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TECHNOLOGIST:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

AUGUST, 1866,

Oo OUT READERS:

ITH this number we enter on the seventh year of
our existence, and commence not only a new
volume, but a NEW SERIES.

At such a time it is but natural to pause a few moments
to thank our old subscribers, and inform them of our plans.
It will be seen at a glance that several changes have been
effected. We now print the journal in new type on better
paper. And in order to afford space for further improve-
ments, we have ventured to increase the number of our
pages by nearly a hundred in the volume. This will
enable us to add to our periodical an account of the doings
of our learned societies, as well as afford space for
REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOooKS, a department which

we intend to conduct in the most careful and impartial |

manner. The Editorial staff has been considerably in-
creased, and no effort will be spared to make the TECHNO-
LOGIST what it now professes to be, a RECORD OF
SCIENCE, its progress, literature, and practical applications.
We beg the reader to observe that this is not a mere
money-making periodical; its conductors do not regard it
in the light of a commercial speculation. Consequently
they will be amply satisfied if their proposed improve-
ments shall increase the circulation sufficiently to defray
the extra expense incurred by the enlargement of this
New Series. They can therefore confidently ges to
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I.

2 The Needle Gun.

their old friends to aid them. If each will obtain for us
an additional subscriber, our future will be secured. Large
promises are sometimes misconstrued. We need only add,
therefore, that we wish not only to sustain, but increase
the value of our Journal, and the greater our success the
more constant will be our endeavours to deserve it.

THE NEEDLE-GUN.
(Ziindnadelgewehr.)

HE war which has so recently deluged Europe with
blood has brought one topic into strong relief. The
terrible power of slaughter possessed by. the Prussians in
their boasted Ziindnadelgewehr, has. made the needle-gun
a subject of interest in every circle. What then, is the
instrument of death which has enabled the Prussians to
carry every thing before them? First of all, it is a breech-
loader, and those who examined the question when it was
so popular, sixteen years ago, will not be surprised to learn
that it enables the soldier to fire much more rapidly than
he could with any muzzle-loader. But the needle-gun is
more than this—its charge is all in one, so that it avoids
‘the loss of time caused by capping. Besides these two
qualities, it possesses the important one of consuming its
charge backwards. The advantage of this is that the
whole of it is consumed in the barrel, and its force spent
upon the ball. The name is derived from the means of
ignition—a stout wire (the needle), which starts forward
when the trigger is pulled, passes through the hinder part
of the cartridge, and strikes a fulminating substance in the
seat of the papier-maché base of the rifle ball. Much as
dispensing with the percussion-cap accelerates the speed of
firing, it is probably due to this fact that the needle-gun has

been rejected by many competent judges ; for such a rifle

must be considered more liable to accidents. Gunpowder

by itself is safe enough, and we can scarcely be surprised

that the idea of combining all the explosive elements in

one charge was considered a dangerous innovation by

-our Board of: Ordnance, as well'as by other authorities.
4 + ;

x

The Needle Gun. 3

Nor can we join in all the denunciations of our official
slowness to adopt a new arm in face of the fact, that at
present only one nation has armed itself with this weapon.
At the same time, the superiority of breech-loaders has
been-so attested by experience, that we may approve the
decision to supply our troops with guns of this kind as
rapidly as possible. It is far from certain that the needle-
gun is the best of its kind. Nota few judges condemn it
as clumsy and insufficient—far surpassed by many other
models that we may easily employ. It is freely stated
that the composition of the fulminating substance has been
kept a secret by the Prussian Government, and that to
this cause is to be attributed the reluctance of others to
use it. We believe it to consist of 52°5 of chlorate of
potassa, 29°5 antimony, and 18 of sulphur. Sucha com-
position would, indeed, afford a terribly explosive material,
but a good deal of gas would result, and this is found to
be the case in using the needle-gun, a fact that accounts
for the Prussian soldiers resting it on the hip to fire, and
further accounts for its having been rejected in England on
account of the officers coat who fired it having been
injured from this cause. It is interesting to remember that
the idea of a breech-loader is by no means new. At the
beginning of the century, the Great Napoleon offered a
premium for a useful gun of this description, and one was
actually completed for him, and rejected by his officers as
unsatisfactory. One of the workmen of the maker of this
failure, who had studied chemistry under the great Ber-
thollet, watched the experiments with great interest, and
after the reverses of the Emperor’s fortune, returned to
Prussia, of which he was a native, and there occupied him-
self with the subject, until, having obtained the assistance
of competent men from the Government, he produced an
arm satisfactory enough to have 60,000 ordered, and in
I$4I given out to the army. His name was Dreyse, and
it was only after several trials he was thus successful. The
apparent extravagance of this order was defended in a
Royal decree, the words of which will be noted with
peculiar interest in the light of recent events. Here they
are :—

“ The rifled Ziindnadelgewehr is, according to our present
conviction, the perfection of military arms, and its practical
introduction will, doubtless, lead to its adoption in all
branches of the service. The result of numerous experi-
ments made us appreciate this invention as a special dis-

Be2

A The Needle Gun.

pensation of Providence for strengthening our national
resources; and we cherish the hope that the system may
be kept secret, until the great part which it is destined to
play in history may couple it with the glory of the Prussian
arms and the extension of the empire.”

