. Dr. Wald, on investigation,
found that, as the potato crop had failed, these ]irisouers, on theo-
retical chemical grounds, had been fed principally on white and
grey peas and lentils with bread. The mortality increased terribly
on this diet, and more leguminous food was supplied, so that in
1854, beans were given five times a week, when the mortality still
increased— whole troops of the prisoners becoming blind and
dropsical. Wald at once dropped this theoretically nutritious food,
and gave milk, bread, rice, meat, and coffee, and the normal mor-
tality soon reappeared." I have eaten meat for upwards of forty
years, and certainlv have not spent twopence in medicine during the
last ten of them. " Moreover, I will do the hardest day's walking
shooting, rowing, riding, or thinking, against any man whatever of
my age who has lived upon potatoes and turnip-tops for an equal
time ; with the moral certainty that, in sporting slang, I should
" beat him off his head."
I have no book of reference at hand, but in connection with letter
20G (p. 23.3), would say that, unless my memory is more than
usually at fault, it was'Gruithuiecn, of Munich, who proposed to
communicate with the Selenites by the erection of the familiar
diagram to the 47th jiroposition of the First Book of Euclid, on some
extensive plain or desert on the earth's surface.
Mr. J. W. Stow (query IGU, p. 234) should obtain vols, xxxii. and
xxxiii. of vour contemporary-, the ;;(i3/is/i,Ver;io»i,V, i-unning through
which he 'will find a series of articles by Mr. Lewis Wright, under
the title of " Optics with the Lantern," which supply the very
thing he requires. . » •.
Query 171 (p. 234) may be answered by saying that the fossil
ehoanite must have been nearly related to the modem family of
Alcyonida- , to which the common organisms, called " Dead Men s
Fingers " by the fifht rmcn, belong. It has no affinity with the sea
anemones at all. It is the polypidom of a zoophyte. I have seen a
large number of choanitcs in my time, but " the spiral worm round
the body " is something new to mo.
KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 20, 1882.
Assuming that by "jfut " ia Query 177 (p. 281) Mr. Webb means
the siphuDclr of the nautilus, the roost (ilausiblo explanation yet
given of its use iH tlmt by Mr. Senrles Wood — that, passing right
through all the clused iinil isolated chambers of the shell, it serves to
maintain the vitality of the entire organism during the animal's
certjiiuly long life.
In answer to Query 18-1 (p. 231), Middleton's "Celestial Atlas"
is, or was, published by Jurrold & Son, of Korwich, and costs, with
the " Compauion," about ISs. Gall's is, I fancy, jniblishid by
Gall ii liigliii, who are Scottish publishers, I forget whether in
Edinburgh or Glasgow. The price of this 1 have forgotten too.
In "Nights with a three-inch Telescope," in Fig. 5 the smaller
star should be at the bottom. In Figs. G and 7 the rings of Saturn
and the disc of Jupiter are grey in the engraving. The rings and
all Jupiter's disc not covered by belts should bo while. The small
star beneath t Persei, also in Fig. 8, is to the left of a perpendicular
let fall from its primary, instead of slightly to the right of it.
A Fellow of the Koval Astronomical Society.
CHEAP TELESCOPES— SUXLIGUT OX FIRES— TEMPERA-
TURE OF INTERSTELLAR SPACE— ICE— TIME OF THE
GLACIAL EPOCH— UEAT FROM THE STARS.
[208]— If "R. I. P." (query 135, p. 188) will take my advice, he will
make no attemj)! to construct any telescope, cheap or dear, himself.
At any rate, five guiuc.is woidd bo the lowest price at which he
Could obtain anything whatever worth looking through, and that
would not be a wearines.s to the flesh. I presume that by 2J" and
3" he means 2 J and 3 inches respectively; but" really signifies
seconds of arc, and, legitimately, nothing else whatever.
"N." (([uery 136, p. 188) may rest assured that it is a mere
vulgar superstition that bright sunlight interferes with combustion.
It renders flame almost invisible, and so gives an ordinary fire the
aspect of going out ; but anyone who will take the trouble to shut
the shutters will see at once that the seemingly decaying fire is
burning as brightly as ever. As for cigars, I can not only always
keep one alight, but never, to my recollection, has one gone out, "in
brilliant sunshine.
In ausAver to query 139 (p. 188) estimates of the temperature of
interstellar space not unnaturally differ considerably. Hopkins's
was - 39-5 deg. centigrade (No. 15, " Monthly Noticosj" Vol. XVII.,
p. 192, Fowncs estimated it at -50 deg. cent., and Pouillet as low-
as — 112 deg. cent. These are all mere deductions from theoretical
considerations, as of course the temperature of space has never
been actually measured.
One single fact will suffice to show that ice (Query 140) does not
vary in volume, as other solids do, with variation of temperature ;
since it contracts during liquefaction.
There can be very little doubt that Dr. Croll's Theorj- (Query 141)
is substantially correct. No other theories exist which are worthy
of scientific attention. Adhcmar's is worthy of Jules Verne ; while
Colonel Drayson's — well, his is worthy of Adhemar.
It may interest " Student " (Qucry'lCl, p. 211) to hear that Mr.
E. J. Stone, the present RadclifEe Observer, in 1860 determined the
heating effect of Arcturus to amount to 0.00000137 deg. Falir.,
about equivalent to that radiated by a 3-inch Leslie's cube of boiling
water 100 yards off! Curiously the heat from n Lyne is less than
this ; in fact, it is only equal to that emitted by a 3-inch cube of
boiling water at a distance of 600 yards.
A Fellow of the Royal Astronojiical Society.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
[209J— A pony belonging to a gentleman in this neiglibourhood
showed great unwillingness to carry any one on his back. One
day ho w as being ridden by a young lady ; he seemed to be very
spirited, and galloped along the drive at a good j)ace for some
distance, when ho suddenly stopped, stretched out his neck and
threw the la<ly over his head.
For some time after this he was not ridden, but tlio fright gradually
wore off, and hia back was once more called upon to bear the
burden, until the following incident occurred, after which I don't
know what became of him. He was trotting briskly along the
road with his young master on his back, when, on coming to a
shallow ])ond on the right-hand side of the road, he abruptly
turned at riijhl unglit, took a step or two into the pond, then came
to a stand, throwing his rider into the centre of it. Ho stood for
a moment and looked at his unseated rider, then trotted quietly
home.
1 don't know whether this will bo considered reaeonin<j or not.
The pony seems to have thought that if he got off for so long bv
throwing his rider on the ground, he might get off for a longer
lime if he tlircw him in the pond ; certainly he must have con-
sidered it more disagreeable to bo thrown into the pond than on to
the ground, seeing he turned into the pond to accomplish it.
Edinburgh. j. B.
ASTRONOMICAL CURIOSITY :— EVOLUTION.
[210] — I have seen somewhere the following paradox, aa I
suppose I must call it. Granting (1) that the stars are on the
average as bright as our sun, (2) that their number is practically
infinite, and (3) that light travels without loss (all of which premises
appear to mo perfectly reasonable) j it follows that the sky
should always be aa bright as if full of suns, and square suns, so
as to fit closely. For a star's greater distance is compensated by
the greater number that can shine near together, and the theory
supposes that in any direction we should reach stars sooner or later.
This result is, however, so different from reality, that I should be
glad to be shown where the fallacy lies. [In our next. — Eo.]
I venture to point out to Mr. Doabarand (Letter 183), first,
that biologists should no more be expected to account for the
origin of any " first-bom animal," than that astronomers should be
called upon to point to the origin of the nebulous globe, from which
our solar system is derived, or theologians to explain %vhcnce came
the material from which it was made (since we are told that
" created " means " set in order"). Secondly, Pasteur, or any one
else, has never disproved the possibility of "spontaneous genera-
tion ; " all he proved related to| his particular experiments, and
similar ones. How do we know, for instance, that, even noir, tbe
process is not going on in our ponds and ditches, side by side, if
yon like, with the known modes ? It is not possible to disprove a
thing like this, and the probability of it must remain a matter of
opinion. Thirdly, is it more astonishing that a fish should develope
into a reptile by continuous slight modifications, in course of ages,
than that a tadpole should become a frog, in the same individual,
in a few hours ? I think Mr. Donbavand should read Haeckel's
'■ History of Creation," if he still feels interest in the matter.
Lewis Ari."XDEL.
LIQUIDS AND THEIR VAPOURS.
[211] — At what Mr. M. Williams has described (see Kso'sledoe,
No. 8) as the "critical temperature" of liquids, the mysterious dis-
appearance of all visible distinction between the liquid and its
vapour, is much misunderstood by many persons, who imagine that,
when this temperature is arrived at, " the whole of the remaining
liquid is suddenly converted into vapour."
W^e know that liquids expand (becoming lighter) as their tem-
perature is raised, and, at the same time, the density (and elastic
force) of their vapours increases at a very rapid rate, so that we
might reasonably expect that, after a certain increase of tempera-
ture, the densities of the liquid and of its vapour would become
equalised, and at this point, of course, the eye could no longer
perceive any distinction between them. This, then, is " the critical
state," which thus loses its " mystery." [Not quite. — Ed.]
No experiments, so far as I am aware, have been instituted with
the object of testing this view. But some of those by Cagniard de
la Tour (as in the following table) plainly point to the result I havo
mentioned above as regards " ether " (See Miller's " Chemical
Physics," 1867, p. 306).
T m lerature Pressure in atmospheres of the vapour of ether.
F 1 ei 1 e't Volumeof liquid = 7 ; Volume of liquid = 3J.
„ of vapour = 20. ,, of vapour=aO.
257°
IOC atmospheres.
It atmospheres.
302°
18
22-5
32Vo
222 „
28-5
369°-5
37o ,,
42 „
On increase of temperature, as abovc, = 67°'5 (from 257' to 324°'5),
the pressure (in each column) is more than doubled ; whereas, with
same increase of tempoi'ature = 67°'5 (from 302° to 369°'5), the
pressure is more than doubled (by 7i° atmosphere) in the first
column, while in the second column it is !i'S,< than double pressure
by thrce"atmosphercs. Hence, the conclusion that in tlie latter case,
nil the liquid having passed into vapour, the full pressure was not
attained ; whereas, in the former case, where some of the liijuid
still remained (though imi>erceptible), the tension continued to
increase from addition of vapour, density of both liquid and vapour
increasing equally with increase of temperature.
It would he desirable, if possible, to ascertain (by si>ectroscopeor
transmitted polarised light) if any " molecular change of arrange-
ment or of motion " could be detected in these different state's of
liquid and gas co-existing at the same density.
Henry Hviisox, M.D.
Jan. 20, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
253
TATTOO MARKS.
[212] — I have asked my.self the question which your corre-
Bpondent now asks (ICO), and I have answered myself in this
manner : — The atoms inserted by tattooing are quite foreif,'n to
Biose constituting the liuman body ; they do not form and disperse
■with them, but must bo removed as meclianically as they were
inserted. Tliey wei'e dead and foreign atoms when introduced, and
so remain, uninfluenced by the living electrical changes that sur-
ronud them. Might I compare them to a boulder thrown into a
running stream ? If the stream were strong enough, it would carry
away the boulder. If an abscess were to occur where the tattooing
took place, the powder would be carried away. — J. J. A.
BOTANICAL CONTRIVANCE.
[213] — Those of your readers who are students of botany may
find the contrivance, of which I send you a diagi'am, useful for
obtaining a correct outline of the specimens which they wish to
draw. It was made for a friend, who wanted a means of cojiying
flowers, &c., the exact size of nature. A is a looking-glass laid flat
upon the table, B and C are wooden frames, each holding a square
of plain glass. The flower to be drawn is laid between the glasses,
which can be kept at any distance apart by means of the parallel
links on each side, and the screws at D. A piece of paper is laid upon
the upper glass, and by the light of a candle reflected from the mirror,
the shadow of the flower is projected tlirough the paper, and its
outline can be easily traced. The paper can then be removed, and
appear to come near the colour of the throat of the corolla. It is,
however, too early in the year to investigate the subject thoroughly.
T. HowsE.
MARINE BOILERS.
[215]— With reference to "Crankshaft's" letter, 11 1, p. 167, I
can tell hira that in marine boilers it is not merely the incrusta-
tion of salt which prevents heat passing from the furnace or tubes
to the water. As a rule, marine engines are surface condensing,
and the grease used for lubricating the cylinders passes with the
steam into the condenser, and thence into the boiler. It hero,
apparently, enters into chemical combination with solids mechani-
cally held in suspension in the water, and deposits this upon the
fii-e-bo.^ and tubes in a thin, hard scale. This is a most extra-
ordinaiy non-conductor of heat — so much so, that I have known
boiler-plates almost heated to redness without maintaining the steam
higher than 100 lb., the scale being only as thick as one's thumb-
nail. If this scale be taken out, pulverised, and rubbed on the
hand, and water poured on it, the water will assume a spheroidal
shape, and run off without wetting the dust, showing the presence
of grease in large quantities.
Another experiment is — spread some of the scale, when moist,
upon a tin plate, and place a drop of water on same, and hold the
same over a lamp. A very long time will elapse before evaporation
takes place. Tilt the plate so that the water runs on to a portion
which has not been covered by the scale, and the water will at once
evaporate.
DOTA.MCAL CO.VTKIVANCE.
the shading and colouring copied from the object, which is held in
the same position between the glasses. A skilful draughtsman
may despise such aid, but it has been found useful for drawings
aiming rather at correctness of shape and size than at artistic
effect. The shadows will, of course, be very slightly larger than
the object. The machine might also be useful to designers of
Christmas cards, or floral patterns of any kind. It can easily be
made with a common looking-glass and two picture fi-ames, and a
few pieces of brass wire. A cardboard screen should be placed at
E to prevent the light from falling directly upon either side of the
paper. Everytliing must have a Greek name nowadays, so we call
it the Skiaghaph.
COLOURS OF STAMENS.
[21-lJ — I have read Mr. Grant Allen's interesting and clever
paper in the Cornhill Magazine, in which he considers yellow to be
the original colour of flowers, founding his theory on the fact that
. most flowers have yellow stamens. This is scarcely borne out by
an examination I have made of twenty-three flowers in a conserva-
tory, of which I found eleven had yellow, seyen white, and five red
[ or pinkish stamens. I presume Mr. Allen in speaking of stamens
I means the filaments and not the anthers only, which are certainly
I almost always yellow. As Mr. Allen is a contributor to Know-
lEDGE, he may be disposed to give further explanations, and to
I furnish more details in that periodical. Some orders of plants
■ appear to have nearly always yellow stamens. In others they
The above will perhaps be more readily noticed as occurring
with water containing silicate of lime, or lime in some shape.
Letter 115, p. 167. — Undoubtedly there is a tendency to vacuum
on the follon-ing side of a screw-propeller when revolving; this,
however, does not affect the power of the steam-engine, but the
speed of the vessel. The former depends upon the pressure of the
steam and the speed of the jiiston. The latter depends upon the
slip of the screw-propeller, i.e., as to whether the propeller is
passing a body of water equal to its own pitch. The freer the
access for the water to approach tlie propeller, the greater the
quantity of water passed, the less the amount of slip, and the
greater the Speed of the vessel. Hence, although in designing
vessels for screw propulsion it is, of course, necessaiy to study to a
certain extent the form of the bow, it is far more important to have
a clean run aft.
Letters 114 and 115 contain questions of deep import to engineers,
and you would do gi-eat service to the profession if you^could publish
what information you can obtain upon these points.
Thanks for answers to my former queries on "Gravity." Am
not quite sure I agree with one small part, but have not yet had
time to go fully into the matter. — Yours truly, W
MAGNETIC NEEDLE.
[216]— Referring to query 90, p. 123, to say that a magnetic
needle turns to the north, owing to the northern terrestrial mag-
254
• KNOWLEDGE •
[J AX. 20, 1882.
iiotism being of nn oppoBito name to tliat magnetism which resides
at the north-point iiiK end of the noedlo, and, therefore, attrnctiou
ensues, wouhl be little to \Y. H. P.'« purpose, lie desires, most
probably, to kuutr how the terrestrial magnetism got there.
It seems to me the following view (touched upon in some toxt-
Iwiokrt) is the most witisfactory : — \Vhono\'cr heat Hows in n closed
circuit, there is a flow of positive ehjctricity witli it. If, therefore,
II positive current jmsses in the direction indicated by the arrows in
Fig. 1, the piece of soft iron would become— so Icmp ns the heat or
electricity circulated — an electro-magnet. If to the upper end,
marked S, of the soft iron, we were to |>resent tliat end of a mag-
netic needle whicli pointed southward (goographioally speaking), we
should find that would be repelled, while the north-pointing end of
the needle would bo (|uite violently attracted.
The earth, during her daily rotation, offers succcssivoly
ports of her surface to the wanning action of the sun, and
!i slight consideration will show that this is practically the
same as heat continually passing round the earth in a westerly
direction, therefore well representing a closed circuit. We
have then all that is necessary for tlie state of things above
noticed. The wire (Fig.) E.W.w. may well show or rejjre-
sent the surface of the earth exposed to the warming action of the
snn (for the current will be in the same direction, viz., E.W.w.), the
bar, SN, the iron contained in the earth. This iron becomes con-
verted into a huge electro-magnet. We should then have towards
the Jmrthem part of the earth the same-named magnetism as at
position S in the figure. The behaviour of a needle under these
circumstances wc have shown ; so a needle on the earth will act in
precisely the same manner — that is to say, its N-pointing pole turns
to the north, because the different -named magnetisms (if I may use
the term) attract. Strictly speaking, there is a fourfold force
acting, two on either pole of the needle, one pulling, the other
pusliing, not in t)ie sense of moving merely directive ; but, in order
to simplify, wo liave neglected the other three. Their action needs
no explanation, for they are all additive to the result. — G. F. J.
THE DESCENT OF MAN.
[217] — Mr. Donb.avand's method of critici.sm, regularly adopted,
would cripple scientific inquiry. He asserts the fir.st difficulty of
the evolution theory to be its foundation, comjilaining that it cannot
give an exact definition of the period and the form in which the first
living organism appeared upon our planet. Now I submit that a
similar argument could be advanced, and with eciual force, against
the fundaraeutal facts and theories of almost every branch of know-
ledge. The chemist bases most intricate calculations upon a hypo-
thesis of atoms and molecules, of which not one has ever been seen
isolated, weighed, or defined. The electrician speaks habitually of
magnetic fluids which have never tangibly revealed themselves.
No definite origin can bo assigned either to molecules or to mag-
netism. Instances of this kiud might be multiplied ad infnitum.
Science caimot and does not, as yet, pretend to any knowledge of
the beginnings of law, matter, or life. Its present task is to procure
and to sift evidence, to arrange and to explain known facts, and
thereupon to formulate certain theories which shall enable us,
reasoning by analogy, to acquire a more correct and comprehensive
view of the subject of inquiry.
Darwin and his followers are stai^'il by the highest authorities to
have effected much in this direction. But, in any event, I contend
that there is no scientific reproach to their theory in the circum-
stance that it fails to demonstrate the absolute origin of life. It is
no evidence against the continued straightness of a line that our
vision cannot extend to its extremities. E. BfRKE.
"A GLIMPSE THROUGH THE CORRIDORS OF TIME-
LIGHT AND HEAT WAVES."
[218] — Jl writer in Nature calls attention to a paper published by
Kant, when he was thirty years of age, iu wliich he states, " If the
earth were a perfectly solid mass, without any litpiid, the attractions
of the sun and moon would not alter the rate of rotation round the
axis .... If, however, the mass of a planet includes a con-
siderable amount of liquid, the attraction of the sun and moon, by
moving this liquid, impress upon the earth a part of the Tibralioni
thus produced. The earth is in this condition." Ho then
goes on (soys the writer) to state that the moon produce*
the greatest cflect and the tide running round tho earth in a direc-
tion opposed to that of rotation. " Wo have hero a causo on which
wo can count with certainty, incessantly reducing this rotation bjr
as much us it may be capable of." ... " When the e.arth steadily
draws nearer and nearer to tho end of its rotation, this period of
change will bo completed when its surface is, relatively to tho moon,
at rest, i.e., when it rotates ronnd its axis in the same time in which
the moon revolves round it, and will, consequently, always show
the same face to the moon. ... If tho earth were entirely fluid,
tho attraction of the moon would very soon reduce its rotation to
this minimum. Herein we at once see a cau-ie why the moon
always shows the same face to the earth. . . . From this we may
conclude with certainty that when the moon wa.s originally formed
and still fluid, tho attraction of the earth must in the manner abovs
described have reduced the speed of rotation, which then, in all
probability was greater, to the present measured limit."
The writer considers that Kant had given a glimpse through tho
corridor of time a centurj' earlier than any of the authorities
mentionefl by Professor Ball.
Do light and heat travel at tho same pace ? Do tho waves of
light and heat coincide ? — which, I supiwse, may be only aiujther
way of asking the same question. — A. T. C.
[Light waves are, for the most part, heat waves, and vice verti,
though the luminous effect of different ether waves is not propor-
tional to the heating effect. Of such waves we may say that tliey
do not coincide, being identical. The same things cannot coincide,
any more than a horse can run a dead heat with himself. — Ed.]
PLATING ALKALOIDS.
[210] — Mr. Lewis Arundel has failed to answer tho point in
query 152 that I wanted elucidating, viz., how to plate on iron.
Having tried silvering on iron in tho wet way, first coating mth
copper, and failed in this, I am anxious to try nickel. In Supple-
ment II., Watts' " Die. Chem.," the neatest method of nickel-
plating on copper and brass is given. With regard to the letter on
alkaloids, Watson Smith (Bcriiht's " Deut. Chem. Gcsellschaft,"
xii., 1,420) gives antimony or bismuth trichloride as a test for
several alkaloids, including aconitiue, which gives a bronze-brown
colour. Again, last year (Thresh gives in " Pharm. J. Trans." [3],
X., 800, a metliod of estimating the quantity of this, and of other
alkaloids present, by precipitation with iodide of potassium and
bismuth.— C. T. B.
THE HEALTH OP NAVVIES.
[220] — After reading your abstract from the Times on the above,
it occurred to me that M. Colin might now very advantageously
try what the effect the betel nut would have in warding off the
malarias, &c., contracted in marshy grounds. I think Johnson, in
his " Chemistry of Common Life," informs us that the betel
chewer, whether native or stranger, has an invaluable treasure in
the use of tlijs narcotic, which is a perfect safeguard against fevers,
agues, and all other maladies incidental to marsh life. It this is
the case, is it not worth a trial during the extensive canalisation
soon to be done in France ? M. Colin, should he try it, would be
able to see if tho effect of betel by itself is the same na when
chewed with the betel pepper leaf, and quicklime. F. C. S.
SCIENTIFIC PARADOX.
[221] — The difficulty of '• Eclecticus " (p. 202) may possibly
arise from his conception of the manner in which the pressure of a
gas or vapour arises. Liquids have a tendency to give off vapour
to a greater or less extent. This tendency varies mth different
liquids, and in the case of the same liquid, varies with differences of
temperature. But vapours have a tendency to condense into the
liquid form dependent npon their nature and the comiitions to
which they are expo.sed. When these two antagonistic inflnences
are in equilibrium, a state of stability arises. Now, although there
may bo an atmosjihere of ether-vaiiour present, water will continne
to evaporate cither nntil the tendency of the water to vaporise is
coiinterlmlanced by the tendency of the water-\-apour to liquefy, or
until no liquid water remains. It is evident the ether-vapom* takes
no part in producing this equilibrium, merely retarding the forma-
tion of vapour, and going to increase the total pressure.
It may be added that the total pressure exerted in the case of
tho vapours of ether, alcohol, and water is very much loss than tho
sum of their individual tensions. This only holds good for liqnids
which do not dissolve in one another. W. S. C
Jan. 20, 1882. J
* KNOWLEDGE
255
ALUMINIUM.
[222] — Witli reference to query 157, I give the following method
"f extracting aluminium, as it maybe of general interest to your
readers of Knowledge : —
A miitnre of ground aluminous clay (ordinary clay, but of agootl
quality, and soda ash (carbonate of sodium) are heated in a furnace,
alnminateof soda and silico-aluminato of soda being formed. The
fuse<l mass is then broken into pieces and thrown into an iron tank
containing water; the mass is frequently stirred, and finally allowed
to .'(ettle.
The alnminate of soda (being soluble in water) is dissolved, while
: !io silico-aluminate of soda (being insoluble in water, sinks to the
i.uttom of the tank, with any peroxide of iron that may be present
in the clay.
The liquid is then drawn off, and carbolic acid gas passed tlirough
the solution. This decomposes the alnminate of soda, forming
carbonate of so<la and pure alumina hydrate. Thus : — ■
2AlXaO. + CO„ + 3 U,0 = XaXO, + 2 Al (OH),
The alumina hydrate is then dried, mixed with chloride of sodium
(common salt) and charcoal or coke, and fom\ed into balls about
the size of an orange. These bail.*^ are then taken and put into a
vertical earthen retort, and heated to redness ; then a stream of
chlorine gas is passed through them. The chlorine combines with
the alumina (being greatly helped by the charcoal), and forms
chloride of aluminium, which unites with the sodiam chloride
(common salt), and distils over or sublimes as double chloride of
:iliiminium and sodium thus : —
AI.Oj + 2 XaCl + 3C + 3CI. = 3CO + 2 AINaCI^
Carbonic Double
Alumina Common C^-ke. Chlorine Oiido Chloride of
Salt. Gas. Aluminium
and Sodium.
Ten parts of the double chloride of aluminium and sodium thus
formed is mi.^ed with 5 parts of kryolite (a double fluoride of alu-
minium and sodium, found in Greenland), which serve as a flux, both
in a state of fine powder, and to this mixture is added 2 parts of
(metallic) sodium in small pieces.
The whole is now introduced on to the hearth of a reverberatory
furnace, previously heated to the required degree, when a violent
reaction ensues. The dampers are then closed, and all parts of the
furnace kept as close as possible, to prevent access of air. This
causes the mass to completely fuse. When the action has subsided
:\nd the decomposition is completed, the furnace is tapped, and the
Miotal and slag are run into suitable moulds. Most of the aluminium
c lUects in the bottom [of the mould. Above this are two layers
(-if slag, the top layer being sodium chloride (common salt), the
middle layer being less fusible than the top, and consisting chiefly
of fluoride of aluminium, in which small globules of aluminium are
niochanically held, which are recovered by pulverisation and sifting
of the slag.
The following equation will show the reaction that takes place in
the above reduction. Thus : —
2A1 + IXaCl + 4XaF
AlXaCl, + AlXaF, + 6 Xa = 2 Al + 1 XaCl
Double ' ' '
Chloride (A Errolite. Sodiam, AJuminiuni. Common Fluoride of
Aluminium or CrvoUte. Salt. Aluminium,
and Sodium.
There are other methods, but this gives the purest metal, and is
"ne generally used in England and France. Messrs. J. Lowthian
!'' 11 A- Co. (or Messrs. Bell Bros.), at Washington, near Xewcastle-
"H.Tyne, manufactured aluminium on a large scale for several years,
iiut gave it up a few years since, owing to it not paying so well as
WHS first anticipated, and also on account of the limited demand for
the metal. 1 think they used the above method.
Gateshead. G. W. Gbat.
DESCEXT AXD DARWIXISM.— TEGETARIAXISM.
[223] — I wish to protest against the large amount of space M.
Donbavand has taken up in stating his ideas. He says that ho
sometimes ventures on the labour of thinking. May I venture to
suggest that before he again trespasses on your space, he should
think over what he means to say, and the shortest and clearest
method of saying it ?
E. M. (letter 170) argues that because uncooked diseased meat
is apt to produce tapeworm and trichinosis, therefore we should
abstain from animal food altogether. Does he not see that his
o«-n argument might be turned with equal force against himself ':
Because uncooked unripe fiuit, if eaten at all, and all uncooked
fruit, if eaten in quantity, is likely to produce diarrhcea, and so
forth, therefore abstain from vegetable food altogether. — Exo.x.
(©llCllfSf.
[185] — Cold Satvratei) Soli-tioxs. — Can you inform us as to tlio
best method of making and of ascertaining the quantity of salt
present in a saturated solution at C0° F ? We have tried a number
of experiments, none of which are satisfactory. — F. (iAt'BKBT and
C. A. Sevlk.r.
[180]— The Calculus.— Is a knowledge of the differential and
integral calculus gained from, say, Boucharlat's or Hall's treatises
suflicieut to begin studying the Mecanique Celeste? — Teia. — [It
would bo far from sufticient. A complete course of study of the
higher mathematics must intervene, unless you are a born analyst.
—Ed.]
[187]— Flame. — \VTiat are the modifications of the ordinary
theory of a gas or candle flame introduced by (1 think) Frankland ?
Perhaps you could sometimes give us an article or two on flame,
explaining why one kind of burner is better than another. I take it
that for a given expenditure of gas, heat + light is constant. Is
there a theoretical maximum to light, and what principles require
attention in our attempts to attain it ? — L.
[188] — Intka-Mercuuial Pl.\net. — Leverricr formed a theory of
an intra-mercurial planet, for which he surmised some three or four
orbital periods. Oblige by informing me exactly what tliese i>eriods
were. I do not refer to Lcscarbault's Vulcan, but to the prior
hvpotheses and periods of theory.— John Jones. [The only periods
that Leverrier dealt with, to the best of my bolief, wore calcu-
lated after Lcscarbault's Yvilcan was announced, though Leverricr
attempted to reconcile prior supposed observations of planets in
transit across the sun's face. — Ed.]
[189]— Eve-piece.— Can you please give me an easy way to find
the power of an eye-piece of 2 plano-convex lenses, both \ inch focus,
and sliding one into the other, at a distance from one another, say
i inch and i inch ? I want this information, so I may know the
power of my telescope. — J. W. C. [The lenses should be set i inch
apart. The power is then four times that of either lens alone. — Eu.]
[190] — The Preservation of Sertulaeias, Zoophytes, Sea-
weeds, &c.— Can the Editor of Knowledge, or a correspondent, in-
form ma of a chemical preparation to preserve zoophytes, sertn-
larias, and seaweeds, &c. ? and is there a book on the subject, and
on British and foreign seaweeds, &c. ? — M. A. S.
[191]— Animal Language.- Do not the habits of swallows,
prairie-dogs, kc, seem to prove that animals have some sort of
language by which they can make themselves understood — at least
to members of their owm family ? — Arachnida.
'192]— The Ice-age in Britain.- Wliat proofs are there at the
present time that there ever existed an ice-age in Britain ?^
Arachnida.
[193] — Action of Thunder-storms. — Why are beer and milk so
frequently turned sour during a thunder-storm, although they will
often stand as high a temperature without being affected when
there is no thunder in the air? — F. A. S.
[194]— Gravity.— The editorial rejily to query 14-t is incompre-
hensible, if correct. If any force, however small, will overcome
the inertia of any mass, however great, what then becomes of
the law, that inertia is proportional to mass ? I wish to know
what force is necessary to overcome the inertia of one ton weightin
a direction at right angles to the force of gravity ?—Zabes.— [Wo
repeat, any force, however small. If a ton of matter were sus-
pended as vou described, or placed on a perfectly smooth table, the
breath of 'a child would overcome its inertia. The velocity
communicated to it would be very small, but yon did not say how
much velocitv you wanted. — Ed.]
jRfpIifsf to <Bmxit^,
[64]— Star Xumbebs and LErtERs.— " A Fellow of the Royal
Astronomical Society " says (p. lC-1, Xo. 8) : " Stars ..... are
both lettered and numbered in their order of Right Ascension.^_
There should be a comma in this reply, after the word " lettered.
The stars ai'e numbered in the order of their right ascension, and
Bayer lettered them roughly in order of their brightness. This
answers a query by " Winter." — Ed.
[71] — Xames' ok Flowers. -I would adi-ise Querist 71, m sixth
Knowledge, to get Bentham's " British Flora." He will find it
everything he desires. Should he fail to get at the right name of
a flower by means of this excellent work, I should then recommend
him to send a perfect specimen of the " stranger" to the editor of
256
KNOV/LEDGE •
[Jan. 20, 1882.
Know i.KpiiK, who, I mil sure, will not consider it too mnvU trouble
to nsaist unmtour b(jtnnifta by i^ivinpj nnnies of flowers when re-
quested to do so.-- J. E. Geobok. [Wo are not pcrsonnlly bolnniciil,
worth niontionin); : better trust in the book. Tlioui;h we would
forward specimen to botanist.— En.]
[130] — Known- Languages. — Uoralncquc calculates 499 Ian-
{fuagco ^ how many more have been made known sioce he wrote I
do now know. -fi. T. Uariiap.
[133] — In addition to "Puugnl's" references, "Querist" will
find several of Mr. Dollirgor's papers in the Monthly Microscopical
Journal, vols. X., XL, XII., XIII., XIV'., XVI., XVIII.— B. J.
AfSTIN.
[146] — CiiEMiCAl,. — Tho reason why the O. of the air is utilised
in the body, while tho N. is rejected, is that the former is essential
to thoso transformations which convert the potential oncrgj' of
certain constituents of food into actual cncrf^-, while tho latter is
useless for that purpose. Fats and other carbohydrates, when taken
into tho body, fumieh, by their oxidation, tho actual enorfry which
is in part transmuted into muscular power ; and it is to this process
of oxidation that animal heat is due. There being no other avail-
able source of O,, the amount necessary for the said oxidation of
the carbohydrates used as food must come from the inhaled air.
It is only the heat and muscular-power-producing constituents of
food — the carbohydrates — that get oxidised in tlie body, the nitro-
genous or flesh-forming constituents, together with the" jjhosjihates
and carbonates, being capable of performing tlieir functions without
nndcrgoing the jprocess of oxidation. Now, as the products of
oxidation, CO^ and OLI .,, are exhaled, there cannot remain in tho
body anything tliat can be termed "food already oxidised." In
fact, the utility of carbohydrates docs not consist in their adding
anrthing to the structure of the body, but in their producing mns-
cular power and heat when being transformed into the gases exhaled
in the breath. In starch and sugar, the O. and H. exist in the same
proportion.^ as they do in OH,, and, as the whole of the 0. and H.
of those carbohydrates leave the body as OHj, all the carbon is in
a position to be oxidised by the inhaled 0. of the air, and is, conse-
quently, available to produce its full amount of force and heat. —
E. M. D.
[157]— ALrMi.s-iUM, page 211.— Cryolite (a fluoride of sodium
and aluminium, which occurs in great abundance in Greenland) is
powdered, mixed with half its weight of common salt, and either
placed in alternate layers with two piirts of sodium in a crucible, nr
roasted with the same quantity of sodium in a furnace. The chief
advantage in using ci-yolite is that the costly and troublesome pro-
cess of i^reparing the double chloride of aluminium and sodium is
thus dispensed with. There was a process patented in Germany a
short time ago, the main point in which consisted in fusing the
sulphide of aluminium with iron ; but sm-ely other chemists thought
of this process before : I did tliree years ago. — A Gkeexock
.Stl'iie.nt.
!3nc(li)fr5 to €oirfefpontifnt5.
•. Ml eonmumcalwm for tit Editor requiring early aHntion thouU reach the
Office 0(1 or Itfore llie Saturday preceding the current ittue nf Khowlbdob, the
mcreanng circulation o/tchich compete ui to ijo to prett early in the iceek
UlSTS TO CoRUESl'OXDBNTS.- 1. H'a que'tliont atking for tcienlijic information
can he anmered through the pout. 2. Letter, ,ent to the Editor for eorreepondentt
cannot be fortcarded ; nor can the namet or addreeiet qf eorretponJent, be gicen in
anerer to prnate inquiriea. 3. No queriee or repliee lacouring of the nature of
adcertigemcnte can he micrted. -l. Letltr,, queries, and replieg are inserted unleaa
contrary to Rule 3, free of charge. 6. Correspondents shouUI write on one side
only of the paver, and put dratcing, on a separate leiff. 8. Each letter, querv, or
rtply should have a title, and in replying to Utters or queries, r^erence should be
BJde to the number qf Utter or query, the page on which it appears, and its title.
J. Cargili,. Thanks for encouraging words. Your student friend
who thinks we are too abstruse for tho masses and too popular for
scientilic students is right enough ; that is what we have aimed at.
But he is unwise in calling it a fault. We do not write for science
students, though among thoso who write for us are some who can
teach the teachers of science students. Xor do wo write for those
who neither think nor care to think. —J. 1). J[. 1 have never seen
unusual fents of strength done under mesmeric inlluence, but Dr.
Carpenter gives instances of tho kind. Thev illustrate the influence
of miagmalion, but they have not yet been "explained.— J. Wir.i.soN.
Larduer's works are not absolutely out of date, but they would
suit better one who was well up in all tlie modem views, so as to
be able to distinguish at once what is obsolete.— J. Pbeston Bat-
TERSBY. Many thanks. Your notes aro very interesting. I return
them as you desire. I think you are mistaken in imagining thei-e
IB any prejudice about so-called mesmeric iihenomena. They are
treated very fairly by some of our most eminent physiologists.— M.
If, knowing what the planets arc, their distances, lie., tho slightest
reason for conceiving that they can influence our weather coald he
shown, it might be worth wliilc to make such observations u
you suggest; but none can be imagined. — Bbenton. Vou are
quite right ; T. K.'s solution may be made by embodying hi*
demonstration of the projierty on which it depends to
all intents and purposes a soliilion within the limits of
Books I. and II.; but with the extra matter you show to be
necessary to complete it, it contrasts very unfavourably with either
of the other proofs depending on books III. and VI. — Zares. Wliat
series 0 to 1 do you mean ? - M. J. Harding. Orion, on the cover
of my " Easy Star Lessons," is " quite too utterly awful." I liad
nothing to do with it. It is the binder's c nceit. Trj-ing to correct
it would be useless. In the present position of science, a worlC
" containing a most exhaustive refutation of the Darwinian theory "
must either be a vorj' wonderful perfonnance (as you say), or very
bad. Science has not been jirofonndly stirred by the book. The
sub-title seems open to objection, to say the least, as suggesting
that the Xewton of Biology is a sort of " devil's advocate."—
A. G. P. We misread your letter ; but onr reply was not meant as
you suppose. The absence of centrifugal force would produce a
very slight but measurable increase of weight. -W. A. C. We
have no objection ; you may prefer a dog to your nearest and
dearest ; you must allow us, though we like Rover very much, to
prefer our dear ones of human sort. To be consistent, you ought
not to breathe, for, at every breath, you destroy multitudes of
" creatures belonging to races below us." — Winter. Yes; he pro-
bably smiled; but "he laughs longest who laughs last." — Vega.
Yes; but tho point really is whether the classification adopted by
Owen is es.'^entially wrong. For convenience, the other may bo
better; but it is a merely arbitrary distinction. — H. D. P. Xot
about Sorghum just now; so many things wanted and promised.
Sorry am unable. — Gradatim. The loxodromic cune approaches
the pole by an infinite series of circlings, though the total di.stanco
is finite, each whorl bearing to the juevious one a ratio less than
unity. Thus your whole question involves a paradox, as no ship could
follow such a course; no wonder no ship could leave the Pole on tho
loxodi-omic spiral. Eemembering that the stereographic projection
of the loxodromic curve on the equatorial plane with .South Polo
as pole of projection is an equi-angular spiral, and that this curve
approaches the pole asymptotically, you will find no diOiculty in
interpreting your paradox.— B. Donkavand. Your letters at least
five times too long for admission. — J. P. Sandlanps. South cone
is up, means that tliis weather signal is hoisted — viz., a cone with
its point downwards. Mrs. Kingsford says the teeth of man indi-
cate that he is a fruglvorous animal ; others regard them as showing
him to bo omnivorous. As a matter of fact, he is omnivorous,
whatever his dental formula ni.iy be. The other query seems
answered by what is stated in our review of Mrs. Kingsford's book.
— One interested in " Knowledge." Xo one asks you to believe
that mau is descended flora monkeys — only that he is related to them j
so that what you believe is closely akin to the scientific faith,
for you think monkeys descended from men. The tone of yonr
remark that "no theory will make you believe'' so and so, is un-
scientific in the extreme. The student of science is prepared to
believe whatever facts may prove. — J. R. See p. 170, where pre-
cisely such a problem is solved. — Peter Knowles. I return the
twelve stamps. If I " published " the work you name I would
send it, but I do not publish that or any work. I did not even
write it, I only revised it. If I remember rightly the publisher is
Bailliiire, King William-street, Strand. — Ursa Major. A lunar
rainbow is caused precisely as a solar rainbow is caused, only that
the light comes from the moon instead of the sun. -V. C. C. D. I
do not see how reasoning so sound and mocterate as that you quote
can be answered. I should imagine few evolutionists would be so
extreme as those who seem to be disposed of by this reasoning.-r
G. T. Uarrap. You "disagree with vaccination," but yonr letter
would disagree with our readers. - Sai.uto. Yea, microscopy
is as desirable in our pages as telescopy.— F. C. S. Many
thanks : marked for insertion. — J. B. More rapid respirtl-
tion, increasing the combustion, seems to account for the
difference.— G. S. Bodkin. Wo point out mistakes (where we see
them) frankly aud without apology, because that is doing to others
what we wish them to do to us. — J. ilcXEii.L. In issuing monthly
parts, the jiublishers aro endeavouring to meet the wishes of the
l>ublic; when 1 note that reprints have been necoss;iry to make up
the first two montlily numbers, you will understand their jjrice. The
reprint of a newspaper always means loss of money, and the pub-
lishers have reprinttnl (setting up every line of contents and adver-
tisements afresh) in some eases twice ; and made up sets out of
the back numbers which had been intended for volumes. Many
thanks for good wishes. — C. J. BuowN. Gravity vanishes at tho
earth's centre, but pressure is there at its maximum. Apart from
a very slight diminution, duo to the greater or less rigidity at
Jax. 20, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
257
different parts of the eartli's interior, the pressure at any point
within the earth is proportional to the total quantity of matter
aboTe that point, just as in the sea, where, though gravity is
appreciably constant, pressui'e is proportional to the ileptli. If yiiu
ask where the force of gravity is at a maximnm, I cannot answer,
becsuse I do not know according to what law density increases
towards the centre. As to the other point, our circulation
increased so that it became iiuite inipos.sible to continue cutting
tho edges without unduly delaying publication, lint we more
than make up for that in other ways. In binding there
would in any case have had to bo another cutting, and
most of our readers, we believe, intend to bind each volume
as it is completed. — H. Fear cannot find space for jiaper on
colours. Headers complain unless a certain proportion of space
is given to original matter, and we cannot increase the total space
beyond a certain range. Correspondents must not suppose we do
not value letters whicli we are obliged to omit.— J. E. Shepiiard.
The writer of the article in que.'stion was not likely to consider the
use of aconitine in homoeopathic practice. It is seldom used by
allopathic physicians, except as an external application. — A
Greenock Stuoext. Clouds ai-e formed by the condensation of
aqueous vapour into small water di-ops, which, however, do not
faJI rapidly like rain drops. It can be shown that the smaller a
water drop, the slower its descent through still air. However, a
cloud is also constantly changing, as you suggest. Tlie light, feathery
clouds consist of particles of ice or fine snow. Colonel Ross promised
other papers on blowpipe analysis, but has apparently not yet been
able to find time to write them. The blowpipes made on his plan
will be rusting for want of use. — Trebob Rol.it. Short whist,
played without counting honours, is, to all intents and purposes, the
ordinary game with the element of chance as far as possible
eliminated. It is in mj' opinion a mnch better game even
than that which Clay thought would be perfect, in which
the honours are counted at half tho usual rate, one point
for two by honours, two for all four honoui-s. After playing
the game for any length of time without counting honours, a
real lover of wliist feds something like shame in counting honours,
or even half honours. At present we fear the star chart cannot
be issued with the last week of each month, as we want one chart
to appear each month. As soon as we can, the change shall be
thought of. Have no space, for some time, for article on relation
between mind and physical force. — Doro. Brodie. Your 2i stamps
received, but no paper on the Tides has yet appeared ; we did not
promise it for an early date, and if we had, we could hardly have
kept cur promise. — J.imes Deas. Never heard before that the Star
in the East was thought by any one to be the variable Mira. That
star has been said to be a comet, a conjunction of planets, and a
temporary meteor. Astronomy has nothing to say to any of these
ideas.- — S. de Meuvigxe. The passages yon quote show that where
the conditions remain the same, races change little or not at all. What
is there in the theorj- of evolution to suggest that they should change a
great deal ? — F. F. Your suggestion about the use of Jacob's ladder at
fires seems excellent, but space should be found for it elsewhere. It
does not belong so much to our subjects, as to those treated of in
weekly newspapers or mechanical papers. — Vig.noles. Many
thanks; but your square has already been given. — Robeetu.s. We
do not know the name of the secretary of the Society for Pro-
moting the Abolition of Capital Punishment. — E. M. Not knowing
ilio tables that you refer to, cannot tell precisely how the dis-
crepancies arise. The date of your tables is so remote
you could scarcely expect calculations made by them to cor-
respond with the recent ones of the Nautical Almanack. Wo
shall give s\icli a map as j-ou mention, relating to the
transit of Venus. You must not expect to find in tho " Nautical
Almanack " all that is necessary to calculate phenomena. I hud
!o work many hours and many days to get the results on which I
i5ed Biy investigations of the transits of 1874 and 1882. — J. X.
'Kvi.VE. Of course yon are right. Our mistake was a natural
lie; but it was unquestionably a mistake. We have altered it,
noting the error. — Member or the Archeological Society.
Thanks ; but it would be an obligation if you could briefly sketch
for readers of Knowledge the essential ideas of Narille's book.
The subject is a curious one, a little out of my own personal lino of
studies, but full of interest, and I am sure readers would be in-
terested.
Mr. W. H. H. Hupson, late Fellow and Lecturer of St. John's
College, Cambridge (Third Wrangler in 18iU), succeeds Mr. Drew as
Professor of Mathematics at King's College', London.
Poxb's Exteact is a certain cure for Ehenmatism and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Hamcrrhoids.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal 1
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine.
fAOTT.
fiottd on 9it anil ^nrnrr.
Fer.mexhtion in Beer. — " In Re " is evidently unaware of the
lengthy explanation which his (luestiou involves. In tho first place,
different brewers have different ways of starting fermentations.
The Germans, and a few English, mix their yeast with a little of
the •' wort " first, and then add the rest. The Japanese use rice
must for starting. Then the " pitching " variations during process
of specific gravities and temperatm-e must be considered, also germs
generated in fermenting — healthy and unhealthy— the ijreparation
of t!ie wort and yeast ; in fact, I should adWse " In Re " to get a
book on brewing and read it through, for it will all be interesting,
and w-ill lead hirn up to his .nibject. If Dr. Graham, Professor at
University College, London, has published his lectures delivered on
the subject, I can only say that " In He" will have a book written
by one who has mastered thoroughly the whole subject of brewing.
Mr. T. A. Tooley, B.Sc, F.C.S., editor Brewers' Guardian, has his
articles on Brewing and Distilling, written for the " British Manu-
facturing Industries," published. His name needs no comment. —
F.C.S.
The Expansion of Watee by Heat. — Herr P. Volkmann has in
the AnnaUn fiir I'lnjfik vnd Chemie compiled the results of Hagen,
Matthiessen, Pierre, Kopp, and Jolly, on the expansion of water,
and has obtained the following mean results for the volume and
density of water at various temperatures : —
Temp. Volume.
ISdegr. C 1000847
1-001731
1-002868
1-001250
1-007700
1-O11070
1-010940
l-022t;iO
1028910
1-035740
1-043230
Temp.
Volume. DensitT.
1
Odegr. C .
.. 1-000132 0-999878
15
1 ..
. l-00t)0()7 0-999933
20
o
. l-( 00028 0-999972
25
3 „
. 1-000OU7 0-999993
30
4
. 1000000 1-000000
40
5
.. 1000008 0-999992
50
0
. 1000031 0-999969
60
. 1000067 0-999933
70
8 ..
. 1000118 0-999882
80
0
. 1 000181 0-999819
90
10 „
. 1-0U0261 0-999739
100
■ — Scientific American.
Sunday Lecture Society. — In the course of his lecture on " The
Heart and its Work," on a recent Sunday, at St. George's Hall,
Langham-place, Dr. Andrew- Wilson gave some interesting details
regarding the action of the central engine of the circulation. The
heart, he showed, was merely "a hollow muscle," and the force
which drives blood through our bodies is therefore similar to that
wherewith we move our fingers in writing, or our legs in walking.
Dr. Wilson showed also that the work of a man's heart in 24 hours
amounted to 124 ft. tons ; i.e., if the heart's force for 24 hours were
gathered into one stroke or lift, it would suffice to lift 124 tons 1 ft.
high. The heart is ruled by at least three sets of nerves. In its
own substance, there are masses of nei-ve-matter, or jangtia, which
carry on the normal work of the organ. Then, secondly, there
exists an important vagus nerve, -n-liieh checks or slows the heart's
action, as under the influence of fear or other mental emotion; and
there is, thirdly, a mjmpathetic nerve, which causes the heart's
action to increase in rapidity. The varying emotions of the mind
thus influence the heart for good or for evil by disturbing its normal
action.
No Organic Ma-tter in Meteors. — A Louisville (Ky.) paper
rejiorts an interview with Prof. J. Laivrenco Smith, of that city, in
the course of which Mr. Smith gave reasons for discrediting tho
discovery of organic substances in meteors, as claimed by Prof.
Hahn, of Berlin. Mr. Smith said :—" Although I have probably
examined more microscopic plates of fragments of meteorites than
any other person, still I have never discovered anything like organic
remains in any of them. Besides, the well-known chemical com-
position of these bodies is averse to the existence of any such
remains as spoken of by Prof. Halm. Were these remains present,
we should discei-n carbonate of lime in their interior. The two or
three that have any carbonate of lime were discovered and analysed
by myself, and in these cases the carbonate of lime was an accidental
constituent of inci-ustation deposited on the surface after their fall.
In the microscopic examination of these polished plates of meteorites,
tho two predominating minerals, enstatito and bronzite, will, by
their fissures and forms, sometimes remind one of vegetable
and other organic forms, but the merest tyro of an observer
will trace here nothing but a rare resemblance. And further-
more, the nature of these minerals precludes the ])Ossibility of
organic remains even in terrestrial minerals of similar kind. Not
knowing of any eminent German geologist named Prof. Hahn, I
thought it but reasonable and logical that I should inquire some-
thing about him from mv friend Prof. Hawes, now in the employ of
258
KNO\A/^LEDGE
[J AX. 20, 1882.
tho SniilliBoiiian Inatitulioii, nnd tho liott litbological microHcopiHt
in tliiH coiintry. urnl wlni rpcontly rctunipd lo tliiH country after
ten yi-ars' Htiuly with I'ripf. Rmionbitiiiii nii<l others into the micro-
scopic chiirnctcr of rock. In finnwer to my in(|iiirie8, Prof. Hnwes
wrote nic this letter :— " I rend that [Miperof I'rof. Ilnhn's. lie ie a
kind of half-insane man, who.se iniii^ination bus run wild with him.
Thcae forms which he no accurutuly duiicriljus and li^'iires have lonv,'
been known lo exist in meteorites, and have been frequently de-
scribed by inineraloxists and microseoijists, Tht-y are mainly com-
posed of enstatito or bronzite in radial forms, and fractured in such
a peculiar manner as to give thoni tho appearance of structure.
Some of the .\merican raotcoritcs which 1 have examined show
these forms in ffreat beauty, but I'rof. llahn is the only man who
has scon anything organic in them, and his paper has excited
nothinjr but ridicule. It Teniiuds one of the lonj,' and laborious
research of a (iennan professor who found a whole flora and fauna
which ho named with double Latin names, and which he found in
his microscopic examination of basalt. It is vci-j- clear to my
ir.ind," continued tho Professor, " that these cranky observations,
viewed with tho spectacles of the imagination of Prof. Hahn, have
obtained more publicity than they merit." — Scientifc Amtrican.
0m- iHatlKinntirnl €oIiimn.
.MATIIK.M.VTIC.VL QUERIES.
[15] — Arithmetuai. Proulem.— a and B have to build a wall
one hundred yards long ; A is to have five shillings a yard more
than B. When the wall is finished A and B each receive £50. How
many yards did each do, and at what rate per yard? — Hamilton-
Stuart.
[This leads to an indeterminate equation. Thus, if x be number
of yards built by A, ;/ the number of shillings received per yard by
B, we have ,r(y -(• oj -Hy( 100 -j;)=. 2,000; or .T-i- 20;/ = -100.— Ed.]
[IC] — In au old volume of problems, I came across the fol-
lowing:— A messenger, M, starts from \ to B (a distance a miles),
at a rate of i' miles per hour, but before he arrives at B, a shower
of rain commences at A, and at all places occupying a certain
distance, 2, towards, but not reaching beyond, B, and moves at the
rate of « miles an hour towards A. If M be caught in the shower,
he will have to wait until it is over. He is also to receive for his
errand a number of shillings inversely proportional to the time
occupied in it, at the rate of n shillings for one hour. Supposing
the distance, :, to be unknown, as also the time at which the shower
commenced, but all events to bo equally probable, show that the
value of M's expectations, in shillings, is —
Can you or one of your readers kindly solve this problem for me
without using the differential calculus ? — No An.Myst. [We will
leave this problem for a week. "No Analyst" has set us a hard
one. — ^Ed.]
[17] — ToSTOisR Problem. — A hare and tortoise have a race, the
hare gives the tortoise 100 yards start and runs ten times as fast ;
they start together, but while tho hare runs the 100 yards, the
tortoise has crawled ten yards ; while the hare is running the ten
yards tho tortoise crawls one yard; while the hare runs that one
yard tho tortoise has advanced -rV "f a yard ; and so on, ad infinitidii,
tho hare, mathematically, never overtaking tlie tortoise.— Tortoise.
[The parado.t was known to tho Greeks as the problem of Achilles
and the Tortoise. The explanation is that the distance run by either
animal is divided into an infinite number of parts, forming a geo-
metrical series, having a Unite sum. Thus the hare runs 1(X) yards
•«• 10 -H -f. Ac. = 100 -J- (1 - Vo) = 10o( g- ) = 1 11 J yards. The tortoise
crawls 114 }-ards. Dividing np a finite distance into an infinite
number of parts does not make it infinite. — Ed.]
[18]— AuiTHMETioAL QiKsTiON. — A man having a cask containing
300 gallons of wine takes out one gallon per day, putting in a gallon
of water to refill tho cask each day. After how many days will tho
mixture in the cask be half water and half wine. — YoiNc Beoin.nkk.
— [y. B. asks whether this ])roblem can bo solved without the aid
of logarithms. Nut readily. At end of one day the mixture is
299 _ 299 299
„^ Uis wine, at end of second it is ^ttt. thg of -^rrr. ths wine or
/■29n\'
\300/ *"'"•'> *■'"! *° ""• If '" '" <lny8 the mixture in tho cask is
half water and biilfwino, we have f — \ _-; or taking logarithin»
of reciprocals of each side, we have *(log. 300— log. 299) = log. 2, or
3010300
ItSOlr -3010300, '•=■-145^ - 207-59; or up to the 208th day
the mixture would contain more wine than water, aft'-r tho 20t«tli
day it w-ould contain more water than wine.]
.\. M. If. points out a mistake on p. 191, w-hcrc v/c j)iii
l=(v/T~t^-Hx) (v/1-t-x-r)
Of course, this relation does not hold ; and the solution fails. We
had found 0 to be the only root which could be obtained without a
solution for cubic or biquadratic, and as the solution, after above
mistake, led to root 0, wo did not (as w-c should have done), run
through the steps. The equation obtained just before tho mistake
occurs is
l = ^/^^(v'l-^•t'•^-■r)
lliia will be found to give x = 0 and the biquadnitic
*■*- ■W + U' + U + -l = 0.
"T. K." considers that the proposition DM' = AM . HP, first
ligiiie, !>. 21 1 (ADIi a right-angled triangle, and DM jK-rp. to AB),
may be established without the nse of books of Euclid beyond 1.
and II. Thus (we rather abridge his proof) -.
^.1/' + MB- + 2.4 J/..Ve= .4 11'= AD' + DB'^AM' + .VC + 23fX)»
.-.AM.MIi^MD'
We did not say othenvise. We said it neither is in those books,
nor can be given as a cofollartj on any propositions they contain.
Several of the jjropositions in Book III. can be as easily proved
from Book I., but thej' are thrown, for convenience, into a separate
book.
[19] — SfM OF Squares. — I do not know if tho following simple
method of getting at the formula for 1' ■^ 2' -H 3' + 1= . . . . ■¥ «',
is new or not, but I believe it is not the usual one, and so send it on
the chance of your thinking it worth publishing: —
12 3 4 5
112" 3 "4 5
1 2 L8 4 5
1 2 3 Ij^ 5
1 2 3 4 15
Here the hoiizontal line cuts off the series-5-(n -Hi), and the zig-
zag line divides the figures forming the squares from the un-
necessary ones below. The sum of the squares cqnals .1 -H B.
Now, i}=2C, as is readily seen from the above diagram. [Every
vertical column in B sums np to tw-ice the sum of a horizontal row
in C— En.] And „
B-t-C=(n-l)xY(i!+l)
■■• B = f(»-l)x-|-(n-H)
= -3-(n-l)(.,-H)
.-. .•l + B = (-|--K-|(n-l)) (n + 1)
n(n-hl)(2»-H)
G
Flore.nie E. Bo\ce.
[9] — Several correspondents consider this problem incori-ect, in-
complete, or absnrd. Othei-s give incorrect solutions. It i.<, however,
quite correctly stated. It is correctly solved thus, or to the same
effect, by T. K., Charles Hammond, li. Kelley, Jas. Frobisham, K.
Carlson, and others. We give Mr. Hammond's solution as one of
the neatest in form : —
" Since tho grass grows uniformly, its growth may be kept dovrn
by a certain number, independent of time, bnt varying directly as
the aica of the field.
"Tho remaining horses are required to consume tho original
stock of grass. Their number -varies directly 08 tho area, and
inversely as the time.
" Prom this it is evident that in the first case 6 horses take Iti
weeks to consume tho original stock of 10 acres, and G keep down
the grow-th.
" Now, by proportion, the number of horses taken to consume tho
original stock in a lO-acro field iji G weeks is G4, and the number
reiiuired to keep down the growth is 2-k
.'. Answer, 8S horses.
N.B. For the genern.l case of this, see Newton's " Arithmctica
Universalis," page 90, 2nd edition, London, 1722.
Jan. 20, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
259
©uv VLWmt Column.
By "Five of Clubs."
TUE LKAD (Continued).
ADiiEKorji TO Plain- Snx Leaiw.
THE leads considered in tlie last two numbers were suppose 1 to
be either original lends from long or strong suits, or forced
lis with no knowledge of your partner's strength in the suit led.
!■ that in every case of a forced lend from a short suit, where
1 have reason to believe that your partner has strength in the
lit, the highest is played, so that from Ace two others you lead
Ai'c in this case, following with the next highest. Similarly, from
King two others you play King, then next highest ; from Quoen
two others, Cjiieon, then next highest; from Knave two othcr.s,
Knave, then next highest. This last is the constant lead from
Knave two others (as from ten two others, you play ten, then next
iiost) : when your partner has not indicated strength, there is
I'' use in leading lowest from Aco two others. King two others,
i^'ueen two others ; bnt manifestly keeping back the Knave or
: (with two others) can be of no use to you, while playing it
y help yonr partner.
TuE Lead in Trimps.
We do not propose to consider here the important question
ii;iortant in whist-play, at any rate) when to lead trumps, but
1 It card is to bo led when it has boon decided to open the trump
Tlie lead in trumps differs in one important respect from the lead
in ])lain suits, — there is' no fear that a good card will be lost if kept
'•ack, by being trumped. "Wo can, therefore, play with safety n
liting game; indeed, it is often advantageous to do so, because so
; h often depends on winning the last ronnd ia trumps.* Another
1 rence between tmmp cards and others arises from the circum-
nre that yon need not so carefully indicate your strength by
ying an obviously winning card; for there is no possibilit}' of
ir partner hurting yon by trumping a card which ho may mistake
: a losing one. The chief variations of the tramp lead from ii
I I in plain suits depend on these considerations— principally on
former.
I'hns. in trumps, from Ace. King, and not more than five others,
smallest should be played ; this ensures the numerical command
[ rumps, if you have five others, and is the best way towards
lUtuining it if you have less than five. Besides, by this course
v)U give your paitner a good chance of winning the first trick. Of
ruirse, if you have six small ones besides .\ce and King, you have
'-■ numerical command, even if all the remaining trum[)s arc in
liand ; you therefore play King, then Ace.
\:;ain,from .\ce, King. Queen alone in plain suits, you lead King,
n Queen. In trumps, having no fear that Queen will be lost,
1 lead Queen first, then King. So with Ace, King, Queen, Knave.
1 lead King first in plaiH suits; in trumps you lead the lowest of
' frequence, the Knave.
Au'ain, in plain suits from Ace and four or more others, not
iuding King, yon lead Ace, because of the risk that in the
md round it might bo trumped. Having no such fear in the
nip suit, you lead the sm.allest, unless you have more than six
ill ones, in which case, being sui'e of the numerical command,
; i.u lead Ace.
In trumps from King, Qneen, and two or more small ones, the
' ivest is led, instead of the King, as in plain suits ; but with more
■ m five small ones, begin with King.
-^ome trump lca«ls differ from plain suit leads and ordinary tmmp
1 -J, on account of the trnmp card being of a particular value.
lis-, from Ace, Knave, ten and nine, the nine would be led in
lin suits : so, also, nine would be led in trumps, unless (Jueen is
;„rned up on the left, when Ace should be played. Again, from
King, Knave, two or more small ones, the lowest is led in plain
suits, and ordinarily in trum])S ; bnt if ton is turned up to the right,
the Knave is led. In trumps, from Knave, ten, eight, ^vilh one or
moro small ones, lead the lowest, as in plain suits, unless nine is
temcd np on yotu- right, when lead Knave.
• We do not mean simply having the last winning tmmp, for
this may be left in and the opponents' strong suits yet played out
to the bitter end ; but winning the last ronnd of trumps, so as to bo
able to bring in a strong suit either of your own or yonr partner'.".
©ur C!k£!5 Column.
Problkm Xo. 11 (Fvom American Chess Nuts).
Bj E. B. Cook.
Black.
: m I
■ ®- i_M
">^ ' 'ml
whitb.
"VVliite to play aud mate i
TWO KNIGUTS' DEFENCE {Continued).
A NOTHER interesting form of this opening is where Black, on
-^^ his fourth move, plays Kt. takes K.P. In most cases strong
players will adopt this move with good effect against a weaker
opponent. As it is chiefly our wish to instruct the student, we shall
show him in full all the variations resulting disadvantageously, so
that he mijht avoid them, at the same time also giving him the
good replies for adoption.
, P. to K.4. „ Kt. to K.B.3. „ B. to B.4.
P. to K.4.
Kt. to Kt.5.
Kt. to Q.B.3.
Kt. to K.B.3.
4. —
Kt. takes K.P.
White has three modes of continuing, viz., Kt. takes K.B.P. or
Kt. takes Kt., or B. takes P. ch. (best). Of those only the last move
can be recommended, for if
, Kt. takes K.B.P.
■ Q. to R.5.
Q. to K.2.
■ kt. to Q..5.
P. to K.Kt.3.
■ KT7tak'c7QTr
P. takes Q.
■ Kt. to Q.5.
P. to Q.3.
■ kt. to Q.3.
Kt. takes Kt.ch.
■ B. takes Kt.
a Castles.
or 6.
B. to B.4.
''Kt. takes B.P.
g B. toB.7.ch.
'K. tok.27
Q R takes Kt.ch.
'Q. takes R.ch.
-„ K to R.sq.
■ BTto Q. 3.
j.(;P._t0KKt^3^__
kt. takes Kt.P.
^ B.P. takes Kt.
' ■ Q. to K.SxhT
g Q. to K.2.
Q. takes B.oh.
In all these cases Black obtains a decisive superiority. 5.
Q. toR.5
wins in any case, as the attack obtained thereby is very strong.
If 5 Kt. takes Kt. ,
■p. to Q.4.
and the game is even
J, r B. takes P.ch. (best)
P P. toJJ.3. _
Kt. to K.B.3.
- B. to Q.Kt.3.
■p. toQ.4.
g P. to K.B.4.
ij. toK.kt.5.
J, Q. to Q.2._
' ■ K. to Q.2.
Castles.
B. takes P.
' Q. takes B.
„ Kt. takes Kt
orU.
K. takes B.
„ Q. to B.3.ch.
■ k. to k.sq.
a P. to Q.4.
Q. Kt. to B.3.
■ Q. to Q7i
10..
P. to Q.4.
jj Kt. to Kt..5.
Q. to B.3.
10 Q- ^^^^ P-
■ Kt. takes P.
B. to K.3.
10 P- to Q-3.
B.toQ.B.i.
It will be recognised that Black incurs the disadvantage of
playing his K. to K.2., on account of the strong centre which he
afterwards threatens to obtain, which, as second player, he could
not get in the ordinary course. In all the three variations
given above. White has no advantage, but Black has a great
many chances of getting the better game. In the first varia-
tion the game is about even, although Black will have to
take some care. We can best show the very attacking
nature of the opening in spite of the unfavourable position of
Blat^k's King (which, as we have before said, is compensated by his
260
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Jan. 20, 1882.
slroiiK coiitro) hy giving the following additional variatioim,
luunoly, if in tho first varintion, instead of 10 Caatlos, White
play tho tompting move 10. Kt. to H.7. Black gets the advantngo
OS follow9 : —
Kt. to n.7. ,, Kt. takes H.
■ Q. to K.sq.
Kt. t.. n.3.
B. to'Q.B.t.
.... .„... ... 12 KJ5JL"1L
■ 1'. takes P.dig.oh. Kt. to Q.5.
exceedingly strong attack. Ho chiefly threatens Kt. to B.6, which
White cannot retake with tho Pawn, on account of B. to R.6.ch.
Tho Queen has no place to go to if attacked by tho Kt., as
Q. to K.sTch. is thereby threatened. White would lose his
Qneen if, in reply to Kt. to'BA he should play Q. to Q.aq.,— by
Kt. takes P.ch.
Again, it in the first variation White docs not play 8.
P. to K.B.4.
ho will speedily be strongly attacked by Black. If, for instance
Castles. « Kt. to K.B.3
P: to K.K.3.
9. "''" '" ^-^— ^" , with a good game, as Black
K to B.2. ' " "
has two good plans to pursue, firstly B. to Q.3., R. to K.sq., and
KTto Kt^. ; or, secondly, ho might play B. to Q.3 ,
B. to K.3., Q. to Q.2., and Q.R. to K.Kt.sq^ so as to proceed with
an attack on the King's side by P. to K.Kt.4.
Of course, statements of these kind are only general, and meant
to show the nature of the position, but real play ha.s, of course,
to be modified, even according to weak reiilics of an opponent.
But whatever White should do. Black should obtain the better
game, owing to his good position. •
P. to KA.
^ Kt. to Kt.5
KL to K.B.3^
Kt. toQ.B.3.
B. takes P.oh.
B. to B.4.
Kt. takes K.P. K. to K.2.
Tliis is the very best reply, we may say tho only move wliicli,
tmoncst the numerous possible moves, gives White the advantage,
P to Q ■!•
which fact shows the dangerous nature of this opening. 6. — -^
breaks up Black's centre, and thereby obtains for White the
better game.
„ P. to QA. -n, , ,
In reply to 6. ^— Black can play
r 6. „ or 6
P. to Q.t.
I- P. takes P.
■ Q.Kt. takesT'.
g Q^takes P (best)
Q. takes Q.
q B. takes Q.
"'Kt^'t'o k7b73.
jQ Kt. to Q,B.3.
■ P. to B73.
B. to Kt.3.
6.
P. to Q.n.3.
,. Kt. takes Kt.
icTtakcs B^
gP^Q.5^
Kt. to K.2.
„ Q. to B.S.ch.
'¥7ioKt.3.
10 Q- takes K.P
'B. to Kt.2.
. Q. to B.1.ch.
■ K. to Kt.sq.
, 2 Q.Kt. to B.3
^. 11
12. f
B. to B.4.
B. to K.3.
P. to K.R.3.
j2 Q. to K.4.
winning. and White has a good
game.
Besides these moves Black can also play
6.
P. to Q.3.
^ B. to Q.5.
■ Kt. to B.3.
-, B. takes Kt.
P. takes B.
P. takes P.
P. to Q.4., will
Wliiie wins tho Queen by
Therefore, whatever Black may do. White, by 6.
invariably got tho better game, which move, therefore, is tho
proper defence against this strong counter-attack.*
• To Mr. Gossip is duo the credit of advocating this stroig
move and the ensuing variations.
SAi.Foan. — Yon have not tranHgressed the rules of chess, but your
solution of Problem C is unsound. After Q. to Q.3.rh., B. takes
Q., P. takes B., why should not Black Uke B. with P. in his turn ?
Uow would White mate then on the move ?
Jamks M.m .vii'lNi!.- If (1) Kt. to Kt.o. in Problem C, 1. P. to Kt.4.,
2. P. takes K.P., Black can play Q. to Q.'a 5th ch., and there is no
mate.
CBmoTYPE. — If Q. takes K.B.P., in Problem 6, Black mores
Q. to Q.U. square; then, if Q. takes Q., P. to Q.B.3., aad there is no
mate on the move.
li. FiTZ lI.KiiT.— Your letter fonvarded to Hades, " Mcphisto,"
being tho author of the analysis in question. Yon should hare
addressed Chess Editor.
The Cheu Player's Chronicle calls our attention to the following
beautiful problem by Mr. Grimshaw, in which the idea underlving
tho second solution of his problem, Xo. G, p. 100, is embodied.
Problem, No. 12.
By "W. Orimsliaw.
Blick.
'^'/^i
i
White.
White to play and mate in four move?.
Unfortunately there are two solution?, one beginning Q. takes P.,
the other (the author's) beginning Q. takes R. (at R.'s 2.). The
Chronicle believes that the solution given in the Il'iistrated London
}^eu-s was not the author's ; how, then, was it that no reference
was made in the Illustrated to any other solution ? The Chronicle
appends a note of interrogation to our remark that if, in
Problem 6, Queen goes at once to K.'s 6th, mate is only tlireatened
in one way. How is mate threatened, e.tcept by B. takes P. ?
After 1. Kt. to K.B.5., 1. B. takes Kt. 2. Q. to K.'s Gth, mate is
tlireatened also by Q. takes B., — that ia, as we said, in two ways.
Contents of Kxowledge No. 11.
PIOB. I
A Winter Weed. By Grant Allen 21" I Tho Xew Sla
Precession of the Equinoxes. By Actii'
the Editor 218 | Zit
Xights with a 3-ineh TeJ^escopc 220 | Fossi
Metal foand ia White
Picment 227
I in Meteoric Stones 227
_, Links. By Dr. Andrew j Duration of Life 223
Wilson, F.L.S., &c.— Part II 22! Kno«led(;e for the Young 2W
Fallacies about Luck. By the Editor 223 CoR«Bspo!n>BSC« 229-233
The Principle of the Vmnier. By Queries 234
J. K. Campbell 221 ' Replies to Queries 235
Colours of Animals S2l j Answers to Correspondenta 236
Zodiacal Map 225 i Xotes on .\rt and Science 237
The P>Tamid of Meydoom. By Our Mathematical Column 234
Amelia B. Edwards 321 Our Whist Column 239
Vegetable Poisons 228 1 Our Chess Column 23»
NOTICES.
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from uU booksellers nnd uewsnueut?»,
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WVMiX & So!(S, London, at the High Ilolbom District Post-ofDco.
OFFICE: 7i & 75, GREAT QUEEX STREET, LONDON, W.C.
Jan. 27, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
261
PLAINLTWoRDED -EXACT&DESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1882.
Contexts of No. 13.
PAGE
Hyacinth Bulbs. By Grant AlU-n iOl
Brain Troubles : Partial Loss of
Speech 262
Dr. J. W. Draper. By the Editor.
{IVilka Portrait.) 263
The ereat Pvramid. By the Editor
(Illiutrated) 26.5
The True Storv of the Moon 268 I
Babylonian Discoveries. By a Mem-
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Archneologv .'. 263 i
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HYACINTH BULBS.
Bt Grant Allex.
IF we were not so familiar with tlie fact, we would think
there were few queerer things in nature than tlie
mode of growtli followed by this sprouting hyacinth liulb
on my mantelpiece here. It is simply stuck in a glass
stand, tilled with water, and there, with little aid from
light or sunshine, it goes through its whole development
like a piece of organic clockwork, as it is, running down
slowly in its own appointed course. For a bulb does not
grow as an ordinary plant grows, solely Viy means of carbon
derived from the air under the influence of sunlight.
What we call its growth we ought rather to call its un-
folding. It contains within itself everything that is neces-
-;uy for its own vital processes. Even if I were to cover
. up entirely, or put it in s. warm, dark room, it would
-prout and unfold itself in exactly the same way as it does
hei-e in the ditfused light of my study. The leaves, it is
true, would be blanched and almost colourless, but the
flowers would be just as brilliantly Ijlue as these which are
now scenting the whole room with their delicious fragrance.
The question is, then, how can the hyacinth thus live and
i;row without the apparent aid of sunlight, on wliich all
M'getation is ultimately based?
Of course, an ordinary plant, as everybody knows,
derives all its energy or motive-power from the sun. The
green leaf is the organ upon which the rays act. In its
cells the waves of light propagated from the sun fall upon
the carbonic acid which the leaves drink in from the air,
and by their di.sintegi'ating power, liberate the oxygen
while setting free the carbon, to form the fuel and food-
stuff of the plant. Side by side with this operation the
plant performs another, by building up the carlxm thus
olitained into new combinations with the hydrogen obtained
■■■m its watery sap. From these two elements the chief
ustituents of the vegetable tissues are made up. Now
lilt- fact that they have been freed from the oxygen with
which they are generally combined gives them energy, as
the physicists call it, and, when they re-combine with
oxygen, this energy is again given out as heat, or motion.
In burning a piece of wood or a lump of coal, we are simply
causing the oxygen to re-combine with these energetic
vegetable substances, and the result is that we get once
more the carbonic acid and water witii wliich we started.
But we all know that such burning yields not only lieat, but
also visible motion. This motion is clearly seen even in
the draught of an ordinary chimney, and may be much
more distinctly recognised in such a machine as the steam-
engine.
At first sight, all this seems to have \<iy little connec-
tion with hyacinth bulbs. Yet, if we look a little deeper
into tlie question, we shall set; that a IniUi and an engine
have really a great many points in common. Let us glance
tirst at a somewhat simpler case, that of a seed, such as a
pea or a grain of wheat. Here we lia\c a little sack of
starches and albumen laid up as nutriment for a sprouting
plantlet. These rich food stuffs were elaboratetl in tin-
leaves of the parent pea, or in the tall haulms of the
growing corn. They were carried by the sap into the
ripening fruit, and there, through one of those bits of vital
mechanism which we do not yet completely understand,
they were selected and laid V)y in the young seed. When
the pea or the grain of wheat begins to gtnniinate, under
the influence of warmth and moisture, a very slow com-
bustion really takes place. Oxygen from the air combines
gradually with the food stuff's or fuels — call tluMU ^hich
you will — contained in the seed. Thus lieat is evolved,
which in some cases can be easily measured with the ther-
mometer, and felt by the naked hand — as,for example, in the
milting of barley. At the same time motion is j)i-oduced :
and this motion, taking place in certain regular directituis,
ie;ults in what we call the growth of a young plant. In
different seeds this growth takes different forms, but in all
alike the central mechanical principh; is the same : — certain
cells are raised visibly above the surface of the earth, and
the motive power which so raised them is the energy set
free by the combination of oxygen with their starches and
albumens. Of course, here, too, carbonic acid and water
are the final products of the slow combustion. The whole
process is closely akin to the hatching of an egg into a
living chicken. But, as soon as the young plant has used
up all the material laid by for it by its mother, it is com-
pelled to feed itself just as much as the chicken when it
emerges from the shell. The plant docs this by unfolding
its leaves to the sunlight, and so begins to assimilate fresh
compounds of hydrogen and carbon on its own account.
Now it makes a great deal of dirterence to a spnniting
seed whether it is well or ill provided with such stored-up
food-stuffs. Some very small seeds have hardly :iny pi'o-
visions to go on upon ; and the seedlings of these, of
course, must wither up and die if they do not catch the
sunlight as soon as they have tirst tiufolded their tiny
leaflets ; but other wiser plants have learnt by (-xpterience
to lay by plenty of starches, oils, or other useful materials
in their seeds ; and wherever such a tendency has once
faintly appeared, it has given such an advantage to the
species where it occurred, that it has been increased and
developed from generation to generation through natural
selection. Now what such plants do for their oflspring,
the hyacinth, and many others like it, do for themselves.
The lily family, at least in the tempenite regions, seldom
grows into a treelike form ; but many of them have
acquired a habit which enables them to live on almost as
well as trees from season to season, though their leaves die
down completely with each recurring wintci-. If you cut
open a hyacinth bulb, or, what is simpler to experiment
upon, an onion, you will find that it consists of several
short abortive leaves, or thick fleshy scales. In these sub-
262
KNOWLEDGE
[Jah. 27, 1882.
terranean leaves tlio plant stores up tlie food -stuffs clal)0-
ratcd liy its grwn portions during the summer ; and there
thi-v lie tlie whole winter through, ready to send up a
tiowering stem early in the sucoeedini; spring. The material
in the old hulh i.s used in thus producing leaves and
blossoms at the beginning of the second or third season ;
liut fresh V)ulbs grow out anew from ita side, and in these
the plant once more stores up fresh material for the suc-
ceeding year's growth.
Ti\e hyacinths which we keep in glasses on our mantel-
pieces represent such a reserve of three or four years'
accumulation. They have purposely been prevented from
Howering, in order to make them produce finer trusses of
bloom wlien tiiey are at length permitted to follow their
own free will. Thus the bulb contains material enough to
send up leaves and blossoms from its own resources ; and
it will do so even if grown entirely in the dark. In that
case the leaves will be pale yellow or faintly greenish,
because the true green jjigment, which is the active agent
of digestion, can only b(^ produced under the influence of
light : whereas the flowers will retain their proper colou)-,
because their pigment is always due to oxidation alone, and
is l)ut little dependent upon the rays of sunshine. Even
if grown in an ordinary room, away from the window, the
leaves seldom assume their proper deep tone of full green ;
thev are mainly dependent on the food-stufls laid by m the
bulb, and do but little active work on their own account.
After the hyacinth has flowered, the bulii is reduced to an
empty and flaccid niass of watery brown scales.
Among all the lily kind, such devices for storing up
useful material, either in bulbs or in the ^ery similar organs
known as corms, are extremely common. As a consequence,
many of them produce unusually large and showy flowers.
Even among our native English lilies we can boa.st of such
beautiful blossoms as tlie fritillary, the wild hyacinth, the
meadow-saflron, and the two pretty squills ; while in our
gardens the tiger lilies, tulips, tuberoses, and many others
l)elong to the same liandsome bulbous group. Closely-
allied familie.s give us the bulb-bearing narcissus, daflbdil,
snowdrop, amaryllis, and (iuernsey lily : the crocus, gla-
diolus, iris, and corn-flag ; while the neighbouring tribe of
orchid.s, most of which ha\e tubers, proli.ibly produce more
ornamental flowers than any other faiTiily of plants in the
whole world. Among a widely-difl'crcnt group we get
other herbs which lay by rich stores of starch, or similar
nutritious substances, in thickened underground branches,
known as tubers ; such, for example, arc the potato and
the Jerusalem artichoke. Sometimes the root itself is the
storehouse for the ac(-umulated food-stufls, as in the
dahlia, the carrot, the radish, and the turnip. In all
these cases, the plant obviously deri\-es benefit from
the habit which it has acquired of hiding away its
reser\e fund bi-neath the ground, where it is much
less likely to be ilisco\-ered and eaten by its animal foes.
For it is obvious that these special reservoii-s of energetic
material, which the plant intends as food for its own flower
or for its future oll'spring, are exactly those parts which
animals will be likely unfairly to ap]>ropriate to their
personal use. What feeds a plant will feed a squirrel, a
mouse, a pig, or a man, just as well. Each requires just
the same free cilements, who.se combination with oxygen
may yield it heat and iriovement. Thus it happens that
the parts of plants which we human beings mainly use as
food-stvdis are ju.st the organs where starch has been laid bj-
for the plant's own domestic economy — seeds, as in the pea,
be.an, wheat, maise, barley, rice, or millet : tubers, as in the
potato and .Jerusalem artichoke ; corns, as in the yam or
tare : and roots, as in ari'owroot, turnip, parsnip and carrot.
!ti m'1 tlie-,1', .ind in many other case-s, the habit first set up
by nature lias been sedulously encouraged and increased by
man's deliberate seh-ction. What man thus consciously
effects in a few generations, the survival of the fittest has
unconsciously effected through many long previous ages of
native development.
BRAIN TROUBLES.
P.VRTIAL Loss OF SpEECll.
LET us consider next a case where the almost complete
loss of the power of fixing the attention was fol-
lowed by the partial loss of the power of expression, — a
sequence which would, we believe, be far more commonly
noticed than usual were all tlie circumstances of each case
carefully noted. The case also illustrates the danger re-
sulting from the endeavour to over-tax the powers of
nature : — " I was engaged this morning," says Dr. Alex-
ander Crichton, " with a great numb«r of people, who
followed each other quickly, and to each of whom I was
obliged to give my attention. I was also under the
necessity of writing much, but the subjects were various,
and of a trivial and uninteresting nature, and had no
connection the one with the other ; my attention,
therefore, was constantly kept on the stretch, and it
was continually shifting from one subject to another. At
last it became necessary that I should write a receipt for
some money I had received on account of the poor. T
seated myself, and wrote the two first words, but in a
moment found that I was incapable of proceeding, for I
could not recollect the words which belonged to the ideas
that were present in niy mind. I strained my attention
as much as possible, and tried to write one letter slowly
after the other, always having an eye in order to observe
whether they had the usual relationship to each other ;
but I remarked, and said to myself at the time, that the
characters I was writing were not those which I wished to
write, and yet I could not discover where the fault lay.
I therefore desisted, and partly by words and syllables,
and partly by gestures, I made the person who waited for
the receipt understand that he should leave me. For
about half-an-hour there reigned a kind of tumultuous
disorder of my senses, in which I was incapable of remark-
ing anything very particular, except that one series of
ideas forced themselves involuntarily into my mind."
The patient goes on to describe the various thoughts
which occurred to him at this time, and how he tested his
mental condition by thinking of the principles of religion,
conscience, and the future life, finding to his relief that these
principles he found " equally correct and fixed as before"
(a degree of assurance which some do not possess who ai-e
quite free from mental disorder). Passing over these
matters, as not bearing specially |on our subject, we find
that so soon as he tested his power of expressing his ideas,
either by spoken or by written words, he found that for
the time being the power was lost. "I endeavoured to
speak, in order to discover wliether I was capable of saying
anything that was connected ; but, although I made the
greatest eflbrts of attention, and proceeded with the utmost
caution, I perceived that I uniformly spoke other words
than I intended. My soul was at present as little master
of the organs of speech as it had been before of my hand
in writing. Thank (fod, this state did not continue verj-
long, for in nlxiut half-an-hour my head began to grow clearer,
the strange and tiresome ideas became less ■\-i\-id and
turbulent, and I could command my own thoughts with
less interruption." It is interesting to notice how the loss
of the power of expression was associated thus with con-
Jan. -n, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
263
fusion of thought and inability to fix the attention. " I
now wished," proceeds the patient, " to ring for my servant,
:uid desired him to inform my wife to come to nie." (The
power of correctly expressing his ideas does not seem to
liave been possessed in any \-ery remarkable degree by this
1,'entleman, even when his mind had fully recovered its usual
health). " But I found it still necessary to wait a little
longer, to exercise myself in the right pronunciation of the
few words I had to say, and the first half-hour's cou\-er-
siition r had with her was, on my part, preserved with a
slow and anxious circumspection, until at last I gradually
found myself as clear and serene as in the beginning of the
iluy. All that now remained was a slight headache. 1
■ collected the receipt I had begun to write, and in which
knew I had blundered, and upon examining it, I observed,
•o my great astonishment, that instead of the words Jijhj
lUiUars, behig one half-year's rale, which I ought to have
written, the words -wetQ, fifty dollars, throuj/h the salvation
,/' Bra , with a break after it, for the word ' Bra ' was
.it the end of the line. I cannot recollect any business 1
had to transact that could by means of an obscure influence
iiuve produced this phenomenon."
In this case it is obvious that the temporary loss of the
[lower of verbal expression was occasioned )iy overwork ;
l>\it it is noteworthy that the work was of a special cliarac-
rcr, involving the special exercise of the power which failed
•irst (that of fixing the attention). It may be worth while
•o inquire whether that kind of mental confusion, which,
• hen it has passed beyond a certain point is followed by
inpairnient of the power of speech, is generally or often a
onsequence of distracting occupations. The following case
seems to some degree to bear on this question. It is related
by Dr. Watson. A patient who had had an attack of
apoplexy seemed to be recovering under the influence of
perfect quiet. But, "after a long and imprudent conversa-
tion with a friend, he suddenly lost the thread of his dis-
course, and could not recover it. ' Memory was aftected first,
be it observed : next went the power of attention. "Then he
became confused." Thirdly, the power of speech was
aflfected. " He misapplied words. I asked him how he
felt. He answered, ' Not quite right,' and this he repeated
very many times, abbreviating it at first into ' not right,' and
and at length into ' n' ight' Wishing to mention ' camphor,'
he called it ' jtainphlet.' I mention these as specimens."
Afterwards, signs of bodily weakness, indicating paralysis,
were observed. The weakness degenerated gi-adually into
complete palsy, and before long the case ended fatally. In
this case the patient had not suflfered originally from undue
mental work, the mental trouble being caused by an
abscess. But the case seems to illustrate well the trying
effect of distracting conversation on a wearied, weakened,
or (as in this case) diseased brain.
The tendency to use one word for another, where, so far
as meaning is concerned, there is no connection whatever,
though there is somi! resemblance of sound, is one which
probably most literary men have noticed at times, when
they have been wearied or theii' attention has been much
distracted. It is not by any means so alarming a symptom
as temporary failure of the power of articulating words, or
actual inability to write the desired words ; but it is a cii'-
cumstance which should not be overlooked. A little rest, or
the substitution for awhile of some light reading for hard
brain-work, will generally set matters right. If not, a longer
rest or open-air exercise should be taken. Time will be gained
by waiting till the brain is fitter for work. The present
writer has repeatedly had occasion to time himself over cer-
tain forms of literary work, and his experience has been this,
that where four or five hours are to be occupied in steady
work, a good half-hour will often be saved by taking half-
an-hour's sleep, when such signs of mental weariness are
noticed as have been described above. There is, however,
one point to be observed. Rest must he tiiken as soon as
such signs are recognised, for if an eflbrt is made t<:>
struggle against the occasion for rest, the power of resting
may be lost. Precisely as an over-tired pedestrian often tries
in vain to sleep, when he has but a short time, for rest, so the
overw(!aried brain may be kept by confusing thoughts from
obtaining rest.
DR. J. W. DRAPER.
By the Editor. {With a Portrait.)
A^IONG the distinguislied men whose acquaintance I
have made during my lecture tours in this country
America, and Australasia, few occupy a higher place in my
recollection than Dr. [J. W. Draper, whose death, at New-
York, has just been announced. His scientific researches
and literary work are justly regarded by those whom we
nnist consider as his fellow-countrymen (though he was an
Englishman by birth) as most important and valuable, and
his name is not honoured in America only, but throughout
the world.
John William Draper was born at St. Helen's, near
Liverpool, in 1811, and educated there and at the London
University (to which he was sent to study chemistry when
the University was first opened). He, left England soon
after for America, and completed his medical education :il
the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1836. He
was soon after appointed Professor of Chemistry in
Hampden Sydney College, Virginia, and in 1839 in the
University of New York.
His earliest contributions to Science were on the
chemical action of light, on which he published nearly
forty memoirs. The following summary of his work on
this subject is fi-om a biographical sketch which appeared
in the Popidar Science Mouthhi, in January, 1874 (al)out
the time when I first made Dr. Draper's acquaintance).
I believe that though they may liave been editorially
revised by my esteemed friend Professor Youmaas, they
were in substance communicated by Dr. Draper himself,
thus possessing a special value at tht; present time, when
some of his most important researches are bearing fruit,
which others are claiming as their own : —
"Of all the chemical actions of hght, by far the most
important is that of thc^ decomposition of carbonic acid by
the Ic-aves of plants, under the influence of sunshine. On
this the whole \«getable world depends for its growth, and
the whole animal world, directly or indirectly, for its food.
The decomposition in question is (;ssentially a deoxidation,
and up to about 1840 it was generally supposed to be due
to the violet rays of the sp(.'cti'uin, which, in accordance
with the views held at that time, were regarded as pro-
ducing deoxidising actions, and were consequently kno\\ n
as deoxidising ray.s. But this was altogether an assumj)-
tion unsupported by experimental proof. Professor Drapei'
.saw that thei-e was but one method for the ab.solute solution
of tlu! problem, and that was by causing the cUicompositi-
tion to take place in the spectnim itself. In this delicate
and beautiful experiment he succeeded, and found that the
decomposition was brought about by the yellow rays, at a
maximum by those in the vicinity of the Fraimhofer fixed
line D, and that the \ iolet rays might be considered as
altogether inoperative. The memoir containing this lesuit
was first read before the American Philosophical Societ}',
in Philadelphia, and immediately republished in London,
Paris, and Berlin. It excited general interest among
liU
KNOWLEDGE
[J AX.
1882.
uhrniists. Even so late as; 1874 it furnished to the
(Jormiin exi>crini('nt<TS the basis of a very interesting dis-
cussion in |)iiotoihc'iiiistiy.
"In 18 fj Dr. Draper discovered that not only might
the Fraunliofer fixed lines in the spectrum lie photo-
■,'raplicd, 1)ut that there exist.s a vast number of others
lii'yond the violet, which up to that time had been un-
known. He also found three great lines less refrangible-
than the red, in a region altogether ii.\isiblc to the eye.
Of the.se new linos, which more than doubled in number
those of Fraunhofcr, he published engravinirs. Ifo ;dso
the stars, and the nebulae. In this paper he established
experimentally that all solid substances, and probably
liquids, become incandescent at the same temp«'ra-
ture ; that the thermometric point at which such
substances are red-hot is about 'J77' Fahr. ; that the
spectrum of an incandescent solid is continuous, it contain.^
neither bright nor dark fixed lines ; and from common
temperatures up to 977° Fahr. the rays emitted by a solid
are invisible, but at that temperature they impress the eye
with the .sensation of red ; that the heat of the incandescing
body bi -in 2 made continuously to ri.se, other rays are added.
PR. J. W. DRAPER.
invented an instrument for measuring the chemical force
of light — the chlor-hydrogen photometer. This was subse-
(luently extensively used by Bunsen and Koscoe in their
photo-chemical researches. In their paper, read before the
Royal Society in 18.56, they say, 'With this instrument
Draper succeeded in establishing experimentally some of
the most important relations of the chemical action of
" His memoir ' On the Production of Light by Heat,'
published in 1847, was an important contribution to
spectrum analysis. Among other things it gave the means
for determining the solid or gaseous condition of the sun.
increasing in refraugibility as the temperature ascends ;
and that, while the addition of rays so much the more re-
frangil>le as the temperatiire is higher is taking place, there
is an augmentation in the intensity of those already
existing. This memoir was published in both American
and European journals. An analysis of it was read
in Italian before the Koyal Academy at Naples,
July, 1847, by Melloni, which was also translated
into French and English. But, thirteen years s<dise-
quently, M. Kirchhotl" published, in a very celebrated
memoir, considered by many as the origin of spectrum
analysis, and of which an English translation may be
Jan. 27, 1882.]
• KNOV/LEDGE -
265
found in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Maga-
ziw, July, 1800, the same facts under the guise of mathe-
matical deductions, with so meagre a- reference to what
Draper had done, that he secured the entire credit of these
discoveries. In an liistorical sketch of spectr\im analysi.';,
subsequently published, Kirehhofl' avoided all mention of
his American predecessor.
"Dr. Draper was the first person who succeeded in taking
portraits of the liuman face hy photography. This was in
1839. He published a minute account of the process at a
time when in Europe it was regarded as altogether imprac-
ticable. He also was the first to take photographs of the
moon, and presented specimens of them to the New^ York
Lyceum of Natural History, in 1840.
" A Treatise on Human Physiology, Statical and Dyna-
mical,' became a standard textbook in American colleges.
It has passed through a great many editions, and was
translated into several foreign languages. The Russian
edition is used in the higher schools of that country. A
yet more important work is his 'A History of the Intel-
lectual Development of Europe,' thus described in the
Westminster Review: — 'It is one of the not least remark-
able achievements in the progress of positive philosophy
that have yet been made in the English tongue : a noble
and even magnificent attempt to frame an induction from
all the recorded phenomena of European, Asiatic, and
North- African history.' " [Of this treatise, Dr. Draper's
later work, "The Conflict of Science and Religion," may be
regarded as in some sense an abstract. It is severe in its
treatment of religious intolerance and dogmatism, and does
not seem to do full justice to the motives which in many
cases have actuated religious persecutions. But the book
is the product of a healthy and vigorous mind, and, setting
aside the undue hardness of its tone in certain places, it
must be regarded as a work which has done, and is calcu-
lated to do, an immense deal of good.]
" Though in his earlier years Dr. Draper was a skilful
mathematical analyst, he has published but few niathe-
matical papers, the most impoi-tant being an investigation
of the electrical conducting power of wires. This was un-
dertaken at the request of Prof. Morse, at the time he was
inventing his telegraph. The use made by Morse of this
investigation is related by him in ' Silliman's American
Journal of Science and Arts,' December, 1843. The
paper shows that au electrical current may be trans-
mitted tlirough a wire, no matter what the length may be,
and that, generally, the conducting effect of wires may be
represented by a logarithmic curve. Among electrical
memoirs there is one on the tidal motions exhibited by
liquid conductors, and one on the electro-motive power of
heat, explaining the construction of some new and im-
proved forms of thermo-electric batteries. An abstract of
these improvements is given in the last edition of the
' Encyclopjedia Britannica ' (Art. Voltaic Electricity).
" Dr. Draper was the first person to obtain photographs
of the diffraction spectrum given by a grating, and to show
the singular advantages which that spectrum possesses
over the prismatic investigations on radiations. In a
memoir on the production of light by chemical action
(1848), he gave the spectrum analyses of many different
flames, and devised the arrangement of charts of their
fixed lines in the manner now universally adopted. A
memoir on phosphorescence contains the experimental
determination of many important facts in relation to that
property. Among purely chemical topics he has furnished
a method for the qualitative determination of urea by
nitrous acid."
[From 1860 to 1870 Dr. Draper did but little in scientific
research, devoting himself mostly to historical works.
During this time lie published his " History of the
American Civil War," in three volumes.]
" In the summer of 1870, Dr. Draper sufi'ered a severe
bereavement in the loss of his wife. Of Brazilian birth,
she was connected with an ancient and nobh' Portuguese
family. She had rendered his domestic life a course of
unbroken happiness, and doubtless she was the exemplar
before his eyes when h(^ wrote that oft-quote<l passage in
his Physiology,' in which, after depicting the physical
and intellectual peculiarities of woman, he says : ' I5ut it
is in the family and social relations that Jier beautiful
qualities shine forth. At the close of a long life, checkered
with pleasures and misfortunes, how often does the aged
man with emotion confess that, though all the ephemeral
accjuaintances and attachments of his career have ended in
disappointment and alienation, the wife of his youth is still
his friend '! In a world from which everything else seems
to be passing away, her affection alone is unchanged ; true
to him in sickness as in health, in adversity as in pro-
sperity, true to the hour of death.' "
Of their six children, one died in infancy ; the survivois
are three sons and two daughters. Of the former, the
eldest. Dr. Henry Draper, Professor of Natural History
in the College of the City of New York, is eminent as a
physicist and astronomer; the second, Dr. John C Draper,
is Professor of Physiology in the University of New York ;
the third. Dr. Daniel Draper, is Director of the Meteoro-
logical Observatoiy in the New York Central Park, where
he has exercised an important influence in de\elopiiig
the meteorological system of the United States. In
recent years. Dr. Draper has published two short memoirs :
one, on the " Distribution of Heat in the Spectrum,"
showing that the predominance of heat in the less re-
frangible regions is due to the action of the prism, and
would not be observed in a normal specti'um, such as is
formed by a grating ; and that all the rays of light have
intrinsically equal heating power ; the second an in-
vestigation of the distribution of chemical force in the
spectrum. The Popular Science Monthly notes to his
credit that " these scientific researches, to wliich so many
years of his life have been devoted, liave been at his own
expense ; he has ni^er received any extrancoua aid, though
many of them have been very costly ; he has rxcer taken out
any patent, but has given the fruits of his investigations
and inventions freely to the jniblic."
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By the Editor.
IN No. 10 we showed how the buildeis of the Great
Pyramid, in carrying out what obviously was their
purpose, the exact orientation of the building, would have
been led to construct those passages, descending and
ascending, which actually exist in the building, with pre-
cisely the slopes we should expect to find ; but we did not
pass beyond the smaller of the ascending passages ; and,
indeed, it is to be noticed that in passing upwards froiri
the upper end of this passage we recognise another
plan. All the features thus far liavc been such
as we should expect to find in a ma-ssive structure
such as this, intended — for whatever leason — to be
very carefuUy oriented. Tliey are such, in fact,
as could not but exist in a building oiiented so
successfully as the Great Pyramid unquestionably is, unless
some utterly incredible chance had enabled the builders, by
an imperfect method, to hit accidentally on so perfect an
orientation. Even then, in passing from tlie ground level
266
• KNOWLEDGE *
[Jas. 27, 188;;
to higher Icvols, tliey must inevitably have lost the perfec-
tion of their orii-ntntion, unless thoy had lind such means
of keeping tlnir work eorreot us we (ind thc-y had. This
heing so, tlie chances being ])ractioally infinite against tlicir
first obtaining, and afterwards retaining, such accuracy of
orientation, without long, slant passages, sucli as we find
within tlie Pyniinid, we are logically justified in saying it
is r'Ttaiii that the pasiuiges witc used in that way, and
were intended originally to subserve that purpose.
The case is somewhat altered when we reach the point
C, where the ascending passage ceases to bo of the same
small square section as the descending one. Up to this
jwint its purpose Ls obvious. But so far as mcn^ orientation
was concerned, there seems no reason why it should not
have retsiined the same section to a higher level. It is
true that the nearer it approached to the central line, LF,*
the less effective its directive value ; but certainly this
value would not be increased by increasing the size of the
they hod considered this plane for the same reason that the
modem astronomer considers it — viz., liecause this is the
](lane in wliicli all the heavenly bodies culminate, or attain
the middle and highest j)oint of their pa-ssage from the
eastern to the western liorizon. They might have had
only a fancy for exact orientation, though one can hardly
t<'ll why they should. Still, men of different races have
taken .strange fancie.s, and, unlikely though it seems, this
might have been such an one, just as the building of colossal
tombs seems to have been.
At the point C, however, all doubt ceases. The astro-
nomical nature of the builders' jiurposc becomes here as
clear and certain as already the astronomical nature of
their methods has been. For from here upwards the small
ascending passage is changed to one of great height, so as
to command a long vertical space of the heavens, precisely
as a modern astronomer sets his transit circle to sweep the
vertical meridian. Tlie floor, however, of the ascending
passage, whether in a vertical or a horizontal direction ;
and from and after the point C it is increased in both
directions.
Now, wo are certain that the I)uiklors of the Pyramid
wanted to orient it very carefully, simply because we find
that they did so. We do not know >rl,,/ they did. But it
seems antecedently unlikely that «// tliey wanted was to
get the Pyramid perfectly four-S(]uarc to the cardinal points.
The natural idea is, that being, as we see by their work
tliey were, astronomers of great skill, they had an astro-
nomical purpose of .vonie sort They liad thus far Ijoen
working with manifest reference to the meridional plane,
just as an astronomer of our own time would ; and it looks
very much, even from what we have already seen, as though
• Tin's lino in not verticnlly below the vertex, V, but central, in
tho senRo of beinpr t)io vertical lino wfioro the horizontal north and
soutli lino from the nscondin^ and desconding; passages crosses tlie
east and west plane through tho vertex.
passage, and e\en its sides, are carried on unchanged in
direction, right up to D, where tho central vertical (see
preceding note) meets the ascending gallery. So that from
B to D, except where the horizontal passage CL to the so-
called Queen's Chamber is carried oft", the floor of ascending
passage and gallerj- formed a perfectly uniform slant plane.
And here let us pause to inquire — seeing that the
astronomical purpose of the passages is made manifest —
what shape an astronomer, who was also an architect,
would give to the great ascending slit, as it were, through
which the transits of tlie heavenly i)odies were to be
watched. As an astronomer, he would like it to be very
high and relatively narrow ; but as an architect, he
would see tJiat the vertical section could not have
such a shape as A BCD in Fig. 2 ; for then, not only
would the side walls, AB, JiC, be unstable, but
the observer would not be comfortably situated. Yet, as
an astronomer, he would know that such a shape as is
Jan. 27, 1882.]
KNOVVALEDGE
267
slii'wu in Fig. 3 would be unsuitable. To mention only one
casi: out of many, supposing he wanted not only to observe
a transit of a heavenly body along such a course as /;„ pi,
or (^j, q.,, which during the short time the body was \'isible
would be practicalh' a horizontal line, but also by observa-
tions on successive nights to determine the course of a
heavenly Ixidy on the star sphere along a path as P,, P.>,
which might be inclined : then, the slant of the walls would
entirely defeat his purpose. He would require, as an
astronomer, that the walls should be absolutely vertical
plan of the Great Pyramid, and that such a plan intli-
cated an astronomical purpose, we should find, I take it,
in this double character of tlie a-scending gallery, proof
positive that it was intended for astronomical observations.
Only au astronomer would have set the architect such a
problem.
But it may l>e said. How are observers to be stationed
along a slant gallery such as this, with smooth and much-
inclined floor t. Is not the idea that such an unstable place
was intended for exact astronomical observation almost as
-Pt
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
(note the diflerence between the paths y);, p... i}„ fj,,
P„ Py in Fig. 2, and the similarly-lettered paths in Fig. 3),
while as an architect he would know that they must be
closer at the top than at the bottom of a passage so lofty
as the great ascending gallery. Fig. 4, giving the actual
shape of the vertical section of the great gallery, shows
how the astronomical architects of the Great Pyramid
combined both qualities. Every part of the walls is
absolutely vertical, and yet the walls, regarded as wholes,
are aslant.
If we had not seen from the beginning the astronomical
absurd as the notion that th<^ top of tlic Pyramid was
meant for that purpose '!
Certainly, if a modem astronomer were planning a slant
fallerv fortransit work he would arrange for comfortaVile
observation (the only obser\ation whicli can be trustworthy).
Now the ramps, as Prof. Piazzi Sniytli calls them — the
long slant stone banks, shown in section at R and R in
Fig. 4 — seem as if they had some reference to such a
purpose. They are at a convenient height above the level
of the slant floor, insomuch that Smyth pictures his Arabs
leaning on them, stepping on to them, and so forth. But
268
KNOWLEDGE
[Jah. 27, 1882.
tlu-y woulil not serve of themselves to make observations
easy. The oliserver ha.s to ho set in tlie middle of the
gallery (at whatever jjoiiit of its length he may Ije), and
he ought to he comfortably seated. 1 think, if 1 were
planning for his comfort (which means fitness to make
good observations), I should liave seats set across from
rauip to ramp. They must be mo\able, of course. And if
there were not sometiiing along the ramps' upper Surface
to liold them, tlii-y would slide down, carrying the
observer most uncomfortably with them. 1 should, therefore,
have holes cut out along the tops of the ramps at convenient
distances ; the holes on one side being exactly opposite
those on the other. A set of cross benches should then be
made, with projections corresponding to these holes. Then
a l)ench could i)e set wherever it was wanted, or several at
a time, so that different observers miglit watch the same
transit across different parts of the field of \-iew, as along
P\> I'iy <7i) <{%> *"d r,, r.,. For some observations, indeed,
such holes would .serve yet another purpose. By means of
them, screens could be set up by which to diminish the
field of view and make the observations more e.xact. Or
on such screens, images of the sun (.showing the sun spots,
be it remarked) could be thrown through a small opening
on a screen, covering for the time the mouth of the gallery.
For such ob.servations the holes would be convenient, for
the seats they would be al).solutely essential.
Now no traces of the seats themselves, with their pro-
jections, cushions, etc., itc, have been found or were likely
to be found. I!ut holes in the lamps are there still ;
twenty-eight of them there were originally in each ramp,
though now only twenty-six remain, owing to the destruc-
tion of a ramp-stone. They are situated just as they
should be to suhserve the purposes I have mentioned — that
is, at erjual distances (of about 5.J feet), and each hole on
the east side of the gallery is exactly opposite the corre-
sponding hole on the left side.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE MOON.*
GALILEO oo(i Kepler, Huygheii.s and Hevelius, Ca-ssini, the
Uerscliels, ihh! h liost of other .i.stronoincrs haro tried in
vain to interjirot ruifjlit the telescopic aspuct of the moon, dming
a period of .iliout 270 years. Tired at length of being " uno
fomme inconiprise," the moon obtruded herself, Mr. Jones tells us,
on his eight, " in so prominent a manner that she seemed to say,
' take a look at mi.;' and the night was so favourable, that" Mr.
Jones " felt bound to accept the invitation." " Hound went the
tube, down wont the eyo, aiul instantly I tolescopically gazed for
the first time upon a scene of indescribable beauty; gazed and
wondered, wondered and gazed, and for a time could do
no other." Strange to say, the true meaning of the
lunar scenery did not at onoe present itself to Mr.
Jones's lively imagination. A second evening he observed her,
and still he " felt that the lunar rings ami plain walls were
monnments of a departed greatness." But on the third occasion
when the opportunity of obserWng the moon was embraced, "the
moon was young, in crescent phase, and the structtu-nl character of
the rings about the terminator came out beautifully. And now, O,
volcanic theory, as commonly understood, thou art doomed. . . .
Yes, there can be no mistake, the ring mountains of the moon are the
atolla (t/ an avricvl ocean mhieh once overspread that luminarij, and
the lunar walls, both of the ring mountains and walled plains, are
organic Rtnicturos, strictly analogous with the coral reefs of the
terrestrial oceans, while the whole aspect of the lunar structures
indicates that they an- principally of similar carbonate of lime
toxtnre."
Mr. Jones is no! only ipiick in fonning novel views, but expects
his readers to be ecpmlly quick in grasping them. He gives half a
page more to a comparison between the lunar features and those
described in Darwin's and Dana's books on Coral Reefs and Coral
• " First Stops to Selenography."
& Co., Dundee.)
By John Jones. (John Leng
Islands, and, forthwith, " thinks that enough has boon said to
cniiblo the reailor to (Ind out for himself that the crnterolog)- of the
moon, and the theory which regnnls the lunar walls and reefs ag
direct produets of eruption, is a pure myth."
Probably ifr have said enough to enable the reader to find out
for himself that Mr. Jones's theory is pure nonsense. There is not
the slightest resemblance between the lunar craters and coral-
line structures, whereas there is the closest possible resemblance
between the lunar features — craters, mountain ranges, high table-
lands, and level plains — and those terrestrial features which rcsuK
from subterranean forces, or what Humboldt calls the reaction of
the cru.'it against the interior. Mr. Jones says there are »omo
astronomers who h.ave ventured to doubt tho volcanic cbaractor of
the lunar asperities, citing, as an instance, tho Editor of Ksow-
LKDGB. lie is as much mistaken in this as in his coralline theory
(ho could hardly bo more). The remarks of tho Kditor, that some
of the regions in which small craters are exceedingly nnmerotis
look as though they bore the marks of former meteoric showers, or,
as Professor Xewcomb puts it, " that the figurrs of these inequali-
ties can be closely imitated by throwing pebbles upon the surface
of some smooth plastic mass," bears no such interpretation.
Neither Mr. Proctor nor Professor Ncwcomb has tho least doubt
that the volcanic theory of the lunar surface features is essentially
true.
BABYLONIAN DISCOVERIES.
IjlOR some time past rumours have been current of great dis-
Jj covcrios by an agent of tho French Government in the
Mesopotamian valley, and in the latter part of last year they took
definite shape ; the antiquities excavated were announced to be on
their way to the Louvre, and the successful investigator proved to
be M. do Sarzec, French Consul at Bussorah. The cases have
recently been unpacked, and their contents so far fulfil the ex-
pectations created, that M. Oppert, at the "Academy des Inscrip-
tions," has pronounced them to bo the most priceless treasures of
ancient art contributed to Europe since the great explorations of
Layard and Botta.
in the Gazette des Beauv Arts, a preliminary account of some of
tho statues which form part of the " find " is given by M. Menant,
an .\ssyriologist, accompanied by some exceedingly beautiful helio-
typcs of the objects themselves. This, and several other short
notices in the French press, furnish these intensely interesting
facts. The anticjuities, which all come from one magnificent
palace, are of all kinds — sculptured slabs, bas-reliefs, statues, frag-
ments of torra-cotta, and numerous inscribed bricks, some of them
with more than one hundred lines of cuneiform Avriting. Great
honour is due to M. de Sarzec for rescuing these valuable remains,
for they were buried beneath a part of Mesopotamia, close to the
junction of its two great rivers, deep dowi> in alluvial deposits, and
their recovery required much greater exertions than that of relics
in Assyria.
Had this collection only contained further additions to the fast-
growing remains of Babylonia and Assyria, it would have been
received with delight by archaeologists, but it fortunately presents
us vestiges of another primitive people of Chaldea, tho riches and
importance of whom are probably at present quite unappreciated.
Tho inscriptions (any full interpretation of which is as yet nn-
attempted) are in very archaic forms of cuneiform characters, and
embody a dialect quite distinct from the Semitic Assyrian, but
whether closely allied to, or identical with, the so-called Accadian,
cannot be pronounced from the fragments published.
Two statues of diorite, of which admirable facsimiles are given,
so far from being inferior precursors of Assyrian sculptures, are, if
anything, superior to the work of that people which they certainly
])recedeil, proving a far advanced stage of art for the nation by
whom they are executed. One is of a person seated, the other an
upright figure, both, unfortunately, decapitated, ,a condition whichj
seems to be that of all the statues exhumed. Each figure is clothed
in a long robe reaching to the ankles, but the correct outline of the
body is distinctly visible below the folds of raiment, as in the beat
periods of sculpture, and the dolicato arrangement of the drapery
is most pleasing. The feet, which are quite naked, are carefully
executed. The whole lower front of the dress of the seated statue
is covered with cuneiform writing of very old type, apparently
closely allied to tho extremely ancient texts, from wliich tho Bev.
W. Houghton proves the hieroglyphical origin of the ctmeiform
characters.
This seated figure appears to be that of an architect, for, on his
lap, is a tablet inscribed with a plan of a building, and some
instrument connected with architecture. Tho erect figure, if any-
thing more correctly carved, has a few lines of writing on tho right
front ef tin robe and the right arm. The attitude of the arms is in
Jan. 27, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
269
botli precisely similar, and so, probably, conventional, but well
suited to the clmracter of repose given to the statues, they being
crossed before the body, the right hand lower, and holding the left.
The loss of the heads of these tigiu-es is greatly mitigjited by the
possession of the exquisite head (belonging to a statue not yet
found), a copy of which is given. It bears an embroidered head-
dress similar in shape to the old Cossack shako. This, and a frag-
ment of ornament from a marble slab, completes the series of
illustrations at ]ireseut published.
As might bo expected from a "savant," JI. Slenant concludes his
monograph by a theory, and as it is one which, if correct, tends
greatly to support his previous arguments, it need not be said he
urges it, witli great confidence. For many years the advanced
school of cuneiform decipherers had, without exciting much opposi-
tion, decisively declared the old Accadian tablets to be in a Tura-
nian tongue, a language allied to that of the Tartar and Finnic
families, but lately this has been called in question most deter-
minedly by M. Ualevy, one of his arguments being, that if this
Accadian dialect were (instead of being, as he declared, merely an
esoteric priestly writing, intended by the initiated to be unintelli-
gible to ordinary readers) a language complete in itself, inherited
from a prior civilisation, where are the remains of this primitive
people ? Especially were he and his followers dubious as to a Tura-
nian civilisation, Turanians being celebrated in history rather by
the destruction than evolution of culture.
Now, here are the conijilete remains of an advanced state of art
and consequent wealth associated with ntimerous inscriptions of
great difficulty in a writing allied to the alleged Turanian Accadian,
or, at least, certainly separate from the Semitic Assyrian. To JI.
Uenant, an advocate of pre-Turanian culture, the opportunity is too
pood to resist, and he triuniphantlj- avers that here the "blow of a
pickaxe" has presented the missing proof.
Do the monuments them.selves offer support to either side ? None;
their evidence is only negative ; still, it is decisive as far as it goes.
The physical characteristics of the head are certainly non-Turanian,
and as decidedly non-Semitic. The features are of a high type of
beauty, allied to the Greek or Caucasian. Again, the statues have
no analogy either with Assyrian, Egyjitiau, or Hittite art. If a
resemblance must be sought, it would bo found nearest in the
figures from Branchida% obviously only a resemblance, not a real
connection. To impartial observers this result is not a surprise, for
whilst the Turaniani.>^ts and Semiticists have been refuting each
other, they remember that in the old ethnological list, never yet
contradicted by research, Cash is said not to be a son either of them
or of Japhet, but of }Iam. These wonderful discoveries furnish one
. certain lesson, taught before in Egypt, that it is not an invariable
rule that the greater the antiquity of relics of the past, the greater
the inferiority of execution they present. For the last thousand
years of its history, the architecture of the Nile valley presents
only a decline ; here, again, by the Euphrates and Tigris, the earliest
appears in some res|)ects to have been the better. Was there, then,
a still higher art before this again ; who shall say ? Only a few
years ago, Egi,-pt and Chaldea were accounted the first of nations,
and the existence of a great Hittite people only to be inferred from
» casual statement by Masoudi, an Arab historian.
All that can be said is, that whatever wonders are still buried be-
neath the soil of Western Asia can <mly be revealed by the spade.
M. de Sarzec has wielded it lavishly and to good purpose, and deserves
the gratitude of scholars and all who desire to know the history of
the human race, the world over.
A MEStBER OF THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL AeCHEOLORV.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE HOUSE MARTIN.
IT is a common delusion, founded upon imperfect information,
that animals guided by instinct do not modify their proceedings
by reason, bnt persevere in a mechanical repetition of the some
acts. Probably no creature with a complex nervous system that
was observed -mth sufficient attention, under a variety of con-
ditions, would be fonnd so deficient in intelligence as this theory
imagines. At any rate, it completely breaks down when applied
to our common binlg, aiul quite fails to explain the kind of facts to
be narrated coHceming the house martin. A cottage of many
gables, situate on the slope of a wide heath, was for many years
a favourite resort of this sociable bird,^ and in one season as
many as thirteen nests were established. Now, according to the
instinct theory-, they ought to have been all alike, but in eleven
oases there were obvious differences, some slight in appearance,
but probably all-important for the stability of the erection or the
comfort of its inhabitants. The simplest nest was quite open at
the top, sheltered by projecting eaves, and very ronghly finished
at the margin. Another variety was built quite up to the wood-
work, and had a side entrance left in the j-ongh. Others had
similar side entninces, neatly finished with a ronndod border. On a
north-westeni gable, quite on its top corner, reiieatcd efforts had
been made to construct a nest which would bravo the storm winds,
and after several failures and mendings, a sort of buttress was stuck
on below, evidently a new idea. On the southern side, a favourite
locality was under a projecting window, sufficiently high above the
sill of a lower window that no cat could roach it by a jump. In
this situation the birds built twin nests — semi-attached houses, and
they placed their doorways close to the wall on opposite sides, so
that when looking at them, the left abode had its entrance on tho
extreme left, and the right one on the extreme right. If the
entrances had been in any other position, the birds might have jostled
in going in and out. The walls of the cottage being rough cast, offered
a good foundation, but there is no tenacious clay near, and the martin
ai'chitects were never quite successful with two nf the highest,
gables, possibly on that account. Mischievous sparrows occasionally
stole a nest, but the right birds were generally very comfortable,
and reared their broods prosperously. It was, therefore, a matter
of surprise that, after coming for many successive years, repairing
old nests, and making new ones, they merely looked at the place,
and did nothing in the summer of 1881. The weather was unfavour-
able, the birds arrived late, and prepared houses some way off, per-
haps from their offering more sheltered situations. Towards the
close of the martin season, tho custom of tho old birds for many years
was to give the young ones some building lessons, and lines of
foundation, several feet long, were usually attached to the cottage
walls. Some of them served for the commencement of nests in tho
following season, but most of them seemed merely school exorcises.
If these acts were all done under blind instinct, there is a kind of
blindness much like seeing, ami it may be doubted whether the mud
huts of the poor Irishmen exhibit much more intelligence than the
martin's homes. He^jry J. Slack.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
ON reading the article " Intelligence in Animals," page 177,
and also the previous one on " Brain Troubles," page 175, it
struck me that human beings might, perhaps, lessen their "brain
troubles" and improve their "intelligence'' by trying to acqtiiro
a curious habit possessed by some animals, especially the dog. I
allude to the way they have of saving themselves up, so to speak,
when not on duty, which nearly everj-one must have noticed, and
which the following instance will illustrate : — They have, at my
father's house, a small black and tan terrier, Toby III., who has
taken upon himself the duty of escorting all strangers to tho door
on their leaving the hou.se. On the slightest sign of a departure,
Toby, although lying on the sofa snoring and apiiarcntly fast asleep,
instantly starts up in a fearful state of excitement, .and with every
appearance of umlying fury and hatred, fairly screams the visitor
out. In less than a quarter of a minute he is once more com-
fortably asleep. It would be interesting to know how dogs have
acquired this enviable knack of disengaging their attention when
not required ; perhaps it is partly because they are, unlike " the
liter.ni-y gentleman," not "exposed to much anxiety respecting
family nuitters."
Some time ago a friend brought us a small terrier, under the
impression that it was our Toby that had got lost. It was an
amiable little creature, and, unlike Toby, willing to make friends
with anyone. On being noticed, it would look up, shake its head,
and actually laii'jk with satisfaction. If laughter be a sign of
intelligence— and it is an attribute generally supjiosed to be cmfined
to the most intelligent of all animals, man — our little friend must
havo been i(uite an "infant phenomenon." This is tho first
instance I know about of a dog laughing; but my wife assures mo
they had a dog which, although bold and courageous, would, on
being left in the house alone, cry " real tears," jnst like a child.
J. H.
GHOSTS.
I AM asked by " T. D." [204 and 203] to explain the " War-Offico
Ghost," in which, he says, three friends, in different parts of
England, saw a fourth friend at the corrected date of his death
abroad. And Mr. Ebenczer Kelby cites the case of Lord Brougham
(mentioned, if I mistake not, in his Autobiography), in which that
illustrious statesman is .said to have belield a friend's "ghost ;" tho
" ghost " appearing to him. by mutual pre-mortem agreement, as the
spectre of the first deceased of the two. In reply, permit mo
briefly to say, that before one can form an opinion upon any such
270
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Jan. i'7, 1882.
npimrpntly myBti>rioii« cnsc«, ono must haTo full and complete
ovidimco, not only of times nnd ncaBonp, but of all other c-ircuni-
KtiinroH conncft«Ml with each caw. 'I'hero must lie no shadow of
disoropancy~no lack of comiiloti- and full ajfrocniont in every jot
nnd tittle of ovidenco, boforo a sciontiBt can take the ease under liiv
coiiaidoration.
To lay the explanation of Rnch cnBeff within the domain of
the }«upomatunil, lieeauso we may not ho able exactly to Katiafy
others or oursoIvoH of a rational cause for them, is, of course,
hut a sorry way of escaiK- from our diflioilties. But I have, at
least, ono idea to fall back upon in treating of so-«illo^l *' warniiiir
dreams," and tho appearance of apparitions at expected and uiiex-
pi"Cte<l times, and that is, the idea of coincidrncen. If a persim tells
me ho dreamt of a person's death, nnd that the person can bo
proved to have died at tho moment ho dreamed of the event, or
even if he tolls mo ho saw the ajiparition of his deceased friend, I
reply that ho may bo indulfrinj,' in the fallacy of post hoc evjo
propter hoc. I would further reply—being a disbeliever in
"ghosts" of all kinds as visitations from the nether world, at
least — that the explanation of these events does not lie outside the
doctrine of coincidences. It is, in other woixls, a mere fortuitous
circnmstance that tho dream or the " ghost " (i.e., tho subjective
image in one's own brain) has apjieared at the time (not always
exact) of the person's death. If I can show that as startling coinci-
dences occur in our waking life, I m.iy claim to have, at least, shown
tho possibility and probability of their occurring in the case of dreams
and ghosts. Here is ono well-known coincidence, as startling to my
mind as any ghost story 1 liave ever heard. I quote from my
recently published " Natnralist's Note-Book " (Chatto & Windus),
page 39 : — "The well-known case of Joseph Lesurqnos, whose mis-
fortune forms tho incident on which more than one melodrama and
novel has been founded, has recently been brought anew under
jiublic notice through Mr. Henry Irving's perfoi-maHce in the
' Lyons Mail,' and by liis assumption of the dual rule of Lesurques
and his villainous double. The case actually occurred in France in
1791-, and its details are sufficiently well known to obviate the
necessity for their repetition here. Charged with robbery and
murder, tho innocent Lesurques was recognised, identified, and
sworn to as the real culprit by various disinterested wit-
nesses. Notwithstanding strong exertions which were made
to save his life, and, despite his previous high moral cha-
racter and probity of conduct, Lesurques was sentenced to
death, and executed. Soon afterwards, tho real culprit, a man
who bore the closest possible likeness to Le.«nrqnea, was brought to
justice. It wag then seen that the similarity in features, statuic,
build, and manner was so close as to havo deceived the witnesses
who gave evidence at the trial. On those grounds alone, and as a
matter of common recognition and identitication, the unfortunate
resemblance of Lesnniues to the real culprit had xmwittingly led
them into a ' Comedy of Errors,' which resulted in a legal tragedy
as its denouement. But more extraordinary to relate still is the in-
cident, well-nigh nnparalleled in tho annals of coincidences, that
Lesurques was inarked by a scai- on the forehead, and by another
on the hand, whilst the real criminal likowi.se possessed similar
markings. Surely " the grim irony of Fate "could no further go
than this, in cansing chance likeness to assume a form and to
entail consequences so fatal and sad as in the case of Joseph
Lesurques."
And, lastly, as to a " ghost " being seen by more than one pei'son,
or regarding the possibility of several persons being collectively
deceived, lot mo relate the famous case of the Crystal Palace fire.
When the wing of the Palace was burnt the animals in the menagerie
were believed to have perished in the flames. But, as the flames
progressed, the enger and excited crowd of spectators were horrified
to behold the chimpanzee struggling to escape from a horrible
death on one of the piimacleaof the building. With eager eyes ihe
crowd followed every movement of tho ape, and loud was the
sympathy for the unfortunate animal. Imagine the seqnel. When
the chimpanzee was more nearly approached, the object which, to
the eyes of thousands, had presented tho exact reproduction of an
ape, was discovered to be merely a fluttering rag of canvas, the
movements of which had sinnilnted in their eyes the attitudes of the
monkey. .\fter tho occurrence of such an incident, I nmst be
pardoned if I feel somewhat scejitical, even when the united testi-
mony of two or three jiersons is hurled at my head by way of con-
vincing me that a ghost was thereby necessarily proved to be no
more ligment of the brain. " AxniiKW Wilson.
Poin>*9 ExmAOT is a certain ear© for Khoumatitira and Gout.
Pond'd Eitrnct in a certain euro for Hiemorriioids.
PoiiH'8 Kxrriict JH n cerlain euro for »iirfil:.'ic ntiins,
Pond'8 Extract »ill h.-iil Ilunin and Wounils.
Pond'e Extract will cure Sprains nnd Bniiiier>.
Sold by all CheraiBts. Get the f^onuine.
ARTIFICIAL INDIGO.
IT may be IntcroHting to many readers of this magazine to know
something about the production <if the dycHtulT indigo by
artificial means, for it is now to some extent obtained pmctically
by the cheniical process known as synthesis, from one of the con-
stituents of the tar obtained from tin- distillation of coal for the
production of gas.
Previous to the introduction of this colouring mutter into Europe,
about the middle of the sixteenth century, the indigo contained in
wood (haliii linctorin) was employed lor dyeing, although the
Roman.s and Greeks used indigo for painting; up to tho present
time the name " wood" is still in vogue in many dyeworks, tho
vats in which tho dyeing is carried on being culled "wood vats"
and tho dye-house " wood-house."
The following is intended to give a short account of the manner
in wkich this valuable colouring matter, so largely produced in
India from the cultivation of the indigo jilant, is bnilt np by
chemical processes. ludigo is comjiosed of carbon, oxygen, hy-
drogen, and nitrogen, and is represented by Uic formula C'gHjSO,
showing the number of atoms of each of its clementarj" consti-
tuents. The naphtha obtained wlien coal tar is distilled, contains a
nuTuber of chemical comjjonnds — benzol, toluol, cumol, A'c. ; it is
from the second of these (toluol, C;H„) that indigo is obtained. By
adding an atom of oxygen to indi^ro, Krdmann and Laurent formed
a compound named isatin (CgUjXO^,); and aftenvards Baeycr
succeeded in converting this comjiound back again into indigo
by the reduction of its cliloride ; and from a knowledge of
the constitution of this isatin, the two chemist.''. Claissen
and Skadvvell, have succeeded in building it up from a nitro
compound of benzoic acid (called ortho-niti-o-bcnzoic acid). It is
pretty well known that this acid is contained in gum benzoin,
from which it was exclusively obtained until within the last few
years. Now, however, it is produced froni toluol by simple but in-
teresting chemical processes. The nitro-compound of benzoic acid
has one of its hydrogen atoms displaced by chlorine, and on bring-
ing this chloride in contact with silver cyanide, the chlorine and
cyanide exchange places, forming the insoluble compound silver
chloride and the nitrite. This nitrite, heated with potassium
hydrate, exchanges the cyanogen for an atom of oxygen and hydrogen,
producing ortho-nitro-phenyl-glyoxalic acid and potassium cyanide.
The oxygen associated with the nitrogen forming the nitro group,
is displaced by a similar process to one already largely employed
for converting the nitro compounds of benzol, toluol, A'c, into their
corresponding amines or amido compounds (aniline toluidine) ; that
is, by contact with nascent hydrogen by the abstraction of water
from the amido compound just formed from ortho-nitro-phenyl-
glyoxalic acid isatin is obtained, which, as we have already seen, can
be converted into indigo by the process discovered by Baeyer.
This chemist has also succeeded in producing isatin by another
process from toluol, first pi-oducing phenyl-acetic acid.
The colouring matter is obtained pi-actically by Baeyer from a
compound found in gum, benzoin, and other natural products,
known as cinnamic-acid. This is the proces-s employed : — The acid
])roduced by natural means being too expensive, its synthesis is
resorted to ; toluol is also, in this instance, the staiting-point j it is by
the substitution of one of its atoms of hydrogen by chlorine, converted
into a compound named benzyl chloride, which, by a iirojier treat-
ment with nitric acid, is converted into oil of bitter almonds by the
displacement of one atom each of the monatomic elements, hy>
drogen and chlorine, by the diatomic element o.xygen. This oil
is also called benzaldehyd. It was discovered in 1856 by Bertag-
nini that this compound, on treatment with acetyl-c'iloride, is
converted into cinnamic-acid. W. U. Pcrkin, F.R.S.. has, how-
ever, discovered a more practical and cheaper method for tho
synthesis of this acid. Two atoms of hydrogen in the toluol are
substituted by two of chlorine, forming benzyl-dichloride. and this
compound, heated with acetate of soda, yields cinnaroic acid.
Acting on this acid with nitric acid there is formed a nitro-com-
pound— the ortho-nitro-cinnamic acid. This is caused to combine
with two atoms of bromine, by which the dibrom-nitro-phenyl-
propionic acid is obtained. By the trr'utnient of this last-named
compound with caustic soda or potash, the two atoms of bromine
are removed, forming sodium bromide, whilst two atoms of hydro-
gen are also removed, forming a molecule of water, thus producing
a new compound having two atoms of bromine and two of hydrogen
less than the last-mentioned comjiound, the new jiroduct beinf;
oriho -nitro -phenyl - propiolic -acid, and this, by reduction with
hyilrogen, forms indigo, carbonic acid, and water. It is the
ortho - nitro • phenyl - ]u-opiolic - acid which is supplied to the
calico printers, who, on printing its .■ilkaliue solution with a
reducing agent, form an indigo white on the fabric, and on
steaming it is oxydised into the ]<\tw indigo blue. M. Rosen-
tiehl siiys, "n mixture of gnni water containing tho above-
,Ian.
1882.1
• KNOWLEDGE •
271
rarntioned acid, aloiip with carbonate of soda and glucose" is
I Inted. "The dcsif.'n is siarcolv visible at first, all the Hubstances
!i;4 colom-loss. But if the cloth is exposed for two miimu-s to a
■i\|>erature bordering on 100° C the design appears, and the fonna-
!i of indigotine (i.e. pure indigo) is so plentiful that the colour
i.rars black. Washing with water removes tho soluble matter,
i indigo blue becomes visible with all its characters, and is inti-
itelj- fixed upon the fibre." Although tho manufacture of this
•resting compound has been, according to the Tfxtile Manu-
■t'lrer, given up bv one Continental factory, it undoubtedly only
mains a matter of time for the further and more practical develop-
nt of this new industry, and most probably it will become as
ccssful a competitor with the natural product as alizarine is with
idder, the cultivation of which has almost ceased, the beet being
Uivatcd in its place for the manufacture of sugar.
V
.SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
CflKRESPONDEXT writes :— " I find fault with the seeming
tendency of science to account for all 'physical' and
emical ' laws as being merely due to ceitaiu fixed laws of nature.
- iontific men may say that by natiue they really mean God,
that nature was made by God ; but the fact remains, tliat
ose who learn may or will say Nature does everything her-
If. there's no need for a God. Lectm-ers are too fond of
■!i words as the following: 'These are the means by which
uure works. In this case Natm-e adopts such and such a
uisc." When some weak-minded people (and there are many snch)
■ constantly hearing the one refrain of the whole law of existence,
ing merely a question of 'chemical' decay and 'chemical re-
roiluction,' they say there is no God but these; they will per-
• hance ask the question — "Was there ever any beginning ? Will
■ lii're ever be any end ':' ' One of our great men made use of the
■v urds that man was nothing but a ' shovelful of pliosphates.'
-icli words spread quickly, not for good but for much evil. These,
r, are the points to wliich I would draw attention. I, for
1 •• would gladly .^ee a really good correspondence anent this
litter. Yet even in this case, I would fear that some of the argu-
I .iits advanced on the side of science would cause much mischief
iHingst those of weak minds or weak faith."
We receive so many letters of this kind, that we think it well
■ admit so much as we have tiuoted of our correspondent's letter
il that is essential to the argument has been left) ; but it is only
ll'iwed to a])pear 'as the Helots were allowed by the Spartans to
low the bad effects of indulsrence. To the kind of correspondence
'lich our correspondent invited (yet deprecates, thougli seeking to
litiate it) our columns are emphatically not open. We can neither
itler scientific facts to be advanced as oppugning nor as sui>-
•rting specific religious doctrines. If scientific statements were
iide here which seem, whether to "those of weak mind or
1 iF?eak faith," or to able reasoners, to be oi)posed to rcli-
i'us doctrines which they hold, our correspondence columns
"aid be open to scientific objections to such statements. Tuey
add be open to letters showing how such statements may
■ i-cconciled with the religious doctrines apparently oi)pugued,
ithey were open to suggestions on the other side. But the
' ilance will be held fairly so far as lies in our power. We
,'ard the wider questions of natural religion as within onr scope,
It ihose who wisli to attack specific religious opinions from the
ie of science must seek some other arena ; and so also must those
lio wish to attack science from the side of religion. Onr purpose
■ 10 is to seek for scientific truth. We are in no way concerned
Ith the religious tenets of our contributors or correspondents.
iiose, on the one hand, who are unsati.sfiod with science unless
..-cd as a weapon wherewith to attack religious opponents; and
those, on the other, who ask, first, not whether a scientific
statement is true, but whether it Qan be reconciled with their
religious views, will find science, as treated in those pages, alto-
gether unsatisfactory to them. If there are few who do not belong
either to one category or to the other, we shall have to admit that
Knowledge is a mistake. But we should not change cur plan ; we
should simply abandon our purpose. — Ed.]
Separate Soixds ox One W'ire. — JI. Slaiche lias found by ex-
periment that sounds of diffei-ent characters produced from two
separate sources can be sent simultaneously on one wire and rec.ived
, separately. Ue used at the receiving station two telephones of
different resistances, and at the transmitting station caused a musi-
cal box to be set going on a microphone of small resistance, while
an induction telephone transmitter was spoken into at the same
time. The musical sounds were reproduced in the telephone which
had tho least resistance, and the vocal sounds in the other, so that
with the two telephones to tlie ears, the music could be heard by one
ear and tho speech by the other. — Scientific American.
The FiiENCii Sociat, Probi-em.— At the beginning of tho present
century, with a population of not more than twenty-seven millions,
there were actually more births in France than took place m the
year ISiSO. M. Legrand, in his well-known essay on " Lo Manage
et les Mceurs en France," states that between 1800 and 18I.> the
number of children bom per marriage averaged 4-21- ; since then ii
had sunk graduallv. and in 1860 averaged only 30;i for the five lire-
ceding vears. It rose again nntil 1805, but has since declined ; and
in the'year 1871, the date of tho Franco-German War, reached its
lowest "depth of 2-26. In 1872 the average rose to its highest for
the last few years, namely 267, and in 1877 it was 255. M. Legrand
asserts, on the strongest possible gi-ounds, that this decrease in the
birth-rate of his countiy continues, and is becoming more marked
as the years go bv. It is a noteworthy and, perhajis, ominous fact,
that lately the number of mai-riages have not decreased. Indeed,
there are actually more marriages per cent, in France than in
England, the average per hundred being in the former "SS, and in tho
latfer -86.
Asbestos Fire-pkoof Paixt. — A series of interesting experiments
on a practical scale were recently carried out in tho grounds of tho
Crystal Palace with asbestos paint, in order to test its qualities as
a protective covering against tire. This paint is a new and special
preparation of asbestos, and is being introduced by the United
Asbestos Company, of 161, Queen Victoria-street, E.C. The asbestos
in a finely divided state is mixed with a fluid material, and is used in
a similar manner to other paints. Unlike them, however, it is
uninflammable, and not only .so, but is capable of communicating
this valuable attribute to such substances as it may bo applied to.
This applies alike to cotton fabrics and to timber or other in-
flammable materials used for constructive or decorative
purposes. Hence its great value in connection with theatrical
properties and appliances, especially those connected with the
statre arrangements. It was to demonstrate this valuable feature
that the experiments were carried out, in the presence of the
Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, the representative of the Lord
Chamberiain, Captain Shaw, and a number of other ladies and
gentlemen who had been specially inWted, besides the visitors
at the Palace generallv. The first experiment consisted in
submitting to the action of fire some linen, cotton, and
r^auze fabrics which had been partially treated with the paint
On setting fire to them, the unprotected portions quickly blazed
awav into tinder, the protected parts remaining intact. The ne.xt
exiie'riment consisted in placing on one part of a fierce fire some
blocks of wood painted with asbestos paint, and on another part
similar blocks of wood not painted. In the course of a short time
the unpaintcd blocks were entirely consumed, while those which
were painted resisted the action of fire for a long time without
sho«Hn<' sitnis of deterioration. At length, however, the fierce heat
of the fire raised some blisters, which on bursting admitted the
intense heat, which charred the wood, the extenial coating of paint,
however, being greativ preserved. In the final experiments,
four timber erections were employed, two being about 1- tt.
wide bv 8ft. deep and 10ft. high, and representing theatrical stages,
with ropes, curtains, and effects. Tho other two were open timber
sheds, about 6 ft. square in plan and 8 ft. high. One of each of
these tw.) classes of structures was protected with the asbestos
paint, tho other two being of plain timber. Piles of shavings
and other inflammable materials were placed under and upon
tlie floor of each strtictuie, and lights were applied to nil
simultaneously. The unprotected stage qiuckly caught tire,
and iu about twelve minutes it was a heap of blazing rums.
The unprotected shed, being open-sided, did not take fire so
soon nor burn so rapidly, but the flames eventually got hold
of it. Both the protected stage and shell resisted the effects ot
fire to the end most successfully, although infiamuiablo materials,
including naphtha, were occasionally employed. In the course of
half-au-hour some portions of the fittings were found to be
smouldering away, but at no time was there any outburst of fl.ame
from the protected materials. The interior of the woodwork, ho^y-
ever, was well blistered, bat the wonder is that it ehowi-d so little
evidence of damage. The gauze and lighter fabrics disappeared at
an early stage, but only by crumbling gradually away in an mean-
descent condition, and never once by bursting into Hame. These
results are highly satisfactory, and fully demonstrate tho value ot
the asbestos paint as a fire-resisting medium in respect of its
application to theatrical stages and effects, or, in fact, to any other
structures or their fittings. On returning to the jialaco after t he
cxiieriments the visitors were gratified by a private view of the
concert-room, which was beautifully illuminated for the first time
by the Edison electric light. The demonstration was distinctly not
a public one, but was only the engineer's experimental trial of the
engines and Edison machines, which have just been pot in position.
KNOWLEDGE •
[Jan.
1882.
£cttris( to tl)C ebitor.
f 7^# Editor doe» not hold himtf{f rttpouMtbU for the opinion* of hit rorrfrpondentn.
B» cannot undtriakt to return munutcriptt or to eorretpomJ trith tht^r tcritrr$. All
commnHieation$ $hould be at thort a* pottihle, cOMutently icitk full and vleur ttate-
"."■]
tnentt of the trrtter'
All Editorial communis
ail Bunnf$» eommunicati
wtreet, W.C.
All Remittance)!, Chequ
M'fttrt. Wymnn l( Son».
•* All Utters to the Editor will he Xumhtred. For ro
correnpojuirnt*, vhen r^erriiip to any letter^ irill oblige by
and the pafje on ichich it appears.
All Lfff'rrtor Qneriet to the Editor vhich require attention in the current ittue of
Knowlf.dok, 0houUi reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication. ^^^^^
it«nined and deopified who is not in a
t anything more adverse to accuracr
r should he addressed to the Editor of KvowVKnnH ;
I to the Publishers, at the OJice, 7%, Great Queen-
and Post-Office Orders should he wtade payable to
nienc, 0/ r,/,,,„r,.
iitioniity iti ttuintter
" In knowlpdce, that man only is to be
otate of transition "Nor is tfa
lllan fixitj of opinion," — FaraJuy.
'* There is no harm in mHliiiif; a mistake, hut preat hanr
me a roan wlio makes no mistakes, and I will show y
nothing." — lAthig.
making r
<3\\x Corrr£(pontirnrf Column*
CHINESE CALCULATION.
[DuRi.NG my first visit to America, in the winter of 1873-71-, a
Cliinese calculating miiu pave some remarkable proofs of the
rapidity with which the persons of )iis profession in China can
execute some of tlio common processes of calculation. His rapiditv
in exccntin}; long sums, or what with most would be long sums, in
addition, was remarkable. A scries of numbers, each of fom- digits,
were named to him as fast as the}- could be entered by a clerk,
and when the last of some thirty had been called out, he was told
to add them together. " It is already done," he said, naming the
total. When the numbers as entered by tlie clerk had been care-
fully added together, it was found that the total so named was
correct in every figure. It seems to me that there is something in
this feat which, though akin to the power some of our banking
clerks possess of adding in a single operation numbers of four digits,
yet so far surpasses that ])ower as to indicate the use of some
entirely different .system of arithmetical training, for I am given
to understand that what the Chinese calculator did. though it
Bcenicd so remarkable, fell far short of what many Chinese com-
puters could do. In fact. I was told he was only an ordinary com-
puter. Can any of our readers give any account of Chinese arith-
metic, or of theii' processes of rapid calculation ? — Ed.]
MIND-DOCTORS.
[224] — What JloliJre ridiculed in the doctors of his age is true,
to some degree, of the mind-doctors of the present time ; there is a
tendency among them to tlircatcn all maimer of evil consequences
from quite ordinary and familiar symptoms, unless their aid is quickly
called in. It occurs to me, by-thc-way (my momentary forgetfulness
on the point is one of the slight symptoms in question, and not, I
venture to assure myself, a sign of ajiproaching mania), that in
" Monsieur de Pourceaugnac," Moli^re lias satirized the verv ten-
dency with which we are here specially dealing: — " Qu'aiiisi no
Hoit," 8ay.s the First Doctor to the Second, speaking of the unfor-
tunate Dc Pourceaupnnc, "ponr diagnostique incontestable de ce
quo jo vous dis, vous n'avez (pi'il considercr ce gr-and scrienx quo
vous voyez, cette trisfessc aceompngnee de craintc et de defiance,
sigiies jiathognomoniqtics et individucls de cetto maladio, si bicn
marquee chcz le divin Hippocrate; cette physionomie, ces ycux
rnnges et hagards, cette grande barbe, cetto habitude du corps,
menue, gr^le, noire ot vclue, les(|uel8 signcs le deuotcnt tres-
afTect^ de cette maladic, j)roci!dantc du vice des hypocondres;
laquellc maladie, par laps ue temps. n<ttnrali.sfe, cnvieljie, habilui'e
et ayant pris droit de bourgeoisie chez lui, ponrroit bien degenerer
ou on manic, ou en phthisic, ou en ajioplexie, ou memo en fine
fr^ncsie et furenr. T(mt ceci suppose, puisqu'unc maladio bien
connuc est il derai gu<'-rie, car, vjnoti nulla est curalio iiiiirbi, il no
vous sera pas difficile de convcnir des remides que vons devons
faire h, monsieur," and so forth. Ceuebki'm.
8EA SERPENT, OK SKAWEED :-
[225] — If I am rightly inforniofi you are a believer in the sea
Bciiient. Tlie following extract from a daily |>a|icr may serve to
change your ideas on that subject ;■ -''A giKid wa «or|icnt story —
rntln!r lictter than those which are often published about this time
<»f year — comes from I^tadras, in the shajie of reminiscences of
Captain Taylor when lying at anchor in Table Hay some years ago.
One day an ' cnonnous monster,' about a hundred feet in length,
was seen advancing with snake-like motion round (Jreen Point into
the harbour. The head appeareil to be crowned with long hair, snd
the keener sighted amongst the obwr\-er» could see the eyes and
distinguish the features of the monster. The militarj- were called
out, and after peppering the object at a distance of five hundred
yards, and making several |)alpal>le hits, it was observed to become
i|uite still, and boats ventured off to complete the dist ruction.^ The
' sea serpent ' proved to be a mass of gigantic seaweed, which had
been niululated by the ground swell, and had become quiescent
when it reached the still waters of the bay. Probably if marimrg
wonld attack the ' monster ' in the same manner whenever it is
seen, we should hear little more of the sca-serj)eiit." — 1 am, sir,
yours &c.," J. DAWKI^s.
[Mr. Dawkins appears to think that we have never heard of sea
weed being mistaken for sea serpents. The following extract from
an essay on Strange Sea Creatui-es, p. 223 of " Pleasant Ways in
Science," may change his views in that respect ; — " Wien the
British ship Brazilian was becalmed . . . Jlr. Ilerriman, the com-
mander, perceived something right abeam, about half a mile to the
westward, stretched along the water to the length of about 25 or
30 feet, and perceptibly moving from the ship with a steady, sinaous
motion. The head, which seemed to be lifted several feet above
the waters, had something resembling a mane, running do«ii to the
floating portion, and within about 6 feet of the tail, it forked out
into a sort of double tin. Mr. Herriman, his first mate Mr. Long,
and several of the passengers, after surveying the object for some
time, came to the unanimous conclusion that it must be a sea-
serpent. As the Brazilian was making no headway, Jlr. Herriman,
determining to bring all doubt to an issue, had a boat lowered down,
and taking two hands on board, together with Mr. Boyd, of Peter-
head, near Al>crdeen, one of the passengers, who acted as steers-
man under the direction of the captain, they approached the
monster. Captain Herriman standing on the bow of the boat, armed
with a harpoon to commence the onslaught. The combat, how-ever.
was not attended with the danger which those on board appre-
hended ; for, on coming close to the object, it was found to be
nothing more than an immense i)iecc tif seaweed, evidently de-
tached from a coral reef, and drifting with tlie current, which sets
constantly to the westw.ard in this latitude, and wliich, together
«-itli the swell left by the subsidence ot the gale, gave it the
sinuous, snake-like motion."
As a mere matter of detail, it may be remarked that there is
some difference bctw-een the distance of half a mile in this case,
of 500 yards in the other case, and in yet another case of a sea
weed sea serpent 800 yards, and the distance of 200 yanis at which
Captain M'Quhac, and other officers of the frigate Dwdalus, saw
what they st.ited to be " beyond all question a livinganimal, moWng
rapidly through the water against a cross sea and within five points
of a fresh breeze, with such velocity, that the water was surging
against its chest as it passed along at a rate jirobably of ten miles
per hour." Captain M'Quhae would not go after his seaweed
because he saw ho had no chance of overhauling it, so that for sea-
weed, travelling against the wind, it was tolerably active. Albeit
Mr. Dawkins will not find a word in the essay above-named imply-
ing that we believe in the sea serjient. A paddling, long-necked
sea creature, probably akin to the i'lcjiosniirH.*, seems suggested
by that portion of the multitudinous evidence relating to supposed
sea serpents which is trustworthy. Such a creature would not bo
a sea serpent, however. — Eo.]
COLD SATURATED SOLUTION.— MARINE BOILERS.
[226] — In answer to query 185, Thorjx!, in Jotoii. Chem. Soc. for
October, 1881, gives a method for estimating total salts in watei-.
In the same .lournal. Page & Keightley [2], X 5t>G, give amounts
of nitrate and chloride of K. and Na. in cold saturated solution.
Can find no reference to methods in DiV. Chew.. If Messrs. G. &
S. want a method for separate salts, there is no better way th.-ui
adding excess of salt, heating and shaking, then cooling to 60* (this
applies equally for common salt) ; orjif salt less soluble in hot water,
saturate the solution at a lower tem]>eniture, and let it rise to 60°
Then take 250 c.c. and make volnmetric analyses. W. G. must be
wrong in assuming that grease is jiresent in boiler crust. Dust, or
anv substance that will not wet, n.akc water sj>heroidal.
C. T. B.
Ja-v.
1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
273
IXTELLIGENXE IN ANIMALS.
[227] — Reading to an old sportsnion Tour article on this subject
in No. 6, and the correspondence which followed, he related to me
how he used to acconi|>any a, friend possessing a pointer (bitch),
who, when her master missed tliree consecutive shots, woaUl slink
home, heedles.s of any calls to remain in the field. The friend alluded
to was a first-rate shot, and rai-ely missed his mark, except after an
evening's extra glass.
In thus administering a rebuke to her master, the animal, I think,
exhibited a rare amount of humour. It could not be s;iid that the
dog herself was unmindful of her own duties, for on one occasion,
when her master went home to lonch, returning after two hours'
absence, she was found at the same spot where left, pointing to a
hare lying at the bottom of a hedge. This, of course, was due to
ptKxl training, but her conduct in the former instance must have
been the result of reasoning. A. Gaubert.
ELECTRICAL IMAGES.
[228] — Having baen lately reading Jlaxwell's " Elementary
Treatise on Electricity," I have been able to follow the reasoning
and do all the mathematics except one part on page 85 relating to
electrical images. The diflSculty is to obtain his results without a
clumsy and laborious process of multiplying. He says: "If we
now write —
. a'*
1 qaa = a + + etc.
, C^-i)'
' I —ah a-b- .
qab = . — — —etc,
c c(<r»-a»-fc=)
i,hb = b +
c'-c
etc.
. the whole charge on the sphere a will be
Ka = qaa Pa + qab Pb,
and that of the sphere b will be
Eb — qab Pa + qbb Pb."
That is all clear enough. But he goes on to say : "From these
results we may calculate the potentials of the two spheres when
their charges are given, and iJE we neglect terms involving 'b, we
find—
Po = i Ea
Eb
Pb =
Ea
(\ - ^^1_\ Eh."
\b c'{c'-a'J
The second result, I cannot for the life of me make out, though
1 have tried lots of times. On page 186, Fig. 48, it seems to me that
the direction of the current in the branch C 0, should be from C to
0, and not, as in the figure, from 0 to C, the battery being placed
, at E. It occurs in the large treatise as in the elementary one.
Surely the Editor should have seen that such an important matter
as Wheatstone's Bridge should have bet'U correctly represented.
He is not reputed to be over mercif al towards the blunders of other
minor planets. A Student.
MORTALITY FROM CANCER.
[229]— In an article on the "Duration of Life" (Knowledge,
No. XL, p. 228), Mr. AUinson states that diseases of more ad-
■ need life, "such as cancer," are increasing in fatality. Is it a
t that cancer is increasing, or is there only an increase in the
: ;inbcr of recorded cases, due to a readier diagnosis on the part of
medical men ? In the Registrar-General's Report for 1879, the
total average mortality from cancer is stated at 0'5 per 1,000 of
T"'i'ulation. If this is correct, my neighbourhood contrasts badly
•v;th the country in general. In the south-western suburb of Lon-
II, in which I live, there have been in my own small circle of
iuaintance within the past year five cases of cancer in elderly
rsons, in four instances abdominal. Can Mr. Allinson point to
y trustworthy statistics in support of his statement, which my
Iierience latterly goes far to confirm ? It seems to me a question
' 1' great interest whether the occurrence of this most frightful
fease is influenced by locality. H. A. Everest.
RICHTER'S DREAM.
'' [230] — Richter's Ijeantiful " Dream of the Universe," or " Traum
tier das All," is in the book called " Der Komet," vol. 28, p. 129, of
the 34 vol. Berlin edition. Loosely translated by De Quincey,
vol. 14, p. 134. J. KlKKMAN, M.A.
ARRANGED SQUARES.
[231] — In the Villa Albani, near Rome, opposite the foot of the
staircase, as you descend, is a stone tablet let into the wall. On it
is engraved the subjoined arrangement of the square of 9, with the
quaint Latin inscription, which I have copied and annexed to the
square figure : —
" Qxittdratus
ilaximus.
Lector si doctus
admirator ; si ig-
norus scito quad-
ratus hie mathe-
matice constructus
ah uno usque ad
octoginta unum
3321 unitates in-
cludit qntelibct ip-
sius columns; tarn
in linea planilqnam
in recti et trans-
versali unitatis 369
qua) ductaj per
noreni easdem 3321
unitates rcstituunt
et appellatur maxi-
mus quia maximam
possidet extensionem. Vale.— Caietanus Gilardonus Eomanus
philotechnos inventor a.d. mdcclxvi."
The inscription is in capital letters, and without punctuation.
I am unable to discover any principle of construction in the arrange-
ment of figures, and, therefore, do not see how it admits of
unlimited extension. Can you suggest what the principle of
construction is ?
15
58
29
34 63
49 74
41 6
7
27
31
81 23
76 80
18 20
38
8
30
71 j 47
20 21
78 56
73
19
25
42 1 10
33 50
65 52 j
- I
22
55
72
1 1 45
60 . 28
16 70
79
35
39
66
2
48 ; 17
24 59 1
14
64
69
12
77
3 iSl
68 11
46
36
61
53
40
43 4
54 32
!
— —
,^.^_
1 1 .^_
■ — - -■
1 75
67
13
9
62
37 1 44
5 57
As regards the squares of even numbers, I have before me the
square of 4, 6, and 8, but can discover no principles whatever in
them. The square of 4— absurdly called " the game of 34," every
body knows. The square of 6 stands thus : —
3 X 37
= 111
1 30 19 18 12 31
32 26 23 20 8 2
33 9 16 22 28 3
4 10 15 21 27 34
35 29 14 17 11 5
G 7 24 13 25 36
The square of 8 stands thus -. —
= 4 X 05
= 260
1 16 48 33 25 24 56 57
63 55 42 34 20 IS 15 7
62 54 19 27 35 43 14 0
5 13 20 28 36 44 53 61
4 12 21 29 37 45 52 00
59 51 22 30 38 4« 11 3
58 50 47 39 31 23 10 2
8 9 41 10 32 17 49 64
I believe these squares may be arranged by plac"'.fr
S = 2 X 17 the diagonal numbers in what I may call their
= 34 natural squares in the first Instance, and working up
to them ; but I have only
succeeded with the square
of 4, as shown by the
large and small figures in
the annexed square.
1 1 15 1 14 4
12 1 6 7 9
8 1 10
11 1 5
13 1 3 2 1 16
■27 \-
♦ KNOWi^EDGE •
[Ja-v. 27, 1882.
In tlip onjfrnvinft by Albert Dflrer, called " Mcloncholia I," the
Hquaro of 4 in rcprc-HontoH on thp wall of ii hoiiBC, iind Mr.
W. n. Scott, in his "Life of Albert Ufircr" (p. 09), when
iloscribinp the enfrrnvinj;, culls the miunres on the wall " the
mnffic qnnrlrnnt of miniemlfi of Cornolius Ajfrippn." This cnfrmviiifj
was executed by Albert Diirer probably between 1507 and 15M.
So mnrh for "the new <iame of fli," as it has been lately callcil. —
Faithfullv vonrs, "K. V. 1{.
MAGIC SQUARES.
(232] — In my former paper on this subject I pave examples of
Bachet'sand Poignard's method in squares of odd roots ; an<l I now
proceed to irivo a third rule, and to show how many different
arrangements may bo made of each square by these methods.
Rule 3, for Odd Squares.
Example of a Square of 5.
Fig. 1.
IS 1 0 1 15 20 5
5 10 1 0 15 1 20
20 1 5 1 10 0 1 15
15 1 20 1 5 1 10 1 0
0 1 15 1 20 5 10
In Fig. 1 place the mean
numbers of tbo series (in this
case 3) in the right-hand top-
corner cell, and the rest of the
numbers in the other cells of the
top row in any order at plea-
sure. Begin the second row with
the second number of the first,
and so on till the square is liUed
np.
Fill npFip. 2 with the multiples
of the root, beginning with 0, by
placing the mean number in tlie
left-hand top corner cell, and the
others in any order. Then begin
the second row with the last
number of the first, and so on,
and it will be seen that the mean
numbers, 3 and 10, occupy the
diagonals of the squares in acon-
trarj- direction. In Fig. 3 place
the sums of the numbers in the
corresponding cells of Figs. 1 and
2, and the result is a magic square
wherein, in every case, the mean
number of the progression occu-
pies the centre square.
By this method 576 different
arrangements can be made of
the square of 5. The square of
7 may be varied in the samo
way 518,.100 times, and the
square of 5) upwards of 20
million times.
By Poignard's rule the square
of 5 may be varied 57,600 times
(exactly one hundred times as
often as by Knle 3), and the
square of 7 no less than
406,485,600 times !— all differing
from the results of Rule 3.
And Poignard's squares have another siiiieriority over the others.
in the nnniber of ways the total eastings of the figures is
obtained from them. In Bachet's and the .squares by Rule 3 these
consist of the addition of each vertical and horizontal band, and
of the two diagonals- making twelve readings in the square of 5
and sixteen in the square of 7 — Poignard's give eight more
readings in the square of 5, and twelve more in the square of 7
— as shown in the annexed figure, whore, in addition to the sum
of 65 being made by the addi-
tion of the vertical and hori- ,
zontal bands, and by the two "
main diagimals ; it is also
made by adding each partial b'
diagonals — a and the cell or
cells on the opposite side n', c'
Ac, making five cells, and b
and i)', (• and r' : &c., ioar only ,j'
are here shown, but four
more are found in the partial
diagonals at right angles
to those marked (twenty
readings in all).
11. 2 1 16 1 25 8
7 11 5 1 IS 24
21 10 1 13 4 17
20 23
9 1 12 1 1
3 19 1 22 1 6 1 15
But this is not the limit of the number of readings, for Mr. Snart
has, by great perseverance and ingenuity, constructed a npiure of 7
ha\-ing no less than forty-two readings, which I will send to you.
J. A. Mills.
[233] — As a climax to odd Magic Squares, I send yon a scjiiare of
■19 colls, which was conBtnictcd by a Mr. Snart, having gome
curious properties, not to be found in other squares : —
10 :i;i
^
:il
..-.
■M
» !
12
47 1
7
45
33
28
10
.12
11
22
10
48
26
31
1'
15
19
13
18
32
27
41
1
21
1
4
14
44
24
3.5
19
37
30
46
6
2
23
5
36 1
29
38
1
43
/
In a Bachet's square of 7 there are sixteen readings of the total
175. In Poignard's there are twenty-eight ; but in the above
square, by Snart. there are forty-two readings.
li horizontal and vertical.
2 diagonal.
8 Right angles — a, c, d, — b, c, e, &c.
8 Acute angles — a, c, b, — ?>, c, d, &c.
S Obtuse angles — a, c, e,- b, c. f, &c.
1 The centre square and the four corner squares.
1 The centre square and the four squares a, d, f, and )i.
Total 42
It is seen that the highest number of the progression occupies
the centre cell, and is called into operation thirty times.
Fakenham, Dec. 30, 1881. J. A. JIiles.
VARIABLE MAGIC SQUARE.
[234] — In the an-angements given in Knohleboe of numberSi
1 to 11 3 71 is always an odd number, and there is no mention of thSi
following arrangement of the numbers from 1 to 16 : —
15 10 5
G 3 16
in which 34 is made by the addition, not only of either diagonal"
or any horizontal or perpendicular line, but also by eierii four^-
adjacent fiijures, and by the four corner fij,'ures, as : —
15 10
3 16
Jloroover, these conditions are still fulfilled if I shift the horii
zontnl linos from top to bottom, or vice rrrsi, or the )>er]x'jidicalar
linos from right to left, or vice versX. 1 may, in short, by
moving about the lines, bring any nun\ber 1 choose to any give
jiosition in the square. Florence E. Boyck.
ABSTRACT TER>IS IN SCIENCE (Abstract).
[235J — Words which are n\erely abstractions and conveuicntj
working terms to the scientist and mathematician are handled
such a w.iy that non-scientific persons are apt to give to the purelj
abstract conception a concrete meaning.
Jax. 2 7, 1882.J
KNOWLEDGE
275
Take the word Enorgj'. We hear of energy " poured into,"
"taken from," " transferroil," ** accnraulated," "wasted,'* and so
on. What wonder that many should regard " energy " as some-
thing having as substantial an existence as a glass of wine. So
with the langnago used in describing the so-called electric " accu-
mulators" and "storers." Ninety-nine hundredths wlio read
about the Fanrc accumulators suppose that a real substance called
electricity is jjoured, which can be tapped like beer from a barrel,
that a Fauro accumulator is as innocent of containing any electricity
as the Meteorological (lffice|is of knowing how to make weather fore-
casts,— it is not a container of, but a producer of, electricity — that
it consists of lead plates j)ractically double, back to back, the one
side being electro-positive, the other electro-negative ; and that it is,
in fact, nothing different iu the principle of its action, from an
ordinary galvanic cell.
There ia no need for this foolishly figurative language. The dis-
covery is as wonderful, when described as an improved method of
preparing plates for the generation of electricity, as when called, in
inflated language, " a method of carrying so many millions of
foot-pounds of energy from London to Edinburgh, <ic."
Edmixd p. Foy.
PERSOX.U, IDENTITY i: TATTOO MARKS.
[236] — Physiologists admit that the human body is in a constant
State of change, fresh materials being added and fresh waste re-
moved, in fact these are the characteristics of evcrj- living organism ;
but that a complete change and reconstitution of the body takes
place every seven years will, I am afraid, be admitted by very few.
In old age it may take longer than seven years, whilst in disease
and in those who live dissipated lives a much shorter period will
suffice. Mr. Magtiii-e inquires whv it is tattoo marks do not dis-
appear. I will endeavour to answer his query. Tattoo marks .ore
produced by making small punctured wounds into the true skin with
sharp needles dipped in some colouring matter. Slight inflammation
is produced, but soon passes off, leaving the colouring matter en-
cysted permanently in the substance of the cutis vera and cellular
tissue below it. The colouring material used is insoluble as carbon,
Vermillion thence cannot be taken up by the absorbents or lym-
phatics and e.tcreted from the body by the excretory glands.
Occasiiinally tattoo marks do disappear. M. Hutin found that
out of seventy-eight persons tattooed with vermilion, the marks
disappeared in eleven ; and out of 104 tattooed with China ink, not
one had become obliterated. The cases where the marks have dis-
appeared have been due to their having been inefficiently performed,
and not to the colouring matter having been removed by the
lymphatics. This only occurs when soluble and fugitive colours are
used, and when the surface of the cutis only is penetrated.
Chas. Boyce, M.B.
TELESCOPE.
[237] — I am contemplating the expenditure of from £iO to £60
or so in a telescope and accessories. Perhaps some of your numerous
correspondents, and notably " A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical
Society," would not object to give a little aid in the way of laying
out my money to the best advantage. I am an amateur, and that
only, and likely so to remain, as my time available for astronomy
IS verj- limited. I should, however, like an instrument that would
take me well through Webb's " Celestial Objects," and one which
would be of real use to me in case at any time hereafter I might
have more time to devote to the subject. I am doubtful as to
whether a Reflector or Refractor would best suit my purpose. The
gl^t objection to the former seems to be that it must almost neces-
sarily be a fixture, and this would scarcely suit me at present.
Heither is it so handy. Countby Solicitob.
HOW TO CONSTRUCT A TELESCOPE.
[238] — The astronomical papers now running a course in this
magazinaVhave, no doubt, induced many readers to begin ft tele-
IBoopio scrutiny of the skies. Pecuniary considerations, however,
•nay have affected the number of astronomical recruits, and, there-
fare, I think it not uncalled for to show how one may become
possessed of a good three-inch telescope at a comparatively trifling
cost. In the beginning of last year I succeeded in making an
effective telescope of that size, and where I have succeeded very
] few need fear failure. Its cost was inconsiderable, and I shall bo
I glad if the follomng short account of its construction encourages
anyone to make a similar attempt.
Having ascertained the dimensions of a 3 in. telescope, I got a
carpenter to make several cyUndric moulds, the largest being 34 in.
in length and 3^ in diameter; and upon this mould I made the
principal tube, employing in its construction nothing but the
stoutest and largest-sized cartridge paper and an unlimited supply
of thick floiu- paste. The method was as follows : — As much of
the first sheet as formed the internal circumference of the tube was
painted dead black, and wound, not too tightly, round the
mould, the second layer being formed by tho continuous
winding of the flrst sheet. No paste was used for tho second
layer, in order that the inside of tho tube might not be blis-
tered, a slight touch of paste being given where the sheet
overlapped and ended. Then two sheets at a time were wound
round as evenly as possible, paste being laid on with n liberal
hand, and each layer allowed to dry thoi-oughly before winding
on its successor. This process was continued until a thickness of
over one-eighth of an inch was reached ; und when removed from
the mould, and carefully evened at the ends, I had a light tube.
29 inches in length, and as hard and smooth as the tube of a 3-inch
telescope need be. It is astoni.shing how hard pastcboartl can be
made when good jiaperand plenty of paste are used. (I may mention,
as a warning, that the removal of the tube from tho mould was
somewhat dilBcult, as the contraction of the paper has been greater
than allowed for.) The other tnbes, of which details are given
below, were made in the same way, and of nearly the same thick-
ness. The method of fitting the pieces together will be readily
understood from the following longitudinal section of the instru-
ment : —
It will bo seen that tho telcRcopo has two " draws," B and C,
which slide in fixed tubes, D and E. Hound the middle of the
fixed tubes strips of paper 2 inches in width for tube D, and 1 inch
for tube E, are firmlj- pasted, forming bands of sufficient diameter
to fit the tubes into the ends of which they are fixed. The fixed
tubes are thus tightly fitted, and are held in their places by small
brass screws. The second draw, C, is a short tube, whose diameter
is just sufficient to admit the tube of the eye-piece. The draws :ire
fitted vnth stops, and the order in which the various pieces have
been placed together is obvious. Each part was allowcil to dry and
contract thoroughly before being fitted. A brass screw is fitted
into the mouth of the tube, and receives the screw attached to the
cell of the object-glass. I may mention that, for the sake of appear-
ance, the telescope is covered with dai'k-coloured imitation morocco.
The dimensions are as follows :■ — Tube A, length 29 inches ; internal
diameter, 3^ inches. B, 10 and 2i inches. C, 54 and li inches.
Fixed tube D, length 6 inches, projecting 2 inches beyond end of
tube A. Fixed tube E, 6 inches, projecting 1 inch. Focal length,
over 41 inches ; closed, under 34 inches.
When the various tnbes, &c., were completed, glasses of first-
rate quality were purchased, and the whole ])arts put together and
carefullj- adjusted. There is little or no vibration.
Tho mounting of the telescope was a simple matter. For out-
door work a tripod garden stand and cradle was purchased, and for
work indoors a pillar and claw-table was seized, the toj) removed,
and, with a little trouble, fitted so as to receive the cradle of the
garden stand, and the claws loaded with load, for the sake of
steadiness. Including the extra expense caused by bungling and
ignorance, the total cost of the instrument was about ,£12. The
table stand, it must be remembered, however, cost only a. remon-
strance.
I need hardly say that in the course of its construction I
enjoyed many distinguished failures; parts were made and remade,
fitted and re-fitted before all defects were rectified and the instru-
ment entitled to rank as a telescoin;. Its appearance may not bo
sraai-t, but a telescope is handsome according to its performance.
A. P. JI.
COLOURS OF STAMENS.— ORIGIN OF EVERGREENS.
[239] — Mr. T. Dowse's objection [214] to my theory that flowers
wore all originally yellow, has already been advanced in a private
letter by Mr. Darwin (who, I am glad to say, is inclined to agree
with my general view that petals are derived from flattened
stamens). Still, I feel disposed, in spite of such an authoritative
critic, to adhere to my first statement. It is true the filaments of
many stamens are white, pink, or purplish ; but this is the case
chiefly (so far as I have observed) with verj- highly developed
flowers, in which the petals have undergone much change of colour.
It is especially noticeable in tubular blossoms. On the other hand,
most very simple flowers, such as buttercups, have bright yellow
filament.i, and my general impression has been that petalless
flowers (for example, catkins) usually have yellowish stamens. The
point is an important one, and I will make definite observations
27G
• KNOWLEDGE
[Jav. 27, 18Sl
upon it during; next simeou. Con80r\'utury flowora nre tho worst
possiblp tost in Buch n cn»i>, bccnimo tliey arc ospecinlly chosen for
tlieir lil(;l>l_v-<lnvol(>pt'(l |>etiil8 ; anil yet eleven instances examined
by Mr. Uowoe out of twenty-three, oven there liati yellow Mlanicnts,
while only seven IukI white, and five red.
In answer to " I'lcsiosaunis " [1H:JJ, shonid nay that evergreens
novor had any origin. 'J'he real problem is exactly tho reverse —
tho oriffin of deciduous trees. Clearly any plant is benoHted by
having its leaves at work all the year round ; and all plants were
overKri'cns till a comparatively late KCological period, when the
poles began to frrow <olil. A few trees then acquired the habit of
deciduonsnoss, in ailaptation to tho new conditions, but to this day,
in the tro))ic8, evcrKroens aro universal. The process by which
decidaons leaves were developed I have already attempted to explain
in my little book, " Vignettes from Nature," and I will not attempt
to give the explanation over again here. Gbakt Allen.
IXFI-UKNCE OF SEX ON MIND.
[240] — Under the above heading, " J. McGrigor Allan " m.ikos
the following assertion — " Women lack the highest quality of the
human mind- justice." If this be true, how ia it that Shakespeare
and Sir Walter Scott, to say nothing of lesser men, have left so
widely different a testimony respecting the dignity of woman. To
quote the words of one of tho most polished writers of the present
day, " Shakespeare represents women as infallibly faithful and wise
counsellors, incorruptibly just and pure examples, strong always to
sanctify, even when they cannot save." In Sir Walter Scott's
imaginations of women, we find (with endless varieties of grace,
tenderness, and intellectual power) a quite infallible sense of dignity
and j««(ice. Aro these immortal writers wrong, and J. McGrigor
Allan right, or yice rerm ? Will you or any of your readers answer
this question, and oblige one w ho is — Only a Wom.\.\.
WINDMILL ILLUSION.
[241]^TIic Windmill Illusion, p. 233, reminds mo of two some-
what similar illusions I have noticed : — 1. The " governors " of a
steam-engine appear to rotate either way you please ; 2. The
same with tho " i)araUel rods" of a locomotive when seen from
a railway-carriage near the engine.
Perhaps " Enquirer," Query 1U6, p. 234, may be glad to know of
the Dot and Dash system of shorthand, invented by T. S. Noble,
which is considered by some to be more easily learnt than
Pitman's. Vkg.^.
VOLCANIC PROJECTILES.
[242] — In the article on Vulcanologr, pp. 120 and 130, it is
stated that Vesuvius sometimes exerts snch force as to project
matter aearly four miles high ; and, further on, it says astronomy
has taught us that the world is not, as was long believed, a liquid
mass surrounded by a thin solid shell.
Now, with regard to the first statement, will yon, sir, kindly say
if there is any foundation or belief that this force and height has
ever upon exceptional occasions been greatly exceeded, and, if so,
whether you think it possible that such matter might be thro^vn
beyond the direct power of the earth's attraction, to return, per-
haps, at some future time in the shajje of meteoric stones, or
never ; also what height would be necessary for such matter to
attain to get beyond this attraction.
With regard to the second statement, how does astronomy prove
that the earth is solid throughout ? John" Roise.
POPULAR FALLACIES.
[2'13]— Vou would indeed deserve the thanks of all sane peoples
if you could reason away fallacies as suggested (No. 203, page 233),
even if they only concern the familiar poker that does 7iot "draw-
up " tho fire.
In some parts of Scotland nervous people think that to praise
their possessions will necessarily bring destruction upon the thing
praised. A man says his horse has never been ailing for a day, or
that he loves a favo\irite tree, or admires his wife's dross. He has
sinned in uttering his thonght, but if ho raps three times on the
table and says " I must not /orcv/jonfc myself," perhaps his horse
will not go lame, his tree will not be blovra down, his wife's dress
will not be torn.
It would bo impossible to talk gravely of such a custom wore it
not for the repeated surprise with which one observes that educateil
{and religinm !) people still have a lurking belief in its efficacy, just
na they still have a lurking dislike to thirteen at a dinner table.
M. McC.
ANIMAL PHYSIOLOOY (TUB EYE.)
[241-] — In the adjustment of sight, found in the vision of birds,
the eye is peculiarly adapted for long and short sight. It is like a
cnp in shape, has bony substance in tho form of plates, extending
along tho top and b'jttom of the eye, forming a support of Iho
sclerotic or hard lining, stretching from the cornea to the back part
of the eye, along which the retina is spread. These plates contract
or distend at will, but when contracted, they press the humonr,
causing the coniea to protrude, and tho retina to recede from
the lens. Connected with this pressure, and alteration of humour,
there is a peculiarity in tho eye of the bird — a thing like tho
appearance of a feather, which enters the vitreous humour by tho
optic nerve, commonly called a pecten, from its likeness to
a comb ; containing a lot of blood-vessels, mixed with
pigment granules. The question is, what effect has this
upon the eye ? Whether it is subject to erection or distention on
being filled or deprived of blood, or does this pecten act as a sieve,
passing through it matter from the blood to feed the vitrcotis
humor ; or is it nsed in passing off what surplus humor there may
be, and forming it into blood? If so, in what manner does it
affect the vision ? Something of the samo kind is found in fish,
although situated differently, it being between the two layers of
choroiil, instead of entering into the vitreous humor, as in the ease
of birds. In an animal belonging to the highest class of mollusc-a,
there is a thin retina at the back of the eye, and at tho back of
this a choroid, while at the back of this again, is another retina,
apparently for some other purjioso than to receive imjircssions.
Is there any similarity between this and the pecten of the bird,
and what purpose do they perform ? George Beowx.
SOLAR PUZZLE.
[245]. — There could be nothing between the sunlight and the
window-blind, except such things as those you suggest ; but you
must admit that not one of them could obscure, in regular and very
slow snccession, about three minutes to each hole, and in a diagonal
direction, the sun-patches, and, be it remembered, without interfer-
ing in the least with the long horizontal patch of sunlight, or with
the two or three holes on the extreme right. Forgive me for my
pertinacity. I see the difficulty in arriving at any solution, and that
was why I wrote to Knowledge. One solution occurred to me ; it
was — could an insect have obscured the holes ? Possibly, but then
it could only have been one at a time, for to have three, or even
two of the holes obscured at once would have required an " animal."
I can't say an " insect," six inches long, at the least. A. T. C.
A NEW FACT IN PRISMATIC ANALYSIS.
[246] — With reference to the " Answers to a Correspondent " in
Knowledge, vol. 1, page 257, about the delay in furnishing more
" Blowpipe Lessons," I would reply that I have now sent four com-
munications to Knowledge, only one of which, apparently, has been
considered up to the publishing mark.
It has just struck me that the Editor's complaint against too many
of us is prolixity. However, it is refreshing to see, by the Editor's
remark above-mentioned, that, in Bow-street language, " 1 am
wanted"; and so I have tho pleasure to enclose another "easy
lesson," with what may be termed a " telegraphic summary" of a
curious result, obtainable by anyone possessing a lens and a glass
prism on a sunshiny day : —
sunbeam
admitted
: itistoad
prism
Venetian blind
of I spectrum
: why I green ?
green
Focus
face pris
beam | wit
Hoping our '• no-rent " friends across St. George's Channel will
admit this "bangs Ballagher" (i.e. Dr. F. G e) in scientifio,
conciseness. — I remain, Ac, W. A. Ross.
WE.VTnER FORECASTS (ABSTRACT).
[217] — I use the forecast chart and remarks, in conjunction with
observations of tho general aspects of the weather and sky around
me. The value of forecasts tlius applied, which I hold to be tho
true and rational method, is, on the whole, satisfactory. "Bad
shots" aro exceptional. It is well known that persons constantly
out of doors — seamen, farmers, millers (wind), Ac. — become highly
sensitive to atmospheric changes, and aro able to judge fairly well
of impending weather. Knowledge of this kind is only gained by
long observation, and cannot bo communicated.
Storm warnings are, as a matter of fact, of most use to seafaring
people ; crops must risk tho weather, favourable or unfavourable to
their growth. Weather-wisdom in harvesting is a great help in
securing cix)ps in sound condition.
AX. 27, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
I If late the Xeio York Herald lias made some remarkable " liits."
ill ■ stormy ctardcter of the past three mouths woiild permit them
risk almost anything resemlilinf; a " weather-case " with a fair
iMce of success. Nevertheless, they make some "very bad
ts," and if they venture to add more to the simple announce-
: int of a storm, such as "developing energy," "snow in the
N >rth," " attended by electrical phenomena," &c., it betrays an
I'tiinpt on the part of the "prophet" to obtain credit for an
unt of .lagacity he does not possess. I shall not dwell upon the
' ping character of these warnings generally, but draw tlie attoii-
n of Mr. Spiller and A Fellow of the Eoyal Astronomical Society
to the circumstance that up to the present time the Americans
have not attempted to foretell fine harvest weather, or settled
weather of any kind, which, if done, would cause me to view
their weather predicting more favourablv. — Yours, &c., Alfbed
DOXB.VTAXD.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE MOON.
[248]— The following e.\cerpt from the Edinbur{jh Nen- Phlio-
gophical Journal for October, 1826, muy interest " X. Davine,"
(letter 206, p. 233). As the Editor has remarked, the idea is due
to a German, not a Frenchman.
' Gmithuisen, in a conversation with the great astronomer Gauss,
after describing the regular figures he had discovered in the moon,
spoke of the possibility of a coiTespondenee with the inhabitants of
the moon. He brought, ho says, to Gauss's recollection, the idea
he had communicated many years ago to Zimmerman. Gauss
answered, that the plan of erecting a geometrical figure on the
plains of Siberia corresponded with his opinion, because, according
to his view, a correspondence with the inhabitants of the moon
qsold only be begun by means of such mathematical contemplations,
and ideas which we and they must have in common."
Gruithuisen was one of the most painstaking and keen-visioned
selenographerg who ever lived, though the exuberance of his fancy
frequently led him astray. The work done by him in the earlier
part of the lorcscnt century is something marvellous, considering
the comparatively small instruments he employed. Many of his
drawings, &c., have been recently published for the first time in the
German periodical Siriiis, and are worthy of careful study. —
H. Sadler.
A NEW COMPARISON OF POISONS.
[2W]— " S. E. P.'s" (No. 172, p. 208) criticicm of my letter is
somewhat hierogh-phical, and at first rather puzzling. He savs
the allegation is, that li. ce. is three times as poisonous as ba. ce.
I am curious to know what li. ce. and ba. ce. meaii.
" S. E. P." continues that li. ce. has 20 per cent, of metal, where
the citrate has probably much less than 7 per cent. ; so H. ce. can-
not be his formula for lithium citrate (Lij, Co, H3, O- 10% Li), nor
yet for lithium chloride (Li CI), which contains 16-4 per cent, of
metal.
That some metals may bo very poisonous in one form of combi-
nation, and not in another is very trne, but it depends upon the
properties of the substance employed for combination.
I think if anyone has mystified M. Hichet's plain proposition it is
'8. E. P.," for lithium as a metal is uou-poisonous. — I am, iSir,
TEcnxiCAL Chemist.
ANIMAL ier.s!/s VEGETABLE FOOD.
[250] — If the following be worthy of a place in your pages, I
shall be glad if you will insert it, for it has struck me that in the
arguments that have been brought forward in Knowledge on this
subject, and those used by vegetarians generally in favour of their
aiystem, one thing has been lost sight ofj or disregarded — viz., the
provision and requirements of nature.
If we go to the frigid zone, we find that practically vegetable
food is out of the question, for the simple reason that it cannot
grow in those sterile regions, amongst the snow and ice. The
inhabitants are therefore obliged to eat that which is provided in
abnndance — viz., animal food.
We are told that the effect of the extreme dry cold to which the
inhabitants are exposed, is to produce a desire for the most stimu-
lating food that they can obtain ; that in such a climate bread is
not only not desired, but is comparatively impotent as an article of
diet ; that pure animal food, the fatter the better, is the only suste-
nance which maintains the tone of the system, and supplies the
degree of muscular energy necessary for the particular wants of
the locality.
But if we turn our thoughts to the torrid zone, the state of things
entirely reversed. There, the general use of animal food would
be exceedingly difficult ; for, as your readers will doubtless be
aware, in a hot climate, animals, if not cooked immediately they
are killed, become tainted and unfit for food ; therefore, it can only
be used on special occasions, and vegetable food is, to all intents
and purposes, the only food in hot climates.
Also in the tropical regions of the globe, where the fertility and
productiveness of the soil are so largely increased by the high
temperature, less labour stiffices for the raising of food ; less labonr
is also required to pro\nde habitation and raiment ; loss demand,
therefore, is made upon muscular energy, and, consequently, less
or no animal food is required to keep it np.
If we take into consideration personal taste, we find that, on a
hot summer's day, nine persona out of ten would prefer a dish of
cold, stewed fruit with rice, to a joint of hot, cooked meat ; and in
the winter it would be just the reverse.
It seems to me, then, the conclusion to be drawn from the above
facts i* that as ice (to bring the matter home), live in a temperate
latitude, between the two extremes, where a moderate amount of
musaular energy is required to provide food, clothing, and shelter,
our diet should consist of both animal and vegetable, with a pre-
dominance of the former in winter, and of the latter in summer.
0. E. H.
P.S. — Does the trichina exist in bacon, or only in pork in its un-
cured state ?
TO.iiDS.
[251]— On p. 202 of No. 10, for .Tan. 6, 1882, appears a para-
graph on the vitality of toads, in which it is said that M. Legrips
asserts that toads are inoffensive.
In Professor du Boiz-Reymond's lectures on " Physiology," which
I had the pleasure to hear last summer in Berlin, he distinctly
stated that toads were jioisonous, and that they ejected the poison
when molested. If the poison reached the face, striking, for ex-
ample, the eye, it would be dangerous certainly to the eyesight ; if
not more. He declared tliat they have poison enough to kill a
small bird ; and that even when experimenting with the common
frog, he had learned through painful experience to keep his eyes
shut when seizing them; for on more than one occasion they had
spurted out poison which caused pain enough on striking his eye
to make one keep to the sofa for the afternoon, as he expressed it.
If you would, through your appreciated paper, throw some light
on this contradiction, you would much oblige yours, &c.,
D. R. McC.
SUNLIGHT OX FIRE.
[252] — With regard to my query, " Effect of Sunlight on Fires"
(136), I am much obliged to " C. T. B." for his reply, giving, as
it does, I think, a right explanation of what I called attention to.
I would remind " Paugul " that contradiction is not explanation,
and that no good is gained by telling querists that the evidence
they quote is useless, and that their sup))ositions are absurd. As a
matter of fact, nine people out of ten that I have asked tell me
that they think that bright sunlight does interfere %rith the burn-
ing of an ordinary house fire, and that a cigar, unless con-
tinually puffed, will go out nnich sooner if the sun is shining on it,
than otherwise. I enclosed a query with 136 concerning the nature
of noises made by trains, but apparently it was not worth insertion.
N.
DARWINISM AND THE MICROSCOPE.
[253]— I beg to offer a few observations upon Darwinism,
although drawn from a new source. The microscopic examination
of the blood corpuscles belonging to different classes of the
vertebrata.
Now it is well known that these discs vary greatly in form, size,
and structure, not only in those classes themselves, but even in the
different species of the same class. Thus in birds, reptiles, and
fishes, they ale, as Dr. Carpenter in his "Animal Physiology"
observes, " much larger than in the Mammalia, their form is oval
instead of round, and instead of being depressed in the centre,
they bulge out on each side." In man, for example, their diameter
is, according to him, 1-3200 of an inch, and in other mammals it
varies from 1-4000 to 1-5000 of an inch, although in the musk deer
(Moschus javanicus), it is only about 1-12000 of an isch. In birds
their long diameter is from 1-700 to 1-2100 of an inch ; in reptiles
from 1-1000 to 1-1800 of an inch ; and in fishes the long diameter
of the blood discs is about 1-1900 to 1-2000 of an inch." It is
remarkable too that the smallest British mammal, the harvest-
mouEO has as large corpuscles as those of the horse, and that in
the common mouse they are even larger than in the horse or ox."*
' " Henfrey's Micrographic Dictionary."
278
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[jAjr. 27, 1882.
Tlir itMl i-nrinuxlps nf tlin blotol niv, niorrorpr, highly iiniKirUiiit
arKKiiinn*, iiiit/<murli an tliry iir« |irfKiiiiirtl to b« tliu i-orriurM »f
otTK"» fn^rii llu- r<'«|iirntory nrwainn to cviTy •tructun- aiul liwtuo of
thn niiinmlii iti wliu-)i rhi'v lUT foiinil. So4*iii>;, ttiori, tliat thfir
fuiu'tiun in Ko I'liiic'iitial. iiikI that (liity ditttir no wiclfly in fiizo nti<l
funii (hmuKliiml tin' ViiU'bmtn, nru nu nut jimtificd in unkint; liotT,
if Durwiiiiiini m trui-, tlm tialicn, ri'ptili'H, hirdii, find mnniinikln, ruiilil
luvo hovn tlfrivuil hui'C4>smiv(0v frtini " uiic I'oniinon uncchtor.*'
acconlititf l<i
...iil.l iliffor.
VtilltCUCI' uf i
villiiT intern:
UKvni'y, or Ij)
Ml. Ii. I
i..i\
ilcfinitiun ? In nther wiinlH, )iuw
far iiH wv ran jiiil^o. to the very
have bifii hriiii){ht ahout by any
• • ^ '( Kur iiiDlancc, hy wliat unsucn
hj^'ccial " tiivironmi'nt/' wt-ro tbr wry lur^c cur-
puii-li-a in tho llvptiliu cliangod into tlie inijiutu circular blood diHva
in thu Mnninialiu ?
ll in uLiu nil ndiuittud fact, that the capillaries or terminal blood*
TCKnelii ore, in every animal, formed in Btrici relation to the size of
ita blood-curpiisclcs, iiu Ihut the bloiKl of ouo animal cannot sapport
the life of another whose bIood*iliAeH differ in size from iia own. We
have, then, to auk the defenders of I)arwini.sm to account, not only
for thone »jiocific differences in the blood-corpuscles themselves, but
also in the cnpillariea through which they circulate .' W. II. O.
SUXfJOD FE.STIV.ALS.
[264]. — It having been pointed out to rao that in the number of
your excellent journal for Dec. 30th there had appeared an extract
from an article in the Timca, entitled " Babylonian Sun-worship,'* I
bog to take the opportunity thus offered of saying a few words
thereon. When I lirst heard of the appearance of this article in the
TimiTd, it was then too late to ]ioint out its inaccuracy in that jour-
nal, and a letter, sent to one of the leading periodicals, was not in-
serted. I had hoped, however, that it would have gone no further,
but aa the most iniiaeuroto portion has been given again in your
journal (which, I am glad to see, has already a very wide circula-
tion), I have thought it well to warn the public, who cannot judge
for themselves, apiinst such newspaper articles.
However surprising it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that the
word translated by the Times' correspondent as '" festival," does
not mean anything of the kind. It is the usual word for " cloth-
ing," or "investment," and in the text from which this translation
was made it is stated that these clothes or vestments were '" the
gift of the king." It will easily be seen that this correction changes
at once tho whole bearing of the jiassage, for though it is not im-
possible that the dates upon which these gifts were made wore
festi^-als, yet, as there is no statement to that effect, they are of but
little use in determining the times of the festivals of the Snngod in
Sipara. Of course, the rendering of tho other words in the lines
translated (excepting the dates) are in every case mere guesses. —
1 am yours, &c. Thos. G. I'inches.
(0ufiies.
[196] — Ql-icksilver, NoN-poisoxofs. — I am able to give rather a
curious instance of the non-poisonous effects of mercury in the
form of quicksilver. Having always been informed that quick-
silver would be poisonous if swallowed, I was rather struck with
the following : — In a '' lab " where I was studying some years ago,
a young lad employed there told mo that ho swallowed quicksilver
without feeling any tho worse tor so doing. From what I had
previously heard, I did not believe him. He took some out of tho
Hg. bottle and swallowed it! Tliinking that if he had really
swallowed it he had t.ikcn a large enough dose, I waited until
Uio next day, when I myself pnt some in his mouth which he
swallowed ! Could S. E. P. tell me if the mercurj- would pass
through the system unaltered, also if It would be safe for any one
to try the experiment on himself? — F.C.S.
[19C]. — CiiK.MUAr. Heating Apparatl-s. — Where can I find an
account of such an app.initiis for rooms ? Has any method of cook-
ing by chemical heat yet been discoTercd and applied r— J. U. B.
[197].— RKFKinEiiAToR.— Where can I find an account of tho most
improved refrigerator for ships— such a one as enabled salmon to bo
recently brought from Hudson's Bay (I think) ?— J. H. B.
[198], — TKiinNic — Does tho opcrntion of curing destroy the
trichina) which may happen to infest tho green hams or sides ? —
J. H. B.
[199]— ToiiAcci) AND SciKNCE.— WHieu a smoking-pipo is placed
■with the stem vertical and the bowl uppermost, tho smoke issues
downwards from tho mouthpiece and then immediately ascends.
Whon it is inverted, «o u« to have tlio mouthpioco uppermost, nu
smiike issues therefrom. Why ia thii Y — I*. J. Grall.
I :iOO] — liKAJtKs. — Can you inform mo through Knowlkuui: how to
detennino the value of leases 'f — Jame-s (iHBtsa. [Tho conditionfi
must b« Biiecifiefl. — Eu.j
[;i01] — Col.oi R-HKABlN(i. — Will bo glad if anyone can refer me
to any books or magazine articles giving information as to Bern-
stein's rosearchea into tho phenomenon of colour-hearing. — U. J.
[202] — Gravity. — Re(|uired the ilistance from the earth's centre
at which the earth's attraction is balanced by that of the moon
when at hermean distance. [If moon's centre be at distance d from
earth's, and r tho required distance, we have
earth's mass
mof>n'8 mass d—
-, or
(<i_x)»
-e " '\' 81 5 '
9d
whence '""iTj
Ed.]
[203] — Sateliite.s — Ueaxus's and Jlpitkb's Moons. — Will yonbe
kind enough to tell me how many moons of L'ronus have been dis-
covered, and what arc tho names of Jupiter's and Cranus's moon's?
— C. W. Jewitt. [Uranus and Jupiter have each four known moons.
Those of Uranus have been called Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Obcron
(do not know why). Those of Jupiter were called the Mediccan
stars, and by other names ; also lo, Kuropa, Ganymede, aud
Callisto. They are always caUed by astronomers by the impressive
names, I., II., III., and IV.— Ed.]
[20 1] — Algol. — I should feel obliged for a list of the minima
(those occurring in the night hours would suffice) of this variable
star for the present season. — L.
[205] — OBsERVATro-V We,itheb. — I have read the remarks upon
favourable Jnighta for telescopic observation, both in the Editor's
" Half-hours with the Telescope," and Webb's " Celestial Objects,"
but am anxious to find out whether any more definite laws are
known on the subject, as, for instance, whether barometrical
pressure or change makes any difference ? — a wind or calm seems
to have little to do with it. — L.
[206] — Opium. — Will some reader, '• up in medicine," kindly in-
form me why opium, a powerful stringent, should in the case of
lead-poisoning act as a purgative ? — Yoi'Nc Pill-box.
[207] — Heat. — Will you kindly, tlirongh your columns, letme know
whether there is any truth in the statement that a man may plunge
his hand into molten iron with impunity '^ Has this anything to do
with the spheroidal state ? — Percy V. Uodd.
[208] — CoMPOuxi) Pendulum. — Will you kindly refer me to the
best work for a description of a " compound pendulum," and the
beautiful figures obtained by its aid ? Would it be too unscientific
to deal \vith in Knowledge ? — Jas. A. Gee.
[209] — Satellites of Uranus. — Please say whether any, and if
so what, theory has been advanced in order to account for the le-
trogiade motion of the satellites of Uranus. I believe the axis
upon which that planet revolves lies in a plane nearly coincident
with that of his orbit, and presume that the orbits of the said
satellites are about at right-angles thereto, also that the rotatory
motion of the planet itself accords with that of the satellites. Are
these things so ? — W. A. M. D. — [Vci-y little is known about the
axial rotation of Uranus. It is generally supposed to be as W. A.
states. The satellites certainly move so. — Ed.]
[210] — Homer's Iliad. — Could you or any of the readers of
Knowledge inform me of the name, price, and publisher of any
volume containing a prose account of Homer's " Iliad," " Labotus
of Hercules," " Jason's ExiKjdition," &c. ? — W. Gibson.
[211] — Pyschology. — Can yon recommend me a good Catholic
work on Pyschology >vritten in English, or a translation into
English, and of moderate price, that is, not exceeding twelve or
fifteen shillings ?
[212]— What is the 12th (last) axiom of the First Book of EucUd ?
It is given differently in different books. — Ursa. — [Euclid's 12th
axiom is a veritable cmx, and another is often substituted. It ran,
" If a straight line falling on two other straight lines make the
adjacent angles on the same side together less than two right
angles, these two straight lines being produced, will at length meet
on that side on which are the angles which are less than tho right-
angles. — Ed.]
[213]— Organic Compounds. — In Mr. W. Mattieu Williams's
article in Xo. 3 of Knowledge, it is said that " many organic com-
)>ouuds have been made in the laboratory from mineral materials."
Will you kindly inform mo if such have been made from non-
vegetable materials ? I know that madder has been made from
coal-tar, but then coal-tar is a vegetable material, and in this
I
Jan.
1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
279
fiance, thereforp, the vegetable laboratory has been at work
|_ before that of the chemist. — SiQCis.
[214] — VoLT.MC Eleiirkitv. — Is any elementary treatise (with
experiments) on voltaic electricity, similar in style to Tyndall's
"Lessons on" (friitional) "Electricity" published? — Revneli.
W. Hay.
[215] — Book on Blowtipe Analysis. — Can yon recommend me a
good practicable work on blowpipe analysis ? — F. Gbabam Faibbake,
O.E.
[216] — WoRK.< ox BoTAXY. — Would yon acquaint me with the
latest work on sysrematic botany, or is there a later edition of
Bentham's Botany than 1866? — E. A. Sxeli, M.B. (London).
[217] — Paf i:oiiOTANY. — (1.) Where can I find Heterangium and
Katcz'ilon figured and described ? (2.) Is it dilficult to obtain
Sipillaria (internal) ? Any information will oblijre. — F. R. JI. S.
[218] — Tennyson. — Please explain the lines : —
. , . . " Look you, there is a star
That dances in it (the comet)."
" Harold," Act I. Sc. 1.
..." and over those ethereal eyes
The har of Michael Angelo."
"In Memoriam," Canto 87.
. . . " the sea-bine bird of March."
76iV, Canto 91.
May I venture to endorse the sentiments in the Laureate's lines : —
" Who loves not Knowledge ?
May (it) mix
With men and prosper !
. . . Let (its) work prevail."
" In Memoriam," Canto 114.
— BrEVERTE.
iRrpIiesf to ©uerifS.
[84] — Ancient Max. — Might not the depth at which the " pieces
of burnt brick and pottery," &'c., were found, viz., 60 ft., be partly
explained by the action of worms, according to the researches of
Darwin, as recorded in his latest work ? This would diminish the
estimated antiquity. — E. A. Sxell, M.B. (Lond.)
[130] — Laxguages of the E.\eth. — The languages of the earth
are estimated at 3,064, of which
587 are spoken in Europe.
937 „ .. Asia.
276 ,, .. Africa.
1,264 ,. ,, America and Australia.
3,06t
— Yours faithfully, Jxo. Holmes.
[146] — The following is the result of experiments with sub-
stances injected into the jugidar vein of a rabbit, the urine being
collected and aftcr^vards examined : — Maltose is partly converted in
the blood into grape-sugar, and partly passes out unchanged.
Soluble starch yields dextrin and grape-sugar. Achroodextrin (a)
suffers only partial change, grape-sugar and maltose being found in
urine, together with dextrin. Acliroodextrin (ji) yields a similar
result. Achroodextrin (y) yielded no sugar. We maj' conclude,
as a rule, that the changes starch undergoes in the body are similar
to those it undergoes when under the action of diastase. Diastase
has this effect on starch — viz., that starch, submitted to its
action, yields soluble starch, maltose, grape-sugar, and three forms
of dextrin, o, ji, and y achroodextrine respectively. The term
"achroodextrin " means a dextrin not coloured bj- Iodine. — F.C.S.
[153] — DouBTFCL Orcaxisms. — The many attempts to define the
line of demarcation between plants and animals have all broken
down one after another, and modern definitions have no chance of
a better fate. Hence Haeckel's group of intermediate forms,
which, however, is not followed by most English biologists.
Hooker, Cooke, and other botanists regard the ilyxomycetes as
vegetable fungi. A newer and probably better view is that of Mr.
Saville Kent, who insists on their animal nature as closely inter-
mediate between certain tvpes of Infusoria and Sponges. The
Hyeetoioa, as he calls them, comprise several genara, as -rEthalium,
Stemonitis, Prichia, Arcvria, Lycogala, Didymium. Reticularife,
Ac. The subject is one of great difficulty and much interest. —
ECLECTICCS.
[155] — Tortoises. — There is a large tortoise now in Ceylon (at
east, I have not heard of its death since I ivas there four years ago)
which was brought to the island by one of the last Dutch Governors
consequently about eighty years before. It came, I think, from
.lava, and its age was then unknown, but it was supposed to be even
at that time of very great age. I knew it for over twenty years.
There was, I believe, an account, with illustrations, of this tortoise,
either in the Graphic or Illustrated London News at the time of the
Prince of Wales' visit to Ceylon. A turtle was taken on the coast
of Ceylon some years since which had on one of its flappers a ring,
which, by the date on it, was placed there some thirty years before.
— B.M., F.R.C.S.
[177] — The N.\fTii.cs. — '■ M. Webb " asks the use of the sf-
puncJe, or tube running through the septa, or partitions of the shell
of the pearly nautilus. This tube is believed by some to have the
function of maintaining a low vitality between the disused chambers
of the shell. Others say that it is used to alter the specific gravity
of the animal, and that by receiving or expelling fluid from or to
the body, in which it terminates, the nautilus is enabled to sink or to
swim in the sea. The exact functions of the sipnncle are, I believe,
still unknown. — AxDREW Wilson.
[165] — Horseradish. — This herb, I believe, possesses merely
astringent and stomachic properties. Its use as an adjunct to
food corresponds with that of mustard, and it may, therefore,
assist in stimulating the flow of gastric juice. — Andrew Wilson.
[169] — Light and Laxterx. — 1. Tyndall's " Six Lectures on
Light," delivered in America (Longmans, London, 1875). 2.
" Light," by Mayer & Barnard (Appleton & Co., New York, 1878).
3. " Art of Projecting," by Professor Dolbear (Dillingham. Xew
York, 1877). 4. "Optics for the Lantern," by Lewis Wright
(Macmillan, London, 1882). — Tnos. S. Bazley.
[180] — The Pole. — The reply given to the question, " How
Arctic explorers could tell exactly when they reach the pole ? "
(p. 234), can only apply to the (nearly) six months that the sun is
invisible at the pole, for during the remaining half of the year, the
constant sunlight would prevent any astronomical observations of a
star being taken, as no stars could be seen. If the pole is ever
reached, it is likely to be during the time of sunlight there, and it
is, therefore, by observations of the sun's altitude at different
positions round the heavens — correcting such altitudes for changes
of the sun's declination during the intervals of observation — that
the explorer will be able to tell, with very considerable accuracy,
when he has arrived at the extreme north of the world. — J. Rae.
[That is one method among many ; but, after all, determining
when the pole is reached is really determining the latitude. At any
time, the latitude can be determined by taking the sun's apparent
altitude at noon. If this, corrected for refraction, &c., =A, and
sun's declination (north position) at the tiine = o, then the latitude,
X, is given by the formula —
\=90°-(^-fl)
At the pole, where the latitude = 90, we have —
A = S
So that if the sun's observed noon altitude, corrected, is equal to his
known northerly declination, the observer is at the pole. — Ed.]
[182] — Evergreens. — I believe the origin of the "evergreen"
condition in plants is traceable to the general principles which
regulate " natural selection." If we suppose that any plant
during its spring and summer life acquired gradually an extension
of its period of active nutrition, along with a fixation, so to speak,
of the products of nutrition in the leaves (chlorophyll, &c.), the
origin of the evergreen state is not difficult to conceive. We find
an analagous case in the storage of starch as reserve-material in
bulbs and tubers. Such a food-supply enables a plant (like a
person with a deposit-receipt at his bank) to flower earlier than
its neighbours, and there is no difficulty in conceiving that this habit
of storing food may have grown and intensified by slow degrees. —
Axdbew Wilson.
[184]— Aluax.^cs and Celestial Maps.— Middleton's Atlas is
published by Wliitaker & Co., Paternoster-row ; Gall's (only a
shilling), by Gall & Inglis, 25, Paternoster-square. Both are
superseded by Proctor's 'Half-Hours mth the Stars" and
" Library- Atlas." — Thos. S. Bazley.
[188] — Optical Illcsion. — This is very antique ; it isthesh<idoi«
of the pin which is thrown on the retina, and not being inverted,
is paradoxically seen upside down. — S. J.
Electric Clocks. — A system of electric clocks has been organised
for Genoa, and is now being carried into execution. The clocks
will be arranged in five distinct lines, all branching out from the
Municipal Palace. The first will extend to the Porta Lanterna ; the
second to the Molo Yecchio ; the third to the Carignano ; the
fourth to the Palazzo Tommaseo ; and the fifth to the Piazza Manin.
280
• KNO^VLEDGE ♦
[Jan. 27, 1882.
Ofi,
-I,
2i\<iim\<i to £orir5tJO"^f"l3«
Mt rtmmnmUallamM f„r lAt KJilor rr^-irijiii fori) nllmlioo itouU rnie\ (*•
c» r-r- <tf—; t\, .<l„l,rjaf frtetlmil Ikr r«rT»i.l u«i.» (if KHOWtlDOII, «•
,._ . „ '''rktrk fcmpfh nf to «?« to prtu tttrif iti tk* v*tk.
^nrntm. 1. .Vo fnofiox nfli.j/"' .ri^^/^/Ir tiform.tlitn
i /A< ;.<..(. J. /,W(o-i .»»( (o r«» >;.(i/or /■.» rorr^./.o.i^.'nfj
'i-tr ran tkr mnmft or atittrf§$*i qf rorrttpoHitfnli hf t/irrn in
.,. , *j<,,nft. S. yi> qmtrift or rrplir* turouriHg nf tM* n-tlur* tif
•„.^,.l. .-.1, I,, „u,rtfj. 4. Lrllrrt, qnrrin. and rrrlitt an inirrltd, unlrti
7r fp Jt.;<3, /»« o/ rkar,^. ». Corrrtpon.lnl, ,\auU <rriU on on' »irf«
(A* ptiprr, diW »■/ dmwimgt on a trpilrat* i*(\f, 6. ^J<*A Utirr, ow<^, <w
<i«aU i.ir> a lilU. omi IN rrpl^itiq to Ulltri or (futrit; rffrrtnt-e ikouU it
tc tXt mmmbtr ^ UUtr or qmtry^ tko pagt on itkiek it appfttri, and Ut tttU.
AbjII. r. MciKI.K. Miinv lhaiik«; yonr letter useful.— Mf.M1i.
S<M-. niiiL. Akcii. am vnur cnnmunirationa intereeting. — J. A.
MoHATT. TliaiikB.- PniNKA!! Fooo. Our elnsHifiention seems to
need mi oxplanntion. As ynu say, we have Corrcsponfience
Colutntm, yucries. Replies, and Answers to Correspondents ; ought
it to be neces.snry to explain that we receive some letters we like to
publish ns such, many queries, not a few replies, and a number of
letters, which, though not miitalile for publication, require answer-
ing? The dilBouIty is to classify- letters, Ac., at all, wo receive so
many more than we can deal with properly. We may soon have to
open a new section for the names only of corresjiondcnts. The title,
" gonrc painters," is applied to painters who take for their subjects
scones of ordinar)' life in some special line. (2.) The name" Millais,"
is ordinarily pronounced "Millay." (3.) Dionysos, or Dionysus, is
the Greek eqinvalent for Bacchus, ns Aphrodite for Venus, Pallas
Athene for Minerva, (-t.) Do not know who made the Pears' soap
" Dirty Boy." You see, perhaps, why some questions are dealt with
here, instead of under the head " Queries." — W. C. The Star
Slaps are intended to be used by persons who. having looked
at the maps nihern-ifc than " in the dark," had observed that
Buch and such constellations were to be looked for towards the
south, cast, west, north, and so forth. T do not think their
uso would be very great to anyone who took them ont in
the dark, and tried to decipher them without a light. — W. Rion,
C. E. RoBERT.s, \V. G. Bei.1., R. W. J., R. C. Ati.i), and others.
It would be well if correspondents would kindly remember that
remittances and business communications generally, must be sent
to the publishers, not to the editor. All letters received after
Saturday lie over, and are not even opened till the ensuing Friday
or Saturday. If they contain stamps or P.O.O.. with orders for
Knowleikie, there is naturally ' a week's dissatisfaction, through
whose fault would you say ? — R. W. .T. thinks it is very good of us
" in our old age, to give to the world at a price which is equiva-
lent to a free gift, so much of the vast quantity of knowledge
which we have accumulated from within the four quarters of
this second-rate planet." We are really very much obliged to
Mr. Jenkins. We should not have taken credit, perhaps, for
extreme old age, but for his kindly suggestion : but we
have no objection. Sixteen years have passed since our first
book appeared, and it soems to us now that we were ver>-
young then: we must have been mistaken, however. — P. W.
Jackson. The difficulty at present is to tind space for mechanical
engineering.— Nemo. We give a short sketch of Dr. Draper's life,
as you request. — .\qiarh-s. Twelve years having pa.ised since we
rowed in a race, and though sliding seats had then come in, wo did
not care to give up the old-fashioned fixed seats on which we had
learned rowing, so we cannot give any practical explanation as to
their working ; but, unquestionably, when properly used, thev
greatly hel|> the ron-er. We seldom get a chance now of i-owing in
outrigged boats, the only rowing we much care for. — J.J. D. The diffi-
culty is that while, ns you say. the picture in Guillemin's Heavens
is manifestly incorrect, n correct picture of the moon's path round
the sun seems to differ in no observable respect from the elliptic
j«th assigned to the earth. See chapter on the moon's motions in
my treatise nn the moon. — Robert AVai.ker. Bezique is not in our
line. — Xebton Croslanp. I also thought " we had parted for
OTOr." Would insert your letter if it were about one-sixth of its
length, but ns it is, it is impossible. — J. T. Powell. Thanks, but we
have 'irirr ten thousand names of schools. Ac, and expect before long
to reach them all. We are growing fast, and wo " seek not to pro-
ticipate." We agree with you that Mr. Grant Allen's papers are
charming.- M. A. Tirxer. Did not Professor Wilson refer to Mr.
Gosse's well-known chapter about immured toads, in his first replv
on the subject ? It seemed certainly clear to us that ho was well
acquainted with it, ns we suppose most students of natural history
must bo. — J. Wanklvn. Quite so ; these questicms of classification
nro of themselves of no importance whatever. A new rule for
classifying introduces no new facts. It is ns though one who had
been fnmiliar with the arrangement of the bookshelves in a library,
and with the contents o£ the books in them, should bo told — when
ho camu bnck a year or two later, perhaps, to the place,
and some cluinges hod been made in the arrangement of books —
that he knew nothing about the books because ho know only of
their riM nrrungement on the shelvcB. — C. A. T. " Five of Clubs "
has nlrenily corrected the omission.— .\. E. S. Brewster spoke of
faith in other inhabited worlds ns the hope of the philosopher and
the faith of the Christian, or ihe faith of the philosopher and the
hope of the Christian. I forget which, exactly. It matters not ;
the theory is not " liased on iiny religions principles." — R. E. J.
You can hardly say that the sails of a windmill go with the sun,
or against the sun. If the wind is from the north the eastern arm
goes down, and the western arm up. If the wind is from the
south the reverse holds.^J". C'owLEY. If you will try to picture a
star as emitting rays in all directions, which, once emitted,
travel continuously outwards, you will see that there is no
reni difficulty. As to the waves arriving when the star is
"below the horizon or anywhere else," you might equally say
that sea • waves, leaving England for — let us say America —
may arrive there when jiooplc in England are in bed or anywhere
else. — C. Upham. Many thanks for your letter. — .Sio.nev jEnBi'R.N.
Never mind the gilt edge, or the crest, or the scent ; it is n«t the
paper, but what is written on the paper, we care for. Thanks, all
the same. As to the toad storj-, we heard the same story told about
Cimex lectularins. The ring of light round the moon emphatically
can »iot be explained as you suggest. Is not the cat's-eye pheno-
menon known to most persons ? Your plan for testing a cat's
power of turning is not cruel to the cat, but might be incon-
veuiont to the experimenter. Cats do turn with wonderful rapidity,
but we really caiuiot advise our readers, in their search for know-
ledge, to " seize a cat, the two front legs in the left hand, the
two hind ones in the right, to hold her upside down, with her
back two inches from the floor, let go, and observe how, in
the two-inch fall, she will turn rouHd and fall on her
feet." Unless, indeed, yon could gUEirantee her quie.'cenco before
she was " let go."- New Zealand. The Wanganui is a splendid
river for rowing. A year ago we had a splendid twenty miles spin
on the Wanganui in a four-oared clinker-built outrigged boat, and
judged it to be better for boat racing even than the Paramatta in
New .Soutli Wales, on which river also we had some capital romng.
The Paramatta, indeed, is hardly a river, it is an inlet of the sea —
at least as far up as the racecourse. — Johanmsbebg. The English
Mechanic is — or used to be, when I knew it- -an excellent paper,
but it does not give the latest method of calculating " the phases of
Orion." You must be mistaken. In the first place, no re\-iewer could
be so ignorant as to write such rubbish ; but if any could, the sub-
editor would know it was nonsense, and certainly would not think of
allowing it to be quoted. Of course Orion has no phases, and, therefore,
it stauds to reason no method — earliest or latest — has ever been in-
vsnted for cJilculating them. — M. McC. Phrenology- would certainly
not 1)0 proved by the evidence you mention. But there can be very
little doubt that there is a certain correlation between the capacity
for music, painting, &c.,and the conformation of those parts of the
head where phrenologists place the bumps corresponding to these
arts. So, readiness of verbal expression is almost always found in
fulI-eycd persons, as Gall noticed at the very beginning of his
observations. There is a very strong argument from induction
with regard to many of the localisations of phrenology, but they
have no more real bearing on cerebral localisation than has
the observed fact that blue-eyed white cats (male) are commonly i
deaf. — J. WniTLEV. We propose soon to have a paper on
the approaching transit of Yenus. If we put in your query :
we should have about fifty replies, every one of which, though ;
only one could appear, would involve just as n>uch trouble
to us as though we used it. If you could see our parcels of letters
(they are no longer forwarded from the head office in envelopes,
even tLe largest sizes tailing to hold them), you would understand
our reluctance to insert queries. We note that with a power of ii
200 the apparent diameter of Venus in transit next December will I
bo 1° 54' 40". The size of the O.G. and its focal length need not ■
have been mentioned when the power was given. — F. Riiylfji.
You nro right about the beading, but we know from the aspect of
the ring when seen edgewise that there is no such inequality there.
— Walter G. Wo<)Llco.mbe. It does so chance that we had for- i
gotten about Clerk Maxwell's Theory ; but it is the merest J
nccideut thnt yon should be right, for there arc many sub- |
jccts about which we are ignorant. We thought this was one of !
them, but, instead of ignorance, must now plead forgetfulness. — i
J. O. M, Excuse us ; but no space for the Cuddapah question. So i
few readers would be interested, and so many other subjects !
crowding in upon us.- — J. N. Barnes. The paragraph to which yon |
refer a]>peared only in the first edition of the " Vestiges ;" morel
experienced students of science explained to the author of that work I
thnt ho had erred. — John Roi'se. We have seareheil for one of the!
questions in vain. We remember receiving them, and had intended!
Jan-. 27, 1SS2.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
281
to insert boih. Probably it was among some which were lost ont
of a larg-e envelope which burst open dnrinjr postal transit. — M. H. C,
Fred Rollet, E. Luxmoke, il. B. E., and others. Thanks about the
/.oetrope corrections. We propose to discuss shortly the principles of
magic wheels, A-c.— Ues.\. Query on Logic should bo sent to a paper
dealing specially with such subjects ; the others inserted. — A. E. S.
Daylight sseiH.f only to change unequally in the morning and evening.
If we took true solar noon instead of mean noon, the increase would
be found uniform. — Conti.nextai. Sh.\i>e. Depends on the eyesight,
and no one has yet determined the average eye power for discerning
shades.— G. W. Nii-EX. How very carefully you make your articles
too long for any use. A coltunn of arithmetical curiosities would
be pleasant enough, but four pages wotild be too much. — W. Gibson.
Letter on sun heat crowded out.— A. J. M.^ktin. It is absolutely
necessary that all ''copy" should be in the printers' hands by first
post on Monday. The greater part should reach them on Friday.
We are far from being able to promise that letters or tiueries
received before Saturday will appear in the next number. To say the
truth the correspondence has gio^vn so as to interfere most unduly
w it h the conduct of the paper general ly. If our paper were high-priced
enough to command the serWces of six sub-editors (besides chess,
whist, and mathematical editors) , wit h a sixteen-page correspondence
supplement weekly, we might give due attention to the progress of the
more important depaitments. But it is not. The worst of it is
that so many correspondents send ns really valuable matter, that we
must go through the multitudinous heap of matter not valuable,
received weekly. Jl everyone who proposes to >vrite to us were to
ask first whether he really has something which he ought to say,
or whether a question he is going to ask might not quite
readily bo ansivered if he took a little trouble for himself, if,
then, having decided to write, he would put his communication
in the fewest words, and aftenvards strike ont all the extraneous
matter which the inexperienced pen will throw in, it would save
us a world of really trying labour. Even then, judging from what
reaches us, two out of three communications might well have
reached the writer's waste-paper basket as ours. Kindly read
ag-ain what F.R.A.S., says about wiping the object-glass of your
telescope. — H. T. Edmoxds.W. B. Rfs.sELi:., Ac. Every ono who has
studied natural history at all knows that the distinctions you
mention exist between the Batrachians and the animals now classed
as the only Reptiles. The question how they are classified is one
thing, the question why they are so classified is another. Te my-
self, all such (juestions seem to me not only unimportant, but often
mischievous — the student is led to think more of form and phrase
than of substance ; he is content to learn the long names which
have been adopted in classification, and to attend yery little to the
observed facts of nature. One may begin to suspect a man's
leal for science (as well as his common sense) when he is
anxious to display his familiarity with scientific terminology. —
Woori. Many thanks for rectangles, A-c. We had taken yotir first
letter as only private in regard to name. — Only a Woman. The
toad diJEculties tolerably obvious. As to the other question, the
upper weight would be brought to the ground by the effect of the
impulse communicated to it. There being no friction, and the
weights being equally balanced, there is nothing to destroy the
momentum once imparted nntil the weight reaches the ground.
The worm actually causes the anar'mic condition, being a blood-
sucker.— Ubsa Major. Would you kindly put your questions into
compact query form? One is suitable for the Mathematical Column,
. the other for the general queries. — J. O. M. So many magic square
communications have reached us that " we know not what to do "
with them. Each requires careful study, and would occupy a large
amount of space ; they interest but a small proportion of our
readers. We must now cease to deal with them. — A. Howard.
No space at present. — J. F. Russell. See answer above
about Electro-Magnetic Theory of Light. — 0. Dawson. We
must not perplex correspondents by being too particular. —
C. G. R. The plan has been thought of ; but the trouble
is that opportunities for observing are so few, and all the
part proprietors of an amateur observatory would want to use it
when observing conditions were favourable. — A. T. E. No reply to
query 49, page 101, has been received. After all, a i|uarter of a
man's weight (say he weighed 160 lb.) is not much to lift, and the
conditions are of course more favourable after a long breath has
been drawn, as you find in lifting a dead weight. This, and a
lively imagination, will explain the phenomenon, I think. — I. G. O.
No longer space for a question not very important in itself. — Ax
Octogenarian. Mercury can readily be seen with the naked eye
at the time when the " Nautical Almanac " speaks of him as at his
greatest elongation, east or west, — before sunrise when the eleva-
tion is west, after sunset when it is east, and of course
near the sun's place below the horizon. — Accipent. The cor-
rection already made. — C. E. H. Your solution correct and neat. —
J. RiCK.iRB. Cat story too long for its purport. (Cat troubled
with her milk brought a peace offering — fruitlessly — to a before-
hated kitten for relief.)— R. W. J. Dog story, ditto ; the
'• fore and aft chaff " between yourself and friend about the
bulldog has no scientific bearing. (Bulldog, having passed two
men on his way to a gate, which he found locked, went
back after them, and persistently bullied them till they opened
it.) — Chevalier. Game sent to Mephisto. — A. T. C. Seriously,
do you want me to say it was a miracle? A distant flight
of birds crossing the sun's disc, so that you could have
seen them in transit from the nail-holes, but not from the
opening just above, would account for what you saw. Or, some
other light intercepting passing object, at a suitable distance. If
you had looked at once through one of the holes you would doubt-
less have seen it ; looking otherwise you would probably have missed
it. All I know (not having been there) is that no miracle probably
occurred, and that therefore as a shadow was thrown there was
something which threw it. Your solutions of the three-square
problem are neat. It would surprise you very much, I take it, to
hear that the number of solutions is infinifc, " if you may cut them
as you will." — Simplex. Not knowing BeU's shorthand system,
cannot say ; can you describe it briefly ? — A. Thanks about
trotting horse ; regret that your question about Induction
Coils has remained unanswered. — W. Wilson. It seems to me
the ordinary expres.sion " I see the light" is the one which needs
correction. Define light, and put the words " I see " before
your definition, and see what comes of it. — F. Halle. Scarcely in
our line. — M.A., F.S.A. Is there a mathematical demonstration
of the divisibility of matter ? — F. L. C, or Z. L. C, or F. C. S., or
F. C. L. About sunlight on fire and poker across it in our article
on " Fallacies." — C. R. T. Seeing DebiUissima with a 3i inch O.G.
would, in my opinion, mean good eyesight. It is impossible to
infer the qualities of a telescope from such obsenations. Mr.
Sadler counts about a hundred mistakes in the new edition of
Smyth's Bedford Catalogue. You do not saj what sort of cata-
logue you mean. — T. R. CL.^pn.iM. Thanks. — Subscriber. Your
query indistinct. Besides, to " give you all that is known on the
subject," would be to give you two or three numbers to yourself. —
A. 'r. Wright. Cannot enter into discussion of various shorthand
systems ; they are not scientific matters.— J. H. Garfit. Your
article on the giraffe reminds us of his neck; obliged to decline it.
[Here, for the present, we stop. We beg to invite correspondents'
attention to the fact that we have been able to go through only
about two-thirds of the correspondence which reached us up to
Saturday afternoon (Jan. 21), that only about half of those letters,
queries, and repUes which we .should have liked to use can find a
place in our columns, and perhaps only about half of that can
appear next week. Original matter, notices of books, and paragraphs
suited to our columns may make way in some degree, but they must
not make way altogether,;for correspondence, queries, and replies, for
matter in fine, which we insert to oblige correspondents. — Ed.]
^otcd on 3rt anil ^tienrr.
" Cold Catchi.vg." — It is noteworthy as a curious yet easily ex-
plicable fact, that few persons take cold who are not either self-
consciously careful, or fearful of the consequences of exposvire. If
the attention be wholly diverted from the existance of danger, by
some supreme concentration of thought, as, for example, when
escaping from a house on fire or plunging into cold water to save
life — the effects of '■ chill ' are seldom experienced. This alone
should sen-e to suggest that the influence exerted by cold falls on
the nervous system. The immediate effects of a displacement of
blood from the surface, and its determination to the internal
organs, are not, as was once supposed, sufficient to produce the sort
of congestion that issues in inflammation. If it were so, an inflam-
matory condition would be the common characteristic of our bodily
state. When the vascular system is healthy, and that part of the
nervous apparatus by which the calibre of the vessels is controlled
performs its proper functions normally, any disturbance of equi-
librium in the circulatory system which may have been produced
by external cold will be quickly adjusted. It is, therefore, on the
state of the nervous system that everything depends, and it is, as
we have said, on the nervous system the stress of a ''chill" falls.
Consciousness is one element in the production of a cold, and when
that is wanting the phenomenon is not very likely to ensue.
It is in this way that persons who do not cultivate the fear of cold-
catching are not, as a rule, subject to this infliction. This is one
reason whv the habit of wrapping-up tends to create a morbid
sensibility. The mind by its fear-begetting precautions keeps the
nervous system on the alert for impressions of cold, and the centres
are, so to say, panic-stricken when only a slight sensation occurs.
282
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[J AH. 37, 1882
Cold n|i|iliiHl lo tho nurfni"*'. orcn in tl»< form of n xontlo current of
Kir noninwliut lowiT in tom|H'mtur<< than lh« nkin, will )iro<luc<i the
** fiHtliiiK " of "r)iill." Convpfflcly n thotif^ht will ofUMi f^ivo Hno to
tlio " f«i'liii)( " of oohl n|iplii'd to ttio xarfiiei- — for vxiiinpli', of " cold
wator riiiitiiiiK ilown Ihi' lim-k." Mniiy of (ho ar-niiiitionii of cold or
)i>-at wliii-li nr<' rtiM'rinnriHl liy tlio hyiM'metuiilvo linvo no rxtcniul
cauM. 't'lit'V aro |>nn.'ly iduutioiial in th><ir niodo uf origination, iind
ideal in fact. — Lanrct.
^■.llcr ,,r c.niiin s,i..v ON .Soi.rtis. — Ac-cordlnpf to tin- Hnvue
" ■. II (Innnnn rhomixt. hn^ recently |inb-
I . pvinff tlio rcMUltH of ii series of experi-
. :.; ; .1 iiuin tlio effect of powerful compre«Hiou
on tlio iiiual iliverHx liotlies. Tliu Hiilixlnncea ex|M'riniented witli
were taken in the form of fine ])Owder, and fiubmitted, in a Btccl
nioalil, to proKKurcg Taryinjf from 2,{KK» to 7,01X) atmospliorcii, or
about 7,000 kilo^ramnioa per ii(|Hnre centimetre. The facts observed
are pivcii in a series of tables, from whicli wo extract some of
tlio moro curious results. Lead filings, at a pri'S.iure of 2,000
atmoaphercs, were tran.-<fomiod into a solid block, which no
longer nhowod (he least K^ain under the microscope, and the
density <if which was 11*6, while that of ordinary lead is
113 only. At 5,000 atmospheres the lead became like a
lluid and run out through all the interstices of the apparatus.
The jMjwders of tine and bismuth, at 5,000 to 6,<i00 aimosphcres,
gave solid block having a criiiliiUiiie fracture. Towards G,iiOO at-
mospheres zinc and tin appeared to liquify. Powtler of prismatic
sulphur was transformed into a solid block of octulieilric sulphui'.
Soft sulphur and octahedric sulphur led to the same result as
jirismatic. Ucd phosphorus ap|>eurcd also to jmss into the denser
stato of black phosphorus. As may be seen from this, simple
bodies underi;o chemical transformations by the simple action of
|irossure. The chiuigo of amor))hou8 powders, like that of zinc into
crystalline ma-ssos, is a .sort of solf-conibination. Certain hard
ractals do not lose their pulvendent stmcturo at any pressure.
Binoxido of manganese and the sulphides of sine and load in
powder weld when compressed, and exhibit the appearance, re-
spectively, of natural crystallised pyrolusite, blende, and galena;
while silica and the oxides and sulphides of arsenic undergo no
agglomeration. A certain number of pulverised salts solidify
through pressure, and become transparent, thus provinj; the union
of the molecules. At high pressures the hydrated salts, such as
sulphate of soda, can be coinplotely liiiuefied. Various organic
substances, such as fatty acids, damp cotton, and starch, change
their appearand', lose their textnre, and consequently undergo
considerable molecular change.
(Pur iHatbrmatiral Column.
MATHEJIATICAL QUERIES.
[30]— I find in " Todhunter's Differential Calculus" the
following problem : — What is the greatest equilateral triangle
which can bo circumscribed about a given triangle ? I am not
able myself to employ the methods of the " DiCfercntial Calculus."
Is there any way of solving this problem by geometrical methods ?
— No Analyst.
[Try tlio following : — On the three sides of the triangle, describe,
outside tho triangle, segments, each containing an angle of sixty
degrees. Then it can readily be .seen that if any straight line be
drawn through an angle .4 of the triangle, to meet the two arcs on
AH, AC in P and y respectively, then I'B and QC produced will
moot on tho arc which has been drawn upon hC, and tho triangle
thus formed will be equilateral. All we have to do then is to
dot«rniine tho gn'atcst straight line which can thus be drawn
through .1 ; and it needs very little familiarity with geometrical
mothcHls to see that the gi-eatest straight lino which can be thus
drawn is the straight line parallel to the line joining the centres
of the arcs on AB, .)('. From this tho formula in " Todhunter's
Differential Calculus " for the side of the maximum equilateral
triangle follows at once. Ed. J
[21] — " Znros " a«ks us to give the formulas for solving the
problem, Uow fast should the earth rotate that tho centrifugal
force at tho oquator should just counterbalance the attractive force
of gravity ?
The followiug is tho solution of " '/ares' " problem : —
I<et T bo tho time in seconds in which tho earth should lotute
that tho force of gravity y Hhoiild be exactly balanced at the equator
by oeiitrifngal force. Let the earth's ecpiatorial radius " r. Then
the velocity of a point at tlio equator = i-rr-t-T, and tho contrifngal
tondeney whicli gravity ha-! to resiit is represented by (tho vel.)'
ilivided by (tho nulius). Ho that when tho force of gravity is
exactly balanced, wo havo
•\ T
V;.
whuraforc T •• 'iir
Taking a second for the nnit of time, a foot for tho unit of length,
and the earth's equatorial radius as 20,025,000 ft. (the equator is
not perfectly circular, its greatest and least diameters differing by
about two miles), wo havo, in numbers,
7-= 0-2432 ^-^^^
Now, i log. 20,925,000 = 30603328
i log. 32-2 = 0-7539279
Difference ■= 2 90ftlO19
log. C'2432 = 0-7'J5M>72
Sum = 3-7018121 = log. 5(53283
Therefore, T = 5032-S3 seconds
•= 83 m. 52 83 s. = 1 hr. 23 ni. 52 83 s.
If the earth rotated, then, in thi.s time, or roughly in 1 hr. 21m.,
bodies at the equator would be absolutely without weight. — Ed.
[22] — Eqcatioxs; .VsTHOxoMiCAt PROBLESts.- Can any of yonr
i-eadcra give solutions of the following equations 'f
(«)
= a + b
(li) 2.Cy/.i^ + a'+2x^x''-t-b
(i.) When is Vonus brightest
(ii.) My watch loses 5' per day. I travel eastivard at such a rate
that it keeps correct time. In what time shall I complete the
circuit ?
(iii.) A star's meridional zenith distance and north declination
arc equal (^), how long is the star above tho horizon ?
(iv.) Find the difference between the synodic periods of Jupiter
and Saturn with tho earth, assuming mean distances as 1 .' 5 : 9. —
RfEVEETE.
[15] — By a ridiculous oversight, after sending this question (see
11. 258) to the printers, we dealt only with one of the equations we
had written down. Of course, there are two, viz. ; —
.v(v-^5) = 1000
'/ (i0O-j-) = 100O
Or, 01 4 201/ = 400, whence (100-201/) (y -I- 5) = 1000. The rest is
obvious. — Ed.
0m €\)t^5 Column.
Problem Ko. 1 1.
Black.
PROBLKM No. 15.
Black.
i ±
.'4
^
3
'^
k
i
\i<'
i
White (o play niid "-cU" m«te
in two moves.
Tho two-mover is a prize pi-obleni from the Hi'dftcnfield College
Majaiinc Tourney of 1877. A remarkable fact occurred in con-
nection with this problem. The Hudderspeld College M(viazine
piililished this problem in October, 1877. as composed by W. A.
Skinkmann. Simultaneously with this, the Free /'res* published
exactly the same position as composed by Mr. (i. K. C-vrponter. It
was afterwards ascertained that Mr. Carpenter composed his
problem two years prior to Mr. Skinkmann, and it was also ad-
iiiilted that Mr. .'Skinkmann had no cognisance of Mr. Carpenter's
problem. This forms a remarkable coincidence of ideas by two
Jax. 27, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
283
eminent composers. It is now known under tlie name of the
Carpenter-Skinkmann problem. The other is from the Cheaa-
Plaiiers' Chronicle.
The following pretty ending occurred in a game played in the
m.-itoh of Liverpool v. Manclu'.ster (H. Jones, Manchester) (Kev, J.
Owen, Liverpool). We copy from the Field.
Position after Black's 28th move.
Rev. J. Owen.
!"■
'^
'•■!"- ©ri
t
• i
^ i - 1
A
L,
- :? '-^
m
Ri: -■■' ^_
White continued with
2!1. R. to Q.8.
30. Q.R. to Q.7 (").
31. Q. to R.6 (ch.) (M.
32. B. takes R. (ch.)
33. K. takes R. (ch.)
34. B. to Kt.7.
35. R. to R.8 (ch.l
36. R. to R.6 (mate).
20. K. to B. sq.
30. P. to K.4.
31. R. takes Q.
32. K. to Kt. sq.
33. K. to R.2.
31. I', to K.Kt.l.
35. K. to Kt.3.
(") The winning co'tp, which blocks out the adverse Q., and
fluvatens the decisive B. to Q.G (ch.).
C") A highly ingenious master-stroke. Mate in six more moves
is forced after this.
Game played at Mephisto's Rooms, 48a, Regent-street, between
Mr. W. Cook and Mephi-sto ; —
White.
W. Cook.
Black.
Mephisto.
Bishoi)"s Gambit.
1. P. to K.4.
2. P. to K.B.l.
3. B. to B.4.
4. B. takes P.
5. K. to B.sq.
6. P. to Q.4.
7. Kt. to Q.B.3.
8. Kt. to B.3.
9. B. toB.4(*).
10. Kt. to K.sq.
11. P. to Kt.3.
12. B. to K.3.
13. P. toQ.R.3.
14. P. to Q.Kt. 1 (■).
15. B. takes B.
16. P. to K.5 ('I.
17. B. to B.2.
18. Kt. to Q.3
19. K. to K.sq.
20. Kt. to K.4.
21. B. takes Kt.
22. Kt. to K.B.I (').
23. Kt. takes Q.
2k Kt. to B.2 {>•).
White resigns (' ) .
1. P. to K.4.
2. P. takes P.
3. P. to Q.4.
4. Q. to R.5. (ch.)
5. P. to K.Kt.4.
6. B. to Kt.2.
7. Kt. to K.2.
8. Q. to R.4.
0. P. to Kt.5. C")
10. P. to B.6.
11. B. to Q.2.
12. Kt. to Q.B.3.
13. Castles Q.R.
14. B. to K.3 (J).
15. P. takes B.
16. Kt. to B.4.
17. Q.Kt. takes Q.P
18. Q. to R.6. (ch.)
19. B. to R. 3.
20. Kt. to K.G.
21. B. takes B.
22. Q. to Kt.7 (•••)
23. P. takes Kt.
24. K.R. to. B.sq. (').
NOTES BY MEPHISTO.
(") The new edition of Jlr. Cook'.s synopsis of the openings gives
Q.P. to K.B.4, which, in our opinion, is the better move, as then
Black could not venture on capturing the Bishop, as it is part of
the plan of attack in this opening to got the Queen's Knightto Q.5.
gJC) The hasty advance of these Pawns is sometimes inadvisable,
as the White King, although apparently exposed, is nevertheless
fairly safe. A somewhat similar position of the King runs in the
Salvio Gambit. Mr. Steinitz here prefers Kt. to Q.B.3.
(') Tlii.s move lost the game. Black's intention of Castling on
the Queen's side was obviously to obtain an attack on the White
centre, which P. to Kt.4 facilitates, as, on account of the pinning
action of Black's Bishop on Kt.2, the White Queen's Pawn and
Knight are fixed in a disadvantageous manner.
('') This move forces the position. Tlie Queen's Pawn cannot be
defended.
(') I'layed, perhaps, with the intention of exchanging Rook and
piece for Queen. Ho had no good move.
(') Played with the intention of preventing Q. to Kt.7. If, now.
Black plays, B. takes Kt. followed, on Pawn retaking, by Q. to Kt. 7.
Then White plays Kt. to B.2. White's position is very bad in any
case.
(') This position is as sound as it is forcible. He threatens Q.,
takes R. (ch.), and Kt. takes P. (ch.), which compels White to take
the Queen.
(*) As good as any other move. If 24. R. to B.2, then
„- K. to K.2
Kt. to B.6 (ch.)
R. takes Q.
26.
R. takes R.
P. Qiteens.
„- R. takes Q. -lx. ■ i. j
Z7. . ^ with a piece ahead.
B. takes R. ^
(') P takes R., followed by Kt. to B.6 (ch.), would also have left
Black with a piece more.
(') To find out the precise mode of winning, whatever White may
do, might be interesting to our young readers.
The death is announced of Mr. S. G. Boden, a chess-player of
great excellence. The Field gives the following brilliant end game
as a specimen of fine play on the part of the deceased : —
Bl^ce.
Mr. Bodon.
— WB V
It was Black's turn to play on the
l)roceeded thus : —
MiicDonnell.
lOtli move, and the game
WHITK.
21. P. takes Q.
22. K. to Kt.sq.
23. Q. to B.2.
24. B. takes R.
Resigned.
BLACK.
20. Q. takes Kt.
21. B. to R.6. (ch.)
22. R. to K.3.
23. R. takes Q.P.
24. Kt. takes B.
The sacrifice of the Q. in conjunction with the ultimate giving up
of the R. belongs to the finest specimen of chess tactics in actual
play.
A. .T. JIartix and J. P.— In rmldcni 5, if 1. K. to K.3, (') B.
takes P. (ch.), then 2 R. covers, disclosing check, and Black King
goes to K.3; there is then no mate. Of course, the first move in
our solution should have been K. to K.2., not Q.2. He cannot go
to Q.2. How does J. P. make out that if K. goes to K.2, there is
no mate in three ? In Problem 11 no mate in two. — En.
Vicar. — Your treatment of Mr. Maas's end game is correct.
What seems White's obvious first move leads to defeat. Problems
10 and 11 correctly solved. — En.
Carolus. — Y'our solution of Problem 11, p. 240, is erroneous.
After the two Knights have checked, when Bi.shop checks as you
propose, what is to prevent Black from playing R. takes B. ? — Ed.
284
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Jan. 27, 1882.
W '■ V ,ir inlntionii of No. C and Ko. 11 (llio former
roc<i rorrocl. - Ei>.
(;. .. . -Your Koliitionit of tS, 7, nnil H, correct. Kp.
Ill:^i;^ Mi/ii>iit. — If, ill tlio third varintioii on pnj^o 21G,
movf yjt, Whiti' 1.I1..11M |.liiy l^- Kl. tnk.n g.It.P., iimtoinl of
IS. It. tukcK g.r.U. (cli.), tlicii lilnck would Mimply reply with
12. t^. tJikon II., winning n pirrc. — Mkimihto.
rnililcniii nunilH'riil 11 and 1^ in No. 12, «houM linvc In'cn
nunilwrod n'«|M'Ctiv('ly 12 niul 13.
Norr. Tho ChoM Kiiitomhip, which has till now hwn ilividcd
lietwcon McphiHto and tho (ioncrnl Kditor, will hciici-forth be loft
to tho former. I.cltcTti belonging to this depiirtment nhouM be
directed Chosi Editor of Knowleooi:, 7t, Urcnt (juuen-street.
(Dili- Kll)iut Column.
By " Five of Cluus."
AX OMI.SSIOX I'i:().\I OL'K LE.VDS IX PLAIX SUITS.
WE omitted to note nmong our loads four, one lead of Knave,
two of Ten. and one of Nine. Besides tho two cases
noted, Knnve in led from King, Queen, Knave, with or without
others ; and lie.«ide8 the cases noted, Ten is led from King, Queen,
Knnve, Ten, with or without others. Tho object is, in either
cn«e, to get tho Ace, even though held by partner, out of the
way, after which tho entire command is retained in the suit.
Again, Ten is led from King, Knavo, Ten, with or without others.
Lastly, Nino is led from King, Knave, Ten, Xine, with or without
others.
Wo give this week a game which, as it happens, illustrates the
lead of Knave just mentioned. It is intended, however, to illustrate
what wo said in our Inst about playing a waiting game in trumps.
It may be mentioned as rather amusing, that in the actual gamp,
one of the ]>layers, forgetting the strict rule of whist, remarked,
when the second round of trumps was played without the Ace
falling, "Well, some one must be an unmitigated - " (the rest
was left unexpressed). He was one of the losers, and slightly
changed his tone at)OUt the tenth round. It is hardly necessary to
say. however, that he should have been silent all the time, whatever
his opinion of the play.
A.
Hearts — K, Q, 7.
Spatles— K,Q,Kn,0,
Diamonds — A, Q.
Clubs— G, 4.
C.
Hearts— Ku. 9, 3.
Spades— A, 10.
Diamonds— K Kn ,0, .')
Clubs— 7, 5.
TriK Hani
Score .—A B = I i Y Z = 4.
r.
Hearts— 8, G, 2.
Spades — S, G, 5.
Diamonds— 10, 8, 3.
Clubs -Ku, 10, 9, 3.
7/cnr^-— A, 10, 5, 4.
Spades — I. 2.
Diamonds — 7, G.
Clubs— A, K, Q, 8, 2.
Note.— Tho underlined card i
A Y B Z
i
*
@
*
<9 <p
<?
^QMJ
V V
fmni
9
<P <7
<P
[jSj
15 <7
19 trick, and card below it leads next.
REMARKS AXD IXFEREXCES.
1. — A may have led from Knave,
ten, nine, so far as Y or Z can tell.
Jl, holding tho ten, knows the lead
is from King, Queen, Knave. He
))uts on .\cc to give his partner
c inand of the suit. If he ])layed
Ten, A would continue with Queen,
and Ace would take it, whereas by
playing ten, on returning the suit.
11 leaves his partner the option of
taking the trick, or letting the Ten
take it. As the cards lie. B docs
not get the chance of returning
his partner's lenil, after showing
his own strong suit.
2. — B leads the nnte-penultiinate,
Drayson's jilan for showing six of
a suit.
3. — Seeing that FourofDinmimds
cannot lie with V or Z (from their
play), A phoiild place it with B, and
credit B with all the remaining
diamonds but one.
m
1
!:•
^
I9~^
+ +
+ +
,^
* +1
♦ * +
***
* r*jw| o o
4. — A has oil the remaining
■pnites but one, which may lie
cither with 1' or Z.
5. — A dixjB not continue hi8
established suit, fearing to force
his partner 1' trumping first.
But he had two chances in his
favour if he had led them.
First, ho wouM as probably be
forcing an adverse strong trump
hand, as one held by B ; secondly,
Z may have the remaining 8pa<le,
in which cane B would lie over Y
in rotting, and still only trump for
trump lie drawn. A's fault here
loses the game, though it requires
keen play by Y and Z to win it
w^ith such a wretched hand as T
has. Z docs not win the trick,
knowing that his only chance lies
in taking the last round of trumps.
He plays Five (F(jnr being the
trump card), to show his partner
one more card.
G. — B leads the highest of two
cards left ; the fall of the cards
shows A that B must have the
Three, and therefore no other, and
A should tremble. Yet with such
cards as be knows to remain in his
hands and B's, with reasonable
probability that at least one goo<l
club lies with B, A does not yet
despair. He knows, however, that
Ace must lie with the enemy, and
the way it is kept back is ominou.«
of trouble.
7. — A resumes his long suit when
the mischief is done. If he had
drawn a trump from Z, he might himself, holding King and Queen,
have played the waiting game. Z trumps, disregarding the pro-
bability that A held originally four trumps, — for this simple reason,
that, as the score stands, I'and Z must make everj- other trick.
8. A should tremble still more ; yet even now a single trick will
save and win A-B's game, and nothing but very careful play can
win Y-Z's.
9. — r's play of the Club Ten is excellent. He knows that Z will
place the Knave in Y's hand so soon as another round has fallen, if
not at once, so that if Z has only Ace and King at the head of his
club suit, and draws the Queen from the enemy, second round, Z
will still credit 1' with the power of making another trick in Clnbs
and returning a small one ; while it Z has Ace, King, and Queen at the
head of his Club suit, V will be able to throw away the remaining
high cards. If at this stage 1' had played the Thi-ee, Y-Z would
have lost the odd trick and the game. As the cards lie, he can do
no harm by leading cither Knave or Nine. Even if A has not the
Queen, aud it falls at the second round, A*s knowing that Fhas the
Knave may not be essential to I'-Z's success* ; but it is goo<l whist
to give the information, all the same. Observe : the Knave could not
possibly be played by a good whist player; the nine would be tho
usual play : but by playing the Ten, 1' shows his partner the
position of the only card to be dreaded, if Z, having Ace aud King,
can draw the Qneen. .4 having Ace, King. Queen, the Knave is not
wanted, and V throws it away, leaving Z to make both Eight and
Two.
* Put Queen of Clubs in A'a hand, and Six of Clubs in Z'a, then T-Z would
equally win the game, thus : —
r-Z win the odd t
D4
D9
DKn
NOTICES.
The PiiMishers lieg to announce that in future Montblj Farts of Xxowledob
will bp issued. Tho following can now be had : —
1*ART T.— (November, ISSI.) Cuntttiuing the lirst four numbers. Price lOd. Post-
fri'e, ]s.
Part II.— (December, 1881.) Containing five numbers. Price Is. Post-free,
Ifi. 2<1.
Taiit in.— (Jnnuan-. 18S2.) Containin-; four numbers. Price lOd. Post-
fr.-o, U.
The Hnck Xumbers of Rxowludok. with iho oiccpliou of No. 2 (Xov. 11. ISSl),
niul No. U (Xov. 18. 1^81). arc in print, nn.l cnn be ohiaine*! from all bo4>k.sellen»
and nevTMcent?, or direct frctm the Publishers*. Should any difficultr ari^e] in
obiainiu); the paper, an apphcation to the PubLishent is reapectfullj requeated.
Subscribers wishing to complete their sets are advised to make early application
to ihe Publisfaem, as no further reprints will be ordered.
JTEB. o, looa.j
AN ILLUi&IRATED. ^
I ^ MAGAZlNEoFS^ENCE
PlJVlNUfWfORMD -EXACTllDESCRIBEa;
LOXDON : FRIDAY, FEBRUARY \ 1882.
Contents of No. 14.
FAQS.
The Air of Stove-Heatod Rooms.
Bv W. MattienWillinms ^''5
Young on Ihc Son. Ht the Mitor . 280
Found Links.— Part til. Hv Dr.
Andrew WilnOD. P.B.S.E., .(:o 38S
lotelliaenec in .Ininmb ■2S9
.Mights with a Thrco-inth Telescope.
By " A Fellow of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society." (ftiu.'tratrJ.) 290
Brain Troubles : Partial loss of
.S|)eech , 291
liKviKws : Srieneo Ladders -Science
(or All— The Science of the Stars . 293
Ibo Effects of Tolrtoco.— Part I. By
Dr. Mnir Howie 292
Professor Grant on Motoorolopy .!. 29*
PAGB.
Easy Lessons in Blowpipe Chemistry.
- -Lesson II. Bv Lieut.-Colonel
W. A. Ross, late "R.N 29S
Ellluvia and Health; The Use of
Fleas, &c. ; Fish "Sounds." By
W. Mattieu Williams 295
—Volcanic Projectiles, 4o 296-302
Star Map for Febmarv 297-300
Queries .'. 303
Replies to Queries 303
.A-nswers to Correspondents 304
Notes on Art and Science 30tt
Our Mathematical Column 3V
Our Chess Column 309
Our Whist Column 309
THE AIR OF STOVE-HEATED ROOMS.
By W. M.iTTIEU WiLLI.YMS.
%S WHATEVER opinions may be formed of the merits of
* \ the exhibits at South Kensington, one result is
unquestionable — the exhibition itself lias done much in
directing public attention to the very important subject of
economising fuel and the diminution of smoke. We sorely
need some le,ssons. Our national progress in this direction
has been simply contemptible, so far as domestic fireplaces
are concerned.
To prove this we need only turn back to the essays of
Benjamin Thompson, Count of Rumford, published in
London just eighty years ago, and find therein nearly
all that the Smoke Abatement Exhibition ought to teach
us, both in theory and practice — lessons which all our
progress since 1802, plus the best exliibits at South j^Ken-
sington, we have yet to learn.
This small progress in domestic heating is the more
remarkable when contrasted with the great strides we
have made in the construction and working of engineering
and metallurgical furnaces, the most important of which
is displayed in the Siemens regenerative furnace. A
climax t<:) this contra-st is afforded by a speech made by
Dr. Siemens himself, in which he defends our domestic
barbarisms with all the conservative inconvincibility of
a Ijom and bred Englishman, in spite of his German
nationality.
The speech to whicli I refer is reported in the "Journal
of the Society of Arts," Dec. 1', 1881, and contains some
curious fallacies, probably due to its extemporaneous
< haracter ; but as they have been (juoted and adopted not
only in political and literary journals, but also by a maga-
zine of such high scientific standing as Mature (see
<-ditorial article Jan. !), p. 219), they are likely to mislead
many.
Ha\-ing already, in my " History of Modem Invention,
ac," and in other places, expressed my great respect for
Dr. Siemens and his benefactions to British industry-, the
spirit in which the following plain-spoken criticism is made
will not, I hope, be misunderstood either by the readers of
Knowledge or by Dr. Siemens himself.
I may further add that I am animated by a deadly hatred
of our barbarous practice of wasting precious coal by burning
it in iron fire-baskets half buried in holes within brick walls,
and under shafts that carry 80 or 90 per cent of its heat
to the clouds ; that pollute the atmosphere of our towns,
and laake all their architecture hideous ; that render scien-
tific and efficient ventilation of our houses impossible ; that
promote rheumatism, neuralgia, chilblains, pulmonary di-
seases, bronchitis, and all the other " ills that flesh is hf>ir
to " when roasted on one side and cold-blasted on the other ;
that I am so rabid on this subject, that if Dr. Siemens, Sir
F. Bramwell, and all others who defend this English abomi-
nation, were giant windmills in full rotation, I would
emulate the valour of my chivalric predecessor, whatever
might be the personal consequences.
Dr. Siemens stated that the open fireplace " communi-
cates absolutely no heat to the air of the room, because air,
being a perfectly transparent medium, the rays of heat pass
clean through it."
Here is an initial mistake. It is true that air which
has been artificially deprived of all its atjueous vapour is
thus completely permeable by heat rays, but such is far
from being the case with the water it contains. This
absorbs a notable amount even of bright solar rays, and a
far greater proportion of the heat rays from a comparatively
obscure source, such as the red-hot coals and flame of a
common fire. Tyndall has proved that 8 to 10 per cent, of
all the heat radiating from such a source as a common fire
is absorbed in passing through only 5 ft. of air in its ordi-
nary condition, the variation depending upon its degree of
saturation with aqueous vapour.
Starting with the erroneous assumption that the rays of
heat pass "clean through" the air of the room. Dr. Siemens
went on to say that the open fireplace ' ' gives heat only by
heating the walls, ceiling, and furniture ; and here is the
great advantage of the open fire ; '" and, further, that " if
the air in the room were hotter than the walls, condensa-
tion would take place on tliem, and mildew and fermenta-
tion of various kinds would be engendered ; whereas, if
the air were cooler than the walls, the latter must be
absolutely dry."
Upon these assumptions, Dr. Siemens condemns steam
pipes and stoves, hot-air pipes, and all other methods of
directly heating the air of apartments, and thereby making
it warmer than were the walls, the ceiling, and furniture
when the process of warming commenced. It is quite true
that stoves, stove pipes, hot-air pipes, steam pipes, &c., do
this : they raise tho temperature of the air directly by
convection ; i.e., by warming the film of air in contact
with their surfaces, which film, thus heated and expanded,
rises towards the ceiling, and, on its way, warms the air
around it, and then is followed by other similarly-heated
ascending films. When we make a hole in the wall, and
burn our coals within such cavity, this convection proceeds
up the chimney in company with the smoke.
But is Dr. Siemens right in saying that the air of a
room, raised by convection above its original temperature,
and above that of the walls, deposits any of its moisture
on these walls .' I have no hesitation in saying very posi-
tively that he is clearly and demonstrably wrong ; that
no such condensation can possibly take place under the
circumstances.
Suppose, for illustration sake, that we started with a
room of which the air and walls were at the freezing-
point, 32° F., before artificial heating (any other tempera-
ture will do), and, to give Dr. Siemens every advantage, we
286
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Feb. 3, 1882.
vill further suppose tlmt the air was fully saturntofl with
i'|u<-ouH vnpour, !.'•., just in the conilitioo ot which NOino of
it« watt-r ini({ht Ikj coikU-iirciI. Such coiidonsation, how-
■ viT, can only take place liy cooling the air l«elow .12^ ami
iiiilesK the wiilU or ceiling or furnitiire are capable of
doing this they cannot receive any moisture due to such
condensation, or, in other words, they must fall lielow .'{"J
in order to odtoin it by cooling the lilni in contact with
them. Of course Dr. Siemens will not a.ssert tlmt the
stoves or Kteam-pipe.K (enclosing the steam, of course), or
the hot air or hot water j " .< will hm-.i- ihi' absolute tem-
per.ature of the walls by heating th<' air in the room.
I!ut if the air is heated more rapidly than are the walls,
..c,, the T'liilivc temperature of tln'se will be lower. Will
condensation of moisture l/ien follow, as L)r. Siemens
athrms 1 Let us suppose that the air of the room is raised
from .30^ to .')0° /'.'/ fotiirclio)) punli/ ; reference to tables
liascd on the researches of Regiiault, shows that at 32°
the quantity of vapour required to saturate the air is suffi-
cient to support a column of 0-182 inches of mercury, while
at riO° it amounts to U-3C1, or nearly doul^le. Thus the
air, instead of being in a condition of giving away its
moisture to the walls, has become thirsty, or in a condition
to (akf moisliirc mm;/ from them if they are at all damp.
This is the case whether the walls remain at .32° or are
raised to any higher temper.ature short of that of the air.
Thus, the action of close stoves and of hot surfaces or
pipes of any kind is exactly the opposite of that attributed
to them by Dr. Siemens. They dry the air, they dry the
walls, they dry the ceiling, they dry the furniture and
everything else in the house.
In our climate, especially in the infamous jerry-built
houses of suburban London, this is a great advantage. Dr.
Siemens states his American experience, and denounces
such heating by convection because the close stoves there
made him uncomfortable. This was due to the fact that
the winter atmosphere of the United States is very dry,
even when at zero. But air, when raised from 0° to 60°,
acquires about twelve times its original capacity for water.
The air thus simply heated is desiccated, and it desiccates
everything in contact with it, especially the human body.
The lank and shrivelled aspect of the typical Yankee is, I
believe, due to this. He is a desiccated Englishman, and
we should all grow like him if our climate were as dry as
his.* The great fires that devastate the cities of the United
States appear to me to be due to this general desiccation of
all building materials, rendering them readily inflammable
and difficult of extinction.
When an undesiccated Englishman, or a German endowed
with a wholesome .John Bull rotundity, is exposed to this
superdried air, he is subjected to an amount of bodily
evaporation that must be perceptible and unpleasant The
disagreeable sensations experienced by Dr. Siemens in the
stove-heated railway cars, itc, were probably due to this.
An English house, enveloped in a foggy atmosphere, and
encased in damp surroundings, especially requires stove-
heating, and the most inveterate worshippers of our na-
tional domestic fetish, the open grate, iinariably prefer a
stove or hot-pipe-heated room, when they are unconscious
of the source of heat, and their prejudice hoodwinked. I
have observed this continually, and have often been amused
at the inconsistency thus displayed. For example, one
evening I had a warm contest with a lady, who repeated
the usual jiraises of the cheerful blaze, ikc, itc. On calling
afterwards, on a bitter snowy morning, I found her and
her daughters sitting at work in the billiard-room, and
luked tliem why. "Because it was so warm and com-
fortable." This room was heated by an H-inch steam-pipe,
ruiming around and under the table, to prevent the undue
cooling of tin- india-rubber cushions, and thus the room
was warmed from the middle, and equally and moderately
throughout The large reception-room, with blazing fire,
wa-s scorching on C)ne side, and freezing on the other, at
that time in the morning.
The i>ermeability of ill-constructed iron stoves to poi-
sonous carbonic oxide, which riddles through red-hot iron,
is a real evil, but e.-usily obviated V^y proper lining. The
frizzling of particles of organic matter, of which we hear
so much, is — if it really does occur — highly advantageous,
seeing that it must destroy organic poison-germs. Under
some conditions, the warm air of a mom does deposit
moisture on its cooler walls. This happens in churche.s,
concert-rooms, itc, when they are but occasionally used in
winter time, and mainly wanned by animal heat, by con-
gregational emanations of breath-vapour, and perspiration
— i.e., with warm air supersaturated with vapour. Also,
when we have a sudden change from dry, frosty weather,
to warm and humid. Then our walls may be streaming
with condensed water. Such cases were probably in the
mind of Dr. Siemens when he spoke ; but they are quite
ditlerent from stove-heating, which increases the vapour
cipacity of the heated air, without supplying the demand
it creates.
• In each of my three visits to America I lost abont thirty pounds
ill wcJKht, which I rrcovorcil within a few months of my retnm to
the " home country" (of English-speaking nations).— En.
yOLTXG ON THE SUX.
Bt the Editor.
IN the beginning of my former notice, I remarked that,
although Professor Young is one of those to whom
science is very largely indebted for our present knowledge
respecting the sun, few would suppose so from the treatise
before us. It so chanced that, on the very day when that
notice was passing through the press, a review of Prof.
Young's book appeared in yalitre, of which the opening
paragraph ran as follows : —
" Since the method of artificial eclipses was introduced
in 1868, Prof. Young, the author of the book under notice,
has from time to time done good work in utilising the
capital climate of his native country, and his relatively
superior optical means, to confirm in many essential points,
and to add a little shading here and there, to the bold
outlines of the new science, for which we are indebted to
his predecessors."
I must confess I read these lines with a sense of regret
— almost of shame. It is not fitting that any student of
science in this country should be ignorant of the services
which our American fellow-workers have rendered in solar
research, as in other departments of science. It would
be something worse if, knowing what those services have
Vieen, they should seek to ignore them. But, apart from
this, the reasoning involved in the slur cast on Professor
Young's original work is ridiculous on the face of it. One
might as reason.ibly say that the Herschels, utilising
their larger telescopes, did good work by adding a little
shading here and there to the bold outline of telescopic
astronomy, for which we are indebted to their pre-
decessors ; or that Huggins, Secchi, Lockyer, and others,
employing better spectroscopes, have usefully applied the
general principles for which we are indebted to Fraun-
hofer. Jso one who considers what Young has done can f.iil
to see that while even that part of his work which de-
pended on the method of artificial eclipses is full of original
FEa 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
287
value (three of the most important observations by this
method were made by him), he has done most valuable
work outside this particular line of research. He was one
of those who first demonstrated the gaseity of the solar
corona ; he tirst demonstrated the existence of the atmo-
sphere of multitudinous gases existing close to the visible
solar surface ; we owe to him the recognition of nine-tenths
of the lines of the solar sierra (all of those lines which
were at all difficult to discover) ; and he invented the
method (successfully applied by Respighi and Lockyer in
1S71) of observing the corona with a slitless spectro-
scope ; these, and a number of other researches, more than
justify what I said last fortnight. It appears to me — I
speak under correction — that a rival worker in the same
iield, like the editor of Xature, one who formerly held
views opposed to those which Professor Youngs original
researches have established, should not have allowed the
above-quoted paragraph to appear in the journal which, we
must assume, he controls. Some critics might attribute
the review to his pen, and point out that while science
must always gain, both in progress and Ln tone, from emu-
lation amongst scientific fellow-workers, the same cannot
be said of the quality which is associated with " malice
and all uncharitableness," and in reference to which the
old proverb says that Qui invidet minor est. We must not
suppose, however, that the renew was written by the editor
of Xature.
In this, my second notice, promised in the last
number but one, I propose to touch on some of
the remaining subjects admirably dealt with by Pro-
fessor Young, and to show that the sole subject worth
referring to is not, as the reviewer in Nature seems to
think, that investigation of the nature of the elements, in
which Mr. Lockyer is understood to have been engaged (as
that re\-iewer, indeed, asserts) during the last thirteen
years,- — with important results hereafter, we may suppose,
to be made more fully knoi^iu (The communications to
the Eoyal Society in 1878 and 1879 are understood to be
merely preliminary.)
In the first place, there is an admirable account of the
solar spots and faculw, with absolutely the best description
we have yet seen of the various stages of the growth and
development of the larger spots. The discussion of the
proper motion of the spots, and of the theories which have
been advanced in explanation of the seemingly more rapid
rotation of the equatorial regions is admirable. Here,
though the subject does not require any difficult mathe-
matical discussion, Professor Young's familiarity -n-ith
mathematical methods of reasoning stands him in good
stead. We may note, in passing, that Professor Young
has not allowed his book to be disfigured by that ridi-
culous picture illustrating (save the mark !) the sun's
axial inclination, which first appeared, we beKeve, in
Guillemin's " Heavens," and has since done duty in so
many astronomical works (by writers who should assuredlv
know better, and doubtless do). We could have wished
he had substituted another, but it is certainly better to
have no picture at all than to admit one conveying quite
erroneous ideas.
Passing to the portions of the sun outside the photo
sphere we first note an important omission. In dealing
with the lower atmosphere of the sun, and the beautiful
observations by which it was tirst recognised in 1870,
Professor Young calmly leaves out all reference to the
name of the eminent astronomer to whom the discovery
was due — Professor Young, then of Dartmouth, now of
Princetown, N.J. We find an account of the invention of
the method of observing the prominences ^nthout an eclipse,
in which, while due credit, to say the least, is given to
Janssen and Lockyer for their success in observing the bright
lines of the prominences without an eclipse, tlie important
share which Dr. Huggins had in the work is not overlooked,
as it has been by some writers. " It seems to have been
reserved,' he says, "for Dr. Huggins to be the first to show
practically that a still simpler device would " serve to show
the whole contour and detail of a protuberance at once —
that simple device being the one actually in use, and the
only one which has ever been successful, the widening of
the slit. The account of the varf -is orders of prominences
is very full of interest, and, thougA . concisely written, it is
the best and fullest extant.
Professor Young's discussion of the corona is, naturally,
full of interest to myself. When I first made his acquaint-
ance in America, the views which I had advocated respecting
the corona were as yet but half accepted. In 1869, a certain
degree of controversial energj' had characterised the contra-
diction which Mr. Lockyer advanced against the belief
which I then asserted to be mathematically demonstrable,
that — apart from any further observations — the solar corona
is a truly solar phenomenon, and not due to our own
atmosphere. But during the eclipse of 1870, photographic
observations showed that the theory which had lieen
rashly characterised as " ridiculous," is, as a matter of fact,
true. Even then, however, a section — a very small one
truly — of solar students, maintained that only the inner
and brighter part of the corona lielongs to the sun, the
outer part being a partly optical, partly atmospheric, phe-
nomenon. The eclipse of 1871, during which two sets of
six photographs, all agreeing together, were made, enforced
a still further concession of coronal matter to the sun.
For my own part, I was content to wait, the clear evidence
of mathematics (elementary enough, too), assuring me
that scarcely any appreciable portion of the light seen out-
side the body of the eclipsing moon could come from other
than solar matter — that is, matter by the sun. It did not
seem to me worth while to arg\ie the matter ; there had
been enough, and more than enough, of argument, approach-
ing sometimes to dispute ; and I had had time to see that
science can never gain by contention, though controversy
has not always been unfruitful. At last the eclipse of
1878 disposed of aU that had been in question. And
in Professor Young's book, we find a picture of
the corona of 1878, combined fi'om various draw-
ings, showing the real solar corona extending to a distance
corresponding to some three million miles from the sun.
Referring to these later views. Professor Young remarks
that " as has been pointed out by Mr. Proctor, the observer
at the middle of an eclipse is in the centre of an enormous
shadow, general!}- from fifty to a hundred miles in diar
meter. If we grant that the air retains some sensible
density and power of light reflection, e\en at an altitude
of a hundred miles, and assume for the shadow a radius of
only twenty miles, no particle of air illuiuinated by
sunlight could, under these circumstances, be found
within eleven degrees of the sun's apparent place in
the sky. If there were no corona truly solar in its
origin, there would, therefore, be around the moon a
circle of intense darkness, twenty-three degrees at least
in diameter; at the edge of this circle a faint illumi-
nation would begin, forming a luminous ring, something
like a halo, outside of which the sky would be lighted
by rays fi-om an only partially hidden sky." I could have
wished (it is not very important, but would have served to
show the value of a little reasoning applied to observations,
even to tolerably old ones,) that Professor Young had men-
tioned that this reasoning of mine was published in my
" Treatise on the Sun," and insisted upon in papers com-
municated to the Astronomical Society several months
288
KNOWLEDGE
[Kkb. 3, 1882.
lioforo th" eclipse of 1870, when olwcrvatioiw, showing
what I hud alrindy tliniotistnitfd, liognn to be made. My
proof was not the less a proof that, if it was nut mrinrr to
tho general, it was not so readily understoo<l l>y them
as tho compamtively rough phot^jgrnpliic demonstration ;
and tlie lesson needs insisting upon that very <)ft<n we
possess, idready demonstrated, trutlis which a litth- care-
ful reasoning will sutlii-e to ediiec from observations
already niado. Tin- cry for fresh observations is, in such
cAses, caused either by laziness or inaptitude, either by
unwillingness to work out the truth from the observations
in hand, or by incapacity to reason soundly and accurat<>ly.
I note that' Professor Young accepts without reservation
Dr. Henry Drapers important discovery of the existence
of oxygen in tho sun. I fully agree with him. His views
respecting the elementary constitution of matter he has
described in these pages. How far they agree (as the
reviewer in Xaliirr seems to suggest) with Mr. Lockyor's
theory —or ratlier tlie theory advanced (earlier) by Professor
Clarke, of Cincinnati, we leave our readers to judge.
Professor Young's account of the valuable researches
made by his fellow-countryman. Professor Langley, into
tiie question of the sun's heat and light, is full of interest.
I note that Professor Young regards 10,000° Centigrade as
an altogether more reasonable estimate of the sun's effec-
tive temperature than the monstrous numbers adopted by
Secchi, Ericsson, and others.
I would fain dwell longer on this valuable work and on
the fascinating subject of which it treats, but space will
not permit I recommend all who wish to know the
present position of solar research to take this treatise for
their guide- — a guide thoroughly honest and trustworthy.
The book is not a book to be tasted, or merely swallowed,
but " to be chewed and digested." It has one fault (I
think a somewhat serious one) : Professor Young is ex-
ceedingly unwilling to claim his own work ; as some of it
has been rather unceremoniously claimed by others, he, in
this, hardly does justice to those who in this countrj- have
urged his claims (of the justice of wliich, be it remarked,
he is fully conscious, little though he cares to assert them).
There is sucli a thing as carrying modesty too far. He also
fails sometimes in expressing with suHicient confidence
views which he is known to regard as uni|uestionably just.
These, however, are, after all, very amiable faults. Per-
haps 1 should not have noticed them if he had left me any
others to note.
FOUND LINKS.
r.v Dp. Andhew Wil.son, F li.S F,
PAUT HI.
HAVING in my previous paper tried to .show that the
Mud fishes were veritable links between the lish-
e.la-ss and the frog-class, we may now turn to the history of
the latter group itself, by way of showing how, within its
own limits, gaps and gulfs have been bridged in Nature's
own way. The history of a frog is in itself an interesting
study. It begins life as a tadpole, and lives, ns most
readers know, a perfectly lish-lifce existence. It is fish-
like in form ; its heart is two-chambered, and thus
resembles that of the fish, and it breathes at first by out-
side gills. By-and-byo a liroad fold grows over the gills,
and ultimately covers them ; whilst internal gills grow
from the gill-arches. ^leanwhile, the tadpole- has been
cropping the waterweeds by means of the horny jaws with
which it is provided, and has l>een digesting its food
within the long and spiral intestine which is the right
and heritage of tho vegetable feeder. Hoon, however,
the hind legs, which in the frogs and toads are the
first to appear, are developed ; and these are in turn
succeeded by the front limbs. Lungs l)egin also to grow,
as all lungs do, namely, in the form of two sacs or bags
from the hinder or lower wall of the gullet At this stage,
the likeness of the frog to the fish has disappeared, and it
closely resembles one of the common tailf^ "efts" or
newts, which are familiar denizens of our ponds and pools.
If it had retiiined its outside gills after its legs had become
developed, the young frog would have exactly resembled
that curious creature, the ProU^is — found only in under-
ground caves in Central Europe — or the curious AxolotI
of North America. But the ways of frog-development do
not permit it to remain in the guise and likeness of its eft-
cousins. Whilst its lungs have been undergoing develop-
ment, the heart has been approaching that of the frog-
type, which possesses a three-chambered heart, as already
observed. Then, as development is completed, the tail
shrivels. Growing " small by degrees," it is represented in
the adult frog by a mere rudiment ; and, as the obliteration
of the tail takes place, the young frog leaves the water and
assumes the habits of a land-existence ; breathing by lungs
alone in its adult state, and exchanging, moreover, the
vegetarian tastes of its infancy, for an insect dietary in
after-life.
Now, the history of a frog is beset with questions of
interest for the earnest mind that studies even its .super-
ficial features. Why, firstly, should a frog pass through
these changes at all ? is a very pertinent in(]uiry ; and if
this be capable of being answered, why, secondly, should
its development run in the lines sketched out ! If we
start with the idea that animals and plants were simply
" created " as we find them — and that view of matters is,
of course, not yet displaced in unscientific circles — then, so
far as I can see, no explanation whatever of the frog's de-
velopment can be offered. " It is so, because it is so " —
such is the logical dead wall that awaits the student who
turns to the " special creation " theory for an explanation.
There is no accounting for a supernatural creative fiat ;
we cannot give reasons for a " special creation : " in a
word, we must, on this theory of nature, simply accept
the fact of the frog's existence, and have done with it
But there exists the alternative idea of evohition and
descent. What if it be admitted that one species or
group of animals arises by natural variation and descent
from another gi-oup 1 What if in the frog's development
we are led to see a panorama — a moving picture, of the
descent of its race ? The reasonableness of evolution may
thus, I think, become very apparent ; contrariwise, I
know of no other rational explanation of the frog's tadpole-
stage, and its subsequent development.
What evolution, then, says is this : the frog is at first a
fish-like, gill-breathing tadpole, with a fish-heart, because I
its earliest ancestor was a fish ; and it is interesting to
note that the young of some well-known fishes (e.(!., dog-
fishes) breathe by outside gills. I have a beautiful spe-
cimen of two of these young fishes with their outside gills
in my museum. Furthermore, the resemblances of the
tadpole to the type of some primitive fish do not end with
its outside aspect. Mr. F. M. Balfour says the anatomy
of the tadpole points to its relations with the li%-ing
lampreys, which, as every naturalist admits, rau.st be fishes
of a very ancient type. But, secondly, the tailed tadpole
becomes four-legged, and it thus resembles, as we have
seen, a newt or eft The reason of newt^stage is evident
if we assume that the frog-stage was attained through a
newt-stage. Abbre%iate the tail of the newt, elongate
its hind legs, and with a few other modifications, we find
Feb. 3, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
289
the higher frog to be represented. For the frog, let it be
nmembered, is the highest type of its class ; and the
i\olutionist's contention is that it has ascended to that
place and dignity by successively rising from fish to newt,
and from newt to frog. The reasons for the "meta-
morphosis " of the frog are clear enough, on the principle
that development repeals descent — not always clearly, it is
true, and with much modification, but still plainlj- enough
to reveal the ways of the " becoming " of the animal
world.
If it is asked, Why do not all animals show their descent
as clearly as does the frog '\ I reply, because their develop-
ment has been modified. But it is none the less true that
in the development of all animals we see glimpses of the
lines of their genealogy. The great diflerence between a
frog's development (or that of an insect or crustacean which
also undergoes " metamorphosis ") and that of, say, a fish
which hatches directly from the egg, consists simply in the
fact that the frog's development is mostly passed outside
the egg, whilst the lish developes within the egg.
But it is interesting to note that the frog in itself thus
serves to link together groups of its own class. Thus its
own development — not to speak of that of the newts
themselves — teaches us that the newts have arisen from
the tish-stock, and that they represent a lower phase of
amphibian life than do the frogs and toads with their
shortened tails. Indeed, the study of the frog itself not
merely proves to us its own evolution, but demonstrates
au orderly sequence in the descent of its class — a sequence
wherein the newt-type followed the tish, and wherein the
t'rog-type, in turn, was evolved from the newt.
Tliat some such explanation — or, at least, an explanation
liosed on similar grounds — is the only feasible method of
explaining the metamorphosis of a frog, may be stoutly
maintained against all comers. Evolutionists may differ
ii'garding tlie exact lines along which the descent pro-
ceeded. They do not difter regarding the main facts at
issue, namely, that fishes are linked to frogs in more ways
than one, and that the history of the frog-race, rightly
viewed, is really a cormecting-thre^ on which the various
forms of living and extinct members of its class may be
strung. In my next paper, I shall endeavour to trace the
" links " which bind birds to reptOes.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
KEPLER'S (the mastiflfs) claim to be looked upon as a
rea-soning dog may be regarded by some as being
better h>a,sed, perhaps, on what his master and mistress
described as actual mathematical calculations. " Kepler,'
says the latter, " like his great namesake, is an excellent
mathematician. Many distinguished men have been de-
lighted witli his performances in this direction. The mode
of procedure is this : His master tells him to sit down, and
shows him a piece of cake. He is then questioned, and
bai'ks his answers. Say he is asked what is the square root
of 16 or of 9 ; he will bark three or four times, as the
case may be. Or such a sum as '6 + 12-3 di\'ided by .5,'
he will always answer correctly : more prolonged calcula-
tions rather fatigue him. The piece of cake Ls, of course,
the meed of such cleverness. It must not 'be supposed
that in these performances any sign is consciously made by
his questioner. None whatever. We explain the per-
formance by supposing that he reads in his master's ex-
pression when he has barked rightly : certainly he never
takes his eyes from his master's face." A singxilar per-
formance, and one showing that some dogs possess not only
keen vision, but keener powers of perception than most
men. It would, however, be a mistake to regard Kepler's
performance as illustrating the possession of actual reason-
ing power by animals. ' For certainly the calculations he
seemed to conduct were conducted in reality by his master.
Tliis intelligent lUiimal showed excellent judgment when
a large photograjih of one of Landseers dogs (that is, a
photograph of a dog pictured by Landseer) was shown him.
He showed his perception of the painter's skill by at once
distinctly recognising that the photograph represented a
strange dog, of whom, by-the-way, he manifested decided
jealousy. Kepler knew the meaning of many words. He
recognised clearly when his master was ill, and showed at
such time real concern and sympathy. " He was exceed-
ingly kind and unselfish to a little English terrier, called
Tycho ' Brahe' "* (I quote again from Mrs. Huggins'
interesting little sketch ; only, as Kepler is dead, I change
the tense in these few last sentences from the present to
the past), " who often tried him, and to a very unamiable
cat, who both formed part of the household in which lie
dwelt. Altogether, there was in Kepler's every look, and
motion, and utterance, a noble and intelligent individuality
which endeared him to all who knew him. Much might
be learnt from him in many ways ; and he was indeed
worthy of a large share of an inclusive love — that love
which loveth
' All things both gieat and small.' "
The que.stion whether animals can count in any way, or
discriminate, at any rate, between different numbers, is one
about which different opinions have been expressed. We
cannot consider that the question was answered (affirma-
tively) by Kepler's achievements, though he seemed to do
more than count. On the other hand, the common opinion
that a bird, whose nest has been robbed of all the eggs but
one, is as well content with that one as with the entire set,
is not supported by evidence, and, indeed, seems to have
been devised to comfort the consciences of those who like
to go birds'-nesting, but might be troubled with regret for
the troubles of the parent birds, were it not for this
ingenious theory. We all i-emember the remonstrance of
Tom Brown, when East proposed to take all four of the
eggs in the nest robbed by ^Martin, " No, no ! leave one,
and then she won't care," said Tom. "We boys," says the
author, " had an idea that birds couldn't count, and were
quite content as long as you left one egg. I hope it is so."
However this may be with birds (and, on the whole, I
incline to think even penguins, " l)Oobies " though sailors
call them, have some idea of the number of their eggs), the
following story seems to show that dogs can count their
young. " To my friend. Dr. Velasquez Level, a respectable
physician of this city," writes M. A. Ernst, of Caracas ;
" and for several years a resident of the island of Mar-
garita, I am indebted for the following touching instance of
the sagacity of a bitch. Her owner, for some reason or
other, had destroyed all the female puppies in two suc-
cessive litters. On her having brought forth a third one, it
was found that there were but three male puppies. The bitch,
however, was observed to leave her whelps occasionally, and
to return some time after. Being followed, she was discovered
suckling three female puppies, which she had hidden under
some brushwood, undoubtedly with the intention of saving
them from the master's cruel hands." This, perhaps, is the
most striking of all the cases we have yet considered. It
would seem that when the female puppies of the first litter
were destroyed, the mother either did not recognise the
circumstance that all the male puppies were left, or else
* Tycho Brahe (the dog, not the astronomer) was commonly
called by Dr. Hnggins, Tyko Barky.
290
KNOWLEDGE
[FEa 3, l«»a.
n-giirjliMl it M iiiori'ly accidental ; for otlu-rwise slio woiild
|)rolial)lv hove tri.-d with tli« Bccoiid litter tho plan sho
iiotually tried with the third. When the female puppies
of the Hecond litt<-r were token, she recognised the rule l.y
which selection hiul l>een n)ade. Thus she hod up to this
point reasoned well and with due caution, not adopting a
conclusion until the evidence in its faM>ur ha<l liecome very
strong and convincing. She had also shown a power of
.•ounting ; for ol>vious though tho result she ohtoined may
soem to one of ourselves, capable of dealing readily with
much larger numlx-rs, yet if wo conceive a mind so far
inferior in matt4'r8 of calculation to that of a savage (and
such savages are known) who can .scarce count up to tivc,
and has to run through a process of calculation before he
can say how many children he has, as the mind of such a
savage' is to that of a .skilful mathematician, we see that to
such a mind the procHiss gono through by the animal in
this case would be what a very profound calculation would
lie to the mathematician. In other words, we here have
evidence that the dillerence between the mind of an animal
and the mind of man is but one of di'grcc, and that the
animal i.-s not more widely separated from man in this
respect, than the lowest among men is from the highest
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH
TELESCOPE.
By " A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society."
BY this time the student will have become tolerably
familiar with his instrument. We propose to em-
ploy it to-night in the examination of some of the more
striking objects in the glorious constellation of Orion (Map,
pp. 204 and 20-")). And first we will turn it upon/3 Ononis
or Rigel, fig. 9, which will furnish the young astronomer
with goo<l, if easy, preliminary practice in the detection of
small stars in the neighl>ourhood of larger and more bril-
liant ones. Proliably, at first, his eye will be dazzled with
the brilliant blue coruscation surrounding Rigel itself; but
a little careful attention will show just above and to the
/-/ c./o.
ORIONIS
left of it a small bluish point, as shown in the figuie.
From Orion's foot he may proceed to his face, in which we
shall find X, a very pretty pair, tolerably close together, the
larger star being yellowish, the smaller one more of a lilac
hue. Our figure represents it as seen with a power of 120.
The lowest, or most easterly of the three stors in the Giant's
Ix'lt I, will next claim our ott<?ntion, and to show this
properly will be a pretty severe test of the excellence of
the observer's instrument. As shown in our drawing, this
star is triple ; the principal and second stors, with a power
of 1-50°, being almost in contoct, and the third below and
to the right of them. Some considerable gazing will lie
required on the part of the beginner before he succeeds in
making out the duplicity of the principal pair in this
asterism. Our engraving may help him to understond
exactly what to look for.
We now turn to it, which will be seen beneath I in the Map.
This is a triple, or, perhaps more correctly, a septuple stor,
all the components shown in our next figure being well
within the same field with a power of 120.
<T ORIONIS
The object marked 0 in the Map is one of the most
wonderful in the whole heavens, consisting, as it does, of a
mass of nebulous matter (now known to l>e intensely
heated gas !)* surrounding, and seemingly physically con-
nected with, a curious group of stors.
B vAUO 42MINEBUL/V
ORIONIS
Xo woodcut can possilily do justice to this most marvel-
lous object ; but in oui* sketch, copied above, we have
endeavoured to give some faint idea of its aspect as Wewed
• Gas ; but is it intcnselv hot ? — Ed.
Feb. 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
291
■> ith a power of 80. The black gap leading up to the
irajiczium of four stars is known as "the fish's mouth."
The nebulosity surrounding an isolated star, towards the
lottoni of tlie field, will be noted. The difference in
■ oli>ur of the stars forming the trapezium will be readily
cl't.vtid. There are a fifth and a sixth belonging to this
.liruup ; but they are entirely beyond the power of such an
instrument as that which we are using.
Having gazed our fill on this wonderful sight, and,
furthermore, particularly scrutinised the trapezium of stars
with the highest power at our disposal, we will lower the tele-
scope a little to t Orionis, a very pretty triple, in a fine field.
F I C . l-f- .
Its aspect, as seen with a power of 120, is shown in
fig. 14. The smallest of the three stars will require
careful looking for before the unpractised observer will see
it at all.
An even more diiEcult star is p^ Orionis, represented in
fig. 15. This will require a power of 150 at least, and, in
fact, as high an one as the oljserver possesses, to see the
companion fairly. The small star is so faint and difficult
with a three-inch aperture as to form a very fair light-tost
indeed, p' may Vie found by carrying an imaginary line
i through the three stars f, i, and c, in the belt, on which
line, at double the length of the belt from ^, it will be
found.
The last illustration we shall give is of 52 Orionis, a severe
test of the separating power of such an instrument as
we are considering. At moments of the finest vision, with
the highest power at the observer's disposal, it will be
seen as in fig. 1 6.
r / c; /e
S2 ORIONIS
Such are a few typical stars among a very mine of such
objects in which the student may well search by sweeping
for himself. Should he succeed in exhausting such a
treasury in one night's work, he may turn his telescope
down to Lepus, where, int4^r alia, he will find a pretty,
and somewhat difficult paii- in k. This is the star to the
right of X, and just beneath i, in the map on pp. 204
and 205.
BRAIN TROUBLES.
P.\RTiAL Loss OF Speech.
IT will generally be noticed that some words are more
troublesome than others when the mind is in this
special state. Each person, probably, has his own pecu-
liarities in this respect, and can (or might) recognise, from
the misplacement or misspelling of particular words, the
necessity for rest or change of occupation. It may be
noticed, e\'en in more remarkable cases of defective power
of articulation, that some words suffer more than others.
In the following case the patient had had an apoplectic fit,
from which he recovered so far that his intellect and bodily
strength were restored, but he could not speak intelligibly.
He laboured under no paralytic attection, and could articu-
late freely, only, unfortunately, the syllables which he
uttered with great apparent ease were meaningless.
" When he came to Dublin, his extraordinary jargon led
to his being treated as a foreigner in the hotel where he
stopped, and when he went to the college to see a friend,
he was unable to express his wish to the gate-porter, and
succeeded only by pointing to the apartments which his
friend had occupied " He perfectly understood every word
addressed to him. He could read and understand written
words and printed matter. " Having procured a copy of
Andral's ' Pathology ' in French, he read it with great
diligence, having lately intended to embrace the medical
profession." He expressed his ideas in writing with
considerable fluency ; and when he failed, it appeared to
arise merely from confusion, and not from inability, the
words being orthographically correct, but sometimes not in
their proper places. We pass over other details indicating
that he retained full possession of his mental faculties.
The peculiar imperfection of language which he exhibited
was thus tested by Dr. Osliorn : He selected and laid
before the patient the following sentence from the bye-laws
of the College of Pliysicians : —
" It shall he in the povwr of the College to examine or not
examine any Licentiate previous to his admissio>i to a
Fellowship, as they shall think fit."
This being set him to read, he gave (at intervals of a few
days), the two following versions : —
"(i.) " An the be ichat in the temother of the trothododoo to
majorum or that emidrate ein einkrastrai mestreit to ketra
iotombreidei to ra fromtreido as that kekritest."
(ii.) " Be mather be in the kondreit of the compestret to
samtreis amtreit emtreido and teiiitreido mestreit er so to his
eftreido turn bried rederiso of deiddaf drit des trest."
Here it will be noticed that the words " be in the " were
correctly given on both occasions, except that on the first
the word "what" is interposed between "be" and "in"
(no doulit, merely as a question,) (What ?). Again, the
words " of the " were given correctly on both occasions.
The word " to " was given correctly three times out of
four, and on the fourth was probably nearly right, though
lost in the written transcript in the word " tian " query
toom '/). Strangely enough, the words " to his," correctly
given on the second occasion, were represented by the sin-
gular combination " to ketra " on the first. The word
" examine," which occurs four times altogether, is repre-
sented by the following dissimilar combinations of syllables,
(i) "majorum," (ii) "emidrate," {iii) " samtreis," smA (\y)
" emtreido," which only resemble each other in this, that
all contain an " m" in the first syllable, and an "r" in
the second. It is noteworthy again, and seems to prove
the utter absence of method in this patient's defective arti-
culation, that, whereas on the second occasion the three
dissimilar words "examine," "licentiate," and " admis-
292
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Fkii. .», 1882.
tion " wnn« rapri««nt«d hy tho Himilar aoundii, " imlrfido"
" lemtrtitii," and " r/trrir/o," thi-v woro rppreaontcd on tho
first ooiTi'iion liy tho utterly dixsimilnr sounclg " emvlraU',"
" tinknintrai," aiul " MoinbrcUUi." This pativiit ktu-w
whon he xpok)' wrongly.
lUbi'ftosJ.
RCIEN'CE LADDEllS.*
rnmCSE little iKjoks arc i-apital. Thoy deal in the
1 ]iliiincst |)ossil)l<' words with thi'ir ri'spcctivo .sulyccts,
hut what tlipy dcsctilrt- they di-.scril)c neatly and exactly.
Tlipy arc suited for thn youngest readers, yet they contain
a uunib'i' of facts which many who are not very young will
Gad full of int«--re8t. Even those who know most of the facts
oontjiiu' rl in these lHX)ks will enjoy reading them simply
liocause of the pleasant way in which tlie facts arc i)re-
wntod. 'J'nke, for instance, the following account of the
way in which hydras arc born into the world. For a long
timo no one knew. " At last, however, a patient natu-
ralist, who had long watched a hydra in a glass case, saw
tlie growth of a tiny egg on its body, below the mouth
and arms. Three days after the discovery of the egg, it
was loosened from the body of the mother, and fell to tho
bottom of the water. When it Hrst appeared it was
cream-colour ; it had now turned a bright orange. It re-
mained at the Ijottom of the water for lifty-fivc days, and
the only changes which took place in it during that time
were that the outside skin became rough and the shape
changed from round to oval. At the end of fifty-live daj's
the egg cracked, and a baby hydra ]>ushcd out part of a
soft, transparent, crystal-like body, quite round and
nmooth. Two hours afterwards this baby began to put out
threads, and in seven days its shape was just like that of
the mother hydra, only much smaller. This baby hydra
took no food till it was more than a month old. It is now
known that hydras do not always come from eggs, but
grow out like liranches from the bodies of grown-up
creatures. From these branches spring yet younger
branches, so that sometimes quite a family tree is made."
SCIENCE FOR ALL.t
The object of this work so closely resembles that which
we have in view in K.nowledce, that it would be strange
(considering who liave bien Dr. Brown's coadjutors) if the
work itself did not meet with our approval. In the present
volume, which is the fifth of the .Kcries, we find most
interesting articles by Dr. Wilson, on Zoological subjects ;
by Prof. Duncan, on Earthquakes and Animals, old and
now ; by Dr. Mann, on Lighting, Ac. : and by other
writers on subjects with which tlicy are respectively more
or less conversant The editor, Dr. Drown, discusses ably
the question how plants were distributed over the earth.
Mid in another article considers the question, What is a
fruit t
Nearly all the articles are well written and well illus-
trat«-d— many, quite admirably. The volume, as a whole,
is a charming contribution to popular scientific literature,
well-printed on excellent paper, and handsomely bound.
• Hcioiipo Lndders. Series I. No. 1.— Forms of band and
Wiitir. 8rrio8 II. No. 1.— Vogi-tablc Life. Series III. No. 1.—
Uwost Porms of Water .\nimal«. By N. ri'Anvors. Price Cd.
iwcli. (boiidon : 8amp8uu I.mv, Marstun, i Co.)
^ t acUnct for All. Kdited l,y Uobert Hrown, M.A. (Caasell.
IVttcr, i Ualpin, London, I'aru). and Nuw York.) Price 5a.
Here and thero ore some shortcomings in stylo of treat-
ment, and occasionally, but more seldom, in scientific
accuracy. We may cit<', as instanciis of the latter kind,
Mr. Denning's stat'-ment that the Satumian rings, if solid,
may be maintained in equilibrium in the way Buggest*-d
by Laplace. Nothing can l>e more certain than that
the rings could not possibly be maintained in equi-
librium a-s I.jiplacc supposed. It i.s also not tru«
that most careful measurements .show the rings to be
slightly eccentric. Some measurements have done so on
particular occasion.s, that is all. It is clear, from Mr. Den-
ning's account of the appearance of the rings, as supposed
to be seen from the planet, that he has not given the matter
even that cursory examination which Dr. Liirdner ga\e it,
otherwise he would a.s8urcdly have seen that in the vicinity
of the poles no part at all of the rings could pos.'iibly be
seen. Nor is it true tliat at night the rings would be seen
as a vivid semicircle of light ; during the winter half of
each Saturnian year they would not bo visible.
Apart from minor defects such as these, the volume
before us is one whidi, whether regarded as part of the
" Science for All " series, or judged by its intrinsic merits,
can be warmly recommended. It is full of interesting
matter, plainly worded, and, for the most part, exactly
described.
THE SCIENCE OF THE STARS.*
We admire Mr. Pcarco's calm andarity. He sends to as for
review a work on Astrology with as much confidence as if it were
such a work as *' The Courses of the Stars," by onr esteemed corre-
spondent Mr. Bazloy, a work bearing a title which mipht cause it
to bo confounded with astrolofncal treatises (instead of being one
of the most valuable contributions made during the last few years
to the science of tho stars), while Mr. Pcarco's book, instead of
justifying its title " Tho Science of the Stars;," advances gravely all
the absurdest views of the astrological charlat.in.
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this work is tho mixture
of literary lore and utter ignorance of science. We have references
to the sayings of a number of more than respectable writers, in
company with statements based on tho authority of such an
ignoramus (to speak charitably) as the late I^ioutcnant Morrison,
the Zadkiol of the notorious almanac bearing that name. One
specimen of the manner of reasoning adopted by modem astrologers
(the ancients had some reason for their errors) may be quoted — it
will sntEce, vfi} should imagine : —
" It may ajipear arbitrary to take the moon as general significatrix
(in mundane astrology) of the common people. Yet it would seem
to have some show of reason when we remember that the Tay-
bridge catastrophe, by which nearly one hundred lives were lost,
only one or two of the passengers ranking above the class of
'common people,' took place on the very evening (Dec. 2S, 1879) of
the partial eclipse of the moon in the sign Cancer (which mlesl
Scotland). — aye, and before the shadow had entirely papsed away
from the moon's disc. Ramsey avers that such an eclipse falling in
Cancer denotes ' the death and slaughter of obscure, common,!
plebeian kind of people.' On July 12, 1870, a total eclipse of the
moon, visible in Europe, took place. Throe days afterwards Lo'
Napoleon declared war against Prussia. The slaughter in that
was horrible."
THE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO.
By Dr. Mcib Howie.
PAET I.
THE nse of tobacco is becoming so extensive, that it is inonml
bent upon all who are interested in the health of the comj
mnnity, to devote some attention to tho effect of such increa
consumption. How does tobacco affect the human organism ?
it increase or diminish its capacity for physical or mental work (
Docs it tend to prolong life, or to bring on prenuituro decay ? Do
it make life, as a whole, more pleasant and agreeable, or are its oon
fortiug and soothing effects rendered nugatory by subseqnenl
irritability ? Many such questions naturally arise in the mind <
• " The Science of tho Stars," by Alprkd J. Prabcr.
Marshall, & Co., London.)
SimpE
Feb. 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
203
the inqmrcr ; bat in the present paper I intend to narrow my con-
sideration of the subject to one special point, viz., the foo<l action
of tobacco ; and, in order to show yoa that I am not fightinj^ against
a man of straw, permit mo to quote the words of one of our most
eminent writers on the subject of narcotics — the late Dr. Anstie,
who, in " Stimulants and Narcotics," says : —
" Next, perhaps, to coca in its power of replacing ordinary food,
we must reckou tobacco. The power of this substance to com-
pensate, to a certain extent, for the want of fcod, is very well
known, but, strangely enough, it is generally assumed that this
property of tobacco is dependent npon its powi r to disgust the
apjietite, by prostmting the nervous power of the stomach. A very
little reflection should be sufficient to entirely discountenance such
a view. There are very many substances capable of destroying
appetite by a depressing influence upon the nervous system ; such,
for instance, as the salts of antimony, or the preparations of ipecacu-
anha; yet no one will pretend that the action of any such drugs would
relieve the seuse of faintness produced by fatigue, endured in the ab-
sence of food — an effect which tobacco undoubtedly produces in per-
sona with whose .^jystem it agrees. The experienced sportsman, accus-
tomed to tram]) long hours over the heather in quest of game, woiild
laugh at such an explanation of the effect of his favourite " cuttj-."
Ho knows very well that it is by no mere disgusting of his appetite
that he comforts himself for the indefinite removal of the prospects
of dinner. By the time he had succeeded in depressing his stomach
to the level of indifference to food, he may be sure he would have
rendered himself incapable of continued strenuous exertion were
tobacco effective only in this way. That tobacco is not an exact
equivalent for roast beef, nobody knows better than the smoker;
at the same time, it would be impossible to persuade anyone
who had practical exjjerience of the use of it to believe that
its only effect is to depress nervous power. The fact is,
that all such statements arc made on the authority of persons
either practically ignorant of the effects of smoking, or else
naturally incapable, as some are, of deriving benefit from it. There
are a few people whom no amount of care and skill exercised in the
taking of tobacco, nor any moderation in the dose used, can save
from unmistakable poisoning, whenever they indulge in it. These
cases are rare, and they ought to be carefully separated from the
evil results which are produced by mere unskilfulness in smoking,
such as causes the trouble of beginners in the art.'*
Now in order to enter intelligently into the discussion of such an
utterance as the above, we must pursue a line of argument like the
following : —
1 . What constitutes any substance a food ? Does tobacco possess
those attributes ? If not,
2. Are there no substances of advantage in nutrition other than
those properly termed foods ? If not,
3. To what class of agents does tobacco belong, and what is its
exact influence upon nutrition ?
1. What constitutes any substance a food ? We answer, what-
ever can be used either to build up the body or add energy to it is
a true food. The human body, like the steam-engine, requires two
classes of materials for its efficiency. It requires nitrogenous
material, by which the machinery is built up, just as the steam-
engine is made of iron, brass, &c. ; and it requires carbonaceous
and other material, whose combustion gives motive power, just as
the steam-engine requires coal and water for i>urposes of motion.
Every nerve and muscle in the body is a vast assemblage of
cells, and each cell is filled with explosive material, ready
to burst on the application of the slightest stimulus, and thereby to
Kberate its pent-up energy in order to conduct the vital functions
for which it is adapted. The vital processes are thus conducted by
a continued series of explosions, and so great is the heat generated
by such explosions, that unless the hum-in body were mostly com-
posed of water, it would go off in smoke like a bombshell, or quickly
disappear by spontaneous combustion. When one end of a nerve is
irritated, a series of e.xplosions runs along its entire length. If
this nerve leads to the brain, it excites thought ; if to a muscle,
it excites movement by originating a series of explosions in
■'■' brain or in the muscle. Those of you who, as boys,
.1 '■ amused youi-selves by setting fire to an end of a long train of
'1 powder, and watched with delight the glowing force gliding,
- ingly, along its course, will at once .appreciate this explanation
nervous communication. When once the cell contents have
' rated their energy by explosion, they are henceforth as useless
the washings of a gun or the spent ashes on the hearth, and
-i be swept out of the body as waste matter, to make room for a
>h snp])Iy of storcd-up energj-. It is through the medium of the
• ' r-circulating blood that a continuous supply of such material is
u'.ight within reach of every cell in the organism : and it is by means
that same current that the waste matter is carried away which
would otherwise as effectually extinguish life as an accumulation of
ashes will extinguish the kitchen-fire. This waste matter we call
poison, because of its power to interfere with vitality. I may mention,
in passing, that it is among this waste matter that alcohol is found
in the body of every man, be he the most ardent teetotaller or the
most ardent spirit-drinker in these realms. Alcohol is the ashes
which remain after the explosion of sugar in the body, and, like all
other ashes, it is rapidly thrown out of the system.
We are sometimes told that alcohol must be a food, because it is
found in the body. We might as well be told that spent ashes are
good fuel because they are found in the fire.
Now. it is not maintained by an}' scientific authority that tobacco
either assists iu building up the tissues or in supplying them with
explosive material ; but such authorities do assert that it is u.seful
in some other way. This brings us to our second consideration,
viz. : —
2. Are there no substances of advantage in nutrition, other than
those properly termed foods ? We answer that there are. Just as
the engine-driver cannot attain express speed without a liberal use
of the poker, so the human machine cannot be kept in healthy
activity without the administration of stimuli. Observe, I do not
say stimulants, because that word has been corrupted, and now
refers to a class of compounds which ought properly to be termed
alcoholic narcotics. Alcohol is almost entu-ely used for its narcotic
properties, and where thus used, cannot be admitted under the
head of a stimulus. A stimulus is an agent which makes life
more active, although it adds no energy whatever to the system ;
just as the poker will make the lire burn brighter, although it adds
no heat or brightness of its own. Stimixli may be applied exter-
nally, or administered internally, and the more stimulus the body
encounters among its surroundings, the less does it require mixed
with its food. The man who takes a cold bath every morning
before going to business does not require strong coffee to goad his
nervous system to its daily toil. Those who have abundant open-
air exercise may live entirely on vegetable diet, which contains but
little stimulus ; while those whose life is monotonous and sedentary
require a more stimulating diet. But the healthiest stimulus is
unquestionably the external. Open-air exercise, cold bathing,
and pleasurable mental excitement will give sounder and
better stimulation than the most savoury diet. Internal
stimuli must only be resorted to when the external cannot be
secured. There is one criterion by which you can always dis-
tinguish whether or not any agent is a stimulus, viz., by its power
to increase the demand for food. The more you employ your poker,
the more coal you burn ; and just as yon can extinguish your fire by
a too vigorous application of the poker, and without adding fresh
supplies of coal, so you may extinguish life by using too much
stimulus without giving, at the same time, an increased supply of
food. For example, if you feed a dog entirely on Liebig's extract
of meat, which contains the stimulating properties of beef without
much of the nutrient property, it will not live so long as if yon fed
it npon water alone. This proves that the extract of meat is a true
stimulus, because it induces a greater necessity for food. It is thus
useful for invalids with failing appetite, provided that true food be
given at the same time. Now, tobacco is not a true food, neither is
it a stimulus ; for it rather diminishes the desire for food. Indeed,
the boast of its advocates is, that it enables a man to do with less
food, and even to do without food altogether for considerable
periods.
3. How, then, does tobacco affect the animal tissues ? It is not
equivalent to the coal of the fire, nor to the poker. Where, then,
can we find an analogous agent ? Tobacco has the same effect upon
the nerve-cells that water has upon a coal fire. Apply water iu
small quantity, and your fire will burn more slowly ; apply a large-
enough bucketful, and it will cease to exist. When the cook rakes
up the ashes, and covers her fire before going to bed, she performs
the same physical experiment as her master, who soothes his nerves
with tobacco before retii'ing for the night. The cook wishes her tire
to smoulder during the night. She therefore applies an .agent which
will check combustion by partially excluding oxygen from her fuel ;
her master applies to his nervous system an agent which diminishes
oxidation, and thus seriously interferes with vital action. In both
cases there will be less material burned, less coal and less explosive
food. But is this a real advantage to the usefulness of the fire or of
the human machine ? The cook would be very late with bieakfast
if she trusted such a fire to boil the kettle, and the work accom-
plished by a brain much affected by tobacco is both small in quan-
tity and inferior in (juality. It is as difficult to send proper
messages along a nerve which is under the influence of tobacco as
it is to fire a train of damp gunpowder. " Praise God, and keep
your powder dry," said the great Oliver Cromwell ; " Praise God
and keep your brain clear," wotild have been his burning advice had
he lived in these latter days.
294
. KNOWLEDGE •
[Feb. 3, 1882.
PUoKKSaOK nilANT ON MKTEOROLOOY.
AT n iliiiii'T tOTi-'ii nt (iliuiK"'' ^y M''' J'>l>>> Uumii to Ihc prin-
ri|uil iitllrinlii i>f •rvoml (if tho ^nmt niilway compniiioii uf the
UniUxl KiDK'loni, Or. (iraiit, rrofi'iifiMr of AKtruiiomy in thii Uiii-
mnity uf (ilaa^iw, i^ivo nn int43roiitii>)f HUininnry uf tho proMent
■t*t4' uf t lii< urioiK-t' of iiiii|c<ir«l»)ry. In tlio cuurnu of liiii ri'murks,
ho will - A |>f<riMin iTn<tu to Kir William UiTichi.'l ro<jui'atin){ to Ihi
infumu'il ri'itiMJCtiiin ilic BtiiU' <)f thu mtatlicr <lurinK the nt-it fuw
month* nhich would clnuw' nftvr thu ditto of hi* letter. Tlio illuii-
trionii nulrnnompr IfpliiHl in tenn» to this effort : " Tho queiition of
pnHlirtiii^ tho weather in one which ia nlwyo the comprchcnirion of
Mitrooonu'rN and men of ncionce in gonenil." Thia letter waa written
about li") yenm ai;o, and it uxproasod very concisely the im-
meniie diHioiilly of the problem. In thosn days tho observations
ol the weather wore very im|>erfect and liinitcil in ranpe.
Bat a moro hopoful view ])rescnts itj*elf in tho present day. During
the Inst thirty or forty years, systenmtie observations of motooro-
logirnl phenomena hove In-en carefully made in all the countries of
tho civilisoil world. In many instances those observations have
boon di<<cu8Sed Ity men of science, and conclusions have been de-
duced from thorn which have thrown much intercstinj; light on tho
climate of tho countries to which they refer. Furthermore, the
invention of thi' electric telegmph has supplied tho means of
rapidly confronting distant observations with each other, and of
disseminating with equal rapiility tho conclusions deduced from
this inter-compuriHon. Tho result, then, is that in the present day
tho science of meteorology includes many valuable conclusions
arrived at by can.'ful induction from obsor^'ation, and that even in
tho matter of predicting the weather, some progress has been
mode. It is. however, to be borne in mind that tho attainment of
this last-mentioned object is due rather to a sagiicious interjirota-
tion of the obsorvation.t, combined with the man-ellous aid of the
electric telegmph, tlmn to a rigorous deduction from established
scientific principles. In systematic observations of meteorological
phenomena, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, led the way in this
country. Subsequently tho observatories of Oxford, Liveq)Ool,
and (ila-igow devoted attention to the same object. The establish-
ment cf meteorological societies in England and Scotland about
tho same time contributed also to the advancement of meteorology
as a science. Tho Sleteorological Office, originally a branch of the
Board of Trade, commenced its labours in 1868, the council of
scientific men under whose direction it is conducted being nomi-
nated by the Royal Society. Now, there are three leading objects
which the Council have undeviatingly kept in view since the com-
mencement of the existing organisation in January, 1868. These
an): — 1. Ocean meteorolog)-. 2. Land meteorology of the British
Islee. 3. Weather telegraphy. Allow me to make one or two
remarks on each of those objects. I need not dwell upon tho
vast importance of ocean meteorology. It ia upon the in-
formation furnished by this branch of the science that our
ships, whether of tho Royal or the Mercantile Marine, must rely
for shaping their courses most advantageously over the trackless
€x:ean. A lino Held of scientific work is here opened up to ship
captains who have a taste for the observation of meteorological
phenomena. Any of such officers who desires to cooperate in
taking observations is furnished with instruments for the purpose,
and it is Emtifying to learn from the annual reports of the Meteoro-
logical Council that tho labours of many of them in this resi>ect are
much ap|>reciated by the Council, as constituting valuable materials
for subseipient discussion. Seven observatories have been esta-
blished in connection with the Meteorological Office with a view to
the advanci'mont of tho land meteorology of the British Isles. These
art) the observatories of Valentia and Armagh, in Ireland ; Fal-
mouth, Kew, and Stonyhurst, in England ; and, linally, Glasgow and
Aberdeen, in Scotland. The observations at each of these obser-
vntoties are all obtained by means of self-recording instruments,
and the tubulated results are regularly transmitted once a week to
tho Meteorological Othce in London. Tho variations of the baro-
meter and of tho liry and wet bulb thermometers are recorded
ooDtinnously upon paper by a photographic |)rocess which goes
on night and day without intermission. The velocity of
tho wind is measured by its action upon a system of revol%-ing
hcmisphi'rical cups— an instrument invented by Dr. Robinson,
tho director of the Armagh Observatory. I was lately induced to
mako some calculations based ujion the recorded anemometer
obserrations at the sovun observatoriw, with tho view of ascertain-
ing the mean hourly velocity ef the wind at each observatory
during tho years 187^5■0. The results of my calculations were
those :— The mean hourly veloi-ity of tho wind for tho three years
in question was— for Annagh, 10 6 miles, 100 miles, and 98 miles ;
for Kow. 10-3 miles, 10 8 miles, and 108 miles ; for Stouyhurst,
10-8 miles. lOO miles, and 107 miles ; for Glasgow, 12-9 miles, 121
miles, and 12' t miles; for Aberdeen, 133 miles, 13'5 miles, and
H'2 miles; for Folmonth, 16'8 miles, 170 miles, and 171 miles;
linally, for Valentia, 182 miles, I7'7 miles, and 170 miles. It will
be iivoD from this how nearly tho annual mean rexnlla obtained
at tho some Obscrvatorj- agree with each other. It will bo
seen, further, that, while Armagh, Kow, and Stonyhunit have
tho least wind, tho lion's share of tho wind falls to Valentia
and F'almouth ; while, again, tho Scottish obsorvatories bold
an intermodiato position in this respect. These results, it
must bo admitted, speak well for the observations on which thoy
arc based, and for thu instruments with which tho observations aro
made. Thoy also afford us an interesting illustration of the pre-
sence of law as the regulator and controller of all tho phenomena
of nature, " Variable and fleeting as tho wind " is an expression
often used, and yet, when the winds at any place, which blow from
all points of tho compass, aro gathered together, their aggregate
velocity from year to year is fonnd to bo almost identical in amonnt.
It cannot be doubted that important conclusions tending to throw
light on the climate of tho British Isles will result from a discQssicn
of the observations received at the Meteorological Office from tho
outlying observatories. I have, finally, to make a brief roferencc
to weather telegraphy. In considering this matter, the important
fact must not be lost sight of, that the forecasts of the weather
which emanate daily from the Meteorological Office are not given
forth as rigorously deduced scientific conclusions by the eminent
men of science who constitute the Meteorological Council. Had
they been less fettered in the matter, they would probably have
been more cautions, but they h.ive wisely yielded to tho public
demand for such forecasts, and it must be admitted that in this
instance the public instinct was in the right direction. The success
of the forecasts, considering the diffictJtiea which meteorologists in
the British Isles engaged in such an inquiry have to contend with,
has been very decided. During tho last two or three years, as many
as 75 per cent, of the storm warnings which have emanated from
the Meteorological Office have been thoroughly snccessfol. We
may therefore confidently indulge the expectation that, with tho
progress of further researches, the percentage of successes will
continno to increase. The Americans have shovrn great enterprise
and skill in this matter. Bnt it is to be borne in mind that they
have an advantage in the inquiry which we cannot, from the nature
of things, possess. For storms that come from the west — and these
are the storms which really strike our shores — the Americans have
a whole continent at their backs upon which to plant signals for tho
purpose of informing them respecting a coming storm ; while we,
on the other hand, have only the Atlantic, where no signsUs can bo
established. The present winter will hereafter be memorable for
its storms. I may state that, in addition to Robinson's anemometer
for measuring the velocity of the wind, an instrument which
belongs to the Meteorological Office, we have also an anemometer
by Osier, for the direct measurement of wind pressure, which is the
property of the Observaton,-. During the storm of Friday, the 6th
ult., this instrument recorded a pressure of 51 lb. on the square
foot, and yet it bore the strain throughout admirably. I may
remark in tliis connection, as an interesting fact, that dtiring tho
great snowstorm which swept over London and its neighbotirhood
on Jan. 18, 1881, the Osier anemometer at the Koyal Observatory,
Greenwich, registered as high as 51 lb. on the square foot. The
tremendous storms which occasionally sweep over a country are,
no doubt, originally due to the agency of solar heat disturbing the
equilibrium of the atmosphere ; and, no doubt, the day will come
when a close physical connection will be established between those
grand phenomena and the origin of nearly all tho energy on tho
earth's surface. But it may be a long time before this conclusion
is arrived at. One of the most serious difficulties which meteor-
ologists have to contend with consists in the imperfect know-
ledge which exists respecting the climatic conditions of the upper
regions of the atmosphere. Mr. Glaisher, by hia aeronautic ascents,
did good service in this matter ; but still much remains to bo done,
and it is probable that balloon ascents, notwithstanding the dangeri
of such enterprises, of which we have had recently a sad illnsi
tion, will continue to constitute tho only practicable means fi
arriving at materials which will serve to throw light upon t!
important question. In connection with this circumstance, I shooli
not omit referring to the series of meteorological observatioi
conducted during last autumn on the summit of Ben N'evis, nndei
the auspices of the Scottish Meteorological Society. This spirii
enterprise deserves to be renewed, and it appears to mo to be one ol
those to which tho Government might wisely give some support i
conjunction with gentlemen of scientific proclivities throughout th<
country. I would finally remark on the desii'ability of establishing
meteorological observatories on the east coasts of England ant
Scotland. It ia noteworthy that from Dover to the Orkney Islei
there does not exist upon tlie coast a single meteorological obserra
tory, except the one established at Aberdeen in connection with tin
Meteorological Office. This is a state of things which ought not t
Fiiu 3, 18S2.]
• KNOV/LEDGE
295
erist, and the want of sncli an institntion was felt at the time of
the Tay-bridge accident. Liverpool has set a noble example to other
seaports in this respect, which is worthy of being imitated by the
important seaports in the North of England, and by the ports of
Leith and Dundee, in Scotland. — Tinies.
EASY LESSONS IN BLOWPIPE CHEMISTRY.
By LiKrT.-CoLONEL W. A. Boss, l.\te E.X.
Lesson n.
HAVIXG made his blowpipe, the student must now make, or
provide himself with, a lamp, in the following manner : —
The solid or closed end of an old iron gas-pipe, from 2 to 2J inches
in diameter, price about 2d., is the lamp, and a very excellent one it
makes, as shown by my pupil M. Lombaxdi, of Argyll-place, Regent-
street. The wiek, a few strands of twisted cotton, held together
and supported at one side of the gas-pipe by a piece of zinc-foil bent
into the requisite shape, is now pat in its place ; and the fnel, con-
sisting of any combustible hydrocarbon which solidities on cooling,
as pure boef or mutton fat, old " composite" or other candle-ends,
cocoa-nut oil (from which glycerine has not been extracted), or all
these together, added, and melted by heating the side of the lamp
itself before the blowpipe by blowing the flame backwards on the
iron rim ; and here I must caution the aspiring blowpiper (or, as I
prefer to call him, '' pvrologist ") against demolishing his work at
tliis stage of proceedings by allowing the blowpipe-fiame to play on
the zinc-foil which he has jost made 1 The wick, about the thick-
ness of the end of a woman's little-firger, is best trimmed and cut
with an nnlinary pair of scissors, such as the American ones now
sold for 6d. a pair.
fell tar, 1 teei sure, your working-men readers will admit that a
blo^\"pipe apparatus is by no means the expensive luxury it is thought
to be ; but the absolute necessity I am now about to mention, cer-
tainly does cost a little money, which will, I fear, somewhat strain
his liard-eamed and much-needed wages. I mean platinum wire,
for old ends of which, however, half-price is allowed by Messrs.
