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Full text of "Memoir of the late Alfred Smee, F.R.S."

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. L 





* T 



MEMOIR 



OF THE LATE 



ALFBED SMEE, F.B.S. 




MBMOIE 



OF THE LATE 



ALFKED SMEE, E.E.S. 



BY 



HIS DAUGHTER. 



WITH A SELECTION FROM HIS 



MISCELLANEOUS WKITINGS. 



LONDON: 
GEOEGE BELL AND SONS, YOKE STREET, 

COVENT GARDEN. 

1878. 



LONDON : 
PBINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, 

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 



PREFACE. 



IT is with much diffidence that I submit this Memoir to the 
public. It was undertaken partly as a duty to the memory of 
my father, partly in the belief that it would not be unacceptable 
to the many readers of his different works. His pursuits, indeed, 
were so earnest and various, and his writings extended over such 
a wide range of subjects, that some account, however imperfect, 
of his doings, and some selection, however incomplete, from his 
writings, could not, I felt, be without interest to the general 
reader. 

I was further desirous to bring under public notice a record 
of my father's inventions and researches, especially in that 
branch of science to which he first gave the name of Electro- 
Metallurgy. His treatise on this subject, which went through 
several editions, has long been out of print. From it has been 
taken the introductory chapter on the history of Electro-Metal- 
lurgy, included in the present selection. 

I have devoted considerable space, also, to the enunciation 
and discussion of my father's views on Mental Philosophy, and 
have extracted several passages from ' The Mind of Man,' his 
last work on this his favourite subject, and the last published 
work of his life. 

The numerous scientific papers, lectures, pamphlets, anony- 
mous and other writings of my father have also furnished con- 
tributions to the present volume. Artists will find something 
to interest them in his remarks on binocular vision, and on the 
methods resorted to by various eminent painters to produce 



2065774 



VI PKEFACE. 

effects whereby the results of binocular perspective are more 
or less successfully imitated. 

In connection with the potato disease, the views put forth 
by the subject of this Memoir in 1845-47 receive fresh interest 
from the confirmation afforded them by the recent researches of 
Mr. Worthington Smith. 

My father's knowledge of gardening and love for natural 
history in all its branches meet with frequent illustration. Some 
account more especially is given of the experimental garden 
which he formed at Wallington, in Surrey, now, indeed, become 
almost of celebrity through his well-known book entitled ' My 
G-arden.' It may interest many to know that this garden is 
still kept up, in tribute to its founder's memory, by my brother, 
Mr. Alfred Hutchison Smee. 

E. M. 0. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE I. 
AGE - TO 161818 TO 1834. 

1818.' Alfred Smee, born June 18th Family Infancy His love for fruit 
Is precocious Goes to St. Paul's School His natural power of 
observation displayed as a boy Fights a bully Other traits in his 
character as a boy An adept in climbing trees Ignorant of all games 
Love of animals shown Dislikes cruelty to dumb creatures 

CHAPTER II. 
AGE 16 TO 211834 TO 1839. 

1834. Leaves St. Paul's School, age sixteen, and becomes a medical student 
at King's College, London. 1836. Distinguishes himself at King's 
College Takes the first prize for Chemistry. 1837. Takes the first 
prize for Anatomy and the first prize for Physiology His answers in 
Divinity. 1838. Reads his first paper before the Geological Society, 
' On the State in which Animal Matter is usually found in Fossils ' 
His second paper, 'On the Chemical Nature of the External 
Envelope of the Frog's Spawn ' Leaves King's College and goes to 
St. Bartholomew's, where he carries off the prize for Surgery Nearly 
loses the sight of one eye by a chemical experiment. 1839. Invents 
a form of splint for fractures, and writes a paper on it, ' On the 
Formation of Moulding Tablets for Fractures' Also one on 'Gutta 
Percha Splints ' His paper on ' Photogenic Drawing ' Reads a paper 
before the Royal Society, ' On the Structure of Normal and Adven- 
titious Bone ' His experiment-book Account-book Laboratory 
Life at the Bank of England His love of music 

CHAPTER III. 
AGE 22 TO 241840 TO 1842. 

1840. Twenty-second year of his age " Smee's Battery " Marriage of 
Alfred Smee, June 2nd Paper 'On the Ferrosesquicyanuret of 
Potassium' His first book, published in December, on 'Electro- 
Metallurgy ' His researches in that science Gives the name Electro- 
Metallurgy. 1841. Letter of Brande, the chemist Alfred Smee gives 
a lecture at the Royal Institution, January 26th, ' On the Laws 
regulating the Voltaic Precipitation of Metals ' His specimens in 
Electro-Metallurgy shown at various places The coppered cucumber 



VU l CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Lectures before the Numismatic Society, 21st January, on Electro- 
Metallurgy Elected Surgeon to the Bank of England Elected Fellow 
of the Royal Society, 10th June, in the twenty-third year of his age. 
1842. Elected Surgeon to the Royal General Dispensary, Aldersgate 
Street Paper ' On the New Definition of the Voltaic Circuit, with 
Formulas for ascertaining its Power under different Circumstances ' 
Writes various medical papers Makes a durable writing ink. 1843. 
Lecture at the Royal Institution, ' On the Cause of the Reduction of 
Metals when Solutions of their Salts are subjected to the Galvanic 
Current ' Paper ' On the Inhalation of Ammonia Gas as a Remedial 
Agent' 16 

CHAPTER IV. 
AGE 25 TO 291843 TO 1847. 

1843. ' Sources of Physics ' (book), published 1st September Is Lecturer to 
the Aldersgate School of Medicine. 1844. His introductory lecture 
His lecture ' On the Detection of Needles impacted in the Human 
Frame.' 1845. Paper ' On the New Application of Electricity to 
Surgery ' Paper ' On Vessels in Fat smaller than the Capillaries ' 
His carmine injections Visit to Switzerland. 1845-46-47. Potato 
disease. 1846. Publishes ' The Potato Plant, its Uses and Properties, 
together with the Cause of the Present Malady ' (book) Corre- 
pondence on the Potato disease Rancorous animosity and skits on 
A. S. Aphis vastator, nomenclature of. 1847. Famine Food soiree 
Lecture at the London Institution on the ' Potato Plant ' Skeleton 
of the lecture drawn up by Alfred Smee Prepares many hundred 
microscopical preparations of aphides and slices of diseased potato 
Their use in 1876 Last researches on the potato disease The rate at 
which aphides multiply Alfred Smee is engaged on the ventilation 
of large buildings Invents an ether-inhaler .. .. .. .. 25 

CHAPTER V. 
AGE 30 TO 31-1848 TO 1849. 

1848. Publishes ' The Eye in Health and Disease ' (book) Smee's opto- . 
meter Smee's horizontal fish-tail burners Sheet of ' Directions for 
Accidents and Emergencies ' Royal Society : Mr. Smee's opinion on 
its reducing its number of Fellows ; also on the system by which the 
publication of learned papers are determined Paper 'On Electric 
Light and Gas Companies,' &c. Personal appearance of Alfred Smee 
Love of his family His powers of abstraction His untidiness Indif- 
ference to dress His walk Jingling keys Quick temper Quick in 
action Sensitive to a slight Not jealous Impatient of opposition 
Disliked arguments Expected others to have the same quickness of 
apprehension as himself Worked for others Disposition Never feared 
responsibility His dislike of routine work His charity Genial and 
social Loved society, yet disliked the London season being in summer 
His readings Keen sense of imagination and of fun .. .. .. 38 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER VI. 
AGE 31 TO 361849 TO 1854. 

PAGE 

1849. ' Electro-Biology ' is published (book) Lecture on Electro-Biology 
' Principles of the Human Mind ' Article on ' Gutta-percha and its 
Uses' The Cholera, article on. 1850. 'Instinct and Reason' 
(book) Why written Sketch of the general plan of the work 
Smee's hot and cold detector. 1851. Third edition of ' Electro-Metal- 
lurgy ' brought out, and Alfred Smee also publishes ' The Process of 
Thought' (book) Relational and differential machines Writes long 
articles in the 'Illustrated London News' and in the 'Morning 
Chronicle' Article on Wardian cases, and on plants that can be 
grown in London or a smoky town Lectures at Newbury and else- 
where Writes a Memoir of Wyon First visit to Paris Is an angler 
Is a regular attendant at St. Paul's Cathedral Power of prayer . . 50 

CHAPTER VII. 
AGE 36 TO 401854 TO 1858. 

1854. Second edition of the 'Eye' Binocular Perspective Soiree 
On Education Is the originator of the educational lectures at the 
London Institution, and delivers the first of them there, for which 
he draws up a diagram showing the faculties of the human mind 
at different periods of life Alfred Smee originates and establishes a 
new form of printing the Bank of England note. 1856. Letters to the 
Society of Arts' Journal on the ' Practical Application of the Decimal 
Coinage,' and on the ' Relation between Decimal Coins and Weights 
and Measures.' 1857. Lecture at the London Institution on ' The 
Monogenesis of Physical Forces' Visit to Paris. 1858. Eclipse of 
the sun Experiments at Blisworth with Smee's photometer .. .. 63 

CHAPTER VIII. 
AGE 41 TO 481859 TO 1866. 

1859. ' Debility and Defective Nutrition ' is published (book) To Switzer- 
land Making of garden at Wallington The Saturday reunions 
Sewage Croydon Local Board Injunctions against, extending over 
some years. 1866. Water supply and pre-existing sewage. 1860 to 
1865. Proposed spoliation of Finsbury Circus by railways Import- 
ance of gardens for London Advocates for trees to be" planted along 
the Thames Embankment. 1860. Introduces the French system of 
pisciculture into England His fish-breeding house at Wallington 
Alfred Smee was a sportsman as well as a fisherman, and also fond of 
yachting. 1861. He was the first in England to discover the comet of 
June 30th, 1861. 1862. Effect on hearing a sermon Writes an 
anonymous pamphlet on ' Reasons for not hanging Garrotters and 
Burglars ' Other anonymous satires from his pen. 1863. Controversy 
with the Oratorians Private and secret burial-grounds, &c. . . . . 69 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

AGE 46 TO 521864 TO 1870. 

PACE 

1864-65. Alfred Smee contests Rochester Election in 1865 Anony- 
mous pamphlets ' The Puppet Parliament,' and ' The Final Reform 
Bill 'Becomes a Freemason. 1866. Projected movement for the 
City of London College School to be associated with the London 
Institution defeated hy Alfred Smee Visit to Paris Writes a letter 
to Dr. Gray, F.R.S., of the British Museum, and strongly advocates a 
large aquarium to he established at the Zoological Gardens Describes 
the Monde de la Mer at Paris Writes several letters to the ' Times,' 
&c., on " Locked-up Money," for which he suggests a remedy. 
1867. Brings out another form of ' Accident Sheet,' which is illustrated 
by woodcuts Professional life of Alfred Smee. 1868. Illness, and 
goes to Whitby There nicknamed the Professor of Ferns Writes a 
letter to Mr. Gassiot on the importance of posting up weather telegrams 
at Whitby Another election at Rochester Letters to his family from 
Rochester Why defeated Speech at complimentary dinner given to 
him at Rochester His speeches How delivered. 1870. Visits Italy, 
and returns with plants and ferns found in that country Extracts from 
letters to his son on the states of vegetation in Italy, &c. Various 
anonymous papers written at different periods of his life ' On the 
Unseaworthiness of Ships ' ' On Chancery Reform,' &c. . . . . 92 



CHAPTER X. 
AGE 52 TO 571870 TO 1875. 

1871. ' The Widow and the Rabbits,' a fairy legend, is published anony- 
mously (book) Extracts from. 1870. Letter to the ' Times ' on 
St. Saviour's church being struck by lightning Letter on the aurora 
borealis which occurred the 26th October, 1870. 1872. Letter to the 
' Times ' on a violent gale, in which he urges the invention of cheap 
barometers for the use of fishermen Letter to the ' Times ' on Brixton 
church being struck by lightning ' My Garden ' is published (book) 
Plan of work Lectures delivered at the London Institution A 
'Gossip on Gardening:' why given Village fete at his garden, at 
which he gave prizes to the school children for collections of wild 
flowers Alfred Smee is an active supporter of flower shows, or rather 
the exhibitions of window plants grown within the City The prizes he 
gave Letters to his daughter, showing the activity of his character 
and his love for Nature. 1874. He attends an International Botanical 
Congress at Florence, as representative of the Royal Horticultural 
Society of England, and reads a paper at the Congress on ' The best 
Varieties of Fruits cultivated in England ' More letters to his daughter 
from abroad Again contests Rochester Presentation of plate Speech 
Letter, &c. 1875. Letters on the manner the Members for Council 
of the Royal College of Surgeons are elected .. .. .. ,. 105 



CONTENTS. Xi 

CHAPTEB XI. 

57TH YEAR OF HIS AGE 1875. 

PAOK 

April, 1875. ' The Mind of Man ' is published (last book) Plan of work 
Extracts from. 1873-1876. Sewage question Alfred Smee's views 
on Correspondence on milk, typhoid fever, and sewage. 1873. Paper 
read before the Health Section of the Social Science Congress at 
Norwich. 1875. Paper read before the Society of Arts on 'Proposed 
Heads of Legislation for the Regulation of Sewage Grounds ' Alfred 
Smee's reply to the discussion, January 1876 .. .. .. .. 126 

CHAPTER XII. 
AGE 57 TO 581876 TO 1877. 

Book on Fishing Hard working Letters from abroad Letters to the 
' Times ' and various newspapers : August 17th, 1876, on " A Homicidal 
River ; " October 17th, " On Distribution of Seeds by Panthers ; " 
November, 1876, his last published letter on " Bird-catching extra- 
ordinary " Death of Alfred Smee, January llth, 1877, aged fifty-eight 
Buried at St. Mary's, Beddington, Surrey, within sight of his garden, 
January 16th, 1877 134 



[APPENDIX. 
c 



Ill CONTENTS. 



APPENDIX. 



No. YEAR. PAGE 

I. 1838. On the State in which Animal Matter is usually 

found in Fossils. Paper .. .. .. .. 143 

II. 1838. On the Chemical Nature of the external Envelope of 

the Frog's Spawn. Paper.. .. .. .. 145 

III. 1839. On the Formation of Moulding Tablets for Fractures ; 

and On Gutta-percha Splints (1846). Papers . . 147 
IIlA. 1839. On the Structure of Normal and Adventitious Bone. 

Paper .. .. .. .. .. .. 151 

IV. 1839. On Photogenic Drawing. Paper 157 

V. 1840. On the Principle, Construction, and Use of Smee's 

Battery ; its various Forms, with full Directions for 
its Manipulation, more especially in the Processes 
of Electro-Metallurgy. Transcribed from Paper 
read before Society of Arts, and from ' Electro- 
Metallurgy,' &c. .. .. .. .. .. 164 

VI. 1840. On the Production of Electrotypes. Paper.. .. 172 

VII. 1840. On the Ferrosesquicyanuret of Potassium. Paper.. 174 
VIII. 1840. History of Electro-Metallurgy, with the Researches 

of Alfred Smee in that science .. .. .. 181 

IX. Eeceipt of a Writing Ink 187 

X. 1843. On the Cause of the Reduction of Metals. Paper . . 188 
XI. 1843. On the Inhalation of Ammonia Gas as a remedial 

Agent. Paper .. .. .. .. .. 194 

XII. 1843. The Sources of Physical Science. Plan of the book. 
(This plan was not written by ALFRED SMEE.) 
With the concluding Chapters of ' Sources of 
Physical Science.' (By ALFRED SMEE) . . . . 199 

XIII. 1844. Introductory Lecture delivered at the Aldersgate 

School of Medicine. Lecture .. .. .. 213 

XIV. 1844. On the Detection of Needles and other Steel Instru- 

ments impacted in the Human Body. Lecture .. 221 
XV.A. 1847. An Account of the various Breads exhibited under 

the title of " Famine Food " at Mr. Smee's house. 

(This account was not written by ALFRED SMEE) . . 225 
XV.B. 1847. On the Potato Disease and the Aphis vastator. 

Lecture .. .. .. .. .. .. 227 

1846-47. Also Monthly Reports and Correspondence on Aphides 235 
XV.c. 1876. Recent Researches on the Potato Disease. (This was 

not written by ALFRED SMEE) . . . . . . 252 

XVI. 1849. Electro-Biology. Plan of the Book. (This was not 

written by ALFRED SMEE) .. .. .. .. 255 

XVII. 1849. On Electro-Biology; or, the Voltaic Mechanism of 

Man. Lecture .. .. .. .. .. 260 

XVII.A. 1849. Principles of the Human Mind deduced from Phy- 
sical Laws. Pamphlet .. .. .. .. 26^ 



CONTENTS. 



Xlll 



No. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 



YKAE. 

1849. 

1854. 
1853. 
1854. 



XXII. 1854. 



XXIII. 
XXIV. 

XXV. 
XXVI. 



1857. 
1858. 

1867-69. 
1863. 



XXVII. 1863. 



XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII. 
XXXIV. 
XXXV. 



1864. 
1864. 
1866. 



1871. 

1868-74. 



XXXVI.A. 1873-76. 



XXXVI.B. 
XXXVI.c. 



1873. 
1875. 

1876. 



On the Production of Cholera by insufficient Drain- 
age. Paper .. .. .. .. .. .. 276 

Investigations in Binocular Perspective, with rules . . 279 
On Education. Letter .. .. .. .. 283 

Introductory Discourse on the Objects and Advan- 
tages of Educational Lectures. Lecture .. .. 289 

On the new Bank of England Note, and the Sub- 
stitution of Surface Printing from Electrotypes 
for Copper-plate Printing. Paper.. .. .. 299 

On the Monogenesis of Physical Forces. Lecture . . 317 
On the Eclipse of the Sun. (Experiments with 
Smee's photometer.) Letter .. .. .. 326 

On the Water Supply of London. Speech, Letters . . 328 
Rejoinder to the Manifesto of Dr. Dalgairns, Principal 

of the Oratory, &c. Pamphlet 332 

On the Practical Remedy for Extortion and Intimi- 
dation practised by the aid of the Superior Law 
Courts. Pamphlet: ANON. .. .. .. 343 

The Puppet Parliament. Pamphlet : ANON. . . 347 
The Final Reform Bill. Pamphlet : ANON. .. 350 

On Locked-up Money. Letters . . . . . . 354 

Various Letters : ANON. .. .. .. .. 357 

On the Unseaworthiness of Ships sent to Sea. 
Letters: ANON. .. .. .. .. .. 358 

On Chancery Reform. Letters : ANON. . . . . 362 

A Gossip about Gardening. .Lecfawe .. .. 366 

Part of two Speeches delivered at Rochester. 
Speeches .. .. .. .. .. .. 374 

Milk, Typhoid Fever, and Sewage, Correspondence 
on. Letters .. .. .. .. .. .. 382 

On Sewage, Sewage Produce, and Disease. Paper 394 
Proposed Heads of Legislation for the Regulation 
of Sewage Grounds. Paper .. .. . . 403 

Reply to the Discussion of the above. Speech .. 415 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



F ' G - PACK 

PORTRAIT .. .. .... Frontispiece. 

1. Alfred Smee's working-room in the Bank of England .. .. .. 13 

2. Smee's Ether-inhaler .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 

3. Optometer .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 38 

4. Gas-burner and jet .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 39 

5. Hot and cold Detector .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 54 

6. Alfred Smee, with his son, fishing in the Thames .. To face 135 
GA. Roman coin found at Clermont .. .. .. .. .. .. 137 

7. View of St. Mary's, Beddington, from the Garden .. To face 141 
7 A. The Grave of Alfred Smee 142 

8. Smee's Battery, compound six cells .. .. .. .. .. 169 

9. Smee's Battery, for Electrotype .. .. .. .. .. ..170 

10. Smee's Odds-and-Ends Battery 170 

11. Covered wire, as generally used for the formation of Electro-magnets.. 222 

12. Electro-magnet 223 

13. Magnetized Needle, for discovering needles within the body .. .. 224 

14. Resting-spores of the Potato Fungus within an Aphis .. .. .. 254 

15. Resting-spores of the Potato Fungus within the cellular tissue of 

Potatoes 254 

16. Illustration showing the Interpenetration of Objects when seen by 

two eyes, and the geometrical law on which it is founded . . . . 280 

17. Diagram of the Faculties of the Human Mind at different Periods of 

Life 291 

18. Smee's Photometer .. .. 326 



LIST OF BOOKS BY ALFRED SMEE. 



YEAB 

No. PUBLISHED. 

I. 1840. Elements of Electro-Metallurgy. 
II. 1843. Sources of Physical Science. 

III. 1846. The Potato Plant : its Uses and Properties ; together with 

the Cause of the present Malady., 

IV. 1848. The Eye in Health and Disease. 
V. 1849. Elements of Electro-Biology. 

VI. 1850. Instinct and Reason. 

VII. 1851. Process of Thought. 

VIII. 1859. Debility and Defective Nutrition. 

IX. 1871. Fairy Legend : The Widow and the Rabbits. ANON. 

X. 1872. My Garden. 

XI. 1875. The Mind of Man. 

XII. 1876-77. A Book on Fishing. (Not completed.) 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. 



CHAPTEE I. 

1818 TO 1834. 

Alfred Smec born June 18th, 1818 Family Infancy Love for fruit Goes to 
St. Paul's School His natural power of observation displayed as a boy 
Fights a bully Other traits in his character as a boy An adept in climbing 
trees Ignorant of all games Love of animals shown Dislikes cruelty to 
dumb creatures. 

ALFRED SMEE, the subject of this biography, was born on the 
anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, the 18th of June, 1818. 
He was the second son of William Smee, who held the position of 
Accountant-General to the Bank of England. The Smee family 
is derived from an ancient English stock. From the time of 
Charles I. the family was to be found in the county of Suffolk ; 
previously to the turbulent times of the Civil Wars, they crossed 
the country from the north. Many curious traditions exist in 
the family ; but as I am not writing the history of the Smees, 
but of one of its members only, there is no need here to narrate 
them. It suffices therefore here to say that my father's great- 
grandfather was a man of considerable influence and wealth in 
the county of Suffolk, and was, like the rest of the family, a 
staunch Tory ; his high character and integrity were known to 
all around him. He was, as I have heard, on intimate terms with 
Sir Hans Sloane and with Lord North, and he knew also the 
renowned Wedgwood. On the tombstone of this ancestor of ours 
are the significant and laconic words : " An honest man." 

Alfred Smee's father, William Smee, was being educated at 
St. John's College, Cambridge, when family misfortunes obliged 
him to leave the University to seek his own livelihood. I have 
heard my grandfather ,say how he wept on the bridge at 
Cambridge at the thought of being obliged to leave that aca- 
demical town. Had Lord North not been dismissed from office, 



2 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. I. 

my grandfather would have had a good government appoint- 
ment given to him ; however, that was not to be, and so William 
Smee entered the service of the Bank of England. He, like 
his grandfather, bore a high character for integrity ; and that, 
coupled with uncommon talents and an iron will, made him re- 
spected and esteemed throughout the mercantile community of 
the City of London. On his death a long resolution was passed 
at the Court of Directors of the Bank of England, testifying to 
the " high integrity of his character and his indefatigable exer- 
tions " in the discharge of his duties, and to the high esteem in 
which he was held by all who knew him. Some years previously 
the directors wished him to become a member of their body, but 
my grandfather declined this honour ; and when the time for 
the election drew near, he disqualified himself from becoming a 
director by withdrawing certain sums of money from the Bank 
stock, and so remained in his old position. Whether he acted 
in this case wisely may, I think, be considered an open question. 
When William Smee was between thirty and forty years of age, 
he married a young Suffolk lady of the name of Kay, and she 
was ever to him a wise, frugal, and an intelligent companion. 
For several years they resided in a house of their own at Cam- 
berwell, and it was here, amidst fields and trees and orchards 
(for Camberwell fifty-eight years ago was very different to the 
Camberwell of the present day), that Alfred Smee was born, and 
spent the first few years of his life. 

As a child, Alfred Smee was singularly precocious, and, like 
many precocious children, gave, as my grandmother used to say, 
a great deal of trouble to his nurse; indeed, that unfortunate 
attendant must have had a very hard time of it, if the various 
anecdotes that my grandmother was wont to tell about this 
madcap boy are to be credited. From his earliest years 
Alfred Smee had an inordinate love for fruit, to obtain which 
he would but too frequently rise with the sun, and, eluding 
the vigilance of the servants, stroll into the garden, climb the 
trees, and satisfy himself to his heart's content. One day, as 
my grandfather was walking in his garden, his attention was 
attracted to a peach-tree full of fruit, which was just ripe. To 
his dismay a small piece was bitten out of every peach, and all 
the fruit bore unmistakable signs of a child's teeth. Little 
Alfred, who was by his side at the time, and who was then 
about four years old, could not forbear inquiring into the fact 
whether snails have teeth. Besides an excessive love for fruit, 



CHAP. I.] FIGHTS A BULLY. 3 

which remained with him till the last, my father ever had 
from infancy a great love of natural history in all its branches. 
When he was four years old, through running and over-heating 
himself on a hot day in June, in a hay-field, after a favourite 
rabbit that had escaped from its hutch, he became ill with what 
was then supposed to be a kind of croup, but which proved to 
be the first attack of hay-fever, a complaint of rare occurrence 
at that time ; but from that summer to a late period of his life 
he was always a great sufferer from that disagreeable disorder. 

In my grandfather's account-book for June 18th, 1823, is the 
following entry, which shows the far-seeing character of the 
former in the estimation of his second son's abilities, this son 
being at the time five years old. 

This day I have transferred "10 Imperial 3 per Cent. Annuity into the 
names of William Smee, of the Bank, Gentleman, and Alfred Smee, of 
Camberwell, Gentleman. I have been much gratified with the good con- 
duct and zeal displayed by my dear Alfred in his studies, and I hope the 
Almighty will continue such dispositions, which I confidently think will 
lead to a brilliant result. 

After my grandfather had left Camberwell to reside at the 
Bank of England, my father went, as did his elder brother, to 
St. Paul's School. At that school, which prides itself on having 
educated Milton, Marlborough, and many distinguished men, 
Alfred Smee did not shine as a scholar ; but notwithstanding his 
want of book learning, he left a mark, and at St. Paul's School his 
name is held in respect. As a schoolboy his powers for natural 
observation were a strong feature in his character. One of my 
father's schoolfellows (afterwards one of our judges) amused him 
one day by telling him that, on first coming to school, Alfred 
Smee's first words to him were, "What a long back you have got!" 
The other boys were questioning him on his name, age, parentage, 
&c., but only Alfred Smee noticed this peculiarity of his. "I 
have often," added the judge, " laughed over this observation of 
yours." 

While he was a small boy at school, his prowess was shown by 
thrashing a " big bully " some years older than himself ; and 
though Alfred Smee was not a fighting boy, and small and 
unskilful in the art, yet his temper could not brook the im- 
perious tones of a bully. The unfortunate boy who had incurred 
his ire was wofully " mauled," to the delight of the rest of the 
school. Another trait of his character we see in the following 
anecdote. At the time he was at St. Paul's, the schoolroom clock 

B 2 



4 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAI-. 1. 

was fast, consequently the boys got into trouble for coming late. 
The clockmaker was made aware of the fact, but several mornings 
passed, and the clock was not set right. In my father's class the 
master was very strict, and, quite ignoring that the fault lay in 
the clock, caned the unfortunate boys for being late. This was 
more than young Smee could submit to it was an injustice ; he 
accordingly hit upon the following expedient to set right such 
a dismal order of affairs. He persuaded the classes under his 
master to march up Cheapside in single file to the clockmaker's at 
the Eoyal Exchange. Then every boy in turn, according to his 
age, was to enter the shop, and taking off his cap, say, " Please, sir, 
master's compliments, and will you put the schoolroom clock 
right ?" At first the man was very civil, but as naturally may 
be supposed, after about the tenth boy had appeared with the 
same message, he became excessively irate. Young Sniee entered 
the shop, saw the fury the man was in, made a wry face at him, 
did not wait to say anything, but rushed out of the shop. " What 
did he say ?" was the eager inquiry. " Oh, nothing," replied young 
Smee. In went the next boy (a very stupid boy I have heard, who 
turned out badly in life), but it was too late : the man, exasperated 
beyond all endurance, caught him and thrashed him. Off went 
then the boys round the Exchange, running in and out of the legs 
of the sober merchants, and finished their amusement, much to 
the discomfiture of that respectable body of citizens. It is 
almost needless to add that the schoolroom clock was speedily set 
right, and though the clockmaker made a complaint to the master, 
yet the latter was too much amused with the story to chastise 
the boys for their audacious expedient. After this adventure it 
was a long time before St. Paul's schoolroom clock went again 
in advance of Greenwich time. 

About the same time a very favourite amusement of Alfred 
Smee's was to climb trees. In this accomplishment he excelled. 
He would climb the highest trees where no other boy would 
venture, and, to use his own expression, weave in and out the 
branches, swaying the while like a bird, and ascending, and 
ascending, until he reached the topmost branch ; when, waving his 
cap to his schoolfellows below, it was duly acknowledged by that 
august assembly that he had done "their dads." One poor 
boy, however, tried to emulate him, but not being so skilful, 
fell into a pond of water beneath, from the effects of which 
he died; and so young Smee remained undisputed master of 
the trees. 



CHAP. I.] LOVE OF ANIMALS SHOWN. 5 

With cricket or other amusements of schoolboys my father 
never meddled. In after-life he never entered into such recreation 
as billiards, backgammon, or whist, or any other game. Strange 
though it may seem, yet he was ignorant of any of the games 
belonging to cards, and not only did he not know their names, 
but he was also totally ignorant of the names of the cards 
themselves. 

While he was a schoolboy, as at other periods of his life, he 
was extremely fond of animals and birds. Not many days before 
my father's death, an old schoolfellow of his came to see him, and he 
talked with him about the innumerable rabbits in hutches simple 
contrivances, all made by young Alfred Smee that he used to go 
and see in a court of the Bank, between the hours of school. 
Here it should be stated, that from early boyhood my father 
showed a great aptitude for carpentry. A few old boxes, and 
a few pieces of wood, nails, a saw, gimlet, hammer, and a few 
of the like common implements, were sufficient for him to 
make many ingenious contrivances. We have still an old table 
that had a fractured leg, which was bound up and mended by 
him when he was but a boy of eight years old, and I think 
even an indifferent person would admit that a grown-up man, or 
even a carpenter, could scarcely have done the job better. 

Besides keeping innumerable rabbits at the Bank, he used 
also to keep some pigeons. In one of the anecdotes in ' Instinct 
and Keason/ he relates how he once, on leaving London for some 
days, left the birds in charge of a servant. Upon returning, the 
first question naturally asked was, as to the health of the favourite 
birds. 

But (says lie) I received the startling answer, " Lor', indeed, sir, I never 
once thought of them." Their fate seemed inevitable ; and up I ran to the 
dovecot, to confirm, as I thought, my worst fears. To my astonishment, 
however, all the birds were in good health. The young ones looked fat, and 
the old ones had built new nests, although not a particle of food nor a drop 
of water was to be found. As the birds had done so long without food and 
water, I thoiight they could not hurt by waiting a little longer, and there- 
fore I determined to see what they did. After a little time the birds 
became uneasy, and, after pluming their feathers, they all flew off. I 
watched them as far as the eye could reach, and I could trace them beyond 
Shoreditch Church ; and after an hour and a half they came back. There 
is no doubt that they had flown off to the fields for food, and thus were not 
the least the worse for the servant's inattention. 

Besides pigeons and rabbits, young Smee had, when a boy, 
other pets. One of these was a magpie, who used to be allowed 



6 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. I. 

his liberty in the room where Alfred Smee and his elder 
brother were having their early breakfast, before the rest of 
the family, previous to their setting off to St. Paul's School, 
where the boys had to be, at those times, by 8 o'clock. This 
magpie was, like his young master, partial to buttered toast, and 
he would hop about the table, making a good breakfast. When 
Mr. Mag had partaken of as much toast as was consistent with 
his comfort, he would betake himself to tease the dog, who was 
basking before the fire, by hopping up to the poor beast and 
awakening him by a violent tug at his tail. At first the 
drowsy dog would just raise his head, give a growl, and would go 
to sleep again, upon which Mr. Mag would repeat the same dis- 
agreeable operation. When, after several repetitions of the like 
affront,. the poor dog would be fairly roused from his slumbers, 
then the magpie used to hop round the room in a state of exulta- 
tion, crying, " Mag, mag, mag !" 

But this dog was not always doomed to be made miserable, 
for my father and his brother were fond of taking him to bed 
with them, although it was strictly forbidden them to do so. 
As this anecdote is forcibly given in ' Instinct and Keason ' as an 
example of reason in animals, I will quote the rest from that 
work. 

The mamma was determined to stop the practice, went at night into the 
room, and turned the dog out, and he was compelled to sneak down stairs 
with tail between his legs. On the next night, however, the boys put the 
dog into one of the drawers and shut him up, so that, when the mamma 
came, no dog was found, and the boys afterwards took him to bed. The 
dog seemed fully to appreciate the boys' movements, and used perfectly to 
fall in with their plans. Some nights, indeed, the dog was discovered, but 
generally he was hid up in such an ingenious manner that he was not dis- 
covered. If the dog was called or whistled he took no notice, but used to 
lie perfectly quiet till the boys took him out of his hiding-place. 

My father always retained his love for animals, and incul- 
cated that love in his own children. I suppose few other children 
(if any) have been brought up from infancy with so many kinds 
of birds, animals, reptiles, and fishes. We had pets in thrushes, 
blackbirds, canaries, goldfinches, bullfinches, and even- nightin- 
gales; we had pets in pigeons, pheasants, godwits, magpies, 
sea-gulls, owls, and hawks. We kept, at different times of our 
infancy, pet dogs, cats, guinea-pigs, and, amongst many other 
animals too numerous to enumerate here, was a domesticated wild 
rabbit. This rabbit used to be allowed to come out at dessert- 
time, when it would immediately jump up on the table, and glide 



CHAP. I.] DISLIKES CRUELTY TO DUMB CREATURES. 7 

so dexterously in and out among the glass, that it never broke 
one or even knocked a wine-glass down, but would stop at the 
plate of each person present until it received a piece of fruit, 
after eating which it would continue its walk around the table, 
allowing everyone to pet and caress it. 

This rabbit was specially fond of my -father, and he of it, 
and great was the grief in the family when Bunny at last died of 
old age. He kept pet hedgehogs and tortoises, and a pet Guernsey 
lizard, which would partake as a l>onne louche of a dish of black 
beetles for breakfast. He had also at one time a pet toad, which 
was caught by my father during one of his walks in the wood 
which formerly existed on the spot where the Crystal Palace 
now stands. This toad was quite a baby when he first became 
possessed of it, but it throve so thoroughly upon black beetles, 
that in due course of time it became a full-grown toad, and lived 
many years. My father took a great liking to this toad, and 
was wont, whenever a friend dined with him, to show, as soon as 
the cloth was removed, to the astonished guest the wonderful 
powers which this creature possessed of seeing, and its rapidity 
and unerring seizure of its prey. The unfortunate toad at last 
met with an untimely death, through a quarrel arising with the 
Guernsey lizard over one delicious black beetle. The toad re- 
ceived a blow on the head from the lizard which paralysed it. 
It lingered some time, but ultimately died from its effects. He 
kept besides pet mice and even a pet rat. The latter's favourite 
place was in a person's pocket, where he would remain for a long 
while quite still and comfortable. When he was tired of that 
locality, he would walk out and sit upon the shoulder, and nestle 
to a person's neck. In this manner this rat used to frequently 
perform little journeys through the streets of London ; but I am 
bound to say my father never took him out. The very goldfish 
knew my father's voice, and when he whistled to them would 
come up from amongst the various water-plants which were kept 
in a large tank in the greenhouse at the end of the garden of 
Finsbury Circus, and take the food from his fingers. Others 
might whistle to them, but the goldfish took no notice (though 
it might even be at feeding time) of any other voice but that 
of my father. 

Mr. Smee ever abhorred cruelty to animals, especially when it 
was occasioned through wanton wilfulness. But, on the other 
hand, he considered that there are times when animals must 
suffer for the weal of man ; then morbid sentimentality ought 



8 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP, j 

not to be permitted to step in to stop experiments which are 
needful to he made, in order to obtain knowledge by which the 
sufferings of the human race may be relieved ; at the same time 
those experiments should be conducted in such a manner as to 
cause as little suffering to the poor beast as it is practicable. 
The best plan to prevent wanton cruelty to animals is to bring 
up children from their tender years to love all the lower creatures, 
and to teach them that God has made them all, and has implanted 
into them feelings, curious instincts, and to a certain extent 
reason. 

When a boy my father made a fair collection of insects, and a 
collection of birds' eggs, both of which still exist. He also made 
a collection of what fossils his limited resources could procure. 
These are dispersed, but by the catalogue of them, which he 
neatly wrote in a book, there seem to have been some interesting 
specimens among them. In this book the names are given, the 
stratum each specimen was found in, the locality, and whether 
found by himself, or how otherwise procured. 



CHAP. IT.] LEAVES ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL. 



CHAPTEE II. 

1834 TO 1839. 

Leaves St. Paul's School, age sixteen, and enters as a medical student at King's 
College, London Distinguishes himself at King's College; age seventeen 
Takes more prizes ; age nineteen Alfred Smee reads his first paper ; 
age twenty His second paper Leaves King's College and goes to St. Bar- 
tholomew's Hospital Takes more prizes in 1838 Invents a splint ; age 
twenty-one Experiment-book Account-book Laboratory Life at the 
Bank of England His love of music. 

IN midsummer 1834, Alfred Smee left St. Paul's School, and in 
October of the same year he commenced his studies for the 
medical profession, and became a medical student of King's 
College, London. Up to this time we have seen him as a boy 
endowed with strong feelings, possessing a strong will, keen 
susceptibilities, and an innate love for natural history ; a sharp 
pair of eyes which nothing passed unheeded, a keen sense for fun, 
an open and very generous disposition, and a kind heart towards 
his fellow-creatures and the lower animals. 

But up to this period of his life he had not shown any dis- 
position for book lore. His literature when a young boy was 
limited, and it consisted principally of a few works on natural 
history. For Gilbert White's 'History of Selborne' he ever 
entertained an unbounded admiration, as he did also for the 
immortal works of Shakspeare. By this it will be seen that 
Alfred Smee was not what is termed a " reading man." Of the 
plays of Shakspeare the ' Tempest,' supposed to be the last 
written by the poet, was his favourite. Perhaps it may not be 
out of place here to mention that my father, to the last year of 
his life, never ceased to speak of the marvellous and unrivalled 
manner in which Shakspeare's plays were put on the stage by 
Macready in 1839-40.* 

* For a full account of the exquisite pains which Macready gave himself in 
putting on the stage the plays of Shakspeare, I refer the reader to the intcrestin" 
diary of that tragedian, edited by Sir Frederick Pollock. 



10 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. II. 

But to return to my subject. As a medical student, Alfred 
Smee became studious. Indeed, from the moment he became one 
he never ceased from the most laborious work. At the time my 
father began his professional career, medical students, as a rule, 
'were not all that could be desired. But too many of them were 
addicted to idleness, drinking, and other vices ; and, indeed, they 
had the character of being but too frequently very rough members 
of society. Young Smee, however, though full of fun and of 
buoyant spirits, was noted for his unexceptionable good conduct, 
steadiness, and sobriety, and was besides a most hard-working 
young man.* 

Alfred Smee had not been more than two years at King's 
College before he carried off the silver medal, the prize for 
Chemistry ; Professor Daniell, so well known to the scientific 
world as the inventor of a battery which bears his name, being 
professor at King's College at the time. The following year, in 
1837, Smee took the silver medal for Anatomy, Partridge being 
professor ; and he also took the silver medal for Physiology, Todd 
being professor. For the latter he used to prepare the experi- 
ments for the lectures which that distinguished physician deli- 
vered. In 1837 young Smee also contended for the theological 
prize at King's College. He lost it by one mark only, and it 
appeared that his answers on the one hand, and those of the 
winner of the prize on the other, were so even, that there were 
thoughts of giving two prizes, as the examiner, the Bishop of 
London's chaplain, said that the answers in divinity were so 
excellent as to entitle Alfred Smee to take orders for ordination. 
I mention this fact particularly, as it shows how, at a very early 
period, my father's mind was imbued with religious thoughts, 
which hereafter proved a very remarkable feature in his 
character. 

On the 4th of April, 1838, Alfred Smee's first paper was read 
before the Geological Society ; it was ' On the State in which 
Animal Matter is usually found in Fossils,' and it was communi- 
cated by Professor Koyle of King's College. The paper will be 
found in the Appendix, No. I., of this work. 

In the following month, on the 26th of May, 1838, appeared 
in the ' London Medical Gazette ' the second paper from his pen. 

* In all the testimonials which Alfred Smee received from his masters 
and professors, his extreme steadiness and good conduct, and the great talent 
which he displayed in his various professional attainments, are made a great 
point of. 



CHAP. II.] INVENTS A SPLINT. 11 

This was entitled ' On the Chemical Nature of the External En- 
velope of the Frog's Spawn.' For this see the Appendix, No. II. 

The same year Smee left King's College and entered his 
name on the books at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. King's 
College Hospital was not then erected, and therefore it was 
essential for the aspirant to medical fame to gain practical 
knowledge elsewhere. He became dresser to the eminent surgeon 
Lawrence, and held the dressership a whole year. Alfred Smee 
was not long at St. Bartholomew's before he carried off the 
surgical prize, which consisted of three volumes of books by 
Lawrence. As at King's College, so did young Smee distin- 
guish himself at St. Bartholomew's by his good conduct, his 
steadiness, and by his untiring industry. When he was only 
eighteen years of age, he became engaged to a young lady, whom 
he married shortly after he had finished his medical education. 

In 1839, besides giving much attention to surgery, he also 
employed himself upon chemistry, and some of his numerous 
experiments were given to the public the following year. 
Through an explosion which ensued in conducting one of these 
varied experiments he met with an accident to one of his eyes, 
which at the time it was feared would cost him the sight of it. 
Through the skilful treatment of Sir William Lawrence, the eye 
was saved, although that eminent surgeon had for two or three 
days almost despaired of it. 

Besides these experiments, Alfred Smee about this time 
invented a form of splint for fractures, and wrote a paper on it, 
which appeared in the ' London Medical Gazette ' of the 9th of 
February, 1839. It was published also in the ' Lancet,' and it was 
also translated into French and into German. The title of the 
paper was, ' On the Formation of Moulding Tablets for Fractures.' 
The splint was tried in every hospital in the metropolis, and was 
used at St. Bartholomew's, as well as in other hospitals. Some 
years later (in 1846), after gutta-percha had come into use, he 
invented a modification of the above tablets, and the article on 
' Gutta Percha Splints ' was also published in the ' London 
Medical Gazette.' Both these papers will be found in the 
Appendix, No. III., of this work. Following these two papers 
will also be found a very curious paper on ' Photogenic Drawing,' 
which he wrote in 1839, in the ' Literary Gazette.' See the 
Appendix, No. IV. 

During the year 1839 the ' Experiment Book ' of Alfred 
Smee shows that his mind was employed upon other subjects 



12 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. II. 

besides splints and surgery and photogenic drawings. He was 
at work on the ' Contractility of Tissues,' which was intended to 
be exemplified by many hundred experiments. He was at work 
on ' Melanosis,' which was designed for a paper, but which was 
abandoned before its completion for other more weighty subjects. 
He was experimenting on inks. He was experimenting on a 
waterproofing liquid. He was besides making his researches on 
his important paper on the ' Ferrosesquicyanuret of Potassium ; ' 
he was devising his " battery," and was besides carrying on other 
experiments relating to electro-metallurgy. 

By the account-book of Alfred Smee, we find that up to the 
time he left school, when he was sixteen years old, he only 
received ninepence a week for pocket-money. This money 
he carefully husbanded, and expended on retorts and other ne- 
cessaries for chemical experiments. Even after he became a 
medical student he had not more than 30 a year, which had 
to suffice for the expenses of his wardrobe, for obtaining objects 
for dissecting, and for the various other objects required to 
carry on his numerous researches. I have heard my father say 
how pinched he was in early life for money, and what a benefit 
it would have been to him throughout his life had he, at the 
commencement of his career, had more money at his disposal. 
But he made the most of his small means. His microscope was 
given to him, but it was a very inferior one. With a five- 
pound note, given to him by his father on gaining one of the 
prizes, he procured for himself a -J-inch lens, which he had long 
coveted to possess. I must here exonerate my grandfather's 
memory from the supposition that he was either a mean man, or 
an unnatural father. On the contrary, he was very fond of his 
children, and particularly proud of his son Alfred. But my grand- 
father had been brought up in the school of adversity. He had 
seen his father's fortune go from him ; he had lived in turbulent 
times, when the revolution of France had filled men's minds with 
horror ; he had, as a young man, lived in the society of French 
noble refugees, amongst whom was an archbishop who had 
escaped to this country for protection against the oppressions 
of their own countrymen : thus my grandfather having from his 
youth witnessed the instability of fortune, it had thereby caused 
him to become in middle age more prudent, more cautious in 
money matters than it was his natural disposition to be. 

The room in which he carried on his numerous experiments 
where all the experiments for ' Electro-Metallurgy ' were worked 



CHAP. II.] 



LIFE AT THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 



13 



out, where " Sinee's Battery " was devised was one having a 
stone floor which led out of one of the drawing-rooms at the 
house my grandfather occupied at the Bank of England. This 
room, which produced such great works, was not worthy of the 
appellation of laboratory. 

Through the kindness of my mother, I am enabled to give 
a picture of this room. It was etched on copper by her brother, 
the late Mr. William Hutchison. The lines which appear below 




the etching were written by my father on a copy belonging to 
my friend Miss Fooks, which she kindly placed at my disposal. 
In this room my father worked ; he had no assistant to help him ; 
every single experiment for ' Electro-Metallurgy,' &c., had to be 
carried out by his own hands ; and his pecuniary means were, as 
already observed, small to a degree. Think of this, young men 
of talent, and turn your abilities to as good an account as Alfred 
Since did his, and with such a pittance ! 

The home life at the Bank was a singularly simple one. 



14 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. II. 

According to the rules of the Bank of England, its gates were 
locked and barred at 10 o'clock at night (a few years later than 
the time I am now writing about, the gates were not closed till 
11 o'clock); consequently balls and evening parties were interdicted 
to the members of the Smee family, for to have the Bank gates 
opened after they were closed for the night was attended by so 
much formality, such as ringing up the chief cashier, and having 
the names of the party entered in a book, that practically it never 
was done unless in a case of urgent necessity. Thus in a great 
measure society was a sealed book for the young people, and 
they were obliged to seek their amusements in themselves. After 
dinner, which was always precisely at 5 o'clock, the family generally 
used to devote themselves to music. Some played the piano, 
another the violin, and another the violoncello, and the daughter 
of the house sang ; and thus by delightful duets, trios, and even 
quartetts and songs, the long evenings were beguiled. My grand- 
father was a skilful amateur performer on the piano ; he had been 
a pupil of Battershill, the well-known pupil of Handel. My grand- 
father had, besides, a thorough knowledge of musical composition. 
He would read off musical compositions as he would an ordinary 
reading book. It is not, therefore, surprising to find that a 
talent for music was inherited by the children, though in 
various degrees. My father was generally too much engaged 
with his numerous researches to be able to take a prominent 
part in these musical soirees. He, however, was very fond of 
music, and played a little on the violoncello. He had an 
infallible ear for rhythm, and it was painful to him to have to 
listen to performers (however skilful they might otherwise be in 
their playing) if they did not give the precise accentuation : the 
slightest fault his ear detected. His favourite musical works were 
those by Mozart, more especially the music of 'Don Juan' and the 
' Zauberflote ;' those by Meyerbeer, the music from 'Koberto ' being 
the favourite ; and the music of ' Der Freischiitz,' by Weber. He 
liked, too, classical chamber music, although he used to say he 
found that class of music too fatiguing to listen to after a long hard 
day's work. He was especially fond of sacred pieces, such as the 
'Messiah' by Handel, the 'Elijah' by Mendelssohn, the 'Creation' 
by Haydn, and other oratorios. For some years he regularly took 
two stalls at Exeter Hall, and there weekly he and his family en- 
joyed by turns the magnificent rendering of the various oratorios by 
the great masters. Besides oratorios, my father liked chorals and 
hymns, Pergolesi's ' Hymn of Praise ' being among his favourites. 



CHAP. II.] SETS UP AS A SURGEON. 15 

At his house on a Sunday he would not permit other than sacred 
music to be performed. He was also particularly skilful in 
analysing the musical works of the great composers, in which 
he could detect the particular phrase or subject upon which 
the work be it a sonata, an oratorio, or an opera was framed; 
and he would come home from an opera, for instance, humming 
the subject upon which the opera was based. He was very 
fond of a good opera, and had stalls at one of the opera 
houses for several years, and he was very fond of a good ballet. 
He was no dancer himself, but it afforded him pleasure to see 
others dance, and he liked dance music for the rhythm's sake. 
His ear was not, however, acute for tune; for whether the 
instrument were somewhat flat or sharp made but little difference 
to him, provided the rhythm or the accentuation of the playing 
was strictly correct. 

In speaking of the home life of the Bank, I should not omit to 
mention that Alfred Smee was much attached to his father, towards 
whom he ever behaved in the most filial and respectful manner, 
and he was devoted to his mother and to his only sister. His 
sister seems to have possessed much of my father's zealous and 
active disposition ; but she died young, leaving behind her not a 
few traces of uncommon talent, and the memory of a sweet dis- 
position which was treasured by those who knew her. 

After Alfred Smee had completed his medical education at 
King's College and at St. Bartholomew's, he became for a short 
time (a month or two) an articled apprentice of a general prac- 
titioner, and later, in 1840, he became member of the Eoyal College 
of Surgeons, after which he set up in Finsbury Circus as a con- 
sulting surgeon. 



16 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. III. 



CHAPTEE III. 

1840 TO 1842. 

Twenty-second year of his age "Smee's Battery" Marriage of Alfred Smee, 
June 2nd, 1840 ' Ferrosesquicyanuret of Potassium ' paper ' Electro-Metal- 
lurgy ' published December 1840 ; age, twenty-two Alfred Smee's re- 
searches in electro-metallurgy Base coinage Delivers a lecture at the Royal 
Institution, February 1841 ; age twenty-three His specimens in electro- 
metallurgy shown to the Prince Consort Surgeon to the Bank of England 
Elected Fellow of the Royal Society Makes a durable ink Elected Surgeon 
to the Royal General Dispensary, Aldersgate Street Paper OB the ' Reduc- 
tion of Metals ' Lecture at the Royal Institution on ' Reduction of Metals ' 
Paper on ' Inhalation of Ammonia ' Other scientific papers, &c. 

THE year 1840 was, perhaps, the most momentous one in my 
father's life, for in this year many of his inventions and dis- 
coveries were given to the public. On the 29th of February his 
paper was read before the Royal Society, ' On the Galvanic Pro- 
perties of the Principal Elementary Bodies, with a Description of 
a new Chemico-Mechanical Battery ' now of world- wide repute, 
and known by the name of the " Smee Battery." The same sub- 
ject was made a paper, which was read at the Society of Arts, 
June 1st, 1840. For the latter paper, the Gold Isis Medal, which 
he received from the hands of the Duke of Sussex, was bestowed 
upon him. Millais, the celebrated artist, also received a medal 
on the same day. 

" Smee's Battery " was devised through conducting a series 
of experiments on the ferrocyanuret of potassium, which gave 
frequent occasion for the use of a galvanic battery. 

I found (Mr. Smee adds in ' Electro-Metallurgy ' *) that although the 
batteries of Daniell and of Grove were admirably-contrived instruments, 
yet it was very desirable to possess one that could be set in action at 
a moment's notice, and with comparatively little trouble. It became 

* Page 23. 



CHAP. III.] SMEE'S BATTERY. 17 

thenceforth my endeavour to construct one that should require little 
or no labour in its employment, and this was followed by devising the 
Chemico-mechanical battery. 

This battery, after I had minutely investigated every property which 
belongs to the metals of which batteries are constructed, was made upon 
noticing the property which rough surfaces possess of evolving the 
hydrogen, and smooth surfaces of favouring its adhesion. 

The value of the battery process, Smee's battery (he writes in his 
' History of Electro-Metallurgy ' *), over all others, is its applicability to all 
cases ; moreover, when we use a single cell of the battery, the quantity of 
zinc dissolved to do any amount of work is the same, or even less, than 
attends the use of the other apparatus, because the local action in a battery 
of this construction is less than in the single-cell apparatus, and lastly, the 
quality of the precipitated metal can be regulated with the utmost nicety. 

The platinized silver battery is peculiarly suitable for the operator, 
for when it is in action it communicates to him the degree of work 
that it is doing; in fact, it completely talks to its possessor. If the 
current is very feeble, a faint murmur is heard ; if a little stronger, the 
battery whispers ; if a moderate current is passing, it hisses ; but if a 
violent one, it roars. At this present moment I have nineteen batteries at 
work in the same room where I am writing, and they are each telling me 
the work they are performing. This very instant the fall of a heavy 
ledger in a neighbouring office has jarred two wires into contact, and 
the roar of that one battery has immediately informed me of the fact, 
notwithstanding the action of the eighteen others ; I have separated the 
wires, and the universal singing communicates to me that all are now 
woi'king satisfactorily. Any local action on zinc in the same manner is 
immediately notified by its different and peculiar voice, and I have been 
surprised how quickly the experimenter catches the characteristic pecu- 
liarity of each noise, which is learnt more readily than the sound of different 
bells in a strange house. 

As soon as this new battery was made known it created 
a great sensation throughout the country. The great manu- 
facturers entertained so high an opinion of it, that before the 
year had closed some thousands of them, or about 2000 worth, 
were sold to the country. Thirty-six years have now passed since 
its invention, and yet it is still in use. 

As with most, if not with all inventions, there are always to 
be found a few persons to endeavour to cry down any important 
novelty, so it may be supposed that " Smee's Battery " did not 
escape the ire of the jealous few ; but in this case, as in all other 
cases where merit exists, it only brought its worth more into 
view, and thus it became the one employed by the great 
manufacturers of this country. Soon its fame reached other 
countries, where it was likewise employed. 

* P. 23. 

t This was written at the time when he lived at his father's house at the 
Bank of England. 

C 



18 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. III. 

In the Appendix, No. V., a description of this battery will be 
found, illustrated by woodcuts, with a very full account for 
the working of the same. 

The day following that on which Alfred Smee received the 
gold medal from the Society of Arts for his battery, he was 
married to Miss Hutchison, a young lady of Irish descent, 
to whom he had been engaged at the early age of seventeen. 
The marriage took place at 8 o'clock on the morning of the 
2nd of .June, 1840 (before the Bank of England was opened 
to the public), at St. Margaret's, Lothbury, the venerable Arch- 
deacon Hollingsworth officiating, in the presence of six members 
only of the two families. This privacy was occasioned through 
my grandfather's official position at the Bank ; and as my mother 
was an orphan, and Mr. and Mrs. Smee were her guardians, 
she and her brother lived with them. Alfred Smee was ever a 
most devoted husband, and his great affection for his wife is 
shown in the dedication to her of ' My Garden.' 

In April 1840, he wrote a paper on electrotypes, which I have 
inserted in its place in the Appendix, No. VI. 

The next paper of Alfred Smee's was a very important one : it 
was the one through conducting the experiments for which he had 
invented his battery, namely, 'On the Ferrosesquicyanuret of 
Potassium.' It was read before the Eoyal Society on his birthday, 
the 18th of June, 1840, only sixteen days after his marriage, and 
it was printed in the ' London and Edinburgh Philosophical Maga- 
zine :' see Appendix, No. VII. Although in this paper he pointed 
out, before Schonbein's discovery of ozone, that electrolytic oxygen 
converted the ferro- into the ferri-cyanide of potassium, yet for 
some reason or other, best known to that learned body, or to the 
set or clique which at that time governed it, this highly im- 
portant paper was, like its predecessor on the battery, ordered to 
be deposited in the archives of the Society ; that is to say, it was 
not allowed to be published in the Eoyal Society's ' Proceedings ' 
or ' Transactions.' In consequence of this treatment Alfred Smee 
did not for some time send any more papers. to the Eoyal Society, 
but published them elsewhere. 

' Electro-Metallurgy,' the first great work of Alfred Smee, was 
published on the 1st of December, 1840. 

Although most of the subjects contained in that book are now 
generally known to the public, yet few only are aware that the 
greater part, and indeed a very important part, of the science 
of electro-metallurgy was the creation of his brain, and that at 



CHAP. III.] ' ELECTRO-METALLURGY ' PUBLISHED. 19 

the time this work was written, now thirty- seven years ago, it 
was the only important contribution and the only complete 
exposition of the subject embraced therein. The very name of 
the science, electro-metallurgy, owes its name to him. The 
late Prince Consort graciously allowed the book to be dedicated 
to him. In the Appendix, No. VIII., will be found the history of 
this science, as it is given in every edition of ' Electro-Metallurgy,' 
as well as a brief view of the various subjects treated of in the 
work itself. It suffices, therefore, here to enumerate some of the 
more important researches which Mr. Smee made in the science 
of electro-metallurgy. The important ones, therefore, were : 

1. " The laws regulating the reduction of all metals in different 
states." By these laws, gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, 
iron, and almost every other metal, can be thrown down in three 
states ; namely, as a black powder, as a crystalline deposit, or as 
a flexible plate. 

It is these laws (he says) which raise the isolated facts hitherto 
known as the electrotype into a science. The hundreds of experiments (he 
adds), I may even say the thousands, that have been tried to elucidate these 
laws, could never have been executed had I not first discovered my galvanic 
battery ; for its simplicity alone enabled me, without any assistance, to 
undergo the laborious undertaking. 

2. The processes for platinating and palladiating, until de- 
scribed in his ' Electro-Metallurgy,' were facts altogether un- 
known to science ; for the reduction of those metals into any other 
state than that of the black powder had hitherto been always 
considered impossible. By these processes, reliefs and intaglios 
in gold and nearly every other metal were enabled to be executed. 

3. To Mr. Smee we are also indebted for being the first to 
discover the means by which perfect reverses of plaster could be 
obtained : for it may seem singular that although every writer on 
the subject had previously given directions for making moulds of 
plaster casts in metal, yet before Smee's investigations no perfect 
reverse of plaster had been obtained. He soon found out that the 
reason of the failures lay in the extreme porosity of the plaster, 
and he removed the difficulty by rendering the plaster non- 
absorbent. In speaking of this matter he says : 

The success of this department of my experiments has amply repaid 
me for my labours and expense ; for there is not a town in England that I 
have happened to visit, and scarcely a street of this metropolis, where pre- 
pared plasters are not exposed to view for the purpose of alluring persons 
to follow the delightful recreation by the practice of electro-metallurgy. 

4. He also extended the use of white wax, bees'-wax, and resin. 

c 2 



20 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. III. 

5. Amongst the many other novel facts first brought forward 
in this work, ' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy/ a work which 
naturally created a great sensation at the time, is the novel appli- 
cation for the coating of fruit, ferns, leaves, &c., with copper. 
As this would afford a pleasant recreation for ladies, I have tran- 
scribed the directions for coating these natural objects in the 
author's own words (see the Appendix, No. VIII.) 

Besides being well reviewed, from the moment ' Electro-Metal- 
lurgy ' was published, numerous were the letters which poured in to 
my father about some matter or other appertaining to the subject, 
not only from most of the manufacturers of this country, but also 
from those of other countries. Indeed, up to the time of his 
death, he never ceased receiving letters or seeing persons engaged 
in the application of electro-metallurgy, all seeking for informa- 
tion respecting either Smee's battery or some matter connected 
with the process. As my father always gave his advice gra- 
tuitously, his family have often been surprised and pleased by 
receiving some small token made by the above kind of battery 
as a recognition of some service, in the form of advice, 
given by my father. As may be expected, there were not 
wanting forgers of base coin to take advantage of the process 
of electro-metallurgy for counterfeiting the coins of the realm. 
In the prosecution of such cases my father was frequently called 
as a witness. 

I have dwelt long upon Smee's ' Electro-Metallurgy,' because 
that work is now out of print, and it has been my desire to show 
exactly to what extent Alfred Smee contributed to this science, 
for other works are now appearing on that subject, in which 
his name is more or less being ignored. I have also given many 
details of Smee's battery, so as to serve as useful hints to those 
employing the same ; for now the inventor is dead, his advice con- 
cerning its management can be heard no more. 

On the 4th of January, 1841, the distinguished chemist, 
Brande, wrote from the Koyal Mint to Mr. Smee, thus : 

MY DEAR SIR, Mr. Palmer has been good e'nough to Bend me a 
copy of your valuable essay on Electro-Metallurgy, and as it will shortly 
fall to my lot to give an evening at the Royal Institution, I am inclined to 
take up that subject, provided you will lend me your aid. I was in hope 
Faraday would have done it, but he is not well enough to take an active 
part at present. Pray give me a line to tell me your feelings upon the 
subject, and whether you will allow me to talk the matter over with 
you in a day or two. Yours faithfully, 

"W. T. BRANDE. 



CHAP. III.] ELECTKOMETALLURGY. 21 

Ten days later the same wrote : 

Should you happen to be this way on Monday forenoon next and 
would look in, you will find me at work on electrotypes, and might perhaps 
be able to give me a little practical advice. 

The lecture was delivered at the Koyal Institution on Friday 
evening, January 22nd; and on the following month, Friday 
evening, February 26th, 1841, one was delivered by Alfred 
Smee ' On the Laws regulating the Voltaic Precipitation of 
Metals.' The theatre was densely crowded on both occasions, 
and from letters from members of the Royal Institution and 
from other sources, it would seem that Mr. Smee's lecture was 
a great success, as was that of Brande. Previously to this, 
Mr. Smee had also given a very successful one before the Numis- 
matic Society, on the 21st of January, 1841. 

In April of the same year my father showed his various 
specimens of electro-metallurgy to the late Prince Consort, at 
Buckingham Palace. The Prince was greatly interested with 
them. A cucumber that my father had coated with copper was 
shown to her Majesty, and she became so interested with the 
subject that she broke the casting with her finger, to see if really 
the cucumber was inside. This coppered cucumber with the hole 
is still in existence, as well as some of the other first specimens 
in electro-metallurgy that were made by Alfred Smee. These 
specimens were also frequently shown at the various great soirees 
of London. 

Besides the works already described, Alfred Smee had other 
occupations to engross his time and attention. We find that on 
the first Thursday in January, 1841, he was elected Surgeon to 
the Bank of England. This appointment was specially created 
for him, and for it he was mainly indebted to that eminent 
surgeon, Sir Astley Cooper. Sir Astley had taken a great 
interest in the young man, and came several times to the 
Bank to see his various experiments. Being a friend of the 
Governor of the Bank, Sir John Bay Beed, Sir Astley Cooper told 
him to be sure " not to let Mr. Alfred Smee leave the Bank," for, 
said he, 

You don't know what a treasure you have got in that young man ; 
he has shown signs of working out problems for himself which will be sure 
to be useful some time or another. 

I give this conversation as I have been told it by one (not the 
person interested) who heard it. Evidently Sir Astley Cooper 



22 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. III. 

thought that " It is not the place honours the man, but the man 
the place." * Besides being surgeon to the Bank of England, my 
father held other public offices : he was also in private practice, 
and was considered eminent as an oculist. 

How he got through his various avocations is a marvel, but 
the truth is, he was never idle. His mind was ever employed 
upon some matter or other, and it resulted in his mind wearing 
out his body while he was only in middle age. 

On the 10th of June, 1841, before he was twenty-three years 
old, he was elected Fellow of the Eoyal Society. There was some 
opposition got up from a quarter least expected; but on the 
eminent mathematician and actuary (B. Grompert) and some 
others taking the matter up warmly, and on that gentleman, 
on the day of the election, entering the room where it was to 
take place, and signifying his intention of noting down the name 
of every Fellow that voted, and how he voted, with a view of 
publishing it to the world, those who led the opposition ended 
by voting for Mr. Smee, who was duly elected. 

The close of 1841 saw Mr. Smee the father of a son, an only 
one. 

In 1842 Mr. Smee succeeded in making a writing ink for the 
Bank of England. Various specimens of writing made with his 
ink about this time, thirty-six years ago, now exist, the letters of 
which are as black as jet. Other specimens of writing made by 
some of the manufacturers of ink at that time are more or less 
faded, in some cases so much so that the writing is scarcely 
legible. As the receipt for making this ink is no secret, it may 
interest some of my readers to know what its ingredients are, 
and how it is manufactured. I have, therefore, endeavoured to 
satisfy them by giving the receipt in the Appendix, No. IX. 

While I am on the subject of inks it will not be out of place 
here to add that my father, to use his own words, made at various 
times " almost innumerable examinations of different inks." In 
Bush's case,f all the inks found in Bush's house were sent to my 
father's house for examination, together with the paper thrown 
into Stanfield Hall, with the inks from a large portion of the 
county of Norfolk, to compare with that with which the document 
was written. Another time his chemical analysis of some ink was 
the means of showing that a gentleman who had been accused of 
carelessness had been the victim of fraud, and thereby he had the 

* See Talmud. t A celebrated murder case in 1847. 



CHAP. III.] SCIENTIFIC PAPERS. 23 

gratification not only of sustaining his reputation, but of saving 
him from the payment of 1000. 

In February of 1842 Mr. Smee was elected surgeon to the 
Eoyal General Dispensary, Aldersgate Street. The " success " to 
this election tf is much enhanced," writes Lord Carington, " by 
the handsome majority." 

During this year a paper of Mr. Smee's appeared in the 
twenty-first number of the ' Philosophical Magazine,' and also in 
the second volume of the 'Archives de I'ElectriciteY It was entitled 
' On the New Definition of the Voltaic Circuit, with Formulae for 
ascertaining its Power under different Circumstances.' This 
paper was afterwards incorporated in the second edition of 
* Electro-Metallurgy,' on which Mr. Smee was this year hard at 
work. During this same year he wrote a few medical papers, 
among which may be mentioned, ' On Glossites producing Sup- 
puration,' to be found in the ' London Medical Journal ' of March 
10th ; ' On the Treatment of Syphilis,' and an account of 'Violent 
Hysteria in a Man.' 

On the 9th of March, 1843, Mr. Smee read before the Koyal 
Society his paper, ' On the Cause of the Eeduction of Metals 
when Solutions of their Salts are subjected to the Galvanic 
Current.' This paper was also incorporated in the second edition 
of 'Electro-Metallurgy.' The paper itself will be found in the 
Appendix, No. X.* The following evening he delivered a lecture 
on the subject at the Koyal Institution, which appears to have 
been very successful. . 

Previously his attention had, with others, been directed to a 
plan for conducting a Medical Association for Clerks, in connection 
with the Provident Clerks' Benefit Association and Benevolent 
Fund. It is a long draft, and the MS., which is in his hand- 
writing, consists of several sheets of paper. The gist of the plan 
was to ensure for those gentlemen who are occupied as clerks in 
the city of London the benefits of being attended by the highest 
medical skill, and for procuring for them the best medicines and 
all the various comforts applicable in cases of sickness at a rate 
commensurate with the pecuniary means of such seeking benefit 
therefrom. The institution was to be in a central position, and 
was to have baths, drugs, and a dispensing department. Medical 

* This paper was published in the fourth volume of the ' Archives de I'Elec- 
triciteY in 1844 ; in Majocchi, ' Ann. Fis. Chim.' vol. xv. 1844 ; in the ' Philo- 
sophical Magazine,' vol. xxv. 1844 ; in the ' Proceedings of the Royal Society ;' 
and in the ' Poggend. Annal.' No. Ixv. 1845. 



24 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. III. 

men were to be on the spot to attend to patients. There are 
long rules and numerous regulations, which show that the 
most minute detail was fully considered for the management of 
this institution. I believe the scheme fell through for want of 
funds. 

The ' London Medical Gazette ' for April 3rd, 1843, contains 
a paper by his pen, 'On the Inhalation of Ammonia das as a 
Bemedial Agent.' See the Appendix, No. XI. 

This year his only daughter was born to him. 



CHAP. IV.] ' SOURCES OF PHYSICS ' PUBLISHED. 25 



CHAPTEK IV. 

1843 TO 1847. 

' Sources of Physics,' second book, 1843-1844 Lectures on ' Detection of 
Needles ' 1845 Paper, ' Application of Electricity to Surgery ' Carmine 
injections Potato disease 1846 Third book on the 'Potato Plant' 
Aphis vastator, nomenclature of 1847 Rancorous animosity and skits 
on A. S. Famine Food soiree Skeleton of lecture Lecture Ventilation 
Smee's ether inhaler. 

THE same year appeared Alfred Smee's book on ' The Sources of 
Physical Science,' which was specially written as an introduction 
to the ' Study of Physiology through Physics,' and which comprises 
the connection of the several departments of physical science, their 
dependence on the same laws, and the relation of the material to 
the immaterial. This work was published on the 1st of Sep- 
tember, 1843. It is divided into seven chapters, thus : 

CHAP. I. The Fundamental Sciences. Matter Arithmetic Attraction. 

II. On the Sciences of Matter under Attraction. Chemistry 
Crystallography Geometry Trigonometry Gravity Mag- 
netism. 

III. Chi the Sciences of the Disturbance of Attraction. Electricity 
Mechanics Hydrostatics Pneumatics. 

IV. The Sciences of Actions and Reactions. Time Heat Light 
Sound Odour. 

V. On the Performance of Human Operations. 

VI. On the Complex Sciences. 

VII. On the Relation of the Material to the Immaterial. 

He had originally intended to draw up a slight sketch of 
physical science to form an introductory chapter to his great 
work, ' Electro-Biology,' which appeared about six years later ; 
but finding that he was unable to compress the matter of the 
intended chapter within three hundred pages, he resolved to 
publish the work as a separate treatise. 

At the commencement of my physiological inquiries (he writes) I 
had no idea of dedicating a separate volume to the Sources of Physical 



26 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

Science, nor should I have published it if I could have referred to any 
sufficiently condensed work on these subjects. But having felt the want 
of a work considering the subjects of the sciences, and showing their 
relative position, I conceived that my own attempts to forward these 
inquiries might not be unacceptable to many lovers of scientific knowledge. 
If I shall hereafter find that my labours have been useful to society, or 
have induced others to produce a more perfect treatise, I shall feel most 
amply rewarded.* 

From these words we learn that Alfred Smee was the first 
who published a condensed yet exhaustive view of the physical 
sciences. 

Although since this work was written, now thirty-four years 
ago, great strides, nay, colossal strides, have been made in physical 
science, yet it must be borne in mind that ' Sources of Physics ' 
was the forerunner of all the numerous treatises which have since 
been issued in this branch of knowledge, and it was therefore at 
the time of its publication a most original work. 

In this work he impresses the reader with the importance of 
studying physics as a whole, not in divisions. 

For (says he) by the investigation of the phenomena of one science 
we become more acquainted with its details ; but when we are desirous 
of contemplating the real nature of the phenomena, and the cause of their 
production, we must study the effects as a whole, to prevent erroneous 
conclusions and vain creations of imponderables.! 

The tendency of the present day is to take up one branch of 
knowledge only nay, to divide one branch of knowledge into 
various subdivisions, and to investigate only the details of one of 
these subdivisions, thereby narrowing the mind ; for as the sight 
of man is injured by viewing objects only through the microscope, 
so in a similar manner is the mind narrowed by only using it for 
the investigation of mere matters of detail. 

In another place $ my father advocates for different classes 
more freely to interchange ideas. 

The tendency of the period (says he) is for society to group 
together in classes ; even the Royal Society for the Promotion of Natural 
Knowledge is most exclusive to all but actual followers of natural science. 
The clergy separate themselves, the doctors congregate together, but a 
continual intercourse in a right spirit has a tendency to perfect the mind 
of all ; and whether they work in the upper, lower, or middle departments 
of their minds, all should accord. 



See ' Sources of Physics,' Preface, p. vii. f Idem, p. 254. 

t See ' Mind of Man,' p. 106. 



CHAP. IV.] ' SOURCES OF PHYSICS ' LECTURES. 27 

My father also always held that the older a person grew 
the more he should cultivate the acquaintance of young people ; 
for by these means mutual benefit is derived. A young person 
brings the new facts and feelings of the age added to a freshness 
and vigour of mind, and thus prevents the elder from growing 
old in intellect. 

To return to ' Sources of Physics,' a full analysis of that work 
will be found in the Appendix, No. XII., together with the two 
concluding chapters, which, as they treat on the relation of the 
material to the immaterial, are there given in entirety, as they not 
only strongly bear upon subjects in his mental philosophy,* but 
further they fully demonstrate how Alfred Smee's mind was, as 
a young man as in middle-age, ever dwelling upon that which is 
infinite ; and how he was ever demonstrating that that which is 
infinite must not be limited, neither must time be confounded 
with eternity, matter with space, the body with the soul, or 
material actions with God. 

Mr. Smee had for some time previously been elected lecturer 
to the Aldersgate School of Medicine. In the Appendix, 
No. XIII., is the Introductory Lecture delivered the 5th of 
October, 1844, and in the same place at No. XIV. is part of 
another lecture delivered before the same audience on the 9th 
of December in the same year. The latter was embodied in a 
paper entitled ' The Detection of Needles impacted in the 
Human Frame.' During this year he received pressing letters 
from the Royal Institution authorities to lecture before that 
scientific body, but I am not aware that he did so. 

His lectures were clearly delivered, and as it has been re- 
marked of him, " he possessed great perspicuity of language," 
and "his manner was pleasing;" but unfortunately he did not 
possess a good voice. He suffered as a young man much from 
affection of the throat, which often deprived him in a great 
measure of the use of his voice, and rendered him for a 
considerable time afterwards husky and hoarse. He used to 
deplore his not possessing a melodious voice, which was indeed 
a great drawback in his lecturing and in his speaking before 
public meetings, which he did frequently throughout his life. 

A paper on the ' New Application of Electricity to Surgery ' 

was published in the 26th volume of the ' Philosophical Magazine.' 

The same year he was elected Vice-president of the Medical 

Society at King's College. I should not omit to mention that 

* See ' Electro-Biology,' and ' The Mind of Man.' 



28 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

when he was a student of King's College, he belonged to their 
Debating Society, and it was there he learned to speak in public. 
He would speak on any question that was before the meeting in 
order to acquire a fluency of language a custom from which, he 
observed in later life, he had derived considerable benefit. 

In March 1845, he wrote a paper for the Microscopical Society, 
'On Vessels in Fat smaller than the Capillaries.' Curiously 
enough the paper was lost by that society, which caused him 
considerable irritation and annoyance : * for this paper contained 
the description of the process he adopted in the preparation of his 
beautiful carmine injections of the brain and spinal cord. These 
injections were exceedingly difficult to prepare : they were made 
by using a solution of carmine in ammonia mixed with size. The 
preparations were then dried and placed in balsam, so that they 
are permanent, and, being transparent, constitute the most lovely 
microscopical specimens which can possibly be perceived. These 
carmine injections will bear a very high magnifying power. 
They were the very first that were made. Over a period of more 
than thirty years these beautiful microscopic preparations have 
been constantly shown at the various great soirees of London, 
and up to the present day never are they exhibited without 
filling the mind of the spectator with wonder and admiration.t 

Early in the summer (June 1845), my father and mother, 
with her brother, went to Switzerland for a month. Since 
the time of his marriage, this was the first holiday he had been 
enabled to take. It was the first time he had seen the 
snow mountains, and from his intense love of Nature we may 
well imagine his feelings of delight on beholding the Alps, 
where 

" The palaces of nature 

Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, 

And throned eternity in icy walls 

Of cold sublimity." BYKON, Childe Harold. 

In the summer of the same year a disease appeared in Europe 
among potato plants, which caused the tubers to decay. The 
first communication of the fact was in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' 
on the 16th of August, 1845, by Dr. Bell Salter. No sooner 
had this letter appeared than other communications were sent 
to that journal, stating that the disease had existed to a large 
extent the previous season, although such an important state- 

* It was supposed to have been stolen, 
f See ' Mind of Man,' p. 233. 



CHAP. IV.] WORK ON THE POTATO DISEASE. 29 

ment had not previously been chronicled. The disease was at 
first considered a totally new malady, but Mr. Smee found, on 
inquiry, that in Germany, in 1830, Martius wrote on the subject, 
and that he attributed its effect to a fungus. Berkeley, the great 
fungologist -who, though differing in opinion from Mr. Smee, 
always carried on the controversy in the most courteous 
manner, and whom my father held in great respect and esteem 
considered the fungus called the Botrytis to be the cause. 
My father became interested in the subject, and began making 
his own researches. He concluded that the first cause of the 
disease was occasioned by an aphis which punctured the leaf, 
sucked the sap, and destroyed the relation between the leaf and 
the root, thus causing the leaf or some other part of the plant to 
become gangrenous, and die. After the attack of the aphis, fungi 
grew, which " growth," he writes, " is probably in many cases 
materially assisted by the prior attack of the aphis." The results 
of Mr. Smee's inquiries and researches on aphides, and their 
relation to the potato and other plants, became so numerous, that 
he was led, in 1846, into embodying his views on the subject in a 
treatise containing 170 pages, which is well known by the title 
of the ' Potato Plant, its Uses and Properties, together with the 
Cause of the Present Malady.' * In this book, which is dedicated 
to the late Prince Consort, the properties and growth of the 
potato plant are set forth, as is also its individuality, and the 
chemistry and use of that plant, &c. ; its gangrene, or present 
disease, and the chemistry of the disease; the relation of the 
disease to internal and external causes; the effect of temperature, 
light, electricity, upon the disease; the relation of the disease 
to soils and manures, to fungi; the relations of gangrene to 
animal parasites. The various aphides are then described. The 
insect that attacked the potato plant he considered to be an aphis, 
which, when fully grown, is about a tenth of an inch long, and 
its colour, either white, olive-green, brown, or inclined to red. 
This aphis, the destroyer of the potato, he found was identically 
the same which had been previously known to infest the turnip, 
and which is called by Curtis on that account the Aphis 
rapse. On the great confusion attending such a nomenclature, 
Mr. Smee determined, for the sake of perspicuity, to call it 
the Aphis vastator, or destroyer of our best provisions: for 
the Aphis vastator destroys, in a similar manner as it does the 

* This book is still in print, and is published by Messrs. Longman and Co., 
Paternoster Row. 



30 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

potato, the turnip, the swede, the beetroot, the cabbage, the 
broccoli, the radish, the horse-radish, the various wild Solani, 
some kinds of henbane, the Stramonium, the Belladonna, the 
clover, the groundsel, the Euphorbia, some sorts of Murex, the 
mallow, the shepherd's purse, the holy thistle, some kinds of 
grass, and even wheat, the Jerusalem artichoke and the sweet 
potato, and perhaps other plants. 

There are many other kinds of aphides, besides the Aphis 
vastator, which destroy other plants, and even trees, and we had, 
about five years ago, some large willow-trees totally destroyed 
by their ravages at "my garden" at Wallington.* Many of 
these different sorts of aphides and injuries caused by them are 
also delineated in this work on the potato disease. He also 
shows the relation of the Vastator and other aphides to fungi ; 
and he then gives the natural and artificial remedies for the 
present diseases among plants. The work is illustrated by ten 
lithographs of potato plants in health and in disease, of diseased 
carrots and turnips, parsnips, and mangold-wurzel, of the Aphis 
vastator and of other aphides, and of various fungi. 

Mr. Curtis, the distinguished entomologist, blamed Mr. Smee 
for having violated the established custom, in not having used 
the prior name of the aphis. " But it appears," says my father, 
" that Mr. Curtis named this self-same creature rapse, when it 
had the former name, dianthi, assigned to it, as Mr. Walker has 
informed me." Thus we have Aphis vastator (the destroyer) alias 
rapse, alias dianthi. How many more aliases will this dire scourge 
to mankind receive ? 

The moment this book on the potato plant was published, 
it was assailed in the most extraordinary way. The writers did 
not attempt to attack his facts or his reasoning, but they mis- 
represented his views, and indeed but too frequently made my 
father say the very reverse of what he did say, and then they wrote 
their own fabulous versions of his writings.f 

The controversy which ensued during this potato pestilence, 
and the violence of various parties, were truly a reproach to science. 
At last, as my father has said,| 

Foolish, people used to amuse me by sending threatening letters by 
nearly every post (many of these have been collected together), cautioning 
me that I should be amply punished if I dared to continue to write upon 



* See ' My Garden,' second edition, p. 477. 

f See ' Instinct and Reason,' p. 263. J Idem, p. 265. 



CHAP. IV.] PERIOD OF POTATO DISEASE. 31 

the subject (his life was even threatened). Notwithstanding all this, it was 
very curious to notice how kindly the public used to supply me with facts 
for my guidance ; and I received valuable communications, some of them 
of great length, though, when the controversy was at its height, they 
were sent anonymously. By the middle of summer nearly every agricul- 
turist was made acquainted with my investigations despite this rancorous 
animosity. 

I can just remember the time of the potato disease. Our 
drawing-rooms were ornamented with innumerable specimens of 
diseased potatoes. Potatoes were on the mantelpieces ; potatoes 
were on the tables ; potatoes innumerable were on the floor. I am 
by no means sure that the chairs were not occupied by potatoes ! 
Wherever the eye glanced, diseased potatoes met the view. 

In the Appendix, No. XV.B., will be found a selection from the 
voluminous correspondence which Alfred Smee carried on in 
various newspapers on the potato disease during the years 1845, 
1846, and 1847. 

In the ' Annual Register ' for 1805 it is stated in an article upon the 
aphis, " In some years the aphides are so numerous as to cause almost a 
total failure of the hop and potato plantations ; in other years the peas are 
equally injured, while exotics, raised in stoves and greenhouses, are fre- 
quently destroyed by their depredations." In the Linnsean Transactions 
Mr. W. Curtis states, " To potatoes, and even to corn, we have known the 
aphides to prove highly detrimental, and no less so to melons." Mr. Curtis 
further states that " the aphis is the grand cause of blights in plants, and 
that erroneous notions are entertained, not only by the vulgar and 
illiterate, but even by persons of education, that aphides attack none but 
sickly plants, with other notions as altogether false in fact as unphilo- 
sophical in principle."* 

Besides the rancorous animosity of the ignorant and of the 
bigoted, Mr. Smee was subjected to be taken off in humorous 
skits. Mr. Punch, of course, was not behindhand. 

In the pantomime at Drury Lane appeared : 

Scene, a Village Fair with Shows, &c. &c. 
Little Boy looking at a peep-show. 

Showman. This is the Aphis vastator, as you may see, 

Yery much magnified by Mr. Smee. 

Boy. Please, sir, which is the aphis and which is the tater ? 

Showman. Whichever you like, my young investigator. 

The Knight and the Wood Demon ; 
or, One o'clock. 



' Instinct and Reason,' p. 263. 



32 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

In one of the newspapers appeared the following humorous 
lines : 

Lines on reading Mr. Smee's Account of the Aphis vastator, supposed by 
him to cause the Potato Blight. 

Well ! this confounded tater blight 

Is now clear'd up by Smee ; 
And for a cure all people must 

To fumigation flee. 

Let all peruse his handsome book 

About the wondrous fly, 
Which is the cause of all the ill 

So says his theory. 

On reading first the title-page 

(I say it in no joke), 
From seeing F.R.S., I thought 

The thing must end in smoke. 

That some large bugs have been the cause 

We've had some keen debaters ; 
But none till now thought little flies 

Could turn out such vast (e)aters. 

That this vast-eating insect thrives 

On its new kind of food, 
There is no doubt, for milliards are 

Born daily to the brood : 

Which shows potatoes 'mongst all plants 

Still hold the foremost place, 
In making insects breed in swarms, 

As well's the human race. 

Alas ! how many other crops 

This aphis now will finish ! 
And though we may have gammon left, 

We'll have no more of spinach. 

On turnips, carrots, and on beets, 

They jump about in flocks ; 
Even dandelions are not free, 

Nor nettles, grass, nor docks. 

Let some strong dose be now devised 

By chemic speculators, 
To massacre, this very year, 

These terrible vastators. 



Other lines appeared elsewhere, such as 

" The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-mal 
All jump'd out of Alfred Smee's rotten pot: 

and others I might enumerate had I space so to do. 



CHAP. IV.] FAMINE FOOD SOIREE". 33 

But in the midst of the investigations, in the midst of the 
bitter controversies and the humorous skits on the subject, the 
disease still went rapidly on, till the scourge became so great 
that a famine ensued in the land, and in Ireland the people were 
dying of starvation. Then, in the midst of their distress, the 
people bethought them of turning to Heaven for assistance ; 
and accordingly we find that, on the llth of October, 1846, 
prayers to the Almighty were offered up in all the churches 
and chapels in England and Wales, for relief from the dearth and 
scarcity then existing in parts of the United Kingdom. A few 
months later, on Wednesday, the 24th of March, 1847, a form of 
prayer was used in all churches and chapels throughout England 
and Ireland, that being the day appointed by proclamation for a 
general fast and humiliation. 

Meanwhile, my father was trying various experiments to 
ascertain how far other kinds of food might be employed for 
the relief of the poor starved population of these realms. On 
Saturday, the 6th of February, 1847, he held a large soiree at 
his residence in Finsbury Circus, expressly to exhibit his famine 
food, at which between 200 and 300 of the most distinguished 
professional and literary men of the metropolis were present. 
The account of the various kinds of bread constituting the 
famine food is given in the Appendix, No. XV.A. 

The company tasted all the samples prepared, and pronounced 
Mr. Smee to have succeeded beyond expectation in his attempt. 
Though a mere child at the time, I have a distinct recollection of 
the nauseous taste of the Iceland moss bread ; but the hay bread 
and the hay biscuit I remember having found very sweet and 
palatable. It should here be added that my father did not himself 
believe that any of these breads, excepting the cereal breads, could 
compete with wheat in nutritive power or price, so that, besides 
being inferior in quality, they could never be brought into use 
from their additional cost.* 

On the 10th of March of the same year Mr. Smee delivered a 
lecture at the London Institution on aphides being the cause of 
the potato disease. Whenever he delivered a lecture or wrote a 
book, he always drew up on a card, or on one sheet of paper, 
the plan of the lecture or of the book. This he called the 
" skeleton." And in lecturing he only employed such brief notes 
as were contained in his " skeleton." I will here subjoin the 
skeleton of the lecture he delivered on the cause of the potato 

* See 'Instinct and Reason,' p. 106. 



34 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

disease, as it is a very good example of all of them. The lecture 
clothed in its proper form will be found in the Appendix, No. 

XV.B. 

Insect Plagues. 800,000, St. Augustine. Barnes, 2000 miles 

covered by them. 
Aphides. 
Demonstration : 

1. Live plants. 

2. Healthy. 

3. Sucks juices. 

4. Impairs qualities. 

5. Alters properties. 

6. Bad sap not nourish. 

7. Imperfect tissue dies. 

8. Death local, remote. 

9. Remote death entirely kill the plant. 

10. Wild plants resist better than cultivated. 

11. Cultivated plants ill resist. 

12. Deposition of fibre. 

13. Propagation of diseased fibre. 

14. Injury to plants hastens transformation. 

15. Growth of fungi. 

Destroyers of aphides ladybirds, gauze-wings, synphidas, ichneumons, 
Chalcididse, birds. 

Great fleas and little fleas have smaller fleas to bite 'em ; 
These smaller fleas have lesser fleas, so on ad infinitum. 

Aphides live on all plants. 
Yastator potato no novelty. 

Gangrene. 
Vastator, name, leaf, root, history, anatomy, chemistry. 

Subsistence. 

Tendrils. Oxyhydrogen. Microscope. 

Future prospects, transitions. 

" I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and it shall not destroy the 
fruits of the ground." 

Whenever my father found a plant infested by an aphis, 
he used to secure some specimens, put them in a pill-box, and in 
the evening place them in Canada balsam so as to carefully 
examine them. In this way he preserved all his evidences 
upon this point for future reference, and the name of the plant 
on which the insect fed was immediately scratched on the glass 
with a diamond, so that no source of error could possibly arise. 
The mode of fixing the insect in Canada balsam was very simple : 
a slip of glass was warmed over a candle, and a drop of the 



CHAP. IV.] MICROSCOPIC PREPARATIONS. 35 

balsam was then placed upon it ; the insect, whilst yet alive, 
was then placed on the balsam, and the glass was again very 
gently warmed in order to kill the insect ; another piece of the glass 
was then heated over a candle and placed on the insect, when the 
creature was hermetically sealed up for ever. 

It is necessary (lie says) that the insect should be dry when it is 
mounted, and we must take especial care not to apply too much heat, 
which will corrugate the antennae and destroy the form of the insect. I 
strongly recommend to all entomologists this mode of preserving small 
insects; and having once properly secured them, they will last for an 
indefinite period, and can be handled without the slightest risk of 
injury.* 

Mr. Smee mounted many hundreds of these microscopic 
preparations of the Aphis vastator, and of slices of diseased 
potatoes ; and these slides have, after the lapse of nearly thirty 
years, been the means by which this great controversy on the 
potato disease has probably at last been settled. For in the winter 
of 1876, when Mr. Worthington Smith was investigating the 
subject of diseased potatoes, my father placed in his hands for 
examination 360 slides of diseased potatoes and of aphides, all of 
which the latter had himself mounted during the great potato 
murrain of 1846-1847. On placing these slides under a 
powerful microscope, Mr. Smith discovered that some of the 
aphides were completely filled with the fungus internally and 
covered with it externally, and that gentleman has further demon- 
strated that this insect punctures the potato, and inserts in it the 
fungus. A full account of these recent observations of Mr. Smith, 
together with two drawings which that gentleman has kindly 
made for me from my father's mounted specimens of the Aphis 
vastator, and of a diseased potato showing the resting spore of 
the fungus within the aphis, will be found in the Appendix, 
No. XV.c. By this it would appear that the primary cause of 
the potato murrain of 1846-1847 was the aphis, and the 
secondary cause the fungus. 

The following question, which my father addressed to a well- 
known actuary, is transcribed for the amusement of those who 
may be fond of figures: 

An aphis arrived on my cucumber, January 1, 1861. It had ten young 
ones at the end of ten days, ten more in ten days' time, and every suc- 
ceeding ten days. Every young one had ten young ten days after birth, 



* See ' Potato Plant,' p. 14. 

D 2 



36 MEMOIK OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IV. 

and again every other ten days, till December 31st, 1861. How many 
aphides in all, if the mother aphis and her whole progeny were alive on the 
31st of December P 

Every aphis weighed -^ grain. What was the total weight of the aphides 
so produced? ALFRED SMEE. 

Answer. 

Let a = total number of generations from the mother aphis = 36. 
Let & = the number at each birth = 10, 

The formula will be 1 + ab + (a - 1) 6* + (a - 2) & 3 + etc 

(a - 35) b 36 . 

The answer to the first question, i.e. what number of aphides in all, 

is 

1,234,567,901,234,567,901,234,567,901,234,567,861 aphides, or nearly 
li sextillions of aphides. 

The answer to the second question is 

78,728,820,231,496,422,293,148,463 tons weight, or nearly 78J quad- 
rillions of tons weight. 

Besides interesting himself with aphides, we find him occu- 
pied on other subjects ; for in 1846, in conjunction with one of 
the managers, he was engaged on the ventilation of the theatre 
of the London Institution. To draw comparisons is odious : yet we 
cannot but wish that all public rooms were as well ventilated as 
is the theatre of the London Institution. During different periods 
of his life he was employed on the ventilation of various large 
buildings, and the Grand Hotel at Brighton owed its proper 
ventilation to him. 

During 1846 he was invited to take part in a discussion at 
the Civil Engineers' on the explosion of boilers, as he was known 
to have turned his attention to the subject. 

In 1847 he invented an ether-inhaler, which was exhibited 
at his soiree. The first one was made by Messrs. Maw, of 
Aldersgate Street. The ' Illustrated London News ' * says 

In a former number (245) we called attention to the important medical 
discovery, whereby a state of the body could be produced by the inhalation 
of ether, which renders the patient insensible to the pain of the most 
severe operations. Since the discovery has been promulgated, medical 
men have been actively engaged throughout the country in prosecuting 
their inquiries upon the subject, and numerous forms of apparatus have 
been devised for conducting the inhalation. 

It is found by experience that the more rapidly the effect is produced 



January 30th, 1847. 



CHAP. IV.] 



SMEE'S ETHER-INHALEK. 



37 



on the body the better is the result for the patient. It is upon this 
idea that an inhaler has been contrived by Mr. Alfred Smee, surgeon 
to the Bank of England, whereby the evaporization of 
ether is promoted by warmth given to the apparatus from 
a little chamber of hot water. 

Mr. Smee's inhaler, which is here figured, was made 
by Mr. Ferguson, of Smithfield; and consists of a tin 
vessel, either circular or oval, about eight inches long 
and three wide, divided into two compartments one 
smaller (A), to contain hot water; the other larger (B), 
to contain the ether. The larger compartment is divided 
into two by a diaphragm, and has another opening to 
admit the ether and the entrance of the air (D). Into 
this larger compartment a tube is fixed, which has a valve 
at the extremity (E), for inspiration, and another valve (G) 
near the mouthpiece, for expiration. The mouth-piece 
(F) has an india-rubber covering, to adapt itself to dif- 
ferent mouths. 

When this instrument is to be used, the smaller 
chamber is filled with hot water (c), and a little ether, 
an ounce for instance, is placed in the larger compart- 
ment, which has sponge placed in it, to prevent its 

moving about. On inhalation, the current of air passes c 

, . ., * Smee's Ether-inhaler. 

in the direction of the arrows, and is said to produce 

far more rapid effects than when any other instrument is employed. 

This instrument, with other ingenious arrangements for the inhalation 
of ether, have been submitted to us by the proprietor of the celebrated 
Depot for Inventions, 201, Strand. 




FIG. 2. 



38 MEMOIK OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 



CHAPTER V. 

1848 TO 1849. 

' The Eye,' fourth book Smee's optometer Smee's horizontal fish-tail burners 
Sheet of Accidents and Emergencies Royal Society : on its reducing its 
number of Fellows Personal appearance of Alfred Smee Love of his family 
His powers of abstraction His untidiness Indifference to dress His 
walk Jingling keys Quick temper Quick in action Sensitive to a slight 
Not jealous Impatient of opposition Disliked arguments Expected 
others to have the same quickness of apprehension as himself Works for 
others Disposition Never feared responsibility His dislike of routine 
work His charity His genial and social disposition Loved society, but 
disliked the London season being in summer His favourite authors. 

ON the 16th and 23rd of March, 1848, Alfred Smee gave a course 
of two lectures on Vision at the London Institution ; he also gave 
other lectures at the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital, which 
were afterwards incorporated in a book, and published under the 
title of ' The Eye in Health and Disease.' The book had an 
extensive sale and was translated into French. In it there is an 
account of one of his clever contrivances for the adaptation of 
glasses for impaired, aged, or defective sight. The optometer for 




FIG. 3. Optometer. 

such is the name of the instrument is most simple in its con- 
struction, yet most useful, and it should invariably be employed 
by the optician before spectacles are sold to the applicant. The 
instrument consists of a convex lens to which a graduated scale 
is affixed of such a length, that convergent, parallel, and diver- 
gent rays may be brought within a reasonable scope, and thus 
the eye may be tested by it. In this book is also an account of 
a novel kind of photometer, which he designed to judge of the 




CHAP. V.] IMPROVEMENT IN GAS-BUENERS. 39 

amount of light; but I shall have to speak of this instrument 
when I give an account of its being used at the eclipse of the 
sun in 1858, so that there is no need of further describing it 
here. There is also a description of his ingenious contrivance 
for the better lighting of rooms by horizontal fish-tail gas- 
burners. 

It occurred to me (lie writes) that the light should be placed at about 
an angle of forty-five degrees if placed about the centre of the room, or if 
near the ceiling, almost horizontal. 
In my own library (and in his dining- 
room, too), I am using a star with 
three fish-tail burners, so arranged 
that the gas passes out horizontally, 
a direction which causes the flame to 
assume a curve eminently calculated 
to illuminate the table. An enormous FlG - 4 - Gas-burner and jet. 

increase of light is obtained by these means. From the very great 
superiority of the illuminating power obtained by this very simple 
arrangement, I feel but little doubt that it will be at last generally 
adopted. 

He lived to see it universally adopted, although few if any 
beyond his intimate circle of friends know to whom they are 
indebted for originating this perfect manner of illumination. 

The treatise contains also fifty short rules for the preservation 
of sight, and for the choice of spectacles. 

It may suffice here to add that the eye was my father's 
speciality, aad that over a series of years he was largely con- 
sulted on that subject by a high class of patients. It is to me a 
source of regret that other inducements caused him to abandon 
in a great measure this part of his profession, in which he was, 
to use the words of Sir David Brewster, " so distinguished." 

In 1848 he also brought out a sheet of Directions for Accidents 
and Emergencies to be used before the arrival of medical aid. 
This sheet was specially designed for the poor. For the title of 
the sheet, which was made ornamental so that the poor should 
hang it up in their cottages, an engraving after a painting 
by Sir Joshua Eeynolds, in the Dulwich Gallery, was selected. 
In this painting the idea of life is represented by an angel, 
death is depicted by another figure, and disease in the form of 
a child. 

A few other short papers also appeared from his pen during 
this year, amongst which may be mentioned one in the ' Illus- 
trated London News ' for December 2nd, 1848, ' On Electric 
Light and Gas Companies.' 



40 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 

This year he was elected memher of the Hunterian Society. 

During the same year (1848), Mr. Smee's mind seems also to 
have been bent on setting the Council of the Eoyal Society to 
rights, for the ' Athenaeum ' on the 25th of November contains two 
anonymous letters from his pen. Here it should be mentioned 
that he was always adverse to the Koyal Society curtailing its 
number of Fellows, whereby he considered the strength of the 
Society was proportionately reduced. If the Institute of France 
be taken as an example, then certainly his suppositions relative 
to the Eoyal Society would give some grounds for apprehension. 
He was also opposed to the system by which the publication and 
rejection of learned papers are determined. In speaking of the 
rejection of a valuable paper by Mr. Spencer, we find in his 
history of Electro-Metallurgy these remarkable words : 

It is improper to throw the whole blame of the rejection of that paper 
upon Dr. Lardner, for this is by no means the only essay of importance 
which has been consigned to oblivion. The rejection of valuable papers is 
a fault of the system, not of the man. At all the learned societies a paper 
submitted to the society is referred to persons to report upon its merits, 
and upon that report the committees act with regard to its publication 
or suppression, which, in some cases, is facetiously termed a careful 
deposition in the archives of the society, which expression literally means, 
that it is placed in some large box from which it will be excluded from the 
cheering influence of the sun's rays for ever. The examination into the 
merits of any particular paper is, however, a most unthankful, disagree- 
able, and troublesome office. And it is not, therefore, surprising that the 
referees should sometimes exercise their characters as men, in supporting 
their own or the opinions of their friends and those to whom they ai*e 
under obligations, and occasionally forget their situation as judges. Their 
services being gratuitous, entitle the referees to the heartiest thanks of the 
public; but an important office like that they occupy, in which the pros- 
perity of the whole country is interested, should decidedly not be held 
without remuneration, and when remunerated the officers should be held 
responsible for their decisions. One never can tell to what great end a 
single new fact or application, though in an ill-drawn-up paper, may not 
ultimately tend.* 

These remarks, it will be seen, are also applicable to other 
societies. 

Perhaps before this I should have given an account of my 
father's outward appearance. He was short, not exceeding 5 feet 
8 inches in height. As a young man he was very slim ; became, 
however, in the prime of his life corpulent; but the last eight 
years again became very thin, and indeed emaciated. Although 

* See ' Electro-Metallurgy,' p. xix. 



CHAP. V.] PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 41 

short, he would have been taken for a tall man when seen sitting in 
a chair. There appears to have been an arrest of growth between 
his hip and his knee ; otherwise, as his family frequently heard 
him remark, he ought to have been a man nearly six feet high. 
He always sat bolt upright, and disliked lounging chairs. His 
face was singularly handsome, and he possessed delicate yet well- 
defined features. He was very dark, and had a clear complexion, 
his cheeks being slightly tinged with colour. Through intense 
mental work his hair became grey at the early age of eighteen. 
When I first remembered him, his hair was of an iron grey and 
very short and curly. When a boy, he had, as I have heard, 
beautiful long ringlets which fell over his shoulders, and all 
who saw him called him the " beautiful boy." In the prime of 
life his curly locks used to glisten like silver in the sun. If, 
however, he were not quite well, his hair would assume a 
leaden tint ; but no sooner was he again better in health, than 
his hair resumed its usual silvery beauty. His forehead was 
broad and prominent, and singularly square. His mouth was 
small, his lips thin and firmly set, and his face was set off by 
a pretty dimple in his chin, which, when he was animated in 
conversation or when he smiled, enhanced the beauty of his 
countenance. Later in life he wore a beard which robbed him 
of a part of his good looks. He had also small ears, a well- 
formed nose, small hands singularly handy in manipulation 
and small feet. But perhaps the most striking feature of his 
appearance were his eyes, which were truly wonderful. All who 
saw him in former days can testify to this. When a young 
man, they would flash fire. I have myself seen many instances 
of the marvellous power of a glance of his eye on persons trying 
to conceal any matter or to prevaricate. It was terrible to such 
persons ! 

Here I must remark that my brother and myself from early 
childhood were constantly with my father. We were always 
with him at his breakfast and frequently during his dinner, for 
my father, unless conducting his experiments or seeing patients, 
was never thoroughly happy unless he had his family around 
him. In the morning he used to write at the breakfast-table 
whether his books or his pamphlets, or his papers, or his 
reports or letters whilst my brother and myself were supposed 
to be playing about the room. But too often our play was 
stopped to make observations upon him. Yet at other times we 
were quite noisy, and would have, as we used to say, a bear-fight 



42 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 

between ourselves, when down we would go on the floor on our 
hands and knees and pretend to be two bears fighting. Nothing of 
our play or conversation escaped my father, busy and seemingly 
absorbed as' he was with his writings. Afterwards I have heard 
him observe, that during those breakfast hours he obtained a 
greater insight into our separate characters than he would have 
done had he seen us only when we were fully aware that he was 
watching us, for we as children looked upon him as an extra- 
ordinary man, who was so absent that we might do what we 
liked, and he would not notice it. How differently perhaps 
should we have behaved had we known that his eyes too were 
upon us ! 

In this way we heard and saw much of great interest, for 
he had the remarkable faculty of being able to write on the 
most abstruse questions with people talking around him in 
the same room, so great were his powers of abstraction and 
concentration. It was his custom to write books, as it were, 
in the mind, as he moved about in any ordinary avocations of 
life. When composed in the mind, it frequently became, as he 
has written, 

a mere question of mechanical labour to transmit to paper those ideas 
when thought out ; and so mechanical is the act of writing, that I 
frequently find myself using the pen on important matters whilst 
conversing with those around me on the ordinary trivial subjects of 
the day.* 

Sometimes his mind could attend to two matters at one time, 
as instanced above, and sometimes even three operations of the 
brain would occur to him simultaneously, besides many slighter 
matters which the mind apprehended, such as the " ticking of a 
watch or the passage of a figure before the eye," &c. However, 
in laughing with him over his doing three things at one time, so 
contrary to the adage, he would own that he " generally made a 
hash of that." But duality of mental action or thought was an 
ordinary habit with him. He has written concerning this 

With me it is so constant, that it is my custom to read or even to 
write upon one subject when my family are conversing upon another. 
Most of my published treatises have been written, after having been 
thought out, when I have been talking with my family and friends upon 
the ordinary subjects which are discussed at a family gathering on a 
winter's evening.f 



* See ' Mind of Man,' p. 13. t Idem. 



CHAP. V.] PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 43 

But against this there were times when the mind required to 
isolate itself, as it were, from the external world, and concen- 
trate thought upon the subject to be worked out. 

The ear must not hear nor the eye see. Many times I have been so 
thoroughly absorbed in developing a general scheme, that whilst walking 
the public streets I have found myself standing still to grasp, as it were, 
the relation of one part of the complicated details of the subject to another ; 
aiid one day when it poured with rain I was amused on passing a friend to 
find that I had said, " A fine day," so entirely was my mind engrossed by 
the consideration of the matter before me. 

This was by no means an uncommon case; for on similar 
mistakes arising from his absorption of mind, I might quote many 
laughable occurrences and sources of merriment to his family. 
His powers of memory were truly remarkable. 

He was once at an important meeting where no reporter was present, 
and it was considered desirable for a report to appear. Upon application 
two or three days afterwards, he wrote out such of the speeches as were 
required, in such a manner that the substance was so correctly given that 
no person found out that his very words had not been taken down in the 
room by a shorthand- writer. Those proceedings happened to interest the 
public, and have been copied from paper to paper, and from newspapers 
to standard works.* 

After this it may seem a paradox to state that he could never 
learn anything by rote : to commit Homer or Virgil to memory 
would have been to him an impossibility. Yet he could quote 
numerous favourite passages from the immortal Shakspeare's 
works. When at King's College, he used to write the lectures 
that he there attended verbatim after he came home. He did 
not take notes during the lectures, but afterwards, for his memory 
was so perfect that he could often write them out as they were 
delivered. It has been told him that he could learn from a book 
by heart if he only chose, to which assertion he always gave 
an unequivocal denial. Yet any image that had once been re- 
gistered on his brain he never forgot. As an instance of this, 
he would remember thirty years after where he had placed a 
most trivial object, which ordinary individuals speedily forgot ; yet 
he did not take any trouble to remember, but did remember 
nevertheless. I must confess that his family would not have 
regretted the absence of such a power of memory, for he was 
particularly untidy and careless ; and as he used every room in 
the house as his study, and as he never dreamt of sorting or 

* ' Instinct and Reason,' p. 52. 



44 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 

arranging his numerous papers and letters (and I think few houses 
had so many letters and various papers sent to them as his had), 
it ^followed that the house was one huge writing room and waste- 
paper basket, the intricacy of which no one knew but himself ; 
and as he quite ignored that there were such creatures as house- 
maids in the world, he had but too frequently to suffer for his 
determined forgetfulness of that necessary appendage to society. 
Then, if some cherished scrap of paper or some letter requiring 
instant answering (the moment my father had an idea in his head 
it must be done that very instant), or whatever object it might 
be that was required, were not instantly forthcoming, then 
ruesome were the faces in our household ! Whoever could hold 
his ground, now was the time ! " If you please, mum, master 
won't have his papers touched ; how am I to clear the breakfast 
table ? " was the incessant question from the servants. At last I 
tried to keep his multifarious papers in somewhat like order. He 
would ask, " )*Vhere is that paper or letter which came on such a 
subject, three or four years ago? I want it immediately;" and 
matters had to be arranged so that what was required could 
be found in the twinkling of an eye. All was well so long as 
I remained at home ; but if by chance I left home for two or 
three days on a visit (I never left home for more than ten days 
together, and then never more than three times in my life), then 
everything went wrong with the papers. On one of these occa- 
sions I received the following letter from my father : 

MY DEAR MARY, The head magpie has so badly taught the other 
magpies that all think themselves quite competent to take the place of 
the head magpie, and nothing left out for a moment is thrust under the 
pillows, or behind the sofa, so that the house is so magpied that every- 
thing is unfindable. It is a great dispensation of Providence that I am so 
heavy that they cannot hide me, or I should be hid in an old shoe, or 
perhaps in the key -hole, and never be able to find myself again. 