This was as long ago as 1841. In 1865, Prussia possessed
660,000 of these guns, and was able to turn out more than
100,000 a year at the Royal arsenals.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the story is the
indifference of the Austrian officers who must, during the
Danish campaign, have had abundant opportunity of
acquainting themselves with its advantages. The value of
the repeating rifles employed by the Americans in their
civil war seems to have been equally neglected. True, the
march of science in improving the instruments of death
has been wonderfully rapid. But this is only a reason why
England should be ever on the watch to avail herself of
every improvement as the necessity of retaining her high
place among the nations. 7

Many are the stories that have been freely circulated
about this weapon. We have given an outline of what is
vouched for as its correct history. We can scarcely err in
adding an extract from a recent publication, cautioning the
reader to accept it cum grano salts :—

‘Tt is well known to be the produce of the long study and per-
severance of an English officer who, while stationed at a solitary
outpost in Canada, amused his leisure hours with experiments in
the rough construction of a substitute for the rifle which he had
damaged by letting it drop down a precipice while in pursuit of a
bear. It was almost by accident that the discovery became pal.
pable to the solitary hunter in the woods. But no sooner did it
become manifest to his senses than he resigned his commission
in the army, returned to Europe, and, as a matter of course,
hurried to the War-office with his invention, certain of its adop-
tion in the English army, from its evident superiority over the
old-fashioned weapons now in use. For more than a year was
the inventor kept in suspense, as the Enfield rifle met him at
every turn. He was bandied about from one official to another
during all this time, merely to be told at last that the Government
did not feel disposed to alter the principle of the arms employed.
It was then that in disgust he brought his invention to Paris, and
by even a more bitter mockery of fate than in London, he
obtained an interview with the Emperor, who listened with the
greatest interest to the description of the gun, examined the
plans and sections brought by the officer, much questioned the

Pea *

The Needle Gun. 5

superiority of the invention over others which had been laid
before him, declared it seemed to him hable to the objection of
being too delicate for field use, and abrupty sounded the little
gong which stands upon his bureau, and slightly rising when the
usher entered at the summons, dismissed the visitor to admit
other importunates. It was then that, with the undaunted perse-
verance of inventors in general, he betook himself, armed with
his needle-gun, to Holland, whose Sovereign had always mani-
fested great interest in the advancement of gunnery, and who
had first become the purchaser of a steel caulker to repair instan-
taneously the damage caused by the enemy’s shot in ships’ sides,
which, being the invention of a poor carpenter’s journeyman, had
nevertheless found its way into the Royal presence, and been
accepted without the smallest attempt at bargaining. But, when
arrived at the Hague, he found that his resources had dwindled
away to such an extent that he was compelled to delay his pre-
sentation to the King for want of proper costume to appear in.
Meanwhile, he became accidentally acquainted with one of the
gentlemen attached to the Prussian Legation at the Hague, and
to whom he recounted his bitter grievances. This time he was
listened to with interest. The brother in-law of his new friend
held some appointment at the Court of Berlin. War and revolu-
tion were already floating through the air. He saw at once all
the advantage which might accrue from being the first to present
a new and valuable instrument of destruction to Bismarck, so
determined to destroy, and he lost no time in repairing with the
Englishman to Berlin. Here the way was open—the hour had
_ come, the needle-gun was tried, examined, and accepted in the
‘shortest possible space of time, the inventor handsomely rewarded,
and encouraged to establish himself in Prussia. We have seen
the result in this terrible encounter with the Austrians. The odds
in favour of the needle-gun are easy enough to calculate. The:
Prussians can fire three rounds a minute ; if four minutes’ march
be the usual time allotted for a bayonet charge, the Austrian foot
soldier must have stood four-and-twenty shots before he could
have a chance of meeting the enemy hand to hand ; and, should
he give way to take his full spring forward, he must of necessity
have been struck down. With such certainty of destruction as
that provided by the needle-gun, all question of right and justice
becomes unnecessary.”

Having spoken of its awkwardness, and to some extent,
considered the objections that have been urged against it,
we have much pleasure in appending in its favour the
opinion of Mr. Ernest Seyd, who thus writes :—

“A great misunderstanding appears to exist in reference
to the Prussian needle-gun, arising no doubt from the fact
that specimens of the real gun are scarce in this country.

6 The Needle Gun.

“The principle of the ‘needle’ is one entirely apart from
either breach-loading or muzzle-loading. It may be used
with advantage in either case.

“Ever since we have abolished flint-locks, the system of
discharging firearms by percussion has been in vogue; and
very few gun makers outside of Prussia have turned their
attention successfully to other methods of ignition. All
the other breech-loaders, even the newest American guns,
use percussion, and ignite their charge either by a hammer,
as in the Enfield and Mount-storm, or by bolts, as in the
~ case of the modern ‘central fire’ fowling pieces. Mark
the importance of this defect ; for in order to render
this system of discharge effective, the blow of the hammer
or push of the bolt must meet with resistance, so that the
detonating mass may be pressed between two hard sub-
stances, hence the necessity of employing cartridges partly
made of copper or brass.

“One of the new American guns, deservedly admired for
the rapidity of its action, actually requires a cartridge made
entirely of copper, like a huge ‘Ely’s’ bulleted cap, and
although it is supposed that the central fire-brass and card-
board cartridge may be used instead, yet, even in that case,
the objection of having a half burned remnant of paste-
board and metal case and cap in the gun, afterthe discharge
holds equally good. In the heat of successive firing these
hard substances may become wedged in the gun, and
thereby render its action useless.

“The Prussians have gathered experiences in this subject.

However well a breech-loading percussion gun may be con-
structed, the discharged eartridge ejected by aspring, or by
other means, in actual practice on a large scale, the objec-
tion will be found a very serious one.

“The discharge by a ‘ needle’ is quite a different princi-
ple. No force is required beyond that of sending the
abruptly sharpened point of a strong needle into the deto-
nating substance. This detonating substance may be
placedon a piece of paper, and when struck with a point of a
knife will explode. No metal case or cap is required to
afford resistance, as is the case of ‘ percussion’ guns.