Johnson & Matther, Harton Garden. This should be about the
thickness of an ordinary horse-hair (I, myself, use it still thicker),
cut into lengths of 3 in., and rolled into a ring about i in. in
diameter, at one end. This is best effected by the ordinary " cage-
maker's pliers " of the ironmongers' shops ; but anyhow, this ring
must be carefally made, and as nearly a circle as possible, if only
constructed on a pencil-point ; unlike the slovenly figures recom-
mended in some books on the blowpipe ; some English works on
chemistry even advising the use of a hook ^J , which they
tell you to fuse into a glass-tube by way of handle ; to which piece
of lunacy, I can only say, " Good gracious ! " Here is a rough
figure of a " platinum wire support," the natural size and thickness.
This wire is best held between the legs of a pair of ordinary
'watchmaker's pliers," kept together, when required, by a little
bi-ass picture-wire rolled round the shank, so that this wire *' strap-
ping" may be slipped up and down ; the " slipping up " closing the
pliers tightly on the platinum wire, and enabling them to act as a
handle for it ; the " slipping down" opening the legs, and enabling
them to act as pliers again. The pyrologist has thus not only a mere
handle for liis platinum wire, like the elegant ivory German ones sold
at Freiburg, but an instrument by which he can effectually clean and
straighten the latter for use. A mathematical pen also makes a
capital holder for plarinum wires. Now for my student's chemicals.
Messrs. Herring ,i Co., the wholesale chemists, of ALdersgate-street,
City (who, 1 dare say, have never heard of me or my blowpipes,
but, for all that, I am a pleased customer of theirs), sell the exact
kind of re-agent suitable for this part of my system of blowpipe
analysis for (5d.an ounce, or less if taken in quantity ; 2 ozs. lasted
me four years. It is called " Glacial Phosphoric Acid," and cast in
sticks. It is manufactured in Germany, and, 1 believe, contains
from 15 to 20 per cent, of soda, without which it could not be cast ;
but it acts as a poweri'ul acid before the blo«"pipe.
It should be broken into small fragments and kept in a wide-
i^'juth stoppered bottle, as it is very deliquescent. To use it, shake
;t some of the smallest fragments on a white porcelain plate turned
ijiside down, or any clean smooth surface. Make your wire-ring
T'd hot before the blowpipe, and, touching the smallest pieces,
^'. 'oich will thus adhere to the ring, heat them very gently, that is,
about half an inch in front of the blue blowpipe-pyrocone, along
ivith a few specks of oxide of manganese (of which two penny-
worth will last most people a life-time). When the oxide is dis-
solved, which it is thus very rapidly, a charming amethyst-coloured
•' bead " is the result. Now plunge the bead into the middle of the
blue pyrocone, and hold it there for half a minute; when with-
drawn, it will be as colourless as a bit of pure glass. This effect
may be repeated as often as desired.
EFFLUVIA AND HEALTH.
THE query of J. Maccinslane, No. 183, page 23-1, is probably
answered by one of the quaint and wise remarks of the late
Professor Brande, who, speaking of sulphuretted-hydrogen gas, said
that " it is not the stinking gas, but the bad company it keeps that
is so mischievous."
It is well known to all who have worked at elementary analysis in
a laboratory, where this gas is much used as a general reagent, that
no mischief arises from breathing an intensity of stink that would,
probably, induce fatal disease if it came from a sewer. The same
applies to dissecting-room effluvia. In my student-days, in Edin-
burgh, we used to say that the above-named gas gave us an appe-
tite, but, if placed in a witness-box, I could not swear that this
theory may not have been invented to justify suppers at '' The
Rainbow."
Had the bullock's blood used in Mr. Maccinslane's dye-house been
left in a sewer, and sown with germs of fungi, bacteria, &c., the
results would doubtless be very different, unless the other chemicals
there used are sufficiently volatile to poison the poison.
W. Matoeu William.<.
THE USE OF FLEAS, &c.
THE query of " Amateur " reminds me of a, paper I wrote many
years ago, in which was revealed a discovery made during my
wanderings in Greece. I slept — or rather reclined — in the capa-
cious hovel of an Albanian farmer at Marathon, hard by the famous
battle-field. My bed was the clay floor of the farm-house, my bed-
fellows were my fellow tourist, our dragoman and horseboy, the
fanner, his wife and five children, besides our three horses, the farm
stock of poultrj-, and a population of the animals under considera-
tion, exceeding in number the possibilities of a census.
During the night the childrea awoke at intervals, cryingpiteously,
and the fond mother, knowing why, picked them up severally, laid
them on her lap, and scratched thom liberally all over. After this
they slept for awhile in peace. Hereby was suggested my discovery
of the use of fleas to mankind. These people were not addicted to
washing, which is also the case with a large numerical majority of
the human race. The less washing the more fleas, the more et
cateras, and the more scratching.
The unwashed majority of human beings require some substitute
for washing, in order to effect the necessary removal of the shrivelled
and effete epidermal cells. Scratching is such a substitute. But I
have shown above that scratching varies directly with the supply of
fleas and et caeteras, and inversely vrith washing. Therefore fleas
and et cateras benefit mankind as well as themselves, and the obli-
gations between the species are strictly mutual. Q. E.D.
W. Mattieu Williams.
FISH "SOUNDS."
IN Dr. Andrew Wilson's very interesting paper on " Found
Links" (Knowledge, Jan. 6, page 195), "the suAmming-
bladder, air-bladder, or sound," are described as synonymous.
There is a small mistake here, a misunderstanding of fishermen's
technology, that may mislead some readers. The same mistake
occurs in' anatomical text-books. Dr. Wilson will readily nndcr-
stand the nature of the error by simply buying some " ood sounds "
from any fishmonger. They are regular articles of separate
commerce, salted by millions in Norway, and exported in small
barrels.
He will find that the sound is not the air-bladder, but the aorta,
or chief blood-vessel of the codfish, laid open, and with some of the
larger branching vessels attached. This vessel, forming a stout
membranous bag, is attached by its edges to each side of the under
part of the spine of the fish, from which the Norse and Newfound-
land fishermen tear or rip it when they split the fish for salting.
I have a theory of my own concerning the etymology of the
word, viz., that it is of Scandinavian origin, like the commercial
article, and is derived from Sondre, to sever or rip, from which we
also derive our word asunder. W. Mattieu Williams.
296
KNOWLEDGE
[Fkii. 3, 188:,'.
Ifttrrd to tbr (Cliitor.
[Th* Khutor do0s nni koU Mm»e{f rfrponnlU/or /Mr opii
Bt mmt'f 'inji-rl li /■ (■> rrtnrrt munuscrtf'ts or to corrrtyti ._ _ ,. _.
roflinx' ! ' ' I* »\ori as fo$*ibU, cvruistenttjf with full and eUar wtate-
Ati i itiotu fMoHiJ h* a.Urettfd to fkr EJitor qf KkowlRDOK;
ii'i i/ ' i'li* to tk* PubltMhrrf, at th* OJicr, 7l, Great Qufen-
,fr*rt, M (
AU RrmiUaHt^, CkftfufB, and Po»i-Offic» Ordfr$ thotUd he mad* pawahU to
IttMTt. Wwrnan ^ Sons.
*,* All uU*r$ to tkf SJitor ttiH bf Numherfd. For eonrfmi^ne* of reffrmri'^
corr*»pon.lmts, rk^m re/erring to anj/ Utter, wiU ohligt fcy mentioning its number
and the p^i*je on trkwk it appeare.
AU L^trrt or Qm^rtfi fo tks Editor wkick r^tiire att^tttion in tke ettrrent i**H* of
K nowLBPOR. tkouSd reaek tXe Fublisking Office not later than th* Saturday preceding
the dag <^ publication,
" In knowlMl^, ilut nuD odIt i* to b^ C0Dt«mnM and do«pMc4 vho Ib not in %
«ial» nf tnuixition J^'or ia there aQything more adverse to accuraoj
than flxitT of opinion." — F'trnJay.
"Tbpr« 14 no hju-ni in making a mintakp. bat grpat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makce no mi«tako0, and I will ahow jou a man who has dona
nothing." — lAehig. ^^___
©MX Coiirgponiitnre Columns.
TELESCOPE. — VOLCANIC PROJECTILES.- THE EARTH'S
INTERIOR. — WEATHER FORECASTS. — ANCIENT MAN
(AND MODERN WORMS.)— " THE STARS IN THEIR
COURSES."
[265] — " A Country Solicitor " (letter 237, p. 27.5) is quite right
with reference to the superior hundincss of a refractor, and if ho is
willing to spend, as he says, £60 in the purchase of an instrument
which ho desires to bo able to move about with moderate facility, I
should think that a tirst-clas.s 3 J in. telescopoon a jiortable universal
equatorial mounting, surmounting a strong and heavy tripod stand,
would be the very thing for him. This would enable him, as ho
says, to go through Webb's "Celestial Objects" with profit and
advantage. He would not, of course, bo able to see all the objects
described in the fourth edition, as some of them are definitely stated
to be tests for instruments of largo aperture ; but he would lind
that a largo proportion of the double stars and nebula- included in
Webb's lists would be well within his reach. I should be tempted
to insist upon the equatorial mounting, as, apart from the ease and
comfort of following a star by a single motion, many objects arc
unrecognisable without it. On the other hand, for less money, my
querist might obtain a 6.} in. reflector, e<)natorially mounted, too,
which would give him superb views of tho moon, planets, clusters,
Ac. ; but this would be a massive affair, and there is always the
nuisance of tho mirror requiring ro-silvei-ing at longer or shorter
intervals.
Mr. lionso (letter 242, p. 276) may rest thoronghly assured that
there is not an atom of foundation for the beliof that a, stone — or
anything else— has over been projected from a terrestrial volcano
at the rate of Cy Wj miles a second, the velocity needed to carry it
into infinite space. Tho secx)nd part of this question is unanswer-
able, bccau.so tho sup])03ititious matter would never get out of tlio
sphere of tho earth's attraction until it got within that of some
other body, and your corri'spondcnt does not say what that body
is. If it be the moon, a projectile need only travel 2,ltl,;i3G miles
above the earth ! The query with which he concludes may be
answorod by saying that it has not boon " proved " by astronomy
that the earth is solid throughout, but that such solidity is rendered
probable from the faot that she resists the tide-producing action of
Uie moon exactly as a solid globe would do. Sir William Thomson
has (according to Nowcomb) shown that even were tho earth less
rigid than steel, itwoulil.so to speak, e.thibit tides itself, or bo drawn
out into an elliptical form ; and then, earth and ocean moving
together, we should have no tides at all. Moreover, the phenomenon
of precosiiioD (now l«'ing described and explained in those pages bv
the editor) conid scarcely occur were there nothing but a thin shell
of rocky crust covering the molt< n interior of tho globe, as euch
shell wonid slip round the fused nucleus, tho liquid, in course of
time, rotating in one direction, and tho crust iu another. Doubt-
less there are great cavities tilled with molten matter, but these aro
insignificant oompanxl with tho size of tho whole earth.
That " the Americans have not attempted to foretell fijie harvest
weather, or settled weather of any kind" (as stated by Mr. Don-
bavand at the conclusion i^f lctt<T 217, p. 277), is the vorj- rcasnu
why 1 |ilac« a oTlain amount of iTedooc<- in their predictions,
llarometric indications of u gulo afford the most absoluioly certain
data which exist for predicting a nietoorologioal phenomouon. Our
own Meteorological (Jflicc gives us wild shots because they luive to
say something ; the Americans many fairly trustworthy ones,
because they have something to say.
Is Mr. Snell (reply 84, p. 279) thoroughly sure that the inter-
calated quartzose saml and loam of tho Nile Valley is tho habitat of
worms? — because I am not.
I do not know whether the work is out of print, or whether (as
is exceedingly probable), Mr. Bazley's own modesty has prevente<l
him from referring in reply 184 (p. 279) to hi.s own most beautiful
book, " Tho Stars in their Courses." While heartily endorsing his
recommendation of Proctor's " Library Atlas," which 1 regard aa
by very far tho best one existing for the jjurjxjse for which it wa»
designed, I may yet say that 1 equally look upon " The Stars in
their Courses," as unparalleled as a means of leuming the face of
the sky. A Fellow of tub Royal Astkonumical So'.iety.
AVEATHER FORECASTS.
[256]— The remarks of Mr. Spiller (letter 12t, p. 110) and
" F.R.A.S." (letter IC-t, p. 207) ought not to pass ^without protest.
The British predictions an- not so bad nor the American ones so
good as they represent, neither can the former be said to be mere
"guess work," as insinuated by "F.R.A.S." The British fore-
c^ists, on tho contrary, exhibit a large advance from a few years ago
in our weather knowledge, and the general success which un-
doubtedly attends them is (juite satisfactory to those who compre-
hend the grave difficulties of the subject. Prediction, in these
islands, can never be otherwise than of a " general " character, and
those who insist upon a particular forecast for every town, village,
and villa in the United Kingdom, richly deserve the inevitable dis-
appointment. The medical profession at times forecast the appear-
ance of seasonable epidemics and the districts where they will
appear, but what sane person would insist upon their walking over
the said district and proving their prophetic in.stinet by pointing
out tho particular streets or houses where casi s will occur. But
meteorologists are asked to decide such miuutiu', and Messrs. Brown
& Co. think it very hard that the thunder-storm occurring in their
particular back gardens was not duly set forth in the day*s bulletin.
The fact is, that whilst the weather over dofined districts maintains
the same general features for a time, those features are subject to
endless modification of a local character. More jtiirticularly is this
the case with rain-storms, the non-prediction of which, by-the-bye,
seems the only instance of failure given by Mr. Spiller. I have
known rain-storms break out over areas of groat extent, and within
such areas there havo been parts deluged and other parts with the
finest weather (an instance occurring to my mind is the \Vhit
Monday storm, May 25, 1874). 1 remember, too, during an
e.'icossively rainy autumn, a year or so ago, a "meteorologist '
denying any unusual fall during the period, because hid rain gauge
had shown nothing extra. Again, I may mention au instance where
tho day's return from a certain district showed "very dry" weather,
except at one station therein, where they had a whole month's rain
in the twenty-four hours. Supposing anothor storm to occur like
that on May 25, 1874, would Mr. Spiller or " F.R.A.S." expecv
tho Department to say in what locality tho rain would fall and in
what it would not ?
Singularly enough, your correspondonts negative their own criti-
cisms by tho admiration they express for the American newspaper
cablegrams. Putting aside tho fact that they are quit« as often
" out" in their forecasts as our prophets are said to be (indeed, up
to date — Jan. 18 — four successive storms of theirs have failed to
turn up), I must point out that the Americans take three days in
point of time, and a coast-line extending from Spain to Norway
within which their storms .are to appear j and this, too, when tlie
prediction is made after the storms have an actual existence. Will
Mr. Spiller or "F.R.A.S.'' grant our own men ecju.'il indulgence?
Three days' grace and almost unlimited areas for the fulfilment of
their pr>>|)hocies ! Surely, after this, our own seers have little to
bo ashamed of !
I am not here dis])ai*aging tho American warnings, for they fulfil
to the letter my idea of what these forecasts must ever be — namely,
general outlines both in respect to area and time. Beyond this, it
is impossible at present to go, and, looking at tho nature of tho
subject, I do not think we shall ever advance much further. In the
meantime, it is to bo hoped we shall not pour the whole of our felici-
tatious upon foreigners, but accord some meiisnre of praise to our
own men, who have certainly not been less successful, and who. it
is equally certain, have a much more difficult problem to deal with.
Ar.nKRT P. HoLBBic.
KNOWI.KPOE, Ki:ii 3, 1RS2.
STAR MAP
FEBRUARV
On Januaiy 29, at 10.30 p.m.
On February 2, at 10.15 p.m.
On Fe-bruary 6, at 10 p.m.
On February 10, at 9.45 p.m.
Ou FeV)ruary 14, at 9.30 p.m.
On February 17, at 9.15 p.m.
On Fi-)iruary 21, at 9 p.m.
On Fel'ruary 25, at 8.45 p.m.
On March 1, at 8.30 p.m.
On -March 5, at 8.15 p.m.
^.7
.s ♦^
^^ •• , \
i ^^•^•-.^
ScKle of MsgDiIuilea.
* »'' W 4* t*
S^^
fcTZ^
[KNOWLErCiE, Fkb. 3, 1852.
v^-^-
^ ^
.^.^^^"^
Our Stae Map. — The circular boundary
I'f the map represents the horizon. The
map shows also the position of the equator
■nd of that portion of the Zodiac now most
iavourably situated for observation, with
;he motions of the planets Jupiter and
:\Iars upon them. — See the Zodiacal map
ni p. 225, No. 11.
i ^y.»^
^.- cov»r.
Feb,
1882.]
KNO\AALEDGE ♦
301
CHINESE CALCULATION.
[257] — In reply to yonr question respecting Chinese Calctilatiun,
let me state that in Sir John Bowring's " Tieatise on the Decimal
System in Nnmbers, Coins, and Accounts," there is a good descrip-
tion of the Chinese Kwan-pan. or abacus, nud mode of using it. lie
tells us that the following is the Chinese multiplication table, the
eimplicity of which recommends the whole scheme. Ten tens are a
hundred ; ten hundreds a thousand ; ten thous.'ind a wan = 10,000 ;
ten wans a zih = 100,000; ton zihs a chaon = l,Oa>,000. Ue
adds ; — " At early morn, one of the tirst sounds heai'd in the shops
of all the towns and cities of China is the shaking and cleaning of
the swan-pans, i>reparatory to the business of tho day. As, in
Christian lands, tho sound of the bells calls the worshippers to
Church, as, in Mahoniedan countries, the voice of tho Muezzin from
the minarets bids tho devout Mussulmans to prayers, so, in " the
middle kingdom," tho rattling of tho abacus announces that another
morning's labours are begun.
With that instrument the Chinese youth has been as familiar as
with his hermetrical classics, the first and most popular of his school
books. From it he has i-eceivcd the most correct impressions of
the relations of numbers to one another ; and he has acquired the
habit of moving the balls on the wires of his swan-pan with con-
siderable dexterity "and rapidity ; wonderful are the ease and accuracy
with which all calculations are made and recorded. In my own
person I have had to settle a great variety of accounts with various
classes of people in China, and 1 never remember to have detected
an error ; and in cases where my reckoning has disagreed with that
of the Chinese, I have invariably found that their account was
correct, and my own erroneous. In China it might almost be laid
down as an axiom, that a mistake in an account is in itself strong
evidence of fraudulent intentions. I have compared my obscrva-
tioBB with those of persons of the longest and most extensive
experience as to the general correctness of Chinese accountancy ;
and my opinion has been fully coufinned, that among Cliinamen
intending to be honest, an error in reckoning is almost unknown.
HONQ-KONG.
COMMDNICATION WITH THE MOON.
[258] — It was Gruithuisen, the continental astronomer, who
maintained that in his observations on the moon, by means of a
large achromatic telescope, he had perceived invmense cities, edifices,
and artificial structures, apparently the works of some being exist-
ing tliere ; and from these appearances he concluded that the moon
formed a home for reasonable creatures, with whom we might cor-
respond. This idea he communicated to Gauss, who replied that
correspondence might be carried on, but with signs which all
rational beings must have in common ; such as the right-angled
triangle, with the properties of which (Euc. I., 47), the Selenites
mH£t be acquainted. Tho plains of Siberia, or the Great Desert,
might be selected for the purpose ; and the requii-ed figure — a right-
angled triangle, a circle, or an ellipse — be formed by channels dug
in the plain and filled with, say naphtha. Even if the object was
not attained, the work would provide employ for the hordes which,
objectless and homeless, roam those vrilds. But, provided that tho
moon is inhabited, and that by rational beings, our intentions and
efforts would be most likely misunderstood. But why correspond
with those that are not ? Hkkbert R. Wellee.
PROBABILITIES.
[259] — Seeing an article in a recent number of Knowledge
on luck and probabilities, I venture to ask yonr opinion on the
following i>roliiem, which has occasioned animated discussion in
more than one instance ; —
A bete B an even sum of money that in three cuts of a pack of
cards he will turn up an ace, a knave, or a nine. Of course, it is
immaterial what particular cards are decided on.
I have seen this done over and over again, the stake being a
shilling, and it has raiely happened that either of tho parties has
lost or won to any extent ; in fact, so close was tho running, that
an Irish bystander came to the conclusion that the odds were even.
I should very much like to see the correct calculation of the
chances, as I have known many attempts made to solve tho
problem.
At first sight the chances appear all against^the cutter, and the bet
is usually taken with alacrity, but I imagine that the odds are
slightly in his favour, though I don't know why.
Barracks, Dundalk, Jan. It, 1882. Chaeles A. Edes.
[The solution would run somewhat as follows : — The chance that
at a single cutting one of the three cards will be out is -r^, since
52
there are four of each of the cards named (no suit being men-
tioned in the conditions), or =^ ; therefore, the chance that none of
13
10
the cords will bo cut at a given trial is — . Hence, the chance that
(by tho well-known rule for such cases),
1000
"2197
The odds are, therefore, 1107 to 1000 against A — that is, againtit
turning up one of the named cards in three trials. 'l"he betting
should have been about C to 5, or, moro exactly, £5. 19s. 8Jd. to £5
ag.-iinst A. — Ed.]
MESMERISM.
[260] — As a constant reader of your valuable paper 1 should like
to be allowed to ask a few questions about mesmerism.
My reason for so doing is because, ou Saturday evening, 1 put
one of my boys in what 1 believe is called a mesmeric trance. In
joking with him, 1 told him to keep his eyes on a white spot of
paper in tho centre of a penny. I then made a few passes in imi-
tation of those I had seen made by professional mesmerists, when
I was astonished to see hiui drojt into a trance, from which no
amount of shaking, pinching, &c., could wake him. At first, being
considerably startled, I did not know what to do, but recollecting
how I had seen mesmeric subjects awakened, 1 blew on his
forehead, tapped him on the head and said " Right." He at once
awoke, but for some time (half-an-honr) was somewhat dazed,
doing things almost unconsciously. Being rather startled at finding
1 possessed this power, 1 should like to ask a few queries, viz. : —
1. What is mesmerism ?
2. What ultimate effect has it on the subject ?
3. How is the subject restored to his senses ?
And any other information on the subject that will be useful.
A Stastled Oke.
Wigmore Schools, West Bromwich, Jan. 16, 1882.
P.S. — I may mention that I have previously been a disbeliever in
mesmerism.
[As animals can be mesmerised — to use this rather absurd term
for want of a better — it is certain that there is some physical effect
to be interpreted. Unfortunately, many professional mesmerists
mix tricks with what they can do without trickery. — Bu.]
TERRACES IN DORSET VALLEYS.
[261] — Anyone travelHug in Dorset must have observed ou tho
sides of the vaUeys a nmnber of terraces, sometimes rising on
above another like steps, varying in number and also in size. I
have noticed some as large as giant earthworks, with slope as
smooth and top as level as any garden terrace. Others, again, are
a few feet in length and about one in depth. They are a peculiar
feature of that county, but 1 have seen occasional outliers in
Yorkshire and Cornwall. What is their origin ? 1 have seen it
asserted in a newspaper article, in an otf-hand way, that they are
artificial ; but there is no conceivable end commensurate with the
immense labour the construction would have entailed. They might
be old sea-beaches, if only they were all horizontal. Can anyone
say whether there is any accepted theory about them amongst
geologists ? S. H. W.
ICE.
[262] — In your current number, p. 252 (208), " A Fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society" appears to have made a slip. It may
be a fact, though very improbable, " that ice does not vary in
volume, as other solids do, with variation of temperature." But
this is by no means a corollary from the other fact, that water in
becoming ice undergoes a greater chango of volume than most
other substances do in the act of crystallisation.
There are other known substances — notably certain bismuth
alloys — which expand on crystallisation, and remain permanently
larger than before congelation. Does " A Fellow," Ac., apply tho
same assertion to those, and does he consider that ice remains
constant in volume at all temperatures at which it is ice, or docs
he think that it continuously expands with decrease of temperature ?
An Engineer.
SHORTENING OF THE DAY.
[263] — Laplace satisfied himself by reference to ancient astro-
nomical records (meaning, no doubt, those of Hipparchus, who
lived about 125 B.C.) that no alteration in the length of the day ha
802
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 3, 18Si.
takon pinco, ovon to tho amount of j^^ of a sccoml. Yet had
thoro bcfii n dimioation of tho cartli's dinmrtor, tho dny woold
havo BhurteiH'd. (Soo Whewoll'B " Hint. Ind. Sci.," 1837, vdI. a,
p. C<i<), and vol. 3, p. tS3.) Sir Charles Lyoll Bays tho di-
miuutiun of tho day ia not ,J- of a nccond. (" IVincipli-s of (iiMi-
lofry." 1W57, Tol. 1, p. 301.) " Tho eartli'saurfuco appears now to have
rcachud u tonipcratnro which is rirtually fiiod, and on which tho
gain of heat from the san i.i, on the wholo, just compensated by
tho loss by radiation into surrounding space." (General Strarhcy,
Britiali Association. 1875, sections p. 181.) On tho other hand, a
scientific frentleman alloijea that thoro aro roquin-d " 'J,'70.t'jiii\i
million cubic yards of crushed rock to produce the wholo" of the
fnaiiiR, heating, lifting, aad waste<i work at all the active volcanoes
of the earth. Also ho saya : — " 3. Itcat wasted and disKipated in
steam, Ac, at volcanic vents, 5,8-li2,8i8 millions of cubic yards."
Who is correct ? The present writer is no aatronomer ; he is
A GKOLOGI.-iT.
[When Laplace expressed tho opinion quoted, he supposed the
lunar acceleration fully explained by his investigation. It has
since been shon-n by Adams that about half still remains nnac-
counted for, unless the earth's rate of rotation is supposed to be
diminishing. It was not till a very short time before 18t;7 that
this result became generally known. Strachey's views and
Mallet's, which are by no means opposed to each other, Iwive very
little to do with the question any way. — Ed.]
FLESH FOOD.
[26t]— Allow me to reply to " Practical's " note of Dec. 30, ISSl.
Hear what Dr. W. A. Alcott says on this very subject :— " The
only instance which, on a proper comparison, will probably be ad-
duced to prove the incorrectness of these views, will be that of a
few tribes of American Indiana, who, though they have extremely
robust bodies, are eaters of much flesh. But they live also in the
open air, and have many other good habits, and are healthv in spite
of the inferiority of their diet. But, perfect physically as t'hcy seem
to be, and probably arc, examine the vegetable-eaters among them
of the same tribe, and they will be found still more so."
Again, " Practical " most compare men of the same nation and
people, and not of different nations j compare Englishmen and Eng-
lishmen, and not English and Spanish, as climate varies.
T. E. Alli.vsox, L.K.C.P.
[Let the mixed-food advocates and the vegetarians meet on tl.is
ground, and make out each a list of, say, one hundred of England's
greatest and best belonging to each class. The former might start
with Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, &c., Newton, the Herschels,
aad so forth, five or six for each class of distinguished men. The
vegetarians could then name an equivalent number of each class. —
Ed.] ^
WATCH.
[265]— Can you or any of your correspondents explain the fol-
lowing circumstance, and suggest a remedy ?
I have a very good watch, with chronometer balance, which on
other people keeps admirable time, but will not go accurately when
I near it. Lately, I sent it to be cleaned, and had a similar watch
lent mc by tho maker, which only varied thirty seconds a month.
In a fortnight this watch had lost thirty-tive minutes ! Some people
say this is caused by a magnetic condition of the body. Have others
similar experience ? and what can be done to prevent it ?
Chronometer.
THE MIN'UOCAO.
[266] — The attention of the public is from time to time called
to the supposed existence of a sea-serpont of enormous size, and the
question of its existence has of late found a place in your columns.
Probably few people have heard of the llinhocao, a worm of,
according to some accounts, fifty yards length, and five yanls
breadth, covered with bones as with a coat of armour, and in its
burrowings rooting up mighty trees, diverting courses of streams
into fresh chanm^ls, throwing up heaps of earth, and in its cour.se
making trenches about three metres in breadth. The reports of this
animal, which has its existence in the highlands of the southern
provinces of Brazil) seem well authenticated, and are as marvellous
as those of the sea-.serpent, if not more so. The accounts,
however, as to the size and appearance of tho animal aro uncertain.
It is supposed to be a relic of the race of gigantic armadilloes,
which in past geological epochs are said to have been abundant in
South Brazil.
Tho belief in this monster is not confined to Brazil, but is shared
in by tho jieople of Nicaragua, where a traditioa of such a monster
ban existed from time immemorial ; and as recently as the year 1866 n
Nicnraguan fla:rll« givea a circumstantial account of an object
much tho same as the Minhix'oo. Tho accooDts, however, of tho
Minhoeoo of llrazil are still more recent.
t have read that the ilomans in their wars with the Corthaginiaiu
are said to hove fallen in with a «er|>ont 120 foot long, which dwelt
upon tho banks of a river and had tough scales.
As tho existence of such an animal seems as interesting a subject
of inquiry as that of tho sea serpent, perliapa Knowleihje may
admit inquiries on the subject. A. T. C.
FOSSILS IN METEOBITES.
[267] — In No. XI. of K.s'OWLKtioK, you give an extract from tho
Chico'jo Herald, stating that fossils of sponges, C4.»rals, ice, have
been fonnd in metooritce, which, tho extract goes on to say, are
doubtless organic remains from an exploded planet. I have no
doubt that they originally came from a planet, but the question is,
What planet i' The aforesaid tavans say the exploded planet. But
I believe it ia infinitely more probable that this meteorite from
which the fossils were obtained was originally expelle<j from tho
earth when first its solid crust was formed. Tho said fossils belong
to the earliest geological epochs, and so far agree with this theory.
I believe Dr. Ball first set forth this theory, and I give nearly his
words, extracted from the Editor's " Poetry of Astronomy" : — '• Me-
teorites are always angular fragments, even before they reach our
air. Many meteorites have a crystalline structure, and, according
to Haidinger, this indicates a very long period of formation at a
nearly constant temperature — a condition only to be fulfilled in a
large mass Many meteorites show markings resembling those
seen on terrestrial rocks, and caused by the rubbing together of
adjacent masses." This, I think, sufRciently proves that they were
expelled from some planet, and are not merely "dust of the system,"
which was, at some time or other, nearly captured by some planet
in the process of aggregation.
And now we will attempt to find the most probable body for the
origin of the aforesaid meteors.
To take the sun first. The requisite energy is certainly there,
but where are the projectiles ? The sun's lK)dy being certainly not
solid, I think we may dismiss him as impossible. Then we find the
moon. Here we find two objections. Firstly, if the projectile is
given an orbit intersecting that of the earth, it will strike it in its
first revolution, and so end its career for ever. If, secondly, ita
orbit does not intersect the earth, it will revolve round it for ever,
and so never touch it. Thus, if we admit the moon to be the source
of meteorites, its volcanoes must be still active, which is known not
to be the case.
Thirdly, to take the case of the planets. Each planet may eject
matter with such force as to pass out of reach of its attraction, but
the chances are 50,000 to 1 against any such crossing the earth's
orbit. But if we consider that every meteorite the earth expelled
must cross the place of its ejection once in every revolution, we see
that the chances are that the number of earth-born meteorites which
reach the earth exceeds the number of those fnmi other |<lanets
infinitely. Attraction of other orbs may, and no doubt does, canse
the orbits of the earth and her meteorites to oscillate, but at some
time or other they will come into collision. The fossils resemble
those of the earth's earliest strata, and this was the surface of the
e.orth in its intensely volcanic era.
To sum up, I consider the chances are that these meteorites were
expelled from the earth itself, and carried some organic remains
with them.
If there is a particle of evidence in the "exploded planet" theory,
I should be glad to hear it. I do not wish to set myself up agninst
those eminent gai-<inii, nor to contradict conclusions formed by
years of toil and labour, but Knowledge is a medium through
which the humblest may express their opinions, and as such an on©
I offer them. Vignoles. ,
[It is hardly necessary for me to say that I share in large degree
Mr. Vignoles' views, as the essay to which ho refers will show.
However, we have as yet no evidence of organic ivmains in meteors.
The exploded planet theory, and the theory of two planets smashed
in collision, seem to need no discussion. It seemed to me a jest
when first advanced, and despite? the gravity with which it has been
recently urged by Sir W. Thonisou, 1 can only regard it as a jest
still. Despite the profound mathematical and physical le.arning of
its author, even the assurance that he was in earnest would not lead
me to regard it as deserving discussion. But like Professor Tait's
notorious "sea-bird analogy," in explanation of the phenomena of
comets' tails, it has not yet lioen advanced according to scientific
rules. No attempt has yet been made to show that it explains
observed facts, or that observed facts correspond with it in any
definite nay. — Ed.]
Feb. 3, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
303
(Sunifsf.
[219] — The Atomic Theort. — ^Vbere can I find the beat account
of the atomic theory, and whether any theory has been put for-
ward for the iusolabUity of certain substances in certain fluids ? —
Ernkst L. K.
[220] — Chemical Analysis. — Could you inform me of the prices
of the best books on qualitative, quantitative, volumetric chemical
analysis, and food analysis ? — Ontvabd.
[221] — Xatl'eal Philosopht. — Which is the best " History of
Philosophy" for students ? — A. Summeeso.v.
[222] — Telepho.ve.— How could I construct a small telephone,
and how do you join the wire together, so not to interfere with
message sent ? — G. H. Moetimek.
[223] — ^Anili.ve Dyes. — Could you kindly give me any information
on the nianui'acture of aniline dyes, or tell me where I can learn
anything about them ? — Ernest L. R.
[221] — Electeical. — Would any kind reader of Knowledge inform
me how to make the '" rubber " for a cylindrical electrical machine ;
also whether it is necessary or not tliat the cylinder should be
covered with shellac varnish Y — A Greenock Student.
[225] — Ivy Leaves. — Of the various common plants which grow
in these islands, ivy seems to me to show a wonderful variety of
leaf -forms, depending upon the locality in which it grows. I should
feel greatly obliged to any evolutionist who would explain the pro-
bable causes which produced thesa varieties. — E. C. E. — [The query
is accompanied by drawings of several varieties, but as they are
well known, it does not seem necessary to have the drawing en-
graved. We have sent it to Mr. Allen. — Ed.]
[226] — Gravity. — Reading the leading article on p. 241, I am
quite at a loss to understand the following, taken from paragraph
four : — " The most careful observation of the planets' motions
reveals no evidence that gravity takes even any appreciable time at
all in traversing the spaces sepaiatLng the various members of the
solar system from each other." As we can never have any atom of
matter outside the influence of the gravitation of every other atom
in the universe, how can the velocity of this influence be mea-
sured ? 1 think It would be interesting to the readers of Know-
ledge if yon or some one would favour us with an article
eiplaining how this conclusion has been arrived at. — F. A. L. R.
[It can be shown that if gravity occupied a measurable time in
reaching a planet, there would be a force constantly hastening the
planet's motion. But the matter requires more space than can be
given in '■ Replies to Queries." — Ed.]
[227] — B.ABOMETRic OSCILLATIONS. — Are wave-like oscillations of
the barometric column in gales matter of usual observation ? My
attention has only been lately attracted to the fact. When the
atmosphere is in a disturbed state during the passage of a cyclonic
system, I Bet the vernier of the barometer accurately, and watching
it closely for five or ten minutes, find that the coloran rises and
falls say the thousandth of an inch, or, if falling, jails by waves,
like the receding tide on the shore ; the intervals between the waves
being from thirty to sixty seconds or thereabouts. This may be a
fact known to all observers, but, being new to nie, I venture to ask
the question, and to solicit a physical explanation of these oscilla-
tions.— G. R. W. — [If you consider that a barometer indicates
atmospheric pressure, and that there must be waves of compression
and rarefaction during a storm, you will infer that the oscillation
yoa describe might have been expected. We do not know that it
has ever been specially noted before. — Ed.]
ivrplifg to ©uerifS.
[151] — Jordan Barometer. — -The inventor gives the sp. gr. of the
. glygerine as 12G at 60° F. (lide " ITie Glycerine Barometer," E.
Stanford, Charing^rross, London, price Is.). The glycerine em-
ployed is presumblv pure, as the above specific gravity corresponds
to the natural density of the liquid, as stated in Watts's
"Chemistri-." — Edina.
[15.5] — Tortoise. — We kept a tortoise more than ten years.
V When he began to burrow for the winter (moving his body in a
rotatory manner) we put him in a wooden box without lid, with a
few Square inches of carpet over him, and stowed him away under
the sofa in the library. He was never deceived by premature fine
days in January or February, but when the true spring was coming,
he stood in the box on his hind legs, and with his fore-foot tapped
to be let out, and we then turned him into the garden for the
summer. Ho became very tame, and I often held him up in the
open, and on speaking to him, " Come, Torty," he would put out his
head to have his poll rubbed. — Charles Few.
[171] — CnoANlTEs. — Having examined many choanites polished
in the mass, and cut into thin sections so as to admit of the em-
ploj-ment of the microscope, and having compared them with the
living sea-anemones, I had come to the same conclusion as Prestcr
W., that the choanite is a silicitied sea-anemone. The structure of
the tubes is alike in both. — X.
[171]— Choanites. — The answer given to the above query, at the
bottom of p. 231 of Knowledge, No. 12, is not satisfactory to me.
Probably your correspondent and I do not moan the same thing when
we speak of "Choanites." They differ widely from what we call
Alcyonites. He may see specimens of the fossil Choanite in the
British Museum, where they are described as " ailicified sponges,
from the chalk" and I think that those specimens show the spiral
worm round the cup, but, of course, both the worm and the cup are
in the fossil filled with coarse flint, and having been slit by the
lapidary, the former appears as spots of flint, as intersected on each
side by the wheel, and the latter as a straight, solid body of coarse
flint, with which the lateral tubes are connected. If the Choanite,
after all, is a sponge, as geologists say it is, it is easy to understand
how the worm maybe — I had almost said must be— a parasite. —
Yotir obedient servant, Prester W.
[176] — The Blue Streaks in Brick Clay. — Theso are most pro-
bably disintegrated and decomposed sulphuret of iron, which is
abundant in the plastic clay. — X.
[177] — Nactilcs. — The use of the gut running through the
chambers of the nautilus is to secure it to the first-fonne<i chamber
of the shell, as it has a periodical slipping of the muscle, which is
rei^eated thirty or forty times during the growth of the animal,
each time forming a transverse septum to resist the pressure from
without.— C. W. Oldfield.
[185] — Cold Saturated Solutions. — Have you tried taking a
hot saturated solution of this salt, allowing to cool with constant
agitation, and then leaving it to stand over the night, at the tempe-
rature you want ? Evaporate carefully do^vn to dryness, without
spirting, a measured quantity, say 50 grammes (not CO) of the
solution, and weigh the residue ; the result, multiplied by 2, will
give per cent. — A Greenock Student.
[193] — Action of Thundebsiorms.— Owing to the formation of
ozone, which acts as a powerful oxidising agent. Ozone is formed
by the passage of electricity through the atmosphere. — A Greenock
Student.
[214] —Colours of Stamens. — I think T. Howse is scarcely fair
in testing Mr. Grant Allen's opinion as to the original colour of
flowers by plants grown in a conservatory, whose characteristics
are so much modified by cultivation. When one speaks of flowers
in a botanical sense, one means those grown in a natural state,
i.e., wild flowers. If T. Howse examines these, he will find not only
that with few exceptions the stamens are yellow, but, in a large
number of cases the corolla is yellow also, as buttercup, potcntilla,
dandelion, primrose, furze, &c. — F. D. H.
Fermentation in Beee. — I see "F.C.S.," in reply to "In
Re" (p. 257), recommends him to read some work] on browing,
preferably Dr. Graham's lectures, "if published." Mayl be allowed
to state that they are published in the form of a pamphlet. I have
not my copy at hand, unfortunately, or would quote publishers.
Mav I also suggest that "In Re" read the articles, "Beer and
Brewing," in Urc's " Dictionarj- of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines"
(Longmans & Co.) and "Studies on Fermentation," by Pasteur
(English translation published by Lyon, 175, Strand, Lotidon) ?
" On Fermentation," by P. Schiitzenberger (International Scientific
Series, King & Co., London), is also well worth reading, but the
thanks of English brewers are due more especially to Dr. Graham.
— W. M.
The limiting depth to which light penetrates in water was some
time ago stated to be 40 metres for Lake Leman, by Prof. Forel,
who used albumenised paper in his experiments. M. Asper has
recently made similar experiments on the Lake of Zurich by .i
slightly different method. He used the jihotographic plates called
etnuUioti plates (more sensitive than albumenised paper), and im-
mersed them during the night of Aug. 3, to depths of 'K>, 50, 60, 70,
80, and 90 metres. They were brought up after remaining twenty-
four hours in the water, and treated with oxalate of iron. All the
plates, without exception, were distinctly affected by the light.
Thus the chemical rays penetrate in clear water to at least 90 metres
deep. — Scietitijic American.
::u-t
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 3, 1«82,
ogle
ianstorrs to €oiir<ji)ont)cnt£(.
trnmunti^lioiu for IMf Editor requiring fartjf attention wMouId rtach lk«
b^forr ik* Saturday prrcrdtntj the cnrrent u«h<* qf KfltrWLEbOl, tk*
imeretistnff {■irrutulion ^/ rktrh eompfU ui tu ^u to firtii tarly in tin irerk.
Hints to CoBiiii(tro!fril;>TTi. -1. .Vo ijufttiona aikinij ^or irientijle ii\formation
ran br tiniic^ed tkrongX tkr poll, 2, Lrtlrr* $ent to the Editor for eorrrepondents
cannot be fortctirded ; nor can the namei or addrrneM <if cormpondeniM be gicen in
aneieer to prtrate inqniriea. 3. So queriee or rrplira aacotiriuij nf the nature ij/*
advrriiermrnit run be ineerlei, -l. Lettertt queriet, and revliet are inMerted, unleie
roulriinf to liiite H, JVee t\f chartje. 6. Correapondente ehoul*i write on one tide
ohIv oftMe paper, and put draicinije on a aeparate lenf. (i. Each tetter, qtier^, or
repiv 'hiwld hace a ttlle, and in replying to lettere or (^ueriea, rffcrrnce ihuuld be
Tilde lu the Mumbrr qf Utter or qnery, the page on which it appeart, and ite title.
I'. M. TlloMi'soN. V<ry niui-h grutilied by your favoumblo
opinion ; our .sub-uditor (S. D. 1'.), in particular, thanks yon. Wo
nolo and wutch tho uamcroDS leaks you mention. — J. 1'. Sandlandh.
About luck, in article; Uuxlcy meant by extra-Christian, outside
of. unconnected with, Christianity ; you say "this is hardly the
usual acceptation of e.ittra" — pardon nic, but I think it is (in extra-
judicial, extra-ordinary, extra-logical, oxtni-niundanc-- in every word
cuniixiundcd with extra this is tho sense). "Is it true," you ask,
" that science is extra-Christian in this sense ? " Surely ; if not, it
ought to be. What haa science to do with Christian doctrines, or
Christian doctrine with science ? Next, a.? to Dr. Wilson's " Found
Links," you ask how descent of air-breathing from water-breathing
animals is proved by the linking of frogs and fishes through the
mud-fish. For tho life of yon, you say, you cannot see how that,
because one thing is something like another, it must have been its
parent. Well, then, it was not for you Dr. Wilson wrote. Others
showed that along a certain line of descent (according to the theory
of I'volntion) links were missing ; Dr. Wilson showed that this was
natural under the circumstances, and he is now showing that along
other Hues the links still exist. You raise an entirely different
ipiestion ; for, if similarity of structure is no indication of relation-
ship, there is no way of determining missing links at all, and it is
idle to look for them. Geologists might turn up to-morrow the
fossil of a creature presenting Simian and human features combined
as we might expect to find tlicm in a being midway between man
and the supposed common ancestor of men and apes : but of what
use the discovery, either way, if siiuilarity is no proof of kin-
ship ? — Artiicr Stradling. Our space does not suit an article
on that satlc ; Ariel, Puck, gnomes, djinns, and pixies, are for
regions where there is more dancing room. — G. A. II. Your query
otherwise answered ; wo cannot undertake to forward letters from
one correspondent to another. — C. Lloyd E.ngstrom. See, pre-
sently, article on "Fallacies." — Alex. Blake. Where there is no
struggle for life, there is none. You show this clearly. Then you
ask, Why should there be ? Why indeed ? — J. IIorne. Yoiu- solu-
tion neiit ; see later reply, with general remarks on the problem. —
r. A. E. — I can assure you I have not the slightest intention of
allowing astronomy to drive out other subjects of interest. Like
yourself, I was not pleased with the change which came over
the journal you mention; it was one of the reasons why
1 ceased to contribute (as I frankly explained to tho sub-editor).
You need not fear that there will be any change in that respect in
Knowledge, so long as it remains in my charge. — Phacopo. I
cannot explain why your friend, forty years old and six feet in
diameter (I beg paidon, that is the clock), can tell the time by a
church clock at a distance of a mile. It seems clear he has excel-
lent eyesight. — Edina. By stitial colures, I presume Mr. Bulley
meant the Solstitial colure. — Inve.stigatok. Having some sympathy
for our contemporaries, wo feel obliged, in common honesty, to say
tluat the dialogue you quote ought not to be sent to any of them.
Those who are likely to be misled by tho arguments dealt with are
simply those who have no reasoning power. Why reason with them
then i* I have seen a good deal of tho gentry -the teachers
are knaves, their followers otherwise. — Sibils. Yon are right;
it was the sun and not the earth whoso mass Professor
^'onng gave as 2,000 trillions of tons. — OcE.\N. The lec-
ture as given has not been republished — the theory dealt with
i.H given in ono of tho essays of my treatise, " The Poetry
of jVstronomy." You say that tho " top-gallant forecastle," about
which I asked in my " JMeasant Ways in Science," is <iuite correct.
Hut you define it just as I should define forecastle, and you tell mo
what the cross-trees are, saying they are topmast cross-trees, not
top-gallant cross-trees. I have never heard either expression used,
but always simply " cross-trees," and I have known what eross-
treoB wore since I was ten years old. I still think tho
c.-cpression, " top-gallant forecastle," unusual, to say tho least.
I snpposod tho writer meant the cross-trees. It seemed to
IOC as absurd -as "cutting the water with her taffrail,' in the
" Red Kover." — W. A. C. I have not elected to vivisect Rover,
but I have known of the better fruits of the practice.
which, unloBS directed to such* ends, 1 regard with as moch ab-
horrence as you can. I admit that the argument about breathing u
absurd ; I did nut urge it us ntbcnvitte ; I only said it might as
reasonably be urged as your own. I do not snpf>ose my enteemod
correspondent, F.R.A.S., meant one who had been limited to
|)ntntorR and turnip-tops; he used u familiar mude of speech. If
I found anything in your letter whii'h was more than simply a
denial of his view, 1 would insert it. You cannot say 1 have
not given due hearing Uy the rithcr side. — Neluuho. It is abso-
lutely impossible, with our present circulation, to cut the pages.
Which would you rather have, four pages more of original
matter, or bo saved the slight trouble of catting the paper ?
.Stiiik.nt. It may be (|uite safely assumod that the total
heut r<.ceived from the stars is quite insignificant. I'ray send
account of the dog who inherited kleptomania.— M. Wvatt. The
formula) are practically identical, x being insignificant compared
with r. Tost the matter, if you doubt this. Thanks for the pro-
blem from Newton's "Universal Arithmetic," to which work, how-
over, wo have already referred readers.^.V. W. D. Will try to
find space for your suggestions about shop and study. Only know of
Bain's book against Phrenolog}'. — R. B. Rowlisson. You are right,
we should have said 2,700 u.c. not 2,700 years ago. l"he stars yon
name will be near the southern polo at different times. My
Gnomonic Star Atlas is, I think, convenient for reference in such
matters. At least, I always use it myself, and added the
longitude lines and circles to make it useful in that way.-
D. F. Barrett. Sorry it was not attended to, but the corre-
spondence both with publishers and editor has been literally
overwhelming. — iiiici/. Y'ou are right ; the question is whether
vivisection is right or wrong, first, al all ; and secondly, if under any
conditions, then what those conditions are. Opponents are called
sentimental ; advocates are called brutal. Those who occupy a
middle position are called names by both the extreme parties. Of
what use is vituperation, anyway ? — R. R. We do not know th»
work. " lie combats the views of six of our leading scientists con-
ceming evolution," does not sound promising. Good writers do
not go about combating views. — Celt. Your theory that as
the pyramid rose, the builders heaped up earth all around
to enable them to put on the next layer, and afterwards
cleared this matter away, seems only a little less ingenious
than the theory that it was built from tho tO]) downwards.
Ilave you formed an estimate of the tremendous extra labour
t he plan would have involved ? Builders' measnremcnts would
be absolutely ineffective to preserve the accuracy of the orienta-
tion. An astronomer would not be content to discontinue the obser-
vations, but would mako the orientation moro and more accurate
as the building rose higher. — Ellipse. You seem to overlook the
fact that Mr. Tlioii)'.s first instrument is meant for ellipses too; it
is only set for parjibola. — H. Moulton. Inquire how many papers
of large circulation cut their edges. The ISaturday iievieic, the
Spectator, the Illustiatcd London News, the Graphic, sixpenny
papers, do not. yunch, All the Year Hound, and a host of other
papers less cheap than ours, might be cited as not cutting their
edges. Wo never expected to continue the plan, any more than we
expected to continue the i.ssuc of specimen copies by thousands. If
your copy happened to he badly folded, the fault is unusual, so far
as we can judge from the examination of a great number of copies
taken at random. In the bound volume all irregularities will dis-
appear ; and wo beg you to notice that the edges of the cut copies
must again be cut when they are bound up. If yuu would but
consider what wo are trying to do in the way of cheapening
science, you would be a little more generous than to ask for what
is really only a luxury possible with comparatively dear papers, or
with papers having only a limited circulation. We increase the
quantity of original matter and the average size of the paper, and
with reference rather to our promised than to our (very promising)
actual circulation ; you, and in all five correspondents, wish us to
go back to tho arrangements made when wo were beginning. We
beg to assure you, that except for the question of time, which abso-
lutely prevents our acce<ling to your rei|uest, it would s;ive us
considerable expense to accede to it, if wo at the same time
diminished tho original matter to the proportions which it had in
Part I. You will see this clearly before tho end of the next month.
— James Moir. The phenomena are manifestly subjective. —
AMjVteur Botanist. Surely botany has had a very fair share t>f
our space. We could not publish " at extra cost" a supplement of
star names and letters. Are not the letters and names given with
the name of each constellation in the maps themselves ?^i. N.
Leioh. No evidence that earth's axis has changed. — R. C. Al'M.
You have, wo trust, now ivceivcd Part 1. (that is, it reached yon,
we trust, before it was — as it now is — out of print). What
happened was this: Your letter, enclosing stumps, was ad-
dressed to " editor " ; it was sent to us, ond its turn
came a week or so after. I: was then forw.-irded to the
khb. 3, n
KNOWLEDGE ♦
305
pnblUiiere ; and yonr lator letter, being also addressed wrongly,
is opened probably a week after the paper reached you. —
11. KoLFE. i)o not know Richardson's Conic sections. For analy-
lical conies, Todhnnter or Salmon; for geometrical. Drew or
Tayler would snii, I thi»k. You require a book suitable for fourth
■tage, at Kensington. Perhaps some correspondent will help. —
Anontmods, Silverdalk. Darwin's works are published by Murray.
I-yell's " Student's Geology" and "Principles of Geology " would
be good works to begin with ; say, tiret, the cheap edition of the
former work published by Murray. — M. S. S. Already corrected ;
but thanks all the same. — A. Blvmenb.xch, G. .Iohnsox, H. Stei.v-
li.\N, and others. Nos. 2 and 3 are now out of print. They cannot
be reprinted ; this has already been done three times, at a serious
loss.— Feed. Cr.4Mpton-. Toll us about the monkey, by all means. —
K. Mlirhead Little. Wo did not understand F.C.S.'to mean that
carbonic oxide is non-poisonous, or a supporter of combustion.
Kveryone with the most elementary knowledge of chemistry is
aware that it is more poisonous than carbonic acid or
the carbonic dioxide, and that it is no more a sup-
porter of combustion than the latter. What we understood
him to mean was that wood gas, after the carbonic acid in it
had been converted into carbonic oxide, was changed in character,
aa described. Coal gas contains both CO and CO;. Head as
you understand it, "F. C. S.'s" communication would describe wood
gas as simply carbonic oxide, which i.«, of course, simply absurd. —
Satellite. The card of your compass must be badly suspended.
Hold the compass horizontally, and if the card evidently "sticks,"
lap the sides till the card vibrates freely, it will then swing rotmd
till the north end points to the magnetic meridian (abont 21° west
of true north. A " Knowledge Almanac " may be thought of hei-e-
after : atjpresent. KNOttXEDGE occupies all our care. — A. J. Maas.
Thanks for snake stories.— T. J. Sun extinguishing fire dealt
with in article on 'Fallacies." The common idea that sun
puts out fire is rery different from the theory yon deal
with, that a fire bums less quickly in a room whose air has
been warmed by the sun (after a certain considerable time).
Sunlight admitted into a room does not warm the air in the room
ap|>reciably for some time ; the fire is supposed to go out quite
([uickly, which certainly does not happen. — H. B. K. About tobacco
immediately. — Cl. A. Segler and F. Gaubeet. Wo knew Zares
uiade the mistake yon mention. Our answer was quite correct.
There is no need of the isolation you suggest to produce conditions
under which the least possible force will move the greatest possible
mass. But at what rate ? Zares said nothing about that. We
know perfectly well where and how he is astray; but it is more
useful to let kim find his way to the right road, than simply put
liim on it and leave him plantc lo. — J. Broadhckst. American
humour is as distinct from English humour as possible,
as are American ideas abont humour from ours ; or, I should
rathor say, from ordinary English ideas on the subject. The
actor approved by English tastes is often not liked in America; and
I'ifc-fcrsii, favourite American actors arc often regarded with little
favour here. Again, if yon go with American friends to a play in
England, you v.ill find that what the English audience like they do
not care for ; while they at once select as the best actors those who
are not regarded as absolutely in the first flight by most English
critics. I must confess it seems to mo they often show a more
refined taste than ours, — perhaps because 1 find their views in agree-
ment with my own. For instance, I have always regarded
Rutland Barrington as one of the very best of our histrionic
humorists, but his quiet humour seems very little appreciated com-
pared with the more grotesque fun of other actors on the same
boards. Now I find Americans quite at one with me in this view.
The oftenerthey see him the better they like him. It seems to me, by
way that so consummate a judge as M. Got, of the Comedie
Franijaise, was of the same opiuion, even when he saw Barrington
in a part so comparatively ungrateful as that of Captain Corcoran.
Americans say that ninety -nine Englishmen out of a hundred fail to
understand American hnmour at all. I remember an English
fellow-passenger on board an American Pacific steamer, to whom
the most ontrageous absurdities were addressed with a certain grave
calm (not solemnity), which should have been as suggestive of fun
•8 Harrington's manner in telling us of Teazing Tom j but he took
them in as confidently as he received the announcement of the
day's run and the ship's latitude and longitude, and for aught I
know, entered them in a big book about his travels which he was
writing. He was "a perfect gold-mine of fun," a Califomian said. —
Mcsicrs. You may be right. Conversation when music is going on
may set the performer .at his ease. He might be still more at his ease
■ f the audience stopped their ears with cotton wool, and still more
so if they all went out of the room. But the object in view when
any one is invited to play, is not to set him or her at ease, but to
hear sweet sounds discoursed. If a player is so inferior as not to be
at ease, common sense suggests that he should not be invited o
play. If, on the other hand, he plays well, yon may depend ho
will not be set at case, but very much the reverse, if ho is
not paid the compliment of silence. But to say the truth, no
one who knows what music is either talks when others play, or
does what you seem so to desire to do, talks when playing
himself. I have heard many musicians speak of the habit
some unmusical persons have of talking when music is in pro-
gress, and they have — one and all — denounced the practice as
an offence to the audience and an insult to the performer. — P. P. A.
Your assertion that a strong artificial light will put out a fire would
entirely dispose of C. T. B.'s explanation, which yet yon say is the
only one yon can arrive at. It is very easy to make a few experi-
ments either on the effect of sunlight, or of strong artificial light.
First get a good, steadily, blazing fire, with the shutters of a
south-facing room closed, on a sunny day. Open the shutters for a
quarter-of-an-honr, and note how during all that time the fire ap-
pears dull and languid. Close the shutter.^, and note that as soon
as the eyes have become accustomed to the change, tho fire appears
as bright as ever. As you say, it does not appear so at once ; but
that is simply becamse the effect of sunlight on the eyes does not
pass off at once. I do not mj-self agree with F.R.A.S. in
regarding the idea that sunlight puts out a fire as a mere
vulgar superstition, but rather as a very natural illusion.
Moreover, there can be no doubt that solar heat, admitted
long enough into a room to appreciably increase the tempe-
rature of the air. does, to some degree, diminish the activity
with which a fire burns. This is no more a superstition than the
perfectly correct idea that fires bum brightly in frosty weather.
But you mu.st remember that F.R.A.S.'s remark was altogether
impersonal ; it was not applied to the belief of the querist, for none
was indicated: it expressed only F.R.A.S.'s view respecting tho idea
about which N. inquired. — J. F. The earth's axis is inclined
23° 27' 1G60" from a perpendicular to the plain of her orbit. Tho
equality of action and reaction does not — exactly — mean " that if a
man in a boat pushes against another boat ten times tho weight of
his own, the heavier boat would go one tenth of the distance
of the lighter one " ; though something like this would follow
from the law : it means, more generally, that whatever pressure,
strain, or action is exerted by one body on another, excites an
exactly equal pressure, strain, or action in this other body, acting
in the opposite direction.— M. J. IIabding. I have taken tho
liberty of forwarding your suggestion to the publishers of my
" Ea.sy Star Lessons." But surely it would be rather hard if an
author were regarded as responsible for the pictures put on the
binding of his book. As to the other work, considering who
honoured the author in the way you mention, and the absurd
remark he made, I should attach no weight at all to his opinion,
liowon earth could tho writing of a scientific treatise be regarded
as equivalent to a course of education specially fitting a man for
ministerial duties ? It was the hard hitting, I should imagine (and
infer from the title of the book), which pleased tho bishop. Tho works
attacked seem to me perfect models of what scientific works should
be, presenting accumulated knowledge, attacking none, courteous to
all, even to opponents. A book attacking such works, and having for
its title what implies that those attacked arc godless and wicked men,
caiTies its own condemnation on its title-page. That it should have
run to the twelfth edition would show that there are many who
enjoy such attacks, but would prove nothing as to the scientific
value of the treatise. — E. Lee. We cannot find space for all the
titles of Mr. Dallinger's es.'ays. We fear the original query should
not have been inserted. We might till onr whole number with re-
plies, if many such questions were asked. — A. Lummer-son. Have
inserted one of your queries ; as to the other, tho person named is
considered a dreamer in his own country, and has no scientific
standing either there or here.— W. G. S. Certainly yon heard
the SOU puffs in nine seconds less time than was required to
produce them. In the case of an approaching train, you
always hear the sounds in quicker succession, and in a re-
ceding train, in slower succession, than if tho train were
at rest, or if you were a passenger by it. — S. H. W. Nay: if
a cannon-ball w"erc sent round tho earth without any initial rota-
tional motion, it would in each circuit present all parts of its
surface towards the earth — not constantly the same face. Tho
other passage seems carelessly written. If a mass of air came from
the pole, in a moment, to our latitudes, nothing could boar tho
brunt of passing through it. But north-east winds come only from
higher latitudes gradually to our own, and the deficiency of their
original rot.itional motion is gradually made up by the frictionni
action of tho surrounding air, earth's surface, Ac. T. S. V. P.
Read Wallace's book on modem miracles if you want tho sort of
faith you refer to. We cannot admit the subject here until
it has, or some part of it has, a scientific standing.— Jas.
Devlin. Yes ; we quite mean that the builders of the Great
Pyramid could not possibly have oriented it so perfectly
306
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 3, 1882.
iiK they ilid withont trlfucnpic nid, uiiIcbk tliey hiul employed
sucli mctlKMlB nB we lincl tlioy artnnlly did employ. The work wa«
much more diflU'ult tliiin yon seem to think. — llfriii. Every
rctlci'tiiiK Irltwdpe (uxcopt those of ihe hirgo Iternchelinn type)
hnH two roth'ctorM, which arc nut meant to bo used BOparutely.
Telling nie thnt the eye-glajiHia are hoth eolniirod red, one lighter,
the olher (ii« I might nlmont linve inferred) darker, docs not enable
me to underxtnnd wlmt in wrong. Vou Bliould get an optician to
look nt the inittrument. — Onwakh. Your lirat question out of our
line.— W. A. Saiilkr. We think not ; but if you will deRcribe any
cxperimentB showing (loif sun rays might build up a planet, we
shall exiiminc them with exteeding interest.— Rkpokter. No room
for shorthand discuBsions. — Ernest (iKorii. Much obliged. Ilavo
already, however, inserted a reply similar in effect to your own very
complete one. — (i. U. Mortimer. What can you mean ■- What i»
the substance of a light ? In a gas-flame, the light is due to
plowing carbon, tlio heat coming from tho combustion of
hydrogen.— W. E. B. F. C. S. Hid not meet Mr. Severn in Aus-
tralia; but ho was woll-remembcred there, as wore his lectures on
astronomy. Do not know his address. Probably Mr. Ellcry (Mel-
bourne) may know. — E. li. V. I considered most of tho phenomena
you refer to in an article which apjie-ired (iftecn years ago or so in tho
Intellectual Ohserier. I may deal with it shortly in these pages,
but so many subjects crowd in upon Knowlbdge, that it is hsird to
know which to take first. The apparent changes in brightness are
only subjective, not objective, phenomena — they depend on the
different brightness of different parts of the background. The
shadow of IV. ought to bo larger (including penumbra) than that of
III., IV. being so much further from the planet. — J. A. L. R. How
would your explanation apply to the moon? The enlargement
certainly is an optical illusion, as measurement shows. The climate
question will be raised in articles on I'recession. Sun's proper
motion wants an article for its ;.roper elucidation. In my
" Essays on Astronomy " it is discussed rather fully. The velocity
has not yet been measured, and cannot be. Otto Struvo's reasoning
was quite unsound. As to tho Vectors question, there is an obvious
misprint. Is it not rather unfair to ask questions of that kind,
leaving us either to occupy a portion of space for the query and
replies, besides giving trouble to readers and to us in reading their
answers, or else to send us to look up tho book, which may or may
not be ready to our hand ? If all our readers who encountered
such difficulties sent us queries, our whole space and more would be
wanted for them.— T. W. Yes ; the guillotine cutter works easily
enough when fed ; it is tho feeding takes the time. Tlie extra expense,
when we are doing our best to give as much extra matter as we can
provide for out of our scanty margin (or, rather, looking forward
for the margin we hope to have when full gro^vn) counts, of coarse,
tor nothing. The "nice little job" you have "cut out for our
readers as well as ourselves too " we beg respectfully to decline. In
an article such a matter may be discussed, not in replies to queries.
— H. Skell. Thanks. Another letter pointing oat the same mistake
is in type. — ^^ioLUs .ind Borea.s. It was your own joko about storms
being sent us out of a gun. Did you think we " took you " seriously ?
Your questions too wide for the kind of answers you want. — J. A.,
L. M. B., A Caktdusia.v, and others. Thanks for various solutions of
the four fours problem, or approximations thereto. — GriNOis. Tes,
the errors are there, but one is an obvious misprint, and neither
affects the result. — F. B. Y'ou are right ; that " was what we in-
tended to convey, officially."— W. B. Corrected already.— P. A.
MAtilAnoN, T. R., and others. The problem is not difficult with the
Dif. and Int. Cal. " No analyst " wanted a solution he could
follow. Thanks, however, for your solution. — J. Hammabd. Much
obliged for your solution of the messenger problem. We had
already sent a geometrical solution to the printer's. At present we
have scarcely room for mathematical essays ; two have been waiting
for room since the fourth number. We agree with yon about leaving
mathematical "problems " for a week, but not mathematical ques-
tions, simply because querists may be anxious for early reply. The
simultaneous equations later. — E. J. Kex.nedv. Y'our solution will
not do; the " by symmetrv' " as.sumption is unsound. Note, that
you get, besides the solution, an equation of condition. Why should
this ecpiation hold ?
The Fi-TiRE of Solar Physics.— The fundamental problems
now pressing for solution are, " first, a satisfactory explanation of
the peculiar law of rotation on the sun's surface ; second, an ex-
planation of the jieriodicity of the spots, and their distribution ;
third, a determination of the variations in the amount of the solar
radiation at different times and different points upon its surface ;
and fourth, a satisfactory explanation of the relations of the gases
and other matters above the photosphere to the sun itself— the
problem of the corona and the prominences." — The Xation.
^otfS on ^vt ant) ^rirnrf.
Thk Eablikbt Date or a London Foo. — What the earliest record
of n I/ondon fog may be I am unable to Btat« ; but since Mr. Hales
ha* mentioned Evelyn'n name in connection with a fog noticed by
him in 1C81, it will undoubtedly hove struck more than one of your
readers thot twenty-three years previous to this, the delightful old
iliarist had published his " Fumifuginm, or the InconTeniencie of
the Aer and Smoak of Ijondon dissipated, together with some
Remedies humbly proposed by J. E., Esq.," Ac. " Published by
His Majcstic'B command," m.hc.lxi. The warmth of expresirion
used in this little tractate, now vprj' scarce, would certainly
point to the long-settled existence of the fog and smoke
nuisance in the metropolis; indeed, the energy of tho attack of
this original Fellow of the Royal Society, his notice of the injury
done to the health of the inhabitants, to the public buildings of
London, and the furniture and "movables" generally, singularly
coincide with the sentiments expressed about us in the present day.
In the midst of our boasted civilisation and advance, the words of
this accomplished gentleman of the seventeenth century are as
mncl) to the point on the question of the London fog and smoke
nuisance as they were 221 years ago. Evelyn mentions ("Diary"
Dec. 15, 1670) " the thickest and darkest fogg on the Thames that
wos ever known in the memory of man." — T. Caeew Maktin. —
Athenaum.
CnLOEOFOEMlxo DCRIKG SLEEP. — The possibility of chloroforming
a person in sleep, without waking him, having been disputed in a
recent murder trial. Dr. J. V. Quimby, of Jersey City, was led to
test the question experimentally. The results were presented in a
paper before the section of Medical Jurisprudence at tho meeting of
the Medical American Association, a few days ago. Dr. Quimby
made arrangements with a gentleman to enter his room when he
was asleep and apply chloroform to him. This he did vnih
entire success, transferring the person from natural to artificial
sleep withont arousing him. He used about three di-achms of
Squibb's chloroform, and occupied about seven minutes in the
operation. The second case was a boy of thirteen, who had
refused to take ether for a minor operation. Dr. Quimby
advised the mother to give the boy a light supper and put him to
bed. She did so, and Dr. Qnimby calling when the boy was asleep,
administered the chloroform and performed the operation withont
awakening the boy. The third case was a hoy of ten years suffering
from an abscess, and the same course was pursued with ecjual
success. Two important inferences may be drawn from these cases.
Dr. Quimby said : — minor surgical operations may be done with
perfect safety and much more pleasantly than in the ordinary way ;
and, secondly, a person somewhat skilled in the use of chloroform
may enter a sleeping apartment and administer chloroform with
evil intentions while a person is asleep. Hence the use of this drug
in the hands of a criminal may become an effective instmment in
tho accomplishment of his nefarious designs. — Medical Advance.
Cri'.siaceaxs and Light. — In a recent p.iper communicated to
the Paris Academy M. de Merejkowsky describes experiments in
which he sought an answer to the question, " Do the lower cmsta-
ceans distinguish colours ? " His answer is that it is exclusively
the quantity, not the quality, of light that affects them. Larvae of
Balanus, a cirrhipede crustacean, were employed, and some of the
experiments were repeated on certain marine Copepoda. In a
vessel that is quite dark these crustaceans are dispersed in all
directions, but if daylight be admitted through a slit they collect
about the entering beam. This occurs, too, when light of only one
colour is admitted (a coloured liquid being put liefore the slit).
These crustaceans do not seem to be blind for any colour (a result
corresponding to what M. Bert observed in the case of Daphnides).
But to find out whether they perceive colours as well, the
following experiments were made : — Two slits being used for
a beam of white and of coloured light respectively, the crusta-
ceans preferred the former beam, all clustering round it if
the coloured light was deep real or violet, and a large majority if
that was of a brighter tint (yellow, green, or bright red). Com-
paring a beam of darker colour, aa violet, with one more luminons,
as yellow, the crustaceans always preferred the latter. With two
slits admitting coloured ruys of eqnal brightness, the crustaceans
divided into two equal parts, whatever the colouration (the anthor
thus compared bright red with yellow, green, and blue, yellow with
green and blue, and green with blue) : but directly the brightness
was rendered unequal the groups of crustaceans became unequal,
too. M. de Merejkowsky concludes, then, that in perception of
light there is a great difference between the lower crustaceans and
man, and even between them and ants; "while we see different
colours and their different intensities, the lower crustaceans see only
a single colour in its different variations of intensity. We pcrceiTO
colours as colours ; they only perceive them as b'ght." — Tiiiios.
Feb. 3, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
307
(9m- iilatl)tmatical Coliimm
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
[23] — A messenger 31 starts from A towards B (distance a) at a rate
of V miles per honr, bat before he arrives at B a shower of rain com-
mences at -4 and at all places occupying a certain distance : t.wards,
but not reaching beyond, B, and moves at the rate of u miles an
hour towards A. KM be caught in this shower, he will be obliged
to stop until it is over. He is also to receive for his errand a
number of shillings inversely proportional to the time occupied in
it, at the rate of ii shillings for one hour. Supposing the distance
: to be unkno^vn, as also the time at which the shower commenced,
but all events to be equally probable, show that the value of M's
expectation, in ahUIings, ie
71 r (f 1 « u(u + v) M + !■ ^
l2-
>
[Let the distance .4 be divided into p equal parts, each equal to c,
80 that pc — a; then
(1 -
- - time in which M passes over space «.
- = time in which shower passes over same space.
Suppose the distance Z successively equal to c, 2S, 3S . . . . pi,
and ill each ca^e suppose successively that the shower commences
0 2o 'AS pS
after a time - > — , ~, — from iTs starting, so that there
are p- cases in all to be considered. Thus JTs time is as follows in
the following cases : —
, . a
z = o; mp cases, -;
f
A*./ -fx (1-1 Ci . S
8 = 20 J in (p—1) cases, -; mlcasc,- + -
!• V U
z = 3c; in (p— 2) cases, -; inlcase, - + -; inlcase, - + -
, a (p — 2)S ■ , a (p-l)S
r u v It
of the amounts to bo received
(P P^ J_ PJ^ J^ 1
nia'*' a *a S"^ a ^a 5 + a 2
(.- - - + - - - + - - + -
Thus, the sum of the amounts to bo received, according to the
conditions, is-
1 1
r- + —.
a a I
- - + -
Ts*
'a (p-l)o!
(P(p + l)r
mj
(p-1) ^ (p-2) ^ (p-3)
aii + 2ci' au. + 3cv
(p-r) ,
*au + {p-l)Svj ( (^)
Now
au + rcv dLpu + rv_\ dv\_pu + n'J
_ lrpt+pu-(pu + rv)-\ ^pT u + v _i~\
fii'L pu + ri! J 5i'Lpu+n' J
^Elr^'it^l-Pl C since i = e\
arLp'< + 'rJ av \ o a/
Thns series (A)=n f P(P + 1)''_P'"
( 2a va
^pMu^.)r^_^_l_^ ^ 1 -|,
a \_pu-t-v pu + 2v pii+ (p— l)r J 1
I uU the series withing the square brackets S, then the general term
1
: ; or the general term of pS.is« j. J^ ,. andwe have to find
pu + rv p-
e gum of this series when r has all values from 1 to p, p being
made infinite ; or which comes to the same thing when _ varies
P
through all values from 0 to unity. Xow, supposing we know
nothing of the differential calculus, we should, probably, at once see
how this was to be done by using the well-known propertv of the
rectangular hyperbola that the rectangle having asymptotes as
sides, and a line joining centre and a point on the curve as
diagonal, is of constant area. Thus, suppose wo take OK, OB as
asjinptotes of u rectangular hyperbola Dl'C,
OA = u, AB=v = AD, and Oi=^u+ -.i, then we kuuw that
P
rect. Oi.QJ: = rect OA.AD = uv
uv
sothat Qi = „^r„
Hence, if we take lk = - and complete rectangle 01, we have
P
pii + i
■ = "I'" (general term of S)
When p is made infinite, so that such a rectangle as Ql becomes
indefinitely narrow, and the sum of all such rectangles between^/)
and BC is the area ADPCB, we have
i(v'(S) = area ADPCB = OA.AD log. 5^ = uu log. '* —
OA u
1 u + u
So that S = - log.
V ° u
Xow the value of M's expectation is the total payable on all the
possible events, divided by the number of events ; or is series (A)
divided by p" when p is made infinite.
n rp'i' + pi- p'u p'it(i( + f) u + v} ,
= - < ^ — !— + - — i log ^ when p is mfanite.
p^ I. 2a va va u j
= 'il j 1-!^ + liOillO log ^i+r )
a 1 2 v v' u )
Of course, the solution thus given depends on the principles
which underlie the differential and integral calculus. It does not
seem worth while to master in each such problem the difficulties
which result from avoiding the actual use of the calculus, except in
this respect, that before the student begins to nse the calculus he
should so far accustom himself to deal with such problems as the
above, that the real meaning, as well as the real value of the cal-
culus, may be recognised. In dealing with the above problem we
should simply get the general term of the series 5, writing x for — .
I>
and since -, when p is made infinite, is d.r, we get
s = l/'-'^ = liog.^i±^
as by the geometrical method used above. — Ed.]
[24] — 1. Who introduced the symbol tt ? 2. What is the origin
of the name " Courbe du diable," as applied to the locus y' — 96a-ir
-t-100uV-x' = 0? 3. What is the origin of the name, " Witch of
Agnesi" ?* 4. Where can one find the best discns-sion of " Fourier's
Series " ? 5. How may an angle be trisected by means of the
cissoid of Diodes ?— W. W. Bemax.
[25] — I borrow ,£100 from a Building Society, and repay prin-
cipal and interest (compound) by 120 monthly payments of
£1. 3s. 4d. AVhat rate of interest am I paying ?
• Agnesi says herself, vol. I., p. 381, " Equazione alia curva da
descriversi, ehe dicesi la Versiera."
808
• KNO^A/'LEDGE •
[Vbb. 3, 1882.
[Lol r bu rato jtor poanil per moDth, bo Ihut ul tho rnd of a month
lil bonimnK £ (1 -f r). Tlion, ut end of tirat mouth i! - in ilao ; at
end of Kuiond JC- + (l + r)JC-; at end of third, C-+ (l + r)£"
fi 6 5 5
+ (1 + r)'Jt- ; aiul. liiially. "t end of twenty months-
5
|l + (l + r) + (l + r)»+ + (1 + r)»-'] i- '
-ilfl)!l-i4.[(,.r)«-ni:«
1 T r— 1 5 Or
Now, JtlOO nt rnt.'
.L'l |>cr ninntb, compound iutenst.
Hhould bo equal in viiliio at ond of twenty months to £- paid
0, for twenty months. Thnt is
(1 + r)»£100= [(1 + r)»-l]£'
monthly, ns above, for twenty months. Thnt is —
.5r
(1 + r)" (6-500r)=lJ
Henoo 20 log. (1 + r) + log. (G - 500r) == lop. C.
Wo can find r tentatively from this equation. It is cleiU' r cannot
bo (i^oater than (i^-.'jOO. — El).]
[26]--What will .010 annually at r pur .£1 per annum compound
interest amount to to in twenty years ? — J. R. — [We presnmo this
is onr correspondent's question. Tho method applied to previous
qiiefition gives for this amount at tho end of twenty years
[(l + r)" -1] (iilO-T-r)— Ed.]
[27]--Tho value of a diamond varies as tho S(|uare of its weight.
A diamond falls and breaks into three pieces ; what proportion does
their probable value bear to that of the original diamond ? — P. A.
MacMaiion.
[28]— E(JCATION.—
a+x a—x —
i/a + '/(a. + x) \/a—^a — x
Maihematiccs Novocasteokcm.
[The Equations of "RHeverte"in our last seem to have been
made " pie " of. We very carefully corrected the second (the first
was rightly given), wi-iting out in margin the left side of the equa-
tion afresh, but now tlie right side b.is entirely disappeared, and
the first equation has gone wrong. It .should be, I think.
x' 1/' a? V
— +r =~ +~ =o + 6
a 0 X y
I cannot recollect what was on the right side of the (Jther
equation. Will " Kncvcrtc " oblige by repeating it ? Readers must
not imagine that fonnnlas which appear wrongly have been care-
lessly written or corrected. When I note that I had to corroot
several sheets of my book on Cycloids five or six times, and that
even then errors appeared, they will see how difiicult it is to secure
oorrectnese in the printing of mathematical matter. — Ed.]
©m Cbc<>5 Column.
THE following problem gained tho first prize in the late Problem
Tournament of Design and Work. It is taken from the ('/i,.«
Player^ Chronicle.
By B. G. Laws.
r,,'iV.'!i^'!! O^ KM
■;
i i /!:i
' ^^
Ih^ S O
■1
Wbitb.
White to play and mate in three mOTes.
UAME AT ODDS.
First game in n match iM'twcen McMm. ff. Hrakine and W
ut the oddn of I'awn and two moves.
WlllTK.
Black.
Mr. W. Mead.
Mr. H. Krskii.
Remove Black King's
Bishop's Pawn.
1.
P. to K.4.
li.
P. to Q.4.
P. to Q.3.
a.
B. to Q.3.
B. to K.3. (■).
4.
Kt. UiK.B.3.
B. to B. 2.
5.
Kt. to Kt,5.
Kt. to K.U.3.
C.
B. to K.3.
P. to K.4.
7.
P. toQ.B.4. (•-)
B. to K.2.
H.
P. to K.R.4.
Kt. to Q.2. (').
'J.
Kt. toQ.B.3.
B. to B.3.
10.
P. to Q.5.
P. to Q.R.3. {').
11.
Kt. to K.6. (').
B. takes Kt.
IZ.
P. takes B.
Kt. to B.sq.
13.
B. takes Kt.
P. takes B.
14.
Q. to |{.5. (ch.)
Kt. to Kt.3.
15.
P. to K.Kt.3.
P. to B.3.
10.
Castles Q.R.
Q. to K.2.
17.
P. to B.4.
CaatloeQ.B.C).
18.
P. to B.5.
Kt. to B.sq.
19.
Q. to K.2.
Kt. takes P. (').
■M.
P. takes Kt.
Q. takes P.
•21.
K. to Kt.sq.
K.R. to Kt.sq.
22.
Q. to K.3.
K. to Kt.sq.
23.
Q. to Kt.6.
R. to Q.2.
2-t.
P. to B.a.
B. to Q.8q.
25.
Q. to Kt.4.
P. takes P.
20.
B. toB..!.. ('■;.
Q. toKt.5. C).
27.
Q. Ukos B.P.
&. takes B. (ch.)
28.
R. takes R.
E. to K.8q.
29.
B. takes R.P.
P. takes B.
30.
Q. takes B.P.
Q. to Kt.3.
31.
H. to Q.6.
Q. to B.2.
32.
R. to Q.7.
Q. to B.8. (ch.)
33.
11. to Q.sq.
Q. to B.2.
34.
Q. takes R.P. and White won.
NOTES BY MEPHISTO.
(") The intention of bringing the B. to B.2. is good enough, bnt
we hardly think that Black can afford the neces.sary time for this
manoeuvre, we should prefer P. to K.3. followed by Q. to K.2., a
line of play favom-cd by Mr. Potter. We, however, freely confess
some ignorance as to this most cruel of all openings. A modem
treatise on these and other odds woirid be welcome. In a game
between Mr. Wayto and Mr. Ilooke, at Leamington, the following
occtirred : —
P. to K.4. ^toK.B.4. Kt. to K.B.3. P. to K.5.
P. to K.3. P. to Q.4; P. to y.B.4.
this line of play resulted unfavourably for the attack.
C") White's attack relaxes a little, he ought to have Ca-illcd and
then played P. to K.B.4.
(=) Black has emerged fairly from the first attack, and Castling
at once would have been his best course. For, considering the odds
given, he ought not to dread White's attack on his King's side, with
th£ King in comparative safety.
('') Sad loss of time.
I') Well played. Should Black play y. to B.sq., White would
also obtivin a strong position.
(') Black misses a good chance of somewhat equalising matters.
Ho ought to have played 17. P. takes P., followed by B takes Kt.
and Castles Q.R. ; he would then have cither remained with Bishops
of opposite colours or with Kt. against a B., and would have had a
fair chance of drawing, e.g., 17. P. takes P. 18. P. takes P. (P. to
P. takes B.
K.5. would not be good play.) jj t^^.^ jjt. ^ ^»' Castles Q.B.
P. to K.B.5. _j^ P. takes Kt. ^, Q. takes P.
CaatlesQ.R.
or if 19.
20.
21.
ith a
P. taJces P. "" B. to K.4.
,'ood game.
(K) A desperate course, but there seemed no possibility of ex-
tricating the Knight from its helpless position.
(*) White conducts his game with good judgment.
(') Black could not gain anything by playing his Queen away from
his King's side.
b'ER 3, 1882.]
* KNOWLEDGE
309
" Sj-nopsis of the Chesa Openings. " By William Cook. Third
Edition. (Ixindon : W. W. Morgan, 23, Great Qneen-street.)
The author of this treatise, who is himself a strong chess player,
presents in this book the best forms of play according to latest
practice, i;i\-inR us the benefit of games played as late as 1880.
We ninst give Mr. Cook groat credit for his laborious collection of
the be.st openings. What makes this book specially T,aluable is
its practical tabular form. Every Chess player can at a glance
see the lino of play or variation he wishes to consult.
We extract the following as specimens of style -. —
Cook's Synopsis of the Openings.
Table LXXVI.— AUgaier Gambit.
P. to K.4.
P. to K.4.
P. to K.R.4.
P. to Kt.5.
P. to Q.-t-C)
P. to Q.4.
B. takes P.
P. takes {'.{'■)
B.jto B.4.(oh.)
K. to Kt.L'.
Castles (')
Kt. toK.B..).
Q. to Q.2.
P. takes P.
Kt. to Kt.5.
Q. takes P.(ch.)
Q. takes Q.
KT takes Q.
B. to K.5.
Kt. to K.B.3.
P. toXKtr4.
Kt. takes P.
K. takes Kt.
B. to K.5.(ch.)
"^ Kt. to K.B.3.
Q. to Q.2.
Kt. to B.3.
Q. to B.4.(<)
13. to Q.3.
Kt. to B.3.
Q. to K.2.
Kt. to Q.5.
10.
17.
Kt. takes B.
Q. takes Kt.
R. to Rsq.
Kt. to K.3.
Q. to Q.3. +
(') Mr. Thorold's attack.
(-) If 8. B. to Kt.2. 0. Kt.toB.3. 9.
B.I.(ch.) 10. K. toKt.3. 11. Kt. toQ.5.
(') If 10. Kt. toB.3. 10. Kt. to K.B.3.
toQ.3. + .
(') Mr. Preeborongh's variation.
(') Mr. Potter's defence.
(') If 13. B. to K.3. 13. Kt. toQ.R.4 +
P. takes P. 10. B. to
11. Q. toQ.2. 11. B.
Ending of an actual game played by Mcphisto, illustrating the
danirers to be shunned by weaker players.
1' k'
t t 1
1^ -at
t t 1
:: 1 V
■•J
•
-
In t'jis position ■\VTiitopla.rcii.
H. takes P.
Q. takes B.P.(ch.)
R. to K.S.(ch.)
B. toQ.5.(ch.)
B. takes R. mate.
0- takes R.
R. takes Q.
R. to B.sq.
K. to R.sq.
Another specimen of the Chess skill of tho late Mr. S. S. Boden
fieleet Reprint. — Bird's '• llasU'rpiecos," 66 (originally in Honvitz
and Kling'a "Chess Player" ; atid played saon after 1851.) — From
the Chess Players' Chrnnicle.
[PUILIDOK'S
DEFENCE.]
WUITE.
Black.
Mr. Sohnlder.
Mr. S. S. Bodon.
1. P. to K.4.
1.
P. to K.4.
2. Kt. to K.B.3.
3_
P. to Q.3. (•)
3. P. to B.3.
3.
P. toK.U.4.
4. B. to B.4. C").
4.
Kt. to K.B.3.
5. P. to Q.4.
5.
P. takes K.P.
6. P. takes K.P.
6.
P. takes Kt.
7. P. takes Kt.
7.
Q. takes I'.
8. P. takes P. (')
8.
Kt. to B.3.
9. P. to B.4.
0.
B. to Q.2.
10. B. to. K.3.
10.
Castles.
11. Kt. toQ.2.
11.
R. to K.sq.
12. Q. to B.3.
12.
B. to B.4. C)
13. Castles Q.R.
13.
P. to Q.4. {-)
14. B. takes P.
14.
Q. takes P.(ch.)
15. P. takes Q.
15.
B. to R.6. mate.
Koten.
C) Mr. Boden was p.irtial to this defence. It was a characteristic
of his style that he did not mind a close position to begin with ; he
was not easily to be hemmed in.
('') White's opening, thoagh unscientific, is not without inge-
nuity. Ho intends of course, in answer to P. takes P., to sacrifice
the Kt.
(') He should have taken with Queen, and played as best he
could for a draw.
('') Not only preventing the advance of the Kt., but also. doubt-
less shrewdly divining that his opponent intends to Castle on Q.
side, and preparing a " concatenation accordingly,"
(■■) Winning a piece at least, if Wliite has by this time discovered
the danger to his King. This game has been selected as a specimen
of Mr. Boden's felicity of combination in his lighter encounters.
*,* The notes are by the Rev. W. Wavte.
A. J. Martin and J. P. — You are right; 1. K. to K.3. is the key
move to Problem 5. We answered from recollection only of the
problem, which was sent to us by Mephisto (with, of course, the
correct solution). On turning to the position, wo sec that if Black
checks with Bishop, R. covers, disclosing check ; and after King has
moved B mates, not R, as you suggest. In future, please address
Chess Editor. Wo have not had a moment to open a chess board
during the last three weeks, nor .spare brain energy to go through
games, or study positions without the boaixl. — En.
E. H. J. — All your solutions right. — En.
DUN.STABLE. — Correct. — Eu.
W. GoDDEN. — No. 12 (wrongly called 11) is correctly given. — En.
A. Macdoxnell. — All incorrect. — En.
©ur WB]n&t Column.
Bv "Five of Clubs."
IT may now be convenient to sum up the various leads, in such a
form that they can be readily studied at a glance and easily
remembered. We would invite those who have tried to retain in their
recollection the multitudinous leads given in the books heretofore pub-
lished, to note how simple the whi.st leadsare when viewed as we have
presented them. We venture to say — indeed, we knoic, haviu"
tested the matter— that a more perfect knowledge of the leads at
whist can bo gained in a week by considering when to lead Ace,
King, Queen, and so forth, than in two months at least by the usual
method of considering what card to lend from each of the nume-
rous combinations which tho cards may present. Moreover it is
found in practice that a learner who has followed our method at
once picks up the habit of interpreting the loads of others,
whereas one who followed the other method is often a long time in
passing from a knowledge of what ho should lead to the ready
recognition (instant recognition, it should be, after a little practice)
of the meaning of any given lead.
Synopsis ok the Leaps in Plain Suits.
Lead Ace, from Ace, with four or more others, not including King;
from Ace, Queen, Knave, with nur without others ; from Ace, two
others (not includint.' KineV if von have re.ison to believe that yonr
310
KNO\A/'LEDGE
[FEa 3, 1882.
iinrtncr linn slrcnfftli in tlio miit ; nnil from Aco one other, whotovor
thia other may l>o. The la»t two cnses ore, of course, forced Icadii.
After lendiiiK Ace, from Aco four or more, follow • with lowest,
(unless yon lulopt Ornvson's jilnn of i>lttyinK lowest but one if there
are more limn four others). After Iciulinft Ace from Ace, Qneon,
Knnvo, follow with Queen if you Imve not ni.ire than one sninll one
of the suit, otherwise follow with Knnve. When you lend Ace
from Aco two others (forced lend) foll.pw with highest. Lend Aco
from Ace, Kinp, nnd others, when you Imvo trumped another suit,
lest your partner should trump your Kinif, to establish a cross ruff.
Lead King, from Ace, King, nnd others ; from Kinfr, Queen,
and others (umIcsh these others, bcinR more than two, include the
Knave) ; from King two others (forced lend), if yon have reason
to believe that your partner has strength in the suit ; and from
King one other (forced lend), whatever that other may be.
After leading King from Aco, King, and others, follow with Ace,
unless yon hold Knave, in which case you may sometimes — if the
.state of the score seems to render it advisable— change suit, that you
may bo led up to .ind finesse the Knave. After leading King from
King, Queen, and others, if King m.ikcs. follow with small one,
unless vou hold Knavo alRO, when follow with Queen (not with
small one, because Ace mnv have been held up). When yon lead
King from King two others '(forced lead) follow with highest.
Lead Qncen from Queen, Knave, Ten, with or without others ;
from Queen, Knave, and one small one (forced lead) ; from Queen
two others, not including Knave (forced lead), if you have reason
to believe that your partner has strength in the suit ; and from
Queen one another (forced lead) whatever that other may be.
After leading Qiiecnfrom Queen, Knave, Ten, follow -with Knave,
unless you have five or more, when follow with lowest of the
Queen, Knave, Ten sequence. After forced lead from Queen two
others, if Queen makes, follow with highest.
Lead Knavo from King, Queen, Knave, and not less than two
otherst (not including ten) ; from Knave, ten, nine, with or without
others; from Knave .ind two others (forced lead), and from Knave
one other (forced lead).
After leading Knave from King, Queen, Knave, &c., follow with
King if yon have two small ones, with Queen if you have more.
After leading Knave from Knave, ten, nine, lead ten if there is only
one card below the nine, the nine if there are more. After leading
Knave from Knave two others, wfeatever they may be, follow with
highest.
Lead Ten from King, Queen, Knave, ten, with or without others ;
from King, Knave, ten, with or without others ; from ten two
others, or ten one other (forced leads). After leading ten from
King, Queen, Knave, ten, follow with King if you have no small
cards, other\viso with Knave. -Vfter ten from King, Knave ten,
play a small one. After forced lead of ten, play your highest.
Lead nine from King, Knave, ten, nine ; and in case of forced
lead, from nine two others.
Lead a small card from all suits not considered in the above
synopsis. Lead the lowest from four cards, [the lowest but one
from five or more (the lowest but two from six or more, if you care
to adopt Drayson's rule) ; the highest from three or two small
cards.
Note that it can scarcely ever happen that playing the lowest
but one or two for the purpose of indicating length, can be mis-
taken by your partner for a forced lead from two or three small
cards, or rice verad.
We have already considered concisely, yet fully, the distinction
between trump leads and leads from plain suits (see No. 12).
Observe that, short as the above synopsis seems, considering the
multiplicity of Whist leads as usually presented, it would be very
much shorter if it dealt only with original leads. For these one
may say that all the beginner need learn is summed up in the
following : —
Lead Ace from .A.ce and four others, following with small one ;
and from Ace, Queen, Knave, with or without others, following with
Queen, if you have not more than one small one, otherwise with
Knave. Lead King from .\ce. King and others following with Ace ;
and from King, Queen and others, following with small one. Lead
Queen from Queen, Knave, ten, following with Kn.ive, unlcss_ you
have five or more, when play lowest of head sequence. Lead Knavo
from King, Queen, Knave, and two or more, from Knave, ten, nine,
with or without small ones. Lead ten from King, Queen, Knave,
• When we thus speak of second round, wo do not wish the
reader to forget that the first round may show it to be unadvisablc
to continue the suit ; it may seem better to leave your own suit
and lead your partner's, or to lead trumps, &c.
+ In our last we inadvertently >vrote " with or without other.'',"
instead of " not less than two others."
ten, nnd from King, Knavo, ten, with or without others, l/vfkd nine
from King, Knave, ten, nine. In other ca«es lead s low one, the
lowest if you have only four card*, the lowest but ono if you have
more.
Let the learner combine with this the general mle, that if he i*
obliged to lead from a weak suit, he always plays the best card of
it, unless he has either Ace, Kiag, or Queen, with two small ones.
He now knows nearly all that he need know about leading from
plain suits. .\ll that he need at first notice about leading from
trumps, is, that ho can more safely play a waiting game in that
suit, as his good cards in it cannot be lost by trumping ; olso that
he must consider ihe trump card. The ploy in trumps is also apt
to be modified by considerations depending on the state of the score,
the position of the cards in other hands, and so forth.
WmsT PaonLEM. — For the study of advanced Whist players we
give the following from the "Westminster Papers " : —
Z tarns up Spade 7. A leads.
/■ Spadeg. — Ten, nine, six, five.
B's hand. ] Hearts.-Ace Queen, four, two.
) Diamonds. — Queen, sii.
(. Clubs. — Ace, ten, eight.
irst four rounds :-
-
A
T
B
'/.
CG
CKn
C Ace
C3
HO
H 5
H2
H 10
D 8
D Kn
DQ
D4
SKn
.S A
S 5
S7
After these four tricks, B can place every card left in the players'
hands, if they all play according to the rules usoally followed.
Show how he can do this.
NOTICES.
The Publishers beg to flnnoonce that in future MoDthlv Parts of K90Wi>El>6B
will be issued. The following can now be had :—
Pabt I.— (November, 1881.) Containing the first four numbers. Price lOd. Poet-,
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The Back Namhers of KsowxEnoB, with the eiception of No. 2 (Xov. 11, 1881),
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Subscribers wishing to complete their sets are advised to make early applicstiOB
to the Publiehers, as no further reprints will be ordered.
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Contents o/* Knowledge Xo. 13.
PI OS
Hyacinth Bulbs. By Grant Allen 2til
Brain Troubles : Partial Loss of
Speech 262
Dr. .T. W. Draper. By the Editor.
(Wiih a Portrait.) 263
The ftreat Prramid. By the Editor
{muftrated) 265
The True Story of the Moon 263
Babylonian Discoveries. BvaMom-
of the Society of " Biblical
'49
Artificial Indigo .
Science and Religion Wk
C0BBESPO]n)B7('CB : —Chinese Calcu-
lation—Mind [Doctors— Sea Ser-
pent or Seaweed ?— Marine Boilers
— Intelligence in Animals — Elec-
trical Images — Mortality from
Cancer— Arranged Squares, Ac.272-S78
Qu ■
Repliei
Archirology 268 Answers to Correspondents . _
Inteliigonce "of the House Martin. ' Notes on Art and Science 181
Bv Henry J. Slack 269 Our Mathematical Column .
Intelligence in Animals 269 Our Chess Column
Ghosts. By Andrew Wilson 269 Our Whist Column
Poyn's EiTHACT is'a certain cure for Rheumatism and Ooat.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Utemorrhoids.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Burns and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the gestiijie.
Feb. 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
311
AN ILLliSIRATED ^^ i^
MAGAZINEoFSqENCE ^
1- plainltWoriied-Exact&described^
LONDON: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1882.
CoSTF.N'TS OF No. l-"
I>AOK
The r.ve imd the ^licro'soope. Hv
Henrv J.Slack, F.O.S.. K.R.M.S. 311
About Fallacies. By the Kdilor ... 3U
Niehta with a Three-Ineh Tele^oop.?.
Br " A Fellow of the H.jral A«!ro-
nonilcal Societv." {Jlliulr,iled\ . 312
The Electric telegraph. By W.
Lynii 313
The Croat PiTamid. By the Editor
(llUstrale'd) 313
The Crystal Palaee Electrical Ethi-
bilion. First Xoticc 319
Natural Rubbish Heaps. By .lames
Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S 31S
Dr. Carpenter 0» Vaccination ..... .. 319
The Moon's Birth by Tidal Evolu-
tion 310
The Menacing Com-t 320
CoRBBSPOlfDRTfCB ; — Our Letters,
Queries. !ind Replies— Flesh Food
— The Mi>i>n and the Weather —
Intra-Mereurial Planet, &c. ...321-32,3
Queries 323
Replies to Queries 321
.\n3wer8 to Correspondenta 3i.T
Letters R.-oeived 327
Notes on Art and Science 327
Our Mathematical Column 32S
Our Whist Column 321
Our Chess Column 330
THE EYE AND THE MICROSCOPE.
By HENRr J. Sl.\ck, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
THERE is a notion prevalent that using the microscope
injures the eyesiglit, but this is really not the case ;
it is only the abuse of the instrument that has such an
effect. It does not hurt the eye to look at anything which
is plain and easy to see, and neither in too strong nor too
feeble a light. The art, then, of u.sing the microscope con-
sists in exhibiting small objects so that tliej- shall be seen
as larger ones are witliout any instrumental aid. To do
this the microscope must bo a good one, and a few simple
rules followed until practical skill is gained. Whether the
microscope is a binocular or not, both eyes must lie kept
open. This is of absolute necessity if the sight is not to
be damaged. Many persons find it difficult to look down a
tube with one eye without shutting the other. A remedy
for this, and one useful in other respects with a mono-
cular instrument, is to cover a piece of cardboard nine
inches long and five wide, with black cotton velvet,
cut a hole in the middle, and insert the eye - piece
through it into the tube of the microscope. With this
screen in front, everybody finds it easy to keep both
eyes open, and look at the object with either one, if they
arc both .alike, or with the best if they diflTor. Persons
whose eyes agree in focus, and othci-wise correspond, derive
the greatest benefit from binocular instruments, but the
use of one eye does not fatigue it if the object is properly
focussed and suitaljly illuminated. A common fault with
beginners is to use too high power, with which it is im-
imssiblo to see the object tliey want. For many most
interesting sights of live objects a four-inch objective is
extremely useful, and the highest power a beginner is
likely to employ with advantage is a one-inch, with a
couple of eye-pieces, the highest giving a linear magnifica-
tion of ."lO or 60, with the English length of tube. Tlie
proper use of this power should be mastered before more
magnification is attempted.
It requires considerable practice to pay attention only to
one part of an object that may be shown plainly, and take
no notice of other parts that from any reason are not clear.
With low powers, an object need not be (juite flat for the
whole to be fairly in focus at the same time ; with higher
powers, great flatness is indispensalile,"and an extremely
slight irregularity only porinits one portion at a time to be
clearl)' seen. This state of things is very uncomfortable to
a beginner, and the eye is sure to suflor from it. The size
of an object that can be viewed as a whole with any power
depends upon several conditions, which need not now be
discussed, l)ut the higher the magnification the loss it is,
and with an enlargement exceeding 200 linear it becomes
exceedingly minute.
As soon as the student has attained to some dexterity in
the use of the in.strument, he should acquire the habit of
paying exclusive attention to what he can see plaiidy, and
take no notice whatever of things out of focus, or from any
other cause not even focally visible. With some excep-
tions, it is most .agreeable to the eye that an object should
not occupy the whole field, but have a fair margin round
it, which should not be over-flooded with light. Eyes differ
very much in sensitiveness to light, and when, as in no-
ticing the actions of live objects, prolonged .attention is re-
quired, the intensity of the illumination .should be nicely
regulated to suit the individual case. Light passing through
a piece of foreign post-paper, saturated with spermaceti, is
often the most pleasant.
By attention to such directions as have been mentioned,
there need be no fear of devoting a considerable time every
day to microscopic investigation, and many obser\'ers could
be mentioned who have done this for years without any
detriment to their visual powers. On the other hand, those
who torment their eyes in attempts to see the most difficult
diatom markings, or the closest of Nobert's ruled lines, suffer
from their folly, without any compensation in the shape of
useful knowledge.
ABOUT FALLACIES.
By the Editor.
SEVERAL correspondents write about the question of
luck as wc considered it in No. 11, .some asking
whether the evidence does not show that some men really
are exceptionally lucky (so that their luck in matters of
pure cliance may be relied on); others asking whether, if a
coin had been tossed a great number of times with the
same result (head or tail) in one sot of trials, it would not
be more likely to show the other side (tail or head) oftener
in the next set of trials ; while yet others consider that the
ideas of men of science about fallacies generally are
erroneous — that, in fact, the so-called fallacies are real
truths.
Taking the last first, I may note that the rule of science
in all those eases in which specific results arc popularly
supposed to followfrom specified actions, or the like, is simply
to inquire whether there can possibly be any relation of cause
and effect in such cases. When a housemaid says, for instance,
that putting the poker acro.ss a fire makes the tire burn up,
the student of physical laws is able at once to see that the
supposed influence is antecedently most improbable. Here
in a grate are certain more or less combustible materials,
and certain qu.antities of m.atter already burning; com-
bustion is going on, though indiff'creiitly ; the air is
nourishing this slowly burning fire, but inetllciently ; on
the whole, it seems likely that the fire will go out. In
what w.ay shall I do any good if I stick a rod of iron from
the fender across the top bar? I thus add a certain
qu.antity of cold metal to the space across which the air
has to come to the fire. Do I increase the draught 1 On
ni2
KNOWLEDGE
[Fkii. 10, 1882.
the contmr)', so far as I produce any effect at all on tlic
drauj^lit, I must diminish it. For the draught dopoiids in
till' iiiuii\ (111 till- diminished density of the warmed air in tiie
nei;.;lilioiirho(id of tlie lire, and the cohl metal must t^i some
dr';;;ree iiicira.se the density of this air by cooling it. The
eflect may l>o very slight, but, sucli a.s it is, it in unfavour-
alijf. Hut liere is a correspondent who t<'lls me that
whether theoretically the poker should make the fire burn
up or not, as a matter of fact it dues. Kepeiit<-dly he ha.s
tried the experiment, and after exhausting in vain every
art he possessed to make the lii-e burn up, he found tlie
poker put across the top bar, immediately, or almost
immediately, produce the desired result. Science is bound
til listen to evidence of this kind, for science deals with
phenomena, and even when jihenomena seem to point to
something which appears utterly incredible, science has to
iiKjuire into tlie matter. Well, in this ca.se, what are the
facts 1 Someone tells us that he lias repeatedly tried in
y.iin to make a fire burn up, but when he put the poker
across it, the fire presently became clear and bright.
Multitudes of contrary cases might no doubt be cited, but
let us suppose that none could. Are we therefore to infer
that in these cases the poker drew the fire up t A new-
law of nature would be indicated, if this were so ; and a
new law of nature is worth learning. But when due
inquiry is made, it appears that there is no such law — as,
unfortunately, we might have expected. Our correspon-
dent, who found that when he jmt the poker across the tire
it drew up, is unquestionably but an unskilful fireman. He
puts on coals, and jiokes and stirs the fire, unconscious of
the fact that this is just the way to put a fire out. When
the fire is all Viut hopelessly reduced by liis unskilful
mcjisures, he puts the poker across the top bar. According
to old-fashioned superstitions, he makes the sign of the
cross across the fire-place, and the fire, in wliich until now
there seemed to have been some evil spirit (that is what
people mean when they say " the devil's in the fire "),
is purified from the unclean presence and begins to burn
up. That would have been the old-fashioned interpretation
of the change; unfortunately, science takes another view of
the matter. It sees reason to believe that the change took
jjlace simply because the disturbance to which the fire had
before been exposed was bad for it. Putting the poker
across the top bar meant letting the fire alone, and giving
it a chance to burn up.
Singularly enough, I had occasion, when the last
S"ntence was just finished, to leave my study. When I
came back, an hour later, I found that my tire, which in
the meantime must very nearly have gone out, had been
recoaled — and the houstiinaid, or whoever had attended to
it, had, after the fashion of her tribe, put the poker across
the top bar. The fire was not burning very brightly — on
the contrary, it sciemed inclined to go out. Yet, rashly
daring, I put the poker down — from scientific principles I
(ibject to seeing bright metal smoked and dulled — and went
on with my work, intending, if the fire went out, to call
Mimcone in to light it again. However, it so chanced that
lifter the poker was put down, the fire began to burn
jiretty brightly, and as I write there is every promise of a
good fire. Am I to infer that taking the poker from across
the top bar made thi^ fire burn up? Of course, the real fact
was, that when the tire .seemed dull it was really making
steady progress, and whether [ had taken down the poker,
or supplemented its salutary action by putting another
poker across tin- top bar, would have made not one particle
of difference.
That our domestic servants should consider the poker
aii-oss tlie top bar a specific for making a dull fire burn up
is vi-ry natural. Their manner of treating fires is un-
scientific ill the extreme. A Cambridge Fellow, wlio ki.- .^
very little about the fair sex, except what he might gather
from the ways of "bed-makers" and his recollections,
perhaps, of doiuestic servants at home, used to define woman
as " an inferior animal, not understanding logic, and poking
a fire from the top." Most servants do this. They also
have two utterly erroneous ideas about making up a low
fire — first, that tlie more fuel is jiut on the better;
secondly, that after putting coal on it is desirable to stir
the fire. As a matter of fact, when a tire is low, the
addition of fuel will often put it out altogether, and the
addition of much fuel is almost certain to do so ; and in
(;verj- case the time to stir the fire (when low) is before
coals are put on, not after. Generally it is well, when a
fire is low, to stir it deftlj', so as to bring together the well-
burning ]iart.s, and then to wait a little, till they begin to
glow more brightly ; then a few coals may be put on, and
after awhile the fire may again be stirred and some more
coals put on it. When a low- tire has been unwisely treated by
being coaled too freely, and the fresh fuel uselessly stirred,
it is generally the case that the only chance for the fire is
leaving it alone. Susan does this when she puts the poker
across the top bar, and unconsciously she retains the old
superstition that by thus making the sign of the cross over
the fire, she sends away the e\il beings, sprites, or whatever
they may have been, which were extinguishing it
That letting the sun shine on a tire puts it out is not,
like the other (in its real origin, at any rate), a superstition,
but simply an illusion. A correspondent writes that it is
believed in by nine persons out of ten'^ but in this it is
like all other wrong beliefs. Scientitic methods of inquiry
and reasoning arc followed by fewer than ten in a hundred ;
and although nowadays the views of science are accepted
more widely than in olden times, this is simply because
science has shown its power by material conquests.
I do not think that my friend Professor Tomlinson's
experiments on the burning of candles in sunlight and in
the dark would be regarded by all as decisively showing
that sunlight does not interfere with combustion, though,
rightly apprehended, they go near to prove this. But d
priori considerations show conclusively that though by
warming the air around a fire the sun's rays may, in some
slight degree (after a considerable time), affect the progress
of combustion, they cannot possibly put the tire out in the
sense in which they are commonly supposed to do so ; in
fact, a fire would probably burn somewhat longer in a room
well warmed by a summer sun than in a room from which
the solar rays were excluded. (The difTerence would V>e
very slight.)
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-I^'CH
TELESCOPE.
By "A Fellow of tuu Royal AsTiiosoMnj.\L Society."
r|"^0-NIUnT we will avail ourselves of the /Zodiacal Map,
.1 oil p. 22.'">, and examine some of the objects it con-
tains ^vhich have not yet been described in these papers.
Before commencing our stellar work, though, wc will have
a look at ISIars, now travelling quickly away from us. He
is apparently becoming rapidly smaller, as lie is receding
from the earth, and a good deal of the detail which would
have been visible in the instrument we are employing at the
end of last December, has now become imperceptible.
With a power of ISO or upwai-ds, though, the planet at
iiioiiients of the best definition will be seen as in Fig. 17.
What is technically called the gibbous appearance of
Mars will at once strike the observer's eye. In other
Ft£. 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
313
words, the outline of the planet will be seen to differ
soiisibly from that of a circle, a portion of such outlme or
" limb " being seemingly cut oft' by a curved line on the
side opposite the Sun. This gives a somewhat hump-
backed effect. (Lat (.ibbiis, humped.) Hence the
o
Fig. 17.— Mais
While in this region of the heavens, we may notice one
01 two objects in Taurus, which we omitted on p. 221, in
the absence of means for tlieir identification. They will
be found in the Zodiacal Map, which we are now em-
ploying. The first is Piazzi ^^, 20 Tauri, which will be
noticed in the second square to the left of, and a little
higher than Aldebaran ; it is marked 20". This will
prove a very severe test of the excellence of the observer's
in.strument, and will require a fine night and the highest
power at his disposal to be made out properly. 118 Tauri,
again, is a beautiful small pair ; it lies on the parallel of
declination below /J on the map. In noticing the nebula
to the N.W. of ; Tauri, we omitted to add that 4 itself
is situated in a rather pretty and curious field.
Above Taurus lies the constellation Auriga, to the
examination of which we proceed to devote ourselves. We
will begin with 14, marked T (for triple) in the map ; but wc
shall only be able to see it as a double star, the components
being of a yellowish tint, and about half as far again apart
as those of y Arietis. A very pretty pair will be found in
hi Aurigiv. This does not appear by name on the map,
but is so close to the star at the top marked 4° as to in-
cline us to believe that they are intended for the same
object. It is represented in Fig. 18.
6 Aurig;e, a."* a close and very unequal pair, will ta.x both
the instrument and the eyesight of the observer to the
Uttermost to see it properly. When best seen it will ap-
pear as in Fig. 19.
10.— 9 Auriga?.
5. Aurigie (to the north of w, or 4, just out of the map,
on p. 225), is another star in which the diversity of size of
the components and their proximity render its observation
'• . idedly difficult. The student will see both these objects
tter with a high power than with a lower one. 20 (N.E.
; /) Tauri in the map) is a pretty star, from the con-
■- .isted colours of its components, and is vei-y easy from
their distance. The coniparison is almost horizontally to
the left of the larger star, il c 72 is an equally easy pair.
It will be found just to the left of the solstitial colure
in the map. 225 P. v. Aurigie, to the N.E. of 26,
must be found by fishing, as it is invisible to the
naked eye. When in the field of the telescope, liowever,
it will be found to be a close and extremely pretty littli'
pair.
W^e may conclude to-night's work by a glance at two or
three of the most striking clusters of stars in the constel-
lation under review. And first, M. 38 (north of (p Auriga-)
forms a beautiful field, the main cluster assuming a cruci-
form aspect. The telescope may be moved about- in this
neighbourhood, which is a rich one. M. 3G (nearly due E.
of (/i) is also very line. M. 37 (N. of the double star 225,
previously described) is a glorious f^eld, even with such an
instrument as that which we are employing. In regarding
a nebula or cluster, no light should be suffered to enter
the eye for some little time befoie it is applied to the
telescope : and the observer should gaze steadily at such an
object until the eye becomes accustomed to it, after which
hitherto imperceptible detail will flash up. Another rich
field will be found in I^I VII. 33 (marked 33' at the very
top of the map).
Next week we will devote to Geuiini and the constella-
tions south of it.
Erratum. — Page 221, col. 2, line 22, t, Tauri should be
( Tauri.
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
By W. Lyn-d.
The Battery.
BEFORE describuig the instruments used by the
Government and the Telegraph Companies for the
transmission of news and private telegrams, a brief account
of the generators of the electric current is necessary.
The simplest form of apparatus for producing electricity
by chemical action is called the Voltaic cell, named in
honour of the inventor, Professor Volta, a celebrated Italian
philosopher. The cell is easily made, and the cost of the
materials is trifling. Two strips of metal— one zinc and
the other copper— a glass cup, nearly filled with water, to
which a little dilute sulphuric acid is added, two Viits of
copper-wire, and the apparatus is complete. The wii-es
must be soldered to the metallic plates. When the metals
are immersed in the liquid and the extremities of the wires
placed in contact, chemical action begins. 'J'hc currents of
electricity are produced at the expense of the zinc and the
acid. The zinc is consumed and the water is decomposed.
The zinc has a very strong aftinity for oxygen. The
clicmical action going on in the cell when the metals are
in contact is rendered visible to a certain degree. The
liberated hydrogen may be seen collecting in bubbles on
the copper plate. The zinc is acted upon by the acid. The
oxygen, liberated upon the decomposition of the water,
combines with the zinc, forming an oxide of zinc. The
copper is not acted upon.
" The materials of an ordinary voltaic cell," Professor
Thompson says, " may be regarded as the fuels of electric
currents, just as coke and coal are the fuels of steam-
power. Like those fuels, they represent a store of energy.''
In the voltaic cell, the flow of electricity continues so long
as the wires are joined and the direction of the current is
from the zinc plate through the acidulated water to the
copper, and from tlie copper through the wire back to the
zinc. A single cell such as I have here described would
au
KNOWLEDGE •
[Kkh. 10, 1882.
1>0 of little or no use for telegraphic purposPB, b>it a series
of cells would prcMlure a current sudioiently Ktroiif; for the
working of a iipcdle or Morse instrunicnt, 'I'lic first
liattory tlint cixnie under my notice was constructtKl as
follows : —In n putta-perclia trough about 2A ft. long,
divided into compartments, were placed altcrnote j)lates of
7.inc and copper. Tlie cells were lillcd with fine sand, over
which dilute sul|>liiiric a<id was poured. This form was
known as the Oruikshaiik or sand liattery ; it is now
entirely superseded, for it was not constant, and required
"refreshing" frequently, or the signals became so weak
that it was a very dillicult matter to read olT a message on
the donlile or .single needle instruments. The form of
liattery now adopted is called the two fluid li.attery,
and consists of a wooden trough, lined inside with a
resinous composition, wliich prevents the action of
the acid upon the wood. The trough is divided into
ten or twelve wat<r tight compartments insulated from
each other. In these cells stand porous earthenware pots,
containing a solution of sulphate of copper (blue-stone),
and surrounded by a semi-saturated solution of sulphate of
zinc. Plates of zinc and copper arc connected together by
a band of coj'iper, rivetted to each, and bent to allow the
copper plate to be in one division and the zinc in tlie next.
The coppers are immersed in the blue-stone solution with
which the porous cells are charged, the zincs in the sul-
phate of zinc. The last copper plate is called the positive
jiole of the battery, and the terminal zinc the negative
pole. AVhen this battery is in action, the copper of the
.solution is precipitated on the copper plate. If all the
solution were consumed, hydrogen would be deposited on
the copper, and the current would lose its constancy. To
maintain the solution in a saturated condition, and to pre-
vent the aoeumulation of gas bubbles, crystals of sulphate
of copper nre placed in the porous cells. The zinc plate is
consumed and the copper increased by the precipitation of
the metal held in solution. The sulphuric acid produced
by the decomposition of the sulphate permeates the porous
cylinder, and tends to replace the acid used up by its
action on the zinc. The quantity of sulphuric acid de-
composed in the solution of copper is regular ; the action
of the acid on the zinc is regular also, and thus a con-
stant flow of electricity is produced. Professor Thompson
represents the chemical action as taking place in two stages
Z„ + ITjROj = ZnSOj + B.
and
Snlptii
rr..,lur
Sulphalo
iind Hydrogen.
Zinc
and then —
H2 + CuSO, = njSO, -I- c„
Hydrogen and ^-'^^^^^ produce Sulj^umc .„^ Copper.
It will be seen that the zinc plate is destroyed and con-
verted into a sulphate, and the copper plate actually gains
by the action of the voltaic circuit. In the old sand
battery, the current was enfeebled by the accumulation of
hydrogen at the copper plate, and the zinc was con.sunied.
In the battery I have ju.st described, which is a modifica-
tion of the cell contrived by tlie late Professor Danicll, the
hydrogen bubbles are avoided and the current is constant,
but the consumption of zinc goes on just the same. Now,
the student will be able to comprehend one of the greatest
discoveries of modern times — that the voltaic cell is
reversible. " To every action there is an equal and con-
trary reaction." The application of Newton's words is not
limited to mechanical reaction — it reaches down into other
departments of science. In the science of electrieity and
magnetism, the same fundamental principle holds good.
Dr. Sylvanus Thompson, to whom we are indebted for
the very best definition of the action of the voltaic battery,
says : — "To sep.arate an atom of zinc from one of oxygen I
requires energy to be expended. When thus separated,
they have the chance of doing work in rr.-iniiliiii/, this work
generally appearing in the form of heat. When a piece
of coal is bunied — that is to say, is permitted to unite
chemically with oxygen its store of energy runs down and
manifests itself in the evolution of heat A piece of coal
represents a store of energy ; so does a bag of hydrogen
gas ; so does a jiiece of zinc, for zinc can bum directly and
give out heat, or may burn indirectly by being dis.solved in
sulphuric acid, also giving out heat A Daniell's battery
represents a .store of energj'. A pinch of gunpowder also
represents a store of energy. The amount difTers, it is
true, and the rate at which some of these stores can lie
mwle available for use also difTers widely in the different
cases. An ounce of coal represents an amount of energy
which, if entirely expended in doing work, would raise
fiO.*), 000 pounds one foot high again.st the force of gravity,
or would do 09.5,000 foot-pounds of work. In an ounce
of gunpowder is stored about 10,000 foot-pounds of energy.
An ounce of zinc represents a store of only 1 1 ."JjOOO foot-
pounds. An ounce of copper represents a store of about
09,000 foot pounds only. An ounce of hydrogen gas will
yield, by combining with oxygen, 2,92.5,000 foot-pounds of
work. Joule first showed us how to make use of facts
like these in calculating by its mechanical value the electric
power of voltaic cells. I^et us apply these considerations
to the storage of energy in any ordinary voltaic cell — say,
for example, the Daniell's cell used in telegraphy. In this
cell we have certain liquids containing zinc and copper
chemically dissolved in sulphuric acid, and into these
liquids dip a plate of zinc and a plate of copper. The
zinc plate slowly dissolves away, and, at the same time,
metallic copper is gradually separated out of the solution,
there being about 1 1-20 oz. of zinc consumed for every
ounce of copper deposited. Now, to separate an ounce of
copper from its solution in sulphuric acid, requires 69,000
foot-pounds of energy to be spent upon it, and as
1 1-20 oz. of zinc represents a storage of 118,650 foot-
pounds, the consumption of this weight of zinc is enough
to provide the 69,000 foot-pounds needed to separate the
copper and to leave a surplus of 49,0.50 foot-pounds. It
is this surplus which goe's to maintain electric currents in
the circuit and do electric work. But, as we have re-
marked, the voltaic cell is reversible. If we could take
such a cell and by means of some superior electro-
motive force drive electric currents back through the cell,
the whole action will be reversed. Copper will be dis-
solved, and zinc will be deposited. The copper in dissolving
will help the process by giving part of the necessary
energy, and our currents will thus once more give us back
pure zinc, and so separating out the zinc, we do work and
actually store energj'." To sum up, a telegraphic battery
is a box divided into compartments containing plates of
zinc and copper alternately arranged, and immersed in
solutions of sulphate of copper and sulphate of zinc. The
wires at the terminal plates are calli-d electrodes. When
the wires are joined together, the battery is said to be " in
circuit" IIow the electric current is transmitted to dis-'
tant places, and the instruments employed for the recording
of signals will be explained in a subsequent article.
Piiiv.sF.nviNr, Fruit fou the Wixtfu.— Dry annd of all siibstanco.i
i.s foun(1, from llio eiporimcnt of P. Samncr, to be tlie best in which
to preserve fniit fur the winter. The perms of mould attnck the
roDf^h port inn of fniit pneked in paper, with j^rent avidity, thronph the
openincfB in the «ilk (lapor. If packed in straw, the least damp-
ness of the straw imparts a musty flavour to tlio fruit. Sand has
another advantajro, wliich is that the damacfed spocimons do not
infeot their ncifjlibours. Choose the most perfect fniit with the
waxy coveriuff perfect. Leaving the stalks on makes the fmiti
shrivel up quickly. — F.C.S.
I'uu. 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE *
315
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By the Editor.
BEFORE considering the characteristics of the Great
(Jallcry in detail, L must note one peculiarity which
seems to me verj' significant.
Regarded as a sort of architectural transit instrument,
the (Ireat Gallery would, of course, have to ho carried up
to a certain height, and there open out on the level to
which the Pyramid had then attained, the sides and top
lieing carried up until the southernmost end of the Gallery
was completed with a vertical section like that shown in
Fig.52 (further on). This would be the " object end " of the
tion of the object in right ascension, he learns the time.
But wliether the observer is doing one or the other of
these things, he must have a time-indicator of some sort.
Our modern astronomer has his clock, beating seconds with
emphatic thuds, and lie notes the particular thuds at or
near whicli the star crosses the so-called wires in the field
of view (really magnilied spider lines). We may be
tolerably certain that the observer in the Grand Galleiy
had no such liorological instrument. But he must have
had a time indicator of some sort (and a good one, we may
notice in passing), or the care shown in the construction of
the Gallery would have been in great part wasted.
Now, whence could his time-sounds have been conveyed
Syv^aakfif
S^ockftEyr.
Fir,. 1. — SnowiNO the Fl.\t Square Summit of tiik Pvr.vmuial Obskrvatorv
great oliscr\ing tube. The oViserver might be anywhere
along the tube, according to the position of the object
whose transit was to be observed.
Now notice that the most important o}>ject of transit
obser^•ations is to determine the time at which the objects
observed cross the meridian. Either the observer has to
determine at what time this happens, or, by noting when
it happens, to ascertain the time ; in one case, knowing
the time, he karns the position of the celestial object in
what is c.illed right ascension (which may bo called its
position measxired arownd the celestial sphere in the
direction of its rotation) in the other, knowing the posi-
to him but from the upper end of the Gallery \ A time-
measure of .some sort — probably a clepsydra, or water-
clock — must have been set there, and persons appointed to
mark the passage of time in some way, and to note also
the instants when the observer or observers in the Great
Gallery signalled the beginning or end of transit acres.?
the Gallery's field of view. These time-indicating persons,
with their instruments, would have occupied the space
where now are the floors of the so-called Antechainlier and
King's Chamber — then, of cour.se, not walled in (or the
walls would have obstructed the view along the Gallery).
These persons themselves would i.ot obstruct the view,
31G
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 10, 1882.
unless they camf t<if> near tho mouth of the (iuWery. Or
thpy might l»- ilosi' t<« tlu; nioiitli of Uh- (Jiillrry nt its
kidcs, witliout obstriiitinj,' tlu' view.
liut now, notice tluit if tho ])laco tlioy tliux occupied -
thr future King's Clianilicr (periiaps, as Uu; region in or nrar
\vhiih all the oliservations of the heavenly host in cuhiiinn-
tiiPM had been made) werejn the centre of the S(|uar(! top
of the Pyramid as thus fur built, they would Ix- very much
in the way of other observers, who ought to be stationed
at certain special points on tli;s horizontal top, to oliservo
certain important horizontal lines, viz , the lines directed
to the cardinal f)oint3 and to points mid way between these.
j\i\ observer who had this task assigned In'ni should
(H cupy the very centre of the s«|uare top of the, n-s yet,
iucomplete Pyramid, so that the middle point of each side
would mark a cardinal point, while the angles of the square
would mark the mid-cardinal points. Also this central
I'oiiit ought not only to command direction lines to the
angles and bisections of the sides, but to be counnanded,
without obstruction, by direction lines from these points.
Thus the upper end of the Great Ascending Gallery should
not be exactly at the centre, but somewhat either to the
west or to the east of the centre of tlie great square sum-
mit of the incomplete Pyramid.
Let us sec how this matter was actually arranged : —
Fig. 1 shows the incomplete Pyramid, as supposed to
be viewed from above. The four sockets, s.iv., n.w., n.e.,
and s.e., were supposed, until quite recently, to mark the
exact position of the four base angles of the Pyramid. It
turns out, however, that they are rather below the level of
the real basal plane of the structure, which is, therefore,
somewhat smaller than had been suppo.^cd.
Fig. 1 is, however, cliiefly intended to show the nature
of the square platform, w^hich formed the top of tlie pyra-
midal frustum when the level of the floor of tlic gallery
of the King's Chamber had just been reached. We have
a horizontal section of the Pyramid, in fact, taken through
the lioor of the King's Chamber and Antechamber — that is,
through SD, in the figure at p. 266. The bottle-shaped
black space, near 0, giv(!s the section of the slanting gallery,
beginning on the southern side at its widest part, reaching
a narrower part somewhat to the north of 0, and theie-
aftcr narrowing tow^ards the north, till the section of the
uppermost or narrowest part is reached. The dotted lines
show where the Grand Gallery and the narrow ascending
passage (ascending for one passing towards the King's
Chamber) pass downwards into the structure of the Pyra-
mid : at e is the place where descending and ascending
passages meet. The position, also, of the entrance-hole,
forced in by Al Afamoun, at about tlie level of the angle e,
is indicated.
At 0 is the centre of the square surface, which then
formed the top of the structure. If posts were placed at the
angles ')i.u:, a.u:, s.e., s.tc, and also at n., e.., »., and »',, an
obierver stationed at 0 would have the cardinal and the
mid-cardinal points e.xactly indicated. Now the point 0 is
about eight and a-half paces from the middle of the southern
opening of the Grand tJallery ; so that, if there were an
assistant observer at n, he could communicate time
signals readily both to the observers in the (Jallery and to
the observer at 0. All such observations as thci easting,
southing, westing, and northing of heavenly bodies would
belong to the observer at 0, uprights of suitable height
Vicing erected at n., c, s., and v. He could also observe
when heaveidy bodies passed the mid-cardinal directions,
n.ir.j s.u\, s.e., and s.ir. It will be noticed that if we
.suppose the Grand (Jalleiy completed, which would carry it
to a height of about 28 ft. above the level of tlio floor at o,
the slant of the (iallcry would yet be such that the observer
at O, Kupj)osing him to observe by njcans of an instrum" i.
raiKetl a few feet altove the level of the floor, would !••
perfectly well able to look along the horizontal dire( ti<.i
line from 0 to s.n: (Most of his observations would, <
course, Ixr direct*;d to jioints above the horizon.)
IJut I think if I were planning such observations on tb'
squan? suiface e., n., ir., v., I sliould wish to have sever.i
observers at work in thus tiking azimutlis (directioi
refen-ed to the cardinal points) and altitudes, just as severe
transit observers were manifestly provided for in the coi
struction of tlie (!rand '^■allerv.
Fig. 2. — Vertical Section of Grand Gallery.
1 should set an observer at n., to observe in dire^tioii
ii.-n.ii\, )(,-((•., U.S. (that is, n.O.), n.-e., and u-s.u: ; anotlu ;
at ('•., another at '., and another at c, to oliserve in tli
corresponding directions belonging to their stations. Ob-
servers at n.ir, .«.;'•., s.f., and s.ir. could also do excellent
woik. In fact, they, between them, could take the hori-
zontal cardinal and mid-cardinal directions better than the
oViserver stationed at 0, though his would be the best
station for general work with the astrolabe.
Yet again, for observing heavenly bodies at considerable
altitudes, stations nearer to the uprights at s.v:, w., luv:.
Feb. 10, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
317
vl-., would be useful. Where else could tliey be so well
placed as at the points a, b, c, d, where the lines ir.s, w.n.,
■.»'., and f.n. intersect the diagonals of the square surface
of the pyramidal structure 1 Note, also, that these
observing stations would be at convenient distances from
each other. Tlie sides of this square surface would be
roughly about 1".") paces long, so that such a distance as
Fig. 3.-
-A Perspective View of the Upper Fonrth of the
Great Gallery.
■i.ic, or a.O would only be about 62 yards (the length of
the Grand Gallery being about 5'2 yards).
Thus there wruld be thirteen observer of azimuthal
directions and altitudes, whose work would be combined
with that of at least seven transit observers along different
parts of the length of the Great Gallery with its seven
transit widths (as shown by its section, Fig. 2). Twenty
observers in all, the transit workers, provided with the
great fixed transit instruments in the Gallery itself, the
others armed, perhaps, with astrolabes, armillary spheres
for reference, direction tubes (or ring- -arrying rods) would
be able to make observations only inferior in accuracy to
those made in our own time with telescopic adjuncts.
Fig. 3 is intended to show something of the structure
of the interior of the Great Gallery. Tlie stones outside
are supposed to be seen in section, only one-fourth of the
Gallery being given. For correct perspective, six or seven
more layers of stone should have been shown below the
lowest in the picture. But this would have given to the
illustration an inconvenient shape. It will be seen that
a section of the southern sky, very convenient for ob-
ser\ ation, would be seen from the interior of the Grand
Gallery. The central vertical through this section would
(as seen from the middle of any of the cross seats) be the
true meridian. But the moment of transit might be
equally well observed by taking tlic moments when a star
was tirst seen (from the middle of a cross seat) on the
eastern edge of the vertical sky space, and when the star
disappeared : the instant midway between these would be
the true time of transit. B}' combining the observations
made by several "watchmen of the night," stationed in
tlifferent parts of the Grand ( Jallery, a very close approxi-
mation to true sidereal time could be obtained.
1 apprehend, however, that astronomers who had shown
themselves so ingenious in other respects, would not have
omitted to note the advantage of suitably-adjusted screens
for special transit observations : and it seems to me likely
that the long grooves shown in section at /i and k', Fig. 2,
might have been used in connection with such a purpose,
and not merely (though that was probably one of the
objects they were intended to subserve) to carry a hori-
zontal sliding cross-bar, by means of which the altitude
of a celestial body at the moment of transit could
be more readily determined. We must not forget
that transit observers have to determine what is called
the declination of a star (its distance from the
equator), as well as what is called the right ascension,
or distance measured parallel to the equator from a certain
assigned point on that circle. For this purpose the hori-
zontal lines a a', b b', itc, (F'ig. 2) would be useful, but not
sufficient. I incline to think that the method used to
obtain accuracy in observations for determining declina-
tion involved a very practical use of the grooves k k' .
Possibly a horizontal bar ran from k to k', carrying vertical
rods, across which, at suitable distances, horizontal lines
wf-re drawn (or, better still, horizontal rods could be slid
to any required height). The horizontal bar could be slid
to any convenient position, the vertical rods adjusted, and
at the time of transit the horizontal rods could be shifted
to such a height as just to touch a star as seen by an ob-
server in the Gallery atthe moment of mid-transit
If a telescopist in our own time will try to plan out a
method of determining the declinations and right ascen-
sions of stars (say, for the purpose of forming a trust-
worthy star chart or catalogue), w ithout using a telescope,
by using such an observing place^as the Great Gallery, he
will .see how much might be done, so far as equatorial and
zodiacal stars were concerned ; and they are altogether the
most important, even now, and were still more so in the
days when the stars in their courses were supposed to rule
the fates of men and nations.
PoiTD'a Extract is a certain
Pond's Kxtract i» a certain ci
Pond's Kxtract i.** a certain cure for .>e
Pond's Extract will heal nuras and Wc
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bmisc/i.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genu
re for Hheumatism and Gout.
for Hemorrhoids.
ralKic J>aina.
318
KNOWLEDGE
[Fta lU, 188i.
r\lE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTllICAL
EXHIBITION'.
FlU,-iT NoTHK.
iT iM grintly to be n'tjrettcd that this cxiiibitiun, like moat otlierH,
18 8<i alow ill nttaiiiiiiK to niiytliiiiK iipproncliiiiK what oiiu may
justly c-oiieicl<'r bIiouM bo its [iropur cliiiU'iiMiDns. \Vc iiro, of coursi-,
invaro thut thcro arc muiiy cuuseg rt'turiliiig the C'uiii|ilctioti of tho
]iri',iaratioiiti, uiui thut it is, guiivrully B|iL'uliiii(;, to thu interest uf tho
exhibitor to get his allow in u pojitiuii lit for iunpeetiou as speedily
us pii.s-ible. It is, iioverthcleas, uurcusonuble to suppose we can
enilorxc the uiiiluly hiudutory opinions expressed liy tlie niujority of
ui.Bei ntilic crities. We shall see, as we g<i on, something of tho
greut state of unprepurednesa whiuli pervades nearly every depart-
ment, and although there is even now plenty of work for those who
intind to thoroughly study the mines of information as they arc
laid open, it cannot fail, for some two or three weeks to come, to
engender very great disappointment in the miuds of those who can
only pay one or two visits to Sydenham.
It is our intention this week to give siniiily a brief description of
the general arrangements, and hereafter to describe in detail the
various coUeetiuns of iippiuatns, not forgetting to keep our readers
l)Osted up in the additions made to the Exhibition week by week.
The exhibits are diviiled into fourteen classes, some of which,
however, may, so far as we are concerned, be regarded as sections
of larger and luuro .important classes. The class which commands
the greatest amount of attention is thut which embraces the various
systems of electric lighting, while telcgi-aphy appears to rank next
in interest. There is one section of the exhibition, not favoured
with a cla.vs to itself, which has great attractions for many of our
readers, namely, that which comprises the various displays of
apparatus for teaching tho science of electricity. These will
all be described in their turn. Commencing at the north
end of the Palace, wo enter first the maohine-room of the
Anglo-American Brush Electric Light Company. It is a spacious
room, and has been floored with a layer of concrete, to give
tho necessary lirm foundation for the machines. There is a
goodly disjihiy of dynamo machines, all fixed in position, and most
of them wailing for the arrival from the contractor of four out of
the five engines requu'ed I 'i ho one engine is driving two dynamo
machines, one of which supplies sixteen arc lamps, and the other a
number of incandescent lamps of the Lane-Fox type.
There is also fitted up on one base a small steam-engine, working
direct on to a small dynamo machine, capable (jf maintaining, three
arc lamps. The machine makes 1,100 revolutions per minute, and
presents aitogethcr a very compact and commendable appearance.
The arc lamjis of this company are working well and steadily,
and no doubt, when all of tliem are lighted, will receive universal
admiration. The Lane-Fox incandescent lamps are tolerably good,
but do not yet seem sufficiently steady, nor do they all appear to
bo equal in resistance, as some are much brighter than others.
Leaving this company's exhibit, which is located in and about the
Tropical Department we come into tho nave, where, right away to
the orchestra, there is a good display of arc lamps. The first are
those of the Electric Light and I'ower Generator Company (Maxim
and Weston systems). This light is very steady and very brilliant.
It seems at present to leave nothing wanting in this direction.
The company has also started a number of Maxim incandescent
lamps, very tastily fitted into a kind of candelabra. They, however,
are not uniform in brilliancy, for while some are equal to over
twenty-five candles, others are little more than dull red.
Next is the display of the British Electric Light Company
(Brockie system). These lightn, nine in number, are very powerful ;
but it is to be feared they will never be i(uite free from momentary
jerks, EO to sptak, which are, no doubt, due to the fact that perfectly
homogeneous curbon-rods are unobtainable. Turning into the Egyp-
tian Court, we find a sweetly-pretty collection of glass chandeliers
and table-lamps of various designs (some of the latter several feet
high), and fitted with the British Company's incandescent lamp.
Tho glass is manufactured by Messrs. James Powell & Sons, White-
friars Cilass Works, and it is expected that they will all be ready
for lighting in the course of a day or two. In the North Nave are
also the stands of tho Post Office, War Office, ic, including the
almost empty cases of the School of Submarine Telegi-aphy.
The Handel Orchestra is lighted by Messrs. Rowatt & Fyfe,
with six Pilsen lamps, the same firm having ten Joel lamps
in the Pompcian Uouse. The latter at present appear very
irregular. In the South Nave are four of Messrs. Strode &
Co.'s arc lamps (Mackenzie system), which oscillate considerably.
Messrs. Siemens ii Co. and other houses should light the
remainder of the nave, but they are all very backward. It is said
that some firms fixed their plant on to the wooden floor. The
immediate rcsnlt con be conceived as easily as described. The
concert-room ia well lighted with 250 of Edison's incandescent
lamps. They arc extremely iitcady, and, owing to a |H-culiarity io
tho nianafacture, ore faid to be wry durable. Hy far the most
attruetivo Uisjilay is made by his exhibit in the ent.— •- '
whire ho has 200 lamjis arranged in all sorts of ii
In the centre of the room is a large brass chandl^
with lamps placed in elegnntly-tiutcd glass shuik-. i ... ■ ... . l
grand in the extreme, and wins immediately the entire syingiatb •
of all who enter the apartment. No amount of gas could give ti
brilliancy, for the ipiautity riquired would be much more than ti.'
air contained in such a room could support. To judge of the elect;
light, wo must, of course, divest it of its gorgeous Jccorations, h
even then we shall find it excellent.
Various exhibitors occujiy the floor of tho nave, w hile the coatun
room is beautifully adorned by Messrs. Hammond 4 Co. (Bru :
System), who also light very effectively the corridor leading to f
low level station. The gallciy, which should be almott entire '
occupied by exhibitors, is comparatively empty. This state
things is no doubt greatly due to the entire absence of cicctr
light, and con8e(|ucnt nearly total darkness. On the ground-flo<'.
Mr. Edison, The British Electric Light Company, and the Elccti
Light and Power (Jenenitor Company have their engines ai
dynamo machines, all well-fitted on solid foundation.", but neitl.'
of them in a state of completeness.
Next week, some of the exhibits will be dealt with in detail, ai
the main principles of the more important ajiparatus explained.
NATURAL RUBBISH HEAPS.
Bv James Geikie, LL.D., F.U.S.
IX a paper recently read before the Perthshire Society of Natural
History, Dr. Giikie gave some account of the various accumu-
lations of rock-(?t6n"s' which are now taking place in this country.
He described tho appearance presented by many of the mountain-
tops and slopes in our hilly regions. The rocks were often more or
less concealed below masses of coarse angslar fragments of all shapes
and sizes. The hill-tops frequently looked as if they had been sub-
jected to the battering action of some mighty hammer, which had
smashed and shattered the rocks to a considerable depth ; so that,
if we wished to get at the solid and undisturbed parent-mass, we
should first have to clear away many feet, and even sometimes
many yards, of more or less loose dcli-is. The slopes of such d<flri3-
capped mountains were invariably clothed with long sloping taluses
of similar fragments, which swept down at a high angle to the
vajleys, and at the base of these slopes large blocks and isolated
masses of rock were of common occmrence. No one who should ex-
amine these phenomena could for a moment doubt that they owed
their origin to the action of the atmosjiheric agents. Dr. Geikie
then described, in a somewhat detailed manner, the mode in
which the rocks were broken up by the disruiiting force of ice.
Water found its way into the crevices of tho rocks, and, being
frozen there, the joints were gradually widened by the expansion
of the ice, again and again repeated. When tlds action took place
on a flattish hill-top the rocks were simply disrupted, and the sepa-
rate fragments ]iushcd asunder. But upon the verge of precipices,
and upon steep slopes, the disrupted fragments were shot down-
wards, as soon as thaw set in. There were other ways in which
rock-dt!)iis or natural rubbish-heaps were formed. Strata were
often undermined by the action of water, and large masses of rock,
deprived of their support, tumbled down in ruins. This could be
seen at the base of sea-clififs, and- along the marjrins of streams
and rivers. Then, again, some kinds of rock which were
more or less soluble in water were liable, under certain cir-
cumstances, to bo difsjointed and broken up. Limestone,
for example, was dissolved by the action of acidulated water
working its way downwards through the natural fissiues of the
rock. In process of time these fissures were widened by this
solvent action, and converted into irregular channels and tunnels.
This was the origin of most of our limestone caverns. Water
continuing to percolate down into such caves, gradually loosened
the limestone that formed the roof, and now and again large and
small fragments of tho rock, losing cohesion, fell to the ground.
Another cause for the origin of rock-dt'6ris was to bo found in the
)ieculiar geological structni-o of certain masses of strata, which
were so arranged as to render them liable to sudden and whole-
sale demolition. When a mountain was built up of a series of
]iorous and non-porous strata, arranged in alternate layers,
dipping into tho valleys at such a low angle that the edges of the
bi'ds were exposed upon the mountain-slopes, such a mountain
might at any moment be destroyed. Ur. Geikio then referred to
several rcmai'kable examples of such catastrophes. In the case
of the Uossberg, in Switzerland, the destruction was due to the
Feb. 10, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
319
fact that loug-contiuaed raius, soaking duwu tlirough porous bods
above, wcro arrusted by beds of non-porous clay, whicb, however,
became softened to such a device that the mountaiu-mass of strata
that rested upon tbeni slid forward U]ion them, and rushed down
into the valley. After describing yet other modes in which natural
jmbbish-heaps were formed, Dr. Gcikio went on to remark that all
the phenomena referred to were more or less eioeptioual, and
that the agent which cCTected the greatest results was frost.
Some of the other agents he had described could only
work under certain geological conditions; — others, again,
were somewhat limited in their action, and tended to re-
move the rubbish-heaps which they themselves had accumulated.
But the action of frost in a country like ours was, he might say,
general. It affected every pai-t of the laud, but of course the
amount of work it performed waj very variable. Its results were
most conspicuous in mountain regions, where frosts were not only
more freijuent, more intense, and more prolonged, but where the
physiographical conditions of the surface lent their aid in the most
effective manner. The rock-(?(?t)i.< gathered to the greatest thick-
ness upon slopes at the base of a rocky precipice. This was
natural, for the steep rocks above, shattered by frost, showered
their debris downward. But on flat hill-tops the time must come
when the formation of rock-iitJlris must terminate. The rock
would only be acted upon to as great a depth as the frost
could jienetrate. Some account of the frost-riven d<!biii of other
countries was then given, more especially of the Swiss Aljis,
and northern regions of Kmope and North America. It was
remarkable that many paits of our own country were covered with
sheets of debris which had apiarently long ago ceased to accumu-
late, and these sheets occurred not only upon comparatively low
ground, but even in moitutain regions. The angular fraguients
were grown over now with lichen and heath, and even with natural
wood, and in every featme betrayed the marks of great antiquity.
And not only so, but they occurred in positions to which loose
blocks detached from the rocks at higher levels could not possibly
have rolled. Is was hard enough to account for the presence of
such sheets of ancient angular diSbris in a country like Scotlaud,
but it was more difficult still to explain the 'presence of
similar sheets of angular debris at low levels in the South
of England, in Northern France, in Southern Spain, and
•t many places npon the bordeis of the Mediterranean. After
giving a description of the so-called " Head " of Devonshire, Corn-
wall, ic, and the similar accumulation upon the coast of Normandy,
Dr. Geikie went on to give some account of the clay-with-flints of
the Paris Basin and the great consolidated dtjfcn's-heaps or breccias
of Gibraltar. By means of sections across the Eock he showed the
position of these breccias, and explained how they had been formed
at two different periods, separated by a considerable time, during
which the Bock of Gibraltar was submerged for some hundreds of
feet. After remarking upon the fact that similar breccias occurred
in Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Italy, Cyprus, and other places, he
proceeded to explain the mode in which they, the " Head " of
Cornwall, the ancient de6ns-heap of Scotland, and similar forma-
tions elsewhere, had been accumulated. The angular fragments
had been dislodged from the rock of which they once formed a
i irt by the action of frost. But they could not have rolled to
ir present position upon the low grounds by the mere impetus
■ itured by them when they were disrupted from the rocks above.
They would naturally come to rest npon the low grounds at the
base of the cliffs, unless some other force than the mere impetus of
their fall had been urging tlicm forward. We now meet with them
at distances of many hundred yards away from the foot of the cliffs
and steeper slopes, and to have reached their present positions they
have travelled over a surface-slo|>e not greater in many cases than
5 , or even 3". The d(!bris speaks not only to the action of hard
frost, but of heavy snows. It was the melting of the latter and the
satnration of the de'lris-heaps which caused the rubbish to flow
as it were outwards from the base of the cliff, and doubtless
this action was still further favoiu'cd by the alternate freezing
and thawing of the water-soaked masses. It might seem
strange to speak of snows and hard frosts in the islands
and along the borders of the Mediterranean, but the evi-
dence of former colder conditions was not by any means restricted
to ancient <i<f6rii>-heaps or breccias. In a few words Dr. Geikie
then sketched the broad results which had been aiTived at by
glaciaUsts as to the former extent of the European snow fields aud
glaciers during the Glacial Period, and he showed that these, taken
m connection with the evidence furnished by organic remains, both
animal and vegetable, abundantly confirmed the conclusions to
which the phenomena of the ancient rubbish-heaps appeared to
point. The climate of aU Europe had been greatly affected ;
not Only did an enormous ice-sheet, extending from Scandinavia
and burying the British Isles, creep southward over the plains of
Northern Germany, but aU the mountain-tracts became centres
of glaciation. The present glaciers of Switzerland were the
degenerate successors of great icefields which now meet with their
nearest analogues in the .\.rctic Ke-ii.ns. And many hilly districts
in France, Spain, and Eastern an 1 Sjuthern Europe, which were
now destitute of glaciers, were fornjcrly the seats of extensive snow-
lields and glaciers of no mean size. \Vhile in other places, such as
the low grounds of Southern England and France, and hilly regions
bordering on the Jlediterranean, where the conditions were not
favourable to the formation of gluciei^, considerable snows fell, and
hard frost ruptured and shattered the rocks. It was to this period
of cold that most of those great accumulations of rock-dt'bris be-
longed — those natural rubbish-heaps wliich had uow ceased in
many places to accumulate. They thus bore strong evidence
to the former extent and intensity of ice-action during the Glacial
Period.
BR. CAEPENTER ON VACCINATION
AT a monthly conference of the London Society for the Aboli-
tion of Com|>u!sory Vaccination, lield at the St;;inway Hall
(Dr. Andrew Clark in the chair), an address was given by Dr.
W. B. Carpenter, C.B., on the increase of small-pox mortality in
London during the year ItSO. He pointed out the inadequacy of
the objection that a system of compulsory vaccination outraged the
rights of individuals, contending that in health, as in education, it
was the paramount duty of the State to secm'e, as far as possible,
the public advantage. The State, in his opinion, was morally
bound to intervene in such a matter between the parent and tlie
child, for the good both of the child and of society at large. He
proposed to speak with special reference to the outbreak of small-
pox in ISbO, which, he understood, was specifically mentioned
in the resolution that was to be moved in the House of
Commons by Mr. P. A. Taylor. That outbreak, according to his
view of the case, afforded grounds, not for the repeal of the
Act, but rather for making its operation more complete and
stringent. It was necessary first to consider the history of small-
pox, with regard to which very important statistics existed in the
bills of mortality for tlio last 200 years. In the case of other exan-
themata—scarlatina, for instance — doubts might have been cast on
the accuracy of the earlier tigui-es ; but small-pox had always been
clearly recognised and distinguished from other diseases, and no
such doubts could therefore be entertained. Now, from 1600 to
1G78, the general mortality of the kingdom was iiO,000 in every
million of living persons, and the small-pox mortality was 4,170; in
172B-57 the general mortality was 52,000 per million, and the small-
pox mortaUty 4,260 ; in 1771-SO the general mortality was 50,000,
and the small-pox mortality 5,020 — a slight increase, which
was probably due, as Dr. Hcbcrden said long ago, to inoculation.
However, the average small-pox mortality in the period from 1660 to
18S-0 was about 4,0t)0 per million. It was noticeable that at that time
the disease periodically appeared in its worst form, and was the terror
of all classes. Thus Louis XV. died deserted by all except Madame
du Barry, and the priests who chanted mass in the Chapelle
Ardente were said to have been "condemned" to do so. And in
1750 Horace Walpole wrote, " Lord Dalkeith is dead of the small-
pox in three days." These, of course, were instances in which the
disease appeared in its greatest intensity, and attacked the rich,
who in these days would ordinjuily have little to fear from it. He
could scarcely suppose that an outbreak of small-pox— say, in
Pimlico — would deter her Majesty from visiting Buckingham
Palace. For the decade lbOl-1810 the general mortality was 29,000
per million, and the small-pox mortahty 2,010. In 1831-35 the
general moitahty was 32,0(^0 aud the small-pox mortality had fallen
to 8S0. At that time he had himself seen as many as 100 cases of
blindness from small-pox in unvaceinated persons, aud it was pro-
bable that in the last century two-thirds of the patients at the eye
hospitals were blind from the same cause, while the proportion now
was only 5 per cent. In 1810 the Legislature provided the means
of vaccination, and the result was that the mortality fell to 400 per
million. Then came compulsory vaccination in 1653, and the
small-pox mortality in the decade 1851-00 was only 278 per million.
In 1861-70 the number was 270. Ho now came to thejears 1871-80,
which period was unquestionably exceptional. The mortality in
these years among unvaceinated persons was so extraordinarily
great, and the disease itself was so violent, as to suggest the notion
that it might be indeed the Black Death of the Middle Ages. Yet,
as far as he knew, no person who bore the evidences of vaccination
had died of small-pox in the last year. In 1871 the disease waa
severe everywhere in Great Britain, but especially in Scotland,
where compulsory vaccination had not been then adopted. Since
that time, however, vaccination had been made compulsory in
Scotland, where it was now enforced more effectually than in
England, the result being that for the last five years there had not
been twelve deaths a year in that country from small-pox.
320
KNOWLEDGE
[KKik 10, 18h.
London, on Iho otIuT Imnd, OinnkR to tliu cIToriB of tlio Kooipty,
thoro wa« nn uin'iii'ciimttHl rmiilniiin wliicli kept the (lincnac iilivo.
Tlio opi'leniic hud rtntio to iiH from l''rniico, iinil hn*i arisen thpn*
from the iiii«iiiiilur_v e<>ii<litii>n of Iho Krcnc-li aoldicni diirinf; the
lato wnr. Iliirin); iv^iirrt to nil tlic circiinislnncpii of tlip fpidrmir
nnd from u Htiidy ol i<piili-micH in general, tie Imd no hesitation in
Haying that Iho perioil IbTI-^M* was altogether exceplinnnl, and that
tho rate of 8n<»ll-pox mortality during that derade afforded no
baaix for an argument n;,'ain8t vnceination. Up need only make
ono more oliHervation. His op[)onont» would doubtleBS urge that
Huch plarrs as Dpwsbiiry. Lpiceater, nnd Koighley, where the nnti-
Tnecinationials were strong, had had a eomparative inininnity from
small-pox. But Mio truth was, that the diKonso had already died out
in those towns, and that the mere disuse or negleet of vaceination
ilid not reproduce it. As an illustration of the faet that no sanita-
tion woulcl nuflipo to excludo small-pox, the cnso of San Francisco
might bo cited. In the Chinese quarter of that city a smouldering
tiro of small-jiox had existed for some time, but thoro had been no
considcrnblo outbreak since the autumn of the year IS70, when
nearly 150 cases occuiTcd in tlio best and richest parts of tho city,
in spite of the fact that, a.s tho very low annual dgath-rate showed,
the sanitation of the place was singularly good. Of the children,
however, all of whom had been vaccinated — many from heifer
lymph — only ton or twelve took the disease.
THE MOON'S BIRTH BY TIDAL
EVOLUTIOX.
IN response to the wishes of many readei's of Kxow-
LEDtiE, wc had intended to prepare for these pages a
paper on the viow.s to wliich ISIr. G. Darwin has been
led, and which Dr. Ball has eloquently expounded,
respecting the l>irth of the moon hy tidal evolution. It
occurred to us, however, when our essay was nearly com-
pleted, that our readers might like to hear Dr. Ball him-
self on the suV>ject ; and we now have much pleasure in
announcing that ne.xt week a paper from the pen of the
Astronomer lloyal for Ireland on the moon's birth by
tidal evolution will appear in these pages ; to be followed
by another on the astronomical consequences of such
evolution. The Editok.
THE MENACING COMET.
READERS of Knowledge who have followed my
remarks on the various predictions which have been
made respecting the approaching end of the world, must
have been inclined to e.xclaim : — " Is Saul also among the
prophets? " when they heard that, as the Sjyectator tells us,
I had definitely indicated the year 1897 as one in which the
world would, in all probability, come to an end. I have care-
fully read over the essay in my recently-issued " Familiar
Science Essays," to see whether it should suggest these
startling anticipations ; and I find nothing there which does
not seem in perfect accordance with observed facts and
scientific deductions therefrom. .\11 that is there said I
certainlj' adhere to still. Ifow far it can be regaided as
threatening the end of the world in 1897, I shall give the
readers of Knowledce an opportunity of inferring next
week, when a short article on the comet which is thus — •
thinks the Sjifctntor — to bring the world to catastrophic
end will appear, illustrated by a picture of that menacing
object Pos.sil)ly after reading that article, those who have
urged me to reconsider my verdict may find that some
chance is still left for our good old earth.
R. A. Proctor.
Ebr,ma. — Lines 0, 11, 12. and 13, p. 270, for "wood" road
" woad." Line 37, "tsitril" for "nitrite." Lines 39 and 40,
for "oitho-nitro phenyl -glyoxnlic" read " ortho-nitro-phcnyl-gly-
oxvlic."
Icttcig to tiK euitor.
[Thr Editor do*t not hold kimtelfirfwponnhte far thropiniona of kij rorretpont
Be cannot undrrtuke fo return manutcript* or to corrr»vond iriik ikrir ttrit**'.
eommunieatioHt §knuU be at tkori a* pottible, connstarliy k-i/A J'ult and cUar -
mrtitt of the wrifer't m fining.']
Alt Kditorial eommttuicationa »hould be addreeifd to the 'Editor of Ksowi.i ■
an Itujtinft commujiicationt to the PubUakert, at the Office^ 7\ Great (^
ttrett, 1F.C.
AH Jifmitfnncet, Chrqufr, and PoMl-Offtce Order$ nkofi/d be made paualh tn
It^nor: Wymnn ir Sons,
•,* All tfttfra to the Editor tcill be y umbered. For ronvf^nimce of rejerenee,
corrfapondrnt», when referring to any letfer^iciU ol'ige by mentioning its number
and the poijf on irkich it appear*.
AU Lrttera or Q'leriee to the Editor tckirh require .i/t*-ntion in f\e enrrenl wue c/
KsovFhKDOK, tkould reach the Publiahing Office not Uterthnn the Saturday preceding
the dag qf publication. _^___^
" In knovrlrdfre, that man onlv is to be contemneil nnd decked who is not i
state of transition >'or is there snythini; more adverse to accunox '
tlian flxity of opinion." — Faradag.
" There is no harm in makinc; a mistake, but ^'■at harm in making none. Show
me a man ^rho makea no mistakes, and I will show jou a man who has dona
nothing." — Liebig. _— ^-— -
(Bmv CoiifSpontirnrf Columns.
OUR LETTERS, QUERIES, AND REPLIES.
[268] — Letters, queries, and replies reach us in such numbers,
that not only are we unable to find room for a third of them, but
they involve a tax on our time seriously interrupting the progress
of more important matters. We are obliged, therefore, to adopt tho
following rules : —
(1.) Letters to have a chance of appearing must be concise;
they must be drawn up in the form adopted for letters here, so that
they may go untouched to the printers ; private communications,
therefore, as well as queries, or replies to queries (intended to
appear as such) should be written on separate leaves.
(II.) Queries and replies should be even more concise tboa
letters ; and drawn up in the form in which they are here pre-
sented, with brackets for number in case of queries, and the
proper query number (bracketed) in case of replies.
(III.) Letters, queries, and replies which (either because too
long, or imsuitable, or dealing with matters which others hare
discussed, or for any other reason) c.innot find place here, will
either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, op
acknowledged in a column reserved for the purpose.
We beg that correspondents will consider how the matter stands.
It is essential that each number should contain a certain portion
of original matter, illustrations, notes on science and art, short
extracts from homo and foreign jotimals, mathematics, and so
forth. We cannot yet enlarge Knowi.epgk more than, we have
already done ; to compress our correspondence into the space left
open for it, by abridging, e.Ktracting, and putting the matter so
arranged into proper form for the printers, would require either
the whole time of the editor, or the assistance of a staff of sub-
editors. Om- correspondents nrast, therefore, do the work of
abridgment and arrangement themselves ; at any rate, they must
not be annoyed if, failing this, their communications arc wasted.
To ninety-hundredths of our readers no apology for this notiio
need be given. On the contrary, some explanation may lie due i >
them for the way in which correspondence has threatened to intii
fere with the proper work of Knowledge. The Editok.
FLESH FOOD.
[269] — I trust you will allow me to point out in your columns the
extreme unfairness of the comparison you suggest between vege-
tarians and flesh-eaters. You ask vegetarians to pnxluce a list of
famous men of their persuasion eqnal to that which can be made
out by their opponents. Now this would bo an excellent and per-
feclly fair test, if exactly half the civilised world had always been
vegetarians; but as matters actually stand, it is grossly unfair. You
might as well ask tho Quakers to make out such a list, or the
Albinos, and the test would be just as valuable. Tho list of famons
men, if it is to be of any use, must be made out with due regard to
the projiortion between vegetarian nnd carnivorous candidates for
fame, and from this test the vegetarians have no cause to shrink.
Feb. 10, 1882.J
KNOWLEDGE
Your instance of Newton is not altogether a good one, as he
lived on vegetarian principles while he wrote the " Principia,"
from the desire to keep his mental faculties unobsciued.
J. L. JOYXES.
[Our correspondent does not seem to notice that we were saving
jestingly what lie himself gravely (and of course correctly) points
out. — Ed.]
THE MOON AND THE WEATHER.-INTRA-MERCURIAL
PLANET.— THE ICE-AGE IN BRITAIN.— ACTION OF
THUNDERSTORMS.
[270] — Mr. BuUcy (p. 247) seems to me to be one of that
numerous body who mistake assertion for proof. I will deal very
shortly first with his science, and next with his facts. Now, im-
primis, he repeats a very old fallacy indeed, when he says that '' it
must be clear to every tyro in natural science, that if it be rational,
and in accordance with the verilication of science, to assert that
the moon's influence acts upon the waters of the ocean, it cannot
be foolish and irrational to hold that the same influence affects the
waters of the clouds and the air in which they float — both ponder-
able bodies, equally subject to the laws of gravitation." Just so.
The late Professor Daniel conducted an elaborate series of baro-
metrical experiments on the summit of Box Hill, in Surrey, and
showed conclusively that there is aciually a semi-diurnal tide in the
atmosphere. But what then? If the gravitational action of the
moon on our atmosphere affected terrestrial meteorology, the
weather ought to change twice a day ! Does it ? We are told,
though, that atmospheric changes occur when the moon either
crosses the equator or attains her greatest north or south decli-
nation. Let us try this theory for the last three months. Writing
with my own daily Meteorological Register and tlie Xautical
Almanac open before me, I will see how far Mr. Bulley's theory
holds for this part of England. On Nov. 22, 1S81 , at two a.m., the
moon was on the equator. The cold cloud and damp of the previous
day continued; from nine a.m. to nine p.m. the barometer rose
exactly 0'002 inch ; and, I may add, precisely the same weather
(with, however, a rise in temperature) prevailed for about a week.
The moon was again on the equator on the 29th, and, once more,
nothing happened. Nov. 8 (when she attained her greatest north
declination) was foggy. I am ignorant whether, according to
Seleno-meteorology, great north declination of the moon should
bring fog. On Nov. 22, when she attained her greatest south de-
clination, the wretched wet weather from which we suffered, both
before and after that date, persisted without change ; and one of
several gales which visited us towards the end of the month, blew
in some parts of the country.
In December the moon reached her greatest declination north at
1 a.m. on the 6th ; and here again the wet weather which had per-
sisted (and subsequently persisted) from the beginning of the
month, underwent no alteration whatever. On the 13th, however,
when the moon was on the equator at noon, it actually ceased
raining, or practically so, tor twenty-four hours. The moon
reached the most southerly point of her orbit at 10 a.m. on
December 20 ; but the wet which distinguished the month con-
tinned. At 1.30 in the afternoon of December 26, the moon was
once more on the equator, and here again nothing whatever was
noticeable save the great height of the barometer, though this
endured from the 23rd to the 29th. On the 18th there was a
mendous gale, and an almost equally heavy one on the 20th.
the occasion of the former and fiercer storm of the two, the
ij"ii was at some considerable distance from her ** stitial colure."
if we turn now to 1882, the moon attained her greatest north de-
clination at 8 a.m. on the 2nd, and again we had a heavy gale with
rain. At 8 p.m., on the 9th, she was in the equator, and again it
blew, as it had done on the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. At 9 p.m., on
the 16th, the moon reached her greatest south declination, but not
the slightest change took place in the fog and calm, which begun
on the 11th, and lasted eleven or twelve days. Lastly, our satellite
was on the equator once more at 10 o'clock last night (22nd), the
high barometer of the last twelve days persisting, and one or two
temporary peeps of clear sky being vouchsafed ; otherwise, no
change whatever occnrred. Now, what are wo to say to all this?
Here we find all sorts of weather occurring when the moon has
great north declination, great south declination, and no declination
at all. Mr. Bulley makes certain assertions, but assertion is not
proof ; and the crucial test of any such theory as his is for every
meteorological observer to institute stich a comparison as I have
attempted here. His concluding paragraph about " the chemical
rays" of bodies whose diameters subtend angles of 40", 30", 16",
and 80 on, scarcely merits any serious reference.
Mr. Jones (query 188, p. 255) may possibly be thinking of the
utterance of Le Terrier, in the Comptes Rendus, for Dec. 21, 1874,
■has oddly translated in the R.A.S. Mnnihhi Noticex, vol. xxxv., p.
155: — " There exists in the neighbourhood of Mercury, doubtless
between the planet and the sun, a matter (sic) as yet unknown.
Does it consist in one or more planets or in more minute asteroids,
or even in cosmic dust ? The theory tells us nothing on this point.
On numerous occasions trustworthy observers linvo declared that
they have witnessed ilie passage of a .small planet over the sun, but
nothing has been established on the subject [' on n'est parvenu ii
rien coordonner ik ce sujet ']."
Referring "Amchnida" (query 192, p. 255) to that most inte-
resting book, Geikie's " Great Ice Age," for full details, I may say
here, that the stones frozen into icebergs and glaciers are polished
and striated in a most striking and unmistakable way, as they are
pushed over the rocks by the motion of the masses of ice in which
they are imbcdiled, and that such polished and striated stones aro
found over nearly every part of the United Kingdom. Moreover,
where the beds belonging to their geological horis^on are fossili-
ferous, their contained fauna is arctic.
I think that what " F.A.S." (query 193, p. 255) apparently
regards as a fact is at least ciuestionable. The great heat and
approximate saturation of the atmosphere which generally precede
summer thunderstorms supply the most favourable possible con-
ditions for acetons fermentation ; and both beer and milk not
infrequently turn sour during very hot weather without any thunder
at all. Acetous fermentation is, though, a process of oxygenation,
and the abundance of free ozone in the aii* during a tlmnderstonn
may proximately or remotely affect liquid organic compounds,
although, if this were the case, it is hard to see why no acidiUcaliun
takes place during winter thunderstorms. I am inclined myself to
regaixl the belief that lightning turns beer sour because it does not
know how to conduct itself as a popular delusion.
A Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
INTELLIOENCK IX ANIMALS.
[271] — Some years ago, a small terrier belonging to a neighbour,
having shown a propensity to como and chase my cats about my
orchard, I repelled his visits with a stick, in flinging which I cal-
ciilated the distance he would have run by the time that the missile
reached the grormd. I thought lie had learned the lesson that I
intended to teach him. Instead of which, he had thought of a
dodge. I saw him one evening approaching the house, when my
weapon flew as before. To my surprise, instead of bolting right
away, he rushed towards me several yards, and then turned sharply
round, and was off. The stick, therefore, instead of dropping ob-
jectionably near to his heels, flew high over his head, as he had
calculated that it would. Thus was I outwitted by a dog — to my
great delight.
Bards are often set down as but a nonsensical, visionary sort of
people ; but the following lines are among the many that might be
quoted from the writings of poets, to show that they often display
evidence of the possession of more common sense than can bo
boasted of by some of those who think themselves to be scientific
philosophers : —
" Then vainly the philosopher avers
That reason guides our deeds, and instinct theirs.
How can wc justly different causes frame,
When the effects entirely arc the same ?
Instinct and reason how can we divide ?
'Tis the fool's ignorance and pedant's pride." — Prior.
As an illustration of a dog's capacity to distinguish between the
characters of man and woman, I may mention that once, when a
farm-labourer was telling me that a certain big, vagabond dog made
himself a nuisance in the neighbourhood by entering the cottagei'.i'
rooms as he pleased, on my asking why they did not order him out
again, he replied, " Ay, but he won't go out for a woman." Which
feminine trait gave him this boldness to please himself in the matter ?
F. Ram.
INFLUENCE OF SEX UPON MIND.
IV. — Daily Experienxe.
[272] — The common opinion founded on observation, that woman's
reasoning and reflective powers do not equal man's, is not confined
to physiologists deciding from head-forms and organic structure ;
but is held by the vast majority without theory, judging solely from
experience and practical knowledge. Whately* defines woman as
" a creature incapable of the exercise of reason, and that pokes tlio
fire from the top." It is a colloquial axiom that you cannot agree
with a woman. I have heard many lady-lecturers ; not one argued
consecutively ; from beginning to end it was declamation ! "They
* Whately, was it ? Like most other stories, it has been told of
others ; and in my college term it was told of one of our mos
profoundly logical dons. — Ed.
322
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[FEa 10, 1882.
bof(aii liy lM<f,'i;iii^' tlio <|ni-ntioii, asRiiiniiif; (lin vrry puHition tliry
alioilld liuvc ti ieil I'l iii'iivr; jumped tu u C'liicluhiiiu lu^icully uii-
Ottiiinublt' ; pruixvil all wlio at^-ed nilli tliutii aa friendt, and
savnj^ly hcuIiUmI all uppoiiuiitB us cnemicis .' " Kumalo diBpulantH,
learned ur uiilcarticd, «cliluiii know liuw tu rcahun. Tlii-y axHtrt
and docloini, (^niplcy wit, ului|Uenct>, and sophigtry to confuU', (icr-
■uudo, or nbaah ailvi-nuiricii ; but distinct rcoxonin); tlioy neither
oso nor coinpreliend " (Mias Eil^'i'wonh'ij "Loiters for I.iti-rary
Ladies"). Woman's \(iH, is cei tain ly not argument; as null ox-
|)0ct her to cliop nood as logic. (1 have seen American nouicu
chop wood!) In gencnilisatiou, orrungomont, and concrntratiouof
ideas, |shu cannot compete with man. "They never sec, whether
for good or bad, more than one side of any question, and always
the one which first presents itself " (" Oliver Twist ").
Inability to argue is no murk of woman's absolute inferiority or
non-developnieut. .Sexual eciuality advocates admit woman's lack
of reasoning faculty compared with man. Hut (deceived by their
hypothesis) they dcclaro the power exists latent, and could be deve-
loped tu the same c^vtent as in man by a masculine education. They
miglit OS well argue that tho power to ci|ual man in size and
strength exists latent in woman. On their assumption, inability
to argue is a defect in woman. I maintain it is the result of natural
organisation ; therefore, no more a defect than woman's lack of
manly size, strength, sha|ie, beard, and complexion. Plato wished
to submit the sexes to tho same physical training, but even he
declared wcjman in every respect weaker than man. Her mind
corresponds with her body. Some men grow impatient with female
relatives for inability to ai-gue. Some despise the sex for this pecu-
liarity. The " strong-minded " libel the ." weak-minded" sister-
hood as poor, stunted, distorted, mentally-arrested creatures ! (I'tt-
loria Maijazine, May, 1870.) All are wrong who adduce absence of
reasoning power as a. defect in woman. The obvious error is to
gauge woman's mind by a masculine standard, and to expect the
astoundiug absurditj' that woman can, and should, possess all
man's mental qualities in addition to her owti ! Wiseacres blurt
out that woman is stupid, that her education has been neglected,
because she cannot write like Locke, Bacon, Newton, Shakespeare,
and Milton. Inability to argue — which would be a defect in man —
is a charactcnstic and valuable quality in woman !
It is a most irrational conclusion that woman is mentally un-
developed, and claims our pity, and masculine, mental, and physical
culture, to enable her to hold her own. Docs man's pre-eminence
in reasoning power give him an unfair advantage over woman ? It
would do so, if woman were — what sexual equality advocates mis-
represent her — man's disappointed rival, an undeveloped younger
brother, with a long lee-way to make up. " Woman is not undeve-
loped man, but diverse " (Tennyson). Two sexes constitute humanity.
To tell women to copy man is a gross insult. She was no more
intended to argue with, than to fight with, man. Very serious con-
sequences would result from the sexes having minds constituted
alike. Suppose that woman could generalise like man, could ascend
to principles, could think as profoundly, and reason as correctly ;
and that man had woman's intuitive powers, and capacity for
details. Woman would then become njan's rival, instead of his
help-meet. Each sex being able to dispense with the other's mental
qualities, man and woman would live in porijctual discord. But at
present, in spite of woman's alleged mental defects, harmony reigns
between the sexes. There is constant reciprocal need of the male
and female mind sui)plemeutiug one another. All tends to mutual
inter-dependence and happinees. Kacli sex, in turn, follows the
other's impulse, listens to the other's advice ; each influences in his
or her respective province ; each obeys, and both i-ule.
J. McGkigok Alla.n.
[273]— At the beginning of his letter of the 13th, Mr. McGrigor
Allan makes an assertion which, although true in the abstract,
cannot logically be advanced as an argument for the mental in-
feriority of women. It may be that in the past men have prac-
tically monopolised tho control of human thought and human
institutions ; but this cii'cumstance is no more a voucher for their
intellectual superiority than the defeat of the Komans was proof
of the mental supremacy of the Uuns. It lias been largely a ques-
tion of physical force, the assertion of which is proportionate in
despotism to the ignorance or degradation of the mule community.
What authorities can Mr. Allan cite for his stalen.ent that savage
life shows the nearest approach to physical equality of the sexes 'i
Tho hardships to which savage womeu arc accustomed from their
infancy ore certainly such as could not safely bo imposed upon
civilised females. But are we to suppose that savage life has not
increased male robustness in an etiual proportion 't
Mr. Allan incidentally remarks that 'among savages woman is a
slave." This is a fatal admission ; for savages do but give physical
scope to tho spirit of overbearing which animates scoffers at women.
Name u nation wliore women ore debarred from social influence, and
you have named ono which is proi>ortionutely back ward in liberty
and knowledge. But, tu bu consistent, Mr. Allan should ag\laUi
against the |i<irl which women already take in state affairs. Ue
cannot surely resign a large shore in such un ini{ orlant function aa
the eilucation of future generations into the hands of tlioac who,
he declares, do not possess "auilicicnt development of the abstract
principles of justice, morality, truth, &.C., to hold society together
for ono week I "
It is a remarkable fact that Mr. Allan's school, although it has
ever impeded and o|iposed, as it still does impede and op|>osc, the
higher education of women, always seeks to make an argument of
their small achievements in invention and philosophy.
Mr. Allan hath it that " the eternal subordination of woman is
conclusively oxemplilied in her exaggerated admiration for the male
prerogatives — strength and intellect." Vour readers must judge
as to tho soundness of the proposition that admiration — whether
exaggerated or not — for strength and intellect is evidence of in-
feriority ; but 1 have always heard that a profound appreciation of
talent was the special characteristic of the world's greatest men.
For the rest, Mr. Allan's letter makes a series of pompous and
sweeping assertions, sup|>urtcd by an extract from a novel, and so
spiced with illiberal flipjmney as to contrast strangely with his
complaint of female injustice. K. Bl'BKk.
[274] — As " Only a Woman " considers the philosophy of Sl.iif.i ■
speare conclusive on the subject of "womeu possessing justii.' .
may I call her attention to a few things that tho subtle under-
standing of the immortal bard has given forth to tho world. lie
says, " Frailty, thy name is woman!" "Be it lying, note it, the
woman's i flattering hers, deceiving hers ; " "Women are frail as
tho glasses where they view themselves ; " " Even to vice they are
not constant." About their logic, he says, " 1 have no other but a
woman's reason." Satirical view of their constancy: "Constant
you are, but yet a woman ; and for secresy, no lady closer j " " Hon
hard it is for women to keep counsel."
So it will ajipear that Shakespeare does not represent woman as
" infallibly faithful ; " and I think it is only just to bring forward
his opinions, since they have been courted. Some of his female
characters are actuated by the most selfish and vicious motives
that can pos.'iibly be conceived. B. C. Fkaseb.
[To say that Shakespeare makes certain of his characters express
these views, would be nearer the mark. What Shakespeare him>
self thought cannot be judged in this way. — Ed.]
ASBESTOS PAINT AXD THE SAFETY-LAMP.
[275] — Upon reading tho very interesting description in K.NOW-
LEDGE of the successful experiments recently carried out at the
Crystal Palace with the asbestos paint, I was ltd to infer that
another important ai>plication of it — namely, to the wire-gause of
the ordinary safety-lamp— might be adopted. For, if this gau/e
were so protected, it would not, I conceive, even under the most
unfavourable circumstances, be raised ahova incandescence, and,
therefore, could never, while entire, give rise to an explosion. Sir
Uumplirey Davy, in his treatise on the safety-lamp, having declai > I
"that even red-hot gauze of the proper degree of fineness wii
abstract sufficient heat from the flame of carburetted hydrogen ;■>
extinguish it." In fact, on account of the very low conducting.'
property of asbestos, and the consequent ditEculty of ra'sing it .<•
a high tempcratiu-e, I ventured to propose, somo years since, the
substitution of an asbestos gauze or netting for the iron-g.iu.:e
cylinder of the "Davy," but do not know whether the suggisti.n
was ever experimental!}' realised.
.Should you deem this brief commuiucation worthy a place u
your valuable pages, I shall feel gratified. — Yours, SiC,
W. H. (.1.
VEGETARIANISM.
[27G] — Permit me a few lines of comment on part of a letter
relating to the above subject, published in your last number, and
signed " A Fellow of tho Royal Astronomical Society."
If stories bo really valuable in controversy, I can produce scores,
the moral of which is exactly contrary to that cited by your oorre-
spondcut. But my experience of " stories " is this, that they are
seldom related with scientific exactness, and that minute investiga-
tion generally reveals some detail which has been cither wilfully or
ignorantly suppressed in narration, and which invalidates the whole
point it is sought to establish. Personal observation of facts in
one's own immediate sphere, constitute, in my opinion, the most
valuable kind of statistics. Some five years ago I had very eeverei
symptoms of tubercular phthisis, a disease hereditary in my familyJ
The physicians whom I consulted recommended mo cod-liver oilj
Feb. 10, 1882.]
KNOV/LEDGE
323
raw meat, and what is commonly calloil " good " living. They
were, however, of opinion tliat these means would but ameliorate
my condition temporarily, my fate being sealed. As 1 was
a vegetarian, and had begun to s'.udy medicine, I did not
put into practice the advice given me. Instead of the
raw meat, I took cold porridge made of oatmeal and milk,
maccaroni, and other farinaceous foods, w itli as much fruit as 1 could
get. I used hygienic means also, with the details of which it ia
unnecessary to trouble you. But I took no drugs, and no lish-oil.
Instead of dying, I recovered my health, and shortly afterwards
returned to my hospital course in Paris. Four years afterwards, 1
took my degree, and it is now my custom to recommeud to my
patients the dietary which saved me from death. I have found
several of my patients greatly improved in health by following my
eiample, and I have never found one the worse for it.
As I am " fanatic " enough to be ([uito sure I am right, I can
afford to meet objections to my mode of life with equanimity,
i knowing that they proceed only from insulRciont consideration or
Sardonable ignorance of the true bearings of the question. — Yours,
C. AXSA KiKGSlOKP, M.D.
[277] — Having inserted a letter (207, p. 251) in which an alto-
gether wrong construction is put upon the principles of vege-
tarianism, I hope you will allow the other side a little space for
reply. Vegetarians arc not such fools as to say that those living
on a moderate amount of animal food, and temperate in other
lespccts, cannot have health, though we think that a, total
exclusion of flesh, with the substitution of suitable vegetable
products, would give yet better health and greater lon-
gevity. Wc can point to hundreds of cases where weakness
and constant sickness has, after the adoption of a proper
Tegetable diet, given place to comparative health and perfect
freedom from sickness. " A Fellow of the Iloyal Astronomical
Society " gives an instance of greatly-increased mortality and
iOness resulting to some prisoners who were fed " principally on
white and grey peas and lentils with bread." This is not vege-
tarianism : these results are only to be e.\pected from such a con-
centrated highly nitrogenous diet, particularly as thej- were
prisoners and, 1 presume, not doing any hard work. Many, upon
making up their minds to try vegetarianism, think they must eat
twice as much (many old vegetarians, however, only have two
meals a day), and that, too, of the richest and most concentrated
-iDod — peas, beans, &c. As a natural consetjuence, they find them-
■dves gradually getting worse. They and their friends, therefore,
decry the system as a delusion. I could name some of the greatest
thinkers and hardest workers who have been vegetarians.
A Fellow of tub Chemical Society.
ANIMAL LANGUAGE.
[278] — From what I have read and seen, I have always taken it
for granted that animals have languages of their own. But
Arachnida evidently thiuks that proofs are wanting to show that
such is really the case.
Thoreau says that the language of birds may even, to a certain
extent, be underttood by man. His passage of the birds trying to
fill up the hole in the roof (the chimney, wasn't it ?) is very amusing,
and at the same time full of interest to the reader.
I Sir Samuel Baker, speaking of the monkeys on the banks of the
j Nile, says, that by watching them constantly he, by degrees, began
; to understand the meaning of some of their noises and signs, i.e.,
• I'<ir language. I forget if he uses ti.e word luiKjuwje, but 1 think
:!i;iy take it for granted that he thinks the animal kingdom has
rious languages, just the same as we have.
-! -Vrachnida has a cat who has a kitten, he will, by watching and
I listening carefully, find out that the old cat has a language by which
I it speaks to its kitten. For instance, I have noticed that by making
ja certain noise the mother will call its kitten to her, whereas
aaother time she will, perhaps, make a different noise, which will be
janswercd by the kitten, when the mother will run to the kitten, who
jwill stay where she is — instead of I'unning to its mother as in the
former case. 1 have noticed this over and over again, as we have
[had a good many kittens, and I take an interest in watching them,
.^nd have tried them, as they have grown up, with luokimj-glansca,
ic, to see the diffeience in their mental powers ; some, being very
:harp, finding out the deception very quickly, while others, aa with
M, have been stui)ids. But this is a digression.
I think there ought to be no doubt about the fact of an aninxal
Having a languiige of its own.
Tow able article on " The Intelligence of Animals" has very
learly brought me round to believe in the aialract power of an
iiumal to reason.— Yours ic, F.C.S.
©iicrics.
[228] — JIicuoi'UONE. — Will you or any of your readers kindly givo
me full particulars as to the construction of a dry pile suitable for
using with the microphone? Have looked up Guthrie's "Mag-
netism and Electricity" and Ganot's " Physics," the only works I
have at hand on the subject, but although they give the material
and arrangement of such a pile, they do not give the size and
number of the elements. — G. B.
[220] — Uair.^Is it possible for a person's hair to tui-n white
instanlaneousl]) from fear, or other causes ? It so, how is it ac-
counted for ? Have any well-authenticated cases been known ? —
Percy B. Dodd.
[230]— Telescope.— Will "A. P. M." (letter 238) kindly inform
what kind of black paint he used to darken the cartridge paper ho
used to make the tube of his Astro-telescope ? Whether it was
oil paint ; and if so, of what kind ? And also if he used any kind
of dryer in the paint, as turpentine ? And also if he can inform
me whether or not ho put into the tube diaphragms or not ? —
Daletii.
[231]— Chemical Pkoblem. — Would any reader of Knowledge in-
form me how the co-eliicieuts of any chemical equation may be
calculated, the full equation being given, except the co-etlicients ?
Thus given —
Cu-hUX03=Cu (S03)2-hH20 + N0
to find the numbers, or co-efficients, 3.8.3.4.2. : —
3 Cu■^8HN03 = 3Cu(NO3)2■^4HJ0 + 2^"0.
A method appeared in the Chemical Neus some years ago, which 1
cannot get now. — G. H. Mafleton.
[232] — Chemist. — Would it be possible for a young man, nineteen
years of age, having no knowledge of it, to be able, after severe
study, but at not too great an expense of money, to pass the several
examinations needed to set-up as a chemist ? What books would
you advise to commence, and also to [iroceed with ? The probable
cxjjense of passing ? The probable time ? — W. A. Fyson.
[233] — Biological. — Will Dr. Wilson, or any of your contri-
butors, kindly state — (1) Whether the difference between the
highest ape and the lowest man is any greater than between the
lowest man and the highest man ? (2) Of what organ among the
lower animals is the thyroid gland believed to be a rudiment ? I
cannot clearly understand from Ha;cker8 description in " Evolu-
tion of Man." (3) Whether any instances are on record of chil-
di-en being born with the caudal vertebi-X" projecting so as to form
a rudimentai-y tail i Also whether it_ is true that a race of men
exists with the projecting vertebra; ? If so, who arc they, and
where is their country ? (4) What is the brain capacity, general
form and appearance, and relativity to man of the Neanderthal
skull ? What geological formation was it found in i" No works to
which I have access throw much light on this subject, and a short
article would be very useful. — John Uamso.n.
[234] — Daisies. — Mr. Grant Allen will servo some hundreds of
us lawnors if he will tell us how to free our lawns from daisy
beauties. — A Lady Florist.
[235] — Animals' Food. — Can Prof. A. Wilson give me any fact
or theory showing that all animals were at one time herbiveroos ? I
am often inclined to think so, and that caruivorism is an acquire-
ment.— T. K. Allinson.
[236] — The Polar Sin. — At the North Pole, how many minutes
docs the sun's disc occupy in rising ? and along how many degrees
of the horizon does the sun move in the same time ? — K- W. I.
[237]— PuvsioGKArnY.— Can you tell me of any text-book of
physiograijhy suitable for the advanced stage of the science and art
examinations f Huxley's by no means covers the whole ground
indicated in the syllabus. — Grauatim.
[238] — Electric— What is the "co-eflicient of induction" between
two inductors — a term which Maxwell frequently uses but nowhere
defines ? Also, is there any electric force outside a galvanic circuit ?
— O. A. Briijge.
[239]— Spanish Botaxy.— Can any of your readers tell me if there
is any work on the botany of Spain similar to " Hooker's Students'
Flora of the British Isles," written in cither English, French,
Italian, or Spanish ? — T. Hi'cklebbidge.
[240] — Meiiilval. — What was the " luntes yelde," or " luntis
ycld," or " luntya g>lde," or " luntis yield" collected by church-
wardens from the parishioners in 1505 ? — Philo.
[241] — "Fairk Accumulator." — (1) Are all the tongues to point
one way ? (2) Which are joined together ? (3) How is one cell
connected with another ? (4) Is there any limit to the amount a
cell can hold; if so, whati- (5) Ought the cells to be open or
closed; if the latter, how ? (0) Would five small Bunsen's cells be
enough to charge it ? (7) Should the lead be lifted out of the acid
while not in action ? (8) Is the force of the battery equal to that
of the cells by which it ia charged? — EccENTRic-CnutK.
32-i
KNOWLEDGE
[FKa 10, 18S2.
[242]— I'liOHK CoHi'OidTloN. — Will yon kindly «Io mo the fuvoiir
of miyin^ wlto^** wurk yoti conaidor to bo tho hcHt r>n Engliiili proso
comjiositioii ? — Stanislas.
[213] — Aiii-Pi'Mp. — (1.) I Imvo II Hmnll nir-piini)) with one Imrri'l.
1 hnvo liioil 111 filter morcnr)- thioiiKh ii little rnno filter sold fur
the piir|>os(', 'lilt without Hiicicss. Would Homo reader of Ksow-
LRnOK kindly give mo ii reason for this ? Does the experiment
require n stronger pump ? (2). Would some render mention a book
containing pxpcriments with the nir-pnmp ? — X. X.
[2i4]— LrcniiKs. -I wish to give a few Hcientific leetures to
young people, and should be grateful if some one would suggest
good subjects, telling ine where to get information, and how to
nmko Bimjde instruments for experiments ? Where ran I got
information for a lecture on " The Atmosphere," and what oxperi-
monts could be made by ono who is nnabic to buy costly apparatus ?
—X. X.
[215] — Moon's Brightness. — The sun's light striking moon more
obliquely, when near new moon, one would expect brightness per
unit of surface to be greater. Is this so?— C. T. B. [Onr corre-
spondent surely means less, not greater. It is theoretically less,
and actually less. — Ed.]
[246] — Uarometer. — What is the mean height to mercury
barometer at the equator ? — C. T. B. [29'853 inches ; though I
should, for my own part, be disposed to doubt about the last decimal
figure. — Kn.]
[2i7] — Warmth at Night. — I am a slight sufferer from chronic
asthma, accompanied, chiefly at night, with a few attacks of
coughing ; and friends have urged the use of gas, conveyed through
tubing to a stove filled with " asbestos," to warm the apartment.
Is it conducive, or not, to one's health to maintain the warm
temperature all night ? — J. M. J.
ixfplteis to <Bnmt&,
' [152]— "The Art of Klectro- Metallurgy," by Ci. Gore, LL.D.,
F.R.S., (Longmans) 1877. I succeed perfectly where C. T. B. fail.s.
— W. Van Evs.
[179]--FArRE AcruMur.ATOFR.— Other things being equal, the
power of Faure cells are to one another as the superficial area of
the plates ; but by using several plates in one cell, and coupling the
alternate ])lates together, there is some gain, inasmiich as you use
both sides of the plates. It a|>pears to me that it is erroneous to
call the Faure cell an accumulator. The Faure cell is, when charged,
a mere Voltaic cell ; and the action that goes on in the cell, when
discharging, is similar in its nature to that which takes place in an
ordinary Voltaic coll. The same remark applies to all secondary
batteries. — U. B. T. Strangwavs.
[188] — Longevity of the Tortoise. — The late Professor G.
Pryme, of Cambridge, mentions having paid a visit at the palace of
the Bishop of (I think) Peterborough, and being there introduced
to a tortoise, said, by tradition, to be then 200 years old. Going
to the same i)Iaco some ton or twenty years later, he found that the
patriarch was defunct. The jiassage occurs in a very interesting
biography of the Professor, written by his daughter. — E. D. G.
[191] — Animal LAKcrAGE. — Probably animals possess means by
which they express their feelings one to another, be those means
movement, looks, or even artifv.lation. Hut considering their social
state, we have no reason to expect that the Almighty endowed them
with powers of speech as the human race. The members of the
brute creation, living lives almost independent of each other, while the
very existence of the human race depends on the mutual help, and
therefore on the mutual intercourse of its members, what language
may exist between animals is of a kind vastly inferior to that
between man and man. But one finds, on studying the animal
world, that this language is more perfect in the higher than the
lower orders, some of the latter being entirely mute; the neighing
of horses and ponies, the cawing of rooks, the greeting of dogs,
and the language of birds being illustrative of the former, and the
lowing of kine and the silence of fishes of the latter. Apart from
the language which /Esop and La Fontaine put in the mouths of
animals, and the whistle which some other individual placed in the
mouth or the shell of the "Oyster of Drury-lane," we may conclude
that some inferior means of intercourse exist, and that to a greater
extent of perfection in the higher than the lower orders. — Herbert
H. Welt.er.
[192]— Ice Aoe in Britain.— That an ico age or glacial epoch
haa existed in Great Britain, we may infer from the facts : that in
some parts the eminences are alK precipitous towai-ds the west, the
rasult of some powerful agent wearing away that side ; that in the
intervening v.alleys, boulder clay|(a blue clay, in which rounded and
waterworn iichblps are imbedded) is found ; that deep furrows
across the country, and sirintions (acratchos) on the rocks, ar" i.li.
Her\'al'l'>, the Hiriationsand furrows being all parallel to theinf' '
that all the eminences are rounded at their sumniita, the rr^i.
some powerful agent passing over thom. — Ukriikbt K. Wem.i
[102] — IcR Age in Britain. — In answer to " Arnchnida," |. -
as lo what proofs exi.st, showing that there ever exintcd an i •
in Britain, reference to any geological work of any pretotj-
would have showed him the country fairly teems with proofs, from
the Thames to Cape Wrath. The three great witnesses of glacial
work are (I) the transportation of erratic blocks ; (2) the smiv.ili-
ing and scnitching of the valleys through which the gl
travelled"; and (3) the presence of arctic fossils in glacial di i
As typical instances, Staffordshire contains erratic blocks •
ported from the Cambrian group ; rocks from the Grampians :.ri.'
found GO and 100 miles south of those mountains; while in Wicklow
an immense block of granite is ]>crchcd up G50 ft. above sea- level,
and ten miles from tho nearest granite. Valley scratchings aro
typically cxliibited in the neighbourhood of Snowdon. .Vmong tho
arctic fossils are Trophon Clathratum, Aslarte horealig, end J'cctcn
Islundicus. — W. G. Rolfe.
[195]— QiuK.siLVEB .vox-Poisonous. — It may interest "F.C.S."
to know that in former times liquid racrcnry was given in largo
quantities, even pounds, for obstruction of tho bowels. As to its
efficacy, I cannot speak. The fact is, that ordinary liquid mercury
passes tlirough the digestive tract without being absorbed, and,
therefore, without producing any effect upon the system. If. hr.w-
evcr, it be reduced to a state of very fine division (as is really the
case in grey powder, blue pill, and some other preparations of
mercury), it is absorbed, probably because its fine state of division
enables it to be easily converted into o.xide. — F. W. G. — [In parts of'
Ireland in former years a dose of small shot used to be given for a,
similar purpose. — Ed.]
[105]— Quicksilver non-Poisonous.— For tho sake of F.C.S., I
quote the following words from " Taylor on Poisons " : — " Although
liquid mercurj- is not in itself poisonous, it is liable to be converted-
into poisonous compounds in the body," p. 360, 3rd Edition. — 1
Robert Macphekson. ^
[197] — Messrs. .1. & E. Hall's last designs are by far the best in,
the market, not only for efficiency, but on account of their simpU-,
city and the small space they occupy. — G.ay. ,
[200] — Le.ases. — " J.imes Gregg" should consult an actuary, orj
study Sii- Isaac Xewton's " Tables on the Value of Leases," or.
the modern " Tables " of Inwood, or both of these authorities. '
[200] — Leases. — To determine the value of a loose, evea'
when the conditions arc specified, is not always an easy matter.
To the following seemingly simple problem, I have received a,
score of answers, all varying. I would be glad of an authoritative;
solution. A. paj's for a fourteen years' lease, £1,050 ; the rent for
tho first ten years is to be £250, and £300 for the last four. At th«
end of ten years he agrees to sell the lease to B. at a proportionate
price to what it cost him. What is the amount B. must pay A. ? — ••
W. Cahill.
G. M. T.
[201] — Minima of Algol.-
Feb.
h. m.
16, 4 33 a.m.
19, 1 22 a.m.
21, 10 10 p.m.
•M, 6 59 p.m.
March 11. 3 la.m.
., 13, 11 53 p.m.
„ IG, 8 42 p.m.
April 3,
23,
28, 8
H. M.
1 13 a.m;
10 24p.mj
3 17 a.m.
0 6a.iai<
55p.i
Professor Pickering's observations, however, at Cambridge, U.85'
show that in 1880 the true time of minimum preceded that of tlw
cphemcris by about 37 minntes. " L." would do well, therefore, to
look out for the minima about three-quarters of an hour before tli6
times given above. Algol begins to diniinish about 1 hours hefoiB
tho actual minimum, and does not regain its full lustre till 5| honif
after the epoch of faintest light. Curiously enough, Algol has ft
companion at about 82" distance, which is also variable, but in soma
long period. It would take up too much space to answer " L.'a*
second ([ucry adequately. An east wind has sometimes a veljf
cvu'ious effect, rendering the discs of bright stars triangular, Mr
causing them to be apparently accompanied by a faint, close coM-
panitm. 1 found the latter effect very markedly visible on two
occasions in the early part of 1874. Webb had noticed the
thing. Perhaps the Editor would say if he has ever heard of t$t
" triangular " effect having been noticed in .\merica. — H. SadlsI^
[206] — Opium. — In chronic lead poisoning, the constipation, whiflll
is u.'snally very obstinate, is duo to a tonic, e.g., a continued COD'
traction of the muscular coats of the small intestine. If opium were
administered in such a case, it would act as a purgative, by c
coming this spasm. — RonERT Macphekson.
[207] — Heat. — The hand can bo put into molten iron. Til
perspiration induced by fear provides a cushion of vapour, as il
spheroidal state. If tried too often tho experimenter has goJ
Keb. 10, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
325
1 Wetting with ammoniii acts better. A ling worn lias
.1 burning.— C. T. B.
- 1 0] — HoMKR. — Both the " Iliad " and the " Odyssey " are pub-
I in prose in Bohn's Classical Library, price 5r. each. — C. J. C.
-13] — Organic Compounds. — "Siquis" should road Borthelot's
iiiiic Organique fondee sar la Synthase," Paris, 1860. Sec also
ii;;o," &c., in last number of Knowleugk. Alizarin (cliief
r ing matter of madder) got by Gnebe and Liebermann from
leenc. This can be built up from its elements. If " S." will
, will gladly show how.— C. T. B.
-Is] — Tennyson. — " In Mcmoriani," pecm S7 : —
" And over those ethereal eyei!
The bar of Michael Angelo,"
1-0 brow was straight and prominent, the .si^;!! of intelleelual
■ r. I6i(f, poem 91 : —
" The sea-blue bird of March,"
kingfisher, which like other birds, puts on its best plumage in
spring. — Vide " Key " to " In Memoriam," by Alfred Gatty,
-I'.B.F.
IS] -"The bar of Michael Angolo" refers to the peculiar
■let ion of the forehead, forming a wrinkle, seen in the old
:!its of Michael .^ngelo. Arthur Uenry Ilallam, referred to in
iiDtation, had this same mark on his brow. — JonN Ckaig, JfX.
-!s] — " Se.\-bli'f. bird of March." — Kingfisher (C. Karen no).
" These fields made golden with the flower of March,
The throstle singing in the feathered larch.
* • • * •
And down the river, like a flame of blue,
Keen as an arrow flies the water-king." — Ouijk.is.
-I'l] — The Atomic Theory. — Daubeny's "Introfluction to the
.-.c. Theory," O.\ford, 1850, is the best English work. There
ilicory to explain insolubility ; bodies of similar chemical con-
' ion dissolve each other. — C. T. B.
-JO] — Chemical Analysls.— The most complete book on Quali-
' .\nalysis is by C. R. Frescnius, translated into English, and
-lied by Churchill, at 12s. Cd. The methods, however, are
I', and take up more time than most students can spare, but
are the best and most trustworthy. A very good book on the
subject is " Practical Chemistry," by Jones (Macmillan,
' ;.). In " Quantitative Analysis" (inorganic), by far the best
most complete is Fresenius's (Churchill, ISs.); the large
' -r of methods and quantity of matter is, however, confusing
'• beginner, unless under the guidance of a teacher. On the same
t, Thorpe's is very good (Longmans, 4s. 6d.). If agricultural
istry is wanted, there is Church's Laboratory Guide (Van Voorst,
' 1.) ; the first part is qualitative, the second quantitative. The
1 ird work on Volumetric Analysis is Sutton's (Churchill, 15s.).
I ' immercial Organic Analysis we have Allen's, of which only
I rst vol. is published (Churehili, about 15s.). " Practical
Mistr)'," by Blyth, is an excellent work on foods, drinks, and
ilogy (Griflin, about 12s.). "Wanklyn has written separate
I treatises on the analysis of water, milk, tea, coffee, and
1 (Triibner) ; " Water Analysis " — Frankland (Van Voorst);
rrable Water" — Ekiu (Churchill); "Butter" — Hehner
inhill, 3s. Cd.); "Commercial Handbook of Chemical .\nalysis,"
N ' rmandy, is in dictionary form (Lockwood); "Select Metliods
iiialysis, by Crookes (Longmans, 12s. Cd.); "On Microscopic
ysis of Foods," Hassell's is the best (about 21s.). There
: number of important articles on food analysis in the Analii>.t,
lithly magazine (Bailliere), which every food analyst should
Do not confine your attention to any one book on water
-is ; it is necessary to read Wanklyn's, but analysts do not
vv it throughout. , There are so many works on qualitative
sis that it is difficult to say what are the best. — A Fellow of
Chemical Society.
-lili] — Mortality from Cancer. — 11. A. Everest will find in
land's work on "The Geographical Distribution of Heart
i-e. Cancer, and Phthisis, in England and Wales," illustrated
jlourcd maps, the facts proving that cancer is influenced by
)iy. The above work was published in folio in 1875. It is
ut of print, but can be obtained at second-hand booksellers,
-een at the Library of the British Museum.
i.''tter 220] — The Health of Navvies. — In Xo. 12 of Know-
F, I find bctel-nnt chewing given as a specific against fevers,
■'avanesc and Snndanese are inveterate betel chewers, and yet
have been dying literally by thousands during the past few
i - from fever. When I left Samarang, Java, in September last.
I ativcs were dying by hundreds of fever. My experience,
■cling over nearly four years in various parts of Asia, has been,
the natives who universally chew betel (with lime, and the
' ■if the sirih-pepper-plant) , are much more easily affected by
!■ than are Europeans. — Ei>win Sachs.
gns;U)ri£( to Coiiteponlifnts!.
bffo.
tncreasing t
HlNT8T<
I be a:i
attons for the Editor requiring early attention rhoitlJ reach the
the SiiturJai/ preceding the current iuite qf KkowikdoB, the
rculutioti oftchich compete im to go to preee early in the Keek.
ConnisrONDKNTS.— 1. A'o queilioua ailcing for Icienlijic iriformalioa
red through the poet. 2. Lettert tent to the Editor for corretpondentx
cannot be fonearded ; nor can the naniee or addrcngee qf correspondents he given in
aneteer to private inquiries. 3. No qnertes or replies savouring qf the nature of
advertisements can be inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to Rule 3, free of charge. 6. Correspondents should Krite on tme side
only of the paper, and put drawings on a separate tet\f. 6. Each letter, query, or
reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
nade to the number of letter or query, the page on which it appears, and its title.
S. S. G. See Dr. Ball's paper in our next.--C. Ichabod W.
Kindly put query in concise form. — Walter W. It would save
much trouble if you would either put your queries in form, with
heading, Ac, or head your letter properly. Does moonlight really
make the planets and their satellites more distinct ? That three-inch
IS a splendid telescope. Having .seen Kigel, as described in " Half-
hours with Telescope," know that it can bo so seen. Possibly the
objects you refer to were observed under unfavourable conditions.
A new edition of Webb's "Celestial Objects for Common Tele-
scopes " has been published lately. — Joseph Davidson. There is
Rodwell's " Science Dictionary," Moxon's, price 10s. 6d., I
believe.- E. Vf. Propose to re-write the articles on the
" Differential Calculus," with sundry improvements which have
occurred to me. — Zares. When did we say that a tangeutially
(horizontally) moving mass has no energy ? If a fly pushed against
a mass a ton in weight so sus])cndcd as to be perfectly free to move
in the direction in whic:li the lly pushed, he would communicate to
the mass just so much momentum as corresponded with the force
wherewith he had pushed it. Or conceive half a ton of matter
connected with another half ton by a strong but weightless cord
passing without friction over a jiulley, and lot a fly light on one of
them. Let his weight be one-ten-millionth of a ton. Then the
weight on which he lighted would immediately bcgiu to descend,
the accelerating force being one-ten-millionth part of gravity. In
10,000,000 seconds, or 115"days, 17 hours, C§ minutes, the velocity
communicated would be 32 feet per second — that is, the same
velocity which gravity communicates to a falling body in one
second. It would take rather more than 34 days to communicate a
velocity of one foot per second. As to your offer of £o prize to
determine what force would overcome the inertia of a pound of
iron, we are much obliged to you, but must decline. Wo repeat
your other query ; we might safely offer a prize ourselves to any
correspondent virho can understand what you mean. You require
" the summation of the infinite number of infinitesimal difi'erences
between 0 and 1, of which 0-5 is the intermediary or I." The sum
of the differences would simply be 1. You do not mean that, how-
ever, for your original query asked for the sum of tho series 0 to 1,
when the number of terras is infinite. That sum, if there were such
a series, would be infinite. You say I " dare not say " two ships
unequal in mass, moving with equal velocity, could both be
stopped with the same resistance : I dare say not. — F. Blake.
Your method already given. But for the jiresent we have
done with magic squares.— Granville Sharp. You are more sharp
than generous or reasonable. Before you spoke of my "foolish
utterances" in the Spectator, you should have made sure they were
mine. As it chances, they are not, nor do they in the slightest
degree represent my views. Seeing how rashly you rush to con-
clusions, I am almost pained to think you ever thought well of my
work. How sad to think that your past liking may have been as
ill-founded as your present disfavour ! — H. A. B. Statement in-
sufficiently exact; you say nothing of size of building and height;
you do not define your " very near."— G. E. R. Science knows of
no wav of inflicting pain on persons at a distance, " notwithstand-
ing such obstacles as closed doors and windows, without any visible
means." The stories about such action at a distance are
generally thought to illustrate tho influence of imagination. —
F. E. B. The writer of " Brain Troubles " has some singular
experiences to relate respecting music in the ears ; the pheno-
menon is unquestionably subjective.— O. Dawson. Pray define
inferiority (in the Man versus Woman question), man (in the
Descent debate), true (in the Phrenologj' discussion), and justice—
in your own w.iy. If you had any conception of the value
of time, yon would" understand what our definition of injustice might
be. We have no time for hair-splitting, and it is unjust to expect us
to follow yon in yours. We could find space for a short letter
giving your definitions, and commenting (at reasonable length only)
upon what you regard as the inexactness of others. — Clericls. Wo
receive letters from .\merica which are printed by somo new form
of ty])e-writer, probably the one to which you refer. Perhaps some
of our readers can give us information about tho new, cheap
J26
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[KKa 10, 1882.
(boptinnprs") type-writer recently bronf;)it ont in America. — E. 8.
Dr. Ball (whom wr have invited to write for uii on ttio irah-
jerl, and who hns kindly dono fo) in <|nitp ri^tit ; the enerjfy
of a Ixxly in rfti»inK tidnl wnves vnricB directly IIB tli'o
mnsa, and inversely a.i the rnbo iif th" dixtnnec ; thnt in why
the hinnr tide errecdn thnt mined by the Hnn (which, wero the
mtio thnt of the inverno Rqnnre, would ho the (freator). W. I'.
Thank* ; wo hnvo toncliod on the point in our nrticlo on " Fnlln-
cien," now in type.— EnMitvp Hint. Ilofore we ro to the expense
of engraving yonr diiigmm, we mnst Imvc snme idc.i of the nature
of the relations you propose to doni witli. As it utands, it looka
like " n lionst." We p'vp it without a nprnre, nnd in our own words,
in the Mathcmnticnl Column ; but we should not cnre to nttack it
nnlesa we saw onr way to some nseful rrsnll.— H. A. Htllkv. Ik-I
ng rest, ftft^^r mapic squares, before wo begin on magic circles. —
W. 11. Many thanks ; your alRebraiciil solntion very neat. — A. N.
SoMEB.xcALES. Thanks; but the projection not likely to interest many,
and Bpnco rnns short. The polar aspert of the heavens appears.—
A. T. C. When we wrote "any rectanslo," we meant, as nsu.il. that
the solution mnst be applicable to any nclaufjleof whatever dimen-
sions, not that you might take a rectangle of any particular dimen-
sions which seemed most convenient. The question related to
I.H.S., pat on tombstones now, not to the ancient inscription in
Oreok letter.'!, I.H.S.— C. J. C. May shortly describe a very simple
instniment, by which the place of Venus "in the day-time may be
found.— E. D. a. Quite nnabie to find place for what you rightly
describe as a flood of notes. Broun-Seqnard was the name of tho
physiologist yon refer to j but ho did not ^vrite tho .article ; ho was
qnoted in it among other authorities. I wrote the article myself.
Tho difficulty about recommending liooks is that tho practice
is open to abuse. — J. WniTr.KV. Depends what size field
you require. It is impossible to answer questions so vagiic.— R.
Stavely. Thanks. But yon get tho vrrong cqnation to escribed
circle. Tlie negative sign under the first radical is incorrect.—
W. G. RoLFE. Astronomers are not at issue with geologists as to
the earth's interior volcanic ashes carried by winds. In my article
on OArth-bom meteors, I have shown how meteors .sent beyond the
earth's control would still travel on paths intersecting the earth's
orbit.- A. M. K. T. Ton are quite right. I have written repeatedly
to show that the only danger was for the comet, which, in such
»B encounter, would be like the " coo " of tho elder Stephenson.
—A. Jellitax. Never heard of any astronomer so named, bnt
Prof. Pntchard may bo writing about the stars.— R. E. J. Tlint is
just what I did take into account. If facing a windmill, the
left arm alua<js goes down, it follows that if the windmill face's tho
north, and yon, facing it, look sontlnvards, the eastern ann goes
down. On the other hand, if you look northwards in facing it, the
western arm docs down. Why the left arm should be made to
go down and the right arm up, instead of the revcrs'o holding, I do
not know.— rniT.0. Brackets are far too useful to be limited to
the use to whicli Whately put tliem.— G. B. Thanks, but first set
of hogs sufficiently attended to.— A. Gactiert. The Chinaman said
he was a member of a class of trained computers, and not one of
the most skilful.— G. M. T. Bates. It seems as though, since
there are -162 combinations of six girls, and each set of
five out of the six .appears six times — viz., with each
t Vi% remaining six of the eleven, there must be one-sixth
of 462 sets fulfilling the conditions, or seventy-seven. — G. JI. If
yon wait till I prophesy, you will liave to wait more than fifteen
years.— Winter. The time of Venus's brillianev is to bo calculated
not taken from the " Nautical Alm.anack." Vou have not got the
answer quite right to the watch question. The watch loses five
mmutes in a day of twenty-four hours, and the interval from noon
at one place, to noon at a place IT due west of it, is more than one
day.— J.C.L., G.F.H., Geo. Brown, Araitciiexs, C.T.B, and others.
Thanks for notes on the quicksilver matter.— Insomnolexs. Yonr
night-wntching calculation of the sun's restraining force on
earth, measured by tensions of snn-attaclicd wires, is ex-
cellent. Wish we could find room for it. There is no doubt
now on the general subject of liglit. Sound ceases to be
perceptible when the vibrations are very rapid, and a very wide
gulf separates the most rajiidly vibrating 6ound-w.aves from the
most slowly vibrating light-waves. The waves are also different in
kind. To s.ay tnitli, one might almost as well ask, Wlir, since water-
waves rock ships, do not sound-waves also rock them ? aa your
question. Why, since vibrations of a certain velocity produce sound,
light-waves are not also heard ?— HE.sK-ETn. A theodolite would not
help yon much fo End a star or planet from the R.A. and Doc. in
the Nanlirnl Almanac. Yon can calculate bv spherical trigo-
nometry the altitude nnd azimuth for a giVen epoch ; but
a fresh calculation would bo w.antcd after the epoch was
past. Tho best way is to use an equatoriallv-raounted tele-
scope. Of course, if the object is conspicuous, you can
mark dowu its place in a star chart, and then readily iden-
tify it in tho constellation wherein it is. — S<tKNTi« Amici-s.
Querj- why birds scmtch their headii, rather too snggostive of l/ord
Dundreary's " Why doth a dog waggle hith tail ? " — CncBCiiMAN.
Thnt is just one of the qnostiona wo do not winh asked of the
students of science to whom they refer. What they think of tho
origin of man is clear. If they think this inconsistent with other
views, wo do not wish them to say so ; therefore, we do not wish
others to ask them if they think so. — Jah. OBirNnr. When a jx-rnon
who has had small-pox, or hag been vaccinated, in again attacked,
it is not tho revival of the former disease germs which is in quci-
tion, bnt the introduction (in some way) of new germs into the
system. Vaccination is supposed to act as a f»erfect protective for
about seven years. Germs, however, may lie dormant for years, aj
we see in such cases of infection as arc discussed in Tyndall's book on
" Dust and Disease." — Ubsa Major. 'ITic rule is — nnml)cr of feet
fallen in ( seconds, equals IGl x sqnaro of ( ; so that in G seconds a
body falls through G times 30, or 210 feet.— J. .Siiabp. Observations
snch as you cite are not of snfficicnt exactness to admit of scientific
discussion. It is no proof of spontaneous generation to ask. If snch
and such living creatures were not evolvol in the places where
thej' are found, whence 'came they. In manj' cases, where tho
origin seemed more perplexing than in those you cite, Pasteur and
others have traced the complete chain of linked existences. —
Gravity. The difference in tho range would not bo so great a*
tho parabolic theory would suggest, the resistance of the air
greatly affecting the range; hut there would be a decided
ilifference of range. If both guns were fired at the same time,
then, when the lower projectile had descended to the ground, the
upper would have attained as great a horizontal distance, and be
still 100 ft. from the ground ; it would not be ilcscending vertically,
the range continuing to increase, though more and more slowly,*
till this projectile in tnm reached the ground. — A. E. S. Thtl.
question was answered on page facing the answer to other A. E. S^
— J. A. S. B. Too big a cpiestion. All perturbations have to bi,
considered, besides mathematical relations of a complex kind. — H.
R. Welleb. Thanks, but room for only one answer to the ques-
tion.— C. E. II. By a sine qui non is signified something witl*-_
ont which a certain course w^ill not be followed ; the words mi
"without which not." — 1. .1. .Simpkin. Thanks for the co:
tions. The article was too technical for the "remler" and for
readers. It was sent to the printers by mistake for another. — Rl
W. ,1. W. Many thanks. — Constaxs. Nay, tho poker, if — as
— cold, in the first instance will do the reverse of what yon saggesk
If finally it gets warm, its warmth has been taken from the fix*
which it is supposed to nourish. In the other case, we know wl^
less light readies the eye in full snnlight. Stay in the dark awhile^
with a small mirror in your hand, facing the blind which darkens
the room, and while .a friend draws up the blind, look at the pupils
of your eyes as seen in the glass, and you will see the reason clear^
enough. Can see no reason why with spring tides the sky should
always become overcast ; though, of course, thcro is then a widsr^
water surface for evaporation. — Jonx Saxpers. The points of light
are simply the images of .Jupiter itself seen after doable reflect
at the front of the glass as well as the back. Children have been
snfFocated by cats sleeping over their f.oce, not by cats drawing,;
their breath. The secret of such criticism as that in the Manchester
f<portinj Chroni'-h is to be fonnd in my condemnation of sporting
rascaldom, not in my predictions of unpleas,ant things. It is veiy
well known I have predicted only snch things as meteoric showers,
&c., which have usually occurred as predicted — unlike what sporting
pro]ilicts predict ; praise from sporting prophets would be like the
contempt of honest folk. — J. P. Saxdlands. Sorely you are a
little unreasonable. Certain readers ask for intermediate forms,
saying that if there is descent, such forms should exist. Dr.
Wilson describes some. You then s.ay they do not prove descent ;
and I reply, naturally, that he wrote in response to those who
thought such evidence as Dr. Wilson supplied essential to the de-
velopment theory, and not for ono who, like yourself, considered
that it proved nothing. Now you s.ay that Kxowi,edgk, being in-
tended for those who want information, contributors should write
for those who, like you, want information. Are we, then, to answer
no questions until we are assured that every reader of K.vowlepcS
wants the information asked for by some of them ? It would
interest me to know how my article on ** Fallacies about Luck"
touched on religious questions. In one sense, everything almost
that could bo said hero might lie regarded as touching oni
religion. The statement that two and two make four, involTing
as it does the inference that two and one make three, might be
regarded as verging on a reference to the diverse doctrines held by
Trinitarians and Unitarians ; remarks on Itrain Troubles might bei
considered to refer, more or less directly, to theological interpreta-
tions of " possession by spirits ; " Dr. Carpenter's <li,qcnssion of Food;
questions might lie held inconsistent with the Bible narrative of the,
baskctsful of fish ; and Mr. Foster's articles on Illusions might be
Feu. 10, 1882.J
KNO\VLEDGE •
327
regarded as intended to explain away miracles. We eipect fairer
treatment than tliie, however, from our readers, whatever their
religions views may be. The word "Simian," when referring fo
the s|wcies, always has a capital. As for "extraordinary," does it
mean extra-ordinary in yonr sense — that is, exceptionally ordinary ?
Always thought it meant something outside of what is ordinan,-. —
\V. Greenwood. If the air in bladder is much compressed, there
will be a slight excess of weight ; otherwise none, unless weighed in
vacuo. — F. CoWLKV. Yon are right in saying that we do not
see a star where it actually is, if the star is in motion,
though, owing to the much more rapid motion of light
than of any celestial orb, we always see a st.ar very near (appa-
rently) to its true place. But you aro quite mistaken in sup-
posing that owing to the earth's rotation, the star's tme place
might be in the southern celestial hemisphere when we see the star
in our northern skies. The earth's rotation has notliing to do with
the matter — atUast nothing in the way imagined. Compare the
earth to a twirling globe in a room, against which a number of small
shot are shot from a distance. The globe may have made several
twirls while the shot were travelling, and the side turned towards
the gun when it was fired may be on the opposite side when
the shot arrives, but the shot will reach the s^ide which is at
the moment of .arrival towards the gun ; and, in like manner,
rays from a star reach that side of earth which is towards
the star, so that rays coming from a star really in the southern
celestial hemisphere cannot possibly reach a part of the earth turned
towards the northern celestial hemisphere. In other words, wher-
ever a star's rays reach the earth (that is, wherever the observer
maybe), they will seem to come from the direction in which the star
lies, apart from the .slight corrections due to aberration, &c. The
suggestion that expensive telescopes and microscopes might be let out
on the three years' system seems worth considering. — F. F. Read
article by " Fellow of Astronomical Society," in No. 10. — B. Riley.
Your method of computing the moon's distance from the force of
gravity, as calculated for the moon, combined mth moon's known
period, is simply working Newton's problem backwards. It is indi-
cated at p. 21-2 of my Treatise on the Moon. — 1'. A. The lecturer was
quiteright, so far as a.^tronomy teaches. I have for several years given a
lecture bearing the same title and treating the .^lubjoct in the same way.
Hatter may be infinite, but it does not follow th.at each sun in space
can draw to himself an infinite quantity. — Vice-Apmieal, F. A., &c.
Thanks. The efficacy of oil as a sea-calmer has been warmly advo-
cated by Mr. W. Chambers, in C}wmbers' Journal. Believe the matter
rtill remains in donbt. Have not room for the long extracts sent
both by F. A. and VicE-AnMiRAL. — J. J. Your method already
considered in the earlier numbers of Knowlepce. — Farmer Will.
Sorry to hear you say you have a " fossilised mind," but your belief
in Noah is scarcely of scientific importance. Permit me to quote one
aentonre of your letter : — " Before Noah's time we read that there
■■•^s a certain tree" the taste of whose fruit brought trouble. "In
)>ing knowledge we eat of that fruit." Will adverse critics, if
!i there are, remember? — J. II. TI. I can answer from my own
..i,.servati(m that all the objects you mention can be seen with the
smaller apertures, powers, &c. Probably the faintness of green or
blue stars m.ay be due to the quality of j'our glass. The diffraction
rings not being complete circles does not indicate very serious defect.
Wish your letter were a little more compact, or your queries put
separately, in proper query form. — B.M., F.R.C.S. You write under
evident misapprehension as to space at our command. But thanks all
the'same. Surely the Osborne sca-ser]ient case did not occur so many
as "eight or nine years" ago. Which questions would better suit
the Lancet. We do not at all want medical questions; but unless
yon call the quicksilver question medical, nonesuch have appeared,
— Arthur Twobt. Light from each point in the small triangular
space gives circular image of stin, and these overlapping, combine
into a single circnlar image, in which the triangularity of small
aperture is lost. — A. J. Mabtix. It was a slip of the pen on the
part of " Five of Clubs," which he corrected in the next number. —
E. J. Wilson. Do not know any better work on trigonometry than
Todhunter's. — J. A. Ceawlev. Thanks for quotation from Tacitus,
showing that Tiberius was of the same mind as author of " Brain
Troubles " : " Politusqne eludere medicomm artes atque cos
qui post tricesimum £ctatis annum ad internoscenda corporl
suo utilia vel noxia alieni consilii indigerent." — E. D. G.
1 Thanks for numerous replies and notes. If Knowledge
1 could liut be expanded weekly to 48 pp. or so ! Replies not
I mentioning number of quen,- are useless to us. — J. 11. Garfit.
1 Fear I can only say the ai-ticle was too long. When any circum-
', stance assures us that an article will not suit, our attention is
i naturally turned at once fo "the next article."— J. Bae. Who-
t erer reaches the Pole will probably have to winter there. For him
■ there are many tvays. — J. .T. Henderson- wants titles of books on
chemical analysis of alcoholic stimulants. — J. W. C. That would
he right, if tou have correctiv determined focal length of the two
glasses. Bat a 2-inch aperture would not readily bear suoli a
power.— W. Baxter. Ferguson's tables no longer of any value.
Trj- Johnson's book on eclipses. — Graoatim. The paradox comes
in before the Pole is reached. The time is finite, but the number
of convolutions infinite; how, then, can tho particle bo said to
reach the Pole (along what course, I mean) ? Thanks for
other matter, but no space except for qnerj'. — It. W. Dr.
Brewer's explanations amusing. " Why does sun put out fire?
Because the chemical action of sun's mys is detrimental to com-
bustion ! Wliy does a poker across a fire revive it ? Because the
poker concentrates the heat ! " Just so. This sort of science -teaching
might go on for ever. As thus, why do the planets travel in ellipses?
Because the tendencies of planetary motion are elliptical. Why do
comets bring disaster to nations ? Because of the disastrous ten-
dencies of comotic apparitions.— A Stuiiknt No. 1. Vouaskusto
reconcile a statement made by Dr. Ball with another made by the
Astronomer Royal for Ireland. Dr. Ball says in one lecture, there
is no water in the moon ; the Astronomer Royal for Ireland, in
another, says tidal waves checked the moon's rotation. But Dr.
Ball said in the latter lecture that such waves would exist whether
there was water or not in the mosu ; and in the former lecture tho
Astronomer Royal for Ireland said that formerly there may have
been water in tho moon ; while finally yon are not to sujiposo that
Dr. Ball says one thing as Dr. Ball and another as Astronomer
Roval for Ireland. This you will have opportunity of rocoprnising
shortly in an article which ho has written at our request for Know-
leoce. — A STtroENT No. 2. Stimulants certainly not good ; the
other matters depend on the health, strength, and constitution of tho
student. — B. Your vernier reads mrro closely by being so divided ;
.adding the extra divisions is equivalent to bisecting thcdivisionson'.the
limb.— G. G. D. Measured from true noon, tho change is equal on
either side, but mean noon slightly differs from truenoon. Read any
text-book account of equation of time. Fully answered in ordinary
explanations of the calendar.— F. II. R. Edinburgh is so often
pronounced Edinburg, that custom may be regarded as at least
justifying the practice. In Scotland I have seldom heard it, but
always Edinbro', among tho less educated often Kmbro'. — W.
Wilson. Cannot see how a scientific theory can depend on tho
merely verbal questions you raise. I would rather, for my own
part, say, " I see the house," than, as you suggest, "I see the
vibrating ether ; or, I have received on my consciousness, through
the retina, tho optic nerves, and tho brain, an impression by
vibrating ether," indicating tho existence of a house, &c.— Gkralo
Massey.— The motion of the apsides does not affect the preccssional
period. It shortens the interv.al between the epochs when spring,
or any other fixed seasonal point, coincides with perihelion or
aphelion, but tho spring equinox makes the circuit of the ecliptic lu
the period of about 25,870 years mentioned in books on astronomy.
—J. A. Dobson mentions that Drew's Geometrical Conies is suffi-
cient for a first clas^ in fourth stage at Kensington.— M. II. P. Tho
dream theory of your lecturer has no scientific basis.
ILfttn*^ lUrcibtli.
T. V. II., A. Ailkcn, Acacv, S. de M.. .1. B. Diml.leby, E. M.,
J. C. II., F. W. Beckett, J.'R. U., J. J. M., Isaac Isaacs, Cosmos,
Charles Gray, X., Amicus, G. A. L., J. A. Miles, Magic Squares,
Student, (not A Student), Vega.
^ottsi on art anil ^ricnrf.
Ax Electbical Stati-be Alarm.— .\ curious application of elec-
tricity is described in La Ltiinicre £lectrique. It consists in a
device to prevent military conscripts practising frauds as to their
stature by bending their knees. When the youth stands erect
against the measuring post, the hind parts of the knees press on
electric contacts, causing two bells to ring; the ringing ceases when
there is the least bendintr. The sliding bar which furnishes the
mea.sure has also a contact^ which is pressed by the head, whereby
a third electric bell is affected. For a correct measurement, the
three bells should ring simultaneously. This system, tho invention
of M. Cozala, is now employed in the Spanish army.
Capacities op Lungs. — Dr. Nagorsky, having measured tho
capacities of lungs of 630 boys and 314 giris in tho schools
of, the district of St. Petersburg, now publishes tho results of
his investigation in a Russian medical paper, the Hnrr/ron. lie
has found that the rapacity of lungs, in relation to the weight of
the body, is 65 cubic centimetres for each kilogramme of weight in
boys, and 57 cubic centimetres for giris. The law of Quetelet being
that, with children below fifteen years of age, the weight of the
body is proportionate to the square of the height. Dr. Nagorsky has
323
KNOWL-EDGE
[Feu. 10, 1882.
foand tlint it is jiroportionni to 2-16 of tho name ; whilo tho capacity
iif liinKB iH iircii><)rtioiinl to 2 -l of tlie lioiRlil for boys, nnd to tlic
Hiiuiiro of tlu> lu-i(flit for K'fl"- •'■'• NuKi)rBky'n ronoarelioH will noon
lir publiMhcd in ii Bcparati' work. .\8 to tlio r»'lntion between the
wrii^lit of nmii unci tlie capacity of lun^". it is tolerably iiormnnent,
iiud iui viiriutioiiH are inontly due to dillurenccB in llie amount oi
flit in tlie bodied of different men.
K.IPLOSIO.N OK Aqi'a Ammoni i:.--Tlie I'hariiiareulical Joiir.tnl
iiionlH a recent ea«o of on expUwion of ordinary liquor ainmoniie,
followed by serious resnItH. A Ilelfast woman, subject toheadacli'',
Bent her daughter to the drii(;iti»l to purchase a small quantity of
"head salt.s," for which he guve her liquor animoniu', or " Hpirit of
hartshorn," inslead of tho wilt, carbonate of ammonia. The rial
was jiut on a shi'lf and not used for n few days. Ilavinif a head-
ache, tho woman lifted tho romody t > apply it, and had it inh- '
hand for a few minutes only when the vial suddenly cxjiloded,
NcatterinK the contents over her face. Her eye was destroyed, and
her month and throat burned, the skin of both having been torn off.
Tho vial had been put on the mantelpiece previous to the time it
was used, and when about to apply the contents the woman was
sitting near the tiro.
A NEW work, by Jlr. Richard Ifcado, Assistant Keeper of Mining
Uocords, entitled '"Tlio Coal and Iron Industries of the United
Kingdom," will be issued about the loth inst., by Messrs. Crosby,
Lockwood, & Co. Besides a description of the coal-fields and the
)irincipal scams of coal, Mr. Meade's book will include an account of
the occurrence of iron ores in veins and seams, and a history of the
rise and progress of pig-iron manufacture since tho year 1740.
.Maps illustrating the position of coal-lields and iron-stone deposits
throughout the kingdom will accompany the work. Messrs. Crosby,
l.ockwood, & Co., will also issue, during the month of February, a
new work, by Mr. Lowis D'A. Jackson, author of " Hydraulic
.Manual and Statistics," entitled '• Modern Metrology." This
manual will treat of the metrical units and systems of the present
century, and will include an ap()cndix containing a proposed English
system. The book will, we understand, be dedicated, by permission,
to the Risrht Uou. W. E. Gladstone.
0\iv i*latl)fmatical Column.
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
[29]— An ellipse has semi-diameters DB, DF (DB = 2DF) . From D,
/)C is drawn, making an angle cot" '2 with DIS (on the same side
as DF), and DA making angle .4r»C = angIe CDB. Make DA = DB,
and draw ACB. From AD cut off 4E = one-fourth AD. With
centre E describe circle AGH, cutting elliptic quadrant AF in H and
(.' ((t nearer to F). Draw GI perp. to BD. Let A/ cut DC in J.
With centre B and radius CJ describe circle cutting CD in A', and
with centre C describe circular arc KL, cutting KB in L. It is
required to determine geometrically the ratio of the arc KL to the
[Straight line CB. — Edmv.n'd Hunt.
[30] — Simultaneous Equations. —
x' + y = 11
y^ + X = 7. — Thomas Fawcett.
[ This equation can readily be solved, so far as finding the obvious
roots is concerned ; on the other hand, if a and b be written for 11
and 7, the equation cannot be reduced to a quadratic. We leave
the equation in the above form, as an exercise for the young
reader.— Ed.]
[31]— Equation. —
a;' + 4x' = 27. — W. H. B.
[32] — How TO Analyse a Cukve ? — A curved object has to be
reproduced in different sizes. A tracing of its curve has been made
on paper. How can an analysis and definition of the curve most
easily be arrived at ? A base line has been drawn on the convex
side of the cnr\'e and offsets taken to the curve as noted below : —
Baseline 0 -15 '25 -35 '6 -7 -85
Offsets 2-3 1-7 1-5 13 1- '9 8
Base Hue 10 12 1-15 1-75 1-95 21
Oftaets 7 0 o -1 35 '35
Baseline 2.1 2G5 30 3-5 41
Offsets 2-25 2 15 1 05
The measurements being in inches and decimals, can the law or
laws of the course of the curve be deduced from these figm-es ? If
yes, how ? — Fred. W. Foster.
[33] — Bisect a triangle by a line drawn from a given point out-
side the triangle. — J. A. Dodson.
|3t] — Eleven school-girls went for a walk every day, and were
each offered a bouquet every day so long as a different six presented
themselves to the giver, and provided also that no ^ire girls ever
found themselves in the same grojp twije. Ou how inoi,y dayi
could they so arrange them«c!vc«? — G. H. T. Bates.
[22] — Tiic equations are —
(")
b X y
(x — a, v — b, obvijusly siiuuii. loitt.)
(li) 2x^/i'»a'■^2x^'x'+ b'-o'-b'
May I suggest another astronomical problem ? A lunation
2953059 days, and jieriod of the sideral revolution of the moou'a
node is C79U 5 days ; show th:it after 1 155b doys eclipses may be
expected to recur in an invariable order. — Klevebte.
[22u] — Con-ecting tho obrious migprintj, we have
•'.:+f-a■^b (i)
a b
?M:'-«-f6 (ii)
j; !/
One solution is obviously i — a, i/ — b. But proceeding secundum
arlem, i.e., finding value of .t from (ii), substituting in (i), and
reducing, we get
{a + b)y*--2bh/-3abh/ + 2b'{a + h)ij-b'=0
As !/ = b is a known root, it follows that y — b is a factor of i
equation. Diriding, then, by ;/ — b,
(o■^b) y'-^(a^-b») ./-(2a(<'-^ b') ,j-tb* = 0.
On trial, ij — b is found to be a factor of the new equation, and we
get (« + '') y' ■*■ 2aby — h' = 0, a qnadj-at ic,
whence
y^a + b^'"^"^"'*'^^'*''''^'
besides the previously obtsiined values b, and b.
Then, by symmetry, the values of x are
a, and a, and r( -1+ ^a'l-ab + b')
a-¥ b^ '
V. .). Birr.
I should be glad of a better solution of the following than 1 have
been able to devise.
y X
,^42 13
X y
Science and Art Department, May, 1881.
In my hands it becomes, by substitution, from ^i) in (ii)
.,"_tvkr''-Hl623.c" — 21 952:=0, which, treated as a cnbic, and solved
bv Caidan's rule, gives x = 4, and !/ = 2, besides imjigi nary values.
But 1 think there must be a shorter cut. — F. J. Butt.
[.v"-e3y'= -" ; Zt'+y-= — ; whence (x -f y)^ = 21C, x-hy = 6.
Then 3 (6-y)*-h !/2=---i 3(6-!/)'y -f i/' = 104, giving (y-3)'=-l;
i/ = 2; .T = 4, with imaginary roots. — Ed.]
" [28]
a^ X g-Hx —
^a + >/a + x Va— v/o— X
rationalise denom., and we get
(o -H x) = + (o - .r) - - 3x v/a
square (a-)-.r)'-t (a -j)^-i-2 (a=— x') = =9o x'
i.e. 2a'-3ax»=-2(a»-x»)^
square 4 a' -r 9 a-x* — 12 a*i?
= 4<l«-12a^r■•-^ 12a'x*- 4x»
i.e. 4x"'=3n-x', from which we get
x = 0, or ± v/|a
[Similarly solved by Yarletoxia-n and others.]
W. N. W.
Om- KUjiSt Column.
THE GAME IN No. Xlll.
YOUU correspondent. "Five of Clubs," in his observations ou
Z'a pluy (p. 2Si), approves of iTs holding up the turn-up
card, and playing a higher one to the adversary's lead of trumps
because he thoi-cby gives information to his partner. Now I submit
tluU on an adverse lead of trumps, the right rule is to give the ad-
Feb. 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
329
versaries as little information as possible aa to the number one
holds, and for that reason one ought, as a rule, to play the turn-
up card, when a small one, as soon as possible. Giving iuforiuation
in the ease of an adverse lead of trumps is so, it setms to me,
Bacrificing the real object in play, viz., trick getting to the princii)le
of giving information, which is only a means to an end. But this
is a result to which the teaching of those who make this principle
their hobby, and assert it to be the basis of modern scientific Whist,
necessarily leads. The principle of giving information of strength
to a partner is as old as the game itself, and is sound, because,
as a rule, it is information by which a partner can gain
more advantage than the adversvries, but I am sure that to tell the
table of one's weakness is giving information of which the adver-
saries can avail themselves more to one's detriment, than a partner
can to one's advantage. It anyone doubts it, let him play dummy.
If dummy's partner, he will find how much less use it is to him to
know dummy's cards when dummy is weak, than when he is strong.
If dummy's adversary, he will, on the contrary, find that he can take
much more advantage of knowing dummy's weakness than he can of
his strength. So that, judging by experience and by reasoning, I
believe that the old mle of trying to conceal weakness, even at the
risk of deceiving your partner as well as your adversary, is sound.
I dwell upon this point, because it is one on which I consider
"Five of Clubs " essentially wrong. He, at page 42, says in effect
that there is no limit to the principle " that it is more important to
inform your partner than to deceive your adversary." If this be true,
A and W playing against T and Z wonid gain an advantage by being
allowed to expose their hands on the table, whilst Fand Z held up
theirs. But does any reasonable man believe this ? 1 supjiose not,
bntif not, there is some limit. JjCt us apply a further test. Suppose
A is permitted to expose his entire hand whenever he chooses, but
has to pl:iy it him.iclf, does " Five of Clubs" really contend that A
would be wise to do so when he has a weak hand ? If he docs not. he
admits a still further limit to what he calls the great principle of
the modem scientific game, and really comes back to the principles
tanght by Hoyle and Mathews. I am aware that " Five of Clubs"
gays that these two are out of date, but 1 am not alone in the
opinion that Jtathews' treatise is the one of all others most likely
to dcvclopc the powers of a player, to make him use the rules as
his servant. ■^, instead of being their servant, and to enable him to
cross the lino which divides the mere book player Irom the first-
class player.
One word more, and I have done. Will " Five of Clubs " refer
to his observation 9, p. 28-1-, and explain why Z, after two rounds
of clubs, will, because F plays the ten, be able to place the Knave
of Clubs in r's hand ? F's play of the Club ten strikes me as
decidedly bad ; he was, of course, bound to keep up the small Club,
but as it could not matter which of the three higher ones he
played if Z held the Queen of Clubs, as well as the Ace and King,
he was bound to play on the assumption that Z held only the Ace
and King ; now, by playing the ten, Y would tell Z that the nine
was in the hands of the adversaries, and Z would properly con-
clude that if either adversary held the Queen or Knave with the
he, Z, could not get the command of the suit by leading the
:ind would, therefore, feel bound to load a small one upon the
• of T holding the Queen, the very thing which }', having
lubs, ought to try to prevent Z doing. — Mogi'l.
ir.i obliged to MoGi'L for pointing out what he considers to be
in my views respecting Whist strategy, because in this, as in
.er matters depending on experience and reasoning combined,
■ ith can only be got at by what may be described as a system
::A and error. With regard to " Mogul's " general view on the
'U, whether is is better or not to give as much information to
:i'-r as can be given consistently with the rules of the
I may for the present content myself with the re-
: that modern Whist adopts the principle which he con-
- unsound, and that, this being so, one can hardly depart
it without actually deceiving partner (which is not quite
ime thing as failing to inform him). Clay has clearly shown
■ chapter on False Cards, that the result of attempting to keep
Iversaries in ignorance of the constitution of one's hand may
- way be most mischievous. It may be the case that in a
.liar hand, giving information of weakness may do more harm
an be compensatod by any advantage ; but, in the long run,
■ ni play in each hand (up to the point when the strategy of
md has been fully developed) is best, the play of false cards
■ uiiu hand (though, perhaps, saving frpm immediate disaster)
I 'OdiDg to doubt and mistmst in many others.
I' In passing, I may note that playing dummy (single dummy, pre-
umably, is meant) is not a trustworthy test of the system of
lodem Whist ; for, in a number of cases, what may be information
\> one's partner in the usual game may be no information at all to
'■ "• adversaries. I
If anything I said at page 42 means in effect that thtre is -no
limit to the principle " that it is more important to inform vour
partner than to deceive your adversary," then I certainly said what
was entirely and egregiously wrong. It is often absolutely essential
to success in the closing rounds of a hand to deceive the adversarj-,
whether partner be at the same time deceived or not.
Turning now to the game at ]i. 28-1, I note first that I entirely
differ from " Mogul " as to Z'a policy in playing five of trumps anil
holding up four (the turn-up card). 'l had not expressed approval—
timply noted why Z had done this. But tho reason which
" Mogul " urges against Z's play does not exist. The adverse lead
of trumps is not such as to indicate more strength than Z possesses
himself. .4 has led trumps when his o>vn suit is exhausted from
one of his adversaries' hands as well as from his partner's. Z can
be certain that A has not more than four trumps one honour, or
three trumps two honours, for if he had had more he would have led
trumps earlier, with such strength as he had (and has already
shown) in spades and diamonds. Now Z has himself four trumps,
headed by Ace, ten. He has a long suit headed by Ace, King'
Queen. His only chance is in i>laying as with strength in
trumps J and his policy is therefore to show his partner all
he can of his tramp suit. The game is gone anyway if
Z's strength in trumps shall prove insufficient to bring in the
long suit, and he simply plays as if he knew for certain that he had
sufficient strength. If the score were " love all," the case would be
different ; Z's policy would then have been to play a backward game,
so as to lose as few by tricks as i)ossibIe. But playing a backward
game as the score stood would have been the same thing as throw-
ing up the cards.
Similar remarks apply to Y's play at trick 9, which was rather
warmly canvassed after the evening's play. Consider what 1'
knows, what Z knows, and (which is quite another question, and
very often overlooked) what Y knows that Z knows. 1' knows that
the Diamond King cannot be with Z, or Z would have played it as
soon as trumps were out. He knows that Z cannot credit 1' wrongly
with the Diamond King, for at trick 2 1' would have put it on A'b
Queen, if he had had it. Z knows his partner has no more spades
(this is clear from A'a play in leading trumps at trick a,
which he would not have done if there were two Spades outside his
own hand — knowing his pai-tner with none). Z, then, can put three
Spades in A's hands, three Diamonds at least (from penultimate
lead, and four if he has noticed that the lead was really from the
ante-penultimate) in B's hand, headed by Diamond King. Also
from B's discard of Club five, when only one trick was wanting
to win, Y knows that if Z has not the Queen himself he will
certainly not place it in h's hand. Thus Y knows that if Z has
not Ace, King, and three Clubs, he would throw up the
cards, for in that case one trick munt go to AB. He
knows that Z is certain to draw the Queen if it lies
with A. And he sees that among the various cards, including
Queen, with which Z mitjht credit 1', there is only one which would
justify the lead of a small card ; viz., it 1' held ten. Knave, Queen,
and no other Club. But as Z ought to know A with only two
Clubs, and B with only one (it is not l''s fault if Z has not noticed
B's ante-i)cnultiinate lead— tricks 2 and 3), Y must have four Clubs.
By playing as liedoes, then Y does, not run the risk Mogul suggests ;
while if Z has Ace, King, and draws the Queen from .1 (who, so far as
r knows, may hold it), Z will know from l"s play in the second round
of Clubs that Knavo must lie with him, his attention being in the most
marked manner called to this by the unusual play of 10 before 9.
As I said in the notes, this was not essential to t^e success of Z Y,
for if Z played according to the fall of the cards, he could not fail
to draw Vs Knave with a small card (if not holding Queen), but it
was well to call his attention to the point. Note that if Z had
been inattentive to the earlier play, and supposed Y to have
held originally either Queen, Knave, ten, and a small one, or
Queen, ten, and a small one (we are considering the matter from
Y point of view, who does not know that Z holds tho Queen), it
would be unnecessary to lead a small one, for Vs small one could
be used, after Queen and Knave were played in one case, or Queen
in the other, to put the lead again in Z's hands. If Z thought
that Y held Queen and ten only, originally, playing a small one
would be fatal, as, after winning with Queen, Y would have no
Club left. With only one hand out of four |)ossiblc ones, would
lead of small one be right — viz., if 1' had Queen, Knave, ten, in
which case if Z played the Ace before the small one, Y winning
third trick in Clubs, would have no Club to return with. Only
one chance in four suggesting lead of small one, Z would, of course,
play the King. As a matter of fact, he ought to know that )'
could not hold that particular hand. I am disposed to think )'
displayed unnecessary ingenuity — which, as I chanced to be his
partner — was perhaps, natural, for partners seldom criticise without
prejudice.
Five of Clubs.
330
KNOWLEDGE •
[Fxa 10, 1882.
(Pur Cl)r5s Column.
Knd !;nnic itmly, hy tlio vptomn itn
II. ir- IV llorwit/
WHITE.
Wtite to play and ^
Mr. GrimsKaw has amended his prolilcm in a vory Ingenious
manner, adopting the position by the addition of simply a I'awn to
both the solutions that his original problem admitted. He has
thereby madi- two problems out of one, which, although looking
almost exactly alike, nevei'thcloss piii'""ly lifTorcnt ideas.
Xo. 18.
By W. Grimshaw.
Br.icK.
No. 19.
By W. Grimshaw.
Bi,.icic.
%•
Il./J t '^
1
<»
"m
t
^J
m ^
W^."^ -^
t
It ^1
'i#
, t<
t VJ
it •# 5 -. ■
Wnur.
lite to play aiul mate in three moT«
Solution.
Q. to Kt..5. P. takes Q.
Kt. to Kt.5. and mates
nc.^t move.
WniTr.
White to play and mate in three move?.
Solution.
Kt. to B.5. B. takes Kt.
Q. to K.6. and mates
neit move.
It will be seen that the addition of a WTiite Pawn in the first
problem on Kt.3 renders Q. to Kt. 5 useless, as White now does not
threaten mate by Q. from Kt..") to Kt.sq. Then again, in the second
problem, the addition of a Black Pawn on I!. 2 prevcnt.s the first
solution, as. after Kt. to H.5, B. takes Kt., the Q., of course, cannot
now go to I^.G. We are glad to see that our remarks on the original
problem, published in the lUnslrated London News, have had such
a satistactor}' result, llio twin-problem, as it nny bo called, is a
perfect Chess cariosity.
C0I?1?KCTU")N.
S'llution of Problem in No. 8, page 171.
White.
1. K. to K.3.
2. R. to Q.Kt.7.
3. R. to K.7, mate.
Br,.\CK.
1. K. takes Kt.
2. K. takes I!.
2. Any other move.
3. Rook dincovern chork nc-
conlingly, and mates,
2. n. to Q.I.. .Ii«. ch.
3. R. to n.O. mat*.
2. Q.R. Inkrs B.. din. eh.
3. Q.R. to U.O. mate.
1. n. token P.(ch.)
2. K. to K.3.
1. n. ton.5.(ci. )
2. K. to K.3.
AX,'?WKR,S TO CORRK.SPONDENTB.
*,• rlcane adtlrma Chfu-Kiliior.
W. Goddcn. — Solution of Problem No. 14 correct. You are right ;
it is a beantiful composition.
A. J. Martin. — If you assert anything most emphatically, and
especially if yon are right, as you were in this case, yon need never
feiir nor tremble ! See correction. .Self-mate in where While
compels Black to mate him.
J. P. — Yon were right ; see correction. No. li right.
B. Pierce. — In the Evans Gambit, against corrert defence the first
player loses less than a Pawn, as he has some attack for the
abandoned Pawn. You can safely decline the Gambit by playing
4. B. to Q.Kt.3. We, however, prefer to accept it. i
G. Woodcock. — No. 9, incorrect — P. to B.6. is the move ; 10|
correct ; II, incorrect ; 12, correct. In note (*), read P. to K.R.4.;
in note ('), R. to B.sq.
Mahnie. — No. 14, incorrect — B. lo R.4. is the move ; 15, correct.
A. C. Skinner. — Solution of No. 14 correct and neat.
Vicar. — Solution of No. 1.5, correct; 11, B. to R.4.
W. Thurman. — Solutions correct. Thanks for problem.
Salford. — -Solution of No. 11 incorrect. i
S. L. P. — Solution of No. 14 correct, only you hare reversed thi
board. •
Geo. O'Donnell. — Solution of No. 14 incorrect — try B. to B.ft
In No. 15, White compels Black to mate him in two moves.
G. M.— Solution of No. 14 incorrect— try B. to R.4.
Arthur Black. — Received with thanks.
F. H. I.— Solutions correct.
Contents of Knowledge iTo. 14.
^
PIOX.
The Air of Stove-TTeated Koom».
Bv W. MattieuWilliama 2Si
Tmi'ng on the Sun. By the Editor. 286
Found Linki.— Part III. By Dr.
Andrew Wilson, F.R.S,E.,ic 2<iS
Intellisence in Animals 289
Xiuhtfl with a Three-inch Telescope.
Bv '■ A Fellow of the Royal .\stro-
nomical Society." {lUualraUdA 290
Brain Troubles ;' Partial loss of
Speech 291
Rryisws; Science Ladders — Science
for All— The Science of the Stars . 293
The Effects of Tobacco.— Part I. By
Dr. Muir Ho
292
• Grant on Meteorology ... 29i
I
Eaay Lessons in Blowpipe Cbemistiy.
— Lesson II. By Lieut. -Coloiul
W. A. Ross. laleR.X. ..
Kflluria and Health: The Ua« •!
Fleas, Ac; Fish "Sounds." By
W. Maltieu Williams
CoEBHSpoirnilscit; Tele-scope
—Volcanic Projectiles, ic...
Star Map for February
Queries
Replies to Qaeriea
Answers to Correspondents t'l
Notes on Art and Science »'.
Our Mathematical Column 3 •:
Our Chess Column »«
Our Whist Colamn SOt
re Monthlv Parts of KsowxltDfli
nambers. Price la. Post-fr*e
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Feb 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
331
MAGi^ZlNE OF SCIENCE
PlAINLY^yfORDED -EXACTLY DESCRIBEg^ I
LOXDOX: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1882.
Contexts of No. 16.
PAOB.
Birth ot Iho Moon l>v Tidal Evolu-
tion. Bv Pr. Ball, Aitronomor-
Rovnl for Ireland. Part 1 331
Microscopic Vision and Minute Life.
Bt H. J. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. 332
The Last Tratisit of Venus. By the
E.liior 333
TheCrrstal Palace Electrical Eilii-
bition. Second Xoticc. (Illiul.) ... 335
Popular Astronomy bv the Chief
of a Great National Ohssrratory . 336
EsviEWS; Sir Edmund Be;'kett on
the Laws of Nature— The Food we
Eat— Land.auer's Blowpipe .\na-
iTsis— Science for All 339
Night Slioima of Algol. 18Si 339
FAGS.
The Jfenaeing: Comet. Bv the
Editor. {lUa'Iraleil) '. 3W
The Effects of Tobacco.— Part II.
Bv Dr. Muir Howie »J2
How Spiders Fly 343
Intelligence of Dogs 3i4
CoBRESFONDBXCB: Optical Illusion.
-Cat's Eve Timepiece— 'Weather
Forecast, 'ic 3M
Queries 346
Replicii to Queries 346
Answers to Correspondents 847
Notes on .Art and Science 34.9
Our Mathematical Column 34S
Our Whist Column 3J9
Our Chess Column 350
BIRTH OF THE MOON
By Tidal Evolution.
Bv Dii. Ball, Astronomer-Rotal for Ireland.
PART I.
THE daily rise and fall of the sea, which we call the
tide, has long been known to be connected with tlie
moon. The discovery of the law of gravitation enabled
Newton to explain how the tides were caused. Newton
showed that the tides were partly due to the attraction of
the sun, but chietly to the attraction of the moon.
In the present paper we shall principally consider the
tides which are produced Ijy the moon, and the reader will
please understand that this is the tide to which we refer,
except otherwise stated. The tides are of the utmost im-
portance in our seaports. They are not, perhaps, very often
employed to do useful work, in the sense of driving ma-
chinery, but on work of one kind or another the tides are
unceasingly busy. No one who has watched the rise and
fall of the tide on the beach, or the currents of the tide in
a river, can doubt that the tides do work. We need not here
atten-.pt to enumerate all the varieties of tidal work. Let
'■* bo sufficient to mention one kind, as an ilhistration.
iho waters of a strong tidal river like the Avon, at Bristol,
ii- heavily charged with mud in suspension. The tides are
carrying that mud, and in doing so, they accomplish work,
at an expenditure of energy which could be expressed by an
equivalent amount of horse-power.
The steam-engine will only yield an appropriate horse-
power when the boilers are heated by a proportionate
quantity of fuel. So also the tides can only accomplish
their gigantic work all over the world because they are
bountifully fed with energy. Whence do the tides obtain
their energy- ? They draw it from a certain store which is
being steadily squandered and never replaced. The supply
in the store may be great, but it is not inexhaustible. It
is easy to discover the store when we consider the circum-
stances of the case. Fixing our attention solely upon the
earth and the moon, we can enumerate the different forms
of energy wliich may conceivably be available. The case
can be very simply stated ; there is a store of energy in the
earth due to the fact that the earth is rotating on its axis.
There is a similar store of energy due to the rotation of the
moon on its axis. The latter is, however, very small, and may
be left out of sight for the jjreseut. A third source of energy is
due to the fact that the moon is separated from the earth,
and that, as it would reijuire energy to force the earth and
the moon asunder, so, if the earth and the moon were
allowed to draw together, energy would be given out. To
this must be added the energy due to the motion of the
moon in its path around the earth. To put the matter
brieflv, we may say that the a^•ailable soiirces of energy
for the tidal work must be sought either in the rotation of
the earth on its axis, or in the distance of the moon, in-
cluding in the latter case the energy duo to the velocity of
the moon in its path, which is intimately connected with
the distance of the moon from the earth. As the tides are
incessantly drawing on this store, it is imperatively neces-
sary that one or both of these sources of energy be decreas-
ing ; we are therefore forced to admit tliat the velocity of
the earth's rotation on its axis must be diminishing, or that
the distance of the moon is decreasing, or that both
velocit}' and distance are decreasing. There can be no
doubt as to wliich is the true explanation, for the question
is determined by a well-known dynamical principle. This
principle assures us that the supply of energy required by
the tides must be drawn from the rotation of the earth.
Indeed, we may go further than this. It is most curious
to observe that a second draft is made upon the reserve
energy stored up in the earth's rotation ; this second draft
is actually expended in pushing the moon away from the
earth.
We have, then, two very remarkable astronomical con-
sequences of the tides. These consequences are founded
on dynamic principles, but in a manner not very easy to
explain without going into technical matters. The first
consequence is that the velocity with which the earth
rotates must be abating— in other words, that the tides on
the earth are increasing the length of the day. The other
consequence is not a little remarkable. It states that the
moon must be describing an orbit around the earth, which,
in the course of ages, is gradually liecoming larger and
larger. It must be remembered that these two conse-
quences of the tides are not mere speculations. They are
as true as the laws of dynamics, which have been conllrmcd
by universal experience. The propositions just stated will
not be questioned for a moment by anyone who is acquainted
with mechanical principles. Let us take first the impoi-tant
fact that the length of the day is gradually increasing. It
must be admitted that the change in the length of the day
is excessively slow. Even in centuries, the change is but
a fraction of a second ; but the change is always in one
direction, and, consequently, ever since the earth and the
moon commenced to have a separate existence, the length
of the day has been getting steadily greater and gi'eater,
until it has at present attained the well-known 24 hours.
We are now to look back into the history of the earth and
the moon in verj' remote antiquity. Our ordinary chrono-
logies of thousands of years are here quite inadetiuate. The
unit of time adapted for the earth-moon hi.story is one
million of years. A million years ago the length of the
day was appreciably shorter than it is at present.
There was a time when the day, instead of being
24 hours, was only 23 hours ; earlier still, we find the
day still less and less, but we shall not halt at any
intermediate stage ; let us at once project our view back to
the earliest and the most interesting epoch in the liistory
of the earth-moon system. At the very remote epoch to
332
• KNOWLEDGE
[Feu. 17, 1882.
whicli I refer, the day was very mach shorter than oar
present day. It was, indeed, only a small fraction of 24
hours. We cannot bo sure of the precise numlicr of hours
in the day at that time ; it sfN^nis to have l)ee.n more than
two hours luid less than five liours. For simplicity, w-e
may spexik of the Iciigtli of the ancient day as al>out
three hours, but it must Ik- carefully remcnilx-red that this
estimate is to be regarded merely as provisional, though
perhaps approximately correct
It had long l>eeji known that the tides were increasing
the length of the day, but the very remarkable researches
now to be de-scril)ed have only l)een made quite rec-ently.
They arc the work of Mr. G. H. Darwin, Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge Mr. Darwin's labours are contained
in a series of memoirs of a very abstruse nature, and we
here propose to give a general sketch of the principal
results to which he has \>ecn conducted, so far as the earth-
moon system is concerned. We shall endeavour a.s clearly
as possible to indicate what portions of tJie theory are to
be regarded as absolutely established and what portions are
still more or le.ss speculative. We have halted in our
retrospect at a day of 3 hours. Why is it that we caimot
look much earlier — to a day of one hour, for instance 1 There
is a very good reason why we cannot do so. In those
exceedingly early times, our earth was not the hard rigid
body with which we are familiar. It was in those days so
heated as to be quite soft, even if not actually molten. A
body like our earth in a molten state will not remain in a
spherical form when it is rotating on its axis. It will bulge
out at the equator ; it will become llattened at the poles.
The greater the velocity, the greater will be the protuber-
ance at the equator. If, indeed, a certain critical velocity
be attained, it will be impossible for the body to hold
together ; the centrifugal force would be too great, and a
rupture of the body must ensue. It is not practicable to
calculate what that critical velocity may be. The critical
velocity depends upon circumstances not within our present
knowledge, but it can be shown that the \elocity does not
differ, perhaps, very much from a rotation once every 3
hours. We thus see that a rotation of this amount is
about the greatest that our earth could ever have had in
the present order of things. What occurred prior to this
is not to be discussed at present.
We now turn our attention to the moon, which, in con-
sequence of the tides, must be describing an orbit of
gradually-increasing dimensions. It may be well to remind
the reader that the orbit of the moon is at any moment a
nearly circular ellipse, and that this ellipse is subject to
many disturbing influences well known to astronomers.
But these disturbances are all periodic. They increase and
they decrease. They may, in the course of ages, be
entirely overlooked in comparison with the tidal changes,
which constantly act in the same direction. In very
ancient days, the moon must, therefore, have been nearer
to the earth than it is at present The further we look
back, the nearer must the moon be. There is no reason
why we should not look back to an excessively remote
time, when the moon was as near as possible to the earth.
'I'he most extreme case would arise when the moon was so
near the earth that the two bodies were almost touching,
and we are bound to believe that, at some inconceivably
remote epoch, this did actually happen. It is easy to cal-
culate what must then have been tlu; length of the month,
or the time which the moon occupied in completing one
revolution around the earth. Kepler's law shows tliat when
the moon complet<>d one revolution around the earth in three
hours, the two bodies must have been veiy close together.
There was thus a certain very critical epoch in the eartli-
moon history. At that time the earth and the moon were
close together ; the earth was spinning round on its axis in
three hours, and the moon was revolving around the earth
in the same time. The three hours is, as already remarked,
open to some uncertainty ; but there can be no doubt that
at this critical epoch the earth was turning round in the
same time as the moon, whether that time l)e three hours
or some otlier amount of alxjut the same magnitude. At
tliis interesting epoch the earth kept the same face directed
towards the moon, and the moon kept the .same face
towards the earth. In fact, the two IxKlies revolved just
OS if they were bound to each other by invisible bands.
MICROSCOPIC VISION AND MINUTE
LIFE.
By Henry J. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
IN the early days of the microscope, wonderful reports
were made of its revelations, and in 174") Baker com-
plained that "some people made false pretences and ridi-
culous boasts of seeing by their gla.sses the atoms of
Epicurus, the subtle matter of De« Cartes, the effluvium
of bodies, the emanations of stars, and such-like impossi-
bilities."
One doctor declared that he had seen the eflluvium of
magnets as a mist Probably he mistook a misty view
for a view of a mist. As the instrument improved, and
more knowledge was gained, the sham wonders ceased to
appear, and although little was known of the molecular
construction of matter, it was no longer imagined that its
minutest or ultimate particles would be seen with the
powers employed. We are not yet in a position to say
e.xactly where the limits of \nsion must necessarily end.
Dr. Pigott reduces the image of a spider's web to
less than one-millionth of an in.:h in diameter, and
then shows it by remagnificatiou. His process is
like diminishing an object by looking at it through an
inverted telescope, and magnifying the small image thus
obtained. After proving that " spider lines, miniatured
down to the fourteenth part of the hundred-thousandth of
an inch, could be made visible to ordinarily good eyesight,
under proper* microscopical manipulation," he sought for
actual objects comparable in minuteness with these optical
images, and succeeded in showing them. One plan he
adopted was to smash, with a watch-spring, very small
globules of mercury in a minute drop of petroleum, inserted
under a thin cover on a slide. Many of these mercurial
particles thus obtained were exceedingly minute, some
round, and others iri'egular. Upon some of the irregu-
lars he found minute Ijlack points, visible with a power of
1,000 diameter, and comparing them with the thinnest
spider line, he found one, in particidar, less than one
millionth of an inch in diameter.
The visibility of extremely minute objects depends much
upon tlieir optical properties, and how they ai-e situated
in reference to neighbouring bodies. In his remarkable
investigation into the life-history of certain small objects,
called monads, Mr. Dallinger employed a magnitication of
live thousand linear, and could not with this great power,
see the minutest germs capaV>le of development into active
organisms. In tlie course of the spontaneous germination
controversy, the extreme minuteness of these germs was
not dreamt of by advocates of that theory, and Pouchet
thought the " pansperniists," as he called those who adhered
to the doctrine of omiie invrim ex ovo in the sense of regard- |
• " Proc. Roy. Soc.,'" p. 208. 1S80.
Feb. 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
533
ing every living thing as the offspriiig of a previous living
thiiJg, quite overthrown by considerations of tlie dinsity
air must have if it were as full of gmnis as they -eujiposecl.
Pasteur, Pallinger, and Tyndall have coniplett^ly de-
stroyed tliis argument, and shown that g6rn)S in vast
numbers can exist tloating in the air witliout any
appreciable addition to its weight, or obvious diminu-
tion of its transparency, though, as we slmll see, tliat
is easily aflected. Germs of various kinds are most
numerous in the air of towns and iuliabited rural districts.
They Ivcome fewer as mountainous lieiglit-s are ascended, and
in well-selected situations disapp.ar mtirely. All ordinary
air will cause life to appear in appropriate fluids that have
been previously rendered sterile ; b\it if a bottle containing
such a fluid is opened with due precautions on a jnoiuitain
peak, and then hermetically sealed, no life is developed.
In such experiments Pasteur used glass vessels with their
necks drawn out, and sealed up by melting them in a
spirit lamp, or witli a blow-pipe. To ensure against acci-
dentally introducing any germs lie might have carried with
him up tlie mount;iin, he broke the tips of the vessels'
necks with pliers made hot in a spirit lamp, and, after air
had been admitted, instantly closed them by reuieltiiig. He
thus found pure air to be free from any life-producing
particles. Tjnidal's experiments were made by imitating
the well-known motes in a sunbeam. He found that a
beam of electric light gave evidence of amazingly minute
particles floating in the air, and that when this effect
entirely ceased, the air contained no gemis. We can
seldom form an accurate idea of the real size of the
minutest objects we can just discern -with the microscope.
They often look a good deal bigger than they are, through
the optical defects of the instrument and the eye, though
Dr. Pigott found that when all the conditions can be
rendered favourable, the error is very small. The smallest
floating particles lit up by Tyndall's artificial sunbeam are
too minute for individual recognition bv the microscope.
It is only when they are numerous enough to form a delicate
cloud that tlieir presence can be made manifest. Objects
while floating in the air could not possibly be seen witli
high powers. It is necessary to collect tlicm, and keep
them either still, or onlj' moving in some fluid with mode-
rate velocity. If they are very nearly of the same refrac-
tive power and colour as the fluid in which they are
immersed, they can only with great difficulty be dis-
tinguished at all. Naturalists and physiologi-sts can
seldom arrange all the circumstances in the way
r-iost favourable for attaining to the extreme limits of
-ion, and their researches are u.sually made within much
irrower limits. If, however, the utmost possible power of
the microscope could always be employed, it would not
bring us near the prob.able limits of organic life. The
minute organisms capable of inducing changes analogous
to the fermentation caused by yeast have received great
attention of late years, and several important diseases are
distinctly traced to them. Bechamp estimated that eight
thousand millions of germs of one micro-ferment only
occupied one cubic ■2.')th of an inch. Not one of these
minute bodies could develope except by carrying on com-
plicated processes of a chemical nature, involving very
active movements of its atoms and molecules.
The mathematicians have made calculations founded upon
the pressure exerted by gases, and other considerations, which
( show that a particle of the sort of matter, such as albumen
and protoplasm, chiefly concerned in life processes, contains
in a space of one cubic thousandth of an inch more
molecules than any one could possibly form any conception
ot Sorby, taking a probable mean of such calculations,
supposes one cubic thousandth of an inch of water to
contain 3,700,000,000,000,000 molecules. A sheet of
ordinary note paper is about one hundredth of an inch
thick. One tenth of this w ould, of course, be one-thousandth
of an iucli, and a little 6<iuare box of that size each way
would liold the amazing numbcj of water molecules
mentioned. Perhaps a few thousands of such molecules
may sutlice for .some manifesUvtiwi of life, but even if
many uiillions should be requisite for tlie structure of the
humblest and simplest germ, \v(j.<;puld oc-Vj^r jSxpect to see
the actual beginnings of lifa ! i
When one million is spoken of, few pea-sons form any
definite conception of the quantity iiu.ant, and billions,
trillions, quadrillions, ic, convey no graduated conceptions
to anybody except in the rougJiest wa)'. Mr. Samuel
Butler, in his work on " Unconscious Memory," states that
"a man counting as hard as he can repeat numbers one
after another, and never counting more th:m one hundred,
so that he shall have no long words to repeat, may,
perhaps, count ten thousand, or a hundretl a hundred
times over, in an hour. At this rate, counting night and
day, and allowing no time for rest or refreshment, he would
count one million in four days and four hours, or say in
four days only. To count a million a million times over
he would require four millions of days, and roughly ten
thousand years. For fi\o hundred millions of millions he
must have the utterly unimaginable period of Ave million
years.' And yet in how small a space the matter around
us contains molecules to this inconceivable extent ! The
things unseen far surpass in number, as in minuteness, tlie
things seen.
THE LAST TRANSIT OF VEXUS.*
Bv THE Editor.
MY friend, our F.RA.S., used to say the transit of
Venus was, ^vith me, like King Charles's head with
Mr. Dick. The resemblance was certainly striking ; Mr.
Dick was always trying to keep King Charles's head out of
the Memorial, and constantly failed ; I spared no eflbrts
to bring the transit of Venus before the public, and
always succeeded. Be this as it may, it is certain that,
except in the case of an event like the transit, which was
bound to come ofl' at a particular time, mattirs of scientific
discussion are generally none the worse for waiting. Cer-
tainly, now that the transit is over, and no good can arise
from any discussion of the best ways of obser\ing it, I
should have thought myself very unlikely to go again over
the well-worn ground, or to recall the circumst;inces of a
long past controversy : is not tiw story told in the En-
cyclopiedia Britannica, in the American Cyclopa'dia, and in
the Monthly Notices of the Astronomical Society i
But I must confess the introduction of the treatise
before us— a treatise giving ample evidence of the zeal
and energy with which Sir George Airy could do any work
to which he gave his mind— has somewliat changed my
views as to the desirability of silence. There is not a word
which is absolutely untrue in these pages ; but there is a
(luiet siif/yeHio fal^i, a calm and complete suppressio vert,
which I cannot" but consider ywr tropfort. Let me briefly
run through the facts of the case.
In 18.")7, Sir George Airy made a communication to the
Astronomical Society, in which a comparison was made
between the transits of 1874 and 1882, with regard to the
suitability of the two chief methods for observing these
• Account of "Observations of the Transit of Venus, 1874,
December 8. Printed for the Government Stationery Office under
the authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, 1»»1-
834
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Fbr 17, 1882.
phenoniono. In 1861, May T), lu> addrpssod anotlior com-
munication to tlic saino body, advocating for tin' ohsrrrn-
lion <;/' tlin transit of iHM'i ouli/ — a rfconnninmt nrr of
Antarctic stations. In 18C8 he made yet another communi-
cation, advocating tlie same views, and an active discussion
followed, in wliicli tlie Ilydrographer of tlie Adminiity,
Captain (now Sir (!.) Richards took part, and in wliicli it
was generally agreed liy the naval oflicials present tliat
Antarctic stations could, and should, be occupied, as sug-
gested, for observing the lat<'r transit.
It chanced to be my duty at that time to write the
repoila of a.stroiiomi<al progress for the "Quarterly Journal
of Science," and for the " Popular Science Review ; " and
having the belief tiiat such reports should not be limited
to mere (juotations from tho.se who are assumed to
be authorities, but should involve a little independent
Inquiry, I began th(! investigation of the problem which I
then supposed that Sir (!. Airy had most fully and satis-
factorily dealt with. But I found his investigation to be
incorrect. A certain assumption at the beginning, which
had every appearance at first sight of being right, turned
out on closer inquiry to bo altogether wrong. To give an
idea how wrong it was, I need only point out that the
method deemed most suitable for the earlier transit turned
out to be the only method available (of the two in question)
for the second, while the method regarded as only available
for the second turned out to be far and away the best for
the first transit.
After calling Sir G. Airy's attention to this matter in a
courteous letter (supposing, of course, that when once he
had noticed the error he would set it right himself), and
receiving from him (as on several other occasions) a reply
more curt than courteous, I set to work to complete my
investigation for puljlication, and I eventually communi-
cated it to the Astronomical Society. Its accuracy was
never questioned. Sir George Aiiy admitted in a letter
(by no means intended to say pleasant things) that it was
the most complete and accurate discussion of the transits
published up to that time. It was only open to one excep-
tion ; it was not official : and because it was in no sense my
duty to make this investigation (in other words, because
I was not paid for doing the work), some (chiefly minor
officials) fondly imagined that I had no right to make it.*
Now, in this complete investigation of the matter, I was
able to demonstrate two points of great importance —
first, the utter inadequacy of the arrangements suggested
for the observation of the transit of IST-i ; and secondly,
the utter uselessness of the proposed Antarctic expeditions
for observing the transit of 1882. Thirdly — but scarcely
of less importance — I noted a region in British India,
including several of the best stations for observing the
• Strangely erronoons ideas are very common about oflicial posi-
tion. A man is apiinintcd to an important oflico in order that he
may do certain work, for which he is to bo more or less handsomely
remunerated, oat of money jirovided by the tax-jmyers. If this
officer is at the head of a department, ho has, besides his salarv,
authority over all other oflTicials in that department. But many
seem to imagine that this authority extends to persons outside
official circles —an idea preposterous on the face of it ; for such
persons are in reality among the employers of such oflicials, paying
them to do certain work, and having a right (if they chance to
have the necessary knowledge) to inquire how the work is being
done. The trouble is, that while so many have the right, so few
have the knowledge. Those who have it, if they possess also
the time to do the work, have something more than the right-
it ia their duty to make the inquiry. Who else is going to do it ?
If — which is altogether unlikely— our present able and active
Astronomer Royal were grossly to neglect all the duties of his
office, who is there above hini in office who could indicate his
shortcomings ? and who is there below him in office who would
Ventura t*. Somebody outside of office must do the work.
transit, and heretofore overlooked (because of the siiigularly
un.satisfact<^)ry metliod of mapping the obs'^rving districts
which Sir tJ. Airy had unluckily otlopted;. To these im-
portant matt«Ts 1 called attention more publicly than by
papers read before the Astronomical Society, vi/., in an
article which appeared in the S/n-rtotor oi February, 187.3.
My views were stoutly and skilfully support^nl by Sii
Ivlmund Beckett, in a paper which oppcared in the Timfn
of P'eb. 1.-J, 1873.
Xote that in these papers it was shown (1) that a
number of northern stations where the whole transit of
1871 could be observed should be occupied, for which kind
of observation no prorinion "f nil /m,/ no for lu'ni niaih ;
(2) that no stations need be occupied for observing the
whole transit of 1882, and fHpeciriKi/ that the dangermit
Antarctic stntioiis could not jxixxihlij he occupied with
advanl/igc then (but it was noticed that if they can be occu-
pied at all, they should be occupied in 1874, to supplement
stations already provided for in the south, %\here, as it
happened, though whole-transit observations heA not been
intended, such observations could be made) ; and (.'}) that
the North-Indian region mentioned above should l>e
occupied.
Government, of course, followed the customary official
course, — inviting the officials who.se judgment was oppugned
to say whether they were mistaken. Equally of coui-se,
those officials .said they had made no mistake, implying
even, by their tone, that officials never do, or can, make
mistakes.
Sir G. Airy tried the same line with the Astronomical
Society. He pooh-poohed the notion that Siberian and
north Chinese stations could possibly be occupied — and a
fortnight later news came that American, Russian, and
German astronomers were to occupy these very regions.
He ridiculed the North Indian region, which he had over-
looked— and ^•ery soon after he had to provide for extra
stations in that very region. But he specially ridiculed
the suggested Antarctic expeditions (one of the islands —
St. Paul's — which I had recommended, was eventually
occupied by the French, and good work done there), as if
I had ever had any reason but his own advocacy of such
stations (ridiculous advocacy, he now asserted) for believing
that they could lie occupied. And of course, the very
officials who, when he had wanted the stations for 1882,
had urged no objections, now swallowed all they had before
said, and — greatly daring — said the very opposite.
Just here, v:here I had gone icrong in foUoiring him and
believing in official utterances, u-a^ the one point ichere irhat
I had advocated was not carried out in every detail : and
just this point is all that Sir G. Airij chooses to notice h[
the introduction to the volume be/ore us. He describes my
paper in the Spectator, and Sir E. Beckett's, in the llmei
(three columns), urging most important changes, which had
eventually to be adopted, as papers " strongly urging th«
adoption of Enderby Land (which, after careful considers
tion, I had rejected) for a southern station." As a mattei
of fact, Sir G. Airy never had rejected Enderby Land for
1874 : he had never thought of it ; lie had urged Antarctic
stations for 1882, and had only given them up after I had
shown that such stations, useful enough astronomically
in 1874, would be of no adequate value in 1882.
He gave up Antarctic stations simply because, if thej
had been occupied at all, they must (after what I had
shown) have been occupied for a purpose which he hac
himself overlooked. / have not a shadow of a doubt, a/lei
care/'ullt/ studying u-hat teas said by Airy, Richards.
Ommanney, Davis, and Stone, on Dec. 11, 1868, thai but
for my demonstration of the astronomical uselessness oj
Antarctic stations in 1882, we should have had, be/or* nofj
Feb. 17, 1882. J
• KNOWLEDGE •
335
In pay for c.rpedilions to Possession Island and other
ji'a-es in the dangerous Antarctic seas, and to provide /or
stations to be occitpied there diiriii;/ the tran.'rit of next
December. It was this pot plan of his which Sir George
Airy was really giving up, when ho explained to the
Government that Antantic stations were " geographically
unsuitable," and so forth.
It is a fa\ourite argument of the junior officials who
tried to earn approval from their chief by attacks on extra-
officials like Sir E. Beckett and myself, that Sir 0. Airy
never did yield as to the stations for observing the whole
transit. It is not quite true. He yielded in the case of
the Indian stations, which astronomers of other countries
were not likely to occupy. 1 think too highlj' of his real
zeal for science to suppose he would not have yielded in
the case of Siberian and North Chinese stations, if
America, llussia, Germany, and France, by occupying the
stations he had overlooked and later stigmatised as useless,
Jiad not saved him from the concession.
Like all that Sir George Airy has ever done in this way,
the record of the observations made by the various parties
is exceedingly well arranged. His labours here would have
served to very much more than retrieve what, after all, was
in its inception but an unlucky mistake (which might
easily have been corrected, and the world none the wiser, if
he had not been so needlessly impatient of extra-official
suggestions). Sir George Airy shows himself in the body of
this work what he has shown himself during his whole
tenure of office, the most energetic and laborious of our
Astronomers Royal. If he had left out all reference to
the discussion of 1809-187.'^, or if, referring to it, he had
told the whole story, this would have l)een all I need have
said ; but I ha\c not thought it Just, either to myself or
those who by their aid ensured the adoption of proper
measures for observing the transit of 1^71, to allow an
imperfect and entirely misleading account of the matter to
remain uncorrected — though I know very well that for one
who might be misled by Sir (A. Airy's inexact account,
thousands (including himself) know how the matter really
^tat\ds. It seems almost incredible that the writer of this
I' -ount should bo the same man who so frankly and
ol)ly acknowledged his error in the Adams-Leverrier
introversy.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Second Xotick.
I^IIOSE who can look beneath the surface will see that
during the past week some considerable progress has
been made towards completing the exhibits. To a cursory
examiner, however, but little improvement can be apparent.
A few Jabloehkofl" lamps (Compaffuie Ginerah; d'Electricite)
*re lighted, Init present a poor appearance when compared
with the other systems. The four Cromptons which light
the space in front of the stage are also far from satis-
factory. We may hope to see something better in the
telephone section during the next week or so.
We will now give a description of
The Brvsii System
of electric lighting. In the machine room, as mentioned
last week, arc a number of generating machines, which,
when all in work, will be driven by five steam-engines, two
of them of 20-horse-power, two of .30-horse-power, and one
of 25-horsp power. The latter is the only one at present
fitted up. It is working up to about 45-horse-power, and
drives three of the generating machines, two of which
maintain between them thirty-two arc light.s, and the other-
about fifty incandescent lamps. The third machine i.s,
however, capable of supplying the current for as many as
150, or perhaps 200 lamps.
The lamps are very simple in construction, requiring no
adjustment aft«r being once put in ord -r. Fig. 1 is one
of the ordinary forms which will burn uninterruptedly for
eight hours. The carbons are made in 1 2-in. lengths, and
when the lamps are required for more than eight hours
together, they are furnished with a double or even treble
supply of carbons, the current passing from one pair to
another automatically. Fig. 2 is a somewhat rough
D^-=Q
diagram ilhustrating the principles and action of the lamp.
The current enters at X, and at )' splits into two sections,
each of which passes through a small coil of thick wire
////', and on leaving the coils the currents combine again
and pass to the upper carbon rod ; thence through the arc
to the lower rod, and out at Y. From X there also passes
a thin wire which is coiled many times round // //' outside
the thick wire. These thin coils are wound in series, and
on both bobbins they arc in opposition to the thicker coils.
The thin wire then passes several times round another
bobbin T, carrying a small coil of thick wire wound in
the satnt direction. The circuit is completed by a wire
to r.
The lever, A B, is in metallic connection with the positive
pole, and carries a small button, M', over which, but not
33G
KNOWLEDGE
[FEa 17, 1882.
nortimlly toucliing it, is another button, M, in connection
with the tliick win; attached to tlic wire leading to Y. W
is a waslier or dutch, consisting of a. small circular disc of
l>riis8 fitting loosely on to tlu; cnrhon-holdcr, so that, if
slightlj- tilted, it takes a grip on the holder on both sides,
ond prevents the carbon-rod falling. When the current
cnt<'rs, the rods being in contact, a circuit is formed. The
current divides between the thick and thin wires on ////',
only 1 per cent, however, going through the thin wire, its
resistance being ■150 ohms, wliile that of the thick wire i.s
only 1 ■.") ohms. The current going through the thick wire
draws up the soft iron plungers, .W, and with them the
washer, 11', which pulls the carbon-holder up a .sliort
distance, and so creates an arc. When the arc gets too
long, the resistance of the thick wire circuit is con-
siderably increased, while that of the thin wire cir-
cuit is relatively deci-eased. Consequently, the upward
tendency imparted by the thick wire is count<'racted
by the greater amount of current passing through
the thin coils, and the holder falls until it is again
restrained by tlie clutch, t^hould it so happen that the
carbon becomes broken, or that by any means an arc
cannot be formed, the whole of the current passes through
the thin circuity and in passing through T is sufficiently-
powerful to attract A, thereby putting .1/and J/' in contact.
The current then flows from X along lever BA through
M' to M, through the small, thick wire, and away to )',
thus cutting the carbon-rod completely out of the circuit.
This " cut out " allows the lamps to be joined up in one
circuit, without the risk of all of them going out in the
event of one being faulty, a feature belonging only to this
and one other form of lujup.
Preparations for further lighting are being made on a
magnificent scale; a 30-horse-power engine is to drive one
of the largestrsized machines, which, it is said, wiU main-
tain one light of 1.50,000 candle-power, and from another
machine a light of 50,000 candle-power is to be directed
towards the llouses of Parliament.
A magnificent display is being rapidly prepared in the
Alhanibra Com-t, wliich promises to outdo everything else
in the Exhibition. We must, however, defer any further
remarks on this company's exhibit until a future occasion.
POPULAR ASTRONOMY
Bv TUB Chjsb 05 AQ^xire ,J;ifAXKHJAL. Observatoky.*
SEVERAL coiTespondents, in the course of their
inquiries as to books on astronomy, have asked us
whether we can recommend the treatise written by Pro-
fessor Simon Newcomb. Although the book has been
more than two years before the public in this counti-y, as
well as in America, we deem it well, in response to these
•lueries, to give an account of it, as manifestly many in
England are unaware of its merits.
We do not, as a rule, much admire the way in which
soi-disanU professional astronomers treat the wonders of the
heavens and the grand problems presented by the move-
ments of the celestial orbs. Too often they discuss these
as a mere land surveyor might discuss the teachings of the
earth's crust Methods and instruments of observation
are of much more interest in their eyes tlian the
lessons to be learned from observations after these have
been carefully made. Tliey seem, at times, even disposed
to be angry, as Flarasteed was with Newton, when the raw
•"Popular Astronoiny." By Simoq Newcomb, LL.D., United
States Naval Obscn-alory. (London : Macmillan & Co.)
mat^'Hals which they have gathered together are worked
into the manufactured article — Knowledge.
It is a plea-Hant di.-iappointment, then, to find that Pro-
fessor Newcomb, the chief official astronomer of the United
Htat<'s, does not take so limited a view of popular astronomy.
In his "Popular Astronomy," he deals more or less fully
w ith every part of the .science which could pos.sibly be of
intcrtat to tht; general reader. He gives a full, though
condensed, view of the histoiy, principles, methods, and
results of astronomical research. The lii.storic and philo-
sophic sid<ts of his subject are treated with more fulness
than is usual in works of this kind. The purely tf'chnical
side has been somewhat condensed, but i.t dealt with as
fully as is neces.sary.
Having briefly treated in the first chapter of the ap-
parent motions of the heavenly lx)dies, and described the
Ptolemaic system. Professor Newcomb jiroceeds in the
second and third to descril>e the work of Copemicns,
Kepler, and Newton, in establishing, step Viy step, the true
system of the universe. These three chaptei-s form the
first part of th(t work. The second part deals with prac-
tical astronomy. The picture of Bianchini's monstrous
tube, as mounted in the grounds of the Barberini Palace
at Rome in the sevent<;enth century, gives a good idea of
the difficulties with which the earlier observers had to con-
tend. A telescope that a child could handle would, in
our day, give better views of the heavenly liodies than
this unwieldy instrument, the moving of which required
the eflTorts of several men. After a description of
the modem achromatic telescopes and reflectore, there
follows a section on the magnifying powers of telescopes,
wliich we would recommend to the especial study, iiot only
of obser\-ers, but of those Nvho have occasion to discuss
observations. In particular, this section will serve to
correct the, common error that large telescopes increase
the apparent brightness of objects which present a visible
surface, as distinguished from olijeots like the stais, which
even under the highest te!escopi<^ powers appear as mere
points. We could have wished, however, tbot this error
had not been corrected mei'«ly by an €^: cathedrd state-
ment, but that the reasoning establishing the time relations
between magnifying and illuminating power had been
gi\en in full. The second part includes ulso an account
of the application of the telescope to celestial measure!
ment":, a most interesting and valuable chapter on measur-
ing the distances of the heavenly Viodies. and chapters on
the motion of light and on the s]>ectroseope.
The third and fourth parts of the work are devoted <»
descriptive astronomy. In the former, after a chapter on
the general structure of the solar system, we have a long
and very interesting chapter on the sun, and chapters OB
the inner group of planets (including the earth and moon),
on the outer group or family of giant planets and on
comets and meteors. The fourth part deals with the stars
— first, as they are seen witli the naked eye and with the
telescope : secondly, as they are probably arranged in
space ; and, thirdly, as each lias probably been formed
The third chapter discusses questions of extreme interest,
such as the sources of our sun's heat, the secular cooling of
the earth, the plurality of worlds, and tlie nebular hypo-
thesis. Lastly, we have lists of the principal telescopes of
the world, and catiilogues of doul>le stars, nebula*, star
clustei*s, and comets ; tlie usual tables of elements (but
greatly improved in many respects), a useful glossary, and
a set of star maps.
One general characteristic of these \arious chaptei-s may
be broadly indicated. There is scarcely one statement,
properly so called, in the whole work which is not strictly '
accurate, or rather, which does not present with strict j
Feb. 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
337
accuracy the present views of astronomers in relation to
the subject matter. This remark is not intended to include
expressions of opinion on the one hand, or, on the other,
such statements as are subsidiary to explanations or illus-
trations, but only deHnite statements respecting astrono-
mical matters. With regard to all, or very nearly all of
these, the reader may trust our author with perfect con-
fidence. In this sense the work deserves the high praise
accorded to it, of being thoroughly trustworthy.
Tlie arrangement of the work throughout is admirable,
and the treatment of individual subjects is at once lucid
and attractive. Here and there the style is rather common-
place, but it is never confused. Every sentence has one
meaning and one only. Moreover, the meaning of every
sentence lies on the surface. In these respects, too, many
who write on scientific subjects have failed to consider the
requirements of the general reader. To the mental etibrt
which the study of such subjects requires, they add the
effort required to determine the meaning of ambiguous
phrases. Moreover, Professor Newcomb commonly avoids
the mistake of using technical terms where ordinary terms
would serve equally well.
The treatment of the subject is simple in another sense,
perhaps not quite so satisfactory. Professor Newcomb
leaves many matters unexplained which are commonly
explained with more or less fulness in treatises on general
astronomy. For instance, in nearly all such treatises we
find some explanation of those disturbances of Uranus by
Neptune which led to the discovery of the latter planet.
The explanation is usually incorrect, but that is a detail.
It always requires more or less mental effort either to follow
the explanation, or to discover that the e.xplanation is, as
usual, all wrong. No such effort is required in reading what
ProfessorNewcombsays respecting thediscoveryof Neptune,
simply because he contents himself with a mere statement
of facts. Possibly this was the wisest course in the case of
a treatise intended for general reading. It may be doubted
whether the true e.xplanation given by Sir J. Herschel, for
instance, has been followed by a tenth of his readers, or
whether one-tenth of the readers of Lardner's, Chambers's,
and other such works, detect the error underlying incorrect
explanations of this subject It is necessary, however, to
remind the reader of the work before us that the ease with
with which he follows the author here and elsewhere is
due to the circumstance that difficulties are avoided — they
are not overcome. This is even the case with Professor
Newcomb's treatment of the subject of the sun's distance,
which few have mastered more thoroughly than he has.
His statements respecting the various methods available
for determining the distance of the sun are thoroughly
trustworthy, and his opinion respecting the result to which
observations point may be accepted as the one which
accords best with the evidence. But the matter is not
explained. We are able, indeed, without making too long
an extract, to quote all that he says in the way of explana-
tion, which is simply this : —
" In consequence of the parallax of Venus, two observers
at distant points of the earth's surface, watching her course
over the solar disc, will see her describe a slightly different
path, as shown in Fig. 50. It is by the distance between
these paths that tlie parallax has hitherto been deter-
mined."
The general nature of parallax has been already ex-
plained, and the distinction between Halley's and Delisle's
methods for determining this distance is briefly indicated
further on. But the principle underlying both those
methods, as well as the photographic and heliometric
methods, is explained no further than in the sentence quoted
above. It is not too much to say that it is not explained
at alL
An important and, in our opinion, a valuable feature of
this work is the discussion of ideas more or less speculative
with regard to the heavenly bodies. There are some
astronomers who object strongly to the introduction of
ideas of this sort into treatises on astronomy. But the
objection seems unwise, not to say peevish. The chief
charm of the study of astronomy lies in reality in the
mystery which enshrouds the orbs of space. What we
know respecting these bodies is little ; the unknown is
infinite. Now, uncjuestionably, mere idle speculations,
not even suggested by observation, are profitless. But
speculations based on the results of observation and phy-
sical research are not only interesting, but fruitful. In
such speculations have originat<;d nearly all the hypo
theses from among which the established theories of
the science have been evolved. It is noteworthy that
the greatest astronomers have indulged freely in specula-
tions I'especting the unknown. Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler,
Newton, the Herschels, and a host of those to whom as-
tronomy owes the noblest of its ti-iumphs, have discussed
speculations and hypotheses, of which some have been for-
gotten, others are remembered only because of the theories
which they suggested, while some few have become them-
selves the theories of the science. It may, indeed, be truly
said that no astronomer who has been unwilling to allow
his thoughts to pass beyond the boundaries of the known
has ever made great discoveries. We are glad to see
that Professor Newcomb, while he has shown himself
an exact and careful observer, and while, in certain
departments of mathematical re.search, he has held
his own with the greatest mathematicians of our time,
is i-eady to consider subjects which belong as yet to
the region of speculation. He presents, for example,
the various theories respecting the sun's condition which
have been advanced by Secchi, Faye, Langley, and Young,
though three of these are certainly, and all four possibly,
erroneous. He adopts, with apparent approval, several
opinions respecting the condition of the larger planets whicli
have been advocated in recent years in this country. Ho
accepts the conclusions of the Bonds, Peirce, and Clerk
Maxwell respecting the condition of Saturn's rings. And
speaking generally, he presents astronomy, not as a subject
respecting which certain facts and statements have to be
committed to memory, but as a living science, full of
promise, though also full of mystery, presenting a grand
array of achievements in the past, but offering also a ^ast
number of noble problems for attack, and possibly for
solution, in the future.
The present woik, it will be inferred, is a very valuable
contribution to astronomical literature. It is especially
characterised by originality of tone and treatment through-
out It is remarkable also for the care with which details
have been attended to, quotations verified, tables corrected,
and so forth — matters respecting which scientific writers
of eminence are not always so careful as they might be.
{To he continued.)
TNTEl.r.iGEN'CE IX AxiMils. — J. H. sonds the following: — "An
amusinp; account of a pet baboon, in a letter from a friend at Zan-
zibar is communicated to Nature this week by Miss Julia VVedg-nood.
An interestin}^ statement (in relation to the contention that laughter
is one of the distinguishing attributes of man) is, that ' Judy,' the
baboon in question, nsed, when she romped with her mistress, ' to
open her mouth, show all her white teeth, and regularly laugh like
a child, especially when she was tickled.' She never laughed at a
joke, and nothing made her so savage as being langhod at." —
[Darwin gives similar instances in his work on the " Expression of
the Emotions."— Ed.]
338
KNO\A/'LEDGE
[Fea 17, 1881
silt KDMiND I'.iX'Kirrr on Tin: laws ok
>ATUUE
SIR EDMUND r.ECKETT'S writings arc always
ilcliglitful, wliatfvir liis subject, and wlii-tlicr one
ugrcH's with iiini or not. His sulijci-t in tlic l)ook l)i-forc us
(which has liccn some time licforo tlu; public, but the new
edition has not), is recondite, and Sir Edmund's views arc
strongly opposed to those wliich ar(! geiu;rally held by men
of science in these days. But from the (irst pag(! to the
last, the book is attractive, if only through the clearness of
the reasoning and the strength of the style. There is not a
writer living who has a style more markedly his own than
Sir Edmund Beckett, and though Carlyle, among writers
■who have passed away, had a style more marked than Sir
Edmund's, the peculiarities of the author of " Sartor
Resartus " were assumed, whereas those of Sir E. Beckett
are the result of true mental idiosyncrasies.
In the present work. Sir E. Beckett has very plainly —
and, on the whole, very fairly — presented the issue between
the belic\ers in special creative, and as it were legislative,
acts on the one hand, and in evolution pure 'and simple on
the other. He has shown well the insufliciency of evolu-
tion as at present understood as regards explanation of the
mysteries of the universe, and he has pointed out very
definitely the sufficiency of the theory of an omniscient all-
powerful Being to account for all the phenomena, including
the existence of uniform laws existing so far as can be seen
throughout all space and operating during all time. An
evolutionist might with equal clearness, we conceive, point
out the utt^'rly iuconcci\able nature of such a Being on the
one hand, and the sulliciency of laws of evolution within
tlie range over which scientific research can extend to account
for those observed relations which, referred to an absolute
beginning, seem only cxjilicable on the hypothesis of special
creation. After all, what is science now doing Ijut some-
what extending the i-ange ovci- which uniform law may be
si-en to extend its influence (not the range over which it
actually does so) ? What an overwhelming thoiight it would
seem to an ephemeron that a giant tree whicli, during the
brief lives of millions of his race, had seemed scarcely to
change except in its leaves or blossoms, had been developed
to be what it has been during the continuance of generation
after generation of his kind ! Nothing in the widening of
the domain of law which lias been seen during the last
century can be compared to the tremendous nature of siich
a revelation to a being who had regarded the pushing of a
bud or leaflet as the limit of the operation of natural laws.
And yet how little such a revelation compared to the con-
ception that a whole forest had grown, and that the verv
earth in which it grew contained the remains of past
generations of trees. Science is widening somewhat like
this our conception of the extension of law. But the man
who thinks that this widening of the domain of law means
the rejection of a Law-giver ; or that, by carrying back
the operation of dependent causes a few steps — or even
(were that possible) a few millions of steps — we get rid of
the necessity of recognising a First Cause, must be strangely-
minded indeed. For such a one, the book before us will
be useful ; to those who view aright the operations of
nature, it cannot fail to be interesting.
Two points have occurred to us as open to exception in
this book. One is the reference to Tyndall's work on the
• " Oripin of the Laws of Xature." By Sir K. Bockott, Bart.,
LL.D., F.K.A.S., eecoiul edition. (London: Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, 1880.)
subji'ct of .spontaneous generation, as a "curious retribu-
tion" (though Sir E. Beckett frankly admits it i.s creditable
t'J the honesty of the? most eloquent prophet of the doctrine
of evolution). If there is one feeling wliich Tyndall haii
shown more strongly than another, it is the desire to
come at the truth, and surely another dcscrijition might
be found for one of the most interesting of Tyndall's
labours in the search for truth. Tyndall has found, indeed,
that in a particular direction the Ijeginning of life cannot
be found. Darwin has shown that, in his opinion, no re-
searches men can make will take them to the beginning
of life, any more than the study of second causes
will lead men to the First Cause. All this is in per-
fect harmony with the views of evolutionists — it is no
retribution, but a confirmation of their views. The
other point to which we would take exception is the remark
thrown in more than once, that natural selection acts " for
no cause, so far as we can see.'' The cause has beeu
repeatedly indicated by evolutionists — this, namely, that
those who have not the qualities iji question die out :
surely the death of those who have not such qualities is a
tolerably good reason for the selection of those who possess
them. We may note again that our author somewhat too
confidently assumes that certain qualities could be of no
use till fully developed ; that, for instance, until or uidess
spiders made perfect webs, they might as well make none
at all. We know that imperfect cell-making by certain
orders of bees is better than utterly bad cell-making or no
cell-making at all. Why should it not have been so in the
past w ith spiders 1 A few lines of web might have been
useful — even a single line, however short— in the earlier
stages of the struggles for existence through which the
Arachnida have passed.
THE FOOD WE EAT.
Tins is a useful book, though Dr. Fothergill's instruc-
tions are not always so definite as they might be. He
tells us roast mutton has a baneful history ; but there is
nothing in the chapter on flesh meat to suggest that we are
too carnivorous ; on the contrary, we rea<l, " beef and
mutton are the meats allowed by the trainer and prescribed
by the physician : and the choice is a wise one, if not madf
too absolute." If it is suggested iu one place that
Cain killed Abel in a fit of irascibility brought on by gout '
— the result of flesh food — it is carefully explained in an '
editorial note that for this theory there is no authority iu
the Hebrew record. The rules for the taking of alcohol '
are sensible. They are these : — It is well to do ■
^\ ithout alcohol during the day : alcohol may be taken '
at bed-time, with advantage, by those whose sleep is i
liroken by worry " (yet what poor rest whisky-bred sleep
gives) ; " when a little wine or its alcoholic equivalent \
enables a person to take a little food when exhausted and 1
digest it, which otherwise could not be taken, it is permis- •■
sible." Taking "something" early in the day to set om\
up, is, as our author well says, the best way to destroy
working energy, and alcohol is the worst possible resource
against trouble. The narcotic dose recommended as at
times a useful sleeping draught, is too much for any but '
confirmed topers — it is "a dose at least twice the amount i
usually taken in a tumbler." In the cluipter on fruit, our \
author sajs that the raspberry is scarcely second to the
strawberry : </<■ giislilms noti exl dispufandxm, but many
]irefer raspberries. It was not " an irreverent American," ,
by the way, but the Rev. Cotton Mather, a devout j
*" The Food We Eat." By J. Milner FothcrgilI,M.D. (GrilBth I
& Farran, London.) I'rice, Is.
Feb. 17, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
339
Calvinist, who said that " doubtless God could have made
a better fruit tlian the strawberry, but doubtless he never
had." '
LAIsDAUERS BLOWPIPE ANALYSIS.*
The second eilition of this vorj- excpUcnt little book, wliicli has
jn;t (last November) apiiearcil at Berlin, should have the effect
of causing Freiberg to look to its laurels, or that time-honoured
hcad-quartei's of I'lattner, Kiehter, aud the blowpipe, will liave to
give place to Brunswick, where this work is written.
I believe Herr I.andauer was the first, and is now one of the few
German writers on this subject, to point out that blowpipe analysis
properly studied, is a strictly chemical, qualitative process '" in the
dr}' way," by which the constituents of minerals, as of any other
inorganic substances, may be, if possible, separated ; and, if separa-
tion is impossible, at all events, exliibited so as to bo easily and
separately recognised in presence of each other. It is most
creditable to Landauer's scientific conscientiousness and literary
intrepidity, that he should venture to affirm and reiterate tliis great
truth, in opjx)sition to the teaching of such eminent chemists as the
venerable Von Kobell. of Munich ; of the '"great shade" of Berze-
lius ; and even of the departed Plattner himself. All these eraiiient
writers, and some scarcely less respected than they in America, as
Professor Brush, have laid down and taught what may be termed
a " mineral coiu-so of analysis " as contra-distinguished from a
chemical course, in which the reactions of minerals per se, and not
ill pnrtibus — as a la^vj-er would call it — are given. Thus it liappcns
that even our best mineralogies are defaced by such distressing
descriptions of tlie blowpipe analysis of minerals, as " fusible on
edge" ; " melts to a blebb^ glass, &c., &c.
In England, I have been tn'ing for the last ten years (a paper of
mine on the subject was read before the Royal Society in 1872) to
preach the same 'dry," analytical doctrine; but, as might be ex-
pected, liave been simply "pooh-poohed" for my pains here. It
really seems, however, from the rapidly -succeeding edition of this
book, and its translation into English and Italian, as though Lan-
dauer woidd succeed where I have failed, and teach English as well
as German "blowpipers" better (analytical) manners in the future.
Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the Manchester translators
of this work have been at all successful in rendering what the author
has stated in Gennan, into precisely equivalent English, or indeed,
in some i>laces, into anything like what he has said. For instance,
at page 10, Landauer says of mj' aluminium plate reactions : "The
I best substitute for charcoal is the aluminium plate introduced by
Boss";+ which plain sentence and note, the Manchester trans-
mntntlnnists have replaced by the following ingenious rendering.
"As another kind of substitute for charcoal, aluminium plate may
be advantageously employed." Many other instances might be
I pointed out, if space permitted.
It must be admitted that Landauer, With considerable reference to
the American writers Eklerhorst and Egleston, to his celebrated
countryman Bunsen, and to myself, has contrived a " strictly
I chemical " system of blowpipe analysis, so far as a persistence in
I the use of the stupid reagents borax and microcosniic (or, as it is
now called, "phosphor") salt, permitted. But such a system with
I these reagents is simply impossible ; and Sorby, Wiinder. Rose, and
I others have long ago shown that it is equally impossible to obtain
1 dtjinite pyrological crystallisations from the fusion of oxides, Ac, in
I borax before the blowpipe. The plain fact is, as I pointed out ten
years ago in my paper (vol. x.";. " Proceedings Royal Society") that
boric acid will separate the constituents of most minerals and
inorganic chemical combinations before the blowpipe ; whilst boraj:,
or any other reagent, will nrt. Landauer's book is tlividcd into four
chapters and a reprint of I'lattner'a well-known blowpipe tables. In
the lirst cliapter (of fifteen jiages) a description of apparatus and
reagents is given. In the second (forty-six pages), an excellent
account of the necessary operations, inclnding my " Aluminium
Plate Reactions" (ten pages). An " Appendix" to this chapter ia
devoted entirely (eighteen pages) to " Bunsen's flame-reactions,"
tho connection of which, by the way, with the blowpipe, it is difficult
to perceive, but it is placed in the book and ''table of contents"
as the third chapter, though called an "appendix." The so-called
third is headed— after the arrangement in Schcerer's and Blan-
ford's little book — " Special Examination for certain Combined
Substances," whereby the reader is left to infer that all the other
examinations, in many cases the best and most careful, are not
* " Die Lothrohranalyse, Anleitnng zu qualitativen chemischen
Untersnchnngen auf trockenem VTege, bearbeitet von J. Landauer.
' Zweite vermehrte Anflage." (Berlin: Verlag von Julius Springer,
1881. London agents : Triibner & Co.)
t Rose, " PjTology, or Fire Chemistry." London : 1875.
" special." The fourth chapter describes the author's and Egles-
ton's " Systematischo Gango " (very good Scotch as well as
German) or ciirricuia; which are both excellent in their way.
At page 3 is given a beautiful woodcut, with a remark that " it
is to be specially recommended," of what is called "Rub's
StaudlOthrohr " (Unb's stand blowjiipc), which is not figured in the
JIanchester translation (lb7!l)i because it was not invented by mo
till 1S80, in September of which year a description, w ith drawings,
appeared in the Knglish Mechanic. It is, in fact, a month-blow-
pipe with elastic air-reservoir and valve attached, precisely tho same
as that recently described by me in Kxowlkdge, vol. i., page 137 :
only the uncomfortable addition of a huge metallic dish-cover kind
of protection to the indiarubber balloon is made, by which all por-
tability and simplicity are ingeniously destroyed. This seems to
nie too great a sacrifice to make for the sake of elastic bags, which
ought not to cost more than a farthing each. I feel snro that if
M. Landauer sees this notice, he will at once repudiate all know-
ledge of my invention when he inserttul Uab's ilrawing and descrip-
tion in his book, whicli I can cordially recommend to your readers
as the best extant on the old system of blowiiipe analysis.
SCIENCE FOR ALL.
Messks. C.\ssELt,, Petter, & Galpin call attention to a misprint
in the footnote to the review of the last volume of their " Science
for All." The price of the volume is not 5s., but 9s. We note that
no price is mentioned, bat thought we remembered seeing the
work advertised for the price named ; also, the book sent us was, it
appears, the fourth, not the fifth, volume. We took it for granted
the latest had been sent. Our remarks ap|)ly to Volume IV., not to
Volume V. The volumes are unnumbered. Mr. Denning writes
(unfortunately at much too great length for insertion), noting that
many of the highest authorities — Sir J. llerschel, Webb, Ac. — accept
the eccentricity of the ring-system as an established fact. That
the rings have at times been eccentrically situated is well known ;
at other times there has been no recognisable eccentricity. Mr.
Denning seems to think that saying the Satumian rings " will be
seen at night as a vivid semicircle of light" needed no correction,
although the rings are absolutely invisible from large portions of
them, not visible as a vivid semicircle at any time from any part of
Saturn except the equator, and not visible from the northern
hemisphere during one half of the Satumian year, or from the
southern hemisphere during the other half. We venture to say
that every reader would suppose Jlr. Denning's statement to mean
that if you were placed anywhere on Saturn, you would at night see
tlie rings as a vivid semicircle of light. We submit that the state-
ment is as incorrect as the following would be:— On the earth,
the sun is visible for twelve hours out of the twenty-four. Wo are
sorry if Mr. Denning objects to being set right in a matter about
which there are no two opinions among jjersons competent to form
an opinion at all — that is, in this case, among mathematicians (for
the question is purely mathematical).
T
NIGHT MINIMA OF ALGOL. 18«2.
HE following list of night minima of Algol, by the eminent
observer of Variable Stars, Mr. Jos. Baxendell, will be much
valued by many readers. — Ed.
Gbeexwicu Mean Time.
Feb.
March
April
Jui'y
Aug.
Sept.
IS 13 22
il
10 10
24
10
13
7 0
15 4
11 53
IG
2
8 42
13 35
10 24
8
.... 7 13
23
25 ......
28
0
20
9
15 7
12 e
8 55
10 51
12 33
14 15
12
11 4
29
15 5C
1
12 40
Sept.
4 ...
21 ...
24 ...
27 ...
11
9 35
14 29
11 17
8 6
16 il
It . .
13 0
17 ...
3 ...
6 ...
9 ...
23 ...
9 49
14 42
11 31
8 20
16 24
26 . 13 13
29 ..
2 ...
13 ...
16 ...
19
10 2
6 51
18 7
14 55
11 4t
22 ...
.... 8 33
Jo. Baxindell.
340
KNO\A^LEDGE
[Psa 17, 1882.
THE MENACING COMET.
By the Editok.*
SUPPOSING Mr. Proctor's farts to Ijc corroctly staUnl,"
snys the Sprctalnr, " tlit'ro dors socm a roniarkalily
good cliancc tlint in 1H'J7 the sim may sud<lcnly Wri-uk out
into tli<! siuiip kiiul of inti^iisity of boat and liglit whicli
causfxJ the coiifla^^ratioii in the star in tho Northern Ci^own
in IKGG, wlicn for a day or two iUc. luiat and light (Mnittod
by it becanip suddenly many hundreds of times greater than
thoy wt.-re before." 'J'lie Spi'^hitor is exercised by the
inquiry whether the world's belief in science is quite so
genuine as it seems, seeing that " Mr. Proctor's warning
has not j'et caused the world to make any change in its
arrangenient.s." Without undertaking to say what cliang<!
the world should make in its arrangements if its end
were to come in a few years, I may remark that
my warning — such as it was — appeared in an Aus-
Be the cauHe what it may, I find that T am generally
understood to have issued a prediction that, Komewhero
about the year 1807, this world, with all that it inherit,
shall be dis-solved by fervent heat. Ix-t us see what the
article referred to by the Sjn-rlnlor really says: —
In its opening paragraph, I staU; that views advanced
respecting the comet by others, "not by fanciful theori.serg,
but bj' mathematicians of eminence, suggest the p08.siV)ility,
nay, even some di'gree of probability, that this comet may
bring danger to the solar .sy.'.tem." And I go on to say
that it is that posiibUitv which " I have to discuss." The
pos.sibility, even some degree of probaV)ility, that a comet
may bring danger — this possibility suggested by the
views of others, and to 1)3 discussed by me — does not, I
apprehend, amount to a definite statement on ray part that
there is " really a very considerable chance of a catastrophe
fifteen years hence, which may put an end to our earth
altogether." Let us, however, examine the article further.
^^^^^^^1
1
■
^H^^^F^Sh
^^^^^^^^^^^^■^^^^^^^^^^^H^H
^H
Fig. 1.— The il nacing Como
tralian Review, and was not published in tliis hemi-
sphere until a very few weeks ago (the preface to
the volume is dated December, 18S1, and the tith'-page
bears the date 1882), so that the wonder rather should be
how my t<>rriblo prediction comes so soon to be frightening
fearful folk from their customary quietude. If it were
not that his Right Reverend Lordship the Bishop of Man-
chester had been chiefly instrumental in calling general
attention to i\w. prediction, the world might well imagine
that the scare was a well-designed puft' for my new volume,
in which case I might be an.vious to e.xplain that, accord-
ing to the terms between myself and Messrs. Chatto it
Windu.s, I could not possilily gain, and might conceivably
lose, by the i-apid sale of the work at this present time.
• I should OHloom it a favour (though I think I might almost
claim it as a right) if those newspajjors who liave spread tho news
of my supposed prediction, would be good enough to cxfiMn that I
believe the world is more likely to last fifteen millions of years than
to be destroyed in fifteen. — R. A. Pboctou.
I^go on to ilnw that the path of the comet of 1880
carried it singularly near to the sun. This, of course, is
simply a scientific fact I next e.xplain that the observed
part of the track of the comet of 1880 coincided, or nearly
so, with that of the comet of 1843 ; but that whereas the
most trustworthy calculations of the orbit of the comet of
1843 assigned a period of about 17.') years, the observed
period of its last circuit — if that object and the comet of
1880 are really identical — was only 37 years. This
part of the inquiry is more theoretical than the former.
Still, tho evidence is such as to make it highly probable
that the comet of 1S80 really is one and the same a.s the
comet of 1843, and that there really has been a diminution
of the period of revolution from more than a hundred to
less than forty years.
It is towards the close of this part of the inquiry that
the anticipation of the comet's return in 1897 is referred
to. As presented by the Spii-lator and the Bishop of
Manchester, this might be supj)osetl to be such a prediction
Feb. 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
341
us, for instance, I made in 1868 of the epochs of the
lic'jjinnings and endings of the transits of Venus in 1S7 t
and 18Sl' for different parts of the eartli's surface. As a
matter of fact, the prediction is not mine, but Herr ilartli's
(quoted, and, as a qnotation, given in .smaller type than
the rest) ; it is not advanced definitely, but in tlie fol-
lowing terms : — " I should not be at all surprised," says
Herr Marth, " if it should turn out that this comet of ISSO
is the same as the comet of 1843 and that of 1668, and
that its revolution has been so much affected that possibly
it may return in, say, seventeen years." (This was M-ritten
in 1880.)
I go on to show that if this is so, the comet must befon^
long be absorbed by the sun^— still not naming 1897 or anv
other year, but .speaking with due scientific caution —
"after only a few cii'cuit.': — possibly one or two."'
had gone the wron
I then note the only way in which the absorption of r-
comet might do harm — that is, not as Newton thought, h}
adding fuel to the solar tires, l>ut by the conversion of th'
momentum of the meteoric masses forming or followin;:
the head, into heat I mention, in passing, my own belief
that the sudden incre^ise of splendour observed in the sta'
T Coronw (not r, as has been mistakenly asserted) was
due to the fall of a large comet, followed by a train o'
closely-aggregated meteors upon that distant sun. This 1
fully believe to be the most probable, if not the onl_<
available interpretation of that and similar phenomena
"Without saying," I proceed, and this seems to me tin
only passage in my essay which could have suggested am
anxiety about the earth's future, " without saying that I
consider there is absolute danger of a similar outburst in
the case of our own sun, when the comet of 184;i shall be
absorbed by him (a result which will, in my opinion,
most certainly take place), I will go so far as to e.xprcs.s
my belief that if ever the day is to come when ' tie
heavens shall dissolve with fervent heat,' the cause of the
catastrophe will be the downfall of some great comet on the
sun." ^\ hat I here consider as certain may, perhaps, have
been misunderstood as the coming of such a cat^xstrophir
end; but it should be manifest tliat I only regard thr
absorption of the comet of 184.3 as most certain — regarding
the time as quite uncertain, and the effects as extremely
problematical. I have, indeed, shown elsewhere (see "Suns
in Flames," in my "Myths and Marvels of Astronomy")
that there is every reason for believing that all comets cf
the destructive sort have long since been eliminated from
the solar system. So that, as in the essay referred to by the
Spectator, I refer back to an essay in my " Pleasant Ways in
Science," in which essay I refer back to the other in " Myths
and Marvels," wthout in either case indicating any rhange
J^iL. a. — A cornel wluih nnglit injure a solar sysium, tliuu;,'li
uot ours.
of view, I might fairly claim to have very definite views as
to the perfect safety of the solar system, even if I had not
recently pointed out, with special reference to the comet of
1843, our probable complete immunity from danger. In
the Cornhill Mat/atine for December last, there is a paper,
bearing my initials, on " Dangers from Comets," in which
it is sho\\ni — as sundry newspaper articles have l}een good
enough to explain in turn to myself — that if there were
any real danger, .save for the comet itself, we should have
known it by great increase in the solar emission of heat in
18+3, when the comet was checked so importantly in
its career, and again in 1880, when it was subjected
to another equally severe interruption of its onward
course.
The article finally points out the kind of danger which
in all proliability would ensue if a comet of the larger
sort fell into the sun. If there is anything remarkable
in this part of my essay, which seems to have been re-
garded as thp most sensational, it is its extremely cautious
wording. I may go so far as to poke a little fun at myself
342
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Fbb. 17, 188:
by saying that it is almost alisurdly cuutious. I ]iiiiiit
out tlint if there are ]iluncts circling around the sun which
bla/.od out in C'oronn in May, 18GG, to eight hundred times
its former lustre, and if there were living creatures on
them at all resembling ourselves, those creatures must
most i-ertaiidy have l)een destniyed. It takes no wizard to
know this. I tlien go on to suy that " if at any time a
great comet falling directly upon the sun " (which the
comet of 1813 and 1880 most certainly will ncrer do)
" should, by the swift rusli of its meteoric components,
excite the frame of the sun to a lustre far exceeding that
with which he at pi-eseut shines, the sudden access of
lustre and of heat would prove destructive to every
living creature, or, at any rate, to all the higher forms
of life, upon this earth." Ajid though 1 knew when I
wrote this that 1 was making no rash j)rediction, I protest
I never noticed until the rash predictions assigned to mo
by the Spectator and the Bishop of ^lanchester set me
reading over my own essay, that this amounted only to an
announcement of the following highly-impressive nature : —
If such a comet as we have no reason to suppose actually
existent (nay, every reason to consider cei-tainly non-
existent in the sun's case), should produce a degree of
solar heat (which such a comet may, or may not, be
capable of producing), exceeding hundreds of times tlu-
sun's present heat, and if that heat lasted but a few days,
the earth's inhabitants must all perish. This very cautious
announcement does not mean, I venture to point out, that
fifteen years hence the comet of 1843 falling into the sun
will so raise his heat that all of us will be destroyed.