My father was also extremely indifferent about his dress. So 
long as they were baggy and he could slip quickly into his clothes, 
that was all he required. Unless it was very- cold weather, gloves 
he would never wear, excepting sometimes in the evening, and 
then he insisted upon having them about two sizes too large for 
him, that he might put them easily on, his fingers not being 
inserted more than half-way in them. But they were too 
frequently never put on ; yet from the peculiar twistings and 
contortions they had undergone during the evening, they were 
invariably quite unfit to appear on any future occasion. 



CHAP. V.] PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 45 

To show his utter indifference to dress, he was. going one 
evening to a large dinner-party, at which he wished to appear 
at his hest. His dress-clothes were duly put out for him (he 
never looked to such things himself) in his dressing-room ; by 
ill luck, an old worn-out garden coat was lying near : my father, 
thinking of utterly different things from what he should be at 
that moment, slipped into his old rusty worn-out garden coat, 
and went off to the dinner-party ; when to his discomfort, whilst 
sitting at the table next to the hostess, he suddenly discovered 
the mistake. Speaking of evening dress, it should be observed 
that my father ever had a great partiality for tail coats, and 
for many years of his life nothing could induce him to wear any 
other form of coat. 

Besides this peculiarity in his dress, my father had also a pecu- 
liarity in his walk if walk we may call it, for he usually used to 
run along, taking very short steps ; but what with his short steps 
and his peculiar run, it was no easy matter to keep up with him. 
He usually had a large bunch of keys in one hand, which he 
jingled all the time he was running or walking. Oh, those keys ! 
I cannot think of them without a horror. What have my nerves 
suffered through ye, keys ? If he was thinking, jingle went 
the keys ; if he was writing, again jingle went the keys : when- 
ever an opportunity was afforded him to jingle those precious keys 
they were jingled. I have often wondered he did not jingle them 
in his sleep : if they had been near him, I am sure he would have 
done so. In later life he gave up this dreadful habit, to the 
satisfaction of his family. 

My father's temper was quick, as indeed was everything he did. 
When once his mind was made up for any given action, he seldom 
paused, but acted immediately, and it is thus he got through such 
an immense amount of work. Whilst others considered he acted. 
To a supposed slight he was particularly sensitive : this unfor- 
tunately caused him at times to take offence when none was 
intended. He had not the slightest tinge of jealousy, and he was 
always willing to give, and did continually give, a helping hand 
to any who required it. As a young man he had suffered con- 
siderably from the jealousy of others, his elders, and it made 
him have a feeling heart for others in a similar position. 
Opposition, however, my father could not brook. What he saw 
distinctly, that he expected others also to see. This made him 
an impatient teacher. He always expected his hearers to meet 
him more than half-way in understanding a subject, forgetting, 



46 MEMOIK OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 

or rather ignoring, that they might not be even cognizant of 
the facts on which his conclusions were based. Arguments 
he detested. To his mind a proposition was either right or 
wrong : and if one person took one side of a question, and 
another person took another, no amount of argument, he con- 
tended, would alter the opinion of either party, but would 
make both sides more pertinacious in their respective views. So 
my father would never permit an argument to be carried on by 
his family in his presence, which was often vexatious to them, 
the younger members being of an argumentative and contra- 
dictory turn of mind. As it has been just above observed, he was 
extremely quick in at once seizing the points of a question, or in 
deciding on any course of action. This made him intolerant 
of slowness of comprehension in others; and once having 
determined upon any course of action, nothing would irritate 
him more than for others to begin to talk or discuss upon that 
which, as his quick mind had already perceived, allowed of only 
one course of action. Woe betide that unfortunate individual, 
for Alfred Smee would invariably cut short his " twaddle." But 
in this it must be admitted he committed a grievous mistake, for 
this quickness of character is not born in everyone, and most 
persons' amour propre would be wounded on being told in forcible 
language that their talk was not worth listening to. This, I must 
admit, was the worst feature in my father's character. Though 
impetuous to a degree, never had a man a kinder heart than had 
Alfred Smee. What labour would he not give himself for the 
good of others (entirely without the domestic circle) ! His 
family, not possessing perhaps a sufficiently philanthropic spirit, 
have often said to him, " Why do you work so hard for So-and-so ? 
You will never be thanked for it or, So-and-so will not appreciate 
your kindness towards him." " You are only killing yourself." the 
writer of these lines used invariably to add, " for others who do 
not deserve it." This was but too often the case ; he has often 
overworked himself for several who have proved ungrateful. Upon 
these remarks his family were always censured, and reminded 
that it was not right to do good only when we were sure of our 
reward, but that it was our duty to be always trying to do good 
to others. Alfred Smee was also most kind-hearted, and would 
never willingly inflict pain by word or look, or by action, to any 
person or creature, unless, indeed, his ire was roused by being 
slighted, molested, or personally abused, either by words or 
writing, or, to use a homely yet a favourite expression of his, if 



CHAP. V.] HIS DISLIKE OF ROUTINE WORK. 47 

anyone " trod on his toes ; " then he spared not his foe, hut with 
his pen he cut deep until he made his adversary writhe again. 

My father never feared responsibility, neither did he fear 
asserting that which he considered to be the truth. Where others 
shrunk, he ventured ; where others wavered, he decided : he was 
essentially a man of action. He trusted his own powers and 
acted up to them. He had a great idea of persons forming them- 
selves decided opinions upon a subject and acting up to them. 
He writes to his son from abroad, on a question in dispute, " You 
must come to the front and form a clear, decided opinion, and 
contend for a very definite course of action upon the best opinion 
that can be formed." 

With my father's love for action, and with his restless dis- 
position, it is a wonder that he did not take the management of 
his house into his hands ; for that, however, he ever showed an 
indifference quite remarkable. He had his own peculiar ways 
of managing his own money matters. So much a year he put 
by for house expenditure and for his family, and so much he 
allowed himself for pocket-money. What he allowed for himself 
was mostly spent on treats and presents to the different members 
of his family, or for charity. So long as no more money was 
required for the house, or for the necessities appertaining to 
the family's social condition, well and good ; he then troubled 
himself but little, if indeed at all, how the money was expended. 
Especially did the evil grow upon him in later life of a dislike 
of routine work. He detested attending to any matters of 
detail, and liked instead to soar in the regions above, and pro- 
pound those noble generalizations of physical force and mental 
phenomena, which it has been more especially the object of 
this work to show. 

In charity he gave not a little, and from what his family have 
learnt from persons who have proved grateful for his bounty, it 
seems that in the bestowing of his charity he let not his left 
hand know what his right hand did. But although he was very 
beneficent, yet he was wise in his acts of charity ; for he liked to 
assist persons by procuring for them some occupation befitting 
them, that they might thereby become independent workers of 
their own livelihood instead of living upon the charity of others. 
This little trait is seen in the following anecdote. For some 
years a poor woman sat on the steps of a house situated at the 
corner of a street which he daily passed, and solicited alms of 
the passers-by. One day it struck my father, Why should not 



48 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. V. 

this woman get her own livelihood ? He accordingly accosted 
her, and asked her, Why did she always sit there doing nothing ? 
Why did she not sell newspapers to the passers-by, and thereby 
earn something instead of begging. It was a good position for 
that purpose, for the honse was a corner one, in a busy and 
frequented part of the city of London. " Alas," replied the poor 
woman, " I have no money to get the newspapers, and nobody 
will give me credit." " If that is all," said my father, " take this 
sovereign, and get some newspapers, and let me see you to- 
morrow selling them." The woman did so, and for many years 
she might have been observed at the same corner, selling her 
stock of papers, and looking much happier than when she solicited 
alms of the passers-by. She is now dead having died of old 
age. I doubt not that sovereign given her in that manner 
enabled her to end her days in more comfort, and certainly 
with greater happiness. For her little business throve every 
year more and more ; indeed, it must have become a capital 
speculation, for after her death another old woman appeared 
carrying on the same business. 

Many instances similar to the above might be enumerated to 
show my father's beneficence. After his death, how many of the 
poor came to tell his family that they, too, mourned his loss 
that they, too, had indeed lost a true friend ! 

From Alfred Smee's genial and social disposition it may be 
inferred that he loved society, and shone in it. Much as my 
father liked being in society, yet never could he tolerate the 
London season being in the spring and summer months, when 
the country was looking its best. For no sooner did the 
flowers begin to bloom, the trees to push forward their buds, 
and the birds to warble their melodious songs, than his soul 
panted to be amidst such scenes, rather than in hot ill-ventilated 
rooms during the lovely months of May, June, and July. Why 
the season could not be in winter, when people would more 
enjoy social intercourse in warm rooms than they could in hot 
weather, he never could understand. He was not a fox-hunter 
himself, and perhaps had not sufficient sympathy with the par- 
takers of that sport, and, therefore, he could not appreciate the 
motives for persons preferring the country in the winter to the 
summer. 

My father's mode of reading was cursory. He had a peculiar 
facility in seizing at once what was valuable in any book without 
perusing it from beginning to end. He would read philosophic 



CHAP. V.] HIS FAVOUKITE READING. 49 

works or books on travels, but novels lie never could be induced 
to read, and always declared, and indeed boasted, he had never 
read a novel through in his life. If he saw anybody about him 
with a novel, he would contrive to get hold of it, and would 
then amuse himself by holding it up to ridicule by picking out 
in an instant one of the weaker parts of it, and, reading aloud 
the passage, would then, to the discomfort of the reader, laugh- 
ingly inquire, " What pleasure could be derived by reading such 
stuff?" He disliked books where truth and fiction were so inter- 
woven that the one could not be distinguished from the other. 
But books of fiction, such as fairy tales, and other works of 
imagination or satire, he liked. And so those wonderful con- 
ceptions from the vivid imagination of Shakspeare were to my 
father the most delightful specimens of the kind. My father's 
keen sense of imagination and of fun enabled him to enjoy 
farces, comedies, and pantomimes, and I doubt whether any child 
had more delight in the transformation scenes of a pantomime 
than had my father. He therefore delighted in taking children 
to see them. On a friend's not allowing his children to see a 
pantomime until he considered them old enough to go behind 
the sfcenes and see how delusive everything was, my father ex- 
pressed his utter disapprobation of such a course, and remarked 
that children should be brought up to know that no one is 
exempt from being taken in by his senses. Those children, 
my father asserted, who were brought up without imagination, 
and who never saw tricks played before them without having 
them all explained, were sure to be the ones who would be the 
most likely to be deceived in after-life, and to become the victims 
of designing men. 



50 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

1849 TO 1854. 

Fifth book, ' Electro-Biology 'Lecture on Electro-Biology' Principles of the 
Human Mind' Cholera Cholera medicine given away 'Instinct and Koason' 
written to illustrate Electro-Biology Sketch of the general plan of the work 
Smee's hot and cold detector Third edition of 'Electro-Metallurgy' 
brought out ' Process of Thought ' written Long articles in the ' Illustrated 
London News ' Plants that can be grown in London Lecture at Newbury 
Writes a memoir of Wyon Lectures to the clerks of the Bank of England 
on 'Instinct and Keason' First visit to Paris Alfred Smee an angler 
A regular attendant at St. Paul's Cathedral Power of prayer. 

ALFRED SMEE'S great work, ' The Elements of Electro-Biology,' 
which embraces his ' Natural System of Mental Philosophy,' 
appeared in February 1849. On this work he had been engaged 
at intervals for the last ten years. The important researches 
detailed in this work cost him an immense amount of time, 
labour, and thought, and they were nearly all worked out at his 
residence in Finsbury Circus, " unaided," as he has sadly written, 
" by the advantages which public laboratories afford to their 
fortunate occupiers." Indeed, he had not even an assistant to 
aid him, if we except the services at times of a young lad in 
his teens, who was only too pleased to run and search for cats, 
or perform other little services for my father.* At one time the 
dearth of cats occasioned by these electro-biological researches 
was so great, that friends used to shut up their pussies to prevent 
them falling into the hands of the enemy. " The anxiety among 
the ladies became at last so distressing, that one young lady, a 
personal friend, wrote the following amusing letter : 

MY DEAR SIR, Having been apprised by my brother of the instruc- 
tions which you have given to your page to obtain violent possession of the 

* This lad was bright and intelligent, and he learnt a good deal from my 
father. He has since done well in life. 



CHAP. VI.] LECTUKE ON ELECTEO-BIOLOGY. 51 

sacred person of my only and beloved child, I beg to say, that if such 
instructions are not countermanded, I shall be obliged to put personal 
restraint on the actions of my darling ; in consequence of that restraint he 
will pine away and sink into an early grave, leaving a tender mother and 
a doting grandmother to bewail his loss. Mr. Smee, you are a father, and 
to your feelings as a father I appeal. I need say no more, I am sure. Be 
generous, and my thanks, my warmest and most unbounded gratitude, 
shall be yours. 

The carrying out of the numerous experiments required for this 
great work was laborious, and his private practice and his official 
duties taking up the best part of the day, he was obliged to steal 
those hours that are by most persons devoted to rest and sleep. 
The physical experiments relating to the laws of voltaic electricity 
are to be found in * Electro-Metallurgy,' and we have seen that 
' Sources of Physics ' was expressly written as an introduction to 
the 'Elements of Electro-Biology.' There is such a lucid plan 
of this book in ' Chambers's Edinburgh Journal ' that I have 
transcribed it among my father's writings, at No. XVI. of the 
Appendix. I do not know by whom the account was written. 

In April of the same year Mr. Smee delivered a lecture at the 
London Institution on Electro-Biology before a crowded audience. 
At this lecture Mr. Smee's injections of the brain were ex- 
hibited, which elicited these words from one of the daily papers, 
" These injections were of surpassing beauty, and well illustrated 
the exclamation of the inspired Psalmist, 'How fearfully and 
wonderfully are we made !' " 

The lecture was afterwards printed, and published with the 
' Principles of the Human Mind,' written as a sequel to ' Electro- 
Biology.' This as the learned Dr. Pereira wrote, "Your lec- 
tures on Electro -Biology and the Principles of the Human Mind 
are very briefly but clearly drawn up, and will aid much in read- 
ing your longer copy" I have transcribed in the Appendix, 
No. XVII. Besides this lecture, Mr. Smee gave others on the 
same subject elsewhere. Throughout the country he was re- 
peatedly asked to deliver lectures, but he had not time at his 
disposal so to do. 

This year also he wrote (the 3rd of March, 1849) in the 
'Morning Chronicle' a short article on Gutta-percha and its 
Uses. 

The summer of 1849, it may be remembered, was a sad one 
for numbers of persons ; for that direful scourge, pestilence, in 
the form of cholera, had made its ravages felt throughout the 

E 2 



52 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 

length and breadth of the land. My father was himself attacked 
by it towards the close of the summer : happily he recovered, yet 
I believe he permanently suffered from its effects. In September 
we find him investigating into the cause of this direful malady, 
and the results of his inquiry are incorporated in a paper 
which appeared in the ' Lancet.' (See Appendix, No. XVIII.) It 
should here be observed that whenever an epidemic of cholera 
ensued, he had large quantities of cholera medicine (his own 
prescription) made up and largely distributed. No one who came 
to the house and asked for cholera medicine, whether for himself 
or for friends, was refused. Numbers of persons flocked to the 
house and availed themselves of this privilege. 

The close of this year was to bring a heavy affliction to Alfred 
Smee, in the loss of his mother, to whom he was devotedly 
attached, and for whom he held the highest respect and esteem. 
He felt this loss most acutely, and his mind seemed for a time 
quite unable to throw off its sorrow and pursue further scientific 
investigations. At length Dr. Eoupell, the senior physician to 
St. Bartholomew's, persuaded him to write an illustration or key 
to ' Electro-Biology,' whereby the abstract principles of that 
important work could be illustrated by facts, so that it might be 
more readily comprehended by a larger portion of mankind. No 
sooner did my father commence this new work than his wonted 
energy was roused, and he entered with such heart and soul into 
' Instinct and Season ' (for that was the name of the book) that it 
was published in April 1850. 

He did not even commence to write the book till the begin- 

O 

ning of that year, and it is a matter of surprise how such a work, 
full of coloured plates and of various woodcuts, could have been 
got out in such a marvellously short period. 

In the first chapter of ' Instinct and Eeason ' he treats of the 
relation of Mind to Life, in which he makes the comparison 
between man, animals, plants, stones, and pieces of mechanism. 
For an example of animal existence he gives the dog, and shows 
how the volitions of animals are regulated by experience, to prove 
which he gives numerous facts ; and, indeed, I may here observe 
that the great charm of this treatise consists in the most abstruse 
laws of mental action being all made palpably clear to the mind 
by various facts set forth in the form of interesting anecdotes, 
nearly all of which were facts that had come under the range 
of his own observation and experience. After showin^ how the 



CHAP. VI.] ANALYSIS OF ' INSTINCT AND KEASON.' 53 

mind is dependent upon the brain and nervous system, he passes 
on to consider the Organs of Sensation in man and in animals. 
Then pleasure and pain are fully described ; pain being proved 
by abundant illustrations to be absolutely necessary to our 
welfare, and its absence impossible in a material world. The 
fourth chapter is devoted to Memory in Man and Animals. 
Without memory all that ennobles man is destroyed, and he is 
lowered almost to the condition of a plant. Reason in Man and 
Animals is then exemplified. Up to this part of the treatise, it 
has been shown that man, in respect to the powers of mind which 
he possesses, is similar to animals ; and yet we know that man 
far exceeds all living creatures in the faculties of the mind. If 
mankind possessed no further faculties than what have been 
already enumerated, he would be no whit better than the beast ; 
therefore, in the chapter following that on Eeason, those other 
faculties which entitle man to hold the first place in the scale of 
Creation are considered, and so the greatest works of man are 
here set forth as illustrations to prove his superiority over the 
brute beast. Passing from the operations of man, he next treats 
of Instinct. Accordingly, the works of animals, birds, and other 
creatures occupy the greater part of the seventh chapter. Instinct 
is also shown to exist in childhood. This chapter is particularly 
interesting to those possessed of the taste for natural history. 
Beautiful coloured plates illustrating the various and curious 
specimens of bird-nests, wasp-nests, spider-webs, ant-nests, bee- 
hives, and nests of other creatures, form a valuable adjunct to 
this chapter. Then he proceeds to define Intuitive Ideas, and 
shows their influence on mankind. Thence he proceeds to show 
that man has the faculty of expressing his ideas by sounds or 
marks. From words and language he proceeds to compare the 
works of man with the works of Nature, and shows that there is 
a limitation of the works of man. He then passes on to the 
Theory of Instinct and Eeason, devotes a chapter to Eeason and 
Faith, and another to Perverted Eeason. Then he gives a 
chapter to the various Families of Man, and shows that even the 
savages and the lowest types of man possess faculties which give 
to him a superiority over all animals. A great gulf divides the 
mental powers of the lowest type of man from that of animals, 
which can never, he declares, be bridged over. The natural 
Classification of Mankind ends this highly original and interesting 
work on Instinct and Eeason. The illustrations to this book are 
very beautiful : it has ten large coloured plates, and is, besides, 



54 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. 



[CHAP. VI. 



interspersed with numerous woodcuts.* Although the work itself 
is based on such an abstruse subject as mental philosophy is 
generally considered to be, yet it is so interwoven with anec- 
dotes, most of which had come under his own observation, on 
natural history and other subjects, that not only does the book 
afford a forcible illustration to ' Electro-Biology ' and ' The Mind 
of Man,' but it is also admirably suited to be placed in the hands 
of the young ; for by interesting the reader in the investigation 
of Nature, he is led on to discipline the mind, and thereby able 
to seek a knowledge of the laws of Grod, obey the divine will, and 
act rightly to his fellows. I know of no better book for a prize 
at school than is ' Instinct and Keason.' Unfortunately at the 
present moment the work is out of print ; but I hope that a new 
edition may appear, as it would afford a lucid illustration to that 
work which has been based on ' Electro-Biology,' namelv, ' The 
Mind of Man.' f 

In ' Instinct and Reason ' is a description of one of Mr. Smee's 
clever little contrivances, which he called the Hot and Cold 




Fio. 5. Hot and Cold Detector. 

Detector ; " a trifle " which he conceived in order to inform him 
of the temperature of a small hot-house behind his house.} 

* The illustrations for ' Instinct and Reason,' such as the various bird-nests 
and birds, wasp-nests, fossils, minerals, the South Sea Islanders' various im- 
plements, &c., were arranged in a long case which formed one complete side of 
our drawing-room at Finsbury Circus. 

f 'The Mind of Man' was published in 1875, and was written as another 
edition of ' Electro-Biology.' 

| See ' Instinct and Reason/ p. 97. 



CHAP. VI.] THE HOT AND COLD DETECTOR. 55 

Now my plants (lie writes) would be injured if the heat fell below 50 
or rose above 90, and I therefore wished to have some contrivance which 
should inform me in my own study whether the temperature were remain- 
ing or not within these limits. For this pui*pose a thermometer was made 
for me into which two platinum wires were inserted, which came in contact 
respectively with the mercury at those two points (fig. 5). By this con- 
trivance, when the heat either fell below or rose above these two points, 
the mercury and platinum were not in contact, and a voltaic current could 
not be maintained. Telegraphic communications were laid down from 
these two platinum wires to my dwelling-house, and a large pair of zinc 
and copper plates were sunk into the ground for a battery. By attaching 
the wires to a galvanometer we can always ask how the temperature is ; 
and, by attaching an alarum, a gardener might be warned of any accident 
at any time of the night. I must say, that had I the care of so valuable 
a collection of plants as that of Kew, I should never be easy till I had 
such an apparatus in my bed-room to tell me if any of my plants were 
under unfavourable circumstances. 

This hot and cold detector was also modified and used under 
other circumstances than telling the temperature of a hot-house. 
Many years ago Mr. Smee's father had a cottage at Clapton, on the 
banks of the river Lea. The garden abounded with fruit, which the 
boys in the neighbourhood were only too glad to avail themselves 
of generally choosing the time for their thefts when the family 
were at dinner. Now one day my father attached fine thread to 
the wires of the battery, in such a manner that as soon as the 
boys were fairly in the garden they must insensibly move one of 
these threads. Immediately down went the alarum in the house, 
out ran my father, followed by his brothers and by his brother-in- 
law. The boys, surprised in the very act of taking the fruit, were 
soundly thrashed, and one of them having a squint was marched 
off into the house by my father, and then and there had to submit 
to the operation of having it cut. I am afraid that boy's ideas of 
right and wrong must have been from henceforth rather confusing. 
He had done wrong, for the effect of which he immediately 
derived benefit, which he would not have derived had he done 
what was right and had kept out of the garden. Let us hope, how- 
ever, that he possessed a contented mind, and that he went not forth 
again to steal fruit, in order to derive further benefits therefrom. 

The beginning of 1851 found Mr. Smee re-writing and bring- 
ing out in an enlarged form a third edition of ' Electro-Metal- 
lurgy.' This was followed in the month of March by a short 
treatise from his pen on ' Process of Thought,' which contains a 
lengthy description of the Kelational and Differential Machines.* 

* Woodcuts and explanations of the relational and differential machines are 
to be found iu the ' Miud of Man,' pp. 94, 100. 



56 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 

As this treatise has since been incorporated in his last work, 
' The Mind of Man,' I refer the reader to that book for further 
information on the subject. 

In May he became one of the jurors to that most interesting 
of all exhibitions the one held in Hyde Park. 

Between the months of May and of September he wrote 
several long and interesting articles for the ' Illustrated London 
News,' on various articles exhibited in the Exhibition. Amongst 
these' may be mentioned 'On the Origin of the Forces which 
have been employed in the Manufacture of the Articles exhibited,' 
which appeared in that journal on the 10th of May, 1851, as well 
as another article, ' On the Application of Electricity.' On the 
17th of May that journal contained the following articles from 
his pen : ' Light and its Applications ;' ' Electricity ' (Supple- 
mental Notice); 'Dumas's Expanding Model of a Man.' On 
May 24th, ' Heat and its Application.' On June 7th, ' Mechanical 
Force.' On June 14th, 'The Food of Man.' On June 21st, 
'Ibbetson's Castings.' On July 5th, ' Chemitypy, Stylegraphy, 
and Galvanography ; ' ' Microscopical Preparations ; ' ' Food of 
Man' (No. 2); 'Philosophical Instruments.' On July 19th, 
' Food of Man ' (No. 3). On August 2nd, ' Wardian Cases.' On 
August 9th, ' Surgical Instruments.' 

Besides these long articles in the ' Illustrated London News,' 
there are long articles on ' Electricity,' ' Electro-Metallurgy,' and 
other matters, in the ' Morning Chronicle ' for the 15th and 31st 
of May. 

The following extracts from the article in the ' Illustrated 
London News ' on Wardian Cases is here quoted, as it may 
interest those who are fond of plants, and who are obliged to 
dwell in a smoky town, to know which can be grown under such 
adverse circumstances. 

In London (says he) but very few plants will thrive. The Oriental plane 
rears its head in the heart of the city, in Cheapside, and forms a stately tree. 
Russell Square and Guildford Street exhibit also noble specimens of this 
beautiful tree ; yet by coming into leaf late, and shedding its foliage early, 
it is not so susceptible of those influences which injure other plants. The 
lime-tree will also partially flourish ; and in the very centre of the Bank 
two noble and ancient limes shade the parlour from the scorching sun of 
summer, and yearly cast forth delicious perfume from abundant flowers. 
With these exceptions, flowers and vegetable structures can scarce be 
cultivated in London, except with the aid of a Ward's case. Residing in 
the very centre of the metropolis, we now write with two beautiful Ward's 
cases before us, which exhibit the most luxuriant foliage. In these cases 
we have at this moment the beautiful wax-plant, or Hoya carnosa, in 



CHAP. VI.] WARDIAN CASES. 57 

abundant flower. "We have recently introduced the newly -imported and 
lovely Hoya bella, which is also now in flower ; and the odoriferous Francisco, 
Hopeana is always ready to refresh us by its scent on opening the door of 
the case. We have five species of Lycopodia, which gratify the eye by 
their luxuriant green ; and no less than fifteen or sixteen species of exotic 
ferns gladden the eye by their charming forms, their verdant foliage, and 
luxuriant appearance. The leaves of the Maranta bicolor, never soiled by 
wet, are of surpassing beauty; and several species of Achomenes are 
rapidly growing, to display their brilliant colours in the latter part of 
summer. Many of our plants have been in their present situation for 
ten years, and so the delight which we have had in the observation and 
cultivation of them in the Wardian case makes us look with increased 
interest upon those first examples of construction which Mr. Ward has 
contributed to the Exhibition. 

We take this opportunity of calling attention to the Wardian cases, 
because, much as their use has increased, still they are not nearly so much 
employed in large towns as they ought to be. The cultivation of plants is 
an occupation delightful in itself, and one that is calculated to afford 
intense pleasure to those who follow the amusement. In that gloomy 
prison of Pentonville, where the inmates are not allowed from their cell to 
see a passing cloud, it is recorded that the only pleasure which a prisoner 
could find was to watch from day to day the growth and flowering of a 
few pieces of grass, shepherd's purse, chickweed, and groundsel, when he 
took his daily airing in the little space allotted to his walk. Every London 
child should have his Wardian case, if on ever so small a scale. The love 
of the cultivation of plants would grow with the knowledge of their per- 
fection, and the mind would be led insensibly by the true and natural 
process of thought from a study of Nature's works to the contemplation 
of Nature's G-od. 

And the following account taken from ' Instinct and Eeason ' 
will further show my father's observation on this question. 

In this vast metropolis so much poisonous gas and smoke is exhaled 
from the chimneys of the thousands of houses and manufactories here 
accumulated together, that the sulphurous acid poisons the plants, and the 
absence of light is fatal. Under such circumstances, horticulture seems 
futile ; and yet, when I say that, despite these difficulties, I have now, in 
the middle of January, lilacs, azaleas, an oncidium, and an epidendrum, in 
full bloom, it must be acknowledged that even here plants may be grown 
not altogether in vain, although in less perfection than in the horticultural 
gardens surrounding London. 

As far as appertains to the foul sulphurous acid and smoke, Ward has 
taught us that by simply covering the plants with a glass shade, they may 
be effectually grown. In my dining-room I have had two of these cases 
for nine years ; and the plants which I first purchased from Loddige's are 
still alive. In fact, the luxuriance of their growth is so great, that I am 
periodically compelled to remove large quantities of the plants. Besides 
ferns, I attempt the growth of a few flowering plants. I commence with 
crocuses ; I go on with hyacinths, and an occasional tulip or narcissus. 
Later in the year the common cereus is generally covered with flowers, 
affording a gorgeous display. However, this plant generally blooms itself 



58 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 

to death. In July, my Hoya carnosa, or wax-plant, gives rise to a dozen 
or a dozen and a half of fine flowers ; and I am now venturing to try the 
charming Stephanotis floribunda. During the fall of the year I obtain a 
fine display of Achomenes, and my ferns and Lycopodiums form an elegant 
green covering all the year.* 

Now, from observation and experiment, I think I can communicate 
a great secret as to the plants which will do well in a London atmosphere ; 
for I find that the tropical plants, as a general rule, flourish nearly as 
well as in the country. We read that the lights of tropical countries are 
apt to be yellow, like the dismal yellow lights of London. Palms, bananas, 
and many plants of this description will thrive. 

Some orchids, although they do not like the sun, require much light, 
and they do not thrive, though others may be grown satisfactorily. 

I have lately constructed a portable hot-house which can be heated 
by a candle, oil, or coal-gas. The one which I have is like a "Ward's case, 
but has a compartment to hold water at the bottom, through which is 
inserted a copper tube, to carry the heated air and warm the water. 
I hope to be enabled, by this contrivance, to obtain the more beautiful 
orchids and tropical plants in ordinary dwelling-rooms ; and I question, 
if I can fully succeed, whether the largest conservatory in the most 
extensive orchideous house, when cultivated by the hired gardener, can 
give half as much pleasure as this little portable hot-house. 

My father also, assisted only by a lad, constructed a green- 
house at the bottom of a narrow strip of ground at the back 
of his residence in Finsbury Circus. This house he heated by 
pipes, and in it he grew many varieties of tropical plants. The 
sugar-cane here throve. Besides, he had a tank in it with 
hot -house water-plants, and which also" contained gold-fish. 
These gold-fish knew their master, and it was most amusing to 
see them come to the water's surface when he whistled, and take 
the morsels of bread from his hand. In ' Instinct and Season ' 
he gives an interesting account of the breeding of gold-fish in 
this tank in the hot-house at the bottom of his garden. He 
afterwards converted the hot-house into a green-house, where 
all the British ferns were to be found growing in the greatest 
luxuriance. Amidst my father's numerous avocations he always 
found time to attend to his beloved green-house, and even to paint 
it whenever it was required. How well do I remember the times 
of painting the green-house, what fun it was, and what trouble 

* Se e ' Instinct and Reason,' p. 131. In the obituary notice of Alfred 
bmee in the Gardeners' Chronicle,' January 27th, 1877, we read 

" Many years ago the fern-cases in his dwelling-house in Finsbury Circus 
were as remarkable, and attracted almost as much attention, as those of the late 

*?' yft < Wnter of these Iines wel1 remembers the time when he was 
the habit of passing and repassing the windows in Finsbury Circus, with the 
sole object ot ascertaining what were the species that throve under such dis- 
advantageous circumstances." 



CHAP. VI.] VISIT TO PAKIS LOVE OF FISHING. 59 

we children got into afterwards with the higher powers of the 
nursery ! 

On the llth of September, 1851, Mr. Smee gave the opening 
lecture of the session at the Newbury Literary Institution, ' On 
the Eesults of the Great Exhibition ;' and later on, the 8th of 
November, he had the melancholy satisfaction of writing in the 
'Illustrated London News' the memoir of his much-lamented 
friend William Wyon, E.A., the chief engraver to the Mint, 
whose numerous medals of high artistic worth have given the 
name of Wyon a wide celebrity. 

On the 25th of November Mr. Smee delivered a lecture be- 
fore the Bank of England Literary Association, on Instinct and 
Eeason. 

During the early part of the summer of 1851 there was a 
reunion of English savants at Paris, under the auspices of 
Napoleon III., then President. This occasion was the first visit 
of my father and mother to Paris, and it was the first holiday of 
more than a day's duration that my father had since 1845. He 
used, however, to take at times a day's holiday, and spend a few 
hours at a favourite pastime fishing : for my father was a keen 
fisherman, and as his love of and skill in angling were well 
known among many, he had always abundant orders and invita- 
tions to fish in some choice spot or other. Jack-fishing was a 
favourite sport of his, and in his dining-room was a very noble 
specimen of that ferocious fish. Its form is perfect; it weighed 
twenty-two pounds, and was killed by a small hook. To hear 
my father describe the landing of this fish, one could fancy one 
was listening to a page of Izaak Walton. But my father did 
not disdain other kinds of fishing. He would sit in a punt on 
the river for hours, angling for any fish that would come to his 
hook. 

In such times the scenery of the river, the singing of the 
birds, afforded him ample enjoyment, and his overworked brain 
found rest and solace in the charms of Nature. He knew the note 
of almost every bird, and loved to teach the different songs of 
the songsters to his children. In trout-fishing he was an adept. 
During the summer months my grandfather used to take a house 
for himself and for us in the country, at such a distance from 
London that he and my father could daily attend their businesses 
in London, and thence return in the cool of the evening and enjoy 
the quiet solitude of a country life. Somehow or other our country 



(JO MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 

house was generally situated near a river, and so my father in the 
cool summer evenings had frequent opportunities of exercising 
his skill in fishing. At these times he was generally surrounded 
by his family. My grandfather, too, frequently mingled in our 
sports ; and when the latter caught a fish, how speedily did the 
length of the fish increase until it grew to a wonderful size ! 
But in fishing, as in other things, my father generally won the 
laurels: but what fun it was for the domestic circle each to 
contend for our places as skilful fishermen, none can appreciate 
but those who have tried their hand in the art ! The distinguished 
chemist and investigator Professor Graham (former Master of the 
Mint) had similar tastes to my father. How amusing it was 
to spectators to hear them intermingling their conversations on 
abstruse chemical and philosophical theories with their theories 
on the art of fishing ! 

On Sundays my father used with his family to be a regular 
attendant at the morning service at St. Paul's Cathedral. In 
various parts of this work it has been shown that one of the 
great peculiarities of Alfred Smee's mind was that it belonged 
to that class (Pneuma-Noemic) which is particularly capable 
of appreciating spiritual qualities. He was ever labouring to 
demonstrate that religion and reason were not discordant. 
After my father had fulfilled the duties of attending a service 
at a place of worship, he would then with his family betake 
himself into the country, and there investigate Nature, and, 
contemplating the Author of all things, would rejoice in the 
works of the Almighty, and sing in his heart, Glory be to God 
most High ! 

Although the following anecdote is perhaps unconnected 
with my present subject, yet it is so typical of the minds of 
the two men Faraday and Alfred Smee, both electricians, and 
both possessing a fervent and deep-rooted religion, though each 
of his own kind that it may not be out of place to mention 
it here. It was on one Sunday morning, now many years ago, 
as my father and myself were going to attend the 10 o'clock 
morning service at St. Paul's Cathedral, that we met Faraday 
close to the General Post Ofiice. He was hurrying to the San- 
demanian Chapel, not far from St. Martin's-le-Grand, where he 
was wont to preach. He stopped us, and after a few words of 
conversation suddenly inquired where we were going to at that 
early hour in the morning. "To St. Paul's," was the reply. 



CHAP. VI.] A BELIE VEE IN PEAYER. 61 

"Is there anything particular going on there, then?" exclaimed 
Faraday, in a hurried manner. "Nothing particular," said my 
father, " only the ordinary morning service." " Ah ! " replied 
Faraday, " we are then all three hound for the one great ohject." 
The fervent manner in which he uttered the last few words made 
a great impression upon us. I never hear the name of Faraday 
mentioned without seeing him as I saw him then, his fine intel- 
ligent face lit up with reverence and devotion. 

Alfred Smee was a firm believer of the power of prayer, as we 
find in the following lines : 

Some men learned in many sciences Lave called in question the effi- 
cacy of prayer to alter the natural course of events. These men argue that, 
because God governs the world by immutable laws, He heeds not prayer. 
Experience shows that the direct course of the affairs of the universe 
is not interrupted by prayer : the sun never reversed its course in con- 
sequence of prayer ; nor did any person rise, contrary to gravity, from one 
floor to another by praying. But a study of the human mind indicates 
that in all human actions prayers have great effect in governing men's 
actions, and leading to results. When a man prays with earnestness and 
sincerity, it affects his whole mind, and all his actions are directed to 
obtain the result for which he prays. When many men pray for one 
object, the purpose of many persons is directed to one end, and all con- 
tinue in heart and will to obtain the desired object. 

The influence of prayer on human actions, if tested by experience, will 
be found to be immense. In producing resignation, and in confirming 
action, its power is great, although its influence to control the laws of the 
universe is void, and of no effect.* 

In 'Instinct andKeason' is the following illustration, showing 
the power of prayer over the actions of man, during the great 
trial of the year 1849 : 

During the prevalence of cholera in the infected districts, neither 
writing, nor talking, nor preaching, could cause the inhabitants to rouse 
themselves and prepare to endeavour to ward off death from their habita- 
tions. At length, however, when Death had extensively accomplished his 
work, men were afraid, and in some parishes they even sacrificed a week- 
day's profit to pray that the malady might be stayed. To their prayers 
and supplications they added all their endeavours to stop the pestilence : 
they subscribed for the poor ; they provided attendance, remedies, and 
visitations ; and immediately the effect was felt, and the disease was lessened. 
The people saw the necessity of acting vigorously and decidedly according 
to the laws of the attack of the malady, which were, in fact, the laws of 
God; thus their prayers were instantaneously followed by more or less 
beneficial results, f 



See ' Mind of Man,' p. 128. f See ' Instinct and Treason,' p. 226. 



62 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VI. 

The following prayer was written by himself when he was a 
young man : 

Most gracious God, the beneficent Author of every good thing, we bless 
Thee for all Thy mercies bestowed upon us. "We magnify Thee for our 
creation, preservation, and existence. We truly thank Thee for Thy goodness 
in granting us senses, intellect, and inclination to love and enjoy Thy noble 
works. "We render Thee our sacrifice of praise for food, clothing, and 
habitation. We worship Thee for warding off dangers and averting afflic- 
tions. We glorify Thee for the peace and happiness conferred upon us. 
We heartily adore Thee for averting death and promising us everlasting 
life through our Saviour Jesus Christ; and finally, we acknowledge Thee 
the only true God, Father Almighty, to whom all blessing, praise, love, 
worship, and adoration are due from everlasting to everlasting. 



CHAI-. VII. 1 BINOCULAK PERSPECTIVE. 63 



CHAPTEE VII. 

1854 TO 1858. 

Second edition of 'The Eye' Binocular Perspective Soiree at which ladies 
were first present Lecture on Education at London Institution Originator 
of educational lectures at the London Institution Alfred Smee originates and 
establishes a new form of printing the Bank of England notes Decimal 
coinage Lecture on Monogenesis of Physical Forces Visit to Paris Eclipse 
of the sun ; experiments at Blisworth Loses his father. 

IN the beginning of 1854 Alfred Smee brought out another edition 
of ' The Eye.' This edition contained a long account of his inves- 
tigations on Binocular Perspective, which will be found in the 
Appendix, No. XIX. It will be sufficient, therefore, to notice here 
that Mr. Smee possessed several paintings executed purposely for 
him in this Binocular Perspective system, by the late Mr. Price 
of the Bank of England. Mr. Smee had also many photographs 
taken for him by the moving camera. These photographs were 
shown by my father to the late lamented Prince Consort, who 
was considerably interested in the system, and compared these 
delicately shaded photographs to the soft tones of Eembrandt. 
In June of the same year these paintings and photographs, illus- 
trating the system of Binocular Perspective, were shown at a 
large soiree held at Mr. Smee's residence in Finsbury Circus. 
I believe this was the first time that ladies were present at a 
reunion hitherto only resorted to by distinguished members of 
the sterner sex. 

Mr. Smee further devoted much attention to the system of 
education, which he not only considered to be in a deficient state, 
but too frequently based on a wrong principle. He contended 
that in youth the observation and registration of facts should 
be carefully cultivated and practised, and upheld the system in 
Germany, " where the youths are taken out in the country to be 
shown the flowers and plants, the rocks and stones and soils, so 



64 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VII. 

as to acquire rudimentary botanical knowledge, as well as a 
knowledge of mineralogy and geology. Accurate ' Syndramic ' 
knowledge is a department of education which requires cultiva- 
tion in England."* Mr. Smee was ever from the first a consis- 
tent and strong opponent of the present system of " cramming," 
and of competitive examination, both of which he contended 
materially injured the functions of the brain, and thereby les- 
sened the mental faculties of man. In the Appendix, No. XX., 
is a long letter on education from Mr. Smee's pen addressed to 
the Committee of Industrial Instruction in London. For his 
further views on education I must refer the reader to the chapter 
on that subject in ' The Mind of Man.' 

So firmly was Alfred Smee's mind bent upon endeavouring to 
improve the education of the youths of the city of London, that 
through his means he induced his co-managers of the London 
Institution to allow educational lectures to be given two after- 
noons every week in the lecture-room, on astronomy, botany, 
chemistry, geology, and zoology. They were delivered by 
eminent professors. At first his brother managers tried to laugh 
my father out of the idea. I remember one of them saying in my 
presence, " Smee, whatever are you thinking of now ? Just as if a 
parcel of children could understand or care about lectures." One 
of the parcel of children that heard this remark was considerably 
offended, I remember, and it was a long time before the writer of 
this entertained friendly feelings towards that gentleman. 

But my father pressed the matter, and the managers con- 
sented to try the experiment. The first lecture of the first course 
of educational lectures at the London Institution was delivered 
by Alfred Smee on the afternoon of Saturday, October the 14th, 
1854. The object of this lecture was to set forth the objects and 
advantages of educational lectures, and it was based on his 
" natural system of mental philosophy." The lecture-table and 
space around was covered with apparatus for experiments. The 
children were delighted and learnt much ; the adults were 
delighted, and also found that tney had much to learn. The 
success of the various educational lectures was greater than 
even my father had anticipated. For myself, I shall never 
cease to think of those years during which I regularly attended 
those lectures without grateful feelings for the units of know- 
ledge which I thereby acquired, and regret only that I was not 
more diligent in taking advantage of such golden opportunities. 
* See chapter v. on Education, in ' Mind of Man,' p. 34. 



CHAP. VII.] A NEW MODE OF PRINTING BANK-NOTES. 65 

The lecture is to be found in its place in the Appendix, 
No. XXI. 

For some time past a considerable part of Alfred Smee's time 
had been devoted to arranging a new mode of printing the Bank of 
England notes, which he at last succeeded in effecting with the 
assistance of Mr. Hensman, the engineer to the Bank of England, 
and Mr. Coe, the superintendent of the printing department to 
that establishment, after enormous labour, and after having to 
surmount innumerable difficulties. A full description of the 
process will be found in the Appendix, No. XXII., in a paper ' On 
the New Bank of England Note and the Substitution of Surface 
Printing and Electrotypes for Copper-plate Printing,' which was 
read before the Society of Arts on the 22nd of December, 1854. 

Previously to the establishment of this new form of printing 
the bank-notes by Alfred Smee, the Bank authorities had been 
thrown into a state of alarm by discovering that some ingenious 
persons had succeeded in splitting the old form of note so that 
two notes were obtained in the place of one. The matter was 
brought before Alfred Smee, and he soon found that, with a 
little practice, it was by no means so difficult a process as at first 
would appear. By the new form of Bank of England note this 
" splitting " of it could not be effected. 

There was some talk in 1856 about introducing into this 
country the decimal coinage, and the two following letters will 
show the interest Mr. Smee took in the subject. 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE DECIMAL COINAGE. 
To the Editor of the Society of Arts' Journal. 

SIR, Permit me to occupy a, short space in the Journal to detail a 
practical plan for introducing decimal coins into our monetary system. 

The difficulty which has to be encountered arises from our penny, 
which, as the -^^ part of a pound, cannot be converted into a decimal 
fraction ; and unless some system be adopted, by which our present coins 
shall bear a definite relation to decimal coins, decimals must remain a 
bugbear to the million, and their use be unpopular if not almost impossible 
in practice. 

The thought which has occurred to my mind is, to construct our 
decimal and present systems in definite relations, which shall be evident 
to the mind through the medium of the senses, so that, on throwing 
two masses of coins upon the table, they may be either sorted into the 
decimal or ordinary systems, and one may be rendered exactly equal to 
the other. 

The decimal coinage might consist of the Pound, the Florin, the 
Decat, and the Mil. 

F 



66 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VII. 

The penny, however, cannot possibly bear any relation to decimal 
coinage, and we cannot afford to neglect the consideration of this coin, as 
probably more than 2000 tons, and possibly as much as 6000 tons of copper, 
are in circulation over the country. 

To meet this difficulty a set of small copper coins should be issued, 
called the mite, half -mite, and quarter-mite, the mite bearing the value of 
the i of a mil. A penny would be equal to four mils and one mite, the 
halfpenny to two mils and half a mite, and the farthing to one mil and a 
quarter-mite. 

By the conversion of our present money into mites, the untaught could 
always tangibly satisfy themselves of their mutual relations, and they 
would find that, by dividing the number of mites by six, the result would 
represent decimal coins. 

This mode of dealing with the question, which is applicable to weights 
and measures, as well as money, has been forced upon my mind upon 
psychological grounds, based upon the properties of matter on the one hand, 
and on the powers of the mind on the other. In support of it, I would 
refer to the statement of Mr. Bidder, the great mental calculator, who tells 
us that he satisfied himself of the properties of numbers through the 
medium of the senses, as he made the multiplication table for himself, by 
grouping sets of objects and counting them, thus demonstrating to his 
own mind, that the multiplication table was an absolute fact of universal 
application. I remain, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

7, FlNSBURY CIRCUS, ALFRED SlUEE. 

June 10th, 1856. 

RELATION BETWEEN DECIMAL COINS AND WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

SIR, The serious objections which exist against the adaptation of 
decimal coins to our currency again must be pleaded as a reason for 
my addressing the Journal, to point out the practical manner by which 
they may be probably introduced with least injury, and be rendered suffi- 
ciently attractive for the mass of people to desire their adoption. 

In my last letter I recommended for practical use the additional issue 
of the -jL of a florin, and the -^ of a florin, with the superaddition, for 
adjustment, of little coins of the value of the of the ^ of a florin, the 
5^ and the -fa of the same, to be called respectively mites, half -mites, and 
quarter-mites. 

Without unnecessarily occupying space in your Journal with abstract 
views on this question, which I have fully considered in my ' Sources of 
Physical Science,' I have here to propose that the new coins be brought 
into relation with our weights and measures, so that, tens of centuries 
hence, upon the discovery of these coins, a near approximation may be 
obtained of the standards of value, length, weight, and capacity used in 
our times. 

The decat or ^ of a florin might represent also the & of a pound of 
avoirdupois, the ^ of a foot, the ^ of the ^ of the weight of an imperial 
gallon of water, and the J of the ^ of tbe bulk of an imperial pint. 

To accomplish this object the decat must weigh 700 grains be the 
Jjj of a foot in diameter, and the metal must either have a specific 'oravity 



CHAP. VII.] LETTEK ON DECIMAL COINAGE. 67 

of 8'75, or, if copper, have its rim raised to compensate the excess of spe- 
cific gravity, which is from 8'8 to 8'9. 

The mil might represent the ^ of the T ^ of a pound avoirdupois, 
and be 5 inch diameter. 

The mite should weigh 10 grains, the half-mite 6 grains, and the 
quarter-mite 1 grain, which would be useful weights for chemists and 
other dealers in small quantities of matter, and thus coins would be 
brought into relation with apothecaries' and troy weights. 

As this letter is merely suggestive, I do not think it necessary to enter 
minutely into all the practical results which would be attained by the 
above system. It is manifest, however, that it would give a basis of a 
decimal division of value, weight, length, and bulk, and at the same time 
afford a material relation between the decimal division and the other 
modes of division now in use. 

If the principle be adopted, the nomenclature would have to be care- 
fully reconsidered ; and it appears to me, whether we consider value, 
breadth, surface, weight, or capacity, from five to ten of the decimal 
divisions should have definite words assigned to them. At first we should 
have both systems in operation at once, but by degrees, hereafter, all 
divisions not found to be practically convenient might be gradually 
withdrawn. I remain, Sir, 

Tour obedient servant, 
BANK OF ENGLAND, ALFRED SMEE. 

June 28th, 1856. 

A very interesting lecture was delivered by Mr. Smee on the 
18th of February, 1857, at the London Institution, on the Mono- 
genesis of Physical Forces. This lecture is a connecting link 
between 'Electro-Metallurgy,' 'Sources of Physics,' 'Electro- 
Biology,' and later ' The Mind of Man.' The lecture itself will 
be found in the Appendix, No. XXIII. 

In the autumn of this year my brother fell ill, and an entire 
change of air and scene was considered necessary for him. We 
were taken to Paris. It was our first visit to the Continent. 
During our stay there my father had the greatest possible delight 
in taking my brother and myself to see all the sights of Paris : 
he never wearied. One of our favourite amusements used to be 
to go into the Tuileries Gardens and take part of our breakfast 
roll and feed the wild pigeons who used to eat out of our hands, 
and the sparrows who used to hover about in the air before us 
and catch the morsels of bread we threw up to them. 

The following spring there was a total eclipse of the sun. 
The astronomical savants nocked, on the 17th of March, 1858, 
to Blisworth in Buckinghamshire, that being considered the best 
spot to observe the phenomenon. We that is to say, my father 
and mother, my brother and myself also betook ourselves 

F 2 



68 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VII. 

thither, for my father had a great desire to try the effects of 
his photometer.* We were located for the day in a stiff clay 
ploughed field rendered extra stiff and disagreeable for quick 
locomotion by some continued rains previously. There was a 
hut hard by at which the savants and the ladies of their party 
retired to warm themselves and refresh the inner man, when 
their presence was not required for observing the great natural 
phenomenon. There were some amusing accounts of these savants 
and of the eclipse sight-seers in some of the journals of the time, 
especially in the local papers. 

It came on to rain, and at the end of the day we all left that 
ploughed clay field, thankful that we could get out of it : yet most, 
if not all, felt that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and 
had lived a day to be remembered always with delight. The 
results of my father's experiments with his photometer were 
published in the ' Times,' the ' Morning Chronicle,' and some other 
papers. For his letter to the ' Morning Chronicle,' with the 
drawing and description of the photometer, see the Appendix, 
No. XXIV. 

A brilliant comet followed this total eclipse of the sun, and 
later, in the middle of November, my grandfather died, just nine 
years and one day after the death of his wife. As 1849, so 
did 1858 both eventful years in physical phenomena close 
in sorrow to Alfred Smee. 

* See p. 39. 



CHAP. VIII.] BOOK ON DEBILITY. 69 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

1859 TO 1863. 

Sixth book, on 'Debility and Defective Nutrition' Switzerland Making of 
garden at Wallington Hot-water pipes Croydon Local Board Injunctions 
against Pre-existing sewage Spoliation of Finsbury Circus Trees on the 
Embankment Comet, July 1st, 1861 Pisciculture Anonymous pamphlet, 
entitled ' Reasons for not hanging Garrotters and Burglars ' Oratorians 
Extortion and intimidation of the superior Law Courts. 

THE oration of the Hunterian Society was delivered on the 
9th of February, 1859, by Alfred Smee, one of the fellows of that 
society. The subject chosen by him was ' Debility and Defective 
Nutrition : their Causes, Consequences, and Treatment.' The 
oration was published in a small volume consisting of about ninety 
pages, which are divided into six chapters. In the first chapter 
his views on the structure of man, and the proper nutrition 
required for the use of the body, are detailed. In the second the 
varieties and symptoms of debility are given. He shows that de- 
bility is often mistaken for disease or incubation of disease, and 
he dwells on capricious appetite, by which a person in affluence 
may, amidst the greatest delicacies which a skilful cook can pre- 
pare, yet not take sufficient food to sustain nature. He then 
shows the various causes of debility. He also treats of excess in 
drink, and shows how the frame of the drunkard is debilitated 
throughout, until he is prematurely cut off by one or other of 
the maladies attendant on debility. " If the career of a drunkard 
be watched, it is astonishing how soon he passes away, as if the 
voice of Nature exclaimed, 'Cut it down; why cumbers it the 
ground ? ' " 

My father was always an extremely sober man, and had a 
great horror of, and indeed disgust for, spirit-drinkers. He never 
took spirits himself, and even within a few days of his death 



70 MEMOIE OF ALFKED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

would constantly refuse even small quantities of brandy. When- 
ever he saw an inclination in any person to spirits, he would 
warn them in the most solemn manner of the danger they were 
thereby incurring. He considered spirits ought to be used only 
as a medicine, and then only when ordered by the doctor. 

In speaking of Alfred Smee being a sober man, I may here 
add that he never took wine excepting at dinner, and sometimes 
at his luncheon. He considered the taking of a glass of wine, 
with or without a biscuit, as being most destructive to the 
digestive organs. 

Opium-eating, smoking, and other causes for debility are also 
examined in the above treatise. The fourth chapter is devoted 
to the consequences of debility, the fifth to its treatment, and the 
relation of debility to different periods is given in the sixth and 
last chapter. 

There is an interesting appendix to this little work, in which 
is given the chemical composition of various substances of food, 
&c., as well as a table showing the solid constituents in one 
gallon of water supplied to towns, which was compiled for him 
by Professor Attfield, F.C.S., Chemist to the Pharmaceutical 
Society. This little book has had a good sale a second edi- 
tion was issued in 1862 and it is a serviceable little book for 
families to possess, for much practical and useful information 
concerning one's every-day life may be obtained from it. 

In August 1859, my father went with his wife and his two 
children to Switzerland, and enjoyed for a month the grand and 
sublime scenery which that country affords. A dreadful accident, 
attended by loss of life, had occurred at Zermatt the day previous 
to our arrival there, which occasioned some letters to the ' Times ' 
on the bad organization of the guides at that place. Among 
these letters is an anonymous one on the 16th of September, 
1859, from the pen of Alfred Smee. Before leaving this sub- 
ject I will here merely add that, during this visit to Switzer- 
land, my father amused himself by taking many observations 
with his photometer, the description of which will be found in 
his letter on the Eclipse of the Sun in 1858, No. XXIV. of the 
Appendix. 

During this visit the natural flower-garden of the valley of 
Zermatt was robbed of many of its choicest specimens, to be trans- 
ferred to that garden near London which has now become of world- 
wide repute. 

The trout-fishery of the Wandle was what first attracted 



CHAP. VIII.] MAKING OF GAKDEN AT WALLINGTON. 71 

my father's attention to Wallington. Already, in 1858, he had 
rented that fishery, and a little later obtained a narrow strip 
of land, where he grew a few peas, beans, &c. At that time 
what is now " my garden " was a barren field, which it was 
impossible to walk across without sinking above your knees in 
water. A few willows divided the field almost midway, and along 
the side of the road it was skirted by tall elms, and a little thicket 
of trees in Beddington Park enclosed it on another side. This 
field, this waste land, the soil of which was singularly devoid of 
vegetative qualities, Alfred Smee converted into an experimental 
garden where there is grown the largest collection of fruit-trees 
and other species of plants of any private collection in Europe, 
for the description of which I must refer the reader to his great 
work, ' My Garden.' The forming of this garden, and the experi- 
ments he there carried on for the cultivation of various plants, 
were ever the recreation of my father from his multifarious mental 
labours and anxieties of life. The objects of this garden are seen 
in my father's dedication " In Lucem, Lucrum, Ludum." The 
dedication of a garden is new in England, yet in Italy it fre- 
quently occurs, and it was from the latter country that my 
father borrowed the idea. From the year 1859, most of the 
Saturdays were spent in this garden, among his beloved plants, 
and here he would throw off all cares, and show in a remarkable 
way how his genius was not to be confined in one path. In the 
memoir of him in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' * we read that this 
garden 

contains something of everything. Though the surface is flat, landscape 
effects and artistic surprises are numerous. The visitor passes in a 
moment from a bold bit of lake scenery to a tiny fern-clad ravine, through 
which meanders a crystal stream, laving as it goes a host of lovely bog- 
plants. A turn, and the visitor is in a rose-garden, or admiring a choice 
collection of alpines. Now long shady walks invite attention; now the 
treasures of the herbaceous border attract notice. Nor j.s the more 
utilitarian part of gardening omitted : on the contrary, it is in places 
somewhat too obtrusively prominent. Be this as it may, the collection 
of vegetables, and specially of fruit-trees, is very remarkable. No mere 
amateur's collection within our experience rivals this one in extent and 
variety. As to the houses and garden structures, they are numerous and 
efficient. They have no architectural pretensions ; indeed, one object of the 
proprietor was to show how, at a comparatively very slight expense, men 
of very moderate means might enjoy the pleasures and luxuries of a green- 
house, a fernery, a stove, or a vinery. Mr. Smee's " poor man's houses " 



See ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' January 27th, 1877. 



72 MEMOIR OF ALFKED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

exactly realize this ideal. They are sufficient to give profit, pleasure, nay, 
luxury, to the mere labourer. Of course it is not to be expected that the 
keepin^ or the condition of the houses, or of the plants in them, would 
satisfy a head-gardener on a ducal estate ; but from the point of view of the 
proprietor they are all that could be desired or expected, and relatively to 
the outlay we should not be surprised if the produce were larger, as the 
pleasure to the proprietor was certainly greater, than in establishments of 
greater pretensions. Insects, fishes, birds, fossils, nothing came amiss to 
the hospitable proprietor of this garden. How keen his interest, how 
great his delight in these matters, is evidenced in his work, ' My Garden,' 
reviewed in these pages at the time of publication. 

What happy days were those to us those which were bestowed 
on the laying out of that garden ! From a narrow strip of land came 
a little more under cultivation, then a little more, until the whole 
plot of ground consisted of nearly eight acres of land and water. 
Well shall I ever remember how we looked forward to the Satur- 
days, on which days my brother and myself had always a holiday, 
and when we two with my father betook ourselves to Walling- 
ton, my mother joining us in the afternoon. Well shall I ever 
remember the excitement of the Friday evenings, fearing lest we 
might not awake betimes on the morrow, and thereby miss getting 
to the embryo garden by the dawn of day. And the planting of 
trees, the forming of the bowers, the walks, the constructing of the 
glass houses, the bridges and other works of the like kind, which 
must necessarily interest children who had from their earliest 
years imbibed a love of Nature ! for who could live with Alfred 
Smee without becoming a votary to her shrine ? The entertain- 
ments which my father and mother gave during the summer 
months, commencing on the 1st of May, the first day of trout- 
fishing, at " my garden " at Wallington, will long be remem- 
bered by the hundreds who not only enjoyed their hospitality, 
but who were benefited by the botanical knowledge obtained 
therein, whereby many had awakened in them a keener appre- 
ciation of Nature's works. The ' Gardeners' Magazine ' for the 
4th of July, 1868, contains an interesting description of one of 
these Saturday reunions. Many friends have told us how from 
year to year they have looked forward to spend some Saturdays 
with Mr. Smee in his garden. 

In an anonymous little pamphlet in which one of the members 
of the B's * amused himself by portraying in verses some of the 

* The B's is a club composed of some of the leading chemists of the day. 
They call themselves B's because the department for chemistry was grouped in B 
section at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 



CHAP. VIII.] CEOYDON LOCAL BOARD. 73 

leading characters of his chemical brothers, my father is hit off 
in these few witty lines : 

" Sinee, the vivacious, who, as chance may wish, 
Invents a battery, or hooks a fish, 
Famous in both exploits as well can be 
(An old inhabitant of Finsbury) 
The welkin rings with his ecstatic shout 
"When from the stream he lands the spotted trout ; 
Now wrapt in science, then a thought will strike 
His varied mind, and straight he trolls for pike ; 
Or, at that pleasant spot in Surrey, shares 
A market-gardener's spoils without his cares 
Grapes, nectarines, peaches, figs, bright apples, plums, and pears." 

But my father was not long destined to enjoy his fishery and 
his garden without molestation, for the Croydon Board of Health 
carried all the sewage into the river which passed through 
Beddington Park to his garden, and as he said, " the effluvium 
was noxious ; the fish died, and foul mud was deposited at the 
bottom of the river." It became a question whether he should 
abandon the fishery and the garden. Fortunately he determined 
otherwise, and commenced instead an agitation, which, with 
intervals, lasted two years, to stop the pollution of rivers.* 
" Communications were made to the Privy Council ; a series of 
bills in Chancery were filed nearly simultaneously by three 
separate landowners ; and injunctions were obtained restraining 
the Board of Health from polluting the stream. The Croydon 
Board resisted the law till a committal was signed to commit the 
members of the Board to prison." Indeed, the members of the 
Croydon Local Board were very near being incarcerated on one 
Christmas Day ; and if I remember rightly they have to thank my 
father that such a misfortune did not overtake them, though I 
must admit that I thought at the time, and think so now, that 
they would have richly deserved the punishment for the unfair 
manner of their proceedings. Through them the ratepayers were 
involved in great costs ; but in the end the law proved too strong 
even for a Board of Health, and so my father was again permitted 
to enjoy his garden in peace. The correspondence between the Local 
Board of Health of Croydon and my father is curious and highly 
instructive, especially to those interested in the manner in which 
Local Boards of Health sometimes conduct their proceedings. 

The cholera which devastated the East of London in 1866 
resulted in many warm discussions on the quality of water 

* See ' My Garden,' p. 32. 



74 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

supplied to the metropolis; for it may be remembered that the 
cholera in that part of London was attributed to the drinking of 
impure water. Into this question Mr. Smee entered with his 
usual enthusiastic temperament, and spoke at various meetings on 
the subject. Moreover, some of the daily newspapers contained 
several letters from his pen. For his opinions on the subject see 
the Appendix, No. XXV. 

During five years, from 1860 to 1865, we were greatly dis- 
mayed at finding Finsbury Circus was threatened to be taken 
away from us by a railway. Headed by Alfred Smee, the inha- 
bitants determined to resist this encroachment. The fight com- 
menced by resolutions passed by the inhabitants on the 12th of 
December, 1860, who viewed 

with surprise and dismay the proposed demolition of Fins"bury Circus, 
which comprises by far the most beautiful open space in the city of London. 
Whilst affording a choice spot for exercise and recreation, both to the poor 
of the district and also to the higher class of residents in the City, it is 
used by the professional and mercantile men compelled to live within the 
precincts of the City, as one of the few places where houses available for 
residence are left. This meeting pledges itself to use its utmost influence 
to preserve it in its present state, and to oppose any attempts to encroach 
upon it by railroads. That the directors of the Circus be requested to pre- 
pare a memorial in accordance with the foregoing resolution, to be presented 
to the Aldermen and Common Council, to her Majesty's Government, to the 
members for the city of London, and to both Houses of Parliament. 

This was followed by the accompanying letter from Mr. Smee, 
which appeared in the ' Times,' Christmas Day, 1860, as well as 
in the ' City Press.' For this letter, in which all the beauties of 
Finsbury Circus Gardens are highly coloured, he was greatly ban- 
tered by his friends. Everybody read the letter ; and everybody 
who knew my father and the Circus, smiled. In one of the 
journals of the day (the ' Athenaeum ') Finsbury Circus was termed 
Mr. Smee's " Paradise," and this term ever clung to him. But he 
said he intended to highly colour the beauties of the garden, and 
he certainly did so. It was this letter, followed by energetic 
action, which has saved Finsbury Circus from being converted 
into a huge, unsightly railway station. 

THE PROPOSED DEMOLITION OF FINSBTJRY CIRCUS. 
To the Editor of the City Press. 

SIR, I trust that the importance of the subject will excuse the occupa- 
tion of your space with this letter, to call public attention to the proposed 
demolition of Finsbury Circus, the most important spot of the city of 
London. 



CHAP. VIII.] FINSBUEY CIRCUS. 75 

As an open area it is of priceless value to the citizens, for all experience 
shows that open spaces are of paramount consequence to secure the health 
of the inhabitants of the City. The area of this open space is so arranged 
that it forms a complete semicircle, with a south aspect on one side, which 
is protected against all cold winds, and on which every ray from the sun 
can in the cold spring months fall. 

At that period of the year hundreds of the young and tender, of the 
old and infirm, of the sick and weak, resort to this delightful sheltered 
spot to enjoy the air and genial breezes. 

The centre constitutes a circle planted with exquisite taste with the 
choicest trees, and forms a tout-ensemble which might be admired in any 
part of the world. It challenges for beauty the garden of any square in 
London, and it is the admiration and astonishment of foreigners as an 
affair of private enterprise, and not a creation of the State. 

A return made by the gardener states that it contains three trees 60 
feet high, and 180 feet in the circle of the head ; 20 trees between 45 and 
55 feet high ; 34 trees between 35 and 45 feet high ; 60 trees between 25 
and 35 feet high; and 107 trees between 15 and 30 feet high; besides 
upwards of 700 fine shrubs and several beautiful weeping trees, all of more 
than half a century of growth. The effect of trees in the centre of towns 
cannot be too much appreciated. They carry up large quantities of water 
into the over-dried atmosphere, and this little forest of trees must play an 
important and beneficial part to the neighbourhood. 

At the present time the City is too crowded, and contains by far too 
few open spaces and trees. There are (it is true) two trees in the Bank of 
England, and one in Cheapside, two or three smaller ones in St. Paul's- 
churchyard, and a few others scattered about, but where are the trees 
which we possess in Finsbury Circus ? 

Nevertheless, regardless of beauty, healthfulness, or of any considera- 
tion but gain, a speculative terminus has been projected to utterly annihilate 
Finsbury Circus, with its beautiful gardens and excellent residences ; but, 
as such a garden .could never be formed in our time, it behoves all who 
reside in the City to be up and stirring to avert a calamity which cannot 
be remedied during the days the present generation may reasonably expect 
to live. Half a century has passed away while these trees have made their 
growth. Half a century would be required for a second Finsbury Circus, 
even could a suitable space be found. 

As long as London stands professional men must live within its 
precincts. Finsbury Circus is in one of the few spots adapted for their 
purpose, and many of its residents are in dismay, asking each other where 
they can find a suitable habitation. The Bank of England, the banking- 
houses, the large mercantile firms, must have residents to protect the 
wealth therein deposited, and where can the daily constitutional walk be so 
well taken as in Finsbury Circus ? 

If a great central railroad terminus is to be made to bring persons 
from everywhere and take them everywhere, let those who live in London 
exact that by its construction an additional lung be created for the City, 
that disease may be lessened and the value of life increased. I am, &c., 

ALFRED SMEB, 
7, FINSBURY CIRCUS, A Director of Finsbury Circus. 

Dec. 24th, 1860. 



76 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

In 1869, the unfortunate Circus was threatened by no less 
than three railways, as is shown by the following resolutions : 

That the inhabitants of Finsbury Circus regard with surprise and 
regret, after the determination of the Legislature to protect the gardens 
of the squares of the metropolis, that no less than three railroads, includ- 
ing the Metropolitan, are projected, which involve the reckless spoliation 
of the gardens of Finsbury Circus. 

That a committee of the House of Lords having carefully framed rules 
for the guidance of railroad projectors in the formation of lines through- 
out London, it is the opinion of this meeting that the wilful neglect of 
these rules is not only disrespectful to the Legislature, but a wanton dis- 
regard of private rights ; and that the repeated parliamentary notices 
which year by year have harassed the inhabitants of Finsbury Circus, 
inflict great and unnecessary injury upon them. 

That the inhabitants request the Committee of Management to oppose 
the Metropolitan and other railway lines seeking to spoliate the garden, 
and in conformity with the above views to present petitions to both Houses 
of Parliament, the Board of Trade, the Board of "Works, and to petition 
that the railroad projectors who seek parliamentary powers to construct 
lines, in contravention of principles laid down by the Legislature, may be 
made amenable for any injury inflicted upon individuals by loss of trade 
and deterioration of property caused by their act. 

The fight between the inhabitants of Finsbury Circus and the 
promoters of the railways waxed yearly more fierce. It was 
proposed in 1864 that one of the railways should contribute 12 
annually for the maintenance of the gardens. In consequence of 
this paltry sum being offered, the following handbill was imme- 
diately sent round to all interested in the matter. 

FINSBURY CIRCUS SPOLIATION. 

The committee of the House of Commons yesterday declared the 
preamble to the Metropolitan Extension Bill proven. 

They recommended clauses for the protection of the garden, and a 
sum to be paid of 12 annually for its maintenance. 

The practical effect of this decision is to give to the Metropolitan 
Railroad land worth many thousand pounds for the paltry pittance of 
12 a year, and to destroy the garden, which is so .attractive to the neigh- 
bourhood. 

The City of London, who engaged to defend the garden, neglected to 
call more than three witnesses ; but it is hoped that so great a violation of 
private rights, and so great a public injury, may not receive the sanction 
of the House of Lords. 

ALFRED SMEE. 
July 6th, 1864. 

Various petitions against these railways were presented from 
the owners, lessees, and occupiers of house property in Finsbury 



CHAP. VIII.] FINSBUKY CIKCUS GAEDENS. 77 

Circus, from the Corporation of the London Institution, from the 
Ophthalmic Hospital, from the inhabitants of the district who use 
and frequent Finsbury Circus, &c. &c., to both Houses of Parlia- 
ment. There were numerous deputations also against the rail- 
ways to the Board of Trade to the First Commissioner of Office 
of Works, &c. Voluminous, too, was the correspondence between 
my father and the late Lord Derby, Sir "William Tite, Sir Joseph 
Paxton, and many others, on the subject. But I think the rail- 
way promoters wished Alfred Smee had lived in any other part 
of London than in Finsbury Circus. 

The result of this fight was that the railways were all worsted 
with the exception of the Metropolitan, which only carried the bill 
by the insertion of a clause that it was only to tunnel underneath 
the garden, and not to destroy any of the houses or the garden, 
and was to pay 100 for the annual keeping up of the latter. 
Here again we find that my father's energetic character carried 
all before him. I must here plead guilty, as having done my best 
to fan the flame of opposition to the railways, for even those 
who had no unfriendly spirit towards them were like chaff driven 
before the wind, and found themselves opposing that which they 
would otherwise have let go unheeded. 

That Mr. Smee did not cease to take an interest in Finsbury 
Circus Gardens after the termination of this fight, is shown by 
the following letter. He also greatly assisted and promoted the 
holding of Horticultural Shows in the Gardens. We thus see 
that even in small matters he was as enthusiastic and as energetic 
as he was in more weighty matters. So far as he himself was 
concerned, he was perfectly indifferent whether Finsbury Circus 
was or was not converted into a railway station. Still, in so 
crowded a place as the city of London, it must be a matter of 
gratification to the* citizens that one open space is reserved for 
them. 

FINSBURY CIRCUS GARDENS. 

According to promise, I have made an inspection of Finsbury Circus 
Gardens. 

The contractors were willing to meet the views of the inhabitants, 
inasmuch as they undertook to provide any reasonable quantity of earth 
to improve the design of the parts of the garden injured by the railway 
works ; and it was hoped that this London garden might in some manner 
have partaken of the picturesque features of Paris gardens. 

However, the general curves and contour lines, which were exceedingly 
well laid in the former garden, are now arranged in such an extraordinary 



78 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

manner as to be offensive to the eye, and from the tipper windows of the 
houses present a comical appearance, as in its general effect the garden, 
besides a general bad design, is divided into two unequal and unsymmetrical 
portions. 

A rare opportunity for the improvement of the garden has been lost, 
which is much to be regretted, as the error cannot now to any great extent 
be rectified. 

The grass-plot is not level, which will be detrimental to the game of 
croquet, for which lawns are used in many of the other London square- 
gardens. 

The garden as a whole, excepting the trees and grass, which always 
have an agreeable appearance, is little more than a dreary waste, which 
has been arranged in effect, if not in intention, to require the minimum of 
labour. Should the inhabitants think fit, the gardens may be kept up in 
their present condition by a labourer employed on an average one or two 
days a week, as there is really no occupation for a gardener. In bygone 
years there used to be abundance of flowers, and the atmosphere of the 
City is better now than it was at that time. 

As Finsbury Circus possesses a scientific institution, with its Professor 
of Botany, there is no reason why the garden should not be rendered 
instructive as well as ornamental, and there is now a good opportunity for 
this to be done, as our accomplished Treasurer is well versed in botanical 
knowledge. Such a plan will only require the vigilance of a competent 
gardener, as, from the influence of many of the inhabitants, the plants 
could be obtained gratuitously for an educational object, and the natural 
families of plants might be illustrated by interesting growing plants. 

By raising the character of the garden, order and decorum can be 
more rigidly maintained than it has been of late years. 

It was particularly desired that the playground should be so enclosed 
by a sufficiently raised border that it should not be seen by the factory 
boys who frequent the road, who are apt to throw stones : this has been 
neglected. The interior of the playground has been lined by a wall of 
loose brickbats, which is actually a source of danger to the children, as its 
materials are well known to be liable to move and crush the limbs or bodies 
of children, who will and now do climb to the top of it. This rough wall 
should be immediately removed, to prevent destruction of limb or life, and 
perhaps legal liability to the inhabitants. 

In the rough manner in which the swings, &c., are used by full-grown 
men and women, some serious accident may, and in all probability will, 
arise ; to prevent which the gardener ought to exercise a supervision at 
those times when the playground is frequented by children, and be held 
responsible for a proper use of the apparatus. 

The earth which has been selected for the flower-beds is perhaps the 
very worst which could have been obtained from any source. It is the old 
moor earth of the ancient Moorfields, and contains the leaves of moor 
plants and the shells of water snails. At the present time it is utterly 
unfit for horticultural purposes, and can only be made so by much 
expense and skill. 

The few recently-planted trees, which are important for the general 
effect, should at once be taken up and replanted in topspit fibrous soil, such 
as has been used for the trees on the Thames Embankment. 



CHAP. VIII.] FINSBUKY CIKCUS GARDENS. 79 

Where flowers and plants are to be grown, a similar soil should have 
been employed as is now being used in the Temple Gardens ; and, to show 
the importance of using this soil, I may mention that about forty years 
ago the circle of lime-trees in the Circus showed signs of decay, and some 
actually perished. At that time every tree at much cost had its roots laid 
bare and topspit loam placed against it, since which time the trees have 
grown to their present size. 

The contractor is in my judgment bound to supply a reasonable 
quantity of topspit fibrous mould, and more especially as the inhabitants 
have facilitated the operations of the railroad. 

The gravel in the playground and elsewhere (if it is finished) is bad, 
and the loose stones should have been removed by the gardener. 

The new shrubs and trees have been planted in defiance of all hor- 
ticultural principles. The kinds of trees appear to have been selected 
without judgment, and many of them have been planted so deeply that 
they can hardly be expected to live, even if the earth had been suitable for 
their growth. 

The planting of all the evergreens at one spot looks singular, and the 
whole of the newly-planted trees should be inspected by some person who 
understands planting, and many should at once be replanted. 

Many of the roots of the old trees have been covered so deeply with 
earth that it may be anticipated that the roots will perish and become the 
nidus of fungi, which sooner or later will kill the trees. This effect occurs 
with different rapidity in varying circumstances, but there is no doubt that 
many will be killed by the depth to which they have been covered. 

It is a remarkable fact that no part of the restoration of the garden 
exhibits the slightest gardening talent or merits approbation, whilst so 
much which has been done necessitates severe condemnation, inasmuch as 
grave errors might have been avoided by a minimum of knowledge and 
attention. 

That my father was an advocate for having trees in a town 
is also seen from the following extracts from a letter in which he 
pleaded for a row of trees to be planted along the whole line of 
the Thames Embankment. 

The effect of trees planted along the edge of the pavement (he writes) 
is well seen in Paris, where not only on the Boulevards but along the line 
of the Seine the trees are tended with the utmost care. Plane-trees 
would probably be best adapted to the situation, as the noble plane in 
Cheapside and in our squares shows how well they grow in London. Limes 
might also succeed, as the two beautiful trees in the Bank of England 
testify. 

He then goes on to show how in 

no other city in Europe are there so few trees as in London, where they 
are so much required. Should the Board of Works consent to adopt these 
suggestions, now would be the time to begin to select the trees siiitable 
for the situation, so that they may be planted in October or the beginning 
of November, and become well rooted before next year. 

My father was fond of late years of rising with the sun, and, 



80 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

when he could, of going to bed with the same orb. One summer's 
evening (Sunday, June 30th, 1861), he was going upstairs to bed 
about a quarter before nine o'clock, when on the staircase he 
suddenly espied a comet in the heavens. This was too interesting 
and too novel a spectacle, so, to the surprise of all of us, down he 
came again into the drawing-room, sent for his telescope, and the 
result was the following letter, which appeared in the ' Times ' the 
next morning. 

SIR, It may interest your readers to hear that an enormous comet has 
this moment appeared in the north, having been suddenly discovered by the 
passage of a large cloud. 

Its nucleus is of great dimensions, much larger and brighter than a 
star of the first dimensions ; and its tail, which extends many degrees in the 
heavens, is of the same form, and will probably equal in extent the comet 
which visited this country in 1858. At the moment I write it is not so 
bright as the comet of 1858 in its brightest periods, but it is only second 
to that in relation to any comet which has appeared within my memory, 
and therefore everyone should witness this object when it again becomes 
visible this evening. 

At twenty minutes past 11 o'clock it is twelve degrees east of north, by 
a magnetic needle, and about ten degrees above the horizon ; but these 
measurements are only rough estimates, as I have not accurate instruments 
at my command. 

I remain, Sir, 
7, FINSBTTRY CIRCUS, Tour obedient servant, 

Sunday Evening, half-past 11 o'clock. ALFRED SMEE. 

Alfred Smee was the first to discover this comet in England. 
The President of the Astronomical Society an old friend of my 
father's was greatly surprised on his going to town on the 
Monday morning to read in the ' Times ' the discovery of a new 
comet, he having, like other astronomers, missed seeing the 
phenomenon. 

Alfred Smee was the first to introduce the French system of 
pisciculture into England. He introduced it into this country in 
the beginning of 1860, and on the 24th of April of the same spring 
he wrote the following letter to the ' Times :' 

SIE, The great interest which is now taken in pisciculture induces 
me to call more particular attention to the French system devised by 
Professor Coste of the College of France in Paris, and practised on a large 
scale at Huninguen. I learnt the system at Paris in 1859, and brought 
it at once to England, but even now it is not as sufficiently known or 
appreciated as it deserves. The plan consists in placing the ova on a grid- 
iron of glass, where they remain with a jet of water passing over them till 
the young fish are hatched. Coste's system is absolutely perfect, and leaves 
nothing to be desired, provided excess of light is excluded. Any number 



CHAP. VIII.] PISCICULTURE. 81 

of fish may be hatched at a cost and trouble almost nominal, for I do not 
think that I lost 5 per cent, this year of good eggs subjected to the process. 
Much however has still to be learnt with respect to the treatment of the 
young fry, for it is still a debatable question whether we should place them 
in small streams full of weeds and animalculse, their natural food, or cram 
them, as the French recommend, with the flesh of frogs or powdered bullock's 
liver. I adopt the former plan, but am not so confident as to its superiority 
to consider it the sole good treatment of these delicate juveniles. The 
great liberality and kindness of the French Government in gratuitously 
aiding English pisciculturists is beyond all praise, but the time has surely 
arrived when all English society might imitate the works of the French 
State and stock our rivers with salmon, trout, and grayling. The breeding 
boxes which I have had made in England far surpass in excellence those 
sold in France, and had M. Counter's unqualified approbation on his 
visit to England last summer. One of these may now be seen at the ' Field ' 
office in the Strand ; and until a piscicultural society on a large scale is 
formed, I shall be happy to hatch and distribute to the Thames any number 
of thousands of salmon ova which our northern proprietors may send me. 

I remain, Sir, 
7, FINSBURY CIRCUS, Your obedient servant, 

April 24th. ALFRED SMEE. 

The first fish he hatched according to this system were young 
salmon. In 1861 he sent salmon ova to Hampton to Mr. Ponder, 
chairman of the Sub-committee on Pisciculture. My father was 
continually being asked for information on this subject, not only 
from various persons in this country, but also from America. 
And he was constantly sending ova or young fish to stock different 
rivers. His own fish-breeding house, which he conducted on a 
large scale at his garden at Wallington, was highly interesting, 
and during the early spring months many came there specially 
to see it. For a fuller account of pisciculture, see ' My Garden,' 
page 497. 

My father was not only a complete angler and lover of pisci- 
culture, but was also during parts of his life fond of shooting. 
From 1863 to 1866 he rented with a select party some pheasant- 
shooting of considerable extent in Hertfordshire, where he used 
to spend one day a week, and from which he always returned in 
raptures with the beautiful woods and the country. In 1867 he 
held with others some shooting at Tunbridge Wells, but this he 
did not enjoy so much as his Hertfordshire shooting. He had, 
besides, many pleasant days of sport at different times with friends 
on their estates and at their shooting-boxes. After 1867, with 
the exception of a few hours on the moors at Whitby, he shot 
no more. 

Besides being a sportsman, he was very fond of yachting, 

a 



82 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

and would delight in a sail at the mouth of the Thames in his 
son's yacht, the Snowfleck* Often on these yachting excursions 
he would betake himself to his old and favourite pastime, fishing, 
and obtained not a little experience in sea-fishing. At other times, 
when not engaged in catching fish, he would station himself by 
the helm, and would employ himself in, to use his own words, 
" looking out for dangers." This, his family would jokingly tell 
him, was to him a source of great amusement. He did not, how- 
ever, seem to appreciate such levity, and was, I believe, thoroughly 
convinced that he was thereby the means of preventing sundry 
dire accidents, such as collisions with steamboats or sailing boats, 
or being shipwrecked by running on sandbanks, wrecks, &c. 
But his being on the look-out for accidents generally ended by 
his going to sleep, to the no small satisfaction of the crew. After 
all these " outings," whether he had been yachting, fishing, shoot- 
ing, or gardening, he returned home, his mind invigorated and 
refreshed, and would work with redoubled energy. 

London was much alarmed in 1862 by its houses being 
broken into in the dead of night by burglars, and by its sober- 
minded and respectable citizens being garrotted in the streets. 
Some of the sentimental part of the community held that burglars 
and garrotters ought not to be severely dealt with ; whilst others, 
again, viewed with horror the spreading of this pestilence to 
society, by which it had become unsafe for persons to be out of 
doors after sunset, or to sleep with safety of a night, and these 
urged strong measures for the suppression of such crimes. Whilst 
these two conflicting opinions were running high, the following 
anonymous pamphlet appeared from Alfred Smee's pen. Shortly 
after its appearance (it was widely circulated) a Bill was passed 
for the flogging of garrotters, and soon after the Bill was put 
into force the citizens of London were left unmolested by these 
ruffians. In ' The Mind of Man,' at page 63, the best manner 
for dealing with our criminal classes is given in the chapter on the 
government of mankind. " Our present system," he says, " is as 
useless as it is unphilosophical, as the professed thief goes to 
prison to come out and repeat his career as before." 

It is curious that this anonymous pamphlet on garrotters 
was entirely thought out one Sunday, while one of our eminent 
preachers was giving a long sermon at Westminster Abbey. My 
father was observed at the time to be seemingly listening with great 

* The yachting commenced in 1867, when a friend kindly lent us his yacht 
for the season. Afterwards my brother built himself a yacht. 



CHAP. VIII.] PAMPHLET ON GARROTTERS. 83 

attention to the sermon. On being asked after the service by a 
friend, one of the clergymen of the Abbey, his opinion of the 
sermon, my father replied, " Oh ! I liked it very well." " Liked 
it very well ? " exclaimed his friend ; " I am surprised to hear 
you say so, for I have often heard you denounce similar sermons 
to that which you heard to-day." My father, finding he was 
thus driven into a corner, confessed he had not heard one word 
of it. This still more perplexed his friend the clergyman, 
for Mr. Smee had appeared to be paying marked attention to 
it. " Well," said my father, " I must tell you the truth. I 
have been mentally writing an anonymous pamphlet the whole 

time has been preaching ; and so intent have I been upon 

my subject, that I have not heard a single word of the 
sermon." And he added, " I will send you the result of my 
work, providing I have your promise not to divulge from whom 
it came." 

The pamphlet was written out within twenty-four hours, and 
it was published within a week. It was sent to the clergyman, who, 
I believe, was never after thoroughly convinced that Mr. Smee ever 
listened to any sermon, however intent he might appear to be. 
And I am afraid that but too frequently he was correct in such 
conjectures ; for as soon as the preacher ascended the pulpit, then 
was that quiet time when he could think out his various projects. 
The following is the aforesaid pamphlet. 



PHILOSOPHICAL REASONS FOR NOT HANGING 
GARROTTERS AND BURGLARS. 

BY A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OP FRIENDS ! ! ! 

Preface. 

DEAR FRIENDS, Stirring times have come upon us, when it behoves 
us all to be up and moving, or all our devices for centuries past will be 
undone, and all the schemes which we have successfully promulgated for 
comforting the assassin, the burglar, and the garrotter, will be swept away 
at one fell swoop. 

It is by our care that a goodly race has arisen, which is not without 
its proper influence on society. Persons are now nightly stopped, and are 
either eased of " the root of all evil," or, by suffering bodily injury, are 
deprived of " the incentives to personal vanity." 

A panic has, however, all at once seized the people ; and unless the 
Society of Friends wake up, and use all the instruments under their 
control, as sure as Friends are meek and humble and wear broad-brimmed 
hats, an Act of Parliament will be passed to hang every man caught com- 
mitting an act of burglary, or garrotting. 

G 2 



84 MEMOIR OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

To prevent this interference with the scheme of creation, which has 
formed Quakers or good people, and burglars or evil people, I write 
earnestly that thou mayest be primed with arguments to resist the inven- 
tion of the enemy, and retain those whom worldly-minded men call felons, 
to balance the order of creation. 

Remember, it is only by a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull altogether, 
that it is possible, with the present morbid temper of the public, to 
preserve to society the burglar and garrotter ; but with great exertions they 
may be retained for the blessed operations of a second Elizabeth Fry. 

I remain, 
MEETING HOUSE, Thy affectionate Teacher, 

November 18th, 1862. AN ELBER. 

Arguments. 

1. The first great argument for not hanging burglars and garrotters 
is the terrible example which would be set to others, as the capture and 
execution of a few would have such an effect upon the remainder, that 
there would be speedily none left, and at once an important section 
of the community would disappear. In my young days a burglary or 
highway robbery was never heard of, but it is only since the human 
mind has been more enlightened, and the beautiful model of Thugs 
has been exposed to view in the British Museum, that the taste for 
burglary and garrotting has been developed; but to stop suddenly the 
progression of the thinking mind, would be to fly in the face of 
Providence, who has created both bad and good. So, we Friends and 
thinking people must stop so terrible an exigence, and preserve the 
garrotter and burglar to the world. 

Police Argument. 

2. If we regard the consequences of the burglar and garrotter, we 
find that the guardians of the peace, frightened out of all propriety, 
have doubled the police force, and thus we see how beautifully evil produces 
good, for winter is coming on, many honest men will have employment 
in the police, and be kept by an over-fattened public simply to look after 
them. It is quite clear that this additional force will cause the garrotter 
and burglar to take sufficient exercise before they obtain their end. 
And it may be likened to the wise dispensation in natural history, which 
causes the tiger to prowl for a long time before it finds its victim, and 
to seize it with more relish from the keen appetite it has obtained in its 
pursuit. 

As long as burglars are not hung they do not care now very much 
about the inconvenience of being caught ; and whilst they take all reason- 
able care to overcome or escape the police, they constantly get away, and, 
in fact, are so rarely taken, that their chase causes them to experience 
the same pleasing excitement which the Indian feels in hunting the 
tiger. 

Fire-arms Argument. 

3. Lancashire is now weeping from lack of employment, owing to 
the dearth of cotton, but Birmingham thrives by reason of the burglar 



CHAP. VIII.] PAMPHLET ON GAEROTTERS. 85 

and garrotter. What a powerful evidence of design to fill the stomach 
of the infant and mother is here to be traced to the presence of the 
burglar and garrotter ! The public, strong in their own conceit, say they 
will not be robbed, they will not have their houses invaded at night. 
For resistance they are now arming themselves with guns, pistols, and 
swords, to enter into combat with their opponents. As a Friend, I 
naturally make acquaintance with these people, and my acquaintances 
tell me that " they go for plunder, not for bullets and bayonet wounds." 
For this object they parade in twos and threes, and their system is to 
half-kill their victim before he knows he is attacked. One man said, 
" Would he not like to poke a man's weapon into his own torso ? " a senti- 
ment worthy of classical times. That man told me that " the gun and 
pistol dodge would soon come to an end, for they would be shooting 
the wrong man, and what a lark it would be to make one victim shoot 
another, a circumstance which would frighten the public, and render the 
garrotter safer than ever." 

Besides, said he, " our noble judges are so good that they never allow 
the hair of a garrotter to be ruffled." He must be taken by the police, that 
is, if they can catch him at all, as tenderly as a lover handles his sweet- 
heart. Our considerate law administrators sometimes have men more 
severely punished for resistance than they have the robber. Nobody can 
doubt but the burglar simply desires to possess something the other man 
has. Would it not be a proper Christian act to give at once what is desired, 
when the possessor might dispense with fire-arms, and be spared the chance 
of an attack ? 

Hope and Anxiety Argument. 

4. Untrained minds indulge continually in the lower feelings. How 
grovelling was that picture at the International Exhibition of a young 
mother with an infant in her arms drawing aside the blind to look after 
the lost husband, the prop and support of the home. What an untrained 
mind does the mother show to be anxious ! For the father is either 
alive or dead : if he is alive, she ought to exhibit hope, not anxiety ; and 
if he has been proved to have been garrotted and past all hope, then she 
ought to exhibit resignation. To my female friends say I, Train thou thy 
mind, and when thy husband is proved to be garrotted, then exert thy- 
self and get another. What a blessed instrument in mind-training might 
the burglar and garrotter become, and how great ought to be our exertions 
to prevent their being hung ! 

The Fog Argument. 

5. During the severe fogs of November persons are now fearful of leav- 
ing their homes because fog gives to the garrotter an easy chance of carrying 
out his plans. This is surely a mest unreasonable accusation against 
garrotters, because, in this instance, they do a positive benefit by keeping 
people out of the influence of a fog, which is known to be extremely bad 
for their constitutions. Such, however, is the perverse character of the 
human mind that they would use the liability of being maimed or killed by 
robbers during the prevalence of a fog, as an argument for hanging them, 
as a terror to other evil-doers. During great fogs in London gentlemen 
are watched from their clubs, when there are scamps who think it great 



86 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

fun to seize suddenly their hats and bolt with them without fear of pursuit. 
This fooling pastime and small robbery is checked by the garrotter, for 
many who do not care for the mere chance of losing a hat, are kept at 
home when they fear to lose their lives, and then their wives and children 
know where they are. 

The Over-Population Argument. 

6. Nobody doubts that the country has plenty of people to take any 
place which 'may become vacant, when its present occupants are killed. A 
great fuss was made last year, because an M.P. was strangled in Pall Mall, 
when returning from his parliamentary duties. What could it have 
mattered if he had been so far garrotted as to have lost his life ? There 
would be still too many in Parliament to transact its business properly, 
and not only too many, but a hundred applicants for every vacant place. 
What is true of a Member of Parliament is true of any other occupation ; 
for there is not a clergyman in the country who would not delight to take 
the office of a bishop, if one should unfortunately be garrotted, though, as 
Friends, we must consider that bishops are altogether superfluous. Under 
the present system there is not a person in the kingdom who may not be 
destroyed by the burglar or garrotter ; and should one be so destroyed, 
there would be plenty delighted to take his place. Now, Friend, I would 
ask thee this question, Why should we hang a garrotter or burglar who 
may, in pursuing his usual avocation, give delight to any person in this 
over-populous country ? 

Timidity Argument. 

7. When a burglar enters a house at the dead of night, and kills the 
inmates, such as was done at the celebrated Frimly murder, it is a vulgar 
fashion for other people, neither killed nor attacked, to take on great fear. 
In secluded houses the inmates remain sleepless all the livelong nights, 
fearing each noise, and listening to every rustle of the leaves, and spending 
their lives in terror and trembling. Other persons witnessing these results, 
revile the burglar and wish him to be hanged, that their friends may enjoy 
their homes in peace and comfort. Now, in th^se cases, as members of 
the advanced thinking community to which we belong, we should like to 
put the burden on the right shoulder, and, instead of punishing the burglar, 
would severely reprimand the nervous sufferers, and command them to 
sleep soundly, even when they are conscious that burglars have broken in 
the front door. 

Assurance Argument. 

8. Assurance Companies are frightened out of all propriety by gar- 
rotters and burglars, because they say that lives are lost, and claims arise 
therefrom. It is quite clear, however, that there would be no assurances if 
there were no deaths ; and, surely, Accidental Death Assurance Companies 
must derive business from the knowledge which the public possesses, that 
no person can tell whether he will be attacked ou any given day, and 
maimed. Nothing can more completely show that the complaints of the 
Assurance Companies are quite groundless, and not to be entertained for 
a moment, when the great social problem of petting great criminals is at 
stake. 



CHAP. VIII.] PAMPHLET ON GAEROTTEKS. 87 

Injury Argument, 

9. If we believe the doctors, who are always dogmatical, we shall hear 
that cases of personal violence leave traces for life. Dr. Forbes Winslow 
may say that insanity is often traced to blows on the head inflicted years 
before. The brain doctors tell us that epilepsy, apoplexy, and with females, 
the most severe and terrible hysteria, are brought on by a shock to the brain. 
We hear oculists declare that vision is often impaired. Aurists tell us that 
persons are rendered deaf. Some persons are deprived of smell, others of 
taste, and innumerable cases of stiff joints and lameness are produced by 
personal violence arising from resistance to the demands of the garrotter 
for his victim to give up his personal property, or to the burglar from 
entering his house. It is, thereupon, argued that garrotters and burglars 
are so savage and relentless in their course, that death by the gallows should 
be their doom. Can anything be more foolish ? for a damaged man is a 
patient for life, a certain annuity to the doctor. Under these circumstances, 
medical men have no cause for grumbling ; but, on the contrary, ought 
rather to rejoice that the garrotte and house-breaking have so deep a hold 
upon our social system. 

The Expense Argument. 

10. Mean hardhearted citizens consider that, as they work for their 
living, they have no right to keep hundreds in idleness and greater luxury 
than their own workpeople. Nothing can be more futile than this argu- 
ment, although it must be confessed that it is very hard to drive it out of 
their heads, that it is not right to give a garrotter meat when the workmen 
live on bread and cheese. He argues, naturally enough for a mere counting- 
house man, that the criminal should not be better off than the honest work- 
man. The more comprehensive mind will discover that the criminal is the 
pet of pets of a certain section of the thinking community, and the honest 
man may go to the wall. 

Outbreak Argument. 

11. All experience shows that it is no easy matter to keep a number of 
burglars and garrotters, used to every kind of cruelty and violence, in due 
subjection. With the greatest care caged murderers will do violence to 
the gaoler. Used to every brutality, they stand very badly the slight re- 
straint imposed upon them by a prison life. What can be greater proof of 
the folly of catching them, when, by convicting them of a murder, you 
induce them to commit two or three more ? As a matter of fact, wouldst 
thou like a house-breaker or murderer to live in thy family ? and if thou 
wouldst not like him in thy house, is it fair and equitable to expose the 
warders to his influence ? 

The War Argument. 

12. In warfare how many brave men sacrifice themselves simply as a 
matter of duty to their country, or a sense of manly feeling to protect their 
wives and families. When in battle we see thousands of the good and just 
fall in a single day, unthinking people inquire why should millions of 
Englishmen be kept in terror by one or two score of worthless, degraded 
reprobates. But the fact is that neither the garrotter nor biirglar is a brave 



gg MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

or just man. He is an arrant coward. It never entered his head to be 
killed or even to be hurt, and he maims or kills his opponent as an act of 
cowardice for his own protection. Under these circumstances the fate of 
the brave man who is killed in war, and fears not his doom for the sake of 
duty, is not to be compared with the cowardly miscreant who is fearful and 
cruel. For this reason the entire population had better be kept in con- 
tinual terror than that the garrotter or burglar shall receive the doom 
which he never contemplated. 

The Food Treatment. 

13. It is now very difficult to catch a burglar or imprison a garrotter. 
This might all be obviated by properly regulated prisons. If there was no 
restraint, and they could go where they liked, they would undoubtedly 
come into prison of their own accord ; that is, if they had sufficient induce- 
ment for so doing. Now, bread and water continuously is no inducement 
for anybody; but a well-ordered prison with parks, pleasure-grounds, 
winter- gardens, fish and game preserves, with a proper supply of such fare 
as turkey and plum-pudding for Christmas, and of the various delicacies 
at the earliest possible moment they respectively come into season, would 
soften the garrotter's heart, and, instead of assaulting the police as they do 
at present, they would freely admit their own guilt, save all the expenses 
of prosecution, and come into gaol when they felt they had had enough of 
their adventures. What a beautiful sight it would be to see troops of 
garrotters and burglars coming to repent every morning of their wickedness 
done in the night ! 

The Bump Treatment. 

14. No member of the Society of Friends nor thinking individual can 
doubt but that the cruelty of the burglar and garrotter is due to certain 
bumps of the head which are too prominent. The first process in the 
treatment would be effectually to gauge the head. Possibly an humble 
petition numerously signed by Friends and Unitarians would secure for 
that object the services of Dr. Carpenter, whom some people consider to be 
as great in his physiology as sound in his religion. Under his instruction 
gentle young ladies might be employed to manupress the cruelty bumps 
and draw forth with an exhausting tube the benevolent ones. Who knows, 
when the heads of garrotters are rubbed into models of benevolence and 
kindness, how many cases of affection may spring up between the garrotter 
and bump-represser, which would give to the young robber-changer a most 
amiable partner for life ? The process is so efficacious that gorillas can, by 
the manipulation of their bumps, be turned into perfect men. How many 
gorillas have been so changed nobody can tell, unless it be the Bishop of 
Oxford, who at the British Association appeared to have some special 
knowledge of these creatures. What more powerful reason can be given 
for stopping the stupid Legislature from hanging garrotters than the 
possibility of their being rubbed into judges, bishops, or members of 
Parliament ? 

African Project. 

15. In looking at the question of dealing with great criminals we must 
not overlook the proposition to send burglars and garrotters to Sierra 



CHAP. VIII.] PAMPHLET ON GARROTTERS. 89 

Leone, or West Coast of Africa, for the purpose of performing the labour 
necessary for an experimental growth of cotton, sugar-cane, or other tropical 
productions. As Friends we must not tolerate such a proposition, which 
might cause criminals to live no longer than honest, virtuous men. Upon 
the whole, the question may be safely left to competent statisticians, and 
no doubt such an able man as Mr. Newmarch would settle the duration of 
life to the thirty-ninth place of decimals, and would rather the globe itself 
on which he lives should dissolve than allow a criminal to have no longer 
a duration of life than an upright, honest working man. 



The Whipping Project. 

16. Not a few persons are to be found who commend whipping for 
brutalized criminals ; and when a citizen has been severely maimed by a 
person of this class, the evil passions of his neighbours naturally desire 
to see the criminal well flogged. It is difficult to meet the argument ; but 
if whipping is allowed, the Friends' trust must be in the doctor, who 
should receive orders to discontinue the process the moment the pulse 
rises one beat, or any emotion can be detected. The arguments against 
whipping are very awkward to be applied, as flogging has proved to be an 
admirable remedy against attacks upon her Majesty, or in cases of wanton 
destruction of works of art. Nevertheless, thou hadst better ask those who 
recommend its application, how far they would like the cat-o'-nine-tails 
themselves ; and if they would dislike it, why apply it to the garrotter ? 



Conclusion. 

17. Those who read the arguments against hanging garrotters and 
burglars must perceive that, although the reasons are strong, it will require 
the greatest possible exertion to prevent the gallows from rearing again 
its lofty head. London is nightly patrolled by garrotters ; England has 
a nest of cruel, cowardly assassins, who terrify the peaceable and well- 
disposed. Men and women have such an antipathy to robbery with 
violence, that they instinctively desire to shoot their dastardly maimers, 
or hand the man to a terrible justice. In this great emergency it behoves 
all Quakers, and other thinking men, to bestir themselves vehemently, and 
the more fear is exhibited by the public of being killed, robbed, or per- 
manently maimed, the more will be our merit to protect the ill-doers. 
When people are killed, or paralysed, or maimed by law-breakers, in the 
eyes of mankind the robber is thought to be a great criminal ; and the 
greater the criminal, the greater pet should we make of him. A vulgar 
public will treat a felon, brutalized by every vice, and degraded by every 
cruelty and passion, as they would a mad dog, or a venomous snake. A 
thinking man, however, would supply him with every comfort, and give 
him food, clothes, habitation, and luxuries, beyond the means of honest 
working men. 

Friend, there is one thing, in conclusion, that I would have thee never 
forget, and that is, when a burglar and garrotter is hung, he is never able 
to rob or kill again, and others are deterred by his example. Remember, 
when criminals cease, sentiment is done, and Quakerdom and cant must 
fall. 



90 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 

In July 1863, commenced the celebrated fight between 
Alfred Smee and the Jesuits. My mother's brother had joined 
one of their confraternities, and had during this month died, 
leaving the whole of his property inherited from his father to the 
Principal of the Brompton Oratorians. For many years before 
my father had wished to have a passage of arms with the Jesuits, 
and would have done so had not my mother been fearful lest they 
should send her brother to some monastery on the Continent 
where she could never see him again, and she ever indulged in 
the hope that her brother might one day be rescued from the 
clutches of the Oratorians. This hope, however, was not realized, 
for he died in the forty-first year of his age ; though I think that 
had he recovered from his last illness he would have been induced 
to leave the Oratorians, and live under the roof of his sister 
and her husband, both of whom he had, previous to joining 
the Komish Church, ever held in great affection. After my 
uncle's death the fight commenced : there was a lengthy corre- 
spondence in the press during the summer and latter part 
of 1862, and the beginning of 1863, to which I must refer the 
reader. The will was contested, and it was not until it was 
brought into court that any information could be obtained. 
However, the case was lost : there was not sufficient legal 
evidence which we were not surprised at. But it was as well 
the will was put into court, for it thereby showed to the world 
the manner in which the wills of the members of the Brompton 
Oratory are made. It awakened against them a feeling of dis- 
gust among those who love the liberty of Protestant England. 
Already, long before his death, my uncle was a poor man : 
the bulk of his property had gone. Where? My father also 
contested the right of religious communities to have private and 
secret burial-grounds. Here, again, the correspondence was 
lengthy, but the gist of it is that my father complained, " 1st, 
That the Oratory has a private and secret burial-ground, without 
public access or boundary walls, which has no public register 
of burials, and where the names on the tombstones are changed ; 
2nd, That this private and secret burial-ground, and the means 
of concealment you have in your houses, are used to obtain 
money from converts under religious intimidation." 

During this summer a party wishing to see the grave were 
refused, as they had no private order from the Oratorians with 
them. This private and secret burial-ground is in the garden 
attached to a house they have at Sydenham. Great interest was 



CHAP. VIII.] FIGHT WITH THE JESUITS. 91 

felt in the Broinpton Oratorian case throughout the country. It 
was referred to several times in the House of Commons. 

In the Appendix, No. XXVI., is the rejoinder to the manifesto 
of Dr. Dalgairns, Principal of the Oratory, entitled ' The Private 
and Secret Burial-Ground of the Oratory,' together with a corre- 
spondence with Sir George Grey, and a petition to the House 
of Commons. 

My father was always a consistent opponent of religious 
houses such as monasteries and nunneries, and in 1871 he gave 
evidence against them in the Committee Eoom of the House of 
Commons. 

The pamphlet ' On the Practical Remedy for Extortion and 
Intimidation practised by the aid of the Superior Law Courts ' 
was written by my father in 1863. This pamphlet had the 
desired effect of drawing the attention of the Legislature to the 
abus.es there alluded to. Such extortion can now be no longer 
practised, for by an Act passed in 1867 it was provided that any 
person against whom an action for malicious prosecution, illegal 
arrest, illegal distress, assault, false imprisonment, libel, slander, 
or other action of tort, may be brought, may make an affidavit 
that the plaintiff has no visible means of paying the costs of 
the defendant ; and thereupon a judge of the court in which the 
action is brought is empowered to stay the proceedings, unless 
full security for the defendant's costs is given. See Appendix, 
No. XXVII. 



92 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAF. IX. 



CHAP TEE IX. 

1865 TO 1870. 

Contests Rochester Alfred Smee a Freemason and an Oddfellow London 
Institution saved from becoming a clerks' school Aquarium at Paris 
Accident Sheet Professional life of Alfred Smee Illness Visit to Whitby 
Posting up storm telegrams at Whitby Contests Rochester a second 
ti me Speeches Visits Italy Anonymous writings on the Unseaworthiness 
of Ships, on Chancery Reform, &c. 

AT the General Election of 1865, Alfred Smee contested 
Rochester, and there brought forward political views under a 
new phase, which he termed " Conservative Progress." Although 
enthusiastically received at that city, he was unsuccessful. He 
was surrounded by his family during the contest, and I still 
always look back to that general election as a very agreeable 
phase of my existence. The year after he wrote two political 
skits, the one termed ' The Puppet Parliament,' and the other 
' The Final Reform Bill.' Neither of the pamphlets bore his name. 
See the Appendix, Nos. XXVIII. and XXIX. 

In that entitled ' The Final Reform Bill,' he says : 

There are four great diseases before Parliament this year : 1. The 
rinderpest, or death of cattle ; 2. The cholera pest, or death of mankind 
both bodily diseases, to be treated after an exact study of Nature's works : 
3. The nigger pest, white murder by blacks; 4. The Fenian pest the 
annihilation of social order and religion both mental epidemics, to be 
treated after an earnest study of God's moral laws. 

Who shall legislate upon these serious maladies ? Shall they who 
have bought their parliamentary seats by money, and pandered to the 
follies of their age P Or shall they who represent independent, thoughtful 
voters, and who have studied Nature's works and followed moral laws ? 