“ Tmagine the old flint-lock barrel, with the flint, steel, and
pan discarded ; imagine a cartridge inserted through the
muzzle, if you like, with a small detonating pill at the side
corresponding with the small aperture in the barrel—a
needle pushed in there with a sharp motion, would discharge
the gun; or imagine the detonating mass as being at the

Di

ay Van

The- Needle Gun. a

end of the cartridge, an-aperture being in the centre of
the breech, a needle inserted quickly would have the same
effect. (Needham’s needle-guns are the nearest approach
to this description). Now, it is obvious that there is con-
siderable danger in this placing the detonator oufszde the
cartridge. The Prussians, therefore, place it zzszde—namely,
at the base of the bullet, or rather in a papier-maché sabot,
between the bullet and the powder. The Prussian car-
tridge consists of the bullet in front, the sabot, with the
ziindspiegel (contained in a round cavity 1-6th of an inch
diameter) and the powder behind, the whole being confined
in strong combustible paper. This compact cartridge is
placed in the barrel, the needle enters through a fine open-
ing behind, pierces the paper, passes through the powder,
and striking its point, the ziindspiegel or detonating disk,
ignites it and the powder.

“ Mark the advantagesof this process. No great force is re-
quired, theaction ofthe needles is straight and easy, and after
firing the whole of the cartridge is gone, the papercovering (in
ammunition made of the proper material) being consumed
by the discharge, No pasteboard case or metal cap re-
quires to be withdrawn or ejected ; and if (as it sometimes
may occur in wet weather, or with paper not combustible
enough) pieces of ashes remain, they may either be blown
out with the mouth, or left in the breech without hindering
the next discharge.

“The plan of igniting the powder in front (just behind the

bullet), instead of from behind, as in all other guns, has a
considerable advantage of its own. The powder burns
backwards, and, resting against the breech, every grain is
consumed before the bullct leaves the barrel.
_ “Where the powder is ignited from behind, burning for-
ward, as in all other muzzle or breech-loaders hitherto in-
vented, a considerable portion of it is ejected before it has
time to ignite. Sportsmen and those who use the Enfield
rifle must be aware of this. Notice the muzzle of an En-
field when being fired, you will observe the numerous grains
of powder exploding in tiny clouds outside the barrel.

“ These are the general principles upon which ‘ percussion
guns’ (muzzle or breech-loaders) and ‘ needle-guns’ differ
from each other.

“ Now, as was said before, the ‘ needle’ system is applic-
able both to muzzle-loaders and to breech-loaders. The
officers of the Prussian army use a six-shooting revolver, a
muzzle-loader, inasmuch as the cartridges are inserted into

AD kG

8 The Needle Gun.

the muzzle of the chamber, discharging by a needle; the
muskets or rifles of the ordinary soldiers are, however,
breech-loaders. It so happens that the needle is very suit-
able to breech-loaders.

“There are numerous modifications of the mechanism of
the breech of a needle rifle. The details of the newest
adoption it would be difficult to describe without drawings.
The arrangement is, however, exceedingly simple, strong,
and effective.

“ A cylinder of about four inches long closes the breech,
being held tight by a projection leaning against a wedge-
like hoop at the bottom of the barrel; a lever attached to
the cylinder assists in wedging or unloosening and with-
drawing it. Inside this cylinder is a needle passing through
_a fine aperture at the top. The needle is projected by a
spiral spring (much like those in toy guns) held or released
by an elastic steel bar, upon which the trigger acts. The~
whole arrangement is much more simple than that of
percussion locks, and much less liable to get out of order.

“The notion that the needle is a delicate affair has gained
ground. The needle in the first place, is not a ‘sewing’
needle, but a stout piece of wire withan abruptly sharpened
point ; it is entirely enclosed in the cylinder, and comes
into contact with nothing but the soft cartridge. Certain-
ly, if a piece of stone was put into the breech the needle
might break against it, but a stone in a percussion breech-
lock would have an equally damaging effect.

“The general advantages of breech-loaders rapidity of
fire need not be described.

“The writer is thoroughly familiar with the needle-gun,
and he and his friends have had considerable practice with
needle weapons of several kinds. The manifold notions,
opinions, and descriptions which are expressed in this
country in reference to the needle-gun are often very wrong
and frequently ridiculous. The objections made by the
authoritles, by gunmakers, and the partisans of the Enfield
(justly proud of so excellent a weapon of its kind) are
based upon imperfect acquaintance with the principle of
the gun. ;

“It has been described by a West-end paper as rough,
unfinished, unsightly, and uncouth, with indifferent ammu-
nition, &c. The most elegantly finished guns, of any size
or weight, fowling-pieces, revolvers, pistols, &c., are made
in Prussia. The ammunition is compact and never failing.
The writer has fired many shots, and never had a cartridge

So

The Needle Gun. 9

missing fire; last week he fired off sixty cartridges which -
for two years had been lying in a damp place.

“Tt is said the barrel heats after seven or eight shots.
Every one acquainted with guns will know that barrels will
become warm with successive discharges. The ‘needle-
gun’ is actually less liable to heating, because it uses less
powder in its peculiar mode of firing.

“Tt has been said that gas escapes from the breech. This
can only take place in imperfectly constructed pieces. The
double edge of the cylinder is wedged tightly into corres-
ponding spaces in the barrel, and closes air-tight, the
needle itself, thickening towards the centre, passes through
a felt-packing, secured by perfected screws, and closes the
“aperture entirely. Moreover, the powder itself, igniting
backwards, protects the opening until it is burned to the
bréech, so that the moment of pressure upon, the aperture
is infinitesimally short.

“The gun is said to become foul rapidly. As every
succeeding shot cleans the barrel, it remains bright; the
cylinder certainly becomes a little discoloured, but never
fouls. The writer has fired hundreds of shots out of the
same gun without cleaning it.