I may remark that the newspaper announcement has
elicited various expressions of opinion, showing the great
ignorance which prevails even in these days of cheap scien-
tilic literature respecting scientific matters. Thus it has
been carefully explained by some that comets are entirely
vaporous, evidently in ignorance of what has been learned
respecting the meteoric nature of comets ; by other writers,
that Lexell's comet was absorbed by Jupiter or by his
satellites (which Leverrier entirely disproved) ; while
another writer (in the C/irisliaii World, and followed by
the Globe) propounds the amazing statement that the sun's
hi'at does not travel so quickly as his light, so that even
though vfe saw a great outburst, due to the destruction of
a comet, some ninety or a hundred years would have to
pass before the earth would receive the heat then gene-
rated ! It would be interesting to ascertain whence this
singular idea was ol>tained — by what strange misapprehen-
sions of some statement in a scientific work. Of course,
there is not the slightest foundation for it. The sun's heat
comes to us with his light, not only travelling at the same
rate, but being a part of the \ cry same undulatory disturb-
ance, and a considerable portion being derived from the
very same waves. Some of the waves, indeed, which aflect
us as light affect us very little as heat, and some of the
■waves which affect us as heat, jiroduce no ertect which
the eye can appreciate as light. But the orange and red
light-waves are very active as heat-waves too, and there is
not the slightest reason for supposing that the so-called
dark heat-waves, which, with these, make up tlie total
supply of solar heat, would lag many seconds behind them
on the journey earthwards.
However, there is not the slightest reason to fear that
the comet of 1843 and 1880 (assuming they are the same)
will do any harm to the solar system when finally absorbed.
It would be quite otherwise, I believe, if such a comet as
that of the year ISll, Fig. 3, were to fall directly upon
the sun. This, the most remarkable (in reality, though
not in appearance) of all known comets (see Kxowlf.dge,
No. 5, p. 8G), was fortunately some 100 million miles from
tlie sun at the time of it« nearest approach to him, and can
never liring the slightest trouble to the solar system. But
if its course had chanced to be directed full upon the sun,
the meteoric ma.s.se3 doubtless forming its liead and train
(not tail), falling in countless millions upon him at the rate
of more than 300 miles per second, when they crossed his
visible surface, and jirobably passing tleep below that
surface with ever and most rapidly-increasing velocity to
reach his real nucleus, would ha\e generated an intensity
of heat far exceeding that which he constantly emits. The
incrca.sed emission might not ha\e lasted a mouth, or even
a week, but it would have sufficed.
So, again, what we now know of conietic structure leads
us to believe that the comet of 1858, called Donati's, whose
head is shown in Fig. 2, would have proved a very
dangerous visitor had its course led it directly towards the
nucleus of the sun. Fortunately, the chance of any comet
visiting our system from interstellar space, travelling
directly towards the sun, is so small, that it may be
reckoned " almost at naked nothing." As to comets
already belonging to our system, if any such liave orbits
passing very close to the sun, so as to be checked in their
career at every perihelion passage, it is clear (from the
continuance of life during many hundreds of thousands of
past years on the earth) that the mischief must long since
have been taken out of them — unless we suppose (which is
incredible) that the last perihelion passage of such a
comet preceded the beginning of life on the earth.
THE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO.
By Dr. Mem Howie.
PART II.
IN the present day, wo can calculate vrith precision i. i^^ liiitt
time, to a nmiute fraction of a second, wliicli is recjuired to
transmit a message from the brain to the hand or any other portion
of the body ; and it has been distinctly shown that it takes mncb
longer to send such a message after the person experimented upon has
taken even a small dose of a narcotic. A message which could be
sent in OlOOJof a second, required 0'2970 of a second for its perform-
ance after two glasses of hock had been administered to the subject
of e-tperinient, thus showing how much even a slight narcotic in-'
terferes with the rital action of nervous tissue. The same effect is
produced by tobacco. Tobacco prevents waste of tissue, and thns
enables a man who smokes to live on loss food. This is con-
sidered a very strong argument in favour of the pipe; and
if good food could not be obtained, it might have very great
force. But plain, wholesome diet is cheap and easily proeared.
Moreover, " waste of tissue" is an expression which conveys an
utterly false imiiression. There is no such thing as waste of tissue,
unless the body is wearing away more rapidly than new substance
can be reproduced, as in certain fevers, consumption, ic. Tho '
tissues of the body arc not a fixed quantity, like the framework of
a steam-engine ; they are ever changing, the old wearing away
to be replaced by the new. Life is a constant series of changesj
and the healtliier the man the more rapid, within certain Umito,
will be his change of tissue. You can only preserve the tissue of a
healthy man by lowering his vitality; the tissues thus preserved
cannot bear tho strain which can be borne by those of recent
manufacture, and thus the workiag power is diminished. An em-
ployer of labour in Liverpool, anxious for the elevation of his
workmen, suggested that they might with advantage give up the
use of beer and tobacco. They informed him, however, that in such
a contingency their wages would not support them, so great would
be their increase of appetite. But there is another side to this
(ju St ion, and it is, that such men would be able to do more work,
and conse((uently earn larger wages, by discontinuing the narcotic.
Men of all classes are very slow to learn that sound bodily health
is the best possible investment. The human machine is very easily
kept in order, but onco let it get out of repair, and it is mo6t
diliicult to set right. And it can only be kept in thorough repair
when every joint, muscle, and nerve is maintained in a condition of
persistent activity. I do not mean that a man should always
be engaged in exercising his various tissues and orgjins in order
to preserve health ; but 1 do n\aintain that every tissue should bo
80 actively exercised that it will be compelled to employ its entire
FEa 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
343
time of so-called rest in laying np fresh stores of explosive material,
and in healing up those rents which have taken place in their actual
anbstance. In the region of nerve and muscle a man ought always
to live up to his income. He can save nothing by si)aring exertion,
BO long as he docs not go beyond his income. Give your brain
sufficient food and an abimdani supply of oxygen, and theu give it
a fair amount of good hard work e»crv day, if you wish to maintain
it in a high state of healthy activity. Barristers and clergymen,
who use their brains mtich, are the longest-lived men in the country,
showing plainly that regular brain work is good for the general
health as well as for the efficiency of the nervous system in
vticular. The muscular system must be treated in a similar
liner, if yon do not wish it to become subject to fatty degenera-
r. An unused muscle shrinks, and becomes soft and flabby,
-onting an appearance of marked contrast to the brawny arm
the blacksmith. Instances of the feebleness of tissues thus
-crved freiiuently present themselves to the notice of the
_'eon. A muscle is called upon to perform a vigorous contrac-
::. but it snaps in the effort. The heart itself is sometimes toni
uder in attempting to send an extra supply of blood to some
ily limb. Xo man can afford to lower Iiis general vitality
the sake of mere idle gratification. He never knows
11 he may reiinire all the energy which can be stored up
his tissues. A railway accident, a runaway horse, a rim
catch a train, a fall on the ice, or even a fit of cutighing,
y bring a life of miser)- or an early death to one who would have
-ed unscathed through them all, had he allowed his nerves and
-cles to wear away in vigorous activity, instead of carefully
-erviug them, like smoked bacon, in the fumes of tobacco. I do
'. attempt to deny that all narcotics possess the power to prolong
in the absence of food. I have elsewhere referred to the case
:iu old woman who lived for two years on opium and gin-and-
lor, without any food whatever, but she might as well have been
•'.cr grave. Hers was, I would not say a living death, but rather
lud life. Some may be inclined to doubt the accuracy of this
ly, but such -n-ill discern a possibility of its truth when I say that
.;ircotic seems to produce a condition of the nervous system
- -ly resembling that of hybemating animals. The dormouse
jis for many weeks without any food whatever. Its tissues are
-nin the condition of the cook's fire when covered ivith ashes,
1 if you can produce a similar condition in the^hnman tissues, you
y attain the same result of prolonged fasting. We are apt to
-ider the winter sleep of the dormouse as a great waste of exist-
.1 . ; but what can we think of a reasonable man who artificially
roduces liimself to a similar condition during a considerable portion
of tlie prime of life.
Tobacco soothes the exhausted and irritable nervous system after
a hard day's work, and prevents the brain worrying about difficulties
that may never come.
The advocates of tobacco maintain that in this manner it gives
rest to the nervons system, and thus enables it to throw off work
for the time, and resume it again with renewed energy. Xow the
mistake which our opponents make here is, that they ignore the
necessity for anything but rest. What would you think of the
fanner who allowed his men an hour's rest at various ititervals
daring the day, but who, at the same time, forbade them
to take footl at such times, lest the muscular movements in-
volved in carving and mastication should interfere with their
complete and absolute repose ? Every cell in the body is a
counterpart of the whole organism. Just as the man cannot work
without eating, so the cell cannot carry on its explosive action
without fresh supplies of explosive material. Now, tobacco and
other narcotics not only prevent the nervous matter exhibiting
energv", they also prevent it absorbing its proper food; so that the
rest which it obtains by means of narcotism does not enable it to
~<ume work with renewed energy. But more, the nervous matter
lereby rendered incapable of throwing off its o^vn ashes, which
its most deadly poison. Just as decomposing animal matter is
■■.giily deleterious to the health of the body, so the dead portions
of nervous tissue become disastrous to the life and activity of
their living successors. I do not attempt to deny that the
relief afforded by a narcotic is most delightful and seductive.
When the merchant goes home from his office, worried by a thou-
sand trifles, and saddled with a load of cares, his nerves are agitated
and restless, and the busy wheels of life seem to spin round with
unceasing velocity. How delightful it is to be able, by the magic
spell of tobacco, to stop those busy wheels, and to translate himself
from the pains of a commercial pandemonium into the Elysian
fields of perfect bliss I I confess that tobacco does all in the way
of soothing that its admirers attest; it is my duty, however, to
exhibit the other side of the shield, and to proclaim that the
Inxurioas pleasure of the pipe is physiologically so expensive that
the nervous system cannot afford to indulge in it. The muscles sirffer
along with the nerves ; for without nervous influence the muscles arc
unable to supply themselves with the nourishment which is carried by
the blood into their very substance. If you cut the nerves leading to a
muscle, that muscle will cease to retain its fij-mness and contractive
vigour, and if you paralyse the same nerves by a narcotic, its power
of contraction will be similarly diminished. Any smoker will tell
you that much smoking is a hindrance to severe muscular exertion.
If a man has lit his pipe, you are more likely to find him dreaming
in a corner than ascending a mountain. When you observe what an
amount of lounging lethargy is induced by tobacco, you scarcely
require an ounce of science to account for the smaller appetite
of the inveterate tobaccopliile. This power of the narcotic
to interfere with the nutrition of the tissues produces serious
consequences on the digestive organs of those who both smoke much
and eat well. The smoker is often not content to suffer any dimi-
nution of the pleasures of the table as a result of his pipe. He
therefore uses a variety of agents to induce in his digestive organs
an artificial appetite. Ho is thus led to consume a much larger
amount of nutritive material than can possibly be required by
nsircotised tissues. This nutritive material produces injiu-y either
to the stomach or liver — very frequently to both. The stomach is
burdened with more work than a smoker's stomach can perform ;
hence the dyspepsia so frequently accompanying the pipe. The
liver is doubly bm-dened. Vis duties in connection with the food
are many. It assists to prepare nutriment for nerve and muscle,
and if such nutriment is not required, its further duty is to break
down such rejected nourishment in order that it may be more
easily expelled from the system. Hence the biliousness and other
effects of liver derangement so common in the smoker.
Tobacco destroys the physical conscience.
My greatest oljjection, as a physician, to the use of tobacco, is,
that it destroys what I have ventured to call the physical con-
science. The entire body is supplied with minute nerve twigs
which, in the healthy man, are maintained in a highly sensitive Con-
dition. Their function is to inform the brain when any derange-
ment is taking place in the ultimate tissues. Tliis network of
nerves occupies a similar position in relation to physical health
that the conscience does in relation to the moral condition.
Whenever any muscle has diiKculty in contracting, a mes-
sage of the fault is at once transmitted to the brain. The
same occnrrenco takes place when the stomach has difficulty in
digesting its contents, when the liver is overburdened T\-ith excess
of sugar or bile, and when the brain is being overtaxed with daily toil.
These messages produce great uneasiness to the subject of their
influences, just as a troubled conscience docs in the mind of it^
possessor. Now, there are two ways of avoiding the inconvenience
of the physical conscience, just as there are two ways of avoiding
the pangs of a smitten moral conscience. Ton may either do what
is right, or yon may lull your conscience to sleep. Tobacco enables
a man to deaden his physical conscience, and thus he may go on
ruining his health without knowing it, until he is beyond the hope
of recoveiw.
HOW SPIDERS FLY.
(Bj Pkofessoe C. a. Young.)
I WAS very nmch interested, a few days ago, in hearing a friend
give an acconnt of a manuscript she had seen, which was
written by Jonathan Edwards when nine years old. It was an
account of the behaviour of certain small New England spiders,
the manner they Hy through the air, and the way to see thein best,
bv getting into the edge of a shadow, and looking toward the sun.
It is neatly and carefully written, and illustrated by little drawings
verj- nicely done. The philosophical tendencies of the young
Avritcr alrcadv appear, for his conclusion as to the " final cause "
of spiders and" their flying is this : the little animals are scavengers,
and since, in New England, the prevailing winds are west, they
are carried to the sea in their flight with whatever filth they have
consumed, and so the land is cleansed.
Every one knows how, in sunny weather, the little creatures,
standing on their heads, project from their spinnerets fine filaments
of gossamer, which are caught by the breeze, and float off into the
air. though still attached to the spider. When she jjerceives that
the thread is long enough, and the pull of the wind suflicient, she
releases her hold and flies away on her gossamer like a witch on her
broomstick ; by watching her chance, and letting go only when the
breeze is favourable ; she is carried to her desired haven. Experi-
ments have been tried by placing the animals on a chij) floated in a
pail of water. So long as the air was in motion about them they
were able verj- soon to escape from their island ; but when a bell
glass was jdaced over the pail, thus preventing air currents, they
could not get from the island to the surrounding shore.
But how does it happen that, on setting out for a voyage, the
spider almost invariably ascends with her web, and continues to
344
. KNOWLEDGE
[Fita 17, 1882.
riiio, until, by piilliii;; iti Imt tiin'nil, Blin ivducoi lipr flnntlng power,
and ao coiiicn don'ii :-' S|iM|i'r wvb, in iind of itself, is not lighter
than air J how, thon, i.i iu Imoyimcy to bn i-xplninoil ?
In two «iiy«, I think. Whon tho Kiin i» HhininK, ovcry projecting
object, likt> n twig or stick, ubnorbK lu'iit more rapidly than tho nir,
bocomoH warmer than thi' nir, nml thiin rirts lik'- nii indi'|M)ndi>nt
■ourco of hcnt in gciioraling nn nrn'mding rurront, no thiit whi-n
tho spider lets go her hold, she and her thrond are carried up partly
by tho action of this cnrrent.
But thii* in not all : nnlcsn I am mnch mistaken, tht aeiion of the
«un'« ra<iit nn tlin thrrad itnrlf and its mirroundini) envnlope of air is
the main cause of its buoyancy. .\ir is nearly diathormanons, or
transparent to hant, so that the solar ray», in tmrorsing it. wiimi
it only slightly. The spiilcr's thread is not so, but in tho niiiiBliinc
worms up almost instantly, heating tho air in immediate contact
with it : and then, although the spider thread alone is heavier than
air, yet the thread and the adhering envelope of warme<l and
expanded air taken together, are lighter tlian the same bulk of tho
cooler air around, and thns constitute a qunsi-balloon, on which tho
spider sails away. (Jf course, if this is so, the poor creatures
cannot sail much on cloudy <inys, and F think, in f.ict, they do not.
1 have tried n few ctporiiTients to verify the idea, and so far as
they go they all confirm it. For iDStancc, one day in the autumn of
1880, when the air was full of floating gossamer, and there was no
wind blowinsr, 1 caught some of the filaments at the end of a little
stick, to see how they would behave. So long as I stood in tho
sunshine, they streamed straight upward, tugging with almost a
breaking strain ; as soon as I stepped into the shadow of a building,
they lost their spirit, and drooped abjectly ; the moment I put them
in the light again, they resumed their buoyancy. It is, of course,
possible that in the shade there were local downward air currents to
account for their behaviour ; but once a cloud passed across tho sun,
and they drooped then, just a.i they did behind the building.
The same theory will explain the buoyancy of any minute par-
ticles of dust or eraokc. So long aa the sun shines, they will absorb
its rays, become warmer than tho air, and surround themselves with
a buoyant envelope, which will carry them up if they are not too
heavy in pi-oportion to their surface. But if tho air is still, and the
sun obscured, they will settle down near the earth, in the way we
are all familiar with in muggy weather. Of course, if there is much
wind, this will mainly control their movements, and neither their
buoyancy in sunshine, nor their gravity in shadow, will be particu-
larly noticeable. — Boston Journal of Chemistry.
INTELLIGENCE OF DOGS.
WHILE at the University, taking my medical course, the facts
I relate took place. Among other appurtenances to the
department of physiological chemistry was a dog with a gastric
fistula, which tistula was properly healed around a silver tube
having an internal and external flange to keep it in place. The
tube was stopped by a clo.sel}--fitted cork, except .it such times as
we needed -.i supply of gastric juice. The fistula caused the animal
no disturbance whatever, lie was well and hearty, was fed at and
mu<le his home at the medical department.
During tho summer vacation, however, when the University was
closed, he was transferred to the care of the surgeon, who took him
to his house. During his frolics one day he jumped over a fence,
striking it, and dislodged the cork in the tube. Ponto soon noticed
that his food didn't seem to satisfy him, and that all he drank ran
out of his stomach on the ground, ilis master having gone away
for several d.iys— fishing — he must needs take care of himself, so
immediately on eating or drinking anything, he ran to his bed in
tho carriage house close by, turned on his back, and remained so
for an hour or more, or until he felt satisfied that it would do for
him to get up. Coaxing, threatening, and kicking by the domestics
about the house, or by those whose attention was called to his
actions, were alike unavailing to drive him from his jilace or from
his supine position. Finally, some one who knew for what purposes
the dog was used, examined his fistula and found the cork gone.
This being restored, he was soon porsnaded to go about as usual,
and indicated by his actions that he understood that everything
was all right. This incident can be vouched for by many reliable
persons. Who will say that dogs — at least one dog — cannot reason ?
— F. L. B.\BDEEX, M.D., in Scientific American.
Point's ExniACT ia a certain care for Rheamatism and Gout,
Pond's Extract is a certam cure for Hrrmorrhoids.
Pond's Extract is a certain euro for NeunUKic paina.
Pond's Extract will heal Burns and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure "nrains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists, Qet the genuine.
arttrrs to tl)c eiiitor.
\Th« E'Jitor do*» n<>t kuU him»e{/'rtrp9ntit!r/,jr tk« opinionm of hi* eorrtKpondniM,
B« Ciinnot tindrrt'ikf to rttu^n monutcrtptd vr to rorreMpond rUk tkeir tpritm, AU
communu^atiotu gkotlJ be a* akorl om posnble, contisttntlf rt/A /uil and clear tlat0'
menU of Ike tcritrr't m*anirttj.'\
AH JCdiforuii romMumi^<jiionM akouU h» nddrtutd to the Editor of KhowlVDOI;
aU BuMUteu eommumcattona to the rulliskert, ai tA« OJict, 7«, Qrtai Queem-
ttreet, W.C.
AU Rtmittanrfn, Ck^quea^ and Pott-OJlce Ordert tkould be made payalle to
VetTt, Ff'tfRKin 4* Son*.
*.• All Uttera to tke Editor will he Xumber^d. For ecntmienc* of r^ertitet,
fOTTfiiponJenie, trh^n r^erring to any Uttgr^ wiU oblige by wuniioninff iU numJm
and tk^ pf^g* on vrkich it appeare.
All Letter* or Qu^riet to tke Editor rliVA re*jtiire attention in the eurreni ieeue ^
Enowledob, thoutd reaah the Publieking Office not Utitrthan th« Saturday preceding
tke day qf publication. _
■e; thoT moft be dnwB
I hat I her maj gu unt<jurhe(l to Uw '
printers ; private cnnimuiiiraii« ns, ther.^fure, it« well aa queries, or replin to
queries (intended tonpppar ax flucfa) should be wrilien on Bepnrale lesTea.
(II.) Queries and roplieA shoi>ld be c\Qn more ct-ncUe llutn letlors ; and drsvB
up in tbo form in which Iher are here prc>fni*'<l, with brackets for number in cam
of queries, and the proper query number (bra<;ke(tHl) incaf^e of replies.
(III.} Letters, queries, and repbes nbieh (either becaoso too lone;, or ansnitabla^
or deahnj; vritb matters which otnors hare dincuDsed, or foranj other reason) caA>
not find place here, will either be briefly rt-ferred toinaaswerstocorretipoDdeDta, or
acknowledged in u column reserv'ed for thepurpofle.
(I.) Letters to have a chance of apnciirin^ mn^t
p in the form adopted for lellen* liere, bo that
s to be contemned and deiapised who is not in •
there anything more adversA to accoraoj
" In knowledfje, that man (
st&to of transition iSo
lUan fixity of opinion,** — Faraday.
" There is no narm in making a mistAke, but ^Oftt barm in making none. Bhow
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you s man who b«s don*
nothing." — lAebic.
" GoJ'h Orthodoxy Is Truth."— C»«W« King'^Uy.
©MX Corrrspontifnrt Columns.
OPTICAL ILLUSION.— CAT'S EYE TIMEPIECE.
[279] — In the long string of optical illasions which have appeared
from week to week in yoar esteemed paper, I am surprised the
followin^T bas not been mentioned : — Fix an ordinary fork in the
wall, and on the handle balance a small cork. Having shut the
rijrht eye, walk towards the cork and endearour to knock it off with
the little finger. It is very seldom that the cork is displaced upon
first trial.
Your account of the remarkable ingenuity of the Chinese in cal-
culation reminds me of the peculiar manner in which they are able
to approximately tell the time, no matter whether tho day is clondy
or dull. They will run to the nearest cat, open her eyes, if they
are not already open, and will at once inform you, with a certAin
amount of accuracy, what time it may be ; all depending, of conrset
upon the contraction of the iris or the size of the aperture of the pupil
of the eye. Wha.t 1 cannot understand in connection with thiti process
is, why the clouds in interrupting the sun's light have no effect upon
the cat's eye ? But I suppose the Celestial land knows not what
fogs and mists are, and therefore we should not be able to avail
ourselves of the advantage of feline clocks here. Even if it were
so. I question whether pussy would submit with such grace as the
rats in the land of the pigtail seem to, to an operation which mast
of nocossity be far from agreeable to her. — Yours, A'c,
EBNEST J. WERVHAlf.
fADTT
WEATHER FORECAST.
[280] — I noticed in one of the numl>ers of your most valuable
publication, viz., Knowledge, some remarks anent the conntant
inaccuracies in tho weather forecasts of our Meteorological OflBoe,
and impugning the utility of them and the cost to the nation, out of
all proportion to tho benefit derived. As regards our o>vn district,
viz., North Wales, we are coupled with Lancashire and N.W.
England, some ninety miles off. notably one of the wettest districts
in England, and not one in twenty of the forocafits is correct as
applied to us. I tested them for fourteen days, and not one was
correct, which I forwarded, in a tabulated form, to the office, giving
on one side their own forecasts and on the other the actual weather
we had experienced, and stated my o{)ini<»n of the uselessness of
such forecasts and the injustice of tacking as on to a district so
far away; in due course I received a reply from the secretary.
which 1 am sorry I destroyed, otherwise you should have aeon
•EB. 17, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
345
tlir lame excuses he made for the inaccuracies complained of;
bnt it amounted to this : — " That if I could tell them how to cast
i the weather for every subdivision of the Kingdom, I should be very
' ik ver, as of course the climate varied in different districts from
1 causes, such as mountains, &c., and it was left to each district
dify the forecasts so as to suit their different localities" ; but
. of what earthly use arc they for reference? We all know the
lor we are having in our own particular district, but vcrj- often
ant to see what kind of weather it is where we want to go to ;
r, I said to the secretary, leave us out altogether, or in justice
■ district let ns be classed in a district to ourselves, say " Holy-
i and North Wales." The secretary, 1 forgot to say, took the
Me to send me a tabulated statement of what the weather had
during the fortnight alloded to at Barrow-in-Furness, and which
uited some 130 miles due north of ns, and wliich I considered
u bearing at all upon what 1 had complained of, and was begging
uc'Stion entirely. As you say, these daily forecasts are not to
ponded upon, and are apparently only a matter of guess work,
-1 had better be drop^ied, as for reference and utility they are
I'd to be utterly useless.
A CONST.ANT Re.xpkr, .^np .\ RksII'ENT IX TlIK Prixciialitv.
DREAMS.
281] — The following incident would seem to corroborate a view
h I hold — namely, that some dreams have turned out, and do
ut, to be foretcllings,'iSc. ; and that science cannot possibly —
ust, for the present — give any satisfactorj- explanation of them.
-cntleman friend of mine, whom 1 shall call A., knows a young
1!., whose house is situated in a crescent, about three miles
V.'s dwelUng ; he is pretty well acquainted with the neigh-
;ring district, bnt is at a loss to make out where tliis orescent
I would not for one moment doubt the veracity of his statements,
' 'his is what he relates: —
: lireamt that I was walking up some road, of which I have a
recollection; it seemed about eventirae. As I was going along,
ic to a bye-road, where I saw B. walking on the right-hand
and then enter into the third or fourth house. As soon as B
iisappeared indoors, 1 seemed to run up to the house to have a
: at it." .... And then he continues, " I suddenly awoke,
iMund myself on a chair sketching a house." A, on writing to
-. oung lady the following day, told her his dream, and sent her
-ketch at the same time.
■ av, it turns out that what he dreamt really did happen, for on
; ruvious evening B was just returning to her house, which, by-
ye, is the fourth in the crescent (the bye-road would corrc-
• i to the crescent), and what is more strange, the sketch is such,
any one who has seen the house would immediately recognise
" uu the paper, and besides, there is a characteristic tree just biefore
the house, w-hich is reproduced in the sketch.
It is true that this bears the testimony of one man only ; for no
one but himself can tell whether he had ever seen the house before
or not ; he denies having seen it.
For myself, I consider the thing possible ; bat nevertheless
wcnderful and nnaccountable. Perhaps one of jour readers may
famish a cine to the eiplanatiou of a fact which puts mein mind
I of the story of Bach, the musician. — Yours, Ac, ReVElR.
ICE AGE IX BRITAIN.
;.'S2] — There are many proofs of the existence of an ice age
(yuery 102) over northern Europe, England as far sonth as the
Thames, Scotland, and Ireland. The undulating outlines of the
smaller hills, and the lower parts of the great ones, show the
smoothing action of vast sheets of ice moving slowly over the land,
and grinding down minor irregnlarities and abrupt eminences
which came in their way, out of the it'hris of which was formed
the thick tenacious clay usually found a few feet below the surfaco
in the valleys and plains. Wlien examined, this clay is seen to con-
tain stones varying in weight from a few ounces to several tons.
Most of these stones are subangular, i.e., have their sharp edges
and angles worn down and blunted, while upon their surfaces,
which are more or less roughly polished and worn by friction, are
scratches, some so fine as to be seen only with a magnifjnng glass,
others being deep grooves. When such stones are oblong, the
scratches are mostly in the direction of greatest length.
This rubbing down and scratching has been produced by the
finding which went on between the ice and the rock-surfaces over
which it moved. The rock-surfaces in many places are scratched
by the stones which have been dragged over them, and these marks
show thsfc line in which the ice moved when they were made. Tlie
direction towards which the ice moved can often be ascertained by
observing glaciated stones of a different formation to that on which
they are found, so that if a glaciated piece of granite is seen in a
limestone district, one looks for the nearest granite beds, and if the
majority of scratches on the limestone rock point in that direction,
it is nearlv sure to be the source whence the granite fragment was
taken by the ice. These are only some of the signs of ice w6rk.
The great basins in which lie the lakes of Cumberland and West-
moreland have been, at least partially, excavated by glaciers. This
drawing is from a glaciated limestone pebble, and gives a good
idea of what " Arachnida " should look for. E. C U.
AT THE NORTH POLE.
[3S3] — What is the aspect of the heavens, when the sky is cle^,
to an observer situated at the North Pole ? ' .
Assume the epoch to be noon at Greenwich on Februai-j- 3, the
date of the last number but one of K.vowledck. The sun will be
16J° below the polar lioriton ; there will, therefore, be a dim twilight.
The moon will be 10° above the horiion, and just past the full.
Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars will hold their relative positions as with
us, bnt wiU maintain day after day a nearly constant attitude
equal to their declinations (Jupiter 16°, Saturn Hi", liars 27 J.,
The constellations, together with the planets and the moon, will
appear to sweep round the horizon in then- daily course, the mgon^
alone showing any appeararce of sotting. Her altitude will de-
crease about 10', or one-third of her apparent dianieler, every hohr!
and after two or three diurnal revolutions, she will set below the
polar horizon somewhere over the mountains of Greenland, if such
are in view. The monotony of such a scene would be excessive.
It would probably convince the most sceptical that the earth does
really turn upon its at>3. > ' '
Celestial observations for the verification of the position could
be t«ken with the same, if not with greater facility, than in <Mt»
latitudes, but they would have some peculjixities. For instanf^,
there being no time of day at the pole, Gre<.-uwich time alone,
would be kept, the determination of which by tho moon's disUvnce
from certain stars or planets, would be the tir*t step. 'Jr, if the
moon happened to be below the horizon, the eclipses of Jupiter's
satellites could be observed for the same purpose. The calculations
would be more or less simplified by reason of tho assumed latitude
being 90°, and one element of nil other positions, namely, longitude,
would no longer exist. . /. •
With no meridian of the place— or, rather, with an mfinitc
number of meridians— there could be no such thing as a transit
observation. The mariner, accustomed in temperate climates to
observe the altitudes of celestial bodies at their culmination, would
here wait in vain for them to" dip" that he might make his ship-
time noon and find his latitude. At the Polo he would never
make the tmie noon, but ho would find his hititude notwith-
standing.
In the utter confusion of the north, south, east, and west pomtB
of the horizon, no meaning could attach to the term "variation of
the compass." For, although the compass at the Pole should not
lose altogether its directive force, since the magnetic Pole is at some
distance from tho true Pole, yet, in the face of the fact that every
line that could be drawn from the Pole would be in a direction due
sonth, what could we make of the variation ? The direction of the
magnetic Pole eiven by the compass could only be called magnetic
north, but with no direction that could be called true north, and
with an infinite number of directions true south, it would be as
absurd to speak of the variation of the compass as of the longitude
SPECTRAL LINES.— OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[284]— It may interest amateurs like myself to know that the
scrapings of a galvanic battery— decomposed zinc, copper, salt,
4c.— when put on to retl embers of a wood fire, give very pretty
346
KNOWLEDGE
[Fer 17, leo2.
line* (Gb FCf, Ac, nearly a doKon) in n McClcan'H star opoctroscopo.
Pcrliapa Kmuvi.fdok wonUI Iii'lp some of iig bp((innorB by ffiviiiff
occiixionally n few pxampIcB liow ccrtiiiii lines inny bo cosily pro-
dorcii nitliuiu tlio niil of a Dunscn bunipr, as wo do not nil live in
((ns-ronRiiinin); clistrirls.
If A. T. C, pnjfr 230, will prick four pin-holos, he will see four
invertoil pin«, enrli pin will appear in a circle of its own, whi<'li
ovorlaiiR the one next to it ; and if lie will liol.l the piece of card
the other way bcfurc and look at the square hole through one of the
pin-holes, he will sec the siiuare lengthened outwnnls, and divided
into tlirce sections, the lightest in the middle. Two pins will seem
to bo in the parallelogram; half of each pin will appear much
darker than the other half. Is the appearance mainly dno to
iBtorforenco ? C. B. T.
©iirnrs;.
[2 IS] — Would any of yonr renders kindly help me in the followiHg
difficulty ? 1 have a good many fossils from the Barton clay,
liondon clay, and other similar formations. Some of these, viz.,
(hells, are beginning to crnnible, others, chiefly vegetable remains,
have broken out into crystals, and some have after this disappeared
into powder. I have also had impressions of leaves, &c., but these
hardly lasted a week. Would some fellow geologist kindly inform
mo of some means of preserving these fossils from decay, as other-
wise it seems a life's labour almost to form anything like a collection ;
and also what are the blackish metallic nodules one finds in the
London clay ; and are the forms it sometimes takes casts of vegetable
remains, as thoy are very similar in appearance ? And, further,
are any fossils to be found in the brick earth, such as lies around
West Drayton ? and, if so, what kind and whereabouts in the for-
mation is the best place to look for them ? — Lkpidodexdrox.
[249] — AnsTiiACT Kea.soking.— Can any readers of Kxowledgk
give mo («) a scientific definition or absolute test for abstract
reasoning ? (I) Is objective and subjective reasoning the same in
kind and differing only in degree ? (c) Are the two possessed by one
and the same individual at the same time ? (d) Does the possession
of the former constitute the individual a being of the lower thinking
orders, and docs the possession of the latter constitute him a being
of the higher thinking orders? — W. L. Abbott.
[250]— Spectrl-m of Actixr-m. — Has anything as yet appeared
in print with regard to its spectroscopic behaviour ?— Mabel W.
TiAING.
. [251]— EXCEINITES.— Will some of your geological readers kindly
give their \-iews as to the origin and fonnation of the " Encrinus
Liliiformis," a characteristic fossil of the Musehelkalk period. In
what other strata is it also found ? — Wilfred.
[252]--SuGAR Analysis.— (1) Is there a chemical test for dis-
tinguishing beet-root from cane sugar ? (2) In a given sample of
a mixed sugar, could the relative proportions of each be estimated ?
(3) What is the best book relating to the subject ?— P. W. K.
[253]— N.VTURAL llisTORY, ic— Will you kindly state the best
work on natural history, conchol»gy, entomology, and meteorology,
suitable for reference, and work in all parts of the world ? — H. B. U.
[254] — ViXES. — If the grape in its native condition is of a purple
hue, can anybody inform mo how the white gi-ape has been pro-
duced?—M.E.
[255] — Is there any known means of restoring to well-coloured
old prints of flowers, the original red colour which has become
black through age ? Deoxidation seems the thing wanted.— X. K.
[256] — Paraffin.— Is there any simple method of ascertaining
the flash-point of paraffin or petroleum oils ?— G. F. S. Call.
3^fplir£f to (©iifiifs!.
[310]— Tin: Atomic Thkoby.— For an account of the atomic
theory, see the same by Ad. Wnrtz ; translated by E. Cleminshaw.
0. Kegan, Paul, & Co., publishers. Watt's diction.iry will give
further information, as will the lecture " on the unit weight and
mode of constitution of compounds," delivered by Professor Odling
before the Chemicnl Society, Feb. 2, which will s'horly be published
in the Society's Journal, and also the Ohemu-al Kei/s. There are
tables for the solubility of salts, but do not know of any theory for
the insolubility of certain substances in certain fluids.- Technical
Chemist.
[220]— CnEMiCAL Analysis.— The following are some of the best
toxt-books :— " Valentine's Qualitative Chemical Analysis," price
7b. Gd. ; " Frcsenius' Qnnlitntive Analysis," 12s. 6d. ; also " Quan-
titative Analymi," 16«. ; " Satton's Handbook of Volnmetr^
AnnlyHig," 15»., nil published by Mesam. Churchill.— Tkcdmcii
ClIEMIRT.
[221]— Schwpgler's "History of Philosophy" is undoubted!
the best. James Hutchison Stirling's translotion is published I
Edmonston A Co., Kdinburgh, price 6b.— G. A. Keitomix.
[223]— AxiMXE Dtes.— Kmest L. K. would find a short :,rr,,
of the aniline dyes in Watt's Dictioiiar)', under Phenyiainin' I
more exhaustive article, see "Chemistry of the Arts anl '
factures," "Aniline and Aniline Dyes," page 20^1.— Tj.< n sn a
Chemist.
[22 1] — Electrical.— The "rubber" for a cylindrical marhit;.
may bo made by attaching a piece of leather to u piece of w^od t>
required size, and stiiDing it with hor.whair ; then rub or -
sodium amalgam. It is not necos-sary to varnish the ( ;. , i
though it is an advantage, in so far as it helps to keep moisture f n .
condensing on it. — Amateur.
[22t]— Electricity.-" A Greenock Student" will find the din-'
tionshe requires in Chambers's "KIcetricity," published at Is^nnd •
bo obtnincd from any bookseller), whicli would l» much bet!, r •!
a reply through the Query column of your paper, aa it give- :: ,
ings. It is not necessarj- that the cylinder be covered with .i.i.;...
varnish. Indeed, I never heard of that being done bi-fore. — J.M. (
[233] — Biological — Physically, the difference between ape an
man is much greater than that between man and man. Bu
mentally, not. The range of variation in the capacity of the brain-
case of man (healthy adult) is between 50 and 110 cubic in. ; th-
difference between the gorilla brain-case and the lowest hnma'
is only 13 cubic in., i.e., between 37 and 50 cubic in. (2.) T!
thyroid gland in the higher vertebrates has, by the research' < <■:
Mr. Balfour, been recognised as the rudiment of an organ r ,'!c :
the cndostyle, whicli occurs in the lowest group of the vert' ! :a!
the Tunicata. (See p. 597, " Huxley's Invcrtebrata.") Tlii< ■ ■ _•:
takes the form of a longitudinal groove lying on the floor''; t
pharynx. Its function appears to be to secrete a kind of niucw-
whieh assists the process of swallowing food, though this latti :
point is open to qne«tion. In the floor of the month of vertebral'
embryos, there appears a similar groove, which ultimately developc-
iuto the thyroid gland. (3.) Darwin in the " Descent of Man.
quotes several in.'itances of human beings with projecting caud:/
vertebra?, and I may say fiu-ther that I know an indivi^oa!
now living who has such a tail. There have Ijeen many account -
published of races of men so adorned existing in regions sufficiently
remote to prevent speedy refutation; but, so far as I know, ther
all lack corroboration. Herodotus mentions a tribe of Centr.il
Africans with tails, but not having access to his work just now, 1
cannot give details. I am indisposed to accept any of these state-
ments, as it would be directly contrary to the theory of evolution
to suppose that a useless structure should reappear and ix'rsif'
in a race after it had once been lost, and man's nearest allie»
among the apes have no tails. (1.) The Neanderthal skall
(n.) 'The brain capacity cannot bo definitely ascertained, a-
only the roof of the cranium is preserved ; but it is very small,
probably below 40 cubic inches, (b.) The fragment of skull
is remarkable for immense bony ridges projecting over th«
eye-orbits, of apparently nearly half an inch, and snggostini;
at once a comjiarison with those of our " poor relations," th''
gorillas. The facial angle cannot be ascertained. The back par:
of the human head where the muscles of tho neck are attached,
is marked by a slight ridge, called the '' Lambdoidal crest." Xow.
the back of the head will be found to i)roject considerably behimi
this point in the skull of an European, while in the lowest modem
type (the Australian) it ascends perpendicularly to some height,
but in the Neanderthal skull it slopes directly upwards and fonvards.
thus greatly diminishing its capacity. In addition to this, the brain-
case is very shallow, as the following measurements will show : — A
line drawn from the " Lambdoidal crest" to the front of the brow
ridge gives a length of 7J in., against an extreme length of 7| in. in
an average European skull. The height of the Neanderthal skull
above the line indicat"d is 3 J in., while that of tho European is -t-J in.
Extreme width of Neanderthal skull 53 in., European 5Jin. Thi'
length of the Neanderthal skull is apt to mislead, as the great brow
ridges are not excavated to receive the brain. Professor HuiIpt
remarks that this is the lowest type of human skull that has been
discovered. The skull was found in what is called a Cave Breeoit".
and belongs to the so-called " Palaeolithic ]>criod," which, however,
is so ill-defined as to giro a verj- indifferent idea of its exact ajfc.
though we must certainly regard it as being tens of thousands ef
years old. — Old Fos,<il.
[230]— Bcsser, " PrimitiaD Floitc Galicia-," Paris, ISOO; Brotem.
"Flora Lusitanica," Madrid, 1804; Picot de la Peyrouse, " Floivi
des Pyr^n^es," Lyons, 1793-1802. All in the B. M. Library.—
U. C. "F., B.Sc.
[250] " C. E. H.," and [198] " J.H. B."— Trk iiix.E.— The eating.
Feb. 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
347
of raw, trichiniforous pork is the chief cause of the propagation of
the entozoon to man ; but tlie parasite is not easily killed, even by
cookiug or salting. A temperature of 144° to 155 Fahr. kills the
free trichina?, but those encapsuled demand a greater heat.
(Fiedler.) — During conking, a temjierature which will coagulate
albumen (150° to 155° Fahr.), renders the trichina' incapable of
propagation or destroys them. As a practical rule, it may be said
that if the interior of a piece of boiled or roast pork retains much
of the blood-red colour of uncooked meat, the tenijici-ature has not
been higher than 131° Fahr., and there is still d.anger. Hot smoking,
when thoroughly done, does destroy them (I.cuckart) ; but the
common kinds of smoking, when the heat is often low, do not touch
the trichimc (Kuchenmeister).— Chas. Boyle, M.B.
[275]— Asbestos P.vixt .*xd the Safety Lamp. — The prinGijile
of the Dav)' lamp is that tlie heat of the ignited gas within the
lamp is absorbed l)y the wire ganzc before the incandescent par-
ticles can pass through it. If you w^cre to coat it, as you say, with
a non-conductor, it would at once lose this power of conducting
heat away from the flame. The particles of gas would pass through
the meshes before they were cooled below flashing point, and an
explosion would ensue. No. What you want is, if possible, to
improve the conducting power of the wire gauze, and also to
increase its capability of radiating heat.— C. H. Wingfield.
^nfiUins; to Corrrgpontifnts.
)mmiintcntions for the Editor requiring early attention ghoidd reach the
before the SiiturJat/ preceding the current iainie of Knowledge, the
irculatioH o/u-hich compels us to go to press early in the iceck.
Burns TO CoBRESPONDSNTS. — 1. Xo qiiesiions asking for scientifc information
cam be answered throvgh the post. 3. Letters sent to the Editor for correspondents
cannot be fortcarded ; nor can the names or addresses cf correspondents be given in
ansver to private inquiries, 3. A'o queries or replies savouring of the nature of
•dvertiMements can bt inserted, 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to Rule 3, free of charge, 5. Correspondents should tcrife on one side
onljl of the pi'per, and put drawings on a separate leaf, 6. Each letter, query, or
nply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
ttade to the number of tetter or query, the page on which it appears, and its title.
L'. G. There is a misprint, no doubt. Hydrogen, not oxygon,
must be meant, when it is said that 100 cubic inches weigh
2.14 gr.; or else for 2'11 read 32'14, though this is not quite right,
it would be about 3442. — W. H. Bosser explains that the to])-
gallant forecastle is that part of the forecastle where they work the
anchors, and where there is generally a windlass ; also, that when
the royal mast is a fitted one, there are top-gallant cross-trees.
Thanks. We had not known.- — E. F. B. Haeston' says sailors mean
simply "very high' bj- top-gallant, as top-gallant head-gear — a
woman's bonnet. — Ukrbert Weightmax. In line 8 from bottom
of 1st col., p. 3U7, and in line preceding the final result, the v in
denominator of second fraction within brackets should be deleted.
The mistake arose in making clean copy for printers. — Woxderfcl
Phenomenon'. The calculating boy himself in that case (G. P.
Bidder) c.xjilained how he worked, but, of course, not why he could
work so quickly. — H. L. says, readers who want their papers cut
will want next to have them read aloud. He compares them to
the sturdy beggar, who, having been given a penny to get
bread, said: "It will be very dry; you might give us a
drop of beer to wash it down." — C. J. C. Not Lord Rosse,
bnt earlier astronomers proved moon uninhabitable. — A. R.
Bbooks. I should say, invest about £4 in a good achromatic
object-glass, £1 in suitable eye-glasses, and fit them into tubes,
which you coald make yourself after the manner shown at p. 275.
— Phcexix. We must not trench on the department of our medical
contemporaries. We should be flooded by replies, among which
some might be untrustworthy, and a few unintentionally mis-
chievous.— Jas. A. Gee. Read Darwin on the " Formation of Vege-
table Mould through the Action of Worms." — Lewis J. Coles.
Thanks. — E. Malax. Question would involve four or five pages
of replies. — Stuart Mukray. Could you not say that shorter ? —
P. B. Holt. Kindly make a neat query. — T. S. Unfortunately
for your position, phrenological theories have been disproved,
not neglected, by science.— C. Grimshaw. In American houses,
none of the suggested effects are noticed. As for the open fire, with
its draughty ventilation, it is a disgrace to our civilisation. After
1 enjoying the comfort of well-warmed houses in America, -with a
mnter temperature often falling to 20 or 30 degrees below zero, I feel
ashamed when I think that in England a winter in which the ther-
mometer falls 4 or 5 degrees below zero leaves us shivering hope-
lessly (half roasted on one side), even in houses intended for the
rich'Cand at thrice the cost for fuel).— Vacnol. Fear Mr. Williams
cannot tell us why fleas or their flatt er allies prefer some folk to others,
or why some fool their bites more than others.— W. G. Woolcohbe.
Should say that with your mathematical knowledge, Herschel's "Out-
lines" would bo far more interesting than GuiUomin's " Heavens.
I have revised the hitter book ; but, written as it originally was
by a non-mathematician, revising can be but patchwork. After
reading his carefully illustrated explanation of the way in which
one meteor-stream could explain both the November and August
showers, a mathematician puts down the work, knowing no original
opinion by a writer who could make such a mistake can be of any
value. An ordinary mistake proves nothing ; but such a mistake
as this carefully wrought out in details can only be interpreted in
one way. Yet the descriptive portions of the work are very good. —
MA.I0R Jas. Cummixgs would like to know where ho could purchase
such a blowpipe as Lieut. -Col. Ross describes, and wishes for further
information and illustrations respecting the apparatus described in
Lesson 2. — Sciextia cum Legibus. Believe it has boon shown tliat
scents may be emitted for very long periods without appreciable
loss of substance bvthc scent-emitting substance.— E. Taylor wants
name of a work on wild flowers and plants, with descriptions en-
abling beginner to distinguish them, to cost about 2s. 6d.— Notes
Unsigned received respecting moisture in air, effects of tobacco,
natural philosophv, and the atomic theory.— Gorgon. Whether
nose or ears can be changed in form by reiterated daily compressing
is hardly a question suitable to these pages. Try the Lancet (the
paper, not the instrument), or the Medical Press and Times, Should
say the story about fall of manna in 1846, at Yenishebir, must be a
canard.— W. A. C. It is unfortunate, but matters seem so arranged
that unless some animals die, many human beings must perish.
Teredo. Could the sides of an ancient river valley have the re-
quired flatness ? The natural interpretation is, that the terraces arc
parts of sea beaches which have been displaced later from horizon-
tality. — J. Rae. F. R. A . S. has explained bis meaning.— CnAs.BoTcE,
M.B., exjilains that opium only assists the action of purgatives (in
cases of lead-poisoning) by relaxing the contraction of the intestines,
but does not itself act as a purgative.- Comet. Yes : comets obey
gravity. The size and mass of a celestial body in no way affect
its motion ; a pin's head (or a pin) sent off with the right velocity
would travel in an orbit a million times larger than the earth's, with
as perfect steadiuess as the most massive planet.— T. R. A. Fear
cannot at present find space for articles on mesmerism, though am
very certain you would treat the subject from a scientific stand-
point.— F. F." Question too vague. Besides, it is not fair to ask me
what books I recommend on subjects upon which I have written
myself.— S. S. wants Mr. Matticu Williams to tell him how ts
warm a room 13 x 13 ft., which has no fireplace, and in the walls of
which no holes can bo made for stove-pipes.— Student. Story
about inherited kleptomania in a dog rather too long for us.—
T. R. Allinson. Thanks ; but questions already answered. Your
replies not numbered.— Charles Dawe. The question whether
snakes swallow their young in time of danger is rather well worn.
The usual opinion of naturalists is that there is no foundation for the
idea. The story you mention about the young who had eaten their
way out, after being swallowed, seems very hard to take in. Let
us hope it is not true.— F. H. S. No more room for magic squares.
— EcLECTicus thinks W. S. C'.'s reply to his letter, p. 202, too vague
to be of use. We have not spac3 to repeat the question.- Simplex.
Your account of Bell's system of shorthand too abstract for our
readers, and too long ; we wanted only a few simple illustrations of
its characteristics, as compared with those of Pitman's.— J. F. S.
Thanks. Wish we could do more that way. The correspondencB
stops the way. Fear can find no space for letter already printed.—
A New Re.vder. Thanks; but new subjects of correspondence
leave no room for the old ones you discuss. — W. H. K. Soames.
Yon go a little beyond what I had thought possible in the line you
take. When, first, scientific discoveries seemed diSicult to reconcile
with certain passages in the book you mention, men of your way of
thinking said simply the earth is not a globe, it does not niova
round the sun, and so forth, because this book says differently; we
want no other evidence : so they rebuked men of science for
teaching such things, and told them to be still. When, however,
men of science had demonstrated the soundness of their views in
those matters, your friends took another line. " These facts,"
thev said, " are right enough, and the account in the book, rightly
und"erstoo'd, agrees perfectly well with them." So they rebuked
men of science for saying that the facts did not agree with tha
book account, and told them again to be still, as not knowing
how to interpret the book. Men of science had not said what
they were rebuked for saying; but that was a detail. It is,
however, a new thing — so far as I know— to take your line ;
and to tell men of science that they are bound to show
that the account in the book is incorrect before they indicate
348
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Fkr 17, 1882.
rcRultd which you oonHidcr inoonRiHtont with that nt'coiint. Every-
thing you pay nbnut llio ori;fin of man inif^ht hnvo boon iviid
with iH|unl foriT nhotit the* ('(ipcriiifiin Theory three eentnrieR
ago. Souie of it li'mi nniO. The tlienrv win de(icril)C<l ns ohviouBly
contmry to the (.hiln tenehiiiffH of the book. Rut no one, ho fur as
I know, went ko fhi' nh' you ih>. and askeil thnt the followerB of
OopornicUH Khoulill>C;;fri hy .•</i'>ifi.i.( the t)ook " to lie unlnie." F<tr
my own part, I' nhnuM think it wn« much oiisiier to reeoneile (us it
is nbBunlly eulled) th^ modem scienlilie belief of iiian'« oripin with
Ihoooeountg^iven in (tie brtokyiiu men! ion than the C'opei'uieanThcorj-
or tho rosultn of ffeolojjieal researeh ; u5 men of neieiu'e nro far
liotter ubhi to imprire into the tnith of the scientific theory than into
thecpu'sition of that booVn aiitliority.T ciin nee na reason for nrpinp
them acrosB tlie line which separates science from religion. Con-
sider a little that Very clever (but. 1 tmspect. (renenilly niiiiuuder-
stood) saying of Dismeli's, " Religion beijins whero science ends,"
—this, with a very slight change, may be tnk^n as " our mortar
what wc sticks to " in thift mutter :— Where dogmatic religion begins
Knowledok CTids. 1 say all this with no more objection to religions
attacks on science, than to scientific attacks on religion ; I object
cipinliy to both. But just think where the science of onr dayivonld
bo, if, before starting any theory, men of science had had to show-
that tho interpretation put by theologians on certain passages
in religions works was incorrect. — J. If. You ask when tho
Greater Light was called the Sun, and refer to Genesis, eh. xv.
V. 12 ; but that account says only when it was called by
another name. 'ITie present name, or form of the name, is not
quite so old. As a matter of curiosity I should like to know
why yon wish for an answer to this question. It must be of interest
to you, as you have been asking it for years : but why ? What can it
matter? — \V. J. Abbott. Many thanks ; if KNoWLEnCK had many
such friends as you we could afford to give what hitherto only much
more expensive papers ccjuld ]>resont to their readers. Geological
matters will soon have their turn. Do you not think the quicksilver
storj- — instructive though it doubtless is- -better suited for a more
medical journal than ours ? — W. MinDi,ET0.\ suggests that the sea-
blue bird of March may be the fieldfare (see Goldsmith's " Animated
Nature," vol. ii., p. 1 10). — J. P. Sandl.\ni).s. Nay, the article on
Found Links simply presents a certain part of the evidence for what
it is worth ; the evidence for the development of one form of creature
from another form is one thing, the indication of such links as
the development theory requires is another. Dr. Wilson's argu-
ment is complete, so far as it goes ; but one and the same
argument cannot answer all objections. I can only inf^r from
your remarks about luck in its relation to religion, that I should
not discuss the mathematical theory of probabilities, because it
hurts your religions feelings to be told that, so far as observation
extends, the laws of probabilities and of averages are never departed
from. That would be as unreasonable as to urge that the scientific
discussion of the laws of chance does not take into account the
possible iuHucnce of earnest prayer on the observed result in
the case of any particular person. A and B draw tickets
in a lottery, prize £1,000, number of tickets 1,000 ; and
science says the chance of each is worth just £1. But
J. P. Sandlands interferes. " Do not trespass on forbidden
ground," ho says : " wliethcr yon mean iter not, the inference from
that statement is against religious truth. If you make a state-
ment, and say this is all wc know, and apeak as an authority, does
it not follow that there is nothing more ? If you examine the state-
ment you will find it ignores the interaction of scientific and
religious truth." A, you imply, may be favoured for reasons which
religion suggests and can explain, and science, in making no men-
tion of this, to all intents and purposes suggests that there is no
such influence from without. It may seem so to you. I cannot
take your view. As I have already said, the mathematical discussion
of chance seems to me to have no more to do with religion than
religion has to do with ex]>erimente in chemistry or physics. —
Q. Many thanks. The mistake was di.scovered sooii after the book
was published. Many errors in the treatise were such as I could
not possibly have avoided— accents not showing which had shown
in proof, and the like. The work was very laboriously corrected,
but was unfortunately in the hands of printers of very fittle mathe-
matical experience.— F. W. F. Problem later.— F. S. The distance
you require— the sagitta (say s)—ia given in terms of the chord (2c),
and the railius (r) by the following formula:— s = r - ^'r-' - r '.
When r is very large compared with r, we have approximately
2rs = c=, or s = c'-!-2r.-C. H. Wingfield. Thanks: but the experi-
ments to be found in elementary treatises on pneumatics and
chemistry. We must not occupy space telling readers what so
many know. — F. G. Bakk.vs. As to my supposed prediction— not
([uite. I would be glad to see the article you mention. There
would be nothing to prevent its appearance here, if the reasoning
seemed valid. I think it very unlikely I could lecture at ^■ewca^tlo,
or anywhere, next season. Thanks, equally.
II. Mt W., It. IJavchy, Gl. Trcv.iyan. W A. C, A Fellow of the
Gheniical Society, N.. T. W., A. K. S.. Argr), J. Acrington, BHrljun,
J. Twaite, L. I'urmontcr, A. K. J^., Bronte, J. Unrineii«, L. Tulbuil,
M. Amb. K.., Eccc Signum, J. llurvcy. M. N. S., F. K. f; , L.
Purtntjas (}), E. E. 0. S. (No, 1), Hokluyt, A. I, . T. P. R .
P. U. G. S. (No. 2), (UirmnighttiD.)
^otrsi on 9rt anlj ^ricnrr.
We are informed that Messrs. Farraud A Lunds, the patcriiic-,.
of tlie System of Time Signalling and Clock Synchronizing no
largely adopted in IjOndon, have applied to the Postal Telegraph
Department for an extension of their Time Exchange to Telephone
purposes. For some time they liave been experimenting with the
object of utilising their existing system for teleph<ming, which hu
resulted in a perfect success, and they now propose to formilly
thus duplicate and extend their system, by which every telephone
subscriber would be able to receive an hourly Greenwich time
current by simply hanging his receiver on a hook in big telephone,
marked "Time Signal," without any interference with the Sfxiaking
])ower of the instruments. Tho proposals arc under consideration
at St. Martin's-le-(irand, where so beneficial an arrangement can
hardly fail to receive due attention.
Manufacture of Ga.s from Wood. — It may not be known to all
the readers of Knowledge that carbonic oxide (CO), the manafac-
ture of which " F.C.S." refers to in the number for Jan. 20, it
extremely injurions to life, if inhaled in any quantity. Carbonic
dioxide (COo) is deleterious because it takes the place that should
be occupied by oxygen ; whereas carbonic oxide is a distinct poison,
causing death in a very short time ; therefore, should any attempt
its manufacture, they should be very careful to allow none to escape
into the room. — F. D. U.
Gi.vcEHiXE Leatuer POLISH. — Mix intimately together 3 or -lib.
lam|)black and i lb. of burned bones with 5 lb. glycerine and 51b-
syrup. Then gently warm 25 oz. of gutta-percha in an iron or
copper kettle until it flows easily ; then add 10 oz. of olive oil, and,
when completely dissolved, 1 oz. stearine. This solution, while
still warm, is poured into the former and well mixed. Then add
5 oz. gum Senegal, dissolved in 1 J lb. water, and | oz. lavender or
other oil to flavour it. For use, it is diluted with 3 or 4 parts of
water. It is said to give a fine polish, is free from acid, and the
glycerine keeps the leather soft and pliable. — Polyiech }CotizbIall.
An influential company, having Messrs. Marshall Jewell, Charles
E. Mitchell, Morris F. Tyler, and Kobt. Wheeler Wilson on their
board, and with all their capital privately subscribed, has just been
formed in America, to be called " The Standard Time Co." Having
carefully examined into the various systems of synchronising clocks
in use both in America and Europe, the one in use in London, and
known as Barraud & Lunds', has been adoi>ted by them ; a gentle-
man was specially sent over to England to the jiatentees, negotia-
tions were at once opened, communications cabled, and the whole
concession concluded in a few days. The arrangements inclutle the
whole of the An.erican Continent, as well as the Unite<l States, and
an effort will be made to bring about a concerted system of time
signalling over the whole of the States ; local affiliated companies
are to be formed, and we shall probably soon hear of our trans-
atlantic cousins having once more excelled us in an extensive ex-
change and utilisation of time signals, as they have in their
telephone exchanges.
d^ur iBatbrmatiral Column.
T. R.- Many thanks for your algebraical proof of the relatioo
involved in our geometrical solution of the Messenger problem
" No Analyst," however, in his personal communication, said he
could follow a proof referring to hyperbolic area, Avhicli would, he
supposed, be involved, and referred to a problem which it apjiears
is given in Frost's Newton. Will give next week a geometrical
proof that area of hyperbolic section is related that way to nataral
iogaiithras. Unfortunately, our mathematical space is at present
somewhat limited, and we are obliged to indulge as little as possible
in analytical investigations. Dope soon to begin some simple
jiapers on the differential and integral calculns, which will some-
what widen our sphere of operations. Wo must notify our mathi'-
matical readers, that recently we liave allowed our consideration •
for those who have sent problems for solution to interfere greatly
Feb. 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
349
with onx original pliin ; and that, as that plan involverl a promise,
we must adopt in future a different line. We cannot further find
I space for such prviblems as occnr in ordinary mathematical reading,
' except when illustrating general principles. Our mathematical
i column must not degenerate into a puzzledom corner. — En.
' A correspondent (X. XL.) asks for a demonstration of a property
of the conic sections to which we referred a short time back, viz.,
that if a sphere enclosed in a cone (like a ball in a conical cup)
touches the plane of section, the point of contact between the
sphere and the plane is a focus of the conic section. We have pre-
pared three diagrams corresponding to the case of (1) elli[>se,
(2) hyperbola, (3) parabola, and ^vill give these next week, with
a demonstration which seems to ns of interest, as probably the
simplest proof connecting the fundamental property of the ellipse,
1 parabola, and hyperbola (relation between distances from focus and
I directrix), and the fact that the curves possessing tliat property
are sections of the cone. — Ed.
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
[35] — Value of Lease. — Given, H} years repairing lease ;
rent, £15 ; ground-rent, £i ; present rental value, £32. Kequired,
present worth of lease to make 5 per cent, interest. — James Gbegg.
[36] — Can you, or any of your readers, tell me how to obtain the
general term in the expansion of (Oj -^ a., +a^+ &c.)', n being whole
or fractional, positive or negative ?— Cartesian.
[We should deal with the problem somewhat on this wise: — Let
any expression of the form a,„ + a,„+j -^ a„^.; + Ac., = am : also in the
expansion of (o„, -^ a,.+i) ' take the (r,„ + 1) th term for general
term, and put p — / „ — r„. Then
. ^ , X rn(n-l)...(n—r,+l) "l
(o,-f«t,-K73 + &c.)" = (a,-iao)" =S [-^ ^g3_ ^ ' a/ia/. J
|r,
finally (a, -i- «„ + a, + &c.)"
^j, p„(,v-l)...(„-,.,+l) .^ ^^
Where r., i-j, >■_,, &c., are positive whole numbers, and
n = r, -h r„ + )-3 + r^ + &c.,
If n is a positive whole number, we may conveniently interchange
and Tj in the first part of the process (the distinction being only
ntroduced because if n is not a positive integer, neither is r,).
Ve thus obtain the convenient formula
, , ^m (n-1) .. (n-r, -t-l)
(aj'. = (a3-^a,)'
(a,)'3=(njH-ai)'
ic,
lis.
3'3a/3J
ic,
!'■>
#iu- SMbiSt Column.
WUIST PROBLEM, No. 1.
In this problem B holds the following hand ; —
Spades. — Ten, nine, six, five. (Tramps.)
Hearts. — Ace, Queen, four, two.
Diamonds. — Queen, six.
Clubs. — Ace, ten, eight,
ad the four first tricks are as follows, the underlined card winnin"
■ick, and card below leading next : —
A
Y
B
Z
1.
CG
C Kn
C A
C3
2.
no
n 5
H2
H 10
3.
D8
D Kn
DQ
D4
4.
SKn
S A
S 5
S7
After these four tricks have been played B is able to place every
card, supposing tliat all the players have followed the usual roles
for play.
No one has solved this problem correctly. Fifteen solutions sent.
We note that what we have hitherto said about whist leads does
not quite suffice for the solution of this problem, though it help
towards it. It is necessary to supplement the rules for lead,
however, with only two general rules, one for second, the other for
third player, to give the solution. These are first that second
player, if he has a sequence of two high cards and one small one,
plays the lowest of the sequence second hand on a small card led ;
secondly, that third in hand plays highest if he has any card higher
than (and not in sequence with) his partner's lead, and no sound
finesse open to him, but otherwise plays his lowest.
First Ti-ick.—A has led the lowest from four at least (it should
have been noticed that the inventor of this hand did not accept the
rule for penultimate lead). Since two is not in .-I's hand, nor in
Z'b, for Z's lead third hand shows he was not signalling for trumps
and B has it not himself, it must lie with }'. Hut no other small
card can be in i'shand, who would only play Knave, having the two
if he held Queen, Knave, two, ajid no more. Hence four and five lie
with Z, and no more, for A must have four Clnbs. Thus the Clubs
were originally distributed as follows :— With Y, Queen, Knave
two ; withZ, five, four, three ; with B, Ace. ten, eight ; and the rest,'
viz.. King, nine, seven, and six with A.
Second Trick.~A has no Hearts above ten, and his play of nine
shows he has none lower. Hence, A only holds Hearts nine. As T
plays the five, he does not hold the three (he had not begun a signal
m first round, as B knows, holding Clubs U-d in his own hand).
Hence, Hearts three must be held by Z, and as he played ten, having
the three, he must have the Knave, but no others. Hence, the
Hearts lay originally as follows : —
With A, the nine; with Z, Knave, ten, three; with B, Ace,
Queen, four, two ; and the rest, viz., King, eight, seven, six, and five'
with Y.
Third Jrick. Diamonds four is the lowest of four at least. A has no
card below the eight, hence the two and three must be with I" as^
IS certainly not signalling. We know also that A has not five trumps,
or he would have begun with one ; hence, as he had originally four
Clubs, one Heart, and fewer than five trumps, he must have more
than three Diamonds. Since eight is his lowest and Z has led from
four at least, B having Queen, six, and Y Knave, tlu-ee, two, it follows
that Z must have held seven, five, four, and either Ace or King,
showing that A must have had eight, nine, ten, and either Ace or
King.^ But A' a first lead shows that A must have the Ace and not
the King, for he would not have led Clubs from six, seven, nine
King, if he had had eight, nine, ten. King of Diamonds ; thou'^h'
foUowing Clay's rule, he would have led a Club if holdins eight,'
nine, ten, Ace of Diamonds, reserving the Ace-headed long'suit to
get in with later. Thus the Diamonds lay originally as follow :
With y, Knave, tlu-ee, two ; with A, eight, nine, ten, Ace ; with
B, Queen, six ; and the rest, viz., King, seven, five, four, with Z
Fourth Trick. —B knows already that A holds four Spades- Y
two Spades ; and Z, three. As Z plays the seven, tlio onlv card^
left which can make up his remaining two are the eight, the"Queen,
and the Kmg. He cannot have both Queen and King, or he would
have played the Queen. He must have, then, either eight Queen or
eight King. But if he had the Queen, King would lie with A, and
A would not have finessed the Knave holding King, Knave, and two
others. Therefore Z held King, eight, seven. }''s other card
must be a small one, and Spades were originallv distributed as
follows : —
Z,— King, eight, seven; B,— ten, nine, six, five; F,— Ace, two (or
three, or four) ; and the rest, viz., Queen, Knave, four, three (or four
two, or three, two) with A. '
The doubt as to the actual value of the small spade in Y's hand
can hardly be said to affect the statement that Z knows the position
of every card in the pack, for the two, three, and four, are in this
case of practically equal value.
We would now leave our whist readers to explain why B led
trumps fourth round, when, with his knowledge of the position of
cards he might, one would say, lead his only remaining diamond,
through Z'.< King, enabling A to make the trick with the nine.
G. Thompson-. B's lead second trick is correct. It is unfortn-
iinte having to load from a tcnace suit; but it is better than
decemng partn.r. Returning partner's suit at once means, "I
have no strong suit."— H. P. YARMouxn. Your method of dealing
with the problem discussed by the Editor at p. 301 (letter 259) is
incorrect. Do you not see that in five cuttings, according to your
method, A would possess fifteen chances out of thirteen, which is
absurd?— Gr-ii.atio.v. The lead of King followed by Queen from
Ace, King, Queen, Ac, should certainly have been added (it is indi-
cated at p. 259) ; but not " Ace followed by ten from Ace, Queen
850
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Fbr 17, 1882.
KnnvK, ton " ; bcrnimo tlint is not correct. " Ace, foUowcil liy
ninp (instcnd of lowest or noxt lo lowodt) from Ace, Qncon, ton,
nine, niitl oiln-rs, or from Arc, Kiinvc, ton, ninf, and ollier«" is
correct in Kcnonil ; liut liithorto, tliouf^'li wo linvc touclicrt on the
piny second ronnil, wo hnvo not intended wliot is snid about that
ronnd to lio exlinuntive. Special ronHidcrntions coino in for second
round, wliicli render special treatment necessary in its case. One
wonld Imvo to mention exceptions in tlie Inst two cases; for if
Kinp and Knnve fell first round in tlie former, or Kinp and (Jiiecn
in the latter, the liighost of the Bcquonco would bo the proper
cni-d to load secimd round. Our loads nro complete, and the
learner would make the few necessary exceptions for second round
if ho possessed average intelligence, just as he would not, merely
becnuRo of the general rule " third in hand play your highest," put
his King on his partner's Queen. As to tho trump loads, we should
hnvo said that from Ace, King, not more tlian four others, and from
King, Qncon, not more than four, flinnllost is led. Wo believe we
wrote four in both cases, but, as yon note, it is printed " five."
Thanks. The chance problems later. Some of your solutions look
too simple, but they maybe right. May perhaps ask Editor to give
these as matlicmatical problems. Five of Clibs.
(9uv COfEfs Column.
Problem No. 20.
By J. A. Miles.
H...„„S ...M........SJ.,.I
"White to play and mate in four movc^.
SOLUTIONS.
No. 9.— End Game, by A. J. Maas, ]>. 239.
K. to K.sq. or A.
K. to B.6.
P. to Kt. 6.
P. to K.7.
A.l
4.
P. to Kt.5.
K. to Kt.4
P. to Kt.5.
P. to K.5.
P. to Kt.7.
P. to Kt.6.
K. to Kt.5.
K. to B.2.
3. F- to B.y.(ch.)
K. to B.sq.
r P. to K.6.
P. Queens.
K. takes P.
P. to K.4.
K. to B.5.
K. to K.3.
and wins.
If White plays 1. P. takes P.(eh.), Black obtains a draw In-
correct play.
End Game, No. 10., p. 210.
, Q. to B.G.(ch.) „ Q. takes P.(ch.) ,,,-,• . , ,
1- ^ . n -r 2. g-— —i and White is stale-
K. to B.sq. or A. P takes Q.
mated.
A. — If Queen interposes perpetual ch. on R.8. and B.C.
No. 11. — Problem by Hcrr Gunsberg, p. 240.
J Q. to K.R. 2. 2 Kt. to K.8.(ch.) g Kt. to K.C.
R. takes Q. best. ' Kt. takes Kt. ' mate.
Most of our correspondents gave 1. Q. to Kt.3. ; but if Black
replies with 1. H. to B.4.(ch.), there is no mate in two moves.
Kt. to B.5.(ch.)
K. toQ.5or^.
Problem No. 11, p. 259.
J, D^to K.3,(cjli.) ,
■ if K. takes B.^
3 Q. to Q.Kt.3. .,
mate.
Q. to Q.7.
K. to D.3.
Q. to K.O.
Problem No. 12, p. 2G0.
As pointed out by us, this haa two solutions, viz. : —
J Q. takes R.
B. takes Q. (best)
B. to Q.3.
mate.
Q. takes P.
Q. to K.sq. or .1.
Kt. to B.3.
Kt. takes R.P.
y. to K.4.
Q. takes B.(ch.)
Q. takes Q.
P. to Q.4.
and mates accordingly.
Kt. takes R.P. g P. to Q.4.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*,* Please ttddress Chess-Edilor.
Edward Sargnnt (Problem No. 11, p. 240).— It Kt. to K.6.ch..
then Kt. takes Kt. with a check, and there is no mate.
Kt. to B.5.
J. P. — In Problem No. 18 or No.
Q. to K.O. ^, „ B. takes P.
^ then 3. mate.
6, it 1.
B. takes Kt
"B. toQ.6."
Squire. — Solution of No. 14 correct. We agree with you as i^
its merits.
J. H. Wootton. — There is no modem treatise on odds ; we hope
.soon to publish some articles on these openings. If yon give .'i
Pawn, you' must give your K.B.P.
E. C. H. — 1. Ton can have as many Queens for as many Pawn-
as you can advance to the eighth row ; 2. In Castling on the Qaeen'-
side, the King is put on B.sq. and the Book on Q.sq. ; 3. " Stale "
mate is a draw.
F. W. B. — Solution of No. 14 correct. It is convenient foi
writing down a game that is being played that the first playe:
should play with White; but it is not compulsory.
G. Woodcock. — Tour joke, directed against ua at " fall cock," i
good ; but vou are an adept in the art of firing. Remove Pawn ('t
black Q.R.2.
M. J. Harding. — We willingly grant your i-oquost, fi-ce of cbaig'"
Ilenry Planck. — Solutions correct.
F. Edmonds. — Thinks for games, which shall appear. " Mcphisto '
and Chess Editor of Knowledge are " one" in the flesh ! bat "two'
in the spirit.
Notice. — A gentleman would be glad to hear of another willini
to play a game by correspondence. — Address, Chess Ei>rroi>'
Knowledoe.
Contents of Knowledge A^o. 15.
PAGB
The Eve and the Microscope. Bv
UcnI-r .1. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. 311
.^boiil Fallaeies. Bt the Editor ... 311
Nichts with a Three-Inch Telescope.
Bv " .\ Fellow of theRoval .Vslro-
ical Societv." (lUiitlraltd) . 312
Telegraph. Bt 'W.
riG
The Elect
Lmd
The 9reat Prramid. By the Editor !
{IltHftrate'd) 315
The Crvstal Palace Electrical Eihi- \
bilion. First Notice 31S
Natural Rubbish Ueaps. Bv Jamoa '
Geikie, LL.D., F.R.S. ...,". 319 1
Dr. Carpenter on Vaccination 319 i
The Moon's Birth br Tidal EtoIo-
lion .' 3-
The Menacing Comet Si
CoRBBSPOxsKifcB : — Onr Lett«n.
Queries, and Replica— Flnh Food
—The MooM and the Wealhw—
Intra- Mercurial Planet, 4o. ...3»W:
Queries ^i
Kcpliea to Queries S2
Answers to Correspondenta «-... 3i
Letters Received 3^
Notes on .\rt and Science 3?
Our Mathematical Column ». 3:%
Onr ■Whist Column ST
Our Chess Column S;
i'EB. 24, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
351
^MACi^ZlNE Of SCIENCE
^lAlNIlTI^ORDED-EXACrrfPESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1882.
Contents op No. 17.
Our Ancestors. — I. The Stone Age
M,!i Bt Grant Allen 331
: the Moon bv Ti<l«l Evolu-
Parl II. Bv Dr. Ball,
I'^mer Rojnl for Ireland ... 352
. about Luck. Bjr
353
' ^tal Palace Electrical Exhi-
Third Notice. (lUia.
.1 354
uband 336
It Pyramid. By the Editor 356
r.^ubies. Punninu 357
Celestial Objects for
uon Telescopes 353
PiOB
Easy Lessons io Blowpipe Che-
mistrv. — Lesson III. By Lieut. -
Col. W. A. Koss, late B.A 359
The Brain and Skull (lUuatrattd) ... 359
IntelliKence in Animals 361
CoBRBspoNUBxcK ; — Erratum —
Flexure in Planets— Interior Heat
of the Earth— Hog Puizle, ic. 361-363
Queries 364
Replies to Queries 364
Answers to Correspondents 365
Notes on .\rt and Science 367
Our Mathematical Coltunn 36S
Our Chess Column 369
Our WTiist Column 370
OUR ANCESTORS.
] — THE STONE ACxE MEN.
By Grant Allen.
THERE are few questions more immediately interesting
to Englishmen thaix the question — who are our an-
estors ] From wliat elements and in what proportions
ire we compounded 1 May we consider ourselves as all
5ure Teutons ? or are we partly Celts as well 1. Further-
nore, may we even reckon among our immediate ancestry
iome still earlier and less historical races than either of
Jiese ] Such questions are fvill of practical importance to
Durselve^, and they are also of a sort upon which modern
nvestigations into language and the science of man ha^■e
«st a strikingly new and unexpected light
Of course, in considering the origin of Englishmen, we
juust look at the matter in no petty provincial spirit. We
inust include roughly in that general name Welshmen,
•scotclmien, and Irishmen as well ; and if our friends in the
liorth prefer to speak of Britain rather than of England, I
|im sure I, for my part, will have no objection. There are
nany learned modern historians, with Mr. Freeman at
heir head, who wUl tell us that Englishmen are almost
3ure-blooded Teutons, of the same original stock as the
ermans, the Dutch, and the Danes and Norwegians. But
s'hen we come to inquire more fully into their meaning, it
urns out that they are speaking only of the native inhabi-
ants of England proper and the Scotch Lowlands, without
aking into consideration at all the people of Wales,
reland, and the Highlands, or the numerous descen-
iants of immigrants from those districts into the south-
•astern half of Great Britain. Even in the restricted
"".ngland itself, these same doughty Teutonic advocates admit
hat there is a nearly pure Celtic (or pre-Celtic) population
it Cornwall, in Cumberland, and in Westmoreland ; while
he western half of the Lowlands, from Glasgow to the
>order, is also allowed to be inhabited by a mainly Welsh
ace. Furthermore, it is pretty generally granted by our
toutest Teutonic champions themselves, that the people
of Dorset, Somerset, and Devon ; of Lancashire, Cheshire,
Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire ; are all
largely mingled with Celtic blood. Thus, in the end, it
appears that only the native inliabitants of the Lothians
and the Eastern and Southern coast of England are
claimed as pure Teutons, oven by those who most loudly
assert the essentially Teutonic origin of the English people.
We may possiljly tind that this little Teutonic belt, or
border itself, is not without a fair sprinkling of earlier
blood.
Perhaps the best way to clear up this question will be to
glance briefly at the various races which have inliabited
these islands, one after another, and then to inquire how
far their descendants still exist in our midst, how large a
proportion of our blood they have contributed, and where-
abouts their representatives are now mainly to be found.
Of course, in such an inquiry we can only arrive at \ ery
approximate results, for in our present advanced stage of
intermixture, it is almost impossible for any man to say
exactly what are the proportions of various races, even in
his own person. Each of us is descended from two parents,
four grand-parents, eight grand-grand-parents, and so forth ;
so that, unless we could hunt up our pedigrees in every
direction for ten generations, involving a knowledge of no
less than 1,02-1 ditlercnt persons at the tenth stage back-
ward, we could not even say how far we ourselves were
descended from Irish, Scotch, Welsh, or English ancestors
respectively. As a matter of fact, everyone of us is now,
probably, a very mixed product indeed of Teutonic, Celtic,
and still earlier elements, which we cannot practically
unravel : and, perhaps, all we can really do is to point out
that here one kind of blood is predominant, there another,
and yonder again a third.
The very eai4iest race of men who ever lived in England
are probably not in any sense our ancestors. They were
those black fellows of the palaeolithic or older stone age,
whose flint implements and other remains we tind buried
in the loose earth of the river-drift or under the concreted
floors of caves, and who dwelt in Britain while it was yet
a part of the mainland, with a cold climate like that of
modern Siberia. These people seem to have lived before
and between the recurrent cold cycles of the great glacial
period ; and they were probably all swept away by the last
of those long chilly spells, when almost the whole of
England was covered by a vast sheet of glaciers, like
Greenland in our own time. Since their days, Britain has
been submerged beneath several hundred feet of sea, raised
again, joined to the continent, and once more finally
separated from it by the English Channel and the Straits
of Dover. Meanwhile, our own original ancestors — the
people from whom Ijy long moditication we ourselves are at
last descended — were probably living away in the warmer
south, and there developing the 'higher physical and intel-
lectual powers by which thej' were ultimately enabled to
overrun the whole northern part of the old world.
Accordingly, interesting as these older stone age savages
undoubtedly are — low-browed, fierce-jawed, crouching
creatures, inferior even to the existing Australians or
Andaman Islanders — they have yet no proper place in a
pedigree of the modern English people. They were the
aboriginal inhabitants of Britain ; but their blood is
probably quite unrepresented among the Englishmen of
the present day.
Long after these black fellows, however, and long after
the glaciers of the ice age had cleared ofl" the face of the
country, a second race occupied Britain, some of whose
descendants almost undoubtedly exist in our midst at the
present day. These were the neolithic, or later stone-age
men, who have been identified, with great probability, as a
352
KNOWLEDGE
[Fku. 24, 1882.
branch of tho Banio isolated Basque or EuRtrarian race
wliich now lives oniony tlif valli-ys of tho WesU-ni
Pyrcni'i's and tin- Astiirias mountains. 'I'licy .si-oin to havr
crossotl over into liritniii whili- it wiis still (•orincct<'cl witli
tlio Coiitiiirnt liy a liroad istlimu.s, or, perhaps, even l>y n
lonj; strclvh of land occupyinf; the entire lieds of the
Channel and the Oernian Ocean. Our knowledge of them
is mainly derived from their tonilis or harrows — jjreat
heaps of earth which they ]iiled up almve the liodies of
their dead chieftains. Krom these have lieen taken their
skeletons, their wi-apons, their domestic utensils, and their
ornaments, all the latter objects huvinj; heen buried with
tlie corpse, for the use of the gho.st in the other world.
From an examination of these remains, we are able largely
to recon.struct tho life of the Eustrarian peojih — the
earliest inhabitants of LJritiin whose blood is still largely
represented in the existing ]iopulation.
In stature, the neolithic men were short and thick-set,
not often exceeding five feet four inches. In com-
plexion, they were probably white, but swarthy, like the
darkest Italians and Spaniards, or even the Moors. Their
skulls were very long and narrow ; and they form the best
distinguishing mark of the race, as well as the best test of
its survival at the present day. Tho neoliths were un-
aci|uainted with tho use of metal, but they employed
weapons and implements of stone, not rudely chipped, like
those of the older stone age, but carefully ground and
polished. They made pottery, too, and wove cloth ; they
domesticated pigs and cattle ; and they cultivated coarse
cereals in the little plots which they cleared out of the
forest with their stone hatchets or tomahawks. In general
culture, they were about at the same level as the more
advanced Polynesian tribes, when they first came into
contact with European civilisation. The \)arrows which
they raised over their dead chieftains were long and rather
narrow, not round, like those of the later Celtic conquerors.
They appear to have lived for the most part in little
stockaded villages, each occupying a small clearing in the
river valleys, and ruled over by a single chief : and the
barrows usually cap the summit of the boundary hills which
overlook the little dales. Inside them are long-chambered
galleries of large, rough-hewn stones ; and when these
primitive erections are laid bare by the decay or removal
of the barrow, they form the so-called " Druidical monu-
ments " of old-fashioiu'd antitiuaries, a few of which are
Celtic, but the greater part Eustrarian.
At some future period I hope to lay before the readers
of Knowledcie a fuller account of these neolithic people
and their existing remains. At i)rcsoiit, the points to
which I wish to call attention arc, firstly, the fact of their
existence in early days in Britain ; and, secondly, tho fact
that many of their descendants still remain among us to
the present day. Nor do I propose in this paper to esti-
mate the numerical strength of the Eustrarian element in
the population of the British islands as it now stands. It
will be best to consider that part of the question at
a later point in this series, when we have seen what
were the subsequent races which overcame, and, in fact,
displaced, the aboriginal Eustrarian folk. For the
moment, it will suffice to point out that before the
arrival of the Celts and other Aryan tribes in
Britain, the^e Eustrarians spread over the whole of our
islands, and were apparently the only people then inhaliit-
ing them. At least, the ninuuments of this date — perhaps
from ."i,000 to '.'0,000 years old —seem to be similar in
type wherever they occur in Britain, and to contain tho
remains of an essentially identical race. I shall also add
liere, by antici]iation, what I hope to show more in detail
hereafter, that their descendants exist almost unmixed at
the present day as the so-called Black Celts in certain
part-s of WeBt«Tn Ireland and Scotland, and in a few placeit
in South Wales ; whihf thi'ir blood may be still traced in
a more mixed condition in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, East
.\nglia, the Scotch Highlands, and many other districts
of England and Scotland. How they have managed to
survive and to outlivi' the various later Celtic and Teutonic
c()n<|uest.s, we shall have to in<iuire when we come to con-
sidia- the origin and progress of those 6ub.se(|uent waves of
population.
BIRTH OF THE MOON
By Tidal Evolltion.
Bv Dii. Ball, Astronomer-Rotal for Ireland.
PABT II.
Ly P to the present point, dynamics have guided us with
J unfailing accuracy, Itut if we attempt to look back
still earlier, we have not the sure light of dynamics for our
guide. Yet it is impossible to resist a speculation as to
how the moon and the earth came into this wondrous
relation. Mr. Darwin has made the suggestion that most
probably the moon was actually fractured ofT from the
earth. This is indeed a romantic origin for the moon, but
listen to the grounds by which it may be substantiated. In
those (larly days, before we believed the moon existed, tl*B
sun raised tides on tlie earth as he does at present It
was, no doubt, the case that the earth had then no oceans
of water on its surface. The tides were manifested by
actual throbs in the sjft or molten materials of the earth
itself. Twice a day the earth rose and fell under the
pulses of the solar tides, but as the day was then only three
hours, the interval between one high tide and the next was
but an hour and a half. The earth was thus in a state of
vibration in consequence of the solar tides. These solar
tides were, no doubt, small, as the solar tides are small at
tho present day. But at that very remote epoch it seems
not uidikely that there was a particular circumstance which
was calculated to exaggerate erroneously the influence of
the solar tide. The point now referred to is not an easy
one to explain ; let me try to simplify it by an illustration.
A heavy weight is hanging by a string — say, for exfimple, a
weight of 14 lb. is suspended by a string a yard long, with
a light wooden mallet weighing an ounce or less ; you give
the weight a series of blows — generally speaking you will
not succeed in giving to the weight any large degree of
swing, but if yo\i carefully time the blows so that they
shall harmonize with the natural swing of the weight, yon
will find it quite easy in a short time to give to the large
weight as great a swing as you may desire. Y'^our success
has depended upon the fact that the impulses were timed
to harmonize with the natural \ibrations of the weight
In a similar manner, the semi-molten mass of the earth had
a period of vibration. Impulses small in themselves which
did not harmonize with that period could produce but a
trifling effect. It has, however, been shown that the
natural period of the vibrations of the molten earth must
proliably have been about an hour and a half. This, it wiD
1)(^ remembered, is also the period of the solar tides. Here,
then, we see how the solar tides in that early epoch may
have risen to transcendent importance. It is also veiy
significant that a period of rotation equal to three hours is
veiy close to the most rapid rotation which the earth could
have possessed without actually falling in pieces. Hei«,
then, wo have all tho elements necessary for a rupture.
The earth is on tho point of breaking by its rotation, then
the solar tides come into action, each tide augments the
effect of the previous tides, until at length tho earth, dis-
Feb. 24, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE *
353
tracted by tremendous oscillations, has broken off a mighty
fraijmcnt. That fragment formed the moon.
The date of this occurrence (or, to speak more precisely,
the date when we find the moon to have been placed as if
this occurrence had happened) we cannot tell. It is certain
tliat it must have been more than tifty million years ago — it
is probably very much more. The subsequent history of
he moon can be traced with comparative certainty. It
appears that the critical condition in which the moon was,
close to the earth and rapidly rotating around the earth in
a period equal to the day, could not last. The case is one
(if unstable equilibrium ; either the moon must fall back
ai,'ain into the e^rth, or else it must begin to move out-
wards from the earth. The fact that the moon exists
sliows that the latter alternative was adopted, though it
does not seem quite clear why that course rather than the
<ither should have been chosen. As the moon receded,
the duration of the month increased, its duration at any
distance being determined l)y Kepler's laws. The month
has increased steaddy from its primitive value of three
liiiurs, up to the present time, when the month is over 27
days.
This alteration in the length of the month has entailed
a corresponding alteration in the length of the day. As
the distance of the moon increased, so the length of the day
increased from the primitive three hours up to the present
24 hours. The ratio between the day and the month has,
however, altered in a manner which must receive careful
attention, as it involves consequences of the very deepest
interest. In the primitive state of things, the day and the
month were equal ; but when they both began to lengthen,
the month increased much more rapidly than the day. Of
course, it will be understood that we are here speaking of
the changes in the ratio of the length of the month to the
length of the day at the same epoch. The month gradually
became twice the day, it became three times the day, and
the ratio gradually increased until the time came when the
month was twenty-nine times the day. This time has but
lately passed, the ratio of the month to the day was then
at its maximum, and the decline has now commenced.
After the month was twenty-nine times the day, the ratio
gradually sank until the length of the month was twenty-
seven times that of the day. This is an epoch of the most
special interest — it is the present time.
The tides have thus guided us in tracing the earth-moon
history from the beginning, when the moon was lirst cast
off, down to our own days. Nor will the tides now
desert us — they will enable us to make a forecast of the
distant future. The day will continue to lengthen, the
moon will continue to recede, the month will get longer
(measured by hours), but the day will lengthen more rapidly
than the month. Instead of the month being 27 days, it
will in time to come be only 26 days, only 2.5 days, and at
some enormously distant epoch the final state of things will
have been reached, and the day and the month will be
again equal. The first stage of this history and the last
stage are in one sense identical. In each case, the day is
equal to the month. In the first case, the day and the
month are each three hours ; in the last case, the day and the
month will each have lengthened to the enormous extent of
1,400 hours. The 1,400 hours is no doubt more or less
doubtful, but we are assured by the laws of dynamics that
there is some magnitude of that kind to which both day
and month are tending, and to which they will both
ultimately become equal. In another way, also, the first
stage of the earth-moon history and the final stage may be
compared. The earth turned the same face constantly
towards the moon at the beginning. The earth will turn
the same face constantly towards the moon at the end.
FALLACIES ABOUT LUCK.
By the Editor.
AS to fallacies alx)ut luck, the supposition that after a
great number of heads in tifty tossings, the next fifty
would probably show a smaller number, involves precisely
thf; same error (diluted by being spread over a larger space,
but not diminislied in amount) tliat I dealt with in my
former paper. How can the n\imber of heads in one set of
fifty tossings affect the number which shall appear in the
next I Science says on d, priori grounds, " not at all " ;
Experiment repeats as emphatically (it could not say so
more emphatically) "not at all." But then, says the
querist, how is it that, as science assures us, there is always
in the long run an approach to equality in the nuuiber of
heads and tails tossed in a great number of trials '! If the
balance always tends to the horizontal position, surely a
movement of one scale upwards should assnii^ us that
presently the other scale will begin to rise. E(iuality is
indeed brought about in the long run, but not in the way
imagined. Absolutely not the slightest inttuence is pro-
duced on the results of one set of, say, a huudi'ed tossings,
by the observed results of the next preceding set: (how
could there be )). Nor is there any tendency in a very long
series of tossings, starting from some particular point, to
reduce a discrepancy between heads and tails, which had
attained any amount uj) to that point. On the contrary,
if wo count from and after that point, as well as if wc
count from and after the absolute beginning, we shall find
the same tendency to equality in the results of a great
number of tossings. The excess of heads over tails, or of
tails over heads, may go on increasing, and yet tliere is the
tendency to equality which science indicates. This sounds
paradoxical, but it is what science teaches and what ex-
pierience confirms. It is demonstrable that the greater the
niunber of trials of coin tossing, the nearer will the ratio of
heads to tails approach to equality, though the actual
excess of one over the other may probably be greater, and
possibly much greater, than in a smaller number of
trials.
Take a very simple case. Suppose a coin tossed four
times, and consider the chance that there will be either two
more heads than tails, or two more tails than heads. Tliere
are in all 2', or 16 possible events. That there may be two
more heads than tails, three heads must be tossed, which
can happen manifestly in four difierent ways, for the first,
second, third, or fourth toss may give the single tail. So,
also, there may be two more heads than tails in four
different ways. There are therefore 8 ways (out of IG) in
which either heads or tails may show three times as against
one of the other kind. The chance is therefore I, or it
is an even chance, that there will be this degree of dis-
crepancy. On the other hand, there are only 6 ways in
which there can be 2 heads and 2 tails, for only 6 pairs
can be made out of 4 (the first tossing may be head, as also
second, third, or fourth ; the second may be head, as also
third or fourth ; the third may be head, as also the fourth ;
and these arrangements of 2 heads give also all the
arrangements of two tails). Thus the chance of absolute
equality is only 6-16ths, or 3-8ths, that is, the odds are
.5 to 8 against absolute equality, while the cliance that there
will be a difl'erence of 2 exactly between the heads and the
tails is },. (The chance that all 4 will be of the same kind
is, of course, l-8th. )
Now compare with this the results we get when, instead
of 4. there are 8, tossings. Here there are 2*, or 256
possible events, and it can readily be shown (but I leave
this and the general problem to a series of papers which I
shall hereafter write on probabilities) that the chances of
254
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Fbb. 21, 1882.
tlin (JifTorRnt rosulto, and tho oddH rospectiug tliem, aro as
follows : —
ObuM. Oddl.
All hfi»cl« or nil UiilH M2Htli ... 127 t<i 1 agiiiiiMl.
All l)iil 1. Ik-ikU, or tails ... I- ICtli ... 15 to 1 aKniiiHl.
.Ml but 'J, lii'iidn, or tnilB ... 7- 32nda ... 26 to 7 aKniniil.
.Ml but :i. IkikIh, or tnilM ... 7- lUthH ... 0 tu 7 UKuiuHt.
Four lu-ii(l8 anil f.iiir tniU ....'I5-I28llui ... 03 to 35 againxt.
Tho iiicst prol>abl» of all events in this cose, as in tho last,
is that thorc will lie 2 more heads than tails, or vicn vktsA ;
mid wluTi-as in tliu former case it was an even chance that
there would lie just this discrepancy, tho odds in the
present ca.se are 9 to 7 against it. But tho chanci; that
thei-e will he this discrepancy at leaol, is greater with thi-
greater iiuiiilier of trials. For in the former ca.so tho odds
were hut •"> to .'J, or 17."> to lO.'), against ahsolutt; ciiuality, in
the present case they are 9.'{ to .'55, or 27'J to lO."} against
it. And it can lie shown that it becomes less and less
likely the greater the (even) number of tossings, that there
will 1)6 absolute equality. Yet, on the other hand, in the
oases considered, the chance that heads will exceed tails, or
tails heads, not liy a given amount, Ijut in a given degree,
diminishes as the number of tossings is increased. Thus
with 4 tossings, the chance that heads mil be to tails as
•'5 to 1 (or vice versA) is, as we have seen, one half ; with 8
tossings the chance of this relation holding (G of one kind,
two of the other) is only 7-32nds. Again, the chance that
heads will be to tails, or vice versd, in a ratio of not less
than 3 to 1 is S-Sths in the former case ; in the latter
(adding together l-128th, l-16th, and 7-32nds), we find it
to be only 37-128tlis ; in one case the odds are 5 to 3 in
favour of that amount of discrepancy at least, in the other
they are 91 to 37 against there being a discrepancy so
great.
But some correspondents ask whether, even in matters
of pure chance, there may not be something more than
mere accident, — whether some men may not have a certain
degree of good fortune given to them, — whether, in line,
what is called luck may not in some degree depend on
Providence This takes us a little outside the domain of
science ; but as it does not bi-ing us upon any of the vexed
(juestions of dogmatic religion, I will venture to make a
remark or two on this (in reality) unscientific aspect of the
question. To the student of science it appears as absurd
to imagine that the laws of nature would be set on one side
in matters of pure chance (for even in coin tossing nothing
short of a miracle can cause the law of averages to be
departed from — in the long run — either in favour of any-
one or against him) as it would be to conceive that an
experimenter favoiu-ed l)y Providence might get a mi.xture
of carbonic acid gas* and nitrogen to behave like a mixture
of oxygen and hydrog(!n, or as it would be to suppose that
during Darwin's researches into the work of earth-worms,
these creatures, siiadente diaholo, acted in a way not
natural to their kind. If in the case of so-called lucky
gamblers, a supernatural power, good, bad, or indillcrent,
has been at work, science has no power of dealing with
the phenomena. All science can say is, that the observed
and recorded phenomena agree precisely with those which
can be shown to be necessary con.sequences of the laws of
probabilities : all she can do is to go on dealing with the
matter precisely as a Pasteur would go on dealing with the
observed phenomena of disease germs, uninfluenced by any
suggestions that diseases wore produced by supernatural
agencies.
• I nm perfectly awaro that what waa called carbonic acid gaa
twenty years ago now goes by another name; and I am equally
•iw.'iro that a (echnical moaninp is given to the word " mixture "
other than its ordinary significaiico. But I am not addressing
chemists just now.
So far, i have simply considered what science necessarily
does in such cases, 'i'he student of science can do no
otherwise. But I may iiot<', in passing, that just as there
K«!ems to be something irrtrverent in the suggestion of
I'rovidence arranging for the " breaking of the bank " by a
(larcia or any other unprincipled gambler, so the general
suggestion that Provid(;iice, and not the laws which have;
been assigned to the universe (how or why wo know not),
is to be cr(-dit<'d or discredited with all the chances or
coincidences which seem surprising to us, appears to me
singularly dangerous to the faith of tho weaker minded.
Because, while many of these coincidences have Ijeen satis-
factory enough in their results, at least as many have been
very much the reverse, and not a few utterly deplorable.
Take for instance the following ca.se : —
In the winter and early spring of 1881, in America,
railway accidents were very common (231 happened in the
first two months of that year), and any one who had (as I
had) much railway travelling to do at that time had a very
fair chance of coming in for wounds and contusions, if not
worse.* Now it so chances that at the end of February, a
train was wrecked in Missouri, in which two persons were
killed and many injured. Another train was sent, carr3riiig
several medical men, and a number of appliances for the
relief of tlie wounded. By a most unfortunate chance, this
train, thus forwarded to help many suffering persons, was
itself wrecked ; seven persons were killed, including several
of the doctors. If we are not to consider this strange and
sad coincidence as belonging to the chapter of accidents, as
due to the chances which always affect events depending
on natural causes (as the weakening of embankments by
frost and thaw, the action of winds, rain, snow-drifts, ic),
must we regard it as due to special intervention of Provi-
dence t Science tells us, and experience confinus her
teaching, that in the game man plays (or his contest, if you
will) with nature, the laws of nature are as laws of the
Medes and Persians, that he must not expect to have his
moves back, or any help outside the laws assigned (inex-
plicably so far as we are concerned) to nature : if he does
expect this, he will most assuredly be disappointed.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Third Notice.
THE most casual observer can discern some improve-
ment during the past week, although there still
remains a great deal to be done before anything like com-
pleteness can be said to be attained. Some of the exhibits
exist only in the catalogue, and it seems apparent that no
attempt will be made to proceed any further than a dis-
play of advertisements. It has occurred to us that some
* For my own part, I thought it exceedingly likely that befora
tlie leeture season came to an end, my lecturing miglit be inter-
rupted. As week passed after week without an accident, I neither
judged that the next journey was more likely or that it was less
likely to be disastrous. At last, towards the end of February, my
turn came. The train I was in was pitched over an embankment,
not far from Kichmoud, Missouri, falling some twenty or thirty
feet, and a stove drove its way tliroiigh a stout plank within two
inches of the place where my head lay. Was I lucky or unlucky ?
unlucky in going by that particular train; or, being in it, lucky in
escaping with no injuries worse than a nearly fractured skull and a
nearly broken leg. As I and the other passengers looked at tho
shattered interior of the car, wo thought ourselves lucky to be alive j
as we considered the various damages which our persons and
property had sustained, we took a different view. (The accident
turned out afterwards to have been singularly fortunate for me, but
that is a detail.)
FEa 24, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
355
advantage would be gained by the directors prohibiting
the fixing of any advertisements whatever, until the ex-
Iiil)its they refer to are duly placed in position, or some-
thing approaching thereto. The most notable advances
are in electric lighting. The Brush Company, to which
reference was made last week, have got all their live engines
in ifitii, and three of them running.
The visit of the Lord ^layor two or three weeks since
has caused considerable delay in the general preparations,
some of the now unprepared firms ha\ing had (in order to
contribute towards making a display suitable to the occa-
sion), to start their engines before the concrete foundations
had dried ; consequently, these foundations were pulled to
pieces and had to be re-laid. In the Italian Court is one
of the prettiest exhibits conceivable. It consists of a brass
chandelier of delicately chaste design, decked with forty-
two incandescent lamps of the British Electric Light
Company. They are very regular, and appear to have
been carefully selected. Although the light from them
thoroughly illuminates the court, still greater eflect is to
be produced, as the Company is at present using only one
.'^-horse-power engine to maintain seven Brockie (arc) lamps,
in addition to the forty-two incandescent lamps. When all
is in working order, there will be two more engines at work,
each of lO-horse-power.
Consequent, presumably, upon the serious railway acci-
dents which have so alarmed Londoners lately, great
attention is centred on the various exhibits for improving
our systems of signalling, Ac. In the Eastern Gallery, far
away from the general bustle, is a working model of a system
invented by Mr. King, of Paixton, Derbyshire, exhibited
by the Electric Railway Signal Company. The model
illustrates the working of three signal posts controlling a
main line and a branch line connected with it. There is a
treadle between the rails opposite each signal post and in
connection wth it. A train in passing over the treadle
connected to, say signal-post A, puts that signal, by a me-
chanical contrivance, to danger — that is to say, the line is
automatically blocked to a following train. The signal cannot
be lowered until train No. 1 passes signal-post B, in passing
which, by pressing on the treadle, it puts post B to danger
by mechanical means, and, simultaneously, by completing
an electrical circuit, lowers the signal at post A. Train
No. 2 is therefore at liberty to pass post A, but cannot pass
post B until train No. 1 has passed post C, and so on
throughout the line. If the train has to go on to a branch
line, the lever operating the points interlocks with the
signals, in this case V)locking the main line and clearing the
Iwanch. These signals can be reversed (that is to say, the
main-line signal cleared and the branch line signal blocked)
only by altering the lever. It is evident, then, that by this
system there cannot be two trains in any one section of the
line at the same time, unless the driver of one of the trains
ignores or fails to see his signal.
An arrangement is also shown by which a train, in
passing a signal box, puts the minute-hand of a clock back
to zero. The hand then travels on for fifteen minutes, or
until the following train puts it again to zero. In this
way, the driver, as well as the signalman, can see how long
a time (up to fifteen minutes) has elapsed since the jiassing
of the preceding train. Another arrangement (not shown
in the model) is to indicate the numlier of trains passing
daring the twenty-four hours, and the time at which
each passed. While, however, several high autho-
rities express a wish for a good automatic system,
some of the railway officials appear to desire an
proved system of hand-signalling. The King patent
1 '•adily adaptable to this form, and it is to be hoped
"iiat before long we may see such a system as this in
general use. The application of tliis or any other new-
form must be a process of time, considering the radical
change that would be necessary in existing apparatus, and
the large outlay involved. Until the system is tried, it is
somewhat difficult to form an opiiiion of its practicability,
although to all appearance it is as perfect for clear-
weather signalling as can possibly be desired. It does
not attempt to overcome the difficulties accompanying
foggy weather ; and here is apparently its weakest point.
In the North Nave, however, is a model of apj^aratus
designed for this purpose, and exhibited by the Biitish
and Irish Telephone and Electric Works Conipau}-. The
model is designed by Mr. Radclifle, of Birmingham.
He makes some use of electricity. Near the signal-post is
an electro-magnet (51 Fig. 1), over tliis is a ])iece of soft
iron (A), which, when a current of electricity passes
through the electro-magnet, is drawn downwards. When
the current ceases, a spring (S) draws A up again.
Attached to A is a short rod, carrying a block of iron,
brass, or any durable substance (B). When the signalman
pulls his lever over to drop the signal-arm, the electrical
circuit is completed; so that A, and with it, B, are drawn
down. Attached to the side of the engine is a lever, or
simple rod of iron (represented in section by E),
which, if drawn down, acts by means of a spiral spring
upon a miniature signal-arm on the driver's platform,
within a few inches of his eyes, actuating at the same
time his whistle. If the signal is " down " when the
engine approaches the magnet, B only touches E, which, in
passing under B, simply shakes the miniature arm. If,
however, the signal is to " danger," A is drawn do^vn by
the current, and B presses the rod E down, and so puts
the miniature arm to danger, and by simultaneously blow-
ing the whistle, draws the attention of the driver to the
position of the signal and the attention of the signalman
to the position of the train.
This, then, if found practicable, is an efficient substitute
for fog-signals. It is very simple and ingenious, and it is
to be hoped it will prove effective, at least in crowded
districts, where the trains, although frequent, do not travel
at a very high speed. It is more than possible, we fear,
that there may be difficiUties in the way of applying
the system to fast trains.
Revolution i.\ a Ueed of Df.er. — For years an old buck, tlio
leader of the deer herd on the Boston Common, has maintained an
absolute and malicious tyranny over the younger member.^ of his
own sex. His treatment rankled, and the other day, wlien he shed
his horns, tiiey inadea combined attack upon liim, which only ceased
upon the death of the tyi'ant. The Superintendent and his
assistants attempted to interfere, but were driven nut of the in-
closore by the infuriated animaKs, which became docile again when
their enemy wivs dispo.i^ed of. They still prcseri-e. however, a sort
of sic /temper tyranniit air, and thus far, no one of their number lias
laid claim to the primacy. — Scientific American.
366
KNOWLEDGE
[Fkh. 24, 1»82.
THE RAINBAND.*
EVEHYONK who notes a baromctiT's indications, uixl
I'lircfiilly coinjiuii's tlicni with tlic woathfr, knows
that thr liuroniftcr is liut an unsutisfuctory wrathi-r
^uiih'. There in pitiniiKe, however, that witli an ally
apiMirently in.si^niticant (t-ertainly insi^^iilicant in si/.e and
ex|K>nso), wc may lie aMe to jiredirt tlm eoniing of wet
weatlr r with i()nsi<U'raI)le certainly. A iiock(!t spi<.trr>.
seujie, directed to any part of the sky, not too near the
huri/.on, will show the jiresence or absence of the rain-
Imnd (which Prof. Piazzi Smyth may he said to have dis-
covered, since he first directed attention to its im-
jiortunce) ; t and so will often tell us of the approadi of
rainy weather not indicated liy the liuromcter, or that
when the barometer jwiints to rainy tlie weather will in
reality be dry. The strength or faintness of this liaiid
in the spectrum indicates, in fact, the excess or deficiency
of atpieous vapour in the air as compared with the average.
AVith a little jnactice in the use of one of the rain-
Iwind spectroscopes advertised in our columns, assisted by
study of the little panipldet before us (which ilr. i5rowning
supplies v.ith his pocket spectroscopes for rainbow study),
an Englishman may bi>conie so independent of his umbrella,
when it is not going to rain, that his best Continental or
American frienils would not recotfiiise him.
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
liv THE Editor.
I HAVE prepared two views of the Pyramid regarded as
a structure for observation, but as there is great pres-
sure this week on our space, and these views will occupy
nearly a full page, it has seemed well to defer that part of
iny subject to the week after next. I take tlie opportunity
to discuss, as I promised several weeks ago, the curious
coincidences -which many have regarded as demonstrating
wliat may be called the divine-inspiration theory of the
Pyramid.
With the discovery that the base of the Pyramid is
several feet shorter than had been supposed, a number of
relations supposed to connect the Great Pyramid with
astronomy go overboard at a single stroke. I had written
a paper showing how singular these relations are, but at
the same time how obviously they result from mere coin-
cidence ; and now, alas .' (another strange coincidence ?)
the relations themselves disappear, and my remarks upon
them have no longer any weight. Still, the coincidences
are there. Indeed, it only requires that the Pyramid inch
should be slightly altered for the relations to be all once
more perfectly fulfilled. What will lie done with the
arguments showing the true Pyramid inch to be almost
e.\actly the same as the British inch, and the true cubit to
be twenty five of these inches, I do not know ; but past
• " A Plea for tho Rainband." By J. Rand Capron.
t Mr. Capron, in mentioninf; that Prof. Smyth has made himself
owner of three parts of the rainband, falls into a somewhat amusinp
mistake about certain lines which may belong, possibly, to the
nursirj- rhymes of the future, and, therefore, must be carefully
Kimnled from change. He says that in university rhymes. Mr.
UK-kyer is said to have " made himself owner of Iml'f the corona j "
whereas, in the original rhymes, written along with mnny others
during the eclipse expedition of 1H70- at which time Mr. Lockyer
Nnpposed the now abandoned theory of the corona to be unqucslion-
nbly sound— the words were, " ' Of the solar corona,' soys he (I,.),
'I'm the owner.'" This will lie of use to antii|U.irians of the
future ; just an those of our own day are enlightened by the reionl
showing tho real liistorj- of little .luck Horner, and the real nature
of the plum he so deftly ab.«tractcd.
experience shows that whatever the precise value of the
I'yramid inch, a.s deduced from these new measures, may
prove to lie, will be shown to U- just the value which
corresponds most perfectly with what may tie called the
Pyramid religion. So, aft<-r all, my article may come in
well enough. However, I am not so jiarticularly fond of
demolishing giants of straw that, when the straw stulfing
has been ruthlessly jiulled out, I should persist in my
attack. So I will here pre-sent now very briefly what I
had before advamed at some length :-
We find that while the Pyramid fulfils closely the rela-
tion which Jlerodotus says it was intended to fulfil, each
slant face being ei|ual in area to the square of the height,
it al.so very nearly fidfils what Taylor tells us was the
real puqwse of the Viuilder, the height being nearly equal
.to the radius of a circle having a circumference equal to
the perimeter of the s<|uare base ; and again, it almost as
closely fulfils another relation, in having the slant at the
edge very nearly as y vertically to 10 horizontally. Now, to
the ignorant, it seems as though the close approximation of
the building's proportions to these three relations, proves
demonstrably the mathematical skill of the builders, if not
their divine inspiration. As a matter of fact, however, we
see from the co-ex i-stence of these three relations, any one
of which might as well as another be the real one which
the builders had in view (were it not certain from what
Herodotus tells us, that the first only was their
building rule), how easy it is to find such relations if we
only look carefully for them, for two out of the three are
certainly accidental. So that apart from the evidence of
Herodotus, we should be free to reject all three, on the
sound plea that since coincidence can so readily be detected,
no reliance can be placed upon any argument from infrr
coincidence.
Then, again, according to the measurements just nega-
tived, there were exactly as many cubits of L'-'i inches in each
side as there are days in the year, or '.iGJy2i inches in the
circuit of the base. One would have said that if this were
really proved, and if the height were determined by any
one of the three geometrical rules just indicated, all the
dimensions of the Great Pyramid, as a whole, were deter-
mined once for all. But even in the early days of the
Pyramid religion, the Pyramidalists were not content with
this. They found that the two diagonals of the square
base together contained as many inches as there are years in
the Great Precessional Period, and that the height contained
as many inches as there are in the one thousand millionth
part of the sun's distance ; though, of course, if these
relations really hold, they indicate coincidences, and very
singular ones too, entirely outside of the Pyramid. As
thus : Take one-fourth the number of days in the yeai', and
double the square of this number ; the stiuare root of the
product equals half the number of years in the Great Pre-
cessional Period. And again, take 100 times the number
of days in the year, and reduce the number thus
obtained in the same ratio that the radius is less
than the circumference of a circle ; you will then
have a number equal to the number of inches which
there are in one thousand millionth part of the sun's
distance. These two relations exist quite independently
of the Pyramid, and, so seen, even Pyramidalists must
admit that they are but singular numerical coincidences.
They have not a particle of real significance, anj' more thau
this one, which I make Pyramidal (by a very transparent
device) merely to show how easy it is to work such tilings :
— Take the s(|uare base of the Pyramid, and divide each
side into as many parts as the Pyramid has faces. Join
the corresponding divisions of opposite sides of the base so
that the base is divided into sixteen s<iuares. In each of
Feb. 24, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
357
these s(|uares, save one, place a number (after the manner
of the abomination of desolation to wliich in our own post-
Pyramidal days hath been assigned the name of the
" Fifteen Puzzle ") — then it may be shown that the number
of arrangements which can be made of these fifteen
numbers in tlie aforesaid sixteen sijuares is equal to
tlie number of miles separating our solar system from
that star which, according to the best Egyptological investi-
gations of the date of the Great Pyramid, shone, at its
mcriodinal culmination, directly down the Great Gallery
and its prolongation the ascending passage.
Then comes my ingenious and (outside the Pyramid)
scientific friend, Mr. Baxendell, who, accepting the Pyramid
dimensions assigned by Professor Smyth, tinds other rela-
tions wliich they fulfil equally well, showing, of course,
other singular coincidences existing quite independently of
the Pyramid. Nay, he finds several independent coinci-
dences for each dimension, failing, apparently, to notice that
the most remarkable feature of his paper — the singular
closeness of the numerical results — exists (scarcely in
diminished degree) if the Pyramid be left entirely out of
the question. Take, for instance, what I find many regard
as singularly impressive, the six diflferent fonnuL-e, by which
he gets out 1881-59 as the number of inches in the length
of the Grand Gallery (which I need hardly say is not known
to anything like this degree of exactitude). They are as
follows : —
25,000 ',
sir* _ a*-n'\/ir
Hit 400,OOOp^ \e"3-/lu»
= ^'^'^^'^ =1881-59
400,000e'))
400,000ij^
How terrible these formula? appear, in conjunction with
the circumstance, that by taking dates for the Fall, the
Exodus, and the birth of Christ, not quite agreeing with
those approved by recognised theological authorities, the
length of the descending and ascending passages cor-
respond so closely \\-ith the intervals between the first and
second and the second and third of those events (years
representing inches), as to compel us to believe that the
Christian dispensation cannot last more years than there
are inches in the Grand Gallery. Now these formuhe,
when analysed, are found to indicate a number of
really curious coincidences between the numbers repre-
senting .S', the sun's distance, 21 the moon's, s the sun's
diameter, e the earth's (equatorial), o- the diameter
of the sun's liquid body — quietly assumed, for we
know nothing about it — i; another terrestrial diameter,
and - the ratio of the circumference to a diameter of a
circle. If the Pyramid had no existence, these curious
coincidences would remain. The fact that they exist, and
are in themselves so singular, shows simply how little value
there is in tlie argument from mere coincidence. Given
ten or twenty numbers taken at random from different
columns of the Times newspaper, or the dimensions of a
house, or field, or piece of furniture, or, in fine, taken from
anywhere we like, it will be found that with a little
patience, any number of coincidences may be found among
the numbers themselves, or connecting them witli any other
set of numbers, with the dimensions of the solar system,
with the volumes, diameters, densities, Ac, of the planets,
or, in fine, with \\hatsoever we please. One of the best
proofs ever given of this is found in the multitude of rela-
tions, independent of the Pyramid, which have turned up
whilej'yramidalists have been endeavouring to connect the
Pyramid with the solar system. These coincidences are
altogether more curious than any coincidence between the
Pyramid and astronomical numbers ; the former are as
close and remarkable as they are real, the latter, which
are only imaginary, have only been established by the
process which schoolboys call "fudging," — and now new
mea.sures ha\-e left the work to be done all over again.
BRAIN TROUBLES.
Pi'NNlxc;.
IT is not, perhaps, commonly known that a tendency to
make puns is regarded by many students of mental
physiology as a sign of cerebral disease, a circumstance
which we would commend to the notice of those persons
who are always on the watch to play upon words, without
caring whether their word-play is amusing or not. AVhatever
opinion we form respecting puns, between the extreme
views that a man who would make a pun would pick a
pocket, and, as Hood extravagantly maintained (in reply
to the saying that puns are the lowest foi-m of wit),
that puns are the foundation of all wit, there can be no
doubt that puns of a certain sort indicate a ready, bright,
and witty mind. But the wit of a punning remark depends
entirely on the ideas conveyed by the word or words used
in a double sense, not on the pun itself. We laugh at
the lines —
They went and told the Sexton,
And the Sexton toll'd the bell,
because of the absurdity of the ideas suggested. We are
struck by the cleverness of other puns, because of the truth
of the words, in whatever sense we understand the words
played on. But we find nothing amusing or clever when
a second meaning, neither humorous nor sensible in itself,
is given to anything that has been said in ordinary conver-
sation ; and when a confirmed punster seizes every word
capable of bearing two meanings, and expects us to laugh
at his word-play, we not only are not amused, but soon
become unutterably bored. Yet, although it implies a
wrongly-directed mind to make puns in this purposeless
way, under the impression that they are amusing, it does
not necessarily imply impending idiocy or insanity ; for in
the majority of cases of this kind, the punster does not
yield to an impulse to play upon words, but vorks very
hard to acquire the trick of verbal torturing. He may be
compared to one who, having observed that the tricks of a
clever clown have been received with approval, tries to ex-
cite equal merriment by grimaces which are not in the least
fuimy, and which, if he really could not help making them,
would indicate either that he was insane, or else that he had
St. Vitus's dance or some other nervous disease. Precisely as
such buffoonery would, in reality, signify only want of sense,
not insanity or disease, so the habit of making witless puns
implies only a feeble, not a diseased, mind. The case is
different, however, when one who is sensible enough to see
the folly of mere word-twisting finds his mind turning, as
it were, against his will, to the profitless task. We cannot
fail to recognise the signs of incipient brain mischief, for
instance, when we see Swift taking pains to twist the name
of "Alexander the Great," into "all eggs under the grate."
It would have been a bad sign if he had made so wretched
a joke in conversation, though an ordinary mind might
have done so without suggesting tlie idea that the mental
machinery was out of order; but that the author of "The
Tale of a Tub," should be at the pains to write down such
nonsense was of evil portent indeed. The matter might
seem trifling enough in itself, as would it be a matter
intrinsically of small moment if Mr. Gladstone or the
Bishop of London chose to walk down Pall Mall in a
nightcap instead of their customary head-gear ; but no one
who rightly understands mental phenomena could doubt
858
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 24, 1882.
that Swift'i mind was iM-f^nning to be affected wticn he
mndc suoli fcchli- jokrn, any morn than hi- would douht
tliot n i^rt'ni stntf'SMiaii or a pnivc prelate who should wolk
oUui^ a I>i>n(loii stre<-t in nif{ht attire wax, for the tinx-
l>oiiig, at any rate, jniiane.
I*rol>al>ly, few ]HT8ong who havn had occasion to tax
thi'ir iiientiil [mwers at times to the iitninst, hav<' failed to
notice this tendency tt> \Aay idly with words, anionj^ other
symptoms of want of rest. When noticed under such
eircumstaiiees, the peculiarity need not ho r('{;arded as
alarming. If, however, it remains aft4-r rest has iteen
olitiiined, it indicat<>8 the nucussity for relaxation of a more
i'llective kind.
And here we feel called on to object strongly to a remedy
su;;;,'est«'d in a little Imok on "Common Mind TrouMes,'
for the errors in speech characteristic of impaired mental
vigour, namely, " readin;; aloud in one langua-je from a
work writU'n in another, for example, a French hook to an
English audience." It would he o-s rcasonahle to recom-
mend persons who showed symptoms of bodily weariness to
try the efl'ect of an hour's exercise with Indian clubs or
heavy dumb-hells. The proper course is to take rest as
soon as possible, and alnDve all things to avoid the mistake
of seeking in distraction of the thouglits (which is only
another form of " worry ") for the good ctiects which can
only be expected from relaxation. Some of the most
melancholy cases of mental break-down have been caused
far more by social worries sought as remedies, than by the
excessive brain work to which they have been too hastily
attributed.
lUbictue.
CELESTIAL OBJECTS FOR COMMON
TELESCOPES.*
THE first edition of this work seemed to us one of the
most charming little books on astronbmy ever
written ; the second scarce less so : the third still endeared
to us by recollections of its simpler predecessors ; the
fourth is the firet which seems overweighted by details and
minutia'. Perhaps, if we had seen the fourth lirst, we
should have liked it as well as we did the first ; yet it
cannot be denied that many pages of the work before us
are calculated to alarm, rather than attract, the young
student of astronomy, for whom the book is specially
intended.
The charm of the earlier edition lay, perhaps, a good deal
in a certain insoucifinri- of style, a neglect of nouns sub-
stantive, and of too strict rules of syntax, which was
suggestive of enthusiasm. The subject seemed to run
away with the writer. Take, for instance, the opening
sentences of the chapter on Venus. " The most beautiful
of heavenly bodies to the unaided eye is often a source of
disappointment in the telescope." (We know somehow — we
cannot tell how — that this is not a general proposition.)
" for the most part it resists all questioning beyond that
of Cialileo, to whom its phases revealed the confirmation
of the Copemican theory — an important discoverj' " (not
the theory, nor the confirmation) "which he involved
for a season in the following ingenious Latin trans-
position," itc, the well-known anagram aliout the
phases of Venus. Then the work much bi-tter deserves
to !« called Astronomy without ilathematics — and, there-
fore, to lie widely popular— than Sir Edmund Beckett's
really profound and mosU-rly treatise, so-called. Take, for
• CtUntial Objects for Common Teleseopes. By Kev. T. W. Webb.
Fourth Edition. (LongtnanH. Cimn. A Co., London.) Price lOs.
instance, the following recipe for drawing the disc of
Jupiter:- " Make a niotangle 15 high, 16 wide, on any
convenient scale of eipial parts ; find its centre by inter-
secting diagonals : from this descrilx- a circle touching the
top and l>ottom, and then pitlf out, as it were, the sides of
the circle to touch the ends of the rectangle, altering the
curves liy eye and hand till a tolerable ellipsis is protluced."
Could anything be less formal or less trammelled by mathe-
matical phraseology than this ? The absence of those
provoking attempts at explanation to be found in some
astronomical books is another charming feature of the work
before us. We liave, in.stf^ad, such expressions as, — " Here
explanation is set at defiance ! " " What could it have
been 1 " and so forth ; nothing to weary the learner, or
unduly tox his reflective faculties.
If Afr. Webb is unwilling to weary his readers, he has
evidently not spared his own labours. The book is crowded
with information, notes, references, por-s^onal e.xperience,
strange out-of-the-way facts : it is, in fact, a storehouse of
astronomic lore. There is nothing like it in its own line ;
and though the fourth edition goes far to establish old
Hesiod's saying, that the half may be better than the
whole, it is a work without which no astronomical library
(not possessing an earlier edition) would be complete. We
could have wished Green's Map of Mars had been repro-
duced here, instead of the one Mr. Webb has given, which
is unlike anything in the heavens above, or elsewhere. But
such faults are few.
A Hoese's Pastime. — A few years ago, wliilc in North Stafford-
shire, I saw a horse amusing himself in a ratlior original manner.
On one of the trees at the side of his field, next the road, wtis a
branch about a yard from the ground. The horse stood on this
branch with liis hind legs, and, planting his fore-feet firmly on the
ground, as a fHlcrum, gravely see-sawed up and down by swaying-
the bough, getting on again when he slipped oft. He appeared to
derive a sort of solemn pleasure from the'procecding. — Titteswoeth.
A Generous Bulldog. — My children went out for a walk — girl
12, boy 10 years — taking my dog, a cress-bred bull and terrier,
also a retriever dog, belonging to a relative. This latter entered a
large reseiToir, on being told to do so, and paddled about for some
time, amusing the children. By-and-bye he swam amongst some
rnslie.s, and they appeared too strong for him to fight his way out.
He was called, but seemed exhausting himself and unable to obey.
The children called louder, and were, in fact, gc^iting frightened,
when our dog, who was on the bank, jumped into the water, swam
up to the retriever, seized him by one ear, and, being a strong,
muscular animal, he dragged the retriever to land. On getting «
oat, instead of fighting on account of the punishment the retriever *
had received, they fell to licking each other in a most affectionate
manner. Was this instinct ? — J. DA\^DSON.
CoD-SoCNn.— The meaning of this word "sound" for the aorta,
or chief blood-vessel, of the cod-fish goes deeper than sotidre, to
sever, or sunder, suggested by Mr. W. SI. Williams (p. 295). The .
root-word is common to several of the chief groups of languages, f
.S'on, or .«oiia, in Sanskrit, is rod, blood-coloured ; snnita is blood.
In the Dravidian dialects, sen is red, or blood. Sen is blood in
Egyptian, whence the derivation senn.t denotes that foundation which
in biology is blood. So, in Chinese nen is foundation; the heart
itself, as well as heart figturatively, the inward and essential basis of
being. The .Assyrian siina also denotes fulcrum and foundation.
Tliese meanings all meet in the fish-sound, as that which contains
the blood, the basis of life, and the name shows how much signifi-
caHCo may be concentrated in a single word. — Gerald Masset.
Fox Story. — I can hardly distinguish the action of the foi in the
following case from reason. It happened in <o. Roscommon, at
Kilronan Castle, where T once lived. The foxes this particular time
were doing great damage to the pheasants, so the preserves were
poisoned. When, in some instances, the keepers went to see if the
meat had been taken, they found filth placed on the top by the fox.
I have also known of a case where a fox was caught in the evening
and put into a bam for the night. When, in the morning, one of
the family went out to see if he was safe, he found him on the ground,
as he thought, quite dead. He caught him by the tail, the fox
not relaxing a muscle, but keeping quite stiff and stark. He rushed
into the house to tell the news, when, coming out, he saw reynard
running away as fast as he could, — Con.stans,
Feb. 24, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
359
EASY LESSONS IN BLOWPIPE CHEMISTRY.
By LiEiT.-CouixEL W. A. Ross, late R.A.
Lesson m.— MANGANESE— COBALT— GOLD.
(Note Introductory.)
I SEE yonr typographical demon has promoted me into the Boyal
Navy (one of the best pyrologists I know is a Captain R.N.),
and should think the printer's other inference, that the rank of
colonel has been lately created in the English navy, is also a mis-
taken one. — Erratum in Lesson 1. It should be stated that the
two " body tubes " of the blowpipe are " two 6-inch pieces " — not
"2 in. pieces." In Lesson II., (1) the firm in Hatton-garden is
"Johnson & Matihey," >it-( "Johnson i Mather." (2) Frciberg is
wrongly spelled with a «, not by me !
I hope some of my sharper pupils, having tried the experi-
ment with oxide of manganese, detailed in Lesson II., will
find out that I have omitted to mention a very remarkable
" reaction " (which is the chemical term for a phenomenon
depending npon tho application of any particular operation).
It is thus : — On first heating the manganese (brown) oxide*
with the phosphoric acid, great effervescence, or bubbling,
takes place, and the bubbles are tinged a deep crimson colour.
This extremely delicate reaction will detect 005 of manganese in
minerals or compounds. The phenomenon described in the tinal
paragraph of Lesson II. is evidently the result of holding the bead
(on platinum \vire) in two different positions as regards tho blue,
blo\vpipe-pjTocone. In any position (o) in front of the " tip or
point of the blue," as it is called, the manganiferous bead assumes
an "amethyst," or bluish-violet colour; in any position within the
blue, the bead becomes colourless (b).
Position (a) is called in most blowpipe books " the oxidating
flame," or briefly, OF. Position (b) " the reducing flame," or RP.
I have altered these names in my books, because they do not cor-
rectly describe the resulting reactions. In the first place, there is
no '■ flame" at all, but, instead, a cone of non-luminous, blue fire ;
secondly, many beads (an auriferous, or gold-bearing bead, for
instance), so far from being oxidised just in front of the blue tij),
suffer a deoxidising or " reducing" process, whilst the position (h)
does not invariably reduce all substances dissolved in these beads —
oxide of chromium, for instance — and produces many phenomena
besides reduction, as that of "colouration," " precipitation," &c.t
1 have therefore, thought it better to describe these important
situations of the subject of analysis by symbols expressing the
na(i!/eof the fire which, in that position, attacks it, thus: — HP
(instead of RF) for hydrocarbonous J pyrocone; OP (instead of
OF) for oxjhydrogen pyrocone, and PP (no old name), for
peroxidising pyrocone. This last position extends from i in. to
2 in., or even 3 in. — if the blast is sufficiently strong — in front of
the " blue tip." Let us now revert to our phosphoric, mangani-
ferous § bead (these are rather long words, but necessarj-, and
easily learned and remembered by the r^al student). Chemists
have ascertained that the common or brown oxide of manganese
contains two proportions or parts of oxygen to one of the metal
manganese. Tlieir symbol for manganese is Mn, and they, there-
fore, symbolise this compound thus : MnOj. They have also found
that the " red," or violet oxide contains the proportion three of
metal to four of oxygen, and have thus S}TnboIised it lln304.
The chemical action of the different parts of the blowpipe pyro-
cone, therefore, is admirably illustrated by the Mn. bead ; for, as wo
have seen, the relative proportions of metal and oxygen of the com-
pound dissolved in it are actiiallj- and materially altered by a simple
movement of the hand '. The lowest — that is, the nearest metal —
known oxide of manganese, is what chemists call the " monoxide," ||
MnO (obtained by heating the common carbonate in a gun-barrel,
through which hydrogen gas is pa.=sed), and is a green powder;
what oxide, therefore, tho cohurless bead after treatment in HP,
contains, is not yet, apparently, known.
* Oxygen (acid generating). — A gas discovered by an Englishman
(Priestley) in Birmingham in 1772. It is a component of almost
all natural inorganic substances.
+ Precipitation (a falUng down) is the condition when a bead
becomes "muddy" or opalescent, which before was transparent,
or " clear." The oxide, or substance which before was dissolved
in the clear bead, has, by some act, become insoluble, and is
"precipitated."
J Hydrogen (water generator), a gas ; with oxygen forms water,
and in that form is a constituent of almost all substances, organic
and inorganic. It is also with carbon, a component of oils, fats,
4c., which arc called " hydro-carbons," and therefore, of the ignited
gases proceeding from them when burned.
§ Manganiferous. — Bearing (or containing) manganese.
II Honoxide. — Greek Monos one, and oxide.
One of the greatest chemists that ever lived, in days when great
chemists did not despise the blowpipe, discovered this curious re-
action of manganese in borax. His name was Scheelo. He was at
first only an apothecary at Koping, in Sweden.
I am now going to ask my student to make another " bead," still
prettier than the last, by means of a substance almost as cheap as
manganese, and he shotild go to the same place for it — viz., to the
glass-works ; I mean oxide of cobalt. The minerals in which cobalt
was first found in Germany were so like silver, that when the miners
found they did not contain silver, they said they must have been
silver changed in character, or be-devilled by some demon, and
Kobold is the German for demon.
The phosphoric acid, or, in brief, P. acid-bead, is tinged with
cobalt oxide, or CoO, in the same manner as the former one was
with MnO.. (see Lesson II.), but see what a different result we have
got ! This bead is blue hot, but in cooling assumes a magnificent
\noIet colour. It is not altered in appeai'ance by holding it in ttie
positions OP, or HP, or PP — all cause it to be bine hot and \-iolct
cold. In all blowpipe tables and books (except mine), yon will see
" blue " only set against cobalt; but in 18C9 I discovered that P.
acid gives this beautiful colour with cobalt, and thought that by
adding a weighed quantity of soda to the bead before the blowpipe
(or briefly, BB) until it remains blue cold, I should obtain a kind of
measure for the soda added ; and, as the bead is thus made blue by
any alkaU — an alkalimeter,* or alkali-measurer ; and this is the
fact. You can also measure the quantity of cobalt in minerals, Ac,
in this way, and in my little book, " An Alphabetical Manual of
Blowpipe Analysis," pp. 45 to 18, is given " A Blowpipe Assay of
Ores, Furnace Products, &c., for Cobalt."
Now, we must try another substance with, or in, our little chemist
P. Acid, and the student need not be alarmed at my extravagance
when I teU him it is to bo— gold. A tiny little bit of gold-leaf
(which should be quite pure, or he will get colour reactions for
copper, &c.) about t^^■ice the size of a pin's head, cut off with the
point of a pen-knife, is taken np at the bottom of a red-hot P. Acid
bead, and iept there, or it will fly up and alloy the platinum wire, in
which event another piece of gold is to bo added, under a powerful
OP, when the gold will be rapidly dissolved (no other single
known acid is sufliciently powerful to do this), and its oxide, as I
have before stated, precipitated in this position, making the bead
" muddy." The student is now to take up a small fragment of
P. Acid at bottom of the hot bead, and hold it steadily in a good
PP, just over half-an-inch from the tip of tho blue. When the
proper amount of oxidation has been applied to the bead in this
position, which occupies a time, varying with the blower's capa-
bilities and the perfectness or otherwise of the pyrocone, the auri-
ferous bead will be observed to be a brilliant topaz-yellow when
very hot ; then, in cooling, to become green ; then greenish-blue ;
and lastly, when nearly quite cold, a beautiful blue-violet colour,
called, when otherwise obtained, " the purple of Cassius."
Colonel Ross begs to inform Major James Cummings (Quciy,
page 347) and other intending pyrologists, that he wiU be happy to
reply to any private queries on the subject, briefly but concisely
put, if sent to him with an enclosed stamped envelope to the
following address : — Acton House, Acton, London, W.
THE BRAIN AND SKULL.
SOME correspondence has taken place in Knowiedge relating to
the human brain and its outer envelope, the skull. It has,
therefore, seemed to me that a few notes upon facts well known to
anthropologists and craniologists would probably be acceptable to
readers of Knowledge.
There exists among numerous barbarous and semi-civilised
peoples, scattered over the world, a very curious custom, perhaps
it may rather be called fashion, of deforming the skull in infancy.
This custom has existed from the most remote period, so that in
some localities it is very difiicult to obtain a sknll, the measurements
of which can be relied upon as distinctive of race, from the ancient
graves. The ancient Pemvi.ans were particularly addicted to
the deformation of the sknll, and the practice still exists among
the American Indians ; but the most curious of all these arti-
ficially-deformed skulls are those brought from the island of
Mallicolo, in the new Hebrides group, a tracing of one of which I
*All:ali (Arabic, Al-kali), the reverse of acid ; alkalies turn red,
moistened litmus-papers blue ; acids turn blue htmns-papers red.
Two of the three alkaline metals, potassium and sodium, were dis-
covered by a Comishman (Davy) in London in 1805 by means of
the " Voltaic pile." Alkalimeter — alkali and meter (Greek) — a
measure.
3G0
KNOWLEDGE'
[Feb. 24, 1882.
Ijoto (fire from n |Hipi<r in tlio Journal of the Antliropolo(firBl Itmti-
tuto for Niivonibor, IKHl, in which thinHkull iinii utlicrii i-xix-yilinKly
intcn'iitinK iiml niriimii fnini tin- niiiiic iiiliuiil iin- ilc>iioril>i><l by
Pnifi'imor KlowiT, tin. oriKiniilii Immii^ in tin' Mimi-iim of ihi- Ilnyiil
Colli'i^ of SurKi-Dnii. lltTi' it will 1m' M-vn lliiit tlio nknll lmn Ix-i'n
worked lip into a nioHt ninKulnr fiimi, Boiirri-ly ri'ii<'ml>linK t'liit of ft
humnn Ix'iiiR. iinil thin Imii Ix'cn rviili-ntly rITcctcil in infftnc-y by
mcani of n IikI'I hnnilnnc hnnml ronnd nnil ruiiml the hpml, ami
only allowinif iif'i'xjmniiliin in one iliri-rtion. A ilifforrnt mmln in
nilo)it<<<l liy Konn- <if thi> Ainrricnn Irilx-K, n« tlie Flat llrjulu, whonllix
n iMinnl nt ritrlil nnnli'H to that ii|Min wliii'li tlio infant i« cnrrii-d, which,
iH'inK »lrap|io(l down tightly over thi- forohcad, caum-B it to bcconip
drpronuMl. whilo tho iikull bultroc ftt the Bidi'H. A drnwing of this
criiol nu'lhod of priMlnrinK " fanbionnbly-iilmiK'd head may l>o found
in Cntlin'M niirk on the Anicrit-an IndinnB; and these two modes,
thetiKht ImnilaitP roiMul the heail anil the Hal boards, scorn to Imj
thoiie chifllv iidnptcd fur prodncinn the dosind form. Tho first of
Ihcso. that' of rompri'ssion by ti^ht bandn(,'es wound round and
ronnd the infant's head, nuiy have originntcd in the 8iipi>oaed nccps-
nity for aiding nature in unilinx the liones of the Hkiill. open, as wo
know, nt birth, and lon^ after ; in fact bandages for this purpoBO
Room to have been used in our own country and France up to quite
n recent period, and, <.f .•...,,,... ■■ Uttl.. i.yri:i liL'htnoss would soon
that when the volamo of tho brain remains intact, tho form ia
immaterial, eren though thnt form may bo artificially produced
with tfreat pain. It would appear that the iloformatlim among tho
Mallicolr'Bc is not ronlinisl to the chiefK, but id practised by all
alike, without distinction of class or sex, and is produced by a tight
bandage applied to tho hencl shortly after birth, extending from the
eyebrows to the hair, and only taken off occasionolly, until the
child is six months or o year old. , . „. .
Certoinly, inferior races in modem times think little of inflicting
pain, in which, probably, they reseniblo tho ancients ; for singular
instunces of a surgical operation performc<l upon the skull of young
children in tho later Stone Age an- found in tombs in France and
other parts of Kurojie. The late Dr. Broca, the eminent French
anthropologiBt, was the first to notice this singular foot. Many
skulls had been found in tombs belonging, without doubt, to the
Stone Ago, in which holes of considerable size had been made,
evidently during life, as the wounded bone had become healed, and
in most cases it was evident that tho head had increased in size
after the operation, proving that the trepanning had taken plaee
at a very carlv age. I have here copie*! from Dr. Broca'i
book one of " these curious skulls, with the large hole
just on the top, and it seems wonderful that a child could
survive such a serious operation, and live to maturity, or even
J
Artificially deformed skull, from MqIHcoIo, Xew Hebrides. Copied I Trepanned, or perforated skull ; from tomb of Stone Age in France,
from Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. xi., p. 78. | Copied from Dr. Broca's book, " Bur la Trepannation du Crine."
produce a deformity. Tliis method, therefore, can hardly be looked
upon as characteristic of race, although, doubtless, the production
of a certain fomi soon became a fashion among many races, as
among the ancient Peruvians, whose skulls strongly resemble the
one here figured, and Professor Flower also mentions some from
Tiflis and Hungarj- of a similar form ; but the other method,
whereby the infant's head is comjircssed between two boards,
would peem at present to bo confined to certain tribes in North
Americ.T, and, as it would not appear to subserve any appa-
rently useful ])uq)ose, it is i)robably distinctive of race. In all
cases these deformations arc generally marks of distinction, like
the deformed feft of Chinese women, and often a caste privilege,
roscrred for chiefs and their families, under which aspect the fact
becomes doubly interesting; for we know that among savages
chiefs are chosen for their Hii|ierior mental and bixlily powers.
Ucnce it would seem that tluB compression of the skull, and the
consequent forcing of the brain into an ubnonnal form, has no
deleterious edrct ujion the intellect ; in fact, Cook and tho two
Fosters, who first noticed tlii' peculiar conformation of tho heads of
the people of Mallicolo on their visit to the island in 177 1, although
uncertain as to how it was produced, six-ak of them as " the most
intelligent people %ve had ever met with in the South Seas." This
must bo a pu/.xling problem for phrenologists, for it goes to prove
old age, with the brain thus exposed ; for it must be remembered
that this operation, which is now performed, when necessary (as in
cases of fracture), by a very perfect instrument, which cuts through
tho bone very rapidly, holding and lifting the piece to be removed
at the same time, was in those remote times effected by slowly
grating awaj' the substance of the skull with a flint scraper, at the
cost of intense pain to the suffering infant. Yet these sufferers
freijUcntly grew up, as is proved by their remains, and appa-
rently were greatly venerated, i)orhaps on account of the operation
they had successfully endured ; for Dr. Broca has also proved that,
after death, pieces were cut from the skull thus mutilated, and worn
as amulets, probably to ward off epilepsy, which was the disease
supposed to be cured by this barbarous operation ; and as epilepsy
has in all ages been looked upon as brought about by evil spirits,
it ia regarded as proved that tho early people who thus endeavoured
to cure this terrible malady had a belief in spirits, and made this
hole in the head of an afllicted infant in order that the imprisoned
spirit might find a door of escape, and thus, by an easy transition,
tho amulet taken from the mutilated skull became a charm against
evil spirits.
From the instances cited above, it will be evident that the brain-
case has been very unceremoniously treated by savages and semi-
civili.scd racos both in ancient and modem times, and that the
Fer 24, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
361
results of tliis treatment do not appear to have been iletriniental
eitker to health or intellect ; and although the weakly, in all proba-
Ijility, died early, those who sur%'ived, inured to pain and endurance
from the cradle, grew up hardy and able to bear suffering, which
would soon kill our more tenderly-nurtured and abnormally-sensitive
children. These curious facts seem to me worthy of more attention
than they have hitherto received from medical men ami psycho-
logists, and I trust some of the readers of Knowledge may be
induced by this imperfect and too short description to investigate
this ven;- curious subject. A. W. BrcKL.\ND.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS.
AT one time our family rejoiced in the possession of five cats.
One, a magnificent black animal, assumed the air and dignity
of chief amongst them, and was deferred to on all occasions by the
other members of the feline community. One day I detected him
in the commission of an outrageous attack on a juvenile member
of the fraternity, and at once expressed my disapprobation in a
most vigorous manner, chasing the culprit about the room, under
chairs and tables, till he suddenly disappeared.
I listened a moment to catch any sound that might betray his
whereabouts, and suddenly heard the latch of the kitchen-door fall.
I rushed into the kitchen just in time to see Tom slide his forepaw
between the door and the jamb, forcing the door open and leajnng
out into the garden, thence on to the top of a high wall, from which
" bad eminence " he regarded me with a placid and unctuous look of
injured innocence.
He had opened the door by jumping on to a small shelf near, from
whence, by standing up on his hind legs, he could reach the latch
and push it up with his forepaw, thus releasing the door, which then
svning partially open. The rest, to a cat of " Sweep's " intelligence,
was easy. I often afterwards watched him do it. He never suc-
ceeded (though he often tried) in opening the door from the outside,
because there was nothing sufficiently near the latch on which he
could stand while he pressed the thumb-piece of the latch downwards,
u proceeding the necessity for which he evidently thoroughly under-
stood, as evidenced by the way in which his attempts to open the door
from the outside were made. He would leap up and catch hold of
the latch-guard with one paw, while with the other he frantically
struck (downwards) at the thumb-piece, continuing his efforts till
his strength for the moment failed him, and he dropped to the
ground.
He never asked anyone to open the door for him. If he wanted
to go out, he opened it and went out ; if he wanted to come in, he
tried to open it, and continued trj'ing (the idea of ultimate failure
never, apparently, entering his head) till the noise of his successive
failures attracted notice and brought help. JoHX Humphrey.
We had several times been annoyed by joints of meat having
been gnawed, and often found on the floor of the cellar ; of course,
the cat, about three-quarters grown, was rightly blamed as being
the delinquent. The maid repeatedly denied having left the cellar
door open, but was for some time disbelieved, and I am sorry to
say blamed, until one night, going into the kitchen after the
family had retired, I found pussy, naught abashed, busily pa-sving
away at the thumb-piece of the latch. I left her for a short time,
and on returning found the cellar door open, and pussy busy with
the meat. On examination I found the door would immediately
swing open on the lever of the latch being pressed. Next day I
had a spring put to the latch, and, needless to say, pussy has not
troubled since, though it is not for want of trying. She still lets
herself into the kitchen from the garden — the onter-door having a
similar latch, climbing up the verandah until level i\-ith the latch,
and pawing awav industriously until the door swings open.
\V. M.
Anisul Instincts. — A lady, daughter of a neighbour of mine,
married to a Russian, and who travelled with him and resided some
time in Eastern Siberia, told me an anecdote of some swallows,
which she said were building their nests under the verandah of
their domicile there. One of the nests, when about completed, was
found on the return of the builders to be occupied by a sparrow,
whom they in vain tried to eject. On finding their efforts fruitless,
they started off to the neighbouring river, from whose banks they
acquired their plastic material, and in numbers proceeded at once
to fill up the hole into the nest. In the evening, Madame S a's
husband, by mounting a ladder, found they had completely filled it
up, and he at once, with his fingers, re-opened the hole so as to
allow breathing space to the little occupant. Alas! in the morning,
when they came to breakfast, he found the hole refilled, and the
bird inside quite dead from suffocation. — T. H. Morgan.
artttrs to tf)e €M6i\
[^The Editor doen not hold him»e{f rft^onttihU for the opinions ofhtji correfpondenfa.
He cannot und&rtakf io return manutL-ripta or to corre*Dond ifiVA thfir vriiern. All
communications tkoitld be a* short a* possible, consistently with full and clear state-
ments of the writer's meani77g.~]
All Editorial communicatiotu should be addressed to the Editor of KnoWIBDGB;
ail Business communications to the Publishers, at the Omce, 74, Qreai Queen-
ttreet, W.C.
All Remittances, Cheques^ and Fost-Office Orders should be made payable to
Messrs. TFyman if Sons.
*.• All letters to the Editor vill be Numbered. For convenience of reference,
correspondents, vhen referring to any letter, tcill oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on tehicH it appears.
All Letters or Queries to the Editor ichich require attention in the current issue of
Knovfh-RVGE, nhonld reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication.
(I.) Letters to have a chance of appearing must be concise ; they must be drawn
np in the form adopted for letters here, so that they may go untouched to the
printers ; private communications, therefore, as well as queries, or repUeaj to
queries (iut ended to appear as such) should be written on separate leaves.
(II.) Queries and replies should be even more concise than letters ; and drawn
up in the form in which they are here presented, with brackets for number in case
of queries, and the proper query number (bracketed) incase of replies.
(III.) Letters, quenes, and replies which (either because toolooff, or unsuitable,
or dealing with matters which others have discussed, or for any other reason) can-
not find place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
acknowledged in a column reserved for the purpose.
"In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despieed who is not in a
Btate of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
ihan fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in making a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
me a man who makee no mistakes, and I will ahow you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebia.
" God's Orthodoxy i:^ Truth."— CT^t-??* Eingxley.
0\\x Corrf<jpon)3rnre Columufif.
ERRATUM.— WEATHER FORECASTS.— MESMERISM.— ICE.
— SHORTENING OF THE DAY.— FOSSILS IX METEOR-
ITES.—THE ATOMIC THEORY.— HISTORY OF NATURAL
PHILOSOPHY. — BAROMETRIC OSCILLATIONS. — VEGE-
TARIANISM.~THE POLAR SUN.— LECTURES.
[285] — I must, begin by correcting a remarkable compositor'.s
error in the ninth line of the second paragraph of my letter (255)
on p. 206, as I there find " 2,141,956 miles," where I most certainly
wrote 21 1,956 ; on tlie whole, a very decidedly shorter distance.
Either the author of letter 256 (p. 296) must contribute infini-
tesimally to the taxes, or, like the Scotchman in the parable, he
must be '* thankfu' for sma' maircies," if he is satisfied with the
return which the British nation receives for the annual sum of
£15,000 expended on so-called " Meteorology." Were pjivment to
Victoria-street and the Royal Society Committee made by results,
I have an abiding conviction that a very considerably less sum
would appear in the estimates next April.
I should strongly recommend *' A Startled One " (letter 260,
p. 301) to obtain a little book by the late Mr. Braid, of Manchester,
entitled " Magic, Witchcraft, Animal Magnetism, Hypnotism, and
Electro-Biology." It was published by Churchills in 1852, and is
now out of print ; but I should think that a copy might be obtained
through a second-hand bookseller. Your correspondent may also
read Carpenter's *' Mental Physiology " (H. S. King »t Co.) with
profit.
Will " An Engineer " (letter 262, p. 301) forgive me for saying
that I made no "slip" in the sentence which he quotes. All I
meant to imply was that ice did not vary in the .<?ame ivay as other
solids do with change of temperature — not that it did not so vary
at all. I should say just the same thing of bismuth, antimony, and
cast-iron.
"A Geologist" (letter 263, p. 301) appears to labotir under the
impression that the rate of the earth's rotation is dependent in some
fashion upon her internal temperature. The most probable efficient
cause of the lengthening of the day is, however, the friction of the
tidal wave upon the earth's surface, as this must really retard her
diurnal rotation on her axis, and produce the effect of a brake. A a
the Editor points out in his own note, unless we admit that the day
is lengthening (at the rate of about ten seconds in 100 years) at
least half of the apparent lunar acceleration is unaccounted for.
I have never seen the "Poetry of Astronomy," and so am ignorant
of the line of argument pursued therein by its author with reference
362
♦ KNONA/'LEDGE •
[Fkb. 24, 1882.
to Mi'teoritt'ii (of whii;li Mr. Vijftiolcii aponkii in Icttor 2C7. p. 302).
8<ini)* rcooiit pri'ti'iuiiMl iliHcuvoricH of foHKi) 8|M>iigc*R, comlH, unci
other fimiii) of /iioph} tli' life in MctcoritcH liiivc, IIioiikIi, Ikmih Hliown
conclunivoly to lie bnni-li-HH, (■xiitninntiuiiK of tlio muteoritcii nndor
tho miiu-roHcopo liuvin^' ili'moimtrntird tlio pnroly cryntallini'
ohnmi-tor of tho nllnKud orKimii' ninrkinKii. It in, on the wholv,
jUHt iiH well to Imvo ouu'h fiK*tii ri^lit boforo bediming to thf*ori/.o.
I'robnbly Wnrtz's " Atomic Tlioory " (Vol. XXX. of the " Inter-
nntioniil Srionlilir SoricR") would be tho bi'Ht IkjoIc for " Krnodt
li. I.." ((picry 21!), p. 3(Ki) to obtnin ; it is tlio moHt recent one on
the Hiibjert.
Mr. Siininierson (query 221, p. 303) scoms to bo uniiware that
there is nn exceedingly great tochnicnl difference between " Philo-
sophy " and " Natunil philosophy." Tho latter ia only another
word for what is now known as " Physics." Tho former has refer-
ence wholly to mental philosophy or metaphysics. With this pre-
liminary warning, I may say that Whowell's " History of the
Inilwctivo Sciences" is the mo.^t exhaustive work that I am ac-
quainted with on the subject. I believe that Miss Arabella Buckley
has comparatively recently written a more compendious book on the
History of Physical Science ; but I have at this instant forgotten
its exact title. Anything she docs is sure to be good. There is a
History of Science, too, by Mr. Rontledge, which I have seen, and
which, as far as I conid detcminc from dipping into it, seemed very
well dono.
I presume that " G. R. W." (in query 227, p. 303), on the subject
of Harometric Oscillations, refers to a phenomenon with which I —
and I presume numy others— have long been familiar. The effect
to me of the oscillation of the mercury during a storm is irresistibly
suggestive of lirealhiiig. I have watched it on many occasions, and
the rhythmical rise and fall of its surface puts one at once in mind
of tho measured movement of the chest of a sleeping person. The
Editor's explanation of this is obviously the correct one.
Doctress Kingsford (letter 276 p. 322), and some of her confreres
appear to misinterpret tho position which I have assumed towards
vegetarianism. I have never denied or disputed, for example, that
a severe course of City-feeding might Avith great advantage be fol-
lowed by a purely vegetable regimen, until the effects of over-eating
had passed away. Nor am I concerned to contest that individuals
may be so constituted as to thrive fairly well without eating meat
at all. What however I protest, and shall continue to protest
against, is the tone assumed by the " whole-hog" vegetarians. " I
wish," said an eminent statesman of the late Lord Macaulay, " I
wish that I were as cock-sure of anything, as Tom Macaulay is of
everything." It is this." cock-sure " demcanom- of tho phytophagists,
this blatant assertion that they m iiitt be right, and all the rest of tho
universe wrong, which is as irritating as it is unconvincing. As
a class, they are in reality as weak numerically as they are
intellectually ; but to read their publislied utterances one
would think that in mental capacity as in numbers they
infinitely surpassed tho remainder of their fellow mes (and
women). How (letter 277) a total exclusion of iiesh,
with the substitution of suitable vegetable products would
give me " yet better health " than, I am thankful to say, I in-
variably enjoy, 1 wholly fail to perceive. Moreover, when I regard
the potato-fed li-ishman, and see what his diet has brought him to,
or study the rice-eating Hijidoo, and note his slavishness and utter
pusillanimity, 1 do not derive much practical encouragement to
eschew fish and meat henceforth and for ever. One question I
should, in conclusion, like to have answered. I perpetually see the
names of Dr. B. W. Richardson and Sir Henry Thompson quoted
as strong advocates of vegetarianism. Now, my question is this.
Does either of these gentlemen restrict himself to vegetable food ?
Araprohat artijicem. " The proof of tho pudding is in tho eating."
It is useless to repeat with the clergyman of old tho anecdote, " Do
as 1 say, not as I do." If the two eminent men whom I have
named do not themselves practise what they preach, the pub-
lication of their testimony must, I venture to think, have a pre-
cisely opposite tendency to that hoped for, and intended by, those
who cite it.
A few elementary considerations will enable R. W. I. (([uery 230,
p. 323), to answer his own questions. Actually at the North Polo
the diurnal circle of any heavenly body — assuming such body to
remain stationarj- in tho sky — is rigidly parallel to the horizon ;
the horizon in turn coinciding with tho celestial equator ("Tho
Equinoctial " of the maps and globes). Very well, then, neglect-
ing tho effect of refraction, it is quite obvious that as long as the
sun is south of tho equator, or has south declination, he must be
invisible from the pole ; but that, as soon as his upper limb touches
the equator, ho will begin to rise. In these latitudes sunrise and
sunset are phenomena referable to the axial rotation of tho earth,
but this quite evidently cannot he the case at the Pole, where, as 1
have said above, tho diurnal circle of a star is parallel to tho horizon.
The sun, then, at the North Pole will only rise at the same
rate as ho increases in north declination. Lot us take March 21,
when he has Ix-on invisible there for six months. We find from ihc
SautinU Atnuinar, that between tho 20th and 2lHt the sun is
moving northward at a mean rale of 5023° jxirhour. At this date his
diameter is 32' 10 1", or 1030 1". If, then, wo divide 1030 1" by
.V.f23", wo shall obtain 32'5SC5, the number of hours the sun will
occupy in rising. During 2-t out of these 32'58C5 hours, tho earth
will iiavo turned once on her axis, so that the rising sun will have
travelknl through 300° [more nearly 361°. — Ei>.] of the horizon.
There ore, however, yet 85HG.5 hours to elapse ere he will bo wholly
above the horizon ; and during this perifxl the arc ho describes may
be approximately found by the ,'proportion 2-t : 8'58(i5::3G0° : the
arc re()uired [with a slight correction for refraction. — En. J.
I should think that "X. X." (query 214) woald find Mayer ami
Barnard's little book on " Light," and Mayer on " Sound," both in
tho Wo (u re series, the very things for him. Tomlinson'a "Pneu-
matics," in Woale's series, will furnish him with numorous in-
teresting facts about the atmosphere ; and Tyndall's " Lessons in
Electricity," published by Longmans, will supply him with all he
needs for a lecture or lectures on the subject on which it treats.
A Fellow of the Koval AsrEoNouicAL SociEn'.
FLEXURE IN PLANES.
[28C] — There has been a bad epidemic of flexure among planes
lately. From all directions I have heard that their sufferings have
been severe ; I have also suffered with them. W^ill you allow mo
to state through your columns, without encroaching unduly upon
your valuable space, that in every case I have traced the flexure to
ill-treatment on tho part of the possessors of tho i)lane8. They
ha\'e been subjected to torture ; they have been firmly wedged into
cells too small for them ; they have had pieces of card jammed in
behind them ; they have had screws and clips binding them ; but,
above and beyond all, they have been cemented on to wooden
blocks and metal plates with h.ard cement, the cooling or setting of
which has entirely altered their figure. 1 wish, then, to take
advantage of your kindness to inform all those who are interested
in the subject, that planes will not give accurate definition under
high powers if they arc subject to • restraint in any way. A glass
plane 4-in. thick, if attached to a block by a wafer, which is allowed
to get hard, will show, as a result, flexure, and give a bad definition.
John Bbow.m.ng.
INTERIOR HEAT OF THE EARTH.
[287] — This ia a subject in which I have always taken a deep
interest, and have followed attentively all that has been published
in connection vrith it for many years. I have, therefore, been
much surprised at meeting with no alltision in any of our English
scientific works or periodicals to a book ])ublished in Germany so
long ago as 1875 (I give the title of the book below), and which, I
understand, met with considerable support from geologists in that
country.*
The author (since dead) was Professor of Chemistry and Physios
at Bonn, and professes to found his theories on chemical and
physical principles, as ascertained by the latest researches.
He entirely rejects Laplace's " Nebular Theory of tho Formation
of the Earth," denies on chemical and physical grounds its interior
heat, and adduces, among other proofs, the results of a great boring
undertaken by the Prussian G^ivenimont in 1S70-71, at a place near
Berlin, which was carried to a depth of 4,517 ft., mostly through a
continuous stratum of rock salt. The heat at first increased at the
rate of 1° for 60 ft., but after reaching the depth of 2,000 ft., this
increment gradually diminished, so that instead of being IW at
the bottom of the boring, it was only 113°.
He has a now theory to account for earthquakes and volcanoes,
the former, ho thinks, being principally caused by the hollowing
out of cavities on tho superficial strata by the action of water, and
the consequent collapse of these cavities.
He denies the igneous origin of what are called eruptive rocks,
and, among other proofs, adduces the fact of his having found, on
an analysis of a very hard piece of granite, some of the nodules of
hornblende, surroimded by pure asjihalt. nnchiuiged, which, he
observes, would not have remained there if the rock had been
subjected to the action of groat heat.
The coal measures, he maintains, were formed entirely by marine
plants, of wliich, he says, there were (and now are) immense forests
in tho sea.
These and many other theories, entirely opposed to the opinions
usually hold by geologists in general, he maintains with con-
• Geschichte der Erde ; ein Lelirbuch der Goologie auf nener
Grundlage. Von Friedrich Mohr, Professor zu Bonn. Verlag von
Cohen und Sohn, Bonn, 1875.
Feb. M, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
363
siilorable show of reason, and adduces some striking facts in sup-
|i(jrt of them.
Ueintr myself a mere sciolist in geolog)-, or, indeed, on any scien-
ill,. ~"l.j>ct, I can offer no opinion as to the validity of his reasoning
1, but I am anxious to know whether any of your readers
■ with the work, and how far it is considered worth atten-
. ;; 1. , English scientitic men. B.
Edinburgh, Jan., 1882.
HOG PUZZLE.
[288] — Here is a new hog puzzle, by Lieut. -Col. W. U. Oakes, of
iirithmetical renown. Some of your readers might like to solve it.
Vou shall, ne-tt week, have his solution of it, and also one of the
original |)nzzle in short and simple arithmetical form.
Four married couples went to buy hogs. Kach individual bought
as many hogs as he or she gave shillings for each hog. Also each
husband laid out the same number of guineas more than his wife,
and tliis number of guineas was the smallest consistent with the
condition that the numbers of hogs purchased by the respective
husbands in excess of the numbers purchased by their respective
wives form four consecutive terms of an increasing arithmetical
series. How much did each husband expend more than his wife ?
Herbert Rees PniLiprs.
PL.\TING— ASTRONOMICAL— CHEMICAL.
[2S1I] — I have to thank " C. T. B " for his reminder. He might
try the solution described, for iron, but I am of oi)inion that he
will find the only way for iron to bo with a battery and alkaline
solution. But, surely, "Watts' Dictionary" should help him
through.
On page 211, Professor Young says, in effect, that the sun's
pull on the earth could only be sustained, or replaced, by a
bar of steel many sipiare miles in section. Sir E. Beckett, in
" Astronomy without Mathematics," (page 312) tells us : — " The
tractive force on a fast railway train of 400 tons, on the level, is
found to be about four tons But if the eartli were such a
train, it would e.'sert a centrifugal strain of less than five hundred-
weight on the rope which held it to the sun." These two views are
opposed to one another, and therefore one must be incorrect.
[Pardon me ; the two views are quite consistent with each other.
Sir Edmund Beckett says, if the earth were such a train, that is,
if her mass were only 'tOO tons. — Ed.]
Tho account of the mannfacture of gas from wood, page 246,
also requires elucidation. Carbon monoxide is rather " com-
bustible " than supporting combustion. The finished article is said
to be free from " dangerous, obnoxious, and otherivise objectionable
products." It would be better worth while to caution one against
the exceedingly poisonous properties of this gas : besides which,
coal gas is harndess. Unlike the case of carbon dioxide (which is
not poisonous, and which has an odour, whatever our text-books
may copy one into another), fresh air does not revive one from
suffocation by carbon monoxide. This gas, as is well known, bums
with a pale-blue flame (the blue flame often seen over a sluggish fire
is CO) of feeble luminosity. How, then, can it confer on "an
inferior coal gas " a " great candle power .' " Lastly, tho CO.i
takes up carbon, from the heated charcoal according to the
equation —
C0; + C=2C0,
80 that eventually the charcoal disappears, except an ashy residue.
Where, then, is the danger of " too great an accumulation of
charcoal ? " and why withdraw from the retort the substance that
is also put into it ? Lewis Aruxpel.
[The account was not quite clearly written. It seemed obvious,
however, that P.C.S. referred to wood gas itself, when burning in
the usual way, as innocuous, not to carbonic oxide. — Ed.]
ELECTRO-PLATING.
[290] — Letter 119 has evidently escaped the notice of your
readers. If I were W. Vaneys, I should throw down the Cu from
the solution by meuns of the battciy. Cu m an Ag solution, being
thrown down before the Ag. He will understand me, without my
taking up any more of your valuable space. F.C.S.
HORSERADISH— INTELLIGENCE OF A CAT— SCENT—
" KNOWLEDGE."
[291] — With respect to horseradish, Mr. Henerman must know
that it, in common with garlic (Allium ursinum and A. satirum),
onion, leek, eschalot, Ac, yields on distiUation a fetid-smelling com-
pound oil called allyle, from the genus that it characterises. The
astringency of mustard and horseradish (probably also cress,
radish, and such like) is due to sulphuret of allyle in combination
with cyanogen, I mention the fact that there are other plants
having those properties which we value in horseradish to remind
Mr. Henerman of tho extraordinary proclivity of all nations to use
them as condiments. I cannot call to mind ,a single nation that
rejects them ; in fact, some people will not bo satisfied with any-
thing weaker than /eru/a as.sii/ffifida. I do not suppose that horse-
radish "acts" in any way upon the stomach, although so general a
use betokens some effect beneficial, or at least pleasing, to the
system. While " warming " the appetite, and, as a condiment,
grateful to the taste, it probably has no undesirable effect.
There lives, near where 1 write, a cat that can -without fail open
tho back-door by siiringing from the ground to| the latch-handle,
and, while holding with one paw, can raise the latch with the
other, finally swinging the door forward by means of a push
with the hind leg. We might almost expect, as a last step to
so great reason, a certain amount of culture. But tho house-
wife complains that, having taught itself, to gain its own end,
admission, it will not consider further, and close the door again.
" Prestcr W." himself states about all that is kno\vn of the
nature of a scent (No. 11, query 170). It is questionable, how-
ever, that he is able to recognise a perceptible decrease of weight
in scent-giving substances. I was under the impression tliat there
was no measurable decrease in weight, but having paid iio attention
to the subject I await a correction. Dr. Carpenter (in "Com-
parative Physiology") remarks that "a grain of musk has been
kept freely exposed to the air of a room, of which the door and
wiudows were constantly open, for a period of ten years, during all
which time the air, though constantly changed, was completely
impregnated with tho odour of musk ; and at tho end of that time
the particle was not found to have sensibly diminished in weight."
Here is an illustration of the extreme minuteness of a molecule !
I express my regret, sir, that you (whose leadership my " set,"
at least, fully trust) should have been thus far so troubled with
Dugaestions. Knowledge assuredly needs no such small patronising
ways, and judgiug from its rapid spread in this district, it will be
the magazine of the future of its sort. Connerhugel.
THE WEATHER OF JANUARY 12-24, 1882.
[292] — Some notes on the weather in tho South of Ireland during
the past exceptionally mild month may be interesting, as enabling
your readers to make comparisons with the weather of more
northern and eastern districts. It is not common to observe in
winter a high barometer and a high thermometer together, but we
have here observed a remarkably high mean of both instruments
during a considerable part of the period. During the fortnight
Jan. ll-24th, the mean height of the barometer reduced to 32°, and
mean sea-level was 30-5 in. The mean of maximum thermometer,
was 51*7° of minimum, 43"6°, mean for fortnight, 47'65°. The mean
daily temperature was 50° or above, on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th,
15th, and 16th, and fell short of it by about half a degree on the-
23rd and 24th. The highest temperature in tho sun was 80° {not
by a black bulb in vacuo) on the 24th. The .iverage daily tempera-
ture for the above-mentioned fortnight (mean of 50 years at Green-
wich), is 30-3', showing the prodigious excess of 11-35° above the
mean this year.
As might be expected, the effect upon vegetation has been
striking. On Ross Island, Killarney, horse-chestnut had opened,
and several boughs in full leaf were gathered Jan. 22. On that
date the following plants had been found in flower, tho first-named
three or four having been in bloom a fortnight : —
Ulex spinosa Prunus spinosa (once)
Senecis vulgaris Nepeta glechonea
BeUis peronnis Crocus (yeUow)
Veronica hederofolia Galanthus nivalis
Capsella bursa-pastoris Potentilla fragariastrum
Viola tricolor Lanristinus
Lamium intermedium Laurel (coming in flower)
Leontodon taraxacum Primula vulgaris (beginning of
Erauthus hyemalis month)
Petasites vulgaris Poa annua
Ranunculus ficaria Veronica chamasdrys
,, repens (once) Cardamino hirsuta
Coryllus avellana
No rain has been registered between the 15th and 25th. The mean
force of wind has been only 1'7. During tho height of the anti-
cyclone (when for three days the barometer stood above 30" 7 in.),
the sky was thickly covered with stradus cloud. Sunshine accom-
panied the reduction of pressure. On the 18th tho barometer
reached 30° 94 in. G. R. Wynnk, F.M.S.
364
• KNOWLEDGE
[Fsa 24, 1882.
©urrifd.
[267] — NKnixr. — An- iiclmlm external to our clustor? If po,
whiit n'lUioiiH lire ^fivori for believiii(f tlieiii to bo ? — A Dkrhy StI'dkxt.
[Nebulie nn< |iriivi'il, I think, by the renHoniiiff of Herbert Speneer
anil ntherH, tu lH>hing to our own 8tellnr syHtcin. I believe not n
tmco of nujfht externni to our cluster him ever been Hcen with th(>
teleiR'ope. Hut llio renxoniuK in not readily (f'^'i'" '" " sentonce.
In my " Tniverid'of Stars," it occupies two or three hundred pajjes,
nnd reriuiresa number of illustrated maps. — En.]
[258] — Dnvixf! Wii.i) Fi.o«eb.s. — lam about to visit Ejrypt niid
Palestine, nnd wiHli to brinjf back some Hpeoimens of wild flowers.
Will you kindly inform nie how to dry them, so that they may
retain their natunil colour nnd form ? — 11. U. S.
[259]— Ventiui.oquism.— Could nny render of KxowLEiMiK kindly
cxplnin to mo how ventriloquism is pro<iuced ?• — Erin.
[2(30]— LioHTMXO. — There are two hills with an altitude of about
350 yards, and whoso summits are about 3,000 yards apart. On the
inner slope of one hill, and about half-way down, three cottajres
were built, nnd each of them was destroyed by lightning, separately,
and in a period of seven years. An opinion of what is the cause of
tho lightnin)^ concentrating itself and making this particular spot
its point of contact in preference to points of higher elevation will
greatly oblige. — Secret.\bv.
[261] — Commercial Tables. — As the Education Code does not
require illegal or reputed " measures and weights " to be taught in
public elementary schools, can you inform me if commercial tables
(on cards or otherwise) of such as are only legal, or at any rate
practically used in trade, are published, or what is taught in the
London School Board Schools ?— W. F.
[262] — Old Atlas. — Is the following work rare or valuable ?
" Atlas No\Tis sive Tabula; Geographicae totius orbis facicm partes
Imperia Regna ot Provincias exhibentes cxactissima cura iuxta
recentissimas obser^'atignos a^ri incisa- et venum expositcc h. Mattha>o
Seutter sac: Ca>s : Majest : Geogr : Augusta- Vindelicorum." It
contains some sixty maps, fifty by Seutter, and about ten by Lotter,
which are splendidly printed and coloured, and is of very large size.
— S. P. Q. E.
[263]— Vegetable Food.— Will Mrs. Dr. Kingford kindly inform
the writer where he will find guiding information to enable him
with safety to enter on a course of vegetarianism ? Ho should like
for himself to test the truth of her statements. — Provost P.
[261-]— Strata.— In travelling from London to Exeter (G.W.R.),
what formations are pa.s.5ed through •• I noted the following rocks
on the way down, but do not know to what age, &c., they belong ;—
London to Heading, gravel ; chalk nearly as far as Goring ; then,
through miles of grey clay to Didcot ; then red clay, light-yellow and
grey rock, to Corsham ; layers of rock and red earth outside Bristol ;
limestone beyond Weston Junction ; red soil opposite the Wellington
monument ; and slate at Exeter. Any information will greatly
oblige — Carus.
[265] — Pigments. — Wanted a list of colours soluble in alcohol or
wood naphtha; especially what blues and blacks are soluble;
or name of books giving this information. — Arthl-b.
[266]— SULPHI-B Cast.— I should be obliged by information how
a sulphur cast (which seems to give more perfect details than one
in any other substance) can be made a sufficiently good conductor
to electrotyi)e upon. I have tried rubbing it over with plumbago,
but it would not take the deposit of copper. — C. J. W.
[267]— Thoracic I.nteckity. — I have been taught to regard the
chest as an air-tight cavity, any opening into which would cause
speedy death. In " Science for All," vol. ii., p. 305, it is related
that, through an opening in the chest, the heart has been handled.
Have 1 been misled, or has some unauthenticated statement found
its way into tho publication named f — C. M.
[268]— PnoTocRAPHV. — Car. any person, through the medium of
these columns, give me informntion concerning photography ?
1 , where to get the cheapest articles required for photography ?' 2,
how to go about it ? and 3, whnt nre the chemicnis required ? —
Anon.
TnE Magic Wheel. — If those of your renders who posses.s an
induction coil nnd n small vacuum tube will revolve their magic
wheel by tho light of their " tube," they will find it has the same
effect as the looking-glass, if a certain speed is maintained. The
revolutions, of course, should = number of breaks at contact
breaker -^ slits in disc— G. E. V.
lUplifS to ©urn'fs.
[195] — QflCK.siLVEB. — Your little note at the end of reply to
query 105, p. 321, regjiecting a dose of small shot, reminds me of
a custom here in Lincolnshire, which still provails amongat the
labouring class, of taking a few " shot corns " to cure ** the rising
of the lights." What this means I have never been able satis-
factorily to rliscover. I once know a well-to-do tradesman who
frequently took a dose. — C. J. C.
[210] —The Iliad. — Newman's " Iliad " is much better than dry
Bohn's. — .Jaciebat.
[228] — MiCBopnoNE. — Dry pile not at all suitable. The most
simple galvanic pair far better ; or a strip of carbon 1 in. x 3 in.,
and zinc tho same size, separated by a pad of blotting-paper mois-
tened with weak sulphuric acid would be strong enough, and would
work ns long as moist. — G. E. F.
[229] — Haib. — I do not believe there is a single authenticated
instance of " a person's hair turning white instantaneously from fear,
or other causes." On the other hand, it is well known that a
person's hair has become white in a short time, such as a single
night. Some years ago it was often stated, and as often contra-
dicted, that the hair of one of our most eminent statesmen was
the subject of this remarkable change. This case I can set
at rest, for the gentleman to whom I refer told a friend of
mine in this city (Manchester) that, when on a visit in Ireland,
he went to bed one night with dark hair, and rose next
morning with it exceptionally white. It is generally under-
stood that this only takes place when the person is soScring
from extreme mental an.xiety, intense grief, or bodily suffering ; but
these causes were excluded from the case of the statesman to whom
I refer. The medical man whom he consulted told him there was
no cause for alarm, and he thought no more of the matter. A
short time ago I heard him address an audience in this city, and I
am of opinion that his hair has become a shade or two darker, and
less snow-like in colour. I am not aware that the sudden change of
colour in human hair has been scientifically explained. — Wm.
Hobsfall.
[229] — Hair. — The sudden change of the hair from dark to grey
which sometimes happens has never been satisfactorily explained.
It appears in some instances to be due to the development of air
between and among the cells composing the air. — Quain's" Anatomy,"
vol. ii., page 226., Eighth edition. It is a fair explanation to say
that the change is probably due to an impression upon the nerves of
the scalp, in common with the rest of the skin, causing a contrac-
tion of the capillary blood-vessels, and a consequent with-holding of
pigment. — Robert M-vcphebson.
[230] — Telescope. — The paint used for the insideof the telescope
was common, dry, black paint, mixed wth water, a quantity of thin
flour-paste being added by way of size. Diaphragms are placed in
the eve-piece tube ; there are none, however, in the principal tube.
—A. "p. M.
[231] — Chemical Problem. — Let the required equation be
aCu + bHXOj = xCu(N03) + yjH»0 + zNO.
Then the multiples of Ca on the two sides must be equal ; »
b
a=x; so b=2y; b = 2i-Hz = 2a-f z ; and 3b = 6x + v-(-2 = 6a+ 5- + s
b 3b
- "5" -H b — 2a = 4a -H — :
whence b=-
Sa la 2a.
— T. J. P.
[232] — Chemist. — " W. A. Fyson " shoald apply to the Registrar
of the Pharmaceutical Society, 17, Bloomsbury-square, W.C, for a
copy of " Regulations of the Board of E.xaminer3 " and " Uints to
Students. Both would bo sent on application with stamped
envelope. The fees are: — Preliminary (as apprentice), .i'2. 2s.;
minor (chemist and druggist), £3. 3s. ; major (pharmaceutical
chemist), .^5. 5s. The two former are compulsory-, the latter
optional. Certificates of having spent three years with a duly
qualified pharmacist, and of attaining the full age of twenty-one
years, are demanded before the candidate c,nn enter for the minor.
There is at present no compulsory curriculum at a school of
pharmacy, although such is the usual course, and costs from £15 to
£150. A few. however, with " severe study," pass without such aid.
The premiums for apprenticeship vary from nil. in hea\-y country
businesses, to £200 in first-class town pharmacies ; .£100 being near
the average in fair dispensing establishments. Before commencing
pharmaceutical studies, the preliminary or classical examination
must be psissed. After this the spare time of two years may be
well spent in studying with " Attfield's Manual of Chemistry'"
Feb. 24, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
365
(price los.) ; then, during the last year, ''Bcntley's Botany" (148.),
"Pereira: Materia Medica" (25s.), and " Fownes' Chemistry"
(188. 6d.). The least pcssible expense (exclusive of living: and
books) is £3s. 5s. ; the least time, three years — both expense and
time beinj^ generally very much exceeded. Capital required for
business, from ,£500 to iiJ.UUO. .\t present the game is not worth
the candle, but what the future of pharmacy in this country is, dolb
not yet appear. — Pharmacisi'.
[233] — Biological. — John Hanipson will find the relative brain
capacity of the Neanderthal skull with man, with " illustrations,"
also the geological formation in which it was found, in Lyell's
"Antiquity of Man." He will also sec, by reference to Dr. Morton,
Professor Uuxley, and others, what is, indeed, very easy of demon-
stration, that the difference between the brain powers of the higher
apes and the lowest savage is very much less than the difference
between the brain powers of the lowest savage and the cultivated
European. — F. Selby.
[236] — The Polar Sun. — Neglecting the eUipticity of the earth,
it takes the same time as to decrease in polar distance by its dia-
meter (including + ) the effect of refraction, that is —
90° -Href. =90° 34' 54"
89° 27' 50" + ref.'-89° 5G' 33"
38' 21" at -99" per min. =2,280 minutes,
and in 2,280' the sun's movement along the horizon + his own motion
(apparent, of conrse) ■= say 572°. — Tria.
[236] — The Polar Su.n. — To an observer at the North Pole, the
rational horizon is coincident with the celestial equator ; the sun
will, therefore, rise above the jiolar horizon at the same instant as
he crosses the equinoctial at the vernal equinox. At this epoch
the change of declination (or angular distance from the equinoctial)
is at the rate of 59'27" per hour, and the apparent diameter of the
sun's disc at the same epoch is 32' 11"; hence the time occupied by
the rising of the sun's disc is found by division to be 3257 hours,
or 1,954 minutes, and the arc of the horizon moved over during
this time will be at the rate of 360 degrees per 24 hours, which is
488| degrees. A more rigorous method of arriving at the above
result (which is only approximate) is to calculate the exact instant
of Greenwich time when the sun's upper limb is on the horizon,
and then to repeat the calculation for the lower limb on the horizon.
The difference of the two times is the exact interval required.
Nothing, however, is to be gained by entering more minutely into
such purely technical calculations. The above result is probably
correct to a few seconds of time. — A. N. Somer.^cales.
[247] — Warmth at Night. — Unless J. M. J. proposes to confine
himself entirely to the house, and unless he keeps his sitting-room
at the same temperature as his bedroom, a tire all night would cer-
tainly be injurious. The advice, however, that can be given in
this column will not be of much use to him. He should consult his
medical adviser, who can make himself conversant with every
symptom. Advice is best, as a matter of course, when it is based
tipon accurate knowledge. — Robert Macphekson.
[248] — Lepidodendro.v. — To prevent the decay of fossil shells,
&c. : — Steep them in a weak solution of gum-arabic for several days.
All fossils taken from an exposed sea cliff of loose soil — as, for
instance, the drift shells of Blackpool — must be soaked in fresh
water for two months and then treated as above. The metallic
nodules you mention are concretions of iron-pvrites, the so-called
" Thunderbolts " of the Isle of Wight. No doubt the apparent
casts of vegetable remains are due to the crystallization of this sub-
stance. It is almost useless to carry home any fossils, however
fine, which contain a trace of this substance, for, though they may
be as hard as steel when first obtained, they will, sooner or later,
come to grief . If the "brick earth" of West Drayton be glacial
clay, the chances of finding any fossils are very remote. To
decide this question, look for ice marked boulders, such as that
figured and described in Knowledge, p. 345. Be particularly care-
ful to keep all fossils in a perfectly dry place ; I have seen many
valaable specimens completely spoiled by the neglect of this pre-
caution.— J. H.
Goats to Protect Sheep. — The fanners of Hunterdon and
Somerset counties. New Jersey, use goats to protect their sheep
from dogs. Two goats can drive away a dozen dogs, and two are
about all each farmer puts in with his sheep. As soon as a dog
enters the field at night, the goats attack him, and their butting
propensities are too much for the canine, who soon finds himself
rolling over and over. A few repetitions of this treatment causes
the dog to quit the field, limping and yelling. Formerly, when a
dog entered a sheep-field at night, the sheep would run wildly around
and cr\' piteouslj-. Since the goats have been used to guard them,
they form in line behind the goats and seem to enjoy the fun. The
idea of utilising goats in this way came from the West, where they
are put in sheep-pens to drive away wolves. — A'. )'. Sun.
an^n'6 to CoiTfsfponlicnts.
*,* Ml eomrn'mtciifioiu for the Editor requiriug farty attention ehouUI reach the
Office on or Itefure the S^ilurdaii preceding the current i»ne of Ksowlkdqb, the
increating circittatioii ofKhich compel* us to go to preea early in the tceek.
HiSTS TO CoBHEsPOSDmcTS.— 1. No quettiont atking for tdentiflc information
can be ansKrred through the poet. 3. Letters eent to the Editor for correspondents
cannot be fortcarded ; nor can the names or addresses tf correspondents he given in
aneieer to private inquiries. 3. No queries or replies savouring of the nature of
advertisements can be inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to Rule i, free of charge. 6. Correspondents should vrite on one side
onlv of the paper, and put drawings on a separate leu/. **• Each letter, query, or
reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
rtade to the number of letter or query, ihe page on tchich it appears, and its title.
A. Arthur Reade. — I should be glad to give my experience of
the effects of smoking, but I smoke so little that 1 may practically
be said to have no experience in the matter. 1 never smoke unless
the presence of a great number of smokers renders it unpleasant
not to. As for alcohol, when 1 work hard, wliich is most of the
time, I find the less alc»hol I take the greater my working energies.
For eighteen months (some years ago) I took no alcohol, and
my work never went more easily. At present, even when
I work hardest, I do not go down to absolute abstinence ;
still, my working allowance is too small to make much dif-
ference one way or the other. — W. J. Collins. We quoted Dr.
Carpenter's address because of its intrinsic merits, not as
part of a discussion. For the discussion of a medical ques-
tion you should go to medical journals. — J. A. Miles. Many
thanks for the table ; but fear there is no space. The algebraist
can get any of the tabulated relations at once when he wants them,
others would not look at the table. Will try to find room for pro-
blems 1 and 2, as they are general. — J. (Ifkord. Many thanks.
There may be delay in appearance of your interesting communica-
tions ; but they will appear. The paper you wi-ite on quite suitable
for printers.— H. P. Cooper. Thanks; "willtry to find space for
new form of electrical accumulator. — G. E. Sutcliffe. Reference
to the key, after sufiicient attempts to solve problem, perhaps the
best course ; you should notice how the difficulties which had
foiled you are mastered. The best promise of proficiency in
your letter is your eWdent anxiety to become proficient. With
a little practice you -will probably succeed. — Wm. Datey wants
to know how he may soften animal hair without destroying
it or injuring its colour ; he would have been among the Queries
if he had put his question in proper query form. — T. J. P. Thanks ;
but why not follow rule and put title of query ? When we get
such a' reply as yours, we have to hunt up the query through
back numbers to get the proper heading, and our work is heavy
without this. It would be easy for you, with the iiuery before you,
to write its title. — J. McGrigor Allan. No space for articles or any
but very concise letters about mutilation of animals. Section V.
on other subject later if can find room. — S. S. S. S. wants best
book of Mechanical Philosophy for C.S. examination. Both the
French writers you name good popularisers of science, but without
mathematical kiaowlcdge, so that they are only to be trusted when
quoting the opinions of others. Lardner's " Museum " partlj' ob-
solete, but in part still tnistworthy. Impossible to answer more
definitely in space at our command. Magnetism cannot be inter-
rupted, as electricity, by non-conducting bodies. We use your
words, but they are inappropriate. — W. P. Wantage. Already
answered. — W. H. Sand. A. R. Molli.son. Answered. — Name-
LE.SS. 49, Victoria-road. Solution correct.— R. G., J. N. P.,
A Le.arner, Phrensy, Eque.s, Ron. E. Ali.son, B. G. Morris,
and others. Dear sirs, how can we find time to work out such
sums as you send ? If we could hire a culculating boy, who
could tell "us in 2 gee. how long a wire -jVith of an inch in diameter
could be made out of a cubic foot of brass, or in 3 sec. how
often a cart-wheel 3 feet in diameter would turn if rolled a distance
equal to the sun's from the earth, &c., we would tell you all about these
things. One of you has taken an appropriate name. — Charles
Burns, noting that the Goat and Compasses = God encompasseth
us, desires to have corresjionding equations for the Pig and Whistle,
the Magpie and Stump, and the Bear and Ragged Staff.— Thos. Sid-
dall. Will insert queries if you will make them suitable. — B. M.,
F.R.C.S. Thanks, suggestions noted. — A. M. Somerscales.
Thanks, will wait till C. T. B. explains what was really meant. Of
course, oblique is less than full illumination. In case of still
water, the brightness you mention is due to reflection, not to
surface illumination. But this was not C. T. B.'s difiiculty. —
A. J. P. Know of only one kind of aneroid, in which the box
is completely exhausted of air, the elasticity of covering
balancing the atmospheric pressure. — A. Ok.msby. Would give
vour problem (Napoleon's) for solution : but it is necessary to
reserve mathematical column for other matter. You will find
no difficulty in solving it if you go to work as follows : — Pay no
36G
• KNOWLEDGE •
[FEa 24, 1882.
iitUintioii to tho oquiluloral triangloN, wliieli load you nwity frnm
t nip Molii lion. NoUi only that tho cmtri'ii of thoHi- lire ccntn'H of
iirra on IrianKlc'H hulon contaiiiinK |i'u<'li an iin^^li' of tlO ili'i^nn-H.
Throu)(h untie A of (riiiiiKlu ilmw, to nii-pt urcH on AH, AC, line
I'AQ piuikllol to lino joining; <M3nlri'8 of tlioBo arcs. PQ in the
inaxiniiini xtnuVht lino whioli cnn be ko drawn, hot I'll nnd (j()
producod uii-ot in It. I'QIl is llio muxiniiini i<c|nilatornl triniiKlo
which cnn bo dcHcribcd about A IK'. IIimk-o I'll iiml QR nr<- imnillrl
to linos joininf; rrntrcs of Iho nlhor piii™ of iiriy (for oihcriviBP a
larjfor cnuiluti'i-nl IriiinRlo could lio drawn, and one Bide of tliiH
would 1k' a l()i.:,'ir clioi-d tliun PQ, which in impoiwiblo). llcncc,
the trianiflo fiprnn d {,y joining ronlrc» of thoao circular urcK hat) itK
sidoH panilld t.. hides of triunglu I'QH, and in thcreforo equilateral.
OswAi.n I)\u.Mi.\. Tlinnks. Como in oarly with delinition.^, and
you will bo very wilcomo. I quite aRroo with you that nt the
boKinniug of :iMy di»cii>.>.ion sound definitions arc very important.
Vo8, Professors King and Rownoy woro the opponents of Eozdon
Cauadcnso. Twas thny of whom the poet (that good follow
Hroutrh) wrote in 18C9:—
And through tho list.i a cry has flown —
A daring chullongo for a fight —
" Eozoon, bo it known,
Has structure like the nunimulitc ;"
And on bi-uvo Dawson's gauntlet warm
Is dimly traced in mystic line,
"Outline of film aabestiform.
And chambers all acervniine."
But hark ! a loud, defiant shout
Resounds from Connaught's distant strand :
The King of Galway has sot out,
All niail'd in ophite, pen in hand ;
And to the field he hies him straight.
With gentlo Uowne_v, knight rcnown'd,
Whose prowess none will underrate
On Chemistry's broad fighting-ground, &c.
— M. M. The size of the moon'.s image formed at focus of object-
glass having -t2 inches foeal Icn<;th, will be about o7-75 inches, as
you can readily prove by directing the telescope to moon, removing
oye-piecc (and, if necessary, eye-tube also), and receiving tho image
on a piece of card or paper. But the magnifying power depends
ou the eye-piece, and you cannot say the image will have an
apparent diameter of so many inches, but subtending such and such
an angle. With a power of 100, for example, the moon's apparent
diameter would subtend an angle of about 3,100', or nearly 52°. —
Eloa reciuiros information as to management of gold fish in glass
globe, average duration of their lives, &c. Captive balloons (this
refers to a different subject, let me explain) might certainly be
sent up with minimum thermometers, to determine temperature
of upper regions of air. — Simplex. Quite so: but now if you
would compare some of the symbols. Is'early every stenographer
knows Pitman's; I use it myself, though not for reporting.
Could yon not give us ocular demonstration of the supe-
riority of Bell's system.— Sir T. W. Letter sent at once
to publishers.— C. Lloyd E. Pardon me, but I was thinking
of another correspondent. Your evidence about the poker is
balanced by an eipially wide experience the other way. But why
should 1 bo prejudiced against tho poker-across-fire theory ? If a
theory so remarkable could be established by the rough kind of
evidence you adduce, it would be a delightful subject for Know-
LKUGE. As it is, it only illustrates what men can believe, and
Herbert Spencer has already used it in that way. — R. C. Your
difficulty is a natural one. Yet notice that every part of an
ellipse is concave towards centre, or towards either focus, despite
the increase and diminution of more distance. If you draw the
moon's path to scale, you will see that it is concave towards the
sun all the time. Describe two concentric circles rather loss than
a quarter of an inch apart (''H inch), and baring radii of 92 and
92i inches respectively, and divide their circuit into twenty-fivo
equal parts. Then tho moon's path would be represented by a curve
passing from the outermost to the innermost, and then to the outer-
most again, and so on, the successive contacts occurring at the suc-
cessive divisions along the outer and inner circles alternately. — Tita.
Will try to find space shortly both for letter and extract ; meantime,
lot mo note that you seem to me to bo quite right. There seems to
be as much scientific accuracy in tho account as in tho blind man's
statement that rod was like the sound of a trumpet, or in the
association most of us have had as children (and, perhaps, still
have) between the days of the week anil particular colours. For
instance, with me Sunday is yellow, Mondav rich red, Tucsdav
olive green, Wednesday bright green. Thursday dark grey, Friday
orange, and Saturday light grey. The months have .-ilso their
colours. — J. Rak. If you had dmnced to read my accounts of
Arctic travel, you would know 1 did not need to be informed of
what you kindly (ell mo. It will be time enough when tho
Poll! ia reached to loam how long the oxplorerH will have to
Hi ay there. You «ee, I give you nnollier opjiortunity for
contradiction, which seems your Htnmg suit; but you ah'iuld
try to make out what you arc contradicting. — B. We have
not used an instrument haring a vernier divided as you descrilw;
but it Hocms obvious that it would serve to divide to one-
half the arc to which tho older form of vernier will divide. Thus,
when you have the vernier divided into OOths of 59', you take tho
division nearest to one on the limb, and so got the reading true to
a second of arc. Now with tho vernier divided into GOths of IW,
you can either take tho division nearest to one on the limb, or
noting that two divisions on the vernier are appreciably equidistant
from the divisions (alternate) on the limb, you regard the bisection
of tho space between those two divisions on the vernier aa
coincident with the division midway between the two on the
limb. You read this just as easily as yon would if tho
hisection woro marked on tho vernier. Uenco it is as though
the vernier were divided into 120th8 of US', enabling yon
to read to half seconds of arc, instead of to seconds only. —
Etai'h. No truth in the report, but thanks. — A Subsckibeb. Odd*
in favour, as you say. It seemed too obvious to need correcting.
East and west in star maps right. Yon look down at earth, up at
sky. Uenco tho difference. Evidence about pink tinge of oahes, in
fire gone out in sun would be interesting. — Why ? oh, why will not
" A Subscriber " follow rule, and give number and page of letters ?
— Farmkk Will. Your queries will not go under any heading wo
can invent. If you do not tliink them worth heading, can you think
them worth inserting ? You say, in the midst of your queries, that
if the doctrine of evolution is true, the doctrine of fate is also true.
What is the dotftrine of fate ? Why not say, as you may with equal
reason, that supposing trees and animals really grow, and are not
changed from state to state by special acts of creation or change, the
doctrine of fate must be accepted ? — T. A. " I do not know how it is,
but at present 1 like my hypothesis the best, it seems to my poor judg-
ment the nearest the truth." Most of us feel that way. But, as you
very truly say. Who can thoroughly understand these things ? If
we had not so much to insert about things we can to some degree
understand, wo might take up these inconceivablos. — Hakbd was
dazed three days " by Magnetism ? Astroism ? Divine Effluence ? "
We do not know ; but infer, it was on one of those days that he sent
us advertisement of " The Magnetic Pilgrim" who " tarries top of
IJunyan Street." — Jonx T. Page. The practice of collecting auto-
graphs is not childish, far from it : nor is a toothache a joy for ever,
very much the reverse. — Hox. Sec, Civtl, and M. Engixeeb's
Society. Mr. Love's paper was marked for insertion, but crowded
out by press of matter requiring more immediate attention, — and
more concisely written. — J. Kirkmax, M.A. Questions now
answered. But would it not have been an inaccuracy to have, in
first act of Harold, a reference to " Arcturus dancing so
brightly, almost through the nucleus of Donati's comet in
1858 ? " not that Arcturus danced, or seemed to dance, at
that time — to my eyes any way. — • T. J. H. Matter too
complex to be adequately treated in short notes, and no
room for long ones. — Hygeia. Fear the ill-effects of tight-lacing
and high heels are as well known to the tight-lacers and high-heelers
as to the rest of the world. Articles on the subject would be thrown
away on those, and are not needed by these. — Alpha. There is no
reason for supposing that there has been, within the last few
centuries, any perceptible change in our northern climate; but, if
there had been, the displacement of the Polo Star by precession has
nothing to do with it. The inclination of tho earth's axis to the
jilane of her path does not vary in any such way as to aSect
climate. — Axti-Kreopihgist. I do not think any flesh-caters so
ignorant as not to know of the wide range of food materials open to
vegetarians. I am not myself a vegetarian, but at a time (three
years ago) when I did a great deal of mental and bodily work
(rowing every morning two hours at my hardest, and often in heavy
rain) I used frequently, for several days in succession, to take no food
but fruits and vegetables — not on principle, but from sheer careless-
ness : and I cannot say I ever felt the least failing of strength. I never
had better health. My tastes, however, are of the carnivorous kind,
or rather, they are for our customary mixed diet. An Abernethy
biscuit and a bnnch of grapes will servo mo for a dinner, on occasion,
very well ; but I do not " hanker" for such food. 1 mention this,
not as of any interest in itself, but to show that if fruit and vege-
tables agreed with mo so well, it w.as not because I liked them (so
that the evidence in their favour is so much the stronger). — A. H. E.
Nos. 2 and 3 are not out of print. They might be picked up,
perhaps, after a little inquiry ; but 1 know of no place where they
could bo obtained. A few copies remain of Part I., in which aro
those numbers, and a limited number havo been kept for our
volumes. It would be useless to reprint them, as many others of
the earlier numbers aro nearly sold out too ; so that if reprints
wore ordered at all, at least eight uumbers would havo to be ro-
Feb. 24, 1882.]
• KNOWL-EDGE
367
1 iiitod, which, of coarse, cannot be thought of. — C. C. C. The
;v Tou advance was originally suggested by one Isaac
■on; but calculation has since shown that the ])henomena
comets' tails are irreconcilable therewith. We shall
again to comets by and by, if correspondents will give
ave. — A. J. Maetin and C. J. C. It would indeed be interesting
-tronomers if the sun's elevation ^•aried in the way described by
1 Resident in Glengloy, Upper Lochabor, N.B." But too good a
li is kept on the sun at Greenwich, Paris, Washington, &c.,
him to play such tricks without our knowing it. // the sun
Iv shone over a hill this year, at a time of year when formerly
lid not top the hill, the hill has changed, or the level of the
und where the house stood from which the obseiTation
|_ was made. — R. H. Thanks. Solutions neat, but no space. —
G. S. E. How if he declines to be "relegated ? " — Hr. Ceeagh — C.
Sorry, but in fairness to other sqaarers must regard all magic
squares as now done with. — MiCROCRiin. There may be some slight
difference in the friction, but otherwise can be none. — W. G. Parriss.
When a gas-flame is blown, the already ignited gas is driven away
tnm that which in the ordinary course would bo ignited ne.'it ; thus
(his gas remains unignited, and the other part bums out. The wind or
breath does not cause combustion to cease ; it prevents combustion.
Combustion in a steadily-burning flame is beginning and ceasing all
the time. — W. G. Woolcombe. I cannot reconcile observed facts
with the jKistulatod law, " a force acting in a direction at right
angles to direction of motion of a body has no effect in altering the
direction of motion." That law will be postulated a long while
before it is established. Write " no effect in altering the velocity
of motion," and you have less trouble. " That 's how the error has
arisen." Your geological difficulty suggests that those subjects do
not greatly attract you ; but with determination it will vanish — Ex-
PKBTO Cbede. Do not know of any one who sells very extensive series
of rocks ; but think a letter addressed to Prof. Tennant, of King's
College, would bring you information on the subject. — J. W. C.
lioomis's book gives all necessary information for projecting an eclipse
from the data in Nautical Almanack. Johnson's does not. Believe
Bogne publisher of latter work. — W. N. W. says second volume of
Allen's work on "Commercial Organic Analysis" is now issued;
price, 10s. 6d. — Edm. Hc.vt. We are content to wait. Do not think
the construction we gave can possibly be misunderstood. — Zares.
Galileo, no; Xewton did, though. Tou confound inertia and
momentiun. Every force, however small, affects the inertia, but
only an equal momentum can match the momenttun of a moving
mass. I not only "seem to imagine," I know that I am dealing
with a well-known and well-understood subject. You might with
advantage study some good text-book of dynamics ; or, for the history
of the matter, look up Whewell's " History of the Inductive Sciences,"
Vol. II., pp. 45-52. "Thanks for hints how to manage correspondence,
bnt we see the matter from another point of view. — J. H. M. Such
mesmeric experiments would do something to establish the claims of
phrenology, if one were sure the subject knew nothing about the
bmnps. Your "young man of the name of Walker" (H. ?) may
have knovm a good deal. — C. T. W. The " equation of time "
varies slightly from year to year, as the position of the earth's
perihelion changes. Bnt very slightly. The equation of your
old dial would, if exact, indicate roughly the time when dial was
' made. — W.C. My "sub" and I have quite enough to do without the
classification you suggest. Xow, about your question : I did not
mean to snub yon, as you say I did ; when you asked how the star-
p? were to be used in the dark, it seemed an all-sufficient reply
ly they were not meant to be so used. — W. F. Dexning. I also
uld have preferred publishing yotir letter. But it could not
with space at command. — J. Haeborp. I cannot, at this
nent, recall any earlier references to Mephistopheles in English
1 ratnre than those in ilsirlowe's " Faustus."
%ttttv^ lAfCfibrli.
Bdina, M. K. Fothergill, J. Harloch, G. E. V., Marplot, Per-
tinent (read it Pertneus). Cara.s, W. C, G. C. E., J. Harvey, X — Z,
Weary, K. Hardy, M. Brant, X. L., Jansen, A. Martins, Halloween,
Cardinal Point, J. Easterbrook, L. Murrill, J. S. T.. Curious,
J. Tordinham M., X. Eastman, T. Elliott, J. Pearsall, Manchester,
IL Pewtress, A Woman, Philalethes. M. B. Q., R. B., Jas. Atherill,
F. Brown, J. T. S-m, Post-Prandial (so we should imajrine), C.
Carteret. S. Y. Ellis. Porter, A Constant Reader, B. S. S.,
M. Peewitt, Jas. C. Christie (try Cockle's).
PoiTD's ErraiCT is a certain t
Pond's Eitnw't is a certain cw
Pond's Extract is a certain cw
Pond's Ertract will heal Bam
Pond's Eitract will c
ire for Bhemnstism and Goat.
( for Hlemorrhoida.
) for Xeuralgic pains,
and Wounds.
) and Bmises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine.
J>pfcial i^oticc.
Exchange Coli'Mx. — In No. 18 we shall open an Exchange
Column, similar to that which has for several years formed a feature
in our excellent con*.em|)orary, the English Mechanic. The charge
for Exchange notices will be 3d. for the first twenty-four words, and
3d. for everj' succeeding eight wortls.
Sixpenny Sale Column. — We shall also open a Sixpenny Sale
Column, in which advertisements will be inserted at the rate of 6d.
for the first sixteen words, and 6d. for every succeeding eight words.
Enlakced Ncmbeks. — We propose, from henceforth, to extend
Knowledge to 32 pp. twice, at least, in each month ; and we hope
that our growing circulation w^ill enable us to enlarge Knowledge
permanently to 32 pp. weekly. If all our readers would help in
extending our circulation, which some (whom we hereby warmly
thank) have done so effectually, we should very soon adopt a
weekly 32 pp. number.
^otfd on git anti ^cinirr.
Stove Heat. — Those of your readers who have seen Mr.
Williams's article on the " Air of Stove-heated Rooms," and who
find stove-heating both comfortable and convenient, may be glad
to know that the "Crown Jewel Base Burning" Stove does not
diffuse its heat " through red-hot iron ; " it cannot injure, but
tends greatly to promote health. I have used one for years. — R. F.
Inhaling Sulphcretted Uvokogen. — I was surprised to read in
Xo. 14, page 203, the remarks of Mr. Mattieu Williams on the
inhalation of sulphuretted hydrogen. I was rather careless about
the inhalation of this gas until, after suffering six successive and
unaccountable attacks of illness, I traced them to this cause. The
attacks consisted of violent pains in the stomach, and in each case
they occtirred about three days after the inhalation of the gas.
I may mention that, finally, in order to make quite sure in the
matter, I purposely inhaled a small quantity of the gas, with the
result of a slight attack of the pains after the usual interval. It
appears to me that it is a gas which produces different effects on
various people. In Roscoe and Schorlemmer's new work it is
described as " a powerful poison, producing insensibility and
asphyxia." This may be true, but it is not the effect it had on me
— nor, it appears, on Mr. Williams. — HnS.
Science Teaching. — At the annual general meeting of the
Teachers' Training and Registration Society, and of the Bishops-
gate Training College, the other day. Prof. Goldwin Smith took
laudable advantage of the opportunity to impress on those present
■what science teaching really means. " In resiMct of the teaching
of science," he said, " he had constantly brought before him the
wide gulf fixed between the two different kinds of what persons
call knowledge. The one was a mere learning to repeat a verbal
proposition, and the other was knoT\-ing the subject at first hand — a
knowledge based upon a knowledge of the facts. That which they
had constantly to contend against in the teaching of science in this
country was that teachers had no conception of that distinction, for
they thought it quite sufficient to be able to repeat a number of
scientific propositions and to get their pupils to repeat them as
accurately as they themselves did. If he might offer one suggestion
to the governing body of the college, it was that so far as they
taught science at all they should aim at giving real and practical
scientific instruction ; that it should be confined to those things
about which there was no dispute ; and that the teacher should be
instructed that his business in teaching was to convey clear and
vivid impressions of the body of facts upon which the conclusions
drawn from those facts were based."
Biting. — A Serpent, if surprised suddenly, or brought to bay at
close quarters, may be too terror-stricken to attempt flight ; then
it bites, following a curious general rule which seems to obtain
throughout nearly the whole animal world, from a passionate child
downward, no matter what the natural weapons of offence may be.
Young Felidce will keep their talons sheathed until they have
exerted all possible force with their soft milk-teeth, and a lizard
will seize the hand which restrains it with its insignificant little
jaws, when its tail or claws might inflict far more injury. The
Boidee never use their constrictive powers in self-defence (unless
they are gripped), and it seems probable that if a venomous snake's
fangs lay in its tail, it would use its teeth Jirst when attacked before
bringing them into play. Indeed, it must be remembered that very
few animals are provided with exclusively defensive weapons, and
that the python's enormous strength in constriction, the viper's
poison apparatus, the lion's teeth and claws, and the electric dis-
charge of the gymnotus are given them primarily for the purpose
of securing their food. — Arthur Stradling, in Nature.
3G8
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 24, 1882.
0UV i%lati)rmatiral Column.
PKUPOSITION IN CONIC SECTIONS.
Let KVK' (Figs. 1, 2, 3) be o cone, touched by the spliere aSa'
ill a circle &ca! , Joreshortened into a straight line in the Jig.; and
let ASN he a plane section of the cone, also foreshortened into a
straight line, touching the sphere tn S. Let a'a and KA produced
meet in X (they m-ust mett unless AN is parallel to a»' or the section
AA' a circle). Suppose the section AS rotated around the straight
li7ie AN until the conic sectio/i occupies the plane of the paper, as
shown by the curve PAF', the points tchich icere at N being brought
to V and P. Join SP, draiv Fil parallel to NX, XM perp. to NX, to
meet in M. It is requirtd to show that the ratio of SP to PMis
constant.
Draw MKNK' throngh N parallel to a'a. Now, in the conic
section AN we see SP (foreshortened) as NS, a tangent from N to
the sphere aSa', and N» is another tangent to the same sphere.
But tangents from the same point to a sphere are equal. Hence
NS (foreshortened) or SP = N)i (foreshortened), which obviously
= uK, and PM = NX. Hence
SP : PJI = aK : NX = aA : AX, a constant ratio. Q.E.D.
If Z S.VK > Z KVK', fig. 1, so that AN produced cuts VK'
(say in A'), the ratio aA : AX is less than unity, and the section is
the ellipse.
If ^ SAK = Z KVK', fig. 2, so that AN
is parallel to VK', the ratio aX : AX is unity,
and the section is the parabola.
If Z SAK <- Z KVK', fig. 3, so that NAf'
produced cuts K' V produced (say in A'), the,
ratio (lA : AX is greater than unity, and the
curve is the hyperbola.
Fig. 3.
In the cases of the ellipse and hyperbola,
we can take another sphere tH6' touching
the cone circularly and the plane of section
in H. For the ellipse, the second sphere
touches the cone on the same side as the other
sphere, and the plane of section on the other
Feb. i.'4, 1882.J
KNOWLEDGE
369
side ; for the hyperbola, the second sphere touches the cone on the
oilier side and the plane of section on the same side.
The reader will tind no difficulty in extending the proof to the
liriis IfP, PM', drawn from a point P on the curve to the other
torus U and perpendicular to the other directrix X'M'. The con-
struction is given for each case.
Note also that the relations HP+SP = AA' for the ellipse, and
HP-SP = AA' for the hyperbola follow at once.
For, rotating the curves back to the foreshortened view, we have
SP foreshortened into tang. XS = tang. X/i = aK
HP foreshortened into tang. NH = tang. Nii'=bK
Wherefore HP + SP = ab in case of ellipse (Fig. 1)
and UP - SP = ab in case of hyperbola (Fig. 3).
— EriTOR.
The geometrical student will find a good deal more that is worth
studying in the relations here indicated. We have added several
lines (latus rectum, minor axis, &c.) to the figures for this purpose.
MATHEMATICAL QUERIES.
[37] — Given any two lines meeting in a point, and some point
out of the lines ; required to draw from this point to the str. lines
two equal str. lines which include a given angle. — Amicus Mathk-
MiTIC.E.
[38]— Rolling Disc. — Given the radius, weight, velocity, and
angle of inclination sideways from the vertical of a circular disc
rolling freely on a level piace; find the radius of its track. —
F. W. F.
[31]— a'' + 4r3 = 27
put i' = 3!/, then 3!(' + 4i/'' = l
and y = -, then 3 + 4: = ;*
Make a perfect square on each side —
(a) :* + 2p2' + p' = 2p:^ + 4c+i)' + 3
The right hand side will be a perfect square if —
i=2pip' + 3)
i.e., a p^ + 3p = 2
puti) = i' — -, then p^ = V — 3p
V V
taking the upper sign v' = v'2 + 1
and — =v'2-l
Let p have this value, then, from equation (o) —
A quadratic with two roots corresponding to each sign, thus giving
four values for ;, and, therefore, four values for x (ic= _ , as might
have been anticipated. — W. G.
[Equation, p. 328, No. 15]. — " W. B." points out that in our
solution of equations
, 39 14 , J 42 13
x- = — — — and i/= _— —
y X X 1/ _
after getting (x + i/)' = 216 by addition, we might have got by
subtraction (x — y)' — 8. It is obviously the simpler course. — Ed.
22!). — " Yarletonian," F. J. Butt, and others solve this equation ;
it needs only transposing, squaring, and simplifying, then squaring
again and simplifying.
[Mr. McGowan's solution to 25, p. 307, to hand, correcting obvious
blunders (20 for 120, and £,- for £-). It shall appear in our next.
5 6
—Ed.] ,
Messrs. J, & A. CnUBCHiiiL have recently published two interesting
tables ; one, showing the average weights of the human body and
brain, and of several of the internal organs at eighteen jicriods of
life in both sexes ; the other sho«ing the same (at decennial periods
of life) in the insane, the forms of insanity being specified.
©ur Cfjrsss Column.
Xo. 21.
By I. G.
No. 22.
By W. Thurman.
'SB m
nmjm
D
W L
0
k \.
^
1
'01
: ...:^
1
[AYliite to play and mate iutwo moves. White to play and iimtf in two moves.
SOLUTIONS.
Problem No. 14, p. 282.
1. B. to R.4. 1. K. takes Kt.
2. B. to Kt.3. mate.
If P. to K. 5, then Q. takes P. mate. If P. to Q.3 : Q.Kt. to B.7.
mate. If P. to B.3.' K.Kt. to B.7. mate. Finally, if P. to B.4. then
Q. to Kt.8. mate.
Problem Xo. 15, p. 282.
1. Q. toQ.6. 1. K. to K.6.
2. R. to Kt.3.ch. 2. B. takes K. mate.
If K. to B.6. then R. to B.3.ch.
Problem Xo. 16, p. 308.
1. Kt. takes P. 1. K. to K.5, or a, b, c.
2. Q. to K.G.ch. 2. K. to Q.6, or B.C.
Kt. mates accordingly either on Q.Kt.4. or K.R.4.
(•) If 1. K. to Kt.7., 2. Q. to K.2.ch., 2. K. to K.6., 3. Kt. to B.4.
mate, or 2. K. to Kt.8., 3. Q. to B.2. mate.
('') If 1. K. to Kt.5., 2. Q. to Kt.6.ch.,2. K. to B.6., 3. Kt. to Q.4.
mate, or 2. K. to R.6., 3. Q. to Kt.3. mate.
(■) If 1. B. to Kt.7., 2. Q. to Q.B.4. anything, 3. Kt. to E.4. mate.
AXSWERS to CORRESPONDENTS.
*,* Please address Chess-Editor.
Edward Sargent.— Nos. 18 and 19. If 1. Q. takes B.P., then 1. Q.
to Q.R.sq.
H. S. Standen. — Solution of No. 15 correct.
C. H. F. — Solution of No. 17 correct.
H. .\. L. S.— Solution of No. 17 correct.
J. P.— Remove Pawn on Black Q.R.2.
F. H. Jones. — Solutions correct.
Received offers to play by correspondence from-
M. J. Harding
H. C. Angell
E. A. Dillon
F. H. Jones
A. C. Skinner
J. N. Siclebotham
Edw. P. Westlake
D. Cudmore.
We have paired them in tiie order named above.
It is necessary the first players should play White. Two games
mav be carried on simultaneously, each jilayer having the move.
Answers should be sent nest day after receipt of move, at latest.
To avoid mistakes, the last move should always be repeated. For
P. to B.3. P. to. K.5.
example : — 12. „ t. o 13. In case of any misun-
derstanding arising, players may refer to us.
A SOCIETY to be called the North Middlesex Natural Histor\'
Association has recently been established. Address, 26, Ingleby-
road, Grove-road, Holloway, N. Its objects are the formation of a
X'atural Historj' Museum and Library of reference and circulation;
also the diffusion of natural history knowledge by means of lectures,
papers, ic, and (in the summer) field excursions.
370
KNOWLEDGE
[Feb. 24, 1882,
0ur WBliiit Column.
\'.\ •■ FlVK OK ClA ll.-<."
DEAH " l''IVK," — The piicloBpil letter from our ontocmod Wliiiit
(•orri-|K)n<lont, " Mo)fiil," just received. Aftorwlint I linve
told yon nlioiit deiiinnda on H|>ace, ynn will nee thnt it in cjuito im-
poMible to lind roon) for it (it would take more than n column).
But it iH not c|uite fair to nnHwer a letter wliirh Inm not ajipearod.
I aliould l>e ),'lad if you conid write a fihort note, putting thingn
right, without unfoirnoss tu our corrc8]iondont. — Yours faithrully,
KniTOK.
Deab Kiutob,— (1.) '■ JlofrnI" is rifihl in roKnrdin;? ns " ]>roven "
ray approval of Z's play from strength in the driit round of tnmips
(game No. 13). There was little chance of V utilising the informa-
tion ; but it was bettor, I think, to give it. I hasten to correct
impression, which ho thinks readers might entertain, that' dealer
should aluatis give information in tliis way. (2.) " Mognl " is in
doubt how far 1 think the principle of playing a straightforward
game should he carried, saying that apparently J admit of no excep-
tion but in the "closing rounds." That was rather an illustration
than an exception. I may say that I do not go farther than that
groat whist •master. Clay ; scarce so far. Clay's abhorrence of false
cards was, 1 think, tant soil peu exaggerated. Clay, Cavendish,
and Polo are all pretty much nt one, however. (.3.) When I speak
of modern scientific whist, I do not mean that the older method
was unscientific, but (as the grammar of the phrase implies)
I distinguish the modern from the older scientific games.
Rules have come into vogue now which were not formerly
adopted ; and whether they ore good or bad, running counter
to them means more than declining to give partner information;
it means deceiving him. (I.) As to the game in Xo. 13, I gave it as
actually played, faults included. " Mogul," in his published letter,
pointed out objections to Y's play, and I showed theti, what seemed
to me unnecessary before, how 1' could tell that Z (i) must have five
Clubs, and (ii) must know that he, Y, hud four. " The length of vay
explanation is," Mogul says, " its condemnation." I am disposed
to agree with him. All that is there explained at length should
have been obvious : but " Mogul " did not seem to find it so. I
agree with '" Mogul" that Z should have led the Queen instead of
the King; (as you know, I am not in this harder on Z than Z would
think fair). 5. With all that " Mogul " saj's in his concluding para-
graph I thoroughly agree, except, of course, in his persistent
mistake that I am of a contraiy opinion. If you will allow me I
will quote what I take to be most excellent in this part of " Mogul's "
letter. [We i)refer not ; " Mogul " would probably not think it fair to
quote tho excellent rules he gives without those passages in which he
implies that '' Five of Clubs " teaches the opposite ; for when these
passages are omitted, "Mogul" seems to teach precisely what
"Five of Clubs" has been teaching. — Ed.] There is only
ono small addition I would make to his rule, " When strong, tell
your partner ; when weak, don't tell your adversaries," viz., this,
even when weak, do not unnecessarily deceive your partner, — Yours
truly. Five of Cubs.
Pr,AV Second Haxd.
There are few points which distinguish more thoroughly the good
from the inferior whist player, than the play second hand. Wo are
not, of course, referring to players so inexperienced as to know-
no other rule than " second hand play low." Nor are the
rules for play second hand, at least in the opening rounds of a
game, less definite than those for leading. But somehow it
happens that many players who veiy seldom lead unwisely, who
know well when to play highest and when to finesse third in hand,
and when it is essential to success to win partner's trick fourth
hand, are apt to trust, second hand, to chances which are de-
monstrably against them. Given, for instance, an original lead
of a small card (plain suit), second player with Queen and a
small one (and no special reason for risking something to get a
lead), how often do we see tho Queen played, though it is known
that, in tho greater number of cases, the card is thus thrown away.
Of course, the play often steals a trick. I'erhaps in five cases out
of eleven it may do so, but it is bad, because in a greater number
of cases it fails ; and in every case it suggests for a while to partner
that you held either the Queen alone, or King, Queen, and a small
one. So in other cases which might be cited.
The rules for play second hand are in reality sufficiently simple,
though here, as in tho case of the lead, they seem multitudinous.
Wo note, first, that in general a low card is to be ployed second
hand ; for, in the first jilaco, the suit is presumably your adverisaries',
and it is well to keep the commanding cards of their suit; and, in the
second place, yonr partner lies at an advantage over third player,
who ordinarily must play his highest, lest the trick should fall an
easy proy to your purtuor. By playing high ««oond hand you waato
n good card, whether third hand take* tho trick or your partner;
you are rather worse off, loo, if, though you tuko tho trick, |Mirtner
could have won it ha<l you left it to him ; for when the suit ia
returned, the lead will be through your iMirtner's strength to your
lumd, weakened by the loss of its best card in the suit. You only
gain if it so chances that neither third hand nor your partner haa a
lictter card ; and it is nnwiso to play for only one among acvotml
chances.
Yet, still supposing the suit your adversaries', and that you hare
originally not more than three cards, it may still happen that a
high card should Iks played. Thus, if you have Ace, King, one or
more small ones; King, Queen, and one or more small ones; Queen,
Knave, and one small one; Knave, ten, and one small one; or ten,
nine, and one small one ; play the lowest of the Ber|uenco. In the
first case, you win the trick and still have the commanding card of
the suit ; in tho others, if you do not win tho trick, you avoid the
risk of its being taken with a low card by third in hand, or yonr
[lartncr compelled to play a very high car<l.
Again, if a high card is led, and you hold a higher curd and one
or two small ones, it is generally best to cover. If third in hand
take the trick, two good cards have fallen from the enemy to make
one trick.
We leave to another occasion, however, the discussion of the play
second hand in detail. We shall endeavour (though tho task is not
BO easy as in the case of the lead) to reduce the play to system,
instead of presenting some forty or fifty rules, as has usually been
done.
We propose next week to give a game made up from tlie account
given in Clay's "Short Whist," (see p. 170) of a case in which
evil results followed from unwise persistence in fonvard play.
Maxim. — The best whi8t-]>layer is he who plays the game in the
simplest and most intelligible way. — Clay.
G. TiiOMPso.v. — Whist iirobleni correctly solved in your second
letter. B played according to custom in such cases. Cavendish
(p. 50 of latest edition) and others touch on the question whether
it is well to lead from a long suit headed by Ace, Queen, and agree
that it pays better in the long run to do so than to wait for the
chance of being led up to. There is a good chance either of draw-
ing the King, or, if second player has it, of partner winning the
first trick. By waiting in such a c.ise, you deceive yonr partner as
to the chief constituent of your hand.
Problem I. — " Mogul " and " Vacnol " point out that this
problem from the " Westminster Papers" is unsound, as Z may have
Heart King. The objection seems valid, as certainly with Ein^
Knave, ten, three, second hand, ten would be the right card to play.
As third ])laycr holds only one Heart, the nine, there is a somewhat
greater probability that Z is strong in the suit, than that he is
weak, although it is A's long suit. The WTiter in the " Westminster
Papers" may have had some reason for considering that Z cannot
hold the King ; but we can detect none, certainly none which would
occur to B in ordinary play. " Mogid " adds that }' might have
been signalling for trumps holding Knave, two, for anght B can
know. This, however, appears to us incorrect. Playing Knave
second hand from Knave, two, would not be signalling for trumps,
but an attempt to take the trick. Clay, in his chapter on the sigiiali
discusses this point, and, as it seems to us, his opinion that then
would be no signal is correct. — Five of Clubs.
JfOTICES.
The Puhlisherfl beg to announce that in future Monthly Parta of EjsowlsdqM
will be issued. The foUovrins can n^vr be had : —
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free, Is.
The Back Numbers of Kwowi,kdgk, with the exception of No. 2 (Xor. 11. 1891),
and No. 3 (Nov. 18, 1881), are iu print, and can be obtained from all bookeellen
and newsaeents, or direct from the Publishers. Should any difiiculty arise
obtaining; the paper, an application to tho PubUsher? is respectfully requested.
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March 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
371
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE
PLAJNLrWORDED -EXACTLY DESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 1882.
Contexts
PJIGB.
A SluJvin Minute Lif.>. Bv Henn-
J. Slick. F.G.S , F R.M.S :. 371
ThpCnr9t»l Pslacp Elpitriciil Eihi-
liilion. Fourth Nolice. (IHutt.) . 372
Venlilation bv On»n Fireplacei. Bv
\V. Mallieii WiUiami f. 373
The Klectrii- Telegraph. ByW. Lynd 374
Nighu with n Three-Inch Telescope
(lUuttrol-J) 376
A Spinninii-Top 376
Rbtisits : Electricitv and Mag-
neli^m— Spelling and Punctuation
—Geometrical Eiercises for Be-
Cianara — Dr. Luys on the Brain—
(3anofs Physics 377
Were the Ancient Etryptians ac-
quainted with the Movement of
the Earth? 379
Malarial Organisms in the Blood ... 379
OF No 18.
PAOV.
The "Sound" of Fishes 38i)
The Pvramid of Mevdoom. Bv Miss
Amelia B. Edwards ' 380
A Pretty Geometrical Problem 380
j Intelligence iti Animals 380
A Cnruivorous Parrot 331
I Jacko: A Baboon's Biography 331
I Changes on the Surface of Jupiter.
' BvProf.C.W.Pritchett, Glasgow,
, Mo. r.S.A 392
I Star-Map for March S34-M5
' COBRE:>P0XDEXCX 337-3.S9
' Qneries 839
I Replies to Queries 39i)
Answers to Correspondents 391
Notes on Art and Science 393
, Our Muthematical Column 391
; Onr Whist Column 394
I Our Chess Column 3%
A STUDY IX MIXUTE LIFE.
By Henry J. Slack. RC.S., F.R.M.S.
^pHE interest to lie derived from the use of the microscope
X soon passes away unless it is accompanied with some
scientific tlunking about wliat is seen. With the help of
such thinking, there is no end to the combinations of amuse-
ment and instruction that was pre\-iously gained. Suppo.se,
foi' cxaniple, one of the oldest experiments is made, that
of putting a little wisp of liay into a vessel of water, and
noticing what happens. In a toleralily warm place, many
hours will not pass before a sort of skin forms on the
surface of the water, and after thi.s soon appear a swarm of
moving creatures, il. Pouchet called tliis skin a proli-
ferous pellicle, and ascribed to it a kind of maternal power
in generating the animalcules that come after it. This
notion he connected with a theory of creation in which at
some imaginary periods of great cataclysms and catastrophes,
prodigious putrefactions and decompositions occurred, and
out of the seething mass arose monstrous forms.
Gorgons, hydras, aiitl clumeras diiv.
The fact, however, is, that the quantity of the decomposing
material has no direct action upon the kind of life that
appears, and that a gi-eat many creatures neither want
putrefaction or its products, liut are injured by the pro-
cess. The chemical changes that occur in fermentations,
like that of sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid, or in
decompositions that by no means charm the nose with
pleasant smells, are caused or promoted by living organisms :
in the cas > of yeast-cells, resembling little bladders, and in
other cases, minute rods or wriggling spirals. It is not,
however, with these micro-ferments that we are now con-
cerned, but with liigher forms that are sure to be found
injuriou.s, but which can be well developed in water that
contains their appropriate nutriment, but remains sweet.
It is best, when varieties of minute life are required, to
operate on a tolerablj- large scale, sa}' a good handful of
hay in a gallon of water, but a pinch of it in a tumbler
is sure to yield a good harvest, and germs of various
organisms are so widely ant! commonly distributed that
SUCCOS.S may be obtained with a grain of chopped hay in a
quarter of an ounce of water. In such small experiments
a two-drachm vial answers ^'ery well In a shallow vessel
the water dries up too quickly. The student need not at
first trouble himself with the particle or with any object
not big enough to be easih' seen with an inch power, or at
most a half-incli. An accurate stock of general ideas
and broad principles should be acquired before atten-
tion is directed to the most minute structures. Before
taking much trouble to identify the various objects
and learn their names, it will lie well to notice certain
peculiarities of structure. A crowd of little restless
creatures is sure to be seen in the infusion mentioned,
and their movements are produced by hair-like projections,
called cilia, no other external instrument being visible.
Their runnings to and fro ari- incessant. Whenever they
are looked at, by day or night, their acti\'itv is striking, and
until they liecome weak or dying their pace is maintained.
While the cilia are in quick movement, it is impossible to
see exactly what they are and what they do. If, however,
a g(X)d-sized specimen of any ciliated object is allowed to
get nearly dry, and consequently enfeebled, the motion of
the organ can be plainly discerned. For our purpose a little
drop of water containing some of the creatures should
be placed on a glass slide, covered with thin glass,
and the object watched under the microscope until, from
vigorous movements wliile there is plenty of water, they
grow languid and slow as e% aporation from the edges of
the covering glass lessens the supply. A cilian is then
observed to move much in the way we can imitate with an
elastic stick about a yard long, and ha\'ing an impulse
given to it by sharp turns of the wrist. There is a wave
motion from the bottom to the top of the cilian like that
wliich can be made to agitate the ttexible stick. As cilia
are usually very numerous and close together in the sort of
olijects under our notice, it is eWdent that if they did not
move rhythmically and in a thoroughly orderly way, they
would be in frequent collision. This would be very
awkward if the purpose to be served were only, as with
many species, the production of water currents to bring
them food, and it would be quite inconsistent with
the rowing action required for locomotion. A common
species is very conspicuous in the Paramecium aurelia, an
ol)long little creature ranging in size from a little more or
less than 1 -100th of an inch in length. It possesses
longitudinal rows of cilia ; Ebrenberg found some fine
specimens with as many as fifty-two of these rows, each
containing from sixty to seventy cilia, making 3,610 in
in all. Each cilian rises from a minute knol>, which,
though not containing positive muscular structure, acts
like a nicely-arranged combination of muscles. Tliere is
again no nerve cell, but the whole group of organs is made
to work harmoniously by some undiscovcrable, but no
doubt most methodicaUy-arranged, groups of molecules,
which receive impressions from their surroundings, and
stimulate the contractions and expansionsbj'which the move-
ments are produced. If we were furnished \\ith three or four
thousand limbs whose use and movements had to be divided
by our intelligence and our will, we might be a long time
learning how to get on without grievous mistakes. In the
case of the infusoria, we cannot imagine anything like
human volition or purpose, but one as high in the ranks
of life as a Paramecium has to use its army of external
organs for these purposes, to produce currents of water
so that fresh streams continually reach its surface and pro-
vide amply for its respiration, so that the minute objects
that serve for its food may come within reach of its mouth
and be swallowed, and that the cilia particularly engaged
372
KNOWLEDGE •
[March -i, 1882.
in inovinjr it about hIihII not be hindpred by other cilia
imllin;; in wroii^ ilirci-tionH.
Till- t<'n(li-iuv i>f miitlcr in motion to become rhythmical
is wpII known t<;> all physicists. Air readily vibrates in
musical pulsations ; the waterfall makes its musical chord,
and the pendulums (if adjacent clocks are said to conform
their beats. All such considerotions are very int/'restinj;,
and they enable us to find resemblances of analysis between
tiie action of our ciliated infusoria and a host of other
ihythmical and orderly processes. Our explanations, how-
ever, soon come to an end, and wonder cngulphs us where
actual knowled;.;e fails.
In another paper we will endeavour to obtain some more
ideas of natural history and physiology from our hay
infusion. Now, we will only add that cilia are found in
all the vertebrate animals, and in most of the invertebrates,
though not in crabs, spiders, and insects. Man has them
in many places si)ringing from epithelium cells, in such
living membranes as those of the laryn.x, trachea, and
bronchial tubes. They do much in their situations to keep
back dirt particles, but their success is far from perfect.
Town ail-, especially foggy days, makes the human being
too much of a dirt-bin to be consistent with health.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Fourth Notice.
VERY pfreat progress has been made during the past
week in all departments, more especially in that
(if electric lighting. Siemens, Swan, Hawkes, Gerard,
.Jablochkofl", (.tc, are all at work.
The Palace has never before looked so attractive, and
even the gallery, with its quota of light, is very pleasant,
lioth to the visitor and the exhibitor. One of the collec-
tions which visitors should not fail to inspect is that
in the north nave, exhibited by the War Office. The most
attractive feature of the exhibits is the destructive appa-
ratus, torpedoes, (tc, technically termed " mines," a name
which is perhaps more innocent or less startling to tender
nerves, than that by which they are more generally known.
Tliey arc exhibited in various forms and sizes, but, of
course, none of them are charged. One, made to contain
100 lb. of gun-cotton, is suspended from the roof, and
represents the manner in which it would be moored so as
to float near the surface of the water. Mines, however, are
generally of a larger size, and arc placed on the river-lied
or seu luiftom, where the depth do<-s not exceed CO feet
In deeper wat4'r they are suspended by a buoy (containing
the circuit-closing apparatus, to lie described further on)
at a depth of .'iO feet. Some of the specimens exhibiu-d
are constructed to hold a charge of .lOOlb. of gun-cotton,
which, on exploding, aut^jmatically or otherwise, %t the
above-mentioned depth, sends into the air a column of
water HO feet in diameter and 1 ."iO feet high.
Fig. 1 illustrates what is known as the " circuit-closing
apparatus." S K' is a steel rod rigidly fixed at the Ixittom.
and weighted at the thin upper end, which is free. A small
collar of brass (K) is attached to the rod at aVxjut the middle
of its length. Round K is a ring of ebonite (E), to insu-
late another Vira.ss ring (B) from the rest of the apparatus.
The brass ring (F) is a portion of the framework, and is
metallically connected to the flat brass spring P. The
wire from one end of the battery (alx)ut four Leclanche
cells) on shore is connected to the brass ring B. When a
vessel strikes the buoy or mine, as the case may Vje, the
steel rod oscillates sufficiently to make contact between the
ring 1! and the spring P. The current will then pass fronv
B into P, and thence through the framework — the electrical
circuit being completed through the water and earth. So far,
however, no more damage is done than to ring a bell on
0"
G
I ft
0
Fig. 2.
shore. Fig. 2 shows how this is done. MM' arc exten-
sions (known as pole pieces) of the soft iron core of am
electro-magnet The current which is produced by the
impact of a vessel on the buoy passes through the electro-
magnet, and in consequence II and il' attract the piece of
soft iron, A A', which is pivottcd at C, so that both M and
M' tend to draw AA in the same direction. 1) is a pin on
AA', RR' is a lever, with the hammer, H, at one end, and
pivoted at C, so that when AA' is drawn away, D allows
H to fall, and strike the bell, L. This gives notice to the
officer of the approach of a vessel, which he may then blow-
up. The blowing-up, however, is very easily made auto-
matic. NN' (tig. 2) is a piece of brass, with a slit wide
enough to allow the hammer-lever in falling to enter and
make contact at O. This completes the electricad circuit for
firing the mine. Of course, all tliis is but the work of an
instant.
The fuze is represented in fig. 3. B is the beechwood
cup, and W W are the extremities of a piece of line
March 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
373
platinum wire stretched across the cup. When the firing
circuit is completed, the current enters by means of a wire
joined to W, and, passing this, the platinum leaves by
another wire joined to W. Fifty to sixty Leclanche cells
are used, and make the platinum red-hot, thereby igniting
a small quantity of gun-cotton wrapped round it, the flame
from which, consuming a thin paper cover P P', enters the
detonating tube T T, containing fulminating mercury.
The e.xplosion of this is followed by the explosion of the
mine. When the mine is fired by hand, a key, somewhat
similar to a Morse telegraph key, is used. Normally there
is a piece of ebonite switched into the space between the
contact points, so that the mine may not be accidentally
fired. The whole collection displays the state of perfec-
tion to which we have attained in the art of wholesale
homicide.
" Field Telegraph Equipment," "Signalling Apparatus,"
and "R.K Field Company Equipment," are all well repre-
sented, but our space will not permit a description this
week. We can only say that everything gives one an
impression of extreme compactness and efficiency, reflecting
great credit on the War Oflice.
A new feature in the Exhibition is the delivery of a
course of lectures by Professor Sylvanus Thompson. In
the first he essayed to demonstrate what electricity is, and,
after describing its production and effects, he said that the
late Professor Clerk Maxwell regarded electricity as the
motion of the ether of space, and that it was most proliably
in that direction we should have to look to discover the
nature of electricity.
VENTILATION BY OPEN FIRE-
PLACES.
By W. Mattieu Willi.uis.
THE most stubborn of all errors are those which have
been acquired l>y a sort of inheritance, which have
passed dogmatically from father to son, or, still worse,
from mother to daughter. Tliey may become superstitions
without having any theological character. The idea that
the weather changes with the moon, that wind " keeps ott'
the rain," are physical superstitions in all cases where they
are blindly accepted and promulgated without any exami-
nation of evidence.
The idea that our open fireplaces are necessary for ven-
tilation is one of these physical superstitions, which is
producing an incalculable amount of physical mischief
throughout Britain. A little rational reflection on the
natural and necessary movements of our household atmo-
spheres demonstrates at once that this dogma is not only
baseless, but actually expresses the opposite of the truth.
I think I shall be able to show in what follows that,
1st, they do no useful ventilation ; and, 2nd, that they
render systematic and really efleetive ventilation practically
inipo-ssible.
Everybody knows that when air is heated it expands
largely, becomes lighter, bulk for bulk, than other air of
lower temperature ; and, therefore, if two portions of air of
unequal temperatures and free to move are in contact with
each other, the colder will flow under the warmer, and
push it upwards. This latter postulate must be kept
distinctly in view, for the rising of warm air is too
commonly regarded as due to some direct uprising activity
or skyward affinity of its own, instead of being understood
as an indirect result of gravitation. It is the downfalling
of the cooler air that causes the uprising of the warmer.
Now, let us see what, in actordante with the above-
stated simple laws, must happen in an ordinary English
apartment that is supplied, as usual, with one or more
windows more or less leaky, and one or more doors in like
condition, and a hole in the wall in which coal is burning
in an iron cage immediately beneath a shaft that rises to
the top of the house, the tire-hole itself having an extreme
height of only 24 to 30 inches above the floor, all the
chimney above this height being entirely closed. (I find
by measurement that 24 inches is the usual height of the
upper edge of the chimney opening of an ordinary " re-
gister" stove. Old farm-house tire-places are open to the
mantel-piece. )
Now, what happens when a heap of coal is burning in
this hole ? Some of the heat — from 10 to 20 per cent,
according to the construction of the grate — is radiated into
the room, the rest is conveyed by an ascending current of
air up the chimney. As this ascending current is rendered
visible by the smoke entangled with it, no further demon-
stration of its existence is needed.
But how is it pushed up the chimney 1. Evidently by
cooler air, that flows into the room from somewhere, and
which cooler air must get under it in order to lift it. In
ordinary rooms this supply of air is entirely dependent
upon their defective construction — bad joinery : it enters
only by the crevices surrounding the ill-fitting windows
*nd doors, no specially-designed opening being made for it
Usually the chief inlet is the space under the door, through
which pours a ri\ ulet of cold air, that spreads out as a lake
upon the floor. This may easily I* proved by holding a
lighted taper in front of the bottom door-chink when the
windows and other door — if any — are closed, and the fire
is burning briskly. At the same time more cold air is
poured in at the "top and the side spaces of the door and
through the window chinks. The proportion of air entering
by these depends upon the capacity of the bottom door-
chink. If this is large enough it will do nearly all the
work, otherwise every other possible leakage, including the
key -hole, contributes.
But what is the path of the air which enters by these
higher level openings 1 The answer to this is supplied at
once by the fact that such air being colder than that of the
room, it must fall immediately it enters. The rivulet
under the door is thus supplemented by cascades pouring
down from the top and sides of the door and the top and
sides of the windows, all being tributaries to the lake of
cold air covering the floor. The next question to be con-
sidered is, what is the depth of tliis lake 1 In this, as in
every other such accumulation of either air or water, the
level of the uppi-r surface of the lake is determined by that
of its outlet. The outlet in this case is the cliimney hole,
through which all the overflow pours upwards : and there-
fore, the surface of the flowing stratum of cold air corre-
sponds with upper part of the chimney hole, or of the
register, where register stoves are used.
Below this level there is abundant ventilation, above it
374
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Mabcii 3, 1882.
there is noiK*. Tlio cat that sits on the hoarthrug lia« an
abundant .su|i)>ly of frcsli air, niul if we liud tracliual
lircathinj; aiicrturcs all down the sides of our tiodii's, as
oat<'rpillai-s have, those on our lower extremities niij?lit
onjoy the ventilation. If we squatted on th(! f^ound like
savages something miglit lie said of the (ire-hole ventilator.
But as we are addicted to sitting on chairs that rai.se our
hroothing apparatus eonsideralily aliove the level of the top
of the register, tlie maximum eHiciency of the How of cold
air in the lake holow is expressed hy tlie prevalence of
chilblains and rheiunutism.*
The atmosphere in which our heads are imn\ersed is j)rac-
tically stagnant; the radiations from the lire, plus the animal
heat from our bodies, just warm it sufficiently to enable the
cool entering air to push it upwards aliove the chimney
outlet and the surface of ^tlie lower moving stratum, and to
keep it there in a condition of stagnation.
If anybody doubts the correctness of this description, he
has only to sit in an ordinary English room where a good
tire is burning — the doors and windows closed, as usual —
and then to blow a cloud by means of pipe, cigar, or by
burning brown paper or othci-wise, when the movements
below and the stagnation above, which I liave described,
will be rend'Ted visible. If there is noborly nio\ing about
to stir the air, and the experiment is fairly made, the level
of the cool lake below will be distinctly shown by the
clearing away of the smoke up to the Ie\el of the top of
the regist<'r opening, towards which it may be seen to sweep.
.Vbove thi.s, the smoke-wreaths will remain merely waving
about, with slight movements due to the small ineiiualities
of temperatures caused by the fraction of heat radiated
into the room from the fi-ont of the fire. These move-
ments are chiefly de\eloped near the door and windows,
where the above-mentioned cascades are falling, and against
the walls and furniture where feeble convection currents
are rising, due to the radiant heat alisorbed by their sur-
faces. The stagnation is the most complete about the
middle of the room wliere there is the greatest bulk of
vacant air space.
When the inlet under the door is of considerable dimen-
sions, there may be some escape of warmer upper air at
the top of the windows, if their fitting is correspondingly
defective. These, however, are mere accidents : they are
not a part of the \aunted chimney-hole ventilation, but
interferences with it.
There is another experiment that illustrates the absence
of ventilation in such rooms where gas is burning. It is
that of suspending a canary in a cage near tlie roof. But
this is cruel ; it kills the l)ird. It would be a more
satisfactory experiment to substitute for the canary-bird
any wingless biped who, after reading the above, still
maintains that our fire-holes are effective ventilators.
Not only are the tire-holes worthless and mischie\ous
ventilators themselves, but they render efficient venti-
lation by other means practically impossil)le. The
" Arnott's ventilator " that we sometimes see applied to
the upper part of chimneys is marred in its action by the
greedy " draught " below.
The tall chimney-shaft with a (ire burning immediately
below it dominates all the atmospheric movement in the
house, unless anotlxT and more powerful upcast-shaft lie
somewhere else in comnuniication with the apartments.
But in this ca.se the original or ordinai-y chimney would
be converted into a downcast-sliaft pouring air downwards
into the room, instead of carrying it away upwards. I
• Sinco tho above was writton, a correspondent in Paria tells me
that a cnricaturp exists, roprosenting a Frenchman enjoying an
open lire by stnndiiiirnn iua hc:nl in tho middle of the room.
need not descriU- the sort of ventilation thus obtainable
whih' the tire is burning and smoking.
Ktl'ective sanitary ventilation should supply gentle and
unifurmly-diU'used cuiTcnts of air of moderate and equal
temperature throughout the house. We talk a great deal
about the climate here and the climate there, and when
we grow old and can atlbrd it we move to liournemouth,
Torquay, Mentone, Nice, Algiers, ic, for lK;tter climates,
forgetting all the while that the climate in which we prac-
tically live is not that out-of-doors, but the indoor climate
of our dwellings, the which, in a properly-constructed
house, may be regulated to correspond to that of any
latitude we may choose. I maintain that the very first
step towards the best approximation to this which is
attainable in our existing houses, is to brick up, cement up,
or otherwise completely stop up, all our existing fire-holes
and abolish all our exi.sting fires.
But what next 1 The reply to this will demand the
whole of another short essay.
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
Bv W. Lyxd.
THE WIRES AND INSULATORS.
THE manner in which a telegraph line is carried from
station to station must be familiar to all. The
conducting wires are passed through a bath of liquid zinc,
by which process they receive a coat of that metal. Zinc
being easily oxidised, is by the action of the atmosphere
converted into o.xide of zinc, and protects the iron from
the influence of moisture. The wires are suspended by
earthenware or glass supports called insulators, fixed upon
wooden posts, at intervals of about sixty yards. As
electricity has always a tendency to pass by the shortest
route possible to the earth, it will easily be understood
that if the wires were allowed to rest upon the wooden
poles, the current would make its escape before it reached
the receiving station. Wood, when seasoned with tar, is
a very poor insulator. Tliere must be some good non-
conducting substance between the wire and the post. There
are many forms of insulators. Glass ofl'ers the greatest
resistance to an electric current of any known material,
but electricians oliject to it on account of its hygroscopic
properties — a film of moisture collects upon glass in nearly
all states of the w-eatlier. On some lines ebonite is used,
but there are objections even to that excellent non-
conducting substance ; rain wets it easily, and its surface
soon becomes dirty and spong}-. Browni earthenware insu-
lators are the most common in this country : the glaze does
not craek, and although they have not so great a resistance
as glass, they are, on account of their cheapness and dura-
bility, used in preference to any other kind of non-con-
ducting supports. In spite of all precautions, however,
electricity finds a means of escape from the best insulated
lines. In wet weather the leakage is sometimes so
great that the signals on the recording instruments at
receiving stations are almost unintelligible. The steel in-
dicator of a single needle telegi-aph apparatus should strike
against two ivory pivots on the dial plate, in order that the
beats may be distinctly understood, but I ha\ e had to read off
messages in bad weather when the current was so weak
that the needle did not touch the pivots at all, and half
the letters had to be guessed. In rainy weather, coats of
moisture collect upon the wire, insulator, and post, and as
a natural result the electricity flows to earth. If there is
only a little loss at each post, the cuirent on a long line is
March 3, 1882.]
KNCWI.EDGE
375
soon weakened, and it is not unusual in stormy ■weather to
put on additional battery power to compensate for the loss.
The electric conductivity of moist air has been a subject of
dispute ; some electricians liave held that humid air acts as
a conductor of electricity ; and others have maintaLaed that
it does not. Recent experiments of M. Marangoni support
the latter theory very decidedly, for he finds that a Leydcn
jar, heated so as to prevent condensation of moisture on
its glass walls, and thus arrest surface conduction, gives
a long spark as in the driest air. When, however, the
precaution of heating the walls of the jar is not taken, the
moisture condenses on the latter, and, forming a thin film
of water, causes a silent discharge, which might be mis-
taken for a slow discharge through the conducting air. It
follows from these experiments that the loss of electricity
on telegraph lines is wholly due to surface conduction over
the wet and dirty insulators, or leakage along entangled
threads and branches of trees, at particular points, and not
to a general discharge into the saturated air.
Lightning, or atmospheric electricity, is occasionally
attracted to the wires, and passes along them, disturbing the
indications of the instruments. Telegraphists are always
exposed to danger during a thunderstorm. In the summer
of 1859, a youth employed in the telegraph department
of one of our principal railways was seriously injured
by the physiological effects of an electric shock, received
while he was sending a message on the double-needle
instrument. A storm was raging at the time, and the clerk
did not take the precaution to avoid touching the metallic
parts of the instrument. At that period, the many
ingenious contrivances for diverting the lightning now in use
had not been thouglit of. I ha\e known the fine silk-covered
wires used in certain parts of the needle telegraphs fused into
an amoi-phous mass. When the currents of atmospheric
electricity were not so intense, they usually demagnetised
the needles, causing them to deflect the reverse way.
The Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights will some-
times cause a disturbance in telegraphic communica-
tion. The long lines and cables are more liable to be
affected by the Aurora. There was a disturbance of this
kind from Aug. 11 to 14, 1880. According to the report
of Privy Councillor Ludewig, of the Central Telegraph
Department, Berlin, it seems to have manifested itself
throughout the greater portion of the northern section of
the Eastern hemisphere, sending off, however, a southerly
stream in the direction of Mozambique, which reached to
Natal. It does not appear that the western continent
was affected. The general features of the disturbance
consisted of manifestations of the presence of strange
currents (earth currents as they are called) of fluctuating
intensity, the durations and fluctuations varying in
different localities, and the direction of the currents
changing frequently. This last feature would seem to
indicate a movement of revolution, or at least of approach
and recess, with regard to some line or point. These dis-
turbances were traceable alike in underground lines and
in lines carried through the open air. In Germany all the
longer lines were very much disturbed, in the ways men-
tioned, on Aug. 1 2, from noon till late at night The inter-
ruptions frequently involved the omission of several
signs, or even words, and in the Morse apparatus,
continuous strokes appeared on the paper.
There are other causes of disturbance to which
telegraph lines are liable. Kite-tails entangled in the
■wires will, if a shower of rain comes on, cause con-
tact : the electricity will flow from one wire to the
other, so that a message, say, from London to Birmingham,
may pass through three or four different circuits, and give
rise to provoking confusion and delay. I have seen the
dead body of a large bird lying across the wires of a railway
telegraph line.
Aproj/oa of the feathered tribe, some interesting
facts were recently brought out in a paper by M. C.
Nielsen, of Christiania, on the impression produced
upon animals by the resonance of the vibration of tele-
graph wires. It is found that the black - and - green
woodpeckers, for example, which hunt for insects in the
bark and in the heart of decaying trees, often peck
inside the circular hole made transversely through tele-
graph posts, generally near the top. The phenomenon is
attribxited to the resonance produced in the post by
the vibration of the wire, which the bird mistakes als
the results of the operations of worms and insects
in the interior of the post. Everyone knows the
fondness of bears for honey. It has been noticed that
in mountainous districts they seem to mistake the
vibratory sound of the telegraph wires for the grateful
humming of bees, and, rushing to the posts, look about
for the hive-s. Not finding it on the post, they scatter the
stones at its base, which help to support it, and, dis-
appointed in their search, give the post a parting pat
with their paw, thus showing their det<'rmiiiation, at
least, to kill any bees that may be about. Indisputable
traces of bears about prostrate posts and scattered stones
prove that this really happens. With regard to wolves,
again, M. Nielsen states that when a vote was asked
for the first great telegraph lines, a member of the
Storthing said that, although his district had no direct
interest in the line proposed, he would give his vote in
its favour, because he knew the lines would drive the
wolves from the districts through which they passed. It
is well known that to keep off the ravages of hungry
wolves, in winter, the farmers of Norway set up poles con-
nected together liy a line or rope, under which the wolves
would not dare to pass. " And it is a fact," M. Nielsen
states, "that when, twenty or more years ago, telegrajih lines
■were carried over the mountains and along the valleys, the
wolves totally disappeared, and a specimen is now a rarity."
Water-careyi.ng Tobtoises. — At a recent meeting of the San
Francisco Academy of Sciences a tine specimen of the desert lanil
tortoise, captured at Cajon Pass, San Bernardino County, was
sliown, and Professor E. T. Cox related some curious circumstances
in connection with it. This tortoise, wliich is aslarge as a good-sized
bucket, is a native of the arid regions of Caiifornia and Arizona.
On one being dissected, it was found that it carried on each eido a
membrane, attaclied to the inner portiijn of tiie sliell, in wliich was
about a pint of clear water, the whole amount being about a quart.
Professor Cox was of opinion that the water was derived from the
secretions of the giant barrel cactus, on which the tortoise feeds.
This cactus contains a great deal of water. The tortoise is found
in sections of the country where there is no water, and -where there
is no vegetation but the cactus. A traveller siifi'i'ring from thirst
could, in an emergency, supply himself with water by killing a
tortoise. They are highly prized by Jlexicams, who make from
thera a delicious soup. They are oftentimes attacked by foes,
both for their water and also for their flesh. They arc overcome
by the foxes, and killed by being dragged for miles over the country
at a pretty rapid pace. Mr. Bedding afterwards stated that he was
on the Gallapagos Islands in 18i9, wlien he assisted in capturing
92 land tortoises, varying in weight from 450 lb. to 6001b. each.
These they brought to San Francisco, where they sold them for
more money than the whole of the ship's cargo of lumber made.
They were two months on board, yet they neither ato nor drank
anything, though food and water were offered them. When killed,
however, considerable quantities of water were found in each of
them. They lived on the high lava rocks of the islands, where there
are no springs or streams, and the only dependence of animal life
for water is necessarily upon the irregular and uncertain rain
showers. These were of a different species from the one shown.
It was generally admitted that it would be useful if the habits and
peculiarities of these animals could be noted, and some trustworthy
information as to how they collect and secrete their water obtained.
376
KNOWLEDGE
[Mabch 3, 1882.
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH
TELESCOPE.
Uv "A F.-:i,i,(iw OK Tin: Hoval Asthokomical Sociktv."
OUR first oliji'ct to-night shall lie that bnautifui aiici
familiar doiilile-star « Ciominoruiii, or Castor (Map,
p. 298). This, with tho instruriiont wo aro oniploying, we
shall (iiul to Ix- a pei-fcctly pasy olijcct ; in fact, wore th<'
young oliscrviT furnished with the means of accurately
directing his telescope, Castor nn'ght lie seen double in hriglit
twilight — or even in liroad daylight. Its telescopic a.spect,
with a power of TJO, is shown in Fig. 20.
Fig> M. — Castor.
0 Geminorum is another star which will repay examina-
tion. It will be found in the Map on p. 298. The small,
purplish companion will be found abo\ c the principal star,
and just to the left of the lower circle passing through it
1. (below Pollux in the same map) is a ditticult and delicate
pair, requiring a tirst-class instrument and acute vision to
see the comes at all. 38 in this constellation (bottom square
but one in the left-hand corner of Zodiacal Map, p. 225),
though ditHcult, is a decidedly easier ol)jectthan ».•. In both
these stars the contrasted colours of the companions are
very fine. Many other oljjects will be found marked D and
B in the map ; but, being invisible to the naked eye, they
are by no means easy to pick uj) without an equatorial
mounting.
Cancri is not a constellation containing man}- objects of
interest witliin the power of a three-inch telescope. Never-
theless the studwit will see ^ as a double star (it is really
triple), ifi" is another object, approximately as easy to see
as <f. 66 Cancri is decidedly more difficult ; for, although
the components are about the same distance apart as those
of (p-, their considerable inequality makes the comes look
small by contrast. Fig. 21 exhibits it as seen when best
defined with a power of 1 60.
Kiir. 21.— CG Ciiiu-ri.
I Cancri is chiefly interesting from the contrasted colours
of its components. They are, relatively, very wide apart
Sliould the observer possess a day eye-piece, he may put it
on to scrutinise the Pne.sepe witli. At all events, he must
use the lowest power he has. The same eye-piece may be
retained to look at another cluster, 67 Messier, somewhat
to the west, or right, of ci in the sky.
And now wp arrive at a star which, while scarcely
affording a crucial test, yet requires a very good eye and
instrument to se<' it well and cleanly separated. We refer
to the familiar one, y Leonis (Ma|>. p. 298), which, with a
power of 100. should present the appearance indicated in
Fi-. 22.
A more diflicult object, and one which will severely tax
till- powers, both optical and visual, of the observer, is
1 Ijeonis (Map, p. 298). r»4 I^eonis is a charming object
There are a very great many small pairs in Leo ; but the
remarks which we have made al>ove in connection with
t<;lescopic .stars in Gemini are equally applicable here. If
the .student will fish about the apex of an equilateral
triangle, whereof a and y lyonis form the (jxtremities of
the base (to the left, or ea.st, of the line joining them) with
the lowest power at his dis]iosaI, he will find himself in a
region rich in nebula;.
y Leonis.
Underneath Leo in the maps will be found the foolish
modern constellation of the Sextant 35 Sextantis is
worth looking at, as a curious disagreement exists as to
the colour of the comes. There is a bright nebula, too,
worth examination, in Sextan.s. It is 163 of Sir William
lierschel's 1st Catalogue.
Hydra, straggling across the sky beneath Cancer, Sex-
tans, Crater, Corvus, Virgo, and Libra contains a consider-
able number of interesting objects, though but few of them
are susceptible of exsy recognition, e Hydra- is a fine pair,
but difficult with such an instrument as we are employing,
on account of the proximity of its components, and of their
disparity in size. Of the objects in Crater and Cor\-us
(two figures perched by the map-makers on Hydra's back),
we need here only allude to 17 Crateris, an easy double
star, wnth prettily-contrasted colours ; and to c Corvi, wider
apart still, but exhibiting even more prominent tints in its
components. About three-quarters of the way upon an
imaginary line drawn from <i to e Corvi will be found a
nebula, 65 of Sir William Herschel's 1st Catalogue. By
this time, the incipient astronomer will probably feel that
he has accomplished a fairly good night's work. Our
next night we shall devote to Virgo and the neighbour-
ing region of the sky.
A SPINNING-TOP.
IN an American paper, the Literary Jficrocosm, the
following questions are asked : —
1. Why does a rapidly spinning-top, when tilted, tend to
swsume an upright position t
2. W'hy does it swing bodily and slowly around its pivot t
3. Why does this bodily motion take the direction of
that part of the revolving surface of the leaning top which
is nearest to the ground 1 And
4. Why does this bodily movement of the top become
faster as its rotatory movement becomes slower !
These questions are worth careful study. The Literary
Microcosm gives an utterly unscientific answer, based on
the absurd conception that force is matter, and somehow
explaining at the same time the rotation of a top and the
duality of man ; but the questions are really of interest,
especially the first. We leave them to our readers, noting
that a number of interesting experiments may be made by
modifying the shape of the rotating lx)dy, and the manner
of its rotation. One of these we have described in No. 11,
p. 219. The Editok.
March 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
377
3Rffaifh)S.
ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM.*
A DEBT of gratitude is due to writers like Professor
Tliompson, who, being thoroughly mastci-s of tlieir
subject, present, not their knowledge, but what the student
wants to know of tlie subject, in clear and simple terms.
The present Iwok is a capital specimen of the sound popu-
lar science-treatise. It is clear, compact, and correct It
does not wander ofl" into disquisitions aV)0ut a multitude
of matters too profound to be of interest to the learner ;
but every chapter, in every section, in every sentence, goes
straight to business. The theory of electricity adopted by
Professor Thompson is that electricity, whatever its true
nature, is one not two, and that this electricity, whatever
it may prove to be, is not matter and is not fnerriy,
but resembles both in one respect, that it can neither
be created nor destroyed. The question whether
positive electrification or negative electrification be
the state in which thei-c is more electricity than
in the surrounding space is not decided, but Professor
Thompson inclines to the belief that negative electrifica-
tion is really the state of excess. The fact that the rate of
dissipation of charge is greater for negative than for
positive electrification seems certainly to point this way,
for the law of the loss of charge is precisely the counterpart
of the law of loss of heat, and it is well known that for
e(|ual differences of temperature between a body and its
surroundings, the rate of loss of heat is greater at a higher
tfuiperature than at a lower, i.e., the body that is really
hotter loses its heat fastest
The " Lesson on Terrestrial Magnetism " is one of the
most interesting in the book. The statement that the north
magnetic pole is in a particular latitude and longitude, ought,
perhaps, to be modified, so as to indicate the probability,
or rather the certainty, that the magnetic pole changes
with the magnetic meridians. But this comes out clearly
enough from other statements. The book is well illus-
trated and carefully printed. Wherever formulas occur,
they are correctly given ; this, in fact, is a characteristic of
all works published by Messrs. MacmiUan.
SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION.t
Every author and intending author, many students, and
all printers, may study this little treatise with advantage
and interest It is also worth reading by those before
whom the work of authors and compositors is presented
in the form of printed books. " Literary men," says the
late Mr. Beadnell, in the preface, "seldom pay much atten-
tion to such matters as punctuation and syllabication, often
little to spelling (I) ; trusting to the printer, or rather his
readers, to correct the errors and supply the deficiencies of
their manuscripts." They ought not to do so, at least as
regards punctuation ; for the man who has thought out a
subject should know better what he means to say about it
than the compositor, who has simply to set up the author's
words, and incorrect or defective punctuation often plays
the mischief with the ideas which an author intends to
present Unfortunately, writers who are careless in this
respect, injure those who punctuate for themselves.
Printers have naturally learned to believe that an author,
* " Elementary Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism." By
Sylvanus P. Thompson, Professor of Experimental Physics in
Vniversity College, Bristol. (London : Macmillan & Co.)
+ " Spelling and Punctuation : " A Manual for Authors, Students,
and Printers. By Henry Beadnell. (Wyman & Sons, London.)
like Artemus Ward's " literary cuss," " can't punctooate
wutli a cent '' ; so they punctuate for him, even when he has
most carefully attended to the matter. He writes, let us
say, " Rocks which are covered witli seaweed are to some
degree protected from the sun's heat," and by putting a
comma after the words rocks and seaweed, they make him
lay down two general propositions — very far from his real
meaning — these, namely, that rocks are, as a general
rule (1), coveretl with seaweed, and (2), to some degree
protected from the sun's heat. So that, because many
writers are too lazy to punctuate pioperly, the careful
writer has to watch lest his meaning should be perverted
by incorrect or concealed by e.xcessivc punctuation. Mr.
Beadnell gives a very logical account of the comma, colon,
semicolon, parenthesis, dash, kc. ; it may l)e doubted, how-
ever, whether a little common sense is not better than the
laws of logic, as a guide in this matter. In one or two
places it has led our author astray. Thus, he says that
where the subject of an affirmation has certain words
attached to it which constitute the predicate and comple-
ment of the proposition, and are not (as they at first sight
look) a thought interposed between the subject and the
predicate, there must be no comma after the subject, giving
as an example this sentence : —
The French demurring to the conditions which the English com-
mander ofifered, again commenced the action.
Here, he says, the Frenchmen's demurring to the con-
ditions is not mentioned incidentally, as a parenthetical
explanation, but is the principal proposition of the sentence
upon w^hich the next proposition depends. And then he
gives, as a somewhat different example, to render the
matter clearer, this : —
The French having occupied Portugal, a British squadron, under
Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, sailed for Madeira."
But the two cases are not only different, they are diverse.
In the first sentence the punctuation is clearly wrong, in
the second it is clearly right. The first is really equivalent
to this : " As the French demurred to the conditions which
the English commander offered, again commenced the
action," which is absurd ; a comma after " French " put.*;
the sentence right On the other hand, a comma after
"French" in the second sentence makes it wrong and
absurd (logically, it could then only bear the interpretation
that Portugal is a British squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir
Samuel Hood, which the French occupied, and then sailed
for Madeira). The proper way of treating the first sentence,
in order to show the importance of the words " demurring
to," itc, is to do what Macaulay used to do u\ such cases
(and very often when it was not wanted), to make two
distinct sentences, thus : —
" The French demurred to the conditions," Ac. " They aprain
commenced the action."
GEOMETRICAL EXERCISES FOR BEGINNERS.*
These exercises are intended to assist the young student
of geometry to understand those propositions with which
he has later to become familiar. They will be liked by
lovers of old Euclid, as they deal more with ancient than
modern geometry, and adopt the ancient methods of pre
senting geometrical truths. In some respects we are glad
to see this, in others tlic ancient methotls are not so well.
We believe few things in Euclid, for instance, serve more
to repel beginners than the general form m which the
enunciations are presented. Not only — which is some-
thing— is a good deal of space wasted, but — which is
• " Geometrical Exercises for Beginners." By Samuel ConstaWf,
Trinity College, Dnblio.
378
* KNOVv^LEDGE ♦
[Mabcu 3, 18S2.
much mori' — tho bi'jjinnpr hiM his att<»ntion first dirod^-d
to a K*"'"''-'' proposition, which is oft<Mi far from cli-ar.
Tlio lonriii-r is always rnadior to imdiTstand particrulars
than gcniTals : Imt in Kiioli<I ho iios to givt- muoh
thought to the iut4'rpn-Lation of a statement couclit-d in
torras which scpni to him vaguo and perjilexiiij;, until
ho has read their int<Tprptation in the heginning of
the demonstration. Then, if he really wants to understand
what he is aliout, he goes l>aek to the enunciation. Tliere
is no reason wliy this roundabout course should be fol-
lowed. Instead of l)(!ginning, for instance: "If two
triangles have two sides of the one e(|ual to two sides of
tlie other, each to each, and if the angle contained by tlie
two sides of the one l)e equal to the angle contained by
the two sides, e<iual to them, of the otlier," .and so forth —
why should not the proportion proceed thus : " If in the
triangles A1?(J, DEF, AH is equal to DE, and BC to EF,
also the angle ABC equal to the angle DEF," etc. The
attempt to interpret the meaning of the enunciation
as a general proposition is in reality so much waste
labour. It is akin to the waste labour which children
at school used to be invited to l)estow on such grammatical
propositions as these, ^Vhere contingency and futurity are
lioth implied, the verb sliould be in the suV>junctive, instead
of being told that such a st^ntence as " If it rains "
is correct when you mean " if it is raining now," and in-
correct when you mean " if it should rain to-morrow." Of
course, the principle of these general propositions is sound
enough, if we are writing for logicians, just as it is sound
enough to define a piano superficies as one " in whicli any
two points being taken, the straight line between them lies
wholly in that superficies." But definitions and enuncia-
tions of logical precision are not for beginners. We wonder
what Euclid would Iiave said if he had been told his treatist;
■would be used for learnii\g first' lessons in geometry ? It
is a pity, we think, that Mr. Coiistable did not simplify his
l)Ook a little in this direction, having no enunciation
distinct from the explanation of the figure. Even for
more advanced mathematicians, enunciations are emphatic
nuisances ; the time given to interpret the roundabout
phrases, necessary when a figure is not referred to, is just
so much time wa-sted. So is the time wasted which is given
to the wording of such enunciations. Often, despite the
time thus wasted, the enunciation is not intelligible till a
figure is drawn illustrating it Thus " if from two dia-
metrically opposite points on the circumference of a circle
perpendiculars be drawn to a straight line outside the
circle, the sum of these perpendiculars is constant." How
are we to intorprert; this 1 Constant wherever the line may
be, or whatever the size of the circle 1 or in whatever
direction the diameter is drawn ? or may any two of these
vary ? or all three ? Still, this happens seldom in the book
before us, and the use of enunciations is common to a great
many treatises on geometry. The propositions are clearly
and simply dealt with, and the work is very carefully
printed and illustrated. In proposition 18, p. 13-5, it
.should be noticed that the construction fails if triangle
SPR is less than one-jitli part of the quadrilateral. There
are, however, very few mistakes in the book.
DR. LUYS ON THE BRAIN.*
Dr. Livs has adoijted a method of cerebral research
which he regards as of extreme value. He makes regu-
larly stratified sections of the cerebral tissue, and has these
faithfully reproduced by means of photography ; he then
• " The- Brain nnd its Piinctions." By J. Leys, Physician to the
Hospice (ic la Snlputrit^ro. (London.)
employs successively-graduated magnifying powers for the
represi-ntation of certain details. By these new methods
he has been al)le, he considers, " to ))enetratc further into
the- still unexplored regions of the nervous centres, and,
like tt traveller returneil from distant lands, to l)ring back
correct views and faithful representations of certain terri-
tories of which our predecessors caught scarcely a glimpse."
After carefully surveying the elementary properties of the
n(Tvou8 elements, he arrives at the conclusion that it is by
means of their combination, and by the harmonious co-ordi-
nation of all their truly .specific energies, that the brain
feels, i-emembers, and reacts ; and that, in fact, they are
the oidy living forces present, always imderlying the infi-
nite series of operations which the brain everj' moment
accomplishes ; and that, in fact, without them, that admir-
able and complex apparatus, at once so delicate and so
siniple, would be as absolutely without life and without
movement as the earth would be, without the sun.
The present work, in which Dr. Luys thus endeavours
to carry the data of contemporary physiology into the
hitherto uninvaded domain of speculative psychology, is
full of interest, despite its occasional too technical ter-
minology. The Iiook is in part suitable only for medical
men, but in greater part it is easily to be understood by
the general reader. We may not accept Dr. Luys' opinion
that " from this time forth a true physiology of the brain
has been established as legitimately as the physiology of
the heart, lungs, or muscular system," but he has done
much to show that we are fairly on our way towards this
result, "a consummation devoutly to be wished. '
Some of the facts used by our author to illustrate his
views are very interesting when thus viewed. Such, for
instance, are the familiar phenomena of association. " It
is sufficient," as he says, " to see an object or a person — to
hear a name pronounced accidentally, to smell an odour —
in oi'der to feel arising within us a series of ideas which
arose at the moment when this impression was at first per-
ceived by us. We all know how frequently in current
conversation a word — a simple sound — causes the primitive
direction of our ideas to diverge." This curious property,
which sensorial impressions, received at the same time,
possess, and which constitutes, as it were, natural families
among them, is a gi-eat resource in the education of the
intellect, and the methodic cultivation of the faculties.
Among the singular facts referred to in this work may
be mentioned the experiments of Charles RoViin, on the
corpse of a decapitated indi\-idual (Ch. Robin, '' Journal de
I'Anatomie, Paris 1869, p. 90). They showed that the
automatic activities of the spinal cord in man may continue
to exhil>it undiminished energy, and power of co-ordinatious
in the form of regularly-associated movements with a
definite object (such as movements of defence made bj" the
hand after a cutaneous excitation), these being performed
with as much regularity as though the brain had directed
them.
GANOT'S PHYSICS.*
A BOOK SO well known and so widely valued as Ganot's
Physics, scarcely requires the evidence which the issue of
a tenth edition atibrds, to show that it is thoroughly
sound and ti'ustworthy. It is a text-book which fidtils the
purpose which we have set before us in Kxowledce, being
clearly worded, yet exactly described. It is very well
illustrated, and the various physical subjects dealt with in
• " Elementary- Treati.ie on Physics. Experimental and Applied."
For tlie Use of Colleges and Schools. Translated and edited from
Oanot's " £l6ments de Physique.'* By E. Atkinson, Ph.D., F.C.S.
Tenth edition. (Longmans A Co., London.)
March 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
379
its pages — the properties of matter, hydrostatics, pneu-
matics, acoustics, heat, light, magnetism, and electricity —
are thus rendered as clear as they can be -without actual
experiment. But no student of science can read these
pages without wisiiiug to make, or to witness, some, at
least, among the many experiments -which are here illus-
trated and described. The tenth edition is enlarged by
nearly 2.5 pages, and includes 24 additional illustrations.
A very valuable feature of the work is the great number
of numerical proVilenis and examples in Physics. The
student should not consider that he understands any sec-
tion until he is able readily to work out for himself the
problems illustrating that section.
n
\ WERE THE A2sCIENT EGYPTIANS
^____\^ ACQUAINTED WITH THE
MOVEMENT OF THE EARTH 1
IN the Zeitschrift fur SgyptUche Sprache for 1864, the eminent
Egyptologist, M. Chabas, published an essay to prove the
Egyptians considered that the earth travelled in the heavens in a
similar way to the sun and stars. The texts which showed this
interesting fact arc contained in two duplicate papyri at Berlin,
numbered 2 and i of that collection, and as we believe no descrip-
tion of the narrative they contain lias appeared in England, and it
will assist students in arri\-ing at a doe appreciation of the scientific
knowledge of ancient Egypt on the subject, it will be worth while
to give a short account of its chief features, especially as we shall
see in the sequel another text has been deciphered which corrobo-
rates M. Chabas' translation.*
The chief facts detailed in the Papyri are as follows : — The agent
of a high Eirypti.in functionary, of the name of Meruiteus, had
assaulted and robbed an agricultural labourer, who thereupon
appealed to him for redress. Meruiteus referred the matter to the
king ; his majesty, however, considering that he could best decide
the question for himself, ordered him to make a proper inquiry and
adjudicate on the spot. What the result -svas we do not know, be-
cause the Papyri are incomplete. The nccessai-y evidence seems
to have taken a long time to collect (perhaps Meruiteus pnirposely
postponed judgment), and during all this period the poor man was
kept apart from his family, notivithstanding his continual appeals
to the functionary to permit him to have access to his wife and
children. Xearly all the papyri are occupied with the pleadings of
the peasant and replies of Meruiteus. and they are often so lengthy,
and contain so many references to those high principles of justice
and hximanity, the maintenance of which were always the boast of
the good Egyptian, that it seems likely the mere legal account
of the case had been utilised by some scribe, who, by greatly
amplifying all the arguments, contrived to inculcate many
precepts of morality. It certainly seems very improbable that
such interminable speeches, couched in excellent language, and
touching upon subjects of great theological and scientific importance
could proceed from the lips of a simple peasant. As might be
expected, the suppliant endeavoiu-s by fulsome praises to soften the
heart of the man who was to pronounce on liis case, and among some
of his hyjierbolieal encomiums occur the words which are of so much
importanie to us ; — " The peasant came to supplicate the seventh
time, saying " — " Great governor, my lord, thou art the helm of the
(entire) earth, the earth navigates — according to thy will : Thou
art the second brother of Tlioth."
In order to properly appreciate this sentence, it must be re-
membered that in the Nile valley, where the river formed the gi'eat
artery of communication, the idea of travelling or movement had
from the first been associated with navigation. Hence we tind that
as determinatives of verbs signifying a jeumey, the figure of a boat.
or two legs walking, are used indiscriminately. M. Chabas shows
conclusively that the hieroglyphs here translated to navigate are
precisely similar to those employed in speaking of the journey of
the sun d.aily through the sky. and, among many other texts cited,
quotes some referring to the motion of Mars and the apparent
movement of Orion. The Egyptians, it should be remembered,
■ always alluded to the heavens as an -ocean (see also Genesis, i., 7),
and spoke, in their figni-ative way. of the stars as personages, who
sailed upon this celestial sea in sacred barks.
• Maspcro says that, according to a Berlin papyms, the sun
liiteelf was considered to obey the law of universal motion, and to
rtravel in space like the wandering .stars. See " Hist. Ancienne."
The title which the poetic countryman gives Meruiteus, of helm —
viz., guide of the earth — refers to the imaginary rudder which steers
the course of the barque of the earth in space. The words "' second
brother of Thotli,"(aro also noteworthy, ho being a form of the
deity, with two jiartly distinct phases. In one case he was the god
of letters, and the primordial intelligence and order which esta-
blished the harmony of the heavens, and made all the earth con-
tained, and he it was who caused light to shine in the primieval
gloom before the creation of the sun, and for ever guides the stars
in space as Meruiteus was said to steer the earth. In the other,
he was a lunar deity, and pre-eminently the brother of the earth
from an astronomical point of view. In concluding this account
of M. Chabas' paper, it may be mentioned that the Pharaoh to
whom Meruiteus referred is named Xebka-ra. This King is the
forty-fifth on the Sakkara tablet, replaced seventh in the third
dynasty by Maspero. He is, therefore, a monarch who flourished
before the erection of the Great Pyramids. From this and the
very ancient character of the writing of the papyri, it is evident
that the texts are of extreme antiquity. For how many centuries
previous to their being penned the Egyptians knew of the move-
ment of the eanh, cannot, of course, be decided.
A Member of the Society of Biblical Aech.eology.
(To be continued.)
MALARIAL ORGANISMS IN THE BLOOD.
IX the blood of patients suffering from malarial poisoning M. A.
Laveran has found parasitic organisms, very definite in form
and most remarkable in character. Some were cylindrical, curved
bodies, pointed at the extremities, with a delicate outline and a
transparent body, colourless except for a blackish spot in the
middle, due to pigment gi-anules. On the concave side a fine line
could often be traced, which seemed to unite the extremities of the
crescent. These bodies presented no movement. Spherical
organisms were also seen, transparent, of about the diameter of
a red blood corpuscle, containing pigment grains, which, in a state
of rest, were often arranged in a definite circle, but sometimes pre-
sented rapid movements, and then lost their regular arrangement.
On the borders of the spherules very fine filaments could often be per-
ceived in rapid movement. These fUaments were in length three or
four times the diameter of a red corpuscle. Their number varied.
Sometimes three or four were seen round a spherule, to which they
communicated an oscillatoi-y movement, displacing the adjacent red
coi-puscles. The free extremities of the filaments were slightly
reflexed. When at rest, the filaments were invisible on account of
their tenuity and perfect transparence. These mobile filaments ap-
peared final'lv by becoming detached from the pigmented spherules,
continuing, however, to move freely amidst the corpuscles. There
were also bodies of spherical or irregular form, transparent or finely
oranular, about the hundredth of a micro-millimetre in diameter,
containing dark red, rounded pigment grains, either regularly ai--
ranced at the periphery, or aggregated at some part of the spherule.
The bodies and granules were both motionless. These appear to be
the ultimate or " cadaveric ' stage of tho.'se last described. They
have no nuclei, and do not tint with carmine, a distinction from the
pigmented leucocytes with which they have hitherto been con-
founded. Lastly, spherical elements were met with similar to those
already described, but much smaller in size, and apparently repre-
sentino- a stage in their development. The animated nature of the
mobile pigmented spherule, furnished with filaments, appears indis-
putable. M. Laveran regards it as a form of animalcule, which
exists at first in an encysted state, and in the perfect condition
becomes free in the form of mobile filaments, a mode of develop-
ment not uncommon among the lower organisms. Besides these
organisms, the blood of patients suffering from malarial fever
contains (1) red corpuscles, which appeal- to be vacuolated at one or
two spots, and contain pigment granules ; (2) pigmented lenco-
cytes ; (3) free pigment granules, possibly proceeding from the
destruction of the parasitical organisms.
These elements were first discovered by M. Laveran a year ago,
and since then he has examined the blood in 192 patients affected
with various symptoms of malarial poisoning, intermittent and con-
tinned fever, and palnstral cachexia, and found the organisms in
180. The disease had been contracted for the most part in
different regions of Algeria and Tunis. He convinced himself, by
numerous and repeated observations, that these organisms are not
to be found in the blood of persons suffering from diseases that are
not of malarial origin. In most of the cases of malaria in which
the examination yielded a negative result the patient had under-
gone a course of treatment with quinine, and te this fact the
absence of the organisms from the blood was probably due. The
addition of a minute quantity of a dilute solution of sulphate
380
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Mauch 3. 1882.
i»f i|uiiiinc< to a cinip of blood wnii fotinci at once to (loiitroy
III" or);uniHinH. In nil llii> ciuminntionii ((roat care was
lakon In |irocliido tlio ontruncii of any ottraiitriuii objoctg
into tho limp i>f ljloo<l piamlnoil. In (n^niTal tlu- paroiiitic
bodioN >V(<rf found in I ho l)lo(il only at iTrtain timc« : a little
htiforo, ami at tho momont of, tho acroflnion of tho fovor. In
Momo vpry ohBtinato raw^H tho or^aniflnifl woro alwayii prcflont in
llio bluod. Thi'v rapidly diHapponrcd uudrrthc- influcnco of a c|uinino
M-vatniont. Il iH conjorlurod that in Iho apyroxial intervals tho
mxaninniH pruhalily Hojourn in inti<rnal orKunH, en|)ociaIly tho Kplcon
nud tho li»or. Aftor doath from malarial iliHoaHC, pif^mont pranuloB
aro foniid in (freat numhoPR in tho blood, and oBpccially in thosmall
Tu«aolg of till- xpleonand livor; and thoy may be, in the most Bovcro
osHOR, so al>un<lant that not only tho Hphvn and livpr, but tho
marrow of bono, and ovon tho )froy Hubstance of the brain, aro
ilarkonod by thoir prcgouco. TboBo pi^mcut (granules, which
may obstrnct tho rapillarr vossoIb, appear to be derived from tho
iwraflitio olomentu, which porish after death, and become then
luirecognisable. — Lancft.
THE "SOUND" OF FISHES.
THK letter of your ostoompd contributor, Mr. W. Mattiou
Williams, on the subject of fish " sounds," affords a re-
markable illustration of tho truth of the old saying that a cobbler
should stick to his last. Kor, so long as he confines himself to
physics, his contributions are moat valuable and interesting (espe-
cially tho one in the issue for Feb. 10), but passing into the domain
of the binlrigist, he mu.st, I fear, be regarded as an intruder. The
alleged mistake on tho part of Dr. Andrew Wilson and the writers
of anatomical works, is, I submit, no mistake at all, for that struc-
ture which fishermen and the public in general style the "sound"
of a codfish is, indood, the swim-bladder. Of course, my mere ipite
dixit is of no more value than that of llr. Williams, but in this
ease, as iu a controversy between Professor Huxley and Mr. Water-
houso respecting tho Scotch hares, the animal intervenes. I happen
to have been to-day engaged in the dissection of a codfish, and can
thus speak from actual observation to the following facts : — Firstly,
tho dorsal aorta is so completely hidden by the swim-bladder as to
bo inaccessible to any but persons acoistomed to the use of the
scalpel. Secondly, that it is of such insignificant size as to be
ntterly worthless as an article of diet. The fish upon wliich I
operated weighed about 8 or 9 lb., and the dorsal aorta was a
delicate, thin-walled tube about one-twelfth of an inch in diameter.
Thirdly, that it was not " attached by its edges to each side of the
under part of the spino of tho fish," but that the swim-bladder,
which i« a "stout mombranoua bag," was so attached. The sug-
gestion as to the etymon of the word "sound" appears, so far as
I am able to judge, a very probable one. Old Fossil.
THE PYRAMID OF MEYDOOM.
MISS AMELIA B. EDWARDS quotes, in the Academy, the
following letter, received by her from the Hon. J. Villiers
Stuart, author of "Nile Gleanings"; — "The other day I visited
Meydoom. The pyramid has now been cleared down to the level of
the desert, to which it descends in a series of great steps of beauti-
fully-fitted masonry of fine white limestone. The joints are so closo
that it is ofteH dilEoult to trace them. It is, in fact, more like
cabinet-maker's work than mason's work. It must have been
oovored up from tho remotest times, as it looks quite now towards
the base. You would say it was but just finished. It comes next
in size to the Pyramids of Ghizeh. "The central chaml>or is tent-
shaped — that is to say, the walls incline inward toward the roof,
so aa to reduce tho span, and better enable it (the roof) to bear the
enormous superincumbent weight. There were found in this
rtiamber some jiiocos of timljor, which seem to have been used
to remove some heavy weight, perhaps the sarcophagus. It is,
however, possible that, as iu tlie cas<! of the Pj-ramids of Ghizeh,
thoro may be another chamber in which tho sarcophagus still
exists.
When I last saw I'rof. Maspero ho seemed to doubt whether
this was really .Seneforoo's pyramid ; but within five minutes' walk
irf the pyramid I discovered an inscription which conclusively
proves that it is indood tho pyramid of that Pharaoh. The inscrip-
tion occurs on the right hand top corner of the tomb of Nofro-
Moat. It reads SKM-FEaoo Uknte— i.e., the ' rosting-place,'
' abiding-place,' or ' cemetery ' of Senoferoo. There is no contort,
»nd never has boon any. Tho atone is quite uninjured, and the
purpose of the inscription is to designate tho locality in which tho
toub is situated. It might ba translated ' monument,' or ' pj-ramid
of Sonefcroo,' the name of which would attach itself to tho adjoin-
ing csmctory. The hieroglyphic s|>clling of Monlc (being tho sign
Men without tho Bupp](?mentary n) is very archaic. Tho inscrip-
tion was probably cut during Sonofonxi's lifetime. Tho reason why
I faU'.'d to observe this imfiortant and intercflting inscription on
previous visits is that it is very high up ; bat tho tomb of Nofre-
Moat is now nearly filled with rubbish, which enabled mo to
mount closo ap to tho hieroglyphs, and to examine them
thoroughly. I sow tho oval before, ond figured it in ' Nile Glean-
ings ' (p. 33), but not having an opera-glass with me, I over-
looked the context. I have written to Prof. Maspero to tell him
about it."
" Tho inscription," proceeds Miss Edwards, " copied in hiero-
glyphs by Mr. Villiers Stuart, consists of Seneferoo's name in a
royal oval, nndcr which, placed vertically, occur the ideographic
sign. Men. a battlemented wall, and tho phonetic sign (.an inverted
basket. But in order to complete the word oh given by Birch,
Brugsch, and Pierret, not merely the supplementary n (a zigzag) is
wanting, but also tho dctenninativo hieroglyph, a funereal couch, or
bior. I regret to hove to add that, at the time of writing the
foregoing letter, Mr. Villiers Stuart informs me that ho was
suffering severely from a fall down a shaft 20 ft. in depth. He has,
however, escaped without serious injury."
E
A PRETTY GEOMETRICAL PROBLEM.
{Pay e 220, Jan. 13.)
XCEPT tho propounder of the question, none of our readers have
.li correctly solved cither this problem, or Mogul's (" Given any
rectangle, divide it by the fewest possible straight cuts, so that the
parts can bo jmt together to form a square "). J. Home and ATC
have given solutions of Student's problem, which at a first view
seemed correct and neat. But they were not in reality sound.
Student's solution is as follows : —
A
1 /
/3
K
L
4
/ '2
B I
i C
a 4
Pig. 1.
Pig-
Taking AM = AE, join DM, and take AG -DM. Produce DE to
H and in EH take EL = GB. Draw KL parallel to BH. Number
tho parts as shown in Fig. 1, and fit them together as shown in
Fig. 2. It is easily shown that they fit into a perfect square.
The problem cannot be solved with fewer cuts, but there are
several other ways in which it can be solved with as few cuts, and an
infinite number of ways in which it can be solved with five cuts.
Mogul's problem is so excellent that, supposing readers may have
overlooked it, we leave it for another fortnight aa an exercise.
Editob.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANI>L\LS.
MANY years ago, when a boy, I was at a country market with
two friends, who each had a gig, and it wos arranged that
they would both drive home in one gig, while I drove the other.
After journeying some four miles, I had got a considerable distance
in advance, and arrived at the gate of a private avenue, towards
which the horse turned, and then stopped, refusing to move another
foot, although I tugged at the reins, whipped him, and even got
out and tried to lead him on to the high road again, for I was
quite familiar with his usual route, and had driven him on previous
occisions, but move he would not. \Mien my friends came up I
was told that the horse had been accustomed of late to go through
this avenue, it being a short cut.
In the year 1867 I got several monkeys at Auger Point (Java),
and among them were t^vo males, which wo named Smilor and Tad-
polo, the former so colled because when anyone went near him ho
showed his teeth in such a way that he appeared to be smiling,
the latter because he had an unusually large head, while his body
was small and woakly. Whenever tht*»e monkeys were fed, Smiler
always managed to dispose of his food before Tadpole had com-
menced upon his reserve pouches in his cheeks. Smilor would
then seize Tadpola, got him on his back, strike him under the jaw
March 3, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
331
1 1 throw the food from the pouch into the* mouth, then thrust hi8
iKir.'l into Tadpole's mouth, and take out the half-chewed food,
» liiL-li he at once transferred to his own.
One day, while off the Cape of Good Hope in a prale, with a heavy
sea running, our ship was close hauled under the lower topsails and
fore-topmast staysail, when Smiler escaped from his house and ran
aloft, perching himself on the fore-topmast cross-trees. Fearing lest
he might be blown overboard, I sent a man aloft to catch him.
When Smiler saw the man coming after him, he slipped down the
jib halliards just beyond reach. The man shook the halliards, with
a view of making him slip down to the jib-boom end, where another
man was stationed to catch him, but Smiler losing hia hold was
blown far to leeward, and for the time disappeared.
We were all anxiously looking to leeward for him, but he was
nowhere to be seen, when the cook rushed to windward, and putting
his head over the rail saw him abreast the fore-rigging, and within
(leaving distance. An iron bolt was bent to the log-line and thrown
to the little fellow, who immediately seized hold and waa success-
fully hauled on board, smiling grimly.
Again, in the year 1869 I got a retriever pup in Yokohama, which
I used to drill during the dog-watches at sea, by throwing articles
;iIong the deck for him to fetch back. Among other things ^vns a
'"ft felt hat, with a rather tall crown. At first this hat perplexed
him much, as he usually seized it by the rim, and in running along
he deck with it, tripped himself up by catching his fore-paws in
■lie crown. After repeated trials with the same result, he laid the
I It duw, and with his fore-paws and mouth rolled it up, and carried
:t in that manner. OcR.\.\.
A CARNIVOROUS PARROT.
THE remarkable bird, the Nestor nofabili', or Mountain Kea, of
Xew Zealand, is a parrot of strong frame and powerful bill
and claws, which were used, like those of all parrots, for obtaining
a vegetable diet, until the colonists introduced sheep and pigs, .\^s
soon as this was done, the Kea seems to have abandoned vegetable
food, and to have taken entirely to flesh eating. He attacks sick,
or dying, or disabled sheep, and, with his powerful cutting boak,
opens a passage through the back, and eats the intestines. Even
healthy animals are sometimes assailed by the Xestor notahilis, and
there are sheep-runs in New Zealand where considerable losses
have been incurred through these strange birds. The specimen in
the Zoological Gardens gave as much trouble to capture a.8 an
eagle, tearing the clothes of the shepherd, who knocked it down
while pouncing on a lamb, and lacerating his hands. The
Kea scorns cooked meat, biscuits, fruit, or seeds, and likes raw
mutton better than any food. He will tear the skin and flesh
from a sheep's head after the furious fashion of a vulture — ■
leaving nothing but the bare skull. He at one time holds the
morscla in hia lifted claw, after the style of parrots, and at another
grips them under his feet while rending with his feet like a hawk.
This is a curious example of change of habit, for there is every
reason to believe that before sheep and pigs were introduced into
New Zealand the kea was as frugiverous in its meals as most, if
not all other, parrots. He will now eat pork and beef as well aa
mutton, and has become, in fact, utterly and hopelessly carnivorous.
It is to be feared, after this example, that temptation is often fatal
to birds and beasts, as well as man. Had it not been for Captain
Cook and the English sheep flocks, the Awtor notahilif would have
lived and died innocent of crime; but now its bloml -stained carcase
u suspended outside many a sheepfold near Otago, — From the
Daily Telegraph.
t I 1.
JACKO : A BABOON'S BIOGRAPHY.
MANY years ago, when stationed at an outpost on the Great
Fish River, in the eastern frontier of South Africa, I was
presented by the oflicer I relieved with a youcg baboon, which,
when captured, was so young that it had to be brought up by hand.
From the first, I took a great deal of notice of it, and it became
»ery much attached to me. It made great progress and grew up a
healthy, strong animal.
Jacko waa mischievotis beyond expression, and the first time that
I discovered that he had a temper of his own waa on the following
occasion ; —
I had given him a saucer of bread and milk, and my wife, seeing
that he had emptied the saucer, stooped, and put out her hand to
remove it. He immediately flew at her, and tore her collar, making
a hideoQs noise. I said, "This will never do, Master Jacko, you
must be taught manners," upon which I handed my wife her riding
whip, and desired her to whip him, holding him, myself, firmly. Ho
howled and screamed loudly, lottking round the while in search of
something to fly at, but never attempted to touch either myself or
my wife.
Jacko was always secured by a leather strap round his loins, to
which was attached a strong steel chain, the end of which was
secured by a strong padlock, which clasped an iron ring. This
ring traversed freely up and down a pole, some seven feet in height,
on the top of which a board was nailed, which, of course, kept the
iron ring safely on the pole. This board was Jacko's favourite
seat and post of observation. He was perfectly aware that the
padlock and the board were his detainers ; for he was constantly
either picking at the padlock or working at the boanl, to trj- and
loosen it, and, incredible as it may seem, he actually succeeded in
disengaging the iron plate from the padlocks, compelling me to
renew them frequently,
Jacko's pole was always erected close to my quarters, and I
could watch his procoe<lings from my window unknown to him, and
they were always most amusing. It ia the custom in barracks for
the pioneers to go round and sweep up the barrack square. One
morning I saw a man, with a wheelbarnjw full of straw and other
rubbish, sweepings of the square, put down his barrow near Jacko's
pole while he was sweeping in the immediate neigh l>ourhood. Jacko
was seated upon his high perch, apparently taking no notice of
what was going on. Presently I saw the pioneer di.sappear to
sweep round a comer. Jacko was down like lightning, capsized
the barrow, and with his long and powerful arms scattered the
contents in everj- dii'cction, and when the pioneer appeared,
was up on his perch again with wonderful celerity, looking in quite
a different direction, with a face of the most ludicrous innocence.
One morning, from my look-out window, seeing Jacko come
down from his jjerch very demurely to the ground, and slacken hi.s
chain, and then lie down, as if innocently basking in the sun, I felt
fully aware that mischief was brewing. Presently 1 saw a fat little
puppy appear on the scene, and Master Jacko's sleepy-looking eye
fixed upon it most intently. When the puppy had strayed within
reach, Jacko's chain was quietly tightened, and with his hind leg ho
seized it ; and immediately clasping it in his arms, he clambered
with it to the top of his high perch. For a short time the puppy
was nursed and dangled in his arms, just as a woman would nurse
a baby; then he began a careful search tor fleas, with which tho
poor little thing was tormented. All at once a bright idea seemed
to strike him, for, grasping the puppy by the tail, and holding it
out at arm's length, and, looking, with an expression of most inno-
cent demureness, in the opposite direction, he quietly opened his
hand, and down fell the poor little animal, with a "thud," to the
ground. I ran out to succour the poor little brute, and scolded
Jacko vigorously for his cruelty, which, however, was perfectly
useless, for he instantly assumed a pre-occupied air, and was appa-
rently intensely interested in some imaginary object in the
distance.
One morning I perceived that Jacko had loosened hia perch, and
witnessed his triumphant lixik when ho had succeeded in throwing
it to the ground. He now had nothing but the small top of his polo
to stand on, and thus standing, he pulled up the chain, and brought
the ring close to the top, but found his feet in the way. This
puzzled him for some little time. At last a happy thought struck
him, and seizing the ring with both hands, he jumped into the air,
and the next minute waa scouring the barrack stjuare.
The rattle of Jacko's chain, and the crj- of " Jacko's loose," was
always the forerunner of a race for refuge and a slamming of doors
among the female members of our community.
It was perfectly useless to provide him with any place of refuge
or shelter, as his energies wore at once at work to destroy it, in
which he succeeded uncommonly well ; so, at night, a sack waa
suspended from the top of his pole, into which he nestled himself
with great comfort ; and it is a singular fact, that at night I could
go up to his pole and touch his sack, and he nevor attempted to
move, but would give me an affectionate grunt of glail welcome, but
if any other individual approached within a yard of his pole, Jacko
was out of hia nest in an instant, screaming, and prepared for
battle.
On a cold, wet, rainy niglit I used often to take him a bowl full
of hot coffee, and knowing there was sugar at the bottom of tho
bowl, he could not resist the temptation of plunging his hand into
it to search for the sugar, although the coffee was so hot that he was
obliged to cry out with the pain.
Had I not witnessed what I am about to relate, I could not have
believed it, I have stood within thirty yards of his pole with my
bow and arrow, and taking deliberate aim, have launched an arrow
at him. Jacko would invariably catch the arrow in his hand,
holding it until I went up and claimed it, when he always gave it
np readily. But it ia nuist remarkable tliat if any other person took
the bow and fired at him, Jacko, on catching tho arrow, always
broke it in pieces. I need not say that on these ooooa-ona I inva-
riably gave my woret arrows to my friends.
382
KNOWLEDGE
[March 3, 1882.
Dno Wet aftornwin I lin<l cliiiinnl Jacko np in the Cii|>o Corps
Hlnl>li< Tor hIicIIit, ami wIlcm (In' iiirii lind litiJHhod ifrouiiiiii); tlicir
lionn'O, I lii'urd itii iiiiiikiiiiI liiililiiil) in lliitt iliircliun, niirl on K<ji'>K
■ lt>wn tfi UHcrrtiiiii llif oiiiitic, 1 futiiul that Muster Jnokti hud iiioiuf-
poliiii'il II jiu'krt b('lc>iii;inK to olio of tlio men, uikI liiid ruvorod
iiiiiiiu'lf hiiukIv with it, poHitivoly ri-fnsin^ to give it up, and nobixly
dnrvd to luki- it fi-oiii liim nnlil I c-uniu to ri'tiirn it to ito owner.
.laeko'a polo nan, of roiii-Hc, tlio i-ciitro of attraction to nil the
Kolilii'm. Tlioy wero alwuyii feeding him, er playing him trickti,
whirli InHt ho repaid with a will.
He Wiiuld catch anything that was thrown at him, thoroughly
iuvpKtigating the natui-e of the article ho had caught, lie was very
partial to eggH, whether boiled or riiW, and it was most uiiiUKing to
SCO him tossing n hot egg from hand to hand, scrcaniiog the while,
hnt never letting it go.
He was fond of his grog, weak wine and water, which was given to
him occasionally in a buttU*. tightly corked, and it was one of the pet
amusements to sec him pick out the cork, bit by bit, with his very
strong nail ; but to show how perfectly well he understood the use
of the cork, when he had jiicked away as much as he could reach
with his fingers, and still found himself unable to get at the con-
tents, he would take up the bottle and crack the neck off against
his pole.
To give one instance of Jocko's deep cunning, my coin])aiiy was
on the lino of march to an outpost. My wife and I were riding a few
hundred yards in rear of the men, Jacko, as usual, loose and follow-
ing us like a dog. We observed a Fingoe sitting on an ant-heap,
about thirty yards from the roadside, witli his wife standing within
a few feet of him, holding in her hand a tine cob of Indian corn. All
at once wo saw Jacko walk ii|) to the Fingoo and make friends with
him (a most unusual thing, as he never look to the natives), and even
sitting on the Fingoe's knee. Then we saw him make a sjn'ing, and,
in the jump seize the Indian corn, and, running for his life, he
caught hold of my stirrup and was on the pommel of my saddle like
lightning. The Fingoe was much enraged, and threw his " knob-
kerie " at him, so I pacified the man, much to liis delight, by giving
him a bit of tobacco.
I have already said that the soldiers were very fond of Jacko,
and, in the evening especially, they would surround his pole,
playing with him ; but if he suddenly caught sight of me coming
into the barrack square, ho would immediately go round the circle,
biting every one of the men, dash up on liis perch, and scream
frantically, as if trying to persuade mo that he was the injured
party appealing to my protection.
Although brought up by hand, his intuitive perception of danger
and recognition of liis enemies were remarkable. If I wished to
keep him up on his pole, I had only to coil a dead snake at the
bottom of it, and no dainty would induce him to come down ; and
when I was absent from my post, and the alarm cry of "Jacko is
loose " sounded, my wife had only to put a leopard's skin, with the
bead stuffed, in the doorway, and the quarters were perfectly safe
from Master Jacko's intrusion.
On my being ordered home from the Cape, I left poor Jacko in
charge of the men of my company, who said : " Never fear, yoiu-
honour, we 'II take the best of care of Jacko ; he 'II be our captain
now." But soon after I left for England, the Kaffir War broke out,
and in the confusion of war preparations Jacko's further fate was
buried in oblivion. LiEt;T.-CoLONEL T. Percival Toczei,.
CHANGES ON THE SURFACE OF JUPITER.
By Pkof. C. W. Pkitchett, Gl.^sgow, Mo., U.S.A.
THE changes which liave taken place, within the last three years,
on the apjiarcnt surface of the planet Jujiiter, are really
wonderful. To one who has seen the giant jilanet but a few times
in his life, and even to an astronomer, who has not noted from week
to week the markings on his surface, a detailed account of their
changes would be almost incredible. Perhaps the phenomenon of
the great red spot, which became so conspicuous in July, 1878, and
which still persistently holds its jilace, has awakened an unusual
interest in the study of his surface; but certain it is, that never
before has his disc been so closely watched, and never have so many
phenomena been noted in so short a time as within the last three
and a-half years.
In this note, my object is not to describe these changes, but
specially to mention an instance observed here on the night of
December 23. It chanced to be one of the finest nights of the
whole year. The surface of the great jilanct was rarely ever seen
under better conditions of altitude and atmosphere. Kvcry line
and marking came out with a distinctness which was a wonder even
to an experienced observer. I'ho great red spot, by the Jovian
rotation, woa approaching tho central meridian of the disc ; and I
had begun my usual observation of the transit of the preceding eud,
when my attention was called to a condensed white nucleus situated
in the north margin of the most iioiithem of the equatorial bell*.
The threads of thi- Kihir Micrometer, had been adju8tj;d to the
rotatiim axis of the planet, by the ephomeris of Mr. A. Marth.
(Month. Not. K.A.S., vol. tl, No. 7.) One fixed thread
wiis [ihiced on one extremity of major axis of spot, and tho
movable thread was placed on the other extremity of that axia,
and the.Hc threads were kept to this position by tho driving clock
and an adjusting screw. At 7 h. 7 m. of local mean lime, the
following end of red spot and the bright nucleus were on the same
thread, or the bright spot wa.i on tlie same Jovian mcridion directly
north of tho following end of red spot. As it re<iuireg more than
one hour for the Jovian rotation to carry tho major axis of spot
across the central meridiun, and all changes of relative position
must take place between my micrometer threads, 1 had a very rare
opportunity . to compare changes, however slight. Not twenty
minutes had pas8c<l till I could sec, independently of the threads,
that the white spot had a rapid motion relatively to the red spot.
It was so marked and proceeded so uniformly with the time that 1
resolved to measure it minutely. My observation of the transit
closed at 8h. 10m. and then I estimated by the eye that the bright
nucleus had gained on the following end of the red spot, in one hour,
three-eights of the interval between my threads. The mean of a
number of careful measures proved it to be three hundred and
sixty-one one-thousandths of the interval, or 4'33" of the Jovian disc.
Now, the question comes up, was this a motion of translation ?
If so, we shall have to believe that a motion can take place in the
Jovian atmosphere at the rate of nearly seven thousand miles per
hour. As this seems scarcely credible, I prefer to think that this
angular displacement is the index of a progressing transmission of
light through a lower stratum of atmosphere, or else a part of an
auroral display. I am the more inclined to consider the phenomenon
as the result of a progressive transmission of light from the body of
the planet through changing media, since tho size and consistency
of the nucleus changed considerably during the hour. I decline,
however, to speculate on the subject, and give the fact and measure
for what they may be worth.
Within the last few years many of these bright spots have been
observed. That they seem to have a rapid motion has been shown
over and over again. Some of them have been followed entirely
around the planet.
I will add, that for the last two years the colour of the equatorial
belts has remained grey or brown ; for some time previously they
had borne a ruddy hue. Occasionally the margins of the main belts
have been tinged with red, and sometimes with a very fine blue.
Within the last two years two very marked changes have occurred :
1. There are now three distinct broad equatorial belts in place of
two. 2. A very conspicuous belt now stretches entirely across the
Southern Hemisphere of the planet, and in apparent contact with
the red spot. Its northern margin, on the finest nights, is almost
blue. It has been forming for months past, but has taken its
distinct outline within the last six months. It is now a prominent
feature of the great disc immediately south of red spot. It would
be highly instructive could all these successive changes be pre-
sented to the eye by such di*awings as would show not only the
correct shape and outline through successive weeks, but also the
changes in consistency, continuity, and colour.
Note. — On January 22nd, at 7,h. 30 m., an entirely new belt was
observed in the Equatorial Zone of Jupiter, situated between the
middle and .southern equatorial belts. It was continuous and very
fine and sharp. I have nevdr before seen a belt in this position,
though I have carefully examined the planet many hundreds of
times within the last few years. The space between the broad
equatorial belts is usually more or less filled "(vith irregular clond
masses. On this occasion it was entirely free from them. The
middle and northern equatorial belts were very fine and even, and
assumed their usual ruddy hue, while the southern equatorial belt
was nearly three times broader than the other two, and was quit»
dark. Tho atmosphere was the finest I ever had for distinct and
stcadv images.
A Collie's Sexse oe Dcty. — A touching story of sheep-gathering
was recently told me on good authority. A shepherd lost his lalrge
flock on the Scotch mountains in a fog. After fruitless. search he
returned to his cottage, bidding his collio find the sheep if she
could. The collie, who was near giving birth to her young, under-
stood his orders and disappeared in the mist, not returning for
many houi-s. .-Vt last she came home in miserable plight, driving
before her tho last stray sheep, and carrying in her month a puppy
of her own ! She had of necessity left tho rest of her litter to
perish on the hills, and in tho intervals of their birth the poor beast
had performed her task and driven home the sheep. Her last puppy
only she had contrived to save. — Frances Power Cobbe, in the
Cornliill ilagazinc.
knowi,ki>c:k. Makcii :i. i»a
On Manh 1, at 10.
Oil March 4, at 10.
On ]March 1^, at 10
On March 12, at 9.
On March 16, at 9.
On Marcli 20, at 9
On March 23, at 9
On March 26, at 8
On March 30, at 8
On Ajirjl 2, at 8.1
30 p.m.
l.'i p.m.
p.m.
45 p.m.
30 p.m.
.15 p.m.
p.m.
•45 p.m.
.30 p.m.
'> p.m.
[KNOWLEDGE, March 3, 1882.
Oun Star Map. — The circular boundary
of the map represents the horizon. The
map shows also the position of the equator
and of that portion of the Zodiac now most
favourably situated for obserAation. For
the motions of the planet Mars, now fa-
vourably situated for observation, see the
Zodiacal map No. 11. In No. 19 (next
number) the path of Uranus from January
■26 to July is shown. Uranus is at his
brightest on March 6, and would then be
\isible to the naked eye were it not that
the moon, being nearly full, will obliteratf^
him from view.
Makcu 3, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE '•
387
irttcisf to t!)c eiJitor,
TTk* Editor dots not \old himself re*po}i*iUe for the opinions of his eorrenpondentt.
H' ■ 'innol undfrtake to return uinnuscriptit »r to correxpotid vith their tcritem. Atl
, -mytinitioHg ahoulJ be as whort a* po$s\blet conrisfeniljf Kith full and clear ttate-
>» of the writer's meaning.']
{■I Editorial communication* should be addretsed to the Editor o/* EnowledCiB;
JiMuxera communicalione to the Publithert, at the OJice, 74, Great Queen-
'. W.C.
: Bemittances, Chequer^ and Tott-Office Order* should he made payahU to
ri. Wwmun 4* Son*.
•/All lettera to the Editor iciU be XHinbered. For convenience of reference,
corrftpondenttf irhen r^erring to any letter, tcill oblige by mentioning itt number
and the p-igt on which it appears.
All Lftier* or Queriej> to the Editor ichich require attention in the current intue of
K50WLBDGB,«AoH/il reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication,
(I) Letters to have ftchance of appearing must be concise; they must be drawn
up in thi* form adopted for letters here, so that thev may go untouched to the
printers ; private communications, therefore, as well as queries, or replies to
queries (intended to appear as such) should be written on separate leaxes.
(11.) Queries and replies should be e^en more concise than letters ; and drawn
op in the form in which they are here presented, with brackets for number in case
of queries, and the proper query number (bracketed) incase of replies.
(III.) Letters, queries, and replies which (either because too long, or unsuitable,
or dealing mth matters which otners have discussed, or for any other reason) can-
not 6nd place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
ackBonledged in a column reser\'ed for the purpose.
"In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despked who is not in a
gUte of transition Sot is there anything more adverse to accuracy
vhiD fiiity of opinion.'* — Faraday.
**There is no harm in making a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
B6 a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Lieb i<j.
"(jod's Orthodoxy is Trnlh."— Charles Slngsley.
(Bttv Corrrsponirnrf Columns.
PEESKRVIXG FOSSILS FROM THE LOXDOX CLAY.—
EXCKINITES. — VEXTRILOQUISII. — STRATA ON THE
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. — DIAMETER OF THE
MOON'S IMAGE IN THE FOCUS OF A 42-INCH OBJECT-
GLASS.
[293] — I can sympathise ^vith " Lepidodendron " (query 2S4,
p. 316) inasmuch as I once had the pain of seeing a quantity of
beautiful fossils of my own from the London clay effloresce and
cnunble to a greenish powder. The only thing to do with those
who behave in such a way is to preserve them in closely stoppered
Tials of water as soon as they are cleared from the matri.'c in
irhich they are embedded. Sheppey flints are terrible things to
decompose in this fashion. The blackish metallic nodnles about
which your correspondent asks is iron pyrites, or snlpherised iron,
called '■ Copperus " by the people who collected them. They do fre-
quently exhibit traces of vegetable remains. I am ignorant of the
neighbourhood of West Drayton.
"Wilfred" (([nery 231, p. 346) of course knows that various
forms of encrinitc abound in our British mountain limestone. So
far as I know though, the £nfriH«.5 liUiformis is not found in our
English rocks at all, but is confined to the German rn'a.--'.Mc .1/uj,--
chelkalk. Its sole surviving representative is the Pentacritius Caput-
lled\isx in the Carriboan Sea. This has a long-jointed stem lixed
to the rock and supporting a cup-like receptacle containing the
soft body and viscera. In the plates covering the upper part of
this is an opening for the mouth. From the edge of the cup pro-
ceed line jointed arms which ramify and ultimately terminate in
articulated cirri or feelers. The joints composing the columns are
pentangular, and groups of fine articulated tentacula issue from
the column at intervals between the root and the top of it. It is
really an echinoderm mounted on the top of a stem.
" Erin " (query 259, p. 364) will find all that is communicable in
print on the subject on which he inquires in a little book called
" VentriIoqui.sm made Easy," published- by Wamc it Co.
In reply to <|uery 264 (p. 364), the Great Western Railway runs
over the London claj- between Paddington and Reading. From
Reading to Wallingford the subsoil is all chalk and chalk marl.
Prom Wallington to Didcot we pass over the upper greensnnd.
A few miles to the west of Stoventon Station we get on to the
lower green-^and. After passing Uflington, we pass through the
npper oolite, and at Shrivenham get into the middle oolite. From
Swindon to Wootton Bassett we are again on the up|>er oolite ;
from Wootton Bassett to Chippenham in the middle oolite ; and
from Chippenham to Corsliam on the lower oolite. Thence to Bath
is tlu'oiigli the lias stratification, which continues to Bristol. The
triassic strata are next met with between Bristol and Yatton,
whence a run over alluvium brings us to the mountain limestone.
After this, the country is covered with alluvium, until we get to
Bridgewater, between which to«ni and Taunton our journey is
mainly over the triassic dei)osits again. Finally, from Taunton to
Exeter we practically traverse the new red sandstone for the entire
distance. " Cams " should look up the account of these various
formations in any elementary work on (ieology.
X Fellow of the Rov.vi, .\stroxomical Society.
GREAT COMET OF 1861.
[294] — I ought to have asked admission before, but perhaps it
may not be too late now, for an observation of mine on the tail of
the Great Comet of 1861. I was fortunate enough to see it on the
night of June 31, when its magnificence was at its height, and I
obtained a very interesting sketch, mth a 5i inch object-glass, of
the unsymmetrical stnicture of the head, which seems so frequently
to characterise the larger comets. But what I wish particularly
to mention was the appearance of the tail, which, as represented
in the graphic sketch in KxowLEnGE, No. 5, p. 87, was spread
out like a fan. The eastern edge of this, owing perhaps
to trees or a rising moon, escaped my notice ; but the
central ray I traced for at least 90°., first curved to the left,
and then straightened near Polaris. Abont midnight my wife
pointed out to me a great separate beam, some 3' or 3^° broad,
lying far W. under the square of Ursa Major, having)// Urs» in
the lower edge, and Cor Caroli about 1° above its upper, traceable
about half-way from the latter star to Arcturus, and pointing with
its other extremity to the head of the comet, though, owing to the
summer twilight, no connection could be made out. In about 20m.
I found that it had risen higher, so as to stand midway between ^
and 7 Ursae, and its termination, now much more distinct, was
plainly visible near f Bocitis; but some times afterwards the beam
was no longer visible. This unexpected change of position, contrary
to the general motion of the comet, led me at the time to think
that, notwithstanding its similarity to the rest of the train, it might
be only a cirrus cloud lighted by the risen moon, and coming up
with the breeze ; but subsequent comparison with a drawing
kindly sent me by George Williams, Est|., of Liverpool — much
resembling the sketch in Kxowledge — led mc to the conviction
that it was part of the outspread tail, and that the observed move-
ment was the effect of perspective, this long streamer having passed
so swiftly and closely over the earth, that the .apparent closing up
of the great fan from increasing distance had been distinctly per-
ceptible. ~ T. W. Webb.
IS SPACE BOUNDLESS?
[295]— In Clifford's Essays and Helmholtz's Lectures (Second
series) are considerations on flat, spherical, and pseudo-spherical
surfaces, which seem to destroy the certainty of Euclid's postulates
and Kant's intuitions. Clifford is fragmentary, but his conclusion
is evident ; he prefers to believe that space is limited and spherical.
Helmholtz's lecture is obscure, perhaps owing to the translation.
I know his first series suffered grievously in translation, but I can
gather that the idea of limited space involves the idea of bodies
and movements diminishing as they near the circumference of such
space. Now, could Clifford entertain a belief involving such a con-
dition ? Helraholtz seems to hold that pseudo-spherical surfaces
may be infinite, and may be imagined so. 1 cannot imagine them
so, and it seems to me that a surface consisting of two opposite
curves must come to an end by the curves re-entering themselves,
just as a spherical surface does.
Could you do anything to make an ordinary intellect grasp these
new and revolutionary views ? Considering the transcendent im-
portance of the subject, and that Gauss and|Lobachewski are not
to be attempted lightly, might you not give us a paper ?
A word of congratulation on your journal. Its weekly appearance
is quite an event here ; it more than fulfils the high expectations
which those who were familiar with your writings entertained on
hearing of its being projected. J. S. T.
PURPLE OF THE ANCIENTS.