In 1865 Mr. Smee was made a Freemason at Gundulph's 
Lodge at Rochester, and he was about the same time also elected 
a member of the Oddfellows in the same city. On the 22nd of 
February, 1867, he was elected a member of Jerusalem Lodge, in 
London, one of the oldest lodges. Although he took a warm interest 



CHAP. IX.] A FREEMASON. 93 

in Freemasonry, yet he was too idle to learn the symbols, and never 
attained the rank of Master. Many of his Freemason brethren 
had determined to make him at last a Master, and I doubt not 
that in course of time, had he lived, they would have cajoled him 
into learning the requisites necessary to attain that office. He 
always declared he never could learn by heart ; but as it has been 
seen that his memory was so excellent that he was able to take 
down on one occasion some important speeches two days after 
they were delivered, and as he used always to take down the 
lectures delivered at King's College verbatim on his return home 
in the evening, it would seem that, had he so willed it, he could also 
have learnt by rote. However, he did not do so ; but whether he 
could not, as he said, or would not, is very doubtful. He had several 
decorations and orders in Freemasonry, and he was present at the 
installation of His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales as Grand 
Master at Albert Hall. I mention this because it was extremely 
difficult to obtain an invitation to that installation, and I suppose 
he was the only one present who had not ranked as a Master. 
He was extremely pleased at being present at that ceremony, 
which interested him much, and thoroughly appreciated the kind- 
ness of the donor of the invitation. 

In 1868 he was admitted, on the 7th of February, among the 
first five hundred of the City Carlton Club, a Conservative club in 
the City. He was also admitted among the first hundred members 
of St. Stephen's Club. He had previously, it should be added, 
belonged to the Eeform Club, but had to leave it on his contesting 
Eochester. He had not joined the Eeform Club for political 
motives, for until he contested Eochester in the Conservative 
cause he had never previously taken a leading interest in party 
questions, and, indeed, had not troubled himself to use his vote 
at political elections. He had several friends at the Eeform 
Club, and it had other attractions in possessing a good library, 
and better still a good cuisine, for Francatelli was at that time 
the chef. 

In 1866 there was a movement for a clerks' school (the City 
of London College) to be associated with the London Institution. 
By this project the London Institution was to keep the building 
of the college in repair, the students of the college were to 
have access to the educational lectures, the life shares of the 
London Institution were to be given as prizes to the students, 
and the students were to have access to the library, besides sharing 
in other emoluments. It may seem surprising, but nevertheless 



94 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

true, that one of the managers tried his utmost to bring about 
this arrangement. Mr. Smee wrote to him as follows : 

MY DEAE SIE, I have read with very great care your proposal to 
annihilate the London Institution. 

It does seem to me to be a most highly objectionable project, and one 
which I hope there will be but little chance of carrying out. 

It is a total change of purpose to convert a literary and scientific 
institution into a mere boys' school, but one step better than that of a 
charity school. 

You have fixed the meeting at a time when I am afraid I cannot 
possibly attend, next Wednesday, which I extremely regret, as I fear that 
I shall feel it my duty to oppose it with all my might. 

My doctrine would be to improve what we possess, not to radically 
destroy. 

Mr. Smee went to the meeting, which was attended by the 
proprietors and managers, and in a long speech denounced the 
movement as being most pernicious to the London Institution. 
When he finished his speech, the proprietors rose en masse, and 
cheered and cheered him again and again. The scheme was 
upset, my father victorious, and the London Institution saved. 

While my father and myself were on a short visit to 
Paris in the autumn of 1866, we visited a splendidly fitted-up 
aquarium, which had recently been established, and which, 
before the Brighton Aquarium was made, was a master one 
of its kind. This aquarium in Paris fired my father's ima- 
gination, and forthwith he considered that it was a grievous 
pity that an equally good if not a better one should not be 
immediately established at the Zoological Gardens in London. 
Accordingly, the next morning, when I came down to breakfast, 
before 9 o'clock, I found he had written off to the late much 
lamented and distinguished naturalist, Dr. Gray, of the British 
Museum, on the subject, and I found afterwards the aforesaid 
letter published in the ' Annals of Natural History,' 3rd series, 
vol. xix.* 

THE " MONDE DE LA MEE." 

MY DEAE SIE, I have just returned from a visit to the " Monde de 
la Mer," a noble aquarium opened to the public at a charge of two francs 
per head within the last week, on the Boulevard Montmartre. It is 
arranged as a large grotto, with cement stalactites, and the light almost 
entirely comes through the glass front of the aquarium. There are no less 
than thirteen aquaria, with glass fronts, about 15 feet long and 4 feet deep ; 



* The Brighton Aquarium was not in existence when this letter was 
written. 



CHAP. IX.] THE " MONDE DE LA HER." 95 

and there are glass facings to brick and cement tanks, 5 or 6 feet wide. 
These thirteen are for salt water alone; but there are others for fresh 
water, and two little ponds 10 or 12 feet across. The aquaria are lit by 
gas-lights placed above, which light up in the most 'efficient manner the 
interior, and show every fish most perfectly. There appears to be no 
confervoid growth ; and doubtless the gas-light is unfavourable to such 
vegetation, but gives an illumination more resembling the natural con- 
dition in deep water. A gas-engine is employed to change the water, 
which continually runs to a tank below, and is pumped back, the jet 
being thrown with such force as to carry down a great quantity of air in 
very minute division so much, in fact, that I thought it was done by an 
air-pump, until the attendant obliged me by allowing me to go behind the 
scenes and inspect the contrivance. The " Monde de la Mer " in these 
tanks were truly wonderful : large fish a yard long, soles and skates of 
ample proportions, with lobster, crayfish, and numerous species of fish of 
brilliant colours from the Mediterranean. Hundreds of anemones made 
a sort of flower-garden ; and the effect was so interesting and so beautiful 
that it has to be seen to be believed and appreciated. 

The aquarium at the Zoological Gardens, which formerly attracted so 
much attention, was a mere baby to it, and gave no idea of the behaviour 
of the great-grandfather fish which are here contained. 

It occurred to me, that if I was a child and fell in love with this 
beautiful exhibition, there must be hundreds and thousands of grown-up 
children who would also like to be introduced to the " Monde de la Mer." 
Then why not get up a bigger " Mer," and a more distinguished " Monde " 
at the Zoological Gardens ? 

The place would be the bank sloping to the canal, looking towards 
the north : for fish have a decided natural objection to be cooked by a 
southern sun. And the moment I arrive in England I shall rush to the 
Zoo to see if perfidious Albion has copied the idea and out-Mer'd and out- 
Monde'd the " Monde de la Mer " of Paris. 

I remain, my dear Sir, 

Yours faithfully, 

HOTEL MEURICE, Paris, ALFRED SMEE. 

Nov. 19th, 1866. 

In 1866, it will be remembered, a great monetary panic occurred 
in the city of London, when many families lost large fortunes, 
and when, to add to the misfortune, the discount house of Overend 
and Grurney stopped payment. To endeavour to stop the stagna- 
tion which was occasioned by large sums of money which were 
not lost, but not get-at-able, in fact " locked up " for a consider- 
able space of time, an ingenious remedy was suggested by Alfred 
Smee, which will be found in the Appendix, No. XXX. This 
panic was succeeded by hardships which had to be endured by 
unfortunate shareholders of public companies in liquidation, 
and which elicited some anonymous letters from Mr. Smee's 
pen. These letters follow those on ' Locked-up Money,' in the 
Appendix, No. XXXI. 



96 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

In 1867, Mr. Smee brought out another form of Accident 
Sheet somewhat similar to, though in a more complete form than, 
the one he published in 1847.* 

Up to the present time very little notice has been taken of 
my father's professional career, beyond his being a surgeon of 
no mean repute, and of his being more especially eminent as 
an oculist. That part of his work which has hitherto been 
given was performed mostly in his leisure, and was chiefly 
the intellectual pastime of his prolific brain, but the greater 
part of his time was taken up by his medical profession, and 
by various companies, to some of which he was medical officer, 
whilst of others he was a director. 

It has already been mentioned that the office of Surgeon 
to the Bank of England was specially created for him when 
he was only twenty-two years old. He was also elected at 
an early age, and almost immediately on entering his profession, 
Surgeon to the Eoyal General Dispensary, in Aldersgate Street, 
to the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital, and was besides 
surgeon to several other important institutions. He was medical 
officer to several Life Assurance Companies, amongst the more 
important of which may be mentioned the Accident Company 
and the Gresham, of both of which he was one of the founders. 
But the latter company was materially assisted by my grand- 
father, Mr. William Smee, Accountant-General of the Bank of 
England, who was also one of the trustees of the Gresham, 
in conjunction with the Chief Cashier of the Bank, Mr. Matthew 
Marshall, and the banker Mr. Oldham. Without my grand- 
father's assistance the Gresham would not have existed. As 
it was, it was born in the dining-room of 7, Finsbury Circus, 
during the autumn of 1847. 

One of the companies to which he belonged caused, for a 
space of time stretching over several years, my father a great 
deal of anxiety, and added many cares to his life. Fortunately 
these anxieties came to a satisfactory termination. Through the 
indomitable courage and high principle of Alfred Smee many 
were saved from pressing cares and losses; but, unhappily, 
the intense mental excitement and labour attending it, left an 
indelible mark upon his bodily powers, and sowed the seed of the 
disease which he succumbed to at the early age of fifty-eight. 

This Accident Sheet can be either obtained in the form of a sheet or in a 
small book, at the printers', Messrs. Collingridge, Long Lane, or at the office of 
the Accident Company, 37, Old Jewry, E.G., for the small sum of one penny. 



CHAP. IX.] STORM SIGNALS. 97 

From the huge packet of MS. papers, of printed speeches, 
various reports, written and spoken by Alfred Smee for the benefit 
of sundry companies to which he belonged (which I had the 
curiosity to collect and preserve), it would seem that he must 
have been the moving spirit in them, and in losing him they 
must indeed have lost a friend and a strong supporter. 

In the summer of 1868 my father had a serious illness, which 
at the time was supposed to be a severe form of colic, but which 
would appear to have been rather the beginning of the disease 
which proved fatal to him at the beginning of last year: for 
from that moment he lost his stoutness, and became year by year 
thinner and thinner. From that moment, too, he cannot be said 
to have enjoyed robust health. Through the kind attention of 
his old friend Dr. Jones, he rallied from this illness, and when 
convalescent he went to Whitby, where he thoroughly enjoyed 
himself, sometimes in fishing, sometimes on the moors, sometimes 
amidst the rocks, searching for fossils embedded in the lias or 
oolitic strata, and sometimes in the beautiful woods in the vicinity, 
searching for ferns for his beloved garden at Wallington, which, 
when absent from it, was never forgotten by him. At such times we 
would return to Whitby with the carriage so filled with oak ferns, 
beech ferns, and other sorts of ferns, that our heads only would 
just be visible above the mass of lovely foliage, much to the 
amusement of the good folks of that seaport, who thereupon 
styled my father the "Professor of Ferns." Besides these in- 
nocent amusements, which tended to restore his health, he took 
steps to promote the interests of the fishermen of Whitby, as will 
be seen from the following letter, which he wrote immediately 
on his return to London, to the late Mr. Gassiot, F.K.S. 

MY DEAR SIR, I have been at Whitby during the last equinox, and 
took great interest in the storm signals on that dangerous coast, and 
I write the general result for you to lay before the committee for their 
information. 

1. The barometer was of the highest importance to the fishermen. 
Every morning they walked up the pier to examine it, and their decision 
was most materially guided by its rising and falling. 

2. The storm signal seemed to be of secondary importance to the indi- 
cation of the barometer, though of great use taken in conjunction with it, 
and the reason for its being hoisted. Upon this matter I have a suggestion 
to make. I found that whenever the drum was hoisted, every sailor knew 
the reason of its being hoisted from the Preventive Service men, and they 
would tell me that there was a great storm raging in the Channel, a high 
wind on the coast of Scotland, and one day that there was a storm so near 
as Yarmouth. 



98 MEMOIR OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

Now, I recommend that the reasons for the hoisting of the drum be 
always posted up in writing, as I am quite confident that these men are 
thinking of the bearing of the question all day long, and gradually 
they will use the drum in conjunction with the barometer, and obtain 
for each place much closer results than can be obtained by any other 
method. 

Practically my recommendation is to give the fishermen facts for 
them to apply. I think then great results will ensue, and they will be 
able to bring the foretelling of the weather for a few hours to as near a 
certainty as possible. 

It was resolved by the Meteorological Committee of the Koyal 
Society that Mr. Scott be instructed to take steps to promote the 
posting up of the weather telegrams at Whitby. The following 
summer, on our second visit to Whitby, my father took much 
interest in the working of the same. 

In 1868 there was another election at Rochester. His address 
to the electors was issued from Whitby, where he was staying on 
account of illness, and he was on that account obliged to postpone 
appearing among his friends and supporters for several weeks. 
He, however, wrote many addresses to them, and amused himself 
with drawing up rules and regulations for the organization of the 
Conservative party in that city ; and before he was quite recovered 
from his indisposition he, against the advice of his medical adviser, 
Dr. Jones, and of his friends, threw himself heart and soul into 
the contest, quite regardless of his own health. He went to the 
poll, but again met with unsuccess. That he had good grounds 
for expecting success will be fully seen from the following letters 
sent to his wife and others during the heat of the contest, and by 
the speech he made at the complimentary dinner which was given 
to him by his supporters in the city of Rochester on the 17th of 
December, 1868. His family have heard since, from information 
obtained from the Radical side, that Mr. Smee was so beloved at 
Rochester, that had he but paid a select number at the rate of a 
day's wages he would have been elected. But bribery he would 
not allow to be resorted to. Not very long after this election a 
great many men emigrated from Rochester. Their last act on 
leaving Chatham for their ships was to give three cheers for Mr. 
Smee. " Had we returned him as our member for Rochester," they 
exclaimed, " we should not have been obliged to leave Rochester 
and emigrate." My father was not a little pleased when he heard 
of this demonstration of affection and esteem for him. 

MY DEAR ELIZABETH, We have had a most extraordinary meeting at 
Rochester; 20,000 people out, all the road lined. The moment I arrived 



CHAP. IX.] ELECTION AT EC-CHESTER. 99 

at the station, tremendous cheering, a great procession of torches, with red 
fire, with a boy dressed in pink, typifying Conservatism, with a band pre- 
ceding. We marched through the town, all the people calling out, " There 
he is, he has come at last," till we got to the King's Head, where the 
crowd was so great that policemen had to keep order, and the pressure so 
tremendous that the windows were broken. I gave my speech, a pretty 
violent one. 

I told the people that they must do the work, as I could not, and read 
my parody on Longfellow. It is reported that Kinglake has resigned on 

the strength of it, but that is improbable. I must see on Monday, 

and am to see Elliot to-morrow. Mary would have enjoyed the fun. 
KING'S HEAD HOTEL, Rochester, 
October 29th, 1868. 

MY DEAR ELIZABETH, Great meeting this evening "to protest 
against recent attempts to stir up class feelings in the city." The whole 
meeting called for Smee, and I was sent for, and entered the room amidst 
the most uproarious cheering. I got up on the platform, and shook Martin 
warmly by the hand (with such a scene as you never saw), but after waiting 
for two hours neither of us could be heard, so we agreed to leave the 
meeting quietly, when the police rushed in and cleared the hall. I was 
enthusiastically cheered, and all is now quiet, the Blue magistrates being 
furious. Promises pour in to me, and we have a good chance. 
KING'S HEAD HOTEL, Rochester, 

November 13th, 1868, 10 o'clock. 

Overwhelming show of hands in favour of Smee; all going on 
gloriously. 

ROCHESTER, November 17th, 1868. 

This telegram was sent to us after the nomination, and the 
day before the poll. 

In a letter he wrote after the election he says : 

SIR, I have lately contested Rochester in the Conservative interest 
and although not successful, from special reasons appertaining to that 
city, yet I think that I have found the key to obtain the enthusiastic 
support of the masses for the Conservative cause from the following 
principles : 

1. Conservatives desire a step by step progression from that which is 
good to that which is better ; in fact Conservatism is a continual growth 
and improvement. 

This doctrine always flashed in the people's minds, and when illustrated 
by natural phenomena, always delighted and enchanted them. 

2. The interests of the working men have a natural affinity with those 
of the gentry and aristocracy, and both should act together. 

This always stirred up marked enthusiasm. 

3. The Church belongs to the people, the clergy having ever de- 
fended the people against oppression, and is the source of England's 
freedom. 

This carried conviction, but I did not find it desirable to say too much 
upon Church questions. 

H 2 



100 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

4. The liberal doctrines of Bright, Mill, and Co. really amount to the 
lowest pay for the largest amount of labour, and the least quantity of the 
necessaries of life for the largest amount of money. 

This was almost too exciting for the masses. It completely carried 
them away, and completely turned the tables against the employers of 
labour and the small shopkeepers, the enemies of the Conservative cause. 

5. Labour -and capital equally suffer from disagreement, and members 
of Parliament should be their mediators. 

6. The Conservative Reform Bill has given the power to the people, 
but at present the people are not freemen, as their masters compel them 
to vote as they please, to their own injury. 

This doctrine was generally met with shouts of the names of the 
Government contractors at Rochester, who command the electors, and 
frequently with suggestions for the ballot. 

7. Yiolent political struggles are inimical to the interests of the 
people : hence Gladstone had done great injury by stirring up the Church 
question. 

By this line of argument I showed that the aristocracy, gentry, and 
clergy constitute the Conservative party, with the working men, but that 
the Liberal party were composed of the employers of labour and the small 
shopkeepers. 

The Liberal party were furious at the enthusiasm produced by these 
doctrines, and called an indignation meeting, but the multitude completely 
foiled the attempt. 

At Rochester I carried the clergy, the gently, and the working men 
with me, and I have no doubt that we have the key to the future Conserva- 
tive government of the country. A large majority of working men were 
compelled to vote as their masters dictated. 

And again, at the complimentary dinner given to him at 
Kochester on the 17th of December, 1868 : 

It is with a great deal of diffidence that I rise to express the thanks 
which I feel for the honour you have done me this day in asking me to 
come amongst you after the defeat we have experienced at the late election. 
We have unmistakably had a great defeat in Rochester, a defeat which we 
did not expect. The moment I entered the city I received numerous promises 
of support ; those promises came rolling in day by day till 10 o'clock each 
night ; they amounted at last to 1024 on the day before the nomination. 
After the nomination, at which, as you know, we gained the show of hands, 
that same evening no more promises came in, but promises began to fall 
off; withdrawal began to be made, which showed the city must be under 
the power of certain persons in it (sensation) ; and on the next day these 
1024 promises degenerated into 702 performances (shame). Accustomed as 
I am to numbers, I sat ticking off the votes at the Guildhall as they came 
in, and I soon saw that there was something wrong. I sent word to my 
committee, " Why don't the voters come up ? " No answer came. I 
wrote again : " Tell me, why don't the voters come up ? " A slip of paper 
then came with s. d. upon it (sensation). I understood at once the 
meaning. Now there must be some very potent reason which prevented 
1024 promises from realizing more than 702 votes. In the first place I 



CHAP. IX.] VISIT TO ITALY. 101 

think many good Conservatives were victims to despair. I found they 
worshipped success, and the moment they saw we were not likely to be at 
the head of the poll, they stayed at home and did not vote (shame). 

In speaking before public meetings Mr. Smee varied not a 
little. Generally his speeches were fluently delivered, and were 
at times most brilliant ; at other times his speeches would fall 
flat, and then he would search for the words to use. When he got 
up, no one could predict whether he was in the humour and would 
give one of his brilliant speeches, or whether it would be painful 
to listen to him. Two sentences were, however sufficient for 
those who knew him well to tell whether the speech would be a 
success or not. His facts he would generally, not always, get 
up beforehand, but the manner in which they were to be arranged 
was always left till the time of speaking. But perhaps the 
most brilliant and most effective of his speeches were those 
which he took no trouble about, when he rose on the spur of the 
moment and delivered them off-hand. 

In the spring of 1870 my mother and I accompanied my 
father to Italy, and there enjoyed all the beauties which that 
classic land can yield. How much the charming scenery of the 
Riviera delighted him, and Florence that lovely city where 

" Sculpture with her rainbow sister vies ! " 

" Girt by her theatre of hills, she reaps 
Her corn, and wine, and oil, and Plenty leaps 
To laughing Life with her redundant horn." 

From Florence we went to Naples, which city and its 
neighbourhood afforded Mr. Smee, as may be supposed, fresh 
novelties of intense interest. He was greatly surprised to find 
the Ceterach fern thriving almost at the summit of Mount 
Vesuvius, and the Maidenhair fern luxuriating in all its glory 
in the ruined amphitheatre at Pozzuoli near Naples. 

Some of the fronds (he writes) were eighteen or more inches in length, 
and the earthen walls were covered with sheets of this lovely fern, stand- 
ing out at right angles from the wall, or hanging down from the roof. I 
must confess that, when I beheld this great and glorious sight, I was 
more impressed with it than with the thought that I was present on a 
spot where dramas of blood were enacted centuries before. I speedily 
collected a number of plants, to the no small disgust of the cicerone, who 
could not do the amphitheatre at his usual gallop, and who shrugged his 
shoulders at my utter want of taste in gathering useless weeds. Some of 
these plants now gi'ow at my garden in the fern cave. 



102 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

My father, wherever he went, found something new or tempt- 
ing for his garden. His portmanteau was but too frequently 
converted into a flower-garden before he reached England again, 
and which not a little surprised the Customs' officers, when they 
inspected his luggage. Plants were the primary consideration, 
clothes secondary, if they could claim any consideration at all. 
At Pompeii he found more Maidenhair ferns growing on the 
walls of that ruined town, to which he paid repeated visits. At 
Rome he was much impressed with the grand buildings and ruins. 
He went daily to St. Peter's, the Coliseum, and was much struck 
with the noble proportions of the Pantheon. The pictures and 
sculptures afforded him much pleasure, and it was during this 
visit that he made those curious notes on Binocular Perspective 
which are alluded to in the Appendix, No. XIX. My father 
gained much recreation and enjoyment, and would have re- 
turned, I doubt not, a stronger man, had he not, unhappily, 
been obliged by untoward circumstances to stop, and not only 
doctor, but also help with my mother to nurse, severe cases of 
illness. He was urgently required in London, and he could not 
leave, and the worry and anxiety attending this delay greatly 
marred the enjoyment of this visit, and prevented that benefit 
to his health which his family had hoped to see. What 
a keen interest he took in the new forms of vegetation he met 
with in beautiful Italy, the following extracts from letters 
to my brother, who was in England acting as his deputy, will 
show : 

March 16th, 1870, Florence. To compai'e with Carshalton. 
Almonds now in flower; some peach-trees and pear-trees swelling 
their buds ; anemones in flower ; sloe-trees in full flower. 

April 6th, 1870, Florence. I forgot to tell you that swallows appeared 
at Naples on March 28th, and I saw them here on March 31st. 

April 12th, 1870. The country is really very beautiful with wild 
tulips, wild flowers, and all the fruit-trees in flower, and the mountains 
look lovely. 

M. is still very weak. I do not know how I am to get home ; I shall 
be so thankful to write and state that we are on the move. 

April 23rd, 1870. I heard the nightingales last night, April 22nd ; 
compare with Carshalton, for I believe the birds distribute well over 
Europe on the same day. Inquire at Carshalton, and make a note of it. 

April 24th, 1870. Nightingales in quantities. I heard yesterday also 
the cuckoo the first time. 



CHAP. IX.] ON UNSEAWORTHINESS OF SHIPS. 103 

April 25th, 1870. People must clearly know that illness is the cause 
of my absence. Poor Carshalton has not seen ,1116 this spring. I hope 
everything is properly attended to. 

Lilies are now in flower. The May is just coming into flower. Pear- 
trees are beginning to go off. Plum-trees are mostly gone off. Peach-ti-ees 
are generally off. The vines are beginning in warm situations to sprout 
(not in the vineyards). The spotted orchis is in flower. 

April 25th, 1870. The swallows are building. The buttercups and 
tulips, all over the fields, red and yellow, are in flower. The white mulberry 
is just breaking. The first leaf of spring is coining over the poplars and 
elms. The underwood has much leaf. 

Before Mr. Plimsoll, to whom great praise is due, had the 
courage to bring forward his Merchant Shipping Bill to the 
notice of Parliament, there had appeared numerous anonymous 
letters in the ' Insurance Times,' besides some pamphlets circulated 
elsewhere, in which was shown in a very strong light the un- 
seaworthiness of ships that were (according to these writings) 
" sent to sea at the peril of men's lives." These letters and 
pamphlets caused a good deal of excitement at the time among 
persons interested, among owners of ships, underwriters, and 
marine companies. Frequently half-a-dozen short pithy letters 
would appear in the same paper on one day, followed up for some 
weeks by others equally short and telling. Many of these letters 
were from the pen of Alfred Smee. There was a great grievance, 
he conceived, to be remedied only by strong measures. In many 
of his anonymous writings he writes as if he were himself a 
sufferer ; but that form, it will be speedily seen, was merely used 
as a figure of speech, so as to bring more forcibly forward the 
grievance which he was endeavouring by agitation to redress. 
The following spring Mr. Plimsoll brought forward his Mer- 
chant Shipping Act, which my father thought erred only by 
being "too lenient;" and the remarks that gentleman uttered 
in the House of Commons on the unseaworthiness of ships 
sent to sea came, I have heard my father say, " far within 
the mark : " yet the virtuous indignation with which Mr. 
Plimsoll was assailed may still be remembered. But although 
the Bill was lost that Session, the storm was fairly roused, and 
the sailors were in a body with Plimsoll, and in 1876 the 
Government deemed it expedient to pass an Act to stop unsea- 
worthy ships being sent to sea. A selection from the various 
anonymous letters from Alfred Smee's pen on the above subject 
is placed in the Appendix, No. XXXII. It must be remem- 
bered that these letters are not to be looked upon as specimens 



104 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. IX. 

of logic or of literature; they were purely intended for one 
end, and that was to hring forward in a prominent way before 
the public the above subject. 

Mr. Smee was throughout his life frequently writing various 
papers or pamphlets to which he did not affix his name : amongst 
the most important of these anonymous writings are those on 
Chancery Eeform. Although the papers were not written 
during the years treated of in this chapter, yet as this and the 
preceding one contain most of the anonymous writings of Mr. 
Smee, it may not be out of place to mention them here. These 
papers were printed separately, and were from time to time 
distributed by post among the leading members of the legal 
profession, and more especially among the members of the 
Chancery bar. The perusal of these papers will suffice to 
show their extreme importance to the public. They are placed 
in the Appendix, No. XXXIII. 



CHAP. X.] ' THE WIDOW AND THE RABBITS.' 105 



CHAPTER X. 

1870 TO 1875. 

' The Widow and the Eabbits ' Letters to the ' Times ' ' My Garden,' seventh 
book Impromptu lecture The marriage of his daughter Attends an 
International Botanical Congress Letters to his daughter from abroad 
Address at Kochester Letter to the Council of the Eoyal College of 
Surgeons, England. 

IT would occupy too much space to insert all the anonymous 
writings of Alfred Smee, for they were voluminous. I cannot, 
however, refrain from giving a few extracts from one more 
of his little works, to which he did not attach his name, more 
especially as it forms a link to show his vivid imagination, his 
unwearying energy, and how numerous and various were his 
publications. This was written in the autumn of 1871, when he, 
myself, and my mother went for a short trip to Scotland. We 
were hospitably entertained for a while at a friend's house, after 
which we travelled over the wildest and most beautiful parts of 
Scotland : 

" So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
The scenery of a fairy dream." 

SCOTT'S Lady of the Lake. 

My father was an early riser, and was generally up before the 
rest of the family. For two or three mornings before breakfast he 
amused himself by writing ' The Widow and the Eabbits.' This 
fairy legend by a Ferret, which is really a humorous skit, as the 
following dedication shows, is very prettily illustrated.* 

* Published by Messrs. Rixon and Arnold, 29, Poultry, London. 



106 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 



THE WIDOW AND THE BABBITS. 
To ELIZABETH MARY, WHO HAS VISITED MANY HAPPY VALLEYS AND 

OBSERVED THE ILL EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE RABBIT PRESERVA- 
TION, THIS STORY is DEDICATED BY HER FATHER. 

The story opens thus : 

In the North of Scotland there is a very beautiful valley. A 
foaming river runs through it, where abundance of trout disport them- 
selves in the sun and rise to every little fly which settles upon the water. 
When rain falls, the river swells and overflows its banks; but amidst 
the roar of the water, the salmon rush up the torrent from the sea, 
and thus a delicious food is afforded to the fishermen. These catch 
them with an artificial fly, and not only supply the people of the district 
with fish, but exchange them for other luxuries with the inhabitants of 
Edinburgh and London, who have neither trout nor salmon in their rivers. 
The whole valley was formerly filled with villages, the people of which 
tended their flocks and herds, and cultivated their fields. The inhabitants 
were good and kind to each other, and aimed at promoting the happiness 
of all. As the land was good, and Providence was bountiful in bestowing 
the fruits of the earth, everyone was thankful for the gifts he received, 
and rejoiced in the lovely scenes which he daily saw, from the time the 
sun rose in the morning till it gave forth its heat in mid-day, and set in 
the west in the evening ; when the villagers, after they had uttered their 
praises for the blessings already received, and had prayed for a con- 
tinuance of their joys in the future, retired to rest. 

The valley is surrounded by high hills to the west, so that no man 
has ever been able to pass. It has rugged hills to the north, which almost 
constitute a wall, and to the south there are also hills, leaving only one 
narrow entrance for foreigners to come in, or for the inhabitants to go out. 
It was, therefore, always called " The Happy and Secluded Yalley of the 
North." 

About 1000 years ago, naore or less, for the learned have never been 
able to decide the exact time ; some say it was in the year 770, others in 
790 ; but the most reliable, from documents existing in the great library of 
Kamskatka, consider that it was in the year 772, a foreigner named Lord 
Gryndum came with numerous retainers, and took possession of this 
happy valley, and built himself a great castle. The villagers, always 
happy and living in peace with each other, were never accustomed to 
resist ; and, in fact, they never had either an army or policeman to protect 
them, and so the villagers suffered the foreign Laird to take possession of 
their valley and charge them rents for their lands. Not contented with 
this, he soon after took their hunting-grounds from them, where they were 
wont to kill game, especially deer, white hares, and grouse for their winter's 
use ; and the Laird liking himself to kill fish (as he had nothing else to do 
but fish, shoot, and hunt) ordered his retainers to drive the villagers from 
the river, and prevent them catching a single salmon, or even killing a 
trout. He was not even satisfied then, and his aggressive disposition 
caused him to bring some rabbits from England, which he forbade to be 
killed under the pain of a severe fine, or even of imprisonment. The 



CHAP. X.] ' THE WIDOW AND THE RABBITS.' 107 

better to carry out his wicked device, lie made interest with the ting, by 
bribing the attendants with haunches of venison and with salmon, to 
make him a magistrate, by which he had power to cruelly ill-treat his 
tenants, and to punish the peasantry for the slightest offence. 

The rabbits multiplied exceedingly, and the whole valley became a 
vast rabbit warren, from which the creatures sallied forth by armies at 
night and devoured all the grass in the fields ; and when they had finished 
the grass, they ate the turnips ; and when they had eaten the turnips, they 
attacked the corn ; and when they could get neither grass nor corn, nor 
turnips, they set to work and destroyed the young trees by eating the 
bai-k and young shrubs. 

The poor people in vain encircled their garden plots with close 
palings, for wire fencing was not invented at that time. The rabbits 
either scrambled over them, or burrowed underneath. Sometimes it is 
recorded that they actually ate their way through the wooden palings, and, 
when under the pressure of hunger, they smelt the poor men's cabbages ; 
they have been seen to jump over the fence, when, in a short time, the 
vegetables were eaten and disappeared. It was particularly noticed that 
they always took the choicest and sweetest vegetables in the garden. 
What they did not eat they spoilt, so that nothing was left for use in 

the winter. 

****** 

In ten short years the rabbits so changed the Happy Valley of the 
North, that all the population were wretched, and it became known in 
more southern countries as " The Valley of Misery and Woe." 

At this time there was a poor widow named Mary Suffermuch, whose 
family had lived in the village more than five hundred years. She had lost 
her husband by the fall of an ash-tree which overhung the road, and 
which was blown down in a high wind, after the rabbits had undermined 
the tree by cutting the roots with their sharp teeth, which are formed like 

chisels. 

****** 

But on the 10th of November, which in that year 780 fell on a Monday, 
the poor widow looked at her prospects, and she found that the rabbits 
had so far destroyed her crops that she had no turnips left for her cow, as 
the interior of every one was eaten out, and merely the outside shell was 
left. The ground was covered with snow, as winter had set in early that 
year. She had only porridge for two days more. The barley had all been 
sold, and the money expended for shoes for the children. The poor widow, 
when she realized her position, was miserable indeed, and cried most bitterly. 
***** * 

The widow then goes off to a relation for assistance in her 
misery, but finds him as destitute as herself. On her way thither 
she admires the beauty of the country. Dispirited and dis- 
heartened with her fruitless errand (all this is most pathetically 
told), she sets off to return home. 

To rest herself she sat down on a bench in a beautiful wood, where 
the waters of the river ran alongside, roaring among the rocks and large 
stones ; there, too, the bright mid-day sun shone xipon the white barks of 



108 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

the birch-trees, and on the deep-coloured branches of the ever green Scotch 
pines. She cried very much when she thought of her past happiness and 
present misery, till she was quite exhausted and fell sound asleep. 

A fairy here suddenly appears before her, coming " with a 
rush of wind." After a long colloquy between the fairy and the 
widow, 

the lovely fairy, who was quite distressed at such grievous misery, gazed 
with the tenderest compassion upon the face of the sorrow- stricken 
widow. In a tone of authority, the fairy said, with earnestness but 
sweetness : " Homeward go, Mary ! Rabbits shall no more trouble thee ! 
This day I have full power over the rabbits in this valley." And then 
with a clear, shrill, musical voice the fairy cried, " Change, bunnies, change." 
The sound in the dead stillness echoed through the woods from rock to 
rock, and from tree to tree, " Change, change, change," and died away 
in the extreme distance, echoing " Change, change, change," till the last 
murmuring was scarcely audible to the most delicate ear. In an instant 
the snow was torn up like a whirlwind, and, with a rushing sound, the 
fairy passed away in the cloud of snow the wind had raised 

On her way home the widow saw, to her surprise, 

a large black cat rush out of a rabbit hole and prowl about, seeking 
for food ; presently she saw many other cats, some black, some black and 
white, but there was not a tabby amongst them. The words " Change, 
bunnies, change," came to her mind, and she perceived that the rabbits 
had been changed, and that their tails had grown long, and their ears had 
become short, and that it was perfectly clear the rabbits had been changed 
into cats. 

As she slowly continued her journey homeward, she noticed the rooks 
wheeling in circles to the south, and then fly away in the direction of the 
next valley. After that, a long zigzag line appeared in the sky, which she 
knew to be a flock of wild ducks. Later an immense pack of grouse, 
screaming wildly, flew out of the valley towards the highest hill of the east. 
Then the linnets and warbling tribes of small birds, which she could not 
exactly distinguish, formed a great flock, and darted about like flies in the 
air, and then flew out of sight. Even the owls, although it was only two 
o'clock in the afternoon, were on the wing, screaming in B flat. The 
herons, with their immense wings, flew away to distant places. 

The widow sat to rest herself on a large granite stone by the side of 
the river, and she was surprised to see that the salmon were jumping over 
the stones and swimming down to the sea as fast as they could. She then 
plainly understood that all living creatures were leaving the valley for f ear 
of the number of black and black and white cats which were prowling 
about. 

The quaint and cunning description of the " Babbit Protec- 
tors " here follows, and should be read to be appreciated, but is 
too long for these pages. 

A stone, long since decayed, was placed over the grave, with the 
inscription : " To the Perpetual Memory of the thirty-four Babbit Pro- 



CHAP. X.] ' THE WIDOW AND THE BABBITS.' 109 

tectors, of the Valley of Misery." Two of the keepers ran down the road 
to England, one of whom escaped across the sea in a trading vessel to 
Holland, where he was heard of many years afterwards. Seven went to the 
South, and were never heard of again ; but as they had to cross a river, it 
was surmised they were all drowned, and that their bodies were carried out 
to sea. Two quarrelled over a piece of cold venison ; and one had his leg 
broken by a kick by his companion, and perished in the snow. His com- 
panion was tried and executed at Edinburgh. One got into a deep snow- 
drift directly he started, and perished; but the remaining nine were 
sheltered by a compassionate old woman at the north of the village, and 
returned after two weeks' time, and became good labourers, declaring they 
never would be Rabbit Protectors again. In this way the whole forty- 
seven were exactly accounted for. With regard to those who crossed the 
river, it is stated by the great historian Findout, that several bodies were 
washed ashore one November, at the paiish of Seaside, not seven miles 
from the mouth of the river ; but Mr. Exact, in his popular account of the 
district, points out that the year is not mentioned, or the number of 
bodies stated, nor was the identity ever proved ; so whether they were the 
bodies of the keepers, or of sailors from the wreck of some ship, can never 
be discovered. 

Thursday came, and the cats, from exposure to the intense frost of the 
preceding night, were very hungry, and were prowling about in all direc- 
tions for food. It was particularly mentioned that, although the birds 
flew over the valley that day, none settled when they saw the terrible army 
of cats ready to devour them. 

In the evening the Laird was in a state of wild passion at not having 
his grouse for dinner, and went to bed half stupefied, after having drunk a 
bottle of brandy. The cats, in the desperation of famine, attacked the 
house by myriads, and tried to get in ; but the windows and doors were 
securely bolted. As the Laird heard the shrieks and cries of the cats, he 
shivered with fright in his bed ; when of a sudden the Fairy appeared in 
a sheet of fire, standing on a table before his bed. " Who are you, and 
whence do you come ?" cried he ; " how did you enter when all the doors 
were locked and the windows barred? Tell me quick." The Fairy, 
unmoved by his violent gestures, sweetly replied, " I am the Fairy Dogood : 
I am flesh and blood like you, but not so gross. I dwell where I like; 
where all is peace; but generally at the mountain top, to overlook the 
valley. Sometimes I lie in the scarlet flower of a lichen; sometimes I 
nestle amidst the pollen of Linnseus' flower : when I go abroad, I flit on the 
wings of a blue butterfly to survey the flowers, or I soar in the air between 
the wings of a gnat to enjoy the evening breeze. I practise gymnastics on 
the delicate thread of a spider's web, and dance on the top of a thorn of 
the gorse ; I feed upon the odour of the sweet gale ; I drink the invisible 
water of the air, and eat the blue bloom which covers the fruit of the dew- 
berry ; I bathe in the particles of the mist as it rises over the mountain 
top, and I swim in the dewdrops which hang on the flowers ; I slide on 
the snow-flakes as they drift in the air, and I skate on the hailstones as 
they drop from the sky. When I suspect wrong, I leave the mountain top ; 
and I have dwelt in the key -hole of your bedroom to see what you have 
been about. When I see injustice, I ride itpon the whirlwind and gallop 
in the flames. I have come to visit you through a crack in a pane of glass 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

in your bedroom window, which, although you can scarcely see, is quite 
wide enough for me to pass through." 

At these words, the Laird shook and shook again, as well he might, 
and covered his face with the bedclothes ; but he saw the Fairy neverthe- 
less, and could not hide her from his view. In a stentorian voice which 
shook the very walls of the house, the Fairy continued : " I have answered 
thy questions fully, and perhaps more fully than you expected; now 
answer mine. Will you compensate the villagers for the damage the 
rabbits have caused?" " I will," he quickly cried, " but spare me, O Fairy 
Dogood." "Will you promise never to keep Rabbit Protectors again?" 
" I will," he wildly shrieked, more dead than alive with fear ; " but, O dear 
Fairy Dogood, keep the cats from devouring me." The Fairy with a voice 
like thunder exclaimed, " Don't call me dear, but keep thy promise ; for if 
ever thou bi-eakest it, the proprietorship of the lands of the valley shall 
never descend in the direct line in thy family ; and mark, if thou art ever 
guilty of further extortions, the lands you have acquired by conquest will 
be taken from you, and given back to the people from whom, in plain truth, 
you have stolen them. Power has only been given to me by Queen Mab over 
rabbits, but not over cats," said the Fairy ; " I cannot help you, and would 
not if I could." And then in a flame which lit up for a minute the whole 
valley, and was seen by many persons hundreds of miles around, the Fairy 
instantly disappeared through the same crack she had entered, saying with 
a voice like thunder, " Keep thy promise." A great scientific man, Mr. 
Factfinder, who carefully examined the pane of glass with a lens, is 
reported to have been of opinion that the flames fused the two sides of the 
crack which the fairy passed through, as he could not find any reflection 
on the surfaces ; though he clearly perceived the direction of the cut by a 
slight irregularity in the glass. 

In the celebrated collection of Baron Oldfinder, a window was men- 
tioned in the catalogue one pane of which showed signs of having been 
cracked. A minute investigation showed a central part of the disturbance 
of the substance of the glass, from which irregular curved lines radiated. 
It is possible that this might have been the very pane of glass which Fairy 
Dogood went through. It is impossible, however, to clear up the mystery, 
as the heir of the seventh Baron Breakeverything Larky, when a boy, and 
not knowing the priceless value of this antiquity, used it as a target to fire 
at, and literally smashed it to atoms. He ever regretted the circumstance, 
and used to say, in after-years, that any object which could throw light on 
the important legend of the Widow and the Rabbits was of great interest 
to the whole civilized world, and he deeply deplored that he had inad- 
vertently destroyed this important link of the evidence. 

After the flames, which occurred three minutes past midnight, and are 
recorded in all good astronomical books of a subsequent period, the air 
became very still and cold, in fact colder than ever has been known before 
or since. How cold it was, never can be known, for no thermometer has 
ever been made to register such extreme cold as prevailed that still night. 
The cats, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, succumbed to the frost, and lay 
dead in all directions. The next day, when the villagers looked out of the 
windows, the white snow was literally strewn with dead cats; the black 
cats were very distinctly visible on the white gi-ound, though the white ones 
were not visible, as they could hardly be distinguished from the snow. 



CHAP. X.] 'THE WIDOW AND THE RABBITS.' Ill 

In the course of Thursday, the Laird, who was still afraid, and very ill 
from the effects of the brandy which he had drunk and from the fright he 
had received, sent his trusty forester, Mr. Treecarer, to the village, to say, 
that he would compensate all those who had suffered injury from the 
rabbits, and he begged them at once to make out their accounts that he 
might discharge them. When the villagers heard this, their joy was 
unbounded, and they cried : " Away with misery and woe ; now come back 
happiness and joy." One old man, however, said, " Do not waste your 
time in merry-making too soon : we should not be wasteful, if we were rich ; 
but now we are poor, we should waste nothing. Remember that a good 
cat-skin is worth fourpence, so skin the cats and sell the skins." All the 
villagers thought this good advice, and started off at once with a hurrah, 
and up to Saturday night got as many skins as realized 2,500 exactly, at 
fourpence each. Thus it is proved that 150,000 rabbits existed before 
they were turned into cats ; and as the valley contained 15,000 acres, it is 
proved that there were 10 rabbits to every acre of land. But this is not 
quite exact, for rain set in on the Sunday, which spoilt the skins of many of 
the black cats, and many of the white eats had been passed over, as they 
could not be seen in the white snow. It is possible that the total amount 
of rabbits which lived in the valley were 15 per acre, or 225,000 in the whole. 
After much consultation and consideration the villagers were compensated 
by a return of five years' rents, which actuaries consider fair under the cir- 
cumstances ; because the rabbits had been brought to the valley ten years 
back. At first there were very few rabbits, and they did but little harm ; 
gradually they increased, by a geometric progression, till the above enormous 
quantity was bred. By accepting five years' rents as compensation, a fair 
average was struck, and a very difficult discussion avoided. The lawyers 
indeed wanted to go into fractions, because in some years the rabbits 
multiplied more than in others, and hence the progression was not uniform. 
One lawyer, Mr. Stirupstrif e, desired to file amicable Bills in Chancery as ' 
to the appropriation of the money ; but the villagers were too sensible by 
far to listen to this proposition, although Mr. Barrister Helplawyer 
strongly advised that course. All legal difficulties were surmounted : and 
the lawyers were prevented from eating up the funds, which they very much 
wanted to do, by each payment of the Laird being a free gift, subject to 
the terms and conditions of the giver, which were equitable in each par- 
ticular case where the money had to be divided amongst the children who 
had lost their parents. 

On Thursday the birds, seeing that the cats were dead, returned to 
their own haunts ; and on Sunday a rapid thaw took place, which caused a 
great flood, and on Monday morning the salmon returned by shoals to the 
river ; and all was again prosperity and peace. 

The villagers, out of the proceeds of the sale of the cats-skins, bought 
the poor widow a new house, with a farm of thirty-five acres of arable and 
grass land, and seven roods of wood. She also had ample compensation 
for the damage done by the rabbits. The remainder of the money was 
spent in building a new church which was badly wanted the round 
arches of which exist to this day. Unfortunately the builder, who came 
from a town called Cheatem, took the villagers in, or they would have 
been able to construct a bridge over the river. To this day, 1,000 years 
afterwards, the river has to be crossed by a ford, to the great peril of 



112 MEMOIR OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

the inhabitants; and when I went to the ford, had I attempted to pass, I 
should certainly hare been drowned, showing how long the effects of 
roguery may be felt. 

The Laird carried out honestly his compensation to the peasants and 
his promises to the Fairy ; and was always happy and contented after- 
wards. All the villagers ever since have protected his partridges, grouse, 
and deer, and reserved to him three miles of river, containing five fine 
salmon pools, for his own private use. He lived to the ripe old age of 91, 
and on his tombstone he ordered to be engraved, after his name, date of 
birth, and age at death 

BEWAEE OP RABBITS ! ! 

The previous year the two following letters were published in 
the ' Times : ' 

It was known all over London that the venerable church of St. 
Saviour's was this morning struck by lightning, when the majestic peal 
of thunder rolled throughout the metropolis at about half -past eight, and 
this afternoon I examined the course of the electric force in its destruc- 
tive career. 

The church has a noble central tower, with four stone turrets, one at 
each angle, and each turret is surmounted with a large copper vane, over 
which is placed a copper ball. The south-east turret has been struck 
by lightning ; and as a result, the stones of which it was composed were 
thrown off in all directions, exactly as the bark of a tree is thrown off 
when that is struck by lightning. The force with which the stones com- 
posing the turret were scattered may be appreciated when it is stated that 
one stone was thrown at least fifty yards to the western extremity of the 
churchyard, where it broke two iron rails and then injured a house. 
* Other stones were thrown on the roofs of the houses near London Bridge. 
Some were thrown on the roof of the church, breaking through to the 
pavement below, and all the surrounding houses bear more or less 
the marks of violence with which large stones were thrown from the 
turret at the top of the tower. 

An inmate of one of the almshouses below told me that what with 
the lightning, the roar of the thunder, the pelting rain, the falling 
stones, and the breaking in of the roofs, she really thought the end of the 
world had arrived. The copper ball at the top of the vane bore the marks 
of the lightning discharge. The turret itself being composed of stone, 
and therefore a bad conductor of electricity, offered a resistance to the 
transmission of the electric force, and was consequently disintegrated 
and its component parts thrown outwards. The electric force then passed 
to the flat lead roof at the top of the tower, and was thence conveyed by a 
water-pipe to the lead-gutters on the roof of the southern aisle of the nave. 
From this roof it passed down two other water-pipes to the churchyard. 
On the most easterly of these pipes, or the nearest to the tower, the pipe 
showed a curious lateral discharge, forming a funnel-shaped hole, and on 
the more westerly water-pipe a dilation existed, but without the aperture. 
From the examination which I made, it is demonstrated that, had there 
been a conductor from the vane to the water-pipes, at a cost of two or 
three pounds, the present damage, which is roughly estimated at 500, 



CHAP. X.] LETTERS TO THE ' TIMES ' AND ' STANDARD.' 113 

would have been spared ; and the moral may be learnt, never to have two 
surfaces of metal in so high and exposed a situation without a lightning- 
conductor. I have lived in a house struck by lightning where the 
lightning-conductors, from being badly constructed, were really lightning 
attractors, but in this case the mischief is due entirely to the parsimony of 
the parish authorities. Thunder and lightning is in no part of Europe, 
not even excepting the high Alps, so terrifically grand as in the centre of 
the city of London ; and when to this marvellous natural phenomenon is 
superadded its power of destruction of the more beautiful works of man, 
the interest attending its operation is materially increased. 
July 26th, 1870. 

Another magnificent display of the aurora borealis occurred last 
night. I was driving from Carshalton to London when I noticed that it 
suddenly became very chilly, and that the sky exhibited much the same 
appearance as when a beautiful aurora occurred at Oxford about five weeks 
since. The remark had hardly been made when the first light appeared in 
the south-east. Within two or three minutes a grand display of red 
light appeared overhead, with 'streamers stretching down to the northern 
horizon. A few minutes afterwards the light showed itself towards the 
west, with streamers of light stretching to the western horizon. The 
glorious scene was ever changing, when a vast mass of red light appeared 
in the north-east. This resembled the light of a large London fire, and 
was in the greatest perfection whilst we were on Clapham Common, about 
a quarter to 6 o'clock. It continued, however, till we arrived in London, 
and ceased about 7 o'clock. These great displays of northern lights so 
early in the season are unprecedented in my recollection. 

Oct. 26th, 1870. 

On January 24th, 1872, a violent gale passed over the 
metropolis, which occasioned a letter to the ' Standard ' on the 
25th, on barometric pressure, and which called for the invention 
of cheap barometers for the use of our fishermen, so that they 
might thereby be enabled to prognosticate a coming gale. 

The violent gale which passed last night over the metropolis was accom- 
panied by corresponding changes in the barometer. Yesterday the barometer 
stood at 29'03, but in consequence of the violence of the gale which raged 
this morning I examined the barometer at half- past 4 and found that it had 
faUen to 28'35, and that at 5 o'clock it had receded to 28*34. The flint 
glass barometer of the London Institution, which is a duplicate of the 
famous instrument made for the Royal Society, with a platinum ring in 
the tube, recorded at 6 A.M. 28'37 inches of pressure, and at 6 P.M. 28'87, 
showing a rise of half an inch in twelve hours. I kept my mountain 
aneroid barometer, specially constructed for me by Messrs. Home and 
Thomthwaite, under observation the entire day. By 9 o'clock it had risen 
to 28-6 ; by 10 to 28'65 ; by 11 to 287 ; at noon it stood at 28'74. Then a 
storm of wind and rain ensued, when by 1 o'clock it had fallen to 28'73. 
By 2 o'clock the mercury rose again to 28'76 ; by 3 o'clock to 28'84 ; by 4 
to 28'86 ; by 5 to 28'87, when it remained stationary till half-past 9, when 
it reached 28*9. At 11 o'clock P.M. it stood at 28'93, when the observations 

I 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

were discontinued, as the mercury had returned to nearly its former 
position. The mercury in the large tube in the barometer of the Bank 
of England was at noon in a state of visible motion from the rapidity of 
the variation of the atmospheric pressure. It is important to call the 
particular attention of our mariners to the occurrence of great gales, with 
rapid changes in barometric pressure ; and he who can invent a cheap, 
delicate, and practical instrument for the use of our fishermen and seamen, 
to enable them to prognosticate a coming storm, will be the greatest 
philanthropist of the age, by tending to the protection of life from the 
perils of the winds and waves. 

On July 25th, 1872, a letter was written to the ' Times ' on 
the incident of Brixton Church having been struck by lightning 
in the storm. 

The intensity and violence of the storms throughout Europe this 
summer naturally attract general attention. On Thursday, July 1.1, so 
frequent were the electrical discharges that I counted in one hour 394 
flashes of lightning. The storm over London on Tuesday was severe, but 
singularly enough at Carshalton, although the roars of the peals of thunder 
came from every side, and the repeated flashes of lightning were dazzling 
and terrific, scarcely a drop of rain fell. Between Carshalton and London 
the full force of the storm was experienced, and the steeple of Brixton 
Church was struck by lightning. I was curious to examine the injury, 
and to trace the course of the electric force. I found the steeple was 
built of stone, and had a stone ornament at the summit, with a stone 
cross. All this was supported by stone columns, and there was no good 
electric conductor between the stone cross and the earth. The electrical 
discharge shivered the stone ornament, breaking it into fragments, which 
were dispersed in all directions. Some fell upon the roof of the church, 
breaking the slates and even the rafters, but many of the pieces of broken 
stone were thrown to the churchyard beneath. In this particular instance 
the electrical discharge did not appear to have passed between the clouds 
and the earth by any water-pipe, gas-pipe, or other electric conductor 
connected with the part of the steeple struck, but probably was carried by 
the down-pouring rain, which is itself an efficient conductor of electiicity. 
I remember this steeple to have been struck by lightning about thirty years 
ago, and this second injury indicates that even a stone steeple in an 
exposed situation is not safe without an efficient metallic lightning- 
conductor. 

These letters on storms show the great interest which Mr. 
Smee evinced in such phenomena. Indeed it was seldom that he 
heard of a building or tree in the metropolis or its vicinity being 
struck by lightning, but he would hasten to the scene to take 
observations on the occurrence. 

' My Garden ' was the next published work from Alfred Smee's 
pen. It was written in every spare moment as a solace to his 
mind. The work, now so well known, details the geology of the 



CHAP. X.J THE PUBLICATION OF 'MY GARDEN.' 115 

district. The Celtic, Koman, and Anglo-Saxon periods of its 
history are exemplified, as are also the mediaeval. The prin- 
ciples of gardening are given, and the very tools that are neces- 
sary for that operation fully described. The construction of glass 
houses, with their ventilation, and the curious and novel modes 
for heating them, are also explained. The arrangements for the 
propagation of plants, the management of garden vegetables, 
of the fruit garden, the general flower garden, the special flower 
garden (comprising the roses, orchids, climbing plants, Alpine 
flowers, ornamental grasses); weeds and wild plants; the algse, 
mosses, lichens, liverworts, fungi ; the ferns, lycopods, &c., are" 
all fully set forth. Forest trees and shrubs are duly noticed 
(this chapter was written during the three weeks he was in Scot- 
land, in the autumn of 1871, when he also wrote ' The Widow and 
the Eabbits ') ; and the animal kingdom, from the animalcules 
in the river Wandle and insects of the garden to the larger 
animals. The birds and the fish and the reptiles hold an im- 
portant part in the work. The climate and spring frosts are 
recorded ; and the work ends with a calendar of plants in flower 
under glass and out of doors, of fruit, of vegetables, of garden 
operations, and of the natural history, during every week for the 
year 1871. 'My Garden' is illustrated by 1300 engravings, 
nearly all taken from nature ; it is not only a work of reference, 
but it is fitted, from the beauty of its illustrations, for the 
drawing-room table. This book has been compared to White's 
' Natural History of Selborne.' To those who are lovers of 
gardening this book is indeed a prize !* 

Not many months before ' My Garden ' was issued to the 
public, Professor Huxley, who was giving a course of lectures 
at the London Institution, fell suddenly ill. The audience were 
already assembling in the theatre of the London Institution. 
What was to be done ? Some one rushed off to our house, a 
few doors off, and fortunately my father came in at that very 
moment. " It is a pity," he said, " that so many should come, 
some a long distance, and should go away disappointed. Suppose 
I give them a lecture ?" " Yes, do ! " was the eager exclamation. 
Then my father said he would give them a lecture, a gossip about 
gardening. So, without any preparation, he walked into the 
theatre, crowded with people who had come to hear Professor 
Huxley on Biology, but who remained to hear what Mr. Smee 

* ' My Garden ' is published by Messrs. Bell, York Street, Covent Garden. 

i 2 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

had to say about gardening. Without any notes or premeditation 
he commenced. On another occasion, within a few months, my 
father delivered another lecture on the same subject at an equally 
short notice, but this is the only one which has been preserved, 
through the kindness of Mr. Shadbolt, a proprietor, who took 
shorthand notes of it, and which was afterwards printed in the 
Journal of the London Institution, February 5th, 1872. (See 
Appendix, No. XXXIV.) My father's family are naturally proud 
of this fresh demonstration of his genius. 

A few weeks after the publication of ' My Garden,' he gave 
in August 1872 a fete in his garden, on the marriage of his 
daughter. On this occasion he invited the children of the neigh- 
bourhood to exhibit wild flowers, so as to "develope in them 
intelligence, observation, emulation, and the sense of the beau- 
tiful." He gave rewards in useful books to those who exhibited 
the most beautiful collection of wild flowers, of which the species 
were the most varied or which were arranged with the best 
taste. The exhibition took place and was a great success, and 
contributed to the interest of the fete. 

My father was an active supporter of flower-shows being held 
in the city of London. Of late years, flower-shows, or rather 
exhibitions of window-plants grown within the City, have been 
held in Finsbury Circus, and he gave prizes for wild flowers 
at these little horticultural displays. He gave two prizes in 
1875, three in 1876, and in 1877 he had intended to give no less 
than six prizes for wild flowers, which were to be collected by 
any resident in the city of London coming within the limits of 
the society. 

The first prize will be for the best collection of wild flowers, correctly 
named. 

2nd. Second best collection, correctly named. 

3rd. The best collection of wild flowers, unnamed. 

4th. Second best collection, unnamed. 

5th. The best collection of wild flowers tastefully arranged. 

6th. The second best tastefully arranged. 

The judges are empowered to withhold any prize if in their opinion a 
sufficient standard of excellence is not attained. 

ALFRED SMEE. 

These prizes were distributed last summer by my mother 
according to the wishes of her husband. These shows have been 
very successful, and they have already realized the hopes of the 
most ardent of their supporters. 



CHAP. X.] LETTERS TO HIS DAUGHTER. 117 

My father laid out our garden at Oxford and stocked it 
with the choicest kinds of the fruits and outdoor plants which 
were grown in his own garden, and he always looked upon the 
former as a miniature Carshalton garden. After my marriage 
rarely a day passed, if ever, without his writing to me 
one, and sometimes two letters, in nearly all of which some 
advice or information is given appertaining to the little garden 
formed by his skill. These letters, perhaps more than anything 
else, show the energy and extreme activity of his character, as 
well as his love for Nature, which was with him a veritable 
passion. 

I shall not come down till Thursday, and then will stop till Tuesday/ 
Go and hurry on the workmen to-day (Wednesday) to finish the green- 
house, to get it painted inside, and to have the ends ready that I may 
plant on Saturday, to save Sunday. To be precise : 

Have the greenhouse painted twice inside and glazed (glazed first). 

Get the end glazed and fixed if not time to paint. 

Get the ventilators up. 

Make B. get the vine borders ready. 

I hope that all the vines will be growing by Saturday. 

In another letter he says : 

There is a cart-load of things waiting to come to you, and cart-load 
after cart-load will follow. Drive them on. You would make a bad nigger 
driver. You do not fluster them half enough. 

Got home all right. 

We tumbled into the work yesterday pretty well ; but there is a lot 
to do. 

Tell your husband he was right about the axis of the croquet lawn ; it 
was out about 15 inches. I adjusted roughly, but it will require the most 
minute adjustment at the finish. 

I do not like the south part of the walk near the park. It is like a 
hedge and looks vulgar. 

Give B. the enclosed drawing, and tell him to get out the earth as in 
the enclosed drawing, beginning right down at the path, and carrying it 
back somewhat in the enclosed form to the very verge of the croquet 
ground, &c. 

Whenever my father came down, he always found the work 
done wrong. I was only too glad his instructions were not 
properly carried out in his absence, for by that means I got him 
down oftener than I otherwise should have done. My father 
took great interest in our garden, and I was always having 
letters about it, and I was well lectured if I did not give that 
amount of attention to it which his enthusiastic spirit wished. 



118 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X 

An immense hamper of plants will be sent from Carshalton, and I 
have made arrangements for Saxifrages, Sempervivums, and Sedums to be 
sent, as well as a stock of bedding plants. 

The hampers had better be sent back to Carshalton. 

I have ordered my largest Wistaria to be taken up and sent to cover 
your verandah. 

I have ordered some lavender and the various herbs to be sent. I 
think that they had better be planted under the peach-trees near the road, 
but perhaps they had better wait till I come down. 

Drive on the men ! Get in the earth. Get me lots of stones, and 
give B. the enclosed plan for him to finish the park side. You must 
worry them three times a day at least, for you will gain a year by working 
hard this month and getting in your crops. 

I shall bring some seed-peas with me and other seeds to be planted at 
once, and the rest will follow. 

Let me know every day what is done. 

I have made inquiries about some peat, for I must contrive that you 
have a few American plants if I can manage it. 

I have ordered your Azaleas and Camellias to be sent directly, also 
some Alpine plants. I have also sent a hamper full of bulbs, BO neces- 
sary to make your garden beautiful in spring. The Hyacinths and 
Narcissi are to be planted in pots for the greenhouse; the Scillas on 
the mound. 

Then follows a drawing how the bulbs should be arranged. 

We have just come back from Carshalton. The garden is most 
lovely; all our Cacti are planted out. Many of the little ones are in 
flower; most interesting. Our Cacti have only been watered once this 
winter. 

I am quite afraid your man will seiiously damage yours, so plant them 
all out forthwith, but label them first. I should have gone to bed 
straight, but I did not like you to spoil your plants, &c. 

There is an anemone on the mound, with a white flower somewhere in 
this position (here follows a drawing). I think you had better either 
eradicate or curtail it to a very little bit. It is a most aggressive rascal. 
Mine has eaten up nearly twenty species, and has almost driven me wild 

Whit Monday, 10.20. 

For some years previously he had been a member of the 
Council of the Eoyal Horticultural Society; he was chairman 
of the fruit committee, as well as a member of the scientific 
committee, of the same society. Just before his death he was 
elected vice-president of the scientific committee. He ever took 
an active part in these committees, and was rarely absent from 
them. 

In May 1874, an International Botanical Congress was held 
at Florence, and Alfred Smee was sent there as representative of 



CHAP. X.] LETTERS FROM ABROAD. 119 

the Eoyal Horticultural Society of England. He read a paper at 
that congress on * The best Varieties of Fruits cultivated in 
England,' with a view of advancing horticulture by communicat- 
ing from one country to another the experience which has been 
obtained of the cultivation of flowers and fruit under varieties of 
soils and differences of climate. He received a few months later 
a silver medal from the King of Italy. 

Whilst abroad I received many letters from him; two or 
three of which are here transcribed. 

You have passed the Semmering, and you remember how we turned 
round to ascend the pass. Well, we left Yienna and slept hei-e, stopping 
at the station at the turn round at the eleventh station. (Here follows 
a diagram.) 

Semmering. The place is most beautiful, with a face of rock of 
astounding grandeur behind the hotel. This morning we started about 
8 o'clock and drove up the gorge, which is perhaps the finest in Europe. 
The first mile or two was flat, and we saw the waterworks for Vienna, 
which come out of limestone rocks, as the water comes from the ground at 
Carshalton. After a time the valley narrows to a gorge, only sufficient 
room for the river and the* wood. At one place the road is carried on 
planks over the course of the river thus (here is a drawing). The whole 
road had abundance of wild flowers ; amongst the most remarkable were 
Sempervivums, Sedums, Saxifrages, the blue Hepatica, the Cyclamen, the 
grape Hyacinth, the beautiful Gentian Yerna. Several plants I never 
saw before the wild Auricula, the Trolleus Europaeus, the green-stalked 
Spleenwoi-t, all of which I sent many specimens, of which you shall come 
in for your fair share. I was quite tired grubbing up the plants, and got 
a large quantity. On our return many of the party saw a number of 
chamois, seven of which rushed up the mountain, sending down the stones 
and mightily delighting the observers. 

From the cold and wet we have had lately, the tips of all the moun- 
tains, which are about 5000 feet high, are covered with snow; and the 
Cupivah of snow-clad mountains, pine-clad sides, the clear, sparkling 
river, and the cumulous clouds casting their shadows ever each and 
towards the mountain-tops, produced a scene which was truly delightful 
in itself, and caused us all to think that the day was one never to be for- 
gotten. You must never go to Yienna without visiting this mountain 
gorge, which is superior to anything which I have ever seen before. It 
is much larger and finer than the Hellerthal of the Black Mountains; 
it is wider and finer than the gorge which you saw in Switzerland ; and 
it is much larger, and the mountains higher, than the gorge of the 
baths of Pfeffers, which you have so often laughed at me for so much 
admiring. 

We are all well, and your mother is behaving like a brick, getting up 
at seven in the morning. She is now drying some flowers. 

To-morrow we go to Trieste, thence to Venice, Hotel Europe ; but it 
will be no use sending any more letters till ,we arrive at Florence, where 
we hope to be on May 10th, in the evening. 

SEMMERING, May 3, 1874. 



120 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

We came yesterday (Monday) to Trieste, arriving at ten at night. 
As you have done the road, I need not describe it. It is a very fine 
journey, the Seminering being covered with the lovely Gentian Yerna. 
The Edelweiss was sold by ragged boys at the stations. I bought you a 
little bouquet of flowers. I wanted to have got a lot of roots, but 
somehow or other Herr B. did not act with sufficient energy, and I only 
bought two plants of the gardener at English prices, one for you and one 
for myself. 

We did our journey amidst cloud and rain, which made the effects in 
the mountains very fine and beautiful. To get from here to Yenice we go 
either by water or by rail. Some want one way and some another, where- 
upon an argument arises. 

I shall remain calm upon the point, as I do not care one hair's breadth 
which way we go. 

I have been much pleased to watch the progress of the trees, for 
although we are so much south, we are still much in the same state as 
you are in England : for example, the apple-trees are in the beginning of 
flower; the horse-chestnuts in the same state. The vines have barely 
started, so that when they begin they will go on at a terrible rate, to make 
up in summer for the lost time in winter and spring. 

Keep your house moist. Give water to the atmosphere by watering the 
floor and walls every day, and, above all things, do not permit cold blasts of air. 

Yesterday I despatched a box of alpines to England of my own 
getting, but really, when you are out for the whole day, there is very little 
time for plant-hunting, which is tiring and wearisome. 

I am writing this letter, looking over the Adriatic, with its ships 
and port. 

Write and tell me how your little man is (his grandson) .... I must 
bring him home a little plant, as we must make him love fruit and 
flowers, &c. &c. 

Yesterday we had the most lovely day at Trieste; one of those 
grand sunshines which Italy only can offer. We drove along the 
bay to the house of Maximilian, one of the most beautiful houses 
which I ever saw. It was faultless in design, fitted up with the 
most exquisite taste. The gardens were delightful, and for the first 
time the nightingales sung their delicious tunes. All was lovely, whether 
within or without. But where were the proprietors ? The lady in a 
mad-house; the master dead from the ruthless bullets of foreign bar- 
barians ! Avoid too much ambition. Do not desire to have the baby 
grow as high as St. Paul's, or write poetry like Homer before he can 
speak. 

" Who pants for glory, finds but short repose ; 
A breath revives him, or a breath o'erthrows." POPE. 

At Trieste we found the Maidenhair fern, and got a pretty good 
handful. If you show due obedience, and speak very prettily, I will give 
some to you. 

The Wistarias were in full blossom, and all Nature is putting forth 
its spring attire. 

Poor Yenice looks more decayed than when you were here ; but we 
will let you know further when we have seen more, &c. &c. 



CHAP. X.] TESTIMONIAL FROM WORKING MEN. 121 

Here we are, and asked for a letter from you, but, alas ! no letter to 
hand. Are you weary ? are you dreary ? or are you too cheery to write ? 

Perhaps little Georgey attracts all attention, and poor is 

forgotten. 

The setting sun fades, the rising grows higher and brighter ; so grand- 
papa grows less, grandson bigger. You may be able to telegraph to me 
till Saturday if you think of coming to us in Switzerland. [There was some 
talk of myself and my husband joining them abroad, but it fell through.] 

I am writing to you with a thunderstorm raging over the Apennines. 
It is warmer here than before. 

The king opens the Horticultural Exhibition to-morrow at half -past 
eleven. We are all well. As you have seen Florence, I need not describe 
it. There is an absence of swifts which is remarkable, as there was a 
great number which used to skim by the windows when we were last here. 

In January 1874, the Conservative candidate for Kochester 
having withdrawn at the last moment, Alfred Smee suddenly 
stepped into a train and found himself at Kochester the day only 
before the nomination, causing a great fright among the Kadicals, 
who thought they were going this time to walk the course. Not- 
withstanding such a short notice, he telegraphed to Eochester to 
say he would address them that same evening. The room was 
crowded so as to cause great inconvenience, even the road outside 
the house being blocked up; and what was most peculiar was, 
that the meeting was almost entirely of working men. He polled 
835 votes,* and for his pluck in coming forward like this at 
the last hour he received from the working men of Kochester a 
very handsome testimonial, consisting of a silver claret jug, cups 
and salver, accompanied by an illuminated scroll, containing the 
signatures of 600 subscribers. On the claret jug is the following 
inscription: 

" Presented to Alfred Smee, F.R.S., by the Conservative freemen and 
electors of the city of Rochester, in recognition of his spirited conduct 
in contesting the city on constitutional principles, April 2nd, 1874." 

The presentation was made the occasion of a very imposing 
demonstration. One of the papers recording the speeches says, 

Mr. Smee and some London friends arrived at the South Eastern 
Railway Station at Strood about 7 o'clock in the evening, and was met 
by a large and enthusiastic gathering of his followers, accompanied by a 
strong band and by bearers carrying flags and banners. A carriage and 
pair had been provided for Mr. Smee, and several of his followers were also 
in carriages. Immediately on Mr. Smee's arrival a procession was formed, 
headed by the band, and the principal streets of the borough were paraded 



* Mr. Smee polled upwards of 200 more votes than were ever before 
recorded for a Conservative candidate for Rochester. 



122 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

by the imposing gathering. Bed lights were burned all along the route, 
and gave a romantic touch to the procession. Crowds of persons watched 
the progress of the demonstration through the streets, windows were 
thrown open, handkerchiefs were waved, and the cheering was immense. 
The Corn Exchange was entered at about half-past eight, and was soon 
entirely filled with Mr. Smee's warm-hearted supporters. The silver 
articles forming the presentation lay upon a table on the platform. Mr. 
G. Watson, jun., hon. secretary to the presentation fund (a true, zealous, 
and steadfast supporter of Mr. Smee), read some letters from various 
gentlemen who signified their gratification at Mr. Smee having a pre- 
sentation. Major McCory was in the chair, and after an excellent speech 
Mr. C. J. Carter, a working man, in appropriate terms presented the testi- 
monial. Mr. Smee then rose to reply. 

A full report of his speech, as reported in the ' Kochester 
Journal/ is in the Appendix, No. XXXV. 

Previous to this and immediately after the election, I received 
this letter from my father : 

MY DEAR MARY, The Rochester affair is quite a romance, and too 
long to tell you. I went down and had only half-an-hour to sign the 
preliminary forms. 

I found that the party was so split up that I determined to return to 
London ; but having called a meeting at about three hours' notice, when 
the hotel was full and the whole street was full, I felt bound to address 
them. I was received with extraordinary enthusiasm, and my voice being 
much more than usual obedient to my will, I made a most elegant and 
eloquent speech, which fetched the whole audience. 

At the end I told them that the party were not sufficiently organized, 
and that I should go back to London. 

There was the greatest uproar you ever heard, and I believe, if I had, 
some of the Conservative leaders would have been lynched. The whole 
room called upon me to stand, but I replied that the money came out of 
my pocket, and I could not, in justice to my family, permit it. 

I required half-an-hour for consideration, and the chairman was taken 
by me from the working men. They appointed four delegates to wait 
upon me, who said they wanted neither money nor beer, but wanted me to 
be their member, whereupon a solemn compact was formed between us 
that I should pay nothing for organization, that they would do all the 
work for nothing, and I, on my part, should stand and pay the Act of 
Parliament expenses. 

The most enthusiastic and exciting affair took place, and they kept 
their word. They brought up eight hundred and thirty-five people, and we 
had only thirty-six hours' notice. Carts and waggons and more remark- 
able than all a donkey-cart decked out in pink ribbons stood before the 
King's Head all day in case they should be required. 

Not one drop of beer or wine was given away, and not one shilling 



The election would have been secured by the distribution of a few 
half-crowns among the very poor. 

We had two enormous meetings on the day before the poll, at one of 



CHAP. X.] THE ROCHESTER ELECTION. 123 

which the Admiral came from Chatham and spoke strongly in my 
favour. 

The city was perfectly quiet. The present members received me with 
every courtesy. Martin spoke of the rows of former times, and said what 
a fright he was in. He spoke of it with laughter, and said if I did not get 
in he hoped I would write another book, as he had bought ' My Garden,' and 
was very much pleased with it. Mr. Goldsmith was purposely courteous, to 
show there was no ill feeling. I spoke to Foord and Aveling and the town 
clerk and Steele, the chairman of the other side. He roared when I told 
him that I offered a man a sovereign at the last election to cover his house 
with my bills, to give him a hint as to how he should vote ; but I told him 
he was afraid of the Bench. We had also a good laugh with the mayor 
and town eouncil in solemn conclave assembled. There was a question 
whether I might or might not stop in the council chamber, when I told 
them perhaps I had better stop, or they would form a committee to oppose 
my return, which caused the member and some of the council who saw the 
joke to roar with laughter ; but some of the Blues did look blue indeed at 
having their dignity tiifled with. The result of the election is looked 
upon as a gain for Conservatism, by the manner I have worked the in- 
dustrial classes ; but I have lost, and there is an end of it. 

Perhaps it may not be out of place here to insert the kind 
terms in which Mr. Martin, the Liberal member for Kochester, 
referred to Mr. Smee in a speech delivered to his constituents 
shortly after my father's death, for it shows so well the generous 
nature of Mr. Martin and the entire absence of ill feeling 
between them. 

Mr. Martin, on rising to address the meeting, was received with a 
round of applause. He said, before proceeding to the topics of his speech 
he would do what he felt was only English and manly to do, and that was 
to refer to one who had just departed this life. The person he meant did 
not belong to their side, but he had known him many years and had four 
times contested that city with him. He referred to the late Mr. Alfred 
Smee. (Applause.) He was a man of great good humour, of pleasant 
manners, and an able man in his profession. He was affectionate and 
pleasant in his private life, and although they had fought he hoped they 
had never interrupted their friendship. (Applause.) Although an oppo- 
nent, Mr. Smee used to send him a copy of all his new books, and he 
(Mr. M.) must acknowledge that he was a most formidable opponent. At 
the last election, by his plucky manner and great good humour, he not 
only got the votes of nearly every Conservative in the city, but he also 
got more neutral votes than any other man could have got, and he (Mr. M.) 
deeply regretted that he had been removed from amongst them. (Loud 
applause.) 

In 1875, he put forth the hypothesis that the Council for the 
Eoyal College of Surgeons in England should be elected from 
Fellows by seniority of their membership, and not of their Fellow- 
ship ; and on that principle he offered himself as a candidate for a 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. X. 

seat on the Council. For this purpose the following circulars or 
letters were published : 

GENTLEMEN, I beg to return my thanks to the numerous Fellows 
who have answered my last circular, asking their opinion whether seniority 
should be determined by the date of membership or Fellowship. 

The Fellows, in the proportion of nearly twelve to one, have expressed 
an opinion that seniority should rank from the date of membership. 

One of our most distinguished army surgeons adds these significant 
words : " Just as in the army, medical service time for progressive increase 
of pay counts from the date of the first and lowest commission." 

It has been suggested to me that there is a combination of medical 
schools to return their own men, which, if true, would practically amount 
to a disenfranchisement of the Fellows, as no individual candidate can 
stand against a combination of interests, and thus the creation of the 
Fellowship for independent election is absolutely frustrated. 

To the minority who desire seniority to rank from the date of Fellow- 
ship, I would point out that, as in the past the members were deprived of 
their just seniority by the institution of the Fellowship, so in the future 
there is nothing to prevent the Fellows from being deprived of their 
present seniority by the creation of a new class, such for instance as the 
institution of doctors of surgery, from whom the Council might be chosen, 
to the exclusion of the remainder of the Fellows. 

It now clearly appears, that the Fellows who approve the principle of 
seniority from membership cannot come to the College to vote without the 
almost prohibitory inconvenience of a journey to London. 

It must not be forgotten that, from the peculiar properties of members 
in connection with election matters, it will be necessary (particularly if 
combination exists) that plumpers and only plumpers be recorded, in 
order that the election may be secured. 

For that reason, as this is a contest of principle, and not, as far as I 
am concerned, a fight between rival competitors, I earnestly beg all those 
Fellows who desire that a seniority once obtained should never be taken 
away by any subsequent legislation, to vote for myself, without any respect 
to personal consideration, but solely as the representative of the principle 
of seniority by membership. 

SIE, The last election at the Royal College of Surgeons has revealed 
a wide-spread discontent among the Fellows. It is assumed that the 
members of Council are elected by the Fellows at large ; but the election 
takes place at the College in London, whilst the majority of the electors 
reside in the country, hundreds of miles distant, so that it is not possible 
that any election can represent the opinions of the general body. 

It is a mere mockery of justice to bestow a franchise on Fellows 
which in many cases they cannot possibly use, because they are unable to 
leave their duties and incur the cost, the loss of time, and fatigue of the 
journey, simply to enable them to drop a voting-paper into a ballot-box. 
Every man entrusted with a vote is bound to have a bond fide opportunity 
of recording it; for if he have not, he is virtually disfranchised. For 
this reason, Parliament has wisely decreed that the members of TJniver 
sities, who are in a similar position with respect to residence to the 



CHAP. X.] LETTER TO ROYAL COLLEGE OP SURGEONS. 125 

Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons, can vote by papers without the 
necessity of a journey. 

By the Act 24 & 25 Viet. cap. 53, the members of the Universities 
of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin are empowered to employ voting- 
papers. This privilege was extended to members of the London Univer- 
sity by 30 & 31 Viet. cap. 102 ; and the details of election were further 
simplified by 31 & 32 Viet. cap. 65. The College of Surgeons having been 
shown the way, has only to take advantage of the precedent by procuring 
an Act, of a few lines in length, rehearsing the University Election Acts, 
and applying their provisions to the particular case of the College of 
Surgeons before the next election takes place. The question has only to 
be raised for its propriety to be admitted ; for where is the surgeon who 
would not rather watch a serious case, when life or death may depend, 
than neglect his patient, that he may formally hand over a printed paper 
to the recognized official of the College of Surgeons? To obtain the 
desired end, proper means must be taken. The body of country Fellows 
must ask before their request can be granted ; and I shall be glad to 
receive the names of every Fellow desirous of voting by papers, that we 
may at once take steps to obtain the Act of Parliament necessary to give us 
our just due. (Signed) ALFBED SMEE. 

P.S. Only fifty-seven country Fellows voted at the last election. 



126 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [HAP. XL 



CHAPTEE XL 

1875. 

'The Mind of Man,' eleventh book Plan of work Religion not discordant 
with Reason Different classes of men should associate more together 
Sewage Question begun, 1873 to 1876. 

IN the spring of 1875, 'The Mind of Man, a Natural System 
of Mental Philosophy,' was published. This was the last printed 
book from Alfred Smee's pen, and was based on his earlier work, 
' Electro-Biology.' 

In ' The Mind of Man ' we find that mankind is primarily 
divided into five great classes or groups, according as man 
exhibits more or less of each particular quality of mental power. 
These classes or groups are again subdivided into lesser divisions. 
Thus : 

1st Class. Aisthenic ideas, from aia-Qija-is, meaning " sensation." 

2nd Class. Syndramic, from a-vvSpapeiv, " to combine." It 
means the possession of ideas, and is the result of all the actions 
on the ultimate fibrils at any one instant of time. 

3rd Class. Noemic, from vovs, "mind," is the faculty of 
inducing laws and acting upon them, and evinces the higher 
powers of mind. 

4th Class. Pneuma-Noemic, from irvevpa, "spirit," as it 
appertains to the appreciation of spiritual qualities, where the 
qualities of the mind are regulated by the consideration of the 
soul, of eternity, of heaven, and of hell. 

5th Class. Dynamic, from Swa/u?, " force." Individuals may 
be comprised in this class who evince great activity either from 
an external stimulus upon their organs of sensation, or from the 
internal stimulus of their own thoughts. All active men there- 
fore belong to this class. Activity may have its origin at various 
parts of the nervous system. 

Each of these groups or classes admits of subdivisions : thus 



CHAP. XL] ' THE MIND OF MAN.' 127 

the Aisthenie group admits of six subdivisions, five of which 
represent the mental power derived from the respective organs 
of sensation and one from knowledge derived from bodily 
feeling, as 

Eye sensations or Opsaisthenics. 

Ear Ousaisthenics. 

Taste Ghimaisthenics. 

Odour Khinaisthenics. 

Feeling (bodily) Cosnaisthenics. 

Feeling (mental) Somaisthenics. 

Each of these divisions may be again subdivided : thus a man 
may have a powerful vision for small objects, a great range of 
adjustment, a power for the appreciation of colours, or a quick- 
ness in the perception of objects. 

Every other organ of sensation may be likewise subdivided. 

The Syndramic group comprises not only all those qualities 
of the mind which appertain to the first or Aisthenic group, but 
also superadds to them the faculty of receiving information from 
the words and writings of others : and this second quality again 
presents many varieties, from the classes of knowledge which the 
mind of any particular man is competent to receive. Again, all 
the above varieties of mind are also doubled by the consideration 
that the same impression may variously affect different men : for 
instance, "the same amount of light, though a delight to one 
man, is a pain to another." 

"As there may be three qualities in each subdivision of this 
group, it follows, therefore, that no less than eighteen divisions 
of this class may be noted." 

The Noemic group are likewise also governed by all the lower 
subdivisions, but have also characteristics superadded, so that 
this group may also be considerably subdivided. We read that, 
under Noemic reason, " There is a gap in the powers of mind 
between the human reason and the reason of brutes. The mind 
deals with its various ideas, and forms abstract conceptions. It 
forms the notion of mankind apart from any particular man : 
the notion of heat apart from hot things ; of light apart from 
illuminated bodies. The capability of using these higher abstrac- 
tions confers upon all men powers not possessed by the lower 
animals. Mankind alone of all the animal creation uses words 
and language for the communication of ideas; employs fire to 
cook food ; lamps to illuminate rooms ; electricity to convey intel- 



MEMOIR OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. XI. 

ligence, or tools by which mechanical force is regulated. No 
animal but man has the power of abstraction or of using abstract 
ideas." For further illustrations of the great difference there is 
in the mind of animals and the mind of man, I refer the reader 
to ' The Mind of Man,' as well as to ' Instinct and Eeason.' 

The Pneuma-Noemic group. Where the faculties of dwelling 
upon that which is infinite such as the Deity, the soul, eternity, 
heaven, hell " bear a proper relation to the other faculties com- 
prised within the former classes, the man is greatly dignified and 
raised above his fellows. In cases where these properties of the 
mind are shown, to the exclusion of the other faculties, the man 
degenerates to the degraded position of the wild fanatic and 
devotee." 

We must (he adds, in ' Instinct and Reason ') not mistake cases of per- 
verted reason for instances where these faculties are fully developed. For 
instance, the Hindoo priests induce the widow to sacrifice herself on the 
f uneral pile only by an intense excitement of her nervous system ; so also 
the Popish priests ensnare their victims for nunneries and convents in a 
similar manner. In like manner the fanatical enthusiasts of America are 
so over-stimulated that it is recorded that they not only injure their bodily 
frame, but occasionally damage permanently their mental powers. All 
these cases do not come under this class ; but the sufferers exhibit the 
natural degradation of perverted reason under the false guidance of a 
heartless priesthood. 

The Dynamic group. There are also many varieties or sub- 
divisions of this group. 

Some persons are quick of action, others indolent; some act by 
aisthenic impressions, others direct their actions by thought. Some are 
governed by religious impressions ; others act solely from the immediate 
impressions of pleasure or pain. 

Throughout all these subdivisions the human mind is modified 
by memory or forgetfulness. 

All these states of the mind, too, are governed by the age of the indi- 
vidual. The boy exhibits properties in the various departments of the mind 
different from those of the child, the youth from the boy, the adult from 
the youth, advanced life from the adult, and senility from advanced life. 

This is beautifully shown in the diagram accompanying the 
fifth chapter on 'The Mind of Man,' in which he speaks of education, 
and how it should be conducted, so that no one department of the 
mind should be brought into play to the exclusion of the rest. In 
' Instinct and Eeason ' is a pretty illustration of the difference in 



CHAP. XL] PLAN OF ' THE MIND OF MAN.' 129 

the mental faculties that is required according to the profession 
or calling of the individual. Thus he shows how the lawyer 
requires the second and third class of faculties (Syndramic and 
Noemic) more especially to be brought into play. The doctor 
has a more extensive range, and requires for his profession the 
first three classes of faculties to be fully developed (Aisthenic, 
Syndramic, and Noemic). The engineer requires faculties in 
almost all respects similar to those which the doctor must 
possess for the successful exercise of his profession, and the 
clergyman should have a full development of the faculties of 
the second, third, and fourth classes (Syndramic, Noemic, and 
Pneuma-Noemic). 

Besides dividing the mental faculties into the above-named 
classes or groups, he further proves that the nervous system is 
a voltaic circuit. 

All batteries (says he) in animal bodies are compound batteries, one 
battery being in the body, the other in the brain ; and, moreover, it is not 
only a compound battery, but is also one in which its fibres interlace in a 
wonderfully complex manner. 

This he most fully sets forth and further illustrates by maps, 
diagrams, and various woodcuts. In two diagrams at page 213, the 
theoretical nervous combination of lower animals and that of man 
are demonstrated. It suffices here to mention that these two dia- 
grams show a marked difference between the nervous combination 
of lower animals and that of man. In the diagram showing the 
nervous combination of man, we find that the Aisthenic occupies 
the lower department of the mind ; higher in the mind we come to 
the Syndramic department ; then higher still the Noemic, until we 
reach the Pneuma-Noemic, which is the highest department of all 
of the mind. 

Such is the rough sketch of the general plan on which the 
' Mind of Man ' and earlier ' Electro-Biology ' are based. Upon 
this model were all Alfred Smee's writings and speeches con- 
structed. His whole course of life was modelled upon this his 
cherished metaphysical and moral structure. 

This work treats extensively of the supposed discordance of 
religion and science : for to show, and indeed to prove, that for 
the welfare of mankind religion and science must go hand in 
hand, was ever the favourite task of his life. In this work he 
has fully proved where the fallacy lies ; how it is to be remedied, 
so as to prevent idolatry, ignorance, and matter-worship on the 



MEMOIR OP ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. XT. 

one hand, ,and conceit, infidelity, and ignorance on the other. 
We read 

There are two modes by which the human mind may be affected, and 
all our actions regulated to a common purpose : one by the impression of 
the nervous system by induction from below upwards, that is, from the 
action on the nerves of sensation through the mind to general laws ; and 
the other from the effect of general laws, which act downwards by deduc- 
tion to the particular instance. 

The one by induction is the ordinary result of the natural mind as 
detailed in this work. The one by deduction is by the reception of the 
laws of God as given us by religion. 

Are religion and reason discordant ? No ! One affects from above 
downward, the other from below upward ; and if both are right, they must 
agree, they cannot possibly differ. The doctrines of religion would be vain 
unless they are the laws of God and the word of God. In like manner it 
must be remembered that the inductions of the human mind, if made in 
sincerity and truth, are equally the result of the mechanism created by God. 

Man should therefore accept as a fact that the results of the true 
reason of man are identical with the laws of God, and the one originating 
inductively from the human mind should aecord deductively with the 
results which are obtained by the ordinances of religion. 

Mentally, if both are right, there can be no disagreement ; for whether 
we examine the question from above downwards or from below upwards, no 
difference can possibly exist, inasmuch as the mind is one whole. Then why 
should there be, therefore, these continual differences between the teachers 
of religion and the teachers of science ? At the present time it is difficult 
to enter a church without hearing the name of science being held from the 
pulpit to disrespect ; and it is equally difficult to enter the chambers of 
science without hearing the pastor of religion in a like manner spoken of 
with dissatisfaction. And why? The pastors of religion are, as a rule, 
profoundly ignorant of the physical laws which govern the universe, and 
the teachers of science are equally ignorant of the moral laws which govern 
the actions of mankind. 

Then a little further on we read 

The fault of the present day is the education of teachers of religion 
at one school, where physical science is not only discarded but ignored, 
and the education of teachers of science at another school, where the laws 
of religion are almost as equally ignored. 

The remedy for this gigantic evil would be to teach all men to a 
certain extent knowledge in common, so that when they diverge af terwards 
into their special studies, science shall not be without religion, nor religion 
without knowledge 

The priest trained to the study of the external world, and of the 
natural operations of the human mind, is a totally different man from the 
priest who ignores knowledge and the effect of reason. The one sees 
Nature and God as they are, the other only by his own unenlightened mind, 
which leads many to inconstancy, idolatry, and man- worship 

Wherever religion and science do not exactly accord, the discrepancy 
marks error. It is then worth any labour to make them agree, by the con- 



CHAP. XI.] HIS OPINION OF DAKWINISM. 131 

joined operations of the labourers in religion and science, that truth may 
prevail. 

For the last five-and-f orty years I have been a regular attendant at St. 
Paul's Cathedral, and consequently have heard most of the preachers of 
mark in the metropolis of this century. It is clear to any rational mind 
there is error in the pulpit : one affirms, another denies, whilst it is 
the property of truth ever to remain unchanged, and to stand the test 
of fair inquiry. 

And further on we read 

Those who love their church, and view it as an inestimable blessing 
to mankind, most earnestly wish that the pastors should so discipline 
their own minds by knowledge that they might appeal to the minds of their 
hearers from the general law to the particular instance, and from the par- 
ticular instance to the general law, for the teachings of religion and science 
must be identical when both are true. It is a lamentable fact, but never- 
theless one which admits of no contradiction, that religion, as frequently 
taught in the pulpit, is not the religion of the mass of the congregation of 
ordinary knowledge and intelligence. Religion is often brought forward in 
a form positively distasteful to the minds of many. The omnipotence of 
God, and the importance of His almighty laws, are neglected for human 
traditions and mediaeval superstitions. This very serious position cannot 
long remain without danger to the community, for reason and religion are 
one, and cannot be divided ; and, above all things, it is of paramount im- 
portance that religious teachings, involving as they do the laws of God, 
should be in every minute particular based on absolute purity and 
unswerving truth. 

And in another part 

Every good follower of religion must admit that the time which ought 
to be spent in the elucidation of the moral laws of God to regulate actions, 
is frequently spent in discussions of the propriety of frivolous garments, or 
the vain conduct of idle ceremonies, and on the discourse on vain supersti- 
tions, till those who pretend to be teachers show that they ought to be 
taught, as they bring the doctrines of religion into contempt. 

On Darwinism, or the gradual development of the higher 
animals from the lower, he writes : 

There appear to be some persons who imagine that every conceivable 
form of organic being is produced by chance, or a fortuitous concurrence 
of atoms ; and of these all which are not suitable for surrounding cir- 
cumstances perish, and only those which are suitable for the circum- 
stances live. 

When we regard the intricate complexity of many parts of organic 
beings, to say nothing of the requisite relation of one organic being to 
another, as for instance an insect to a flower, it requires a much stronger 
exercise of faith than such persons themselves would like to admit, when 
they adopt a theory of chance where infinite contrivance and wisdom 
seem so clearly to manifest themselves. 

K 2 



132 MEMOIE OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. XI. 

I have lingered long over this last and important work of 
Alfred Smee, because it embraces his great system of Mental 
Philosophy, which should be studied by every intelligent youth, 
that he may conduct on a sure basis the discipline of his own 
mind, and his relations with his fellow-men. Of all the 
books Alfred Smee wrote this was unquestionably his favourite. 
The frontispiece contains an admirable likeness of him drawn 
by Mr. H. B. Kobertson, which was most delicately and finely 
engraved for this work by the celebrated engraver Mr. C. H. 
Jeens. The picture was expressly taken for the above work, and 
was the gift to my mother from one of the public companies to 
which my father belonged, as a kind token of grateful recognition 
for some great services he had done it. There are besides 
fifty-eight woodcuts, and the book, like ' My Garden,' is beauti- 
fully got up, and published by Messrs. Bell. 

In the summer of 1873 there was an outburst of typhoid fever 
in the West-end of London, in the close vicinity of Cavendish 
Square. The question was raised that this pestilence was caused 
by the milk from cows fed upon sewage grass, and a controversy 
ensued whether or no sewage grounds were hurtful to health. 
For some years Alfred Smee had been investigating the question 
of sewage ; and his son, Alfred Hutchison Smee, who kept a 
small herd of cows at Wallington, had also been making various 
experiments on the feeding of cows, the results of which the 
latter gentleman has embodied in a valuable little treatise full of 
important statistics, which is entitled ' Milk in Health and 
Disease.' * No sooner did this controversy on sewage begin in 
the daily papers than my father wrote his own experience. 
The correspondence of Alfred Smee on ' Milk, Typhoid Fever, 
and Sewage,' will be found in the Appendix, No. XXXVI. A., as 
also the paper he read before the Health Section of the Social 
Science Congress at Norwich, October 3rd, 1873, on ' Sewage, 
Sewage Produce, and Disease.' (See Appendix, No. XXXVI.B.) 
Later, on December 3rd, 1875, Alfred Smee read a paper before 
the Society of Arts, on ' Proposed Heads of Legislation for the 
Regulation of Sewage Grounds.' (See Appendix, No. XXXVI.c.) 
The discussion on this paper was adjourned to January 19th, 
1876. To this discussion Alfred Smee replied, and that evening 
was the last time I heard my father speak before a public meet- 
ing. Little did I think that evening that exactly in a year and 

* This little book is published by Messrs. Newman, Devonshire Street, 
Bishopsgate Street. (1875.) 



CHAP. XL] THE SEWAGE QUESTION. 133 

three days we should have laid him in his grave. Happy it is 
for us that we cannot read the future ! 

One of the members of the Croydon Board of Health made 
an eloquent speech on this occasion, in which he several times 
reproached Mr. Smee with the absurdity of wishing to draw a 
concord round the farm at Beddington. The absurdity was 
evident to other persons besides the speaker, for as he sat down 
amid general cheering, the following epigram was handed to 
Mr. Smee : 

" To think a man the Croydon Board on 
Should take a concord for a cordon I " 



134 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. XII. 



CHAPTEB XII. 

1876 TO 1877. 

Book on Fishing Hard-working Letters from abroad Letters to the ' Times,' 
'Standard,' and the 'Gardeners' Chronicle' His death, January 11, 1877, 
aged fifty-eight Buried at St. Mary's, Beddington, within sight of the 
garden, January 16, 1877. 

IN the beginning of the year 1876 we have seen Mr. Smee discussing 
the heads of legislation which he had drawn up for the regulation 
of sewage grounds ; this was immediately followed by his taking 
a great interest in the fresh facts relating to the potato disease 
(see p. 35, also the Appendix, No. XV.c.). He was also interesting 
himself in the Colorado beetle, and was carrying on a correspon- 
dence in America and Germany, finding out all that was known 
of the devastation and habits of the insect. He had himself 
obtained a dead Colorado beetle from a friend, and had had a 
woodcut made of it. Besides this, in the midst of his other 
business, he was, in spare moments before breakfast and after a 
late dinner, busy writing a new book on Fishing. Much was 
written ; still the finishing touches of the master hand were re- 
quired for those chapters which were otherwise completed. This 
book was to have been copiously illustrated ; and from some of 
the woodcuts which have come under my notice, and from frag- 
ments of the manuscript which my father read to me from time to 
time, I should say that this work on Fishing bade fair to rival 
its sister book, ' My Garden.' But this work was not to be com- 
pleted ; and as Longfellow tells us : 

" Labour with what zeal we will, 

Something still remains undone. 
Something uncompleted still 
Waits the rising of the sun." 

My brother has kindly offered me one of the illustrations for this 
work. It is a woodcut taken from a water-colour drawing, of 



CHAP. XII.] HIS LOVE FOB HIS GRANDSON. 135 

my father and my brother in the latter's boat on the Thames. 
The one is fishing and the other rowing. 

In May, Mr. Smee went abroad on business connected with 
one of the companies to which he belonged. That he contrived 
on this journey to see some of his favourite haunts, will be 
perceived in the following letters he sent to his daughter. He 
had intended to go in March ; but as he writes to her 

The weather indeed has been awful : terrible snow- storms ; horrible 
gales and tempests ; excessive rain ; darkness ; floods ; eruptions of 
Vesuvius. 

I intended to have gone abroad, but did not like the aspect of things. 

The poor children must suffer from this detestable weather. Tell 
Georgey I really love him very much and should like to see him, and I 
hope nice warm weather will come, and then his pretty flowers will grow 
and grow, &c. 

Here I should perhaps give a passing allusion to an extra- 
ordinary attachment (if I may so call it) which had sprung up 
between himself and his little grandson; for no one who had 
not been a witness to it could appreciate this attachment to 
its full extent. Upon the child what pains would not the 
grandfather bestow ! He would never tire of explaining to him 
the different plants, and would take him frequently to the 
Zoological Gardens to teach him not only the names of the 
animals, but the habits of the various creatures that are 
there kept. So often did they go that the keepers knew my 
father and his little charge, and were only too eager to show 
the child the peculiarities of the different animals committed to 
their care. Even in the midst of business hours this grandson 
was still often in his grandfather's thoughts, and he would at 
those times go and search for books or toys, or send him letters 
which, although written with the simplicity of a child, yet at 
the same time always contained some knowledge worthy of a 
great and good man. 

On sending a lock of his little grandson's hair, his daughter 
received the following letter : 

Many thanks for your kind wishes and handsome donation, which 
you only could have sent. This gift of gifts deserves a crystal box to 
preserve it, and perhaps after I have attained my hundredth year, and I 
return to the earth of which I am made, and your kind present returns to 
you, this little token of affection will be looked upon by you, himself, 
and peradventure his descendant, with rare and curious interest, and 
your thoughts will be carried back to time about persons past and with 
hopes for time and persons to come. 



136 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. XII. 

From Zurich, May 13th, 1876, he writes : 

We have been to Brussels, from thence to Frankfort, thence to 
Passau, from Passau to Lintz down the Danube, and then from Lintz 
to Vienna by the Danube. 

We then went to Ansteller, from thence to Salzthal across to Inn- 
spruck, by the most wonderful road that you could imagine. 

It was a single line which ran through gorges over mountains by bad 
curves, by terrible inclines, across mountain torrents, altogether a remark- 
able ride through mountains, for hour after hour, till the eye became 
weary. Acres of lovely violets covered the ground. Masses of marsh 
marigolds lit up the fields ; the lovely gentians gladdened the eyes ; and 
literally acres of violets or rather pansies, yellow and tricoloured, formed a 
natural flower garden gorgeous to behold. The skirts of the woods were 
Nature's own landscape-gardening, with curved lines of woods and shrubs 
on the sward of emerald green grass mixed with flowers. Then the moun- 
tains were snow-covered and cloud-capped, and different views were 
opened out at every turn of the road. 

Every now and then an eagle or huge hawk traversed the valleys. 

Any traveller must go right through, for the accommodation is queer, 
as you may judge when I tell you that we took our meals at a restaurant 
at a station, and slept in a cottage. 

I sent the boy (his grandson) a letter. Tell your mother how he liked 
it, and she can tell me when she writes. 

I suppose your husband will be off before this arrives ; if not, give my 
love, and tell him I wish him a happy and prosperous voyage. 

The weather has been very bad cold, dark, and cloudy ; in, fact we 
have not seen the sun for fourteen days. 

The Tyrol Pass was not altogether free from danger. We saw a 
railroad carriage which had been smashed to atoms in a mountain torrent 
below, and we did not go more than three to ten miles an hour. We could 
not go over the Madler Pass or up the Engadine, because there was so 
much snow ; in fact some patches of snow were lying at below 3000 feet. 

The snow mixed with the black pines and bright green foliage was 
very striking. We shall move from here to Lucerne ; thence to Yevey ; 
thence to Lyons, Toulouse, Nantes, and home : altogether 3000 miles. 
Kiss the boy and girl. 

Iff another letter he writes thus : 

I wrote a letter to the dear boy (his grandson) which I thought would 
do for the dear girl that is, you also ; but I have not heard how your 
little daughter progresses. 

We have had an extraordinary journey : we went down the Danube 
from Passau to Lintz, from Lintz to Vienna, which I much enjoyed. It 
was so bitterly cold that we were compelled to keep in the cabin, where 
the views were as good as out of doors. 

We then crossed the Tyrol by a new route to Innspruck, the worst 
travellers' route which ever was seen. The way lay south of Salzburg. 

Then he speaks of the flowers he saw, which have been already 
alluded to in the former letter, and continues : 



CHAP. XII.] 



LETTERS FROM ABROAD. 



137 



From Innspruck we took a drive up the Bremer and crossed the 
Lake Constance, and came to Zurich. From Zurich we came to Lucerne. 
From Lucerne we went up the railway to the Bigi : there was so much 
snow that we eould not get to the top, but only one-third the way up. 

The mountains about here are covered deeply with snow. Pilatus is 
snow a long way down. All the mountains up the lake are well covered, 
which makes the views intensely beautiful. We went up the lake to 
Fluelen, and have returned to table d'hote. The lake never looked so 
lovely, and, what is best of all, we are not troubled with numerous tourists. 
We are still like the premature swallows. I enjoy my rest excessively ; 
and as I have nothing to do, not even to settle accounts or railway 
tickets, it is a thorough rest to me, which I feel I want.* We have been 
at least 1600 miles in fourteen days, which is more than 110 miles a day. 

I hope the tall boy (the gardener) does his work in the garden, for soon 
all the succulent plants must take a promenade. Write to me to Hotel de 
France, Bordeaux. I have seen a glorious sunset over Pilatus, also a sun- 
rise. We have had a fish in the lakes of Zurich and Lucerne, without 
being troubled with any weight of fish to carry afterwards. With best 
love to boy and girl. 

During this visit my father visited Clermont in France, and 
was interested with the geological formation of that place. One 
of the mountains at Clermont is an extinct volcano, and from 
there he brought home a Roman coin. This Roman coin was 
" found," he writes, " in digging the foundation of an observatory 
on the top of the Dorno, about 5000 feet high, the centre of a 
huge series of extinct volcanoes at Clermont, in the centre of 
France." My brother has kindly allowed me to take a woodcut 
of the coin, which is here given. 




FIG. 6A. Roman Coin found at Clermont. 



On the 17th of August he wrote the following letter to the 
' Times ' on " A Homicidal Kiver." 

The river Lea was as famous for its annual deaths half a century 
ago as it is now. For several summers 1 resided on its banks, and on 



* When they came to sundry towns, it should be observed he had to 
attend to weighty matters of business ; but, although he was travelling at the 
rate of 110 miles a day, even this was a rest compared to his mental work in 
London. 



138 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. XII. 

no year did we escape witnessing terrible calamities. On one day about 
twenty-two were drowned by a boat casualty. Continually there were 
deaths from swimming misadventures, notwithstanding that an almost 
fabulous number of lives were saved by a skilled boatman named 
Solomons. 

The bed of the river Lea is unequal. At every curve there is a deep 
and dangerous hole, with under back currents, and there are deep shelves 
in many parts of the banks. Hence the ordinary apparatus used by the 
Royal Humane Society for dragging the river is comparatively useless, and 
the boat hook has to be relied upon. 

I have been present when bodies have been raised. The exact position 
to a foot has been known. The body could be felt by the hook and even 
turned over, and yet could not be raised till repeated trials had been made. 
All this caused so much delay that the last spark of life had fled before 
the body could be recovered ; and well do I remember the terrible scenes 
of grief which were witnessed among the surviving relatives at so sudden 
a bereavement. 

No person ought to venture to swim in the river Lea unless an 
expert swimmer, and then only when thoroughly conversant with the 
peculiarities of the river, and the boats ought to have police surveillance to 
see that they are sound in structure, and that they are not let to an undue 
number, of persons. 

There was always a popular idea that the water of the Lea was 
particularly deadly, but at that time the water was clear and pure. Pro- 
bably its deadly character is to be ascribed to its sluggishness, its great 
depth, to its undercurrents, and to the difficulty of reclaiming bodies from 
the dangerous shelves at the bottom. 



" This is true glory and renown ; when God, 
Looking on the earth, with approbation marks 
The just man, and divulges him through heaven 
To all His angels, who with true applause 
Recount his praises ! " 

MILTON, Paradise Regained. 

His health now broke down. Being anxious to see his 
daughter, who was ill at the time, he came down to Oxford 
with the intention of staying two or three days. I was shocked 
at the change in his appearance since I last saw him, about 
three weeks previously. He said he was tired, and had been 
examining medically about a dozen persons. He stayed between 
four and five weeks with us at Oxford, and then returned to 
his house in London, and at our urgent solicitations he promised 
to give his whole attention to his own health, and to put himself 
under the care of Dr. Moxon, one of the senior physicians of 
Guy's Hospital, whose skill in medical knowledge is only equalled 



CHAP. XII.] HIS LAST ILLNESS. 139 

by the extreme thoughtfulness and kindness of his disposition. 
Dr. Moxon was ever a great favourite, they having many sym- 
pathies in common, and both being lovers of Nature's works. 
But my father was beyond human skill, and the eyes of his family 
were rudely opened to the shock that nothing could save him. 
His lungs were too far gone ; and he was also suffering from 
that seemingly incurable complaint, diabetes. But his family 
owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Moxon for the untiring zeal 
and kindness he displayed in lessening and soothing his patient's 
sufferings. 

Throughout his illness my father's vigour of mind never 
forsook him : to the last he retained the full use of his faculties. 
At first he took delight in reading, in looking through and 
properly arranging his carmine injections ; and when he became 
too weak to write himself, he dictated to others. The following 
letter from his pen, on the " Distribution of Seeds by Panthers," 
appeared in the ' Standard ' on October 17th, 1876 : 

An interesting fact in natural history was revealed dnring the recent 
visit of his Royal Highness the Prince of "Wales to India. In one of 
the hunting excursions in the neighbourhood of Baroda a panther was 
shot, and numerous seeds were found to be attached to the skin. The 
seeds had two perfect hooks, manifestly designed to attach themselves to 
foreign bodies. As the panther moved about it collected the seeds on the 
skin and carried them about wherever it went, but when it rubbed against 
the shrubs it of necessity brushed some off, and thus distributed them. 
These seeds were taken from the skin by an officer who was one of the 
hunting party, and several came into the possession of Mrs. Home of 
Staines, a great lover of horticulture, who did me the favour of sending me 
specimens. I was so struck with the incident and the remarkable character 
of the seed, that, after accurately figuring it, I desired it to be sown at 
" My Garden," when it rapidly grew into a handsome plant, and produced 
beautiful clusters of tubular flowers. It was immediately recognized to 
belong to the genus Martynia, and on examination both Professor Oliver, 
of the Royal Gardens, Kew, and Dr. Masters agree that it is Martynia 
diandra, a plant which, although introduced into this country as far back 
as 1731, has scarcely ever been cultivated for many years. I have 
placed my specimen in the hands of Mr. Sowerby, the secretary of the 
Royal Botanic Society, Regent's Park; and the plant, with one of the 
seeds taken from the panther's skin, are now exhibited in the great 
conservatory. 