“The accuracy of the gun at long ranges has been ques-
tioned. An Enfield range at 690 or 1,000 yards, for rifles
accurately sighted to a foot, does not afford a good field to
a foreign rifle sighted on a different plan, in an at random
and crowded sporting match. The Prussian riflemen, on
their ranges, make as good a practice at long distances as
the Enfield riflemen on an Enfield range.

“ Other theories have been advanced against the gun. It
is said, for instance, that it can only be fired eight or nine
times a minute, while certain American breech-loaders can
be fired twenty times. You cannot fire any gun twenty
times a minute without heating it excessively. The
Spencer rifle is much lauded on account of its rapidity.
Why have the United States rejected it? Rapidity of
fire, &c., is not the only qualification necessary to an effi-
cient weapon of war, as campaigns only can prove.

“In conclusion, it may be observed that the Prussian
Government, the most intelligent and active in such
matters, has tested breech-loaders of all kinds, for the
last twenty-five years. It actually discarded needle-guns
after the first five years of trial, and took again to Minié
rifles. Since 1858, however, the needle-gun has been so
much improved, and has established its efficiency in cam-

10 The Atlantic Cable.

paigns so conclusively, that it may well claim to be the
most perfect weapon in existence. © This perfection is due
to the ‘needle’ system of ignition. The mechanical ar-
rangement of the breech might possibly be improved upon
although it is difficult to see where the improvement is to
come from.

“This is written pro honaris causa. The writer would be
pleased to show his guns, &c., to gentlemen wishing to
inspect them.”

THE: ATRANTIC -CABEE:

HE progress of the Great Eastern is being watched
with the utmost anxiety by the general public, as
well as by those who have ventured their money in this
new attempt to unite the old and new world. At the time
we are writing the great ship with its precious freight is
traversing the deepest part of its course, and we are quite
sensible that could we defer our article a few days later,
we might adopt an exultant strain or be compelled to
lament some untoward accident which had again postponed
our hopes. Joining, then, most cordially in the sincere
wishes that accompany the Great Eastern, and meet her
half way from the other side, we take the opportunity of
the interest excited to glance at some of the scientific
problems involved in this undertaking.

It was shown as long ago as 1858 that it is quite pos-
sible not only to lay a cabie in deep water, but to lift it
from the bottom. Then we have the fact that one cable
has already been completed, and several messages compris-
ing upwards of 4,000 words have been transmitted across
the Atlantic. Its failure afterwards was most likely due to
electric faults before it was laid, and these with the new
appliances can scarcely again escape detection. Then
came the failure of last year caused by damage done to the
insulation of the conductor as it left the ship. To guard
against this every effort will no doubt be made; besides
which arrangements have been made to enable the ship at
any moment to put back and haul the cable in again. Up to
the present the cable continues to be paid out satisfactorily,

The Atlantic C able. II

and nothing can be more encouraging than the reports that
the insulation i improves daily.

A cable in the process of being laid ata uniform speed
forms an inclined straight line from the surface of the sea
to the bottom, so that "each part moves along one side of
an isosceles triangle, the other equal side of the triangle
being the line along the bottom which that part of the ©
cable will occupy when laid. The angle between these
e jual sides shows the inclination of the cable in the water
in the process of laying, so the transverse component of the
cable’s weight in the water is equal to the transverse com-
ponent of the resistance of the water to its motion. The
tension where it enters the water is equal to the weight of the
whole length of cable hanging vertically down to the bot-
tom. Thus in laying last year’s cable at the depth of two
miles, the ship going at the rate of six miles an hour, and
the rate being seven miles an hour, the resistance to the
egress of the cable, which should have been 28 cwt., was in
reality only 14, owing to the frictional resistance of the
water. Similar calculations have been made to show that
at two miles depth the length of the cable forming the in-
clined plane from the ship to the bottom was about seven-
teen miles. While this fluid resistance thus greatly assists
the laying by diminishing the strain, it offers scarcely any
obstruction to the reverse process of hauling in should that
become necessary, provided the speed of raising the cable
do not exceed about one mile an hour. These consiilera-
tions are of importance on account of the plan of the pre-
sent expedition to raise and complete last year’s cable as
well as lay the new one.

There is no reason in science why this should not be
done. Indeed, dynamics are quite as encouraging as the
facts of last year’s attempt to raise it. The experience then
gained, with stronger tackle and the improved machinery,
presided over by eminent and practical scientific men, will,
we trust, ensure the success of the attempt of 1866.

Once laid there is reason to anticipate brilliant results.
The gutta percha generally improves under water as it is
now doing. The faults that have occurred to deep sea
cables result from the joints, or from some imperfection in
the manufacture, but so great excellence has been attained,
that we may confidently anticipate the line once laid will
not soon wear out. The Calais and Dover line, laid in 18 5, is
now in working order.

_ The following account of the differences between tie

Pe pine
‘ td rn

12 The Atlantic Cable.

three Atlantic cables is a fair illustration of the progress
made in the manufacture of deep sea cables.

1858.

Conductor—-A copper strand, consisting of seven wires
(six laid round one), and weighing 107 lbs. per nautical
mile.

Insulator—Gutta percha laid on in three coverings, and
weighing 261 lbs. per knot.

External protection—Eighteen strands of charcoal iron
wire, each strand composed of seven wires (six laid round
one), laid spirally round the core, which latter was pre-
viously padded with a serving of hemp saturated with a
tar mixture. The separate wires were each 224 gauge, the
strand complete was No. 14 gauge.

Weight in air—z2o cwt. per nautical mile.

Weight in water—13'4 cwt. per nautical mile.