[296] — Mny I ask, in reference to your article on "The Purjile
of the Ancients," what cnlour this ancient purple was r I once
attended a lecture in which the lecturer proved, to his own satisfac-
tion at least, that the ancient purple was red — a sort of vermilion
383
• K NOW 1^ EDGE »
[Mahch 3, lW»i
Voar article, altbouKh tcllinfr aa a lot about the dye, doe* not itato
the nctaal colour. Wn« not the Imporial |iur|ileof the Cu-mn red ?
1 hare neon it so depicted in many jHiintinf^. A. J. Mabti^c.
TOBACCO AXD SCIENCE.
[207] — J. I'- Grail [199] makes some inquiry under this head.
1 will maku some others. When smoking a cigarette (with a mouth-
piece), if, after inhaling the smoke, you remorc the cigarette,
holding it horizontally, you will sec that a little smoke e8ca|>e8 from
the mouthpiece and ascends ; the smoke which remains in the
mouthpiece does not ascend, bat falls to the lower part and there
remains. Why ?
When smoking, no matter whether pipe, cigar, or cigarette, after
inhaling puff it out immediately, and the smoke which comes out of
the mouth, as well as that which gently rises from the pipe or the
lighted end of cigar or cigarette is of a delicate pale blue ; but if,
after inhaling, you retain the smoke in your mouth for two or three
seconds before exhaling it, it will be of a pale dirty-brown colour.
Why should it be so ? , A. T. C.
THE HADIUMETEK.
[298] — On exposing a radiometer to direct rays of coloured light,
obtained by a sciopticon lantern and coloured gelatine sheets, I got
the following results ; the vanes of the radiometer in each case
starting from a state of rest.
Bed light : garc 39 revolutions in 1 minate.
Green „ : „ 30 ,, „ „
Blue „ : ,.33 „ „
Dii turning up the light a little —
Red light : gave 40 revolutions in 1 minute.
Green „ : „ 43 „ ,,
Blue „ : ,,40
On turning down the light — •
Bed light : gave 43 revolutions of the vanes in 1 minute.
Green „ ; ,.40 „ „ „ „ „
Blue „ : „ 37 „ „ „ „ ,,
These proportions appear constant, and would they not show that
the red rays in the spectrum of solar light have most energy, and
blue and violet the least ? When I tried yellow light, produced in
the same way, I got neerly as many revolutions of the vanes as
with white light ; I suppose this was owing to the yellow sheet
allowing other rays to pass through. Can you advise any book on
the subject? J. S. Gla'dstosh.
STOTE-WAKMED HOUSES.
[299] — I have read in your issue of the 3rd instant an article on
the heat from American stoves. Now, sir, I trust that you will
permit me to give my very long experience of these invaluable houee-
warmers. I lived in Canada and the United States from 1832 to
1878, in houses wholly heated by stoves. In 1834 a coal stove was
Jirought out in Troy. State of New York, to bnm anthracite coal.
1 procured one of these stoves and placed it in the entrance-hall of
my house. That house was 6-t by 38 feet, and this stove, althengh
far inferior to the "Crown Jewel" stoves, manufactured by the
Detroit Stove Company, now on view at Kensington, heated every
part of my large honse, which was situated on the bank of the St.
Lawrence, on a bay nine miles wide, whore the outside tempe-
rature was frequently 38° below zero. We kept a tin evaporator
en the stove to throw o6E sufficient moistnre, and, daring the whole
time this stove was in nse, we never had one case of sickness. I
never had one day's illness in America, and I may say that since
my return to England I have been half the time sick ; this I
attribute entirely to the absurd way in which the English attempt
to heat their houses. With the best coal fire, in an ordinary room,
we are roasted on the side next the fire and cold on the opposite.
Every passage and room we enter has a different temperature. We
need not, therefore, be astonished at the enormous number of
bronchial, long, and rheamatic diseases so prevalent in England.
JCSIICB.
[.100^ — May I ask Mr. W. Mattieu Williams one question through
the median] of your paper Y It is not for the sake of contrtDversy,
but to satisfy my own mind on the matter of " Stove Heating!"
Supposing the atmosphere inside a stove-heated room to be 50°
(u*ing Mr. Williams' fignrea), the amount of vapour required to
saturate air of this hoat is sufficient to support a column of 0 361
inches of merctiry, and this is easily supplied, " for an English house
IB enveloped in a foggy atmosphere, and encased in damp surround-
ings." In the open air the temperature is 32 ; therefore, if the fire
were allowed to go out, would it not follow that because the quantity
of vapour in the room would be double the amount of that in tb^
open air, condeDsation of the excess uf rapoor would take place?—
Your^ Ac., G. G. D.
FOSSILS IN METEORS.
rSOl] — Referring to the articles "Meteoric f>rganisnu," and
" No Organic Matter in Meteors," in No. 12 of Knuwledce, I beg
leave to point out, in order to prevent erroneous notions aboat
German men of science to arise among English students, especiaDj
among the readers of your truly excellent journal, that the start-
ling discoveries of Dr. Uahn, and the extravagant theories based
thereon, were, immediately after their first api>carance before the
public, very ably discussed and thoroughly refuted by the eminent
geologist. Professor Zittel, of Munich, in a paper which appeared^
if I am not mistaken, a twelvemonth ago in the AwjshHrg'r AUgt-
meine 'Leiiung. Dr. Hahn is, I am given to understand, not at all
a geologist, bat a medical man ; I may be further permitted to state
that he is neither half insane nor a fool, but an eager amatear,
whom it would be more charitable and just to describe as possessed
by a rather ludicrous illusion concerning the real valne of tba
strange results his cherished "scientific" obser\'ation8 have led
hjm to. — Yours, Ac, Gkbjian Fbiexd or Ksowlkoge. j
MANUFACTURE OF GAS FROM WOOD— ARRANGED
SQUARES.
[302]. — To make it intelligible how wood-gas (p. 346) can take
place of coal-gas for illnminating, F. C. S. should have added : foif
every l.CJO feet of commercial gas, 4t gallons of naphtha are osed^
This being rich in carbon makes a bright, of an otherwise dull light*
The numbers in the Villa Alboni inscription, I take the Latin to
?ay, add up horizont.illy, vertically, and diagonally (the maximum
number of ways) to 369. This is found to be the case, and the total
to be 3,321.— Yours. Ac. C. T. B.
6, Prince's-terrace, Brighton.
EYESIGHT OF DOGS.
[303] — In an article on " Intelligence in .\nimals," in Kxow-
LBDGE, No. 2, page 29, there is the following remark, which I am
surprised no one has already commented on, in alluding to dogs
being near-sighted : — This writer says " We believe that there
could not be quoted a single instance tending to show that a do^
has been able to see aa well as a very near-sighted man." My
experiences with dogs leads me to quite a different conclusion. 1
had a retriever bitch which certainly saw better than a near-
sighted man. To give one instance. Out shooting one day I hit a
partridge very hard, which flew over a gate across a field, and fell
into a cover some 200 yards off ; the retriever, with its fore paws on
the top of the gate, watched the bird. As soon as it fell she jumped
over the gate, and ran straight to where the bird had fallen, and in
a few minutes returned with it. Surely she was not near-sighted ?
I have often seen dogs notice game some distance off when they
could have neither smelt nor heard them. A gentleman much inte-
rested in conrsing tells me that he believes that many, if not most,
dogs see remarkably well. Of course, dogs like Skye terriers,
whose eyes are much covered with hair, cannot see so well aa
those which have shorter hair. One reason which may make dogs
at times appear near-sighted is, that their eyes are so near the
the ground that long grass, or any other obstacle, will prevent them
from seeing an object which to a person of ordinary height is dis-
tinctly visible. — Yours. Ac, G. S. S.
COMPARISON OP THE SEXES.
[304] — According to Huxley, the blood of men contains a larger
proportion of " solid constituents" (these include the "corpuscles")
than that of women; although, he odds (instructively), "the
difference of sex is hardly at all exhibited by persons of flabby, or
what is called lymphatic, constitution." (Physiology. Lesson lii..
Sec. 17.) According to McKendrick, whereas the diameter of a
single muscle-fibre is -j^th of an inch in an adult male, in an adult
female it is only rxis^^ °' *° ''"^'' ( ' Outlines of Physiology, ' p 79)
The same author, on p. 82, remarks that smallness in the si^e o1
fibres, and fineness in the distribution of capillaries, and greatness
of contractility, are concomitant circumstances. Thurman, a write*
quoted in Bastian's " The Brain as an Organ of Mind," says. " Mv
own observations fully confirm those of preceding writers as to thi
average weight of the adult male brain being about 10 per cent
greater than that of the female. i.(i.,about 49oi. to44oz." 'Thesami
writer adds (see Bastian, p. 356), " For this purpose I haveexaminei
^nd oompared the average brain weight fur men and women at tbi
March 3, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
389
decennial periods from twenty to sixty. . . . Whilst the brain-
weight ia nearly 10 per cent, less in the female than in the male,
the statirre is only 8 per cent, less ; " [and, therefore, the weight
about 23 per cent.'less.— Ed.]— E. D. G.
CATS AND DOGS.— SCIENCE AND RELIGION.
[305] — A kitten, just weaned, was presented, a few years ago, to
« near relative of mine, who already had in his house a little
Maltese terrier bitch which had never had any puppies, and was
not in the way to have any. Well, imagine our surprise when this
little bitch at once began to suckle the kitten, and continued to do
ao, to my knowledge, for weeks, showing all the time an affection
amounting to jealousy for the kitten. The suckling repeatedly
went on upon my own lap, so in this case 1 will venture to state the
fact positively.
Mav I support your own admirable resolves and dicta on this
subject by the following e.tcerpt from the " Life of C. Kingsley."
ii.iar the end of vol. ii. ; — " When a friend remarked that Darwin's
il:ination of certain geological phenomena would hardly be con-
red orthorlox,' Charles Kingsley observed; — ' My friend,
I, lis orthodoxy is Truth; if Darwin speaks the truth, he is
jrlliodox.' " E. D. G.
PARTIAL LOSS OF SPEECH.
306]— Reading your article in No. 14 of Knowledge on
Brain Troubles," has brought to my mind a very interesting
instance of the total loss of speech under mental excitement, men-
tioned by Darwin in his '• Expression of the Emotions," lic, (chap,
liii., p. 324) : — •• A small dinner-party was given in honour of an
extremely shy man, who, when he rose to return thanks, rehearsed
the speech, which he had evidently learnt by heart, in absolute
silence, and did not utter a single word, but he acted as if he were
speaking with much emphasis. His friends, perceiving how the
case stood, loudly applauded the imaginary bursts of eloquence
whenever his gestures indicated a pause, and the man never dis-
covered that he had remained the whole time completely silent. On
the contrary, he afterwards remarked to my friend, with much satis-
biotion, that he thought he had succeeded uncommonly well."
AETHrR Reeve.
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.
.307] — The following is an illusion which, I think, has not yet
i;ii)eared in Knowledge :
ABO
The distance from 4 to B appears to be greater than that from
B to C, although thev sire in reality both exactly equal. — Yours. Ac,
F. W. G.
[308] — Take a sheet of penny stamps (one stamp vrill show it,
bat not so plainly as many), and look at the elUpse enclosing the
Queen's head, on which are written the words " Postage and Inland
Eevenuc." This ellipse appears of the form of a slightly elongated
octagon. I see it plainer by averted vision. — Yours, Ac,
R. A. Law.
DURATION OF LIFE.
[309] — How does Mr. Allison mean that it " depends on our-
selves, in a great measure, whether we die at 35 or 75 years," when
•peaking of such fatal diseases as cancer, in his article under the
above heading in Knowledge, page 228 ? S.
OPIUM— BACILLI— MICROSCOPICAL.
[310] — If " Young Pill-Box" will study the peristaltic action of
the intestines in some standard physiological text-book, he will
f rrily find the explanation he seeks. In lead-poisoning, one of the
prominent symptoms is colic, i.e., spasmodic contraction of different
parts of the digestive canal. Opium (and, better still, belladonna),
by removing contraction, relieves the constipation. Opium is
also of great service in constipation from obstruction for a similar
reason.
Would any of your readers kindly inform me where to find the
most recent information anent Bacilli and their kindred ? I mean
from a natural history point of view. Most of the Botanical text-
books pass very Ughtly over this group. I wish to study the subject
from every point of view. As your readers are well aware, these
micro-organisms are of the very highest interest just now (vide
Pasteur's researches, Ac.) 1 have Cohn's papers.
Also, will some practical micro.scopist kindly inform me whether
the P objective of Zeiss ( = 1-14 in. nearly), is sulBciently powerful
with a low eye-piece for the investigation (of Bacilli, io.) ? The
stage appliances I possess are of the simplest, and will not permit
me to use a higher power.
I, and I feel sure, many others, would rejoice very heartily if the
Editor of Knowledge would arrange for the appearance of micro-
scopical papers similar to those on the practical use of the tele-
scope now appearing. There does not happen to be any journal
which gives poor beginners in microscope technology the aid which
Mr. Proctor affords to beginners in telescope work. Will he listen
to the cry of A Medic.il Well-wisheb ?
[Our correspondent will find microscopy was introduced last
week. — Ed.]
TELESCOPE.
[311] — I should certainly advise "Country Solicitor" (237,
p. 275) to invest his money in a silvered glass reflector. He can get
one by the first maker in England, of 8i inches aperture and 6i feet
focus (the largest size he could conveniently move about), well and
firmly mounted, with a battery of nine or ten eyepieces, for £40. A
refractor of equal power, i.e. about 7J-inch aperture, would be some
10 feet long, would be almost necessarily a fixture, necessitating the
erection of an observatory to put it in, and the object-glass alone,
without tube, stand, or any accessories, would cost him at least
twice as much as the reflector. The latter would certainly be the
handier instrument of the two. He would be able to take it out of
the house, and set it up in five minutes ; and the silver film would
certainly last, if decent care were taken of the mirror, at least two
years, and, if tarnished then, would be renewed by the maker for
iialf-aguiuea. Either the reflector or refractor would exhibit to him
most of the objects in the new edition of Mr. Webb's book ; though,
of course, he could not expect to see the inner saiellites of Uranus,
or separate the close pairs in such stars as o Equulei or J Sagittae
with such an instrument. H. Sadleb.
VEGETARIANISM.
[312"' — From letter 207, p. 251, it would appear that there are
fanatics to be found amongst the opponents of vegetarianism.
The case quoted of the prisoners at Waltenburg proves simply
nothing. The " theoretically nutritious" food was adopted only on
the failure of the potato crop, and was certainly a poor bill of fare,
even for a vegetarian. The more generous course which followed,
and which created such a marked improvement in the condition of
the prisoners, consisted of five articles of diet. Of these, three, at
the least, enter largely into the menu of those who advocate the
vegetarian system, and would probably have effected the same
beneficial results without the aid of either meat or coffee.
One Open to Conviction.
CHINESE COUNTING.
[313"' — The Chinese have a method of reckoning by the aid of
the fingers, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division, from 1 up to 100,000. Every finger on the left hand
represents nine figures — viz., the little finger units, the ring finger
tens, the middle finger hundreds, the forefinger thousands, the
thumb tens of thousands. When the three joints of each finger
are touched from the palm towards the tip, they count 1, 2, and 3
of each of the denominations aforesaid ; 4, 5, and 6 are counted on
the back of the finger-joints. In the same way, 7, 8, and 9 are
counted on the right side of the joints from the palm to the tip.
The forefinger of the right hand is used as a pointer. — Yours, 4c.,
PSCCATI.
(©ufrirs.
[269] — RcsT.^Why does salt water rust iron more than fresh
wate. — G. W. J.
[270] — Blowi-ipe Chemistkv. — Could any reader of Knowledge
give me the undermentioned information with reference to the
blowpipe described in Vol. I., No. 7, page 137 of Knowlbdoe, viz. :
How and where the piece of brass is soldered on ? also where the
brass nozzle is to go ; also the air balloon and the trumpet mouth-
piece ; and for what purpose the hole is bored through tube between
A and B of drawiag r as I have tried to form one and failed. —
AM-ttKI^K.
3<.Ki
• KNOVv^LEDGE
[Mabcii 3, 1882,
[271] — The KLiu-rKofiioTE. — Somo two yonrn ago, an invcntiun
cnlli'd tlin flectriiphn(<< wiiH niiiiniinroil, tlio nniiio imliuitijiK. of
courKo, ttinl rnvM »f lif-lit. roiild lio tniimniittoil nlnii)^ tlic clcotric
wip', n-prixlucinu at cmo cml of it tliu iiiiiiKO of olijcrtB visible at
the otlicT. roiild you, nr »omi> rontribiitur, (five your rondorK hoiiu-
infomintioii r<<K>inliiiK thin wonderful but obncuro invention, or Hliitr
when' Hurli t-ould be found ? -HoUKAS. | Tliero mny bftvu l>ecn mime
inatrumenl by which ii liBht-roronl of Home Rort wuaconiiuunicatod;
but nolliin^ anob nH "IJorcns" doacrilH>H I'ould hnvo been nceoni-
pliahoii ill thiH wnr. Tlio aclonium vicctrophoto Ntory ia probnbly
rpforrod to. — Ko.J
[272] — The Mkami'Iieh of Time and TKMPKRATrRE. — Will yon
kindly inform mo how wo know that two port ions oftimo arc 0(|ual,
and how wo know that the difTerence of temperature of. for instance,
(iO°t' and 70°C ia the same ns the ilifTeronco of 70''C and KO'C ': —
Fkank Miller. [Wo may nicasnro time by any movements wo
have reason to consider uniform. Aa to heat mcnaurca, our detcreca
are arbitrarj-, and we know, us a matter of fact, that the expansion
of mercury is not absolutely uniform for uniform increase of tem-
perature, ihon^h very nearly so between certain limits. — Ed.]
[273] — Strenoth ok Materials. — On page 217 of Anderson's
"Strennib of Materials" (IjOnpman'a " Text Books of Science")
the equilibrium of a 30*ton crane ia under consideration, and it
appears that tlie Ijalanco of tho vertical downward pressure upon
the guide-rail (108 tons) and tho vertical upward pressure upon the
centre pillar (72) exceeds tho total load upon the structure (30
tons). Is this according to mechanical principles V and if not,
where is tho fallacy in the reasoning which leads up to it ? —
Libra.
[274] — Miscellaneous. — Will any reader briefly inform me (1)
how to sort out the foraminifera of chalk for the microscope ? (2)
where to find a >-<?s«int' of hypotheses on the ventricles of the
brain ? (3) how to get, quickly and cheaply, some notions of draw-
ing ? — EozooN.
[275] — Salt. — On what grounds do many people object to tho
use of salt with food ? Is this objection shared by any of our liigh
medical authorities? — Speculum.
[27G] — PnoTOGRAi-nic. — Would " A. Brothers " or any one else
kindly give me their opinion on the following? 1. How to prepare
iodized collodion, giving the proportions. If this would be too
troublesome, as I have heard it is, where and at what price could I
buy it ? 2. Where can I buy tho metal plates so much used by
travelling photographers, how are they prepared in tho conditions
they are sold, what further is necessary for taking portraits by
them, and what price are they ? 3. How are tlio.se papers })repared
sold with an imitation camera, and a small quantity of some white
crystals to be dissolved in warm water, when the papers are dipped
in the solution, hideous faces, lic, are developed ; and what are tho
crystals ?— W. E. F.
[277]— Luminous Paint.— Of what is it comimsed?— W. E. F.
[278] — Smell from Burning Gas. — What is the precise cause
of smell noticed in room where gas has been burning for a time ?
It is noticed chiefly where a globe is used on the bracket. Is it
bad consumption, to be remedied by better burner or more air, or
is it caused by bm-ning of particles of dust accumulating on the
globe ? — Alpha.
[279] — Stamina. — Would Mr. Grant Allen kindly explain the
origin and nse of tho circle of pale green cups which sun-ound the
stamens of the Christmas rose ? — Tyko.
[280]— Actinium. — Can any reader tell me where I can get zinc
white pigment whicli turns black when exposed to sunlight, as I
liave not seen any sample of zinc white turn black, when exposed
to light as mentioned by Dr. T. L. Phipson, F.C.S., in Chemical
News, some months ago ? — Ekin.
[281] — Reflecting Telescope.— Which would bo best, a metal
or a glass mirror, and what metal would bo best, as I am thinking
of making a reflecting telescope ? — T. Jones.
[282] — Is the use of smelling salts beneficial or otherwise?
Why is it they are freely used by women, but not by men ? — P. M.
[283] — Gla.ss. — At what temperatures do crown and./?iii( glasses
snch aa are used for telescopes come to the state of fusion neces-
sary for purification from striae and bubbles ? What materials are
best suited for crucibles and moulds, resisting tho high temperature
of the molten glass and unattacked thereby ? — Q. L.
[28-1] — Pencil-Point Protectors. — Will any reader kindly inform
mo how to restore the silver ap))earanco to small articles made of
the same material as pencil-point protectors ? — Economist.
[28.5] — SciENTinr Terms. — Wanted, the name and the publisher's
name of the host dictionary of scientific terms ? — Prestek W.
[28G] — Electricity.— Wliich is the simplest and best text-book
poblishcd on electricity and magnetism? What is tho best kind of
galvanic battery for strengthening the nerves ; and what would bo
the price of same ? I do not want an expensive one. — W. H.
[249]— AiwTBAtT Reasomnc. — In tliirty years' reading on logic
and philoKiphy, I never met with a diatinction Iwtwecn " objec-
tive" and "aubjective" r(>aaoning ; I am inclined, therefore, to
doubt if auch a distinction ia generally recogniaed. Again, Mr. W.
L. Abbot aaka for a " definition of nbatract reaaoning." I auppoM
Riich a term might mean either («) reasoning about abatract nib-
jocta. auch aa mathematical problcma ; and (6) reasoning uboot aiy
anbjecta, abstract or otherwixe, according to the laws of pure iogit,
aa diatinguiahcd from analog}', and perhaps, too, "inductive"
logic. — E. IJ. G.
[259] — Ventriloquism. — My qualification in offering explani^
tions in this regard conaiata in tho fact lliat I have long boon «
student of, and am the author of papers on, the subject of apoocl^
production. The word ventriloijuism means, strictly, '" beU]^
speaking," a phrase which is really most inapt. Ventrilixjuism. UL
essentially, semi-speech. The tongue, which is the chief agent of
speech, may be said to possess, practically, an interior or vertio^)
root, and one of a posterior or horizontal character. Wlien th^
tongue is drawn back abnormally upon these baizes, the lower jaw
and lip will be found to protrude, and to assume a tixity of con-
dition by reason of the correlation of the muscular powers centred
near the laiynx. In producing speech under the above conditions
the main secret of the ventriloquist's art ia readily discovered.
Imitation of natural sonnds is effected in modulating the voice,
either by contraction of the larynx or by disposition of the nasal
cavities. The only real difficulty lies in mastering or modifying the
lip consonants. As in all other matters, perfection is only to be
gained by continual practice. — H. W. — [Answered by several
others. — Ed.]
[260] — Lightning. — " Secretary " appears to have had a very
good illustration of the effect of a "return stroke." When a charged
body is brought near a neutral one, it has the power of polarising it.
Thus, the ground immediately under a heavily-charged thtindeig-
cloud becomes highly polarised. When the lightning passes, tl^
neutral condition is suddenly restored, sometimes doing mow
mischief than the lightning. Suppose the cloud, A, to be chargH
+ \y, then, of course, the surface of the earth under it i^
become — the -H electricity being repelled as far as possible frWi
the inducing body (the cloud). Wlien the charge in A is too gittt,
the insulating air is pierced, and the flash passes, say to B. Tbit
cottages, C, being above the general surface, are more — ly charged
than the ground, and feel the " return stroke." Tjmdall's "' LessoM
in Electricity" will help " Secretary." — Euclid.
[268] — Photography. — Will "Anon" say what purpose he
in view, whether portrait or landscape photography, or the
cation of photography to some special pnrjiose, when, as an ama
of experience, I shall be most happy to advise him. Eti pnfsaiU,A
is as well to remark that the practice of photography has
completely revolutionised during the last two or three years, and m
is almost impossible to name any work on the subject suitab'
for a beginner, since the information he would need still ren
squandered through the various technical publications of the'
few years, not having been as vet condensed into handbook form^
E. T. W.
[347] — Wild Flowers. — The nearest approach to E. Tayk
requirements is Rev. C.Johns' " Flowers of the Field," 5s. (S.P.C.Ki)i|
containing a number of illustrations, as well as descriptii
EUPTERIS.
Brewing. — To add to list of books on brewing : — " Bren
Practical and Scientific." by E. R. Sonthby. M.R.C.S., F.C.S., pn
lishcd by us {Country Breiirr.'i' Gazette) ; •■ Brew^ing," by J. Her
Burton-on-Trent ; and "The An of Brewing" (Cornish, Uolbora);j
— C. Dewston.
March :5, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
391
!3[nstotr6 to Coriedpoulifnts,
* ^* AU communxcationa for the Editor rrquirituj early attention tkould retuh the
Office on or bi^fore the StUurda) preceding (*« current iiene of KkowlBDOK, the
increatini -irrulution of which compete tit to go to prete early in the veek.
HlXT;; TO CoBBKSPOXOBirrs. — 1. Xo guettiont aiking for ecientijtc information
eanhe anirrred through the poet. 2. Letter! ernt to the Editor for correepondente
cannot be forwarded ; nor can the namet or addrettet qf correepondentt be gicen in
tmewer to pricatc inquiriet. 3. iVo queries or replies savouring qf the nature qf
adcertitemcnts can be inserted, i. Letters^ queries^ and replies are inserted^ unless
contrary to Sale 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should write on one side
onh of the paper, and put drawings on a separate leqf. 8. Each Utter, query, or
rtply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, r^erence should be
made to the number qf letter or query^ the page on which it appears, and its title.
- S. Question answered at p. 94, No. 5. — R. Mortimkb. Xot
:>«. Other matter (about probable explosions) suitable for
papers — next time you think they are likely to occur. — TvRo
: ■NOMicfS. Subject of earth measurement not so simple as you
to think.— Science and Akt. Fear most of our readers do
<are twopence about the rules and regulations of the
oe and Art Department ; so can hardly find space for article
ing that they •' muchly need correcting." — J. MfBRAV. Jly
sir, it would take a page six times as large as ours to present
diagrams properly. The .sun may expand our '"atmostphier"
i'3 one side, which gives to it a rotating motion, and " our
1 approaching the sun down the decrescendo line." may be
■ cause of solar time," but these profundities are not for us. —
:alkenzie. Thanks. — F.J. B., Jo.s. R. Geeex. Thanks; but those
■ cts already provided for. — Reduiti^. You calculate ^^•ithout
dering interest ; that might bo the brokers' way, but it is quite
! rect. — Ail Roots. I would rather not " extract for you the fifth
• <{ 5053632, or the eleventh root of 11, or the thirteenth root
O. &c.. lie." A rtde can be given for such cases, but no one
works them out otherwise than by logarithms. — J. OEMTnw.^ixE.
not know " why Government did not appoint" mo " Astro-
1' Royal " ; nor can I conceive why I was not appointed to the
niand of the Channel Fleet. Perhaps it may have been ttat a
ial training is required for these offices, and that I have had
nunc. Or it may be that I ought to have offered my services in one
or other of those capacities. When I do, I shall expect a favour-
able response. — Enqciree. Xot S"6, nearer 8"'88. For the calcu-
lation, tr>- this : — Earth's equatorial radius (or say, 3,960 miles), at
aun's distance, sustends 8"'88. Hence the full ciicumference of a
circle having sun's distance as radius
= 3,960 miles x 360 x 60 x 60^888,
•nd earth's mean distance is equal to this distance, di\'ided by
2x314159265. — A. Rischgitz. Fear the geometrical proof is
fiuniliar to most mathematicians. — T. J. Potter. Thanks. — T. R.
Allinson. Thanks for vegetarian great men. But wait till list of
carnivorous great men is published. Why do you include the
notorious "eccentric" Sir Richard Phillips ? Two-thirds of the names
you give are of such a class that we might fill ten numbers of
Knowlepge with the like, if once we began.— T. Wolstenholme.
Thanks ; but instances of animals nursing young of other species
now sufficient in number. — Wer.nek. I'Uere is " no plane of
oscillation of the earth." Cannot understand question 2. —
H. M. You will have noticed the misprint 37/5 inches for
<y377o. — E. T. Whiielow. Thanks ; but Mr. Brothers has promised
■ach papers. — J. P. S.^ndiands. 1 am sorry that you think you
bave been treated unfairly ; but if you remember the rule you in-
fringed you will see that 1 had reason to complain, not you. You
eonmder that "Found Links" and my own article on "Luck,"
touch on religious questions ; therein I am disposed to agree with
yon. No subject of which we treat in these pages can fail to-do so.
Bat you wish to emphasise, and 1 decline to have emphasised, the
diSsrence of view which may exist according as these matters are
tiewed from different standpoints. Leaving Professor Wilson to
daal with "Found Links," let me illustrate my point of view from
1^ articles on '" Luck." There can be no doubt that some minds
•l^ect to a consideration of that subject in which the influence of
ftwidence is left, ex necessitate, out of consideration ; but you are
■0* to consider that the entire absence of any direct discussion of
Ptovidence signifies an absence of recognition, still less a denial of
ita effect. You wish me to say what my views are in this respect ;
but this I decline to do, beyond such general reference to the matter
as you find in my last article on the matter, page 311. If I allowed
myself this privilege,^ whether my views are on your side or
not, I could not refuse the same pri\'ilege to others. Believe me. 1
have no wish to act unfairly, and I do not think I can be justly
charged with so doing. — Igxobamcs No. 1. You are right, see
editorial letter on the subject in last number. — E. Clodd points out
that as Prof. Tennano is dead (he died while 1 was abroad), letters
addressed to him as suggested will probably not reach him. — C. J. C.
'^n Sunday night, Feb. 19, at 7.43 p.m., saw a magnificent meteor.
colour deep orange, path very short, leaving a trail of fire about
5". — Ignokamis No. 2. If we take De Vico's estimate, the day of
Venus is, as you say, very nearly of the same length as our own,
and, as you also say," she certainly has no moon whose tide-
raising action could have lengthened it. But the sun would
raise high tides on Venus, supposing her oceans like ours.
An orb's tide-raising action varies inversely as the cube of
the distance. Now, roughly. Venus's distance is seventy-two
hundreths of the earth's, and cubing this proportion, we find that
the tide-raising action of the sun on Veims exceeds his action on the
earth in the same degree that 1,000 exceeds 373. Whence it
follows, that as the sun's tide-raising action on the earth is two-
tifths of the moon's, his action on Venus exceeds the moon's action
on the earth as 2,000 exceeds 1,865.— G. A. Newcomen. Thanks.
Answer a little too difficult. — Disappointed. Are we too mis-
cellaneous or too astronomical ? We can't be both, yon know.
How^ever, in our last number, we were more astronomical than
we have yet been or are likely to bo again. — V. S. says that in
most ships now the *' forecastle " is under a raised deck forward,
which is called the " top-gallant forecastle." — M. Welb, Webb^
or Gei.b ? We iiiu.';( insist on the rule that letters and queries be
kept separate and properly arranged for the printers, or wo cannot
deal with a tithe of the correspondence. — Geo. M. Not correct. —
E. M0E.TEM. Thanks, question sufficiently answered already. — K.
Thanks, picture almost too rough to give any idea of what
the objects may have been. — F. W. Cory. Probably you are
right in thinking that "A Constant Reader" would not find
the weather prognostics for liis district so often erroneous
if he combined his observations mth those made by others.
Your letter is somewhat too loi-g for insertion. We fear
your suggested increase in the numbers of meteorological
observers would only have the effect " of adding " (to use Sir
Geo. Airy's expression) " millions of useless observations to the
millions which already exist." — J. J. J. Some of those Planchette
experiences are, I know, very singular, and very difficult to explain
as phenomena illustrating the influence of imagination on corporal
actions, which, nevertheless, I cannot but think they must be. I
could not well open the matter for discussion here, simply because
we could have no assurance of the truth of the accounts sent us.
You are not to imagine that I question your statements — in fact, I
have had somewhat similar experience within my own family circle.
— H. A. BuLLEY. Have given more than due space to moon's in-
fluence, which has been proved to be slight. — H. A. B. Lightning con-
ductors do not act by repelling lightning, but the other way. —
H. MuiRHEAD. The brain-wave theory must be put on a more
scientific basis before it can be regarded as a part of knowledge.
We have no experience of ethereal waves acting directly on the
brain. What is the organ by which such waves affect the brain,
and how ai-e they conceived to act ? — J. Mackenzie, M.D. Nay.
Admitting the abstract of an able lecture by an eminent doctor
does not mean that we open the pages of Knowledge to the dis-
cussion of a medical subject. A paper sent us about vaccination,
whether for or against, would be submitted to a competent medical
advisor, and if regarded by him — first as sound, secondly as suitable
— it would l|B,ve a good chance of being admitted, if it were also
short. — Lestor Francis. — If you notice, we are beginning micro-
scopic matters — but at the beginning ; presently we shall come to
details. You see the difficulty of getting all in at once ? — H'Sett.
Your views seem near the truth, as far as at present seen, though
it is not considered that evolution is necessarily advancing. We
thoroughly agree with you that argument with persons unacquainted
with geological eridence is utterly useless. We would insert much
of your letter if our space were not so crowded. Note promise and
hopes expressed in our last, however. — Marshall Leigh. The manu-
facture of artificial wine hardly in our line. — J. A. S. We are likely
to have chemical papers soon, but for your pm-pose the Chemical
Neiiv, edited by Mr. Crookes, is the very thing.— J. B. Dimbleby.
The time measurements of your association are wrong, but how
can one show it ? Transits do not always occtir in pairs, as yom-
society seems to think ; and some of your teams (poor Venus in
teams) would be very lop-sided. — John Gledstose. The moon can
nearly always be seen in that way, in clear weather, when new.
In America I have seen the unilluminated part (or rather the part
not illuminated by the sun) when the moon has been nearly half
full. The darker part is illuminated by earth-light. Our earth
would appear as a large nearly full moon in the sky above those
parts of the moon. — R. Mortimer. Yes, your warning reached
the office of Knowledge before the colliery accident ; but we
did not see it till afterwards, and we have no daily issue.
Such warnings, to be of use, should be sent to the daily
papers. — William Miller. We cannot answer questions through
the post, nor give in Knowledge an opinion as to articles adver-
tised therein ; that is, not in reply to questions. Consider how
open to abuse such a course would be.— rH. H. Tlie tides raised by
!92
KNOWLEDGE
[Makcu 3, 1882.
th<< mU'llitpii of Mnr* wnnlil bo ror; Might. Binf^larly rnnaf^h, 1
cuniiilunHl thiH pninl, but I rnnnnt now n'mpnilwr where (know it
wim when I editcil the Monthly Notices of the Aiitronoinirnl Society),
befon* tJie ninall moons were diHCovoreii. — W. WlI.HON, J!. A. Your
rejoinderH, rc-rejoindera, Ac., remiiiil me murh of Bourn, J*uck. and
Prince I'sul, in " Lu Gmnde DuchoKse." " II doit Htv en train de
nionter," says Iloum j " il trnveracra— ct dencendra — il rctraveraern.
remimtoni, redencendra, rerotmverBcrn." " R<'remonteni," Biiya
Puck. " KcredcBcendni," snyB Prince Paul. " Et ca'tera, et cjctera,"
eny« Puck. Don't you think we may nay so too ? Wo are not likely
to niifree. To take your illuBtratire caso (so jfood of you to treat me
ns you do " the duller boys in your school"), I should sny the sun
Bots, even in a scientific treatise— not, " the earth rotatinp carries ns
out of view of the snn." — Newton CR"si.ani>. Ur. Bull ouplit truly
to bo ashnnu'd of himself, " falling into the same egregious blunder
■u Sir Isaac Newton," and I, too (being " in my senses, and espe-
cially OS a mathematician "), for allowing him to fall " into tlio old
jog trot nursery error." But my " own paper on the ' Menacing
Comet ' is almost as absurd ns Dr. Ball's discourse on the moon."
One step further, and I suppose I shall bo "as great an idiot" as
Sir Isaac Newton himself. But, my dear sir, if we are so foolish
as you say, do please notice how generous wo are ; wo miglit, by
aspersing Nowton and trying to detract from his great reputation,
seem to assert our own superiority, and get people to say of us,
with Bunthome, —
If that will not suit then, which would very well suit me,
Why, what very, very sapient men those sapient men must be !
Instead of this, we are content to follow in Newton's footsteps as
far as our feebler forces will take )is. How happy it must make you
to be able to say, " Until astronomers adopt my thooiy of polarity,
the science of astrononij-, or rather its exposition, must swarm with
fallacies, contradictions, crudities, and nonsense." — Rev. H. H.
HiGGiNS. Many thanks. We have forwarded business part of your
letter to publishers. Tlio "absurd mistake" is, as yon say, very
amusing. Wallenstein was singularly fortunate ; for astronomers
have not hitherto seen Jupiter in Cassiopeia. Napoleon's referring
to Venus, seen in the daj'time, as his star, was scarcely less absurd,
though in another way. — M. S. Ripley. The book was reviewed in
an early number of Knowlepge. — W. C. Because the stars are so
far away. On the other point— emphatically, No ; we will net discard
the motto beginning, ''There is no harm in making a mistake." It
was one of the finest things ever said. Of course, if yon choose to mis-
nnderstand it to mean that there is no harm in a mistake, left uncor-
rected, that is not our fault. Read it in conjunction with Faraday's
remark on fixity of opinion, and yon wiU find it contains a most
useful lesson. Of course, a mistake is in itself unfortunate ; but
as no man can ever reach the truth without making mistakes,
Liebig's saying remains true, even in its baldest scnRe. But
equally of course, what he means is, that we should all be ready
frankly to admit our mistakes. I believe, for my own part, there
is no more useful scientific rule. Nay, I will go so far as to say
that a mistake made by a well-known student of science, and
frankly acknowledged, does at least as much to advance science
as the discovery of a truth. But these short, pithy sayings,
" jewels, ten words long, that on the strctclied forefinger
of all time sparkle for ever," are not for the prosaic mind.
What do you suppose the old Greek philosopher would have
said, if, in response to his " Know thyself," some one had answered,
" I don't want to know^ myself ; I would rather know somebody
bettor worth knowing?" — Sia Fb. B. Letter forwarded to
publishers ; there may bo a day or two of delay. Letters addressed
to editor are not opened at the office, and, in some cases, are kept
a week before being opened at all. — H. A. Bulley. Fogs like the
dense London fogs are never seen where there is little smoke, so
that there must be some connection between smoke and fogs of
this sort. We did not notice the paragraph in the Lancet, but as
you report it, it seems decidedly opposed to all the evidence. —
W. H. H. SoAMEs. I think, if you consider the matter care-
fully, you will see that whatever unfairness there may seem
in my reply arose from your own departure from a rule
which has been laid down, after very careful consideration, for
the guidance of contributors and correspondents. You must know
well that a very largo proportion of the men of science of our time
regard the account to which you refer us only a well-meant but
utterly erroneous attempt to explain some of the mysteries of the
universe. An astnmomer like Sir George Airy says the geology
may do pretty well, but " the astronomy is quite wrong" ; a great
geologist thinks the astronomy may be right, but the writer cer-
tainly knew little about the earth's' crust ; and so in every single
branch of science which can be named. Again, it is certain that
while they think that way, many estimable persons, and some of
them scientific, too, think differently. The former may be qnite
wrong, and these latter right. Or you may be right in the
extreme view you take, that not oul'y i* tlie ax-eonnt oorrett,
but that it WBK intended to enlighten men as to siienliSc
nuilters, and thai we ought, therefore, to take the apparentlj
plain Htntemcnti in the wcount as port of our working material.
But whoevi-r may Ije right or wrong, or whethsr all arc rigbt
in some degre*', and all in some degree wrong, has really nothing tt
do with na. We simply decline to have inconsipt^-nciea asserted
here, or attempts at harmoniaing made here. We want tu get at
scientific truth, by scientific reaearch, obatTvation, and cip<'rimeDt|
and in no other way. If you are right, and the account which jroB
deem plain (but many do not) is correct, it is absolutely ccrtiili
that the viewa to which we shall be \ed by the, perhaps mor*
roundabout, perhapa more direct, route of scientific inquiry, wiD
agree with that account in the long-run. If the way really if
longer, the exercise will do na all good. — A Remo.nstuant. When
you wTote aaying we had nothing but astronomy, you must have
been trjing some of the things which writers on Brain TroublM
describe as causing mental hallucinations. We have befon
us the contents of Part IV., and we find, besides correspondenoi,
notes, mathematics, whist, and chess, no less than thirty-two nali>
astronomical subjects. What can yon mean ? — J. Uakkinhoit.
You tell mc (I fancy I have heard it before) as bearing on the
inferiority question, that " a woman may not be able to sharpen a
pencil or throw a stone at a hen, but she can pack more articlei
into a tmnk than a man can." Do yon refer, in a roundabout way,
to tight-lacing ?—MoBEiT. More fit for others than for us. VTbtt
is new is not strictly true. You incorrectly define-clouds as a col-
lection of watery particles in the state of vaj)Our, then correctly
defining vapour.— P. A. Fotbeegiil. iThanks for very pleasant
letter. The Petersburg problem is one of the most perplexing
problems known. I believe I took the logically correct view in the
old discussion ; but if I were asked what I would pay for the
chance, yon may depend I would not offer what may be provt<d to
be the just price, viz., infinity. It would be a very interestiiig
subject for discussion. — Aldebaban. Putting x as the distance of
the earth from sun after time t, we have
rf'r Q
— = — — where G=8nn'8 gravity at unit of distance. Hence, mnl-
tiplving by 2 — and, integrating, we have ( — ) =C+ ^—
d( \dt / T
therefore,
Integrating this you will find
(=»/ {^Dx — x^— — vers — +Ct
And since when t = 0, i = 2>, C ' =
2
we have then, when a- =0 (that is, neglecting the slight difference
of time between the earth's reaching the centre and the surface
of the sun)
/ D Dr
V 2G 2
If you put in this the correct values for D, G, and v, yon will
get a result very near Young's. Y'on have D = 02,885,000 milee,
(; =324,000 :;. (Earth's radius)' (roughly), where <? = terrestrial
gravity at Earth's surface ; and we must reduce all the distances to
feet, put 3 = 322, and then t will be given in seconds. — Haliyakd. I
received your long paper, and preserved it, proposing to return
when stamps should be sent. Because, it really was too long " f
any use," even if my " plan were that of the E. M.. so that I mi^tj
be glad of " a humble paradoxer or two to pad." Y'ou certainly
(lid not in any way offend by discussion in 1877. By yOB
own account I was the offender. If, indeed, I snubbed
" in a way no nndcrgrad would stand from a don," 1
assure you it was quite unintentional. Perhaps in those days
did not so well know the proper course to pursue. What I meant!
for good-humoured fun was mistaken for sarcasm, which is, in]
truth, quite out of my line. 1 agree with what Dickens says i
of his letters (1 think), that it will not do to adopt a tone wh
might even be mistaken to signify. See how clever I am, and wh
fun everyone else. Thanks for note about the zodiacal light!
1 have never seen it well in England. 1 saw it very well ill
Bloomington, Indiana, in the spring of 18S0. The atmospherfl
could not under any circumstances act as a telescope to enable yo»
to see Venns as a crescent. More probably some atmospberi<
[lecnliaxity distorted Venus into apparent crescent form. — H. B
SuAW. Many tbaoks. Your suggestions seem excellent. — B
W11.XKUI.H. Sorry any papur rc^Duuned umicknowledged. W<
March 3, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
393
sort your reply, rather shortened. — Toteist. Question why
I'll outside cars are so peculiar to Ireland, and when they
0 invented, scarcely scientific. It is noteworthy, by the
1 , how definitely national tastes seem often to determine
. iirite forms of vehicle. The outside car seems singularly
.propriate to Irishmen (still more, perhaps, to Irish girls). — Ei>.
. ToUNE. In their present form your theories would hardly suit
H' pages of Knowledge. — Chables Gro\'EB. Thanks, but except
.. orreater distinctness of satellite II. 's shadow (as compared
■ !i I.'s) your note scarcely warrants insertion, now that interesting
::L'i:ration is passed. We shall be glad to hear further from you,
with reference to the groat markings on Jupiter. — A.
vY. Your queries are for a general litcrarj* paper, not
■ liose chief object is science. Think you will have some
:iiculty in finding biography of Lady Austen (Cowper's
lend). Biographies of Poe numerous ; good sketches of George
liot's life, &c., in the Kineteenlh Century (last November, I think).
■G. C. D. M. Astronomers know very little about the origin
rotatory motion in nebulous masses ; but the general idea is that
:irose somewhat as eddies arise in a stream. If two nebulous
;i8ses met under their mutual attraction, there would be ,a whirl-
Mjl motion, unless they met precisely full, which would be very
ilikely. It is pleasant to be asked for more astronomy ; but you
n understand not only why I do not bring it to the front, but why
prefer to invite others to write astronomical articles. As you
isli me to answer, myself, your question about variable length of
V, I ask you to allow me to reserve it, hoping very soon to givff
iiiswer, illustrated as you suggest. If I insert it now as a query,
i :ill have a number of answers, some excellent, others, perhaps,
luite so well, and correspondents who have been at the pains
; irmulate a reply may not bo very well i>leased to see their
•;r wasted. The moon does not "lie on her back" at every
nation ; she only does so when her path — soon after " new " —
carrying her north of the equator ; for then, when a crescent, she
on the western sky as nearly above the place of the sun below
e horizon as she can be in our latitudes. The configuration is
ctured in my book on the " Moon." — Volcano. We really must
>t insert queries relating to medical matters in Knowledge. We
. '■ many medical men among our readers, and correspondents
1 would, no doubt, reply to them; but others might reply with-
' the necessary information. Then your question is too vague ;
It spots on the forehead, and why (you ask) on the forehead ?
they are heat spots, cooling medicines ought, one would say, to
■ LTood. — W. Gr.\ndv. See answer above to G. C. D. JI. — Sir
li. Phrenology would never have been suggested, I apprehend,
rl.cre were not reason for associating particular confirmation of the
ill (apart from external influences) with particular mental or
nil qualities. A "phrenologiasana" such as thatwe mayadmit. It
<■ theory that beneath the *' bump " places are the cerebral organs
I ose affections or qualities, which is rejected by anatomists. I
jit quite agree with you that " if a single man in the world can
■ true judgments of character from heads, all the anatomists in the
I cannot prove phrenology wrong." A hundred correct judg-
: 3 would not do so much to establish phrenology (in the fcrm
iiich Gall and Spnrzheim advanced it) as a single failure would
' 1 1 negative it. The way in which failures (you admit that
-: of the phrenologists failed sometimes) are explained by the
•ates of that system belongs simply, as Wendell Holmes well
- it, to the system "heads I win, tails you lose." — Bishop. Like
'■rt's "dancing man," I would answer you, " right reverend
II halfa-crack," if it were altogether fair ; but with Browning,
"ud, Wray. and other thoroughly excellent opticians, to choose
Men, I could not recommend any as the bei't maker you could
lo for a 3-inch telescope. — C.'S. Bentley. Thanks. Will
■w if space permit. You attribute to Isaac Walton the saying
.[ strawberries (page 338 Knowledge), referred to Cotton
•')pr (W.ilton's " Complete Angler," chap. 5, page 109, Chatto's
: n,p.ll4; Simpkins). They tell the story in America of Mather.
I'm CI columns of Answers to Correspondents crowded out. — P.D.]
Notice. — For " Kos. 2 and 3 are no/ out of print," in Answers to
Correspondents, Xo. 17, read " Nos. 2 and 3 are nov: out of print."
Part I. is now entirely out of print. Those who wish to complete
the series would do well to get the Parts which are still in print,
and to add their names to the list of applicants for Part I., so that,
should any copies be returned, they may be distributed in due
order.
Poiro's Extract is a certain
Pond's Extract is a certain c»
Pond's Eitract is a certain ci
Pood's Rxtract will heal Bums and Wounds
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the gtmuiRe:
re for Rhenm&tism and Oont.
for Haemorrhoids,
for Xeuralgic painj.
J. Rae, Lepidodendron, answered. Also by P., H. Courtenay,
W. B. K., J. M. Carr, W. D. C, Geo. Biddell, J. S. Thome, Harvard,
Colonial, J. W. Emery, T. K. Snood (•'), L. Empson, J. E. T., M.
Prang, E. R. T n, Ellicott, Pcter.shurg, Ante-Prandial,
Jorkins, L. M. S., Fraulein, A. Accrington, Emeritus, Peter Parley,
g. Pritchard, M. Hosking, L. Hoare, Surbiton, Tricycle, Medicus,
N. Hatherley, General Lambert, M. Soper, Pro-di-gious (very),
Duncan D., Professor, Baptist, L. S. P., Half-Sprung.
^otfsi on art anD ^ritnce.
The language of the Seychelles is a curiously cormpt French,
in some respects similar to anjot. Thus a common expression
among the natives is Moi ne cont pas, for Je ne connais pas ; simi-
larly, they frequently interpolate a medial vowel, and say gelisxer
for gliaser, belouse for hlouse, and so on. These singular linguistic
peculiarities deserve the attention of philologists, for no explanation
of them has yet been given, except the purely negative one that
no mixed race ever retains purity of tongue ; but although this
axiom accounts for the existence of many mixed languages —
notably our own— it does not explain how the pure French of the
original aristocratic exiles became degenerated into a tongue
similar to that which is popularly supposed to be spoken only at
young ladies' academies and by English tourists on the Continent.
— Graphic.
A Fog Bow before Sunrise. — The phenomenon of the ordinary
rainbow is familiar to every observer of nature. White fog bows,
or " fog eaters," as they are called by sailors, are frequently
visible in localities favourable for their formation ; and they ore
generally regarded as indications of clearing weather. A fog bow
was observed, writes Mr. H. C. Hovcy, on the morning of Jan. 8,
from my residence on Fair Haven Heights, near the estuary of the
Quinnipiac River, and about 100 ft. above the sea level. No rain
was noticeable in anv quarter, but the valleys were filled with fog,
above which the hill tops stood like islands. At exactly ten minutes
before sunrise (due at 7.26 a.m.), on looking north-west I saw a
brilliant arch of prismatic colours spanning the East Rock Bange,
the highest point of which is 350 ft. above the sea. As the sun arose,
the arch diminished in height and vividness, and by the time the
orb |was visible in the morning sky, the fog bow had vanished. —
Scientific Avierican.
Warmi.n'g Rooms. — "S. S. " asks me how to warm a room
13 X 13 ft., which has no chimney or any outlet for stove-pipe. I
cannot tell how to do this satisfactorily. If obliged to occupy such
a room, I should economise my own animal heat by wearing a thick
top-coat, double woollen socks, &c. I have warmed a small con-
servatory, requiring merely protection from night frosts, by burning
a few common, cheap paraffin lamps, distributed so as to equalise
the temperature. A gas-stove would have killed the more delicate
plants ; the difference is due to the fact that the mineral oil is so
pure a hydro-carbon that it produces only water and carbonic acid
by its combustion, while the gas contains bisulphide of carbon and
other impurities, which, by their combustion, produce irritant or
actively poisonous compounds, to which the plants are more sensi-
tive than we are. If " S. S." uses such lamps, or one of the paraffin
stoves sold for the purpose, he should jilace them on the floor, or as
low as possible, in order to economise their heat. Each ordinary
lamp will give him about as much heat and carbonic acid as a
human companion. — W. Mattieo Williams.
Novel Heliometers. — At a recent meeting of the Royal Dublin
Society, Mr. Howard Grubb, F.R.AS., described some novel helio-
meters which are at present in process of construction in Dublin for
the Belgian Government, to be used at the coming transit of Venus,
the design of Professor Uouzeau, the Belgian Astronomer-Royal.
A heliometer is generally made from a single objective cut in two,
with mechanical arrangements for traversing one-half with respect
to the other. In Professor Houzeau's arrangement the two half-
objectives are of verj- different foci — one of about] 14 feet, the other
6 inches only, but so placed that both form their image on the same
plane. As the apparent diameter of Venus and the sun are about
as 28 to 1, it follows that the image of Venus, as formed by the
large objective, will be about the same size as that of the sun
formed by the small objective, and, consequently, coincidences can
be made, not by bringing the limb of Venus to touch that of the
sun, or a micrometer line, but by superposing the image of the sun
as formed by the small objective on the very slightly larger image
of Venus, as formed by the large objective, and thus it is hoped
that all the inconvenient and perplexing phenomena of irradiation,
" black drop," &c., will be completely eliminated. Mr. Grubb exhi-
394
KNONA^LEDGE •
[Maucii .;, 1882,
bilnd iiPTornI portionii of tho inHtrnmonl,ilnd raontioned tlio variiniH
iliflimiltii'ii likiily to Iw oncoiintorod. and tho moniiii proviiltMi fur
dcaliiiK with thoin.
STHrNOTii or Matbkui.i. — At tho hito fair of tho Mus»achii»illH
Charitable Moohuiiic A«Horintion, at Uowlmi, oxiimploH won- Hhuwu
of tostii of nmtvrialB inndo by tho machino lately orertcd in l\f
United Slates (lovorninont Arsenal, at Watortown, for the provini;
of BtnicturoH of full working dimcnnionM. A stool wiro cable. 1 i|
inehos diameter, was shown, which had withstood a pull of 7o tons,
when the fasteninj.'s by which it was hold (fnve way, allhouKh t ho
cable itself remained sound. A hammered iron bar, 5 inchi-s in
diameter, was shown to have concealed a crystalline formation of
tho fibres, and it conseipicntly parted with a loud report under a
strain of nearly 723.01H) lb., or 3t;.900lb. to the 8<iuare inch. A
smaller wrouRht-iron bar drew down and broke with a fibrous
structure under a pull of 51,310 lb. per sipiaro inch. Some jjine-
wood columns wcro also shown which hnd boon tested by comiins-
gion. Tho first of these, oriRinally 1:2 foot long, yielded iit a
pressure much bolow its ostimatcil strength, in coiisof|Uonco of a
largo knot in the side, which acted as a comparatively incom]>re8-
siblo wedge. Another column was a spar 1 a feet long, 7J inch
butt, and Gl inch top. This stick was a perfect sample, and gave
way by splintering at its smaller end. A seasoned hard pine
ginior, 11 inches scpiare and 10 feet long, bore a load of 751,000 lb.
— Scientific American.
(!^ur iWatbcmatiral Column.
Find the area intercepted between n litjperholu, an asijiniitotf, n;in
tiuo ordinates parallel to the other aS'jMptote.
M^FT
Let OAB, OHK be the .isymptotcs ; AD, BC^bawu parallel to t)K
to meet the curve in D,C. In OAB take OR greater than OA, bnt
so that AR is very small ; take points S,T L,M . . . Ac, so that
OA: OR::OR : OS::OS : OT OL : OM ,and let B'be the
nearest of such points : to B, so that B'B is small' Suppose that
OB' is thus divided into n parte AR, RS, ST, &c , and let
LMbethe (r + l)thsueh part. Draw LP, MQ parallel to OK to
meet the hyperbola in P and Q, and draw DH, PQ. Q/F, C'E parallel
to OB, QF meeting PL in /. Then, since OA : OR : : OR : OS : :0S :
OT, &c , and that LM is the (r + l)th of the parts AR, RS, ST,
&c., i.e., M is the (r+ l)th of the points : of division R,S,T, &c.
OA : OM::OA'+' .-OR-^-' (i)
and sinularly OA : OL : : O A' : OR'
::0A'+' : OA.OR'.
Hence OA : LM : lOA'*' : OR'.AR
But DA:MQ::0M OA sincelOA . AD = OM.MQ
::0R'^-' : OA-^' from (i)
Thus OA . AD : LM . MQ : : OR : AR
or parallelogram OD : parallelogram LA:: OR : AR
t.e, all the parallclognims inscribed as LQ is are equal : thus paral-
lelogram OD : sum of inscribed parallelograms:: OB : ;i AR
But sum of ])arallelogram8 = ADC'B' = ADCB ultimately, when AR
is taken indefinitely small.
llcnco ADCB : parallelogram 0D::7i. AR : OR (ii)
But ultimately OA" ; OR" : :0A : OB, i.c./2By=|2| or » log. ^
, OB
= log. —
• •* OA
, OB , OB , OB
log. log. log.
f)A OA " OA
! TiTt "1 t 1 + AR "> " AR
l.'i.'. — log. • — ; ~
OA '. OA> OA
OA
OB
ultimately log.
\R ' OA
f)B
ADCB : parallelogram OD::OA log. LIU ; oK or (lA
_ since OA- OK ultimately
Kditok.
[25, p. 307] — There ap|)earB to I)e an error in your solution of this
question. You have taken the number of months as 20, instead ot
120, £- for &L-
5 6
The following appears to be a solution : — If r=-the rate of
interest per cent, per month, then r has to bo found from the
equation —
1-a + r)-"
110 = 100.
1-(1 + .)-
It will be found by logarithms that •005918 is a very near value of r
in this equation. Hence £'5918, or lis. lOd. per cent, per month is
the rate of interest realised. — J. McGowAX.
[Query No. 200, p. 278]— Leases. — W. Cahill's query in No. 15,
in connection with James Gregg's previous query :■ —
Assuming the interest to be 5 per cent., the <; P'Hmsl"
premium of £1,050 paid at commencement ' "
would amount at the end of 14 years to 2 I'T-
An annuitv of £250 would amount at the end of
10 years to 3,\H 17:5
The interest on same for 4 years (to end of
the 14) C77 657
An annuity of £300 would amount at the end of
4 years to 1,293 038
Total value of all at end of 14 years 7,194 096
The present value of this amount being 3.633 5
Which would buy an annuity or the lease at a
pc]ipercorn rent of 367 07-5
Deducting the £300 rent paid each of the last 4
years, the premium to bo paid at the end of
lU years is the present value of 4 years'
riimuity of £67075, which amounts to 237 845
— .] . W. The Answer.
©ur ©abi'St Column.
By " Five of Clubs. '
AN ILLUSTRATIVE GAME.
CLAY, in his chamiing little treatise on " Short Whist," givot
the following interesting instance of the danger of continning
a forward game, when early indications show that the promise of i
great score w^as fallacious. (In passing, one may note that in cases
such as this information of weakness may prove exceedingly nsefol
to tho stronger partner, by showing him the necessity of caution ; it
is in this respect that tho ordinary game differs from dummy play,,
when the danger is indicated at once. Some dummy players an*;
apt to overlook this negative advantage of intimation of weakness'
in jiartnor's linnd, and to consider only the more obvious positive
.idvantage which necessarily accrues to the adversaries): —
" I dealt," says Clay, " and tm-ned up a Queen, along with which I
held two small trumps. My partner — nor was he a bad player —
held tho Ace and four of the smallest trumps, and. so to speak, the
whole of another suit. With this strength, assisted by my Queen,
lie promised himself, reasonably enough, a great .score, if not the
whole game. Bnt the first two tricks showed him that he would he
overt nimped. He should have submitted to this, and as it happened
he could have made a good score, but he was unable to dismiss the
idea of a strong attack. He trumped the second trick with his Ace,
led a tnimp, — and we made no other trick. Thus with Ace, Qneen,
March 3, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
395
lit tramps, five of which were in one hand, between ns, we lost
Kf tricks out of the thirteen."
. follomng game is made np to show liow this might happen : —
A.
-K, 10, 9, 8.
-A, K, 10,0, \.-Z
s— 10, 3, 2.
londs — none.
.— Kn.
res— Kn.
i[ Spades — A, Q, 8, 7, 5. 1
Diamonds — 5, 4, 3, 2.
0
^ V
<?
4-
<?
1
0
<? 9
♦4.*
4-
4.
0
0
0
4. 4.
+ 4-
♦a*
* 4-
4. 4.
4- 4-
♦ 01
0 <>
4. 4.
4. 4-
4-. 4.
4-
4-
0 0
9
^
4- 4-
4.*4.
4.
4-
4-
4-
0
0 0
7
<7
0 0
0 0
0 0
<7 ^
<5> ^
♦ 0
0%
=7 <:>
<? ^
* ♦
10 ^0
0
0 0
0
« ♦
<? <?
♦ 4
0 0
ji-B mako
doace of Hearts
r.
C; libs— A, G, 4,3,2.
Hearts— Q.
Spades — K.
Diamonds- A,K,Q,Kn,
8,6
Z.
CUibs—Q, 7, 5.
Hearts— 8, 7, U, 5, 3.
Spades — Kn, 0.
Diamonds — 10, 9, 7.
> trick, and card below it leads next.
REMARKS AXD INFERENCES.
1. — I'knows that -B is not play-
ing a false card in his (B'x) partner's
salt, so that B will be able (pro-
bably) to over-trump second round.
2. — A, of course, continues his
suit. If he did not know that B
can trump the suit, he would not
force the adversai-y, being himself
strong in trumps. His play should
suggest to T that A is strong in
trumps, and he should give up the
line of play he had intended to
follow. He must peld to the force ;
if he declines, he will be forced
again next round, and must either
yield then under less favourable
conditions, or let Z ruff, who must
be weak in trumps. It is betterto
throw the lead at once into Z's
hand. If he had done this, Z would
have made the second trick with
trump, have played the Ace of
Spades, and then forced I'mththe
Queen. 1' might then have led
Diamonds, in order to force A
(which, as it happens, would come
off in the first round) leaving A
either to lead trumps under un-
favourable conditions, or to force
F, which i'could accept, being able
to force back with his Diamonds,
when Z would be left with length
in trumps. As it is, T, after throw-
ing away the commanding card in
trumps, is absolutely powerless.
3. — The rest of the hand plays
itself. Y's discard of the Diamond
Ace at trick 9 is intended to show
his partner that Y has entire com-
mand of the Diamond suit, but 1'
gets no chanoe of leading Diamonds
or any other suit.
He that will not whe.n" he may,
&(.-. — The follomng singular combi-
nation of cards is worth recording,
as it may be made to point a moral.
It came under my observation at the
Portland, Clay and my father being
partners. The game was four-all.
The dealer turned up a small
heart. Clay led a Diamond. The
second hand had Ace, King, Queen,
Knave, ten, nine, and two, of
trumps. With these cards, the
problem is how to lose the odd
trick.
The second hand contrived it in
this way. He had no Diamond,
and trumped the card led, with the
(third hand) also had no Diamond, and
only one trump, the three with which he overtrumped. In the end,
the holder of the sixieme major only made his six trumps, his
adversaries having six winning cards in the uuplayed suits, which
neither of the opponents coulil trum]i. They therefore lost the odd
trick and the game. Had the second player ( B) trumped with the
nine originally, he must have won the game, however the cards lay.
For, his partner being dealer, held the trump card, and consequently
B, by then leading trumps, must make seven tricks, even if all the
remaining trumps are in one hand against him. No doubt B re-
garded the chance of the third hand's having none of the suit in
which he himself was void as practically nil. Nevertheless, he
might have made the game practically sure.
The moral is : Never throw a chance away.
" Card Table Talk," " Cavendlsh."
All the Tbcmps ix one Hand. — A correspondent (J. Heaton,
Stirrey) asks what are the odds against all the trumps falling in the
dealer's hands, and whether it has ever happened. Two cases were
recorded a few years ago in the 'IVestminster Papers (we will look
the case up), and the editor made the remark that this showed
mathematicians to be wrong in stating that the odds were, in round
numbers, 159 thousand millions to one against such an occurrence.
^Ve cannot see it. It would not be very much out of the way to
suppose that among all the wliist-plaj-ing nations of the earth a
million whist-partics play per diem ; and, say that in each case there
are twenty deals. Then it would require only 7,950 days, or not
much more than 20 years, to give 159,000,000,000 trials, wliich, of
course, would give an even chance that any particular hand would
be turned up once at least. [This is not quite correct, there are
two possible results in tossing a coin, but it does not require two
trials to give an even chance of tossing head once at least. Evi-
dently my papers on chance should soon be started. Let me note
that the exact odds against the dealer having thii-teen trumps are
158,753,389,899 to 1.
Pretty long odds. — Ed.] The odds against the occurrence must, we
should think, be diminished by the cii'cumstance that when a ruffing
game has been played, there are several cards of the same suit
arranged one in each of several sets of four cards, after tricks are
gathered. Supposing them to occupy the same position in each
set, which might readily happen, that there is verj' little shuffling,
and that the same suit is trumps in the next hand, it will easily be
seen that four or five trumps might be ah-eady en train to fall to
dealer, so that the chance of the remaining trumps falling to him
alone would have to be considered. [Say the chance of this hap-
pening in the case of five trumps, besides the turn-up card were
only 1-1,000. There are thus 20 cards disposed of in the five tricks
supposed to have come together, in this special manner, in dealing.
There remain 32 cards, one of which is the turn-up. Out of the 31
cards, 7 are trumps, and form one set of 7 out of
31 ■ 30 ■ 29 ■ 28 • 27 ■ 26 ■ 25
1-2-3-4-5-6-7
possible sets of 7, or 2,629,575. Hence the chance of both events
coming off and all 13 trumps falling into one hand is one-
2,629.575,000th, or the odds only 2,629,574,999 to 1 against the
event. — Ed.] Five of Clubs.
A CoERESPONiiENT (' Why ') asks whether certain whist rules
presented in doggrel rhyme are sound as far as they go. " They
appeared in London Society, he says, some time ago, and were said
to have been copied from some provincial club wall." They are
Pole's, and are sound as general rules. But scarce one of them may
not on special occasions be departed from ivith advantage. Sup-
posing, for example, you want the odd trick to win, and have five
small trumps, viz., one four-card weak suit and two suits of two
cards each. It would be absurd in this case to follow Pole's rule
respecting trumps — " When you hold five " 'tis always right to lead
them. Five of Clubs.
J. ToMLiNSON.— Surely by not leading trumps when he gets the
chance, Z shows unmistakably that he has not been wanting trumps
led. and therefore he has not signalled.
Geadatim. — Yes ; from Ace, six others in tramps lead Ace. The
lead of Queen from Queen, Knave, nine, and others (three others
vou specify) is now generally rejected. Hoyle advised it, with the
object of finessing the nine, on the return of the lead. This might
do in long whist, but not in the game as now played.
Five of Clubs.
W. F. — In Problem I. B leads trumps fourth round, because his
jiartncr, not knowing what B knows, would be at a loss how to play
after making the successful finesse in Diamonds. If he continued
the Diamond lead, B would have to lead from his tenace in Hearts.
The lead of trumps manifestly puts T at a disadvantage. He must
396
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[March '\ 18b2.
IcimI either throuKh B'« tcnnro in llenrtB, or up to A't tonnco in CInba.
Ili« aUo, nil you miy, rcquiro infornmlinn iilniut lioiioii™.
A Stbanck UitTfKN Leah.— V WmU n Kumll cnrd, wliicli B (ncrond
Imiid wild Arc, KinR, Kniivc) wind with Knnvc, nnil iinmrfliiitcly
rutiiniH Kintf, wlitrli A (/)'» imrtiicr) triiiiipR. At tlio cnil of thr
linml II liiiH thi' rffrontt-rv li> link A irhij lio triim|>i-(l hi« KinK-_ MiK'i'
nut A have rctortuii witli iiiort' rt-iiBon, why did yon pnt on Kimvc !'
— \V. K. With nuicli better rcimon. II snid, n« plninly lis whiBt
Inngungo con »ponk,"l hold the Kinif only, nnd jdiiy it ko thnt, if yon
Imvp the Are, you niny iinvc it." But wliy did you hciid your letter
" nn omitted cnno where Ace nhould bo led before King " — this is n
return lend, and 1 have considered no return lends at present.
FiVK OK Cl.lBS.
#ur €l)tiB Column.
Endinjis from actual games played by Mephisto : —
No. 23. No. 24.
Amatf.I'R. Amateuk.
WniTK. ■\VnrTB.
1 J5
li^v
':is ■ ■ 1
im. Wi w^
w t
k
t
i -^ t t
®
I I
f^i ^ Wfi
: , 1.1
■ , k .
t
k t
Blacc.
Mephisto.
Mephisto won as follows
Ji. to Kt.5(ch.).
r. to B.3 (•). Q.R. to Q.sq.
Kt. toK.2 (>>). Q. toQ.G.
Kt. to Q.-t. K. takes Kt.
Resigns.
(•) If K. to 3.sq., then
Q. takes B.
B. to K.6(ch).
Q.R. takes B.P.
R. to Kt.sq.
Q.R. to Q.sq. Now, if Kt. to Q.3.,
Q. to K.t> wins ; or, K. to K.sq..
Q. to Kt.4(ch)., Kt. to Q.3.
R. takes Kt., wins.
('') Black threatens —
K. to B.sq.
Q. takes Q. (*)
K. to Q.sq.
P. takes R. C")
Resigns.
(") Had Araatenr seen his
danger, and not taken the
Qneen, then Mephisto would
vfin by being a piece ahea<l.
(*") This was unexpected ; he
must take the Rouk.
Q. toQ.7(ch).
R. takea Q.
R. takes R., mate.
Q. to Q.8(ch).
Problem Xo. 1"
Kt. takes B.P.
P. takes Kt.
K. to K.6.
SOLUTION.
End Game by B. Horwitz, p. 330.
P. to Kt. 6. 3 K. to Q.7.
Q. to Kt.2.7^)
K. to Kt.sq. (")
B. takes P.
Q. to R.sq., or K. to R.sq. and wins.
(") If Q. to Kt.sq., B. takes P., wins.
CHESS BY CORRESPOXDENCE.
Mr. M. .T. Harding has set the ball rolling. Having at his
request inserted a notice to play by correspondence in No. 16, we
have received about a score of replies, and, as " our true intent is
all for yonr delight," we shall continue to introduce the players to
each other, for the benefit of Chess and of the State revenne.
Letters received from —
A. B. Palmer 0. Woodcock
H. T. Uolden R. G. Brothers
A. Woverton A. F. 'Baker
" Fusee" W. G. Jones
Chns. W. Tilbe H. Percival
G. Priestman R. S. Tulloch
whom we have paired in the above order.
Of roumo, we cannot bo held roiipoiuible for introdocing tlie
Lnmb to the I>ion, ns we do not know the xtrcngth of our coire-
H|>ondentK. Should, however, two Lions meet, and a good game or
|Kjaition result, we shall be happy to publish the Hamo.
We make a l)Cginning this week, and publish tho moveii of two
games between Chief Editor and Chess Editor.
liemrivc Blaek'n Kin-j'H Ilishnp't I'ann. I'awn and two moiet,
GAME I.
CniF.F EniToB.
1. P. to K.4.
2. P. to Q.l.
3. P. to K.B. t.
1. P. to K. I.
2. P. to K.B.I.
3. P. to Q.Kt.3.
Chess EniToR.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
•»• rieane address Chens-Editor.
Postcard. — We know Staunton's "Companion, 1849," but yoa
cannot call that a " modern treatise " ; some of its merits have
been " improved away."
.1. F. B. — You must not move yonr King into check. The prin-
ciple is, that the player who captures his opponent's King first haa
won the game.
G. W. — Remark about ending correct.
H. Percival. — The games in the Berlin Tournament have not
■' all " been published.
Henry Planck. — Solution of No, 20 correct.
K. S. Standen. — Solution of No. 14 correct.
L. E. Whitelv. — Problem 20. The first move is not 1. R. takes
R.P., but 1. B.'to R.4(ch.).
A. B. Palmer. — Solutions correct.
Leauard P. Rees. — Solutions correct. Problems received with
thanks, and will receive our attention.
G. Priestman. — Problem No. 21 incorrect. 1. B. to R.4 (ch.).
D. Cndmore. — Solutions correct.
Age
the
332
Contents of Knowledge N'o. 17.
TASt
EasT Lest^ons in Blowpipe C^e-
nustrv.— Lesson III. By Lieut.-
Col, W. A. Ross, late H,A :
The Brain and Skull (lUiutrattd) . . :
Intelligence in Animals :
COBBBSPONDENCB : — Erratum—
Fleiure in Planet*— Interior Heat
of the Earth-Hog Pnule, &c. 361-343
Queries 3M'
Replies to Queries
Answers to Correspondente
Notes on Art and Science
Our Mathematical Column 38B
Our Chess Column
Our Whist Column 37»
Our Ancestors.- 1. The 1
Men. Bv Grant Allen
Birth of the Moon bv Tidal Evolu
tion— Part II. By Dr. BaU
Astronomer Royal for Ireland ..
Fallacies about Luck. By
Edit.
The Crsstal Palace Electrical Exhi-
bition, Third Notice. (Itlng-
Irated) 354
The Eainband 356
The »reat Pvramid. By the Editor 358
Brain Troubles, Punning 357
Review : Celestial Objects for
[Telescopes 358
^''OTICES.
The Back Numbers of Kkowibdgb, with the exception of N'o. 2 (Not. 11. 1881)^.
and No. 3 (Nor. 18, 1881), are in print, and can bo obtained from all bookeellav'
and newsagents, or direct from the Pul>lisher8. Should any difficulty ari^e
obiaiuinp the paper, an application to the Publishers is respectfully requested.
The followiDfr Monthly Parts of Knowibdgb are now lu be had (Part I. V-einif
out of print) : —
Part II.— (December, l&Sl.) Containing five numbers. Price Is. Post-fn
Is. 2d.
Part III. — (January, 1882.) Contaiuini; four numbers. Price lOd. Poft>;
free. Is.
Part r\'.— (February, 18>2.) Containing four numbers. Price lOd. I
free, Is.
Subscribers wishing to complete their Sets are advised to make early application
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OFFICK : 74 & 75, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
March 10, 1882.]
KNO\VLEDGE
397
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE
Pi, A I N mf ORJED -EXACTrf DESCRIBED
-_-j
LONDON: FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1882.
COXTEKTS OF No. 19.
PAGV
Tricycles in 1882. By JohnBroiniing 397
The «reat Prramid". By tho Editor 398
Photographv for Amateure. By A.
Brothere.'F.E.A.S 400
The Crystal Palace Electrical Eihi-
bition. Fiflh yolice 401
Our Ancestors.— II. The Celts. By
Grsnt .\llcn 402
Notes on Rowing. By an old Club
Captain 403
The Sp«^/.i/or'» Comet 404
Newton's Views as to a Menacing
Comet. Bt a. C. Ranrard 4<M
IntelligenL-e in Cats .'. 405
Wood-Gas -105
P16S
For >^eit Week 405
Meteorological Reports 405
Omissions and Corrections 405
Zodiacal Map 406
CoBBBspO!rDSxcB : — Vegetarianism
— Intelligence in theDo^ — Elec-
trical Images — Darwinism —
Arranged Squares — Ghosts — Tele-
phone, Ac 407-409
Qneries 410
Replies to Queries 410
,\n9wers to Correspondents 411
Our Mathematical Column 413
Our Chess Column 415
Our Whist Column 416
TRICYCLES IN 1882.
By John Beownisg
(Vice-President ot the Tricycle Association).
ABOUT five years since the first modern tricycle was
built on the lines of the spider bicycle. This new
build, known as the Lever Coventry, was regarded with
amused curiosity by the general public, and with utter
contempt by most bicyclists ; yet it ^^'anted only a strap-
brake — that is, a band working on a drum — to make it a
thoroughly safe and efficient tricycle.
Soon after this, Starley, the Stephenson of the tricycle,
who contrived the Lever Coventry, produced the Salvo.
This machine had a rotary motion obtained by means of
cranks, as in the bicycle, which was communicated by
means of a chain to the driving wheels.
But the great peculiarity of the Salvo was that both
wheels were driven so long as the machine was moving in
a straight line, while either wheel was free to stand still,
or even run backwards, when the machine was turning.
There are now at least 150 tricycles, or rather machines
known by that number of different names, but these are
principally of three or four types, and all those belonging
to the largest and possibly the best type, are modifications,
sometimes only in name, of the " Salvo."
Less than two and a half years ago the two principal
tricycle clubs of the metropolis, the London and the Finchley,
arranged a fifty-mile ride for the Tricycle Championship.
. This was ridden over the liilliest road out of London
in four hours fourteen minutes. The rider, Mr. Lacy
Hillier, is the amateur champion of the bicycle and
tricycle. The machine he rode is known as the Humber,
and it was brought out for tliis ride. Looked at sideways,
it has the appearance of a bicycle ; but it may be described
as a bicycle with two front wheels. The rider sits on a
saddle between them, and steers by means of a cross-bar
which turns them both. This is probably still the fastest
tricycle, but it requires some practice to ride it at all
well. It is not a good luggage carrier, it will not turn
easily or in a small circle, and it requires careful riding,
particularly down hill. For these reasons it is not so
generally adopted as its good qualities deserve it
should be.
About twenty or thirty novel tricycles have been intro-
duced this year. Of these about a dozen possess great
originality, and three or four considerable merit. The
llucker, the National Arms Company's National Trl \ c'..,
tlio Improved Omnicycle, the Improved Devon, the New
Kotary Coventry, and tho Monarch, are, in my opinion,
the best machines, the Slonarch being the mo.'^t original
brought out this season. The whole of the machines I
have named, with the exception of the Cmentry, are
double-drivers. Of these the Ruckcr and the Monarch
have the small steering wheel behind, and thus are per-
fectly open in front. I do not say that such machines
are by any means less liable to accidents than those
which have the steering wheel in front, but if accidents
should occur, they are not likely to have such serious results,
as the rider may jump out or fall out of the machine with-
out falling on to or being caught by the steering gear
or front wheel.
About two years since, most of the tricycles which were
driven by means of a chain were geared-up — that is, the
driving wheels were made to go round faster than the
pedals. In some letters I then wrote to the Cyclist, I
asserted that this was a mistake. Now, most of the best
riders agree that tricycles should be geared down — that is, .
the pedals should go round faster than the wheels. In
such an arrangement, of course, power is gained and speed
is lost. When the gearing down is carried to a great extent,
the pedals make two revolutions for one revolution of the
driving-wheels. A macliine so geared can be ridden up a
steep hill easier than a bicycle. The chain is a source
of trouble in a tricycle, though it has been improved of
late. It is liable to stretch and so slip over the cogs, and
I believe, occasionally it has brought a machine to a dead
standstill for an instant, by not passing round with the
cogs freely. The result of this has been that the rider has
been thrown out of the machine. Some tricycles have two
chains — one to each of the driving-wheels ; these, with the
exception of the Monarch, are the only true double-drivers,
and are the best for mounting hills. The machines which
profess to be double-drivers, through the inter- mediation of
what is called a balance action, are double-drivers only so
long as the resistance to both wheels is the same. As soon
as one wheel experiences more resistance than the other, it
ceases to drive, just when its driving power is the most
wanted to overcome an oljstruction.
Probably the best size for the driving-wheels of a tricycle
is from iS in. to 50 in. diameter. If smaller than this they
rise with difficulty over any small inequalities in a rough
road. If larger, unless very stoutly made, they are weak,
and if strong they make the machine unnecessarily
heavy. The weight of tricycles with from 48 in. to 50 in.
wheels varies from 75 lb. to 120 lb., but very few are
less than from 95 lb. to 98 lb. This weight is more than it
should be for machines intended for riders weighing from 8
to 10 stone.
^Manufacturers ought to make machines of difierent
degrees of strength and weight. At present, all machines
are, as a rule, strong enough to carry a man who weighs
16 stone. There are, however, two new machines this season
which are excellent in this respect. The National Tricycle
Co.'s machine weighs only 701b., and the Monarch only
631b. Until the Humber Tricycle was produced, tricycles
were of very inferior workmanship to bicycles ; but that
machine, the Cheylesmore, the Coventry Rotary, and the
Premier are now of first-rate excellence.
Generally speaking, the worst points of a tricycle, both
as regards contrivance and workmanship, are the pedals, and
393
KNOWLEDGE
[Makch 10, 1882.
those rc(iuiro to bo tlio host. The wholo \v(>iglit of tin-
ridor is thrown on those in liilinf^ up liill, and the friction
of Imdly Miailo bearings is very groat. 1 have soon such
liatl workmanship in the pedals of otherwise fairly-well-
inadu ninehines, that an ironmonger would have been
ashamed of such work in a set of the commonest kitchen
(ire-irons.
At presi-nt there is only one good brake. Tiiis is a
riroular or semi-circular band of steel, whicli, by means
of a lever, can be made to clasp a drum. It is in a few-
instances, and should always be, applied by means of
two straps and drums and to botii wlieels. If one band
or drum were to give way in descending a hill, the other
would then suffice to prevent an accident.
Great improvements have been made recently in double
tricycles, or, as they are generally called, Sociables. Last
TIIK (IIJK.XT I'VKA.MID.
JJy tiik Kditoii.
WE have seen that the Great Pyramid is so perfectly
oriented as to show that astronomical observation!
of great accuracy were made by its archit<;cts. No
ostronomer can doubt this, for the simple reason that every
astronomer knows the e.xceeding difficulty of the task
which the architects solved so satisfactorily, and tliat
nothing short of the most careful obsi-rvation would have
enabled the builders to secure anything like the accuracy
which, as a matter of fact, they did secure. Many, not
acquainted with the nature of the problem, imagine that
all the builders had to do was to use some of those
methods of taking shadows, as, for instance, at solar noon
(which has to be first determined, be it noticed), or before
The Pyinmiil Observatory, showing the object-end of the great observing tube.
year the Sociable Salvo was the best machine of the kind,
but now the Premier Sociable is both lighter and a far higher
class of work. Machines of this kind, to c.irry two riders side
by side, need not weigh nearly double the weight of two
single machines of the same make. From being much wider,
they are safer than .-jingle machines, and they run lighter
than single machines when they are driven by two practised
riders. A better speed can be obtained on theui than on
a single machine. A good rider can carry a lady on the
seat beside him with very little assistance from his fair
companion. Indeed a problem has been proposed ; Given a
l.ady and gentleman driving a Sociable, to find the amount
of the pressure the lady puts on the pedals?
But either with a lady or a gentleman, riding on a
Sociable is by most experts admitted to be the most en-
joyable form of this the most enjoyalilo of all sports.
and after noon, noting when shadows are equal (which!
is not an e.xact method, and requires considerablel
care even to give what it can give — imperfect orientarl
tion), and so forth. But to give the accurtMjyl
which the builders obtained, not only in the orienta-l
tiou, but in getting the Pyramid very close to lati-l
tudo 30° (which was evidently what they wanted), only!
very exact obser\ations would serve. Indeed, if a moder
astronomer, knowing nothing about the Pyramid, were!
asked how the thing could be done without telescopic aid.I
he would be apt to say that no greater accuracy tlnxn (forO
instance) Tycho Bralie obtained with his great quadrant atl
Uranicnburg could have been secured. Now, the orienta-f
tion of the Great Pyramid approaches much closer toj
exactness than the best observations by Tycho Bralie with|
that justly-celeVirated instrument.
March 10, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
399
SeeiiiLj tliis, and observing that the ascending and de-
scending passages are just such as the astronomer would
make to secure such a result, we may accept, without a
particle of doubt, the belief that they were made for that
pwrfos-*.
Then we saw that the features of the Great Ascending
Gallery were not such as would he essential, or even de-
sirable, to increase or maintain the accuracy of the orienta-
tion, as layer after layer was added to the Pyramid, but
are precisely such as would be essential if tlie Pyramid was
meant to subserve (as one, at least, of its objects) the
puq>ose of an observatory.
But persons unfamiliar with astronomy will say (several
have said so in letters addressed to me). This great ascending
gallery would only enable astronomers to observe stars
when due south, or nearly so, and only those which, when
due south, were witliin a certain distance above or below
the point towards wliicli the axis of the Great Galler}' is
imagines that to be the chief observing instrument The
comparatively unobtrusive transit circle seems far less im-
portant. But the time observations, which are far and away
the most important oltservatious made at Greenwich, are all
made, or at least, all regulated, by the transit observations.
So are tlie observations for determining the positions of
stars.
When the equatorial is used to make a time or posi-
tion observation, it is used as a diflerential instrument, it
is employed to determine how far east or west a star may
be (theoretically, how much it differs in right ascension
nieasured by time) from another ; and again, to show how
far north or south a star may be (theoretically how much
it differs in declination) from another, whose right ascen-
sion and declination have already been determined by re-
peated oViservations with the transit circle. Similarly, the
altitude and azimuth instrument is used in direct subor-
dination to the transit circle.
Vertical Section of the Pyramid Observatory throagh the plane of the passages and gallery, showing the range cf view of the
great observing tnbe.
directed. Were all the other stars left unobserved 1 Asid
again, we know that the Egyptians, like all ancient astro-
nomers, paid great attention to the rising and setting of
the heavenly bodies, and especially to what was called the
heliacal rising and setting of the stars. In what way
would the Great Gallery help them here 1
Now, with regard to the first point, we note that the
chief instrument of exact observation in modern observa-
tories, the one which, as it were, governs all the othere, has
1 precisely this quality — it iaahrai/s directed to the meridian,
and has, indeed, a very much narrower range of view on
! either side of the meridian than the Great Gallery had.
I And though it is indeed free to range over the whole arc of
I the meridian from the south horizon point through the point
i overhead to the north horizon point, it is mainly employed
1 over about that range north and south of the celestial
: equator which was commanded by the Great Gallery.
The visitor at Greenwich sees the great equatorial, and
The astronomers who observed from the Great Pyramid
doubtless made many more observations off the meridian
than on it. They made multitudinous observations of the
rising and setting of stars, and especially of their heliacal
risings and settings (which last, however, though we hear
so much of them, belonged ex necessitate to but a ^ery
rough class of observations). They no doubt often used
astrolaV)es and similar instruments to determine the posi-
tions of stars, planets, comets, &c., when off the meridian,
with reference to stars whose places were already deter-
mined by the use of their great meridional instrument.
But all those observations were regulated by, and derived
their value from, the work done in the Great Ascending
Gallery. The modern astronomer sees that this was the
only way in which exact observations of the heavenly
bodies all over the star-sphere could possibly have been
made ; and seeing the extreme care, the most marvellous
pains, which the astronomers of the Great Pyramid took to
400
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[March 10, 1882L
securo f,'oo(I inoriilioiml work, tlio astronoinor recognises in
him 11 ffllow-workcr. Ho says, with tho poet : —
I nni na olil na G^rypt to niysolf,
llrutlior to tlioin tlint Kiuarod tlio Pyrnniida :
Uy tlio same sturs I watcli.
And now consider whnt was tliis great ohscrvntory of
ancient l-^ypt — tho most perfect ever made till telescopic
art revealed a way of exact observation without those
massive structures. A iniglity mass, having a Imse larger
than the siiuarc of Lincoln's Inn, rising l>y just (ifty layers
to a height of about 112 feet, and presenting towards the
south the appearance shown in Fig. 1, where the mouth of
the (Jreat Gallery is seen opening southwards, and the lines
are shown which have been already indicated as "observing
directions" in the picture on p. .'il"). The Pyramid ob.serva-
tory is shown in section ii\ Fig. 2. It will be noticed that
the successive layers are not of equal thickness. There
arc just fifty between the base and plane of the floor of the
Kings Chamber. The direction lines for the mid-day sun
at midsummer, midwinter, and the equinoxes are shown ;
also the lines to the two stars, Alj)ha Draconis and Alpha
Centauri, are given at the subpolar meridional passage of
the former and the meridional passage of the latter, at the
date when the descending and ascending passages thus com-
manded both these stars. Within fifty years or so on either
side of this date, tho Pyramid must, I should think, have
been built. The later date when Alpha Draconis was at
the right distance from the Pole, 2170 d.c.,* is absolutely
rejected by Egyptologists — not one being ready to admit
that tlie date of the Pyramid King can have been any-
where near so lat?.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
By A. BuoTUERs, F.RA.S.
AMONGST the readers of Knowledge must be a large
number to wliora the production of a photograph
is a mystery, and there must be many who desire informa-
tion which would eiialjle them with little trouble and
expense to become so far expert, that although in some
respects the mystery will be as great as ever, they may
practice the art with some success.
Less than fifty years ago, the only means we had for
recording the appearance of natural objects was by draw-
ing by hand, assisted in some cases by the camera hicida,
an instrument which cnabUxl the artist to have a correct
outline of the object, whether portrait or landscape, but
all detail of light and shade had to be filled in by hand in
the ordinary waj'. The black piofilo portrait, or siUwuclle,
is an example of what the photographer has superseded.
It is proposed, in a series of short papers, to give an
outline of the history of photography, and details of some
of the processes which will be sufficient to enable anyone
• Some may bo disposed to reject a cliann:o wliich they may
imagine displaces the Pleiades from the position wlucli Professor
Piuzzi Smyth assigned to that interesting group at tho date when
ho snpposcd tho Pyramid was built. But there never was the least
real significnnco in that position. If the mistaken idea entertained
by many, and repeated by Flammarion, Haliburton, and others,
tliat the Pleiades at their meridian shone down tho Great Gallery at
the Very time when the Pole Star of 2170 n.c. shone down the
descending Gallery, had been con-ect, there might have been some
reason to bo struck by tho coincidence. But it should hardly be
necessary to tell tho reader what every astronomer knows, that the
Pleiades never did or could shino dmvn tho Great Gallery, and in
tlio year 2170 B.C. were thirty-eight degrees (!) north of that posi-
tion.
to take negatives and to print from them. It must bo
remembered, however, tliot, although the processes aro
not dirticult to master, some care and skill are required if
tho results an; to be of any artistic value.
Without going dci'ply into the hi.story of the subject, it
will be suflicient to say thot one of the clicmical substances
now commonly used in photography was known in the
sixteenth century, and an alchemi.st, named Fabricius,
found that luna rorneti, as chloride of silver wa.s then
called, was so aff"ccted by light that an image produced by
a lens bi^came improved in light and shade on the surface
prepared with the iuna corwu. This must be considered
as the first discovery of photography, but the discoverer
failed to see the importance of it, and it was not until nearly
two centuries had elapsed that the curious effect caused by
light on the chloride of silver was re-discovered by Scheele
in 1777. This cliemist also failed to see the value of what
he had observed, and it was not until 1 802 that experi-
ments were made at all analagoi:s to what we now call
photography. In the year last-named, Tliomas Wedgwood,
assisted l>y Sir H. Davy, produced pictures on white
leather and paper, but, as no means were known by which
the images could be fixed, none of these early photographs
exist.
The process of photographic printing now in universal
use, is based on these early experiments of Wedgwood and
Davy, and it may be interesting to repeat an experiment,
to show what kind of pictures they produced. Take a
piece of smooth writing-paper, float it in a solution of
common table salt (sodium chloride) for a minute or two,
then hang it up to dry, or dry it by tlie fire. When dry,
float the paper on a solution of silver nitrate, say 30
grains to the ounce of water (rain or distilled water sliould
be used), or the silver solution may be evenly bru.shed over
the surface with a large camers-hair brush, or by means of^^
a glass rod, so as to avoid using a large quantity of silver
solution to float the paper upon. The prepared paperl
may be dried by the tire, or liung up in a darkene
room or cupboard. When quite dry, a leaf, piece of
lace, or any other suitable object may be placed on I
the paper, then covered with a piece of glass to)
keep paper and object in close contact, and then]
placed in sunlight. As soon as the paper is com-i
pletely blackened it will be found that the picture ofl
the leaf or other object will be printed on the paper as
negative — that is, the dark parts will be white, and rice]
versa. The paper still remains sensitive to light, and, of I
course, must be viewed only by weak daylight or byl
artificial light. This, then, is the reason why the earliest!
pihotogi-aphs are not now in existence. Later, those pholo-l
gallic Jraviiu/s, as they were termed, were immersed in|
plain water, by which the silver salt was partially remov.d.i
but the pictures were not properly fixed, and th» i
were not permanent. In a future paper we shall ser i
perfect fixation is efTected.
We have no record of advance in photography until 1814,
when J. Niccphose, or Niepce, succeeded in producing per-
manent figures in bitumen of Juda?a ; the time required
rendered this process impracticable. About this time, and
leading up to 1839, Daguerre was engaged in researches
which resulted in the discovery of the process which bears
his name ; and this process for many years was most ex-
tensi\ely used, and the pictures produced remain to attest
the beauty and value of tho method. Daguerrotypes are
permanent if protected from the atmosphere, which tar-
nishes the silver surface on which the pictures are pro-
duced. This tarnish, however, can be removed by chemical
means, and the picture remains on the surface as perfect V\
ever. '
March 10, 1882.]
♦ KNO\VLEDGE
401
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Fifth Notice.
THE Exhibition may now be considered practically com-
plete. Marvellous progress has been made during
the last few days, and the Palace is crowded with visitors.
^ van's exhibit is niagnilicent, but as it is our purpose to
nsider next the various systems of incandescent lighting,
..c refrain from making any further reference to it this
week.
Telegraphy is well represented, the lead being naturally
I ken by the British Postal Telegraph department. It is
!iiewhat remarkable that this is the only branch of
.^'i'lied electricity in which any serious eflbrt is made to
exhibit a chain-like series of historic relics. The display,
however, lacks many interesting objects, in consequence of
the foreign Administrations not having loaned any of their
apparatus.
The Post-office exhibits may be divided into two classes
— historic and modern. In the modern collection, interest
is chiefly centred in the Wheatstone Automatic Instru-
ment, by which messages may be transmitted at the rate
of 200 to 250 words per minute. It is used on circuits
which are required to carry a large amount of work, but
it is being gi-adually superseded on ordinarj- commercial
wires by duplex and quadruplex apparatus. Its applica-
bility to news work, that is, the transmission of long
messages for newspapers, is unequalled by any other form
of apparatus, and as this kind of work frequently amounts
to about 500,000 words forwarded from the Central Tele-
graph office during a single night, there is little prospect
of its Vicing relegated to the " historic " collection.
Various other forms of telegraph apparatus are exhibited,
including duplex apparatus, by which messages may be trans-
mitted simultaneously in opposite directions ; but the quad-
ruple apparatus, by which four messages may be sent at a
time (two each way), is not exhibited by the Post-office.
The familiar single-needle instrument is shown, as well as
more the complicated fast-repeater apparatus, for both single
and duplex working. These latter sets are used where it is
drsired to increase the working capacity of long lines.
Practically, the repeater halves the length of the line. For
instance, suppose we have a wire from London to Glasgow,
and find that through certain causes, due to our uncertain
climate, we can only work at the rate of, say, sixty
words per minute. A station about mid-way, such as
Leeds, is asked to insert his repeater apparatus in the wire.
He does so, and, by an automatic arrangement, the current
which leaves, say, London, only goes to Leeds, where, by
moWngthe soft-iron armature of an electro-magnet, another
circuit is completed, and a current from the Leeds battery
goes on to Glasgow.
The historic collection is very interesting, even to the
least curious of ^■isitors. It includes the oldest kno'mi
piece of telegraph apparatus, viz., Ronald's electric tele-
graph, which was laid as an experiment in Sir Francis
Ronald's garden at Hammersmith, in 1816. There are
also specimens of the Morse type, cast in 1832, when it
■was supposed to be impossible for human fingers to mani-
pulate the apparatus in such a way as to be able to
distinguish between long and short signals.
One of the most interesting objects is the " Fossil "
underground telegraph (1837). Fig. 1 is a diagram re-
presenting a section of this line ; it consisted of a kind of
triangular wooden rod, with five grooves, into each of
which a copper wire, covered with cotton and pitch
(tor insulating purposes), was laid. The grooves were
then filled up by strips of wood. When thus finished,
it was laid underground. Such a line contrasts most
remai-kably with modem wires. It, however, serves
its purpose here, and takes the mind back really
a few years,'; but, apparently, many a century. The
Fig. 1.
line was laid in connection with Cooke and "Wheatstone's
five-needle telegraph, which was used at Paddington and
West Drayton in 1838. Fig. 2 represents the dial, or
reading portion, of the apparatus. There were five magnetic
needles, under the influence of as many coils of wire, each
coil being in a separate circuit, including one of the ■wires
represented in Fig. 1. The sending portion of the apparatus
allowed of the current being sent from the galvanic battery
in either direction, so that each needle could be deflected
to the right or left. The letters of the alphabet (omitting
those which were deemed of least importance or necessity)
were marked on the dial as shoT\'n in the diagram. When
it was required to telegraph a letter, two needles were
deflected in such a way as to make both point to that
particular letter. In the diagram the letter " B " is thus
pointed out or telegraphed.
In 1810 the five needles were reduced to four, but two
years later a most important change was effected. The
instrument only had two needles, and instead of their being
made to point out the letter, a code was arranged by which
movements of either or both needles to the right or left a
given number of times indicated the letter desired.
Another interesting and important relic is Bain's
Chemical Telegraph (1850), in which the ordinary green
ribbon used in the Morse inker is replaced by wliite paper,
402
KNOWLEDGE •
[Mabch 10. 1882.
prnpare<l with yollow |)rus«iat4! of pctasli (potassic forro-
cyonidi') ami iiiiiinonic nitrnto. Tlic luircnt, passing throiiRh
a styl'' proBHinK <>" t'"' piipor as it pnsst^d over a revolving
mcUil wheel, decomposed the coinpoiiiid, and left a mark
on the paper. There are very many other relics, far too
numerous ovon to mention, including .specimens of the
earliest laid calile.s, insulators, etc.
What may he. regarded as an interesting curiosity is a
specimen of a Norwegian telegraph pole, which has heen
pierced through by woodpeckers in search of insects. The
liirds are supposed to have been deceived l>y the humming
of the wires, a sound which may generally be heard near
the poles, more particularly in still, calm weather.
OUR ANCESTORS.
By Gr.\nt Allkn.
II. — THE CELTS.
WHILE the dark -haired and dark-skinned little
Euskarians were living unmolested in the western
coasts anil islands of Europe hewing patches out of the
forest with their stone hatchets, building great burrows
over their dead chieftains, and fighting among themselves
from valley to valley, like the North American Indians of
later days — a fairer and taller race was growing up un-
noticed away to the east, among the great central table-
lands of the Asiatic plateau. This fair-skinned, yellow-
haired, and blue-eyed folk is known to us by the somewhat
fanciful name of Aryans ; and from it the chief conquering
peoples of the whole Eastern hemisphere are derived. The
Aryans spoke a language whose nature we can infer from
the numerous modern dialects derived from it ; and this
language enables us in part to form some conception of the
state of culture attained by the people who used it. In their
earliest known condition, while they still all lived together
among the high plains of Asia, they were hardly, if at all,
superior in the arts of life to th(; Euskarians of Britain.
They were ignorant of the use of metals, and armed only
with weapons of polished stone. They fed their flocks like the
semi-nomad tribes which still inhabit the same regions,
and they tilled a little grain of some coarse cereal kind.
Altogether, if we regard them with calmly impartial eyes,
and not with the excessive filial piety of some German
thinkers, we shall probably be forced to admit that the
primitive Aryans were, on the whole, about as good and
as bad as most other barbaric peoples at the same period
of the world's history. Stronger than the neighbouring
nations they certainly showed themselves to be, but wiser
or better there is no sufficient reason to suppose thatthey
were.
From their original Central Asian home, these warlike
Aryans began to disperse themselves as fighting colonists
on every side, probably some five or six thousand years
since. One great branch, now speaking the Celtic variety
of the common language, moved westward across the face
of Central Europe ; and its men\bers spread themselves,
long l>efore the beginning of w ritten history, over all the
western coa.sts of the continent as a conquering and supe-
rior race. Though at first they were only armed, like the
Euskarians amongst whom they came, with stone hatchets
and flint-tipped arrows, yet, as they were tall, big-limbed,
powerful men, while the I'^uskarians were comparatively
short, squat, defenceless folk, they seem easily to have
oven-un almost the whole of wh.at is now France, Spain,
and the Low Countries, and to have established themselves,
at least, as a rough aristocracy of chieftains among the con-
quered and servile Euskarian population. But in some places
the Euskarians, and their kinsfolk the Ligurians and Aqui-
tanians, oppear to have maintained their inde[j<;ndencc ;
while in others, though the Celts were mast<;rs, the dark-
skinned aboriginal jjeople yet survived in vast numlicrg.
It was oidy in the most thoroughly conquered parts of the
continent that the pure-blooded Celts themselves formed
the princij)al ma.ss of the population. The independent
dark tribes of the extreme west retained their native
languagi", which lives on to our own time as the Basque
tongue ; but the vanquished and enslaved Euskarians of
the central French and Spanish regions learned to speak
the dialect of their Celtic lords, as they afterwards learned
to speak that of their Roman conquerors.
As yet the Celts had not attempted to attack Britain,
which had long since been isolated from the continent,
and could now only be invaded by a fleet of boats crossing
the silver streak of sea. Before they took that last step
in the conquest of Western Europe, they had learned the
use of bronze, from which they manufactured beautiful
axes, speai-s, and shields, besides producing many tools
for more peaceable purposes. The employment of bronze
enabled the Celts to make such improvements in sliip-build-
ing that tluy could cross the Channel to Britain, which
they found inhabited only by the small dark Euskarians,
who were now at a still greater disadvantage, seeing that
they were only armed with stone tomahawks, while their
big assailants were armed with " weapons of precision," in
the shape of bronze battle-axes, lances, and spears. The
consequence was that the Celts soon overran nearly
the whole island, and quickly subdued the better part
of it to their own dominion. In the south-eastern
plains, near the Continent, they apparently settled in
great numbers, so that when the Romans came they
found that part of Britain mainly inhabited by a tall,
fair-haired, light>skimied Aryan Celtic race. But in
the west, the Celts only settled in comparatively small
numbers, as lords of the soil, holding in suVijection a large
servile population of dark Euskarians ; while in South
Wales, and apparently in parts of the Scotch Highlands,
the dark people remained wholly independent, as the in-
habitants of those regions long afterwards did at the time
of the English settlement. The South Welsh tribe of
Euskarians were known as Silures, and they preserved
their nationality intact down to the period of the Roman
Conquest. ;
Now, what sort of people were the pure-blooded Celts i
who first came to Britain 1 No doubt it may be a shock |
to many readers to be told so, but they were undoubtedly 1
a light-skinned, fair-haired, blue-eyed, and round-headed j
race — in fact, typical Aryans of the same sort as the
modem Germans, and possessed of exactly those peculiari- '
ties which we ordinarily speak of as .Anglo-Saxon. About ,
this there can be no manner of mistake. Their barrows, j
known both by their shape and by their bronze im- i
plements, contain round skulls, quite diflerent from
the long skulls of the Euskarians ; and the universal
testimony of the Roman writers, whose knowledge
of the Celts was obtained while tliey still lived in
comparative purity in Gaul and South-eastern Britain,
makes it quite certain that they had lis^ht hair, white skin,
and blue eyes. How, then, comes it that most of us think
of the Celtic type as essentially dark and black -haired 1
The reason is simply this. When the Celts conquered
Britain, they left largo numbers of Euskarians alive, in the
northern and western part of the island, at least ; and it
is the mixed Celtic and Euskarian descendants of these
people who now form the so-called Celts of the Higlilands,
Lancashire, North Wales, and Cornwall. Sloreover, it is
March 10, 1882.]
• KNOV/LEDGE
403
ain that the Euskarians of the conquered districts soon
; lined to speak Celtic alone, just as the Irish are now fast
learning to speak English alone : and so after a short time
they became as indistinguishaVile from the true Celts, as
Normans and Danes in England have become indistinguish-
able from the rest of the community. Even the 8ilures,
who maintained their position as an independent Eiiskarian
tribe in South Wales, seem to have acquired the use of the
Celtic Welsh tongue before the date of the Roman invasion.
When contrasted with the Teutonic English, all these
C.^ltic-spcaking peoples came naturally at a later period to
be regarded as Celts.
Thus, at the date when Britain first became known to
the civUised southern world by the Mediterranean, and
before any Englishmen had yet settled in the land, its
ethnical arrangement was something of this sort : — Along
the southern and eastern plains, from Hampshire, by
Sussex and Kent to East Anglia, Lincolnshire, and the
vale of Yorkshire, there lived a light Aryan Celtic race,
with more or less of subject or enslaved Euskarians —
doubtless, a good deal intermixed, as negroes, mulattoes,
quadroons, and whites, still are in the Southern States
aiid the West Indies, though the light Celtic aris-
toiiacy probably kept up the purity of its own
blood in the female line, as also happens in the
analogous modern case. Further west and further
north, among the hills of the Devonian peninsula, the
West Riding, Cumberland, and the Highlands, the number
of pure Celts was comparatively smaller, while the number
of dark Eviskarians was comparatively greater. And in
Wales itself, the Silures remained as unmixed Euskarians,
without a single drop of Aryan Celtic blood; while another
small Euskarian principality seems also to have held out in
the Athol district of Scotland. It is this compound mass
of pure Celts, mixed Celt-Euskarians, and pure Euskarians,
all speaking various Celtic dialects, that we ordinarily
L -tribe as Celtic, in contradistinction to the Teutonic
_Hsh, who came to the country at a later date. As to
md, the primitive Celtic immigration there was very
/.t ; and the mass of the population, though it acquired
' iaelic dialect of Celtic as its langu.-xge, remained almost
■ !ely Euskarian in blood up to the date of the Danish
in\a<ions, as it still remains in all except the northern and
easte-n coast. How far these aiTangements of the various
r.i f-e^ements were upset by the English (or Anglo-Saxon)
••.leuent, we shall have to inquire in our next paper.
KOTES ON ROWING.
By ax old Club Captain.
APROF(J,ND knowledge of the theory of propulsion through
flaids i. not essential to skilful oarsmanship, and is probably
not possessed by one oarsman among ten thousand ; I may go
fnrther, and uv_q that even a perfect acquaintance with the prin-
ciples of rowingmay be found in company with singular inaptitude
for the practica. application of those principles. Shall I ever
r -rot, for instance, how ably No. 4 in our "tub " (when I was as
I beginner in oUege rowing) would discourse about the proper
of rowing, takng, if occasion suggested, a fire-shovel where-
: 1 to illustrate the beginning, middle, and end of the stroke ? but
I- ' in practice he Cqild never row a mile without catching a most
1 nstrons crab.
'■ is not, then, with any idea that the general run of oarsmen
Id study the meclmics of proi)uIsion or the true theory of
. iig either, that I pui these lines. But the subject is an in-
sting one, especially ^ust now, when Oxford and Cambridge
lireparing for their antwl straggle ; and a good oarsman is
'.y to bo none the worse'or some consideration of the rationale of
- :irt.
According to the system if boat propulsion adopted in most
!ised countries (but the gondolas of Venice are propelled
differently) the oar is a lever of the second class, in which the
fulcrum is at one end, the force is applied at the other, and the
weight is somewhere between the two. The fulcrum is not fixed as
in ordinary applications of the lever, for the water yields to the
oar in some degiTO ; but apart from this, the prii»ciple is precisely
that of the second class of levers.
llany, however, who consider the problem of boat propulsion in
this way, are perplexed by the circumstance that the oarsman liim-
self is in the boat, and forms part of the propelled weight, while,
again, the central line of the boat's breadth docs not correspond
with the place where the driving force is actually applied to the
boat. Thus, if A B C is the oar, the rowlock at B, the place where the
resistance of the water against the blade may be supposed to act at
C, and the power of the oarsman applied at A, we know that in
reality the weight of the boat is under A, not under B ; while,
again, the power 1' is applied within the boat itself, and whatever
effect the pulling of the oarsman produces in one direction, must be
exactly counterbalanced by an effect in the opposite direction. It
is. in fact, the leverage alone which gives a balance of propulsive
effect. The weight of the boat is really felt at B, so far as the par-
ticular oar A C is concerned ; the oarsman's strength is applied at
A, and is met by an equal resistance there, but the propulsive effect
at W is greater, in the same degree that the arm A C is greater
than the arm B C. Thus, if an oarsman pulls at his oar with a
force .such as would suffice to lift one hundredweight, and if A C is
12 ft. long and A W 3 ft, then the propulsive effect at W corre-
s^ionds to 112 lb. multi|ilied by 12 and divided by 9, or to 149J lb.
But the boat is not urged fonvard by this propulsive effect, only by
the excess of this amount over the force actually exerted by the
oarsman at A, so that the balance of propulsive action on the boat
with its crew corresponds to a force which would raise a weight of
(149J — 112) lb. at the same rate as the oarsman moves his end of
the oar.
It is evident that the actual leverage increases as A W is in-
creased, supposing the oar's length to remain unchanged. But at
the same rate that the leverage is increased, the velocity with which
the oarsman's action tends to move the boat is diminished.
Supposing C to remain at rest, and the end, A, to move with a
given velocity V, the point W (at which the propulsive action is
really exerted) only moves with velocity Y diminished in the
ratio of C W to C A. It might seem, then, that the use of out-
riggers diminished rather than increased the propulsive power of the
oarsman — increasing his leverage, which one would have said did
not need to be increased when the boat was at once made lighter
and sharper — and diminishing the velocity with which his action
tends to urge the boat onwards. But at the same time that the row-
lock was thrown somewhat farther from the handle of the oar (not
nearly so much farther as many imagine, for the old boats were wider
in the beam, and their row locks were carried well out), the oar itself
was lengthened. Owing to the diminished resistance, too, as the boat
passed through the water, there is less slip of the oar through the
water, which thus supplies a more perfect fulcrum. Yet the
increase of velocity in light, outrigged boats is due more to the way
in which they maintain their speed between the strokes than to any
increased power of propulsion obtained by the oarsman. Being of
smaller beam and lighter than the old racing boats, and also without
keel and without laps, they maintain their velocity almost un-
changed between the strokes.
And here arises a question which has been very summarily, but
in my opinion very incorrectly, disposed of by many writers on
rowing. It is often said that the principles of rowing are just the
same now as they were in the time of the old lap-stroaked inrigged
racing boats. The old rules for the action of arms and body — of
legs also, except in so far as the sliding scats modify their action —
are therefore repeated, as if no change whatever had been rendered
necessary by the changed style of boats. In other words, though
it is quite certain that the new racing boats behave quite dif-
ferently, though it is manifest that as they move more quickly
through the water they must receive a sharper propulsion, though
it is clear that with the greater leverage obtained from the use of
outriggers there arises a different amount as well as a different
degree of propulsion at each stroke, oarsmen (we are told) should
row in the same style now as befc re these changes were introduced.
It would be as reasonable, I venture to say, to assert that the
style of stroke suitable for a coal barge must be the best also for a
wager boat. It is manifest there must be some changes, and
tolerably clear what those changes should be. And as a mere
matter of fact, it is seen that those rowing clubs wherein the old
style of rowing is clung to, get persistently beaten, or only win
404
KNOWLEDGE
[Mauch 10, 1882.
^
when thoy Imvo n gnat Ruporiority of bruto forco, wliilo thoRO who
itdopt n nlylo Hiiitoil to tlio rci|iiironioiita of tlio liglit rnciriK bonts
us RVHti'iiintirnlly win — often iiKuinHt ffront BUpcriority of sliccr
NtrouKtl'. Af^iiin it in founil tliiit thuRo who on Ihcir own wntcrR
nro u)ili)^(l to uho tho heavier IxuitR, and, therefore, the old-
fiuhioned ntyle, are nlwnya, or iilmoRt ulwityH beaten, and that too
liy weaker men, wlion they row in tho Ii(<litor boatu, even when
t boy have thoroughly mastered nil Huch diflicuUicR nR arixo merely
from tho relative cmnkinoSR of tho canvns-covered outrigped crnfl.
In my next I Hlinll show wliat aro llio difference« of Btylo which
theory Buggcsts for tho lighter boatR. I shall maintain the appa-
rently paradoxical positiouR — (1) that the stroke must be longer,
yet Hhortor in tho water ; (2) that it must bo quicker, yot fewer
strokes be taken per minute. I shall show how those requirements are
to bo secured, and I shall give evidence, which I take to be con-
vincing, that, when they nro secured, a stylo is accinired wl.ich
utilises tlie oarsman's strength in tho beat wnv for contests in
these cranky craft.
(To he coniintied.)
THE SPECTATORS COMET.
(From the Saturday Review.)
*' Sir Andrev ^^w#cA«t-.— Why, this is the bedt fooling, when all 13 done."
SOME time ago— on Jannarj- 28, to bo particular — the mantle of
Mother Shipton fell upon tho Spectator, and she began to pro-
phecy concerning tho end of tho world. Fifteen yeai-s more of life
was about the exact period [sic'] which the Spectator was inclined to
allow to plants and animals, includitag man. The con^nilsion pro-
duced in the religious world, or rather in a part of it, was curious
and pleasant to observe. Tho Bishop of Manchester naturally did
not let such an excelloiit opportunity pass unpreachcd on, and
pavid correspondenta sent their views to the Spectator. But
meanwhile Mr. Proctor has withdrawn his celebrated Menacing
Comet. This phenomenon was entered, it appears, for the
Scientific Sensation Stakes by the Spectator, "without the assent"
of its owner. Wo really do not think that Sir. Proctor has behaved
quite kindly to tho Spectator. Tho Spectator's ambition was partly
like that of the Fat Boy, as expressed in his celebrated remark to
tho Old Lady : — " I wants to make your flesh creep." Our con-
temporary was also anxious, if -wo may say so, to score off the
Positivist and the unbeliever. But there was also manifest a vci-y
creditable desire to give Mr. Proctor and his new book " a hand."
Every fellow likes " a hand," as Mr. Foker has said, vnth his usual
artless wisdom. The Spectator gave Mr. Proctor " a hand," but he
does not seem quite grateful. In the February number of Know-
ledge, a journal occupied with such topics as the " Uso of Fleas,"
" How Spiders Fly " — [Now, dissatisfied ones, where are you, who
say KNowLKncF. is too much given to astronomy, biology^ botany,
and mathematics ? Hero is the Saturday Review to tell you that
Mr. Mattien Williains on the " Use of Fleas," and Professor
Young on tho "Flight of Spiders," out-top all other subjects] —
Mr. Proctor has scratched or witlidrawn that '' Menacing
Comet" which the Spectator had fondly made its oivn
Mr. Proctor's most significant remark in his book, we take to have
been this — [here follows the reference to the outbtu-st in tho
Northern Crown, in 18GG.] There is a well-known sentence in an
unpublished novel — " ' Here is a blasted flare-up,' said the princess,
■whose girlish modesty had hitherto kept her silent." Mr. Proctor
had been explaining that what the bashful princess called a
"blasted flare-up" had occurredjin the new star of the Northern
Crown in 186G. And ho had said that the " flare-up " was probably
caused by the motion of tho comet followed by a meteoric train.
. . . What conclusion could tho Spectator draw from all this ? —
and from Mr. Proctor's refusal to say " that there is absolute
danger in tho case of our own sun whou the comet of 18J3 shall
bo absorbed by him ? " " What conclusion could be drawn, except
that Mr. Proctor thought the comet a serious matter and tho
odds against the destruction of life in tho world very short odds
indeed ? And now Mr. Proctor distinctly declares (and we are
glad to have l<i3 assurance), that " thero is not the slightest reason
to fear that the comet will do any harm to the solar system when
finally absorbed." Mr. Proctor, in Knowledge, says that he has
elsewhere shown that "all eoniots of the destructive sort"— all
" roguo comets," if we may adopt a term from tho Jumbo contro-
vorijy— have long since been eliminated from tho solar system.
Mr. Proctor gives pictures of comets of tho rogue and peaceable
varieties. Tho menacing comet, or, as wo may now call it, tho
domosticated comet, is a very slim and scanty one. Then wo have
a Ukenoss of a comet which might have been dangerous if it had
gone tho wrong way. Thou wo havo a portrait of a comet ....
witli a gigantic oyo in ita head, and a bashj and furioOR tail. How-
ever, that Ih tho look-oat of Bomo other Bolar system, and not onr*.
Our Rolnr Rystom, wo again repeat [«!'•] is all right .... unless
a comet like Oonuti's " gets its head," bolts, and comoR straight
for tho sun. As for the comot of 1880, iu future it will I* known
OS " tho Speclulor'i," or perhaps " tho Bishop's comet."
NEWTON'S VIEWS AS TO A MENACING COMET,
AND AS TO THE HEAT OF THE SUN'S INTEBIOR.
AMONGST tho MSS. referring to Sir Isaac Newton, in tho pog-
session of the Karl of Portsmouth, is a paper in the hand-
wTiting of Mr. Conduitt, who married Catherine Barton, Ncwton'R
favourite niece j it purports to be notes of a conversation held with
Sir Isaac about three years before his death, and contains a con-
jecture with respect to the ultimate fate of tho comet of 1680, which
bears a striking resemblance to the prediction which has recently
been attributed to Mr, Proctor.
Mr. Conduitt, who was Newton's successor at the Mint, had the
intention of writing a life of Sir Isaac, and commenced making
notes for the purpose, but he had but little literary talent, and tho
project was soon abandoned. Tho notes, however, have been pre-
served, and though they have never been printed at length, tho
paper from which the following extract is taken is given in 'Tumor's
" History of Grantham," a rather rare book, which is not in tho
Library of the Astronomical Society. Mr. Conduitt says —
" I was on Sunday night, the 7th of March, 172-1-5, at Kensington
with Sir I.-Miac Newton in his lodgings, just after he was come out
of a fit of tho gout, which he had had in both his feet, for the first
time, in tho eighty-third year of his age. He was betterafterit,and
his head clearer, and memory stronger, than I had kno^vn them for
some time. He then repeated to me, by w.iy of discourse, very
distinctly, though rather in answer to my queries, than in one con-
tinued narration, what he had often hinted to me before, viz., that
it was his conjecture, ho would affirm nothing," [I omit a
paragraph with respect to the planets] that " a comet after certain
revolutions by coming nearer and nearer to the sun would have all
its volatile parts condensed, and become a matter fit to recruit and
replenish the sun (which must waste by the constant heat and light
it emitted), as a faggot would this fire, if put into it ,(ye were
sitting by a wood fire) and that that would probably be the effect
of the comet of 1680 sooner or later, for by the observations made
upon it, it appeared, before it came near the sun, with a tail only
two or three degrees long, but by the heat it contracted in going
so near the sun, it seemed to have a tail of thirty or forty degree!,
when it went from it ; that he could not say when this comet wouid
drop into the sun ; it might, perhaps, have five or six revoluticns
more fii'St ; but whenever it did, it would so much increase the leat
of the sun, that this earth would be burnt, and no animals ia it
could live. That he took tho three phenomena seen by Hippar.'hns,
Tycho Brahe, and Kepler's disciples, to have been of this kinl, for
he could not otherwise account for an extraordinai-y light as thos6
"were, appearing all at once amongst the fixed stars (all whch hd
took to be suns enlightening other planets, as our sun does (Urs) as
big as Mercury, or Venus, seems to us ; and gradually dininishing
for sixteen months and then sinking into nothing."
In the light of our present knowledge with respect to tie mass of
comets — and the probable origin of tho sun's heat, such r theory is,
of course, untenable, but the speculation is of interest, asit serves to
show that Newton must have .suspected the existence of a resisting
medium in the neighbourhood of the sun. If ho hal not, as is,
possible, satisfied himself from the observations of the total eclipse
of May, 1715, that tho solar corona then observed* h»da real exist-
ence, and was not merely an optical illusion.
Long before this eclipse, it is evident that Newtm suspected ao ,
atmosphere outside the photosi>hero. In the " Prijcipia," Book IIL
(I quote from Davis's translation, published in 1803, at Vol. II,
p. 307), he says : " The comet which appeared inthe year 16S0 was
in its perihelion less distant from the sun thar by a sixth part of
the sun's diameter, and because of its extrime velocity in that
• Several dia.vings were made of the corca observed during this
eclipse — woodcuts from two of them are givu in Edleston's corre-
spondence of Cotoa and Newton. From the ccount of the eclipse in
the 3[e>noir.i dc VAcadi'mic, it is evident th-t sovoral drawings were
made by French observers. Newton himolf no doubt observed this
eclipse, though he does not appear to ha* done so in comjiany with
his friend Halley and other membersof the Royal Society, who
observed it from the roof of tho Soci^y's House in Crane-court,
out of Fleet-street. From a letter f -Cotes, it is evident that
Nowton was not at Cambridge at tho'imo of tho eclipse.
March 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE «
405
proximity to the sun, and some density of the sun's atmosphere, it
mnst have sufifered some resistaBce and retardation ; and therefore,
being attracted something nearer to the sun in eveiy revolution, will
at last fall down upon the body of the sun."
Another fact with respect to Sir Isaac Newton's correct judg-
ment as to the internal heat of the son is worthy of being mentioned,
especially as a contrarj' theory with regard to a cool dark body
within the photosphere survived down to the tirao of Sir John
Herschel. In a letter dated IGth April, 1681, Sir Isaac Newton
says, '' Now though the inward part of the sun wore an earthy
gross substance, yet, if the liquid shining substance, which Mr.
Flamstced supposes to swim upon it, be then hot, it will heat the
matter within as certainly as melted lead would heat an iron bullet
immersed in it. Nor is it material whether the liquid matter on
the suR be of any considerable thickness. An iron bullet would
heat as fast in a quart as in an ocean of melted lead, this difference
only excepted, that the bullet would cool a small quantity of lead
more than a great one. If, then, the liquid matter swimming on
the sun be but so thick as not to be cooled by the central parts (as
it must be), it will certainly heat the central parts, for it imparts
heat to the contiguous matter as fast as if it were thicker, and
keeps all ceol environing mediums (the instrument of cooling
things) from coming near the central parts to cool them. By which
means the central parts must become so hot, as if the hot fluid
matter surrounding it equalled the whole vortex. The whole body
of the sun, therefore, must be red hot," &c.
A. C. R.\NY.\RD.
INTELLIGENCE IN CATS.
CORRESPONDENTS of Knowledge, in treating of cats, do not
seem to have remarked some acts of intelligence which may
be observed daily in the streets of London. At the cry of the cat's-
meat man all the cats are in commotion, but all are not excited by
the cry of the same man. A dozen men may walk up and down a
street with the tempting morsels, calling "meat, meat I " but only
at those houses which they are accustomed to servo will the cats
be ronsed by the call. No sooner does the proper man arrive in a
street than every cat he is accustomed to serve rushes frantically
to the door, or, if allowed, into the street, running mewing towards
him, rubbing against his legs, or sometimes sitting in a begging
attitude before him, but never, as far as I have observed, attempting
to steal from the open basket.
One day I noticed a cat whose man had either forgotten her
portion or had been unable to make her mistress hear, and so had
passed on. The cat, however, insisted upon being attended to ; she
ran after him, mewing piteously, and when at last she made him
understand, she ran back to the house before him, where by that
time the mistress was ready to take the delicacy so much prized by
all London cats, however well fed. I have often watched this act
of discrimination in our own cat. Tom would sit quietly dozing
whilst man after man went by with the famDiar cry of " Meat,
meat," but presently he would jump up, rush to the window, and
remain in a state of great excitement, and soon after a distant cry
of " Meat " might be heard, and we knew that Tom had recognised
his own man long before we had heard him. As the cry drew
Bearer, Tom's excitement increased, and he would almost fly to the
door. A singular fact remains to be told. On Saturdays the man woidd
leave two portions, as he did not go his rounds on Sundays. These
were often th^o^vn into the area, to which Tom had access. He
would always greedily devour the one portion, but never touch the
other, although they lay side by side. This cat would also open the
latch of the kitchen-door, as observed by several of your corre-
spondents, :\nd would also open the shutters in the drawing-room
(closed but not fastened), in order to look out of mndow. I have,
however, been told of a cat who would open not only a latch, but
an ordinary drawing-room doer, rather loose, by taking the round
knob between her paws and twisting it round and round till it
opened.
The fact of cats distinguishing between one meat man and
another seems tc me to disprove the oft-repeated assertion that cats
attach themselves only to places, and not to persons j tor here we
see them able to pick out a certain man by his voice alone, even at
a great distance. A. W. Buckland.
WOOD-GAS.
IF I may be permitt'.d to do so, I should like to say a few words
in reply to Lewis AjTindel's '' elucidation" of my ab.«tract on
"Wood-gas," not " Carbon Monoxide," as he construes my meaning.
If, on line 12 of the abstract, page 216, the word can between the
words "we obtain" had been inserted, Lewis Arundel might have
been saved the trouble of elucidating my description (or — more
strictly speaking — my informing the readers of Knowledge that
there was such a thing) of " Wood-gas." I am sorry I did not make
my meaning clearer.
The "dangerous, obnoxious, and otherwise objectionable pro-
ducts" referred to are N : S : U^S : CS„ and tar. N in the form
of ammonia, which is ^artually absent. Little sulphur can exist in
any form, while there is but a trace of sulphuretted hydi-ogen or of
carbon bisulphide, and there is not a trace of tar.
I did not previously enumerate these for fear of taking up,
needlessly, too much space in your paper.
Lewis Arundel evidently mistakes the acid taste (or, perhaps,
the tingling in the nose, when inhaled through that organ), of COj
for an odour ; that is to say, if ho is dealing with C02inaj)«r8
state when he perceives the odour about which he is so certain.
Ho might as well say that hydrogen had an odour, because he
himself had never obtained it odourless. I cannot think he could
be in earnest when he said (re CO;), " whatoverour text-books may
copy from one another." Is it likely that the leading chemists of
the day, in writing theii- text-books, simply " copy from one
another" without beiBg themselves thoroughly conversant with the
peculiar properties of the subject under their notice ?
What would Lewis Arundel say to the man who told him that
the snow they were looking at was green, because ho (the man)
was unaware that he was looking at the snow through green glasses ?
This is not a bit more ridiculous than to say that chemists " copy
from one another," re the odour of COo.
The blue flame of CO is hardly observable over a sluggish fire ;
on the contrary, it is seen on the top of a " glowing " fire, mth a
background of red-hot bricks. Lewis Arundel would see how the
CO is formed by referring to my text-book.
He now asks, " How, then, can it confer on ' an inferior coal-gas '
a ' great candle-power ' ? " This, I own, is not quite clear, my
mistake being that, in trying to be concise, I was too concise —
when I say that the coal and wood-gas are mixed with naphtha
vapour, Lewis Arundel wiU see how "the great candle-power" is
conferred. I may say, before concluding, that '" after the first
charge of wood has been carbonised, the charcoal, instead of being
dra^vn, as with coke, is pushed back into the retort," &c., <ic. This
is repeated with the second charge, and so on.
Anyone who has to make the gas, carbonic oxide, will see the
caution given in all text-books, i.e., its very poisonous property.
F. C. S.
FOR NEXT WEEK.
"VTEXT week, an interesting paper by Dr. Ball, on the Future of
-LN the Earth and Moon, will appear, and one by Dr. Carpenter,
on Dr. Siemens' recent communication to the Koyal Society,
respecting a possible use of the seemingly waste energies of the
sun. In response to a number of queries respecting the motions of
planets with respect to the earth, and the explanation of the advance,
retrogradation, and stationary points of the planets, I have deter-
mined the distance and bearing of the planet Mars from the earth
at intervals of ten days from the opposition of 1875 to that of
1892, and, having set them down in a chart, have carried through
them the various convolutions representing the path of Mars dtiring
those seventeen years. The result (which is rather curious, and
represents much more labour than many would perhaps suppose)
will be presented next week in a two-page chart.
RiCHAKD A. PrOCTOE.
METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS.
I PROPOSE from and after the vernal equinox, at latest, to
publish weekly reports of the weather, based on the daily
records obligingly supplied from the Meteorological Oflicc. As yet,
the plan on which these reports will bo given has not boon decided
upon, nor can we at present assign the space we can afford to give to
the subject.
OMISSIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
WE omitted to notice in the foot-note relating to the book by
Dr. De Lays, on the Brain, that it forms one of the Inter-
national Scientific Series, published by Messrs. Kegan Paul & Co.,
and that its price is os. The treatise on the Sun, by Professor
Young, has been included (since our review appeared) in Messrs.
Kegan Paul & Co.'s announcements as belonging to the same series,
at the same price. For the Nineteenth Centurij, in the " Answers
to Correspondents" for last week, p. 393, Ist col., line 17, read the
Century (which, we believe, was what was originally written).
400
KNO>A/'LEDGE
[March 10, 1882.
l-H
P
o
&
t«.te 5^
t •= E.
^ O ^
B "H h-; *»■
? -s -e ^
March 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
407
W?^i&
lLfttn-5 to i[)t eiiitor.
T\e Editor doe» not hoMhimtelfrei-poiifihUfor the opinions of hit correfpondentt.
{■- . <in»ot undertake to return monutcriptt or to corretpond with their vriters. AU
. iunirationt $hould he a$ short a» po»*ibltt conti*tffntty icith full <m^ clear state-
I . -if^ of the writer't meaning.']
At! Editorial communicutiont thould he addressed to the Editor o/" Kkowledob;
^n Butinest eommunicationt to the Puhlifhert, at the OMce, 74, Oreat Queen-
itreft, W.C.
AH Remittances, Cheques^ and Fott-OJice Orders should be made payahle to
Mf'ri. TTyman ^ Sons.
•.• A!t letters to the Editor will he Xumhered. For eonvenUnee of rtferenee,
eorrfrpondejits, when r^erring to am/ letter, will oblige by meHtiomng it* number
and the page on which it appears.
AU Letters or Queries to the Editor which require attention in the current issue of
Kyovii.KDG'B. rhould reach the PubltJihiug Office not later than the Saturday preceding
thi J'ly qf publication, ^.^.^.^
(I.) Letters to have a chance of appearinc must be concise; they must be drawn
lip in the form adopted for letters here, eo that thev may go untouched to the
J ritiiers ; private communicationB^ therefore, as we^l as queries, or replies, to
(jn'ries (intended to appear as ench) should be written on separate leaves.
II.) Queries and replies ehould be even more concise than letters ; and drawn
;ii the form in which they are here preseated, with brackets for number in case
,'iories, and the proper querv- number fbracketed) in case of replies.
(111.) Letters, queries, and rephes which (either because too long, or unsuitable,
( r deahnp with matters which olhers have discussed, or for any other reason) can-
not tind place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
Btknowledged in a column reserved for the purpose.
" In knowledge, that man only is to I*e contemned and despised who is not in a
state of transition Iv'or is there anything more adverse to accuracy
ihan fiiity of opinion." — Faraday.
" There is no harm in making a mistake, but preat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
Dt'ihinp." — lAehig.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."— CXar/c? Ki>ig4ey.
(9\\x CorifSpontifnrf £oIumn£{.
VEGETARIAXISM.
314] — In tho last number of your interesting joiu-nal, I observe
it F.R.A.S. desires a qnestion answered relating to myself
i •' hom he has referred to by name as a reputed advocat-e of vege-
tarianism) ; to wit — Am I also a vegetarian by practice ?
Most unwilling as I am to obtrude unnecessarily any opinions of
'lino, still more to speak publicly of my personal habits, I cannot
1 tnit any sncli misapprehension respecting them to pass current,
- tlie foregoing inquiry implies.
First, as to my opiuions respecting an exclusively vegetarian
liift for man : these have been already so distinctly stated in a
little work, entitled '"Food and Feeding," which has had a wide
circulation, that I am astonished to learn that any one can describe
me as a vegetarian ; supposing that term to denote one who desires
to restrict himself or others to food composed of cereals and vege-
tables. If the term does not mean that, it is wrongly used ; for no
consumer of eggs, milk, cheese, or butter has the slightest claim to
tlic title — a remark which ought to be quite unnecessary, but is
not so.
To this little book permit me to make the briefest possible refe-
i-re. At page 21, I give my reasons why man should bo regarded
- :in " omnivorous animal," and why there is no a priori ground
for " limiting his diet to products o2 either kingdom exclusively."
1 go on to show that the relative amounts of animal and vegetable
constituents in diet v.ary according to the climates, hot or cold, in
■■'lii'h man lives. But at page 27, I express a belief that English-
n generally eat more animal food than is desirable for health;
1' meat, fish, eggs, and milk are generally essential for those who
form much mechanical labour; while tish and lighter flesh are
tier adapted to brain-workers, &c.
lit this I need add nothing here.
Secondly, as to pr.actice. It is quite time that I think it worth
while to devote some attention to the growth of vegetables, and to
furnish from my garden an ample supply of fresh produce, such as
I can obtain nowhere eli'o. But although thus enabled to enjoy the
luxury of fresh green food in variety dailj- throughout the whole of
our long winter, I am glad to consume fish and flesh of all kinds in
addition, although, probably, in smaller proportion than most
people believe to be necessary. Let this suffice in reply.
But now, let me further add that nothing can in my opinion be
more unwise than to debar ourselves from the light to utilise food
of any and every kind. Human stomachs differ so widely — why not
as widely as facial physiognomy ? — that an unlimited dietary is
really the last thing a man who has so much to do with digestive
laws and tastes (my own and others) can afford to di.spcnsc with.
For diet, to bo wholesome, should be varied for all ; but it must also
differ for each, in relation to his habits, fcdcntary or active, whether
he is occupied with muscle work or bruin work, &c. Diet, too,
must differ, not merely for the young and old, but has to be changed
for different epochs of life, as any one who has observed the subject
closely, or himself has lived a good many years, must of necessity
have learned. How much might be said on this head. And, in
presence of various ailments of the body, how complex becomes the
subject sometimes ! How little all this seems to be taken into
account by people who would limit our resources in the matter of
food. It follows from all this, also, that I should bo the last to deny
that some constitutions thrive better on vegetables and cereals
alone, than by admixture with animal food, since this is one of tho
many variations which nature produces. And I think I might add
that an exclusively animal diet would jirobably (in our temperate
zone, observe) be still more rarely found the best for any man,
although it might, perhaps, be so for a very few.
So many persons hastily conclude that what is best for them is
necessarily best for all the rest. There is no greater error, and none
of us can be too watchful against its influence.
35, Wimpole-street. He.nrv Tiiomp.so.n.
[315] — I am much surprised that "A Fellow of tiik Royal
Astronomical Society" (letter 215, page 362) should consider that
the idiosyncrasies, or some of the idiosyncrasies, of the Irish are due
to their feeding on potatoes. This seems to me a very absurd
statement to make, but I can put no other construction on his
words. I am sorry that he is not more definite, and docs not say
exactly in what way this diet can influence Irish character. If this
statement were worth consideration, I should ask him to show that
the Irish character has changed since the introduction of this tuber.
I believe that whether you feed a man on potatoes or on beef, if an
Irishman he remains an Irishman, and if an Englishman he has still
the characteristics of an Englishman.
Supposing the charges made against potatoes and rice were sub-
stantiated, it would not militate against vegetarianism. I consider
that they are very unsuitable articles of food to live almost entirely
on, and one reason is this : AVe require a certain amount of nitro-
genous food (of which albumen may be taken as the type). Dr.
Lyon Playfair prescribes 18 parts of carbo-hydrates to 4 of nitro-
genons and 1 of fatty matter. This, in percentages, is 78, 172, ^i
respectively. Now, I do not tliink fat necessary, as the carbo-
hydrates can and are converted info it in the body. This makes
&2i of carbo-hydi-ates and fat, to 17i of nitrogenous matter. Neg-
lecting the water, indigestible fibre, and mineral matter, the propor-
tion of these two in a few foods are — Potato, 88 to 12 ; Patna rice,
92 to 8; fine Scotch oatmeal, 82 to IS; wheat flour, 86 to 1-1;
lentils and haricots, 70 to 30. It will be seen that potatoes and rice
are deficient in nitrogen, so that, to supply a sufliciency of this, a
superabundancy of other matter has to be taken.
A Fellow of the Chejik al Societs'.
INTELLIGENCE IN THE DOG.
[316] — I have a very fine, large dog — a cross between a Newfound-
land and a retriever — that really at times astonishes me by his
intelligence. I have also — to make the story complete — a Skye
terrier, that is not over kind with his mate. Last summer, during
hay-time, a neighbour came to assist me one day in carting hay,
bringing with him a sheep-dog. This dog, whenever the cart
stopped in gathering up the hay, went and lay down under it. The
Skye terrier thought it might do the same, but this was too great
an intrusion to be endured by the sheep-dog, so a furious fight
ensued nnder the cart, the sheep-dog eventually dragging the Skye
into the open field. Standing about fifty yards from the cart, and
thinking the little rascal about to be badly used, I began to run for
the scene of danger. The large dog, who was near me, saw the
danger in which his mate was involved as well as 1 did, bounded off
at full speed, up with his right fore leg, and hit the cur such a
stroke over the side as sent him rolling twice over. The Skye
flew to me, evidcntlj- thankful to his powerful friend. The cur
retired beneath the cart.
The same dog, only a few days ago, showed to my mind a
wonderful amount of sense. Two curs were fighting furiously, the
blood flying in\all directions. Two men were trying to separate
them, each seizing one by the tail. No sooner, however, were they
let go, than they at it again. This dog was at tho distance of a
hundred yards at least, with a hedge between him and the com-
batants, but so placed that he coukl see them. Ue looked for a
408
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Mabob 10. 1882.
while, bnl BOi'itiK Dip effort of tho mon incffrrluftl, ho bounded off
at full hjhhmI, mill l>y mcimii of liia iwrni-rfiil forrlcKd ho Hoiit <>no
dog fljiuK to tlir left iiiid thi> other to tho rijjht in wild confusion.
There ho htiHKl. with the dogs at a distance, iia much an to nay —
Daro to come n>,'nin, oitlier of you ! No further attempt at FightlnK
occurred. He in a %-cry |)owerful do(f, about 7 Htono weight, and
i* excellent in clearing the road of cattle and Bhcep before tho trap.
He rarely uses liia teeth, unless attacked, his forelegs being his
chief weapons. Thomas Fawcett.
[317] — lict mo add to the instance given on page 209 that n dog
Uring at a boarding-house, at 61, Sussex-gardens (whore I used to
live), laughs in tho most human fashion, showing all his teeth.
This, with him, is a greater sign of ]>leasuro than wagging his
tail.
P.S. — Is it not worth your while to correct the impression that
your correspondents have, that Darwin is to be accredited with being
the first biological evolutionist ? Cannot yon put Uorbert .Spencer's
position in this regard right ? J. li. U.
[318] — I have a little black dog, which, if put out of tho room,
the door nhut, and a ball, or even a stone, hidden, will, when let in,
make a thorough search for it, first making a circuit of tho room,
smelling and looking the while, until he finds it, which ho accom-
plishes in a very short space of time, being as " prond as Punch "
when he has recovered it. The second time he comes in ho will
immediately go to the place where the stone was last hidden. Will
he not reason that as the stone was there last time it will be there
now also ? The other day I hid it in my pocket, which he found
in due time. Two days after I hid it again ; as soon as he was let
in he put his nose right into my pocket. One can imagine him finding
a ball by its smell, but how is it that he can find a stone sooner
than a human being could :•■ Gertrude A. Fryer.
(i)
ELECTEICAL IMAGES (228).
[319]— We have
Pb {q'ai-q^, qn,'] = E^ <i„b-Eh i^,
and expanding in powers of b, and neglecting i'
9.»=— rJ 9— 9»» ='''' + — T- + -; ;
• •• 9'.»-9<.« 9»4= - ya^ "'■^5T:^>1 ^""^
and again
L c (■(c--a-)J L c'J
Hence
Ic c(c'-a')J -L c'J
c Li) c'(c'— a')J
which is the required result.
(iv.)
K. Statelet.
DARWINISM.
[320] — If tho opponents of Darwin's theory will consider
with care the following, from the pen of Prof. Fiske, of Harvard
College, they may, perhaps, be convinced. Ho says, in " Cosmic
Philosophy," that the Darwinian theory, when analysed, resolves
itself into eleven propositions, nine of which are demonstrated
tmths ; tho tenth a corollary to the nine predecessors; the eleventh
a perfectly legitimate postulate.
1. More organisms perish than survive.
2. No two individuals are exactly alike.
3. Individual pcculi.iritios are transmissible.
4. Those individuals whose peculiarities bring them into close
adaptation with the environment, survive and trausmit their off-
spring.
5. The nur^'ival of the fittest thus tends to maintain an eqailibriam
betweon organisms and their environnient.
0, Tho environment of every group of orguuisma is steadil/,
though slowly, changing.
7. Every group of organisms mn«t, therefore, change in average
character, under penalty of extinction.
8. Changes due to individual variation are complicated by the
law that changes set up in one part initiate changes in another.
9. These arc further complicated by the law that structures are
nourished in proportion to thoir use.
10. Tho corollary follows :— That tho changes thus sot up and
romplicatcd muat alter tho specific character of any group of
organisms,
11. [Tho only postalate] Let it bo granted that, since the first
appearance of life, time enongh has elapsed to prodace all the
variation of species now seen. C. T. B.
AURANGED SQLAKK.S.
[321]— Your correspondent, E. V. R. (letter 231, page 273),
says : — " I believe these squares may bo arranged by placing the
diagonal numbers in what I may call their nn/»ral squares in the
first instance, and working up to them ; but I have only succeeded
with the square of 4."
As I have succeeded with tho squares of 5 and C, I send my eola-
tions, which, I believe, will be found correct.
A number in any place, added to the nambcrin the corresponding
place on the opposite side of the square, will make 26.
1 20 1 16
23 5
15 7 1 12 1 9 22
24 18 13 8 2
4 17 1 14 19 11
21 3 1 10 6 25
The perpendicular, horizontal, and diagonal lines will make G5.
A number in any place, added to the number in the corresponding
place on the opposite side of the square, will make 37.
. 1
32
20
8
33
30
34
7
17
11
6
23
24
35
15
16
2
19
18
10
21
22
27
13
5
26
9
28
29
"
31
12
3
4
25
36
The perpendicular, horizontal, and diagonal lines will make 111.
Emma C. Hootox.
GHOSTS.
[322] — Perhaps some of yonr readers may ^be able to supply
details as to the War Office ghost. All I now remember is the fact
which gave the case its n.ame and notoriety, viz., that as there waa
a discrepancy between the date of the apparition and that of the
official rctnrn of the death, further inquiry was made, at the
instance of tho relatives, by the War Office authorities, with the
result that the actual date of death coincided with the time of the
apparition, and that the former official return was incorrect.
I do not see that instances of mistaken identity, and so on, hare
much bearing on a case like this. Of course, it is the strong and
not the weak cases with which science has to do. T. D.
TELEPHONE.
[323] — There is no great skill, or extensive apparatus required,
in tho construction of the ordinary Bell telephone ; and I can pro-
mise Mr. Mortimer (Query 222, p. 303) complete success, if ho will
carefully work out the following instructions. The telephone con-
sists of a small permanent magnet, a coil of fine silk-covered copper
wire, a diaphragm of very thin iron, and a case for containing and
fixing the whole.
March 10, 1882.]
♦ KNOVV^LEDGE ♦
409
The magnets may be from 4 to 6 in. long, and j to i in. in
diameter, and ^rill cost per pair from 2s. to 2b. 6d. The coils of
fine wire, the same as magnets, and the iron, which is known as
ferrotype, about 4d. per pair. The cases, if bought ready turned,
will cost about 6s. the pair. Now, as this is the n\ost expensive item,
I will show that ^vith a little ingenuity this may be overcome at about
one-tenth the above price. At any chemist's procure a couple
of empty violet-powder boxes, at the outside fourpence, and see
that the lids fit tightly. Then, in the centre of the lid, bore a hole
i of an inch in diameter, then pare away carefully all around the
kole until you get a shallow, funnel-shaped mouthpiece. Finish off
with a piece of glass-paper. Now cut a ring of cardboard, J of an
inch wide, that will just lit inside the lid of your box. Take one of
the pieces of iron, and, with a pair of scissors, cut a disc that will
also fit inside the lid of box, ilrop in the ring of cardboard, and
next the iron disc, and see that the cardboard is thick enough
to prevent the disc from touching the lid anywhere but at the
edges, the middle being free to vibrate. In the bottom of the
box, bore a hole just large enough to take the magnet easily. You
now want some sort of a support for the rest of the magnet, and
also to form a handle. This can bo formed from a round piece of
wood about 3 in. long and 1 in. in diameter, with a hole through the
centre lengthwise to take the magnet. This must be glued to the
bottom of the box, the holes corresponding ; or, should you find any
difficulty in shaping the stem, take a large cotton reel, the end of
which will form a sort of flange, and will bo better for glueing.
You are now ready for putting the various parts together. Push
the magnet up through the reel until the end projects
within the box, and stands almost level with the edges of
the box without the lid ; slip the bobbin of wire over end of
magnet in box, and fix it so that about -f^ of an inch of the
magnet is above the reel or bobbin. Pass the two ends of the fine
wire through bottom of box, and solder to two brass binding screws
fixed somewhere on the case, tlie proper place being at the end of
them. Put the lid (with diaphragm and ring in place) on the box.
The diaphragm will now be firmly pinched between the lid and box,
and should be just clear of the end ot magnet. Your telephone is
now complete, and can be polished, or varnished with a spirit
varnish, and when dry is ready for nse. To connect, simply
take a wire from each binding-screw on one telephone, and
connect to each binding-screw on the other, and the instruments
will speak. But beware of a very common error, and don't try
to speak into one and hear your o^vn voice in the other. This is
impossible. Have at least a dozen yards in each screw, and leave
one instnunent with a frienji while you take the other into another
room. Speak distinctly into the mouthpiece, and when hearing keep
the mouthpiece tight up to your car. For connecting, use cotton-
covered copper about No. 20.
Should the voice seem very distant, move the magnet nearer the
diajiliragm. If no voice is heard, you vrill most likely find the
magnet sticking to the diaphragm, the proper distance being about
the thickness of a piece of stout paper.
As now used and sent out by the different telephone companies,
the telephone is never used both as a receiver and transmitter.
The transmitting instrument being a microphone of peculiar con-
struction, this adds greatly to the utility of the instrument, as you
are able to carry on conversation without removing the receiving
telephone from your ear, all the speaking being dono at the
microphone.
I shall be most happy to send a description of the microphone,
both simple and as a transmitter, as made by G. E. T.
PROBABILITIES IN CARD DRAWING.
[324] — Chas. A. Edes writes, with reference to the problem in
probabilities at p. 301, that the cards are not shuffled between the
cuts, so that the cutter, if he fails the fii-st time, has a rather better
chance next time, because ho will not cut in the same place again,
and similarly for the third trial. To solve the problem in this
form, treat it as though the card cut were removed from the pack
at each failure. The solution would then run thus : —
The chance that a winning card will not bo cut the first time ia
— . In that case there remain 51 cstrds, of which 12 are winning
ones. Thus, the chance that there will be a second trial, and that a
winning card will then not be drawn, is — x — There then remain
13 51
50 cards, of which 12 are winning ones ; and the chance that there
will be a third trial, and yet again a winning card not be drawn, ia —
lu 39 ,38
is'^'sT^so"
^38
85
The odds in favour of drawing one of the winning cards at one of
the three trials are therefore 47 to 38, instead of the smaller odds
1,197 to 1,000. It is obvious, of course, that in the closing sen-
tences of the examination of the problem at page 301, I should have
written " in favour of A " instead of " against A." Editor.
CENTRIFUGAL FORCE AND AN OPTICAL ILLUSION.
[325]. — When a piece of twine is attached at one end to a ring,
and the other end, held between finger and thumb, twisted and
untwisted rapidly, the ring, when it has acquired sufficient velocity,
spins horizontally in either direction, according to the twist given
to the tAvine, and the eye is deceived by the appearance of a second
string attajhed to the opposite side of the ring, the ring and two
strings forming a perfect cone, whose apex touches the finger and
thumb. A gutta-percha ring, about 2 in. in diameter, shows this
simple exiieriment to advantage. E. C.
[This is a very pretty illusion. If the weight of ring is small,
we see a nodal chord, generally a third of the wny up. The
apparent cone is not perfect. It is easily seen why the cone seems
bounded by two distinct strings. — Ed.]
Sign of " Beas and Ragged Stafp." — Shakespeare refers to
this as the crest of Warwick, " the king-maker," in 2 Henry VI.,
act v., sc. 1, where Warwick is made to say :
" Now, by my father's badge, old Nevil's crest,
The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff."
— W. MiDDLETOX BOTTER.S.
I.NTELLiGEN-CE !:< ANIMALS. — About twelve years since, when I
was living at Richmond, I had a fine black retriever. She was an
exceedingly docile, tractable animal with people, but always
shunned animals, even those of her o^vn species. One day, walking
with her through the streets of the town, she was i)ersecnted by a
large, coarse, ill-bred, bull-dog ; she snapped at him several times.
Presently I turned down to the water-side ; to my surprise, here she
began playing with the dog, and soon after she gambolled about in
shallow water with him, occasionally swimming. All at once ha
got out of his depth, and, to my astonishment and dismay, she got
him by the nape of the neck and kept his head under water. I
shouted *' Down, Prin, down ! " but ot" this she took no notice, until
she had almost suffocated him ; then she let him go, and ho dragged
himself out of the water, and slunk away with his tail between hia
legs, and went his way, a sadder, and I hope a wiser, dog. — J.
Bbownino.
410
KNOWLEDGE
[March 10, 1862.
(J?llfrif5.
[2S7] — Fbhrikii'ii Infi.I'knza Vowder. — Cnn niiyoiio give mv Dr.
Forrioi^i prcnoriplimi for iiiOuriizn, mndu up of biHiiiulli, nrncia
|iow(I<-r, anil niorpliiii, to bv takvii in tlio form of anulT ? — ArrLUTKU
KnisciiiiiEU.
[a^iKj — ri.A.VTK IN Hkc'Roous. — Are growinj^ plants unhcnltliv in
the bi-<Irooni ? If »'>, xlmuUI bi- i^hid to know tlio reason. — J. C. I..
[2H'.t] — TiiK BiKiAi. OF Mosfx — Wlicro cnn 1 obtain the piHin
cntitlod "The Huriiil of Moses," or where does it ocenr? — .1. C. L.
['i'.'O] — Tkiitiaky ?'os8I|,«. —Can any of your renders exphiin liow
it iK pyritous fussils from tertiary beds are so apt to fall to pieces,
while those from secondary strata remain unaffi'cted by oxpONure to
the air? I have ctamples of ammonites, Ae., iu my cabinet that
have been there for years, and, althouRli quit« " brassy " in ajipear-
nnee from pyrites, yet remain entirely unchnn(;ed. — W. D. C.
[2!ll] — IlAZOK. — Why does a ra/.or cut better after it has been
dipped in hot water ? This query answered on philosophical prin-
ciples will oblige.- H. Jo.-iK.i'ii Hoim.tox.
[:i02] — Sil\t:r. — How can I molt the residue of old silver baths
80 as to obtain pure silver ? Can it be done in any way without
using a crucible ? IIow much can I obtain a crucible for ? —
F. A. B.
[203] — Shelling Salts. — Is tho use of smelling salts beneficial
or otherwiiie ? Why are they resorted to profusely by women, but
not by men P — F. M.
[294]. — Exceptional Season.s. — IIow is tho exceptionally severe
winter of 1880-81, and the contnist in the exceptionally mild winter
of 1881-82, to be acconnted for ? — F. M.
[2il5] — AiTAKE.VT Parapo.k IN I'lioiiABiLiTiE.s. — A bag contains
an indefinitely great number of marked tickets, the nature of the
marks being unknown. One liundrod tickets are drawn. These all
bear letters of the alphabet, viz., 50 bear A, 30 B, and 20 C. Then
(r. I.ubbock and Urinkwater Bethuno's "Probability," p. 27),
the chance that the next ticket drawn wnll bear a letter of the
101
103
lul'
That is to say, tlie chance of the next mark being one of
the 3 letters A, B, C, >e greater than the chance of its being one of
the 20 letters A to Z. Where is the fallacy in the reasoning? —
Gkaiutim. — [In the former case wo have the probability that an
event will be either of one kind shown to be prevalent in a certain
degree, or will not be of that one kind. In the latter wc have the
probability that it will be one of three kinds shown to be i)re-
valent in certain degrees, or will not be of those three. The evidence
for three distinct kinds of marking gives stronger reason to believe
that the next will be one of those, than the evidence of one sort
of marking gives in favour of the next belonging to that one kind.
The paradox seems to arise from this, that in calculating the chance
of the next being a letter, we do not take into account the evidence
ten ling to show that there are three prevalent letters in the bag.
See aljo De Morgan on " Probabilities." — Eu.]
[290] — PiioTOGRAriiic STi'nio. — I wish to construct a reasonably
inexi)ensive glass-house, and shall feel obliged by a few hints as to
(a) dimensions, (b) material for walls and roof, and (c) arrangement
of light, having regard to the fact tlicit the studio will have to join
the back of my house, which has a S.W. aspect. A reference to
any work on the subject will also oblige. — Am.\teur.
[297] — LiMF.-LiGirr Appakatl's. — Where could I best obtain one
cheap, suitable for illustrating lectures to workmen with, and what
wonll be about the probable cost of the instrument complete? —
W. R, 1..
[29S] — Odb Axcestors. — We are told that the p.ateolithic man
who inhabited Britain was black in Mr. Grant Allen's interesting
article. How is this known to be so ? There is no evidence offered
in the article, and I should be glad to know how this can be proved.
— HOMO PAL.i:OLITIIICfS.
[299] — Magic Lantern. — Is it possible to make a magic lantern
in wood suitable for an ordinary room ? If so, could you kindly
give direction?, or mention some book (with price) on the subject ?—
Amateiu Carpenter.
[300] — Does the learning by heart of prose or poetry iniin-ovc or
impair tho faculties ?— A. C.
[301]— Magic Lantern. — I want to make a lantern for scientific
illustration. Can any reader tell me the size, focal length, and
distance apart of the glasses to bo nsed in making one to take
photographic slides ? — P. D. H.
[302]— Vegetarianism.— Can you tell mo of a good book hercoK ?
I know not what vegetables to "eat, or how to cook them.— John
Alkx. OLLAKn.
[3v>3] — Destruction of Souo.m and Gomorrah. — A clcrgvmnn
preaching on thi( aabjcct stated that it had l»ecn olmoiit conclusively
proved, on scientific grounds, that these towns were deslroyed by a
iihower of mcteon* on July 31, 1^98 n.i'. Is there any proof of
(his ; and, if so, what is the yirixil ? A. X.
[301] — (iEouHjv. — Can any geologirnl reader recommend a good
work on the carboniferous liinesionc formation, which contains re-
liable information as to fossils ; more especially as regards the
North Wales and iShropshire rocks ?— A. N.
[305] — The Calcilis. — What books should be rend on the
c.ilculus after Todhunter and Willinmson ? Is Price's " Infinitesimal
Calculus" a good book ? — Mathematici's.
[306] — Scholarships at Camiibidge. — Arc any open to candi-
dates over twenty yiars who have not already entered ? — Mathf-
MATICt'S.
[307] — Descriptive Geometry. — Bcqiiircd, a work on this subject,
Nufliciont for a first class in fourth stage mathematics, that is,
fulfilling the following syllabus : — Representation of points, straight
lines, and planes, by projections and traces on two orthogonal
planes. The use of auxiliary projections and rabatments. Graphic
soIuti(fns of problems concerning straight lines and planes, their
intersections, inclinations, 4c. Problems on trihedrsil angles.
Your paper supjilies a want in educational literature. — Self-Tal'oht.
[308] — Quicksands. — Why do persons sink in quicksands deeper
than they would in water, and why can they not float as in water ?
Does the sand in a qnicksand float in the water, and how is that
compatible with the relative specific gravities of water and sand ?
If not, why does not the sand sink in the water? — John R. West.
[309] — Effects of Tobacco. — Will Dr. Muir Howie kindly explain
why persons suffering from asthma are sometimes recommended to
smoke tobacco ? I gather from his interesting paper that the use
of the narcotic would tend to lessen the resen-e of vitality so
necessary to resist the effects of violent attacks of coughing. —
J. W. Brookes.
[310] — Quartz in Coal. — I have in my possession a specimen of
coal to which a piece of quartz is closely attached, several layers
of the same rock also running through the coal. How can this be
explained!' — J. W. Bkookej.
lAfpIir£i to (Surrifsf,
[220] — Chemical Analysis. — Might I say that before buying the
new editions of Fresenins on Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
— which, as one of your readers has rightly observed, are rather t«o
descriptive to be of use to a beginner — he should try and obtain
the previous edition, which the translator cut down to about half
its original volume, thereby making it as valuable to the novice as
it is to the chemist. Your correspondent must not be surprised if the
second-hand books should be as expensive as the new books. —
r. C. S.
[258] — Drying Wild Flowers. — " H. R. S." should take to
Egypt and Palestine with him a quantity of botanical drying
pajier (to be had, of any scientific dealer), and two or more strong
wooden boards of same size as paper ; also strong leather straps.
Tlie plants should be spread out as naturally as possible between
the sheets of paper. Then lay all between the boards, and put one
or two large and heavy stones (to be had at most places) on the
top. Try to keep some of the paper not in use, so that it may be
changed for that in use, which becomes damp from the moisture in
the plants. This changing should be made every second day, if
possible. When travelling from place to place, strap the whole
firmly together. — F. W. G.
[25S] — Drying Wild Flowers — page 861. — I should recommend
" H. R. S." to got a small 5s. book by J. L. English, entitled "A
Manual on the Preservation of the larger Fungi and Wild Flowers,"
just published by A. B. Davis, of Epping. There is a small collec-
tion of wild flowers in the Norwich Museum preserved by this
process, in which both colour and form are beautifully retained. —
R. S. Standen.
[20 1] — Letts's " Popular Atlas Geographical Map of England and
Wales" (with leading railways), will give "Strata" the informa-
tion he asks for. Also Professor John Phillip's "Geography of
Oxford and the Valley of the Thames" will be of great assistance.
A very bright and clear geographical map (of England and Walea)
is prefixed to Mr. 11. B. Woodward's "Geology of England and
Wales." Letts's map is a very cheap one, and is tho work of Mr.
Bristow ; it is founded on Murchison's map. Should be gl.ad to help
" Strata " in any way I can. — Jaciebat.
[207] — Thoracic Integrity. — The statement in " Science for
All " is perfectly authentic. It is really not correct to regard the
chest cavity as being air-tight, as, of course, can at once bo under-
March 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
411
stdod when we think of the ease mth which air can be drawn into
:iTiil oxiu'lled from it. The lunjfs are to bo rei^arded as elastic baf^s
wliich :ii'i' not connected with the walla of the chest, both they and
th" walls being covered with a smooth membrane called the pleural
mlrane (wh ch, when inflamed, produces pleurisy). Now, the
ice (or rather separation, for they aro nominally in contact),
'i tween the two layers of pleural membrane, is air~ii'jht, so that
u lien the chest cavity enlari^es (by movement of ribs and descent
c'f midriff, or diaphra^^m), the elastic lanp;3 follow its walls, and so
ail' mshcs in through the wind-pipe to fill the largar space so pro-
tiuced, and we are said to inspire. If, however, a hole be made
into the space (or separation) between the lungs and chest wall,
then, of coarse, when the chest cavity enlarges, the lungs will not
|iand, but air will simply rush in at the hole that has been made.
It the space between one lung and the chest-wall is quite distinct
1 tn that between the other lung and the chest-wall, so that if only
• ■:ie be opened into, the man still lives and breathes with his other
IiiHg; but if both spaces be opened into death must at once occur.
Now, the heart is, as it were, quite distinct from these air-tight
ices, so that if a hole exist (as has been known in certaiii cases)
1 'Ugh the chcst-wall opposite that organ, it will not open into
I Nor of tlie spaces, and so will not interfere with breathing. —
I . VV. G.
,268] — PnoTOGB.iPHY.— " Anon " has need to be careful in
meddling vnth photography. It is an expensive pastime. For
r.eral work (landscape and portrait) consult Abney's " Instruc-
M3 in Photography" (2s. 6d., Piper & Carter), or Hughes'
l'liotogra])hy " (Is., Simpkin). If only for portraits, Heigliway's
I 'tactical Portrait Photograph" (Is., Piper & Carter) will best
:: him. Full instructions and chemicals required are given in
vo works, and the advertisements will indicate where to get
lintn. The "cheapest articles" are not to be advised. Failure
and disgust are sure to follow the use of cheap and necessarily
nasty articles. Better give a higher price and get a good article.
I f it is intended to use dry plates, Eder's ' Modern Dry Pltites " (.3s.,
I tliink, published by Piper A- Carter) will be useful. — F. M.
260] — Carbonic acid was shown by Calvert to be necessary to
• rusting of iron, besides oxygen. Sea-water contains more car-
ric acid than average fresh water. — C. T. B.
277] — Balmain's luminous paint is calcium or barium sulphide,
1 le by heating either gypsum or heavy-spar with coal. — C. T. B.
285]— SciK.NTiFic Terms. — " Prestcr W." will find Dunnian's
Mossary" (Griffiths & Farran), a useful book for "Biological,
Anatomical, and Physiological Terms." — Chas. W. Duckwokth.
:W0].— The question of " G. G. D.," Xo. 300, p. 388, is a very
* ir one. Assuming that the evaporation from the damp surround-
-s have saturated the warm air inside the room, a condensation
naif its vapour would certainly take place if it were reduced from
to 32° without any interchange with the outer air, i.e., if the
ni were air-tight and cooled exclusively by conduction through
walls. The damp surrounding would then simply recover all
• moisture they had previously supplied to the warm air. If, on
■ other hand, the doors and windows were thro^vn open, and the
ni were rajiidly cooled by an exchange of cold air from outside,
• walls would continne for some time warmer than the incoming
■. and therefore would receive no deposition of moisture from it ;
t on the contrary, would communicate some heat to it, and thus
!'. e a drying action. I have imagined these opposite extremes as
exaggerated illustrations displaying the principles. Practically,
however, a mixed action occurs. Conduction takes place through
the thinnest element of partition, the -window glass, and there wo
■ an abundant formation of what I may venture to call domestic
V. Besides this, an interchange of atmosphere slowly takes
" e ; but not more slowly than the cooling of the walls. Under
th 'se conditions, the condensation of excess of vapour is limited to
til" window panes, and the brick or stone walls, Ac, remain dry. —
\V. Mattif.c Williams.
fyetter 220] — Health of Navvies. — Edwin Sachs (p. 325), in
' ly to my letter on the above (p. 254), says that the "natives"
lying by thousands in Java, Ac, from fever " though inveterate
['■I chewers." It would have been more satisfactory if Edwin
Sachs had informed the readers of Knowledge whether the fever
was indigenous or not, as this would, of course, make all the dif-
ference, and would account tor the, at present, remarkable fact of
the " natives being more easily affected by fever than aro Euro-
peans." If Edwin Sachs will read my letter again, he will see that
I was alluding to fevers, &c., incidental to marsh life. Mr. A. H.
Church, in his edition of " Johnson's Chemistry of Common Life,"
never intended the betel nut to be used as a preventive against
fevers which contact with foreigners may have introduced. —
F. C. S.
Sliistorrd to CorrtJ^pontentsJ.
Office <
•All I
mmiim.aliaiit fur Ihr Editor rrqiiiriii} ear!) al/riilion ihould reach I' e
li^ore the Saturday preceding the curreitt ueue of Kxowlbdob, tJ.e
rculatton of vhwh LOmpeh ua to go to preta early in the week.
Hints to Cohhf.shosdkxts.— 1. No qiieatioxt atkirtii fur icienlific in/ormitioi
can be anaic^eil through the pout. "i. heltcre aeni to the Editor for correapondentt
cannot be foncnrded ; nor can the namea or addreiiea of correapjndenta be given in
anewer to private inijniriea. 3. No queriea or repliea aacouring of the nature of
adcrrtiaementa can be inserted. 4. Lettcra, queriei, and rciiliea are inaerted, unleaa
contrary to Itnle 3, />.■« of charge. 5. Correapondeala ahould vrile on oiK tide
only of the poper, and p'lt dravinga on a aepara/e teaj. 6. Each Utter, query, or
reply ahontd have a title, and in replying to leltera or queriea, r^erence ahottld be
rt-ide to the number of letter or query, the page on which it appeara, and ita title.
Wo
but
Mark H. Jidge. Thanks for report of Sanitary Association,
but readers would not allow us to insert so much in way of
report. — E. Luxmoobe. Many thanks for description of compound
pendulum, which shall shortly ajjpcar. The curves are very inte-
resting. Is there no ink, either black, scarlet, or orange, which
could be used? If there were, the curves could be photozinco-
graphed. — Cogito. When, in No. 11, I spoke of the ecliptic or
plane of earth's path as unchanging, I meant that if an observer
were supposed to watch the earth from the sun's centre, her
apparent course among the stars would be unchanging. Tlte
earth's polar axis remains inclined at almost an unchanging
angle to the plane in which the e.-irth travels, just as the
axis of a spinning top is inclined at almost an unchanging angle to
the horizon plane, but this axis varies in direction (also as the axis
of a reeling top varies) and the plane of the equator, which is
always at right angles to the earth's axis, of course varies with it.
Refer to the same figure p. 219, Xo. 11 ; here EE conosponds with
the earth's equator. It remains always inclined at the same angle
to the vertical, but reels round as the globe spins. I have not jet
done with precession, but every week I get some such message as
this : " We have forty-seven columns of over -matter, and two,
three, or four more pages of advertisements than we can get in
without displacing something. What aro we to do ? " and I have to
reply. Keep out my article on comets, or on precession, or on the
Pyramid, or Foster's articles on illusion, or articles by some
one else who is willing (I know) to wait. — J. K. Campbell.
should have liked to use your paper on the Slide Eule,
what can we do ? A wants more about microscope ; B more
about chemistry, C botany, D entomology, B says turn out whist,
and have in mineralogy, F says we want no chess, but would like
something about pottery, G would like more biology, H palaeontology,
J says " All work and so little play makes Knowledge dull to day.
Why cut down whist and chess to a column each ? " and so on, to Z.
You catch the idea ? — M. Hill. Neither drawing represents the real
changes of the moon's apparent position. If you attach a circular
disc to a celestial globe, set to latitude of London, and caiTy the
disc round from horizon to horizon, you will see the real changes,
and also why they occur. A gas is said to be in the critical state
when the pressure and temperature are such that, if the latter
were in any degree lowered, the gas would liquefy. — F. W. B.
Bouvekie. Fear we could scarcely find room in Knowledge just
now for papers on philological subjects. — J. H. Fallon. Know
nothing about the Society for the Promotion of Scientific In-
dustry.— W. B. Are not — 3 and — 2 as obviously roots of
the modified equation ? — S. Stanier. Power cannot be 200, if
Jupiter had at the time of observation ajiparent diameter 45".
Three days before date of your letter, Jupiter's diameter was only
36". — Private Student. Your examples aro rather too common-
place to be dealt with in Mathematical Column. (1.) The equa-
tions to lines parallel to i/ =m .t -I- b, and at distance a from origin
(rectangular co-ordinates), are y=-mx±.a^ i + m'. (2.) If AB is
parallel to x cos. a + y sin. a=p, and OA.UB = c', equation to AB is
,T cos. a + y sin. a = '^ ^'°1°. (3.) If -iU be parallel to y = mx + J>
•^^tan a
and 0.4 + 0B = <-the equation to .IRis ;/ = )».■ -(-
1+7,..
really must not ask such questions as those ; you mistake the
purpose of Knowledge in doing so. — Historian. Your questions
hardly suited to a journal of popular science. Considering how
those two historians have denounced each other, it would be un-
wise of us to pretend to decide between them. — W. A. S. Your
reply states the matter clearly, but does not explain. Mesmerism
may be " nerve force producing artificial somnambulism on a suscep-
tible subject." But why ? or (if we cannot have Why) how ?— J. W.
Wood. Your reply scarcely explains much. — H. W. B. Thanks;
but fear the merely verbal contest you invite would be of small
benefit.— Geo. St."Clair. The star Alpha Centauri ; moreover,
this is the only first magtjitude star which ever has shone in the
direction of the Southern passage. The Great Bear was regarded
But vou
412
KNOWLEDGE
[Mabcu 10, 1882.
cTcn in iiiiicli liitpr tiinoH tliaii tlidHi- ynu mptition, no tlie poliir
coniitcllutioii, oxoi'i't liy llio I*li(piiii-iiiiiH, wli<> tCHik tlio Hiiiallcr
circling of tlio Cyiiomiro for tlipir {piiilo. Thr> mution of
tho npHiiics in no wrv nffi'cis tlio ]iri'ccB8ionnl period. — T. Vf.
Hope one dny to ffivo such an ftrtido. — W. St. C. Hok-
CAWKN. A pnppr on Clinldpnn Fcstivnia only delayed. "Omit-
tanro i» no (piittance." — SrFri-i.vM. \Vc cnn, however, live in nir
mrofled onou);l> to support coniliiistion so ill that a bnd lire
would go out in it.— C. T. II. Nay, they do not neutralise onrh
other; the parts illuminated on tho slant look less hrif^ht, eniis.^inn
diniiuifiliinf; as cosino of onglu with normnl to surface. Taking
shot for mcdieine must, wo agree with you, bo a dangerous practice,
though not nccpssorily rery dangerous. Luckily, tho ra-rntti does
not get all it might get, or scnrccly a child would grow^ tu maturity.
•^Unsatis'FIKD. The pres.sure upwards is ecpiivftlent to weight of a
column of air as largo as mouth of glass, and 100 miles or so high
(reaching, in fact, to tho limits, if such there be, of tho ntrao-
sphere) ; tho downward prossure is that of the wine-glass fnll
of water. A column of water about UD feet high can bo sup-
ported in this way, a column of mercury about 29 inches
high : 8o that yon might fill your wineglass with mercury, if suitable
snbstanco were placed over it. — Ji'mbo. Tho fancy is a queer one.
I can SCO that it might prove very useful in keeping account of
nmnbers. Like you, 1 have the numbers in sets from 1 to 12, then
to 20, then tu 30, then to 50, but after that I do not go straight to
100 but stop at 80. They do not, however, go in a bent line, as
with yon, but in a set of verticals. — W. A. F. Have never heard
that tlio Jordan was for a time stopped up by masses of rock falling
down, but as half Niagara was once for a wliile stopped (so they
say), it seems conceivable that the same might happen to another
river. Hojio your question is not meant to infringe our rule about
science and religion. — F. IlErBOCRX. You conld only now obtain
Button's " Recreations" at a secondhand bookshop (unless, perhaps,
our exchange or si-tpcnny sale column might help you. — Excelsior.
Oouff ! here comes a long one ! First, you are quite right. The
objection was first advanced by Tycho Brahe : the answer is that
the orbit of the earth is so utterly insignificant compared with the
distance of tho fixed stars, that no such effect can be recognised,
except in the case of the very nearest stars, and then only with tho
most powerful and closely-measuring telescopes. Thus, Alpha
Centauri, being only at the trifling distance of 20,000,000,000,000
miles, describes an ellipse having a major axis nearly 2 seconds of
arc in length, one-93(3th of the moon's apparent diameter. 2.
Twinkling of fixed stars duo to moisture in our air. 3. Do not
know why expeditions are not made now to South Pole; conditions
there probably not similar to those at North Pole ■ — more ice,
Maury says more land. It is also a longer journey, except
from places in southern hemisphere. Uranus is now very
favourably situated for observation, and visible to naked
eye. 4. The satellites of Mars arc utterly beyond the range
of a 3-inch achromatic. 5. Spots oftener seen than not, except
at the time of minimum, when sometimes for months together
none are seen. 6. Cannot show planet's paths now the whole sky
shown in a single map. For reasons we are obliged to keep the
block free from anything not belonging to the stellar heavens. The
zodiacal map does better in every way. To see Uranus or Nepttme
to tho least advantage, a good telescope is wanted, and if a map is
trusted to show where tho planet is, it must be on a much larger
scale than our star map. This applies also to tlie nebulse, except
those visible to the naked eye. Am glad to hear you have been so
thoroughly well pleased with tho telescope yon obtained from Mr.
Bateman for the small price of £5. 15s., "being and doing all
that is stated of it in the advertisement, and more too." — Anxious
OxE. If there is the danger you fear, it is far too serious a matter
to bo trifled with. Wo should bo wronging you if wo inserted
your letter for casual reply, and we have no right to ask
medical men, especially mind doctors, to discuss the matter.
Indeed, we know they would not do so (because they know they
could not properly do so) without careful study of the case. Pray
believe that if wo could do anj-thing, rightly, by which your anxiety
might be relieved, we would most willingly do so. One thing we
can say — the symptom you describe should either lead you to seek
medical advice, or you ought not to allow it to worry you at all. A
doctor would probably tell you how much you should notice it, and
with what object. But merely noticing it, ami being worried by it,
can do nothing but harm. — J. 0. Lindsay. Thanks for extract.
The publishers will probably issue covers for binding. A yearly
volume would be too thick. Taking twenty-two pages per number,
without advertisements, there would be l,ll-4 pages ; far too many
forasingle volume. — James Ukkinsox. Thanks forthe microcrosm ;
but the article on Sound is written by one who understands not. —
J. V. M. Yon seem to misunderstand my remark, that one of
OUT contributors was "not writing for" a correspondent (who
objected te his reasoning). No sneer as to that correspondent's
capacity was intended. 1 trust I am incapable of such rudoncaa.
I meant aimply what I said, that Ur. Wilson'R rcaitoning waa not
direct<-d to miet the particular objection urged by that objector.
You think scientific men lieland each other too much. Is nut that
better than belittling each other? Would yon havo them likn^tho
I'rofcHsor of Greek, who wished an opponent " 'confounded '(for
his theory of the irregular verba"? I cannot admit that Dr.
Draper did not orguo honestly. Ho woa a hard hitter, but honirty
itself. Tho cago you cite i» not very «eriou«. Draper aaya I'lli'-
was not answered, and Ilacon said I'ilato would not stay for mi
answer ; do you know which opinion was right ? You go on to
object to stories about animals. You say. What would acientific m. n
say to evidences of religion consisting of stories of f>ious men. * 'ur
stories of animals are not meant as evidences of science. Then y.ii
think ourarticles too short, iiut others want variety. Your litter
does seem rather wandering, but doubtless " the gaps arc causal ny
suppression before birth of much that you wished to say." —
K. W. P. Both papers received. Thanks. Great pressure ' f
matter only has prevented our using them yet. — U. W. J. .Staf-
mcnt about tides in Chrislian Ol«be utterly wrong. .Scientilio
authorities differ as to details, of course ; but none sujiport tho
ridiculous statement you quote about "geological time approaching
tho limits," &c. — M. H. JinoK. Sorry ; but letter reached us only
when No. 18 was already in type. — SiBlfs. Statement in Times
])robably near the truth. From best estimates, Sirius gives out
about 300 times as much light as sun (at samo distance), which
would give surface 300 times as great (if of same intrinsic lustre) ;
diameter about fourteen times as great. Of course, this is but
an estimate. — F. Matin. Thanks. — A. A. Feegcsox. Smoke and
fog best seen where light was, in cases cited ; not attracted by
light. The theory impossible. — C. A. C. Theory not reconcilable
with evidence of former existence both of water and air on moon. —
CoxsTAX.s. In such a subject. Dr. Ball was obliged to assume either
that readers were acquainted with those laws, or would take them
for granted. Your questions chiefly relate to the more doubtful and
perplexing matters. You may see from my article in Contemporary
Review, and hereafter more fully in Gentleman's ilayazine, that there
is room for considerable variety of opinions as to details. — G. S.
Thanks ; but answer about lightning too vague. — W. Ceisp does not
consider tho evidence of Mallicolese skull so decisive against
phrenology as Miss Buckland suggests (in passing) that it is ; con-
volutions not stunted in growth, but forced in other directions. He
notes that capacity of Neanderthal skull cannot be estimated, as it
is a mere skull cap. — J. F. Lawrence. Should advise you not to use
copper bowl for lemon-squeezer until thoroughly retinned. — F. NoiB,
Hope you will occasionally send translated extracts from Al Muktataf.
Of course, I understand Arabic perfectly, but " faitcs commo si je ne
le savois pas," as M. Jourdain says. — An Engineer writes plea-
santly-worded note explaining that "F.K.A.S.'s" remarks about
ice had seemed to him insufficiently clear. — A. R. Senxett. Do not
know ; cannot answer correspondents per letter. — Tabanaki. Wo
may hereafter publish some southern star-maps, but at present our
hands are full. You see we italicise words in question, at your
suggestion, and may hereafter adopt the system, if printers do not
object. — F. F. PoERELL. Red Sea was once thought to bo higher
than Mediterranean ; disproved first by measurement, then em-
phaticallyi by canal. — H. L. MAcquARP. Nos. 2 and 3 quite out of
print ; Nos. 1, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 not very far from it, or might
reprint 2 and 3 ; as it is, it would be useless. — F. C. S. Will
try soon to find room for " Wood Gas," but " Beet " is waiting.
In fact, wo are choked with matter at present. — Alei. F.
If you read Sir J. Herschel's essay on "Light" ("Familiar
Science Essays)," you will see what a very diflScult question yours
is. — A. W. Buckland gives for benefit of " Experto Crcde " address
Professor Rudler, Jennyn-street Museum, for information about
mineralogical objects. — A. J. D. saw cat on sill of fanlight over
door, who presently lowered his hind legs, and, lifting knocker, let
it fall, walking in when door was opened. — Daleth, T. A. Prestok,
R. MAcriiEEsoN, and others. Thanks, but query already answered
when yonr reply came. — W. Middleton Butters says in " Pig and
Whistio"apig == a cup or bowl, and whistle = wassail ;" Bear and
Ragged Stump," crest of Warwick, the King-maker; in "Magpie
and Stump," mag = large coin, guinea ; pie = pay; and stump -■
be off.- — J. T. B. Ere long electrical matter will be dealt with aa
fully as possible. — Leo. U. Walker. Afraid to publish your sug-
gestion, lost some mother should be tempted to squeeze "baby's"
brain to make a chief of him ; what a terrible thing if a father
should find mamma or "nurse" >vith copy of Knowledge before
her carefully trying to squeeze baby's head into semblance
of young Mallicolese chieftain ! — Asiatech Botaxist. Questions
about preparing colours for magic -lantern slides and plant
collection require articles to themselves. — Miss J. Yorjio.
Thanks, but we havo a surplus of original stories. — ARTnCB E.
Paluek. Thanks. I ought to have added that when I am pressed.
March 10, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
413
;iik1 have to work my very hardest, I always go withont stimntants
(f any sort. In ordinary working time I am a very moderate
.Iriiikcr; in holiday time, like Mr. Foker, I " take my whack " with
•'M'rest; but then I do not believe in holiday-making ; it means,
[li me, "getting out of working order." — F. A. B. Your first
• rv a statement — namely, that coronal ring was perfect round
,,,.»>n at first quarter. Other query inserted; letter (abstract) also.
1 hanks. — StR U. Thompson-. I take some blame to myself, for I
l;:ul read your book, and remembered well that there was therein no
jlvocacy of vegetarianism. — M. S. Thanks. — E. G. D. Your
! ioro than thirty notes, criticisms, and suggestions" came
■n us all "loo too" much at once, and many related to
tiers already, as wo hoped, disposed of. Others have had
ro to complain of than yourself; but if what you wished done
you were done for all, we should want si.xty pages weekly, and
paper alone would cost much more than oiu' weekly price. What
uld we do.' Advise proprietors to raise price? Thanks; we
iL-r not, if by any possibility we can avoid it. But, as you will
. 0 it so, we reply, " Farewell." Try to be a little more reason-
' with the next periodical you take. — E. V. II. Fear you cannot
a really good account of the comet of 1813 ; the best that was
: itten about it lies buried h\ proceedings of astronomical societies.
'' "meteoric theory of comets" (scarcely a theory now) has
■n dealt with fully by several writers, myself among others. It
t. be considered shortly in these pages. — E. BfRKE. The version
_-iv(n in the work you mention long since disposed of by Leverrier.
— ,T. H. CoBBETT. I think both Parallax and Mr. Xewton Cros-
!;uicl would feel insulted at the suggestion that they are one and the
■nt'. If eitlier could destroy accepted astronomy, the other would
! upon him. In the theory of Pai-allax (who is by no means the same
' ur too livelj- Hampden) the earth is not compared to a Stilton
ese more than to a Dutch cheese. The earth has only one side —
lop ; the north pole is the centre ; there is no south pole, but in
- !iiead we have the circumference. Dimensions I do not know.
Hampden" tells me one thing; "Parallax" used to .assert another.
If you quote cither, the advocate of the other — whether " Hamp-
'!i ii" or "Paralla.'c" — tells you you know nothing of the Zetetic
If that advocate chances to be " Hampden," he calls
l; coward, or a lily-livered, perjured villain, or something
rt. It is a way he has. "Parallax" is very different.
li'- is not only gentlemanly, but he is "like Cerberus, three gentle-
iiK-u at once." At least, to my certain knowledge, "Parallax"
v,:s Mr. Rowbotham in 1864; De Morgan savs of him (" Para-
:ms," p. 30t>,) that at Trowbridge, in 1849, he was S. Gonlden ;
1 now he is Dr. Burley. — J. Mukrat. Y'es ; other notes and
Ljrams (gracious goodness!) received. Sorry "the Ptolemaic
lesceado system will not allow any spots on the sun," only
wing them to pass in the same way asA'enus. Astronomers are
kinder. — J. A. M. Solutions 1,2, 3 received; hope with you, the
:k is tlioroughly cooked now. — E. P. T. Gregory's Electrical
■ory plausible as you say, but, as you also say, quite irreconcil-
■ with Dr. Ball's views; equally irreconcilable with laws of
namics. — Carus. The more hydrogen in a balloon — the hydrogen
ii;^' enclosed in elastic case, so that it is nearly at same pressure
~urrounding atmosjphere — the greater the lifting power; other-
■, the reverse. If an air-tight case is so made as to be of cou-
nt dimensions, the more hydrogen you force into it the less will
! he raising power. As to the other query, please specify the
1 of work you require on palaeontology — technical, popular, or
it? — Eli Wailis. If you want to see what stars lie towards,
the south west, hold the map so that the words south-western
i i/.on are vertically below the map's centre, then between the
li-westem boundary and that centre, which represents the point
(head, yon will see in the map the stars you want. — Fakmku. Letter
rked for insertion. — J. A. Ollarf. Xot a tenth of the space you
■ It is available. — 3ehald Massey. Thanks; but question of
-'s descent is rather a biological than a pliilological one.
?Ltttn-£i lAfrribrlj.
H. Muirhead, W. H. Morgan, Aspiring Artist, J. Hartington,
L. M. N., K. Mongar (?), M. Emerson, P. T. L., Aud.ix, Peter
Parley, Sucking Uerschel (must not suck brains), E. F., Mater-
familias, Petcrkin, Excelsior, J. North, M. Weatherwit, St. Pancras,
Q. E. D., F. v., Formosa, Empty Noddle (tr\- to fill), James
LogersoU, Amorj', N. C, Philip St. John, Northern Lad, Calais-
Donvres, Amplitude, N. Tressingham, . Ccelebs, Shingly Beach, M.
Peterson, J. Short, &c., &c.
PoxD's Extract is a certain core for Bhemnatism and Gout.
Pond'a Extract is a corlain cure for Hemorrhoids.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Neural^c paina.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wounds,
bond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the gennine. [Adtt.
©Ill- iBatftrmntiral Column,
THE LAWS OF PROBABILITY.
By inB Editor.
THE mathematical discussion of the laws of chance is regarded
by many mth suspicion, because they observe that while
the matters discussed are admitted by the very inquirer to be doubt-
ful, the conclusions arrived at are presented as matters of mathema-
tical certainty. But in reality this arises from a misapprehension
of the nature of the inquiry made by mathematicians into questions
relating to chance. A mathematician assigns a definite value, as if
it were certain, to the chance of winning a prize in a lottery (where
one prize only, let us say, can bo won) under given conditions ; but
ho does not assert that the event will confirm his opinions ; on the
contrary, he knows that whatever hajipens, the sum he names will
not be gained. He sav.s" tJtat, certainly, is the value of the chance,
but lie knows that either the prize will bo won, in which case more
than the sum he named will bo won, or lost, in which case the
drawer of the blank will win nothing. Ho cannot even say that in
any given number of trials the average amount won will be what
ho has named; he can only say that the greater the number
of trials, the nearer will the average amount won be to the amount
ho has named. On this point only he is certain, and not only can
his view be shown by logical reasoning to be sound, but multiplied
experience confirms it. The reasoning may not admit of being
grasped veiy easily, or, at any rate, very quickly. In particular
cases the mathematical determination of the value of a chance
may be so difficult that only advanced mathematicians can
master the demonstration. But even in such cases, experi-
ments can often be made quite easily, by which, with a,
little patience, the mathematical solution may be shown to
be correct. Take, for instance, one of the "chance methods"
of squaring the cii'cle. A straight rod of given length, and of
given square section, is tossed at random on to a grating of equi-
distant bars, and after gyrating in the air a number of times, falls
either athwart the bars or between them, according, one would say,
to pure chance (or bare chance, or mere chance, as you may choose
to call it). A mathematician says that the chance of the rod
falling through — the spaces between the bars being, of course,
wider than the rod — depends (in what seems an occult fashion) on
the relation between the circumference and the diameter of a
circle. The proof is not simple, and perhaps you fail to under-
stand it. But set some one to toss the rod (from a place where he
cannot see the cross-bars, and without any knowledge of their
position) a few thousands, or tens of thousands of times, and note
how often it falls tlirough, and how often it fails to fall through ;
you then find that the ratio of the two numbers approaches very
nearly, the more nearly the oftener the rod is thrown, to the ratio
assigned by the mathematician. The experiment maybe tried any
number of times, and always the result is the same.
The science of probabilities is shown by such inst.ances as these
to be a science which can predict, even in matters of pure chance.
It is not a science which authoritatively lays down certain dicta, but
one which itself indicates ways in which it may be put to the test.
But then, say objectors, ' probability is dealt with by mathe-
maticians in so artificial a manner, that these methods cannot
possibly have any ap)]licatiou to real events. At the very outset
there are conventional rules, which, so far as we can judge, might
just as well have been entirely different.
In reality, however, the rules by which mathematicians deal with
probabilites are only conventional in the same sense that it is con-
ventional to measure lines by inches or by feet, to measure angles
by circular arcs, or to measure surfaces, solids, time intervals (what
you please, in fine, that mathematics can deal with) as mathema-
ticians do measure these quantities.
Let us see what these conventions are : —
In the first place, it is agreed that absolute certainty shall be
represented by unitv, absolute impossibility by 0, and therefore
(necessarily) different degrees of probability by different proper
fractions. "We can thus never have a chance greater than 1, for
nothing can be surer than the sure ; nor can we have a chance less
than 0, that is negative, for nothing can be more impossible than
the impossible. These are pure conventions. Wo might have
called certainty 10 or 100, or 59Jj. or anything we pleased; we
might equally have represented imiiossibility by any quantity,
positive or negative, or either certainty or improbability by a letter.
It is found convenient, however, to adoi>t the particular convention
mentioned, and so long as, having once adopted it, we uniformly
follow it, we shall no moro be likely to go astray tli.au when we
represent the number " three " by the figure three throughout an
arithmetical sum.
'11 J.
KNOWLEDGE
[March 10, 1882.
ThPKC ronrontioni ore in ronlity nil which tho iitudont of proba-
bilitioii hn<i to mnko ; nil others which soom to ariic, n« his stu'ly
of thp suhji'ct pruccc'ilJ, ore in renlily only noco-Hary con«LM|iicni<>g
of those.
Lot us now consider sonip simple illnstrations of the rennlts of
these conventions.
Sii|>|i(i5<o n lin(f contains ten Inlls, nil white. Then the chnncc
(lint II white liiill will bo dniwti JM iiiiitv, and the chance that a black
bull will be driiwn is 0.
If III! the ten balls in a bag lire of the ("nnie size, nnd the drawer
ran n« readily reach one im another, or if tho ba^ is well shnki'n, so
that each ball has an eijiial chance of coming to tho top, the chance
of any gi^'cn ball beiii); dniwn at a given trial must bo exactly equal
to the cluince of any other. All the balls are equally likely to be
ilrnwii. So that if C bo the clianci' for each, 10 C is tho chance for
nil the ton. But one of them n.ust be drawn. Hence IOC must be
e inal to certainty, i.e. to 1 ; nnd C" —
. ^^ .
This is obvious enough, but let us submit it to a test.
Suppose one ball is white and the remaining nine balls all black,
and Buppo.so that if the white ball is drawn, a certain prize, say
i'lO, will bo won. Now, if there are ton pcrsoiis to draw, nnd each
takes one ball, it is certain that one of them will draw the white
ball. But there is nothing to prevent one and the same person
baying np the chances of all the ten, or the certaii.ty of drawing
tho white ball, and so winning the prize of £10. lie should clearly
pay the same snm to each, fir each has the same chance of
winni:ig, and the total sum he shoulil expend should be clearly £10,
for he makes certain of getting that sum by buying up nil their
chances. Since, then, he has to pay £10 in equal sums to ten
pers ins, he must give £1 to each. This, therefore, is the value of
eich person's chance of drawing the white ball, and this sum is one-
tenth of the sum at stake. This is tho same as saying that the
chance of each is -^.
Wo have here spoken of a bag of 10 balls ; but it is clear the
reasoning ajiplies to any case in which there are a number of events
all equailj- likelv, and one of which must happen. If there arc
1
13 balU in a bag, the chance of drawing any particular ball is rr/
1
If there are n, the chance of drawing any given ball is -. If a die
has all its si-t faces numbered ditfercntiv, the chance that when the
1 . . .
ihe is thrown any given number will be uppermost, is tt, if the die is
not loaded, — that is, if it as likely tliat one face will be uppermost
us another. Again, if a coin is tossed with a good high spin, and
the coin is uniform, so as to spin with perfect freedom, the chance
of head or tail is -. So the chance of drawing any particular card
from a picquet pack of cards i-s — ; the chance of drawing any par-
ticular card from a whist pack is — ; and so with other such cases.
52
Next, suppose that a bag contains three white and seven black
balls, or ten in all, and let as inquire what is the chance of drawing
a white ball.
seem, then, sufficient to reason that, since there are three white
1
ing any one of tho three is — . The reasoning is, indeed, just, and
tho result is correct, but tho student cannot be too careful in avoid-
ing all hasty conclusions in these questions of chance. We shall
see presently that a line of reasoning which seems at first sight
quite as just as the above will lead to an obviously incorrect result.
It will be well, then, were it merely to initiate n system of close
inquiry into these matters, to discuss tho alwve result somewhat
nttentively. We shall save time in the long run by getting these
seemingly axiomatic nir.ttcrs thoroughly reasoned out.
.\pplying onr former method of measuring chances by consider-
ing the value of the right to draw tickets in n lottery, we readily
determine the chance we are seeking. We have only to suppose
that there are three prizes equal in value — say each £1. Then tho
chance of each of tlie ten drawers must needs be equal. Now,
anyone who bought up all these ten equal chances should clearly
pay £3, since this is what ho would obtain when tho ten tickets were
drawn. Each ticket would thereforo cost six shillings — that is, the
value of tho chance of each drawer is rr: of Uie prizo gained by a
■nccouful drawing. Wc infer tho justice of the conclusion thatth*
chanco of drawing ono white ball fr«jn> a hog containing seven black
3
nnd three white balls is T^y
Since the above reasoning is npp'iculde, whotevcr the total
nninber of balls, and whatever the numlier of white balls, wo bar*
this general result, that the chanco of drawing a white ball from •
r
bag containing n balls, of which r are white, is -.
Further, since tho reasoning is as np]>licable to the black balli M
to the white, it is obvious that the chance of drawing a black ball
out of a bag containing seven black and three white balls ''tj;'
This ii the chance of /ui'.inij to draw a white ball. And, generally,
the chance of failing to draw a white ball from a bag containing •
balls, of which r are white, is ~ .
Nor is the reasoning affected if the balls which arc not white ore
of more than one colour ; while the same reasoning applies to the
balls of divers colours. So that wc clearly get this general mle,
including all that wo have thus far attained to: -If there are H
balls (all equal in size) in a bag, of which v are white, I black,
r red, ;; green, and so on, till all the colonrs and balls in the bag ara
reckoned, then —
The chance of drawin
v.hitc ball is
failing to draw a white ball is
drawing a black ball is
failing to draw a black ball is -
drawing a i-ed ball is
,, failing to draw a red ball is... — -
n
and so on through all the colours, and we may also combine any
of the colours together in such statements as the following: —
The chance of di-awing either a white or a black ^ 6 + ir
ball is ) ~,
The chance of failing to draw either a white or i n—{b + tv)
a black ball ) JJ
and so on
This general law is applicable to any case where the chance is
required that one of a certain set of events will happen out of a
larger number of events whose chances are equal. Thus, the
chance that either ace or deuce will be thro^vn with a single die
2
is-
The chance that a court card will be drawii out of a picquet
12
pack of cards is
32
the corresponding chance in the case of a
whist pack being -— .
52
[Solutions of problems, by T. R. and others, in our next. — Ed.]
A Substitute Foa Water ix Foot-W.\kmess. — People who
travel much in winter, either in railway carriages or in any of the
other modes of conveyance, are continually annoyed and incon-
venienced by the fact that the hot water in their tins gets cold very
soon ; in fact, if tho tins are to be of any comfort to the traveller,
they must bo changed every two hours. Who, amongst all those
who havo felt starved and miserable through the water in the foot-
wanner having become cold, will not hail with delight the fact that
the science of chemistry promises speedily to bring a fresh boon
to the traveller in all parts of the world, in the form of a foot-
w;iriiier whicli will keep hot for a period of ten hours, at the same
time giving out four times as much nsiful heat as water ? The name
of the chemist who is bringing about this gi-ent and useful change
is M. .\ngolin, who purposes using crystallised sodium acetate
instea 1 of water. When once the tins are filled, the stoppers well
soUlertd, and the warmer perfectly air-tight, all trouble ceases
o.Tcopt wai-ming them up when required for use. Tho tins can be
used over and over again, the salt being perfectly stable. Experi-
ments are now being tried on tho London nnd North-Wcstem
Railwav, also on various foreign railwavs, with a view to its adop-
tion.—F.C.S.
I
March 10, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
415
C^ur €i)t^5 Column.
Games between Mephisto, and a strong Amateur.
AUgaiei
Gambit.
Wbiik.
BuiCK.
White.
Bljlck.
Mephi.sto.
Mk. M.
JIepuisto.
Mk. M.
1. P to K i
P to Ki
14. P takes P
Q takes P
2. P to KB4
P t.ikes P
15. B to Q3 (ch)
K to Kt2
3. Kt to K H3
P to KKt4
16. Castles KK
R takes B(')
4. PtoKlU
P to Kt5
17. P takes R
Q toBl(cl.)
6. Kt to Kt5
I' to KR3
18. R to B2(')
Kt takes P(8)
6. Kt takes 1'
K takes Kt
19. K to Pisq
B to K3
7. PtoQi
P toQ4
20. R to B6
Kt takes Rii")
8. B takes V
Kt to KB3
21. P tks Kt(ch)
K takes Pi')
9. Kt to QBS
B to KtoC)
22. Q takes P(ch)
K to K2
10. B to Ko
B tks Kt ch(i')
23. R to Ksq
Q toQ4
11. P takes B
K to Ksq
24. P to B4
Q toQ3
12. Q to Q2 (')
K to Kt3('')
25. B to Bo
resigns
13. P to K5 (cl.)
K toR2
(*) The best defence is to employ the Bishop on K2 in com-
bination with R to KBsq and K to Kt2
C") The tempting move Kt takes KP wonld not be good play.
(<^) Or B to K2
('') Black might have defended with 12 Kt to QB3, 13 Q takes
B P, 13 Kt takes B, 14 P takes Kt, 14 R takes P.
(') A powerful resource, which threatens to break up White's
game.
O A desperate move, but if K to R2 or Rsq, then by Q takes
KP Black would completely domineer over White's game. Of
course, White cannot afford to exchange Queens by interposing her
on B2. R to B2, besides proving an effective defence, also keeps
the attack in hand, for it would not be quite so good now for Black
to play, Q takes KP, for White would then reply with B to Ksq,
and Black could not then take the RP with a check, which would
hare been the case had the King gone to Rsq or R2. The wiunin"
of the time of one move won the game for White.
(s) Black dare not plaj- P to Kt6, for then White would reply
with P takes Kt ch, and dissolution would speedily follow.
C) White not only threatens R takes B, but also Q takes R P,
Black has no alternative but to take the proffered Rook. The
sacrifice is perfectly sound.
We give a diagram of the position.
Position after White's 20th move : —
(J) K to B2 instead of K takes P looks better, but it would also
loae, e.g. : —
K to B2
Q takes P
-2^ or
Kt toQ2
B to Kt6 (ch)
K takes P
B to B5 (ch)
K takes B (•)
25 R to Esq (ch)
K to K4
2« R to Ksq (ch)
and wins
24.
(•) 24.
K to K2
K to Ksq
R to Qsq
5_i or
B to B2
B to Kta (ch)
Pto B3
Q to R8 (ch) ■
Q to Bsq
R to K8 (ch)
aad wins
Q takes B ch
K to Bsq
Kt to Q2
B to Kt6 (ch)
K to Qsq
Q to R8 (ch)
and mates in
two moves
Q takes Kt
and wins
GAMES BY CORRESPONDEXCE.— (Con«n«c<iyVom J). 300.)
GAME I.
Chief Editob.
4. P to K5
5. Kt to KB3
6. Q takes P
7. Q to B2
8. P to QB3
9. B to Q3
10. P to QKt4
4. P to Q4
5. Kt to K B3
tj. P to Kt3
7. P to K5
S. P to QRl
9. B to QR3
Cdess Editor.
3. P to Q I
4. P to QB4
5. P takes P
G. Kt to QB3
7. B to QKto (ch)
«. B to QR4
9. KKt to K2
GAME U.
3. Q to B3
4. P to Q3
5. Kt to QB3
6. B to Q2
7. Q to K2
8. Castles
SOLUTION OF PROBLEM NO. 20, p. 350.
By J. A. Miles.
1. B to R4 (ch) K takes B
2. Q toQR7 K takes R(»)
3. Kt to KO dis. ch. and mates next move.
(•) If R takes QKt to K8, mate.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*»* Please address Chess-Editor.
J. A. Miles. — Problems received with thanks. Your kindly-
proffered assistance welcome. We can only benefit by your
cijierience.
E. C. H.— Ves.
J. S. Flower, Ryde.— Received with thanks, but too obvious for
insertion.
D. — Self mate is to compel your adversary to mate you.
H. A. L. S.— Problems 21 and 22 are intended to bo easy. We
should displease far more readers by giving difficult problems only
than by giving occasionally easy ones. Curious to say, the easy
problem of which you speak so disparagingly has proved too much
for you; for if 1. Bto K.7 (ch), then Q takes R, and there is no
mate.
H. Percival, R. S. Standen, and others. — Answered last week.
F. H. Jones. — Solution of No. 20 incorrect ; if 1. R takes P,
1. R to Kt7, and there is no mate in three.
Correct solution of Problems No. 21 and 22 received from
G. B. T., J. Licence, A. C. Skinner, A. J. Martin, H. Percival,
Henry Bowmann, R. S. Standen, Brenton, F. H. Jones (of No. 22
only), S. H. G., J. R. W.
Problem 21. — In this problem there is a Bishop on White's King's
Rook square, with a Pawn on Kt2. The object of the Bishop is to
command the square on QB6 ; if, therefore, we replace the Bishop
on KRsq. by a Queen, this object is likewise achieved, and the
anomaly (if it may be so called) is obviated.
Problem 21, p. 369. From Squire.
White. Black.
1. King's Knight's Pawn to his 4th 1. Queen takes Castle
2. Knight to King's 6th (from
K B4 mate.
Variation.
1. As before 1. If Queen takes Bishop
2. Castle to King 7th. Mate, cic.
Pboblkm 22, p. 369.
Black.
1. Queen to Q8 1. K to KB2
2. Kt to K7, mate
1. As before 2. Queen to Q2
2. Queen to K36, mate, &c.
White.
Notice. — For " Nos. 2 and 3 are not out of print," in Answers to
Correspondents, No. 17, read " Nos. 2 and 3 are iww out of print."
Part I. is now entirely out of print. Those who wish to complete
the series would do well to get the Parts which are still in print,
and to add their names to the list of applicants for Part I., so that,
should any copies bo returned, they may be distributed in duo
order. No. 5, also, is now out of print.
41 C
♦ KNOWLEDGE -
[Maacu 10, 1882.
<^ur ^\\)i^t Column.
Hy
I'lVK OK Ci.i;
J I I MiTINfiTON.— Tho law ngaiiint revoking, like moHt of
, 1 i thosp which involve ponaltieii, is intended to prevent
plojerg, either tliroiigh carelessneHB ur olhvririnr, from doinj; nnj-
thing by which tliey might obtain a wrongful advantage. Wilfully
revoking would be cheating, were there no penalty; it is none the
lo»8 cheating when it is done with tho hope of cucuping the |ienalty,
or to hide a former honest revoke. Tho penalty for wilful revokes
is exclusion from tho society of honest card-players.
FiVK oy Clubs.
Pbobiem 2. — An easy Double-Dummy Problem.
Colonel Dniysou gives tho following anuising example (which
occurred to himself at double dummy) of tho differonco between
practical and theoretical Whist. As he says, if any player had
ployed at Whist as it is necessary to play in tho following case, ho
would probably have been accused of trying to lose the garao : —
A.
H«ar(«— 10, 6, 1.
Spades — A.
Clubs— a,:k, Q.
Diamonds — 10, 7
•1,3.
The Hands.
0,5,
B.
Hearts— 6, 3, 2.
Spades— 9 8, 5, 3, 2
Clubs— None.
Diamonds— A, Q, Kn, 9, 8,
S
B
Dealer,
Y
z
Trump Card,
Jl.arl yine.
A
Hearts— A, K, Q, Kn.
Spades— K, 10, 7, 4.
Clubs— 10, 7, 4.
Diamonds— K, 2.
Z.
Hearts— 0, 8, 7.
Spades— Q, Kn, 6.
Clubs— Kn, 9, 8, 6, 5,
3, 2.
Diamonds — None.
A,Bi; Y,Z, love.
Y Z to save (and win) the game.
Next week an interesting game, kindly sent us by Mr. F. II.
Lewis, will appear, illustrating the use of the penultimate as a
means of conveying information to partner.
Sir, — As "Five of Clubs " says that playing Knavo second hand
from Knave two, a small card having been led, would not be signal-
ling for trumps, and that Clay says so, whereas I nr^iod that, for
all the third player could tell, the second |)layer might be asking,
and, as "Five of Clubs" has, I am convinced, somewhat misunder-
stood Clay's meaning, allow mc, on a point of such frequent
occurrence, and in which so many go astray, to justify my comment
and elucidate the position. On referring to Clay, your readers will
note that he is impressing the fact that to ask for trumps a player
mn^t throw away an unnecessarily high card, and he illustrates
this by an example of his partner playing a ten second hand on a
small card led, and afterwards playing a small card, whereon
Clay says, " lie thinks he has asked for trumps, but he has done
no such thing. His ten is not, so far as I can tell, an unneces-
sarily high card. It is an effort to take the trick. It may
be played in the ordinary way from Knavo, ten, and a small
card of the suit." Clay's meaning clearly is, that inasmuch as tho
ten may have been played from Knave, ten, and a small one, and
would in that case not have been an unnecessarily high card, tho
play of the ten, and then a small one, is not per se asking for
trumps. And ho clearly implies that if ho knew or could infer that
his partner did not hold the Knave, ho would have regarded it as
asking for trumps ; for remember that he expressly lays it down
that, with Knave orten and one small card second hand, tho small
card is to be played, unless to cover ; so that, in his opinion, holding
ten, or Knave, and a small one .>;econd hand, and playing ten or
Knavo on a small one, would be an unnecessarily high card, and
that is the test. Cavendish's language on this point is not liable to
tho same misinterpretation as Clay's. Ho says, "It is important
to distinguish between covering second hand and discarding an un-
necessarily high card. For example, with Knave, ten, and a small one,
it is usual to play tho ten second hand on a small card. When the
small card is played tho second round, it is not a signal for trumps,
unless your partner can infer that you do not hold the Knavo." So
equally and by parity of reasoning, a player holding Knavo and
a small ono can by ploying the Knavo second hand, when a small
one is led, ask for trumps, but it will not be a signal to his partner
unless his partner himself holds tho Queen, or can infer that it
is in the hands of either adversary. And this, accordiag to my
experience, is the view adopted in play by Cavendish au<l oilier lino
players. I therefore submit tkat in Problem 1 B (third player)
could not bo rare that }', who played tho Knavo second hand and
must hold tho two, won not asking for trumps.
On tho other matters at issue lictweon myself and " Five of
Clubs," I will only say that some expressions in his letter to yon,
Mr. Kditor, give inaccurate imprcsaiuns of tho content* of mj
lotter, for whicli you could not find spoce. MocfL.
If our whist readers consider a few sontences prccedinj? those
quoted by " Mogul" from Cloy, and a few which follow, tin . -.vill
sec, we think, that Cloy, at any rate (rightly or wrongly), tli . ii/ht
I ho piny of ten followed by small ono (with these two ciirds :iloao
in hand) an unsatisfactorj- way of signalling. Tho passage runs: —
" Aly partner is sccmd to play, and holdji, saij, the ten and a gmall
card n/ the tuit, which the adversary opens with a small card. My
partner being second player, plays his ten, and tho trick is taken
with the King ; the load is returned, and tho original leader takes
with the Ace, my portner throwing his small card." He thinks,
&c., as quoted by "Mogul," "He could only liave given, in this
way, a legitimate invitation for a trump, if tho card originally held
hod been higher than the t«n, which, in this case, would have been
an unnecessarily high card."
It seems to me clear that Clay, with his (perhaps exaggerated)
abhorrence of small cards, here teaches that if you hold ten and a
small one second hand, you should not, even though yon desire to
signal, use these cards for the purpose, lest your partner (not holding
Knave or having any means of placing it clsewliere), should infer
that it remains in your hand, unguarded. Of course, every whist
player knows that with Queen and one other, or Knave and one
other, or ten and one other, the small card should be played. Every
whist player also is familiar with Cavendish's explanation (given in
almost identical terms by Pole also) that with Queen, Knave, and
small one, or Knave, ten, and a small one, the highest of the sequence
should be played first if you want to signal. But that I take it i«
a different point, not, as Mogul opines, the same. Cavendish is
speaking of a case where second hand holds three. Clay of a case
where he holds only two. However, Problem 1 was not mine, but
taken, as stated, from the Wesfmitister Papers.— Fixe of Clcbs.
And this leads me to note that many querists seem nnable to
understand how Z could know from T's play in the ninth and tenth
rounds of the game in No. 13, p. 284, that Y held tho Knave. I was
Z, Ts partner, and I knew it ; the " proof of the pudding," ic. Let
mc explain how I knew it— at once, without having to think over the
matter. T usually played strictly in accordance with the familiar
rules, always " following " with lowest of a sequence, unless there was
special occasion to depart from the rule. In this case he manifestly had
not played tho lowest, for after the ten fell the nine. I knew he
would never have played ten before nine, from the sequence ten,
nine only. I was absolutely certain, therefore, that he held the
Knave. It was the only way in which he could have shown it. He
was bound to play one of the sequence ; the small card would have
lost a trick aud the game. If he played nine, then ten, I should
have knovm nothing about the Knave ; if he had played nine, then
Knave, I should have known nothing about the ten, or rather 1
should have supposed ten -with the adversary. If he had played
ten then Knave, or Knave then ten, I should have supposed the
nine with the adversary. By plaving ten, then nine, he showed mc
the position of the tliird card of the sequence. My own play of
tho King first was decidedly wrong, though, of com-se, strictly in
accordance mth rule. I felt this the moment I had played it ;
who has not made such mistakes ? But it seemed to me at the
time that Y hit on a very ingenious course to show mo ho held the
three sequence, by departing from tho customary rule and playing
the middle card. Of course, if he had not been a steady player,
I might have supposed the play of ten followed by nine a mere
piece of carelessness ; but I felt certain it was not.
Five of Clcbs.
j!^oric:Es.
The Buck Numbers of Khowlkdob, with the eieeption of No. 2 (Nor. II, 1981),
No. 3 (Nov. 18, 1381), and No. 6 (ohtninablo only by taking Part IT). ire in prinl.
and can be obtained from all booksellers and newsagents, or direct from the
Publishers. Should any difTjculty arise in obtaining the paper, an applicatioo to
the Publishers is respectfully requested.
The following Monthly Parts of Kxowi-IDQB are now to be had (Part I. htini
out of prinl) : —
Pabt 11.— (Dec., 1881.) Containing five numbers. Price Is. Post-free, Is. Sd.
Paiit III.— (Jan., 1882.) Containing four numbers. Price lOd. Post-free, !«.
Part IV.— (Feb., 18j2.) Containing four numbers. Price lOd. Post-free, la.
Subscribers wishing to complete their Sets are advised to make early applicatioa
to the Publishers, as no further reprints will be ordered.
Special Noticb to ora Rbadkrs.— Threepence each willj>e"paid by the Pnb-
blishcra for copies of Nos. 2, 3, and 6. Apply or address; Wynian i .Songfti,
Great Queen Street, London, W.C.
OFFICE: 74 & 75, GUEAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
March 17, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
417
V AN ILLiL&IRATED ^^' /^
MAG^ZlNEo?SC;iENCE^ I
PLAINLrVfORDED -EXACTlVDESCRIBED \
LONDON.- FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1882.
Contents of No. 20.
Ou the Conscrration of Solar Euergj-.
Bv Dr. \V. B. Carpralcr '... -417
Xoles on Koiving. By an Old Club
Captain ; 418
Future of tho Earth and Moon. By
Dr. Ball, Astronomer-Royal for
Ireland. Part III 420
Illusions of Motion and Strobic
Circles. By Thomas Foster.
mimtrattil) 121
Sewconib's Popular .^stronorav 423
The Crystal Palace Elcctrieal feihj.
bili.iii. Sixth Notice. (Illiisl.) ... 12.5
Brain Troubles. The Echo Sign ... 427
Easv LcHsons in Blovrpipe Chomislrr.
BV Lieut .-Colonel W. A. Ross,
late K.A. (IllH,tru/„l) -laS
•,* Our Exchange and Sixpenny Sale
advertising col
The l%e of the Tricvcle. Bv Dr. B.
W. Kiohardson, P.R.S
Change of Habit in .Animals
The "Sound" of Fishes
Electro-Magnetic Theory of Light...
Our Ancestors
CoBRESPONDKKCE ; — Vegetariiint*m
— Plants in Bedrooms — Tele-
scopes—The Potato, 4c 431
Special Notice
Queries
Replies to Queries
Answers to Correspondents
Notes on Art and Science
I Our Mathematical Column
Our Whist Column
1 Our Chess Column
Columns appear on Page IV.— in our
imns this week.
ON THE CONSERVATIOX OF 80LAR
ENERGY.
By Dh. W. B. Carpenter.
rpHE met^ting of the Royal Society on Jlarch l-'iicl was
.L rendered unusually interesting, tirist, by the admission
of H. R H. the Prince of Wales, as a Fellow of the Society ;
second, by a communication given by Prof. Huxley on the
fungous origin of the " Salmon Disease," which is destroying
large numbers of fish in the rivers of the South of Scotland
and the North of England, from the Tay to the Conway ;
and last, but by no means least, by the exposition given by
Dr. Siemens of an " idea " regarding the mode of main-
tenance of the Solar energy, which he lias been for some
time maturing, and has at last determined to submit to the
criticism of the scientific world. Of this most ingenious
and suggestive speculation, the following sketch will, I
hope, prove as interesting to the readers of Knowledge,
as Dr. Siemens's own admirable and more detailed statement
of it was to the members of the large scientific gathering
to which it was addressed.
In the first place, he reminded us of the enormous
amount of heat which is constantly radiating from the Sun
into space ; thi.s, according to the best measurements that
have been made, being such as would be maintained for
only thirty-six hours by the complete combustion (as in
the most perfectly-constructed furnace) of a mass of the
best coal equal to the Earth in bulk. Now, if the sun were
surrounded by a solid sphere of a radius equal to the mean
distance of the earth, the whole of this heat would be inter-
cepted by it ; but since the diameter of the earth, as seen
from the sun, is only seventeen seconds, so that its surface
is only 1-2, ■250,000,000th part of the whole area of such a
sphere, only that proportion of the entire heat radiated
from the sun will fall upon the earth. Supposing the
aggregate of all the Planetary bodies to intercept ten times
as much as the earth, the total amount of solar heat thus
utilised will be only one part in 225,000,000 of the total
radiated from tlie sun ; the other 224,1199,999 parts to all
appearance going to waste — in other words, doing no work.
Now the mode in which this enormous supply is kept
up has been in all ages a question of great interest ; but
only in modern times could any scientific solution of it be
even attempted. Of course, Chemical action would be the
first source tliat would occur to almost every one — radia-
tion of heat from a fire being the nearest thing within our
cxpirience to the heating effect of the solar beams. But,
putting aside other diliicultics arLsing out of the revela-
tions of the spectroscope, the ordinary chemical hypothesis
is met by the objection, that the accumulation of the pro-
ducts of combustion on the surface of the sun would in
time form a barrier against further action. And, sup-
posing this barrier disposed of, it is obvious that the
nuiintenance of this combustion must bo attended with a
continual ii-asting-airaii of the sun, at a rate which would
make itself perceptible in the disturbant e of planetiiry equili-
brium, wlien the loss is estimated for long pt-riods of time.
An opposite idea was suggcstid some years ago by Sir
William Thomson : that of a continual rain of Meteorites
upon the sun — the velocity they would acquire from its
attraction causing them to impinge upon its surface with
such force, as to generate a large amount of heat when their
motion is checked. But hert^ we are met Viy two diffi-
culties : first, that of conceiving of any supply of meteorites
that would be competent thus to keep up the amount of
heat which we know to be always radiating from the sun ;
and secondly, the progressive increase in the bulk of tlie
sun that would be produced by any ad(;quate supply, dis-
turbing the planetary equilibrium in the contrary sense to
the preceding.
It has been supposed by llelmholtz, and accepted by
many physicists on his authority, that tht; radiant energy
of the sun is the result of a progressive sliriuktujc of his
bulk and condensation of his substance. But tlie giving-
out from his surface of the heat thus generated in his
interior, could only be accomplished through some medium
of much gi-eater conductivity than is possessed by any
material known to us ; and on this process, again, a limit is
oliviously imposed, since a time would come when (as seems
now the case with the Moon, and nearly so with the Earth,
Venus, and Mars) the limit of consolidation would be
reached.
Dr. Siemens, as every one knows, is the inventor of
the regenerative furnace now coining into general use ; in
which a large proportion of the heat that ordinarily goes
up the furnace-chimney, and runs to waste, is recovered
from the products of combustion, carried back into the
furnace, and made to do its proper work - thus obtaining
an enormous advantage in economy of fuel. IMentally
projecting this terrestrial experience into the realms of
space, he was led to the conviction " that the prodigious and
seemingly wanton dissipation of solar heat is unnecessary
to satisfy accepted principles regarding the conservation of
energy ; but that it may be arrested and returned over
and over again to the sun, in a manner somewhat
analogous to the action of the hea1>recuperator in the
regenerative gas-furnace." The fundamental conditions of
his hypothesis are three.
I. Everyone who has followed the recent progress of
Celestial Physics, is aware of the increasing reasons which
there are for regarding not only planetary, but stellar
space as occupied by matter in a very attenuated condition ;
and Dr. Siemens starts with the assumption that this matter
chiefly consists of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and
their compounds (especially aqueous vapour and carbonic
acid), besides solid material in the form of dust. The
existence of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon he considers
to be indicated by the presence of those elements in our
own atmosphere, to which (according to the molecular theory
of gases) no such limit as was formerly assigned to it can
now be admitted. We get a clue to the gaseous components
•IS
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Maboh 17, 1882.
>f what may bo called tho " atraosphcro of spacn," from
Analysis of tlic gnsrs loi-kodup in froshlyfalloii mot<'orites,
which sonictiinrs " oicliidt" kIx times their own hulk. A
recent aniilysis l>y Dr. Klij^ht guve nearly 4C per cent of
tho Uiia\ as consistinj; of hydrogen, .''."J pr>r cent, of carbonic
oxide, and IH per cent of nitrogen ; and it soenis clear
that the liyclrogea and carbonic oxide could not have been
absorbed during tho pas.sagc of the niet<'orite througii our own
atmosphere, but must have betm lirought in from the out-
side. Further proof that .stellar s]iace is lilled with gaseous
matter is furnished by spectrum analysis ; and the recent
invojitigutions of Dr. II\iggins and others into the compo-
sition of the last groat Comet showed it to contain very
much the same gases with tho.se contained in meteorites.
II. It was long since shown by Sir William Grove
that water can be decomposed — or, in modern chemical
language, that oxygon and hydrogen can be "dissociated"
— by heat alone ; and wo know that the dissociation
of tho oxygen and carbon in carbonic acid, is effected
\>y light, acting through certain vegetable substances.
Now, according to the law of dissociation developed
by Bunson and Saint Claire Deville, the point of dis-
sociation of dill'erent compounds depends upon tempera-
ture on tlie one hand and pressure on the other ; so that it
is quite conceivable that when aqueous vapour is reduced
to extreme tenuity, its dissociation may be effected by solar
radiation at a coniimratively low temperature. Some years
ago Dr. Siemens tried some experiments on this point,
the results of which were (so far as they went) con-
tirmatory of this view. And his recent well-known ex-
periments on the growth of plants under the electric light
have satisfied liim that, provided the source of the light
give it off in sufficient inti'iisih/, the quantil)/ required is
very small. And he is thus led to suggest that all the
i-adiant energy which is seemingly running to waste, is
really doing work in dissociating the aqueous vapour and
I'arbonic acid of the " sjiace atmosphere," the carbon being
thus made ready to unite with the nascent hydrogen into
combustible hydrocarbons.
III. The third basis of Dr. Siemens's doctrine is the
effect that will be produced by the rotation of the Sun
around its axis, on the distribution of gases and vapours in
its atmosphere. The tangential velocity of the sun at its
equator being nearly four times that of our earth, an ex-
tension of the solar atmosphere must take place in the
equatorial plane, to which (revi\ ing an old hypothesis, and
explaining away the objection raised to it by Laplace) Dr.
Siemens attributes the "zodiacal light." Pressures being
balanced all round, Dr. Siemens shows that the sun would
be continually di-awing hydrogen, hydrocarbons, and oxygen
from the " space atmosphere " towards its polar surfaces,
and be continually projecting outwards the products of
their reunion, from the equatorial extension of its own
atmosphere. During their gradual approach, they will pass
from their condition of extreme attenuation and extreme
cold to that of compression, accompanied with rise of tem-
perature ; until, on approaching the photosphere, they
liurst into flame, giving rise to a great development of heat,
and themseUes acquiring a temperature proportionate to the
pressure they are sustaining. The result of their com-
Im.stion will be aqueous vapour and carbonic oxide or
lyirbonic acid, according to the sufficiency or insufficiency
of tlie oxygen present to complete the combustion : and
these products of combustion, yielding to the influence of
. entrifugal force, will flow towards the solar equator, and
he thence projected into space.
In this manner a continual interchange of matter will be
taking place between the sun and its " environment ;" and as
the Sun is constantly and rapidly moving through space, it
will be continually traversing now portions of the "space-
atmosphere," wliich, it is conceivable, may be so differently
charged with the supplies of material, as to be more or less
potent in maintaining tlie solar energy.
Such is a general outline of Dr. Siemens's most ingenious
spectdation, which, whatever may be its ultiniatf- issue,
must bo accounted one of the highe.'.t and most brilliant
flights that the " .scientilic imagination ' has ever made.
Such as desire a more detailed exposition of it — especially
as to tho changes which Dr. Siemens supposes to be always
taking place on the surface of the sun itself — will find it in
his papiT, which will speedily appear in the " Proceedings
of the Royal Society." Its publication will douV)tless give
rise to mucli discussion : and, whatever may be tho ultimate
fate of the doctrine as a physical theory, there can be no
doubt that in the new direction which it will give to
investigation, its promulgation will contribute in no small
measure to tho advance of science.
NOTES ON ROWING.
By .\n Old Club Captain.
LET us, in the first place, consider the conditions under
which an ordinary lap-streaked inrigged (or half out-
rigged) boat should be rowed in order to get the best
racing speed for a boat of that sort. I, of course, ossurue
the rower to have mastered all the initial difficulties of his
art, so as to be able to give his attention to tho question of
style. Well, in the first place we find that for racing
purposes the great object is to adopt a style by which we
may niaiiilaiii, as far as possible, the velocity which can be
readily enough communicated by a great short-lasting effort,
and to do this with as little o^erwork as possible. Racing
necessarily involves overwork, for no one who meant to
row for two or three hours, or even for a single hour,
would adojjt a racing stroke, even for tivt? minutes of the
time. But tho overwork in a race has to last over a good
many minutes, and must be so distributed as to be most
effective. The rower has, therefore, in racing to avoid,
above all things, whatever would invohe waste of power ;
and he very quickly finds that the most mischievous waste
of power results if he suffer the extra speed communicated
by his efforts to be lost more than of necessity it mtut be
lost between the strokes. In other words, a given average
of velocity is obtained with greater or less expenditure of
force, according as the necessarily varying velocity of the
lioat ranges more or less above and below that average.
Or we may put the matter this way (it is not without a
purpose that we put it in both ways) : The more uniform
the velocity, the less the total expenditure of power to
attain a given average rate of speed.
When we say that a rower soon finds this out, we mean
that if he is attentive and apt he does so. As a matter of
tact, the most successful oarsmen (in races) are those who,
whether they know it or not, have practically found this
out, and the rules for a good rowing style are based — as
will presently appear — on this important principle. But
we know that, apart froui training and example, numbers
of stout oarsmen would never attain a good rowing style,
or at any rate a good racing style. So that we might
probably have said more truly that nine-tenths of our
rowing men would not of themsehos discover this law,
which comes out very gradually in rowing practice, even
to till' acuter rower, and is theoretically only to bo
established by somewhat difficult reasoning, based on
recondite jirinciples, partly dynamical, partly physical,
and partly physiological.
March 17, 1882.J
• KNOWLEDGE
419
But now notice how in the rules for rowing in the old-
fashioned racing boats this principle shows itself.
Oarsmen were told in those days, and very soundly, to
row in the following way : — A good reach forward was to
be taken, and tlic water cauglit squarely Ijy tlie oar, not by
a pulling action of tlie arms, but by the action of the body
and legs ; the arms were to remain perfectly straight, acting
only as " stretchers " until the body was a little past the
perpendicular ; then the stroke was to be finished by the
conil>ined action of the arms, body, and legs — the body
slanting back, tlie hands drawn well in to the chest. The
" recovery" followed, the body being thrown rapidly forward
from the hips, the arms being at the same time extended,
so that, the liandle of the oar being thrust forward by both
motions simultaneously, the blade passed with exceeding
rapidity to the proper position for beginning the ne.\t
stroke.
If we consider the dynamical eflects of this action, we
shall see how admirably suited they were to produce a
motion as uniform as possible in the racing boats of those
days. (Such directions are gi\en in " Principles of Rowing
by Oarsmen," somewhere about 18-10, by Bob Coombes,
who became champion in 1816, and by other excellent
authorities of that time.) First, the strength was applied
with gradually increasing effect from tlie beginning to the
end of the stroke, so that there was no undue strain in
increasing the motion of the boat from the velocity to
which it had fallen during the '" recovery " to its maxi-
mum just before the "feather."' Then the work was care-
fully distributed between arms, legs, and body, the body
and legs doing the work first, then tlie arms joining them
to give that extra lift at the finish which was meant
to counteract as much as possible the tendency to lag
between the strokes, — so marked a characteristic of the
old-fashioned racing boat. Lastly, that this tendency
might have as little chance as possible to give the oarsmen
extra or waste work, there was a very rapid recovery, so
that the next stroke might begin under as favourable
conditions as possible.
All these rules are admirable for the heavier class of
boats, or for tliosc which in old times were called racing
boats. They served to obviate what, from our present
point of view, may be called the great defects of those
lix)ats, their breadth of beam, and the (relative) clumsiness
of their structure.
These rules were carefully enjoined at both the Uni-
versities ; but they were more perfectly carried out at
Cambridge than at Oxford. The sway back of the Cam-
bridge crews and their rapid " recovery, " were things to be
marvelled at in some of the great races which preceded
the introduction of light, outrigged racing boats. And
those who adopted this system had their reward. Of six
races rowed on the Thames in the old-fashioned craft,
Cambridge won five. Not only did they win as a rule, but
they often won in that hollow fashion which means that
superior style has won the race, and not mere superiority
of strength, or even of pluck (in both which. University
crews are likely to be pretty evenly matched.) Cambridge
won by a full minute in 1836, by a minute and three-
quarters in 1839, by more than a minute in 1841, by half
a minute in 1815, the last race rowed in the old-fashioned
inrigged boats.
From 1846 to 1856 the University race was rowed in
lioftts which had a sort of intermediate position between the
heavy lap-streaked inrigged boat and the present light keel-
less outrigged craft. We should consider the boats used
during those ten years quite unsuitable for racing purposes
in our time. The old style of rowing suited them well
enough — perhaps as well as the modern style : a style
between the two would probably have suited them better
than either. In the seven races between Oxford and Cam-
bridge rowed in these earlier specimens of the outrigged
racing boat, success was pretty equally divided between
Oxford and Cambridge — counting one race won by Oxford
on a foul as a real win (which it certainly would have
been, Oxford showing the better speed), each University
won three. But the Oxford wins were better, especially
in the latter years. Cambridge won bv two lengths in
184G, by four in 1849, by half-a-length in 1856 (when
Cambridge liad an exceptionally powerful crew). Oxford
won by eight lengths* in 1852, bj- about five in 1854, and
would probably have won the race of 1849 by many
lengths, apart from the foul. However, si.x years are not
enough to judge by.
So soon, however, as we turn to the races rowed since
the introduction of the modern racing-boat in its present
form (except as to sliding-seats), we find the University
which had been almost always successful in long races with
the heavy craft, and which had seemed able, very fairly, to
hold its own in the keeled outiiggers, beaten, not only in
the great majority of races, but also by much the greater
distances. Let us consider the twenty-five races which
have been rowed between Oxford and Cambridge since
1857:—
Of these twenty-five races, fifteen have been won by
Oxford, nine by Cambridge, and one was a dead heat If
we count the race of 1859 as one which Cambridge would
have won had not the Cambridge boat been half full of
water at starting, we niaj' put fourteen races to Oxford and
ten to Cambridge ; but then, in fairness, the dead heat of
1877 should be counted as an Oxford win.t The mishap
to Thorley's outrigger in the Oxford boat in 1858 may lie
regarded as fairly matched by the accident to Dick's
stretcher in the Cambridge boat in 1875. This dispro-
portion is too great to be probably due to mere cliance.
But when we examine the circumstances under which the
various races were lost and won, we find the existence of a
determining cause still more clearly indicated. Take for
this purpose the following table, in which, to eliminate as
much as possible the effect of mere chance, all the races
since the introduction of outrigged craft are considered : —
Oxford won Cambridge won
In 1846 by 2 lengilis
1849 5
In 1852 by 8 lengths
1S54 5
1857
11
1861
It
1862
8
1863
13
1864
0
1865
4
1866
4
1867
186.S
I
1869
3
1873
10
1878
10
1880
3
1881
3
1856 i
1858 7
1860 1
1870 li
1871 1
1872 2
1873 3
1874 2>
187G 8
1870 24
107 lcr{,'llii.. Total
36 lengths.
Average per race ... 7-fTj lengths. Average per race... 3 lengths
* The number of lengths corresponding to any given number of
seconds by which the race was won, may be obtained by regarding
6J lengtlm as equivalent to as many seconds as the race itself lasted
minutes.
t The reader will underetand that we are only regarding either
race as .afferting our opinion of Oxford and Cambridge style. The
race of 18");) was unquestionably an Oxford win, though every one
who knows the circumstances is aware that Cambridge never had a
chance from the beginning; and, in like manner, the race heat of
1877 must be regarded as a dead heat, though it is certain Oxford
would liavo won but for an accident.
420
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Maiicu 17, Ifct:;.
Add to this tlic coiisidnrntion that aftor Oxford hod won
njiio successive races, from ISOl to M*C>0 iiiclusivo, one of
tl>o best oarsmen Oxford has over produced, Mr. CSnorgo
Morrison, ;{ave nnich time nnd care to couchinfj tho Cam-
bridge crew into a bett<'r style tlmn tlii'V Iiad before
followed, so that there is ;;oiid reason for l)plicvin',' that
in some of the races which followed (from 1870 to 1H73,
p«?rhaps) tho inlluenct- of Oxford training was at work in
the Caniliridfjo crews.
These points considered suggest a strong probability
tliat there has been a radical difference for matiy years
between the Cambridge and tlie Oxford style, the latter being
the better. As it is well known that for many years since
the old-fashioned racing-boats went out of use, the olil-
fiushioned principles of rowing have been in vogue at Cain-
bridge, we miglit fairly assume, apart from all dynamical
evidence, that thi- old-fashioned stroke does not suit racing-
lioats of the present fashion.
Let us see what theory suggests as likely to be the best
kind of stroke (for racing purposes) in these light boats,
and then let us intpiirc what evidence we have to show
that such a stroke really is rowed by the most successful
crews.
(To be coiilinned.)
FUTURE OF THE ICAUTU AND MOON.
By Dr. Hall, AsTuoxoMEii-PtOYAL for Ireland.
IT^VERYONE knows that the moon always turas the
\i same face towards the earth ; this has been shown to
be a consequence of the tides which were anciently raised
in the moon. The tides in the moon were produced by the
attraction of the earth, just as the tides on the earth arc
produced by the attraction of the moon. There is, how-
ever, an important diHerence ; the earth is so much heavier
than the moon, that the tides which the earth raised on the
moon must have been much greater than the tides which
the moon can raise on the earth. It matters not that the
moon now contains no li([uid ocean. All that is necessary
is that the moon shall once have been soft enough to admit
of being distorted by tidal inllucnce. It must be remem-
bered that it is not the mere presence of a high tide or a low-
tide that does the work. It is the rising and falling of the
tide which produces the currents, and it is the tidal currents
whicli do the work. The mighty tides which once acted on
the moon have long si:ice ceased, but they have forced the
moon always to turn the same face to the earth, as this is
the only attitude in which tides do no work on the moon.
In the distant future the small mass of the moon will
.achieve the sitmc result on the earth. At the final stage
the earth and moon will move as if they were fixed rigidly
together by movable bars, and were revolving around their
common centre of gravity in 1,400 hours.
If the earth and the moon could be isolated from all
external interference, there is no reason why this state of
things should not continue indefinitely, but there is another
disturbing cause with which we must reckon. We have
seen tli.it it was probably the sun which originally broke
off the moon as a fragment from the earth. It seems, also,
that the sun is destined to derange the harmonious compact
in which the earth and the moon would have otherwise
agreed. Once the 1,400 hour day and the 1,400 hour
month have been reached, the earth will no longer be affected
by tides ])roduced by the moon. No doubt there will be a
liigh tide on the earth and there will lie a low tide, but as
the earth will then always regard the mooii with the same
aspect, thego tides will not rise or fall, they will noteViband
flow. There can then be no lunar tidal currents, and the
tide.t will always remain at the same height at each point
on our coasts. The sun, however, will still continue to
produce tides on the earth. These tiiles will no doubt V
small, us the solar tides are small at present ; they will also
ris(! and fall with extreme slowness. At present one high
tide follows another in a little over six hours. At the
final stage one solar high tide will follow another solar high
tide only after an interval of about five weeks. These tides
are small, and the currents they produce are very wt^ak,
but by incessant perseverance even these small tides cannot
fail of producing an appreciable effect. The solar tidal
currents act always in one direction, they always ten<l to
retard the earth and to make the earth revolve more slowly.
Here, then, we are conducted to a very remarkable con-
dition of things in the distant future. ITie month will
remain at 1,400 hour.s, while the day is lengthened still
more. We thus have for the first time in the history of
our earth-moon system the da\' actually longer than the
month. A few years ago we knew of no analogy in the
solar system to the state of things hei-e foreshadowed. But
the splendid discovery of the satellites of Mars has enabled
us to give an illustration. The interior satellite of Mars
moves round the planet in aViout seven hours, while the
planet itself takes more than three times as long. At the
time of its discovery this seemed a most anomalous circum-
stance, but now the ditiiculty has been to a great extent
removed. It seems likely that Mars himself once rotated
more rapidly than at present, and that by the intervention
of the solar tides the present state of things has been
brought about. It must not be overlooked that Mars and
his satellites are much smaller than the earth and the moon.
We might therefore expect to find that the process of
evolution has proceeded much further in the case of Mars
than in the case of the earth. Once the solar tides have
acted on the earth sufficiently to abate its velocity below
that of the moon, a new reaction on the moon will be
manifested. This new influence is not a little curious. As
the earth ceases to turn the same face to the moon, the
lunar action will again commence to develope tides on the
earth. The tidal currents produced in this way w-ill tend
to drag the earth on faster, instead of to retard it as Viefore,
but the moon can exert no action on the earth without a
corresponding reaction. In this case the reaction will take
the form of a force tending to draw the moon in again
towards the earth. The matter is, however, too coniplicat«l
for us to pursue it any further with advantage.
It is, indeed, remarkable that so striking a period in the
earth-moon history can be traced out merely as limiting
the influence of the tide. It would seem, from one
aspect of the question, that at the present moment we are
near the centre of the period, inasmuch as the ratio of the
month to the day has but recently passed its maximum.
From another point of view, however, w-e seem to be vastly
nearer to the first stage, ancient as that is, than we are to
the last. The day has lengthened from .'? hours to 24
hours, but the lengthening has to go on until the day lasts
1,400 hours, and the rate at which the change proceeds is
now extremely slow, and is getting still slower. We can-
not estimate the countless myriads of years that must
elapse before the moon has attained its greatest distance
and the day has become 1,400 hours in length.
We ha\e in this paper merely touched on one depai"t-
ment of the great problem of tidal evolution. The subject
is yet in its infancy, Imt it seems to have before it a most
noble future. By a series of most splendid discoveries,
Lagrange had shown that the solar system contained the
elements of stability and of permanence. Lagrange showe<l
MARcn 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
421
that the perturbation of the planets could never transcend
certain narrow limits. The planes of the orbits could never
be mueli deranged, t}ie eccentricities of the orbits could
never be much altered. Tlie major axes of tliose orbits
could hartlly be changed at all. But all the great calcu-
lations of Lagrange involved one supposition, they all took
for granted that tlie earth and moon, the sun and the
planets, were rigid bodies. This we know is certainly not
the case with many of these Ijodies, it is probably not the
case with any one of them. Viewed with regard to the
present researches, we are tempted to ask whether the
absence of rigidity may aflect the truth of Lagrange's great
theorems. On the answer to this <iuestion depends the
stability of the solar system. There can be no doubt that
owing principally to their small sizes, and to the distances
at which they are separated, the planets behave nearly as
rigid bodies would so far as their mutual attractions are con-
cerned. Lagrange's theorems are therefore approximately
true, and they will remain substantially correct for
hundreds of thousands of years, Ijut for ail that the planets
are not rigid. Jupiter and Saturn do not act upon each
other merely as the two heavy particles which Lagrange's
theorj- would require. Jupiter and Saturn do, no doubt,
attract each other as Lixgrange supposed, but thej- also
raise tides in each other. These tides may be despised
when we are considering moderate periods of time, but the
tides are there nevertheless. It may be slowly, but it is
certainly surely, that these tides are doing their work, and
by their agency the solar system in course of time shall
become utterly transformed. Geometers know that when
a curve has to be drawn, the various parts of that curve
may be represented with all desirable accuracy by suitably
chosen arcs of circles. As we proceed from one part of the
curve to another, the radii and the centres of those circles
are changed so that each arc of the circle shall be substan-
tially coincident with the corresponding part of the curve.
As the arcs of the circles coincide with the curve, so do the
laws of Lagrange adapt themselves to the course of change
in the universe. At any moment Lagrange's laws are
practically true, but in immense periods of time the system
undergoes profound modification. The laws of gravitation
as ordinarily considered account for many of the ili'tuiln in
the present architecture of the heavens For the profounder
and gra'nder truths of the universe it seems not improbable
that we must interrogate the tides.
Ekiuh. — In Part I. of "Photography for Amateurs" (Xo. 19,
p. 400), paragraph 1, for "improved" read "impressed." In
par 5, for " photoganic " rcad " photogenic " ; and in the last par,
read " J. Xicephore, Xiepee" ; and for " figures" read "pictmes."
In No. 17, p. 363, Letter 289, for "... this gas ; besides which,
coal-gas is harmless," read "... this gas, beside which coal-gas is
harmless."
BiGHT.s OF AxiM.tLS. — Of the grotesque ideas which have imposed
on us in the solemn phraseologj' of divines and moralists, none
is more absurd than the doctrine that our moral obligations stop
short where the object of them does not liappen to know them ;
and assures us that, because the brutes cannot call us to account
for our transgressions, nothing that wc can do will constitute a
transgression. To absolve us from paying for a pair of boots
because our bootmaker's ledger had unluckily been burned, would
be altogether a pai-allel lesson in humanity. It is plain enough,
indeed, that the creature who is (as wo assume) without a con-
science or moral arbitrament, must always be exonerated from
guilt, no matter what it may do of hurt or evil ; and the judicial
proceedings against, and executions of, oxen and pigs in the
Middle .\gc3 for manslaughter were unspeakably absurd. But
•sot less absurd, on the other side, is it to exonerate men, who
n-e consciences and free will, when they are guilty of cmolty to
lirutcs, on the plea — not that then — but the brutes, are immoral and
irresponsible. — Frances Power Cobbe, in the Cornhill Magazine.
ILLUSIONS OF MOTION AND STROBIC
CIRCLES.
By Thomas Foster.
IT is a long time siace I last wTote about illusions. But
other subjects of more immediate interest have tilled
all the available space.
The last illusion which I considered was a very singular
one, and I have been rather surprised to notice how few
among the readers of Knowledce have recognised its
interest and significance. It is one which admits of
various modifications, by which the real nature of the
illusion may be put to the test. It will be remembered
that in describing it, I noted that the paper held in the
reader's hand — Kxowledgk — might be used to illustrate
it. Rolling KxowLEDiiE into a tube an inch or so in
diameter, and looking through this with one eye, while
the hand not holding the tube is held touching
the tube, at about the distance for distinct vision, an
appearance is presented as though one were looking through
the hand. There seems to be a distinctly outlined aperture
through the palm of the hand, if the hand is held with the
palm open, or through the fist (and this has an even
stranger appearance) if the hand be clenched. Now, if the
experiment be modified by using tinted, or strongly
patterned paper for the tube, and by looking at variously
coloured surfaces, it will be found that the strength of the
illusion varies notably. (This may be tested by directing
the mind's attention specially to the hand, so as gradually
to overcome the absurd delusion by which one seems to
look through the palm or the fist.) I leave this as an
exercise to the student of illusions, noting that the result to
which my own experiments have led me is this, that in
ordinary vision what the left eye sees is referred by the
mind (unconsciouslj-, of course) to the right eye, and what
the right eye sees is referred to the left eye. By a series
of tests, such as those I have indicated, this peculiarity
may be recognised. I believe the eyes might be trained
to overcome illusions of this class.
And now let us turn to some illusions of apparent
motion, which, like those we have already considered, can
be explained if carefully studied.
Shading, and Motion.
It may be remembered that in considering Fig. 1, in the
first number of Knowledge, I drew attention to the fact
that the lines AB, CD, EF, Ac, which are in reality
"LUSTKATIONS OP STROBIC CIRCLE.
Makcu 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
423
parallel, appear to converge towards AG, BD, CE, itc.
Later (in No. 4), I called attention to the fact that this
figure illustrates an illusion of motion. If the eve lie run
up and down the parallels, these appear to move. When
the eye is at rest, they seem alternately convergent,
especially if the figure is viewed a little askew, lieing
neither held with the parallels vertical nor horizontal. But
if the eye runs along two parallels which before had seemed
to converge, they are found not to converge, and the effect
produced is as tJiough they had moved from each other at
the end towanls which they had seemed to converge.
Another effect, also, is noticed. The level surface on which
are the zigzag sets of lines, appears to be ridged, this
being apparen;ly due to the fact that the alternate sets of
close parallelsare viewed in different aspects. Thus, sup
pose the papei held so that B, Fig. 1, is lowest, then the
parallels in s?ctions CD, GH, MN, OR, appear farther
apart than thjse in the other, or alternate sections. Now,
if the Hgure is rotated in its own plane, so that first HL,
then R come lowest, there is a change from the a])pear-
anoe just desiribed to its reverse, the parallels in sections
l'|), CiH, MT, OR, appearing now closer instead of farther
iyurt than t'.e others. Accompanying this change will be
•Mid certaiily singular and rather complicated appear-
■s of moion, the ridges sinking, then rising again, the
^ of close parallels drawing apart or closer (and, if the
tion is coitinued, closing up again, and drawing apart
J liii respecively), and the other sets of parallels (vertical
.1 the picure) seeming to bend and grow straight
•Alternately.
Leaving he reader to study these changes and to note
that they ccrespond with what we should anticipate, we
proceed to nore familiar instances of apparent motion,
which find their explanation, I believe, in what we have
learned froi Fig. 1.*
Consider -figs. 2 and 3, first at rest, and then as each
appears wbn a slow circling movement is given to it (as
when a sau^r is so moved as to set a small quantity of
■ uid in it ircling round near the edge), and then as each
; '-ars wh'i swayed through a short distance from side to
ii\ or froi and towards you, in its own plane.
When loking at either picture, held perfectly at rest,
the eye, if k|)t still, is presently affected by appearances of
ivering n tion, apparently affecting the entire picture. If
eye mo\s backwards and forwards across the picture,
irregular) over it, the sets of concentric circles appear
undergo jrtial rotations, — in alternate directions in one
■, irreguir in the other. When the pictures are made
lircle intheir own plane, all the sets of concentric
les seen to tui-n round in the direction of the
■ ling motin given to the picture. Lastly, when the
|'i;tures are lifted back and forward in their own plane,
finm side to ide, each set of concentric circles is blurred
at the sides, • rather in the side quadrants, distinct in the
upper and lo9r quadrants, regarding the sets as divided
into quadran by diameters situated thus x . When the
motion is froi and towards the observer, the upper and
lower quadras of the sets of circles are blurred, the side
•quadrants disnct.
To produceiie rotatory motion, it is necessary to give a
tolerably rap circling motion to either picture. The
experiment sioeeds better if the picture is mounted on
card, and the rcling motion is communicated by a suitable
crank, so as t be more uniform than any motion which
can be given \\h the hand.
* At the mang of the British Association in 1877 (at
nymouth), Profior Sylvanus Thompson exhibited these singular
illusions.
When Fig. 4 is swayed like the others, by a circling
motion in its own plane, the small black discs seem to be
carried round in a tlirection contrary to that of the circling.
It will be noticed that if the circle in which this figure
is swayed is somewhat larger than is necessary to produce
the deceptive appearance of motion, a regular pattern
seems to be formed, by the persistence of the visual images
of the small black discs in the picture.
NEWCOMB'S POPULAR ASTRONOMY.
"ITfE turn now to the less pleasant task of pointing
\ * out defects which might mislead those who rely on
Professor Newcomb's well-deserved eminence as a mathe-
matician and an astronomer.
We should have been disappointed if such subjects as
the tides, the precession of the equino.xes, &c., had been
simply left unexplained in a work of this character. Few
subjects are less satisfactorily explained in most works on
astronomy than the tides, for instance. We are supplied
over and over again with the statement that the water im-
mediately under the moon is drawn from the (!arth, while
the earth is drawn from the water at the opposite
side, a statement true enough (when properly limited)
in itself, and a necessary preliminary to aii}- explana-
tion of the tides. But there the usual (Explanation
comes to an end, the student being simply told that
but for friction there would be high water in the
region under the moon and at the antipodes of that
region. Now, what would be thought of an explanation
of the motion of a reeling top which only showed that an
inclined top tends to tumble over t The reader would
assuredly say, " What I want to know is why the top
when spinning does not tumble over, but reels round."
The common explanation of the tides is open to precisely
such an objection. In the actual case of the rotating
earth there would be low water instead of high in the
regions under the moon, and opposite, were there no
friction ; and the effect of friction is not to throw back
the place of high water about half a quadrant, but about
three half quadrants. These are the relations which have
to be explained ; whereas the ordinaiy explanation deals
with relations which have no existence, not even a theoretical
existence, in nature. Now, it would have been very
useful if Professor Newcomb had given an original
and effective explanation of the true theory of
the tides. Sir G. Airy has given one, but it is not in
the books ; Sir Edmund Beckett has given another, in his
fine work, " Astronomy without Mathematics " ; but the
conditions he imposed on himself prevented him from
giving the best explanation, though he has avoided mathe-
matical reasoning. We should, then, have been disappointed
if we had merely found that Professor Newcomb had left
the tides entirely unexplained, or if he had simply repeated
the usual incomplete explanation. Unfortunately, he has
done worse than this. He has given an explanation
which is entirely incorrect. He describes the earth, and
truly, as circling once in a month around the common
centre of gravity of the earth and moon ; but he attri-
butes to different parts of the earth as she thus moves
different degrees of centrifugal force, according to
the distance of each part from the centre of gravity
just mentioned. If these different degrees of centri-
fugal force (or rather tendency) in reality existed,
the tides would be far more important phenomena than
they really are. A calculation which Professor New-
comb might have made on liis thumli-nail as he wrote the
424
KNOWLEDGE
[Maiicii 17, ]882.
passage would Iiavo shown that the tidal action of the moon
alonr would Ih- lliirty tiiiirs greater tliaii the n-al action of
tli<" sun and moon togetlicr. In rfality, tlin did'crfncc? of
ccntrifiipil ti'iidciicics thus iiiin^^imd lias no exist<-nce — a
circiinistancr which no one would have recognised more
readily than Professor Nowcondi, had he thought of
examining the matter carefully. The motion of tlu; earth
around the lomnion centre of gravity of th<! earth ami
moon may he thus illustrated :• - Conceive a hall S in. in
dianu'ter .suspended hy a long thread, and not rotating ;
then imagine the j oiiit of suspension carried steadily round
in a horizontal circle 0 in. in dianuster. Tims the centre of
the ball will be carried round, and so will ('very point in
the ball, in a horizontal cirdi^ of the same dianiet<jr.
Neglecting the earth's rotation on her axis, which
is an independent movement, her motion round
the centre of grax ity of her own mass and the
moon's takes place in this manner, each jioint in the
earth (whose diameter is about 7,900 miles) describing,
once in a lunar month, a nearly circular orbit about 6,000
miles in diameter. Professor Newcomb's mistake consists
in supposing that the motion is of a v<'ry different kind,
such, for instance, as our illu-strativo ball would possess, if
it were twirled round on a knitting-needle thrust through
it at a distance of .'Sin. from the centre, and held in an un-
changed upright position while rotated, carrying the ball
with it. In this case, points near the needle would 7nove
in small circles, wliile points farther away would travel in
large circles, tho.se furthest off travelling in a circle 14in.
in diameter. Tlius there would be different centrifugal
tendencies in the different parts of the ball. If the
earth moved in this way round .the centre of her
monthly orbit, while also rotating on her axis once
a day, and round the sun once a year, we should
have the state of things imagined by Professor New-
comb. But our opportunities for observing the result
would be precarious ; for the tidal waves would be of por-
tentous magnitude, and at least half the present land
surface of tlie eartli would be uninhabitable. It is strange
tliat it should not liave occurred to Professor Newconib
that, if his explanation of the lunar tides were correct, the
solar tides explained on the same principle would be
utterly insignificant compared with the lunar ones, in-
stead of bearing to these about the proportion of 2 to .").
His mistake in this matter is a curious illustration of the
errors into which even the profoundest mathen)aticians
may fall in careless moods. It can only be compared
with one which Lord Brougham is said to have made in
one of the earliest publications of the Society for Dif-
fusing Useful Knowledge. Professor Tait, in a lecture
delivered before the British Association at Glasgow, stated
that in such a treatise, quickly withdrawn from publica-
tion. Brougham explained that a man carries a load more
readily over his shoulder than suspended from his hand,
because in the former case it is furtlier from the centre of
tlie earth, and gravitj' diminishes as the square of the dis-
tance from the earth's centre increases. The story seems
incredible, but it is scarcely more remarkable than that a
mathematician like Newcomb should employ reasoning as
unsound in reality as that of those who deny the moon's
rotation. In fact, Newcomb's paradox is \ery similar in
character to that of Messrs. Jellinger Symons and H.
Perigal, though not quite so obviously erroneous.
It is in some i-espects even more remarkable that Pro-
fessor Newcoudi should ha\e given an equally erroneous
explanation of the precession of the exquinoxes, or rather
of the motion to which precession is due — the reeling of
the earth like a mighty top, each reel lasting forthe
long period of 25,890 years. The subject is, indeed, far
more difficult to explain to the non-mathematical student
than the tide.s. I!ut for that very reason wc should have
expected t^> lind our author on his guard again-st miKtakes.
Th<r ablest mathematician may trip in explaining offhand
an easy subject, precisely as the ablest gymnast may fail
when lightly essaying some simple feat. But in dealing
with such a subjcsct as the precession of the equinoxes,
even the ablest mathematician girds up his loins as for a
task of ditliculty. Yet Newcomb's explaiation of the
phenomenon is altogether erroneous, though his statements
respecting the nature of the phenomena aie, of course,
entirely correct. '^
The explanation of the peculiarities which theory indi-
cates as aH'ecting the figure of the moon, thongi observation
has not yet demonstrated their actual exist-nce, is also
erroneous. It brings our author so close to tht ]>aradox of
Jellinger Symons (earlier jiropounded by Beitley), that
one cannot but wonder how he failed to notice the mistake
which underlies his reasoning.
The account of the llarton Colliery expriment for
determining the mass of the earth is incorret, and the
princij)les on which tJie experiment depends a-e not pro-
perly stated. Professor Newcomb says that if lie density
of the earth increases as we approach the <-ntre, the
diminution of the force of gravity will be less rf)id as we
descend. But in reality the actual increase )f density
towards the earth's centre causes gravity to incrase as the
depth I lelow the surface increases. This increase continues
to a depth hundreds of times greater than can b reached
by man. Our author goes on to say that " a detfmination
of the density of the earth by the diminution of jravity in
a mine was made by Professor Airy at the Harto Colliery
in 18.t5." But in this experiment Airy fourl gravity-
greater at the bottom of the mine than at the toj Owing
to this increase in the force of gravity, the periulum at
a depth of 1,260 ft. gained 2| seconds per da; as com-
pared with its indications at the mouth of the nine. It
is, by the way, worth noticing, though so far aswe know
the point is not mentioned in any of our tratises on
astronomy, that even if the density of the erth were
uniform, gravity at the bottom of a deep openinpvould be
greater or less than at the surface, according tcthe sliape
of the opening. It can be shown that if the earn were at
uniform density, the action of gravity on a bdy at the
bottom of an opening would be equal to the ittraction
which a mass equal in all respects to the remoed matter
would exert on that body (only this attractio must be
regarded as acting towards the earth's centre), ided to the
attraction due to the body's distance fronj le centre.
The latter portion is less than gravity at theurface, in
just the same degree that the distance of th^iody from
the earth's centre is less than the earth's radis ; but the
* Some one in America, criticising the a.stronomic articles in
the "American Cyc!opa;tlia" (Applcton), which wcrcovised, and
in {;rcat pai-t re-written, by me, was kind cnoiigli to jut ont that
my cxjilaiiation of the precession of the equinoxes waiot new. It
was not mine, but was left by nic almost untonch, being well
written, and correct. I left, for a like reason, the itter relating:
to ]>recossion in the " KncycIopa;dia Britannicn " alrst untouched
when the article on astronomy was entrusted to » for revision
and rc-writing. Possibly, if I had endeavoured to :d an entirely
new explanation, 1 might, like Professor Xewcomb, Vc come upon
one which, tliough new, was not true. At any rate, icre so skilful
a mathematician went astray, none need be ashned to err. 1
believe that in a later edition of Professor Newcib's book, the
errors jiointed out above, and in my earlier revv in the Coh-
lempnyartj, have been corrcded. Tlicy wore, at an;ate, corrected
in American journals. Professor Xewcomb is one ithosc who are
strong enough to be able and willing frankly to aJit and correct
such niistakos as all active thinkers are bound to iko from time
to time. — Ed.]
ilAEcn 17, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE -
425
other portion may more than make up for the tletieiency,
if the opening is wide enough. The mine method of deter-
mining the earth's mean density is, in any case, suKject to
great uncertainty ; and few astronomers now attacli much
weight to the result <jf the Ilarton Colliery experiment.
There is a singular mistake in the following statement
respecting Venus in transit : — " It would not be possible
to see any indications of an atmosphere in such circum-
stances ; for the reason that the light passing through its
denser portions would be refracted entirely out of its
course, so as not to reach an observer on the earth at all."
By similar rea.soning, it could lie shown that we ought never
to see the sun. For the rays which set out from him
directly towards an observer on earth are refracted entirely
out of their course, and never reach the observer at all.
Precisely, however, as such an observer sees the sun by
rays which but for our atmosphere could ne\er have
reached him, so solar rays pass through the atmosphere of
Venus in transit to an observer on eaith, which would
never have reached him but for that atmosphere. In fact,
the solar light seen close to the black disc of Venus in
transit does not come from the part of the sun immediately
l)eyond Venus, but from other parts, or, to speak more
correctl}-, from e\erv other part of the sun's disc.
Professor Newcomb disposes rather too summarily of the
interesting discovei-y made by Kirk wood, that there are
gaps in the mean distances of the small planets from the
sun, none travelling at .1, ^, 2-5ths, 3-7ths, &c., of the
mean distance of .1 upitei-. " Whether these gaps are really
due to the relations of the periodic times, or are simply
the result of chance, cannot yet be settled." He says,
" the fact that (juite a number of the small planets have a
period very nearly three-eighths that of Jupiter may lead
us to wait for further evidence before concluding that we
have to deal with a real law of nature in the cases pointed
out by Professor Kirkwood.' The law involved is most
important in its consequences, leading almost inevitably to
the rejection of the simple nebular hypothesis of the solar
system, and to the adoption of a theory of the develop-
ment of the system in large part by meteoric accretion.
We may be excused, therefore, for dwelling upon a
point which, at a tirst view, may seem to belong rather
to the smaller details of astronomical research than to
the broad facts in which the general public take in-
terest. If Professor Newcomb had constructed a graphical
idelineation of the distances of the smaller planets, he
would have rejected at once, w'e believe, the idea that
chance has anj'thing to do with the relation in question.
Such a delineation we have before us as wo write, and we
find the smaller planets most markedly divided into five
principal families, the spaces separating which correspond
to the following periods, or sets of periods (Jupiter's period
being taken as 1) : — (i.) |, 2-7ths, and 3-lOths; (ii.) ^ ;
,(iii.) 2-5ths ; (iv.) 3-7ths ; (v.) i ; and (vi.) .'i-oths. Now
the distance corresponding to the period | falls in the very
heart of the richest of all these sub-families. Here we
could hardly expect to find a gap, especially when we
iiiiiember that the perturbing action due to the corre-
-pondence between three periods of Jupiter and eight
1'1'riods of a small planet would be very small compared
\vith the disturbance due to simpler relations — as where
four, three, or t\v'o periods of a minor planet correspond
with one period of Jupiter, or tive periods of a minor
planet with two or with three periods of Jupiter. JJut
in reality, the richest sub-family of small planets does
open out unmistakably at the distance corresponding
to a period equal to 3-8ths of Jupiter's. This distance
would be 2-70.55, the earth's being unity. Now, there are
six of the small planets whose distances lie between 2 686
and 2-701, and six whose distances lie between 2-708 and
2-721 ; but there is not one whose distance lies between
2-701 and 2-70S. In other words, whereas the average
interval between successive distances amounts only to
0-0025 in the groups on either side of the critical distance
we are considering, there is a gap of 0-007, or nearly three
times as great, between these groups.
We have left to ourselves ho space to comment on the
more speculative opinions expres.sed by Professor New-
comb. On the whole, he seems to us to show at once more
caution and more daring than most of his contemporaries —
more caution, inasmuch as he docs not accept old-fashioned
views without carefully inquiring into them ; more daring,
inasmuch as he is not afraid to accept ;iew >iews when he
finds that there is strong evidence in their favour. Here
and there, as where he ascribes the darkness of certain
zones of Satu:-n's rings rather to the blackness of their
component satellites than to sparseness of distribution, we
are unalile to agree with him. But it is refreshing to find
an official astronomer, and especially one in Newcomb's
high position, prepared to analyse and weigh evidence,
instead of merely recording what has been observed. In
fine, though we have thought it our duty to point out some
errors w-hich might mislead the general reader, we can
cordially recommend Professor Newcomb's " Popular As-
tronomy " as the finest general treatise on the subject since
Sir J. Herschel published his celebrated " Outlines of
Astronomy."
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Sixth Nctice.
"TTTE commence this week a description of the various
Vt systems of incandescent lighting now being ex-
hibited at the Crystal Palace. Before describing the
difl'erent lamps, a word or two on their general principles
may not be out of place. In. the first instance, we must
understand that a current of electricity, in passing through
a substance, tends to heat it in exact proportion to
the difiiculty experienced by the current in so passing,
just as a flow of water in traversing a pipe brings
about a greater or less exaltation of temperature.
This arises from a never-failing law that, where motive
power or force is hindered or opposed, that force
is converted into another force which wo know as
heat. Theoretically, no substance allows electricity to
pass through it unimpeded, any more than water can pass
through a pipe without having more or less friction to
overcome. In practice, we allow a pipe large enough to
carry the water, without having to resort to any undue
pressure ; so also in sending an electric current from place
to place, we provide a good conductor of electricity for the
purpose. Furthermore, suppose, in the case of the water-
flow, that the pipe is not uniformly wide or smooth, or
that here and there quantities of sand, A-c, have accunm-
lated, then at these particular places the flow will
be impeded, and heat produced, while the general
rate of progress can only be maintained by applying
extra force to push the water forward. Could we
measure the heat produced, we should find that it
just equals the extra force necessitated by the oppo-
sition. This has also its analogy in electricity. Let
our large smooth pipe be represented by the good con-
ductor of comparatively thick copper wire, and let the
obstacle in the pipe ha\e its counterpart in the electrical
circuit V)y inserting a very thin piece of conducting sub-
42G
* KNOWLEDGE
[March 17, 18fc:
stance, Ruch as finn platinum wire, then, on passing the
current, heut is producinl in the thin conductor, because of
the o]>positioii or r'ulnlmicr its thinness j)rcsctits to thf
current Tiiis liciit ncciimuliiti's, so to spcuk, with the
current, and, idtiiiiat^'ly, the tliin conductor (?iiiits n pure
whit«' lif;ht. Our renders must please understand that
liglit is l>ut the manifestation of a considerable exaltation
of t»'m]i('raturp.
We have mentioned platinum as the thin conductor ; the
reason for this is that nil metals, A-c, even when of the
same size, do not conduct with the same readiness or
facility, copper V)einf; about the best, and platinum the
poorest of metals. It then follows that a thin platinum
wire (resembling the small pifie with sand in it) will offer
more resistance than a copper wire of the same gauge, and,
accordingly, will get hotter, and so give out more light.
Even, however, if the copper were equal in its resistance,
its physical features would, in this instance, preclude its
use. It would, in fact, melt, or even volatilise.
Such was the lirst form of incandescent lighting. It
did not, however, prove very satisfactory. Bodies offer-
ing more resistance than jilatinum were required, and it
is only natural that carbon in some form or another should
be re.sorted t<i. It was found, on trying it, that union
was made with the oxygen of the air, converting the fila-
ment into carbonic anhydride gas. It occurred to Mr.
Swan about twenty years since that, if a jierfect vacuum
could be obtained, the carbon would be made more durable,
as there would be no oxygen for it to combine with. It is
on this ground that Mr. Swan claims, and is almost
universally considered to be, the prime inventor of the in-
candescent lamp. The necessary vacuum, however, could
not then be obtained, but jnore recent inventions
in pneumatics have enabled electricians to achieve their
Fig. 1.
object Even with tliis vacuum, it was found that the
filaments were not so durable as had been hoped, and Mr.
Swan must again be credited with discovering the reason.
He demonstrated the cause to be the presence of particles
of air, itc, located in the spaces separating the particles
of the filaments, and by raising his filament to a very high
temperature he expelled the air. In consequence, we
secure, to all intents and purposes, a perfect vacuum.
There being nothing with which the carbon may unite,
th<: supposition forced upon us is that the filament
should last for ever. Such an idea, however, is
erroneous. Doubtless our readers are aware that in an
arc lamp the two carbon rods are consumed, one of them
twice n.s rapidly as the other. This phenomenon ia to
some ext<'nt due to the current, in passing, t^-aring away the
particles of carbon from one rod, and depositing them
on the other. This also occurs in incandescent lamps,
although to a modified and very much smaller extent The
current, in pa.ssing through the filament, tears away minute
particles on entering and deposits tlurm on leaving, so that
one end is gradually diminished and eventually fracture<l.
This, however, is a process of time ranging from COO to
1,000 hours continuous burning.
The different forms of lamp exhibited at Sydenham are!
the Swan, Edison, Lane-Fox, Maxim, and British.
The Swan (Fig. 1) is the invention of ilr. Swan, of New-
castle-on-Tyne. It consists of a glass globe nearly 2 in.
in diameter. A glass rod, C D, with the two platinum
wires, A and B, passing through it, is fused into the globe.
The inside ends of the wires are attached to the ends of the
carbon filament, which is made from cardboard (Bristol
board), and the free or external ends are connected to
wires from the machine generating the current.
Fig. 2 represents an " Edison " lamp. It consists of a
glass bulb, about 5 in. Jong. The filament is made of
lianiboo tibre, one end being, by a very ingenious device,
made slightly thicker than the other. Platinum wires are
attached to the filament, the junctions being coated, elec-
trically, with a little copper. The platinum wires are
fused into the glass tube AB. at B, and are shown in the
diagram to be continued, through a kind of cap of plaster
of Paris, to a brass band, T, a)id brass screw-thread, T,
respectively. The lamp is then screwed into a correspond-
ing socket, so that T is in contact with another screw-
thread, having attached to it a wire from tlie machine.
The other machine wire is connected to a brass band in
the socket which comes into contact with T, and se
Makcii 17, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
'J 27
completes the circuit. The subject will be continued next
week.
p.S. — The engraver made a little mistake in last week's
Fi". 2. The fourth needle (from the left) should have
been deflected to the left, so as to point to the letter " B."
BRAIN TROUBLES.
The Echo Sign.
V SYMPTOM called the "arho" sign, which usually
indicates very serious brain mischief, has, like other
s-iioh signs, its analogue among the symptoms of minor
Tiii'utal trouble. Most of us have noticed how, when we
are weary and overworked, we are apt to repeat mentally
words or sounds which we have heard or had occasion
to utter. Sometimes the tendency becomes exceedingly
annoying — a circumstance which, though not necessarily
indicating serious mischief, must be regarded as a warning
not to be neglected. On one occasion, a time of great
domestic trouble, the writer was haunted for two or three
days in succession by these three chords, repeated in the way
B.C. ad inf. ^
il^^i^
here indicated. They had been first heard (or imagined)
perhaps) during church-time on a calm still Sunday, when,
.if ter several days of cold and bitter winter weather, the sun
sli one brightly, and the air was warm and pleasant There
was illness " even unto death " in the house, and a loss sucli
as changes the colour of life was approaching. But, pro-
1 'I'ly, long and anxious night-watching had more to do
with this strange affection of the mind than fear or
-1.1 row. The haunting chords ceased only during sleep (a
trained nurse had the evening before taken the writer's
place) ; when consciousness returned after heavy, dream-
less sleep, the chords were heard again, now loud and
rlf-ar, anon distant and indistinct, usually in slow succes-
sion, with rather long intervals between each triplet, Viut
at times less slowly and with scarcely the intermission of
a single bar's rest. At another time, the writer would
probably have been rendered exceedingly anxious by the
monotonous repetition of these mental sounds, though he
nii;;ht have found it difficult to determine whether they
indicated or were the cause of mental mischief. As it
was, other thoughts engrossed his mind too much to allow
of any anxiety on this account : and after a few days the
chords ceased to trouble him ; though to this day he is
careful not to allow the mental voice to utter these sounds
to the mental ear, lest again the chords should begin to be
mnnotonously repeated. It is probable that this particular
mental trouble ceased as it began, apart from any act on
the writer's own part ; still it may be worth mentioning
tliat he obtained relief, and was, at the time, under the
impression that he had driven away the haunting chords
l>y adding, mentally, after each set of six chords, a series
of others, as follows* : — ■
-mbi-endo, ^
Sli^SiS.
-^
"¥3-
• It is probably not necessary for the writer to explain to
mnsicians that he knows nothing whatever of harmony. Perliaps
the above arrangements of chords is full of mistakes, eo far as the
laws of harmony are concerned, but it represents exactly, first, the
chords which trcnbled the writer, and secondly, those which he
I added to put the former ont of his head.
He noticed that the interval before the paired chords began
to be mentally heard again, gradually increased, after the
above plan had been followed, until the intervals of silence
became so long that the mind could, as it were, forget that
it was troubled by these haunting notes.
The " echo " or repetition sign, as we have said, is com-
monly indicative of serious cerebral mischief. Dr. Winslow
was of opinion that it arose, to some extent, from that
sluggish and abstracted state of thought, amounting to
reverie, which is so often seen in cases of long-existing and
sometimes undetected affections of the brain. ''The mind
seems incapable," he says, " of apprehending, under these
circumstances, the most simple questions, and, parrot-like,
repeats them. I have noticed this symptom in other con-
ditions of depressed vital and nervous power, but it more
particularly accompanies softening of some portion of the
brain." It can scarcely V)e doubted that the monotonous
mental repetition of words or sounds is indicative of mental
trouble ; yet not necessarily or proliably of any really serious
mischief. Rest or change of occupation will in general prove
a sufficient remedy. If not, it is time to seek for advice,
though rather from a sensible general practitioner (pre-
ferably a family doctor) than from those who have directed
special attention to cerebral diseases ; for the latter are
apt to alarm patients by stiggesting the possibility, or even
the probability, of approaching mental derangement.
As an illustration at once of the morbid phenomena of
speech, and of the tendency among certain students of mental
disease to exaggerate the significance of such phenomena, we
may take the following passage from Dr. Forbes Winslow's
book : — " It will not be out of place," he says, ''to direct
attention to a precursory symptom, not only of approaching
paralysis, but of insanity. I allude to the practice of many
patients suffering from incipient brain and mind disease,
of talking aloud when alone. A distinguished physician
observed this .symptom to precede an attack of paralysis,
in the case of a nobleman who for many years was Prime
Minister of this country. In many cases of irritation of
the brain, as well as of structural disease, the patient is
observed to talk to himself, and the commencement of
insanity is often detected by this symptom " True, Dr.
Winslow goes on to say that this eccentric habit is con-
sistent with a perfect state of health of body and mind ;
but these few words suggesting comfort to those who
occasionally talk to themselves, are likely to be overlooked
in a long passage indicating this common habit as one of
the signs of approaching insanity.
Science ano Religion. — The coiTuption of philosophy, by the
mixing of it up with theology, is of wide extent, and is most
injm-ious to it, both as a whole and iu parts This folly
is the more to be prevented and restrained, because not only
fantastical philosophy, but heretical religion spring from the
absurd mixture of matters divine and human. It is wise, therefore,
to render unto faith the things that are faith's.— Bacon's " Novum
Organum."
EvEsicnT OF Dogs. — Kindly allow me to add my testimony to
that of " G. S. S.," under above heading in your issue of March 3.
Having been present at many sheep-dog trials in Merionethshire.
Montgomeryshire, and Cardiganshire, I am able to assert that sheep-
dogs at least have better sight than the average man. I have seen
these remarkable dogs, notably at Machynlleth Park, when the
signal has been given, run straight to where two sheep had been
let loose about half a mile distant, up a hill, covered in places with
gorse. Oftentimes the sheep have been out of sight to the spec-
tators when they have been seen by the sheep-dogs, and brought to
the bottom of the hill. My experience of dogs leads me to the
belief that they are anything but near-sighted. When in the Isle
of Wight, I had in my possession a large retriever bitch, that would
see me coming along the Whippingham-road long before I was able
to recognise the animal. — Veritas.
428
KNOWLEDGE
[March 17, 1882.
EASY LESSONS IN BLOWPIPE CHEMISTRY.
Bv LiKiT..Coi.oNt:L W. A. l{l)^.H, i.atk U.A.
LtMox IV.— OOKD, SILVKR, 1R0.\, AM) MANGANESE—
SILICA TIX-MAf;XETKAI, TUEKS.
THE imrplf niirifcroiiH, or f;<>l<l-l><-&riiiK IhmkI, if now kept Ntoiulily
for Home tinir in IIP, hIidwh. through n Imm, niinuU' ii|innt.'li'8
of (folil iit'iiin, mill tlipno rc-nrtionH ran Iw n'|M>ntriI by n (fo<xl npcriilor
ovor and over ii(f»in. To Hom up the Rold rviic'tiong. Wt> liavr
V iioid doinK BH what no otlicr known ocid in clioniislrj- is capable
of doinp— dissolving pure gold. We tlien liavo this diasolvod gold
canned by the blowpipe to exist in three stales of oxidation in its
bead : (ri) ns a tmnsparont, colourless, solution, after n long PI' (a
pyroxide which, as wo shall see afterwards, can also bo obtained by
trontment on aluniinium plate) ; (b) ns a purple solution, after a
half-inch PP ; and (r) as a brownish-" muddy " solution (blue by
transniitied light), after OP. Yet wc find it stated in standard
works on chemistry Jind metallurgy, that gold is incapable of pvro-
logicnl oxidation ! Let ns now trj- in our bead that other desirable
metal, ylrrr. If you 8cra|>c, with n penknife, the rim of a sixpence
or shilling over n gteet of paper, you get a few specks of silver,
nioru tltun sufficient for our purpose; and, perhaps,' her Majesty's
Mint will not consider it worth their while to prosecute me for
rccuni....nding such an illegal process in the pursuit, or rather
sssistsnce, of Knowi.kdoe. These specks are taken up at bottom of
the hot P. acid bead, precisely as the piece of gold leaf was ; but a very
diilorent result is the con8o<iuence of OP. Instead of the •' muddy"
bead in the latter case, the little .silver ball which immediately
coheres at the bottom is rajiidly oxidited, and gives out a ([U.-intity
of yellow, opaque matter, Uke cream, into the bead, flecked here
and there with rod spots and dashes. In fact (to compare small
things with great), our P. acid bead now looks, through a lens,
something like a liliputian dish of strawberries and cream, with
reri/ few strawberries. I will tell you all about the "lens" pre-
sently. Our bead is now "argentiferous, "• and the yellow matter
(which, I suppose, is pyrophosphate of silver) is rapidly dissolved in
this powerful acid, first to an appearance very like that of a thin
tortoise-shell comb held agiiinst a window ; then (after a half -inch
PP) to a transparent, colourless bead, which vou would never
suppose contained silver or anything else. It looks like a drop of
pellucid water on the platinum-wire ring. Now, I am going to trj-
the mettle of my student. The following reaction, discovered by
me in India in 1869, is rather difficult, but onlv requires practice
until success attends patience and perseverance. Tlie colourless
f,'^"*'^'™"* ^'^^ '^ plunged, but only for a moment, into the
" tip " of the blue pyrocone. When drawn out it is found to
present a most beautiful and perfect imitation of a pear}. The
silver-phosphate just under the surface of the bead has been
reduced to the metallic state, and shining like silver through the
coating or glazing of phosphoric acid, gives the bead the exact
appearance of a pearl.
The next substance I propose to try BB in P. acid is that honest
prop of our native manufactures— iron. I don't think that, on the
whole, rust is a dilHcult or expensive thing to obtain in this country,
especially when one can afford to keep housemaids ! However that
may be, rust is an oxide of iron, containing two parts of metal to
three of oxygen, and is. therefore, thus symbolised bv the chemist,
Fel O3.+ A considerable quantity of finclv i)owdercd"rust is taken
up on the hot P acid bead, and dissolved bv OP ; for it is not a
highly colouring oxide like that of cobalt or manganese. The bead
IS very soon topaz-ycUow hot, but dissolves a quantity of rust before
It retains any colour w hen cool. Kventuallv it looks exactiv like a
drop of watery blood; and I thought that if I now dissolved in it
by OP a slight trace of MnOj, the bead would assume the bright
crimson colour of arterial blood; after HP the dark colour"of
venous blood. Chemists have long ago proved that animal (warm)
blood contains iron and phosphoric acid, and 1 tried this little ex-
periment in order to see if the brilliant crimson colour evidently
produced in it by lung-oxidation, might be due to the presence o'f
a trace of manganese in the iron of the blood ; I found, however,
that the Mn and Fc destroyed each other's colour. 1 now
come to try pyrologically, a mineral which is rather too com-
mon, especially in the London streets. I refer to mud; or, as it is
more politely called, moistened clay, and still more refined by the
chemist into the term " Aluminium-sihcate,"! which I shall here
shorten to Al. silicate.
The treatment of Al. silicate in P. Acid PP. affords one of the
most important chemical reactions of the latter, because silica is
(except (he rare "earth" zirconia) the only substance which is
thus insoluble in it. Consequently, when we thus treat Al. silicate
• Latin Ar.ienlnm, silver, and /cro, I bear— silver-bearing!
t Pe., short for/(frrum (Ivatin), iron.
t (Latin) Aliimrn, clay.
(or any other silicato) in it, the alumina or other lubstsnce not
iiilicn, in at onco diiuolved, and the Kilica left as a cr)-atalline mast,
more or less thick in pnij^rtion to the quantity in which it i-xisu
in the mineral. The way 1 proceerl is this; — 1 fint diwiolve a xingle
S|>eck of cobalt oxide in my P acid bead, which makes it pink. 1
then treat in it the finely.jiowderoil mineral, whir'h I suspect con-
tains nilicn, and, perhaps, an alkali, as s'lda or potash. 'Tlie silica
remains undissolved; the alkali diHsolving, turns the pink bead
blue ; alumina in considerable quantity dissolving in absence of
alkali, turns the Ixwl mauve colour. Two great lilowpiiie-chemiitj
or Pyrologista — Ber/elius (a .Swede) and Plattner (a German) —
used the substance called " microcosmic salt," which is practically
a phosphate of Sfxlinm, in this way, but the soda of this bead so
rapidly dissolves silica as to make its non-solution scarcely any test
at all. The whole thing depends np<m the amount of heat applied;
and I can dissolve to a colourless transparent bead almost any
quantity of Al. silicate in Mic. salt, by simply using u |>owcrfiil
blast with my blowpipe.
Natural oxide of tin(C<M«iferi7<r — Greek, Kaxsiteron, tin)which gene-
rally contains a little iron and mans.'anese, may be also usefully
treated in P. acid, thus : tin oxide is with difficulty soluble in P. acid,
and requires great heat ; iron and manganese oxides, on the contrary,
are extremely soluble in it by moderate heat, so that, by holding
the bead having cassiterite powder taken upon it in a position
where it is affected by a moderate (blowpipe) temperature only, as
in a half-inch PP, you obtain the same effect as the chemist does
when he uses a dilute acid — that is, you dissolve the Fe. and Mn.
oxides, leaving oxide of tin, which can be dissolved out of the bead in
nearly a pure state by boiling water, and filtering the solution of
iron and manganese.
I shall now conclude ibis lesson
with a description and drawing of an
implement (the watch-maker's pliers)
mentioned in Lesson II., which I have
modified and altered so as to make
it answer several pyrological purposes
when required ; and these uses are all
very mnch, and often, required. I
have got an irousuiith of Acton (Mr.
Poore) to make me one, from which
this sketch is taken ; and very nicely
he has made it. He has also promised
to make such pliers, and other blow-
pipe implements, at a moderate price
(I will give it in the next lesson) for
poor pyrologists. if required in suffi-
cient number ; in fact, I suppose he
calls himself a Poore - pyrologist
already, for he has been taking
measurements of my hot -gas burner,
in order to make one for himself. The
figure, I think, which is of the natural
size, explains itself. The large round
legs (apparently, perha]>s. too large,
but not so when practically tested)
enable the operator, by holding the
very tip of a straight platinum wire,
held firmly between them from below
at the part marked '25, and gently
turning the pliers round with his right
hand towards his left, which holds the
wire, to make a good round ring "25
or quarter of an inch in diameter,
such as that figured in Lesson II. The
Arire is straightened and cleaned (as
explained in Lesson II.) by squeezing
and dra\ving it gently tluxiogh the
broad, fiat part of the legs at A. and
I this process is mnch more effectual
I than that generally recommendc<l by
j chemists, to dip the red-hot wire in
hydrochloric acid, which also most
certainly rots the wire, and causes it
I to break off after a time.
I The ringed wire is now fixed be-
tween the legs as far as d (not far-
I ther) by drawing up the brass ciJlar
a to the position shown ; by drawing
it down to h, the legs of the pliers are
left slightly oi)en, enabling them to
pick up small fragments ; by drawing'
it to the very bottom e. the legs aro
left wide open, and useful for taking
uppiecesof charcoal in aluminium-plate operations, &c. The plieis.
March 17, 1881]
KNOWLEDGE
429
which arc made of good steel, are now to be utilised as a liorseshoe
magnet in the following manner: — Left wide open, the pole of a'
big horse-shoe magnet (tlie use of which I am sure would be allowed
for a few minutes by any enterprising and generous optician in
London) marked " N," is to be carefully and squarely drawn down
I either side (say, that shown in the Bgnre) from the part marked e
■'■ tlic tip of tlie leg beyond d : this is to be repeated, say, twelve
s. Then the plies arc to be turned over, so that the other side
uppermost, and it is to be, in like manner, gently but firmly
■ iii'd by the magnet, always in the one direction, from « to <(, by
cither .S. pole of the big horse-shoe. The Pyrologist will now
-iss quite a strong little magnet for testing iron, &c., in minerals,
. i by closing the legs with the brass collar, as at a, no armature
- ruquii'cd. The ('ud c acts as a charcoal borer or small scrcw-
Iriver.
I :im requested to mention that Messrs. Herring & Co. decline to
' r. acid retail. I get mine from Mr. Woostcr, chemist, Broad-
., Turnham Green.
THE USE OF THE TRICYCLE.*
By Dk. B. W. Rkh.\rdsox, F.R.S.
WOL'LU specially recommend persons who are excessively
nervous and of uncertain mind not to use the tricycle. In snch
iple the anxiety attendant on the exercise is injurious, — out of
portion to the service that is pained by it. They are ever on the
rain to avoid accident and danger, and ever on the look-out for
:cident and danger. From these causes they fail to obtain a good
mmand over the instrument. They are not certain what to do
then other vehicles meet or pass them ; they are not sure how to
ke a turning ; they are in doubt as to the mode of going down-
1), and of resting in going uphill ; altogether they are perturbed
the attempts they make beyond the value of the attempt. If,
erefore, persons of this nature do not, after a few weeks of fair
I, get over these anxieties, they had better not continue to court
pm. I would strongly i-ecommend all who have a sense of
iddiness or of sinking and sickness, after they have made a little
y on the tricycle, to give up the exercise, unless after a short
fining they find these sensations pass away. Or, if while climbing
^liill there is felt a sensation of fulness in the head, with a want
i power and precision in managing the machine, I would tender
le same recommendation. Again, I would as a general rule recom-
lend those who suffer from tlie affection called hernia not to
|come tricyclists ; and if they break this rule, I would earnestly
^commend them to be moderate in their exercise, and not endea-
vor to compete with their more favoured comrades.
jPaterfamilias is often joked by his young friends that he cannot
|rfonu their feats, cannot stand on his head, or give a back, or, as
te late John Leech forcibly and famously pnt it, leap over a
^Iking-stick. For these stiff-jointed inactives the tricycle comes
iwith great force, if they use it with judgment, and do not tres-
]^s too much on reacquired skill. During the late autumn, I
qTomp.anied a fellow-rider who. though maay years older than my-
4f, could beat me in getting along, and who told me that before he
iBg&n be was so rigid in niuscle and joint, he could scarcely get into
tfe machine. A few weeks' ]>nictice had set him at liberty from
Bad to foot with such effect that in walking and riding — for he
ivariably walked up steep hills, pushing the machine before him —
h coald average his five to six miles an hour for five or six hours
^d«y, and think nothing of tlie task.
[It would seem, at first sight, that men who are fat and cumbrous
IBnot quite the persons to mount the tricycle ; but, if such men are
i fair health, they are, after a little careful and judicious training,
1 oefited by it more than any others. It constantly happens
lat men of this build, while they leel the need for exercise more
I an the sligliter-built sort, are unable to take a proper amount of
" ercise, because of the great weariness which they experience soon
! ter they have walked even a short distance. The natural result
' this easy sense of fatigue is that exercise is given up almost
■ together in a great number of cases, while in other cases it is a
lere pretence ; so that practically a habit is developed which pro-
lotcs an objection to exercise, and a steady increase of all the
uigers which follow upon prolongetl muscular inactivity. In this
»te, they who are ijfected are apt to follow one of two courses,
oth of which are bad. They either settle completely down to
ipose, and attain a form of clironic feebleness, which requires to
a provided against by avoicbng every, kind of lively effort ; or,
iking sudden alarm it some sensation they have experienced, or
)me observation they have listened to, they rush into forms of
iolent exercise, such as climbing mountains, or volunteering, or
>aldng forced walks, or such-like efforts. I believe I have seen
more mischief induced in the class of persons whom I am now de-
scribing, by their attempts to get into condition through the means
of excessive exercise and physical strain, than in any other class.
They who court this mode of recovery from their helplessness are
of all less fitted to bear sudden strain. In them the muscles are
feeble and out of play; in them the muscles, including that most
important of all the muscles, the heart, are overloaded with fat; in
them the blood-vessels aie often weakened, and have lost their
natural resilience, if they have not undergone actual change of
structure; and in them the breathing organs are in such bad form
for extra work, f hat breathlessness is produced by very little extra
exertion. They are, in short, unfit for walking, and they are equally
nntit for those extremer measures which arc commonly designated
as training, or as athletic exercises. To this class of persons, then,
if they are not subject to actual disease, organic affection of the
heart, the lungs, or the brain, the exercise that may bo got from
the tricycle is exceedingly useful.
The exercise sought in this manner should not be violent; it
should not include attempts to go against ttmo ; it should not
include attempts to climb steep hills or to run down .steep hills at a
rattling pace ; but it should be taken for some time on level ground,
it should be carried on to a point just short of fatigue, and it should
be increased little by little each day, until the labour of working
accommodates itself to easy habit.
•From "Tricycling in Relation to Health," bv Dr. Richardson,
I Good Words for M*rch.
CHANGE OF HABIT IN ANIMALS.
A S an instance of change of habit in animals, as noticed in your
j\. issue of the 3rd inst., with regard to the carnivorous parrot,
I may mention that within the last five or six years the baboons of
a certain region in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope have
developed a flesh-eating taste.
I do not bear that this has become general among the baboons of
the colony, but 1 know that some farmers in the mountaiuous parts
skirting "the Karroo plains towards GraafT-Reinet have suffered
severely through their depredations among their flocks. Formerlj-
these animals were satisfied with prickly pears and other kinds of
fruit, birds'-eggs, locusts, and, as a rare treat, scorpions, which I
have seen them busily turning over huge stones to obtain. I have
never been near enough to see the process of killing the scorpion,
but my husband told me that they most cleverly divested the little
reptileof its sting before trusting it between their teeth ; but never
till of late were they kno^vn to kill a sheep or a lamb for food. I
have also been told by one farmer that the baboons on his place
had killed many quite young lambs, and torn them open, merely to
obtain the milk contained in the stomach. Is this preliminary to,.
or a farther development of, the carnivorous propensity ?
As a more pleasing change of habit and adaptation to circum-
stances in the same part of the world is the fact that a small bird,
called by the natives " Tink-tinky," on account of its notes, and by
the Dutch colonists, " Kapock (frost) vogel," from its .snow-white
nest, which, before the introduction of sheep, made use of the silky
fibre of the wild cotton as material, now uses the wool which it
gathers in sufficient quantities from the Nimosa and Euphorbia
thorns, finding probably that it is more easily woven into the thick
felt of which the beautiful little bottle-shaped nest is composed,
merely placing a little of the silky fibre in the bottom of the nest as
a linin". M. Cauev-Hobson.
THE "SOUND" OF FISHES.
I OBSERVED some few weeks back (Knowlkoge, p. 295) that
Mr. Mattieu Williams objected to my naming the "air-
bladder " of a fish the " sound," Mr. Williams's contention being
that this latter name should more properly be applied to the aorta
or chief artery of the fish. With all deference to Mr. Williams
(who is not a biologist, as " Old Fossil," in your last issue, remarks),
I maintain that he is confusing, not two names merely, but two
distinct systems of terminologj'. It is perfectly immaterial to me,
as a naturalist, what fishmongers or fishermen call the " sound."
As a zoologist, I have no concern with the terminology of
lisher-folk or of fish-dealers. What does concern my readers and
myself, is that I should use names which are in common use
in natural history science. Tlie name "sound," as a popular
name for the " air bladder," has been in use in natural history
class-rooms for many years back, and whatever be the justification
for its use, I maintain I was entitled to employ it, for the reason
just mentioned. The question raised by Mr. Williams amounts to
this : — Whether a scientific or a fisherman's use of a i.articular
name is to be held as correct. Personally, I prefer to call the sac
in question the "air-bladder"; but I cannot, at the .same time,
permit Mr. Williams to suggest that my nsage of the name is an
eiToneous practice. " Sound," in fact, is a scientific as well as a
popular term. It is not my fault if the meanings attached to it are
of varied nature. " A.vdrew Wilson.,
430
KNOWLEDGE •
[March 17, 1882.
ELECTROMAGNETIC TFIEOKY OF LIGHT.
IN n ri'cciit iminln'riif Km>wi.ki>cik you wrotci : — " A rorrodponclcnt
who fpvt'K 114 III) imin<\ tiHkH uk to oxplniii the* nlfctro-miif^ntir
thoorv of li^fhl. Wc know of no Hiich llioory. The writor, who
BAyN tho iMuluhitory thoory in font l>om(? Hwullowi'ii up piocomonl
by tin' clortro-niuj^ic'tic, knowH vnry httUi iihoiit tho tnnttor. Thn
oviiK'noi' for tho iindiiliitory thoory ih niinply ovorwholniinjf."
Most will (iffroo in your two hiHt ronohiHionH ; hut H8 there in nn
el««ctroinn(^nptir theory of lijfht, po»»ilily iffnornuco of itn oxislenco
on tho pftrt of tlie moat nnmixoinnt man I know ("Oh Lord, «ir !
Why there 't (ii'r%'oii well ngain." — Kn.J, may justify complinnco
with your namolesH corri'Hponilent'd reiiuent fornn explanation of
it. It ig. in fnrt, an undulatory theory, and only a mmiiticntion in
detail of the theorj' of lluyKhonH. Clork Maxwell supt'osted the
electro-mafrnetif theory a« a mounn of doterniininp the relation
Ijotweeu the jdienomena of elertro-magnotism and tlioso of tight,
hasod upon the asHumption that each of tJiese is due to certain
modes of motion in tho all-pervading "ether" of space, tho
phenomeiui of electric currents and magnets being due to streams
and whorls, or other bodily movements in tho substance of the
other ; while light is duo to vibrations to and fro in it. Dr. Thomp-
son writes on this subject as follows : — " Hero is evidence for think-
ing that mngnotism is a phenomenon of rotation, there being a
rotation of linmelhiufi around an axis lying in tho direction of the
magnetisation. Such a thoory would explain the rotation of the plane
of polarisation of a ray passing through a magnetic field. For a ray
of plane-polarised light may be conceived of as consisting of a pair
of (oppositely) circularly-polari.sed waves, in which the right-handed
rotation in one ray is periodicallycounteracted by an equal left-handed
rotation in the other ray, and if such a motion were imparted to a
medium in which thero were superposed a rotation (such as we
conceive to take place in every magnetic field) about the same
direction, one of these circularly-polarised rays would be accelerated
and the other retarded, so that, when they were again compounded
into a single plane-polarised ray, this plane would not coincide with
the original plane of polarisation, but would be apparently turned
round through an angle proportional to the superposed rotation.
An electric (iisi)lacement produces a magnetic force at right angles
to itself ; it also produces (by the peculiar action known as induction)
an electric force which is propagated at right angles, both to the
electric displacement and to the magnetic force. Now it is known
that in the propagation of light, the actual displacements or vibra-
tions which constitute the so-called ray of light are executed in
directious at right angles to the direction of propagation. Tliis
analogy is an important point in the theory, and immediately
suggests the question whether the respective rates of propagation
are the same. Now, the velocity of propagation of electro-magnetic
induction is that velocity " v," which represento the ratio between
the electrostatic and the electro-magnetic units, and which (in air)
is believed to be 2'9857 x 10'" centimetres per second. And the
velocity of light (in air) has been repeatedly measured (by Fizeau,
Cornu, ilichelson, and others), giving as the approximate value
2-9992 X 10" centimetres per second. The close agreement of these
figures is at least remarkable. Amongst other mathematical de-
ductions from the theory may be mentioned the following : — (1.) all
true conductors of electricity must be opaque * to light ; (II.) for
transparent media, the spceilic inductive capacity ought to be equal
to tho square of the index of refraction. Kxperiments by Gordon,
Boltzmann, and others, show this to be approximately true for
waves of very great wave-length. The values are shown below.
For gases tho agreement is even closei
K.
Flint Glass .3162
Bisulphide of Carbon... 1-812
Sulphur (mean) 4151
Paraffin 2-32
2796
2-606
4-02t
2-33
A. K. EoLi.iT.
OUR ANCESTORS.
ME. GRANT ALLEN, at p. 351 of Know-ledok, in describing
Palu'olitliic men, says their flint implements are found buried
under tho concreted floors of caves. This no doubt is true, but ho
goes on to say that, " since tho days of Palaeolithic men, Britain has
• In some crystalline bodies which conduct electricity better in
one direction than in another, the opacity to light differs corre-
spondingly. Coloured crystals of Tourmaline conduct electricity
hotter across tho long axis of the crystal than along that axis.
Such crystals are much more opaque to light passing along the axis
than to light passing acros.s it. And, in the case of rays traversing
the crystal across the axis, tho vibrations across the axis are more
completely absorbed than those parallel to tho axis : whence it
follows thai the transmitted light will bo polarised."
Iioen Kubmergeil beneath Roveral hundred feet of noo." Surely Mr.
Grant Allen can hardly expect your readers to acce|it this stat4.-mcDt.
That (ircat Britain may have been submerged Kinco the eurlior
Paluyilithic men lived upon what in now Britain is, perhaps, possible,
but tliat Britain has been under the sea siDco tho Palu.-ulithio
men of tlio caves lived here is, I think, a stretch uf the writer's
imagination. Close to where I live iu London, implemcntiferoua
gravels and sands are common, in one groat de^iosit of loam and
sand at Stoko Newington, Palu,'olithic implements arc only four
feet or less beneath tho surface, and tho surface is loam or sand
full of fresh water shells, with no trace whatever of the sea in any
part. These Palu'olithic deposits have never been under the ses.
Mr. Allen thero describes the mon as low-browed, fierco-jawcd,
crouching creatures, inferior to the existing Australians or Andamail
islanders, Ac, rather a complete and sweeping description, when il
is remembered that no complete skeleton of any individoal o),
Paheolithic times has yet been seen, and not enough scattered boneij
aro known sufTicient to build up a slngli' skeleton. ■
I should feel inclined to question the correctness of the greater par)
of the paragraph in which the above statements occur, but howeveij
low-browed and fierce-jawed these " black fellows " may have been!
1 can make one statement about the works of the Palaeolithic mecj
who lived where north-east London now is, that few people will b<J
inclined to deny who have ever seen the objects I refer to, and tha
statement is, the flint implements the Palipolithic men have lef
behind them here, are as perfect works of art in their way as any
thing ever made by the best artificers of ancient or modem timei
The implements found here are often models of symmetrical beant;
indicating eyes perfectly trained to the appreciation of true curve
and beautiful and appropriate forms. Tho workmanship of the»
tools shows tho work of skilful and delicate finger.-i, workroanshi
that to the present day simply defies the efforts towards imitatio
of the most accomplished modern forgers.
That the time is immensely distant since the older Palaeolith;
implements were made, and that the older tools are generally rer
rude, 1 quite admit, but Paheolithic times lasted for a long perio*
and tho gravels containing the largest number of Palaeolithic iiv
plements have certainly never been nnder the sea since the impl-
ments were made. Woethinotox G. Sihth.
Intellige.nce in Animals. — About three years ago I was livi^ i
in a street in Birmingham. At the back of the houses ran strips t ]
garden, or half garden and half courtj-ard, separated from oB
another at the further end by party walls about 4 ft. 6 in. hig.
The grating over the drain in our court was broken, and rats one
or twice paid us a visit, and once the cat vigorously pursued one U
over the court. The cat was not full grown and did not manage D '
catcli the rat. which retired out of the cat's reach beneath a wate-
butt raised on single bricks. Pussy watched and waited forawhif,
but obtaining no help from human friends, suddenly jumped up ad
dashed over the party wall and in less than two minutes retumd
full speed with another cat, eager both of them apparently fora
renewed chase. Unfortunately the rat had meanwliile discreety
retired to the drain. A cat which I had in Birmingham, and anotbr
which I have now, both entirely untaught, have a trick of rattlig
the handles of the doors with their paws when wishing cither o '
enter or leave the room. When in the room Kith us she, after pawig ^
the handle, looks round beseechingly to us. — A. M. F.
Reasoning in Animals. — llany most interesting cases have beo J
given in Knowleoge on this subject. Will you allow me to suppc]
ment one which, I think, surpasses all yet given. One of or
seamen took a large, white-coated bitch at Petropauloski. in Kai-
schatka. and she became a great favourite with the crew. Subs-
quently the ships were ordered to China, and layoff the Englia
Hongs at Canton. It w.as customary to allow the bitch to swii'J
ashore for a run, and she used to swim back to the ship afterward,
anil be hauled on board by placing herneck and fore-legs in a bowlinj-i?
knotted noose. But the tide running furiously in that part of tbij
river, the dog hadnochance of making the vessel by pushing off froi^
the shore ahead of tho ship, but used to come down to a low wha"
opposite, and watch for bits of wood, &c., floating, to see which '»f»-<l
the tide ran, and then running up in a contrary direction, wonly
jump in, and come down with the tide to the ship. On one occasio''
she was seen to watch for some time ; but, as it happened, nothin-
floated by to give her an indication of the direction of the tidi'J
Whereupon, slie was observed to drop down on one foreleg, ant
the planks of the wharf being almost Ie%-el with the water, hangth
free paw over into the water, by which means, apparently, sh'
obtained tho knowledge of the tide's direction, and, running n ■
against it, came off, as usiml, quite safely. She was one of th*
finest water dogs 1 ever saw. I well remember her jumping ol',^
our gangway at Aden, 16 feet from the water line. — Pebcival Aj
POTHEROILL, B.A., F.R.A.S.
March 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
431
Irttfrs to tbf editor.
[3^« JEdUor do€* not hold )\im$e\f rfponsiblf /"or the opinion* of hia eorreitpondeni*.
~y St e<innot undertake io return manutcript$ or to correspond rith their terittri. All
eommunicatioTu aAoutd be a* thort at fottibU, consistently tcith full and clear state-
wnnts of the icriier't meanin^.^
Att Editorial eommunicati<ms should be addressed to the Editor qf KxoWLSDOB;
ali Business communications to the Fubli^hers, at the Qffice, 74, Great Queen-
ttreet, TT.C.
All Semittancet, Cheque*, and Post-Office Orders should be made payabts to
Mettrs. Wyman Sr Sons.
•,* All letter* to the Editor trill be yumhered. For convenience of reference,
eorrespondejtts, vhen r^erring to any letter, tctU oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on tehu-h it appears.
All Letter* or Querie* to the Editor vhich require attention in the current isnue of
Knowxkdgb, «Aou/<i reach the Publishing OJice not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication.
(I.) Letters to hare a chance of appearinfj must be concise; thej mast be drawn
op in the form adopted for letters here, so that they may go untouched to the
printers ; private communications, therefore, as well as' queries, or replies, to
queries (intended to appear ha such) should be written on t<eparate leaves.
(11.) Queries and replies should be even more concise than letters ; and drawn
up in the form in which they are here presented, with brackets for number in ease
(it queries, and the proper querrnumlier (bracketed) incase of replies.
(III.) Letters, queries, and fepUcs which (eitherbecause toolc.nff, or unsuitable,
^r dealing with matters which others have discussed, or for any other reason) can*
lind place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
-iiDwled^ed in a column reserved for the purpose.
" In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and de.ipised who is not in a
state of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
"There is no harm in making a mistake, but great barm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebiij.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."— Charles Kingsley.
(Pur Corrrepontifnre Coliimne!.
V KGETARIAXISM. — PLANTS IN BEDHOOMS. — " THE
BURIAL OP MOSES."— DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND
GOMORRAH.
■i26] — I must thank Sir Henry Thompson for a personal reply,
h i> as welcome as it was unexpected. In a discussion on
-m that has been recently going on in the Echo evening
! his name, and that of Dr. Richardson, have been definitely
■iiong tliose of a number of obscurities) as advocates of a
t ly vcu'L'table diet. Now it can matter little to the public, and
iredly need not influence it, to learn that Mr. Smith, of Hoxton,
- lirought up a large family on French beans and cabbages, or that
Mr. Brown, of Soho, consumes (and believes in) "The Nutriment of
Longevity," which he himself sells; but the case is very different
w! Ml it i? definitely predicated by men of world-wise eminence, like
( ompson and Dr. Richardson, that they are, in effect,
I may say that before penning the letter (285,
- i -h has elicited Sir Henry Thompson's valuable rejoinder,
1 learned privately that both himself and Dr. Richardson did,
I matter of fact, employ a nii.'ied diet themselves. This being
I thoaght that a j)roclamation of the truth %vould enable all
rested in the food question to estimate the hond (or mali) ndes
e vegetarians who quote two distinguished physiologists as con-
I s to, or advopates of, their system, and to appraise the e.\act
!'h of the argument which they profess to derive from such
'ority.
win'telt " A Fellow of the Chemical Society " (letter 315, p. 40)
• way in which I believe the wretched potato diet does " influence
-li character." It may be gathered from the reports of the
us outrages which unhappily reach us daily from Ireland, the
' Ills of which show, beyond cavil, tliat their perj^etrators are the
■t arrant curs upon the face of the earth. Firing from safe
'■ foalment behind stone walls, and running like hares the moment
t heir barrels are emptied ; breaking, in overwhelming force, dis-
guised, and with blackened faces, into lonely houses, and shooting and
maiming solitary and defenceless men and women ; skulking away
at the mere sight and sound of resistance, and never daring to face
a human being who is in a position effectually to nppo.=p them, these
people present an example of an arrant cowardice whidi happily
disgraces but few (so-called) " civilised " races in the world. Now,
enlist these men, give them their daily ration of good, wholesome
meat, and what do we find ? Simply, that there is no braver
soldier in existence than the Irishman. Where are there finer
regiments to bo found than those mainly recruited from
Ireland ? VVhy, I have myself known an Irish private,
totally unarmed, go in and seize a comrade half frantic with
drink and armed with a bayonet with which ho had previously
kept several men at bay. As an example of cool courage, uninflamed
by the excitement of action, this seemed very striking to me, and
certainly in odd contrast to the pusillaniuiity of his vegetable-fed
confrere. Finally, I would say that I am by no means convinced
that the chemical hypothesis of nutrition is invariably sustained by
experience. I can remember when Liebig's theory was regarded as
being as tmassailable in its entirety as the Apostles' Creed. Is this
the case now ? Growing plants, I may tell " J. C. L." (query 288,
p. 410), are unhealthy in bedrooms from the fact that at night they
give out carbonic acid. In sunlight, on the other hand, they exhale
oxygen and keep the air of a room pure. In reply to his next query
(28y, same page), I fancy that he will find the poem he inquires
for in " Maundcr's Class-book," also in the " National Reading
Book," Book v., published by the National Society, Westminster.
" A. N." ((luery 303, p. 410), may rest assiu'ed that no scientific
proof whatever exists that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed
on July 31, 1898 B.C., either by aerolites or in any otlicr way.
A Fellbw ok the Royal Astronomic.\l Society.
TELESCOPES.
[327] — While fully endorsing the opinion given by U. Sadler in
Knowlepge, p. 389, as to the advantage of a silvered glass reflector,
I beg permission to add that by means of a tin cap, with a handle
like the lid of a saucepan, fitting closely on the cell of the speculum,
the film may be preserved, if not in its original beauty, yet in a
perfectly serviceable condition for so long a time, that the expense
of renewal will become a matter of comparatively little importance.
It nmst be remembered, however, that this involves either an
opening in the side of the tube large enough to admit the hand with
the lid (which might be jointed for the purpose) on the removal of
the mirror when not in constant use. Circumstances have obliged
me to follow the latter plan ; but I find no great inconvenience in
it, and am convinced that a little ingenuity would supply a mode of
effecting it readily, and at a trifling expense. With due precaution,
the adjustment need not suffer. T. W. Webb.
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH TELESCOPE.
[328] — Could you at the end of these articles give the constella-
tion and letters of the stars which will be described in the following
article P I m.ake this suggestion in order that amateurs, like myself,
may afterwards compare what they have observed with the article
in your succeeding number. F. C. B.
THE POTATO.
[329]— In No. 12, Jan. 20, " F. C. S." gives an article on " Some-
thing Abont the Potato," which contains several statements which
I had hoped to see flatly contradicted by other and abler hands than
mine.
He says, "the influence of the blossoms makes a great difference,"
and quotes a case showing an increase of about 13 per cent, where
these are removed. Let " F. C. S." try a small plot during the coming
season, and give us his results. With Victorias, which are about
the freest bloomers known, the writer has several times tried it on
plots of from one-tenth to half an acre, with no appreciable dif-
ference ; in fact, if anything, the result was against the mutilation
of the plants.
Further on he says, " in frozen potatoes the sugar is doubled and
the starch diminished." This, I fancy, happens after or at the
time of the frost going out, as I find a frozen potato, if plunged
into hot wood-ashes and there cooked, is quite dry and floiuy, and
has none of the sweetness peculiar to a frosted potato.
Again, he says " compost has no effect unless to increase the
proportion of starch." It must surely have been poor compost.
Please say what was its composition, and the amount of increase of
starch ?
Again, he says " potatoes grown on moist soils, and soils contain-
ing mnch organic matter, are most liable to disease;" while fiu-ther
on, he says " the nnmanured plots are highest in di.sease." The one
statement is a contradiction of the other, and contrary to any result
I have ever heard of any one attaining, and certainly far from the
results attained by myself.
Further on, he says " Good peat is found to give even better
results than good stable manure." This would certainly be good
peat, and a mine of wealth to its owner. Will " F. C. S." quote
his authority on this matter, as I consider it downright nonsense ?
432
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[MAncii 17, 18--
Can " F. C. S.," or any other rondor, any what i« tho diffcrcnco of
atarch in n noft, wiixy potnto nnd n dry, flour}' ono ; and (^ivo any
nxuon for tlip dilTiTi<nri', otlior Mian minliglit and a minimum of
moiatnn' y Kaiimkk.
HOC vvY/ALy..
fSaO]— Liout.-Col. W. II. (»iik.'«' Sdlntion (soo letter 2HH, p. :«i3)
in till" fiillnn-inif : — Wi- liavr to llnil four jmirH of Hr|iiare8 having u
common ililTi'rcnoc. Tliin common differonco will bo : —
Kimtly. A multiplo nf 21.
Secondly. Tho piiidnct of four conspciilivc terms of nn in-
creasing arithmetical progression.
Thirdly. The proiliict of cncli of four pairs of factors.
Now 21 —3 X 7. Also, 1, 3, 5, 7. is tho lowest arithmetical scries
of four terms that includes 3 and 7. Also 1x3x5x7 is tho pro-
duct of eacli of four pairs of factors, namely, 105 x 1, 35 x 3, 21 x 5,
and 15 x 7. The product of this series gives tho lowest number of
shillings that satisfies all the re(|uirements of tho problem. Tliero-
fore, each husband has spent 5 guineas more than his wife.
N.B. — Half the sum and half tho difference of each pair of factors
will give the number of hogs bought bv each man and his wife ; so
wo got 53 and .'>2, 19 an<l Hi, 13 and 8, and 11 and 1.
[Correctly solved also by J. A. Miles, C, and J. R. Campbell. — Ed.]
Tho original jiuzzlo (sec letter 198, p. 232) admits of the following
arithmetical solution : —
The number of shillings in 3 guineas is G3. We have, therefore,
to find .3 pairs of S(|uare8 with a common difference of 03. Now,
63 is the product of 63 x 1, 21 x 3, and 9x7, Halt the sum and halt
the difference of each of the.'O pairs of factors will give the number
of hogs bought by each man and his wife, namely 32 and 31, 12 and
9, 8 and 1. Hy question, H bought 32, and K 9 ; also E bought 12,
and (i 1. Therefore, II and A, E and K, C and G, are the respective
husbands and wives.
William Emerson published tho original puzzle and its algebraical
solution nearly 120 years ago. 1 append his solution as he gives it.
Let
l)er II"
4tr.
5-^
6-./
But
per 12"
= hogs some man bought, a: — y=wife's hogs,
the money for the man's=:cx.
II — 2xy + !/ 1/ = wife's money.
zx = x.r — 211/ + 1/ y + 03.
2x1/ = 63+ ijy.
aa + yij
X = — T = whole number.
63- vv
x — y = — „ = whole number.
In this case y must be an odd number,
= 1, 3, 5, 7, <S;c., but it cannot be 5.
Ifi/ = 1, x-y = 31, 1 = 32.
i/ = 3, x — y= 9, .r = 12.
V = 7, x — y= 1, r= 8.
A has 32 hogs, and Q 9,
Also B has 12, and P 1.
Whence B and Q '^
0 and V > are man and wnfe.
A and R ;
Herbert Eees Philipps
[331] — T.et i=the number of guineas each husband laid out
more than his mfe = 21.r shillings.
Call tho four men A, B, C, and D, and their four wives o, b, c,
and d.
Let p = the number of hogs A bought more than n.
„ 9= „ „ B „ „ h.
„ r= „ „ C „ „ c.
„ «= ., „ D ,, „ ,1.
Now, by the conditions of the question, p, q, r, and .«, are four
consecutive terms of an increasing arithmetical progression. There-
fore it follows that p is less than rj,
q is less than r, i-c.
But the number of hogs bought by each man is equal to the
number of shillings given for each hog, therefore —
p hogs cost p' shillings,
and q hogs cost q' sliillings,
and as by the question —
p'=21i,
and (j'=21ii!,
P' = l',
and p = q,
but it has been shown that p is less than </.
Therefore, as things which are equal to one another cannot be
greater or less than one another, the question is an impossible one.
J. A. Miles.
THE PERFECT WAY IX DIET. )
[332] — When a Fellow of tho Royal Astmnomieal Society (285)
writes of tho abolitionists of the barbarism of the slaughtor-hooso
as being "as weak numerically as they are intellectually," is he i
really ignorant of the facts (1) that to all intents and purpose*
two-thirrls of the human species are, and always have been (at
nil evonts, since tho times when they emerged from the universal '
prinueval barbarism), nolentmrolr'nlpg, abstinents from flesh-meots:
that it is the richer classes in all communities alone who support
the slaughter-house ; while the poor, because of the sellishness of
the rich, are starving upon the minimum amount of non-desh foods i
(upon badly-cookcd potatws and cabbages, it may be) ; (2) that I
there are such names in historv as Pythagoras Sakya-Mani (the I
founder of a religion tho most philosophical and most humane, in <
its essential doctrine, that has ever been preached on the earth, and
which has some 30O,UOO,0(X) followers), Plutarch. Seneca. Porphyry
(the most erudite philosopher of antir|uity), Clemens of Alexandria,
Chrysostom, (jassendi (whom Boyle characterises as " the greatest
philocopher among scholars, and the greatest scholar among philo-
sophers"), Mandcville, FIvelyn (Acelaria), Bay, Linne, Halley,
Cheyne, Voltaire, Howard, Wesley, Rousseau, Franklin, Shelley,
Graham, Hufeland, Struvo, Daumen, Lamartine?