Later, in November, he dictated the following little letter, 
which was sent to the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' and was copied 
into many papers : 



140 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. XII. 



BiBD-CATCHING EXTRAORDINARY. 

In " My Garden " a somewhat large collection of ericas is grown, and 
many of their beautiful flowers are coated with a layer of- sticky and viscid 
material, the use of which is by no means apparent. It is somewhat similar 
to the viscid material which is found on the so-called carnivorous plants. 
During this summer a little bird, probably one of the hedge-warblers with 
which the garden abounds, entered the greenhouse in which the plants 
were located, alighted upon the heath, when the feathers adhered so 
tightly to the plant that the bird was retained a prisoner. When the 
gardener came, he could only set free the bird by detaching a number of 
the feathers. Of course it is not to be supposed that the erica is a 
carnivorous plant, and that it eats up little birds ! This remarkable event 
has been twice noticed this year at " My Garden." 

Throughout his illness he took pleasure in seeing his friends, 
and was vexed when any were denied him ; for so many would 
come every afternoon to see him, that his family were sometimes 
fearful lest he should be over-tired. In the mornings he would 
drive with my mother, myself, and his dearly loved little grandson 
along the Thames Embankment. 

Throughout his last illness Alfred Smee showed himself a 
true philosopher, and was most thoughtful and solicitous for the 
comfort and welfare of others. He was soon to reap the reward 
of his labours, for about 5 o'clock on the morning of Thursday, 
the llth of January, 1877, amidst the wild storm of a raging 
wind, he gently passed away without a sigh. The problem of his 
life was now solved ; but how solved, he was unable to impart 
to us. Many who mourned his loss came once again to see him, 
and these, though parting in sadness, yet went away in a firm 
and steadfast belief that to a righteous man death has no 
terrors. 

A few days later, on Tuesday, the 16th of January, 1877, a 
sad procession left 7, Finsbury Circus, and passed on its way 
the Bank of England, Kennington, Clapham Common, Mitcham, 
along the road which skirts that beautiful garden at Wallington, 
which is delineated in the book ' My Garden,' and stopped before 
the schools of St. Mary's, Beddington. Thence the mortal remains 
of Alfred Smee were borne to the church by the gardeners and 
by the men of my brother's yacht. Though the family wished 
the funeral to be strictly private, yet so many testified their 
respect to Alfred Smee that St. Mary's Church was full of 
persons, that church which but four years before had been 



CHAP. XII.] HIS BURIAL AT ST. MARY'S, BEDDINGTON. 141 

filled with friends who had thither repaired to show their 
sympathy with him on the occasion of his much-loved daughter's 
marriage, that church which received his dear grandson as a 
member of the Church of England, and to which his own eyes 
had so often turned with pleasure during the happy hours spent 
in his garden. It is thus he speaks of it in his book : " The 
church with its churchyard is one of the most picturesque near 
London. It has been supplied with a melodious peal of bells, 
which record the sorrow and declare the joy of the inhabitants. 
The tower of the church is seen through a vista of trees from 
my garden, and then reflected from the transparent waters of the 
lake, as though Nature ordained that so good an object should 
be twice seen." 

The service was choral, and the lessons were most impres- 
sively read by the much esteemed rector, the Reverend A. H. 
Bridges ; and after the beautiful and touching hymn which 
commences 

" Christ will gather in His own 

To the place where He is gone, 

Where their heart and treasure lie, 

Where our life is hid on high " * 

the sad procession wended its way to the little cemetery in 
Beddington Park ; and there, after the most solemn yet most 
exquisite singing by the choir, of Dr. Dyce's hymn 

" Days and moments quickly flying 
Blend the living with the dead ; 
Soon will you and I be lying 
Each within his narrow bed " f 

there, amidst the sobs of the multitude of high and low estate, we 
laid in his grave all that was mortal of Alfred Smee. In his life- 
time flowers he loved : we covered him with flowers in his grave, 
and left him, the investigator of Nature, he whose thoughts 
were ever contemplating the Author of all things, in that 
little cemetery seen from his garden, amidst the scenes which he 
in his lifetime had so much loved. 

The numbers of persons who came, many from long distances, 
to pay their last respects to Alfred Smee, and the sobs of the 
multitude, showed how much he was beloved, and how much his 

* From a German chorale. See ' Hymns Ancient and Modern,' No. 400. 
f ' Hymns Ancient and Modern,' No. 289. 



142 MEMOIE OF ALFEED SMEE. [CHAP. XII. 

loss was deplored. The poor said : " We have indeed lost a good 
and kind friend ; we shall never have one like him again." 

" Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your 
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 

" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord ; for they rest 
from their labours, and their works do follow them." 



APPENDIX. 



No. I. 

ON THE STATE IN WHICH ANIMAL MATTER IS USUALLY 
FOUND IN FOSSILS. By MR. ALFRED SMEB, Student of King's 
College, London, and communicated by PROF. ROYLE, M.D., F.G.S. 
(Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, No. 57. 1838.) 

THE author first describes briefly the composition of those parts of 
recent animals capable of being preserved in a fossil state ; and then 
proceeds to detail his investigations into the composition of fossil organic 
remains. 

For the sake of arrangement, he divides fossils into two great classes, 
one in which animal matter is present in various states, the other in which 
it has been removed. The first class he further subdivides into three 
cases : 1. Comprehending those fossils in which animal matter retains its 
original condition. 2. Those in which it has been partially changed. 
3. Those in which only the carbon of the animal matter remains. 

1. The following examples were given of the first case. 

Small portions of the tooth of a horse, of an ox, and a stag, from the 
chalk rubble at Brighton, were submitted to the action of diluted muriatic 
acid ; and after the earthy portions had been removed, the animal matter 
retained the shape of the bone, was white, and of the consistence of 
cartilage. Fragments of a tooth of a mammoth from Norfolk, and of a 
rib of a mastodon from Big-bone-lick in Ohio, when similarly treated, 
gave the same results. A thin slice of the rib exhibited under the 
microscope the structure of recent bone. Fragments of a stag's rib and 
horn, of an ox's head, and the tusk of a boar, found near the Bank of 
England, associated with Roman implements, retained their animal matter 
unaltered. Small portions of a Terebratula and of two species of Productae, 
from the Silurian rocks of Malvern, were placed in very diluted muriatic 
acid ; and when the earthy portions had been removed, small flocculi of 
animal matter, resembling the recent membrane of a shell, floated in the 
solution. A minute fragment of Asaplius caudatus yielded little shreds of 
animal matter. The experiments on the shells were repeated several times 
with the same results. Under the microscope these fossils exhibited also 
the structure of recent shells. 

2. The second case in which animal matter has been partially changed 
was illustrated by the following experiments : Portions of a stag's jaw 



144 APPENDIX. [No. I. 

from the Brighton chalk rubble, of a fish-bone, and a shark's tooth from 
the London clay, when dissolved in diluted muriatic acid, gave only a 
brown powder ; and the animal matter of a fragment of the humerus of a 
mastodon from Big-bone-lick exhibited but little flexibility, and was 
easily torn, particularly in the longitudinal direction. It was found 
impossible to make sections of the jaw-bone of the stag or the humerus of 
the mastodon for microscopic observation. Part of a human parietal bone 
found upon the site of the cathedral of Old Sarnm, and human bones 
obtained from the churchyard of St. Ch'ristophe le Stocks, on part of 
which the Bank of England stands, were ascertained to have had their 
animal matter reduced to the same state as that of the stag's jaw. A 
fossil oyster from the Isle of Wight, when placed under the microscope, 
showed black spots over its surface, and the structure of the shell was 
apparently destroyed. A fragment of a Pecten from the lias also exhibited 
opaque spots. Part of an ammonite when dissolved left a substance 
resembling sepia. 

3. The third case, where only the carbon of the animal matter 
remains, was explained by two series of experiments, one of which 
proved it to be associated with bitumen, and the other that it existed 
by itself. The scales of Dapedium politum and other fishes from Lyme 
Regis, when acted upon by acid, left carbon undissolved ; and when heated 
under a test-tube gave a considerable quantity of bitumen. 

Portions of the bones of the Ichthyosaurus and Plesiosaurus from the 
lias yielded a black residuum, which deflagrated with red-hot nitre, and 
the resulting mass gave a precipitate with chloride of calcium. To prove 
that the carbon was a portion of the bone and not an adventitious 
ingredient, a section was made, and the greatest quantity of carbon was 
found in the thickest part ; and an analysis showed that the proportion of 
carbon was about the same as in the animal matter of a similar mass of 
recent bone. A still further proof was adduced, in no gelatine having been 
detected after thirty-six hours' boiling of a fragment of the fossil. A 
section of recent bone displayed, when carbonized by heat and charged 
with crystals of alum or a composition of whiting, a similar appearance in 
the arrangement of the carbon as in the fossil bone. No bitumen was 
given off, when fragments of these bones were acted upon by heat under a 
test-tube. 

With respect to the second great class in which the animal matter 
has been removed, the following cases were mentioned : Portion of the 
external and internal parts of a mammoth tusk from Siberia did not 
blacken by heat, and dissolved completely in muriatic acid. The internal 
part of a tusk from Ohio gave the same results, but the external part was 
found to contain a considerable proportion of animal matter. In bones 
from the crag, the animal matter had been abstracted. Human bones 
which had been long buried were found to be in the same state. 

The paper concluded with the following remarks : As the different 
states in which animal matter is found in fossils pass insensibly into each 
other, and as many of the changes occur in churchyard and other bones, 
it follows that no extraordinary circumstances are requisite to produce 
these alterations, but that they may be effected by the ordinary processes 
of putrefaction. Even the carbonization of animal matter may be 
accomplished by similar processes without the aid of heat, as bones 



No. II.] APPENDIX. 145 

become black by being macerated too long. It is also to be observed 
that the parts of animals preserved in the fossil state are those which 
longest resist putrefaction. It having been likewise shown that the degree 
of change does not depend upon the age of the bed in which the fossil 
occurs, it is a curious subject of inquiry for the geologist to ascertain how 
far the conditions necessary to putrefactive air, a certain temperature and 
moisture, were present in those strata in which the change has been great ; 
how far they were absent in those in which the change has been small. 



No. II. 

ON THE CHEMICAL NATURE OF THE EXTERNAL ENVELOPE 
OF THE FROG'S SPAWN. By ALFRED SMEE, Student of King's 
College. (' London Medical Gazette,' May 26, 1838.) 

THE nature of the envelope of the spawn of the frog does not seem to 
have been investigated chemically, some authors stating generally that 
it is of an albuminous, others that it is of a gelatinous nature. To me, 
however, it appears to be neither of the above substances, but rather a 
form of mucus, as the following observations show : 

1. When the envelope is separated from the ova, it gradually sinks 
in water. 

2. It is not soluble either in hot or cold water, but swells considerably 
when first placed in it, after which it may be dried without losing any of 
its former properties, for on the addition of water it will again swell to its 
former size and appearance.* 

3. When portions of the external covering were boiled in water, it was 
not dissolved, nor was there any coagulation. 

4. When the spawn was treated with nitric acid, there was no coa- 
gulation, but after a short period the external covering was dissolved, 
leaving the ova. 

5. Sulphuric acid had the same action on the spawn as the nitric. 

6. Muriatic acid, like the preceding acids, did not coagulate, but 
dissolved the envelope. 

7. Acetic acid, even when pretty strong, produced little or no effect 
on the spawn. 

8. The action of the oxalic acid was found to be the same as the 
acetic acid. 

9. The envelope was then treated with a solution of caustic potash, 
when it was dissolved. 

10. Ammonia produced apparently no effect on the envelope. 

11. When the ova were treated with alcohol, no coagulation ensued, 
nor was the envelope dissolved. 

12. Tincture of galls was also found to produce no effect on the 
envelope. 

* It does not appear, after a long time, to be dissolved, as after five or six 
weeks ; but probably here decomposition may, in some manner, alter its nature. 

L 



APPENDIX. [No. II. 

13. When the ova were placed in a solution of prussiate of potash, no 
coagulation or other change ensued. 

14. When the envelope was placed in a strong solution of corrosive 
sublimate in alcohol, no change took place. 

15. Solutions of muriate of ammonia and common salt produced no 
change. 

16. The solution of the envelope in nitric acid was treated with 
ammonia when it was not again re-precipitated. 

17. The solution was then treated with potash, when the result was 
the same as before. 

18. A solution of tannic acid gave a white precipitate with the acid 
solution. 

19. A solution of gallic acid failed to give a precipitate with the 
solution. 

20. When the acid solution was neutralized and treated with ferro- 
cyanates of potassa, no change ensued. 

21. The acid solution was found to give no precipitate with acetate 
of lead. 

22. The gelatinous, or rather the mucous envelope, was found to be 
neutral, neither changing the colour of litmus-paper to red, nor restoring 
reddened litmus-paper, and it was also found to have no action on 
turmeric paper. 

From these experiments it is decidedly proved that this covering is 
neither albuminous nor gelatinous : for had it been the former, many of 
the above tests would have coagulated it ; and had it been the latter, water 
would have dissolved, and tincture of galls had a sensible effect on it, &c. 
The nearest animal product then, which it approaches in its general 
characters, is mucus, which is known to differ in different situations of 
its secretion. 

This mucous envelope is found to be a product exclusively of the 
oviduct, for the ova at no period of their existence in any way possess it, 
the proof of which is obtained from killing a frog just before spawning is 
expected, when the ova in the ovaries will be found to have no covering, 
and when placed in water do not swell out. Those ova, however, which 
have found their way into the oviduct possess the mucous covering, and 
when placed in water do swell out. The oviducts do not form the mucus 
suddenly when the ova are about to be discharged, but keep forming it for 
a considerable period, as I have found the oviducts to be distended with it 
six months at least previous to the period of spawning, and even immediately 
after the ova have been discharged are not entirely free from it, though 
they are much contracted in size. That the substance contained in the 
oviducts and the envelope of the ova after their discharge is identical, 
is proved by the following experiments : 

1. When a portion of the oviduct was placed in water, it swelled as 
the envelope when first excreted ; and if a frog before spawning be killed 
and cut open, and then placed in water, the contents of the oviducts will 
swell to an almost incredible size. 

2. When the contents of the oviducts were placed in acid, they 
dissolved, and did not coagulate. 



No. III.] APPENDIX. 147 

No. III. 

ON THE FORMATION OF MOULDING TABLETS FOB FRAC- 
TURES. By ALFRED SMEE, Dresser at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 
(' London Medical Gazette,' February 9, 1839.) 

THE importance of a substance that can be moulded accurately to any 
part of the body at a moment's notice, must be admitted by every member 
of the medical profession, yet many difficulties attend the formation of a 
composition which shall at the period of its application be so yielding and 
soft that it may take an accurate cast of any part, and when dry shall still 
retain the form given it, and become sufficiently hard to resist external 
impressions, and at the same time shall be tough, elastic, and devoid of 
brittleness and much flexibility; and further difficulties present them- 
selves, where the capability of its being quickly dried is required. The 
advantage of lightness and cheapness is also a great desideratum. 

As I had frequently noticed that the composition of gum-arabic and 
whiting, when dry, possessed great hardness and toughness, and yet was 
so free from brittleness that it could scarcely be pounded in a mortar, 
I was determined to ascertain how far it would answer to make tablets 
which might be used to form extemporaneous splints. 

For this purpose a piece of coarse sheeting was copiously brushed 
over on one surface with a thick solution of gum, after which it was 
covered with a composition made by rubbing whiting with mucilage, con- 
tinually adding the powder until the whole was of the consistence of a 
thick paste; a second piece of sheeting was now rubbed over on one 
side with the solution of gum, and the moistened side applied upon the 
composition with which the piece of sheeting had been covered, and we 
thus had two thicknesses of sheeting, with an intervening layer of the 
composition of mucilage and whiting, the thickness of which may be 
increased or diminished as strength or lightness is desired. The whole 
was then dried, and formed a tablet about the thickness of slight 
pasteboard. 

This experiment succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectations ; 
for whilst the tablet remained dry it was exceedingly hard, and, when 
sponged over with a little warm water, became so yielding that, by mould- 
ing it with the fingers, a cast could be taken of any part of the body. The 
hand and knuckles were defined with great accuracy, and I succeeded by a 
little management in taking a cast of the greater part of the face. It is 
sometimes advisable not to allow the substance to dry upon the part on 
which it is moulded ; but after the depressions and elevations have been 
traced with the fingers, it should be carefully removed and partially dried 
before the fire, and as soon as the texture is sufficiently dry to retain its 
shape it may be placed near a stove, or even on the hob of a grate, without 
fear of corrugating or becoming otherwise deformed. In most cases, 
however, this drying is quite unnecessary, it being requisite only to 
envelope the moist tablet with a bandage. A cast thus taken is extremely 
hard and tenacious, so that when not much thicker than a wafer, it may be 
struck violently and repeatedly against any hard substance and not be 
destroyed. It possesses but slight flexibility, and after being bent returns 

L 2 



148 APPENDIX. [No. III. 

to its previous form, showing considerable elasticity. It is neither liable 
to be torn nor broken ; and, lastly, it possesses the advantage of light- 
ness combined with durability. Whilst in search of a moulding sub- 
stance, I thought it advisable to try various compositions in order. that 
the best might be selected, but none appeared so exceUent as that last 

described. 

[Several paragraphs here follow of other ways for making these 

tablets, which I omit here.] 

Of all these preparations, and many others that were tried, few were 
applicable, and none in all respects equal to the composition of gum 
and whiting, both of which substances are always easily obtained, and 
have the additional advantage of cheapness. The solution of gum which 
was found most adapted contained 10 or 12 ounces of gum to the pint 
of water. As far as regards the nature and texture of the cloth it is 
to be remarked that linen is stronger than cotton, and less liable to be 
torn, and therefore to be preferred. Of the various kinds of linen, 
none moulds so perfectly as moderately coarse old sheeting ; for when the 
tablets were made of finer Irish, they were inferior in this respect. The 
application of these tablets is rather extensive ; they may be used with 
great advantage for all fractures of the rnetacarpal bones, also for those of 
the forearm, or even for the humerus. When the humerus is fractured, the 
method which has been adopted is to cut a piece of paper somewhat into 
the shape of the required splint. It should cover a portion of the pectoralis 
major, and extend as high as the bend of the neck, and include the whole 
of the scapula. From this broad plate a piece descends to the bend of 
the elbow, and should be sufficiently wide to cover about two-thirds of 
the outer part of the arm. The paper is then placed on one of the 
prepared tablets, which is cut to a similar shape. The piece thus prepared 
is moistened until it becomes perfectly soft, and it is then moulded on the 
arm and neck. From the general shape of these parts, there will be found 
a superfluity of substance about the deltoid, which must be pinched up 
and turned down so as to form a fold over the other part. The splint 
then may be in a degree dried, and its inner surface lined with lint. The 
whole is to be enveloped in a starched roller.* 

This mode of proceeding may appear tedious, but it is a source of 
much comfort to the patient ; for whilst the upper arm is enveloped in this 
hard case, so that it is quite immovable, the forearm and hand may be let 
loose, and the patient may in some degree enjoy the use of them. The 
benefit of this mode of treating fractures is not confined to the patient 
only ; it lessens also the labour of the surgeon : for when the injured limb 
is once put up in this manner, it requires no further attention for days, 
weeks, or even till the cure is accomplished. Its application to chronic 
diseases of the joints will be found particularly useful. In these cases two 
lateral splints are to be formed, and enveloped in a starch roller. It is 
hardly necessary to add that in fractures of the lower jaw it must prove a 
valuable auxiliary. Great, however, as these advantages may be, perhaps 
they are trifling in comparison with the importance of its application to 
simple fractures of the leg. The mode of treating these fractures at 

* The roller is merely soaked in boiled starch and wound up in the usual 
manner before it is applied. 



No. III.] APPENDIX. 149 

St. Bartholomew's Hospital has been for some months the method first 
adopted by Mr. John Lawrence, of Brighton. His plan was to form 
two strong splints on either side of the injured leg by successive 
layers of pieces of bandage, united together by white of egg and flour. 
Now, as far as this method is concerned, it requires no improvement, as 
durability, strength, and an accurate cast are obtained by this mode of 
proceeding, and the numerous cases which have been treated by it at the 
hospital show its complete success. By using the tablets formed of gum 
and whiting, upon the same plan as that of Mr. John Lawrence, a great 
saving of the surgeon's time is effected, and equal firmness and durability 
obtained. The mode in which I have made splints for the leg is first to 
obtain the exact shape by drawing a piece of sheeting or paper round the 
limb, and marking the part which corresponds to the tibia for the whole 
length of the leg, and continuing the line on the foot to the extent that it 
may be considered necessary to cover.* By this means, it is apparent that 
the exact size of the limb is obtained ; but as the leg is to be enclosed by two 
splints, it becomes necessary to divide the cloth into two, which will give 
the exact pattern of either splint. These splints are to be moistened and 
moulded ; and after being first lined with lint or leather, the whole is to be 
enveloped by a roller soaked in boiled starch. This composition of gum 
and whiting has answered perfectly in all the cases in which it has been 
tried, and splints made with it are perhaps superior to the splints made 
with flour and white of egg, because, when dry, they preserve accurately 
the shape of the limb, and do not at all corrugate, which all compositions 
of flour are liable at times to do. 

Fractures of the patella are treated in a similar way, a splint being 
placed on either side of the knee, extending from about the centre of the 
thigh to about the centre of the leg. The patella is not to be covered with 
these splints, but a gap left corresponding to its shape, and the two pieces 
or splints are not to meet accurately at any part, but an interval is to 
be left of about three-fourths of an inch, or an inch, throughout their 
whole extent. 

In enveloping these splints for fractures, they are not to be applied 
when there is much inflammation or swelling, but the part should be 
allowed first to get into a perfectly quiet state. Leeches, cold water, or 
poultices should be applied, if necessary, to effect this object. In general, 
a delay of a week, ten days, or even sometimes three weeks, is required, but 
in some favourable cases there is no occasion to wait, and the splints may 
be applied with safety and advantage on the second or third day after the 
accident. This mode has also been adopted in favourable cases of com- 
pound fracture, but most surgeons are agreed never to cover these wounds 
with concealing bandages. 

It is not for me to expatiate upon the advantages with which this method 
of treating fractures is attended, for that belongs rather to Mr. John 
Lawrence as the first adapter of the principle ; but the fixing of the bones 
more firmly and securely than can be accomplished by any other method, 
the prevention of loss of health by enabling the patients to walk on the 



* Either splint should overlap the heel and under-surface of the foot in cashes 
where they are used immediately after the accident, but where this application 
is delayed this is of no importance. 



150 APPENDIX. [No. m. 

fourth or fifth day after receiving the accident, and permitting them to be 
moved to a situation more healthy and airy. The prevention of stiff joints, 
and more speedy and final uniting of the bone, are advantages too great 
to be passed over unmentioned. These benefits are likely to be enjoyed by 
a greater number when the time required for the first application of the 
splints is diminished, and the objection is removed of allowing the limb to 
remain without bandages during the time required for drying the splints. 
The tablets which I have described possess these additional advantages, 
and with them superior cheapness is also subjoined. 



[Some years later (in 1846), after gutta-percha had come into use, he 
invented a modification of the above tablets for fractures, and the following 
article " On Gutta Percha Splints " was published in the London ' Medical 
Gazette,' the same paper in which his first invention had been made known 
to the world.] 

At the introductory address to the Medical Society of King's College, 
I called attention to a novel surgical application of the new material called 
gutta-percha. I have employed this substance, when rolled out into 
tablets, for the formation of splints, similar to those which I described 
as being made from the moulding tablets in the ' Medical Gazette ' and 
' Lancet ' for the year 1839. It has advantages over the moulding tablets 
which I then described, inasmuch as tablets of this material, rolled to the 
required thickness, are more easily moulded into the required form when 
soaked in water. 

It has moreover advantages in its being impervious to and uninjured 
by water, alcohol, ether, acid, and alkaline solutions, and therefore espe- 
cially applicable to interrupted' splints where an aperture is required to be 
left for the application of these substances. It is not so good however as 
the moulding tablet, inasmuch as it retains the perspiration, whilst the 
moulding tablet transmits it. This difficulty may be overcome by punc- 
turing numerous holes in the gutta-percha, or by lining it with a piece of 
thin lint, which allows the perspiration to escape. If the perspiration is 
retained, it irritates and excoriates the skin. I have employed this sub- 
stance for fractured limbs and diseased joints. I have also found it of 
great value after the division of tendons for contractions, and in cases 
where pressure and counter-pressure are to be employed, as the force may 
be then distributed over a large extent of the body. The moulding tablets 
for fracture are, in my opinion, not so much employed as they deserve to 
be; solely, I believe, because surgeons do not like the trouble of their 
preparation. Under these circumstances, I hope that gutta-percha tablets 
will lead to a far more extensive adoption of this form of splint. 



No. III.A.] APPENDIX. 151 

No. III.A. 

ON THE STRUCTURE OF NORMAL AND ADVENTITIOUS 

BONE. 

To the Editor of the ' Medical Gazette.' 

SIE, The enclosed paper contains the results of observations on the 
structure of bone, made at various times during the last three years. It 
was read before the Royal Society last winter, and I have now added here 
and there new matter from my physiological note-book. 

I remain, Sir, 

BANK OF ENGLAND, Your obedient servant, 

Oct. 27th, 1840. ALFBED SMEE. 

The intimate or microscopic structure of bone has been the subject of 
much investigation both in this country and abroad, yet there still appears 
to be much scope for further discoveries. To the uninitiated the structure 
of bone under the microscope is one of the most splendid sights possible. 
To the initiated, though he may often have participated in the pleasure of 
examining it, yet the beautiful arrangement never ceases to afford the 
greatest delight. 

The best mode of preparing the sections of bone is to cut portions, of a 
convenient thickness, with a saw, and then to rub one surface quite smooth 
on a hone, and afterwards to polish it upon a piece of leather ; a slip of 
glass is then to be obtained, and one or two drops of balsam of Canada are 
to be placed on one surface : the polished side of the bone is to be put on 
the balsam, the glass is to be heated, which melts the balsam, and causes 
it, when cool, to fix the section firmly on the glass. The next operation is 
to polish the opposite side of the bone, and render it sufficiently thin to be 
translucent, which is to be effected either by grinding it upon a hone, or, 
if the section is very thick in the first instance, by filing the bone down to 
the required thinness ; lastly, the specimen is to be polished as before. 
Occasionally the structure is best seen by scraping down the bone, but this 
is a tedious operation and seldom required. 

The sections by these processes are made extremely thin, and are now 
fit for examination by the microscope. The canals of Havers are seen 
conspicuously when the bone is moderately magnified. They are irregular 
canals running for the most part in the direction of the long axis of the 
bone, and frequently anastomosing with each other. They are frequently 
seen to arise either from the external or internal margin of the bone. 

Around these canals are small irregular bodies, arranged in circles, 
and having the surfaces parallel to the long diameter, looking towards their 
several canals. Apart from these series of corpuscules, attached to the 
Haversian canals is a row running round both the exterior edge of the 
bone and the edge of the medullary cavity. These run round every 
filament of the cellular tissue of bone, which, unless any portion happens 
to be very thick, has more of the Haversian canals. 

A junction is effected between the corpuscules and the Haversian 
canals, and also between the corpuscules and the margins of the bone, by 
numerous little fine lines which communicate in every direction with the 
neighbouring corpuscules. These fine lines also connect the corpuscules of 



152 APPENDIX. [No. III.A. 

the extreme circles round each Haversian canal with the corresponding 
corpuscules of the neighbouring canal. Between the system of corpuscules 
surrounding the Haversian canal there is no row taking the general 
direction of the bone, as some have asserted. 

If the Haversian canals are examined in a recent subject, where the 
capillaries are well filled with blood, they are observed to contain vascular 
tubes, and the blood can be distinctly recognized in them. To ascertain 
this fact it is better that the bone be scraped, and no heat applied to fix 
the bone to the glass. 

The corpuscules are arranged around the Haversian canals in a series 
of rows proportionate to the size of the canals : thus a small canal has one, 
two, or three rows round it, while a large canal has five or six rows. It is 
to be noticed that the rows around the medullary canal and external edge 
of the bone seldom exceed two or three series. 

An opinion is very prevalent amongst physiologists that these little 
bodies are solid ; and many consider that they consist of the phosphate of 
lime and earthy matter of bone ; but this opinion appears to be incorrect, 
from viewing sections of bone under different circumstances. 

A similar opinion has been entertained of the fine lines running from 
the corpuscules, which have been termed the calcigerous tubes, but I would 
suggest the name of corpuscular lines or tubes, as the truth of this will be 
shown presently. 

When a section of fresh bone is examined, these bodies appear opaque 
as well as their lines ; but when a section from the same bone is thoroughly 
boiled in balsam of Canada, the balsam enters the canals of Havers, the 
corpuscular lines disappear, with few exceptions, and some of the corpuscules 
become transparent and nearly invisible, and others partially transparent. 
The same effect has been produced by our forefathers in their process of 
embalming ; for in the tibia of a mummy which I possess, the corpuscules 
are transparent, and most of them are decidedly filled with a yellow matter 
similar to that which exists in the blood-vessels. The corpuscular Hues 
are so translucent as to be scarcely visible. In this case the canals of 
Havers were also filled with yellow matter. 

When the section of recent bone is ground down to the utmost possible 
limit, the corpuscules either appear as a transparent irregular oval ring, or 
they have the appearance of containing some shrivelled matter in their 
interior. In these cases the section of bone is only a portion of corpuscule 
in thickness. 

The corpuscules with the lines are exceedingly opaque when a section 
of bone is examined in which the canals of Havers are filled apparently 
with adipocere, which occasionally happens after maceration. 

If a thin section of bone is thoroughly calcined, then soaked in oil, 
and afterwards carefully ground down extremely thin, the canals of Havers, 
the corpuscules, and corpuscular canals will be quite visible in the sub- 
stance .of the bone.* 

* The labour and care required to make these specimens are very great. It 
is better to calcine a thin section in a crucible, over a hot fire, then to place it in 
oil, and keep it there for a very long period, when it may be fixed to the glass 
with balsam of Canada. No heat should be applied, but it must be allowed to 
remain till it spontaneously dries, when its thickness may be further reduced and 
gently polished. 



No. III. A.] APPENDIX. 153 

When the earthy matter is removed from calcined bone, the corpus- 
cular lines disappear, but the corpuscules themselres, though transparent, 
are still visible. 

In these instances the examination has been made by transmitted 
light; but differences, according to circumstances, are seen when the object 
is viewed by light thrown on the surface. The corpuscules with the lines 
appear white when a thin section is examined with a dark ground under- 
neath it ; but a thick polished piece of bone, or a section of bone with a 
portion of white paper underneath it, does not present these appearances. 
The reflection of light from the deeper corpuscnles is the reason why the 
corpuscules are not apparent in a thick section, nor when white paper is 
placed underneath one of greater tenuity. Those corpuscules which present 
a transparent ring by transmitted light still appear white when viewed by 
reflected light, for some are seen as white rings on a black ground, and 
others as rings having a little irregular white matter in the centre. The 
whiteness of the corpuscules is owing to the reflection of light from 
the surface of the corpuscules, whilst between them it passes to the 
back, and is absorbed. The same effect is produced when a piece of 
black cloth or scratched glass is viewed under similar circumstances, in 
which cases the elevations on the one and the depressions in the other 
appear white. 

If, however, the piece of mummy-bone before mentioned be examined 
by reflected light, the transparency of the corpuscules allows the light, in 
some degree, to pass, and that part which is reflected appears of the same 
yellow colour as when the section is viewed by transmitted light. 

Such are the principal circumstances which modify the appearances of 
the corpuscules, and which may be thus summed up : first, that the earthy 
matter is associated with the animal matter, and pervades every part of 
the bone, which is shown in the section of burnt bone; secondly, that the 
corpuscules may exist without any earthy matter being there, as in the 
cartilage of the shark, or the animal matter of bone which is left after 
maceration; thirdly, that the corpuscular canals communicate with the 
Haversian canal, as the specimens boiled in Canada balsam prove ; fourthly, 
that the coi-puscul.es present themselves under two circumstances, for they 
are either opaque, as in recent and adipocere bone, or transparent, as in 
those boiled in balsam of Canada, as are also those of the mummy-bones. 

All these facts show that the corpuscules and corpuscular lines are 
themselves cavities into which the various substances enter. "We have 
already mentioned that, in the bones of mummies, a yellow matter is found 
in the corpuscules similar in appearance to that filling up the Haversian 
canals. That they are cavities is farther proved by the corpuscules 
appearing as rings when the section is reduced to extreme tenuity. 

Attempts were made to fill the cavities with a coloured substance by 
various methods, such as had been effected in the bones of the mummy, 
but watery solutions penetrated only for a short distance into the Havei-sian 
canals, so that double decomposition of ferrocyanate of potass and sulphate 
of iron were found to be useless. 

Balsam of Canada and dragon's blood were melted together, and 
pieces of bone were then boiled in the mixture. On the examination of 
thin sections of this, the Haversiau canals were found filled with the com- 
pound, but whether it entered farther I could not so satisfactorily make 



154 APPENDIX. [No. III.A. 

up my mind as to enable me to state the fact positively ; but, upon the 
whole, after numerous examinations of various specimens prepared in 
this manner, it may be stated that there was an appearance in those 
corpuscules immediately surrounding the canals, of its having pene- 
trated the cavities; but, perhaps, the facts already adduced require no 
confirmation. 

Having proved by the results of direct observation that the corpus- 
cules are cells, and therefore ill named corpuscules, but better cellules, 
their use is the next point which demands our notice; but this will 
probably be for ever theoretical. Perhaps they act the same part to 
compact tissue of the bones as cells do to the cellular ; namely, that of 
giving lightness without materially diminishing their strength. 

What the particular structure of the bone is between the corpuscular 
lines and corpuscules there appears to be no means of ascertaining ; for 
the highest power in the thinnest section only exhibits a transparent 
homogeneous texture. 

Whether the corpuscular tubes contain blood perhaps we may also for 
ever be ignorant, but, considering that they communicate with decided 
blood-vessels, this opinion is far from improbable. It is certain they are 
much too small to cany the globules, but the opinion of their being blood- 
vessels may receive additional weight from the fact that in bone there are 
no canals smaller than the Haversian. 

The size of the corpuscules or cellules is about equal to two or three 
globules of blood ; they appear for the most part broader when viewed in 
a section parallel to the Haversian canals, than when seen in a section 
perpendicular to them : if it is really the depth which is seen in the 
longitudinal section of bone, it follows that these little bodies are deeper 
than they are broad, and we have already noticed that their length is much 
greater than their breadth. I conceive that the form of the corpuscules 
may be exactly given by taking a piece of wood twice as deep as it is 
broad, and twice or three times as long as it is deep, and then rounding off 
all its angles. Sections in different planes through this would present 
every form which is observed in the corpuscules. 

Thus we have seen that the structure of bone is extremely simplified, 
as there is a medullary cavity from which spring the corpuscular tubes, 
and three or four layers of corpuscules or cellules around it. The same is 
seen with regard to the exterior part of the bone. Between these two 
layers run tubes for blood, irregular as to size, frequently anastomosing 
with their neighbours, and having the general direction of the bony tissue 
in which they are imbedded. 

Radiatory lines are spoken of by some as existing round the Haversian 
canals, but they have no real existence, and are only the corpuscular canals 
or lines seen deep in the section, and out of focus ; and they are only to 
be seen when these lines are opaque, and the section thick. 

The cellular tissue of bone has no Haversian canals ; for there the cells 
have the same relation to the bony structure of each cell as the Haversian 
canal has to the bone immediately surrounding it. 

With regard to the laminae of bone which have been described by 
other authors, they appear to me to exist only as the result of the inge- 
nuity of the anatomist, for we see that the shaft of a long bone consists 
of a large medullary cavity, with a series of corpuscules and corpuscular 



No. III. A.] APPENDIX. 155 

lines, and a number of Haversian canals containing blood, with, their series 
of corpuscules around them. Now, if a bone has long undergone putre- 
faction, it can be torn precisely in this manner. It will, in fact, tear to 
shreds, and a transverse section of each of these shreds shows the Haver- 
sian canal in the centre, and the corpuscules around it. 

The corpuscules are to be seen in every true bone of the body, and 
form a good criterion to distinguish bone from other tissues. It is worthy 
of remark that but little difference exists between the structure of different 
bones, and even the intense hardness of the temporal bone immediately 
surrounding the semicircular canals presents no microscopic difference to 
account for that peculiarity. 

The changes which bones undergo in the interior of the earth are very 
interesting. They may have their animal matter entire; they may have 
the animal matter removed ; they may have the earthy matter partly 
removed ; or, lastly, the animal matter may be carbonized. 

The bones which exhibit the animal matter entire are those which 
have lain in certain situations not exposed to the air. I find them in this 
state from Beg Bone Lick, in Kentucky ; and I have sections of the bones 
of the mastodon from thence, showing the structure in the most beautiful 
manner. Some bones found in making a sewer behind the Bank of 
England, together with Roman sacrificial utensils, were in a similar state. 
In both these instances, as well as in others, the Haversian canals appeared 
to be full of black matter. 

The relation which the proportion of animal matter bears to the 
earthy, I have examined by calcination in twenty different species. The 
bones were all well macerated, and not greasy. The proportion in these 
varies but little one way or another, and that more from the state of the 
bone than anything else ; for the average is as near as possible 60 per 
cent, of earthy material. 

When the animal matter is removed, we may always venture an opinion 
that the bone has been imbedded in a sandy or gravelly stratum. In every 
churchyard with this soil that I have examined, bones have been found 
with the smallest trace of animal matter, and others not so far advanced 
in decomposition have been noticed. Many fossil bones possess their 
phosphate of lime, with so little animal matter as scarcely to be coloured 
by heat. None of the bones without animal matter can by any contrivance 
whatever be made to show the corpuscular structure, although the Haver- 
sian canals are distinct to the naked eye, and the general appearance of 
the bone is not materially altered, except perhaps being white, and of a 
somewhat mineral aspect. 

The next division is that in which the animal matter is too abundant, 
part of the earthy matter having been removed. This condition is rare, 
and in these cases the bone will tear into shreds, each containing its 
Haversian canal and series of corpuscules. I do not know under what 
conditions this takes place. 

The last change is the conversion of animal matter into bitumen or 
carbon. This change is common to the blue clay and blue lias, as here the 
bones retain their usual quantity of phosphate of lime, but their animal 
matter is converted into coal. This alteration appears quite unconnected 
with heat, and takes place as a spontaneous change in a moist situation, 
to which no air has access. I have seen different bones in every transition 



156 APPENDIX. [No. III.A. 

of this change from different situations ; they mostly show not only the 
Haversian canals, but even the corpuscules. 

We have next to examine adventitious bone ; which may be arranged 
under the heads reproduction of bone, growths from bone, and ossifica- 
tions of other tissues. Of the former a piece of callus from a simple 
fracture was examined, and was not found to differ in any respect from 
true bone ; it had the cellules with their lines, and the Haversian canals, 
precisely as normal bone. The same thing was noticed in a section of 
callus from a compound fracture. The new bone after necrosis, or even 
the necrosed portion, exhibited no diversity from this structure. The 
reproduction of bone is particularly interesting, as the new deposit is 
precisely the same as normal bone, with almost all the tissues ; the repro- 
duced part widely differs from the normal tissue. 

Of the different growths from bone, a piece was examined which had 
been thrown out from two anchylosed vertebras for additional strength, and 
this presented the appearance of true bone. 

Hard bony exostoses were examined with exactly the same result. 
Ossifications may be divided into two classes bone of cartilages, 
and bone of other tissues. Ossifications of the thyroid and coracoid 
cartilage in the human subject were examined, and both presented the 
cellules, and the former the Haversian canals not at all different from 
recent bones. 

The human trachea is not in general sufficiently ossified to show the 
corpuscules of the natural size, for in partial ossifications large cells are 
seen, but a section of a small part showed these cellules of the size natural 
to bone. The trachea of the macaw, and the inferior larynx of the 
widgeon, which are naturally bones, also present no difference from the 
general appearance of bone. 

Examinations of the structures of the costal cartilages when ossified 
were attended with like results. 

The ossification in the thyroid ligament was examined, which showed 
here and there the cellules. 

The fibrous membranes when ossified do not generally exhibit this 
structure : in fact, we may say never, unless they be connected with bone. 
A portion of ossified tendon attached to bone was examined, which had 
these cellules differing in no respect from bone. 

A section of a fibrous tumour of the uterus was examined. This had 
the fibres running in the osseous matter, but no cellules nor anything like 
cellules could be discovered. 

Of the serous membranes, the pleura is sometimes ossified, but that 
appears to be only a deposit of irregular granules, and no structure could 
be detected. 

The arterial tissue is frequently ossified, and then its appearance 
is similar to that of the pleura; it displays a granular mass and no 
cellules. 

Thus we may state that ossifications are of two kinds : first, that of 
true bone, which, in a word, always exists when any enlargement of bone 
in any way takes place, either as an ossification of the neighbouring tissues, 
or in any other way. Secondly, ossification of the tissues not at all related 
to bone, which presents nothing but a mass of granules. 

The structure of bone from a very old person was examined, which, 



No. IV.] APPENDIX. 157 

after six weeks, had made no effort at reparation, but no difference could 
be detected. 

A section of a femur was examined, in which the head of the bone was 
affected by scrofula, but no change could be detected in the cellules. 

A transverse section of enlarged femur had the cellules in the enlarged 
part, but in this case the canals of Havers did not run in the direction of 
the long axis of the bone, but ran from the exterior edge. 

The structure of bone and that of the cellules have been examined in 
numerous specimens of recent bone from different parts of the body. 
The long, the round, the flat, the sesamoid bones, have all received their 
share of attention, and these, with macerated bones, mummies' bones, bones 
altered by chemical agents, diseased bones, and ossifications connected 
with cartilage or bone, possess these cellules. 

The bones of animals and of birds which have been examined also 
possess them. The bones of some fish, as the sturgeon and porpoise, and 
the ossific plates or the skin on the former, agree in possessing these 
cellules. Even the cartilaginous fishes are not destitute of them. 

The structure of bone is not only such at the present moment, but has 
been the same from the earliest period, for the mighty ichthyosaunis, the 
tyrant of the water in former ages, and the vast mastodon, the giant of the 
land, possessed these cellules. Although six thousand years had elapsed 
before the microscopic structure of bone was made known to the anatomist, 
yet in every age, in every country, geological and antiquarian researches 
have revealed that the same structure has existed. The imperfection of 
our instruments has been the cause of our previous ignorance, and doubt- 
less there is now ten times more to be learned than is already known. 

In every case where the corpuscules or cellules exist, they can be 
distinctly perceived to be hollow. Let, therefore, the universality of this 
fact be the only apology for its communication. 

For the following measurements I am indebted to the kindness of 
Mr. Bowerbank : 

Haversian canals. 

Small. Large. 

3^3 5^0 in diameter. 

Corpuscules or cellules seen in a transverse section. 
One of the largest. One of the smallest. 

Diameter ^Vs Lengthy^. Diameter ^j s . Length ^3 

Longitudinal section. 
One of the largest. One of the smallest. 

Diameter ^^ Length -^ . Diameter ^Ve Length ^ 



No. IV. 
PHOTOGENIC DRAWING. (' Literary Gazette,' May 18, 1839.) 

YAEIOTTS have been the methods detailed for the preparation of paper 
which can be acted upon with facility by the powerful agency of the light 
from the sun ; yet, notwithstanding all that has been written on this 



158 APPENDIX. [No. IV. 

interesting subject, the practical student in this art finds that great 
difficulties occur in every department of photogenic drawing. 

In the first place, he finds that the paper which he has prepared the 
preceding evening is by no means equal in its qualities, as sometimes he 
may have two or three sheets very excellent, so that, when they are 
exposed to the light, they become in every part of a uniform dark colour ; 
sometimes, on the contrary, he finds that the paper, after it has been 
similarly acted upon by the solar rays, becomes black over the greater part 
of its surface, yet numerous white spots occur throughout which detract 
much from the beauty and effect of drawings made with it ; and, lastly, it 
occasionally happens that some sheets are not affected by the most 
powerful light, except, perhaps, at a few points. 

Indeed, should the paper be good, and the drawings made, yet, with- 
out the greatest care in the fixing of them, they may be found to have a 
ground of an irregular tint, or they may be imperfectly stopped, and even 
the colour may be altogether removed. 

To surmount with certainty these various difficulties, numerous 
experiments have been performed in every department of the manufacture 
of photographs, which we shall now describe ; first as regards the chemical 
substances, then the paper, and, lastly, the most efficient stopping 
solution. 

The various compounds of silver have been long known to be acted 
upon powerfully by the solar rays: this property is possessed by far the 
greater number of the preparations of that metal, yet not by all ; and 
upon the former, the effect of light differs materially in its degree of 
sensitiveness. 

The two soluble salts of silver with which we are most acquainted are 
the nitrate and sulphate, both of which communicate to organic textures 
and substances made from them a black stain when exposed to light ; but 
these, neither on paper nor in combination with albumen, gelatin, gums, 
or glutea, have sufficient delicacy to be applicable for the manufacture of 
photogenic drawings. 

The ammonia-nitrate of silver will be found considerably more 
delicate than either the nitrate or sulphate, and may be used where 
rapidity of action is not required, particularly as it lessens the trouble, by 
the application of only one solution to the paper. 

The chloride of silver is the substance to which we principally look 
for the ready action of the solar rays, and the modes of its application to 
the paper are numerous. It is by itself very insoluble in water, and, on 
the contrary, easily dissolved by ammonia; but, unfortunately, the 
ammonia-chloride, of silver cannot with good effect be used for the pre- 
paration of this paper, and thus we are compelled to form a chloride upon 
it by a more circuitous process. This object may be effected by the 
application of either chlorine, chloride of an oxide, chloride of metal, or 
hydrochloric acid, first to the paper, and afterwards a solution of nitrate 
of silver. 

When a nearly saturated solution of chlorine is used, it should be 
applied lightly with a sponge to the paper, taking care that every part 
is moistened by the liquid : the paper should then be allowed to dry, 
and the solution of nitrate of silver applied also with a sponge, in a 
similar way. 



No. IV.] APPENDIX. 159 

This form of chloride is not quite so delicate as some others, and 
requires a long time to become quite black. It has its advantages from 
enabling the most highly-glazed papers to be prepared with great facility 
and certainty, and it becomes of a beautiful brown, which is but slightly 
altered by the stopping agents. 

The chlorides of oxides, such as the chlorides of soda and of lime, 
may be advantageously applied in some cases where the chlorine is useful. 
.... The chloride of soda, however, must not be used for absorbent 
papers, such as those used in printing ; but with the glazed papers it 
becomes very delicate and sensitive to light, whether it be applied before 
or after the solution of silver. The strength which was found most useful 
was that usually employed for medical purposes. 

The solution of chloride of lime was made by adding twelve grains of 
chloride of lime to an ounce of water, and allowing any insoluble part to 
subside. This is found applicable both to printing and to glazed papers, 
but is more certain when used prior to the nitrate of silver. 

The chlorides of metals, as common salt, require more care in their 
proportions than the foregoing substances ; and an experiment which was 
tried, shows the absolute necessity of using an excess of nitrate of silver. 

A weak solution of nitrate of silver (twenty grains to the ounce) was 
treated with excess of chloride of sodium, when an insoluble chloride was 
precipitated : this was exposed to the direct rays of the sun, without the 
slightest change; the supernatant liquor was then poured off, and the 
precipitate well washed two or three times with distilled water, to remove 
any superfluous salt which might perchance be present ; the chloride of 
silver was again exposed to the light for many hours, when only a slight 
brown tint was produced. On the contrary, when the nitrate of silver was 
treated with such small quantities of salt that part of the solution of 
silver remained in excess, the light speedily blackened the chloride exposed 
to its action Similar experiments were tried with chlorine, chlo- 
ride of lime, and chloride of soda, when excess did not prevent the black- 
ening ; but when muriatic acid was used, the same phenomenon was 

observed Without endeavouring to explain the difference of the 

action of light under these different circumstances, an important practical 
inference is to be drawn from them ; for if any circumstance prevents the 
nitrate of silver being in excess, no action will be produced. 

The proportions given by Mr. Golding Bird are evidently so designed, 
that an equivalent proportion of each substance should be used; for 
although he employs only a 20- grain solution of nitrate of silver to the 
ounce, with a 12-grain solution of salt, yet, by using the silver twice, 
it becomes equal to the single application of a 40-grain solution. To 
insure success, the ratio of the chloride of sodium to the nitrate of silver 
should be about one to five. As the relative proportions of these two sub- 
stances are of importance, great care must be taken in the application of 
the salt in the first place to the paper. A 10-grain solution of salt should 
be sponged over one surface of the paper, and all superfluous moisture 
carefully removed by the sponge wrung dry ; the paper ought then to be 
allowed to dry, but taking care that the salt does not settle in any part, 
and thereby cause an excess ; when the paper is dry, the solution of nitrate 
of silver is to be applied in a similar way. An advantageous mixture 
can be made of the chlorides of oxides and chlorides of metals : thus, 



160 APPENDIX. [No. IV. 

a very excellent paper may be made by a solution containing ten grains 
of salt and twelve of chloride of lime to the ounce of water. 

Dilute muriatic acid may also be used for the manufacture of the 
photogenic paper, in the proportion of about twenty-four drops of the 
distilled acid, sp. gr. 1*12, to an ounce of water. It may be used either on 
the glazed or absorbent papers, but for the latter it should not exceed half 
the strength. The same observations apply to any excess of muriatic acid 
as were noticed to. apply to the fluoride of sodium. This forms a delicate 
paper, and becomes of a very even colour. 

A more sensitive paper may be prepared by using the bromide of 
silver instead of the chloride ; but the expense of bromine and its com- 
pounds is an objection. 

-A solution of bromine in water cannot be used in a way similar to a 
solution of chlorine with any good result, and recourse must be had to the 
bromide of potassium, of which twelve grains to the ounce, applied in the way 
described when treating of the chloride of silver, and afterwards conjoined 
with a solution of nitrate of silver (fifty grains to the ounce), will be found 
a suitable proportion. 

Other salts may be used besides the chloride and bromide, such as the 
phosphates, chlorates, &c., but have the disadvantage of not being so 
sensitive to light. A benefit, however, attends the use of the phosphates, 
&c. ; for while any excess of the chlorides must be carefully 'avoided, an 
undue proportion of the latter salts is attended with no inconvenience. 

The expense of the nitrate of silver renders it desirable to reduce the 
quantity used ; but if a dark ground is wanted, a smaller quantity than 
fifty grains to the punce cannot well be employed. 

Having considered the chemical substances which may be used for 
the photogenic paper, the different kinds of paper, and those suited to 
each particular preparation of silver, next demand attention. 

Papers may be divided into three classes the bibulous, the absorbent, 
and the highly-glazed papers. Of the bibulous papers, blotting-paper 
and tissue papers are examples ; but none of them will be found at all 
applicable to the purposes of the photogenic art. These papers are made 
from rags, but there are papers made from other substances, sxich as old 
sacking, &c., which possess great strength, as well after they have been 
moistened as before. 

The finest paper of this sort is called "double small ends." That 
which I employed, when sponged over, seemed to be equally moistened 
in every part, and was found well adapted for the intended purpose, as 
there was not, after being prepared with the solutions, a single spot that 
resisted the action of light in any one of the sheets. There are, however, 
disadvantages attending the use of this paper, for it is not so smooth as 
others more highly glazed, and therefore not so well adapted for every 
description of photographs. 

The absorbent papers, or the papers used in printing, possess a finer 
texture than that last described ; and when they can be obtained good, 
they answer very well for photogenic purposes. 

Of the various papers which have been tried of this description, a 
thin paper used for printing newspapers, called " double copy," was found 
the best ; for the thicker papers, that have much plaster of Paris added 
to increase their substance and weight, do not answer so well, as they 



No. IV.] APPENDIX. 161 

are apt to absorb the solutions unequally. These papers are fittest when 
the common salt and nitrate of silver are used. 

The highly-glazed papers, or writing papers, require no particular 
observation, for if either chlorine, chloride of lime, or chloride of soda be 
used, the colour will be found uniform ; and the finer and more highly 
glazed the paper is, the better will it suit the intended purpose. These 
will be found advantageous, not only from possessing a smooth and 
uniform colour, but also from a smaller quantity of the solution of 
nitrate of silver being used in their preparation, as it is applied only on 
the surface, and does not penetrate any distance into the texture. For 
this latter property, paper such as the satin post may be prepared on 
both surfaces, should that be deemed advisable. 

The modes of applying the chemical substances to the paper have 
been already noticed, and the sponge was mentioned as being the agent 
employed. 

The extent to which the paper should be moistened is, that such a 
quantity of solution should be used, that it may, as artists term it, 
" bear out " in every part of the surface ; that is, that a slight layer of 
moisture should appear at every point after the usual absorption has 
taken place, and that all superfluous moisture is to be carefully removed 
by a pressed sponge. 

After the paper has been prepared, it will be hardly necessary to state 
that it must be kept carefully from the action of the light. 

The mode of making the drawings has been sufficiently detailed in 
various publications. When prints are to be copied, the printed side 
must be pressed by a piece of flat glass close to the prepared paper, and 
exposed to the light of the sun. When drawings of feathers or other 
irregular bodies are desired, a piece of the photogenic paper is to be laid 
upon any yielding substance, as folded linen, flannel, or, what is perhaps 
better, a layer of sand or bran ; the object is then to be covered with a 
square of flat glass, and, if necessary, pressed down by weights, and is to 
be finally exposed to the light of the sun. 

The paper will be found to be most rapidly acted upon by the direct 
rays of the sun, but this is by no means indispensable, as a clear sky is 
very effectual, and even on a very cloudy day a delineation is produced, 
only it requires a longer time. The circumstances which appear most 
to retard the photogenic properties of the solar beam, are those dense 
collections of smoke which hover over the metropolis when the wind has 
not sufficient power to disperse the deleterious particles of which they are 
composed. 

Most of the modes of preparing the paper which have been described, 
are applicable to the camera obscura with a short focus; and those 
prepared with the chloride of soda, chloride of lime, and bromide of 
potassium, do extremely well. Its use in this department will for ever be 
limited, for a portion of an object only can be represented accurately, as, 
for every distance, the camera requires a different adjustment of its focus ; 
so that to take a landscape a hundred different foci would scarce suffice. 
For this reason, it certainly appears that the results of M. Daguerre's 
experiments must be exaggerated. 

The fixing of the drawings after they have been made is completely 
a chemical action, and requires as much care as the preparation of the 

M 



162 APPENDIX. [No. IV. 

paper. The substances that may be employed for this purpose are dilute 
muriatic acid, chloride of sodium, hydriodic acid, hydriodate of potash, 
iodic acid, hyposulphites, and sulphocyanate of potash. Before using any 
of these substances, the drawing ought to be soaked in common water for 
a few minutes, to remove any excess of the salt of silver; the stopping 
solution is then to be applied with a sponge to every part of the surface 
equally. 

No particular advantage attends the use of the muriatic acid, but it 
will be found to stop pretty well when in the proportion of about twenty- 
four drops of the distilled acid to an ounce of water, but it is not quite 
permanent. The chloride of sodium, or common salt, is very effectual in 
stopping any further action of the light, as drawings fixed by this agent 
have not undergone the slightest alteration from many hours' exposure to 
the brightest sunshine. When the impressions are very dark, they do not 
change colour, but lighter drawings become altered to a yellowish brown : 
the addition of a little sesquichloride of iron corrects this, and gives a 
pink tinge to them. The solution recommended by Mr. Bird answers very 
well ; it contains two ounces of salt, and one ounce of the sesquichloride 
of iron, to the pint of water. The hydriodic acid, and the hydriodate of 
potash, are also very effective in preventing any further action of the 
solar rays ; they turn the white parts to a pale yellow, and are very apt, 
if the solution be too strong, to remove the colour of the dark ground, 
especially if the drawing has been exposed to the light for only a short 
time : for this reason, the solution of hydriodate of potash ought not to 
exceed ten grains to the ounce of water. A solution of iodic acid, fifteen 
or twenty grains to the ounce, is very excellent for stopping photogenic 
drawings ; it is particularly applicable to delicate drawings of feathers, 
when it is desirable not to allow them to remain long in the light ; and 
at the same time the contrast of black and white heightens the effect. 
Care must be taken not to apply too strong a solution, for that is apt to 
whiten the dark ground, but it never turns it to any other tint. 

The hyposulphates of potash and soda have been much used for the 
fixing of drawings, but, if exposed to the sun, they do not appear quite 
so effective as the common salt, or hydriodate of potash ; they have the 
advantage, however, of stopping them a darker colour. The sulpho- 
cyanate of potassa is also found to stop these drawings ; it changes the 
colour of the ground to a bi-own, and has no particular advantage. 

The different effects of these several fixing-solutions can be turned 
to good account by suiting the colour of the drawings to the fancy of the 
artist, or the nature of the subject ; and a still greater alteration of tint 
may be produced by varying the duration of time which the light is 
allowed to act upon the paper. 

Many other chemical substances have been tried for fixing the draw- 
ings, but none attended with success. The following are the principal : 
Chlorine, chloride of soda, chloride of lime, tincture sesquichloride of 
iron, chloride of manganese, chloride of tin, chlorate of potassa, solution 
of iodine in water and in alcohol, carbonate of potash, hydrocyanic acid, 
dichromate of potash, biborate of soda, oxalate of ammonia, fluate of 
ammonia, benzoate of ammonia, succinate of ammonia, phosphate of soda, 
gallic acid, arsenite of ammonia, and sulphite of soda. 

Should it from any cause be thought desirable to remove from the 



No. IV.] APPENDIX. 163 

paper the colour which it acquired by light, this may be performed either 
by a strong solution of corrosive sublimate, which will render the paper 
quite white, or by a strong solution of hydriodate of potash, which gives 
it a yellow tint. If to the saturated solution of corrosive sublimate a little 
gum be added, it may be used with a quill pen, either to prevent the 
action of light, or to make white lines or marks after the action of the 
solar rays. Drawings may be made with great effect in this way, on 
paper previously exposed to the sun ; and this is by far the best mode of 
proceeding, when naturalists or others are desirous of circulating a few 
copies of any delineation among their own friends ; for, as the white parts 
are exceedingly diaphanous, and the black impervious to light, the draw- 
ings made by this means are much more distinct than those made by the 
ordinary described processes. This mode will be found exceedingly valu- 
able where a few copies of any drawing of machinery are suddenly wanted 
for estimates of prices or other causes ; and the strongest light will never 
affect the original drawing. 

By the common method of making photogenic drawings, should any 
be imperfect or otherwise damaged, it will be better to expose them freely 
to the action of the sun ; by which means a uniform black ground will be 
produced, which will be suitable for the use of the corrosive sublimate : 
and thus any waste will be prevented. A thin paper, which should be 
slightly moistened before use, is most applicable to this mode of drawing. 
The photogenic paper may be blackened either by a dilute solution of 
protosulphate of iron, or by hydrosulphate of ammonia. 

The principal points in every department of the photogenic art have 
now been described; and if the minutiae which have been detailed are 
strictly followed, and the preparation of silver suited to the kind of paper 
as here laid down, the student in this interesting and new field of science 
will be enabled not only to prepare his paper, but also to make and fix his 
drawings with ease and certainty. 



An omission was made in the paper on Photogenic Drawing, which 
was inserted in the last Number of the Literary Gazette; for, whilst 
treating of the ammonio-nitrate of silver, I forgot to mention the pro- 
portions which were found most suitable : this may seem unimportant in 
a paper which is not very sensitive, but, as the ease and certainty of its 
preparation, as well as its cheapness, exceed all other described papers, it 
possesses a particular claim on our notice. Twenty grains of nitrate of 
silver are to be dissolved in an ounce of water ; then a few drops of 
ammonia are to be added, which at first throws down a considerable 
precipitate ; this, by a further addition of ammonia, redissolves, and the 
solution becomes quite clear, when it will be ready to be applied by a 
sponge to the paper. The most suitable paper for this preparation of 
silver is the " double copy." The whole cost of photogenic paper does not 
exceed, by this process, one penny for a sheet equal in size to large 
foolscap, which, if bought of vendors, would cost between one shilling and 
fourpence and four shillings. The cost of all other papers does not exceed 
twopence-halfpenny the sheet, except that prepared with the bromide of 
potassium ; which, for the same quantity, would be about one penny more 
expensive. The preparation of paper suitable for the use of the corrosive 

M 2 



164 APPENDIX. [No. V- 

sublimate is still more simple, for here it is only necessary to sponge over 
a very thin paper with a 20-grain solution of nitrate of silver, and expose 
it to the action of the light of the sun. Drawings made in this way have 
analogy with etchings executed on glass, covered with black varnish, but 
are more easily made ; the white parts of the paper are, however, not so 
transparent as the glass. An error requiring notice has also crept into 
my paper; for the hyposulphates, instead of the hyposulphites, are there 
mentioned as stopping agents. 



No. V. 

THE PRINCIPLE, CONSTRUCTION, AND USE OF SMEE'S 
BATTERY; ITS VARIOUS FOEMS, WITH FULL DIRECTIONS FOR 
ITS MANIPULATION, MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE PROCESSES OF 
ELECTRO-METALLURGY. (Transcribed from Paper read at the Society 
of Arts, June 1st, 1840, and from Smee's 'Elements of Electro- 
Metallurgy,' &c.) 

THE most valuable instrument which chemists employ for their ana- 
lytical experiments is, no doubt, the galvanic battery ; but so much trouble 
attends its use, that, except in the laboratory of the professed chemist, it 
is not employed to any considerable extent. Experiencing this incon- 
venience in the experiments which I conducted on the red ferrocyanate of 
potash, it became a matter of the gi*eatest importance to ascertain how far 
a battery could be constructed, that at once should possess a capability of 
being used at a moment's notice, and have besides considerable power 
united with cheapness of action, and, at the same time, without the 
necessity of much laborious cleaning after its employment. 

After experimenting with the batteries before known to the public, I 
became convinced that it was of the highest importance to supersede the 
necessity of diaphragms, attended as they are with continual trouble and 
expense ; and as the power of the battery seems to depend upon the 
facility offered to the evolution of the hydrogen and preventing its 
adhesion to the negative metal, whereby it is coated as with a varnish, and 
the action almost entirely destroyed, all my experiments were directed to 
this object. I first perceived that the gas was not evolved equally from 
every part of the surface of a smooth piece of platinum, but chiefly from 
the corners, edges, and points. Following this hint, I roughened the 
metal with sand-paper and found the evolution of the gas to be increased ; 
and when the surface of other metals, as silver or iron, was roughened by 
some acid, I found the gas also to be much increased. Moreover, zinc 
shavings, which present the singular anomaly of having one surface ex- 
tremely bright and the other of a delicate frosted appearance, show this 
property well, gas being freely given off from the rough, but adhering 
firmly to the bright surface. The same differences are also observed when 
rough and polished steel are employed. These experiments induced the 
idea that spongy platinum, which may be considered as a mass of metallic 
points, would be very efficient in forming a galvanic circuit ; and on trying 



No. V.] APPENDIX. 165 

the experiment, the quantity of hydrogen evolved from a minute portion of 
this substance, when touched with a piece of zinc, was truly astonishing. 
The mass in this state was so fragile that the hydrogen disintegrated it 
almost instantaneously, showing that in this form it could not be used for 
a voltaic battery. 

My next experiments were to coat other metals with this finely-divided 
platinum; and I found that platinum, palladium, or silver, answered 
admirably for the reception of it, and similar help was afforded to the 
evolution of the hydrogen, as the contrast between the gas given off from 
the smooth metal and rough metal forms a most striking experiment. 
Other metals received the platinum with advantage ; as plated copper or 
iron, and even charcoal, was benefited to a similar extent.* 

The metals thus roughened by platinum have, in addition to their 
power, some properties which are very interesting: thus, when a piece of 
the prepared metal is placed in dilute sulphuric acid and touched with a 
small rod of zinc, gas is not given off from its whole extent, but only from 
the space of a small circle ; and when contact is completed with a smooth 
piece of platinum, the gas will not be given off from the latter, but will 
travel principally to the rough portion, there to be evolved. This curious 
experiment affords a marked difference from those cases where the hydro- 
gen is absorbed, as when a piece of silver is touched with a rod of zinc in 
dilute sulphate of copper, for in this case an immense circle of copper will 
be thrown down. 

A difficulty now arose in this stage of the proceeding, for the finely- 
divided platinum was so easily rubbed off that it could not be practically 
used with advantage. However, when the silver or other metal was first 
roughened by the removal of the surface by an acid, then the adhesion was 
so great that a piece of platinum thus prepared was sent accidentally to 
the instrument-maker, where the workman mistook the finely-divided 
platinum for dirt, and could only remove it with sand-paper. 

It now became desirable to ascertain the power of metal thus prepared 
relatively with the other batteries, and also with metals uncovered with 
the finely-divided platinum ; and to make this comparison, I perceived that 
considerable difficulty occurred, for as this preparation of the metals in- 
creases the quantity, but does not interfere with the intensity, a fair com- 
parison cannot be made where there is any impediment or difficulty to 
be overcome, unless that difficulty be superseded by increasing the number 
of cells of the battery : and therefore, had I at first taken the decomposi- 
tion of water as the test for my numerous experiments, they would have 
been attended with an immense expense ; had I taken the heating of wire 
as my test, that would also have been uncertain, according as the heating 
of large or small wires was estimated, but I considered that a close rela- 
tive estimate of power could be ascertained by the magnetical effect ; for 
by using large wires round the temporary magnet, but little impediment 
was offered to he current, and thus the quantity, independent of the in- 
tensity, could be accurately ascertained ; and in repeating my experiments, 
at different times, on the same magnet and with the same surface of like 



* Charcoal and plumbago might be considered to afford points enough for 
the escape of the hydrogen, but to these there is great adhesion of the gas. 



166 APPENDIX. [No. V. 

metals, I found that they coincided with remarkable accuracy, and only 
one cell was required for the experiment. Though the weight, which was 
supported even by a small magnet with large wires, was inconveniently 
great, I determined to ascertain the distance at which a small but lesser 
weight was attracted. 

The following are the results of like surface of metal with the same 

metal : 

Layers of paper. 

Smooth silver, supported keeper through . . 2 

Smooth copper 

Silver heated, quenched in acid 9 

surface removed by nitric acid .... 9 

Iron rough 

DanielFs battery 6 

Platinized silver 20 

iron, two or three varieties . . ,. . 20 

platinum 18 

Grove's battery 26 

platinized platinum 30 

Plain platinum heated, quenched in acid ... 12 

By these experiments we see the great advantage of the rough metals 
and those covered with platinum over the smooth metals and Daniell's 
arrangement. 

The only metal which may take the place of finely-divided platinum is 
palladium, but probably rhodium, iridium, and osmium would have the 
same property, as they are precipitated in a fine black powder by zinc. 
The cause of this black colour is not at all evident ; and the f orm of the 
black deposit has eluded not only my own but the observation of others, 
although aided by the microscope. Probably, however, the colour is owing 
to the particles being too small to reflect the light, as is said to be the case 
with a specimen of quartz in the cabinet of the Duchess of Gordon, but 
this is merely hypothetical. 

We have now seen that platinum, palladium, silver, plated copper, or 
iron, are suitable for the finely-divided metal, and these are to be first 
roughened, the two former with sand-paper, and the three latter with a 
little nitric acid, which is to be again cleaned oft 7 by washing. The metals 
are then to be placed in any convenient vessel with a little dilute sulphuric 
acid, to which a small quantity of nitro-muriate of platinum has been 
added ; a porous tube or paper bag, containing a piece of zinc, with more 
dilute sulphuric acid, is also to be placed in the vessel, when, as soon 
as the circuit is completed, the platinum is precipitated on the metal 
placed for its reception. The cost of this process will be best under- 
stood by mentioning that the assayers sell one ounce of the prepared 
silver for one shilling above the price which is charged for the silver 
alone. 

The zinc which is used for the battery should be the best thick rolled 
zinc, as this is far preferable to the cast zinc, and it is to be amalgamated 
with mercury aided by dilute sulphuric acid ; for the application of this 
process to the zinc of my battery will be found, unlike other batteries, not 
to require repeating. 



No. V.] APPENDIX. 167 

The form which is most suitable for the battery appears to me a 
matter of fancy rather than of importance one circumstance alone being 
requisite ; that is, if we are desirous of obtaining the greatest power with 
the utmost economy of silver, it is requisite that every portion of silver 
should be opposed to a piece of zinc, but the size of the latter, within 
moderate limits, is but of little consequence.* Thus, if we use the many- 
celled porcelain trough, it is better to surround the silver by zinc in the 
same way as the copper surrounds the zinc in the old Woollaston battery. 
If the circular form be adopted, a piece of zinc should be placed in the 
interior as well as the exterior of the cylinder, as by that means both sur- 
faces of the silver are brought into action; if the Cruikshanks be adopted, 
one surface is necessarily lost, but in this case plated copper answers 
sufficiently well, as the edges are sunk into the cement which, if exposed as 
in the other forms, are apt to have a portion of the copper dissolved, which 
is again deposited on the silver, and is liable to become oxidized and be 
detrimental to the power of the battery. The closer the zinc can con- 
veniently be 'brought to the other metal, the more favourable will it be. 

Whichsoever form is adopted, the power will depend on the series and 
size of the plates. For decomposition of water and most other purposes, 
it is better to have twelve pairs of plates and then to increase their size. 
The battery having twelve 5-inch plates, which was exhibited to the Com- 
mittee of the Society of Arts, gave off fifteen cubic inches of mixed gas in 
the first minute, and showed great calorific power by immediately burning 
stout steel music wire. 

The duration of the action of the battery will depend, like a fire, upon 
the quantity of fuel supplied to it in the first instance, for, as there is no 
local action, it follows that the solution of the zinc will be exactly propor- 
tionate to the power produced ; and for this reason, when the battery is 
required to continue in operation for a long period, as in the method 
which I detailed elsewhere for the production of electrotypes, a larger 
receptacle for acid should be employed, or a contrivance can easily be 
adopted to carry off gradually, by means of syphon tubes, the saturated 
solution of sulphate of zinc, whilst at the same time dilute acid is supplied 
from another tube. 

A galvanic battery thus constructed owes its increase of power to the 
mechanical evolution of the gas ; and as the experiments of Faraday have 
shown that the source of power in any voltaic pile is chemical action, I 
have ventured to call my form of apparatus the " Chemico-Mechanical 
Battery." 

To those versed in electrical science it may be needless to mention 
that, this form of battery simply increasing the quantity of electricity, it 
is most important that large communications and large wires should be 
used in its construction, or else the whole of the additional power might 
be lost.f 

The advantages of the Chemico-Mechanical Battery are, the cheap- 



* It is of great disadvantage to employ the zinc too small, as a simple rod to 
a large cylinder of silver. A certain quantity of zinc seems absolutely necessary 
to elfcit the full power of this arrangement. 

f This I have actually known to be the case ; the power of the battery being 
almost destroyed by the use of small wires and small connexions. 



168 APPENDIX. [No. V. 

ness in its employment, and its requiring not only less manipulation 
than any other battery, but also less cleaning. It can be put into action 
at a moment's notice, and, after having been used, can be as readily laid 
by. When in the fluid, it will be quiet till communications are made, and 
will then possess considerable power. It neither gives off poisonous fumes 
nor requires the aid of strong acids, and but one fluid is employed ; and, 
lastly, the amalgamation of the zinc does not require to be renewed. Such 
are the principal advantages of this battery, and they appear to be suffi- 
cient to entitle it to the very extensive application whieh it has met with ; 
but, in conclusion, I wish to be clearly understood that it does not possess 
the 'absolute constancy of Daniell's, or the intensity of Grove's battery. 



Smee's Battery was invented through noticing the property which 
rough surfaces possess of evolving the hydrogen, and smooth surfaces of 
favouring its adhesion. 

" Thus, whatever metal we use for our negative plate, we take care 
that it be roughened, either by a corrosive acid, as iron by sulphuric acid, 
copper and silver by nitric acid, or mechanically, by rubbing the surface 
with sand-paper. Even by these means the metals are rendered much 
more efficient; but, to take advantage of this principle to the fullest 
extent, I cover platinum with finely-divided black powder of platinum by 
galvanic means ; that is, I place the platinum as the copper is placed in a 
Daniell's battery, but, instead of employing sulphate of copper in the 
outer vessel, I use a small quantity of nitro-muriate of platinum, so that 
the finely-divided metal is thrown down on the sheet platinum previously 
roughened by sand-paper. In this way it was also placed on palladium, 
silver (roughened by nitric acid), plated copper, iron of every sort, and on 
charcoal, with the same good result ; but no other metal was found to 
answer for its reception. The metal generally employed is silver, because 
of its cheapness and its not undergoing any alteration. But whatever 
metal be used, the principle is the same, viz. the affording a surface to 
which the hydrogen shall not adhere, but from which it shall be evolved ; 
and the infinity of the points which are presented by such a surface as 
above described, appeal's to be the cause of this excellent result. The pre- 
paration of the silver is now made a separate branch of a trade, and perhaps 
it is the first application of the decomposing power of the galvanic battery 
which was publicly sold. The platinized metal can now be bought ready 
for use ; but for those who desire to perform this operation a brief descrip- 
tion is here added. 

" The metal to be prepared should be of a thickness sufficient to carry 
the current of electricity, and should be roughened, either by sand-paper, 
as in the case of platinum or palladium, or, when silver is employed, by 
brushing it over with a little strong nitric acid, so that a frosted appear- 
ance is obtained. The silver is then washed, and placed in a vessel with 
dilute sulphuric acid, to which a few drops of nitro-muriate of platinum 
are added. A porous tube is then placed in this vessel, with a few drops 
of diluted sulphuric acid ; into this the zinc is put. Contact being made, 
the platinum will in a few seconds be thrown down upon the surface of the 
silver, as a black metallic powder. The operation is now completed, and 
the platinized metal ready for use. However, iron when thus prepared is 



No. V.] APPENDIX. 169 

as effectual as silver, and may be sometimes employed with advantage. 
With this metal all that is required is to rub a little nitro-muriate of 
platinum over it, and an immediate deposit of the black powder takes 
place. Palladium and iridium are found nearly as effectual as platinum 
to coat other metals with, and the platinized silver of commerce usually 
possesses a considerable quantity of this latter metal. Within the last 
few months an idea has prevailed in the minds of some, that wire-gauze 
might be used with advantage ; but it is difficult to conceive where the 
benefit would lie, for the cost of the material would be greater, the surface 
for the same weight of metal would be less, and neither space nor power 
gained by its adoption. 

" The liquid generally adopted to excite this battery is a mixture of 
one part by measure of sulphuric acid, and seven of water, which will be 
found amply strong for all purposes. When we desire greater intensity, 
we can obtain it by the addition of a few drops of nitric acid ; but if too 
much be used, it might attack the silver. When, however, platinized 
platina is employed, the nitric acid may be used with impunity. The 
electro-metallurgist will frequently find it advisable to use dilute sulphuric 




FIG. 8. Smee's Battery, compound six cells. 

acid, only containing from ^ to the T V of the pure acid, and adding some 
acid when the first is exhausted ; taking care, however, that the quantity 
of acid never exceeds ^ of the original water, for any excess above that 
quantity will be useless, as the liquid will then become saturated with the 
sulphate of zinc. The zinc, acid, and water being severally required to 
excite the battery, it is possible to regulate them that they should all be 
exhausted at once, so that the zinc should neutralize the acid, and the 
resulting sulphate of zinc exactly saturate the water. This, however, may 
be very interesting in principle, but practically it would be impossible to 
act with such precision ; yet we must never forget this fact whenever we 
charge our batteries. 

" Numerous inquiries have been made as to what arrangement is 
best suited for this battery ; but this must depend upon the purpose 
for which it is employed. For the student's laboratory the porcelain 
trough of many cells appears to be best adapted ; and it is some- 
times so constructed, that any number of cells can be employed, 
independently of the others, as they may be required. The silver being 
the most expensive metal, the zinc should completely surround it, so that 
the whole of the silver may be brought into action. Where a battery is 
required to continue in action for a very long time, as for days or even 
weeks, a larger vessel, to contain more dilute acid, must be used : for 
electro-metallurgical purposes it has been hitherto found most economical 



170 



APPENDIX. 



[No. V. 




FIG. 9. Smee's Battery, 
for Electrotype. 



to use a vessel of a size sufficient to hold liquid to last for seven or ten days. 
The form of battery now most universally employed 
for these purposes consists of a piece of silver (s), 
on the top of which is fixed a beam of wood (w), to 
prevent contact with the silver. A binding screw 
is soldered on to the silver to connect it to any re- 
quired object. A strip of zinc (z), varying at the fancy 
of the operator from one-half to the entire width 
of the silver, is placed on each side of the wood, and 
both are held in their place by a binding screw (&), 
sufficiently wide to embrace the zincs and wood. 
These batteries vary from the size of a tumbler to 
a 10- or 12-gallon vessel. In the very extensive 
application of this battery to the arts, the little 
pieces of zinc which remain undissolved in the 
battery form an important consideration to the 
manufacturer. Some distil the mercury from them, others sell them 
to the zinc works, whilst others have never turned them to any account 
at all, waiting patiently in the hope that some more beneficial applica- 
tion of them might be discovered. These latter have hundredweights 
of odds and ends in hand which they are desirous to employ. After 
considering the matter carefully, I have to propose the following use 
for them ; in fact, I make them the positive pole of a battery, by placing 
them at the bottom of a vessel and covering them with mercury. A 
silver wire is then placed down a glass tube into the quicksilver, so 
that the wire may nowhere touch the dilute sulphuric acid with which 
the vessel is filled, but simply make a good metallic communication 
with the mercury. At the other end of the wire a binding screw may 
be attached, for the convenience of the operator. The platinized silver 
plate (s) is then to be immersed in the fluid, and placed as near to the 
mercury as possible, without actually being in contact, whilst no part 
of it should be more than three inches from it, as a considerable reduction 
of power would then ensue. This form of battery may be fairly called the 
Odds-and-Ends Battery ; and though not so philosophical an instrument 
in its construction as the form last described, yet no manufacturer should 
be without one to use up the scraps from his other 
batteries ; and I must say this instrument requires 
less trouble in its manipulation than any other 
form I have ever seen. An odds-and-ends com- 
pound battery, which will only require a binding 
screw at each end, may be made by placing the 
mercury and zinc at the bottom of a many-celled 
porcelain trough ; the platinized silver should be 
cut into suitable squares, leaving a narrow slip to 
connect it with the next cell. The strip must be 
placed in a glass tube, or covered with any non- 
conducting substance, leaving the end only to dip 
in the mercury of the next cell. A series of little 
glasses may be used instead of the many-celled trough for some purposes. 
The only objection which I have found in this form of compound battery is 
the possibility of the zinc in one cell being completely exhausted, when the 




FIG. 10. Smce'g Odds-and- 
Euds Battery. 



No. V.] APPENDIX. 171 

silver wire will begin to dissolve ; in all other respects it is a delightful 
instrument when you do not care about obtaining the maximum of power, 
and you can obtain the galvanic principle by this means at a lower cost 
than by any other way. The odds-and-ends battery is admirably adapted 
for gilding and plating, or it may be employed for any operation that 
requires much time for its performance. The charge for this battery 
might contain one-third by measure of strong sulphuric acid, as the local 
action is very trifling ; but it is found more advisable not to employ the 
solution so strong, as, when nearly exhausted, the sulphate of zinc will 
sometimes envelope the zinc and mercury, and prevent further action 
before the top part of the liquid is fully saturated. An advantage of this 
instrument is, that spelter, or raw zinc, may be used instead of manu- 
factured zinc, and that no mercury is wasted, as the whole is left after the 
solution of the zinc. 

" When we desire to employ a battery for manufacturing purposes, it 
might be as well in some cases to remove the sulphate of zinc as soon as 
formed, by means of a syphon tube passing to the bottom of the vessel, 
while fresh acid is continually supplied at the top ; but this is not generally 
necessary. For these purposes the battery should be so constructed, that 
any of the zinc plates, when worn out, can be readily replaced. There are 
many other forms which may be adopted, as the circular with the zinc 
outside ; or it may be used as a tumbler battery. 

" The characteristic of this battery is the great quantity of electricity 
produced, and its simplicity ; moreover, it requires but very little trouble 
in its manipulation. The zinc seldom demands but one amalgamation, as 
that will generally last till the metal is all dissolved. It is very important 
to use for batteries zinc as pure as possible, for by that means the chance 
of local action is materially lessened. The manufacturers of zinc plates 
have a trick which is very fatal to this metal, for they buy up the refuse 
or waste pieces which frequently contain solder, a composition of lead and 
tin, and melt them with the raw zinc. This mixture always tells its tale 
during the action of the battery, as a light spongy flocculent precipitate 
rises to the top of the liquid, which is metallic tin, and when any particle 
touches the zinc a little local battery is formed, which causes great waste 
of metal. 

" In using this battery it is important that no salt of copper, lead, or 
other base metal be dropped into the exciting fluid, as by that means the 
silver would become coated therewith ; the plain consequence being, that 
a surface of copper, instead of that of the finely-divided platinum, is 
presented to the fluid. From a want of knowledge of this fact, in some 
who have used the battery, I have seen the negative metal covered with 
copper, which, finally becoming oxidated, rendered the platinum useless. 
When this takes place, it is best removed by immersing the plate in dilute 
sulphuric acid, to which a few drops of nitro-muriate of platinum should 
be previously added ; by this process the baser metals are dissolved and 
metallic platinum thrown down. Some manufacturers prefer dipping 
the silver into a solution of this sort every week. In this battery the 
zinc is never reduced upon the negative metal, from the sulphate of 
zinc formed during the action of the battery, so long as the exciting 
fluid contains any acid at all. Other interesting matter connected with 
this subject will be detailed when treating of the reduction of zinc." 



172 APPENDIX. [No. VI. 

After explaining the difference between his battery and the two other 
batteries, he finishes thus : 

" Professor Daniell's excellent invention being distinguished by its 
constancy ; Mr. Grove's powerful battery, by its intensity ; and my own, 
by the cheapness with which the quantity of electricity may be developed, 
and by its simplicity. By some it (Smee's battery) has been too much 
extolled, by others too much blamed. Notwithstanding the mis-state- 
ments on both sides, it has fully stood the test of time, and has been 
employed by the public in a manner which I had not even hoped. The 
reason they prefer it for general and especially for manufacturing 
purposes, appears to be, that it does not require the use of porous tubes 
or of the strong acids, and that it does not give off poisonous fumes. It 
usually continues in active operation for six, eight, ten, or more days, 
when a sufficiency of acid is supplied to it. The zinc frequently demands 
but one amalgamation ; and the time required either for setting it in 
action, or for maintaining its operation, is comparatively not worth a 
thought ; and, lastly, the expense of working it is reduced to the lowest 
possible amount, being exactly proportionate to the power obtained. 

" Although theoretically it is not absolutely constant, yet practically, for 
the purposes of the electro-metallurgist, its constancy remains for two or 
three days, or, in other words, until the battery is nearly exhausted ; and 
then, to replenish the solution of zinc with a fresh supply of dilute acid 
will not occupy more than half a minute. In recording my own experience 
of its practical, though not of its absolute constancy, I can at the same 
time conjoin the testimony of some of the most extensive manufacturers in 
this country. By the practical manufacturer this instrument is re-charged 
with acid, at intervals varying from three days to a fortnight, according 
to the size of the vessel containing the acid. Whilst upon the use of the 
battery, I may state that the platinum, with proper care, never wears off 
the silver, and that the platinized silver never undergoes the slightest 
change, or is affected by the slightest local action. 

" Perhaps I may be expected to give an approximation to the relative 
cost of working the three batteries. In mine it is the cost of the zinc 
dissolved by the acid : zinc -I- acid + a local action. In Daniell's battery, 
it is zinc + acid + sulphate of copper + much local action. Each cell 
of this, to do any given amount of work, would cost about twice as much 
as mine. In Grove's battery it is zinc + acid + nitric acid reduced by 
the hydrogen + nitric acid combined with ammonia formed during the 
action of the battery + extensive waste of the zinc = about three times as 
much as mine." 



VI. 

ON THE PRODUCTION OF ELECTROTYPES. By ALFBED SMEE, 
Esq., Surgeon. (' London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and 
Journal of Science,' April 21st, 1840.) 

THE mode of taking copies of medals by the galvanic current is de- 
servedly occupying much of public attention, and each is striving to add 
his mite to the perfection of this elegant and useful process. There are 



No. VI.] APPENDIX. 173 

two or three points to which I am desirous of drawing the attention of 
your readers, as they appear to open a new and important field for investi- 
gation for which I have not the time at present. With regard to the 
precipitation of the copper, I beg leave to submit a modification of a plan 
first proposed by Mr. Mason, but I believe also contemporaneously used by 
other persons, that of making copper form the oxygen side of the battery, 
which being dissolved is again thrown down at the platina or hydrogen 
end upon the medal or cast put for its reception. 

The mode which I adopt is, first to obtain a long dish or trough, and 
then to place a wire in the inside along its bottom, which is connected to 
the zinc of one of the cells of my battery along the opposite side of the 
vessel ; a large piece of copper is placed in connection with the silver of 
the battery, and a solution of sulphate of copper is then added. By this 
arrangement the current is generated at the zinc, passes to the medal, 
reduces the copper whilst the oxygen and acid are transferred to the refuse 
copper, and dissolves a corresponding quantity of copper, and by this 
means the solution is always kept saturated with the metal. 

When medals are to be copied, they are singly placed in contact with 
the wire in connection with the zinc of the battery, and in this way many 
may be done in the same vessel, and either may be taken out and examined 
without the slightest interruption to the others. The rapidity of the 
pi'ocess may be increased without detriment by the use of two to six or 
even more cells of the battery, as the copper will still be extremely tough. 
It will be found that my battery will require not the slightest alteration, 
except once a day, when the liquid should be changed. I have tried other 
solutions of copper, such as the nitrate : but although the process is 
hastened, the metal is apt to be brittle, or have other imperfections. 

When engraved plates are to be copied, the first copy is in basso- 
rilievo, and therefore a second is required to be made which is in " inta- 
glio," and then ready for printing. Copies may even be taken of non- 
conducting substances, as woodcuts, &c., by brushing them over with 
black-lead, taking care that the copper wire is in good contact with the 
plumbago. 

The great advantages of this mode of proceeding above all others are : 
first, the quality of the copper is far better than when reduced in the usual 
way as described by Messrs. Spencer and Solly this advantage is owing 
to the use of the copper at the oxygen end as suggested by Mr. Mason ; 
secondly, all the plates or medals, for there is no limit to the number, are 
in the same vessel ; thirdly, the process may be hurried or retarded, accord- 
ing as the number of plates of the battery are increased or diminished ; 
fourthly, the plates will not require to be interfered with till the precipita- 
tion is completely finished, aud there are even many other more trifling 
advantages which it would be tedious to enumerate. 

The mode of proceeding here detailed differs but little from others 
which have been described ; but these trifling differences are so important 
in practice, that this mode will probably supersede every other. In fact, I 
have had the pleasure of seeing many most valuable copper-plates sub- 
jected to this process, and the specimen which accompanies this paper I 
believe is the first which has ever undergone the ordeal of having the large 
number of impressions, required for any publication, printed from it. Of 



174 APPENDIX. [No. VII. 

course it is a perfect facsimile, and therefore this method would be of the 
greatest importance to bankers for their notes, and is far superior to Mr. 
Perkins's apparatus for the multiplication of plates, because in that case 
they almost invariably require to be touched up afterwards, and therefore 
absolute identity is destroyed. The cost of their manufacture would be 
trifling, being merely the value of the zinc * dissolved in the battery, and 
a pound of zinc of the value of sixpence would produce a copper-plate 
weighing about two pounds ; and I trust that copper will again, from its 
beauty, take the place of steel engravings. 

So much for the precipitation of the copper : and the next thing to 
which I have to direct your attention, is a mode of making copper-plate 
engraving without an engraving in the first instance. This is done by 
drawing upon a smooth piece of copper (such as a plate used for engrav- 
ing) with any thick varnish or pigment insoluble in water, and then 
exposing the plate in the usual way to the influence of the current, when 
first copper will be thrown down upon the uncovered parts and will 
gradually grow over the drawing, and the electrotype when removed will 
be ready for printing. A practical difficulty arises in the application of 
this for the arts, as unless very thick oil paint is used, sufficient depth is 
not obtained to hold the ink. However, judging from the sharpness of 
the edges of the lines, I have but little doubt that this difficulty may be 
overcome by those who are accustomed to drawing ; and it possesses, as 
an additional advantage to its cheapness, the valuable property of not 
requiring the artist to reverse the design. An opposite effect to this may 
be produced by placing a piece of copper similarly drawn upon at the 
oxygen end of the battery, when the metal will be acted upon, leaving a 
drawing in basso-rilievo. 



No. YII. 

ON THE FERROSESQUICYANURET OF POTASSIUM. By ALFRED 
SMEE, Esq., Surgeon. (' London and Edinburgh Philosophical Maga- 
zine and Journal of Science,' September 1840.) 

THE action of chlorine upon the ferrocyanuret of potassium is a subject 
of much interest to the chemist, and has not been examined to any extent 
in this countiy. It therefore has been my endeavour to investigate this 
action carefully, and to see under what circumstances the change from the 
ferrocyanate into the ferrosesquicyanuret takes place ; and the methods 
which are here detailed to obtain this latter salt uncontaminated with 
impurities, will be found free from the difficulties and uncertainties 
attending on the present mode of preparing it. 

When a current of chlorine is passed through a solution of ferrocya- 
nate of potassa, or an aqueous solution of that gas is added to it in certain 
quantities, the persalts of iron are not precipitated. This solution has no 



* The zinc in the fluid mi<*ht be precipitated as a carbonate, for which there 
is great demand in the arts, and thereby the expense of the electrotype would 
be further diminished. 



No. VII.] APPENDIX. 175 

smell of chlorine, and is changed from a yellow colour to a dark red, and 
deposits on evaporation red crystals. A similar change takes place when 
bromine is added to the ferrocyanate, and in both cases the weight of the 
entire red mass is equal to that of the yellow ferrocyanate, plus the weight 
of the chlorine or bromine used, but minus the quantity of water which 
the yellow crystals are known to contain. This indicates, first, that the 
red crystals are anhydrous ; and, secondly, that the chlorine or bromine is 
actually absorbed by the salt. The former fact is confirmed by heating 
the red precipitate in a test tube, when no water is given off ; and the 
latter fact is also proved by the evolution of chlorine or bromine, on the 
addition of two or three drops of strong heated sulplraric acid to a few 
grains of red salt. 

When heated alcohol is added to this red mass, a small portion is dis- 
solved, which is again deposited when the spirit is evaporated. This salt 
by its characters is known to be either the bromide or the chloride of 
potassium. By this method the red ferrocyanate of potassa, which is 
insoluble in alcohol, becomes purified : but this is a troublesome and 
expensive process, as the bromide or chloride is but little soluble in the 
spirit, and therefore a large quantity must be used. 

About half an equivalent of chlorine or bromine is required to effect 
this change, and great care must be employed to prevent excess of these 
substances, as they are apt to react upon a portion of the salt. The liquid 
in this case contains Prussian blue dissolved, which materially discolours 
the salts, and it can only be precipitated from the solution by the addition 
of neutral salts, as sulphate of soda, which renders the red ferrocyanate 
impure. In a similar manner, chloride of soda, as might be expected, 
forms the red ferrocyanate of potassa. 

From the foregoing details a knowledge is obtained of the action of 
chlorine and bromine upon the ferrocyanate, for we have seen that chloride 
and bromide of potassium is formed, and that one-half an equivalent of 
these substances is necessary for this change. Now it is manifest that 
half an equivalent of potassium is removed from the ferrocyanate, so that 
the new salt, instead of consisting of iron one equivalent, potassium two 
equivalents, cyanogen three equivalents, contains iron one equivalent, 
potassium one and a-half equivalent, cyanogen three equivalents; and 
therefore it is rightly named the ferrosesquicyanuret of potassium : that 
half an equivalent of potassium has been removed from the salt, two or 
three experiments have verified. 

The acids as a class will not effect a similar change, because as they 
combine not with potassium but with potassa, water must be decomposed, 
the oxygen uniting with the metal, and the hydrogen passing to the 
ferrocyanate, forming hydroferrocyanic acid. 

A question naturally arises whether the potassium may not be removed 
from the ferrocyanuret by other processes, and we are led to try the 
action of the anions, and of these I attempted to add oxygen to the salts 
by the use of nitric acid. This acid, when added in small quantities to 
the yellow ferrocyanate, acts as the other acids by liberating hydroferro- 
cyanic acid, which is speedily decomposed into a pale bluish cyanuret of 
iron. When, however, further additions of this acid are made, the potas- 
sium takes oxygen, forms potassa, deutoxide of nitrogen is evolved, and 



176 APPENDIX. [No. VII. 

the solution becomes dark-coloured. This liquor, when neutralized with 
potassa, is found to give no precipitate with the persalts of iron, but forms 
Prussian blue with the protosalts of that metal. The rapidity of this 
change depends upon the heat of the solution, for when warm the effect 
takes place immediately, whilst, on the contrary, two or three days are 
required at a low temperature. When evaporated, a large quantity of 
nitrate of potassa is deposited ; and, lastly, some red crystals are f onned. 
When acid is more used, the ferrocyanate is totally decomposed ; the black 
mass which is the result has at first a sweet, but afterwards leaves a dis- 
agreeable metallic taste upon the palate. This process can never be used 
advantageously to form the f errosesquicyanuret, from the quantity of acid 
which is required, the degree of nicety which must be employed to effect 
the change, and the impurity of the salt when obtained. 

The next highly-oxygenated acid which we have to examine is the 
iodic : this when added to ferrocyanate of potash becomes decomposed, 
the oxygen passes to the potassium to form potassa, free iodine is evolved, 
and the potassa passes to another portion of iodic acid, and is precipitated 
as the iodate of potassa. The free iodine can be readily removed by agita- 
tion with a little ether, and in this way a tolerably pure ferrosesquicy- 
anuret of potassium can be extemporaneously obtained, for the solution 
contains but little iodate of potassa from its insolubility.* 

Chloric acid operates in the same way as iodic acid, but is more diffi- 
cult of decomposition, and it requires the action of heat before the smell 
of chlorine is exhaled and the red ferrocyanate formed. 

If chlorate of potassa be added to the ferrocyanate, and dilute sul- 
phuric acid be dropped into the solution, red ferrocyanate of potash will 
also be formed. 

Bromic acid will not act upon the ferrocyanate with the production of 
the ferrosesquicyanuret, but acts as other acids in forming Prussian blue. 
A great variety of other oxyacids have been tried, but none were 
found to part with their oxygen. 

When a large quantity of peroxide of manganese in fine powder is 
added to a solution of the ferrocyanate of potash, and the mixture digested 
for a considerable time, the ferrocyanate becomes converted into the 
ferrosesquicyanuret, and on evaporation crystals of the most beautiful 
ruby red are obtained. The salt thus procured appears to be very pure. 

If a little dilute sulphuric acid be added to the solution in conjunction 
with the peroxide of manganese, the action takes place more quickly, but 
sulphate of potassa is f ormed, which is a great disadvantage. 

The last process in which nascent oxygen contributes to the formation 
of ferrosesquicyanuret of potassium, is, perhaps, one of the most elegant, 
efficient, and simple processes in the whole range of chemistry. This 
mode I was induced to follow from the consideration, that as nascent 
oxygen effects a change of the yellow to the red ferrocyanate of potassa, a 
similar change must be produced by its being subjected to a galvanic 
current. Accordingly some solution of the salt was placed in a tube bent 



* This elegant process can be employed with advantage when a small 
quantity of the salt is suddenly wanted, as it scarcely requires a minute to 
effect. 



No. VII.] APPENDIX. 177 

like a syphon, and at the bottom a piece of tow was thrust, in order that a 
separation might so far be effected, that the solution on one side could not 
readily pass to the solution on the other. Having thus completed the 
arrangement, a galvanic circuit was passed through the fluid ; when at the 
cathode, hydrogen was evolved, and at the anode no oxygen, on the con- 
trary, was given off, but the solution became of a dark colour. The dark 
solution was found to precipitate only the protosalts of iron, and on 
evaporation deposited red crystals of the f errosesquicyanuret, but at the 
cathode potash was discovered. The rationale of this change may be 
deduced from circumstances attending slight alterations of arrangement : 
for if on the zinc side of the bent tube a saturated solution of the ferro- 
cyanate be placed, and on the platinum side distilled water, and then the 
galvanic circuit be completed, potash will appear at the platinode, and red 
ferrocyanate at the zincode. On the contrary, if the distilled water is 
placed at the zinc side and the ferrocyanate at the platinum side, potash is 
left at the platinode, whilst at the zincode no red ferrocyanate is found, 
but a substance which does not redden litmus-paper, and which speedily 
decomposes into Prussian blue : this is probably ferrocyanogen. Thus it 
appears that one equivalent of the yellow feiTOcyanate is decomposed, the 
free potash travelling one way and the hydrof errocyanic acid the other ; 
the oxygen unites with the hydrogen of the acid and sets ferrocyanogen at 
liberty ; this again unites with an equivalent of ferrocyanuret of potassium 
to form the ferrosesquicyanuret. 

Various other attempts were made to form the red ferrocyanate 
by oxygen, such as heating it with nitrate of potassa, but the mixture 
exploded at a temperature below redness. 

When a mixture of powdered ferrocyanate and peroxide of manganese 
was heated together, no ferrosesquicyanuret was formed. Several other 
oxides, as those of mercury, silver, tin, iron, &c. &c., were digested with 
ferrocyanate of potassa, but none that were tried, except the peroxide of 
manganese, formed the red ferrocyanate ; many of them were converted 
into cyanurets. 

A current of oxygen gas passed through the solution of the salt 
produces no alteration, showing that the gas must be in a nascent state 
to cause the change. 

The next substance we have to examine is phosphorus, and its action 
is somewhat remarkable ; for little or no change is effected by the addition 
of an alcoholic or etherial solution of phosphorus. When a piece of 
phosphorus is also placed in a solution of the ferrocyanate, or when 
phosphorus is heated with powdered ferrocyanate, the sesquicyanuret is 
not produced ; but if a stick of phosphorus is placed in a bottle containing 
a solution, of the salt, and only a portion of it is covered with the liquor, 
the phosphorus gradually burns away, the solution becomes sour and red, 
and ceases to precipitate the persalts of iron. This change takes place 
with a rapidity exactly proportionate to the wasting of the phosphorus ; 
for if the temperature is below 45, but little action takes place, but above 
60 the reddening is very speedily produced. The red solution is not to 
be tested with the salt of iron whilst it is acid, for in that case a copious 
greenish-white precipitate is produced of phosphate of iron ; but after it 
has been neutralized with potassa, a solution of baryta is to be added, to 

N 



178 APPENDIX. [No. VII. 

throw down the phosphate, and a drop of dilute sulphuric acid may then 
be added to remove any excess of baryta. 

The solution will now be found not to precipitate persalts of iron, 
but, on the contrary, a large quantity of Prussian blue is produced with 
the protosalts. The actual combustion of the phosphorus seems essential 
to this change ; for if the water in which phosphorus has been allowed to 
bum be added to the solution of the ferrocyanate, a similar change will 
not be produced. The cause of this change appears paradoxical, for 
phosphorus has in other instances a deoxidizing agency, so that a piece 
placed in a solution of either gold, silver, platinum, or copper, has the 
metal precipitated upon it. Perhaps it depends upon decomposition of 
water and the formation of phosphuretted hydrogen ; for a narrow bottle, 
to which air has but limited access, is more favourable to the change than 
a wide vessel. If this explanation is correct, the action of phosphorus 
must be classed with the other oxygenating substances, for oxygen, and 
not phosphorus, removes the potassium.* 

No mode of abstracting the half equivalent of potassium by sulphur 
is known ; for if half an equivalent of sulphur be heated with powdered 
ferrocyanuret, the ferrosesquicyanuret is not produced, and the alcoholic 
or terebinthine solution of sulphur, added to a solution of the ferro- 
cyanuret, also failed to produce this change. Even nascent sulphur arising 
from the decomposition of sulphuret of potash by an acid did not produce 
any effect.f 

A current of cyanogen gas passed through a solution of the salt is 
gradually absorbed, and it becomes of a very dark colour, but red ferro- 
cyanate is not formed. 

Doubtless many may be surprised that the action of iodine has not 
been adverted to before, and more especially that it should not have been 
mentioned with chlorine and bromine, as to these it has a striking analogy 
in most of its properties ; but in reality little resemblance exists between 
the action of iodine on the ferrocyanate of potassa, and that of chlorine 
and bromine, as we shall immediately see. If iodine is added to a solution 
of the salt, it speedily becomes dissolved, the solution turning to a dark 
red, and gives a blue precipitate with salts of either oxide of iron. One 
equivalent of ferrocyanate of potash dissolves about one equivalent of 
iodine, which remains in great part uncombined in solution. If the 
solution is allowed spontaneously to evaporate, the free iodine passes off, 
and a whitish uncrystallized mass is obtained which has no free iodine, 
but hydriodate of potassa in its composition. This gives a precipitate 
with both oxides of iron. Now there is a ready method of ascertaining 
how much iodine the ferrocyanate will not only dissolve, but combine 
with, and for this purpose a definite quantity of the salt is to be dissolved 
in a small quantity of water, and then placed in a phial. Upon the 
solution ether is to be poured, then the iodine is to be added gradually, 
when as soon as the ether is discoloured the saturation is known to be 
effected. Brisk and continued agitation must follow each addition of the 



* No change takes place if the phosphorus is completely under the solution 
of the salt. 

t It is foreign to this paper to describe the sulphocyanuret of potassium. 



No. VII.] APPENDIX. 179 

iodine, in order that the ether may part with any iodine previously to the 
point of saturation. When evaporated to dryness, move of the iodine is 
evolved, but still hydriodate of potash may be abstracted from the mass by 
alcohol. When all the iodine is removed from the mass, a result which is 
known by its not discolouring starch upon the addition of nitric acid, it 
still retains its power of forming Prussian blue with salts of either oxide 
of iron, and still presents the same indisposition to crystallize, for it 
neither shows itself as the yellow nor the red ferrocyanate of potash, but 
as a compound having properties intermediate with both. 

When iodide of potassium is added to the ferrosesquicyanuret, iodine 
is evolved, the solution loses its red colour, and the salt possesses the 
characters similar to the mass obtained by the action of iodine on the 
ferrocyanate of potash. Thus it is evident that if a solution of persulphate 
of iron be treated with the red ferrocyanate whilst an iodide is present, 
Prussian blue will be formed. 

Whether this is really a mixture of the ferrocyanuret and ferro- 
sesquicyanuret or a distinct compound, it is difficult to determine, but 
the latter is rendered probable from its generally presenting itself as an 
amorphous mass ; yet, however, when the purified mixture is dissolved 
two or three times in water, a dark mass is deposited, and at last crystals 
of the yellow salt are formed. 

Every method which has been discovered of converting the ferro- 
cyanate of potassa into the ferrosesquicyanuret' has now been detailed, 
and we have seen that they may each be referred to the class of anions, 
for of the cathions the powerful agency of potassium was unable to effect 
this change. 

' Upon the first formation of the ferrosesquicyanuret the colour will 
occasionally be a very dark red, but this is an adventitious, not a necessary 
property ; for when prepared by peroxide of manganese or chloride of soda, 
it does not possess this dark colour. If the red crystals be carefully 
picked and re-dissolved, in no instance is this seen, and in every case where 
the dark red exists it yields to liquor ammonias or potassse, with the pro- 
duction of a small quantity of the f errocyanate. 

The ferrosesquicyanuret, however prepared, has the same peculiar 
properties. It has been already mentioned that the protosalts are preci- 
pitated blue, whilst the persalts are not effected by this agent ; however, 
the solution in the latter case is always much darkened, and after a time 
a small quantity of dark-coloured substance is deposited. The mode of 
preparation of the ferrosesquicyanuret does not influence this result. 

With almost every acid, especially if heat be applied, Prussian blue is 
f ormed and hydrocyanic acid is given off ; and thus upon testing for minute 
quantities of metal, care must be taken to prevent any excess of acid, as in 
that case the chemist would find iron in everything he examines. With 
excess of alkali, on the contrary, no precipitate of Prussian blue is pro- 
duced ; and therefore if search be made for that most useful of all metals, 
the experiment would declare that iron had no real existence : but if the 
golden mean be employed, or the solution be but very slightly acid, the 
ferrosesquicyanuret, as well as the ferrocyanuret, become most valuable 
and delicate tests, the one for the peroxide, the other for the protoxide of 
that metal. 

N 2 



180 APPENDIX. [No. VII. 

The change by chlorine and bromine has been shown to result from 
the abstraction of the half equivalent of potassium by the formation of 
chloride or bromide of that metal, and therefore the ferrosesquicyanuret 
is impure till that is removed by alcohol. We have seen also that the 
change may be effected by the iodic, nitric, and chloric acids, but by these 
methods the salt is also contaminated to a great extent by the nitrate of 
potash, but to a much less extent with the chlorate, and scarcely at all 
with the iodate ; with phosphorus the salt in a very impure state may still 
be made. With peroxide of manganese, however, and the galvanic current, 
it may be made of absolute purity. 

This last mode will probably supersede entirely every other mode of 
preparation, as with a galvanic battery a large quantity can be readily 
made. The battery which I have used for these experiments is the 
platinized silver, which from its simplicity is so well adapted for general 
purposes, and suitable for long-continued action. 



TABLE OF DECOMPOSITIONS. 
By Chlorine and Bromine. 



1 eq. f errocyanate ) 
of potassa 

2 eq. of chlorine 



2^^ 

IPotassa 2 



= 1 eq . red ferro-(* ron 



. _ _ 
'Potassium 1. 
2 eq. chloride of potassium. 



Bromine acts in the same way. 

By the Galvanic Current. 

1 eq. ferrocyanate ) i* 1 f= 1 eq . red ferro-(* ron L 
ofpotassa . .)= yan ? en 3 C yanate . Cyanogen 3. 