Breaking strain—3 tons 5 cwt., or equal to 4°85 times its
weight in water per nautical mile; that is to say, the cable
would bear its own weight in a ieee less than five miles
depth of water.

Deepest water to be peartcued! 2,400 fathoms, or less
than 24 nautical miles.

ave Behe strain was equal to 4°85 times its weight
per nautical mile in water.

Length of cable shipped—2,174 nautical miles.

1865.

Conductor—Copper strand consisting of seven wires (six
laid round one), and weighing 300 lbs. per nautical mile,
embedded for solidity in Chatterton’s compound. Gauge
of single wire ‘048 = ordinary 18 gauge. Gauge of strand
‘144 = ordinary No. I0 gauge.

Insulation—Gutta percha, four layers of which are laid
on alternately with four thin layers of Chatterton’s com-
pound. The weight of the entire insulation 400 lbs per
nautical mile. Diameter of core ‘464, circumference of
core 1°392.

External protection+Ten solid wires of the gauge 095

The Atlantic Cable. 13

(No. 13 gauge), drawn from Webster and Horsfall’s homo-
geneous iron, each wire surrounded separately with five
strands of Manilla yarn, saturated with a preservative com-
pound, and the whole laid spirally round the core, which
latter is padded with jute yarn, saturated with preservative
mixture. °

Weight in air—35 cwt. 3 qrs. per nautical mile.

Weight in water—14 cwt. per nautical mile.

Breaking strain—7 tons 15 cwt., or equal to eleven times
its weight in water per nautical mile; that is to say, the
cable will bear its own weight in eleven miles depth of
water.

Deepest water to be encountered—2,400 fathoms, or less
than 24 nautical miles.

The contract strain is equal to eleven times its weight
in water.

Length of cable shipped—2,300 nautical miles.

Conductor—Copper strand consisting of seven wires (six
laid round one), and weighing 300 lbs. per nautical mile,
embedded for solidity in Chatterton’s compound. Gauge
of single wire 048 = ordinary 18 gauge. Gauge of.strand
‘144 = ordinary No. I0 gauge.

Insulation—Gutta percha, four layers of which are laid
on alternately with four thin layers of Chatterton’s com-
pound, The weight of the entire insulation 400 lbs. per
nautical mile. Diameter of core ‘464, circumference of
core 1°392.

External protection—Ten solid wires of. the gauge ‘095
(No. 13 gauge), drawn from Webster and Horsfall’s homo-
geneous iron, and galvanised, each wire surrounded sepa-
rately with five strands of white Manilla yarn, and the
whole laid spirally round the core, which latter is padded
with jute yarn, saturated with preservative mixture.

Weight in air—31 cwt. per nautical mile.

I4 Petroleum as Fuel.

Weight in water—14} cwt. per nautical mile.

Breaking strain—8 tons 2 cwt., or equal to eleven times
its weight in water per nautical mile; that is to say, the
cable will bear its own weight in eleven times depth of
water.

Deepest water to be encountered—z2,400 fathoms, or less
than 24 nautical miles.

The contract strain is equal to eleven times its weight
per nautical mile in water.

Length of cable shipped to complete both lines—2,730
miles.

PETROLEUM «AS: FUEE:
BY COL. JULIUS W. ADAMS.

HE difficulty hitherto has been in attempting to burn

the crude petroleum, that the imperfect combustion

alone attainable by the means in use, has resulted in great
waste of the material, as shown by the dense smoke which
invariably accompanied all attempts to burn it in a con-
fined space. This, and the difficulty of regulating the feed,
have hitherto prevented a successful application of this
material as a fuel in the generation of steam in boilers. I
am well aware that it has occasionally been accomplished
on a small scale, but no experiments that I have knowledge
of, have exhibited anything like the requisite command of
the material in feeding the fire, or certainty in its use as a
fuel. This remark is made in full knowledge of what has
been accomplished in this direction by Messrs. Linton and
Shaw, as well as by Mr. Richardson in England. This
difficulty has, I think, been successfully overcome in the
experiments conducted for the Petroleum Light Company,

Petroleum as Fuel. 15

New York, and the crude petroleum, without other fuel
than the chips for kindling the fires, has been burnt under
a marine boiler, in a course of experiments extending from
the month of May last, and proves more manageable, more
under the control of the fireman, and develops an amount
- of heat greater than any fuel with which we are acquainted.

Mr. George W. Quintard, of the Morgan Iron Works,
having offered us the use of a Marine boiler for our experi-
ments, we applied our apparatus to it, without regard to
any disproportion which might exist between the two;
further experiments being needed in order to determine
their precise relative dimensions. The experiments thus
far have not extended beyond the determination of the
fact that Petroleum may be used with great facility as a
fuel under steam boilers, by a single fireman of ordinary
intelligence. No minute analysis has been made of its
comparative economy—the results thus far being regarded
as merely general; but from the results herewith shown,
you will be enabled to determine how far our experiments
sustain the claim we have advanced or having successfully
applied this material to steam boilers. |

The boiler used was an internal flue and return fire-tube
boiler, the shell measuring thirteen feet and nine inches in
length, by six feet in diameter, with a grate-surface of
thirty-five square feet; contents about fifteen hundred
gallons of water to the level of six inches above the upper
line of tubes. There were three flues in the boiler, the
centre one, P, of 16 inches diameter, and the other two, &,
of 12 inches diameter. The boiler was not set as repre-
sented in figures 1, 2 and 3, which is the method recom-
mended; but rested merely on three walls of the dimensions
of the furnace walls. There were five rows of 24 inch fire-
tubes, as shown in figure 2, being 75 tubes in all; the back
connection being 15 inches by 3 feet 5 inches, and the
smoke stack 30 inches in diameter. The boiler was un-
clothed. Fig. 1 represents the plan of the furnace, show-
ing the arrangements of the retort or mixer, and the oil
and steam-tubes. Fig. 2 is across section of the boiler
through the furnace, and figure 3 is a longitudinal section
through the centre of the boiler and furnac The same
letters refer to the same parts in the several figures.