Before this critic attempts again to pronounce upon the value of
a creed which has engaged the earnest attention, and in very many
cases the entire approbation, of the most profound thinkers of all
tho best times, let me exhort him to study, with some attenlion, at
least, such writings, e.g., as Plutarch's "Essay on Flesh-eating"
(Ilfpi rpc yiapKo^ayia^), the most remarkable ethical production of
antiquity; Seneca's " Letters," Ac. ; Gassendi ; Shelley's " Essay";
Professor V. W. Newman's " Lectures" ; and last, not least. Dr.
Anna Kingsford's " Perfect Wav in Diet." — Howard Wii.lums,
M.A.
UNIVKRSITY OF LONDON MATKIC. EXAM., JAN.. ISV.
[333]—" Out of 800 candidates, less than 300 passed." Ought
not this result to lead to some inquiry as to the manner in which
the examiners performed their duty ? From the Arithmetic and
Algebra paper given by Dr. John Hopkinson and B. Williamson,
Esq., M.A., I wish to place two questions before your readers for
their consideration.
No. 5 question is the following : — " Six terms are in arithmetical
progression, and also in geometrical progression, and their sum is
51. What are they ? " "The only solution ajipears to be that which
we find in the multiplication table: — " Six times 9 are 54." No. 9
question occupies nine lines, and is as follows : — " Suppose that
gold is worth 15 times as much as silver, and that silver is worth
100 times as much as copper. Find the proportions of the metals
in a certain coin worth 4s., having given that a coin with double as
much gold, the same quantity of silver, and 5 times (or 5 million
times?) as much copper, would be worth 7s. 9d. ; a coin ha\nng 5
times as much gold, the same silver, and twice as much copper (?)
would bo worth 19s. ; and lastly, that a coin with the same gold^
double the silver, and one-half the copper (a half-millionth would
do c<inally well) would be worth 4s. 3d." If we construct the
equations, and from (4) subtract (1), .ind next multiply (1) by (2),
and from the product subtract (2), the results will be found incon-
sistent, unless we assume that the quantity, or rather "proportion,"
of copper is nil '.
Will you, sir, or some of your readers, characterise questions
such as these ? If the object is to baffle and bewilder candidates,
by "rejecting" 500 out of 800, the examiners are shown to have
attained their end. But will the London Matric. Exam, continue
to stimulate tho acquisition of " knowledge," if conducted on this
principle ? — A Te.\cher.
MATHEMATICAL PARADOX.
[334] — The following mathematical paradox is tho shortest, and
at the same time the most difficult, I have met with. It seems to
have seriously perplexed even so accomplished a mathematician as
Lacroix. I should like to hear the opinions of some correspondents
before giving mj' own.
( + „).= (_„).
.'.2 log. ( + o)=2 log. (-a)
.-. log. ( + a) = log. (-a)
a result which is not true. S. L. B.
INTELLIGENCE OF A MONKEY.
[335] — One of the tricks we were in the habit of playing him
was this : he had a cord suspended from the ceiling, with a loop just
large enough for him to get through ; then one of us passed his
chain through tho loop something like a dozen times in different
ways; wo then watched tho result. After getting into the loop and
March 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
433
stretching it open, he would, wth bis disengaged hand, take up the
chain and look which way (as he thouglit) it passed through, and,
by following the winding of the chain, would speedily untwist the
whole, to his utmost delight, and to the astonishment of those who
witnessed it. You can imagine the intelligence required when you
think of the difficulty overcome. He had to go outside the loop
evciy other turn. — F. Selby.
PERSONAL ILLUSION.
[336]— To me, horizontal lines appear much plainer thati perpen-
iHcular lines. Thus, I can tell the time by a clock more easily at,
., 3. lo than at 6. So, also, the letters of printed words in small
no seem to touch each other; but, if I turn the page sideways,
• y oi)en out. Jliiuo.
EXPLOSION" OF AMMONIA.
337] — The explosion of a(|ua-ammonia.', related in Knowledge
Fob. 10, reminds me of a similar occurrence in my own ex-
rionce. A bottle of ammonia, baring the stopper tied down, had
lained nndisturbod for some time in my photographic work-
im. During some hot summer weather it burst with a loud
plosion, and the contents were scattered in all directions. The
It of the weathes, no doubt, liberated a quantity of ammonia
-, which, being unable to escape, shattered the bottle. In the
uunt of the accident detailed in Knowledge, the bottle of
■itnionia is stated to have been kept on the mantelpiece, and to
ve exploded in the woman's hand. A mantelpiece at this
le of the year is presumably a very warm place, and if the
|iper of the bottle had become fixed (as often li.appens), it is not
l;ouk to under.stand how the heat of the woman's hand may have
1 ved ''the last straw," the bottle having probably been almost at
urstiiig point from the pressure of ammonia gas liberated by the
ivurmth to which it was exposed on the mantel-piece. It is impos-
-ibie to Buppo.se that an aqueous solution of ammonia could b?
\plosive in the usual sense of the word, and I think the above
must be t ho true explanation of the accident, and a source of danger
« hich jierhaps few are aware of. B. A. (Cantab.)
!1C)\V' TO PRESERVE FOSSILS, BONES, &c., FROil THE
ACTION OF THE AIR.
338] — 1. See that the fossils are washed free of all efflorescence,
rt. lie. and well dried. 2. Take strong Scotch glue 4oz. ; dissolve
u'luo-kettle, with enough water to make a thick mucilage. Then
i i 1 oz. of boiled linseed oil, stir well ; dissolve J oz. of bichromate
1 potass in a small quantity of water, and add this to the glue, then
iliiii down with water to the consistency (while hot) of milk. 3.
Put the dried fossils or bones into an oven and make them very
lit, then drop them into the boiling solution and keep them near
r simmering point for half-an-hour. Wipe them with a sponge
I'l oxiiosc them to dry in the air and sunshine. If properly
iiiaged tliey will now keep indefinitely.
I'.S. The above prepared glue, of the proper thickness, is the best
iiig for repairing broken fossils, and for making any joints required
lie strong and good. F.
A SERIES OF ASTONISHING COINCIDENCES.
339] — In connection with the editor's papers on chance and
incidence, the following remarkable instance of purely fortuitous
incidence will be of interest. About a month since a friend of
i:ie, Mr. Hunt, went to a small town, about twelve miles from
'ter, to attend a meeting, returning home the same night.
• ile there he called upon the Rev. J. Smith, remaining about an
ir. Just before leaving, the postman called at the house, and a
; er was brought in addi-essed "Mr. J. P. Hunt, C ." The
I \'ant said to her master, " Please, sir, the postman wants to
uw if you know who this letter is for, as he does not know the
.me in the to^vn." As it was distinctly addressed to my friend.
In: opened it, and found it was from a chum of his in the North of
England. I may say that the letter contained nothing whatever of
importuiHO. A few days afterwards another letter arrived (at his
proper .iddress) from the same fellow, saying : "1 wrote you last
week, but, of course, you never got the letter, for, like an ass, 1
directed to C ■, of all places in the world." I should say that;
Mr. Hunt; had nothing whatever to do mth C . The postman
knew nothing at all about him, and he was not expected at Mr.
Smith's. So that the purely fortuitous character of the circum-
stances that guided the misdirected letter to his hands is complete.
H. Snell.
BKIOHTNESS OP TELESCOPIC IMAGES.
[310] — In a review of Professor Newcombe's work in Knowledge,
the common opinion that large telescopes increase the brightness of
objects having visible surfaces is stated to be erroneous. Is this so
in all cases ? Let the brilliancy of the retinal imago of (say) the
moon be tmity. Then, with a telescope having thirty-six times the
light-gathering surface, the image at the focus is thirty-six times as
bright. If I magnify this imago nine times superficial, the magnified
imago is one-ninth as bright ; but the image at focus is thirty-six
times as bright as the retinal inuige. Therefore, the magnified
image is thirty-six ninths, or four times, as bright as the retinal
image. If I increase the aperture and retain the same magnifying
power, the image should bo brighter still. No doubt I am astray
somewhere, and should esteem it a favour if you would kindly point
out where. Thanking you for past favours. W. Kidd.
[\ou will find that where magnifying power is less than increase
of illuminating power, the eye can only i-eceive a portion of the
emergent pencils. My friend Dr. Huggins had an old telescope
intended to give great increase of light (a night glass), and he
found the emergent pencils were an inch in diameter — as, ho said,
" a telescope for a horse, not for a man." — Ed.]
THE OWNER OF THE CORONA.
[341] — I was present at the birth of the nurseiy rhyme to which
you refer in your last number, and can vouch for the original form
in which it appeared. The part in question ran thus : —
[Our correspondent must excuse our omitting the first two lines
and the last; which are to some degree jiersonal. — Ed. J
He thought himself owner of half the Corona,
The rhymes were made by Dr. Thorpe, a member of the Sicilian
Eclipse Expedition of 1870. On leaving Poretta, a station between
Verona and Florence, Professor Clifford commenced making nursery
rhymes on the names of the stations taken from Bradshaw, and Dr.
Thorjje carried on Professor Clifford's idea by rhyming the names of
the members of the expedition. There is a moderation about the
origiral recension which recommends itself to my judgment. It
will bo noticed that the claim set up is only to the ownership of
" half of the Corona." The verses were received with great applause
by the members of the Eclipse Expedition, who had been travelling
with the " owner " for some days. Mr. Rand Caprou's version mast
have been derived from an inaccurate source — perhaps the owner
subsequently saw his way to improving tbem.
A Member of the Sicilun Eclipse Expedition.
INTERIOR HEAT OF THE EARTH.
[342] — Your correspondent, " B." (No. 287), will find, if he
refers to the Rev. Osmund Fisher's recentlv-published work on the
" Physics of the Earth's Crust," that Professor Mohr's speculations
have not escaped the notice of scientific men in this country. He
will also find his deductions from the observations made in the
bore-hole at Sperenberg very ably combated by Mr. Fisher in the
above work. — I am, your obedient servant, D. C. W. Hike.
EARTH'S INTERNAL TEMPER.A.TURE.
[313] — I have not seen Professor Mohr's book, but 1 recollect the
inference he attempted to draw from the temperature observations
at the Sperenberg borehole. It is altogether fallacious, and the error
has been pointed out by Professor Everett in the " Report of the
Committee of the British Association on Underground Tempera-
tures," and by the Rev. 0. Fisher in his work on the " Physics of
the Earth's Crust." In almost any book on geology — say, " Coal :
its Uistorj' and Uses" (Macmillan), " B." Avill find an account of
the result of the examination of coal plants by competent
botanists.
A single instance of asphalte in granite is rather slender evidence
for disputing the generally-received views as to the origin of that
rock. It may have been a case in which granite has been formed
by the intense mctamorphism of a rock containing bituminous
matter, and if the change was effected deep down under ground,
the ])res3ure may well have prevented volatilisation and escape. —
A. H. G.
THE RAINBAND.
[344] — I observe in a recent number the discover^• of this band
in the spoctroscojie is given to Piazzi Smyth, which may be true, as
there is no date affixed, but if so it must have been before April 20,
1871. On that date Professor James Cooke asked me if 1 had noticed
434
KNOWLEDGE
[March 17, 1882.
tho dark liiu- which prcccdod rain ; nnd, prodacinf; a pocket Bppc-
trr«oo|M'. poinUul it oft. Uavi'iK puri-haflod, tho year boforo, when
at tho Hritinh AiwH-iiitiiiii in I<iviTpmil, from John llniwiiiinf, a nix-
primn iimi>miitio Hpcctrom- [le, Mr. Cooko camo homo with mo to
tent thcn-in thiH Imiiil, which wiis now very ohviouB, nnd from thiit
day to tlio pivBont it hiis boon, boforo rain, n fumiliar iiabjuct to my
frioDds and myaolf.
Roforrinit to your foot note of the nnrscry rliynic, whicli, doubt-
Icmi, Mr. I^ockycr onjoycd hh much aa iinyone (?), these arc tho wordH
fpvcn to niP by one of the n\enibcrs of the 1870 KcHpse Ex|)eilition,
OD hia return home :
■ • • •
Till he of tho Corona,
Snys, Normnn is owner,
And the rest of tho Bun shines for Lockver. I'uiam.
EARTHENWARE INSULATORS.
[345]— .4propo« of tho electric " Telegraph," " The wires and insu.
lators," Knowlkdgk, Vol. l.,371, I was, some four or five years ago,
havinj; a conversation with an electrical engineer; and he informed me
that in the manufacturo «{ earthenware insulators, a large quantity
of animal charcoal was ured ; but if any human bone got mixed with
the others and burnt, the insulators (sn-called) were useless, as they
did not produce insulation, and ho told nic that he was a loser in a largo
contract entered into for insulators, in consequence of some human
bones having got among others which were used for the charcoal
for mixing with tho other materials of which the insulators were
composed, and not one of which executed its appointed task, llave
you ever hear of this peculiarity of human charcoal, and can you
account for it ? A. T. C.
SPECIAL NOTICE.
FOR some time past our Queries and Replies have involved a serious
and growing difficulty, which we had proposed to remedy in
Slime degree by having two numbers of 32 pp. per month. But the
diCficulty increased so much that this measure would only, we feel
assured, afford temporary relief. We must, therefore, adopt a more
satisfactory renied}-. Tlic difficulty is this : many questions arc
asked (perhaps about a tenth of those asked appear under head
Queries) ; to some questions ten or a dozen replies are sent in, of
which, perhaps, only one can bo admitted, while other questions
remain unanswereil. Correspondents who have written out queries
or replies are not well pleased if their labour is wasted, yet much
labour must be wasted according to our present arrangement. If.
as we proposed, wo enlarge our sheet occasionally to admit more
questions and answers, there would be delay in many cases, and the
bulk of our readers would not care greatly to have simply eight
more pages of correspondence, queries, and replies. In fact, we
should have not a few letters pointing out that whereas in number,
X, 12 pages out of 20, or 3-5ths, were original matter, in number
(i + l) there were 12 out of 28, or only 3-7ths, "and this, Mr.
Editor, is grossly unjust." We shall hereafter adopt, therefore, a
different system with queries. They will be classified, and sent to
experts in the departments to which they respectively belong, who
will reply to them at greater or less length, according to the nature
of the queries, but in such a way that each reply will convey
information to others besides the querist. These replies may,
from time to time, furnish occasion for correspondence, cor-
rections, suggestions, and so forth ; but, for the most part, a
query once asked and answered will be finally disposed of.
Thus, much less space will be occupied by questions and replies,
while much more satisfactory information will be given not only to
each individual (|nerist, but to our readers generally. The "Queries"
and " Replies " columns will thus be practically merged in
" Answers to Correspondents," classified under various headings —
Astrology, Geology, Chemistry, Botany, Entomology, and so forth.
It is hanlly necessary to point out to our readers that this arrange-
ment, by which the usefulness of Knowlepge will be greatly in-
creased, will not be altogether so inexpensive as one by which
readers are left to answer each others' questions. The proprietors
of K.NowLEnr.E cannot, therefore, at the same time, enlarge the
numbers. But when the growing circulation of Kn'owledoe justifies
that course aUn, readers will gain much more by it, as there will be
an increase of original matter, instead of a mere growth of the
Correspondence columns.
Owi.Nfi to the illness of engraver, the large picture of the looped
path of Mors, with reference to the earth, from 1875 to 1892, has
been delayed. It will appear without fail next week. — Ed.
It should have; been mentioned that tho note on the appearance of
Japitcr, in No. 18, was extracted from the A'unsas Science Sludeat.
The Editor.
(@urri(S.
fSllj-IlEATi.so Room.— Will Mr. W. Mattieu Williams kindlygay
what are the objections (if any), in a saniuiry point of view, to
heating a room by means of an atmospheric* (Bunsen) boraer
without a stove-pipe or vent, provided it is kept burning with a
perfectly bluo llamo 'r -J. W. B.
[312] — I'trolooual. — Will Colonel Rous please say: — 1. If,
having tried Fletcher's lamp for burning solid fats (modified form
for travellers), ho can recommend some? 2. Where the lOa. 6d.
microsco|ie8 he mentions in " Pyrcjlogy " arc to be got? 3. Where
tho spectrum lorgnette is to be got, and the price ? 4. What fat, or
fats, are best for blowpipe work ? — Jkmima.
[313] — Botanical. — Would any one kindly give tho name and J
j)rice of a book giving the derivations and meanings of the Tariooa -
botanical terms ? — Je.uima.
[31 1] — EVEsiGiiT.---One of my eyes is only half the focus of the
other ; what is the best thing to be done ? — Jemima.
[315] — A,stro-Photo(;rai'UV. — Will a reader kindly refer me to a
work on this subject, or give a few elementary instructions adapted
for a 3i-inch refractor. — C. J. C.
[316] — Ati.a.ntic Cable. — Where can I obtain an account of the
laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable of 1865 ? — W. Y. N.
[317] — Seal Fisheries. — How are seal-skins shipped to England,
&c., ])rocared ? Is it the case that the seal is flayed while alive
and conscious, and, if so, how is the animal afterwards treated ? —
J. 11. B. Fletcher.
[31><] — Vegetarianism. — I shoold be obliged if "A Fellow of the
Chemical Society " would tell me where to obtain information as to
the details of a proper vegetarian diet, so that I could give my
household sufficient variety ; and also that I might not err, as did
those who fed " the prisoners " referred to. — G. A. S.
[319 ,— BixocVLAR Microscope. — When using the quarter-inch
with binocular microscope, both tubes are not fully illuminated, but
there is always a dark shadow in one or other, wherever I place the
mirror. Is this unavoidable, or what will remedy the defect ? — .
J. E. S.
[320] — Botany. — I am about to commence the study of botany,
and should be very thankful for any information as to books, Ac-
Would Cassell's lessons in the " Popular Educator " be of any use
to me ? I cannot afford anything that is expensive, as I am only a
weaver lad. — F.
[321] — Botany. — Providing the ovules in the ovary of a flower
were unimpregnated, would they continue to devclope, and ulti-
mately to all outward appearance simulate true seeds. Of course, I
know they would not germinate. This is against all laws of
physiology. But everyone knows that a hen will lay eggs withoat .
the visit of the male bird. In replies, please quote references ? — '
JfMBO.
[322] — Meterological. — (1) What is the best self-registering ■
rain-gauge, price, and where procurable ? (2) Also tho handiest '
cards or sheets for tabulating the readings of the barometer, wot ,'
and drj' bulb thermometers, rainfall, and prevailing winds ? ObseCf
vations taken thrice daily. — G. B.
[323] — Shocking Coil. — Would any reader give full particulars
for making a powerful shocking coil, with the best form of battery
to use with the same in a small room, as I am desirous of making
one. — In Ambigio.
[32t] — Electric Organ. — Having an intention of constructing
an organ similar to the one at Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke's, wiD
some reader kindly explain the action, say from the keys to the'
pipes ? — Roberto.
[325] — Stonehenge. — Can you inform me whether the Dmidi
placed the stones there, and if so, by what process ? — Slbscribkiu
[32G] — Antarctic Regions. — Required information respecting
the geology of these regions. Thero are volcanoes, but are there
stratified rocks? 1 remember some years ago hearing it stated
that elephant's tusks had been found, and I notice in the map an
" Elephant Island." Is there any book that would throw light on
the subject ? I addressed a query to you, which you published,
about Valley -terraces in Dorsetshire (No. 261), but no one haa
thought it worth while to reply. — S. H. W.
[327]— First B.Sc. Exam. (University of London) .—Could any
reader of Knowledge tell me the best books to procure for the
preparation of the various subjects required in the above ? — Und««-
ORADfATE.
[328]— Sub Teomine Fagi. — Can Mr. Grant Allen tell me why
herbage does not grow as readily under beeches as under other
Maech 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
435
trees ? Am I right in thinkin;; that grass under beeches is often of a
finer blade than nsual ? Why docs Mr. Allen exclude yellow at
pa}?e21 of '■ Evolutionist at Large ? " it surely predominates at least
in spring. — M. McC.
[329] — PnosPHOREs* EXCE OK Fish. — What is the cause of the
luminous appearance, so striking in the dark, observable on the
inside of a haddock, chiefly about the bones, even after it has been
cured ?— Leon.vrd B. I*.
[330] — Cliubi.vo I'lakts. — In our hemisphere, and in our
climate, of course, the sun rises on our left and sets on
onr right hand. Climbing plants, such as the hop, in con-
wqnence, it is believed, of the action between them and the
(un, wind round their supports in the same direction. Perhaps
■ome of your botanical readers will tuU whether, in the southern
hemisphere (say at the Cape or Australia), as the sun rises
on our right and sets on our left, these plants wind round in a
similar direction, following the sun, and thus in a totally different
manner from those with us. Under the equator, might they not be
sometimes puzzled as to the direction they ought to take ? —
W. P. B.
[331] — Evolution and Geology.— Dr. Wright, F.R.S., in a
lecture at Cheltenham a few days ago, declared the Lias formation
to be " the greatest possible stumbling-block to the theory of evolu-
tion, for he detied anyone to lind in this complete geological
chapter the slightest sign of any intermediate steps of life. If
palaeontologists could determine such steps, the world would soon
be convinced of the truth of evolution ; but in endeavouring to do
this, they would find the zones of life in the Lias a very hard nut to
crack." What reply do evolutionists make to this objection ? —
ECPTEBIS.
[332] — Mosses. — Can anyone recommend me a book giving the
English as well as the botanical names of British mosses ? Hob-
kirk's '■ Synopsis," and Dr. Braithwaite's " Flora " give only the
latter. — Eiptebis.
[333] — Sakkara Tablet.— Will "A Member of the Society of
Biblical Archaeology" kindly let me know when the Sakkara tablet,
mentioned March 3 on page 379, was discovered, and by whom r
What kingly dynasties are mentioned in it, and where is Maspero's
correction of these dynasties to be obtained and read ? — Egypt-
ologist.
[334] — Jupitee. — I should be glad of any information respecting
cause and nature of the red spot on Jupiter, also where to find
best description of same. — A. H. M.
iReplitE! to ©unirg.
[31] — Inte.nsity Coils. — Give the size and length of secondary
wire, together with the method observed in the construction of the
coils, then we may be able to assist you in determining the safe
limit of battery power. If the insulation has been destroyed by
" sparking," it wiU be necessary to unwind the wire until the faulty
part has been discovered, mend the insulation with silk dipped in
hot melted paraffin, and rewind the coil. — George Edwinson.
[93] — Water of Ayr Sio.ne. — This stone may be cut with a disc,
or a atrip of sheet iron with sand and water, or it may be cut with a
fine saw, as slate is cut. — George Edwinso.v.
[119] — Electro Plating. — The sis ounces of cyanide of copper
can be worked out of the plating solution in the course of a few
days by using a large anode of pure silver. Of course, the first
deposits of silver will be inferior in colour, because alloyed ; but I
knsw of no other practical method. Separation by the chemical
process would not pay for such a small quantity of solution. —
Gboege Edwinson.
[152] — Nickel Plating. — To economise space here, I may men-
tion that two good practical articles were given on this subject in
the Mechanical World for Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, 1881. — George
Edwinson.
[228] — Microphone. — Plates for this purpose, about 3 in. in
diameter, the volume of the current increasing with size of plates.
.\ny number nntU the required tension has been obtained. — George
Edwinson.
[229] — Hair. — See, for accounts of almost instantaneous con-
version of coloured hair to white, vol. i. pp. 198-99 of Hinton's
" Physiology for Practical Use."— E. D. G.
[238]--Electric. — Inductive electric force is displayed in the
space enclosed between the wires of a galvanic circuit, and also in
the close vicinity of such wires. The "co-efficient of induction"
would be the sum total displayed by two inductors, the amount of
induction by one being known. — George Edwinson.
[241] — Fai-re Accuuclator.— (1.) All the tongues of the lead-
plates destined to form the positive element of the cell must be
joined together. (2.) All the tongues of the opposite plates must
be joined together, and "look" the other way. (3.) In series, one
after the other, or side by side, as may be required. (4.) When all
the oxide of lead has been converted into the peroxide of lead by the
action of the charging current, the cell is fully charged, but the
" quantity of electricity it will hold " varies with the age, ic, of the
cell, for it improves with age. (5.) Open, if preferred, or protected
from dust by a cover of wood. (G.) Yes. A cell might be charged
with this force, or oven less. (7.) No. (8.) The force of the
battery does not depend u|ion the force of the charging battery
itself, but upon the amount of chemical energj- ilevclo])ed in the
cells by the charge of electricity. Perhaps the dischai-ging cnrrent
does not realise more than 80 per cent, of the force expended in
charging the battcrj-. — George Edwinson.
[242] — Prose Compositkix. — The theory of English prose com-
position is admirably treated in Bain's "English Composition and
Rhetoric," 1vol. (Longmans); while original and useful practical
methods are suggested in W. S. Dalgleish's " Introductory Textbook
of English Composition," Is. ; or bound with the " Advanced Text-
book," 2s. 6d. (Oliver & Boyd).— E. D. G.
[244] — Lecti-res. — The " Working Men's Educational Union,"
some years ago, published an Illustiated Reporter^ containing lists
of subjects for lectures, and of diagrams published in connection
with those subjects. The list before me comprises sets of diagrams
in astronomy, geology, volcanoes, the steani-engine, the telescope,
the microsco])c, the mechanical powers, and twenty-nine other
subjects. These diagrams are now published, I believe, by the
Religious Tract Society. Those which I have used were rough, but
gocd.— E. D. G.
[247] — WAKMTn at Night. — It is certainly conducive to health
to maintain the body at a comfortable temperature at night ; but
have a care in the choice of stoves to keep the room warm.
Unless the products of combustion, produced by a gas-stove, are
carried out of the apartment by a flue, they will counteract all the
beneficial effects of increased warmth. — George Edwinson.
[263] — Vegetable Food. — If Provost P., or anyone else who
desires any information about vegetarianism will write to Mr.
Doremus, 30, Rochester-road, London, X.W., he will get informa-
tion how to begin. A few stamps enclosed will further procure him
some pamphlets. — T. R. Allinson, L.R.C.P.
[270] — Blowpipe Chemistry. — " Amateur" seems to have puzzled
himself sorely over Colonel Ross's very clear instnictions for con-
structing his blowpipe. The piece of brass is to be soldered to the
large end of the 12-in. telescopic tube, the mouthpiece being placed
on the opposite end. " Amateur" will now see that there is no exit
for the air blown into the tube through the mouthpiece. The jet
(of which a drawing was given by Colonel Ross) is let into the tele-
scopic tube at right-angles to it, an'd about half-an-inch from the
stoppered end, fitting close on lines A and B of drawing. The hole
in the jet, between lines A and B, now forms the exit for the air
blown into the tube. The balloon is secured to the larger end of
the jet, and acts as an air-chamber or reservoir, and, owing to its
elasticity, a bellows. The brass nozzle is fitted to the small end of
the jet, and thus forms the only outlet for the air blown into the
tube. I hope this crude explanation will help " Amateur " over his
difficulty. He seems to have mistaken the jet, of which a drawing
was given, for the lube, of which only the dimensions were given. —
Pyrologist.
[273] — Strength of Material. — There appear to me to be
several errors in the solution given by "Anderson." First, he
uses two different values for the distance between the guide-rail
and the centre pivot — namely, 917 ft. and 8 ft.; and, again, he
resolves an apparently vertical force into vertical and horizontal
components. Taking 8 ft. for the distance between the guide-rail
and centre pivot, and 25 ft. for the distance between the guide-rail
and the direction of the weight, the solution is as follows : —
30x25
5 — = 93 J = tension in tons on the centre pivot,
30x33 . , ., .,
— s — ■"123i = pressure in tons on the guide rail,
1235 -93J = 30 = weight '" tons on the crane. — F. M.
[274]^FoRAMiNiFERA IN Chalk. — Bmsh out with a hard brush,
well wash in water, and pick out with a needle, and mount in
balsam. — Albert Smith.
[274] — Mi.scELLANEOus. — (3.) The following drawing-books may
be recommended to " Blozoon" : — 1. " Vere Foster's," Marcus Ward
& Co.; 2. Cassell's scries of "Popular Drawing-Books"; and S,
436
KNO\A^LEDGE
[March 17, 1882.
tlioRe ]>iil)liiihr<l by ninrkio A Snim, under the direction of E. J.
PoynttT, H.A. — Uohkut Macphkhwin.
[i;7l]- MiKCKi-LANHoi'M.— Till) Irontniciit of chnlk fornminifi'ni
difli'Di »<iiiipwlmt from tliiit of foniniinifi'rouN Hand. A very MitiH-
fnctiiry mcthiKl in lo boil n niiinll piocp of clinlk with rniixlic (KilnHh
in II tent tube until it wimmteii in lino powder. 'I'hiH in dhiiken np
in a lnr({e bottle full of wnter, tlie fornniinifeni nri' then He|iiiratod
by wpecilie gravity, the water Iwing poured off lifter HtJiiidinga Hhort
time, and a fresli iin|>ply added nn long as it cinneg away of a milky
tint. The deposit will eonniBt ehielly of foraminfern. and may be
mounted in balsnni. I liaro prepared ooveral Hlides of e)ui1k from
the North Downs, in Kent, by tliia method, which 1 have always
found to answer perfectly well.— C. Habkis.
1 275] — Salt. — Tho objection to the use of salt can only bo ae-
counted for by some peculiarity of taste. It is certainly not
shared, ns far as I know, by any of our " high medical authorities."
By the use of salt the salivary glands, tho secretion from which
aids in the digestion of food, are stimulated. Its use is, of course,
not absolutely necessary; but that it is the most natural of all
condiments, and therefore the best, is made evident by tho fact
that saline matters are contained in all kinds of natural food. —
KoBEBT MAcrnEnsox.
[275]— Salt. — Many object to salt on the idea that it is an
acquired tustc ; thoy say salt is not a natural part of man's food,
and so wo ought not to take it. They instance children, who always
splutter ont salt food when given them. It creates a false appetite,
and a craving for food even when the stomach is fidl. Also giving
rise to thirst, or a desire to drink. It increases the flow of gastric
juice and of saliva, for a time, tho same as any other bitter sub-
stance will. Some object to it on the ground of it being a mineral,
and say that our food contains all that is needed without it. I
know many vegetists who never take it from year to year, who
cook everything without it, and who even have it not in their
houses. — f. R. Alli.vson, L.R.C.P.
[277] — LuMixou.-i Paixt.^ — This consists of calcium sulphide,
ground in oil. The light given by it is bluish. A 6-inch square
surface will show time by watch. Of course, the paint must have
been recently exposed to light. — Lkwi.s Arvxdel.
[277] — Luminous Paint. — This is sulphite of calcium, made by
burning oyster shells in a closed vessel with sulphur.— Albert
Smith.
[278] — Smell from Burning Gas. — Tho gas is imperfectly con-
sumed: The globes sometimes cause a rusli of air, through the hole
being too small, and then the gas is not consumed. — A. Ssiith.
[282] — S.MELLINC Salts. — The use of smelling salts is only bene-
ficial in cases of fainting and nervous depression, and at times in
neuralgic headache. Women use them more fiequently than men
for the same reason that men use tobacco more frequently than
women, the force of custom in both cases being the ruling power.
— KoBERT JIacpiierso.v.
[281] — Pkncil-point Protectors. — You can re-silver, using
cyanide of silver ; it is very poisonous. — A. Smith.
[285]— Scientific Terms. — Collins & Sons publish an illustrated
Dictionary of Scientilic Terms, by W. Ito.ssitor (price 3s. Gd.) ; very
useful and compact. Anything not in Rossiter is easily found by
taking the Roots and consulting a Latin or (Jreek dictionary, as the
case may be. — G. B.
[28G] — Electricity. — Get Spraguc's " Electricity," publislicd by
Spoil, Charing Cross. — A. Smith.
[297] — Tobacco and Science. — TjTidall has shown that tho blue
of the sky and the blue of tho sea are caused by the breaking up of
the rays of light by infinitely small particles of solid matter. The
blue smoke rising from the glowing end of n cigar or pipe contains
very minute particles of carbon at a high teinperaturo. After the
smoke has been drawn into the mouth and expired, two changes
have taken place — the smoke is at a lower temperattii'e and laden
with moisture. It is also heavier. Perhaps there has been some
chemical change in addition. At any rate, we may safely say the
atoms of carbon have united into larger particles— just as coal-
smoke particles form smuts — and reflect light in a different
manner. The smoke issuing from the paper tube of a cigarette
contains tho two smokes — a small quantity of smoke at a high
tcmiKsrature drawn back from the glowing end. and a larger quan-
tity of cold smoke that has been in the smoker's mouth, which has
been rendered doi-ker and heavier. — W. D. B.
PiioTocRAPiiic Bromide Solution.— Ammonia bromide, (!0 grains ;
liquid ammonia, 4 drachms; dis. water, 12 drachms. — A. Smith.
[Letter 309]— Dur.vtion ok Life.— S. wants to know what I mean
by stating that it depends on ourselves whether we die at 35 or at
70. It in thin, "All diaeaaon arc due to three condition!": — l*t, {
my parent's fault; 2nd, my neighbnar'H fault; 3rd, my own fault.
Int. If my parents tninsmit tome a tendency tu gout, coiiRumption, 1
or insanity, then the fault of ill-health belongs to them. If • |
person ilies before 20, it is the fault of hin parents, after that it ia
liis own fault. 2nd. If my neiglilxjur's drain rtins over, poisons mt
drinking water and I get typhoid fever, then he is to blame,
nnnther one comes lo my house whilst he is suffering from sma
po.x and gives it to me, then surely I am not to blame. 3rd. Thill
the largest class, and contains mo.st diseases, for by caro the I
dime}' to gout, Ac, can be rootefi ont from the system. Giv
many jiersons taking rich food and much of it, then bilious att
are to be looked for. If the rich food !« continued for n long (
then expect gall stones and stones in tho bladder. Give alcohd
and we get chronic indigestion, rheumatism, &c. Give rich fo
and alcohol, and we get gont, apojilexy, heart, kidney, and Ut
disease. Give tobacco, expect sore throat, palpitation, slowing
heart's action, and in some few cancer of the lip. If fresh air I
neglected, then expect colds on the least exposure. If exercise 1
not taken, we expect constipation, piles, congestion of liver,
Now add up the action of lots of meat, plenty of drink and tobacc
and we shall get our people dying at 35 years. Take all in modd
ration, and an average constitution will last till nearly 70. But 1
abstaining from beer and tobacco and being spare with meat, I
taking plenty of exercise and fresh air and keeping the mind cab
we may go to fourscore or more. — T. R. Axlinm^v, I, lif'.I'
^nsinns to Conrepontifnts.
*^*All eommitnicafionit for the EJitor requiring rarly atlfntion thoutd rtaeh t
Offict on or before the SaturJai/ prtcedinf] the current istue of Kkowlbdoi,
inereating circictaiion of which compel* um to go to prett early in the teeek.
Hints to CorrespOndrnts.— 1. Xo quention* atJcintj for tcicntific in/or
can ie answered through thepoft. 2. Lettert aent lo the ICditor for corre»pond«ni
cannot be fortcarded ; nor can the name/ or addreinei of corretpondentt be gicen i
anetcer to private inquiries. 3. iVo qiieriet or replies tarouring of tke nature i
advertifementH can Is inserted, 4. Letters^ queries, and replies are inserted, i
contrary to Eule 3, free of charge, o. Correspondents shouUi write on one
onltj of the paper, and put drawings on a separate leaj. 6. Each letter, \
reply should hate a title, and in replying to letters or queries, r^er
nade to the number qf letter or query, the page on which it appears, and tie titie.
t should \
A Reader and Subscriber to KNom,EDGE. The subject is I
considered in treatises on jAysiologj-. — Mathf.maticus. Math
matieal course at Dublin is excellent. — J. SI. You are not conted
with 2Jd. for 2d., but insist on 3d. or 25d. at the least. The pap
is excellent. — II. A. Bulley. You evidently misapprehend wh
science says on the subject. You carefully make a straw gia
and as carefully npset him. — Tyro. As to your first, ask us
easier one. As to tho other, to find how maeh a ton at earth^
surface is attracted to the moon, multiply a ton by the square
3,960, divide by square of 238,818, then by 81, and you will get th
mass whose downward pressure at earth's surface is equal to attp
tion of a ton of matter (on earth) moonwards.- Xicholas MobgA
Pardon me, the phrenologist contends for something more than tb
difference of cranial form indicates a like difference of disposit
or of talent, or of form. .So !iii(r/i, many admit who arc
phrenologists. The JIallicolese skull compression cannot, howeva
afford much ground for argument cither way. — 1"eeli), or Jecl
or Yeela (??). Have never heard of Dr. Long's " Astronomy^
For a beginner, should say Guillcmin's "The Heavens" (Bentley
would suit. — A. N. That frog cure is really too absurd, also to
cruel. — Cklt wants his theory discussed, that the builders of th
Great Pyramid heaped up earth all round tho Pyramid so i
form a slanting surface to the Pyramid level, as it rose layer 1
layer, and afterwards removed all that earth. He thinks — but do
not say why — that this would explain the slant passages. He as^E
if any one can offer a better theory. " In those days,"
says, " engineering appliances were not likely to be able oth
wise to raise such great blocks of stone, and labour was pr
tically unlimited." It must have been, if the theory is eorrect.-
CiiARLES Horxer. It would be simply absurd to tell our reade
that the Great Gallery has been measured to within a hnndredt]
of an inch. No one who knows anything about measureme
would believe it of any gallery fifty yards or so long, still less '
tho Pyramid (iailcry. You could make the length anything betv
1,870 and 1,890 in. according to the way you chose to measure, an
anything between 1,800 and 1,050, according to the length yo&l
choose to assign to the pyramid inch. These coincidences are mertl
tricks, though honestly meant enough, I have no doubt. Th4l
length of York Jlinster is quite as near the 1,000 millionth of i
sun's mean distance as the Pyramid's height ; so is the height cCf
Rouen Cathedral; but no one has yet started any craze about thediriap [
March 17, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE ♦
437
inspiration of the architects of cither cathedral. — W. A. C. It is
admitted, by so staunch an opponent of cruelty to animals as Mr.
R. 11. Button, that if all men became vegetarians, multitudes of
animals now used for food would of necessity perish for want of
food. This being so, it is not fair to tell the crcophagist that
thoujih ■' ho can pet all the chemical qualities of meat without
taking animal life, he takes it in order to tickle his palate." Xote
also that P.R.A.S. only speaks for himself ; ho does not attack
others; you go out of your way to charge him with cruelty.
Observe, I am quite with Mrs. Dr. Kingsford and other vegetarians
in all that they say abont the coarse and disguslin..; scenes now
associated with thesup]>ly of flesh meat. But 1 think the uncompro-
mising vegetarian does more to prevent change than to hasten it. The
world at largo would be easily moved, I think, to see that our meat
supply w-as obtained in a better fashion ; but you do not aim at that —
you try to persuade the world to admit at once that animal food should
be dispensed with ; and the world replies in effect, If that is what
you want, yon are not likely to get it. — T.\r.\xaki. If you read
Sir E. Beckett's book more carefully, you will find that where he
writes, " Chance is only the uncalcnlated result of some knowni or
unknown laws of natui-e " (these are his words, but your quota-
tion is near enough), he means only what he expresses thus later
on, " The only meaning of the word ' chance ' in the physical
universe, since it began to exist, is this sort of incalculable conse-
quence either of the kno^\^l or unknown laws of Nature." In other
words, he is referring to the word "chance" as applied to
natural pi-ocesses. What I have spoken of as pure chance he
speaks of as "bare chance" at p. 19 ; and, of course, like me, he
not only ■' believes," but knows " there is such a thing." To use his
own illustration, " every rational man concludes '' that the atoms of
the universe have been, " as we say, of dice. ' loaded.' to make them
behave in a particular way, not a thousand or a million times, but
always," ..." because the only jiossible alternative is that of bare
chance ; and the idea of all the atoms of the universe behaving as they
do by chance, is too absurd for any man in his senses deliberately
to entertain." — TAXGEN-Ti.\r, Tkndexcv. Xo ; it cannot be said that
because the sun's attraction acts in same direction at one part of
the earth's orbit as the tangential tendency acts a quarter of a
revolution later, the sun's attraction during one quarter cau.ses the
tangential tendency in the next. The direction of the earth's
motion is changed, but the earth's velocity in the tangential direc-
tion is not generated by the sun's action. — A Reader ok Knowledge.
The difference is due to use of mean instead of solar time. We shall
treat fully of this presently; it cannot readily be explained in few
words. Name a good science manual ? Would you mind mentioning on
what subject? — IIexry Bowman. Wc should be glad to give more
chess, if we could ; but others want less, and many want more
mathematics. — EnwAun Hargr-eave. We should be glad to give
more whist, if we could : but others want less, and several want
more chess. — n. B. R., Charles Jerrold, M. James, and others.
We should be glad to give more mathematics, but others want less,
and many ask for more whist. — H. W. FAWCf:'rr. Two of my essays
on the Pyramid are in my " Myths and Marvels of Astronomy," two
in my latest work, " Familiar Science Studies," both published by
Messrs. Chatto & Windus. — W. McManus. Your query would
lead to endless replies. The opponents of evolution are many,
their arguments numerous. Read, as one of the best examples.
Sir E. Beckett's little book on the Origin of the Laws of Nature
(8.P.C.K.), also Dawson's Story of the Earth and Man (Hodder
i Stoughton) — a really charming work. — Simplex. I am very
mnch obliged to yon for so carefully, in response to ray wish, show-
ing some examples of Bell's line-writing; but although, from a
scientifio point of view, it may (I cannot honestly say I see why)
be beyond comparison with anything preceding it, it seems to me
to compare tmfavourably with Pitman's in brevity. The double
Carres for v, /, !, r, n- (English) seem serious objections from a
stenographic point of view. — Paradox. He was kind enough to
send me his confounding of Darwin. — John J. Prince. Con-
sidering that the subject of the great changes of climate which
different parts of the earth appear to have undergone, occupies
many hundreds of pages in divers treatises on geology, you should
hardly expect us to put the matter as a quciy, inviting readers
not only to lucubrate thereon, and to give reasons for their
opinion, but if possible to demonstrate it mathematically. The
subject is one in which we may shortly offer an article by an ac-
knowledged master of the subject, but for correspondence and
replies, — not much : (for we should get too much). As to the other
luestion (which yon ask over name Tv.Ro), whether the earth's
diameter is being increased by layers formed out of its ovn\ sub-
stance, the question seems akin to this. When Pat took a strip a foot
mde from the bottom of his blanket and added it to the top, how
much did he increase the length thereof ? — W. C. Yon are angry
because we will not give np the fine saying by Liebig. Well,
yon make a mistake in tliis ; and, as Liebig says, there is no harm
in making a mistake. But before "putting us down," do con-
sider the harm you propose to do us. — W. H. H. Soames. Thanks
for your courteous letter. May I, for a last word, say that perhaps if
those who have devoted much time to the account in question were at
one in their interpretation. Science might do well to consider it more
attentively than at present. What say you to this from Monsignor
Clifford, respecting the account!' — " C 'est nullement I'histoiredela
creation, fait en sept jours ou sept periodes do temps, niais simple-
ment la consecration, sous forme d'hymno sacriS, dos sept jours de
la semaine il la mcuioire, au souvenir, des sept oeuvrcs principales
do la creation." Wherennto my e-xcellent friend, M. I'Abbe Moigno,
replies : — " Oscrai-je exprimcr lo regret que Monsignor Clifford no
partage pas mes convictions de la veritc do la cosmogonie de MoVse,
quoique mysterieuse encore dans quelqucs-uns de ses details." — His-
torian. Queries answered, I think, in this section ; history scarcely
falls into our line. — C. T. B. Surely the description of tobacco smoke
as "a cloud of tar in half-burnt gas" is inexact. — .1. U. Ward.
Erraii ; yon can either correct as you suggest, or for mean distance
write " perihelion." — A. T. C. Newton settles it, does he not ? yet
he says Hijpolliexes iinn fin'jn. Doubtless he came near the truth ;
but it was not a matter of observation, experiment, or mathematical
demonstration. Wonder who told him. — Ayrshire wants book on
Ventriloquism, with dialogues. — Private Stident. Such questions
are not suitable ; Ave can neither insert in Mathematical Column
nor answer hero. Wo shoukl be Hooded with such questions if
we did. — C. C. C. You seem to think 1 keep all the questions and
answers in my head. I cannot tell what theory you refer to unless
yon give page and column, of my answer. — Ignorant. Any text-
book of biology will tell you how fish breathe by means of their
gills ; the air in the water which passes through the gills being
"what they breathe." — J. P. Sandlands. We have treated you
with courtesy and consideration ; you repay us by accusing us of
unfairness and cowardice, because wo decline to break through a
rule which we consider absolutely essential to the maintenance of
Knowledge in its proper position. Wo shall say no more. — Edgar
Flower. George Stephenson, the engineer, was, of course, right in
saying that the uppermost point of a wheel of a carriage moves
twice as fast as the carriage, while the lowermost is for the moment
at rest : does this require elucidation ? — T. W. Johnson. If you
are "thoroughly satisfied" it is a delusion, all is well so far as
you are concerned. — J. McGrigor Allan. We are quite with you,
but have not room for the subject, which does not belong to our
programme. — A. Daniels. We cannot find time or space to work
" sums." — Jno. Trist. We regret that the necessities of space will
not permit us to find room for "a few essays on the doctrine of
philosophical necessitj-." — H. H. L. Hill notes that the collection
of the late Professor 'fennant are still on sale at a shop a few doors
west of King's College, and will shortly be sold by auction.
Suggestion noted as to centre of pressure, &e. — C. Harris. The
attraction of the mouthpiece is virtually nil. As to the colour,
there can be little doubt you are right, and that the smoke
looks blue only when seen by reflected, brown only when
seen by transmitted light. — Professor Buchheim. Your letter
appears. — Jemima. Scarcely space at jiresent for the refining
of sugar. — E. F. Scarcely a reason, — rather How, than Why.
— John Sparks writes "i" for "I," except when he forgets
his part. He may note with advantage that the word "science"
would not be spelled " ciencc " by one who wi'ote " i " for " I." —
F. Blaker. The law of diffusion of gases would not affect, to any
appreciable degree, the stagnation of the air in upper part of room,
and would only very slowly cause^the carbonic acid gas continually
poured into that part of the room (by persons breathing) to be-
diffused ; in fact, it would act much more slowly to diminish tho
carbonic acid gas than the breathing even of one person only
would tend to increase it. — 'Clare. You are rather hard ou
Mr. Abbott ; we do not think he wants to study a treatise
of either class, but simply to know what is commonly un-
derstood by the expression " abstract reasoning." The reply
about tobacco smoke assumes more than can very easily be proved.
Iron certainly does rust faster in saltwater. — W. Wilson. I agree
with Tou that there are cases where ordinary modes of expression
are misleading, " A tog is a tog, but the question is, is this tog a
tog?" for which you'll overhaul your " Snarlcy Yow," and when
found make a note of. — E. D. G. There are certainly cases in
which the differential equations admit of more than one solution ;.
but it has not been shown that such cases can occur in nature.
Till this has been sho^vn M. Paul Janet's inference is but a rather
fanciful guess. The question is too difficult and artificial to much
interest the bulk of our readers. — B. Riley. Question already
answered satisfactorily. — L. D. S. You should get an elementary
bc-ok on astronomy. — E. W. C. The one with larger capital,
whether A or B, has the best chance of winning in the
long run. See my essay on a Gambling Sujiorstition. — Erin.
As you think the outside car is the best ever invented, you ought
t38
KNOWLEDGE
[Makcu 17, 1882.
not to niik why I think it np)iroprinto to Irinh kWI*. Moon'ii phnM>«
cnn Bcnri'i'ly l>" ox|iliiiiif>il 1iiti>, nil (hey nr<> cxphiiiicd in cvrry n-
N(H'ctnl)h< Irxt hiMik iin imlnmoniy. — II. D. Haiiii.aV. A mini Hiiglil
Itr wiid t<i 1)1' oviijvi'il from a Imliy, or »ii onk from nn iicorii ; but in
tho acii'ni'o of our tiiiio tlio tcnii evolution i< ({rnt'mjly npplit'cl to
tlip ilovplopmcnt of Hpci'icH. — A Sciiooi.iiov. Tlio reiiHon in thiit tlio
oarth Koi'i roiintl thi< hiiii oiico n yonr, no thnt tin* Htars on thu 8i(lo
opposite tho Hiin ncci'HHiirily ohnnKC Imiif^inc ii lon)<, KtmiK'ht linn
from tho «un to tlio oarth and beyond. 'I'hlH would point in one direc-
tion nt the bcRinnintf of n month, in n rliunifed dirertion (beeauae of
the earth's motion) at tlie end. — W. H. tiiioVE. I'nrdon mc, it is you
who are wrnn); in ilciiyintf lliat to (jivi" an equal chance of » piir-
ttoitlar event, such r8 all the tnimp.i being in one hand, there miiHt
be a certain number of trials. You are riffht in sayinR one parti-
cular arrangement is as likely as any other, but it is very far,
indeed, from an even chance tliat that particular nrranj^emont will
appear. You shall correct tho mathematical discussion of this
point, if you like and can, when it appears.— ARciiiMiM.io.N. Your
*' cosmetical specimens of angularised forms" too much for US:
we need rest after your letter. — W. W. There is nothing to make
the earth assume a more upri).;ht position. The removal or
burning of all the coals in the plobe could not affect her
axial poFO, even if they were all at one spot in the northern
liemisphcre. — S. S. H. By triangle of forces, the actual wind
FE (Fig. 2, p. 36), and tho wind EC, resulting from yacht's motion
in direction CE, would bo balanced by a wind CF, and, therefore,
their resultant is a wind FC. 2. Well, you might, for such a problem
as you require, take this. Assuming frictional resistance constant,
and sail (iO always set to bisect the angle FCE (as this angle varies
with the increasing velocity of tho yacht), determine the maximum
velocity which the yacht can attain on a given course and with a
given wind. Do not ask me to solve this, please, for time will not
permit. — A. H. Moselev. We partly think with you that the stories
on '"Intelligence in Animals" have now run far enough; but we
have to consider, what perhaps you overlook, that many readers
take much more interest in such matters than in those with which
you wish to see Knowledge filled. Your friend who told you that the
very amusing and well-written sketch you object to would have been
sent to the W.P.B., but for the military rank of the writer, is no doubt
one who understands very thoroughly his own nature, and judges
others accordingly. Those who know me best tell me I err in the
other direction. Need I say 1 do not agree with them ? but at any
rate, they know me ; your friend very manifestly does not. Y'ou say
•give us more astronomy, instead " of such articles; but for one
who so addresses me there are tens, or rather fifties, who say give
us more that is light and readable. Of cour.se, if all readers wanted
deep scientific matter, I should feci bound to considy them ; but I
expect that would mean such a limited array of readers that
Knowledge would very soon come to an end. This point
has to be considered, you know. Oddly enough, yon arc the
first who has written objecting to tho introduction of
these stories (except one who gave a semi-religious reason).
Nov the round is complete, and ereri/ subject dealt with
in Knowledge has had its tui-n. If all were listened to,
therefore, we should appear with blank pages. Y'et all who have
criticised special subjecis have done their beat to advance our
success. Man}- thanks for what you have done in that way. — Geo.
BoBSON. We are thinking of having "vellum wove," with illumi-
nated borders and headings. Your own special copy shall be printed
in gold letters on purple-tinted silk, delicately scented. Yet we
fear you would not even then be happy. Will it cheer you to be told
that the average cost of the numbers since January I, instead of
being less, as you fondly imagine, has been half as great again as
that of the fii'st nine numbers ? In this, of course, is included one
very important item, which persons who, like yourselves, complain
of paper, folding, and so forth, persistently overlook. — C. O. Thanks
for your very pleasant letter; it does me good after G. R.'s
sour one. Y'ou have not the problem at p. 3S0 quite right ;
you take a square plus a square, and the figure is a square
miniu a square. — Gn.\ts. Very likely you are right in assuming
that thin-skinned persons are preferred by biting insects to those
with less penetrable cuticles. — Lewis Akundel. Questions
already answered, or in course of being so. The mistake in
letter 280 is annoying ; it is one of those cases of perverted inge-
nuity which are a)>t to escape the "reader," for his attention is
directed to orthography, punctuation, syntax, &c., so that tho ab-
surdity of a statement, as such, is apt to escape his notice. — Percy
B. Donn. Thanks ; but the problem has been already dealt with
in Knowledge, No. 8, p. 16G.— Edward Stubb.s. I have carefully
compared the weather records for the years 1768 to 1792, left by
White of Selborne, and find not the slightest balance (even) of
evidence in favour of the theory that tho weather repeats itself
after seventy-six years, in England, at any rate. — F. Cowley.
Thanks. About photography, Mr. Brothers, of Manchester, has
kindly promiiod to write for ua. Tho other queiitiona already
answered. — IIallyakdh. I did not mean that 1 could jaiit
Hfe the lumidre reniln'p in America a day liefore first
quarter, but that it was then strikingly obvious — as obvious a« in
Knglaiid when moon shows but a narrow cresrent. When you saw
• ibjectH more clearly through moist air, they must, you think, have
been magnille<l ; but were they ? Surely you could tell whether
objects looked larger or not. It is absolutely impossible that
moisture in the air should magnify. I am cpiite with you about
differences of eyesight. I can see details with my naked eye
(literally eye, for it is only one which has tie power) which some
tind diilicult to see with an ordinary magnifying glass. Bnt
personal differences such as that have no liearing on the question
whether moist air magnifies. You speak of a change of tone in my
commnnicatiims to tho E. M. after 1S72 ; possibly you refer to
letters in which I exposed the jobbing schemers. Truly, then I did
vot mean " legitimate playfulness." I laid on tho lash with
intent, and with tolerable [effect. Looking back now at that time,
I see nothing to regret except occasional leniency. Sorry it jars on
you to hear our writers speak of "Huxley" and " Darwin" and
so forth. It would jar very much on me to speak of Mr. Darwin
or Mr. Uerbert Spencer. Will ask the publishers whether the
quadrifid ornaments on either side of the heading of each page
ought to hurt readers' eyes. Are you not rather sensitive ? The
large maps can be bound up as the double-])age pictures in the
Illustrated and Graphic are bound. As to the words which seem to
imply that the Egyptians were acquainted with the earth's motion,
surely there is some difference between them and references to the
rising, setting, and motion generally of the sun and moon. These
bodies seem to move — the earth does not. Does an open fireplace
help to ventilate a sick room ? I know something on that score
from experience, and I venture to say that if there is a place where
our open fires are greater nuisances than elsewhere, the sick room ,
is the place.- -J.NO. SiTnERLANn. We cannot undertake the office'
of private tutors to individual readers. Nine-tenths of the initials, I
Ac, under head "Letters Received" belong to correspondents j
who ask such question as yours. If we had space,
should not have time. Again, if you must ask questions in- '
volving the use of the differential calculus, why use the |
fluxional notation ? To use Babbage's old joke, we prefer d-ism to ]
dot-age. Lastly, to your question : (we answer just this once) yon j
could hardly expect to get the right differential equation if yoa]
treat T as a constant, even though it be only once. "You have]
(I'll /''"X I
TJ7 = V, and you say .".I -j- l'=2vr-f C ; but 1 is not constant;!
indeed yon write down eventually to an equation in which there isl
a term involving 3—. " That's how the error has arisen." — B. C.
° ax
Fraser. We must wait till the microscope has shown the diamonds]
in the razor's edge before we take that for a reason. — A. Blake. J
Other suns and systems might, of course, have originated as our sun '
and his system have done. We are not nearly so clear how this has '
been as you seem to imagine. The " sweet influences " of the Pleiades '
have been explained in several ways; there can be very little doubt the
reference is to the supposed influences of the Pleiades when the sun ,
was in their neighbourhood ; just as Sirius was supposed to combine
his rays with the solar rays, later on in the year, to produce unpleasant ■
effects, so in early spring (when in Job's time the sun was passing '
the Pleiades) the germinal influences of the season were attributed j
to those stars. — J. M. Fothergill. Of course. Cotton Mather was'
an American ; I thought everyone knew that. Tlie story is told by '
Wendell Holmes, in his Breakfast series. I referred only to the
" irreverent." It struck me as good fun to hear that strict, solemn, '"j
and most rigid Calvinist charged with irreverence — enough to make '
him turn in his gi-ave ; albeit one may note a good deal that is 1
very irreverent indeed, in my opinion, in his " Remarkable Provi-'!
dences."
ilrttrrs iArrribfti.
A. Hargreave. J. J. Snellgrove, M. M., Neminis Umbra («
cannot see it). Willow, M. Paterson, J. K. L., M. Petersen. Bine
Peter. An Admirer, Constant and Thorough Reader, Lucasian, P.
Parley, Titmouse, Aggrieved One, Patience (just what Aggrieved
One wants), L. Prowse, Ternary, S. Smithson. B. J. Harvey,
Amused, Vegetarian, Prospero, M. Macnnlty, Jerry, P. T. Heffeman,
Harpax, Morose. Mother Shipton.
Poxd's KxTRiCT 19 a certain cure for Kheamatinn and GoQt.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Hsmorrhoids.
Pon.i's F.itract is a certain cure (or Neuralfric paiiu.
Pond's Extract will heal Burns and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Snrains and Bniispa.
Sold by all Chemists. Get tbe geDoino.
March 17, \><S'2.}
♦ KNOWLEDGE
430
^otfsf on art anil ^rirnrr.
Hair turning Wiiitk. — A person I know of (brother-in-law to an
old friend of mine) met with a railway accident, wliicli turned his
hair perfectly white. I do not know if instantaneously. Ue lived
to be an old man, and after death his hair tnrned, or rather re-
turned, to its original colour, dark brown. — John Alex. Ollard.
ExPEEiMKXTs have repeatedly been made with the object of pro-
diuinp natural imitations of the craters and inequalities visible on
tlie moon's surface, and it has been found that tlie tifiures of the
lunar inequalities can be closely imitated by throwing pebbles upon
•'.> surface of some smooth plastic mass, such as mud or mortar.
r. Meydenbauer, of Marburjr, uses a basis of dextrine for the
rpose, and drops small quantities of the same material from a
ieratc height upon that basis. A photosn^ph of various figrures
^ich are thus produced, shows a remarkable resemblance to the
rious inequalities visible on the moon's surface.— A. MARTn,in the
.Soot v. Pollen.— I liave often noticed that although the hazel
>vill grow and Hower freely in the suburbs of London, yet it will
vily produce fruit. To gather nuts you must go simie miles into
country. A few days ago, I was examining the catkins and
■lale (lowers of the hazel (gathered about four miles from the
t) under the microscope, and 1 was struck by the fact that the
-;ils were each severally coated with a deposit of soot, sutficicntly
rk to prevent any chance of fertilisation. The hazel being ane-
niophilous, the absence of nuts in the neighbourhood of London
(and, I presume, of other large towns) is thus, I think, sufficiently
;K-counted for. — William H. Allen.
MicRocixrci IN Mfups. — The Gazette iledUale says that MM.
itan and Charrin, at a recent meeting of the Biological Society
. I'aris. gave an account of the investigations which they have for
some time been engaged in, on the presence of minute organisms in
the blood of persons suffering from mumps. These are multipliable
by cultivation in Liebig's broth, and are found to consist of minute
batonnets, but chiefly of micrococci, all in a state of motion. These
minate organisms, they consider, corroborate the clinical observa-
tions which tend to place mnmps among the infectious diseases.
The absolute proof that this disease is due to these minute exist-
ences, by reproducing it by inoculation of the " cultures," has not
been attained by the experiments made to that end.
English as the Speech of the Fitire. — The success of the
English-.speaking peoples as colonists, and their superior prolificness,
are not the only reasons for thinking that the English tongue is
destined to dominate the world. The flexibility and terseness of
the English language has made it the language of international
telegraphy, and from statistics just collected it appears to be the
great newspaper language. In other words, it about equally
di\-ides the newspapers of the world with all other tongues com-
bined. The total number of new.spapers and periodicals now pub-
lished is given in H. P. Hubbard's forthcoming '" Xewspaper and
Bank Directory of the ^Vorld,' as 3I,:;74, with a circulation of
about HtJ,000,0<.iO copies, the annual aggregate circulation reaching,
in round numbers, 10,000,000,0(0 copies. Europe leads with 19,557,
and North America follows with 12,400, the two together maksBg
over nine-tenths of all the publications in existence. Asia has 775 ;
South America, 009; Australasia, 661; and Africa, 132. Of all
tbese, 16,500 are printed in the English language, 7,800 in German,
3,850 in French, and over 1,600 in Spanish. There are -1,020 daily
newspapers, 18,274 tri-weeklies and weeklies, and 8,5U8 issued less
feequently. It appears that while the annual acrgregate circulation
of publications in the United States is 2,600,000,000, that of Great
Britain and Ireland is 2,260,000.000.- -.SVien(i/ic American.
The SoiND or Swtm Blahder of Fish. — Perhaps the following
quotation from the " Icelandic-English Dictionary," by Cleasby and
VigfuBson will be suflicient to satisfy your readers as to the deri-
Tation of the word " sound " or " sounds" as expressive of the air
or swim-bladder of certain fishes The word is spelt " sund."
" Snnd {q.s. svund), [from ' svimma,' dropping the v and changing
f» into nj : ' a swimming ' ; " «ic. Some compound words are given
as "sund-fjiior " (/. "a swimming feather") ; "sund-foerr" (adj.
" a good swimmer ") ; "sund-hreifi" ("a swimming pair"), of a
seal with several others. It is said that " swimming was a favourite
sport, the antagonists trying to duck one another," and that
"snnd " is one of the sports m King Harold's verses. It is also
added that the word " snnd," as used to denote a "sound" "or
straight, narrow passage," is quite a different word from the pre-
ceding, being derived from " snndr," i.e., " that which sunders."
So that the proposed connection of fish " sounds " with words
(having a Romewhat similar appearance) in the Sanskrit, Assyrian,
Chinese, Egyptian languages, &c., denoting "blood," "heart," &c.,
has no real existence whatever. The Scandinavians were doubtless
aware of the part which " the sound" plays as an aid to a fish's
powers <if swimming, and never attributed to it the function of an
aorta. They knew better. — Vf. Hoi'ghiox.
Animal V.«cin.\tion.— What Pasteur calls the "vaccination" for
the "anthrax" disease has been shown by repeated experiments
to be absolutely i)rotective. Professor Greenfield has vaccinated
cattle from rodents (gnawing aniinals like nits, squirrels, &c.) with
the "anthrax disease," and has found that they remain free from
all disorder, local or constitutional. The same result has attended
M. Tonssaint's experiments with the bacillus "cultivated" in
special fluids, not in the living body of any creature ; sheep and
dogs inoculated with this cultivalod poison showing no form of the
deadly "anthrax" disease. The exj)eriment was conducted on a
large scale under the auspices of the provincial agricultural socie-
ties of France. A flock of fifty sheep was ])laced at M. Pasteur's
disposal. Of these he vaccinated twenty-five with the cultivated
"anthrax" poison on May 3, 1881, repeating the operation a fort-
night later. AIJ the animals thus treated pa.ssed through a slight
illness, but at the end of the month were as well as their fellows, the
twenty-five which had not been vaccinated. On May 31, all the
fifty were inoculated with the strongest anthrax poison. "M.
Pasteur |iredicted that on the following day the twenty-five which
were inoculated for the first time would ail be dead, whilst those
protected by previous ' vaccination ' with the mild virus would be
perfectly free from even mild indisposition. A largo assemblage
of agricultural authorities, cavalry officers, and veterinary surgeons
met on the field the next afternoon to learn the result. At two
o'clock twenty-three of the unprotected sheep were dead; the
twenty-fourth died an hour later, and the twenty-five at four.' But
the twenty-five 'vaccinated' sheep were all in perfectly good con-
dition ; one of them, which had been designedly inoculated -mtU
an extra dose of the poison, having been slightly indisposed for a
few hours, but having then recovered." — R. A. P., in the Cobnhili.
Magazine.
Mk. RrsKiN on Education.— Mr. E. J. Baillie, of the Rnskin
Society, is contributing a series of articles on Mr. Ruskin and his
Teachings to House and Home. In the article on " Education, '
Mr. Balilie says: "In one of his books Mr. Ruskin has spoken
pointedly upon the prominence and precedence almost invariablv
given to what may be termed caste, or class distinction. He has
told us that there is a widely expressed desire for 'an education
which shall keep a good coat on the back; which shall enable [a
son] to ring with confidence the visitors' bell at donble-belled doors -
which shall result ultimately in the establishment of a double door
to his own house ; in a word, which shall lead to advancement in
life; (/us wo pray for on bent knees; this is of/ we prav for
It never seems to occur to the parents that there may be an
education which in itself is advancement in life. That any
other than that may perhaps be advancement in death.
To many "advancement in life" means ... in a word the
gratification of our thirst for applause. That thirst, if the
last infirmity of noble minds, is also the first infirmity of weak
ones, and, on the whole, the strongest impulsive influence of avera"e
humanity ; the greatest efforts of the race have always been trace-
able to the love of praise, as its greatest catastrophes to the love of
pleasure.' In the scheme of national education. Mr. Ruskin realises
the necessity for national Government schools. He maintains ' there
should be training-schools for youth established, at (iovernmcnt
cost, and under (Jovornment discipline, over the whole country-
that every child born in the countiy should, at the parents' wish be
permitted (and, in certain cases, be under penalty required) to pass
through them ; and that, in these schools, the child should (with
other minor pieces of knowledge hereafter to be considered) impera-
tively be taught, >vith the best skill of teaching that the country
could produce, the following three things: — (a) 'fhe laws of health
and the exercises enjoined by them ; (i) Habits of gentleness and
justice ; and (f) The calling by which he is to live.' "
i&ur iBntbrmntiral Column.
THE LAWS OF PROBABILITY.
Bv THE Editor.
THE general law enunciated in our last number may be
regardeti as the fundamental law of probabilities. Nearly
aU problems in probabilities, direct or inverse, depend on this
law, to which the more complex cases are reduced by various
devices of greater or less simplicity according to the nature of
the problem. And again, the value of any chance not relating
to tickets in a lottery, or balls in a bag, may readily bo
440
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[March 17, 1882.
refoiTod to tlicno oniiily-unilonitood illustnitiniiR. Thun (to take in
pnsiinga vcrj' fmnilinr raiip), Buppono wo nro told thnt tho bottinK
IH four to om- nKii""' " forlniii liorBO in n riico, wlmt nro wo to
infer i» tin- viilui> of tlir i-lmnco wliicli \iottin(f csiMTtB nHHlfOi to
liim. Till" oJil» of four to ono nirjin, of cunr»o, tlnit tlioro nro four
cliancCA npiiniit llio liorao for ono in liis fnvonr, or tlint out of Hvo
oqutti cliunci'8 lio lui« ono. Uin clinncc of winning ifl, tlicri'foro, an
far (U the liettin',1 shniis, oquni to that of dniwinn ono piirtiiMilnr
ticket from ii liu|? .-ontnininK live, nil ociunlly likely, untocodently,
to be (Irnwn. 1 need liardly Hny tlmt the reiil ehnnce of the borne
nniv be ven,- difTcrcnt. 'I'lie betting exi^rta niny not know neiirly
so inucli as they suppose, nnd tho horse niny have n niucli better or
a much worse ehnnce thun they iniBKino. Or n^ain, they may know
((.omo of them) much more than they pretend to know. JJut so far
as tho l)etting shows, tlmt is the horse's chance. We shall see
further on how tliis sinii)lilication of the jirublem enables us to
determine from tho known hotting about two horses singly, the
priiper betting about tho pair, and similarly for throo or more
horses.
Again, tnko cases which at first sight do not seem to resemble
the problem wo have just considered— as, for instance, the tossing
of a coin or the casting of a die more than once — and let us see
how those can be reduced to tho simpler case. Here is a simple
problem of this kind : —
What is the vhance that, when a coin is tossed twice, the tosaings
u-ill beunlike — (hat >'«, that loth mil not be heads nor hoth tails?
Simple as this problem is, by 'the way, tho great mathematician
d'Alembert went astray in dealing with it (at a time when the
mathematics of probabilities were not very well understood). Ho
reduced it to our general law in summary but inexact fashion. Thus
he said, There are three possible events: either both to.ssings
will be' heads, or both tails, or [they will be unlike; therefore
the chance that they will be unlike is one in three, or
one-third. This result d'Alembert maintained witli a degree of
confidence which seems singular when the simple nature of
his mistake is considered. To solve the problem correctly, we
must i)roceed, as he did, to consider the various possible events ;
but not err as he did, by failing to notice that he counted two of
them as one. The possible events are four, viz., head, head; tail,
tail ; head, tail ; and tail, head. There are manifestly no others,
and as manifestly any one of these is as likely as any other. Now
of these four cases, "two give unlike tossings, viz., the two last.
The real chance, therefore, is not one in three, but two in four, or
one half.
If d'Alembert had been a betting man, and had backed his
opinion bv wagering two to one against the occurrence of unlike
headings," during a great immbtr of trials, lie would have lost
heavily — the real wager being even. In the long run, half the
trials weuld be of the kind against which he had wagered ; and
losing thus as often as he won, while paying twice as much when
he lost as he received when he won, he would manifestly lose just
as much as his opponent had wagered. At least, the result would
approach this (and his loss, therefore, be the greater) the more
numerous the trials.
We note, then, in passing, that men who are unwise enough to
gamble ought to have a clear idea of the laws of chance ; for in the
long run these are as inexorable as the laws of the Medes and
Persians. A man may buy a single ticket in a lottery, and he may
chance to win, or he may try his luck pretty often at roulette or
rouge el noir, and still be a winner ; but if he keeps on long enough,
he will inevitably lose in proportion to tho calculated chances
against him. (Ho may lose at the outset, and probably, on the
whole, it is the better for him that he should.)
There are, indeed, ways in which men suppo.'ie that with patience
they can always win, though slowly. The following is a familiar
illustration, which wo leave as an exercise for the reader : —
Two gamblers, A and B, toss a coin on tho following terms. A
wagers against B evenly £1 ; if B wins A wagers £2 even with him ;
if B wins again A wagers £4 even with him ; and so on, doubling
each time, till A wins the toss. When this happens, whatever the
number of tossings before the event, \ wins £1. They begin again,
A wagering £1 even, as before, and doubling till ho wins, when he
pockets another £1. Every wager is .strictly fair, yet every trial
(as A must, at last, win) ends by A. winning £1. The system seems
altogether unfair in its results, though perfectly fair in details. Is
it Bo or not ? Assume A and B to have equal capitals, say £1,000,
and estimate their chances of success or failure. .\t first sight it
seems as though A must gradually win every pound B has. In
reality it is not so, as wo shall show later.
" All Roots." — (See " .\nswers to Correspondents," p. 391, line
17.) In reply to " All Roots' " query, I give an easy method of
extracting tho fifth root of 5153(532, and will endeavom- to state the
rule as briefly as ]ii)s.«ible. Make as many columns ns the number
of tho root to bo extracted ; then, having found the first quotient
figure, put it in tho first column ; odd tho same numlior to it ; then
multiply tho sum obtained, placing tho product in tho second
column. Continue this course, viz. : add and multiply, add ami
multiply, decreiiHing one column i-nch time, till you have only one
to make in tho first column, which will Ijo tho same nundwr of
additions as the root to be extmeted. Then odd 0 to the first
<oliiinn, 00 to the second, 01)0 to the third, 0000 to the fourth, and
bring ilown the next period in tho fifth. Then find tho probable
number of times that the fourth column will be contained in tho
fifth ; put this in the qnotient. and also under the first column, nnd
nild and multi|)ly as before. This method was discoverod by the
late Mr. IIonier.'.M.I'., ami is applicable to all roots. Your corre-
spondent will find all jiarticiilurs in " Kavunagh's Arithnvtic." —
HoMEO.
Find tho fifth root of 51 53032.
5153632 (22
2 4 8 It; 32
8
21
01
1933G32
12x2
32x2
800000
12
■m
17G81G
2tx2
80000
;t7081G X 2
1053032
10
8408
■lOOO
8&108
204
XoTiCE. — The necessities of space oblige us to defer solutions of
problems till next week. — Ed.
(Buv WBf)i^t Column.
By " Five of Clubs."
THK PENULTIMATE.
Sir, — I send you a game for young players, illustrative of the
above heading. Playing the penultimate is, leading the lowest but
ono in suits of more than four cards, which are not headed by the
Ace, or do not contain two commanding honours or strong sequences,
<ic. This mode of play is, practically, the invention of Cavendish,
and is the logical extension of the lead of the lowest but one, in
suits containing intermediate sequences. I look upon the invention
as little inferior, in its means of conveying information (and its
consequent influence upon the game), to the convention which
requires a player to return his lowest in suits of four cards, or his
highest in a suit of tliree. In point of fact, in some cases it conveys
more rapid information, for the lead from five cards may be, and
often is, declared in the second round of the suit. And where tho
dealer, being happily possessed of five trumps, is forced before
trumps are led, and tnimps with the penultimate, the information
of a minimum of five trumps is conveyed at once. 1 ought, perhaps,
to state that, unless there are special reasons to the contrary, the
lowest but one should still be led in the trump suit, notwithstanding
that it might be headed by Ace, King, or Queen, with small cards.
It is time that, occasionally, a weak lead simulates a lead from five
or more ; for a player, unknown to his partner, may have his strong
suit attacked by the adversaries. In such cases, whore the lead is
not an original lead, a jiartner must draw his inferences with more
caution. Pkeliekick H. Lewis.
The H.4X[.s
Cluls—i, 3, 2.
Hearts— K, Kn. 1,
Spades— Kn, 8. 3.
Diamonds — 8, 0.
B.
Ctubs—Kn,10,9, 8.
Hearts— A, Q,0, 6.
Spades — A, 5, 4.
Diamonds — K, 4.
Score .—Three all.
Clubs — 7, 6, 5.
Hearts — 10, 7.
Spades — 10, 7, fi.
Diamonds— A, Q, Kn,
Clubs- A, K, Q.
Hearts— 8, 5.
Spades— K, Q, 0, 2.
Diamonds— 10,9,7, 2.
Maiu.ii 17, l>;f^2.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
441
♦
♦
♦
l*^C
♦
♦
♦
B
^^
♦
♦
♦
^^
6 pn^
THE GAME.
NOTB. — The underlined card wins trick, and card below it leads next.
REMARKS AND INFERENCES.
1. — A leads the lowest but one-
B wins with the Queen and observes
that the two docs not fall in the
trick. Either one of tlie i)Iayer8 is
callinsr for trumps, or A is leading
from live or more. If from more
than five, the suit will bo trumped
next round. Having a sequence,
he leads the heat! of it.
2. — B knows now that the adver-
saries are two by honours. K, having
turned up the King, properly heads
the trick with the Queen.
.■?. — Z plays his best suit. B win-
ning the trick continues the trump
lead. He knows that he must
make two by cards to win the
game. He properly leads the
eight, to show his partner the
strength of his sequence.
•t. — Z continues his suit.
5. — Z plays another Spade in the
hope of finding the Knave with Y.
6. — A knows now that the Ace
will fall, and that B will, probably,
remain with the last trump. Of
course, there is a chance of Z
having the seven.
7. — Z is now in a difficulty. He
knows he can force the remain-
ing trump, but he knows also
that B has led trnmp upon the
Heart suit. I" may, however, have
an honour in Hearts, and it is
better in any event, as far as the
Diamonds are concerned, that Y
should be fourth player. 1' discards
a Diamond to the 13th Spade,
though not of much use now, as
the only trump is forced from B.
The rest of the game play.-; itself,
but if the young player will play
the game over, and suppose B to
have led three rounds of Hearts
before leading trump, he will find
that Y and Z will make sis tricks
and win by their honours. If the
two had been led instead of the
three, B, although he might never-
theless have led trumps, would
have had no means of judging
that the entire suit was between
him and A.
JU Jk A A lA A
A
* ^ •!• * 4-
•f 4- + + 4- 4-
0 0 O 4-J5.* ♦ ♦
0 0 0 I't ^♦il!
•7 ^7
9
Errat.v. — It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to explain that in the
?esy easy Double IJummy problem given last week, the partners
k and B, not Z and Y, are to save and win the game. The cor-
rection was made in the proof sheets ; but, in making a more
important change (" Mogul's letter had been put last, instead of in
ts proper position), the compositor overlooked this one. A similar
«mark applies to the word '■small," p. 41G, 2nd col., 1. 22. Clay
ibhorred "false" cards, not small ones. Whist players will recill
[/avour's ^not : when some one complained, as bad players always do,
if constant ill. luck at whist, he replied, "C'est, mon ami, que vous
I'avez pasassez de respect pour lespetites cartes." — Five of Clubs.
All the Trumps in" One H.^nd. — In All the Year Round for
Dctober, 1876, page 77, two instances are given of a player being
lealt the entire trumps [" having dealt himself," it should be].
Pery recently, I myself held all the trumps but two (five and six)
n a hand at whist. — R. E. P.
A CORRESPONDENT asks how to score at Short Whist, not finding
Clay's account clear. If he would say what seems to him obscure,
we will endeavour to explain. — Five of Clubs.
J^. M.vcKENziE regrets to see Knowledge wasted, advising how
best to play Wliist, " a game depending so much on mere chance."
Does it depend on mere chance ? Cavendish has settled that
(luestion pretty decisively. The clement of chance is eliminated
in the long ran, and good jilay tells as certainly at Whist as it does
at Chess. The way chance works is to make Whist a capital moral
as well as mental exercise. The player who, having a bad hand,
steadily does all he can while yet a chance remains, and perhaps
retrieves a game which another might have thrown up as hopeless,
has had a useful exercise and set a good example. — Five of Clcp.s.
G. Thompson's second letter, relating to B.'s lead in problem 1,
somehow escaped the editor's notice until now, and has only just
reached me. He points out that in a somewhat similar case, in
Cavendish's fifth Hand, leader's jiartner prefers returning his
])artner's lead, to leading from a hand headed by a tenace (\, Q.
and two small ones.) 'j^he play in these hands is not intended to
guide Whist players, though Cavendish does not call attention to
every error in the play. In Hand X, Cavendish calls attention to
the importance of returning the best of two cards, without savin<'
whether B would not liave done better to show his best suit.
There is, however, an important difference between the two
cases. In Problem I, B. has length in trumps; in Cavendish'.s
Hand Y, B. has not. Again, in hand V, B. can return a
good strengthening card. The ten of Clubs, in Problem I., played
with the certainty that Y (fourth player) holds the Queen, and that
Z (second player) is weak in Clubs, could scarcely be considered a
strengthening card at all. The words to which I referred (which
llr. Thompson could not identify, having a different edition) are
these : — " Many players will not lead from a strong suit if headed
by a tenace ; preferring, for instance, to lead from ten, nine, three,
to Ace, Queen, four. two. They argue that by holding up the Ace,
Queen suit, they stand a better chance of catching the Kin*'. So
far they are right : but they purchase this advantage too dearly ;
for the probable loss from leading the weak suit may be taken as
greater than the probable gain fron holding up the tenace." Mr.
Thompson argues, however, that the case comes under Cavendish's
advice about returning yoiu- partner's suit rather than your omi,
with weak or only moderatel}' strong suits, which you open to a
disadvantage. Does Mr. Thompson regard Ace, Queen, to four, as
only a moderately strong suit ? I should call this great strength.
Cavendish refers to such a suit as Queen to four, in some cases
King to four, or Queen, Knave, two small ones. Even in such
cases as these, if you have strong cards in the adversaries' suits, it
is better to show your own. Five of Clubs.
©uv CftfSs Column.
PROBLEM No 25.
By Leonard P. Rees.
o " ®
H t
t
t
> ■
White to play, and mate in three moves.
T
THE GIUOCO PIANO.
HIS form of the Knight's opening, called by the Italians the
slow game, arises if, instead of moving his Kt. to B.3 on his
third move. Black should play B. to B.4., i.e.,
. P. to K.4. ., Kt. to K.B.3. „ B. to B.4.
■ P. to K.4. "■ Kt. to Q.B.3. ' B. to B.4.
White has now four moves at his disposal, viz., 4. P. to B.3
442
♦ KNOWLEDGE .
[Maiu;ii 17, 1882.
4. P. to Q.3. 4. Kt. to B.8. 4. Costloa. All tbcRo ihotob are ante,
but slow in thoir rSoct. Modem players incline towordii a more
iuoii*ivo lino of |>lny.
If Wliito pliiys' J. r. to B.3., with the intention of playing
P. to Q.I., when he would obtain a strong centro, the following play
would reault : —
P. to Q.4.
P. takes P.
Q.Kt. takes B.
P. to y.4, or (A.)
CnstloB.
Castles.
10.
13.
P. to B.3.
Kt. to B.S.
B. to Q.2.
B. takes B. (ch.)
Q. to Kt.3.
Q.Kt. to K.2.
Kt. to K.5.
Q.' to Kt.3.
. . I^HHLIfl
9.
12.
P. takes P.
B. tokt. 5 (ch.)
P. takes P.
K.Kt. takes I'.
Q.R. to K.H<i.
P. to Q.B.3.
oven game.
(A.)8.i
Kt. takes Kl.
P. toqA.
10.
B. takes P. or (A.)
Q. takes B.
U.
Black having a slight
Kt. takes K.P.
Castles. J 2 Kt. to B^
B. to Kt.5. ' B. takes Kt.
superiority.
(A.) Players of an attacking style might play 10. K.Kt. to Kt.5.,
then 10.
11.
Q. to R.5.
12
Q.^o U.(>.
Q. Ukes P.
10.
P. takes B. " P. to K.Kt.3.
13. Q.K. to Q.sq., followed by 14. Castles with a strong attack.
Instead of 9. Kt. takes Kt.. White may also play 9. P. to Q.5..
a move adopted by Jlr. Steel, of Calcutta. This move cramps
Black's game very much, and unless he carefully opposes it, he
will get a bad game. Black might continue, 9. Kt. takes Kt.
Q. takes Kt.' ,j P. to Q A j^g Q- takes P.
KTTto K.27 ■ P. takes P. ' Kt. to B.l.
j„ Q. to Q.5. Castles Q.R.
Kt. to R.3.
It would obviously be bad to play 9. Kt. to R.4., as Black would
then most likely lose this piece by P. to Q.Kt.4. being eventually
played. Checking with the Queen on Black's tenth move would
also be bad, as White would play K. to B.sq. On the whole, we
think the move 9. P. to Q.5. is sound, and ought to obtain at least
a dran-n game.
,, ^ P. toB.3.
^f'^-" ^- Kt. to kt.3,
a move favoured and played often by Mr. Blackbume, who then
proceeded to bring his Q.Kt. over to his King's side. Should Black
Castle too hastily on his King's side. White would at once proceed
with an attack, by advancing P. to K.R.4.
P. to Q.3,
^Vhitc might also contmue with 5. —
B. to K.3.
^ Q.Kt. to Q.2.
^ P. to Q.3.
"■ P. to Q.3.
^ Kt. to B.sq.
■ P. to B.3T"
., Castles Q.R.
Kt. to^t3. ^" Q. to K.iJ.
If, on his sixth move. White proceeds with P. to K.5., Black ought
to obtain the better game, i.e.,
, P. to K.4. „ Kt. to K.B.3.
P. to K.4.
P. to B.3.
Kt. to Q.B.3.
5 P- to Q.4.
■ P. takes P.
6.
B. to B.4.
B. to B.4.
P. to K.5.
Kt. to B.3.
Black's best reply to this is 6. P. to Q.4. If, now, White replies with
7. P. takes Kt., a likely-looking move, Black will have a very good
and valid defence, i.e.,
P. takes Kt. g P. takes Kt.P. g B. to Kt.5.
P. takes B. ' E.lo Kt.sq. ' P. to B.3.
j(, Q. to K.2.(ch.) jj B. takes P. jg K. takes Q.
Q. toK.2. ■ Q. takes Q.(ch.) ' P. to Q.a.(ch.),
with the advantage.
Better than 7. P. takes Kt., is B. to Q.Kt.5., but even then Black
7.
rottld get the better game, i.e.,
7. "
13.
B. to Q.Kt.5.
kt. to K.5r
Kt^to B.3.
Castles.
P. takes Kt.
P. takes P.
B. to KTs.
Castles.
B. to Kt.5.
j^ P. to Q.R.4.
11.
B. takes Kt.(ch.)
P. takes B.
B. to K.3.
P. to K.B.3. " P. takes P.
ind Black has the better game.
(To ic continued.)
Kt. takes Kt.
P. to R.5.
P. to K.5.,
As pUyod in the match by Blackbume against Zukertort.
GAMES BY C0RBESPONDEN0E.—(Con/inti«<l /romp. 416.)
GAME I.
Cn
EP Editor.
Cnc-HH RiiiTOB.
10.
B to QKt3
11.
Q to K2
11.
CantloB
12.
1' to KlU
12.
P to QR3
13.
P to KKtS
13.
KttoKB4
14.
R to KR3
14.
P to Q5
15.
Kt to Kt5
15.
P takfvi P
h;.
li takes Kt
10.
R takes B
17.
Pto KKtt
GAME II.
9.
Kt to KR3
10.
Kt to Q2
10.
Kt to KB4
11.
P toQB3
11.
Kt to Kt eq
12.
Kt toQBt
12.
U to B.{
13.
K to B2
13.
P to KR3
14.
B to Q3
14.
Q to B2
15.
Kt to QR5
15.
P take.H P
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
•,• Please address Chens-Editor.
i. P. B. — You have taken the correct view of the subject in your
last letter to us.
Geo. Bell. — Only Pawns "can take Pawns" in passing. For
instance, place White Pawn on K5, Black Pawn on Q2 ; if now
Black moves P to Q4, White's Pawn can take the Black Pawn as if
it had only moved to Q3.
Clare. — Cook's " Sj-nopsis," 3rd edition, or Gossip's " Theory of
the Openings."
J. Park. — Game well known ; also published in Howard Taylor's
" Chess Brilliants." 2. From about laiO to 1850.
J. Hall.— Thanks.
D. See. — We should be going beyond the scope of our Cheai
Column.
John Griffith. — In Castling the King only must not pass a square
commanded by a hostile piece. 1. Wormald has about 7 1 or 76
2. It is quite a different thing. 3. No. 4. 38. 6d.
Letters received from J. Licence, J. Watson.
Contents of Knowledge No. 19.
pxei I
TrioyL-lea in 1882. Bv John Browning 39" ,
TheSreat Pj-ramid'. By the Editor 398
Photographr for Araateura. By A.
Brothers.F.R.A.S 400
The Crystal Palace Electrical Eilii- I
bition. Fifth Notice 401
Our Ancestors.— II. The Celts. By '
Grant Allen '.. Vrl \
Notes on Roning. By an old Club
Captain 403
The Sper«o<or'« Comet 404
Newton's Views as to a Menacing
Comet. By A. C. Kanyard 404
Intelligence in Oats 405
Wood-Gas 405
For Ncit WeeV
Meteorological Reports
Omissions and Corrections
Zodiacal Map
CoBBBSPoimBircB :— Vegeta
— Intelligence in the Dog — Elec-
trical Images — Darwinism —
iged Squares— Ghosta — Tele-
RepU(
, ic.
..407H
to Queries ,
vers to Correspondents .
Mathematical Column ..
Our Chess Colu
Our Whist Column 411
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KNOW^LEDGE
443
AN iLL]AiiXR/\TEL;
MAGAZINE OF^IENCE
PLAINLTVfORDED -EXACmDESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, .VARCn 2t,
Contents op No. 21.
PiOB '
The First Daffodil. Bv Grant Allen 413
A Study or Minute tife. No. II.
By Henry J. Slack, F.G.S., i
F.B.M.3 4W ,
Nights with a Three-Inch Telescope.
By " A Fellow of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society" ' -Mo
Kotes on Boning. By an Old Club |
Captain 1-16
The Crystal Palace Electrical Exhi-
bition. Seventh Notice 4-17
The Sreat Prramid. Br the Editor 148
The Sadii-iay fi<Tici<-'» Comet 150
Tricycles in 1S92. By John Browning 450
The Duchess of Coiinaught's Illuess 451
PiOI
The Path of Mars from 1S75 to 1877 452
Cbalccdonv Containing Liquid with
a MoTablc Bubble. By the Rev.
Henrv H. Higgins 454
Modem" Dress -154
Compound Pendulum. Illustrated. 4£5
CoBsBspOTfDBNCB :— Seeking after a
sign— Cafs-eve Timepiece of the
Chinese— Neolithic Man, &c. 456-453
" ■ 458
Replies to Queries
Answers to Correspondents 459
Our Mathematical Column -160
Our Che'iS Column 460
Our Whist Column 462
THE FIRST DAFFODIL.
AFTER watching it closely for four or five days, I have
just found the first daffodil of the season wide open
this morning, with a big humble-bee buried deep in its
capacious throat, already rifling its little store of nectar,
and dusting his body and legs with pollen which he will
promptly carry away to fertilise one of its pretty sisters
in some neighbouring garden. Though I have watched
it like a child, I could not resist the childish temptation
of picking it, and I have got it here before nie now for
dissection, poor thing, with my little pocket-knife, though
it does not need much of a magnifying power to see aU
that need be seen of its structural arrangements. It is
only a common wild English daftbdil : the " daffy-do wn-
dilly who came up to town in a yellow petticoat and a
green gown," as the old nursery rhyme has it ; and it has
been simply transplanted hither from the meadow beyond
the bourne ; but it is as gay and bright a blossom as one
could wish to see, for all that, besides being full of genuine
scientific interest for those who care to look at it aright.
Let me cut it straight down through the middle, so, and
then you will understand better what it is driving at.
You see, the flower consists of a single amalgamated
tube, with six lobes or points, and in between them, pro-
jecting from its centre, is a large circular crown, Ijroadly
tubular in shape, and brightly yellow, like the rest of the
blossom, in colour. It is well to begin at the beginning; and
SO we may first ask why it is six-lobed 1 The answer is,
because it is one of the monocotyledonous plants. That is
a very long and technical word — I am half afraid our
English-speaking editor will cut it ruthlessly out — and,
indeed, I wish it were shoi-ter and simpler ; but at present,
Onhappily, I know of no other that will efficiently supply
its place. Let me try to explain it. Many years ago,
when flowering plants first appeared upon the earth, they
began to diverge into two principal divisions, from one or
other of which all our existing flowering kinds (except only
the cone-bearing pine family) arc ultimately descended.
One of these primitive groups had two seed-leaves in each
seed, the other had one. There are a great many other dif-
ferences between the two tribes, but these are tlio most
constant ; and it is to tlie last tribe that the datlLdil
belongs. Now, so far as the flower is concerned (and it is
with that part of the plant alone that I am going to deal
to-day), the widest original diflercnce between the two great
di\-isions was this — the plants with two seed-leaves had their
parts arranged in whorls of five, while the plants with one
seed-leaf had them arranged in whorls of tliree. Thus the
typical flower of the first class has five sepals, five petals,
five stamens, and so forth ; while the typical flower of the
second class has only three of each. In the course of time,
however, this original difference has become greatly
masked ; for many flowers of the first kind have lost one
or two of their petals or stamens, by coalescence or other-
wise ; while many flowers of tlie second class have doubled
their numbers in one part or another. Nevertheless, in
most cases, we can even now trace, in some way or other,
the steps which connect the existing form with its primi-
tive ancestor ; and it is still true that the two types are
broadly marked ort" from one another, as the iive-i-ayed and
the three-rayed forms respectively.
Now, the daftbdil is a very advanced and liighly-modified
development of the three-rayed type. The artificial family
to which it belongs in the present somewhat irrational
arrangement of flowers is that of the arnaryllis kind ; but
we shall understand it better if we look first at its near
neighbours of another family, the iris and crocus group.
These plants in some of their modifications, such as the
common yellow flag, are very simply three-fold in their
ground-plan. There are three seed-cells to the pistil in the
centre ; then there are three stamens outside them ; next,
there are three petals ; and, last of all, there are three
large spreading sepals in the outermost whorl. But in the
crocus, the three petals and three sepals are indistinguish-
able, and have coalesced into a single tube, so that the
flower seems to have a united corolla of six lobes. Now,
in the arnaryllis family, to which the daftbdil belongs, we
get the same sort of tendency carried a little further.
Instead of having only one row of three stamens, the mem-
bers of this group have two rows, thus making a total of si.x —
for, though no mathematician, I will fearlessly venture upon
so much arithmetic as that. In the simpler amaryllids,
such as the snowdrop, the confusion goes no further than
this single step ; and we get, first, a three-celled pistil in
the centre ; next, six stamens in two rows outside it ; then
three small green-veined petals; and last of all, three large
pure white sepals. Here the original three-fold symmetry
is hardly at all masked by the occurrence of a double set
of stamens ; while the petals and sepals are quite separate
down to their very base, without any sign of union or
coalescence. I don't say they never have been united :
indeed, I have certain grave doubts of my own upon that
head, connected with what botanists call their inferior
ovary ; but I'm not going to mention that point to-day,
lest I should tell you too much about them all at once, and
so spin out my paper to an unconscionable length. For
the present, it must sufiice to notice that we still possess
amaryllid flowers in which the primitive arrangement Viy
threes is even now distinctly visible.
The daftbdil, however, has got beyond this early stage,
and has undergone so very much modification that its
primitive aspect is almost entirely masked by its acquired
traits. When I slice across its ovary, or embryo fi-uit, it is
true, I can see that it still consists of three cells, produced
by the union of the three originally separate pieces ; but
with this exception, all its parts now appear to be in sixes
rather than in threes. There are six pollen-bejiring stamens,
produced by doubling the original three ; and there are six
411.
KNOWLEDGE
[Makcii 24, 1882.
lobos to the corolla, produced by the coalfsconco of the
throp pctftls wit)i the thr<>c sepals, so os to form a single
unit4d tiilio. Tho olijoct of this coalfsccnoc is easy enough
to understand. As in the harel.ell, tho daisy, and so many
other flowers, it has heen olFeeted by tho selective ogency
of hunihleliees and other insects, like the one whom I
found huried so deeply in its throat this morning. 'I'lie
tuhular form, with its stamens lian;,'ing out from
tho side, ensures tho fertilisation of tho flower much
lietter than the system of open petals ; ond so it lias been
brought about by the fact that uny variation in that direc-
tion was \niconsiiously favoured by tho insects, while
variations tho other way were universally neglect«^'d. IJut
while many other plants have hit upon this same device of
coalescence, few liave carried it so far as the daflbdil. In
tho lir-st place, the tube in the ti\c rayed flowers is formed
out of the petals alono ; but in the threo-rayod flowers, the
petals arc too few in number to make a sufficiently wide
tube, and .so the sepals or calyx-pieces are joined with them
in producing tho desired result Thus we can trace a
gradual progress from flowers like the iris and snowdrop,
where the sepals are distinctly dilTorent from the petals,
through flowers like the wild hyacinth, lilies, snowflake,
and flowering rush, whore all six pieces are equal and
simihir, to flowers like tho crocus, meadow saffron, and
(lafi'odii, where the six pieces are united together into a
long tube. But, furthermore, and in the second place, the
datibdil and the others of the narcissus kind have done
more than the mere ordinary tubular blossoms, inas-
asniuch as they have produced a singular outgrowth
in the shape of the crown or cup, which forms, as it were,
a vestibule to the tube, and thus still better ensures the
proper fertilisation of the flower. In some of the pink
tribe (amongst the tive-rayed flowers) we get a scale or
par.ipct on each petal in somewhat the same waj- ; but in
the daflbdil and its allies the crown is united and circular,
like the tube, though one can still trace six wavy lobes or
sinuosities on its edge. In some exotic members of the
narcissus group the crown is very small and rudimentary,
and is brilliantly coloured with red or orange, so that it
seems rather to act as a honey-guide for the bees than as
an additional aid to fertilisation ; but in the wild English
datTodil it has reached a very high state of development,
and occup-:es at least half the entire length of the blossom.
One word more as to its colour. The daflbdil is a pale
yellow, and it apparently depends mainly for impregnation
upon the visits of diurnal insects. Hence it is quite scent-
less, for its large size and brilliant colour suflice to attract
([uite enough visitors, without any necessity for the extra
allurement of sweet perfume. But many of the southern
species, like the jonquils of our flower gardens, have pure
white petals, and possess a very powerful jasmine odour.
Such white, strong-scented flowers always depend, in part
at least, upon night-flying moths, which are largely
attracted by perfume ; and, of course, no colour can be so
well perceived in the dusk of evening as a pure glossy
white. Ilencc the difference in hue between the two
kinds. At tho same time, tho southern varieties are also
fertilised by day-flying bees, and for these the frill of the
crown is prettily fringed with brilliant orange. Each
insect selects the plant that suits it best, and their joint
selection has thus produced the snowy petals and exqui-
sitely-coloured cup of the garden jonquil.
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of
Great
A STUDY OF MINUTE LIFE.
I'.v IIknhv J. Slack, F.O.S., P'.R.M.S.
No. II.
rpilK editor will, it is lioped, allow the writer to explain
X that through the accident of his not receiving a proof
for correction, many typographical errors appear in the last
pa])or. The principal are, " cilian " for ci/intn, " injurious"
for in infiigioiia, in the sixth line from the bottom of the
first column ; "divided " instead of directed, eleventh line
from the bottom of second column ; and " analysis " for
aiialoi/i/, eighth line, p. .'(72.
If we were engaged in tracing life from its simplest
modifications upwards, we should now speak of those
objects, such as amri^ba-, which are composed entirely of
small masses of protojilasm, not built up into any positive
structure. Some notice of these is reserved for a future
paper, but it is best for the student to begin with objects
that can be obtained for certain, without difficulty, and
which are easy to observe. It may, however, be mentioned
now- that auKoboid creatures, in their ordinary and simplest
state, have no permanent distinction of parts. They put
forth prolongations and draw them in again ; portions that
were outside get inside, as they move on in a slobbery way,
and they swallow their food, not through any special aper-
ture, but anywhere, by flowing all round it
It is not uncommon to hear people talk about " homo-
geneous protoplasm," but as there is, and can be, no such
thing, it is not correct to describe any amoeboid object as
composed of it. Life is only manifested by the co-operation
of divers matters, highly complex in chemical constitution,
and able to perform different functions. The ciliated in-
fusoria, of which the Paramecium, spoken of in the former
paper, is a good example, is a little bag of skin sufficiently
firm to support the cilia, and full of the protoplasmic
material. When wo examine this material, wherever it is
found in a living state, we see a vast number of particles
in a viscid fluid. Their optical aspect suggests that they
are not all alike in molecular structure ; and if their ex-
treme minuteness did not render it impossible to separate
them for analysis, we should find they varied in composition.
Lumping altogether, particles and viscous fluid, the con-
stituents of protoplasm are found to resemble those of the
white of an egg. It belongs to a group of substances
found in all living things, and which carry on the chief
vital work. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, o.xygen, sulphur,
and phosphorus all combine to build up the molecules of
this material, and the compound is in a state of such
delicate equilibrium that it is easily modified or decomposed.
The Paramecium, and similar creatures, take their food
in by a mouth, and in the early stages of knowledge con-
cerning them, the great German naturalist and micro-
scopist, Ehrenberg, thought they possessed a multiplicity of
stomachs, because the food particles were dispersed in
many little spaces. Their processes of digestion and as-
similation are probably carried on without the help of
special organs, though, no doubt, the particles seen in the
protoplasm have the power of performing different kinds
of work. The infusoria will not swallow evcrythintf, but
their selective faculty is very small, and they readily take
in particles of indigo or carmine, floating in the water
about them, although they are of no use to them as food.
Microscopists have long been fond of feeding them in this
way, as the colouring matters can be traced inside the
little animals. The cilia near the mouth bring ail sorts of
objects floating in the water towards it, and other cilia
make an inward current to suck in what the creatures
want. The appearances often seem to support the many-
stomached, or polygastric, theory, but the vacuoles in
Mahch 2i, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
445
which the food-particles assemble are not constant in their
position, and certainly do not possess any firm walls.
Although tho vacuole has not the structure of a vessel,
when food particles are assembled in its little open space,
it acts just like a real .stomach, and we must conclude that
fluids specially adapted for the work of digestion are pre-
pared l>y some of the visible granules and poured into it.
The nutritive products of the digestion ditl'use themselves
through the soft moist mass of the creature, and the useless
and used-up matters are excreted, in many species through
a definite anal aperture.
The organs of these transparent and minute creatures,
when they have such, are often impossible to trace. Para-
mecia, and many others, for example, have a contractile
vesicle which expands as if filling itself, and then con-
tracts rhythmically, and it is supposed from the analogies
oflTered by larger creatures, that these vesicles, whose walls
are invisible, are connected with a series of tubes through
which fluids are impelled for both respiratory and excretory
purposes.
However small may be tho creatures and their particles
of food, the composition of the latter, no doubt, resembles
that of higher animals, and has to be digested and assimi-
lated by a succession of similar processes. The microscopic
plants supply complex nitrogenous as well as starchy
materials, and the sarcode of the microscopic animal
resembles in ultimate composition the flesh of higher
creatures.
The hay infusion is sure to supply some animalcules,
showing an advance of structure upon that of the Para-
mecium. A little oval creature, called Stylonichia, scarcely
so long as the largest Paramecium, is common, and has,
besides swimming cilia, some stiff bristles at each end, and
with these it can walk briskly over any substance. There
are many other animalcides similarly provided. The skin,
or integument, in some cases acts like the craVi's shell, or
the insect's external skeleton of the homy substances called
chitin.
Let us for a moment consider the indications of nerve
power, without nerve structure, afforded by the creatures
we have noticed. First comes the perpetual movers. The
action of their surroundings upon their bodies causes the
molecules that do rudimentary nerve work to respond to
certain impressions by stimulating the cilia to their rapid
motion. The creatures that can be quiet when in full
vigour, and vary their movements with apparent purpose,
prefigure the voluntary actions of higher beings. The
little animals that can run, or swim, exercise something
that prefigures choice as to which set of locomotive organs
they employ. The reader may ask. Have they any sense of
pleasure in their busy and merry-looking existence ? To
this very natural query it is diflicult to give even a con-
jectural reply. Consciousness of existence could not be
conceived of them, but a feeling of pleasure may long pre-
cede any kind of know-ing, and we may gratify our own
sympathies, and not be far wrong if we deem them happy
in their little wav.
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH
TELESCOPE.
By "A Fellow of the Eoyal AsTRoyoMicAL Societv."'
PENDING the appearance in the eastern and south-
eastern sky of the spring and summer constellations,
we shall devote our present night to an examination of the
more strictly circumpolar ones. Our original intention
was to have gone over Virgo and the neighbouring region
of the heavens. This, however, had, we now think, better
be deferred until that constellation approaches nearer to
the meridian during the working hours of the ordinary
amateur observer. Moreover, more than one of the con-
stellations we propose to in\estigate is now in a very
favourable position. First, then, let us turn to, perhaps,
the best known of them all — Ursa Major (Map, p. 3f<l),
now high in the north-eivst. We will begin by turning our
telescope, armed with a power of 1 20, upon f (Mizar).
Sharp -sighted people will detect with the naked eye a small
star (Alcor) in the immediate neighbourhood of Mizar. In
the telescope with the power specified, Mizar itself will be
seen to be double, and forming with Alcor the pretty
triple sj-stem shown in Fig. 2-'?.
The pale-green of the small star of the pair will be noted.
a, Ursa> Majoris, examined with the very highest power at
the disposal of the observer will furnish an absolutely
crucial test of the excellence at once of his eye and tele-
scope. 2.3 ITrsa> Majoris is rather a wide pair, but interest-
ing from the difterent tints of its components. .57 is a pretty
pair for a similar reason, but very much closer than the
last ; it is unnumbered in the map. 65, a fine triple,
is also unnumbered, but may be recognised to the south
of \ on the boundary of Canes Venatici. y X^rsa- Majoris
lies in a fine field of stais. This constellation, we may re-
mark, swarms with double and triple stars, but as in a large
proportion of cases they are of less than the Gth magnitude,
the map takes no account of them, and it would be use-
less to give their co-ordinates, unless the observer's in-
strument were equatorially mounted. Several interesting
nebulas are to be found in Ursa !Major, but in the case of
the student for whom these papers are written, it can only
be by fishing. If he will conceive an equilateral triangle,
to be described with a and 2■^ Ursa? Majoris at the ex-
tremities of its base ; then, by sweeping about to the right
of its apex with the very lowest power he possesses, he
may hit upon the two nc-buL-e 81 and 82 Messier, 1° apart.
About 2" (four diameters of the moon) south-east of ft is
another nebula, 97 Messier, a pale circular object, looking
like the ghost of a planet. An imaginary line di'awn
diagonally from a through y Ursa^, and continued nearly
as far again, will strike upon IjIV. 43, an oval nebula.
Half-way, too, between /3 and 97 Messier lies Ii,lV. 40. This
will require some gazing at with so small an aperture.
And now we will direct our telescope, armed with a power
of 160, to the Pole Star, which will be seen as depicted in
Fig. 24.
This is sometimes alleged to be a test for a 3-inch tele-
scope, but it is not so. Dawes has seen the companion with
a 1 -S-inch object glass, and the eagle-eyed Ward, of Belfast,
with only 1 •25-inch aperture '. North-west of ;, Ursa;
Minoris will be found tt', a wide and easy object.
Cassiopeia is one of the constellations through which
the Milky Way passes, and hence it affords innumerable
rich fields and clusters to repay the observer who sweeps
and fishes over it ; y, to begin with, lies in a fine field
of small stars. jj Cassiopeia, shown in Fig. 25, as
viewed with a power of 160, is a beautiful object, the
446
KNO^A/'LEDGE
[March 24, 1882.
><ilour8 ln'iiiK so wi'll contrasted, 'i' is a triple star, but,
witli our o[)tii-ul iiii'aiis, will only bo scon as a mtlicr wide
iloublo. a Cn.ssiojii'iii', to tlu' south of li, is a beautiful,
(Iclii-fttf, and by no means ru-sy, double star; a sort of
miniature of i liootis, which wo shall dcsoribc in a future
" Nifjht," About K, between y and k, between n and n, ic.
Hi- some of the beautiful fields of stars to which reference
has been mndi' above.
Cnmelopardus contains several more or less striking
pairs ; but as none of them are marked in our map of
reference, we pass on to Lynx, where wo lind 38 (Map,
]). 20S) a very close, delicate, and rather diliicult pair.
10 l.yncisis a pretty triple, but it does not ajipear on the
map. As both Cepheus and Draco are below the Pole, we
must defer our description of the principal objects of
interest tliey contain until some future occasion.
EiiiiATA. — In '• Nights with a Three-inch Telescope," on
p. 3"C, paragraph 2, lino 4, "lower circle" should be
iiour circle ; and at the beginning of paragraph .3,
appears instead of Cancer.
• Cancri
NOTES ON ROWING.
By an Old Clib Captaix.
CONSIDER now in what respects the racing-boat of
our time difl'ers from the racing-boat of 1840. It is
much lighter, it is much narrower and sharper, and has a
perfectly smooth keel, .so that it encounters a much smaller
resistance, the leverage of the oar is greater, and the oar
is longer. Taking the last point lirst, we see that the
oarsman must pull the oar more sharply to give even the
same velocity of propulsion as in the old boats, for the
simple reason that he works at the end of a longer arm,
while the increased length of the other part of the lever
(the oar from blade to rowlock) only makes up for this
increase in the length of the part which lies between the
rowlock and the handle. It can readily be shown that,
apart from the actjuired motion of the boat, the driving
distance for one full sti'oke of the oar would differ
very little with the longer oars but increased lever-
age of our time from that obtained with the old
style of oars, if the angle through which the oar is
swept were the same as of yore. But to obtain this
angular sweep the handle of the oar of our time
must be carried through a distance, greater in just the
same degree that the distance from handle to rowlock
has been increased. The hands must, therefore, move
more quickly to give the same rate of pro}iulsion as to the
older boats. But these boats will take and retain between
the strokes a greater rate. Consequently the oar must be
urged more sharply still, if it is to be ell'ective in giving to
them the greatest speed they can attain. The long, steady
pull proper in the old racing-boats would give, no doubt,
to these much lighter boats the same rate of speed that it
gave to the heavier boats, and with much less effort to the
oarsman. But tlie racing-boat would not then travel at
the best pace that can be gi\en to it.
I would call special attention here to the circumstance
that it is not a mere matter of opinion, but of absolute
certainty, that the same stroke which was good for the
old-fashioned racing boat must be ineffective for the
modern, outrigged, smooth-ljottomed, light racing craft. It
can even be shown that the actual stroke rowed by Selwyn
and his contemporaries, would not do more than simply
follow the motion of a racing craft at full speed, instead of
adding to its velocity.
L<'t us run through a little calculation, the elements of
which, l>e it noticed, are not open to doubt or question : —
The University boats go over the 4^ miles course on a
good tide in alx>ut '1\ minutes. We shall not be far
wrimg in saying that a very good racing l>oat would cover
4 miles on still xisile.r in afjout 20 minutes, or would move
at the rat<' of 1 mile in .5 minutes (note that whether »
boat is travelling with or against the stream the rower
works as if in still water, for the boat shares the motion of
the stream). Certainly this speed is attained in spurts,
and a still higher speed in sharp bursts over a short cour'-' .
A mile in •") minutes, means ■■)-">2 yards per minute, or .3^7
yards (or 17'G feet) per second. This speed is not abso
hitely constant even in the lightest and best of our racing
boats ; but as e%ery one knows who has watched the pro-
gress of a bumping race when the pursuing l>oat has its
nose very near to or o\crlapping the stern of the pursued,
falls off perceptibly between the strokes. Still the falling-
off is very much less than in the best boats of half-a-century
ago. We may fairly take 19 feet per second as the
maximum velocity attained just at the end of stroke, and
16 feet per second as the minimum velocity just before the
beginning of the ne.xt .stroke.
Now, 40 strokes to the minute is pretty nearly the
maximum attained even in spurts, the tendency being (as I
shall presently explain; to diminish rather than to increase
the numljer of strokes per minute. At any rate, 40 strokes
per minute is very quick rowing indeed. If, then, tlie boat
travels 1 7 '6 feet per minute, she covers about half as much
again per stroke, or 26-.") feet. In other words, a boat
travels very nearly nine yards at each stroke, in the case of
an absolutely first-class and perfi>ctly trained " eight " in a
good craft, rowing at top speed.
Now, it requires, with an oar suited for an outrigged
craft, a very good reach forward and a good puU home, to
give the blade a sweep of six yards in the water ; and,
taking account of slip through the water and of the arc
nature of the blade's motion, we may consider five yards
an unusually good rffective sweep. Now, with the old-
fashioned stroke, the oar was in the water at least twice
as long as in the air, din-ing each complete stroke (from
feather to feather). If, then, this stroke were rowed now,
the oar would be two-thirds of the fortieth part of a
minute in the water, during which time the boat, with tlie
motion already considered (whether supposed to be com-
municated by previous effective strokes or by the rest of
the crew rowing properly), would travel six yards ; so that
rowing the old fashioned stroke in the old-fashioned way,
an oarsman would not be driving the boat at all, but
simply following with the blade of his 0£ir the (relative)
motion of the past rushing water.
It is obvious, then, that the stroke which was so
effective in 1840 will not do now. It is equally certain
that the requisite rapidity of propidsion caiuiot be attained
by rowing the same sort of stroke, but more to the
mimito ; for experience sliows that no crew can keep up
so quick a stroke as would be required — rowing full length,
be it noticed, for else the quickening would do no good.
Nor can men take a much longer stroke (in the same
time), e\en with tlie modern sliding seats. Leverage is
lost with increase of length : and though up to a cer-
tain point this consid(>ration must be overlooked, it
tells very much when the question is of adding a
foot or so of forwai'd reach to the reach which had
already l>rought the oar to an inclination of some 40
degrees to the mid position when the levei-age is greatest
The sliding seats add something to the old length of stroke.
March 34, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
447
and doubtless with advantage, but wo were considering
their use in tlie above calculation. More could certainly
not be added, without bringing the oar to a position in
which a large part of the oarsman's strength would be
wasted in pushing the water from the boat instead of
parallel to the boat's leugtli.
It is, then, a simple matter of demonstration that the
stroke must be changed, in the modern racing craft, in
respect of the time during which the oar is in the water.
If a greater rapidity of propulsion is required, as we have
proved, and neither the number of strokes per minute, nor
the length of the stroke, can be increased beyond a certain
point, which does not suffice to give the necessary rapidity
of propulsion, it follows of necessity that the oar must be
a shorter time in the water and a longer time out of the
water.
This is commonly misunderstood, especially by persons
who have never rowed in light racing craft. They say,
the stroke must be kept " long in the \\ ater," and in one
use they are perfectly right : the stroke of the oar in the
ater must be as long as possible in distance, but not in
'nil''. But then "comes answer like an Absey book," You
inhocate a quick stroke, and more than so many — say from
torty to forty-four strokes per minute — should not be taken.
This again is true, the oar must be dashed through the
water quickly (or rather, for in good rowing there is very little
slip, must be dashed down sharply against the water and the
1 loat lifted along by sharp strong pressure against the water),
'•ut not too often to the minute. But then, again, comes
ill the objection. That means a slow feather, for if each
! jke from feather to feather occupies a certain time,
^iii)rtening the stroke means lengthening the feather ; and
every moment that the oar is out of the water the boat is
losing speed. Again we replj', the objection is valid ; but
it is a necessity of the case that to give the swift, sharp
impulse to the long, but quickly drawn, stroke, the oarsman
must take a longer time in the feather. Of course, the best
thing of all would be to have as many strokes as possible
pir minute, the longest possible stroke, taken in the
shortest possible time, with the longest possible oars,
and in the lightest possible boats. But the rowers
IjL-ing limited in their powers, the choice must be
made between long dragging strokes with lightning
feather, and long but swift strokes with less rapid
recovery ; and as the long dragging strokes would simply
not propel a boat at all at the swift pace of a modern
racing craft, the long, swift stroke must he taken. (Here
Pendragon, of the iuy'er<?f, who sat heavily upon the Editor,
three years ago, for asserting the necessity of these long,
but swiftly taken strokes, may come in if he please, and
say we advocate short, swift strokes, which every great
race of the last ten years has shown to be ineffec-
tive.)
To sum up, — a modem racing eight, whatever may have
■ n the tub practice of the crew, must be driven by
ilge-hammer strokes, long and sweeping, but sharply
t '.ken, and resulting from the concentrated exertion of all
tho energies of the body, followed by a moderately quick
I ' ' overy, during which the oarsman gathers himself
' ^'ether as it were for the next great effort, a momentary
! luse (which in old times would have been called a hang
on the feather, and deservedly criticised as a defect)
preceding the simultaneous plunge of the eight oars to
grip the beginning of the stroke. In other words, a stroke
must be taken which, with the old fashioned boats, even
when they had attained their best speed, would have
meant breaking the oars, if the men were only strong
enough to give it. How this impulsive stroke is to be
given we shall consider in our next.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Sevexth Notice.
THE Lane-Fox (Fig. 3) difters somew hat from the two
lamps described last week, the chief difference being
m the connection between the filament and the wires from
the generating machine. The glass bulb is about 3 in.
ong and 2^ in. in diameter. The filament is made from
bass-broom, and is connected to short pieces of platinum
wire, which are fused into the glass tul>es A, B. The
lower ends of the wires are immersed in small quantities of
mercury, M, M'. Two copper wres, C, C, pass from the
mercury through the lower portions of the tubes. A, B,
(which merge into one tube at D), and thence outside the
lamp. The wires are then soldered to the portions of the
socket connected to the machine. The tubes. A, B, and
their continuation, D, are filled ^vith plaster of Paris, P,
and wool, W, keeping the copper wires and mercury in
position.
The Maxim lamp (Fig. 4) exhibits another fonn of
contact or connection. The globe is about '2^ inches in
diameter, the neck. A, B, being turned inwards until the
aperture at C, is reduced from about an inch to a quarter
of an inch. A glass rod, CD, is then fused on at C, and
has two platinum wires passing through it. Externally the
wires are continued to E and F (outside the neck), so that
in fitting the lamp into its socket, the wires come into
contact with two insulated springs, each of which is con-
nected to one of the machine wires. Inside the lamp, the
platinum wires are flattened and bent into a kind of hook
(H). The filament, which is fiat and in the shape of a
gridiron, or letter il (for Maxim), is made from paper, so
that in cutting it out, there is little or no difficulty in
making the extremities considerably broader than the other
■H8
KNOWLEDGE •
[March 24, 1882.
portion. A amall circular platinum washor is placed on
one face of oixch ciid, tlii' hookoil cud of tho pliitinuin
wire on tlio otlmr, niid a Kiimll l)olt(!) ])aSHCH throuj;li the
wholf. Hiiial! nuts screwed on to tlie liolt clump tlie three
parts, and so ensure tin- oonncction.
Tlio Britisli Lamp (Fig. 5) is perhaps the most recently
oftered to the public. It consists of a glass globe, 2i
inches in diameter, continued by a comparatively long
glass tube. The filament is made from cocoa-nut fibre,
and is attached at A and B by means of small carbon
tubes to two short platinum wires, AC and BD. Two
other platinum wires, Kl<' and GH, are fused into the
lower part of tlie glas.s tvilie, FC and C!II being lengths of
copper wire connecting; tli<' platinum.?. Externally, copper
wires connect the platinum to the wires from the machine.
It will doubtleiis l>e noticed that the Bimilarity between
the various lamps is, at least in regard to the principles
involved, very great. The slight variations or difTen-nceg
may lie classed under two heads — viz. (1), the substances
from which the filamentR are made, and (2) the methods of
connecting the filaments to the external circuit Platinum,
so far as is at present known, is the oidy substance avail
able for passing throinjh the glass, being the only metal
which will fuze into that substance — that is to say, it is
the only metal which expands and contracts at the same
rate as glass on an increase or decrease of tempera-
ture. Its use is, therefore, inevitable. Swan, Edison,
and Maxim take their platinums from the filament to the
outside of the bulb. Lane-Fox, however, connects the
interior to the exterior by means of mercury — a de\-ice
which appears useless, for equally good contact could be
made by attaching the copper to the platinum. The copper
wires inside the British lamp are evidently used on the
score of economy, platinum costing alwut ^.os. to 308. per
ounce. Whether it is true economy or not, remains to l<e
proved. We, however, fail to see why this form of lamp
should be valued at lOs., while the Swan can l>e bought
for .'^s.
Great efforts have been made by the difierent exhibitors
to secure the public favour, and in some cases these efforts
have been successful ; but there are times when we detect
traces of a want eitlier of ordinary energj- or of practical
knowledge, and it is to the absence of such shortcomings
that we must look for an explanation of much of the
favour with which Mr. Edison's exhibits are received.
Although he has a large staff in London, most of them are
Europeans, and are, therefore, not open to the charge
some people seem disposed to hurl at them, as accounting
for their diligence and enthusiastic loyalty to their employer,
\\z., that of being Americans. It would be somewhat
invidious to draw any distinction, or to refer to any par-
ticular instance of inexperience, but we may mention
one which came under our notice some years since.
Shortly after the transfer of the telegraphs to the Govern-
ment, a number of men were sent to construct a line of
telegraph in a woody district not a thousand miles from
London. They did their work during the winter months,
and followed out to the letter instructions to keep the line
as clear of the road as possible. They did their work too
well, for when the spring and summer came, and covered the
trees with shoots and leaves, the wires were enveloped
and lost sight of, and as a consequence the slightest shower
of rain rendered them useless. The result of this want of
experience was that the line had to be taken down and
reconstructed. Electric lighting, however, is a young
industry, and some time must elapse before all its votaries
acquire their necessary information
There are other points of great interest in connection
with incandescent lighting, which, however, we cannot
refer to now, but will avail ourselves of the opportunity
in our next notice.
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By the Editor.
rr^HUS far all has been tolerably plain sailing. Of the
X. astronomical use and purpose (not quite the same
thing, be it noticed) of the Great Gallery, there can be small
room for doubt, when we find (1) every feature in all the
passages and in the Great Gallery correspond with the re-
(luinnients of the theory, and (2) many features explicable
in no other way.
March 24, 1882.]
KNOW^LEDGE
449
But here our difficulties begin. Astronomy no longer
lends its aid when we ask why the builder of the Great
Pyramid wanted to have an astronomical observatory as
well as a tomb. To begin with, I suppose Egyptologists
are quite clear that a main purpose of each pyramid was
that it should serve for a tomb. And I suppose, further,
that this being so, it was essential that each pyi-aniid, in-
cluding that one which we have been regarding hitherto
only in its astronomical aspect, should be as nearly as
possible completed before the death of its future occupant.
Tliere may be, for aught I know, some reason to believe
tliat in the days of the pyramids an Egyptian king might
lie able in some way to assure liimself of the bonajides of
his successors, and that they would continue the work
which he had begun and more than half completed. But
it is very difficult to imagine that this really was the
case. Human nature must in those days have resembled
1 letty closely human nature in our own time ; and it
stoms as unlikely that a kiug could trust in his
MKcissors so far as to believe they would e.xpend
V.u-j,!- >ums of money and a great amount of labour, in
CI .uipkting a work in which they had no direct or actual
interest, as that, supposing he trusted them to this degree,
their conduct after his death would have justified his
confidence. Thus, when we find that the Great Pyramid
was actually completed in the most careful and perfect
manner, we have very strong reason for believing it to
have been all but completed during the lifetime of the
king, its builder — if it was indeed intended for his tomb.
1 must confess that the exclusively tombic theory of the
(Ireat Pyramid (at least) had always seemed to me utterly
incredible, even before I advanced what seems to me the
only reasonable interpretation of its erection. One may
admit that the singular taste of the Egjptian kings for
monstrous tombs was carried to a preposterous extent,
but not to an extent quite so preposterous as the
■ xclusively tombic theory would require. Of course,
iif'n we see that the details of the gi-eat edifice
licate unmistakably an astronomical object, which
■ ■as regarded as of such importance as to justify
the extremest care, our opinion is strengthened that the
' yramid was not solely meant for a tomb. For this would
ing in another absurdity, scarcely less than that in\olved
the exclusively tombic theory of structures so vast, if
■ en they were non-astronomical, — this, namely, that the
liryptian kings thought the celestial bodies and their
movements so especially related to thftn, tliat their long
liome must be astronomically posited ^^^th a degree of care
lar surpassing that which has ever* been given to an astro-
■luical observatory. Common sense compels us to believe
at whether the Great Pyramid was meant for a tomb or
t, its astronomical character was given to it for some
ipose relating to the liv-ing king who had it built. (I
Hjpose Egyptologists are absolutely certain that the Great
I 'yramid ivas built by one king, and, therefore, within a
f' \v decades of years.)
Now, it is not reasonable to suppose King Cheops'
i-pose was simply scientific. We may fairly take it for
- mtcd that the king who expended such vast sums and
■ rificed so many lives to build for himself a tomb, was
t a man taking a disinterested interest in science, or
•->en ready to help the priests of his day to regulate
religious ceremonials by astronomical observations con-
ducted with reference only to general religious relations.
To put the matter plaiiily, the builder of the Great
Even in our own time, thoagh we pret greater accuracy in our
observations than Cheops obtained in his pyramid, we have not to
give anything like the same degree of care to the work.
Pyramid must have thought of himself first ; next, of his
dynasty ; then, perhaps, of the priesthood (though always
with reference to the bearing of religious ceremonies on the
welfare of himself and his dynasty) ; lastly, of his people,
as part of his wealth and power. For abstract science he
cared not, we may be well assured, a single jot I do not
wish to suggest that Cheops was wickedly selfish. I have
no doubt he was thoroughly persuaded that he was carry-
ing out the purpose of his existence in expending much
treasure and many lives on his own well-being (both before
and after death). But there can be no doubt this xcas the
real object of his expcnditvire of time, and wealth, and
human life on the great structure which bears his name.
Now, our thoughts arc at once turned by these con-
siderations to that one sole line along which astronomy
ever has been followed with the hope of material profit ;
and we are led to remember that if there is one idea which
has more strongly taken possession of the human race than
any other, or one which more than any other is associated
with the astronomy of ancient Egypt, it is the idea that
the stars in their courses rule the fate of men and nations.
When we remember that even now, when science has
shown the utter incorrectness of the ideas that underlie
the ancient system of astrology, this system has its
infiuence over millions. Even now the terms belonging to
the system remain part of our language. Our very religion
has all its times and seasons regulated in ways derived
from the astrological sj-stem of old Egypt. Our Sunday-
is the old Chaldwan and Egj'ptian quarter-month rest day,
and the Jewish Sabbath is this tiuarter-month rest day
associated with the belief in the malefic iniluence of the
planet (Saturn), which formerly ruled the last day of the
week (still called Saturday or Saturn's-day). The morning
and evening sacrifices of the Jews and their new moon festi-
vals were manifestly astronomical in origin — in other words
astrological (for astronomy was nothing except as astrology
to the old Chakla>ans and Egyptians). The Feast of the
Passover, however later associated with other events, was
derived from the old astrological observance of the passage
of the sun (the Passing over of the Sun-God) across the
equator, ascendingly ; while the Feast of Tabernacles was in
like manner ruled by the passage of the sun over the
equator descendingly. Our calendar rules for Easter and
other festivals would never, we may be well assured,
have been made to depend on the moon, but for their
original derivation from astronomical (that is astrological)
ceremonial.*
When we remember that the astronomy of the time of
Cheops was essentially astrology, and astrology a most
important part of religion, we begin to see how the erec-
tion of the mighty mass of masonry for astronomical
purposes nia\' be explained, — or, rather, we see how, being
certainly astronomical, it must be explained. Inasmuch as
it is an astronomical building, erected in a time when
astronomy was astrology, it was erected for astrological
purposes. It was in this sense a sort of temple, erected,
indeed, for the peculiar benefit of one man or of a single
dynasty ; but as he was a king in a time when being a
king meant a great deal, what benefited him he doubtless
regarded as a benefit also to his people : in whatever sense
* The Jewish people, when they left Egypt after their long
sojourn there, had doubtless become thoroughly accustomed to
the religious observances of the Egyptians (at any rate there is not
the slightest reference even to the Sabbath before the sojourn in
Egypt), and were disposed not only to retain these observances,
but to associate with them the Egyptian superstitions. Wo know
this, in fact, from the Bible record. Moses could not — no man ever
could — turn a nation from observances once become part of their
vcr)' life, but he could, and did, deprive them of their superstitions
character.
450
KNOWLEDGE
[March 24, 1882.
tlio Great Pyramid had a ivligious sigiiiflcanco with regard
to him, it had also a national rttligious signiticancc.
It would havii l)ocn worth Cheo])s' whili- to have this
•^reat astrological observatory erected, even if by means of
it he could learn only what was to happen, the times and
seasons which wore likely to be fortunate or unfortunate
for him or his race, and so forth. lUit in his day, a.s in
ours, astrology claimed not only to read l)iit also to rule
the stars. Astrologers did not pretend that they could
actually regulate the movements of the heavenly bodies,
but they claimed that by careful observation and study
they could show how the best advantage could be t.iki-n of
the good dispositions of the stars, and their malefic in-
fluences best avoided. They not only claimed this, but
doubtless many of them believed it ; and it is quite certain
that those who were not astronomers ('.'•., astrologers)
were fully persuaded of the truth of the system which,
even when the discovery of the true nature of the planets
has entirely disproved it, retains still its hold upon the
minds of the multitude.
There is, so far as I can see, no other theory of the
Great Pyramid which even comes near to giving a common-
sense interpretation of the combined astronomical and
sepulchral character of this wonderful structure. If it is
certain on the one hand that the building was built astro-
nomicalh-, and was meant for astronomical observation, it
is eiiually certain that it was meant for a tomb, that it was
closed in very soon after the king died for whom it was
built, that, in fine, its astronomical value related to himself
alone. As an astrological edifice, a gigantic horoscope for
him and for him only, we can understand its purport,
much though we may marvel at the vast expenditure of care,
labour, and treasure at which it was erected. Granted full
faith in astrology (and we kno\\- there was such faith), it
was worth while to build even such a structure as the
Great Pyramid ; just as, granted the ideas of Egyptians
about burial, we can understand the erection of so mighty
a mass, and all save its special astronomical character.
Of no other theory, I venture to say, than that which com-
bmes these two strange but most marked characteristics of
the Egyptian mind, crni this be said.
THE "SATURDAY REVIEW'S" COilET.
Cissio.— Why, thit is a more exquisite song than the other.
THE effect of [Mr. Proctor's] note of alarm was promptly seen iu
tlie queer homily in the Spectator, of which we have already taken
notice, having for its text this prophecy of Mr. Proctor, as one " of
whose astronomical authority and ability nobody doubts." Upon
this undoubted fact were founded some characteriatic speculations
as to the moral attitude with which the inevitable doom is likely to
be met as the day draws near, which day Mr. Proctor would doubt-
less be able to fix with still greater "precision. The Menacing
Comet has, it appears, since been "scratched" in the pages
of Knowledge. But the title of the essay, and what is drawn
out as the line of proof, epitomised by ns [querv, as epitomised
by the Saturday KertVio— Ed.] shows to our "mind an tinmis-
takablo desire, however it may be sought now to turn it off
as a playfiil freak of science, to make the reader's ilesh creep.
Hov: far, indeed, so many of us as aro not dead with fright
)iiai/ have indications vouchsafed them of the cominr/ catas-
Irophe does not yet appear. Nor does it very much matter. All
must soon be over. " Mr. Proctor's name will have one instant of
lurid fame, in which that and everything else connected with our
corporeal life will expire." In a few weeks— possibly in a few days,
or even hours, in the words of Mr. Proctor— the sun, excited for a
while to intense heat and splendour, will resume his usual temi)era-
ture. his usual lustre ; but there will be no one to bask in his genial
beams, no popular science teacher to tell of all he has done or is hence-
forth to do. [And no Saturday Uaiew to give treatises on science
for review to "society writers," reduced to the abject necessity of
" stealing their thunder " from the authors they criticise.— Ed.]" It
may yet bo that some spirits of a bolder and" more hopeful turn,
long trustful of popular scionco prophotn, mny bethink them that
out of the myriads, not to my milliona, of Ihcso menacing bodiea
that are said to circulate round the sun with the same cliance
of precipitation into his mass, i( would be odd if in the vrholt
ranyc of hiitorical, or, let 1M any, ytoloijical time, tueh
a calailrophe had vercr taken place before. Yet, whether
any such dreaded cmnh has come oil or not, bore at least
we are. There luis been, imlccd, a strong impression that the un-
iconled digturbanee of the nun') tiirfacc, noted at once by Mr.
Carrimjton and Mr. llod-jmn, on Sept. 1, 1859, u-at d\ie to the
inrush of a comet ["two meteors" it sboold bo. — Ed.] into f/ie <un ;
yet nothing came of it beyond a slight extra tremor of the galva-
nometer needles at Kew and elsewhere. Comparing the stui>cndoa<
mass of the sun with the utmost material volume that can ]ie
assigned to then fdmy lolatilc portintt of the sky, what jreat acces-
nion cnn we suppose any one among them to he sinyhj capable of
bringing to the x-ist eosmical centre of light and heat? Any parti-
cularly nervous person may as welt Ring a pinch of snufi into tha
fire, and see how it affects a thermometer upon the opjwsitc wall.
After nil our advance in scientific observation and theory for the
last fifty years, are wo really nearer to any definite knowledge of
the material constituents or the physical conditions of these myste-
rious wanderers of oar system ? "What are comets made of ? "
asked a French lady of the most distinguished savant of the time.
" Madame, I do not know." " Then what is the use of being an
Academician ? " " Madame, that I may be able to say I do not
know." It would never do for an oracle of popular scieru-e to have
it thought there was anything he did not know. — Saturday Revievo
for March 18, 1882.
[The reader may find it interesting to compare the following five
extracts, respectively, with the five italicised passages above. — Ed.]
Supposing there really is a possibility that our sun may one day,
tliruugli the arrival of some very large comet travelling directly
towards him, share the fate of the suns whose outbursts I have
described above, tee might he destroyed unawares, or we might be
aware for several weeks of the approach of the destroying cnmet. —
From "Myths and Marvels of Astronomy," 1877, by the Editor.
If among the comets travelling in regular attendance upon the
sun there be one whose orbit intersects the sun's globe, then that
comet must several times ere this have struck the sun, raising him
temporarily to a destructive heat. Such a comet must have a
period of enormous length, for the races of animals now existing
upon the earth must all have been formed since that conieVs last visits
on the assumption, be it remembered, that the fall of a large comet
upon tlie sun — or, rather, the direct passage of the stm through tha
meteoric nucleus of a large comet — would excite the sun to destruc-
tive heat. We may fairly believe that all comets of the destmctiTe
sort have been eliminated. — From " Myths and Marvels," IST^j
by the Editor.
I am not siu-e but that we may regard the meteors which seem to
have fallen on the sun on Sept. 1, 1859, as bodies travelling in (A«
track of the comet of 1843, just as the Xovcmber meteors, seen in
1S67-8-9, &c., until 1872, were bodies certainly following in the
track of the telescopic comet of 1866. — From " Mvthsand Marvels,"
1877.
The dread of the possible evils which might accrue if the earth
encountered a comet will possibly be diminished by the considera-
tion of the extreme tenuity of these ohject^t. — The Editor, in Bjiow-
ledge for November 11, ISSl.
To the astronomer, the appearance of so many comets — some vi
them large ones — has been full of interest, because he hopes by the
application of the new methods of research discovered within the
last quarter of a century to solve some of the mysteries with which
the whole subject is still fraught, despite a number of interesting
discoveries which have recently been made.— The Editor, in Know-
ledge tor Xovember 4, 1881.
TRICYCLES IN 1882.
Bv JOHX Bbowxixo.
SE\'ERAL correspondents have requested mc to give my reasons
for preferring the machines I have named as in the foremost
rank in the previous article, and as I cannot reply to them indi-
vidually, I will endeavour briefly to furnish such iiiformation here.
First, then, as regards the Kucker Tricycle. This is the only
open-fronted, rear-steering machine in which the pedals arc 80
placed that if the rider stands on them he adds to the stability of
the machine by keeping the hind steering-wheel more firmly on the
ground, while the pedals, beiuc; well under the rider, give the rider
more power, pariicularly in liill-ri.liii','. with Ii'--- fatiirniv .-Vnother
March 24, 1882.]
• KNOVVTLEDGE
451
great advantage the machine possesses is that it can be steered by
either or both hands, and having a chain to cacli wheel, it is a
Irue duuble-drii:er. In most of the opcu-fronted, rear-stccring
machiucs there is a tendency, when travelling down-hill, from the
weight of the rider being in front, for the liind wheel to leave the
ground. When this is the case, the power of steering is lost just
when it is most wanted.
The Monarch I liave selected for its originality, good workman-
ship, portability, and lightness. These good qualities are obtained
by dispensing witli all levers, chains, cog-wheels, or other gearing.
The pedals are in tliL' form of a stirrup, and are hung on the
cranks.
There are no more bearings in the Monarch than there are in a
bicycle, and all bearings are ball bearings. The brake acts on both
wheels, and it is a true double-driver. It would be better if the
bruko acted on the hubs of the wheels, or on drums, instead of on
the tires, and sonic persons would prefer the machine if the wheels
could bo made larger than forty inches, but small wheels are
stronger, safer, and lighter than lai-ge ones, and a machine with
small wheels can be driven much easier than one with large ones
against that bugbear of tricyclists, a strong head wind.
The National Tricycle I mentioned for its lightness and excel-
lent workmanship, but the lightness seems to have been exagge-
rated, for a macluno which was supposed to weigh 65 lbs. proves to
weigh 80 lbs.
The Improved Omnicycle solves in the best manner yet contrived
the application of speed-changing gear to a tricycle. It gives the
rider a command of thiee different speeds, which can be changed
without stopping the machine. The gearing is strong, and is not
likely to get out of order. It seems to me probable that the power
of applying changeable gearing to a tricycle, so as to adapt it to the
varying inclinations of the road or their condition, will, when the
machine has been perfected, cause it to be generally preferred for
road-riding, or at least for touring, to the bicycle.
In my former paper I have described the Humber tricycle, a'nd
spoken of it a.'; the fastest machine yet made. I have, therefore,
been asked if I strongly recommend this machine. 1 reply that 1
do for speed, but I think this has been gained at a sacrifice of
comfort, and, to a certain extent, of safety. The Humber has no
foot rests, and this greatly detracts from the comfort and safety of
) the rider when running downhill.
The new Rotary Coventry has the chain in the centre. It is one
of the lightest machines made. The throw of the cranks can be
altered at pleasure. It makes only two tracks, is an open-fronted
machine, has ball-bearings to all parts, and is the most perfect of
all machines in steering. This is due to the fact that it is steered
by means of two wheels, which are moved by one rod in opposite
directions.
The machine can be turned round in a circle one foot less than
its own length. None of our fastest riders have ridden the Coventry
Eotary in races. If they would do so, I think the machine would
prove among the fastest machines made, probably coming verj- close
to, and possibly equalling the Humber. The Coventry Rotary is an
excellent luggage carrier, one of the most important advantages
that can be possessed by a tricycle.
Scarcely a day passes without my being asked : " Which is the
best tricycle ? " It would be about as easy to answer another
question. " What is the best thing to have for dinner ? " So much
in this case would depend upon the eater, and in the first case
on the rider. Still a few hints may guide intending riders in the
choice of a machine.
For a man about 9 stone I would recemmeud a special Salvo, with
46-in. driving-wheels, geared down to 10, if the country is hilly ;
or, perhaps better still, a Monarch, with 36-in. driving-wheels. A
ridor who wishes to obtain speed apart from other considerations,
should select from the Humber, the Premier, or the Rucker, the
last being probably the best of the three, because it is a true double-
diiver, and has a double break. For hill riding the Humber, the
geared-down Devon, the improved Oninicycle, or the Rucker are
all good. For a very heavy man the Salvo, with 48-in. wheels and
1-in. tires, is excellent, and so would be many other machines, if the
makers were asked to make them equally strong for a specially heavy
rider.
THE DUCHESS OF CONXAUGHT'S ILLNESS.
n^UE Lancet publishes the "result of an inquirj- into the sanitary
X condition of the Duke of Connaught's house at Bagshot-park.
Dr. W. S. Playfair states that he wTites this notice at the suggestion
of the Duke of Connaught, as a matter of general interest to the
meilical profession, and in the hope that this instance of the danger
which may arise from faulty construction and workmanship in the
system of drainage may direct attention to the paramount im-
portance of questions of this kind. These defects are believed to
have led directly to the Duchess of Connaught's late serious illness,
from which she is now happily entirely convalescent. It appears
that the present house at I3agshot-park is not that long
occupied by the late Sir James Clark, but an entirely new
building, recently erected at a cost of from £30,000 to £'W,000.
Considerable pains were taken in the arrangement and venti-
lation of the drains, but not only was the system adopted in
itself defective ; the work was in many instances so carelessly car-
ried out that it is surprising that in this new and costly mansion
graver results did not follow. As a matter of fact, offensive smells
had long been perceived about the house, but no one suspected their
origin, or realised the danger they were likely to cause. Many of the
inmates, however, had suffered from various forms of indisposition,
such as sore throat, diarrhoea, and a general senso of heaviness and
mafaise, and those generally affected new-comers. About a fort-
night after the accouchement of her Royal Highness the Duchess
of Connaught, symptoms ominous of blood-poisoning presented
themselves. Happily these were promptly recognised by Dr.
Playfair, who has bestowed especial attention on the treatment
of the puerperal state, and the only efficient means of cure was
adopted, namely, instant removal. It is, however, with the cause
of the perilous occurrence of incipient blood-poisoning that Dr.
Playfair's statement is chiefly concerned. It may at first sight
seem incredible, but it is the fact tint the elaborately con-
structed system of baths, drains, and waste-pipes communicated
directly with the soil drains of the building, and by a Machia-
vellian poUcy, which would appear to be the pastime of
modern builders, pipes which ought to have been stopped
were left open, and the poisonous gas which rises from foecal
accumulations was actually conducted, in sundry ingenious and
wonderful ways, into the very apartments it was particularly
desired to preserve from possible infection. The professedly
"sanitary" constructors are, if possible, the least to be trusted. It
would seem to be the common practice of these remarkable persons
to ventilate the house-drains, and therefore, of course, the sewers
generally, into bedrooms. We are repeatedly hearing of this piece
of wantonness. Probably, in six cases out of ten the waste-pipes
of baths and cisterns, which are never cleared by a current of
water, except at the rare moment when a bath or cistern ** runs
over," communicate directly with a soil-jiipe. It is well that
the opportunity offered by this important instance of a wide-spread
peril has been so ably utilised. The state of affairs at Bagshot,
which Dr. Playfair has been not merely permitted, but commissioned,
t© disclose, may be taken as typical of that which prevails probably
throughout the class of modern and what are misleadingly called
sanitary houses. Dr. Playfair says he has long been satisfied that sani-
tary defects have often much to do with grave forms of illness after
child-birth, the origin of which illness cannot otherwise be traced.
He mentions two or three cases in which exposure to sewer-gas, as
he believes, caused puerperal disease ; they were cured by removal.
Fortunately, in the ease of the Duchess of Connaught, her symp-
toms did not commence for more than a fortnight after her confine-
ment ; and her removal, too, was immediately followed by a most
remarkable and instmctive change for the better.
Viviseltiox. — It is the notion of such absolute despotism as shall
j\istify, not merely taking life, but converting the entire existence
of the animal into a misfortune, which we denounce as a brutal
misconception of the relations between the higher and the lower
creatures, and an utter anachronism in the present stage of human
moral feeling. A hundred years ago, had physiologists frankly
avowed that they recognised no claims on the part of the brutes
which should stop them from torturing them, they would have been
only on the level of their contemporaries. But to-day they arc
behind the age ; ay, sixty years behind the legislature and the por i-
Irish gentleman who "ruled the houseless wilds of Connemara. '
and had the glory of giving his name to Martin's Act. How their
claim for a "free vivisecting table" may be looked back upon a
century to come we may perhaps foretell with no great chance of
error. In his last book, published ten years ago. Sir Arthur Helps
wrote those memorable words : " It appears to mo that the advance-
ment ef the world is to be measured by the increase of humanity
and the decrease of cruelty I am convinced that if an
historian were to sum the gains and losses of the world at the close
of each recorded century, there might be much which was retro-
grade in other aspects of human life and conduct, but nothing coiUd
show a backward course in humanity " (pp. 195, l!t6). As I have
said ere now, the battle of Mercy, like that of Freedom,
once begun,
Though often lost, is always won.
— Miss F. P. Cobbe, in the Comhill Mayazine.
KNoWhKIKiK. Maikii LM, 1882.]
THE PATH OK MARS
LOOPED PATH OF A PLANICT.
Bv TiiK EniToit.
MANY even of thoso who liavo read
tho usual descrijitioiis of planetary
motions, in our text-liooks of astronomy,
are perplexed by the way in wliieh the
planets pursue
Tlieii- waiuloriiig course, now lii,-!i, now low,
tlioQ hid,
I'leigrossivo, retroffrnde, uiul standing; still.
Miirs, Jupiter, and Saturn, during the
la.st few months have givpn Ktrikin<» illus-
trations in the skies (as indieated in our
maps) of their strange, and at first view,
fantastic and irregular motion.s. ^lai-s, in
particular, traverses a singularly devious
course upon the hackground of tho starlit
heavens. It has seemed to mc that it
would be interesting to exhibit the real
course of this ]ilanet, the one of all the
sun's family wliose j)ath, with reference
to the earth, has the most complicated
form. Of course, in reality this planet
travels around the sun in an ellipse
which is almost circular in form, though
considerably eccentric in position. The
earth also pursues an elliptic path, smaller
in size, still more nearly circular in form,
and much less eccentric. But viewed
from the earth, the planet Mars, in con-
sequence of the combination of these two
circling (but not strictly circular mo-
tions), travels on such a looped path as
is shown in the accompanying map. Here
the planet's position, as \'iewcd from the
earth (his geocentric position, as it is
called), at the successive oppositions (or
times of nearest aj)proach to the earth),
is shown V)y the small dot at the end of
the dated radial line. Then, at succes-
sive intervals of ten days, measured for-
ward and Viackward from the time of
opposition, Mars has the positions in-
dicated by the successive dots. (Of
course, there is a place in the outermost
[KNOWLEDGE, March 21, 1882
part of each whorl where these ten-day
dots meet without an exact ten-day in-
terval ; this, however, is unimportant, as
in these parts of his geocentric path
Mars is invisible. At the proper places
along the planet's looped geocentric path
are shown the places whore Mars is in
perihelion (M), aphelion M', at a rising
node (or crossing the plane of the earth's
orbit from north to south), ( JJ ), at a
descending node (or crossing the plane of
the earth's path from south to noi-th), ( ^ ),
the place where he attains his greatest
distance north (j) and south (I) of the
plane of his orbit ; the place where Mars
is at the point of his orbit corresponding
to the vernal equinox (beginning of spring)
of his northern hemisphere, marked (j's<y>,
and the corresponding point for the
autumn of Mars, marked ,^'s ^.
The scale of the drawing is the same
as that of my picture of the orbits of
the terrestrial family of planets (Mars,
Earth, Venus, and Mercury), in the " En-
cyclopa;dia Britannica," viz., fifty million
miles to the inch, and on this scale the
lines I, I, &.C., indicate the greatest distance
attained by Mars north and south of the
plane of the ecliptic. The northerly dis-
placement, it will be seen, is the greater.
The path of Mars must be regarded as
passing above the plane of the paper, at
a point marked JJ , gi-adually attaining
its greatest height (indicated by the
length of the " I ") above that plane at
the point marked j ; gradually returning
towards the plane of the paper, which it
crosses again at a point marked i3 ; then
attaining its greatest distance below the
plane of the paper at the next point
marked I ; whence it returns gradually
to the plane of the paper at a point
marked Q ; and so on continually.
454
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Marcu 24, 1882.
CHALCEDONY CONTAINlNtJ LIQUID WITH A
M0VA15LE BUBBLE.
Ilv TIIK Ukv, UeMIV H. UlGUIN.--.
Two ipocimuiiB wore bruiif^lit from Moiilo Video by Mr. riiiliji
Itntliboiiiv Till" liir«iT )iiceo contaliiH not loss than nn niincu '\
uf lii|tii(l, with u hirgu huhlilc— the Hninlh-r sncins to huvo iiiiiro
litliiid in iiri>|><ii'tioii. A third apeciniin is broken, showing thownlls
of the cliiiniber to be, in the thinnest part, not more than y^ "f ""
inch in tliiokness. The mineral seems to have been recently dis-
eovered, no mention of it beinff mndo in Dana's text-book, 1880.
K. \V. Kudlor, Professor of llineralojfy in the Hoyal School of Mines,
informs me that he has not scon any published description of
Chalcedony cnclosinf^ water with n movable bubble. I am not a
niiucrulogist, and nmke the following eonjectuies with much dilli-
deucc. In some cavity deep in the earth, and probably umler prcat
pressure, occurred a hollow containing a small quantity of watei-,
above the boiling point, but kept liquid by pressure, and Buper-
eaturated with silica. On any diminution of the temperature,
which might occur extremely slowly, the fall of one degree
occui)ying perhaps long ages, crystallisation would set in on all the
sides of the hollow holding the liquid, and at the same time would
bo formed on the sulfate of the water, a crystalline pellicle, from
which crystals woulil shoot downwards and inwards. Thus would
be formed a cavity enclosed on all sides and filled with liquid.
Layers of opuliscd (|uart7., chalcedony, might now be deposited
externally upon the roots of the crystals, forming a cell with walls
impervious to water or gas. Further diminution of temperature
would enable minute quantities of gas contained in the water to
assume a gaseous form and unite in a bubble. In the broken
specimen, the walls distinctly show the radial disposition of the
crystals forming the lining, and the stalagmitic character of the
outer rind in which the chalcedony is deposited in layers like the
laminoo of an onyx or an agate. In the large specimen, the outer
surface is very interesting. It is covered with low tubercles
arranged in circles J in. in diameter, each circle having within it
several similar concentric circles. The cavity is not strong enough
to withstand any considerable bursting pressure from within. It is
possible, however, that the shrinkage of the contents of the cavity
from cold may have maintained the equilibrium between outside and
inside pressures. Although the tank-forming chalcedonies do not
appear to have been described, quartz crystals with minute drops
of movable bubbles enclosed have long been common in all col-
lections of minerals.
John W. Judd, F.R.S., in his admirable work on volcanoes, gives
the best, almost the only description 1 have seen of them. The
liquid may be water, a hydrocarbon, or even carbon dioxide. That
it may be the last has been proved by spectrum analysis, and by the
test that when the crystal is heated to 86" or 90° Fahrenheit, the
bubble disappears ; that temperature being for carbonic dioxide, the
critical point above which no pressure can keep it in a state of
liquidity. Still more remarkable is Mr. Judd's account of micro-
scopic cavities containing liquid in which the bubble is in constant
motion, pursuing a sjiiral track from end to end of the cavity. For
the only attempt at explanation of this motion yet given, Mr. Judd's
work may be consulted, and no one will regret having read the
book from the first to the last page. All the cavities of which
Mr. Judd speaks are very minute, and it is evident that the tank-
forming chalcedonies are constructed in some manner to which the
quartz crystals containing drops can afford no suificienl clue, though
as in my own case, Mr. Judd's beautiful researches may lead to
more or less reasonable guesses. Through the kindness of Mr.
Rathbone, the smaller specimen and the equally interesting broken
one have been placed in the Liverpool museum .
MODERN DRESS.
Ij^CCENTKlClTIES of costume have iu all ages formed a pronii-
-J nent subject on which satirists have expended the magazine of
their wit ; and in the present day no inconsiderable attention is
given to it by those who make it a business to caricature the follies
of their fellow beings. It is, however, an all but recent develop-
ment that is being witnessed now in connection with the efforts
made by the medical profession to awaken the public to a sense of
the self-inflicted evils suffered from absurd compliance with the
demands of " fashion." Nor can we feel anything but sincere satis-
faction that this question has so far become a " burning ** One ; and
that men of the highest eminence deem it part of their duty to
society to issue warnings against the miserable consequences of
sacrifices offered to the shrine of appearance. The jihysical erils of
ina])proprlate dress are so manifest to the physiologist, the consti-
tutional damage they entail so apparent to the physician, the
misorioR they create ao ovidout to the social economist, that it is
rnthor a matter of wonder they have so long been [icrmittcd to
continue unchecked and unroformod. Now and again, indeed,
indiviiluuls in the |>aHt have raised a warning voice against indul-
gonco in the fashionable caprices of their time ; but never before
has a detormini'd attempt to improve jiublic ta<ite and educate
)>ublie ignorance in the matter of dress 1>eon made that characterises
the action of the National Health Society in this respect. Re-
cently, however, Mr. Fre<lerick Treves, F.U.CS., of the Ixindon
Hospital, delivered a lecture before a crowded audience in the
Kensington Hall, on Ijchnlf of the National Health Society, the
subject selected being, " The Dress of the Period." It is gratifying
to hear that nnusual interest was excited by the preliminary
announcements; wc shall perhaps be indulging in unlicensed hopes,
however, if we |>ennit this result to create in our minds a belief to
the effect that the public arc at last growing alive to the harmful-
ness of following the dictates of fashion mth the unreasoning sub-
mission exhibited iu the adoption of its most outrageous demands.
It is true the auilicnca which greeted Mr. Trcves's domonslrations
of modern fashionable follies with applause, indicative of its
approval of his denunciations, was chiefly made up of ladies whose
claim to be regarded more or less as victims to the Moloch under
censure was indisputable ; but notwithstanding, it would be the
refinement of rashness to expect from them an immediate renun-
ciation of tight waists, cramped feet, and swathed limbs. The hold
of these on the lives of those who form " society " is too secure and
too steadfastly maintained to permit its being easily removed. We
can trust for this happy result to nothing but a general and an
intelhgent apprehension of the mischief attendant on continuance of
the evils which carry such disasters in their train.
The ill-conse(|uences set up by improjicr dress are most faniiliar
to medical men ; and medical men necessarily, therefore, are those
most competent to advwcate reform in customs* to the injarions
effects of which they are daily witnesses. In the particular folly of
tight lacing, for instance, there is probably no practitioner who is
not constantly called on to remedy the evils it produces. In young
girls, who, least of all, are calculated to support the strain to which
their internal organs are submitted imder the cruel pressure of the
corset, we have often to deal with piteous examples of the sacrifices
required in order to ensure a small waist. Nor is it that they suffer
only while young. During their whole after-life, symptoms referable
to visceral displacement and disorganisation are of frequent occur-
rence ; no woman, probably, who has at any time conformed to this
fashion of abdomen-strajiping being free from some form of gastric
or liver trouble. To what extent, moreover, the craze for " an
elegant figure " may carry its victim is scarcely credible, except for
occasional proofs afforded at inquests and post-mortem examinations.
While it is not unusual to find the liver deeply indented by pressure
of the adjacent ribs and displaced deep into the pelvis, it has more
than once been found that long-continued constriction of the body
has resulted in hour-glass deformity of the stomach. Nor need we
long hesitate to decide on the influence this vicious form of fashion-
able sacrifice e.verts on the duration of female life, when we reflect
on the prevalence among the middle and upper clas.<es of the very
diseases which vfould be induced by persistence in such habits.
Gastric ulcer is at least three times as frequent in women as it is in
men. Syncope is a common form of weakness exhibited by young
women who subject their viscera to the vice-like compression of a
corset ; and the intestinal troubles set up by interference with the
functions of the liver, together with the distributed pressure on the
intestines themselves, are among the most productive sources of
feminine illness. Indeed, the subject of tight lacing might with
advantage be taken as the sole topic for a considerable number of
lectures ; and the more tellingly the evils it ensures are put before
the public, the more convincingly they can be taught to perceive
the fatal injury the practice is doing to the race, the more speedily
and surely will it cease to bo commonly indulged in. We wonld
urge thispoint — that of the injury suffered through it by the whole
race — witli especial force. By as much as any woman undermines
her own health — it matters not in what manner the mischief is done
— to such an extent is she also injuring the physique that will be
inherited by her children. Perhaps, by exciting the maternal
instinct, more benefit will be derived than by any other means at
present devised. At any rate, the proposal deserves consideration.
Apart from tight lacing, there are other evils associated with
modern clothing that deserve equal attention. Space forbids more
than a mention of them now, but we may instance the inadequacy
of modern dress to secure either of the two imjwrtunt desiderata —
appropriate protection and equable temperature. As Mr. Treves
pointed out to his audience, a fashionably-dressed woman of to-tlay
is all but nude about the chest and back, at most but a thin, single
or double layer of material protecting these delicate and suscep-
tible regions, while a hnge mass of useless clothing is swathed about
the hips and legs, and trails in abundant prodigality to clothe the
March 24, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
455
floor around. Again, the disastrous senselessness of " Parisian "
shoes, high-heeled and taper-toed, needs no enforcing ; but the
fashion which insists on them will need a very strenuous and deter-
mined opposition ere it is finally conquered.
We are glad to be able to offer Mr. Treves our hearty congratu-
lations, both on the admirable lecture he delivered, and on the un-
mistakable success with which it has been attended. — Medical
Press and Circular.
COMPOUND PENDULUM.
AQCESTJOX was asked lately in K.nohledgk about the curves
drawn by the Compound Pendulum. I have made for myself
one of these instruments, by which were di-awn the curves which
I enclose. The machine was made as follows : —
I procured two hollow brass rods about 3 ft. long. At 6 in.
from the top of each a steel pin 2 in. long is driven through, and
filed on the under side to a knife edge, to form the fulcrum for the
pendulum. A plug of ivory is ti.xed in the top of each rod, having
a small conical cavity drilled in it. On each rod are two cylindrical
leaden weights, which slide upon it, and can be fixed at any height
spirit-level, and the arms which carry tlie pen horizontal. The
Pendulums are held up by strings towards a point under the centre,
and started by a trigger, by which they can be released, either
simultaneously, which gives a pointed curve, or one Pendulum at
any fraction of a swing before the other, by which a continuous or
looped curve is produced. This would be better done by an electro-
magnet, which 1 puri)0sc to try. I send a set of the curves repre-
senting the intervals of the musical scale, which are as follows : —
Do.
Bh.
Mi.
Fi.
Sot.
Li.
Si. Do.
1
9
5
4
3
S
15 2
1
8
4
3
2
3
8 1
Unison.
Second.
Major
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Sixth.
Sovcalh. OclSTC
That is, if one Pendulum vibrates 9 times while the other vibrates
8, they will draw a curve similar to that which can be produced
optically by the vibration of two tuning-forks, whoso vibrations have
the same ratio, J, which in music is called a Second. Equal vibra-
tions give Unison, a curve varying from a straight line to an ellipse
and a circle. If one vibrates twice as fast as the other, for which
it must be j of its length, an octavo is dra^vn, and so for the other
curves, according to the above ratios.
Fig. 1. — Pendulum.
(i of real Size.)
by a collar and screw. Each weight is divided, because it is better
sometimes to nse half the weight on eah rod. (See Fig. 1.) Fig. 2
shows the top of the table. A and B are two pieces of mahogany,
1 ft. by 2 in., and 1 in. thick, morticed together at right angles, and
Screwed to the top of a tripod stand, C. Into the end of each are
fixed two brass screws, having a circular groove turned round their
necks, forming the notch in which the knife edges of the Pendu-
lams swing, and by turning the screws, the distance from the centre
can bo adjusted. On the top of this is &Ked a small box, 9 in. by
B in., and 34 in. high, so that its centre is just over the point where
the arms join. This box forms the table on which the paper is
laid, held down by springs. The pen is carried by two arms of thin
mahogany, jointed by a metal tube fixed tightly in the end of one,
the other working round it. Tlie pen is fixed in this tube. I use a
goose quill. I have tried glass tubes, but they are difficult to make
aud soon get clogged. Enough ink is held in the pen by a tongue
of quill inside it, almost touching the point. In each arm, at the
same distance, are the Pendulums, and from the centre of the table
fa a small screw filed to a sharp point, which works in the
conical hole in the top uf each pendulum rod. Thus there is very
Httle friction, except that of the pen on the paper, which can be
regulated by balance-weights. The table must be levelled by a
Fig. 2.— Top of Table
There are other intermediate interval.s, the curves of some of
which I have obtained. One of the rods must be jointed, so that
the lower half can be removed, in order to produce the higher ratios
of vibration. I shall be glad to give an account of all the different
curves, and the way of drawing the various forms of each, if you
think it would interest any of your readers. A description of the
curves, and the mathematical and musical principles involved, is
given in Deschanel's " Natural Philosophy," Part I, page 848, in
Jamin's " Conrs de Physique," vol. ii., p. 608, and in Ganot'a
" Physics," p. 207, with illustrations of Lissajou's experiment for
showing the curves optically by tuning-forks furnished with small
miiTors and vibrating at right-angles; but I have not found any
account of llie jnethod of drawing the curves by the Compound
Pendulum. E. LuxMOOKE.
Health of Nasties. — An experience of twenty years as a
medical man in India, enables me to inform " F. C. S." that betel
chewing certainly does not prevent the natives from suffering
severely from malarious intermittent and remittent fevers. It is an
abominable habit — the lime used destroying the gums and teeth,
though it, of course, supplies some want to the system, as tobacco-
smoking dws.— B. M., F.R.C.S.
466
KNOWLEDGE
[Maucu 24, 1882.
^J3^.
2.rttri£i to tljt etiitoi-.
f r*# SJiior i9f$ not \old h\mat\f rttponnlU for thr opinioni of kU eorrrtpondmh,
S* coMmot undertakt to rtturn munutcriptt or to correipomt tcilh their trntrrt. Alt
communiftiiioiu $\oulJ be at ehort om poMaxble, eoaeutentty rith fuU and clear etate-
meni, of t\e rrilrr', vteaninp.'\
AH Kditorial eommuniealiont tkould be addreieed to the Editor <tf KirowLBDOl;
alt Bmeitieu cammuHicatwnt to Ike Publiekere, at Ike OJlee, 71, Oreal Queen-
tirerl, ir.C.
All Xemillancei, Ckruuei, and Poil-OJIee Orieri ikould be made payable lo
Meeert. Ifyauin t Soni.
'.'All leltrri lo Ike Editor rill be Ifumblred. For eoncenirnce of rrferrnee,
eorrttpondente, vhen referring lo any leller^ vitl oblige by mentioning it* number
and Ike page on vkieh it appeari.
All Ltttert or Queriei to the Editor ickirk require attention in Ike current itiue of
KlTOWLBDOl, «Aou/</ reach the Pubtieking Office not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication,
(I.) Letters to h»vo aolianco of apprariDC must be concise ; they must be drairn
np in the form adopted for letters here, so that they may po untouched to the
printer* : private comniuliicntions, therefore, as well as queries, or replies, to
queriee (Intended to appear as such) should be written on separate leaves.
(II.) Queries and replies should be cien more concise than letters ; and drawn
npin the form in which they are here presented, with brackets for number in case
of queries, and the proper query number (bracketetl) in case of replies.
(III.) Letters, queries, and replies which (either because too long, or unsuitable,
or dealing with matters which others have discussed, or for any other reason) can-
not find place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
acknowledged in a column reserved for the purpose.
" In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
state of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accoraoy
than fliity of opinion. "^foraJuv.
" There is no harm in making a mistake, but ^eat harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and 1 will show you a man who has done
nothing." — Liebia.
" God's Orthodojy is Truth."~CTur/fK Kingilry.
©\\x CorifSponiinuf Columns.
SEEKING AFTER A SIGN.— KRRATA.— REFLECTING
TELESCOPES.
[346] — Eqnations, in some fashion mentally associated by mo
with curves, are, I am amused to see by yotu- Answers to (Corre-
spondents (p. 365), now applied to tavern-signs. As a humble
oontribntor towards this fresh application of them, 1 would say
that the Pig and Whistle = (a) the Pige Washael (the Maiden's
Greeting; i.e., the Salutation of the Virgin) of the Danish; or (6),
the Peg in Wassail. The Bear and Ragged Staff = the heraldic
cognizance of the famous Earl of Warwick ("The King-maker"),
who inherited it through the Beauchamps. I regret that I am not
up in the Magpie, and am — in cricketing parlance — " stumped " by
his adjunct.
Albeit, the heading. " Diameter of the Moon's image in the focus
of a 42-inch oliject-glass," appears to my letter (293) on p. 387,
the paragraph to which it refers seems to have dropped out. [The
correction made elsewhere ; heading should also have been omitted.
— Ed.] The compositor has not been very kind to me in the letter
referred to. For example, in my first paragraph, where " Sheppey
flints" should be "Sheppey fruits;" and " sulpherised iron,"
" sulphuret of iron." By-the-bye, in the new nomenclature this is
called Ferric sulphide.
Mr. Jones (Query 281, p. 390) had very much better get a
silvered glass reflector, than a metal one.
A Fki.low of the Royal Astronomical Society.
THE CAT'S-EYE TIMEPIECE OF THE CHINESE.
[317] — The paragraph on this subject (p. 313) reminds nie of
what Herodotus says (Book I., 10) about the cat among the Egyp-
tians : — " They say that the male cat changes the shape of the
pupils of his eyes according to the courses of the sun ; for, in the
morning, at the rising of the god, they are dilated ; in the middle
of the day they become round ; and about sunset become less
brilliant. Hence, also, the statue of the god in the City of
the Sun is of the form of a cat." In the Egyptian Ritual
(ch. 17), one of the transformations of the solar god is
into a cat. As such, ho " makes the likeness of Scb," or
Time. In Egyptian, the cat is Ma, Man, or Mai (an inner
African name for the animal, by-the-bye, as Mai in Undazu, with
barinuts in other diuloctii) and the Ramo word aiguifica the eye
■ight, and lo fii-o ; ChincHu Mcih, to hco, to seek with cUwal
Mil ('•.';/.) tho name f>f the cat, also mcanii truth, that which ia tni^
Ma being the GoddiHS of Truth ami Jimtice. Now time ia th
which in true, nor Hhull we get a more appropriate origin for (
word time, or tcmpus. than Ma the trne— she who, i« Tema, irappU
the (ireck Themig. Tema is the Mi, tho true, the manifeitor i
truth ; but it is 0(|ually the cat, whose eye was held to toll true :
the mutter of time, and whose type was assumed by the God Bai
the likeness of Time, or Seb-Kronus. Lastly, " Adeno is the i
of the Mother-goddess of Time" (Ritual, ch. 1C5).
GEB.tLIi MaSSCT.
TELESCOPES, Ac, ON THE THREE YEARS' SYSTEM
[3-18]— It has been suggested in these pages that it would be »
boon to many an honest science lover if such goods as microBco]
telescopes, ic. (good ones of which are far to<j expensive for a gi
many who would much like to become possefsed of them, to pn^
chase), if opticians could make it profitable to themselrca to sd
their instruments on a plan after the three years' system. I knoir
an excellent firm, who ore willing to adopt the system, if they
devise a plan whereby the risk of loss and nonpayment from
honest persons may be reduced to a minimum. Since scieni
apiiuratns i« so much more portable than pianos and the like, wl
are now sold on the three years' system (and apparently with profit^,
tho risk is certainly greater ; but surely there is a plan, if oidy hll
upon, whereby honest persons may be benefited by tho three jeax^
system, and the attempts of dishonest persons to ill-use it thwarted.
It is for this reason I write to ask the help of the readers of Know-
LEDGE to devise a plan whereby it may be safe for opticians who
willing to adopt such a system of trading. Will readers, with the
Editor's iiermission, kindly think amd suggest soracthingsatisfactory?
F. C.
NEOLITHIC MAN.
[349] — I have read with interest Mr. Grant Allen's article
Neolithic man in Britain.
Why does he use the form Euskan'an ? If he does not
Euskal, why not followthe Basques themselves and say Euskarra
— ana being the termination which means people, as £sj)anarro
EspaTiol.
Is there good ground for stating that the Etiskarran skull ia 1
and narrow ?
I have no acquaintance with the stripped skull, but, as clot
with flesh, ic, it gives both to the eye and to the hand the impr
sion of great roundness, and it is certainly neither so long nor
narrow as my ov^ti head-piece, though I am descended in lar
part from black Celts of Southern Ireland, and possess, aloj
with other physical characteristics of the race, a complexion son"
shades darker than that of nine Basques out of ten. M. S.
ARE WOMEN INFERIOR TO MEN ?
[350] — A friend has just sent me your very interesting joDraall
for December, and I have read the letters in rejily to ILl
Delaunay's somewhat tmgallant pamphlet on womanhood. Inl
looking back at the past, it is easy to see that man alone posaesaadl
any real incentives for the exercise of the intellectual faculties. It|
was his to fight, to exercise his utmost ingenuity, to hnnt, z» out
his foes, to protect his family, to win a mate for himself ; and in I
this long struggle into the very moderate degrees of civil"
attained by the great nations of the world, still always engaged ;
warfare, woman had naturally to fill a very secondary place.
But as a higher and more refined view of life, of the purposea ofl
man's existence in the world, of the relations between the seze(|l
is recognised, so will the survivals of these conditions of the pMtl
which meet us in tho form of legal and social disabilities, tend to|
become unsatisfactory, and finally obsolete. As soon as men
women both recognise that they exist as such by the reign of •■
great and most useful law — one, indeed, without which progie|i|
would have been impossible — and that woman was not createdl
specially for man, they will realise that freedom for woman ia thel
best attd safest guide for the future. Men and women represeati
different principles, meant for complete development ; and in'a vaiyl
high state of civilisation, the ([ualities both possess are required )dI
nearly all things in active co-operation. Man is the tree, womMl
tlie flower, and, when fully understood, they are too closely nnitT'
to admit the question of the lattcr's " inferiority."
If, in educational systems, boys and girls more frequently atndif
together in classes, it wotild do nmch to refine the ideas of :
with regard to women in early life, and introduce healthier feoli
of sympathy and friendship between them. They have at preseBtl
far too few interests in common. 1 ueed hardly say I am whoQyl
MARcn 24, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
457
opposed to the methods of education prescribed by "Susan G." (in
KsnwLEDGK of Dec. 2), who has spoiled an otherwise good argument,
-I far as it goes, by her singular advocacy of "physical force."
I'hyaical force is ceiisinf) to do the world's work; thought is be-
iiiing everywhere more and more the mighty motive-power.
' 'n the great underlying principles of nature are fully realised,
1 the possibilities which reside in the being of man, as nature's
It representative, the freedom and equality of the sexes will no
^I'r even bo questioned. By forcing his way into the realm of
11,'ht, man has really opened the door for the attainment of
ii.'Cted womanhood. Si'SAN E. Gay.
VENTILATION BY UPEN FIREPLACES.
:!51] — I maintain, and can prove, that the "fire-hole" which
Mr Mattieu Williams wants to stop up, admits of a room being
!t^ uniformly warm and well ventilated at a small cost, better
'! any other means known at present. But it is essential that
room have a direct air-supply. If this be delivered into the
■M by a tube or tubes of not less than 48 square inches sectional
'. at, or near to, the mantel, and directed towards the ceiling,
"fire-hole" will draw from the upper part of the room, the
I I upants will have a continuous supply of fresh air, and the floor
will 1)0 warm. There should be the means of warming the direct
iT-supply ; several forms of open gi-ate are made which do this.
'■■ the winter there is a clamour for warmth, but during the gi*eater
r- of the year it is ventilation that is wanted. F. Li.oyp.
So far as my experience goes, we suffer much more from bad
: ilation in winter than when the weather is tolerablv warm. —
THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF SATURN.
:i.52] — In your " Otlier Worlds than Ours " yon show, by the
l-iit changes in Jupiter's cloud-belts, that that planet is most
: ably a glowing mass, bubbling and seething with the intensity
■ l.c primeval fires. You state in the same work that tlie belts
^ iturn resemble those of Jupiter in general shape and in colour,
i also that his belts change in aspect much as Jupiter's have been
■rved to do. The great diversity in the appearance of Jupiter's
sin numerous drawings seems to quite bear out your conclusions
I . that planet. But I am anxious for further information before
in hold your views respecting Saturn with the same confidence.
'nn'iit every picture of the latter planet (including the exquisite
Miiiig in your " Other Worlds") represents it with belts almost
■ on in outline as if they had been turned in a lathe — an appoar-
' not at first sight, at all events, indicative of violent atmosphe-
' disturbances. In " Guillemin's " Heavens," however, there is
iwing of Saturn with irregular belts, as seen by Bond in 1848,
if the majority of the pictures of the planet possessed this
rioteristic, as those of Jupiter do, I should feel no dilliculty in
;aiug your conclusions about Saturn's condition. If you would
lily clear up this matter for me, I am sure many of your readers
V.-, mid be greatly interested. More Light.
liomembering that Saturn is so much farther away than Jupiter,
! -0 much more faintly illuminated, it is not surprising that the
• telescope which shows irregularities in Jupiter's belts will
il none in Saturn's. Speaking roughly-, we receive from a
-ipiare mile near centre of Saturn's visible surface only about a
I sixteenth of the h'ght we receive from a similar portion of Jupiter's.
' But with high powers, not only are in'egularities seen, bnt rapid
li inges have been witnessed, in the Satuniian belts. — Ed.]
A NEW FORM OF ELECTRICAL ACCUMULATOR.
[353] — Seeing an account of Fauro's Accumulator in this journal
(No. 8, page 15S), perhaps the following will not be uninteresting
to the readers of Knowledge : —
Mr. Henry Sutton, of Ballarat, Victoria, has invented a now
form of electrical accumulator, consisting of a copper cell contain-
ing an acid solution of sulphate of copper (blue stone), in which
is immersed a plate of amalgamated lead, but not in contact with
the copper. On connecting the accumulator with a battery or
dynamo-electric machine, the copper solution is decomposed,
metallic copper being deposited on the copper cell, and the lead
plate is coated with peroxide of lead. When the solution becomes
colourless, the cell is ready for use.
This cell is much smaller than a Faure or Plante cell of the same
power, is very constant, and the inventor has generously placed it
at the disposal of the scientific world free from all patent rights.
A cell, 6 inches square and 2 inches wide, was exhibited Ijy Mr.
E. Davis, at the Liverpool Chemists' Association, Feb. 2, which
heated to whiteness and finally fused a thin platinum wire, and
also worked a small Ruhnikorff's coil. (ViJe Phannaceutical
Journal.) H. P. CooPBS.
THE RADIOMETER.
[354] — Your correspondent, Mr. Gladstone (298), is, apparently,
not aware that the motion of the radiometer is duo to rays of heat,
not light. This was, I believe, first noticed by Mr. Prcece, and may
be proved by the following experiments ; —
1. Hold a sheet of thin white note-paper between the light and
radiometer ; the paper, being transparent, allows light to pass but
cuts off the rays of heat ; no movement ensues.
2. 'J'ake a sheet of very thin ebonite, which will stop every ray of
light, but, being diathermanous, allows the heat to pass, and the
radiometer moves round merrily.
Other similar experiments may be made by interposing a glass
trough filled with sodium dissolved in bisulphide of carbon, and
another with alum in water.
Wimbledon. Wir.T.iAM InviNG Page.
SOCIAL INFLUENCE OF WOMAN (273).
[355] — " E. Burke " says, " Name a nation where women are
debarred from social influence, and you have named one which is
proportionately backward in liberty and knowledge." I take up
the challenge, thus : I suppose that " E. Burke " will allow that, in
respect alike of "liberty" and of "knowledge," the Athenians of
old excelled their rivals, the Spartans. Vet Professor Mahaffy, in
his " Primer of Greek Antiquities," writes as follows (p. 45) : —
" We do not find that any Greek valued her high qualities for these
important duties rightly, except the Spartans. For among them
alone we find the mistress of the house a person of real importance,
appearing when she chooses in public, and even offering an opinion
which is respected on public affairs. In cultivated Athens, on the
contrary, she was only taught spinning and cooking, and what rude
medicine might be wanting for the treatment of her household in
trifling illness. . . . Thus the liberty of women varied from a
freedom as great as need be in Sparta, to a life of seclusion and
neglect at Athens." E. I). Girdt.kstone.
THE LANK YANK.
[356] — Mr. Mattien Williams, in his paper on " The Air of
Stove-heated Rooms," in your issue of the 3rd instant, gives it as
his opinion that " the lank and slirivolled appearance of the typical
Yankee " is due to the dryness of his native climate, and to the
further dessication (or rather increase of capacity for the absorp-
tion of water-vapour) of the air caused by stove-heating. I should
like to know how he reconciles with this theory the generally well-
favoured and rosy appearance of the Canadians. Surely their
climate cannot be considered so much more humid than that of the
Y'ankee, with his great extent of seaboard, as to account for their
marked difference in looks. He seems, too, to have overlooked the
fact that in American and Canadian houses heated by stoves there
is almost universally a steam-generator of some sort (usually a pan
of water on the stove), which counteracts to a great extent the
avidity of the air for water. Out of doors, too, the temperature
being so low (often below zero), the ca]>acity of the air for water
must be very small, and the dessicating effect scarcely perceptible.
Would it not bo much more natural to account for " the lean and
shrivelled aspect " of the Y'ankee by reference to his habit of life
and, specially, of feeding, so very different from the roast beef and
plum pudding of the Britisher ; while, on the other hand, the
Canadians, who still keep to the English way of liWng, have not
lost the jolly and comfortable appearance of their forefathers.
I might add, too, that the Swiss and Germans, whoso houses arc
nearly all stove-heated, and without the advantage of steam (for I
never remember seeing water-pans on their stoves), are by no
means a meagre or lanky race. Canadensis.
THE CALIGRAPH.
[357] — I can furnish " Clericus " with any information he may
desire regarding an improved type-writer kno%vn .as the Caligraph,
v/ith which, by the way, a recent communication of mine to Mathe-
matical Queries in Knowledge was written.— W. W. Beman.
Anne Arbor, Mich., U.S.A., Feb. 23, 1882.
EYESIGHT OF DOGS.
[358] — I had not the good fortune to be a subscribor when tho
article in Knowledge on the noar-sightedness of dogs appeared,
but I have observed this peculiarity. A month ago my brother and
158
KNOWLEDGE •
[March 24, 16bu
1 Wvro out HliDotiiig; wo parted in t)io middle of n Inrgo fiold, I
homownrd with tlio ilogg, lip to a cormr of the fluid whore wii* n
likoly lyiiiK plnco for gnipc. A snipe nmci nnil ho firod ; one of tho
ilogn' lK>lt<'d awiiy from inr, but iiiBtrnd nf riiiming stmiglit to my
lirothiT, who could ciisily be seon, nnd the 8moko of whoso gun was
still conspiruous, tho dog ran bnck on my track till ho canio to
whiTo wc had parted before, and then followed np my brother's
ini.i, till Ih- niiihed him. Tki8 dog was a rotriovur. — Ci-abk.
(Oufiifsf.
[335] — Teicyles. — Will Mr. Browning kindly say if ho knows
the " Edinburgh," and will he point out what he considers its
faults?— F. H. S.
[336] — "l.N Memobiam." — Can you kindly t«ll me to whom
'J'ennyson refers in the opening stanzn of this poem ?
I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones.
That men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.
1 have been trying to ascertain for iifteon years past, and 1 thought
Goethe was intended, but now Dr. Gatty tells mo that tho poet
cannot be identitied. On p. l*t (Q. 51), you ask if the .stanza con-
taining the allu.'fion to " tho crimson-circled star" is not LXXXIX. ?
In my edition (17th), it is LXXXVIII., but Tennyson has inserted
an additional stanza about the yew-tree in the later editions,
between XXXVIII. and XXXIX.— E. C. Mai.an.
[337] — Selk- Acting Blowpipe. — While cleaning a small tin spirit
lamp, I removed tho brass top, together with the wick. A small quan-
tity of spirits remained in the lamp, and a few di-ops stuck to the
opening. On applying a light and inverting the lamp, a flame
nearly three feet long nisliod out with great vehemence, accom-
panied by a loud and gradually increasing roar. At this pleasing
stage of the experiment the lamp became uncomfortably warm, and
was promi)tly dropjMjd, when the flame instantly vanished. Could
a modification of the above be used with safety as a blowpipe ?
Perhaps some of your readers who are insured will kindly carry the
experiment a step or two further. — J. H.
[338]— The Breaks ix the Singing Voice. — Can any of your
readers give a scientific explanation of the breaks in the human
singing voice, of their cause and cure ? Can they, at the same time,
name a few really scientific works bearing on the subject. — Musters
[Manchester].
[339] — ErsKAKiANS. — Can Mr. Grant Allen tell us of any
Euskorian words to be found iu Welsh or Irish ? Surely some —
names of places, at least — should be traceable by their resemblance
to Basque words. — S. C. Wood.
[340] — Calculating Machines. — I shall feel much obliged if any
of your mathematical readers will kindly give a description of the
various machines which have been invented, also those at present
in use. I possess Palmer's disc, improved by Fuller, but find it
inaccurate. How can I measure a logarithm on a circle or a plane ?
Is there any book on calculating machines and their construction ?
Does the Clearing-house make use of any mechanical contrivance
for computing mileages ? — iNquiEER.
[341] — Can any one give me a recipe to prevent incrustation on
the inside of a boiler of about 20 horse-power ? — G. Uobeets.
Jltplifsf to (©unirsf.
[274] — Drawing. — " Eozoon's" query is too vogue to admit of a
definite reply. There can be no bettor elementary training for the
eye and hand than to copy carefully the free-hand series, in all its
grades, of the South Kensington School of Art. For simple objects,
there is an excellent series published by Seeloy & Co., of Fleet-
street, and called, I think, " First Steps in Art." After this. Vore
Fostar's and J. D. Harding's are good for pencil, Leitch's for watei-
colotir. The rules of perspective for landscape are voi-y simple, and
come almost intuitively. But there is— happily for tho struggling
artist — no royal road here, any more than to the acquisition of a
foreign language — " French in six hours " notwithstanding. — R. S.
Stanpen.
[274]— FoRAMiNiKERA OF Chalk.— Let " Eozoon " take a piece of
chalk, and with a soft tooth or nail-brush brush it underwater, and
then wash tho sediment well till tho water is not coloured, when
the residue will be nearly all foraminifera. — John O. Patterson.
[2S5] — Scientific Tebhk. — " Pre«U-r W." may 6nd tho following
technical vocabularies of use : — For geology and physical geo-
graphy, " Uiindbodk of Terms," Blackwood & Sons; about 6«.
For botany, natural history, anatomy, modicino, and veterinary
surgery, Stormonlh'a " Manual of Scientific Terms," Mocluchlan i,
Stewart ; about 78. 6d. For Imtanical terms, Mr. C. Cooke't
" Manual of llntanical Terms," llardwicko. General — 1, Dr.
Henry's " Glossary of Scientific Terms," Smith, Elder, 4 Co. ; 2, Dr.
Nnttall's " Dictionary of Scientific Terms," Strahan 4 Co. ; about
5s. — K. P. Pobtek.
[286] — El.KCTBiciTV.— " W. H." will find the simplest and best
text-book on electricity and magnetism is Noad's " Text-Book of
Electricity," revised by W. H. Preece, price 12a. 6d. j published by
Crosby, Lockwoo<l, 4 Co., London. — S. Feancw.
[287] — Dr. Ferrior's formula to cure a cold in the head is : — ^
Uydrochloratc of morphia, 2 grains ; acacia powder, 2 drachms ;
trisnitrato of bismuth, 6 drachms. Of this powder, a quarter to a
half may be used as snuff in the course of the twenty-four hours.
Each time tho nostrils are cleared another pinch should be taken.
Use a snuil-spoon, and sniff np forcibly. The above is most nsefnl
in nasal catarrh, but may not have much ctTeet in influenia.
Instead of the 2 drachms acacia I have found 1 drachm acacia and
1 drachm starch in powder less sticky, and I think better than the
original formula. — A Fokmee ScrrEREB.
[289]— "The Burial of Moses' is by C. F. Alexander. It is to
be found in " Lyra .Anglicana," published by Houlston & Wright. —
B. J. Grosjean. [Also, apparently, to be found in a number of
works. Answered by nineteen correspondents, who mostly give
different references. We cannot insert all. — Ed.]
[291] — Razor. — Because the heated metal causes swelling op
expansion of the skin and hair cylinders, and thereby brings them
into closer adaptation to the cutting edge of the razor. — K.
[292] — Silver. — Precipitate the silver as chloride by adding to
the baths common salt. Well wash the jirecipitate, and place it in
a glass vessel with a few scraps of metallic zinc and a little dilute
sulphuric acid (5 per cent.). The silver chloride is speedily reduced
to metallic silver (a bronze powder), which can be well washed,
and then dissolved in nitric acid to form the nitrate again. Another
method is to fuse the chloride obtained as above with carbonate of
soda and charcoal at a good red heat. A button of silver is then
obtained. Fire-clay crucibles can be bought for a few pence, i.e.,
from Is. per dozen upwards. GriflBn & Co., of Garrick-strect, W.C.,
or any other chemical instrument makers, would supply them.—
Pharmacist.
[292] — Treatment of Silver Residues. — Best method; add to
the residues hydrochloric acid in excess to throw down silver
chloride ; warm, filter, and thoroughly wash the precipitate ; dry at
gentle heat. Mis with tmce its weight of dry sodium carbonate,
and one-tenth as much potassium nitrate, with a little borax as flax.
Heat a small clay crucible (an ordinary fire may be used) ; when
red-hot, throw in the mixture gradually with an iron spoon, urging
the heat with pair of bellows. Stir to prevent frothing ; when com-
pletely fused, heat a little longer, and pour out on piece of slate.
It is well to pm-ify by remelting in a clean crucible with a little borax.
The ingot of silver may be boiled in dilute nitric acid till dissolved,
the solution evaporated do^\'n, and left for silver nitrate to crystallise
out. Metallic silver can be obtained without usiutj a crucible, by,
setting up a galvanic action with zinc and dilute sulphuric acid^
when metallic silver (black or grey) is precipitated from the silver.
chloride ; but I must warn F. A. B. that the difficulty of avoiding
organic impiuitics and nitro-compounds renders this method unfit for^
such delicate work as photography. Cruoibles may be obtained for
3d. each at any chemical apparatus manufacturers, such as Townsoa.
& Mercer, 89, Bishopsgate-stroot Within. — C. Harris.
[292] — Silver.— This would take two much space to answer here,
but F. A. B. will find full particulars in a book published by
Hockinife Co., 38, Duko-stieet, Manchester-square, called " Pmctical
Hints on Photography." Crucibles can be obtained from 4d. per
doz. up to 2s. 6d. each. — Alpha Centauri.
[299] — Magic Lantern. — Certainly it is possible. Get to see •
lantern, and copy the woodwork ; but that is tho lenst important
part. You had better purchase " Chadwick's Magic Lantern
Manual," price Is., but don't have anything to do with the patenb
gasholder described in it. — Lewis Akundel.
[301] — Magic Lantern. — An ordinary 3|-in. lantern is what yoft
want. But get " Chadwick's Magic I^antorn Manual." price Is. Ho
is rather good on scientific projections. — Lewis Arundel.
[302]. — Vegetarianism. — Mr. J. A. Ollard should obtain publica-
tions of the Vegetarian Society (sent free to any address on receipt
of post-card by the Secretary, 5G, Peter-street, ilanchester), and
" The Penny Vegetarian Cookery," or " How to Spend Sixpence,"
price Id. each. — G. C.
[302]. — Vegetable Food. — Sir Henrj- Thompson's " Food and
Feeding." — K.
March 24, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
459
Slnsilurrsf to Corrrsponlifnts.
• • All eommuntcatiotu for the Editor requirinff eartjf iitteHtion tkould reach the
OMee on or be/ore the Saturdat/ preceding the current ieeue of Kxowlrdob, the
itereeeing circulation o/ ichich compels u* to go to prete eartg in the tceeh.
HlIfTS TO CoBBBSPOXDBSTS. — 1. -Vo qneftione aiking for ecieiitijic information
can be anevered through the pout, '^. Letters tent to the Editor for eorreepondente
cannot be forvarded ; nor etin the namee or addrestee qf eorreepondente be gicen in
-4 . Jitmer to pricate inquiriee. 3. -Vo queries or replies savouring qf the nature qf
advertisements can be inserted. 4. Leltirs, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
conirani to Rule 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should lerite on one side
i tnlf of the paper, atut put drawings on a separate leqf. 6. Each Utter, query,
rtflf should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, rife ^- >->
should be
o» J* to the number qf letter or querg, the page on which 'it appears, and its title.
' W. S. Jackson, C. R., and others. Seventeen rorrespnn-
deiits already have " raved " against masric squares. We therefore
I must not insert anything more about them foragood while. Mr. Miles,
' however, will willingly, I doubt not, say where Poignard's method
lirst appeared. — Three Chroxos. Surely you are the ones to
'answer what you call the ■'mm watch query." — T.\k.\x.\ki. The
I horizon sinks as we ri?e above the eai'th's surface ; but the dip is
' vcrv slight, even for a considerable height. The eye cannot detect
it readily, even from a height of four or five miles. — A. P. M. Your
I letter about weather forecasts is long, but we will try to find space
'for it. — E. S. Kennedy. Sayce's writings on Assyrian literature
{contain a good deal about the star- worship of the Assyrians. Pub-
ilished, I think, by Bagster. — E. Kelly. You will not find that
jXewcomb attributes the acceleration of the moon to the tidal
|wave. He says that a part of the acceleration is explained by
(the effects of the tidal wave in retarding the earth's rotation. —
jClemext W. Jewitt. Cannot identify the year when " two comets
came in (some time about 1858)." — J. Thkistax calls attention to the
ifact that the barometer, after being abnormally high for several
(weeks, fell rapidly on February 25th, yet there were no explosions
■ in coal-mines, as predicted by Mr. E. C. Eapier. — Scrit.\tok. Let
IP be the length of a perpendicular let fall from one angle of
ja tetrahedron to opposite /ace, and let p be the length of perpen-
dicular from an angle to opposite side of any face including the
angle, and let s be length of a side. Then we know that
and
= \A-i4^3;
-V^'-f=
Jv/8 = 5v/6 = sv'l
= 3V--3
and the centre of the tetrahedron lies on each of the perpendiculars
p
from the angles on opposite faces, at a distance — from eacbface, of
|v § from any face.
If s = 16, then this distance
Wl
Uaceenzie, M.D. Considering how much it is the doctor's
interest to discountenance vaccination, supposing it to be really
protective (as every one knows it is), you can hardly expect me to
believe that doctors advance statements opposed to the truth in
this matter, when they advocate vaccination. An epidemic of
Bmall-pox would be a fortune to mercenary medical men, protected
themselves by vaccination. The paltry vaccination fees are
nothing by comparison with the fees they could fairly
vtiim in the times before vaccination. If small -pox were
rife in any city where yon or I dwelt, should we not at
mce be vaccinated, and should we not then feel as safe as if
there were no such epidemic ? Frankly, I should consider myself
pnblic offender if I admitted one line here in favour of the views
laintained by the .Society for the Preservation of Small-pox. As
for what yon say about Whist, doubtless many wonld prefer to have
the space now allotted to Whist given to some other subject ; all are
not Whist players. But the omission of several subjects which all
lo not like might readily lead to the omission of Knowledge alto-
jetiier. Every onr must not expect Knowledge to be filled with
those subjects lie may chance to like. I think we give our fair
•Wopenny worth of science, without the Whist and the Chess. —
toSAN E. Gay. Your letter was sent at once to printers, and will
Iftpear soon. — A. H. H. My papers on Differential Calculus would
pmbably be simpler than you would need. — Donald King. An
kl^le on sun spots would be necessary to answer your question ;
nU, probably have one shortly. Meantime, any good book on
onomy would help you. — H. B. Lindsay. Part of your letter
lefeiTed to F.R.A.S. May shortly write about space; but your
irks need not, therefore, be withheld. You know our require-
nents as to space. — J. McDowell. Your name entered on list for
•fos. 2, 3, and 5. Yon are quite right about our proposal on p. 302 ;
ve were but jesting. — F. Ram. To Darwin and Wallace, of course,
s due the credit of the recognition of the accepted theory of
evolution. Spencer's researches are, however, of great importance.
— Carpenter. If you really want to know its weight, put it in the
scales; it you set the query as a "sum," perhaps you will explain
what you mean by saying " the surface of the wet part was 209--14
inches." — Ixcredilots. Probably, table turned by pushing ;
depends how it went. — Q. E. D. Hog puzzle right. — W. H. Hewett.
The conditions seem equally favourable. — Spencer Byder. I should
imagine that you might more readily infer the existence of a God
fx'om your own personal sense of his works, than by the rather
roundabout way yon suggest. Does the most beautiful painting of
a landscape, or the most perfect description of the glories of the
heavens, give you so good an idea of the existence of a God as the
landscape itself in one case, or the star-lit vault of heaven in the
other? — J. A. C. Ollard. Yes; but suppose 20,000 copies of sup-
plement were printed, " containing letters only or chiefly," and only
1 .000 were sold ; how theni' On the reason of animals question,
what yon " believe " and " do not believe," might not interest
all our readers. — Finite Space. Neither can I imagine space
limited : nor can any one ; nor can any one imagine infinite space. —
C. J. TooTELL. Thanks for picture of sun-spots, but by time it
would appear they wonld not be there. Your method of focussing,
where rackwork is not very delicate, is, I know from experience,
excellent. (It is to let the eyepiece te not fully screwed "home,"
and then adjusting roughly by means of rackwork, to get exact
adjustment by turning the eyeglass.) Only it is not safe to have
the eyeglass but half screwed in ; for if you have many adjust-
ments, and a preponderance chance to be by screwing outwards,
the eyeglass may fall out. — G. T. M. Both your suggestions are
already under consideration. Thanks. — M. V. M. Thanks ; but too
long, and scarcely suitable otherwise. — H. W. We do not want
metaphysics, melancholy though you think the future of science is
to be without it. — SiRirs. Veiy doubtful at present about that
companion. Spectroscopic evidence shows Sirius to be probably in
an earlier stage of sun-life than our own sun. — Jawge. Dental
6 1—1 7—7
formula : incisors, -pr ; canines, :; — r; molars, = — i = 44, — means
' (j 1 — 1 ( — 7
that the teeth are arranged in the two jaws, Jawge, thus : —
MMMMMMMCIIIIIICMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMCIIIIIICMMMMMMM
where SI stands for a molar, C for a canine, and I for an incisor
tooth. — Thomas Smith, Jun. Describing a man's character from
his bumps is not phrenolog}-. Study what Gall and Spurzeim
really taught, and yon will see what it is that science rejects. —
Ishtah. AUruiiin, derived from alter, "another," means the con-
sideration of the interests of others before our own, just as egoism
from etjo, I, means the consideration first of our own interests. — -
G. T. W. M. There is a small book by Abbott, head-master of
St. Paul's School, on the " Queen's English." I forget publisher's
name and price. — J. H. Cobbett. You are too exacting. Parallax
allows only a top to the earth, and you ruthlessly ask for a model.
You might as well ask for soundings of the bottomless pit. — W. B.
Thank you for reminding me ; yes, the ratio of circumference of
circle to radius is, as you say, fixed ; but in the solution of the rod-
tossing problem this constant ratio comes in with a factor which is
not constant. — E. L. R. Yes ; ice-pai-ticlescan and do cause parhelia
(not perihelia, as the Gazette prints it). — G. A. K. The historical
value of the play called Shakespeare's Henry VI. is very small.
Shakespeare wrote but a small proportion of it. As you say,
the Bear |and Ragged Staff were not taken by the Nevilles
before their alliance with the Warwick family to which the crest
belongs. — W. Sumner. The rotation of thu earth has been regarded
as appreciably uniform. It is not quite so, but the variation is very
slight. The question is, however, too complicated to be discussed
here. It wants an article to itself.
i^tttrrsi Jxfrnfarli.
W. S. Jackson, K. Huskisson, I. H. Vulliamy, R. Tollit, Praxis,
K. L. P., J. Murray, Metamorphosis, Pertinax ('Tis true, 'tis pity).
Cosmopolitan, Anxious One, W. John Grey, J. U., Jlongredian,
Semper Paratus (so i.-5 W. P. B.), Jupiter Tnnans (save ns), M.
Purvis, J. Harmens, F. M. Rogers, Pollaky, H. F. C, J. H.
Marvin, P. Tindale, M. Morrison, K. P. M., R. Lecky, Circle-sqnarer,
Triangular, Queer Querist, M. Rambures, S. S. T., Rev. M. M.,
Castrensis, Ad ardua tendo (Respice finem), C. Collins, Anti-
humbug, Simplex, Verge, H. Jowett, K. Prothero.
Poxd's Eitbact is a certain core for Rhenmatisin and Oout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Hemorrhoids,
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chenuste, Get the genuine.'
[Advt.
I(i0
KNOWLEDGE
[March 24, 1882.
©ur i¥latl)rmntiral Column.
1' U(tR A II I 1,1 T I E8.
By tmk KniTOR.
LET Ufl ncxl tnko n case not <|uil(> «o simple ns tlio todHin)? of n
coin, niiinoly, the caatinK of a die. We know tlint tlic cliftncc
of throwing nee in h single trial is }. Let us consider what is tlio
cliance of throwinR nco in two trials with one die. The considera-
tion of this will brinp before us a very common mistake in denling
with chtineo questions, nn instance of whirli occurred recently in
the discussion of the question about cutting any one of three
named cards (of any suit) from n pack, onco in three trials. A
correspondent asked, with reference to this question, whether, as
the chance of cutting one of the cards in a single trial was
obviously f\, the chance in three trials must not be thrice this,
or V'j' This is erroneous, but not very obviously so. So again
in the case of a die— it is not obvious at first sight that the
following reasoning is unsound. The chance of throwing aco in
<mc trial is ,',, therefore in two trials it must be J, or^. \Vo sec,
however, at onco that the following reasoning is incorrect, or, at
least, leads to an incorrect result, though it is precisely the same in
character. Since the chance of tossing a head in one trial is i, the
chance of tossing a head in two trials must be j, or certainty ; for
we know there is no certainty at all in the matter. Yet even here
it is not quite clear to the beginner where the error comes in, and
he is often inclined to think there must be some defect in our
method of representing chances, when reasoning which seems
correct leads to an obviously incorrect result.
Kow the answer usually made to the above incorrect reasoning
about the tossing of a die, runs commonly as follows : — The chance
that an ace will be thrown in the first trial is i, but the chance that
an ace will be thrown in the second trial is not ^, because there may
be no second trial, for the first may give an ace. We must, there-
fore, add i, the chance in the first trial, to J (the chance in the
second trial), reduced in a degree corresponding to the chance that
a second trial will be required. Now the chance that there will be
a second trial is, in fact, the chance that the first trial will fail to
give an ace, or J, so that the chance of throwing ace in a second trial
8 not jl, but only five-sixths of i, or -^. Adding this to ^, the
chance of throwing ace in the first trial, we get ^ -I- -^^, or |i, for the
chance of throwing an ace in two trials.*
But the objection suggests itself to the student that the second
trial may be guaranteed, whatever the result of the first trial. The
thrower may say — to begin with — I mean to throw this die twice ;
what is the chance that one of the throws at least will bn an ace ? —
and then the above reasoning about the contingent nature of the
second throw is rendered unmeaning. De Morgan deals with this
objection in a very just way, but I am not sure that his reasoning
convinces all minds very readih-. Todhunter, after noting the
objection, says, " The error really arises from neglect of the follow-
ing consideration : when events are mutually exclusive, so that the
supposition that one takes place is not incompatible with the sup-
position that the other takes place, then, and not otheru-ise, the
chance of one or other of the events is the sum of the chances of
the separate events. In the present case success in the first trial
is not incompatible with success in the second trial, and therefore
we cannot take the sum of the chances as the chance of success in
one or other of tlie trials." Hut this, after all, amounts only to a
statement of the fact that that reasoning is erroneous by which the
chance of throwing ace in two trials with a single die is made to be
t^vice J. Now, this fact we knou.; because we see that the extension
of the same principle of reasoning leads to an obviously incorrect
result. What we want is to learn exactly where the error lies. I
do not find that this is clearly sho>vn in treatises on probability.
Let us take an illustrative case from which, as I judge, the true
nature of the error may be learned.
In an urn there are six balls, marked from 1 to 6. The chance
of drawing ball 1 is, of course, the same as the chance of
throwing ace .at a given trial with a single die ; that is, it is -J-.
Now suppose that six persons draw each a ball. One of them must
have drawn ball 1. The chance that any one of the six has drawn
this ball is J ; and the chance that one of a given pair of these six
persons has drawn the ball is J + ,\. This is clearly the case, as
shown in paper I. ; and that the reasoning is just is proved by the
• What follows is quoted, with very little change, from a series
of articles on the " Laws of Chance as Applied to Statistics," which
I wrote eleven years ago for the Knglish Mechanic, where they ap-
peared in August and September, 1871. I shall take occasion,
when convenient, to borrow passages from those articles, but with
such moditicationB as my experience of the dilKculties commonly
found by students of the subject may suggest.
fact that when it is oztondod so on to include all the Biz porsona, wa
got six times ^, or unity, corresponding to the certainty that one of
the six has drawn ball 1. Now the fallacy in the former reasoning
aliout the die lies in the supposition that twa throws with a single
die give the same chance of throwing an ace that any pair of our
six ball-drawers has of drawing ball 1. Whereas it is obvious that
to roijresent the case of the die-throwing, we must have — not two
different bulls drawn at random from an urn containing six, but one
ball drawn at random and replaced, and then again one ball drawn
at random.
Let it lie noted that there is no begging of the question here.
It is certain that the chance of throwing an ace is the same as the
chance of drawing ball 1 from the urn containing six. It U
certain that to represent the second throw, as well as the first, the
urn must have its full complement of six — that is, it is certain the
ball first drawn must be rc|>laced before the second drawing ia
made. Whereas it is certain that the case which gives as the re-
sulting chance i+ i, is the case where a ball is drawn, and then (or
simultaneously, it matters not which) another ball.
That the two cases arc distinct is rendered obvious, therefore.
And not onlj- so, but we can see which case gives the better chance.
For in considering the two cases, we can place our 6nger on the
exact spot where the chances differ. Suppose that a person A
proceeds as in the former case, a person B as in the latter, each
dealing with a separate urn, containing balls numbered from 1 to 6;
and let us compare their chances of drawing ball 1. They begin
alike. A draws a ball from his um, and B one from his. Their
chances of succeeding in this first drawing are, of course, equal : bnt
if they fail, their chances on the second drawing are not equal. For A
has to return the ball he drew into the um again ; and he will have
no better chance of success at the second trial than at the first.
But B retains tlio ball first drawn, and at the second trial he has a
better chance of success than at the first ; for he has to draw now
ball 1 from an urn containing only five bails instead of six. But B's
chance in his drawings i.^ certainly ^ -*- ^ ; A's chance, therefore, is
certainly something less than ^ + -^-.
We see, then, that we must adopt a more trustworthy mode of
reasoning in the case of successive trials under unchanged con'
ditions.
A Pretty Geometbic.^l Problem, axd Mogul's Pboblek. — A
great number of solutions of these problems have been received,
and of the former (" Kelland's ") problem a very complete discus-
sion has been sent to us. It will be a work of some little time to
analyse all the solutions, but we hope next week to give an abstract
of " Mogul's " solution, and of the paper just mentioned, with
suitable figures. Both problems are very instructive. — Ed.
^ur Cftrss €oInmn.
How the Devil was caught. Played at Brighton, 1S79.
AUgaier Oamiit.
Warrs. Slice. Whttk. Buck.
Mephisto. F. Edmonds. Mephisto. F. Edmonds.
1. P to K4
2. V to KB4
3. Kt to KB3
4. P to KR4
5. Kt to Kt5
6. B to B4('>)
7. B takes QP B to Kt2
8. P to Q3 P to KB3
9. Kt to K6 B takes Kt
10. B takes BC-") P to B6(')
11. P takes P(') QtoQ3
P to K4
P takes P
P to KKt4
P to Ko
Kt to KK3C)
P to Q4('^)
12. B takes P(b) Kt takes B
13. P takes Kt Q to Kt6(ch)
14. K to Bsq Kt to B3
15. Kt to B3(') Castles QRC)
16. Kt to Q5 R takes Kt(i)
17. P takes R Kt to Q5 !
18. P to B3 P to KB4
19. P to Kt5 R to KsqC')
20. P takes Kt B takes P
21. Q to K2(i) R takes Q
22. K takes R Q to Kt7(ch)
I resigns.
(*) Not to be commended. Black only obtains a very indifferent
game by this move, whereas, by the usual continuation of 5 P to
KR3 I he ought to get the better game, in spite of White's subse-
<iuent attack. If a player is afraid to expose himself to the attack,
then the more logical course would be to refuse the Gambit from
the beginning.
C") 6 P to Q4 is the proper move here, for, if Black plavs 6 P to
KB3, then 7 B takes BP, 7 P takes Kt, 8 (B takes P and White
wins his piece back, but we usually prefer 8) P takes P. as this
sacrifice yields some interesting play.
(') Whereas, now he might have played 0 P to KB3 and won the
Knight with tolerable safety.
Marcu 24, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
461
C") White might also have played B takes KtP, for, althongh he
uld thus give up two pieces for a Rook, he would not have the
nt of it, as he would capture the KBP and have 7 Pawns to 5 of
- op)>onents.
1 ■) An ingenious conception, which attained its object, but which
,'lit have boon met differently.
') Instead of P takes P, he should have played 11 B takes Kt !
i 1 Q3 for Black would not be good now, as White could safely
^'' the Bishop, as he need not fear the series of checks with
irk's Queen. 11 P takes KtP would also result in White's
.-.our. He would move his R to Ktsq, and, in reply to B takes B,
White would play Q takes KtP. The best line of plav would be
B takes Kt P takes P
.1 B takes B ' ^~- (better than 12 B takes P, to
x-h Black might replv with 12 P takes P, 13 R to Ktsq, 13 Q to
, .. 14 R takes P, 14 Q takes QKtP with a fair game), 12 Q to Q3,
B takes P K to Bsq
13 o to KtGfchV ^'* ' *"*^ White has two Pawns with a
good defence, as he will now be able to force the Queen to retire
either by playing R to R3 or Q to Ksq.
(«) Curious to say that, as we examine the position, we find that
even now B takes Kt would have proved effective ; in fact. White
had nothing to fear from Q to Q3, for, if now in reply to 12 B takes
Kt, 12 B takes B, then we have the same position as examined in
our former note; or, if 12 Q to Kt6(ch), 13 K to Bsq, the tempting
move of 13 P takes P for Black would be met by 11 R to Ktsq,
14 Q takes RP, 15 B to K3, and White has won a piece.
C) If 15 Kt to Q2, then Black replies with 15 Kt to K4.
(') This shows good judgment. He does not at once play Kt to
K4, but brings his Rook into play, while White's game remains in
statu quo. .
(') Black is playing in very good style. He obtains a strong
attack by this sacrifice.
C*) Excellent plav ; something of Morphy's style.
(') We don't see "anything better. If Q to Q2, then 8 to B6(ch),
or if Q to B2, R lo K8 mate. Of course, he threatens mate on B2.
LiiWEXTHAL PROBLEM TOURNEY, No. II.
Xo. 2G.
FiBsT Prize Set.
Motto : " Peep beneath.'
No. 27.
Secokd Prize Set.
Motto ; " Too many • Cooka ' spoil the mate
r:
• t
1 1
^
•or
It t k
White to plar and mate in four moves. White to play and mate in three t
The following two problems have won the First Prize in the
Tournament of the Boys' Neiispaper (taken from the Chronicle).
No. 28. No. 29.
By G. Hume (Nottingham).
Black. Black.
:; '" '
i
.\^. A
#, :"
6 i
''~)^'M. ^1-
White to plav and mate in two mov
GAMES BY COKRESPONDENCE.— (Con/inKcd/roTOp. 442.)
GAME I.
Position after White's ITtli move.
P to KKtl.
k ■'#"
^ k^ 'tM
P"i « #9# fi 2
p. ^i^ ^ ^^ i
Chief Editor.
18. RP takes R
19. Kt takes P
20. K to Q2
21. Q to Q3
23. Kt to K2
23. B to K Kt3
24. B to R3
25. Q to KB3
Chess Editor.
17. R takes Kt
18. Q to Q5
19. Q to Kt8(ch)
20. B to Q2
21. P to Kt3
22. Q takes P
23. Q to R4
24. R to Qsq
Position after Black's 15th move.
P takes P.
■^' ±
^
m ■rM■.^'.,:mr4. m-}
CniEF Editor.
16. Kt takes KP
17. Kt takes B
18. Kt takes Kt
19. B to KG(ch)
20. R to Ksq
21. R takes B
22. Q to KB3
Chess Editor.
16. Q to B3
17. Kt takes Kt
18. P takes Kt
19. K to Ktaq
20. B takes B
21. P to KKt4
CORRECTION.— Peoblem No. 25,
Remove Black Pawn on R3.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*,* Plea.'ie address Chess-Editor.
J. A. Miles. — We have sent you your problem by post for
correction.
C. H. Brockelbank. — Received with thanks.
R. G. Brothers.- — We regret to see you disappointed by H. T.
Holden. Have given yon another opponent, J. B. Groscr, who will
reply to your moves.
J. B. Groser versus R. G. Brothers.
462
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[March 24, 1882.
<!Pur (Lib\\)i^t Column.
BV " FlVK OF Cl.l'llS."
I HAVE born for nomc tinio pn«t onilenvouring to syslomntinr'
the |ilny iipoond hniid, llko tlir Iciulfi, lint tlio tnak is ii'it iin rnny
one. To bo({in with, tlio lead is iilwnya guided by ono of two ran-
Bidvrntionn : it is citlior from ntrpiigtli, or, when from wcaknosB, it in
plnyi'd to bolp pnrtncr ns miicli na inny 1)C. In most cases it is from
stronRtb, nnd there cnn then bo no (|ueNtion as to the card to bo
plnyi'd, and verj' little as to the meaning of a card which has been
played. Hut the second player may have stronRth or weakness, or
neither strenffth nor weakness, in the suit led, and his play thus
depends on a greater possible variety of positions. Then, again, it
depends on the lead ; so that we cannot say, as we can in the case
of the load, such and sncli a card means such and such a suit, but
must take into account the card led in the suit. It thus becomes
impossible to present anything like such simple rules, either for
playing second hand, or for the interpretation of the play second
hand, as in the case of the lead. Half a column on p. 310 sufTiccs
for the statement of all that need bo known about tho leads or their
interpretation ; we cannot present tho rules for second play in any-
thing like this space.
To proceed systematically, let us consider tho leads as presented
in p. 310, and the corresponding play of second hand. Fortunately
we can dismiss a number of cases very quickly.
Play Second Hand whkx Ack, King, or Quekx is Lkd (Plain-
Suits). — When Ace is led, of course, second hand has only to plaj-
his lowest, unless ho wishes to signal, when he plays his lowest but
one. ^\Tien King is led, second player, if he holds Ace, puts it on
("covers," is the technical expression*), otherwise plays his
lowest, unless to signal — a case wo shall not hereafter specially
refer to. When Queen is led, we know that the leader does not
hold Ace or Qneen, and unless tho lead is from a weak suit (a
forced lead), that he does hold both Knave and ten. If second
hand holds both Ace and King, ho would, of course, play the King.
If, of these two cards, ho holds Ace and others, whether long or
short in the suit, he plays the Ace. If he holds King and others,
his play will depend on his strength in the suit ; if .short in the
suit, it is better to -lOver ; it long, to pass the Queen, playing,
in fact, on the same principles which guide in leading from
weakness on the one hand and from strength on the other.
The play second hand when Queen is led depends on the considera-
tion that if Ace is held by third hand, it will not be played unless
King is played second hand, when, of course, it will be played by
fourth hand. Now, if third player holds Ace, and second player
haying King is short in the suit, he can gain nothing by failing to
cover. Leader will know Ace lies with third player, and will lead
again (the lowest of his head sequence) when the King, if again
kept back, will bo nnguarded, so that a third round will cause the
King to fall to partner's Ace. If, however, tho sxiit is long, this danger
does not exist, and there is a greater probability that Ace will fall or
the suit be ruffed early. On the other hand, if fourth player has
Ace, it is still second player's interest to keep back the King if he
is long in the suit. His partner will take the trick with the Ace,
and whether second round is led by original leader or his partner,
the King will capture another card of the head sequence, with good
chance that tho last will fall in the third round. If, however, second
player was short in tho suit, of course, he gains nothing by thus
clearing it : it is best for him, therefore, to cover with King second
round, even if his partner holds the .-Vce.
When Queen is led and .spcond player holds King, ten, and one
other, the question may arise whether it is not bettor to hold
up tho King, on the chance that partner taking trick with Ace,
the return of tho suit, when the leader's partner gets the lead,
may find second player with tho tenaco. It is, however, better
on the whole to cover in this case. The lead is in all probability
from Qneen, Knave, and one other ; it is certainly a forced lead ;
and it is an even chance that partner holds the Ace, and also an
even chance that he has numerical strength as against third hand.
It is three to one that one of these conditions holds, and in either
ca«e, playing King second hand is good. If your partnin* holds
the Ace, yon and he still have the command ; and if he has length,
you help to clear his suit by playing the King. The state of the
score may occasionally justify departure from this rule, however.
It is scarcely likely that when Queen is led, second player should
hold King ancl Knave, with or without others, for this can only
happen when Queen has been led from Queen and a small one, a
• I desire to call attenticn to the circumstance that these papers
on Whiet play are intended f< r learners, not for those who already
nnderstand Whist Btrategy.
load only jnstiflcd by the nbsolntc impropriety (shown by previous
play) of leading from long suit, 'ond clear evidence that partner
is strong in the suit so led. Of conme, if this ihould happen, the
King 'is played. In fact, almost invariably when second player
hohls— with other card— a fonrchette for a high cartl led (that if.
King, Knave for a Queen; Queen, ton for a Knave; Knave, nine
for a ten ; and so on) he shonld cover.
Solntions of Problem 2 by Volnol, A. C. W., II. Barclay, Peter
Parley, M. Morrison, correct.
0. Thompson. — Sorry we misled yon with Problem 2 ; wo leave
it open another week.
W. F. — Yon are right on ono point j in lines 13, 15, and 16 for
Z read B (hardly worth correcting, being so obrious). But yoB
say: II ow can (moaning, perhaps, tchy should) B now ruff? T
has no means of knowing that A holds the winning Heart B.ttet
Ace, vi/.., tho ten, and we are con.tidering the second and third
round from y's standpoint. Of course, B would not have trumped
his partner's winning canl. Again, you say. How should B win
the second round with a trump ? How or why should he not, had
T put on a small trump, as he ought to have done ?
T. F. gives tho following question : — ■ .
" How many different hands may a person hold at a game ot
Whist?" His answer is G35,013,559,GOO ; but this is open to
question. Is it the same hand, for instance, when same cards an
held, but trump suit is different ? or whether holder of hand it
dealer or not ? or leader or not ? or if, being dealer, anii card of
the thirteen be supposed the trump card ? Whist jdayers woald
answer No to all these questions. Five or CLrss. '
Dear Five, — I was shown the subjoined Double-Dummy Problem
by a fellow-passenger from Wellington to Napier (New Zealand),
last year. N'o doubt it has been published, and yon or one of your
Whist correspondents can tell me where and when. Bet it seems t«
me (I speak under correction) a good problem. — Yours, Ac.,
Editor.
Problem 3. — Double Dummv.
A.
Y.
Hearts— A, Q. 10, 9, -l, 3
Clubs— 10, 6.
Diamonds — 3.
Spades— 10, 0, 8, 7.
Henrfi—Xu, G.
Clubs— 5, 3, 2.
Diamonds — A, Q, Ku,
G, 5.
Spades — A, Q, Kn.
Hearts— K, 8, 7.
Clubs— 9, 8, 7, 4.
Diamonds — 2.
Spades— 6, 3, 4, 3, 2,
Z.
Hearts— 5, 2.
Clubs— A, K, Q, Kn.
Diamonds — K, 10, 9,
8, 7, 4.
Spades— K.
.4 leads and makes everv trick.
NOTICES.
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or direct from the PubUshers. Should any difficulty arise in obtaining the p^MT,
an application to the Publishers is respectfully requested.
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aiARCH 31, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
463
MAGAZINE OF SS|ENCE
PiAlNLrVfORDED -£XACTLfflES_CRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1882.
Contents op No. 22.
' FAOl.
Path of Mars from 1873 to 1S!)3 463
The Anfiquitv of Mun in Weatom
Enrup?. B> Ed«iu Clodil -1«3 I
Fonnd Links. By Dr. Andrew
Wilson, F.B.S.E., F.L.S. Part
IV.
164
PhotofniBphv for .\inateur^. By A
Brothers."F.R.A.S. Part 11 lee
XolM on Rowing. By an Old Club
Captain " »6
The Sun in April. (Itlurirated) ...468
KevioKs. The Two Hemispheres ... 471)
Did the K^rptians Know of the
Movement of the Earth in Space . 470
Weather Diagram, for Week Ending
Saturday, March io 471
Mesmerism 471
PAOR.
The Carnivorous Parrot 471
Easy Lessons in Blowpipe Chemistry.
Bt Lieut .-Colonel W. A. Ross,
lateR.A. (IlUslrated) 471
Slar-Map for April 473
Cod-Sounds and Scientific Privilege 477
CoRBBspoxDBHCB :— Screw-driver —
Colour of Paleolithic Man : Christ-
mas Roses — Jupiter in Cassiopeia
—High Numbers, &c 478-480
Queries 481)
Replies to Queries 4a0
Answers to Correspondents -180
Notes on Art and Science 4S3
Our Mathematical Column 483
Our^Vhist Column 484
Our Chess Column 483
PATH OF MARS FROM 1875 to 1892.
Bv a mistake, for which I fear I have no one but
myself to thank, 1877 was printed for 1892 in the
heading to the looped path of 3Iars from 1875 to
1892. As there are some GOO positions of the planet
(all separately laid down before the path was carried
through them) and the constructions for these involved
many hours of lal)Our, it was rather annoying to find
the diagram appeai-ing as if it only showed the planet's
path during two or three past years, instead of showing it
for seventeen years, ten of which have still to pass. For
a time I felt disposed to reject Liebig's saying that "there
is no harm in making a mistake." — Ed.
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN
WESTERN EUROPE.
By Edwin Clodd.
IT is well known that the period from the unknown date
of man's appearance in Europe until about the
Christian era, is divided by antiquarians into the Ages of
Stone, Bronze, and Iron. Such a division, anticipated
nearly 2,000 years ago by Lucretius in his immortal poem,
De Rei'um Nalurd* is not restricted to one quarter of the
globe, but holds good for every part habitable once or
inhabited now ; a mass of ever-increasing evidence being
producible to show that the use of stone and other acces-
sible and pliable materials preceded that discovery of metals
which placed so powerful an instrument of control and
advancement in the hands of mankind. These divisions of
stone and metal-using periods, it should be Viome in mind,
are not to be applied to all parts of the world at one
and the same time, as if there had been a universal and
co-temporaneous abolition of stone at a given epoch in
human history, and a universal adoption of the compound
metal bronze in its place. In the later periods of the
Stone Age, it is certain that Europe was occupied by races
»Bk. v., 1,282. JIunro's tr., p. 268.
in markedly varying degrees of civilisation. The people
settled along the shores of the ^Mediterranean were far
ahead of those scattered over Northern Europe, iron being
probably known to the former, while the latter still used
ground and polished stone implements, or bartered the
much-prized amber for Etruskan and Phoenician bronze.
So in the present day, widely as metals are dispersed by
traders, wo find barbarous races who still make shift with
tools and weapons of stone.
But it is more important for our present purpose to
poijit out what is not so well known, namely, that the
subdivision of the Stone Age into the Pala>nlithic or
Older, and the Neolithic or Newer, marks a dift'erence
between these, which is in every respect greater than
that between the Neolitliic and succeeding ages. Whilst
these latter cover a comparatively trifling, although
crowded, span of man's tenancy of Europe, and one over
which the line of his advance is, if dim and zigzag, un-
broken ; the Paheolithic is of remote origin, of unknown,
but certainly vast, duration, and but sparsely marked with
the traces of his presence. Tlie men of Neolithic times,
concerning whom ISIr. Grant Allen has given the readers of
Knowledge a vivid and accurate sketch, are the direct
ancestors of peoples of whom remnants yet lurk in out-of-
the-way corners of Europe, where they have been squeezed
or stranded ; but the men of Palaeolithic times can be iden-
tified with no existing races ; they were savages of a more
degraded type than any extant ; tall, yet barely erect,
with short legs and twisted knees, with prognathous — that
is, projecting, ape-like jaws, and small brains. Whence
they came we cannot tell, and their " grave knoweth no
man to this day." The implements of the ancient Stone
Age, mainly of flint, sometimes of chert (an impure, flint-
like quartz), coarse, rough-chipped and unpolished, can
never be confounded with those of the later age, which are
made of divers native or imported materials ground to a
fine edge and polished, often exquisitely shaped, and highly
ornamented. Whilst those of Neolithic times are found in
surface remains, cavern-floors, camps, temples, tombs, and
mounds, from stately tumuli to rubbish-heaps on the Baltic
coasts, all more or less within the province of the antiquary,
those of Paleolithic times are unearthed by the geologist
from ancient river-valleys, from " caves and dens of
the earth," and from deposits so venerable that their
contents demand a far higher antiquity for man than many
anthropologists, by no means the slaves of Archbishop
Ussher's chronology, are as yet willing to allow. Between
the Older and Newer Stone Ages there is fixed the great
gulf of climatal change and of altered distribution in land
and water, for wliile the early, if not the earliest. Neolithic
immigrants into Britain traversed a continent which,
certain northern parts excepted, has undergone only local
changes since they crossed it on their westward path,
Pal.Tolithic man passed -nithout hindrance where now flows
the English Channel ; the mainland stretched northwards
beyond Ireland and Iceland ; through a forest-covered area
over which the German Ocean rolls ran the Rhine,
its waters swelled by streams now known as the Thames
and Humber, to empty itself in the North Atlantic.
Southward, the continent was joined to Africa at
Morocco and Tunis, dividing the Mediterranean into
land-locked seas, and making easy passage for man and
brute from tropical to cooler zones. WHiilst the animals
brought l>y Neolithic races from the East were, in the main,
those familiar to oursehes, those with which Palaeolithic
man waged war in forest and swamp were mammals now
whoUy extinct, or found only in arctic or tropical lati-
tudes. The curious admbcture with human relics of
remains of animals adapted to widely different regions
464
KNOWLEDGE
[March 31, 1882.
has raised somo interesting questions concerning the causes
and duration of changes in climate which permitted, now
nortl\ern spocius (as tlu! mammotb or woolly-haired elephant,
the musk shci'p, the reindeer, etc.) ; now southern spc^cics
(as the liippopotanius, liyana, lion, etc.), to roam over the
same ureas, finding at last a comuion grave. But to discuss
this at present would be to digress.
The above outline of the leading contrasts between the
two Stone Ages may sullice to show that our subject lies
far beyond the historic horizon. Ordinary landmarks and
methods of reckoning, therefore, failing us, we can have
some idea of man's place in geological time only V)y ascer-
taining the relative position of those deposits in which
traces of him are belie\e(l to occur to the general system of
organic-bearing rocks. Such traces are in truth indicated
by what man has done, rather than by himself, for of him
scanty are the relics — only a jawbone or fibula (small leg-
bone) here, only a skull-fragment there, a paucity for
which we must hereafter seek an explanation.
Vast as is the period in this world's history since the
appearance of man even iu Europe, it is Imt a fraction
compared with that which extends from the beginning of
life upon the earth to PaUeolithic times. Hreckel* remarks
that if we divide that period into a hundred equal parts,
and then, corresponding to the thickness of the systems of
strata, calculate the relative duration of the five main
divisions or periods according to percentages, we obtain the
following result : —
Primordial Epoch ....
(70,000 feet.)
Primary..
(42,000 feet.)
Secondary
(15,000 feet.)
Tertiary .
(3,000 feet.)
Quaternary (or Pleistocene)
(500 or 700 feet.) t
Laurcntian System 53"C
Cambrian
Silurian
Devonian 32"1
Coal
Permian
Trias 11-5
Jura
Chalk
Eocene 2"3
Miocene
Pliocene
Pateolithic Man ... 0'5
Neolithic and
Historical Period
Now, it would be in defiance of all that the doctrine of
evolution teaches, and, moreover, win no support from
believers in special creation and the fixity of species, to
seek for so highly specialised a mammalian as man at an
early stage in the life-history of the globe. Even in the
Secondary epoch, the only mammals which have been dis-
covered in Europe are the fossil remains of a small
marsupial or pouch-bearer ; and although the placental
mammals and the order of Primates, to which man is
related, appear in Tertiary times, and the climate, tropical
in the Eocene age, warm in the ]\Iiocenc, and temperate
in the Pliocene, was favourable to his presence, the
proofs of his existence in Europe before the close of
the Tertiary epoch, although considered sufiicient by
many foreign savans, are not generally accepted here.
It is at this point, however, that the interest of the matter
deepens. No anthropologist of repute denies the a priori
probability of man's presence in Europe under the favour-
able conditions of mid-Tertiary times ; and the remembrance
of what incredulity met the discovery in 1847 of relics
indisputably of human origin in hitherto undisturbed de-
posits in the Somnie Valley, checks incautious and hasty
treatment. Let us glance at the evidence on which the
French advocates of Miocene man now rest their case. Recog-
• " Hist, ot Creation," vol. ii. p. 20.
t The thicknesses of this and the other deposits are only approxi-
mately true.
nising tho enormous duration of the Palaeolithic Age, onei
of the most eminent of their number, M. Gabriel del
Mortillet, has divided it into several well-marked stages,!
certainly with such warranty as all that we have at ha
in support of the slow rate of human advance gives,
these divisions, five in number, M. de Mortillet places
earliest in the mid-Miocene period.
FOUND LINKS.
By Dr Axdkew "Wilson, F.R.8.E., F.LS.
PAST IV.
THERE are no two classes of animals between which
exists a greater dissimilarity than birds and reptile&
The active organisation of the one and the sluggish ways of
the other, the warm blood of the former and the cold blood
of the latter, are points in the popular natural history of
the two groups which technical zoology has but emphasised
in its turn. Yet the scientific examination of these beings
reveals bonds of connection between them, all unsuspected
by the ordinary reader, and demonstrates further, in the
most suggestive fashion, that the likenesses to be presently
alluded to must possess some origin and meaning. That
origin, evolution maintains, is " descent " from a common
stock ; the meaning is that seen throughout all similar
series of likenesses, namely, the natural result of the
laws of animal development. In the case of birds and
reptiles, the same considerations appeal to us which I have
already indicated as existent in the details of frog-develop-
ment. Either the likenesses science discovers between
apparently distinct groups of animals are explicable, or
they are not explicable. If the former, then science de-
clares, with unanimous voice, that the likenesses are due
to common descent, as the unlikenesses are due to the
variations and modifications produced during the evolution
of the race. If, on the other hand, the likenesses are inex-
plicable— as I hold them to be on any other theory save
that of evolution — then must mankind fold their hands in
the acknowledgment of an ignorance that might legiti-
mately, by its avowal, close the door to astronomical
research, to geological work, and to scientific investigation
of every kind.
I am led to make these remarks because several corre-
spondents have remarked to the editor, that because like-
nesses can be proved to exist between two different groups of
animals in their young state, they do not understand why
the evolutionist should lay such stress upon these facts as
proving his contentions. One correspondent, for instance,
says that he cannot admit that because one thing is like
another, tlie two things must stand in the relation of parent
and offspring. I replj% likeness does not necessarily imply
similarity of origin, but, on the other hand, it is one of the
proofs of such similarity. If likeness is to be denied its
place as a proof of common origin — apart from other
and equally powerful proofs known to biologists — what
guarantee should we possess that unlikeness means dis-
similarity 1 That the likeness of child to parent
is a natural likeness, every one must admit. The
reasons are clear enough, and they derive thtir force
from the fact that the latter begets the former. I hold
that the likenesses existent — especially in the early
stages of development — between different groups, are to
be judged on the same basis, namely that of heredity.
A manifest resemblance in the young frog to a fish is, I
repeat, inexplicable, equally on scientific principles and
on common sense grounds, unless on the hypothesis that
some bond of relationship comiects the two. The duty of
March 31, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE *
465
disproving this idea rests with those who deny evolution.
Until we receive a fuller and more likely explanation
of such likenesses as those we are at present discussing,
■we are entitled to hold to the only theory, which, so far
as I know, satislics the requirements of a good hypothesis —
these requirements being that it explains all the facts and
is contrary to none. This end the theory of evolution
attains in explaining both the likenesses and the dissimi-
larities of li\ing nature.
Returning, after this needful digression, to the case of
birds and reptiles, let us firstly note the structural points
in which these classes agree. To begin with, the skull of
both is joined to the spine by one bony process or condyle.
There are two of these processes in frogs and their neigh-
bours, and a similar number in quadrupeds, including man.
Then, secondly, the lower jaw of a reptile agrees with that
of a bird in its compound nature. This jaw, instead of being
simple and composed of two simple halves (as in quadru-
peds), consists in birds and reptiles of from eight to twelve
distinct pieces, which are amalgamated to form one bone.
Furthermore, whilst the quadruped's lower jaw is joined
directly, and of itself, to the skuU, that of the bird and i-eptile
is attached to the skull through the medium of a distinct
bone, which is named the quadrate hone. Curiously
enough, this bone in the quadruped is pushed upwards into
the middle of the skull in the course of development, and
becomes one of the three small bones (malleus) of the
internal ear. Again, reptiles and birds agree in possessing
lungs alone as their breathing organs. No gills are
developed (as in frogs and fishes) at any period of
reptile or bird-life, although both, like quadrupeds, possess
gill-clefts in the neck in early life. These " gill-clefts," seen
in the early life of man himself, are to be viewed as feeble
survivals of the aquatic ancestry from which, according to
evolution, all Vertebrate animals have sprung. Further-
more, instead of the ankle-joint (as in man and quadrupeds)
being situated between the end of the leg, so to speak, and
the beginning of the ankle-bones, this joint in reptiles and
birds exists in the middle of the ankle-bones themselves.
This curious feature will be further alluded to later on.
The technical naturalist would enumerate other points of
agreement between birds and reptiles, but sutiicient has
been said to show the close affinities which lie just beneath
the surface of their organisation. Their differences, how-
ever, are also of pronounced type. The causes to which in
the far-back past the evolutionist conceives the likeness
between these animals to be due, have operated, through
variation, at a less remote period, to produce the divergent
lines of development." Thus we discover that birds are
warm-blooded, whilst reptiles possess cold blood ; the
bird's feathers are unknown in the reptile-world ; and
the perfect heart and circulation of the bird — similar
to that of man — are also unrepresented in reptiles.
Crocodiles, which possess a four-chambered heart, like
birds and quadrupeds, nevertheless exhibit the same
imperfect and " mixed " circulation seen equally in
frogs and reptiles. The lungs of birds are of "open"
structure, and part of the air inspired passes through the
lungs to fill certain " air sacs " in the bird's body, and also
fills the interior of the bones in most birds. Such a dis-
tribution of air in the bird's body is evidently adapted for
the exigencies of flight. On the whole, then, with certain
well-marked likenesses — which, be it observed, evolution
accounts for on the idea of a common origin — the classes of
birds and reptiles are demarcated from one another by
cei-tain highly-distinctive characters.
The dissimilarities on the hypothesis of evolution are
due to variation and modification ; but, if this idea be
correct, can we show the stages through which the varia-
tion has led these two groups 1 In other words, have the
" links " which should hypothetically connect them, any
existence whatever ? Such an inquiry would have been
answered in the negati\e only a few years ago ; but, thanks
to recent research, wo are now enabled, satisfactorily
enough, to bridge the gulf between birds and reptiles,
and in a measure to reconstruct the pedigree of these
curious races.
To render my remarks clear, it may be well at this stage
to show in a tabular form the relative positions of the rock-
formations with which we shall have to deal. Placed in
the order in which they occur in the earth's crust, the
rocks in question lie thus : —
^ Recent.
Tertiary j Pliocene.
Hocks. J Miocene.
C Eocene.
„ , r Chalk.
Secondary I y^,.j^_
^"'■'''- [Trias.
The meaning of this table becomes clear, if it be borne
in mind that the rocks as here noted are divided into the
older Secondaries and the newer Tertiaries. The Eocene in
turn is the oldest (or lowest) series of the Tertiary rocks,
as the Trias is the oldest of the Secondary rocks.
The fossil remains of birds are few and far between, and
this for the reason pointed out by Lyell — namely, that the
body of a bird falling into water, prior to its entombment
in the deposits which form the rocks of the future, would
float, and would aflbrd a likely object of prey to other
animals ; thus escaping the chances of preservation. For
long, fossil birds were regarded as limited to the Tertiary
rocks ; but we now know of their existence in the Chalk, or
Cretaceous Period ; and we have also obtained fossil speci-
mens from the rocks immediately preceding the Chalk in
time, namely the Oolitic or Jurassic Period.
It is almost needless to remark that the bird-remains of
the Tertiary rocks, as a rule, resemble closely the birds of
our own day. In this light they only testify to the age of
some of our existing groups of birds, and do not directly sup-
port the theory of evolution, whilst, of course, they do not in
any way negative it. But in tlie deposits of the London clay
of Sheppey, belonging to the Eocene (Tertiary) period of
geology, tiie remains of a bird, belonging apparently to the
swimmers, were discovered. This form was named Odon-
toptcryx by Professor Owen, and its remarkable jaw-
armature at once attracted the notice of naturalists.
No existing bird has teeth ; and no bird possesses any
structures approaching teeth in function — save, perhaps,
such birds as the Mergansers, in which the horny
margin of the jaw is cut into a series of projections,
adapted for retaining a secure hold of the finny prey on
which these birds subsist. But in the Odontopteryx, the
jaws were beset with strong bony processes, which, though
resembling teeth in appearance, nevertheless are mere pro-
jections of bone — for, as most readers know, teeth are not
of bony nature, but possess a special and distinct structure
of their own. Nevertheless, the fact of this extinct bird
of the Eocene rocks possessing toothed projections of its
jaws, serves to link it, in the opinion of naturalists, to the
reptile hosts : for teeth are as stable and characteristic
possessions of the reptile class as their absence is a natural
feature of existing birds.
{To he continued.)
The Sound, or Swim-bladdek of Fish. — Erratum. In my letter
(Knowledge, Marcli 17, p. 439), for " a swimming paii-," read " a
swimming pow " ; for " straight," read " strait."— W. Houghton.
466
KNOWLEDGE
[MAUcn 31, 18b2.
PTTOTOn RAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
i;v A. liiioTirEHS, F.R.A.S.
FEW sul)J<'ots connected with science present more points
of interest tlian the discovery of pliotograpliy. M.
Niopce, OS we liavc; seen, Inlwured most patiently for many
years, and only achieved partial success. Independently,
Dap;uerre was working with a similar oUJect — that of iixing
the image produced by light wlien projected by means of a
lens on to a sensitive chemical compound. Also indepen-
dently, Mr. H. Fo.\-Tall)ot commenced experiments for
li.xing the photognphic imago. In his work, "The Pencil
of Nature," Talbot relates that in 18;il, while sketching
the scenery of Lake Como by means of the camera lucida,
the idea occurred to him that it ought to he possible to fi.x
the image produced by light by chemical means ; and on
his return to England he commenced researches, and con-
tinued them witli such success, that in 1839 he read a paper
before the Royal Society announcing his discovery, and in
18-lrl he secured his process by patent. This patent, how-
ever, he very generously resigned a few years later.
In his " History and Handbook of Photography," Tis-
sandier i-elates a circumstance which I have not seen else-
where, and it deserves to be repeated, as it shows that
others besides those savants already named were busy try-
ing to solve the ditiicult problem of painting by sunlight.
The authority quoted is " Guide du Photographic," Paris,
1856, and the narrator of the fact is M. Chevalier, an
optician. Daguerre and others were in the habit of fre-
quenting Chevalier's shop, and in 1825 a young man
called to inquii-e the price of a new lens which he had
heard Chevalier was making. The price appearing to be
beyond the man's means, he was asked for what purpose
he wanted the lens, when he said that he had succeeded in
fixing the light-produced image. Chevalier thought " Here
is another of those poor fools who want to fix the image
of the camera obscura ! " But Chevalier was astonished
when the man placed a paper on the counter. " That," he
said, " is what I can obtain." Chevalier looked at it, and
was astonished to find a view of Paris as sharp as the
image of the camera. The inventor had fixed the \"iew of
Paris as seen from his window.
Here was an instance of success achieved, but for want
of means, the discovery could not be carried further, and
when we remember the importance of the matter, it is
strange that the discoverer is never heard of again.
It is unlikely that Talbot could have known what others
were doing, as it was seen, when the two processes were
compared, that they were totally difl'erent. Daguerre's
pictures were on polished silver, made sensitive with the
fumes of iodine. This image was latent ; that is, nothing
could be seen until the vapour of mercury was caused
to develope the image ; that is, the mercury was de-
posited in proportion to the action of the light on the
plate. Talbot's process was altogether different. The
image was produced on paper, and was a negative. The
advantage over the Daguerreotype in this case was that an
almost unlimited number of copies could be produced as
positives ; that is, prints haWng the lights and shades as in
nature. Both of these valuable discoveries were to some
extent due to accidents. Daguerre noticed the effect pro-
duced on a plat(! coated with iodine, on which an object
had been accid(!ntally placed ; and Talljot observed that
gallic acid, which had been spilt on his prepared paper
after exposure to light, developed the latent image.
These are the main facts relating to the discovery of the
photographic art. and further detail here is unnecessary.
1'ioth of the processes named were extremely slow, several
mitiut<'S being ncces.sai'y to produce a portrait. But im-
pro\('inents were rapidly made. After bromine was intro-
duced into the process by the late Mr. John Co<ldard, the
Daguerreotype plates were so sensitive to light, that a rapidly-
re\olving wheel was photographed while illuminated by an
electric spark — a feat which can scarcely be surpassed in
the present day.
Many new, and modifications of old, processes were intro-
duced, but it remained for the late Mr. F. Scott Archer to
simplify and improve the method of obtaining the image
formed by light — the great improvement being the use of
glass to liear the film on which the image was to be fixed.
Various attempts had been made by the late Sir John
Herschel and others to utilise glass, but it was ilr.
Archer v.-ho succeeded with collodion — a fluid substance,
formed of gun-cotton dissolved in ether and alcohol. Archer
did not discover collodion, but used it as a vehicle to hold
iodides and bromides which were made sensiti^•e to light in
the way we shall see in a future paper.
ti
NOTES ON ROWING.
By an Old Club Captaix.
"1 T7HAT sort of stroke is necessary properly to drive at
* V racing speed the modem racing boat, is sufficiently
clear, as we have shown. How that stroke is to be given
remains to be considered
I take it, there can be no room for doubt on one point
The old-fashioned rule, according to which the arms acted
merely as stretchers in the first part of the stroke — in fact,
untU the body became upright^ — can no longer be right A
stroke beginning under those conditions must necessarily be
sluggish at the beginning, and want the sharp grip or catch
which we have seen to be absolutely essential. On the
other hand, arm work alone at the beginning of the stroke is
utterly bad. But the stroke is taken with such sharpness,
to give the sledge-hammer blow necessary for propulsion in
the modern racing craft, that it is by no means easy, even
for the possessor of a perfect — that is, of the most effective
— rowing style, to say exactly how his work is dona Mr.
Muybridge's photographs of rapid movements by athletes
have shown that men who can accomplish some feat in
gymnastics, and even champions in such ordinary actions as
running and jumping, often have (^Ir. iluybridge, when I
was talking to him on the subject at San Francisco, said
they abrays have) the most incorrect ideas as to the way
in which they perform their feats. Accordingly, we must
not take it too surely for granted that because an oarsman
says he does this or tliat in taking his stroke, he necessarily
does so. Rapid photographs alone could tell us precisely
how the best oarsmen take the stroke ; but, for my own
part, I feel assured, as well from practical as from theo-
retical considerations, that while the l)ody is moving from
its most forward position to uprightness, the arms do so
much of their work that they are very considerably bent
by the time the body is upright. Many Oxford men say,
and doubtless believe, that in the Oxford style the arms
are not bent at all till the body begins to pass the upright
position. All Cambridge men know that at Cambridge
the old rule used to be regarded as absolutely to be
observed, that till the body was upright the arms should
do no work. At Cambridge the rule was rigidly followed.
In the Oxford style I feel satisfied, from repeated obserx-a-
tions, it is not followed ; and not a few Oxford men have,
on carefully studying the matter, admitted to me that this
is the case.
March 31, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
467
Of course, I do not advocate the undue use of the arms
at the beginning of the stroke. To say truth, I in a
sense advocate nothing except the intensely energetic
stroke, -which we have seen is absolutely essential to swift
propulsion in a racing craft of the lighter sort. That such
a strolce must be taken is certain. The eiTorts to bo made
in taking it are scarcely matter for theorising. Nature
solves the question for herself. Where the good and the
bad styles differ is not here, but in the choice of the kind of
stroke to be given. The man who sets himself to row a
long, sluggish stroke in the water, with a very rapid
recovery, wll row in bad style, because the kind of stroke
lie sets himself to row is inherently bad. The oarsman, on
the other hand, wlio decides to take his oar through the
water with all the energj- he can bring to bear on the work,
using the recovery to gather his energies for the next great
effort, will row in good style (assuming always that he has
mastered elementary matters in rowing), because that is
the kind of stroke which ought to be taken, and there is
only one way in which it can be taken.
Albeit, as the learner may be helped to acquire a good
style (we speak always, be it remembered, of a racing boat
at racing speed) by being told how to take his stroke,
almost as well as by being told what sort of stroke to take,
it may be useful to note that if at the very beginning of
the stroke the muscles of the ann are all, as it were,
tautened, so that the arm feels the work actively — not
merely passively — from the beginning, tlie stroke will be
begun under much more favourable conditions than if the
arms be regarded merely as stretchers to bear the strain
resulting from the action of the legs. There must be no jerk-
ing, no arm work done alone, but from the beginning the arms
must assist the body and the legs. The other way of rowing,
however suitable for the old-fashioned bo its and for tub prac-
tice, is as unsuitable where a sledge-hammer stroke (long but
full of energy) has to be taken, as would be the alternate
action of the two arms. [And in passing, I may note that
quite a large proportion of oarsmen who consider they know
something of rowing, fail to use both arms with equal
vigour, either in each stroke, regarded as a whole, or in the
different parts of one and the same stroke. With many
oarsmen the outside arm (that is the arm furthest from the
rowlocks) does more than its fair share of work at the
beginning and less than its fair share at the end of each
stroke. It should hardly be necessary to say that this is
a very bad fault indeed.] The great difference between the
old-fashioned and the modern style, as regards the way in
which the work is done, consists in this : that whereas in
the old-fashioned style the best way to bring arms, legs,
and back into effective co-operation was to let the stress of
the work fall on these at slightly different times, in the
modern style the best way is to bring all these forces into
action simultaneously.
But the effort thus made, though it lasts a shorter time,
is more exhausting than in the old-fashioned style. It
cannot possibly be followed by the old-fashioned lightning
feather. There must be a recovery of energy as well as a
recovery of the oar. Hence the necessity for but a mode-
rately quick recovery, and for a momentary pause just
before the beginning of the next stroke.
The oar being a shorter time in the water, and only the
recovery somewhat slower than in the old-fashioned stroke,
it might seem as though more strokes could be taken per
minute than in the old-fashioned boats, or at any rate, the
effort be less ; but as a matter of fact this is not the case.
In the old " Hints on Rowing by Oarsmen," a stroke of -l-i
or 46 to the minute is spoken of as suitable for racing speed.
This rate could not possibly be maintained now, e^en
during a spurt. From 36 to -10 strokes per minute is
about tlie quickest rate obtained by the best oarsmen of
the da)-, and some races have been won, and well won,
with a stroke never exceeding 35 to the minute. Again,
as every oarsman who has tried both well knows, it is
much more exhausting to row at racing speed in a light
boat than in the comparatively heavy racing boat of former
days. (I believe that, regarded as exercise, the older style
of rowing is the better ; but the object of racing is not
exercise, but to attain the greatest possible speed).
There are some who, despite the absolute demonstra-
tion which, as we have seen, can be given to the propo-
sition that with our modern racing-boat the oar must be a
sliorter time in the water than with the old-fashioned boats,
insist on reiterating their belief in the necessity for long,
dragging strokes,* and a very rapid recovery. For them, I
venture to quote some very sensible and apt remarks by
" Wat Bradwood." They were written at a time (1868)
when Cambridge exaggerated as far as possible the faults
(for modern racing-ljoats) of the old-fashioned style, and
when Oxford had carried the later style almost to perfec-
tion. Obser%-ing from the Umpire's boat, he says : — " The
styles of progress of the two boats themselves are palpably
distinct : Cambridge take a shorter time to come through
the air than to row through the water ; they go much
farther backward than Oxford, and are very slow in getting
the hands off the chest ; their boat is drawn through the
water at each stroke, but has hardly any perceptible 'lift.'
Oxford, on the other hand, are just the reverse of Cam-
bridge, a longtime in getting forward, and very fast through
the water, 'driving the oar through' (really against the
water) ' with a hit like sledge-hammers.' The general
style of Oxford has not deteriorated ; though many out-
siders fancied that Oxford rowed a shorter stroke, it was
more that the time occupied by them in slashing the oar
through the water was short than the reach itself ; this
deceived inexperienced eyes, especially when compared with
the slow ' drag through ' of Cambridge, which often ap-
peared, for similar reasons, a longer stroke than it really
was."
And here let me make a few remarks on the utterly
absurd criticisms of racing crews made in many of the
daily and weekly journals. It would be interesting to
inquire how the writers of some of these criticisms have
put their notes together. I fancy their plan must be to
talk with half-a-dozen watermen who have seen the boats
at practice (or snij they have), and to " average " what they
get from these authorities. At any rate, the criticisms are
often ludicrous in the extreme. To begin with, it seems
en regie to say every year of the University crews that they
are far below the average. I have seen this i-epeated every
year since 18.56, so that as in some years we have been told
that the best of the two crews would not have a show with
a "second eight" of any London Club, the University
crew of this year ought to be a very bad one indeed.
Some of these clever critics ought to man an eight, and
after getting into due training and practice, take her on the
top of a good tide from Putney to ]SIortlake, in less than
20 J- minutes, as the Oxford crew did this year in their
first trial (under 20 minutes at the second trial, but rowing
down stream) ; or else learn, when they had taken nearer
30 minutes Ln covering the course, to describe the Oxford
* " PendragoD," in the Referee, three years since, fell into this
very natural mistake— especially natural in his own case, knowing,
as he does, much more from personal experience about sprint i-unning
than about ro^^'ing. It requires practice both in racing craft and in
so-called tubs (really very much lighter boats than those in which
most people have ever tried rowing) to understand the difference
between a sharj) stroke and a quick stroke, between a long-lasting
stroke and a stroke long in the water.
4G8
• KNOWLEDGE
[Makch 31, 1882.
and Cainlpri(lf;o crows as something Itetter than " inellicicnt
uiftlioi-ritics,'' Tlu'ii again, to hear these critics, one
might well believe tliat the ei;,'ht picked oarKiiicn of
uitlier l^niversity Imrdly ivuew how to get tlieir oars
out of tli<^ water w ithout crali-catehing. The way in whicli
they mistake cause and eflect is amusing. Tliey watch the
Camliridgi' or Oxford l>oat rowing with a strong wind on the
starlxianl l>eam, so that she is down on the stroke side for
awhiU- ; and wo hear tlie terrible news that, stroke and six,
or pcrliaps all the stroke side, " row too deep, tlx; conse-
quence being that they bring the boat down on th(,'ir side."
Tln! height of absurdity, however, was attained last week
in the Jt'/cree, which assuming the inferiority, or rather the
utter worthlessncss, of both the University crews (of " ineffi-
cient mediocrities ") this year, gravely hinted that it had
been attributed to favouritism in the selection of the
men to form the crews. This well informed sporting paper
Lopes the report may not lie true, but considers that if
it is untrue, it should be contradicted : so that Tom and
'Arry, after reading the paragraph, arc left under the
pleasing impression that " them nobs " can " nobble a
race " as thoroughly as the worst " dark rowers " on the
river. If Pendragon had ever attended Captains' meetings
at cithcB University, he would know liow pleasant would
be the fate in store for a " President " who should make up
a University crew of inefficient mediocrities, or from any
but the picked oarsmen of the best eights on the river.
That on some occasions there may have been one or
two men out of the "eight" who would have done a shade
better than one or two in the 'Varsity crew, may be
admitted : but readers of the R/'ferce may rest assured that
the President of either University Club selects ahcai/s, to
the best of his judgment, the eight men he believes to be
fittest.
THE SUN IN APRIL.
[Notice. — The foUowinff notes are prepared on the supposition
that those who will read them are provided with soaie almanac in
which the astronomical phenomena are announced. Tlie advanced
student of astronomy usually has the Nautictil Almanac, but for
the amateur, Whitaker's Almanac will be found amply sufficient.
Many other almanacs, though not so specially adapted to the re-
quirements of the amateur astronomer, contain much astronomical
information ; and scarcely any fail to indicate such matters as the
epochs of the lunar phases ; the hours of rising and setting of the
sun, moon, and planets ; the equation of time, and soon. It has
therefore not seemed desirable to cceupy space with such details,
but rather to provide matter which might prove of real assistance
to the student.]
THE sun's path during the month of April, or rather
from March 20 to April 20, is shown in the accom-
panying map from "y to » ; that is, from the place where
the sun's centre crosses the equator ascendingly, or north-
wards, through the part of the ecliptic corresponding to
the sign Aries. On March 20, at 11 a.m., the sun passed
the point called the First Point of Aries, and spring com-
menced. His rate of motion at this time does not difler
much from his mean rate, and in the course of his passage
through the first sign, Ai-ies, he passes one of the points
of his annual course where he is at his mean dis-
tance and moves with his mean rate of motion. (This
occurs on April 1, and again after the autumnal etpiinox
on October 3.) But although during JIarch and April
the sun moves at nearly his mean rate along the
ecliptic, his path is at its greatest -inclination to the
equator. Thus, while he travels along 30 degrees of the
ecliptic, reaching the point 8, he has not advanced
30 degrees in right ascension, which is measured parallel
to the equator. We see that the point b instead of being
in 11. A. 21i., or 30°, he is only in R. A. Ih. oOm., or 57.V"
(sec the illustrative map). The mean sun, therefore,
wliich is sujijiosed to travel at a uniform rate along the
equator, gains during March and April on the real
sun. liut we must not fall here into the mistake
made in some elementary tnsatises on astronomy (Mr.
Lockyer's, for instance), where it is said that there/ore
the clock gains on the sun. The sun's loss in right
ascension acts the other way. For as he moves annually
in a direction contrary to that of the diunial rotation of
the lieavens, the more slowly he moves in right ascension
the shorter distance has he to make u[> in coming to the
meridian. The eastwardly motion of the mean sun (from
right to left in our map) causes the difference of nearly
four minutes between a nif^n solar or civil day, and
the sidereal day. The smaller amount of the real sun's
eastwardly motion, measured parallel to the equator, causes
the real solar day in March and April to exceed the sidereal
day in less degree. Solar noon occurs sooner than it
would if the real sun moved like the mean sun. Accord-
ingly, whereas on March 20, at noon, the clock was nearly
71 min. faster than the sun, this araoimt has been
gradually diminishing day by day since then ; it will be
less than t min. on the day when this number of Know-
ledge is published, little more than 2 min. on Thursday,
April 7, 1 1 ••")I sec. on April 14 ; while at noon on April 15
the sun will be 347 sec. before the clock, and about 1 min.
before the clock when the sun completes his passage
through the sign Aries.
It is to these changes that the seeming irregularity of
the day, as measured from sunrise to sunset, by the clock,
is due. If the time of solar noon corresponded to noon by
the clock, the hour of smirisc would be almost exactly as
many hours and minutes before as the hour of sunset would
be after the time of noon. But when the hour of solar
noon follows the hour of clock noon, the time of sunrise
comes so manj- minutes nearer to clock noon, while the
time of sunset is as many minutes farther from clock
noon ; in other words, the sun seems both to rise later and
to set later than it does by solar or natural time. Thus^
on March 20 the sun rises at 6h. 5 m., only 5 h. 55 m.
before noon, and sets at 6 h. 10 m., or by so long (15 m.
longer) after noon.* Wliereas, on AprU Itfth, when the
equation of time vanishes, or the real sun and the mean
sun are together (in right ascension), the sun rises at
5 h. 6 m., and sets at 6 h. 54 m., in each case G h. 54 m. from
noon.
Asthma and Tobacco. — In reply to J. W. Brookes, I beg to state
that tobacco is sometimes recommended to persons suffering from
asthma, on account of its influence in deadening temporarily those
nerves upon whose irritation the asthmatic spasm depends. Troua-
seau, an eminent French physician, who suffered from this com-
plaint, mentions that " it often sufficed for him to take a few whiSs
from a cigar to free himself from his asthmatic trouble." And, on
the other hand, he says that he got an attack of asthma whenever
ho remained in a room in which there was a bouquet of violets. The
aroma from the violets acted as a stimulus to the na£al nerve-
twigs, which stimulus was communicated to the ner^■e3 governing
the bronchial tubes, and thus contraction of those tubes, and conse-
quent difficulty of breathing, were produced. Tobacco, on the other
hand, causes temporarj* paralysis of the same ner\-es, and rendew
them incapable of producing contraction of the air-tubes. But its
effects are merely palliative, not curative. — J. SIi IK Howie.
* Xote that on this day, the sun, being on the equator, would rise
at six and set at six were it not for refraction (almost exactly, but
tlie progression of the sun across the equator causes a slight dif-
ference, the sun being south of the equator when rising, and norA
of the equator when setting). But refraction, by raising him into
view before he has really crossed the plane of the horizon, and
keeping him still in view after he has really passed over it, makes
the day last rather longer than twelve hours on the day of the
equinox.
* KNO'vVL.SDGE
470
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[March 31, 1885
M
3RrbifU)sf.
THE TWO HEMISPHERES.*
/| R. CHISHOLM gives as complcto an account of the
I J_ continents and countries, tho oceans and seas, of the
two hemispheres, as could well V)e presented in a single
volume (l)ut of nearly a thousand pages). The book is
pleasantly written, and the information for the most part
accurate, though in places ratluT behind the time. For
instance, we are told that the largest of the rivers in
North Island, New Zealand, are the Waikato and the
Manawatu, no mention being made of the Wanganui, a
much more important river than the Manawatu. Some of
the information respecting the United States is singularly
out of date, and serves to gi\o but inadequate ideas of the
progress made in the Western States during the last quarter
of a century, in some cases even within the last ten years
or so, though statistical information is in most cases brought
up to date. The illustrations of natural scenery are, for
the most part, good ; but the views of towns are in many
cases behind the time. A "street in Chicago" gives no
correct idea of any of the principal streets in that wonder-
ful city ; and the view of Madison-square must have been
taken before the gigantic Hand of Liberty had been set up
which has now for several years formed a characteristic
feature of the square. Still, these are not points of great
importance ; and in the main we are struck rather by the
amount of exact and recent information which the book
contains, than by occasional shortcomings.
Messrs. Biackie &. .Sox note that ilessrs. Marcus Ward & Co.
have not published Vere Foster's Drawing Books (see reply to
query 274) for 3 J years ; these books arc pubhshed by Messrs.
Blackie & Son.
DID THE EGYPTIANS KNOW OF THE MOVE-
MENT OF THE EARTH IN SPACE?
IN confirmation of the translation of the Berlin papyrus by M.
Chabas, a paper is published in the " Transactions of the Con-
gress of Orientalists at St. Etienne," by M. Lieblein, one of the
greatest authorities on the Egyptian vocabulary, pointing out
another text alluding to the motion of the earth in very similar
terms. This second sentence occurs in a kind of chant to the god
Ptah, found in what is known of the gi-eat Harris papyrus, con-
tained in the British Museum, and speaks of him as "creator of the
gods, maker of heaven, and founder of the earth circulating in the
great ocean of heaven." This te.^t liad formerly been translated
by Dr. Birch and Professor Eisenlohr as " encircling the earth
with the waters of the great sea," and thus it will be seen at once
that the difference between tho two readings is that where one
translator reads travelling or circulating in, the other reads sur-
rounding tcith. M. Lieblein, consequently, in order to prove his
case, gives a large number of instances of exactly similar words,
wliere if the verb were really to surround, and the preposition with,
instead of in, such a translation would make nonsense, and also
refers to many texts where this very word has been rendered to cir-
culate, several of these having reference to tho path of the sun. In
controverting any decision arrived at by one so pre-en-.iuent as Dr.
Birch, tho very greatest caution must be observed, but no one, after
reading M. Liobloin's essay, can doubt that there is at least as
mncli right to his idea of tho true interpretation of the sentence as
to that of our greatest Egyjitologist.
Before apjiroaching our subject from a point of view not pm-ely
Egj'iitian, it will be well to point out that these remai-kable texts, in
speaking of the stars or sun navigating the heavens in boats and the
innumerable allusions to tho sky as a celestial ocean, must not bo
taken to do more than clothe in elegant imagery the phenomena of
tho universe. Their writers no more considered the interstellar
• " The Tivo Hemispheres : A Popular Account of the Countries
and Peoples of the World." By G. G. Chishohn, M.A. (Blackie &
Son, London.)
Bpaco OS a liquid than wo do. The idea itaolf nndoubtodly orif^inatcB
in tho beautiful account uf the creation given in the scvontccnth
chapter of llio Kittinl of the Dead, when it HtatoH that tho Deity,
there alluded to as Toiini, separated tho t<-rreBtrial waters which
gnvo rise to all rivers and oceans, from (lie celestial waters, sus-
pending tho latter in heaven. That behind and beyond all these
allegorical rcferonecs to the surroundings of our planet existc*! a
conception well-nigh panillel to our own, can bo scon by comparing
many texts ; for instance, in tho inscription of Amencmhcb, known
as " Tho Praise of Thotmes IIL," in speaking of tho King's death
at evening ho soys : — " Then ho fled up to heaven when tho disk of
tho sun went down, and the servant of Ood joined himself to his
Creator " (see Ecclcs., xii., 7). If it were legitimate to consider
that the Egyptians spoke of a liqaid heaven literally, then they con-
tradict themselves, for almost as frequently it is spoken of as
forming the body of tho goddess Nout, whose figure is delineated
adorned with the stars, her hamls touching the horizon on one side,
her body extended above, and her feet forming the horizon on the
other, 'i'hen, again, there is another figurative theory mentioned by
M. Maspero as being common, which speaks of the stars being fixed
as lamjis suspended in the celestial vault, and lighted each night by
divine power to illuminate the earth.
A Member of the Society op Biblical ABcn.coLoov.
The Solar Spectrum. — For more than twenty years I have had
on my study table a prism, brass-mounted, and moving on a ball-
and-socket joint. Tho apparatus may bo had at any optician's.
For two months in the spring, and for an equal period in the
autumn, the sun is in a suitable position for showing through the
prism a fine spectrum on the wall. It is one of the most lovely
sights in nature. It never tires or becomes indifferent ; and if I
felt disposed to idolise a phenomenon, it would not be a sun-flower,
but a sun-spectrum. Its interest to myself has been heightened by
a spice of mysterj'. In the inexpressibly tender sliading-off of the
violet rays may be seen a tremulous motion ; not always, but when-
ever the spectrum is very fine. Some of my family and friends can
see it, but not all. This secret of many years I now suspect to be
the passage across the violet of undulations of air ascending from
the lower and more heated red portion of the spectrum. Any con-
venient method by which a curl of white smoke can be disengaged,
so as to ascend gently through the path of the refracted rays, will
afford a floating spectrum of exquisite beauty. Seen through the
prism, the bars of the window, especially about sunset, are gorgeons.
HeNEY H. HiGGtNS.
The Lamson Case. — Dating from the Lamson trial, wc may expect
to find the history of cadaveric alkaloids will be more fuUy investi-
gated ; and, although in this particular case none of the conditions
essential to their existence were fulfilled, it «all not be without
some advantage, by stimulating inquiry into a very important and at
the same time all but unknown class of decomposition products.
In the whole masterly structme of the defence there was no more
ingenious point raised than this of cadaveric alkaloids. Against
the possibility of any reliance on it, however, were three
fatal objections, which effectually and for all disposed of it. These
were that tho body of the murdered boy was not decomposed
when the poison it contained produced fatal effects on animals it
was injected into ; that the vomited matter, preserved in alcohol,
and thus free from decomposed substances, gave indisputable proof
of aconitiue ; and that we have no proof that cadaveric alkaloids
are capable of producing the physiological effects of normal
vegetable alkaloids. Application has been made to tho Home Secre-
tary for a respite of tho sentence passed on Lamson, on several
grounds, among the reasons given being two chiefly interesting to
ns — viz., that the jur)' were not composed of medical experts, and
the unreliability of the experiments made with mice. The first of
these can need no serious consideration. The cWdence was of a
kind, more than is usuallj- so in mm-dcr cases, to approve itself to
the non-scientific mind. The symptoms of jioisoiiing by aconite
were carefully explained to tho jmy, and the evidence was snch as
to prove conclusively that these verj' symptoms were observed.
Dr. Stevenson's testimony, moreover, was especially such as a child '
might comprehend ; the only difference an expert jurv' would have
made would have been to shorten the time in which the verdict
was arrived at, and which even now is made one of the grounds of
aiiplication for remission of sentence. Of the objection to the '
experiments made by Dr. Stevenson it is needless to sjieak further.
Xo competent judge of their value and importance can hesitate a
moment as to their weight ; we venture to think none does so. On
every ground, the Lamson trial will take rank as of high im-
portance in a medico-legal sense; and as to the justness of its
result we think no question can be raised. — The iUdical Press and
Circular,
March 31, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
471
WEATHER DIAGRAM,
FOR WT:EK ending SATURDAY, MARCH 25.
; 3yrf\Veek
ABERDEEN
fl|lvl|T|wiT[F|s
I
LIVERPOOL
fiM TVKT F S
il
cc o c ooo
MJUVA\ai
h o c\> o o c
0MTWT F S
b"b ct c ot
SIM TWT F S
llllll
r cb t TOO
gp cmmni
5 g
I iT 1 I
Weather. — Beaufort Scale is, b. blue sky ; c. detached clouds ;
d. drizzling rain ; f . fog ; g. dark, gloomy ; li. hail ; 1. lightning ;
m. misty (hazy) ; o. overcast ; p. passing showers ; q. squally ; r.
rain ; s. snow ; t. thunder ; u. ugly, threatening ; v. visibility, un-
usual transparency ; w. dew.
MESMERISM.
2. The effect on the subject is temporary, causing only an increase
of nervous irritability which passes off in a few days. The effect is
similar to that produced by inhaling nitrous oxide gas.
3. The subject is restored to his senses by a change of stimulation,
such as stroking the skin in a direction contrary to the original one;
by sudden change of temperature, as by blowing on the face ; or left
aiono, he will in a short time come out of the hypnosis by himself.
The opinions hero expressed are entirely opposed to those of
professional mesmerists, who maintain that the operator is possessed
of some sort of electrical influence by which he can act voluntarily
on the person experimented on. Actual facts adduced both for and
against this theory would be highly interesting, for lloidenhain's
hypothesis does not afford a satisfactory explanation of many of the
extraordinary phenomena of hypnotism.
Perhaps you will allow discussion on this point in your interesting
REPLYING to " A Startled One," Kxowlf.dge, p. 301 (2G0)
the only work I have seen treating this subject scientifically
is that ("Animal Magnetism") by Professor Heidenhatn (Kegau
Paul & Co.), with a preface by G. J. Romanes, F.R.S.
The subject is deeply interesting, and well worthy of attention by
every medical man.
1. Heidenhain arrives at the conclusion that the cause of the
phenomena of hypnotism lies in the inhibition of the activity of the
ganglion-cells of the cerebral cortex, the inhibition being brought
about by gentle prolonged stimulation of the sensory noircs of the
face (by passes), or the optic nerve (by looking at a bright object),
or the auditory nerve (by a monotonous sound), and that in conse-
quence of the depression of activity of the brain there is a great
increase of reflex irritability which may be made to extend over the
body upon cutaneous stimulation of local parts, causing all the
nsnal mesmeric phenomena, such as muscular rigour, inscnsibiUty
to pain, hallacinations, &c.
F. Gibson.
THE CARNIVOROUS PARROT.
IN Kovember, 1879, Mr. J. Wood showed at a meeting of the
Pathological Society the colon of a sheep in -which the operation
of colotomy had been performed by the Nestor Notabilis. The
specimen, along with one of the bird.s, was from Otago, New Zealand.
The modus operandi appeared to bo as follows : — The bird, settling
on the sacrum, tears off the wool with its beak and eats into the
flesh until the sheep falls from loss of blood and exhaustion. It is
doubtful whether the birds attack dead sheep, and it was stated
that they single out the strongest sheep in the flock rather than
those that are sick, dying, or disabled.
It is difficult to account for this acquired carnivorous habit.
Professor Flower has suggested that the bird has in view the object
of getting at the contents of the intestines, while others state that
the loin and the underlying intestines are especially wounded owing
to the position the bii-d takes upon the sheep's back. This is not
an exiilanation, however, of the cause of the habit, for although we
may, and do, easily alter the dietary of individual parrots, it would
be interesting to know why the Xestor Notabilis in its freedom on
the sheep-runs of New Zealand should voluntarily change its mode
of living. Perhaps some of your naturalist subscribers will give us
the reason. Akrectis Ackibus.
EASY LESSONS IN BLOWPIPE CHEMISTRY.
By Lieut.-Coloxel W. A. Eoss, late E.A.
Lessox Y.— the physics* AND CHEIIISTEY OF THE
THING.
ALTHOUGH the merely mechanical study of blowpipe manipu-
lation ; its, comparatively with other chemical studies, child-
like simplicity and absolute economy, combined with the surprising
rapidity, beauty, and correctness of results, and portability of
apparatus required, have all such a charm for the man who seriously
takes it up, as to exercise in most cases a complete fascination over
him — the phvsics and chemistry of the thing must on no account be
neglected; and although, technically speaking, this is called the
" dry" method of chemistry, it will, when properly appreciated, be
found infinitely more amusing, and quite as instructive, as the "wet"
method, which involves the use of violent acids, expensive and
delicate glass-apparatus, a knowledge of " atomic theories," &c.
Let us now, therefore, collect and recapitulate the physical and
chemical phenomena casually mentioned in the four preceding
lessons, as follow : —
1. A cone of blue fire produced from a caudle, oil-lamp, or coal-
gas flame by a constant confined blast.
2. The probable cause of the change of colour in hot beads
cooling.
3. The power of the pyrocone to produce and abolish colour in
solutions of oxides.
4. The solubility of silica in P. salt, and its insolubility in
P. acid B.B.
(1.) As regards this fact, there is an obvious and very general
error, arising from optical misapprehension, or, as Mr. Foster wordd
call it, " untrustworthy information of the senses "—entertained as to
the shape and natm-e of the fire-cone alluded to, in consequence of all or
most writers on the subject making pictures of the blowpipe "Hame"
(as they call it) taken at the angle of depression, in^ which they
view the pyrocone, while using the mouth-blowpipe. This " optical
illusion" has the effect of causing the blast to appear uithin the
pyrocone, whereas, in reality, it passes over the surface. I have
* Greek, Phusike, Nature ; Natural Philosopliy.
472
KNO^A^LEDGE
[Maech 31, 1882.
now bcfnro mo ton iiUndanI works on rhomi«lry nnd lilowpipo
•nnlynix. iii nol oni- of wliicti in tli<- li)fiir<> of thc< pyrocono rorrorlly
drnwn ; Imt, «■ it wotilil novordo to tukouptho Bpiicuof Ksowi.KiMiK
with otToncou« ilnwinga, I ahnll horo moroly iniiort two j (o) from
llloxam's Chemistry ; ('■) from Thorpe's. In thcflo pictures it, will
ho scon Ihnt the " nozzio " of the blowpipe appears to bo scndinfr a
blast into the ceiitre of tho pyrocone, whicli latter is therefore s.'iid
hy most chemical writers to bo as hollow as tho luminous llamo of
a candle undoubtedly is; a statement which, as shall bo abundantly
proved in the course of these " lessons," is also quite incorrect.
Now, let us light a common candle in daylight, and apply a blow-
pipe blast to it, near a window, viewing tho resulting pyrocone by
transmitted light (that is, holding tho candle between us and the
window) on a level with the eyes; or, speaking concisoly, in tho
f- / C . ^ .
horizontal plane of vision. This is something like what wc see, but
by slanting tho candle a little, we can see quite distinctly the
actual path of the blast on tho u^-p^r surface of the pyrocone ; and
moreover, we can easily prove, while holding the candle or lamp
upon this level, that it is impossible to force the blast inside of tho
pyrocone. Another proof which I take from a former paper (Proc.
Roy. Soc, Vol. XX.) is that, in looking directly down (or perpen-
dicularly) on n pyrocono formed upon a thick wick, as that of a
Berzelins' lamp, wo see the black carbonised wick through the
Bpace which is always formed in the centre of even.- luminous flame,
and not throngh blue fiery matter, as would be the case were tho
blast in the centre of the blue pyrocone. Yet another proof lies in
tho fact that upwards heat-radiation is almost entirely stopped by
the superposed blast.
Simple learners like the poor workmen to whom I chiefly address
these little " lessons " — though I myself have quite as muoh to learn
in the matter as to teach — will scarcely credit the fact that none of
the eminent authors who have condescended to include blowpipe-
operations in their chemical writings, have thought it worth their
while to make the least inquiry as to the cause of the phenomenon
(1) now under discussion. No doubt, if such men as Plattner or
Berzolius had done so, speaking as they would, too. ex oficio
(which yoB must not translate by " as a Jack in office "), they would
have at once cleared up the matter ; as it is, the following sug-
gestion of an ei-artillory officer must be taken in lieu of anything
better. As before, we must rest our inquirj- on what that corrupt,
old, marvellous judge (t wish we had such judges now-a-days !)
and genius, Lord Bacon, called " Induction ; " that is, reasoning
from experiment. Most young Englishmen possess uncommonly
good eyesight, so that they will find little difficulty in proving the
truth of the following extract from my smaller book. " Alphabetical
Manual of Blowpipe Analysis," ppge 102. " If tho blast from a
mouth-blowpipe be propelled by an operator with good eyesight
across the heat-undulations rising from a lighted candle in broad
daylight by Irangmitted light, he will see it (the blast) in tho shape
of a strai'jht line, about the thickness of a fine sewing-needle. If
now he propel a similar blast through tho blue thin flame of a
spirit-lamp, which is peiu<tral>le by tho blast, and observe
it by reflected light, that is, when ho is between it and the
window, ho will again seo it, but this time in tho form of
a minntc fono of air, synaxial (that is, formed upon tho
same line, an it wore) with a flnme-cono projected in tho same
dirertiori, from the spirit-lamp. What causig this diffenmco in tho
appearance of tho same thing? The only reply to this question
si'c-ms to me to bo that a conlined, continued blast apjiears to create
round it, in air, a rortez, the gj-rntivo rapidity of which ia least at
the commencement, or groatust direct rapidity of the blast, and
moKt when that begins to slacken. This aerial vortex is, of course,
invisible in air when tho blast is passed throngh the hcat-wavcf
above a candle, although the blast itself is perceived there, l>ccauio
a space is formed by it within which tho waves themselvos are
checked ; but the air-vortex, on tho contrarj-, is distinctly vigiblo
when formed within a coloured (blue) fluid of greater consistt^nce
than itself, like spirit-flame. It seems obvious, if this explanation
bo correct, and tho other fact kept in mind, that tho blast
from a blowpipe is not really projected into the candle or
oil-lamp pyrocone, but passes over its upper surface, that
tho vortex thus created includes within its gyrations the Bame
blown on one side in the direction of the blast, and force*
it to retain a horizontal position, as well as its ovm conical
form. It follows from this, that in order to produce a perfect
pyrocone, there should be a constant ratio between the strength
of tho blast (or air pressure) and the size or bulk of the flame
acted on — and this is the fact." If the blast be now propelled
into a spirit-lamp flame held about half-an-inch in front of
the point marked OP in the figure, that is, about half-an-inch
distant from the apex of the ai-rial vortex, a short inverted cone of
large diameter appears ; and this, according to Sir J. Herscbd
(Essay on Meteorology, page G7) is "a necessary consequence of
the vorticose motion." Tho existence of this atmospheric vortex
may bo further confirmed by holding about three inches of the
finest platinum wire, which has very considerable "spring" or
elasticity in it, so that one end just touches the left side of the
blowpipe pyrocone. That end will immediately commence a
series of gyrations, from left to right, rapid in direct proportion
with the strength of the blast, and therefore with the shortness of
the diameter of the base of the cone. Another proof is obtained by
holding an extremelv hot bead — as nearly red-hot as possible —
of fresh P. acid just under the base of the pyrocone ; when a
"mantle" of pale green flame surrounds the blue pyrocone,
spreading from base to apex. This "mantle" consists of in-
finitely small particles of the volatile phosphoric acid burning
in the vortex of intensely heated air surrounding the pyrocone.
But the most conclusive evidence of all — evidence which seems to
mo simply confirmatory of the fact — is this :- — An elastic, expansible
cone, such as that formed by an aii'-vortex, must, if compressed at
its base, extend in the direction of its gyrations. This is a self-
evident law of Dynamics,* and I can never forget the delight with
which I found, when I placed a globular ])latin\im dish so that its
curved bottom almost touched the base of the blue pyrocone, and
thus was bound to squeeze the aii-vortex at its commencement, that
my pyrocono instantaneously increased in length at least half on
inch.
We thus possess in this hypothesisf — for, of course, chemists will
not allow, for another ten years at least, that there is here the absCK
lute proof of the existence of these facts which they have obtained
of the existence of proportional atoms — a simple and " pretty " ex-
planation, not merely of the conical shape of the " flame " or fire,
but of the oxydising properties of tho position OP; of the still
more intensely oxydising properties of the position PP. whore the
inverted aerial vortex exists; and of the hydrogenising or
" reducing " properties of the position IIP ; that is, of the inside of
the solid blue pyrocone, which, according to the present accepted
" theory " of blowpipe pyrocones, must be full of oxygen contained
in the air of the blast.
But, as the poor ghost in " Hamlet " says (at the beginning, by
the way, instead of tho end of his oration), " My hour is almost
come ; " and space permits no more on this head at jiresent, so that
I must reserve tho discussion of tho other chemical and physical
clTects mentioned, for Lesson VI.
• Oreek, Dunamis, power ; he branch of Physics which treats of
bodies in motion, as opposed to Statics.
t "Hypothesis, a supposition. Something not proved, bnt as
Bumcd for tho purpose of argument " (Ogilvio's Dictionary).
KXOWI,KI)(iK, Mah<ii .-tl. 18S2.J
OfR Staii Mai'. — Till' ciivular lioundary
of till' map represents tlie horizon. The
iiinp sliows also the position of the equator
iind of tliat portion of the Zodiac now most
fuvouralily situated for observation. For
the motions of the planets Jupiter, Mars, and
I'ranus, consult the Zodiacal maps in Nos.
11 and 19. The nainrs of ninety-nine stars
of the tlrst three nmi,'nitudes are <;iven
lielow.
On March 'M, at 10.30 p.m.
On April 3, at 10. lo p.m.
On April 7, at 10.0 p.m.
On April 10, at 9.45 p.m.
On April 14, at 9.30 p.m.
On April 18, at 9.15 p.m.
On April 22, at 9.0 p.m.
Vn April 2G, at 8.45 p.m.
On April 30, at 8.30 p.m.
On May 3, at 8.1.'. juii.
On May 7, at 8.0 (i.m.
ARABIC NAMES OF S'l'ARS.
The following table e.xhiliits the names ot
all the stars of the first three magnitudes
whose names are in common use : —
a AndromeilsD
/3 ...
7 •••
a Aqnarii ...
li
a Aqnilcc ...
a Cannm Venat.
a Canis Majoria
(I Canis Miooriii
li ...
a' Cnpricomi
S ...
... Alpheratz
.. Mirachf Miznt'
... Ahuach
,.. SadalmeUl-
... Sndalxund
... Skat
.. Altai,-
.. Alshain
... Tiirazed
.. Hamnl
.. Sheratan
.. Mesarfitii
.. Capella
.. Menkalinan
.. Arctiii-iis
.. Nekkar
.. Izar, Mizar, Mirach
.. Muphrid
.. Cor Cnmli
.. Sirius
.. Mirzam
.. Adara
.. Procijon
.. Qomeitta
.. Secuiida Oiedi
.. Dencb Alijiedi
.. Schedar
. Chaph
[KNOWLEDGE, lUncn 31, 1882,
-1
Jm^m. --
tx■r^^**
(I Cephei
... j4/<J(>j-ai»in
/i
... Alphirl;
... Ermi
n Ceti
... Uenhar
(?
. . . Diphda
... Ilaten Kaitos
11 ■
... Mirm.
11 Culamba!
... I'hact
II Corona) Borealia
... Atphecrn
« Corvi
... AlchiUi
0
... Algoren
a Crateris
... Alkes
a Cyf^ni
... Arided, Demi Adigt
n
... Albireo
11 Draconis
... Th^tban
ti
... Alwaid
... Etanin
/3 Eridani
... Cursa
1
... Zaurac
n Geminornm ...
... Castor
/5
... Pollux
I ;::
... Alhena
... Wasat
f
... Melenta
n Uerculi.s
... Ras Algethi
li
... KorneforoK
a Hydra)
... Alphcird, Cor Hijdrce
n Leonia
... Regulu.0, Cor Leonis
li
... Leneb Aleet, Denebula,
Deneb
-
... Algeiba
3
... Zosma
a Leporia
... Arneb
n Libra)
... Zuhen el Genubi
/3
... Zuben el Chaniali
... Zuben UaWabi
a Lyra)
... Vega
/i
... SheUah
7
... Sidaphat
n Ophiuchi
... Ras Alha^ue
/3
... Cebalrai
a Ononis
... Betelgeua
/3
... Rigel
I
... Bellatrix
.. Mintaha
Alnilarn
a Pegasi
... Markab
/3
... Scheat
7
... Algenib
... Enif
... Homan
z
« Persei
... Mirfak
li
... Algol
a Piacia Australia
... Fomalhaut
t Sagittal ii
... Kaus Australis
a Scorpionis
... Antares, Cor Scorpionis
a Serpentia
... Unwkalhai
o Tanri
... Aldebaran
13
... Nath
7)
... Alcyone (Pleiad)
« Ursas Maioris
... Ihibhe
)3
... Meralc
7
... Phecda
f
... Alioth
?
... Mizar
7/
... Alkaid, Benetnasch
... Talitha
(1 Drase Minoria
... Polaris
/a
... Kochab
a Virginia
... Spica Azimech, Spica
/3
... Zavijava
I
.. Vindemiatrix
March 31, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
477
COD-SOUNDS AND SCIENTIFIC PRIVILEGE.
WHEN' I stated (page 295) that the tough leathery membrane
of tlio cod-fish, known to epicnres as the " sound," is an
organ of different structure and anatomical relation to the swim-
bladder of other fishes, 1 had no idea that the subject was suffi-
ciently interestinjr to call forth the critical correspondence it has
elicited, and should hardly have prolonged the discussion, but that
another and far more important subject has been connected with
it. "Old Kossil " says (page 380), that I have illustrated " the old
saying that a cobbler should stick to his last," ami that on " pass-
ing into the domain of the biologist " I must " bo regarded as an
intruder." Dr. Wilson (page 129) quotes and supports this state-
ment which assumes that scientific inquiry, scientific discussion, or
scientific criticism is the exclusive privilege of labelled specialists,
who must never invade each others' domains.
This is a mischievous dogma, too often assorted with less cour-
tesy than by the gentlemen above-named, and sometimes even
with downright insolence by certain narrow-minded pedanta.
"There is no man old enough to be an expert in all the sciences,
and yet all the sciences are but one science, and all our subdivisions
ore mei-ely artificial devices for the convenience of study. Hence,
if every man confined himself to his own particular branch of
special knowledge, the divine unity of creation would remain
unknown, and the highest object of all science — the uplifting and
purification of the human mind by the unselfish contemplation of
the marvellous harmonies of the universe — would bo unfulfilled.
The new-bom science of celestial chemistry could not have come
into existence without the previous wedding of tho laboratory to
the observatory ; and if we take a general survey of the progress
of human knowledge during the present generation, it will be seen
that the greatest strides have been made by those who have boldly
stepped across the'conventional boundaries that mark the customary
subdivisions of the sciences." I wrote the above protest thirteen
years ago ; 1 now repeat it with especial emphasis in the columns
of KNoni.EriGE, the value of which I regard as largely due to its
general freedom from the pedantry of the self-sufficient specialist.
Has not Tyndall invaded the domain of the biologist in conduct-
ing his researches on atmospheric germs, and have not the truly
philopophical biologists good reason to thank him for doing so ? All
such biologists acknowledge the importance of Herbert Spencer's
profound contributions to the theory of evolution ; but can he be
labelled a biologist ? I need only mention the names, of Humboldt,
Bunsen, Kirchoff, Helmholtz, Huggins, Huxley, &c., as illustrations
of men who, by forsaking their special lasts, have ceased to be
scientific cobblers, and have thereby become true philosophers.
This very magazine could have had no existence had its editor sub-
mitted to be strapped doivn to the astronomical last with which
his earlier literary efforts are associated, and some of his best essays
must have been suppressed had he not invaded other " domains."
Such specialists are unquestionably necessary to the building up
of the glorious edifice of inductive science, just as special masons,
bricklayers, carpenter.*, joiners, Ac, are demanded for physical
buildings, and I should bo the last to dispute their dignity and
importance, even when protesting against their undue assumptions
of exclusive privilege.
Dr. Wilson and " Old Fossil " are quite right in asserting that I
am not a biologist, thongh my earliest studies were biological, and
date from a period preceding the invention of the term " biology "
and tho birth of Dr. Wilson, viz., 1841, when I was a pupil of
Professor Jamieson in " Natural Histoiy," and attended the lec-
tures of "Monro terlitis" on " Anatomy and Physiology" in the
University of Edinburgh.
"Old Fossil " tells us that he dissected a cod-fish of 8 or 91b.
weight on tho day of writing. I hd,ve dissected many twenty-five
to thirty years ago, and therefore depend upon memory. The
reader, however, may judge for himself, by simply cutting such a
fish in half, or asking a fishmonger to do so for him, and he will
then be able to judge by the diameter of the blood-clot enclosed by
the stout membrane in question whether it can possibly bo con-
tained within an aort.a of -r-th of an inch diameter. If the section
is made at about the posterior termination of the abdominal cavity,
he will find that this blood-clot is nearly half-an-inch in diameter,
and confined between the spines and the thick membrane in ques-
tion. If he follows this membrane forward, he will find it still
adherent throughout its whole length to tho spines, and uuder-
lapping the blood-clot, which now becomes divided, and lies on
each side of the body of the vertebra?, accumulated in tho hollows
formed by the bases of the vertebral arches. It also contains air,
and this has probably led " Old Fossil " to suppose that it is a true
swim-bladder, the organ which modern biologists regard as an
homologue to the lung-bag of the amphibia and reptiles ; one of Dr.
Wilson's " found links."
All such bladders differ essentially in structure and anatomical
relations from the cod-sound. They are formed of a thin, trans-
lucent, delicate membrane, corresponding to the pleura, or mem-
branous envelope of the lung-ljag of air-breathers ; the cod-sound
has a tough leathery coat, like that of our own arteries. It is a
contradiction to all anatomical analogies to suppose that a mere
air vesicle should have walls strong enough for a fire-hose. The
true air-bladders, like the lung-baga of the amphibia, are, as
John Marshall says, " off-shoots from the upper part of tho
digestive canal," and come away freely from the abdominal
cavity along with tho other viscera when these arc removed.
The cod-sound is connected with the heart (as a )n-olonga-
tion or modification of the hulbus arteHosus) cf tho fish, and
so firmly attached by its edges that it has to be forcibly torn or
" sondert," by the Norsk fishermen, after all the rest of tho viscera
are removed, and thus, as I believe, obtains its name. When not
thus sundered for salting, it is ripped open in order to remove the
blood which it contains throughout its entire length. I have ex-
amined the swim bladder of many fishes — the single-lobed bladder
of our common fresh-water fishes ; the slippery double bladder of
eels ; the curious three-lobed blaildcr of the gurnets (tho pro-
portionate capacity of which is at least twenty times that of a cod-
sound, and yet is composed of thin membrane) ; and the still more
delicate, collapsing bladders of the herring and other similar fishes
— but have never found any blood within them, still less that they
enclose the great dorsal clot which I find in all fishes after death
enclosed in a special membrane corresponding to the cod-sound,
though generally thinner, and always quite independent of the swim
bladder.
In spite of the scalpel of " Old Fossil," I still regard tho sound
of the cod-fish, and the corresponding membrane of other fishes
similarly adherent to the spine, as the main bloodvessel of the
animal, for the simple reason that its blood is always contained
therein, but I do not deny that the air which it also contains may
assist the buoyancy of the fish, seeing that this buoyancy is
obtained in other fishes by other aiTangements than that of the
ordinary lung-like swim-bladder.
As regards the contents of this dorsal aorta during life, I may
mention one experiment. I have on several occasions lashed myself
to the martingale of a schooner sailing in the Mediterranean, and
stood so near to the water that my feet have dipped when the vessel
pitched. From this favourable position I have speared bonettas,
and observed that when one of the five barbs of tho "grains" (as
the sailor calls the murderous implement), has pierced the adherent
membrane in question, that the water all around the fish has
suddenly become deeply stained with blood to a distance of a foot
or eighteen inches, and the usual blood-clot under tho spine has
diminished accordingly, indicating more contractilo work than could
be done by the tiny heart attached to the gills, and suggesting the
probability of direct and powerful contraction of this sub-dorsal
membrane, which I believe does much more in circulating tho blood
through the body of fishes than Dr. Wilson and " Old Fossil "
imagine. Eymer Jones (who was a biologist especially strong in
comparative anatomy) tells us that there is " no systemic heart in
fishes, the aorta itself serving to propel the slow-moving blood in
its course through the arterial system." Hence the demand for the
strength and thickness of the cod-sound, which I commend to the
biological attention of the readers of Knowledge when they next
partake of boiled cod-fish. Even though not " accustomed to the
use of the scapel," they will then be able to consider the probability
of this being merely devoted to holding air, while the " delicate
thin-walled tube, about one-twelfth of an inch diameter," which
" Old Fossil " found in the 8 or 9 lb. fish, propels the blood through-
out its body without any help from tho outer tough membrane of
the sound. W. M.4ttied Williams.
ERRAxrM. — In letter on the Radiometer, p. 457, last line but one,
for Sodium read Iodine.
Colliery " Spoil Baxks." — Tou are doubtless familiar with the
large heaps of refuse removed from coal-pits, technically known as
" spoil banks." These heaps are usually, though not always, on
fire, and when seen after dark present an appearance of wild and
magnificent grandeui-. I have often heard expressions of wonder
and admiration from persons who have seen these burning moun-
tains for the first time. It is my habit to look at these " mountains "
from a less romantic standpoint, as the sulphurous and other
noxious fumes arising from them are doubtless as injurious to
animal life as the appearance of the immediately surrounding dis-
trict proves them to be to vegetable life. 1 frequently hear the
assertion that these heaps fire " spontaneously." Will you kindly
give your opinion, through the columns of Knowledge, as to
whether this is likely to be ; and, if so, how it occurs ? How is the
chemical combination necessary to produce flame brought about ? —
One who wants Knowledge.
478
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Maiicu 31, 1882.
IcttcrEf to tftc Cbitor.
{Th« Editor tloff not XnU himself rftporiMibUJor tMf opinioni of Mis eorre^findenti.
St cannot undtrttike to rrturn maniiBcrtytt or to corretDond u-UM tMrir itrttert. Alt
eommmnieatio»» thoutJ bf ii» thort oj potnblt^ eonsisttntlj/ icitk full and cleur ftutf-
mmt$ ofths vrttrr't mfttninp.']
Atl Sdiioruit communiraiionM «Aoh/J bf addrested to tht Editor qf KNOWI.sno»;
all Bugine»> cMmmunietition* to tk« Publishfrt, at tJt* OJice, 74, Great Queen-
ttrtft. W.C.
AH Semittanrea, Chtquf$, and Po$t-Offlc9 Ordert $kould bt madt pajfabU to
iie$*r$. Wymnn 4r Sont.
*^* AH UtttT* to tht EJUor teilt be Xumbgred. For convenience of reference,
corregpondenft, when refrrring to any letter, trill oblige by mentioning its number
and the page "»» »rAi>4 it uppearf.
AH Lrtfere or Querie$ tu the Editor vMrh require attention in the current is»ue of
Kito\vi.VTtom,»houtd reach the Publishing OJice not later than the Saturday preceding
the J<jy (ff publication. ^.^—^
(l.) T.«tlpni to have nc)iiinc<« of appoarinff muit be concise; they most be drawn
op in tho fom» adoptpti fur li'ttors here, bo tliat tboy may go untouched to the
printers: privnto roinmtinicalionR. therefore, aa well aa queriea, or replies to
querie<( (Intendrd tonpprnr n» Kuch) whouUIbe written on separate leaves.
(II.) Queries and replioH fthotild be oven more concise than letters ; and drawn
npiii tho form in «Inili Ihoy are hero prescHfcd, with brncketH for number in caao
of qiieriefl. andih^ proj.or qunrvnumber (bracketed) incase of replies.
(III.) Letter*', qireri'-s. imd renlien which (either because toolonff, or unfruitoble,
or doalinff with mntier- which others have discussed, or for ony other rea.son) can-
not llnd place here, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
acknowledged in a column reserved for the purpose.
"In knowledce, that man only id to bo contemned and de^pt^ed who is not in a
state of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
*' There is no hcrm in miikinc a mistake, but preat harm in making none. Show
xne a man who makes no mistakcii, and I will show you a man who has done
Dothin^." — Li*hia.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."~CAar/« Kingsley.
d^ur CoiTf^poninue CoIiimuEf.
SCREW-DRIVEK.
[359] — I am almost ashamed to make my first commnnication to
Knowledge on snch a humble subject as a screw-driver. But
thouf^h a humble serv-ant, it is one that we are never likely to be
able to do without ; and 1 should think there are few of its era-
ployors who have not been inclined sometimes to use strong
language at its |>erver8ity in slipping out of the nick, and in refusing
to enter it. I wonder that it never occurred to me until the other
day, when I saw a man continually meeting with this trouble, that
it may easily be prevented by tho simple contrivance of putting on
a tube to embrace the screw-head.
There are, however, a few details to be attended to. Screw-
heads, for which the same driver is suitable, are not all of the same
size. Moreover, the jioint of the screw-driver of the now u.sual
round shape (which is the nicest to handle) is widened out, so that
a tube which will go over it will be loose on the shank above. The
■way to meet both those difficulties is to put a piece of leather round
tho shank while you slip the tube on, of such thickness that it will
hold moderately tight. Tlio consequence of that also will be that
as the screw-head goes down into the wood, the tube will bo sponta-
neously pushed up. For larger screws than tho driver is generally
used for, yon only want a larger tube and thicker leather.
I never believe in anything that involves motion till I have tried
it. I have tried this with a tube made only of strong tin, like an old-
fasliionod slate-pencil ease, and it answers perfectly. You need not
even look at your screw. Just put tho sockettcd driver on and
tnm ; it straightway walks into tho nick, and stays there until the
screw-head is imtieddcd in tho w^ood, or metal, as the case may be.
I also abhor patents, and I thercforo neither patent this, nor tell
it to a to<)l-nuikor. The last time I suggested a practical improve-
ment (not to a tool-maker, certainly) the man straightway went
and patented it. Luckily, however, it turned out not to be new, and
so the oilier makers lauglie 1 at him. Epm Beckett.
COLOUU OF PALAEOLITHIC MAX: CIUUSTMAS EOSE.S.
[3G0] — There is no evidence that Paltcolithic man was black ; it
is a sheer stretch of imagination on tho jiart of the present writer.
But when wo consider that black is tho common colour of the skin
in all tho anthropoids, that all the existing lowest human races are
black, and that tlio oarly PaUcolithic skulls of tho so-rallod Canitadt
type cloftely reseniblo those of tho mfjilorn .\uHtrulianR, I think wo
arc fairly justified in assuming that the <lrift-Dion at least woro
black and woolly-haired. Whiteness is, after all, a mere acr|airod
tniit fif tho very highest races, and it may well bu doubtc<l whether
aiiyliody was white till a \cTy recent period, a mere trilli' of forty
Ihiiusund years or so ago. Prof. Boyd Dawkinn, indeed, believe*
that the cave-men or later Paliroliths rcncmliled the Eskimo; bnt
if ho means us therefore to conclude they were as light-skinned u
those modern people, I think the harden of proof certainly lies
with him.
The little cup-like organs in tho Christmas rose arc really de-
graded petals ; the white (ictal-liko outer leaves are really sepals.
Tlie petals secrete honey, and therefore were describod by Linnoms
aH nectaries. It is a common habit of tho buttercup family (to
which the Christmas rose belongs) todevolope coloured sepals for the
attraction of insects, and then cither lose the petals altogether, or
dwarf them into small honey-secreting organs. Green hellebore
and bears-foot, two closely allied plants, grow wild sparingly in
England, and have the same arrangement of parts as the Christmas
rose. Tho beo alights on the centre of the flower, visits the eight
Or ten tubular petals one after another, and du.>its himself in doing
so with pollen from the stamens, which he then cirries to a neighbour-
ing blossom. Tho pistils of each flower mature before the stamens,
and so, even if the bee drops some of the pollen on the same flower,
it does not interfero with cross-fertilization, because the pistil will
in all likelihood have been alre.idy impregnated. But when ho
passes from an old blossom, in which the stamens are shedding their
pollen, to a young one, in which the pistils are mature while the
stamens are yet unripe, ho at once fertilises the ovary, and thos
ensures a plentiful crop of healthy seed. Geant Allen.
HIGH NUMBERS.
[361] — A parenthetical remark of yours in an early number of
Knowledge prompts mo to ask you if you will be kind enough to
say what you consider to be the scientific method of notation in
respect to very large numbers. That is to say, since a million is a
thousand thousands, should we call a thousand millions a billion,
and a thousand billions a trilUon, and so on ; or should we reckon a
billion as a million millions, a trillion as a million billions, and so
on, multiplying by a million for each one ? Or, peradventure, is
neither of these methods right ? Wixter.
[It has always seemed to mo the English system of calling a
million million — that is, a million to the second power — a billion, a
million to tho(7u'ri7 power, a trillion, and so on, is sounder than the
American system of calling a thousand millions a billion, a million
millions a trillion, and so on. Xo meaning can be given to the
his, tris, &c., in the compound word on the American plan, whereas
there is a verv obvious and natural meaning on the English plan. —
Ed.] "
JDPITEK IN CASSIOPEIA.
[362] — I presume that the Eev. H. H. Higgins, who sets down
the statement that " Wallenstein saw Jupiter in Cassio]>eia," as an
absurd mistake, {vide" Answers to Correspondents," p. 392), refers
to a passage in Schiller's " Wallenstein" s Tod," where the famous
warrior is made to say (Act V. sc. 3) : —
" Kein Stembild ist zu sehn ! Der matte Schcin dort,
Der einzelne ist ans der Kassiopeia,
Und dahin steht der Jupiter."
If such be tho case, I hope you will allow me to state that the
error is not Schiller's but must be laid to the chai-go of his com-
mentators and translators, who have construed the word dahin
as if it meant " therein," whilst it is employed in the sense of
" yonder ; " for the speaker points with this expression to another
direction than that where he had seen Cassiopeia. I may add that
I have interjireted the above passage in the same sense in my com-
mentary to Schiller's " Wallenstein."
C. A. BicnnEiM, Ph.S.
[Does Dr. Buchheim mean that tho interpretation he puts upon
Schiller's words is the one which would naturally be put upon them
by German readers ? — Ed.]
SPACE PAIUDOX.
[363] — I fancy the following problem might interest your readers.
— Two bodies, A and B, have been travelling in tho same path
through space from eternity. B goes a mile an hotu- faster than A.
Since they have been travelling for an infinite number of horns,
there is an infinite number of miles, or any other unit of length
between them. Honco a line drawn from A to B will be infinite,
although bounded at each end by A and B.
March 31, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
479
Would you bo kind enough to give an explanation of this appaient
:ira(!iix ? If this is not one, is it ever true that the conditions of
: 11 man thought involve contradictions where it transcends the finite?
of course, Kant says that our ideas of space and time are forms of
thought founded on no realities. But apart from this hypothesis, can
:i logical explanation of such problems as the above be supplied ?
!'i rliaps this might be combined mth the suggestion of J. S. T., in
lor 295, if, as I and many others hope, you are going to give an
I'icle on space. Eton.
This paradox resembles Aristotle's proof of the finiteness of
U.0, which never satisfied any one (as Sir J. Herschel remarks),
ugh unanswerable, — viz., Since whenever we take any two points in
■ universe, the straight line joining them is finite, the universe itself
iinite. But as this depends on the first postulate of Euclid, so the
:i-^wer depends on the second; — Each of Aristotle's finite straight
tiis can be produced to any distance in the same straight lino;
reforo the universe is not finite. Lastly comes the third postu-
■■. which since it asks us to admit that a circle can be drawn
\ ing anj- centre and at any distance from that centre, coiTosponds
li Pascal's saying, that the centre of the universe is every\vhere,
s circumference iiowhere. — Ed.]
AN IDIOT DOG.— AN EXCEPTION PROVING A IJULE.
o&l] — I once possessed a black cmly-haired Xe^vfoundland and
rricver, weighing 125 lb., and standing 2 ft. 4 in. high, as you
uld measure a horse. Despite his beauty and magnitude, he
::s, however, it not an idiot, certainly the least intelligent dog I
1 rsaw. Asa yard dog he was quite worthless, except that his
.liiuizing size terrified alike the honest and dishonest — i.e., in day-
liglit, for let come what or who would, he opened not his mouth.
Ill the house ho was equally crass. In his movements ho seemed
to have but one idea, and if a table or a child were in his way,
down they would go — Lion cared not. If taken out of doors he
would go straight ahead, neither kno\Wng his master nor his way
home, his solo and great delight being to slay any dog approaching
him in size.
. I have recently read a translation of a work on " Mind in
Animals," by Lnd^vig Buchner. Although he only describes ants,
bees, wasps, and spiders, yet he succeeds in annihilating the old
" instinct " superstition. Students of the subject of mind in
animals should read this book. Joseph Wood.
WOOD-GAS.
[365] — I repeat that carbonic anhydride can bo perceiTed by the
organ of taste and by the organ of smell. If " F. C. S." considers
that the taste and odour are due to impurity in the COo, as is the
case with hydrogen, will he state what this impurity is ? The
flame of CO was observable as I wrote, over a red-hot fiie without
flame, which I call a "sluggish fire." The process of CO from COn
and heated carbon is nothing new ; it is to be found in many text-
books. The main point, after all, in the use of such gas, would be
the danger of an escape. Lewis Abuxdel.
NOTES ON ROWING.
[366] — "Notes on Rowing" are very acceptable, and, happily,
promise more. Rowing, too, is not the only instance of propulsion
by pressure upon a lever of the second order. The tractive force
of a locomotive engine can be explained in the same way. To draw
a parallel, one might say that the rail corresponds to the water, for
it is the fulcrum. The axle-boxes are the rowlocks ; the crank-pin
is the " spool " of the oar, and the peripherj* of the driving-wheel is
the " blade." Each end of the cylinder (which, by the way, sits
like a rower, forward of its work) is in turn a " footboard " against
which the steam reacts with a force approximately equal to the
pull or thrust upon the crank-pin. And, to make the parallel com-
plete, I may say that the " slip " of a driving-wheel when an engine is
Pmming at high speed is at the present time the subject of experi-
ments. Of course, the action of a driving-wheel when the crank is
below the axle has no parallel in rowing, but it is a good exercise for
the student of mechanics to prove that the foovard pressure upon
the engine is the same on each stroke, in spite of the difference in
leverage. Lastly, the motion of the piston of the engine corresponds
pretty accurately with the motion of a rower's body— back^vard and
forward with respoct to the boat, but continuouslj' forward (although
with a varying velocity) with respect to the water. Take any point
in the periphery of the driving-wheel, too, and see how it goes from
a condition of rest when in contact with the rail to acquire a
velocity equal to double the velocity of the train when at its highest
point.
In the same way, the oar blade, from being nearly stationary in
the water, suddenlj- leaps forward with a velocity (that is, if
nothing happens) at least double the boat's speed. Is the parallel
complete ? — Yours, &c., A. N. S.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
[367] — Ronald's electric telegraph (see Knowledge, XIX., p.
401), is by no means the oldest known piece of telegraph aparatns.
Professor Siimmering (1 am not quite sure of the spelling of the
name), of Munich, constructed, in 1809, an elcdric telegraph, vthich
is preserved in one of Munich's numerous museums, and was
originally laid down between Professor S.'s laboratory and that of
one of his learned colleagues. A description and drawing of it are
given in " Das Buch dor Erlindungen," publ. Otto, Spamer, Leipzig.
1 give an extract in the following : —
There were as many circuits as the alphabet has letters, further
figures, signs, i'c., between the two stations. Each of the circuits
was an apparatus for decomposition of acidulated water, by means of
the galvanic current. The tubes containing the water represented
letters, &c. The rising of gas bubbles in a certain tube indicated to
the receiver a certain letter. There was only one battery, which
could bo connected to all circuits by means of switches. There was
also a cleverly-designed signalling apparatus to attract the receiver's
attention. One tube contained a glass bell, under which the poles
were situated, gas evolution would drive out the water of the over-
turned bell, and cause it to rise, move a lever, and set a clockwork
going. This is written after a lapse of Tear.=! since I read the
description, and there may be some slight incorrectness in the
details, but I have given the general idea correctly. — Yours, &c.,
F. Stern, D.Ph.
VEGETARLiNISM.
[368] — I wish to make a few remarks on the letter 207, p. 251,
in which the writer politely calls vegetarians " amiable fanatics,"
and further adds that they seem determined to force their way into
the columns of Knowledge. This is a very grave charge indeed.
Will the writer kindly state the number and date of Carjjer's
Quarterly Journal, in which Dr. Wald's statement about the
prisoners in a castle at Waltenburg is to be found ; for in the
interests of truth and humanity this case requires careful investiga-
tion. For example, it would be important to know whether the
bread given to the prisoners was white, and if much salt was taken
with the leguminous food mentioned.
It might bo also useful to know the proportions of meat to
vegetable diet partaken of, as a rule, by the writer of letter 207.
So far as my knowledge extends, I find that the greatest intellects
of the present and the past have been either altogether or almost
akreophagous.
As I write for the sake of information and not of controversy, I
am thankful that the columns of such an excellent paper as
Knowledge are open to the discussion of this important question —
viz.. What is the best food for the million ?
Why should abstainers from flesh, fish, and fowl be honoured
with so many conflicting titles ? In the few numbers of Knowledge,
in which the subject of vegetarianism has been mooted, I find them
described as "phytophagists," devourers of "potatoes and turnip-
tops," " eaters of greens," &e. C. L. Poechek.
TELEPHONE.
[369] — I have been much interested in " G. E. V.'s " description
of the telephone, and should like very much if he would follow it up
by an account of the microphone transmitter. In making the
telephone, '* G. E. V." does not say how much wire he puts on his
bobbins, nor the number of it. Would he oblige by stating what
length and number he considers most suitable ? W. B.
Notes on Science. — The former pupils of University College
School have raised a fund for the encouragement of science amongst
the boys at their old school. Besides an CNhibition for practical
chemistrj- and a prize for experimental jjliysics, thej- have founded
a medal, which wiU be awarded, at most annually, for original
work of sufficient merit in any branch of experimental science done
within a stated period of leaving the school. The medal, for the
design of which the contributors are indebted to Mr. Thomas
Woolner, R.A., will be exhibited in the Royal Academy this year,
and a copy ^vill be deposited subsequently in the British Museum.
It is not for us to criticise the work of that distinguished sculptor ;
those who have seen the copy belonging to Mr. Temple Orme,
pronounce it to be one of the finest medals ever struck.
480
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[March 31, 1882.
iOtlfllfSf.
^842] — noi.p. — Will liny rciidor kimlly inform mo how I rouUI
■0|innito ({1)1(1 from (wippr? It iH dnubcil from tlio lirniih wliicli hnii
Iwcn iihimI for illiimiiintin^r. I rnrlono «|)ocimon. — I'fzzr.r.D.
[31.1]- LoiisTrii. — WhyilooR thololmtor-aholl tnnifrom blno-ljlnck
to rod when it in hoiloil ? — A. 0. (i.
[3-H] — Ki.K<TRo,sii>PE. — Ih thorp nny cxplnnntion of tho inability
of a point to <lm«- tho oloctricity from a charged cloctroncopc ?—
Box.
[3i5] — CnvsTAi.MSATiox. — Will Bomcono in Knowleimk tfU u«
•omothinf; about ilondritus moas OKotpK or front on our window-
panOR f How it is thoy so much rcscniblo tho crowth of plants ? —
B. W. R.
[310]— SiNKiNO Finds. — Aro there any tables published show-
inK what sum per annum must bo paid in order to repay a loan
with interest, so as to clear oft both principal and interest in a
certain number of years by equal instalments, and what is tho for-
mula for arriving at tho result Y — A. N.
[347] — ("arms. — Wo have had an argument on tho qncstion as to
whether it is proper grammar to say " Club" is trump or " Clubs
are trump." or "Clubs are trumps. Would tho Editor, (r any
reader, kindly decide tho question ? — R. U. S.
[3J8] — NoN-CoNnrcTOR. — Would some kind friend assist mo in
this matter ? I want to know some ingredients to make a kind of
paint that will be a non-conductor of heat. — J. H.
IxfpIifS to ©iirn'fsf.
[218] — SEA-nLCE Bird of March, "underneath the hdrren hush,"
is explained by an ornithological friend to he probably tho blue-tit
(as shown in a Christmas card). The lines quoted by "Ondeis"
refer to the kingfisher, but why should the other lines ? — W. W. F.
[273]— Strength of M.aterial.— In reply to " F. M.," the dis-
tance, 8 feet, is measured horizontally between the rail and tho
pivot ; 917 feet is tho length of the slanting line shown between
rail and top of pivot. To make Anderson's figures correct, the
surface of rail on which roller runs must be sloped so as to touch this
line, the roller being, of course, set at a corresponding angle. When
this is done, " F. M." will see at once that the force acting on pivot
is no longer vertical, but in the direction indicated by tho arrow to
the left of diagram, marked 82 tons. The resolution of this into
vertical and horizontal components is shown correctly. " F. M.'s"
figures are correct for tho diagram as it stands. — C. II. Wingfield.
[270]— PicoTOGBApnY.— 1. In reply to W. E. F., he will find it
much better to purchase collodion. Price according to quality, say
from si-vpcncc jjcr ounce. 2. The thin metal plates can be pur-
chased at any shop where photographic materials are sold ; but
neither collodion nor plates are of any use without a lens, camera,
and other requisites ; also some experience in their use. 3. The
crystals referred to aro probably prosulphite of soda. — A.
Brothers.
[307]—" Descriptive Geometry," by Edgar and Pritchard, 3s. Gd.
or 4s. Cd. (Slacmillan & Co.) ; also Angel's " Practical Plane and
Solid Geometry" will bo helpful (Collins' " Elementary Series," at
Is.). Don't attempt the subject without models, which can be
made of pasteboard, strings, and wire. You would not study plane
geometry ivithout diagrams. — A. II. H.
[310]— Quartz in Coal.— Veins of quartz are frequently found
in shales and coal. Such veins appear to have once been chinks, or
small cavities, caused, like cracks in clay, by the shrinking of the
mass, which has consolidated from a more or less fluid state, or has
simply contracted its dimensions in passing from a higher to a
lower temperature. Siliceous, calcareous, and occasionally metallic
matters frequently have found their way into such empty spaces by
infiltration from the surrounding rocks. And see Lyell's " Ele-
mentary Geology," 1855, p. 027.— Lewis E. Emmet.
[311] — He.vting Room.— "J. W. B." asks me whether there is
any sanitary objection to heating a room with Bunsen burner,
without stove-pipe or vent. lie evidently supposes that " with a
perfectly blue name " the atmospheric burner has some sanitary
adrantage over ordinary burners. This appears to be a commonly
prevalent idea, but it is without foundation, provided alwavs that
tho ordinary flame with which the Bunsen is compared is burning
properly, with ample supply of air. Both supplv tho products of
combustion of bisulphide of carl)jn and the other impurities of
coal gas, while a parallin lamp or candle, burning a pure hydro-
carbon, only produces carbonic acid and water. A bad burner may
supply a smoky luminous flnme, and even a Bnnscn may go wrong
if it lights inside the tube- W. Mattieu Wim.iams.