(Potassium 2 ! I Potassium l 

2 eq. of oxygen. i eq. of potassa. 

i eq. of hydrogen from decomposition | eq. of hydrogen evolved. 
of water. ( 

The action of the acids, &c., has been already sufficiently adverted to. 

TABLE OF PRECIPITATES WITH THE IODO-FERROCYANATE 
OF POTASSA PURE. 



solution red, no precipitate. 

Platinum .... a little white deposit. 

Mercury, bichloride white, becoming green. 

Lead ...... white, abundant. 

Si ^ver ..... white, with a little reddish tinge. 

Bismuth .... white, afterwards yeUow. 

Zinc ...... white. 

Copper ..... dark brown. 

Iron protosalts . . Prussian blue. 

Iron persalts . . . Prussian blue. 



No. VIII.] 



APPENDIX. 



181 



TABLE OF PRECIPITATES WITH THE RED FEBEOCYANATE 
OP POTASSA. 



Gold . n 
Platina . 
Palladium 

Silver . . 

Nickel 
Copper . j 

Mercury . < 

Bismuth. . 
Tin. . , 

Iron . . < 

Antimony ! 

Manganese 
Cobalt . 
Zinc . . 
Cadmium 
Curanium 
Lead . . 
Alumina . 

Baryta . < 

Strontia . 
Lime . 



chloride . . 
chloride . . 
nitrate . . . 
nitrate . . . 
sulphate . . 
acetate . . . 
nitrate . . . 
sulphate . . 
ammoniuret . 
protonitrate . 
bichloride . . 
nitrate . . . 
protochloride 
protosulphate 
persulphate . 
potassio- 
tartrate . 
chloride 
chloride , 
sulphate 
sulphate . 
nitrate . . 
acetate . . 
acetate . . 
muriate 
nitrate . . 
nitrate . . 
muriate 



solution darker, no precipitate, 
solution darker, small crystals deposited, 
red-brown precipitate. 

deep orange. 

red brown. 

yellow brown. 

deep-greenish brown. 

at first yellow brown, then white, then green. 

none. 

pale yellow brown. 

white, gelatinous. 

Prussian blue. 

none, with iodide, potassium, Prussian blue. 

none. 

sepia. 

chocolate brown. 

buff. 

pale yellow. 

deep red brown. 

solution brownish, none. 



none, 
none. 



No. VIII. 
ELEMENTS OF ELECTRO-METALLURGY. By ALFBED SMEE. 

THE 'Elements of Electro-Metallurgy' was first issued to the public on 
the 26th December, 1840. The first edition was speedily sold off, and 
the second edition appeared at first in parts, thus : the first forty pages 
appeared on the 1st April, 1842 ; forty pages- more were ready on the 
1st May ; the third forty on the 1st July ; the succeeding forty on the 
1st August ; the fifth part, containing forty-four pages, was published 
1st September ; the sixth part, to the 236th page, on the 1st October ; the 
next forty pages on the 1st November, and the remainder on the 1st of 
December, when all the parts were published in one volume. 

During these two years (1840 to 1842) Alfred Smee had prosecuted his 
labours in this branch of knowledge to such an extent that the second 
edition of the ' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy ' bore rather the feature 
of a new treatise than of a second edition ; for the work had been doubled 
in bulk and partly re- written. 



182 APPENDIX. [No. VIII. 

The book commences with a brief but lucid exposition of galvanism, 
and then proceeds to describe the most approved batteries, concluding 
with a general view of the one invented by himself, which has been 
employed by him in all the processes of electro-metallurgy. The second 
part of Electro-Metallurgy treats of the apparatus to be employed for the 
reduction of the metals ; of the substances capable of receiving the metallic 
deposit ; and of the laws regulating the reduction of the metals. 

Although the laws which regulate the deposit of every metal appear 
to be the same, and although they are very simple, yet they cost Mr. Smee 
much labour for their development. He states them as follows : 

Law 1. The metals are invariably thrown down as a black powder, 
when the current of electricity is so strong in relation to the strength of 
the solution, that hydrogen is evolved from the negative plate of the 
decomposition cell. 

XM W 2. Every metal is thrown down in a crystalline state, when 
there is no evolution of gas from the negative plate, or no tendency 
thereto. 

Law 3. Metals are reduced in the reguline state when the quantity 
of electricity in relation to the strength of the solution is insufficient to 
cause the production of hydrogen on the negative plate in the decomposi- 
tion trough, and yet the quantity of electricity very nearly suffices to 
induce that phenomenon. For further information on the reduction of 
metals I refer the reader to the paper read before the Royal Society, 
9th of March, 1843, at page 188. 

The third part of Electro-Metallurgy treats of electro-gilding, electro- 
plating, &c. ; of coppering non-metallic substances, medallions, fruit, 
vegetables, baskets, earthenware, &c. 

In the fourth part we learn the various applications of the reduction 
of metals by galvanism : as the multiplication of coins and medals ; of 
copying seals ; of plaster casts, &c. ; of the multiplication of brasses ; of 
making dies from embossed surfaces ; of the manufacture of moulds from 
fruits, vegetables, &c. ; of the application of electro-metallurgy to sculp- 
ture and other purposes. 

Part the fifth treats of the electrotype : as the multiplication of 
type ; of plain copper-plates ; of copying engraved copper-plates ; of the 
multiplication of steel plates ; of woodcuts ; of the daguerreotype. 
The sixth and last part of this work treats of galvanic etching. 
Such is the plan of Smee's ' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy.' In 
order to show more thoroughly how and to what extent the author of this 
work contributed towai-ds the discoveries which led to the application of 
this science not only in this country but throughout the civilized world, 
I here transcribe its history as it is given in every edition of Smee's 
' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy.' 

" We have not," he says, " to extend our inquiry into remote periods 
to trace the history of the arts of working in metals by the galvanic fluid, 
for truly it may be said that this art belongs to our own time, and is a 
characteristic of the present age. Whilst, however, we pursue our investi- 
gations into the history of this subject, we find that it has had by no 
means a sudden origin : for, at different periods, various persons have, by 
degrees, worked out one fact after another, till the comprehensive science 
has been developed. Electro-Metallurgy may be said to have had its 



No. VIII.] APPENDIX. 183 

origin in the discovery of the constant battery by Professor Daniell, for in 
that instrument the copper is continually reduced upon the negative plate. 
In his first experiment, this distinguished author observed, on removing a 
piece of the reduced copper from a platina electrode, that scratches on the 
latter were copied with accuracy on the copper. In this experiment we 
have the electrotype ; but the author, in the first paper detailing his expe- 
riments, had devoted all his attention and centred all his energies to the 
construction of the battery itself, and this valuable fact attracted but 
little of his notice. 

"It was but a short time after the discovery of this battery that 
Mr. De la Rue experimented on its properties. In a paper printed in the 
' Philosophical Magazine ' for 1836, after describing a peculiar form of 
battery which he adopts, the following remarkable passage is found : 
' The copper-plate is also covered with a coating of metallic copper, which 
is continually being deposited ; and so perfect is the sheet of copper thus 
formed, that, being stripped off, it has the counterfeit of every scratch of 
the plate on which it is deposited ! ' This paper seems to have attracted 
very little attention; and, what seems still more singular, the author, 
although well qualified, from his scientific attainments, to have applied 
these facts, never thought of any practical benefit to which this experi- 
ment might lead. 

" In this state the subject remained till October 1838, when Professor 
Jacobi first announced that he could employ the reduction of copper, by 
galvanic agency, for the purposes of the arts. His process was called 
galvano-plastic. Immediately upon his discovery being announced in this 
country, in 1839, Mr. Spencer stated that he had executed some medals in 
copper, to which the public afterwards gave the name of electrotypes or 
voltatypes, or, what is better, electro-medallions." The exact value of 
these primary discoveries "is simply the idea of the application of these 
facts; but that idea has been everything for Electro-Metallurgy. The 
only apparatus which Mr. Spencer employed was, in fact, a simple 
Daniell's battery. He employed various metals for the reception of the 
precipitated metal, which, however, was nothing new ; but he does not 
seem to have succeeded with any non-conducting substances. He executed 
medals, and perhaps duplicate copper-plates ; but he does not give any 
details as to the different methods for the reduction of the copper in 
different states, neither did he succeed with the reduction of any other 
metal. However, to Mr. Spencer the British public are principally in- 
debted for the idea of the electrotype ; and perhaps the idea, as far as 
relates to its application in Great Britain, originated entirely with him- 
self. I may further notice, in order to confirm what I have already stated, 
that the galvano-plastics of Jacobi, and the electrotype of Spencer, are not 
inventions the result of inductive reasoning and laborious research, like 
Professor Wheatstone's electro-telegraph, or certain elaborate machines, 
but merely an application of a fact formerly known to Daniell, recorded 
particularly by De la Rue, and observed by hundreds of others ; that both 
Spencer and Jacobi could work only in copper, and in no other metal; 
whilst, had they prosecuted their subject as a science, they would have 
seen that the same laws regulate the reduction of all the metals. 

" Electro-Metallurgy, as first made known to the world by Jacobi and 
Spencer, was the simplest of all inventions the application of a fact 



184 APPENDIX. [No. VIII. 

known and recorded previously; and it forms another instance of an 
invention of the greatest magnitude and utility to mankind, arising from 
the most simple beginnings. 

" The next discovery, which is fully equal in value to the idea of the 
electrotype itself, was made by Mr. Murray. He found out that non- 
conducting substances might have metallic copper thrown down upon 
them by previously applying black lead. Mr. Murray's process is ex- 
tremely simple and absolutely perfect. The first application of this inven- 
tion was made in January 1840 ; but it is to be lamented that he did not 
further extend its application and publish his researches, for his method 
was communicated orally, in the conversaziones of the Royal Institution, 
and not by any paper. I lay particular stress upon the value and perfec- 
tion of plumbago, because some have denied its applicability ; and the 
reader will find, throughout the whole of the work, that I have extended 
the use of the substance, to the benefit of the public and to the fame of 
the inventor. I have made very extensive inquiries in order to ascertain 
who really first used plumbago for this purpose, and I have the testimony 
of several authorities that it was Mr. Murray, whose claim, therefore, to 
this invention is rendered quite indisputable 

" Up to April 1840, the single-cell apparatus was invariably used, but 
then Mr. Mason very ingeniously devised another mode by which the 
reduction might be effected. He used the single-cell apparatus as a 
Daniell's battery, which he connected with another cell to reduce another 
metal. In the second cell he used a copper positive electrode, which was 
dissolved during the action. By this means he made two metals by one 
pound of zinc, or, in other words, obtained two equivalents of copper for 
one of zinc. 

" In the ' London Journal ' for April 1840, as far as I know, is contained 
the first specimen of printing from an electrotype, by Newton. It is a 
small rough sketch, but as the first of the kind is peculiarly interesting. 

" The laws regulating the reduction of all metals in different states 
were first given in this work, as the result of my own discoveries. By 
these we can throw down gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, iron, 
and almost all other metals in three states ; namely, as a black powder, as 
a crystalline deposit, or as a flexible plate. These laws appear to me 
at once to raise the isolated facts known as the electrotype into a science, 
and to add electro-metallurgy as an auxiliary to the noble arts of this 
country. 

" The regulation of the power of the battery to the strength of the 
metallic solution also required an investigation of the principles which 
regulated the diffusion of the newly-formed salt, which is of great 
importance to the operator. In this work I have also appended data 
whereby the manufacturer may calculate the expense of particular 
processes before he adopts them. The formulae for ascertaining the 
work that would be performed by a galvanic battery, under different 
circumstances, cannot fail to be of great utility to the workman, if he 
rightly employ them; and the intimate rationale of the motion of 
electricity in the battery must be a subject, at least, of great interest to 
all. The principle regulating the adhesion of the reduced metal is also 
one of paramount importance in all cases where it has to be removed from 
the plates on which it is deposited. 



No. VIII.] APPENDIX. 185 

" The hundreds of experiments, I may even say the thousands, that 
have been tried to elucidate these laws (for this book is not a detail of 
experiments, but rather a digest of them), could never have been executed 
had I not first discovered my galvanic battery ; for its simplicity alone 
enabled me, without any assistance, to undergo the laborious undertaking. 
I am fully aware that some may disagree with me as to the superiority of 
my battery over all others for experimental and manufacturing purposes. 
I shall not flinch on this account from stating its advantages, especially as 
they appear to me likely to contribute to general benefit. 

" The value of the battery process over all others is its applicability 
to all cases ; moreover, when we use a single cell of the battery, the 
quantity of the zinc dissolved to do any amount of work is the same, or 
even less, than attends the use of the other apparatus, because the local 
action in a battery of this construction is less than in the single-cell 
apparatus ; and, lastly, the quality of the precipitated metal can be 
regulated with the utmost nicety ; and I have no hesitation in stating that 
the battery process is the only one that ever can be employed by the manu- 
facturer with advantage 

" The departments of electro-metallurgy comprising electro-gilding 
and plating, received great impulses from Elkington ; some of his processes 
being most admirable. As far as gilding is concerned, he was anticipated 
by Brugnatelli nearly forty years ago, for which see letter of Brugnatelli 
to Yan Mons, in the ' Phil. Mag.' for 1805, also ' Archives of Philoso- 
phical Knowledge.' The process by Brugnatelli differs in nothing from 
the one now employed, and doubtless ought to be considered as the 
introduction of electro-metallurgy, being the first instance in which any 
metal was ever reduced by galvanism for the purposes of the arts. 

" The processes for platinating, palladiating, &c., rest upon the 
authority of this work ; for hitherto the reduction of these metals, in 
any other state than that of the black powder, has been always considered 
impossible. The electro-metallurgist will be enabled, by the processes which 
he will find here fully described, to execute reliefs and intaglios in gold, 
and, in fact, in nearly every other metal ; facts altogether new in science. 
The working of all other metals, as zinc, silver, &c. &c., except copper, 
is also due to the discovery of the laws regulating the precipitation of 
the metals. 

" Every author has given directions for making moulds on plaster 
casts in metal ; but it is singular that by no process hitherto known can a 
perfect reverse plaster be obtained. In investigating the cause of this, 
I soon discovered that the extreme porosity of the plaster was the block 
over which they had all stumbled, and the difficulty was overcome by 
rendering the plaster non-absorbent. In this work the reader will find 
that the copying of reliefs in plaster is brought to the utmost possible 
perfection, and by very simple means. 

" The success of this department of my experiments has amply repaid 
me for my labours and expense ; for there is not a town in England that 
I have happened to visit, and scarcely a street of this metropolis, where 
prepared plasters are not exposed to view for the purpose of alluring 
persons to follow the delightful recreation afforded by the practice of 
electro-metallurgy . 

" The extended use of white- wax, bees'-wax, rosin, &c., for the electro- 



186 APPENDIX. [No. VIH. 

metallurgist, I trust, will be found acceptable. Their manipulation I Lave 
given as the result of my own experience, and therefore, doubtless, those 
who make a trade of working these substances will find the account not so 
full as might have been expected or wished ; yet I believe practice alone is 
required to make the operator perfect in these arts. 

" The application of electro-metallurgy to the copying of leaves, fruit, 
&c., is for the first time described in this work. 

" The new mode of etching here detailed, I confidently trust, will be 
also found a valuable adjunct to the knowledge of the engraver. The 
principle which regulates the adhesion and non-adhesion of the plates will 
enable the operator to conduct his operations with certainty a cir- 
cumstance of no small importance to the engraver, ignorance on this score 
having already produced untoward results 

" The laws which I have given in this work, and the universality of 
their application, will doubtless influence importantly the attainment of 
the grand object of using the galvanic fluid commonly among our manu- 
facturers; and having thus, as I believe, raised the isolated facts called 
the Electrotype into a vast and comprehensive science, a new name is 
required which may be suitable to its importance, and embrace its various 
applications. The term which I have ventured to apply to the science is 
Electro-Metallurgy, which comprises the principles regulating all the arts 
of working in metals by the galvanic force ; and the value of the new 
nomenclature is evident when we consider that it takes in every mode by 
which it is possible to work metals, either by dissolving or precipitating 
them, by the agency of the voltaic current." .... 

Directions for coppering fruit, vegetables, leaves, seeds, &c. from Smee's 
' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy,' page 221. 

" A pretty application of the art of coppering is suitable to horticul- 
turists, as by its means fruit, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and various other 
specimens may be coated with copper, either for ornament or for the 
purpose of illustrating the size, form, and other peculiarities of the object. 
Apples and pears may be very readily coppered ; they are to be brushed 
over with black-lead, and then a small pin is to be thrust in at the stalk : 
to this a wire should be attached, which is connected with the zinc of the 
battery. It may then be placed in the solution, and the whole arrangement 
completed by the insertion of a piece of copper, which is to be connected 
with the silver of the battery. In a similar manner cucumbers, gourds, 
potatoes, carrots, and a hundred other vegetables, seeds, and roots can be 
covered. The form, after the process, is characteristic, and marks so 
strongly the individual character of each variety, that the horticulturist 
is at no loss to distinguish the specimens at once. The condition in which 
the copper is thrown down can, of course, be varied according to the laws 
set forth in the last chapter. For ornamental purposes the crystalline 
copper is the most beautiful; but for a specimen intended to illustrate 
the form of the object, the smooth copper is best adapted. After the 
objects are completely covered, the pin is to be withdrawn, which will 
leave a little hole, and that enables the evaporating juices of the vegetable 
to pass freely out, and thus promotes the complete drying of the encased 
object. A cucumber which I coated during the past summer appears now 



No. IX.] APPENDIX. 187 

to contain scarcely anything inside the copper, and the pears, apples, &c., 
consist of little else but the metallic coat. The botanist will readily 
perceive in what way this process may be employed for his advantage. 

" The beauty of electro-coppered leaves, branches, and similar objects 
is surprising, I have a case of these specimens placed on a black ground, 
which no one would take to be productions of art. In the same room with 
them are a couple of those cases in which Ward has taught us to grow in 
this smoky metropolis some of the most interesting botanical specimens. 
In these cases are contained varieties of fairy-formed adiantums, verdant 
lycopodiums, brilliant orchidese, rigid cacti, and creeping lygodiums, all 
growing in their natural luxuriance. The electro-coppered leaves, however, 
are beautiful when placed by the side of the productions of this miniature 
paradise ; and when I state that the numerous hairs covering the leaves 
of a melostoma, and even the delicate hairs of the salvia, are all perfectly 
covered, the botanist must at once admit that these specimens have 
rather the minuteness of nature than the imperfections of art." He also 
shows how a beautiful effect of metallic surfaces may be obtained by the 
deposition of crystallized metal on baskets which, " filled with metallic 
fruit, leaves, insects, &c., might be used as ornaments for the drawing- 
room, and would greatly exceed in interest the usual appendages." 



No. IX. 
RECEIPT OF A WRITING INK made by ALFRED SMEE. 

56 NUT-GALLS to 50 gallons of water ; specific gravity 22. 

15 Ibs. copperas to 5 gallons of water. 

15 Ibs. of gum to 5 gallons of water. 

1 gallon of pyroligneous acid. 

T Ib. corrosive sublimate. 

Hot water to be poured on the gall-nuts, and this is to be allowed to 
stand about twenty-four hours. 

The infusion of galls is then to be poured off, and the gum (previously 
mixed with the five gallons of water) to be first added ; then the copperas, 
which also has been previously mixed with five gallons of water, the pyro- 
ligneous acid, and the corrosive sublimate are all to be mixed together. 
The whole to stand till the ink is dark enough for writing, when bottle off. 

The specific gravity of ink, when made, to be 35-37. 

The ink should be run through sieves four or five, or even six times, to 
make it clear. 



188 APPENDIX. [No. X. 



No. X. 

ON THE CAUSE OF THE REDUCTION OF METALS WHEN 
SOLUTIONS OF THEIR SALTS ARE SUBJECTED TO THE 
GALVANIC CURRENT. By ALFRED SMEE, Esq., F.R.S., Surgeon 
to the Bank of England, &c.* (' London, Edinburgh, and Dublin 
Philosophical Magazine, and Journal of Science,' December 1844.) 

1. AT the present time, when the new science of electro-metallurgy is 
improving and multiplying the arts of this already extensive manufactur- 
ing empire, there cannot be a subject more fit for the consideration of the 
Fellows of the Royal Society than the cause of metals being reduced when 
solutions of their salts are subjected to the voltaic circuit. 

2. The opinions of philosophers upon this point, from the period when 
electricity first lent its mighty aid to chemists, are various. Some have 
supposed that hydrogen evolved by the decomposition of water reduces the 
metals, others that the poles directly attract the metals to their surfaces, 
and lately a paper has been printed in the Transactions of this Society 
whereby a new constitution of the salts is inferred ; the acid and oxygen 
being supposed by electrolysis to pass in one direction, the metal in the 
other. The first opinion was put forward by Hisinger and Berzelius, and 
may be found in the ' Annales de Chimie,' vol. li. p. 174 : " II resulte de 
tons ces faits, que Ton a une idee fausse de la reduction operee par 
I'electricite, puis qu'on 1'attribue au degagement de 1'hydrogene, comment 
expliqueroit-on la reduction du fer et du zinc, qui ont la propriete de de- 
composer 1'eau sans I'electricite." 

A similar opinion has been advocated by Faraday in the ' Philosophical 
Transactions,' and he applied a new name to this kind of action, giving it 
the term electro-chemical action. The second hypothesis was promulgated 
by Sir Humphry Davy, who states, " that hydrogen, the alkaline sub- 
stances, the metals, and certain metallic oxides are attracted by negatively 
electrified metallic surfaces, and repelled by positively electrified metallic 
surfaces ; and contrariwise, that oxygen and acid substances are attracted 
by positively electrified metallic surfaces, and these attractive and repul- 
sive forces are sufficiently energetic to destroy or suspend the usual 
operation of chemical affinity." (Phil. Ti-ans. 1807, p. 28.) 

3. The hypothesis of the direct electrolysis of metallic salts has been 
advanced by Prof. Daniell in consequence of some ingenious experiments 
which have been detailed before this Society, and in which it is supposed 
that he directly stopped the metal in its passage to the negative pole. The 
mode in which the experiments were performed is as follows : A solution 
of the metallic salt is placed on the positive side of a diaphragm apparatus 
and a solution of potassa on the other side, when, on the circuit being com- 



* Communicated by the Author ; having been read before the Koyal Society, 
March 9, 1843, as recorded in Phil. Mag. S. 3, vol. xxiii. p. 51. This paper 
was also published in the 4th vol. of the ' Archives de 1'filectr.' in 1844 ; in 
Majocchi, 'Ann. Fis. Chim.' vol. xv. 1844; in the 'Philosophical Magazine,' 
vol. xxv. 1844 ; in the ' Proceedings of the Itoyal Society,' vol. iv. ; in the 
' Poggeud. Annal.' Ixv. 1845. 



No. X.] APPENDIX. 189 

pleted by a powerful battery, the metal is deposited on the diaphragm. 
From this experiment it has been conceived that the acid and oxygen are 
in combination, forming a proximate principle, which in sulphate of 
copper is called oxysulphion ; and the salt of copper is believed to be an 
oxysulphion of copper. When this salt is subjected to the voltaic circuit, 
he believes it to be directly electrolysed, the oxysulphion passing one way 
and the copper the other. 

4. This experiment is so much at variance with the electro-chemical 
doctrine of Dr. Faraday and the inference to be drawn from my cinder 
experiment, that on rewriting my ' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy,' I felt 
it to be my duty to examine carefully this hypothesis before I adopted or 
rejected such an important doctrine. For this purpose his experiments 
were repeated and varied in different ways ; and with alkalies on the nega- 
tive side I readily and immediately obtained the metal on the diaphragm, 
but failed when neutral salts were used on the negative side, or when solu- 
tions of gold and platinum were employed on the positive. A series of 
experiments were then instituted on the polarity of solid substances inter- 
posed between two platinum poles. I placed a series of copper wires in all 
directions and situations between the poles, in a solution of sulphate of 
copper, and found that one part of each wire became positive and was dis- 
solved, and another part of the same wire became negative and reduced the 
metal from the solution ; so that all the wires were, at different parts, either 
dissolving or increasing. I next extended my examination as to the capa- 
bilities of platinum wires to become polar, and found that a much greater 
resistance was effected in this case than when other metals were employed ; 
still, however, by particular management they were readily made to give 
off abundance of gas (' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy,' p. 53, 2nd edit.). 

5. The polarity of interposed conducting substances having been fully 
proved, I endeavoured to ascertain how far non-conducting bodies would 
take on a similar condition, but could not obtain very satisfactory proof on 
this matter. Sufficient evidence not being obtained to prove the possibility 
of interposed non-conducting substances to become polar, I determined not 
to rely on the investigation for the cause of the reduction of the metals on 
these experiments, but seek proofs from other causes. 

6. I repeated the experiments made in 1839, and communicated to the 
' Philosophical Magazine ' in 1840, from which I discovered that porous 
coke or charcoal, when arranged as the negative pole in dilute sulphuric 
acid, absorbed a large quantity of hydrogen. The mode in which I repeated 
these experiments was as follows : A piece of well-burnt charcoal or 
cinder was removed red-hot from the fire and quenched in dilute sulphuric 
acid, so that all chance of the presence of oxygen in its texture might be 
precluded. In this state it had no effect on metallic solutions. It was 
then arranged as the negative pole in dilute sulphuric acid by connecting 
it with the voltaic battery, when it became charged with hydrogen, which 
was ascertained by the circuit being completed some time before gas was 
evolved from its surface. Pieces of coke thus charged with hydrogen 
were dipped into various metallic solutions, when the metal was instantly 
deposited as a brilliant coating on the coke. The deposit of copper 
affords the most beautiful example, though the deposit of other metals, 
as of silver and gold, is also striking. Coke charged with hydrogen retains 
the property of reducing metals many days after its first saturation. 



190 APPENDIX. [No. X. 

7. The repetition of these experiments deeply impressed my mind 
that hydrogen evolved from the decomposition of water is really the 
cause of the reduction of the metals, and I pursued my experiments to test 
this idea, the first promulgated on the subject, and the one supported by 
our eminent galvanist, Dr. Faraday. 

8. The next stage of investigation consisted in inquiring as to whether 
the transfer of the metal took place uniformly and synchronously with 
this reduction. It is apparent that such a transfer is absolutely necessary 
to the theory of the direct electrolysis of the metallic salt, but let us see 
what is the result. I prepared a uniform solution of sulphate of copper, 
and placed at the bottom of a tall vessel containing it a positive copper 
pole, and at the upper part a negative pole of the same metal, forming a 
circuit by means of one or two cells of my galvanic battery. On the action 
of the voltaic force bright reguline copper at first appeared at the negative 
pole ; this was followed by a brittle, this by a sandy, this by a spongy 
deposit, this by black powder, and finally hydrogen was evolved. 

9. This most important experiment was repeated in a variety of ways 
and with various metallic salts, with the details of which there is no need 
to trouble the Society, because the experiment just described as an example 
points out in the most positive manner that the transfer of metal is not 
proportionate to the metal reduced. The positive pole indicates the same 
fact, for it became coated with metallic salt, showing beyond all source of 
fallacy that the metallic salt was directly formed at one pole and the 
metal directly reduced from another portion of the metallic solution at 
the other. In a neutral solution of any metallic salt, as that of copper, 
the acid is no more equally transferred to the positive pole than the metal 
is to the negative ; and we find in its decomposition that the positive pole 
is frequently coated with oxide of copper of considerable thickness, and 
from the liberation of an equivalent of sulphuric acid from the sulphate 
the solution speedily becomes acid. 

10. Not only in the above-described experiments have I observed this 
fact, but in the experiments of the decomposition of above one hundred 
different salts, including those of twenty distinct metals, which I performed 
for my work on 'Electro-Metallurgy,' did the results show themselves 
more or less evidently; and I may state that no electro-metallurgical 
process can be conducted without the production of these phenomena ; 
and one of the greatest, if not the very greatest difficulty which the 
electro-metallurgist has practically to contend with, is the variation 
in the strength of the metallic salts subjected to decomposition.* 



* Nov. 20, 1844. I happened to call yesterday upon that excellent practical 
electro-metallurgist, Mr. Home, of Newgate Street, and found that he was 
making an electro statue of Sir John Crosby, in a mould prepared by the 
sculptor, Mr. Samuel Nixon, from the original model also executed by him. 
Mr. Home was engaged about the leg, and he stated that he was much troubled 
by the non-uniform diffusion of the metallic salt through the solution. The 
mode in which he overcame the difficulty was very simple : he introduced a 
glass tube every now and then to the bottom of the leg and blew through it, 
which caused a proper mixture of the exhausted and saturated solutions. The 
fact was a pretty practical example of the opinions which I have been endeavour- 
ing to enforce ; it shows that the theorist may in vain attempt to bolster up 



No. X.] APPENDIX. 191 

11. In what way are the metals reduced if thy are not transferred 
from pole to pole ? A careful investigation of a solution depositing its 
metal will at once explain the phenomenon, for from the negative surface 
a colourless lighter fluid is seen to rise, which in some cases will destroy 
the electro -metallurgist's hopes, by causing grooves on the reduced metal, 
sometimes even to the extent of an inch or more in depth, and the same 
fluid at other times will cause a sandy or spongy deposit. From these 
facts it is evident that water is formed at the negative surface, and that 
hydrogen probably reduces the metallic salt. 

12. We have now as arguments in favour of the reduction of the 
metals by hydrogen gas liberated by decomposition of the water, first, the 
results obtained by the cinder experiment ; secondly, the non-transference 
of the metal ; thirdly, the imperfect transference of the acid ; fourthly, the 
rise of a light aqueous fluid from the negative pole of a metallic solution. 
We have, fifthly, besides these cases, the analogy of the reduction of nitrous 
acid in Grove's battery by hydrogen, for the removal of the gas by the acid 
gives to it its intensity ; and in this case no other mode can even be sup- 
posed by which the decomposition of the acid is effected, save and except 
its decomposition by hydrogen. The further alteration of the persalts of 
metals into protosalts favours strongly, by analogy, the same opinion. 
Such evidence is amply sufficient, but I have now to detail some direct 
experiments in which hydrogen alone reduces metals from various salts. 

13. The mode in which this satisfactory result is obtained is very 
simple. The metallic solution to be examined is placed in a glass, a test 
tube filled with the same solution is then procured, into which a slip of 
platinum, platinized as for the construction of my battery, is then placed. 
The whole is then placed within a glass of metallic solution, and a current 
of hydrogen introduced sufficient to extend half-way up the platinized 
platinum. It will be seen that the arrangement is similar to that of one 
of the tubes of Professor Grove's elegant gas battery, and the various 
results obtained by this mode of examination it will be my duty im- 
mediately to explain. 

14. If the solution employed be chloride of platinum, the hydrogen 
disappears gradually, and the black powder of platinum is coated here and 
there by a beautiful bright layer of reguline metal. 

15. With a solution of chloride of gold the same result is seen, the 
platinum being gilt with a beautiful deposit of metal. With this salt the 
action is immediate. 

16. With nitrate of palladium the hydrogen is rapidly absorbed and 
bright palladium deposited. 

17. With nitric acid and platinized platinum the hydrogen is gradually 
absorbed and the acid decomposed. 

18. A solution of sulphate of copper under similar examination yields 
a plentiful crop of small crystals of copper in a short period. 

19. A solution of persulphate of iron yields rapidly its oxygen and 
becomes converted into the protosulphate. 



crude notions, for the practical man must, to be successful, not only adopt, but 
act upon the true rationale of the phenomena. Societies may determine that 
the metals are directly electrolysed, but the practical man will find that their 
edicts will have but very little effect upon his processes. A. S. 



192 APPENDIX. [No. X. 

20. A solution of nitrate of silver yields slowly small crystals of silver, 
but the action with, this metal is not so rapid. 

21. The hydrogen was slowly absorbed when exposed to a solution of 
muriate of tin in contact with platinized platinum. 

22. Nickel was slowly deposited from the chloride, when exposed under 
similar circumstances, as a white deposit. 

23. Hydrogen, contrary to my expectations, did not appear to reduce 
iodine from iodic acid. 

24. From the solution of protosalts of iron I could not determine that 
the metal was reduced. 

25. I next subjected to experiment the extraordinary compounds of 
cyanogen forming the metallo-cyanides. From the aurocyanide of potas- 
sium I obtained metallic gold. 

26. The argento-cyanide of potassium, in a similar way, yielded slowly 
silver, the hydrogen becoming at the same time lessened. 

27. These last two results are interesting to the chemist, for it appears 
to open a path for investigation on the nature of these veiy curious and 
now highly important combinations. 

28. Such were my results with, platinized platinum and hydrogen ; the 
hydrogen becoming absorbed and the metals being reduced. It was found 
that chloride of platinum, chloride of palladium, persalts of iron, chloride 
of gold, and nitric acid yielded the oxygen most rapidly. It next became 
my endeavour to ascertain how far other metals, or different conditions 
of the same metal, might be used ; and smooth platinum was next the 
subject of experiment. "With, sulphate of copper or persalts of iron no 
absorption, however, took place. 

29. Palladinized platinum was made the subject of experiment; and 
when employed with hydrogen in a manner similar to platinized platinum 
in sulphate of copper, it caused that metal to be reduced. 

30. The effects of silver were then examined, and for that purpose a 
piece, carefully cleaned by nitric acid, was immersed in a solution of copper 
in contact with the hydrogen, but no change occurred even after many days. 

31. No better result attended the employment of silver sponge used 
for the same purpose. 

32. Nor did the black deposit of silver answer better to effect the 
absorption of the hydrogen, and the reduction of the metal from a solution 
of sulphate of copper did not occur. 

33. Copper, both in its bright and spongy states, was next examined ; 
in its bright state, cleansed by nitric acid, no change occurred. 

34. In the spongy state it appeared to be of no greater efficacy to 
cause the reduction of the metal. 

35. Considering the interest attached to carbon in the cinder experi- 
ment, detailed in a former part of this paper, a piece of carbon was exposed 
to the action of hydrogen and a solution of copper, but, singular to state, 
no deposit of copper took place, nor was any hydrogen absorbed. In fact 
I have no mechanical method of charging coke with hydrogen, by which 
it can be made to cause the reduction of the metals. 

36. The last set of experiments which I instituted upon the reduction 
of the metals by hydrogen was the value of bibulous paper to effect that 
object. In dilute chloride of gold apparently no action after two or three 
days took place. 



No. X.] APPENDIX. 193 

37. In a solution of sulphate of copper, after many days, no action 
apparently occurred with paper and hydrogen. 

38. In a solution of nitrate of silver the same negative result with 
paper occurred.* 

39. The persulphate of iron was not changed into the protosalt by the 
action of that gas in contact with paper. 

40. As a summary of results obtained on the direct reduction of the 
metals from their solutions by hydrogen, it may be stated generally, that 
platinized and palladinized platinum alone were found to be competent to 
promote that change, negative results being obtained with smooth platinum, 
smooth silver, black powder of silver, bright copper, spongy copper, cinder 
or paper. These negative results are by no means to be taken as a proof 
that under these circumstances hydrogen might not reduce the metals, 
for it is possible under certain conditions that many other substances, like 
finely-divided platinum, might possibly take on the power of assisting in 
this mysterious way the absorption of the gas. 

41. These various direct experiments of the deoxidizing agency of 
hydrogen gas are valuable to the electrician, as they point out the cause 
of some of the most interesting galvanic phenomena. To the electro- 
metallurgist they assume a much higher importance, for they point out to 
him, that in the decomposition of the metallic fluid the uniform strength 
will not be preserved by the changes taking place by virtue of the voltaic 
current. He must therefore remember in all cases to bring into play the 
attraction of gravity, not only to cause the diffusion of the newly-formed 
salt, from which the metal is to be deposited, but the acid to dissolve the 
oxide formed at the positive pole. The mode in which the metals are 
reduced may appear quite immaterial to the practical man, but he will 
find that the non-uniform diffusion of the metallic salt arising from 
the particular manner in which the reduction takes place, is the cause 
nearly of all his troubles. 

42. From all these experiments we have an overwhelming body of 
evidence, of different kinds, to support the notion of the reduction of 
metals from their solution by hydrogen. The direct reduction in the 
cinder experiment, the non-transference of the metal, the imperfect 
transference of the acid, the rise of a light aqueous fluid from the 
negative pole, the analogous case of the decomposition of nitric acid and 
persalts of iron, and finally the direct experiments of the reduction of 
gold, silver, platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, tin, and the decomposi- 
tion of the persalts of iron and nitric acid enclosed within a tube, appear 
to set the question to rest, and to point out in the clearest manner that 



* After some time the paper exhibited a black deposition of silver; the 
surface of the glass tube became encrusted with a brilliant layer of metallic 
silver. The importance of this experiment is manifest, for it shows that 
hydrogen and siliceous matter may at any time reduce metals from their 
solutions, a power doubtless in frequent operation in the bowels of the earth. 
How far metallic veins are thus deposited remains to be proved by future 
investigations. The decomposition of organic matter will always yield hydrogen, 
and hydrogen, under certain circumstances, will always reduce metals from the 
solutions of their salts. 

O 



APPENDIX. [No. XL 

hydrogen is the cause of the reduction of the metals. All the experi- 
ments which I have detailed only add confirmation to the valuable 
researches of Faraday on Electro-Chemical Decomposition, published in 
the 'Philosophical Transactions.' To the inquiring mind a question 
naturally arises as to whether the hydrogen reduces the metal directly 
from the metallic solution, or whether it reduces its oxide. The former 
opinion, from the above experiments, appears to be most worthy of credit, 
though should other facts be discovered to elucidate that action, they will 
form subjects hereafter of a separate communication to this Society. It 
follows from these interesting experiments, that when a solution of 
metallic salt is subjected to the voltaic influence, the water is decomposed, 
oxygen passing one way and hydrogen the other ; and that this hydrogen 
at the moment of decomposition on the negative plate performs the same 
part to sulphate of copper and other metallic salts that a piece of iron or 
zinc would to the same solutions. 



No. XI. 

ON THE INHALATION OF AMMONIA GAS AS A REMEDIAL 
AGENT. By ALFRED SMEE, F.R.S. (From the 'London Medical 
Gazette,' April 7th, 1843.) 

OF all the physical states in which bodies are known to exist, substances 
in the form of vapour or gas are most readily absorbed by animal mem- 
branes, producing rapid and powerful effects from very small quantities. 
As a mass, we are but little acquainted with the properties of gases upon 
the animal economy, and the little we do know is principally due to the 
persevering inquiries of Sir Humphry Davy. The rapidly deleterious 
effects of minute quantities of the vapours of hydrocyanic acid, of 
bromine, of sulphuretted hydrogen, and even of many other gases, 
exemplify well their powerful action on the animal economy. At present 
gases are almost entirely discarded as remedial agents, but doubtless there 
are numerous cases where substances may be advantageously employed 
as remedial agents in their gaseous or aeriform state. Without wasting 
time upon general remarks, let me at once call the attention of the 
profession to a simple remedy of this nature; namely, the value of 
diluted ammonia gas for stimulating the mucous membrane of the 
mouth, fauces, trachea, and bronchi. By its local administration it 
may exercise its power over the whole system, as this gas may either 
be made to have a topical or general influence, according to the extent 
of its application. 

The inhalation of so stimulating a gas as ammonia is well known to 
be, at first sight, perfectly startling to those who have never either tried it 
on their own persons or never seen it applied by others, but it is really, 
in many cases, with proper management, a simple and one of the most 
delightful remedies that can be employed. If a bottle, containing a solu- 



No. XL] APPENDIX. 195 

tion of the gas, as the common liquor ammonias or hartshorn, be opened, 
part of the gas escapes. If this comes in contact with the conjunctiva, it 
stimulates it and causes much fluid to be poured from its secreting sur- 
face, and its influence on the delicate lining membrane of the nasal cavi- 
ties is not less powerful. In fact, this vapour appears immediately to 
cause a secretion of fluid from the parts with which it comes in contact. 

When this gas is absorbed by the mouth in far larger quantities, it 
appears to cause in a similar manner an increase of the watery part of the 
secretion, usually passing from all the several parts with which it there 
can come in contact. A priori it might be expected the glottis would 
resist the intrusion of the gas, but this is by no means found to be the 
case when in a diluted state, as it apparently readily passes into the inner- 
most recesses of the lungs, and, instead of producing disagreeable effects, 
causes sensations which are extremely grateful and agreeable. The 
gaseous nature of ammonia allows it to come in contact with every chink 
of the air-passages, and even the upper and back parts of the pharynx, 
which from its peculiar construction resists the application of other 
topical remedies. 

The immediate effect of the inhalation of this gas is to cause the 
fauces and pharynx, before dry, and perhaps covered with inspissated 
adherent mucus, to force out a watery fluid to lubricate and relieve the 
membrane ; the phlegm will then separate and come away, and a more or 
less instantaneous relief is frequently felt. We all know the expectorant 
qualities of ammonia, and the value of its sesquicarbonate, whenever the 
system will bear its administration, as a general remedy, but its qualities, 
when used as a local agent, seem to be more active in this respect than 
when used as a general remedy. 

The most convenient mode of administering the ammoniacal gas is to 
use the vapour that spontaneously exhales from solutions of ammonia. Of 
these it is preferable not to employ a solution stronger than the liquor 
ammonise of the shops, or weaker than the same diluted to twenty or 
thirty times its quantity of water. For general purposes, perhaps, the 
usual liquor may be employed diluted with ten times its bulk of water; 
but the strength of the ammonia must be regulated by the medical 
practitioner according to the nature of the case, and the susceptibility 
of the patient, and even according to the strength of the original 
liquor. 

The liquor ammonise, diluted according to the discretion of the medi- 
cal attendant, may be placed in a common phial, and as much should be 
inserted as to occupy about the two lower inches of the bottle. The 
patient has only to apply his lips to the mouth of this homely contrivance, 
and draw in his breath, when he will inhale a certain quantity of the 
ammonia. Before the application of the mouth to the bottle the patient 
should take care that none of the liquid adheres to the aperture, which on 
coming in contact with his lips would cause them to smart, and, being no 
part of the cure, the pain would be perfectly useless. The number of 
inspirations to be taken at one time may be determined by the strength of 
the water and the effect of the remedy. Two, three, or four inspirations 
will in general be sufficient at one time, but this must be repeated three or 
four times during the day. 

o 2 



196 APPENDIX. [No. XI. 

A more convenient apparatus than the simple one last described may 
be readily made and advantageously employed. A bottle may be selected, 
and a cork procured, bored with two holes. Into one a piece of bent glass 
tube may be inserted, having the other end dilated for the convenience of 
applying the lips. Into the second hole of the cork a tube should be 
thrust, within half an inch of the liquid, so that when the patient inhales, 
the ammonia passing from the liquid tube, is taken into the chest, and this 
is perhaps to be preferred to drawing the breath itself through the solu- 
tion of ammonia. 

Though the last apparatus will answer the purpose more or less effi- 
ciently, I have yet to describe a far more elegant device to be employed as 
an inhaling apparatus. A two-necked bottle is procured ; into one mouth 
a tube is adapted, to serve as a mouth-piece. This tube is ground to fit 
the neck, and when not used is removed for the insertion of a common 
stopper, that the strength of the ammonia may be preserved. Into the 
neck another tube is ground, into the inside of which another stopper is 
fixed. When the inhaler is in operation, this stopper is withdrawn to 
allow the air to pass into the bottle, but when not wanted it serves to 
close the apparatus.- This inhaler is most admirably adapted for the 
desired purpose, and perhaps for gaseous inhalations cannot well be sur- 
passed. The diluted liquor ammoniae is seen at the bottom of the vessel, 
extending to within half an inch of the tube. 

The vapour inhaled from the liquor ammonise does not seem to pass 
away immediately, but may be distinctly tasted for some minutes after- 
wards, even subsequently to the commencement of its beneficial action. 
The value of the local application of this gas is seen in cases of what is 
called dryness of the throat, which appears to arise from a deficiency of 
the secretion of the liquid which normally lubricates the mucous mem- 
brane. The mucus from that cause becomes dry, and causes much uneasi- 
ness to the individual. The common and popular remedy of applying 
hartshorn and oil to the throat for various affections is probably in great 
part owing to the inhalation of the vapour of the ammonia, which ne- 
cessarily at the same time occurs, as it is impossible that this external 
application can be effected without a large quantity being imbibed at 
the same time. 

Ammonia gas is also beneficial in chronic hoarseness, especially in 
that which is often left as a sequela of influenza. This gas affords great 
relief and comfort to the relaxed, swollen, and apparently semi-cedematous 
state of the mucous membrane, which supervenes from remaining in 
crowded, overheated, and ill-ventilated rooms, where eveiy person not 
only inhales his own breath over and over again, but is under the inflic- 
tion of breathing his neighbour's also. In cases of incipient cynanche 
tonsillaris it appears to be of much value if used at the very commence- 
ment of the attack ; the slight impediment to deglutition, which is gene- 
rally the first premonitory sign, is sometimes removed by one or two 
inhalations. 

There are occasionally cases of syphilitic ulceration of the throat 
witnessed, where the patient suffers from such debility that the prac- 
titioner is afraid of applying any remedy capable of depressing the system, 
where the inhalation of the gas might probably be of great service, 



No. XL] APPENDIX. 197 

but as such a case has not occurred in my own practice for a long period 
I am unable to speak practically upon the matter.* 

In old-standing cases of asthma, especially in those in which the 
medical man considers that the internal use of the sesquicarbonate of 
ammonia is indispensable, in which the extremities are cold, the pulse 
feeble, and the general vital powers depressed, the local application of 
ammonia is particularly grateful, the patients feeling, as they describe it, 
a glow after its exhibition, and the warmth first imparted to the lungs 
extending by degrees over their whole system. 

In cases where the patient feels a peculiar sense of contraction upon 
passing into cold atmospheres, as though the lungs resisted the intrusion 
of so unpleasant an agent, the inhalation of ammonia seems to quiet the 
spasmodic action, relieve the breathing, and give a comfort to the whole 
chest, which is delightful to the feelings of the sufferer. 

Perhaps it is almost needless to notice that this remedy would be 
deleterious when either special organs or the general system are attacked 
with acute inflammation, for there is but little doubt that the ammoniacal 
vapour is a decided stimulus, first locally in those parts with which it 
comes in contact, and, secondly, on the system in general, by its absorp- 
tion into the circulation. As a stimulating agent it must obey the laws of 
stimulants generally. It should not, therefore, be employed when the part 
with which it comes in contact is inflamed, nor when a dry parched 
tongue, a full pulse, and a dry skin, denote a feverish system. In all 
chronic cases, or even occasionally with acute cases, with a feeble circula- 
tion, in fact, whenever the system is depressed, and stimulants are advi- 
sable, the inhalation of ammonia may be used with the greatest advantage 
and comfort to the patient. 

I have made inquiries of those who have to deal with large quantities 
of ammonia, and are necessarily exposed to the inconvenience of a large 
escape of gas, but cannot find that even with extensive exposure it ever 
exercises poisonous or deleterious effects, nor does Ramazzini, in his 
curious little treatise on tradesmen's diseases, notice its action. 

Not alone to the relief and cure of diseases is ammonia capable of 
lending its aid as a remedial agent, for it is an invaluable and effectual 
antidote to certain direct and powerful poisons. One of these poisons, the 
effects of which it thus counteracts, is bromine. This volatile fluid is per- 
haps one of the most deadly poisons with which we are acquainted. It 
lowers the circulation with great rapidity, and makes the action of the 
heart irregular, and unfortunately, from its volatile nature, cannot well be 
used without considerable escape. Its hurtful action on the animal 
economy is instantly counteracted by the vapour of ammonia, for when 
the two gases meet, dense white fumes are produced, when bromine pro- 
bably ceases to exert its baneful influence, or at any rate only to a much 



* The inhalation of ammonia might, perhaps, also perform the same good 
offices to syphilitic ulceration of the throat as cinnabar fumigation is known 
usually to effect. The use of the cinnabar, however, may be so much dispensed 
with by the antimonial and antimonio-ferruginous treatment which I have 
recorded (' Med. Gaz.'), that the ammonia has not been used in any of these 
cases ; but should further information be obtained upon this point, it will be the 
subject of a future communication. 



198 APPENDIX. [No. XI. 

less extent.*. I have known persons nearly poisoned by incautiously using 
this substance, and who have been quite at a loss to know how to proceed 
to neutralize its action. Those who have to deal with bromine would do 
well to have an open vessel of the liquor ammonise by their side, which is 
in general quite sufficient to prevent any unpleasant consequence, by com- 
bining with any bromine which may pass off in vapour. 

Ammonia is also useful when prussic acid is floating in the atmo- 
sphere of a room, as in this case it not only neutralizes the acid, but its 
stimulating properties are directly opposite to the depressing action of 
the acid. 

As all bodies in burning give off ammonia, a consideration arises as to 
whether some of the effects of smoking may not be attributed to that 
agent independently of the active principles that substances used for 
smoking are known to contain. The possibility of such a thing has been 
suggested to me, but it is quite certain that only a small portion of the 
effects of smoking can be attributed to the ammonia. The presence of 
ammonia in a burning cigar may be shown by collecting its vapour in a 
bottle containing a few drops of muriatic acid, when abundance of fumes 
arise. If liquor potassse be added, the ammonia is again set free, and will 
again exhibit the white fumes if brought near muriatic acid. 

There is an interesting physiological fact connected with the inhala- 
tion of ammonia, for in determining the lungs to increase their aqueous 
exhalation, it frequently at the same time causes a similar action on the 
skin by the exhalation of moisture from its entire surface. For the last 
two or three years I have occasionally been in the habit of inhaling 
ammonia as a luxury during the prevalence of the easterly winds, which 
by their action so dreadfully dry up and parch all living creatures. 

The application of ammoniacal vapour, in the manner which has been 
already pointed out, is rather an agent of comfort, removing slight ail- 
ments and troublesome affections, than a remedy which is capable of 
saving life from violent diseases, except indeed when used as an antidote 
to certain poisons. Still, however, there is no complaint, however trifling, 
no system, however unimportant (if attended with discomfort and incon- 
venience to mankind), that it is not the duty of the medical man to endea- 
vour to relieve or remove. 



* The production of these white fumes by the admixture of these two gases 
is interesting, and, so far as I know, has not been noticed by chemists, though 
I have myself long been in the habit of applying ammonia to distinguish between 
the fumes of bromine, iodine, and chlorine, the two latter elements having 
apparently not the same influence when brought into conjunction with ammonia. 
These white fumes are liable to be confounded with muriate of ammonia, if 
muriatic acid is present. 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 199 

No. XII. 

ANALYSIS OF ALFRED SMEE'S SECOND BOOK, 'THE 
SOURCES OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE; OR, AN INTRODUCTION TO 
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH PHYSICS, COMPRISING THE 
CONNECTION OF THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE, 
THEIR DEPENDENCIES ON THE SAME LAWS,' &c. From a Review. 
Together with the two concluding chapters of "The Sources of 
Physical Science,' which treat of the " Relation of the Material to 
the Immaterial." 

MR. SMEE tells us in his preface that it had long been " a favourite 
subject with him to endeavour to investigate the physical structure of man, 
and to endeavour to unravel the mysterious means by which all physical 
forces, when acting on the human frame, are converted into nervous 
impressions. To conduct such an inquiry, it became necessary to examine 
the sources from which the several departments of research, constituting 
physical science, have their origin." 

For this purpose he intended to draw up a sketch of physical science, 
which might be prefixed to his physiological inquiries, in the form of an 
introductory chapter; but the length, to which this chapter extended 
induced him to publish it as a separate volume. 

The work, then, contains a condensed view of the physical sciences, 
exhibiting the nature and mutual relations of the various divisions of 
those sciences, and attempting to show the real nature of those forces, 
such as electricity, magnetism, &c., by which matter is commonly said to 
be acted upon, and which have often been treated as so many independent 
existences by various philosophers. 

The first chapter treats of matter, number, and attraction ; and first, 
what is matter ? how is it comprehended ? 

" Man," says Mr. Smee, " being composed of the material and the 
immaterial, of body and soul, can have no distinct idea of anything not 
partaking of his own constitution. He can form no conception of matter 
without that which gives it properties, nor can he understand that which 

gives it properties without the matter That which men call 

matter is known by its properties ; so that the term matter is given to 

anything which exerts these peculiar properties All the properties 

or influences of matter are dependent on an ultimate property, which 
confers a power whereby two particles or portions of matter are drawn 
towards each other by a force exerted in a particular direction." 

But it may be said that it is necessary to prove that matter really 
exists that what we call the effects and properties of matter are something 
more than the results of a visionary dynamis. 

" Ingenious persons," says our author, " speculating upon the pro- 
perties of matter independently of the thing itself, have persuaded them- 
selves, with some show of reason, that matter has no existence. Their 
minds have, however, been led astray by their mode of arriving at their 
conclusions. They have not commenced with a, sound definition of what 
we designate matter. Defining matter to be thatyuhich attracts, and allowing 
attraction to be its test, obviates all difficulty." P. 3. 



200 APPENDIX. [No. XH. 

Having next spoken of the origin, meaning, and right use of those 
terms which denote the abstract properties of matter, and having treated 
of the nature of matter, with a glance at the question whether it comprises 
one element only under a diversity of forms, or whether there really are 
as many elements as there are bodies yet undecompounded by the skill of 
the chemist, he then treats of number, that is to say, the abstract idea of 
a series of particles ; and thus, in the first chapter, he has considered the 
three points which he assumes as fundamentals that is to say, matter, 
attraction, and number from which all physical forces and conditions of 
existence are derived. 

In the second chapter Mr. Smee treats of the " science of matter under 
attraction," and he proceeds to show that the power of attraction (which 
has been described as the primitive property of matter and the test of its 
existence) being exerted, with various degrees of energy upon various numbers 
of atoms, and in various directions, gives to masses of matter all the properties 
which they apparently possess. "We may observe, en passant, that Mr. Smee 
gives no credence to the existence of any of the so-called imponderable 
substances. He treats the idea of the separate existence of heat, light, 
electricity, magnetism, &c., as a palpable absurdity, and contends that 
each of these terms merely refers to one class of actions or effects produced 
by the attraction of matter exerted in various manners. 

In discussing the science of matter under attraction, one of the first 
points to be noticed is the manner of estimating the force with which any 
two particles of matter are attracted together, and of comparing that with 
the force of other attractions. On this point, observes our author 

" As we have not the power of appreciating the units, or atoms of 
matter, we have not the means of obtaining a perfect unit of the force 
of attraction. The only absolute unit of this power would be the force 
of attraction exerted between two ultimate particles of matter, a unit 
which we can never hope to obtain. 

" As we have not the power of using the primitive atoms of matter, 
we take a given mass, and assume that to be a unit. The force exerted 
between this maes and the whole bulk of the earth at the level of the sea 
is then obtained. This is assumed as a unit of force which is called a 
unit of weight, and to which all other weights are referred." P. 22. 

" In our artificial standards of weight the unit is the grain, which is 
the force of attraction of a cubic inch of water to the earth at the tempera- 
ture 62, barometer 30, divided by 252'5 It has been recommended, 

and perhaps is preferable, to take any piece of matter and assume its 
weight as an arbitrary standard, for philosophers disagree as to the 
true weight of a cubic inch of water, or indeed of any other body. The 
utmost limit to human ingenuity in weighing is about l-10000th part of 
our comparative unit of weight, or grain ; but in this quantity so many 
circumstances lead to error as to render the result very unsatisfactory. 
The finger held over a scale, which by its warmth causes currents which 
exert a force contrary to that of the earth, will materially influence the 
result in very small weights. 1 have tried this experiment with an excel- 
lent pair of scales, made for the Bank of England by Mr. Bate, and found 
a most sensible disturbance of the equilibrium of the balance when the 
finger was held half an inch above one of the scale-pans." P. 24. 

The next point which Mr. Smee adverts to is the fact that the force of 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 201 

attraction is always exerted in a peculiar direction, a series of which 
attractions constitutes polarity ; and " this peculiarity in the direction of 
the force, whereby attraction is exerted, is of fundamental importance, for 
it enables us to oppose one attraction by another. This opposition of 
attraction enables us to effect decomposition, disintegration, and to give 
rise to the phenomena of heat, light, sound, &c., at will." 

The author now proceeds to examine seriatim the various properties 
of matter, and to show how they are derived from simple attraction ; and 
the first of those which he touches upon is what is called impenetrability, 
which literally means that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the 
same time. This he explains thus : 

" The reason why impenetrability is conferred on matter by the act 
of attraction is perfectly evident, if the mode of the generation of attraction 
be carefully examined. The attraction being exerted in a certain direction, 
one particle of matter, although capable of being attracted so as to adhere 
firmly to a second portion, would, if the second passed into the first, 
instantly be destroyed, because the direction of attraction exerted in one 
atom would oppose, neutralize, or counterbalance the attraction in the 
other. The attraction, therefore, between two atoms is most violent at 
contact, but ceases upon one having a tendency to pass into the other. 
The above observations will be rendered perfectly intelligible by the 
following notation : 

NP NP 

o o 

"If the two O O represent the two atoms, and the NP NP the ends of 
the forces with which they are held together, then the very moment one 
atom had a tendency to pass into the other, the two ' N ' or the two ' P ' 
would oppose each other ; upon that account the two particles would be 
firmly attracted till they came in contact, but no further." P. 26. 

Having briefly alluded to shape, he next comes to the volume of bodies, 
which he shows to be far from an inherent fixed property, but merely to 
depend on the energy with which attraction is exerted. " We have no 
proof that matter possesses any absolute volume, for, under different cir- 
cumstances, the same number of particles exhibits very various volumes." 

" Yolume, from the above consideration, seems rather a negative than 
a positive quality. It is the absence, or the comparative absence, of 
attraction ; for as the force increases, the volume diminishes. The advan- 
tages of thus viewing the nature of volume are multifold. It does not 
require the creation of ' repulsion ' to separate particles attracted together, 
and it overcomes numerous difficulties which arise from the assumption of 
a certain size to the ultimate particles of matter. From this view, which 
is forced upon us from multitudinous evidence, one atom of matter, if 
alone, and unacted upon by any other atom, would fill the universe." 
P. 28. 

He next speaks of the science by which size and measure are estimated. 
The following observations, on the impossibility of finding a standard unit 
of measure, are interesting enough : 

" But as our organs of sense cannot appreciate the ultimate particles 
of matter, we never can arrive at, or obtain, an absolute standard of size ; 
on this account we are compelled to take a certain piece of matter under 



202 APPENDIX. [No. XII. 

definite conditions of attraction as unity, and by multiplying or sub- 
multiplying it we obtain all other measures proportionate to that unit. 
The Legislature formerly thought fit to take three barleycorns from the 
middle of the ear, from which they formed a measure called an inch. Of 
course a unit derived from anything so uncertain as three barleycorns is 
most unsatisfactory, for every measure thus made would doubtless vary. 

" The greatest anxiety has been felt by all nations to find some unit of 
length to which at any time posterity might be enabled to refer all future 
measures, but we have already seen that philosophers have been attempting 
an impossibility. The French have taken that quadrant of the meridian 
which passes through Fontenara and Greenwich, the middle of which is in 
the 45th degree of latitude. This measure they have divided into ten 
million parts, each part of which they constitute a comparative unit. In 
assuming this measure, it is perfectly impossible exactly to obtain the 
greater measure to divide, and even, in fact, we do not know whether the 
earth, in a series of ages, may not slightly alter in form. The English 
have assumed the length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in a particular 
latitude as a unit of measure, but that assumption is highly objectionable, 
because it infers the existence of something absolute in time, which is not 
the fact. It, moreover, first requires us to ascertain or determine the 
duration of a second, which will be as difficult for posterity as the determi- 
nation of a measure for length. The length of the pendulum vibrating 
seconds appears to vary not only in the same latitude, but even slightly, 
from some unknown causes, in nearly the same spot ; and, moreover, no 
two pendulums, of as nearly the same length as human ingenuity can form 
them, will vibrate in exactly the same time. The best mode of making 
and maintaining a new standard of measure for this country has lately 
occupied the attention of the Government and philosophers, in consequence 
of the former standards having been destroyed by fire in the Houses of 
Parliament. Although three or four sets of these standards were then 
made with the utmost human skill, philosophers cannot determine that 
these duplicates are exactly similar to those destroyed. This forms an 
excellent practical proof, not only of the impossibility of possessing an 
absolute standard, but also the impracticability of using it if we obtained 
it ; because, as we are unable to weigh below l-10000th of a grain, so we 
are incompetent to measure below a certain amount. Probably, in 
measuring, we can obtain rough results to the 1 -1000000th of an inch ; but 
as the measures decrease in length, so the errors increase, as all measure- 
ments must only be regarded as rough comparative approximations to truth. 

"Under these circumstances, we find that our standards are purely 
arbitrary, and, therefore, the best mode that can be adopted is, to take 
any arbitrary length, which should be as near the inch now adopted as 
possible. This measure we should constitute our arbitrary unit, or inch, 
to which all other measures should be referred. Several copies, that is, as 
near as human ingenuity and skill can make copies, should then be formed, 
and deposited in various places of security for reference. This artificial 
unit, moreover, should be compared by different observers, and by different 
iuBtruments, with all the most fixed things in the material world, so that 
if, by any accident, the primitive artificial standard was lost, posterity 
might be enabled to compare their measures with ours ; and though, 
doubtless, they would never be able to obtain the exact relative size of our 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 203 

standard, yet they would be able, for all practical purposes, to have ample 
knowledge of our measures. All other measures would be obtained either 
by multiplying the inch, or expressing the relation in fractional parts of 
it." P. 34. 

Referring to the same point, he observes further on : 

" Our standard inch is no longer of the same length, and therefore not 
an inch if the temperature varies ever so little from that point at which 
the standard was assumed ; but let the temperature vary ever so much, the 
number of particles cannot be multiplied or diminished, it is only the size 
that varies. In conducting the ordnance survey of England, the measures 
were obliged to be most carefully adjusted for temperature or variation in 
the thermometer. So also in adjusting the standard bushel, the difficulty 
was found to be extreme, for it was found that the heat caused by a human 
body coming near so large a bulk caused a sensible alteration in its exact 
size." P. 39. 

Having then spoken of the abstract ideas of length, breadth, cube, and 
other geometrical properties of matter, he passes on to cohesion a state in 
which a number of particles of the same kind of matter are attracted 
together into a mass. 

" Bodies," he observes, " in a state of cohesion resist the action of 
other bodies presented to them to an extent proportionate to that cohesion. 
Lead, in an extremely divided state, burns vividly upon simple exposure to 
atmospheric air, whilst the same metal in a state of cohesion, or in a rolled 
malleable state, undergoes but little change from long exposure. Spongy 
platinum, and other metals in a finely-divided state, also have very different 
properties from the same metals in a state of cohesion. There is no more 
curious instance of the effects of cohesion than in the varieties of coke ; 
for when tinder, the slightest spark will inflame it; when soft coke, it 
readily burns; when hard coke, it can scarcely be made to ignite; but 
when a diamond, it requires a skilful chemist to inflame." P. 44. 

The threefold state in which bodies may exist solid, liquid, or 
gaseous ; the various properties depending on the degree of attraction 
such as hardness, softness, &c., are next spoken of in order ; and the author 
having brought before our notice that attraction exerted between particles 
of dissimilar matter known as chemical affinity, the remainder of the 
chapter is occupied with the subjects of atomic weight, heterogeneous and 
capillary adhesion, endosmosis, the attractions of gravitation and magne- 
tism all of which topics are set forth in an equally novel, clear, and simple 
manner. But we must hasten onwards from these to the third chapter, on 
the sciences of the disturbance of attraction including electricity, mechanics, 
hydrostatics, and pneumatics. 

"We have shown the mode in which attraction gives quality by 
chemical affinity ; quantity, by the union of many atoms ; form, by the 
mode in which the particles are united; size, by the intensity of the 
attractive force ; and, lastly, position of masses by gravitation." P. 70. 

And we now have to see how these attractions may be disturbed or 
destroyed by other attractions, acting in an opposite direction. 

In the study of the disturbance of attractions, he begins with con- 
sidering the effects produced on a compound consisting of two elements, 
when a third body is presented to it, which abstracts and combines with 
one element, setting the other free. 



204 APPENDIX. 

Such a circle of atoms is called a voltaic circuit, and the apparatus in 
which the action is performed, a voltaic battery. 

The decomposable substance, which forma the basis of the battery, is 
called an electrolyte ; and the substance which decomposes it, by exerting a 
strong attraction on one of its elements, is called the positive element of the 
battery. The simplest idea of a voltaic circuit is presented by a particle of 
water and a particle of zinc; in which the zinc presenting an attraction 
for oxygen in the reverse direction to that of the hydrogen, the former 
unites with the metal, the latter is given off. But 

" Had we no means of increasing the length of the interval between 
the abstraction of one element of the electrolyte, by the new attraction 
exerted between it and the positive pole and the evolution of the second 
element, voltaic batteries would be but of little advantage. But we have 
the power of increasing this interval indefinitely ; sometimes miles inter- 
vene between those two points. 

" The mode in which we increase this interval depends upon the power 
of the new attraction exerted between the zinc and oxygen of the water, to 
propagate the tendency to the destruction of the old attractions of 
hydrogen and oxygen through a series of particles of fluid. A second 
point is then placed, at which the hydrogen, or second element, may be 
evolved. This second point is the negative element." P. 75. 

We thus see that the positive pole or element is the source of all the 
phenomena manifested in the voltaic circuit. The degree of their energy 
is the degree of chemical attraction exerted between that positive pole and 
one element of the electrolyte. Whatever can be an obstacle to chemical 
affinity can also be an obstacle to voltaic action. 

These obstacles may be briefly stated thus : 

First, there is the previous attraction existing between the two 
elements of the electrolyte to be overcome. The best way of countervail- 
ing this seems to be (supposing water the electrolyte as it generally is), to 
place at the negative pole some substance, holding oxygen in a loose state 
of combination, with which the hydrogen may combine at the moment 
of its liberation; so that the hydrogen, finding a new affinity exerted 
towards it, may be more ready to relinquish its oxygen to the zinc. This 
is the theory of Professor Daniell's battery, in which sulphate of copper is 
placed at the negative pole, and is reduced by the nascent hydrogen, and 
of Mr. Grove's, in which the same purpose is effected by nitric acid. 

A second and third obstacle are offered by the force with which the 
particles of fluid are kept in their situation, and by the force with which 
the particles of metal cohere. 

A fourth is frequently presented by the formation of a new compound 
at the positive pole (sulphate of zinc), which prevents the zinc from coming 
into contact with the electrolyte. 

Hence it is evident that the measure of the intensity of the voltaic 
circuit is equal to the excess of the attraction of the positive pole for one 
element of the electrolyte, over the force exerted by these impediments. 

Mr. Smee next speaks of the compound voltaic battery disposes very 
summarily of that theory which attributes the production of electrical 
effects to the contact of metals, and mentions the mode in which the 
voltaic force effects the decomposition of binary compounds in a state of 
solution ; and then treats at some length of tension, that is to say, " a desire 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 205 

for action ungratified " a force contending with obstacles, ready to act, 
but not actually in action. 

The effects of tension may arise from a variety of causes, since it is 
always produced when a new attraction is offered, which is counteracted by 
a previously existing one. The electrical machine is the instrument by 
which the greatest amount of tension is procurable. 

" The electrical tension generated by the machine arises from friction. 
Friction, we shall hereafter show, is the result of force force- of some new 
attractions. Friction, therefore, being derived primarily from attraction, 
may counterbalance other attractions. In the electrifying machine and all 
its analogues, where friction is exerted, there must be more or less ten- 
dency to the destruction of the attractions. This tendency may be called 
the desire for action, which is opposed by the attraction of cohesion ; this 
desire for action is the tension." P. 20. 

The theory of the electrical machine, and the phenomena commonly 
said to arise from induction of electricity, having been disposed of, our 
author passes to a stupendous chain of phenomena, depending on the same 
principle, of which we extract his explanation at some length : 

" Having considered galvanic tension and frictional tension, we have 
next to describe lightning tension. The tension in this case is evidenced 
between the surface of the earth on the one hand, and a cloud on the other, 
the air being the imperfect conductor, at the surfaces of which the ends 
of the tension are manifested; that is, one surface is positive, and the 
other negative. The attraction which is the source of the tension, perhaps 
present facts have hardly sufficiently proved. Still, when we perceive that 
a rapid formation of clouds, of rain, and even hail, always accompanies 
the phenomena, we shall not probably much err in attributing the effects 
to the sudden attraction of aqueotis vapour into cloud, rain, or hail. This 
new attraction, acting upon the air as a non-conductor, causes a polarity 
of that air, which is communicated between the surface of the cloud on the 
one hand, and that of the earth on the other. Such a mode of the forma- 
tion of a thunder-cloud agrees well with the natural phenomena. It is 
apparent, from such a cause, that the entire surface of the cloud on the one 
hand, and the surface of the earth opposed to it on the other, would be in a 
state of high tension a result which is in perfect accordance with the fact. 

" The electrical power capable of being exerted between the cloud and 
the earth is enormous. The intensity is so great, that it is capable of 
passing through a thousand feet, or more, of air during the discharge. 
The quantity is equally vast ; for the cloud and tension may be exerted 
over very many square miles, occasionally even for 100 square miles. The 
electrical effects being equal to the intensity (1000 feet of air) multiplied 
by the quantity (100 square miles), will produce a result which, when com- 
pared with the power of an enormous Ley den jar, the intensity of which 
(half -inch air) is multiplied by 100 square feet, shows so wide a difference 
that a comparison can scarcely be made. This difference, while it shows 
to the presumptuous philosopher the vanity and impossibility of attempting 
to produce this great phenomenon of nature, yet it amply demonstrates to 
those who undervalue scientific investigation how, by paying attention to 
minute experiments in the laboratory, the operations of nature may be 
explained and comprehended. The lightning- cloud almost invariably 
appears when rain follows long-continued easterly winds, which render 



206 APPENDIX. [No. XII. 

the air and earth exceedingly dry; but occasionally the lightning-cloud 
is formed when the surface of the earth is saturated with wet, and the 
air highly hygrometric. In this latter case, a dense cloud is generally seen 
to form in the atmosphere without any apparent cause ; with the utmost 
rapidity, and within a few minutes, and sometimes within a few seconds 
of its appearance, hail, rain, and lightning follow. 

" The lightning-cloud sometimes expands itself nearly at the place 
where it is first formed ; and in this case, perhaps, the cloud and earth are 
in an uniformly opposite state, which would have the effect, by virtue of 
the attraction of oppositely electrified surfaces, of causing the cloud to be 
retained in its position. Sometimes, however, without any wind, the cloud 
takes a rapid travelling fit, crossing England in a few minutes, and paying 
our French neighbours a visit, as we find by the account in the papers 
the next day, striking and carrying devastation in its progress. Some- 
times the cloud will travel away for two or three hours, and then travel 
back; sometimes it will take a circular motion, and, in fact, the freaks 
which a travelling cloud will pay are innumerable. The travelling cloud 
may possibly owe its properties to an unequal tension at different parts ; 
for if one end of the cloud, or the entire cloud, had an attraction to the 
earth under this end, and in advance of it, the cloud would be drawn 
towards that part ; but as there is a force which resists its direct down- 
ward attraction to the earth, it moves in the diagonal of the force tending 
to raise the cloud, and the force drawing all the cloud to one point, when 
a motion more or less rapid must be the result. In this case we must 
suppose that the earth under one end of the cloud as it advances imme- 
diately assumes a violent tension." P. 102. 

The subjects next considered are the effects of the tensive electricity 
exhibited by the thermo-electric and magneto-electric apparatus, and by 
the hydro-electric apparatus, in which the force is generated apparently 
by the friction of steam, a gigantic specimen of which is exhibited at the 
Royal Polytechnic Institution. The remainder of the chapter is devoted to 
dynamics force, its origin, and various modes of adaptation to the wants 
of mankind. But this we pass over, in order to arrive at Chapter IV., on 
the sciences of actions and reactions. 

Action is the exertion of new attractions ; reaction, the tendency to 
the maintenance of old ones. When these two forces are nearly balanced, 
vibrations ensue. Here let us show our author's idea of the nature of time, 
and its essential dependence on matter. He observes, first of all, how 
fortunate it is for the economy of the world that attractions meet with 
opposition. 

" Former attractions act as an impediment to the exertions of the new 
ones ; the energy of the desire for combustion, of carbon for oxygen in our 
fires, is held at bay by the former attraction of the particles of coal, which 
is gradually and progressively overcome. Our fires, therefore, burn 
regularly and steadily, our candles with slowness and precision, and all 
other actions, even to the railway engine, take place with an energy pro- 
portionate to the resistance of the new action which causes the effect. 

" The energy with which a new attraction overcomes an old one is 
called the time of its performance ; and, conversely, the energy of the 
resistance to a new action by an old one is called the time at the attempt 
of performance. Time, therefore, is the abstract idea of the energy of an 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 207 

action and reaction. Time is, therefore, a strictly material property. 
Without matter we could not have time, and even with matter the pheno- 
menon of time requires for its manifestation some new attraction to over- 
come an old one. The tendency of the action of the new attraction to 
overcome the old one is called the commencement of a unit of time ; the 
actual performance of the new attraction, after the destruction of the old 
one, or the actual resistance of the new attraction by the old one, is called 
the termination of a unit of time. The absolute performance or resistance 
of a new action that is, its commencement and termination constitutes 
an event, and, according to the energy of this event, it is said to be of 
shorter or longer duration." P. 161. 

Having thus shown time to be a material property, its abstract idea to 
be that of resistance to an action, and having treated of the instruments 
for its measurement, he next reviews the effects produced by matter when 
under the influence of conflicting forces. 

" Having seen the conditions of matter in a quiet state, we have next 
to examine its properties when in commotion ; and the sciences of commo- 
tion, or rather of actions and reactions, which now fall under our notice, 
are respectively those of heat, light, sound, and scent. All these terms 
are abstract ideas of material actions and reactions, and there is no 
imponderable or essence in either heat, light, sound, or scent, to which 
matter owes its power of being hot, illuminated, noisy, or odoriferous." 
P. 172. 

The first of these sciences is that of heat, which he believes to consist 
in a peculiar vibrating condition of bodies, caused by the conflict of new 
attractions seeking to overcome former ones. 

" We find, if we take a review of all sources of heat, the phenomenon 
is owing to some new attraction acting on a body, the particles of which 
are held together by former attractions. A hot body is, therefore, a body 
whose attractions are interfered with by other attractions, and heat is the 
abstract term of this disturbance of attractions in a particular manner." 
P. 173. 

The sources of heat next come under consideration : and, firstly, those 
of the heat exhibited during electrical phenomena ; then a much more 
familiar and important source. 

" The next source of heat after that derived from new attractions 
producing electrical forces, is that derived from the attraction of chemical 
affinity. The phenomenon of heat is not manifested by the chemical union 
of any two bodies, if the combination takes place without being impeded 
by the other attractions, or if the other attractions are quietly destroyed. 
If the combination takes place with great energy, however, the rapid ten- 
dency to the destruction of attractions, reacting against the desire for 
maintaining them, gives rise again to the phenomenon called heat. In the 
combustion of coals, the rapid desire for the particles of coal to unite with 
the oxygen of the air, acting upon the desire of the particles to maintain 
their old attraction of cohesion, causes that heat to be manifested which so 
comforts and cheers us in our dreary winter's night." P. 176. 

After describing the other sources of heat, and treating of its pro- 
perties and conduction, &c., which are clearly and minutely detailed, he 
passes to light and sound, which, like heat, depend on certain classes of 
vibrations, perceptible by certain of our organs of sense. Odour he supposes 



208 APPENDIX. [No. XII. 

(but does not actually affirm) to depend, in all probability, on a like cause, 
rather than on an emission of corporeal particles. 

He shows that an infinite number of these interesting, sense-affecting 
actions may be going on in the universe continually, which our organs are 
not fitted to recognize. We cannot discern the sights and smells which 
are at once perceptible to the dog or hawk ; and no doubt there is an 
unseen world, of countless sights and sounds, hidden from us, but revealed 
to higher intelligences. Thus the teaching of philosophy is that also of 
religion. 

Thus we can understand how the seer, " falling into a trance, and 
having his eyes opened," could discern the horses and chariots of fire en- 
camped about the tents of the righteous ; how the harmonious movements 
of the universe may be attended with music, inaudible to mortal ears, since 
the time when the foundations of the earth were laid ; " when the morning 
stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." 

If we may recapitulate, we may observe that he commences with three 
fundamentals matter attraction, the test of matter and number ; parti- 
cles of matter being attracted together give rise to forni, volume, cohesion, 
adhesion, position ; peculiarity in the direction of attraction causes crystal- 
lization, polarity, magnetism ; attraction acting on attracted matter causes 
tension and force ; force, by destroying attractions, causes decomposition 
and the phenomena of electricity; the effects of force, counteracted by 
the resistance of existing attractions, produce time, and vibrations; whose 
results are heat, light, sound, and perhaps odour. 



THE CONCLUDING CHAPTEES OF ' THE SOURCES OP PHYSICAL SCIENCE.' 
On the Relation of the Material to the Immaterial. 

Having now traced the manner in which the material Tiniverse is 
composed of atoms, or ultimate particles, to which we give the name 
" matter," and that the term " matter " is given to whatever attracts, the 
mind of man is naturally led to consider how and from what cause matter 
attracts, and by that attraction produces all the varied phenomena 
observed in the physical world. 

The first question that naturally suggests itself to the mind that 
attempts this investigation is the probability which is given to the 
attachment of some imponderable or essence to matter, by virtue of which 
attachment the power to attract is bestowed on material particles. Such 
a question appears to be answered without much depth or profundity of 
reasoning, for if matter exerted attraction by virtue of some principle, 
essence, or imponderable attached to it, then would that principle exert 
attraction without matter, or at least we cannot perceive why it should 
not exert that property. 

From the general views that are forced upon us by our present mode 
of studying physical phenomena, we must assume that attraction was first 
exerted before new attractions would produce the effects of electricity, 
galvanism, heat, light, sound, &c. As attraction must have preceded the 
greater number of physical phenomena, we may also presume, or in fact 
we must admit, that attraction itself had a commencement. And time 
itself, we have already shown, is derived from an old attraction resisting 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 209 

a new one acting upon it. Each event, consequently, must have a com- 
mencement and a termination. To increase the number of these events 
will not assist us, for, how far soever we carry back the events, still their 
character is immutable ; there must have been one event which was prior 
to all others, and that first event must have had a beginning. 

The beginning of the first event affecting matter was the primary 
attraction, which the subsequent attraction sought to disturb; and the 
great question which the human mind desires to speculate upon, is the 
cause of this first exertion of attraction. 

The first exertion of attraction, probably, does not arise from any 
principle attached to matter ; but still, even if it owed its power of attrac- 
tion to an imponderable, the cause of the imponderable attaching itself 
to matter would be the obscure point on which the human mind delights 
to contemplate ; for the first exertion of attraction, however arising, would 
alone give to matter its material properties, or, in fact, there would not 
have been matter (according as we define matter) without the capacity of 
its particles to set up attraction. 

This power of matter to generate attraction in the first instance would 
never have arisen from anything inherent : we, therefore, are compelled to 
admit that from something extraneous it derived its power. If we look at 
the means necessary to endow matter with the property of attraction, we 
are instantly astonished at the unbounded magnitude, magnipotence, and 
magnipresence of that power; for we have evidence to show that that 
power was evinced over enormous masses of matter separated by hundreds 
of thousands of millions of miles. If that power is continually being 
exerted, the Author necessarily appears as the Governor of material phe- 
nomena ; but if the government of the world is continually being affected, 
we discover that no variation has taken place in the general properties 
evinced by matter since the world began : the earth still continues to run 
its daily and yearly course ; matter continues to be hot, illuminated, and 
capable of causing sound when acted on in a peculiar manner ; and, as far 
as we can learn, not the slightest alteration has occurred since the earliest 
human event was recorded. 

"Whether that power was in the first instance implanted for once 
and for ever, or whether, by a continuance of the exertion of that power, 
matter continues to attract, are subjects for contemplation far beyond the 
capacity of human intellect to deduce from physical phenomena. We can 
only admit that the same power which first caused matter to attract, may 
also cause, at any given moment, that phenomenon to cease. 

To the source of" that immensity of power, which we see either has 
been exerted once or which continues to be exerted, we attach the name of 
the Creator or Almighty. 

The attributes of the Creator of all material particles naturally form 
a subject of the most sublime contemplation for all beings endowed with 
reason sufficient for that purpose. But here again we must refer to our 
incapacity to enter into a subject so much beyond human understanding, 
for man can only appreciate things which are material, and which, by 
virtue of their properties, communicate impressions through material 
organs to the human mind. We find that we cannot determine the 
absolute attributes of the Deity from physical science, but only infer 
certain attributes by not attributing to His divinity the pi*operties of 

P 



210 APPENDIX. [No. XII. 

matter, which solely derives its properties through the exertion of His 
power. In fact, nothing is more erroneous than the comparison of per- 
fections in God with natural qualities in man. Out of this have arisen 
incalculable mistakes. 

If we review the properties of matter, we find that its first property 
is number ; that the juxtaposition of units forms addition and multipli- 
cation, and the mass of matter so formed is susceptible of diminution and 
division. The material character of number forbids us to attach that 
property to the attributes of the Almighty, for His attributes are clearly 
immaterial, having no connection with the properties which His mighty 
power caused matter to evince. Natural philosophy, therefore, teaches us 
that the Almighty has no relation to number ; that, consequently, He is 
indivisible and incapable of addition. For ages the greatest disputes have 
arisen, and schisms and heresies sprung up throughout Christian com- 
munities, by attributing the properties of number to the Deity, and con- 
ferring material virtues on the Almighty. It is equally incorrect to attach 
unity as plurality to His indivisibility, for unity infers a possibility of 
plurality, and, therefore, a possibility of being amenable to number, which 
property matter solely derives from the will of the Creator. 

As we must discard the very idea of number as being an attribute of 
God, so must we also deny the possibility of any attribute arising from 
attracted number. We cannot, therefore, give to His majesty form or 
size, for these are properties of His created matter. His presence, more- 
over, cannot be limited to one spot, for position is a material effect. He 
must extend over space, and consequently omnipresence must be a charac- 
teristic attribute of His greatness. 

His omnipi'esence cannot be interfered with by the presence, in certain 
positions, of created matter. Impenetrability is a property of matter, 
perhaps by virtue of attraction, and therefore cannot interfere with the 
Immaterial. The omnipresence of the Deity will not be prevented by 
attracted matter: but He must be present in the structure of the 
hardest stones, the most massy rocks; in fact, throughout the matter 
of this great globe, and even throughout the matter existing over the 
universe. 

The phenomena of electricity, of galvanism, of motion, are in similar 
manner material actions, which alone have their existence by virtue of 
attraction. The immaterial character of the Almighty forbids these 
phenomena to be attached to His attributes ; indeed, we scarcely imagine 
how the Deity, whose attribute is omnipresence, can have the property 
of motion. 

As the material character of the preceding properties forbids their 
assumption as an attribute of the Creator, so are we compelled to deny the 
possibility of time, with its dependencies, to be a phenomenon to which the 
Author of that time should be amenable. The Almighty consequently 
could have no beginning, no end. Eternity is His distinguishing attribute ; 
and time can have none, no, not even the feeblest quality of eternity. 
Time, however exaggeratedly it may be increased, never becomes eternity ; 
for time is made up of a series of events, each having a beginning and an 
end. Eternity is not made up of events, and has therefore no beginning, 
no end. 

The actions called heat, light, and sound, are similarly material, 



No. XII.] APPENDIX. 211 

appertaining to particles of matter alone. The Maker of all things 
cannot, therefore, be supposed to be subject to phenomena which exist 
by His almighty fiat. 

We have thus seen, that whilst all the properties of matter are 
strictly material, so the attributes of the Immaterial are purely immaterial. 
Science, therefore, directs us to attach materiality to the material, im- 
materiality to the Immaterial ; and by no means at any time, under any 
circumstance, to confound the properties of matter with the attributes 
of the Immaterial, or the attributes of the Immaterial with the properties 
of matter. 

It is, then, the property of matter to attract, and by virtue of that 
attraction to yield number, size, form, duration. It is the attribute of 
the Immaterial not to yield number, to be omnipresent and eternal. 
Matter attracts by virtue of power conferred upon it by the Immaterial. 
Matter is matter by the volition of the Creator. 

The power which conferred attraction on matter is present not only 
where matter is, but even where matter is not, inasmuch as position is a 
material phenomenon. In consequence of that omnipresence, we may infer 
that He is cognizant of every alteration of each respective particle of 
matter, which omnicognizance is called the omniscience of the Deity. 
Our material bodies allow certain expressions to be carried to the mind 
through certain material organs called the senses, and therefore we only 
appreciate those impressions which act upon those senses. His omni- 
presence must know every single change, without respect to any material 
conditions. His omniscience cannot be interfered with by darkness, 
quiescence, or temperature. Darkness is no darkness with Him; the 
stillness of an action cannot cause it to be hid from His observation. His 
omniscience is derived from omnipresence, not from the properties of 
matter from which man derives his knowledge. 

We, therefore, are compelled to admit and believe that matter owes 
its properties to a power conferred upon it by the omnipresent, omni- 
potent, omniscient, eternal Creator, who first by His Almighty fiat com- 
manded matter to attract, and who, by the same Almighty fiat, may at 
any instant will attraction to cease, when worlds would end, when time 
would be no more. As far as regards all material properties, He must 
have absolute power. At any moment He may dissolve the earth, the sun, 
the moon, the stars, and as instantaneously summon their particles to 
assume new shapes, to occupy new positions. This infinite power or 
omnipotence is of a totally different character from our power, which is 
derived from the properties of matter. Man's boasted power is derived 
from availing himself of attraction. The Deity can control that property, 
and from that we infer the attribute of omnipotence. 

It is useless to conceal that these great and glorious perfections are 
quite incomprehensible to our senses : we can only appreciate material 
impressions ; all else is quite incomprehensible to our mind. To say that 
God has no relation to number is as unintelligible as His omnipresence, 
His omniscience, or His eternity. We cannot conceive the nature of such 
attributes, though we are compelled to believe them because we cannot 
conceive that such attributes should not exist. 

What other attributes belong to the Almighty we are incapable of 
ascertaining by physical science ; and even the contemplation of these, we 

p 2 



212 APPENDIX. [No. XII 

must admit, will suffice to fill our minds with an amazement productive 
of reverence, submission, and humility 

Conclusion. We live in a material world, and can only converse with 
matter ; everything we treat of is material. We can only use material 
properties to effect material phenomena; and our very existence here 
depends upon a series of material events taking place in our own bodies, 
for if these events do not take place, other actions ensue which end in 
decomposition. An event of definite energy we call a unit of time, and 
the total of events, taking place in our own bodies in our present condition, 
we term the period of life. Time itself, therefore, is a material phenomenon, 
depending solely on material properties. 

But whilst man can only clearly understand material phenomena, and 
use matter to give rise to material effects, and thus conduct his affairs, 
yet he has the power, by virtue of an immateriality in his own constitu- 
tion, to perceive indistinctly through a veil the existence of an Immaterial 
to whom matter and all material phenomena owe existence. The attri- 
butes of the Creator of matter are, indeed, in this world quite beyond 
the comprehension of man's faculties ; and the attributes which man is 
compelled to attach to the Almighty are but positive expressions for the 
absence of the properties of matter, which are solely derived from His 
Almighty will. 

Having completed our inquiries into the sources of physical science, 
we have found that man has no conception of matter without the existence 
of a Supreme Being, who endowed it with properties, i.e. caused it to be 
matter. We have seen that no imponderable attached to matter gives it 
its properties, but that they are evolved simply from the will of the 
Almighty. That which gives to matter properties is the will of God, and 
we have before mentioned that man can have no conception of matter 
without that to which it owes its property. 

As we can form no idea of matter apart from its Creator, so in our 
present state, living in a material world, and being ourselves partly imma- 
terial, partly matter, we cannot form any clear conception of the Almighty 
totally apart from His works. From natural science, man only knows God 
as being the Creator and Maker of all material things ; but hereafter, 
when man shall rise again and assume a higher condition, he shall under- 
stand these glorious mysteries apart from all created matter. 

We have seen that all physical subjects depend on the existence of the 
Supreme Being, the Creator of matter, from whose will matter is. We 
have seen that matter is that which attracts; that particles of matter 
under attraction give to masses of matter their properties; and that 
this attracted matter, being acted upon by new attractions, produces all 
physical effects. 

Physical science depends on matter, and its property, attraction ; and 
the great problem for man to solve, when he desires to perform his various 
operations, is comprised in the effect which attraction produces on at- 
tracted matter. The object of this volume has been to contribute to the 
solution of this problem, and to condense the foundations of human know- 
ledge into so small a compass, that the reader from its perusal, by simply 
having attraction and attracted matter, may be able, at will, to give rise to 
all physical phenomena. 

As a summary of the sources of physical science, I have drawn up the 



No. XIII.] 



APPENDIX. 



213 



Particles of matter attracted together 
give rise to 



accompanying table to show at one view how physical phenomena may be 
produced, and how the entire range of physical studies constitutes physical 
science. 

Matter is matter, and solely exists by the will of God, Matter is 
made up of finite particles or atoms ; a series constituting number, and 
the study of number arithmetic. 

Form, 

Yolume, 

Composition, 

Cohesion, 

Adhesion, 

Position. 

Crystallization, 
Peculiarity in the direction ot attrac- J p i -A 

tions produces (Magnetism. 

Attraction acting on attracted matter j Tension, a tendency for action. 

causes | Force, a capacity for action. 

( Galvanic phenomena, 
Electric phenomena, 

Force, by destroying the attractions { Electro-magnetic phenomena, 
of attracted matter, exhibits 



The results of force, in consequence 



of the resistance of old or previously 

existing attractions, produce the 

, 
phenomena called ..... 



Motion, 

Disintegration, 

Decomposition. 



T . , 

c, 1 ^ ,' 
Sound, 
.- , /QN 
Odour (?). 

m , , , , . , , 7 , p The effects of force generally ; 

These latter, being the result of force, I , ,, . -1 t A 

, ., .. < and, thereiore, capacity ior the 

exhibit ......... | , . ' ,. J 

destruction oi attractions. 



No. XIII. 

INTRODUCTORY LECTURE DELIVERED AT THE ALDERSGATE 
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. By ALFRED SMEE, F.R.S., Lecturer on 
Surgery at the Aldersgate School, Surgeon to the Royal General 
Dispensary, to the Central London Ophthalmic Institution, to the 
Bank of England, to the Provident Clerks' Mutual Benefit Associa- 
tion, &c. &c. (From the ' Medical Times,' October 5, 1844.) 

GENTLEMEN, The solemn occasion for which we are this day col- 
lected together, is to inquire into the nature of the studies necessary for 
the education of a gentleman, to enable him to practise medical science. 
You will doubtless consider that it will suffice for me simply to enumerate 
the views of those associations of great men who, in different countries, 
preside over the members of the medical profession; but, unfortunately, 
on a more careful examination into their proceedings, we perceive that the 



214 APPENDIX. [No. XIII. 

Faculty of Medicine of Paris refused leave to Ambrose Pare to print his 
work on the application of ligatures to arteries after operation. This 
invention, I have no hesitation in asserting, is the most important prac- 
tical application of science for the purposes of the surgeon which has 
ever been submitted to the world, and yet, instead of being fostered by the 
distinguished men of the age, it was opposed, and never would have com- 
municated its benefits to the unhappy victims of amputation, had not 
private interest been made with the king to allow the work to be printed, 
and thus confer its blessings on mankind. Nor is this a solitary instance. 
Did not the College of Physicians of London oppose the Royal Medico- 
Chirurgical Society an association of the medical practitioners of this 
country, unrivalled for the extent of inf ormation that it has disseminated 
amongst those who devote their time to practise the healing art ? The 
College of Surgeons, moreover, have looked with a jealous eye on that 
great University of London, which promises, by the talent which it has 
fostered, to effect great results for the improvement of our profession. 
These extraordinary instances of ill-directed authority, by men of the 
highest reputation in their day, show that we must receive with care their 
edicts, and, instead of taking for granted that the medical education they 
require is that best suited to make a practitioner of medicine, we must 
examine for ourselves a subject of such fundamental importance to the 
whole community. 

Disregarding, then, the orders of human councils, we must take 
Nature for our guide, and, as a preliminary inquiry, we must study the 
relation of man to the external world. Now, on a most cursory view of 
those objects which are presented for our examination, we perceive that 
bodies divide themselves into two great divisions one set in which no 
changes are taking place, and another in which continual alterations are 
occurring. These two sets of bodies we call respectively things with life, 
or organic things ; things without life, or inorganic things. 

Let us take as a type of a lifeless thing this piece of ice, and consider 
its qualities. We know that it is a compound of oxygen and hydrogen, in 
fact an oxide of hydrogen, the two elements being held together by the 
force of attraction. No change is taking place between these elements, 
but it possesses its individual characteristic by virtue of that attraction. 
As long as that attraction exists, it is still oxide of hydrogen, but a 
destruction of that attraction, or a supervention of a new one, would cause 
it to be no longer an oxide of hydrogen, but some other body. I may act 
upon this compound by external forces, and cause it to assume either the 
liquid or gaseous state, but it is still an oxide of hydrogen ; and unless 
I destroy the attraction existing between the oxygen and hydrogen, it 
remains the same body. I can in the same way make this body hot, 
luminous, electrical, or vibrating, without any alteration in its composi- 
tion. I might divide it to its finite particle, or increase its bulk inde- 
finitely, but still its characteristic as an oxide of hydrogen would not be 
impaired. 

An inorganic body, then, possesses matter and force ; the force being 
only exerted between its own particles. Other matter indeed may act 
upon this matter, though it would not contribute in any way to produce 
its individual existence. To express these facts in the fewest words and 
most comprehensive manner, we may state that an inorganic body is a 



No. XIII.] APPENDIX. 215 

body which exists by means of forces exerted between the particles of 
matter of which the mass is made up. 

Proceeding onwards in our investigation, we perceive another class of 
bodies said to be organic, the particles of which are continually under- 
going some change of arrangement. The most simple division of this 
class of bodies is to be found in vegetables or plants, samples of which I 
now present to your notice in the India-rubber tree, the black-tea plant, 
and the beautiful filmy fern. We find that the material has tenacity and 
form, from a certain amount of the particles of which they are composed 
being held together by internal forces similar to those of inorganic bodies. 
In this respect stones and plants are identical ; both having matter and 
internal forces. In the latter, however, we have continual changes occurring, 
and the mechanism of this change gives to the vegetable its characteristic 
property. In every plant we find that it is essential to vitality that it 
should contain not only a solid portion, but also a fluid : hence a plant is 
in two physical states, solid and fluid ; in other words, it consists of stem 
and sap. Neither part alone exhibits any signs of life; a combination of 
both being required for that object. But the stem and sap, as a whole, 
will not exhibit change by means of forces generated alone within its own 
structure, for we find it to be essential for these results that external 
forces should act upon the whole plant to enable these alterations in the 
arrangement of its particles to ensue. The absolute necessity for the 
exertion of these external forces may be learnt from the fact, that if I 
either increase or diminish the amount requisite for each plant, the 
actions immediately cease ; and if they cease but for one instant, the matter 
becomes inorganic, and no human power can ever make it take on the 
changes occurring in the vegetable or plant. If either this India-rubber 
tree or tea-plant were frozen, its action would cease for ever; and in 
the same way, if this delicate filmy fern, or even the other plants, were 
either to be over-heated or stimulated too highly by light, electricity or 
force, they would certainly perish. We thus find that a plant is a body 
held together by internal forces in two physical states, solid and fluid, 
undergoing certain changes by means of the action of external forces. As 
a consequence of this arrangement, a plant cannot be indefinitely divided ; 
for to possess the characteristics of a plant it must retain all these essen- 
tials, and we cannot divide it if we desire to preserve its individuality 
beyond a single cell. As a short expression for the difference between 
plants and stones, we may state that a plant is a body whose particles are 
undergoing change from the action of forces from without. This pro- 
perty, I shall hereafter show you, is common to all organic bodies, so that 
definition can only be used to ascertain whether a body is a mineral or a 
vegetable. This expression harmonizes with the phenomena observed in 
all the numerous forms of plants habitating the globe ; one plant differing 
from another not by its possessing some new attribute, but from a differ- 
ence in the nature of the matter which composes its structure, the degree 
of force holding that matter together, the ease with which its particles 
assume new combinations, and the amount of external force required to 
effect that change. Every species of plant of necessity requires a peculiar 
amount of external force. If the filmy fern which inhabits the cracks and 
crannies of the rocks at Tunbridge Wells were exposed to the light 
which this tea-plant requires, it would speedily be killed, and this tea- 



216 APPENDIX. [No. XIII. 

plant would very ill bear the shade absolutely required by this little 
fern. 

Having thus given you a rapid and cursory sketch of the properties of 
plants, I must now direct your attention to another division of organized 
bodies, which we term animals. In the diagrams which cover these walls, 
every form of animal known to Cuvier is delineated, and I have selected 
as an illustration of a living animal, this interesting little creature, the 
English dormouse. Here we" again perceive the integral or component 
matter to be held together by internal forces, as we have before noticed in 
plants and vegetables. We observe, also, changes taking place in th"e 
arrangement of the particles, through the agency of external forces, as was 
before exemplified in the examination of the vegetable kingdom. We not 
only observe these things, but we notice that external forces acting upon 
the body of an animal make an impression which is not transitory, but is 
retained to influence the result of subsequent impressions. This registra- 
tion of impressions gives rise to the effect of memory, which influences, in 
an important manner, the proceedings of the animal ; for when external 
forces act upon the body, the effect of these forces is modified by ante- 
cedent impressions. The choice of action between present and past im- 
pressions we call volition, which is to be observed throughout the entire 
range of animal bodies; you may even observe it in the Hydra viridis, 
a polyp common in the neighbourhood of London ; but an animal whose 
structure is so simple, that it has been described as a mere fleshy bag. 

I will no longer occupy your time by narrating instances of actions 
from past impressions, in the animal kingdom, but will simply state, as a 
short expression of these facts, that the animal kingdom is peculiar in 
acting, not only from present, but from registered or past impressions : 
this property is common, not only to animals, but to man, and therefore 
can only serve as a mark to distinguish the animal from the plant or 
mineral. 

I have now arrived at the more important part of my subject the 
study of man himself and there is as much difference to be observed 
between man and animals as between animals and plants, or even between 
plants and minerals. On examining his structure we find a material 
frame, the particles being aggregated together, and exhibiting form and 
volume ; these properties are due entirely to the particles of matter being 
held together by internal forces, as in animals, plants, or stones. We find 
that the matter composing his body is in two physical states, the solid and 
fluid, at the same time, and that changes are continually taking place, by 
reason of the influence of external forces, as we have already observed, in 
plants and animals. Man, moreover, we notice to act upon registered or 
past impressions, as animals are known to do. Man, however, exhibits 
higher powers, and to these powers I have now to call your attention. If 
I take this piece of potassium and throw it into a basin of water, you 
perceive that it inflames, which inflammation is caused by its exerting a 
powerful attraction upon the oxygen of the water, and setting free gaseous 
hydrogen. In this experiment I am using the power of attraction, and 
using it to overcome other attractions. Now the employment of this 
power is far beyond the sphere of any animal, and can only be exerted by 
man. (Applause.) I could give you other instances of the application of 
attraction, as the use of a weight to set in motion a clock, but one instance 



No. XIII.J APPENDIX. 217 

of the exertion of a power will amply suffice for my purpose ; I can 
employ light to give rise to certain actions. On the table before you lie 
daguerreotypes, calotypes, cyanotypes, chrysotees, enargyotypes, photo- 
graphs, produced by the action of light. Man alone can use light, and in 
the instances before you it even required such men as Daguerre, Herschel, 
Fox Talbot, and Hunt, to turn the force to account. (Applause.) We all 
of us use heat ; in fact, no meal is prepared without its agency. From 
the manufacture of the homely bread to the preparation of the most costly 
viands, this force is equally requisite for man ; and yet what animal can 
or does employ this force of matter ? I will show you a somewhat 
mysterious application of heat, if you will please observe the head of the 
worthy god which was placed by the builder in this theatre for orna- 
ment. You will perceive that an explosion will occur. The explanation 
of this explosion is simple a wire was previous to the lecture placed 
around this theatre, and when I requested your attention to the image I 
completed a galvanic circuit, and the force generated in this battery was 
transmitted through the wires, and produced heat where I wanted it, 
namely, at the top of that figure. There, before lecture, I had placed some 
gunpowder, which exploded on the application of the heat. 

Nor are these forces alone obedient to the power of man. I will 
show you how we can use the power of electricity; I will connect this 
electro-magnetic machine with the battery, and you will see the result. 
The rapidity with which it turns is enormous, and it affords a prac- 
tical application of the power of man to use electricity. You can 
hardly view that beautiful bas-relief without admiring the sculptor's 
design ; but when I tell you that specimen, the largest yet executed, was 
deposited, atom by atom, by means of the galvanic force, you will admit 
the power of man to use electricity. Other examples are on the table ; 
those beautiful solid electro-silver and electro-silver-gilt waiters, made 
from the natural vine-leaf, show the power of man to employ this force. 

We daily use ordinary force. The model of the locomotive engine on 
the table is brought here to impress that fact on your mind ; but, as you 
must all be practically conversant with railway engines, I have not 
thought it necessary to set the model in action. 

Man can also employ the force of sound, of which a musical snuff- 
box is an instance ; but perhaps the use of the porter's bell, to signify 
the commencement of this lecture, suffices for an illustration of man's 
power to employ this force. 

I have thus demonstrated that man can employ attraction, heat, light, 
electricity, force, and sound, to act upon matter ; but, doubtless, you will 
tell me the electric eel kills his prey by electricity, the glow-worm lights 
its lamp, animals in their own bodies generate heat, and the merry cricket 
gives rise to cheerful notes. All these creatures, however, only employ 
the forces which arise from peculiar structures in their bodies man gives 
rise to these forces. The electric eel uses the electricity generated in the 
organ, which I now exhibit to you, called the battery; the glow-worm 
furnishes light by the peculiar organization of the last two segments of 
the body. Man, however, makes the battery man makes the candle, 
so that man causes matter to produce light, heat, and the various other 
forces which I have enumerated a power which no animal possesses. 
(Applause.) 



218 APPENDIX. [No. XIII. 

Nor is man's power limited to the application of these forces upon 
inorganic matter alone, but lie can use them also to influence vegetation. 
Regard these little wild crabs, and see how cultivation has converted the 
same fruit into this large apple. Look also at these common hedge-nuts, 
changed by cultivation into the delicious filbert. I need hardly say that 
this power is only possessed by man. 

Animals are as much under the power of man as plants are ; he can 
improve their breed, and reduce them to subjection. The common use of 
horses is an example of that nature. One animal, however, cannot employ 
another animal. Who, for instance, ever saw an elephant drawn by camel- 
leopards ? (Applause.) And yet, we might readily forget that the sub- 
jection of animals belongs to man alone. 

We have now shown that man can employ heat, light, attraction, 
electricity, sound, the vegetable and animal bodies. Now, what is the 
nature of these powers which he uses ? Attraction is an abstraction of 
a material property ; heat is the same ; so is electricity, sound, force, &c. 
The powers of animals and vegetables are in like manner the results of 
matter. We may, therefore, class all these powers together by stating, 
that man can employ matter to act upon other matter ; man is not confined 
to the use of any particular piece of matter to produce these results, but 
any piece of matter will equally suit his purpose. We therefore find that 
man takes a higher stand, for he employs abstractions arising from the 
properties of matter. 

To recapitulate the leading phenomena exhibited by man, we find that 
he is composed of integral matter, held together by internal forces ; that 
the matter is in two physical states, solid and fluid ; that actions are con- 
tinually taking place by reason of external forces ; that he acts not only 
upon immediate but upon bygone or antecedent impressions. In all these 
conditions, however, he is similar to animals ; but the human being has 
the power of acting upon an arrangement and combination of simple 
material impressions, or, in other words, he acts upon their abstractions. 
To separate man from all other material bodies, we may define him to be a 
being acting upon the abstractions of material impressions. 

In all human operations, matter must be employed, but man can only 
use the properties with which matter is endowed; he can neither add a 
new property, nor subtract an old one. Man's power, then, is confined to 
the use of the properties of matter ; but though he cannot control matter, 
he perceives there must be a Supreme Power which in the first instance 
caused matter to have properties, and who, by the exertion of the same 
power, may will these properties to cease, or new ones to supervene. The 
contemplation of the Great Controller of the powers of matter forms the 
limit of the investigations of medical science, for at that point medical 
science ends and natural theology begins. 

We are now in a condition to determine the means which are in our 
hands to act upon the human body. We can act upon it directly, by 
matter, through its power of attraction. We can act upon it also by heat, 
light, electricity, force, sound, as in the case of animal, vegetable, or 
mineral bodies. We have, however, another power by which we can act 
upon man we may act upon his mind by abstractions. The influences of 
mental impressions may be inferred from deaths occurring from joy, fear, 
or other strong emotions. Let me, however, warn you and entreat you 



No. XIII.] APPENDIX. 219 

never to employ a false mental impression, as the effects of employing 
false mental impressions are most dangerous. Here is a charm which is 
supposed effectually to ward off all ill, physical or moral, from a child so 
protected. It consists of the berries of the mountain-ash, tied round with 
red thread, with the following couplet : 

" Rowan tree, and red thread, 
Drives the witches at their sped." 

Here are amulets used for a similar purpose. I show you also an Abraxas, 
a power presiding over 365 others, which is supposed to have wonderful 
efficacy. Here are the casts of all the royal-touch pieces known at the 
British Museum; and I am enabled to exhibit to you an original coin 
from the museum of the great London antiquary, Mr. Charles Roach Smith : 
this, although as recent as the reign of Queen Anne, has been so much 
worn, to ward off the dreadful scourge of scrofula, that the impression is 
quite abraded. Here is a cast of a touch-piece of the Pretender, who, think- 
ing that he had right to the English crown, had also equal right to confer 
the royal cure by touch. Do not think that spells, charms, or superstitions 
are at an end. In your professional career you will frequently be astonished 
at their use. I hold in my hand an engine of that chai'acter, called an 
Homoeopathic Medicine Chest (applause), which has already produced so 
many cures, according to the statement of its owner, that their enumeration 
would occupy me till to-morrow. In an examination of the chest this 
morning, I perceived the bottle labelled camphor had no odour ; that of 
musk had lost, in a similar manner, its physical properties a single grain 
of musk will fill a large room with odour for twenty years, and yet here 
was not the slightest scent to be discovered. The idea flashed across my 
mind, that these little globules were all made alike, and I transferred over 
to the laboratory about 100 globules, containing two or three substances 
which were not likely to have become injured by keeping, and the presence 
of which could most readily be detected. The united skill of two or 
three chemists failed to demonstrate by ordinary means the smallest 
trace of the assumed substances. (Much applause and laughter.) The 
evidence on this point is negative ; but yet it appears to me improbable, 
that 100 globules should contain a substance easy of detection, and yet not 
give immediate indication to chemical tests. 