The fire bars were removed, and in their place a coil of
three-quarter inch wrought iron pipe, A, was inserted, the
total length of pipe in the coil being twenty-three feet; at
the back, directly across the furnace, a wrought iron. tube,

16 Petroleum as Fuel.

B, or retort, five inches in diameter, and closed at both
ends, was placed, with a short tube, C, of two inches
diameter immediately in front of it. Into this latter tube
(which communicates with the retort)one end of the coil is
inserted, and the other end, D, passing out of the furnace
door, communicates with the reservoir of oil, being in
this case the cask in which it was brought to market. The
flow of oil is regulated by a stop-cock, MW, placed near the

REFHRENCEHS.

A. Coil of Pipe from the oi FUG.2
Reservoir.
8B. Retort or Mixer.
C. Short Connecting Pipe.
D. Pipe leading to Oil Reservoir.
F Burners, 90 in number, 1-16th
inch each.
G. Steam Pipe.
K & Hf. Steam Valves.
HH. Oil Valve.
NV. Tubes into which are screwed
the Burners.
P. Large Flue of Boiler.
£ R. Smaller Flues of Boilcr.

£ig.1.

O00 O00 OOO OOO OOO
005 OOO O00 OOO OOO

IN E
il
=

mt

Wh

1
aH

2

= =
=

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ra

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=
=
SS
=
=
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=
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—

mee |(||)f!
RN | 1ST TL:
1 a A GMB (111 AT
1M eae] Hl |(l11 Moun:
LNA HTT TTT

ADULT ADU
TOT ER

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IM
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furnace door. Some eight inches under the coil of pipe lie
ten one-inch wrought iron tubes, JV, closed at one end, the
other end inserted into the retort ; these tubes lie parallel
to each other, and are two feet three inches in length, and
into each of them is tapped nine cast iron burners, 7, with
one-sixteenth inch opening, making in all ninety burners.
An inch above the plane of the coil, a wrought iron pipe,
G, proceeds direct from the short tube in front of the retort

Petroleum as Fuel, 17

into which the coil is inserted, to the furnace door, and
thence to the steam space of a small auxiliary boiler; a
branch, with proper valves, K, connects this pipe with the
steam space of the main boiler—the flow of steam being
also regulated by a stop-cork, H, placed in the vicinity of
the furnace door, near the oil cock.

13 ft. 9 ¢n.

The water in the boiler being cold (sixty degrees), at
fifteen minutes past two p.m., some billets of pine wood
and shavings, weighing about twelve pounds, being placed
pon 1 the coil, near the furnace door, were lighted and the
door partially closed; after an interval of fifteen minutes
the oil cock, MW, was gradually opened, which permitted a
flow of oil from the reservoir through the coil ; simultaneous
with which, or a little later, the steam cock, 17, was opened,
which conveyed steam of about twenty pounds pressure
from the auxiliary boiler, through the heated steam pipe,

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I, ; Cc

18 Petroleum as Fuel.

G, above the coil, to the retort or mixer, 4, where combining
with the vapour of oil from the coil, it passes into the
straight pipes, /V, under the coil, /. The flame was vivid
and intense, regulated in its force by the relative flow of oil
and steam, and was entirely under the control of the fireman
who, at his pleasure, could reduce the flame to the flicker
of an expiring lamp, or extend it by a single movement to
a volume filling the large flues and furnace with its flame
No smoke or unpleasant smell was perceptible, and the
combustion was complete and entirely manageable. Steam,
at atmospherie pressure, was raised in the boiler in twenty-
nine minutes from the time of admission of oil into the
coil. No measure was taken in this experiment of the
amount of water evaporated ; the apparatus not being con-
sidered as properly proportioned to exhibit the economical
value of the fuel, and the experiment terminated in one
hour by closing the oil cock, 1/—and the fire was out.
The analysis of this experiment may be shown as follows.
As this experiment only exhibited the weight of oil
which consumed under the boiler, raised a given quantity
of water from a temperature of 60° to the boiling point, it
is requisite for a comparison with the known effects of an-
thracite coal, to show the proportionate amount of oil
which would be necessary to convert this same bulk of
water into steam of the atmospheric pressure, or the weight
of water which a pound of this fuel will convert into steam.
According to Tredgold, the quantity of fuel which will
convert a cubic foot of water, of a given temperature, into
steam, at the pressure of the atmosphere, is obtained by
multiplying the quantity of fuel which will heat a cubic
foot of water one degree, by the sum of the latent heat of
steam, and the difference between 210 deg. and the given
temperature of the water. In this case, 212 deg.—6o deg.
=152deg. The latent heat of steam, according to Dr.
Ure, is 967 deg., which added to 152 deg. — 1,11@ pea,
which multiplied by the quantity of fuel which will heat a
cubic foot of watcr one degree, will give the weight of fuel
requisite to convert a cubic foot of water from the tempera-
ture of 60 deg. into steam. This product multiplied by the
number of cubic feet of water to be converted into steam,
will give the total amount of fuel required in this case.
Making the proper allowance for the pine wood in light-
ing fires, the weight of oil consumed in the experiment was
sixty pounds; the contents of the boiler was 200 cubit feet
at a temperature of 60 deg., which was heated by this