[312^ •Pviioi.ooirAl,. — Colonel Ross hos given his address in
Knowledge, No. 17, p, 354, for tho convenience of pyrological
inquiries ; to save tho editor and printers the trouble of inserting
inrpiiries on this head, and to avoid replying to anonymous com-
munications, which ho declines to do.
[313] — Botanical. — Jemima will find just tho things required in
" .Manual of Botanic Terms," by M. C. Cooke, publishers, London ;
Ilardwicko A Bogue, price 2s. Gd. This little work is eminently
useful for reference. — Amatei'R Botanist.
[317]— Seal Fisherif-s. — Seals aro skinned (in a few minutes),
their carca.oes aro left (alive) on the ice until the cold or death puts
an end to their sulTerings. If allowed space, I will give you the details
of a dav in Greenland. Some call it sport, but I have another name
for it.— T. D. Kennie.
[320] — Botany. — If " F " requires an inexpensive work, I should
recommend him to procure " Lindley's School Botany." It is a
capital book, giving an insight into " Structural Botany." If ho
intends making a collection of wild flowers, he will find "John's
Flowers of the Field" (profusely illustrated) an extremely usefnl
book.— J. C. L.
[326] — DoBSET.sniRE " Valley Tereaces." — These are tho ram-
parts of the ancient " camps," or fortified towns, for which Dorset
is remarkable. Several are very prominent objects from the rail-
way.— R. N. Worth, F.G.S.
[32'J] — PnospiioREscEXCE of Fish. — It seems most probable that
this phenomenon is due to the jirocess of putrefaction, the decom-
position by oxidation of the bones, of which phosphorus is an im-
portant constituent. It is observed in the decay of all animal sub-
stances, but more especially in the case of fish ; so that in the
instance of the cured haddock, chemical action would take place in
a sulHcient degree to liberate the phosphorus in small quantities,
forming PjOj with the O of the air. From recent investigations, it
has been set forth (I believe by M. Chappuis) that phosphorescence
is due to the generation of ozone. — R. C. F.
[332] — Mosses. — Let " Eupteris " try Wilson's " Bryologia Bri-
tanniea ; " it is an excellent work on British mosses. — Alexaxoeb
Blake.
[333]— Sakkaea Tablet.— This list of the Kings of Egjrpt wag
discovered by tho late M. Mariette about 1863, and is now in tho
Boolak Museum. It was found in the tomb of a priest named
Tounari, who is represented rendering homage in the name of
Rameses II., in whose reign he lived, to fifty-eight of the monarch's
ancestors. Among these are a large number of names, especially
of tho first six, and extending to the nineteenth dynasties. This
invaluable list was supplemented in 1864 by the so-called second
Tablet of Abydos, also found by Mariette, which, with the sixty-
four names of kings engraved on the " Hall of Ancestors," from
Karnak, at Paris, and the first Abydos tablet in the British Museum,
made up the monumental lists of the kings. M. Maspero's arrange-
ment of these is to be found in his " Hist. Ancienne des Peoples de
L'Orient," published by Hachette, of King William-street. Any
recent history of Egypt will give an account of the tablet, as also
does Lenormant in his " Ancient History of the East," published
by Aslier ; for a complete commentary see De Rouge " Monuments
des six Premieres Dynasties. — A Member of the Society o»
Biblical Archeology.
angtoers to CorrrsfponlinitEi.
*^*All eommitmcatiotu for fhe Editor requiring f<irly afffnf ion should rea^h tkt
Office on or b^ore the Saturday preceding the current itfite of £nowlkdob, tkt
increasing circulation of ichich compel* u» to go to press early in the week.
Htxts to CoRRKSPOSTmyrs. — 1. iVb qnestions ashing for sdentijie informaiiom
can be ansvn-ed through the post. 2. Letters sent to the Editor for corrf^spondenSa
cannot bg forvarded ; nor can the names or addresses oj" correspondents be given im
answer to private ingtiiries. 3. No queries or replies sarottring qf the nature qf
advertisements can bs inserted. 4. Letters, qttericf, and replies are inserted, unJsm
contrary to Utile 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents shouU tcriie on oM sid*
only of the paper, and put dratcings on a separate UaJ. 6. Each letter, query , cr
reply shonlJ have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should h*
Xi-ide to the number of letter or query, the page oh which it appears, and Us tHU,
Studens. Our edition of Ganot later than yours, and cannot iden-
tify tho passage. However, if «(y + 5) = n + j^ + y + ^, it follows that
(n-1) (7 + (T)=.a + /3
How you "eliminate (y + l) from both sides" passes my com-
prehension. If you have -10 marbles and 40 tops, and are told they
aro equal in value to 3 shillings and 6 ponce + one marble and one
SlAEcn 31, 1882.]
Kr'OWi.EDGS •
481
t!i]), how are yoa going to eliminaie the marbles and tops from the
- atcmcnt ? Do you not at once learn from it that 39 marbles and
: :i tops are worth 3s. OJ. ? — Boreas. (1.) Axial rotation of earth
k instant all the year ronnd. (2.) Ko evolutionist supposes there
were frerms of life in the earth during its incandescent condition. —
C. J. C, S. C. S.VRGissox, Philo, Symp.^thy, C. H. Olivkb, G. F. S.
I'vLi, Di.<i'i:.\SF.K, G. GoBDOx, H. W. Z., Petek P.\ri.ey, J. Haekix-
- N, G. W. B., M. X., L. LiCAS, and hosts of others, have answered
lories about '"Burial of iloscs," Ferrier's Influenza Powder, and
ants in bedroom. — H. A. Bcxley. (1) We are not, so far tis I
.:.>w. approacliing another glacial period. (2) Inclination of earth's
\i3 remains almost unchanged. (3) Present condition in sense
: lat eaith is nearest to sun in winter of northern hemisphere, will
, reversed some eleven thousand years hence ; but whether that
. uid be favourable to glacial northern epoch or not, is open to
i'Stion. — AsHBRiDGE n. RoBixsox. Certainly not for reason
ined that Mr. Grant left out date of Stone Age period. Have
•u seen any, even the slightest trace of unwillingness on our part
put facts as we find them, because they do not square with precon-
ived ideas (whether relating to facts, fancies, or faiths) ? Fifty
atsand years ago. excentricity of earth's orbit was less than now
t ' UlOO; now 0.0168), longitude of perihelion 28° 36', so that earth
IS nearest to sun towards end of October. That was not the glacial
ch, or time of Stone Ago. For a time when excentricity was verj-
: at take SoO.OOOb.c, excentricity 00717 (I), and longitude of peri-
'ion 239° 28' — earth nearest to sun towards end of August. Very
acial time for northern hemisphere then. — Dr. Littox Forbes.
1 any thanks; a most interesting subject. — J. L. Sixclaie. Theory
at satellites were expelled from primaries by e.v|)losive force will
r bear examination. — E. C. It will make no difference which way
u put the lens. — W. J. L. (1) Ophite is a synonym of serpen-
le, but also sometimes applied to speckled green porphyry. (2)
'■ 1-. Brough was librarian at the London Institution, successor of
ayley in the office, and predecessor of Mr. Nicholson, now
Jleian librarian. He was a well-known writer on scien-
:io, chiefly chemical, subjects. — F. H. S. About the eye — the
;ierimenl proves nothing as to inversion of image. We know
; r. m optical laws that the image must be inverted. The other
lostions too wide, — such queries remind me of the lady who, just
■ lore supper, at a ball, said to Humboldt : " Now we have live
'uutes to ourselves, do tell me all you know about the earth." Sir
'-'.. Phillip's idea sheer nonsense. — Geo. E.Xewto.v. Thanks for the
imphlet against vaccination. I do not wonder that no notice has
on taken of it by Dr. Carpenter. IB-written, ill-reasoned, and
Ti^nsive, how does it deserve notice ? — J. McDowell. Probably
^r Henry Thompson meant the term vegetables to include fruit.
an one say that it docs not? What are tomatoes, pumpkins,
L,'etable marrows, and so forth ? Consider again the lines —
Amidst them stood the tree of life,
High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
Of vegetable gold.
'. Iocs not this seem to imply that Milton at any rate thought fruit
vegetable production '- Science thinks so, too. Ton would " define
. vegetarian as one who excludes from his articles of diet flesh, fish,
m1 fowl;" surely strict vegetarians would exclude eggs, milk,
itter, cheese, and so forth. These are distinctly animal food.
. len again, do you not rather ea^"il about words than facts, when
u dwell on his remark about debarring ourselves from the right
■ use such and such food ? " Surely he knows," you say, " that
u'ctarians do not debar themselves from the right," <ic. Might he
I reply that, in holding it to be wrong to use vegetable food, they
debar themselves from the right to use it ? It seems to me that
>;r H. Thompson's letter was eminently fair and judicious, and con-
ivcd entirely in the spirit of his own doctrine, that it is unwise to
■Ticlude over hastily that what suits ourselves must necessarily be
o best for others. If your letter had not been so very long, it
iuld have appeared. — R. H. I doubt if any reader could tell you
a way by which you could successfully make a Bainband spec-
; scope. — Ln"EEPOOL. The zodiacal light is certainly more than
<^ mere radijince from the sun after he has set. It is very
■ Iiiom distinctly seen in our latitudes. When seen (in February
: March in the evening, and in the autumn in the morning), it
; pears as a slant cone, the apex being some 80° or 90° from the
- ni's place. It is incorrectly depicted by Dr. Phipson, in his ex-
• '.lent little work on meteors, as a vertical cone. It is best seen
Ti hour or two after sunset. — F. Peait. You will pardon my re-
■ :arking I did not " permit the planets to be described here as the
aiise of weather changes." I distinctly said that I must draw the
ire somewhere, and I drew it just there. — E. P. C. Geologists
• -timate the thickness of strata (without digging directly down
* ' : rough the depths they name) , by noting the thickness of successive
>.yers, as they crop up to the surface, and adding these thicknesses
jjether. I do not myself think that the moon's mass was thrown
off in a single effort, so to speak, thinking it more probable that
the moon was first formed of multitudinous small bodies separately
thrown off, like spray, from the top of the great tidal wave. I
think the rings of Saturn represent this earliest or embryonic
stage of the moon's history. — S. Hall. The star you refer to
just below ''the little Bear" is Vega. You will be able to find
the place of the planets now visible to the naked eye, from the
zodiacal map in Part III., except Saturn, which you will find about
as far to the right of Jupiter as Mars is to the loft. — A. M. S.
Queries noted. — The Village Philosopher. One of the ways you
mention must certainly be used to find the cube root, unless you
resort to logarithms. — A. G. S. Your cat storj- is rather long ;
besides, the cat which follows the sweeper may " wish to gain
some jirivate ends." — X. Have already mentioned that query
about noise in trains was lost in postal transit. — CoXstaxs. Thanks.
— Alex. Aitkex. The only book I know of that would suit you is
"Chauvenet," in two volumes. It is expensive, and rather difficult.
For the other purpose you cannot do better than u.se " Guillemin."
— Gradatim. Shall probably write on the subject of space. —
Daxiel Jacksox. I belie\-e no small part of the success of
Kxowledge has been due to just those sections (Whist and Chess)
which you wish to see removed. If your ovm editorial experience
had been half as satisfactorj- as mine, you would understand my
unwillingness to make any changes. The contributor to whom you
refer is well able to tell me himself, if dissatisfied. As he has not,
I cannot but think your reference to what he said when at Hamilton
a breach of confidence. Is mischief-making one of the devices
which your editorial experience suggests as desirable for extending the
circulation of a magazine ? On the whole, I am inclined to believe
I know how to conduct this paper at least as well as you can teach
me. — Jos. Baxexdell. I did not insert your reply to Mr. Banyard,
because it seemed ^^-ritten under the impression that he meant to
offend you personally, which I am sure was not the case. Y'our
remarks to myself had better not be inserted, because readers might
imagine they were meant to offend me personally, which I am sure
is not the case. Still, they are digressive — if not aggressive. I
shaU be glad to publish any arguments you may wish to advance.
In the meantime, I do not see how you can deny that if there
are five equations in each of which cosmical elements appear
on one side, while one and the same number 18S1'59
appears on the other, there can be formed no less than ten
equations (the number of combinations of five things two to-
gether) having cosmical elements on both sides — giving, there-
fore, ten instances of remarkable but quite extra - pyramidal
coincidences. You say you do not know what '"Fudging" means,
and that a young schoolboy friend, whom you have asked, cannot
tell you. Perhaps in the North the term is not used. It means
humouring numbers or facts so as to get some result you want.
For instance, the answer to a sum should be, let us say, £1. 13s. id.,
and a schoolboy gets £1. 13s. Id. : well, he puts the right answer
in the proper place, and alters several of the preceding steps to
correspond, taking his chance that the teacher will only glance over
the few first steps and the few last, not finding out either the
original error, or the place where it has been corrected by an arti-
ficial error. That is one form of fudging. For other instances,
take your quiet assumption that the sun's real diameter has a
certain value fitting in with your other results, or your other quiet
assumption that the number 1S81"59, which comes out among cos-
mical relations, is the exact length of the Great GaUery. — Wm.
WiLSOX. Well, since you ask me, I do think your letter in singu-
larly bad taste I "' need not " (need I not ?) " trouble to reply."
No trouble whatever, my dear sir ; as you assume the office of
censor, I venture, following suit, to tell you that, while there is no
irreverence at all in what I said (quoting Shakspeare), there is
gross irreverence in the way in which you, to all intents and pur-
poses, attribute to the Almighty the susceptibilities of a soured peda-
gogue. Datveiiia»icunv[\\'.Vi'.) ieiat censura columham (K. A .P.).
— C. F. B. Harstox. Had not heard that " cats lie on their heads,
^viih one or both ears on the ground, when it is going to rain." It
may be the case ; but I wonder how it is done. 'The " sun entering
a sign" is quite different to the sun being in a "house"; the
former relates to the sun's passage along the ecliptic, the latter to
his position in those imaginary divisions of the heavens with
reference to the horizon on which astronomers base their predic-
tions. When astrologers said a person was born under a particular
planet, they meant that that planet was in the ascendant (the part
of the heavens about to rise above the horizon) at the time of the
person's birth. — C. Do you call the series (2 x S) + (4 x J) -H (6 x *)
-h(8x|) -i- (10 xf) -I- (12 xi), geometrical? The definition of a
geometrical series is sufficiently precise, and certainly does not
include such series. Surely " Teacher " is justified in his criticisms.
— X. Surely you are not in earnest in asserting that the oar
is not a lever of the second kind. If the object of the oars-
man was to push the water along, the oar would be a lever of the
482
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Maech 31, 1882.
first kinil, but lui hi* object i» to movo tlin bunt, nml as tlio l>out'fl
woight in iirfctxl fnini tlio ruwiuck, llu< ruwluck cannot iwmiibly bo
ro)(iir<lc<l nil tbi- fiilrnim ; for tlio fulcnim in ovory Icvor in tho
point il'ii/ijiui from wliich tlio woiRliI in liftod. — Kkin. Tho dates
and lioum incntinnod boxlilo tho monthly star nmp, mark the timca
nt which tho stnm nro in I ho podition shown in tlio map. Tho mnp,
of coiinw, can lie mod nt any timo within nn hour or no boforo and
after tho tinion niimod. Your nufrtrention noticed ; you will find wo
nro not nt nil innttontivo to nii^'^'oHtionH intended to enhance the nso-
fulnods of tho mnpii. — (iBAPATiM. Wo know of no (foncml Holutions
for Buch problems ns : " Fiinl two conBccntive integers <100, which
shall contain no factors other than powers of 2, or 3, or 5." Ac. Such
ciue.itions nro scarcely suited for our columns. — K. D. G. Queries about
plants in bedroom, scii-ntilic terms, and salt already sullicicntly
iinsweroil. — F. J. Stkvkn.son. Wc intend soon having; somi! impcrs
on the Arabic unines of stars. — One Not Convimeh. (1.) Have
you over tried to bring a plumb-line into line with a star, from a
distance of (say) 200 yanls i* You will .find it easier to talk of than
to do. (2.) A pio-dish full of water would have rellected Alpha
Draconis as well as a boily of water in the pluggcd-np hole ; bo
also a passage an inch in diameter would have shown tho
star as well as tho four-feet-sqnaro descending passage, — if
you chanced to get it in tho right direction. Tho difficulty
is to do it. By taking only a small reflecting surface you
produce precisely the sanio effect as if you diminished to
corresponding degi-eo tho cross-section of the descending passage.
With water poured in, ns I have suggested, the ascending passage
would bo ef|uivalent optically to the prolongation of the descending
one. 3. You " cannot debit such a waste of material as the grand
gallery, used for so short a time, to men otherwise so clever as the
Pyramid builders." How arc you going to avoid the difficulty ? It
applies far more to Smyth's theory. You might have waited till
my theory was fully described. The question you asked over
name "Uumbenira" has been asked, and, by the way, has not been
answered. A spinning peg-top presents many difficulties. — 51. H. C.
Thanks ; but that was not what Newcomb meant. He has
admitted tho erroneous nature of his explanation. — JAS. Ckain.
Thanks for] magic cube ; will put it by in the hope that ere
long I may use it. — .Ias. Grit.ndy. Many thanks. — L. W. H.
When you look at a landscape in an inverted position (best not in
public) a part of the retina receives the image which in tho
ordinary attitude is not used and is therefore more sensitive. —
Ecliptic. There is no general formula by which magnitude of
eclipse and times of beginning and ending for any place can be
computed. — W. M. Science cannot yet explain the qualities
which the ether of space seems to possess. Bead Uerschel's
Essay on Light (Familiar Science Lectures). — W. A. C. Mr.
Button does not assert, but admits that were animals not used
for food manj' must starve. Ho is intensely humanitarian,
some think extravagantly so. Of every class of animals, including
man, many times as many arc brought forth as could possibly co-
exist. Some musf perish. — D'Abtagcax. It is a matter of opinion.
It seems to me unnecessarily confusing to describe same number
repeated several times as an arithmetical and also a geometrical
series ; and to ask what proportions of gold, silver, and copper,
exist in an alloy, when the etpiations show that there is no copper
at all. The purpose of examinations is to ascertain what the
examined know, not to perplex them.— W. F. See our monthly
pa|>er8, beginning mth No. 21. — J. S. V. Paper on the Transit of
Venus soon. Have ^vritten no work on Practical Astronomy.
— E. Gbeatohkx. Wo scarcely take such matters as part of
our regular subjects. For general chemistry provision already
made. Other questions answered. — K. N., Lepns, J. Minor, C. A. E.,
Eipple, Alphard, Knowledge, G. P. Benstead, Garryl, S. S. S. S.,
Myrven, P. M., Amateur Reader, T. Boyer, D. A. N., Lomax, Boy,
P. P. J., Scientia cam Legibus, Novice. Questions either too vagne,
or trivial, or unsuitable, or already discussed, or for other reason
inadmissible. — Anti-Taranaki. Thanks. — W. S. Yes to both
questions. — Theo.-James. Already answered. — G. H. Mortimer
wants G. E. V. to toll him how to slip tho bobbin of wire over
magnet, and what size wire is. — C. C. C. Newton's theory of
comets' tails would only account for a certain definite rate of
emission, just as known density of our air and kno\vn force
of gravity gives a certain calculable rate for rising of a
balloon in still air. Comets' tails aro formed at a much
greater rate. — C. Harbap. Questions have been referred to bota-
nist. Cannot find space for replies so lengthy. — W. H. Harlaxd.
Thanks, but toads in holes now disposed of, and space crowded.
— J. C. L., T. .1. WoiniKow, and others. Y'our stories are inte-
resting, but, unfortunately, many subscribers consider enough said
for present about intelligence in animals. — E. Cox. Observe tho
influonco of your protest. — J. C. L. There has been a good deal of
it.— MoRK Lic:iiT. Will see about it. — R. HcsipnRF.Y.s. Writer of
srticles on lirnin Troubles not acquainted with tho hjnnn tune
"Midinn;" the nddition to tho echo chords ho devised bimiolf.
— Omicuox. What is Rhyolite ? — tt. S. Staxken. Trembling of ,
fixtMl stars duo to " movements" in our air, not moisture, oi mia- i
printed, p. •H2. Planets do not tremble, Ixjcauso they hnvo disc*; |
stars are appreciably the merest points. — Uowabk Williams. .
U'tter fornanlcd to printers. No, you did not mention our I
former nc(|unintance, and I therefore inferred you wore only a i
namesake of the 11. W. 1 know at St. John's. — Tiios. Mactaogast. |
'Hianks, but no space. — J. Oliisox. C)b, but oxcaso mo; the
sijuarcs of + o and — a nre c(|ual. — Cornwall. Thanks ; query i
referred to electrician.— U. A. N., J. -M., Ahtiii-k BtcKiiEm, ,
Brf.ntox, Kit, and others. What is the logarithm of a negative ,
quantity ? Tho logarithm of a number to a given base is that i
power to which the base must bo raised to equal tho number. To
what power must any given positive numlwr be raised to make it
negative ? It seems scarcely worth while to discuss a paradox
thus arising from misuse of a fonction invented for a S|iecial pur- i
pose. — C. Harris. Paradoxes well knomi. — J. McGrigob Allak.
If you conld only put your objections against vegetarianism into
smaller space. — W. H. Wood. Question answered. —Phosphor. Germ
theory not inconsistent with evolution. One of your other queries
inserted. When one correspondent sends six queries at once we begin
to think of closing tho Queries column. — E. M. (Cantab). When
tho thcorj' has been established it will bo time to consider how it
was originated. — Halivards. Axis of Venus does not point
towards sun. No ; I think you saw what yon thought you saw, but
that what you saw was not what you- thought it. You are quite
mistaken in attributing the origin of tho usage you mention to
KxowLKDGE. It has been customary for years, in press, pulpit, and
lecture-room, though of course not customarj- with all. It has been
adopted in my own case repeatedly. Your i)aper about jelly fish is
in type. Will you excuse me if I hint that you have evidently
much more leisure than I have. If one correspondent in twenty
wrote at such length, or if our circulation increased twenty -fold,
as we ho))0 it will, what could a poor editor do ? Replies to
such letters as yours would in that case fill all our space. — M. B.
Aldeb. Pardon me. I by no means welcome Dr. Siemens' theory.
I have given Dr. Cari)enter'8 report of it ; but it seems to me (I
venture to say, t( is) utterly untenable. There is no such centri-
fugal tendency as he imagines, and sims cannot at same time do
the work he describes and shine through interstellar space as they
do. — M. Wyatt. Yon don't explain why you take 22 to the power
5, and not 21 or 23, or some other number between 20 and 30. —
Z.iRES. Y'on have attacked too difficult a subject. — Hebbeet
Pickle. Thanks ; but we would rather not encourage such
kindness. Your book might not be returned, and we should
feel (though you, no doubt, would not hold us) respon-
sible.—W." H. PiGRiM. Theory too vague. — W. Smith. It
would bo much more convenient if two of the 31-day months
gave up one day each to February. But in such matters the human
race is ver\- slow to change. — JoBX Carteb. I was thinking rather
of cases where the training from the beginning had come into the
teacher's hands ; in other words, of cases in which a parent had
been the teaelier. I cau well believe there are cases whore bad home
training leaves the teacher little choice but to use some form of
corpor.ll punishment. — E. V. H. The indications of the spectro-
scope are reliable to a certain point ; they do not tell us everything,
however. Spectroscopic evidence respeclJvng larger comet presently.
— Cabixet Makes. Cannot give addresses of correspondents. —
Samuel Stuettard. There was a transit of Jlercury in Nov. 11,
IStJl, and one in Nov. 5, 1868; none eighteen years ago. Yon
could not have seen au intra-Mercurial planet in transit, if there
were one. Most probably, what you saw was a spot, and though
"apparently the size of a five-shilling piece" (how far off ?) was,
probably, considerably larger. — H. H. Harris. There are many
cases in which the old poets made their words resemble in sound
what they were describing. I know of none much more striking
than tliis, in a description of frj-ing : —
Qnis non — norit
Stridentesqne focis opsonia plebis alausas.
— N. The illusion is practically the same wliich Mr. Foster has
described and illustrated in No. 1. However, it shall appear. —
Henry Cabb. It is science which is exactly worded and plainly
described, not the magazine. The point you notice was carefully
considered in full conclave. — JoHX Hamer. Thanks for kindly
letter. As for your explanation, we wait.
Poxn's Kttract is a certain cure for RhenmaH^tm and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Hicmorrhoids.
Pond's Kxtract is a certain euro for >'euralpc pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Burns and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bniisce.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the f^enaine.
March 31, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
483
^otes on art anli ^ticncf.
Dolloxd's Sipereal Watch. — Almost everj- amateur astronomer
requires to know approximately, if not exactly, the sidereal time.
He can calculate it, of course, from ordinary time, for any given
instant, but the difference between sidereal and ordinary time is
Always chan^'ing, so that the calculation made at one time will not
avail at another. On the other hand, not every astronomer can
afford an instrument so costly as a sidereal chronometer. Mr.
Dollond, the well-known optician, has devised a neat, simple, and
very useful sidereal watch — such an instrument as every amateur
astronomer should carry in liis pocket.
Pbofessor Pasteur's I'REVE.NTm: Ixoculatioxs of Charbox. —
The Prussian Minister of Agriculture, the Deittsche Med. H'ocA.
(Feb. 11) states, has appointed an influential scientific committee
to superintend and report upon a series of inoculations to be per-
formed by one of Pasteur's assistants. This gentleman then pro-
ceeds to Russia for the same purpose, and on his return to Saxon
Prussia, where the experiments are to bo made, will perform a
second series of inoculations. Besides some celebrated veterinary
professors. Professor Virchow is expected to take part in the
inqniry; but regret has been expressed that Professor Koch, the
able critic of Pasteur, has not been nominated.
Plawts IX BF.nROOMs. — Plants are unhealthy in bedrooms for this
reason, that during the night they give out carbonic bi-oxidc, which,
as is well kno^vn, is injurious to life. Plants, like animals, are
constantly breathing — taking in oxygen, and giving out carbonic
dioxide. During the day-time they feed as well as breathe, one of
their chief articles of diet being the very same poisonous gas which
they are constantly expiring. This carbonic di-oxide, under the
influence of sunlight, and by means of the colouring matter
(chlorophyl) is separated, the carbon being assimilated, and the
oxygen evolved. In the daytime there is more oxygen given off
than carbonic di-oxide, so that plants may be said to be healthy in
the Ught, but unhealthy in the dark. I may add that the quantity
of either gas given off in a room from a few plants is so small as to
be hardly worth noticing. — F. D. H.
(Bnv iHatftfinati'ral Column.
MOGUL'S PROBLEM.
THE problem being " Given any rectangle, divide it by the fewest
possible straight cuts, so that the parts can be put together to
form a square," my solution is as follows : —
;B'\fc
On the line a 6 of the rectangle aicd take a e equal to a d, and
make ef perpendicular to a i ; bisect ab at 9, and, with the radius
a y and centre g, describe a circle cutting <;/ at /, join a/ and bf,
and niake//i and hi equal to o/; draw hk audi I parallel to af.
By cutting the rectangle at such parts of the lines a /, kli, li, and
fb as pass through it, you will obtain pieces which will form the
desireif square, vide Fig. L, in wliich rectangle, n 6 is six times ad.
The principle, however, will bo the same, whatever may be the pro-
portion between the sides ; but in cases where the proportion does
not exceed two to one only two cuts will be necessary ; not exceeding
five to one, three cuts ; not exceeding ten to one, four cuts ; not
exceeding seventeen to one, five cuts ; and so on.
It will be observed that my method of finding the side of a square
whose contents are equal to that of a given rectangle, is different
to that given by Euclid, II., 14. Calling the sides of the rectangle
X and 1/ respectively, Euclid's method is equivalent to the mathe-
matical proposition that —
-2- J -L-2-J
whereas my method is equivalent to the proposition —
It may puzzle some of your readers to discover how my method
involves this last equation. — Mogul.
[Correct solutions by R. Home (two, both very neat), P. E. M.,
H. W. Partial solutions by H. J., N., E. Whitby, and others.
Solutions by G. H. Bonner, and H. Jones incorrect. — Ed]
PROBABILITIES.
The true method in dealing with problems of the kind considered
in our last, is to reduce them to the general law first established by
determining — (1) How many possible events there are ; (2) Whether
those arc all equally likely ; and (3) how many are favoui-able.
Our question is : What is the chance of throwing one Ace at least
in two trials with a single die ? Now, when such a die is tlirown
twice, the following are the possible throws : —
1, 1
2, 1
3, 1
4, 1
5, 1
G, 1
1, 2
2, 2
3, 2
4, 2
5, 2
6, 2
1, 3
2, 3
3, 3
4, 3
5, 3
6, 3
1, 4
2, 4
3, 4
4, 4
5, 4
6, 4
1, 5
2, 5
3, 5
4, 5
5, 5
6, 5
1, 6 2, 6 3, 6 4, 6 5, 6 6, 6
The table being formed by combining first throw 1, with any one of
the second throws 1, 2, 3, . . . 6 ; first throw 2 with any of the
same set of 6 ; and so on. The total number is 3G, or 6 times 6.
Any pair in the .first column, or in the top line, gives at least one
Ace— that is, there are 11 favourable pairs out of 36 possible pairs.
Also, it is obvious that any pair of the 36 is as likely to be thrown
as any other. Hence, by what was shown in paper I., the chance of
throwing Ace at least once in two casts of a single die is ^' The
25
chance of failing is z^-.' It will be noticed that the number of un-
3b
favourable cases is 5 times 5, the total number of cases being 6
times 6. It is clear that a table containing all the unfavourable
cases would be formed in precisely the same way as the above
table ; and that, in fact, such a table is actually included in the
above table, omitting the upper line and the left-hand column.
Now the way in which the above result is obtained would be in-
convenient in practice. Suppose, for instance, that instead of a die
484
• KNOWLEDGE
[Majicu 31, 1882.
wo hud n loplotnni witli twciily fnccii, iiuiiibcnxl 1. 2, 3, up to 20.
Thi'ii till- (iilili- fiiriiipil on the plan iiliown nlMivc wimld liiko nl<in(f
timo in llin writing'. Hut it in only noccdKiiry to nutiro linw tlio
above tabic in foriui'il, t» ul)tnin ii hinipli' ^ic-mnil rule for nil Rucli
onaoa. Wt* Imvf* in h\x KUccoHKi\'U colnnniH tlio ttix nuniliorH-—
1, 2, 3 -Ci, rm'li n iM-iitcil nix linioH, in onlcr Hint tliny inny nppcnr
in company willi tlu" hjimii' nix nnnilxT'i, 1, '2, a — •>, no tluit tlip total
nnmlior of pnim in IJ linu's 0. And, oljviou»ly, if nny numbiT, an ti,
roplnord (!, wo iihonlil (-ot 7i linioK ii, or «', nB tlui totnl nnmbor of
pair*. In like niunncT, wo hnro in tlio nliovo table, & tiniuH 5 un-
favuumblc cnsi'H ; nnd if 7i inatciid of 0 Imd been tlic numbor of
|K>8sibl>' rasL'« tiikon 8in(,'ly, w<i Bliimld hnvo had (ii— 1) times (n — l)
or (n — 1)' for tlio tot«l numbor of unfavourable canes. Ucnco the
chance that anv particular rciiilt of the n would happen onco, at
n»-(H-l)' 2ii-l
least, in two trials is
n'
But now to return to our die, wo can extend our inquiry to tho
coso of three trials or more. For, in order to obtain tho total
number of possibU? sets of 3 rows, wo need only conceive first 1
taken with all possililc nets of 2 throws, or 3C times, then 2 taken
with all those 30 po.ssible sots of two throws, then 3, then 1 ; and so
on. Wo K<"t thu.i, in all, C times 30 sets of 3 throws, or 216 such
sets. And in order to liiid all tho sets of 3 throws, not containing
1, wo have only to take first 2, then 3, then 1, 5, and 6, with tho 25
possiblo sets of two throws in which 1 does not appear at all, and
this gives us 5 times 25, or 125.
. 125
Ilonco tho chance that ace will not bo thrown in 3 trials is ,77-, ;
21b '
and tho chance that it will be thrown once at least in thi-ee trials is
210-125 ^j. ^
216 " 216'
And clearly we have this general rule. If there are the same n
possible events in each of threp trials, the chance that some
particular event will not occur in any of the three trials is
i— ^-— , and the chance that it will occur once at least in one of tho
n'
three trials is 5 ^ . And by proceeding in this way wo get
the yet more general rule : — If there are the same n possible events
in each of r trials, the chance that some particular event will not
occur in any of tho r trials is ; and the chance that it will
occur once at least in the r trials is " ~^ ~ ' .
n'
This general result is of extreme importance, as we shall presently
see. It is of importance, not only in inferring the antecedent ]iro-
bability, as to the result of successive trials, where th9 conditions
of each trial are known, but also in inferring from the results of
successive trials (or observations or e.vperiments, if we please) the
conditions (supposed unknown) under which those trials have been
made.
I close this paper with two simple examples of the application of
this rule.
1. What IS Ike least nuviber 0/ trials which wo«id give a person at
least an equal chance 0/ throwing ace icith a single die ?
We have seen that his chance of failing to throw an ace in two
. 25 125
trials la gjj, and in throe trials ;jw;. In four trials the chance of
625 " 125
failing will bo T^T^. Now we note that ^Tg is greater than a half,
625
and ,.,„g is less than a half. Hence in three trials he is more
likely to fail than to succeed, and in four trials he is more likely to
succeed than to fail. Therefore four is the number of trials re-
quired. In any continued scries of sets of three trials, he would
fail somewhat oftenor than he would succeed, in throwing one ace
a^ least. Hut in any continued series of sets of four trials, ho would
Buccccd oftenor than ho would fail.
2. What is the chance that, in three iossings 0/ a coin, head will
appear once <il I'asI t
In each trial there are two possible events, i.e., the n of our rule
is e(|unl to 2. Thus tho chance that liead will not be tossed in three
1> I
trials — or -. Therefore the chance that head will api)uar once
at least in throo 'ossings is -. The odds are 7 to 1 that one head
at least will bo tossed in three trials ; and if there were to be re-
peateil sots of three trials, a bettor backing the appearance of one
head at least in each set should Iny thesB odds. I-'urther, if a
person is to receive JCS in case a head a^ipears in three trials, he
ought to pay £7 for his chance.
MATIIKMATICAL QOEBIES.
[39] — ClIANXEH. — Ki^quired —
1. The chunco of dealer (at Whist) holding only one hononr in
any pnilicular suit.
2. The chunco of 1 he dealer holding at least one honour in any
particular suit.
3. Tho chance of tho dealer holding only one hononr ia
Trumps.
•1. The chance of tho dealer holding ut least one honour ia'
Trumps. GRADATUf.
[" Uradatim " sends solutions of these problems. — Ed.]
[10] — What is tlie general solution of the equation
<m / (19 \.
^, + «(^}+6e=o
and show'how it ia obtained. — WlLOELH.
AXSWEES TO QUERIES.
[27] — The value of a diamond varies as the sqtiare 0/ the weigh^^
A diamond is broken into three parts : determine the probahle volw
0/ the parts, compared with tlutt 0/ the unbroken diamond. m
Lot X, y, and a — (x + y) be tho weights of the parts into wbuS
the diamond is broken, a being tho weight of the whole diamond
and .'. .r'-l- i/' + (a — x-l- !/)* = Bam of value of parts. To find th*
mean average value, aasumo that x remains constant, and that Jf
has every value between 0 and (a- 1) ; add up the value of th0
above expression ; and divide by tho number of values. That
is, integrate the above expression, with reference to g, from 0 to
(t-x, and divide by a—x. Hence we get
., , (n-xY (a-x)'
3r' + 2(a-x)»
a—x
Give to X every possible value from 0 to a, and divide by tli^
number of values. That is, integrate the above expression from 0
to a, and divide by a. Hence, we get —
, 2a'
3 5 ,
3a 9
Ilcuce, the required proportion is— T. B.
Hornek's Method. — In reference to the method of extractmg
"All Roots," given in "Our Alathematical Column" at p. 4M,
allow me ta observe that it was not discovered by '" the late
Mr. Homer, M.P.," but by William George Horner, of Bath. I
have a special personal interest in mentioning this ; for on tlw
l)ublication of my "Practical Arithmetic for Senior Classes," in
1^58, the Athenwum, while commending the introduction of Homei'B
method in the " Extraction of Roots," pointed out that I had mad*
tho very mistake of referring to Francis Horner, which your coire-
spoudent now does. On writing to Bath, I got the full name ap
above, and 1 made the necessary corrections in the second edition.'^
Henry G. C. Smith. \
0m- ©Leftist Columiu
rilUE following game, from the Westminster papers for Auguat^
JL 187-1-, is selected as illustrating the M-eakuess of lead from
short suit ; even when the odd trick only has to be made to win, and
the idea is not to bring in long suit, but to use long trump suit to
ruCf. Our correspondent, Mr. Lewis, was Y. His lead at trick 7
is worth noticing.
A. The U.\nds. 1'.
Siiades — Kn, 6, 5, •!, 2.
Diamonds — 5, -1.
Clubs--Q, 8, 3.
Hearts— A, Q, 10.
B.
/S'jKirfes — A.
Diamonds— A, K, 10, 3.
Clubs— K, 9, 7, 2.
Hearts— Kn, 7, 0, 3.
B
Y
Dealer.
z
Trump Car,!,
iijdtL Any.
A
Sixtdes—Q, S, 7, 3.
Diamonds — Q, Kn.
Clubs— A, Kn, 6, $, 4.
Hearts — 5, 2.
Z.
Spades— K, 10, 9.
Diamonds -9,8,7,6,8.
Clubs— 10.
Hearts— K, 9,8,4.
Score.— ^ B, i ; Y Z, 4.
March 31, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
485
NOTB.— The
A Y
I •!• ***
® *.»
I I «;»■<>
OoO|fo~o
0 0 /^"^.^
%o ^ ^
0*^0 o o
» »l I* *| I O I O O
4- 4-
v> <?
0 <>
* *
<? <?
w
*_*j
c? <?
0%
<?
<?
9 <?
2 9
THE PLAY,
underlined card wins trick, and card below it leads next,
B Z KEMAKKS AXD INFEKENCES.
1. — 4, with five tramps, one
honour, leads from lu's shortest
suit, hoping to ))laj-a ruffing game.
His hopes, it will bo seen, are not
fulfilled by the event.
2. — Y having five Clubs, and
seeing lowest Club led, which
shows that B is not leading from
short suit, can pretty safely infer
that / has played his only Club.
Being strong in trumps himself he
returns his opponent's lead (which
is from his own long suit), forcing
3. — Z being short in trumps,
would ruff even if the trick were a
doubtful one.
■1. — Z like Y returns his oppo-
nent's lead. Having five Diamonds,
and noting that neither the tlu-ee
nor the four fell to trick one, he
can infer, with some degree of
probability, that ,4 has led from a
short suit, in which (from liis play)
Y is also short. Trick 4 shows
exactly how the case lies, and Z
can place every Diamond. Y also
sees how the Diamonds lie.
5. — B, liaring the winning Dia-
mond, takes out a round of trumps
before leading it, knowing his
partner's play, and that 1" lying
over him, A'a plan is not likely to
prove very successful.
6. — Y ruffs, of course, though
holding four tramps, and
7. — Leads his lowest Club to
tlraw his partner's trump card.
He can count the Clubs, knowing
that h must originally have held
four, and he knows, therefore,
that if he leads the best, A will
trump. By playing the lowest, he
causes his partner's King to fall
separately. The odd trick and the
game are won at this point.
S. — Z leads the best diamond,
knowing his partner to lie over A.
It matters not how A plays as the
cards lie, but, " for the sake of
uniformity," (7 having already re-
nounced), A should have played his
best trump or none.
10. — 1', finding all trumi)s left
with A, throws the lead into his
hand, kno«-ing that he must lead
a Heart cither after or before last
tramp, and that the trick wanting
to win the game must in that way
be secured, unless A and 0 between
them have entire command of
Hearts, in which case the game is
gone anyhow.
Pkoblem II.
Trick 1. A leads Spade Ace.
2. A leads Club Ace, trumped by B.
3. B leads small Spade, tramped bv A.
4. A leads King of Clubs, trumped'by B.
5. B leads Spade, trumped by A.
6. A leads Queen of Clubs, trumped by B.
7. B leads Spade, trumped by .4.
In Problem 3, hands A and B Avero inadvertentlv transposed.
[The fault was mine, not " Five of Clubs."— Ed.] However, it is
80 obvious that A cannot win every trick, as the hands are set, that
we suppose no Double Dummv problem solver has been for a moment
deceived. Teddinjjton, .1. K. L., R. Morrison, and F. .X. Y. have
correctly solved the problem, aU of them, however, first transposing
the hands of I' and Z, which does not quite make the problem right"
though, as it chances, not affecting the solution. The problem is a
pretty one, and we now give it correctly, and shall leave it for a
fortnight for solution.
A
Hearts — Kn, ti.
Clubs— 5, 3, 2.
Diamonds — A, Q, Kn, t;
5.
Spades — .\, Q, Kn.
B.
Hearts— \, Q, 10, 9, 4, 3.
Clubs— 10, 6.
Diamonds— 3.
Spades— 10, 9, 8, 7.
Problem III. — Double-Dummy.
The Hands.
y.
}feajts~K, 8, 7.
Clubs— 9, 8, 7, 4.
Diamonds — 2.
Spades— C, 5, 4, 3, 2.
Hearts — 5, 2.
Clubs— A, K, Q, Kn.
Diamonds — K, 10, 9,
«, 7, 4.
Spades — K.
The lead being with .4, A and B make every trick.
E. F. B. Harston. Yes : line 30 from top, first column, p. 462
for Ace and Queen read Ace and King. The correction was obvious'
Problem 2 is sound. In problem 3, a transposition has to be made.
When you say that i)Iayer at Doable Dummy has made every trick,
do you necessarily imply that he made them all out of his own
hand? In ordinary Whist a player would say, "We have made every
trick," when every trick falls between his own hand and partner's,
but in Double Dummy he would hardly say that. — Five of Clubs.
(9m- Cftrsis Column.
GAMES BY CORRESPONDENCE.— (Con(t»ued /romp. 461.)
Black's 23rd move in Game I. was notQ to R4, but Q to R5. With
that rectification the following are the positions corrected from last
week : —
GAME I. GAME II.
Posilion after Black's 23rd move. Position after White's 22nd move.
23. Q to Ko. 22. Q to KB3.
chief editob.
White.
Drawn game (perpetual move)
Black.
22. R to Q3
23. R to K5 K to Rsq
24. R to Kt5 R to Q Ktsq
25. R takes R(ch)K takes R
26. R to R2 P takes P
27. R to K2 Kt to K6
28. P takes P KttoQt
29. P to KB5
Had Chess Editor plaved as indicated bv mistake to Chief Editor
viz., 23. QtoR4; 24. B to R3 ; 24. R ti Qsq ; 25. Q to KB3, he
might have proceeded as follows :— 25. Q takes Q ; 26. R takes Q ;
26. Kt to Q5. With best play White may draw.
R^oKBsq
R to Kt3 best
B takcs^t
-^- B to Q4
r c /.\ ow ^' '""^^s Kt
^'"- '^ (•) 27- BtoB3
R to Ktsq
" B takes KI> tl'^'eatening B to Kt7 disc. ch. and to win the
Bishop. The variations arising from tliis lino of play are highly
interesting, but we find that the two Bishops aided by the Rook"get
the best of the struggle in every case. White's best course would
486
- KNOWLEDGE •
[Mabch 31,
bo to givo np t)ic oxchango volontnrily, niul Dicn a draw might
roanlt.
(^) If, in r<>|ily to 2(1. Kt to Q5, White docs not piny Kt takoB Kt,
lint 27. K to l<;t, I hen followH—
•>7 28 liL'J^SfJ^ 20 J*'-"Q'^'"'I
" ■ H I., m ' Wti^7Kt ' B to KKt7
nnd a(rnin, liy pro|>or piny, tho Hiahop will force the oxcliiinKO. In
addition, HInok iniRlit follow another lino of piny, viz., by di«covercd
check nnd other judieioim piny ho could cnpture tho Pnwns on White
King's side, nnd then BInck's I'nwns would bccoino formidable.
PKOBLEM No. 30.
By J. A. Miles.
k^
••^
-' ^¥
i
p
^..
White to play, and mate in three mores.
PKOBLEM No. 31.
By Leonard P. Eees.
WHITB.
White to play, ami mate in two mores.
riiOBLEM No. 32.
By B. G. L.WS.*
\^
6
■ ■
■
^
^
^
■ g-
White to play, and mate in throe mores.
Published anonymously in the Boys' Ha'jazine.
COnnECTION,— Piioni.EU No. 25, p. HI.
Ilomoro Black Pawn from B3.
Our nnmorouB correnpondentn who have kindly drawn our ntt.
lion to this problem, plcaiia take tho abovo correction (w) i
already appeared last week) in consideration. We shall bo li:i; :
to receive tlie correct solution of this problem, which embodi'
verj' neat iilea.
A groat international Chess Tournament wnll be held at Vl^ i
beginning on Slay 10. Prizes to tho amount of J&IOO will be gi
The first prize will be £200. MossrH. Steinitz, Blackbume,
/iUkortort, tho three best players of tho whole world, will conij
This Tournament promises to eclipse anything hitherto attcmpi
in Chess Tournaments.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
•»• Please address Chess-Editor.
J. A. Jlilcs. — Thanks for Problem, which has an improved
appearance.
Leonard P. Recg. — Wo apologise for mistake in your Problem
No. 25. Problem and Game welcome. In tho last variation of the
" Giuoco Piano," p. 4-i2, if White does not play 10 Kt to B3,
threatening to capture the Black Knight, but 10 Castles, then
Black need not reply with 10 B to Kt5 ; a likely line of play for
Black in reply to 10 Castles would be Castling, to be followed by
P to KBl. White's centre Pawns always remain weak, and liable
to attack and isolation by P to QB4. Whichever way you play,
White is on his defence, instead of having tho attack in hand as
first player.
W. Wood.— Received with thanks.
Muzio V. H. Grinold.
A. H. E., W. W. Morgan, 23, Great Queen-street.
Contents of Knowledge No. 21.
PAOB
Tho First Dadodil. Bt Grant Allen 443
A Studv of Minute £ife. No. II.
Br {lenry J. Sleek, F.G.S.,
F:R.M.3 444
Nichta i\-ith a Three-Inch Telescope.
By "A Follow of the Eoj-al Astro-
nomical Society" 445
Notes on Hoiring. By an Old Club
Captain 446
The Crystal Palace Electrical Exhi-
bition. Seventh Notice 447
The fireat Pyramid. Br the Editor 448
The Saturday JteHext'i Comet 450
Tricycles in 1883. By JohnBrovrning 4o0
The Duchess of Connaught's Illness 451
PIGB
The Path of Mars from 1875 to 1892 452
Chalcedonv Containing Liquid with
a Movable Bubble. By the Key.
Henrr H. Higgins 4$1
Modem' Dress 454
Compound Pendulum. Illustrated. 4S5
CoERBSPOXDBNCE :— Seeking after a
sign — Cat's-eve Timepiece of the
Chinese— Neolithic Man, &c. 456-153
Queries 458
Eeplies to Queries 468
Answers to Correspondents 459
Our Mathematical Column 460
Onr Chess Column 480
1 Our WTiist Column 462
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April 7, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
487
MAGj^ZINEofS^ENCE
PLAlNLT^f ORJED -EXACTLVDESCRIBED J
LOI\'DON : FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1882.
Contents of No. 23.
PAGB
Doniostic Ventilation. A Lesson
from the Coal-Pils. liy W.
Mattieu WilUams 487
Found Links. Bv Dr. Andrew
WiUon, F.It.S.E.;P.L.S. (/«»»(.) ISS
Xotes on Rowing. By an Old Club
Captain lOl
The Crystal Palace Electrical E.tlii-
bilion. Kichth Notice. (/«»*(.) 402
The ISrcat Pyramid. Bv the Editor 493
Phcilojiniphv for Amateurs. By A.
nrothera.'F.K.A.S. Part HI. ... 401
Brain Trouble?. Irritability 403
Does the Luminous Mixture of Blue
and Yellow make Green Light.'
Bv Lieut.<;olonel W. A. Ross,
late R.A. (lUminiUJ) 496
PAQB
Weather Diagram. For Week ending
Saturday, April 1 J9"
Amalgams 497
Silvered-Glass Telescopes -498
Prehistoric Research in Russia 498
Morning "Work 499
A Panther in Vermont 499
JeUv Pish 499
Intelligence in Birds 499
Fairy " Folk-Loro " of Shctknd ... 500
Con-e-pondence ../ 501-504
Queries 603
1 Replies to Queries 502
! Answers to Correspondents 503
I Our Mathematical Column 504
Our Chess Column 50.5
, Our ^Vlust Column 506
DOMESTIC VENTILATION.
A LKSSON FROM THE COAL-PITS.
Bv W. Mattieu Williams.
"ITTE rtMiuiru in our houses an artificial temperate
* V climatt; wliicli shall be uniform throughout, and
at tlie same time we need a gentle movement of air that
sliall supply t!ie retjuirements of respiration without any
gusts, or draughts, or alternations of temperature. Every-
body will admit that these are fundamental desiderata,
but whoever does so becomes thereby a denouncer of opcn-
gi-ate tire-places, and of every system of heating which is
dependent on any kind of stoves with fuel burning in the
rooms that are to be inhabited. All such devices concen-
trate the heat in one part of each room, and demand the
admission of cold air from some other part or parts, thereby
violating the primary condition of uniform temperature.
The usual proceeding effects a specially outrageous violation
of this, as I showed in my last paper.
I might have adtlcd domestic cleanliness among the
desiderata : but in the matter of tire-places, the true-bom
Briton, in spito of his fastidiousness in respect to shirt-
coUais, itc, is a devoted worshipper of dirt. No matter
how elegant his drawing-room, he must defile it with a
coal-scuttle, with dirty coals, poker, sho\el, and tongs,
dirty ash-pit, dirty cinder.s, ashes, and dust, and he must
amuse himself by doing the dirty work of a stoker towai'ds
his " cheerful, companionable, pokeable '' of>en fire.
It is evident that in order to completely fulfil the above-
named requirements, we must, in winter, supply our model
residence with fresh artificially-warmed air, and in summer
with fresh cool air. How is this to be done ? An approach
to a practical solution is afforded by examining what is
actually done under circumstances where the ventilation
problem presents the greatest possible difficulties, and
where, nevertheless, these difficulties have been effectually
overcome. Such a case is presented by a deep coal mine.
Here we have a little working world, inhabited by men
and horses, deep in the bowels of the earth, far away
from the air that must be supplied in sufficient quan-
tities, not only to overcome the vitiation due to
their own breathing, but also to sweep out the deadly
gaseous emanations from the coal itself. Imagine your
dwelling-house buried a quarter of a mile of perpen-
dicular depth below the surface of the earth, and its walls
giving oft" suttbcatiiig and explosive gases in such quantities
that steady and abundant ventilation shall be a matter of
life or death, and that in spite of this it is made so far
habitable that men who spend half their days there retain
robust health and live to green old age, and that horses
after remaining there day and night for many months
actually improve in condition. Imagine, further, that the
house thus ventilated has some hundreds of small, very
low-roofed rooms, and a system of passages or corridors
with an united length of many miles, and that its in-
habitants count by hundreds.
Such dwcllLngs being thus ventilated and rendered habit-
able for man and beast, it is idle to dispute the practical
possibility of supplying fresh air of any given temperature
to a mere box of brick or stone, standing in the midst of
the atmosphere, and containing but a few passages and
apartments.
The problem is solved in the coal-pit by simply and
skilfully controlling and directing the natural movements
of unecjually-heated \olumes of air. Complex mechanical
devices for forcing the ventilation by means of gigantic
fan-wheels, itc, or by steam-jets, have been tried, and are
now generally abandoned. An inlet and an outlet are pro-
vided, and no air in allowed to pass inwards or outwards
by an;/ other course than that whieh has been pre-arranf/cd
for the purposes of efficient ventilation. I place especial
emphasis on this condition, believing that its systematic
violation is the primary cause of the bungling muddle of
our domestic ventilation.
Let us suppose that we are going to open a coal-pit to
win the coal on a certain estate. We first ascertain the
" dip " of the seam, or its deviation from horizontality, and
then start at the loivest part, not, as some suppose,
at that part nearest to the surface. The reason for this
is obvious on a little reflection, for if we began at the
shallowest part of an ordinary water-bearing stratum we
should have to drive down under water, but, by beginning
at the lowest part and driving upwai-ds, we can at once
form a " sumpf," or bottom receptacle, to receive the
drainage, and from which the accumulated water may
be pumped. This, however, is only by the way, and not
directly connected with our main sulyect, the ventilation.
In order to secure this, the modern practice is to sink
two pits, " a pair " as they are called, side by side, at any-
convenient distance from each other. If they are deep, it
becomes necessary to commence ventilation of the mere
shafts themselves in the course of sinking. This is done
by driving an air-way — a horizontal tunnel from one to
the other, and then establishing an -'upcast" in one of
them by simply lighting a fire there. This destroys the
balance between the two communicating columns of air ;
the cooler column in the shaft without a fire, being heavier,
falls against the lighter column, and pushes it up just as
the air is pushed up one leg of an (J tube when we pour
water down the other. Even in this preliminary work, if
the pits are so deep that more than one air-way is driven,
it is necessary to stop the upper ways and leave only the
lowest open, in order that the ventilation shall not take a
short and useless cut, as it does up our fire-place openings.
Let us now suppose that the pair of pits are sunk down
to the seam, with a further extension below to form the
water sumpf. There are two chief modes of working a
coal-seam, the "pillar and stall" and the "long wall," or
488
KNOWLEDGE
[April 7, 1882.
more iiimlcm Hyittont. For present illuHtration, I wlect thi>
Utt<<r on tho simplest in rpspont to ventilation. Thi*
niftlind, a.s nrdiiiiirily worked, consistH cs-sentially in first
driving roads tlir(iii);li the roul from the pits to the out<-r
iMJiindnry of the nrea to he worki'<l, tlien cutting ii cross-
road that shall conncM-t tln-se, therel.y exposing a " long
wall ' of i-oal, whii'h is cut away towards the pits, the roof
remaining iH-hind U-ing allowed to fall in.
Let Us iM'gin to do this hy driving, first of all, t"o main
roads, one from eaih pit It is e\ident that as we proceed
in such liurrowiiig, wi- .shall jiresently find ourselves in a
ciil </<} *<ii- so far away from the outer air that suflooation
is threatened. This will I.e e(|ually the case with hotli
roads. L«'t us now drive a cross-cut from the end of each
main road, and thus estalilish a comnninication from the
downco-st shaft through its road, then through the drift to
the upcast road and pit. I5ut in order that the air shall
take this roundalmut course, we must close the direct drift
that we pn-viously made lietween the two shafts, or it will
proceed liy that shcirter and easier course. Now, we shall
iiave air throughout both our main roads, and we may flrive
on further until we are again stopped by approximate sufTo-
cation. When thi.s occurs, we make another cross cut, but
in order that it may act, we must stop the first one. So we
go on until we reach the working, and then the long wall
itstdf becomes the cro.ss communication, and through this
working gallery the air sweeps freely and eflfectually.
In the aljove I have only considered the simplest
possible elements of the problem. The practical coal-pit in
full working has a multitude of int<Tvcning passages and
".splits,' where the main current from the downcast is
divided, in order to proceed through the various streets
and lanes of the sultterranean town as may be required,
and these divided current.s are finalh' reunited ere they
reach the upcast shaft wliich casts them all out into the
upper air. In a colliery worked on the pillar and stall
system — i.''., by taking out the coal so as to leave a series
of square chambers with pillars of coal in the middle to
support the roof —the windings of the air between the
multitude of passages is curiously complex, and its ab.soluto
oljedience to the commands of the mining engineer proves
how completely the most difficult problems of ventilation
may be solved when ignorance and prejudice are not per-
mitted to liar the progress of the practical applications of
simple scientific principles.
itere the necessity of closing all false outlets is strikingly
demonstrated by the niedianisni and working of the "stop-
pings" or ]iartitions that close all unrequired openings.
The air in many pits has to travel several miles in order to
get from the downcast to the upcast shaft, though they
may be but a do/en yards apart (Formerly the same
shaft served both for up and down cast, by making a
wooden division (a /mi/tiri') down the middle. This is
now |irohibited, on account of serious accidents that ha\e
been cau.se<l by the fracture of the hrdllu-f.) But it would
not do to carry the coal from the workings to the pit by
such sinuous courses. NVhat, then, is done '( If any direct
road were h-ft open, the air would clioose it, but this is
prevented by an arrangement similar to that of canal locks
and g'.ites. \'al\e-doors or stoppings are arrangeil in pairs,
and when the hurrier arrives with his rorvr, or pit carriage,
one door is opened, the other remaining shut ; then the
corrr is hurried into the space between the doors, and the
entry -door is closed ; now the e.\it-door is opened, and thus
no continuous op<'ning is ever permitted. Oidy one such
opening would derange the ventilation of the whole pit, or
of that portion fed by the split thus allowed to escape. It
would, in fact, correspojid to the action of our open fire-
places in rendering efTei-tive ventilation impossible.
Thr- following, from the report of the Lords' Committee
on Accidents in (Joal Mine.s, 1849, illustrates the magnitude
of the ventilation arrangements then at work. In the
Hetton Colliery there were two downcast shafts and one
upcast, the former aUiut 12 ft and the latt<-r lift
diameter. There were three furnaces at the \K>ttnin of
the upcast, each al>out 'J ft wide and about 4 ft length of
gnit<'-bars. The depth of the upcast and one downcast
1)00 ft, and of the other downcast l,Or)C ft The quantity
of air introduced by the action of these furnaces was
1GS,.")G0 cubic feet per minute, at a cost of about eight tons
of coal per day. The rate of motion of the air was
1,007 ft per minute (above 12 miles per hour^. This
whole current was divided by .splitting into 16 currents of
about 11,000 cubic feet each per minute, having, on an
average, a cour.se of 4| miles each. This distance was
however, verj- irregular — the greatest length of a course
being 9-f'jj miles ; total length 70 miles.
All these magnitudes are greatly increased in coal mines
of the present time. As much as 250,000 cubic feet of air
per minute are now passed through the shafts of one mine.
The ventilation of our houses may be conducted on the
same principles, and with corresponding efficiency, as I will
endeavour to show in my next.
FOUND LINKS.
Bv Dr. Andrew Wil.sok, F.R.S.E., F.L.S.
BACKWARDS in time, and in the course of the geo-
logical :eons, we find the Cretaceous or Chalk rocks.
To the naturalist these deposits have yielded a rich and
suggestive harvest of bird-fossils, which, in their approxi-
mation to the reptiles, certainly serve as " found links " in
more ways than one. In the Chalk rocks of North America
we disco\er the remains of " toothed birds," whose teeth
in every respect agree with the structures of that name,
and are not mere bony projections, as in the old swimmer
of the Loudon clay. The curious Ilespproriiig (Fig. 1) and its
neighbours the Iclilln/oriiis and Ajmtornis, thanks to the
exertions of Professor Marsh, appear before us as veritable
links, connecting the birds and reptiles in respect of
their teeth, as well as in other features of tlieir economy.
Hesperornis stood at least five feet high, and in respect of its
bony framework exhibits a close alliance with the grebes of
our own day. But strange to saj%He.speromis (Fig. I) wants
one marked peculiarity of other birds (save the ostrich-
group), namely, the prominent " keel " or bony ridge on
the breast-bone, to which the wing-muscles of birds are
attached. The wings were certuinly of rudimentary
character, but this is a feature we see exemplified in the
auks and penguins of our own day ; and it is probable that
the tail of this great diver of the chalk seas was unusually
mobile, and adapted possibly to serve as a rudder. The
reptile characters crop out, however, most clearly
in the teeth of this bird. There were no teeth
in the front of the upper jaw, and presumably this
region was covered with a horny beak. The teeth
themselves arc curved structures ; but they are set in a
common groove, and not lodged each in a socket, as is
commonly tlu' case in higher animals. In living reptiles
themsehes, it may be added, the teeth, save in crocodiles,
are not implanted in sockets. Thus, in serpents and
lizards the teeth arc simply united by bony union to the
liones which bear them ; but certain extinct lizards had
socket-fastened teeth, and the giant fossil ivptiles (Ic/il/ii/o-
saurxs, &c.) of the Lias, Oolite, and Chalk, possessed teeth
Api-.ri r, 1882.]
KNOVS/LEDGE ♦
489
Fig. 1. — Hesperornis ref;;alis.
„.^ o (■ A. Skeleton of Ptcrcdactyl.
'o- ■■• ^ J} Restoration of Pterodactyl.
Fig. 3. — Compsognathus (restored in outline).
. ( A. Hind leg of bird.
"*■ (. B. Tail bones of bird.
FOUND LINKS.
490
KNOVS/'LEDGE •
[April 7, 1882.
I
which liki'wino nroso from sockets ii» tht- jaws. In so
far a.H lIcsjMTornis is coiic«'nicd, it removes tiic liird class,
on thi' fiuc of thiiiRs, a sU-p ncnrcr to the ri'j(til(! hosts.
Koniierlv. part of the natiirulist's delinition of a liinl was
inchulol in thtMliiiaratioii that teitli were wanting. Now,
tlie ilelinition requires 8tret<-iiinK, to inciii(l<' a chariu-ter
wliiili is sliured in hy ccrtjiin reptiles. Just as otliers, npn-
seiited hv thu tortoises ami turtles, imitate the toothless
condition of existinj; birds.
Hut the Ichthyornis of the chalk is even a more re-
markal'le Inrd fossil than Hesperornis. For the teeth of
the former are implanted in distinct sockets, whilst its
hn-asthone liad a keel, and its wings are of large size, and
indicate the jwsseftsion of liird-haMts, united to structures of
reptilian kind. But more pei'ulirir still, as a departure
from liird-characters was the nature of its vertehra- or the
joints of the spine : for Ichthyornis possessed vertebra',
which, like those of the fishes and of extinct reptiles, were
hollow at either end. Such a feature must naturally be
ninde much of in (•stiniatiii-; the relationship of this old
bird to the reptilian hosts. The size of Ichthyornis was
that of a pigeon.
Preceding tlieso birds in time conies the Archcopteriix, of
the I'ppcr Oolite deposits of Solenhofen, in Bavaria. Here
the reptile-characters increase in number as becomes the
older nature of their possessor. A recently-procured speci-
men of this bird enabled a zoological authority to declare
that it was certainly not wholly a bird, and as certainly
not wholly reptile in its nature, but a strict link between
these classes. For, firstly, it has the tail of a lizard,
that is, the tail is long and jointed, and has no
plough-share bone, as in other birds (Fig. 5, B, h).
Secondly, the bones of its palm were not joined
together as in all other birds, whilst at least two
of its fingers appear to have been provided with claws,
a feature of exact reptilian nature. Then it likewise
lias been ascertained, by the discovery of the recent
s]>ecimen already referred to, that this old bird of the
Oolite possessed teeth. Judged fairly, then, Archa>optery.x
is, at the very least, as much a reptile as a Ijird. Its
shoulder and fore-limb (or wing) arc decidedly those of a
reptile, whilst its hind limbs are bird-like in nature. The
facts that such a race of animals once existed, and that
they livid at a period when, presumably, the bird-race was
undergoing its evolution from the reptilian confines,
may, in the eyes of any unprejudiced thinker, serve as
clear evidences that the common origin of birds and
reptiles is matter, not of speculation, but of scientific
demonstration.
I have shown, thus, cursorily, the evidences supporting
the contention that if, standing within the bird-class, we
look for reptilian features within its limits, we are not dis-
appointed in our search. But on the reptilian side of things,
there are also evidences to be found of the community of
type from which the birds and reptiles of to-day have
sprung. It takes but a slight acquaintance with
zoology to discover that the curious lizard, Hattiria
(or Sftliftwdon), of New Zealand, as befits the curious
history of its native country, brings us face to face
with characters of abnormal kind, from the reptilian view
of matters at least For this lizard has ribs which are
decidedly those of bird-type, and, moreover, it has the
same lioUow-ended vertebra* seen in the fossil bird Ich-
thyornis. In other points of its structure as well,
JIatteria seems to rejiresent a primitive type of reptile,
presumably indicating that stage in the evolution of the
two classes wherein certain characters of the bird had
already liegun to be developed in the common ancestors
of these groups.
The (lying reptiles (J'trn>il,iri,/I„) (Fig. 2) of the Lias,
Oolite, and Chalk, teach us tliat as the pure reptile thus
acquired powers of flight, the development of flight in
the bird-stock, which was evolved from the rej>tile, or
conjointly with it, need cause us no surj)rise.
The Pterodactyls j)0.sse.s8ed tlie outermost finger (seen in
the illustration) enormously elongated, and adapted to
form the chief siijiport of a wing-membrane which ex-
tended along the sides of the body and between the hind
limbs and tail also, as shown in B, Fig. 2. It may Ijc
added that these reptiles had a keel on the breastlxine like
most living and e.xtinct birds, and whilst in some species,
the teeth were developed, in othei-s the jaws appear to
have been toothless, and to have been sheathed in
horn like those of bird.s. But these reptiles are not
'•links." They stand, not between liirds and reptiles,
but at the end of their own side-branch of the great tree
of animal life. Still, from the reptile-side, it may lastly
lie shown that the " found links " connecting them with
birds — it may be, of course, in different lines from those
indicated by Arch:eoptery.\ and its neighbours — already
find a place in the geological museum. In those curious
reptiles, of which Coiiipsiit/nat/ntii (Fig. 3) is the best known
example, the characters of birds and reptiles were united
in a literally surprising degree. Imagine a reptile posses-
sing a swan-like neck, with toothed and bird-like jaws:
suppose, further, that this animal had very rudimentary
front limbs, and that it walked on its two hind limbs like
a bird, and we may conceive that this Compsognathus, had
it been feathered, would have at least appeared to resemVjle
a bird much more nearly than a reptile. But a still
stronger piece of evidence in favour of its bird-relationship
awaits the naturalist when he discovers that the hind
limbs of these curious reptiles are, in respect of structure,
midway and between those of birds and reptiles. If we
examine the hind limb of a bird (Fig. 4, A), we notice that
the upper half of the ankle (As. Ca.) unites with the shin-
bone, or leg (T) : and as the lower half of the ankle joins
the instep ( 1 ), the ankle joint thus exists in the middle of
the ankle-bones, and the lower ankle aiid instep-bones form
a single bone (ni) bj- their union. In Fig. 5 the hind limb
of the Iiird is also seen, e being the single bone formed by
the union of ankle and instep-bones. In the reptiles limb
(C), the ankle-joint, as a rule, opens between the divided
ankle-bones; but the instep-bones (C ; L, ii., iii., iv.) are
not united either to one another, or to the neighbouring
ankle-bones. Now it is extremely interesting to discover
that the hind-limb of Compsognathus and its allies (B) is
exactly intermediate between birds and reptiles. Here,
the leg bones resemble those of birds in shape. The chief
ankle bone (As.) exactly corresponds with that of a bird :
and, as in birds, this bone lieconies united to the lower end
of the leg. But, lastly, as if to show the intermediate
nature of the lindi, the instep-bone (I — iv) remain free,
and the leg of Compsognathus is thus practically half-
way between that of the bird and reptile. Thus, as
in birds, the upper part of the ankle is unitetl to the leg;
but, unlike birds and like reptiles, the Compsognathus had
the lower part of the ankle free, and not united with the
instep. In a word, the hind limb of this old reptile re-
sembles the condition of the limb in the chick before
hatching, and it may thus represent that stage in the
evolution of the bird-type wherein the type of limb common
to the primitive stock was being gradually modified into
the more consolidated limb of the bird.
Thus to-day, there exists a scries of forms, detached and
isolated, perhaps, but still eloquent enough in their de-
claration of the existence in past epochs of animals which
belong to no one class as defined by us to-day, and which
April 7, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
491
further stand int<-niiciliate between existent classes of
living beings. 'Die existence of these 'links,'' to argue
backwards, is inexplicable, save on the theory of evolution,
or on that of the production of "freaks " by nature : and
this last idea, I appn-hend, is put out of court, by every
consideration worthy the name of a scientilic thouglit.
NOTES ON ROWING.
By an Old Club Captain.
THE race is ovei-, and the despised crews of " inefficient
mediocrities" liave somehow managed to take their
boats over tlie course from Putney to Mortlake (on a good,
but not wonderfully good, tide), in the very good times of
20 rain. 12 sec. and 20 min. 32 sec. for winners and losers
respectively. I was able to watch both crews under singu-
larly favourable conditions as they rowed past the White
Hart, at Mortlake. With an excellent field-glass by
Browning, 1 had each crew in succession about half a
minute in view, as distinctly as if the}' were at an oar's
length from me. For a minute or two before and after
this, I was able to see both crews together, foreshortened,
so that the nature of the swing, and the time of stroke and
recovery could not only be well seen, but readily compared.
[I had before only se<>n the crews in practice, and always at
the beginning of their spins. Oxford, in particular, I had
seen under very favourable conditions.] At Mortlake on
Saturday, there was a difference naturally arising from the
circumstance that Oxford were rowing out to the finish a
race already won, while Cambridge — though they could not
be so sure of the hopelessness of their position as the Oxford
men were sure of victory — were nevertheless ver}* obviously
rowing a losing race. There was not seen that liveliness
O.i the feather, after rather sluggish disengagement of the
oar, which had been characteristic of the Cambridge
style. On the other hand, the Oxford men showed
the good features of their style very markedly. The
swoop down of th(- oars upon the water was splendid
at tliis stage of the race (I am told that earlier there was
occasionally some little trace of flurry). As for the way
in which the work was done — a question which I left not
tjuite decided in my last — I am as certain, after my obser-
vations last Saturday, as I am of my own existence, that
nearly all the arm work was done in conjunction with
body aid leg work, and not, as some persistently assert,
afterwards. I am eijually certain that in the Cambridge
boat the arm work followed the sway back of the body.
The sluggish look of the Cambridge style was in
singular contrast to the sfiarp slash of the Oxford
oars throigh the water; and this sluggish look was
entirely die to the inert condition of the arms during the
first pai-t o' the stroke. The slow disengagement of the
oar by the Cambridge, again, was in decided contrast with
the clean, qiiek disengagement by Oxford. On the other
hand, I caniot say that the swing forward by Cambridge
was anything like so sharp as I had expected to find it, or
as it appeared in practice. But this was only natural in a
crew which hal been rowing so hard a stern race. More-
over, the Camb-idge style is, as every one knows who has
ever tried it, e>ceedingly wearing iii a hard race ; and the
lightning feathe-, which is its one theoretical advantage
(more than counerbalanced by disadvantages), is very apt
to be exchanged tnvards the end of a long race for a much
less lively movenent. This circumstance, which I have
noticed myself in owing races (I suppose every reader of
these lines has alnady come to the conclusion that the
writer is a Cantab) s well described by Mat Bradwood, in
a passage which deserves to be quoted at full length, so
apt and instructive is it " Every day of practice on the
Cam," he says, "you hear the coaches of the difl'erent
racing-boats giving their crews certain directions, some
absurd, and nearly all from some accitlental reason useless.
The chief of these is to ' keep it long,' and if you object to
the results of this teaching, you arc told that ' length ' is
the great requisite of good rowing, and that 'Oxford,
sir, always beat us, because they are longer than we
are.' Now this is true and yet untrue. At Cam-
bridge, ' length ' is acquired by making the men ' finish
the stroke,' that is by making them swing well back
beyond the perpendicular. Of course the oar remains
longer in the water, but we maintain that the extra time
it is kept there by the backward motion of the body is
time lost. The ' swinging back ' throws a tremendous
strain on the abdominal muscles, the weakest rowing
muscles in the body ; very soon the men feel this strain,
become exhausted and unable to ' get forward,' and,
finally, lose time and swing and ' go all to pieces.' Length
obtained by going backwards is of no possible use. A crew
ought to be coached to go as far forward as they can, to
finish the stroke by bringing their elbows past their sides,
and their hands well in to their bodies, and then complaints
about ' wind ' and ' last ' will be fewer."
It may be asked wliy, if the repeated victories and the
nature of the victories of Oxford result from an inherent
superiority of the Oxford over the Cambridge style,
Cambridge does not adopt the Oxford style 1 It is well
known that Cambridge club captains try to introduce
what they believe to be the style of (Oxford. The passage
above quoted indicates very accurately the feeling of
Cambridge men on this point. But a radically wrong idea
is entertained at Cambridge as to what the Oxford style
really is. Oxford men are apt, as I have already
mentioned, to assert (and doubtless they believe, though
erroneously, as close observation and theory alike show)
that they do not use the arms till the body is nearly
upright. Thus, Mr. Ske)-, F.E.C.S., in writing on the
movement of the muscles and the body in rowing,
gives as the result of inquiry which he had made, the
following entirely incorrect account of Oxford rowing : —
" The prominent and distinctive feature of the O.xford
.system consists, I believe, in this that the action of the
glutei (the great muscles of the buttock), in drawing the
trunk backwards to something beyond the vertical, is nearly
exhausted before the agents of flexion of the forearm
commence their work. The O.xford authorities consider
that they row with their trunk, while others more pro-
minently row with their arms. In truth" (here his
anatomical knowledge sets Mr. Skey right) " the muscular
system of both trunk and arms is indispensable in all
cases, the only distinction being that in the case of Oxford
oarsmen the greater part of the retraction of the trunk,
by the action of the glutei is accomplished with rigid
unbent arms, while in other cases the retractors
of the shoulders, and the flexors of the fore-
arm are somewhat more in unison, or rather, they
share the time occupied by the former action." Mr.
Skey is " unwilling to express a positive opinion as to the
relative excellence of the two styles in rowing," but is
inclined to think that some advantage is obtainable from
the two actions being rendered consecutive, inasmuch as
the superior power of the retractors of the trunk, on
which the great efibrt in rowing depends, should be exerted
singly, without the physical action of the system being
hampered by two actions at the same moment of time."
As this was written in October, 1869, when Oxford had
been for nine successive years successful against Cam-
•M'2
KNOWLEDGE •
[Al'Kll
1882.
I>ri(l;;<', aiul lui < ' liiul beaten in hollow fashion
th(< Ain'Tiinii fi>iir li'iii lliiiMinl, it was only nutiiral that
Mr. Ski'v slicul.i I"- iticlii.ril to think th.- O.xf.iiii style-
niu.st )>(■ the lirttvr ; nnd so it iin<|Uf.stiunal>ly i.s ;
Jiut thi> st\l<' he (IcscrilM'K Ik that wliicli was, nnd is,
fMijoiiU'd rigidly l>y Canihridgi' cuptuins, and ohsiTvutiun
hhow.s that O.xford docs not follow that .styk-, liut
lirings tlio anns to work from tlu' lifginning. How ony
douht could <'vrr hr I'nti-rUiincd on this point l>y those who
l.niw how nnich farther hack than <).\for<l the Cainhridge
«j"ws have always swung, is ditlicultto understand. For, if
tin- arms arc .straight when the body reaches the vertical
position, the body nuist, of course, swing further Itack
while the arms do their work, as yet scarce begun ; but, if
<he arms have lieen nt work while the body is swinging to
uj>ri;;htne.ss, the arms have little left to do, and therefore
the body need swing back but a very little. As O.xford
men umiuestionably do 710/ swing far back, while Cambridge
•men do— even men who know nothing practically of rowing
■can see Uiat — it should need no denionstration that O.xford
men do more of their arm-work than Caudiridge men during
the beginning of their stroke. " And I myself, with my
> ery own eves have seen," as the old chronicler wrote, that
O.xford men and London nu-n too, and watermen always,
row with body and arms, and legs too, from tin' very
•beginning of the stroke.
Jlcanwhilc, at Cambiidge they (piietly accept the faith
that O.xford men swing back with rigid, unbent arms (and
they see this in tub practice and paddling, where it is the
correct thing to do) ; so tliey keep to the rule, unconscious
or forgetful that it is the old rule, good only for the old
style of boats ; and so they get beaten, unless they have
overwhelming superiority of strength, when they win by
lialf a length or a length, where O.xford, with the same
superiority of strength, would have won by half-a-dozen or
a dozen lengths.
I write confidently, but I write when there is good
prospect that the matter will be tested in a way there can
be no mistaking (1 would stake a good deal on the result
if I were a betting man). Mr. Muybridge's method of
instantaneous photography, which has shown how a horse
gallops and liow an athlete tvirns a somersa\dt, will very
readily show how an Oxford or a Cambridge oarsman rows,
and is very likely soon to be applied to the work. But
there is a practical test which Cambridge captains might
very easily try, and perl.iaps apply the result in a way very-
pleasing to themselves and their crews. Let a crow, each
uieml)er of which rows well the Cambridge dragging swing-
back, go over a measured distance, say half-a-mile, at their
l)est speed in that style, and then let them —though, per-
haps, a little tired— go back to the starting-place and go
over the course again with a changed style. Let stroke
and each man of the crew agree for awhile to give up their
cherished drag and lightningfeather ; let the arms be sturdily
called into action, in due subordination, of course, to body
and in due alliance with the leg.s, from the very beginning of
the stroke, so that when the body comes upright, the arms
have nearly done their work. Let not the stroke be
hurried, but a steady (not sluggish) recovery, precede the
simultaneous grip at the beginning. I will undertake to
say that, even at the first trial (absolutely important
though practice is in this .style, where everything depends
on the work being done at the same time), even at the
first trial, I sa}-, the result will be such as to show unmis-
takably how nnich more etlective, and also how much
easier, this style is than the style inculcated forty years ago
for I)oats as dillerent from those of our time as a barge
from a pleasure-boat, or a pleasure-boat (with a party of
ten under her awning) from the old clinker built racing craft.
AT
THK KF.ECTRICAL EXHIBITION
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
ElfMITII NOTICK.
J'l' is not ilitlii'ult to understand that if a certain amount
of electric energy is recjuired to render a carl>on fila-
ment I in.- long incandescent, ten times that eniTgj- will \>e
reijuired (presuming there is no other resi.stance in the
circuity to similarly heat a filament 10 in. long. If, how-
ever, we have sullicient energy to heat 10 in. of carWn,
it matters little whether that carbon is in one piece or
in ten, or in any number of pieces making up the same
total length. Here, then, is the first i)rinciple in the .so-
called division of the electric light. The great object to be
achieved is really a dislribulion of the light, necessitatetl
b)' the great diminution of luminosity as we recede from
the source of light. The exact falling-off is "inversely as
the Sfiuare of tin? di.stance," that is to say, if we have a
luminosity e(|ual to twenty candles at a distance of 1 ft.,
tlie intensity at - ft. will be —
2' : l'::20: r
or 1 : 1 ::20 : 5
•')-candIe power will, therefore, be the luminosity at 2 ft
distance. This explains how it is that a large light is so
expensive, or lacks economy so much, when compared with
a number of small lights placed at the proper distance from
each other to illuminate the same area.
Fig. 1 illustrates the method of connecting the lamps,
known as "joining in series " — that is to say, the whole of
the current passes through each lamp in succession.
Fig. 2 illustrates another method of joining up, and is
known as the " multiple arc," or " quantity " arrangement.
The current comes in from the machine at +, and retui'ns
liy the other wire marked — . In this case the current, instead
of passing through each lamp in succession and haring
to overcome the added resistance of, say four lamps, is
assisted by their conductivity, and divitles itself bet^vecn
them, the resistance being thereby considerably reduced,
just as a Mow of water which requires a certain pressure
to push it through, say, four yards of pipe, requires one-
fourth of that force to drive it through one yard. If we
were to place four pipes, one yard long, side by side, the
required pressure would be again quartered. .^^ctually,
therefore (assuming each lamp to ofter 50 ohms' resistance),
joining in series would give 200 ohms for four laups, while
in multiple arc the resistance would be reduced to '2 5 ohms.
But suppose again that in the single pipe thf quantity
of water was only sufficient to fill one pipe, we siould have
to quadruple the supply of water in order to fil four pipes
placed side by side. Accordingly, the currmt required
for the arrangement described is of less intoisity, but of
greater volume, to produce equal degrees of hminosity.
Fig. 3 is another arrangement known as * mixed," that
is, a combination of series and quantity. The diagram
may be left to explain itself.
We should have liked this week to give, in continuation
of our remarks on incandescent lightinji a few mathe-
matical details concerning the arrangemoit of the lamps
and generators. These details, however, will be best
comprehended after we have finished nir description, in
April 7, 1882.]
•* KNOWLEDGE ♦
493
another series of articles, of the fiiiulaineutal jniiu'iplps of
electric generators.
The incandescent light is, beyond doubt, the light of the
future, and we ha\c no hesitation in saying that before
long we believe it will be proved as much cheaper as it is
brighter, purer, and healthier than gas. At the same
time we must not lose sight of the fact that it ensures
perfect immunity from all those possible catastrophes in-
herent to gas. An incandescent lamp, even when broken,
is perfectly harmless, and it has been declared that it could
be broken in the centre of a barrel of gunpowder without
the slightest danger. The reason of this is that the moment
the glass is broken, or even cracked, air rushes in to occupy
the previously vacuous globe, and coming in contact with
the carbon filament, oxidation instantaneously takes place,
the filament being thus a continuous conductor no longer.
The only danger is when the covering of the wires gets
4
damaged, or in any other way allows the current to pass
from one wire to the other without going through the
lamps ; then great heat would be developed, sufficient,
perhaps, to set tire to the building. This danger, however,
is easily guarded against by inserting a piece of easily
fusible metal, such as lead, in the circuit, which, on getting
hot, melts and breaks the circuit, the only inconvenience
being the extinction of all the lights in that section, until
the piece of lead is replaced. And what is this incon-
venience compared to what would result from a gas ex-
plosion 1
Anent the various systems novvf before the public, there
is not much to choose between them, but for brilliancy
and durability the 8wan certainly leads the way. Thi'
Electrolier in the Furniture Court is simply beautiful, and
contrasts in the delicate outline of its design with the
gorgeous display of Mr. Edison. Nor must we forget
Messrs. Elkingtons' show-room, which is very tastily
adorned by the Swan light. The Maxim and Lane-Fox
systems are both very good, and try hard to outdo each
other in their application to delicate glass-work.
ExpLosivB Pa!nt. — It is stated that the Admiralty have directed
that the whole of the xerotine siccative in store at tlie various dock-
yards should be immediately destroyed.
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By t}ie Editor.
'■pHIS week my remarks upon the Pyramid must be brief,
JL for the present number (on account of the approach
of Easter week) appears under certain disadvantages. 1
take the opportunity of noting sundry objections to my
views, which have been suggested by certain readers.
In the tirst place, many seem quite unaware of the
difficulty of orienting a building like the Great Pyramid
with the degree of accuracy with which that building
actually has been oriented. Oni' gravely asks whetlier
(as Narrien long since suggested) a plumb-line, so hung
as to be brought into line with the Pole Star, would
not have served as well as the great descending passage.
Observe how all the real difficulties of the problem are
overlooked in this ingenious solution. We want to get a
long line — a line at least 200 yards long — in a north and
south position. We must fix its two ends, and as the pole-
star is not available as a point along the line, we set our
plumb-line at the northern end of the line, and our observ-
ing tube or hole, or whatever it may be (only it is not a
telescope, for we are Egyptians of the time of Cheops,
and have none), at the other. The pole-star being at an
altitude of 26,V degrees, the plumb-line should be nearly
100 yards long,"to be seen (near the top), coincident with
the pole-star, from a station 200 yards away. That is a
tolerably long plumb-line. Then its upper part (thus to be
seen td'thout telescopic aid at night) would be about 260
yards away. The observer's eyesight would have to be
tolerably keen.
I am also asked whether a dishful of water would not
serve quite as well as a great mass of water, at the corner
where the descending and ascending passages meet, to give
the reflected rays from a star. It would, and so would a
thimbleful — just as a thread of cotton would serve as well
as a half-inch rope for the plumb-line just considered. But
just in proportion as the water surface was diminished
would the difficulty of seeing a star by reflected rays be
increased. The builders had, doubtless, good reason for
making the descending passage about 4 ft. wide and as
many high. It at any rate enabled them to see the pole-
star readily, just as the wide field of view of a comet-
finder enables the astronomer to bring a celestial object
very easily into view. Whatever rea.sou they had for thus
securing a tolerably large field of view, they would have
precisely the same reason for retaining it undiminished
when they used the reflected instead of the direct rays, in
observing a star. Now for this purpose nothing short ol
the whole lireadth of the descending and ascending passages,
would suffice— in other words, no dishful or thimbleful of
water would have served their purpose.
Then the Saturday Review asks why the descending
passage should be repeated in the other pyramids when the
orientation had already been secured in the Great Pyramid
— manifestly quite ignorant of the fact that it would lie far
more difficult to take the orientation for one pyramid from
another, than to do it independently. It also asks whether
the slant descending passages were not obviously meant for'
the sliding-down of the King's sarcophagus. Sliding the
sarcophagus down that it might afterwards be hauled up
the ascending passage ! or if not, what was the ascending
passage for ^ and why was it of the same cross section as
the descending passage! If the sarcophagus alone had
been in question, we may be certain that the pyramid
engineers would never have arranged for sliding it
down from the level of the entrance to the descending
passage, to the place where the ascending passage
begins, in order afterwards to raise it by the ascending
404
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Ai-Kii. 7, 1882
pii-s:!^'.'. If thf*y moant to go down to the undorground
cliitiiilx'i' tlii'V Would not have raised it at all, liut !*-t it
down fnim tlir Irvi-l of tln' pyramids Imsc. Hut, to Kiiy
truth, iiiovin;; tin- hnroo|>luij;ii» was a nKTc notliiii^ com-
|ian>d with tin* liftin){nf thogrrat Kolid hloukit whicli formed
till' pyrninid's mass. Tho on({inoc>r« who moved tlieKi- grriit
lilookn to thi'ir (ilnres, would not have wanted slant piLS-
sajjes ot the rii;lit friction slope, and all the rest of it, l>y
which to tuke the farco]>hnf;iiH to its ploee ; nor would
they have provided for unnecessary descents or ascents
either, hut have taken the sarcophagus from the outside
to its proper level, and sent it along a long level
passage.
The Saliirthy lifvitrw says further — hut, what can it
matter what the •Saturda;/ Review says on suhjects such as
these ?
A correspondent, ^Ir. .J. V. Ilodgetts, touches on the
a-s-sociatioii which I mentioned as existin;; between the
Jewish Sahliath (our Saturday) and Saturn ; labouring,
manifestly, under the imjiression that the point at issue
was the identity of the Koman gnd Saturn with the Scan-
dinavian deity assigned to Saturday. I5ut of course he
has entirely misapprehended me. It is not the god Saturn,
l)ut the planet Saturn, which is associated with Saturday.
How" Mr. Hodgetts can reconcile the clear statement of
Dion Cassius with his belief that the days of the week
were not as.sociated with the planets until the twelfth
century, pa.s.ses my comprehension. Dion Uassius distinctly
attributes the invention of the week to the Egyptians, and
as he wrote a thousand years before the time named,
there must be something wrong in Mr. Hodgett's dates.
In the ancient Brahminical astronomy the days are asso-
ciated with the same planets as among the Egyptians. See
Mr. Colebrooke's papers in the " Asiatic Researches."
Among more familiar discussions of this matter may be
cited liailly's " Astronomic Indienne et Orientale," and
Bohlen's " I):vs Alte Indien."
Dion Ca-ssius refers to the connection between musical
intervals and the planets, showing that probably the old
^SyP*^'"'^ '"'■'^ which Pythagoras of Samos brought to
Greece, included the association between the planets and
the days of the week ; that, in fact, all three subjects were
connected— planets, musical intervals, and the days of the
week. Lonirfellow thus poetically renders the views of
Egyptian astrologers on these, with them, mystical
matters : —
Like I lie astrolofjcrs of old,
In that grofit vision 1 heheUl
tiroator and dooppr niy.*<tories.
1 saw, witli its celestial kov.".
Its chords of air, its frets of lire,
The Siimian's preat jT^olian lyre.
Ki.siiii;,' throiiph all its 80vonf<'>id bnrs,
I''r»in earth unto the fi.veil stars.
And thriiugh the dowy atmosphere,
Not only could I .see hut hear
Its wondrous and hariuonious strings
In sweet vibmtion, sphere liy sphere ;
From Dian'a circle liRlit and near,
Onnard to vaster and wider rinffs,
Whore, chanting through liis board of snowa
.Mujestie. nioiimful Saturn poos,
.\nd down the sunless realms of apace
Iteverhnrntes the thunder of his bass.
Ehrata. In th" leitcr-presa OPcompanvinj: chart of the path of
Mars, second column, line 10, for •'south to north" read " north
to .outl. • and hnc IL', for '■ north (o south." read " south to north."
Line I., for ■ piano of hin orbit," mid " plane of the earth'a orbit."
Thi. miatakPS could scarcely deceive the carefii Ircader but it is as
well that they nhould 1k> corrected.
l'il()Tn(;i;Al'IIV I'OII AMATEURS.
!!■; A. IIitoTiiKiiH, F.It.A.S.
BEFORE leaving the historical part of tlie subject, it
may be in^■r«•sting to refer to the partnership which
was entered into between Niepce and Daguerre. The one
appears to have rendered no assistance whatever to the
other — and to Daguerre alone is due the credit of working
out tlie proce.ss which Was considered by the French
Government of so much importance, that Daguerre wa»
awarded a pension for life of .£210 a-year, and to Isidore
Xiepce* .£ 1 CO a-year — the half to revert to their widows
Considering the great value of the di.scovery, the sum
awarded was ridiculously small ; but, although the French
Government ajipear to have presented the discovery to the
world, Daguerre jiatented the process in England, and
must have realised a large sum I>y the sale of licen.ses.
For many years the two proce^sses of Talbot and Daguerre
were e-\tcnsively used. The Talbotype, or Calotype, as it
was indifferently called, was more suitable for land.scapes
and architectural subjects than for portraits, and the
Daguerreotype was used almost universally for portraits,
and may be said to have been without a rival until 1851,
when Mr. F. Scott Archer presented his process to the
public. Sir John Herscliel, I\Ir. Bingham, M. Legray, and
others, had tried various means for utilising glass on which
to produce the negative image ; but to Mr. Archer, assisted
by Dr. Diamond, is due the honour of inventing a process
which produced the most perfect results. Mr. Archer was
a sculptor ; he died a few years after the publication of
his process, and as it then became known he was far from
being in prosperous circumstances, his generosity in seeking
no pecuniary advantage in the sale of his process, or by
securing it by patent, will be fully appreciated. Mr.
Archer did not invent the stibstance known as mllodion,
which consists of gun-cotton dissolved in ether and alcohol ;
but he made it available for photography. By adding
iodide or bromide, or both, to the collodion, and then, when
the film had set, bj' immersion in a solution of nitrate of
silver, the conversion of the iodide or bromide of am-
monia (or other similar salt) into an iodide or bromide of
silver, the collodion film is rendered very sensitive to light
The collodion process is in universal use, and for tliirtjr
years may be said to have had no rival. Latterly, collo-
dion has, to some extent, been superseded bj- gelatine.
We shall see wherein the processes differ in a future paper.
We have now given the main facts relating to the history
of photography. If space had permitted, we might have
entered into the suliject with more detail. The merest
glance has been given, and it has been a matter of some
difficulty to select the main facts. A volume could be
filled with the interesting details, while we have attempted
to tell the story in a page or two.
The art of photography, as at present practised, is of
great simplicity : but, easy as it is, some experience is
necessary, and many failures may be expected before the
amateur can look with satisfaction on his work. His first
attempt maij he a perfect success, and so perhaps may his
second be, but his third attempt may be as great a failure,
and from want of experience he will be altogether unable
to account for his want of success. Much may often be
learnt from failures, and for the satisfaction of the be-
ginner he may be informeil that failures frequently occur
in the hands of those who have practised photography for
many years. No rule can be laid down for accounting for
• Xicephoro Niepce died before the pension was granted. b»t tbo
imrtnorship was continued with his son Isidore.
Ai'KiL 7, 18S2.]
KNOWLEDGE
i95
failures — the causes are so various, that tliey require in each
case to lie traced to their source, and not iiifreijuently the
cause will not l>e discovered. The amateur, therefore,
must not be discouraged Viy failures.
Advice will naturally be sought as to the outfit required ;
and the reply to this is that if expense he no object, the
best apparatus procurable should be purchased at the out-
sot. Our advice is, determine what you wish to do, and
then go to a dealer in photographic materials and appa-
ratus, and he will supply a list of M'liat is necessary. If
pictures not larger than y x -t will satisfy the ambition of
the beginner, the expense of the outfit will not be great —
£■") will supply camera, lens, and chemicals sufficient to start
him in his new and, as he will soon find, fascinating hobby.
Perhaps the most useful size for the camera for the tyro is
ine for taking pictures 7 x •">, and if a lens of the "rapid
rectilinear" form be adopted, poitraits as well as landscapes
may be taken with it, and it will not Vie necessary to have
a special portrait lens for that class of work, for the
amateur will soon find that portraiture is not the least
pleasing of the uses to which he may put his apparatus.
Tt is assumed that all the necessary apparatus and
• hemicals have been obtained, and we must now describe
how they are to be used ; and it is assumed, also, that the
luiateur will commence with the wet collodion process.
I laving become expert with this, he will have comparati\"ely
little difficulty in practising the newer and quicker process
with gelatine dry plates, which will be described later.
First of all, it is necessary that the glass used sliould be
if good quality and perfectly clean. Patent plate-glass
is, of course, to be preferred : but any glass of good
|uality will answer. The glass must be perfectly
'■lean ; and, to efl'ect this, whiting or Tripoli powder
may be made into a thin paste with alcohol and water —
^ay equal parts. After the glass has been washed in
I lean water, a small quantity of the Tripoli paste may
I'l' dropped on to the glass, tlien rubbed over hotk sides of
the glass, and then rinsed otl' under a tap of running water.
The cloths nsed for drying the plate should not be used for
uiy other purpose, and should bo washed without soap.
\\ hen dry, the plates should be polished with a clean
'••ather, kept strictly for the purpose. If breathed on, it
■'. ill be seen at once whether the glass is perfectly clean,
iii-fore coating the plate with collodion, all dust should be
' Tushed of!" with a large, soft Virush, kept for the purpose.
BRAIX TROUBLES.
Ii;uiT.vi!ii,ri'v.
VMOXG the most characteristic signs of mental weari-
ness, irritability may be mentioned. We use the
\\ord rather in its technical than in its ordinary sense.
Nervous irritation may be indicated iiuite as much by
■-;loom and melancholy, as by temper or impatience. When
we find ourselves disposed to take unreasonably gloomy or
unreasonably fretful views of our afl'airs, to be troubled or
vexed (that is, made sorry or angry) by trifling matters, we
may be assured that there is something wrong with us. The
mischief may be Viodily, or it may arise from external
causes ; but usually — at any rate with those who exercise
the mind more actively than the body — the cause of the
change is mental. It is not always easy to distinguish
between these various forms of irritability. Those who are
artected by the east wind can ascertain, when they find them-
selves out of sorts, whether the wind is easterly or not; but
: probable that the mere .'iabilit be thus affected
is a sign of nervous weakness, which may result from
mental overwork.* And there are some meteorological
causes of irritability not so easily inquired into as the
influence of an easterly wind. (Has it been commonly
noticed, or is the experience exceptional in the writer's
case, that when the mind has been heavily taxed, blusterous
weather produces the etlects usually attributed to easterly
winds ?)
Again: some of the forms of irritability due to
bodily mischief are not easily distinguished from those
due to mental overwork. Thus, a case is related of
a young man noted for his gentleness, who, forming
one evening a member of a brilliant party (his com-
panions being of his own age), was (juarrelsome and
cross-grained, wrangling with, and in the end ofl'ending,
everybody in the room. Two hours after he was seized
with nephritic torments, caused by a calculus, which
did not cease to trouble him till the next day. The writer
can recall an even more striking case of the sort in his own
experience. He had Vjeen struck by his own exceeding ill-
temper (which, utterly wrong-headed though ii seemed, he
felt quite unable to control), while visiting, at the request
of several of the ]>rofessors of Yale College, the laboratories
and technological collections of that institution. He could
in no way distinguish his irritability from that which he
had learned to regard as the effect of over-work. But it
continued (though he had had and availed himself of an
opportunity for resting) for more than twenty-four hours.
Soon after (for there was an interval during which the
sense of ill-temper and despondency passed away), he was
attacked by renal tortures, which, unlike those of the
amiable young man of the previous story, lasted more than
a week, and amply justified (in the writer's opinion) all
the ill-temper he had displayed beforehand, — if at least
the disorder of the nervous system before the attack could
be measured by the intensity of the pains suffered during
the attack.
Usually, however, an indefinable feeling of irritability
and ill-temper signifies that the mind has been overworked.
So, also, does that state in which, to use a commonplace
but convenient expression, everything seems to go wrong.
In reality, we do everything wrong, though we may be
unable to recognise any diti'erence between our way of
attending to those slight matters on which the pleasant
progress of our work depends and onr customary methods.
We misplace this and upset that, tear, smear, blot, and so
forth, not because the fates are for the time being against
us, but because we are weary and overwrought (though we
may not be conscious of it), and our hands and fingers
are not under the usual control of the mind and will.
* Dr. Forbes Winslow describes a curious instance of morbid
irritability of this kind. "A military man, suffering from severe
mental dejection, was in the habit," he tells us, " of promenading
backward and forward in a certain track, towards evening, on the
rampart of the town iu which ho resided. When he walked for-
ward, his face fronted the east, where the sky was hung with black,
as was, alas ! his poor soul. Then his grief pressed doubly and
heavily upon liini ; he was hopeless and in deep despair. But when
he turned with his countenance towards the west, where the setting
sun left behind a golden stream of light, his happiness returned.
Thus he walked backward and forward, with and without hope,
alternating between joy and melancholy, ecstasy and grief, in
obedience to the baleful and benign influence[s] of the eastern anil
western sky ! " Altieri siys, in his " Memoirs," " I have observed,
by applying to my intellect an excellent barometer, that I had
greater or less genius or capacity for composition according to the
greater or less weight of the atmosphere : a total stupidity during
the solstitial and equinoctial winds ; an infinitely less perspicacity
in the evening than in the morning; and much more fancy,
enthusiasm, and invention in midsammer than in the intervening
months."
49C
KNOWLEDGE •
[Ai'kiL 7, 1882.
DOES THE LrMIXOL'S MIXTURE OF BLUE
AND YELLOW MAKE CKEEN LIGUTI
U\ l.iKrr..Coi.<iN»:i. W. A. Komi, latk H.A.
PnoFKSSOU IIKI.MIIOLT/ iinjii in a lorturo on " Tlio Roront
I'ni^rrfmi of tlio Theory of Viiiiun " (Scrond Knglinh cclilioii,
IrfinKi"""". I^'^l)- " It ■" iniiKwaiblp to mnki- n );n-i-n out of bliio
ami tpIIi'W li|(lit." Ilo iinp|K)rtii this RtronK Hlntcmont by tlio fol-
lowiiiK nivumcnt. "Tbo niniplost wny of niixin({* colonrod liK''t."
in by tlio oluii-ncr lookin); nl a blue (or yellow) wnfer placed on a
table, thn)ii({li n snmll (liit piece of kIo"", "o fixe<l u» to niflo reeeiiT
tlio relle»-te<l imin{<< of iinother yellow (or blue) wafer u little (lis-
tnnce nwiiy. If I' is the wiifiT from which rays are transmitted
thruu)(h the |;la(8, and y. that from which rays are reflected, and
if they an> pro|ierly placed, " it then apiicars as if there was a sinfrle
wafer at b, with a colour pro<luced by the mixture of the two real
ones. In this ex|ieriment, the liffht fnim h which traverses the
ulass pane, actually unites with that from J which is reflected from
it, and the two combined |ias8 on to the retina." In this way Prof,
llelniholtz finds that "the union of blue and yellow rays of light
pnHluces white."
Similarly, Prof. Rood says (" Modem Chromatics," 1879, p. 109)
•' Un>wster's theory of the existence of three fundamental kinds of
li(tht— red, yellow, and blue — is found in all except the most recent
text-books on physics, and is almost universally believed by artists.
Nevertheless, it will not bo difficult to show that it is quite without
foundation." Eliminating; a rather silly observation, that the theory
" cannot be true, because there is no such thing as colour, which is
a mere sensation ^-orying with the length of the wave producing
it," — on which basis of " argument " wc might ask why Prof. Rood
took the trouble to write a book about mixing colours, when " there
are no such things" — the "rudo" assertion is found to be sup-
ported by evidence <lerived from the same kind of experiment as
that of lielniholtz (devised by Lambert) above quoted.
Now, I do not take upon myself for a moment to assert that the
"theory" of blue and yellow lights together forming white may
not bo correct ; all I rcspcctfull}- maintain is, that facts, so far as
1 have been able to produce them, seem to point in the other, or
Browsterian, direction.
Fact 1. If we make a paste with a drop of distilled water, a
little powdcrc<l Alacantite (or pure chloride of copper) and a certain
proportion, which can be easily ascertained by experiment, of any
sodium salt, and bum this paste on a platinum wire before a blow-
pipe, we obtain a beautiful deep green flame, or coloured light ; the
green colour being evidently due to the mixture of the blue light
from the burning Atacamite, and the yellow light from the burning
soda.
Fact 2. Bend about a quarter of an ir.ch of thickish, clean, new
platinum wire at a right-angle to the rest of the wire or shank, and
hold it before the blowpipe, so that the yellow flame (afforded by
all platinum wires in such a position until they become white hot)
shall combine in a certain jiroportion with the blue, blowpipe-pyro-
conc, and you immeiiiutely obtain a distinct, though not very
" atrong," — from the minute (jnantities of the ingredients used —
green light. I ascertained this fact some years ago from some
platinum wire given to me by Messrs. Griffin & Co. to examine, as
they supposed, from this "green flame," it contained copper; but
I showed them that, not only their wire, but everybody's, could, by
the above-mentioned manipulation, be made to yield a " green
flame."
Fact 3. Chemists are aware that, by turning a gas — " Bnnsen "
— very low, the blue pyrocone suddenly becomes green, just before
the little explosion takes place which extinguishes it. The cause of
this green colour is soon ascertained to bo the burning of a certain
proportion of " sodium " (contained in the air admitted) to the blue
Bunnon-pyrocone ; for, if we admit an excess of air to the
" Hansen" in full power, we find the blue "flame" almost com-
pletely yellowed. There ore other ways of ])roducing a green light
from the mixture of blue and yellow lights by direct combustion ;
B«, for instance, by introducing a rather moist piece of wood into a
cool fire " burning blue," as a friend and I deliberately effected
the other nii;hl at his house in Pliillimore-gardens ; but the above
will suffice, do far, to disprove Ilelmholtz's assertion.
Fact 4. Let us now focus, in a semi-darkened room with open
window, but Venetian blind down, a sunbeam admitted through an
uptamol lath, by means of a biggish lens (I used the object-glass
of a lorgnette of 2 in. diameter, when I discovered the fact last
<1ctol>er) U|M)n the face of a glass prism held perpendicular to tho
lH?ani. Instead of a spectrum on the wall, which the beam, without
• Qnery : Docs this process really " mix " lights ? 1 should like
to SCO this proved.
the interposition of the Innii, orcoJiions, wc find the sunbeam con-
tinued within tho prism, but of a brilliant gram green colour;
although bubbles and other objects in the path of the green Ijcam
through the glass, reflect white light. This curious effect seems to
ine to be the result of the elimination of the least refrangible, or
reil mys, from tho beam in its passage thmugh the glass (for ony-
sliapcd, if mo<lemtely deep, piece of glass will do, but a mirror will
not do), liecause, from their less elasticity when thus concentrated
by tho lens on the face of the refracting medium, they refuse to bo
bent like the other more refrangible rays (blue and yellow), and
thus take up a different path from those ; i.e., are reflected and dis-
persed. The blue and yellow rays, left to pursue their path througk
the glass alone, combine to form green.
Your knowledge of mathematical optics will enable yon to detei^
mine whether my ignorance of that subject is causing me to " talk
nonsense " or not ; but the above is the only explanation which
occurred to mo of this remarkable phenomenon when I observed
it last October. Anyhow, the fact is, I believe, quite a new
fact in optics ; and, as the same jihenomcnon may occur when-
ever solar rays are collected by a lens for delivery upon a
prism, as in most spectroscopes, although not with sufficient in-
tensity to make it visible, as in the ease of focussing, it would be
very interesting to ascertain, by some optical analyzing process,
whether the fact may not have affected spectroscopic results as now
received ?
Viewed from Top.
From Front.
In these rough figures, tho small white circle lepresents tlio
focussed sunbeam impinging upon the face of a glass prism in
various positions. The shaded lines show the poth of the beam,
now changed to a green colour, within the prism. The dotted lines
are intended to represent those sides of the prism which are seen
thrnujh it.
A common glass globular paper-weight is an excellent medium
for the exhibition of this phcnomenoD.
Pojtd's Extract \9 » c«rt*in
Pond's Kxtrapt is a c<»r1«in ci
Pon.V« ?:xtr«cl i» a (HTliiin ci
Fond'a E\tr>rt will hval Bun
PoDd'i EilrKt will cure Sprains and BniisM.
Sold bj all Chemiels. Get tbe genuine.
re for Rheamatinn and Govt.
for Hirmorrhoida.
for Xeiiralpic pains,
and Wounds.
April 7, 1882.J
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
495
WEATHER DIAGRAM.
FOR WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 1.
Statiaii
DyrfWeA
0 3 ii
CD.g
flMTWiT'F S
eiMlTiW.TiFiS
Ikilllllll
bbp cboo
C
. I
LIVERPOOL
boo o cmo
000
piMlTlWiTlFls
LI
>fTi-/!
o b c dblab
r J
5
00000
VALENCIA
BiMjT W'TiFlS
JIKU
coo ob r c
1 1 1 1
Weather. — Veau/ort .SVaJe is, b. bine sky; c. detached clouds;
d. drizzling rain ; f. fog; g. dark, gloomy ; h. hail; I. lightning;
m. misty (hazy); o. overcast; p. passing showers ; q. squally; r.
rain ; s. snow ; t. thunder ; u. ugly, threatening ; T. visibility, un-
asual transparency ; w. dew.
AMALGAMS.
OPINION is still divided with regard to the nature of amalgams,
some considering them to be isomorphous mechanical mix-
tures, others true chemical compounds. The former ^new derives
support from those cases in which amalgamation is associated with
an absorption of heat, as in the solution of a salt or in dilution of
a solution ; the latter is supported by the fact that many amalgams
are formed with a strong development of heat. A contribution to
the subject has been lately made by Herren Merz and Weith, in the
Berlin Chemical Society. These chemists have investigated whether,
with regular heating, amalgams part with their mercury con-
tinuously or in distinct gradations.
The experiments consisted in placing the amalgam in a porcelain
dish within a glass tube, contracted below, and inclosed in a second
tube, having a bulb at its lower end. This bulb of the outer tube
contained the snbstance of the vapour-bath (sulphur, mercury, or
diphenylamine). To guard the amalgam from air, a lively current
of an indifferent gas was passed through the interior tube while the
experiment lasted. The amalgams used, which were always directly
produced by kno«Ti methods, contained on an average 60 to 80 per
cent, of mercury. This heating was continued, wherever possible,
until after several hours no decrease of weight (or hardly any) was
perceptible. There were examined gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, bis-
muth, zinc, cadmium, sodium, and ])otassium amalgams. The results
tor the first eight are very briefly communicated, those for the last
two, whose ea.sy oxidability required special precautions, more
fully. In the case of those alkali amalgams, the authors also
sought to determine the melting points, but, for certain reasons,
very accurate results were not reached. In general the melting
points of the amalgams rise at first very quickly with the propor-
tion of alkali metal, then gradual!}' fall. It was thus obsen-ed th".t,
when mercury is heated under paraffin to 250°, and then some
sodium is added in ])ortions, the whole mass solidifies with four to
five per cent, of sodium ; but with further addition of some per-
centages the mass fuses completely.
The results of their investigation are summed up by the authors
as follows : — A survey of the results described shows, for a series
of amalgams, that even with moderate heating they do not furnish
determinate compounds.
The amalgams of gold, silver, copper, bismuth, lead, tin, zinc,
and cadmium lose their mercury entirely, or nearly so even at or
under the boiling temperature of mercury. Where no mercury re-
mained, the cause is to be sought rather in a mechanical exclusion
than in a chemical action. But, on the other hand, the easy de-
composability of these amalgams evidently offers no proof that
there are no chemical compounds in them.
For the rest, if we consider the great variability of amalgams,,
together with the fact that, in squeezing the so-called mercury
solutions of metals, these latter do not remain behind, but certain
mercury compounds, the view acquires the greatest probabilitv',
that at least very many amalgams may be, indeed, molecular com-
binations, but in fixed relations.
ilost pronounced does chemism appear to be in the amalgams of
potassium and sodium. They lose their mercury extremely slowly,
even at the boiling point of sulphur, as also in a gas current, and
so in cii'cumstances highly favourable to removal of mere mixed
substances. The remarkable relations, too, as regards the meltiag
point, seem to speak for the presence of true chemical compounds.
Probably these amalgams, at a comparatively low, as well as at a
high temperature, consist of different compounds, none of which,
however, have a durable existence, and therefore recurrent, fixsd
relations of composition are not to be met with. Alkali-metal
amalgams of fixed composition wonld probably be obtained on jiro-
duction of larger quantities of amalgam ; perhaps also by heating
considerably above the boiling temperature of mercury. — Scientijie
Aynerican.
Eea.so.n'int. Power in an Indian Crow. — Some years ago I sat
with my partner in the verandah of our ofilce at tiffin. Our regular
guest, a broken-legged crow, sat on the window sill. In the bread
basket was a piece of crust dried by the land wind as hard as a
brick bat. I threw it to the crow who picked at it many times, but
found it much too hard for his beak. He then evidently sat him-
self to find a remedy for so sad a state of things. He looked at it
with his head on one side, then he took another view of it from the
other side, and seemed faii'ly puzzled. All at once a bright thought
struck him, he seized the crust, flew with it to tlxe washhand basin
in the corner, shook the morsel well for a minute in the water, flew
back to his old place on the sill and gobled up the now soft crust
triumphantly. If that did not betoken reason I do not know what
could. — Kah Kah.
St'ssE.K Akch.eological Society. — An interesting addition has
just been made to the already large collection of antiquities in the
possession of the society, deposited in Lewes Castle. It consists of
a cinerary urn, probably of the British- Romano period, about nine
inches in height. The vessel is of sun-dried clay, and about seven
inches in diameter at its widest part, the mouth being about five
inches. It was discovered by some labourers engaged in flint
digging on Mr. Homcwood's farm, at Jevington, a few days ago.
They were working at the foot of Jevington-hill, and came ujxm
several urns embedded in a quantity of loose flints, lying about two
feet below the surface of the down land. There were no tumuli or
other outward indications that the spot had been used as a burying-
place. Unfortunately, the greater part of these relics were destroyed
by the picks of the labourers before the nature of the discovery
became apparent. One, however, reniained intact, and this fact
was communicated to the hon. sees, of the society, who at once
organised an expedition to the spot. The visit was made on
Wednesday, and the " find" carried off in triumph. Those present
were the Kev. W. Powell, the Rev. P. de Putron, Mr. R. Crosskey
Mr. J. C. Lucas, and Mr. Griftith.
498
- KNOWLEDGE •
[AriiiL 7, 1882.
8ILVERED-GLASS TELESCOPES.
HAVIN(i lin'l till- liiTt Hilvcml-KliiM (i-lri<.n|ie niiiilo l>v Mr.
MrowniiiK Willi ii Willi iiiiiTur, my i.'i|H'rifiico ia Iuiikit limn
tliiit if iiiukI utlii'i-a ill tliin ciMiiilry. 'i'lif iii8lruiiiriit wna um-il fur
iiiuiir yoiini Oil ilio iiurtli aiiii' of l.uiiilun, nml fur tlio limt lliirti-cii,
tir no, ill llic cuunlry. I liiiil tin- nilrvriii); limlii well fur live ur nix
yearn, niul llivn nliout oiu'-tiftli uf llii' li^lit in lust by purliutm tiiut
liiit-c cuiiio uff in till' nm-, liiil orciiniutial, rulibiiiK" nilli a dry luft
IcallitT. The ailvpriiiK niiiat uii nu iiccuiiiil lie touclieil uiiIlsh it in
Itrrfrclly dry. An apivKruiirc of tiirniali will umiiilly vnnisli liy
■■iixwurv to tho sun on ii wuriii dny. I iiuver fuuiid ival tiiriiisli,
osyilutiun, or «ul|>liuiimitiun orciir lu givu truiililu, even in I.uiiduli.
The mouth of the tt'Uwu|)i'-tubo is i-overod when tlie instru-
ment ia not in uac, but no cuver Iiuh been put over the mirror
itaclf. Aa com|>nred with a refroclur of the same size, tho
<lividin^ power in eipml in i;oo<l wciither; the light, uf course, is
loM. My first observatory wiis coni|>osoil of {,''"'•»''' saslies ; the
.Mccond of cnnvnoa, strvtched on n wooden frunic, strcnfithencd with
T iron. In both, the ititemiil temiieruture differs little from the
external when the ihiirs are open. 'I'liis ia of j;roat importance. 1
have known several vexatious failures of good instruments iu obser-
vatories with thick wails. Kctieeturs arc mure easily affected in this
way than refmolors. The Xe>vluuiun pattern, and moderate length
of tube, enables nearly all observations to be made in convenient
nttitudcs, which is fur from beinj; the case with refractors. The
observer should have a stool to stand upon, so as to bring the eye to
tho level of the eye-piece when the telescope points to tlio zenith;
and another to sit upon, about as hi^'h us a chair, for a Gin. or 6-in.
instrument, with tho top on a sliding; tube, that can be fixed at dif-
ferent heights by a cross-piece. The construction is : one square
tube intide another; a series of slots on two opposite sides of the
inner one, and one slot on each corresjioiiding side of the outer
one. f'.r till' crcws-pice t.i run throujjh. Ue.vky J. Slai K.
UisToRY or Inebriety .\s a Disease. — Under this title, a com-
nmnication appears in the Oelroit Medical Revieiv, from the pen of
Dr. Crothers, of Hartford, Conn. Uc points out that inebriety was
recognised as a disease, lonfr before insanity was thought to be
other than sjiiritual tnadness — or a possession of the devil. This
disease was hinted at in au early age of the world, and is by no
means a modem idea. (.)n an old jiapyrus found in one of the
tombs of Egypt, dating back to a very ancient period, was a very
significant passage referring to an inebriate who had failed to keep
sober. Many of the sculptures of Thebes and Egypt exhibit ine-
briates in the act of receiving physical treatment from their slaves,
such as purgatives, rubbings, or applications to the head anil spine.
Herodotus, live centuries before tho Christian era, wrote " that
drunkenness showed that both tho body and soul were sick."
Diodiima and I'lutarch assert " that drink madness is an affection
of tho body which hath destnn'ed many kings and noble people."
Many of the Greek |iliiIusophers recognised the physical character
of inebriety, and the hereditai-y influence or tendencies which
were transmitted to the next generation. Laws were enacted
forbidding women to use wine, and young boys were re-
stricted. In the first century of the Christian era, St. John Chrv-
sostom urged that inebriety was a disease like dyspepsia, and
illustrated his meaning by many (|uaint reasonings. This was the
first cleor distinctive rccognisntion of the disease which had been
hinted at long Ijofore. In the next century .\|i]jian, the Konian
jurist, referred to the irresponsible character of inebriates, and the
necessity of treating them as sick men. Many of the early and
later writers of Koniaii civilisation contain references to drunkenness
iva a bodily disorder, not controllable beyond a certain point, which
resulted in veritable madness. Little reference was made tu this
theory until the thirteenth century, when one of th« Kings of Spain
4-nactod laws fully reci'gnising inebriety as a disease lessening tho
pnnishincnt of crime rummiited when under the influence of spirits.
In the siiteenth coiitury the penal codes of Fiance and many of
tlip (tcmian States contained enactments which recognised the
disease charnctor of inebriety. All punishment for crime com-
mitted dnrinir this state varied according to the condition of the
prisoner at the time. In 1747 Condilluc, a French philosopher,
wrote expressing clear views of the disease of inebriety, also that
tho Ktato ahonhl recognise and proviile means for its treatment. Uo
nnwrted that the impulse to drink was, like insanity, an affection of
the brnin which could net U- reached by law or religion. Dr. Ben-
jamin Uush, of I'hilndelphin, in 175HJ,' act forth the same theory,
aopported by a long train of reasoning. To him belongs the honour
of timt einbirating this subject and outlining what has been accopte-.l
half a ceiilur after. —Jfi-iliftt/ I'resn flnj Circular
PREHISTORIC RESEARCH IN RUSSIA.
AT the meeting of the Imperial Ocogrnjihical Society of 8t,
I'cteraburg, Nov. 10, Ih'll, an account was given of tl
expedition of i\. Malakhof, whose anthropological invest igatiom,
which were Krminatcd in October last, )iad for their principal
object the examination of the caves of pn-histuric man discovcrcJ b;
him in IKSO, and the search fortraces of primitive cultivation in t"
8uutliern Oural, a region previously unexplored from this [loint of,
view. Ill Ilia journey he examined the diatricts of Urjum and Velfl'
bugn, in the government of Viatka, a large [lortiou of that of Pei
and the Troitsk district in Orenburg. In the first-named district hi
discovered, near tlie village of Verobieva, prehistoric remains, in
eluding a number of objects in metal and bone, and fragments of
clay vases. The bones were those of the deer, bear, wild l>oar, Ijeaver,
horse, 4c. In the Ciovcrnments of Peru and Orenburg, M. Malakhol
explored a number of caverns without success, bat he was mi
fortunatu in his researches on the shores of the Aiataky, Shiguircl
and Vurinsky lakes, and the rivers Sliass and Isseta where ho made'
a large collection of arms of polished silex and objects in bone, clayv
bronze, and iron. These results lead to the conclusion that in thi
Oural region, the jiassage from the stone to tho metal age tool
place in a wholly independent manner owing to the abundance ol
the metals. In one tumulus he found a skeleton with heavy coppci
ornaments, and in other excavations he met with a considcrabli
number of bronze idols, amulets, and articles of gold. 31. Malakhol
has also copied the red hieroglyphic inscriptions found on roc'
along various rivers. Tliis find of pure copper articles iu Siberia,^
in addition to those recently in Switzerland, renders it probable)'
that there may have been a pure "copper age" before that of'
bronze, as tlioiight by some anthropologists. '
A Mkmiikr of tue Society ok Bibliolocicai. ABCB.toLOGV.
Speech amongst Fowis. — As Lieutenant-Colonel Souzel and soma'
correspondents still keep the subject of animals and their doings to'
the fore, I scud the following : — Some years ago I saw two yoong^
cockerels lighting iu an out-of-theway comer of a large poultiy-
yard. A hen, ]irobabIy the anxions mother of one of the young
heroes, came U|), and, by voice and action, did her best to put an end
to the encounter, but without success. She then went away, and
presently returued, bringing with her a fine cock. The new-comer
made straight for the combatants, who were again hard at it,-
adniinistered a few vigorous pecks, and walked off with his loving
spouse, leaving the youngsters very crestfallen and as peaceable as
quakers. The cock's appearance on the scene was not accidental,
the hen having gone to the other side of the yard, about thirty Tarda
off, to find him, and having come back- beside him, almost arm-iib»
arm with him [!] This, coupled with the fact that, on his arrirsQ
he seemed to know exactly what to do, seems to point to some fair^
well-developed means of communication between fowls, though
unfortunately. I either could not see or did not notice, whatactuallj
took place at the meeting. The incident itself is ludicrously human^
and is, in fact, an .."Esop's fable in real life for little boys just out"
growing the nursery. — Kosemo.nt Geary.
Intehigenx'E i.n Swaxs. — The following extract from Yarrell'd
History of Birds may interest your readers. Mr. Varrell writesi
— " I am indebted to the kindness of Lord Braybrooke for th
following account of a female swan on the river at Bishop's StoK
ford. This swan ( Cygn us olor) was eighteen or nineteen years oU
had brought uj) many broods, and was highly valued by the neighnl
hours. She exhibited, some eight or nine years past, one of th« [
most remarkable instances of the jiowers of instinct that was over
recorded. She was sitting on four or five eggs, and was observed
to bo very busy iu collecting weeds, grasses, Ac., to raise her nest; I
a farming-man was ordered to take down half a load of haulm, with I
which she most industriously raised her nest and the eggs 2i ft. ; [
that very night there came down a tremendous fall of rain, which |
flooded all the malt-shops and did great damage. Man made no pre-
paration, the liii< did. Instinct prevailed over reason. Uereggsl
were above, and only just alx>ve, tho water." — (Brit. Birds. 111.,
p. 207, 208. Second Edition.) Two phenomena present themselves '
liere. (I) The prescience in the bird of iini>ending rain ; (2) the
means adopted by the bird to juxivide for the security uf lier nest and
eggs. The first question may be, perhaps, mainly independent of any |
ilirect conscious mental emotion, and may be due. as suggested by
Yarrell, to the susceptibility of the feathery covering of the bird to
atnios'iherie electrical changes, and whot we call iii.<(inr( may have
foretold impending rain ; but I do not see how we can intei-jii-et the
swan's act in providing for the safety of her nest, otherwise than b)
attributing it to direct ivosonin; power. — W. Hotonrox.
April 7, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
499
MORNIXG WORK.
PKRU.VPS, on tlie wliole, moderately early rising is now a
cnmmoner practice in cities than it was forty years ago. It
seems strange that the liabit of lying in bed hours after the sun is
up should ever have obtained a liold on the multitude of brain-
workers, as undoubtedly it had in times past. Hour for iiour, the
intellectual work done in the early morning, when the atmosphere
is as yet unpoisoned by the breatli of myriads of actively-moving
creatures, must be, and, as a matter of Cfpei-ience, is incomparably
better than that done at night. The liabit of writing and reading
late in the day and far into the night, " for the sake of quiet," is
one of tiie most mischievous to which a man of mind can addict
himself. When the body is jaded, the spirit may seem to bo at
rest, and not so easily distracted by the surroundings which we
think less obtrusive than in the day; bnt this .■-'wiiiwi;; is a snare.
When the body is weary, the brain, which is an integral part of the
body, and the mind, which is simply brain function, are weary too.
If we persist in working one part of the system because some other
part is too tired to trouble us, that cannot be wise management of
self. The feeling of tranquility which comes over the busy and
active man about 1030 or 11 o'clock ought not to bo regarded as
an incentive to work. It is, in fact, the effect of a lowering
of vitality consequent on the exhaustion of the physical sense.
Xature wants and c.iUs f 3r physiological rest. Instead of comply-
ing with her reasonable demand, the night-worker hails the " feel-
ing " of mental quiescence, mistakes it for clearness and acuteness,
and whips the jaded organism with the will until it goes on working.
What is the result 'i Immediately, the accomplishment of a task
fairly well, but not half so well as if it had been performed with
tlie vigour of a refreshed brain working in health from proper sleep.
Remotely, or later on, comes the penalty to be paid for unnatural
exertion — that is. energy wrung from exhausted or weary nerve
centres under pressure. This penalty takes the form of " nervous-
ness," perhaps sleejdessness, almost certainly some loss or deprecia-
tion of function in one or more of the great organs concerned in
nutrition. To relieve these maladies -springing from this unsus-
pected cause — the brain-worker very likely lias recourse to the use
<pf stimulants, possibly alcoholic, or it may be simply tea or coffee.
The sequel need not be followed. Xiglit work during student life
and in after years is the fruitful cause of much unexplained, though
by no means inexplicable, suffering, for which it is difficult, if not
impossible, to 6nd a remedy. Surely morning is thK time for work,
when the whole body is rested, the brain relieved from its tension,
and mind power at its best. — Lancet.
A PANTHER TX VERMONT.
EU. n.," in tlie Hri^n'i/ic .liiifrt'raii, writes as follows:— It
• seems to me not improper that some mention should be
made in your columns of the remarkable specimen of pum.a {Felis
roncolor, L.) which was recently killed in the town of Barnard,
A'ennont. We are not surprised at the stories related by our fore-
fathers of hunting wolves, bears, panthers, and other large animals
on spots long since thickly settled by man, nor at the strange ex-
periences of the woodsman when his axe was first heard to ring in
the primeval forest. It is not an uncommon thing, indeed, now, for
such animals as deer, catamounts, or bears to be shot or trapped in
many towns on the northern border of New England ; but when a
full-gi-own puma, one of the most savage of wild animals on our
continent, is taken jirowling about the outskirts of a town, in a
State which is .settled to such an extent as Vermont, we are enabled
to realise the condition of the wilderness as it onco was, and the
naturo of those animals with which it was denizened.
The circumstances of this remarkable hunt are as follows : —
Some boys, who lived in Barnard, went out after partridges on
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 1881. They soon discovered the fresh
tracks of some large animal, and on following a short distance
crossed their own path. Being frightened at this circumstance,
and also from catching a glimpse of the animal, they hastened back
to the house of a neighbour, who soon accompanied them, armed
with a shotgun, together with his son, who carried a rifle. They
presently sighted their game, which they cliased to a thicket, where
it was dislodged several times, but finally shot. On dragging the
animal out, what was at first thought to be a bear proved to be a
female panther of the largest size, measuring 7 J feet from tip to
tip. and weighing nearly 200 pounds. It would seem strange at first
that the animal was not .mere savage, that he did not charge his
pursuers, and kill them at once. This may, however, be partially
accounted for from the fact, as afterwards appeared, that it had
made its supper on two sheep in Pomfret only the night before."
This is the second or third of the species killed in the State
since the beginning of the century, an<l in all probability it will be
the last. The animal was in fine condition, being in its new fur, and
showing no signs of having been previously trapped or wounded.
The upper right canine was truncated at about the middle, but this
might have been done in a skirmish when the puma was young. In
general, the colour of the upper parts was tawny-yellow, with u
darker wash of the same along the (lorsal line, on the tip of the
tail, the ears, and face. The whole animal presents in a striking
and exaggerated manner the form and features of the ordinary
domestic cat. The tail is straight and larger in diameter at the
base, the nock short, the ears erect and pocketed. The dentition
is precisel}' similar, the canines being conical, and rising an incli
or more from the jaws. The ])aws are 7 in. wide when the fingers
are spread, and conceal a very formidable set of claws.
This panther is supposed to have made the town and vicinity
where it was taken, its home for seven or eight years, and on
several occasions has been seen or heard from. One hundred and
thirty sheep have probably fallen victims to its rajiacious maw as
the town records would indicate.
JELLY FISH.
AYEAl? ago the Duke of Argyll made a famous mot, comparing
the Ministry to jelly-fish, " who fancy they swim, while they
only float." As the learned author of the '■ Kcign of Law" has
made so great an error, I fancy it must be general. Jelly-fish
(marjouilles) cannot, indeed, dart about like fish proper, but they
can swim, I should say, about two miles an hour. Their .slowness is
compensated by a faculty which enables them to know, if near a
lee shore, that the)' must swim against the wind — otherwise they
will be stranded, and die. But this faculty docs not servo them so
far as to announce an oppoxitc shore. Thus, after a N.E. gale here,
tlie shore is strewn with hundreds of jelly-fish, often 2 ft. in
diameter. These were .all, when the gale began, off the coast of
Noismontier (to S.W.) ten miles away. They began to swim away
from that lee shore, and after several hours' intelligent exertion,
are lost at last (poor finite things ! ) on the ivindu-ard coast of the
bay. The fishennen say that a galo here kills, in this way, nearly
all the margouilleK, on one coast or the other, and that for a long
time hardly any are in the sea at all ; whereas on an open coast
they almost all effect their escape. They are not afraid of shallow
water, if calm ; I have often watched them, and touched them with
hand or foot in batliing. They are slightly electric, leaving a sting
or tingling on the skin.
It is said the glow-worm is always female, i.p., the (winged) male
has no light. Tliis is not so. I have seen them crawling on the
Boor in the dark— a spot of light like the point of a match — and
on bringing a light have found a male glow-worm. Some worms —
centipedes — emit a most brilliant light when crushed.
H.AI.I.Y.ARDS.
INTELLIGENCE IN BIRDS.
IH.^VE not said asything about the crows, which are a feature
of Yezo, and one which the colonists would willingly dispense
with. There arc millions of them, and in many places they break
the silence of the silent land wJth a Babel of noisy discords. They
are everywhere, and have attained a degree of most unpardonable
impertinence, mingled with a cunning and sagacity which almost
put them on a level with man in some circumstances. Five of them
were so imjradent as to alight on two of ray horses, and so be ferried
across the Yui-apugawa. In the inn-garden at Mori I saw a dog
eating a piece of carrion in the presence of several of these covetous
birds. They evidently said a good deal to eac h other on the subject,
and now and then ono or two of them tried to pull the meat away
from him, which he resented. At last a big strong crow succeeded
in tearing off a piece, with which he returned to the jjine where tho
others were congregated, and after much earnest speech they all
surrounded tho dog, and the leading bird dexterously droiqied the
small piece of meat within reach of his mouth, when he immediately
snapped at it, letting go tho big piece unwisely for a second, on
which two of the crows flew away with it to the pine, and with much
fluttering and hilarity they all ate, or rather gorged it, the deceived
dog looking vacant and bewildered for a moment, after which he
Bat under the tree and barked at them inanely. A gentleman told
me that ho saw a dog holding a piece of meat in like manner in the
presence of throe crows, which also vainly tried to tear it from him,
and after a consultation they separated, two going as near as they
dared to the meat, while the third gave the tail a bite sharp enough
to make dog turn round with a squeal, on which the other villains
seized the meat, and the three fed triumphantly upon it on the top
of a wall. In man places they are so aggressive as to destro
500
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[April 7, 1882
crop*, iinlpaa lli''«'nrp pmlorlwl liy nottiiijf. Tlipy niuonilili' on the
■mm Iwrka nf linrai'ii niul pirk llii<m inin liolna, nml iirv niiarhiovnaR
ill many wbx. 'I'lioy nn- vi'n- Intc in t!">"lt •" ri>o«t, nml iid' I'nrly
iMlir in t)i» niorniti^r, nml nro Kn IkiIiI tlint tlicy oflon rnmo " with
nmny n ulnlily llirt nml lliKtor " iiiln IliK vcmnrlah nhori' I won
■iltini;. I m-vrr nnt<lii'<l nn n.<ii<iMiililnKi- iif Ihrni f(ir nny li-ii^rth of
timn wilhiiiil lifiiiif ronvinrol tlmt tlifro wnn a Ni-stor nniniif^ thrm
to li'ml llii'ir niiiri-nKMitii. Aliiii){ the fii'n-iihon< thoy nri> very
nniiininir. for lhi'y"tnki' llio nir " in the rvoninfr. xontoil nn iinnil-
linnka fnrini; t)ii> niiiil, with their miiiitha npon. They nr<' thrcnt-
i>ninj{ to <li'voiir thp K'ttlrm, nml n irimndo ia jiiat now lK'in)f wn({cd
nsninnl thoin, hut their imiiio in I^K>"n- (" Unbeaten Truck« in
Jnpnn," vol. ii., p. IMI.) — From Salare.
I'AIKV "FOLKLORE" OF SHETLAND.
LIKK nil of the i-lnns to which the innjoritv of thorn hi'Ionp, the
Shptlnmlcr« arc slronRly inihuiHl with a holicf in the Rujjer-
imtiiml. They seem half axlianiecl to confess it, hut the fact is soon
iliscnvercd hy tljuse who have nny intercourse with them. Many of
their nuperstitioiisare of Scandinavian origin, and have been hnndcd
down from their Norse ancestors.
The principal character in all their poblin tales is the drow, or
fairy, a beiiip supposed to linvo great power and ninlignity, and
capable of doing great harm both to men and cattle. The diows
are Ijolieve*! to inhabit knolls or hillocks, and when a person meets
them, if he has not a Bible in his pocket, he must draw a circle
round about him and say, "InUod's name, keep back." In paralysis
thodrowsare saiii to have taken away the affected limb, and to
have put a log of wood in its place, the entire absence of sensation
in the diseased member being adduced as proof of the assertion.
C<msumption is said to be owing lo their taking away the heart,
and this complaint is thought to be cured by dropping molted lead
into water till a triangular )>iece is obtained, which is hung round
the patient's neck, and placed as near as possible to where his heart
onght to be.
Within the last few years witches, or wise women, have been
consulted in reg-.ird to ca'cs of sickness, by men apparently pos-
sessed of good sound sense, and some of them even elders of the
Kirk. The advice given is a sort of charm, similar to tho.se im-
puted to the witches of the seventeenth century, to which there are
many allusions in the various Presbytery records of the period.
Touching for the king's evil is still a devout article of faith in
Shetland ; but in order to be effectual it must be gone about with a
certain degree of ceremony. A silver coin of Charles II., one of a.
small number e.\pres8ly manipulated by the merry monarch for the
purpose, and bestowed on some favourite from whom they found
their way into these islands, is first laid upon the ntllictcd person's
tongue, and then carefully passed over the nffectcd jmrt, in the case
of a male, by the third or Ecventh daughter ; in that of a female by
the third or seventh son, of a family belonging to one father and
mother. In going through this process great precaution must bo
used lest the iiersim 0|)erated upon should obtain a sight of the
coin, for then the spell would be broken. We have heard it
repeatedly affirmed that those who have been treated in this
manner, and according to proper form, have invariably been cured.
and great regret expressed that the only remaining" coin in the
island invested with this healing virtue is lost, and cannot be
recovered.
There are also many superstitions connected with the sea. When
they arc about to set out to the haaf, they think it unlucky to meet
a minister, to call anything by its right name, to make a false step,
or to do anything else that may be ominous of trouble and disaster.
Should nny of these accidents occur, they will turn back and refuse
to venture, although the weather bo propitious, the sen calm, and
everything else favourable for the expedition. When at sea the
minister is called the " upstander," or the " lodar," the manse is de-
nominated the '• liKhir's still lioil," nnd the kirk the " banie house ; "
every part of the boat's furniture in like manner receiving a change
of np|>ellntion.
The iH'lii'f in omens nnd jmrtents is carried in Shetland to a greater
extent th.in one would imagine. Talking to a man one day, we hap-
pended to mention the fact of our having seen a lamb which hud
been dn>ppe<l ver>- early in the season. To our surprise, he suddenly
l)ocnmc very gnive. but said nothing. The reason for this change
m his demeanour turned out to be an inipressiim that enrlv-dropped
lambs were " no cnnny," nnd were ominous of evil. '• fko folk nt
Hargnetter." he snid. nfier n thoughtful silence, "had a lamb
tiropiwd on New Venr's Day, nnd their son was killed by falling over
the banks the same year."
The strange reluctance to save a drowning man. from the wild
nnd absurd notion that to do so would be to incur the certainty of
receiving some wrong or injury at hi« hands, and which is so well
inlriMhued into Kir Wnltej- Scott's novel of " Tlio I'iratc," if it ever
was common in Shetland, is now everywhere extinct, and there is
not a man in the islands who would hesitate to do all in his jiower
to aid a fellow-creature if lie saw him in peril from the waves. It
is lo be ho|)cd that all such baneful sujterstitionB will soon dis-
np]ienr before the advance of education.
A. W., IN "Tiir, Antiqi-abiax WUojizixe."
Diphtheria Commi sic.^ted by Cats. — Dr. William Bnnce, of
Oherlin, (•., sends o report of the following cases to the Seio
Ynrk Medical Recnril. March 4 :— On May 1, 1»»H1, ho was called to
see a boy four years of age, of (Jerman parentage, and one of six
children ; he was found to have di|)hthcria. On the following day
the youngest daughter, two years of age, presented symptoms of
the same disease, and on the next day the father and two more
children were attacked. After this date all the other members of
the family, except the eldest boy. contracted the disea.se. A
thorough examination of the house elicited no source of con-
tagion, but in the bam a cat was found having the characteristic
lesions of diphtheria. On inquirv-, he ascertained that this cat
during its period of sickness had been played wth bv the
children. On August 20, 1881, he saw. with his son. Dr. W. C.
Bnnce, a lady, eighteen years of age. wlio had diphtheria of a
very severe type, which terminated fatally on the third day. In a
short time the disease developed in the mother and remaining two
daughters. A half-grown cat in the room was found to have well-
marked diphtheritic membrane in the throat; it was also ascer-
tained that its mother and four other kittens had been in the same
condition. The girls had endeavoured to cure the cats by removing
the deposit, in this way exposing themselves to the contagious
influence of the disease. After the recovery of these cases, and the
removal of the diseased animals, the spread of the disease ceased.
He thinks it fair, therefore, to conclude that the diseased condition
of the cats was the cause of the diphtheritic manifestations in the
cases reported. Mention is made of these cases as they are of
importance in the consideration of comparative medicine.
The Welsh TT. — Wc have a fixed and settled conviction that the
English language is the very best language in existence, and that
all foreign tongues whatsoever are mere lingoes, wholly unworthy
of our sublime consideration. Now there is no doubt a great deal
of sound truth in this view ; for even French and German i)hilo-
logists have been known to hoh* that English, because of its relative
simplicity and logical development, its freedom from the childish
fetters of gender and inflection, will ultimateh- become the common
medium of intercourse for the whole world. But our firm and
profound belief in the absolute superiority of our oivn tongue has
always made us very disdainful of other people's. There is a
genuine substratum of reality in the old joke about that typical
.lohn Bull who wouldn't learn French to talk to the mossoos,
but thought the mossoos niight learn English if they wanted
to talk to him. This universal English feeling, however,
seems to reach its culminating point when the foreign
language with which we have to deal is Welsh. Most
" Sa.^ons " have a congenital horiiir and dread of the Cymric
tongue, which they absurdly declare to be full of consonants and
absolutely unpronounceable. As a matter of fact, Welsh is far
softer and more vocal than our own harsh Teutonic speech, for it
lies about lialf-way between English and Italian, so far as the
relative predominance of vowels or consonants is concerned : and
lest my reader should view this para-ioxical statement with suspicion,
taking me for a Welshman in disguise. I hasten to add that I am
not in any way connected with Wales, and that I shared all the
common Saxon prejudices on this matter myself until I began to
learn a smattering of Welsh for philological purposes. Almost
all the terror and mystery of those awesome combinations
of letters which are wont so greatly to frighten us is remove*
in a moment, as soon as people have discovered the simi>le
fact that ic is a vowel, and not a consonant, its phonetic
value being merely that of our own no. Cwm and Drws look very-
terrible indeed until one knows that they are jn-onounced like
Combe and Dnice j while the fearsomeness of Llwch disappears
entirely as soon as we recognise that it is nothing more than the
Scotch Loch in nn unfamiliar guise. Yet. in spite of the perfect
transparency and regularity of Cymric phonetic spelling, ten thou-
sand English tourists continue every yctr to talk about those jaw-
hr(*aking long Welsh names, which aiv utterly unpronounceable hy
English lips merely because they have never taken the trouVile to
get up the most elementnrj' rules of the language, as they would get
up a little (ierman before going up the Rhine, or a little Italian
before trj-ing a winter at Bome or Florence. — From " Some English
Place Names" in the Coniliill Haautinc for November.
April
1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
501
Ifttns to tl)t eiJitor.
{The Editor does not hold him*elf rerponzibU for fhfopiniotig of his eorrefponden/t.
Be cannot undertake to return manufrripfr or to corrftpond vUh their vrifert. All
ecmmunir.itioni thould be at ahort oji potrible, consistently icith /ull ajid clear state-
ment)! of the ttriter's meaning.]
All Editorial com munic alio ns should be addrested to the Editor o/ K>-owlbdgB;
all BuMinets communications to the Publishers, at the Office^ 71. Great Queen-
Ktreet, JT.C.
All liemit/ancea. Cheques, and Pott-QMce Orders should be made paaable to
Messrs. nyman 4" Son,. ^ "
*,' Alt letters to the Editor vill be Xumbsred. For convenience of reference,
eorrf*pontients, when referrinrj to arty letter, viil oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on ichich it appears.
All Letters or Queriet to the Editor tehirh require attention in the current is»ue of
EmowlbDGB, thould reach the Publishing OJice notlaterthan the Saturday preceding
the day of publication* ^^^^^
(I.) Letters to have A chance of appearing muBt be concise; they must be drawn
op in the form adopted for letters here, bo that thev may go untouched to the
printers : private communication'), therefore, as well as queries, or replies to
queries (intended to appear as such) sh-mM he «Titten on separate leaves.
(ID Queries and replies should be eren more concise than letters ; and dra^m
up in the form in which they are here presented, with brackets for number in case
oi qtieries. and the proper query number (bracketed) incase of replies.
(in.) Letters, quenes, and replies which (either because toolonff, or unsuitable,
or desHns with mailers which others have discussed, or for anv other reason) can-
t And place here, will either be brietly referred to in answers to correspondents, or
' un reserved for the purpose.
ac.tioAledged i
I only is to be contemned and despi«ed who is not in a
here anything more adverse to accuracy
*'In knowledge, that
itate of transition
than fliity of opinion." — Faradu
'* There is no harm in making a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
Be a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show jou a man who has done
nothing." — lA^hiu.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."— CAarfw Kingaley.
®\ix CoiTrsipontirnre Columns.
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
[370] — It is pleasing to learn (letter 367, p. 179) that Sommer-
iiij's telegraphic apparatus is still in existence, but it must not be
forgotten that the idea of the electric transmission of intelligence
was not a novel one in Sommering's day. It is to Charles
SItirshall, a Scotsman, that we owe the invention of the electric
telegraph. He, in 1753, suggested that by erecting a series of
wii-es, one for each letter of the alphabet, and attaching to the
^nd of each wire a ball, near which was suspended a piece of
paper free to move towards the ball, and inscribed with a letter of
the alphabet, and sending a charge of electricity through first one
wire and then another, the pieces of paper at the other ends might
be caused to move, and so to indicate the letters of the message
which it was desired to transmit. In 1774 Marshall's scheme was
realised by Le Suge of Geneva. Alfred W. Sow.ikd.
GHOSTS.
[371] — The following details regarding the " War Office Ghost "
may be of interest to T. D. In September, 1857. Captain G
W , of the fith Dragoon Gnarfls, left England to join his
ri-„'iment in India, leaving his wife at Cambridge. On the night
between the IJth and 15th Xovomber, 1857. she dreamed that she
saw her husband looking very ill, and she thereupon awoke, much
agitated. When she looked up she saw the same figure standing
by her bedside. He appeared in uniform, and seemed to be in great
pain. Mrs. W at first thought that she must be still asleep,
but, by rubbing her eyes, and by listening to the breathing of a
child beside iier, she became convinced that what she had seen was
no dream. In December, 1S57, a telegram from the seat of war
appeared in the morning papers stating that Captain W had
been killed before Lucknow on the fifteenth of November. This
date was further confirmed by the War Office certificate, which was
obtained by the family solicitor. Mrs. W , however, maintained
that Icr husband had died on the/ciurfeenf7i,and not on the fifteenth
as stated. While the solicitor's mind remained in uncertainty
regarding the real date of the death, a curious incident joecurred
which seemed to confirm Mrs. W 'a opinion. The solicitor
mentioned the case to a lady friend, who all her life had had per-
ception of apparitions. She immediately, turning to her husband,
said, " That must have been the same apparition that I saw on the
evening we were speaking about India." The receipt for an account
paid on the same day enabled them to fix on the/ouWcenf/i as the
date. The solicitor was so much impressed by this that ho applied
to the War Office to find out whether there had not been some
mistake about the date. The officials stated that there could be no
mistake, as the death was referred to in two despatches from Sir
Colin Campbell, anil in both the date was given as the fifteenth. In
March, 185S, a letter arrived from a brother officer, giving an
account of Captain W 's death. This officer, who had been
riding beside Captain W when he was killed, stated that the
death occurred on the fourteenth of November. Finally, about a
year after the death, the War Office altered the date to the
.fourteenth. Joiix Gouuox.
MOON CRATERS.
[372] — A propos of the notice at p. 439 of imitations of moon
craters, I was greatly struck only a few days since by the very
close resemblance to such craters in the impression produced on a
smooth surface of sand by a drop of water falling on it from a
height of about five or si.t feet. This is what happened in a green-
house on the moisture of condensation dropping into a pot sown
with seed and thickly covered with sand.
Perhaps, as a small contribution to Kxowledge. this observation
may be acceptable. J. Power Hicks.
COLOURS AT NIGHT.
[373] — Can you tell me what is the explanation of the fact that
if a strip of cloth coloured either white, black, or blue be hungnp
on a pitch-dark night in a place where no lights are visible, and
against the sky as a background, it becomes swallowed up, as it
were, in the darkness, and is invisible ; but that if its colour be red,
it stands out as a dark patch on the black sky ? I have frequently
observed this to be the case, so that I am sure of my fact.
Winter.
GOLDEN SANDS.
[371] — On the Western coast of India there is a river. To the
north of its mouth on the sea beach, during the south-west mon-
soon, appear many patches of black sand (grains of magnetic iron
ore). These patches average five or six square yards area, and are
about half-an-inch thick, and lie on the surface of the ordinary
yellow sand of the beach. The gold-washing natives carefnllj-
scrape off this black sand, during the rains, as fast as it appears,
and make heaps of it on the higher beach beyond the reach of the
sea at high tides. When the rains are over they wash these heaps
for gold, nsing first a small wooden cradle and then a shallow
gun-metal dish, such as is commonly used by natives for their rice,
and called a " Kinny." When the black sand is almost all washed
awav they use quicksilver, make an amalgam, squeeze the excess
of mercury out through a piece of washleather, and get rid of the
rest bv heat, leaving from two to six annas (threepence to eight-
pence) worth of gold for their day's trouble. My trouble is not how
they get the gold from the sand — that is easy enough, I have done
it myself a hundred times — but how did the gold find its way down
the river and on to the surface of the beach ? and why always in
company of the black sand ?
Not one particle of gold is ever found in the yellow sand. There
is no adhesion or attraction between the black sand and the gold,
for the latter is as easily washed from the former as from yellow-
sand when mixed for experiment. I have tried it often. Why did
not the gold-dust find its way to the bottom of the river, as it did
at once to the bottom of the pan ? That is a Puzzler.
JUPITER IN CASSIOPEIA.
[375] — With reference to your editorial remark respecting my com-
munication on "Jupiter in Cassiopeia" (correspondence column,
p. 478), I beg to say the context of the refreshing passage in
Schiller's " Wallenste'in," naturally suggests the interpretation I
put on the words of the poet, and every German reader who knows
the force of dnhin and has, besides, even an elementary knowledge
of astronomy only, would at once understand it to mean " yonder.
If Schiller had wished to make Wallenstein say, " that he saw
Jupiter t')! Cassiopeia," he would certainly have used darin, or some
similar expression. May I add that few poets have so carefully and
accurately worked out the details of their productions as Schiller
has done. In his brilliant tragedy of " Wallenstein," he has shown
that he had fully mastered the " subject of astrology," and it is
quite natural that he should have at the same time occupied himself
with the science of astronomy, if he had not done so before.
C. A. BncHHEiM, Ph. D.
502
KNOWLEDGE
[April 7, 1882.
nl'KN I'lKK-rLACKS.
[870J.- Whnt iiro wp to ilo y Knrtiinntrly llio wriilliiT lini not
boon vpry c«l<l. On pntrf :t7l of KNfmi.KixiK of Snl iii»l.oiir frirnd
W. M. WillJniiiii foiii'liiilcH Inn iiltiVli- nil oiirn lln'-|ilnr<'», with
trlliiiK on " to lirick up. r.'ini'iit up, or cillicrwitio I'oiiiplclflv Btop
up, nil ntirrti.otiiiK tirr-lii>li'i>. null iilmlisli all our dialing nrcii," iitid
llii-n lio prominpK to toll uh wlint to ilo next. Has lir roimiilcrcii
how nwkwnnlly wi< arc pliii-oil witliout ii H]mrk of fire nil thia time?
.Mimt WP unHtop till' flrvliolo I' Of rour.w wis niniit wnit niiiitlior
wi'i'k. Must wp apnd our doctor's bill tu him, or to you, Mr. Kdilor ?
C. .1. UuoWN.
n.\K( II IX I'OTATOKS.
■ ill - hi aii.Hwir to "Knnui'r's" Inst qucKtion (.')-'.'), it may be
ntulpd that it has boon found that the ratios bi-tweon the starch and
nitrogenous mnttor in potatxxs are not nlwoys the same, and that
in those potnt'M'S whioli are the least floury tho ratio of nitrogen to
Bliirch is tho highest, by reason of clecreaso iu starch. Tho cause
seems to rest with the manuiv, for the same variety, under like
eoiiditiuns of position, Boil, and climate, is j,'rcatly intluenccd in
composition by the manure ujiplied. E. W. P.
HAIR Tl K.NIXG WHITE.
[37kJ— I'orhups the followinir facts may bo of sufticient interest
to warrant their insertion in K.vowledge. James Tratford, a coach-
smith in the cmployuicnt of Francis Mnlliner, coachbuildcr, of
Liverpool and London, about two-and-a-half years ago burned him-
self accidently at tho root of the middle linger of his right liand.
Tho injury was caused by a bit of red-hot iron flying into his hand.
lie was obligi'd to cease work .it once, and continued to bo
inca|>ablo for about three months, during which time I
Wdtehcd the consetiueuces of his accident as they made their
appearance. Uc poulticed his hand, and in about a week
the swelling broke, upon which matter began to e.xude. In
a week after the breaking of tho wonn<l, and wliile the
matter was exuding. Iiis hair began to turn white upon the right
side of his head, and a fortnight subsequently he presented the
picture of n man with the hair, moustache, aud board, on the right
side of his head, snow white, and on the left side jet black. The
process continued, the matter was still exuding. Five weeks after
his accident, every hair on his head aud face was perfectly white.
At this time, lie was only about forty-two years old. Ten weeks
after his accident he was so bald that not a single hair was to bo
found on his head. A week later his hand liealcd, and tho matter
ceased to run. Another week and his hair re-appeared, and grow-
so fast that in about a month his head aud face were again covered
with hair. Six mouths after his accident, his head and face
prcsenteil their usual apijearance— jet black hair, moustache, and
beard. 1 obtained his consent to send this account to another
journal, bat omitted doing so. It has, therefore, never before been
published. H. Smith.
TUE LAXK YAXK.
[37!>] — lieading on page 157 tho remarks of " Canadensis " in
this connection. 1 would add that, having visited Xew York City in
the days of oM, besides being collided with many Yanks upon the
.\astmliuu gold-diggings, it struck me that tho leanness of the
.American is duo to the abominable practice of chewing lioncydow,
accompanied by the constant ejection of the saliva so necessary for
the duo assimilation, secretion, and digestion of the dietetical
delicacies incident to their Ll<?jei'iner« d In Fourchette, &c. Thus was
I led to speculate upon tho question, " How many of the leaner
aort of .Ann ricos would sufiice to cool the condenser of a 10 H.P.
esgine ;-" J. J. A., Liverpool.
TUE PERFECT WAY IX DIET.
[3H01 — May 1 correct two niisjirints among the names of advo-
cntea of reform in diet cited by mo ? For Ualley read Ualler, the
well-known Ccrmnn physiologist of last centnry ; and for Dnumen
rend Dauniir, the learned Professor of .Munich, jiopulnrly known
nstho (for sometime) guanlian of Caspar llauscr, the wild boy of
the woods. A\m<, for linyle read Biiyle, the eulogiser of Gassendi.
It is not pnteniled that all the authorities quoted by me in your
Inat number, or the very many other admirable writers omitted in
my necessarily brief notice, were, in practice, nnti-krcophagist.
L'ntil some forty years ago ihin- was no kind of Association, no
nillyirg centre for those deeper thinkers, or more humane minds,
who, neverthelesa, instinctively, as it were, shrank from the cruel
Imrbarism of the alaughtor-liousp. Xo writer (not actually an
abstinent fr«m (leah-meats) haa more often protested against tlic
horrifying pnictico of butchering for food than Voltaire (i<v<; inter
nim, ■' Easai Sur lo» Ma'urs," Ac, hia romance of" Iji Princcaae do
Unbylone," Uict. Phil., art. " Viands"). It ia entirr;ly n-iiMmablo
to assume that, were he now living, he woulil be practically, nolcsa
than theoretically, n humane dieteat. And so of the other prophets
of reformed dietetics who lived before the present era of aaHocintotI
reformira. Howabd Willums. M..A.
(0iicrif6.
[349] — QuoTATlo.v.— In what literary work shall I find: — " Li'
things on little wings bear little souls to heaven " y — F.
[350] — Jet. — What is the composition of jet, aud how m:r:
have been formed in the rocks? Has it ever been chemica ,.
analysed, and with what result ? — Wiiitbv.
[351] — Glycol. — Can any reader give the following: — 1. Test for
glycerine. 2. A practical means of separating glycerine from the
residue from palm oil, after the latter has been heated to, say, 320",
and agitated with IL .SO, I' — \. T. Ross.
[352] — Will one of your rea<lers be kind enough to tell me the
best method to procure deutoxideof nitrogen from nitric acid ? — U.
Xeikd.(?)
lUpIifS to (0iiriif6.
[276] — PnoTOGR.XPHV. — For " quality." read " quantity : " and for
" prosulphito," read •' hyposulphite " of soda. — A. Brothers.
[330]— Climbing Pl.\xts.— If \V. P. B. will look at Darwin's
" Climbing Plants " he will see that the twining, chough influenced
(i.e., retarded or accelerated), is not caused by the sun. In a list
there given of twining jilants, fourteen follow tho sun (hop),
twenty-seven move against tho snn (convolvulus). A single revolu-
tion is often performed in from :ix to three hours, or less j not 2-t. —
S. C. Wood.
[336] — In SIemori.\m. — We have received many replies to this
query. Nearly all agree that Longfellow is the poet referred to,
naming his poem, " The Ladder of St. Augustine." This reply is
given by S. Oliver, K., Clare, S. C. Wood, T. Sulraan, J. Stewart,
H. J. Frv, Chas. 11. Cotton, T. H. M., E. D. G., A. P. Thomas, J. S.,
H. A. H'., T. B. E. C. R. suggests that cither Longfellow or St.
Augustine was intended (but how could St. Augustine bo described
as he " who sings to one clear harp in divers tones " ?) ; Gog llagog
names Longfellow, but speaks of his poem, "The Balm of Life" ;
W. C. says Shakespeare, but quotes no passage; Bernerd Batigan
also names Shakespeare, pis-iim, bat especially in the sonnet begin-
ning " Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth " (in which we can
trace very resemblance to the idea referred to by Tennyson) ; C.
Fen savs Kiitg David ; W. G. Finch thinks that reference is made to
the Son of David ; T. M. Blackie, F.S.A., thinks Arthur Uallam was
meant. To myself it seems altogether clear that Tennyson meant,
a poet living when he wrote, and that that poet was Longfellow.
[369]— TELEnioXE.— From 4oz. to Joz. of Xo. 36 silk-covered
wire is required for bobbins. I will try to forwai-d description of
transmitter by next week. — G. E. V.
[In answer to G. T. W. M., page 459 of Knowledge, March 2-t,
1882, there is n book by Dean Alford, " Queen's English," published
by Bell & Son, at 5s.— T. G. T.
Replying to query on " Colliery Spoil Banks," p. 477, there is no
doubt that tho ignition is " spontaneous " — a term rather vaguely
applied. All nrdinartj combustion is simply a combination of the
combustible substance with the oxygen of the air. Such com-
bustion Ik going on wherever ordinary vegetable matter is exposed
to air and moisture. The leaves that fall from tho trees in autumn
burn during the winter; so do the dead weeds, grass, &c. In their
burning, thoy raise the temperature of the soil to an extent that
is quite measurable when they are abundant. In crossing forests
during winter-time, I have on several occasions been nearly ankle-
deep in vegetable mtid, while the ground outside the wood was
frozen hard. This was mainly due to the slow combustion of the
fallen leaves. Tho "spontaneous combustion" of haystacks, of
heaiis of cotton-waste, and the heat of hotbeds is of similar
origin. I have seen a railway siding on tire at Coed Talon, in
Flintshire. It was ballasted with cannel-coal slack, which combined
with ox}-gcn in this manner. The spoil banks of collieries are mndp
April 7, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE *
503
np of the rock that is taken out in sinkins; the pits and driving the
roads, and most of tlic rocks — "the coal measures," as the miner
calls them — contain vegetable matter, the most characteristic being
the'linstay" or " linsoy" rocks, so named by the collier on account of
their resemblance to the striped " linstay " or " linsey " of which his
wife makes her petticoats. This rock consists of alternate bands of
black vegetable matter and of sandstone. The friable shales of the
coal measures are similarly interstratified. It is this vegetable matter
(in some cases increased by coal screenings) that fii-es on the pit
bank. The tendency to such combustion is increased by the
presence of iron jn'rites — a compound of iron and sulphur, both of
which are combustibles and do burn, or oxidise, readily when
exposed to air and moisture. Iron pyrites is especially liable to such
spontaneous combusti(»n, and is thereby converted from its gold-like
insoluble form into the readily-soluble ** green vitriol," or sulphate
of iron. This explains the sulphurous fumes to which " One who
wants knowledge " alludes. — W. JIattieu Willums.
9[n5U)cij> to Coirrsfpontifnts.
','All eommutiiciilioiit for the Edilar rrguirin^ f„rh atlf:ilion ihoiild reach the
Ue on or before the S,iliirdai, precejinn the cnrreiit'ifue of KxowLBDGB, the
ircittation o/" tchich eompeU ui to go to prett early ift the u-eek.
HiSTS TO COKRESPOSDBSTS.— 1. J\"o qur.liont ii.trin^ for ncienlijic information
tan ie amicrred through the post. 2. Letters rent to the Editor fur corretpondentt
cannot be forwarded ; nor can the namet or addrenfen qf correnponderitt be given in
anever to private inguirief. 3. So queries or replies savouring of the nature of
advertisements can ht inserted. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless
contrary to Rule 3, free of ehartie. 6. Corrtspondeuts should rcrite on one side
•ii/y of the p-iper, and pat drarings on a separate leaj. 8. Each letter, query, or
reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference should be
tiade to the number qf letter or query t the page on tphich it appears^ and its title.
Laiiv Stkwart.- Regret very much that an advertiser in our
columns has been so dilatory (I trust that is the limit of his
offence). Your letter has been forwarded to the publishers, and
due measures will be taken. — Glaoiator. Fencing hardly a scientific
subject. As it chances to be a favourite exercise of mine, I will
give my own ideas about your diUicnlty. You ought, considering
the name you adopt, to be able readily to meet the im, deux, and
un, deux, tmis, which your opponent is so fond of using, in tlie
ordinarj- way. If I were you, I would not give in till I had acquired
the knack. But, if yon cannot, try what Mrs. Glasse would call "another
way." Follow him with the round parade. This will bring him up
in carte, instead of carte over the arm, and all he can do is to try
carce over the am again, which you can treat in the same way,
following up his blade. Remember, though, that this parade is not in
itself a defence. A good fencer will corkscrew in upon you, if you
forget this. The parade simply changes the direction of your guard.
Thus if you meet a thrust in carte over the arm with the round
parade, you are engaged in carte and innst defend accordingly, that
is towards the left, not towards the right, as in the simple parade
for that thrust. So if you oppose the parade to un. deux, &c.,
you are s.ife enough during your opponent's extension, but a.s the
lunge is delivered the parade merges into defence in carte. The
advantage of the round parade is that you know exactly where
your opponent's blade will be when the thrust is delivered. — Priam.
You may be surprised to leani that many of the marks of parenthesis
you counted so carefully were added after the papers leere iti type,
because, on careful consideration, they seemed more suitable than
commas. Macaulay (whose name j'on misspell Macauly) used to
boast that he seldom used the semicolon (not the parenthesis.)
Whateh". who severely rebuked the improper use of the parenthesis,
used it more freely than most writers. In fact, every logical writer
must use them, to write clearly and correctly. If it were not
in very bad taste to comment on faults of style, I would point
out that your letter would be all the better (at any rate, much
more easily understood) if you had used the parenthesis more
freely. Take, for instance, this sentence : — "It has been
on my mind ever since the first number of Knowledge to call
attention (in a friendly way) to a small evil, on the part of the
editor himself, and (in degree) of some contributors, of the con-
stant use of the parenthesis in the articles." Here, I hare added
parentheses where they are obviously not merely necessary, but
essential to the grammatical accuracy of the sentence. Without
them, you might mean "a friendly way to a small evil," and
"in degree of some contributors." Yonr first sentence would
farther bo improved by the addition of a da.sh after "evil "and
"contributors," though,, even then, "a small evil of the constant
ase" would be hopelessly ungrammatical. In fine, my dear
BIT, every sentence of your letter suggests the repetition
in your case of a small quotation I hare already had to use
in reference to correspondents wlio, having evidently had small
experience themselves, undertake to teach me how to do what
has been the business of my life. " Teach not a parent's parent,
I would beg of you, "to extract, the embryo juices of an egg
by suction ;" the good old lady can the feat enact q.-ite irrespective
of your kind instruction.— Akthlk Bvchukim. Do you make no dis-
tinction between the ordinary use of the term logarithm and its
use in the theory of functions'? Or, supposing you do draw such a
distinction, do you suppose our querist referred to the latter use ot
the term ? What you so carefully explain to mo is as familiar as
the interpretation "of imaginai-y expressions (of the imaginary cube
roots of unity, for instance). Of course, log {-a) has its meaning,
just as \/-a has ; but e<iually of course that meaning is outside the
ordinary use of the function", precisely as ^/- a means something
which cannot be defined in ordinaiy arithmetical or algebraical terms.
— R. W. R. Yes, that is a fair enough account of apparent planetary
motions.— J. Smith. Have never heard that telesco[nc work injured
the eyes appreciably. Galileo was certainly not blinded by ordinary
telescopic observation. Jlilton died blind, but that does not prove
that making poetry hurts the eyes.— William G. C. Yes, "the
subject has taken up space in Knowledge,"— scarcely a reason for
continuing the discussion.— H. Judge, T. G., E. C. K., A Constant
Reader of " Knowledge," J. H.uivey, Spoopendvke, and others.
Queries vague, trivial, or for other reasons unsuitable. In future,
questions relating to books on special subjects cannot be admitted,
though regular contributors on sudi .'subjects may indicate books
they consider suitable. Advantage has been taken of oar Query
column to ask questions and to answer them in such a way as to
advertise books.- OnDEis. The query escaped our attention or it
would not have been in.serted. Of curse, " Clubs are tramps' is the
only correct expression.— M. Sor. BiB. Aech. Third part shall appeai-
very soon.— Jos. Gainswood. The appearance in qnesticn has no
scientific interpretation, though several well-meaning (but rather
foolish) attempts liave been made to find one. The story seems to
have had its origin in astrological fancies.— Excelsior. Thanks.
Corrections made.— Cambrian. Yes ; all satellites were probably
formed that way, and their greater or less distances would indicatcy
greater or less antiquity.- Clake. Most readers kcow about Dean
Alford's book on the Queen's English. The other matter is veiy
aptly described by you as " no business " of a certain correspon-
dent's.—A. C. Day. Those combination systems have always
failed in the working.— Hint. Very likely I may. " I do not say"
I won't; "but Time, my Christian friend."— AlICE BoDlNGTON.
Thanks, but you will have noticed that Mr. Clodd is attending to
Fala^olithic Man.
BIOLOGY.
H. St. Maynaed asks for the name of any good work on ''Ants."
He should consult Sir John Lubbock's " .Scientific Lectures" (Mac-
millan), and also the "Transactions of the Linna;an Society," for
much original information respecting the habits of these insects.
The price of Lubbock's " Scientific Lectures " will be ascertained on
application to the publishers, Bedford-street, Covent-garden.— A.
PoNTWOOD asks how Huxley divides the two orders of birds {RaHtce
and Carinat'i:). This is a sample of a question, the answer to which
would simplv represent a chapter of the most technical details
of comparative anatomv. I advise "A. Pontwood " to consult
Huxley's " Yertebrata ; "" but I may add that the Ratitm (ostriches,
i-c.) a"re classified by the structure' of the wing and by the nature
of the haunch-bones. The Cariiiafe birds are divided into sub-
orders, primarily by the nature of the vomer-boue of the skull,
and by its relations to other bones (e.g., the maxillo-palatines).
Thus, the Dromtp.ognathm (Tinamous) have the vomer, Ac.
resembling the emus. The Hcl.izojuatha! have " the lateral
maxillo-palatines ununited in the middle lino, separated from
the vomer by a fissure, and with the vomer pointed in front "
—and so on. Unless "A. Pontwood" is prepared to enter
npon a study of comparative anatomy, he need not attempt
to understand the details concerning which he writes.— A,. J. C. W.
— Diet of Tortoises. Yegetable matters, especially lettuces and
the like; a little milk occasionally.— AQfARiUM. See Mr. Gosse's
book on the " Aquarium " (Van Voorst).— Newts. These amphibia
should be kept (if water newts) in clear water, with growing
plant-life, ajid with a di-y resting-place admitting of then-
leaving the water occasionally. Food, worms chiefly. They
arc common in ponds in the country, or may be found
beneath stones near water. See Bell's " British Reptiles."—
J. Hamson. 1. The human skeleton you speak of found in the cave
at Mcntone, and spoken of by Riviere (Paris, 1S73), was found m
March, 1872. The cave is called La Barma du Cavillon. No metal
nor any poli.shed flint was found associated with it. The skull was
dolichocephalic ; and the whole surroundings (as well as the teeth)
indicated a savage life. The skeleton is of Palteolithic age
504
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Apbil 7, 1882.
Tho thiith-lHinra worn vorv ulroriKly rid^foil, iiuliculing (rrrnt ninii-
riiUr |H>wi'r; mill tlii'm wi<rt> aUn fouiiil . a<iiuciutcd with it
Iho can- Iwnr, li«<T, liyii-iin, mid wocilly rliinnccro^. 2. Tlie>
KiiKi* nkiill wiw fmiinl iii'iir I.ii'-Ki'. Dr. SiliiiiiTliiiK fi^'iirrd it
ill 111* w.irk, liiit wliilnl cibwniiiK tliiit it wiui too impiTfiTt to
ulTurd niir dcliTiiiiiintinii nf fiiciiil miKlc. he nMiiiiK'd thnt it I>oIiiiik<mI
(II mi jiid'iviilunl iif low iiit«lliirliiiil ili'Vi'lii|iim'iit. Mr. Bunli Hnyii it
niiiflit l>i> nmti-lii-d by imlividimlB i)f Kiiropcnii rnce, nnd in tliiii
iipiniuii iiiiint )(i'<i|iiKi»tii nnd niintiiiniiitii nKToo. Thia akiill in of
PJvintiirciiii nm\ lliixlfV unyii tliiit " llic cnpnclty €>f thp iiitiTior
• if thin frntfiiu'iilnry nkiili lm» not been imocrtuincd (" Miin's I'l.-i'i'
ill Nnliirr," pn^u 12H). Bntli Nonndurtliiil ami Enffis ekullH bi'InnK
»« till- ririntiK-iMw iieriod. The fornuT in ciTtainly the hiwost type
of huniiin iikull kniinn. 3. Mr. Kinko'n " postuhit'c " (K.No»l.KnoK,
pnjfn UiM, So. 11) iiiniply n<cnpiliilntcii an underlyinR assumption
<>{ till' whole sint.'iiieiit of the ruse for evolution. It is a needful
IHiatuliite for the |K'rwiii who is i)fiiorant of, or opposed to, evolu-
tion. I'or one like Mr. llomson, wlio admits tho truth of evolution,
it is simply nn additional proposition.
EI.ECTUICAL.
Wm. Pleulnc. Good cxaminntion certificates have some little
weight with electrical en^fineerinfj firms when seloeting their
rmiiloiit'n, but the industry is very younp, and practical knowledge
d«, therefore, generally looked for. Try the examinations of the
City and Guilds Technical Institute, Gresham College, E.G. The
secretary will send particulars on speedy application. You may
study with advantage Spnigue's "Electricity," Galley's "Tele-
graphy" (the latest edition— seventh), and Unjuhart's "Electric
Light." — G. U. U.iRKi.i. It is not so unusual as you imagine
to sec a magnetic needle in which both ends are of the same
polarity. If you carrj- your eiperiment a little further, you
will find tho other or opposite polo in the middle of the needle,
there being in this case two neutral zones. The centre pole will, of
course, be equal in strength to the sum of the two end poles. —
JiMEs Gbi'ndv. 1. Tho manganic di-oxide and carbon in tho Le-
clanche cell should bo about equal in quantity. Govering in the
|H«rous pot with pitch or marine glue keeps the contents in
position, but be careful to leave a vent-hole for the escape
of any gases that may be evolved in the cell. Use crystal-
lised sal ammoniac and water for tho outer cell. 2. You can
only determine the value of the current obtained by measurement
ILarc yon the means of doing this 'f 3. What is the specimen of
wire yon enclosed ? Is it aluminium ? It is too dirty-looking for
platinum, nor does it test like it. The resistance of about one
foot of it is only O'O'.'G of an Ohm. One hundred Leclanche
•cells failed to raise a couple of inches to redness, bat 140 cells
make 3 feet red hot. l. The electro-motive force of a Leclanche
■cell is about I'G Volts, the Grove being 1-8. — W. G. Fixcii.
Electrical tricycles are not the only things missing in the
Crystal Palace Exhibition. To work a tricycle you would
reijuiro a motor, with a batten,-, or its equivalent, to work it. I
know of none before the public, but believe ono is soon to be offered
by a Manchester hou.so. — A. E. Smith. A series of articles on
•dynamo-electric machines is now appearing in this journal. lam not
quite sure what you require. If you do not see it, write again. —
S. B. Galvanic batteries of the Danicll, Leclanche, and bichro-
mate typos arc used by the Postal Telegraph Department. The
electric light couW be produced by them, but neither efficiently nor
economically. £5 or £C spent in Bunsen or Grove cells woiild yield
an electric light for three hours or so. — H. A. B. " Lightning pro-
tector " is a better name than "lightninfi; conductor." Its chief
»vork ia to neulraliae the electricity of the overhanging cloud by
discharging into it an equal quantity of tho opposite kind, which
is drawn or attracted from the earth by tho electricity in the
cloud. Should it happen that the protector cannot discharge
•piickly enough, then tho cloud-charge strikes towards the earth ;
and as tho protector is tho noiirest object, nnd offers the easiest
means of passage, thi.' electricity from tho cloud passes through
the protector to tho earth. Consequently, the more good
protectors you have, tho safer will your house be, as each
ono added is another possible channel of escape. — J. R. Wilson.
Read preceding answer. The proper hnight of the lightning
protector will do|H<nd on tho area it is intended to protect.
Cop|K>r, in the band or rope form, with platinum points, is the best
material. As, however, there is cunsidornble diversity of opinion
on tho quostiun of moa.suremont, Ac, the subject will be dealt with
in an article in this journal a week or two hence, when it is hoped
you will find all you require.— C. 11. W. Dynamo-electric machines
are of so recent n birth that it is hardly fair to hwk just yet for any
great flood of literature upon the subject. Efforts will, however, be
Hindo to supply shortly the information required by those who aro
Miiiioua to make machines for them^ielves.
Onv i¥latl)fniatiral Column.
PROBABILITIES.
Tu the two examples in our lost the following may be added : —
3. How many trialt iri(/i a full pack jive an ef»n ehanee of eullinj^
nti'j -lircn card {of a giren luil) ?
The chance of failing to cut the given cani in a aingle trial is — , ■
('il \' J
'-_ J , and so on. If n be the number of trials, which i
will give an even chance, wo have —
&-i-m-'-
Uenco, taking logarithms —
71 (log. 52 - log. 51) = log. 2,
or 81331n - 3010300
whence n =
3010300
= 35-;
81331
whence 3G trials will give slightly more than an even chance of
drawing the named card.
4. In how viany triala will there be an even cliance that dealer
at U'liist jcill have all the trumpn.
The number of possible hands which dealer can have is the
number of combinations of 12 cards which can be made out of 51,
and this number it will be found on trial is 158,753,300,900. Hence
the chance that he will not have all the trumps.
^ 158,753,38i),8il!)
158,753,389iy00
and to give the number of trials, n, in which there will be an even
chance that dealer will have all the trumps, we have the equation
158,753.380.899 \n
158,753,389,900,/ ~^
Vl5
Whence, approximately, ( — '^ |
V 15,876/
= i
And taking logarithms.
(log. 15,876 - log. 15,875) = log
10,0jli,0jo
or 273,555n = 30,103,000,000,000,000
[To get the difference 273,555 corresponding to logarithms to ten
places of decimals subtract logarithm of 15.860 from logarithm of
15,890, and divide the difference by 30. This gives near approxi-
mation to the difference between logarithm of 15,876 and logarithm
of 15,865. But to get nearer still, do the same with logarithms of
15,861 and 15,891 ; add the results thus obtained, which are
respectively 27,357 and 27,353, and halve — giving 273,555.]
30. 1 03,000,000.000 .000
or n = '-ij too =110,400,000,000
This, then, in round numbers, would be the required number of
trials to give an even chance of a deal in which all the trumps
would be in ono hand.
Problem 5. — H/ipii the n umber of possible events, all equally likely,
is venj great, to determine what ratio the number of trials necessary
to give nn equal chance of any given event bears to the total number
of possible events.
Let the total number of events be X, then the chance that any
A'- 1
given event will not occur in a single trial is — rz— j and if n be the
number of events necessary to give an equal chance of the occur-
rence of that event, we have, as in the previous case.
(j^)'"-
nJlogiY-log.(.Y-l) I =Iog
.^ f 1 1
2iiu < +
t 2.Y-1 3(2iY-l)'
+ &C.
\^
3010300, where /i iR
tho iiiodiiUis of the common system of logarithms, or the reciprocal
of tho Nepcrian logarithm of 10 ; whence, when A' is very great ao
that .
2.Y-1 JV
•3010300 3010300
= "^"-f^ = 0-6931472 ( = Iog.,2)
N fi 4342945
If wo apply this rule to the previous c.ise we get a value very
cl )se indeed to that already obtained in another way.
April 7, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
505
(Buv €f)f6s Column.
CAME BY CORRESPONDENCE.— (Confi/i«e(J/.om p. 485.)
Position after White'.'! 20tli move.
P to 155.
CniKP EDITOi:.
Blick.
chess editor.
30. 1! to Q5
31. g to R3
32. Q to R 5
3J. Q to K2
3 k Q to B3
35. K to Bsq
29. P takes P
30. P to Bo
31. Q to Qsq
32. Kt to B3
33. Q to KBsq
34. K to Q4
35. R takes R
PROBLEM Xo. 25.
We think it best to repablish this Problem in an amended form.
Blace.
WHITE.
White to plav, and mate in three moves.
PROBLEM No. 33. PROBLEM No. 31.
" Easy and neat."
By C. H. BROrKELB.AXK.
i
Cj
TWO KNIGUTS' DEFENCE.
Wi
De RiVlKUE.
1. I' to Kt
2. Kt to Kn3
3. B to B 1
■1. Kt to Kt 5
5. P takes P
G. PtoQ3(n) PtoKiiS
7. Kt to K5 P to Ko
8. Q to K1J3 Kt takes B
9. PtakesKt B to QBl
10. P to KR3 (6) Castles
Blice.
MoKPlIY.
P to K 1
Kt to QB3
Kt to B3
P toQl
Kt to QRl
White. Black.
De Riviere. Morphv.
11. Kt to R2 Kt to R2 (c)
12. Kt toQ2(<i) P toKB4
13. KttoKt3 B to Q3
14. Castles B takes Kt
15. K takes B P to B5 (e)
10. Q takes P KttoKKt4
17. QtoQ4(/) KttoKB6ch(.,)
18. P takes Kt Q to R5
19. R to KRsci B takes P
20. BtoQ2 R to B3 and wins
Notes by Mr. J. Gunsbcrg in the Cliess Players' Chronicle.
(a) A weak cnntinaation of the Two Knights' Defence, and one
which, in our opinion, gives Black the advantage. There are varions
ways of continuing besides P to Q3, bnt we are satisfied only with
the result of one variation, viz., 6B to Kto ch 6P to B3, 7P takes
P7P takes P, 8B to K2, as enabling White to retain his advantage.
(6) Instead of this unsatisfactory move, it has been suggested by
Mr. Proctor to play lOP to QB3 ; this jirovides a square of refuge
for the Knight on Q I, and also threatens an advance of Pawns on
the Queen side ; but even this, in our opinion stronger move, does
not quite equalise matters, which, through 6P to Q3, rest on a weak
foundation.
(c) This is against modern '■ principles," as Mr. Potter would call
it. The adopted way of continuing for Black is P to QKt4 ; he
therebj' tries to weaken the Queen's side, also reiving upon subse-
quently playing B to QR3.
(J) We should have preferred 12B to K3.
(?) Taking advantage of the position in a forcible manner ; had
White not taken the Pawn, his game would, nevertheless, be in a
precarious condition.
(/) Q to Q3 would have afforded a much better defence.
(ij) This brings the game to a fine conclusion. Wliite has no
defence.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*#* Please address Che.'i.'s-Editor.
Dummy. — See answer in No. 20, p. 442.
John Fainveather. — Pawn on Stli is what you please to make it.
G. W. — Thanks for good wishes. Have you begun jour games ?
Solutions correct.
H. A. N. — 27, 28, 29 — solutions incorrect, see next number.
A. H. Empson r. G. Tow.
H. A. N., J. F. Washbrook, J. Griffiths, A, B. Palmer, .John
Fainveather.— We have corrected and republished this problem
this week.
Correspondents whose opponents have not replied to their games
can have fresh opponents on application.
Sir, — I see by the " Answers to Con-cspondents " that there are
a good many dissatisfied spirits [unreasonable jieoplo I — Ed.]
amongst the subscribers to KxowLEnGE. Some want more of one
thing, and some more of another, and they all seem to find some-
thing that (in their opinion) might be done away with. Now, I, for
one, should be sorry to see any of these radical changes, as I think
Knowledge is well worth the money, even if taken only for one
subject. I am quite satisfied that there are higher-priced papers
with a far worse Chess column, and that, I must say, has most
attractions for Yours truly, " G. W.
White to
Whitk. White.
play and mate in three. Wliitc to play and mate in three.
Dk. Ciievxe states of Sir Isaac Newton, that when he applied
himself to the investigation of light and colour, to quicken his
faculties and enable him to Sx his attention, he confined himself all
the time to a small quantity of breiid «-ith a little sack and water,
without any regulation, except that he took a little whenever he
felt his animal spirits flag The happy medium whicli Newton
endeavoured to maintain, was just that which would preseiwe
the blood in the fittest state for the purposes of the mind, while
intently acting on the brain; and probably not a little of the
splendid clearaess of his demonstration may be attributed to the
success with which he controlled all his bod'ily projiensities, by the
moderation which he invariably observed in"the management of
his stomach.— Extract from " The Use of the Body in Relation to
the Mind." 1846. By George Moore, M.D., Member of the
Royal College of Physicians.
506
• KNO^A/■LEDGE
[April 7, 1882.
i'>ur Wlhist Colmnn.
Sin, Tlir Cliiliiin mc'llioit of •cnriiiK nt WIiIbI limy !)€• intcrciitiTi(r
• n t^in-r n-mlr-M ..f KNiini.KlKiK who lire uiiiio<iii!iiiiti'il with it. It
' 'i' to Mur own.
iitcd. iiikI tho Bcoro ia ko|it in ttio unmowny nB
rhf lulilition of pdiiitH for the trii'kii which niiu
n >ri llio olhpr during' tho rulilipr. Ily tho iihiiuI
l(< niiiy will, I'vi'ii witlioiit tho n^siKtiinrc of hi>Mciiii-H,
:• WIT tricks llian tho hisiTs, nnil ({ood oiinlH hcyonti
111 n i|ini.M| for thi> noci'dsary nniiibor of trickx ore tlirown awiiy.
Till' imirkiiijf i.i oa"ily ilonc by ciich pliiyrr kct'liiiiff a score — one, on
,.n.-li "iMn. till- usnnl Bcoro ; tho other tho H niiil — ncconnt : c.;/.,
' ■ ■ IV '' I', lio plnyorc —
1st tjiinio. — Ist hnnil. .\C win I I'V iriols.
2iiii „ nn „ :i ■ .,
3iil „ AC „ 5
>,! "TwI' . Chili Score.
,. Short \\ hint.
■ i . . -Ist hand A scores t (' scores 4.
ind „ 11 ., 3 (.' inks, off 3, lo'av-
inKAC(l-3) = l.
3rd ., A .,sinf,'loCscorcs5 + 1 = G.
Thns AC start the 2iiil i,iiiiie with a iiin;,'lo iiud C points to tho
Kood. Tho usual niothoii wonld have left them with 4 tricks
inscored.
Lot ni take nno ertreme oxnni]dc of the English 2-amc with and
without limioiirs, and the Chilian game : —
C'lunting Ilonoiiin.
1st (ianic- Ut hand. AC win I. by tricks, j ^j, ^^.j^^ ^^^^y^^
'Jim} ,, AC .,7 „ )'
2nd(iame. — 1st „ .VC ,, !■ ,,
2nd ,, lUJ „ 1 trick + 1 honours, BD win single.
3nl Game.- 1st ., AC ,, I- by tricks.
2iul ., Kl' ,, 1 trick + I- honours, BD win single.
Thus BD win the rubber (1 point) with 2 tricks only gained
against A-C's 19.
.Yi/f coiiii(!ii;; Honours.
Lot BD in the 2iid hand of the 2nd and 3rd game win o tricks.
Thoy then win one point with 10 tricks against A-C's 19.
Chilian Jlirrnon. — AC instead of BD win (8i)oints), 19— 10— las
they ought to do, though it is very unusnal to lose the rubber and
yet win points.
To mark a high scoro, it is not necessary to u.se many counters
—.1, : . . . G, . ; . . =7, i'c, &c., or any bettor way.
It is an objection to win the rubber and }-et lose points, but this
is not so objectionable as to win the rubber with 2 tricks against 19,
or even with 10 against 19. Dicky.
Dear Fivk, — 1 enclose a letter from S. B., asking how " The
Great Vienna Coup r.t Double Dummy," is to be solved. Will you
give the problem next week ? I thought two or three jears ago I
had solved tho problem, but I cannot at the moment recall how it
is to be solved, if, in the fourth round, 1' discards a Heart. I'oi^then,
if .4 loads Heart, and /! (dummy), after taking four tricks in Hearts,
loads the long Heart, how is A to play ? If ho play small Diamond,
V thniws a Diamond and makes his King of Spades in tho last
round ; if A play Spade (Jueen, ¥ throws a spado and makes his
third Diamond in the last round. Of conr.so it is all plain sailing
enough if )'. at fourth round, discards cither n Diamond or a Spade.
I take it this is S. B.'s dilficulty, as he says he can sec how twelve
tricks can be taken but not the thirteenth. Ki>itor.
PROBLKM IV.
(iroat Vienna Coup
at
Double Dummy, as given by Clay.
A loading
s to make every trick.
.1.
•iir llv\i.«.
1".
CliiliJ— A, K,Q, 3.
C/iilx- S, 6, 5.
Hearts -2.
B
Hearts— 10, 9, 7, C, 5.
3pndc«-A, Q.
Spades— K, 6.
Diumond.'i— .\, •,',". '
Diamonds — Kn, 10, 8.
•1,3.
Y
Z
X.
/?.
Tnn«p.
ri»l«— Kn, 10, 9.
Clu.lii—7, K 2.
Hearts— 8, 1.
Hearts— A, K, l^, Kii,:t
A
Spades— 9, 8, 7, 5, 1. 2.
Spades— Kn, 10, 3.
Diamonds — K, 9.
Diamonds — 5, 2.
in led, and second player has nine and Knave of Clubs, bo is said t<i
hold tho Fuurchctto to the ten.
D. f)'C. MiLKV.— L'hdor what limitations would yon play what
yi.ii stylo the " intormo<ii;ite call ? " For instance, yonr partner
loads King, followed by Queen of a suit, in which you hold nine,
three, and two, and you recommend throwing tho nine and three
instead of the three and two in nignalliiig. But might not that
leave him in doubt whether one of the o'lvcrsarics was not signalling
too ? Thus, suppose the cards to fall thus. King, Ace, nine, seven,
and when your partner again gets the lead that tho next round in
the suit falls thus (^ucon, four, three, eight. Vour partner >ec8
clearly that you have signalled. But the two has not fallen, and he
does not hold it himself, nor, obviously, does fourth player. Would
ho not naturally infer that second player held the two and had
commenced a signal (though ho had already had a lead, and had not
led trumps) ? It happens at times tliat a double signal is given
in this way. How is your partner to know it bos not huppcne<l
in such a case as 1 have suggested ?
Lord Lvttox as a Wmist Player. — Lord Lytton was very fond
of whist, and he and I both belonged to tiio well-known Portland
Club, in which were to be found many of the celebrated jilayer
the day. He never showed the slightest disposition of a gam'
He played tho game well, and without excitement or temper, ;::. i
apparently his whole attention was concentrated upon it ; but it wom
curious to SCO that at every interval that occuiTcd in the rubbers ho
would rush off to a writing-table, and with equally concentrated
attention proceed with some literary work until called again to take
his place at the whist-table. There was a member of the club, a
very harmless, inoffensive man, of the name of Townond, for whom
Lord Lytton entertained a mortal antipathy, and would never play
whist whilst that gentleman was in the room. Ho firmly believed
that ho bronght him bad luck. I was witness to what must he
termed an odd coincidence. One afternoon, when Lord Lytton ■■ -
playing, and had enjoyed an uninterrupted run of luck, it sudd'
turned, upon which he exclaimed, " 1 am sure that Mr. Townemi
come into the club." Some three minutes after, just time em^ ._
to ascend the stairs, in walked this unlucky personage. 1.
Lytton, as soon as the i-ubbor was over, left the table aud diil
renew the play. — From Sergeant Ballantiue's "Experiences ■ '
Barrister's Life."
Contents of Kxowledge Xo. 22.
Path of Mars from 18;
Th(- Antiquilr of Mi
Europe. By Ed^i
Found Links. By
Wilson, F.R.S.E.,
IV.
PAGR.
■5lolSi»2 Ki3
.u in AVestem
Clodd 163
Dr. .Andrew
I'.L.S. Part
W. F. Tlic term Fonrchotio is used by CaTOndish for the two
cords abovj und below a ojird alrcaily playctl. Thus, if ten of Clubs
Photogrsphv for .\mateur». I
Brothcrs.F.K.A.S. Part II.'
Notes on Rowing. By an Old Club
Captain
Tho Sun ii
■Ki
466
1 April. (lUintraUd)
Keviews. The Two Hemispheres ... 470
Did the Ef;.ii>tians Know of tho
Movement of the Earlh in Spaoe . 470
"Weather Diacram, for Week Ending
Saturday, March 25 471
Mesmerisin 471
FAGR.
Parrot 171
Ea.«v Lessons in Blowpipe Chemislrv ,
BV Lieut.-Colonel W. A. Eos-.
late HA. {lUuttrattd) 171
Slar-Map for April 4T:«
Cod-Sounds and Scientific Privileee 477
CoRREsposDF.vcF :- Screw-dri\er—
Colour of Palieolilhic Man : Christ-
mas Roses — Jupiter in Cassiopeia
— High \ umbers, &c -17- '-'
Qu'riM •-
Replies to Queries !-
Answers to Correspondents I.-^O
Notes on kn and .Sciejice 4S9
Our Mathematical Column 4S3
Our Whist Column IS!
Our Chess Column i-'
NOTICES.
Special Notice to ouh Heiders. — Threepence each will be paid br tbe l*nli-
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The Back Numbers of Knowlkdgk, with the exception of Xos. 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6. are in print, and can be obtained from all booksellers and newsagents,
or direct from the Publishers. Should anv difliculi y arise in obtaiuiD<; tbe paper,
an application to the PuMi-thers is respectfully requested.
The following Monthly Parts of Knowlepgb are now to be had (Parts I. an«i
II. beini: out of print) : —
Part III.— (Jan., 1832.) Containing four namben. Price lOd. Post-free, l-«.
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April 14, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
5o:
r
[ PI..A1N1Y Vf ORDED -£XACTI^ DESCRIBED
N ■Li.'J.SaTIATED
^ . EofSCIENCE
LONDON: FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 1882.
Contents op No. 24.
rAGB FASB
1 hf Glories of the Star-lit Ueavont. The New Moon in April 613
Hv R. a. Proclor. With an Illiis- Venus in April, 1882 513
^rativeMap 507 The New Comet 613
Tl.' Beetle's View of Life. By Rapid Motions Photographed: 511
Crant Allen 608 ' Elephants 614
Mr Muvbridge and Rowing. Bv ; Weather Diagram 619
ilif Editor ;. 609 Canals on the Planet Mars 619
Ih-ions at Sea. B^ the Editor .. 510 Were the Egj-ptians Aware of the
_ 1. 19 with a Three-ineh Telescope. i Motion of the Earth? ...519
Kv "A Fellow of the Royal Astro- (Mr. Mattieu Williams on Cod
:uieal Society." (i(/,M(ra<«(«... 511 "Sounds" and " Scientitic Pri-
Amnteur Electrician — Elec- vilege " — Correspondence 530
:-)c3l Generators 511 Answers to Correspondents 521
Three Cold Days of April. By Our WTiist Column 623
iio Editor 612 Onr Chess Column 524
; I .' Eclipse of May 17 513 Our Mathematical Column 626
',' Our Exchange and Sixpenny Sale Columns appear on Page VII. — in our
advertising columns this week.
THE GLORIES OF THE STAR-LIT
HEAVENS.
By R. a. Proctor.
ON a dark, clear night,
When all tlte .stars shine,
And the immeasurable heavens
Break open to their highest,
the glories of the stellar depths seem revealed in their
fullest splendour. Yet how small a portion is seen.
" These are but a part of God's ways ; they utter but a
■whisper of His Glory." If the eye could gain gradually
in light-gathering power, until it attained something like
the range of the great gauging telescopes of the Herschels,
how utterly would what we see now seem lost in the incon-
ceivable glories thus gradually unfolded. Even the revela-
tions of the telescope, save as the}' appeal to the mind's
eye, would be as nothing to the splendid scene re-
vealed, when witliin the spaces which now show black
between the familiar stars of our constellations, thousands
of brilliant orbs would be revealed. The milky luminosity
of the Galaxy would be seen aglow with millions of suns,
its richer portions blazing so resplendently that no eye
could bear to gaze long upon the wondrous display. But
with every increase of power more and more myriads of
Stars would break into view, until at last the scene would
be unbearable in its splendour. The eye would seek for
darkness as for rest. The mind would ask for a scene less
oppressive in the magnificence of its inner meaning ; for
even as seen, wonderful though the display would be, the
glorious scene would scarce express the millionth part of
its real nature, as recognised by a mind conscious that
each point of light was a sun like ours, each sun the centre
of a scheme of worlds such as that globe on which we
"live and move and have our being."
Who shall pretend to picture a scene so glorious ? If
the electric light could be applied to illumine fifty million
lamps over the surface of a black domed vault, and those
lamps were here gathered in rich clu.stering groups,
there stre^vn more sparsely, after the way in which the
stars are spread over the vault of lieaven, something like
the grandeur of the scene which we have imagined would
be realised — but no human hands could ever produce
such an exhibition of celestial imagery. As for maps, it is
obviously impossible by any maps which could be drawn,
no matter what th<'ir scale or plan, to present any thing-
even approaching to a correct picture of tlie heavenly host.
There is no way even of showing their numerical wealth in
a single picture.
Take, for example, the chart of r)24,198 stars which I
drew eight years ago, of which a portion is roughly
presented in the illustrative map. Here the points and
discs representing stars congregate together so closely, in
places, that there is no room for more to be shown, and
those which are shown are but inadequately presented.
Yet what does this chart show of the heavenly host,
regarded merely in their numerical aspect 1 The stars
here charted are only those which can be seen, or rather
only those which have been seen, with a telescope 2| inches-
in aperture, such a telescope as can be seen in every
optician's window. I say only those which hacc been
seen, because I know from my own observations that
Argelander and his assistant observers, had they cared
to turn their telescope to the heavens only on the
darkest and clearest nights, could certainly have seen and
charted half-a-million stars at least, instead of the 324,000
which they have actually included in their survey of the
Northern heavens. In the Southern heavens at least as
many could be seen. A million stars within the range of
a telescope absolutely insignificant compared with the
gauging telescopes of the Herschels, which again in light
gathering power were feeble compared with the mighty
Parsonstown reflector !
Utterly hopeless would it be to attempt to delineate the
stellar host within the range of these noble instruments,
when alreatly we see the method of charting fail us for
the work of the puny tube which Argelander employed.
Y'et how impressive is the scene roughly depicted in
our chart ! Each one of the points there shown represents
a sun, and tells us therefore of a solar system, of a system
in which such a globe as this earth would be but as a point,
and regions exceeding in extent the mightiest kingdoms
over which the monarchs of earth have ruled would be-
utterly as nothing.
When we pass onward from these glories to the vaster
glories revealed by more powerful telescopes, we seem to
lose ourselves in the contemplation of the mysteries of
infinite space, infinite power, infinite wisdom. Yet it is
not till we have learned to look on all that the telescope
reveals as in its turn nothhig compared with the real
universe, that we have rightly learned the lessons which
the heavens teach, so far, at least, as it lies within our
feeble powers to study the awful teaching of the stars. The
range of the puny instruments man can fashion is no
measure, we may be well assured, of the universe as it is.
The domain of telescopically visible space, compared with.
which the whole range of the visible universe of stars
seems but a point, can be in turn but as a point compared
with those infinite realms of star-strewn space which lie on
every side of our universe, beyond the range, — millions of
times farther than the extremest scope, — of the instruments
by which man has extended the powers of visions given to
him by the Almighty. The tinite — for after all, infinite
though it seems to us, the region of space through which
we can extend our survey is but finite — can never bear any
proportion to the infinite save that of infinite disproportion.
All that we can see is as nothing compared with that
which is ; all we can know is as nothing : though our know-
608
KNO^A/'LEDGE •
[ApRif. U, 1882.
\n\ff,. "j{r<)w fn m more to moru," sonmingly without liitiii
In line, we limy my (os our Kriidually widening vision
shown us the initliinKiwss of what wc havo soon, of what
w« »«•<•, i>f what wi> mil cvit s.i>), not, as I^placn Raid, '/'/"•
Knnirn in l.illh', hut TllK Knowv 18 NoTlllNO ; not Thn
/■'tikiiuini U /mnifUHf, but TnK UXKSOWN 18 InfISITK.
Till-: HICETLE'S VIEW OF LIFE.
l?v Grant Ai.lf.n.
HI';Ki'; on a ycUow oroous, hiiricd dofij) in tlic lieaiitifiil
;;(.l(lrn riip, I have found a litth^ hionxo mailed
hreth', stoaliriR tlip pollen as hard as he can eat it, and
hugely enjoying his plentiful morning feast. 1 have picked
him carefully out with a little hit of stick, and I have
got him here now crawling about suspiciously upon my
hand, and trying to find out what is the l>est way down
from that unpleasantly wann and dangerously niohile
valley— the hollow of my palm. I often wish I could
discover how the world looks to that small creature here ;
and, perhaps, the question is not quite so unanswerable as
it appears at first siglit. When one remembers that lirain
and nervous system are on the whole a good index of mind,
and that feelings and ideas depend upon the arrangement
of the various sense-organs and their connected central
parts, it will be clear that, after all, we may make a fair
guess at what is passing in this little beetle's head, espe-
cially since his notions about things generally must in all
probability be a good deal simpler and more directly de-
pendent upon his sensations than our own.
Now, what, in the first place, are the beetle's senses'?
lie can see, that we all know ; and his sight is on the
whole a good deal like our own. His eye can discriminate
form, and that accurately, for in all flying creatures this
sense is necessarily highly developed ; it has been evolved
and perfected side l>y side with their wings, or else they
could never have learned to fly at all. They can doubtless
distinguish colour, too ; for we know positively from Sir
John Lubbock's experiments that this is the case with
bees, and there are good grounds for believing that the same
thing is true of all flower-feeding insects as well, since all
alike seem to be guided to the flowers by their brilliant
hues. Sir John put drops of honey on slips of glass above
bits of coloured paper ; and when he had once taught
a bee to feed from one slip, say the liluc, he found that it
would return straight to that slip, even when the relative
places of the colours had been transposed. Now, almost
all flowers which contain honey have also bright petals ;
and Mr. Darwin has shown that l)oth honey and petals
have been developed tiy the flowers for the sake of attract;-
ing insects, whicli carry their jiollen from head to head,
and so fertilise and impregnate the seeds. Moreover, the
colours of the petals dilFer in dilFerent species, according to
the kind of insects which they each wish to attract. Thus
beo- flowers are usually blue or red ; and Sir John Lul)bock
has proved that bees show a distinct preference for these
folours, while beetle- flowers are often yellow, and small
tly-flowers are generally white. Such facts, and othei-s like
them, show that the Ijeetle has sensations of sight essen-
tially identical with our own, and also that he has cei-tain
spocial ta.stes for certain special hues and blossoms.
It is much the same with the other .senses. The beetle
certainly hears sounds ; and his hearing appears to be
analogous to our own : for though he himself is not musical,
yet many other insects are ; and these produce special
notes and melmlies to charm the ladies of their kind. He
can also taste, and is fond of sweet things, like most other
nnimals, for the flowers which seek to allure him lay by a
ilrop of honey for his use ; ond this liking for sugary juices
is shared by almost all insects, from the flie.? which crowd
around a barrel of treacle at a grocer's door, to the ants
which suck the honey-dew from the little green aphides
that they keep as we keep cowg. Last of all, he can smell,
for the flowers which depend on him for fertilization are
usually perfumed, and both beetles and other in.sect3 are
often attracted by scent, as all collectors well know^ ;
indeed, they fr(>quently catch rare insects by enclosing
one of their mates in a box, when the quick-scented
and eager lovers soon sail up from leeward, evidently
attracted by the distinguishing odour tiorne upon the
breeze. Indeed, some butterflies have special scent-glands
among the feathery scales on their wings, to make them
more charming to their pretty spouses, just as so many of
the higher animals have a peculiar musky perfume. I may
mention that Mr. Darwin similarly sets down the brilliant
colours and ornamental spots of butterflies, as well as the
curious horns and excrescences of many beetles, to the long
selective action of their fair lady-loves, who always choose
the handsomest and strongest among their numerous rival
suitors. It is to this same cause that we prol>ably owe the
bright iridescent hues and bossy headpiece of the little
creature who has now just escaped from my hand by
clumsily transferring himself to yonder tall blade of rank
meadow-grass.
Thus, as far as his outward picture of the world goes,
the V)eetle's ideas must really be very similar to our own.
The universe of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches
through which he moves must present the same general
effect as that which we ourselves experience in our inter-
course with outer things. But when we come to consider
the relations which the beetle establishes between these
primordial sense-impressions, the little ideas and emotions
which he elaborates out of them, we find signs that the
difference is vast indeed. Though the material is the same,
the product is as unlike as the letters of the alphabet are
to the "Iliad" or "Paradise Lost" The elements of
human thought are there, but the organising and co-
ordinating power is wanting.
If you were to cut open the beetle's head, you would
find in it a small knot or lump of nervous matter, roughly
answering to our own brains. To this lump the various
sense-organs send up bundles of nerves ; and in it the im-
pressions derived from the different senses are compared
and arranged, so as to produce the common impulse upon
which the beetle acts. But the size of this nervous knot is
vastly smaller in proportion to the insect than the human
brain is to the body of a man. Our brain consists of num-
berless cells, arranged and united in definite subordination
to one another, and so disposed that every part of our
nervous mechanism can be brought into relation with every
other ; while in many cases we are not concerned in our
mental operations with actual sense-impressions at all, or
even with memories of such impressions combined into the
shape of ideal objects, but with wholly abstract conceptions,
elaborated out of them by the action of the brain itself in
its higher parts. The beetle, however, can do nothing
analogous to this. Its mental life is wholly made up of
direct impressions, and actions immediately dependent
upon them. Memories it doubtless possesses in a slight
degree, especially in the form of mere recognitions ; but it
is not probable that it can think of an oViject in its absence,
or voluntarily recall it ; while it certainly cannot reflect as
we can about abstract ideas, or even about things which do
not concern its immediately present needs and actions.
Indeed, the whole nervous system of the beetle is so
loosely Ixiund together — so little co-ordinated, as Mr.
April 14, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
509
Herbert Spencer puts it — that it can hardly be said to
possess any distinct voluntary capacity, or any strongly-
marked personality at all. In the case of man and the
other higher animals, almost the whole nervous system is
bound up with the brain, sending messages up to it, and
receiving orders from it in return, so that a single great
nervous centre governs all our movements, and ensures that
uniformity of action without which the complicated acti-
vities of human life would be impossible. The only
nerves (worth mentioning) in the human body which are
not thus under the control of the brain, are those of the
heart and other internal organs ; and over these parts, as
everybody knows, we have not any voluntary power.
But all our limbs and muscles are moved in accord-
ance with impulses sent down from the brain, so that,
for example, when 1 have made up my mind to send a
telegram to a friend, my legs take me duly to the telegraph
oflSce, my hand writes the proper message, and my tongue
undertakes the necessary arrangements with the clerk.
But in the insect's body there is no such regular subordi-
nation of all the parts composing the nervous system to a
single central organ or head-office. The largest knot of nerve-
matter, it is true, is generally to be found in the neighbour-
hood of the sense-organs, and it receives direct nerve-bundles
from the eyes, antenna^, mouth, and other chief adjacent
parts ; but the w ings and legs are moved by separate knots
of nerve-cells, connected by a sort of spinal cord with the
head, but capable of acting quite independently on their own
account Thus, if we cut off a wasp's head and stick it on
a needle in front of some sugar and water, the mouth wnJl
greedily begin to eat the sweet syrup, apparently uncon-
scious of the fact that it has lost its stomach, and that the
food is quietly dropping out of the gullet at the other end
as fast as it is swallowed. So, too, if we decapitate that
queer Mediterranean insect, the Praying Mantis, the head-
less body will still stand catching flies with its outstretched
arms, and fumbling about for its mouth when it has caught
one, evidently much surprised to find that its head is un-
accountably missing. In fact, whatever may be the case
with man, the insect, at least, is really a conscious auto-
maton. It sees or smells food, and it is at once impelled
by its nervous constitution to eat it. It receives a sense-
impression from the bright hue of a flower, and it is irre-
sistibly attracted towards it, as the moth is to the candle.
It has no power of deliberation, no ability even to move its
own limbs in unaccustomed manners. Its whole life is
governed for it by its fi.xed nervous constitution, and by the
stimulations it receives from outside. And so, though the
world probably appears much the same to the beetle as to
as, the nature of its life is very different. It acts like a
piece of clock-work mechanism, wound up to perform a
certain number of tixed movements, and incapable of ever
going beyond the narrow circle for which it is designed.
ME. MUYBRIDGE AND ROWING.
By the Editor.
THE method which has been applied so successfully to
determine all the successive stages of a horse's motion
in galloping at the rate of a mile in less than two minutes,
can be much more easily applied to determine all the suc-
cessive stages of an oarsman or sculler's action — for even
the swiftest racing-boat does not travel faster than a mUe
in five minutes on still water, and by taking her against
stream the problem would be rendered even easier. If
rowing men of the Oxford, Cambridge, and the various
Thames clubs would invite ]Mr. Muybridge to this con-
genial work, the pi-inciples of good rowing style and the
secret of successful oarsmanship could very readily be deter-
mined. Hanlan might, I have no doubt, be persuaded to
row past the twelve cameras, and so hand down to posterity
the perfection of his marvellous style. Mr. Muybridge
would be willing, I know, to do his part — his expenses
being guaranteed, of course. I do not know what the
expenses would be, but to judge from all that I have
learned, they would lie somewhere between two and three
hundred poimds, for a week's experiments, with all neces-
sary assistance in arranging for the sets of twelve in-
stantaneous pictures. He would -nillingly supply con-
tributors with copies (free of further expense) for study
and comment. The value of such views at the present
time, and their interest hereafter, w-hen, perhaps, new
methods of rowing may have come into vogue, and when,
at any rate, oarsmen will like well to know how their pre-
decessors rowed, can hardly be over-estimated. If the
presidents of Oxford, Cambridge, London, and other clubs,
care to see anything done in this direction, arrangements
could be quickly made (at present ^Mr. Muybridge's appa-
ratus is at New York, but it could be here in a fortnight),
and the expenses readily subscribed. I should be very
willing, for my own part, to put my name down for £50,
if that sum would bring the amount up to the required
total. If, however, there were good prospect of the
amount being readily made up otherwise, I would content
myself with such a subscription (five or ten guineas) as
hundreds of boating men would, I am sure, be glad to
offer for so invaluable a contribution to the scientific
investigation of oarsmanship.
American- Agriccltlre r. E.nglish. — Mr. Fowler, M.P., for
Cambridge, recently gave to a Chicago Tribuyie reporter his im-
pressions of the agricultural resources of the West, where he has
spent some time in making observations. " What has interested me
most," said he, " is the matter of transportation to Eagland, in con-
nection Avith the cost of production there, and the question is wliether
we can continue much longer to compete with America in the rais-
ing of wheat, or even to raise it at all and make it pay. The natural
protection to English production, by reason of the cost of cari'iage,
must be — nay, is — rapidly diminishing, and I rather expect, if we
were to have a good harvest in Eui'ope and America at the same
time, you would have prices such as we have never expected.'*
" The American farmer is producing and transporting wheat and
com so cheaply, then, that his English brother cannot compete
with him ? " " It is a good deal as a gentleman expressed it to me
the other day, when he said : ' A man out here in Iowa is competing
with the English farmer just as if he lived in Yorkshire.' That
may be a strong way of putting it, but you must observe the
great advantages which the American farmer has over the farmer
on the other side. Iowa land, for instance, costs SIO an acre,
while in England it costs £50, £70, or £80 an acre, so that the
Englishman is terribh" handicapped at the start, for he has to pay
interest on £50 to £70, while the Iowa man pays interest only on
£2. Then, in addition to all that, the Iowa man has a better soil
and a better climate. In short, with these advantages in favour of
the American farmer, with the cost of transportation minimized as
it is, so that our natural protection from that cause is rapidly
diminishing, I have great doubts whether the cultivation of wheat
will pay in England at all. I speak not so much of the present as
of the future, for our crop this year has been a good one, while
yoiu'3 seems to have been just the other way. Your deficiency this
year, as I have seen it stated, is 80,000,000 bushels— nearly aa
large as England's entire production in an ordinary season. But
here is your vast expanse of territory developing every year. Then,
again, you virtually raise wheat in this country by machinery. The
extent of your wheat-raising territory is simply astounding, but
your population, while large in the aggregate, is spread over these
vast expanses, and your real market is elsewhere — across the water,
over in England, where we find a contrary state of affairs : a com-
paratively small wheat-raising area, with millions of people to be
fed. And I don't begrudge yon your good fortune in the least.
Your prosperity is ours, for, unless our people be cheaply fed, they
cannot afford to work for reasonable wages, and unless we can
manufacture at reasonable cost, we can no longer hope to supply
the werld with our manufactured products."
510
KNO\A/^LEDGE
[ApniL 11, 1882.
COLLISIONS AT SEA.
IJV TIIK KdITOR.
IT hon liM'n no unusual circumstance for two ships in
opiMi liayliplit, and in culm, clear weather, to be
brought into collision through what landsmen might regard
ot tirht siglit as absurd bluiidering, thougli seamen know
that the indications wliich should liave guided the
maniruvres of either ship have been quite naturally mis-
understood. In point of fact, the risks of collision at sea
may be divided at present into two broad classes — the
avoidable risks, ond those which are unavoidable. Of the
latter class of collisions it would be useless to speak ; but
of the former there is much to be said, and for their
prevention much might well bo done.
The lirst and most striking circimistance in the history
of all such collisions as might in reality have been avoided,
is the uttt-r alisencc of any proper means of communication.
Flog signalling is, of course, very often a ready and con-
venient method ; but under certain conditions, of not
unfrequent occurrence, it fails either wholly or in part.
The wind may be insufficient to display the small signal
flags, or may be so light and variable tliat they are not
quickly or readily discerned. Again, the wind may blow
in sucii a direction that the flags, though well displayed to
viewers in other directions, are invisible to those for whom
they are intended. Then anyone who examines the flags
used in signalling will note that, although when the whole
of each flag is squarely shown, one cannot possibly be
mistaken for another, this is by no means the case when
the flags are exhiVuted at some distance, in light winds, and
under varying atmospheric conditions.
I have before me as I write pictures of a set of signals
devised by Mr. A. Stewart Harrison, in which these
objections are entirely ob\-iated. In the first place, all the
signals are of the same kind, and formed in a similar
manner. In each signal there are two vertical rows of
bright discs on a black ground, which may be set facing in
any direction. (The discs at night can be illuminated either
by reflected or transmitted light, as may be most convenient. )
Each row may show any number of discs from 0 to .5, and
as the eye can in a moment tell whether one, two, three,
four, or five balls are exhibited in each row, any combina-
tion is at once recognised, and can be immediately replaced
by the next, and the next, and so on, till the necessary
message has been spelled out Nothing could possibly
be simpler or less likely to be misunderstood than
this method of signalling. The discs could be dis-
cerned witli the naked eye at a considerable distance in
ordinary weather ; and could be read ofl' at two or three
miles distance, in clear weather, with a telescope. The
actual distance at which two discs of given dimensions
could be separately discerned with a telescope is known
already to astronomers from the experiments which have
been made by Dawes, 0. Struve, and others on artificial
double stars ; and it can readily be sliown that with such
dimensions as !Mr. Harrison proposes for the discs, the
range of distance obove mentioned would be well within
the powers of this method of signalling. It is not too
much to fay that if this method were adopted, a large pro-
portion of the collisions which now occur would be rendered
impossible, or possible only through utter negligence on
the part of all concerned in directing the coui-se of the
two ships.
It is singular, liowever, that even those whose safety
depends on tlie use of such methods seem unready to adopt
any improvement in signalling at sea. After a method
has been shown by experience to be quite inadequate,
reliance continues to be placed upon it as though it liad
never failed. As an instance in point, consider the 8hip.s
lights now in use. I rememlH-r, fourteen years or so ago,
writing on article for the Daily Nfva on u lamentable
collision which had then recently occurred in consequence
of the want of any means of recognising, in good time, a
change in the course of ono or other of two approaching
ships. Nothing could, in o scientific sense, Ik; less suited
to the requirements of the ca.se than the actual arrange-
ment of a shi|)'s lights. That a light on the port
side should be of one colour, and a light on the
starboard side of another, is well so far as it goes. But
it does not tell another ship much. The approaching ship
might cliange her course considerably, and yet show the
same two colours, not greatly clianged in apparent position.
If only two lights are to be shown, these might be much
more effectively placed than as at present. Suppose, for
instance, a red light were carried in some well-chosen
position amidships, and a green light near the bows, and at
a lower level, both being so placed that they could Vje seen
well from either the port or starboard side, or in front
Then an observer on an approaching ship would know on
what course a ship carrying these lights was steering. If
the green light were seen to the right, he would know-
that he was on her starboard beam ; if to the left, that
he was on her port beam. If the red light were directly
above the green, he would know that she was bearing
full upon him. If she changed her course, the two
lights would be brought either nearer together or further
apart. At present there is absolutely no indication of
another ship's position (on a dark night when only her
lights can be seen), unless she is steering on such a course
that no precautions are required to avoid her. That is to
say, if a ship, still at a moderate distance, is sailing in a
course which will not bring her at all near another, an
observer on this other ship will know what that course is,
for he will see either a red light only or a green light
only, according as her course is (in non-nautical terms)
from right to left or from left to right. But if she
is bearing nearly towards his ship, he will see both
her lights, and nearly in the same relative position,
whether her course would carry her past his ship
(if it were at rest) on one side or on the other
side. He has no means of knowing, therefore, to which
side he should direct his course. There are the rules
of the road at sea, of course, and if these were always,
or could always be, strictly followed, the present arrange-
ment of a ship's lights would serve well enough. But it is
only necessary to read the reports of cases in our Admiralty
Courts to learn that instances frequently occur where the
rules of the road cannot be — or, at any rate, are not —
followed. Even in broad daylight, and in clear weather,
collisions have occurred when the vessels have been cog-
nisant of each other's actual course and changes of course
for a distance of two miles before collision actually
took place, the oliserved manwuvres having lieen simply
misinterpreted. How largely must the risk of collision
be increased at night, in hazy weather, or under con-
ditions otherwise unfavourable? Yet nearly all that is
wanting to prevent sxich collisions absolutelj', and all that
is wanting to render them infrequent, is an arrangement
by which not only the course, and any cliange of course,
of each of two approaching ships may be quickly made
known to the other, but also (as in ]\Ir. Stewart Harrison's
ingenious arrangement) by whidi each ship may quickly
convey directions or warnings to the othei\ It is the in-
terest of all who travel by sea, and the duty of all who
care for the safety of our seamen, to urge that the simple
measures required for preventing avoidable collisions should
as soon as possible be carried out.
April U, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
511
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH
TELESCOPE.
Bv "A Fei-i.ow of tue Roval Astronomical Society."
BEFORE beginning our examination of the Constella-
tion ^'irgo to-night, we will return to that of Hydra
for the purpose of looking at a very wonderful object,
omitted in our description on p. 376. The student will
find it by lishing with a power of 100 or so about 2'^' (four
diameters of the moon) to the south of fj Hydr;e (map p. 474).
It is No. 27 of Uerschel's IVth Catalogue, and is one of
the most remarkable planetary nebulae in the heavens.
ITnlike nebuhe generally, this will bear considerable
magnifying power. It will be seen as a pale-blue disc,
looking just like the ghost of Jupiter. As Huggins has
shown tiiat it is gaseous, the sharpness of its outline is
verv curious.
Fig. Ii6. Fig. a. Fig. h.
Turning now to Virgo, we will begin with that most
interesting star y, which is shown in Fig. 26, as seen with
a power of 160. When first observed by Herschel, in
1790, the components of this star were nearly 6" apart, but
were approaching each other ; and in 1836 were so practi-
cally superposed as to appear single under the very highest
power that Admiral Smyth could apply to them upon his
5 '9 inch achromatic. Since that time they have been
separating, and their distance at present amounts to about
o", so that they form an easy pair in the instrument we
are using. 0 Virginis (map, p. 474) is a \ery pretty and
interesting triple ; the third star, which is nine times as
far from the large one as its more obvious companion,
will require a dark night and pretty sharp sight to see it
well. There are very many beautiful and interesting pairs
, of stars in Virgo ; but as they are mostly below the sixth
magnitude they are not marked in the monthly maps in
Knowledge, and no amount of description would enable
the reader to identify them. Fortunately, simple sweeping
in the marvellous region to which we are about to introduce
the reader, will suffice to enable him to pick up many of
the wonderful mass of nebuhe collected within the area
roughly bounded by e, c, y, jj, and /3 Virginis, and /3 Leonis.
If the student will arm his instrument with a power of
about 40, and sweep slowly over that part of the sky con-
tained within the curve drawn through the stars we have
■named (map p. 4T4), he cannot fail to be astonished and
pleased at the wealth of nebulous objects, and the pretty
fields of stars that he will encounter. One of these curious
objects is shaped like a boy's kite. A few are resolvable
into stai's in some of the enormous telescopes now com-
paratively common. Others are unmistakably gaseous.
Above Virgo is situated Coma Berenices, easily recognis-
able in the sky by the coarse cluster of stars in its north-
western portion. If the reader will draw an imaginary
line from a through 36 on the map (p. 474), then at about
three times as far to the right of 36 as 36 is to the right of
fi, and a little above such line, will be found 24 Coma% a
wide double star, but interesting from the beautiful con-
trast of orange and pale-purple presented by its components.
Just above, and to the left of a Coraie (map p. 474), what
will appear like a nebula will be found. It is 53 of
Messier's Catalogue, and is really an immense mass of tiny
stars ; but it requires a much more powerful instrument
than ours to show this. Other nebula', mostly faint, will
be found among the cluster of stars to which we have
previously referred.
Adjoining Coma Berenices above lies Canes Venatici, of
which the chief star o, 12, or Cor Caroli — for it has all
three designations — is a widish double. About one-third
of the way between Cor Caroli and c Leonis 2 Canum
will be found ; a close pair, with prettily contrasted
colours. There are numerous other pairs in this constella-
tion, but, for the so often reiterated reason, we can give
no intelligiljle directions for finding them. In the case of
more than one of the remarkable nebula?, however, con-
tained in it, we trust to be more successful in point-
ing out their whereabouts. 3° (6 diameters of the
moon) to the south-west of y Ursie Majoris, the star
at the end of the Great Bear's tail, will be found two
rather dim nebuL-e, nearly touching each other. This is
Messier .51, the astonishing Spiral nebula, which, as seen in
Lord Rosse's great telescope, has been pictured in so many
works on astronomy. About midway between Arcturus and
Cor Caroli, but rather nearer the former (map p. 474), will
be found a bright nebula, Messier 3, which large telescopes
resolve into a brilliant condensed cluster of minute stars.
Some 2i° to the north-west of Cor Caroli, is a nebiUa,
94 Messier, which, though small, is sufficiently conspicuous
in the class of instrument we are using. Other nebula; in
this constellation may be picked up by fishing, especially
in the region between a Canum Venaticorum and ^ Ursaj
Majoris.
[As but one figure came from our esteemed contributor,
F.R.A.S., this week, we have ventured to add two
doubles, viz., £ Bootis, fig. a, and c Bootis, fig. b. Both
stars are shown in our monthly map, No. 22, for March
31.— Ed.]
THE AMATEUR ELECTRICIAN.
ELECTRICAL GENERATORS.
THE task we have set ourselves in this series of papers
is not by any means an easy one. Our object is to
help, by practical and easily-followed-out instructions, those
who desire to become experimenters in this most interesting
department of physical science. There is no " Royal road "
to a thorough knowledge of the laws of electricity, any more
than of any other science, and our readers must, therefore,
please understand that while every eflbrt will be made to
render each branch of the subject dealt with as complete as
possible, a " text-book " on electricity is beyond our scope.
It is anticipated that we shall soon be at liberty to imtiate
a series of papers on the rudimentary demonstrations of
electrical properties, but here the assumption must be
allowed, that our readers know just a little of the science.
The present production of large quantities of electricity
— larger than were ever conceived to be possible — necessi-
tates some agency other than the galvanic battery. Indeed,
the battery could never have yielded so bountiful a supply
of electric force as is now being utilised in very many
places — notably the Crystal Palace Electrical Exhibition.
Why this is we will not attempt to explain now, although
it may be found advisable to do so hereafter. It is not
difficult to conceive that one of the features in the
512
KNOWLEDGE •
[Apeil 14, 1882.
galvanic l<utt<>ry in the transfcrcnco or molion of par-
ticli*8 of mutter from ono state of coTnliiimtion to
anotlirr. Thus, in tin- Duiiii'll ooll, the sulpliute of
copper Ik oonverU'il iiitt) Kul)>huric ocid l>y the iiieaiiH of
hydrojjen, which di)<]>laces the cojjper, the siilpliuric
acid iK-in;; likewise tonvei-ted into sulphate of zinc hy
particles or ittonis of zijic taking tlu; j)luce of the hydrogen.
'lliere are, however, other forms of motion which in their
tuni are capaMi^ of generating; currents of electricity,
motion not necessarily of minute particles, hut of large
masses of matter. If one of two ma.ssea moves or passes
iK'fore the other, more particularly if magnetism or elec-
tricity i.s present in one of them, an electric current is
generated. Let us imagine, in the first place, thot
wo have a hollow }ieli.x or coil of copper wire, such as
that contained on the leg of an electro-magnet, or such as
we should get liy carefully winding an insulated copper wire
round a thin stick of wood. Now, suppose the two ends of
the wire are connected to a galvanometer. Then on plung-
ing a steel mognet into the coil, the needle of the galvan-
ometer will be de(lcct<d, say, to tlie right, and will indicate
the passage of an eli'ctric current. When the magnet is
withdrawn, the needle will be again deflected, this time,
however, to the other side, thereby indicating the passage
of a current in the opposite direction to the previous one.
Let us pursue this a step further. Our readers are
doubtless aware that when a piece of soft iron is placed
in the vicinity of a magnet, magnetism is immediately
induced in it If, then, we place a core of soft iron in
our coil of wire, and Ijring a magnet near it, it becomes at
once magnetised. The core being already inside the coil,
magnetising it in that position is equivalent to plunging
in a magnet instantaneousl)/. A current of electricity is
consequently produced, but, of course, of greater strength
than when the magnet is plunged into the coil. Similarly,
on removing the inducing magnet, the iron core becomes
at once ckinai/iie/ised. This is identical to withdrawing
tlie magnet, and therefore a strong current is generated or
induced, travelling in the opposite direction to the preced-
ing one.
What have we done ? We moved a magnet, and obtained
a current of electricity. To a certain degree, the current
produced is a measure of the force expended in moving
the magnet, and it is ijiteresting to notice that when the coil
circuit is complete, it is more difficult to move the magnet
than when tlie circuit is broken. This phenomenon will,
however, be referred to more fully on a future occasion. The
experiments above described illustrate the principles of
■what is known as the magneto-electric machine, such as
those used for medical purposes, in which a coil of wire
and its core of soft iron are made to approach and recede
from a permanent magnet, which is fixed. M'e shall, in
our next, give instructions for making a small machine,
not one of those used by the medical faculty, but one of a
much-improved form, which will be capable of doing all
tliat a galvanic battery will do.
The afiparatus for performing the experiments described
in this paper may be very cheaply constructed, and our
readers are strongly recommended to try them, in order
that they may belter understand our subsetjuent papers on
the subject The coil may be made by winding five or six
layers of No. 22 cotton-covered wire* on a paper tube,
about half-an-inch in diameter, and three inches long.
After the wire is wound on the tube, it would be as well
to coat it with a little shellac varnish, made by dis-
solving sliellac in methylated spirit The magnet may
• MosHfK. Riokarc), of Dorl.v, nrc wire makers of the highest
repntp ill clrcfricnl circles. Their price for No. 22 is Is. lOJd. per
pound.
be of the ordinary round form, such as are nsed in
telephones, and should fit the tube easily. A piece
of soft iron of similar dimensions will complete this
I>ortion of the apparatus. The galvanometer may also be
easily made. Magnetise an ordinary sewing-needle by
rubbing it a few times in one direction over one pole of
the steel magnet, and then suspend it by a thin thread
(or, better still, by a fibre of unspunsilk), in an oblong coil,
consisting of alxiut ten tunis of the No. 22 wire, just long
enough to allow the needle to rotate freely.
THE THREE COLD DAYS OF APRIL.
Bv THE Editor.
FEW weather phenomena in this country are more
remarkaVile, and seem at present less easily explained,
than the so-called " borrowing days," as they are called,
between the 10th and 14th of April, when usually the
temperature falls considerably below that due to the time
of year. The cold at this time is, at any rate, sutKciently
marked — first, to have attracted long since general atten-
tion ; and, secondly, to affect in a very obvious manner the
average temperature for these days during the last eighty
years. We find these three cold days of April, wliich
before the change of style were the first three days of the
month, thus described in doggrel lines in the north of
England : —
" Majch borrows from April
Three days, and tliey are ill :
The first of tliem is wan and weet,
The second it is snaw and sleet.
The third of them is a peel-a-bane,
And freezes the wee bird's neb tae stanc."
The following lines are given in the " Glossary of Scotch
Words and Phrases " : —
" Said Mai'ch to April,
Gic me three lioggs upon yon hill ;
And in the .space of days three
I'll find a way to gar them die.
The first a bitter blast did blaw,
The second it was sleet and snaw,
The third it cam sae full a freeze
The birds' nebs they stack to the trees ;
But when the days were past and gane
The three puir hoggs cam hirplin hame."
This is manifestly an imperfect version of the lines in the
poem called the '• Complaynt of Scotland,'' where the re-
ference to the borrowing of three April days is much
clearer (in the above account JIarch borrows hogs not
days) :—
March said to Aperill
I see three hogs upon a hill ;
But lend your first three days to me,
And I'll be bound to gar them dee.
The first it shall be wind and weet.
The next it shall be snaw and sleet,
The thiixl it shall be sic a freeze,
Shall gar the birds stick to the trees.
But when the borrowed days were gane,
The three silly hogs cam hirplin hame.
This is, I believe, the oldest version of the doggrel. It
belongs to a time when the three cold days of April really
were the first three days of April. The other was perhaps
modified to correspond with the new style, according to
wliich the cold days fall in the heart of the montli, and
cannot be very well imagined to be borrowed by March.
It is worthy of observation how correctly common obser-
vation has indicated the true position of these cold days;
for ill the temperature curve derived from three quarters
of a century of accurate observation at Greenwich, the
depression corresponds exactly with the days which before
the change of style were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of April.
April 14, 1882. J
• KNC^A^LEDGE ♦
513
THE ECLIPSE OF MAY 17.
■fTJE propose to give next week a small map showing
V\ ^e course of the moon's shadow during this
eclipse. The editor has appointed Mr. Ricliard A. Proctor
his special correspondent in Egypt on this occasion ; but
whether Mr. Proctor's numerous engagements will allow
him to accept the appointment is not as yet known.
THE NEW MOON IN APRIL.
THIS is the way in which our usually calm and reflective
contemporary, the Scientijic American, tells us that
the moon will be in conjunction with four planets on the
18th and 19th inst :—
The new moon of the 1 7th commences her course with a
brilliant record. On the 18th, the day after her change,
she pays her respects to three planets — Venus, Saturn, and
Neptune — on the same evening. It is difficult to see the
moon when a d.iv old, for the crescent is but a slender
thread, stUl it can be done. If the evening be exceptionally
clear, the keen-eyed observer may behold the lovely picture,
the moon passing al)0ut two degrees north of \'enus and
three degrees and a half north of Saturn. But the love-
liest exhibition of the month wiU occur on the 19th, when
tlie two days' old crescent will be in conjunction with
Jupiter, and only forty minutes north of him. As the
moon does not set until after 9 o'clock, there wUl be
ample opportumty for seeing the show, if the clouds are
kind.
nni
VENDS IN APRIL, 1882.
■^HE iScieiUiJic American has, indeed, suddenly become
X quite poetic over the planets. Here, for instance, is
its account of Venus in April, 1SS2 : — "A'enus is evening
star, and the only one among the planets whose movements
excite a marked interest during the month. She has now
advanced far enough in her eastern course to be seen in
the west soon after sunset, and to allow the observer to
obtain a glimpse of the beauty to be revealed during her
nearly ten months' course as evening star. She will soon
be the brightest in radiance, the largest in size, the softest
in colour, of the myriad golden points that glitter in the
celestial archway. Neither is she to be considered alone in
an aesthetic light. The Queen of the Stars has unwittingly
a mission to perform, when, closing her career as evening
star in December with the grand event of the transit, she
furnishes the Lnliabitiuits of the planet that shines so
brightly in her sk}-, one means for measuring the un-
approachable, the much-desired solution of the problem —
the earth's distance from the sun."
THE NEW COMET.
THIS comet, called " Comet Wells," is now passiug from near
Vega (Alpha Ljne) into Cepheus, where its course will change,
in May. We propose to give next week a map showing a portion
of its path. The following reaches us from America (Scientijic
.American) : —
The elements of the orbit of the new comet are : Perihelion pas-
sage, June 15 ; perihelion place, 49 deg. 35 min. ; longitnde of
node, 20G dog. 40 min. ; inclination, 74 deg. 47 min. ; perihelion
distance, 10,000,000 miles ; motion direct.
This comet appears to have no analogue in the past, as no comet
is known with elements sufficiently resembling these to constitute
reasonable belief in identity. The elements of the comet of 10'J7
somewhat resemble those of the present comet, but the pei-ihelion
distance of the former is computed to be seven times as great as
that of the latter.
.\t present the comet is about 100,000,000 miles from the eartli,
and its distance from us will probably not be less than 80,000,000
at any time, though further calculations will be necessary to settle
that point. It may be expected to make a fine display lor a few-
days in the early part of June. Tlie present extraordiuaiy intensity
of its light, which comes to us from the enormous distance of
100,000,000 miles, proves that it has plenty of material for future
display, and it will probably show a long and nearly straight tail of
enormous dimensions to our antipodes. How much it will give us is
still problematical.
Fbofessob Maspebo is said to have succeeded in making satis-
factory terms with the villagers whose dwellings and mosqne
encumber the temple of Li:xor, his only difficulty being witli
Mustapha Aga, the local British Consul, whose demands are cc-
sidercd exorbitant. The temple is likely to yield results of the
highest archaeological interest. It was begun by AmenUotep III..
caiTied on by Seti I., Rameses II., Horns Sabaco, and Alexander
CKgus; and the great pylons erected by Eameses II. are sculptured
with battle scenes similar to those at Aboo-Simbel, and inscribed
with a version of the heroic poem of Pentatu-.
The Formation of Coal. — All attempts to explain satisfactorily
the formation of coal have thus far proved unsuccessful, though it
is generally understood that it is the product of the decomposition
of vegetable matter. Just how that decomposition has been bronglit
about chemically is a mutter which chemists have not as yet been
able to solve. The principal difficulty has been that it has bec:i
impossible to obtain a clear insight into the chemical constitution
of coal. It has been thought hitherto, and this is still the populiu-
belief, that coal is in the main pure carbon, mixed with vaiyiiig
quantities of bituminous substances. It has been generally
bcUeved that, as the product of the distillation of coal is prin-
cipally carbon, it would be safe to conclude that free carbon
actually does exist in coal. The fact that sugar, starch, Ac,
under similar circumstances leaves a residuum consisting of carbon
has never been considered a proof that that element existed in these
bodies in a free state. It is well-known that coals which may have
the same percentage of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, do not by
any means, in coking, yield the same products of distillation, and we
have a complete analogy for this in the behaviour of cellulose and
starch when subjected to distillation. Evidence points to the
conclusion that coal is a mixture of many and complex compounds ;
and the difficulty, amounting almost to an impossibility, of separa-
ting these compounds has much to do in rendering a chemical solution
of the questions involved in the formation of coal a very arduous task.
The production of coal by artificial means is met by great obstacles,
among which the absence of all knowledge concerning the con-
ditions under which that process actually took place is the principal
one. The question whether the vegetable matter to which our coal
veins owe their origin was amassed by drifting, or was carbonised
in situ, has been much debated, and there has been much discus-
sion on the point whether it was obtained from water or from
land plants. Dr. Muck, of Boehum, in a recent work to which we
shall refer at greater length in the future, takes up the theor\-
that alga; have mainly contributed to the formation of coal. It
is urged that the remains of marine plants are rarely found
in coal veins, and that shells, &c., are not often met with.
Dr. Muck calls attention to the fact that marine plants de-
compose easily and completely, losing their form entirely ;
and that the disappearance of the calcareous remains of mol-
lusks is readily explained by the formation of large quantities
of carbonic acid gas dtiring the process of carbonisation. In
accepting the marine origin of coal, it is not necessary to resort
to the assumption of immense pressure and high temperatures to
explain decomposition and the total destruction of the structure of
the original substance. Dr. Muck combats Fremy's bog theory at
length. His views are well supported by recent investigations made
by Herr P. F. Kcinseh, who has examined 1,200 sections of coal,
coming to the conclusion that that mineral substance has not been
formed by the alteration of accumulated land-plants. Herr Reinsch
claims to have discovered that coal consists of microscopical organie
forms of a lower order of proto|>lasm : and though he carefully ex-
amined the cells and other remains of plants of a higher order, he
computed that they have contributed only a fraction of the matter
of the coal-veins, however numerous they may be in some instances.
— Scientijic American.
Foirs'B Extract ia a certaio <
Fond'a Extract is a certaiQ cu:
PontVe Extract is a (.ertAin cui
Pond's Extract will heal Bum
Pond's Extract will (
Lre for Rhemnatisiu and Gout.
! for Htemorrhoids.
( for Neuralgic pains,
and Wounds.
9 and Br
Sold by all Chemi&t&. Get the genuine.
[AJ)TT.
511
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[Ai-HiL 11, 1882
RAPID MOTIONS PHOTOGRAPHED.
TO H pnipir liko the Kn^liJ*)!, intort'niod by in)ii>rit<Ml tomloiiriim
in all active* pxrrciiipM, and OH|M'('iiillj in iKirHotnunflhip. tho
oxpprimi'ntii hiikIk liy Mr. Mnybriilgi' on tli« niovonionlmif Kalluping
horapH, rnnniri^ dn^fH, Ac, cnif^lit to ho ftill of intorodt, nnd hill
linrfviufnl iimnU^ry of inont diOiouIt pruhlnniH doHorvnii tlioir hi^hoHt
roc<)Kiiition. A (rw ycnm n^o llir ncwA that u phol4i^aphor of tian
KranciriMi h»<l Kui-ci'iMli-d in tukin^ phuto^^ruphH of a ((■'""{''"K
honk* wan n'ci'ivod horf with incredulity. Now wo Imvo tho
photiifn^iphrr himdclf iimonf? us, and tlio niranH of Htudyin^ liiH
pirturt'H in iinrli nnrt ax to rcnxiTc nil potmiliility of doubt ati to the
nMklity of hill triuniphn ovi-r ilillicultioN which hod naturally omoukIi
boon roganlod ax inniipornblc. That a horso ruflhin^ alon^ at tho
rato of a niilo in 1} minuton, and moving its limbH forward in part
of oncli Btrido with nearly twice that velocity, Hhould be seized by
photo);rnphic art no aa to show every limb well and clearly deli-
noatoil, wonid have swuied wonderful indeed to tho earlii'r prii-
fewiors of that art. Still more iimnzinf,' is it to find ten or twelve
distinct pictures taken durinj; a sinffle stride, the comparison of wiiich
•nf^«ff enables the most rapid of all e(|uine movement h to be analysed
as thoroughly as though the horse could bi- made logo through all tho
movements of the swiftest gallop at a funereal pace. Then, by
combining these together in n much improved kind of zootropo — the
xaopraxiscopo — tho horse can bo made to go through the action of
l^ulloping OS perfectly as though be were actually galloping before
tho eyes of the observer. This Mr. Sluybridge has done for the
i^illoping and leaping horse, the trotting and walking horse, the
dog running, leaping, and in the chase, cattle, wild bull, doer,
athletes, gymnast,'^, and even for birds. Not only the characteristic
niovoiuents of the different actions, but even those slight and scarce
definable |)cculiarities which distinguish the movements of one
athlete from another in performing the same feat, of one horso
from another in moving at the same giiit, and so forth, are perfectly
recognisable in the combination of pictures which, separately soon,
simply startle ua by the new light which they throw on the real
nature of these rapid motions.
Whether figures thus unfamiliar should replace the conventional
forms by which artists have tried to re]>resent swiftly moving horses,
men, and other animals, is a point about which we apprehend that
art and Mr. Muybridgc may be some time at issue. But that the
utterly incorrect conventional pictures should go by the board
(whatever compromise should replace them) there can be very little
doubt. It is well known to artists that wrong colours and incorrect
shades have to bo used to produce particular effects ; and it may
well be that positions never at any single moment assumed by an
animal, may better suggest tho idea of motion than the somewhat
angainly positions which are (no( assunted, be it noticed, but are)
passed through by siWftly-running animals. But it is quite certain
that pictures so utterly and unnecessarily wrong as those which
have hitlierto done duty (save in a few exceptional cases) for moving
animals, must be improved out of existence.
ELEPHANTS.
BEFOUE tho Jumbo mania has quite passed away, it may bo
well to place before the readers of Knowledok a few facts iu
connection with the distribution of elei)hant8, past and present.
It is well known that the two existing species of elephant are found,
«ne in Southern A.sia, the other iu Africa, and this represents their
distribution ever since the dawn of history ; but probably few of
the multitude lately thronging the Zoological Gardens to see the
gigantic African specimen lately shipped to America, knew, or cared
to remember, that perhaps under their feet reposed the fossil re-
mains of tho much more gigantic ancestors of the great beast they
came to admire, which once roamed wild through British forests ;
and that in the land to which ho has been consigned, now quite
destitute of wild elepbant.i, abundant traces are found of animals
of the same family long since extinct. The greater part of those
found fossil in America belong to tho gigantic Mastodon, which
difforod from the elephant in the form of its teeth, and in other
poculinrities, although resembling it in general form. "Tho bones
and teeth of tho .Mastodon," says Mantell, " have been found
throughout tho plains of North America, from north of Lake Krie,
to o« far south as Charluiton in South Carolina. There were also
ilimtodous peculiar to L'entral and Southern America. Tho remains
of other species have l»en discovered iu the Crag of Kngland, in
Frnnce, Switzerland, Oermnny, Spain, and Italy, in Asia Minor, and
in iH<vpral parts of Indio." But in addition to the remains of
Mastodon, both America and Europe can show geological records of
n nearer relative of the elephant, in the fossil remains of tho (ireat
Mammoth, which ore so abundant in Siberia, and which are found
.ilso in India. There is more than one 8|K-cie3 of elephant found
fossil in Kngland, but tho Munimnth in tho chief, and groat intcreat
nttnchos to it, because although doubtleas it has bum extinct for an
imnii'MNO periixl, its remains arc found both in Kngland and France,
assrH-iatod'with tho n>ugh stone (I'alu'olithio) implomonta of early
man. In tho river gravels and cavo« of Kngland, many fossil
elephants have been found with tho weajions and tools of the wihj
hunters by whom probably they had been slain ; and all doubt aa to
tho co-ciistonce of man with this huge extinct animal is set at
rest by tho discovery, in one of tho French cavofl, of a drawing of
the Mammoth, made by the cave dwellers on a part of a tusk of the
animal. A cost of this rcnnirkable drawing may l>e seen in tho
British Museum, and by it wc see that this extinct elephant was
covered with long hair and wool, and had enormous tasks; the
tnithfulness of the representation having bocn proved by the
discovery in Siberia, in 1799, of an entire carcase imbedded in ice,
where it had lain for unknown ages.
The great interest of these discoveries lies in tho fact of their
being found in the cold regions of Northern Eurojx;, Asia, and
America, whilst at present elephants do not range farther north
than 30° N. Tho woolly covering of tho Mammoth doubtless
enabled it to endure great cold, but it is certain that at present it
could not find sustenance in those regions where it was formerly so
abundant ; therefore its presence denotes that a great change of
climate has taken place in those regions, a fact confirmed by
many other geological observations, proving that a warm temperate
climate and abundant vegetation once existed within a few degrees
of the North Pole.
'Hie question then arises as to the birth-place of these gigantic
ancestors of the elephants of Asia and Africa. From the abnn-
dance of the fo.ssil remains in the countries before-named, it seems
jjrobable that they originated in the north; nevertheless, it mast be
remembered that the bones of many species of elephant have been
found among tertiary deposits both in India and Europe, and how
they managed ti^ spread themselves over the American continent
and into Africa is a problem of general, as well as scientific interest.
It is evident that they do not owe their distribution to human
agency, for although man has been proved to have co-existed with
the Mammoth, it is certain he did not then possess cranes and steam
ships to convey huge beasts acro.^s the ocean ; it therefore follows
that at the time when Mammoths ranged freely over Britain, our
present island was not divided from tho continent by the waters of
the Channel ; this shows a considerable change in the distribution
of land and water, but the change must have been still greater in
the North, to enable the Mastodon and the Mammoth to pass
between America and Asia. As to Africa, which does not appear
to have been the original home of the elephant, it was undoubtedly
at one time united to Europe by land in the Mediterranean, which
allowed the passage, not only of elephants, but of other great
beasts now exclusively African, as the rhinoceros and hippopotamus,
which are also found fossil in England ; but this connection had
been broken long enough to allow of the total extinction of the
Mammoth in Europe, and the rise of the new species of elephant to
which Jumbo belongs, iu Africa, long before the dawn of history.
This subject has been ably treated by Mr. Wallace in his books
on the *' Geographical Distribution of Animals," and " Island Life,"
to which I would refer such readers of Knowlkdge as may desire
more information on these most interesting questions ; meanwhile,
it is possible that the deportation of Jumbo to America may in the
distant futm-e restore the elephant to that gicat continent. We
know that ancestors of the horse are to be found fossil in America,
but the horse was unknown to man on that continent before the
Spanish conquest, though now present in vast wild herds, so likewise
it is possible that Jumbo' .s descendants may at some time range
over the pi-airies as the Mastodon did of old ; and naturalists of
future centuries may, perhaps, trace to tho favourite of the British
Zoological Gardens the rise of a new species of elephant in America.
A. W. Bdckland.
[3H5]— Acci
MULATIVK
Sinking
Fi-xn.
—Tho
following
table,
showing the number of
vearlv drawings.
(each
ncreasing
by the
interest on the
bonds redeemed)
required to pa
■ off loan
at par)
will bo found useful :—
Int. on J
1
U
2
24
3
5
Loan. p. c.
p.c.
p.c.
p.c.
p.c.
p.c.
p.c.
3 65-83
46-90
3717
31-00
26-67
23-45
15-90
4 5602
4104
33 13
28-01
24-36
21-60
14-99
41 52-31
38-73
31-49
26-78
23-39
20-82
1-1-58
5 4815
3672
30-05
25-68
22-52
20-10
14-21
6 4102
33-39
27-62
23-79
21-00
18-85
13-58
7 40-03
30-73
25-64
22-23
19-73
1779
12-9i
S :ii;-81
28 55
23-98
20-91
18-65
16-88
12-42
9 34-17
26-72
22-58
19-78
17-71
16-09
11-95
10 3I-1U
2516
21-37
18-80
1689
1638
11-53
KXOWLEnfiK.Aiiiir.il, 1R82.]
"^:
■.sS..
'^^■■'>*^.
^"-'s3^^
\":^-r
\ ^ ■>■<»*'"■■■■'•?.;'■■".■',•.■•'•■.''■•■ ■ ■ • ■ • "-^ - >i
^■"••■'V.'V- •■•■"■'"■■•' ■ •■■''' ■■.•■■'- ■ •*
.'«
Apeil 14, 1882.]
KNOVv'L.EDGE «
519
Weather. — Beaufort Scale is, b. blue sky; c. detached clouds;
d. drizzling rain; f. fog; g. dark, gloomy; h. hail; 1. lightning;
m. misty (hazy); o. overcast; p. passing showers; q. squally ; r.
rain ; 8. snow ; t. thunder ; u. ugly, threatening ; v. visibility, unusual
transparency ; w. dew.
CANALS ON THE PLANET MARS.
IX a letter to the Times, Jlr. Webb says : — It has long been known
that the surface of the planet Mars is so mapped out into
brighter and darker portions as to suggest the idea of contineats
and oceans, and the analogy thus implied with the arrangements of
our own globe is strengthened by the existence of brilliant white
patches, as of snow or ice, situate at or near the planet's poles of
rotation, and varying in extent with its changing seasons, as well
as by occasional differences in outline or colouring, which may well
be explained by the supposition of a vaporous atmosphere.
In the autumn of 1877 and spring of 1878, when the planet was
in a part of its orbit which presented its surface advantageously to
view, a number of minute, straight, black or dusky bands were
detected by Schiaparelli, traversing and subdividing the supposed
continents in various directions. These have been called from
their aspect "canals," though, of course, their scale entitles them
rather to the appellation of straits, or very long, narrow arms of
the sea. A few of these had been previously seen by various
observers, but to the Italian astronomer belonged the credit of
developing and delineating thorn as a system. At the ensuing
return of the planet in 1879-80 they were again detected and
drawn by him, with very little difference. But during the course
of last January and February he has been so fortunate as to
jierceive the duplication of these dark streaks by the addition of
parallel lines of similar character and length in no fewer than
twenty instances, covering the equatorial region with a strange and
mysterious network, to which there is nothing even remotely
analogous on the earth, and which leads us at once to see how
premature have been our conclusions in this respect, and how far
we still are from any adequate conception of the real constitution
even of our nearest neighbour but one in the solar system.
T. W. Webb.
[I have thirty or forty tracings of views of Mars taken several
years ago by Mr. Dawes — " eagle-eyed Dawes " as he was aptly
named — in which, though he used but an 8-inch telescope, some of
the long narrow passages mentioned by Mr. Webb are shown. I
mention this, because it may serve to corroborate what otherwise
might seem improbable, the circumstance that Signer Schiaparelli
should have seen with his comparatively small telescope what has
escaped the attention of observers using such instruments as the
Herschelian reflectors, the three-feet reflector made by Mr. Common,
and the magnificent 26-inch refractor of Washington. Albeit until
observers with such instruments as these have distinctly seen what
Signor Schiaparelli has mapped, we must not too hastily assume
that these are real features of Mars. Mr. Nathaniel Green, whose
tine lithographs of Mars adorn a recent volume of the Memoirs of
the Astronomical Society, considers that these narrow passages are
due to an optical illusion which he has himself experienced.
Should it be proved that the network of dark streaks has a
real existence, we should by no means be forced to believe that
Mars is a planet unlike our earth, but we might, perhaps, infer
that engineering works on a much greater scale than any which
exist on our globe have been carried on upon the surface of Mars.
The smaller force of Martian gravity would suggest that such works
would be conducted much more easily there than here, as I have
elsewhere shown. It would be rash, however, at present to specu-
late in this way. — Ed.]
WERE THE EGYPTIANS AWARE OF THE
MOTION OF THE EARTH 1
HAVING shown from their ancient hieroglyphical texts that the
KgyjJtians understood the true motion of our planet, it now
onl}- remains for us to see whether this fact is corroborated by the
accounts we have in classic authors of the opinions of the Egyptians
on astronomical subjects. In discussing the matter from this point
of view the greatest caution is necessary, because an ancient
\\Titer might assign to them an explanation of astronomical phe-
nomena they never really held, from misapprehension, or supposing
it is found in some philosopher's works who propounded a system
allied to the Copemican, he might have falsely asserted his theory
to have been derived from Egypt in order to gain for it a better
hearing. M. Le Page Renouf, in his Hibbert Lectures, seems
inclined to reject in many cases the assertions that certain Greek
philosophers had been educated in Egy^jt, even doubting whether
it was true that Pythagoras did so ; but his riews seem far too
sweeping when compared with the universal testimony of the
ancients, many of whose statements bear on the face of them
evidence of truthful impartiality. For instance, Seneca says : —
" Eudoxus first brought with him from Egypt into Greece a know-
ledge of the movements of the planets ; nevertheless, he makes no
mention of comets. Hence it follows that even the Egyptians, a
people more curious than any other in all matters of astronomy,
had occupied themselves but little with the study of these bodies.
At a later period Conon, a most accurate observer, drew up a
catalogue of the various eclipses of the sun observed by the
Egj-ptians, but makes no mention of comets, which he would hardly
have omitted if he had found any facts respecting them."
It would be an easy task to show that in all cases where the
theories of the Greeks have approached most nearly to those we
now know to be correct, they were expounded by men who are dis-
tinctly said to have studied in Egypt ; but only a few of the most
important of those which strictly appertain to our subject can be
given.* Perhaps the most valuable remark of a Greek author is
• See Wilkinson " Ancient Egyptians," vol. II., 316, and I., 447-
Also Humboldt, Cosmos II., 544, and 692, ed. Bohn. That Socrates
icas in Egypt is proved by a Greek inscription on an Egyptian
temple, in which a Greek student says he was there " 200 years
after the divine Socrates."
520
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[Apkil 14, 1882.
to be fnuii)! in Dki Ijipr, in tlio intrcxtartion t<> Ilia " hivcii uf I'hilo-
■oplisn," wlii'i-o, lii'rKi'i- ilcurrihinK tlioni indivitlnully, lie |OVp« n
•hort ftcr<iiint uf Kff^iptinn ductrinoR dorived from Miiiirtlui nnd thu
vonnKT lli'cntt'uii, of Aluli'm. In lliiB, nfCt-r Miyin^ tliey nidpr
till' true fonn of (IikI to tw unknown, ond tlnit tlio world lind ii
b(>ginninf(, and in porinlmblp, it Hnyn of tlir rnrtli, "It is in tlie Hliapo
vf a ball. Tlip stnni iirc fim, und the moon in ocliimwl wliun it
croMvs tlu' Bliiidon of tlio I'urth." 'Jiiiit wo linvo lioro no mixtaken
iitalcmpnt of K^^yplinn tlmuKlit not forth is cvrtnin from whut
PiodoniH Hiiyii, fi>r lici omplmtically tclU ua tlmt " tlie Kf^yptiana
knew that tlio earth wax round," und that the words are to be
taken liternlly ia evident from liia nniro comment, thai were tbia
Inio the Nile could not rise from tho other liomiaphere to flow
into thia. Whether it ia fact that Bomc Greek philoaophcra
gained their knowledge in Ejrypt ; the proofs that Pytlmgorug
did ao ore convincing, nnd althouf;h it may be doubted wc
hare any writinga of hia own, yet it is universally admitted
that his disciple Fhilolaus is u correct exponent of thcni. In
addition to tho common testimony that his PythnRoreiin aatro-
nomical system came from Efrypt, as was shown by liokh in 1819,
Wilkinson proves that his theories of traiisnii^'ration, eiuanation,
and music werw all derived from the Nile Valley. Now Plutarch
aayg : " WhilKtolhers consider thoearlli iinmivable, the Pythagorean
Philolaus believed that it movoj around the central tire in an
oblique circle in the same manner as the moon and the sun, and wc
have the evidence of Diogenes, Laertius, and Theophrastus, that
Bicctas of Syracu.se believed tho earth revolved in a circle around
its own axis. Philolaus here falls into the error of considering; the
ce itral firo round which the earth revolves to be distinct from the
sun, a mistake held, as Ari.stotle tells us, by tho Italian followers of
Pythagoras, but he may have been tho cause of the error by mis-
interpreting the Egyptian views ; and Aristarchus of Sanios, a
brother Pythagorean, has e.xidaiued them correctly when he says,
aa quoted by Archimedes, who, after alluding to his dcnyiiij; that the
eorth was imuiovablo in the centre of the universe, informs us he
considered the sun con.ititutcd thia centre, and was immovable, lH<e
the nther stare, whilst the earth rcvoh'ed around the sun. This great
thinker alludes to the twofold motion of the earth on its axis and
round the sun elsewhere ; and further, tho Egyptians, either
from having observed the passing of sun spots over the solar
disk, or for some other reason, conjectured that the sun also
revolves, for, according to Plutarch, " In the Egyptian Hermetic
books, when the sacred names are mentioned, Hermes is said to be
AjKiIlo, and to represent the lofaJori/ motion of the sun" (Bunsen's
" Egypt," vol. i., page 417). In conclusion, it may be said, there-
fore, that we have, as far as our knowledge enables us to judge,
every reason to believe that the Egyjitians understood the move-
ment of the earth in the heavens. We arrive at this from two
conrses of investigation — from what may be termed the purely
Egyptian, viz., authentic texts penned by themselves, and from the
information handed down to us by the Greeks, mostly in reference
to the doctrines of the Pythagoreans, which were, by everyone
qualified to know, looked upon as Egyptian, but sometimes these
correct ideas of astronomy are directly referred to Egypt herself.
A Meubeb of the Society of Biblical ARcnj:oLOGT.
MR. MATTIEU WILLIAMS ON COD "SOUNDS"
AND "SCIENTIFIC PRIVILEGE."
I SHALL leave " Old Fossil " to settle with Mr. Mattieu Williams
the nature of the structure in the cod, concerning the proper
Dame of which Mr. Williams appears to be specially pertui'bed.
I might remind the disputants that post-mortem appearances,
both in men and fishes, are often deceptive. One thing,
however, is quite certain — namely, that no one nudortaking
tho dissection of a cod with any degree of care, could ever
mistake the "sound" or "swimming bladder" for the dorsal aorta,
or main arterial blood-vessel of the fish. The swimming-bladder
of tho cod contains air, not blood ; although there is a beautiful
network of blood-vcascls (relia mirahilia) closely connected with tho
air-bladder, lliat which concerns me in Mr. Williams's communica-
tion ia my former contention that whatever lishermen call the
" sound," tho term ia used in zoology as synonymous with the names
" air-bladder" und "swimming-bladder." As 1 do not find in Mr.
Williams's article a single word disproving this contention, I must
leave rhe matter where Mr. Williams's common sense is content to
let it toat. If ho jirefera, with the lishermen, to limit the name
" aonud " to another structure than the "air-bladder" he is very
welcome to continue the [iractice. Zoologists arc not likely to
follow hia lead. A. Wilson.
J?:
«£-^ ^-il^ > ^>
acttrrd to tl)f (Cliitor,
[TVtt E<titor dof» not hold hiimff{f r*0poru\blr for fJie opinions ofkU eorrtBpondmtta.
St eannot undertake to return manuacriplt w to corretvond ititk thwir wrU^rt. All
eommunirattonM tkould h» as »hori a* pouihlt, consuttntly with full and cUar ttait'
ment$ of the rriter't meaning.'}
All Kditorial communinitionM thould be addretaed to /A« "Editor ^f ExovlhdoB;
all Bxitineat communicationt to Uu Fublishert, at U« Office, 74, Qrtai Qm«ii-
$tre,t, vr.c.
AH Semittancet, Chequtt, and Pott-Offic* Order$ thould ha wtad* pagabU to
UftTM. Wymitn 4* Sons.
•,• All letter' to tht Editor will h« Numbered. For eontenienee of refortnee,
corr'npontieMta, vken rtj'erring to anjf Utter^ wiU oblige by mentioning its nuwtler
and the page on ichirh it appears.
Ali Letters or Queries to the Editor lehirh require attention in the current issue 0/
KvowLEDOK, tho uU reaoh the Publishii^ Office not UUer than the Saturday preeading
the day qf publication. ___^__
(I.) Letters to hare Bchance of appearine mtift be concise; they mtiitt be drawn
up in the form adopted for letters here, «o that they may go untoached to the
printers ; private communications, therefore, aa well as queries, or replies to
queries (intended to appear as such) nhould be written on nepanite leareM.
(II.) Letters which (either becau<'e too iong, or ansuiiable, or dealing with
matters wliich others have discussed, or for any other rea«OD) cannot find place
hore, will either be briefly referred toinanswerstocorrespondentj, oracknowlcNlged
in a column reserved for the purpose.
** In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despifled who is not in •
state of transition Nor ia there anything more adverse to accuracj
than fixity of opinion."— fararfuy,
"There is no harm in making a mistake, bnt great harm in making none. Bhow
rho makes no nustakea, and I will show you a
nothing." — JAebitj.
'* God's Onhodoiy is Truth."— C^ar/^ Kingtley.
who has done
©m CoiTfgponifuct Columns.
THE POTATO.
[381] — I was pleased to see "Farmer's" contradiction in No. 20
to my article on the potato ; for it shows me that English farmers
are at last beginning to take some interest in agricultural research.
May the day be not far distant when we shall be able to look up
to our farmers as authorities on such matters, instead of having to
look abroad to see how to feed our cattle, manure our land, Ac, as
we have to do at present.
I should, perhaps, have liked to have seen "Farmer's" letter a
little more to the point ; for as it now stands it is only " negative"
in its contradictions, and I think 1 said in my article that " nega-
tive " results were of no use in science unless accomjianied by
" positive " (when obtainable), to bear out the investigator's or
critic's assertions. For instance, " Farmer " should have told us
the difference in weight between the Victorias from which the
blossoms had been removed, and those on which the blossoms had
been allowed to remain. Perhaps he did not think it worth while
to give the weights, but they are really important in a matter of
this kind.
" Farmer," I am sure, will excuse me for saying that I do not
quite see the point of his second remarks ; for he himself ends
them by saying, "and has none of the sweetness peculiar to a
frosted potato."
Thirdly. "Farmer" alludes to the compost; and as the " nn-
manured plot," &c., is connected with the same contradiction, I will
answer tho two by saying, that the "compost" was one of six or
seven manures tried on the same kind of land (sandy, I believe), at
the same experiment, while the " nnmanured " was that plot which
did not receive any manure ; and so the deduction was fairly arrived
at, 1 think. Has " Farmer" tried the effect of the different
manures in this way ? If he has, his results will be valuable.
Fnrther, I may say that in this case my remarks about " Potatoes
grown," &c., do not exactly contradict the remarks about the " on-
manured plots." " Farmer " says. " one assertion flatly contradicts
the other, and both are contrary to his or any one else's experience."
Does his experience, or that of his friends, lie evenly between the
two points ? He does not say !
1 will now quote my authority for the various assertions I hare
made, and have much pleasure in doing so, especially if "Fanner"
intends to pursue the subject in the paper 1 shall name, for I am
sure another worker in the Field will be hailed with delight by all
scientists abroad.
April 14, 1882.]
• KNO\VLEDGE •
521
I will name his coutradictioDS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, to save space : —
1. Bird. Cents. 1879. 634.
2. ., ,. 1880. 472-471.
3 & 4 1879. 106-108. W. Paulson.
5. ., ,. 1880. 868-870. W. H.
P. C.
TRICYCLES.
[382] — As a bicycle and tricycle rider of many years' standing,
and one who has tried many kinds of tricycles, I would strongly
warn your rcadera against taking Mr. Browning's advice, and
getting a "creeping thing" in the way of a tricycle, with small
wheels, under any circumstances. It is obvious that the smaller
the wheels, the more must inequalities in the ground and stones
inconTcnience the rider, and this is an important point. Large
wheels pass unjoltingly over an obstacle that would clash the teeth
on a small 36-iu. wheel.
In case of an emergency, I should not like to have my toes in a
stiiTup, as with the Monarch. It might be very awkward.
My settled opinion is, that a 50 or 52 in. Cheylesmore is the per-
fection of tricycles. The machine is beautifully finished, very light,
and yet strong, and is also one of the fastest runnci-s and easiest
hill-climbers. Then comes the Kucker, the Premier, and perhaps
the National. The Ilumber is fast, but I concur in Mr. Browning's
remarks upon it in other respects.
It is a great mistake to have too heavy a machine, no matter the
rider's weight, and strength can be secured without ponderosity.
I have just had a three days' ride to and along the salt coast and
back on a Cheylesmore (about 190 miles), and rode every hill both
up and down (although I crossed the South Downs), and experienced
no fatigue whatever.
I fear the rotarj- Coventiy is too narrow to bo safe from over-
turning at a high speed.
The Cheylesmore is, I find, much less fatiguing on a long ride,
infinitely more comfortable, and averages as fast a pace as a
bicycle. Of this I am perfectly convinced from my experience.
I should like to dilate on the delights of tricycling and incidental
matter, but I fear your space is too valuable to be afforded for the
purpose. I should, however, be happy to give any practical informa-
tion, should readers desire it. — Yours faithfully, Ex-Bicyclist.
HALO ROUND THE MOON.
[383] — On January 29, between 6.20 pnd 6.40 p.m., I saw a very
peculiar halo round the moon. I was in Tokiyo (Yedo) at the time,
and the same a^■pearance was seen by many of my friends at Yoko-
kama, 18 miles distant. It was like the figure herewith. At first
I was nnder the impression that the figure was slightly elongated
on the outer circle, that is to say, the distance from the centre of
the moon to the edge of the first halo was less than that from the
edge of the first halo to the farthest point in the second ; but on
drawing it I am convinced that this was an optical illusion. The
lower part of the second halo intersected the lower horn of the
moon in a peculiar way, as given in the drawing. The moon was
nearly half full.— Yours, &c.,
Yokohama, Japan, Feb. 13, 1882. H. Pbyeb.
PERSONAL ILLUSION.
[384] — I observe in your issue of March 18 that a correspondent,
under the nom-de-piiim« of "Jumbo," mentions as an instance of
the above the fact that to him " horizontal lines appear plainer
than perpendicular'' ones. I beg to suggest that this phenomenon
more probably depends on a physical than a psychical cause. It is
produced, in the great majority of cases, by a difference of refrac-
tion in the vertical and horizontal meridians of either the lens or
cornea of the eye. The effect of this is to cause the one set of
lines to be brought to a focus on the retina, while the ones at right
angles to them aie not. This condition car be corrected in most
cases, to a great extent, if not entirely, by the use of cylindrical
glasses. G. A. Hkk.schell, M.D. Lond.
[Answered by W. R. D., F. T. W., and several others.— Ed.]
REPLIES TO QUERIES.
[318] — Vegetarian books and pamphlets are numerous, but
perhaps G. A. S. would find what he wants in Dr. Nichol's " How
to Live on Sixpence a-Day," price 6d. [Nichols & Co., 23, Oxford-
street, London]. Of cheap cookery books there are, " How to
Spend Sixpence," price Id., " The Penny Vegetarian Cookery," and
the " Food Reform Cookery Book," price 2d., to be had from the
Secretary of the Vegetai-iau Society, 56, Peter-street, Manchester.
I should be glad to answer any letters addressed 46, Meadow-street,
Moss Side, Manchester, as a full answer to G. A. S.'s query would
occupy more space than the editor could spare. — A Fellow of the
Chemical Society. — [Many other replies received ; but the above
will suffice : and more also. — Ed.]
[337] — Self- Acting Blowpipe. — Such is for sale in the better
class of tool-shops. A vessel with a screw top holding spirit, has a
small pipe leading from near the top of its interior through the
bottom, where it is turned at a right angle. A spirit-lamp under-
neath heats the spirit in the vessel ; the vapom- given off is expelled
through the pipe, and passing over the flame of the lamp is ignited.
A long roaring flame is the result, but it is not so hot as a good
blowpipe flame, as the combustion is only that of the spirit without
admixture of air. The flame is a large one, and is quite unsuited
for soldering, but I have used it for manipulating glass tubing, as it
allows the use of both hands. — Clake.
ginstoers to Corif^pontifntisf*
*^*AU eommunuafions for the Editor requiring earltf attention should reach the
Office on or before the Saturday preceding the current issue of Knowledgb, the
increasing circulation of which compels us to go to press early in the Keek.
Hints to Coeeespoxdbnts. — 1. No questions asking for scientific information
can be ansicered through the post. 2. Letters sent to the Editor for correspondent*
cannot be forwarded ; nor can the names or addresses of correspondents be given in
answer to private inquiries, 3. Correspondents should vrite on one side only of
the paper, and put drawings on a separate leaf. 4. Each letter should have a title,
and in replying to a letter, r^erence should be aade to its number, the page on
which it appears, and its title.
ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS.
J. MtTRRAY. How severe the P. D. system must be, which will
not allow Venus to be more than 5,000 miles in diameter ! It is
some comfort to know that, as " gravitation or retardation is a
compound body, it is hard to say to a 1,0U0 miles off-handed."
Yet you say, " Without a dought " (the worst spell of doubt I have
yet experienced) Mars is only about 1,600 miles in diameter. —
A. N. S. (1) Thanks for calling my attention to the undoubted
mistakes occurring in the times noted p. 468. I took down the
Nautical Almanack for 1881, instead of 1882. Fortunately the rea-
soning is in no sense affected by the mistake. (2) Astronomers find
it convenient to take the sun's centre ; that is the only reason I can
think of. — D. Maxwell. Your reasoning is incorrect, though plausible.
You cannot so simply deal with the attraction of the segment of a
sphere, as to assume that it acts as though the whole mass were at
the centre of gravity. The sphere (either of uniform density, or
composed of concentric shells, each of uniform density) is the only
solid whose resultant atti-action on a particle is the same as though
its whole mass were collected at the centre of gravity. As a matter
of fact, the force of gravity within a globe of uniform density
diminishes as the distance from the centre. Note also, that if
tlirough a particle in such a globe, a spherical surface con-
centric with the surface of the sphere be sui^posed to pass,
the portion of the globe outside that inner spherical surface
produces no effect whatever on the particle. — M. Boyce.
Your friend was right. The sun is far north of east at 6 a.m.,
either mean or solar time. By solar time, he crosses at 6 a.m.
and 6 p.m. the great circle passing through the east and west points
and the pole of the heavens (a declination circle), not the great
circle passing through the east and west points and the zenith. —
A. S. T., M. H. C, Erin-go-Bkagh. Thanks. — Noblehill. I beg
to inform you that pressure would not vanish at the earth's centre.
Pressure there is not the result of gravity there, but of gravity else-
where, and therefore your reasoning has no weight. The matter
above the earth's centre has, on the contrary, a great deal of
522
- KNOWLEDGE •
[Aphil 14, 1882.
weight lii>nci>, vory miipli pn'siiarp. — K. n«ii.r.Y Wai.kkh, F.S.H.
Many tliriiikd. F. II. .1. II. You ciiii iiiii(fiiify n llnii to tin- iii/.o of
a bn<wor'« liorup, or of Junilio, by moaim of llip oxylijilro({i'n liiiitorii.
— 8(NK.X. Ccrtninly, the vdority nnd ili»tniir<« of any two |iliiiii-lii
nn coiincctpil by Kopler'n Inw. lliim, tako two pInnotH A nnd /(,
lot their poriiHlii bo j> niui /', tlipir diiitaiices rf nnd D, their vcloci-
tii'B r nnd f. Hy Kepler's law : —
d' : ii'r.p' : i"
■ £ — £.
•'•p'" l"' d
d D
But obviously r : V'.: - '. -p
" ' ' "p* • r*'- P' ' d '■ I"
■.:d : d
whence r : V:: y/V : ^d, or the velocities of
planotA arc inversely ns the square roots of the distances. —
J. LANKtiiiKAK. Yes, the darker part of the moon can often bo
ao«n. That part is lif^hted by the earth ; for when the moon is new
to us the earth is full to the moon. — C. K. Thohbitkn. Thanks. —
J, T. 1). How could the polo and centre coincide, however the
earth might be flattened ? If they coincided, the pancake earth
would bo of no thickness at all, which is absurd. Centrifugal
force at equator accounts for only a part of the difference. For
the nttractions at eqnntor nnd pole, independently of rotation, see
Todhunter's " Statics." The moon question rather more complex
than you seem to think. — J. B. MorFAT. We have not
"G. E. V.'s" oddrcss. — F. D. It seems to me there is no con-
fusion and no difficulty in the probabilities question.
ELECTRICAL.
Eccentric Chuck. — 1. Swan's lamps are 5s. each, the other forms
arc lOa. to 12s. Cd. 2. About twenty Bunsen cells, in good con-
dition, will light up a Swan lamp for tliroe or four hours at a time.
3. Speaking at the Royal Institution a few weeks since, Mr. Swan
said his lamps were reliable for 1,200 hours continnous burning;
but I believe they are now safe for at least 2,000 hours, or about
twelve months ordinary burning. — L. J. The Swan lamp (see pre-
ceding answer) may be obtained for 5s. of Swan's Electric Light
Company (Limited), 13, Mosley-street, Newcastle-on-'JVne ; 25s.
was the price, until recently, and further reductions, at
least, in the other systems may, perhaps, be expected. — Ash-
BRincE-RoBiNsox. A large-sized Pickford van might, perhaps,
hold a sufficient number of Danioll Battery cells to maintain fifteen
Swan or Edison lamps, but it is very doubtful. An induction coil
is of no use. You would require an engine and a dynamo-electric
machine.— A. W. B. To make a Grove's cell, get an earthenware
jar of, say, a quart capacity, into which put an amalgamated zinc
cylinder, and inside this a porous pot containing a sheet of platinum.
In charging, put concentrated nitric acid in the porous pot, and sul-
phuric acid, diluted with ten times its volume of water, in the outer
coll. Substituting a block of gas carbon (a waste product in gas-
making) for the platinum converts the Grove into a Bunsen. Gene-
rally the Grove is made in the flat form, the Bunsen almost invariably
being round. Is this lucid enough 'i You can buy either for about
6s. per cell, but can make them for about 3s. or 3s. G<l. 2. Your
best plan is to write to the various companie.s, offering your ser-
vices, and stating your qualifications. — E. C. H. A description of
the Brush machine is already written, and only waits its turn to
appear in Knowledge.— S. G. T. Keally, I am puzzled how to
answer your queries. However, I will try what I can do. In the
first place, the engine docs not produce electric sparks. Secondly,
friction is of no use to produce the electric light ; and, thirdly,
galvanic batteries are not verj- much better, although a light
can bo obtained from them; nor, fourthly, are the "mag-
netic coils affected by the action of the engine" beyond
being rapidly rotated before the poles of a magnet. Rend our
articles on " Electric Generators." " Tho Engineer," and " En-
gineering," for the past two or three years, contain the information
you re<|uire nlxjut gas-engines.— F. A. S. Wo shall describe the
gramme machine "when space permits," but it is more difficult for
amateurs to mnke than a modification of Siemens's machine, which
wo arc describing in our columns for tho "Amateur Electrician."
Uniuhort's " Electric Light" is, I think, the most recent work on
the subject ; but, although a good book, it is rather cnido in some
of its descriptions.
MISCELLANEOUS.
G. M. GoHiiAM. Tho true theory of tho rainbow would be rather
too abatmso for our roadora ; albeit, if you had not lost tho one you
mention, wo should bo very willing to publish it. — M. T. H. Do
you therefore reason that boenuso our grandmothers were idiot* in
mutters of dross, their granddanghtom nmA not mind licing raoroly
fixjlish ?— F. II. H. Your questions quite unsuitable. Our roadora
(and wu too) caro for none of these things. — FoNs Hasuusii. Do
not know. — Gbeookv. Very likely there is a good deal of elec-
tricity about the sun. Any details ? — P. H. Oabpkntee. We
have already arranged with a geologist for tho discussion of
such subjects. Our i^uenj column it defunct, and to it our
Ilrply column. — C. H. Bkee, M.D. Yes, but unfortunately for
your argument the egg is not an ellipsoid. — W. Mabel. We cannot
take up the subject. If the trade cares to try it, let them do so ;
they have our full and free permission. They have not asked for
it, but that is a detail. — J. Allen Beown. Quito so. Dr. Siemens's
theory will, however, never bo attacked seriously by science, for a
very sufficient reason — it has no life, therefore needs no killing. —
Anno Domini. " Oh, iMsh ! the worthy bishop said ;" for which
you will overhaul tho " Bab Ballads " — perhaps. — G. W. B. Y'es,
but perhaps Mr. S — ^, of London, will advertise as much for
himself. It is not our business to do so. — Besnabd Bati-
gan. See No. 21. — W. Robebts. Arabic names explained shortly.
Know nothing showing Cromwell believed in astrology. He was
superstitious in some things — strangely so for so strong a mind. —
J. A. Ubomley. Many thanks for the Dutch barometer. My
being the " fountain of knowledge " does not help me to get the
water in, but will try all three given methods. — Thomas Smith,
JuN. Nobody questions that character is shown by the shape of the
head ; so it is shown hy the chin, the nose, the cheek-bones. The
so-called science of phrenology, as advanced by Gall, Spurzheim,
and all their followers who really know what phrenology means,
asserts that underneath the so-called bumps are the cerebral organs
corresponding to the several qualities associated with those bumps.
It is this that science rejects. One can tell character as well from
nose, lips, chin, eyes, jaws, and so forth, as from cranial develop-
ment, and nine-tenths among so-called phrenologists (I suspect all)
really judge of character thus, and not from the bumps. Now I
venture to assert that there is as much reason for asserting that there
is an organ of Voluptuousness (Capital V., if you please. Monsieur le
Compositor) within the lips, and of Resolution within the chin, because
full lips indicate a voluptuous character and a prominent chin resolu-
tion, as for saying that there is an organ of Destruciivencssin the part
of the brain behind the ears, and an organ of Philoprogenitiveness
just above the nape of the neck. But the fact of the matter really is
that so-called phrenologists of our time know nothing whatever of
what Gall and Spurzheim really taught. — J. I never met with a man
of science yet who did not acrree with what, as you tell me. Professor
Boyd Dawkins said at Manchester. Sir W. Thomson's theoiy of the
meteoric origin of life is a joke, nothing more ; if he really main-
tained it, it wonld be a jest. — F. W. Halfpennt. Y'es, there can be no
doubt the Egyptian books contained nearly all that we find in the
books you mention, and a good deal more ; so did the Assyrian
stone records : and many go about saying, in favour of the account
you refer to, very much what Rogue Riderhood used to say for
himself {"Now say I 'm a liar.") But the subject is hardly
suited for our columns. We do not want to know what has been
taught, but what is. — W. J. Cant. We hope to publish the figures
drawn by compound pendulum, but, hitherto, the photographic
record is incomplete. The author of the paper you men-
tion has very kindly sent some red tracings, but the
red is aniline, and unsuitable for photographic effect. Your
stamped and directed envelope might be used if we could do
so without injustice to some 750 others. — -G. H. Mortimer. We can
no longer publish book titles. Y'our query unsuitable. — E. C. R.
Can you not look up Mr. Judd's book yourself K (Similiu- questions
— that is, questions relating to books — received from J. H., L.
Brown, W. Hartwig, M. Couybeare, J. H. Ludwig, and multitudes
of otheis. — Vacii'M. Query unsuitable. We must consider the
many, not tho few, or mere units. — M. B. Alder. Y'on think
lirant Allen very wicked, and also very silly, because he says,
" the daffodil has done so and so ; " others (myself, for
example) think his way of putting these things perfectly
delightful. What can I do, except to quote the old saying,
De ;;«,s(i6u.< non est disputandum ? But, tell me, where does
science stop and blasphemy begin ? Is it blasphemous to say
that child grows, or this tree thrives ? If you can allow
your mind to admit development on the small scale, can you not,
by any possibility, admit it on the larger scale too ? Can you not
see that to Him " who works in and through all things," there can
bo no distinction (as mth us) of large and small, long lasting and
transitory f For my own part, when I hear fanatics raving against
the general doctrine of evolution, I see in their ineptitude the
strongest evidence for evolution. Their inability to see that the
same Being who can arrange for the evolution of the fowl from
the egg or the man from the ombryon can also presumably
arrange for the development of the race also from a race of lower
April U, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
523
type, may bo compared to the incapacity of tlie infant for that
which is easy for the grown man, or for the inability of the lower
laces to effect what is well within the power of the higher. I say
with you, " there is something; loathsome about untrnth." It would
be exceedingly loathpome, therefore, for mo to say 1 agree with you
in aoght save that general proposition — Narcissus, Lcnatic. *' No
more on that head," as the bald man said. — Foreigner. Man
is inquisitive, and wants to know what there is at the Pole.
That is the only reason I can imagine for polar expeditions. —
Easy. Thanks ; but do not see our way to taking a pai't in the
matter — Scalpel, C. H. C. We have been obliged to decline to
insert any question asking for name or names of books on special
gnbjects, thongh we question the bona Jules of no individual querist.
In three cases wo have had replies to snch queries in the same
handwriting as the queries themselves. We are sorry that
for the sako of a few dishonest querists, the great majority
of honest ones suffer, bnt we cannot help it. — Nicholas Whitley.
That may do very well for the V. I., but we would as soon insert a
paper by Paralltix asserting the earth's flatness, or any other absur-
dity.— J. B. T. Well : but that is just what inertia requires. — R.
W. Bkanthwaite. You say "the dental formula at p. -159 is
entirely wrong and needs correction," and then you give the dental
formula for man. Since No. 1 of Knowledge appeared, I have
been told many things which I knew before, and I thought scarcely
anything in that way could surprise me ; but 1 frankly confess you
beat me. I did not expect to have it carefully (and I must admit
very lucidly and fully) explained to me that man does not ordinarily
possess twelve incisors, or twenty -eight molars, or forty-four teeth
all told. " It will go near to be thought so shortly." Where, in
p. 459, is it stated that the dental formula there given is man's ?
KoB Croniel (? ?). We could scarcely find space for Cottier Life.
— Gerald Massey. Thanks ; but these verbal questions are not for
us. The mistakes in the letter arose from its accidentally escaping
correction. There are no such eight stars. — G. W. Hart. Thanks ;
bnt Chemistry of Genesis would hardly suit us. — Thos. A. Cotton.
We cannot say where that or any instruments are to be purchased,
either here or privately. In fact, stamped and addressed envelopes,
except for return of MSS., are sent to us in vain. Our rule on that
subject has been very clearly stated. — C. A. E. The subject is a
good one, and we hope to have such an article shortly. — G. F.
Hanap. We cannot take the office of private tutor even to a
section of our readers. Besides, the questions you ask are not even
complete. — James Deas. Guillemin on Comets, translated by
Glaisher. Can recommend no book on astrology. — Unitas. Thanks.
— Cogito. Jlr. Grant Allen appears to presuppose some intelli-
gence in his readers, when he speaks as if there were intelligence and
volition in plants. — J. Rcs.sell C. Cheese problcmrather tooordinary.
— Alpha. The right answer, as I vindcrstand the question, is 42f . A
takes one-third before D, who takes two-ninths, retires. A then should
now take nine-sevenths of one-third, or 42f per cent.— Arthur
Geaei.ng. You solve a problem not given in these pages. A
rectangle formed of three squares is not the same thing as three
squares arranged so as to form three-quarters of a square. —
Zeta. Loomis's Astronomy has good refraction tables. Price, I
think, 8s. 6d. — A. N. S. If that (referring to your probabilities
question) needs proof, we had better prove that two straight lines
cannot enclose a space. — H. C. Standage. Thanks, but table of
payments quite unsuitable. — Comitatus. I suppose the front
engine draws the front half of the train, and the hind engine
pushes the hinder half. — J. Parker Fowler. If you were
acquainted with the formulas of spherical trigonometry you could
hardly ask the question ; if you are not acquainted with it,
we can hardly answer it. Why cannot we see through a
brick wall ? sounds like a conundrum. Light is not " lost
in passing through the wall." It does not pass through,
but is partly reflected, partly absorbed, at the surface. —
jAifEs HAnKiNGTO.N. I do not know Mr. John Hampden's address,
bnt if I did, I could not forward your communication ; it would be
a breach of our rules. Let me advise you not to waste time and
money on such nonsense. — Erin-go-Bragh. Thanks; but the facts
mostly familiar. — H. C. Standage. Pigments not in our line. —
S. M. Cox. Thanks. About possible hands there is no difficulty so
long as there is clear definition of what constitutes different hands.
— B.M., F.R.C.S. You may depend upon it Sir Edmund Beckett
knows all about the advantage of having the screw-driver properly
ground. Telling him that a mechanical device he suggested would be
troublesome, unworkmanlike, and unnecessary — would be like
telling Hanlan that he had entirely erroneous ideas about rowing. —
M. Wyatt. Thanks ; but as there is no practical value in rules for
finding roots, we must reserve the space the subject would take for
other and more pressing matter. — An Engineer. We noticed the
passage, but did not understand it as you have done. No one can
for a moment suppose that the presence of air in a bird's bones
could add to the bird's buoyancy ; but it should not be necessary to
explain to an engineer that the hollow structure of the bones is
adapted to give as much strength with as little weight as possible.
The point you explain is fully dealt with in a Fitful reply of my omi
at p. GO.
Bobby. — (You are cool enough). J. Hargreave, L. M. N., K.
Sperritt, M. N., J. Uannay, F. Finleyson, R. Morris, S. T. P.,
K. Pavitt, M. R. Winstanley, Peter Parley, Post Meridian, F.
Friendlison, Avernus, M. J. Merry weather, Semper Paratus, R.
Rudolfsen, Mons Parturiens, S. Silliman, J. R. Rendnll, M. Purvis,
K. U. Payne, R. P. T., Rap Back (Why ? R. A. P.), Per aspera ad
ardna tendo (Many do), J. V. M., Holocaust.
d^ur saHfii'st Column.
By " Five of Clubs."
Plat Second Hand when Knave is Led.
KNAA^E, as an original lead, is played only (see synopsis of
leads, p. 310, No. 11), (1) from King, Queen, Knave, and two
or more small ones ; and (2) from Knave, ten, nine, with or with-
out small ones ; except in the unusual case that original leader holds
four trumps and three three-card suits, when Knave may be led
from Knave, ten, and another. If then second player holds either
King or Queen, he knows the lead is not led from (1) ; while, if he
holds either ten or nine, he knows it is not from (2) ; and, lastly, if
he holds one of the first set, as well as one of the second set, he
knows that the lead is a forced one, the leader having probably no
four-card plain suit. Taking the two more common cases, of a
Knave lead, second player, if he holds King or Queen only, above
the Knave, showing that the lead is from Knave, ten, nine, and
others, should play a small one, unless with the IQueen he holds
the ten, when he should play the Queen. But this last case is very
unlikely to occur, as it would imply that Knave had been led from
Knave and one or two small ones. If second player holds both
King and Queen, he should cover Knave with Queen. If he holds
Ace and Queen with or without small ones, he should play the Ace,
knowing that leader docs not hold the King, so that covering with
Queen is useless, whether third player or partner hold the King.
If, when Knave is led, second player has no card above it, he will,
of course, play his lowest. If second player holds King, nine, or
Queen, nine, the lead is probably a forced one — from Knave, ten,
and a small one ; it is, therefore, useless to put on the higher card,
unless circumstances render it very desirable to gain the lead. But
usually the small card would bo played, leaving partner to take the
trick if he can.
Play Second Hand when Ten ob Nine is Led.
Here the principles are much the same as in the previous case.
Ten (see synopsis of leads) is only led from King, Queen, Knave,
ten, and from King, Knave, ten, with or without others. There-
fore, if second player holds the Queen, with nothing to show that
the lead is forced (and ten is very unusual as a forced lead), he
knows that the lead is from King, Knave, ten, and should play the
Queen, or not, according as she is singly or doubly guarded. It is
obviously useless to retain her if she is only singly guarded, for she
must fall next round ; and as obviously unwise to play her if she
has two guards or more. If ten is led, and second player holds
Knave and nine (a fourchette), of course Knave should be played.
The lead, with these cards outside the leader's hand, is very
unusual, being from ten and one or two small ones. Nine is only led
from King, Knave, ten, nine, with or without others. If second
]ilayer, then, holds Queen only singly guarded, he should play her ;
but if she is doubly or trebly guarded, he should play his lowest.
Play Second Hand when Small Card is Led.
The rules for play second hand when a small card is led are
nearly all included in the general instructions already given. When
second player is long in the suit led, he plays somewhat as he would
if the suit were his own, and he were leading, only that, first, in
playing one of a sequence he always plays the lowest, and, secondly,
as his partner is in a more favourable position, being fourth player
instead of third, he leaves more open to him. For instance, in
leading from Ace and four small ones. Ace is played ; but if
second player holds these cards he plays a small one, unless
the game is in a critical state, and either one trick or a lead is
much needed ; or if first player is one of those who affects the
lead from a singleton. So when an honour is led and you hold a
524
KNOWLEDGE
[AraiL U, 1882.
liI|t)ior honour anil are lonR in tho rait, yon pnm the triok,
cicwpt you hnvp Htroiig miuuin for doNirin^ n loud (nr wioh to Ntop ti
trump lond, but thiit <<a.<«<t brlon^H to play Norond han<l in triinipfi).
Whrn, liowi'vcr, you hold Aro, yiicon. nnd othorn m-cnnil Imml. n
ninnll rnrd Ix'itiK lod, your pliiy ia tinliico thnl whirh you would
ndopt ill londiiiK from aurh a liniid. Tliux, n-ith Aco, Qui>on,
KnaTo, with or without (jtlirrH, Aco in ivUvnyn lod, but with thoHo
cAnlii iiprond in hnnd, yon play tho Knavo (or lowest of Qupen
Knnro WMHicnct') ; from Aco, tjui'on. ton, Qucon ia to bo pluycd ;
for if third plnyor covi'm j-ou roiniiin with tho tonnco, ho
thnt unloM lod lhrouf(h n^nin, and Knnvo Hob with third
plnyor, you tiro iinro to mnko two tricka in tho Huit (apart from
rullin){). From Aro, (^uoon, nnd one or two nmnll ono», you
piny aorond hnnd n anmll ono on a small card led. From
Aco, Qncon, and thrro amall ones or more, you piny Quocn,
if woak in trumpa, amnllcat if atrong.
Whon yon nro abort in tho suit lod, yon piny spcond-hnnd on
aomowhut tho anme principles as in tho case of tho forced load
fif a aiiif in tvkirh you have no roaiton to believe your partner atrnnj.
You play, of course, tho lowest instead of tho highest of aseijuence,
and you leave more to your partner, as ho is more favourably
placed.
But if yon hold only two cards in the suit led, you reverse, as
second plnyor, the rule which holda, almost without exception, in
the unuRual case of a forced lead from a two-card suit. Thufl, if
yon hold King, or Queen, or Knave, and one small one, you play
tho small ono — not tho honour (in plain suits), unless you have
some special reason for desiring to obtain tho load, in which case
tho King may bo played, second hand from King one small one.
Many skilful players of their own hnnd maintain, with some
obstinacy, that Queen should bo played second hand from Queen
one small one, because tho chance of her falling is so great,
greater than that of King falling when you retain him second
in hand. Tlie chance of a singly guarded Queen making is
always much less than that for a singly guarded King ; but you do
not increase it by playing the Queen in snch a case. You know
certainly that either King or Ace lies with third and fourth players.
If third holds either, your Queen falls. It may be, third player
puts on King, and your partner takes the trick with the Ace, in
which case yon have the satisfaction of knomng that you have
thrown away your Queen. Of course, if your partner holds Ace,
and third ployer does not hold a King, you gain by putting on tho
Queen. But this is practically the only case in your favour. Tho
matter may be put thus : One of the following arrangements must
hold ; as it is certain, from the lead of a small one, that leader has
not both Ace and King : —
By playing Qneen,
Y'ou throw her away
, Y'ou save a trick
, Y'ou throw her away
. Y'ou lose a trick
Y'ou throw her away
Yon gain a trick
Y'ou probably gain a trick.
3rd holds Ace and King
-tth
3rd „ „ 4th holds King or not
3rd holds King, 4th holds Ace
M „ ,, not Aco
3rd weak, 4th holds Ace
,. „ King
There is, yon observe, a balance in favour of the play of Qneen
second-hand turning out nnfavourablv-
Cavendish gives a reason for playing tho small card, the force of
which some whist players seem not to recognise. He says that,
playing the Queen unnecessjuily exposes your weakness, and'enables
tho leader to finesse whon tho suit is returned. As the Queen is
tho proper card to piny if you hold King, Queen, and a small one,
yon expose your weakness to the player who holds King. If
this is tho leader, he can finesse tho ten if ho holds it or his
partner leads it, on the return of the snit, knowing you do not
hold the Knave. ITe may even finesse the nine if it suits him ;
a finesse against only one card. If the third player holds the King,
he pnta it on, and your weakness is exposed to both adversaries, who
can finesse under equally favourable conditions. Of course, if
fonrth player holds the King, you only disclose your weakness to
him ; bnt thnt is ono favourable case to two unfavourable cases.
Manifestly, tho play of Qneen second hand from Qucon one small
one ia nnsonnd.
Next week wo shall give, with remarks, inferences on a game
smgnlarly well illnstmting the weakiicss of the lead from a singleton,
even when the object is to secure only the odd trick, so that there
i« no question of bringing in a long suit.
G. TnoMlW)N.— Solution of Problem 2 quite right.
SoLTOoNs Of Probiksc 3. by 0. Xiolrov, Moleqne. D. JIaxwoll,
«. K. Flett, F. 1). Mackenzie, Wm. R. F.,J. Harvey, M. Purvis (or
Prorii), J. Pocklington, P. R. M., oorroot. All others wrong. There
ia no way of making all tho tricka nnleaa tho Quoon and Knave of
.SpadoH in A'n hand are discarded.
Cmtas.— Pole'a "Whist" publiahod by lyongmnna. CUy'a by
Du In Ituo & Co. Our Intcat edition of Cavondiah ia the twclth.
.SOLUTION' OF PROBLEM 3.
lat Trick
.S Ace
.S
2
.S 7
.S K
2nd „
II Kn.
II
7
II 3
H 2
3rd „
U (i
H
8
H 9
H 5
4th „
K Kn.
II
K
H Ace
D i
5th „
Qn.
D
2
H I
D 7
6lh „
7th „
C 5
3
S
S
3
%
S 10
.s y
D 8
C Kn.
8th „
C 2
s
5
.S H
C Qn.
9th „
10th „
D S
D 6
c
1
II (,)'..
Jl 11)
C K
D 9»
11th „
D Kn.
c
7
D 3
D 10
12th „
D Ace
c
8
C 6
D K
13th „
D Qn.
c
9
C 10
C Ace
The lead of Spade Ace, and the discard of Queen and Knave,
aro the "points" of this problem. — Five of Clubs.
(9uv CbfSs Column.
GAME BY CORRESPONDEXCE.— (Continued /romp. 505.)
Position after Black's 35tli move.
R takes R.
CHIEF EDITOR.
WUITH.
CHESS EDITOB.
36. Q takes QI5P
37. K takes R
38. Q takes Q
39. K to B2
■10. K to B3
41. B to BI
42. K takes P
•«. K to B5
4-1. P to KRi
15. B to Q5
46. K to Kt6
36. R to K8ch
37. Q to Ksq ch
38. Kt takes Q
.39. Kt to B3
40. Kt to Q4
41. Kt takes P
42. P to QR4
43. Kt to Kt 8
44. Kt to Q7
45. Kt to B8
46. Kt to K6
• If Z here plays his C Aco, B'a C 10 is then best C, and he ]>lay.5
it before D 3, the result being the same.
April 14, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE *
525
I'Kf.BLElI No. 35.
By Leonaed P. Eees.
Bticx.
W^-
^^^.. *
^^//l^
i
1
%
l. .
%
'-'■'^.
Wliite to p'ar, and mate in two moves.
PROBLEM Xo. 36. By Ercoie Del Rio.
Black.
WmTB.
White to play and mate in four moves.
PROBLEM No. 37. Example of " Smothered Mate."
(Black received the odds of Queen's Rook.)
Black (Mods. Gretener).
^1
i@ ^ \Li ■
Whits (A. J. Mass).
White's last move was Q from KR4 to K7. Black then played Kt
takes E. White now mates in five moves, besinning Q takes KPch.
(IfWhite checks at QB7, followed by Kt KS, Black can draw by
perpetual check.
THE GIUOCO PIANO (Continued /rom p. 442.)
1 ?i?_^ 2 ^' '° ^^^ 3 ^ to'R^ ^ P to B3
■ P to K4 ■ Kt to QB3 ' B to B4 ' Kt to B3
Besides 5P to Q3 and oP to Q4, which we have examined in our
last article, White has four other moves at his disposal, viz., 5Kt to
Kt5, 5 P to QKt4, 5 Q to Kt3, and 5 Castles. 5 Kt to Kt5 is the
weakest of these continuations, but as it presents some danger to
the inexperienced, we will examine it first : —
5 Kt to Kt5 g P toQ3 - P to KR4
Castles. ■ P to KR3
This is a position which has occurred in thousands of games. The
danger arises if Black should now capture the Knight with his
Pawn, then White would win by having the command of his whole
King Rook's file, i.e.,
P takes P
Kt to R2
7.
P takes Kt
J, QtoRo
R to Ksq
,, E takes Ktch ,„ QtoRo „ . , „, , ,, ,
11. == — j ;; — 12. r'- I!ut, of course, Black would do
K takes R Mate.
jQ Q takes BPch
K to Esq
well to play ^^ —
and he will soon obtain a good game.
to bo followed either
P to Q3,
Should White play ^ "^ *° ^^ then
■' 8 Q to K2,
by B to K3, or Kt to Kt5, in which latter case Black mi^ht possibly
threaten to capture the Knight, provided the Queen cannot enter
either on R5 or R3. This latter contingency will ultimately force
the retreat of the White Knight from Kt5, again leaving Black
with a superior position. Black might also play ^ ^ ^ — rrr^'' once,
instead of
6 P to Qa
and he will also have a good defence. The
6 P to K3,
danger of this manoeuvre is by no means confined to this particular
opening. As a very remarkable instance we here give the ending
of a game which occuiTcd in the Berlin International Touraament
of IStSl, between Herren Znkertort and Shallopp. The latter, as
second player, adopted the Sicilian defence.
Position after White's 13th move (Castles).
BLACK.
White (Zukertort).
Herr Shallopp proceeded with :-
14. P to KR3
15. P takes Kt
16. E to Ksq
Black (Shallopp).
13. Kt to Kt5
14. Q to R5
15. P takes P
16. Kt to Q5
and White resigned, as after this move he had no defence. Black
threatens Q to'R7ch and Q to RSmate. If 17. QKt. to K2, with
the object of interposing that Knight on Ktsq., to prevent the
mate, then Black would reply with 17. Kt to B6ch. 18. P takes
Kt. 18. P takes P, and again it is impossible to prevent the mate.
But in spite of this wonderful success, we have no hesitation in
declaring this attack unsound, for had White delayed the capture
of the Knight for a few moves only he might have played so as to
provide protection for his King, which White thought was available
after P takes Kt, overlooking Black's clever resource of Kt to Q5,
which prevents the King escaping by way of K2. Thus, for
instance, after
13. Kt to Kt5
14. P. to KR3 14. Q. to R5
instead of taking the Knight at once he ought to have played
15. QKt to K2 15. B to QB4
16. P takes Kt. 16. P takes P
17. R to Ksq winning,
as after 16. Q to R7ch, 17. K to Bsq, White now has a safe game,
besides being a piece ahead.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*,* Ple<ise address Chess-Editor.
Correct solutions received from Muzio, G. W., A.
E. J. Winterwood.
C. P. and Henry Selby. — See revised problem.
E. A. Dillon. — Received with thanks.
>2G
• KNOWLEDGE •
[April 14, 1883.
^ur iVlatbrmatiral Coliimtu
P K () B A B 1 L I T I E S.
By Tim EiiiTok.
LET 11" next iloftl witli iiomo cii»os not altogether no ninijilc iis
tliono hilhi>rto ronHiilrrcd.
SupiKiiio thnt tliprc is n lottery, in which there arc more prized
t han one, the priie» being uncqunl in value — how can wo determino
the value uf a ticket ?
Take n simple bat definite CMO : —
Suppfof thfre art ten tiektlt, all equally Ulely to b» drawn, and
that thrre are three prizes, worth reepectivety £6, £3, and £1, what
it the lvalue nj a finale ticket ?
Tlie prizes are together worth £10. It follows that the ten
tickets must together be worth the three prizes together, for any
one buying all the tickets would get all the prizes and no more.
Ilence the ten tickets must together be wortli £10, or (since they
arc all equal in value) must be worth £1, just the same price as
when there is a single prize of £10.
And manifestly this is so in every case. It matters not how the
prizes are distriliuted, the value of one among n tickets is always
one nth part of the total value of the prizes.
It is probably this simplicity in lotteries of this kind, and the
consequent obvious nature of the fraud when the total value of the
prizes is less than the total amount received for tickets, which has
cau8c<l those who have taken advantage of the weakness of human
nature for gambling, to adopt] various systems in which the swindling
is as great, or greater, but is not quite so obvious. All the existing
lottery systems, and all the gambling games carried on formerly at
such places as Ilombnrg and Baden, and now at San Jlarco, are so
arranged that the luck may for a while run against the lottery
holders or the "bankers" at roulette, rouge et noir, and the rest.
The swindlers who thus encourage gambling can truly say that
they take their chance of loss, and even of serious loss. They do
lose at times, heavily ; but in the long run they always come out
right, the percentage of profit, estimated from mathematical con-
siderations, is invariably attained.
Nay, these gambling rascals not only adopt systems by which
they may occasionally lose, but they affect to allow privileges by
which, as it seems to the inexperienced, they must lose. They allow
that very system of wagering to which we referred some time since
OS one by which, to all appearance, one player must always win, —
the system of doubling the stake after each loss until finally a win
leaves a balance of gain as against several previous losses.
Let us take the simple case stated by ns before, and see where
the fallacy about sure gain lies : —
A tcsset a coin \rilh B, staking £1 ; if he loses he stakes £2; if he
loses he stakes £1; and so on, doubling each time until he wins, when
he clears £1. And, as he must at length win, he can keep o» adding
pound to pound, ad infinitum, yet each separate wager is fair. Where
is th» fallacy ?
The fallacy resides in the supposition that A must at length win.
He may go on doubling till he no longer possesses enough money to
wager again on this doubling system, or till, having wagered more
than he possessed, he is unable to pay. He is then ruined, and the
process of adding pound to pound comes, perforce, to an end. In
the long run, if B only has money enough as compared with A, this
untoward event is bound to happen. If A and B have nearly equal
capitals at starting the case is in some degree different : A may ruin
B. But in the case of the bank at San Marco, or wherever else
gambling may be pursued (of course mere coin-tossing is not the
method but only illustrates the method), there are multitudes of
small -■<'» all risking their "small peculiar" against the possessions of
one big (and very busy) B. They are inevitably absorbed separately
if they are only possessed strongly enough by the gambling spirit."
Ix>t us see what are the respective positions of A and B with
regard to the prizes actually at stake in this case :—
At each venture A plays for £1, and we may consider that B
stakes £1. If A'a capital allows him to go on doubling ten times
before he gives in, B plays for what A will have to i)ay him if he,
A, is obliged to stop. The amount will bo the sum of A's succes-
sive payments up to, and inclusive of, the tenth doubling, or
£l-i-£2 + £l + £,S+ .... -H £256 + .£51:.' = £1,023.
The sum of the prizes is therefore £1,021; and there are 1,02 1
possible events, for there are 2 jMiseiblo events at each tossing, and,
therefore, 2'° jiossible events in 10 tossings. Therefore, at each
Tontore (not at each tossing, but at each setting-off upon a series of
tossings with constantly doubled stakes) B is practically in the
position of one holding a ticket in a lottery of 1,024 tickets, each
price<l at £1, and a single prize of £1,021 [for note that we must
not call the prize £1,023, any more than in tho case of a fair
lottery of 10 £1 tickets, we should coll the prize £9, becauitc
that is all tho winner really gains, £1 having been paid for
his ticket]. Or wo may say that B is in the position of one
who pays £1 for the chance of drawing one particular ball out of a
liiig of 1,021', £1,021 having to bo paid him if he is successful. We
know that in tho long run— in a few millions of trials, for instano-
— ho would draw successfully about one 1,021th the total number of
trials. We know further that there would be times when he would
be behind, and times when ho would bo ahead of this average.
The times when he was ahead would be bad times for A. If B"*
capital enabled him to continue long enough he would be practicallT
certain to ruin his oi)ponent.
In their excessive desire to swindle the people, GovcrBment."
which have encouraged lotteries have tried to devise the most
attractive forms of wagering, submitting to mathematicians the due
discussion of the probability problems involved. One of the most
remarkable occasions of this kind on record is that which gave rise
to what is called the Petersburg problem. It occurred to the
Russian Government to start a lottery on the following plan : —
Each person who took part in it was to venture the same fixed
sum of money £x, on the following conditions : — A coin is to be
tossed until bead appears ; if head comes at the first toss the-
person is to receive £2 ; if at the second toss the person is to re-
ceive £4; if at tho third toss, he is to receive £8; if at the fourth
£1C, and so on. The difiicnlty was to determine at what amount
should X be fixed P
The answer given by mathematicians was not encouraging. We
can form a tolerably clear notion of the sum we should care to risk
on such a venture ; and I suppose no one would be inclined to place
that sum very high. If a lottery were actually est.iblished on such
a principle as the above, and £10 or £12 were set as the value each
person was to pay for his venture, very little business would be
done at the price. But mathematicians asserted that if the value
of X were set at any sum, however large, the " bank " would
inevitably lose in the long run, supposing only that a sufficient
number of ventures were made on such terms. For example, say
the value assigned to x were £1,000, then, although it would be
madness to risk such a sum on a single trial, yet if many millions
of ventures were made, the bank would be immensely in arrears
when a balance came to be drawn on the results of all the trials.
The theoretical value of x is, in fact, inyijii(y.
This curious paradox is described by Professor De Morgan as
affording one of the most instructive lessons on the subject of
probabilities.
I shall explain hereafter the reasoning by which the above
seemingly paradoxical, but undoubtedly true, answer is obtained.
PROBLE.M. — Can the following be solved by elementary geometry ?
In a triangle given, a + b, a + c, and the angle A to construct the
triangle ?
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KNOWLEDGE
527
MACHINE OF SCIENCE
MCAINUfyyORBED -£XACTUyDESCRIB££L
LONDON: FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1882.
Contents of No. 25.
PAGB.
A Btndy of Minots Life. No. III.
By Henry J. Slack, F.G.S.,
F.R.M.S 627
The Great Pvramid {lUtulraUd) .
BythoEiiitir 528
Domestic Ventilation. By W. M.
Williams 630
Found Linki (/Hu.<ra/cd). By Dr.
Andrew Wilson, F.K.S.E., F.L.S. 532
Cambridge and Oxford Styles 533
Rbtisws : — The Properties and Mo-
tions of Fluids (Iltuilrated) 634
FAOB.
Meat Preservation 535
Solar Motion and Cometh from Out-
side (lUwilraied) 6;)6
Optical Blindness to Bed Light 536
Bed Snow 536
COBBEspoirDBNCE : — Caddis - Worm
Cases— IntolliKenee in Animals.ic 638
-Ynswers to Correspondents 539
Notes on Art and Science 510
Our Mathematical Column 510
Our Chess Column 542
Our Whist Column 544
A STUDY OF MINUTE LIFE.
By Henry J. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
No. in.
AN old e.xperiment that never fails to interest the
observer is the revival of dry, seemingly dead,
rotifers, by supplying them with water. The common
rotifer {rotifer vitlf/aris) is a curious little creature, showing,
as do nearly all its tribe, a very marked advance upon the
infusoria described in former papers. When full-grown
and stretched out, she — for it is the female that concerns
us — is about ^th of an inch long. The whole animal is
very flexible. It can elongate itself, wholly or partially,
by a process like sliding the tubes of a telescope, or can
swell out laterally like a pear or a ball. From the head it
can thrust forth cilia for swimming, and it can hold on by
its tail-foot, and crawl like a caterpillar. For respiration
and food-collecting, it puts out two groups of cilia,
which, when Lu motion, have the appearance of revolving
wheels, and hence it was called the "wheel animal-
cule." The so-called wheels produce strong currents in
the water, and their whirlpool character is easily shown by
putting in a little indigo or carmine. Rotifers are pro-
vided with elaborate organs, including a nervous system,
and in the large Pitcher Rotifers (Brachions) a moderate
magnification — say about fifty linear — is sufficient to show a
brain mass in the head very conspicuously. An observer
of the common rotifer, and of most others, is at once struck
with the sight of energetic work going on in the creature's
interior. The food particles are whirled down a gullet
into an internal mouth, commonly called a gizzard, and
this apparatus consists of several parts, two of which open
and shut with a motion something like that which may be
shown by putting two hands opposite each other, keeping
the wrists in contact, and making the bent fingers alter-
nately meet and separate. In the common rotifer, these
biting parts are what Gosse calls quadrantic, being like two
quarters of an apple, and furnished with crushing teeth to
act upon the food before it passes into the stomach. This
rotifer hatches its eggs internally, and the infant may be
noticed inside its mother, working its mouth, or gizzard,
before it leaves home and commences an independent life.
These remarks may be a sufficient prelude to the ex-
periment of re\'iving these creatures from their torpid state.
The first inquiry will be, how and where to find them. A
small wisp of hay, covered with water in a gally-pot, and
kept in a warm place, is pretty certain to exhibit some in
the course of a few days, but lower forms of Ijfe will appear
before then. The tine dust to bo found in glitters on a
dry day is very likely to contain some, and so is the dust
that can be shaken from tufts of moss on roofs or trees.
On a clear day in Feliruary, one such tuft, taken
ofi" the tiles, was shaken over a sheet of paper, and
a minute pinch of its dust placed on a glass slide,
in a drop of water, and covered with a piece of thin
glass. A convenient slide for these purposes is made
by cementing with shellac-glue on to an ordinary slide,*
three thin slips of glass, about three-si.'cteenths of an inch
wide, so as to form three sides of a small square. The
slide thus prepared should be laid flat, a drop of water put
in the middle of the square, and a covering-glass over it to
rest upon the thin slips. This makes a shallow water-
trough, and the cover is held sufficiently tight by the water
it comes into contact with. The grain or two of dust
obtained in the way mentioned exhibited no life of any
kind for a few hours, but in the course of the day a couple
of rotifers and one or two other things began to swim
about. The water in these small troughs, being little
exposed to the air, evaporates very slowly, and it is easy
to keep up the supply by putting a drop with a camel's-hair
pencil, so that it can run in. After looking for some time
at the revivalists, the slide was put aside, and examined a
few days afterwards.
It was quite dry again ; the rotifers were discernible as
little lumps, and to all appearances dead. A drop of water
soon revived them, and this process may be repeated many
times. The creatures stand the amount of drying they get
under ordinary atmospheric conditions of evaporation, but
they may be over-dried by heat, and then no moistening
calls them to life again. The reports of various experi-
menters concerning the extent to which they may be dried
without being killed do not agree. Dr. Carpenter, Lord
Osborne, and others have found them uninjured by
drying that made them quite brittle ; while others, after
reducing them to that condition, have not succeeded in
restoring their animation. Probably the rate at which
the drying occurs has much to do with the result. Slow
drying is much less likely to cause any disruptive shrinkage,
and it gives the little animals time to protect themselves
from absolute dessication by a sort of mucus Mr. Davies
has described.
When dried in the heat of a summer sun, and left as a
dust particle in a gutter or elsewhere, their life work
seems quite suspended, and in tliis they difler greatly from
the bats and dormice in their so-called hybernation. These
undergo no drying, though they lose fluid, and their vital
work goes on, though at a slow rate. In one of Marshall
Hall's experiments with a bat in the torpid state, its re-
spiration consumed nearly three-and-a-half cubic inches of
oxygen in sixty hours, and he remarked that in the
dormouse and hedgehog the sense of hunger seemed to
rouse them from hybernation, and that food conduced to a
return of the lethargy. It is also found that a dormouse
who is fat when the cold reduces him to torpidity, is lean
when the winter is past, and the season for renewed
activity arrives again. The mudfish passes into a state
nearer that of the rotifer, when the hot sun of Africa bakes
it in a mud-pie. The lethargy of hybernation' and also that
of heat and drought, enables animals to do without re-
spiration to an extent that would be quite impossible in their
* Shellac dissolved in spirits of wine.
Btronsr.
Methylated will do if
i28
KNOWLEDGE •
[Aprh. . 1, 1882.
ordinary coiulition. Mr. Mnr.sliall IFuU kept a lotJiarfjir
liitlgi-liog undtT wattir for '1'1\ iiiiiiut<vs witlioul injuring it,
thougli ;i iiiinutus' iinniuruion killed auutlicr in the normal
active stnto.
Tliu rotifiir wh<<n dried to a cliip, and not killud, is much
liku a watch that hius all its wliocis .sound, tml tlin spring
rcniovi'd. All lifo processes miuire a high degree of
mohility in the molecules of the living suhstanee. Water
supplies this condition, and those animals or plants that
can survive desiccation didor from dead ones when they
poss into the torpid stjitc, in that their organic structure
is not de!itroyo<l, and the chemical character of their allm-
niinous matters is left in such a state that it can, l<y
imbibing wat<'r, resume its ordinary activities. Life must
not be regarded as some entity put into an organism, as
wine is poured into a bottle, but as a complex scries of
actions and reactions which result in nutrition, growth,
and reproduction. When we come to the higher phenomena
of thought and feeling, science can only .say that it has no
explanation to oflor as to the why and the how such mani-
festations are connected with molecular changes in brain
and nerve.