I do not doubt that the owner really effected cures with this chest ; 
nor do I doubt that the amulets, abraxas, and royal touch-pieces, produced, 
in some cases, a similar effect ; but I do most earnestly warn you never to 
lend yourself to produce a false mental impression, for the human mind 
has been in the bondage of astrology and witchcraft, and may again 
return to its former degraded position. Look, I pray you, at this book ; 
see how accurately it gives the position of the stars for good and evil, 
when to apply medicine, to stop a flux, or to cause a purge, and let that be 
sufficient to warn you from the horrible effects of superstition, and deter 
you from ever using charms, amulets, homo3opathic globules, the com- 
bination of stars, or any other mental abominations. 

Man is composed of integral matter, held together by internal forces, 
so that the first investigation that we must imdei'take is, to inquire into 
the nature of the matter, and the character of the forces. This study 



220 APPENDIX. [No. XIII. 

constitutes chemistry, a class at this school under the care of Mr. Makins ; 
and let me urge upon you the necessity of chemical knowledge. I speak 
as one who has been considered by medical practitioners to have devoted 
too much time to this science ; but I must say that on no subject do 
I now feel my ignorance so much as on this. Chemistry is not only of 
paramount importance to medical practice, but is an ornament in every 
rank of life. The manner in which this matter is actually arranged con- 
stitutes general anatomy, a subject which is in the hands of Dr. Goodfellow, 
whose acquirements in this department are too well known to require any 
comments from me. The surgical anatomy, another department of the study 
of the matter of the human body, is taught by Mr. Holthouse and Mr. 
Chance ; and the study of the actions taking place in man, or physiology, is 
under Mr. Holthouse, with whom you are already personally acquainted. 
You would naturally expect that, man's characteristic being mind, the study 
of mind would occupy our especial attention ; but perhaps you will not be 
astonished, when I state that neither the opponents of Fare's discovery, 
nor those of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, have considered that the study 
of the human mind is in the slightest degree requisite. The practical 
effect of their determination is, that madness is of no consequence, its 
treatment of no importance. Do not believe them : regard the ordinances 
of nature, not those of man ; and make yourselves thoroughly acquainted 
with the properties of the mind, in health and disease. The agents which 
we employ to affect the human body are called Materia Medica, comprising 
matter, forces, and mental impressions. This department we have entrusted 
to Dr. Garrod, a gentleman who has obtained the highest honours in the 
prosecution of his studies, and whom we may also believe will receive 
corresponding success in carrying them out. The practice of physic, or 
the exact application of medical agents to particular diseases, is, as hereto- 
fore, still under the care of Dr. Aldis and Dr. Grant ; and now you will 
have ample opportunities of observing the actual practice of these gentle- 
men at their respective institutions. The surgery, gentlemen, has been 
confided by my colleagues to my charge ; and when I consider that in this 
theatre almost every distinguished man in London, of this century, has 
lectured, I feel deeply impressed with the importance of the duties which 
I have to perform, but I promise in sincerity and truth, that to the utmost 
of my abilities I will endeavour to discharge my duties, to your instruction 
and benefit. There are certain collateral branches, as botany and com- 
parative anatomy, which are under the care of Dr. Brown, and I may state 
the latter course is gratuitous. Forensic medicine, or that part of medical 
science which is especially connected with the courts of law, is in the 
hands of Dr. Sewell, a gentleman whom, you doubtless are aware, has, in 
the prosecution of his studies, received the highest rewards for his industry 
and talents, and whom we consider a valuable adjunct to our staff. The 
last class, or that of obstetric medicine, one of the utmost importance to 
the general practitioner, will be undertaken by Mr. Druitt, known to 
the world as the author of the ' Surgeon's Vade Mecum.' 

Gentlemen, the study of our profession divides itself into two depart- 
ments, science and practice. Science leads to the honours of the profession, 
practice to the emolument ; but the really great man must combine science 
with practice. The lecturers of this school have been extremely anxious 
to afford you every opportunity of observing disease, and to further that 



No. XIV.] APPENDIX. 221 

object they have determined to throw open, without additional charge, the 
practice of the several institutions to which they are respectively attached. 
"We have opened to you a chest infirmary, an eye institution, and portions 
of the practice of seven dispensaries. At these institutions, eleven clinical 
clerks will be appointed from this school. At these charities, you will see 
diseases as you will have to treat them in after-life : you will see them 
under the same circumstances of position and state, and you will have 
most ample opportunities of making yourselves acquainted with diseases 
in all their multifarious forms. 

I trust you will excuse me if I say a few words upon the relation which 
we are desirous should exist between the teachers and pupils. We are 
one and all desirous that free intercourse and communication should con- 
tinually take place between us. We wish you to regard us as students 
further advanced in that knowledge, the end of which we can never 
attain. Whatever you would ask of a friend, ask of us, as your teachers, 
and nothing will please us so much as continually to contribute to 
your welfare. 

You are about to enter, gentlemen, upon the study of the most 
exalted profession. Every moment of your life will be spent in the 
study and observation of nature. The most intimate structure of the 
human body will be exposed to your view, and the innermost recesses of 
the human mind will be revealed to you. Every moment of your life will 
be spent in doing good, and contributing to the happiness and welfare of 
your fellow-creatures ; day by day you will receive the praises and heart- 
felt thanks of gratitude for your aid in the time of danger and disease. 
Let me not deceive you, gentlemen ; do not think you will attain eminence 
without the most incessant labour and the most unremitting attention ; 
and you will find, with all your exertion, your utter inability to master the 
subject you have taken in hand. Delighted with every step you make, you 
will, in the language of the Psalmist, exclaim, " Such knowledge is too 
wonderful and excellent for me, I cannot attain unto it." 

[NOTE. The lecture throughout was profusely illustrated with 
specimens of the power of man, and the room presented generally an 
imposing appearance, from a display of beautiful examples of the novelties 
of science.] 



No. XIV. 

ON THE DETECTION OF NEEDLES, ETC., IN THE HUMAN 
BODY. Lecture delivered at the Aldersgate School of Medicine, 
December 9th, 1844. 

WHEN the foreign body, retained in the wound, is either iron or steel, 
we have means by which we may readily and effectually determine its 
presence. Portions of steel are particularly liable to be introduced into 
the body, in the shape of needles, or as parts of cutting instruments ; and, 



222 APPENDIX. [No. XIV. 

especially in the former case, cause irremediable injury. Some time since, 
I had a case under my care, where a small portion of a needle was 
introduced into one of the joints of the finger, but of which no indication 
existed beyond the effects which might have been expected from the 
presence of a foreign body. The exact spot of its insertion was unknown ; 
and indeed it was equally uncertain whether it was inserted or not. 
Subsequently the joint swelled, suppurated, and discharged, and a small 
piece of needle was found firmly impacted in the bone. Now, a very small 
piece of foreign matter is capable of producing these disastrous results ; 
and, on having weighed the piece discharged in this case, I found that it 
scarcely amounted to the | of a grain. To this case I shall again draw your 
attention, when I come to my lectures on the diseases of the joints, because 
it showed accidentally, on the human subject, the course of the inflam- 
mation and suppuration of the part, the subsequent ulceration of the 
cartilages and osseous tissue, and, finally, the course of the reparative 
process, by the termination of the inflammation by anchylosis. On 
reference to my note -book, for the purpose of studying this case, it 
occurred to my mind that, had I known that the needle was actually 
present, and could have demonstrated its exact spot, I might possibly 
have averted the present inconvenience of a stiff joint to the unfortunate 
sufferer ; and, after having carefully considered the matter, a plan 
suggested itself to my mind for the detection of needles in future cases. 
You are all acquainted with the curious condition which steel assumes 
under certain circumstances, whereby it evinces properties which are 
called magnetic ; you know, moreover, that like magnetic poles repel, and 
opposite attract each other. You have, therefore, but to render a piece 
of enclosed steel a magnet, and you will be able not only to ascertain 
its presence, but to determine by its polarity its general direction; 
and, by the amount of magnetism it evinces, you may even infer its pro- 
bable bulk. 

When you suspect the presence of a piece of needle, or other steel 
instrument, you must subject the suspected part to a treatment calculated 
to render the needle magnetic ; and there are two principal methods by 
which this object may be effected : the first, by transmitting a galvanic 
current, at right angles, to the suspected part ; the second, by placing a 
large magnet near the part affected, so that the object may be magnetized 
by induction. You may accomplish the first end by taking a copper wire, 
covered with cotton, or still better with silk (in fact, you may employ the 
covered wire as generally used for the formation of electro-magnets), and 
wind it round the parts suspected to contain 
steel, several times, so that the same current 
may act at right angles, many times, upon 
the piece of steel; you may then take a 
galvanic battery (one of my little tumbler 
FIG. 11. Covered Wire, as gene- batteries will amply suffice), and connect one 
rally used for the formation of e nd of the wire to the zinc, the other to the 

Electro-Magnets. , . . .. . '. . 

platinized silver. The adjoining cut, fig. 11, 

shows the general arrangement which may be adopted to effect this 
object. The current might be continued for half an hour, or more, when 
the steel would become magnetized, and thereby give strong indications 
of its presence. 





No. XIV.] APPENDIX. 223 

For my own part, I should use the second plan, or the plan of 
magnetizing by induction, to render the needle magnetic. For this 
purpose, I have employed a temporary electro-magnet, which I magnetized 
by the voltaic battery; and you will find that, by keeping the part 
affected as close as possible to the instrument, for about half an hour, 
you will sufficiently obtain the desired object. 

The electro-magnet might be made of the horse-shoe form, if we 
knew the direction of the object ; but, in that case, we should not require 
its use at all, as the proof of the existence of the needle is our only aim. 
I have used the horse-shoe magnet, but should prefer in most cases an 
electro-magnet like this (fig. 12), made for me by Messrs. Home, of 
Newgate Street, which is made of a simple straight bar of soft iron, 
wound round with wire. You will perceive by the diagram that the iron 
has a plate of brass (B) fixed on both ends 
to retain the wire (w) in situ; and you 
may also perceive that the two ends of 
the wire are attached to binding screws (s). 
Tour chemical lecturer has, doubtlessly, 
made you aware that the magnetic effect, 
cceteris paribus, is proportionate to the 
power of the battery ; accordingly, you FlG - 12 - Electro-Magnet, 

must select a voltaic combination suitable 

for the desired object. You might use a Cruikshanks' battery, made 
of alternate pieces of wire and copper soldered together. You might 
use one of the old Woollaston batteries, made of a plate of copper, 
surrounding a plate of zinc. You might employ one or more Daniell's 
batteries, which consist of an outer copper cylinder with a solution of 
sulphate of copper, and an inner porous vessel containing zinc and dilute 
acid. You might employ the battery invented by Mr. Grove : he uses 
for his negative platinum, and in the inner porous cell he puts strong 
nitric acid, and in the outer vessel with the zinc dilute sulphuric or muriatic 
acid. It really is of no consequence whether you select the one or the 
other battery for this particular purpose. I believe, however, that mine 
is far more commonly used for the ordinary purposes of life. Of my 
batteries you may use the triple or pot battery, which consists of a piece 
of platinized silver, in the top of which is fixed a piece of wood to 
prevent contact between the silver and the zinc. To the silver a binding 
screw is fixed to connect it with any desired object; a strip of zinc is 
placed on each side of the wood, and both are held in their place by a 
binding screw, sufficiently wide to embrace the wires and wood. You 
may use the odds-and-ends form, which consists of a plate of platinized 
silver for the negative pole, suspended in a vessel of acid, and fragments 
of zinc and mercury, placed at the bottom of the vessel for the positive pole. 
When you require considerable power, you will find the compound trough 
battery very convenient for this purpose, formed of two plates of zinc, one 
on each side the silver. The liquid generally adopted to excite the platinized 
silver battery is a mixture of one part by measure of sulphuric acid, and 
seven of water. The compound battery will magnetize a needle, in con- 
junction with the electro-magnet at the distance of an inch, in the space 
of two or three minutes. 



224 APPENDIX. [No. XIV. 

A powerful permanent magnet would answer as well as the temporary 
magnet; but permanent magnets are expensive, and not so constantly 
at hand. When soft iron is impacted in any part of the body, we do 
not require either the electro- or permanent magnet, for on this substance 
we are unable to confer magnetic properties. 

We should never think of taking the trouble of magnetizing a part 
suspected to contain steel, or iron, unless we could get no indication of 
its presence without ; for, perchance, the object might be sufficiently large 
to give indication without being magnetized, or it may have been mag- 
netized before its introduction. 

. Almost all my steel instruments, in common use, are more or less 
magnetic, from their having been exposed to electricity whilst performing 
my electrical experiments ; and, therefore, should I have the misfortune 
to introduce them into my body, they would be indicated without any 
process to render them further magnetic. Although foreign to a course 
of lectures on surgery, I may state that, when handling powerful magnets, 
you should always put aside your watch, for my own has many a time 
played me most troublesome pranks from its springs having become 
magnetic. 

To test the existence of a magnet within the body, we may take a 
magnetized sewing-needle, and suspend it by a piece of silkworm's silk, 
when it will exhibit certain phenomena upon the approach of the suspected 
part, provided it contain a piece of magnetized steel. Although this 
simple contrivance will amply suffice, I myself possess a needle which 
was made for me by Messrs. Willats, of Cheapside, and which is well 
adapted for the purpose. 

It consists, as you perceive, of a delicate needle, about six inches long, 
centred upon a small agate cup, resting upon a steel point, so that the 

smallest possible amount of resistance is 
offered to its free play, fig. 13. 

When a part, containing magnetic steel, 
is brought near the needle, it may be either 
attracted or repelled ; it may move upwards 
or downwards ; or it may exhibit disquietude 
according to the position in which the 
new magnet is held. We may detect the 
position of the foreign body, when it is of 
any size, by ascertaining where its north 
and south poles lie; and these are deter- 
mined by their repelling and attracting the opposite poles of the magnetic 
needle. The disquietude, or motion upwards and downwards, merely 
indicates magnetism, but not the direction of the magnet. 

You will doubtless be surprised when I tell you that, in this manner, 
I have detected a piece of needle impacted in the finger of a young woman, 
although it weighed but the seventh of a grain. This gave such 
marked indications, that I found out tolerably well the position of its 
north and south poles, though I could not ascertain the presence of a 
foreign body in any other way. I tried experiments on smaller pieces, at 
short distances, such as half an inch to an inch, and I found that a piece 
of needle, weighing ^ of a grain, gave decided indications after having 




No. XV.A.] APPENDIX. 225 

been magnetized, and, perhaps, even a still smaller amount of steel might 
in some cases be detected.* 

The batteries, electro-magnets, and magnetic needle, you may procure 
of Messrs. Home, of Newgate Street ; or of Messrs. Willats, of Cheapside ; 
or, by order, of any other instrument- maker : but if you, or any of your 
friends, meet with doubtful cases of this character, my own apparatus is 
at your service, and I shall esteem it as a favour if you would allow me to 
be present at the examination, in order that I may see the varieties which 
different cases present. 

A centred magnetic needle should always accompany the ordinary 
electro-magnets used for medical purposes ; as the medical practitioner, 
having that machine, might, with this addition alone, always determine 
the presence of steel particles. 

Of medical electrical machines the primary coil machine may be 
employed ; as the bundle of wires, when magnetized, will serve to mag- 
netize the needle. The platinum spring machine may be employed 
in a similar manner, and the bundle of wires in the rack machine may 
also be used to effect the same object. In all these cases you must 
be careful to continue the voltaic current in the same direction ; for, if 
you reversed the current but one instant, it would tend to undo what has 
been already done. 

I have now satisfactorily demonstrated to you, that magnetism may 
be used for the detection of steel particles, impacted within the body, with 
absolute success ; and, though but a very trifling application of natural 
philosophy to the practice of surgery, I have no doubt that, had it been 
adopted before, many joints would have been saved ; and I confidently 
anticipate that it will be the means, in future, of frequently saving these 
parts from destruction. 



No. XV.A. 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS BREADS EXHIBITED 
UNDER THE TITLE OF " FAMINE FOOD," AT ME. SMEE'S 
RESIDENCE IN FiNSBURY CIRCUS IN FEBRUARY 1847. Taken from 
sundry newspapers. 

THE ' Morning Herald ' states : " A very interesting collection of bread 
in fourteen varieties was exhibited under the title of ' Famine Food.' 
The rye, barley, and Indian corn breads require no comment, from their 
want of novelty. The root breads were respectively made of half of the 
root previously boiled and reduced, to a fine pulp, with half its weight of 
wheaten flour. The yam bread was good, and much resembled potato 



* These weights are the nearest fractions, but we ascertained the exact weight 
of these fragments by the standard balance belonging to the Bank of England : 
these two portions amounted respectively to the ^^ and the ^^ of a grain ; 
the exact weight of the portion alluded to in the former part of the paper was 
tiie of a rain - 



226 APPENDIX. [No. XV.A. 

bread. It is a mere scientific curiosity in this country, thotigh we are 
informed that it is employed in the "West Indies. The turnip bread had a 
very agreeable flavour, but the loaf was very small. The relative price 
was not stated, but we should think it would not be an economic food. It 
might, perhaps, be used as a luxury. Bread made with the sugar-beet was 
good and palatable, so was also that made with mangold- wurzel. There 
was a good sample manufactured from the red beet by Mr. Fames, which 
had the colour removed by repeated boilings. Parsnip bread was one of 
the best breads shown, and was moreover a large loaf. Bread made with 
the white carrot in the same manner had no peculiar flavour, which of 
course is a great advantage for food which is to be used constantly. Arti- 
choke bread has the flavour of that root ; it makes a good bread. Perhaps 
the root breads can hardly be called famine food, because the materials of 
which they are formed are articles of food under any circumstances, and 
they will be just as available for human food when cooked in the usual 
manner as when made into bread. There were, however, two decided 
novelties exhibited, namely Iceland moss bread and hay bread, which will 
strictly bear the name of famine bread. Half Iceland moss and half 
wheaten flour make a dark-coloured bread of great weight and probably 
highly nutritious. It, however, possesses a peculiar bitter flavour, agreeable 
to those who like bitters, and disagreeable to those who dislike that taste. 
The hay food attracted great attention ; it was shown in two forms as 
hay bread and hay biscuits. The colour was very dark and repulsive, 
but the odour was agreeable. In taste it was sweet and high-flavoured, 
somewhat resembling that of strong and high-flavoured tea. The greater 
part of the company agreed as to its palatable character ; some even 
thought it delicious, though others thought it disagreeable. To prepare it 
the hay was ground into an impalpable powder and mixed with half flour, 
to hold the particles together. The hay food is probably highly nutritious, 
and might form a valuable famine food ; but, being quite a novelty, 
experience is wanted upon the subject." 

The ' Sun ' states that " the hay bread was a sweet-smelling and not 
unpalatable food. The Iceland moss bread alone was nauseous: all the 
other varieties were well tasted, and presented the appearance of an 
ordinary loaf, and indicating by the smell the vegetable from which it was 
prepared." 

The ' Morning Post ' states : " The most interesting objects, and those 
which excited the greatest attention, were specimens of famine food. 
About a dozen different kinds were submitted for examination, consisting 
of rye, barley, Indian meal, parsnip, yam, beet-root, artichoke, carrot, Ice- 
land moss, and hay. With the exception of the two last, these breads seem 
to be well adapted for use, not only in times of scarcity, but also when 
no such dire exigency exists. The Iceland moss and hay breads are 
black, and fit only to be used as human food when terrors similar to 
those described by Josephus of the last siege of Jerusalem shall fall 
upon us." 

The ' Morning Advertiser ' observes that " foremost among the series 
of illustrations exhibited'we have to notice those which are immediately con- 
nected with the progress of the potato disease, and with the inventions to 
which that great calamity has given birth, in the formation of substitutes 
both for the potato and for bread, from the most available natural pro- 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 227 

ducts. In the former part of this subject Mr. Smee, -who has given it great 
attention, has procured specimens of diseased bulbs in almost every stage 
of the blight : from these he has obtained sections passing through the 
seat or origin of the disease, and, by a proper arrangement of the sections, 
he has succeeded in exhibiting its progress at one comprehensive glance. 
He has also obtained several specimens of the Aphis vastator, or destruc- 
tive insect, to the agency of which the ruin of the potato, and indeed of 
other plants, has been attributed. Mr. Smee placed them under the 
lenses of powerful microscopes, twelve of which were adjusted at one table. 
Amongst the specimens of potatoes sent up were some from the estate of 
the Right Hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons, in Hampshire. 
They were also accompanied by some large plants, and by leaves of the 
mangold- wurzel destroyed by the Aphis vastator, which in some instances 
was found upon the plant itself. Other diseased specimens of the forth- 
coming crop have been received by Mr. Smee from various other parts of 
the country. Amongst the substitution for potatoes and bread Mr. Smee 
exhibited fourteen loaves made from as many different materials. Amongst 
them might be mentioned those of hay, sweet beet-root, turnips, carrots, 
parsnips, mangold-wurzel, Iceland moss, and hay biscuits. Many of these 
are unquestionably very palatable and nutritious, as, for instance, the 
bread from turnips, carrots, and beet-root. The hay biscuits and bread 
are most singular compounds. They are of a deep brown colour approach- 
ing almost to black, possess all the fragrance of hay, and are nutritious in 
a high degree. Of their nutritious powers, indeed, there seems to be no 
question; the grand point to be ascertained is their susceptibility of 
yielding to the action of the digestive organs. Most of the other breads 
mentioned above are of the same colours as wheaten and maize." 



No. XY.B. 

ON THE POTATO DISEASE, 1845-46-47. 
By ALFRED SMEE, F.R.S. 



THE APHIDES AND THE APHIS VASTATOR. 

As reported by ED. LATHAM, Royal General Dispensary, Aldersgate Street. 
ON Wednesday evening, March 10th, 1847, A. Smee, Esq., F.R.S., Surgeon 
to the Bank of England, &c., delivered at the London Institution a 
lecture on aphides and on the Aphis vastator as being the cause of the 
potato disease, &c. The following is the substance of Mr. Smee's 
lecture : 

I feel deep responsibility in coming before the public to consider the 
subject of the present scarcity of food. My observation has proved to me 
that the cause of this scarcity is a plague of insects, resulting from a pre- 
ternatural abundance of those insects, and their settling, feeding on, and 
destroying various kinds of plants. History records numerous devas- 
tating plagues of insects analogous to the present ; immense and almost 
incredible swarms of locusts, which destroyed every green thing, are 

Q 2 



228 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

spoken of by Orosius, St. Augustine, Barrow, and others; but the first 
account of such plagues is handed down to us in the 8th and 10th chapters 
of Exodus. Another example is furnished by the cockchafer of this 
country, which increased so excessively some years ago as to destroy every 
plant and blade of grass existing in various districts. Other insects have 
also at various times been most destructive ; but I may refer you to the 
delightful work of Kirby and Spence on Entomology for most interesting 
information on these subjects. My observations and researches touching 
last year's scarcity have proved to me that its cause was attributable to a 
preternatural increase of an insect of the family of the aphides, a tribe so 
small that they may be passed unseen and unnoticed, though assembled in 
vast nations on the plants around, subsisting on and destroying an 
important item of the food of man. This insect, so insignificant in 
appearance, has thus given rise to considerations of high importance : it 
has produced famine in Ireland and Scotland, scarcity of the means of 
subsistence in England, and the effects of its ravages have disturbed the 
political relations of the whole habitable globe. My previous observations 
and the facts I had collected on this subject are before the public, which 
amount to testimony the accuracy of which cannot be disputed. I am not 
here to-night to enunciate any new thing, but simply to draw your careful 
attention to such facts as the present season affords, in order that you 
may consider what may be the best means of averting future ravages, with 
their consequent scarcity and distress. Aphides, as I have stated, are very 
small creatures, but frightfully prolific. On a moderate calculation, one 
aphis may be the progenitor of ten, and each future one of ten more ; so 
that, increasing in geometrical ratio, the first aphis may become the 
ancestor of a quintillion at the end of the season ; arriving at an amount 
so vast that it almost overcomes the understanding. Ten generations of 
aphides increasing in this ratio, each one producing ten, if placed the 
head of each at the tail of another, would form a circle extending round 
our globe : indeed, their fecundity is most enormous. Aphides will exist 
in all parts and through all seasons. They are very tenacious of life, and 
are connected with all scarcities, not only the present, but no doubt with 
many that are past. 

In investigating the nature and character of these insects, it be- 
comes necessary to ascertain the quality of their food, which must consist 
of organic matter, animal or vegetable, and also must be either dead 
or living animal or vegetable matter. As an illustration of such inquiry, 
the leaves of the strawberry-plant before me were found covered with 
black spots similar to those observed on the leaves of the diseased 
potato, &c. I had this strawberry-plant placed in a pinery where no 
aphides existed, but in due time these black spots on its leaves were 
further developed, and became insects, each of which passed through the 
various stages of its insect life, from the larva to the pupa, and from the 
pupa became the imago or perfect winged aphis. In these conditions 
it was found living and feeding on the leaves of the plant; therefore 
its proper food is demonstrated to be vegetable, and living vegetable, 
matter. 

The next inquiry, and one which has been controverted, is whether the 
vegetable matter on which the aphis subsists be healthy or diseased. This 
strawberry -plant, when first placed in the pinery, was healthy-looking and 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 229 

flourishing, but so soon as the insects were developed, and preyed upon 
its juices, it became deteriorated, and manifested unequivocal symptoms 
of disease. To-day I placed some living aphides upon the leaves of the 
healthy potato-plant on the table, upon which they are actively feeding, 
and, if means are not adopted to stop their ravages on this plant, it will 
become diseased and die in consequence. Then from these examples we 
may infer that aphides appear first on healthy plants, and, therefore, live 
on healthy vegetable matter. 

In the next place, in order to understand the process of this disease, 
we should know the part of the plant that aphides exist on, and which 
must be either solid or fluid. To determine this point an examination 
of their apparatus for feeding becomes necessary. This is extremely 
delicate. Situated on the under-side of the head is the rostrum, which 
is about one-fourth as long as the whole body, and contains a fine 
instrument for piercing the leaf and the walls of its Cecils : this is found 
to consist of three fine setse or delicate piercers, one of which answers 
to the tongue and the others to the jaws of the insect. These are 
very beautiful objects for examination with the microscope. If an aphis 
be examined by means of a magnifying-glass, whilst attached, it will be 
seen to have a sort of proboscis applied to the leaf, and if touched it will 
be found to adhere pretty firmly by this, which constitutes its suctorial 
apparatus, and it requires some seconds to disengage itself from its posi- 
tion. This apparatus, by which it is so closely attached, is that by which 
it is enabled to pierce the leaf, break up its cells, and suck the vital fluid 
as it passes through the leaf to be rendered fit for the nourishment of 
the plant. 

From these facts, then, we deduce that aphides suck the juices of 
plants, which is analogous to the blood of animals, and, therefore, the sap 
is impaired in its qualities in that vital organ the leaf, whence its power 
of fulfilling its various functions is either weakened or destroyed. If the 
sap is taken away, its functions cannot be performed ; and if its nutritive 
properties are weakened, it cannot properly nourish the plant, which in 
consequence becomes debilitated, and an imperfect vegetable tissue is 
formed, that is in itself very prone to die, of which I have had numerous 
examples in large tulips, crocuses, mangold- wurzel, potatoes, &c. Death of 
a plant may be either local, i.e. confined to the spot where the aphis 
penetrates the leaf or leaflet, as is shown by the spots seen on the various 
kinds of leaf upon the table, as of the turnip, potato, horse-radish, &c. ; 
or one single leaf, or a certain number of leaves or leaflets, may die with- 
out the disease passing further into the plant. One portion of the stem 
may perish and cut off the supply of nutriment from other leaflets, which 
will die from this secondary cause, or the whole of the stem may be cut 
down, and thus the due supply of properly elaborated sap being prevented, 
the plant must perish. The plant may also begin to perish at the extreme 
ends of the rootlets, the ascent of crude sap for elaboration being rendered 
impossible. Any portion of the stem may also first manifest the disease ; 
but most frequently the malady first shows itself at the part which is 
technically and vulgarly called " the collar " of the plant (being the inter- 
mediate part between the ascending and descending axes). This is very 
frequent, especially in the potato and turnip. Then we find that partial 
death following the attacks of aphides may be only local at the part where 



230 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

the insect makes its puncture, and breaks up the cellular tissue, or the 
death may be remote from the part first attacked ; and remote death 
resulting from the attacks of the aphides invariably kills the plant, 
because the supply of nourishment becomes cut off from its upper part. 
Death produced in this remote way often causes the potato-plants which 
appear in a green, succulent condition to wither up in a few hours, the 
communication between the stem and root being cut off by the action of 
disease ; so that the total death of the plant may arise from the death of a 
part necessary to the whole. Plants resist the attacks of aphides better 
under some conditions than others. All wild plants resist better than 
cultivated ones. A wild turnip in a field will flourish amid the ravages of 
aphides when all the cultivated ones are destroyed ; and the same is true in 
reference to the wild potato, and indeed all wild plants. The potato-plant, 
as we cultivate it, is in an unnatural condition, differing from the wild or 
natural plant in having great excess of tuber (an excess of cellular tissue 
over fibre) and great deficiency of leaves. Wild plants, or plants in a con- 
dition well calculated to develop fibre, well resist the attacks of aphides, 
when highly-cultivated plants, or plants not under circumstances favour- 
able to the formation of fibre, resist them badly. There is a particular 
period in the growth of the potato-plant (as well as others) when the solid 
material formed or elaborated in the leaf is most wanted. At that period 
the plant becomes most liable to die from any injurious causes. In the 
potato, the most critical time in its growth is when the supply of nourish- 
ment contained or stored up in the old potato, or set, at its base is con- 
sumed ; then, if the organization of the leaf has been injured, its functions 
are impaired, and when called on for that purpose it cannot give the 
necessary healthy vital fluid for the nutiiment of the plant and the deposit 
of solid fibre, and it dies in consequence; or it exists in a debilitated 
condition, forming imperfect tissue; therefore it may be stated that 
plants are most injured by aphides at that period of their growth when 
they are required to deposit most fibre. When from such causes the 
tissue of the plant has once been rendered imperfect or diseased, all future 
growths have a tendency to continue the diseased action and to form 
unsound tissue. You all know familiarly the hereditary tendency to 
disease that exists in families, which may pass from generation to genera- 
tion, and thus the faults and imperfections of one are transmitted down- 
ward to another. Apple-trees, rose-trees, &c., when once debilitated, have 
been noticed to exhibit a return of such condition in all future growths 
emanating from them, and it is so in the potato, &c. This, then, leads us 
to deduce a law, that plants having their tissue damaged from aphides 
propagate diseased tissue in all their future growths. Generally, if a 
plant begins to perish it is soon cut down, indeed in a very few days, and 
the influence of the hot sun often causes it to perish very greatly in a 
single day. 

The death of the plant exercises also an important influence on the 
aphis. When its supply of subsistence becomes diminished, it does not 
remain to perish amid the famine itself has made, but the pupa of the 
aphis casts its coat, and becomes the winged insect, prepared to fly away 
and commit similar ravages elsewhere. Vast clouds of them rise together 
from fields that have perished, often forming quite a mist in the atmo- 
sphere. I have accounts of these vast clouds of insects being seen in 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 231 

nearly all parts of England. After migrating to a new locality, they will 
settle down perpendicularly in a mass upon the fields to recommence their 
work of destruction. Last summer I was informed that travellers in the 
neighbourhood of Norwich were very much inconvenienced by the clouds 
of aphides flying about and almost blinding them. From these manifes- 
tations of the insect, then, we find that the injury to plants hastens the 
transformation of the aphides. After the attacks of aphides and damage 
to the tissue of the plant, we find upon examining the decaying tubers, 
&c., that they become covered with parasitic fungi, of which there are 
thirty or forty varieties. These grow and flourish in the decaying vege- 
table matter, and are, in fact, the scavengers provided by nature to remove 
the decomposing substance and to prevent contamination of the atmo- 
sphere by putrid and poisonous exhalations. These fungi are in most cases 
observed on the diseased potato. As they grow they eat up, as it were, 
the soft and decaying parts as fast as they rot ; and thus is inorganic 
matter converted into organic thus is death converted into life. These 
fungi have been considered to be the source and cause of the disease ; and 
Martius, who was the first investigator of this subject, traces many fungi, 
and attributes the disease to them; but, in fact, they never make their 
appearance until the potato-plant has been previously damaged, and until 
some portion of it is already dead. I have tried many experiments to 
produce the disease by inoculating sound potatoes, but the result has 
been a failure. I conclude, then, that it is a necessary law that the 
attacks of aphides are almost invariably followed by the growth of 
fungi. 

We have now spoken of the effects of the attacks of aphides on plants, 
and the conditions or laws of those effects. We have also noticed the 
excessive numbers that can be produced from a single aphis ; and that, 
assembled in vast swarms, they cause immense and serious mischief. 
Aphides, which we have shown to be so destructive by their excessive 
numbers, are themselves the natural prey of numerous creatures ; and 
their increase, therefore, may lead us to believe that the natural balance of 
creation has been disturbed, and that their natural destroyers have been 
diminished. Ladybirds ai - e enemies to and destroyers of aphides, and 
being more conspicuous often lead us to the discovery of the latter. Last 
year it is believed that ladybirds were scarce, though in many seasons, 
particularly that of 1805, these creatures have been noticed in great abun- 
dance on the cliffs at Dover, and other places on the coast. The hop aphis 
often produces great havoc in the crop, and ladybirds are always much 
welcomed in the hop-grounds. The gauzewing, too, feeds on aphides with 
equal voracity, as also do various dypterous insects of the genus sylphidse. 
It would be well if we could breed these creatures by millions. Various 
hymenopterous insects are great destroyers of aphides, one genus of which, 
called ichneumons, deposit their egg in the body of the aphis : the egg 
becomes a maggot that feeds upon the aphis, which swells, assumes a 
globular form, and at length dies, remaining adherent to the leaf. After 
the death of the aphis the enclosed creature eats a hole through the case 
which contains it, and comes out a winged insect. I have watched this 
process, and seen the ichneumon escape from aphides in my own posses- 
sion. Nature, amid all her wonders, goes a step further than this, for 
another genus of hymenoptera, the chalcididse, deposit their egg within the 



232 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

maggot of the already punctured aphis ; and thus we have an aphis with a 
maggot within its body, eating it up, and lastly a maggot within this 
maggot devouring that also ; in part verification of the lines : 

" Great fleas and little fleas have smaller fleas to bite 'em, 
The smaller fleas have lesser fleas, so on ad infinitum." 

Aphides live on all plants ; and therefore, if not kept in check, are 
competent to destroy all human food. They are materially checked by a 
variety of birds as well as the different insects, such as the swallow, the 
robin, &c., and also ducks : these destroy them in great numbers ; and 
consider how many aphides it must take to make a meal for a single bird. 
When a schoolboy I formed the idea of examining the crops of birds, and 
have found them to contain innumerable insects, and, no doubt, aphides. 
It must be recommended, then, to protect such birds during the inclemency 
of winter, and they will amply repay the trouble in summer. Almost every 
plant has one particular aphis belonging to it, which it has been usual to 
name according to the plant it infested ; but the aphis which comes more 
especially under our consideration as being the cause of the potato disease 
feeds also on a great variety of other plants, both wild and cultivated, 
many of which are necessary to man for food or medicine, as the wheat, 
Indian corn, artichoke, turnip, parsnip, shepherd's-purse, mustard, spinach, 
nightshade, henbane, stramonium, carrot, pasture-grass, couch-grass, 
spurge, groundsel, celery, &c. &c. ; and every day I am adding to a much 
longer list fresh specimens attacked by this particular aphis. A dis- 
tinguished naturalist asked me the other day how I managed to breed 
aphides. My answer was that I could not help breeding them, for where 
I do not want them the creatures get upon my sound plants, which they 
would destroy if not removed. 

The potato disease and failure in crop is no novelty. "We can 
trace the same disease through a series of years, sometimes occurring 
here, sometimes there; and the only difference between these visita- 
tions and the present one is, that this is more general, affecting all 
localities. Hollins describes a similar disease as occurring about the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, and states that the Society of Arts 
awarded a premium for the best remedy. When Martius wrote in the 
year 1830, the same disease existed and spread rapidly in Germany. This 
disease is in the potato itself without any difference of opinion; and it 
is essentially gangrene or death, gangrene of the leaf, of the stem, or 
different parts of the stem, the underground stem, tuber-bearing stems, 
and of the different tubers. There are two forms of mortification or 
gangrene, and they present themselves as the gangrene humide or moist 
gangrene, and the gangrene sicca or dry gangrene. In the moist gangrene 
the potato-tuber, &c., becomes disorganized by rotting, and is wet and 
offensive. In the dry gangrene the tuber shrinks up and becomes quite 
hard and desiccated ; and in certain cases it becomes as hard and dry as a 
bit of wood, and will even bear a polish. Both kinds of gangrene are 
accompanied by fungi, but especially the moist ; and all gangrenous tissue 
is deficient in starch, as may be seen in my preparations under the micro- 
scope; and examples of the empty condition of the starch cells were 
figured by Martins when he wrote. Chemical analysis also proves that the 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 233 

diseased tubers are deficient in starch, and starch-makers cannot obtain 
from them more than half the usual quantity. 

Examining this question physiologically, then, we find on the plant a 
certain insect, and that on a part of the plant, viz. the leaf, which is 
destined to elaborate solid matter for the growth of the whole. Anatomy 
and physiology also show that the insect, by its conformation, is calculated 
to take away and feed upon the sap or vital fluid of the plant, which was 
destined to form solid and healthy vegetable matter. The microscope 
demonstrates that a due and healthy proportion of solid material does not 
exist in the diseased tissue ; and chemical analysis also fully confirms the 
fact. So that the cause, the progress, and the ultimate effects of this 
vegetable malady are clearly and satisfactorily explained by the conjoint 
evidence of observation, physiology, anatomy, and chemistry. This aphis 
produces the same results in all plants, its operations on which I have 
watched one after the other, and I am now watching others go through 
the same progress. Some strong plants are not easily affected by the 
attacks of the aphis ; for example, a large beet-root vigorously resists the 
ravages of these creatures, and requires, at least, ten thousand of them 
to destroy it. As there have been many different plants attacked and 
destroyed by aphides, these creatures have accordingly received different 
names, usually with reference to the plant on which they subsist ; and I 
am told there is a book in the British Museum in which all these are 
recapitulated. It appeared to me, however, that the aphis giving rise to 
the potato disease also commits great or equal ravages on many other plants 
good for the food of man, or otherwise useful to him ; but, not being able 
to find that any characteristic name was applied to it, I carefully consulted 
with Mr. Thompson, the intelligent librarian of this institution, and, after 
unsuccessfully ransacking the library for some applicable cognomen to 
give this individual, we agreed to give it a name characteristic of its 
depredations, and called it the vastator, or destroyer. 

When a scarcity of food exists, or future plenty is doubtful ; or when 
famine seems impending ; and when, at the same time, we have authentic 
accounts of numbers of our destitute fellow-creatures starving through lack 
of food, it becomes an imperative duty to exercise our utmost ingenuity to 
adopt any substitutes for the natural food of man that can be proved avail- 
able, and several such have been suggested. Mr. Hamp, an intelligent 
gardener, has proposed a root, called the Apios tuberosa, to be used as a 
substitute for potatoes, and I have no doubt it would answer the intention 
remarkably well. I have tried experiments in the manufacture of various 
kinds of bread, such as carrot bread, turnip, mangold-wurzel, rice, and 
parsnip bread, &c. The vegetable is boiled up with an equal quantity of 
flour, and is afterwards baked in the usual way. Some of these kinds of 
bread are most delicious, several of which are on the table before me. But 
by using such articles we secured no gain to the available stock of human 
food, and I, therefore, tried what hay would do if manufactured into 
bread. You all know its nutritive properties to various animals, and I 
have no doubt that, both from the result and from analogy, it contains 
much nutritive matter that would be serviceable and acceptable to man in 
a time of famine. Hay made into biscuits is preferable to hay bread. The 
hay is ground into an impalpable powder, and, when mixed with an equal 
quantity of flour, is to be made up and baked in the usual way. Iceland 



234 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

moss, too, is considered to be very nutritive, as given to consumptive and 
debilitated persons ; therefore I had some bread made from Iceland moss, 
but it turns out to be a complete failure, for it is so intensely bitter that it 
cannot be eaten ; indeed, it is quite as bitter as either quinine or Peruvian 
bark. These investigations in reference to the scarcity of food have 
occupied much time when my other engagements have been numerous and 
pressing, and several other subjects have had their consideration neces- 
sarily postponed by them, but I have always received the utmost kindness 
from all quarters in carrying out my inquiries. 

At this moment the room was darkened, when Mr. Smee gave an 
interesting description of numerous preparations of aphides in their 
different stages of existence, of the various insects which prey upon them, 
and of a number of specimens of diseased potatoes, and other plants, with 
various fungi, and also of living aphides, &c. &c., all of which were 
exhibited by means of a powerful oxyhydrogen microscope, manufactured 
by Messrs. Home and Thornthwaite, of Newgate Street. This part 
was most highly applauded, and the whole produced considerable sen- 
sation. 



Objects shown under the microscope : 

Eggs of aphides ; larva ; pupa ; and perfect Aphis vastator. 

Aphis lanigera, which infests apple-trees. Sir Joseph Banks has 
given a description of this, and states that it has damaged one orchard to 
the amount of 50 per year. 

Couch-grass aphis, fox-tailed. 

Aphis, called the black collier, taken from the beet-root. 

An ordinary green-fly, having long legs, &c., and being very different 
from the vastator. 

Rose aphis. 

Pea aphis is very destructive to peas, which were destroyed partly by 
this insect, and partly by the dry summer, last year. 

Barley aphis, with its wings in repose. 

Grass aphis, by which whole tracts of grass were destroyed last 
year. 

Willow aphis, which is one of the largest of the family. 

Wheat aphis is two or three times as big as the vastator, which, how- 
ever, also lives on the wheat. 

The nut-bush aphis is very small. 

(?) Hycemal aphis ; the large black spots which are a fungus on the 
leaf probably follow this aphis. 

Cabbage aphis ; the cabbages brought to market last year were covered 
by this white downy aphis. 

Many aphides secrete sugar, and in honeydews this is very obvious. 

Ichneumons, or hymenopterous insects, from the swollen aphis. 

Another ichneumon with a round body. 

Various others found about potato-fields. 

Bed acarus, about the size of a large spider, and which eats aphides 
very voraciously. 

Minute acarus. 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 235 

Lancets of the gad-fly, showing the difference between them and the 
delicate piercers of the aphis. 

Lancets of the tohanis, which are large and coarse. 
Lancets of the blow-fly. 

Leaf of the potato, with numei'ous aphides incarcerated in balsam, 
whilst in the act of feeding. 
Leaf of diseased potato. 

Section of a healthy potato-tube with its minute cells filled with 
starch. 

Section of a diseased tuber, with marks of the injury of the dis- 
ease, &c. 

Another piece of diseased potato with brown and black spots. 
Little quantities of starch after all other parts have been eaten 
up. 

Section of a stem of wild potato with granules of starch seen 
in it. 

A stem of potato with a beautiful specimen of a black fungi. 
Blood-red fungus. 

Another fungus with round heads like peas, which are covered by 
sporules. 

Celery-leaf with fungi. 
Couch-grass with aphis and eggs. 
Horseradish-leaf. 

Acarus farnce, whioh run about putrefying potatoes, destroying 
oft'ensive matter. One may compare this creature to a rhinoceros trotting 
about in the jungles. 

Living aphides in a very active state. 

As yet the future prospects of the disease are doubtful, and I have 
shown the destructive appetency of aphides. It is evident that the ba- 
lance of nature is disturbed, and that these insects are preternaturally and 
immensely in excess. The human species has frequently been threatened 
with total destruction by these plagues ; but, though ten thousands of 
mankind may have perished, we find by experience that the insects have 
ceased and men lived. No doubt this calamity will eventually pass away, 
though, indeed, it may not yet have reached its maximum. Up to the 
present time we have only known the disease as increasing. It has been 
worse last year than it was the year before ; but the ensuing season, we 
may hope, will be healthy. No doubt many growers of potatoes will be 
deterred from planting; but I should say, do not give up cultivating, 
but cultivate in all cases, under the most favourable circumstances. I 
believe few have yet been planted this year ; therefore, at all events, the 
crop will be scarce. Yet it is not too late to plant, though those potatoes 
which are placed earliest in the ground will have the best chance of suc- 
ceeding, because they have an opportunity to deposit more fibre before the 
time that the aphides appear to commence their attacks. The cost of potato 
sets per acre last year, from the scarcity of good ones, is reported to have 
been about eighteen or twenty pounds, which becomes a serious outlay to 
small farmers, and will, therefore, greatly hinder their plans. If the insects 
do appear this season, from experiments that I have tried in my own house, 



236 APPENDIX. 

and which appear to succeed, I have no doubt means may be applied to 
cut them down at once ; and the first opportunity I have I shall tiy my 
experiments on a larger scale, when I think I may be able immediately 
to put a stop to the disease. The balance of nature must be restored ; and 
this year we may not see the disease. Scienc e and history show that the 
calamity will be transitory ; and, further, we have a higher promise, for it 
is said, " I will rebuke the destroyer for your sake, and he shall not 
destroy the fruits of your ground." 



MONTHLY REPORTS AND CORRESPONDENCE IN VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS 
ON APHIDES. BY ALFRED SMEE. 

MONTHLY REPORT OP APHIDES FOE JANUARY 1847. 

Aphides having appeared to such excess that vegetation has been 
damaged and famine produced, it requires that continual observations 
should be made to ascertain the exact position and numerical strength of 
this vast army of insects, that we may be better enabled, when spring 
advances, to fight with success the formidable battle. It is now a question 
whether men or aphides are to live ; for, if aphides continue in the same 
ratio to increase for the next two or three years, millions of human beings 
must inevitably perish; but, if we can but extirpate this overwhelming 
troop, food will again abound and famine will cease. 

The vastator is our great enemy, and from the number and importance 
of the plants which it kills, it deserves our fullest attention. As this is 
my first monthly report, I shall commence by recapitulating those plants 
the death of which 1 have actually myself traced to the action of the 
vastator. 

PLANTS TOTALLY DESTROYED BY THE VASTATOR. 

Wild Plants. Cultivated Plants. 

Shepherd's-purse . over large tracts. Beet rarely. 

Groundsel . . . abundantly. Spinach .... whole crops. 

Wild turnip . . numerous. Turnip .... abundantly. 

mustard . . ditto. Carrot .... plenty. 

Solanum nigrurn . plenty. Parsnip .... more rare. 

dulcamara more scarce. 
Violet .... plenty. 
Clover .... ditto. 
Pasture grass . . ditto. 
Nettle .... occasionally. 
Spurge .... abundantly. 
Geranium molle . rarely. 

There are, however, many plants which I have not yet noticed to be 
utterly destroyed by its ravages, but are only partially or locally affected ; 
and all plants which are sometimes killed, are at other times but partially 
or locally damaged. 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 237 

PLANTS PARTIALLY DESTROYED BY THE VASTATOR. 

Wild Plants. Cultivated Plants. 

Plants before enumerated. Plants before enumerated. 

Belladonna. Potato.* 

Stramonium. Tomato. 

Hyoscyamus. Sweet potato. 

Plantain. Jerusalem artichoke. 

Heartsease. Garden artichoke (?). 

Mallow. Wheat. 

Chickweed. Indian corn. 

Thistles. Cabbages, swedes. 

Docks. Horse-radish. 

Elder. Celery. 

Parsley. 

Strawberry (Walker). 

Major convolvulus. 

Marigolds. 

Balsams. 

Tulips. 

Crocuses. 

Cinerarias. 

Verbenas. 

Many Solani. 

Peach and nectarine. 

Numerous other greenhouse plants. 

This list of itself is sufficiently formidable, but we must also fear the 
aphis of the hop, the cabbage, the pea, the bean, the corn aphis, the grass 
aphides, the black collier, and the aphis of the apple-trees. It is upon the 
recurrence of aphides, especially of the vastator, upon which future food 
or famine depends. We only know that aphides are continually increasing, 
and, if we do not destroy them, they will infallibly destroy us. All aphides 
are alike in sucking the juices of the plant and causing it to die locally 
at the puncture, or generally throughout the system. All live upon the 
vital fluid, and all induce the fatal gangrene, which the potato has 
abundantly shown. 

The past month has been unfavourable' to animated beings. Alternate 
freezings and thawings have been sufficient to destroy almost everything 
which has life, and even the deaths amongst men have been much above 
the average. Notwithstanding this inclemency, there are plenty of the 
vastators alive upon the plants out of doors. I found it upon the turnip, 
shepherd's-purse, docks, and mallows, and I have no doubt, had not 
business and the bad weather prevented me, I should have found it in 
abundance upon many plants. It is not yet living upon the wheat, nor 
can I find any other species upon this plant. In greenhouses it exists 
in profusion on young potato plants, cinerarias, verbenas, crocuses, and 



* The potato plant is very rarely utterly destroyed. Generally speaking, 
there is some portion of a whole plant, some round eye, remaining amongst all 
the tubers, to continue the growth of the plant. 



238 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

tulips, in some cases even so as to render them loathsome to the eye rather 
than an ornament. 

I have just received from Mr. "Walker, the distinguished entomologist, 
who is writing a work upon Aphides, a note, wherein he states that the 
eggs of the vastator, together with the larvae, are abundant in his garden 
under the strawberry leaves, and he has kindly furnished me with samples. 
This demonstrates that, even if every vastator were killed, the species 
would be amply maintained. 

Confining ourselves to the facts of the case, I am certain that there is 
abundance to furnish a stock to destroy our crops next year. According 
to Professor Owen, one single aphis may give rise to a quintillion during 
one year, a number which we may write, spell, or pronounce, but which we 
cannot comprehend. Perhaps we may form a faint notion of a quintillion 
of aphides when I state that they would f orm an army which would extend 
round the globe, and be thirty millions of miles in breadth. This is 
perhaps an exaggerated account of the rate of increase, yet, under a greatly 
diminished estimate, it will show that there is plenty left for the next 
year's brood. 

By the very lowest increase the quantity which might be produced by 
one aphis is ten billions, and that is certainly much too low, as this 
number is formed upon the supposition that each aphis only brings forth 
one litter in ten, whereas I believe that they bring forth many litters. 
Upon this calculation one aphis now living might give rise to a progeny 
which would form an army, if there were nothing to destroy them, which 
would extend completely round the globe, and be a furlong in breadth. 

In. greenhouses the green-fly, the Aphis roses, the aphis of cinerarias, 
and some other species, are to be found ; but out of doors I have not met 
with other species this January. 

During the last month the effects of the vastator of last year have 
more fully manifested themselves by the rottings of the bulbs of infected 
turnips, and the extensive rotting of carrots down their central portions. 

With respect to the operations for February, I must refer to my letter 
of January the first, and to the farmer I would say Remember that a 
potato plant, once diseased, is like human beings in its tendency to 
propagate disease, without the further action of external causes. A tuber 
from a former diseased plant, though apparently sound, may show the 
malady without a new attack of the vastator. 

Sets from plants which have never been diseased, and absence of the 
vastator, will secure to the husbandman abundant crop for the future ; but, 
above all things, let everybody who requires food to eat, be taught the 
necessity of destroying the vastator. 



PROBABLE FAILURE OF THE STRAWBERRY CROP. 

In my report for January, I stated, upon the authority of Mr. "Walker, 
that the eggs of the vastator were upon the strawberry leaves. Since that 
report was written, I find that the leaves of that plant have great abundance 
of eggs everywhere; and I learn, upon inquiry, that the strawberry plants 
were affected like the potato last autumn. 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 239 

Upon examining the plants in hothouses, live aphides in the larva 
state are now feeding ; but, after a minute microscopical view, I have 
noticed some anatomical differences which lead me to infer that this aphis 
is possibly not the vastator, although a species very nearly allied to it. 
Under these circumstances, I must defer passing a decided opinion until 
I have observed it in the final or winged state. 

It is really of but little consequence to the husbandman to know the 
particular aphis which causes injury to any particular plant, for every 
aphis is equally destructive, and wherever there are abundance of aphides, 
there does the death of the plant occur. From this view of the question, 
I now caution gardeners to watch the aphides which attack the strawberry 
plants, and destroy them, together with their eggs, as far as possible, 
otherwise they must not be surprised to find their strawberry plants 
destroyed, or rendered unfruitful through their agency. 

Let every farmer, gardener, and naturalist now record their observa- 
tions upon aphides, that the talent of the country may be concentrated 
upon their eradication. 
1847. 



REPORT OF APHIDES FOR FEBRUARY 1847. 

During the past month we have had both cold and warm weather, for 
the season of the year. At the commencement, the temperature was as 
low as ever observed in this country, and subsequently the weather has 
been so mild that a great stimulus has been given to vegetation, and 
the buds have put forth as though spring had commenced in real earnest. 
Such weather has been unfavourable to insect life, and consequently but 
few facts have come under our notice. Our great enemy, at the present 
time, the vastator, has been extensively destroyed in the open air, and, 
since the frost, I have not myself observed a single specimen living in 
that situation. 

I have received, during the month, Jerusalem artichokes, on the roots 
of which a large aphis was feeding. 

Aphides, as a general rule, bear frost well, for I took a crocus covered 
with vastators, and froze them with ice and salt, but, on being brought 
into a warm room, they resumed their activity, and again fed upon the 
plants. 

In greenhouses the vastators are now feeding on various plants. 
Several of my crocuses, on which they were allowed to feed undisturbed, are 
now completely killed, and numerous others are on the high road to destruc- 
tion. It appears that crocuses, like the potato plants, suffer most when the 
leaf is required to deposit the solid matter for the bulb of the next year. 
In my peregrinations round London, I have observed a few vastators upon 
nearly all the plants exposed for sale, which doubtless, during the next 
month, will multiply at their ordinary rate of production, and thus form a 
stock amply sufficient to destroy our crops alone. The tulips have, in most 
instances, some of the destroying creatures upon their leaves, though they 
may escape notice by fixing themselves on that part of the leaf which is 
sheltered from rain or wind. During the last month some of my tulips 
have been entirely killed by them. The creatures prefer some varieties of 



APPENDIX. [No. XV.R. 

the same plant to others, and hence I have observed that some kinds of 
crocuses and tulips are more injured than others. The vastators are 
attacking, pretty constantly, the verbenas, and many have materially 
suffered from their ravages. The same creature is also to be met with 
upon numerous other plants. I have observed them to be feeding upon 
the sweet potato of Shakspeare, a plant which they much admire. 

The grower of strawberries may have the worst apprehension for his 
crops this season, for there is scarcely a leaf in any district which has not 
from three to twenty little black eggs upon it. Plants which have been 
placed in stoves for forcing, have had the eggs upon their leaves hatched, 
and large broods of aphides have already appeared : I fear, next month, 
that I shall have to record the injury or death of the forced plants 
from this cause. To avert the probable injury to the outdoor crop, I 
should advise all the old leaves which have the eggs upon them to be 
collected by hand, and burnt. Not having, as yet, seen the final state 
of the strawberry aphis, I must defer passing a positive opinion; I 
do not think that it is the vastator, although, in all probability, equally 
destructive. 

At my residence I have an extensive colony of vastators, feeding upon 
tulips and crocuses ; but I have also two Ward's cases, into which I had 
strictly forbidden their entrance. The creature has, however, found its 
way into my little London garden, and threatens to destroy my plants, 
unless I can first destroy it, and thus prevent the mischief. 

From accounts which I have received, I find that the vastator is now 
attacking, in many situations, the potato plants ; and when this occurs, the 
plant is hurried into premature decay. In other cases, the potato plant is 
again showing the disease which has been imparted to its structure from 
the injury inflicted on plants by aphides, during the last three or more 
years, without a fresh attack of the insect. 

The potato malady is no novelty ; it may be traced over a great series 
of years ; at one time showing itself here, at another there, but at the 
present time it unfortunately has manifested itself everywhere. In all 
former instances temporary inconvenience has resulted, but after a period 
the disease lessened, or disappeared for a time, and abundance succeeded 
the scarcity. As a peculiar feature in the present scarcity, however, we 
find that the farmer has not been taught to consider the malady transitory, 
but the awful mistake has been made by some leading journals, to 
recommend this crop to be abandoned, because the disease is permanent. 
From this alarming advice, given by men who were in a position to have 
made observations for themselves, which would have led to an opposite 
conclusion, scarcity in the potato crop next year is inevitable. A sufficient 
amount has not been, and probably cannot now be, planted to suffice for 
use next season. The best kinds of potatoes for planting are those which 
ripen early, because aphides most abound in July and August. The Early 
Shaw is one of the best varieties, but so valuable are they at the present 
moment, that to crop one acre of land, an expense of fifteen or eighteen 
pounds would be entailed. Nevertheless, as scarcity next year is inevitable, 
those who plant immediately, even at that price, will reap an abundant and 
profitable harvest. It is important for the farmer to know that, although 
it is now discovered that the vastator is the cause of the potato disease, we 
are utterly ignorant of the cause of its preternatural appearance at the 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 241 

present time; and, whilst we are ignorant of this ultimate cause, it is 
manifest that no person can state whether the disease will recur. 

During the last month I have ascertained that tubers from former 
healthy plants grow without showing the least signs of disease, even' under 
the unfavourable conditions of the vitiated atmosphere in the forcing house, 
proving this year, as last, that there is no other cause for the potato disease 
but the vastator, and that, if the vastator does not recur, tubers from 
former healthy plants will produce crops free from disease. As an article 
of food, no root can compete with the potato ; but as an article of luxury, 
numerous vegetables can be substituted where we only desire an adjunct to 
animal food ; but these latter would not be expected to nourish the body 
by themselves. Wheat, oats, and perhaps rye, can alone, in this country, 
successfully compete with the potato, and therefore, where food is required, 
one of them must be selected. Of vegetables, to be used with animal food, 
the following may be employed : Scarlet beans, French beans, turnip v., 
carrot v., parsnip v.a., Jerusalem artichokes a.v., leeks a., onions a., 
cabbages v., savoy v., greens v., cauliflower v., broccoli v., spinach v., 
mustard v., lettuce a., beet v. Those marked with v. are liable to be 
destroyed with the vastator ; those marked a. by other aphides. The 
poor man would perhaps do well to make the following selection: 
Scarlet beans, parsnips, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, cabbages, 
savoys. 

Those who have not already planted their potatoes should do so forth- 
with ; there is not a day to spare, for the sooner they are in the ground the 
greater chance of success will be afforded. Should the vastator again 
appear in our fields, and threaten to produce a continuance of the famine, 
I have great pleasure in being enabled to announce, that from experiments 
which I have lately conducted, there is strong reason for believing that a 
cheap and effectual plan may be employed for their total eradication, even 
for the most extensive potato-grounds. 



FOOD OB FAMINE. 
To the Editor of the ' Morning Herald' 

SIR, We have throughout these realms met this day to acknowledge 
that the famine of the past year is beyond human control ; and the deep 
reverence with which it has been kept indicates the universal belief that 
in Providence lies our only hope for its alleviation. 

Insect plagues have formed, from the earliest times, the immediate 
cause of the destruction of vegetable food, and the consequent production 
of famine. In this respect our present failure differs not from antecedent 
periods of scarcity ; and that which has been due to the locust, cockchafer, 
and caterpillar, is now to be attributed to the vastator and other species 
of aphides. 

As far as my observations extend, no vastator is now living out of 
doors, and no mortal can tell whether this plague has passed away, or is 
again about to recur. Fear of the disease must not, then, make us 
abandon ourselves to despair, and leave our land uncultivated; as that 

B 



242 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

which is unsown cannot be reaped, that which is not planted cannot afford 
fruit. 

Famine now exists ; its subsequent pestilence is beginning to appear ; 
it is now then high time not only to regard the present scarcity, but to 
look to the probability of future want. Our land is untilled in many 
parts of the country, seeds cannot be procured in others, and the potato 
crop, the great resource of Ireland, is abandoned, as though it were to fail 
for ever. 

There is no evidence to show that the potato, rather than the wheat, 
turnip, carrot, or any other plant, will perish this year; and from the 
great produce which the potato affords, and the poverty of land which 
suffices for its culture, it forms a highly eligible crop to be planted to the 
ordinary extent. 

Potato tubers are now scarce, and high in price. Any attempt to 
buy them for seed would double or treble their cost unless those who still 
use this vegetable will cease to employ it for food. It becomes now, there- 
fore, highly desirable that all who use potatoes should, for this season, at 
once abandon them. By ceasing to use potatoes, they would preserve that 
which should afford food and prevent famine next year. And by eating 
them, they are tending to aggravate the scarcity, and cause the death of 
numbers, by destroying their food. 

Let every householder at once substitute other food for the potato, 
this year, for if there are none to buy, there can be none to sell ; and 
there is now a sufficient abundance of good tubers for planting, if 
no more be used. 

Their present application for food should be prohibited, if not by an 
Order of Council or by Act of Parliament, by that which is more powerful 
than law universal public opinion. The preservation of the lives of 
our fellow-creatures is at stake, and I feel confident that all those will 
abstain from potatoes who hear that such abstinence is eminently cal- 
culated at this season to prevent the poor from perishing from want 
next year. 

Having stopped their employment as a luxury at this time, they should 
be sent directly to Ireland, and freely distributed amongst the poor for 
planting, and the sets now to be met with in the London market are far 
superior to those heretofore cultivated by these unhappy people, and are 
far better adapted to resist the ravages of the vastator, should it un- 
fortunately again appear. 

Sets from former healthy plants which I have cultivated this year in 
my friends' greenhouses, are now perfectly healthy, showing that healthy 
sets and absence of the vastator- will ensure the usual abundant produce. 

In the event of the reappearance of the destroying insect, I trust and 
believe that, under the blessing of Providence, I shall be enabled to give a 
simple and effectual plan for its complete eradication. 

March 24, 1847. 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 243 

EEPOET ON APHIDES FOE MARCH 1847. 

During the past month I have been unable to add materially to our 
knowledge of the ravages committed by these pests to the vegetable 
kingdom. My former observations have caused gardeners to attend more 
attentively to their existence, and I find that, in greenhouses and hot- 
houses, so much more care is taken of their annihilation than formerly, 
that scarce any exist. 

I have found no vastator living out of doors, though other aphides 
have, in some places, commenced their plant-killing labours. The peach 
is, in some instances, affected, a fact to which Mr. Hurst (p. 196) has 
called attention ; but this aphis is not the vastator. The peach-trees 
which I have examined have been perfectly free. My infected tulips and 
crocuses are nearly all dead ; as they perish, it is curious to observe the 
myriads of winged ones which leave : they collected the other day in such 
swarms on my passage window that, in one corner of a pane of glass, 
at least a pill-box full were congregated together. On examining the 
mangold- wurzels, they are found in many places to rot; and, notwith- 
standing that they have been packed in clamps throughout the winter, a 
few vastators may be found on the young leaves, interspersed here and 
there, showing that the cause of the rotting had been really present. I 
have heard that the vastator is on the wheat in Ireland, but have been 
unable to authenticate the fact. I beg that the corn crops may be con- 
tinually examined, and should feel greatly obliged for communications 
upon this matter. The strawberry plants which have the eggs of aphides 
on their leaves have much suffered this winter. 

With regard to the potato plant, I have some Russian varieties 
in perfect health in a greenhouse, showing that there is no atmospheric or 
other cause but the vastator which is likely to produce the disease. 
These Russian potatoes were a little damaged in their passage, neverthe- 
less are healthy in structure. I have yet in my possession about one 
hundred tubers, and it will afford me great pleasure to give one to any 
applicant, that the seed may be extensively circulated. Those who 
receive a tuber will perhaps do me the favour to furnish a short account 
of the produce, and their power of resisting the disease, at the end of 
the season. 

In my last report, I called attention to the probability of scarcity of 
food, from the certainty of deficiency in the produce of potatoes next 
season, and urged agriculturists to plant, for it is impossible to foresee 
whether the insect will recur this year. Experience shows that a certain 
and large crop can only be obtained from whole tubers, or considerable 
pieces of tubers ; therefore such sets are to be preferred. Nevertheless, 
the produce from a single tuber may be increased by planting very wide 
apart, and layering, or by taking shoots off, as they sprout from the 
potato, and planting them. 

" I should be inclined to try the experiment of using but small por- 
tions of the potatoes for sets such as scooped eyes or potato-peelings 
although Marshall has ascertained that, under ordinary circumstances, the 
crop is thereby materially lessened. These means would only be service- 
able to restore the health of a diseased plant, not to arrest the malady at 
its commencement. 

B 2 



APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

" Perhaps it might be advisable to allow the stalk to grow from the 
tuber two or three inches high, and then to detach it and use it as a set. 
By this plan we should throw the potato-plant for its resources upon the 
leaves, and not upon the original set ; and doubtless, by attending to other 
circumstances influencing the result, we should thus place the plant in a 
good condition for regenerating its fibre. 

" One potato-tuber upon this plan would send forth numerous shoots, 
and thus a great saving would be effected in the amount of potatoes used 
for seed. We may expect, from the experiments of Marshall, that this 
course would lessen the produce, and therefore this method would only 
appertain to the regeneration of the potato plant, with the view of 
obtaining again healthy seed, from which to propagate our plants." 
Potato Plant, 487, 491, 492. 

In London we are supplied with the very best potatoes which exist, 
and therefoi'e we are literally eating, as a luxury, that which should serve 
as food for the poor man next year. If thoughtless persons will eat the 
seed potatoes, and others cannot be bought, surely the good of the 
community, or even their own good, requires that public measures should 
be taken to prevent the mischief. 

Heretofore, when the crop failed, its culture was not abandoned ; and, 
indeed, as every vegetable used by man for food occasionally fails, we 
might have been left utterly without food had such a foolish course been 
adopted. The absurd dogma of the wearing out of the plant, and its 
being no longer capable of being trusted, has produced all the mischief 
which will continue the scarcity next year. 



REPORT ON APHIDES FOR APRIL 1847. 

During the last month the weather has been still cold, and the spring 
has been so extremely backward that but little vegetable matter is to 
be found suitable for animal life. The backward spring has kept back 
the aphides, and comparatively few species are yet to be foimd. At present 
I have seen no vastator abroad, except in greenhouses. The vastator feeds 
eagerly upon the orange-tree, tuberous nasturtium, and many other green- 
house plants, showing its omnivorous character. I have it now feeding 
upon endogenous and exogenous plants. The aphis of the rose has 
appeared sparingly, in warm situations; so has also the aphis of the 
apple-tree, cherry, plum, blackberry, fir, and perhaps of other plants. 
The aphis of the currant has appeared in many situations in great abun- 
dance; on both black and red currants it may be readily found by 
looking on the underside of the leaf, and the discoloration of the leaf will 
indicate its position. From an examination of several strawberry grounds, 
I have been greatly astonished at the extent of mischief which has been 
effected in some places by the aphis last year. The presence of the eggs 
indicates that the aphis lived upon the plant ; and where eggs are found 
on the leaves, there may be observed great patches of dead, withered 
stalks. In these cases, doubtless, the damage inflicted upon the plant by 
the aphis last year caused it to be so debilitated, that it ill resisted the 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 245 

severity of the weather during the past winter. The ladybirds are 
exceedingly numerous, an occurrence which should be hailed with delight, 
as they destroy the aphides by thousands. The early potatoes are 
generally looking perfectly healthy, although I have seen a few which are 
badly diseased. The next month will probably indicate pretty well the 
extent of damage which we are likely to experience from aphides this 
season ; and here I may observe, that if the weather be uninterruptedly 
hot, in all probability the creatures will multiply to a great extent, and do 
great damage. Under any circumstance, I urge every gardener and 
farmer closely to watch his plants, that as soon as aphides extensively 
occur, we may commence our war of extermination. It is very curious to 
watch a field of potatoes ; to see the destructive cloud of insects hovering 
over, settling, and then distributing themselves over whole fields; to 
observe how they first attack the larger leaves ; to notice the death of the 
leaves, and finally of the entire haulm ; and then to perceive the troop 
acquire wings and fly away. After all these have occurred, the fanner 
may then study the fungi which come to eat up the damaged plant ; and, 
lastly, he will have unfortunately to separate the sound from the unsound, 
the healthy from the diseased. I return my best thanks for the kind 
information transmitted to me, and beg to offer my sincere apologies for 
not having directly answered my correspondents. 



REPORT ON APHIDES FOB MAY 1847. 

In my previous reports, I have had to record but few facts of the pro- 
gress of these creatures, in consequence of the lateness of the spring. May, 
however, has been remarkable for the great heat which has existed, and 
with this heat a numerous host of these destructive creatures has appeared. 
On the lime-tree, the beautiful spotted aphis, peculiar to that tree, may 
now be found in the larva and winged state. On the sycamore, two 
species now exist one which feeds upon the larger leaves, the other on 
the top shoots. The oak has also its aphis, on the under-surface of the 
leaf. The large aphis on the thistle is now feeding abundantly in some 
places. In one instance I observed the ivy to be literally covered with 
countless numbers of aphides ; the leaves at the same time having a great 
abundance of honey dew on their surface. The currant-tree has a pro- 
fusion of its aphis, causing the leaves to be corrugated and discoloured. 
The nut-tree aphis may also be detected ; and the willow, in some 
instances, has thousands of aphides on its young shoots. The Aphis 
lanigera may be noticed on the apple-trees ; and an aphis may also be 
found on the larch and fir. 

All these are but of trifling importance when compared to the vastator. 
I regret to state that this pest has reappeared ; but from whence it has 
come, or how the species has been continued, I am unable to state : for 
although I have abundance of eggs of other species, none have been found 
of this insect ; and, since February, I have been unable to discover any 
living specimen till this week. It first appeared on warm walls, on the 
peach, nectarine, and apricot trees, to such an extent, in some places, that 



246 APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 

the young shoots are blighted, become withered and dried up, crumbling 
under the slightest pressure : from these trees the creature has flown into 
various other plants in their neighbourhood. On the turnip, it may be 
found on the under-surface of the leaf; it has also made its appearance 
on the potato plant. The first vastator which I observed on the potato in 
open situations was found on May 24th, since which time I have found it 
sparingly in every district round London ; at present they are scarce. In 
answer to an attempt which has made to show that my observations last 
year were made upon a small tract of ground, I beg to state that the 
plants were narrowly watched over an extent of country of not less than 
400 or 500 square miles, and I obtained insects and specimens from 
various other parts of the country ; my observations during the last week 
have not been less extensive. With respect to this crop, the leaves look 
exceedingly well, although below ground ; in most situations there is 
extensive decay in the stalks. Several practical men think but little of 
this decay, but there appears to me no question of its importance. I have 
noticed little tubers, hardly so big as a pea, to be separated from the 
parent stalk by the destruction of the stem. In a former report I 
mentioned that I had Russian tubers perfectly healthy, though much 
damaged in their transit by salt water. It is very curious that the 
greater number which were left have become thoroughly rotten, and 
many which grew have since exhibited the gangrene, at the underground 
stems. 

At the present time there is not much to be done. With regard to 
the renewed attack on the potato plant, I should be inclined to be passive, 
because any attempt to remove the very few aphides which now exist 
might injure the plants rather than benefit them : the gardener should 
destroy the insect by any of the methods he already well knows. 

Besides the vastator, there are still other aphides committing their 
ravages. On the melon and cucumber may be found thousands of a very 
minute aphis, feeding upon the under-surface of their leaves ; and, on the 
rue, there are no less than three different species now to be found. 

Under all circumstances, the present extremely hot weather is favour- 
able to the development of aphides ; and, therefore, I am afraid we may 
expect a repetition this year of the injury to the potato plant. 



INFLUENCE OP THE YASTATOR ON DIFFERENT KINDS OF POTATOES. 
To the Editor of the ' Farmers' Journal.' 

SIR, In my treatise on the Potato Plant I have developed the im- 
portant law of the unequal action of the vastator on different kinds of 
potatoes. It is singular that so manifest a range of facts should pre- 
viously have escaped attention; but now let us lose no time to take 
advantage of its application. 

The unequal action of the vastator on different kinds of potato plants 
must be attributed to two causes their unequal exposure to the destruc- 
tive influence of the vastator, and to the unequal capacity of different 
kinds to resist its deleterious agency. 



No. XV.B.] .APPENDIX. 247 

Potatoes which ripen early run their course before the insect appears 
in great profusion, and consequently escape : hence all early sets are best 
adapted for planting, and early planting, to enable them to escape the 
malady. As the period at which potatoes ripen is well known to agricul- 
turists, I need not call further attention to this subject. 

The unequal capacity of different varieties to resist its deleterious 
agency I find to depend upon the extent which each deviates from its 
normal type ; and the more highly cultivated the plant is, the more prone 
is it to disease. This is not only true of the potato, but is also true of all 
other plants attacked by the vastator. 

I beg to call attention to the following extracts from my work upon 
this subject : 

" Every particular kind of potato, however, is not equally prone to 
disease, or rather, I may say, to carry its individuality or peculiarity into 
its diseased condition. The supposed original Chelsea potato seems to 
resist the action of this malady nobly, the disease only attacking it from 
leaf to leaf, and not affecting so materially the underground stems. I 
have carefully examined this specimen, in order to observe how it would 
be attacked, and I found that the large leaves were all destroyed, and that 
the disease progressed from the large leaves to those somewhat smaller, 
and so crept on till it progressed to the top. In consequence of this mode 
of attack, the main shoot and all the lateral shoots were green, healthy, 
and vigorous, and the plant appeared to a casual observer to be quite 
healthy ; and the large leaves, or those out of sight, being alone 
destroyed up to October the 16th, the plant was still growing vigorously. 
At the Horticultural Society's Gardens, on my first visit, Uhde's wild 
potatoes showed the disease only on the leaflet, and on a subsequent occa- 
sion there was also one other leaf curled. In both cases I removed the 
diseased leaf, and found that they were inhabited by a parasite, which I 
shall hereafter describe. No two kinds of potatoes show the effects of the 
disease equally ; and it is generally supposed that that potato which 
ripens in the early period of the year, manifests the malady less than 
those which ripen later, so that the early shows are tolerable free from it. 
On examining a field in which many varieties are cultivated, every sort 
will be found to exhibit the malady in its own way : some varieties will be 
more diseased than others, and some will die down earlier than others. 
Some potatoes require more leaf than others, and I have no doubt that 
those which require an extensive crop of leaves are more prone to the 
disease than others. At the Horticultural Society's potato-ground, many 
kinds were found to have the tubers quite healthy, while others were much 
diseased. The white-eyed red was of the former class ; the mouse of the 
latter. I dare say that it will be found that the more nearly the tuber 
reverts back to Gerard's old type, the more capable it will be of resisting 
the disease. The white-eyed red was in some respects similar to the old 
species in the Chelsea garden. I applied at the Horticultural Society's 
Gardens for a return of the relative number of good potatoes to bad ones 
in each sort cultivated by them, but was unable to obtain it, as a similar 
return was ordered to be printed in their own Transactions." 

When I made the application for this return, I thought it a strange 
coincidence that two individuals should at the same moment have desired 
the same return, especially as the Society might have rendered the return 



248 



APPENDIX. 



[No. XV.B. 



last year. However, knowing that many funny coincidences do happen, I 
did not at the time think much about it. However, after I had examined 
their potato-ground, I found that I incurred no great loss by being 
debarred from obtaining the above-mentioned return, for I found that the 
disease had visited them with a comparatively lenient hand this year, and 
that it did not exhibit itself in its most destructive form. 

From the imperfect return which the Horticultural Society could 
afford, and their unwillingness to afford it, I was induced to write to all 
parts of the country for information, but yet did not obtain as much 
information as I could desire. 

For this reason I am anxious to procure further information, and 
particularly beg agriculturists to fill up the return and send it to my 
residence as early as possible, that further information may be obtained 
upon this point. 



Kind of 
Potato. 


When 
planted. 


Nature of 
Soil. 


What Manure 
used. 


Total 
Produce. 


Quantity of 
Good. 


Quantity of 
Bad. 


Month in which 
Disease 
appeared. 



















The late frost has diminished, though it has not killed the vastators, 
and I have found it all round London this week. It exists in nearly every 
greenhouse, and is killing the verbenas in many situations. Under these 
circumstances, every fact connected with it should be recorded, and there- 
fore I beg agriculturists to transmit to me accounts of the flights of 
aphides last year, the present state of the aphides, as well as the return 
which I have before mentioned. We have now discovered the cause of the 
disease, and I trust that we may in future prevent it by destroying the 
vastators. 

Dec. 24, 1846. 



LETTERS TO A JOURNAL ON THE SAME SUBJECT. 
MR. SMEE ON THE APHIDES VASTATOR. 

SIR, If the late Government commission have recommended the 
abandonment of the culture of potatoes, it is most unpardonable, but at 
the present time I have neither leisure nor inclination to wade through 
their reports. They may with equal good reason recommend the farmer 
to abandon the carrot, beet, spinach, turnip, parsnip, or even the wheat or 
Indian corn, as I have shown that the vastator attacks all these, and kills 
whatever it attacks. We know not whether the vastator will recur again 
in unwonted numbers, or whether it will altogether disappear. Under 
such circumstances I most emphatically recommend that the crops should 
be planted as though no disease were apprehended. With regard to 
potatoes, choose sound sets, plant early, and select early kinds. The late 
frost has not destroyed the vastators. I found them on Sunday at Totten- 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 249 

ham, on Monday at Fulham, and on Tuesday at Tooting, on the turnip, 
shepherd's-purse, and mallow. The green-fly is easily killed by the smoke 
of tobacco ; the vastator, however, will live when the green-fly is destroyed, 
and thus, in smoking greenhouses, the vastator is left when the green-fly is 
killed. At the present time the vastator is to be found in nearly all green- 
houses upon verbenas, and it kills them by wet gangrene in the same way 
that it injures the potato plant. The vastator is remarkably destructive to 
the potato and spinach plants, many less being required to kill them than 
is required to destroy the beet or solani. I placed twelve potato plants in 
a greenhouse in October for experiment : the vastator attacked them ; six 
are now rotten, the other six are dying. One of the plants perishing from 
the insect I have sent to the Polytechnic Institution, where every visitor 
can see it. Perhaps there never was a series of minute observations made 
on so large a tract of country as mine, upon this subject. I made observa- 
tions over at least 400 square miles round London and Brighton, and 
received specimens from the midland counties. I rejoice to find that a 
knowledge of the insect is rapidly extending itself in all directions. Any 
person may find it even now in their own gardens ; and as the spring 
advances, it will be their duty to endeavour to exterminate it. 

Dec. 23, 1846. 



REAPPEARANCE OP THE APHIS VASTATOR UPON THE 
POTATO PLANT. 

SIR, I regret to announce that the Aphis vastator reappeared last 
week upon the potato plant in every district round London. At present 
it may be found sparingly upon the under-surface of the leaf, and, though 
within the last few days it has multiplied twenty-fold, several plants must 
be examined before it can be detected. The present hot weather is highly 
favourable to the rapid multiplication of this pest, which, coupled with its 
early attack, must lead us to have the worst apprehension for the crops 
this season. This creature has already greatly damaged the peach, apricot, 
and nectarine trees in many localities. It is now feeding upon the turnip, 
potato, and other plants. Allied species are destroying the currant tree, 
and damaging to such a serious extent the carrot, parsnip, and parsley 
crops, that they have exhibited in some instances the fatal plague spot 
noticed in previous years upon the potato plant. These facts, unfor- 
tiinately, prove that in all human probability the great plague of aphides 
will again run their destructive course this year. 

June 5, 1847. 

P.S. I shall be obliged for information and specimens of the aphis 
from all parts of the country. 



APPENDIX. [No. XV.B. 



THE POTATO DISEASE EXTENSIVE DISAPPEARANCE OF APHIDES. 
From the ' Illustrated London News.' 

At various times I have had occasion to call the attention of the 
public to facts connected with this destructive tribe of insects, and, in the 
present instance, have to relate other circumstances connected with their 
natural history which cannot fail to gratify the people. The importance 
of bringing every fact before the agriculturist as it occurs must be appa- 
rent to all; for it is upon a correct knowledge of the habits of these 
creatures that the farmer must estimate the probable damage when his 
crops are unfortunately attacked. 

During this year the bean aphis has committed most serious damage. 
It has killed plants in some places to such an extent that not one pod is 
left; and even over large fields the crop will not nearly yield the seed 
sown. The insects continued to increase up to a certain point, and then, 
without reference to the destruction of the plants on which they were 
located, took wing, and formed an army formidable from their numerical 
strength, which appeared completely to fill the atmosphere. The entire 
number assumed the winged state within a few days, and left nothing 
behind but their cast skins. The winged insects settled upon any palatable 
food. They fled by thousands upon the beet-root, on which I have observed 
them feed in a former year. When they alighted, they sucked the juices 
of the plant in the ordinary manner, and sometimes killed the leaf of the 
plant, which exhibited dark, black blotches. They, however, were not 
doomed to remain long in this situation ; they speedily died, and have not, 
in many cases, left a solitary individual to continue the brood. Those 
which alighted upon the outdoor cucumbers were singularly destructive. 
They settled upon the under-surface of the leaves in great swarms, and 
fed upon the plant. Some of the attacked plants died from the injury 
they sustained ; in others the leaf alone was damaged. I have been much 
interested in watching the destruction of the cucumber : for I have heard 
that during the last two or three years this plant has gone off in some 
mysterious manner for which the farmer could not account. In the 
instances which have come within my observation, every insect has 
perished, and but a few of the whole plants were destroyed, on account of 
the short duration of the attack. 

The bean aphis also alighted upon scarlet runners, French beans, 
parsnips, onions, and various other plants and weeds. Groups of large 
masses of dead winged insects may still be observed, although scarce one 
live insect exists. 

The Aphis vastator has also, in those districts which I have examined, 
become scarce. I do not know what has become of them all, but many 
have been devoured by ladybirds, some have been killed by ichneumons, 
others became unhealthy and perished. In proportion as the potato plant 
is strong and healthy, so does it resist the attack of this parasite. The 
puncture of the aphis hence is in some instances merely followed by a 
little black spot ; in others by a large black botch ; and again, it may be 
followed by a more or less complete destruction of the entire plant. In every 
instance where aphides have been feeding, although they have now dis- 
appeared, it will be found that the leaves are apt to perish, and the dying 



No. XV.B.] APPENDIX. 251 

potatoes may be frequently observed to be covered with a white down, 
which in reality is a beautiful appearance of the Botrytis infectans. In 
consequence of these appearances following the attack of the aphis, hasty 
investigators are sometimes led to the belief that the potato disease occurs 
without the insect a delusion now highly prized by those who admire the 
marvellous, and delight to speculate in aerial, comet, and cholera theories. 

The early kinds of potatoes are now, in most instances, ripening to 
satisfaction, and the golden yellow colour of the foliage demonstrates that 
the leaf is performing its last functions, and that the tuber is being well 
filled with starch and other nutritive matters. The late kinds still look 
well, and scarce any insects now exist in many situations. The agricul- 
turist should not, however, trust too much to the pleasing intelligence, for 
he should be aware that they may again return between this time and 
November, and eat down his crop. The large nights of vastators last 
year occurred between the 7th of September and the end of the month. 
These remarks are quite independent of some local instances where the 
disease has committed ravages to a great extent. I have heard of one 
field which yielded 17 sacks of bad and 32 of good tubers, and doubtless 
there are many other like cases, but they now form rather the exception 
than the rule. I have myself nearly 200 kinds of potatoes planted in 
ground without manure, and I do not think amongst the number that I 
will find a single diseased tuber. 

Carrots and parsnips, which have been infested all the season, are now 
comparatively free ; and the damage has not been so great as to prevent 
their perfect recovery. 

We rejoice also to state that the corn aphis, which was disseminated 
over every part of the country, even to a few seedling oats growing in a 
vacant piece of ground opposite the Royal Exchange, is now diminishing, 
or even, in many localities, has disappeared. Its effect was to injure the 
produce, and cause black marks to appear upon the ear and stem. It 
came too late to effect extensive damage in this country. Private letters 
from Baltimore state that the wheat and potato crops are abundant, and 
that the former has dropped in price to one-half its highest rate last year. 

At the commencement of the season I called attention to the reappear- 
ance of the Aphis vastator. During the progress of the year I have 
pointed out the damage which various aphides have committed. Now I 
have to communicate the singular and welcome fact of their extensive and 
sudden departure. The past has afforded no indication for the present, 
nor can the present indicate the future. Before this article is distributed 
over the country, the aphides may recur; and, though I now write to 
congratulate the farmer on his present prospects, I must yet caution him 
to be continually on the watch, so that he may immediately discover if 
another plague of these all-destroying creatures should visit his crops. By 
correct information on these points, arrangements can be made before- 
hand ; and cheap food, one of the greatest of all desiderata, may be 
secured for the people. ' 

FlNSBTJRY CIRCUS, ALFRED SMEE. 

Aug. 5, 1847. 



252 APPENDIX. [No. XV.c. 

No. XV.c. 
RECENT RESEARCHES ON THE POTATO DISEASE. ROYAL 

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, April 5th, 1876. 

MAXWELL T. MASTERS, M.D., F.R.S., in the chair. 

MR. "W. G. SMITH exhibited a number of new drawings and referred to 
a recent examination made by him of 360 slides prepared by Mr. Alfred 
Smee in the first year of the potato murrain, 1845. These slides included 
slices of diseased potato stems, tubers and leaves, and aphides taken from 
infected plants. In these tubers and stems, and also within and upon 
the bodies of the aphides, Mr. Smith had found a large number of the 
bodies recently referred by him to the secondary condition of the potato 
fungus. 

" During the last fortnight," continued Mr. Smith, " Mr. Alfred Smee 
has placed in my hands for microscopic examination no fewer than 360 
slides having reference to the potato disease. These slides were all pre- 
pared by Mr. Smee in the first year of the great potato murrain, viz. 
1845, and the preparations include potato leaves, slices of stem and tuber, 
and aphides taken from diseased potato plants in that year. 

" Out of 104 slides illustrative of the structure of the potato plant, 
twenty-seven distinctly show the oogonia and antheridia, as illustrated by 
me in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle :' these bodies mostly occur in the stems 
and tubers of the 1845 potatoes, just where they principally occurred in 
the Chiswick potatoes last year. 

" Of the remaining slides of insects, principally aphides, about one- 
half show traces of the same bodies. The threads are growing both inside 
and outside the aphides : sometimes the oogonia are deeply buried in the 
body, whilst the whole insect is traversed by mycelial threads ; many of the 
oogonia are inside the legs, sometimes inside the feelers. These oogonia 
and antheridia are presumedly the same as those I found last year upon 
and within the diseased Chiswick potatoes, and they are exactly the same 
as the bodies now to be seen in Mr. Smee's 1845 potato preparations. 

" On two special slides of aphides the insects are densely covered 
externally with a fungus in fruit. So dense is the covering, that very 
little of the insect's body can be seen. This fruit is almost identical in 
size and form with the fruit of Peronospora infestans, and, like the latter, 
it shows a marked differentiation of its contents, and apparently produces 
zoospores. By carefully searching amongst this dense mass of fruit, the 
oogonia and antheridia above mentioned can also be detected. 

" Without wishing to speculate on the meaning of these new facts, 
it must be confessed that this new association of these fungoid bodies on 
diseased potatoes and aphides is new and suggestive. As my last year's 
Chiswick resting-spores are apparently still alive, though latent, I hope 
to try some experiments with them as soon as they start into life in the 
early summer." 

Mr. Renny considered that the relationship to Pythium was 
strengthened by Mr. Smee's preparations. In Saprolegnia the antherid 
was always borne on finer threads than the oogonium. From the 'Gardeners' 
Chronicle,' April 8th, 1876. 



No. XV.c.] APPENDIX. 253 

In 1875 it thus appears that Mr. Worthington Smith discovered the 
secondary form of fruit of the potato fungus in the seed tubers of imported 
American potatoes growing at Chiswick ; and for this discovery the Royal 
Horticultural Society bestowed upon him their Knightian gold medal. 
Until that year it would appear that these secondary forms of fruit of 
the fungus were unknown, although their existence had been previously 
suspected. 

No one challenged Mr. Smith's interpretation of the bodies discovered 
except Professor De Ba-rry, the French botanist. Professor De Barry 
stated that he had seen somewhat similar bodies at times within potato 
plants, but he considered they could not belong to the potato fungus, 
because he could not make them complete their (fungus) entire life within 
the potato plant, although he could make them apparently complete it in 
the decaying bodies of minute insects. This opinion of Professor De Barry 
was invalidated by some contemporaneous observations made by Dr. 
Sadebeck, of Berlin, who said he had seen a parasite similar to that of 
Mr. Smith's and Professor De Barry's growing on a potato plant at 
Coblentz, and producing a disease in no way to be distinguished from the 
ordinary murrain of potatoes. The question then presented itself whether 
the potato fungus could grow on animal substances, like some of the fungi 
to which it was immediately allied, as the fungus of house-flies, of silk- 
worms, &c. 

As it was the winter season, 1876, when this question arose, Mr. Smith 
applied to Mr. Smee, who placed his own collection of microscopical slides 
of aphides and of diseased potatoes, mounted by himself during the potato 
murrain in 1845-1847, in that gentleman's hands for examination. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Worthington Smith, I am enabled to 
give the following woodcuts of one of the microscopical preparations of 
Mr. Alfred Smee's own collection, mounted by himself, of the Aphis vastator 
and of a slice of diseased potato. The Aphis vastator is here enlarged 
twenty diameters, and the minute fungus fruits are to be seen inside the 
insect at A, B, c. 

These bodies belonging to the fungus are further enlarged on the 
margin of the cut to 160 diameters, so that their nature may be better seen. 
Some of Mr. Smee's aphides are completely filled with the fungus inter- 
nally, and covered with it externally; and though Mr. Smee did not 
completely understand the meaning of the fungus (at a time when it had 
not yet been described), yet it is clear that he saw the fungus on the 
insect, for some of the slides are scratched with a diamond and marked 
" fungi." As far as we know, no one but Alfred Smee had detected aphides 
in this peculiar state of disease, and we believe the condition is unknown 
even now to most entomologists. 

If any further proof had been wanting as to the identity of the 
bodies found in the potato with those in the aphis, it was supplied by the 
behaviour of Mr. Smith's secondary form of fruit when (after a whole 
year's rest) it germinated. Mr. Smith found on germinatien that the 
spores grew equally well on vegetable as on animal matter. 

It should be here observed that in Mr. Smee's book on the Potato Plant 
it will be seen that a chapter of that work is devoted to the various kinds 
of fungi which are to be found on diseased potatoes, and there are several 
lithographic plates illustrating this subject. On plate 3, fig. 7, is a 



254 



APPENDIX. 



[No. XV.c. 



drawing of a fungoid growth as observed by rny father on an Aphis 
vastat&r. On plate 4, amongst other kinds of fungi, is a parasitic fungus 
on the leg of the Aphis vastator. At page 77 of the same work he writes : 
" Doubtless the fungi exercise an important influence upon the progress of 
the disease, although they most assuredly have not the power of producing 
it. In fact, they never make their appearance until the potato plant has 
been previously damaged, and until some portion of it is already dead." 
And again, at page 122 : " There appeal's to me to be a very close relation 
between the injury committed by the aphides and the appearance of fungi ; 




FIG. 14. 

Resting-spores of the Potato Fungus within an Aphis at A, B, c, enlarged 20 diameters. The same 
resting-spores enlarged to 160 diameters on right-hand margin. (From one of Mr. Smee's 1845 
preparations.) 




FIG. 15. 



Resting-spores of the Potato Fungus within the cellular tissue of Potatoes. A. From the stem. 
B, c. From the tuber, enlarged 160 diameters. (From one of Mr. Smee's 1845 preparations.) 

for in numerous cases where I have observed fungi on the leaf, I have also 
noticed aphides on the plant. 

" It is also a singular fact that there is a word in the Hebrew language 
which means blight and mildew collectively, meaning thereby aphis and 
fungus." 

In 'Instinct and Reason,' p. 261, Mr. Smee deduced the following 
law of the ravages of the aphides : 
" 1. Aphides feed on living plants. 

2. Aphides come first upon healthy plants. 



No. XVI.] APPENDIX. 255 

3. Aphides suck the juices of plants after having pierced the cuticle. 

4. Aphides, by sucking the sap, impair its qualities. 

5. The sap, being injured, no longer performs its proper functions. 

6. The injured sap cannot properly nourish the plant. 

7. TJnnourished or imperfect tissue is apt to die. 

8. Partial death, following the attacks of aphides, may be local at the 
part affected, or remote ; that is to say, at a distance from the attack. 

9. Th,e total death of the plant may arise from the death of a part 
necessary to the whole. 

10. Wild plants, or plants in a condition calculated to develop fibre, 
will resist the attacks of the aphides. 

11. Highly cultivated plants, or plants not under circumstances 
favourable to the formation of fibre, ill resist the attacks of aphides. 

12. Plants are most injured by aphides at that period of their growth 
when they are required to deposit most fibre. 

13. Plants having their tissues damaged by aphides are more or less 
apt to propagate diseased tissue in all their future growths. 

14. The damage to the plant hastens the transformation of aphides to 
the perfect state. 

15. The attacks of aphides are almost invariably followed by the 
growth of fungi." 

In ' My Garden,' published in 1872, in the chapter on Fungi, Mr. 
Smee again puts forwards his theories on the subject of the potato disease, 
for at page 363 we find these words : " One form of fungus has attracted 
much attention of late years, as it has been represented to be the cause of 
the potato disease. From my own observations I believe that an aphis 
invariably punctures the leaf before the attack of the fungus. It is 
possible that the punctures of the insect allow the zoospores of the fungus 
which have ciliae to penetrate into the interior structure of the leaf, whence 
the mycelium spreads into every part of the texture of the plant. The 
fungus appears as a white powder to the eye, but when examined by a 
microscope the white patch proves to be a forest of little branching stems 
surmounted by oval bodies. It was called by Berkeley Botrytis infestans, 
and now the genus is named Peronospora." A figure of this fungus is then 
given. 



No. XVI. 

ELEMENTS OF ELECTRO-BIOLOGY; OK, THE VOLTAIC MECHANISM 
OF MAN, BEING A NATURAL SYSTEM OP MENTAL PHILOSOPHY. 
By ALFRED SMEE. Published February 1849. (From ' Chambers's 
Edinburgh Journal.') 

ME. SMEE not only confirms the conclusions of prior investigators ; he 
goes further, and endeavours to account for mental as well as physical 
phenomena. " The physiological matter," he observes, " required two lines 
of investigation : the one having reference to the ultimate structure of 
organic beings ; the other to the actions taking place in them. . . . By the 
electro- voltaic test, the mechanism of nervous actions has been determined. 



256 APPENDIX. [No. XVI. 

.... Whilst, however, electricity appears to me to be an important agent 
for the cure of disease, the cases in which it is especially valuable are com- 
paratively few ; and I myself regard the treatment upon general electro- 
therapeutic laws as more valuable than the immediate action of electricity 
itself." Thus much premised, it becomes necessary to describe the battery : 
the author states that " a central parenchyma, a peripheral parenchyma, 
connected together, and each supplied with bright arterial blood, are 
necessary for life. It follows that bleeding causes death ; that the supply 
of imperfect blood, such as carbonaceous blood, is insufficient for life. 
Moreover, a destruction of the central parenchyma, by injuring the brain, 
or of the peripheral, by destroying the body, instantly prevents the 
manifestations of the functions of animal life. . . . Now a central 
apparatus, supplied with a peculiar fluid, a peripheral apparatus similarly 
supplied, the whole connected together to form one universal total, is 
the apparatus desired; and such an apparatus we have in a double voltaic 
battery. If we abstract the proper exciting fluid from either end, or sub- 
stitute any other fluid, or destroy the structure either at one end or 
the other, or divide the connecting portions or wires, the effects proper to 
the apparatus will not be manifested, and the battery will be destroyed." 

That animal membranes and fluids may take the place of metallic 
plates, wires, and acids, is apparent from an experiment suggested by 
Liebig : a pile was constructed, " consisting of disks of pasteboard 
moistened with blood, of muscular substance (flesh), and of brain. This 
arrangement caused a very powerful deflection of the needle of the 
galvanometer, indicating a current in the direction of the blood to the 
muscle." On this Mr. Smee observes : " In the muscles we have a nitro- 
genized material which is acid ; in the blood we have a nitrogenized mate- 
rial which is alkaline; and the connecting part or nervous fibres are 

neutral The periphery or body, therefore, consists of the muscular 

substance, forming one pole ; the cutaneous tissues the opposite ; the 
serous fluid, which lubricates the parts, being the electrolyte. The whole 
forms a voltaic battery, which I shall hereafter consider in minute detail 
as the Peripheral Battery. 

" From the peripheral battery two series of connecting media proceed 
the first, the muscular nerves, or nerves supplied to the flesh ; the second, 
the nerves distributed to the cutaneous textures. If we examine the nerve- 
fibres in recently-killed animals, we find that they consist of fine tubes 
containing a fluid, and lined with a peculiar species of fat, which may be 
obtained, from their prolongation into the brain, in large quantities, when 
the part is soaked in alcohol for a long period. In this structure we have 
all the conditions necessary to insulation namely, a fine membranous 
tube lined with fat on its inner side, and containing a fluid in the centre ; 
and such a structure, as far as electrical properties are concerned, would 
be analogous to a glass tube containing liquid. 

" If we follow the course of the nerves, we find that they are prolonged 
to the brain, and end in the grey matter, where they again come in con- 
tact with a large quantity of blood-vessels. As the two series of nerves 
are not immediately connected in the brain, it follows, according to the 
laws of voltaic action, that another battery exists there, which may be 

termed the central battery For the integrity of the circuit, it is 

essential that the peripheral and central batteries be perfect ; that their 



No. XVI.] APPENDIX. 257 

connection be maintained ; and that a proper exciting fluid, or bright- 
arterial blood, be distributed to each part." 

Such is Mr. Smee's view of the living battery : we come next to his 
detail of the mode of action. For this he proposes the term Electro- 
Aisthenics, or a study of the various organs of sensation; and these 
are comprised under a new terminology : Opsaisthenics, of | sight ; 
Ousaisthenics, of hearing ; Gumaisthenics, of taste ; Bhinaisthenics, of 
smell ; Coenaisthenics, of touch ; and last, a sixth sense, Somaisthenics, or 
bodily feeling. Blood and nerve being present in a normal condition, the 
integrity of the various actions is assured. The eye, for example, is 
stimulated by light, leading to the inference of a photo- voltaic current. 
By means of various chemical solutions, the author establishes the fact 
artificially. " Upon exposing," he writes, " the apparatus to intense light, 
the galvanometer was instantly deflected, showing that the light had set 
in motion a voltaic current, which I propose to call a photo-voltaic circuit." 
The eye itself is tested by thrusting a needle through the choroid coat, 
and another into a neighbouring muscle, and passing the animal experi- 
mented on suddenly from darkness into light, when, if carefully conducted, 
a slight deflection of the galvanometer is the result. With the retina and 
blood of the choroid coat for the positive pole of the organ of vision, we 
find the iris and muscles of the eyeball and eyelids proposed for the 
negative. The phenomena of hearing are accounted for in a somewhat 
similar way; the poles being the auditory nerve and adjacent muscles. 
The specific action can only be determined by showing that sound effects a 
voltaic current ; and then how various are its modifications ! " The range 
of sounds appreciated by the human ear consists of about 12-j octaves, and 
perhaps extends to the 32nd of a note in those endowed with most 
perfect hearing. From this it follows that the human ear can distinguish 
about 3200 sounds ; and therefore it would require 3200 poles for that 
purpose." With respect to the organ of taste, Mr. Smee assumes the 
gustatory nerve as the positive pole ; and states that " we may make a 
voltaic battery in which the circuit shall be determined by savours, in very 
different methods. For instance, if we place a little persalt of iron, with 
two platina poles, in a Y-shaped tube, and then drop a little infusion of 
meat into one side, a voltaic circuit will instantly be produced." Next in 
order comes the sense of smell : and here the author supposes that odorous 
substances determine a voltaic current, by " facilitating the reduction of 
the highly-oxygenated blood ; " and that the olfactory nerves constitute 
the positive pole of the battery. He then proceeds to establish a sense of 
feeling, Coenaisthenics, as distinct from Somaisthenics, or bodily feeling. 
The former, he says, " is that feeling by which we derive certain impres- 
sions from without, and is never in our understandings confounded with 
a bodily feeling, or that sense by which we estimate the changes taking 
place within our own frame." Thus Ccenaisthenics may be excited by 
heat or cold, or by mechanical or other pressure ; and it is possible to 
imitate this effect by varieties of voltaic apparatus. But it would appear 
that, in experimenting on the living body, muscular power must be 
exerted before the galvanometer marks any trace of a current, as will be 
understood from Mr. Smee's statement. The subject under test was a 
" black rabbit, into the masseter of which," he observes, " I introduced one 
sewing needle, whilst the second was placed in the subcutaneous cellular 

8 



258 APPENDIX. [No. XVI. 

tissue. After leaving them for a few minutes, so that they might be in 
the same state, they were connected with the galvanometer without 
sensible deflection of the needle. After a few moments, the animal, not 
liking the treatment, made an attempt to bite my finger, and the deflection 
of the galvanometer instantly showed the mechanism of volition. I then 
gave the creature a piece of wood to bite, upon which it used all its power 
of mastication; and by catching the oscillation of the needle, a very 
powerful current was exhibited." 

We have thus, as clearly as the subject would well admit of, traced an 
outline of the author's peripheral battery : we now come to the details 
concerning the central battery. The author maps out the brain into 
different regions, separated by commissures : to the first, which repeats the 
impressions conveyed by the sensor, or aisthenic nerves, he assigns the 
term Phreno-Aisthenics : the second, or that by which combined impressions 
are retained, is Syndramics : third, the seeing of numerous objects, or 
hearing of numerous sounds, conveys but one idea of sight or audition ; 
the term for this mechanism is Aisthenic-Noemics : fourth, Syndramic- 
Noemics, for the ideas derived from combined senses : fifth, Pneuma- 
Noemics, for the notion of infinity : and lastly, to quote the author's own 
words, " we have to consider from whence the impulse is sent for the brain to 
cause action : a study which may be conveniently followed under the term 
of Noemic-Dynamics The details are exceedingly difficult to com- 
prehend in all their minutiae ; and yet I trust, by passing gradually from 
the simple to the complex, the leading features of this wonderful and 
intricate apparatus will be developed; and though the exemplification 
of the structure of a single brain would occupy many acres, I can exhibit 
examples of the mode of acting in the several departments by ordinary 
voltaic combinations. 

" The requisites of action, blood, and nerve, are found in sufficient 
abundance in the central battery or brain, as that organ is literally nothing 
but fibres and blood-vessels. The nervous fibres are so numerous, that no 
estimate could be given of the myriads of which the brain is composed ; 
in fact, the whole of the white matter of the brain is composed of nerve 
tubes." 

We believe it was Coleridge who once met a metaphysical serving- 
maid at a tavern in Germany, and was surprised by hearing her express 
her belief that every thought, idea, or impression received generated in the 
brain, remained there ever afterwards, each one stored up in a minute cell, 
and that good or bad memory would consist in the greater or lesser power 
of re-opening these cells and making use of their contents. If science be 
competent to determine the point, she was not far from the truth. Mr. Smee 
states : " When a man receives an impression, it is not evanescent, passing 
immediately away, but it is retained in the system to regulate future actions. 
Now, in voltaic constructions, it is not difficult to produce an action which 
shall influence future motions, and thus exhibit the effects of memory. 

" If we take two iron wires, and place them in a solution of argento- 
cyanide of potassium, and direct a voltaic current through them, silver 
would be reduced at that wire constituting the negative pole. The two 
wires would be ever afterwards in different electric relations to each other ; 
one would be positive, the other negative : and thus the effects of memory 
would be shown, and future actions regulated." 



No. XVI.] APPENDIX. 259 

As the nerve-fibres all terminate in the grey matter of the brain, these 
terminations are taken to be the negative poles. In this way the entire 
body is repeated in the brain, which organ again is supposed to be double, 
and yet so constituted, that two impressions made at different parts of the 
body convey but one idea to the mind. Under the head of Syndramics the 
author shows that the large size of the brain, with its multiplicity of fibres 
and vesicles, is necessary for the reception of the endless variety of 
impressions made upon that organ. When it is remembered that twenty- 
four changes can be rung on only four bells, we may form some conception 
of the myriads of changes to be effected in the 2000 or 3000 elements from 
each organ of sense. Mr. Smee considers that the brain " probably con- 
tains room for all the most important, when packed and arranged with the 
absolute perfection manifested in all the operations of nature." 

Without following each step of the investigation, we may state that 
each portion of the brain, as enumerated above, is severally treated of in a 
somewhat similar process of reasoning. A few of the conclusions at which 
the author arrives will serve to show the mode by which he builds up his 
theory. " The faculty of desiring," he observes, " resolves itself into a 
tendency to act, and is manifested when the central batteries are in a con- 
dition of excitement. Desire is to mental operations similar in all respects 
to tension in electric arrangements. When the desire is gratified, it ceases 
for a time. This phenomenon is similar to an exhausted battery in which 
arrangements exist for replenishing the exciting fluid ; as in this case, 
after a time, the battery would again become active, and exhibit tension." 

Again " I might dilate largely upon the mechanism by which 
pleasure and pain may be regulated; but it will be sufficient to give a 
single illustration of the most simple method in which, in the voltaic 
circuit, a strong impression might stop action. If a very minute piece of 
metal be placed in a glass of fluid as a positive pole, and a large current be 
passed through it, the metal would instantly be dissolved, and the circuit 
could not be completed by that road. What is true of solid poles is true 
of liquid poles, or intervening fluid; and where repair is constantly 
necessary, as we know it is in the brain, a strong impression would more 
than equal the ordinary supply, and thus action, through that combination, 
would be stopped. The effect upon the brain by a painful impression 
appears to amount to more than mere exhaustion, as the part seems 
damaged permanently, and the action through that road does not again 
readily take place." 

Next in order we come to Electro-Psychology, or " properties of the 
mind, deduced from the voltaic structure of the brain." This portion of 
the subject involves many important considerations and metaphysical 
speculations. Mr. Smee finds a process for every faculty, even up to the 
idea of immortality. " We know," he says, " from the very organization 
of our bodies, that we are immortal ; that God exists ; that there is virtue 
and vice ; a heaven and a hell. Man, in every age, in every climate, is 
compelled, by his very organization, to believe these first principles. . . . 
Electro-Noemics," he also explains, " should be the basis of jurisprudence. 
It shows that crime and pain should be associated together at the same 
time, because a stronger result would attend punishment inflicted the 
moment the crime was about to commence. Such a course is suitable for 
the lowest intellects, or persons of the lowest mental capacity. When, 

8 2 



260 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. 

however, good principles could be effectively instilled, they would control 
every action, and prove far more useful. 