Petroleum as Fuel. 19

weight of oil to the boiling point—212 deg. ; thus the
weight of oil which was requisite to heat ove cubic foot of
water ove degree was $2,'s. —8°39 pounds ; and the weight

of oil which was requisite to heat ove cubie foot of water
one degree was %i0=0019 pounds. This multiplied
by 1,119 deg. 2,126, and this by the 200 cubic feet of
water in the boiler gives 425 pounds, as the weight of owl
which would convert the contents of the boiler into steam at
the atmospheric pressure—otz00 + 9°24=29'33 pounds, as the
weight of water at a temperature of 60 deg., which will be
converted into steam by one pound of oil. From Isher-
wood’s valuable experiment on marine boilers,—we find
this same type of boiler in use on board of the United
States steamers—and from the mean of the experiments
conducted on these boilers, we find the quantity of water
evaporated from a temperature of 100 deg. with steam at
the pressure of the atmosphere by one pound of anthra-
cite coal, to be 85 pounds. To compare this with the ~
evaporation made from a lower temperature of water by
means of the oil, this weight must be reduced in the follow-
ing ratio, established by Isherwood: ge $38 7343 Gee —3852—
0964, ‘which multiplied by 85, gives 8:16 as the weight
of water at 60 deg., converted into steam of atmospheric
pressure by one pound of anthracite coal.

Comparing this result with that above shown for the pro-
duct of the combustion of oil, we find the evaporating power
of the two fuels to be in favour of the oil, in the ratio of
29°33 to 816, or 36, weight for weight ; the coal and the
oil occupying about the same space for a given weight.
That is to say. a cubic foot of coal as stowed aboard ship,
will weigh about the same, or a little less, than a cubit foot
of oil, thefirst weighing from forty-three to fifty-two pounds,
and the latter about fifty-four pounds to the cubic foot.

Further experiments, with improved apparatus, will be
necessary in order to determine the precise economic value
of this fuel in comparison with coal, but the advantages of
the oil as a fuel for marine engines may be briefly summed
up as follows :—-

Rapidity with which steam may. be raised—reduced
dimensions of boiler and furnace below that required for coal
—the continuous firing effecte1 by feeding the fuel through a
pipe into the furnace, thereby preventing the great loss of
heat in the furnace every time a fresh supply of coal is
thrown on, and the rush of cold air upon the opening of the
furnace doors—the freedom from smoke, cinder, ash, or re-

C2

20 The Laryngoscope.

fuse of any kind, which in coal reaches from seven to over
sixteen per cent. of the whole amount. In the ability to
command a forced fire almost instantly, without a forced
draught, which, under some circumstances at sea, is of vital
importance. In dispensing with the numerous class of coal
heavers, stokers, &c., and all the inconvenience of raising
clinkers and ash from the furnace rooms; and finally the
diminished space occupied in the storage of the fuel

THE LARYNGOSCOPE.

LL really useful discoveries seem to have been long

foreshadowed before they actually appeared ina perfect
form. It is interesting to follow that gradual development of
ideas, which ultimately results in a new means of prosecut-
ing scientific inquiry, and the disputes to which this
frequently gives rise form an amusing episode in our
scientific progress. These remarks will be aptly illustrated
by our sketch of the history of the laryngoscope—an
instrument which, asits name implies, enables us to see the
interior of the larynx or wind-pipe, as well as some other
parts hitherto hidden from the sight. The instrument

itself is very simple, and the principle on which it depends

easily understood. It is in fact, neither more nor less than
the employment of a small looking glass to reflect light
into the dark cavity. Take a tube of any kind, an ordinary
bottle covered with paper, a wax vesta box, or a piece of
paper rolled up and set upright on a table, will answer the
purpose. This represents, for the time being, the human
wind-pipe. Drop into it any small articles. - These cannot
be seen so long as the eye remains ona level with them.
Now take a small piece of looking-glass, fix this to a rod,
a pen-holder will do well. By holding the mirror over the
tube in such a way as to allow the light to fall directly
upon the mirror, the small articles you have dropped into
the tube, will be seen clearly. We have often seen much
amusement produced by the offer to discover the nature of
anything dropped into a tube of this kind by another
person. At first it seems almost incredible—the readiness
with which things are detected.

Now, this simple contrivance is an exact representation

of the laryngoscope, and shows us how we may employ
reflected light to study the movements in the throat, by —

Lhe Laryngoscope. 21

which the modulations of the human voice are effected.
Any one curious on the matter has only to seat himself
before a large looking-glass, and hold at the back of his
own throat, a little mirror of this description ; arranging
his position as to the light, he may then really see inside his
own wind-pipe. Or he may get a friend to seat himself
before him, and allow him to try to look down his throat,
but this is more difficult: Ist. because the light cannot be
so easily directed; 2nd. because the experimenter is more
likely to tickle his friend’s throat too much. These diffi-
culties are overcome by a little contrivance and a little
practice. Thus, instead of daylight a lamp may be used,
and with this, a condensing lens to throw the light into
the person's mouth; by this means more light is obtained
for use—the throat is, in fact, brilliantly illuminated, and if
this be done in a dark room, a little patience will enable
any one, by means of the small laryngoscopal mirror—
which, by the bye, must be warmed, otherwise the breath
will instantly condense upon and obscure it—to see the
interior of the throat. It is not at all surprising that
medical men should be the foremost to avail themselves of
this method of investigation. It is to them, in fact, we
owe the instrument, as we do so many other valuable dis-
coveries, and they have already found it of great service
in discovering and curing disease.