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
By tue Editou.
1 COULD descant at great length on the value which the
Great Pyramid, when in the condition represented at
p. .3 1 5, and in the accompanying illustration repeated from
p. ."JO.s, must have had for astronomical obscr\ation. I
could show how niucli more exactly than by the use of any
gnomon, the sun's annual course around the celestial sphere
could be determined by obser\ations made from the Great
<!!allcry, by noting the shadow of the edges of the upper
opening of the Gallery on the sides, the floor, and the upper
surfaces of the ramps. The moon's monthly path aiid its
changes could have been dealt with in the same effective
way. The geocentric paths, and thence the true paths,
of the planets could be determined very accurately by
combining the use of tubes or ring-carrying rods with
the direction lines determined from the Gallery's sides,
rtoor, itc. The place of every visible star along the
Zodiac (astrologically the most important part of the
stellar heavens) could be most accurately determined.
Had the Pj-rainid been left in that incomplete, but astro-
nomically most pcrfcLt, form, the edifice might have
remained for thousands of years the most important
astronomical structure in the world. Nay, to this \ery
day it would have retained its pre eminence, provided, of
"course, that its advantages over other buildings had been
duly supplemented by modern instrumental and optical
improvements.
Unfortunately, the Great Pyi-amid was erected solely for
selfish purposea It was to b<' the tomb of Cheops, and
whatever <iualitie3 it had for astronomical observation were
to be devot<:d to his service only. The incalculable aid to
the progress of astronomy which might have been obtained
from tills magnificent structure entered in no sort into its
king-builder's plan. Centuricj would have been required
to reap even a tithe of the knowledge which might have
been derived from Pyramid observations, and such ob.ser-
vations were limited to a few years — twenty, thirty, forty,
or fifty at the outside.
Now, while 1 am fully conscious that the astrological
theory of the Great Pyramid is open to most obvious, and
at the lirst sight most overwhelming objections, I venture
to say not only that these are completely met by what is
e<-rtainly known about the Pyramid ; but that the astro-
logical theory (combined, of course, with the tomb theory),
is demon.strably the true explanation of all that had been
mysttirious in the Great Pyramid.
Take the chief points which hav. ^lerplexed students of
the Pyramids generally, and of the Great Pyramid in
particular.
1. Granting the most inordinate affection for large
sepulclii°al abodes, how can we account for the amazing
amount of labour, money, and time bestowed on the Great
Pyramid ?
The astrological theory at once supplies the answer. If
the builder believed what we know was actually believed
by all the Oriental nations, respecting planetary and stellar
influences, it was worth his while to expend that and more
on the Pyramid, to read the stars for his benefit, and to
" rule " stars and planets to his advantage.
2. If the Pyramids were but vast tombs, why shouM
they be astronomically oriented with extreme care, — to
assume for a moment that this is the only astronomical
relation established certainly respecting them ?
Astrology answers this difticulty most satisfactorily. For
astrological study of the heavens, the Pyramid (in its in-
complete or truncated condition) could not be too accu-
rately oriented.
.'3. Granted that the Great Pyramid was for a time used
as an astronomical observatory, and that its upper square
platform was used for cardinal directions in the way shown
in the figure, what connection is there between these
direction lines (the only ones which would naturally arise
from the square form) and astrological relations'?
These lines remain to this very day in use among astro-
logers. The accompanying figure, taken fi'om Raphael's
Astrology (Raphael being doubtless some Smith, or
Llodgett, or Higginbotham), represents the ordinary horo-
scope, and its relations (now unmeaning) to a horizontal,
carefully-oriented square plane surface, such as the top of
the Pyramid was, with just such direction-lines as would
naturally be used on such a platform : —
Twelvt CfUsltai Hcrusn.
Kfcordinf to tr^oul
AAlroI'jgicaJ A'Jthor^
r. INHERITANCES
KINDRED ^\ /.v.
a^ilmifffjt.
I. Why did each king want a tomb of his own \ W^hy
should not a larger family mausoleum, one in which all the
April 21, .fcti2.]
KNOWLEDGE
529
expense and labour given to all the PjTamids might have
been combined, have been preferred ?
Astrology at once supplies a reason. Dead kings of one
fetmily might sleep witll advantage in a single tomb ; but
each man's horoscope must be kept by itself. Even to this
day, the astrological charlatan would not discuss one man's
horoscope on the plan drawn out and used for another
man's. Everything, according to ancient astrological
superstition, would have become confused and indistinct.
The ruling of the planets would have been imjierfect and
unsatisfactory, if King Cheops' horoscope platform had
been used for Chephren, or Chephren's for Jlycerinus. The
religious solemnities which accompanied astrological obser-
vations in the days when the chief astrologers were high
priests, would have been rendered nugatory if those per-
formed under suitable conditions for one person were fol-
lowed by others performed under different conditions for
another person.
on a smaller scale. Probably, the astrologj' of those days
assigned the proper proportion in which the horoscope-
platform for a son should be less than that for a father. It
is noteworthy, at any rate, that the linear dimensions of
the Pyramid of Asychis are less than those of the Pyramid
of Mycerinus, in just the same degree that these are less
than the linear dimensions of the Pyramid of Cheops.
6. It is certain that if Mycerinus had built his own
Pyramid, he would have erected one larger, not smaller,
than his father's, while Asychis would have made his
Pyramid larger yet ; whereas, as a mere matter of fact, the
Pyramid of Asychis is utterly insignificant in size com-
pared with the Pyramid of Cheops. The sides of the
bases of the four Pyramids were roughl)' as follows : — The
Pyramid of Cheops, 7G0 feet ; that of Chephren, 720 feet ;
that of Mycerinus, 330 feet; that of Mycerinus, IGO feet.
The Pyramid of Cheops exceeds that of Asychis much
more than 150 times in volume. It is not in accordance
3. How is it that the Pyramid of Chephren (Cheops'
brother), though about as large, is quite inferior to the
PjTamid of Cheops, the Pyramid of Mycerinus (Cheops'
son) much smaller, and that of Asychis (Cheops' grandson)
\ery much smaller, while to the younger sons and daughters
of Cheops very small Pyramids, within the same enclosure
as the Great Pyramid, are assigned 1
^ The astrological answer is obvious. Cheops not only
I had full faith in astrology — as, indeed, all men had in his
day — but his faith was so lively that he put it in practice
• in a very energetic way for the benefit of himself and
(dynasty. Chephren probably had similar faith. For the
Itwo brothers, separate Pyramids, nearly equal in size, were
Imade, either at the command of Cheops alone, or with such
Isanction from Chephren as his (probable) separate authority
required and justified. At the same time, and because his
fortunes were obviously associated in the closest manner
•with those of his father and uncle, Cheops (or Cheops and
Chephren) would have a Pyramid made for Mycerinus, but
with what we know of human nature to suppose that
Asychis would have been content with so insignificant a
version of his grandfather's Pyramid. Rather than that,
he would have had no P^-ramid at all, but invented some
new sepulchral arrangement. Yet it adds enormously to
the difficulties of the Pyramid problem to suppose that
Cheops and Chephren arranged for the erection of all the
Pyramids, or, at any rate, that the smaller Pyramids were
raised to the horoscope-platform le\el during their life-
time.
Here, however, the astrological theory, instead of encoun-
tering, as all other theories do, a new and serious difficulty,
finds fresh support ; for this arrangement is precisely what
we should expect to find if the Great Pyramid was erected
to its observing platform for astrological observation and
the religious observances associated with them. It is
certain that with the ideas Cheops must have had (on that
theory) of the importance of astronomical observations to
determine, and partly govern, his future, he would not
580
KNOWLEDGE
[April 21, 1882.
liavo left hi* (tons without their pyminitlal horoscopes.
Even if we fcUi>|joso ho I'litertaincd RUi:h jealousy of his
brother Chephreii, as Orientol (and some Oceiilental^ princes
have Ihh'ii known to enU-rtuin of tlieir near kinsfolk and
pnilialile successoni, that would be hut an additional reason
for liaviii(; his hrother's horoscope- Pyramid erected on such
a si nil- as tin- astroIoj;ers and priests considered suitable in
tlie case of such near kinship. For by means of the obser-
vations madi' by th(^ astrological priesthood from Cliej)hren's
lioroscope-platforni, Cheojis could learn, according to the
astroloj^ical doctrines in which he believed, the future
fortunes of his brother, and even lieaVile to rule the planets
in his own defence, where their configurations seemed favour-
able to Chephren and threatening to himself.
7. But it may be urged that, beyond the general state-
ment that the Pyran ; '.j were intended as the tombs of
their respective builders, we learn too little from ancient
writers to form any satisfactory idea of their object.
It so happens, however, that the only precise statement
handed down to us respecting the use of the Pyramids —
not merely of the Great Pyramid, but of all the Pyramids —
accords with the astrological theory in every detail, and
■with no other theory in any degree. For we learn from
Proclus that the Pyramids of Egypt (which, according to
Diodorus, had existed 3,600 3-cars before liis history was
written, al)0ut 8 B.C.) terminated above in a platform,
from which the priests made their celestial observations.
Observe how much is implied in tliis short statement : —
First, all the Pyramids had a use independent of their
final purpose as tombs, a use, therefore, during the life-time
of their future tenants, and presumably — one may say
certainly — relating to the interests of those persons.
Secondly, this use was precisely such as we have been
led to infer with all but absolute certainty, already, from
the study of the Great Pyramid.
Thirdly, the astronomical observations were made by
priests, and were therefore religious in character — a
description which could only apply to astronomical obser-
vations made for astrological pui-poses. In all pro-
abilitv, the priests who made these observations pro-
fessed a religion differing little from pure Sabaism, or
the worship of the heavenly host. But it must be
remembered that astrology was the natural offspring of
Sabaism. Wherever we find an astronomical priesthood,
there we find faith in astrology. But to say truth, Where
among ancient Oriental nations was such faith wanting ?
The Jews had less of it than other Oriental nations, but
they were not free from it. As they had all their religious
observances regulated by the heavenly bodies, so they
recognised the influence of the "stars in their courses."
If they believed the heavenly bodies to be for "seasons"
(of religious worship), and for " days and years," they
believed them also to be for " signs." This also was the
view of the ancient Chaldeans. " It is evident," says the
late Mr. George Smith, " from the opening of the inscrip-
tions on the first tablet of the Chaldean astrologj- and
astronomy, that the functions of the stars were, according
to the Babylonians, to act not only as regulators of the
seasons and the year, but also to be used as signs, as in
Genesis i. 14; for in those ages it was generally believed
that the heavenly bodies gave, by their appearance and
positions, sig7is of events which were coming on the earth."
In fine, while there is no other theory of the Pyramids
generally, and of the Great Pyramid in particular, which
has either positive or negative evidence in its form, the
astrological theory is sujiported by all the known positive
evidence ; and strong thougli such support is, it derives yet
greater strength from the utter failure of all other admis-
sible theories to sustain the weight against them. There
are ditliculties in the astrological theory, no doubt, but they
are difficulties arising from our inability to understand
)iow men ever had such fulness of faith in astrology as to
devote enormous sums and many years of lalx)ur to the
]>ursuit of astrological researches, even for their own
interests. Yet we know in other ways that astrology
really was accepted in those days with the fulness of faith
thus implied. While, however, the only serious dieSculty
in the astrological theory thus disappears wlien closely
examined, the difficulties in the way of all other theories
are so great, that, to all intents and purposes, they are
not so much difficulties as impossibilities.
DOMESTIC VENTILATION.
A LESSON FROM TUE CO.VL-PIT.S.
By W^ Mattieu Willia.ms.
rr^HE problem of domestic ventilation as compared with
A. coal-pit ventilation involves an additional requirement,
that of warming, but this does not at all increase the
difficulty, and I even go so far as to believe that cooling in
summer may be added to warming in winter by one and
the same ventilating arrangement. As I am not a builder,
and claim no patent rights, the following must be regarded
as a general indication, not as a working specification, of
my scheme for domestic ventilation and the regulation of
home climate.
The model house must have an upcast shaft, placed as
nearly in the middle of the building as possible, and com-
municating with every room, either by a direct opening or
through a lateral shaft. An ordinary chimney built in the
usual manner is all that is required.
There must be no stoves nor any fire-places in any room
excepting the kitchen, of which anon. All the windows
must be made to fit closelj-, as nearly air-tight as possible.
No downcast shaft is required, the pressure of the sur-
rounding atmosphere being sufficient. Outside of the house,
or on the ground-floor, on the north side, if possible, should
be a chamber heated by flues, hot air, steam, or water pipes,
and with one opening communicating with the outer fresh
air, and another on the opposite side connected by a suitable
shaft or airway with the hall of the ground-floor and the
general staircase. Each room to have an opening at its
upper part into the chimney, like .au Amott's ventilator,
and capable of adjustment as regards area of aperture, and
other openings of corresponding or excessive combined area
leading from the hall or staircase to the lower part of the
room. These should be covered with perforated zinc or
wire gauze, so that the air may enter in a gentle, brokeai
stream. i
All the outer house doore must be double, i.e., with A
porch or vestibule, and only one of each pair of dooiflr
opened at once. These should be well fitted, and the:
staircase air-tight The kitchen to communicate with the
rest of the house by similar double doors, and the kitchen
fire to communicate with the upcast shaft or chimney by as
small a stove-pipe as practicable. The kitchen fire will thus
start the upcast and commence the draught of air from
the warm chamber through the house towards the several
openings into the shaft. In cold weather, this upcast action
will be greatly reinforced and maintained by the general
warmth of all the air in the house, which itself will
bodily become an upcast shaft immediately the inner
temperature exceeds that of the air outside.
But the upcast of warm air can only take place by the
admission of fresh air tlirough the heating chamber, thence
April 21, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
531
to hall and staircase, and through the rooms into the final
shaft or chimney. The openings into and out of the rooms
being adjustable, they may be so regulated that each shall
receive an equal share of fresh warm air ; or, if desired, the
bed-room chimney valves may be closed in tlie daytime, and
thus the heat economised by being used only for the day
rooms : or vice versd, the communication between the
upcast shaft and the lower rooms may be closed in the
evening, and thus all the wai-m air be turned into the bed-
rooms at bed-time. If the area of the entrance apertures
of the rooms exceeds that of the outlet, only the latter
need be adjusted ; the room doors may, in fact, be left
wide open without any possibility of " draught," beyond
the ventilation current.
So far for winter time, when the ventilation problem is
the easiest, because the excess of inner warmth converts
the whole house into an upcast shaft, and the whole outer
atmosphere becomes a downcast. In the summer time, the
kitchen fire would probably be insufficient to secure a
sufficiently active upcast. To help this there should be in
one of the upper rooms — say an attic — an opening into the
chimney secured by a small well-fitting door, and altogether
enclosed within the chimney, a small automatic slow com-
bustion stove (of which many were exhibited at South Ken-
sington, that require feeding but once in twenty-four hours),
or a large gas-burner. The heating-chamber below must now
be converted into a cooling-chamber by an arrsmgement of wet
cloths presently to be described, so that all the air entering
the house shall be reduced in temperature. Or the winter
course of ventilation may be reversed by building a special
shaft connected with the kitchen fire, which, in this case,
must not communicate with the house shaft. This special
shaft may thus be made an upcast, and the rooms supplied
■with air from above down the house shaft, through the
rooms, and out of the kitchen vid the winter heating-
chamber, which now has its communication with the out-
side air closed.
Reverting to the first^named method, which I think is
better than the second, besides being less expensive, I
must say a few concluding words on a very great supple-
mentary advantage which is obtainable wherever all the air
entering the house passes through one opening, completely
under control, like that of our heating-chamber. The great
evil of our town atmosphere is its dirtiness. In the winter
it is polluted with soot particles ; in the dry summer
weather, the traffic and the wind stir up and mix with it
paiticles of dust, having a composition that is better
ignored, when we consider the quantity of horse-dung that
is dried and pulverised on our road-ways. All the dust
that falls on our books and furniture was first suspended
in the air we breathe inside our rooms. Can we get rid of
any practically important portion of this 1
I am able to answer this question, not merely on
theoretical grounds, but as a result of practical experi-
ments. On March 19, 1879, I read a paper at The
Society of Arts, recommending the enclosure of London
back-yards with a rooting of " wall canvas," or " paper-
hanger's canvas," so as to form cheap conservatories.
This canvas, which costs about threepence per square yard,
is a kind of coarse, strong, fluffy gauze, admitting light and
air, but acting very effectively as an air filter, by catching
and stopping the particles of soot and dust that are so fatal
to urban vegetation. I made a series of experiments, which
are described in the Journal of the Society, March 21,
which proved this filtering action, and after these, when
my paper was announced, was told that similar experi-
ments had been made in the Houses of Parliament. I
went there accordingly, and obtained some very interesting
information from Mr. Prim, the assistant engineer to
Dr. Percy, who superintends the ventilation arrangements
of the whole building.
There I found that, after trying many materials, they had
finally selected the same as I had, but were using it rather
differently. The air supplied to the building is passed
through a succession of screens of this material, all kept
moist by the trickling of water over them. In the summer,
the outer air is thus cooled as well as filtered. The
effectiveness of the filtration is proved by the fact that the
screens become so clogged with sooty abominations, that
they have to be regularly washed once a fortnight, and the
water in which they are washed becomes of inky blackness.
I propose, therefore, that this well-tried device should be
applied at the entrance aperture of our heating chamber,
that the screens shall be well wetted in the summer, in
order to obtain the cooling effect of evaporation, and in the
winter shall be either wet or dry, as may be found desir-
able. The Parliament House experiments prove that they
are good filters when wetted, and mine that they act
similarly when dry.
By thus applying the principles of colliery ventilation to
a speciallj-constructed house, we may, I believe, obtain a
perfectly controllable indoor^climate, with a range of vari-
ation not exceeding four or five degrees between the
warmest and the coldest part of the house, or eight or nine
degrees between summer and winter, and this may be com-
bined with an abundant supply of fresh air everywhere, all
filtered from the grosser portions of its irritant dust, which
is positively poisonous to delicate lungs, and damaging to
all. The cost of fuel would be far less than with existing
arrangements, and the labour of attending to the one or
two fires and the valves would also be less than that now
required in the carrying of coalscuttles, the removal of
ashes, cleaning of fire-places themselves, and the curtains
and furniture they befoul by their escaping dust .and smoke.
It is obvious that such a system of ventilation may even
be applied to existing houses by mending the iU-fitting
windows, shutting up the existing fire-holes, and using the
chimneys as upcast shafts in the manner above described.
This may be done in the winter, when the problem is easiest,
and the demand for artificial climate the most urgent; but I
question the possibility of summer ventilation and temper-
ing of climate in anything short of a specially-built house
or a materially-altered existing dwelling. There are doubts
-less some exceptions to this, where the house happens to
be specially suitable and easily adapted, but in ordinary
houses we must be content with the ordinary devices of
summer ventilation by doors and windows, plus the upper
openings of the rooms into the chimneys expanded to their
full capacity, and thus doing, even in summer, far better
ventilating work than the existing fire-holes opening in the
wrong place.
I thus expound my own scheme, not because I believe it
to be perfect, but, on the contrary, as a suggestive project
to be practically amended and adapted by others better
able than myself to carry out the details. The feature
that I think is novel and important, is that of consciously
and avowedly applying to domestic ventilation, the prin-
ciples that have been so successfully carried out in the far
more difficult problem of subterranean ventilation, in
which I have had some practical experience.
Eclipse Map of Egypt.- — This map, promised for the present
number, vrill be given next week. It seemed desirable to the
Editor to supplement the mere track of the shadow's centre with
the elliptical shadow outlines for each of nine stations indicated
along the track. A figure will also be given explaining the simple
geometrical construction for determining the shape and position of
this elliptical shadow, as well as the position of the sun in the sky
at the time of central eclipse at each station.
532
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[Apbil 21, 1882.
FOUiND LINKS.
r.\ Im. Ankiikh Wii.suN, K.11.S.E., F.L.S.
I'AHT VI.
THE iiiiadrupwls — or Muinnials, as thfy are technically
cjillwl- form an important group of animals, not
u.TiIy Ix-cjiust! in structure tlicy represent the perfection
i.f tin- uniiiial woriii, but because they stand at the liead of
the animal creation, apj)arently sejiaratt! and distinct from
all other and lower classes. The distinctive nature of the
(juadrupeds, in fact, has been tacitly acknowledged in
zoology in the Kyst«"ms of classification which themselves
uro mere expressions of thc> varied relationsliips of the
classified beings. For, whilst the fishes and frogs have
been united to form u province of Vertebrate animals, and
whilst reptiles and birds have also been arranged in one
chief group by rea.son of their affinities, the ijuadrupeds
h.ive been made to foi in a province by themselves. The
hairy nature of the body-covering, the nourishment of the
young by means of milk, the fact that the young are bom
alive, and many other characters well known in popular
zoology, attest the distinctive nature of the highest group
of animals.
But whilst these statements cannot be questioned, it
must not be imagined that the quadrupeds are tliereby en-
tirely separated from all other animals. On the contrary,
they possess their own atlinitics with lower forms, such as
evolution pre-sujiposes, and such, indeed, as that theory of
nature demands. The lowest mammals, to begin with, are
by no means like the higlier quadrupeds ; and it is in the
lowest confines of the class, as we shall presently see, that
the approach to lower animals is made. The warmth of
blootl so characteristic of (juadrupeds has already made its
appearance in the birds, and although the e.\act origin of
the inaminals is yet a matter of doubt, it seems pretty
clear that the root-stock of the class to which man himself
belongs, may be sought for in some common territory
whence, from a half-bird type, the lowest quadrupeds
arose, or whence the mammals on the one side, and birds
and reptiles on the other, have independently arisen. Such
a conclusion seems to be that at present supported by facts
as they stand ; and although further research may modify
this view, there will still exist the demand for the links
that bind the quadrupeds to their lower Vertebrate
neighbours.
There can exist, at least, no doubt of the remarkable
likeness which the lowest quadrupeds present to the bird
and reptile groups. To understand thorouglily the zoological
aspects of the matter, I may remind the reader that the
class of mammals is very sharply split into two main
dinsions. These, to avoid technicalities, we may term
Higher and Lower Mammals. The former group includes
forms ranging from man downwards through the apes, bats.
Fig. 1.— Ornitliorhynchug, or " Duck-billod Watcr-Molo of
Aiutrmlin" (showing tlio "bill" and webbed feet).
rodents, and hoofed fpiadrupeds, to the whales, sloths,
antcaters, and their kith and kin. These animals are dis-
tinguished )»y the higher brain-structure and by the general
possession of all the typical characters of quadrupeds. The
Lower Mammals are the OrnithorhynchuB, or " Duck-Vnlled
Water Mob' " of Australia (Fig 1), and its neighl^ours the
Echidnas or " I'orcujjine Anteat<'rs " of Australia ; those
two genera forming the lowest order (Afcnwlroiinln) of all.
.\ little above them, but still sliut otf from the higher ranks
of the class, are the kangaroos, wombats, phalangers, ic.
— in a word, the whole iiative population of Australia
(along with the New World opossums), forming the order
of Marsiipiftliii, or that of the " pouched " quadrupe<ls.
In Fig. li is represented the pelvui or haunch-bones of a
kangaroo. At n, a, tlic Afaraupial botes, or those support-
ing the well-known pouch, are seen. These bones are only
found in the Marsupials and Monotremes, and whilst in
most of the foriiier they support a poucli, they are never
associated with that structure in the Monotremes.
Now, it is in the Monotremes — represented liy the Orni-
thorht/ricJiun (Fig. 1) and the i'c/iidnas — that the characters
linking quadruped life to lower life are most typically seen.
It may be well to strengthen our position at the outset, by
reminding the reader that in the early life of all quad-
rupeds, without exception, there are to be perceived
evidences of their connection with lower forms of life.
Thus, every Vertebrate, at an early stage of its develop-
ment, exhibits certain clefts or openings in the sides of the
neck, knowni as branchial clefts, and which are bounded by
Fig. 2. — Hauncli bones of Kangaroo : a, a, marsupial bones ;
d, socket for thigh-bone.
folds called branchial arches. These, in fishes, come to bear
the gills, but in reptiles, birds, and quadrupeds they
simply disappear — useless rudiments of structures, once
necessary in the life of a(iuatic quadruped-ancestors,
and still retained in the developments of to-day by
the law of inheritance. Thus, in the development of a
raV)bit, the biologist sees three pairs of branchial arches
behind the mouth of the embryo, and four branchial clefts.
Three of the clefts disappear, and the fourth, by the modi-
fication to wliich development has been suVyected in the
evolution of the quadruped tribes, is converted into the
Eustachian tube and other structures belonging to the ear.
The presence of " branchial clefts " in the developing
mammal would alone suffice to show its evolution from
lower life. Denying that probability, which to the biolo-
gist is a fact, there is no explanation whatever of the cause
or exist<Mice of these vanishing structures in the history of
the quadruped race.
Concentrating our attention on the " Monotremes "
themselves, however, we may speedily discover numerous
links which unite them with lower life, and specially with
the bird-typo. There, firstly, exists in these quadrupeds
what Iluxloy has called "a striking feature" of reptiles,
of birds, and of the frog-class as well, in the structure of
the shoulder. In the shoulder of an ordinary quadruped,
and of a kangaroo and its marsupial race as well, there are
April 21, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
533
but two distinct bones. One of these is the shoulder-Made,
OTScapiila, the other beingthe collar-bone, or c7n nVA'. In the
shoulder of a bird (Fig. 3) there are three distinct elements,
the scajjiihj (Fig. 3, d) clavicle (c), and the coracoid bone
(b,L ) This last in quadrupeds, a mere process of the shoulder-
blade, forms, as shown in Figure 3, the chief support of the
wing in birds, and arises directly from the breastbone (a).
Now, it is a remarkable fact that the Ornithorhynchus and
Ecliidna, alone of all quadrupeds, possess a distinct coracoid
/■one, which, as in birds and reptiles, springs from the breast-
lione. Again, there is another bone, called the epicoracoid,
which is found in reptiles, and which exists likewise in the
Fig. 3. — Shonklcr-bones of (A) an Eagle, and (B) an Ostrich.
Ornithorhynchus and Echidna. In the bird, again, as every-
body knows, the two collar-bones unite to form the " merry-
thought," or fiircuhtm (Fig. 3, c). In these lowest quad-
rupeds the collar-bones (Fig. 4, cc) are joined by a T-
shaped bone, called the interclavicle (Fig. 4, i), unknown
Fig. 4. Shoulder-bones of Ornithorhynchus :
c, c, claTicles ; i, interclavicle ; 6, breast-bone ; sr, sternal or
breast-bone ribe, as in birds.
in any other mammals ; and here, again, we find a
character which is decidedly reptile-like and bird-like,
and which is not seen in other mammals. Professor
Flower tells us that the shoulder-girdle of these quadrupeds
" differs widely in many points from that of any other
mammal, and far more resembles that of the Lizards."
The jaws of the Ornithorhynchus are prolonged to form
a flattened homy bill (Fig. 1), on the upper aspect of which
the nostrils are seen. It is the possession of this bill which
has given origin to the name " duck-billed," applied to
this animal. The Echidna possesses no such structtire, but
has simply a flexible snout.
There also exist in the internal anatomy of these
curious animals certain characters which relate them to
the birds and reptiles. For example, the bones of the
head are firmly ossified together, as in birds, and the
sutures, or lines of union of the skull-bones, do not
persist, as is usually the case in quadrupeds, whilst
the hollow of the haunch-bones (Fig. 2, d), in which the
head of the thigh works to form the hip-joint, is not
fuUy ossified, and thus comes to resemble the similar
structure in birds and crocodiles. The ears of these
lower quadrupeds dift'or from those of other mammals
in not possessing a spiral arrangement of that part of the
organ named the cocldi'a. As in very many reptiles, the
upper, or front, or neck-ribs of these quadrupeds long
remain as separate bones ; and the same remark holds good
of the curious little pivot {odontoid process) on which the
head turns. This pivot in quadrupeds is firmly joined to
the second bone of the neck : but in the " Monotremes,"
as in reptiles, it remains separate and distinct till a very
late period — if, indeed, it becomes ossified at all.
The internal anatomy likewise reveals characters of bird
and reptile life which can only be alluded to here. The
arrangements of the internal organs in many respects
present the closest likeness to the anatomy of birds and
reptiles, and this is particularly the case with those struc-
tures in the quadrupeds which represent the egg-producing
organs of the bird and reptile. Even the typical mamma-
lian characters are but feebly represented in these lowest
quadrupeds. We know that the young, although born
alive, as in quadruped life at large, are provided with a
homy knob on the upper jaw, such as is seen in the young
bird ; and no teats exist in the milk-glands of these forms,
a feature represented in all other members of their class.
Summing up the inferences to be drawn from our brief
study of the lowest quadrupeds, we may legitimately hold,
firstly, that they are of essentially lower structure than
other mammals ; secondly, that all the points in which
they evince this inferiority ally them, at the same time, to
birds and reptiles ; and thirdly, that the only feasible ex-
planation of the differences in question is that which regards
them as arising from the nearer relationship — the result
of heredity and descent — which these lowest quadrupeds
present to birds and reptiles.
In a concluding paper, I shall strive to show the nature
of the links which unite the A'ertebrate animals to their
lower and Invertebrate neighbours.
CAMBRIDGE AND OXFORD STYLES.
{To an old Club Captain.)
DEAR SIR, — As the stroke oar of the winning boat in
the Oxford and Cambridge race, 184.5-46, and, I be-
lieve, the introducer of the slow recovery by which both
races were won (though I can really, however, say that only
of the first, for, in the latter race Milman pulled very
nearly my stroke), I wish to say how much I approve of
all you have written in Knowlkdof. ; and to remark that
Cambridge loses now because they both hurry forward and
go too far back — at least, this latter is often a fault with
them. The rapid recovery is always a fault, and, I think,
the most exhausting fault that can be made either in the
old boat or the new boat, but very particularly so in the
new boat. — Yours faithfully, C. G. Hill.
Special Notice. — Fonrpence each will be paid by the Publishers
for copies of Nos. 3 and 6 of Knowledge. Apply or address,
Wynian & Sons, 74-5, Groat Qneen-street, London, W.C.
584
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Apbil 21, 1882.
l\CblfU)S(.
THE IMtOPERTIES AND MOTIONS OF FLUIDS.*
MI{. STANLEY has tukcu as tlio subject for tliis
work, Imving first made it the subject of pxpfri-
mcntal rcKcnrcli, t\w prnpcrtieji and motions of fluids, an
inquiry of cxtromo (liirn-ulty, and ho has troat<'d it with
groat skill and acumen. Anyone who ha.s stiuliid the
matlieniaticsof pneumatics, hydrostatics, and hydrodynamics,
and ho.s compared the jirocesses and results with those used
and obtained in the a])plication of mathematics to optics or
astronomy, knows how very far from exactness is all our
knowledge of the former subject";, and will recognise the
justice of Sir J. Ilei-schcl's remark, that "if there be one
part of dynamic science more aljstruse and unapproachable
than onother, it is the doctrine of the propagation of motion
in fluids." Even the doctrine of the tides, supposed by
many to have been thoroughly established since the time of
Newton, is as yet perplexed by the difficulties belonging to
all discussions of fluid motion.t
It would lie an injustice to Mr. Stanley to attempt to
give anything like an abstract of its contents, for the
simple reason that though the book is no small one, it
presents a closely -reasoned account of the experiments
made by the author, and of the results to which they have
led. As the experiments actually made were in most cases
nearly ten times as numerous as those described, we may
regard the book as itself an abstract.
The first three chapters are speculative, and in part
hypothetical ; they are generally attempts to apply
mechanical principles to hydrostatics, and " needed," JNIr.
Stanley says, " more leisure on some points than he could
command." Li the second chapter, tlie theory that liquids
hare tensile sui-faoos is opposed, the author's experiments
showing, in his opinion, that the surfaces of fluids are ex-
tensile, except in the case of free films, which are clearly
tensile in consequence of the position of the attractive
matter composing them. Some of the experiments illus-
trating this chapter can be very easily tried, and would be
of great interest to the student. For instance, here is an
experiment originally made by Descartes. An ordinary
Fig. 1.
sewing-needle placed on the surface of still water floats in
apparent contact with the water — see Fig. 1, presenting an
enlarged view of a section of the needle, and showing how
a bulk of water about eight times the volume of the needle
is displaced, so that the needle lies in a trough of the
deflected water. The conditions for making this experi-
ment most satisfactorily are described by Mr. Stanley, — in
particular, the surface of the needle should be perfectly
clean and free from the slightest speck of rust Then there
is a pretty modification of the experiment Take a
polished wire an inch long and about one twenty-fifth of
• " Ex)icriiiienlaf licsoarckoa into tlio Properties and Motions of
flnidR, with Theoretical Deductions Therefrom." Br William Ford
Stanley. (E. i F. N. Spou, London.)
t The oxplauatiun amusingly given in our books of geography
and oloinentary nxtronomy is uliout as vuluablo as the statement
that a top hold oslant will fall if lot go, rc^ardod as an explanation
of the fact that a 8j>inning top will not full though its axis be aslant.
It in simply an imperfect account of the statical theory, according
to which there would bo high water under the moon and opposite,
whorcoii, accortling to tho true theory, there would be high water
thoro but for frictional effects.
an inch in diameter, well cleaned with potash liquor, and
wiped on a clean cloth. Carefully attacli to each end, upon
one side of the wire, a fibre of cotton silk, by means of
shellac varnish. Place tlio suspended wire in the centre of
a vessel, and pour in water till the wire is nearly reached.
If now we tak(! a small syphon of glass, filled with water,
and place one end deep into the vessel already described,
and the other end in another vessel containing water ;
then by raising or lowering the second vessel we may very
slowly raise or lower the water to or from the suspended
wire. If the water be raised, the wire will float as in the
former experiment If we lower the water, the wire as it
Fig. 2.
comes above the surface will draw the water with it
When the elevation is at a certain point, the same form of
curvature, but inverted, will be produced as was seen in
the depression.
Another experiment, illustrated in Fig. 3, is important
The figure explains itself, only it will be understood that
there must be a can of water from which a small caoutchouc
tube supplies the jet : —
Height of projection of free jet in air li inch, distance
5 inches. Immersing the jet for an instant, and then
restoring it to its place, so as to carry up a film of water :
height of projection with this film i an inch, distance
1| inch.
The third chapter includes experiments illustrating
the passage of water through various apertures and
passages ; also a discussion of the passage of water past a
peg or post in a flowing stream, showing how the current
divides before reaching the place of absolute resistance
^m
(Fig. 4). This illustrates, Mr. Stanley believes, the di\-ision
of the great Atlantic equatorial current 300 miles before it
reaches Cape St. Roque.
But we would direct the reader's special attention to
Chapter IV., in which the theory of rolling contact of part
of a fluid system is discussed, a theory bearing in a most
April 21, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE
535
instructive manner on the lubject of oceanic currents.
Chapter V., also, dealing with the principles of resistance in
fluids, is of f"\t:rrae interest. In one of the experiments
illustrating this part of the subject, a leaden bullet fired
directly against a tliin parchment film covering a small
water surface is found to be shattered into fine films, which
the author arranges in the following form : —
Fig. 5.
In the sixth chapter, ^Ir. Stanley discusses the generation
of bi-whirl systems under the action of conic resistance,
while in Chapter VII. we have an interesting series of
experiments with pipes and channels. Chapter VIII.
deals with the important subject of the projection of solids
in fluids, showing how the solid, carrying forward with it a
volume of fluid, acts like a fluid projected in a fluid. The
author considers this principle further supported by an
experiment by Mr. J. Scott Russell, in which a boat stopped
in a canal was found to project forward a volume of water
greater than its bulk, this projected water forming a wave
half-a-yard in height, which yh: Russell followed on horse-
back to a distance many miles from the stopped boat. Mr.
Stanley thus represents (as experiment has established) the
forms of the following whirls in this case.
Fig. C.
His application of this part of his research to the theory
of rudder action is full of interest.
Passing over other valuaVjle experiments, we come to the
second section, to which, however, we can give space very
inadequate to its real impoi-tance. Mr. Stanley here con-
siders ihe general conditions of fluids on the globe under
the influence of the sun's heat and the earth's revolution.
He erroneously describes, by the way, as Dr. Carpenter's
theory of oceanic circulation that according to which the
chief motive force of the system of oceanic circulation is
the sun's heat in tropical regions. This theory had been
adopted before Dr. Carpenter advanced his views, the
special point of which is the action of cold water descending
from melting ice in the arctic regions. We believe there
can be very little doubt that solar action on the equatorial
and tropical seas is altogether more potent than any other
cause — melting ice, trade winds, or the like — in generating'
and maintaining the system of oceanic circulation. Jlr.
Stanley's researches admirably illustrate this subject, and
we would specially recommend this portion of Mr. Stanley's
work to the careful study of all who take interest (as who
does not?) in the wonderful mechanism of the ocean
currents.
The discussion of aerial circulation is also full of interest,
though of necessity this part of the subject is less fully
illustrated by experiments than those which precede it
We wish our space would permit us to present a full
account of what ]Mr. Stanley says in these important
portions of his work. It would be an injustice to him to
give a mere abstract.
We cannot too warmly commend Mr. Stanley's book to
all interested in the discussion of fluids and their move-
ments, in open sea, in rivers and canals, and in more
limited spaces. He has dealt, and dealt successfully, with
some of the most diflicult of hydrodynamical problems.
MEAT PRESERVATION.
THE second part of a demonstration of a new method (under
Jones's patent) of meat prescn-ation was given on Friday at
the Cannon-street Hotel, when tlie efficacy of the process was
pi-oved in a practical way by the serving for luncheon of mutton
killed on March 6, or thirty-nine days before. The carcases from
which the joints served up were cut had been kept in a butcher's
shop at a temperature varying between 50" and 60° Fahr. Mr.
Hardwicke, who presided, remarked, on sitting down to lunch, that
the meat would be found to have been prepared in the simplest
way, in order that tho flavour and quality of the flesh might be
better appreciated. The experiment showed that the mutton, of
which boiled and roasted joints were served, was perfectly free
from any taint or taste of the antiseptic chemical used to preserve
it, and that the meat i-etained its natural juiciness and flavour. It
was, moreover, vei-y tender. The process, which was described
in the Times of March 9, differs from other applications of
antiseptics to the preser ration of meat in one important
feature — the preservative substance (boracic acid) is injected
into a vein while the creature, though stunned by a blow
on the head, is still alive, and the action of the heart
is relied upon to pump it tlu-ough every part of the body into
which the vascular system ramifies. With regard to a question
which has been raised as to the innoccncy of boracic acid as an
antiseptic. Colonel Harger quoted Dr. F. P. Atkinson, who says: —
" Considering the well-known 'properties of boracic acid, it is ex-
ceedingly curious how little it has been administered as an internal
remedy. Its effect in diphtheria, both locally and internally, is
very marked." This he proceeds to show by reference to observa-
tions of Dr. Cossar Ewart and Dr. Malcolm Simpson, and subse-
quently states that, " A dose is 5 to 15 grains. It has one particular
recommendation, and that is its tastelessness." In the room was
shown the carcass of a sheep killed on the 6th of March last,
still in perfect condition, and to preserve which 5 oz. of boracic
acid were used, the whole carcass weighing 7-tlb. The two hind-
quarters of another sheep, killed on the 20th of February, or 54 days
ago, were also shown. No difference was perceptible between the
condition of one or the other. To preserve the latter, which weighed
89 lb., 6 oz. of boracic acid had been used. As, however, a large
proportion of the solution injected probably Bows away with the
blood when the creature is struck by the butcher, two minutes
after the injection of the boracic acid, it is impossible in the
absence of any data from careful ([uantitative analysis to calculate
the quantity remaining in the fibre of, say half-a-pound of mc:ir
before cooking. But small as this quantity must be, there c;iu
ba no doubt that, introduced in this way into the living organism,
it suflices to preserve, not only the carcass, but also the heart,
liver, kidneys, and other organs of the body. The economical
advantages of a method which, it used in the alattoirs of Sydney
or Melbourne, would only render it necessary to reduce the
temperature in the storing-rooms during the voyage to 50 deg.
Fahr., instead of 30 deg. Fahi-., mu.st evideutly be considerable. The
loss of weight in a sheep thus preserved and kept for one month
has been found to be about 5 per cent. — Times.
A NEW use has been found for gi-aphite in the shape of paint to
protect articles of iron, notably roofs, bridges, smoke-stacks, &c.,
against rusting and corrosion.
536
. KNO^A;■LEDGE •
[April 21, 1883.
SOLAR MOTION AND COMETS FROM OUTSIDE.
AN inKri'miiiK ciiimtioii is nuKKUxloJ ''X ll>0 ttppriioch of tlm
runiiiiK comet, oiio tlint Mr. rpictor cnn cluriilatK to tlie
rcailcrii of Knowlehok, niicl tlicroliy nolvc n |)rol>Ioin tliiit jinn pro-
biibly iiuKRi'atiHl iltielf to olliom lioHiilpii inygolf. It is thin: —
8upp(«inK ••">!. tliiH coiiiot (or niiy other) is a visitor to our Bolnr
»)'iitein from the outer n-Kiou" of ppiire, and is now moving,' in ii
direction thut will bring it within, fny, 10 millions of miles of the
prtftnt position of the sun by the middle of June, where will it
bo in relation to the sun nt that date, assuminjf that the sun is
travelling through space with his regular attendants at the rate of
nearly GtlU.dUO miles jier day? One of the components of the
comet's orbit, the solar gravitation, will, of course, change its direc-
tion with thntuf the sun, but the other, the comet's original motion,
remains of its original component value.
llow do astronomers deal with this (|iie8tion, and docs the courso
of such a comet verify the theory of solor motion in space?
W. Mattieu Williams.
I The astronomer can only judge of o comet's courso by observa-
tions made from the earth, which shares w^hatover motion the sun
may have in space, lie finds the comet's orbit relatively to the
sun' to bo such and such, and ;whether the sun bo at rest or in
motion, the movements of the comet with respect to the sun and
solar system will be the same. If, however, wo imagine an observer
in space knowing the exact courso a comet is pursuing, that is
the exact direction and rate of the comet's motion, and knowing
niso tlio exact position of the sun, bot not knowing anything
about the snn's motion in space, it is certain that the
calculations of such on observer as to the comet's position
at any given future time, would bo altogether incorrect if
he assumed the sun to be at rest, and the sun is really
moving very rapidly through space. Ho would make no cor-
rection for that jmrt of the comet's motion at the moment,
which is equal and parallel to the solar motion, and which, there-
fore, must be regarded as removed before the computation of the
comet's courfc with respect to the san can be taken into account.
Thus, suppose the comet moving from A to C (Fig. 1) in space, while
the sun is moving from S to S' in tlio same time (if both continued
on an unchanging coui-se), and let CB be parallel and equal to SS'.
Then our imagined observer would calculate for the velocity and
direction represented by AC, and get a very different orbit round S
than ho would if, knowing of the sun's motion, ho took the right
Telocity and direction, viz., that represented by the line AB. The
observer on earth cannot make this mistake, for whether SS' be
large or small, and whatever its direction, the terrestrial observer
can only recognise the velocity and direction AB, that is the
comet's actual velocity and direction, corrected for the sun's.
Fig. 1.
Fig.:
Another difficulty which is, I think, commonly ctperienced, is
this. If we imijgine a comet leaving the domain of a sun moving
in one direction, or perhaps nt rest, and coming within the effective
influence of our sun moving in another dii-ection, how docs the swift
motion of the snn away from the position it had had at first with
respect to the comet, affect the comet's eventuolcf ure ? In reality,
this is the same difficulty as the other. It matters not uhcre the
comet is when it has the motion represented by AC in our figure, or
how that motion was originally acquired, or tchat the direction and
amount of that motion may be ; that motion, corrected into motion
AH by the application of a motion CIJ parallel and opposite to the
sun's, is the motion tletermining the c*>met'8 courso with respect to
the sun. Of course, when the comet is e(|ually, or nearly equally,
attracted by the sun it ia leaving, and by our own sun, the former
attraction must bo taken duly into account in estimating the future
courso of the comet. But supposo onr sun, for a momoiit, the odIj
sun in existence, and imagine that a c<imct is placod at rest at A
(Fig. 2), and left free to yield to solar ottract on. liow will it
behave if the snn, instead of being at rest at S. is in'iving in direc-
tion SS', with velocity represented by the length SS'. We apply to
the comet thn motion AA', eqaal and parallel to SS', but in the
opposite direction, and so learn the nature of the comet's orbit with
reference to H. It will be either a parabola or a hyperbola, having
vertex at A ; or an ellipse, having A as an apse (either perihelion
or aphelion); or a circle, according to the distance AS ond the
velocity AA' or SS' ; the real path of the comet in space will, of
course, be obtained by combining the comet's motion in tlis poth
round S with the advancing motion of S, and will bo either a
skewed parabola or hyperbola, or a series of looped or wavy cnrveg.
These if the comet's relative path is circular, will l>e curtate
or prolate cycloids, according to tho sun's velocity ; or in one par-
ticular case will bo the common cycloid. — En."!
OPTICAL BLINDNESS TO RED LIGHT.
A CURIOUS effect of bright white light upon the vi ion is
recorded in a recent number of the Journal de I'h^fique by
MM. J. Mace de Lcpinay and W. Nicati. After passing some hours
in a snow-field brilliantly lighted up by sunshine, it was observed
that at least eight hours afterwards all gaslights, candles, and arti-
ficial lamps appeared to be strongly coloured green. In other words,
the rod rays of such lights were not jicrceived. Tho reason of this
was supposed to be the fatigue of the retina for red, which partial
effect lasts longer than a similar weariness of other colours. The
truth of this supposition may be proved in a very simple manner
by obtaining three coloured glasses — red, green, and blue — of such
relative depth of colour that they could be seen through with about
equal visual effect with a given power of light. An observer fur-
ni.slicfl with these glasses is then to place himself at a convenient
distance before one of the sight-testing plaoards commonly used by
oculists, and consisting of a white ground printed with black cha-
racters of various sizes. If the room is now almost darkened, the
blue glass will still permit the observer to distinguish the medium-
sized characters on tho placard, while through the red screen not
even the white sheet itself is perceptible. After a time, however —
the same degree of semi-darkness being continued — the visual
acuteners through the red glass is increased, so that the larger
characters on the placard may be discerned. The visual percep-
tion through tho blue glass remains as at first. It is therefore clear
that colour-blindness, of a temporary nature, to tho red rays, is
more persistent than in respect of the blue rays. Hence may be
assigned to physiological reasons the well-known fact that a pro-
longed or even tempoi'ary exposure of the eye to the electric light
renders it for some considerable time afterward incapable of fully
estimating the illuminating power of a gas-flame, which is so much
richer in red rays.
RED SNOW.
AT a recent meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society,
Dr. Harkness presented a bottle of "red snow," which he
gathered last June on the Wasatch Mountains. The red snow was
found on the north side of a spur which rose about 10,000 feet
above tho sea level. When fresh, the snow has the appearance of
being drenched with blood, as tbongh some large animal had been
killed. Tho *' red snow " is caused by tho presence of a one-celled
plant called Protococcus nii-alis, which reproduces itself by sub-
division ; that is, the cell divides itself into several new cells. This
is done with great rapidity, and a few cells lodged in the snow,
under favourable conditions, soon will give it the appearance called
"red .«now." It was remarked that the iilienomena of red snow
had been observed from the earliest times, as Aristotle has a passage
which is thought to refer to it. The subject was, however, lost sight
of until brought up by the investigations of Saussure, who found it
on the Alps in 1700. He made chemical tests which showed him
that the red colour was due to the presence of vegetable matter,
which he supposed might be the pollen of some plant. In 1S19. an
Arctic expedition under Captain Ross brought some six^cimens from
the cliffs around Baflin's Bay, and they were examined by eminent
botanists, some of whom mistook the nature of the pli:nt,and there
was long discussion as to its proper classification, some holding it
to be a fungus, some a lichen ; but it was finally set at rest as one
of the unicellular alga?. It ia of interest also that soaio of the
early examiners pronounced the colour due to animalcules, but this
was disproved. Dr. Harkness said that during his last visit to
England, ho saw the original bottle of specimens brought from the
Arctic more than sixty years before, and in which tho protococcus
could still bo seen with the microscope. — Scicntifc American.
Apbil 21, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
537
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NEW METHOD OF FORECASTING STORMS.
IN the course of his investigations on the behariour of magnets,
Father Secclii, the well-known Italian physicist, perceived the
interesting fact that the disturbance of niafiTiotic equilibrium which
attends magnetic storms, and usually accompanies displays of
Aurora Borealis, is also exhibited under the influence of cyclonic
systems, or what are commonly known as the approach and passage
of storms of wind and rain.
JI. Descroix, llotoorological Dii'ector of Montsouris Observatory,
Paris, has recently been following up the pregnai^t hint bequeathed by
Father Secchi, and has published, in a recent Bulletin of the French
Meteorological Society, his general conclusions. Fully six days
before the arrival on the western shores of Europe of a cyclonic
disturbance, the several magnetic needles (of declination, inclina-
tion, and horizontal force) showed decided symptoms of sympathy
witli the coming storm. The earth acts as a telegraphic conductor
in announcing the approach of the gale.
SI. Descroix is at present engaged in the endeavour to express in
accurate formnlte the laws governing the action of distant cyclones
on the magnetic needles, and we may hope at no very distant day
to possess useful and accurate information on tliis important
subject.
ICEBERGS.
ICE-FIELDS and icebergs appeared off Xewfouudland nearly two
months earlier than usual this season. The steamship Averill,
from West Hartlepool, England, was the first to tell of ice on the
Banks, having sighted it in latitude 47^ north, longitude 47° west,
on Felj. 11. She was surrounded for twelve hours. Nearly every
day since then the arriving steamships have reported ice, which
has drifted to the southwai-d and eastward. The steamship Van-
dalia, which passed around the ice-field, Feb. 11, sighted two
towering bergs about 60 feet in height and 120 and 200 feet on the
sides.
The White Star steamship Germanic, from Liverpool, reports
that on March 1, in latitude 43° 35' north, longitude 49° 10' west,
she was confronted with a great field of ice, and did not reach
clear water for two hours. This seems to indicate that the ioo
extended for at least twenty-five miles. As no icebergs were seen,
it is probable that in floating 205 miles to the southward and about
90 miles to the eastward, they crumbled under tlie influence of
warmer waters. The Belgian steamship Helvetia encountered afield
of ice and icebergs, and was forced to run to the southward 80 miles
before she got to clear water. The steamahip Nev: Tork, from
Bristol, fell in with large fields of ice and bergs, varying from 60 to
300 feet in height, and ran a south-south-east course for 160 miles
at slow speed before she found open water. The British steamship
Milanese, from Boston, February 18, for London, was so seriously
damaged by the ice on the Banks of Newfoundland, that she put
back to Halifax for repairs. — Scientific American.
COPYING DRAWINGS.
TILHET'S method of copying drawings in any desired colour is
thus described in the Polytechnisches Notisblatt : "The
paper on which the copy is to appear is first dipped in a bath con-
sisting of 30 parts of white soap, 30 parts of alum, 40 parts of
English glue, 10 parts of albumen, 2 parts of glacial acetic acid, 10
parts of alcohol of 60', and 500 parts of water. It is afterward put
into a second bath, which contains 50 parts of burnt umber ground
in alcohol, 20 parts of lampblack, 10 parts of English glue, and 10
parts of bichromate of potash in 500 parts of water. They ore now
sensitive to light, and must, therefore, be preserved in the dark.
In preparing paper to make the positive print, another hath is made
just like the first one, except that lampblack is substituted for the
bui-nt umber. To obtain coloured positives, the black is replaced by
some red, blue, or other pigment.
In making the copy, the drawing to be copied is put in a photo-
graphic printing-frame, and the negative paper laid on it, and then
exposed in the usual mannei-. In clear weather an illumination of
two minutes will suflice. After the exposure the negative is put in
water to develope it, and the drawing will appear in white on a
dark ground ; in other words, it is a negative or reversed picture.
The paper is then dried and a' positive made from it by placing it
on the glass of a printing-frame, and laying the positive paper
npon it and exposing as before. After placing the frame in the sun
for two minutes, the positive is taken out and put in water. The
black dissolves off without the necessity of moving it back and
forth.
588
KNO^A/'LEDGE
[April 21, 1882.
Irttrrs to tl)f (Ctiitor.
[Tkt fiJitor doft nnt \oU )iim»f{f rttponMiUt for the opinioHM of \x» correrpondtnU.
Bt Cfinnot unJrrtakf to rrturtt monHtcripft or to eorrefvond m-ith their icriterM. AH
communifittiottB thould b* ns thort a$ pouibU, conai»t«ntly with full and clear itatt-
mmtt oftkt trrUer't iii/.ihib<;.]
Att Kditor:il communication* $hould bt addr«$$*d to the Editor of KXOWLBDOS;
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Hr**4, W.C.
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Meeere. IVvman 4r Sone.
*^* All letiert to the Kditor will be Xumbered. For conre^nienre of reference,
ecrretpondeute, when r^erring to any letter, will oblige by mentioning ite number
»nd the page on which it appear:
All Letters or Queriei to the Editor which require attention in the current it$ue of
KnowLiDoa. fAoii/^/ reach the Publiehing Office not later than the Saturday preeeding
ike rfuy <(f publication, ^^_^^
(I.) T.oltpm to huTo ■ chance of BpncBrinc must bPconcii?e; they must be drawn
ap io thf form adopted for letters here, so that they may ro untouched to the
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qDeriea (inteoded to appear as »nch) should bo «Titten on separate leaves.
(II.) Letters which (either because too ionj;, or unsuitable, or dealing with
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here, will eit her be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or acknowledged
in ■ column reserved for the purpose.
"Id knowled^a, (bat man only is to bo contemned and despked who is not in a
tUt* of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
" There is no harm in makinp a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show yoa a man who has done
nothing." — Liebiq,
" Ood's Orthodoxy is Truth."— C^aWcjt Xingslcy.
(^\K CoiifSponlJfnct Columnsf.
CADDIS-WORM CASES— INTELLIGENCE [IN ANIMALS.
[385]. — I notice caddis-worms use, among other things, little
pieces of plants. I further notice, so long as the caddis has need of
them, so long do they keep tlieir life and original colour. How does
the worm keep them alive ?
What do scientific men understand by reason ? A good definition
wanted. Why divided into ])0sitive and abstract ? What acts in
man arc the result of reasoning powers ? Is reasoning power
necessary for man to perform the acts of daily life ? Would the
acts performed by animals, if performed by men, be considered to
require roaaoning powers ? John Alex. Ollard.
DOES THE MIXTURE OF BLUE AND YELLOW MAKE
GREEN LIGHT?
[88G] — If your correspondent on this subject (April 7, p. 49G)
would consider the experiment referred to by Helmholtz for mixing
the lights rellooted from two-coloured spots by means of a piece of
polished glass held upright between them, he would quickly per-
ceive that the imago is produced by half the light from ono of the
spots, mingled with half the light from the other. But this is not
the only way of mixing differently-coloured lights on the retina.
It is easy, by means of a lens, to throw together the yellow and
blue (that is the ultramarine blue) prismatic rays, and to see that
they do not make green, but neutralise each other perfectly. The
persistence of the sensations excited by light on the retina enables
us also to produce the same effect by rapid rotation of a circular
disc, painted half with lemon yellow and half with French blue.
In his fact 1, the yellow light from the sodium salt makes, with
the floa-grocn or verdigris light from the chloride of copper, a
yellowish-green mixture, which agrees with the theory ho
controverts.
In his fact 2 and fact 3, the greenish colour which he notices
arises no doubt from the circumstance that the flames from the
blowpipe and from the Bunsen burner give out, not a pure or ultra-
marine bine, but a sea-green blue light. When the yellow from the
heated wire, or from the incandescent particles of carbon, is seen
through these flames, the result is a greenish appearance, which is
again consistent with the theory.
In his fact 4, as described, it seems utterly inexplicable how the
green streak was prodnred in the prism j but as the sunbeam was
admitted between two laths of a Venetian blind, and Venetian
blinds are commonly painted green, I suspect the lens must have
thrown an imago of a bright edge of a green lath across the pri/im.
W. Bkn- .
COLLISIONS AT SEA.
l3H7J -With reference to Mr. Stewart Harrison's signals, :, I
to in the article on Collisions at Sea last week, may I mcntii" i'
by Article 19 of Rule of the Road, steamers are already at ur . itv
to signal their intentions to each other by means of their sio.im
whistles, as follows : —
Ono short blast — " I am directing my course to starboard," i.«.
to my right.
Two short blasts — " I am directing my coarse to port," i.e. .t
left.
Three short blasts — " I am going fall speed astern."
It would not be safe to use any signals asking another ship to alter
her course in any way, as the signal might be obeyed by the %Trong
ship — if two or three were in company, in an cstuarj- or channel —
and they might get mixed. Sailors woald be glad to be able to
avoid collision, though yon remark on their apparent unconcern
in the matter. They know how diflScnlt it would be to enforce
obedience to rules requiring certain signals to be made, and how
confusing it would be if those signals were not made when
expected. A frequent cause of collision is that the ship A,
which ought to give way, keeps on too long, and frightens
the ship B, which ought to keep her course, into acting upon
Article 23, and swerving, in order to avoid what she considers
immediate danger of collision ; perhaps starboarding at the very
instant that A " ports," and that, too, at the verj- last moment ; so
that there is no time to remedy the mistake. The blame ought, of
course, to lie with A, who, though he certainly did give way, did
not do so in time to let B know he was doing it. I have seen this
state of things from the deck of a small sailing-vessel, when I have
not dared to alter my course for fear of baulking the steamer, and
when the steamer has carried on, and " shaved" me, her tall sides
actually taking the wind out of our sails as she cut her wav close
by ; and yet, had we altered our course, we might have run right
under her bows. I have also seen the same thing from the opposite
point of view, viz., from a steamer's bridge, the officer in charge
apparently thinking that, so long as he knows that he intends to
keep clear, it is of no consequence whether those in charge of the
other ship get scared or not. There are practical difficulties in the
way of ])lacing the red and green lights as suggested in your
article ; in a sailing-ship, the sails and rigging would to a greater er
less extent mask the midship light. A streak of luminous paint all
round the hull, in addition to the present side lights, has been pro-
posed, and probably would better show small changes of course at
night than anything else. F. C. G.
REPLIES TO QUERIES.
Adjusting EqrATORiii.. — In taking the declination of a star
six hours from the meridian, for the purpose of adjusting an
equatorial, the refraction for its altitude at that instant should be
taken out of Bessel's, or some other table. We must, though, of
course, know what that altitude is, and this we find simply by
adding the logarithm sine of the latitude to the logarithm sine of
the star's declination. Thus, what, let us say, is the altitude of a
Cvgni when six hours from the meridian in latitude 51° 30'?
51° 30' lat. Sine 9 893645
41° 52' dec. of a Cygni. Sine 9S48172
33° 31' 11" Sine 9742117
Turning now to any table of refractions, we find that the mean
refraction corresponding to 33° 31' is 1' 33'9''. Of course, part of
this operates in shifting the star in right ascension; but we may
use it all for our present purpose without introducing any error
likely to be sensible in our instrumental adjustments.
[350] — "Whitby "is informed that jet is nothing but a com-
pact variety of coal, and has been formed in precisely the same
way. Its vegetable structure is readily seen, in thin sections,
under the microscope. F.R.A.S.
The number of asteroids that have been discovered is now 220.
Recent researches by Herr Hornstein (communicated to the Vienna
Academy) appear to prove that the number of those with a diameter
of over twenty-five geographical miles is extremely small, and that
probably all such were discovered before 1850. On the other hand,
the number of asteroids with a diameter less than five miles seems
also to be very small, at least in the parts of the asteroid zone next
Mars; in the outer regions next Jupiter there may be a more con-
siderable number of these very small bodies. Most asteroids seem
to have a diameter of between five and fifteen miles.
April 21, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
539
ansftunsf to CoirfSponUfiitei.
*^*All eommunicationt for the Editor requiring early attention ehould reach the
Offlce oti or b^ore the Saturday preceding the current ieeue of Kkowledob, the
tHcreaeing circulation o/ychich compels us to go to prett early in the week.
HlXT3 TO CoEBBSPONDBSTS. — 1. ifo queitions aeting for scientijtc injormation
lan be aiitmrred through the poet. 3. Lett ere tent to the Editor for corrcipondenti
tannot be forvarded ; nor can the names or addrettes nf correspondents be given in
answer to private inquiries. 3. Correspondents should vrite on one side only of
the paper, and put drawings on a separate leaj. 4. Each letter should have a title,
and in replying to a letter, r^erence should be uade to its number^ the page on
wkiek it appears^ and its title,
[In response to the wishes of a large number of correspondents,
answers to questions which /icreo/fcrmay reach us will not be given
luiJer this heading. Wc have had to discontinue Queries and
uiplies because, wliile taking up much space, they only interested
I few. The answers under the present heading were open to the
iame objection, and to the fiu-ther one that they were mostly unin-
telligible to all save the individual querists. As we had to find
room somewhere in response to the growing demands npon our
-pace, wo have decided to find room in these sections, in which
Illy the few take interest. Questions which hereafter may reach
.^ will be acknowledged and forwarded to tliose who write for us
upon tlic subjects to which such questions relate ; and should those
writers see fit, may suggest articles, or paragraphs for articles, of
interest, we trust, to all |our readers. Hereafter, Knowledge will
occupy the same position in this respect as the Athenwum, Academy,
and Nature, in which there are no columns for queries or replies,
and very few answers to correspondents. Questions which, being
suitable in themselves, come in suitable form, will appear under
head " Letters to the Editor," and may be answered under the
same heading. — Ed.]
MISCELLANEOUS.
E. D. G. Yes ; Ladder of St. Augustine appeared in 1858.
Why did you not remember this beifore ? — G. E. Wynne. If
only we could have 100pp., such letters would be useful. But
what can we possibly do with 2 ft. x 1 ft. MSS. ? — H. G. A. W.
East wind is not cold in summer, or in all countries. —
J. A. Ollard. Many thanks for kind suggestions ; will con-
sider them, and attend to other matters later. — Robert Mac-
PHERSON. The subject of legal responsibility in cases of mental
disturbance is full of interest. I shall not overlook the suggestion.
Has the enunciation of rules about "shall" and "will" ever
made any difference as to the use of these words ? Macaulay remarks,
in his essay on " Lord Bacon," that though " not one Londoner in
ten thousand can lay down the rules for the proper use of will and
tholl, not one Londoner in a million ever misplaces his tuill and
thall ;" and that though "Doctor Eobertson could undoubtedly
have written a luminous dissertation on the use of these words ;
lie sometimes misplaces them ludicrously, eveu in his latest works."
— Desespoir. We cannot in any way be responsible for the bona
fides of advertisers in Knowledge. — E. Rowe. No ; we regret much
more than you can such stupidity on the part of some booksellers. —
W. H. JoNKs. I do not think that Professor TjTndall, or any other
student of science, doubts that in past times, under particular con-
ditions, there may have been spontaneous genei'ation. He only
asserts that under any conditions, now, which exclude living
germs, no spontaneous generation occurs. — C. J. Brow.v. Tour
letter rendered almost illegible by blurring. We, too, were
disappointed that no direct remedy from bad fires and venti-
lation was given, short of rebuilding all our houses. On the spoil-
bank matter, Mr. Williams did not mean, we think, that sponta-
neous generation was always the cause, but only that it was a
common cause. — S. M. SUTTON. So far as a mere outsider can
judge, the " inner voice (so termed) " utters nonsense ; perhaps
others may find a meaning in "the combatieal force of pseudo
metallurgy." — A. Yes; but violet is not blue with red in it. Have
yon ever seen the violet of a pure spectrum ? — R. J. Houlton. Thanks
for replies. Dog anecdote resembles others with which our readers
are familiar. — Jones <t Barber. Thanks for invitation. — Phil.\-
LETHEs. Egyptologists agree, nem. con., in the earlier dates,
and have not overlooked the point to which you call attention.
Osbum's views are now entirely out of date. Can you name a
living Egyptologist of any standing who maintains that the com-
mencement of the -Ith Dynasty could not have been earlier than
2200 B.C. — .Alexander Howell. It is verj' good of you to correct
Sir Edmund Beckett about the law of patents ; but for our own
part we should as soon think of explaining to Mr. Muybridge the
elementary principles of photography. — A. M. Smith. Without direct
evidence, such theories are of little value ; to the question " May
not so and bo bo such and such ? " the answer is either " It may be
so," or " It may not be so," neither of which advances us much. —
W. F. S. May we not express our thanks for your kind and en-
couraging words ? — iRLs wishes to learn where a prism such as Mr.
Higgins describes at p. 470, No. 22, and mounted as described,
can be obtained. — A. W. W. W. W. Thanks, but explanation rather
doubtful.
ASTRONOMICAL AND MATHEMATICAL.
M. H. C. Ought we not rather to say that Sir E. Beckett rejects
the theory which you show to be incorrect, and that the centri-
fugal theory as modified (but not as it has been propounded by
several) is correct enough ? This, however, applies rather to the
correction of the centrifugal force than to his omission of moon's
total attraction. But it is difficult to say what have been the exact
ideas of some who have propounded a centrifugal theory of the
tides. — Cantab. You do not consider the earth's more rapid
motion in perihelion at time when her orbit was at its greatest
eccentricity. The influence of a short, very warm summer would
not counteract the influence of a long, very cold winter. — H. C. W.
Does not that amount to what wo have already said about the log.
paradox ? — H. B. L. Clifford and Helmholtz have not merely main-
tained that material space is or may be limited, but that abstract
space may be. The former question would be purely speculative ;
the latter would be admissible if wo could admit that the twelfth
axiom of Euclid is incorrect. Although the question you discuss
belongs to natural, not to dogmatic religion, it is scarcely suitable
for discussion here. — S. M. B. G. We thought the papers too
diffuse, and the subject-matter too familiar. But furtlier, you
selected a subject in relation to which we have exercised some self-
denial already, in admitting papers from others which we might
very well have written ourselves. We can only give a certain
portion of our space to that subject, and we want to leave a little
of that space to ourselves. We cannot answer bj' letter. — Air.
This is scarcely the place for aerial tricycle. — J. P. H. Try
your method in case of a rectangle fifty times as long as
it is broad, and show how two cuts suflice in that case. —
G. F. Ogilvy. Precisely the same, whether centre of motion is out-
side or inside the body so moving. — A. T. Skinner. Y'our solution
of Mogul's problem correct. — F. H. S. The subject is closely
related, as you say, to inquiries into nature of space and time ; in
time we hope to find space for it. — Vigilans. My Library Star
Atlas would be of more use for telescopic work than either of the
series of maps (by me) you name. — J. W. C. The transmission of
such wave motion is akin to what we see on the surface of water,
where the motion of the particles is (in the main) at right angles to
the direction of transmission. — HfGii Coleman Davidson. The
earth's poles describe two small circles, as you suppose. — G. L. H.
Each ray from the disc of a planet is disturbed, just as the rays
from a star ; but as the disc of a planet is not appreciably a point,
as a star is, and the different rays from different points of the disc
are differently disturbed, the disturbances in some directions
counterbalance those in other directions, and we have a steady
light. — M. L. Rouse. Y'es, the paradox is as you describe it. — J. B.
Shipley. One can only consider a lever as intended to move
something. The P and W of the account of any lever can always
be interchanged ; and you can also, if you will, interchange E, the
resistance at fulcrum, with W. In inquiring into propulsive force on
boat, we must regard the boat with its load as the weight, the
energy exerted by the rowers as the power. It m.ay be very absurd,
but we cannot help ourselves. — G. Rimington. — Thanks, but reply
about Sinking Funds rather longer than the general interest taken in
subject justifies. — Comets. Alas ! your theory will not do. It is hope-
lessly remote from possibility. The term " paraboloid," by the way,
is already in use, not for your mixed curve, but for a surface. —
John Hamer. You could get clearer ideas of the moon's rotation
if you studied a trustworthy treatise on dynamics, than by waiting
for ideas " in the watches of the night." The idea of the moon not
rotating on its polar axis, but on the equatorial axis ! Define polar
axi.=, and see what comes of your idea. — Jas. Offord. Received,
and will be used. Do you wish Zodiac of Dcnderah to be engraved ?
— W. Edwards. An annular eclipse of the sun -observed in this
country on Sunday, May 15, 1836. — Jas, Deas. You have not either
statement quite right. The earlier (in my essay. Gamut of Light)
was erroneous. The determination of stellar motions of approach and
recession too difficult for anything like exactness to be obtained.
Stttfrs iRffcibrt.
Alex. Howell, Onward, A Novice, Z. 0. Z., Montpellier, A. Fisher.
W. G. Williams, Mary Powell, J. F. Humphrey, W. P. B., Crcssbar
(questions vague, or already answered, or otherwise unsuitable). C.
Carter, W. J. Hamsmith, A. J. Dohcrty, J. Pepperson, W. G.
Williams, Nag's Head (Nac/'s Head ? Are you sine ?), Emily F., J.
Harvey, M. Murgetson.
540
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Afbil 21, 1882.
flotrd on 2vt nnti ^rirnrr.
An czporinicnt with a (yntcm fi>r iininf; pctrolunm inataad of coni
for fui'l wim tricil on llio l>onK Iftlnnd Knilroa)) rocently, oncl was
proiKiunced n Hticccaii, The tniii) was run on sclicdalo time, and tliu
co«t wim $1.'J0, ft« i'OMi|mro<l with $2, thf> price for coal. The new
fad is a va|x>iM' produeed liy the intermingling of jetii of petroleum,
iin|M'rheat«d Blcam, and hot air.
A New and intorentin^ proof that the earth is round has been
prei"rntc<l hy M. Pnfonrin a paper recently read before tho Helvetic
Society of Natural Sciences. In calm weather tho imn^cs of dihlnnt
objeels reflected in tho Lake of Geneva showed just exactly the
same degree of distortion which calculation would predict through
taking into consideration the fignrc of the earth.
UriKNT investigations by Dr. llann indicate that tho mean tem-
peraturo of tho southern hemis[dierc is tho same as that of the
northern, but between 10 degrees and 15 degrees south latitude, tho
8o<ithem hemisphere becomes warmer than the northern in tho same
latitude, and this diCferenco continues at least to the confines of the
hypothetical Antarctic continent.
Gray's well-known work on anatomy has been translated into
Chinese, and the translator, tho late Dr. Osgood, is said to have suc-
ceeded in giving Chinese names to the multifarious and minute
structures which constitute the human body — a difficult task, as the
Chinese know scarcely anything of anatomy, or of the functions of
the various organs of the body.
A Geobgia.m, of scientific attainments, residing at Darien has dis-
covered that len-scs for telescopes can be manufactured from the
virgin drip of rosin. The largest lens made of glass is only thirty
inches in diameter. This magnitude can be greatly increased by
the new method, and consequently there is no telling what
wonderful astronomical results may (low from its adoption. Gentle-
men who aie conversant with science say that tho Darien discovery
is worthy of a thorough test.
A NEW plan to deaden floors has been patented, and is being
tested in a new building at Philadelphia. A si.\-by-threo plank is
inserted between each joist two inches from the bottom of the
joists, and projecting four inches beneath. Underneath the inter-
vening planks the ceiling boards are nailed and the space filled
with sawdust to within an inch of the joists. By this method the
waves of sound are carried off, and it is claimed that tho most
vigorous hammering cannot be heard in the story beneath.
©ur i^atlKmatiral Column.
THE LAWS OF PROBABILITY.
By thb Editor.
AT first sight nothing seems clearer than that the answer given
by ninthematieians to tho Petersburg problem is untrue. I
have even heard persons to whom the problem and its answer have
been submitted assert that no amount of reasoning would convince
them that so preposterous a solution was just. Unfortunately, the
reasoning given in treatises on probability, through sound, is
commonly too recondite to convince these sceptics. Let me repeat
the jiroblem, and ro-state the answer; and then let us ti^ to see our
way to a clear interpretation of tho seeming paradox. The problem
runs thus : —
Each person in a certain lotterj- is to stake jEx on the following
conditions :— A coin is to be tossed until head appears ; if head
comes at the first toss tho person is to receive £2; it at the
second toss, he is to receive £1; if at the third, ho is to receive
£8 ; if at the fourth £1G, and so on. Kequired the value of j.
The startling answer is that x is equal to infinity ; in other words,
that though each person staked a sum never so great, the " bank "
would lose.
Xow it seems so obvious that if a large sum were paid for a
rhanco in tho lottery, the speculator would lose, that it is difficult
to bolicvo that some fallacy does not underlie tho reasoning by
which the above answer is obtained. Accordingly oven first-rate
niathematicmns (like d'Alembert) have questioned the justice of
thenniwer. "iet I believe I shall be able to convinco even non-
roothcmaticjans that the answer is sound.
Tho main objection ia founded on the difficulty of believing that
in any series of tnals, howcrcr long the series might be, tail would
be tossed many times running. For example, a sequence of twelve
tailii hoemg utterly unlikely to occur even in many millions of trials.
Kspocially does this seem to bo the case, when wo try to consider
the case of a person who should keep on continually tossing a coin
until he had tossed twelve tails in succession. Ue might toss twenty,
thirty, a hundred, nay a thousand or ten thoii.snnd times without
success, and at the end of all thoso trials ho would have no better
chance of succeeding in a fresh series of trials than at first com-
mencing. Wo cannot recognise any reason why ho remarkable a
set of throws as twelve successive "tails" should ercr reward his
patience.
Yet it is not difficult to show that, given only a sufficiently largo
number of trials, the really wonderful thing would be that twelve
snccessivo " tails " should /uil to be thrown.
To simplify matters, let us conceive that instead of one person
making a series of trial-tossings, we have a largo number of
]jcr80MS, each of whom is to toss until head ap]'>ear8. Let us set
the number at one million. It is obvious that when each of these
million persons has tossed his coin once, about one-half will
have thrown tail. Say half exactly, for con»-enience of compu-
tation ; since, at any rate, we cannot regard it as a very wonderful
circumstance if as many as 500,000 of the million toss tail.
These 500,000 are now to toss again. About one-half will
again toss " tail." Say as before, exactly one-half. The 250,000
who have tossed tail twice toss it yet again ; and about 125,000 toss
"tail" a third time. Then the 125,000 toss a fourth time, and
aliout 02,500 toss tail a fourth time. So about 31,250 toss " tail "
a fifth time running; about 15,635 a sixth time; about 7,H12 a
seventh time ; about 3,00C an eighth time ; about 1,953 a ninth
time ; about 976 a tenth time ; about 188 an eleventh time ; about
241 a twelfth time ; about 123 a thirteenth time ; about C2 a four-
teenth time ; about 31 a fifteenth time; about IG a sixteenth time;
say 8 a seventeenth time ; i an eighteenth time ; 2 a nineteenth
time ; and one a twentieth time. When we get among these
smaller numbers we feel less confident of the result ; but among
the larger numbers, though we can by no means feel certain as
to the exact number of " heads" and " tails" that would be tossed,
■we feel tho utmost confidence as to the general character of
the result. Thus, supposing 31,000 had tossed "tail" five times
running; then it would be a highly improbable thing that less than
IJ.OOO or 15,000 out of the 31,000 would toss "tail" on the next
trial. And even as respects the smaller numbers there would be at
least as fair a chance of as many " tails " being tossed as the above
reckoning assigns, as the contrary. So that, though a first, or
second, or third trial with our million tossers failed to give one
person, at least, who tossed " tail " twenty times in succession ; yet
a few successive trials (each trial including all the million persons)
would undoubtedly insure this seemingly incredible result, that
twenty successive tojsings of a coin could give an identical result.*
As for merely twelve successive " tails," we might be sure of
getting upwards of a hundred instances of that sort on the very
first trial.
If we calculate how much would be paid on the lottery after
one of these sets of a million tossings, wo shall at once begin to see
why each iosser should pay a large sum for his chance. Instead of
doing this directly, let us begin with the case of a few tossings, and
estimate the effect of increasing the number of trials — assuming,
for convenience, that exactly half those who toss in any case, toss
"head," the other half tossing "tail." This assumption does not
influence the reasoning, because it is clear that if more than half
toss cither head or tail, it is as likely that more tails than heads as
that more heads than tails will be tossed.
If there are four persons, two toss " head" and receive £2 each,
or ,£1 in all. On the second trial, one tosses " head " and receives
£1. On the third, say the one tosser left throws "head," and
receives £8. The money to be divided between the four persons is
thus, £16; or an average of £i to each.
If there are eight persons, four toss "head" at the first trial,
and receive £2 each, or £8 in all ; two toss " head " at the second
trial, and receive ,£ I each, or £8 in all ; one tosses " head " at the
third trial, asd receives £8; the last tosses "head" at the last
trial (say), and receives £16. In all, the sum of £10 is to be paid
to these eight persons, or an average of £5 to each.
In like manner, if there are sixteen persons, eight will get among
them £16 ; four will get among them another £16 ; two will receive
a third £16 ; one will get £16 ; and the last £32 ; or £96 in all will
have to be divided among sixteen persons, that is, an average of £6
to each.
• In ten successive trials with our million of tossers, the odds arc
more than 10,000 to 1 that 20 successive " tails " will he tossed.
And only 603,117 out of the million need take part in one trial to
give an even chance of tossing twenty successive heads. Do Mor-
gan's book says 70,000 ; tut there Biust be a misprint.
April 21, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
541
And by proceeding in this "way it will be found that (on the
Hsnmption made), if thirty-two persons engaged in the spoeulation,
■D average of £7 wonld have to be paid to each ; if sixty-four
engaged, an average of £8 to each; it 128 engaged, an average of
£9 to each ; if 256, £10 each ; if 512, £11 each, and so on. The
general rule being that, according to the assumption, if 2" jjcrsons
engaged, an average of ii + £2 would have to be paid to each. So
tbat as there is assumed to be no limit to the number of persons who
maj try their chances — or, what practically comes to the same
thing, no limit to the number of trials which may be made — we have
• 88 large as we please, and therefore (n -t- 2) £ the average number
of pounds the bank would have to pay for each out of 2" trials may
be made as large as we please, or equals infinity.
It wiU be noticed that in the above remarks I have not overrated
the value of the several chances. For instance, if there are eight
tossings, the occuiTence of four tails cannot be thought an unlikely
erent. And in one respect I have systematically underrated the
TSlne of each set of trials ; for when but one person is left who has
not tossed " head," I have invariably supposed the single toss to give
"head." It is easily seen that the effect of this is to diminish the
estimated value. In fact, two trials where four persons are engaged
oorrespond to one trial with eight persons ; four trials with four
persons ' correspond to two trials with eight, or to one trial with
sixteen persons; so that, as might be expected, the repetition of
any of the several kinds of trial above considered leads to a steady
increase (on the assumption made thronghout) in the mean value of
each person's expectation.
It is also well to notice how slowly this mean value increases
with the increase of the number of trials when once we have
leached large numbers. Thus, for 2,018 persons, the mean value
of each person's expectation is £13, and for 1,096 persons, the
mean value is £14; an increase of only £1. though 2,018 persons
are addeil ; and 4,096 persons must be added to increase the mean
value to £15 ; 8,192 persons more to increase the mean value to £16 ;
and so on.
But now, returning to our million of tossers, let us consider how
their various fortunes illustrate the general doctrine of probabili-
tiee, and more particularly the subject of luck. When we consider
the million as a whole, we find nothing in the result of the tossings
irhich seems to indicate either good or bad luck ; for iu each fresh
aeries of trials about one-half have tossed "■ head" and about one-
half " tail." But it we conceive the various individuals of our
army of tossers to remain unaware of the real nature of the process
in which they are taking part, and only to know the results of a
few tossings taking place in their immediate neighbourhood, it will
be seen that opinions resembling those formed in the world at largo
respecting good luck and bad luck would be found among our
tossers. Those 210, or thereabouts, who tossed " tail " twelve times
nmning, would be regarded by those around them (severally) as
exceptionally lucky men. Many might be disposed to back the luck
of one or more of these fortunate individuals of whose success
they might become cognisant. These 210 are not a whit more
likely (severally) to toss "tail" than to toss "head" at the
eleventh tossing ; and yet if one were to reason with those who
backed one of the lucky 240, it might be found very difficult to
persuade him of the folly of his course. One might reason that
there was no such thing as trustworthy luck ; that though such and
anch a tosser had been lucky so far, yet no inference could be drawn
from his past success as to the success of his next venture ; and so
OD. But the reasoning would seem good in answer, that there must
be such a thing as good luck, for had not this particular tosser
thrown " tail " twelve times running, whereas no one else of those
aroimd had thrown " tail " more thun four or five times running ?
His luck had been trustworthy in the past, why might it not be
trusted as respects the future also ? In fine, the proposing backer
might remain obstinate in the belief that he was doing a rather
clever thing in backing the luck of the fortunate tosser, and perhaps
at heavy odds.
On the other hand, there is a line of reasoning equally unsound,
by which a directly opposite conclusion may be reached. A person
who had heard of the tossing of " tail " twelve times running, might
Oonclnde that '" head " would be almost certain to come at the next
trial. We can see that this is not so, when we remember how our
840 (or so) successful losers are to proceed to a thirteenth trial, and
that only about half of them may be expected to succeed. But any
reasoning founded on the abstract probabilities might fail in this
case, as in the former ; because specious reasoning may bo urged in
favour of failure on a thirteenth trial. Thns it might be urged that
to toss " tail " twelve times running is altogether unusual ; much
more, therefore, must it be unusual to toss " tail " thirteen times
nmning. And the reasoner, forgetting altogether that the only
question he has to consider is the single tossing about to take place,
and its chances, might confine his attention to the d priori impro-
bability of tossing thirteen "tails" in succeesion. In betting on
the result, he might persuade himself that it was this unusual event
he was betting upon, and so take heavy odds against it ; whereas,
in reality, the event he was betting upon would bo simply the result
of tho tossing of a coin once. It is certain, at any rate, simple as
the question is in reality, that nine men out of ten do reason in this
unsound manner.*
Two highly important lessons may be drawn fi'om the considera-
tion of these matters, and it wonld bo well if those who have a taste
for gambling would study those lessons carefully.
In the first place, we hear accounts from time to time of very
lucky gamblers ; of rtms of luck by which men have " broken tho
bank " at Baden or Homburg, and so on ; and many are led to
believe that there really is such a thing as luck that can be depended
upon, and so are encouraged either to court fortune by backing
those who have been lucky, or else to try whether thoy may not
themselves be lucky in gambling ventures. The consideration of
the St. Petersburg problem has shown that where many gamble,
there must be some who have an extraordinary run of luck.
Because, although the problem as dealt with only relates to the
tossing of a coin, it is obvious that similar conclusions would have
been deduced, whatever ventures had been considered, and even
though the odds wore heavy against success in each separate
venture, instead of being even, as in the case of tossing a
coin. If a large number of men cast each a die, about a
sixth will throw Ace ; of this sixth, again about a sixth
will throw Ace on a second trial, and so on ; and clearly,
it only requires that the original numbers should be large
enough, to get several who will throw ace, ten, twelve, twenty, or any
number of times running. And in evcrv such instance we shall
always have our lucky men, amongst whose ranks, however, the
next trial will make the same relative gap as among a similar
number of untried, or of hitherto unlucky, persons. So it is with
the multiplied trials continually going on in the gambling world.
There must be many seemingly lucky men ; and there must be some
few who seem lucky, even among the lucky. But neither the lucky,
nor the luckiest of "the lucky, arc better worth backing in a new
venture than some unfortunate who has hitherto never had the
smallest modicum of good fortune. Take a man who has broken
the bank half-a-dozen times at Baden or Homburg, and let him
risk his money on some fair venture with a man who has never sat
at the gambling table but to lose every penny in his possession, yet
there is not a straw of odds upon either.
The other lesson is equally important, and the mistake which it
tends to correct has been as mischievous in its results as the one
just considered. The belief that " the luck must change " has over
and over again led the unfortunate gambler to persist in making
fresh ventures. "I have been unfortunate so Icng," he reasons,
" that now I may expect a run of good luck ; to give up gambling
now would be to throw away the good fortune I have been so long
waiting for." The Petersburg problem teaches precisely the same
lesson respecting Ul-fortune as respecting good fortune, since the
same results wonld follow whether we regarded the tossing of
" tail " as an event to be rewarded by a money payment, or
as an event which should compel the loser to pay money.
We see that the sequence of many events of the same kind
— i.e., a run of luck — can teach us nothinj as to future
events. A run of bad luck should be regarded by the
gambler as belonging altogether to the past ; the " whirligig
of time " may or may not " bring in its revenges," or what may
appear as such ; but the past ill-luck of the gambler will in no sort
affect his future fortune. He has not the slightest valid reason for
expecting a run of good luck to counterbalance his former bad
luck.t
(To be continued.)
* The old story of the sailor, who put his head through a hole
made by a ball in the side of his ship, confiding in the improbability
that a second would strike the ship in the same place, is true to
nature ; — only we are not bound to believe that the saUor was a
Briton.
t A change of luck he may, in one sense, expect ; that is, he may
hope not to have a run of bad luck snch as he has already had. But
he has no other reason for hoping this than the actu.il improbability
of a run of luck, either good or bad, in a given series of trials. A
man who has lost five games (of pare chance) in succession, may
expect a change of luck, in so far as he may hope to win some, at
least, of the next five games. But he has no better chance of
winning some of these five games than he would have had if the
first five had not been played. Thus a cessation of bad luck re-
peatedly takes place when many games are played. If the seeming
change of fortune follow after a change of seat, or the use of a new
pack of cards, or some like observance of gambling superstition, the
fact is noted (the failure of the observance would not be noted) and
tho superstition is encouraged.
542
• KNOWLEDGE •
[Apkii. 21, 1882.
ANSWKIl TO MATHEMATICAL QUERY.
[8I3 — Tho^iiimlicr of wnya in wliicli five (firln can bo choipn out
of oIoTcn >• . i - T- , —402. E<tc)i day a arrongoinont uiios
icven of theao wnyH, nnmoly, ono in n Bopftmto gronp nf five iinil
■ix in tliu Ki'ooii <>' ■■*■ 'J'hcroforo all tlio wnyn will he used in
-— — GO, days, irhicli la t]io answer to thoquory, proridod tlie ifirla
ran bo so arningod ns to make nso of all combinations. I do nut
Bco liow tliia can bo determined except by triiil, but by this nicana
I fijul tUnt it enn bo done ns follows. Let the groups of Gre for
six days b» na follows (it will bo unnoccssnry to (;irc the groups of
■ix which will consi.st of tlio rcmnining girls) —
1.2.3.4.0-1.2.3.7.10-1.2.3.8 9-1.2.1.5.8-1.2.4.7.9-1.2.0.8.10
From coch of these groups mako groups for ten more doys by
■nccossiro additions of 1 to ooch number except 11, which you
must reduci> to 1, instead of increasing it to 12.
1 add the method of conducting the ex])erinient : —
If the numbers 1 to 11 are supposed to be arranged in order in a
circle BO that tho distance from 11 to 1 is the same as that from
any number to tho next, tho Bum of all tho distances between tho
conBCCutivc numbers of any five Boloctod will be eleven, e.g., if the
five numbers bo 1.3.4.7.11, the differences will bo 2.1.3.1.1, and the
same differences in tho same order may be used for eleven different
groups of five according to the number cho.sen to begin with. The
following list is easily made of all the different arrangements of
differences : —
13112
13214
13223
13232
13322
14222
22223
Silecting a group of five having one of these sets of diffiTciiccs wo
see what sets of differences be'ong to the combinations of five which
can be made out of the group of six which was left when the first
group of five was made. Seven sets of differences are thus dis-
posed of, and it will be found easy to divide the whole forty-two
into six such sevens. I believe, however, that there arc only two
ways in which this can be done. Of course after this is done each
Boven sets of differences can be nscd eleven times, thns solving the
problem.
I hod some donbt whether the true construction of the problem
was that the five who did not present themselves to the giver of
the bouquets constituted a leparato group. If they did not it
would seem as if only six groups of five were used in a day, and
that tho answer might be 77 dayr, bnt I do not know how groups
of six can be selected out of eleven for 77 days without having the
same five in a group twice. It cannot be done by the method I
have naed. Algernon Brat.
11117
11226
11.342
12125
12242
11120
11234
11414
12134
12311
11185
11213
11423
12143
12323
1114-1
11252
11432
12152
12332
111&3
11315
11513
12215
12413
11162
11324
11522
12224
12422
11216
11333
11612
12233
13133
#iir Cftcss Column.
END-GAMES.
IN one important respect, at least, end-games are of more con-
soe|uence than the openings. Any weak move made in the
beginning of a game does not necessarily entail its loss, as in the
middle-game a player has many chances to re-establish the balance
of position, or even to obtain a superiority, notwithstanding his
unfavourable commencement ; but the end-play directly influences
the result — there is no appeal. A single weak move to compromise
a position will have tho loss of tho game as its consequence. This
axiom has a twofold application in actnal play — it holds good both
" for winning a game " and " defending a game."
Defending a game naturally includes playing to obtain a draw ;
while winning a game, also means playing to prevent a draw. The
grcotest iKissible amount of precision is required in either of the
above cases, which fact renders play in an ending far more difficult
than in the middle or in the opening. Every position has its limited
number of probable moves, and if through receiving odils or by
any other means a player has a better position than his opponent,
ho n-ill not have much difficulty in recognising and following
up the natural advantages of his position, as, to a certain degree,
the advantage manifests or developes itself. E<|nally it may be
said that the player having an inferior game will have gVcat
difllrulty in avoiding the natural outcome of bis position. We have
played many a game where we plainly saw our defeat impending in
ten or twelve moves. Our opponent did not aee it ; nay, perchance
ho might have oven thought his own game loBt ; but Iho ponitioi
played itself. More oftcr move headojitcd tho most promi..:r .; liti'
of ploy, till suddenly, to his surprise, he found himself the K.i,i:<..r
In tho end the positions are generally less suggestive, and, ilierv
fore, a player is thrown more upon his own resources.
There are two kinds of endings : first being that termination o
the gome brought about by a brilliant sacrifice, or a series of more
of great power and deep and fine play. Thia ending ia tho mos
beautiful and ingenious. From it tho art of problem-making lu
sprung — problems ore merely correct endings having a mate in ;
certain number of moves. As a fine example of this class, wo giv*
tho following end-game, which occurred a few days ago at th'
Birmingham Chess Club. Mr. W. Cook gave his opponent ,'
Knight, and after eight moves only he arrived at a position whici
enabled him to win the game in a brilliant manner.
Position after the eighth move.
Mr. Wilso.n.
BLACK.
WHITB.
Mr. W. Cook.
White here announced Mate in four moves, and proceeded as
follows : —
Q takes Kt B takes Kt (last)
(Black cannot take the Queen, on account of B takes EP mate.)
Q takes KP (ch) K takes Q
KP takes B (ch) K to Ktsq
R to 118 (mate)
Play of this kind hasverj- truly been called the '' poetry of the
game ; " but of far more importance to the learner are those
examples where the game is won by correct and strong play only.
The most interesting endings are those where the Knight plays a
leading part. We give as an illustration an end-game which oc-
curred in the match between Messrs. Blackbume and Gunsberp.
showing how, with an equal position, tho Knight with correct play
did win against a Bishop.
Position after Black's 52nd move.
Mr. Blackbcene.
WHITB.
Gu.VSBERG.
In this position, which (as can be seen from the number of mOTM
matle) was arrived at after prolonged manoeuTring with tli»
Apeil 21, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
543
light, White conceived the idea of advancing his single Pawn in
li a manner as to draw the Black King a safficient distance away
111 liis own Pawns. The game proceeded as follows : —
53. P to Kt6
53.
B to ysq
54. P to Kt7
51.
B to B2
55. Kt to Kt3«
55.
B to Ktsq
56. Kt to Rsqt
56.
K to B3t
57. Kt to B2
57.
K takes P
6S. Kt to Qt
58.
B to R2
59. Kt takes P
69.
K to B3
GO. Kt to R6
GU.
K to Q4
61. Kt takes P
61.
K to K3
62. Kt to R6
62.
K to B3
63. P to Kt4
63.
B to B4
61. KttoBS
64.
K toK3
65. Kt to Kt3
65.
K to Q4
66. P to Kt5
66.
B toQ3
67. P to Kt6
67.
K toK3
6S. P to B5(ch)
68.
K to K2, if K to B3
then Kt to K5(ch)
69. Kt takes P
69.
B toK4
70. K to B3, Ktl; and Kt.5
and
White ultimately won the
game.
Finally, we draw the attention of our readers to the game by
correspondence, carried on between our chief Editor and oiir Chess
Editor. In our last week's number we gave the moves, showing
how Black endeavoured by a series of wide tours with his Knight
to catch any of his opponent's Pawns ; but fortune was too much
against him, and he lost.
GAME BT CORRESPONDENCE.— (CoH(inu£d^-om J). 524.)
Position after Black's 46th move, Kt to K6.
Chief Editou.
WHITE.
B to K4
Black.
Chess Editob.
White played.
This move destroys all hope of Black. Had White played 47.
B to KG (a very likely-looking move) then Black could have drawn
the game by playing 47. Kt to Kt7. 48. P. to R5, 48. Kt to B5(ch),
and ho ^vins the Rook's Pawn, in which case he would not have had
much difficulty in drawing the game. This ending may serve as a
good example to our readers to show how, by a slight error of
jndgraent, a won game may be turned into a drawn game. Black
replied : —
47. Kt to Kt5
48. P to Ii.5 48. K to R2
49. B to B5 49. Kt to K6
50. 15 to KG resigns, as
after K takes P, White would advance his Rook's Pawn.
' The proper moment to abandon his Pawn.
t The only move to win. It wins by commanding both K3 and
Q t after getting to B2.
+ Best, for the Kt threatened to force the King to K3, and then
play to R6, winning a piece.
SOLUTIONS.
Fbobleh 26 next week.
Problem 27, p. 4G1.
1. K to Ksq.
If 1. K takes R, 2. Q takes P(ch), and mate next move.
If 1. R takes Q, 2. B to QB5 ; if 2. P takes B, 3. Kt takes P
(mate) ; or, it 2. B takes R, 3. B to Q5 (mate), 2. K takes E, 3. Kt
to B2 (mate), or E to K3 (mate).
If 1. R takes RP, 2. Kt to Bo(ch), 2. P takes Kt, 3. Kt to B2
(mate).
Problem 28, p. 461.
1. R to Q.'iq, and mates accordingly.
Pkoblem 29, p. 461.
1. Q to Q3, and mates accordingly.
Problem 30, by J. A. Miles, p. 486.
1. Kt to Q6 1. Kt to Q7 ; or (a)
2. Kt to K4 2. Kt takes Kt. 3. P to Bl (mate) ;
or else Kt to B6 (mate)
(n) If 1. R to B8, 2. B to B5ch, and 3. P to Kt5 (mate).
It I. B takes R, 2P to B4 (mate).
Problem 31, by Leonai-d P. Roes, p. 486.
1. B to BG, and mates accordingly.
Problem 32, by B. G. Laws, p. 486.
1. KttoB4 1. K toQl
2. Q to Q6(ch) 2. K takes Kt, or K to K5
3. Kt to R3, or 3. Kt to Q2 (mate).
If 1. K to Q2, 2. Kt to B3, and mates accordingly.
It 1. K takes P, 2. Q to K3(ch), and 3. Q to Kt 7 (mate).
CORRECTION.
Page 505, White's 7th move ought to be Kt to B3 ; his 8th more
Q to K2.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*#* Please address Chess-Editor.
G. W. versus Freeman.
Muzio. — Solution Nos. 33 and 34 correct.
H. Planck.— Nos. 25, 28, 33, and 34 correct.
F. H. Jones. — 26 incorrect, as 2.Q takes R with a check. No. 32,
Kt to QB3 does not mate. 30 and 31, see solution. 25 correct.
33 and 34, solutions correct.
Alfred B. Palmer, and Ringwood. — 25, 33, and 34 correct.
William Wod. — No. 25 correctly solved. Answers depend on the
pressure of correspondence.
R. A. Standen. — Solutions 28, 29, 31, 33, and 34 correct and neat.
G. W. — Solutions correct. Have sent address.
A. McDonnell.— 25 and 33 correct. 34 to Kt to Kt3. Have
corrected misprint.
Edward Sargent. — Solutions correct except No. 35, if Q to B3,
then P takes P, and there is no mate.
W. Byng. — 30 and 31 incorrect, 32 correct.
K. G. Brothers.— Game received with thanks, and will give it full
consideration.
Henry H. Higgins. — Received with thanks.
Leonard P. Rees. — In the position of the Evans' Gambit, brought
about by 1. PK4! PK4. 2. KtKB3; KtQB3. 3. BB4;BB4. 5.
rQKt4i B takes P. G. PBS ; BBl. 7. Castles; PQ3. 8. PQ4;
BKt3. White would proceed vrith 9. P takes P; P takes P (best).
10. Q takes Q; having a slight superiority in position. (If 9.... Kt
take P. 10. Kt takes Kt; P takes Kt. 11. B takes BP(ch) ! In
your diagram, the Hook's Pawns were omitted. Many thanks for
problems.
Moleque.— 25, 33, and 34 correctly solved ; 30 incorrect.
This is Macanlay's description of small-pox in the seventeenth
century, when it has been computed that 300 persons in every
1,000,000 died annually of the disease : — " The small-pox was always
present, filling the church-yards with corpses, leaving on those
whose lives it spared the hideous traces of its power, turning the
babe into a changeling at which the mother shuddered, and making
the eyes and cheeks of the betrothed maiden objects of horror to
her lover." Such facts may be commended to the attention of
those who doubt the great value of the improvement brought in by
the introduction of vaccination. — Monthly Record.
544
KNOWLEDGE •
[April 21, 1882.
<Pur Wlhi^t Column.
Ilv
KivK OK (;i.rii>
A.
Si>aih.<-Q, :i. 2.
Uo»rt«-n, H, 5, 2
Club.— A, Q. 10. 7. I
Diamonds — Kii.
Spadm— 10, !l, I.
llcarU-K, y, It
Cliibi) — K, Kii, '.I,
Diiimoiidij — 7, 0,
T
IK IIand.h.
r.
.<(,«./.»-A, Kn, 5.
llwirt»— A, 3.
B
Clubs— 3.
Y
Dclrr.
z
Uiamonds— A, K, 10
H, 5, l, 2.
7-,.-r»;ir..r./,
Z.
.\riJ' i:u,\i.
A
.S>a<i*j— K, 8, 7, •;.
llenrts— Kii, 7, 0.
Clubs — 8, C, 5, 2.
Diamonds — Q, 'J.
Si'orc—
AU,*; YZ.
0.
♦ ♦ ♦ (♦♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
THE PI- AY.
Nora. — The uodorliafj caril wini trick, ftiij card below it leads next.
A Y B 7. KEMARK.S AND INFERENCES.
1. A loads our old friond tlio
singleton. The score being at 4,
lie liopcs tr) get a trick or two by
nifting, nnd to secure the odd
trick nnd the game. Y, from his
own hand, and from his familiarity
with A'a way (who, liowever, apart
from )iis weakness for a singleton
lead, is a strong player) knows that
A has not led fi-oni strength, be
therefore, though with only three
trumps,
2. Leads a trump. B probably
holds 10 and a small one (A being
presumably weak in trumps).
3. The finesse here is perfectly
sound. Z has returned the C of
.Spades, 8 being the trump card,
therefore he held four originally.
It is very unlikely that B holds
Queen. With Queen, 10, 9, and
small one, ho would not have
played 9 to trick 2.
5. Having cleared out trumps,
except his partner's turn-np card,
i' proceeds with his long suit.
7, 8, 9, and 10, B's discards are
bad. .4, having discarded Hearts,
can bo strong only in Clubs (for
there has been no such overwhelm-
ing trump strength against A and B
as to justify A in discarding from
his best suit). B therefore should
have retained his Hearts ; he cer-
tainly should not have unguarded
his King. It would have made no
difference so far as game was con-
cerned ; but as it is, Y Z make
ei-i'nj tricl;. Had A originally led
Ace of Clubs, Y Z would have
made no more than the odd trick.
♦
♦
li
* *
* *
£
®
0
O 0
0 0
0 0
1
■7 p
0 0
*0*
0^0
0 0
O 0
4.
7 <?
0 0
0%
4.- +
4. 4.
* *
4.
+ +
4- -^
0 0
0
0 o
9 S?
<7 <7
4. 4.
4. 4.
+ +
+ +
10 0
lo_ 0
S:
0
^
9
(p <p
0
I^bI!
<?
<?
♦++
♦♦+
<?
1
Solutions of Problem III. by
W. N., A. J. K., Spencer Co.x, jun.,
S. J. Allen, M. Michaels, II. C. T.,
correct. J. B. Harston. Problem
sound ; try again.
Solutions of Problem IV. by
T. D. M., J. L. P., K. J. P., David
Maxwell, \V. F., G. T. Brown,
li. C. T., Jack, A. J. K., G. Brown,
correct ; Molequo not quite correct.
Several correspondents consider
Editor in Chief's objection just j
but it is not. The problem is quite
sound. — Five of Cubs.
+ + ^j ♦*♦
D. O'P. Miloy.— With such limi-
tations, the intermediate call seems
worth adopting. (.Vfter all, there
are similar limitations in the case
I'f nearly all signuls.) — Five of
CLtlLS.
Moj^il consider* the hand in No. 22 an unsatisfartorj- illustration
of the wonknciS of load fnm short suit ; and that the tricks woold
have been iilentieal, though played in u didorcnt order. Thisscenu
to me on incurred view. If A had indicated bis strength in tmmpa,
H, though he could not have returned trumps, would have led a
heart after lii-i dianionils were established. As the game wu
actually played, B had nothing to show that at trick 0 he sbonld
have led a heart. f)f course, if ho had done no. the game would
have lieen saved (as Mogid points out) in spite of A'n bad leod. —
Five ok Cutis.
IIdw NiT.ME<iS Grow. — Nutmegs grow on little trees which look
like pear trees, and are generally not over twenty feet high. The
flowers are very much like the lily-of-tho valley. They are pale, and
very fragrant. Tlio nutmeg is the seed of the fruit, and mace is
the thin covering over the seed. The fruit is about as large as a
peach. When ripe it breaks 0|)en and shows a little nut in.iidc.
The trees grow on the islands of Asia and tropical America. They
bear fruit for seventy or eighty years, having rii>e fruit upon tlicm
all the seasons. A lino tree in Jamaica has over •1,00l» nutmegs on
it every year. The Dutch used to have all this nutmeg trade, as
they owned the Banda Islands, and conquered all the other traders,
and dest royed the trees. To keep the price up, they once burned
three jiilcs of nutmegs, each of which was as big as a church.
Nature did not sj-mpathise with such meanness. Hie nutmeg
pigeon, found in all the Indian islands, did for the world what the
])utch had determined should not be done — carried those nuts,
which are their food, into all the surrounding countries, and trees
grew again, and the world had the benefit.
Contents of Knowledge Xo. 24.
PAes
Tlie Glories of the Rtar-lil IleaTcns.
Bv K. A. Proctor. With an Illus-
trative Map 507
The Beetle's View of Life. Bv
Grant Allen '. 608
Mr. Muvbridge and Rowing. Bt
the Editor '.. 619
Collisions at Sea. By the Editor ... 510
Nichts with a Three-inch Telescope.
By "A Fellow of the Koyal Astro-
nomical Society." (Illuslratfd) ... 5U
The Amateur Electrician — Elec-
trical Genoratora 511
The Three Cold Days of April. By
the Editor 512
TheEcUpseof May 17 513
The Xcw Moon in April 613
Venus in April, 1833 SIS
The Xew Comet 513
liapid Motions Photographed 614
Elephants 5H
Weather Diafrram 619
Canals on the Planet Mara 619
Were the Egrplians Aware of the
Motion of the Earth? 619
Mr. Mattieu Williams on Cod
"Sounds" and "Scientific Pri-
vilege " — Correspondence 521
Answers to Correspondents 531
Our l^Tiist Column 523
Our Chess Column 52«
Our Mathematical Column 628
NOTICES.
The First Volume of Knowledge will be published early in June next, bouDd in
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The Back Numbers of Knowledge, with the exception of Xos. 2, 3, 4, 6,
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an application to the Publishers is respectfully requested.
Tbe following Monthly Farts of Knowledge are now to be had (Parta I. and
II. being out of print) ; —
Paht III.— (Jan., 1882.) Containing four numbers. Price lOd. Post-free, Is.
Paht rV.— (Feb., 18-12.) Containing four numbers. Price lod. Post-free, Is.
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OFFICE: 74 & 75, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.
Poirn's KxTEACT is a certain
Pond's Extract is a certain ci
Pond's Extract is a certain ci
Pond's Extract will heal Bun
Pond's Extract will cure Sorains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Qet the genuine.
*« for Rheumatism and Goat,
for Ha?morrhoid9.
for N'euralgic pains,
ind Wounds.
April 28, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
5U
MAGAZINE OF SOENCE
PLAINLY\f ORDED -£XACTi|DESCR1BED,
LONDON: FRIDAY, APRIL 2S, 1882.
Contents of No. 26.
FAGB.
To i*ur Readers 545
Kewton and Darwin. Bv the Kditor .545
Con»umpli(>n. Bv Prof.'TTndall . 5»S
Pholojfraphv for Amateurs. By A.
Brothers, 'F.E.A.S 5-J7
Charles R. Darwin. Bv the Editor. 548
Our Ancestors. Bv Grant Allen .550
Crvatal Palace Electrical Eihiliition \
■jNinth Notice) 551
' The Stan and the Earth.'
552
The Stars for Mav (Itluslraled) . 553
The Sun in Mav llllutlruted)
The Lamson Case
Ancient Tablets from Sippara
Weather Diagram
CORRESPOXDKXCE
Answers to Correspondenta
Our Mathematical Column
Our Whist Column
Our Chesa Column
TO OUR READERS.
IN ouroiij;iiial Pro.spt-otus we explained what Knowledoe
was intended to be and to do. We come now before
our readers and the public to tell them the results of our
first half-year's experience, to renew our promises, and to
■refer in some degi'ee to our performance.
In our first numlier we announced our intention to
publish Original Articles, Serial Papers, Scientific News, a
Correspondence Section (including columns of Notes and
Queries), and Reviews of Scientific Treatises, suitable for
general reading. We indicated the tone which we desired
to attain — sound, yet clear, that all might understand, yet
none be offended by seeing the truths and discoveries of
science dealt with unworthily. We desired to avoid the
Scylla of pedantry on the one hand, and on the other with
•equal watchfulness the Charybdis of triviality. We pro-
mised in addition sections for Mathematics and the scientific
recreations. Whist and Chess.
In future volumes we shall aim at the same objects, and
endeavour to attain them in the same way. The im-
provements wliich began witli No. 10 (the first number for
Januarj') will be continued, and, as occasion arises, will be
•extended. But while we wish to improve in matters of
•detail, we see no occasion to modify our general mode of
dealing with any sections in Knowledge, save two : —
First, we propose to enlarge and improve our Notes on
Art and Science, — in other words, our Scientific News ;
secondly, we must, perforce, limit the space we allot to
Correspondence, and especially to Queries and Replies.
These last have not only taxed our space unduly, but have
still more seriously trespassed on our time ; and with our
rapidly growing circulation, the difficulty threatens to
increase. We should be very glad to devote ten or twelve
pages to these sections, for the sake of the hundreds who
ask questions, if we could do so without unfairness to the
thousands who wish to see Knowledge devoted to wider
interests. But a paper large enough to do all that we feel
bound to do for these, and all that we should like to do for
those, would be in a pecuniary sense so mucli the greater
loss as it was more widely patronised ; and this is a point
which we are bound to take into consideration. We shall
still, however, keep our columns open for concisely-written
letters : we shall assign a certain space, which must not
He exceeded, to the correspondence section, considering
letters received in the order of their merit, importance,
and conciseness.
Comparing the first number xritli any of the later numbers,
or the first two with tlie last two monthly parts, we believe
we can claim to have decidedly done more than we pro-
mised— in so far as the earlier numbers were to be re-
garded as indicating our plan and scope. We hope that
this advance (which lias not been constantly seen in new
periodicals) will be a feature of Kxowledce for many
years to come — that in quality, as well as in circulation.
Knowledge the Magazine, like the Knowledge spoken of
by Tennyson, may "grow from more to more." Our readers
can help us in this, as many have already done, by making
our Magazine widely known to their friends.
On a point which has been rather warmly discussed by
a small section of our readers, our decision is unwavering.
We shall continue to e.xclude from our columns with equal
rigour attacks on religion from the side of science, and
attacks on science from the side of religion. We believi;
that, as we said in our first number, the study of science
implies the surest belief that God's works are worth study-
ing, the fullest recognition that the Author of these works
is worthy of our reverence ; but the intermixture of scientific
research and dogmatic religion can only result, as Bacon
has well said, " in heretical religion and fantastical
philosophy." The Editor.
NEWTON AND DARWIN.
IN Charles Darwin science has lost one who has done
moi'C than any since Newton to extend men's re-
cognition of the wideness of the domain of law. When
Copernicus and Kepler and Newton removed the earth
from the central position in the universe, which had so
long been assigned to it, they taught men to appreciate
more justly than before the vast extension of the
universe in space. The earth, which had seemed to
surpass in importance every orb in existence, was seen
to be a mere point in the solar system, and in turn
the solar system was seen to be a mere point in the
universe of stars, the stellar system (though so vast,
that it appeared infinite by comparison with all that
men had heretofore imagined respecting space), to be
as nothing in the real universe. With the widening
of men's ideas respecting space should have come a
widening of their ideas respecting time, until from the few
thousands of years over which they had extended their
survey, they had learned to recognise the millions of years
belonging to the lifetime of a planet, the far longer
intervals measuring the duration of solar systems, and
finally the eternities in which these periods of time, vast
though they seem, are utterly lost. But with this widening
of men's conceptions as to space and time, should have come
also a widening of their ideas respecting the operation of
law. Within the petty domains of space which they had
surveyed, the growth of a plant or of an animal seemed
naturally to belong to the domain of development ; but
wider and grander processes of evolution seemed as
far outside men's thoughts as the infinite star depths in
which modern science believes, or the vast periods of time
during which modern science sees that planets and solar
systems have existed. Newton taught men how wide in
»pnci' is the domain of law, and rightly understood, what
Newton taught should have shown men how long also in
iinif last processes of development according to fixed
law. Yet precisely as men were far readier to accept the
doctrine of infinite (or practically infinite) space, than
that of inconceivably vast periods of time, so also were
546
KNOWLEDGE
[Apeil 2i>, 1882.
tlioy far rradicr to believe in a law like that of universal
<^i-avitation, opi'iatiiij,' througliout regions of space practi-
'•ally without limit, tliaii to perceive (what this in fact
iuiplii^d) that in time, as in space, the domain of law
must be to our conceptions — limitless.
It came, therefore, as a shock even to many of the more
thoughtful among us, when Darwin propounded a law of
Nature, less grand than Newton's great law, in that instead
of ranging visibly throughout inKnitudes of space, it dealt
only with the families of living creatures inhabiting this
earth, but grander in relation to time (or rather in its
more obvious relation to time), in that it requind us to
believe in processes of development operating throughout
tens and hundreds of thousands — nay, throughout millions
of years. Men were not prepared to extend on a sudden
their conceptions of time in the same degree, or in any-
thing like the same degree, that they had perforce
(;xtended their conceptions of space. The more pro-
found, indeed, had already seen that this was only
a logical consequence of the widening of our ideas
of space, — that the vastness of (Jod's domain involved
its correspoiidingly extended duration. But Darwin was
the first to gi\e definite tangible evidence of the prac-
tically infinite extension of time during which the processes
going on all around us have gone on in the past, and (pre-
sumably) will go on in the future. The universe, as
Newton presented it, might have been framed in a second
by an Almighty Being, to last an hour, or a year, or a
century, and then to be replaced by soma new order of
things ; though everything in it, even as thus presented,
suggests that in duration, as in e.\tent, it was, and is,
and will be infinite to our conceptions. But Darwin
showed the traces of long-past a?ons, of long-past wons of
reons, traces affording evidence as clear to the eye of science
as is the evidence of the vastness of space afforded by the
faint rays of telescopic stars.
I do not know whether the grandeur of the universe, as
pictured by Newtonian astronomy, or the vastness of past
and future time, as pictured by the Darwinian system, is
the more impressive. Certainly there can be imagined
nothing much more wonderful than those vast depths of
space in which we are absolutely compelled to believe since
Newton established the great law which bears his name.
But if there is aught grander than this, aught more solemn
in its impressiveness, it is the thought of the immeasurable
vistas of past time, during which the races inhabiting
earth came into being under the action of the laws
assigned to them ; the still vaster time-intervals belonging
to the generation of systems of worlds ; the periods so vast
that we cannot regard them otherwise than as infinite,
during which not solar systems, but whole galaxies of such
systems, and systems of such galaxies — naj', higher and
higher orders of such systems, absolutely without end, as
without beginning — came into existence.
That this widening of our conceptions of time as of
space, and thence the widening of our ideas as to tSie
domain of law, and consequently the recognition of the
infinitely perfect natvre of the laws of the universe (for
only very excellent laws can work for long, and only per-
fect laws can work for ever) should have been regarded as
antagonistic to religion in its wider and nobler sense, can
only be regarded as resulting from the blindness, or the
perversity, or the wrong-headedness, of the ignorant. That
some of the fancies of dogmatic religion, some parts
of the complex systems which the Rabbinistic type
of erudition has invented in all religions, should
seem incompatible with these developments of our
knowledge and still wider enlargements of our concep-
tions, can be understood. But that religion, in which
all men may (in which all reasoning men nwM) agree, has
been rendered infinitely grander — infinitely more impres-
sive by our new knowledge. It has also been rendered
infinitely more reasonable. Men had spoken of God as
Omnipresent and Almighty, but they had a.ssigned a mere
point in space as his domain ; they had described him as
Eternal, but they had recognised his influence as existing
for the merest second of time ; and finally they had in
words attributed all Wisdom to Him, while in fact they
had limited His wisdom to the provision of laws
capable of operating but imperfectly, and for a brief
period. Science shows now the infinite domain of
the Omnipresent, its inconceivably vast duration, the
perfection of the laws which so ^ rule it that they
operate throughout all space and all time. Yet a few
who cannot raise their eyes from this petty earth to the
heavens, or extend their thoughts to perceive the perfec-
Aon of the laws governing a universe for all time (as we
know time) find no nobler teaching in these grandest reve-
lations of science than that " God is set on one side in the
name of universal evolution." It is as though men who
had observed but the working of a clock's escapement
should regard the discovery of the train of wheels leading to
the escapement-wheel proof positive that no reasoning mind
had fashioned the mechanism. That which the bigoted on
either side, the religious and the irreligious fanatic alike,
agree in regarding as the disproof — if admitted — of a Being
working " in and through all things," affords in reality the
most overwhelming evidence, the solemnest demonstration
that such a Being exists : though science must say of Him
now as was said of old by Elihu, " as touching the Almighty
we cannot find him out."
CONSUMPTION.*
Bt Prof. Tyxdall.
ON Iklarch 24, 1882, an address of very serious public
import was delivered by Dr. Koch before the
Physiological Society of Berlin. It touches a question in
which we are all at present interested — that of experi-
mental physiology — and I may, therefore, be permitted to
give some account of it in the Times. The address, a copy
of which has been courteously sent to me by its author, is
entitled "The Etiology of Tubercular Disease." Koch
first made himself known by the penetration, skill, and
thoroughness of his researches on the contagium of splenic
fever. By a process of inoculation and infection he traced
this terrible parasite through all its stages of development
and through its various modes of action. This masterly
investigation caused the young physician to be transferred
from a modest country practice, in the neighbourhood of
Breslau, to the post of Government Adviser in the
Imperial Health Department of Berlin.
From this department has lately issued a most im-
portant series of investigations on tlie etiology of infective
disordei's. Koch's last inquiry deals with a disease which,
in point of mortality, stands at the head of them all. If,
he says, the seriousness of a malady be measured by the
number of its victims, then the most dreaded pests which
have hitherto ravaged the world — plague and cholera
included — must stand far behind the one now under con-
sideration. Koch makes the startling statement that one-
seventh of the deaths of the human race are due to
tubercular disease, while fully one-third of those who
die in active middle age are carried off by the same
* On account of its importance, we assign to this letter by Prof.
Tyndall a place in the section of Knowledge usually devoted to
original commnnications only. — Ed.
April 28, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE -
547
cause. Prior to Koch it had been placed beyond doubt
that the disease was lommunicalil'' ; and the aim of
the Berlin physician has been to determine the precise
character of the contaj;iuin which previous experiments
on inoculation and inhalation had proved to be capable of
indefinite transfer and reproduction. He subjected the
diseased organs of a great number of men and animals to
microscopic examination, and found, in all cases, the
tubercles infested with a minute, rod-shaped parasite,
which, by means of a special dye, he dill'erentiated from
the surrounding tissue. It was, lie says, in the highest
degree impressive to observe in the centre of the tubercle-
cell the minute organism which had created it. Trans-
ferring directly, by inoculation, the tuberculous matter
from diseased animals to healthy ones, he in every instance
reproduced the disease. To meet the objection that it was
not the parasite itself, but some virus in which it was
imbedded in the diseased organ, that was the real con-
tagium, he cultivated his bacilli artificially, for long
periods of time, and through many successive gene-
rations. With a speck of matter, for example, from a
tuberculous human lung, he infected a substance prepared,
after much trial, by himself, with the view of affording
nutriment to the parasite. Here he permitted it to grow
and multiply. From this new generation he took a minute
sample and infected therewith fresh nutritive matter, thus
producing another brood. Generation after generation of
bacilli were developed in tliis way, without the intervention
of disease. At the end of the process, which sometimes
embraced successive cultivations extending over half a year,
the purified bacilli were introduced into the circulation of
healthy animals of various kinds. In every case inocula-
tion was followed by the reproduction and spread of the
parasite and the generation of the original disease.
Permit me to give a further, though still brief and
sketchy, account of Koch's experiments. Of si.x guinea-
pigs, all in good health, four were inoculated with bacilli
derived originally from a human lung, which, in fifty-four
days, had produced five successive generations. Two of
six animals were not infected. In every one of the infected
cases the guinea-pig sickened and lost flesh. After thirty-
two days one of them died, and after thirty-five days the
remaining five were killed and examined. In the guinea-
pig that died, and in the three remaining infected ones,
strongly pronounced tubercular disease had set in. Spleen,
liver, and lungs were found filled with tubercles ; while
in the two uninfected animals no trace of the disease was
observed. In a second experiment, six out of eight guinea-
pigs were inoculated with cultivated bacilli, derived ori-
ginally from the tuberculous lung of a monkey, bred and
re-bred for ninety-five days, until eight generations had
been produced. Ever)- one of these animals was attacked,
while the two uninfected guinea-pigs remained perfectly
healthy. .Similar experiments were made with cats, rabbits,
rats, mice, and other animals, and, without exception, it
was found that the injection of the parasite into the animal
system was followed by decided, and, in most cases, \-irulent
tubercular disease.
In the cases thus far mentioned inoculation had been
effected in the abdomen. The place of inoculation was
afterwards changed to the aqueous humour of the eye.
Three rabbits received each a speck of bacillus-caMuTe,
derived originally from a human lung atTectcd with
pneumonia. Eighty-nine days had been devoted to the
culture of the organism. The infected rabbits rapidly lost
flesh, and after twenty-five days were killed and examined.
The lungs of every one of them were found charged with
tubercles. Of three other rabbits, one received an injection
of pure blood-serum in the aqueous humour of the eye,
while tlie other two were infected, in a similar way, with
the same serum, containing bacilli derived originally from
a diseased lung, and subjected to ninety-one days' cultiva-
tion. After twenty-eight days the rabbits were kill< d.
The one which had received an injection of pure serum
was found perfectly healthy, while the lungs of the tvo
others were found overspread with tubercles.
Other experiments are recorded in this admirable essay,
from which the weightiest practical conclusions may be
drawn. Koch determines the limits of temperature
between which the tubercle-ia«7/!f« can develope and
multiply. The mininnim temperature he finds to be 86°
Fahrenheit, and the vwxiviuin 104°. He concludes that,
uidike the bacillus anthracis of splenic fever, which can
flourish freely outside the animal body, in the temperate
zone animal warmth is necessary for the propagation of the
newly-discovered organism. In a vast number of cases
Voch has examined the matter expectorated from the lungs
01 persons aftected with phthisis, and found in it swarms of
bacilli, while in matter expectorated from the lungs of
persons not thus afflicted he has never found the organism.
The expectorated matter in the former cases was highly
infective, nor did drying destroy its virulence. Guinea-
pigs infected ^vith expectorated matter which had been
kept dry for two, four, and eight weeks respectively were
smitten with tubercular disease quite as virulent as that
produced by fresh expectoration. Koch points to the
grave danger of inlialing air in which particles of the
dried sputa of consumptive patients mingles with dust of
other kinds.
It would be mere impertinence on my part to draw the
obvious moral from these experiments. In no other con-
ceivable way than that pursued by Koch could the true
character of the most destructive malady by which humanity
is now assailed be determined. And, however noisy the
fanaticism of the moment may be, the common sense of
Englishmen will not, in the long run, permit it to enact
cruelty in the name of tenderness, or to debar us from the
light and leading of such investigations as that which is
here so imperfectly described.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
By A. Brothers, F.RA.S.
PART IV.
IT is not at all necessary that the amateur should make
collodion — it can be purchased of many makers, of
excellent quality. If bought in small quantities it will be
ready for use, but if a pint or more be procured, the collo-
dion and iodizing solutions should be kept separate, and a
few ounces mixed a day or two before required for use.
The glass plates and collodion being ready, we have ne.xt
to consider the " bath," as the solution of nitrate of silver
is called. The same term is also applied to the vessel used
to contain the silver solution. This vessel may be of glass,
porcelain, or vulcanite, or it may be of varnished wood, in
the form called a " well-bath," but glass should have the
preference — there are objections to each of the others. The
capacity of the vessel being ascertained — say 20 ounces
of water — that quantity should be placed in a bottle,
and 1^ ounces of re-crystallised nitrate of silver
should be added, and allowed to dissolve. The water
used should be distilled, or if that cannot be obtained,
rain water may be substituted. This silver solu-
tion requires to be iodized, that is a weak solution of
iodide of ammonia or potassium must be added, a few
drops onl)', or, which will answer equally well, a plate
coated with collodion may be left in the solution for a
US
KNOWLEDGE
[April 2>^, 1882.
fow hours, when it will lie found that the creamy appear-
ance of the plate, which may have been noticed two or
thre.e niinut<\s after it was placed in tlie solution, will have
disappeared. This " creamy " appearance is caused by
the conversion of the iodide in the collodion into iodide of
silver. Unless the silver solution be treated in this way,
it is too active, and no certainty could be placed in the
plates. Add one drop of nitric acid, and then the bath
should be filtered.
VV^e are now ready to make use of the collodion and
silver solution, but all tlu^ operations after the plate is
coated with collodion must be conducted in a darkened
room. In ord(T to practice photography with pleasure
and comfort, it is necessary to have a room specially
arranged, or, at least, a portion of a room, the
window of which may be darkened without much
trouble. White light must be quite excluded, and this
may be effected by covering a frame with black calico or
brown paper, leaving about two or three feet, which may
be covered with yrllow paper. This will admit sufficient
light to work Ity, and the light, passing through the yellow
paper, being rendered non-actinic, is harmless, and the
sensitive collodion film may be manipulated without
fear of injury. The frame may be made removable, but
it must fit so as to admit no white light. If convenient,
a sink should be arranged, and a supply of water laid
on. There should be a shelf for bottles and a table for
the bath and other things in use. If the room cannot
be used exclusively for photographic purposes a cupboard
should be appropriated. One thing to be carefully avoided
is dust.
If such information should be required, the dealer who
supplies the camera and lens will show how to " focus " an
an object. The ambitious amateur will probably think the
best subject for his first essay should be a portrait, but our
advice is decidedly in favour of a more simple subject. If
in a room, place a table near a window with a good north
light, and on the table place a statuette or any other
suitable object. If it is preferred to work out of doors, it
matters very little what the object may be ; an engraving
placed in a vertical position, with the camera arranged
" sqitare" before it, would be an easy subject.
We are now ready to prepare a plate. Take one of the
cleaned plates, and see that it is free from dust. Specs of
du.st would form small black spots in the negative, for we
are about to take a ?jP(7rt<;'i'«, ^' //lass positives " being quite
out of date. Hold the glass by one corner in the left hand,
then pour on to it what may appear to be sufficient col-
lodion to cover it. Allow the fluid to flow to each
corner, carefully preventing it touching the thumb
holding the plate, otherwise, the surplus collodion may
run where it is not required ; then pour off into the
bottle, move the plate " to and fro " for a second or two to
prevent the collodion " SPtting " in streaks. The collodion
bottle can now be put aside, and the stopper replaced.
One corner of the plate may be touched, and it will be
seen whether the collodion has set. Put the plate
at once on to the dipper, and slowly lower it into
the bath, but do not hesitate. A halt for a moment
would cause a line to be marked on the plate which
would spoil the negative. The bath should be in
such a position with respect to the light that the plate can
be easily inspected. After about three minutes, it may
be withdrawn from the solution, and if it look " streaky "
it is not yet ready, and it must remain in the bath of
nitrate of silver until it presents an even surface when
withdrawn. When ready, the plate must be placed in tlie
"dark slide" of the camera with the prepared surface down-
wards, that is, facing the lens when placed in the camera.
Up to this point, everything should be done deliberately
and without hurry. In hot weather it is desirable that
the time between taking the plate from the bath and its
development should not be longer than neces.sary, in order
to avoid the drying of the plate or the partial drying. All
sorts of troubles arise if too much of the silver solution Ls
allowed to drain away, but we must not linger here to
describe what those troubles are. Probably by the time
they are first seen the amateur will have become sufScientlr
expert to detect the causes of his failures.
No rule can be given as to the proper time necessary to
" expose " the plate, as much depends on the state of tile
light ; one or two trials should be made. If the picture
" flashes " up too quickly, too much time may have been
given ; and if the image does not appear in a few seconds
after the developing solution has been poured on the plate,
two little time may have been given — experience alone is
required. In a good negative there should be a proper
balance in the lights and shades. A very little practice will
suffice to determine this point.
The next important operation will be the development
of the pictures, and this must be deferred till the next
paper. Up to this point the amateur can be getting into.
working order.
CHARLES R. DARWIN.*
By THE Editor.
CHARLES DARWIN, the Newton of Biology, died
on Wednesday, April 19, 1882, aged 73 years. He
was born on Feb. 12, 1809, at Shrewsbury. His father
was Dr. R. W. Darwin, F.R.S. ; his grandfather Dr.
Erasmus Darwin, F.R.S., author of "The Botsoiic
Garden," " Zoonomia," and other works. Shrewsbury
Grammar School may fairly be proud of the circumstance
that the most eminent naturalist of the nineteenth century
was trained under her care. In 182-5 Darwin left Shrews-
buiy for Edinburgh, where he attended the University
lectures for a period of two years, at the end of
which he entered at Christ College, Cambridge. He
took his degree in 1831. In this year he learned
that Captain Fitzroy had offered to share his cabin
with any competent naturalist who would accompany
him in H.M.S. Beagle, which was about to sail on
a voyage of circumnavigation. Darwin tendered his
services, and doubtless the world owes to this circum-
stance, more than to any other, the wideness of Darwin's
views as a naturalist, and the noble generalisation with
which his name will in all future time be associated.
The voyage in the Beagle has been described by himself
in one of the most delightful works in the English
language. The charm of foreign travel to a mind imbued
as Darwin's was with a sense of the significance of all
Nature's teachings, is gi-aphically presented in the " Jour-
nal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History
of the Various Countries visited during the Voyage of
H.M.S. Beagle Round the World."
Returning home with shattered health, but with his
mind prepared to search successfully into the secrets of
Nature, Darwin was in no haste to propound crude or
immature speculations. The facts he had observed, seemed,
he tells us, to " throw some light on the origin of species —
that mystery of mysteries, as it has been called by one of
our greatest philosophers." But fanciful imaginings were
not the means by which this light was to be concentrated.
* Abridged from a biographical notice (by the Editor of Kxow-
leuok) whicli appeared in the Daily Nev:s for Friday last.
April 28, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE *
549
It would be well if every one who desires to advance the
interests of science would bear in miud how our great
nturalist proceeded at this stage of his researches. "It
■courred to me," he says, " that something might, perhaps,
l)e made out by patiently accumulating and reflecting on
all sorts of facts which could possibly have any bearing on
it.' Perhaps a few months might be thought no unsuitable
riod witliin which to arrange and systematise the ob-
ivations which were available for Darwin's purpose.
I'.ut no. " After five years' work," he saj's, " I allowed
myself to speculate on the subject, and drew up some short
notes. These I enlarged in l!?44 into a sketch of the con-
clusions which seemed to me probable." But even then he
ngarded his labours as only beginning. He was engaged
during many more yeai-s in steadily pursuing the great
object of his researches. Prevented by impaired health
from working continuously for any great length of time, he
returned again and again to his laliours, affording, as Dr.
I^nkester has weU remarked, " a notew orthy e.xaraple of
what difficulties may be overcome by untiring zeal, great
1 ■erseverance, and a remarkable amiability and kindness of
disposition." During the interval, too, which preceded the
publication of his '■ Opus Magnum," he published many
valuable contributions to scientific literature. Among
these may be specially mentioned liis " Monograph
of the Family Cirripedia " — that is of the class
of animals to which the familiar barnacles and sea
a.orns belong. It is strange now to find that this
^^'lrk was spoken of in 18.")6 as that on which Darwin's
■ * ure reputiition would lie founded. " His great work,"
. s his biographer in that year, "and that on which his
i'Utation as a zoologist will doubtless depend, is his
^lonograph on Cirripedia,' The excellent style, the great
I I'lition made to the existing knowledge of the family to
« hich it is directed, and the remarkable caution exercised
1 y the author in coming to his conclusions, render this
■rk a model of the manner in which such works should
written." This was high praise, and praise Ijearing in a
-j cially interesting manner on the estimate we are to form
of that great work which was all this time in preparation.
It is well to recognise that the chief characteristic of the
I. an who has put forward the most daring biological theory
: the present century was " remarkable caution in coming
• ■ conclusions."
In the year 1858, when the labours of Darwin on his
tlicory of the origin of species were as yet unfinished,
Mr. Wallace, who was then engaged in studying the
history of the Malayan Archipelago, sent him a memoir
■ iiibodying the same general conclusions to which he had
iiiself been led, and requested that he would forward it
' Sir Charles Lyell. This memoir was published in the
•liird volume of the "Journal of the Linniean Society."
~-ir C. Lyell and Sir Joseph Hooker, both of whom knew of
I 'arwin's work, suggested to him that it would be advisable
' publish with Wallace's meu.oir some brief extracts from
i> own manuscripts. This was accordingly done, and an
stract — necessarily imperfect, Darwin said — of the
' w theorj- of the origin of species by natural
lection was published on November 24, 1859. It
ill be in the recollection of most of our readers
ith what a storm of mingled ridicule and indignation the
iiw theory was received. Wild views spread on every
hand as to its nature, and even those who had the means
f mastering Darwin's reasoning joined in misrepresenting
d ridiculing his doctrines. A considerable time elapsed
tore the general public would consent to inform them-
Ives as to the real nature of the theory which they had
■ n all but unanimous in abusing. Yet of this self -same
-iicory, Professor Hu.xley (who from the beginning was one
of its most earnest, eloquent, and laborious advocates) said
ten years later before the Royal Institution of Great Britain,
that so rapidly had it established itself in favour, that he
began to think it would shortly require for its welfare a
little healthful opposition. This would not be the place to
discuss at length " the theory of natural selection (that is, of
the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for exist-
ence)." Presented briefly, it amounts to this, that during along
course of descent, species, not only of animals, but of plants,
are modified by the selective preservation of slightly varied
forms, adapted somewhat better than their fellows to the
circumstances in which tliey are placed. How far this
doctrine of the modification of species extends, even Darwin
himself has not claimed to assert with confidence ; but he
went very far. " I cannot doubt," he said, " that the
theory of descent, with modification, embraces all the
members of the same class. I believe that animals have
descended from at most only four or five progenitors, and
plants from an equal or lesser number." He looked for-
ward even farther, however. " Analogy would lead me
one step further," he said, " namely, to the belief
that all animals and plants have descended from sonie
one prototype ; l)ut this inference is chiefly grounded
on analogy, and it is immaterial whether or not it be
accepted. The case is different with the members of each
great class, as the Vertebrata, the Articulata, etc., for here
we have distinct evidence that all have descended from a
single parent." Daring as these views seem even now, it
is ditticult to recall how much more daring they were when
Darwin first propounded them. To a large proportion of
the naturalists of our day Darwin's theory seems almost
beyond question ; the young and rising naturalists in par-
ticular, of whom Darwin expected with confidence that
they would be able " to view both sides of the question
with impartiality," have justified his confidence ; but
when he announced his theory, there were not twenty
living men who were likely to receive it with favour. It
was in an especial manner on account of its supposed
bearing on religious questions that the Darwinian theory
when first propounded was repugnant to the feelings of
many conscientious men. Gradually, however, it was felt
that the new theory, rightly understood, tended to raise
instead of to degrade, as was alleged, our conceptions of
the scheme of creation. To quote the noble words with
which Darwin concluded his treatise : " From the war of
nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object
which we are capable of conceiving — namely, the produc-
tion of the higher animals, directly follows. There is
grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers,
having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few
forms or into one : and that whilst this planet has gone
cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so
simple a beginning endless foi-ms most beautiful and most
wonderful have been and are being evolved."
In the " Origin of Species " Darwin had not actually
expressed his views as to the ancestry of man, though he
had left them to be very clearly inferred. " It seemed to
me suflicient to indicate that by this work Might would be
thrown on the origin of n)an and his history,' " for this
implied that man " must be included with other organic
beings in any general conclusion respecting his manner of
appearance on this earth." But in the "Descent of Man"
Darwin dealt at length and boldly with that subject on which
he had hitherto deemed it well to be reticent He presented
man as co-descendant with the catarhine, or "down-nostrilled"
monkeys, from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail
and pointed ears, and probably a climber of trees. Nay
he traced back the chain of descent until he found, as tlie
progenitor of all the vertebrate animals, some aquatic
650
KNO\A^LEDGE
[Ai-aiL lis, 1882.
creature provided with gills, hermaphrodite, and with
hraiii, honrt, and other organs imperfectly developed. The
treatise in wiiich this view is presented falls in no respect
beliind Mr. Darwin's other great work in closeness of
reasoning and gi-asp of facts. The portion of the work
. — more than one-half — Ijearing on sexual selection, if
somewhat less satisfactory and conclusive, forms jet a
most important contribution to the wide subject of the
genesis of species. The closing words of this treatise may
fitly here be quoted. After speaking of the distaste with
which many persons would probably regard his conclusions
as to the descent of man, and then touching on the hopes
which the advance of the human race in past ages seems
fairly to justify, he says we are not, however, concerned
" with hopes or fears, but only with the truth as far as
our reason allows us to discover it. I have given the
evidence to the best of my ability, and we must acknow-
ledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble quali-
ties, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with
benevolence which extends not only to other men, but to
the humblest living creature, with his godlike intellect
which has penetrated into the movements and constitution
of the solar system — with all these exalted powers — man
still bears ki his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his
lowly origin."
After the publication of his first great work, Darwin
continued to gather evidence tending to strengthen his
theory. In 1862 he published his remarkable work on the
"Fertilization of Orchids;" and in 1867 his "Domesti-
cated Animals and Cultivated Plants, or the Principles of
Variation, Inheritance, Reversion, Crossing, Interbreed-
ing, and Selection under Domestication." In 1872 Mr.
Darwin published " The Expression of the Emotions in
Man and Animals ; " in 1875, " Insectivorous Plants ; " in
1876, " Cross and Self- Fertilization in the Vegetable King-
dom ; " and in 1877, "Different Forms of Flowers in
Plants of the same Species." Only last year appeared his
work upon earthworms, in which he traced the operations
of worms in gradually covering the surface ofthe globe
with a layer of mould.
OUR ANCESTORS.
III.— THE TEUTONS.
By Grant Allen.
IT does not seem likely that the Roman occupation left
much permanent mark upon the ethnology of Britain.
So far as we can judge, the Romans held the soil very
much as we ourselves hold India — by a purely military
tenure. A little sprinkling of Italian blood may perhaps
have been indirectly introduced by the legionaries, though
comparatively few even of these were really Roman. Most
of them were Gauls, Spaniards, Germans, and Low Dutch
peoples ; and their influence could only have been felt,
othnograplucally speaking, in the immediate neighbourhood
of the military stations, where a few half-breeds may have
mingled scantily here and there with the native population.
A more important result of the conquest, however, would
doubtless be found in the general amalgamation of the
older Celtic and Euskarian elements under stress of
the new overlords. There is reason to believe that
tlie greater number of Britons sank int» the posi-
tion of serfs, either employed on the great corn farms
into which the land was parcelled out, or in the
mines of Cornwall, Sussex, and the Forest of Dean.
This grinding and levelling system of slavery must have
pressed pretty equally upon Celts and Euskarians, light-
haired BelgK and dark Silurians, the former conquerors
and tlie former slaves. Confused togetVier in such a
common serfdom, the two types seem to have coalesced,
so that the lighter and numerically weaker Aryan Celts
became practically almost merged into the darker and
more numerous Euskarians. At least we know that
ever since the Roman days, and down to modem times,
the so-called Celts of Wales, Cornwall, and the High-
lands are, for the most part, dark-haired and dark-skinned
people of a more or less distinctly Euskarian physique,
intermixed with comparatively few individuals of the true
light Aryan type ; and, as the races were distinct in the
days of C;csar and Tacitus, the coalescence probably took
place during the period of the Roman occupation.
After the Romans were gone, however, a second flood of
Aryan immigration began to spread o\er the land. The
new comers were the English and Saxons, two Teutonic
tribes of Low Dutch pirates, who then inhabited Sleswick
and the coasts of Hanover and Friesland. There is no
doubt that the original English were a light-haired, light-
skinned, blue-eyed people of the ordinary Aryan sort.
They came over in small clans or families, and settled first
on the east and south coasts, from the Firth of Forth to
Southampton Water, making their way, in most cases, into
the interior, as was natural for pirates, by means of the
inlets or estuaries. Whether the Teutons utterly exter-
minated the native Britons or not is a question that has
been much debated from the historical point of view ; and
the weight of mere historical authority is certainly on th'
side of extirpation. Mr. Freeman and Canon Stubbs ari
both in favour of the belief that the early English conqueror^
kOled off all the Britons — that is to say, in terms of our pre
sent discussion, the mixed Celtic and Euskarian inhabitant.-
of the Romanised province — while Mr. J. R. Green, the
very latest writer on the subject, is of opinion that the
Britons were simply driven off in the struggle, but not to
any appreciable extent absorbed or enslaved by the con-
querors. From the anthropological point of view, how-
ever, such a belief is absolutely untenable. The existing
English people is certainly not a pure Teutonic race, nor
anything like one. It is a mixture, partially Teutonic,
partially Celt-Euskarian ; and to this fixed ethnological
fact the history must somehow or other be accommodated.
Every competent anthropologist, from the days of Phillips
and Thurnam to the days of Professors Huxley and
Rolleston, has consistently maintained that thesis. It is
impossible to twist the e\"idence of plain modern facts to
suit the supposed history, but it is very easy to reconstruct
the history so as to accord with the existing facts.
The earliest English settlements were undoubtedly made
along the coasts of Kent, Sussex, East Anglia, and York-
shire. In Sussex, it seems as though the Saxon invaders
did really drive away almost all the " Welsh " into the
forest of the Weald, where their descendants may still,
perhaps, be foimd ; but elsewhere the Britons appear to
have been partially subdued and enslaved. In Kent,
where a body of Jutes landed, the dark type is still quite
common ; while, in old interments of the heathen age, Jute
and Briton are still recognised side by side, the anatomical
peculiarities of their skulls being distinctly recognisable
to a technical eye. In the plain of Yorkshire, Professor
Phillips long ago pointed out that two very different types
of physique still prevail, the one tall and light, of English
or Danish origin ; the other short, squat, dark, and black
eyed, of British or Euskarian origin. Similar dark people
are also common among the supposed pure English of
Lincolnshire and East Anglia ; while they are not in-
frequent in the oldest settled parts of Wessex, about
Hampshire, Wiltshire, and the Isle of Wight. In fact,
.Vpkil 28, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
551
ihore is good ethnological reason for believing that,
iven in this most English part of England, the lirst
Tfutons did not wholly drive away the Britons, but
onquercd and enslaved some of them. This belief is
tully countenanced by the few historians who liave handed
i!o\nj to us some meagre traditional account of the English
sittleraent ; for both the Welsh monk, CJildas, who wrote
;i hundred years after the landing of the English in Kent,
and the English monk, Ba>da, who wrote nearly a century
later, inform us that some of the Britons gave themselves
up as slaves to their conquerors. No doubt such slaves
would be quickly Teutonised in creed, and Anglicised in
speech ; but from the ethnological point of view a
Kuskarian is a Euskarian still, whatever religion he may
iiappen to profess, or whatever language he may happen to
speak. His tongue or faith would produce no immediate
ihange in the colour of his skin and eyes. To this day,
indeed, the darker people in the east of England are mainly
to be found among the peasantry.
The midland districts of England were slowly conquered
by the English setting out from tiicir earliest colonies on
the coast ; and as they moved inward, they appear to have
:-pared more and more of the native Britons at each
advance, and even to have substituted political subjugation
for personal slavery. For example, it seems likely that
the West Saxons landed in Southampton Water about fifty
years after the Jutish conquest of Kent. They settled in
Hampshire after some years' hard lighting, but more than
half-a-century elapsed before they conquered Old Sarum
and occupied Wiltshire. Still more slowly did they proceed
across Dorset and Somerset, reaching Bath after nearly a
L'utury, Bradford after a century and a half, and Taunton
:'ter two centuries. In these two counties the proportion
: Celt^ Euskarian blood is very strong ; in Devon, which
-K was only finally annexed more than three hundred years
titer the first landing, the Teutonic element even now
represents a mere fraction. As to Cornwall, that of course
retained even its Celtic speech till the last century, as some
parts of Devon did till the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In-
deed, Alfred the Great in his will describes all the people of
Wilts, Somerset, Dorset, and Devon as Welsh-kind. This
one example will show the comparatively small amount of
Teutonic blood that the English invasion actually brought
into the country. It was just the same elsewhere. In
the Severn valley, for instance, Welsh and English
coalesced very early, and the people of Gloucestershire,
Worcestershire, Shropshire, and Cheshire belong very
largely to the dark type, while those of Herefordshire and
Monmouthshire are purely W^el.sh by V)lood. So in the
north, a great Welsh kingdom of Strathclyde long held out
between Glasgow and the ^Mersey, and when at last it was
conquered by the English of Northunibria, its people still
remained upon the soil as suVyect inhabitants. To this
day, the dark type is common in Lancashire, Ayrshire, and
the hill districts of the West Riding, though in Cumber-
land and Westmoreland there is a large later infusion of
light Scandinavian blood, about which more hereafter.
Thus, the English occupation was really, to a great
extent, rather a mere Teutonisation of Britain than an exter-
mination of the original Britons. The light Aryan stock,
no doubt, received a large accession of strength ; but the
dark Euskarian stock was not by any means aiinihilated
or driven away. In Sussex, Essex, and the Lothians, the
English seem to have settled very thickly, and to have
\ spared very few of the native Britons, though we must
i remember that these parts were probably inhabited for the
\ most part V)y fairly pure Celts (not Euskarians), whose
i descendants we cannot now discriminate from those
,\oi the equally Aryan Teutons. In Yorkshire, Lincoln-
shire, East Anglia, Kent, and Hampshire, the con-
querors apparently enslaved a considerable number of
the dark serfs whom they found upon the soil ; and
their type is still preserved amongst the peasantry
of those districts. As we move westwai-d and inland,
however, we find fewer and fewer pure English, mixed
with a larger and larger proportion of dark natives. In
the eastern midlands, the light type is commonest ; in
the western midlands and the Severn valley, the dark type
distinctly predominates. In Devonshire, Herefordshire,
Lancashire, and Ayrshire, a few English overlords seem,
after a long struggle, to have settled at last among a very
large subject population. And finally, into Cornwall,
Wales, and the Highlands, the English never penetrated
at all, except as purely political conquerors. But we must
leave over for another paper the settlements of the Scan-
dinavians in Scotland, the Lake district, and Ireland, as
well as the existing distribution of the ethnical elements
in the British Islands of our own day.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE ELECTRICAL
EXHIBITION.
Ninth Notice.
AMIDST all the brilliancy of the electric light display,
it is scarcely to be wondered at that several exhibits —
indeed, we may say several classes of exhibits — pass almost
unnoticed. Even in walking through the nave — the prin-
cipal part of the Palace — we can observe a number of stalls
richly laden with apparatus, more or less interesting and
unique, around which hardly a person is to be seen ; while,
if we turn our eyes to either the Swan, Edison, Brush, or
other electric light exhibits, we behold always a crowd of
visitors, all more or less interested in what they are so
intently gazing on.
One of the displays having great interest for the scien-
tific visitor is that of Messrs. Blakey, Emmott, & Co., of
Halifax. They have two stalls — one in the nave, close to
the Post-ofBce exhibit, and the other in the gallery. Their
exhibits are catalogued in eight out of the fourteen classes
into which the exhibition is divided. In Class I., they
exhibit apparently excellent frictional machines, of the
Winter and other types, and other apparatus for explaining
static electricity.
Class II. (Batteries and allied apparatus) is well repre-
sented, but here, as in a number of the other classes, there
is considerable difficulty in tracing exhibits to their proper
class. Apparatus is shown designed for innumerable pur-
poses ; but perhaps the greatest amount of interest centres
in the telephonic display. A great feature one cannot help
noticing is the extreme care that has evidently been taken
to give the apparatus the highest attainable point of effi-
ciency, which can only be accomplished by using the best
materials, and paying unusual attention to the processes of
manufacture and finishing. It must not be imagined, how-
ever, that we are championing extravagant apparatus — such,
for instance, as the very elaborate Crossley Transmitti r,
but our remarks refer more particidarly to meaner-lookii:-
apparatus.
Assuming that our readers have seen a telephone circui! ,
they will doubtless remember that such a circuit is generally
furnished with a call-bell. An electric current is required
to work the bell, and Messrs. Blakey & Co. exhibit some
well-made apparatus, in which the current is generated by
tui-ning a handle, and so revolving a Siemens' armature (see
our articles on " Electric Generators ") between the poles
of strong permanent magnets. The apparatus is very
small, but is, nevertheless, said to be capable of ringing a
552
. KNOWLEDGE •
[April 28, 1882.
bell at a distance of 300 miles. The magnets used are very
good, and uro claimed to bu capable of sustaining ten times
^eir own weight.
In the .same series of exhibits is a large switch-board
(intendi'd for tclcplione exchange ollices), by means of
whicii any one of the lifty subscribers it is constructed to
acconnnodate may be put in communication with either of
the oth('r subscribers.
In the "Telegraphs" class there is a tolerably good
display of certain forms of apparatus, although none of
the high-speed instruments are shown. The British Govern-
ment manufacture their own apparatus ; but railway
companies, submarine cable companies, and foreign and
colonial administrations (all of which, generally speaking,
use the Needle, Morse, and other low-speed systems), doubt-
less give plenty of employment to makers of such instru-
ments as are here exhibited.
In the class set apart for electro-medical apparatus,
Messrs. Blakey A Co. have a very good exhibit, embracing
several forms of battery, more especially noted for the
fittings. Amongst the apparatus may be noted Messrs.
Mottershead 1- Co.'s Leclanche Batteries. They consist of
20, 30, or 50 cells. Tliese cells are made of vulcanite,
and are all sealed up after being charged, so that none of
the liquid can be spilled. Our readers may be aware that
the Leclanche Cell contains no acid, and, if only required
for a few minutes at a time, it will last for many months —
perhaps years. The reason of this is that, whereas in an
acid battery, chemical action takes place whether the
electrical circuit is complete or not, in such batteries as
the one we are considering, no action goes on unless there
is a complete electrical circuit.
The batteries are manufactured in two series, the first
being handsomely fitted in mahogany cases, with nickel-
plated or gilt accessories, while the second series are fitted
up in plain black wood cases. It is asserted that the same
cells are used in each series, so that they are equally
efiicient. The utility of such an arrangement is obvious,
and it is to be hoped that other makers will see their
way to following so good an example.
A little switch (or, as they call it, a current selecter) is
fitted to the case, to enable the operator to bring any
required number of cells into action, a set of shunts being
also provided for cutting oil" the initial cells, and so equal-
ising the labour which the various cells are called upon to
perform. It is hardly necessary or advisable to enlarge
upon the various forms of electrodes exhibited, design <d,
as they are, for a multitude of purposes, nor can we now
enter into a description of the other apparatus in this
collection, but it is recommended that our readers visiting
the Palace should inspect it for themselves.
There are several other exhibitors of electro-medical
apparatus ; but grave doubt exists in the minds of elec-
tricians, as well as physician.s, as to the utility of a con-
siderable proportion of the appliances now before the public,
and a great deal remains to be proved before any appre-
ciable amount of faith in them can be said to exist. We
should have said more about them, but there are many
other subjects which demand our consideration — such as
secondary batteriis and electro-motors, to one of which we
must next direct our attention.
Reclamation. — A correspondent, with a signature so sinp:ularly
business-like that we can only guess tliat his name ends with the
letters "an," or "oin," or " nrd," informs us that the information
respecting " Accnmuhitive Sinking Fund," at p. 51 1, is taken without
acknowledgment from his " Insjall's Foreign Slk (or Tlk) Manual."
Wo regret that any correspondent should have failed to mention
the source from wliicli information sent to us has been obtained ;
but, doubtless, the omission was due to inadvertence.
iRcbifUjsf.
THE STARS AND THE EARTH.
V CHARMING little work. If there is any way in
which the human mind can conceive the possibility ot
Omniscience, it is the way shown by the author (unknown)
of this treatise. He shows that tlie universe encloses
the pictures of the past, like an indestructible and in-
corruptible record containing the purest and clearest truth.
" As sound propagates itself in the air, wave after wave,
and the stroke of the Ijell or the roar of the caiuion is
heard only by those who stand nearest, in the same moment
when the clapper strikes the bell or the powder explodes;
l)ut each more distant spectator notes a still greater interval
between the light and the sound, until the human ear is no
longer able to perceive the sound on account of the distance,
— so, according to our ideas, the pictures of every occurrence
propagate themselves into the distant ;ether upon the wings
of the ray of light. Thus that record which spreads itself
out further and further in the universe, by the vibration a{
the light, really and actually exists and is visible ; but to
eyes more powerful than those of man." This is the lesson
expounded in the first part of this little book. The second
still further illustrates this pregnant idea, by showing that
a point of view is conceivable from which the universe no
longer requires the expansion of time and space in order
to exist and to be intelligible to us, and how with such a
point of view we can imagine and completely understand
the universe as the work of a single Creator.
CmxKSE Mr.inoD of Maxcfactcrisg Yermiliox. — There aroj
three vermilion works in Hong-Kong, the method of manufacture
being exactly the same in each. The largest factory consumes
about 6,000 ijottles of mercury annually, and it was in this one that ;
the following operations were witnessed: — First Step : A large,
verj' thin iron pan, containing a weighed quantity (about 14 lb.) of
sulphur, is placed over a slow fire, and two-thirds of a bottle '
of mereurj- added. As soon as the sulphur begins to melt, the
mixture is vigorously stirred with an iron stirrer until it assumes
a black, pulverulent appearance, with some melted sulphur
floating on the surface. It is then removed from the fire and
the remainder of the bottle of mercury added, the whole being
well stirred. A little water is now poured over the mass, which
rapidly cools it. The pan is immediately emptied, when it
ready for the next batch. The whole operation docs not last mote
than ten minutes. The resulting black powder is not a definite
sulphide, as uncombined mercury can be seen throughout the whole
mass ; besides, the quantity of sulphur used is much in excess of the
amount required to form mercuric sulphide. Second Step : The
black powder obtained in the first step is placed in a semi-hemi-
spherical iron pan, built in with brick, and having a fireplace
beneath, covered over with broken pieces of porcelain. These are
built up in a loose porous manner, so as to fill another semi-hemi-
spherical iron pan, which is then placed over the fixed one and
securely luted with clay, a large stone being placed on the top
of it, to assist in keeping it in its place. The fire is then
lighted and kept up for sixteen hours. The whole is then
allowed to cool. When the top pan is removed, the vermilion,
together with the greater part of the broken porcelain, is attached
to it in a coherent mass, which is easily separated into its compo-
nent parts. The surfaces of the vermilion which were attached to
the porcelain have a brownish-red and polished appeai-ance, the
broken surfaces being somewhat brighter and crystalline. Third
Step : The sublimed mass obtained in the second step is pounded in
a mortar to a coax'se powder, and then ground with water between
two stones, somewhat after the manner ot grinding corn. The
resulting semi-fluid mass is transferred to large vats of water, and
allowed to settle, the supernatant water removed, and the sediment
dried at a gentle heat. When dry it is again powdered, passed
through a sieve, and is then tit for the market. — Journal of the
Society of Chemical Industry.
* " The Stars and the Earth : or Thoughts upon Space, Time, and
Eternity." (Bailli^re, Tindall & Co., London.)
KNOWLEDGK, Ariiir. 28, 1882.J
Our Star Map. — The circular boundary
of the map repreeents the horizon. The
map shows also the position of the equator
and of that portion of the Zodiac now most
favourably situated for observation. For
tlie motions of the planets Jupiter, Mars, and
Uranus, consult the Zodiacal maps in Nos.
11 and 19. The names of ninety-nine stars
of the first three magnitudes are given
below.
On Ap:il 30, at 10.30 p.m.
On May
3, at 10.15 p.m.
On May
7, at 10. 0 p.m.
On May
11, at
9.45 p.m.
On May
15, at
9.30 p.m.
On May
19, at
9.15 p.m.
On May
22, at
9. 0 p.m.
On May
2G, at
8.45 p.m.
*0b May
30, at
8.30 p.m.
*0n June
3, at
8.15 p.m.
*0n June
6, at
8. 0 p.m.
* It ie dayUght at tiese times.
ARABIC NAMES OF STARS.
The following table exhibits the names of
all the stars of the first three magnitudes
■whose names aie in common use : — .
a Aiidrorapite
... Alpheratz
^
... ilirach, ilizar
... Almaeh
a Aqnarii ...
^ —
... Sadalmelik
... Sadalsund
<!
... Shat
a Aqniloo
0
... Altair
... Alshain
y
... Taranpd
a Arietis
... Hamal
li
... Sheraian
y
... Mcsariim
a Auriga)
... CaptUa
li
... Mcnkalinan
tt Botitis ...
... Arcturus
/3
... Nekkar
... Izar, Mizar, Ilirach
1
a Canum Venat. ...
... Muphrid
... Cor Caroli
a Caain Majoiis ...
... Sirius
(3
t ...
... Mirzam
... Adara
a Canis Minori^ ...
... Frocy«n
ii
... Gomciso
o'Capricomi
I
... Stcunda Giedl
... Denth Aljiedi
[KNOWLEDGE, Ai'RIl 28, 1882.
CI ColambcB
a Corouaa Borealia
a Corvi
a Crateria
a Cvgni
a —
<i Draconis
a Pepasi
i
a Porsei
ji
a Pisci'i Australia
f Sagittal ii
a Scorpionia
a Serpeiitia
a Tiiiiri
q
<T Ursae llajoiis
/3
a Ursai Miuoris
a Virginis
/3
Schtdar
Chaph
Aldorarnin
Alphirk
Krrai
Moukar
Diphda
liaten Kaitot
, Mir a
. Phact
. Alphecca
. Alchiba
. Algores
. Alkes
, Aridcd, Deuel AJigt
. AHiree
. Thuban
. Alwaid
. Eianin
. Cursa
. Zaurac
, Castor
. I'olhix
. Alhena
. Wasat
. Hebsuta
. Ran Algcthi
. Korneforos
. Alphard, Cor Hydrce
. Regulus, Cur Leonis
, Lencb Aleet, Dencbola,
Deneb
. Algeiba
. Zosma
. Arneb
. Zuben el Qenubi
, Zuben el Chamali
. Zuben Hakrahi
, Vega
. Sheliak
. Sulaphat
. Ras Alhainte
. Cebalrai
. Betelgeux
,. Rigel
. Bellatrix
.. Mintaka
, . Alnilam
,. Markab
.. Scheat
.. Algenib
.. Enif
.. Soman
.. Mir/ak
.. Algol
.. Fomalhaut
.. Kaas Australia
.. Antares, Cor Scorpionit
.. JJniikalhai
,. Aldebaran
.. Nath
.. Alcyone (Pleiad)
.. Dubhe
.. Merak
.. Phecda
.. Alioth
.. Miiar,
.. Alkaid, Benetnasch
.. Talitha
. . Polaris
.. Kochab
.. Spica Azimech, Spica
.. Zavijava
.. Yindemialri^
KNOWLEDGE
557
^IJS -??§='£ °Si§"ES§
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mucli as
loss of tl
at p. les
time. In
behind cl
draw ahe
more exa
clock tim
losing as
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his course
apart, as
May 14 tl
solar or d
The read
path in
for April.
ZOza^~.--0^ll!--^UtJli^(!l^~C
motion i
east rat
le sun o
t, and tl
n, in May
re ncarc
when th
squarel
ondition
ut Marc
tho leas
n, on o
•respond
ion on o
along th
n in righ
ared wit
ot lose s
3an value, tho
lad nearly its
es, reached by t
-■ir farthest apai
is at its ma.ximui
the meridians a
pril and May)
liptic lies more
effect of these (
hereas on or abc
i corresponds to
sion ; and, aga
g the ecliptic co
in right ascens
unt of motion
mount of motio
a losing as comp
of April, does n
tho m
April
of An
e at th
o them
anged ;
s for A
the ec
ct, the
that w
eclipti
ascen
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on anu
same a
, thoug
month
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ich in
point
ans ai
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e ma|
1, and
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ng the
right
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a giv
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eal sui
g the
ill further
ccnsion, wh
at the firsi
, the nieridi
n of the sun'
0 conditions
(compare tl
rossos then
am. In Maj
its mean va
n motion alo
f motion in
10 20, a give
oatest anioi
y 4, 5, or 6,
irresponds t
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sun, durin
.2gi.".S-go°g Ji « " ° §
- ^ 3 " S .§ 'S: g ^ 2 .u -J 'S a
-- tc S .5 o -s to— riS.cS g;:=oa)
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>^ii'a.>^s-S°-J-J5--SaS" .
2-a a a ^f _, a, . ^.. a * a -c J,
o ^
PI
558
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[Apbil 28, 1882.
THE LAMSON CASE.
AMONG tlio aflidavitB bearing on the cuso of Dr. Lnmson ro-
ccivrd by Mr. A. W. Mills, tlio priHonor's solicitor, wan one
by Dr. II. II. Kane, wlio has cliarpo of a lio8])ital in New York
devoted to tlio treatment of persons habituiitod to the use of opium
and other drugs. He is described as author of the following works
on the subject: — "The Hypodermic Injection of Morphia; its His-
tory, Advantages, and Dangers," Now York, 1879; "Drugs that
Enslave ; a Study of the Opium, Morphine, Chloral, and Hashisch
Habits," Philadelphia, 1881: and " Opinra Smoking in America and
China," New York, 1882. After mentioning that the majority of
his patients are and have been physicians or druggists, and
dwelling npon the tendency to carelessness in prescribing
morphia and other drugs which he had noticed in the case
of those who had become accustomed to use large doses
of such drags themselves, Dr. Kane remarks that, as regards
the question of insanity from the habitual use of opium or
its alkaloids, more especially morphia, but little definite is
known. Insane asylum reports every year record from one to eight
or nine ca.>;es of insanity attributed to the prolonged use of opiates,
and physicians in general practice recognise the use of narcotics as
a rare, though well-establiished, cause of insanity. A person with
an hereditary tendency to insanity, or with a mind weakened from
any combination of circumstances, or from actu.al bodily disease,
using this drug in largo amount for a considerable time, could hardly
escape some unsettling of his mental and moral powers. In the
majority of instances the insanity thus produced is chiefly marked
by weakening of the will power, entire change of the moral tone,
loss of business ability, sundering of family tics, and carelessness
about the ordinary duties of life. Actual mania, melancholia,
and dementia are probably rare, but have undoubtedly occurred
from this cause. Some persons inherit or acquire in after-
life an idiosyncrasy which renders them more susceptible to the
physical, mental, and moral ill-effects of opium, than obtains
in the ordinary individual, and a like idiosyncrasy has been known
to lead to death from doses previously considered safe. This is
especially true with reference to the hypodermic use of morphia.
Certain persons can take large doses of opium for years with
impunity, while others, of a peculiarly nervous temperament, are
injured out of all proportion to the time the drug has been used or
the amount taken. In the majority of cases, habitual users stop
short of actual insanity as ordinarily classed, although they mani-
fest marked deterioration or total abolition of will, power, and
memory. A tendency to lie with reference to their habit, inatten-
tion to family and business, and the manifestation of a very decided
change in moral tone may be marked. Dr. Kane vrould say, in
conclusion, that of all forms of the opium habit, that of hypodermic
injection as a rule works the most harm in the shortest time. —
Times.
Ancient Tablets fkom Sippaea, or Sepharvaim. — Nine cases,
representing a portion of the results of the researches just on the
point of being resumed by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, who left this
country for Alexandi'ia and Babylon on the 6th instant, have just
arrived in London. The tablets which they contain are, for the
most part, small, and, either whole or in a "fragmentary condition,
are estimated to roach about five thousand in number." The texts
on the tablets are large beyond precedent, as compared with the
size of the vehicle on which they ai-e inscribed. The new importa-
tion, so far as it has been investigated, consists chieHy of trade
documents, and largely of contracts for the sale or supply of corn
and other agricultural products. They are dated in the reigns of
Samassumnkin and Kandalanu, the Ch'inladanus of the Greeks, who
were contemporary with tlie latter halt of the reign of Assurhanipal,
or Sardanapalus, of Assyria, about B.C. 616. The tablets are from
Aboo-habba, the site of the ancient Sippara, the Sepharvaim of
the Old Testament, which is mentioned by Sennacherib in his
letter to Hezekiah as one of the cities whoso kings had been unable
to resist the might of the Assyrians. Sippara— or Pantibiblon, as
the Greeks called it— is mentioned by Berosus as having furnished
five out of the ten Chaldean kings o"f the time before the Flood,
and as the place where Xisuthrus, or Noah, buried the records of
the antediluvian world at the time of the Deluge, and from which
his posterity afterwards recovered them. The Hebrew term Sep-
harvaim, which is the verbal equivalent of the " two Sipparas," is
applied to twin cities, one of which is situated on each side of the
river. The Sippara from which the tablets just received in London
have been procured, is the Sippara of Samas, Tsipar sha Shamas,
or Sii)para of the Sun God, as being a place, par exnellence, where
the sun was a chief object of worship. The other Sippara, or
Sippara of Anunit, which is supposed to have contributed in ancient
times to name the Sepharvaim ' Scripture history, is up to the
present moment nnknowu to mo, ;rn investigation.
•BJnqi
■nng
•BJraqx
■paAi.
•sanj,
•UOH
■sanj,
•uoK
•sjmqj,
•paAi
•Sam
•aoH
•nng
02 -f
O CO
rj* CO
o o
« ro
CO t-
>5S5^
&:!^&
00 30^
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m ^
^1?^
com^
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-"3
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S 3
00 GO^
IZilZife:
!^^
■ o
sa «'=' si
April 28, 1882.J
* KNOWLEDGE
559
fc:£U^^^^
ifttfrsf to tf)t etJitor.
\Tht Editor dofM not hold himaelf retpontibU for the opinions ofhii correrpondent^.
M* cannot undfrtiikf to return manHscript* or to corretpond teith their vriters. Alt
eemmumiratioH* *houlJ be a« $hort as pottiblt, consUtenily tcHh full and clear rtate-
wuntsofthe tcriter't mfuninff.']
All Editor^'il comntunicatiota tkould he addreaed io the Editor o^ KxowtRDGB;
mU Susvtett communicatioHi to the Publisherr, at tht OJice, 7i, Qreat Queen-
street, W.C.
All Bemitianeet, Ckequei, and Poet-Office Order* should be made payable to
M**»r$. Tf'vman ir Son*.
•,* All Utters to the Editor itill be Numbered. For convenience of reference^
eorre»ponde*t$, when r^erring to any Iftter, trill oblige btf mentioning its number
mnd the page on vhtch it appears.
AH Lett'eri or Queries to the Editor lehich require attention in the current issue of
ExowLBDOB.fAou/J reach the Publishing Office not later than the Saturdag preceding
ike day qf publication. __
(I.) Letters to have a chance of appearing must be concise; they must be drawn
np in the form adopted for letters nere, so that thev may Ro untouched to the
printers ; private communications, therefore, as we'll as queries, or repliea. to
queries (intended to appear as such) should be written on separate leaveff.
(II.) Letters which (either because too ionp, or unsuitable, or dealing; with
matters which others ha%"e discussed, or for any other reason) cannot find place
here, will t-ither bebrieily referreti toin answers to correspondents, or acknowledged
in a column reserred for the purpose.
" In knowledj;e, that man only i
state of transition V
than fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
to be contemned and def^pKed who is not in a
r is there anything more adverse to accuracy
.^^ .. mistake, bnt ^eat harm in making none. Show
mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
ftothinff." — JAehiq.
*• God's Orthodoiy is Truth."— OaW<-^ Kingsley.
©wx (CoiTfgponljfnce Columns^.
DOES THE MIXTURE OF BLUE AND YELLOW MAKE
GREEN LIGHT?
[388]— In Vol. I., page 538, of Knowledge, Mr. W. Benson
asserts that chloride of copper affords, before the " blowpipe," a
eea-green or verdigris light. The following equally eminent autho-
rities, on the other hand, maintain that this light is blue. (1)
Crookes : " Mitchell's Manual of Assaying," page 370, " Chloride
of copper alone colours the flame blue;" (2), Plattner, " Probir-
kunst mit dem Lothrohre," page 269, " The azure-blue flame of
chloride of copper ; " (3), Berzelius " On the Blon-pipe," Whitney's
translation, page 82, " Chloride of copper gives a beautiful blue
flume, inclining to purple ;" and at page 211, writing of atacamite,
"alone it tinges the flame intensely blue ; " (4), Fresenius, " Qual.
Anal., 1872," page 192, "Chloride of copper affords a fine blue-
coloured flame, inclining to purple;" (5), Elderhorst, " Man. Bl.
Anal.," page 5t>, "An intense azure-blue colour, owing to the
formation of chloride of copper;" (6), Landaner, "Man. Bl.
Anal., 1881," page 27, "Copper chloride gives a sky-blue flame-
colonr." Mr. \V. Benson's optical terminology seems to be derived
chiefly from Winsor & Newton's colour-box ; but if, by the expression
" a verdigris light," he moans a green light, I would ask where was
the necessity of mixing the sodium-j-eUow with copper chloride-
green, to make its llame green ?
Similarly, the above authorities (except Mr. Benson) might be
cited to show that the blowjiipe pyrocone is also blue, not " sea-
green ; " and, indeed, I suppose that Mr. Benson, like everybody
else, has remarked that the sea, within 100 miles of a shelving
shore, is scarcely two consecutive days the same colour ; grey,
green,* yellow, mnd-colonr, &c., and more than 100 miles from
shore, generally bine.
If by the name " ultramarine " he means lapis lazuli, 1 would
remind him that that mineral is by no means pure blue, as it contains
a considerable proportion of red, which makes it violetish blue. As
regards the "green beam" phenomenon, would it not have been
better for Mr. Benson to have taken a prism and lens, before he
took a pen in hand, to write about a matter which, by his o^vn ad-
mission, he does not understand ? As a matter of fact, my Venetian
blinds are white, not green ; and I tried this experiment oftenest in
a small room without any blind at all.
London, W. W. A. Ross.
• Green sea-water seems due to yellow rays, reflected from a
sandy bottom, shining through deep-sea-water, which is bine.
SIS E. BECKETT'S INVENTION IN SCREWDRIVERS.
[389] — Many long and hard-worked years have gone by since I
gave freely to my profession (that of a surgeon) a small invention
of my own, in the form of a gilded spiral spring for treatment and
cure of deeply-buiied abscesses. It was a tube formed by running
a soft metal wire over a mandril in a lathe, exactly resembling the
8|iiral springs of a bell-hangcr. This tube possessed a marvellous
flexibility and self-adjusting power when inserted in the exit
channel of such a sac of jiurulent matter or of putrefying blood as
wo not unfrequently meet with, and are at our wits' end to know-
how to empty. Not emptied, the patient has but a narrow shrift,
for jiya^mia begins out of this horrible bag of decomposition, and
the patient very quickly goes out of the world like a rushlight.
A smart French surgeon conceived thelhappy thought that such
a bag of horrors might be drained, and thus began a new practice
in our art, called " abscess-drainage," with excellent results in some
cases. Uis tubes were, however, made of vulcanised (that is,
sulphuretted) caoutchouc ; and giving off a constant, but very
minute, ijuantity of sulphur, and of sulphur-laden gases, the tubes
did more harm than good.
It then occurred to me to roll a little gilded wire round a knitting-
needle, and withdrawing the stem, there was left to me the prettiest
tube of close-siding coils of glittering wire. Try this, tlu»u reader,
and you wiir be as charmed as I. So inconceivably flexible and
ready to take any figvu-e you may bend it to is it, that it was but a
little step to reach its applicabilities, and to find them quite too
delightful. Immediately 1 found my fortunate moment. There lay
— and long had lain — on a beautiful couch, in a lovely bfed -chamber,
filled with the soft and scented summer air of a grand London
suburb, a man still young and full 'of life, but chained (under all
those luxurious belongings) by a worse than Promethean bondage —
an abscess, the sac of which lay half-a-foot from the nearest skin
Bui"face. The abscess was hopelessly sunk so low that no existing
device in surgery could tap that vile reservoir of matter so as to
drain it. My wire tubes at once reached the central receptacle,
and no words can express the relief obtained, or the admirable ease
with which the i-eservoir was emptied.
Under the name of my wire "drainage-tubes," these toy-like
instruments caught the approbation of surgeons, and they are now in
general use. By Sir James Paget's commendation, I sent a case to
the late American President's surgeons, accompanied by his
approval for their excellent work, and they were, I believe, adopted
in that sorrowful instance.
I have written all this oddly non-referable memorandum, because
I was sure it would interest some of yotu- readers, and being trans-
ferred into the immortal pages of Knowledge, never be again for-
gotten.
Now for you, my excellent and much-adored old friend. Sir
Edmund. Why hide the head and shank of your imprisoned screw
(all screws ought to bo imprisoned, but not hidden) ? How can
you see with your metal straight-waistcoat over the head and tail of
your screw, which way the creature is tending— very likely to right
of you, or to left of you, or, by turns (of course), all around of yon ?
This is the more excellent plan : — Make your guiding tube of
springy, well-tempered steel wire, w-ith the coils not too close to
each other. Thus, you can see your inward way ; the screwdriver
head slowly, but surely, thrusts its captive " home," and lightened
in its work, as in its self-clearing — you also — the great, wise, and
thoroughly typical Englishman of many sciences will gratefully
remember f — Your faithful, Robert Elus.
TRICYCLES.
[390]. — Would your correspondent, " Ex-Bicyclist," give us this
further information. Has he trieil the Omnicyclo ? And, if so,
where does he rank it in comparison with the five or six he
mentions ? A Woi ld-be Tricvclist.
[We have received several letters for " Ex-Bicyclist," but we
have not his address, and we cannot undertake to forward letters to
correspondents. — Ed.]
REPLIES TO QUERIES.
[352]. — Add nitric acid (not too concentrated) to metallic copper.
3Cu + 4HO.N05 = 3CuO N0s-h4H0 + NOo.— F. G. A.
[342] — Gold. — Pnt the gold-bedaubed paper into some nitro-
hydrochloric acid and heat gently in a glass beaker. Filter care-
fully and evaporate to dryness, taking care that the acid fumes do
not come into contact with an}-thing. The dry residue should be
heated, and will then be metallic gold. — P. G. A.
No. 18, p. 376, col. 2— Spinning Top.— Will the Editor kindly give
the answer to these four questions, or say where I can find them
(the answers) ? — F. G. A.
5tO
KNONA^LKDGE
[April 28, 1882.
ani^urr^ to Corrc^pontirntsf.
* ^* All i-ommttnie<ifiong for the Editor requiring early attention thould reach the
Office on or be/ore the Saturday prrcedintj the current ienue of Enowlbdob, the
iitcreaeing circulation of which compete ue to go to preee early in the tceek.
Hints to Corrkspondrnts. — 1. No que»tione asking for tcientijie information
can be anriarred through the poet. 'I. Lettere gent to the Editor for corrt-epondente
cannot be forvarded ; nor can the names or addressee qf correspondents be given in
anjwer to private inquiries, 3, Correspondents should write on one side only of
the paper, and put drawings on a separate lenf. 4. Each letter should have a title,
and in replying to a letter, r^erence should be made to its number, the page on
which it appears^ and its title.
3. Ralph. — Vour problem is not definite. An infinite number of
ellipses may be drawn toucbiug two straight lines at two given
points in the same. — H. C. SrANnAGE. Table of pigments quite
unsuited to us. — F. C. M. The mean temperatures in Whitaker
are as it were smoothed down, so as to get rid of such peculiarities.
But in the mean curve for the last scvonty-five years the cold days
of April and other three cold days in May are clearly seen. —
S. Barber. Could not say till article received. H. Weatherhead.
American Exchange, MO, Strand. — Senex. No, we cannot answer.
J. Frasee. Your rea.soning quite unsound, but it is impossible to
explain the matter fully here. The rotation of earth on her
axis has nothing to do with the theory. — D.nommah. Awfully para-
doxical, as you say. — J. Ci.ift. Thanks on Mr. Muybridge's behalf ;
but he has already photographed swiftly-running hounds. — T. E.
Allinson. Letter received, and shall appear. — M. B. Alder. Gravity
very essential to Dr. Siemens' theory. More about it hereafter.
The change of earth's axial pose due to precession cannot be dealt
with briefly : must be very fully illustrated. — A Hater of Super-
stition considers any reference to " The Almighty," " His glory,"
" God's ways," and so on, unsuited to a scientific journal. His
objections, however, apply only to dogmatic, not to natural re-
ligion, which can never be out of place in dealing vrith science. —
F. Miles. For astronomical observation generally, not for observ-
ing stars by day. — Antarctic. The low barometer of Antarctic
regions was what suggested the theory. — J. Ralph. Cannot give
further space to vegetarianism. — Curiosity. Letter received, and
to appear when space permits. — J. McDowell. Tlianks. — A. H.
Empson. You would do well to accept Messrs. DoUond's view of
the matter ; 80 is a liigh power for a 2J inch object-glass. — H. C.
Wtatt. We have added Lyons. — .T. A. Ollard. A room may be cut
off from the rest, by suitable devices. — C. Staxiland Wake. I
should be willing to lend the pyramid blocks ; but the articles are
shortly to be published in book form. You will see that in the con-
cluding paper of the article the religious use of the pyramid is
referred to. — Geo. Miller. — The stern aspect of the hogs in the
Scottish rhymes is amusing ; bat lectaribus nosiris major debctur
reverentia. — G.Shopland. Fear Newcomb's book is dear, about 18s.,
I think. — W. Smith. Quite unable to answer letters by post. Do
not know who is the editor of the Scientific America}}. It is pub-
lished weekly by Munn & Co., 261, Broadway, New York. Pro-
bably the reports of the Meteorological Society would suit you. It
would be invidious to say which we think the best text-book of
meteorology, and contrary to our rules. — F. Gibes. The process is
called fermentation, and is now recognised as depending on the
development of Uving germs. The subject is one for an article,
and we hope soon to find room for one. — J. Muhrat. I have
endeavoured to show that, in my opinion, the P.D. system is
utterly untenable. — A. Bexett. You ask us how you can make
Balmain's Patent Luminous Paint for your own use ? Is the
question quite fair ? What are patents intended for ? —
Herbert J. L.\mb. The atmosphere so forming round the moon
would be of very small density. — John Hamek. Since noted. —
Young Astronomer. The subject shall be treated soon. Thanks
for encouraging letter. The slia])e of a halo depends in no way on
shape of luminous body. — W. P. Hamsby. We referred to England.
There is no evideuce of any great perturbation in this country,
A.I). 1,000.— Sandford Flem'ing. Thanks; but "Time Reform"
rather a dry subject for readers of Knowledge. — W. H. Shirley.
" Nautical Almanac " for 1882, 1883, &c., of Messrs. Mm-ray, price
2s. Gd. — N. A very neat " martingale " will discuss it presently;
but, in passing, note that as for every win you score out two
figures, and for every loss you add one, you cannot win one
"revolution" until the number of wins exceeds the number of
losses by the number of fig\ires first set out. The assumption that
this must happen before yi)ur pockets are cleared out is the
" fallacy." — Bkccablnga, J. Rkiu, Erix-go-bragh, Joseph Wallis,
Beccabunga, J. Wilson, C. J. Caswell, Photographer, R. F. S.,
Antarctic, Julias, E. W. Hokton, H. D., J. F. R., H. R. L., M.
Uaugreave, P. K. Pattinson, L. T. P. K. Letters forwarded to
contributor on snch subjects.
Sartor Rcsartus, J. S. P., Thomas Bliindem, W. B., Mat, S. C.
Wood, J. R. Musgrave, T. Y. S., G. Redfcrn, K. P. Wallis, M.
Shortrede, P. Q., L. T. Turvey, J. C. B., queries already answered,
too vague, or otherwise unsuitable ; P. Jackson, S. Homo (thanks),
jr. .\., Professor of Mathematics, Ch. Harrison, Pertinai, Sic
tran.iit. L. T. R., Providence, M. Purvis, Exccllens, &c.
(J^ur iHatbcmatiral Column.
PROBABILITIES.
By the Editor.
LET us next consider cases not altogether so simple. I propose
now to establish what may be regarded as the fundamental
proposition of direct probabilities. To introduce it, I take the fol-
lowing simple illustrative case : —
Suppose that in an urn there are three white balls and seven
black ; and in another urn two white balls and three black, what i$
the chance that when aball is drawn from each urn, both the drawn
balls ivill be white ?
Applying to this problem the two fundamental principles of the
science of probabilities, we inquire, fir.st, how many possible events
there are, and, secondly, how many are favourable. Now any one
of the ten balls in the first urn may be drawn, and any one of the
five balls in the second urn. So that any one of the first set of ten
balls may appear in company with any one of the second set of five.
There are thus 50 (10 times 5) possible events. Again, the pair of
drawings may result in giving two white balls in 3 times 2 different
ways ; since any one of the tliree white balls in the first am, by
being drawn in company with any one of the two white balls
in the second urn, would give the required result. .Six events,
then, out of fifty are favourable ; and, therefore, since any one of
the fifty events is as Ukely to occur as any other, the chance of
drawing two white balls is — or
^ 50 25
We can see from the method here applied to a special case that
the following general nile may be deduced : — If there are two inde-
pendent events, and the first can happen in p ways out of p -r 5 all
equally likely, and some one of which must happen, while the
second can happen in p' ways not of p' + q' all equally likely, and
some one of which «i!(s4 happen; then the chance that both events
will happen is
— , that is,
or the
(p-i-g) (p' + g') ' V + 1 P' + 9'
chance of both events happening is obtained by multiplying to-
gether the chance of each considered separately.
It follows obviously that if we add a third independent event,
which may happen in p" ways out of p' + q" all equally bkely, and
some one of which must happen, then the chance that all three
events will happen is
V P P"
(p + q) ip' + q) (p" + 9")
or the product of the three several chances. For we have already
seen that the chance of the two first events happening is the pro-
duct of their several chances. We may regard this as a single
chance. Taking, then, the thu-d event, we have the chance of its
occurring as well as both the former, equal to the product of the
chance of the third event by the chance of both the former hap-
pening ; that is „-i- — i, X >— / T- JT
^ ^' p" + q" (p + 3) (P + 9)-
And so we obtain this general law, that the chance of several
independent events all happenimj is equal to the product of the chances
of the several events.
As examples of the application of this rule take the following : —
Ex. 1. — Tlie chance that a horse ivill icin a certain race is reckoned
at L^ or the bettimj is even upon him; the chance that an oarsman
u'ill win a certain boat-race is reckoned at - (the odds 2 (0 1 against
3
him) ; the chance that a county v;ill u-in a certain cricket match
against another county is reckoned at — (the odds 3 (0 1 against tht
former). What are the odds against all three evods happening ?
The chance that all three events will take place is - x _ x _, or
2 3 4
— . Therefore, the odds against all three happening ai'c 23 to 1.
April
1882.]
* KNOWLEDGE •
561
Example 2. — / am waiting for the morning post. I reclton the
chance that I shall get a letter from a certain correspondent, A, at
i : the chance that I shall get a letter fiom B at _ ; the chance that I
aet a letter from C at - : and, finalbi, the chance thai a letter will
reach me fn " ' '
I get a letter by said post ?
Here we must not multiply the several chances tojrether, because
the question is, not whether I get a letter from all the sources
named, but whether I pet a letter at all. Clearly, however, we
shall get the chance that I do not get a letter by multiplying toge-
ther the chance that I do not get one from each of the four several
eoorces. Now, the chance that I get a letter from A is -, so that
2
the chance that I do not get a letter from him is -. In like manner,
^ 3
3
the chance that I ilo not get a letter from B is - ; the chance that
4
I do not get one from C, - ; and the chance that I do not get a
'6
<)
letter from any other source, — . Hence the chance that I get no
3 5 9 _ 3
letter at all is
3 4
c _ X _, or -. That is, the odds are 5 to 3 :
G 10 8
favour of my getting a letter.
Example 3. — The chance that there vHll be rain on any day of the
year is -. A prophet announces that there will be rain on one of
th ree successive days. What are the odds in favour of the prophesy ?
The chance of failure on the first dav is -, on the second -, on
the third - ; the one chance of failure on all three days is, tin
1 l" 1 1
fore, 2 X 2 X 2' °'" 8-
the prophet.
The odds are, therefore, 7 to 1 in favour of
(J^ur 2231) I6t Column.
By " Five of Clubs."
Play Second Hand (Plain Suit.s).
(Continued.)
WE can now do, for play second hand, what wc have already
done for the lead, viz., reduce it to system by showing, not
as heretofore, what card to play from particular hands, but under
what conditions such and such cards should be played. This, as in
the case of the lead, has a double advantage; it gives simpler rules,
and it combines with the rules for play the inferences from play.
Ace, Second Hand,
ia played on King, Queen, or Knave, from Ace and small ones ; on
Knave from Ace, Queen, and small ones ; and from Ace four small
ones, on a small card led, if the game is in a critical state or there
ia reason to believe that the lead is from a singleton.
King, Second Hand,
is played on Queen or Knave, from Ace, King, with or without
small ones, and from King not more than two small ones ; on Queen
from King, ten, &c. ; on a small card, from Ace, King, with or
without small ones j from Ace, King, Knave ; from King one small
one, only when second player has special reason for desiring a lead.
Queen, Second Hand,
is played on Knave, from Queen and not more than two small ones,
and from Queen, ten, and others ; on ten, from Queen and one
other ; on a small card, from Ace, Kim;, Queen, with or without
others ; from Ace, Queen, ten ; from King, Queen, with or mthont
others ; from Ace, Queen, and three others, or more, only if weak in
trumps ; from Queen one small card,' only when a trump lead is
specially required.
Knave, Second Hand,
is played from Queen, Knave, and not more than one small one ;
and from Ace, Queen, Knave.
Ten, Second Hand,
is played from Knave, ten, and not more than one small one ; from
Ace, Queen, Knave, ten ; and from King, Knave, ten.
one small one ; from
Nine, Second Hand,
is played from ten, nine, and not more thai
King, Knave, ten, nine.
Lowest, Second Hand,
is played in all other cases, nnless to signal, when the lowest but
one is played.
Problem 3.— Solutions by Phiz, K. M., U. C. T., .1. Harrison, S.
Febrook, M. ilurchison. Hanky Panky, correct. Piiiz, U. C. T., M.
Murchison, and others, ask (unnecessarily) if trump lead may
not come first. Of course it does not matter in what order the
first three tricks are made so that Ace of Spades takes cither first
or second trick.— Five of Clubs.
Problem 4. — We have received twenty-sevon more solutions, all
correct. Several suggest that solution should not be published, but
we have (implicitly) promised solution. Will defer it. As a help to
several who hare failed, note that if after thirteenth trump led V
discards a heart, the problem — as Chief Editor pointed out — can
not be solved if A lead small heart. Hence infer A's proper lead.^
Five of Clubs.
A Two Suit Hand.
A correspondent, J. F., writes : " The other evening playing Whist
I had the following hand of cards dealt me ; six diamonds, seven
hearts (clubs being trumps) . This occnrred in the midst of a long
evening's play, the cards being shuffled before each deal in the
ordinary manner. Required the probabilities against the occurrence
of such a hand."
A set of six cards all of one suit can be formed in
13 ■ 12 ■ 11 • 10 • 9 ■ 8
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 -5 • 6
ways, and a set of seven cards all of one suit can be formed in as
many ways, since for each set of six cards of a suit there is left a
set of seven cards of that suit. The total number of ways, then, in
which a Whist hand can be formed of six cards of one suit and seven
cards of another is given bv the formula —
/IS ■ 12- 11- 10- 9 ■ 8 y ^ 4-3 , ^^
Vl-2-3-4-5-6/''l-2'^''^
if the two suits may be any whatever, in which case there are -—
ways in which the available suits may be taken 2 and 2 together.
4 ■ 3
But if the two suits are not to be trumps, then for - — , we must
3 ' 2
substitute in the above expression r— ;-^
tions of the three available suits 2 and 2 together. In the former
case the number of possible hands being
52 ■ 51 ■ 50 • 49 ■ 48 ■ 17 ■ 16 • 45 ■ 44 • 43 ■ 42 • 41 ■ 40 ,g.
1 • 2 ■ 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 ■ 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 ^ '
the chance of a two-suit hand, six cards being of one suit and seven
of the other, is represented by a fraction having A as numerator
and B as denominator. In the latter case there are only 51 cards
available for the hand, as the dealer cannot hold it, and the
required chance is represented by the fraction.
/13- 12- 11 -10 • 9- 8\ ,.3-2
\l-2-3-4-5-6/ 1-2
4 ■
1 • 2
the number of combina-
51 • 50 ■ 49 • 48 • 47 • 46 • 45 • 44 • 43 • 42 • 41 ■ 40 • 39
• 5 -6 -7 -8 -9 ■ 10 • 11 ■ 12 • 13
736164 ^^ jg j^j^gj. jggg ^jjj^^ 1^.
39ti»8347475 53912
the odds then are rather more than 53911 to one against the
occurrence of such a hand aa J. F.'s.
The probability of such a two-suit hand, whether trumps or not,
is obviously equal to the above multiplied by - . — or by - ; whence
1
35941
35910 to 1 against the ocoarrence of the hand
1 • 2 • 3
This reduces to
the chance is rather less than
52 ' 2
or the odds rather more than
-Ed.
An Unsound Finesse. — Clay was looking on when second player,
" whom he favoured not," holding Ace. King Knave, finessed the
Knave. " Tha Queen made, third hand; Ace and King were after-
wards trumped. The player then turned to Clay, and asked
whether the finesse of the Knave was justifiable. To him the
following crushing rejoinder, spoken very deliberately at the wall
opposite, instead of to the querist : —
•• ' At the game of whist, as played in England (pause), you are
not called upon to win a trick (another pause) unless you please ! ' "
— Cavendish's " Card-table Talk."
562
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[April 28, 1882.
dBuv Cftwfs Column.
A very pretty game played lost Friday, April 21, by Mr. Black-
bnvnc, at Urighton, being one ot eight games played simultaneously
blindfolded.
AlLGAIEB TnOBOLD.
White.
Mr. Blackburne.
1. P to Kl
2. P to KB4
3. Kt to KB3
4. P to KRl
5. Kt to Kt5
6. Kt takes P
7. P to qi
8. B takes P
9. Kt to B3
Black,
llr. Bowley.
P to K-l
P takes P
P to KKt4
P to Kt5
P to K113
K takes Kt
P to Q I
Kt to KB3 (a
It to Kt5 (I)
White.
Mr. Blackburne.
10. B to Q3 (<•)
11. Castles
12. P takes B
13. P to K5
14. PtoKt3
15. BtP(ch)(p)
K;. R takes R
) 17. QtoQ2(ch)
IS. R to KB aq
Black.
Mr. BohIov.
Kt to B3
B takes Kt
K to Kt2
Kt to KR4
R to B sq (d)
K takes B
Q takes R
Kt to B5 (/)
resigns (?)
NOTES.
(a) Quite sound ; Black can also play. 8. P takes P as given in
ihe synopsis, to be followed by K to Kt2, B to K2, and R to B sq.
Mr. Zukortort recommends K to Kt3, but we think this unne-
cessary, as by either of the two defences above Black is fairly pro-
tected.
(i) Never a good move in this opening. B to K2 or Kt2 is the
right move ; the King being exposed requires the protection of the
Bishop. If B to Kt2, in that case only Black would follow up by
K to Kt3.
(f) Or BK2, Mr. Freeborough's move.
(d) Not apprehending any danger, Black thought this secure.
14. Kt takes B would not have promised well, for then 15. R takes
Kt, R to B sq, 16. R takes R, Q takes R, 17. Q to K2, Q to K2, 18. R
to KBsq, B to K3, 19. R to B6. This latter move Black could
hardly prevent ; it gives Black a bad game.
(e) A veiy fine view of position for a blindfold player to master
by mental sight ; it wins by force.
(/) 17. K to Kt2 would bo still worse, for then Q to Kt5 (ch).
If now K to R sq, then Q takes Kt (ch) wins ; or if K to B2, then R
to B sq (ch) wins.
(g) Black has no resource left if 18. Q to K2, 19. R takes Kt, K
to Kt2, 20.K to B6, threatening Q to Kto or R6 (ch), and wins.
Problem No. 38.
THE SOUTHERN CROSS.*
By J. A. Miles.
Blace.
WBITB.
White to play and mate in three moves.
SOLUTIONS.
Pboblkm 25, by Leonard P. Rees, p. 505
1. B to Kt5 K takes Kt I or
2. B to B6 (ch) and Kt mates 2. Kt to Q6
next move
Kto K4
K takes QKt. or
KKt
3. BtoB4orB6 (mate)
Published in the late Vf^eatminster Papers.
Problem 33, by C. H. Brockelbank, p. 505.
1. KtoBG K to K5 I or K to'K4
2. K to B5, and mates 2. R to QB4, and mates
next move next move
No. 34.
1. Kt toKta
2. K to K7
3. y to K6 (mate)
1. K to K4
2. K to Q4
YOMT
Selections 'of old
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
•»• Please address Cheas-Editcr.
J. A. Miles. — Many thanks for letter and problems.
3-mover, No. 30, very favourably received,
masters will always be welcome.
Walter Mead. — Problem received with thanks.
Constant Subscriber. — In no case whatsoever can a player" be
forced to take his adversary's Pawns or pieces, except if he has
touched that piece or made a false move ; therefore, the Pawn can
play to Knight's 5.
G. W. — Solution 35, 36, and 37 correct. The mate is, as you say,
known as Philidor's legacy.
C. W. S. — Solution of No. 35 correct.
J. E. L. — No. 35 correctly solved. We acknowledge all solutions
received.
H. S. S.— Problems 30, 31, and 35 correctly solved.
J. M. F.— See p. 505.
H. A. N.— No. 25 correctly solved ; also Nos. 33, 34, 35, 30, and
37.
Alfred B. Palmer. — Solutions 35, 36, and 37 correct.
Molerjue. — 35, 36, and 37 correct.
Fusee.— Solutions of Nos. 31, 33, 34, 35, and 36 correct. No. 29,
if R takes B, R to Ktsq, and there is no mate, Q to Q3 is correct.
Moleque. — 32 correctly solved. The mistake is ours. P. 513 it
ought to be 30 (very) correct and 31 incorrect, if Q to R8, then B
to B sq, and there is no mate. Please write on one side of the
paper only.
John Watson v. George Wilson.
H. Vallance.— 15. Q to B8 (ch), 16. K takes Q, B to Q6 discover-
ing double check, 17. K to K sq, R to B8 (mate).
Brenton. — Solution of No. 31 correct, 32 incorrect. 1. Kt to B4.
No. 25, if 1. B to Kt5, 1. K to K4, 2. Kt to Kt3 does not mate if K to
K5, but 2. Kt Q6 does. 33 and 34 correct. 35 incorrect. 1. Q to
B6, 1. P takes P, and there is no mate. 36 incorrect. The King
retreats to Kt sq.
Fleur-de-Lis. — Solution of No. 35 correct.
A'^OTICHS.
The First Volume of Knowledge will be published early in June next, bound in
red cloth, gilt lettered. Price 10s. 6d. Vol. I. will comprise the numbers from
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The Back Numbers of Knowledge, mth the eiceprion of Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5,
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The following Monthly Parts of Knowledgb are now to be had (Parts I. and
II. being out of print) : —
Past III.— (Jan., 1882.) Containing four numbers. Price lOd. Post-free, la.
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Poin>'8 EiTEACT is a certain t
Pond's Extract is a certain cui
Pond's Extract is a certain cui
Pond's Extract will heal Bum
Pond's Extract will c
ire for Rheumatism ai
\ for Haemorrhoids.
« for Neuralgic pains,
and Wounds.
;and Bn
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine.
:mat
1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE •
563
'MAG^z.iini:.ufSi;;IENCE^
1;^ PLAINLYlifQRDEB-EXACTLY^^^r-R'BED
LONDON: FRIDAY, MAI ■>, ioo^.
Contests of No. 2
The InfinitiM Around U«. By
PMl<-ur 6C3
l%e Future of Knowledge 5(a
Tke Approaching Eclipse 563
Dr. Siemens on 8ol«r Energy. By
the Editor 665
The Antiquity of Man in Western
Europe. Br Ed. Clodd. Part II. .587
The Amateur Electrician — Elec-
tric Generators {Continued) 668
Fhotogniphv for Amateurs. By A.
BrwhiTS.F.R.A.S. Part V 569
Uanlan and Trictett. By iu> Old
Club Captain 570
The >'aTal and Submarine Exhibi-
570
Charles Darwin 671
raoi
M. Pasteur 671
Development in Foot'Bacing 671
The Comet 572
The Nebula in Orion 672
Weather Diagram 673
Saroolic Indulgences. By M.D. ... 673
Seal "Fisheries" 67-1
A Dog Goes Over >'iagara Falls
AliTe 67*
CoRBRSPONDBiTCB ; Population of
the Earth : A Curious Problem-
Cod Sounds and Scientific Privi-
lege, ic. . 575-676
Answers to Correspondents 676
Our Mathematical Column 677
Our Whist Column 579
I Our Chess ColnmB 680
THE INFINITIES AROUND US.
By Pasteur.
""tTJ'IIAT is there beyond this starry vault? More
V\ starry skies. Well, and heyond that ? The
human mind, driven by an invincible force, will never
cease askuig, Wliat is there beyond 1 . . . . It is useless
to answer ' Beyond are unlimited spaces, times, or magni-
tudes.' Nobody understands these words. He who pro-
claims the existence of an Iniinite — and nobody can evade
it — asserts more of the supernatural in that affirmation
than exists in all the miracles of all religions ; for the
notion of the Infinite has the twofold character of being
irresistible and incomprehensible. When this notion seizes
on the mind, there is nothing left but to bend the knee.
In that anxious moment all the springs of intellectual life
threaten to snap, and one feels near being seized by
the sublime madness of Pascal. Positivism uncere-
moniously thrusts aside this positive and primordial
notion, with all its bearings on the life of human societies.
Everywhere I see the inevitable expression of the Infinite
in the world. By it the supernatural is seen in the
depths of every hearts The idea of God is a form of the
idea of the Infinite. As long as the mystery of the Infi-
nite weighs on the human mind, temples will be raised to
the worship of the Infinite, whether the God be called
Brahma, Allah, or Jehovah ; and on the floor of those
temples you will see kneeling men absorbed in the idea of
the Infinite. Metaphysics do but translate within us
the paramount notion of the Infinite. The faculty which
in the presence of beauty leads us to conceive of a superior
beauty — is not that, too, the conception of a never-
realised ideal 1 What are science and the passion for com-
prehending anything else, then, but the efiect of the
stimulus exercised upon our mind by the mystery of the
universe 1 Where is the real fountain of man's liberty 1
■where the true source of woman's dignity, but in the
conception of the Infinite, in presence of which all men
are equal ?"
THE FUTURE OF KNOWLEDGE.
M PASTEUR has chosen the occasion of his rccep-
• tion in the Academy to speculation largely -.ipon
what is in the nature of the case undomonstrable. But
the truth is that the career of a great scientific discoveiir
suggests speculations as little demonstrable, perhaps, but ii'
a different kind from these. Ever since thought began,
mankind has wondered as to its own nature and its own
destiny. It will go on wondering to the end of time,
whatever new facts .science may bring to light, whatever
new worlds beyond the MUky Way or within the compass
of a speck of dust may be revealed by telescope or micro-
scope. It may bo allowed, however, in the presence of a
personality like that of M. Pasteur, or of the .still greater
discoverer whose loss the world is mourning, to look forward
upon the future of knowledge, to ask how far all these
new acquisitions will in the future modify our life, our
practice, our methods of study. M. Renan, to whom a
curious fortune gave the task of receiving !M. Pasteur,
has, in an interesting passage of his own autobiography,
given it as his belief, that a century hence mankind
will study very little else than physical science. The time,
he thinks, will come when the historical sciences will be
thrust into the background ; all that they have to teach
will be known, and men will feel comparatively little
interest in their own past. On the other hand, the more
they know of nature the more there wUl be to be known.
Chemistry and physiology offer inexhaustible fields for
research ; and the truths which they reveal will prove more
and more interesting to mankind. It is very diflicult to
say what men will think or do a hundred years hence ; but
it seems likely enough that this will be the tendency of
study. Certainly, even now, the men of science are be-
coming more antl more important factors in the life of all
of us. They are little by little winning the fight against
disease ; they are giving us facts, and enabling us to found
our beliefs on the sure ground of knowledge. Their in-
fluence must surely become greater and greater as time
goes on ; for humanity always reserves its highest honours
for those who teach it to know. — Times.
THE APPROACHING ECLIPSE.
Note. — Some readers of Knowledge have been perplexed by my
statement that the Editor of Knowledge had appointed Mr. Proctor
Special Correspondent in Egypt, but that it was not certain
whetlier he could go. I had no wish to mystify any of my readers-
Perhaps the following statement will make all clear : —
Mr. P>. A. Proctor, student of science, has been obliged, after care-
ful consideration, to decline to accede to the earnest wish of Mr.
Proctor, Editor of Knowledge, that he should go to Egypt to view
the eclipse. It did not seem desirable that while Knowledge is
still so young it should be left to run alone so long. Certainly, not
less than sis weeks would have been required for the proposed
journey.
rpHE path of the centre of the moon's shadow across
X Upper Egypt during the eclipse of May 1 7 is shown
in the accompanying map. The following table is given
by Mr. Hind, superintendent of the Xautical Ahnanac, a
Nature (Mr. Hind speaks of the eclip.sc of May 16, having
probably become so accustomed to astronomical time that,
in his mind, the morning hours of May 17, up to noon,
belong to ilay IG ; half- past eight in the morning of May
17, in common parlance, is with him half-past twenty.
564
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 5, 1882.
p
JO Jf J2 *3 -K
JS
1
1
.wj
.V
ao
29
28
26
^
1 T E R R
A N E A
N SEA
/{jKlUTsi XH^ /^
lU O W jNh*^
P
V P T ^
1
1
27|
1
li
( Y
^
MID 1)0/
E E GY
V 0
P T \
\>x«
i^
/o
p 'yii
A ^ / y
\ '^ J y^:
^y^
■;^
"pa
o^^^^^Jy
MoilaiA
0^
^t'
<5
eh
iKosseir
26
0<^
/
1^
* J*
\
r
_
30 - 31 ai 33 3*
35
May IG ; l)ut probably most of our readers are more
familiar witli half-past eight than with half-past twenty).
upan tiin(>,
Mnv 16.
l.ongiLudi? E.
Lnlitude X.
Duration o
tofiility.
li. m, ».
ilpj;. m.
(leg. m.
m R
18 22 30
30 18-2 ,
. 25 50-9
. 1 92
18 2.3 L")
30 58-0
26 11-6 .
1 10-6
18 2.'; (1
31 370
26 31-9 .
. 1 120
18 2G l.l
32 15-3
. 26 51-8
. 1 13-3
IS 27 MO
33 52S»
27 11-2 .
. 1 146
18 2S 1.'-.
33 29!)
. 27 30-2 .
. 1 15 9
18 30 0
31. CI
27 48-9
. 1 171
18 31 \:,
3 J 41-9
. 28 7-2
1 18-3
18 32 ;to
35 17-2
. 28 25-2 .
1 19-5
Thus ill lons-itiido 31° 37' E., lotitiiclo 26° 32' N., a poiut close upon
the Nile, the duration of the total jihaae is Im. 12s., and the middle
at 20h. 31m. 28s. locrvl moan time. The central line crosses the
Xile about a degree north of Luxor, one of the stations occupied for
the observation of the last transit of Venus.
The eclipses in the map represent the outline of the
moon's shadow (the umbra or total shadow), at the suc-
cessive epochs mentioned in the above table. Some
readers may, perhaps, be interested to learn how the
shape and position of the shadow (its size being deter-
mined by the calculated duration) have been deduced
from a simple process of construction, which also gives
other useful information.
Draw the semicircle SZN, to represent the sky at
Station 3 (where most of the observers win be) at the
moment of central eclipse, N being north point, S the
south, the east and west points at O, and Z the zenith,
or point vertically overhead, so that OZ is perpendicular
May
1882.]
* KNOWLEDGE »
565
to SN. Take arc NP of 26° nl'-S, giving P the pole, and
.Iraw Oe perpendicular to OP, representing the equator,
lake es equal to the sun's northerly declination at the time
if eclipse, about lO"^ 20' : then xmr, perpendicular to OP.
represents the sun's diurnal course for that declination.
Open out this course by supposing it turned round radius
itm into circle sk. Take sk, corresponding to arc of sun's
course, from moment of eclipse to solar noon at Station .'5.
This, correcting 8 h. 31 m. 28s. by .'i m. .")1 s. (to be added to
local meantime), so that apparent time is 8h. 3.5 m. 19s.,
corresponds to 3 h. 24 m. 41 s., or, in an; measurement, to
ol° 10' 15" (which we take off as angle s?«/.with a protractor.
Then rotate sk back again, carrying /.■ along the perpendicular
k O to the sun's true place © on the sky of Station 3 at
the moment of central eclipse. Ob\iously, then In Q I
parallel to SON gives IN, the sun's altitude at the time of
<-entral eclipse, and the construction makes this 43°, which
is within a minute or two of arc of the true altitude.
The elliptic shadow of the moon lias, therefore, its major
axis exceeding its minor axis in the same degree that OS
<'xceeds Oit. (If we want this ratio exactly, we turn to a
table of natural sines for sine 43°, giving 682 : 1000.)
To determine the direction of the shadow's longer axis,
we note that © is very nearly due east, but a little north
of it. An arc n' about n as centre, and n, (more exactly
a perpendicular from n' to », but for so small an angle
the arc does as well) taken equal to n © gives n'n, the
small angle — about li degrees — by which the sun will be
north of east. Thus the larger axis of the elliptic shadow
lies nearly east and west, but its eastern end a little north,
so that the axis is inclined about lA degrees to the latitude
parallel through Station 3. The size of the shadow is
determined by the consideration that with the determined
shape and position the shadow must cover as much of the
line of central eclipse as corresponds to the motion of the
shadow's centre in Im. 12s.
Similarly for the other shadows, and of course, lines
touching all these ellipses (i) above and (ii) below,
give (i) the northern and (ii) the southern limits of total
«clipse.
DR. SIEMENS ON SOLAR ENERGY.*
By the Editor.
IN this theory there is suggested a fan-like action, by which
hydrogen, hydro-carbons, and oxygen are supposed to
be drawn in enormous quantities towards the polar surface
• In No. 20, for March 17, there is an admirable risum^, by Dr.
Carpenter, of Dr. Siemens' theory of the Conservation of >SoIar
Energy. The theory appears to us ansonnd as respects both its
chief requirements. We now give the reasoning which proves, we
believe, first, that the solar energy could not be utilised in the way
Buggested ; and, secondly, that, as a matter of ob.=erved fact, it is not
so ntilised. — Ed.
of the sun. During their approach they are supposed to
pass from their condition of extreme attenuation and
extreme cold, to that of compression, accompanied with rise
of temperature, until on approaching the photosphere thej'
burst into Uame, giving rise to great development of heat,
and a temperature commensurate with their point of disso-
ciation at the solar density. The result of their combustion
is aqueous vapour and carbonic acid or carbonic oxide,
according to the sufficieney or insufficiency of oxygen pre-
sent to complete the combustion, and these products of
combustion in yielding to the influence of centrifugal force
will flow towards the solar equator. . . . So iiinch we may
regard as possible, though much would have to be proved
before it could be regarded as probable. But Dr. Siemens
goes on to say that the matter thus carried towards the
solar equator I'-ill he thence projected into apace.
Now there can be nothing simpler than the considera-
tions on which such projection into space would depend.
The question whether a body moving in a particular way
at any part of the sun's surface will travel outwards into
space, or will not travel outwards, can be answered accord-
ing to certain very definite laws. If the velocity of its
motion exceeds a certain amount, the body will recede
from the sun : if it falls short of that amount the body
will tend to approach the sun's centre ; if the body has
just that velocity, then the body will neither recede
nor approach. Now it suggests the idea of tremendous
centrifugal tendency to say that at the sun's equator
the velocity is 441 times the tangential velocity (at
the equator) of our earth. Bodies do not fly from our
earth's equator on account of the enormous tangential
velocity tliere (more than a thousand miles per hour) ;
but it is easy to im.agine, as Dr. Siemens evidently
does, that with the much greater velocity at the sun's
equator there may be such a tendency as his theory
requires. What is, however, the actual state of the case 1
Centrifugal tendency varies in the first place as to the
scjuare of the velocity ; and squaring 4-41, we get 19-4.5 ;
so that if our earth were to rotate 4-41 times as fast as she
actually does, the centrifugal force at the equator would
be increased 19-4.5 times. Even that would not be nearly-
enough to make bodies fly off at the equator. (In fact, it
can easily be shown that for bodies just to become weight-
less at the equator the earth should rotate in 1 J, hours,
or sixteen times as fast as at present.) But this is
only a small part of the matter. Centrifugal force
not only varies as the square of the velocity, but in-
versely as the distance from the centre of motion. So
that, as the sun's diameter exceeds the earth's about 108
times, centrifugal tendency at his equator is diminished in
this degree, so far as this particular circumstance is con-
cerned. Increasing the tendency 19-45 times and reducing
it 108 times, means in all reducing it to about two-elevenths
of the centrifugal tendency at the earth's ecjuator. Yet
even this is not all. Not only is the centrifugal tendency
at the sun's equator less than a fifth that at the earth's
equator, which diminishes by a very small part the
force of terrestrial gravity, but the centrifugal tendency
due to the sun's attractive force is very much greater
at the sun's surface than terrestrial gravity at the
earth's equator. It is roughly about twenty-seven times
as great. Thus the centripetal tendency of matter
at the sun's equator is \ery much greater (many
hundreds of times greater) than its centrifugal tendency ;
and there is not the slightest possibility of matter being
projected into space from the sun's surface by centrifugal
tendency. Nor is there any part of the sun's mass where
the centrifugal tendency is greater than at the surface near
the equator. So that, whatever else the sun may be doing
566
♦ KNOWLEDGE
[May 5, 1882.
to utilisp liis mighty energies, he is certainly not throwing
oflf matter constantly from liis ef)uatorial regions, as Dr.
Siemens' theory rciiuirts
This being so, the theory failing thus in a matter abso-
lutely essential to its validity, %vi" may feel less tempted
than perhaps we otherwise might be to endeavour to ovev-
look other diliiculties, though these on careful consideration
appear scarcely less decisive. It might perhaps appear a
work of supererogation to consider difficulties when we
have already noted an impossibility. But some perhaps
will consider that, although the sun may not, after drawing
to himself the matter occupying space, reject it from him
in the manner supposed, he may reject it in some other
manner. If so, there might still be reason for inquiring
how far it is likely that the sun's rays may be utilised
when falling on the matter occupying space, in the way
suggested by Dr. Siemens. His iclea is that solar radiation
acting on the aqueous vapour and carbonic acid gas, and
other compound gases supposed to occupy interplanetary
and interstellar space, may dissociate such compounds, and
that solar energy may thus be utilised, instead of being
wasted.
Now, if the rays of lirat (and light) are thus titilised
within the solar domain, regarding that if we please as
extending many times further than the orbit of Neptune,
they have either done their work and have been completely
utilised, or they have not. If they have done their work,
these rays proceed no further, and the sun would therefore
be invisible from any point outside his own domain. (For
we must not fall into the mistake of supposing that light
and heat can lie considered separately in this inquiry :
the se solar rays which give us what we call light, give us
also a large quantity of the solar heat, and the mystery of
seemingly infinite waste would remain, even if we supposed
that only those heat rays which are not also light rays were
utilised in the way supposed. Apart from this. Dr. Siemens
specially shows how the light rays act in accordance with
his \-iews.) Now, what is true of our sun is true of other
suns, the stars. They also ought to be invisible outside
their several domains, but as a matter of fact they are
^Tsible. If, on the other hand, the solar rays have not
done their work in traversing what may be regarded as the
solar domain, the mystery of infinite waste is not removed,
scarcely even diminished, by Dr. Siemens' theory. If those
other suns, the stars, are able to send across the vast
distances which separ.ite us from them, such supplies of
light (to say nothing of stellar heat, which Huggins and
others have measured) that by measuring it we can say
that all of them are suns like our own, but many far larger
and giving out much more light than he — what is the
amount of work which we can suppose the stellar rays to
have done on their way 1 If they have done much (in
proportion to the total quantity which they are capable
of doing), then the stars must be very much larger,
brighter, and hotter than we suppose them to be,
and already we regard them as the rivals, and some-
thing more than the rivals, of our sun. If they
have done little, the mystery of infinite waste remains.
In the case of the Siemens' regenerative furnace, we
know that the heat is utilised in the particular manner in-
tended, not only because we iind the heat so saved doing
its proper work, but because we find that this heat no longer
goes idly up the furnace chimney, as before. The heat
cannot be doing its full work in the furnace if part goes up
the furnace cliiiuney ; but also, part cannot be going up the
furnace chimney if the heat is doing its full work. This,
however, is what Dr. Siemens' theory requires the solar
heat to do. It is to be continually utilised in dissociating
compound vapours in interplanetary space, although it is
continually passing beyond interplanetary space to shine
through interstellar space, and to show our sun as a .star to
worlds circling round his fellow stars the suns. We have,
in fact, the fallacy of the perpetual motion in a modified
form.
^Ve are compelled, then, regretfully perhaps, but still
unhesitatingly, to give up that satisfaction which, as Dr.
Siemens remarks, we should gain, could we believe that
our solar system need " no longer impress us with the idea
of prodigious waste through the dissipation of energy into
space, but rather with that of well-ordered, self-sustaining
action, capable of perpetuating solar radiation to the re-
motest future." Yet though not in this way, to this end
all thoughtful study of the mechanism of the universe
seems unquestionably to tend ; not by centrifugal tendencies
of the kind imagined, for none such exist; not by work
which, viewed in reference to the universe as we know it,
means endless production without exhaustion ; but in other
ways (associating perhaps our visible universe with others,
permeating it as the ether of space permeates the densest
solids, and in turn with others so permeated by it) there
may be that constant interchange, that perpetual harmony,
of which Goethe sung —
See all things with each other blending,
Each to all its being lendinfj,
Each on all in tiu-n depending :
Heavenly ministers descending,
And again to Heaven uptending,
Floating, mingling, interweaving.
Rising, sinking, and receiving —
Each from each, while each is giving
On to e.^ch, and each relieving
Each — (he pails of gold. The living
Current through the air is heaving;;
Breathing blessings see them bending.
Balanced worlds from change defending.
While everywhere diffused ia harmony unending.
From the dtrnhill Mngaztnc. ^
Since this article appeared in the Cornhill ilagaziiie.
Dr. Siemens has called my attention to a letter of his in
Xature, in which he answers the objection relating to the
centrifugal force. Next week I shall endeavour to find
space for his reasoning in exfenso ; but here I must content
myself by noting that it amounts simply to this : That
taking two equal portions of gaseous matter at equal
density and temperature, and equi-distant from the sun's
centre, one at the sun's pole, the other at the equator
(sharing in the sun's motion of rotation), the former is
drawn with greater force towards the centre of the sun
than the latter, — and that, therefore, a polar inflow and an
equatorial outflow must take place, provided only that
space is not empty, as supposed by Laplace, but fiUed
with either an elastic or non-elastic fluid. This rea-
soning shows undoubtedly that under the imagined con-
ditions there would not be equilibrium, and therefore
those conditions would not exist. Motion would take
place until equilibrium was obtained. But no one
familiar with the mathematics of hydrodynamics wUl, on
consideration of the matter, maintain (though, by a passing
forgetfulness, he might assert) that, even if the impossible
conditions suggested by Dr. Siemens could exist for a
moment, the absence of equilibrium would lead to con-
tinuous motion outwards in the sun's equatorial plane. The
surfaces of equal pressure would pass from the spherical to
the spheroidal form, and would for a time oscillate on either
side of the form they %\ould finally assume ; but there
would be no continuous motion either of inflow or of
outflow. I may note, further, that Dr. Siemens' view
respecting what Mairan supposed, and Laplace disproved,
is not correct. Ilis comparison also between the loss of
May 5, 1882.]
♦ KNOW^LEDGE -
567
^ilar energy of rotation, due to the fan-like action he
Attributes to the sun, and that resulting from the tides on
the earth, is unsound. However, I must defer to next
week any further comments on this subject
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN WESTERN
EUKOPE.
By Edw.\rd Clodd.
PART II.
THE division of Pala?olithic time suggested by M. de
Mortillet is as follows : — *
Eolithic Thcnaisian... Stone split by fire.
I'alaolitliic . Aclieulian ... Age of the Mammoth.
Monsterian...
Solntrian ...
Magdalenian
Cave Bear.
Keindeernnd Mammoth.
Reindeer.
The Cave period.
The evidenes in support of the presence of man in Europe
in mid-Tertiary times consists of worked flints found in the
calcaire de Beatice, a Miocene stratum at Thenay, in
Loire-et-her, hence the term Thenaisian. The symmetrical
form of the flakes ; the " bulb of percussion," as it is called,
i.e., the conical projection at tlie end of a flint wliere the
blow striking oflF a splinter is given ; the rough cliipping
round the edges and the traces of wear and tear, are cited
by their discoverer, the Abb6 Bourgeois, as proofs of human
origin. Moreover, he believes that they were fractured by
the aid of fire, or used as " pot-boilers,''t which would be con-
clusive evidence, if proved. But it is not placed beyond
doubt that the flints may not have come from previously-
disturbed and later deposits nearer the surface, which is
strewn with stone implements, and although similar finds
are recorded from the Miocene beds of the Tagus, and bones
with apparently designed scratches and notches have been
found in the faluns of Pouance, the attitude of most
antliropologists is to wait for additional evidence. " Ex
pede Ilercidem," says the adage, "you judge Hercules by
his foot," but even the foot of Tertiary man " comest in
such a questionable shape '' that we cannot take his
measure from it. Indeed, as the foregoing table shows, M.
de Mortillet passes without pause from the relics of the
Thenay beds to those of St Acheul, which are within the
Post-Pliocene, Pleistocene, or Quaternary period, as it is
variously called, and wliich are now admitted as conclusive
regarding man's presence in Western Europe by every
anthropologist of repute.
But before describing these in such detail as the im-
portance of the matter demands, let us glance at the
momentous changes in Europo which appear to have
preceded the arrival of Palaiolithic man. These may, in
measure, account for the scantiness of material vet pro-
ducible, and for the gaps in the sequence of geological
monuments bearing on the past history of man. " If we
consider," Sir Chas. Lyell remarks,* "the absence or
extreme scarcity of human bones and works of art in all
strata, whether marine or fresh water, even in those formed
in the immediate proximity of land inhabited by millions
of human beings, we shall be prepared for the general
dearth of human memorials in glacial formations, whether
recent, pleistocene, or of more ancient date. If there were
* " Cf. Materianx ponr I'Histoire de I'Homme." Second Series.
Vol. II., p. 545.
t In the absence of earthen or metal pots, we find the practice of
dropping red-hot stones into vessels of skin, wood, or bark, wide-
spread among ancient and modern savages.
t " Antiq. of Man," 4th ed., p. 216.
a few wanderers over lands covered with glaciers, or over
seas infested with icebergs, and if a few of them left their
bones or weapons in moraines or in marine drifts, the
chances, after the lapse of thousands of years, of a geologist
meeting with one of them must be infinitesimally small."
At the close of the Pliocene Age, the land area was
greatly enlarged by slow elevation. The German Ocean,
which during that period had covered East Anglia, was
"high and dry." As evidenced by the forest^beds traced
from Cromer to Kessingland, oaks, firs, yews, birches, and
smaller trees abounded ; alders flourished in the congimial
swampy land ; water-lilies blossomed on the rivers, from whose
deposits the smacksnien on the Dogger Bank dredge up to-
day vast numbers of bones of mammals then wallowing
in the slime and roaming through the jungles- huge ele-
phants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, cave l>oars, Avolves,
(co-temporaries, be it remembered, of man), and even
" several large estuarine and marine mammalia, such as the
walrus, the narwhal, and the whale."* But, as testified by
strata superposed upon the Norfolk forest beds, the
temperature gradually declined, until an arctic cold
prevailed ; the land once more sank beneath the
"azure main," and the long, though intermittent, reign
of the Ice Age set in. The eflects of this in the
rounded hills of our island, the roc/(es mmUonnces of
the continent (so called from their resemblance to sheep
lying down) ; in the striated or grooved and polished rock-
surfaces ; in the erratic blocks — " foundlings," as the Swiss
happily name them — deposited in districts far from their
parent rocks, as, for example, the occurrence of Scandi-
navian boulders on the plains of Saxony ; in the mounds
of sand and gravel, and the deposits of " till " or clay
crammed with stones of all sorts and sizes and scantily
charged with derived and broken fossils, were long the
puzzle and problem of geology, and the source of numlier-
less legends. They were referred to every cause except
the true one, until Agassiz, after long study of glacial action
in Switzerland, proved them to be due to the mechanical
effects of ice. What brought about such alterations of
climate as to swathe the northern hemisphere in a vast
ice-sheet at one period, and to clothe it within a few
degrees of the pole with the vegetation of temperate climes
in another period, is explained to the satisfaction of most
competent judges by Dr. Croll's theory.t That is to say,
at certain periods, irregular in their recurrence, the earth's
orbit becomes much more elliptical, and its distance from
the sun correspondingly greater. If, when this period of
greatest ellipticity happens, the incidence of the seasons
has been changed by the precession of the equinoxes,;]: the
summer would be too brief to undo the work of the long
winter, and ever-increasing accumulations of snow and ice
would result. In the course of thousands of years these
conditions would be reversed, and the climates of northern
and southern hemispheres change places.
Such is, in brief, the explanation of those remarkable
conditions which either beset or immediately preceded
palaeolithic man, and, only staying to remark that, with
subsequent upheaval of the land, Britain was once more
joined to the Continent, we may pass without further
break of story to the sure ground where his " works follow
him."
More than fifty years ago, many of the bone-caves of
* Lyell : " Antiquity of Man," p. 258.
t "On the Physical Cause of Change of Climate during Geolo-
gical Epochs." Fhil. Mag. Angust, 1854, and, for further treatment,
" Climate and Time."
X See Knowledge, No. 11, p. 218, for an admirably clear ex-
planation of this complex movement by the Editor. Cf. article by
Mr. Burr, " Intellect. Ohs.," vol. iii, pp. 354, et seq.
,GS
• KNOWLEDGE •
[May :,, 1882.
England nnel Bolgiuni had been explored, but it was not
until 1K17 that the 'i'onniay Natural History Society em-
bodied the results of their labours in Kent's Hole, in a
paper which was sent to the Geological Society. What
obtuseness to the momentous revolution in current beliefs
JUS to th(! antiquity and primitive state of man which these
and like? discoveries involved, the Council of that learned
body displayed, is shown in this laconic entry in their
(Quarterly Journal, " On Kent's Cavern, near Torquay,
in this paper an account was given of some recent re-
searches in that cavern Ijy a committee of the Torquay
Natural History Society, during which the bones of various
extinct animals were found in several situations."
Nor did they manage these things better in France. In
the same year (1817) M. Boucherde Perthes called attention
to the discovery of sonic rudely-shaped flint implements in
pits which were being worked for sand and gravel in the
Somme valley, near Abbeville. They had been found at
intervals during the preceding six years in such positions
and so far below the surface as to convince him that they
were not later, but j^robably much earlier, than the
deposits in which they were embedded, and in which were
also found bones of the mammoth, woolly-haired rhino-
ceros, and other extinct animals. M. de Perthes argued
that these worked flints had been fashioned by man, and
witnessed to his high antiquity and low level of culture.
But he was met with the reply that these so-called tools
and weapons were either natural fractures or forgeries,
and an account of similar finds of "instruments en silex "
in the Drift at St. Acheul (hence the term Acheulian),
near Amiens, which was published by Dr. Rigollot in
18.5.5, met with the same reception.
It seems strange to us, with whom the " Origin of
Species " has for some years been a canonical work, that,
until within the last quarter of a century, even the masters
in our scientific Israel were so fettered by traditional
opinions concerning man, that they deprecated any re-
sistance to these, so that the investigation which he had
for a long period extended to the earth beneath him, and
for a still longer period to phenomena above him, was
applied to his kind and its place in the succession of life
last of all.
A dozen years passed before savants on both sides of the
Channel confessed themselves mistaken. In 1858-9, some
English geologists, stimulated by discoveries in Brixham
cavern, examined M. de Perthe's collection of implements,
and the beds in which they were said to have been found.
" In addition to being perfectly satisfied with the evidence
adduced as to the nature of the discoveries, they had the
crowning satisfaction of seeing one of the naked flints
still in situ in its undisturbed matrix of gravel, at a
depth of seventeen feet from the original surface of
the ground."* An impetus was thus given to further
research, and not only were discoveries of similar
implements (presumably, from their general resemblance
of form, of the same age, and shaped by the same race of
men), made in England in beds of gravel, sand, and clay,
for the most part on the slopes of our existing river-valleys,
but it was ascertained that flint implements had been
disinterred at the end of the last century from the
Waveney Valley, in Suflblk, only to be, as it were, re-
interred in the Museum of the Societv of Antiquaries.
The earliest known find of a flint in the drift was in the
Thames Valley, probably at the close of the seventeenth
century. It is said to have been found with the tooth, or,
according to another account, the skeleton, of an elephant,
near Gray's-Inn-lane, and is preserved in the British
Museum. It would be easy to convert this paper into a
dry catalogue of discoveries, and to avoid that prosaic
result, it sulKces to say that implements of stone, — leaf-
.sliaped flakes, removed from flints by blows or pres-
sure, and apparently intended as knives and scrapers;
pointed weapons analogous to lance or spearheads;
oval or almond-shaped weapons, with cutting edge
all round, — have been found by thousands in the drift of
England and the Continent. This river-drift is formed of
alluvial dopo.sits bought down by that unresting, yet un-
hasting action of rain and flood which is for ever deepening
the bed over which the waters flow. Since the time when
the men of the Acheulian period lived in France, the
Somme has cut down its valley one hundred feet — a result
which requires an enormous antitjuity for the flint imple-
ments found in the undisturbed gravels. The Vjottom of
that valley has yielded polished stone weapons and other
remains further illustrating the vast lapse of time between
the Ancient and Newer Stone Ages — vast, even after
making full allowance for a more rapid action of rain and
flood in the Quaternary period than now.
THE AMATEUR ELECTRICIAN.
ELECTRIC GENERATORS (Continii>'d).
IN the previous article we described the first principles of
magneto-electricity, and got so far as to say that when
an electro-magnetic coil is made to pass across the poles of a
permanent magnet, currents of electricity are induced in
the coil. These currents are reversed in direction everj'
time the coil changes its position in relation to the magnet,
that is to say, the current induced as the coil ^^^ "che.s
the magnet being in one direction, the current induced after
the coil has passed, and as it recedes from the magnet,
will be in the opposite direction. Commutators or current
reversers are used, by means of which these opposite
currents are sent in one common direction through the
external circuit.
The electro-magnetic coil, however, need not necessarilj'
be of the orthodox form. JI. Gramme, about 1870, designed
a coil (which, by-the-way, is called the armature of the
large or field magnets, consisting of a ring of soft iron,
with insulated copper wire wound round it in sections.
The object in view was to have a part of the coil always
passing through the magnetic field, and so to be constantly
producing electric currents, instead of only once or twice
in each revolution. For an amateur, however, the Gramme
machine is comparatively dLfficult to make.
• Kvann'e " Aiiolont Stone Implenienta," p. 478.
We prefer, therefore, to describe in detail a machine
with what is know as " Siemen's " armature, being much
easier to make, and quite sus efficient. This armature
May 5, 1882.]
• KNOVVL^EDGh.
569
is represented by Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 1. is a vertical sec-
tion (full size), while Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section a little
Ifss than half-size. The dimensions here given are such as
will produce a small instrument of great service for pur-
poses where only a few cells are otherwise required. Larger
ui.'ichines can be described subsequently.
. _ 5 ...
~'.
1 '1 A i
^::i;;:::
T c
j ; B 1
The armature is simply an electro magnet with the core
riattened out, and its extremities extended so as to form
pole-pieces of a segmental section. The core, C, in our
machine is four inches long and one inch wide, the thickness
lieing not more than three-eighths of an inch. The pole-
pieces, A and B, are ti\-e and a-half indies long, quarter of
ail inch thick in the thickest part, and turned up so as to
form parts of a circle of one and a-half inches diameter.
The armature may be made in three pieces, and fastened
together by means of 'wTOught-iron screws or rivets ; or,
what is better, it may Vie cast in one piece, great care
Ix'Lng taken to ensure that the iron is perfectly soft, and
possesses no coercive force — that is to say, it must not
retain any magnetic polarity after a current of electricity
has passed round it It must also be pointed out
that when in working order, the armature has to
revolve between what are called the magnetic pole-
pieces bored out cylindrically, the greatest effect
i>eing obtained when the armature revolves in a circular
loring only sufficiently large to allow it to move with-
out touching. Consequently, the more true we make
the curves of the pole-pieces, the more effective will the
apparatus become. For the Vionetit of those of our readers
wlio have not the facilities for turning out such work, we
have deposited a pattern with a very good firm of iron-
founders, who -will send the casting, either in the rough or
finished state*
Well insulated copper wire should be very carefully
wound round the core, so as to fill up the hollow portions
of the casting, and form as nearly as possible a circle
with AB, as illustrated by WW in Figs 1 and 2. It is
recommended to use number 21 BWG, silk-covered (price
.'is. ."id. per pound). Both extremities of the wire may be
brought to one end of the armature. Before winding on
the wire, gun-metal caps should be fitted ready to be fixed
on to the armature. Fig 3 represents one of these caps
in vertical section. Holes should be drilled in the face of
each cap, and corresponding screw-threads tapped into the
pole-pieces of the armature, so that perfect rigidity may, on
screwing together, be ensured. The caps should also be
furnished with projections (about half-an-inch thick and
an inch in length), whose function is to act as a spindle.
A small pulley wheel, say an inch in diameter, should be
driven (or cast) on to one spindle projection, and a little
I'bonite tube over the other. In this latter cap two small
holes should be made near the spindle, and through them
• Readers wiehinK for these castings, can get them by sending to
Mr. Benjamin Slater, Wellington Foundry, Charles-street, City-
road, London, E.G., for Knowlepge casting. No. 1, rough, 6d. ; or
tiniehed, Ss.
the ends of Uie armature wire should be passed. What
becomes of them we will say hereafter.
When working, the armature will revolve at the rate
of 1,.500 or so revolutions per minute, and it is therefore
essential that eveiything should be true. The wire has
naturally a tendency to lly out and will do so, unless two
or three small grooves arc made in tlie pole-pieces A, B, m
[ZU
Fig. 3.
which a few turns of silk thread, or any equally tenacious
non-magnetic substance, are wound, passing round the
armature, and so securing the wire. It is as well, per-
haps, to remind our readers that they should make sure
that the entire armature is evenly balanced. This they
can easily find out. We will leave our description of the
other portions of the apparatus till next week.
PHOTOGEAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
By a. Brothers, F.R.A.S.
THE solution required for developing the negative is
composed of protosuljihate of iron 1 oz., glacial acetic
acid 1 oz., alcohol 1 oz., and water (rain or distilled always
to be understood in making up solutions) 20 oz. In hot
weather more acid and less iron may be used. The iron
should be dissolved before the acid and alcohol are added.
Filtration is not necessary if the solution be allowed to
settle.
When the plate is removed from the camera slide or
carrier, it presents the same appearance as when placed in
it (the film of iodide of silver in the collodion is creamy
white) ; no image whatever is visible ; it is latent, and
requires to be " developed." Several agents are used for
this purpose, pyrogallic acid and protosulphate of iron being
most commonly employed. Development with pyrogallic
acid is very slow as compared with the iron, and for
that amongst other reasons the iron is mostly used. The
light has caused a chemical change, and has so modified
the silver compound that when the reducing agent is
poured over the plate the silver is thrown down in a
metallic state on those parts which have been acted upon
by the light, in exact proportion as it has been reflected by
the object which has been copied. This will be seen to be
the case when the negative is examined by transmitted
light ; the lightest parts will appear most opaque, and the
deepest sliades .show only bare glass. That the image is
formed of metallic silver may be proved by gentle friction
on the dry surface of the negative, as, after removal of the
powdery surface, the polished silver will be found beneath.
In developing the picture, only sufficient solution
should be used to cover the plate, and this, of course,
570
• KNOWL.EDGE •
[May 5, 1882.
is detenniiied by the size of the glass used. The de-
veloping solution must be caused to flow evenly over the
plate by pouring it on at the lower edge, and at the same
time by so accommodating the position of the plate that
the solution will flow in one sweep to the top, and care
should be taken to allow as little as possible to run ofl'.
The reason for this is that the silver is required to form the
picture, and if waslied away the image may be weak. If
the proper exposure has been made, the image will soon
appear, and its development must be carefully watched, in
order to avoid too much intensity. Tlie solution must be
kept in gentle motion whih; on the plate, and may be
returned to the glass cup while the plate is examined, and if
the development has not been sufficient, it must be again
poured on. Experience alone can determine this, and it will
quickly be gained. What is required is sufficient intensity
to give the proper light and shade in the ]}rint on paper,
which is the object in view in taking the negative.
Usually, when iron is used as the developing agent, the
image is not sufficiently dense for printing from, and, when
this is the case, it must be intensified. The solution for
this must contain 15 grains of pyrogallic acid, 5 grains of
citric acid, and water .5 ounces ; and it is used by taking
sufficient of the solution to cover the plate and a few drops
of silver solution (20 grains, for water 1 ounce). This is
used in the same way as the developing solution, and the
effect on the negative must be watched to avoid over-
intensity. After use, the developing and intensifying
solutions may be put into any convenient receptacle when
the silver they contain may be recovered in a metallic state.
The negative image is still veiled by the unreduced
iodide of sUver, and this can be removed by pouring over
the plate a weak solution of potassium cyanide which will
clear the plate, leaving only the metallic image. As
potassium cyanide is a dangerous poison, hyposulphite of
soda is preferred by some operators ; its action is not so
energetic as cyanide, but it answers the purpose equally
well. A saturated solution should be used — that is, suffi-
cient of the hyposulphite of soda must be put into the
water until it will dissolve no more, the surplus crystals
may remain in the bottle, and the solution may be re-
peatedly used.
The negative must be carefully washed after each of the
(^orations we have now described, and if hyposulphite of
soda be used for fixing, the washing must be more
thorough than when cyanide is used.
If allowed to dry spontaneously, the plate must be
turned face to the wall, or it may be at once dried over a
spirit lamp, or by a fire ; care being taken to avoid dust.
In the experimental stage, the negatives need not be var-
nished before they are printed from. Before varnishing,
make the negative so hot that it is just bearable when
touched on the back of the hand, then pour on varnish as
if it were collodion, returning surplus to stock bottle. Dry
by fire, and the negative is complete.
The Imperial Commission of German Scientists, who will come
to America to observe the transit of Venus on Dec. 6 next, will
establish posts of observation in Cliaileston, S.C, and in Hartford,
Conn. The Lepslaturo of the latter State has adopted a resolution
extending its courtesies to the distinguished visitors, and granting
permission to erect on the State Capitol grounds a temporary
building for their scientific apparatus.
A NATURALIST says there is au "ant town" in the Alleghany
Mountains. It consists of sixteen or seventeen hundred nests,
which rise in cones to a height of from two to five feet. Thegroand
below is riddled in every direction with subterranean passages of
communication. The inhabitaiits arc all on the most friendly
terms, so that if any one nest is injured, it is repaired by help
from the other nests. Foreign auts of the same species are not
tolerated.
HANLAN AND TRICKETT.
By an Old Club Captain.
I WAS able to study the action of these two scullers
under favourable conditions on Monday, hoping to find
evidence Vjearing on the question of rowing styles. But
the superiority of Hanlan was manifestly not due entirely,
or even chiefly, to any differences such as I touched on in
my discussion of the styles in vogue at the two Universities.
Yet the characteristic feature of Hanlau's rowing illus-
trates the principles I then considered. This feature is
his marvellously scientific method of sliding ; for he so uses
the slide as to combine the effect of slide, swing, and arm
work, thus bringing arms, back, loins, and legs into simul-
taneous action, so that his boat seems as if driven from
a catapult. Then, so perfectly is each stroke given that
there is not the slightest perceptible dip, and therefore no
force lost in vertical pressures, and as little loss of way as
possible between the strokes. One feature in Ilanlan's build
surprised me. I had been told that his muscular develop-
ment is singularly well-proportioned, that there is no
abnormal or unusual show of any muscles, but that all the
principal muscles of the body are well developed. Also
when I met him at Toronto, I had failed to recognise
the peculiarity to which I now advert — viz., a most ab-
normal development of the deltoid, as compared with
the biceps muscles. I venture to say that Hanlan is an
anatomical marvel in this respect.
THE NAVAL AND SUBMARINE
EXHIBITION.
THIS exhibition, which formed one of a couiov- ^1 what
may be called " trade exhibitions," at the Agri-
cultural Hall, Islington, and which has been held during
this month, was, in the opinion of those old enough and
able to judge, by far the best of its kind which has taken
place since the Great Exhibition of 1862. Certain it is
that the processes and appliances exhibited by some 500
or 600 firms are fraught with extremely great interest,
not only to those in the various trades represented, but
also to the general public. It is doubtful if anything can
be conceived of greater importance than the saving of life
at sea. Numerous systems having this object in view were
offered to the public, embracing life-buoys, belts, boats,
lie, and in addition to the ordinary boats, there were to be
seen a number of devices, more or less ingenious, for com-
pactly showing such vessels, yet in such a manner that
they could be lowered in an almost inappreciably small
space of time — time, in fact, which could be counted by
seconds. In one case, the boat, made of canvas-like mate-
rial, itc, could be doubled up longitudinally, and placed
by the side of a ship, occupying only a fifth of the space
it would till when laid open. There were also several
arrangements for releasing the boats from the davits, the
best, perhaps, being that which allowed the hooks to drop
away as soon as the boat touched the water.
Diving apparatus occupied a very prominent place ; the
most important exhibit in this department being that of
Messrs. Fleuss, Dufl', k. Co. This apparatus is as useful
for searching expeditions in mines or other places filled
with noxious gases as it is for ordinary diving purposes.
No pipes are used in this system, but the diver, carrying
with him a small vessel holding a supply of oxygen gas
sufficient to last for four hours, breathes his own breath
over and o\-er again, the exhaled air being passed through a
filter containing caustic soda, wliich robs it of its poisonous
exhalations.
Mav 5, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
571
Asbestos is a substance which receives a daily-increasing
rtttention, and was exhibited in a great number o£ applica-
tions. It is expected — and it is to be hoped the expecta-
tion will not prove an unfounded one — that asbestos will
vf-ry shortly be practically demonstrated to be one of the,
f not thf, best of electric insulators. Specimens were
iMiwn in which it took the place of ebonite, at something
ike one-tenth the cost As was known very many cen-
turies ago, it is a mineral which is tire-proof, and it is not
to be wondered at that great efforts are being made to
ik-monstrate its non-intlammability when used as a paint.
Another series of exhibits of very great interest were
the materials devised for speedily, very efficiently, and
iconomically removing paint Altogether, the Exhibition
may certainly be described as one of the greatest successes
of the daj-.
CHARLES DARWIN.
1"'HE death of Charles Damiu, which, even at the age of seventy-
three, appears i>rematnre, -will send a thrill of grief through
r whole civilised world. Ko man during the present century has
•n better known, more quoted and misquoted, appreciated and
-. ffedat. than the author of that " epoch-making " work, "The
( irigin of Species ; " and yet the man wlio thus set the world ablaze
bus been content to lead the life of a true philosopher — allowing
1 riends and foes to say their say, and leaving it to his works thcm-
- Ives to justify praise and to refute calumny. Unambitious and
.rrissnming, be has never thrust himself before the public, nor
light for honours and emoluments. He worked for the love of
lUce and of truth, careless of his own reputation if only he could
:il>art to others that which his own mind had grasped so lirmly
iid analysed so accurately. As a naturalist, not even his greatest
t nemies will deny him the meed of praise. No other man conld
have drawn so much knowledge from a single scientific voyage, and
the works conseciuent upon his connection with the expedition of
the Beagle would Imve stood out as monuments of vast genius and
miparallelcd indnstry, even had he never ^vritton those better-
known and much-criticised books which have made his name the
war-cry of opposing factions.
The sprcat thinkers of the day have long ago made up their minds
:■! to the truth of Darwinism, although Darwin himself would have
I en the first to admit that the theory he advanced was still im-
•i-fect. Having given the bold, broad outline, ho has left it to
other workers to fill in the details; and even if, in so doing, it
should be found necessar}* to efface a line here and there, he would
have been the last to object to such effacement if it should prove
desirable in the cause of truth. And meanwhile, the great and
childlike philosopher, who thought not the lowly worm and clinging
plant beneath his notice, has passed away quietly and unosten-
tatiously as he has lived, few even knowing of his death till a full
day after it had taken place. Keveitheless, his loss will be deeply
and widely mourned, and the gap left by it in the ranks of science
will long remain vacant, for in the present generation who could be
found to fill the place so long occupied by Charles Darwin ? As a
stranger, I can testify to his great courtesy in replj-ing to queries
which must often have seemed frivolous ; but the truly great man
is always tolerant, and willing to give freely to others knowledge
acquired with much pains and labour, and in this respect Dar\vin
wag truly great, and never despised or rejected anything placed
before him which had the slightest scientific value.
It is not necessary here to give a list of his works ; they mnst bo
wcll-kno\vn, at least by name, to all readers of Knowlbdge, and
those who know- them by name only would do well to make them-
selves familiar with their content.s before they condemn the greatest
philosopher and most profound thinker of the age, who, in his quiet
country home, has worked out problems in zoology, botany, and
Keology, which otherwise would have remained, as the riddle of the
Sphynz, fatal to all who attempted their solution.
A. W. BUCKLAKD.
M. PASTEUR.
FOR thirty years M . Pasteur has carried on the most minute and
elaborate researches into the lowest forms of life, and hia
discoveries, in the opinion of many, have established beyond all
reasonable donbt the great fact that there is no such thing as
spontaneous generation. He is the foremost representative of
the " germ theory " of disease, and has absolutely proved in certain
departments, and left it a matter of sure inference in others,
that animal maladies may positively bo traced to the presence
of minute organisms in the body. There has been fierce con-
troversy on these matters. There still are some rigorous oppo-
nents who refuse to be converted, such as Dr. Charlton Bastian,
who held debate with M. Pasteur at the Congress last year ; but
there is no question as to which way the balance of opinion now
lies, if, indeed, it is 'not incorrect to speak of tho germ theory as
being anv longer within the sphere of opinion. Tho great advance
that it has made towards certainty during the last few years is
primarily due to the work of M. Pasteur. He did not, of course,
invent the theory. It is in its outlines as old as tho beginnings
of scientific medicine ; and in a somewhat advanced form
it is as old as the last century. But M. Pasteur has given
it at once a width and a universality that it lacked before,
by bis researches into the nature of fermentation and his
microscopic studies of disease. It might be thought that beer
was too evervday a subject for tho investigations of one of the
profoundest observers of our time; but M. Pasteur's work on
beer has not onlv made the fortune of the brewers who wore wise
enough to read him, but has revealed the most important truths as
to the mysterious process of fermentation. Wine and silkworms
have also" attracted his attention ; so have chickens and sheep. It
was, indeed, with the diseases of these two last that he was con-
cerned in the memorable address last August. Chicken-cholera and
splenic fever are mysterious and, it ha 1 been thought, incurable
diseases. To M. Pasteur they have proved neither mysterious nor
incurable, for he has found out tho two facts, so important in
themselves, so immeasurably important in their bearings on all
similar diseases, that these forms of sickness arc both caused by
tho presence of minute alien organisms in the body of the animal,
and that thev can be cured or prevented by a process analogous to
vaccination.' Vaccination, indeed, which has heretofore been re-
garded as a certain but inexplicable safeguard in one disease alone,
is now in a fair way of being scientifically explained, and, as a con-
sequence.of being proved useful in innumerable caseshitberto thought
to be beyond its reach. Some of our readers will remember the
statistics which M. Pasteur gave last year of the effects of the vac-
cination of sheep according to his method. May we not suppose
that a similar cure is about to be discovered for the other plagues,
whether of human or of lower forms of life, which are one by one
being brought within tho scope of the gei-m theory ? The researches
of Dr. Koch with regard to tubercular consumption, which Professor
Tyndall explained in our columns a few days ago, are a case in
point. Who can say whether in a few years, or in the next genera-
tion, at all events, it may not be the practico to vaccinal* for con-
sumption, as we now vaccinate for small-pox ? — Times.
DEVELOPMENT IN FOOT-RACING.
THE winner of the six-day -'go-as-you-please" contest, whick
began in Xew York, Feb. 27, made the unparalleled record of 000
miles. "The second in the race covered 577 miles, beating every
previous score save his own of 582 miles made in this city a year
ago. Tho winner, Hazael, was on the track a few minutes short of
106 hours.
The scores made by the vrinners of the various six-day contests
that have taken place since 1878 stand as follows : —
"^ Milea.
O'Leary... Astlev Belt, London, March, 1878 520^
Howell ... Astley Belt, New York, March, 1879 500
Weston ... Astley Belt, London, June, ls79 ^..... 550
Corkey ... First race, Championship of England, 1878... 521t
Brown ... Second race. Championship of England, 1879 542
Brown ... Third race, Championship of England, 1880.. 553
Hart Rose Belt, New York, September, 1870 540
Murphy... O'Lean- Belt, New York, October. 1879 505i
Hart .".... O'Learv Belt, New York, .^^pril, 18S0 5G5
Kowell ... Astley 'Belt, London, November, 1880 506
Panchot.. O'Leary Belt, New York, March, ISM 541i
HuLThes... O'Leary Belt, New York, January, 1S81 568t
Fitzgerald Ennis Race, New York, December, 1881 582
Hazael ... Contest at Madison Square Garden, March,
1882 COO
In the last race, KowcU, who broke down, ran on the fii-st day
150 miles in 22i hours, the first 100 miles being covered in 12t
hotu-s. — Scientific American.
Poiro's EiTBiCT is s certain rare for Khemnitwin and Gout.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Haemorrhoids.
Pond's Ertract is a certain cnre for Neuralffic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Ertract will cnre Sprains and Bmisee.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genumo. ADTI.
672
KNOWLEDGE
[May 5, 1882.
THE COMET.
"ITI^E give this week the path of comet Wells to the end
V T of next week. We had prepared a map from the
orbit given in the circular of the ScMiice Observer, Boston ;
but this was incorrect, and we instructed the engravers
not to proceed with the map. The path here shown is
taken from the positions given by the superintendent of
the Nautical Almaiiac.
THE NEBULA IN ORION.
Pkoi-. Heney Deapee's Photographs of the Spectscm.
THE nebula in Orion is, for many reasons, a very interesting
body. It is an immense mass of glowing; gas, and presents
the same condition that, accordin*^ to the nebular hypothesis, the
eolar system did before any planets had been formed. Among
these points of interest none is greater than that bearing on the
chemical question of the non-elementary character of the so-called
elements. If we cximine the spectra of the sixty-eight elementary
bodies found on the earth, and group them together, the resulting
map contains thousands of lines ; if we look at the spectrum of the
sun, a considerable proportion of these lines are found there ; if we
observe a certain series of stars, the number of lines diminishes, till
in such stars as Vega only about a dozen lines are seen ; and finally,
if we turn our spectroscope to the true nebula", only three or four
lines remain. Such observations indicate that we are tracing back
a process of evolution of the elements, and that from extreme sim-
plicity complexity is being evolved. The evolution of the elements
proceeds in the yarae way as the evolution of organised structures,
the heterogeneous from the homogeneous.
The investigation of the compound nature of the elements has
for some years attracted the attention of adv.incod scientific men,
and various attempts have been made to solve the question.
Among these we may now mention those of Professor Ilcnrv
Draper, who has looked at the problem from the astronomical point
of view. As the main hope for the dissociation of our so-ealled
elements is from the influence of heat, it is obvious that in the
heavenly bodies, where the temperature is far higher than any we
can ottAin hero, wo may detect such decomposition. For this
reason, for many years. Dr. Draper has been prosecuting this
research, and step after step of advance has been attained.
Inasmuch as hand-work is inade<|uate for the correct and i-cady
mapping of spectra, it was plain that if photography could be
applied, great advantages would arise. Accordingly, Dr. Draper
has constructed a series of instruments of greater and greater
delicacy for the successive steps of this research, and beginning
with sjwctra of the sun many years ago, has photographed the-
spectrum of star after star, even down to the tenth magnitude, and,
finally, during the past month of March he succeeded four times in
photographing the spectrum of a nebula — the nebula in OrioD.
Such photographs require careful study before all that they con-
tain can be explained, but they constitute ar ^•••»^'^^».^nt advance.
One result, however, is obvious, hydrogen declines to be decomposed,
and maintains unimpaired its position as an element. Curiously
enough, in the same month, the celebrated English physicist,
Huggins, has also obtained a photograph of this same nebular
spectrum.
Dr. Draper has also taken photographs of the nebula itself, so as
to watch for changes in it, and observe whether the process of
aggregation into stars can be detected. Collated with the photo-
graphs of the spectrum, they show clearly evidences of such con-
densations.— New Yorl: Times.
[Dr. Draper writes to me as follows : — " I do not get the line at X
3,730, of which Dr. Huggins speaks in the April number of the
American Journal of Science, but, on the other hand, I photograph
h (\ 4,101), and a couple of other lines in its vicinity which he does
not get. iloreover, I have found two curious condensations (in the
nebula) which give a continuous spectrum, and indicate either com-
pressed gas or liquid or soHd. These just precede the tr.ipezium, and
do not show themselves as stars on the photographs of the nebula
(without spectroscope)." — R. A. P.]
Littrk. — Littres faith in Positivism arose from the mental
quietude it offered on the great metaphysical questions. Negatio»
as well as doubt incommoded him. Augusto Conite extricated him
from both by a dogmatism which abolished all metaphysic. Follow-
ing this doctrine, M. Littre said to himself, " Do not trouble your-
self either with the origin or end of things, with God, the soul,
theology, or metaphysic." What quietude for this ardent mind,
ambitious of traversing every field of knowledge. This quietude,
however, has been misconstrued, and apjiearanees have been decep-
tive in representing M. Littre as a staunch and resolute atheist.
The religions creeds of others were not indifferent to him. " I
know too nuich." said he, "of the sufferings and difficulties c(
human life to wish to deprive anybody of the convictions which bear
him up in every trial." He no more denies the existence of a God
than the immortality of the soul. Ue excludes the consideration of
the notion from the mind, because he is proclaiming the impossi-
bility of scientifically attesting it. For my part, regarding the
words progress and invention as synonj-mous, I ask what is the
new philosophical or scientific discovery which can remove such
great anxieties from the mind r" They seem tc mo essentially ever-
lasting, for the mystery enveloping the universe, of which they
are an emanation, is itself essentially everlasting. — " Pasteur's
Address before the Academy of Science."
May
1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
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NARCOTIC INDULGENCES.
DIIUM E.ITIXG AND SmOKIXC, AXI) MoBrUIA-CRAVINl,.
By M.D.
^ \1' laie years medical men hai-e becoiuo ,familiar with a now
V_^ form of opium-eating — namely, " Morphia-Craving," dosig
natetl by the Germans *' Morplu'um-Siicht." Morphia is one of thft
" Alkaloids," or essential principles of opium ; it possesses powerfully
narcotic properties, it allays pain, and soothes the nervous system.
Owins to its concentrated virtue, it has witliin the last few years
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come largely into use hy the mode in injection beneath the skin. A
small syringe, graduated for the measurements of the dose, is iitted
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with a line tube of tlie f ize and shar))ncss of a needle. The injection
of a dose, suited to the emergency of the case, is followed by almost
instant relief of the most intense pain, and even if sleep bo not
induced, the most agreeable sensations of relief supervene. So
seduciug is the sense of ease and rest, under the influence of this
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mode of administration that, once experienced, the desire for its
repetition recurs frequently, until it bceomej a hard matter to
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resist or to overcome the craving lor the drug. The solution, inserted
into the loose tissues below the skin, is rapidly — almost instanta-
neously— absorbed into the current of the blood, and thus carried to
the scat of pain.
We know of instauces where j)atients have purchased for their
own use the injection syringe, and have practised the use thereof
for years — the breaking off of the habit having been found impos-
sible. It is therefore not without some anxiety, and a deep sense
of more than ordinary resj)unsibilitv. that the medical man avails
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himself of so invaluable a therapeutic means. The effects of the
prolonged use of the subcutaneous injection of morphia is to blunt
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all the nervous energies ; to demoralise, iu fact, the powers of the
mind, and to make the supplementai'y indulgence in alcoholic
stimulants an equally irresistible craving.
Opium-eating is prevalent in several districts in England. In
Norfolk and Lincolnsluro it is not casual or rare, but popular,
habitual, and common, and supposed to be " protection against
ague." A writer in the iitdical Times and Gazette (July 19, 1873)
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says : — '* Any one who visits such a town as Louth or Wisbeach,
and strolls about the streets on a Saturday evening, watching the
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country people as they do their marketing, may soon satisfy himself
that the crowds in the chemists' shops come for opium. They have
a peculiar way of getting it. They go in, lay down their money,
and receive the opium pills in exchange without saying a word.
For instance, I was at Wisbeach one evening in August, 1H71, went
into a chemist's shop, laid a penny on the counter. The chemist
said, ' The best ? ' I nodded. He gave me a pill-box and took up
the penny, and so the purchase was completed without my having
uttered a syllable."
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Opium, there is little doubt, is largely and habitually consumed
by persons in England. In the northern counties, more especially
in Lancashire, there is a nostrum extensively sold under the name
of Godfrey's Cordial, which contains a large quantity of opium.
It consists of a decoction of sassafras-wood, -m'tli some treacle, and
the addition of opium in uncertain quantities. This villanous
compound is sold in largo quantities, and used by mothers engaged
in factory work to keep their infants asleep and quiet whilst they
are from home. The mortalitv among infants in these districts ia
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frightfully large.
it would bo a needless occupation of your space to repeat the
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stories of opium smokers and eaters in China and other parts of
the world, but one point should be noticed. The quantity used at
each smoking " bout " is very small — exceedingly so to begin with.
Taken in the solid form in small doses, as done by some of the
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far less injurious than alcoholic stimulants. That it is a deadly
poison cannot, however, be controverted by such facts. Two
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wrongs don't make one right.
It certainly was a strange oversight that in the last Act of Parlia-
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ment restricting and regulating the sale of poisons, opium, in a
crude or solid state, was omitted from the schedule, while paregoric, a
verj- mild opiate, was included, and cannot be sold without statutory
precautions; while opium pills, or ])owdered opium, may bo pur
chased without restrictions. The writer knows an instance in wliicb
a young man bought in a druggist's shop, without any questions
asked, enongh opinm to kill himself. At the inquest, the druggist
escaped censure, because the drug w.is not entered on the schedule
of the .\ct for the Kegulation of the Sale of Poisons.
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In illustration of the danger of the reckless use of opium, I would
add the following incident : —
I was one evening hastily summoned by a ))erson who told me
that my son was in a tit in an adjoining street. I hurried off in the
direction indicated, in a state of the most painful anxiety, as he had
never provionsly had a tit. On mv wav, I met two policemen with
574
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 5, 1882,
ray son on a stretcher, and I accompanied them to the nearest station.
My son was totally unconscious, and his countenance had the pale-
ness of death. His limbs were flaccid ; his breathing slow, regular,
and performed without effort ; his |)ulse was soft and slow.
The report to mo by the constables was, that they had found him
in this state, seated on the pavement, propped up against a wall.
The impromptu and inevitable verdict of most of (he police was
" Drunk." There was, however, no smell of alcoholic liqnor in his
breath ; neither was his physical state like that of a man " in
drink." One of the constables, more intelligent and cautious than
his fellows, pointed out these features, and said " He is not drunk,
but he's drugged." I hesitated to accept this explanation, since he,
being a medical student, I thought, would not easily bo " hocusscd "
in that manner. Nevertheless, the sequel proved the man was right
in his diagnosis.
As I was well-known in my professional character at the station,
I was .allowed to remove my son home. He was placed in bed and
kept quiet. In the course of about eight or nine hours he woke up,
and was at first quite at a loss as to his " whereabouts." After an
attack of vomiting, he recovered his faculties, and gave the following
account of his illness.
He and a fellow-student, discussing the subject of opium-smoking,
in a thoughtless moment agreed to experimentalise upon themselves.
They were both tobacco-smokers. They placed each a small pinch
of powdered opium in their pipes with the tobacco and smoked
away for a short time, when they began to feel agreeably in-
toxicated. They went to an adjacent tavern and asked for coffee ;
■whilst this was being prepared they fell asleep on sofas. After
gome time they were ejected from the inn as being the worse for
liqnor. They wandered out iu the street ; my son remembered
getting into an omnibus, but forgot everything afterwards until he
came to himself at three o'clock in the morning. Upon close
inquiry, I learnt that the conductor of the omnibus when he got to
his journey's end turned his passenger out, and saw no more of
him. His fellow-smoker could give no account whatever of liis
doings until he found himself in bed, in his lodgings, the next
morning. In these two young men the effect of the inspiration of
opium fumes was a dreamless sleep, -with some of the phenomena
of somnambulism. A slightly stronger dose would, doubtless, have
Bent them into that sleep from which there is no waking.
The narrative here given may, perhaps, warn others from such
experimenting, and it should also serve as a caution against opium
smoking to any extent at all.
SEAL "FISHERIES."
A LARGE part of the world's supply of seal-skins for furs comes
from the Prybilov Islands, off the coast of Alaska. On two
of these islands the seals congregate in vast numbers early in spring,
and remain for three months. With the exception, I understand, of
one island off the coast of Japan, the fur seal is nowhere else seen in
the North Pacific, and it is said that the seals on the coast of Alaska
are colonies which migrated suddenly froni the other island. Be
this as it may, the habits of the seal prove that it has a remarkable
attachment to localities. The sealing is farmed by the United
States Government for, I think, £'50,000 a year to the Alaska
Commercial Company ; and an agent of tho United States resides
on the principal island and sui>erintends the annual slaughter of a
stipulated and selected number of \-ictims. By this precaution there
is little danger, from man's inconsiderate rapacity, of the fui- seal
being exterminated in the North Pacific. Some years ago I heard
Mr. Bryan, the Government agent, describe to the California
Academy of Sciences, the fur seal trade carried on under his super-
vision. With only a variation of a few days in point of time, the
males arrive in a great shoal that agitates the sea as far as the
eye can scan, and, hobbling across the beach, establish themselves
at "home" on the ledges of rock, the strongest males always
taking possession of the best places. Next day, or, at the outside,
on the second day after the arrival of the males, the females are
discerned on the horizon, and ere they have emerged from the
waves, the males have rashed down to tho beach to welcome them,
which they do with much roaring and quarrellinjr among themselves.
Fighting for possession of the females is legitimate warfare, and
in such a contest the greatest number of females fall to the most
powerful males, some of which secure five or six companions. A day
after the female lands, she gives birth to her young (one or two), and
hardly have tho offspring begun lo suckle when she receives the em-
braces of the male. During their stay on the islands, combats of great
ferocity occur among the males, and the older animals exhibit scars
and gashes which render their pelts of little value to the furrier.
A short time before tho seals go to sea again, the males and females
separate, and are to be seen extended in long lines apart from each
other along the beach. The young stay with the females, and go
to sea with them. It is a most curious fact that, during the whole
of the three months on the islands, neither male nor female enters
the water. They abstain entirely from f(x)d throughout the whole
of the period, and it is almost unnecessary to say that, althongk
they arrive in plump condition, they return to their fishing very
lean. The animals are killed, and not skinned alive. Males alone
are killed, and these only at three years of age. After that age,
their combats materially reduce the value of their skins. As soon
as tho males have separated from the females, the for-provideraf
ojierations begin. Day after day, groups of the males are snr-
rounded and cut off from their comi)anions, and a grand drive of
the game takes place towards the curing establishments. On the way
thither, the males which are unsuitable are allowed to slip seaward
between the ranks of the drivers. On reaching the slaughtering-
ground, a blow or two from a club on the head kills tho animal. The
skins are removed with the gi'catcst care, in one particular way, and
are given to the dressers, who scrape and rub down tho inner parts,
leaving them soft, and remove also the outer rough hair, which com-
pletely covers the inner fur. Some precautions of curing having
been taken, the skins are periodically shipped by the company's
steamer to San Francisco. There they remain some time in the
company's warehouse in Sansome-street, but are all ultimately sent
to London to be dyed ; and, as I have been informed by the ofiicials
of the company, the dyeing operations are a secret in the posses-
sion of one family iu London. It thus happens that seal-.skins in
the United States, on re-admission to the country, have to pay duty
as a manufactured article, and are much more costly than in
England. Occasionally, dyers in San Francisco experiment to get
at the secret of the dyeing iu London, but no one has succeeded.
Some dyeing, I believe, is performed in Germany, but it is possibly
by a branch of the London establishment. D. J. McB.
A DOG GOES OVER NIAGARA FALLS ALIVE.
ALAEGE dog lately survived the passage over Niagara Falls
aBd through the rapids to the whirlpool. He was first
noticed while he was within the influence of the upper rapids. As
he was whirled rapidly down over the falls, r*^ '^"« imagined but
that that was the last of him. Shortly afterwards, however, he was
discovered in the gorge below the falls vainly endeavouring to
clamber up upon some of the debris from the remains of the
great ice bridge which recently covered the water at this point,
but which had nearly all gone down the river. The news spread
rapidly through the viUage, and a large crowd gathered on the
shore. Strenuous efforts were made to get the struggling animal
on shore, for an animal which had gone safely over the falls wonld
be a prize worth having, but without success. Finally the dog
succeeded in getting upon a large cake of ice, and floated off
u]3on it down towards Suspension Bridge and the terrible ■
whirlpool rapids. Information of the dog's coming was tele-
phoned to Suspension Bridge village, and a largo crowd
collected on the bridge to watch for the coming wonder. In
due time the poor fellow appeared upon his ice-cake, howling dis-
mally the while, as if he apijreciated the terrors of his situation. Afl.
express train crossing the bridge at the time stopped in order to
let the passengers witness the unusual spectacle. Bound and round
whirled the cake, in a dizzy way, and louder and more prolonged
grew the howls of the poor deg. As the influence of the whirlpool
rapids began to be felt, the oake increased in speed, whirled suddenly
into the air, broke into two, and the dog disappeared from view.
No one thought that he could possibly survive the wild rush
through the rapids. When, therefore, word was received that the
dog was in the whirlpool, still living, and onco more struggling
vainly to swim to land, it was received with marked incredulity.
This story was substantiated by several trustworthy witnesses.
It seems incredible that an animal could go through the upper
rapids, over the falls, through the gorge, through the whirlpool
rapids, and into the whirlpool itself, a distance of scvei-al miles,
and still be alive. The poor animal perished in the whirlpool. —
Scientific American.
" In two instances dogs have been sent over tho Falls and sur-
vived the plunge. In November, 1836, a troublesome female bull
terrier was put in a coffee sack by a conple of men who had de-
termined to get rid of her, and thrown off from the middle of Great
Island Bridge. In the following spring she was found alive and
well about sixty rods below the Ferry, having lived through the
winter on a deceased cow that was thrown over the bank the
]irevious fall. In 185S, another dog, a male of the same breed, was
thrown into the rapids, also near the middle of the bridge. In less
than an hour ho came up the Ferry st-iirs, veiy wet and not at all
gav. He was ever after a sadder if not a better dog."
"NiAGAEA." — By Geohgk W. Holley.
May
1S82.J
KNOWLEDGE
575
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"In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and deepised who ia not in a
•tate of transiuon Nor ia there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fliity of opinion." — Faraday.
*' There is no harm in making a mistake, but ^eat harm
me a man who makea no mutakes, and I will show yo
■Othlnp." — Liebi^.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth.."— Charles Eingsiey.
&nv Corresipontienre Columns.
POPULATION OF THE EAETH : A CCEIOtJS PROBLEM.
[891] — A correspondent, James Connal, asks how much space
would be required on the earth, on the assumption that, beginning
with a single pair, the human race had multiplied during 5,000
years at the rate of 30 children to each pair, sons and daughters
being bom altornatelj, and each husband and wife being at the
time of marriage respectively 21 and 20 years old — there being also
no deaths. The problem is too difficult " for any use," as Americans
Bay ; but it may be roughly dealt with thus : — Children being born
from the twenty-first to the fifty-first year of husband's life, and
from the twentieth to the fiftieth of the wife's, we shall obtain a
fair mean estimate, rather under than over, if we take 30 children
for each pair at the age of 40 (nineteen or twenty being really bom
before and the rest after 40). On this assumption the population
of the world in 5,000 years (or 125 times 40) would be
2 -f 30 -e 450 -(- Ac. to 126 terms
= 2 [ =-(15'^) approximately.
L 15 — 1 I 7
Now log. 15 = 1-1760913, and multiplying by 126
log. (15'*) = 1481875038
log. '/ = 0-8450980
log. (number representing population) = 147-3424058
=log. 2190015, followed by 141 digits, which digits we may repre-
sent without appreciable inexactness by cyphers. Now, assuming
that ten persons could stand on a surface one yard square, 30
millions could stand on a square mile, and on the entire earth, whose
surface is about 200,000,000 square miles, some 6,000 millions of
millions. Dividing the number just obtained by this, we get 3666526,
followed by 125 cyphers. It would require this inconceivable number
of worlds like our own for the population on the assumptions made.
Let us see how large a single globe would suffice to give standing
room to this population, ten to the square yard.
Such a globe must have a diameter exceeding the earth's as the
cube root of the above quantity exceeds unity, or, roughly, as 7
followed by 43 cyphers exceeds unity. (In reality it will bo larger
considerably, but this is near enough in such a problem as the pre-
sent.) Now the diameter of the orbit of Neptune, roughly, exceeds
the earth's diameter nearly 700,000 times. Hence the diameter of
the required globe exceeds the diameter of Neptune's orbit more
than a hundred billions of billions of billions of times.
Supposing the farthest star visible in the great Rosso telescope
to lie some thirteen or fourteen millions of times ^farther from us
than the nearest, which lies about 7O,0C0 times farther than
Neptune, the distance of that star, 1,000,000,000,000 times farther
than Noptune (or a light-journey of some 40 millions of years),
would be but the
100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000th
part of the radius of such a globe as would be required to hold the
population we are considering. A sphere having a radius equal to
100 millions of years' light-jouraey would not suffice even to contain
so many human beings.
COD SOUNDS AND SCIENTIFIC PRIVILEGE.
[392] — Though I am glad to see Mr. Mattiou Williams' exposi-
tiou of his views upon the subject of Cod Sounds, as it enables one
to understand the way in which his (as I take it) misconception of
the nature of that structure has been brought about, yet I am very
sorry that any clumsiness of expression upon my part should have
led him to think that 1 am an upholder of that paltry spirit of scien-
tific exclusiveuess which he with such vigour and justice condemns.
Versatility in my eyes ranks next only to accui-acy in a scientific
man, and' I agree entirely with Professor de Morgan that the ideal
scientist should " know something of everything, and everything of
something," indeed my own studies in biology have been undertaken
mainly with a view to enlarging my grasp of another science from
which I have borrowed the nam de plume under which 1 write.
This notwithstanding, I trust Mr. Williams will pardon my point-
ing out that, for instance, Pasteur's splendid acheivements " in the
domain of the biologist " were not published as the recollections
of work done in his student days twenty or thirty years previously.
Since the days when Mr. Williams was a student of natural history,
A-c, at Edinburgh, biology has made vast strides, partly by the
mere increase of the number of observers, but mainly by the aid of
absolutely new methods of research with refinements in appliances
undreamed of forty years ago. The grand generalisations of
Darwin have, besides, directed inquiry along linos entirely new. Did
Mr. Williams acquaint himself with the writings of modem Com-
parative Anatomists, and then perform one careful dissection of
a •■ Cod-fish," I feel sure he would come to a very different conclu-
sion as to the nature of the " Sound." As, however, it would be
unreasonable to ask him to recommence the study of so large a.
subject after such a lapse of time, I will just give an account of the
appearances presented in my recent dissections of the fish under
discussion.
I would point out that, as a preliminary, the blood-vessels were
injected with a brightly coloured fluid which made them so distinct
as to leave no room for doubt as to their nature.
Just under the throat the heart is situated, and from it proceeds
forwards a large vessel, the ventral aorta ; this subdivides into a
number of branches which distribute blood to the gills. After
traversing the minute capillary vessels of those organs, the blood is
carried into a corresponding set of large vessels, which, after giving
off one or two unimportant branches, unite to form a medium trunk,
the dorsal aorta, which almost immediately sends branches to the
stomach, intestine, and various glands. From the point whence
these arteries are given off, the aorta bends up and runs in direct
contact with the underside of the backbone down to the tail. Lying
beside the aorta are two large veins.
Beneath these blood-vessels is a large bag (the sound) with
fibrous saccular walls, the dorsal (upper) wall of which is very thin
and delicate, and the ventral (lower) and lateral walls exceedingly
thick and strong. This bag extends through almost the entire body-
cavity, and is quite shut. It terminates in front in two blind
prolongations which He loosely among the nerves and blood-vessels
just behind the head. Within it (besides air, which I have always
found) is a body known as rete mirabile, a closely-packed arterial
network, which receives its blood from a very small branch of the
aorta. Between the sound and the backbone are the kidneys,
elongated bodies of a deep-red colour, which in the dead fish, at any
rate, contain a gi-eat deal of blood. They are divisible into tlireo
regions^a thick head Sidney, not in contact with the sound, extend-
ing from the hinder part of the skull backward to the mid-kidney,
a much thinner portion, occupying the middle region of the body-
cavity ; and a very thick portion, the coalesced right and left hind
A-idiiei/«, passing back beyond the hinder end of the body-cavity.
The kidneys are supplied with blood by a number of small branches
of the aorta, and their ducts (the %ireters) pass right through the
sounil, perforating both its upper and under walls, and carrying
side by side with them a small artery.
When the coloured fluid was injected into one of the large
arteries, it passed freely into the aorta (the dorsal one I style
simply the aorta) and all' its branches, even to the most delicate ,•
yet not one drop found its way iiito the cavity of the sound.
576
KNO\VL.E!3GE ♦
[Mav
18«2.
The forcgoin); facts I can personally testify to.
Professor Ilu'ckcl classifies the true bony tishcs (Tehonlei) us
I'hyaostomi, or those in which the air-liladdor communicates
throughout life with the alimentary canal by an open duct ; and the
Phyuoclisti, in which the duct, though open in the young immature
fish, is closed in the adult. To the latter group (which is further
ehoracterised, according to Professor Iluxley, by the presence of a
rete mirabilo in the air-liladder) the cod belongs.
To sum up the case, I coiilcnd: —
1. That there is nir wilhiii the sound, which, unless produced by
yiosf mortem changes, would by all analogy certainly cause the
death of an animal if in its aorta.
2. There is also within it a rete mirabile which miijht be mis-
taken for a blood clot, but 1 have never found any blood.
3. There are, between the sound and the backbone, the kidneys,
which, in Mr. Williams' sludent-days, uiaij have been regarded by
anatomists as mere clots of blood, and it is obviously to them that
he refers as the " great dorsal blood clots," agreeing as they do
exactly in distribution with the said "clots." It is quite contrary
to my experience to find blood forming clots in arterica, though
they are almost invariably found in the veins of dead animals, and
it is more than doubtful if such definitely distributed ones could
form in a large sac like the cod-sound.
4. The head kidney lies in front of, and therefore must be outside,
the sound.
5. There is no communication between the circulatory system
and the sound, as is proven by injection.
6. The sound has walls made up entirely of fibrous tissue,
and therefore is not comparable to Imman arteries, which have
mtiscnlar walls, as have those of all other animals. It could not
supply any force for the propulsion of the blood, being merely
elastic, and not possessing contractilitii.
7. There being no systemic heai-t in these bony fishes, the dorsal
aorta cannot proceed from the fcitibtts arteriosuSj as suggested by
Mr. Williams.
8. The " sound " of the cod originates as an " off-shoot from the
upper part of the digestive canal," jnst as the air-bladders of
other fishes do, and therefore is the precise homologue of those
structures ; and, whatever its true function may be, it certainly
plays no part in the circulation of the blood. Its strength is no
obstacle in the way of comparison with undoubted air-bladders, as
the carp (a much smaller fish) has an air-bladder almost as thick,
with an open duct ; and in the extinct genus, Ccelacanthiis (a
Ganoid), we actually find a bony air-bladder. Old Fo.ssil.
BREAK FOE TWO-WHEELED VEHICLE.
[393] — I have a small pony, about 9 hands high, that runs in a
small two-wheel ladies' basket carriage. He is a very useful and
sagacious pony, but vei-y frightened of going down hill, for fear he
should fall with the vehicle on him. I am advised by our country
cousins about here to whip him, and make him run down-hill. I
think this advice both cruel and unwise. I think my pony knows
as well as I do that he might fall. In order to mend matters, can
any of yotir numerous correspondents say if they have had any
experience with a break applied to a two-wheeled vehicle ? and
should be obliged by a description.
I am quite aware that breaks to four-wheeled can'iages are
common, but with two wheels the ditficulty is, that wherever the
break is placed on the periphery of the wheel, the effect is to press
down the shafts on the pony's back. By applying the break to the
nave of the wheel, some objection to this is removed, but I am told
that it strains the wheels. And, also, should the break be on both
wheels— that is double? W. H. C.
A PASSAGE IN "IN MEMORIAM."
[39-i] — I consider it to be utterly impossible for the allusion to
be to Longfellow. Goethe is no doubt the poet referred to. Long-
fellow does not sing " in divers tones," whereas Goethe does. It
appears to me that what was in Tennyson's mind at the time of
writing was the manner in which Faust, in the second part of the
<lrama, finally works out his own salvation. The allusion is pro-
bably one in spirit, rather than in letter, though it is possible that
in the "conversations with Eckermann " some passages may be
found to throw light upon it. Tennyson himself has, I believe,
stated that the reference is to Goethe.
Next as to dates of publication. " In Memoriam " appeared in
May, 1850 (though written years before), and the introduction is
dated 1840. Longfellow's poem is avowedly based upon a passage
in St. Augustine's " De Ascensioue" (De viliis nostris scalam nobis
Jncimus, si vilia ipsa calcamus), shows here and there slight and
unnsnal traces of Teunysoniau mannerisms, and forms part of the
First Flight of " Birds of Passage." So far as I can remember,
this serien was published about 1858, probably as an appendix to
the ■' Miles Stundish " volume. This much may bo gleaned from
internal evidence. The poems appear to be chronologically arranged.
Those on the death of the Duke of Wellington and on Florence
Nightingale, for obvious reasons, could not have been written earlier
than 1H.52 and 18.^5 re8))ectively. I cannot give the date of "The
Two Angels," but it may easily be fixed by the event it refers to^
the birth of one of Longfellow's children and the death of Mn.
Lowell on the same day. " Victor Galbraitli " may have been
written as early as 18W, and "The Jewish Cemetery" probably
sprang from the poet's visit to England. I think that " Daybreak"
appeared about 185tj (or somewhat earlier) in one of the magazines
edited by Charles Dickens, but I have no present means of ascer-
taining. The series clo.=es with "The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz,"
which is dated May 20, 1857. just seven years after the ]iublication
of " In Memoriam." I believe, therefore, that the resemblance
between the passages in question is purely accidental, but that if it
be otherwise, Longfellow, not Tennyson, must be liold to bo the
copyist. I may add that the so-called parallel passages from
Petrarch and Milton need hardly be t.ikcu into consideration.
George E. Dabtnell.
ansftuerg to Corrcsfpontirnts.
tmmum cations for the Editor requiring early attention nhnuld reach tks
before the Saturday prfeeding the current ianue of Knowlbdob, tiu
irculation of which compel* iw to go to prenf early in the week.
Hints to Coerbspondbxts. — 1. A'o qnextiona aaking for Kcienttfic iiiforwuUum
can be answered through the post. 2. Lettert gent to the Editor for correspondetUa
cannot be forwarded ; nor can the namee or addret*e' of corretpondenta be given •■
answer to private inquiries, 3. CorrespfrndenUt nhould vrite on one »ide onlg of
the paper, and put drawings on a separate leaf. 4. Each Utter thould have a title,
and in replying to a letter, r^erence thould be made U> its numbeTf the page <ra
which it appeartf and ita title,
R. OusELEY. If your communication were not quite so long ! It
is so difficult to abridge satisfactorily. No; the gentleman to
whom yon refer is not my son, nor have I a son old enouffh for the
rank of colonel, unless thirteen years be considered a suitable age
in India. — C. J. Browx. The answers to correspondents will not
be abolished, but reduced in quantity. I ^ " "-'^fi to think that
some, at any rate, among readers have not misunderstood what was
meant — in aluiost every case — for good humour. Several have
taken for downright severity what 1 have meant for good-natured
fun. I do so thoroughly enjoy banter (I mean when I am bantered
myself), that I cannot qtiite understand how others can be hurt by
it. To give an instance, — one con'espondent, who really has some
very wild ideas about stone implements — which he regards as
natural formations — describes my jocular objections to hia
views as " worthy only of a palaeolithic savage." You are
right in thinking K. A. Proctor and the Editor of Know-
ledge one and the same indi\'idual. I never supposed it
would be thought otherwise, when I mentioned that the Editor (^
KNOWLEDGE (R.A. p.) wished R. A. P., student of science, to go to
Egypt to observe the eclipse— which task, by the way, the latter
has been obliged, greatly to his regret, to decline. — Cl'RIOSITT.
Since noticed. Letters had been too multitudinous to be got
through. — G. H. P. Egyptian centres, area, period, and duration
of totality given this week. — J. S. Thanks for pointing out that
the doggrel rhymes about the borrowing days do not occur in the
" Complaint of Scotland," a prose work. Does it not seem as
though the observed coldness of those three days, which in the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries were the first three days of April,
affords a sufficient reason for the conceit that March had borrowed
these days from April? in other words, that though April days in
name they are JIarch days in quality. — Decimal. The rule for
placing the decimal point in division of decimals, simple and recur-
ring, is given, I think, in most books on arithmetic. It is not veiy
concise, but is simple enough. I have forgotten it. But in practice
one does not need any rule of the kind. I timply set off the decimal
point of division as many digits to right or left as may suffice to
leave only one digit on the left of it ; and then set the decimal
point of dividend as many digits in the same direction, putting in
zeros if any are wanted. It then becomes obvious where the decimal
point of quotient must fall. Thus consider the following cases : —
First. 127412)15 315( ; I write this, or conceive it written, thus,
l'27ll2)'15315(. Here manifestlv the quotient will begin 'l.
Secondly, ]67-531)15'315( ; I write this 1-67531)153I5(, and
manifestly the quotient here will begin "09.
Thirdly. 167-531)015315( ; I write' this 1-67531) •00015315(, and
manifestlv the quotient will begin '00009.
Fourthly, 127-412)1531-5( ; " I write this 1-27412)153150(, and
manifestly the quotient mil begin 1, followed by five digits before
the decimal point.
May 5, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
o^ (
rifthly. •0167531)1531-5( ; 1 write this 1C7531)153150(, and
;inifestly the quotient will be^'in with 9 followed by four
;._'it8 before the decimal point. The plan is not affected when
;ther divisor or dividend or both contain j*ecurrinfj decimals.
. :;i3 is not, 1 must admit, an answer to your question for an exact
lud you sujjgest) concise rule. Hut it is far better to have a
. nmmon-sense plan, the ratwnale of which is obvious, than a mere
>. rbal rule, the terms of which mfiy be forgotten when the rule is
wantc<i.--A Fellow ok tiik (;AsTito.\oMic.\L Society. I believe
that for persons with your symptoms, Uanwell, Bethlehem, and
K:irlswood, are equally open ; but as " (rreat wit to madness nearly
~ allied," so that entire absence of wit precludes the idea of mad-
s3, Earlswood seems more suitable than the others. — A Sub-
iiiBEK. Certainly no new force is obtained by using coals to pro-
; ue electricity, only a different form of force. — J. B. There is
' correspondence between the Scandinavian deities and those of
,■ Greek mytholog>-. If Thor as the Thunder God corresponds
> ::li Zeus, Odin as i'hor's father would correspond vrith Saturn;
t Odin is in many respectsakin to Jupiter. Salter is regarded as
■ Anglo-Saxon deity for Saturday ; but probably only from verbal
. riship. — J.is. SuiTii. — There is no such rigid arch. Tre.sca's
pcriments show conclusively that at a depth of less than twenty
;les, the pressures are so great that the hardest solids would
I < have as fluids. He found steel perfectly plastic, and, as it
were, viscous, under a much smaller pressure. — G. W. L. Soon
1 hope to deal with the reappearance of Biela's comet in
another form. — Igxobami's. A misprint for earth, as you say. —
J. Ti.NsLEY. I do not know the exact size of Lincoln's Inn Fields.
It is about 750 or 760 ft. from north to south, but less from east to
west ; the Great Pyramid's base is 760 ft. square. The area of the
base of the Great Pyramid is about 13J acres, the area of Lincoln's
Inn Fields about 12 acres. — Algernon Bray. The fraction repre-
•iits the exact chance; but the question belongs to the more
:!icult departments of probabilities. — A. lIcD. Even in the
• iiipcratc zone there might occur a glacial iiruption. It is evident
the mammoth was suited to bear cold. Adliemar's theory has no
scientific standing. — VoLO scike. The co-efficient of expansion for
iron will not give the law of increase in length of iron wire. Yonr
question how to make an artificial bead resembling black pearl, I
cannot answer. Possibly Lieut. -Col. Ross m.iy be able to. — John
Beid. There is no proof that as rock substances cool they con-
tinually diminish in bulk. Some substances would unquestionably
behave like ice, floating on the molten matter. The point has been
considered by Sterry, Ilunt, Mallet, Dana, and others (myself, for
instance) . But of most rock substances (as distinguished from
metals) it seems to be true that the crystalline products resulting
from their slow cooling are of greater specific gravity than the
fnsed rocks.
ELECTBICAL.
W. H. and others. There are several good text-books on elec-
tricity, but for the untechnical student, Deschanel's " Electricity
and Magnetism " is perhaps the best. The Leclanche is the best
form of batten,- for physiological purposes. — H. W. B. 1. The arc
in the 150,00u candle-power Brush lamp is about 1-2.5 in. 2. Quad-
mplex has not been applied to either of the Transatlantic cables. —
P. 1. Had one-tenth, or even less, of the current generated in Edison's
dynamo passed through the body of the gentleman who placed his
hands on the terminals of the machine, the result would doubtless
have been fatal. It should be remembered that the current gene-
lated by tbe machine is of comparatively low tension, being what
is called a large-quantity ctirrent (see our eighth article on
Electric Exhibition), and tlie external circuit is proportion-
ately low, therefore, when the hands are placed on the ter-
minals, a branch circuit of 2.O0O or 3,000 ohms resistance is
offered to the current. The joint resistance of 1,000 lamps,
at 100 ohms each (omitting the resistance of the connecting
wires) is by calculation 01 ohm. A little reflection will show
that from o„J„„th to 3(,J„„th of the current will be all that can
go through the body of the experimentalist. The labourer at
Hatfield wa.s killed because a current of high tension was used to
©vercome the high resistance of the lamps, Ac, the body in this
case offering a comparatively lower resistance, and forming an easy
means of escape for the current. This would have been avoided
had there been two leading wires, instead of using the earth in
place of one of them. Furthermore, it should be made imperative
that all conductors carrying large currents should be well insulated.
2. We are already pledged to an article on " Electrical Measure-
ment."— B. J. I". The best thing yon can do is to set to and
make a little coil, or a medical magneto machine. Vou
will not have much chance of getting a shock othenvise,
unless you are prepared to expend a considerable amount
of money on batteries. You might get a little shock by
placing the bell in circuit, and so getting a series of pulsations.
2. You ajipear to be a little in error, or your query is more than i
can fathom. Depositing steel by electricity is out of the question. —
H. W. B. I should say that such an accumulator might give good
results at first, but, from a chemical point of view, would soon run
down through local action. I will experiment and publish the
result. — F. W. The universal galvanometer has not so far answered
expectations, and you cannot do better than get a yood tangent
galvanometer (wound for quantity and intensity with an optional
shunt), and a set of Wheatstone'bridge coils. — E. Knowles. Get
an ordinary kite, place a small metal rod on it, and in connection
with the iron a wet hemp or cotton thread. At the lower extremity
of the thread tie a drj- silk thread. Fasten a key or any suitable
piece of metal on the lower part of the cotton. Send your kite up,
holding it by means of the silk, and sparks can then be obtained
from the lower piece of metal. Before, however, you try an experi-
ment on your body, it would be advisable to make arrangements
with a respectable undertaker.
THE TELESCOPE.
R. F. S. As your primary object is probably to examine
lunar and planetary detail, and to obtain a knowledge of the more
remarkable celestial objects, in the shape of double stars ami
nebula?, you will certainly obtain more for your money in the shape
of a reflecting than of a refracting telescope. A really first-class
3-inch achromatic refracting telescope, mounted on a firm stand,
and furnished with two astronomical eye-pieces, is scarcely pro-
curable under £15 or .€16 ; whereas the same sum will purchase a
5i-inch silvered glass reflector, mounted on a plain equatorial stand
(without divided circles), the respective grasp of light of these
instruments being nearly in proportion of 9 to 25. It is beyond our
proWnce to recommend individual makers, but our Advertising
Columns may be consulted with advantage. — Jdlius must not
accept everj- statement in Guillemin's " Heavens " precisely a.s
Gospel. AYliat, however, the writer probably meant to convey (Joe.
cH.) was that, in our climate, 6 inches is as large an aperture as
can be profitably employed for ordinar)- work on average nights.
We are occasionally favoured with definition which renders much
larger apertures not only available but desirable. Moreover, nothing
is easier than to stop down the object-glass of greater diameter on
a bad night. But having said this, we must add that the number
of first-class 6-inch objectives is greatly in excess of that of object-
glasses of larger apertures of similar excellence, the difficulty of
actually achromatising ren.- large ones being seemingly insuperable.
We have ourselves never looked through an objective exceeding
9 inches in diameter which was absolutely and in all respects satis-
factory, and we have seen more than one big one which was very
indifferent indeed.— H. D. will fail to divide £ Ursse Majoris in a
3-inch telescope, unless the object-glass be really a high-class one.
But the components of that star are now some 2" apart, instead of
1", as our querist appears to imagine ; and we must further add
that the absolute limit of the dividing power of the finest 3-inch
objective in the world is 152". Secondly, an inferior object-glass
will not show a trace of Jupiter's satellites on the disc of the giant
planet ; nor will the best one do so, save jnst after their ingress
on to, or just prior to their egress from, his lirab. Thirdly, Argelan-
der's 11-6 magnitude is the minimum visibile of the aperture of
which we are speaking. Argelander's scale had a scientific
basis. Smyth's scale was — well, it was Smyth's scale. — Rev.
E. H. can not make "a really useful astronomical refractor, object-
glass from 3 to 4 inches" for any snm approaching £3 or £4,
for the simple but sufficient reason that a high-class 3-inch
object-glass alone in its cell costs £6, and a 4-inch £15. Onr
correspondent should write to the dealers in second-hand instru-
ments who advertise in Knowledge for their catalogues. Excellent
telescopes, by known makers, may often be obtained in this way at
reasonable rates. — "Antarctic" may measure the power of any eye-
piece on any telescope whatever, reflecting or refracting, by the aid
of a little instrument known as the Dj-namometer, one very simple
form, of which is the invention of the Rev. E. L. Berthon, of Romsey,
in Hampshire. All he has to do is to focus the telescope on a star,
and then, in the daylight, turn it up to the sky. Withdrawing the
eve now some ten inches or so from the eye-piece, a little circle or
disc of light will be seen. This is an image of the object-glass or
mirror diminished in the exact proportion of the magnifying power.
All we have to do, then, is to measure the diameter of this spot of
light, and to divide the effective aperture of the mirror, or objective,
by the result ; the quotient will give the magnifying power of that
particular eyepiece. Tims, suppose that the aperture of "Antarctic's"
mirror is 6i inches, and the little spot of light is found to measure
00252 inch, then, dividing 65 by 0232, we get 260 as the
magnifving power. AH methods of calculation based on obtaining
the foci of the component lenses of an eye-piece art* very operose,
and uncertain to boot.
578
KNOWLEDGE <»
[May 5, U
(But iiflatbrinatiral Column.
FAIR HUT UNWISE BETTING.
By the Editok.
BEFORE considering other nnicrs of chance problems, it imU bo
well to consider the relation between tho mnthematioal c\ mce
of an event and the moral value of expectations depondin),' m n it.
For convenience, lot us do this with special reference to wager;- upon
eventa raoro or less probable, such as races, matches, and so Inrth.
If the chance of an event is -, the chance of its failing to happen
n
is . Comparing these two chances, wo get the ratio r to n — r,
in which r represents the number of favourable cases, and n—r the
number of unfavourable cases. The technical expression used to
indicate this relation is that the odds are r ton — r on the event
(that is, in favour of it), if r is greater than n — r; orn — rtor
against the event, if r is less than n — r.
Suppose now that in an nm there are ten balls, of which three
are white and seven black; then the chance of drawing a white
ball is — , and the chance of failing to draw a white ball is wViIln
10 * 10' ^""^
the odds against drawing a white ball are 7 to 3. And if two
persons. A and B, were to wager on the event, A to win if a white
ball were drawn, and B to win if a black ball were drawn, then,
that the wager should be strictly fair, the sums respectively wagered
by A and B should be in the proportion of 3 to 7. It will be clear
that this proportion is fair, if we remember the real fact as respects
wagers, that when once a wager has been laid, even though the
betters keep the wagered sums in their pockets till the issue is de-
cided, the case is precisely the same as though those sums were
added together to form the prize for the winner. In the present
ease, supposing A to wager £3 against £7 of B's, the prize for the
winner is £10 ; and as A's chance is — , the price he should pay for
it is three-tenths of £10 — that is, £.3 — while B's price for his chance
should be seven-tenths of the prize, or £7.
Bnt there is another way of \-iewing the matter. Suppose A and
B to go on betting upon the same event, A always backing the
white and B the black, the drawn ball being returned after each
wager had been decided ; then, in the long run, the number of
times that A and B would be respectively successful would be in
the proportion of 3 to 7, as nearly as possible — the more nearly the
longer the backing continued ; and it is clear that, to equalise their
chances, the money gained by A and B respectively, when suc-
cessful, must be in the proportion of 7 to 3.
Here, then, we have the mathematical principle on which all
wagers should be Imsed, if they are to be fair, — viz., that the sums
respectively staked by the bettors must be proportioned to their
respective chances of success.
But although bets made on this principle are strictly fair as
between the parties to the wager, yet it is a mistake to conclude
that a man's chances of loss or of gain are equal, when he stakes
his money on fair wagers.
For, in the first place, his property is not increased in the same
proportion if he wins an even wager, as it is diminished if he loses.
Thus, suppose his property to be £1,000, and that he wagers £500
again.st £500, the chances of success and failure being equal. If he
loses, his property is halved ; but it is not doubled if he wins ; and
in like manner it may be shown that, whatever ho stakes, the effect
of success is not equivalent to the effect of failure.
It might seem, however, that if a person always wagered a sum
bearing a very small proportion to the property he has at first, he
would be safe from serious loss in the long run. Supposing, for
example, that a person. A, has £1,000, and repeatedly wagers £1
against £1 on equal t<u-ms, it might seem as though he wouid never
be much richer or much poorer than at starting. Now, even if this
were so, it would be an argument against betting, since it would
show the uselessness of fair wagering. But, as a matter of fact,
a belief in the " long run " is one of the most fatal delusions which
a bettor can entertain. It may be shown— and, indeed, will be found
to follow from the principles to be enunciated in these papers — that
the chance of absolute ruin, in such a case as wo have imagined,
increases with the number of wagers. The ivido of money lost to
money won in such a series of wagers approaches, indeed, more
and more nearly to equality the greater the number of wagers ; but
the extent of the difference between the two sums is likely to
bo greater the longer the process of wagering is continued. Thus,
in a hundred wagers there would be nothing very wonderful if A
lost or won as many as fifty-five wagers, in which case he would
have lost or won £10 ; whereas in a million wagers it would be
utterly improbable that ho would lose or win so many as 550,000
wagers ; the numbers of won and lost wagers would probably be
much closer; but it would be unlikely that they would bo so clow
as 500,500 and 495*, 500; yet if they were no closer, and the halanet
were against A., his £1,000 would be lost, and his wagering pnt an
end to. It is calculable that the odds are greatly in favour of the
numbers not being so close as 500,500, and 400,500, and it
is obvious that the balance is as likely to be against A as
in his favour. So that what ho in effect would risk by
entering on so long a series of wagers would be this, that in M
jjrohahility his whole jiroperty would bo as if risked on a single
contingency, in which the chance of success or failure was but one*
half. No one would think of risking his whole fortune on the ton
of a halfpenny ; nor would any one care to agree that his whole
fortune should be thns risked, if in drawing a ball out of a, bag of
twenty, of which but one was white, he failed to draw the white
ball. Yet a person who makes a series of small wagers, trusting
to the " long run," is no whit better circumstanced (if he only con-
tinues wagering long enough) than one who has agreed to so daring
a venture as the latter ; while the longer his wagering is to last, the
more nearly does his case approach that of the former. For the
complete investigation of the subject of wagering, I would refer the
reader to the chapter on the '' Eisks of Loss and Gain " in De
Morgan's admirable, though somewhat dry, treatise on probabilities;
but the following general principles may be enunciated, as contain-
ing the essence of the whole matter : — Better small wagers and
many than large wagers and few; better few small wagers than
many small wagers ; better yet, no wagers at all.
[30] — T. F. asks for the solution of equations —
a:'-f y = ll (i)
y' + x^ 7 (ii)
The equations, of course, reduce to a biquadratic in x or y, having
one obvious root, and so reducing to a cubic, the solution of which
does not belong to elementary algebra. The four roots are all
real, as is indeed obvious if we consider that (i) and (ii) are
equations to two parabolas having their axes at right angles, and
intersecting in four points. In the only sense in which the equa-
tions can be regarded as suitable for our "young readers" as we
wrote, their solution is very easy, bece"cp. x = 3 and y = 2 are
obvious solutions, so that .7-3 will be a factor ot n^ biquadratic in
a-, or J/ — 2 a factor of the biquadratic in )/, according to the line
followed in obtaining an equation with one unknown. Or we may
write (i) and (ii) thus —
a-^ -I- V = 3' -H 2 and ir-f t = 2'-i-3
whence obviously x = 3 and y = 2.
The MrscuLAR Pokce of a Crocodile's Jaw. — A strange kiud of
experiment has been lately made in Paris by Drs. Regnard and
Blanchard, viz., the measurement of the power exerted by the
masseter muscle in a crocodile (a muscle passing from the cheek-
bone to the lower jaw). Ten live crocodiles of the species C.
galeatus or siamensie, that had been sent in large cases from Saigon
to M. Paul Bert, afforded the opportunity for such experiments.
Some of these animals were as much as 10 ft. in length, and weighed
about 1541b. The difficulty of managing such creatures in the
laboratory was, of course, considerable. The crocodile was fixed
with ropes on a heavy table ; the lower jaw kept in contact with
the table by a cord, while the np])er was raised by means of a
cord attached at the extremity, and passing up to a beam overhead*
A dynamometer was inserted in this cord, and was affected
when the animal was stimulated with an electric current.
In this way a crocodile of about 1201b. weight gave an indi-
cation of about 3081b. (140 kilogrammes). The application of the
cord at the end of the suout was necessary, but unfavovirable,
seeing the application of the force is thus at the end of a long
lever, and there is at least five times more space between this
point and the insertion of the masseter muscle than between the
latter and the joint of the jaw, the fulcrum. Hence the masseter
really produces a force five times that indicated by the dynamo-
meter, or about 1,540 lb. (700 kilogrammes). This extraordinary
force, it should be remembered, was that of an animal somewhat
weakened and at a low temperature. The force (of about 308 lb.)
is really applied at the end of four large teeth that project beyond
all the others, and considering the surface here represented, the
authors estimate the pressure, while the bite is executed by the
extremity of those teeth, at nearly 100 atmospheres. Making
similar experiments with an ordinary sporting dog. they obtained
in the dynamometer a pressure of about 72 lb. ; while the effect at
the insertion of the masseter was about 3601b. The pressure at
the point of the canine teeth would be about 100 atmospheres. It
is calculated that the crocodile is about one-third stronger than a
dog of the same weight would lie. — Ttme.".
May 5, 18S2.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
579
<!^m ©Ilbi'st €oIumn.
By " Five of Clubs."
Play Second Hand (Tkumps).
THE play second hand in tmmps differs in several respects from
the play in jtlain suits. This partly depends on the circnm-
Btance that the lead in trumps is yoniewlmt different, as we have
, from the lead in the other suits ; partly on the absence of risk
bom ruffing; and partly on the curd turned up. and its position
with respect to second jilayer. Then, also, the critical nature of
trnmp play has to be considered. When trumps are led, second
player knows that there is at least sufficient strength, either in the
leader's hand, or between the leader and his partner (if the latter
has signalled), to justify the expectation that between them they
may get out all the trumps held between second and fourth players,
and bring in a long suit. A defensive, or at any rate a waiting
game, has therefore generally to be played.
The principal differences in detail, between trump and plain suit
play, second hand, are these ; —
From Ace, King, and one or more small cards in trumps, it is
generally better to play a small card second hand, to give partner
a chance of making first trick. A small card is played for a similar
reason in trumps, from King, Queen, and more than one small one ;
if, however, you have the ten also, play it. From Ace, King,
Queen, and a small one, Queen is played in Trumps, as well as in
plain suits, because second player is so strong that he should play
a forward game.
From Ace, Queen, ten, in trumps, ten is played, instead of Queen
as in plain suits. This gives partner a chance of making the trick ;
and should ho fail and third hand make it, on the return of the
fammp lead two tricks are certain.
From Ace, Knave, ten, one or more small ones, the smallest is
played in plain suits, because the first player cannot hold bfith King
and Queen. But in trumps (see Leads) he may hold both these
cards, and it is therefore better to play the ten.
From a honour and one small card, only play the honour if it is
important to stop the trump lead. If your partner has turned up
King or Ace, and you hold Qneen and a small one, you of cour.se
play the small one.
Second Hand Second Round.
In the second round of a suit it is nearly always best, if yon hold
{he winning card, to play it, unless, of course, you know third hand
to be very weak in the suit. When yonr adversaries' trumps are
exhausted it is sometimes better to pass the second round of a long
mit, if the third round is assured, and there is a fair chance of the
snit being established third round. In trumps second round, it is
often better to keep back the winning card if you have numerical
strength in trumps and a good plain suit.
If in second round second hand holds second and third best cards,
he should, of course, play the third best. If you hold third best, and
have reason to believe your partner holds the best (and leader
second best) you may often with advantage play the third best, and
■0 save yonr partner's best. If, however, yon are long in the
init, you very likely lose by this, for your partner's best card is
probably single, and so falls on a trick already won.
Illu.'jtrative Game.
Ace is usually played second hand on King ; but occasionally,
with Aco, Knave, and others, if yon are strong in trumps you may
pass the King, on the chance of making the tenace. It is, how-
erer, very seldom good play to do this.
The following game illustrates the importance of clearing your
partner's snit when it is established, and yon hold the best cai'd
and but one small one. With two small ones, li, second round,
would not have been justified in taking his partner's trick.
A.
Clubs— K, 3.
Hearts— A,Q,Kn,9,8,6.
Spades— Q, 7, 3.
Diamonds — 5, 2.
The Hands.
B
Dealer,
Y Z
B.
Clvbs—A, 10, 8, 5, 4.
Hearts— K, 5, 2.
Spades— 2.
Diamonds— 10, 9, 7, 4.
Trump Curd,
Club SiHt.
A
Kn,
Cluhs—q, Kn, 7, 2.
Hearts — +, 3.
Spades — A, K
6, 5.
Diamonds — A, K.
Z.
Cluls—9, 6.
Hearts— 10, 7.
Spades— 10, 9, 8, 4
Diamonds— Q, Kn, 8, I
0,3.
JfoTB.— The underlined <
A
r
B
Z
<? <?
V '7]
«?
V
<? <?
<7 v\
<7 <7
♦ O 4- •!• •^^■i'i O O
^ ^ 4. Ni. ' i^ 0 0
<> O 4- + •J-^* O 0
^
\ *
s?
0
0
nl'
s! ♦ ♦
"?
0
<7 <7
M*
!
0 0
THE PLAY,
wins trick, and card below it lead* next 1
REMARKS AND INFERENCES.
1. Both }' and B begin to signal,
both with good reason, but ¥ with
the better, for he not only has four
trumps two honours, but an ex-
cellont hand outside trumps.
2. A has led from Aco, Queen,
Knave, and two at least. l"s
signal is completed ; but B sees
his opportunity, takes tho trick,
(leaving his partner with the suit
establislicd), and leads the penul-
timate trump. A bad partner
would have saved his King
(knowing the Queen with A), and
lost the chance of making a great
game.
4. B having five trumps, and
knowing Y cannot have leas than
four trumps two honours ( Y being
one who never signals without
good cause), knows that A's Club
3 cannot be the lowest of three
left in hand ; but it is the lowest
Club ; therefore A can have no
more. For if he had had two
he would have played the higher.
The inference happens to be of no
subsequent use to A, but it is well
to note it, aa inexperienced players
often lose by failing to notice just
such points as these. 1' makes a
similar inference, being sure that
B would not have led trumps, after
opponent's signal, from less than
five trumps, one honour. 1' should
have playe<:l the seven, on the
chance that ten may lie with Z.
As the cards lie, it would have
made no difference in the result.
5. Having second and third best
trumps left, B leads tho second
best and draws Y'b Queen. Y does
well to take the trick, having no-
thing to gain from getting out more
trumps.
6. Y, of course, resorts to hia
long snit ; but nnfortvmately,
7. B has but one card of the
suit, and trumping the second
round (Z discards penultimate
diamond),
8. Draws out the last of Y'a
trumps,
9. Brings in his partner's long
suit, and
10. 11, 12, 13, .4 B make five by
tricks.
Score.— .4 B, 0 ; Y Z, 0.
W. F. — Would it not be apt to
perplex if Queen with two small
cards, or Knave with three small
cards, were said to be singly guarded ? Of course, Qnccn with
two guards is not much better guarded than King with one. (She
is a little better guarded, becau.se of the chance that if in first round
the trick falls to a small card, second round may draw Ace and
King together.) But that is met by keeping the expression " Queen
guarded," for Queen two small cards, " Knave guarded " for Knave,
three cards, and so on. A single card is a guard, though an im-
perfect one, for a Queen.
H. W. — No ; certainly A cannot take hack the card first played,
unless it would have been a revoke. Not only so, but the card
which he threw down to replace the first can be called. If a player
having renounced finds, before the trick is turned and quitted, that
he has a card of the suit, he can take up the card played in error,
and follow suit ; but the card so played may be called.
680
KNOW
GE
[May .'., 1882.
<Bur €l)t^5 Column.
Problem No. 30.
Ilv the lutr William Hone.
WHITE.
White to play and mate in four moves.
SOLUTIONS.
Problem 35, by Leonard P. Rees, p. 525.
1. Q to QR8, and mate next move.
Problem 3G, p. 525.
1. R. to B8 (ch) 1. K to Kt 2
If K takes R, y to KS (mate)
2. Q to KtG (c-h) 2. B takes Q
3. P takes B (clil 3. K takes P.
4. B to Q3 (mate)
Pkoblem 37.
1, Q takes P (ch) ; K to Bsq. 2. Kt to B7 (ch) ; K to Kt sq.
3. Kt take^ RP (ch) ; K to R sq. 4. Q to Kt8 (ch) ; R takes Q.
5. Kt to B7 (mate).
REVIEWS.
Chess and Malhematict:. (From " Waifs and Strays.") Bv Captain-
Hugh A. Kennedy.
Tom Mooro, the poet, mentions in his diary, as a very strong
objection of Bisliop Warbnrton's to mathematical pursuits, " that
in making a man conversant ivith studies in which certainty is the
result, they unlit him (or at least do not prepare him) for sifting,
and balancing (what alone he will have to do in the world) proba-
bilities ; there being no worse practical men than those who require
more evidence than is necessary'."
Now that circumstance, which so grave an authority as War-
burton pronounces to be an inherent deficit in mathematics, as
regards practical mental training, is precisely reversed in Chess,
and constitutes, therefore, the principal value of the game as a
mental exercise and preparative for the contentions of actual life.
In the study of mathematics, there is always an inevitable result,
to be reached by a fixed and consecutive train of reasoning which
admits of no deviation. In Chess, on the other hand, although the
result, i.e., the winning or drawing of the game, is inevitable, j-et
the ways of accomplishing it are almost infinite; and the mode of
reasoning — save in the openings and many of the endings, which
can be ac(|Uired from the books — consists in a perpetual sifting of
probabilities. It is true that Chess in its nature admits of the
same determinate certainty as mathematics, but as it is also true
that absolute perfection of play is possible only by the exercise of
a degree of prescience and a depth of skill, both in combination
and calculation, of which the most happily-organised brain must
over fall immeasurably short, this perfection, as far as concerns us,
cannot bo said to have any existence.
Chess Trees. By TnoMAS Long, B.A., T.C.D. Tree I — Pliilidor's
Defence.
The whole of this opening is on one foolscap folio, in what the
author calls " map and pedigree " form. In our opinion, the form
adopted by Cook in his " Synopsis " is much plainer and simpler, and
we can see nothing in Mr. Long's plan but unnecessary elabora-
tion. On examining the sheet we found it to contain exnctlv the
same matter and variations ns is given in the " Synopgia," with bardh
anything novoL There are a few transpositions of moves or sligbl
additions, which do not, however, materially affect tho opening
There are twenty-two variations, and wo will trace them to CooVi.
giving the number of the variations in that book.
" Chess Trees " variation ... AB C U EP jl I
Cook's " Synopsis " variation 17.
" Chess Trees" variation ... I.
Cook's " Synopsis " variation 2.
" Chess Trees " variation ... S
Cook's "Synopsis" variation 18.
Seeing, then, that tho form in which this opening is given is 1(
clear than Cook's, and the contents the same, we turn to the
question of price ; the book, when finished, will cost about seven or
eight times the price of the " Synopsis." In the latter book there
are thirty-four different openings, with over 600 variations, for
which a charge of 3s. Gd. is made. Mr. Long asks the cbess-pnblio
to give Is. for one opening containing twenty-two variations.
7. 8.
5. 6. 4.
3
M. N.
1. 12.
0. PQ.
11.' 10.
B.
9
TU.
W.
X
16.
13.
15
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
*»* Please address Chess-Editor.
Muzio solution of Nos. 35 and 36 correct ; in the Evans' play
8. P to Q4, vour best move, or, better still, 6. P to Q3.
H. S. S.— Solutions of 33 and 34 correct.
M. Oldwyd. — No. 35 correctly solved.
Steady Reader. — Your former solution no doubt correct, but we
did not receive it.
H. A. N. — Problem received with thanks.
Alfred B. Palmer. — No. 38 correctly solved, and in good time.
S. M. — You are right in a measure; Black would not lose the
piece if he did not proceed with B to B4, but if he did not intend
to push the attack, why institute it at all ? after 15. B takes B.
16. Q takes B; 16. Kt to R3. 17. P to KBk White has clearly
a better game.
Contents of Knowledge JVo. 26.
FAGB.
To Our Beaders 5«
Newton and Darwin. Bv the Editor 545
Consumption. By Prof .' Tyndall ... 5-4'i
Photo{iraphv for Amateurs. By A.
Brothers.'F.EA.S 547
Charles K. Darwin. By the Editor. 518
Our Ancestors. By Grant Alien ... 550
Crystal Palace Electrical Exhibition
(Ninth Notice) 551
" The Stars and the Earth." 553
. PICT.
The Stars for MaV (lUttifraleJ) . 553-6SS
The Sun in Mav \llluttraied) 557
The Lainson Case 559
Ancient Tablets from Sippara 558
Weather Diagram 559
COBBKSPOXPENCE 5SB
Ajiawers to Correspondents 5M
Our Mathematical Colonm 6W
Our Whist Column 581
OurChBss Colonm SU
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The following Monthly Parts of Knowledge ai
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May I:, U82.]
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
5S1
y- AN 1LLU,SX5^"''ED
^" MAGMNEOF^IENCE . ,
PLAINLtyfORDED -EXACTrfDESCRIEED J
LONDON: FRIDAY, MAY li', 1882.