" Electro-Noemics also show that to produce a strong effect in future 
actions, a strong impression must be left on the brain. From this cause 
punishment should be inflicted upon a man in a healthy, vigorous condi- 
tion, and neither ill-fed nor debased in energy ; otherwise the impression 
would be transient or evanescent, and would not deter the party from the 
commission of future crime. Electro-Noemics also indicate that slight and 
proportionate punishment invariably following crime, would have more 
effect than severer punishment, with less chance of its infliction." 

From the foregoing summary of Mr. Smee's book, it appears to con- 
tain matter interesting to other classes of readers as well as electricians 
and physiologists ; but we believe that the time is distant when legislators 
or philanthropists will discuss questions of social economy or politics in an 
electro-biological point of view. Still, we are willing to accept the work 
as another contribution towards an inquiry that has long engaged the 
attention of philosophers : biology, the science of life, is a subject of per- 
manent interest ; and if a writer do no more than provoke discussion, he 
may do that which will eventually elicit truth. 

We here close our notice of Mr. Smee's book with an enumeration of 
its further contents points of the investigation into which we have not 
thought it necessary to enter. They are Electro-bio-Dynamics, or the 
forces produced in the living body ; Bio-Electrolysis, or the changes taking 
place in the human body; Electro-Biology of Cells, or the relation of 
electricity to growth, nutrition, and circulation ; and last, Electro-Thera- 
peutics and Pathology. 



No. XVII. 

LECTURE ON ELECTRO-BIOLOGY; OR, THE VOLTAIC ME- 
CHANISM OF MAN. Delivered by ALFRED SMEE at the London 
Institution. (' The Lancet,' April 21st, 1849.) 

THE subject of my present lecture is Electro-Biology, which literally 
means neither more nor less than the relation of electricity to the vital 
functions. Now, systematic writers divide the vital functions into two 
great classes into those of animal life, and into those of organic 
life. 

The functions of animal life will particularly occupy our attention 
this evening; and for their consideration, we shall have to study the 
apparatus by which the animal receives impressions from, the external 
world, transmits them to the brain, registers them, combines them, and 
acts, not only upon the immediate impressions, but also upon those which 
it has received at former periods. 

For the manifestation of the functions of animal life, we require a 
central parenchyma or brain, a peripheral or body, the two being con- 
nected together by a peculiar tissue called "nerve-fibre;" and at both 
situations a proper supply of bright arterial blood is requisite, for the 
production of the phenomena of life. If we look to purely physical 



No. XVII.] APPENDIX. 261 

contrivances, we find that similar conditions are fulfilled by a double 
voltaic circuit. 

Z S 

S - Z 

If we abstract the proper exciting fluid from either end, or substitute 
any other fluid, or destroy the structure at one end or the other, or divide 
the connecting portions or wires, the effects proper to the apparatus will 
not be manifested, and the battery will be destroyed. The analogy between 
the mechanism of a double voltaic circuit and that of animal life is 
quite complete ; for if we pith an animal, an operation which separates the 
brain from the body, or remove the blood from the brain or from the 
peripheral part, or destroy the structure of either the brain or the peri- 
phery, action is stopped, and animal life ceases. 

You will at once say, doubtless, that man has no metallic wires, no 
plates ; and therefore, you may naturally ask, how far does that fact 
destroy the analogy which I have given to you ? It is not necessary, 
however, that the connecting portion should consist of metal ; and though 
all present are doubtless accustomed to see the electric telegraphic wires 
along the course of the railways, yet I have here upon the table an example 
of fluid telegraphic conductors, which answer as efficiently for the con- 
ducting of the voltaic force, as wires or metals. Those amongst you who 
reside at Upper Clapton, may remember some time since to have seen 
mysterious wires placed at an elevated situation round the Horse-shoe 
Point on the river Lea. At the time these wires were in that situation, I 
was experimenting upon the conducting power of liquids, and they were 
found to possess that property in an extraordinary degree. If the nerves, 
however, carry the voltaic force, they might perhaps be expected to have 
within themselves some means of insulation; and from my own micro- 
scopical examination of nerve-fibre perfectly fresh, I believe that a layer 
of fat exists in the interior of each primitive fibril, which would as effi- 
ciently insulate it as the gutta-percha of my tube does these artificial 
nerves which are placed on the table. 

In this double voltaic apparatus before you, in which the communi- 
cating portion consists of gutta-percha tubing, filled with acid and water, a 
powerful voltaic current is passing, but one which will yield no indications 
of its presence to ordinary voltaic tests. It is no easy matter, gentlemen, 
to prove the presence of a voltaic current in a fluid, and for a long period 
I did not know how to proceed to render its existence certain. However, 
at last I observed, if any metal capable of being oxidized was interposed in 
the path of a voltaic circuit, that one portion becomes positive, the other 
negative : and that this result is no fanciful chimera, I now show you an 
electro-metallurgic precipitating trough, in which a piece of copper is 
inserted between the positive and negative plates, and you will at once 
perceive that the portion near the negative pole has become acted upon 
or positive, the part nearest the positive pole has become negative, and 
has metallic copper deposited upon it. From this experiment I saw 
that a mode was afforded to me of ascertaining the presence of a voltaic 
circuit in any fluid. To give you a practical illustration of the value 
of the electro-voltaic test, I have introduced two copper wires into one 
of the gutta-percha tubes constituting my artificial nerves, and you will 



262 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. 

perceive that the moment I connect them with a galvanometer, deflec- 
tion ensues. Animal bodies consist solely of membranes and fluids, and 
therefore, in the order of my investigations, I had to study batteries 
solely composed of similar materials. This form of voltaic circuit is 
extremely difficult to investigate, though one is placed upon the table for 
your inspection. 

After I had thoroughly studied the electro-voltaic test, the time 
arrived to ascertain whether a voltaic current was actually passing during 
nervous action : for although the analogies which I have detailed were, to 
my mind, complete, yet analogy would be useless without the corrobora- 
tion of direct experiment. My first experiment was to introduce two steel 
needles into a rabbit : the first into the masseter, or muscle which enables 
the creature to masticate ; the second, into the subcutaneous cellular tissue. 
After two or three minutes, the creature, which was very tame, attempted to 
bite my finger ; the power of volition was sent to the muscle : this acted 
upon my electro-voltaic test, and you may judge of my inexpressible 
delight when the deflection of the needle showed to my mind the mecha- 
nism of volition. These needles being between the skin and muscle, the 
course of the voltaic circuit is clearly demonsti-ated to exist between these 
two points, and therefore each required a most minute consideration. 

Sensations are received by various organs which are destined to be 
acted upon by certain physical forces, as the eye by light, the ear by 
sound, the nose by odours, the tongue by savours, or the skin by heat 
or force. 

It is quite certain that if a voltaic circuit is generated in the eye, 
there must be such contrivances as photo- voltaic circuits ; that is, voltaic 
circuits in which light causes the evolution of electricity. In trying the 
experiment, I found that there was not only an extensive series of com- 
binations in which the sun's rays determine the generation of electricity, 
but that in one division light caused a positive voltaic circuit; in the 
second, a negative voltaic circuit. The table of these circuits will illustrate 
the manner in which these circuits are formed, by using solutions so 
arranged that one portion may be screened from the light, and the second 
may be acted upon powerfully by the sun's rays. 

NEGATIVE PHOTO- YOI/TAIC CIRCUITS. 

Mixed solutions of proto-sulphate of iron and nitrate of silver. 
gallic acid and nitrate of silver. 

oxalic acid and chloride of gold. 

ferrocyanate of potash and ammonio-percitrate of iron. 

ferrocyanate of potash and ammonio-pertartrate of iron. 

feiTocyanate of potash and potassio-tartrate of iron. 

POSITIVE PHOTO-VOLTAIC CIRCUITS. 

Mixed solutions of pernitrate of iron and red ferrocyanate of potash. 
bromine water, phosphorus water, and pernitrate of iron. 

These experiments I cannot show you this evening, because I cannot 
command the sun's rays to shine upon one side of my apparatus ; but 
from what I have stated, you will perceive that it is quite within the range 
of ordinary physical effects to have voltaic circuits set in action by light. 



No. XVII.] APPENDIX. 263 

Having developed photo-voltaic circuits, the eye itself next demands 
our attention ; and we find nerve and blood to be abundantly supplied to 
that organ. The electro-voltaic test is best applied by the insertion of one 
needle into the choroid, the second into the muscles of the eyeball, and 
I found a slight deflection of the galvanometer when a strong light was 
thrown into the eye, proving that vision was a voltaic phenomenon. 

The essential part of the organ of hearing is encased in textures of 
such extreme hardness, that it will probably be for ever prevented from 
being the subject of direct experiment. In the cochlea, I believe we 
may reasonably assume that the pitch of the note is determined ; and 
in the semicircular canals which are placed in the three orthogonal planes 
of a cube, physiologists are pretty generally agreed that animals learn the 
direction of sound. Blood and nerve essentials to voltaic action are 
here distributed, and no physical difficulty is presented to the probability 
of a voltaic circuit being determined by sounds. 

The nasal organ is, like the ear and eye, liberally supplied with blood 
and nerve-fibres. The voltaic circuit is easily demonstrated by the electro- 
voltaic test ; but the animal has an extraordinary repugnance to the 
operation, and you must be extremely careful not to be deceived by other 
secretions which are competent to set up the voltaic action. I can very 
readily show you that it is not at all difficult to form voltaic circuits, 
in which odours should excite the electric action. The tube which I hold 
in my hand contains two iron plates, which are separated by a mem- 
brane; and on each side pieces of sponge, dipped in very dilute muriatic 
acid, are arranged. Now, if ammoniacal vapour, which produces the 
most powerful action on the natural nose, be brought under one side 
of the diaphragm, you perceive that a very strong action of the needle is 
immediately produced. The experiment which I have selected is one 
which shows the result easily, rapidly, and in a very marked manner; 
but I should not think it a bold assertion to declare, that with a little 
trouble and patience I could exhibit voltaic effects, although perhaps to 
a less marked extent, with every other odoriferous body. 

When an animal tastes, the matter which contains the savour comes 
in immediate contact with the tongue, and is there probably absorbed. I 
need hardly state that the essentials for sensation, blood and nerve, 
are abundantly supplied to that organ. With respect to physical con- 
trivances analogical with the tongue, it is very easy to show voltaic 
force excited by savours ; and I have here a Y-shaped tube, containing 
a solution of pel-nitrate of iron, and two platinum poles, which exhibit 
by themselves no signs of electric action. As soon, however, as I drop 
a little infusion of meat into one side of the tube, you will instantly 
perceive that the galvanometer shows signs of action. There is no 
mystery about the meat, as sugar, or in fact any other savour, would 
have had a similar property in a greater or less degree. The direct 
examination of the tongue in the living animal affords unsatisfactory 
results, inasmuch as secretions in the mouth are very apt to give wrong 
results a circumstance which should be veiy carefully guarded against. 

The last organ of sensation to which I have to beg your attention is 
the skin. Now, by the ordinary sensor nerves, we derive two sets of 
impressions of somewhat different characters for instance, we are enabled 
to judge of impressions upon the body by either heat or force, or what 



264 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. 

may be termed Ccenaisthenics. "We are also enabled to judge of the 
changes taking place within our own body, which estimation may be 
more properly called Somaisthenics. By Somaisthenics we are enabled 
to estimate the slightest muscular motion, and, in fact, I cannot move 
my finger or my arm to even the slightest extent without having a 
perfectly distinct idea of the amount of motion produced. 

The skin is acted upon by variations of temperature and force : 
hence we have to inquire how far heat and force can be employed to 
set in motion the voltaic force. In experimenting upon the variations 
of temperature, I found a large series of thermo-voltaic circuits, which, 
curiously enough, are analogical to photo-voltaic circuits, inasmuch as 
heat, at various times, determines both negative and positive circuits in the 
same manner as light. I have here a negative thermo-voltaic circuit. The 
apparatus, as you perceive, consists of a Y-tube, containing sulphate of 
copper. Into each side of the tube a copper wire is placed, and you 
perceive that the moment I apply the heat of a spirit-lamp to one side 
the galvanometer is very strongly deflected, the heated side becoming the 
negative pole. 

When force acts upon the skin, I presume the blood-corpuscle is pre- 
vented from coming in contact with the termination of the nerve-fibre ; 
and I will beg you to bear this supposition in mind, as in a later part of 
this lecture I shall demonstrate to you, that if this supposition be correct, 
a voltaic circuit must be generated. My observations upon heat and 
force simply indicate that a thermo- or dynamo-voltaic circuit is an 
ordinary voltaic or physical phenomenon; but that by no means proves 
that in the living body the mechanism of feeling is voltaic. This, however, 
is an experiment easily shown, for we have but to introduce our electro- 
voltaic test into the cutaneous textures, when a powerful deflection of the 
galvanometer occurs whenever we pinch or otherwise irritate the skin. We 
thus find that the mechanism of all the sensations is voltaic, and, according 
to the laws of the voltaic test, the needle nearest the negative pole becomes 
positive ; that nearest the positive pole, negative. From direct experiment 
I should therefore infer, that the organs of sensation all constitute the 
positive pole of the peripheral battery. These inferences, however, must 
always be taken with a proper allowance for the complex character of the 
voltaic circuits in the body, or rather, I would say, for the complex 
materials of which the circuit is composed. 

Sensations are received by a certain definite number of sensor nerves, 
which constitute the only means we possess of obtaining a knowledge of 
the external world. The sensor nerves pass to the brain, and then come 
in contact with a highly vascular tissue, called the grey matter of the 
brain ; and I invite your attention to the very exquisite injections which 
I have made of that tissue, by means of the solution of carmine, and 
which will be exhibited under the microscope in the library after the 
lecture. 

Inasmuch as the sensor nerves come in contact with blood-vessels, it 
follows from voltaic laws, that a voltaic battery exists in the brain, which 
is opposed to that in the body, and by which the electro-biological circuit 
is completed. At this point we leave the regions of direct experiment, 
and we must deduce the mechanism of the central batteiy according to 
voltaic laws on the one hand, and the properties of the mind on the other. 



No. XVII.] APPENDIX. 265 

I infer that the sensations are simply repeated in the brain, nerve for 
nerve, action for action, and this first battery I term the sensation or 
aisthenic battery ; the second pole of this battery is probably connected 
with the corresponding fibre of the opposite side, by what anatomists call 
a commissure, and which I have illustrated on the table by a voltaic 
arrangement. 

We have represented to our minds, not only simple sensations, but ' 
also combined impressions : thus, whilst I am looking at all the parts of 
this theatre, one impression namely, that of a theatre is brought before 
my mind. There is no difficulty in obtaining this result by voltaic means ; 
and the mechanism by which I believe it to be accomplished I have termed 
the syndramic or combination battery. Thus, if we have three primitive 
nervous fibrils, A,B, C, they may be thus combined, AB, AC, SC, ABC. 
The diagram behind me illustrates this mode of combination ; and here, 
upon the table, I have the voltaic arrangement itself, and you cannot fail 
to observe that these wires, even on this very limited scale, begin to look 
like the interlacing which we observe in the brain. 

If we divide any* space into a certain number of squares, and give to 
each square a certain name or figure, it will be apparent, that by simply 
giving the names of the squares filled up with black, the word, or name, or 
symbol, would at once be accurately described. I have divided this piece 
of card into certain squares, and if I read you a certain combination of 
numbers, it would appear, at first, to give no definite idea ; but if you 
examine carefully, you will find that this combination of numbers brings 
out the word LIFE. This word, I find, has been very unfortunately chosen, 
but in reality I only selected the word in illustration of the principle of 
combination, because it only consisted of four letters, and because each 
letter was so formed that it very perfectly filled up square spaces. 

Ladies constantly in practice take advantage of this principle in their 
patterns of worsted work ; and it would be possible so to describe a 
picture, up to the very limit of our powers of sensation, that it might, 
from the description alone, be repeated in any country, and yet be a 
perfect facsimile. ^i.. 

I dwell thus long upon the syndramic or combination battery, 
because, in all probability, it constitutes a very large part of the brain. 
When we consider the large number of ultimate fibres in each organ of 
sensation, I do not think that we have reason to suppose every possible 
combination ensues ; and even with regard to ordinary sentient nerves, I 
think that such a universal combination would be embarrassing to the 
mind, and that the combination probably would only extend to the nerves 
of each separate region of the body. It is quite certain that we always 
know the specific sense by which impressions are learnt that is to say, 
that we know whether an idea has been derived from the eye, nose, mouth, 
or other organ of sensation. This resolves itself into one idea for a vast 
number of sensations, and is a state which can very easily be imitated by 
voltaic contrivances. I have upon the table a voltaic arrangement of this 
character, in which but one action is produced from one or all the 
combinations which exist in the syndramic battery. In some cases, ideas 
do not arise alone from action on one sense, but on two or more senses at 
one time a combination which I infer to occur in the syndramic-noemic 
battery ; and lastly, it is necessary to assume that all these last combina- 



266 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. 

tions of each specific sense are connected together into one total in the 
pneuma-noemic battery, from the opposed pole of which the dynamic or 
motor nerves spring. 

The situation of this important battery is somewhere in the base of 
the brain ; and I believe that in applying the electro-voltaic test in this 
situation, I have obtained deflection of the galvanometer. Let me, how- 
ever, speak .with the utmost caution upon this point ; for although I have 
tried the experiment over and over again, the animal is almost invariably 
destroyed, and in fact by the electro-biological maps * which are suspended 
upon the wall, you will at once perceive that an action here influences 
every nerve in the body, and thus may very readily destroy vitality. 

Now, what are the qualities of this last battery, which has but one 
impression for all the sensations of the body ? We find that it represents 
totality, and cannot be limited. It has therefore the properties of infinity, 
and gives to man his most exalted ideas. The ideas of soul, Gk>d, eternity, 
immortality, are obtainable from this battery, acting in conjunction with 
the lower batteries which I have already described. I regret exceedingly 
that the hour allotted for this lecture has now been so far spent, that I 
am unable fully to consider the properties of the mind deducible from 
the theoretical structure which I have developed upon voltaic laws ; but, 
under the circumstances, I feel bound to pass on to matters which can be 
elucidated by direct experiment. 

When the voltaic force is carried by the sensor nerves to the brain, 
it there causes some change of matter, by which polarity is ever after 
determined. This phenomenon is a physical result of the most ordinary 
kind ; for I have here a solution of argento-cyanide of potassium, with two 
copper poles, and before the lecture I passed a voltaic circuit from one 
pole to the second, by which I have effected a change of matter, and silver 
has been precipitated on one side. You will now see that, immediately I 
connect the two poles with the galvanometer, a strong deflection will 
ensue, and, to use a metaphorical phrase, the solution has remembered 
what I did to it. This expeiiment, which is but a sample of a class, must 
only be regarded as analogical, and is only valuable to show that voltaic 
electricity may produce effects which will ever after be appai-ent. 

In the arrangement of the nerves of the body, every sensor nerve is 
opposed to every motor nerve, and may excite it to action under certain 
circumstances. Now before I consider this subject in detail, I may state 
that the voltaic circuit, when it has the choice of two or more roads, 
invariably takes the easiest route, to the exclusion of all the rest. Here is 
an arrangement in which one of my platinized silver batteries is connected 
with two precipitating troughs, having the same distance to travel in both 
cases, but one is charged with sulphate of copper, the other with sulphate 
of zinc ; and yet with this trifling difference the entire current has passed 
through the sulphate of copper, to the exclusion of the sulphate of zinc, 
because copper was more easily reducible than zinc, and therefore offered 
a somewhat easier passage to the voltaic force. 

Upon examining the arrangement, I find that the experiment has been 



* Copies of the maps in Mr. Smee's ' Elements of Electro-Biology ' and 
The Mind of Man.' 



No. XVII.] APPENDIX. 267 

tried under the most trying circumstances, as I observe that the positive 
pole, in the sulphate of copper, is almost entirely dissolved. Notwith- 
standing, however, this, the law which I have developed and described in 
my ' Electro-Metallurgy,' still holds good, though I must confess that I 
should not have risked the demonstration of this extreme application of 
the law, which fortunately, by accident, has brought the matter more 
strikingly under your notice. 

From this law, we learn that the voltaic circuit would be completed 
through the nearest motor nerve, when any sensation was excited, unless 
obstacles were presented to its passage in that direction, or any circum- 
stances favourable to its passage through any other motor nerve were 
afforded in some more distant part of the Electro-Biological circuit, when 
even the furthest motor nerve might be excited to action. 

The action of every animal is determined, then, not only by the 
impression received at the moment, but by every other event which it has 
registered or remembered from the first moment of its life. 

The motor nerves, by which the circuit is completed in the body, are 
distributed, in man, to the muscles; in other creatures to the electric 
organs ; in others, to light-generating structures. The electric battery of 
fishes, as it is technically called, is composed of an enormous number 
of minute cells, supplied with blood-vessels. The nervous force, which I 
have already shown to be voltaic, acts at right angles to the direction of 
the cells, and there produces some change of matter which instantly 
causes a powerful voltaic current. 

I have here a glass vessel, containing a solution of ferrocyanate of 
potash, into the interior of which is placed a porous cell, containing a 
similar solution; a platinum pole is inserted into both vessels, for the 
purpose of connection with the galvanometer. Now, if I pass a voltaic 
current from the outside to the inside (zs), no change of matter takes 
place in one part, the prussiate of potash remains the same; in the 
other it is converted into the red prussiate. From this change one side 
becomes strongly positive to the other, and you perceive that so powerful 
a current has been generated, that the needle completely swings round 
the instant connection is made with the galvanometer. I have only 
shown this experiment upon one cell; but it must be manifest to you, 
that as every cell adds a certain amount of force, it simply requires a 
number to make a battery as powerful as that of an electric eel. The 
artificial electric eel I have myself constructed, in a vast variety of 
ways, which I have not now time to consider. 

The muscular substance is ultimately divisible into primitive fibrils, 
which consist of a sheath, called the sarcolemma, containing, in the 
interior, a peculiar matter, which, during the act of contraction, becomes 
wider and shorter ; and this contraction is caused by a change of matter, 
produced by the voltaic force, carried through the motor nerves. 

I have here a strong piece of gut to imitate the sarcolemma, and into 
the interior of this I have placed fluid and pieces of platinized silver. 
Upon the outer side of this gut is placed a strong piece of amalgamated 
zinc, so that the moment connection is made between the zinc and silver, 
gas is evolved, which renders the bladder wider and shorter, and thus 
moves this bar of wood over a space of three or four feet. 

The conditions of the natural muscle and artificial muscle are per- 



268 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. 

fectly analogical. Both possess a power only limited by the strength of 
the materials. In both cases, the power acts over the short end of the 
lever, and therefore at a mechanical disadvantage. In both cases it is a 
great power moving over a small space. I, however, can move my natural 
muscles much quicker than I can my artificial muscle ; but you must 
please to remember that my organs are not competent to construct a 
machine having such fine tubes as we find in the ultimate muscular 
fibrils ; and for want of this delicacy of construction we sacrifice the 
speed and rapidity of action observable in the perfection of Nature's 
operations. 

Anxious to lay before you the leading experiments and deductions of 
this truly delightful subject, I have delivered this lecture with the utmost 
possible rapidity, and yet I see around me multitudes of experiments which 
I fear that I shall have no time to explain, as the hour has already passed. 
By your applause, I understand that you wish me to proceed ; but as some 
of my audience live at considerable distances, I will only detain you by 
calling your attention very briefly to a few other points. In the first 
place, we find that man consists of a double voltaic circuit, and therefore 
we ought to consider the nature of the changes taking place in that voltaic 
circuit. Now, there are strong reasons to suppose that hydrogen and 
carbon act as the positive pole, and become changed in that capacity into 
water and carbonic acid. It would only require one thirty-second the 
quantity of these materials to produce any result that it would of zinc ; 
and I can assure you, that many a time have I sought diligently and care- 
fully for a voltaic circuit which should be efficiently excited by carbon or 
coke as a positive element ; and I can promise to the fortunate discoverer 
of such a combination the delight of being able to supersede the steam- 
engine, and the pleasure of successfully generating the voltaic light. 
Then, and not till then, will voltaic batteries be employed to the exclusion 
of every other means of generating force. Although up to the present 
time I have not been able to use coke or carbon for a positive pole, I have 
succeeded in making a variety of circuits, in which substances composed 
of carbon and hydrogen form powerful voltaic circuits ; for instance, 
sugar and nitric acid, oxalic acid and chloride of gold, ferrocyanate of 
potash and nitric acid, constitute examples of this class of batteries. 

The voltaic circuit in animals is exactly balanced, and does not act 
without some impression to set in motion the electric current. The 
arterial or oxygenized corpuscles are admirably adapted for this purpose, 
and I have here an experiment which will illustrate their functions in a 
very beautiful manner. The glass vessel which I hold in my hand contains 
a solution of common salt, and two iron poles are inserted into it. Now 
in this state everything is balanced, and no voltaic force is exhibited. If I 
take an artificial corpuscle made of animal membrane, containing a little 
pernitrate of iron, and bring it in contact with one of the iron poles, 
a very powerful deflection of the galvanometer ensues, indicating the 
presence of a current. When, however, one corpuscle is placed against 
each plate of iron, the effect is again balanced, and no voltaic circuit arises. 
These experiments well indicate the functions of the blood-corpuscle in the 
living body ; for when one is in contact with each end of the nerve-fibre, 
no current can take place, but the moment one is removed, or acted upon 
by heat, light, or other forces, a strong voltaic battery is formed. 



No. XVII.A.] APPENDIX. 269 

I would gladly have occupied your attention with a few remarks 
upon the relations of electricity to organic or cell-life. By a modifi- 
cation of the aggregation of cells, a plant produces leaves, stalks, flowers, 
or roots, which every gardener knows is, to a certain extent, as much 
under human control as digging, raking, or hoeing. During the pre- 
valence of the potato malady, I subjected the plant to every form of 
electricity, and in every possible manner, over long periods, without 
obtaining any result. 

There is, however, one remarkable circumstance to be noticed with 
regard to the relation of electricity to cell-life, for I have found that 
electric currents stop the circulation of the blood, as suddenly as a stop 
does a watch when put down ; and this entire stoppage of the circulation 
extends not only to the blood-corpuscle, but also to the lymph-corpuscle 
which creeps so slowly along the side of the vessel. 

If we take a review of the functions of animal life, we find that all 
sensations, the registration of impressions, thought, action, and other 
phenomena of animal life, are voltaic effects, and solely obedient to 
physical laws : and to the idea of the performance of these functions we 
assign the idea of vitality. Life, therefore, is one word used to signify a 
number of changes. It is no independent reality apart from the matter 
which exhibits these phenomena. Neither is it an imponderable attached 
to matter ; nor is it an all-pervading ether, or anima mundi, as some 
philosophei's would have us suppose. Life, mind, memory, reason, thought, 
come from organization, are purely physical phenomena, and cease at death. 

Man, however, is immortal. Man, at all times and in all regions, has 
believed in his immortality. Now that which is mortal can have no 
relation with that which gives to man his immortality. That which is 
infinite must not be limited ; time must not be confounded with eternity, 
matter with space, the body with the soul, nor material actions with God. 

Electro-biology, then, leads us no less to infer, than religion 
commands us to believe, " that the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 
we shall be changed." 



No. XVII.A. 

PRINCIPLES OF THE HUMAN MIND DEDUCED FROM 
PHYSICAL LAWS ; BEING A SEQUEL TO ELEMENTS OF ELECTRO- 
BIOLOGY. By ALFRED SMEE, F.R.S. 

PREFACE. 

SOME years since, M. Roret, the distinguished French publisher, did 
me the honour of causing to be made a translation into the French lan- 
guage of my ' Elements of Electro-Metallurgy,' in which it met with as 
signal a success as the original edition in this country. 

As soon as M. Roret received my work on Electro-Biology, he also 
caused it to be immediately translated, and kindly wrote to me to know 
whether I desired to make any additions to the English text. 

After a careful consideration, I determined to write a short epitome 
of the Principles of the Human Mind, deduced from Electro-Biology, to 
form an Appendix to that work. 



270 APPENDIX. [No. XVII.A. 

But, after the remarkable kindness with which the work has been 
received in this country by my friends and the public, I feel that it would 
be a want of courtesy, if not an act of ingratitude, to allow further 
remarks upon the same subject, however unimportant they may be, to 
appear in a foreign country before they were issued in the English language. 

I apprehend that the time is fast approaching, when no other 
system of mental science will be acknowledged but that which is based 
upon physical laws and the structure of the brain ; and if my researches 
shall be found hereafter to have contributed to the development of true 
philosophy, I shall indeed feel more than amply rewarded for the hours of 
anxious but delightful labour spent in its development. 

7, FlNSBTJBY ClBCFS, 

Sept. 18th, 1849. 

Knowledge of the external World. 

1. Our ideas of the external world arise, primarily, from an action 
upon the ultimate nervous fibres of the organs of sensation, by the specific 
stimulus competent to excite each organ of sensation respectively. 

2. Each primitive nervous fibril is called a unit; the repetition of 
units, Number. 

3. That which is competent to act upon these nervous fibrils is called 
Matter. 

4. Whenever matter undergoes any change which renders it appre- 
ciable to our senses, it is said to evince Force. 

5. The definite combination of nervous fibres excited to action, deter- 
mines the character of the idea presented to the mind, such as form, posi- 
tion, magnitude. 

6. Each combination may be expressed by a word or cypher, and 
forms a definite image. The use of words is called Language. 

7. The sum total of all the possible combinations of the ultimate 
nervous fibrils, excited to action, comprises all the possible images which 
can be represented to the mind. 

8. Inasmuch as the possible combination of all the nervous fibrils is 
immensely numerous, so are the images which may be reflected in the 
mind immensely numerous. 

Senses. 

9. An idea is represented to the mind, when any one or more of the 
filaments of either specific organ of sensation is excited without reference 
to the definite image thereby produced. 

10. This solitary idea, derived from the filaments of the eye, is termed 
Vision ; of the ear, Hearing ; of the nose, Smelling ; of the palate, Tasting ; 
of the skin, Feeling ; and probably, from the nerves communicating the 
changes occurring in our own body, Personality. 

Combination of Senses. 

11. The perfect knowledge of any object is obtained by impressions 
received by the sum of the organs of sensation. 

12. But as matter may exist without exciting all the organs of sensa- 
tion at one time, we determine the combination of senses which has 
concurred to give us the knowledge of any external object. 



No. XVII.A.] APPENDIX. 271 

Infinity. 

13. An idea is represented from the excitement of one or all the 
nervous fibrils of any organ of sensation indiscriminately. This idea is 
infinite, inasmuch as it is indivisible, incapable of addition and represents 
totality.* 

Time. 

14. Our knowledge of the external world at any given period is the 
sum total of the images from all our senses. 

15. These images represented to the mind are perpetually changing. 

16. When images change, one remains ; the other changes perhaps 
several times before the first changes. The relation of these changes to 
each other is termed the time of their occurrence ; that which changes the 
least frequently is said to be of the longest duration. 

Cause. 

17. In the change of images, when one specific image never appears 
without a similar antecedent, and the matter in the external world which 
gave rise to the first image set in motion the second the antecedent 
image is said to cause the second image. 

18. The mind finds great difficulty in distinguishing between con- 
comitance and cause, because the matter which produces an antecedent 
image may not set in motion the matter which produced the second image. 

Pleasure and Pain. 

19. When images of the external world are produced with a certain 
intensity, the idea of Pleasure is excited ; when with a greater intensity, 
the idea of Pain.-f 

20. The transition from Pleasure to Pain being sudden, not gradual, 
it follows that the nature of the action on the brain, and consequently of 
the ideas, is different. 

Memory. 

21. An image once formed in the brain produces an indelible impres- 
sion, and may at any future time recur. This property is called Memory. 

Consciousness. 

22. When an image is produced by an action upon the external senses, 
the actions on the organs of sense concur with the actions in the brain ; 
and the image is then a Reality. 

23. When an image occurs to the mind without a corresponding 
simultaneous action of the body, it is called a Thought. 

24. The power to distinguish between a thought and a reality is 
called Consciousness. 



* Infinity is sometimes confounded with its hyperbolical use in the sense of 
endless number. 

f Every action of our lives is either pleasurable or painful ; and thus we 
perceive how vastly the former state preponderates over the latter. 



272 APPENDIX. [No. XVII. A. 

Instinctive Ideas. 

25. Several ideas must necessarily co-exist, giving rise to compound 
ideas always existing in the brain : thus personality and infinity give us 
the idea of the Soul ; pleasure and infinity, of Good ; pain and infinity, of 
Evil ; cause and infinity, of God ; time and infinity, of Eternity ; infinity, 
pleasure and time, of Heaven ; infinity, pain and time, of Hell.* 

26. These instinctive ideas are not produced by the immediate action 
of external influences, but have their origin in the construction of the 
brain, or organ of thought. 

27. Instinctive ideas belong to the higher class of mental images ; and 
there is no reason to suppose that a more simple idea is implanted in the 
human species. In the lower animals, however, it is apparent that either 
other images exist, which guide the creatures to perform their operations 
as the bird to build the nest, the bee the honeycomb; or that the 
nervous system is so constructed, that the creature is led to perform 
specific acts under some definite excitement. 

Reflection. 

28. When images already implanted in the brain, which possess many 
points in common, continually reappear, the party is said to be reflecting. 

29. During reflection, the influences of the external world to produce 
new images are entirely, or to a great part, neglected. 

30. By reflection, ideas may be combined so as to form general laws. 

31. By reflection, general laws may be applied to specific instances, or 
images may be analysed into their component parts. 

Judgment. 

32. When an idea is represented to the mind, it either accords or 
discords with other ideas previously received, or with general laws resulting 
therefrom, or with the moral law. The determination between this con- 
cordance or discordance is called Judgment. 

Imagination. 

33. Man has the power of uniting two or more antecedent images, or 
the parts of two or more antecedent images. By this power, a totally new 
image is formed, and hence it is called Imagination. 

34. Observation is the basis of fancy ; and the novelist is fruitf ul only 
in proportion as he stores his mind with natural images. 

Action. 

35. Man acts by electricity, which is set in motion through the 
muscular structures, whereby contraction ensues, and parts of the body 
are moved. 

36. Action may be produced by the immediate influence of the 



* As these instinctive ideas are simply thoughts, and cannot be proved by 
our external senses, the mind may be led at times to deny the reality of their 
existence. Revelation, however, declares their truth, and thus compensates for 
the natural weakness of man. 



No. XVII.A.] APPENDIX. 273 

external agents upon the body, which give rise to a new image in the 
brain; and action may also be produced by the recurrence of a former 
image. 

Specific Action. 

37. The mind is one and indivisible ; and thus, the particular muscular 
movement which the electrical force determines is not only regulated by 
an immediate image, but by every other image which has at any former 
time been implanted in the brain. 

38. Pleasure and pain regulate all actions : hence the particular move- 
ment which is determined arises from the pleasurable or painful character 
of all former images ; as animals, as well as human beings, seek those 
actions which are likely to be pleasurable, and eschew those which are 
likely to be painful. 

39. But the action determined in any particular instance may be 
painful for the sake of obtaining greater pleasure at future periods ; and 
the idea of obtaining infinite pleasure may allow of the most intense 
immediate pain. 

Hope and Fear. 

40. The idea of future pleasure is called Hope of future pain, Fear. 
The government of mankind is conducted by exciting Hope and Fear. 

Desire. 

41. When a tendency to act exists, it is called Desire , and always 
exists, more or less, when a being is in good health, and in a state free 
from fatigue. 

Virtue and Vice. 

42. All actions in the higher generalizations would give the idea 
either of infinite pleasure or of infinite pain. Actions which concur with 
those which lead to infinite pleasure are called Virtuous ; and those which 
lead to infinite pain are called Vicious. 

Moral Law. 

43. The moral law, being infinite, is competent to control all actions. 
It is therefore important that it should be frequently and strongly 
impressed upon the human mind. 

Volition. 

44. The resultant of the force of an immediate stimulus and of all 
former ideas implanted in the brain is termed Volition. 

Free Agency. 

45. A man is born a fi-ee agent ; but after images are once implanted, 
he is compelled to act from the ideas existing in his brain. Hence, could 
we but tell the exact ideas which any human being possessed, it would be 
practicable to foretell his line of action under any defined circumstance. 



274 APPENDIX. [No. XVII.A. 

CERTAIN SPECIFIC IDEAS. 
Life. 

46. The term Life is assigned to the idea which the miud forms of the 
capacity of an organized being to perform its functions. 

Death. 

47. The term Death is assigned to the idea which the mind receives of 
an organized being incompetent to perform the vital actions. 

Mind. 

48. The term Mind is assigned to the general idea of any action of the 
brain, which is a part of the organization of man. An idea is the term 
assigned to any specific action in the brain. 

Organization. 

49. Organization is the term assigned to the construction of a being 
to adapt it to perform certain functions. 

Future State. 

50. The mind has constantly represented to it the idea of a personality 
which will exist infinitely. 

51. Whilst, however, the idea exists, we have no power to learn the 
properties of infinity ; and hence we cannot define the nature of the state 
in which we shall live hereafter. 



DISEASED STATES OF MIND. 
Insane Ideas. 

52. Whenever an idea appears in the brain, which is neither instinc- 
tive nor is due to external causes, nor is deduced by the ordinary operation 
of the brain, it is said to be an Insane Idea. 

53. When this idea is continuously the same, the party is said to have 
a Monomania. 

54. When various images appear and vanish indiscriminately, the state 
is called Incoherence ; and when this state is combined with more or less 
unconsciousness, it is termed Delirium. 

55. The danger of insane ideas depends upon the distinctness with 
which the idea is impressed upon the brain; for it will determine the 
party to act in proportion to the power with which it is impressed. 

56. To the violent actions arising from strongly implanted diseased 
ideas, the term MANIA is given; and the violence of the Mania is pro- 
portionate to the power of the delusion. To the individual it is an 
exaltation of pleasure. 

57. When, from the delusion, the patient is in continual fear, he is 
said to be melancholy ; and it is probably, to the individual, an exaltation 
of pain. 

58. When a fixed insane idea exists in. the mind, the party cannot be 



No. XVII.A.] APPENDIX. 275 

said to be partially deluded; for, inasmuch as the mind is one and indi- 
visible, it will control all actions.* 

59. A strong moral impression may counteract an insane image, as a 
party may be kept from doing wrong, by feeling assured that it will lead 
to present or future inconvenience to himself. 



DEFECTIVE STATE OF MIND. 
Idiotcy. 

60. When the structure of the brain is congenitally defective, so that 
it cannot perform all its normal actions, the party is said to be an idiot. 

Loss of Memory. 

61. Sometimes the power of memory is intermittent, or is totally lost, 
as after the frequent recurrence of epileptic fits. 

Fit*. 

62. Any interval of unconsciousness, except sleep, is called a Fit. 

Fatuity. 

63. When from loss of memory, or want of power in the brain, the 
functions of reflection or judgment are not perfectly performed, the 
individual is said to be fatuous. 

Loss of Sensation. 

64. Sometimes the power of receiving impressions from the external 
world is diminished or lost, as in blindness, deafness, &c. 

Paralysis. 

65. When parts of the body do not move by volition, they are said to 
be paralysed. 

Senile Imbecility. 

66. In old age the brain loses its power to receive new images, to- 
restore bygone impressions, to connect different images, or to apply 
general laws to specific instances. That which ennobles the man has 
passed away ; the outward form remains, but the inward structure has lost 
its power to act. Childhood again ensues not to acquire new ideas, but 
to forget those before implanted. All that is beautiful or desirable in this 
world has passed away the brain has lost its power the mind ceases the 
very existence of the man is unknown to himself, till death gives rise to a 
new life, and discloses that new and glorious state in which our organiza- 
tion teaches us that man will be immaterial and immortal. 

. Varieties of Races. 

67. As individuals differ in their organization, it follows that they 
differ in their capacity to perform various acts ; and we may presume that 



* As a matter of jurisprudence, it has been held by the Lord Chancellors, in 
the House of Lords, that the mind cannot be said to be partially deluded r 
inasmuch as it is one and indivisible. 

T 2 



276 APPENDIX. [No. XVIII. 

the mind, being one of the functions of the body, is of varying power in 
different individuals. 

68. The observations which apply to different individuals, apply with 
greater force to different races. 



No. XVIII. 

ON THE PRODUCTION OF CHOLERA BY INSUFFICIENT 
DRAINAGE. WITH REMARKS ON THE HYPOTHESIS OF AN 

ALTERED ELECTRICAL STATE OP THE ATMOSPHERE. By ALFRED 

SMEE, F.R.S., Surgeon to the Bank of England, &c. (From the 
'Lancet,' September 1st, 1849.) 

WHEN pestilence passes over the land, and consigns to a premature grave 
alike the old and the young, it behoves each in his respective depart- 
ment to endeavour to trace out the proximate cause, and strive to dis- 
cover some antidote to so direful a calamity. 

The experience of all the world proves that the lowest districts, the 
banks of rivers, and natural watercourses are the situations in which the 
malady chiefly resides. Two physical hypotheses may be framed upon this 
fact : firstly, that the cholera is caused by a poison which gravitates to 
those situations ; secondly, that in those situations poison is generated. 

If, however, cholera be produced by a heavy poison subsiding from 
the atmosphere to low situations, we should have cholera exhibiting itself 
in all low districts, and the weight of the air would be absolutely greater 
in such localities. This fact has not been proved, otherwise the Board of 
Health could always determine, by weighing the atmosphere, where cholera 
was likely to appear, and, when existing, when it was likely to depart. 
The hypothesis of a heavy poison being the cause of cholera is a generaliza- 
tion embracing many facts, but not based upon any direct proof. 

In low situations, however, drainage is manifestly more or less imper- 
fect. The effete materials of the human frame are not quickly removed 
from the sphere of human residences, and thus can act more detrimentally 
than in higher and drier localities. Nothing is more hurtful to animal 
life than the effete matter of the same animal, and disease more or less 
serious is sure to occur when any creature is exposed to the influence of 
the worn-out materials of its own frame. 

Nature has provided that ordinarily the most rapid diffusion of 
gaseous emanations should take place throughout the atmosphere ; and 
with such force does this diffusion occur, that Professor Graham has 
beautifully observed, that it would be as easy to stop the mountain tor- 
rent as to impede the equable diffusion of different gases. 

Every person must have observed that sometimes this diffusion is 
quicker than at others, and that the same source will sometimes exhale 
the most pestiferous stench, whilst at others no offensive odour will be 
discoverable. This difference is clearly attributable to the exhalation 
passing more rapidly into the atmosphere at one time than another. 

Now all cholera cases appear in situations where the victims have 



No. XVIII.] APPENDIX. 277 

been exposed to the exhalations of drains, cesspools, &c., or to the equally 
hurtful products of the lungs and skin of other individuals. Hence these 
facts may be expressed hypothetically, by assuming that from some cause 
the diffusive power of the atmosphere is at the present time below the 
average ; and hence, wherever noxious exhalations exist, there the disease 
is manifested according to the susceptibility of the unfortunate individuals 
exposed to their influence. 

The non-diffusive hypothesis meets eveiy case with which I am 
acquainted in this great metropolis; for, from having carefully studied 
the official facts communicated by the Registrar-General, together with 
other observations, I have been surprised how constantly cholera has 
appeared upon the lines of the great sewers. 

The Fleet ditch, which is almost a river in the magnitude and length 
of its course, has furnished abundance of cases, and its immediate neigh- 
bourhood many more, from causes which I shall presently detail. This 
sewer runs its course along the lowest ground between two hills, Ludgate 
Hill on the one hand, Fleet Street on the other. When the sun shines 
upon the hills, the air becomes warmer and specifically lighter, and hence, 
according to immutable physical laws, a circulation of air laden with the 
hurtful gases is produced in a direction from the river to these streets, and 
with a magnitude of current directly proportionate to the imperfection of 
the trappings of the sewers. This life- destroying blast is perceptible to 
the olfactory organs of the most indiscriminating person. 

The cholera does not necessarily follow water, because no case has 
occurred along the New River, which is a pure, pellucid stream, running 
at a considerable altitude along the hills, and which therefore does not 
imbibe the drainage in the neighbourhood. At Highbury Yale a foul 
ditch runs, and there, I am informed, the malady has occurred. From 
these facts we learn that water without a sewer is harmless. 

The non-diffusive theory, which I submit is competent to account for 
the fact of cholera, shows that the public have incurred a grave responsi- 
bility for not having removed effectually the excrementitious matter from 
London, as it points out that every death from cholera is a homicide which 
might by proper management have been prevented. 

The most indifferent person must have observed that noxious vapours 
do not diffuse with equal rapidity at different times, and a question 
naturally arises, how far electricity may be supposed to influence that 
state. When particles of matter are electrified similarly, they repel each 
other ; when dissimilarly, they are mutually attracted. As far as gases are 
concerned, I do not know of any experiments which bear upon the matter ; 
and so far as my own attempts have at present gone, I do not feel at 
present satisfied with the results. During the prevalence of cholera the 
electrical state of the atmosphere has been neutral ; and when thunder- 
storms have occurred, the electrical disturbances have only been manifested 
for a few hours. This neutral state is probably most favourable for the 
non-diffusion of gases.* It is probable this non-diffusive state does not 



* Connected with this subject, we must not forget the presence of ozone 
in the atmosphere. It has the properties of a highly-oxygenated substance, 
and hence would enter into combination with mephitic bodies. This curious 
substance is produced whenever electricity is passing through water or aqueous 
vapour, and is, perhaps, identical with the peroxide of hydrogen. 



278 APPENDIX. [No. XVIII. 

altogether depend upon electrical conditions, as we have neutral electricity 
for days together when cholera does not appear. 

The absence of diffusive power may not be for all gases equally ; and, 
if subsequent experiment confirm this idea, a cause for each specific epi- 
demic may be ultimately ascertained by the medical practitioner having 
proper recourse to chemistry and natural philosophy. 

Within the last month I have had many inquiries upon the possibility 
of the disease being due to the direct action of electrical states upon the 
human frame. Upon this matter I can only say that, having kept small 
animals under electric tension for weeks together, I never could observe 
any very appreciable effect ; and I do not believe myself that electricity in 
any form could give rise to cholera. With respect to the statements 
which have appeared in the papers, of the non-action of an electrical 
machine, under French auspices, when the cholera raged, I may state that 
it is contrary to my own experience, and so opposed to physical laws that 
it partakes rather of the romantic than the real. 

With respect to the effect of electricity as a remedial agent for 
cholera, there are not sufficient physiological reasons for supposing that 
in any form it can be applied with great success ; yet, as a stimulus, 
Dr. Peacock has employed it usefully, and, by using the intermittent cur- 
rent of the electro-magnetic or magneto-electric machine, the asthenic 
and dynamic pole of the great peripheral battery may be excited to action, 
and, according to the experiments which I have elsewhere described, the 
entire capillary system of the surface and extremities of the body would be 
stimulated, and the blood thereby drawn off from the interior. There 
would be no difficulty in keeping a cholera patient under electrical tension, 
by simply placing the legs of the bed on blocks of glass, and connecting 
the bed with the conductor of an electric machine ; but, upon physiological 
grounds, I do not apprehend that much benefit would arise in so severe a 
disease as cholera. 

I invite the attention of our profession to the non-diffusive theory, for 
its universality or its incorrectness can only be proved by a multitude of 
observers. At present, it appears to me to express the greatest number of 
facts, and to be the most useful for practical application, as it declares 
that cholera may be avoided by pure air, proper ventilation, and perfect 
drainage. 

The practical man is never contented without inquiring into the best 
mode of action. It is clear that in a few days we cannot alter our 
gigantic sewage works, and therefore the best preventive which can be 
adopted is to cause the flow of such a great abundance of clear water that 
the poison may be retained in the sewers. Clear water contains oxygen 
to combine with the noxious products, and it is found that, up to a certain 
state, water takes from the atmosphere, gases to which it has an affinity, 
instead of yielding them to it, to spread abroad the poison. 

The supply of water in London must in a great measure be procured 
from the New River, though thousands of tons might probably be thi-own 
into the sewers by employing the waste labour of workhouses and prisons 
to pump water from such wells as already exist. 



APPENDIX. 279 



No. XIX. 

ON BINOCULAR PERSPECTIVE. From the Second Edition of 
ALFRED SMEE'S book, 'The Eye in Health and Disease,' and from 
other notes, &o. 1854. 

"!N the last edition of this book, I stated that we know that it is 
impossible for any painter to delineate a picture in the manner in which 
we see it with both eyes, because two eyes give us a view of three sides of 
a cube, and he can paint but two. I conceive it possible, that for objects 
at moderate distances, painters may, in some cases, take a certain liberty 
with perspective and depict the two perspectives ; but it certainly cannot 
be attempted with near objects. 

" Notwithstanding the assertion of the impossibility of delineating a 
picture as seen with two eyes, which was the correct opinion of the time, 
certain abstract considerations, with which I need not trouble my readers, 
induced me to believe that such a delineation was more practicable than 
at first sight was supposed ; and after much thought and studious experi- 
ment, I trust that I am enabled to submit the laws by which painters may 
represent, to a great extent, objects as seen with both eyes, and conse- 
quently in all their natural beauty. 

" In studying the phenomena of binocular perspective, it must be 
remembered that the two eyes, being placed at two inches and a half apart, 
give a different perspective view ; and, as in nature the eyes are directed 
to the same point, it follows that the same part of the same object must be 
the same point of eight for the two perspectives. 

" The picture in a binocular perspective drawing really consists of 
two drawings overlapping each other, the point of sight in both being 
the same. By this overlapping, lights and shades, tones and the effect 
of breadth, are produced, such as the eyes really observe in nature. 

"The following may be regarded as the leading rules or laws of 
binocular perspective, which may be useful to the painter as a guide in 
the production of the drawing, or as a test for the detection of error when 
it has been made. Much judgment and skill are no doubt requisite for 
the painter so to construct his picture that the effect of solidity may be 
suggested to the mind rather than hardly delineated ; and, as far as I can 
judge, from the observation of paintings of some of our great artists, they 
have, as an effort of genius, really depicted objects as seen with two eyes." 

For example, he found that " Paul Veronese most skilfully obtains the 
effect of solidity by the suggestion of a line more or less broken to conceal 
his artifice, outside the limbs of the figures which he has represented." My 
father never entered a picture-gallery without testing the pictures by his 
laws of binocular perspective ; and when he was at Rome in 1868, he made 
some interesting notes of the pictures in the Vatican, in which he found that 
the great masters produced in somewhat different manners the principles 
of binocular perspective, although the laws for the same were unknown to 
them. Thus, in Baracci's 'pictures, there is " an indefiniteness of edge ;" 
in Guido's there is " a gradation of tint an undefined half-tone ;" in 
Correggio's, "the edge is double ;" in Paul Veronese's, "the second line is 
half pencilled in ;" in Andrea Sacchi'e, " half-tone outside edge ;" in Bar- 



280 



APPENDIX. 



[No. XIX. 



tolomeo's, " hairy edge ; " in Caravaggio's, " shade over line, colour ; " in 
Perugino's, " hard outline ; " in Guercino's, " indeterminate outline," &c. 

My father was greatly interested in this celebrated collection of 
pictures in the Vatican, and spent considerable time over them. Unfor- 
tunately the above notes, with the sketches attached to them, were con- 
signed for care in the writing-case of my travelling bag, and have 
remained there forgotten for several years. Lately, in thinking over 
events in my dear father's life, the remembrance of his visit to the 
Vatican and of these notes suddenly flashed across my mind. Had he 
lived, he would probably have again brought forward his theories on 
Binocular Perspective, with these notes fully set forth as illustrations. 
He gives eleven rules or laws on Binocular Perspective : 
" 1. The point of sight appears the same to both eyes as to one. 
" 2. Small objects of less width than the distance between the pupils 
of the eyes, when placed in a plane before the point of sight, are increased 
in width and rendered either wholly or in part transparent, according to 
their distance from the eyes. 

" 3. Large objects, in a plane before the point of sight, are increased 
in width, and their lateral edges become transparent and allow objects to 
be seen through them. 

" 4. Objects or parts of objects on either side the point of sight are 
increased in width, and the edges become transparent. 

" 5. Objects in a plane, behind the point of sight, are seen in two places, 
but indistinctly, because they are out of focus, and because their images 
fall upon the internal surface of the retina at a greater or less distance 
from the point of distinct vision. 

" 6. Solid bodies or parts of solid bodies, appearing transparent, 
modify the tints of objects seen through them. 

" 7. Bodies of a light colour throw a light veil over objects seen behind 
them. Bodies of a darker colour throw a dark veil. 

" 8. Colours of different character, as yellow and blue, when super- 
imposed according to the preceding law, produce a tint different from 
either, and yet not the colour which would arise from their admixture. 

"9. In cases where objects or parts of objects are widened and 
rendered transparent, the breadth of the distinct 
or solid part is narrower than when viewed by 
one eye alone. 

" 10. Small objects placed some distance 
before the point of sight and near the eyes 
appear in two places, but one impression is 
generally neglected. 

" 11. Parts of objects becoming transparent 
have frequently much light reflected from them, 
and where the image is seen in two places some- 
times the light is only reflected from one image. 

" The annexed figure will serve to give an 
illustration of the interpenetration of objects 
when seen by two eyes, and will also explain the 
FlG - l6 - geometrical law on which it is founded. It will be 

seen that by two eyes we are enabled to see a 
greater amount of the back object than would be discernible by one eye 




No. XIX.} APPENDIX. 281 

alone. This amount may be called X, and the quantity denoted varies 
directly as the base AB, and the line CD, and inversely as the line BO. 

By similar triangles AB:BC::X:DC; therefore X = AB x PG 

BC 

an equation which gives the value of X in every position. 

" In studying these principles nothing has more astonished me than 
the fact of the colours which overlap to the two eyes not giving the com- 
pound colour, which would result if they were mixed and seen by one eye. 
In all those parts of a picture where colours overlap, much skill will have 
to be exercised by the painter, as the appearance in nature is that of a 
film or coloured gauze overlapping other colours, and the result is not the 
ordinary compound colour. 

" One of the few artists who have seen Turner paint, stated to me that 
in painting the near objects he lightly touched with his brush and then 
placed his finger over it, whereby he produced a semi-transparent streak 
instead of a line. This streak enabled the more distant objects to be seen 
behind it, and thus the conditions of binocular perspective were in part 
fulfilled. 

" Another curious phenomenon connected with binocular perspective 
is observable in the case of a landscape viewed through a window, for in 
that instance the vertical bars become either wholly or partially trans- 
parent, and the objects behind them are seen with a shade over them. 
The horizontal bars retain their solidity and obscure all the parts they 
shade. This phenomenon occurs when the head remains in its ordinary 
position ; but when the head is turned so that the eyes are one above the 
other, the horizontal bars become transparent, and the vertical bars retain 
their solidity. It is requisite for the observance of these effects that a 
distant object should be the point of sight, and not the window bar. 

" According to the laws which have been detailed, we observe that 
objects behind the point of sight are seen in two places, although indis- 
tinctly, from being out of focus, and from being seen at the lateral part of 
the retina. From these facts it is apparent that a painter should depict 
the objects in the background of a neutral or tertiary tint and very indis- 
tinct. In nature the object directly viewed is alone seen in perfection, 
and he that would carefully study nature should contrive that his prin- 
cipal subject should be the brightest in colour and most distinct in detail, 
when it will stand forth in all its beauty. 

" The outline effects of binocular perspective may be readily obtained 
by placing two candles at 2j inches apart, from flame to flame, and ex- 
amining the shadows which are produced upon a white screen. It will 
then be seen that objects near the screen will have a light shade at each 
lateral border. Small objects will, at a greater distance, appear double ; 
and the double images being superimposed, a body different from either 
will be produced. A finger held horizontally across the flames will have 
the end prolonged by its shadow, but it will be observed that no change 
takes place at the upper and lower edges. By this experiment only the 
outline effect is produced; but I cannot too highly recommend to the 
painter to shut himself up with two candles and study these effects. 

" As a rule, the image of an object in two places is not appreciated 
entirely, because one object falling upon the margin of the retina is 
scarcely visible. These considerations curiously bring before our mind 



282 APPENDIX. [NO. xix. 

the fact, that even the apparent imperfections in the construction of the 
parts of our body are necessary for the highest integrity of their functions. 

" It occurred to me that, if the laws of binocular perspective were 
correct, pictures might be obtained by photography which should repre- 
sent the appearances observed with both eyes. The conditions required 
for binocular sun-pictures are similar to those required for binocular 
drawings or paintings. As it is requisite that there should be one point of 
sight for the two perspective drawings, considerable nicety is required in 
the production of binocular photographs, as the slightest deviation from 
correctness produces doubleness or great distortion. To obtain a binocu- 
lar picture of any body, the camera must be employed to take half the 
impression, and then it must be moved in the arc of a circle of which the 
distance from the camera to the point of sight is the radius, for about 
2 2 inches, when a second picture is taken, and the two impressions, con- 
jointly, form one binocular picture. 

" There are many ways by which this result may be obtained. A spot 
may be placed in the ground glass, on which the point of sight should be 
made exactly to fall; the camera may then be moved 2 1 inches and 
adjusted till the point of sight falls again upon the same spot on the 
ground glass, when, if the camera has been moved in a true horizontal 
plane, the effect of the double picture will be perfect. 

" For obtaining this motion in the true arc of a circle, Mr. Hensman, 
the engineer to the Bank of England, recommended me to adopt a car- 
riage with two movable axles, with wheels of which the front pair is a 
little smaller than the back pair. The idea of the construction is, that 
the carriage should revolve on two cones which ran round a circle, and the 
diameter of the circle is determined by the distance between the larger 
and smaller wheels and the convergence of the axles. In practice, on a 
surface adjusted by spirit-levels, it answers well, and probably may be 
found useful in some cases. At Messrs. Home and Thornthwaite's photo- 
graphic room, an apparatus has been fixed, which allows the motion of the 
camera to be made perfectly horizontal in the arc of a definite circle. 
From experiments which we have made, I rather give the preference to 
pictures made with the camera in continual motion, backwards and for- 
wards, for 2 inches, as the picture is, in this case, even more beautiful 
than if the two images were superimposed. This experiment is very 
remarkable, for who would have thought formerly, that a picture could 
possibly have been made with a camera in continual motion ? Neverthe- 
less, we accomplish it every day with ease, and the character of the like- 
ness is wonderfully improved by it. 

" Whenever a solid body is depicted in binocular perspective, a suitable 
background should be arranged behind it to exhibit the interpenetration. 
If this be not considered, the picture has an increased width with double 
edges, and does not exhibit that glorious delicacy of shading which Nature 
gives to objects seen with both eyes. In all cases of binocular perspective 
we must be careful not to imitate Nature by endeavouring to depict an 
excessive range of distances. In practice, the eye can only focus objects 
within a certain range : hence in pictures we still take Nature as our guide 
when we only depict a moderate range. 

" It is not easy to predict the extent or the importance of this mode 
of drawing, because an extensive experience is required before artists can 



No. XX.] m APPENDIX. 283 

judge of these matters. From the best consideration which I can give to 
the subject, I am inclined to believe that, with regard to paintings, it will 
reduce to rule the methods intuitively practised by our great and honoured 
masters ; and, with respect to photographs, it may be possibly found to 
supply the desideratum so long required of delineating a delicately-shaded 
picture, instead of, as at present, a hard perspective drawing. 

" In viewing these binocular representations, the best effect is produced 
by examining them with one eye when they are tolerably close ; or, if two 
eyes be employed, by viewing the i*epresentation at such a distance that 
we are not enabled to detect the flatness of the picture, and thus discover 
the cheat. How far we may take liberties with the distance between the 
two sights, for the camera, will be a subject of future investigation under 
various circumstances. 

" The light falling upon the edges of bodies obliquely is reflected to a 
considerable extent. This effect must be carefully noted by the painter, 
as this phenomenon much increases the appearance of the rotundity of 
bodies. In this case the light is the colour of the source from which it 
arises. Sometimes it is white light ; in the evening it is red. 

" In the cases of bodies in a plane either before or behind the point of 
sight, which from their size and position are seen in two places at once, 
the impression of one is generally neglected. In these instances it does 
not follow that the light reflected from one image should be reflected from 
the other, because, from the position of the eyes, the position may not be 
congenial for reflection in both cases. The effect of light is extremely 
difficult for the painter to represent, because white or yellow paint is a 
very poor substitute for the glorious light of day. 

" The investigations which I have conducted upon binocular perspective 
have afforded instructive and interesting views of the mental image which 
results from the combined physical pictures of both eyes. To represent 
this mental image so that it may be visible at one glance, has been a work 
with me of much thought ; and its practical application has been a deduc- 
tion from my electro-biological speculations." 



XX. 

ON EDUCATION. LETTER OF ALFRED SMEE ADDRESSED TO THE 
COMMITTEE OF INDUSTRIAL INSTRUCTION IN 1853. 

I have very carefully considered the various questions transmitted 
by the Committee of Industrial Instruction, and beg to submit the 
following remarks in reference to the matter. 

1. It appears to me in the highest degree desirable that the endowed 
grammar schools should teach subjects more congenial with the spirit 
and requirements of the present time. Having been educated at St. 
Paul's School, I can confidently state that many important branches of 
knowledge now neglected could be taught in addition to the mere routine 
of Latin and Greek. Childhood is that time of life which is most suited 
to receive knowledge by the medium of the senses, and hence an exclusive 
application to grammar, Latin and Greek, does not comport with the 
natural aptitudes of the individual at that period. To meet this im- 
portant defect, it would be desirable to add to the present usual course of 
study the elements of Arithmetic, Chemistry, Physics, and Natural History. 



284 APPENDIX. [No. XX. 

Up to twelve years of age, I believe that subjects of instruction 
should, as far as possible, be brought tangibly before the child ; for every 
object which is impressed upon the mind, and every property of which it 
is made cognizant, remains till the latest period of life, and may give rise 
hereafter to important results. Simple facts brought tangibly before the 
senses may be regarded as units of knowledge, and I must submit that 
such units should especially be regarded in any scheme of sound education 
for early childhood. After twelve, the mind well stored with units may 
be taught to combine and arrange them, and at that period the best and 
soundest theories should be the subject of education. 

I much fear that those who seek to improve the endowed grammar 
schools will be met with the usual cry of " No room for such subjects 
here." To those who employ this old and hackneyed phrase, I will reply 
that it is impossible to confine a child's attention to Latin and Greek for 
more than half the period that he is usually employed at school, and that 
such additional subjects would be an agreeable diversion for his mind, 
would command his attention, and render his scholastic studies far more 
agreeable to him. 

A child not only likes to derive knowledge by the medium of his 
senses, but he is also fond of doing some work for himself. This desire 
should, as far as possible, be gratified ; and a child may practise drawing, 
be taught to make pieces of mechanism, and even conduct some of the 
more 'simple chemical processes. 

The number of masters even at our first grammar schools is extremely 
insufficient. In some cases a single master has the charge of as many as 
forty boys, a number far too many to insure a satisfactoiy tuition ; and 
thus the addition of masters for other subjects could not fail to be 
extremely beneficial. 

The introduction of additional studies into the endowed grammar 
schools would probably require not only the force of public opinion, but 
even would demand a legislative enactment, so far are the managers 
wedded to bygone practices and antiquated customs. 

2. With respect to the Mechanics' and Literary Institutions as now 
constituted, they seem rather to be places of amusement than institutions 
for study. If we take for example the London Institution, which is noted 
for its wealth and its means for instruction, we find that at the present time 
not one single educational course is provided. Its laboratory is tenantless 
and useless, and, with the exception of an evening lecture twice a week 
during the winter months, its magnificent theatre is unused. 

It appears to me that all these institutions should have professors to 
direct regular educational courses adapted to the young, and occasionally 
that special evenings should be set apart for the illustration of new 
discoveries and principles, in order that those engaged in business may be 
fully made acquainted with all the scientific novelties of the day. The im- 
provement of these institutions in many cases depends upon the managers ; 
in too many instances the managers regard the post as an honour to be 
coveted, for a certain rank which it is supposed to bestow on account of 
their sitting in a more prominent seat, and by placing amusement before 
instruction theyforget the real educational objects for which such institu- 
tions are destined : but there appears to me to be no valid reason why 
regular systematic instruction should not be supplied at the Mechanics' 
and Literary Institutions. 



No. XX.] APPENDIX. '285 

3. The same class of boys are sent to the grammar schools as to the 
proprietary schools : hence their requirements demand a similar education. 
For instance, an education which is good for King's College would be good 
for St. Paul's, Westminster, or Merchant Taylors', as the boys in each case 
belong to the middle class of society. 

Different classes of society manifestly require, in many respects, a 
very different education ; nevertheless, amongst all classes, there are many 
points in common. A knowledge of the properties of numbers and of 
physical forces is as useful to the poor as to the rich. The master who 
orders the steam-engine to be manufactured should understand its 
several parts and the power which it is likely to possess. The engineer 
who designs the steam-engine must of necessity be fully acquainted with 
its principles and properties. The man who works the steam-engine should 
equally understand the principles upon which it is constructed ; and the 
mechanic who makes the engine would be the more trustworthy servant if 
he possessed the intelligence to comprehend the nature of his work and 
were fully aware of the purposes for which each part was destined. 

A knowledge of the properties of matter and of physical forces should 
be taught to every child, irrespective of station or future occupation. It 
cannot fail to be useful in every grade of life, should be regarded as the 
foundation of secular knowledge, and taught at every school. 

In this country, the people, as a mass, seem to be greatly destitute of 
an acute appreciation of colour and form. To acquire a knowledge of this 
character, Nature must be studied. The beautiful flower, the elegant plant, 
or the symmetrical proportions of animated life must be observed, and their 
appearance fixed upon the mind at an early period of life. 

The appreciation of beauty is as suitable for those in a lower as for 
those in a higher station of society ; yet the difficulties presented to the 
observation of Nature in the environs of a large metropolis are far beyond 
what might have been anticipated. 

Many a time I have seen troops of police scouring the woods in the 
vicinity of London to prevent an invasion of property by an entomologist 
catching an insect, or a flower-seeker gathering a primrose. 

At every school there can be no reason for the omission of botanical 
and natural history rambles under the surveillance of competent persons. 
At medical schools it is the practice of the professor to take such rambles, 
and the day is much enjoyed by the pupils. Independently of the pleasure 
derivable from such rambles, which cannot fail to endear the master to the 
pupil, the mind would be thereby led not to despise the beautiful because 
it is common ; and would be trained to admire and to study the form and 
colouring of Nature, the only reliable guide for the artist or designer. 

Even with respect to works of art, the mass of the people have the 
greatest difficulty in obtaining copies of approved examples, or of viewing 
approved devices; and consequently their education on this score is 
extremely defective, and their taste extensively vitiated. "When I first 
prosecuted my electro-metallurgic researches, I thought that some system 
might be adopted to enable the public to obtain copies of the beautiful 
coins or medals of antiquity ; but I found that although the cabinets and 
museums were freely open to me, yet they were practically closed to the 
working man. I have on several occasions been employed on the part of 
the Crown to give evidence against false coiners, who might have earned 
a large remuneration if they had had subjects upon which they might have 



286 APPENDIX. [No. XX. 

exercised the same amount of skill. In matters of art, description is but 
a poor apology for the reality, and therefore copies or models should be 
placed in every school. 

Great mischief appears to arise from an inaccurate use of words and 
language. Frequently a sufficiently definite meaning is not attached to 
the word, as the mind is not sufficiently trained to regard the object 
signified. At grammar schools the pupil is always treating of words 
instead of things, and from want of definite ideas the pupil is much more 
exposed to the influence of quibbles. I believe that half the discussion and 
difference of political and religious opinion depends upon an imperfect 
appreciation of the meaning of words, depending upon their being so much 
used without relation to the things signified, and in this respect we 
frequently observe a deficiency in the education of the clergy. 

A great defect of the schools for all classes of children in this country 
is their exclusive attention to the mere book information of man, to the 
neglect of the real knowledge obtainable by the study of Nature. 

My professional duties have given me ample opportunities to observe 
different classes of society. I need hardly make any remark upon that 
degraded class whom we occasionally see, and who scarcely know their 
name, age, and abode, or in fact possess much more intelligence than an 
animal. Am DTI gat, mechanics we frequently observe a strong desire to 
obtain knowledge as far as possible, but they have slender means for 
learning the rationale or theory of the means which they employ in their 
respective trades. They read to a certain extent, but they can only afford 
to purchase the cheaper books of the day ; and amongst my dispensary 
patients I frequently observe signs of moderate intellectual culture, which 
doubtless would have been further developed had they only the advantage 
of better means for improving themselves. 

Amongst the middle classes I have frequently been astonished at 
observing, not only that there is a total absence of books of any kind, but 
also that there are no indications of any pursuit of knowledge of any kind 
whatsoever; and frequently, in answer to my interrogatories, I have 
discovered that they have no occupation whatsoever besides that of their 
monotonous business. The good effect of a variation of study is well 
manifested amongst the gentlemen employed in the Bank of England ; for 
almost all who have obtained the higher posts are distinguished for their 
general knowledge, and amongst them may be found historians, musicians, 
painters, botanists, floriculturists, mechanicians, political economists, 
microscopists, entomologists, numismatists, and in fact students of many 
other branches of knowledge. With those who have no occupation I have 
often enforced additional studies as a healthy exercise to the mind. 

The middle classes in many cases are deficient to a great extent in the 
appreciation of general principles, and thus when called upon to govern, 
even to a slight extent, are often much perplexed by not having been 
trained to control their action by fixed and immutable laws, and are 
bewildered by a conflict between feeling and principle. 

The upper class follow the bent of their inclination with respect to 
their occupation and pursuits, and I have known persons in their private 
capacities alternate the most manual labour with the most intellectual 
studies. In respect of intellectual culture by the study of Nature and 
Art upon the highest philosophical principle, they are frequently greatly 
in advance of those in a less exalted state. 



No. XX.] APPENDIX. 287 

To remedy the defects observed amongst diffei-ent classes, an example 
must be afforded by extensive changes in the system of education pursued 
at the endowed schools ; for though it is impossible to overrate the high 
tone of feeling and valuable traditional rules for the guidance of conduct 
which pervade these noble establishments, yet we cannot forget that the 
scholastic learning there followed belongs to a bygone age, which, though 
well suited to that period, yet is not adapted to the present state of human 
knowledge. 

4. Enterprise in this country is always competent to adapt the supply 
to the demand, and therefore I myself am inclined to question the necessity 
of issuing cheap books, maps, models, diagrams, or apparatus. At the 
same time there appears to be a great want of well-arranged devices of this 
character, so designed that they can be made readily and cheaply. On 
this account I believe that it would be a great desideratum to employ the 
highest talent to write books or make patterns from which manufacturers 
might construct their models. In all probability private printers and 
private manufacturers would make from a pattern more cheaply than 
could be effected in Government or other central workshops. The cost of 
the copyrights of educational works, or of models, is of very little moment, 
as any expense could be afforded for so great a national object. 

5. It appears to me that great care must be taken in issuing general 
rules for education, for fear that an undue preponderance be given to 
particular directions of study. It is manifestly important that all classes 
should be instructed not only by words, but through the medium of their 
senses. After a general preliminary education great care should be taken 
that every department of knowledge be carried to its fullest extent by 
different persons, and that no superiority or bias be given to one science 
over another. There is always a fear in a central governing council that 
one party may get a preponderance, when sore mischief may be caused ; 
but, with a due regard to abstract and practical knowledge of all kinds, 
plans of education may be very conveniently set forth for general 
guidance. 

6. 7, 8. The question of prizes must be regarded as one of extreme 
difficulty and delicacy. No doubt the substantial prizes awarded exclusively 
to successful cultivators of classical learning do positive injury to the 
advance of human knowledge, and, in my opinion, a decided preponderance 
of substantial prizes should be bestowed upon the successful prosecutors of 
real learning over that of the dead languages. When we take into con- 
sideration that our forefathers bestowed their prizes on the students of 
the dead languages at a time when they were a key to every form of useful 
knowledge, should we not regard their intention by diverting some part 
from their comparatively useless pui-pose to the furtherance of the various 
branches of human knowledge for which they were doubtless instituted, 
and which ever must fill a full page in the annals of the world ? 

Whenever prizes are given the student should be taught to estimate 
knowledge for knowledge itself, to prosecute science for science itself, and 
on no account to regard the prize as the end to be attained. Upon the 
whole, I am myself adverse to the liberal use of prizes, for we find that 
even the philosophers of the Royal Society are apt to display considerable 
weakness in the disposition of the royal medals. 

An excessive stimulus to competition appears to me calculated to urge 



288 APPENDIX. [No. XX. 

men always in some way to try to vie with their neighbours, and ill-feeling 
is produced by continual attempts to have some slight advantage or 
superior rank. From boyhood it will be desirable that knowledge should 
be cultivated for a more noble end. The infant should be taught that 
knowledge itself is above all considerations of wealth or station ; that it 
should be valued for its own intrinsic worth and for its positive power of 
conferring happiness upon the possessor, independently of any accidental 
adjuncts as wealth, position, or power, which may or may not be its 
accompaniments. The infant should be taught that knowledge itself 
confers upon the individual an inexhaustible source of pleasure which will 
remain through every vicissitude of life. 

I perceive another reason for employing prizes very cautiously. To 
obtain a prize the pupil is led to give up his own mode of thought and 
substitute that of his examiners. In any extensive system the minds of 
the pupils are led to esteem knowledge for the opinion the world has of it, 
instead of being encouraged to follow and practise that more severe frame 
of mind which judges of knowledge by knowledge, tests theories by facts, 
and gives that moral courage which enables the man to put forward and 
maintain his well-considered opinions against those of all the world 
besides. For this reason I fear that an extensive central system of prizes 
might retard knowledge, and produce one general public opinion and a 
universal mediocrity. 

The answers given in competing for a prize are not of necessity a test 
of the opinions of the writer. The sceptic may give answers inf erring his 
belief, and lately the medical profession was greatly scandalised by a 
gentleman answering all the questions upon the treatment of disease, by 
describing the most approved medical practice, whereas within a few hours 
he announced himself as a subscriber to the absurdities of Hahnemann. 

I can speak from experience that those who work for prizes not only 
seek a knowledge of the subject, but make a practice of ascertaining the 
modes of thought of the examiners, and a competitor sometimes obtains 
success by confining his studies to those parts of the subject which he 
considered would probably be selected for examination. 

In the medical profession it is notorious that the questions likely to 
be asked at the public examinations are narrowed into a small compass, so 
that whilst a student makes himself acquainted with his profession he also 
frequently considers it necessary to make himself acquainted with the 
knowledge and peculiarities of his examiners. 

If, however, prizes are not carried to great excess, I believe that they 
are useful. I am, however, inclined to believe that far greater benefits may 
arise from affixing a certain designation to a certain standard of knowledge, 
as I have observed that the designation of M.A. and of F.R.S. are esteemed 
by the public as indications of a certain standard of knowledge. 

Substantial prizes, as fellowships, scholarships, and annuities, I should 
greatly prefer to honorary prizes, as being better adapted to promote the 
desired end. Being of intrinsic value, they would in most cases be free 
from the objections which appear to be attached to purely honorary 
distinctions. 



No. XXI.] APPENDIX. 289 

No. XXI. ^ 

AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES 
OF EDUCATIONAL LECTURES, IN CONNECTION WITH THE LONDON 
INSTITUTION. "With a Diagram showing the Faculties of the Human 
Mind at different Periods of Life. Delivered by ALFRED SMEE, Esq., 
F.R.S., on Saturday, October 14th, 1854, on commencing the season 
of Educational Lectures. 

YOUNG LADIES AND YOUNG GENTLEMEN, 

The proprietors of the London Institution, which was founded by the 
munificence of the merchants and bankers of London for the promotion of 
literature and science, have resolved to give up this theatre to your use 
upon two afternoons in each week ; in order that you may advantageously 
partake of the inestimable benefits of instruction from well-qualified 
teachers, and perfectly enjoy the delightful pleasure which arises out of 
the knowledge of natural science. 

I have been requested by my fellow-managers to address you this first 
afternoon on the general use and value of those scientific subjects which will 
be hereafter more particularly considered by the eminent lecturers who 
have been engaged to instruct you ; and I must also ask you to give me 
your careful attention, and to think of nothing but that which I am saying, 
whilst I detail what you can learn and what you cannot learn by coming 
here and listening with your best attention to the different lectures as they 
are delivered. 

You are not all of the same age ; and you will observe that these 
lectures will not be attended by the young only, but occasionally even by 
such as are advanced in years, and sometimes by those who are still in 
the prime of life. I shall endeavour to show you the parts of the different 
subjects which will most interest and most instruct my different hearers ; 
for rest assured that each of us, from the time we leave the cradle till we 
recline in the arm-chair of extreme old age, has different powers, different 
capabilities, and different duties to perform. At no period of life can any 
neglect be allowed, without that neglect producing a corresponding injury 
at every subsequent period ; and a loss of time and opportunity now, will 
be attended by a loss of honourable position and of happiness hereafter. 

Now, my young friends, at your age you have all your senses acute 
in the highest degree. Nothing can escape your bright sharp eyes, if 
rightly used. Your ears, also, are endowed with the highest faculty of 
hearing, and your tender skin with feeling. In these respects you will 
have great advantages over the older part of the audience. Here you 
excel ; and it is your duty to take full advantage of the acuteness of your 
senses. Sharp, however, as your eyes are, you will find that to appreciate 
all the beauties of nature, you will want much additional and artificial 
assistance. You will first require the aid of the microscope to help you, 
since for seeing the lovely down upon the butterfly's wing, covering and 
protecting the wing-case, like the slates on a house, it is absolutely 
necessary ; and you will find that when you have strained your eyes to the 
utmost upon a drop of water, and yet have seen nothing, the microscope 
will reveal to you thousands on thousands of living beings, enjoying their 

U 



290 APPENDIX. 

life, and, even in their inconceivable minuteness, completely fulfilling 
the object for which the Creator of the universe in His wisdom de- 
signed them. 

By the kindness of Mr. Thornthwaite, I am enabled to show you an 
elegant microscope which he has devised for the purpose of exhibiting 
microscopic objects to a number of persons at the same time. For illumi- 
nating the specimens, he uses a spirit-lamp, which is fed by oxygen gas 
from a tube instead of atmospheric air. This intense flame renders a piece 
of lime incandescent ; and, by means of a microscope constructed like a 
magic lantern, a magnified representation is shown upon a white screen. 
By it you are enabled to see the curious structure of the foot which is 
given to the spider for arranging the threads of his web : by it a thin slice 
of common wood is shown to be built up of cells aggregated together ; a 
drop of blood is found to contain the most curious organized bodies, called 
corpuscules; and a section of hard bone exhibits a structure rivalling the 
most beautiful carpet. In every object in nature a perfection is contained 
which requires the aid of the microscope to reveal, for after unaided vision 
has exhausted its powers of appreciation, a new world is brought to light 
at every increase of magnifying power. 

As you require the microscope to reveal the hidden treasures of ter- 
restrial bodies, so the telescope must be used to show you the wonders of 
the heavens. Saturn, to the naked eye, looks but an ordinary star ; but I 
have here a drawing of the glorious form which it assumes when seen by 
the assistance of the telescope constructed by Mr. De La Rue, one of the 
managers of this institution. 

In your intercourse with each other, you will find that you are not all 
equally endowed with the same powers of perception by the senses. Those 
who are more highly favoured should bestow a kind consideration upon 
those who are less blessed. You have nothing to lose by aiding each other 
to acquire knowledge, but everything to gain by promoting and exercising 
this social kindness. 

Your period of life philosophers may call the AISTHENIC, for now your 
senses are in the highest perfection. They will never grow better, though 
they will gradually and imperceptibly become worse, till extreme old age 
may terminate " this strange eventful history," and you may be left 

" Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything !" 

You have all seen the little child reposing upon its mother's lap, 
admiring its fingers, as it moves them, with delight and astonishment. 
This is one of the first acts of observation; but you are no longer 
children, and your desire for new objects has increased with your age ; and 
you now excel in the power which you have to observe different objects 
with intelligence, and to fix their images in your minds for ever. Some of 
you who are yet young are not so quick of perception as those who are 
older ; yet the period of youth is the period for obtaining lasting impres- 
sions. Although you have the power of vision, you scarcely can tell how 
many things you may have seen, which you have never noticed. How 
many of you know that a bee has four wings, or that a common fly has 
but two ? And I will dare venture to assert that many of you have never 
noticed that a beetle has six legs ; but yet you all have seen bees, and flies, 
and beetles hundreds and hundreds of times. 



No. XXI.] 



APPENDIX. 




292 APPENDIX. [No. XXI. 

The advantage of the knowledge of objects, and the proper name to 
be assigned to each, is very great. At these lectures you will find that a 
large number of objects, embracing also a very great variety, will be shown 
to you. Excellent and accurate drawings will likewise be exhibited, so 
that you may be led to form a correct idea of the appearance of those 
different objects which are presented to your notice. I must here tell 
you of some instances where persons have not known objects when they 
have seen them, in order that you may judge for yourselves as to the use 
which it may be to you to come here and pay attention to these lectures 
which the proprietors have so liberally provided for you. A working man 
went to the gold diggings and found a beautiful stone. He showed it to 
his companions, who thought it a most valuable diamond and offered 
him at once 200 for it. Being determined not to make a bad bargain, 
he refused this sum, brought it to England and offered it for sale, when to 
his horror and dismay he was told that it was really not a diamond, but 
only a crystal of quartz, and scarcely worth half-a-crown. 

In making you acquainted with the knowledge of objects, the London 
Institution will be of much use to you ; nevertheless we have not the 
collections here which exist in our national museums : and whilst I ask you 
to attend diligently these educational lectures, I still also beg of you not to 
neglect frequent visits to the British Museum, to Kew Gardens, to the 
Zoological Society, and to the Crystal Palace ; in each of which you will 
see fresh objects every time you go, although your visits may be very fre- 
quently, repeated ; for you will discover it to be an equally curious and 
interesting truth, that the oftener you go and the more attentively you 
look, the more you will find to observe and admire. 

The power of observing increases with its exercise. One boy takes his 
walk, and sees nothing ; another takes the same walk, and sees many 
things. The observant youth has bestowed his attention upon everything 
around him ; but the other has passed heedlessly by the most interesting 
objects. In youth attention is the faculty of the mind which ought to be 
the most carefully cultivated and practised ; and I hope that no one will 
come to these lectures who will not try to attend, and in fact who will 
not try diligently to attend to all which is passing. 

I am well aware that the youngest of you may sometimes find it 
difficult to fix your attention. The best plan, however, is to bring with 
you a pencil and a note-book, and put down the principal points which the 
lecturer mentions. Whenever your thoughts wander remember the word 
" ATTENTION." Let " attention " be your watchword ; and then the lectures 
which you are about to hear will be a source of pleasure now, and perhaps 
of profit for all future time. 

The managers of the London Institution will spare no expense and 
no trouble to render these lectures interesting and instructive to you. 
The more you desire, the more are they prepared to give you, as it was the 
only wish of the great merchants who founded this noble institution, that 
it should, like the sun, send forth its light upon all who desire to partake 
of its genial influence. 

It is, however, not only the observation of simple objects which is 
important, but the changes which each object undergoes must be carefully 
noted. We see the egg of an insect hatched into a caterpillar ; the cater- 
pillar grow till it spins its web, and turns into a chrysalis; and the 



No. XXI.] APPENDIX. 293 

chrysalis finally lose its case and become the beautiful butterfly. This 
forms a palpable series of changes, the order of which your memory is 
not likely to alter ; but changes continually occur in all bodies, and these 
changes you must be very careful to note in the order in which they occur. 

In chemistry the transmutations of matter under various circum- 
stances are of the most extraordinary character. The beautiful pigment 
called Prussian-blue is but a change of offensive animal matter, potash 
and iron. Some of our scents and flavours also, as the oil of pine-apple 
and the oil of the delicious ribstone pippin, are the products of chemical 
changes from fusel oil, a most offensive product in the distillation of 
spirit. In acquiring a knowledge of these changes, the educational 
lectures at the London Institution will be of great service to you. We 
have a laboratory with all necessary materials, and every form of apparatus 
is at our command, which may be required to illustrate the different 
subjects. A lecture would frequently cost a large sum of money, were 
not the apparatus at hand, or could it not be easily borrowed. It is for 
this reason that ordinary schools cannot undertake the teaching of these 
subjects : and were I to tell you of the labour and expense required for 
some of the lectures which have been delivered within these walls, you 
would be especially thankful for the privilege which you possess of being 
enabled to attend these demonstrations. 

The knowledge which here will be brought before you will be of the 
utmost value in future life. Each fact may be regarded as a unit of 
knowledge ; and those who acquire the most will have a great advantage 
over their fellows. I show you a piece of gossan, a peculiar sort of stone 
which guides the miner to the detection of copper ore, and large fortunes 
have been made by a knowledge of the peculiarities of the stone. This is 
a simple mineralogical fact, but I might illustrate similar facts in every 
department of science. 

It is not, however, a mere question of utility, but thei'e is the highest 
gratification also to be found in a careful observance of Nature, and the 
study of Nature's laws. A touching anecdote was told me by Mr. Spence, 
the distinguished author of the work on Entomology, which I commend to 
the notice of you all. At the Model Prison a person was confined in a 
dismal cell, with windows which did not allow him ever to see the sky. 
When he took exercise, he paced a few square yards in the same spot day 
by day. His only amusement under this terrible sentence was minutely 
to notice every little weed which grew upon it. He saw these sprout from 
seed, increase in growth, bud, flower, and seed again. Now, when I tell 
you that the plants so observed were simply the shepherd's-purse, the 
groundsel, and a few more weeds, you will see how great is your advantage, 
when you consider the multitude of plants which clothe the earth, the 
countless swarms of insects which fly in the air, the fish, the birds, the 
animals, the changes of the seasons, and even the works of men's hands 
which are open to your observation in freedom. In fact everything which 
is contained upon the earth and even in the firmament of heaven, the sun, 
tlie moon, the planets, the comets, the stars, the nebulae, will afford you 
objects for observation, study, and delight, if you will only regard them 
with intelligence and attention. There is in fact no end to the acquisition 
of natural knowledge : for if you could know all which others have dis- 
covered, it would be but as a drop of water to the ocean. The study of 



294 APPENDIX. [No. XXI. 

Nature and Nature's laws forms an inexhaustible source of pleasure ; and 
the longest life will not suffice to exhaust a fountain which can never be 
dried up. 

I regret to state that I have heard persons declare, that they have 
been present at nearly every lecture delivered by the eminent men who 
have honoured this institution by their discourses during a period of many 
years, without deriving any advantage from them. Let such a fearful 
statement weigh heavily on your minds ; for if you come to our lectures 
as those persons have done, without paying a proper attention to the 
subjects explained, you will, like them, derive no benefit. Others who have 
attended to the lectures, have acknowledged that they owe their present 
position and power to a careful attention to the great truths which have 
been taught within these walls. It is, therefore, better for you to hear 
a few lectures attentively, than hundreds with that carelessness and inatten- 
tion which allow no permanent effect to be produced upon the mind. 

If we carefully consider the evils arising from an absence of know- 
ledge, we shall soon perceive what lamentable consequences must be the 
result. Two or three years ago, many persons were poisoned by bella- 
donna-berries sold about the streets ; and I remember a man to have been 
bitten by a viper as he carried the creature about, supposing it to have 
been only a harmless snake. This year we read that in Italy, during the 
visitation of the dreadful scourge which passed over the earth, the people 
believed that the doctors were the cause of it, and drove them from the 
city when they most needed their aid. At another place they supposed 
the doctors had poisoned the water, and compelled them to drink to prove 
their innocence. Curiously enough also, five hundred years ago, by a 
similar lamentable ignorance, a fatal epidemic of the period, called the 
black death, was ascribed to poison cast into the wells by the Jews ; and 
hundreds of poor wretches were cruelly tormented and barbarously put to 
death, for a malady which was entirely owing to a visitation of God. 

Do not think to put off the time for attention to surrounding objects 
to " a more convenient season," and wait till you are older before you 
begin to observe. If you do so, you are not only losing precious time, 
which never can return, but your faculties of appreciation will rather 
diminish than increase. Although the faculties of observation last as long 
as the senses last, yet in advancing years new objects do not make such 
vivid impressions as they do in early life. The faculty of deriving simple 
ideas from Nature, I have called from reasons which I need not explain, 
the SYNDRAMIC FACULTY: a faculty which increases from childhood to 
adolescence, and decreases from puberty to old age. It is your time now 
to observe, and if you neglect it deficiency of information and inferiority 
to those around you must inevitably be your lot. 

It is, however, not only necessary to obtain facts, but the facts must 
by thought and reflection be brought before the mind, and so combined 
and arranged together, that they may constitute principles. In this way 
we derive our ideas of force and power, and obtain a notion of heat, light, 
and electricity, and all the various qualities and properties of matter. 

Thus, if I throw a piece of potassium into water, it combines with the 
oxygen, one element of the water, and forms potash ; or I may remove one 
element by a piece of zinc, or a piece of iron. When we find from a vast 
number of facts that we can join simple bodies together, separate com- 



No. XXL] APPENDIX. 295 

pound bodies in their elements, and convert two bodies into a third, we 
then obtain one idea of chemical affinity. 

It is not my province to show how we obtain the ideas of all the 
physical forces, or the relations of one to another : that will be the duty of 
your different teachers. This part of the subject is confessedly difficult, 
and will require your fullest attention and reflection. As youthful persons,' 
however, you can have but a faint glimmer of those great and glorious 
principles which hereafter you will more fully perceive. 

This high mental faculty is termed the NOEMIC FACULTY, which is 
almost entirely absent in early childhood, then increases to manhood, and 
declines again with advancing years. For the exercise of it, you must well 
employ your time whilst young in the collection of observations for 
reflection. Without facts you can have no thought, without thought you 
can have no principles ; and it is upon the correctness of your principles 
that your success in after-life will most materially depend. 

We have remarkable instances of the power of a knowledge of princi- 
ples over the mind of those who are ignorant. Sir Harry Smith, when he 
conquered the Africans, desired to show them his superior power. He 
ordered a baggage-waggon to be placed at a distance, to which he had con- 
nected wires communicating with a battery. When the Africans had 
assembled, he told them at his command the waggon would blow up. They 
marvelled. He spoke the word; they saw nothing. The circuit was 
secretly completed, and the waggon was shivered to atoms. Some 
voyagers, taking advantage of an eclipse, the occurrence of which was 
predicted by calculation, have stated that they so frightened the Indians, 
that they obtained from them whatever was desired ; and though 
I entirely and utterly disapprove of this mode of proceeding, it never- 
theless equally illustrates the power which is conferred by an intimate 
knowledge of the great principles of science. 

By thought and reflection we are likewise enabled to form right 
judgments in general; and when two assertions, apparently different, are 
brought before our minds, we can select that which is the true one. Last 
year the merchants of London were startled by the large amount of gold 
stated to exist in certain English rocks. Some of my friends were inter- 
ested in a particular mine, which by the mechanical process yielded large 
quantities of gold; but by chemical processes, only such an amount of 
the metal was found as was insufficient to cover the expenses of extraction. 
After much careful thought, therefore, we judged it most prudent to trust 
to the chemical processes, but many persons trusted to the mechanical pro- 
cesses and lost thereby various sums of money ; and in one case I heard 
that a single individual lost as much as 4000 by this error of judgment. 

With all our care we shall not always judge rightly, or, judging 
rightly, we shall come to wrong conclusions, because we shall sometimes 
act upon wrong facts. We should therefore have much compassion upon 
those who are proved to have formed erroneous judgments ; although true 
facts and principles will always in the long run prevent mankind from 
believing the plausible statements of quacks, pretenders, and schemers. 
We cannot judge rightly by our own unaided reason, for without a proper 
set of facts and principles no judgment can be made; and we only 
deceive ourselves if we call our thought a judgment without proper data. 
Nevertheless, the tendency of man to judge with insufficient data is so 



296 APPENDIX. [No. XXI. 

great, that more than half the errors of mankind may be traced to this 
source alone. 

Before you are called into action, also, your mind must be stored with 
facts and principles properly to guide your designs. The child knows 
but little, and does scarcely anything ; the boy has more facts, and there- 
fore effects more ; but the man is in the plenitude of his power till age 
weakens him, and lessens his capability. The faculty of action is called 
the DYNAMIC FACULTY ; and to judge of what you may be called upon to 
do, consider what has been done since the period when I was but a youth. 
Since that time the railway system has been devised ; and then consider 
the tunnels, the cuttings, the embankments, the bridges, and the many ela- 
borate contrivances necessary to be devised before this great revolution in 
locomotion could be effected. During the same period, also, the electric 
telegraph has been invented ; and now intelligence is conveyed so rapidly 
that events are daily transmitted over extensive regions of the globe, and 
frequently a knowledge of events is received at one part of the globe at an 
earlier period by the clock than that at which they actually happen. 

Again, the application of electro-metallurgy to the arts has led to 
great improvements, and most extensive alterations in our processes. 
Moreover, in the course of the same period, the Thames Tunnel has been 
constructed under the river Thames ; and also the Britannia Bridge, which 
crosses over an arm of the sea. The formation of a palace of iron and 
glass is another example of an extraordinary effort of human intellect. 
It is impossible for you to tell what may be effected in a similar number 
of future years ; and if you desire to take part in the rapid course of 
human improvement, your mind must have been stored beforehand with 
those units of knowledge which I have already described. 

As youths you are neither expected, nor are you competent, to carry 
out any great work ; but certain things you can do for yourselves, and 
you can thus bring your knowledge into play within reasonable limits. 
Tou do not require expensive materials for many processes. A few little 
glasses and a retort will enable you to make analyses, and even to manu- 
facture many substances. In these ^employments you will find great 
amusement in the long evenings of winter, as well as in the dreary wet 
weather which sometimes occurs in the Christmas holidays. 

At this Institution, during these holidays in the present year, Mr. 
Malone has arranged to receive a limited number of young persons and to 
give them laboratory instruction ; and those who take advantage of his 
teaching, will thus be enabled to conduct many chemical processes for 
themselves in the laboratory of this building. 

Accurate original research often requires costly apparatus ; but to 
carry out that which is known, the simplest contrivances will suffice. I am 
tempted here to show you a little electrical apparatus which I once set up 
on the spur of the moment. We had a beautiful garden in one of the 
London suburbs, and we received information that whilst the family were 
at dinner a systematic robbery of the fruit was carried on. After ponder- 
ing over the matter, I got some wire, and connected it at one end with a 
battery and at the other with a cup of mercury ; and with another wire I 
connected again the mercury to the other pole of the battery, enclosing in 
the circuit a magnet, the keeper of which was attached to the alarum of a 
Dutch clock. I then stretched a delicate piece of thread across the garden, 



No. XXL] APPENDIX. 297 

tying one end to the copper wire and the other to the trunk of a tree. All 
being ready, I went in to dinner, and the alarum speedily rang. The thief 
had moved the thread and pulled the wire out of the mercury. I ran out 
and caught the boy, who declared that he would never come again if we 
only would let him go this once. All such little devices you may contrive, 
and they have a good influence in encouraging the habit of spontaneous 
invention. 

Chemical and mechanical occupations are more especially for the 
young gentlemen, but the young ladies may have their share of occupation. 
They will find that their botanical studies may be much improved by 
studying the growth of plants. Those who live in the country, may 
cultivate their flowers with more ease ; but even those who live in the 
middle of London are not altogether precluded from this pursuit by the 
difficulties of their situation. Many plants may be grown under glass in 
great perfection, as Ward has taught us. Here is a specimen of the rarest 
of English ferns (called the Tunbridge fern), which grows and fructifies 
in Finsbury Circus as well as in any part of Great Britain. I myself love 
to see plants grow in this manner, and I have generally lilacs in blossom at 
Christmas ; and with a little trouble and protection you also may have 
many choice plants even in the centre of London. To such of you as may 
at once like to commence the cultivation of plants by this process, I have 
brought some Lycopodiums, which I will distribute after the lecture, and 
which you can readily grow under glass. 

To cultivate plants with success, it is quite necessary that you should 
attend to certain circumstances. As horticultural weapons you must 
employ and regulate the heat and cold, the light and darkness, and the 
damp and dryness of the soil and atmosphere. By properly managing 
these natural powers, success will attend your efforts, and you will be 
delighted to see the fronds of ferns unfurl themselves, and many a choice 
flower will gladden your eyes with delight and fill the room with odoriferous 
perfume. However much the sun may be obscured from your room, still 
some forms of vegetable life will be put forth ; and though by comparison 
the rose or lily may superlatively excel chickweed or groundsel, yet there 
is no plant, however insignificant, however common, which has not its own 
peculiar beauties and charms, and which would not be esteemed as a 
marvel of design if others more beautiful were absent from the comparison. 

In the study of natural history young people may bring many objects 
of the greatest interest under their notice. Here is a pet toad, which has 
lived under my roof many years. It was the smallest toad I ever saw, 
when I caught him in the woods where the Crystal Palace now stands. 
He has done me much good service, by eating the insects which damaged 
my plants ; and you see that he has now grown to reasonable proportions. 
It is a matter of much interest to see this creature feed. When he 
perceives an insect like a cockroach, he sits perfectly motionless, till, by 
directing both eyes upon the creature, it exactly ascertains the distance, 
when in an instant it darts out its head with an inconceivable rapidity 
and swallows its prey. Now every creature, if attentively examined, will 
be found to have its peculiar mode of feeding ; and really a large volume 
might be written on this subject alone, full of the most curious 
information. 

Look at these beautiful Guernsey lizards, which astonish us by their 



298 APPENDIX. Xo. XXI. 

rapid and graceful movements, and which we have opportunities of observing 
by keeping them in my glazed plant-cases. Even fish may be brought 
within the range of this kind of observation. Here is a very great 
favourite of my family, a little fish from the Thames, called a Pope, who 
has banished his natural shyness. The moment he sees us he comes up to 
the top of the water to receive his accustomed food. By watching animated 
beings, we find that everything possessing life has its own proper interest ; 
for everything is beautiful. Even that which at first appears ugly and 
deformed on a more intimate acquaintance is found to. be perfectly 
adapted to its end, and endowed with the highest interest. 

The young ladies and young gentlemen who this day attend in our 
theatre, have all of them their own different and particular objects to 
attain; and should therefore make their knowledge subservient to a 
different end. You are all of you the sons and daughters of persons 
holding a good position in society. As for the youths, some of you will 
be blessed with independence, and live upon the fruits of your own estates. 
To you botany will be invaluable, for enabling you rightly to manage your 
woods and fields. Mineralogy and geology will also be extremely usefiil, 
to guide you to the knowledge of the qualities of various soils and of the 
mineral products of the land. Others of you may be destined to be 
merchants, and send your ships over every quarter of the globe. To 
all of you a knowledge of the sciences will be an invaluable acquisition. 
Some again will become engineers ; others will be manufacturers ; and 
some will enter into the medical, legal, or clerical professions : but in every 
path of life which any of you are likely to follow, the subjects which will 
be taught at these lectures will certainly come into every-day use. 

The duties of the young ladies will hereafter be not less important, 
though, perhaps, less stirring than those of the young gentlemen. Tour 
knowledge of chemistry will enable you to conduct your households with 
economy. In the sick-room, the knowledge of the laws of life will enable 
you to comfort the afflicted ; and your knowledge of Nature and Nature's 
works will render each of you a fitting mistress for your respective house- 
holds, suitable teachers of children, and worthy companions for the 
intellectual man. 

In your study of Nature you cannot but be deeply impressed with the 
beauty of the objects which you must observe. You will find the most 
marvellous design in the favourite theme of philosophical speculation for 
more than 2000 years. Shakespeare's immortal " Seven Ages " is a fitting 
monument to an unrivalled genius ; but in the Transactions of the Society 
of Antiquaries for 1853 are many very interesting examples of the manner 
in which the division of the life of man was anciently regarded. Of these 
the following is a very remarkable composition. The original was written 
in Hebrew 900 years ago ; and is especially curious from the states of man 
at his different ages being compared in their characteristics to those of 
various animals. 

" At the age of One Year he resembles a King on a Dai's, whom every 
one kisses and adores. 

" At the age of Two or Three he resembles a Pig, routing in dirt. 

" At the age of Ten he capers about like a Goat. 

" At Twenty, a Neighing-horse, he attires himself, and looks out for a 
wife. 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 299 

" After being married, he is like an Ass (that is, burthened). 

" Having got children, he must find food for them ; and is therefore as 
impudent as a Dog. 

" Grown old, he gets like a Monkey, but (this is) only the ignorant 
man : whereas of the wise man Scripture says, ' King David was old ' 
(1 Kings i. 2). Old, but still a king." * 

In the remarks which I have made this day, I would wish you clearly to 
understand that I do not expect all of you are to become professed chemists, 
naturalists, or botanists ; nor in fact necessarily professors of any other 
branch of natural knowledge. I have particularly desired to call your 
attention to the value of natural knowledge to all classes of society. You 
should esteem natural knowledge as indispensable to every gentleman; and 
I feel sure that all the points which I have reviewed for your consideration 
should not be neglected by anyone aspiring to the title of an educated 
Englishman. 

I doubt not that there are very few of you who would not greatly 
prefer these lectures to your ordinary school exercises. You must not, 
however, neglect the tediousness of books for the pleasures of lectures. 
Follow the study of languages, arithmetic, and of mathematics at school as 
the most valuable aids to the understanding of natural knowledge; and 
prosecute natural science as a guide for the conduct of your own affairs. 
The study of Nature confers on you pleasure, honour, power, the means of 
procuring wealth, of benefiting your fellow-creatures, and leads you to the 
contemplation of the Sourc3 of All Good. 

The London Institution has given you great opportunities of instruc- 
tion ; and if my discourse should determine any of you rightly to take 
advantage of the benefits now offered, the words of my heartfelt appeal to 
study Nature with earnestness and attention, will be engraven on your 
minds to the latest day of your lives ; and you will rejoice that you have 
been this day present at the London Institution. 



No. XXII. 

ON THE NEW BANK OF ENGLAND NOTE, AND THE 
SUBSTITUTION OF SURFACE-PRINTING FROM ELEC- 
TROTYPES FOR COPPER-PLATE PRINTING. By ALFRED 
SMEE, F.R.S., Surgeon to the Bank of England. 1854. 

I FEEL some delicacy in appearing before the Society of Arts upon a 
matter of so much importance to the commercial community as the print- 
ing of the Bank of England notes ; nevertheless, from the part which I 
have played in this matter, I trust the members of the Society will not 
think that I am exceeding my duty in bringing the matter before them. 

In the month of November 1851, I had the honour of presenting a 
report to Mr. Hankey, the Governor of the Bank of England at that 



' Archzeologia.' vol. xxxv. 1853, p. 171. 



APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

period, that from facts and observations which had come under my notice, 
I believed that the time had arrived when surface-printing from electro- 
types could be advantageously employed for Bank of England notes, and 
that they could be both printed and numbered by ordinary printing- 
presses, with considerable saving of expense and increased identity of 
appearance. In presenting this report I further stated that many difficul- 
ties presented themselves, and, therefore, I would suggest that a trial be 
permitted upon the cheque, and, when the production of this was brought 
to perfection, we might carry on our processes upon the bank-note, with 
such extended experience as the printing of the cheque might afford. 

Heretofore the notes and cheques of the Bank of England had inva- 
riably been printed from copper and steel plates, in which the lines were 
engraved or cut into the metal. Into these hollows the printers rubbed 
the ink, which, in process of printing, was transferred from the plate to 
the paper. In surface-printing the reverse state of things exists, as the 
design, instead of being cut in the plate, is left in relief, and the ink being 
applied to the eminences by means of the rollers, is transferred in the 
press to the paper to form the impression. 

For plate-printing, a single cut with a graver forms a groove which 
holds the ink. For surface-printing a line must be cut on both sides, and 
equally finished on both sides. This materially increases the difficulty of 
engraving, yet the difficulty simply resolves itself into one of labour, skill, 
and expense. 

Having an original design, the means of multiplication must be per- 
fect ; and here, although I foresaw many difficulties, yet my electro-metal- 
lurgical experience indicated that the perfection which the Bank required, 
and the mercantile community demanded, might be obtained. With a 
sufficiently excellent original and ample power of duplication, the very 
important question which had necessarily to be solved was the capacity of 
the surface press to give such a print as would serve our purpose. 

In plate-printing the paper is pressed into the grooves or design, and 
there is no tendency of the ink to spread, but in surface-printing there is 
a liability for the paper to be pressed round the edge of the letters, or, 
from the pressure applied, for the ink to be spread over the margin, when 
an extended print would be produced from the original design. I foresaw 
that the success of surface-printing for bank purposes must depend upon 
the power of the press to yield rapidly, perfect impressions. In this mat- 
ter my expeiience was in a great measure founded upon the observation of 
the impressions of the 'Illustrated London News,' and periodicals of 
similar character, when I observed that even with their rapid production, 
under the most unfavourable circumstances, at times we obtained, either 
entirely or partially, perfectly sharp impressions, without any appreciable 
lateral extension of the ink. From this I concluded that it was only 
necessary to study the conditions necessary to have a clear impression, and 
in this matter surface-printing would rival plate-printing, and besides give 
us all the advantages which are pre-eminently the characteristics of 
typography. 

In accordance with this report, Mr. Hankey at once directed the 
experiments to be commenced, and subsequently allowed me to act with 
Mr. Hensman, the engineer, and Mr. Coe, the superintendent of printing ; 
and though each of us had our separate departments in which our indi- 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 301 

vidual labour and knowledge was most useful, we consulted together on 
every matter, and by our mutual exertions, acting together to one end for 
the benefit of the Bank, we have been enabled to overcome every difficulty, 
and to bring the process into practical operation for all the manifold 
varieties of cheques and notes which the Bank of England requires for its 
purposes. Independently of the original idea, which was exclusively my 
own, the responsibility of settling the various processes for carrying out 
the system devolved equally upon Mr. Hensman, Mr. Coe, and myself, 
but upon Mr. Hensman and Mr. Coe falls the labour of conducting the 
operations. 

The original form or pattern of the various notes and cheques which 
have been adopted, was accomplished and settled under the direction of 
Mr. Hankey and the Court of Directors, before any of us commenced our 
labours, and, though the particular manner in which the note was designed 
added very materially to our difficulties, it was an imperative condition 
with the Bank that we should in no way deviate from that design ; but we 
were compelled to reproduce it exactly as designed, a condition which has 
been so rigorously adhered to, that in only one case has any deviation been 
made. In that instance the lines have simply been allowed to be somewhat 
more open than in the original design, as it was found that even in the 
original plate the work had been made so fine that the successful printing 
could not be insured for large quantities. 