Contests of No. 28.
rjioa
Rtionoo at the Horal Academy .. oSl
OldMaT^lay 582
Crystals. By William Jago, F.C.S.,
A«soo. Inst. Clioin, i^
Tie Ci.ract {Ilhi,ti-ot,ii) oSl
I'opulation of tlie Karlb. By tUe
Kditor oSI
.Nii;ht» with a Tbrco-InchTolescope.
By "K.Ii.A.S." (tlUutnitcd) 5«
I'hotographv for Amateurs. By A.
Brotl.ors.F.R.A.S. Part Vf. ... .Vi.^
The Coming Tran«it of V.-niis. Bv
R. A. Proctor (Illvttraltit) .i-ii
Rkvibws : **A Ride Across the
Channel." 6SS
Flowers in May 68S
The Weather Report 893
COBRESPONDENCB ; Screw - Driver
Tubes — Conservation of Solar
Energy— Consumption 693.5»1
Answers'to Correspondents SO'l
Our Matbematical Column : The
Laws of Probabihty 09.-,
Our Chess Column 6!)7
Our \\Tii8t Column MS
SCIENCE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
IN art exhibitions, such as those at Burlington House, in
the Grosvonor (lallery, and the lik<', there are always
i/iany paintings so hideous in subject or in treatment, that
it may be questioned whether the pain they cause to the
artistic eye does not go far to counterbalance the pleasure
which tlic better works are calculated to produce. This is
tlie case e\en in great national collections, where only
the linest works are supposed to be gathered together.
There is not a room in the Louvre where there are not
paintings and sculptures absolutely painful to contemplate,
and annoying even when we try, so far as possible, not
to see them. But in annual exhiljitions of the works of
a great number of living artists, the liideous paintings and
sculptures sometimes preponderate to such an extent
that a visit to such collections is an actual punishment.
Last year, for instance, there were so many bad paintings,
and some of them so vei-y bad, so many ill-cho.sen subjects,
and some of them so very faithfully (and therefore disgust-
ingly*) rendered, that the many beautiful works of art
which were exhibited were quite insufficient to counteract
tlie painful impression produced by the others, and one
found oneself wondering whether the worst of the rejected
pictures coulil have been \ery much worse than some which
were exhibited.
This year the general impression produced by the pictures
and sculptures at the Royal Academy is far pleasanter.
There are several very bad works, and a few which are
positively execrable ; btit they do not destroy the pleasur-
able ert<;ct produced by a general survey, nor are thev so
obtrusive as to disturb the artistic mind by their mere
presence, during the careful study of the better works.
In these columns, however, we do not intend to con-
sider chiefly the artistic beauty of the various works
exhibited at the Royal Academy. Our purpose rather
is to note where artists have either failed from want of
scientific knowledge, or have availed themselves of such
knowledge (or of the close observation of nature whicli is
the basis of scientific knowledge), to produce effects, the
* The " Fishmonger's Stall," in 1879 was an " awful example."
truth and beauty of which are at once recognised, even by
those who do not understand the secret of the artist's
succes.s.
It may be urged at the outsit, and is, indeed, often
urged by artists tliemselves, that they represent what
they see, and tliat it is not for otliers to question tlii'
scientific accuracy of this or that portion of a painting
or sculpture, when they have not before them the land
scape or model from whicli the artist worked. The
truth, however, rather is that the artist endca\ours
more or less successfully, according to his skill, to repre-
sent what he sees. Even where what he is attempting
to represent is unchanging, he often fails in his attempt
to represent it correctly. But in many cases, the artist
is obliged by tlie very nature of his work to represent
not what he sees, but what he has seen — some attitude
or expression necessarily fleeting, some aspect of nature
necessarily lasting for too short a time to be reproduced
save from memory. From a want of knowledge, or from
failure to make suUiciently careful observations, the artist
may overlook some essential characteristics of what he
wishes to represent, lie may combine incongruous ele-
ments in the delineation of facial or bodily expressions,
he may represent a natural feature true enough in itself,
in combination with another equally true in itself, whicli
could not possibly be seen at one and the same time as
the other. Ho may not, to use ^Macaulay's illustration,
"mix August and January in one landscape"; but the
same sort of reasoning may apply to his less glaring in-
congruities which ]\racaulay applied in the other case, and
Horace, earlier in the pas.sago which every schoolboy (as
ilacaulay would say) knows Ijy heart. " Would it be a
sufficient defence of such a picture to say that every part
was exquisitely coloured, that the green hedges, the apple-
trees loaded with fruit, the waggons reeling under the
yellow sheaves, and the sun-burned reapers wiping their
foreheads were very fine, and that the ice and the boys
sliding were also very fine 1 " It is no better defence to
say of Mr. Pettie's picture of ^Monmouth before James II.
(30, Room I.), that from the knee downwards Mon
mouth's left leg is well drawn, while the rest of the body
is, perhaps, placed as it might be if a man with bound-
arms tried to wriggle along the floor, when it is absolutely
impossible that, with the body so placed, the lower part of
the left leg could be seen as it is, unless it had been twisted
round Ijy main force through some forty-five degrees round
the axis of the limb, to the dislocation of bones and the
rending of muscles. To take another example from another
department of painting : — The blue sea is charmingly repre-
sented in Mr. Brett's picture, " The Grey of the Morning "
(.■)0(3, Room v.). We have seen the sea as blue as that,
and though it is not quite so level as the sea usually
is (Mr. Brett's seas seldom are), the eflect considered
in itself is very pleasant. Again, tlie lower cumulus clouds,
showing through the grey mist, are well presented, and in
effective contrast with the "lily white clouds," which havi^
"got up early and peeped over the wall.' But neither Mr.
Brett nor any one else has ever, except, perhaps, in a drean;,
seen that rich blue sea in the grey of the morning. These
two characteristic features of his chief painting this
year are charmingly represented, and in two different pic-
tures would have been admirable, but in one and the same
painting they are not admirable at all.
In figure painting, as in sculpture, anatomy is the science
which has first to V)e considered in estimating the truth-
fulness of the artist's work. Every sculptor must thoroughly
study anatomy, not the an.atomy of the body at rest only,
but of the body in motion: and every painter of the
human figure should do so, for the eye alone cannot be
582
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[May 12, 1882.
trusted. If \vc Ijogin our pxaniination of tlic works at the
Royal Acadoiny witli reference to tliis point, wo find, even
in .some of tlie works of the best artists, errors which arc
(liniiiilt to account for. Kor instance, in Sir V. Leighton's
(liariiiing "Day Dreams" (.TG, llooin I), tlio outer carpal
lione of the right hand is incorrectly represented. We do
not bay that it is not often so shaped. On the contrary,
the deformity, for such it unquestionably is (though a slight
one), is common enough. Possibly Sir F. Leighton's
model, however beautiful in other respects, had a wrist
thus malformed ; but ther(! was no occasion to reproduce
the defect in an ideal painting. In his " Wedded " (71,
same room), the lady's unhappy expression seems justified
by the exceedingly unsatisfactory anatomical develop-
ment of her joung spouse, the muscles of v.'hose limbs
are without depth or fulness, and little more than
surface markings. His more pretentious " Phryno at
Eleusis" (307, Room III.) is open to anatomical exception,
especially with regard to the lower extremities. But the
artistic objections to this painting are much more serious
than the scientific ones. If Phryue had really so charming
a face, but so matronly a form, and flesh so strangely
coloy.red, .she would never, unless singularly unwise, have
lesorted to the expedient she actually adopted to disarm
her judges at Elcusis. We take it the real Phryne
relied on the perfect harmony of her proportions, the
perfect delicacy and tenderness of every outline and every
tint, to plead in her favour, not on fulness of develop-
nicnt, or the mere evidence of a fine constitution (apart
from a most abnormal complexion). Sir F. Leighton's
Phryne, however, would have found her judges merciful
if she had been content to let them assume that her figure
was as perfect as her face.
{To he continued.)
OLD MAY-DAY.
ri"^HE day on which these lines appear — May 12 — is Old
JL May-day. We must not forget this in reading what
our early poets say of the charms of May. The month of
May has been shifted since the days of those poets. When
Chaucer, for example, spoke of
the sixth morrow of May,
Which May had painted with his softi; show'rs,
This garden full of leaves and of flow'rs,
lie meant tlie time of year corresponding to our 14th, not
to our May G. And again, in choosing ilay for the name
of the naughty lady whom Sir January took to wife,
Ciiaucer was assigning emljlomatically to May 9 the quali-
ties described by the author of the "Menagiana." The
reader will remember that Budgell, in the Spectator (No.
36.")), referring to this description of the kindly warmth
infused into earth and its inhabitants during the month
of May, expressed the opinion that " the observation is as
well calculated for our climate as that of France," adding
wickedly, " and some of our British ladies are of the same
constitution as the French Marchioness of S., who told
the author of the ' Menagiana ' how dangerotis she found
the month of May." In his " II Pastor Fido," Guarini
describes May as —
Bella madro di Cori,
D' erbo novelle e di novelli amori,*
The May-day of the Spectator's time was that which
• This lino does not refer in the remotest way to the Derby or to
now faTouritos.
I call Old May -day, viz., May 12, for it corresponds with
May-day at the time when our Bradley " rol)bcd the
people," as they thought, " of their eleven day.s." But if
the Old Style had continued till now, our present ^lay 13
would be May-day, for the Julian Calendar cau.sed the
dates slowly to pass away from the seasons they had
originally corresponded with. It is worthy of notice, how-
ever, that the May-day of the last century, though coming
later in the true year — that is, the year of seasons — than
May-day of Chaucer's time (our May 9), was not likely to
be a warmer or brighter day, for from about May 11 to
May 1-1, there usually occurs a singular, and as yet unex-
plained, " cold snap." On the average, ^lay 9 is at least
one degree Fahrenheit warmer than May 12, though our
almanacs in giving the mean temperature make no note of
this.
The change of style has altered the seasons notably
since the days of Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton. Then
Midsummer fell at the very end of June, Midwinter at
the very end of December. In one sense this accorded
better with the actual changes of temperature than our
present arrangement; for Midsummer is not the hottest
nor Midwinter the coldest part of the year. The weather
was far more likely to be cold and bitter on Old Christmas
Day — oar Twelfth-night — than it is on our present Christ-
mas Day, when, indeed, the weather is as often soft and
warm as bleak and cold. The last week of December was
as apt in Shakespeare's time as in the second week of our
January to be a time —
When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall, \
And milk comes frozen home in pail.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marion's nose looks red and raw j
When blood is nipp 'd and ways be foul,
And nightly sings the staring owl.
The old May-day ceremonies would show that a marked
change had taken place in our seasons, if the May morn of
former days fell in the same part of the year of seasons as
our present May-day. Chaucer tells us, in his " Court of
Love," that early on May-day " forth goth al the court,
both most and lest, to fetche the flowi-is fresch, and braunch
and blome." Even Kings and Queens rose early on ilay-
day, to fetch green boughs or May boughs. This is pro-
bably the " rite of May " referred to in the " Midsummer
Night's Dream," — " No doubt," says Theseus, " they rose up
early to observe the rite of May." On our May-day not
many trees are green, but a few days at this season make
a great difference in the aspect of the woods and fields, so
that on Old May-day folks who rise early, and are not
troubled by fears of the " great unpaid," might collect a
goodly number of " flowris fresch ; and braunch and
blome."
Our poets, despite the effect of the change of style,
which has thrown back May-day a full fifth nearer the
spring equinox than it was in Shakespeare's time, still
sing in the same strain of the merry month of Jlay and of
the delights of its opening days. But May-day is only
poetically " the merriest, maddest day of all the glad New
Year." The change of style has practically wrought a
change of weather. It has brought down the Maypoles.
A few chimney-sweeps may still carry round their Jack-
in-the-Green ; but the green is usually evergreen, not the
fresh growth of the new May. We cannot wonder at the
May 12, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
583
melancholy fate of Tennyson's Queen of the May, if, on
one of our modem May -days, she —
." Danced about th:; M iyp;lo, a:id in tlio hazel coi'se,
Till Charles's wain came out above the tall white chimney-tops."
Someone should have explained to the merrymakers that
the sun had not yet attained a mid-day altitude which
could justify these gambols in the hazel copse — that., in
fact, they ■would probably result in what Sidney Smith
calls " our British constitutional coughs, sore throats, and
swelled faces.'" His advice would have been scouted, no
doubt, and he would have been looked upon as a bore and
a nuisance ; but he would have been right all the same.
Indeed, speaking seriously, in these days, when many,
especially the younger folks, look back longingly on old
customs, and occasionally try to revive them, it may some-
times be well to inquire even into such dull, dry details as
the eflects of the change of style in modifying the relations
of dates and seasons.
CRYSTALS. *
By William Jagg, F.C.S., Assoc. Ikst. Ciiem.
THE object of this and the succeeding papers of this
series is to place before the readers of Knowledge an
account of the Chemistry and Chemical Physics of different
subjects of general interest in as plain and interesting a
manner as is possible to the writer. It must not be sup-
posed, however, that the result will be a regular and suc-
cinct chemical treatise ; those requiring such can find them
in abundance, and of all prices and qualities. The writer
would rather treat his science so that they who run may
read, appealing, he hopes, to those who, though busy in the
shop, the field, the mart, have not ceased to take an in-
terest in Science for her own sake. A very clear and
interesting account of the properties of matter in the
gaseous state, which appeared in one of the earlier numbers
of Knowledge, led to an account of its behaviour in the
solid condition being chosen as the subject of this intro-
ductory paper.
Let us start with the inquiry, " What is a crystal ? " and
probably at the outset we shall be met with an answer
which, curiously enough, selects as its typical example the
very substance of all substances that a chemist instances
as the tj-pe of non-crystallised bodies. Nine persons out
of ten will tell us, in response to our query, " A crystal is
anything which is verj- clear, like gJais." Go to the chemist
or geologist and ask him whether a piece of that black,
shiny lava poured out of a volcano is crystalline, and he
will say; " No, it is a specimen of the glassy (vitreous) type
of rock." Here, then, is one point at which the chemist at
once joins issue with the popular idea. Let us in the next
place ask him for his definition of a crystal, and we learn
that almost every solid substance known has a tendency
to arrange itself in a definite geometrical form, and
that it is then said to be crystallised. This change of
bodies from the condition in which their particles are
arranged irregularly, to that in which each occupies a
stated position, forming part of one haiTuouious whole,
is frequently accompanied by remarkable changes in
the appearance and properties of the suljstance. Carbon,
known to every one in the humble and familiar guise of
charcoal, crystallises and becomes a diamond ; and further,
this depends on its particles arranging themselves so as to
form the figure known as an octahedron ; witii a change
of the conditions, the same elementary substance varies tlie
crystallised form it assumes, and instead of the hard and
brilliant gem, we have produced six-sided plates of soft
and metallic-looking graphite, or black lead. Nature
carries on within her laboratory these wonderful changes,
giving us little or no idea of what she is doing unless we
watch and question her closely ; her secrets are, however,
readily revealed to him who questions aright Owing to
the value and beauty of the diamond, eftbrts have been
made, from the days of the alchemist downwards, to obtain
it artificially; these eflbrts have, however, met with but
little reward. Nature has one element of success in her ex-
periments which we can never have, and that is time. The
diamond, sparkling in a lady's ring, no Viigger than a pea,
has, in all probability, taken for its growth not days or
months, but years, reckoned by thousands, or perhaps
hundreds of thousands ! How, then, shall we imitate her 1
In this particular instance, probably in no way ; but there
are fortunately other substances knoiivn which crystallise
more readily, and with these we may hope to have success.
Most of the metals assume, under certain conditions, a
crystalline form, and those particularly which are found
native occur frequently as crystals. The Latrobe nugget,
at present in the Natural History Museum, is a magnifi-
cent instance of crystals of gold ; it consists of natural
golden cubes, welded, as it were, together in one mass.
Among the metals, bismuth is remarkable for its ten-
dency to crystallise, and by following the direc-
tions given, a ci-ystalline mass of bismuth is readily
obtained. Take about a quarter of a pound of the
commercial metal and melt it either in a small clean
iron ladle or over a Bunsen lamp in a porcelain crucible ;
when quite melted, set the ladle or crucible on a cold
metal surface. Let it remain perfectly still, and watch the
bismuth carefully, until it is seen to solidify round the
edges, then quickly pour out the metal still remaining
liquid, and you have the whole of the interior lined with
more or less perfect cubical crystals of bismuth. There is
one striking peculiarity about these crystals, however.
They are but skeleton crystals ; the lines forming the
edges of the cubes are there, but there is a depression in
each face of the crystal evidently not as yet filled up. The
growth of the crystal was arrested by pouring out the still
liquid metal, and there we have not only shown us the
shape of bismuth crystals, but also the mamier in which
the crystal grows.
For purposes of comparison, try now to make sulphur
crystals. To do this, melt down roll sulphur in the ladle
or crucible, using, however, a very gentle heat, and not
pi'oloiiging it beyond the point at which the whole of the
sulphur is melted ; allow to cool in the same manner as
with bismuth, wait until a crust has formed over the sur-
face, and then immediately bore two holes through with a
red-hot wire, the one for the liquid sulphur to run out, and
the other to admit air. Pour out the sulphur still remain-
ing liquid, and cut carefully round the upper crust with a
penknife, remove it, and the whole of the interior is inter-
laced with delicate needle-shaped, amber-like, crystals of
sulphur. Here, then, are two substances, of widely dif-
ferent appearance and properties, both possessing in com-
mon this property of crystallising, but with each there is a
detinite shape. Further experiment and observation teach
us that the form of a crystal is as characteristic of a body
as any other property it possesses. In the next paper the
writer pui-poses to give further directions for the prepara-
tion of crystals, and hopes to add sketches of crystals
as viewed by the microscope.
In an early number, probably the next, an important series of
papers by Miss Amelia B. Edwards, the eminent authoress and
Egyptologist, on the question, "Was Barneses II. the Oppressor of
the Hebrews?" will be commenced.
584
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May IJ, 1862.
M
THE COMET.
TE continue the patli of the comet Wells to the end
of next week.
POPULATION OF THE EARTH.
By the Editor.
SEVERAL corresjiondents ask whether a computation,
such as that made in letter 391, p. 57.5 might not be
based on conditions more in accordance with known facts.
I suggest the following : — From the Registrar-General's
return just presented to Parliament, it appears that for
an estimated population of rather more than 26 millions
in England, the deaths were, 491,813 ; the births,
883,.508— an increase of 391,69.5,— say 390,000 for
26,000,000 (the real increase slightly greater). This is at
the rate of 39 for 2,600, or 3 for 200— that is U per cent.
Suppose now that ."),000 years ago the human popidation
of the globe were one million (which, considering that
according to every Egyptologist of standing, the Pyramids
were built long before that time, and that 30,000 lives were
expended in building them, must be considered a very
moderate allowance), then, what would be the present
population of the globe if there had been an increase of I5
per cent per annum during the last 5,000 years?
The problem thus presented is very simple. The rate of
increase per annum is from 1,000 to 1,015, so that we have
merely to multiply one million (or whatever the population
was 5,000 years ago) by — _ five thousand times. Without
logarithms this would be rather a difficult task ; but with
the aid of logarithms (see our papers on that subject) it is
sufticiently easy : —
^"^^ (i-ooo)"^°8-^'oi5)-i«g-aooo)
= 3-0064660 - 3
= 0-0064660
Multiplying by 5000 we get,
log. (101^
BOOO
= 32-330000
Viooo/
log. 1,000 noo = 6
log. (earth's population under the assumed
conditions) = 38-33000OJ
Whence the earth's present population would be
2 1 3,800,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
{t\ being only one million 5,000 years ago, it had increased
during the last 5,000 years at the same rate that the popu-
lation of England has increased during the last year. If,
5,000 years ago, the population of the earth had been but
10, we should have to strike five digits from the above.
But, to show how very far the conditions attained in a
civilised country are from those under which life could
possibly exist for any length of time (as science measures
time) on the earth as a whole, let us suppose that only
4,000 years ago (and even the believers in the Great
Pyramid as a stone Bible will allow so much), the earth's
population did not exceed 10. Then we have, to determine
the earth's present population, this calculation : —
1000
log. ( till ) = 25-864000
/loisV
Viooo/
= 1
log. 10
log. (earth's population under the
assumed conditions) ... ... = 26-864000
whence the earth's present population would be
731,140,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Now we have seen that with ten persons to the square
yard (rather close crowding) there would be 30,000,000 to
the square mile, and to the entire surface of the_earth
(land, water, and ice) 200,000,000 times as many, or
6,000,000,000,000,000.
Wherefore, even at the rate of increase which has taken
place in this much maligned old country during the past
year (of course the " good old times " were ever so much
better), the earth's population, beginning with only 10,
May 12, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
585
four thousand years ago, would now suffice to closely pack
the surfaces of about
122,000,000,000
sucli globes as this earth on which we live, or tlie surface
of one large globe having a diameter exceeding the earth's
1, early .">,000 times, or the suns much more than 400 times.
Vet in science 4,000 years count almost as nothing.
When we remember the rate of increase whicli is
customary among those whose lives are easy — this lieing
i.-ertainly much nearer 10 than l.l per cent per annum —
we see that, so far as the beiutit of the greater number of
surviving pei-sons at any epoeli is concerned, it is, on the
w hole, perhaps as well that during the last 4,000 years
there have been certain destroying agencies at work to pre-
vent the population of the earth from increasing so fast as
it otherwise nn'glit have done.
It may, perhaps, be interesting, before we 'conclude, to
i;iijuire what would have been the actual average increase
per cent, per annum if the population of the earth had
iixcreased from 10 four thousand years ago, to 1,500,000,000
p.'-iw. If r be the increase per cent, per annum, we have
/lOO + rV""" _
log. '^.^:
log. (1,.J00,000,000)
= !tl760913
wlience, since log. ICO = 2 we have
4000 log. (100 + )•) = 8000 + 9-1760913
= 8009-irG0913
log. (100 + )-) = 2 0022910
100 + ,= 100-3304,
or tlie average rate of increase, on the assumptions made
has been little more tlian .', per cent, per annum. As it is
certain that tlie population of the eartli 4,000 years ago
consisted of many millions, the real average rate of increase
must have been very mucli less even than this.
NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH
TELESCOPE.
Bv "A Fellow of the Rov.vl Astrosojiical Society."
'^piIE constellation Bootes, at which we now arrive (Map,
L p. 474), will be found a very mine of objects of in-
terest by the incipient observer. We will begin by turning
' ur instrument, armed with a power of 160, upon f, a star
■vhich Struve well described as " pulcherriina " (or most
'eaiitiful). So viewed it will be seen as in Fig. /', p. .")11.
the larger star being yellow, and the companion a bluish-
green. 77 Bootis, an intere.sting and easy pair, when
viewed with a power of 160 will be found to present
the appearance shown in Fig. 27. ; Bootis, is a little
closer and somewhat more unequal pair, the colouis of the
components, moreover, being more strongly contrasted
than in the case of the previous star. It is shown in
Fig. a, p. 511. It is a wide and easy pair, which it
is needless to figure. 44 Bootis, shown in Fig. 28,
as seen with a power of 160, is interesting from the con-
trasted colours of its components. It is not numbered in
the map, p. 474 ; but is one of two small stars forming a
triangle witli p and 0 Bootis in it. Nor is our next
object, 39 Bootis, numbered ; but it is the north-western
of the pair of stars in the map, and will be found in tlie
sk}', a little above and to tlie right of 44. In tliis, again,
the coloui-s are prettily contrasted. Its aspect as viewed
with the same power as the preceding objects is represented
in Fig. 29. t: Biiotis, on tlie confines of Canes Yenatici, is a
wider and iiuicli more unequal pair. It is shown in Fig. 30.
On a line drawn from Spica A'irginis to f Bootis, and about
11^ south (and a little east) of Arcturus, will be found the
very pretty and interesting double star whicli we have
drawn in Fig. 31. It is 69 of the fourteenth hour of
Piazzi's catalogue. The ditTerence in colour of the com
ponents of this pair will at once strike the observer. He
will, though, probably be puzzled to say exactly what the
colour of the smaller star is, very discrepant conclusions
on this subject having been arrived at. Some 8i° to the
west, and just to the north of Arcturus, we shall find a very
beautiful object, the star 1 Bootis, shown in Fig. 32. At
tlie first glance the student will observe two stars, nearly
of the same magnitude, and wide apart. It is the upper,
or southern one tif tliein, to which our attention must be
directed. Looking at it carefully, we shall note the minute
blue star shown in our figure to the south and very slightly
to the east of its primary. We have omitted the second
large star of wliicli we ha\ e just spoken from our diagram,
inasmuch as, using the scale to which it is drawn, such
star would be just out of the northern, or lower, portion of
the field. Finally, the student may, if he likes, look at
f Bootis with the very liighest power at his command ; but,
under the most favourable circumstances, he will only suc-
ceed in so far converting it into an egg-shaped object as to
show that it is not single. Such are a few of the most
easily-identifiable objects in this constellation. The number
of purely telescopic double stars is very large indeed, but
their necessary absence from our map of reference, and the
impossibility of recognising them without an equatoreal
llro^-ided with graduated circles, renders the mere mention
of them here sufiicient.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
By A. BROTHER!?, F.R.A.S.
'^plIE advantage of the negative form of photograph is
J that from it we are enabled to obtain an almost un-
limited number of copies on paper, having the lights and
sliadows, as in nature. The paper used for the purpose
may have a plain matt surface, that is without gloss, or
it may have a surface of albumen. The plain paper is used
T
5S6
KNOWLEDGE
[May 12, 1882,
when tlie photograph is to be coloured. Uoth kinds may
be purcliased rcudy for use, excepting that it is not sensi-
tised.* The necessary appliances, such as printing-frames,
porcelain dishes, and other articles, which will be named
in due course, it is assumed will have been supplied in the
"outHt." We now require a solution of nitrate of silver,
and this must be prepared in the proportion of 40 or 50
grains to each ounce of water. The quantity required
will depend on the size of the pieces of paper to be pre-
pared— say a quarter of a sheet ; the dish, therefore, must
be somewhat larger, and solution of silver must be poured
in to the depth of about lialf-an-inch ; then take the paper
by two corners, and place it on the solution so that it will
fall down evenly. After a few moments, with a piece of
horn or wood, lift the paper by one corner, so that it may
be seen that there are no air-bubbles, which, if any are
present, may be removed by a puff of breath, or they may
be touched. The paper is to bo then replaced, and left for
about three minutes — not longer. It may then be lifted
slowly, and, after draining the surplus solution (this may
be facilitated by drawing the paper over the edge of the
porcelain dish) the sheet may be suspended to a line by
American " clips," or it may be dried at once by fire-heat.
Cut the paper, which must be quite dry, to the size
required. Place the negative face, or picture side, upwards
in the pressure-frame ; put the paper carefully on the
negative, then put on the back of the frame, the paper
being pressed close by springs or screws, care being taken
not to apply more pressure thrm is necessary to keep the
paper and negative in perfect contact. The frame is then
to be placed in strong daylight ; diffused light is preferable
to the direct rays of the sun.
While we suppose the printing is proceeding, we may
say that the strength of the silver solution should not be
allowed to fall much below 40 grains to the ounce, other-
wise the prints will be weak. A good plan is to keep a
stock of full strength always ready, and always fill up the
bottle of solution to replace the portion used. If it should
be found that the silver solution becomes discoloured by
use, the colour may be removed by the addition of kaolin
or China clay ; shake well after each time of using the bath,
and when the kaolin has subsided, the silver solution will
be found to be quite clear, and may be poured off for \ise
when required. Filtration is sometimes desirable. If
the surface of the silver has any scum upon it, this is a
sure sign that the bath should be filtered, but the scum
can sometimes be removed by drawing the edge of a piece
of blotting-paper over the solution.
The strength of the solution of silver may be determined
with sufficient accuracy by means ofthe argentometer sold
for the purpose.
The progress of the print must be watched. It will be
noticed that the paper projecting beyond the edges of the
negative has changed to a dark tint. If the negative be a
dense one, this darkening may be allowed to proceed until
the paper is nearly black. The frame should now be re-
moved out of the full daylight, and one-half the back of
the frame opened, when, on turning back the print, it will
be seen whether the printing is deep enough, and it re-
quires some little experience to determine this. The print
should be rather over printed, as the fixing will reduce it to
some extent If not printed deep enough, the finished
print will appear weak and unsatisfactory. When as many
prints as are required are ready, they should be put, one at
a time, into water, in order to remove the excess of chloride
of silver ; after a few minutes' washing, the water may be
• If preferred, paper may bo purclmsod ready sensitised, but we
aasamo the amateur will wish to prepare his own.
poured into a jar for the purpose of recovering the silver,
aiid then, after one or two changes of water (if the second
washing water appears milky, it still contains silver), the
prints are ready for the next operation — toning. :i
If the prints were to he fixed without toning, they would
not have a pleasing colour. We now require another
solution, which contains chloride of gold. Tliis salt is
supplied in small glass tubes containing 15 grains. The
tube may be broken and thrown into a bottle containing
15 ounces of water; there will therefore be one grain of
gold to each ounce of water. The use of this solution of
gold is for the purpose of changing the colour of the print ;
the change produced being a combination between the gold
and silver in the paper, the gold giving a better colour to
the finished print, and the gold-toned print is also more
permanent.
There are many kinds of toning-baths, but the one which
gives good results, is easy to make and use (it may be used
as soon as made) ; it consists of one ounce of the solution of
gold, and, say, 20 ounces of water poured into a porcelain
dish. A small piece of litmus paper put into the solutioa
will show that it is acid. A lump of carbonate of soda (com-
mon washing soda) may be put into the solution, and
stirred about until the litmus paper shows that the solu-
tion is slightly alkaline. The prints may now be put into
this alkaline gold solution, face downwards, a few at a
time, and they must be kept in constant motion, to insure
equal toning. As soon as the prints present a pleasing
colour, they may be removed into a dish of clean water,
and when all are toned, they are ready for the next opera-
tion— fixing. It may be remarked here that one grain of
gold will be sufficient to tone a sL^-^*^ of paper ; therefore
the proportion to be iised for each batcli^of prints must be
regulated accordingly.
Iha fixing is efl'ected by means of hyposulphite of soda,
in the proportion of 3 ounces of the salt to 20 ounces of
water. The prints must be left in the soda solution about
20 minutes, and they must be kept in motion for a time,
to insure even action in fixing. When fixed, the prints
must be removed to a dish of water, and the water must be
frequently changed during the first half-hour. The prints
may now be left during the night in the water, and the
following day, after several changes, they may be placed
between clean cloths or blotting-paper, and if they have
been previously trimmed, they are ready for mounting.
THE COMING TRANSIT OF VENUS.
By R. A. Proctor.
I PROPOSE to give a short and simple account in these
pages, in the next few weeks, of the circumstances
under which transits of Yenus occur, explaining the
general principles on which the determination of the sun's
distance by observation of Yenus in transit depends. But,
as many questions have been addressed to me respecting
the places where the whole transit — its beginning and its
end — will be seen, it appears well to give at the outset, for
immediate reference, a chart showing from what parts of
the earth the transit can be seen wholly or in part.
The following preliminary explanation may be useful,
however : — •
Yenus circuiting around the sun in a smaller orbit than
the earth, and completing a circuit in 224 w days, whereas
the earth takes 365] days, passes between the earth and
sun at intervals of about 583 9 days, or a year and seven
months. If she travelled in the same plane as the earth,
she could not thus pass between the earth and the sun
May 12, 1882.]
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
587
without seeming to cross the sun's face centrally. But as
her path is inclined to the plane in which the earth travels,
she is sonietiiues slightly ou one side, sometimes slightly on
the other side of that plane, wlien she is passing between
the earth and the sun, so that sometimes she passes above,
or north of the sun, sometimes below, or south of him,
and is not seen crossing liis disc. \Vhen, however, it so
chances that Venus comes between the earth and the sun
at or near the time when she is crossing from one side to
the other of the earth's plane, there occurs a transit. This
can only happen, of course, at two certnin times in the
year^viz., at or near the time when the earth is crossing
the line through the sun, along which the two orbits — the
earth's and Venus's — intersect One of these times in the
year is about June 8, the other about Dec. 7, and a transit
of Venus never occurs except at or near one of these dates.
Now, when one of these transits occurs, certain parts of
the earth are suitably placed for seeing, cither the whole
transit, or the beginning or end of it, while from certain
positions of the earth no parts of the transit can be seen.
Let us see how such places arc determined : —
Suppose that c (Fig. 1) represents the earth, .««' repre-
senting the sun. In reality, both are enormously exag-
gerated in dimensions compared with the distance separat-
ing them. Suppose a cone, sks, enclosing the earth and
sun, in the way shown, to travel round with the earth ; and
:ilso another cone, sis', touching both the earth and the sun.
Then the transit is over : (and no more transits of Venus
will be seen till the year l!004.)
Wiiile Venus is between 2 and 3, she is visible on the
sun's disc from every part of the earth's surface, turned sun-
wards, and the portion wlience bhe is thus seen at some time
or other is of course more than a hemisphere, seeing that
^^ hen Venus is at 2, a hemisphere of the earth is turned
sunwards, and a dill'erent licniisphere when Venus is at 3.
Kow, in the large chart there arc shown : —
(1) The semicircles bounding the region (approximately
a hemisphere) whence the beginning of the transit is seen.
These are marked " transit begins at svinrise," " transit
begins at sunset"
(2) The semicircles bounding the region (approximately a
hemisphere) whence the end of the transit is seen. These
are marked " transit ends at sunrise," " transit ends at
sunset"
Over the region common to both (1) and (2), the whole
transit is seen, except in the small region (shaded in the
chart), where, though both the beginning and end arc seen,
a part of the mid-transit is not seen. Over the region
belonging to neither (1) nor (2) no p.art of the transit is
seen, except in two small regions (shaded in the chart),
whence, though neither the beginning of the transit nor the
end is seen, a part of the mid-transit is seen.
Over region 1, a series of dotted lines are drawn, showing
how much the Ingress of Venus, or the beginning of the
Fig. 1.
but on opposite sides of the vertex L Now, imagine Venus
to come along, gaining on the earth, and passing (as she
does when there is a transit) through the double cone, at
the points 1, 2, 3, and 4 ; 1 being the point where she
first reaches the outer surface of the exterior cone; 4,
the point where she finally leaves that cone ; while 2 and 3
are the corresponding points for the inner cone.
Now, a little consideration will show that when Venus
reaches the point 1, the transit begins, but only for that
jiarticular point where the line from s' to 1 produced
touches the earth. Thi'v the transit begins earliest of all.
As Venus passes from 1 to 2, transit begins for difl'erent
]ilaces on tlie earth, until when Venus is at 2, transit begins
from just that point where the line from s' to 2 produced
touches the earth. The face of the earth turned towards
the sun during the short time (less than half-an-hour),
during which Venus passes from 1 to 2, does not change
much ; so that one may say that over a hemisphere of the
earth the beginning of the transit is seen, but for about
half of that hemisphere the beginning is seen earlier and
over the other half later than from the earth's centre (if
we could imagine an observer, stationed at that incon-
venient spot, to be able to watch the transit).
After passing 2, some six hours elapse before Venus
conies to 3, when the end of the transit occurs at its very
earliest for the station where s3 produced touches the
earth ; and then, as Venus passes from 3 to 4, the end is
seen at different stations on the earth ; until, finally, when
Venus reaches 4, the end is seen at its very latest from
that point where the line s4 produced touches the earth.
transit, is hastened or delayed (Ingi-ess Accelerated or
Retarded, marked "I A so many minutes," or " I R so
many minutes " ).
Over the region 2, a series of dotted lines show how
much the Egress of Venus, or the end of the transit, is
hastened or clelayed (E A or E II).
Then, over the region whence the whole transit can be
seen, a series of heavy lines show how much the duration
exceeds (-f ) or falls short of ( — ) the average.
The places where the duration is greatest and least are
marked by heavy black dots, beside one of which is marked
the maximum amount of shortening of the duration. (The
other being on a part of the earth whence none of the
transit can be seen, is not so marked.)
The map is very easily interpi-etcd : —
Thus, in England, say London, we see that only the first
part of the transit can be seen, and not much of that, the
transit beginning shortly before sunset : ingress is retarded
about five minutes. At New York the whole transit can
be seen : ingress is retarded nearly eight minutes, and
egi-ess accelerated rather more than seven minutes, duration
falling short of the mean nearly fifteen minutes.
And similarly for any other places where either the
beginning, the end, or the whole transit can be seen.
SPECIAL NOTICE TO OUR READERS.
Fonrpence each will be paid by the Publishers for copies of
Nos. 2 and 3. Apjily or address, Wyman & Sous, 75, Great Queen-
street, London, W.C.
588
• KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 12, 1882.
lArbirlus.
"ABIDE ACROSS TIIK CHANNEL"*
VL'riiOUClH t'oloui'l Uurnaby's buUooii rick- was not
iiitoiuleil for sdontific oljsor\ atiou, this book lias
iiitiTcst for the student of science, bcsitles being a gijiphic
account of a balloon ride. The greatest litight attained by
Colonel IJuinaby in this ride was about two rnilcs, and at
that elevation the teniperature was four degrees below the
freezing-point, while at an elevation of TiOO feet, a few
minutes before, the temperature had been 48" in the shade.
The account of the balloon's descent suggests, as usual, that
li;illoonists might with advantage devote some of that in-
genuity to devise safe ways of Ijringing a balloon to rest on
tlie ground, which has hitherto been fruitlessly expended
on attempts to guide the balloon through the air. As a
.scientific statement, Col. Burnaby's assurance respecting
till- etiect of the balloon's apparition on hens is open to
nuestion. " Thank Heaven I have seen it," cried a middle-
.•iged female. " It passed over my Louse like the, dome of
a cathedral ; and all my hens are still in con%iilsions of
tVight at its appearance." On which the advocate of
Cockle's Antibilious Pills gravely a.ssured her that " the
apprehensions of her hens would not diminish, but rather
increase, their laying powers." He should have added that
all eggs thereafter laid by those hens, would be marked
with a balloon in full career " like the dome of a cathedral."
FLOWERS IN MAY.
AT the opening of May, by far the commonest buttercup in our
meadows is tlie bulbous species (Ranunculus bulbosus.) It
^TOws almost everywhere. Buttercups as a group may be always
easily rccof^uised by pulling out the petals, when they irill be seen
to have a small hollow scale near the base. The bulbous kind is
kno^vn both by the way its calyx is turned back tightly against the
.stalk, and by the rough bulb formed bj' the lower part of the stem.
\a the month wears on, the tall meadow buttercup (li. acris)
becomes commoner in the fields : its calyx grows in the normal
fashion, enclosing the petals, and the middle division of its leaves
starts from the same point as the outer ones. A third species found
almost as universally is the creeping buttercup (U. repens), exactly
Hko the last in most respects, but with rooting runners and the
central leaflet on a separate stalk, apart from the two-side leaflets.
Tlie water crowfoot {R.arivaiili.-) has white flowers and finely-divided
submerged leaves with larger floating ones : it is common in sha'l nv,
muddy water. The ivy-leaved crowfoot (R. Jiederaceus) differs
from it only in the absence of the submerged leaves ; it creeps on
mud beside the water. 0! tl-.e rose family, two or three little
potentillas may be found abundantly. They Iiave yellow flowers,
and may be roughly recognised by their double calyx. The tormentil
(/'. tormenUlla) has only four petals; it grows on high, windy
■places. The cinquefoil (P. reptans) has five petals and five divisions
10 its strawberry-like leaf. Silver-weed (P. anserina) has similar
flowers, but many little leaflets arranged in two rows on each side
of a long stalk. Both those are road-side weeds. Herb-bennct
ff.Viim vrhanvm) much resembles the iiutentillas in flower and in
its donbic calyx, but is a taller and weedier iilant, with little hooked
fniitsforming a sort of rough burr. It is common in hedgerows. The
hedge itself blossoms now too ; its hawthorn bushes are also roses
by family; notice thou- single calyx. The pinks are another family
well represented this month. As a rule, most of the small white
flowers growing in ordinary situations, mtli a single capsule in the
centre of the flower, filled 'with seeds arranged ccmrally around an
.itis, are almost sure to be pinks. The smaller kinds have the
calyx in separate pieces. Of these, mouse-ear ehickweed ICerastium
ruUjaltim) has five split petals, and a capsule funnily cocked up at
the end and opening in ten teeth. It grows everywhere. Common
ehickweed (Stellaria media) has flowers much the same in appear-
• " A Ride across the Channel, and other Adventures iu tlio Air."
By Col. Fred Burnaby. (London : Sampson Low, Marston A Co.
1HS2.) One Shilling.
an 'c, but its capsile opens in five valves, and it may easily be recog-
nised by u single line (<f hairs running down one side of the stem.
Sandwort (Arennriii frinervit) looks very Hko the last, and can only
be (liscrimioated by its petals, which aro entire instead of being
two-cleft, and by the absence of the line of hairs. The larger pinks
have the calyx united into a sort of cup or tube. Two of them are
common this month— red campion (Ij\ichnis diurna), which is pink,
with scentless flower.* ; and white campion (L. xesperlina), which is
white and scented. Ragged Robin (L.floH-evcnU) ia very like the
first-named, but has much-divided petals, and a less swollen calvx.
The veronicas arc another group that can be well studied iu May.
They have blue flow er.", the petals united into a tube at the base, four
lobes to the corolla, and only two stamens. These peculiarities will
at once distinguish them from any other Knglish plants. Some of
them have the flowers arranged in leafless spikes starting from the
axils of the leaves. Two such may be found in May : I'. rham<e-
dri).'<, the germander, with hairy leaves and two lines of long hairs,
one on each side of the stalk; and I', hecrahvnria, brooklime, with
smooth loaves and hairless stem. The first haunts road-sides, the
second running streams. Another set of Veronicas has the flowers
solitary in the axils, not in spikes. One such, with little shining
leaves and tiny white blue-streaked blossoms, growing among
grass in fields, is the thyme-leaved speedwell (T. ierpijllifolia) ;
another, with ivy shaped leaves, is the V. hederwfolia ; a third,
with the upper leaves reduced to mere long, lance-like bracts, is
the wall veronica (1'. ari-ensif). Two others, very common in fields,
are Buxbaum's and the procumbent speedwell. They may be
known from the others by their broad, toothed leaves, not ivy-
shaped, and by their upper leaves like the lower ones, only smaller,
but they are harder to distinguish from one another. Buxbaum's
(r. Burbaumii) has a capsule twice as broad as long; the procum-
bent speedwell (!'. aijrestie:) has it about the same breadth as length.
We have only room for one other family, the orchids, known by their
spur and their tuberous roots, as well as by their curious twisted
ovary. The green-winged orchis (0. worio) may be recognised by its
green-veined sepals ; it is a southern plant only. The military
orchid (0. militaris), with a handsome spike of purple-red flowers,
iind a long, two-cleft centre lobe to the lip, belongs only to the
counties around London. The m«Ie orchis (0. 'iiascula), with a
pail- of spreading sepals, as if winged for Bight, is over early in the ,
month. The spotted orchis {0. maculata) with lobed tubers and a
very dense spike, lasts through the whole of May. Altogether,
several hundred plants flower in May, and of these at least a
hundred and fifty are conimon everywhere, so that it is necessary'
to make a selection ; but whoever masters these five groups to
start with, wiU have done a good month's botanical work.
Soi.AR Appakatus. — It will be remembered that M. Mouchot, a
short time ago, devised an ajjparatus for utilisation of solar heat,
and that M. Pifre made some important improvements on it. Very
different views have been taken as to the practical utility of such
an apparatus. Some help towards a right judgment now comes
from Montpellier, where a French Government Commission has
been experimenting with the apparatus for a year (1S81). Another
commission has experimented at Constantino, in Algeria, but the
results aro not yet published. The apparatus was of the known
form — a concave mirror, with blackened boiler in the axis, snr-
rounded by a glass envelope. The steam from the boiling water
«as condensed in a coiled tube cooled by water. The weight of
water di.stilled in an hour indicated the amoimt of heat uti-
lised; and observations with an actinometer from hour to hour
showed the amount of incident heat. The rates of these
two quantities was a measure of the economic efliciency of
the apparatus. The temperature and moisture of the air, &c.,
were also carefully noted. The number of days of observation was
177, and of observations 030, and water was distilled to the amount
of 2,725 litres. Without entering much into numerical detail, we
may state that while the heat utilised in the most favourable cir-
cumstances per square metre per hour would be about equal to that
utilised from 210 grammes of coal (supposing about a half to be
utilised) — even the half of this is not attainable in our climate.
The sun does not shine continucusly enough for practical utilisation
of the apparatus. Iu very dry and hot climates, the possibility of
utilisation would depend on v.irious circumstances, such as the
degree of dilliculty of procuring fuel, the ju'lee and facility of
transport of solar apparatus, &c. We note in the report (by M.
Crova) that the efliciency of the apparatus is not proportional to
the heat intensity of the solar radiations, and hardly ever varies
in the same sense. The absolute quantity of heat utilised, on the
other hand, depends essentially on the temperature of the air; the
higher this is, and the less consequently the cooling, the greater
the amount of heat utilised. — T7ie Times.
K.VOWMCDGK, Mav 12, lfls2.]
CIIAKT 01.- THE TRANSIT OF 188S
»/iad,.rf. rpjrioH ihc?,,*.* p7,
»een.
i.ix. om. = Ingress Retarded oni.; E A fim - V . ,
> i^. A. Om. = Egress Accelerated I
fkNOWtiEDGK, May 12,
IE ST ERE
. anJ 'ilso the lines 0/ cqi
OGRAPHIC I'UOJKCTION,
, , .• / \ /",„■ I vtcnud contact.
wheri- llie be;)''""'"!' »'"' ""
0/ thfTnwfitareholhseen, i-iit
not the ic/io/p Transit.
^ Duratiun lOin. Uss than u.cn y»M
May 12, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
593
Orders ahould be tnada payable to
o/rtfef
\^The Editor dof» nothold\im»eJfret>pQii»ihle fur theopinxona of hit corretpondentt,
H« cannot undtriake to return manutcriptf or to corretvoud with their writtra. All
communicationa should be aa ahort a* pouible^ conaiitently tcitk full and cUar state-
menta of the trriter'a metininff.']
All Editori'il communu-aiiona ahould be aJJre$»ed to the Editor of KrrowLBDSl;
all Butineaa communicationa to the PuUiahera, at the OJici, 71, Great Queen-
ttreet, W.C.
Alt Semittaricea, Chequer, and Poxt-C
Ueiara. Ti'yman 4" Son».
*^* All iettera to the Editor will he Numbered. For c^.,.^....,.^« »j ,^,c^r«ie,
eorreapoMdent*t when r^erring to any letter^wiU oblige by mentioning its number
and the page on which it appeara.
All Lettera or Qneries to the Editor which require attention in the current iaaue of
Kvov;i.^XiG^, ahould reach the Publiahing O^ce not later than the Saturday preceding
the day qf publication, ___^^
(I.) Letters to have a chance of appearing must be concise ; they must be draim
np in the form adopted for letters here, eo that they may go untouched to the
printers ; private comraunieations, therefore, as well as queries, or replies to
queries (intended to appear as such) should be ^( ritten on separate lea
(II.) Letters which (either because too i
tens which others have discussed, or for
here, will either be briefly referred to
in a column reserved for the purpose.
ig, or nnsuitttble, or dealing with
ny other rea';on) cannot find place
to correspondents, or acknowledged
only i
ined and desptsed who is not in a
lything more adverse to accuracy
*' In knowledge, that
state of transition. .
than fixity of opinion."— JaroJoy.
*' There is no harm in makinp a mistake, but great harm in making nc
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show vou a man wbi
nothing." — Liebiq.
" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."— CAdr^e^t EtngsUy.
dBur Coirrsponbrnre Columns.
SCIiEW-DRIVER TUBES.
[395] — 1 am afraid screws wouUl not take to my friend ifr.
Ellis's spiral tubes as kindly as ulcers do, even though it has since
been extended (as he doubtless knows) so that you can drill a hole
in a tooth — and the cheek behind it — in no time, with your foot, by
a drill at the end of a long spiral of that kind, which will -work
round any bead. But I do not write merely to say that, but to add
to my original mode and simple slate-pencil tube, that it may be
made of steel, and haye three slits, besides the opening in the
lower 2 inches of it, and the pieces may then be flattened and bent
outwards a little, enough to hold the largest scrcw-heail. A rin"
slipped oyer them will bring tlio fangs together, enough just to fit
smaller screws. Whether you see yonr screw or not, you can yery
soon feel if it is going crooked — the feeling is too enraging to
mistake for a moment. I obscrye (in both senses) your notice about
breyity of correspondence. Ei'M. Bec keit.
COXSERVATIOX OF SOLAR ENERGY.
[396J — I giye now in full Dr. Siemens's letter referred to at
p. 5GG last week, omitting only those references to Sir. Archibald,
to whom he was replying, which do not belong to the letter, re-
garded as a reply to my own reasoning in the Cornhill Maja:ine,
and at ])p. 5G5-5C0 of Knowledge.
Dr. Siemens's letter, then, runs thus : — [Mr. Proctor] lias missed
the principal point of my argument concerning solar fan-action. I
showed pretty clearly I thought that solar gravitation would affect
the inflowing and the outflowing currents equally, and that centri-
fugal action must determine motion in the equatorial direction in a
space filled with matter. But, to put the problem into a mathe-
matical garb, let us consider the condition of two equal mas.scs, nip
and m,„ both at the radius li from the solar centre, the one opposite
either pole, and the other opposite the equatorial region. The
moment of grayitation of both these masses will be represented
respectiycly by —^ and „, , and supposing both masses to be
gaseous, aud of the same chemical composition and temperature,
they will represent equal volumes, say one cubic foot.
These conditions being granted, we may put —
gmp_'jm„
R' R' '
but the mass ui« is subject to another force, that produced by tan-
gential motion, which shall be represented by i-, and the centrifugal
594
KNOWLEDGE
[May 12, 1882
force rosultiii); from this motion by 0«; [Why put it vagndy tlins,
writing " function of v," when wo know what tlio centrifugal ten-
dency is, viz.,
R
?]
the moment of gravitation towards the sun will then bo reduced to
-jTj- - )>id^r, nud the latter factor being a positi%'o quantity we have —
jm, gm,
R'
This inequality of attractive moments must determine motion to-
ward the snn in favour of . £, and thia condition holding good for
any value of g and K, it follows that the polar inflow and equatorial
outflow must take place, provided only that space is not empty, as
supposed by Laplace, but filled with either an elastic or non-elastic
fluid.
To put it in another way, Mr. [Proctor] imagines that, in order to
determine an outflow from the snn, it is necossaiy for the centrifugal
moment m^fv to exceed the moment of gravitation —^, whereas
according to my view, the value of the former determines only the
rate of outflow, but is immaterial as regards the principle of action.
The projection of dust is entirely dependent upon the outflowing
cnrrcnt. I leave it for Mr. [Proctor] to determine for liimself the
velocity of current necessaiy to move a particle of dust of given
size and weight away from the sun in opposition to its force of
gravity, which I am well aware is twenty-seven times that of the
earth on its surface.
Tlie gaseous current is of course produced at the expense of solar
rotation, but this expenditure of energy is relatively much smaller
than that lost to our f arth through tidal action, and may be neglected
for our present purposes. It is, moreover, counterbalanced by
solar shrinkage, as explained in my paper.
C. Wm. Siemens.
[I fear Dr. Siemens' way of treating this question is bat too
correctly described by himself as patting it in a mathematical garb,
for there is only the garb of mathematics, not the thing itself, in
the above discussion, and even the garb is not quite correct. For
instance, in mathematics the term "moment" is not used as in
Dr. Siemens' letter, nor in any way even approaching to his use of
the term. One can tell, of course, very clearly what Dr. Siemens
means, and therefore, perhaps, it is unimportant whether he cor-
rectly expresses his meaning or not — except as showing that dis-
cussions of this kind are somewhat outside the usual course of his
inquiries and reading (and also, what was, however, already known,
that the Editor of Mature has no very profound mathematical
knowledge). Turning, then, to Dr. Siemens' meaning, I note that,
in the iirst place, proving that a cubic foot opposite the pole and
another opjiosite the equator are anequally attracted towards the
sun's centre, by no means sufliccs to prove that either will move in
any particular way. It would be the tendencies of neighbouring
cubic feet we should have to consider, not those of two cubic feet
hundreds of thousands of miles apart. Inflow of a mass of
vapour opposite either pole would depend on the state of the
gaseous matter immediately below it, and it can very readily
be shown that the pressures which would exist opposite the
polar regions, and the consequent resistance to inflow, would
be greater, not less, than at equal distances in equatorial
directions. But the chief objection to Dr. Siemens' reason-
ing (I was about to call it specious, but it is not so) lies in
this, that he considers a certain consequence which would not
even follow at all, as though it not only would certainly follow,
but haWng followed, would leave things as they were, so far as the
circumstances causing inflow and outflow are concerned. Under
the impossible conditions he describes, equilibrium would be
unstable (though ho does not, as I conceded for the sake of
argument last week, pi-ove this), and movements tending
to restore equilibrium would accordingly take place ; but Dr.
Siemens assumes, in effect, that there will be no tendency towards
pquilibrium, but that the forces tending to produce motion will
remain all the time unchanged. It is as though having shown that
the water forming the hollow of a wave tends to rise, one were to
assume that it will rise for ever.
What Sir John Ilerschel said of the theory that the Zodiacal
light is " a solar atmosphere in any proper sense of the word " is
true of Dr. Sicmens's supposititious atmosphere, "the existence of
such a gaseous envelope jjropngating pressure from part to part
subject to mutual friction in its strata, and therefore rotating in
the simo or nearly the same time with the central body, and of
such dimensions and oUipticity, is utterly incompatible with
dynamical laws." The case is certainly not strengthened by
reasoning which, while endeavouring to show that the more aggre-
galod i)arts of the supposed atmosphere have such a figure as is
attributed to the outer corona and the zodiacal, assumes never-
theless the possibility of equal densities at equal distances opposite
the polar and equatorial regions.
Mairan's views involved rather an c-tccss than a deficiency of
centrifugal tendency, and what Laplace did was to show not that a
solar atmosphere would extend no further than a certain distance
under any conditions, but that no such atmosphere could, beyond a
certain distance, share in the solar rotation, without being entirely
freed from any tendency sunwards. This does not seem to be
what Dr. Siemens supjioscs to have been Laplace's reasoning,
seeing that his views would bo rather supported than opposed by
such freeing of gaseous matter to travel ontwards.
Again, there is all the difference in the world between the effect
attributed to solar rotation in cHjnstantly expelling gaseous matter
thi-oughout an enormous extent of space around the sun, and that
tidal action which affects the earth's rotation, not by the actual
motion of the ocean, but by the mere transmission of wave states.
However, the points touched in the two preceding paragraphs are
relatively insignificant. — Kicuabd A. Phoctok.]
CONSUMPTIOX.
[397] — Anything coming from so brilliant an intelligence as
that of Professor Tyndall deserves attention. In this instance,
at any rate, he has cut before the point. His conclusions do not
justify his premises, his premises his conclusions. They remind
one of a statement of his made a few years back, that the air of a
sick chamber, by passing through cotton wool, might be made
pure as t'ne air of the Upper Alps, forgetful that the carbonic acid
of respiration could not be thus eliminated, and the atmosphere in
so far rendered pure. Professor Carpenter, going on some state-
ments of Professors Villemin and Klebs, informed us that tubercle
was owing to a micrococcus or microphyte, a little berry or little plant.
Now, we are asked to believe that it depends on a little stick or
hacilluSj as Professor Koch terms some presumed organism.
These inquirers, however, are led away on a wrong scent. If
there be a micrococcus or bacillus met with in tubercle, it
is an occurrence entirely loiv^"' y and in no way essential to
the production of tubercle itself. I have had as mnch to do
with tubercle as most persons, and I never saw any micro-
coccus, any bacillus. Tubercle is whoUj' unorganised, in fact, a
caput raoriuum, consisting of the unoxidised carbonaceous waste,
not excreted by reason of insufficient congress with the oxygen of
the atmosphere. Not only tuberculous matter, but almost any
extraneous substance is capable, upon inoculation, of producing
tubercle in subjects predisposed, so that it is quite unnecessary to
torture animals in order to verify this position. The gener.il spread
of tubercular disease does not depend upon inoculation, but on the
respiration of prebreathed air. If we only avoid prebreathed air,
tubercle and tuberculous disease become impossible. At least a
fourth of the human race are reputed to perish tubercle-stricken. —
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Henry MacCorm.\c, M.D.,
Consulting Physician to the Royal Hospital^
[We have inserted Dr. MacCormac's letter, though the Times
would not, because in such matters the fullest discussion is desir-
able. Albeit there is one point to which I must take exception.
Professor Tyndall never made the mistake attributed to him by Dr.
MacCormac. I remember jierfectly well his first popular statement
of the action of cotton wool in his lecture on dust and disease, and
I am sure not a person in the lecture-room supposed for a moment
that he meant what Dr. MacCormac implies, viz., that the air was
otherwise purified than by the elimination of organic matter. Dr.
MacCormac, in his enthusiasm for the theory which ho enunciated
in his book on the " Breath Eebreathed," seems able to close
his eyes to facts which most students of minute life consider
demonstrative. When Dr. Koch not only saw with the microscope
(what Dr. MacCormac has not seen) the minute bacilli, but has suc-
ceeded in developing and as it were rearing, generation after gene-
ration of bacilli, it is rather too much to ask science to reject all
belief in these organisms. Nor can wo see how the crucial experi-
ments, described so lucidly by Professor Tyndall (Knowledge,
p. 51-7), can possibly be controverted by any number o'' experiments
showing (what no one doubts) the bad effects of breathing pre-
bre.athed air. — Ed.]
[Several interesting letters on "Consumption" are unavoidably
held over.]
PoSD's KiTRACT ia u certaii
Pond's Extract is a certuin i
Pond's Extract is a certain i
Pond's Eitract will heal Bnms and W
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the gen
■e for Rheumatism and Gout,
for Hftmorrhoids.
for Nenralpnc pains.
May 12, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE •
59^
9n^ins! to Conreponlifnt^.
•,'An eomaHnir,!Hc^n f«r Ih, T.dUor rtqiiWinj tarly al/rHlioy) ihinl,! reach Ihl
Ofice OH or before the Sttturdai/ prfeeJing Ike current istue oj' KxoiTLBDel, the
iMcremeing dreulation qf lekick compels ut to go to preea early in the veek.
Hcrrs to Cokebspo^drxth. — 1. yo qnettion* ael-inff for ecientijie infornntion
Mm 6* annc-reil throvgh the poet. 2. Lettert tent to the Editor for corrrepondente
tmMMOt be forvarded ; nor can the itamee or addreeeee <if eorretpondente be gii^n ih
OMVn- (o /Ticrle in^niViVf. 3. Corrnpomlenlt thiuld xrile on one ti-le oii/» of
Ou paper, and put dr^irinije on u teparale lent. 4. JJ.Jr* Utter ihontd hare a title,
and in repltiKng to a tetter, r^eretwe ihouU be m tde to itt number, the page on
mkich it appenri, and it* title.
X. K. Yon will see (hat tlio oppononts of Dr. Kocli's ronclusions
use argamcntg which, if accepted, woald render fresh expcrimonts
necess.irv. Hcwover, there can be no question you are rifjht in
asserting the general principle, that to repeat experiments by which
a truth has already been established is simply cruelly. Only doubt
can justify the renewal of eri)eriments of the kind. — W. String-
field. We have posted your letter to " George," and have sent your
communication to the publishers. Thanks. — Boyd Moss. We thank
you; but the discussion of the general question of vivisection is not
suited to our columns. In company with Professor Tyndall's in-
teresting communication about consumption, wo printed his inci-
dental allusion to the necessity of certain oxjieriments ; but that
does not open up a discussion on a subject already overworn. I am
anro neither Professor Tvudall nor any true student of science
would advocate other than such carefully-arranged experiments as
you describe. — Alex. Scott. The paragraph you referred to was
borrowed through another source; wo named the original source,
the "Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry," but wo do not
know the publishers. The address, " Publishers of the Journal,"
Ac, would, wo imagine, be sufficient. — Constant Eeahek and 1!e-
COMMENDER. Thanks. The quotation was made by a correspondent,
and seemed so suitable that we added it to our set. If incorrect we
must remove it, for as corrected it does not seem so suitable: the
motto, " Orthodoxy is God's Truth," is open to misconception. —
P. W. Clayden. The eclipse to which you refer was that of Sept. 7,
1820, well seen, as a partial eclipse, throughout the British Isles. —
W. Dale. Letter received, and shall appear. — C. J. Watson. The
theory is i|nite untenable ; everything known about the action of
solar heat, as of solar light, indicates radiation, and everything
known about the sun indicates that its globe is intensely heateil. —
Canadensis. It is a mere accident that some articles of mine are
inserted as " By the Editor," others by " R. K. Proctor." The
" Answers to Correspondents " are not all by the same hand. I
write most of them, because no one else would be willing to '\Tado
tlirough so much of the correspondence which reaches the office
of Knowledge. "Conducted by K. A. Proctor" means "edited,"
or rather includes it and something more. — Desmond. Enlarg-
ing Knowledge, and making the price Cd., might have the f fleet of
increasing the " circulation among tho higher and superior educated
tranches of society," but it would pu^ it beyond the reach of many
to whom 1 wish to be of use. Those who will not take a i)apor
\ieeause it only costs twopence would hardly help us much. No ;
onr plan was to make Knowledge as low-priced as possible, and to
give as much as we possibly could for the money. To that plan we
must adhere. To create a circulation, and after bringing our paper
into request, to increase tho price of it, would not be fair. — W.
Gadd. I fear it will bo impossible to find space. — C. Carter Braine.
Will ask engraver if he can manage it. "Brake" is correct, but
some prefer " break." — Jos. OFtORD. Many thanks. Will use as
soon as po.ssiUe. — Another Hater ok Superstition. No fear
of a theological controversy; but why should ynu object more
to tho term Almighty than to the term Infinite ? What
ore natural causes and events, but those operations which,
being finite, we can understand, or hope to understand ?
Outside of them lies tho infinite. To speak of infinite time
may bo idle, seeing that wo cannot conceive either ; but any
one may do so without offence ; ho may equally speak ■without
offence of Infinite Power. There is nothing necessarily theo-
logical in tho conception. — Erin go Bragh. Fear Otto of
Hoses somewhat outside our line. — E. H. B. Stephen-son. It
Has been by noting changes among tho stars that the sun's
motion in spaco has been recognised ; but the changes are too
alight for ordinary observation. Some of them have only been
detected after centuries of observation. Tyndall's book on " Dust
and Disease" (Longmans) would suit you, 1 think; but the subject
in very wide. Thanks for lines, but fear some would object to them
as having rather a goody-goody tone. — A. C. H. If that were so,
how could a ship sail close to the wind ? Estimating as you do
the driving force of tho wind, tho action of a wind d^ad abeam
would produce no way at all, except leeway, and a wind six points
(67t degrees) from a ship's course would drive her astern. You
can only resolvo tho wind's action as I havo done, viz., parallel
to the sail and square to it, then this last part must be resolved
in direction of ship's course and square to it. 'I'ho wind
thus dealt with must bo the relative wind, viz., that which seems
to blow when tho ship is travelling on her course at whatever
rate she may havo at the moment.— T. P. GARRf:Tr. Thanks, but
it reaches two members of staff.— Si'iisCRiBER TO Knowledge. Wo
can give no information as to either advertisement. No telescopes
pnicurable at tho ofBoo of Knowledge, or sold directiy or indirectly
through tho agency of publishers or proprietors of the jiaper.
Regret that no correspondent has boon able to reply to qn^ition
about sulphur cast (query 2G6, Fob. 21).— A Churchman. 1 should
imagine the Rev. Dr. Luldon would bo a better judge than you
can be on that subject. But then, your letter being anonymous,
you maj- answer that as I do not know who you ai-e, I cannot tell
"whether you aro a judge or not. After all, what can it matter to
vou, being so sure as you are of your opinion, whether others think
differently or not ? — S. C. Gaukekt. Tho gonerali.sation is bold ;
cortainlvso much has not yet been proved. — Cycloid. Certainly, tho
lowest point is for the moment at rest, tho uppermost moving twice as
fast as the circle's centre. You ask, why ? Tho answer is, because at
tho lowest point the advancitig motion of tho circle as a whole ia
exactly counterbalanced by the (there) receding motion of tho cir-
cumference due to rotation. At tho uppermost point both thoso
motions are in tho same direction. If v bo the rate at which the
centre advances, and also that at which, wero tho centre at rest, a
])oint on tho circumference would be moving on account of rota-
tion, then the velocity of the lowest point is v-v, or 0, while that
of the uppermost point is I'-H', or 2r.— Solarium. Tho correct
angle for tho gnomon of a sundial to bo erected on ' Stroatham
Common would bo 51|°. There may bo a minute or two of
difference between 51° 31', the latitude of London, and that of
Streutham, but it would bo impossible to make a gnomon so pre-
cisely as to take this into account. The best way to place the stylo
is by the sun, not by the pole star. At true solar noon (which you
can' get from " Whi'taker's Almanack," if you have true clock time,
by adding or subtracting tho equation of time according to tho
date), the style must have its shadow in its own plane. Thus,
on May 12, see " Whitaker's Alm.anack," p. 31, tho sua is 3m. 52s.
before" the clock, so that the sun is due south at 3m. 523. to twelve
clock time. Tho stylo can then bo set with its piano vortical, and
due north and south, the slant edge, of course, pointing towards
the pole of the heavens, or due north, 52i'' above the horizon. — A
Con.stant Reader. We must not trespass on the province of
medical men. A surgeon who has seen the formation would
know better than correspondents who had not ; and we should
be afraid of advice being given which might lead to mischief.
[About two pages of " Answers " have been unavoidably held over.]
©MX iHatlKiiiatiral Column.
THE LAWS OF PROBABILITY.
By the Editor.
TUB law enunciated at the close of the last paper enables us to
determine the probability that a certain series of results will
follow, in a certain definite order, when any definite trial, as a
tossing, drawing, or the like, is repeated such and such a number
of times; but it does not tell us what the jirobability is that so
many results out of the total number will be of one kind, without
regard to order. For example, suppose there are tliree white balls
and seven black balls in a bag, and that wo draw a ball five times,
always at raidom, and always returning the drawn ball. Then, tho
chance that tho drawings give, first a white ball, then three black
balls, then a white ball, is as follows : —
l.lxlxl.ljor^O?^^
10 10 10 10 10 lOUOOO
— the odds in fact aro more than 30 to 1 against such a result. But
the probability that two drawings out of the five will give a white
ball and that threo drawings will give a black ball is very different.
The odds are against such a result ; but they aro Jiot nearly so heavy
as against tho former. This is easily seen ; because the particular
succession above considered is only one out of several results which
would give two white drawings and threo black ones. If we con-
sider in how many ways this i)roportion of white and black drawings
may bo brought about, wo shall bo led to recognise the true method
of determining the probability of this result.
Call a white drawing w, and a black drawing 6. Then the above
particular result is represented by the arrangement, to 6 5 6 «). Bnt
596
KNOVV^LEDGE
[May 12, 1882.
uljjfobrn tells us that oat of two w'a and three Vs we can make
' , „ .. (lifferont permutations. Now, we havo seen that the
chance of any given one of these occurring is
3 3 7 7 7 3'.7'
— X — X — X - X _ ; or, -— :
10 10 10 10 10 10^
hence, obviously, the cliance that some one or other of tliese per-
mutations occurring is obtained by multiplying their total number
into the probability of the occurrence of one out of that number.
^, . . 1.2.3.4.5 3-.7'
This gives, as the required probability, i 2 x 1 a 3 " ~hF ' "'■''^h
■1.5 3'.';
inav either be reduced into the fori
1.2
viittfn,
j; (for further roduc-
\i . |3 ■ lO-
its value is
tion), or may be convenientl;
3087
lOOOO'
If we notice how this result has been obtaincJ, we rcadil3- deduce
the following important law : — If, at each of a set of (n + i.i) trials,
there are (p + 5) possible results, all equally likely, p being of one
kind and q of another, then the probability that n results will be of
the former kind, and m of the latter, is
!" + "'• » ,„
— p"'i"' ■
|ll_|lH '{p + <,)\2^
1 give a few illustrations of the application of this law, before
proceeding to notice bow the expressions representing these pro-
babilities are related to certain well-known algebraical theorems.
Suppose we wish to determine the probability that in tossing a
coin eight times there will be five heads and three tails. Here p is
1 and 5 is 1 ; 71 is 5 and m is 3. So that the required probability
is —
1
that is -
E 1^ 2« 1.2.,-i
So that the odds are 25 to 7 against five heads and three tails being
If we required the odds against five tossings being of one kind
and three of the other, without caring whether heads or tails showed
oftenest, we must obviously double the above probability, since
there must be exactly equal chances for the result five heads and
three tails, and for the result three heads and five tails. Thus, we
•»et as the chance that five tossings will be of one kind and three of
7
the other th, or the odds 9 to < against such a result.
Id °
Xow let us inquire what the chance is that the eight tossings will
give four heads and four tails. Our formula gives in this case —
lj_ 2. 5.C.7.8 i_. or ?i
|4_ \i ■ 2- ' "''' 1.2.3.1 • 2" ' ' 128 '
So that the odds are 03 to 33 against such a result. (The reader
>vill readily see why there is no doubling in this case.)
35 7 7
Observe that -r^g is greater than ^, but less than jg ; so that
when a coin is tossed eight times, wc are more likely to get four
heads and four tails than either five heads and three tails, or- three
heads and five tails ; but we are more likely to get one of these
two last results than the first result.
What, however, is the chance that six heads and two tails will
result ?
Our formula gives
1 .u .... 7_,
61
the odds are therefore 57 to 7 against such a result.
The chance that six tossings will be of one kind and two of the
other is —
32
It is similarly shown that the chance of seven heads and one tail
being tossed is —j the chance that seven tossings are of one kind
and one of another being
• The symbol | implies tliat all the whole numbers, from one
up to the number indicated within the symbol, are to be multiplied
together.
The chance that all the tossings give head is 5^ ; the chance
1
'250"
Wo notice, then, that the most probable number of heads is tour j
and in like manner the most probable number of tails is four; bat
the most probable assortment of heads and tails is such that there
will be five of one kind and three of the other.
It would follow, therefore, that if two persons of equal fortune
were to venture half their fortune on each of eight successive
tossings, the most likily of all results is that one or other will bo
just ruined at the end of the series of to.ssings. Bat it is etiually
likely that one or other will be the loser j and it is rather more
likely that they will come off (juits than that one of them (specified
beforehand) will be ruined. This supposes that all the eight
tossings are completed before accounts are cleared ; and therefore
the policy of gambling is somewhat too favourably treated ; for
clearly two unfavottrable tossings to begin with, or three unfavom'-
able out of the four first tossings, although they might be cancelled
by favourable throws if the tossing were continued, would yet
complete the ruin of a player, if the money ventured had to be
handed over to the winner after each several tossing.
Let us next take the following example : —
A die is thrown eight times ; what is the chance that ace is
thrown twice (exactly) ? Here the p of our formula is 1, the q is
5 (since there are five throws other than ace) ; « is 2 and m is C.
Thus the required chance is by otu- formula —
^= — . --7 ; or 28 • —
^ |G_ C 6"
the value of which can be easily obtained either by direct calcula-
tion or by means of logarithms.
If we examine otir formula-
|n -l-m
(P + 0)V"
We find that it can be aiv«.M into two pnrts. each readily
defined. First, there is the expression (p + 'j )"''"■", which obviously
corresponds to the total number of possible results when there are
{p + Q) possible events at each trial, and (11 -l-m) trials. The other
portion
\n + m
must, therefore, represent the total number of favourable results,
that is, the total number of restilts fulfilling the required con-
ditions. It is easily seen that this is so. For in fact, if we take
any particular case in which n of the results are of the kind which
can happen in 2' ways, and m are of the other kind which can
happen in q ways, we see that this particular case can be varied in
p" q'" ways. For instance, reverting to our illustrative case, the
jiarticular result v: h b h v: may be varied by having any one of the
three white balls to give the first 1", by having any one of the seven
black balls for the first ■-, any one of the same set for the next f-.
and so on ; giving in all 3 times, 7 times, 7 times, 7 times, 3 jk>?-
sible variations in which the sequence is ir V h h «■ — that is, 3' 7^
such variations. And the number of possible sequences of n + m
results, of which 71 are of one kind and n; of another, is, by a well-
known rule,
In -l-m
Hence the total number of favourable results is obtained by multi-
plying these numbers together, or is.
In -l-m „ „
This expression is the term involving p" q'" iu the expansion of
{p + q) to the power (n + m).
So that our law may be thus expressed. If there are n -t m trials,
at each of which some one ei p+ q events, all equally likely, must
occur, p of these events being of one kind and q of another ; then
the chance that n events will be the former kind and ni of the
latter, is represented by the fraction of which the numerator is the
term involving p" q'" in the expansion of {p -t- q) to the power
(>i +ni), the denominator being the complete expansion.
This is the chance that there will be eutctlu n results of the
former kind. The chance that there will be at least n results of
the former kind is obviously obtained by adding together for the
numerator all tho terms of the expansion from the first down to the
term involving p" q" (both inclusive), the denominator being, as
in the former case, the complete expansion.
May 12, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
597
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM.
41] — Sliow that a proper fraction, which in its lowest terms
kes the form - (a and b being prime to each other and
J, . 2"> • 5"
o 10), when converted into a decimal, recurs from, but not before,
be (m + l)"" or (n + 1)"' digit after the decimal point, according as
> or < >i. — Gradatim.
["Gradatim" supplies a solution of the above problem, turning
in the lemma that if a is prime to b, the fraction — = a decimal re-
0
oning from first digit after point. I would submit that writing
he fraction in the form - . - — or - according as m > or
b 10'» b lO"
< fl, the above result follows at once from this lemma. — Ed.]
[42] — Given the length of three lines, a, b, and c, draivn from any
[Kunt within a regular polyg<.'n of n sides, to any three of its con-
intivc comers. A, B, andC. Required a geometrical determination
the polygon, granting that the polygon of »i sides can be con-
itmcted when one of its sides is given. — Y.
0\iv €l)t^5 Column.
Endings from actual games contested by Leonard P. Rees.
POSITIOH Xo. 40.
Position Xo. 41
Blacx.
Blace.
'I^ ""^ ^^»^
. m -p
-.«
i ik . t 4 t
*^fC
%
m
■^, ■ 5
t- "&'
Whitb.
WnilE.
■\M,;ic to plaj- «iid «:i.. 'VVUite to ploy and w
"■
HIGHGATE CHESS CLUB.
President — Professor Tomlinson.
CONSVLTATIOX GaME, PLATED JIarhi 6, 1882.
Kings' Gambit.
Wliite. B)«k. Wbitf. Blwk.
P to Ki P to Kt I 11. P to K6 P takes P (e)
PtoKB4 P takes P I 12. Stakes P(ch) B takes B
Kt to KB3 P to KKt4 ' 13. Q takes B(ch) K to Rsq
B to B4 B to Kt2 [ 14. Kt to QR3 Q to Q4
Castles P to Q3 I 15. Q to KKt4 QKt to K4
P to QBS (a) P to KR3 I IG. Kt takes Kt y takes Kt
P to t,»4 Kt to K2 (b) 17. B to Q2 QR to Qsq
Q to QKtS (<■) Castles 18. QR to Ksq (/) g to QB4(ch)
P to K5 (<?) P takes P 19. Resigns.
P takes P QKt to B3 |
NOTES.
(a) P to Q4 deserves a slight preference ; it enables 'White to
choose different lines of play, in addition to his having the option
of arriving at the po.silion in the text by following ivith P to B3.
The attack obtained in this variation of the King's Gambit is very
indifferent.
(6) His best.
(f) Sounder than the usual move of P to Kt3, as Black, by
replying to the latter move witli P to Kt5, will obtain a good game.
(d) Hero we think P to Kt3 might have been played with more
safety than before ; there is nothing to bo gained by P to K5, which
weakens White's centre.
(e) This is good enough, but Black might also have played
P to B4 in order to be able to win ; the P on K6 play would, how-
ever, have become more dithcult.
(/) This was an ovcrsignt i he now loses the Bishop. Ho might
have played B to Ksq with a view of playing B to B2 and getting
his Rooks into play, and also bringing his Queen's Knight into
active operations. Black had an extra Pawn, but his King's side
was exposed, and Wliitt- still had some chance of retrieving his
fortunes.
TIio following bright game illustrates the attack obtained by
10. KKt to Kt5 in the Giuoco Piano : —
White. Dlack.
Lioiinrd P. Bees.
1. P to K4 P to K4
2. Kt to KB3 Kt to QB3
3. B to B4 B to B4
4. P to B.J Kt to B3
5. P to Q4 P lakes P
6. P takes P B to Kt5(ch)
7. B to Q2 B takes B
8. QKt takes B Kt takes KP
9. Kt takes Kt («)P to Q4
10. KKt to Kt5 (!-)P takes B (o)
11. Q toR5 PtoKKt3(d)
White.
L P. R.
12. Q to RO
13. R to Qsq
14. P to B4 (e)
15. Q to Kt7
10. K to Bsq
17. Kt to B3
Q takes P
Q to K4
Q takes BP(/)
Q to K6(ch)
Qto B5(ch)
Q to B4 (.j)
18. Q lakes R(ch) K to K2
19. K to B2 P to KR4 (/;)
20. Kt to BO (i) Q takes Kt
21. KRtoKsq(ch) B to K3
22. R to Q7(ch) liesigns
NOTES.
(a) As we have shown in our analysis of the Giuoco piano,
p. 442, White can continue ivith 9. P to Q3, obtaining thereby a
very fair game.
(b) In the same analysis we characterised the move as an attacking
style ; it may become very dangerous, but, with correct defence, it
will prove less effective.
(c) This is exactly what nine players out of ten will do, but we
demur to this move. White will obtain a strong attack by Q to R5.
Black can prevent this by just delaying the capture of the piece
for ono move, and playing instead 10. B to B4. It is obvious
that the key move of White's attack, Q to R5 would be bad now.
as Black would reply with B to Kt3. Q to K2 would be met by
Black's castling. 10. B to B4 destroys White's attack entirely,
and, in our opinion, even gives Black a superiority ; for supposing
now B takes P, Q takes B, White's Queen's Pawn must eventually
fall.
(d) Q to K2 would be met by White Castling, with a good
game.
(e) An attacking move; 14. Castles would also have been good
play.
(/) Black's position is very precarious; 14. Q takes KtP would
have prevented for a time the entry of the White Queen on Kt7.
14. Q to R5(ch) would have been met by 15. Kt to QB3, and, if
Black then proceeded with 15. B to Q2, with the idea of Castling,
White wonld play 16. Kt takes BP.
(3) White has played very well. Black is now compelled to give
up his Rook, as otherwi.se he would lose his Queen, i.e., 17. R to Bsq,
18. Kt to BG(ch), 18. K to K2, 19. Ktto Q5(ch).
(h) R to Ktsq was better, as he could then play B to K3.
(i) This wins the Queen ; KR to Ksq, however, looked stronger.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
•«* Please address Chess-Editor.
Leonard P. Rees. — Best thanks for findings, which were
ingeniously played. Solutions of No.s. 36, 37, and 38 correct.
G. Licence, — Solutions correct. Problems received will be
examined. Thanks for good wishes.
H. A. N. — Problem received with thanks.
Brenton. — Solution of 35, 36, and 38 correct.
A. McD. — Solution of 38 incorrect.
J. B. B.— Solutions of Nos. 35, 36, and 37 correct.
Correct Solution of No. 38 received from G. W. Edward Wilson,
Fusee, Moleque.
598
KNOWLEDGE
[May 12, 1882.
Fiisec. — Vou nro quite correct in your explanation.
H. J. Burkor. — W. W. Morfrnn, 23, Groat Queen-street, sells
pocket chess-boards. It is quito "straightforward" to draw by
liorpetnal ciieek ; in some cases even highly creditable.
Correct solution of I'robleni No. 39 received from Sloloqno,
Fusee, Alfred U. I'almer, Hoc, J. Wriglev, J. P., U. A. L. S.,
II. A. N.
SohitioTia of Xo». 38 and 39 also received from J. Griffith, J. B..
of Bosford.
J. C. Koylo r. J. Griffith.
(But aanoi'st column.
By " Five of Clubs."
A GAME FOU STUDY.
A.
Clubs— K, 10,9,8,7,0,2.
Spades — ^K.
Hearts — K, 4.
Diamonds — K, Kn, 9.
li.
Cluhs—A, Ku.
Spa'^les— Q, 0.
Hearts— Kn, 10, 9, 8, 7.
Diamonds— 7, 6, 4, 3.
Y.
Cluhs—q, l, 3.
Spades — Kn, 8, 5.
Hearts — A, 5, 2.
Diamonds — A, Q,10,2.
Z.
Cluls—5.
Spades— A, 10, 7, G, 4,
3, 2.
Hearts— Q, 6, 3.
Diamonds — 8, 5.
Score.— 4 B, 3 ; T Z, 4.
Players are invited by a correspondent to tost these l^nds (which
will be familiar to readers of Cavendish) by playing them in the
usual way, and report through our columns — with the original
lead in each case — the results of their game.
Solutions of Problem IV. — H. L. L., K. C, Corrigan, and others
correct. We propose to publish the solution next week.
A Two-Suit Hand.
A correspondent, W. H. G., points out correctly that a two-suit
hand, 7 of one suit and 6 of another, may be formed in twice as
many ways as we liave indicated in our discussion of such Iiands
at page 561. Our reasoning assumes that each set of six from
one suit may be combined with each set of seven from another,
or vice Der.5i, whereas for or we should read and, thus of course
doubling the actual number of such combinations. Thus, instead
of the odds being 53,911 to 1 against snch a combination out-
side of trumps, we should have obtained 26,955 to 1 ; and
instead of 35,940 to 1 for such a combination in any suit, we
should have obtained 17,970 to 1. W. H. G. suggests also, but
with less confidence, that instead of considering that there
are 51 cards out of which a combination of the former kmd
may be made, we should have taken the whole pack. Let us
consider this point. Any player but the dealer is to have thii-teen
cards dealt to him, and the question is, what is the chance that
theso thirteen cards will consist of seven of one suit, six of
another, neither suit being that to which a certain card in the
dealer's hand, the last he deals himself, belongs .' Now if we con-
sider these conditions (more carefully than I did ia replying at
p. 561 to my correspondent's query), we shall see that it is not the
pai-ticular card which the dealer turns up last which should be
excluded, but one suit, which has been already done. In fact, the
question really is this. What is the chance that a given set of
thirteen cards taken at random will be six of one suit, seven of
another suit, out of three suits ? Tlio chance of this is just half
tho chance that the thirteen cards will be six of one suit, seven of
another suit, out of all four suits ; hence the odds against are
rather more than 35,940 to 1, instead of 20,955 to 1.— En.]
J. MoxTAGUE. — It is the same problem. Mr. Clay's treatise
appeared in 186 1; but, in the latest edition, tho wording is un-
altered. Doubtless, had he been alive, he would not have allowed
the words " a few months back " to stand. — Five of Clubs.
"WHIST FOR BEGINNERS."*
It is somewhat singular that when a very small and clcmentarv
book is to be written, the writer seems to" think the occasion one
for being discursive. In this little book, with only twenty-seven
• " Whist for Beginners." By C. T. Buckland, F.R.Z.S. (London :
W. II. Allen & Co.)
very small pages, there are more wasted word.i and sentences than
in Cavendish or Pole. The mistake is made, in fact, of RupposinK
that the best way to explain matters for beginners is to wander
round and round the point as long as possible. For instance, wheq^
except in a ten-volume treatise on whist, ought tho writer to
expatiate like thi.s over the suits : —
" When the beginner lias sorted his cards into the four suits, Ift
will greatly assist his memory if ho will try to consider his hand all'
c<mtnining only four units, each suit being treated as an unit o^
more or less strength. Ii is difficult to remember all the thirteen
cards in detail ; but if each suit is treated as an unit of strength^'
the memory huH to deal i>riuiarily with only four things instead at
thirteen. It is something like treating each suit as a separate
regiment ; if yon call your tramp suit artillery, and your long snit,
i.e., the suit in which you hold most cards, cavalry, the other two
suits are your infantry. This metaphor may seem strained, but
whist is a battle, and you mast at once begin to attack or to defend
yourself." More than a page taken np in saying what might be said
in two lines.
If, with all this palaver, tho rules for correct whist play in all ordin-
ary cases were properly given, we might still be content. But they arc
not. Thus, the only rule given for a suit headed by Aco King is this
— if you have Aco and King and three small cards in a suit, yon
should lead tho King first ; and similarly with King Queen ; as
though with Ace, King, and two small ones, or King, Queen, and
two small ones, the lead should bo different. Hero again is a
general rule which is enough te make Cla)' rise from the grave : —
" As the game progresses, you may find yourself obliged to lead from
a suit in which you hold only three cards. It is the safest plan to lead
tho highest of the three cards, as it may strengthen your partner : "
the truth being that in a great number of cases your only chance
is to retain the best in a three-card suit, as a defence against
your adversaries, while in every case in which you have nothing to
guide you, the odds arc 2 to 1 against your partner being stronger
than either adversary in the suit in which you are weak.
Again, instead of the general rule that in returning your
partner's lead, yon should return the best of two cards left, and
lowest of tlu-ee cards left, Mr. Buckland says, " When you take the
trick in the suit led '..^ ~ Jiaitner, you should return," &c., im-
plying not only that when an adversary has taken the first trick,
the rule does not hold, but also that you ought always to return
the lead when you take the trick in your partner's suit.
The rule given for the discard is also only true when trumps are
not declared against you ; when they are, the discard should be
from longest sixit.
A little book like this might contain a great deal of useful and
correct information. This little book does not.
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}klAY 19, 1882.]
♦ KNO\A/'LEDGE •
699
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE
FLAINLYV/ORDED -EXACTLXBESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1882.
COXTESTS OF No. 29.
PASR
S.-ience at the Tlovnl Academr Cltit
1 lie Tliree Cold Days of MaV. By
Ihe Editor (WO
CrTjlals. Bv William .I»«o, F.C.S.,
A9»o<-. Insi't. Chera. UllunlrnleJ) 601
Photopraphv for Amateurs. ItT A.
Urolhem, F.K AS. Part Vrt. ... 602
Curiosities of C«lour. ByUenrvJ.
Slack. F.G..S , F.K.M S ,' 6C3
The " Green-Beam " Paper. (A
Sequel ) Br Lieut.-Col. W. A.
Ros... late R.'A 6*1
Measurement of the Focal Length
of De.'p Convex Lenses. By T.
W.Webb. {IllmtnUtd) 605
Butterflies and Moths 606
The Electric Telegraph. By W.
Lvnd 6ii7
The' Comet {.Illmtrated) 6(W
The Weather Heport 601)
Rktibws : " Studies in Microsco-
pical Science 60!)
Land and Water 809
CoRREspoKDBXcK : The "Coney" of
Scripture — Probabilities, Ac. — 6 0-ftl2
Answers to Correspondenta 612-013
Our Mathematical Column: The
Laws of Probability 6U
Our Chess Column til l
Oar Whist Column UIG
SCIENCE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
ANATOMY IN THE SCULPTURE GALLERIES.
V CORRECT knowledge of anatomy is so much more
important in sculpture than in painting, though im-
jiortant in botli, that in considering this part of our suljject
we shall do well to turn for a while into the sculpture
galleries. As we pass quickly through the other rooms, we
note the absurdly long legs in ]Mr. Pettie's picture of
Eugene Aram (" He talked with him of Cain "), No. 18,
Room 1 ; the aged hands of Mr. Wirgman's girl in No. 1 9
("I cannot mind my wheel, mother") ; the incorrectly drawn
right foot in Mr. Cameron's otherwise pretty picture " Even-
inu'. No. 48 ; and the most monstrous foot in Mr. Marks' "A
Fugitive Thought." Mr. Pengelley's left hand (Portrait
by Cope, No. 79) is manifestly deformed, if the painter
has correctly represented it, which we doubt. It would be
absurd to criticise the anatomical dev'elopment of Mr.
^Melville's "Sower" (No. 98, Room II.), for the simple
reason that he has none, nor has he any respect for the
law of gravity. In the same room we note, still en passant,
the singularly unfini.«hed condition of Mr. Starr's portrait
of Mr. George Wilkinson, JI.A In Room III., " Bad
News," No. 222, a picture of the melodramatic school, by
Mr. ^Marcus Stone, suggests that the trooper who has
brought the bad news, and who, if the perspective is
correct, must be about ten inches shorter than his mistress,
requires a course of athletic exercise to give him a
respectable development of chest and shoulders. Ella's
hips, in Mr. John Scott's pleasing picture "The Wild
Swans " (No. 270), are in danger of dislocation ; and
in No. 384, Mr. Barwell's " Sweetness and Light,"
Gallery IV., there are two most hideous, though perhaps
correctly-copied, feet, the only excuse for which is
that they turn the attention for the moment from the ab-
solutely iinpo.ssiVjle lilac tint of the riverside scene. Mr.
Barrable's " Little Patience," No. 396, in the same room,
must be a little opera dancer, if she can keep her feet
patiently in tlie attitude represented. To the artistic eye,
the attitudes of ballet dancers are not beautiful ; but it is
easier to draw feet in the pointed position such folk affect
than in one of the many positions which the feet naturally
assume. In Gallery V. we note, in passing, that the
anatomical development of the late Edwin Christy
(No. 433), as presented by Mr. Sidley, would liardly have
sufficed for the effective wielding of the sword, some .5 ft
in length, which the artist has bestowed on the hussar.
The left arm of the young girl in No. 500, " To be Left
till Called For," by ilr. Jerry Earratt, is indescribably in-
correct in an anatomical sense : that is to say, it is impos-
sible to tell what the artist meant to give that arm in the
way of mu.scles and tendons — certainly not such as are
known to the anatomist — but the crabbed hand may have
really belonged to the model. We note in the same gallery
a serious fault in an otherwise charming little painting, Mr.
Edwin Douglas's " Place of Safety." Such a horse, one
with which a dog could safely play, and on whose back a
cat could find " a place of safety," never had such an eye.
Even without these proofs of a trustworthy nature, the
wicked eye would be inconsistent with the rest of the
head. Every one acquainted with the ways of horses
knows what such an eye means, and how the ears follow
suit In the next gallery (No. VI.) we observe that the
bigger dog in ilr. Strutt's " Extremes Meet," is meant
to be one of the biggest of the big, but is made, by in
correct drawing, decidedly imdersizcd for his breed.
However, we must hasten to the sculpture galleries if
we are to have time to discuss the anatomical defects and
excellencies of the works there exhibited.
The first feature which always strikes any one familiar
with antique art, in studying the works of modern sculptors,
is their unfinished condition. Compare the nude arm or
leg of a Greek female statue of the highest type with the
nude arm of the best modern statues, and the difl^erence to
which we refer will be seen at once. (We mention female
statues because there is not in the female figure that
obvious muscular development which even the inexperi-
enced can recognise ; though in male as in female statues
the difference we are considering exists.) By the careful
finish of their surface, the older statues indicated not merely
the surface contour of the flesh, but the actual form and
proportions of the muscles. In modern statues we usually
liave to be content with a general intimation of the ex-
istence of the chief muscles, the delicate gradations of
surface which indicate the presence and form of minor
muscles being generally neglected altogether. Sometimes
even the chief muscles are incorrectly represented. Take
for instance Pradier's " Toilet of Atalanta " (sometimes
absurdly called the Venus accrottpie, or Crouching Venus) :
in this statue, the head of which alone is worthy of Pradier'3
reputation, the arms have no muscles at all, the muscles
of the thigh and calf are not merely incompletely, but in-
correctly, rendered, and the flat and long left foot would
have been regarded by Phidias or Praxiteles as altogether
unfinished, — probably as not worth finishing. Houdon's
" Diana " (bronze), compared with a good ancient statue,
is like a sketch in crayons compared with a finished
painting.
I n the sculpture gallery of the Royal Academy we find
this year many pleasing works, and many which are sug-
geitive of exquisite beauty, liut none (at least of the higher
class of statuary) which can be regarded as finished; none,
at ajiy rate, bearing evidence of the loving care which
the sculptors of Greece bestowed on their best statues. It
may be that the fault lies in the want of such models as
the Greek sculptors had. Women may be as beautiful in
face now as the Greek women of old, but in form they na-
turally cannot be ; for, apart from the use of stays, women
have scarce any exercise by wliich beauty of form can be
GOO
KNOWLEDGE
[May 19, 1882.
developed, or retained where it already exists. As Pradier's
" Atalanta,"in hor slopinj; shoulders and pinched waist, bears
evidence of Parisian tasti.s (or of tlie only type of femah"
beauty which can exist where Parisian fasliions prevail),
so Mr. Thornycroft's ''Artemis," No. 1,0 tl, Mr. Ball's
"Lancashire Witch," No. l,"")?!, and other works in the
-sculpture gallery at tin- Royal Academy, bear evidence of
the imperfect muscular development of the women of our
time. The right arm of '' Artemis," for instance, is incor-
ir(>ctly shajjed, both upper arm and fore arm, though vei-y
ll lively he correctly represented the arms of his model. Thi.s,
Jiowever, is a fine sculpture, though the idea is somewhat
woriL In the " Lancashire Witch," a really charming work,
the proportions are more correct, but the limbs are un-
finished, or rather the limbs copied would have been
regarded by an ancient sculptor as imperfect and flaccid.
On the other hand, "My Dainty Ariel," by Mr. Armstead,
R.A. (No. 1,680), is aljsolutely .and outrageously incorrect
ill proportions, as well artistically as anatomically. The
short fore-arms are out of all proportion to the monstrous
hands ; the attitude is hideous, bringing out, and, as it were,
(Miiphasising, the boniness of the knees ; the face is frisky,
perhaps — certainly not dainty. Of the wings, as we know
nothing of the anatomical arrangements by which wings
stuck upon human shoulders could be made to work, we say
nothing ; but the .statue, as a whole, is ([uite unworthy of
Mr. Armstead's repute.
Speaking of winged figures, we are led to notice the re-
l)resentations of "Jacob wrestling with the Angel." Giving
priority to the fair sex, we take first No. 1,.57S, by
I'jinmeline Halse. Jacob is supposed to be at that stage
of the encounter where he remarks, " I will not let thee go,
except thou bless me." He is certainly not wrestling with
the angeL He is holding the angel up from the ground,
and his opponent is manifestly conscious that he is in no
danger of being thrown, for he is curling up his toes like a
child at play. Properly to represent such an encounter,
the artist should pass hours in watching hond-fide en-
counters between good wrestlers. We will undertake to
.s;iy that she would never in a real encounter see the toes
<if a wrestler who has been caught up by a strong opponent,
twiddling in the air as her angel's toes are. The actual
position taken up by the toes when a wrestler is thus placed
(we suppose the opponents, as usual in the North, to be in
stockinged feet) is quite characteristic, all the toes closing
in towards the ball of the foot ; only when the body is
actually swayed round for the throw is this position of the
toes changed. The toes are not turned upwards when
I'reat exertion is made in which the lower limbs take part,
any more than the fingers are turned backwards towards
the wrist when the muscles of the arm are energetically
exerted.
Mr. Robert T. Fallon's treatment of the same subject,
No. 1 542, is still less consistent with anatomical facts. The
an"ol'(with a face of the type of a Yankee pedlar's, and
with an expression disagreeably suggestive of Mr. Julian
Hawthorne's impossible pedlar in " fortune's Fool"), is care-
fully holding up Jacob with one hand while endeavouring
to thrust him down with the other. This is not usual in
such encounters. We would remind Mr. Fallon, also, that
although certain muscles arc called into active exercise in
an energetic wrestle, they only become exceptionally de-
veloped in persons who give much of their time to such
(iocounters. To give to sculptured figures the peculiar
(levolopment of men whose chief business is wrestling is to
-imply that the persons represented were trained wrestlers'
There is nothing in the Hebrew record to suggest that
either Jacob or the angel belonged to this category. Cer-
tainlT, Mr. Fallon goes far to correct any erroneous im-
pre.ssion in this respect by indicating Jacob's manifest
want of skill, and liy a.ssigning to tlie angel tlie unusual
task of holding up his opponent and pu.sliing him down at
the same time. Put it remains the case tliat some of tlie
muscles, both of the patriarch's body and of the angel'.s,
have a relative development, such as we only see in veteran
wrestlers.
THE THREE COLD DAYS OF MAY.
Bv THE Editor.
IT is a singular, and as yet unexplained, circumstance,
that usually in the second week of May two or three
cold days occur. And although the fall of temperature is
not quite so strongly marked as that which occurs between
the 10th and 14th of April — the "borrowing days," — yet
the cold days of May are quite sufficiently marked to
be unmistakable. The mean annual curve of tempera-
ture derived from half-a-century's observations at Green-
wich shows a well-defined depression near the end of the
first third of the month of May ; and a peculiarity striking
enough in its occasional manifestations to attract popular
attention, and sustained enough to show through all the
variations which have occurred in the weather during half
a century, must be regarded as real, not accid 'iital. Its
nature is shown in the temperature curve in p. L'77 of the
second series of my " Light Science," where the peculiarity
is far from being exaggerated. Indeed, the car\e is so'tened
off on account of the method adopted for tracing it. Wt; see in
the temperature for Greenwich awave-like rise from January
to July, the curve sinking then to January ag.ain ; but the as-
cendingcurveisaffeeteul^j 1' xeewell-markeddepressionSjOne
in February, one in April, and one in May, while, strangely
enough, three similar irregul.irities afl'ect the descending
cur\e in the parts for November and December. It is,
indeed, now an established meteorological fact, not for
Great Britain only, but for Europe, that during the first
fortnight in May tlie average temperature is considerably
below that which might be expected from the increasing
elevation of the sun and duration of d.aylight. It is not
altogether true, as I have seen stated in a Continental
journal of science, that a week of cold occurs with extreme
regularity in the first half of May. It requires but a brief
search among meteorological records to find instanees of
warm first fortnights in May. If we take up any weather
sunimaiy for a few successive years, we find abundant
evidence of the irregularity with which " the cold week of
May " makes its appearance. For example, in the summaiy
of the weather given by Gilbert White in his " Natural
History of Selbome," we find such records as follows :
In 1771 frosty weather to the end of the third week
in April, followed by spring weather and rain to the
end of the first fortnight in May, and then dry warm
weather to the end of .Tune ; in 1772 the first fortnight of
May was dry, with cold piercing winds ; in 177-1, thixjugh-
out May and June, "warm showers" ; in 1774 no marked
peculiarities; in 1775 warm weather throughout May ; and
in 1770 cold weather throughout the month ; the last half
of Ay)ril, 1778, " snow and ice," followed by rainy weather
to June 11; thence warm Mays till 178l*, when the first
week of the month was cold and dark ; in 1 78o there was
thick ice on May .5 ; in 178 t cold dry weather during the
first twelve days of May : in 178.T mild weather during the
first seventeen days, and then cold weather to the end of
the month ; on May 1 and '2, 1786, "thick ice"; in 1787
fine bright weather to the 22nd, then warm, but on June 7
" ice as thick as a crown piece ;" in 1778 a warm dry May ;
in 1789 a warm moist month ; and lastly, whereas May in
ilAY 19, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
601
1790 and 1791 was a warm month throughout, May in
1792 was cold and bleak. Certainly there is no evidence
here of extreme regularity.
I have already pointed out (see last number) that the
praises bestowed by the poets of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries upon the month of May do not relate to
tlie thirty-one days forming the May of our present year,
but to those which now fall between May 11 and June 11.
The May-day of those times fell, strangely enough, at the
\erv coldest part of what may be called the average cold
week of May, but the month of ilay, as a whole, was
then much warmer on the average than our present May,
Jind well deserved Dryden's warm description : —
For thee, sweet month, the fjroves green liTrics wear,
If not the first the fairest of the Tear;
Tor thee the Graces lead the daiicinjr honrs,
And Nature's ready pencil paints the tlow'rs.
Xhe sprightly May commands our youth to keep
The vi^ls of her night, and breaks their sleep ;
Kach gentle breast with kindly warmth she moves,
Inspires new flames, revives extinguished loves.
It is only when the average temperatures of the first
■fourteen days of May are considered, that we find the now
jirevalent belief in a " cold week in May " fully justified.
The curve of temperature for the year from the ob-
servations of the last half century, shows, as already men-
tioned, a decided depression at the part corresponding to
tlie second week in Jlay, thougli it is to be noticed that it
<lips down quite us decidedly at the part corresponding to
the second week in April. It appears to me that when we
cooibine the ascertained fact that there is on the average a
fall of temperature at this part of ^lay, with the equally
<-ert;\in fact that there is no regularity in the recurrence of
the cold week, we must regard as extremely improbable
the theory which attributes the peculiarity to a cosmical
<ause. This theory was thus placidly presented some time
.•i_'o by M. de Fonvielle as a known truth : —
'• The chilliness is due to the fact that the earth passes
4i'liind a ring of asteroids, which absorb a portion of the
■.iin's warmth, due to us while it remains above the horizon.
The temperature will not resume its ascensional movement
vuitil the annual rotation shall have carried our sfihere from
the shadow of the multitude of the small planets which is
always projected on the same point of our orbit"
>'e.Kt week, I shall point out a few objections to this
theory.
I'oisoNOUS Crayons. — A little girl, o-t. two-and-a-half years,
i-occntly died at Brockley from the effects produced in part by
.sucking poisonous crayons. At the in<iuest held on the body, the
trade.sman from whom the things hud been purchased disclaimed all
knowledge of their injurious properties, and said that he sold them
in considerable quantities in penny boxes. I'nst-mortem examina-
tion, however, revealed that the brain and stomach alone of all the
ot^ns were in an unhealtliy condition. Tiie stomach was much in-
flamed, and perforations of its coats occurred in two places, while
the left side of the brain was distended with fluid. There was
eiidence that the child had sustained a fall, and to this it was
sought in part to attribute the death ; but information concerning
the accident was incomplete and unsatisfactory, although the jury, by
their verdict, credited it in part with the fatal result. Analysis of the
crayons conclusively proved that they all contained poisonous
material, and there can be little donbt they were chiefly to blame
fuo: the death. One of the crayons, a pink one, contained inore than
fifty per cent, of its weight of white leail, and as the unfortunate
little victim lingered for three weeks in much suffering, it ought to
be possible to ascertain how far this substance influenced her con-
<iition. The newspaper reports give ver.- insufficient details of the
ease, of which, however. Dr. Kavanagh, the medical attendant, may
|iossibly provide more comprehensive notes. The case is an instruc-
tive one, as showing the need for sweeping measures of reform in
connection with the indiscriminate sale of poisonous materials of all
sorts by general shopkeepers ; and in this way it may excite useful
<lirenssion. — Hedical Press.
CRYSTALS.
By William Jaco, F.C.S., Assoc. Is.st. Ciiem.
No. II.
IN the last paper on this subject directions were given
for the preparation of crystals of bismuth and sulphur,
in both cases liy the solidification of the fu.sed .substance.
Before leaving the ciystallisation of metals, reference should
be made to those experiments in which metals are dis-
placed from a solution of their .salts by some other element.
The well-known '• lead tree " is a type of such changes ;
its formation depends on the fact that zinc is a more activi-
element, chemicallj-, than lead ; hence, if zinc be introduced
into a solution of a compound of leatl with an acid, the lead
is "displaced,"' and its former position usurped by the zinc.
The lead is deposited in the metallic state, and under
favourable conditions assumes a beautiful crystalline
form. The experiment of making a lead tree may bo
performed with a tiiiniinnm of apparatus and experience
of chemical manipulation. An ordinary pickle bottle, or
other vessel of clear glass and similar shape being obtained,
fill it with a solution of lead acetate (sugar of lead). About
an ounce of the acetate will be sufficient for a bottle of the
size mentioned : if dissolved in spring water, a slight sedi-
ment will be formed — this, however, if allowed to subside,
will not interfere with the experiment. Distilled or even
rain-water is preferable for making chemical solutions.
Next a fragment of clean zinc, about the size of a small
walnut, must be procured, the more irregular the better ;
suspend this by a piece of string, the end of which
passes through a hole bored in the oork of the bottle
containing the acetate. Put the zinc in the bottle,
cork it up, and so arrange the length of the string
that the zinc is just beneath the neck ; fasten it in this
position, and set the whole arrangement where it will not
be disturbed. In a short time crystals of lead will be
seen to deposit themselves on the zinc, and soon it will be
covered with a tree-like growth of crystals. If left per-
fectly still, it remains a long tune before the mass drops
off. With this anil other similar experiments, one half the
pleasure consists in watching and studying the crystal
growth for one's self.* Silver, which is in many respects
a metal closely allied to lead, may also be made tlie subject
of interesting experiments on crystallisation ; the so-called
Arbor Diana' is produced by placing a globule of mercury
in a solution of nitrate of silver; a growth ensues of long
thin crystals of an amalgam of silver ; these, in addition
to their beauty of shape, possess that magnificent lustre
which causes mercury and silver to be almo.st unrivalled
among the metals.
Those who possess a microscope will find a few prepared
specimens of crystals a valuable addition to their stock of
slides. Not only are they of great interest, but as an in-
troduction to microscopic analysis and microscopic study of
rocks, the systematic student will find them worthy of
special study. It has been previou.^ly stated that the
crystalline form of many substances is one of their most
characteristic properties ; and as in the detection of poison
and other important cases there is often a trace merely of
the substance to be obtained, a microscopic examination is
of great importance ; it has, too, this further merit, that
the substance is afterwards available for other chemical
tests.
The preparation of such slides is very simple. In the
first place the glass slips must be perfectly clean and free
from grease ; it is well to wash them in a solution of soda,
• It should be stitcd thac lead acetate is a poisonous salt. lu
all cases chemicals s:iouId b? kept clearly labelled and locked up.
G02
KNO\VLEDGE
[May 19, 1882.
rinso with rain or distilled wator, and then wipe dry with
a clean linen cloth. The substiinees that may be selected
for study are legion ; those iigunul are very suitable for
a first attempt ; make solutions by putting a pinch of
common salt, potassium nitrate (saltpetre), o.xalic acid and
potassium dichromate in .separate clean test-tul)e.s, and add
to each a tea-spoonful of water, they will dissolve rapidly
to clear solutions. Take a drop out of the common salt
test-tube on the end of a glass rod, and place it on a clean
slide, spread the drop out with the rod in as thin a layer
as possible ; warm the slide very gently over a lamp until
tlie salt begins to crystallize round the edge of the drop,
tlieu place it under the micro.scope and watch the progress
of crystallisation. Little cubes of salt will be seen to
form, and ultimately the field will appear as shown in
Fig. I.
Fig. 1.— Comn
Fi<'. 2. — Potassinm Nitrate.
Precisely the same experiments being made with the
other solutions, the shapes of the respective crystals are
shown in the accompanying figures. Potassium nitrate
difTers remarkably from the salt ; instead of the little cuVics,
we have the crystals arranged in long parallel feathers.
The oxalic acid, again, shows forms difiering from the other
two ; from a centre the crystals radiate out in every direc-
tion. Of the four specimens, however, the potassium
dichromate is the most beautiful ; the crystals, instead of
being colourless, are of a deep amber hue, while, in mode
of arrangement, they resemble a fern group rather than
mere inanimate matter. The ficrures must be looked on as
Fig. .3.— Oxalic Aciil. Fig. 1.— Potassium Dichromate.
giving some idea only of what is actually seen. The
leading outlines have been drawn, but to copy the delicate
tracery of the finer crystals is impossible. In the case of
the potassium dichromate in particular, some parts of the
field defy all attempts at even afibrding a conception of
their exquisite beauty. But were even all this possible,
there is yet the greater charm remaining to the actual
worker, and that is to see the growth proceeding. The
specimen btung so placed that the edge of the crystals
already formed is just within the field, the main lines
shown are first rapidly filled in, and then the small, r
branches dart out until, the water having evaporated, the
whole of the salt has regained the solid state.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS,
By a. Brothers, F.R.A.S.
THERE are some advantages in trimming the prints
before toning. One is, that the black edge would
take up gold wastefully, and as the paper contains silver,
the waste edges should not be destroyed. The saving,
where the quantity of paper used is large, amounts to an
important item in the course of a j'ear. A third advantage
i.s, that the prints may be mounted at once. Priuts on
albumenised paper have a habit of curling, and it is, there-
fore, less troublesome to mount them whUe damp. The
medium for mounting may be gelatine or starch. The
starch may be of about the same consistence as is used for
stiffening linen, and should always be used fresh. The
only disadvantage in the use of starch is, that if it be
required at any time to remove the print from the mount,
there is some risk of spoiling the print ; but it may be done
by steeping in hot water, and gradually stripping or
rubbing the paper or cardboard from the Ijack of the print.
Prints mounted with gelatine are readily detached from
the mount when placed in hot water. The mountant
should never be used if at all acid.
When dry, the prints should be pressed with a hot flat-
iron, a piece of smooth paper being used between the print
and iron. But a beiii^. _ face will be obtained by passing
the prints through a suitable rolling-press. A solution of
indiarubber is sometimes used for mounting prints, and it
has the advantage of not cockling the paper, but the prints
are liable to peel ofT after a time. There is always a diffi-
culty in mounting prints on paper, or even cardboard,
imless very thick, on account of the cockling caused by the
contraction of the print in drying. If the prints are
larger than Sin. by 6 in., they have a much more finished
appearance if mounted on plate-paper with an india tint ;
but this cannot be done by an amateur, and the prints
should be sent to a professional mounter, the cost being
very little more than if done at home on cardboard, and
the superior finish is well worth the extra cost.
Up to this point I have endeavoured to describe a
process by which photographs may be obtained, and if the
directions are carefully followed, a very little experience
will enable the student to become expert. The chief
difference between the amateur and the professional
photographer is that the latter has more practice, but there
is no reason why the work of the amateur should not equal
that of the profe.ssional. It may happen that our pupil
has no friend to whom he can apply to help him over
difficulties. By a recent change introduced into the
management of the correspondence columns of Knowledge,
we ofler to take the place of the friend, and we hope
during the present season to welcome many workers in one
of the most fascinating of arts.
Before closing this part of our subject, a few general
remarks may be useful.
In the early days of paper prints, the skies of landscapes
were almost always left white, but the effect was most
inartistic. It is now rare to see a landscape without ap-
propriate clouds, often taken at the same time as the rest
of the picture. This, however, is not always possible, and
for one reason, amongst others, that tlie sky may he quite
clear when our view was taken. It is quite easy to make
Mat 19, 1882.]
• KNO^AALEDGE •
603
photographs of clouds, and no opportunity should be lost
to obtain negatives of various size, or they may be taken
<in small plates, and aftenvards enlarged. These negatives
;iro to be used for printing in the skies. Always be careful
to select a cloud negative with the light falling in the same
direction as in the picture. Place the print on a Hat board
0.- slieet of glass, and then put over it the cloud negative,
c.irefidly arranging it so that tlic masses of cloud fall
suitably. Cover the lower part of the print with a piece
of cardboard, so that no light can injure it; but the top
part of the cardVioard must be bent ujnvards, permitting
the light to graduate towards the horizon of the print
■ Now expose to difluse daylight to print the clouds. This
will very soon be done, as tlie printing must not be carried
too far, or the results will be heavy and unplcasing.
Success will depend very much on care and cleanliness
in all the various operations described. The dish used for
nitrate of silver solution should not be used for any other
purpose. All bottles should be carefully labelled, and
always put in proper places. Glass measures should .always
be washed out after use. The bottles containing collodion,
developing, fixing, and other solutions, should always be
kept in the same places wliile in use, and preferably should
be of different shapes, so as to avoid mistakes in the feeble
light of the darkened room. The glass vessel, or bath,
containing nitrate of silver solution, should liave a wooden
case made to slope at a suitable angle. This case is to
protect the coUodionised plate from light caused by the
chance opening of a door, and if the top be protected by a
suitable cover, the plate may be safely left with a flood of
■white light in the room while the operator proceeds with
other work. The dark slide of the camera should be wiped
drj- after using each plate. Thick blotting-paper may be
nsed for this purpose. Nitrate of silver stains on linen
are troublesome to remove, therefore keep certain cloths
for certain purposes. To remove accidental stains, a strong
solution of cyanide of potassium should Vie used, and the
parts should then be washed with soap and water. Stains
on the hands may be removed by rubbing them with solu-
tion of iodine and then witli cyanide of potassium. Dilute
hydrochloric acid will also remove stains from the skin.
CURIOSITIES OF COLOUR.
By Hexkv J. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
INTENDING to resume the " Studies of Minute Life "
by a notice of the micro-ferments and M. Pasteur's
discoveries, the writer may be permitted to indulge in a
temporary change of subject, and mention some interesting
experiments with colour, in the hope of thus supplying
answers to some of tlie questions tliat have been put by
readers of Knowledoe.
A couple of prisms will enable two spectra of the sun
to be thrown upon a white ceiling, or sheet of wliite paper
fastened to the wall. By a little management, the two
spectra may be wholly or partially superposed, and the
very different behaviour of light rays from pigments thus
displayed. The exact and coincident superposition of two
similar spectra will reinforce the colours, and if one is
thus made to slide over the other, the effects of combina-
tion will by no means agree with the mixtures of analogous
pigments. The red and the green will give a yellow, and
this result of combining red and green is also made evident
by Lord Rayleigh's " New Colour Combination Plates,"
made by Browning. In this apparatus a blue disc is super-
posed over a yellow one, and then, as tlie inventor says,
" the yellow disc absorbs the blue light The blue disc
absorbs the yellow and orange light By superposing the
discs, and viewing a white object, as a cloud, the
resultant light will be yellow. But on analysing the
same with a spectroscope, it is proved that yellow liglit is
produced by a commingling of red and green, since these
rays of the spectrum arc alone transmitted."
The success of the experiment depends upon hitting the
exact tints of the two colours. In the specimen before the
writer, the yellow is rather orangey, and when examined
with the spectroscope shows colours from deep red to a
blue-green. The blue disc analysed in th(! same way shows
a band of bright red, succeeded by a cloudy one, something
like a dingy, brownish puce, and then green, blue, and
violet ; no yellow. The combination, which gives an
orangey yellow, when analysed shows red and green, and a
cloudy band in place of the orange and yellow. The blue
and violet are suppressed.
Another way of making interesting experiments is by
obtaining from an artists' colour-shop (such as Brodie
it Middleton, in Long-acre) various sheets of coloured
gelatine and a sheet of black cardboard. Cut some of
the cardboard into 4-inch squares ; make a round hole
in the middle of each square, l.i inches in diameter. Over
these holes fasten coloured gelatine of all the chief obtain-
able tints. This is done most usually by laying the
gelatine on the unblackened side of the cardboard, and
gumming over it a square paper with a hole in it corre-
sponding with that in the cardboard. This keeps the
galatine in its place. When one of the squares so prepared
is held near the eye, the black part e.xcludes most of the
difl'used white light, and objects in a garden or in a room
may be seen as affected by the tint of the gelatine, with a
result that is often very different from what might be
expected. For example, a sky-blue disc slightly blues
white flowers, gives a dingy purplish hue to the rich pink
of dielytra, and makes the yellow-green of aucuba leaves less
noticeable. After this take a disc of purple, like the
common small blue glass so often misapplied in cockney
conservatories. Many green leaves now flash out with red
tints. At this moment the writer sees this effect in young
April rose leaves, the lightest aucuba leaves, the golden
green of Tloija aiirea, and many more. Polyanthus and
winter aconite leaves assume a dull lurid tint, while the
dielytra blossoms have a richer glow. A crimson disc
quite changes the bright leaves of aucuba and Thuja aurea.
This shrub looks as if covered with orange-yellow flowers,
while the sky, now covered with a pale cloud, takes the
full crimson hue.
All the olyects at the time of writing are in a fairly
strong white daylight, and the leaves, according to their
character and the angle under which they are seen, reflect
more or less white light, besides exerting their normal
effects of absorbing portions of the spectrum.
For another set of experiments, cut some pieces of black
cardboard six inches long and four wide ; punch, or cut,
then, half-inch in diameter round holes. Cover one set
severally with a blue, a crimson red, and a yellow piece of
gelatine. Hold it up against a white cloud ; look at it
with a double image prism. By keeping the prism near
the eye, and holding the cardboard at a suitable distance,
to be found by experiment, and then rotating the prism,
it is easy to make any one of the coloured discs overlap
any other one. Sky-blue and pale yellow thus treated
give nearly white light. If the same tints of pigments
were mingled, the result would be a pale green. The yellow
superposed upon the crimson makes it orange. Super-
po.sing the pale blue upon the crimson gives a whitish,
violetish grey, the tint varying with the quantity of white
light reflected from the cloud.
604
KNOWLEDGE •
[May I'J, I8&1;
Prepare anotlicr card i)y occupying two holes with discs
•of bluo and yellow, each having one, and the third hole
with both colours superposed. The result of this super-
•j>osition is a green, as it would he with pigments, and it is
interesting to compare this green with the approximate
white ol)tJiined by superposing the tints by means of the
<louble inuige prism. A similar card prepared with crini.son
and green separate, and also the two combined, are like-
wise instructive. The actual superposed combination of the
gelatines effects an orangey nioditieation of the crimson,
but when the superposition is made by increase of the
jirism, yellow is the result. Other combinations by super-
position and by prism should also be compared.
After the above exporinionts, gum three strips of white
jiaper, about one inch long by half-an-inch wide, on a
.s<iuare of lilack cardboard, a little way apart. On one
slip fasten (which can be done by slightly moistening) a
•square of blue gelatine and one of yellow beside it E.x-
pose to full white light, and cause superposition by the
prism. The tint obtained is a chocolate grey. Red and
crimson thus tinted give orange ; crimson and green, dark
K^py.
The effect of a double image prism, by dividing one
c.iloured ray into two, is to lessen its force, and the effect
of adding, by reflection or transmission, a strong white
light to any colour is to thin it out, or completely subdue
it. Stick a .small square of crimson gelatine in the middle
of a sky-blue disc li.xed in a black cardboard square ; hold
it against a white cloud ; duplicate the image of the crim-
son square with the prism ; such image is bluish-grey.
Jlake portions of the two images touch ; the crimson, modi-
tied by the blue, at once appears.
In studying these various effects, the exact conditions
of each experiment m\ist be noticed. Thus, dealing with
spectrum colours is employing rays of light of certain re-
t"rangil)ilities, according to the dispersion obtained. Pig-
fliients are either opaque or transparent. The action of an
opaque pigment is to absorb certain rays composing white
light, and to reflect the residue. If such a pigment is seen
iu strong white light, the quantity thereof which it reflects
acts in proportionate diminution of its normal colour. In
viewing gelatine pastes held up against a white cloud, the
colour seen is the residue left after its absorption of the rays
that cannot pass through it. If one film is imposed over
-another, and both are held up to the light, the first film only
transmits to the second the ravs that remain after its
-absorpti\e powers have been exercised. If a transparent
tint is superposed upon white paper, that paper reflects
through it the rays which the coloured film has not absorbed,
and subjects them to a fresh action of the film as they pass
for the second time through it.
To show what white, or approximately white light can
do with a strong colour, throw a full red on a white screen
"ith a magic-lantern. Then with another magic-lantern,
or a common bull's-eye lantern, placed nearer, and thus
i-usting an intenser light, overpower the coloured light. A
liand with outspread fingers, held so as to obstruct the
white light, casts a red shadow. The stoppage of the
white light permits the redness to reappear. This might
be used in melodrama with powerful stage effect. A
black figure could be made to cast a blood-red shadow as
he passed a white-looking wall. The experiment in a room
with the outspread fingers is very striking. Many similar
arrangements will occur to your readers, and among them
not the least interesting is the production of sulijective
tints by throwing with a lantern on a screen the images
obtained by Wheatstone's superposed discs of perforated
•■•■-- It is easy to fit in the ordinary wooden slide-holder
and to fix to it a circle of similar zinc, so as to rotate
freely on a pin. The circle should be wide enough to pro-
ject a little above the frame, and be eatily reached with
a finger, to make it revolve. Colouitd gelatine films
lilacecl close to thi' front lens of the lantern will give the
effects required.
"THE GREEN-BEAM PAPER."
(A Sequel.)
BV LlKLT.-C0I,0.\F.L W. A. Ross, LATE E.A.
A SUNNY day — "happy Saturday," April 8 — which has inter-
vened since the publicatioD in Knowleuge (page 496), of
the article, aptly named by you as above, having enabled me to add a
few more auxiliary experiments to the original one there detailed,
made on tlio 7th of October last, I would ask of your courtesy a
little space in an early number of our delightful " Mag." for a
brief description of them before your readers forget my former
paper.
1. A plate of blue-violet glass, 01G2 inch thick (the thickest I
had), transmitting blue-violet light, but from which light, so trans-
mitted, a sheet of white paper reflected reildi.ih-violet light, wiig
held in the path of a sunbeam admitted thn)«;,'h the open window
of a scarcely-darkened room, and condensed by a lens about 2 inched
in diameter, in two positions — («) so that the sunbeam was focussed
0)1 the glass ; (h) so that the sunbeam was focussed on the paper
about half a foot beneath it, Ihroujh the glass. In the case of (a)
the solar image on the paper was large of course, and oval, but of a
pure blue colour ; being apparently the result of the elimination of
red rays by the thick glass, and of yellow rays by the blue part of
the blue-violet glass, leaving the blue rays only for transmission.
In the case of (b) the focussed solar image was small, nearly
circular, and of a pure blue colour, contrasting strongly with
the violet transmitted to the paper by the rest of the glass.
As the mixture "* red and blue lights, in certain proportion, un-
doubtedly forms violei. -Sght; and, as blue or bluish glass inter-
cepts yellow rays, this blue colour was, on this hypothesis, to
be expected, and it was supposed by me that the purity of the blue
focus on the paper was due to the thick glass rutting off red rays,
according to the exiieriment detailed in Knuwlkdge of April 7, and
to the blue in the glass cutting off yellow rays, leaving only pure
blue rays to pass on to the paper.
The focus (a) appeared at tirst of a pale orange colour on the
surface of the glass, but soon became greenish, perhaps from the
simultaneous transmission of some reflected blue rays given out by
the main body of the glass to the retina.
2. A similarly tinted violet glass, but only half the thickness of
1, was held, with reference to the lens and paper, in the positions
1 (a) and 1 (h) ; when — (n) there was a large violet image on the
paper, but with a distinct reddish border.
(6) The focussed solar image was small, and of a faint bluish-violet
colour, so extremely pale as to be nearly white, and tolerably
brilliant as reflected directly from the paper ; but this bluish-white
brilliant image, viewed through the glass itself, appeared of a pale
violet colour, with a bright pure red or " crimson " border. Xo red
was observable tlirough the glass of 1 (h).
3. After dark, a thick platinum wire, bent at a right angle, and
heated to faint redness before a blowpipe, was viewed through
glass 2, when the " blue" blowpipe pyrocone appeared a rcil violet,
and the wire a brilliant red colour, similar to the border 2 (6),
which became bluish white when the wire was made white hot.
Am I wrong, then, in supposing that the thin glass 2 did not
effectually cut off the red rays, some of which, therefore, escaped
through it from the lens to the nearly white focus on the paper,
and were contained in the reflection of that which passed directly
to the retina, although invisible there ; but when the violet glass
intervened, the red rays were seen to be )iartially separated from
the blue rays in their vibrations through the glass, and jdaced as
the outer border of the pale-violet focus r*
■1. A green-blue glass, the thickness of 2, was treated with sun-
beam and lens similarly to 1 and 2, but the only remarkable phe-
nonienon I could observe was that the rays reflected from the focus
on the glass in position a were an almost brilliant rcddisli orange
colour.
5. A slip of thin ordinary glass (a microscope slide) transmitted
the focussed sunbeam as white light through its shorter axis, but
when turned edgeways, the " green beam " immediately appeared,
and it could even thus, by turning the glass slowly round, be ascer-
,....v. . . ., ^„,y ^ Ml, u. t.,c orinnary wootien Slitle-nolder tained to what depth the beam could travel as white light : so that
a square 01 the /inc, winch may be fastened to the frame, | it would appear as if the red rays were absorbed, and not "cut oft"
May 19, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
605
liy the vitreous medium ; nnil fjlass, 1 believe, is knuwn to absorb
the ultrn-red rays.
6. A thin dinner-table water car .Se, full of pure water, transmits
the fiicussed sunbeam as white light.
7. {Easter Sunday). — This fine sunny morning I really believe I
kave proTed my point by eliminating', or nearly eliminating, the red
rays from the solar spectrum thrown on a sheet of white paper, by
carefully introducing " the green beam " into the prism ; when,
instead of the broad red band, an oval spectrum appeared, full of
pale blui.sh light, with a broadish yellow, and an extremely narrow,
faint, red border, the latter attributable, I think, to the imperfection
of my apparatus, for my little room was full of white light and even
sunbeams, which were also copiously reflected, to the prism from
the sheet of white paper on the floor.
After all tliis. some of your readers may ask " what is ' your
point'?" I will, therefore, conclude by answering (1) that 1
believe glass of ordinary density, and of considerable thickness,
absorbs the least refrangible (or red) rays of white light which has
already been refracted through a lens; and (2) that Sir David
Brewster was not far wrong when he asserted that white light is
composed of three primary colours, red, blue, and yellow ; from
which all other colours can bo produced.
(3/<i;/ 7, 18S2).— Since the above was written, last Easter Suntlay,
having been to Germany, li'' llolhinil, to place my two little daugh-
ters at school in Cobleiitz, I took the opportunity of showing, or
communicating the "Green-Beam Phenomenon" to Professors
H. A. Lorentz^ of Leyden University; M. Kekerle, of Bonn Tni-
versity ; and Bruno Kerl, of the Imperial Mining .\cadcniy, Berlin,
who has published articles on my new system of Blowpipe Analysis
in the lieij nnd }Iultenmnnt\i.iche Zfi'fuii;;.
Dr. H. A. Lorcntz, to whom I showed the phenomenon at Amster-
dam on Saturday, .\pril 29, was astonished that such a startling
phenomenon as the " Green-Beam" had not been discovered before,
but expressed still greater surprise when T told him I had been
trying in vain to get an account of it jniblished in the proceedings
of our .scientific societies for six months !
I have now made the following additional experiments : —
8. I have passed the Green-Beam through a thin gla-ss flask filled
with sulphate of quinine solution, and rice rei-8'l (to sec if it was
due to Huorescencc).
9. I passed it into a cobalt-bloe glass paper-weight at least two
inches thick.
10. Into a thin glass flask containing a. blue solntion of ammonia-
sulphate of copper, and rice rei*s<*..
11. Reflected the focused beam from a small mirror upwjirds into
a thick glass paper-weight.
12. Passed the Green-Beam through one solid glass paper-weight
into a prism.
I must, however, reserve the results of these experiments for
another paper.
After the above article was in type. Prof. G. G. Stokes was so
kind as to examine the " (ireen Beam" at the Boyal Society's
rooms, on May II (although there were only glimpses of sunlight),
and to refer me to Sir David Brewster's papers " On the Decom-
jiosition and Dispersion of Light," in the Philosophical JIaaazine,
ic, which, he says, must be determined to contain the first dis-
covery of this phenomenon, termed " Internal Dispersion," by
Brewster. Here are Sir David's own words {I'hil. Mag., 1818,
Vol. X.XXII., page -103) i— " In order to observe the phenomena of
dispersion most distinctly, I transmit a condensed beam of the sun's
light through the specimen when partially covered with black wax
or velvet. . . . page 404. I have found several glasses which possess
internal dispersion— one in particular, of a yellow colour, which
disperses a brilliant green light. ... In these cases the glass has a
decided colour of its own ; but I have found many specimens, both
of colourless plate and colourless flint glass, which disperse a
beautiful green light."
Some of these words most decidedly describe in part the pheno-
menon I thought I had first discovered. But there is also a great
difference. Sir David evidently only experimented on (compara-
tively) thin plates of glass (those were not the days of massive glass
paper-weights) ; whereas the " Green Beam" can only be properly
exhibited in blocks or cubes of solid glass some 2i inches thick.
Secondly, it is cviilent from his drawings and descriptions that he
merely passeil the sunbeam thioigh the thin glass, whereas I
focussed it upon the surface of the thick. In the first case there is
no green beam at all, but only a kind of diffused green light, muth
less brilliant than the beam.
That the plien mien- n of the green beam is not the result of
dispersion but of transmission, seems to me provable by the facility
with which it burns black cloth when passed through a crystal
paper-weight 21 inches thick. Who ever heard of burning chi h
with the green colour dispersed from a solar beam by a prism ?
Finally, I think it is also provable that the green beam is
due to the union of blue and yellow rays, by the fact that if the
thick cubic crystal paper-weight is covered by a plato of yellow or
orange glass— which cuts off the blue rays-you have no longer a,
gro3n loam by focussing on the surface, hut only a faint yellow
one; whereas the green beam is invariably transmitted througr>
violet, pink, and other coloured glasses, which are not opaque to
blue ravs, with the exception of red ghiss.* through which no bean,
at all is transmitted into the paperweight ; i.e., white light sci'iim
to be re-formed. ^
MEASUREMENT OF THE FOCAL LENGTH OF
DEEP CONVEX LENSES.
Bv T. W. Webb.
TUE difficulty of ascertaining the focal length of small convex
lenses within reasonable limits of error is so considerable, and
the result is often so untrustworthy, that 1 am induced to ask tlie
editor's sanction for the appearance of the follo^ving extract from oim
of my old note-books. Its value, 1 fear, is not in proportioii to it»
length, on account of the needless minuteness of its detail ; a I
that is worth preserving might have been compressed within miicU
narrower limits; but, possibly, those who, like myself, are fond of
manufacturing optical contrivances with ordinary materials may
find in their own experience some apology for its tedionsness.^^^^
Account of a ifethod of finding the Focal Length of a very smM
Lens, employed by me, y'ovem,ber 24, 1835.
As this process may be useful, on many occasions, both to myself
and others, I intend to give an account of all the steps of it. 1 In-
deepest eve-piece of my 5.i-feet achromatic is marked by Jlr.
Tulley 250. To increase the power I had frequently unscrewed the
field-glass, and used that next the eye only ; and my object was to
find the power thus obtained by measuring the focal length ot th.-
lens. There were, however, considerable obstacles in the way. It
is very difticult to measure the focus by receiving the imajge ot the
sun on paper, because the spherical aberration of a deep 'ens >s so
considerable that it is hard to say where the image is best dchnetl ;
and this uncertainty is greater than might be imagined by a person
who has never madi the trial. I attempted to measure the imago
of the object-glass formed bv this eye-lens with a micrometer, upon
the principle of the dynamometer ; bvit this image was formed so
dose to the eye-lens that the hairs of the micrometer could not b.-
brought near it. It then occurred to me that if I coulii
ascertain the distance Letween the conjugate foci when they
were equidistant from the lens, one fourth of that distance
(by Prop XLV. of "Wood's Optics") would be the (principal)
focal length. To attain this object by the simplest means,
I took a knitting needle, and having bored holes through three
thick discs ot cork, made them to tlide upon it. To the centic
disc was glued a piece of card, into a hole in which I stuck the
brass cell containing the lens. In each of the other discs I stuck a
piece of a broken sewing-needle, so that its end might range at
about the same height with the centre of the lens. This apparal..R
is represented in the following sketch : —
B B -6
A is the knitting-needle, B B B the cork discs, C the card into
which was stuck the brass cell car^'ing the lens D, E and F tlic^
pieces of sewing-needles. Tlien, by the above-mentioned pro-
position, if E and F could be so arranged with respect to D, that.
while tbev were equidistant from it, the image of E should be
formed at'F, and of F at K, then the distance from E to F wonl.i
be four times the focal length for parallel rays. I therefore took :i
deep lens in my hand, and while I viewed F in its focus, inoved h
to different distances, until its inverted image was seen m conjunction
with F.
If then E and F appeared to be equidistant from D, they were in
"•The red glass I have is red only on the upper and under
surfaces ; internally it is colourless. All my other coloured glasses
are homogeneous.
606
• KNOWLEDGE •
[May 19, 1882
the rpquirod position, or sufficiently near it ; if not, both would
require to bo moved a little so as to xatisfy the above condition.
When that was obtained, all that remained was to take the distance
between E and P by a pair of compasses, and determine its value
from a soalo. I have an excellent ivory scale, divided into fortieths
of an inch ; and to save trouble, I assumed this quantity as the
unit of my moasuroments. Havinf; made the simple and rude
arranfjomcnt described above, I attempted the oi)eration, E and F
boinij stuck with their points into the cork discs. My linst trial,
however, proved that under a deep lens their blunt ends appeared
too coarse to admit of accuracy. I therefore stuck them the other
way into the corks, with the points upwards, which answered much
better. My first trial, with the blunt ends, gave the distance
from E to F 30 parts of the scale ; the second, with points,
31 ; both by candlelight. The next morning five trials gave
31106, 31-GOG, 310, 30066, 310. (When the distance taken by
the compasses did not e.\actly correspond to any division of the
scale, 1 repeated it on a paper by the edge of the scale till a coin-
cidence was obtained, upon the principle of the vernier.) The lens
was plano-convoi, and these trials had been made with the convex
aide towards the eye ; it struck me that, on account of the aberra-
tion, it ought to be turned the other way, which was done, though,
in fact, it was needless, as I was mistakenly reasoning from the
case of parallel'rays. I then commenced a fresh set of trials, which
gave me the following results :— 320, 31-333, 31-5, 31-5, 31-25, 31-8,
31-5, 31-3, 310, 31-0, 31-0. It should bo mentioned that, after every
trial, the discs carrying the needles were moved from their position,
and the succeeding trial was commenced entirely afresh. It was
soon apparent that the method deserved confidence, and the results
agreed more nearly as my eye and hand became accustomed to the
operation, the last three exactly coinciding ; whence I preferred
their value, as an ."approximation to the truth, to a mean of the
whole, and deduced ——=7-9 (fortieths of an inch) as the focal
length of the lens for parallel rays.
I will now mention the difficulties and the advantages of this
method. The greatest difficulty is in measuring the distance
between the points of E and F with compasses. Thi.s, perhaps,
could only be done by a very near-sighted person like myself (or by
the aid of suitable spectacles), and required practice and steadiness
of hand. Another source of error lay in the possibility that the
points E and P might not lie in the axis of the lens, but might be
originally fixed too high or too low, or might slip on one side, as,
indeed, frequently happened from the turning of the cork discs
upon the knitting-needle as an axis. Another difficulty consisted in
estimating the position where E and F should be equidistant from
D. The situation of the latter in (the depth of) its cell could not
be very plainly seen, and as its thickness was considerable, it was
uncertain from what point in it they should be equidistant.
It must be observed, however, that every one of these sources of
error is to be ascribed, not to the method, but solely to the defects
of 80 rude and imperfect an apparatus, which might easily and com-
pletely be remedied. A microscopic eye and steady hand were the
only means I employed to obviate them, and, as the results show,
not without success. As I became more familiar with the opera-
tion, I guarded more carefully against the second source of error;
and hence, probably, arose the increasing coincidence of the later
determinations ; the third difficulty, which I found least remediable,
was not likely to produce any injurious effects. For calling x the
principal focus between E and D, and y the principal focus between
D and P, we have, by Cor. 3 t» the before-cited Proposition,—
Ex : j)D : : Di/ : yP. Supposing now that E has been placed at a
distance of 14-8, instead of 15-8, from D, we have vF=- — -"y =
7 9i' " -^^
^g =9 nearly, and EP mil be = (6-9-! 7-9 -h 79 -H 9 = ) 31-7,instead
of 31-6, an inappreciable difference. Or if ED was only 14 (and a
greater error is very unlikely, since that would make DF = 18-1),
still EF would be only 321, which would make but about 0 012 of
an inch difference in the focal length.
The advantages of the method are— 1. The accuracv with which
the place of the conjugate focus may be determined, "if the ima"-e
^l '8 '"■""ght so that its point may be directly over, and close t°o,
that of F, an eye accustomed to telescopic observation will deter-
mmo, without much trouble, the situation in which both are most
distinct at the same time ; and this might be reduced to "rcater
certainty, if the lens with which they are examined is fixed in a
slide instead of being hold in the hand. 2. The elimination of the
thickness of the lens whoso focus is to be measured— a very trouble-
some quantity, which it is a great advantage to get rid of. 3 That
the errors of observation are diminished to one-fourth in the final
result ; the measured distance being four times the focal length
required. °
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.
THE science of Entomology, during the last few years, has made
enormous progress, both in regard to the number of its de-
votees, and also in the discoveries of the best methods of obtainipg
and preserving the insects. We purpose, therefore, giving a few
notes weekly relating principally to the order Lopidoptera, aboat
the haunts, times for catching, food, &c., of our British butterflies
and moths, which one may generally expect to find during the
course of the year.
The present may be called the opening month of the season, and
the entomologist will find plenty of work to do, both day and night,
in the lanes and wood.s of the country. A bright May-day will most
certainly bring numbers of butterflies to the not of the energetic
collector who keeps his eyes open, and who can manage a sharp
walk over fields and lanes without feeling the fatigue.
The first thing for the would-be entomologist to do is to obtain a
net, a few setting-boards, some entomological pins, and two or
three dozen chip-boxes, and then he can consider himself well set
up to begin with. All these articles he can make himself, with the
exception of the pins and chip-boxes, which can bo obtained at a
small cost of the dealers in natural history implements and speci-
mens. The setting-boards mentioned are pieces of soft pine aboat
fourteen inches long, and of various widths, with a cork face, and a
groove cut down the centre.* Entomological pins are a very fine
and .sharp-pointed kind, made specially for this purpose ; they can
be obtained in assorted sizes at Is. per ounce, one ounce lasting
most people, an entire season.
We will now suppose the insects to have been canght, and the
momentous question of how to kill them crops np. For butterflies,
the readiest method is to use a killing bottle composed of cyanide
of potassium, covered over with a layer of plaster-of-paris in a wide-
necked bottle ; the insect is killed very quickly, but unfortunately
the wings get set equally rapidly. Another way is to squeeze the
thorax of the victim whilst in the net. This kills immediately, but
has the disadvantage of slightly damaging the insect. For moths,
the best plan is to stupefy with chloroform, and then prick them
just below the thorax, or the under side, with a sharp pen dipped in
a saturated solution of oxalic acid.
Setting is the uw ' f>rocess. It is accomplished in the following
manner: One of the entomological pins is thrust through the moth
near the head and the wings stretched out,* and then a narrow
strip of cardboard pinned over to keep them in position. This
operation requires great care and neatness, and must be done very
shortly after the death of the insect, or the wings get set, and can-
not be moved without considerable trouble and delay, and very often
damage to the moths during the process of relaxation. This latter
will be described in a future paper.
The insects must be left on the setting-boards for a period
varying from four or five days upwards, according to the size of
the moth or butterfly and the length of time the boards can be
spared. Personally, whatever the size of the moth, we let it
remain until we require the board again, which is generally at
least a month or six weeks after, as we keep a large number f
boards in use.
The different stages of the work required to be done in killing
and setting the insects having been described, we will pass on to
the manner of keeping the specimens in good order and condition.
Our first advice to the tyro is, not to get a cabinet unless he can
afford to buy a thoroughly good one, with air-tight and dust-tight
drawers.
By far the best plan is to use store boxes of moderate size,
either plain or covered with green baize, as they aie perfectly air-
tight, and do not allow the light to penetrate, which is a very great
consideration, owing to the colours of some moths being very un-
stable, greens and other light colours often becoming white in a
very short time, owing to exposure to the action of light. However,
if getting a cabinet is decided on, we repeat, let it be a good one,
icith n-ell-ftting draivcrs.
The arrangement of specimens depends to a great extent on the
taste and fancy of the collector; but the most scientific and satis-
factory method is to follow the order of genera, families, and sub-
families, which the best naturalists have adopted. Xext week we
will give this classification in full, as space forbids in this paper.
A piece of camphor about the size of a walnut must be put in each
box or drawer to keep off the mites, whose ravages have sometimes,
in one single winter, destroyed or damaged the w-hole work of the
preceding summer, when this precaution has been neglected.
Everything now is done connected with the indoor work of the
entomologist, and next week we purpose describing the different
processes used for catching both diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera, '
together with their habits and other useful information.
* Diagrams illustrating the above will be given in our next
number.
JELAY IV, lOO:i.j
■r\. iN KJ VV l-i IZj JL^ \-7 JZi
THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
By W. Lyxd.
CIRCUITS AND GALVAXOMETERS.
IN a prcWous article I explained that when the wires attached to
the metallic plates of a simple voltaic cell are joined together,
chemical action bejiins, and a current of electricity is said to flow
from tlio zinc throuy;h the liquid to the copper, through the wii-e,
and back to the zinc plate. Without a complete circuit, telcgraphy
18 impossible. For instance, suppose that a wire is connected to
the terminals of a batter)-, and carried on poles to it.s destination —
Bay from London to Birmingham — and the extremity of the wire
attached to the terminals of an instrument at the latter place, no
current would be received at Birmingham. If we lay on a water-
pipe from a reservoir to a private house, water will flow through
the pipe, and it can be drawn off by means of a tap, when rctiuired.
Compare the voltaic battery with the reservoir, tho conducting
^rire with tho pipe, and tho differeuco will be clearly under-
stood. From the reservoir, one pipe is suflicient to enable tho
water to flow, but the voltaic battery must have a wire
or conductor in connection with its positive pole carried to its
destination tlirough the instrument and back again to the negative
pole ; the current must make a complete circuit, no matter how
great the distance may be between the two poles of tho battery.
In actual practice, the return wire is dispensed with, and tho earth
performs the functions of a second wire, and completes the circuit
in a very remarkable manner. To make what is called the earth
circuit iierfectly clear, take a voltaic cell, and instead of bringing
the wires in contact, connect them with two plates of metal buried
in the earth, or, for convenience sake, join the wires to the gas or
water-pipes ; the current williflow as before, and in exactly the same
direction. The earth actually plays the part of a metallic wire, and
the electric curren^ flows from plate to plate, no matter how great
tho distance may be. The essential jiarts of a telegi-aph circuit are
the battery, or generator of the current, the conducting-wirc. tlio
earth, and the instrument for recording signals. The circuit is
■open when there is a break in the wire, and closed when it is con-
tinuous and the current is flowing.
The time a current takes to flow from pole to pole in a circuit is
imperceptible to the senses. A telegram can be sent from London
to Glasgow or Paris, as quickly as from St. Martin's-le-Grand to
Shepherd's Bush. During the recent repairs of the telegraph cable
near Bombay, the steamei-s Chiltem and Great Nortliern were about
half-a-mile apart, the former having hold of a shore-end cable,
and so was in telegraphic communication with Bombay, the latter
having hold of a sea-end, aiid so was in telegraphic communication
with Aden. The Chiltern desired the Great Northern to splice on
to the cable-end held by the latter, and pay out three-quarters of a
mile of cable, and this was communicated by wire from the test room
•of the Chifferii, passing through all the coils of cable in her hold, and
on to Bombay, whence it was sent on to Aden, and back from Aden
to the Great Northern ! Thus, as a speedij means of sending a message
half-a-mUe, it was forwarded by a route between three and four
thousand miles long ! The following morning, when the two vessels
were within a quarter-of-a-mile of each other, communications passed
between them constantly in the same way. Of all tho miracles of
modern science, truly this annihilation of distance is the most won-
derful ! The student will now understand how the electric current
is generated, and conducted to its destination. He will, however,
naturally desire to know how the electricity which flows through
the circuit is made to record signals — in short, how intelligible
communication is established between two distant places. All
telegraph signals depend on the power of the telegraphist, who,
to make them transmit, controls and modifies the current at will.
Let us imagine a battery of scvtral cells in the oflice of the editor
of this journal in Great Queen-street, and suppose that we connect
a wire to tho positive pole, and carry it on posts to the Observatory
at Kew, where the wire must be attached to a plate buried in the
earth or connected with the gas-pipe. Join up the negative pole of
the battery with a buried plate or gas-pipe, and the circuit will
be complete. Cut the wire at any point between London and
Kew, and the circuit will be broken — no electricity will flow
through it. The current can be instantly reestablished by
bringing the cut ends together. Xow, if we had some kind
of apparatus that would make the currents visible, we could
easily arrange a code of signals to rejiresent the letters
of the alphabet. There are now many ways of recording
signals. Some of the instruments used are very complicated, and
depend to a great extent upon ingenious mechanical contrivances.
The simplest form of instrument is called a galvanometer, a modifi-
cation of which is known as the receiving portion of the needle
telcgrapk- To understand the principle of the galvanometer, the
relations between electricity and magnetism must be studied. A
very simple experiment will suffice to prove that electricity is
influenced by magnetism, and vice versa. A copper wire suspended
horizonally over a movable magnetic noedlo will, when connected
with tho poles of a voltaic battery, cause the needle to place itself
at right angles to the wire. If the ciurcnt passes above the needle,
and goes from south to north, tho north pole of the magnet ditlects
towards the west. If the current passes below the needle, also
from south to north, tho north \>o\e will deflect towards
tho east. If tho current pas.ses above tho needle, but from
north to south, tho north jjolo is deflected towards tho east.
If the current goes from north to south below the noodle,
tho deflection is towards the west. To enable the student
to remember these movements, Ampere suggested the following
rule : — If we imagine a man swimming in tht>: wire, with the
current, with his face turned towards tho needle, tho north pole of
tho needle will bodeflccted towards his left hand. According to Preece,
" the motion of the needle is produced by tho mutual action of
currents and magnets. Electricity and magnetism arc so intimately
related to each other, that by many they are thought to be only
different phases of the same agency. Thus tho motion of a magnet
always produces electricity ; tho transference of electricity always
produces magnetism. The neighbourhood of a current is, in virtue
of ,thi3 fact, a modnetic _fiel(l, a term introduced by Faraday to
denote the entire space through which a magnet diffuses its in-
fluence— and a magnet or piece of soft iron placed there is influenced
by the magnetism of that field." To increase the intensity of
tho cuirent, the wire is wound several times round tho magnetic
needle, each coil being still parallel. Each successive coil pro-
duces a .oeparate effect ujjon tho needle, so tliat if there are
a great number of coils of wire passed carefully before and
behind tho magnet, the deflecting force will, bo multiplied in
proportion to the number of coils, and the mqst feeble current
can be made to affect tho needle. The fine wire, used for this pur-
pose is covered with cotton, silk, or some substance which is a non-
conductor of electricity. If the coils of wire were not insulated,
they would allow the current to pass from coil to coil, instead of
following tho continuous thread of -wire. The wire is coiled round
a frame, in the centre of which is suspended tho magnetic needle ;
upon the same axis is fixed a steel indicator, which points to a scale,
and this measiu'es the strength of the current sent through tho
wire. Tho galvanometer is included in the circujt, and when con-
tact is made, the indicator, which hangs in a vertical ijosition when
at rest, deflects in proportion to the intensity of the, current. The
single needle instrument, which is only a modification of the gal-
vanometei', will be explained in a subsequent article.
Replv to Query. — [3-19] — Quotation, p. 502 : —
" Little things
On little wings
Beai' little souls to heaven,"
Are lines taken from a poem written by Father Faber.'
Tlbekcle and its Cure. — The consequences that wiU be wit-
nessed as flowing from the studies conducted by Koch in connection
with tuberculosis are impossible to foreshadow in any completeness,
but we can, even at this early stage, perceive something of the
widespread benefit that may ensue from them and their publication.
Kot least important of these must be considered the bearing which
antiseptic treatment has been shown to have on the productive
cause of the disease ; the inference that is irresistible from a careful
survey of the facts demonstrated by Koch's researches, indeed, is
to the effect that we may very possibly find a future remedy for
incipient, and even for pronounced, jihthisis in the submission of
the infected individual to active antiseptic measures. In this
connection, an instructive and important communication has
been male to tho Times by Mr. R. R. lladdison, who states
that, having proceeded to Jtadeira in the hope of simply pro-
longing life somewhat, but with absolutely no prospect of recovery
from the consumptive condition, he resorted to the uso of carbolic
acid as a jn-otection against mosquitoes. Tho vapour of the acid
was necessarily inhaled by him, and to its beneficial effect on his
lungs he ascribes an improvement in his state. lie continued the
use of the acid, and returned to England recoytred, with the further
conseriucnce that he has remained well ever since. If, as seems
quite justifiable, we may attribute this cure to the destructive effect
of the germicide acid on the bacilli of tubercle, there opens up a very
grateful prospect of possible relief in innumerablo cases of lung
disease; and at any rate it offers strong inducements to resort to
treatment at once easy and possessing such promise of successful
results. — Medical Press. |__
SPECIAL NOTICE TO OUR READERS.
Fourpenee each will be paid by the Publishers for copies of
Nos. 2 and 3. Apply or address, Wyman & Sons, 73, Great Queen-
street, London, W.C.
608
• KNOWLEDGE •
[May 19, 1882. |
THE COMET.
^pilIS wci'k wo give tlin comit'.s path (as computed \>y
A. Dr. E. Lamp, of Kiol), from May 18 to the end of the
month. As some correspondents wlio have eqnatorially-
mounted tchjscopos are not altogether content witli the
mere mafvpiiig of the path, though the comet can now Ije
readilj- seen in a good field-glass (we have seen it for the
last fortnight in one of Browning's Panergetic Glasses)
directed to its mapped jilace for the night, we append Dr.
Lamp's positions in right ascension and North Polar
Distance for the last half of May : —
Dote. K.A. >• P.IX
May 13 0 41 31
15 56-
M.
1 5 14 16 2»
1 27 .'iO 17 11
1 18 5 18 3
2 G 52 19 2:
2 23 53 20 '.>
2 39 14 21 2'>
2 53 0 22 41
3 5 21 24 S
3 10 26 25 34
3 26 24 27 6-
3 35 20 28 41
3 43 27 30 2a
3 50 46 32 2
3 57 24 33 47
4 3 27 35 35
4 8 57 37 25
4 14 1 39 19
4 18 39 41 15
The perihelion passage will take place on or about June ItC,
midnight, at which time the comet's distance from the sun
will lie only 61 thousandths of the earth's mean distance.
^
Chalcedony knxlosin'g Liquids. — I have read with much inteivsl.
the paper by the Rev. ilr. Wigt^ns on chalcedony enclosintj liquids,
in your issue of March 21. A specimen, such as he describes in-
the collection of Mr. Patrick Dudgeon, is referred to in Traill's
" Treatise on Quartz and Opal," 1870, where a considerable <|Uiim-
tity of water enclosed in the chalcedonic druse was lost by gradual
exudation through the crystalline pores during the course of years,
but which was partly restored. At Professor Hcddle's suggestion,
the nodule was immersed for a considerable time in water, under
the exhausted receiver of a powerful air-pump; the air was thus
exhausted from the interior of the nodule, and favoured the gradual
admission of water upon the restoration of the atmospheric pres-
sure. MiNEKALOGlST.
The Fever Tree. — The Eucalyptus globulv.t, which is being in-
troduced in California, has many qnalities which recommend it to
Eastern sylviculturists. It comes originally from Australia, whei-e
the tests of various soils and varying seasons have amply demon-
strated the good qualities of the tree, and its rapid growth even
under adverse surroundings. Trials of late years in Southern
Europe have further verified these claims, and there is no reason
why the tree will not flourish in every section of the United States.
It is hardier than the chestnut, and, like the latter, it will grow in
the rockiest soils. It is more independent of rain food tlian any
tree known in this country, wet and dry seasons alike failing !<>•
affect its growth. Its wood is hard, somewliat of the r.utm*e of
yellow pine, but firmer and stronger, and fit for use in si>i]>
timbers, while in Australia cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, a>i«F
carpenters use it throughout their trades. The bark yields a
febrifuge second only in efficiency to quinine, but superior ia all
Tiiedical qualities to cinchona. This quality alone must make tlM*-
tree invaluable, and its cidture here, to an appreciable extent, would
settle for ever the vexed question of quinine duties. The rapidity
nf its growth is its most wonderful feature. It grows four times a»
fast as the American pine, and for all ordinary purposes is fit to rat
in five or six years. For the Eastern and Middle States, whore tbn
lack of forest protection is not infrequently felt, no tree has lx>»n
offered the culturist that can present so many primarv' points or
vantage as the Australasian immigrant, and its general introduction
and culture should only be a matter of but little time. It may be
added, the tree yields fragrance, but produces no fruit or nut. Its
beauty of form and luxuriant evergreen foliage are additionsl
qualities that must recommend it incountrvor city. — Frank Leslh'f
llluairated.
May 19, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
609
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" STUDIES IN MICROSCOPICAL SCIENCE.' ♦
THESE studies ouglit to Bucceed, for they supply n real want —
one which, in the case of microscopic study, can fortunately
bo supplied. The astronomer cannot, unhappily, semi round
specimen planets for study by those who possess telescoj)e8 of sufti-
cicnt power. Nor can the chemist or geoloRist conveniently sendi
out geological or chemical specimens for examination. But it is
possible to send microscopic subjects, and this is whst Mr.
Cole propcfos to do — viz., to issue weekly for the use of
students, teachers, the medical profession, and others, micro-
scopical preparations, tofiether with linely-executed lithographs
of the specimens thus sent out for observation. The iii-st
specimen is one of yellow fibro-cartilage from tho pinna of
a cow's ear, stained doubly in logwood and resin ; it is shown in
the lithograph magnified 33 times linear. Tho methods of stain-
ing are charmingly described, and the explanation of the structure,
shape of cells, matrix, and other features of tho specimen may be
relied on as thoroughly accurate. In Number Two, the subject foi-
illustration is a transverse section (through tho interno'ie of tho
stem of a first year's twig) of the copper beech, stained in carmine
and iodine green, and magnified 25 diameters in tho illustration.
The bibliography of the subject is in each case very full. The-
work is thoroughly sound and good, and will delight practical
microscopists.
LAND AND WATEll.
ALL the fossil-bearing rocks on the globe have been formed from
the sediment brought down by rivers to the sen, and this
sediment has been worn off from the hills and valleys and plains of
ancient continents. In recent years it has been attemjited to calcu-
late the amounts of sediment worn off by various great rivers from
tho surface of the regions drained by them ; and tho results arc-
very interesting and instructive. The Slississippi, for ersample,.
draining a country with scanty rainfall, and having its sources in
the Alleghanies and the Rocky Jlountains, where there are no-
glaciers, performs its work of denudation slowly. The Mississippi
wears off from the vfhole immense area drained by it about one foot
in 6,000 years; while the Po, on the other hand, having its sources
in the glaciers of the Alps, works with great rapidity, and lowers
the area drained by it at the rate of one foot in 72il years. The
mean rate of denudation over the globe seems to be not far from
one foot in 3,000 years. Now at this rate, and from tho action of
rivers alone, it would take only two million years to wear the whole
existing continent of Europe, with all its huge mountain masses,.
do\Tn to the sea-level, while North America, in similar wise, would
be washed away in less than three millions.
But while the raindrops, rushing in rivers to tho sea, are thos
with tireless industry working to obliterate existing continents-
their efforts are counteracted, here and there, and with more or less
success, by slow upward thrusts or pulsations from the earth's
interior, which gradually raise the Hoors of continents. Thegenei-aV
result of the struggle has been that, ever since the earliest geological
periods, the surfaces of the great continents now existing have besr.-
subject to irregular oscillations; now partially or almost entirely
disappearing beneath the sea, now recovering ground as archi-
pelagos, or rising high and dry to great elevations, as in the case of
Africa. The oscillations have not ortlinarily exceeded from 6,000 t<>
10,000 feet in vertical extent. There is no reason for supposing
that the general relative positions of the great continents and greftt
oceans have altered .at all since the beginning of tho Laurentiaii
period. Since life began on the earth there is no reason for supposing
that the bottoms of the stupendous abysses which hold the waters
of the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian oceans have ever beeib
raised up so as to become dry land. Once geologists thought other-
wise, and land was turned into sea and sea into land by facili
theorisers, as often as it was supposed to be necessary to account
for the distribution of certain li-^ards or squirrels, or for changes in
climate, such as have left marks behind in many parts of the earth.
The greatest physical geologists now living, however — such as llr.
Croll and the brothers (icikio — .are convinced that there has been
no considerable change in the positions of the great oceans from
the very beginning; and this view is ably .sustained by Mr. W.allace
--who is probably the highest living authority on the distribution
of plants and animals — in his profound and fascinating treatise on
"Island Life," lately published. — Mr. Fieke, in the Atlaniic Monihl,'.
• " Studios in Microscopical Science."
F.R.M.S. (Bailliere, Tindall, & Co.)
By Arthur C. Cole.
610
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[May 19, 1882.
lettnsf to ti)t eijitor*
{Th* Editor dot^ not hold himfflf rerponsihU for thf opinionn of hit correnpondentM.
Ji« cannot undertake to rrturn mmiuiicripfi or to eorre^po'-f with their vrifen. All
eommunicatioTtt Mhotild be iiM $hort (U poitible, eonaitt gritty wt' h full and clear gf ate-
mentu of the vr\ter$ meaning.^
All Eilitortal commttnicationM »hmild he addretted to the Fditor o/ KiTOWLBDGl;
all Jitisijiem eommumcation$ to the Publitheri, at the Office, 1\. Great Queen-
tireet, W.C.
Alt Sentttancet, Cheque; and PoH-OMce Ordtrt ghould be made pavabU to
Meter,. Wyman 4" Sont.
•,* AU letiert to the Editor leill he yumbered. For convenience of reference,
correepojuienti, rAcn re/erring to any letter, iciU oblige by merUioning iia number
and the page on tchich it appear*.
Alt Lett.ere or Qnerie* to the Editor vhich require attention in the tfttrrent iiitue of
KNOWLsnoR, Khould reach the Publishing OJice tiotlaterthan the Saturday preceding
the da^ (^publication,
(T.) Lptterg to hnre a ohance of appearine miist be fonciae ; they must he drawn
np in the form adopted for letters hero, so that thev maj po lintounhed to the
printers ; private comraunicatiniis, therefore, as well as queries, or replies to
queries (intended lo appear aa siu-h) should bo written on separate Ipavea.
(II.) Letters which (either because too ioii^, or unsuitable, or deahne with
matters which others have discussed, or for any other reason) cannot find place
hero, will either be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or acknowledged
in a column reserved for the purpose.
*' In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
Btato of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy
than fliity of opinion. "^Fardrfuy.
" There is no harm in making a mistake, but great harm in making none. Show
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will show you a man who has done
nothing." — IiVftiV.
'* God's Orthodoxy is Truth.'*— CftaWw Kingsley.
(^\\x Corrrspontidue Columns!.
THE "CONEY" OF SCRIPTURE AND ITS ZOOLOGICAL
POSITION.
[398] — " S. Lucas," in a letter addressed to the Editor, enters into
a description of the resemblance which is alleged to exist between
the rhinoceroses and the little hyrax, or " coney," of Scripture.
Mr. Lucas also gives a comparison of the habits of the former
animals as compared with tlie latter, and then asks how or why
Cuvier included both in the same family. He adds, what of course
no zoologist denies, that the teeth alone ai-e by no means certain
guides to the affinities of animals. Mr. Lucas, by consulting any
recent manual of zoology, will readily satisfy himself that the hyrax
is no longer placed near the rhinoceros-group ; Professor Owen
being the only authority, perhaps, who still places the hyrax-family
definitely amongst the "odd-toed" hoofed quadrupeds like the
rhinoceroses. No anatomist leans upon teeth alone as a guide to
classification. Furthermore, hyrax exhibits even in its teeth im-
portant differences from rhinoceroses ; and I may add that it was
not so much the similarity in numher of molars and premolars (as
Mr. Lucas seems to think) that suggested rhinoceros affinities, but
the shape and structure of these teeth. The hyrax has four incisor
teeth, eight premolars, and six molars in each jaw, canines or eye-
teeth being wanting. The upper incisors grow from permanent
pulps, as in Rodents. The placentation of the hyrax is utterly unlike
that of rhinoceroses, being deciduate and zonary, as in Caynivara.
Again, the nails of hyrax are not hoof-like, but almost flat ; and the
upper Up is cleft, as in rodents. Hyrax is also remarkable for pos-
sessing more Tertebrse in the back and loins than any other land
mammal — the number being from twenty-nine to thirty-one. The
modern view of the zoological position and affinities of the coneys
is that which regards them as intermediate between the hoofed
quadrupeds and tlio rodents. This is Brandt's view, and he adds
that it is more ungulate (not necessarily rhinocerine) than rodent
in its nature. Huxley says that the coneys lie between the hoofed
quadrujieds and the rodents and insectivora. In any view, Mr.
Lucas may rest assured that the position of hvrax is discussed and
settled to-day from a consideration of its anatomy as a whole, and
not from tlie shape or structure of its teeth alone.
Andrew Wilson.
CONSUMPTION.
[399]— Without infringing on the space of Knowledge, allow mo
to say in its columns, ilpropo.-- of Professor Tyndall on "Con-
sumption," that Koch does not show that hacilli are the primes, or
first causes, or occasionB of natural consumption ; or that hereditary
phthisis ai'ises from them. He does not show that bacilli "^ scrofula ;
nor that in the course of these generations — their " culture" — they
are more than mere carriers of an evil matter, influence, or ineita-
tion ; but not the causes of it. Ordinary generation does not
necessarily disown spontaneous generation, or geneeis, as its begin-
ning. Bacilli may be not the principium of the disease, but one of
its consequences — perhaps a remote consequence, — capable, how-
ever, in rabbits, ic, of generating the disease after it has been
their genesis. I think it is Wilson Fox who said that scratching
rabbits with a sharp stick — haculuB — will sometimes produce con-
sumption in them, so liable are they to the peculiar rot of
scrofula.
Trusting to your openness in Knowledge for the insertion of this
note, which opposes such a sea of opinion, I am, yours obediently,
Gabth Wilkin.so.n, M.R.C.S.E.
[400] — If Koch's views, endorsed by Professor Tyndall, and
published in the Times, should prove to bo correct, a great social
revolution will be brought about by them ; for hitherto, with rare
exceptions, pulmonary consumption, the chief of the tubercular
diseases, has been looked upon as non-contagious, and its unfortunate
victims have freely mingled with their family connections and with
the people at large. But let these views be adopted by the medical
jjrofession, and generall}' received, and it will be imperatively
necessary to keep them away, in great measure, from their fellow
creatures, and to subject them to the same regimen as we use in
the rest of the contagious diseases ; and it is no small augmentation
of their calamity that this regimen will require to be continued,
not, as in other contagious diseases, for a few weeks, or months at
most, but, in some instances, for many years.
Observing that you have transferred Professor Tyndall's letter,
which appeared in the Times, to the pages of your magazine, I ask
3'ou to allow me to state a fact in connection with this subject
which Professor Tyndall appears to have overlooked ; and a fact
which ought to make us cautious in accepting Koch's views on pul-
monary consumption without requiring for them further consideration
and restw^^h.
The fact 1 Jefer to is this, — that pus, brain, cheese, and other
substances, when inoculated, will set np morbid processes in varions
organs, which cannot be distinguished from those which are set np
by the inoculation of tubercle itself. If, therefore, pus, cheese,
brain, &c., and tubercle itself produce the like results on inocula-
tion, how can that which tubercle produces be specific ? And,
further, if bacilli, such as have been observed by Koch in tubercle,
be also found in the rest of these products of inoculation, then, in
all probability, they are effects, and not causes.
And finally, may not all the results obtained by Koch be due to
a septic matter introduced along with his hacilli ? If this be so,
then the results obtained are jji/eiiiic, plus fcaciHi, now discovered,
it appears, for the first time, and they are carious and interesting,
but 1 fear they are nothing more ; and, at least, thej' are far from
being proved to be the vera causa of pulmonary consumption.
WiLLUM Dale, M.D., Londc
PROBABILITIES.
[401] — In your last article on " Probabilities," you discuss the
fallacy contained in the assumption that A must win in the long
run his original stake, provided that each stake is double the pre-
vious one, and I think the fall.icy of such an assumption is suffi-
ciently clear ; but in the scheme I here submit, the fallacy, although
just as real, is not just as clear to me, and I should be glad if yon
would make it so.
Make three columns, one for winning, two for losing, thus : —
Write down at the top of the second column
the number you wish to win in as many parts
as you please, thus, you desire to win £7.
Write 1, 3, 2, 1.
Commence by staking a small figure, say
£1, and, say 3-0U win, continue to stake small
until you lose. Make no entry of your first
winnings, but enter j-our loss in both losing
columns. Say you have lost a stake of £2.
Your next stake is the sum of the top and
bottom tigm-es, £3. You lose ; enter the loss
as before. Your next stake is £ I ; enter as
before. Your next stake is £5 ; you win.
Enter this in the winning column, and cross
out the top and bottom figures of the centre
column. Your next stake is the sum of the top and bottom figorea
not crossed out in the centre column, or3-H3 = 0. You win this,
and enter the G in the winning column. Proceed as before, your
w.
L.
L.
1
3
2
1
3
3
5
4
4
6
4
4
G
3
May 19, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
611
next stake being £4, you lose, and enter in both losing columns.
Yon next stake (1 + 2) 6, and win. Proceed as before, and stake
3 ; if Tou win, your scheme will have completed, as it were, one
revolution, as ail the nju^es in the centre column are crossed out ;
and your winnings are £20, against £13 lost, leaving you £7 to
windward, as sailors say. If you lose, you must go on staking as
before, until the tigures in the centre column are crossed out, when
yon will be the winner of £7. in exery case !'
It is obvious that instead of 7, any niimher may be used, and
may be divided into the greatest possible number of whole parts.
INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS— JUMBO.
[402] — As another jiroof that we are not the monopolists of intel-
ligence in the animal world, it is reported from America that just
before Jumbo reached the truck in which he was to be confined,
some planks, two or three feet high, had to be crossed. Uefore
proceeding, however, he thumped them hard with his trunk, and
then pressed them with his fore feet. Why should this reasoning
in a brute be called instinct, when with us it would bo called
common-sense ? H'sett.
THE LUMINOUS MIXTURE OF BLUE AND YELLOW.
[403] — Professor Rood's observation is not silly, as Colonel Ross
states, but incorrect — a fundamental error made by Brewster.
Colour is a sensation bearing no resemblance to its physical cause.
To mix colours is merely to excito simultaneously the same parts of
the retina with the stimuli, which are known by experience to
excite severally the sensations of colour it is desired to combine.
Lambert's method obviously accomplishes this object. Other
methods are : by rotation on the colour top ; by simultaneoos
illumination of a white object, as with the double magic-lantern.
Moreover, elaborate apparatuses have been devised for the luminous
mixture of the pure rays of the .spectrum. AH these methods lead
to the same results, which arc accepted by all who have studied the
subject, and are really as well established as any scientific facts.
To explain Colonel Ross' results would require a special investiga-
tion of the circumstances of each case. I would remind liim, how-
over, that, in order that blue and yellow may combine to form white,
the blue must be exact in hue ; the slightest leaning towards green
will impart a green tinge to the result, which, in the Hamo method,
may seem very conspicuous.
In regard to the last experiment —
(1.) The explanation cannot be true. The idea that the mere
concentration of the beam can affect its refrangibility is quite con-
trary to what we know of physical optics.
(2.) If it were true, it would not prove the point. It would prove
only that the complementary colour of a red formed from the
extreme rod rays is green, as indeed it is. If, however. Colonel Ross
insists on the grass green, I think he is at issue with accepted facts
on another point. John Tenxant.
DOES THE MIXTURE OF BLUE AND YELLOW MAKE
GREEN light:- FLUORESCENCE.
[40t] — Letter 388, in Kxowiedge, for April 28, proves what
difficulty is caused (in treating of colours) from the want of definite
names and an invariable standard of reference. Lieut. -Col. Ross
shows that by common usage, the term " blue " is applied to the
chloride of copper flame ; and the same might be said of the Bunsen
flame. In the same way Newton gave that name to the colour
which follows green in the spectrum, and called the deeper bine,
which comes next, " indigo," and the still deeper and darker blue,
which closes the series, " violet." Y'et Newton's indigo, which is
exactly the hue of artificial ultramarine (or French blue), is really
a purer blue, differing from his other blue in containing less mixture
of green ; and Newton's violet, which is commonly supposed to
have a tinge of red, and which some even term "'purple,'' has been
proved by most acctirate observations (when viewed by itself) to be
absolutely free from red, and from any appreciable quantity of
green. ^Vhen the flames above referred to are viewed through the
prism, it is seen that they give out a large quantity cf green light
as well as of pure blue. When the blue part is neutralised by the
addition of a yellow light, as in the experiments referred to in
Lieut.-Col. Ross's first letter (p. 41)6), the greenness still remains,
and appears in the resulting colour diluted with white.
The following most beautiful and instructive experiment, how-
ever, settles at once and for ever what is the colour which, when
added to yellow, makes white ; and it teaches far more than any
experiments with coloured flames or pigments can teach. Lay two
rectangular pieces of white paper so as to touch cornerwise over a
• This is exclusive of what you gained before you began to lose.
dark cavity, the edges of the touching comers being in the same
two cross lines, and in the same plane. Then view through u prism,
held parallel to one of the cross lines, the spectra of the two white
spaces. On one side we have the series of colours — red, orange,
yellow — formed by combinations of the prismatic rays beginning at
the red end of the spectrum ; on the other side, tho series formed
by the rays wanting in the Urst^sea-green, sea-green-blue, and blue
(the best and purest blue that ever tho eye can behold). And in
those two series the opposite colours must be perfect complemen-
tnries — the sea-green to the rod, the sea-green-blue to tho orauge,
the blue to the yellow, as may be seen by causing one piece of paper
to slip forward so as to pass tho corner of the other piece, when the
overlapping colours all turn to white.
It is ea.«y, therefore, to see that when we inquire whether
mingled blue and yellow lights make white or green, we must dis-
tintruisli between the different colours which are commonly called
blue. As to the binary compound of green and blue, tho comple-
mentary- of red (which is exactly the hue of fresh verdigris
powder), it is unfortunate that we have no good distinctive name
for it. I have not met with a better term than "sea-green";
which term is certainly not derived from the appearance of yellow
sand seen through green sea-water, but is the colour of a peculiar
reflection of the sky from tho sea — a tint hardly ever seen in
nature elsewhere, except in a few minerals, and sometimes in the
sky itself.
i beg pardon for so hastily suggesting a mistake in the experi-
ment described by Lieut.-Col. Ross in his Fact 4. The green light
he saw in the prism, when tho focus of his lens was thrown upon
it, was no mistake, but is a beautiful, and to me quite new example
of the fluorescence so ably expounded by Professor Stokes in the
Phil. Trans, for 1852. Glass is known to partially obstruct the
invisible ultra-violet rays ; but I do not recollect seeing it noticed
before that this is attended with the'production of a green luminosity
in the glass. If the converging rays are made to fall on the flat
end of a prism, so that the focus is formed in its middle, the
luminosity may be seen extending from end to end of the prism,
accompaiiied with two parallel reflections, more easy to understand
than the reflections which complicate the experiment described on
p. 4f6.
A very beautiful and bright sea-green-blue fluorescence is produced
when a sunbeam is made to converge to a focus in a weak infusion
of the bark of the ash or the horse-chestnut, or a weak solution of
quinine ; and in these cases the peculiar luminosity is strong enough
to be seen in the fluid when the sun shines upon it, without tho aid
of a lens to intensifv the incident light. W. Bensox.
THE POTATO.
[405]— In No. 24, p. 520, " F.C.S.," replies to my letter in
No. 20. He takes me for an English farmer. I have the pleasure
of informing him I come froa the North, and know both the prac-
tice and theory of my profession. I agree with "F.C.S." that
we get many hints from our Continental neighbours, but at the
same time deplore the fact that most members of "F.C.S.'s"
body think they know farming, whereas very few of them can talk
of farming matters without immediately saying something which
evcrv practical man knows to be nonsense, and when the practical
man sees him talk nonsense on what he knows about, he very
naturally concludes he also talks nonsense when he goes so deep
into the subject that he cannot follow him.
With five experiments during 1870, 1880, 1881, cut and uncut
flowers were as near as possible identical, viz., 8 tons 15 cwt. per
imp. acre, on an average.
What I meant about the frosted potatoes was this : take say two
samples of frozen potatoes from the same heap, cook one in the
oi-dinary way, by boiling ; roast tho other in hot wood ashes ; those
from the latter will be good food, the boiled ones too sweet to be
palatable, so that I say it is the frost coming out which makes the
change, not going in.
I have tried many times most manures, pure, single, and com-
pound on many crops, both on sand and clay. I see "F.C.S.'s"
experience is second-hand, although not much the worse of that.
.\mong most agricultural experimenters, it is generally acknow-
ledged that the presence of a large quantity of decomjiosing organic
matter increases not only the crop, but also the percentage of
disease. Now, " F.C.S.'s " experiment being on sand, there was
likely to be little organic matter present, or if so, it was not a suit-
able station, and had it been on moss, the percentage of disease
woold also have been small ; therefore I cannot see but that there
is a contradiction in saying that where we have organic matter,
and. of course, expect a large crop, that there we have most disease,
and again in the unmannred plot with no organic matter and a
small crop, that it is also the worst with disease. At least such I
take to be his meaning.
012
* KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 19, 1882.
All otlicr thinf^s boing ccpml, it may be tnken ns Fottlod that the
jicrcoiitnjjo of discnso in the iinmnnnred plots will bo the smullest,
or nearly so.
" K.C.S." pivps no proof of his assertion that "good peat is
rcpial to stable manure." 1 again say it is nonsense, and wonder
anyone signing liimself " F.C.S." should have uttered it.
This discussion was commenced in K.vowi.KDciK, and unless the
Kditor objects, another paper is not rc(|uired to linish it, but if
" F.C.S." has been a regular reader of tlie yield in past years, he
must have seen many of my contributions on the same subject, but
with a different signature.
Would " K. \V. P." advocate an excess of mineral manure so as
to increase (he starch in potatoes, and does ho know if such an
c-Tcess would also increase the starch in the cereals i* Fakmeu.
AN AKTIFICIAL MOOX.
[406] — The moon question having been somewhat prominent in
your columns lately, a trial of the following experiment may prove
interesting to some of your readers. I venture no opinion as to
the connection in cause of the strongly-marked resemblance between
the real moon and the artificial.
Take a soup plate, and slightly grease the surface with lard or
oil ; distribute irregularly in varying thicknesses about a table-
spoonful of su-called granulated citrate of magnesia. Take a basin,
pour in encnigh water to fill the soup plate ; shake into the water
about two-thirds the quantity of fine freshly-burnt plaster of Paris,
which will sink at once ; pour off nearly all the superfluous water ;
stir two or three times with a stick or spoon, so as to mix irregu-
larly the paste ; then pour it on the powder in the soup plate. The
water in the plaster will cause an immediate disengagement of
carbonic acid gas, which will rise in bubbles of various sizes
through it in irregular patches : the plaster almost immediately
setting, the shape of the outline of the bubbles and the walls of
i/hem become fixed, and, as a result, a most startling resemblance
to the eratered surface of the moon is produced.
If a ])hotograph of this be taken with a strong light, the resem-
blance becomes so perfect as to deceive almost all who are not
professional astronomers. I believe that a little sugar, or syrup, or
gum in the water would produce larger craters, but I have not
tried this. A. Stewart Harbison.
[As we have for several years used illustrations of the moon's
surface formed by Jlr. Harrison in the way described above, we
can vouch for the accuracy of his statements. — Ed.]
" THE STARS AND THE E.ARTH."
[407] — In your notice of the new edition of " The Stars and the
Earth," you remark that the author is unknown. Many years since,
two papers " On Good and Evil " appeared in ^[acmillan's Mar/azine.
The editor stated that those papers were by the author of " The
Stars and the Earth," Dr. Felix Eberty, of the University of
Breslau. In the Catalogue of the British Museum, both the English
and German edition of the book are under Dr. Eberty's name, and
as the two papers in itacmillan display the same ability as is
manifested in the book, the common authorship mav bo regarded as
certain. " J. \V. F.
SIDEREAL TIME.
[408] — The following neat method of ascertaining (without an
cphemeris) the approximate sidereal time at noon for any day of
the year, may be useful to such of the readers of Knowledge as
observe in the day time and have no rule of thumb way of finding
sidereal time. It was communicated to nie by Alfred Fryer,
Esq., of Elm Hirst, Wilmslow, with whom, 1 believe, it was quite
original.
From the month and day increased by twelve months when
necessary substract three months twenty -two (lays, call each month
of difference two hours, and each day four minutes. Thus for the
day of issue of Knowledge, May 5 —
5 months 5 days — 3 months 22 days = 2h. .'■>2m. sid. time.
Nautical Almanac shows 2h D.31m.
Ocean.
The First Volume of Knowlkdge will be published early in June
next, bound in red cloth, gilt lettered. Price lOs. 6d. Vol. I. will
comprise the mmibors from the commen<rement (Nov. i, 1881) to
No. .10 (May 20, l)-82). As there is only a limited number of
copies, the Publishers advise that orders should be sent in without
delay, to prevent disappointment.
Binding Cases for Volume I. will .also be supplied, price Is. 6d.
each. Complete copies bound (including case) for 2s. 6d. each.
anstofrg to CoirrEfpoirtirntiSf.
Otflr.c
tiimralioiu for Iht EJilor rtgitinru/ rarly aHnlion ihould rmek Ih*
•fur^ thf Salurdity prfefting tht rurreni uiue of KltOWUlbOB, ti9
tncriannti cirrnl<ition of Khich compels ui fo qo to prtia «arly in thf vfek.
UrNTS TO CoRBKKPONnRrfTS. — 1. iV*o qvrttionr atking for fritnt\jic information
can bf annwrred through the pout. 2. Lttlfrt tent to the Editor for correipondtnU
eannnt be forvnrded ; nor can the yiamei or uddrei»eii of correipondenit he fietn in
aneieer to prirale inquiriei. 3, CorrerpOHdeiitt fhould vrile on one tide only of
the paper, and put drattingi on a eeparate leaf. 4. Each letter ehould have a title,
and in replying to a letter, reference ehoutd be m^de to Ut number, the page tm
which it appears, and itt title.
PniNEAs FooG. Rat her too many qjeries, now that the query
column has fallen. There will be 30 numbers in Vol. I., and as
many in Vol. II., after which the volumes will each contain 26
numbers — two volumes to each year. This has been arranged in
response to the request of several correspondents, that the first
numbers of volumes should fall, hereafter, in first weeks of January
and .luly. "Is Mr. Grant Allen a follower of Darwin?" Why,
certainly, — being a man of science. The east wind is supposed to
affect the health and spirits, because too dry ; I cannot say I
am satisfied with the reason, but the effect of the east wind is,
unfortunatelj-, not doubtful. — 0. H. Wingfield. That my
little joke about Mr. Proctor should have been misunder-
stood was fortunately of no moment ; but the lesson is worth
noting, as a misunderstood joke may be mischievous. I will
veiuure to say not one -American out of ten thousand would have
misunderstood me. — H. C. Astronomers know nothing of the
inclination of the asteroids' poles. Noise heard when shell is put
close to the ear is generally supposed to be due to the warmth of
the face, and consequent air currents. The explanation is doubtful.
Other questions answered in elementary treatises. — H. Brain. There
is every reason for believing that no former nations possessed any-
thing resembling our modern knowledge of mathematics. The
history of the progress of mathematics would fill many volumes
of Knowledge.— J. F. G. Persons who have been bom blind
and afterwards received sight have been found to require several
week;' experience, touching and feeling objects near them, and
so forth, Ot." "Tp they acquire the power of distinguishing the relative,
sizes and distances of objects. — Zion. Do not know of any such
collection. — W. H. M. There is not any difference between tossiag
a million coins at once, and tossing the same coin a million times
running, so far as the antecedent probability of the relative number
of heads and tails is concerned; but, of course, in tossing the same
coin a million times running, the observed result of the earlier
tossings modifies the expectation as tfi the final result. A portion
of th-at which had been doubtful lias liecome certain. You say
that at the start, in tossing a coin 100 times, it is likely there
will be 50 heads and 50 tails. On the contrary, this exact
equality is unlikely. Again, you say if the first toss is head,
it is 50 to 49 that the next toss will be tail. On the
contrary, the next toss is as likely to be head as to
be tail. The mathematical chance for the result of many
trials is considered in this week's Knowledge. — V. Wheeler.
Yes ; but with similar requests for weekly instalments of ten or
twelve different subjects, what are we to do ? — Stella. No one
else appears to have seen the two large red spots which remained
visible to you from 10.5 to 10.15 p.m. near Alpha and Beta, Ursa?
Majoris, on the 24th inst. Are von sure there was no optical illu-
sion ? Were your eyes tired ? or had you been looking at two dark
green masses ? — J. A. O. In treating of special subjects, writers
can name the books which they recommend. Letters asking for
the names of books on particular subjects should be sent to writers
who treat of those subjects. Science knows nothing about the colour
of Adam. — H. J. Iversen. (1) When a carriage is turning round
a corner, the inside wheel tends to rise off the ground, because
the body of the carriage has a centrifugal tendency outwanls
from the centre round which for a moment the carriage is
turning. (2) In railroads, the outer rail at curves is raised so that
this centrifugal tendency may be overcome by the tendency of
the carriage to loan over towards tlie side on which the lines are
lowest. (3) A turning carriage raises the inside wheel off the
grouud when the velocity is such that the moment of centrifugal
tendency exceeds the moment of the carriage's weight around the
lowest point of outer wheel. Thus, suppose M the mass of
the carriage, ?i the height of the centre of gravity above the
ground, r the velocity with which it is travelling (in feet per
second), d the distance between the wheels, R the radius of
the circle in which the centre of gravity of the carriage
is moving. Then the moment of the weight round the outer rail
or lowest point of outer wheel, is t-2_, the centrifugal ten-
May 19, 1882. j
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
613
i'uint of oater wheel is — !-'. Thus the limiting velocity is
deduced from tl e equation —
2 ~ R
gdi:
or I- = i
2h
Tliia is, of course, only a rough treatment of tlio problem, obtained
liv regarding the carriage as if its wholu- uiuss were at the centre
^jf gravity. It shows that for a given velocity the stability
iiicreases with the distance between the wheels and the large-
ness of the turning circle, and diminishes with the height of the
•<-ciitro of gravity above the ground. (In the above, j = 32'2.) —
K. D. G. Thanks ; your method, and any common-sense method,
i« better than the ordinary rales for dividing decimals. — K. H.
Xi.-BETT. (1.) The moon does occult stars continually; but the
Nautical Almanac only gives the occcltations of certain catalogued
sfars. (2.) The ttars in the field of view of a telescope are not so
rj-i«wiled that the new moon would seem like a dtirk circle on the
Htai'lit background, even if the new moon were black, which,
however, is not the case. — E. I). Abi iiiiiai.ii. Many thanks for
your letter and paper. There can be no doubt on the subject.
I should be glad to hear from you at your convenience. — II. Clijt.
.Many thanks; bat we have not space. — S. UOPKIXSON. I hope
%-»>ur bet was onlj- imaginary, though, if made, it was certainly won.
Tlio question is. If the odds are the same on two independent events,
.•i.v'l the betting is even that both happen, what are the odds on each
stl>arately ? Let the chance of each bo .r, then the chance that
li.th will happen is r'; but this, on the supposition that it is even
letting, is one-half, ori' = }, and r = — -jt: =-707 approximately.
'i'iie chance of each event being 707-1, OOOths, the odds on each
<•% .-nt separately, are 707 to 293, or roughly 7 to 3. — W. Watson.
Viu object to severity, and probably to unfairness : and to illustrate
^'lnr fairness and gentleness you characterise my answers to corre-
>l ondonts as a weekly dose of sulphuric acid, and contrast them
irifavourably with those given in a contemporary paper. Now, I have
i:ik?n the answers given under this heading in the last five numbers
ff Knowledge, and I find that ronghly only about one answer in
iT.enty is severe at all, ten or twelve neutral, and the rest
useful replies to sensible queries. I have not here ooanted forty or
tiiry replies which, in my anxiety to meet the requirements of
readers, have been obtained from experts, and paid for at the same
r:ite as original articles. About one answer in forty since Kxow-
I VDGE first appeared has been really severe ; that is. not meant for
I'anter, such as any sensible person would either take good-
Immonredly, or answer in kind. I venture to say that every really
j-evere reply has been more than meritetl. 1 have no fault to find
with the answers in the journal yon name ; but I happen to know
tl-at the paradoxical and the idiotic, the sour-tempered and the
ni-.ilicious among the correspondents of that journal were long since
■weeded out by treatment far severer than any applied in Know-
i.f.riGE, greatly to the gain of that journal and its readers. When
the saiue work has been done (more easily. I trust) here, our
jinswcrs to correspondents will no longer need even that occasional
drop of diluted sulphuric acid which your imagination has modified
into pure and pervading vitriol. — ScnooL-Bov. Thanks (you write
a very bold band for a school-boy). You are quite right; in our
haste^for be it known that answers have to be very hurriedly
•written or not at all — in the " fourthly " example at foot of
»ecor.d column of p. 576, we did, as yon say, shift the decimal
jioint different ways, instead of the same way. Th3 quotient,
as you say, has only two integral digits. Good boyi —
tiR-VP.ATiii. Von are right: Professor Huxley's remark that mercury
expands more than the glas.' holding it, and that therefore the baro-
meter is higher on a hoc day, is nnsound. The size of the tube in
110 way affects the height of the mercurial column. The diminution
tit the specific gravity of the mercury is, of course, the true cause
of the greater height, eaieri.t paribus, on a hot day. His remark at
p. 355, that the earth moving more rapidly as it approaches the sun,
neutralises any augmentation of heat which may be due to increased
nearness to the sun, is even more obviously incorrect. — Cogito. Yes :
the word centrifugal (p. 565. col. 2, line 12 from the bottom) should
obviously have beea centripetal; as the "copy" was printed
itter, the mistake should not have occurred. — H. E. Kilbv.
i pparchus first suggested that method of determining the
IS distance. Theoretically sound, it fails utterly in prac-
', as exolained in the fir.'st chapter of my treatise on
sun. — M. E. Bexham. We must content ourselves with
tices of men and women who have in some way ailvanced
■. ■•■ntific researches. — C. Moon. Kindly send the trigonometrical
method : if you will also rend the " fly," I will try to get the
information you require.— W. S. S. S. Place of Uranuj can bo
determined from tlie zodiacal map in Part IV. — W. S. D. (Chro-
nological.) Your Association cannot teach astronomers anything
about eclipses, past or future; it is evident, on the contrary, that
you have much to learn. Your views about eclipses, transits, &c.,
are such as heg'^'H-rs very naturally form.- Intbo-Geogbamiicis.
No, they do not correspond ; if the celestial sphere were a plane,
they might. The outlines of constellations have no fixed pocitions
like those of continents and seas ; but are carried along so as to
include the stars shown in their proper constellations. — M. J. B.
"Norma" must be the constellation you refer to ; it was invented
by Lacaille.— C. .T. Caswei.i.. Thanks for kindly words. We note your
question about Venus in daytime. — J. 15. Question recently an-
swered (in Answers to Correspondents). — E. W. White. The subject
is one of great interest ; the influence certain ; but that there is any
magnetism in the matter more than doubtful. — J. McGkicok Allan.
Thanks, but it has bu^cn already done in our columns. — E. SESiaENT.
We know of no treatit^e on the Flora of Singapore. — J. O. Do not
know who is the publisher of J.I!. Young's "Solutions of Cubic
and Biquadratic Equations."— J. Hameb. The polar axis of a
heavenly body is that axis en which it rotates, and the equator is
that great circle of the body which is at right angles to the axis of
rotation. Was not my note of admiration, then, justified by your
remark that the moon, instead of rotating on its polar axi.^, rotates
on an (q latorial one ? It is a contradiction in terms. If you had
said, as I think you mean, that the moon rotates on an axis directeil
earthward, I should have understood you. You might then siinply
have said the moon's jiolar axis is directed towards the earth. The idea
is erroneous, but not self-contradictory, like the other. The moon's axis
is very nearly at right angles to the plane of her orbit round the
earth, and she rotates in it once in each revolution round the
earth.— Bbl-ck Cook (1). The angle ARB exceeds APB by the sum
of the angles PAR, PBR (this follows obviously by joining PR.
producing and applying Eoclid I., 16). Pimilariy the angle ARB
falls short of the angle AQB by the sum of the angles QAR, QBR.
Hence, since angle PAR = QAR, and PBQ = QBR,'we get, by adding,
twice the angle ARB = angle APB -h angle AQB or is constant. —
Q. E. D. (2). For action of syphon we must refer you to elementary
treatises. (3). If n is even, its square root will contain - digits.
+ 1
If n is odd, its square root will contain
Both eases are included in the formula.
1 (
or 1 I 2n -H - ( - 1)-
(-1)"
digits.
i
)
BIOLOGICAL.
Yang fottin (Aspull, near Wigan. Why don't correspondents at
least write their pseudonyms plainly?). 1. There are no per-
ceptible morphological differences between man's red blood-globules
and those of the liigher apes — indeed, no physiologist can venture
to swear in a court of law which is the blood of a pig and which
that of a man— so close are the resemblances. Differences there
may and must be, but they are those dependent on minute structure,
and not on any broad lines of bodily conformation. To all intents
and purposes the blood globules of man and higher apes are similar
in size and structure. With the exception of the Camelidoe, all
<iuadrupeds have round, uneleaved blood globules. 2. So far
as we know, the higher apes coincide nearly with man in their
gestation. 3. Regarding the occurrence of puberty in the higher
apes, we still re<|uire exact information. 4. The tail in the highest
apes is relatively as nidimentary as in man. On a priori grounds,
we should presume that in the embryo of a tailless ape the tail
might persist longer than in the human embryo, but no exact
observations have been yet made on the gestation of apes.
5. JIan's teeth have no break or interval (a peculiarity shared in
by the little lemur, Tarfius). whereas in the gorilla, for example,
there is a break. The n Kinder is the same, and the arrangement
similar in man and the gorilla ; and even in a baboon, the same
number and arr,angement exist ; but in both gorilla and baboon
there are to be seen ilidorenccs in the pattern and shape from those
of human teeth. The dental formula of all the old world apes is,
in fact, the same as that of man : 4 incisors, 2 canines, 2 premolars,
and 3 molars in each jaw.
Poitb's Eitbact is a cert*in cure for Rhenmfttwm and Goat.
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for ITiplnorrhoids.
Pond's Ritract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Extract will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Bruises.
Sold by all Chemists. Get the genuine. AB'T.
614
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 19, 1882.
<!Pbitiiaii).
WE rpjjrot til have to nnnonnce the death, at the early ngc of
tliirty-two, of a promisinf,' young science tcMcher and
lecturer, Mr. Thomas Dnnnian, Lecturer on Physiology at the Birk-
bock Institution, and Physical Science Lecturer at the Working
Men's Collcjje. Ilis early education was limited, bat his reading
was wide and his memory remarkably retentive. It was always in
spite of his surroundings that he went on adding to his stock of
knowledge. About seven years ago ho took charge of the Physio-
logy class at the Working Men's College in Great Ormond-strcet,
where liis class was one of the largest and most popular in the
College. The practical results shown by the examinations at South
Kensington attested the thoroughness of his teaching. Like snccess
attended him in other courses of lectures in other branches of
science. At the Birkbeck Institution, where he sncceeded Dr.
Aveling as Physiology Lecturer, his work was much appreciated.
In 1879 he published a very useful glossary of " Biological,
Anatomical, and Physiological Terms," and four of his lectures had
appeared, " The Mechanism of Sensation," " The Starlit Sky,"
" Prehistoric Man, ' and " Volcanoes and Coral Reefs." lie
contributed to Cassell's " Science for All," to Ward & Lock's
" Universal Instructor," " Amateur Work," and several other
publications.
Ho married early, and the effort to support his family by science
teaching and lecturing may fairly be said to have cost him his life.
During the past two years there were warnings that his energies
were being too strongly t.axed, but they were unheeded, and at the
beginning of the present year brain troubles became markedly
apparent, and he was obliged to give up work ; but it was too lato.
He gradually grew worse, and died on the 9th .inst., leaving a
widow and two children, for whom he had been unable to make any
provision.
0\\v iilatJ)fmaticaI Column.
THE LAWS OF PEOBABILITY.
By the Editor.
AS an illustration of the rules established in our last, take the
following : —
There are in a bag three white halls a)id sex-en black balls; a ball
is drawn at ranAitn and replaced, and this process is repeated five
times ; what is the probability that at least two white balls will be
draicn ?
Applying the rule, we must suppose 3 + 7 expanded by the
binomial theorem to the power 5, the complete expansion being
thus written : —
3' + 5.3'.7 + 10.3'.7' + 10.3».7' + 5.3.7" + 7=
then the fraction obtained by writing the first four terms of this
expansion over the whole expansion represents the chance than at
least 2 white balls will be drawn. 'The whole expansion is, of
course, equal to 10^ or 100,000 ; and the sum of the first four terms
is easily found to be 47,178, so that the required probability is
47178
100000' °'" "*'»'''? one-half.
It need hardly be remarked, however, that the practioil applica-
tion of this rule is not always quite so easy as in the above instance.
Tables have been constructed for the detei-mination of approximate
values when n + m is large and direct calculation out of the
question.
Of course, the chance that at least two black balls will be
drawn is given by taking the last four terms of the expansion for
numerator. In this case the calculation is even easier than in the
former, though it would be less easy if the student proceeded
directly to calculate the value of the four terms, and then to add
them together. There is no occasion for this, however, for he
knows that the total expansion of 10 to the power 5 is 100,000, and
he has only to deduct from this the sura of the first two terms —
that is, 3,078, leaving 96922. The required probability is therefore
96922 ... 1 1- J
lOOuOU' "'' '"°''*' " twice as great as that of drawing at least
two white balls.
It is easily seen that by precisely such reasoning as we have used
to establish the law discussed above, we can obtain the following
law : —
If at each trial there are p + q + r possible results, all equally
likely to occur, of which p are of one kind, q of a second, and r o"f
a third, then the chance that in (n + m + I) trials n are of the first
kind, m of the second, and I of tho third, is represented by the
fraction —
\n + m + l p' q" r'
Here, too, as in the former case, the expression for the probability
is divisible into two parts : a denominator, the expansion oi (jp+q + r}
to the power (n + m + 1) ; and a numerator, the term of this expansion
involving p" q" »'. And if we require the jirobabiiity that at least
n of the results will be of the first kind, and at least m of the second,
we must for a numerator add together all those terms in the expansion
of (p-K/ + r) to the power (n-nn-l-J) which involve p", p''*^', p'*',
&c., and ulso q", q'"*' (;"+', ic, that is, all terms in which the power
of p is not lower than ti, and the power of q not lower than m ; so
if results of the first and third, or of the second and third kind are
in question. Of course, if wo only require to know what is tho pro-
bability that n, at least, of the results will be of the first kind, the
problem belongs to the former case.
The extension of these considerations to cases where there are
four possible classes of result, or five, or more, will be a simple
matter to the algebraist. The following example will be more in-
teresting to the general reader than a mere statement of the lawj
Ijut it will be well to notice that the formula for all such cases bears
precisely the same relation to that last given that this formula boars
to the former.*
The letters forming the word " Mississippi " are marlced on eleven
tablets, all similarg shaped, and placed in n bag. A letter is drawn
f om thu bag at randnm and replaced ; and tins is repeat- d twenty-
thrcH times; what is the probability that these twenty-three diawings
will give 3 m's, 8 i's, 7 s's, and 5 p's.
The bag contains 1 m, 4 i's, 4 .<f's, and 2 p's, or eleven letters
all, and the required probability is —
|23 VA'A'.2'
|3 |8~|7 i5 ■ 11"
which mav be written —
|23 2»
\l~\S_ |7_[5'll^
and is readily calculable by logarithms.
The value of the probability in this and all similar cases is not
changed when the number of possible results of each kind are mul-
tijjlied in the same proportion. Thus, if the bag contained 20 m's,
hO i's, 80 s's, and 40 p's, we should obtain the same value for the
probability above required, as in the case actually described.
When the number of possible results of each kind is very great
indeed compared with the number of trials, we get appreciably the
same probability whether after each trial matters are restored to
their condition before the trial or not. Thus if a bag contain a
million red balls, a million white, a million black, and a million
green balls, we should get the same probability for the result of
twelve drawings (say) whether after each drawing the drawn ball
were replaced or not. The difference, at least, is not appreciable.
Hence we get the same probability as respects a single trial in
which twelve balls are drawn at once, as for twelve several draw-
ings (followed by replacement).
Next week we propose to give the solutions of several problems
which have been standing over for some time. Our papers on
" Probabilities " will probably be concluded in the two first numbers
of Vol. II.
(JPur C&fSs Column.
THE INTERNATIONAL VIENNA TOURNAMENT.
[By Telegram.'] Cafe Reichsrathpark, Vienna,
Tuesday night.
The following is the score of the English players : —
Mason 5J I Blackburn 4
Mackenzie 5 Steinitz 2^
Zukertort 4i | Bird i
We have grave apprehensions that Steinitz's health must have
broken down. On Friday, when playing .with Captain Mackenzie,
he overlooked that he could win a piece on his twenty-second move
— the consequence being that the game was drawn. On Saturday
he fared still worse ; he lost to Zukertort. His score then stood at
2.J. On Monday he had to play Kruby, and on Tuesday Ware. As
* At p. 3t9, No. 16, will be found a convenient formula for the
expansion of a multinomial to a positive integral power.
May 19, 1882.]
K N O W^ ]L E D G E
615
is highly improb:iMe that he should have lopt to both of these
tvcvre, we c inoiudo that he did not phiy at all, or our tele^^ram
ame distorted in traiicniission. The best score has undoubtedly
11 made by Captain Uackcnzio, who, although i game less than
: iton, nevertheless liae relatively done best, he haviuvr benten
i'> inawcr in the lirst round, then dntwn with Zukertort and Steinitz,
111 beaten I'aulsen. Mason has not encountered any of the best
II eiccpt I'aulsen. It is a curious coincidence in the above score
,'. the youngest man heads the list, while the oldest player stands
-^.■St.
I hiy bcsnn on Wednesday, the 10th inst. Specially noteworthy
' 0 first week is, tirstly, the encounter between the two great
:l masters, Steinitz and Zukertort. The latter had the satisfac-
of coiKjiiei'inyr his mighty opponent. Secondly, the meeting of
uitz and Bhickburne — the former won. Thirdly, the encounter
' aptaiu Mackenzie, the representative of America, with Steinitz
! Zukertort, with both of whom he drew.
is a matter of astonishment and regret that we do not have
y information of the Tournament in the press. There can bo
inubt that thousands of chess players in this country, who
■u- with eager interest this gigantic tournament, and in par-
arthe fortunes of the English contingent, would be glad to
■ some information through the daily press. Xo less than five
- ish players have gone to Vienna. Surely they deserve at least
iich notice as a cnuplc of tramps would get who run, hop, or
1 1 around Lillie Bridge grounds.
■ *' have much pleasure in giving a smart game played by Captain
. kouzic against lierr Winawer, of Berlin ; —
Game 643.
(I'lavcd in the first round of the Vienna International Tourney,
May 10, 1882.)
Ruy Lopez.
Whitr. " Buck.
(Cap'.a n Mackenzie.)
1. P t.j K4
:i. Kt to KB3
3. B to Kt5
4. P to Q4
5. Castles
6. P to K5
7. R to Ksc|
8. Kt takes P
9. Q takes Kt
10. Kt to B3
11. Q to K4
12. B to Q:J
13. B to KO
14. QR to Qsq (/)
15. t^ to B3
10. P takes P en pass.
17. B to B4 (A)
18. K to Bsq
1ft. B to Kt3 (i)
20. P to Kt3 0)
21. K to Kt2
22. Q takes B
23. R to KRsq
24. R to Q6
25. Q to Q3
2G. K to Bsq
27. R to QS(ch)
28. Q to QG (0
29. R to Ktsq
30. R to Kt8(ch) (ii)
31. Q takes Q
(norrWmawor.)
1. PtO Kl
2. Kt to QBi!
3. Kt to B3 (u)
4. P takes P
5. B to K2 ((,)
6. Kt to K5
7. Kt to Bt (f)
8. Kt takes Kt
9. Castles
10. Kt to K3 (il)
11. P to QB3 (e)
12. P to KKt3
13. R to Ksq
14. P to KB I-
15. P to Q 1 Ul)
IC. 1! takes P
17. B takes P(ch)
18. Q to B4
19. q takes B
20. Q to Bsq (/■■)
21. B takes P
22. K to Rsq
23. R to K2
24. P to B5
25. P to B6(ch)
26. Q to B4
27. K to Kt2
2S. Q to Kt4
29. Q to QB4 (m)
30. K takes R
Resigns
NOTES.
) We do not pretend to decide analytically the merits of this
ice, wo merely say we prefer P to 1!3. As a remarkable fact,
live seen a great many games prematurely break down — this
■lice having been adopted ; noteworthy amongst them being one
[Berlin, where Winawer defeated Vr. Schmid in twelve moves.
■ ) This is better than Kt takes P.
I Uad Black |.l.aycd the defence of 3. P to R3, the ^Vhito
)]> in the usual course would have retreated to R4, and, there-
after Black's seventh move Kt to B4, that Bishop would he
■ked and compelled to move, thus giving Black time. Upon
lact we base our opinion, that 3. P to R3 is a good defence.
I The Knight is also disadvantageously placed on K3. We
ik Black might have played P to Q3 instead of Kt to K3 ; it
lid have better developed his game.
• ) The very thing White wanted ; he now brings his Bishop into
ivitv at the cost of Black's time.
(/) Now White's superiority is CBtablished, R to Qsq is very
good ; it further weakens Black's Queen's tile in combination with
the Pawn on K5. Black's defence, therefore, turned out badly.
(;/) A desperate effort to force his cramped position, but risky,
in view of the position of White's Books.
(h) Overlooking the palpable rejoinder of Black ; a waiting
move, such as P to KU3, would have done good service to White.
(i) In c.a.so White should have made an effort to retrieve his lost
fortunes by B takes Kt, B takes B, and then retire his Bishop,
Black would have a winning check with his B on B5; but through
the move in the text White also loses two Pawns, which defence
turned out more fortunate for White than could be expected.
( j) White relied upon this move to regaiu the piece.
(A) Surely Black had a straight road to victory by Q to RG(ch),
and on Queen interposing exchanging. K to K2 would have been
too dangerous for White to venture on, after exchanging Queens,
and Bishop takes Pawn, Black would be two Pawns ahead.
(/) White is plaj-iiig well, and makes the utmost of his attack;
while Black is evidently playing carelessly.
(m) This loses the Queen ; ho might have played Q to R5.
White could not then have played B takes Kt, on account of Black's
reply of B takes B, threatening B to B5(eh).
(n) Highly ingenious. Hl.ack has no choice. If K to B3,
Kt to K4 wins, or if K to R4, R to Rsq(ch), followed by
Kt to K4(ch).
Problem No. 42, by J. A. Miles.
White to plaif
WHITB.
Jlr. J. A. Miles intends publishing a collection of his '* Problems,
Poems, &c." — the problem above being one of the number. A
selection of such excellent com)iositions is sure to be favourably
received by the Chess public.
SOLUTION.
Peobi-km No. 3S, by J. A. Miles, p. 5G2.
1. P to Kt4 1. K to Q4
2. Kt to Kt2
3. Kt to B4 mate
3. B to B3 mate
3. Kt to K3 mate
2. K takes P
or if 2. K to K5
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
• •* Please address Chess-Edilor.
Muzio 3.— Your best move is 8. B to H.'i, if then 8. Kt takes P
P takes P
9.
Q to Kt3
or if 8. i,--:z
10.
i' to K5
P to Q3 "■ Kt to K5 ^"' Kt takes P
RtoKsq(ch), Kt to Kt5 ,„ Kt takes BP .
Kt to K2 ■'"■ Castles (best)
(2.) 12. B to 05 is probably best; thanlss for problem ; solutions
of No. 38 and 39 correct.
Correct solution of Problem No. 39 received from Senei
Solitarius, G. W., W. C. Thomas, and Gos.
Edward P. Westlakc— 1. Qto B5(ch), K takes Q ; 2. QKt takes
QP, and 3. P to Ktt (mate) ; if 1. K to K2, 2. Q takes P(chJ and
mate next move.
616
KNOWLEDGE
[May 1ft, 18&2.
Alfrod B. Palmer. — Games recervod ; will find you an oi>ponent
ns KoonAS possible. Solutions of Nos. 10 iiiul 11 correct.
nriffht ((ieiioa). — Solution of I'rolilum No. .'tS correct.
JiOOMorU 1'. Ileus. — Thanks for analysis, whiili will ro;;eive our
best attention ; our services are always at your disposal.
H. A. N.- -Problem received with thanks. Solutions of Nos. 40
«nid 41 correct.
Henry I'lanck.— Solutions of Nos. 38 and 39 correct.
(!. W. — Solutions tO ami tl correct.
Jlronton.- -.SnJution of No. 3D correct.
4^iir Wl\)iit Column.
By " Five of Ci.ubs."
Pi.AY Tiiiiii> Uanii (P[.ai.\ Suits).
MAX \' players seem to think the only rule necessary for third
hnnd is to pl.iy the highest card, unless the suit is licaded
in the hand by a seriuencc, when, of course, they do not carry the
rule to so absurd a length as to play the highest of the sequence.
If to this rule they make one exce])tion, in finessing the Queen with
Ace, Queen, they suppose they know all that need be known about
third hand play.
Ill reality, however, play third hand requires considerable judg-
ment, and a thorough knowledge of the leads and of play second hand.
In two-thirds, perhaps, of the cases that arise it may suffice to know
that third hand should play his highest, unless, ot course, he cannot
play higher than his partner, or only a card which is the next in
sequence above his partner's, when he plays his lowest. If his suit
i« headed by a sequence, he plays the lowest of tlw sequence (with
the same exception that if his partner's card is higher, or belongs to
the same sequence, he plays his lowest, unless he has such strength
in the suit that he may with advantage take his partner's trick).
But in other cases, the player third hand has to consider the lead,
the play second hand, and the score.
Suppose, for instance, your partner has led Queen, and that the
lead is original, or at any rate that there is no reason to suppose it
forced. Thus, the lead is presumably from Queen, Knave, ten,
with probably one small card at least. Then, if you have the Ace
and one or more others, third in hand, how should you plaj' if
second hand does not cover ? You know in this case that second
has not the King, and the first idea would be that, since fourth
player must hold the King, you should play the Ace. But in
general this would be wrong. The state of the score might
I'ender it advisable to take the trick lest second round
should be ruffed. But usually it is best to let the
trick go the fourth player. By putting on Ace, yon
sacrifice Ace and Queen lor one trick, and leave the best card
in the adversaries' hands. Apart from ruffing — which, be it
xemembered, always means a trump drawn from the adversary — ■
the King will make ; that is, the adversaries will have one trick in
the suit in any case, and it is far better for you that that one trick
should be in the first than in the second round. Consider the effect
■(1) of putting on the Ace and (2) of passing the Queen, apart fi-om
ruffing. In case (1) Ace makes first round, King makes second
round, and another suit is immediately led — as likely as not the
:suit is not led .".gain ; in case 2, King makes first round, Ace takes
the second trick, the suit is probably led a third time by holder of
Ace, and in that case two more tricks are made in it, or trumps are
forced from the enemy.
Again, suppose ten is led and passed by second j)layer, you know
(see our account of the leads in Parts J. and 11., or our synopsis of
them in No. 14, p. 310), that the lead is from King, Queen, Knave,
ten, or from King, Knave, ten, with or without small ones. If, third
in hand, you hold the Ace, when ten is led, you put it on, leaving
.vour partner to finesse (if he holds King, Knave) on the return of
the suit. If you hold Ace, Knave, you know that the ten is led as a
strengthening card ; you pass it, and even if the finesse fails, as is
probable (for if King, Queen wore both with second player the
Queen would be put on unless he were long in the suit), you remain
with the tenace. If when ten is led you have nothing above it
but the Queen, you pass it : for whether it has bi-en led (as is must
probable), from King, Knave, ten, lic, or is a strengthening card,
the play of the Queen would be bad ; in the former case, obviously ;
lu the latter because by playing the Queen you give up at once the
command of the suit.
These illustrations suffice to show that the general rule, Third in
hand play your highest, is as insufficient as we have already seen
that the general rule is for second play. Second in hand play your
lowest. \Vo shall, therefore, proceod'to consider the play third in
hand, — first on general principles, and then in detail, as we have
already considered the play of the first and second hands.
G. D. Brown remarks on the increased interest of Whist whan
honours arc not counted, and gives the following short way of
describing the double method of scoring.
" In addition to the usual score of the games another is kept of
the balance of tricks throughout the rubber, which balance is paid
for at the end, each trick counting one point in addition to (orsome-
times in subtraction from) the points of the rubber."
In jilay the effect " is that instead of a hand being thrown np'
when a game is seen to be lost, the hand is played out in order that
all the tricks possible may bo made."
To the true lover of the game, who desires to see the element of
chance as far as possible eliminated, counting honours, espociallyj
full honours in short whist, is always objectionable. But for one
true lov(-r of whist there are ten who love the excitement better
which the element of chance introduces. For my own part, if it
were not for the extra time it would involve, I should like to have
all the houours of all the suits set together in a group of sixteen,
and this .set shuffled ; the remaining cards being also shuffled ; then
the two sets being put together, and tlie cut made withont
further .shuffling, every player would have four honours from amontr
the four suits, and nine plain cards, in every hand. There wonld
then be very seldom those cases of overwhelmingly good or bad
cards between two partners which render good play either unneces-
sary or useless. This, of course, is hercsj- in the eyes of those who
care more for the stakes than for the game, and more for the ex-
citement of chance than for the ^aiidia ccrtamijiis.
Five of Cia-bs.
PROBLEM IV. (p. 50G.)
The Great Vienna Coup.
The key to this problem, interesting as having occurred in actual
play — though we venture to demur to the statement that the holder
of the winning hands said he should make every trick as soon as he
had seen the hands — consists in forcing the opposite hands to discard
fi'om one or other of the suits w lich seem to be perfectly guarded.
A takes out three rounds in U imps, then leads his small trump.
If now second player discards e' per a Spade or a Diamond, there is
no difficulty, as he thereby ungu n"ds the suit from which he discards.
If second player discards a Heart at the fourth round, he eijually
unguards that suit ; but, owing to the position of the other two suits,
it would not do for A now to lead a Heart. He must first lead the
Ace of Spades, then a Heart, discarding Queen of Spades at the first
opportunity. The rest is obvious. All the solutions we have re-
cei^'ed have been correct — indeed, one of the features of this
double-dummy puzzle is that it is not easy to suppose one has
solved it when one really has not.
NOTICi:S.
Notice to our Rsaders. — Fourpenee each will be paid by the Pub-
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Queen Street, London, W.C.
The First Voluma of Ejiowlbdob will be published earlr in June next, bound in
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the commencement (Nor. 4, 1881) to No. 30 (May 26, 1SS2). As there is only*
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Binding Cases for Volume I. will also be supplied, price Is. 6d. each. Complete
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The Back Numbers of Kkowledqb, with the exception of Nos. 1 to 7, are
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the Publishers. Should any ditliculty arise in obtaining the paper, an application
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The following Monthly Parts of Knowt-edgb are now to be had (Parts I. and
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OFFICE: 74 & 75, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C,
May 26, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
617
Pl.MNLY\yORDED -EXACTLYDESCRIBED
LONDON: FRIDAY, MAY 26, 1882.
Contents op No. 30.
PAOV. I
Oar New Volumf .— To Our Readers 617 ,
Beienoe at lh« Royal Acadomf 617
Th» Total Eclip-o 619
Th» Amateur Eleclricisn — £lec- |
trio Geniralora (Co»(in««i) 619 I
The Cold Week in May 620
Fhoto);raphv for Amateura. Bv A,
Brothers, K.R.A.S. (Part VIII.) 621
Sinsws: Prof. Huxley on Science
and Culture 623
SoUr Energy. By Sr. Sliuixa ...6231
Bufterllies and Moths (
The Stars for Juno {Iltuttrattd) . 625-(
Weather Charts ... <
Notes on Art and Science 6
CoBREspoxDBWcE : The late Mr.
Tho3. Dunman — Aurora Borealis
— Tobacco and Consumption. &c. . C
Answers to Correspondents €
Our Mathematical Column (
Our Whist Column «
Our Chnss Columa (
OUR NEW VOLUME.
TO OUR READERS.
OUR second volume begins with No. 31, and will end
with No. 60, closing therefore with the year 1882.
Hereafter there will be two volumes in each j'ear. A
copious index for the present volume will be published in a
few weeks.
We propose in the new volume to continue the same
general plan as in Volume I. The columns for queries and
replies have been cIoskI, for the simple reason that we
could not meet the wishes of the majority of our readers,
in other respects, without finding room somewhere ; and
these columns could be best spared. A large proportion of
our letters have, for a similar reason, to be omitted. The
reason is as inexorable as the law that two bodies cannot
occupy the same space at the same time. Some of our
readers have not been willing to take this inexorable reason
into account Others compare their letters with some which
have appeared, to the disadvantage of the latter, forgetting
that a letter wliich appears may represent, not one corre-
spondent, but a great number. If we receive ten lettera on
a subject, we insert the best of the ten, even though it were
in some respects inferior to a single communication on
another subject
Many ask us to lie more popular, and we shall bear
their wishes in view ; but there are limits to wliat we can
do in that direction. Otliers liave asked that papers should
be shorter, and appear more continuously. This suggestion
seems good, and we shall follow it as far as contributors
will allow us. The request is really for concisene.ss.
In the ne.xt volume will appear the first of a most
interesting series of papers by Miss Amelia B. Edwards,
placing beyond dispute or cavil the identity of the Pharaoh
of the Oppression. Professor Wil.son's "Found Links,"
a series of papers having special interest just now, will
be concluded early in the volume. " Nights with a
Three-Inch Telescope," by F.R A.S., Chemical Papers by
Mr. Jago, Photography by Mr. Brotliers, Electrical, Geo-
logical, Botanical, and Entomological papers will appear
systematically. The papers on Probabilities will be brought
to a close with a brief discussion of the important subject of
indirect probabilities — that is, of the chances, not that such
and such things will happen, but that, such and such things
having happened, the cause was this or that. Afterwards,
we shall have a series of short papers on the solution of
Geometrical Problems. Wiiist will continue under the
management of " Five of Clubs," who hopes in the next
volume to complete his simple explanations of the prin-
cipal rules for play. We hope (but are not justified
in promising) that tlie skilful players of Whist among our
readers (like Mr. Lewis, " Mogul," and others) will, from
time to time, contribute problems, interesting positions,
(.tc, for discussion by our Whist readers. The Chess column
remains in the able hands of that skilful and courteous
player, Mephisto. The chief editor has not forgotten his
promise that beside problems there should be illustrative
simply annotated games, and discussions of the best lines
of opening. In Volume I. the Two Knights' Defence and
the Giuoco Piano were fully analysed, and Mephisto hopes
in Volume II. to give the analysis of other openings. It
may, perhaps, interest our readers to know that three
games illustrating the openings already discussed have
been in progress for some time past between the Chess
Editor and the Chief Editor, and will presently appear,
witli notes by both players (written independently). We
may point with some satisfaction to the early and full news
we have given of the Chess Tournament at Vienna.
Early in the new volume we hope to commence papers
on " Home Cures for Poisons " (beginning with prevention
as the best cure, and pointing to medical aid, as soon as
possible, as essential, whatever home cures may be avail-
able), on "How to got Strong" (without training for
athletic exercises), on Health Resorts, Our Food and
Drinks, Cycling ( Bi- and Tri-), Swimming, and other sub-
jects wherein a little knowledge is good, and more know-
ledge better.
We have been strongly urged by many not to continue
our eflbrt to keep Knowledge at its present low price, but
to enlarge both the price and the paper. We believe we
should be justified, in a mercantile sense, in increasing our
price (without enlargement of the paper) in the same pro-
portion in which the only contemporary paper with a
similar (but less popular) scope, enlarged its price soon
after it was started. But as long as steady growth
promises that before long, even at our present very low
price, expenses will be met, we shall hearken to no such
suggestions. We have wished, and we still wish, to do
" our little possible '' in the cause of cheap scientific litera-
ture. As long as we have our readers' support, we shall
keep to this line. We remind them that, if each reader
(or if, now, but one in three) were to get but one new sub-
scriber, we could at once, and definitely, reject the
suggested departure from our original plan.
SCIENCE AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
LET us return to the paintings, leaving the sculptures
for another visit. We have also the Grosvenor
Gallery to visit, and we are warned that space is limited.
Mr. Arvid M. Lindstrom's " Winter Landscape from
Kollandso, Sweden" (No. 45, Room I.), shows close study
of nature, — not wintry details only are represented, but the
general eH'ect is caught ; we seem to breathe the cold crisp
air ; the snow is not white wool merely, as in so many
winter scenes, but cold to the touch. Tliere is similarly
close observations of nature in Mr. Rickatson's " Autumn
Evening" (No. 16). Mr. John Smart's "In the Track
of the Storm " (No. 69) is in many respects very
fine, but in such a picture as this, which cannot
possibly be painted from nature, we seldom fail
G18
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 26, 1882.
to recopjiiiso certain incongruities. Only wlien an
artist devotes liiinself year after year to tin; study
of etrects observed during and after storms, training his
eye (as tbo eye can be trained) to take in simultaneous
details, and not venturing to combine ofTects wliich have
not liecn seen in a single view, can such incongruities be
avoided. Now, there are dry storms and wet storms in
storm-infested regions, and tliough the dry storm-cloud
jnight lie mistaken by an inexperienced eye for a much-
disturbed rain-cloud, there are in reality characteristic
dillerences. The storm-cloud in Mr. Smart's painting is a
■wet one ; the storm-track is dry, although the wet btorm-
cloud has but just passed over it Once more ; it is mani-
fest that the painter did not make the storm-track a study
immediately or soon after tlie storm, but some considerable
time afterwards. For the most striking feature of a storm-
track, immediately after the storm is over, is the staring
effect of the I'ent wood where boughs ha\e been torn otf.
Whether the wood bo white, or yellow, or red, the torn
and ragged wood looks intensely bright by conti'ast with
the foliage, or with the dark and time-worn bark.
In Jlr. Smart's picture this effect is not seen ; on the
contrary, the broken surface of the wood is shown with
such tints as only come after a few weeks', or at least
several days', exposure to wind and weather. Apart from
this incongruity, and regarding the picture as reprei^enting
a rainless storm passing over the track of a former storm,
the painting is a very fine one, the only fault being that
Mr. Smart has either not caught the peculiarities of the
dry storm-cloud, or that, intending to represent the storm-
cloud which comes accompanied by heavy rain showers, he
has not duly represented the effect of such showers in the
immediate track of the storm.
In Mr. Graham's " Inflowing Tide" (No. 77, Gallery I.),
the sky seems to us unnatural, but the wild effect is well
given.
As it is the business of science to try to discover the
real nature of things mysterious and perplexing, we have
endeavoured to find the true answer to Mr. Henry Vincent's
" What is it 1 " (No. 87). At present, the answer which
comes to us is " An exceedingly bad picture " ; we should
have thought it a school-girl's early attempt, touched here
and there by a much-wearied master. The real mystery is
"how got the picture in?" Near by is a " Monk of the
Order of >St. Francis," by Tremayne Lark (No. 88). For
some reason the monk is anxious to suggest the idea that
he is reading hard ; but he is a very bad actor.
We have already referred to one of Mr. Brett's con-
tributions this year — the larger. Of that picture we may
simply add, that after the best part of a life passed near
the sea, and with special opportunities for studying
Cornish sea-scapes, we have never seen a rich blue sea in
"the gi'ey of the morning ;" and we should be surprised to
hear that any one else had : it seems a meteorological
impossibility. Of his smaller and, in our opinion, much
better painting, "A Falling Barometer " (No. 128), we may
note that there is probable incongruity between the heavy,
broken sky in one part of the picture and the wine-tinted
sea in another. A similar objection applies to ISIiss Jane
Inglis's pleasing picture, " On the North-west Coast of
Cornwall " (No. 421, Gallery IV.). But occasionally such
combinations are scon. Whether it is wise, or artistically
sound, to coml)ine them in a painting, may be questioned.
But unfortunately the kind of sky which Mr. Brett paints
best, and the kind of sea with which he seems most
familiar, are not ordinarily seen together. We note in the
smaller, as in the larger painting, that the sea is not level.
Under broken lights, we are aware, the surface of the sea
often presents a singularly illusive effect of unevenness ;
but iMr. Brett, in " A Falling Barometer," has done]
something more than to suggest this peculiar illusion.
In No. 182, " Bargaining for an Old Master," Mr. llenryl
Woods shows marvellous skill in representing pots ancll
pans. (Punch has admirably, and as it were lovinglyl
caught the Punch-like aspect of the principle figure). The!
Dutch school often introduce pots and pans with great effect; I
but wo know of no painting in existence where there are |
so many pots and pans, drawn and painted with such ex-
ceeding care as in Mr. Wood's picture. They are so welll
depicted, that the painting ought to find a place in Mj
!Mirol)olant's cuisine — no one with higher artistic tast
could .stand all these culinary utensils, we should imagine;
but M. Mirobolant might like them, or even, like thai
celebrated M. Cavalcadour, " require eight more stew-pans, J
a couple of braising-pans, eight saute-pans, six bain-marie- j
pans, a freezing-pot with accessories, and a few more articles I
of which I will inscribe the names."
The " Raven Crag," by Joseph Knight (No. 192,
Gallery II.), is excellent, thoroughly true to nature from
sky to foreground.
In Gallery III. we notice as a singularly fine painting,
in which a transient effect is very perfectly represented,
Mr. Maurice Page's " Startled " (No. 210). The painting
of the startled wild ducks reminds us of Melchior Honde-
koeter, but the landscape is better than any of the
Dutchman's.
We have already touched upon the incorrect perspective
in Mr. Marcus Stone's " Bad News." There is a more
serious fault in the expri ssions of the three faces, which
suggest anything but i/hat, we conceive, Mr. Stone
wished to represent. For instance, we suppose he did not
intend the trooper to look as though he thought, " This,
I suppose, is the kind of face I should wear till she looks
round." But that is exactly how he does look. All three
faces wear manifestly assumed expressions.
One of the most charming pictures in the Exhibition is
No. 378, Mr. Noble's "Toilers of the Road." The con-
tented look of the animals as they enjoy the cool water ia
the trough, is admirably true to nature. The donkey is
" too sweet for anything," as school-girls say. Some have
complained that this picture is hung so high. It is seen
best at a distance ; but, considering the subject, should
have been put lower down.
Mr. John Piggott's " Dread Winter " (No. 387, Gallery
IV.) is excellent ; but the wintry effect does not go beyond
bitterness. The name, " Dread Winter," is suggestive of
something more appalling than anything shown in Mr.
Piggott's capital picture.
No. 41.3, Gallery IV., " Inverlochty Castle and Ben
Nevis," by Mr. Keeley Halswelle, is admirable, but the
clearness with which the Castle in the midground is shown
is inconsistent with the aerial perspective. No. 414,
" Trimming the Net," by Mr. David Farquharson, is a
charming picture, the sky especially true to nature.
Mr. Otto Scholderer, in his " Fine Yarmouth," No. 415,
has successfully mastered the difficulty of representing the
tint and appearance of dead fish, — so successfully as to
suggest serious regret that the difficulty is not greater. If
it were but impossible to paint such disgusting subjects !
In Mr. J. T. Linnell's "Wild Flowers, No. 419, on the
other hand, a very pretty natural effect has been exag-
gerated, and extended over too wide an area.
Mr. nf:RMANN Smith is writing for Musical Opinion and Music
Trade Review a series of papers eutitlod " In the Organ and in tha
Orchestra, " in the course of which many new ideas beariu;^ on tho
production and appreciation of musical sounds are put forth, and
sereral old beliefs are viewed from na w standpoints.
May 2G, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
619
THE TOTAL ECLIPSE.
THE accounts hitherto received give very imperfect
ideas as to what has been done, and the telegrams
seem to have been despatclied with careful instructions to
leave entirely unnoticed whatever has been done by some
of the most important members of the observing force.
We hope next week to have letters from tlie scientific seat
of war. In the meantime, we note that MM. ThoUon and
yripied have determined the exact place of the bright
line in the spectrum of the corona identified with
1474 of Kirchholl''s scale. Tacchini and Tliollon could
see no dark lines in the spectrum of tl»c corona,
nsing diflVrent dispersions, so that one or other miglit
be expected to have seen such lines if on this occa-
sion (as in the last Indian eclipse) they had been visible.
Lines of hydrogen, and many bright lines seen in the
spectrum of the corona, were studied by ThoUon. The
absorption lines observed in Group B (atmospheric) were
obser\ed by Trepied and Thollon to be stronger near the
moon's edge, which has been described in the telegrams as
" indicating a lunar atmosphere." It seems to us rather to
indicate the weakening of the sky spectrum there. Con-
sidering how many spectra of stars have been observed
by Huggins close to the moon's edge without change in the
strength of the absorption lines, it would require some-
thing more than the comparatively rough observations
possible during eclipse to indicate a lunar atmosphere,
whether such atmosphere exists or not. Good photo-
graphs were taken (we trust Mr. Ranyard met with good
success in this direction), and in these a fine comet close
by the sun is well shown. Let us hope it is not the
"Spectator's comet" More of this anon.
THE AMATEUR ELECTRICIAN.
ELECTRIC GENERATORS {Co7Umued).
IT is probable that some of our readers, in making a
machine, will experience some little difficulty in getting
a current from it, unless the very greatest care is taken to
ensure the perfect insulation of the wire. It would make
the machine much more reliable, if Ijefore winding the wire,
a layer of paper thinly-coated with shellac varnish is
fitted and fixed on to the coil of tlie ai-mature. The wire.
Fig. 4.
too, might with advantage be passed slowly through a little
melted paraffin wax, and so be covered with an insulator of
the highest quality. This may be very easily accomplished.
Fig. 4 will illustrate the arrangement. (D) is the bobbin of
wire (as it is received from the manufacturers), and capable
of revolving on a horizontal pin formed by driving a pointed
piece of stout wire into the side of a common box, or asy
suitable article. (B) is a small tin box, such as a one-pound
biscuit-box, containing the paralliu wax (say half-a-pound),
and a small reel (R) to revohe on an axle formed by fasten-
ing a piece of stout wire into the sides of the box. A
spirit-lamp or Bunsen gas-burner (L) is placed under
tlie tin box (B), to keep the wax in a thoroughly
liquid state, but not sufficiently hot to produce any con-
siderable amount of evaporation. The armature-coil, or
whatever else we may wish to cover with wire, may be
easily attached to a spindle, so that, by turning it round,
we can at the same time pull the wire from the bobbin (B)
under the reel (R), and by using the left hand (or the right,
if more convenient) as a guide, the layers of wire may bo
made very regular and compact*
Those who have the necessary convenience are strongly
recommended to measure the resistance of the coil of
wire. Our armature should contain about 7 lb. of No. 24
wire ofl'ering a resistance of 6 9 or 7 ohms. The chief
danger is that of the wire coming into contact with
the iron. This is a fault which may be easily detected
by using a battery cell with a galvanometer, such as the
one described in our firet article, in circuit. Take the two
wires (one from the galvanometer, and the other from one
pole of the battery) ; connect one to one end of the arma-
ture-coil, and hold the other on to the iron itself. If a
deflection is obtained, it is clear tliat a current is passing —
that is to say, the wire is bared somewhere, and is touching
or making contact with the iron.
Before considering the armature as finished, we must
decide on and arrange our " commutator," or current
reverser. On to the plain gun-metal cap drive a boxwood or
ebony ringt or cylinder half-an inch long, tight enough to
prevent it slipping, and on to this fix by small screws a
brass cylinder cut longitudinally into four sections, so that
we shall have four pieces of metal represented in section
by A B C D (fig. .5) ; then join one end of the coil of wire
to A and the other to B.
Now for the " ineluctor." In very small machines the
magneto principle is preferable to what we have yet to
describe as the dynamical. In a purely magneto machine,
the currents of electricity obtained from the revolving arma-
ture are generated by the inducing force of permanent steel
magnets. These should be very strong, each capable of sup-
porting, under the most favourable circumstances, at least
7 a times their own weight The Jamin magnetj (a Parisian
manufacture) is capable of sustaining fifteen times its
* Another method of paraffining is to heat some of the wax in a
porcelain evaporating dish, and pass the wire through a loop made
in a piece of glass rod, dipping below the surface of the wax.
t These substances are recommended where there is any diffi-
culty in procuring ebonite.
I This is simply a compound magnet composed of a number
of strips of very thin steel placed one over the other, the surfaces
being coated with vamisli.
620
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 26, 1882.
weight, V)ut it is fnared that they are too costly for tlio
average iimateur. Tliore are, however, several good makers
in Kiigland, such a-s Theiler, Blakcy, and others, whoso
magnets may 1)8 relied upon to support nine or ten times
their weight. Here it would not be out of place to mention
that tlie magnetisation of a piece of steel or iron depends,
not so much on the strength of the inducing magnet, as on
its own " saturation point " or its magnetic capacity. Tiie
purer the iron the higher is its saturation point, but this is
obtained at the expense of its power of retention, tiiat is to
say, pure iron cannot become a permanent magnet, although
it may be temporarily raised to a liigher state of magnetisa-
tion tlian a piece of steel or iron containing a very small
proportion of certain foreign substances (carbon, etc).
Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the " pole-pieces " of our
TEagnets. B and C are two pieces of cast iron (softness
not essential, because of their being closely attached to,
and always actuated by, permanent magnets), each piece
being 4 inches long. They should be cast with a semi-
circular cavity, the two parts temporarily clamped and
carefully bored out to a diameter of about If or 1 J inches,
just large enough, in fact, to allow the armature to revolve
freely without touching. The edges (« e', dd), should be
filed down about an eighth of an inch, brass plates {p and p'),
having been previou.sIy fitted and tapped, ready for screw-
ing on to the pole-pieces, to render the combination com-
pact. G', G", G'", G"" are grooves, into which the magnets
are to be fitted, and should be just deep enough to make the
top and bottom of the pole-pieces flush with the magnets.
Having secured the pole-pieces, the magnets should
be fixed. They should be of the U form, but not too
broad, a number of narrow ones put side by side giving
much better results. Referring to fig. 6, put all the
north poles in G' and G"", and all the south poles in
G" and G'". To fix them on, place small brass washers
top and bottom across the opening between each pair of
magnets, and pinch them together by small brass bolts and
nuts. We should recommend our readers to make their
own magnets if they possibly can, providing also that
they can procure sulficiently good steel. The steel should
bo in strips about a quarter of an inch thick, half to
three-quarters of an inch wide, and 9 inches long, bent so
as to measure 1 J to 2 inches between the legs of the U.
The best way to magnetise a strip, after it has been
brought to the desired shape, is to put coils of wire over
the legs (in such a way as to form a continuous coil),
and pass a current of electricity through the wire
for a minute or so, breaking the circuit two or three times
during the operation. The magnets should be fitted as
close together as the bolts above referred to will permit,
but not touching, and should as nearly as possible fill up
the length of the pole-pieces. If any difliculty is expe-
rienced in this matter, Messrs. Blakey, Eminott, <fe Ca
(Halifax), will supply magnets ready to attach to the pole-
pieces at Is. Gd. each. Ten of these would be required,
that is, five on each side. There is a little more to be said,
which we must, however, defer till next week.
THE COLD WEEK IN MAY.
THERE is something startling in the placid way in
which M. de Fonvielle advanced, as we have seen,
the asteroidal theory of the cold week in iSIay is presented.
It was never held, even by Ertel, who first advanced it, to
be anything beyond a probable surmise, nor has it at any
time been adopted by astronomers of standing. But, in
reality, the supposed fact on which Ertel originally based
the theory, the only circumstance which gave to the theory
an appearance of plausibility, has been shown to be no
fact at all. It was formerly supposed that the stream of
small bodies, to whic i we owe the meteor shower com-
monly seen on Novem )er 13-14, is nearly circular in shape.
Now, one of the po nts where this stream crosses the
level of the earth's track corresponds with the place occu-
pied by the earth on November 13. Half a year
elapses between midnight, Nov. 13-14, and May 15, noon;
but, owing to the earth's more rapid motion in winter than
in summer, she crosses just opposite the place she had held
on Nov, 13-14 at midnight, on ^lay 12 about noon. Ertel
reasoned that, assuming the November meteors to form a
zone of small bodies around the sun, the zone being less iu
extent than the earth's orbit, this zone must of necessity
cross the level of the earth's orbit at a point directly
ojjposite the place of our November encounter with them,
and lying inside the earth's track, or between us and the
sun. The zone of meteors would therefore intercept a por-
tion of the sun's heat on or about May 11, 12, and 1 3. The
August meteors would, in a similar way, account for the
cold spell of February. And though the April " borrowing
days " could not be explained by a meteor system giving
October displays (for there is no such system), yet the
theory was not therefore invalidated. For, of course, a
meteor system may lie between our earth and the sun at
one part of the earth's annual course without necessarily
crossing that course itself at its opposite point. Thus it
seemed as though there were very strong positive evidence
in favour of Ertel's explanation of these cold snaps, and
no negative evidence of weight against it.
This reasoning is often quoted at the present day, when
all its weight has departed from it. We now know very
certainly that neither the November nor the August meteor
systems pass between the earth's track and the sun on any
part of their circuit. The November meteors cross the
earth's track itself at the point she reaches on or about
November 13-14, and of necessity they cross the level of
her track again at a point e.xactly opposite, or lying in the
same direction from the sun as the earth does on or about
May 12. But, instead of this second place of crossing lying
between the earth and the sun, it lies far away in the
remote regions of the solar system, near the track of
the planet Uranus, or about twice as far from the sun as
Saturn, the remotest of all the planets known to ancient
astronomers. In fact, it is believed that we owe to the
Mat 26, 1882.]
• KNOWLEDGE
621
planet Uranus the introduction of the November meteor
zone into our solar system, either through a close approach
of that giant planet to the meteor family at that point
of its track where it still approaches the path of Uranus,
or else from the actual expulsion of meteoric fragments
from the interior of Uranus millions of ages ago, when the
planet was passing through its sun-like stage. Be this
as it may, it is certain that the November meteor system —
tJiough at the verj' time when these words were written
it lay in the same direction from the sun as our earth
does — yet lies some nineteen times as far away, or, roughly,
alx)ut 1,6.50 millions of miles further from the sun than we
are at this present time. To charge the November meteor
system, therefore, with robbing our earth of a portion of
its supplies of solar heat is to i i.itate the wolf in the fable,
who accused the lamb of troubling the stream, though the
stream llowed from the wolf towards the lamb. The sun's
rays in May pass our earth on their way to the November
meteor system, not that system on their way to the earth.
It is, therefore, now a matter of scientific certainty that
the cold snap in May is not caused by the November
meteor system. As for the August meteors, their track
has been found to be even far wider, and in February,
when Ertel supposed they were intercepting our supplies
f'f solar heat, they lie forty times farther from the sun
tlian our earth.
It does not of necessity follow that Ertel's theory is
erroneous ; Viut now that tlie evidence he seemed to find in
its favour from the November and August meteors has
been shown to be fallacious, the defects which from the
first characterised the theory will be more readily admitted.
These are sufficiently manifest If meteors diminished
our supply of heat, it could only be by coming actually
L between the earth and the sun in such a way that they
could be actually visible (if sufficiently magnified with a
telescope) upon the sun's face. If they formed a fine
cloud of cosmical dust, they would reduce his apparent
brightness in a measurable degree if they affected in such
degree the supply of heat we received from him : and this
has never been noticed. If they were individually large
enough to reduce the supply of heat, they ought to be indi-
vidually visible as black objects crossing his face even to
the naked eye, but certainly Avith powerful telescopes. No
such bodies have ever been seen.
However, there is a terrestrial test for the theory by
which its validity could be readily determined. If meteoric
bodies come between the earth and the sun at any time in
such numbers as to make us feel cold in their shadow, they
cool the whole earth, not England, or Europe, or the
northern hemisphere. If, then, on a careful comparison
of the mean daily temperature at observatories all over the
world, it is found that the cold snaps of February, April,
and May are everywhere to be recognised, then it must
be admitted, at least, that the cause of the peculiarity
is to be sought outside the earth herself. If, on the
contrary — as, for my own part, I suspect would prove
to be the case — no trace of these cold snaps could be
recognised — say, in Australia and South Africa, though
cold snaps at other dates might be noticed — then the pecu-
liarity must be regarded as local It may extend over
the British Isles, or even the whole of Europe, or it may
even, though this seems unlikely', prevail over much
larger portions of the northern hemisphere ; but if not
recognised (and that, too, at precisely the same epochs) in
both hemispheres, its cause cannot be regarded as extra-
terrestrial. It should not be difficult, if the cause is on
our earth, to trace it to its source. I should not be sur-
prised if that source were found to lie among the ice-
fields of the North Atlantic.
PHOTOGRAPHY FOR AMATEURS.
By a. Brothers, F.R.AS.
PART VIII.
LANDSCAPE photography, portraiture, copying, and
various other branches of photography may be fol-
lowed by the amateur after he has mastered the working
details given in previous papers. But there is one branch
to which many readers of Knowledge will naturally turn
their attention as soon as they can manipulate a collodion
plate. Astronomical photography is one of the most
fascinating sections of the art-science, and it is one in
which it is not difficult to achieve success, always sup-
posing that a good telescope is available. The method of
procedure is the same whether the telescope be of the re
fracting or reflecting form. With a reflecting telescope,
there is no difficulty with the actinic focus ; but with a
refractor, allowance has to be made in a way presently to
be referred to. We will describe the apparatus necessary to
attach the jilate-holder to a refractor. The eyepiece must
be removed, and in its place a piece of tubing of the same
diameter must be provided. To this tube a piece of flat
brass plate must be attached, and the dark slide of the
camera may be arranged so that it will slide on to the
brass plate and remain secure in any position of the tele-
scope. No camera is required — merely the means of hold-
ing the prepared plate. On a plate 4 j by 3|, two pictures
of the moon may be taken, merely by shifting the slide
about one diameter of the moon, after making the first
exposure. With a slightly-varied arrangement of the brass
plate and dark slide, four exposures can be made on the
same plate. W'ith telescopes up to 6 ft focal length, the
size of plate named will be sufficient ; but with larger in-
struments, a plate 5 by 4, or 6i by 4J, would be preferable.
The preparation of the plate is just the same as for a
landscape or copy. In order to find the focus, a piece of
ground glass may be placed in the dark slide, with the
ground surface towards the object, and the image of the
moon may be brought into sharp visual focus. The focus-
sing tube of the telescope having been drawn out so as to
allow some " play " for finding the actinic focus, a slight
scratch should be made on the tube to show the point of
visual focus, the sensitive plate may be put into the slide
and the shutter withdrawn. The cap of the telescope
should be removed, and a cover of some opaque material
substituted, and made to fit loosely, so that, in making the
exposure, the telescope should not be disturbed. The
driving clock having been adjusted to the moon's motion,
which can only be done approximately, the object glass
covered, and the prepared plate in its place, the
temporary cap may be carefully removed, and held a
short distance off', so as to allow any vibration of the
telescope to subside, and the exposure may then be made.
The time of exposure must be varied according to the
phase of the moon, the focal length of the telescope, and
the state of the atmosphere. At the time of full moon, and
if the sky be very clear, the time of exposure may be one
second or less — experiment alone will determine this point.
The first image taken in the visual focus is sure to be in
distinct ; and now, to find the actinic focus, turn the
focussing tube oiiticardg — say one-eighth of an inch — and
then take another picture, taking care that the slide has
been moved forward ; at the same time, a mark miist be
made on the brass tube. Proceed thus, carefully noting
the improved sharpness of the image. It is obvious that,
if the second picture is less distinct than the first, the
plate must be placed nearer to the object-glass. The focus
is longer or shorter, according as the object-glass is over or
under corrected.
622
KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 26, 1882,
An oxpondituro of much patience may be necessary
before satisfactory negatives of tlio moon will bo obtained,
but as soon as the actiivc focus lias been found approxi-
mately, the work on each evening will be more easy ; but
one or two trials must bo made to test the focus, which
will vary with tho temperature, owing to the alteration of
the length of tho telescoj)e tube.
In ordf^r to show the eUVct of atniospheric disturbance,
a photograph of any bright star may be made — Sirius, for
instance. Put tlie plate in position, and then, the tele-
scope being at rest, allow the image of the star to pass
across the sensitive film ; on development, it will be found
that, instead of a straight line, it will be of zig-zag form.
This atmospheric disturbance, of course, aflects the picture
of the moon, and it is not easy to distinguish between this
defect and the incorrect focus. It may be necessary to
take dozens of negatives in order to secure one good one.
For this reason, tliere is a great saving of time if the plate
be arranged so that four pictui-es can be taken successively,
the times of exposure being varied.
In a future paper, the gelatine dry plate process will be
described. This process is very much more rapid than wet
collodion, and it may be thought that, for that reason, it
should be preferred for astronomical photography ; but up to
the ])resent time the best photographs of the moon have
been taken by the wet process, and so far as my own ex-
perience extends, the dry gelatine plate is not so suitable
for enlarging — much of the finer detail of the original nega-
tive is lost in enlarging by either process, and there can be
no doubt that the long-neglected Daguerreotype plate
would give better re.sults than any of the more modern
processes.
It will be necessary to examine each negative with a
lens, in order to judge whether sufficient sharpness of detail
has been obtained, selecting the craters near the terminator
of the moon as tests.
One of the most curious and interesting results of the
application of photography to astronomical observation is
in the combination of two pictures of the full moon to be
viewed in the stereoscope. By selecting negatives that
have been taken in suitable states of the libration of the
moon, and by mounting transparencies (in preference to
paper), enlarged to the same size, we obtain a picture
showing the rotundity of the moon in a very remarkable
way.
T>ie diameter of the images of the planets in telescopes
of moderate size is so small, that no results of any value
can be obtained.
The great value of photography, as applied astro-
nomically, has been in determining, first, that the red
flames seen during total eclipses of the sun really belonged
to the sun ; and, more recently, the much-disputed question
as to the solar corona was finally disposed of by comparing
photographs taken at stations widely separated.
PROF. HUXLEY ON SCIENCE AND CULTURE.*
LIKE others of the most valuable works by Prof.
Huxley, the book before us is a contribution rather
to literature than to science, though tho author derives
some of liis most efTcotive arguments and illustrations from
science. The Essays, Lectures, and Addresses which form
the volume are gathered from various magazines in which
•"Soienoo and Culture, and other Essays." By T. H. Huxlev
LL.D., P.B.S. (Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Loudon.)
they have appeared at intervals during seven or eight past
years. Home critics (mostly those who, being themselves
essayists, can find none to publish^volumes of their collected
papers) take strong exception to the course thus pur-
sued by Prof. Huxley. Such a critic, in reviewing
a volume of essays by the present writer, said that to
collect and republish essays which have already appeared
was the worst possible oflTonce ; and another compared
the author of such a volume to a liighwayman holding a
pistol in the form of an octavo volume at the head of an
unoffending public. The answer is obvious. If the
public does not like such works, the public can and does
leave them alone ; V)ut if the public finds an author's re-
published essays worth re-reading, the author is some-
thing more than justified in republishing them. It appears
— who, indeed, could douVjt it 1 — that Professor Huxley's
readers are of this opinion. " I can give no better reason
for republishing [these papers] in their present fonn," he
says, " than tho fact that three earlier collections of a
similar form have been received with favour." .i\jad a very
sound and sufficient reason it is.
The first paper — an address on science and culture — is
interesting for the strong, yet moderate, assertion of Pro£
Huxley's claim for pure science as a necessary part of
culture. He rejects, on the one hand, the arguments of
self-styled practical men (expressing in passing a belief, in
which we wish we could share, that " the pure species has
been extirpated "), and, on the other, those of certain clas-
sical scholars, who consider themselves, as it were, Levites
in charge of the ark of culture. He shows very clearly
the distinction between the mere Latinism of the Middle
Ages and the true classical culture'of the Renascence. He
pokes a very clever joke at the advocates of merely scho-
lastic training, where he says that " if we were disposed
to be cruel, we might iirge that they have brought re-
proach upon themselves, not because they are too full of
the spirit of the ancients, but because they lack it."
" Modern astronomy," he says justly, " is the natural con-
tinuation and development of the work of Hipparchus and
of Ptolemy ; modern physics of that of Democritus and of
Archimedes ; it was long before modern biological science
outgrew the knowledge bequeathed to us by Aristotle, by
Theophrastus, and by Galen." " We cannot know all the
best thoughts and sayings of the Greeks unless we know
what they said about natural phenomena. We falsely
pretend to be the inheritors of their culture, unless we are
penetrated, as' the best minds among them were, with an
unhesitating faith that the free employment of reason, in
accordance with scientific method, is the sole metliod of
reaching truth." This lesson from the ancients is, indeed,
the key note of the first six of the Addresses, Lectures,
and Essays gathered together in the present voluma
Scattered through those essays there are numbers of pithy
sayings, well worth quoting and remembering. Here area
few of them : — " An exclusively scientific training will bring
about a mental twist, as surely as an exclusively literary
training." " Knowledge is only the servitor of wisdom "
(may this, our Knowledoe, be so regarded !) " Do what
you can to do what you ought, and leave hoping and fear-
ing alone." "The assertion which outstrips evidence is
not only a blunder but a crime." "The Nemesis of all
reformers is finality." "When you cannot prove that
people are wrong, but only that they are absurd, the best
course is to let them alona" (Note that, Mr. Editor of
Knowledge !)
The other essays are more specially scientific. In
them Professor Huxley deals with the Border Terri-
tory between the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms.
Certain Errors respecting the Structure of the Heart,
N
May 26, 1882]
• knovv^ledg:e •
623
attributed to Aristotle, the Hypothesis that animals are
automata (a most interesting essay), Sensation, Evolu-
tion in Biology, " The Origin of Species " (an essay of
somewhat melancholy interest just now), and the connection
of the biological sciences with medicine. lu all these
essays Professor Huxley shows the love of truth, the
plainness of speech, the strong common sense, which
characterise all his writings, while his profound knowledge
of those matters whereon he speaks as one having authority,
and not as a (mere) scriV)e, gives to these writings a scientific
value altogether apart from their personal and literary
qualities. Every one who wishes to be on a level with the
seientilic thought of the day must read this work.
SOLAR ENERGY.
Bv Db. Siemens.
WIIEX communicating to the Royal Society, on JIarcli 2, my
speculation on tho conservation of solar eueigy, I was
aware that I might, perhaps, give displeasure to those who strongly
adhere to what may be called text-book iaformatiou on tho subject ;
I cannot, therefore, feel surprised that llr. Proctor refuses to
accept either my explanation or the mathematical proof by which
I endeavoured to establish the fundamental condition of Riy theory
that of solar fan-like action in a space tilled indefinitely with at-
tenuated matter. I am bound to admit that in replying (neces-
sarily somewhat hurriedly) to Mr. Archibald's letter in Nature, I
ased the word "moment" where "force" might havo been more
correctly employed, but with this exception I fully maintain my
mathematical statement of the problem.
It is by no means necessary, as maintained by Mr. Proctor in the
Cornhill Magazine article, that centrifugal force, acting upon tho
circulating matter, should balance the force of solar gravitation
Dpon the same ; it is in effect less tlian the thousandth part ; and yet
continuous equatorial outflow must take place. Astronomers havo
hitherto regarded the atmosphere suiTounding a heavenly body as
taking part wholly in its rotatory motion, in which caso the only
effect produced by rotation will be ellipticity, or a permanent rise of
the atmospheric column in the equatorial regions unaccompanied
by continuous motion. The fundamental difference in my assump-
tion is the surrounding matter indefinitely extended into space,
which cannot be supposed to take part in the rotatory movement of
the gaseous matter in immediate contact with the rotating ellipsoid.
In this case there is no elliptic atmosphere to be maintained in
balance by its greater depth in the equatorial i-egions, and the
tendency to rise to a greater height in that direction in order to
attain a statical balance, can only result in equatorial motion, or in
tho circulating current, which I make the basis of my hypothesis.
It would bo idle to attempt further argument on this subject ; but
aolar eclips; observations mast bsfore long decide tho question
either in favour of Mr. Proctor or myself. C. W. Siemens.
[It is singular to find a man of Dr. Siemens' calibre, when
possessed by a paradox (which has happened to Galileo and Kepler
and Newton) adopting tho tone of our Hampdens, Croslands, and
their like, who have always " been told that tbere would bo strong
opposition to their views." I must confess, too, I am rather amused
to find that I, of all men, should be regarded as " strongly adhering
to text book science," who have been held utterly wanting in
respect for mere authority. On this very subject about which Dr.
Siemens h.as advanced the.se new views, I have done at least as much
as any living writer to dispossess long established ideas, — only,
having based ray views (1) on sound and sufficient knowledge of
what had been already done, and (2) on mathematical reasoning,
I have seen them, after rather obstinate contest, take their
place among accepted truths. Dr. Siemens will find that I was
the first to assert, as demonstrably established, the configuration
of the solar corona which his theory requires, and which actually
exists (though it does not prove hi.s theorj-),'at a time when such
men as Sir John Herschel (grand old man) and Sir George Airy
held the terrestrial theory of the corona to be admissible.* Apart
• Singularly enough, I had barely laid down my pen after writing
my reply to Dr. Siemens, when I read in Nature a passage forming
a strange commentary on the above remarks. When in 1869 1
showed, by mathematical reasoning (which Sir John Hershel and
Sir G. Airy both, iu letters to me, admitted to bo sound and suffi-
cient— as they were, 'of course, to any mathematician), Mr. Loekyer,
of whom it was jestingly said a few months later, that "he called
from what I havo endeavoured to establish, myself, with moro or less
success, outside of text-book astronomy, 1 havealways shown readiness
to accept tho extra-teit-book science of others — whore it really is
science. If, then, I do not accept Dr. Siemens' explanation, it is
because I hold it to be entirely unscientific — though Dr. Siemens is
a man of science, and one of woll-descrvod reputation in his own
departments. If I reject what Dr. Siemens calls tho mathematical
proof of tho fundamental conditions of his theory, it is bccanso
there is nothing mathematical about it. Apart from tho mistake
(in one sense quite insignificant, in tho other exceedingly signifi-
cant) in the use of a familiar expression, tho so-callod proof proves
nothing; it is the mere hcginning of a statement of certain im-
P't.^sihle cotiditions.
Tho question whether or not the atmosphere of a heavenly body
extends indefinitely into space, its outer parts not sharing tho ro-
tation of tho planet, has no real bearing on Dr. Siemens' views.
So far from hitherto regarding tho atniosphoro as wholly sharing
in the rotatory motion, I consider it far more likely that the rotating
atmosphere merges into tho general atmosphere of space. But tho
laws of motion remain. A gaseous mass, wherever it may be, is
urged sunwards by tho sun, and can only fail to tend sunwards
when his attraction is counterbalanced by tho attraction of some
other heavenly body. The tendency, when not thus counterbalanced,
may not load to motion sunwai'ds, because it may bo balanced by
centrifugal tendency or by elastic forces ; but these elastic forces are
generated by the solar attraction, and cannot jiossibly generate con-
stant efflux from him. There is no difference between a cubic foot
of gaseous matter opposite tho sun's equator but outside his ro-
tating atmosphere, and an equatorial cubic foot of such matter
within his atmosphere, so far as the nature of the forces at work
is concerned, e:tc(?p( that the former, having less rotational motion,
has relatively less centrifugal tendency. The best Dr. SicJnens
could do for his theory would be to have all tho rotational move-
ment of the sun at work to produce recession- — and that would not
suffice; yet ho makes it a strong jjoint of his reasoning that the
gaseous matter which he waiats to be continually receding, cannot
be supposed to take part in tho rotatory motion of the gaseous matter
in immediate contact with the rotating elHpsoid.
It would indeed be " idle to attempt further argument on
this subject," if the first principles of hydrodynamics are set on
one side in the attempt to establish Dr. Siemens' paradox — for
paradox it unqnestionably is. But eclipse observations will not
help to make the matter clearer. The appeai-ance presented by the
corona would be practically the same, whether the movements
imngined by Dr. Siemens took place, or those movements of cos-
mical dust, under the action of gravity, which astronomers
recognise.
I note that Dr. Siemens does not c insider at all tho equally
decisive diMpronf of his theory (as a sufficient explanation of solar
and stellar work) afforded by the shining of tho fixed stars. \\c know
that if there is no utilisation of star rays in space, Arcturus and
Aldebaran are suns pouring out second by second much more light
and presumably much more heat than our sun ; Sirius pours out
at least 200 times as much ; and on the average, every star wo see,
and every star brought into view by the most powerfnl telescope, is
a rival of ours. If their rays are utilised, those stars aro, on the
average, very much larger than our sun, and only so mnch is
wasted as we can measure — that is, still, many millions of miilions
himself owner of half the corona," remarked in Nature that it was
absurd of mo to express an opinion where " even the workers "
(meaning himself, I think), could not decide. Though ho did
decide ; for having started a theory of the sun with which
the great extension of the corona was inconsistoKt, bo insisted
very positively that tho corona is, in tho main, a terrestrial
phenomenon. I was content to wait ; but pointed out observa-
tions by which the real nature of the corona might be shown (to
those who could not follow the mathematical proof), and others by
which Mr. Lockyer's more general theory of the solar atmosphere
could bo disproved. 'J'hese observations, as it chanced, were made
during the next eclipse (the latter by Professor Young). Little by
little " tho workers," meaning Mr. Loekyer, had to yield more and
more of the corona to the sun, until now we find in Nature, Professor
Newcomb's picture of a corona extending many million miles from
the sun, described by Mr. Loekyer as certainly representing a solar
appendage. But the amusing thing is, that though Mr. Lockyer's
theories aro dead, " still in their ashes burn their wonted fires."
Ho thus describes in the Daily Neirs the state of scientific opinion
which differs so diametrically from what was once his own : —
"Certain and sure evidence was obtained that the outer atmosphere
extends much further from the sun than had been previously sup-
posed by thniie mast competent to form a just opinion." I would
submit that to have formed and maintained for years a >vrong
opinion is not proof positive of superior ability to form a right one
624
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
[May 2G, 1882.
of times oa mnch energy as our sun poors on all the planets. Tho
difliculty, or nither the mystery, tindcrlying the constant emission
of eo Imu'h wiistod Uf^\.t and hcut is not removed, unless wo are to
assume tliat tho distance between the stnrs and our sun is not
snllicient for tV.o utilisation of more than a part, possibly a very
Bninll part, of a sun's cncrpy. Hut even if this were admitted
as reasonable, instead of being rejected as obviously tho reverse,
who that recopnises tho vastness of tho interstellar S|iaces or
knows how many millions of years would be required to
draw matter from midstellar space to tho ncighbouihood of
even the nearest sun, cJin for a moment suppose that tho matter
thus prepared can be used up as Dr. Siemens' theory requires ?
What matters it, so far as this mystery of mysteries, the mystery
of infinite energy seemingly wasted, is concerned, whether solar
and stellar rays of light and heat are directly lost {to our vniverse)
as they are radiated through interstellar sijace, or whether they
are constantly employed in modifying matter which can never by
any chance come (in time to be of use) to any star in space?
Considering that the forces conceived by Dr. Siemens have, in
the first place, no existence, so that the mechanism of his "per-
petual round " could never even be started ; that, secondly, the
work suppo.sed by him to be done in interstellar and interplanetary
space is certainly not done (or the stors would not shine as they
do) ; and that, thirdly, if the work were done there it would be
altogether worthless, I venture to say that Dr. Siemens' theory is
absolutely inadmissible. If it be asked why, that being so, the
mathematicians of the Royal Society invited Dr. Siemens to read
his paper, I can only suggest that this was but a just and proper
tribute to the excellent scientific work for which he is, and will
always remain, deservedly eminent. Eichabd A. Proctob.]
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.
AS the month goes on, both moths and butterflies are becoming
more and more plentiful, both in regard to the number of
individuals and the species to bo obtained.
During the week just passed we have had over twenty moths
emerge from the pupa, the larva or caterpillars of which we bred
last year.
This breeding is the best means of getting a good collection, as
the insects come fresh and undamaged from the chrysalis, whilst
those caught by any other method whatever are sure to sustain some
breakage or other damage, and we adviso collectors to take all
caterpillars they can find, and breed them up. Some difficulty may
be experienced at first as to food, but by taking notice from what
trees the caterpillars are taken, and feeding with the same, the
difficulty is overcome.
In redem))tion of one of our last week's promises, we now give
the most commonly-employed methods for catching butterflies and
moths. For butterflies the only way is to have a net, various forms
of which are in use, the clap-net, and oval or round sweeping-net
being most common. The clap-net is a rectangular piece of gauze
with a rod at each side, which latter are used as handles. To
capture an insect with this the net is thrown over it, and the side-
rods or handles rapidly brought together. This action encompasses
the victim in the folds of the net, where he is killed and transferred
to the pocket-box.
The sweeping-net is a deep bag of the same material as the last,
the mouth being kept open by a piece of cane or thick wire bent to
the form of an oval or circle. The net should be about 3 ft. in depth
by 1 ft. across the top, and tapering to a point at the bottom, this
size being tho most convenient, anything much larger proving too
clumsy in use. Personally wo prefer this form to the clap-net,
though first-class work can be done with either with a little practice.
Whilst hunting butterflies, one rule must be observed, 7iever get
between Die sun and the insect, as your shadow will nearly always
prove fatal to the chance of capture ; also, try to get to windward,
if possible.
As moths fly principally in the night-time, very different methods
to the above must bo adopted. Sugaring is that most generally in
use. It consists in smearing the trunks of trees in woods, forests,
Ac., with a composition formed of beer and sugar boiled together,
with siifticient new rum added when cold, to give it a strong smell,
and to increase its intoxicating properties. The moths come to it
m great numbers, and becoming quite stupefied with the rum, can
be easily taken in the chip-boxes mentioned in last article. When
sugaring, a good lantern, preferably a bull's-eve, is indispensable to
show up the moths in the dark. The hour to begin sugaring de-
pends on the state of the weather, Ac, but, generally speaking, as
soon as it becomes tolerably dark it is time to start. 'A still, warm
night will be sure to supply plenty of game, but if there is any
East in tho wind, or a bright shining moon, scarcely a moth will be
Numeroas other ways hare been tried, some dependent on the
various tastes of the insects, others on tho well-known proclivity
moths have for coming to a light. An ingenions contrivance called,
the " American Moth Trap," made by Mr, Cooke, of Muscam-
fitreet, W., operates on the latter principle, and often makes very
good bags. Details of this will be given in a future number.
Thoso moths which fly in the day-time can be caught with the'
net in tho same manner as butterflies, and many nightflicrs can be
captured in a similar way in broad daylight by boating the
hedges with a strong stick, the moths being frightened out of their
hiding-places under the leaves by the unusual commotion.
The classification list which I mentioned in last week's paper ig-
too long for these jiages at present, but at some future pericd.whcD
tho season's work is nearly finished, we will give it in full, with Mr-
Editor's permission. At present we should advise our readers to
separate their insects simply into butterflies and moths until tho
busy time is over, when they can be arranged and named at leisure.
The principal and most prominent difference between the two con-
sists in the antenna;, or bonis, of butterflies being furnished with a
knob or club-shaped thickening at the extremity, while in moths
this is wanting. There are several other structural differences, but
the above is the most easily recognised.
We now give the two diagrams mentioned in last week's paper.
Fig. 1 is a setting-board, tho shaded portion being cork, with a
groove cut down the centre, and the unshaded a w^ooden backing,
'm/:<yMhMmmm.
Fig. 1.
preferably pine, to increase the stiffness and strength. The whole
should bo covered with soft, white paper, as this adds greatly to
the appearance, by giving a neat and finished look to the otherwise
unsightly board.
Fig. 2 shows an insect set out on one of the above boards. The
ninrfi'S operandi is as follows: — First stick a pin through the
thorax of the insect, and fix into the centre of the setting-board,
with tho body in the groove. Then stretch out the wings in the
manner shown with a very fine needle, and keep in position with
Fig. 2.
strips of cardboard pinned tightly over them. Be careful to ret
the wings symmetrically, as it adds greatly to the appearance of
the insect when in the cabinet or store-box. Practice, however, is
the only thing required for this, and the experience gaiued by
setting half-a-dozen moths is worth volumes of description and
theory.
Mr. Francis Gkorgk He.4th has accepted the editorship of the
Jouimal of Forestry, the new volume of which, just commencing,
will give considerable space to all subjects interesting to lovers of
the country.
Messrs. Smith, Ei.dek & Co., have announced for immediate
publication the first volume of a work on "Human Morphology,"
by Mr. H. A. Reeves, of the London and other hospitals. Tho book
will consist of seven hundred jjages, and will contain five hundred
and fifty illustrations, and is likely to become a standard authority
in its department. Two other volumes are to follow, and each will
contain tables and numerous illustrations. A work on diseases of
the breast, by the same author, and containing new views, will
also shortly be issued.
KNOWLEDGE, May 20, 1882.]
STA RS
FOR
JUNE.
Oi'R Stah Map. — The ciiciilar boundary
of the map represents the liorizon. The
map shows also the position ot the Equator
and of that portion of the Zodiac now
raoit favourably situated for observation.
The Ijours are scarcely suited for obser-
vation towards the end of tie moutli,
but at that time tl.e map for July will be
issued, which will be suited for times two
hours later. Moreover, it is easy to take
into account an hour's motion of the star.«,
and so to observe on June 21st, at 10 (and
so on), when the skies will be sufficiently
dark. The names of thiity-nine stars of tLe
lir.st three iDaOTitudes are given below.
On Mhv 30, Ht, 10.30 p.m.
On .June ;>, ai 10.15 p.m.
On June 7, at 10. 0 p.m.
On June 11, at 9.45 p.m.
On Jute 14, at 9 30 p.m.
On June 18, at 9.15 ]>.m.
Oil June 21, at 9. 0 p ui.
ARABIC NAMES OF STARS.
The followin.; ta'de e.xhibit-i the narues of
all the stars ot the fiisc thrive magnitudes
whose names are in common use : —
a Andromcdoe
... AlphrrnH
ft
... Mum-I,, Mi:ar
y
... Almuch
a Aqnarii
... Sadidimh'k
ft
... Sftdahuiid
0
... Sk,d
n AqnUsB
. . Altair
ft
... ALshain
7
... To razed
a Arietis
... H.imal
ft
... Sheratan
/
... Mesaiiim
(I Auri^so
... Capella
ft
... Menkalinaii
a Bootia
. An-tunis
ft ■
... Nekkar
t
... Izur, Mi-Mr, M
'; ■ ...
... Map], rid
« Cnnnm Voiint ..
... Cor Corali
n Canis Jlnjoris ...
.. Siriiis
ft ...
... Minam
«
... Adara
« Canis Minori? ...
... Procijon
/3
.. (inmciaa
n'Capricorni
... Seeunda Giedt
t"
... Denei Alijiudi
'■ Cnsinpoias
... Scbeiiar
ft
... Cluiph
-^^.v-
Co ♦ -,♦ ,^*
: 4•^^
[KNOWLEDGE, Mat 2G, 18S2.
>^o-.; .
..•
"-.,
^
^.^
1 1
t..^'-
*:
"♦
♦ •
J" vP
f^
*v;<
V <^ ^^
.
i
6
1^
If. «?
« o
/
/
;
) .
T-f^- »
* ^
4-/
V
^ ■
' A
r^- ■•■-,■
»^'' CO . . • •
o
us 3
-J /
1
1 .■
i?
■*^
^/
/
»>
r"*'
jT ^fo
■ •.<Q,
/ -1
y
4
<'
m\
■•.^°v * ..■■•
.•.•-v-..
/ ,
X .
.■■(8 .*
^
■ J
A
NTAUHUS
a Columboo
n Coronas Bovcali;
a Corvi
/3 Eridani
a Gcminorunj
/3 ...
a Hydras
a Leonis
li
a Leporis
CI Libras
a Persei ...
/3
a Piscis Australia
£ Sagittarii
a Scorpionis
a Serpentia
a Tauri
a Ursa3 Majoria ..
li
... Alderamin
... Alphirk
... Errai
... Mcnkar
... Diphda
. . . Baten Kaitos
... Mir a
... Pliact
... Alphecca
... Alchiha
... Atgores
... Al'kes
... Arided, Deiiib Adige
... AUnreo
... Thuban
... Alu-uid
.. PUaniii
... Cvrga
... Zaurac
... Cantor
... Pnllux
... Alhcna
... Wa.sat
... Mebsuta
... Sas Algethi
... Kornejoros
... Alphard, Cor Hiidrm
... EeguUis, Cor Leonin
... Deneb Aleet, Denebola
Deneb
... Alfjeiba
... Zosma
... Arneb
... Zuhen cl Genubi
... Ztibeii I'l Chaitiali
... Zubeii Hukrabi
. . . Vega
.. Sheliak
... S^daphat
.. Sas Alhagus
... Cchalrai
... Betelgeux
... Rigid
... Bellatrix
... Minfaka
... Alnilani
... Markab
... Scheat
... Algenib
... Enif
... Homan
... Mirfak
... Algol
... Fomalhauf
... Kaus Australia
... Antares, Cor Scorpivnin
... Unukalhai
... AhUbaraii
... Nath
... Alcyone (Pleiad).
... Di'bhe
... Merak
... Fherda
... Alioth
... Mizar
... Alkaid, Benetnaochi
... Talitlw,
... Polaris
... Kochab
... Spica Azime:h, Spictt
... Zavijava
... Vindemiati'ia
-i^
May 2G, 1882.]
KNGVVL.EDGE
629
WEATHER CHARTS FOR WEEK ENDING MONDAY, MAY 15.
'^1 X :i: i / cX
Explanation of Charts. — The two charts for each day show the general condition of tho weather over Western Europe at 8 a.m.
In the upper chart the height of the harometer is expressed by "isobars," tlie value of each line being ^'iven in figures. The
prevalent winds aro shown by arrows, which are drawn flying \cii\ the wi7id, the force being indicated thus : ^? ^- = a heavy
gale; ^ ;*■ = a g;ile ; >- ■• a fresh to strong brcc/.o ; ^" = a light to moderate breeze; and O == a calm. In the
lower chart tho weather is indicated as follows: — b = blue sky ; c = detached clouds ; o = overcast; m = misty (haz}-) ; f = foggy;
(J = Fqualiy; r = rain; h = hail; s = snow; I = lightning; and t = thunder. The general distribution of temperature is shown by
'* isotherms, " and the rcadir.gs at certain places are given in figures. Diagonal lines = rough sea, the shading being proportional to the
disturbance.
The above arrangement has been devised in response to a great number of suggestions. It will, probably, be that which we
shall eventually adopt for good ; but we may be able, perhaps, hereafter to carry the charts to a later date each week. If so, this
will be done without break of continuity.
^otfS on Slit anil ^ricncf.
Fire Risks and Electric LiGnxixo. — The Society of Telegraph
Engineers and of Electricians have appointed a very influential
committee to consider and report upon the rules which they would
recommend for adoption for the prevention of lire risks arising from
the use of the electric light.
Crvstat, I'ai.ace Exhibition. — As at present arranged, the
Electrical Exhibition at tho Crystal Palace will close on Juno 3.
Already scvoril exhibitors have begun the work of removing their
goods. The Right Hon. tho Speaker and a number of Members of
both Houses of Parliament, including the Electric Light Committee,
will visit the Exhibition on tho 27th inst.
Encinkebing. — At an extraordinary meeting of tho Society of
Telegraph Engineers yesterday week (18th inst.), Mr. Stroh re-
peated his admirable lecture on " Attraction and repulsion duo to
sonorous vibrations, and comparison of the phenomena with those
of magnetism." On the occasion of the first delivery, the iiife of
the worlil of physical scientists attended, and it is universally ad-
mitted that Mr. Stroh, by his marvellously-executed experiments
and lucid ixplanations and deductions, has gone a long way towards
demonstrating tho nature of magnetism.
Electro- JLagnetic Repulsion. — At the Physical Society on
Saturday, 13th inst.. Professor Guthrie exhibited his modification
of At^go's experiment, in which a rotating disc of copper repels a
horse.ihce maj;net suspended vertically above it from the end of a
chemical balance beam ; a plate of glass being interposed between
the disc and m:ignet to prevent the air from disturbing tho results.
Professor Guthrie gnve a table of observations made on the re-
pn'sive force for different speeds of rotation of the disc, and these
showed th^t the repulsive force varies in proportion to tho square
of the speed of rotation.
Electric Fire- Alarms. — In the annual report of Captain Shaw,
chief of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, it ia pointed out that by
reason of the system of electric fire-alarms and the excellent tele-
graphic intercommunication between stations, &c., the various fire-
engines and men of the brigade can bo concentrated on any given
spot in a very much shorter time than was formt^rly tho case.
Captain Shaw reports that the electric fire-alarm system has been
fcftind to work well, and it is to be greatly extended.
TnE Recent Magnetic Storm. — Tho curves given by the Kew
magnetograph during the week ending April 22, when auroral dis-
plays were so common in America, and earth currents so prevalent
iu the inland telegraph lines and Indian and Atlantic submarine
cables, clearly indicate a severe " magnetic storm " or disturbance
of the terrestrial magnetic field. According to Mr. Whipple, tho
indicating magnets at Kew were somewhat disturbed on Ajiril 14,
but remained quiescent until the night of the 16th, when they
became strongly affected at about 11. ta p.m., and from that time
the storm raged until 8 P.M. of the i7th. The maximum reduction
in the earth's magnetic force took place at 6 a.m. of the 17th, and a
little after noon on the same day both forces became so increased
that tho registering speck left the field of tho receiving instru-
ment for nearly two hours. A second period of disturbance
began about 3.40 A.M. of tho 20th, which was violent up till
about 2 p.m., and gradually diminished in intensity until
7'4.5 a.m. of tho 21st. During this period the magnetic force
fluctuated largely, but not to the extent occurring on tho 17th.
Tho fact that there were at the time two unusually large spots
cro.xsing the snn's disc is certainly in support of the theo that
these magnetic storms are associated with sun spots. Mr. Whipple
acccunts for the abrupt commencement of magnetic storms by
the sujiposition that possibly a sun spot only produces such an
effect when cutting certain lines of force, which he imagined might
extend for a limited angular distance around the earth's radius
sector. It is to bo hoped that magnetic observatories will bo multi-
plied, especially in the southern hemisphere, as Professor W. G.
Adams has pointed out, and it is satisfactory to learn that the
French (iovernment have decided to equip such an observatory at
Cape Horn.
630
KNOWLEDGE
[Mat 2C, 1882.
Itttfisf to tfje (Elirtor,
[r** Editor dof» not hold himf^lf r«irpon»if>le for theopininnt of hit eorretpondentM.
Be rnnnot undertake to return mnnuHcriptu or to corrrnfond ttith their tcri(eri>. Alt
communicationa nhuuld be a» thort an yof$ible, eontiitetitl^ tcith full and clear rt ate-
ment» of the vriter'§ mettninp.^
AH Kditor'al eommunicationa $J>oHld he addregned to the Editor qf Knowlbdob;
alt Sunnen commumcationa to the Publiehere, at the OJice, 1^, Great Queen-
ttreet, W.C.
All Itemittanree, Chequef, and Font-Office Ordert should be made payahU to
Mfffre. IVvmun 4* ScnM.
*^* All )etter» to the Editor tcill he Numbered. For convenience) of reference,
eorrrnpondentu, vhen referring to any letter^ will oblige hy mentioning iit number
end the pofje o« tchieh it appearn.
All Lettrrt or Queries to the Editor tthich require attention in the current imm* o/
"KvoyFLKnaii, rhould reach the FuhHehing Office not later than the Saturday preceding
Mtf daif qf publication, ^
(I.) Lottorfltohavo achance of aFpcnrinj; must be concise; they mnst be drawn
op in the form adopted for letters here, so that they may ro untouched to the
printers- private comraunicutionfl, therefore, as well as queries, or repUea to
queries (intended to appear aa such) should be written on separate leaves.
(II.) Lettern which (either bei-au^o too ionrj, or unsuitable, or dealing with
mattora which others have discussed, or for any other reason) cannot find place
here, will cither be briefly referred to in answers to correspondents, or acknowledged
in a column reserved far the purpose.
"In Imowled^e, that man only is to be contemned and despised who is not in a
state of transition Kor is there anything more adveree to accuracy
tha^fixity of opinion." — Faraday.
' ) barm in making a mistake, but great harm in making
me a man who makes no mistakes, and I will sho
nothing."— iiVAii?,
'* God's Orthodoxy ia Truth." — (Carles Kingsley,
ffho has done
©\\x Corrfsfpontidirf Columns.
THE LATE MR. THOMAS DUNMAN.
[409]- — I trust you will find me space to record the inexpressible
grief with which I res.d in this week's Knowlehoe of the deatli,
under the most painful circumstances, of Mr. Thomas Dunman.
Though personally unacquainted with him, I am sure many who
have read hig excellent words of wisdom and kindness in the Essays
on Lite and Duty which he wrote for the " "Universal Instructor,"
will feel with me that they have lost almost a personal friend.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion indicated by the melancholy
example of poor Thomas Dunman, viz., that " science does not
pay;" certainly in his case it did not. Often, doubtless, but in-
adequately remunerated, ho laboured to improve an ignorant but
nuappreciative generation, only to fall an early prey to an over-
zealous devotion to them and to science.
I earnestly hope the publicity which yon have given to the fact
that the bereaved family is unprovided for, will induce many friends
to come to their assistance ; I shall esteem it a privilege to bo
allowed to add my contribution, and I feel sui-e there will be many
like myself, who will only await an opportunity to pay a similar
tribute to the memory of him who has been so sadly cut off in the
flower of a useful and earnest life.
May 19, 1882. J. L. W.
AURORA BOREALIS.
[410] — Aurora Borealis here last night ; brilliant from about 11.15
to 11. 'IS ; three principal masses of vertical pencillings, like an aerial
Statfa, one under Polaris, another about Auriga, a third in Gemini ;
the limits E. and Vf. Cassiopeia and Cancer, and altitude about that
of the former. Colour not pronounced ; pinkish drab, perhaps.
This is the only aurora I liave seen here in six years, and follows on
the hottest weather ever known in the second week of May ; defini-
tion at nisht magnificent ; therm. 61° at midnight a night or two
ago. Stiff E. wind.
Pomic, France. Hallyakds.
TOBACCO AND CONSUMPTION.
[411] — The light that has recently been thrown on the cause and
nature of consumption (see Prof. Tyndall's letter) has prompted mo
to propose tobacco as a preventative and cure for that disease. Some
years since, I hcanl a lecture in New York, by the Turkish Consul
for that port, who said consumption was comparatively rare in
Turkey. The lecturer claimed that freedom was owing to tho
peculiar manner in which the Turks inhale tho " supreme solace."
Your Turkish smoker not only draws tho smoko into his month
but inhales it into the lungs ; and it was further stated that tho
lungs of a 'I'lirkiwli smoker after death- wore found to bo stained
a light yellow or buff by tho condensed products of the com-
bustion or distillation of tho tobacco. Tho lectortr claimed
that tlieso products kept up n constant irritation in the air
colls of tho lungs, preventing any accumulation of morbid matter.
How true all this may bo I leave to others better qualified
to decide. Tho importance of the subject makes the slightest facts
bolont;ing to it worthy of consideration. It struck me, on reading
the lute discovery of organic genns of consumption, that not only
miglittho smoke and its constituents act as an irritant on the lungs,
but tiiiit the condensation and deposition of tho empyreumatic oils,
Ac, might prevent the germs taking root. But a word as to how the
Turk smokes. From what I can learn, his shortest " cutty " is fully
a yard long (the " tchibouk"), and we all know tho construction of
tho " hookah," and tho tempering and purification it exercises on
the smoke passing through it. Such smoke, after passing through
the long tubes, must lose a great portion of its active and biting
^iroperties, and, again, Turkish is not a very pungent variety
of tho " weed " j so, after all, such a mode of smoking
is not so pungent in its eftects as it would seem at first
sight. Now, don't let these remarks induce any one to try
the experiment of taking smoke into the lungs from a short pipe,
and using "shag*' tobacco, or a violent fit of coughing, and perl>aps
vertigo, may be the I'esult. If the experiment is tried, let it be with
a cigarette or a long-stemmed cherrywood pipe, using the mildest
of tobaccos. I have for some time smoked that way myself, and
find that the smoke frequently loosens little round globules of
mucilaginous phlegm. Some jieople refuse to believe it is possible
to take the smoke entirely into the lungs. They say it gets no
farther than the throat, and thence out of nasal passages ; but one
can draw a good mouthful of smoke, then take a deep breath
through the mouth, and speak or repeat the alphabet, and then
emit the smoke, proving the smoke to be taken down into the
lungs. Whether these suggestions are of value I leave to the
faculty to determine. If tobacco is really a remedy, I would rather
see us a nation of smokers than a nation of consumptives.
W. B. WiCKEN.
ENCORES AT CONCERTS.
[412] — It is a little too bad tliat the best singers at concerts,
those with voices best worth careful treating, should be rewarded
for their skill and excellence by being called on to repeat their
songs. At a charming concert the other day, at the Alexandra
Palace, an idea occurred to me about this, wliich strikes me as
being original. Those who use uufaii-Iy the right of applauding a
singer should be treated by the manager of the concert to repe-
tions (for the sake of practice) by the worst singers ; while the
singers who perform best should, as a reward, take a rest. Thus,
Signer Maas, who, if not phenomenal in vocal qualities, is one of
the very sweetest tenors of tlte day, should have been let off one
of his four songs because he gave such perfect satisfaction with
the other three. Instead of this, he was ask'sd for more, which is
unreasonable and unfair. When there is encore money, the
manager of the corcert ia wronged ; where there is not, the singer
suffers. M. P.
A MOUNTAIN 3,000 FEET HIGHER THAN EVEREST.
[413] — In a journey through the Island of Papua, made by
Capt. J. A. Lawson in 1871, that explorer discovered a mountain,
which he named Hercules, the height of which he estimated at
at 32,783 ft. above sea level. Has it never been visited or measured
by any other explorer ? It would seem strange if no expedition had
since been sent to verify Lawson's result. E. C. E.
" SxrniEs OF Venus Transits." — Those sheets of the work
originally published as " The Universe and the Coming Transits,"
which relate to the Transits of Venus in 187 1 and 18S2. are now
published by Messrs. Longmans & Co. under tho above title.
Portions are now necessarily out of date, but all that relates (1) to
the transit of Venus in 1882, and (2) to the comparison betrtveen
the transits of 1882 and 1874, remain as trustworthy now as when
originally published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astro-
nomical Society. The chart which appeared in the last number
but one of Knowledge, is copied from eno of tho charts (in two
colours) illustrating these studies. Price 5g.
PoiTD's ErTRiCT is a certnin cure for Rhi>umMi«m and Oont,
Pond's Extract is a certain cure for Hemorrhoids.
Pond's Bitract is a certain cure for Neuralgic pains.
Pond's Eitraot will heal Bums and Wounds.
Pond's Extract will cure Sprains and Brniees.
Sold bj all Chemists. Get the genuine. Adtt.
Mat 26, 1882.]
KNOWLEDGE
631
9n£tofr£S to Coiirsponlinitd.
* ^* All commvmtfationa for the Editor requiring early attention thould reaek t\t
Office on or before He Suturjaf preceding lie cvrreut iitue oj' K.VOWLUDOS, the
\Acreanng circulation oJ rhicK compeU uM to go to prete earlg in the veetc.
Hints to Cobbbspoudbsts. — 1. A'o gneitioni aal-ing for tcientijte inyormalion
can be antvered through the poet. 2. Lettrre rent to the Editor for correepondente
cannot be forvurded ; nor can the names or addreeiee t^ correipondenta be gtvcH in
anever to private inquiriee. 3. CorrenpondentM ehould terite oh one tide outit of
the paper, and put drateinga on a eepurnte leaj. 4. Each Utter thoutd have a titU,
and in replying to a letter, r^erence ahould he nzd* to ite number, the page on
vhick it appeartf and ile litU,
J. Peekixs. Volume I. ends with mimbor 30. Tou ask wliy tlie
]>rice is so high. Tlie answer, I am told, is simply that, to oblige
custoiners, the publishers have disposed of copies of the curly
numbers and parts (to complete sets) which would otherwise have
been available for volumes. Consceiueiitly, not one half, or oi:e
quarter so many volumes can bo bound as they would have wished.
To give you an idea liow small the stock of volumes, I may mention
that from a single colonial bookseller an order for more than one
ij\iarti'r the entire number of volumes then available was received
\sithin a few days after tho volume had been announced. —
K. G. You can readily express a number of many digits, all but
the first few being cyi)hers, in a contracted form by indicating the
1 lower of 10 corresponding to tho addition of so many digits. Thus
Mistead of 172slS3 followed by seventeen digits you may write
1728183x10". — A Keaokk kko.m tue First. Thanks for your sug-
-ostion respecting scientific instruments on the three years' system.
Will find room for it if possible ; but if not, pray consider that our
poverty (of space) and not our will declines. — H. H. You are not
■ juite right, but the author of " The Stars and the Sun" is mistaken
in that matter. Wien wo see tho first rays of the rising sun, wo
MB him in the direction, with reference to the celestial sphere, which
! i> had really occupied eight minutes earlier. The actual effect on
: lie time of apparent rising is not, as you suppose, measured by the
I iine light takes in travelling from the horizon to tho eye, or as the
:\uthor of " Stars and Karth " supposed, the light journey from the
-unj but is the time occnpied by the horizon ))lanc in shitting
ilirough 22" (the aberration angle) in the direction of the sun's
motion on the celestial sphere, and therefore varies with tho latitude
and time of year. — Corcagif.xsis. What has appeared about Earth's
Population is not Mr. Connall's statement, but mine. It can hardly
\>c said to need confirmation, for the calculation is sulficiently simjilo
and obvious. Nor doe.'i it contrast with other statements similarly
based on calculation. The present population of the globe could
'tand, 1 suppose, on five or six square miles. I would like to see
actual pro"/ that 36, 027,813,275,075, S45 persons have lived on tho
earth. Considering that the population of the earth has never pro-
bably e.tceeded 1,800,000,(00, that total would imply a very l«ng
period during which the earth Las been inhabited by man. — F. C. S.
Thanks ; but, alas, no space. I cannot see myself that the evidence
proves tho superiority of the boys, but that all work and no play
makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a dull girl. I can find space for
the extract alone. Your theory of the formatiou of the earth is not
reconcilable with astronomical facts. — JiMno. Your ''banter" is
good; I acknowledge with contrition that the stars in my monthly
„ maps do hol shine with all the brilliancy of stars in the heavens. 1
must pet the printers to use the blackness of night for ink, and
sections of the sun's surface for paper. Seriously, you would find
it a good plan to ])unch holes through the map for all the brighter
stars, then to paste tissue paper over the back, and hold the map
before a good light. The W you speak of (Cassiopeia) can, how-
ever, be very well seen, I find, at twice tho distance you mention
(a yard and a half). — Jas. De.is. The phenomena observed in cases
of so-called " mind reading" are curious, even when cases where
there may be deception are eliminated ; but where is the evidence of
magnetism? Will trj', however, to find room for your e.tperience. If
not, remember that tie reason will simply be want of space. — P. F. D.
Thanks. — W. Y'ou have not quite coiTcctlj- written your question ;
but it means that we are to find the value of tho series whoso general
I n-l-r — 1
term is ( — 1)'"' — between the limits r = s and r=infinity.
In this there is no difficulty : making V successively eqnal to «, s -f 1,
8 + 2, &c., we get the series.
\n + s — l t r> + n In-fs-fl
+ , &c., ad inf.
]„ + .,_ if (1 + 1)- c + -'% liL±£:tl
L J 2"+'
J. V. Eliasson, W. M. Williams, E. Cuaytob, and others. It ia
likely enough that a change from 2d. to 3d. weekly, with certain
iniprovemouts which you suggest, would find us with a scarcely
diminished circulation, and ho considered a not unfair charge.
But I should myself have strong objections to the change, and I
shall do my best to prevent its being Iriffd. So far, indeed, as mere
fairness is concerned, such a change in price without any increase
in the average expense of Knowledge, would btill, I think, leave
readers nothing to complain of ; for, of course, the cheapness of
K xowlkdce must bo regarded asan experiment, and (it may be) a risky
one, even with the presently constantly growing tasto for knowledge.
But we have faith and patience, which will, we believe, bo justi-
fied. Our readcra can do a great deal to help us, and to put any
change such as you suggest entirely out of the question. If each
reader in three obtained but one new reader, or if each in twelve
obtained four, the publishers would turn an entirely deaf ear to all
suggestions of changa of price, and nearly all the suggested im-
provements would be mado at once. As matters go, we look for-
ward to that state of things a little later ; and, to resume the
first person, readers may rest assured I shall do my best to
see that no change of the former kind takes place.
PHOTOGEAPHY.
WiscAr asks f jr information as to painting photographs on glass
in oil or water-colours by a process called " Crystoloum." We
never heard of the process. Any one who can paint in oil-colours
could apply the process to glass. We doubt the practicability of
painting on glass in water-colours. — II. 11. The wet collodion
process is not the thing of the past you suppose it to be, and, tor
certain pm-poses, is not likely to bo supplanted by gelatine. Our
scheme includes a series of articles on tho gelatine dry-plate
process. That no dark rcom is needed while working with gelatine
plates is new to us.
ELECTRICAL.
H'sETT. There is a wide difference of opinion as to the origin of
earth currents, and accordingly, om* ideas concerning them are of
the vagnest kind. During the earlier portion of the disturbance
you refer to, tho currents affected only the wires running N.E. to
S.W., but subsequently wires in all directions were affected by cur-
rents which doubtless owed their existence to a number of con-
spiring and conflicting causes. How far the geological structure of
the superficial strata affect, by their varying roaistance, tho passage
of earth currents, it is impossible to say, but I should imagine very
little indeed. Discarding the earth plate, and substituting a return
wire (technically termed a loop), prevents almost entirely currents
passing from the earth to the line. This demonstrates that, so
far as the wire is concerned, the currents a-o not induced, but
imparted. I heard of no warning being given by our meteorological
oQice to the collieries, of coming magnetic and electric storms ; and,
in fact, such warnings never have been given by the society. The
American Bureau is, however, a little less antiquated, and ventures
to predict these storms, and that they may bo attended by colliery
disasters. One or two men in England are also working on this
line. — J. F. U. I really should advise you not to attempt making a
machine to support a single Swan lamp. Y'ou would find it a com-
paratively expensive affair. A Swan lamp requires a current of
1'2 amp^res (see articles on Generators). — T. Sington. Better use
small rectangular rods of good metal, and solder tho junctions.
ECLECTICUS AND READERS OF KnOWXEDGE GENERALLY. — As BOOU
as we have finished our description of simple forms of electric
generators, the subject of " Electrical Units and Simple Methods
of Measurement" will occupy our column for the "Amateur
Electrician."
BIOLOGICAL.
" G. S." calls attention to what he is pleased to term " a couple
of inaacuricies " (sic) in a biological note in K.nowledge (page 013)
of last week. The first inaccuracy refers to the statement that
" with the exception of the Camclida>, all quadrupeds have round
nucleated blood-globules." The word "nucleated" should have
been rendered nori-jntrJea'ccJ, the omission of the "non" being a
printer's error. We differ from " G. S." both in his spelling of the
word " inaccuracies " and in his contention that the word " round "
does not describe the blood-globules of mammals. He adds the
expression should havo been " circular and bi-concave." If " G. S."
sees any difference between "round " and " circular" (applied to a
blood-globule) ho is very welcome to his contention. We did not
describe the globule as to its form (bi-concavo), since that question
was not asked by tho inquirer.
By a misprint, " three molars " were said to exist in each jaw of
the old world apes as in man. The statement should have read six
molars in each jaw.
[About two pages of " Answers " have been unavoidably held over.]
622
KNOWLEDGE
[Mat 26, 1882.
(Bur i^latbnnati'ral Column.
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS.
[P. 526] — In a triangle given a-i-b,a + c, ond angle A, to construct
the triangle.
Wo have received correct Bolntions to this problem (Knowledoe,
April I'l-) from R. F. K., E. N. Dalton, C. K., J. P. Morgan, J. B.,
Thos. Lyons, and others. The following construction and proof is
somewhat simpler than any sent us; Mr. Ualton's is nearest to it,
and is in principle the same j but the construction of a species of
anxiliary triangle is unnecessary and inelegant .
Fig. 1.
Let AD = a+c; AE = a + !/; DAE=angleA and produce AD the
less to U, making AH = AE. With centre H, distance HA, describe
a circle cutting ED produced in K; draw DL parallel to KH to
meet HE, LC parallel to AH, and CB parallel to DL. Then ABC
is the recpiired triangle.
For triangle ECL, being similar to EAH, is isosceles ; and CLDB
is a parallelogram. Now,
DL : KH::EL : En::EC : EA
But KH = AH = EA;
therefore DL = EC = CL=BD
or BC = EC = BD
.So that AC+BC = AE = u + b
and AB + BC = AD = a + c.
[33] — Tohisect a triamjle, ABC, hy a line draicn /mm n gtven
point, D, without it.
The neatest solution we have received of this problem is the
following : —
Continue out the side AC to meet GD
D / \ parallel to AB in point G ; and bisect the side
AC in E. Then make, as GD is to AB so
AE to AH. And again, make as GX is to
AF so HF to AH ; then, it the line DLF be
dna^vn, it will bisect the triangle ABC ; i.e.,
. L, ^,. C the triangle ALF will be half of the triangle
ABC. J. C. Kelly.
Fig. 2. [Mr. Kelly does not give the proof, but it
is tolerably obvious. Thus, by construction : —
GA : AF ::HF : AH
.-.GP : AF :: AF : AH
GF': AF»:: GF : AH
Now triangle ABC : triangle GDF;:AC.AB' : GF.GD
::AC.AH : GF.AE
And triangle GDF : triangle ALF::GF' : AF^
::GF : AH
Wherefore triangle ABC : triangle .ALF::AC : AE
::2:i — Ed.]
Wo havo received a neat solution from C. E., and other correct
solations from R. L., Ezon, J. P., and others.
[37] — From a given point to draw two equal straight lines to two
given lines, the straight lines thus drawn to include a given angle.
Fig. 3.
The neatest solution sent ns is the following : — Let AB, AC, be
the two given lines, D the given angle, and P the given point.
First let P be outside the angular space BAG. Draw PE perjjen-
dicnlar to AC, and make the angles EPF, EPG each equal half the
given angle D. At the point F make the angle PFK equal PGC,
aud cut off GL equal FK, and join KP, PL. KP, PL are the lines
required. iSince the triangles PEF, PEG are equal in every respect,
PF equal PG. Again PF, PK are resiiectively equal to PG, GL, and'
the angle PFK to tho angle PGL ; therefore, PK is equal to PL, and
the angle FPK to the angle GPL; therefore the whole angle FPG
is equal to KPL, and FPG is equal to the given angle D.
Fig. i.
Next, let P be -within the angular space BAC. Draw the per-
pendicular PE, and construct the triangles EPF, EPG as before.
Make tho angle PGK equal PFG, and cut off FL equal GK, and
join LP. Because triangles PFL, PGK are equal (Euclid i. 4)
in every respect, therefore, PL equal PK, and angle FPL equal
GPK. Take away the common angle GPL, therefore angle FPG
equal LPK, and FPG is equal to the given angle D.
[D. M. tails to note, however, that there are two solutions to
each case. If we make angle PGK' equal to PFA in the first case,
and in CA produced if necessary, make FL' equal to GK', then PK'
will equal PL', and the angle K' PL' will be equal to D. So in the
second case -we may make the angle PFK' equal FGE, and take GL'
(towards A) equal to FK' ; then will PK' equal PL'. — Ed.]
We have received various correct solutions of this problem from
T. R., Nemo, H. A. N., E. Whitley, and others.
[38] — Let A be the centre of the disc at which its whole
weight may be supposed to be placed, AB the radius of the circum-
Fig. 5.
ferenoc described by the- centre A, AC the radios of the disc,
C being in contact with the plane on which the disc rolls. Draw
the vertical line AD to the level plane, and complete the parallelo-
gram ED. Let 11) be the weight of tho dhc, AC its radius = r.
AB = r', AB + CD = R the radius of the track, angle CAD = 0 and
and vel of A = v.
Then
:EA : AD
EA
.*. -L = _- = tan0 : hence / = —1 —
gr' AD jtanS
Now CD = )-sin9.*.R( = CD + AB) = rsiD0 + _il—
t^tantf
— D. M.
[This solution can only be regarded as approximate ; the assump-
tion that the whole weight may be regarded as collected at the
centre of gravity being inadmissible in a problem of this sort. — Ed.]
May 26, 1882.J
♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦
633
<^iir SSHbisft Column.
By " Five of Clubs."
A GAME FOU STUDY.
Wri'U reference to this game, 0. I'. Q. makes Y. Z. win the odd
trick. Ho hits on the right lino of play, but errs in causing Z.
1 11 discard from wcakoBt and h. from strongest suit, though strength
1 trumps is with A.B. G. D. Brown makes A.li. win the odd trick.
: le causes X. to return his partner's lead of spades, though the only
. Iianco for 1". Z. lies in Y. having strength in Diamonds. T. D.
Mackenzie notes that a fmall club being led, if li. finesses the
Knave (which he does not approve), A. li. will make eleven tricks.
Such a finesse in one's partner's suit, and that suit trumps, would
' > unpardonable. If .\co is played, our correspondent thinks A. B.
luu'.d make the odd trick. The following is the play in Cavendish : —
A.
.•;.i6s-K, 10,9,8,7.6,2.
Spades — K.
Hearts— K, 4.
Diamonds — K,Kn,9.
B.
t'luis— A, Kn.
Spaies-Q, 9.
Hearts -Kn, 10, 9, 8, :
Diamonds — 7, 6, i, i-
The n.iXDS.
B
Dealer.
Y
z
Trump Card,
Club Firt.
A
Cluhs—Q, 4, 3.
Spades — Kn, 8, 5.
Hearts — A, 5, 2.
Diamonds — A, Q,10,2.
Clvbi—5.
Spades— A, 10, 7, 6, 4,
3, 2.
Hearts— Q, G, 3.
Diamonds — 8, 5.
Score.— .1 B, 3 ; Y Z. i.
THE PLAY.
NorB.— The underlined card wins trick, and card below it leads next round.
REMARKS AND INFERENCES.
A
Y
B
+ <?•
4-
* +
*
*
4. +
•?■
1
^^.l
+ +
*m
m
4. 4-
W
z
^M
^^
a^i'iTTi
@
0 0 0*0 L^
o o lo^oj O 0 |o o
A J, \i 4> * * A . *
* * Ta* ♦*«! ♦^<.
4. 4. |<k ' * ^ ^ ♦'*
1
<?
4. ' 4.
9 <?
0 0
0 0
0 0
%
1. .4 leads the penultimate (the
ante-penultimate is not de rijueitr
with a six-card suit ; but hero
would have been very suitable).
2. B returns the best of two left.
Z discards from his longest suit,
the opponents having shown
superior strength in trumps.
3. A leads a trump, though thus
two fall for one, to show his
partner his strength, and that one
trick from B will win the game.
This Y and Z equally perceive. Z
sees that nothing can save the
game unless Y is strong in dia-
monds (B's discard showing that
B's suit must be hearts). Z discards
another spade, as ho must retain
the power of leading his partner's
suit more than once.
4. 1' leads his partner's suit.
Luckily the honours fall in a single
round.
5. 1' finesses deeply, knowing
that, if either King or Knave is
with B, the game is up anyhow, and
6. Leads his best spade.
7. A leads his King, from King
one small one — see Leads.
10. B discards his best hearts
to show he has entire command of
the suit.
There can be no doubt, I think,
that on both sides the hand is
played as good players would be
sure to play it. " Cavendish " who
considers -I's play sound through-
out, remarks that A'a lead at
trick 3 is unlucky, as it puts the
adversaries on the only tack for
saving the game. But Y can count
the trumps as it is. He knows B
cannot have more than one left
after second round ; and that, if B
had none, A would simply put
down the six remaining trumps
and claim game. If A had not
led a trump at trick 3 (which was
certainly his proper course), he
0
0
%*
0 0
0 0
* *
M
<7 ^
<9 01
0 0
0
0 0
'
would have led the small diamond,
on which Y would have put his ton
as the only chance of saving the
game. The result would have
been the same.
Wo shall tako an early oppor-
tunity to exhibit another case,
somowhut similar in character.
It Didn't Mattkr. — My partner
trumps my best card, or does not
trump a doubtful card after I have
called for trumps, or commits some
other Whist enormity. We win
the game, notwithstanding, for we
have prodigious cards. If I suggest that there was no occasion to
perpetrate the enormity in question, my partner triumphantly in-
forms me, " It didn't matter." This view is altogether fallacious.
It did not happen to matter in that particular hand, but my oonfi-
donco is impaired, and it will matter in every hand 1 play with that
partner for a long time to come. — Cavendish's " Card-'lable Talk."
©uv Cftffifs Column.
VIENNA INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT.
Tlie following is the gross score of the players after the finisu
of the Ninth Round on Saturday night, May 2U : —
Blackburne 7
Mackenzie 7
Winawer 7
Noa C
English 5i
Mason 5i
Zukertort 5^
Hrnby 4l
Schwarz 4^
Mackenzie has up to date not lost a
Blackburne, we are glad to remark,
Ho lost both his first and second games, but since that he has wc
seven consecutive games. Mason is also doing woU, his score being
5i, which is also the total of Zukertort. Mr. Steinitz had again a
bad day on Friday last, when he was beaten by Wittek, keeping hia
score at 44.
[By Telegram.'] Vienna, Tuesday night.
Score of English team : —
Blackburne 8 Jlason 6^
Mackenzie 8 ' Zukertort 5t
Steinitz 6J
Steinitz 4i
Wittek 4t
Weiss 4t
Fleissig 3i
Waro 3
Bird 2i
Meitner 2^
I'aulsen 2
Tscliigorin 2
iingle game, but drawn four.
is ui.so doing very well indeed.
Played in the seventh round, May 17th, of the Vienna Interna
tional Tournament, between Herren W. Steinitz and B. Fleissig.
Frk.nch Dekence.
BtlCK. Whitk.
Whitb.
Steinitz.
1. P to K4
2. P to Ko(a)
3. P takes P en
pas.'!.
4. P toQl
5. B to Q3
(!. Kt to KB3
7. Kt to B3
8. B to QB4
9. Kt to Kl(e)
10. Castles
11. R to Ksq
12. Kt to B5
13. Kt to K5
It. P to QB3
15. R takes B
16. R to Ksq
17. Q to B3 (3)
18. B to Kt3
19. KttoQ3
20. Kt to K5
fleissig.
P to K3
P toQt
B takes V(h)
21. B to B2
22. Q to Kt:!
23. Q to Rt
Black.
Fliessi;;.
Kt f B I to K2
K to Rs(|
K to Ktsq (i)
Kt to K2 ! 21. QtoKt3 K to Rsq
Kt to Kt3(c) i 25. Q to R3 Kt to Ktsq
Kt to B3 ' 20. Q to R3 R to B2
Kt to Kt5(d)
P to QB3
B to B2
Castles
Kt to Qt
Kt to R5
Kt to ]il(f)
B takes Kt
Kt to B3
V to KR3
Kt to gt
P to QKt3(h)
B toK3
B to Bsq I
NOTES,
(a) Not usually played ; the object is to confine the Queen's
Bishop, and hamper Black's game.
(6) Perhaps to be preferred to P takes P, as the two Pawns on
the Queen's side would, at a later stage of the game, be subjected
to attack.
27. li to Q2 (;) QKt to B3
28. Q to U3 Kt to Q4(A.)
20. I' toQBi QKt toB3
30. QR toQsq(/)Q to Ksq(m)
31. B to BH-i) R to Bsq(o)
: 32. Q to R3 (;.) B to Kt2
' 33. Q takes P B to Rsq
31. Q takes KtPP to Ktl
35. B to Kt 3 Kt to Q2
1 36. Q to Kt3 P to KB4
37. P to ]i3 K to Kt2
38. P to B5(^) QKt to B3
39. Kt to B4 resigns())
634
♦ KNOWLEDGE •
[May 26, 1882.
(<•) With a view of nvontiially playing P to K1-.
(i') Blnck wnR afraid of Castlini?, on aoconnt of the commanriing
position of Whito'.M I5i.sho|>, for after Castle's Wliito mii^ht at onco
proceed with P to Kill, Kt to Kt5, P to K5, &c., that is to Bay,
proceed on tlio basis of attacking the Pawn on K2, of which wo
indicated the general lines; therefore, Black wished to oxchango
tliat Ri-ihop.
(c) This again places another piece in a favourable position ;
slionld Black play P to KB t, then his King's Pawn becomes weak,
because unsupported by another Pawn, and therefore more liable to
be captured.
(/) All this is merely wrangling for good positions, but Black is
wasting time in trying to exchange pieces.
(;;) This is Mr. Steintz's old style ; Black cannot more P to
QKt3 now, even if ho wished to do so ; he suffers from the incon-
venience of having his Bishop blocked in.
(h) \Vc shall see later on how the Pawn on B3 will fare.
(i) Black would bo satisfied with a draw.
(j) Inch by inch of the ground is won ; this is a fine move. He
intends at the suitable moment to push on his Queen's Bishop's
Pawn and use the Bishop for attacking on the Queen's side
vid Ktl.
(i) Playing into White's hands ; but the difficulty is, what to
do? He dare not move the King's Knight, as White ivould play
B takes EP. Had }!lack played Kt to Q2, White might have
responded with Kt to Ktl, threatening the dangerous Kt takes EP,
which would yield White a winning attack.
(/) White is in no hurry, he goes steady but sure ; this move will
further aid White as the Black Queen's Bishop's Pawn cannot now
be advanced.
(m) With the object of avoiding a discovered attack on his
Queen, but it cramps his pieces very much.
{n) White changes the originally intended move, for if he had
played B to Ktl, then Black could advance the Pawn to B4, he
having for that purpose played liis Queen to King's square. White
now threatens to win the exchange hy Kt to Kt6(ch).
(o) E to K2 was the only other move at his disposal, but White
would have different ways of continuing his attack. Black's Eook
is brought into awkward play on account of the necessity of
defending his QBP, showing plainly how a strong player will take
advantage of a very slight weakness even.
(p) White pressed on in sometimes almost an imperceptible
manner, and now he has gained the desired opportunity. He wins
two Pawns and the game, he having by sheer good judgment out-
manoeuvred his opponent.
(</) A fine move. It further tightens his already strong hold.
Ho intends playing his Knight to Q6.
(r) Black simply has no good move ; he is crushed. If R to Ksq,
then B takes BP. Besides B takes P. White also threatens to
win by Kt to Q6. If Q to Qsq, then, of course, B takes P.
Played in the seventh round of the
ment, between Herren Zukertort and
Buy Lope:
Wkite. Black.
Zukertort. English.
1. P to K'l P to Kl 23.
2. Kt to KB3 Kt to QB3 2J.
3. B to Kt5 Kt to B3 25.
4. Castles Kt takes P 26.
5. P to Qi B to K2 27.
0. Q to K2 Kt to Q3 (n) 28.
7. B takes Kt KtP takes B (i>) 20.
8. P takes P Kt to Kt2 (c) 30.
9. Kt to B3 Kt to Bl 31.
10. Kt to Ql(d)Castlcs 32.
11. B to Qsq (e)Q to Ksq 33
12. Kt to B5 P to B3 34.
13. B to R6 (/)Kt to K3 35.
14. Q to Ktl R to B2 30.
15. B to K3 K to Ksq 37
10. Kt takes B Q takes B 38.
17. P takes P Q takes P 39.
18. QtoQR4(5r)Q to Kt3 40.
19. It to Q2 P to B4 41
20. Q to Kt3 P to Q3
21. Kt to K2 B toQ2 (h)
22. Kt to Kt3 B to B3
Vienna International Tonma-
English, May 17, 1882.
z.
White. Black.
Zukc?rtort. English.
P to QB4 P to KR4 (.)
Q to Q3 E to B3
Q takes Q E takes Q
PtoB4 PtoE5(i)
Kt to B5 P to R6
PtoKKtS E to Ksq
Kt to R4 R to Kt5
B to KBsq Kt to Bsq (t)
K to B2 (i) Kt to Q2
Kt to B3 Kt to B3
. Kt to Kt5 B takes Kt
P takes B Kt to Kt5ch (di)
K to Ktsq B takes B
P to KtO K to Ktsq
. E to B7 E to K8 (ch)
E to Bsq R to K6
R toB7 (ji).KttoK4
B to K2 R takes P
. R takes BP R to B3 (o)
. R to K3 B to Kt7
resigned (p)
NOTKS.
his move,
(i>) The Bishop is usually captured with the Queen's Pawn.
(«) We do not at all like this move, but it is the consequence of
Black's defence.
(c) Looking at the position now, wo must again express it as oop
opinion that Black has not at all obtained a satisfactory defence.
(d) To prevent P to Q4, and, in general, to hamper Black's
game.
(<0 Tlireatening Kt takes P, and taking immediate energetic
action.
(/) This is very vigorous ; if Black takes the B, then Q to
Kt4(ch), and on Q interposing, Kt takes B(ch) ; but the question
is, has Black a defence, in which case the B will bo forced to retiio
later on.
(rj) The object of this move is to attack the weakened Pawns on
the Queen's wing ; but, of course, he must wait his opportunity, and
in the meantime Black might force matters on the King's side.
(h) Black is defending himself very well. Should the white
Queen jilay to Kt7, then Black would retire his KR to Bsq,
threateiung R to Ktsq. Wc think, therefore, that the flank march
of the Queen was ill-advised.
(i) Having got his Bishop in the good position on QB3, Black
now assumes the offensive himself, forcing the Queen, after her
little excursion on the Queen's wing, to return for the belter protec-
tion of her royal consort.
(j) lie proceeds undaunted; should White advance the P to B5,
then R to Kt3, and after P takes Kt, P takes Kt, P takes P,
and R takes P, the White Pawn on K6 will be weak, and eventually
fall.
(i) Black's manoeuvring is very fine ; should the White Bishop
retire to B2, he would proceed -with either Kt to R2, with the inten-
tion of playing P to Ktl, or, perhaps better, Kt to K3 attacking
the BP, to be followed, on the B again retiring to Ksq, by Kt to
Q5, threatening B takes Kt, and then Kt to B6(ch), fic.
(I) An effort to extricate his King from the very uncomfortable
position, and, at first sight, to be preferred to retiring the B to B2,
thereby still further blocking up his King.
(»i) This is indeed play of the very highest order. Black resisted
the Kt to K5 wisely ; now he keeps up his attack. K on the K's
file cannot be thought of, for after Kt takes B, Black would win
the exchange by discovered check.
(.n) Zukertort would, of course, be quite satisfied with a draw.
(o) The winning move.
{}>) If E to Ksq., Kt to B6 (ch), K to B2., Kt takes R (ch), and
White has no resource left. We have no hesitation in saying that
Herr English is following closely in the wake of Steinitz, Zukertort,
and Blackburne. He is the man of the future.
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