When we found that we were bound to copy implicitly designs 
specially adapted to plate-printing, we almost despaired of success, for in 
all other instances where surface-printing has been adopted, the design has 
been suited to the nature of the printing. This difficulty, however, only 
served as an incentive to further exertion, though I must confess that as 
we proceeded, step by step, we were by no means certain that we should 
not be compelled to abandon some part of our original design. With the 
exception of these stringent conditions, we were permitted to conduct our 
operations entirely in our own way; and to the kind consideration of 
Mr. Hankey, the late Governor, and Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Weguelin, the 
present Governor and Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England, our 
success must in a great measure be ascribed. 

The cutting of the original design is necessarily the basis of future 
operation. The whole of the written part of the note was originally cut by 
Mr. Beckett, the engraver to the establishment, but the Britannia was 
designed by Mr. Maclise, and engraved by Robinson. This engraving was 
the basis of our operations. After various experiments, the cutting of the 
Britannia in a manner suitable for easy duplication was executed on a 
steel die, by that veteran engraver Mr. Thompson, whose artistic feeling is 
fully recognized by the public. The other parts of the notes and cheques 
were in a great measure cut by Mr. Skirving, in some cases upon pieces of 
brass, in others on plates of copper, about i an inch in thickness. In no 
case is the original ever employed for printing, but is simply used to make 
moulds, so that, throwing out of consideration accidental mechanical or 
chemical injuries, they will retain their integrity for any length of time 
without change, and will enable any number of duplicates to be made 
therefrom. From our inquiries, we have reason to think that there are 
very few persons who have attained sufficient perfection to execute this 
class of work in the manner which the Bank requires, but the finished 



302 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

manner in which Mr. Skirving has executed his part of the work has met 
with the highest approbation. It is the province of supply, however, 
always to be equal to the demand, and therefore, if surface cutting 
increases, we have no right to suppose there will be dearth of labour 
or talent in that department of art. 

For the duplication of the original designs, we have recourse to the 
power afforded to us by the processes of electro-metallurgy. For the 
purposes of the Bank of England, we have had recourse to the various 
forms of battery apparatus described by myself in the ' Philosophical 
Magazine ' for June 1840, and subsequently in my ' Elements of Electro- 
Metallurgy.' "We employ, as a source of power, the platinized silver 
voltaic battery, which many of the members of this Society may remember 
was brought under their notice some years ago. It was devised when I 
was a student of medicine at King's College, and resided in my father's 
house in the Bank of England. With friends entirely devoted to other 
than scientific pursuits, I was placed in an awkward position by the 
discovery of the principles on which it was founded. I brought it here 
unknown to any member, and after a long investigation a gold medal was 
awarded for its invention. For fourteen years it has stood the test of 
experience : and when we see that by its agency the plates of the maps of 
the Ordnance Survey have for years been deposited ; when we see at the 
present time that by it the types of the Bank of England notes and cheques 
are formed ; and lastly, when amongst other purposes we find that it daily 
transmits the power from the Observatory at Greenwich to indicate the 
correct time in London, I trust the Society, in consideration of its applica- 
tion to these truly national objects, will not consider that their medal has 
been altogether bestowed in vain. 

At the Bank we employ large batteries, in vessels holding several 
gallons of the acid charge. The platinized silver plate is of fair thickness, 
and the zincs are so arranged that they can be readily changed. The 
purer we can obtain thick-rolled zinc, the more economically can we con- 
duct our process, for then we are not subjected to the inevitable loss which 
arises if tin, a very frequent impurity, is present. We are careful, for the 
sake of economy, very thoroughly to amalgamate the zinc: in fact, we 
prefer to repeat the process once or twice, that no local action may exist. 

For charging the battery we use dilute sulphuric acid, and generally 
mix the fluids in the proportion of one-eighth acid to seven-eighths water. 
It is convenient to adjust the mixture to a specific gravity of 1130, which 
gives a strength suitable for battery purposes. A battery charged with 
this liquid will last in action nearly three weeks before it is completely 
exhausted; but practically, after it has done efficient duty from 7 to 14 
days, it has become feeble, it exhibits the natural decay of old age, and we 
generally respite it from further work and substitute a new charge, to 
resuscitate its former life and vigour. When the battery is thoroughly 
exhausted, the solution has a specific gravity of 1360, and contains 144 
grains of zinc for every 1000 grains of bulk, if evaporation and conden- 
sation have been compensated for by the daily addition of sufficient 
water to make up the original bulk. 

To ascertain the changes which are occurring in the battery we 
commonly employ an hydrometer; but I have specially constructed an 
instrument which I call a battery-meter. The point corresponding to 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 303 

specific gravity 1130 is called unity, and the interval between that part and 
1360 is divided into 144 parts. By this division every degree represents 
one grain of zinc dissolved in 1000 grains of bulk of the fluid. The 
opposite side of the scale, between the same parts, is divided into 60 parts, 
each of which is, for every 1000 grains of bulk in the fluid, about y^j of 
an inch in the thickness for every superficial inch of surface, upon which 
the copper is reduced in the precipitating trough. In this division a little 
allowance has been made for some local action of the zinc. By this 
instrument we really weigh the zinc which has entered into combination 
with the oxygen of the water in which it is subsequently dissolved. By the 
attraction between the zinc and the element of the water the power is 
produced wherewith the plates of the bank-notes are made, and this attrac- 
tion differs not in kind from the attraction between the coals and air in 
the act of combustion which gives us the power in the steam-engine. In 
the electro-metallurgic battery, however, is perhaps observable the first 
instance of the estimation of the primary change of matter, to determine 
the amount of work actually performed. In the steam-engine the coals 
burnt will not necessarily give us a satisfactory clue to the work done ; 
and even in the animal, the most perfect of all machines, the food the 
soldier eats will not indicate the number of miles traversed, or of the 
enemy killed. 

In an application of the battery-meter we have an illustration of a law 
which governs all physical phenomena. "Without a change of matter we 
can have no physical force ; and all physical force is referable to a corre- 
sponding change of matter. In our electro-metallurgic apparatus we obtain 
an effect equal to the original change of matter within a very trifling per- 
centage, a result which must be regarded as a glorious triumph of human 
improvement. If by the use of the battery-meter these great laws are 
popularized, and lead to a more universal reference of effect to cause, it 
will amply repay any little trouble which has been bestowed upon it. 

To contain the battery with its charge, we generally employ the best 
salt-glazed stoneware. Strange as it may seem, no form of earthenware 
permanently resists the attacks of the metallic saline solution. They pass 
into the innermost texture of the material, and, even with vessels for 
holding writing ink, disintegration eventually ensues. Upon the whole, 
earthenware is preferable to glass, because it is less brittle, and I trust that 
the mention of the subject may lead some member of the Society to produce 
a cheap material, as impermeable as glass, and as durable as pottery. 

At the Bank of England we generally find it convenient to employ 
parallelopiped-shaped vessels. Those made of mahogany and lined with 
gutta-percha are convenient and economical. For most of our purposes, 
we use the vertical trough, because the subject can be readily inserted and 
removed for inspection. For rapid deposition we employ the horizontal 
trough, in which the subject is placed at the bottom, and the copper pole 
above. In the use of this apparatus some refined chemical laws are in- 
volved. In the first place, sulphate of copper possesses a low diffusive 
power, and is carried, by virtue of that property, so slowly through the 
fluid, that if we relied upon it failure would surely attend our labour. 
Secondly, the saturated solution of sulphate of copper formed at the 
positive pole is so heavy that it descends from the place of its formation, 
like a cataract, to the bottom of the vessel. Lastly, the part of the solution 



304 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

deprived of its copper becomes so light that it rapidly rises to the top. 
For all rapid deposition we seek to form our new salt at the top of the 
apparatus, that it may descend to the place where it is required, and 
the light fluid may rise to mix with the denser portion. Practically, the 
vertical trough is suitable for the purposes of the Bank; but however 
important may be the requirements of this corporation, the laws of nature 
are paramount, and will not vary to suit its convenience. 

Up to the present time the best standard salt for the reduction of 
copper by electro-metallurgy, is the sulphate, and, with the occasional 
exception of the nitrate, is invariably employed. We always have a neutral 
trough containing a simple solution, three parts saturated. For general 
purposes we use a saturated solution diluted with dilute sulphuric acid of 
battery strength, to the extent of from one-half to one-third of the bulk. 
We are careful to use recrystallized sulphate of copper, distilled sulphuric 
acid, and distilled water, as all impurities are hurtful. For our positive 
pole of copper it is very desirable to get good metal, and probably the 
sheathing of the innumerable Russian vessels we intend to capture will 
best serve our purpose, as the Russian copper is proverbially pure and free 
from tin. 

If we regard the precipitating trough, we can but regard it as a very 
curious and wonderful chemical laboratory, in which two processes are 
being conducted at the same time, and in precisely equivalent proportions. 
In it we have the best of all chemical factories for the production of 
sulphate of copper by the combination of the plate of copper with the acid 
of the salt, and in it we may perceive the most perfect of all foundries 
wherein the metal is cast upon the mould atom by atom, with a skill which 
rather shows the perfection of nature than the deficiencies of the opera- 
tions of man. 

As a general rule we employ a single battery with one trough. Where 
we desire rapid action, we employ a compound battery of two cells in 
series, but this entails a double cost of battery power. In a great many 
cases, where time is of no object, we employ a compound trough with a 
single battery that is to say, we arrange two troughs in series with 
one battery a contrivance whereby we use our battery power twice over, 
and obtain two equivalents of copper, one in each trough, and consequently 
at half the cost. This form of apparatus is no trouble to manage. We 
have placed it in one of the iron safes for which the Bank is so famous, 
and wires are carried through the wall to supply the electric power. Here, 
unseen, and without labour or attention, the process goes on by night and 
by day, on Sundays and holidays ; and when the deposit has acquired suffi- 
cient thickness, the mould is taken out and the deposit removed. 

The deposited metal is of excellent quality, and a part of one of the 
Britannias, when carefully weighed, was found to have a specific gravity of 
8 ' 85. To ascertain the ductibility of the metal, I sent one of the scraps 
to Messrs. Home and Thornthwaite, and one pound of metal was found to 
be capable of being drawn into three and a half miles of wire. 

The authorities of the Bank are justly jealous of fire, and therefore we 
have not been able to keep our rooms or solutions at an elevated tempera- 
ture, which is very desirable for many purposes. It is far better that we 
should be put to inconvenience, and our processes retarded, than that one 
single document should be jeopardized by our operations. 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 305 

After having procured suitable originals, with proper means of dupli- 
cation, the next process which we have to consider is that of obtaining 
perfect moulds. Where the original is of wood, gutta-percha is generally 
employed, but it is necessary that the mould should be used as soon as 
made, as it will shrink gradually till it is no longer fit for the purposes 
required. When gutta-percha is employed it is blackleaded, by the process 
described by Murray, who was rewarded by a medal from the Society of 
Arts. It is placed in the solution, and the copper grows over it. All 
blacklead is not equally good, and when it has remained in the air for 
some time we find it advisable either to heat the blacklead or use a little 
bisulphuret of carbon, or other volatile fluid, to drive off the adherent air. 

Occasionally, when we have metal originals, and are pressed for time, 
we employ clichee moulds, but we never employ them when they can be 
avoided. The Britannia, I have already stated, is engraved on steel, and 
moulds are made from it by striking it upon pure soft lead, fixed upon 
brass plates, by which process very perfect moulds are secured. 

For all our other originals, when we desire perfection, we rely upon 
electro-moulds, and electro-moulds alone. For this purpose the original is 
placed in the precipitating trough, and a thick electro-mould deposited. 
There is very little risk of adhesion, and very little difficulty, with moderate 
care, in obtaining a perfect mould. I need hardly mention that it would 
be a serious matter to place the original on the wrong side, for great would 
be the horror of the operator, on peeping into the trough, to see its costly 
original to have wasted away, instead of receiving the deposited metal. 

When the electro-mould is sufficiently thick, a wire is soldered to it : 
it is waxed on the back and sides, and used for the deposition of the dupli- 
cate. In the use of the electro-mould there is much risk of adhesion, which 
requires skill to prevent. Sometimes we employ the film of air which I 
have already described in my ' Electro-Metallurgy ; ' sometimes we employ 
with good success the vapour arising from sulphuret of ammonia, a process 
which has been specially devised for the purposes of the Bank. In both 
these cases the moulds are inserted into the solution in a dry state, 
and little bubbles of air are apt to adhere, and be carried down into the 
solution, to the great detriment of our electro-cast. Upon pondering over 
this inconvenience, I thought it would be desirable to have a process 
whereby the mould could be inserted in a wet state. After some thought 
and many experiments, it occurred to me that we might use the layer of 
metal in the infinitely divided state in which it is employed in my battery. 
With care many metals in that state will answer, but I give the preference 
to platina. When the process is carefully performed, I have seen the most 
perfect success attend the platinizing process. Nevertheless, commonly 
enough, without care, we find that there is a liability for little adhered 
drops of water to be carried down, which in the electro process have 
been covered with metal, and the casts show slight indents, which are 
fatal to success. Upon the whole I regard this process as an addition 
to our knowledge, and it is particularly applicable to deeply-cut wavy 
line work. 

The casts of the Britannia are generally deposited so thick in the 
compound trough that they can be turned down to the required form and 
size. Other subjects are generally backed with solder, and turned to their 
proper thickness. In cases where the lines are very thin, and at the same 

X 



306 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

time deeply cut, the metal must be aggregated very carefully, otherwise 
the metal grows on each side of the holder of the mould, and a slit is 
left down the centre of the metal. In some cases this would be a fatal 
inconvenience, and, where it is indispensable to avoid it, we use a feeble 
battery power, with a stronger solution of sulphate of copper in the pre- 
cipitating trough. 

All depositions in electro-moulds require for the highest perfection 
the utmost care. It would be tedious to the Society to dwell upon all the 
little points which require attention. Nevertheless, with proper care, no 
mode of duplication has ever been devised which is attended with similar 
identity. In all our electro-casts, whenever the most trifling air-bubble is 
found, it is thrown out directly, as the few halfpence required as the cost 
of the deposit of a small quantity of copper is nothing as compared with 
the supply of perfect notes to the public. 

Although circumstances have led me to study more especially electro- 
metallurgic operations, yet it is important that electricity should take its 
proper place, and not be pressed into our service on every occasion, 
whether it be suitable or not. In the bank-note it was a matter of debate 
whether in some parts the steel die and punch should not be used, but for 
various reasons it was decided to use a steel original, with lead moulds, for 
electro-casts. There are some cases, however, in which the punch-and-die 
system, or even the transfer system of Perkins, might be advantageously 
applied in the typographical art. 

The electro-casts, when ready for printing, are mounted on solid brass 
blocks, and many tools had to be constructed for this purpose. In this 
detail there is involved the difference between making and manufacturing, 
the formation of one article and the production of an infinite number. By 
this system of tools, if any part of a forme is damaged, another piece is 
immediately inserted. The same screw-holes in the plate and the same 
screws are used for the new piece ; and, by every portion being made to one 
gauge, an exactness is given to the system which it would have been im- 
possible to have obtained by leaving such details to the caprice or judgment 
of the workmen. By this system every part of the note is maintained in 
exactly the same relative position, and thus identity in the form of the note 
is absolutely secured. At the Bank a large stock of electrotype plates are 
always ready to be mounted at a moment's notice, and if one happens to be 
accidentally damaged, another is ready for insertion in precisely the same 
place as that which preceded it. The electro-copper is so durable that 
there is scarcely any limit to its wear, and at the ' Times ' newspaper one 
cast is said to have printed nearly 20,000,000, and yet not to have been 
completely worn out. The limit to the duration of electro-casts for the 
purposes of the bank-note has yet to be discovered, as above a million have 
been printed with no perceptible effect. This duration alone is a matter 
of considerable importance, as by it a constant identity is more particu- 
larly insured. 

There is, perhaps, no part of the process of the manufacture of the 
note of more importance, and more replete with curious interest, than the 
production of the paper, by Mr. Portal, on which it is printed. The mill 
is situated in Hampshire, on the river Test, and this beautiful stream 
supplies the water to drive the machinery necessary for the production 
of the paper. 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 307 

The motive power of the mill is obtained from a turbine, an horizontal 
water-wheel, new to this country, but much used in Belgium and France. 
It is applicable to places where the fall is either slight or great. It is 
reckoned that by this contrivance from 70 to 75 per cent, of the whole force 
is obtained, while the vertical breast wheel, which would have been required 
for this situation, would not have afforded more than from 60 to 65 per 
cent, of the initial power. In using this turbine the quiet state of the 
water below the mill is not a little remarkable, for instead of the bubble 
and boil, it is as smooth as at the mill-head. 

The new bank-note has a new water-mark, and the design which has 
been adopted is attributed to Mrs. Wyndham Portal, who suggested the form 
of water-mark which has been approved. These alterations in the water- 
mark constitute an important part of the new note, and the tinting is 
effected by means of Smith and Brewer's patent an invention which is 
considered as a valuable addition to the mechanical appliances of paper- 
making, and was rewarded by a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 
They have carried out their contrivances in the Bank. The essential part 
of this process is the use of steel-faced dies, which are engraved with the 
desired pattern, after which they are hardened, by being heated in leather 
charcoal, and then suddenly plunged in water. These dies are used with 
copper or tin forces in a stamping machine, to give an impression upon 
plates of sheet brass, and these plates when embossed are filed on the back 
to the requisite proportions, to allow the moisture of the pulp of the paper 
to pass through the apertures. The different pieces of brass, when struck, 
filed, and put together at the paper-mill, by Mr. Brewer, form the mould 
for the paper, and are so arranged that each mould is designed for two pair 
of notes. 

In practice, great advantages attend the use of this patent. In the 
first place, identity in the water-mark of the paper is secured, a matter of 
no small importance when the subject of bank-notes is considered, and 
moreover it is specially adapted to give gradations of tints, lights, and 
shades, which, for the first time, has been introduced into the paper of the 
Bank of England notes. 

If we contrast this elegant and simple method of mould-making with 
that previously adopted, the difference is sufficiently striking. In a pair of 
five-pound notes prepared by the old process there are 8 carved borders, 
32 figures, 168 large waves, and 240 letters, which have all to be separately 
secured by the finest wire to the waved surface. There are 1056 wires, 
67,584 twists, and the same repetition where the stout wires are introduced 
to support the under-surface. Therefore with the backing, laying, large 
waves, figures, letters, and borders, before a pair of moulds are completed 
there are some hundreds of thousands of stitches, most of which are avoided 
by the new patent. Moreover, by this multitudinous stitching and sewing 
the parts were never placed precisely in the same place, and the water- 
mark was consequently never identical. In this process we may detect 
principles which are not only valuable to the Bank, but to all public 
establishments having important documents on paper, as it affords to the 
public one more test whereby they may readily discover the deceptions of 
dishonest men. 

For the preparation of the paper, cuttings are selected from the finest 
pieces of linen of the purest and whitest colour. These are carefully 



308 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

dusted, placed in the machine, and reduced to pulp. This pulp is passed 
through the finest strainer to the vat at which the paper-makers stand. 
To insure as far "as possible identity even in the paper, Mr. Portal has put 
up machinery constructed by Mr. Donkin, in which all the improvements 
and adaptations heretofore adopted by machine paper are brought into 
operation for bank-note papers. The mould is dipped by hand into the vat 
of pulp, and a sufficient quantity taken up to make the note. This, as soon 
as the water is drawn off', is passed to a man, who puts it on a blanket, 
which slowly moves at a regular pace, and brings a new part into play for 
each mould of four notes as they are made. After the notes are placed in 
the blanket, they are carried under successive rollers till the water is 
squeezed out, and the pulp acquires consistency. This part of the process 
has performed the duties of the flannel and powerful press of the old 
system. The paper then, instead of being removed by a boy, as in the old 
process, is carried by machinery to the next part of the machine, where it 
is dried by passing over warm cylinders. This part of the machine answers 
to the old drying-room. When dry, it is spontaneously carried to the 
sizing apparatus, where it is sized with the whitest and purest size, when it 
is finally dried in the last compartment of the machine by passing over 
heated cylinders. By all those processes which have been in use in those 
machines which make paper by the mile, paper made by the hand mould is 
dried, sized, and dried again in the short space of half-an-hour, instead of 
requiring an interval of many days, as in the old process. 

Mr. Portal, however, does not so much look to the rapidity as he seeks 
identity, for in all cases the pulp, being subjected to precisely similar con- 
ditions, may be expected to afford precisely similar results. 

When the paper is dried, it is moderately glazed to give a smooth 
surface for printing. Formerly the paper used invariably to be wetted 
previous to printing, and a pretty-looking apparatus existed in the Bank 
for wetting the paper, by excluding the air from a receiver with an air- 
pump, and then allowing the water to rise and wet the paper. This wetting, 
however, damaged and weakened the paper, and hence it was very desir- 
able to take advantage of the power of surface-printing to be applied to 
dry glazed papers. The smoothness is given by placing the sheets of 
paper between plates of copper, and subjecting them to a pressure sufficient 
on the one hand to give a fine and true surface, and yet not sufficient on 
the other to damage the water-mark. 

When the paper is rolled, it is carefully inspected, and every damaged 
sheet thrown out, for if any little speck remains it is liable to injure the 
electrotype in the subsequent printing ; and, after one inspection, the 
paper is re-inspected by two of the sharpest-eyed of the sharp-eyed 
inspectors of the mill. The paper is then inspected as to its gauge, as 
occasionally a sheet shrinks considerably in its manufacture. The paper 
is again inspected to see that every sheet is placed with its face uppermost, 
after which it is counted and packed up ready to be sent to Mr. Marshall, 
the chief cashier of the Bank. 

These numerous processes of inspection are performed by females, and 
they generally belong to families who have been engaged in the manufac- 
ture of bank-note paper for 150 years. Each inspector is seated in a 
green box, opposite to a north light ; but the ladies who have honoured 
the Society with their presence this evening will probably think that the 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 309 

inspectors are subjected to some torture when I state that rigid silence is 
expected in the room they sit in, and the whole number of females daily 
perform their allotted duties without gossip of any description. 

The strength of the paper made in the manner above described is very 
great when we consider the nature of the water-mark, which is calculated 
to render it weaker than it would otherwise be. To be sure that no change 
is being made in the materials, its strength is actually tested by a simple 
machine ; and a sheet of note-paper, although so thin, will always bear a 
weight of fifty pounds, and sometimes as much as seventy-five pounds, 
before it breaks. 

The printing-ink for the bank-note is also a matter which has re- 
ceived attention. The properties of ink, when carefully prepared, are 
very curious and require considerable judgment to adjust them to par- 
ticular papers. To Mr. Winstone, the printing ink manufacturer, has 
been entrusted the preparation and adaptation of the ink for the note, 
as it required somewhat careful treatment for the peculiar arrangement 
of the blacks and lights in the note. The black colouring material is made 
by burning coal-tar naphtha, and collecting the smoke in large rooms. 
This smoke or lamp-black is placed in a retort, and heated to a high 
temperature, to drive off all volatile matters, when the ink becomes con- 
solidated and improved in colour. This is subsequently ground with a 
suitable varnish to a proper consistence to rest firmly on the delicate 
lines of the Britannia, without spreading to produce a rugged edge, and 
yet completely fill the black patches of the letters of the designation. 
In the bank-note it is also expected that the ink should dry sufficiently 
to allow handling immediately after being piinted, a property which Mr. 
Winstone's chemical knowledge has enabled him to produce. To my mind, 
whatever may have been the results heretofore attained, the typographical 
art for rapid production has much to be improved by the adjustment of 
the distributive machines to the ink, and the ink to the distributive 
machinery. For the peculiar viscidity and tenacity of the ink, the weight 
of roller and rate of motion should be adapted to the character of the ink. 
At present no laws have been deduced upon this matter, but extended 
experiments upon perfect work will, perhaps, eventually give us a know- 
ledge of the relation which ought to exist between roller and ink. 

In my original proposition to the Governor of the Bank, I suggested 
that, in the first instance, the hand-press should be employed, because by 
it the pressman could more perfectly manage the ink, and have everything 
requisite for the adaptation of the typographical system to the bank-notes 
before the selection of a printing machine was made. The authorities of 
the Bank, however, determined, at the instance of Mr. Hensman and Mr. 
Coe, at once to attempt the use of the machine, and these gentlemen made 
an investigation of nearly every printing machine in use before the kind of 
machine to be employed was selected. It was found that the machines in 
greatest repute by the best printers were not sufficiently perfect for the 
Bank, inasmuch as the type did not always fall in the same place in regard 
to the tympan, a circumstance which interfered with the overlaying, so 
necessary to fine work, and in no case was the inking apparatus sufficiently 
good for this class of work. 

For the cheques they considered that the double platten was the best 
machine which was in active operation at that time. For that reason a 



310 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

machine by Hopkinson and Cope was adopted, and the cheques were 
printed by it, as also some of the notes. 

For the other bank-note a new platten has been specially constructed 
by Messrs. Napier and Son, with contrivances for both the tables and the 
inking rollers to traverse, by which means an effect is produced equivalent 
to rolling with a single hand- roller twenty different times. In this machine 
a plan of great value is employed, as the form of every note is made to 
one gauge, and every denomination has its separate tympan and over- 
laying. By these means, when a note-plate is once made ready for 
press with its overlaying, it is always ready at a moment's notice without 
further preparation for taking impressions. This appears to be a contri- 
vance which has added additional power to the system which, under the 
circumstances, well meets the requirements of the Bank. 

Counting machines are appended to each end of the machine, that no 
impression can be taken without being registered ; and when 100 impres- 
sions are printed, a bell strikes to call attention to the fact. In Napier's 
machines 3,000 notes are printed per hour, and two boys are required to 
feed with paper, and two to take off the printed notes. 

After the note is printed, as a part of the system, it was proposed that 
it should be numbered and dated at the ordinary machines, instead of the 
Bramah's machine heretofore employed. These machines are also double, 
requiring two boys to feed and two to take off. By this working the note 
is completed, and handed over to the cashier to be examined and counted. 
By this part of the system, the note is decidedly superior to that of the 
old ; the printing by the new process being very much improved as a mere 
question of printing. 

Curiously enough, the numbering apparatus originally invented by 
Bramah has been adapted, with the necessary modification, for the Napier's 
gripper machine, with an improved inking apparatus. 

When the forme is arranged in the printing machines, the first act of 
the printer is to obtain a perfectly level impression, equal in tint at every 
part, which is accomplished by filing the back of the blocks wherever he 
finds any elevation exists. This may be called a general picture, which 
possesses the general appearance, but without the lights and shades which 
give beauty and excellence to the impression. When the general picture 
is obtained to the parties' satisfaction, four impressions are taken upon 
thin paper, and, according to the gradations of tint required, the impression 
is cut away, so that in one place no thickness exists ; in others one, two, 
three, or all the thicknesses remain. For the darkest portion the four 
thicknesses are left, for the lighter none are allowed, and for the inter- 
mediate tints two or three thicknesses are left. The whole are then pasted 
together and placed over the electrotypes, and, by the contrivance of the 
overlaying, those parts which are desired to be darkest get the heaviest 
pinch, those parts required to be of a lighter 'tint are the least heavily 
pressed, and in this way the impression is in a great measure brought 
to perfection 

Upon the trial of this overlaying little alterations are made, to bring 
it to the utmost uniformity. In this part of the process much depends 
upon the skill of the superintendent of the printing department, who has 
the final examination, and when he is satisfied the printing is allowed 
to commence. 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 311 

The time has long since passed away when scientific men would think 
of attempting to devise an inimitable note. A note to be inimitable must 
be made with a skill superior to the power of imitation of all men. The 
doctrine of inimitability should be buried with that of the philosopher's 
stone and the elixir of life ; nevertheless, certain properties are demanded 
by the mercantile community, whereby a man may readily determine a 
good note. In this matter constancy of appearance is of paramount 
importance, and in this particular the new surface note stands pre- 
eminent. The vignette is printed in every impression line for line invari- 
ably the same. The same expression of face is constantly maintained ; the 
same number of lines in one impression is visible in the second, and, 
however many thousands of notes may be issued, not the slightest possible 
variation within certain limits can exist. Moreover, the note is printed 
with a similar ink, and the same tone of colour preserved, that the public 
may be familiarised with a constant standard, and a uniform appearance 
will be marked in their mind. 

Probably many of the members may recollect that the Society of Arts 
many years ago very warmly entered into the question of inimitable notes, 
and a very interesting little volume was issued by them on the subject. 
Some of these proposals were remarkable from the intricacy of their 
designs, but so far as the protection of the Bank is concerned no such 
intricacy is required, as the Bank is never at a loss to detect a forged 
impression, be it executed ever so skilfully, and the system pursued 
by the Bank is so perfect that no forged note has ever escaped eventual 
detection. 

The doctrine even of difficult imitation is one which must be studied 
by physiological principles, and must be considered in reference to the 
faculties of the eye and the properties of the mind. By actual measure- 
ment I have ascertained that the eye can see perfectly over a range of 
2 18', which for twelve inches' distance would represent a space of half an 
inch diameter. However, it has been ascertained by other philosophers 
that an impression on the eye lasts for the one-tenth of a second, wherefore 
it follows, to look over very carefully every part of a note, no less a time 
than a third of a minute would be consumed, and probably in practice 
three times as much would be required. As nearly 30,000 notes are daily 
presented for examination, it follows that one gentleman must be employed 
166 hours to inspect every single portion thoroughly. Practically, however, 
the work is perfectly performed by nineteen inspectors, and therefore they 
cannot enter into a minute and elaborate examination of every part of 
every note, but only judge by the general appearance of all manifestly 
good notes : and a careful examination of any one where there may be 
prima facie grounds for suspicion. 

From such causes it is found by long experience, that any extra- 
ordinary complexity is not only useless, but delusive and dangerous, from 
leading the mind into details which cannot be successfully appreciated. 
The labour and exhaustion produced by minute inspection of any very 
fine work for any length of time is shown by experience to be great, 
and, though to the psychological surgeon it presents many features of 
intense interest, yet the limits of this paper forbid me to enter into its 
consideration. 

In speaking of identity, there is also another property of the eye to be 



APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

considered ; for although there can be hardly any such thing as absolute 
identity or likeness between any two objects, yet any objects which do not 
differ more than four seconds will appear alike to unaided vision, though 
with the microscope great differences may be discernible. Whenever, then, 
throughout this paper I speak of identity, I refer to the identity observ- 
able by the unaided sight : and after all it is but a rough comparative 
identity, a mere vision of identity when examined in a philosophical point 
of view. As far as the public is concerned, nothing can exceed the value 
of a uniform appearance : this the new note affords in the highest degree. 
Day after day, and year after year, the character of the paper will not vary. 
The same signature of " M. Marshall " which appears in the paper of one 
note will be repeated in the next. The same wave lines, the same rough 
edges on three sides, the same shadows in the water-mark will be brought 
continually before the sight. The Britannia will have the same expression of 
countenance, and will be repeated line for line, and dot for dot, for millions 
of impressions unchanged and apparently unchangeable. The very weight 
of the paper does not vary above two or three grains, unless damaged by 
wear, and the colour of the ink will be maintained as far as possible. As 
the stone is worn by water constantly dropping, so will the mind be 
impressed with one uniform appearance. With these constant appear- 
ances, the public should become familiar; and really in a country like 
this, where the circulation of notes is so large, and the Bank has taken 
such pains to secure identity, he that does not make himself acquainted 
with the appearance of a genuine bank-note does not deserve to be its 
possessor. 

To attempt to construct an unforgable or inimitable note would be a 
mere delusion and snare. The public should know that everything which 
has been made can be copied : and without due care, whether they are 
numismatists, and look after Darics and Queen Anne's farthings, or 
antiquarians, and collect old Bibles or ancient manuscripts; whether they 
seek to buy gold-dust or sell precious stones ; whether they transact their 
business by bills, notes, cheques, or coins, they are in all cases liable to 
fraud and deception, and ever will be liable so long as evil remains in 
the world. 

Bank-notes are perhaps as little or less liable to be falsified than most 
other human inventions, in consequence of the certainty of the eventual 
detection of the fraud, and the great risk of punishment from the care and 
vigilance employed to trace out delinquents. 

All questions of fraud are amenable to certain principles, which, on 
this occasion, it is not my province to consider. Whatever knowledge may 
have been obtained upon this subject has been obtained at the Bank, and 
may be regarded as the property of the Bank, which I have neither the 
liberty to communicate, nor am I granted permission to discuss. At the 
desire of the Bank, many experiments have been conducted upon chemical 
means of multiplication. Without entering into details, I am led to 
adopt a principle for the prevention of chemical changes ; namely, to put 
the paper in the same chemical relation as the ink which we desire to 
protect, and in this way we obtain security against change in both writing 
ink and printing ink. In these experiments new fields for investigation 
were found, but it is not in my power in this paper to enter into their 
consideration. 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 313 

As far as the Bank is concerned, the new system has insured increased 
excellence with diminished expense, but probably its adoption by the Bank 
will lead to a far more important use in the arts. Since the printing of 
the cheques, the Government have adopted surface-printing for the receipt 
stamps, and more recently for their new bill stamps. For extensive pro- 
duction and uniformity of expression, surface-printing stands pre-eminently 
as the master. Although the daily production of the ' Times ' and the 
weekly production of the ' Illustrated London News ' may justly be termed 
the typographical wonders of the world, yet the care bestowed upon the note 
to render its unlimited duplication perfect, has a tendency to materially 
influence the printing art in this department in a beneficial manner. 

One application of surface-printing, although disconnected with bank- 
notes, I cannot pass over in silence, as I think the Society of Arts should 
recommend the adaptation of surface-printing to the Ordnance Maps ; and 
though I am fully sensible of the difficulties which would attach to this 
new system, and fully estimate the perfection of these plates, nevertheless 
I feel persuaded that all difficulties may be surmounted, and every English- 
man may be in a position to have a correct map of the land of his fathers, 
at a price not exceeding that of an ordinary newspaper. 

In regarding the future operations of the Bank, I cannot but think 
that the results which have been described are the first step of the com- 
mencement, and not the end, of those improvements which will take place 
in the production of bank-notes. If the use of the steam-press exceeded 
my own propositions, yet in many respects the result has fallen short of 
my anticipations. Considering the great importance of a uniform note 
of a certain standard of perfection, it was necessary to take the most 
prudent course ; nevertheless I cannot bring my mind to suppose that the 
processes can possibly stop where they are. In the first place, the original 
cutting of certain parts of the note will be far more highly finished than it 
is at present when increased skill is brought to bear upon it. With regard 
to the printing, hereafter, probably four, and possibly six or eight, will be 
printed, and subsequently numbered, at a single operation. 

"We are all too apt to think that art will stop at our point, and not 
progress, but it is the property of invention ever to move forward. The 
point at which we have arrived must be the step from which future 
improvements must spring, and, proceeding step by step, the highest 
possible excellence will doubtless eventually be secured. 

There are certain characteristics which are common to the whole class 
of Bank of England notes which should be known to all the world. In the 
first place, every note has three of the natural edges of the paper, and one 
cut edge. In the centre of every note is a water-mark composed of waved 
lines, and the words " Bank of England " are inserted in the substance of 
the paper at the upper and lower portion, with a facsimile of the auto- 
graph of Matthew Marshall, the esteemed chief cashier of the corporation. 
The Britannia is printed on notes of all denominations, and all notes have 
the words " I promise to pay the bearer on demand." 

The entire class of bank-notes include twelve genera, as each of the 
eleven branch establishments issues notes with the town upon it, as 
Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, Leicester, Bristol, 
Portsmouth, Plymouth, Hull, Swansea; and these, with London, form 
twelve establishments issuing notes. 



314 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

Each genus comprises several species, as notes are of several designa- 
tions. Thus, in London nine notes are issued, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 
200, 300, 500, and 1,000 notes. In every branch, notes are issued up 
to 100 ; and at the two important commercial towns of Liverpool and 
Manchester, notes of 500 are issued in addition. In every genus of note 
the denomination up to 50 is placed in the water-mark in letters, and 
twice in shaded figures. 

Every species of note is made up of innumerable individuals, each of 
which has an individuality as distinct and determinate for a bank-note 
as the individuality which characterises every human being, and also 
characteristics as marked in the eyes of the Bank, to distinguish one 
from another, and no more likely to be mistaken than our chairman is 
likely to be mistaken by you for our secretary, even when you are not so 
perfectly familiar with their likenesses. This individuality is given by a 
number and date being added to the denomination. The number is of no 
use alone, the date is of no use alone, but the number, date, and denomina- 
tion together conjointly mark the specific individual; and any person 
having these particulars can learn at the Bank to whom the note was 
issued, and when it was issued, the date of its return to the Bank, and the 
person to whom money was paid for it, with many other matters of its 
pedigree and family history, which are only objects of interest to its 
mother, the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. 

It is not generally known to the public that there are two letters 
preceding the numbers on every note, and which, with the number, tells 
the whole story of the note. Therefore, if the public will but take down 
the letters and numbers, they can learn every other particular on applying 
to the Bank. 

To give an idea of the extent of our operations, I find, in casting them 
up, that there are sixty-six kinds of bank-notes, and about fifty varieties 
of cheques, which had to be prepared. Besides these, there are twenty-five 
kinds of bank-bills, issued from eleven different places, independently of 
sixty day -bills, and various matters which would not be interesting to the 
meeting, further than to show that the Bank has not merely adopted 
surface-printing to a bank-note, but to all similar documents of a similar 
character which they require. 

Had time permitted, it would have been interesting in this paper to 
have considered the progress of typography, and traced, step by step, the 
successive improvements which have taken place before it could have been 
adapted to Bank of England notes. In such an investigation we must 
commence with Tung-Taou, A.D. 924, who appears to be its first inventor. 
From the works of the Chinese and Japanese we should pass to the Biblica 
Pauperum ; the illustrated Bible of the period, printed by blocks, between 
1420 and 1470. Then we should consider the movable types of Caxton, 
and works printed by this benefactor of the human race. Upon exami- 
nation of the choicest specimens of Faust, Schoeffer, and Caxton, 
Shoensperger, and other great printers, we find that even at the beginning 
of this century, when Baskerville, Didot, Bensley, and Bodini, produced 
their finer specimens, surface-printing, as at all adapted to the present 
form of the Bank of England note, was only in its earliest infancy. 

If we examine forms of notes printed by typography, we shall observe 
that the note of the Bank of France and the Belgian note are so produced, 



No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 315 

but in these cases the character of the note is adapted to the style of 
printing, and even there the number printed is so small as to appear 
insignificant when compared with the number issued by the Bank of 
England. At the former establishment about 300 impressions are printed 
every day; at the latter, nearly 30,000 are produced, as 9,000,000 notes 
are issued per annum, representing nearly 300,000,000 of money. 

I remember, when a boy, the waggon-loads of machinery which were 
carted away from the Bank, which had been used for the production of the 
four millions of one-pound notes, which had been printed and never issued. 
Of these I cannot learn that one exists as printed for circulation, and the 
character is so different, that it throws but little light upon the application 
of typography to the present note. The same observations which apply to 
the suppressed one-pound note apply equally to the paper-duty stamp, 
which is familiar to every stationer. 

When we consider the great difficulties which the peculiar water-mark 
of the bank-note paper has entailed, it never could have succeeded had we 
not applied a very much improved inking apparatus, assisted by the 
excellent composition rollers of Messrs. Harrild, the whole being materially 
helped by a totally novel method of preparing the forme for the press. As 
far as my examinations have gone, the typography of our cheapest periodi- 
cals far surpasses in sharpness of impression the very choicest efforts of 
preceding ages. 

The theory on which my report was founded was deduced from a 
multitude of facts, and the result has proved that inductive reasoning has 
not deserted us when brought into practical operation. 

The examination of typography has strikingly shown that invention is 
rather due to the period than to the man ; and as those who have gone 
before have taken advantage of the inventions of our predecessors, and 
again we in turn have received the benefit of their labours, so our suc- 
cessors will use our experience as a stepping-stone to attain their results. 

If we examine the note through its different stages, we cannot help 
being struck with astonishment at the care which has been taken to protect 
the public from imposition. In the manufacture of the paper every sheet 
must be accounted for, and the Legislature has wisely provided that no 
person, under the pain of transportation, may manufacture, sell, or expose 
for sale, paper with the words " Bank of England " in its substance, or any 
curve bar lines, or any denomination in writing. When it is received in 
the Bank, it is again counted and arranged by a decimal system, tinder the 
care of the treasurer, before it is stowed away. When issued to the printer, 
the same number must be handed over to the treasurer; and when it 
receives its final imprint and is converted into the representative of money, 
it is received by the cashier, who again examines and counts the number. 
These perfect notes are deposited in a place of security till life is given to 
them, by being carried as a credit into the Bank books. When it passes 
into the hands of the public, it is amenable to laws which are known to 
the authorities of the Bank. Each denomination has a different average 
duration of life, like individuals in different cities, and some are never 
heard of again, like people who go to foreign lands, and their fate ever 
remains unknown. When the note returns to the Bank, after inspection, 
it dies, never to be resuscitated. The signature is torn off, the denominations 
are punched out, and it becomes a piece of waste paper. The registry of 



APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 

its death is taken by a system devised by my brother, Mr. William Smee. 
This system, which is remarkable for its simplicity and rapidity of 
execution, has been in use with great success for many years, and those 
who are partial to the details of scientific book-keeping will discover many 
devices of interest, but which it is foreign to the purposes of my paper to 
consider in detail. After the death of the note is registered, it is then 
deposited in the vaults for reference for ten years, when it is burnt. The 
object for retaining the notes for so long a period is exclusively for the 
accommodation of the public ; for although such a course entails a very 
considerable cost to the Bank, yet the value of the information which is 
daily being supplied from this cause, shows the importance of it to the 
monetary community. It is not an easy matter to utterly destroy so large 
a number of notes as those which are issued by the Bank. Experiments 
have been tried to reduce them again to pulp, but they have never 
altogether succeeded, and no plan answers so well as their destruction by 
fire. A large iron cage is built in the middle of the yard, including a light 
brick furnace pierced with holes. In this cage the notes are placed and 
burnt by sackfuls at a time, and nothing is left but a little white ash. 
Formerly the paper was coloured with smalt, and this was left at the 
bottom of the furnace as a curious blue mass. The same care which is 
taken in the manufacture of the paper, and in its transition through its 
various stages, is maintained to its final destruction, so that from the linen 
pulp to the cinder, no person can become possessed of a single sheet without 
committing a felony, immediately liable to detection. As the final result 
of the changes bank-notes undergo, I am enabled to show you a piece of 
the blue ash, a portion of the white ash, and a curious mass resembling 
peat, which arose from the conversion of a number of bank-notes into 
a peculiar substance from years of exposure to wet and pressure. 

In bringing this paper to a conclusion, I am fully sensible of its defects, 
and regret that so important a subject should have been treated in a much 
less efficient manner than the members of the Society have a right to expect. 
The original intention was simply to have described surface-printing from 
electrotype for the purposes of the notes and cheques of the Bank of 
England ; and if a wider scope has been given to these remarks, I trust 
that they have not been found tedious to the members of the Society, nor 
have been altogether uninteresting to the mercantile community. If here- 
after the adoption of this system of Bank of England notes shall have 
been found to be beneficial to the arts, I shall feel amply rewarded for 
the anxious thought and labour which I have bestowed upon it a feeling 
which is equally experienced by Mr. Hensman and Mr. Coe, who have, 
from the first, made every exertion to bring the system into successful 
operation. 



.No. XXIII.] APPENDIX. 317 



No. XXIII. 
THE MONOGENESIS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. A LECTURE 

DELIVERED AT THE LONDON INSTITUTION, FEBRUARY 18TH, 

1857. By ALFRED SMEE. 

IN our intercourse with Nature and natural phenomena, we, each of us, 
according to the peculiarity of our minds, view the same phenomena in a 
somewhat different manner; some of us perceive more vividly by our 
organs of sensation, whilst others with less powers of perception store up 
facts more accurately. Some generalize simple facts into extensive laws, 
whilst it is permitted to a few to compare and bring into relation nume- 
rous generalizations at first sight apparently distinct. From this diversity 
in the powers of the human mind, I have always strongly felt that society 
is benefited by each person unfolding the impressions which his own 
mind receives, as by that means all are made acquainted with the various 
aspects from which external nature may be viewed. 

This evening it will be my endeavour to carry out the suggestion, that 
this year the soiree lectures should be undertaken by amateurs, and chiefly 
by the managers of your Institution. I have chosen for my theme the 
' Production of Physical Forces,' and this lecture will be a cursory glance 
of that view of natural phenomena which I published in the year 1843, in 
a work entitled ' The Sources of Physical Science,' and which constitutes 
one of that series of metaphysical works which I have made it the business 
of my life to develop from Nature. Some of these views you have done me 
the honour on former occasions to allow me to unfold in this room ; and 
from the kind manner in which you received those speculations, I venture 
to hope that you will neither be surprised nor offended in my submitting 
this view of Nature, especially as I have myself practically applied it for a 
period of fourteen years in the ordinary transactions of life, and I trust 
not altogether without some advantage to the public. 

We live in a material world, but we can neither make nor destroy 
matter. However many times matter may be combined or acted upon by 
matter, it remains the same in amount ; and even when it is so changed 
that it possesses no vestige of its former state, yet it is neither increased 
nor diminished. 

When our great poet in his lofty flight says 

" Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away ; " 

the change is not more wonderful than the daily transmutations in our 
manufactories, where offensive offal is converted into beautiful pigments 
for the dresses of our fairest daughters, and noxious residues are changed 
into exquisite flavours for sweetmeats. 

In every case in which we observe matter, we notice that it possesses 
a power whereby two portions are drawn together or mutually attracted. 
From this we deduce a law, " That whatever attracts is matter, and what- 
ever cannot attract is not matter." To my mind, attraction is an inherent 



318 APPENDIX. [No. XXIII. 

property of matter, which it has possessed as long as matter has existed, 
and will possess till matter ceases to exist, by the fiat of an IMMATERIAL 
POWER. 

We know not how far matter is divisible, because we can readily 
separate it into particles far below what our senses can appreciate ; never- 
theless, it is convenient to assume that matter is divisible into definite 
particles which can no longer be divided, and hence called atoms. We 
know not, moreover, how many kinds of matter there are, or whether there 
is more than one kind. It by no means follows because we cannot decom- 
pose the so-called sixty elements that they are separate bodies. We must 
remember that it is possible, as every element has a different combining 
number, that each may be only a number of atoms attracted together so 
firmly as to resist our powers of separation. These considerations are 
entirely within the boundary of speculation, and not at present of fact; 
yet this view meets all the known facts of the case, and when two theories, 
equally expressing all the circumstances, are offered for our consideration, 
it is more consistent with natural science to choose that which involves 
the fewest hypotheses. One of the most subtle divisions of solid matter is 
to be found in the black pulverulent state of metals, such as employed for 
my form of battery. It has been supposed that all matter is black when 
extensively divided, because the particles are too small to reflect light ; but 
the form of the black particles is unknown to us, because the highest 
powers of the microscope are insufficient to render them visible to the eye. 
At the last Bakerian lecture Professor Faraday made known methods for 
dividing gold to an extreme amount. He precipitates the metal from its 
solution by bi-sulphuret of carbon, and obtains a ruby-coloured liquid, in 
which metallic gold is so minute that the particles are invisible by any 
microscopic power. This distinguished philosopher satisfied himself that 
the ruby glass owes its colour to gold in a metallic state in an infinite 
division, and by adding gelatine to the ruby solution he obtained a ruby 
jelly precisely similar. 

Ultimate particles of matter are aggregated or attracted into masses, 
of which we may observe many varieties. Look at ice : how different is its 
appearance at different times ; and in our electro-metallurgic deposits, 
where we build up our objects atom by atom, we obtain many very different 
kinds of aggregation. The copper electrotype from which the Bank of 
England note is printed, is so excellent, that a portion I tried was found 
capable of being drawn into three and a half miles of wire, whilst under 
certain circumstances copper deposited breaks with a conchoidal fracture 
with the greatest ease. 

We are ignorant whether there is any difference in the mode of attrac- 
tion between the ultimate particles of solid, fluid, and gaseous particles; 
but having regard to the entire range of physical knowledge, we may 
assume that the particles are most firmly attracted in the solid, and more 
in the fluid than the gaseous state, as by different amounts of attraction we 
obtain the difference between the solid and gaseous states. I have specu- 
lated whether one atom might not by itself have boundless expanse, and 
fill the firmament a limitation of extent being due to the attraction 
between two or more atoms of matter. 

Masses of matter aggregated together still have the power of attract- 
ing each other into one uniform mass, by adhesion, as when two pieces of 



No. XXIII.] APPENDIX. 319 

lead or glass are brought into contact they mutually adhere, and some- 
times greatly to the manufacturer's discomfort. 

Liquids and solids in contact have a power of mutual attraction, as in 
capillary attraction. 

Gases and liquids have also this power of attraction, as in the case of 
muriatic acid gas and water. 

I will now show you a very beautiful experiment, proving that attrac- 
tion is existent between gases and solids. Some years ago I discovered 
that coke or charcoal might have so much hydrogen firmly attracted to it, 
that when plunged into solutions of gold, silver, or copper, an extensive 
deposition of metal takes place, and I have found that it would retain the 
gas for many days. 

Attraction is also exerted between gaseous bodies, according to the 
law of diffusion so elegantly developed by Graham ; and even carbonic acid 
(a very heavy gas) passes into the atmospheric air. 

Lastly, liquids attract each other by a law very similar to that of the 
diffusion of gases. 

Hitherto we have considered the attraction of particles of matter in 
indefinite quantities, or of the attraction of masses already aggregated; 
but particles of two or more different kinds of matter may be attracted to 
produce a totally new substance, having none of the properties of former 
particles : thus chlorine and sodium form common salt ; oxygen and 
hydrogen, water. 

Attracted matter, either in masses or in the most attenuated particles, 
attracts other masses at any distance, and by this power of gravity every- 
thing in the universe is kept in position ; to this power the sun, the moon, 
the earth, the stars in the firmament, and every substance in the world, 
owes its position. 

In the cases of attraction already described the power appears to be 
exercised promiscuously, but there are cases in which attraction is exerted 
in definite directions. Crystals are masses of attracted matter of this 
character, as their particles are attracted unequally in different directions. 
In consequence of this they yield to mechanical force in some directions, 
not in others; they expand unequally by heat, they are acted upon 
unequally by magnetism, and they have very curious properties in relation 
to light. Not only in crystalline bodies do we obseKve that attraction is 
exercised in a definite direction, but we observe a direction in the power 
of attraction during the magnetic state. A bar of iron, when it suddenly 
assumes this state, appears to have its former attractions altered, for under 
favourable circumstances it will sound a distinct musical note. When a 
magnetic body attracts another body capable of assuming the magnetic 
state, the second substance also evinces a similar direction in the exercise 
of the power of attraction. From these views we deduce that the idea of 
magnetism is derived from certain kinds of matter, under certain circum- 
stances, evincing the power of attraction in a definite direction. 

We have considered the mode in which attraction acts to xinite 
particles of matter, and thus construct the various objects of which the 
material universe is composed. Now let us pause to consider the earth at 
rest. The quiet which gives the loveliness to evening, and soothes the 
mind after the business of the day, forms but a dim shadow of that awful 
quiet which would exist were attracted matter not capable of being acted 



320 APPENDIX. [No. XXIII. 

upon, when there would be neither heat to cheer, light to gladden, sound 
to enliven, nor motion to excite. 

Nature, however, abhors quiet, and delights in action. In every case 
where attraction is exerted, it can be destroyed by a new attraction ; and 
thus, whilst attracted matter exhibits cohesion, composition, and position, 
so a new attraction can cause disintegration, decomposition, and motion. 
Hence we deduce the law, " that a new attraction can destroy a former 
attraction." 

For a study of the effect of a new attraction acting upon attracted 
matter, the voltaic battery stands forth pre-eminently as an instrument 
well calculated to exemplify the phenomenon. For a voltaic circuit it is 
essential to have a fluid compound built up of two atoms only : this com- 
pound is decomposed by any matter either in a solid, fluid, or gaseous 
state capable of setting up a powerful attraction between itself and one 
element of the compound : this is the positive pole. The second element 
is evolved at the negative pole, and the two points may be connected 
together by matter extending for miles and miles; a fact on which 
depend the electric clock and telegraph. In a, single batteiy there is but 
one point at which the new attraction is excited. In the compound bat- 
tery there are as many points as there are cells in the series. A single 
voltaic batteiy may act through a series of similar troughs, provided that 
in these secondary troughs the tendency to destroy the former attraction 
is nearly equal to the tendency to maintain it. I place before you an 
example, in which one battery is reducing gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, 
iron, zinc, in separate cells, having solutions of the positive poles of those 
metals. In this case, one grain of zinc in the battery reduces 6i grains of 
gold, 3 of silver, 3i lead, 1^ tin, 1 copper, -^ of a grain iron, these being 
the relative weight of one atom of each of these metals. 

By the voltaic battery, especially if we employ the platinized silver 
battery, as is now almost invariably used for heavy work, we obtain results 
equivalent to the original attraction within a very trifling percentage, a 
result which must be regarded as a glorious triumph of human skill. On 
account of this perfection of result I have been enabled to construct an 
instrument which I call a battery-meter, in which every degree shows that 
a grain of zinc has entered into combination and become sulphate of zinc. 
By this we can tell the amount and thickness of metal reduced in our 
precipitating trough. This instrument is the first instance in which man 
has estimated work done by the primary attraction or source of power. In 
the steam-engine the coals burnt do not point out so accurately the result 
obtained ; and I have elsewhere observed that even in the animal, the most 
perfect of all machines, the food the soldier eats will not of necessity 
indicate the number of miles traversed, or of the enemy killed. 

This instrument was designed for the Bank of England. Ton are all 
doubtless aware, that upon my proposition the entire system of printing 
the Bank of England notes has been changed, and that they are now 
printed from the surface : a change which has contributed so much to give 
identity to the note. The original dies are cut in copper, steel, or brass ; 
from these, moulds are made, which again are electrotyped to make the 
cast for printing. The battery-meter, placed in the battery, shows us the 
thickness of our deposited metal in the trough; and though our prac- 
tised eye enables us to dispense with extraneous aids, I can but think 



No. XXIII.] APPENDIX. 321 

this little instrument is a very beautiful practical application of pro- 
found physical laws. 

The cause of all voltaic phenomena is referable to a new attraction, 
and when this is opposed by obstacles tension is manifested. Tension, to 
use a figurative expression, is " a desire for action ungratified ;" and thus, 
as soon as the tension is increased, or the obstacles are diminished, action 
results, and disintegration, decomposition, or motion occurs. 

It was from the long-continued and close study of the voltaic battery, 
requisite to enable me to write my treatise on ' Electro-Metallurgy,' that 
I was led, step by step, to develop the system of physical philosophy 
upon which this lecture is based. I could, therefore, tarry and dwell upon 
this beautiful instrument, did I not remember that on this evening it will 
be my endeavour to compress into one lecture a slight sketch of the entire 
range of physical phenomena. 

Passing from the study of the action of a new attraction upon binary 
fluid compounds, we may next, with advantage, consider its effect upon 
solid substances, or substances under the attraction of aggregation, and 
the electrical machine is well adapted for this purpose. In this case, force 
is applied to a solid body, whereby tension far exceeding that which is 
readily obtainable by a voltaic battery is manifested. Whenever the 
electrical machine is excited by any force, the origin of that force is due 
to some new attraction, and hence the new attraction is the primary cause 
of the electrical tension ; and when this is increased sufficiently, or the 
obstacles decreased, action ensues by a destruction of attractions, such as 
disintegration, decomposition, or motion, and is frequently accompanied 
by light, heat, and sound. 

From the above views, the mind is led to suppose that electricity is 
not an immaterial essence, imponderable, or spirit attached to matter, to 
which the effects are due ; but that the phenomena of electricity are 
entirely owing to the action of a new attraction upon matter aggregated or 
composed by former attractions. 

By frictional electricity we can trace how repulsion is a phenomenon 
of attraction, and not an inherent power of matter ; as by electricity we 
can readily suspend some of the numerous forces by which any body is 
held in position, when it moves in the resultant of the others. Two balls 
suspended close together, when similarly electrified, appear to repel each 
other ; but in reality they are attracted to surrounding objects. 

Carry the reasoning one step further, we find that which we term a 
positive or negative electrical phenomenon is due to the direction in which 
the new attraction acts, and this direction is analogous to the polarity of 
the magnet or the condition of the electrolyte in the voltaic battery. 

Passing from the known to the unknown, we may glance at the 
thunder-cloud, the awful grandeur of which must for ever appal the 
human mind. From the dense black masses of clouds which usually 
accompany this grand natural phenomenon, we have seldom an opportunity 
of observing that which is taking place ; yet on one occasion, on Forest 
Hill, I saw that which probably is the cause of the electric action. It was 
a damp day in June, and there had been much rain previously (the entire 
sky being covered as it were with misty clouds, through which the sun was 
seen in an obscured form). Suddenly, without warning or the slightest 
apparent reason, clouds aggregated above our heads so rapidly, thnt 



322 APPENDIX. [No. XXIII. 

within five minutes we were in comparative darkness, when the most 
terrific flashes of lightning occurred, accompanied with peals of thunder. 
This was followed almost simultaneously by enormous hailstones, so thick 
that we could scarcely see a few yards before us. We had great difficulty 
in proceeding to the nearest house, which was scarcely a hundred yards, 
and it was only after incessant ringing, that one of the inmates ventured 
out to open the gate to give us shelter. 

In this case there was manifestly an instantaneous and rapid deve- 
lopment of new attractions in the aggregation of aqueous vapour into 
large hailstones, and I believe that aggregation of vapour acting upon 
the attracted matter of the clouds is the true source of the electric 
development. 

The sublime phenomenon of the thunder-cloud I have watched as it 
plays over the ocean's bed ; I have been in the midst of it at the top of the 
mountain, I have seen it hovering over the lake, and heard the thunder 
reverberate from shore to shore of the castle-bearing hills of the Rhine, 
yet it is worthy of mention that in no place has it been so grand as in this 
Circus during the stillness of night. Here we have a multiple echo, and 
when the cloud is overhead, the crash is reverberated from side to side with 
a majesty unequalled by any other natural phenomenon, and which well 
marks the power which is acting during the electric discharge. 

The capacity to produce action is called force, and, whenever a new 
attraction is set up, force results. Force differs from tension in being 
able to do that which tension is prevented, by a resistance, from accom- 
plishing. Any kind of attraction gives rise to force. The attraction of 
gravitation, capillary attraction, the attraction of aggregation, or of 
chemical affinity, will produce force. 

When a new attraction is exerted, the force emanating therefrom may 
be propagated through aeriform bodies, when it is termed pneumatic 
force ; through fluid bodies, when it is called hydrostatic force ; through 
solid bodies, when it is called mechanical force. 

I have heard it stated that whenever force is generated it is never 
annihilated. To such an extraordinary proposition my system not only 
gives an unqualified denial, but points out the manner in which force 
comes to an end. However long it may endure, however many bodies it 
may pass through, its final action is to destroy some pre-existing attrac- 
tion, and either disintegrate, decompose, or move previously attracted 
matter. 

The resistance of matter under attraction to a new attraction leads to 
the production of various phenomena. Under certain circumstances, that 
which we call heat is evinced. For heat, it is necessary that a resistance 
to the new attraction should be afforded by the pre-existing attraction. 
In the voltaic circuit, if any part is contracted heat is manifested, and in 
this way water may be boiled, or platinum (one of the most infusible of 
substances) may be made to fuse like wax. Mechanical force causes heat, 
when applied to solid bodies ; and whenever attraction acts with sufficient 
energy upon attracted matter, heat results. Where we require intense 
heat we must employ an intense new attraction on an intense aggregation, 
and hence every practical man uses light or strong coke according to the 
intensity of heat he requires. Whilst heat exists, the new attraction is 
merely attempting to destroy other attractions, and the force may be 



No. XXHI.] APPENDIX. 323 

transferred to any other body : by conduction, that is, through bodies in 
contact ; or by radiation, that is, to bodies at a distiince. In every case 
where heat ceases, either the new attraction ceases to exert itself, or the 
former attraction is destroyed, and disintegration, decomposition, or motion 
is the result. 

Some difficulty is presented to our knowledge of the actions and re- 
actions which constitute heat, but, upon the whole, I am inclined to 
think that heat is best described as that action of matter which from 
a distance influences the nerves of sensation in the skin, or, in other 
words, heat is that which is felt from a distance by the skin. 

There is another range of actions and reactions which are not 
appreciated by the skin, but are alone seen by the eye. This range is 
termed light, and by the prism we are enabled at once to distinguish that 
which is seen by the eye, or light, from that which is not seen by the eye. 
Chemistry indicates that there are actions both more refrangible than the 
violet ray on the one hand, and less refrangible than the red on the other. 
For the production of light the new attractions must be of the most 
powerful kind, so that they may act with great intensity upon matter 
attracted, and it is preferable to be in a solid state. The inflammation 
of hydrogen gives little or no light : add solid matter, and a beautiful 
light is the result. Hydro-carbons give us the most convenient light 
when they are burnt with such energy that the solid matter is first 
deposited to be acted upon by the new attraction, and subsequently burnt 
that it may yield no smoke ; if all is burnt at once, so that no solid matter 
remains in the flame, light will not be produced. An illuminated body may 
communicate the force which is seeking to act upon the solid matter to 
other bodies, and finally decomposition, disintegration, or some destruction 
of attraction takes place. 

As the skin feels heat, the eye sees light ; so, by the ear, are we made 
acquainted with the actions and reactions constituting sound. The 
vibrations constituting sound have been accurately measured by philo- 
sophers ; and though different people differ in the power of appreciating 
the higher and lower notes, it may be generally stated that all vibrations 
from 8 in a second to 24,000 are appreciated by the ear, and are conse- 
quently sound. 

Sound, like light and heat, requires attracted matter : this is acted 
upon by a new attraction, and in the conflict between the old and new 
attractions vibrations ensue ; whilst the vibration continues, the force may 
be propagated to other matter which may also take on vibrations. 

I have always thought that odours constituted a further range of 
actions and reactions. I am the more confirmed in that view, the more 
I watch those animals, as the bloodhound, which have the nerves of the 
nose highly developed. Upon this matter, however, we are much in the 
same position as the man born blind, who can only receive his ideas of 
light through the medium of the eyes of others, for man has literally only 
a rudimentary nose, if it be compared with that of other animals. 

A theory is not to be a mere mental creation, but a law or principle to 
guide our actions and bring forth fruit. The law which I have developed 
is so pre-eminently of practical application, that every human action may 
be regulated by it. When we desire to obtain any result, we begin by 
generating new attractions. For this purpose we select substances 

Y 2 



324 APPENDIX. [No. XXIII. 

the lowest equivalent, because the least weight would answer our purpose ; 
hydrogen and carbon have the lowest equivalent, and coal being an hydro- 
carbon, is that matter which is pre-eminently adapted to combine with 
oxygen, the more especially as the product of the new attraction is readily 
dissipated. If we compare zinc with coals, we find that it has an equiva- 
lent eight times higher, and its energy of combustion with oxygen is 
perhaps not more than one-third that of carbon : moreover, the cost of 
zinc is forty times dearer than coals ; consequently, as a source of power, 
zinc would be 960 times dearer than coals. 

Our theory thus indicates why we select coals for light, heat, motion, 
and chemical changes, instead of zinc ; and this difference of cost prevents 
the voltaic battery, the most perfect human device, from universal 
application. 

In animals the hydrogen and carbon in the food they consume is the 
source of power, and the horse without hay and oats is as powerless as the 
steam-engine without coals or the battery without zinc. 

Starting with the new attraction of hydrogen and carbon, with oxygen 
as a source of power, we must take care so to apply it upon attracted 
matter, that we may produce, according to our necessity, heat, light, 
motion or electricity ; for it would not be difficult, in fact it constantly 
happens in practice, for one variety of force to be produced when another 
is desired, and whatever is thus improperly generated is wasted. 

In physics and physiology, in mechanics and medicine, facts, no less 
than theory, declare that no effect occurs without material cause, that 
no initial change takes place without equivalent result, and in all cases 
there is but one source ; in fact a complete " Monogenesis of all Physical 
Forces." 

In consequence of the " Monogetic Origin of Physical Forces," each 
possesses within itself the power of a new attraction, which, according to 
the amount of the initial change, can produce an equivalent or relational 
amount of any other force. Electricity may produce light, heat or motion. 
Motion may produce heat, light, electricity ; light may produce electricity ; 
motion, heat; heat may produce motion, electricity, light; and so we may 
ring the changes of the convertibility of physical forces ad infinitum. 

Whenever a new attraction acts upon matter under attraction, the 
attraction already existing seeks to maintain itself, and in consequence of 
this resistance time is occupied, and according to the energy of the change, 
so is the time diminished or increased. 

I know no part of physical science which presents more important 
matter for consideration than the phenomenon of time : for let us suppose 
that a change of matter could take place without time ; the coals in our 
grates would be consumed instantly if our house caught light, the whole 
would momentarily vanish if we set in motion any body, it would arrive 
at its destination quicker than thought, and be dashed to pieces. 
Chemistry supplies us with substances, the particles of which are held 
together so slightly, that upon the slightest application of force they are 
separated : iodide of nitrogen, for instance, separates upon the slightest 
agitation into its component parts. The safety of the proper use of gun- 
powder depends upon its progressive action, which is slow as compared 
with iodide of nitrogen, or with some varieties of gun-cotton. 

Man derives the idea of time from the resistance to change : if the 



No. XXIII.] APPENDIX 325 

total changes constituting an event are performed with energy, but little 
time is occupied ; if the resistance to change is great, considerable time is 
evinced. The sum total of all time is the representation of all the events 
which have happened from the commencement of matter to the present 
moment ; and the number of revolutions of the earth round the sun, or of 
the earth upon its axis, are generally the events which are counted as our 
measure of time. 

From the nature of time, one preceded all subsequent events; 
namely, the first rushing together or attraction of particles of matter, 
which gave to every object its composition, form, and position. We 
must look for the cause of this primary attraction to a source extrinsic 
from matter, as it could not have caused itself to take on that power. 
From this consideration the mind is led to contemplate an " IMMATERIAL 
POWER," to confer this property on matter. This argument is indepen- 
dent and altogether different from the argument of design, but this is not 
the proper place to enter into this consideration, which I now leave to 
your own meditations, or refer you to the seventh chapter of my 
' Sources of Physics,' for its further development. 

Every event from which we derive our ideas of time has a beginning, 
the generation of a new attraction ; and an end, the destruction of a 
former attraction ; and as events have followed since matter existed, and 
will continue till matter shall cease, time began with matter and will 
terminate when matter shall cease, and " The great globe, yea, all which it 
inhabit, shall dissolve." From these views we find that time can have 
none, no, not even the feeblest quality of eternity; and that however 
exaggeratedly it may be increased, time never becomes eternity. Time is 
a mere repetition of events, each having a beginning and an end. Eternity 
is not made up of events, and has, therefore, no beginning and no end. 

I have now completed, as far as the limited time will permit, a short 
sketch of the views of the " Monogenesis of Physical Forces," which my 
study of Nature and natural phenomena has forced my mind to adopt. 
This doctrine has the merit of discarding the notions of aethers, essences, 
imponderables, or a plurality of forces being attached to matter, and 
places such vague assumptions rather amongst the mental creations of 
the philosopher than amongst the realities of Nature. 

I am free to confess that this combination of physical facts and known 
laws into one consistent doctrine was a matter of intense study and pro- 
found thought ; but should it fortunately have the same power on your 
minds, to render physical science of easy application, as it has had upon 
mine, you will pardon me for occupying your attention whilst I have 
endeavoured to teach, that attraction acting on attracted matter is the 
source of all force, and that, therefore, every physical force has a mono- 
genetic origin, and when generated a truly equivalent power. 



326 APPENDIX. [No. XXIV. 

No. XXIV. 

THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN. 1858. 
To the Editor of the ' Morning Chronicle' 

SIK, I am afraid that your correspondent may think he has good cause 
to accuse me of want of courtesy in not having supplied to him an account 
of the experiments on the light of the eclipse, but the observations exceeded 
150, and at the moment I could not compress them into a form suitable 
for your paper, or I should have had great pleasure in giving the details at 
once. The great interest which naturally, however, belongs to this grand 
natural phenomenon, induces me to send a short account of some observa- 
tions made at Blisworth upon the darkness which marked the progress of 
the obscuration, in the hopes that it may not be unacceptable to many of 
your readers. It has occurred to me that my " abstract photometer " 
might do good service ; for whether the weather was fine, or whether it was 
cloudy, yet it was calculated to give us an insight into the extent to which 
the sun's light might be veiled from the surface of the earth. 

The photometer consists of a wedge of neutral tint coloured glass, 
cemented by Canada balsam to a similar wedge of colourless glass, and the 
solid which results from the junction of the two 
prisms is divided into degrees, each of which is equal 
to the capacity of the one-hundredth of an inch of 
pure bromine, so that the short account now given 
may be compared by future philosophers with the 
_ results of subsequent eclipses hundreds or thousands 

FIG. is. of years hence, if they do but know the length of 

smee's Photometer. Qur Eng^g^ fafa Armed with this instrument, I 
proceeded to Blisworth, where I found a field con- 
veniently located, which had been secured by some of my friends, and 
where chronometers and all other instruments for accurate research had 
been provided. I determined to take three sets of observations : the first, 
of the light of the horizon, at a spot where a tree cut sharply the line to 
the south ; the second, of the light of the ground at our feet ; and the 
third, the light of the sky overhead : and I anticipated that I should 
be able to test by the vigorous proof of scientific truth the wonderful 
stories which are told of eclipses, which appeared to my mind as the 
results of overheated imaginations, or of stories fit for an appendix to the 
curious Travels of Baron Munchausen. 

In the morning, at half-past eight, the sky showed a light which was 
veiled at 17 : * but at the commencement of the eclipse the clouds were 
so dense that the horizon was obscured at 14 - 15. From this time till 
12h. 53', the light continually diminished to 11. The next observation was 
taken at Ih. 2', when it stood at nearly 14, from which it rose to 15 at 
2h. 16', at the termination of the observations. I need not here allude to 
the rises and falls of light as the clouds became thinner or denser, as it 
is sufficient to notice that the horizon lost light continually from the 
beginning to the total, and gained from the total to tlie termination. 




* This and the following numbers refer to the degrees of the photometer. 



No. XXIV.] APPENDIX. 327 

The illumination of the ground presented far more interesting and 
important variations. At the commencement of the eclipse the illuminat- 
ing power was 11 ; it varied with the depths of the clouds, but gradually 
receded to 8'5 at 12h. 53'. At 12h. 55' it dropped to 8*3 ; at 12h. 58' it 
reached 8 ; at 12h. 59' it was as low as 7*25. This was about the minimum 
of light and maximum of darkness, when suddenly, in little more than a 
minute afterwards, the earth became illuminated, and two or three seconds 
after 1 o'clock the light rose to 10, and continued to rise with the varia- 
tions of the clouds till 2h. 15', when it stood at 12*5. This illumination of 
the earth was a wonderful natural phenomenon : the country people called 
out, " It's all over ! " and to see the ground brightly lighted whilst the sky 
remained in great darkness was a surprising, and to me an unexpected, 
appearance. 

The sky was observed as near the zenith as convenient : at the com- 
mencement it was equal to 14*25 ; from this it gradually, with variations 
according to cloud, diminished to 11 '75 at 12h. 50', and then rapidly 
dropped till 1 o'clock, when it stood at the lowest amount, 9*25. At Ih. 2 
it rose to 12*5, many seconds later than the rise of the illumination of the 
earth, so that the earth, brightly illuminated for some seconds, remained 
with a dark canopy overhead, and this peculiarity appears to give a 
marked character to the darkness of an eclipse which differs from other 
obscurations. 

From these observations it is apparent that a great diminution of light 
gradually occurs from the commencement to the totality, at which point 
it very rapidly further declines; after the totality it almost suddenly 
rises, and in fact so rapidly as to appear like a scene at a theatre suddenly 
illuminated, from which time the light increased to the end of the eclipse. 

To the wondermongers who put all the birds to roost, I may state that 
the lark sang in the air at 12h. 47' ; that other birds flew about and chirped 
to 12h. 50' ; that larks rose in full song as late as 12h. 52', and remained in 
full gong to 12h. 55', at which time the cocks were heard to crow; even 
the birds in the hedges whistled at 12h. 58', and, in fact, continued their 
songs and flights from the beginning to the end of the eclipse : and if there 
was an interval in their proceedings, it could not have been for more 
than three minutes. The sun became visible at Ih. 0' 21", and again at 
intervals till Ih. 57', when the light of its disc amounted to 18*25. 

The barometer did not sensibly vary. I ascertained that the difference 
between the dry and wet bulbs lessened at the time of the greatest cold 
from about 3 to U. 

Although these results are by no means so perfect as could be desired, 
yet they are of considerable interest, and I trust they will lead on a future 
occasion to such observations that the variations of light and darkness 

may be accurately detailed. 

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

7, FlNSBURY CIRCUS, ALFRED SMEE. 

March 16. 



328 APPENDIX. [No. XXV. 

No. XXV. 
ON THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE METROPOLIS. 

EXTRACTS from LETTERS to the ' Times ' and ' Standard,' 
by ALFRED SMEE. 

THE deep springs which supply our livers round London flow from 
the chalk, which absorbs the rain which falls upon it and retains it like a 
sponge, and the great chalk hills which surround London are Nature's 
storehouses for water, which yield a steady supply, influenced by the total 
rain which falls over a period of several weeks, but uninfluenced by any 
sudden showers. The Lea, the New River, the Colne, the Wandle, the 
Grays water springs, and other streams, have their source in the chalk, 
and it is our duty to take the water at its source, before it is contaminated 
with sewage. Moreover, the rivers round London are full of weeds, which 
grow with great rapidity in hot weather, but which die and rot at the 
beginning of September, and this decaying matter is then supplied to 
London at a period of the year when epidemics are most rife, and when its 
presence is most dangerous. 

By taking spring water as it pours from the earth, and stowing it in 
dark reservoirs, vegetation cannot occur, and the water can be supplied in 
its purest condition. 

Although the cause of the choleraic impairment of water is unknown, 
the pernicious influence of cesspools near surface wells is now thoroughly 
recognized, and, possibly, the choleraic poison can run through the earth 
as a fungus can extend for a considerable distance, &c. 

"While London cries for a further supply of water, it is not generally 
known that there exists at Grays in Essex a series of fissures, or under- 
ground rivers, which pour their water into the Thames, and the yield 
of which is estimated at upwards of 10,000,000 gallons a day. Some of this 
water is used for the supply of Brentwood, and Romford will be supplied 
in two or three weeks, but the remainder is absolutely wasted, notwith- 
standing that it is destitute entirely of organic matter, and is of a quality 
declared by the Government commissioners as the best which is obtainable 
for the metropolitan supply .... 



AGAINST DRINKING WATER CONTAINING ORGANIC MATTER. Speech 
delivered by ALFRED SMEE at the Civil Engineers', May 21st, 1867. 

MR. SMEE denied that a small quantity of organic matter in water was 
immaterial. A small quantity of sinall-pox matter would infect a large 
number of persons, and a less quantity of scarlet fever poison was required 
to propagate that disease. There were many other poisons communicated 
by means so subtle that the material agency by which the poison was 
carried from one person to another had never been discovered, whilst 
there was distinct evidence that it was so carried. When the great 
cholera epidemic struck the neighbourhood of Golden Square, Dr. Snow 



No. XXV.] APPENDIX. 329 

visited every house that was attacked, and in each instance traced the 
mortality to the use of the water from the pump in Broad Street. He 
thereupon went to the vestry, declaring that the remedy against cholera 
in that district was to chain up the pump. When the authorities heard 
of the simple means he recommended, they were inclined to treat the 
suggestion with ridicule, but they argued it could do no harm if it did no 
good, and when they chained the pump-handle the mortality decreased. 

It had been alleged that cows and farm-horses preferred to drink 
water contaminated by sewage, and he would state, of his own knowledge, 
that if those animals had the choice of clear water and foul water, they 
would leave the pure water for the latter. For instance, the water which 
flowed through Croydon had been habitually taken by some cows. These 
were attacked with the rinderpest, whilst those around the district did 
not suffer from it. Nevertheless, it was not only cows, but mankind who 
in many cases preferred this particular class of water. Churchyard pumps 
were resorted to in preference to others; there was something in the 
taste of the water, probably from the salt it contained, that excited the 
palate and induced people to drink it in preference to pure water. On 
the last epidemic visitation of cholera, he recommended the authorities to 
take off the handle of the pump over the old Roman well in the Bank of 
England. That well, which was a celebrated one, was derived originally 
from the gravel ; but now there was reason to believe it was supplied 
from leakages beneath the urinals. It appeared that, when the handle was 
taken off, some of the people of distinction in the locality begged that 
they might not be deprived of that water, as it was the only drinking 
water they enjoyed. He had no hesitation in saying that, where tainted 
water was supplied to the public, it was a matter of great moment ; and 
that whenever an epidemic appeared, the community must be cautious to 
do all they could to avoid the use of it. 

The next part of the question was the character of the organic matter. 
This, if like the white of eggs, or a basin of soup, was harmless; but let 
the sotip or white of eggs get into a putrefactive state, and the operation, 
like the leaven of bread, would communicate its taint far and wide. It 
was matter in the act of change, and it set up change in contiguous 
organic matter. The damage done to individuals of every species by the 
excreta? of the same species, was generally recognized by the medical 
profession; and the doctrine of the harmlessness of changing organic 
matter was universally regarded as a medical heresy. 

Now, what did Boards of Health frequently do ? He would rather 
call them in many cases Boards of Death. The Croydon Board of Health 
formerly took the water which naturally flowed into the stream, passed it 
through the town and the water-closets, and then poured it in at the top 
of the river Wandle, to poison every person living upon its banks. At 
one period of an epidemic he thought it his duty to call the attention 
of the Privy Council to the circumstance, when the inhabitants were 
warned not to drink the water of the river "Wandle. It was only by a 
series of bills in Chancery that the residents succeeded in suppressing 
that nuisance ; and it was observed that the Croydon authorities found the 
greatest difficulty in getting rid of the putrefying animal matter upon the 
land. He could give a recipe how to test imperfectly-purified water. It 
mio'ht be clear and bright and pleasant; but put it into a bottle upon 



330 APPENDIX. 

the mantelpiece in a warm room, and in two or three days, notwithstanding 
the filtering processhad removed suspended matter, it would begin to change, 
and give unmistakable evidence to the olfactory nerves of the presence of 
putrefying organic matter. Everything tended to show that animal matter 
in a state of decomposition was to be feared. In seasons of epidemic it 
was impossible to pass the excretse of one town to another in rivers without 
great danger of propagating disease ; and for that reason water ought never 
to be taken from such a source. Now, if it was matter in a state of change 
which was injurious, there came the consideration whether the sewage 
was presented as a totally changed matter in river waters ; in other 
words, whether the sewage assumed a totally different form. Suppose 
sewage c was put upon the ground .and absorbed by vegetables, such as 
cabbages, or was absorbed by weeds in rivers, it was no longer sewage ; but 
notwithstanding, there were several cases on record which showed that it 
was not perfectly safe to manure gardens by pumping sewage : under 
these circumstances, as the plants grew up they would quickly decompose 
after being cut for use, and would not be as wholesome for food as those 
manured with sweet and fresh fertilizing matter. But if organic matter 
assumed another form, it was really a new substance and harmless. The 
question of changed matter was brought forward every month by the 
Registrar- General and fallaciously estimated as pre-existing sewage, which 
had caused some persons to be misled as to the wholesomeness of perfectly 
unobjectionable waters. The matter must be utterly changed before it could 
safely be used, and that change could be effected on the strata of the earth 
by long-continued contact with mould and air. There was reason to 
believe it was so with chalk. Wherever the water percolated through 
chalk strata it was deprived of organic matter, perfectly deprived of 
that changing organic matter to which he had referred as being noxious, 
and which was converted into nitrites and nitrates. No doubt animal char- 
coal could do a good deal artificially ; but while a great and perfect filter- 
bed existed in Nature, he held it was right and proper to get for a large 
town, especially for London, such an amount of water perfectly filtered 
by Nature as to extract all organic matter from the water, whether in the 
original or the changing state. In that way alone could wholesome 
water, wanting no artificial filtration whatever, be supplied to the com- 
munity. 



LETTER of ALFRED SMEE read at a meeting of Medical Men convened to 
consider the Paper read by the late Dr. Letheby, ' On the Methods of 
estimating Nitrogenous Matters in Potable Waters, and on the Value 
of the expression " Previous Sewage Contamination," as used by the 
Registrar- General in his Monthly Reports of the Metropolitan 
Waters.' 

DEAR SIR, I regret that recent indisposition will prevent me from 
accepting the invitation to be present this evening at the reading of 
Dr. Letheby's paper. 



No. XXV.] APPENDIX. 331 

The doctrine of " Pre-existing Sewage " has for some time occupied 
my attention, because as now understood it is one of the most dangerous 
fallacies of the day. 

The question resolves itself into two parts: 1st. The question of 
pre-existing sewage contamination, as inferred from matters containing 
nitrogen in organic matters in the act of change, or undergoing oxidation. 
2nd. The question of pre-existing sewage contamination, as inferred from 
the presence of nitrates which are assumed to have arisen from the final 
oxidation of organic matters. 

On the first part of the subject I have a little to comment, because all 
organic matters in the act of change are bad, though doubtless sewage is 
materially worse than other forms of changing organic matters. The 
dangerous part of the doctrine is, the inference of pre-existing sewage 
from the presence of nitrates. 

As a matter of fact nitrates may be present without any pre-existing 
organic matter, and every flash of lightning causes the union of the 
elements of the air, and the production of nitrates without any previous 
sewage contamination. 

The originators of the doctrine of pre-existing sewage say that at any 
rate the presence of nitrates shows the possibility of antecedent sewage 
contamination. 

The fallacy of the doctrine consists in assuming a possibility as a 
probability, and acting upon it as a reality, which in practice in this 
metropolis may be followed by the most disastrous consequences. 

A very considerable quantity of water is supplied to London from 
the overflow of water from the great chalk hills which act as a perpetual 
storehouse. 

The water from the chalk deposits, both in this country and abroad, 
contains a veiy appreciable quantity of nitrates, which does not vary in 
any very important manner. 

Chalk water by running over water weeds loses its nitrates and 
greatly stimulates their growth, and especially it may be noted that the 
best watercresses are grown in water which has lately emanated from the 
depths of the chalk formation. 

In consequence of this result, the metropolitan waters contain 
more nitrates the less they have been exposed to the contaminating 
influence of rivers. 

The New River Company is mischievously returned by the authorities 
as supplying more pre-existing sewage to its customers, in proportion to 
the quantity of water which the company pumps from its deep springs and 
the less it supplies from the river. In this way, the purer the water 
which it supplies to its consumers, the more pre-existing sewage is 
officially returned by the authorities. 

The origin of the nitrates in chalk waters has not been satisfactorily 
discovered. I myself have made many investigations on the subject, and 
the day before my recent indisposition believed that I had obtained a clue 
to the solution of the mystery, which demands full inquiry. I have con- 
sidered the question under four heads : 1st. Do the nitrates come from 
the nitrogen and oxygen of the atmosphere ? 2nd. Are the nitrates fossil 
products of the animals which f ormed the chalk deposits ? 3rd. Are 
the nitrates the products of animal matter superimposed upon the chalk ? 



332 APPENDIX. [NO. XXVI. 

4th. Are the nitrates the products of animal matter on the surface of the 
ground washed down by rain into the chalk ? 

I have heard of cases of persons being deterred in times of cholera 
epidemics from drinking pure spring water because of the tons of pre- 
existing sewage with which that water was said to be contaminated, 
and in place thereof have taken the surface-water, springs indeed with 
perhaps less nitrates, but possibly with cholera poison in an active 
state. 

It would be desirable if the medical officers of health would unite in 
remonstrating with the authorities against the fallacy of the doctrine of 
Pre-existing Sewage and the danger of promulgating such crude theories 
amongst the populace. It is calculated in the highest degree to suppress 
truth and promote error, and the officers of health should be fully prepared 
to deal with the fallacy before another cholera epidemic arises and victims 
are sacrificed to the influences of crude and undigested theories. 

I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
7, FINSBUEY CIRCUS, Tour obedient servant, 

April 16th, 1869. ALFRED SMEE. 



No. XXVI. 

THE PRIVATE AND SECRET BURIAL-GROUND OF THE 
ORATORY. REJOINDER TO THE MANIFESTO OF DR. DALGAIRNS, 
PRINCIPAL OF THE ORATORY. By ALFRED SMEE. 1863. 

THE Oratory has at length spoken, by its Principal, Dr. Dalgairns, and it 
is my purpose to examine critically every word he has written upon the 
private and secret burial-ground of the Oratory. 

Dr. Dalgairns declares the burial-ground to be private, but says that 
it is untrue and inaccurate to call it secret. Surely that is secret which is 
most carefully kept from everybody's knowledge. The Incumbent of the 
parish never heard of it, nor the tax-collector of the district, nor the next 
door neighbour, nor the adjoining proprietor; nor has it ever been 
gazetted, nor its locality fixed in any public document ; and though I have 
No. 134 Parliamentary Paper before me, together with an accurate map of 
their grounds, I cannot tell, nor can anybody tell from these, where the 
licensed burial-ground really is. 

It is not only secret, but the most secret burial-ground which has been 
made known to the public. 

Dr. Dalgairns says that the proper protection of the dead ought to be 
secured and regulated by public legislation. In this we both agree, and I 
trust that the Government will bring this private and secret burial-ground 
under the protection of an Act similar to that which governs all the public 
burial-grounds of this kingdom. 

Dr. Dalgairns says that the burial-ground is in the centre of a small 
property, but the persons buried are not buried in the centre, but on one 
side of the ground. So here further confusion as to position exists. The 
Inspector of Burial-grounds says the burial-ground is stiff clay, without 



No. XXVI.] APPENDIX. 333 

water at eight feet. My relative was buried in sand, with water at five 
feet. Another mystification of identity. This conflict of evidence makes 
us wonder whether Dr. Dalgairns has not mistaken the place licensed. 
But why waste our time over words ? Let the plan and licence be 
published and gazetted, when it will be open to all the world, and no 
longer remain secret. Dr. Dalgairns can cause the secrecy to cease when 
he desires ; at present the burial-ground is still secret. 

Dr. Dalgairns confirms my statement that the burial-ground has no 
boundary walls and no public access ; that it is impossible to go thither 
without permission to cross the private grounds of the Oratorians. Is it 
right to expose the relations of those buried there to the influence of the 
priests, when we see that Wells, my relative, and Dr. Faber left all their 
possessions to another of their body ? I ask public access and boundary 
walls, and surely, sooner or later, my request will be granted. 

Now something more serious has to be answered. Dr. Dalgairns says, 
" It is untrue that we keep no register of burials." Show the register, 
Dr. Dalgairns, and prove when the register was written. I am in a position 
to substantiate upon oath that every inquiry by letter or personally has 
been rejected. Personal application has been answered by " I do not 
know." Letters have not been answered at all. This is a matter deserving 
of the fullest parliamentary inquiry. A register and cannot be seen ; a 
register and Dr. Dalgairns to judge who is to see it. 

Surely this is the grossest violation of the spirit of the burial laws 
which has ever come before the public. 

Dr. Dalgairns may endeavour to keep the register secret, but surely 
the Legislature will compel him to make it public. 

Dr. Dalgairns seeks to explain the change of names on tombstones. 
He states that my family knew my relative by the name of William. This 
is true. William was his name, and we all addressed him by the name of 
William till the day of his death. 

He described himself by the name of William in his will, and is 
known to the outer world by the name of William. 

The Oratorians, however, knew him only by the name of Anthony, and 
on his tombstone he is called William Anthony, so that positively we have 
one person going by three different names. What can be more damnatory 
to secret burial-grounds and secret registers ? How is the money to be 
traced in Chancery, and by the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he looks 
after the succession duty, which will be pretty large by-and-by ? The 
great lawyers in the House of Commons may solve this question; for 
what is affirmed of William will be denied by those who only know 
Anthony ; and what is affirmed of William Anthony, will be denied of 
William, and also of Anthony. 

William was my brother-in-law, Anthony was the Oratorian, and 
William Anthony was buried at Sydenham. There will be no possible 
method of describing my brother-in-law hereafter but by calling him 
William, sometimes called Anthony, sometimes called William Anthony. 

Who could possibly imagine that Frederick Fortescue, the Oratorian, 
was the same person as Albanus, the gentleman buried ? 

Where property exists, names should be distinct. 

Dr. Dalgairns says that the wishes of the dead should be respected. 
Does Dr. Dalgairns not know that my relative had no wish, had no will of 



334 APPENDIX. [No. XXVI. 

Ms own, had passed his will and wish over absolutely and entirely to Dr. 
Faber ? Is it not so expressed in his so-called will when he states that he 
desires to be buried where the Superior shall direct ? 

My relative met Dr. Faber at the Bishop's house at Birmingham, 
where he was kept, and I was not permitted to have access to him. Faber 
there persuaded him of the necessity of implicit obedience, and desired him 
to quit his family and former friends for ever. 

I begged and implored him in vain to renounce the obedience to Faber, 
and have a living mind for himself. 

Only one answer was given, that I did not understand, and could 
not comprehend, Christian obedience ; and that he was bound implicitly 
to follow out Dr. Faber's instructions for his salvation. 

How can Dr. Dalgairns, then, talk of the will or wish of my relative, 
or of Dr. Wells ? They had parted with their will or wish, and it was 
Faber's will or wish which regulated everything ; and he did so decide 
their. wish and will, that he got their property by the so-called wills. 

I asked Father Rowe if there was a will. He replied that he did not 
know. As this seemed to me impossible, I pressed the question again, 
when he said that Father Stanton, who was acting for Father Faber, 
knew these things. On again pressing the question, he said he would 
go and ask. He did go. He returned, and after a short time Father Knox 
entered, and said he was executor, and he would undertake the funeral. 

Now Father Bowe's name appears as a witness to the will, and to this 
day I cannot tell whether his name has been forged, whether he did know 
there was a will, or whether he was under the influence of religious 
obedience, and dared not answer without the leave of the Superior. 

I and my son attended my relative's funeral, and received great 
courtesy and much valuable information, which I now acknowledge publicly 
with thanks ; and I now write publicly what I also wrote privately on my 
return from the funeral : 

" 7, Finsbury Circus. 

" DEAR SIR, I have to return you and the other members of the Oratory 
my most grateful acknowledgments, as well as that of Mrs. Smee, for the 
manner in which William Hutchison has been treated during his severe 
affliction ; and have no hesitation in stating that, to the best of my belief, 
as far as his bodily ailments have been concerned, everything under the 
circumstances has been done which kindness and humanity could suggest, 
and that he has invariably received that attention which might have been 
expected from gentlemen and Christians. But to the spiritual intimida- 
tion under which he has been kept by certain persons from the moment he 
entered the Bishop's house at Birmingham, I consider his premature death 
has been due ; and I believe that this spiritual control is not only opposed 
to Christian principles, but is contrary to the law of the land, and for this 
I hold all implicated responsible. 

" I remain, dear Sir, 

" REV. FATHER KNOX, " Tours respectfully, 

" The Oratory, Brompton. "ALFRED SMEE." 

Dr. Dalgairns says " we are unbound by vow." Dr. Dalgairns, how do 
you belong to the Order of St. Philip Neri and make no vow ? Why, Dr. 
Dalgaims, did you put on the black cloak to look like monks if you were 



No. XXVI.] APPENDIX. 335 

not monks ? And why did you pull it off again when the Queen's 
proclamation forbidding monastic gowns came out, if it was not a 
monastic emblem ? 

I have always understood that the Oratorians were the Jesuits of 
Jesuits ; that where the Jesuits could not get in the Oratorians did. 
And surely you of the Oratory, who have got so much money together, 
have not falsified your character for high intellect, political intrigue, and 
the hold you obtain over your followers to get their money. 

Dr. Dalgairns quotes Father Faber's relatives. I fear that they have 
suffered most acutely for his conduct ; and when they have seen family 
after family separated, and seen the members of these families, over whose 
mind he had the singular power of exercising so complete a control, 
estranged from brother and sister, they may well be expected to have been 
horrified. 

This powerful control of one mind over another seems inexplicable, 
though it is true. The separation from family and loss of property is 
too bad for complaint ; and how can the widow or orphan complain when 
I scarce dare complain ? 

It is not worthy of the members of St. Philip Neri to deny they are 
monks, that they belong to an order and do not belong to an order, as it 
suits their purpose. Dr. Dalgairns says they can leave without dispensa- 
tion or permission, either from the Superior or any other ecclesiastical 
authority whatever. This does not correspond with that implicit obedience 
which Faber exacted. And when Dalgairns says that "the obedience 
which we pay to the rule of the Superior has no place here," it is in entire 
variance with the action and statements of my relative. He told me that 
obedience to his Superior was absolutely necessary to salvation. I have 
urged this matter over and over again, with the same result. 

My relative's life and death was an example of the doctrine of implicit 
obedience. When Faber ordered him to leave his family and friends, he 
did so ! When he told him to make his will, he did so, and in Faber's 
favour. 

Now, as a matter of fact, from the moment my relative came in contact 
with Dr. Faber, he acted most implicitly as he was directed. My relative 
on many occasions pointed to the value of this implicit obedience, as by 
that they were enabled to embarrass the Ministry and Parliament. In 
fact, so great and necessary is implicit obedience, in the opinion of the 
Oratorian votaries, that it is respected as far more important than truth. 
Truth, he has argued, is doubtless a great virtue, more important, however, 
for mercantile circles than for religious circles. In fact, truth is very well, 
but faith is higher ; but highest of all is Christian obedience. 

My relative has declared to me that the community could dare the 
Government and Parliament to interfere with them ; that they could cause 
a riot when they liked ; and triumphantly pointed to the Hyde Park riots 
in illustration. He always represented that the Ministry were afraid of 
them, because the members acted together, and, by throwing their weight 
in on even-balanced questions, could decide the issue. This was always 
pointed out as the aim and effect of religious houses, and the obedience 
they enforced. 

Are the counsels of this great country to be embarrassed by the 
Oratory? Are Whigs and Tories each honestly fighting for their 



336 APPENDIX. [No. XXVI. 

opinions to be controlled by a score of the monks of St. Philip Neri, who 
out- Jesuit the Jesuits ? A new party must be made up of Whigs and 
Tories who can honestly submit questions for discussion without the 
interference of the congregation of the Oratory, acting obediently to their 
priests. Liberty requires that the Government of this country should be 
freed from such coercion by the abolition of the Oratory. 

My relative, under this notion of Christian obedience, was not in any 
way the master of either his capital, his income, or any of his actions. 

As an important fact, Faber got my relative's money. Faber got 
Wells's money ; and Faber, again, has left his money to another priest. 

Dr. Dalgaims says that we (N.B. Who ?) are justly fond of liberty. 
Then abolish the Oratory, which prevents liberty ; abolish all wills where 
liberty of action is prevented under religious terror. It is for the sake of 
insuring liberty of conscience and action that monastic houses should be 
abolished. In future give persons the liberty to make wills for themselves, 
not for their priests ; and I know that I am carrying out the will and 
wish of my relative's un-Fabered mind when I expose Faber's iniquitous 
control. 

It is true that I do not exactly know what my relative's fortune was ; 

I believe it was upwards of , and that I understated it before, to be 

within the truth. 

I understand that the executors propose to swear the personalty under 

, but how are they going to deal with his share of the Oratory estate ? 

It is of no use to attempt to suppress this question ; sooner or later it 
must be answered, as it is contrary to the policy of the State to allow the 
fortunes of families to be absorbed by confraternities : if the acquisitions 
of the Oratory continue at the same rate, they will soon reach an 
enormous amount. 

The statement made of the excellence of my brother-in-law I am too 
happy to confirm. He was one of the most truly good men I ever knew. 
From conscience, and conscience alone, he became a Roman Catholic. 
From a conscientious belief in the necessity of implicit obedience, he gave 
up his family, to whom he was intensely attached. From an anxious 
attempt to do good he sacrificed his life by devotion, and a continual 
conflict, which was manifestly going on between Christian obedience and 
family affection. Whilst he was so good, Dr. Dalgaims, why did your 
community have everlasting punishment as the effect of non-obedience to 
the cruel order to separate himself ? 

Dr. Dalgaims rejoices over my disappointment at not getting my 
relative's money. Disappointment ! Dr. Dalgaims. Do you give me 
credit for such imbecility as not to have known that the moment my 
relative met Faber he would be denuded of every farthing ? I wrote to 
him, when Faber denied me access to him at Birmingham, to that effect ; 
and I have told him in his lifetime that when they had run through 
his money I would receive him at my house ; for he was so high-minded 
and truthful that we fully believed that some day he would leave Faber 
in disgust. 

Religious influence is slow and subtle, but sure ; for what will a 
religious man not do to save his soul ? 

It is true he was writing a book up to the day of his death. For the 
sake of the honour of the human mind in this century, it should be known 



No. XXVI.] APPENDIX. 337 

that the book, which treats of some fifty special interpositions of the 
Almighty, was written when the unfortunate sufferer was dying of disease 
of the brain. 

The end is a clue to the melancholy story. Here was the brain active 
and showing the utmost partial intelligence, gradually being destroyed ; 
and the same incapacity to judge of the truth of hopping houses, and 
other concocted miracles, made him incapable to judge of the truth of 
Faber's pretension to rule his mind. 

Where there is organic disease of the brain, the mind may be active 
and capable in a high degree of exercising some functions, and yet be 
damaged and incapable of performing other functions. 

My relative was capable of doing great things, but incapable of resist- 
ing the unnatural influence which Faber exerted. 

Dalgaims asserts that I want to introduce the principles of foreign 
legislation. Certainly I do, as far as religious houses are concerned. 
Many minds seem incapable, as a matter of fact, of resisting the combined 
action of priests. In foreign Catholic countries they have had more 
experience of priestly mode of action to secure the property of their 
members. I believe myself that the Oratory is the most dangerous form 
of Catholic confraternity. These houses have been suppressed before, and 
doubtless will be again; and therefore the simple question is, are the 
monastic houses in England now of sufficient importance to be abolished ? 
That is a matter for the Legislature to decide. 

Dr. Dalgaims argues that an heir-at-law has no right, but every person 
in a family has a natural expectancy over the fortune of every other member. 
He had this natural right to his sister's property, and his sister had a 
natural right to her brother's. 

These religious houses disturb the natural right, and not only are they 
destructive by an absorption of the property, but also from the loss of the 
influence and mutual assistance which takes place by intermarriages. 

Dr. Dalgairns says that he left a small reminder to his oldest and 
most intimate friend, meaning Dr. Faber. Perhaps the world will estimate 
Dr. Faber as his deadliest foe ; but why did he leave his property before 
to the Duke of Norfolk, and why did not Dr. Faber leave the money to 
his own family, who are known to have paid his college expenses, and are 
supposed to have supported him at the time immediately preceding his 
hold over my relative ? 

I will tell Dr. Dalgairns why. The whole transaction is a sham : and 
the will found within the walls of the Oratory, leaving the money to the 
head of the Oratory, with witnesses members of the Oratory, and the 
executor another member of the Oratory, is for their common benefit ; 
that they are all co-partners ; and consequently that Dr. Dalgairns himself 
is benefited by this legacy. 

The fortune which my relative possessed when Faber obtained his 
mental rule, was not saved or collected by himself, but by his father and 
uncle, for the general good of his family. Nothing can lend more to 
prevent persons from saving money, if the successor, to save his soul, must 
give it to his confessor, as my relative did. 

It is folly to argue that my relative could do as he pleased with his 
money. He could not. He was bound by a spell. He had been cajoled 
into believing that hell was his perpetual doom, if he did not obey Faber. 

z 



338 APPENDIX. [No. XXVI. 

I asked my relative if I should be damned, as I was the keeper of my own 
mind. He replied that I did not know the necessity of obedience : he did. 
He was bound to act from his knowledge of this necessity to salvation ; 
but that God, of His mercy, might pity my ignorance of it, though, if 
once I realized that necessity to my mind, I should imperil my soul if 
I did not yield. 

Dr. Dalgairns says it is implied that the secret burial-ground would be 
used in cases of murder. This is an ingenious phantom he has raised 
simply that he may knock it down. Such a thought never occurred to 
me ; but, as he has raised the question, is it desirable as a matter of 
prudence to let any confraternity have a secret and private burial-ground ? 
Now, when Dalgairns disdains to notice the allegation as to scheming 
monks without visible means of living, I tell him he cannot answer it, for 
it is true, in substance and fact, that Father Faber had not one farthing 
when he secured my relative, and that he was even supposed to be living 
upon the charity of his family at that moment. He had no cheque-books 
at that time ; he had no banking account that Dr. Dalgairns could 
examine. If there be one redeeming point of that man who subverted 
natural affection, it was that he for conscience sake left a good church 
preferment and became a pauper. But an ambitious man made no bad 
exchange when he secured the formation of the Oratory, and was consti- 
tuted its head. 

Again, when Dr. Dalgairns asks how he can disprove that the house 
of the Oratory is so constructed to favour the concealment of men of posi- 
tion, I reply, Show the plan, when everybody will see that it is a house 
within a house, and admirably adapted for concealment. 

I have frequently had the greatest difficulty even to know how my 
relative was, when by long silence his sister feared illness. 

Dr. Dalgairns alludes to my assertion that I am prepared to offer 
myself for election to Parliament, that I may ask the Secretaiy for infor- 
mation which he stated he would only give to Parliament if I cannot get 
it by other means. But Dr. Dalgairns must see that I am bent upon 
action, not upon trashy words and arguments. Private and secret burial- 
grounds must cease; religious obedience must be controlled; and I am 
prepared to offer myself, at any convenient opportunity, to support 
measures to prevent priests of any denomination obtaining money from 
those over whom they hold control under the fear of eternal damnation. 

It is perfectly true I am well off, if not to spend my income is to be 
well off. 

Were I otherwise situated than I am, how could I dare brook the 
denunciation of a confraternity with such great power as the Oratorians, 
who pride themselves on managing the Legislature of this great kingdom ? 
There was always the most intimate affection between my brother-in- 
law and myself, and up to the latest day of his life he took great interest 
in watching everything I was doing, and frequently knew more what 
appeared in the papers with reference to myself than I did. I heap no 
obloquy upon my relative ; I place it on the head of Faber. 

My relative was one of the kindest and best men I ever knew, and I 
must confess it was a great consolation to me to have been permitted to 
see him the last few weeks of his life for which I give the Oratorians my 
best thanks. 



No. XXVI.] APPENDIX. 339 

The same intimate cordiality seemed to exist as formerly during 
these visits. 

But why ? He told me that Faber was dying, and he ceased to see 
him ; and upon Faber's head and memory the obloquy of separating him 
from his family rests ; and I assert, not only did Faber separate him, 
but the public have a right to know how many others he has separated 
from their families, and to what extent the same practices are now 
prevailing. 

The Oratorians, present and future, will have the money. I regard 
all as co-partners, and doubtless a full inquiry will lead to an important 
change in the law of this country. Secret and private burial-grounds 
should be rendered public; authorized burial registers should be kept; 
and paupers under the veil of religion should lose the power of getting 
the money of those whom they persuade must be obedient to secure their 
salvation. 

Therefore it is not a matter of wonder that others have not com- 
plained ; it is only extraordinary that I can bring my mind to expose this 
terrible faculty which Faber possessed. 

Faber did not use the unnatural faculty for nothing ; he had no pro- 
perty when he met my relative at the Bishop's house ; and how many 
families whose money he has obtained, and was in process of obtaining at 
the time of his death, may never be clearly known. 

Now, Dr. Dalgairns, I have but one more word ; you insinuate insult 
in your concluding paragraph, and will perhaps carry it into the House of 
Commons by members under your control. If you deceive yourself, you 
will not deceive the world, as to our present position. I give you and your 
colleagues credit for courtesy and kindness of manner, and have not a 
word to say against you or them personally, and, as far as my limited 
acquaintance is concerned, I should esteem them. This question is not a 
question of religion, and now I have no comment to make upon the form 
of religion which you follow. I am acting in my capacity as a civilian, 
and not as a partisan for any one special form of religion ; and I ask all 
Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Dissenters to join in considering calmly 
the question, before the entire country is roused to indignation. Retract 
in time, Dr. Dalgairns, if you wish justice. My complaint against you, 
Dr. Dalgairns not personally, but as the head of the Oratory is : 

1. That you have a private and secret burial-ground, without public 

access or boundary walls, which has no public register of burials, 
and where the names on the tombstones are changed. 

2. That this private and secret burial-ground, and the means of con- 

cealment you have in your houses, are used to obtain money from 
converts under religious intimidation. 

3. That one of your body did cause my relative, under the fear of 

eternal damnation, to appropriate upwards of 40,000 to purposes 
dictated by your Superior. 

I quote one case to illustrate the general principle, and for that I 
ask that your Order of St. Philip Neri may be banished from this country, 
and the control of the burial-ground may be assimilated to the general 
law of the land. 

There are clauses in the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, by which 
Act members of that Church were admitted to Parliament and to various 

z 2 



340 APPENDIX. [No. XXVI. 

offices in the State, which are intended to provide for the suppression of 
Jesuit and other monastic establishments in this country. My sad experi- 
ence has brought me to the conviction that the intention of these clauses 
ought to be carried out for the protection of families in this country, and 
in defence of the freedom to which every inhabitant of this country is 
entitled, but which the members of these establishments abuse and invade, 
unless legal enactments are adopted and enforced which can restrain the 
tyrannical and covetous practices of these orders. 



APPENDIX. 

Correspondence with Sir George Grey in citation of Parliamentary Paper 

No. 134. 

March 30th, 1864. 

SIR, May I venture to take the liberty to ask whether the private and 
secret burial-ground of the Oratory at Sydenham is an exceptional case, or 
whether any other licences have been granted to confraternities of Roman 
Catholics, or of any other religious creed, for the use of a burial-ground 
where no register is kept, and where the names on the tombstones are 
falsified? 

Roman Catholics are more interested in this inquiry than other 
denominations, because their families are more exposed to be victimised 
by the Oratorians ; and even the late Duke of Norfolk, who applied for the 
licence, and who, before the money was left to Dr. Faber, had the entire 
fortune of my relative left to his Grace, doubtless for the purposes of the 
Oratory, will suffer, as the Oratorians, whose schemes he assisted, have 
persuaded his Grace's daughter to enter a nunnery in Paris. 

These private and secret burial-grounds are of much importance to 
the Oratory, as they lead to the inference