About 1858 and 1859 the German medical journals con-
tained numerous allusions to experiments going forward at
the hospitals at Vienna, with a view of looking into the
interior of the wind-pipe, and in 1860, Professor Czermak,
of Prague, published a small volume, entitled, “Der
Kehlkopfspiegel,” in which he describes this instrument as
he had then perfected it and gave the results of his in-
vestigations. Indeed, although fully acknowledging the
merits of Garcia who had long preceded him,* as well as
others, Czermark put forth a claim to be considered the
inventor, though not in the sense, of him who first conceives
and partially carries out any practical application of the
idea which may be originated elsewhere. This claim in spite
of the utmost opposition, he has, to a great extent, made
good, for to him the medical faculty owes the practical use
of the instrument in the discovery and treatment of dis-
ease, and he has accumulated more important information
on this branch, than any other exnerimenter. This aspect,

* “ Observations on the Human Voice,” “ Philosophical Trans-
actions.

22 The Laryngoscope.

however, cannot in a purely scientific periodical, absorb
our attention. Czermak’s book brought other claimants
into the field, each endeavouring to establish their own
priority. The principal of these was Dr. Turck, of Vienna,
from whom Czermak had really borrowed the instruments
at the beginning of his researches and this after Turck
seems to have laid aside the idea as of no great value.

A very pretty quarrel for some time raged among the
German professors, and it is particularly amusing to note
how in the end it turned out that others had been at work
at the same subject, with varying success, and somewhat
gratifying to note that our English scientific experimenters
were by no means behindhand.

As early as 1856, Dr. Prosser James seems to have dis-
covered some disease in the throat by this method—‘a
warmed reflector was placed in the back of the throat, and
light directed upon it.”* This was at least two years before
the observations of the German professors. But long
before this, Liston, the leading London surgeon of the last
generation, had advised “ such a glass as is used by dentists
on a long stalk, previously dipped in hot water, introduced
with its reflecting surface downwards,’ as a ‘means of
inspecting the throat.t A more recent worker on this sub-
ject, Dr. Mackenzie, has had the pleasure of demonstrating
in the year 1864, that a fellow countryman, the late Dr.
Babington constructed an instrument which he called a
“glottoscope,’ and exhibited it at one of the learned
societies in 1829. This instrument is a very perfect one of
its kind, and shows that after all Dr. Babington invented
the laryngoscope, although he, like others, allowed his dis-
covery to slumber for years. We have now done justice to
the curious history of this discovery, and leaving the medi-
cal profession to work out its practical applications, confine
ourselves to the scientific part of the subject. To trace this
we goback to the already cited “ observations” of Garcia.

This industrious observer was deeply interested in the
modulations of the human voice, and this prompted him to
make the valuable experiments and discoveries described
in his contributions to the “ Philisophical Magazine.” He
thus describes his mode of proceeding :—

“The method I have adopted is very simple ; it consists
in placing a little mirror, fixed on a long handle suitably

* “Sore Throat and the Laryngoscope,” by M. Prosser James,
M.D., Senior Physician to the City Dispensary, &c. p. 139.
{ Liston’s “ Practical Surgery,” 1840, p. 417.

The Laryngoscope. 23

bent, in the throat of the person experimented on, against
the soft palate and uvula. The party ought to turn him-
self towards the sun, so that the luminous rays falling on
the little mirror may be reflected on the larynx. If the
observer operate on himself, he ought, by means of a second
mirror, to receive the rays of the sunand direct them onthe
mirror which is placed against the uvula.”

The description is simple and complete, and the method
in Garcia’s hands was abundantly fruitful. All the present
instruments are merely improvements in detail to enable
the observer to carry out easily these directions.

By this means Garcia was able to show that ina state
of rest, that is while breathing quietly, the opening between
the vocal cords (called the glottis) remains quiet and
widely open. That, during deep chest sounds and shrill
vocal noises the epiglottis or bridge over the wind-pipe
which closes in the act of swallowing is more upright.
That the two upper bands (commonly called superior vocal
cords) which cross the wind-pipe have no influence on the
voice ; but that this is produced by the two inferior bands
(true vocal cords) which may be distinctly seen vibrating
with degrees of rapidity varying with the tone. The
higher the pitch the more rapid are the vibrations of these
two vocal cords. Such results as these were surely suff-
cient to establish the reputation of the experimenter, and
great must have been his gratification at being able not
only to peep into the hidden parts of our curiously con-
structed frame, but to actually see with his own eyes those
parts engaged in the work for which they were expressly
made. Wemay now watch with kindred feelings the mode
in which the voice is actually produced, but perhaps our
emotions can never be such as we tnay imagine those of him
who first gazed on the hidden portions of the machinery of
life in action.

The reader who is anxious to see for himself the points.
here described should not be discouraged by the first
failure. Neither let him blame his instruments for what
they are probably not in fault. His greatest difficulty will
be his own want of care. Let him first of all experiment
on himself, he will be much more likely to avoid tickling
his own throat by the mirror than he would that of a friend,
besides, it is scarcely fair to expect a friend to subimt
to the necessarily unpleasant sensation, until he has
acquired sufficient dexterity to reduce it to a minimum.
The beginner will be able at his first sitting to make out
the epiglottis, that draw-bridge which enables the food to

-—* ee
e . 7
¥ * r

pass over the wind-pipe into the gullet. In a minute or
two he will see the back surface of this, and, breathing
quietly and gently, thoroughly examine its shape, not un-
like that of a leaf. He may now turn the face of the
reflector upwards and make himself acquainted with the
hinder surface of the curtain which hides part of the throat
from view.

This may suffice for the first lesson. To see the inside
of the wind-pipe needs a little more tact. Proceeding as
before, he must place the mirror as far back as possible in
his throat with the reflecting surface downwards. As soon
as the posterior surface of the epiglottis is well defined, by
very slightly moving the mirror so as to throw the light
more downwards he will accomplish the next stage of his
progress. Perhaps fora moment only a large dark hole
appears, with brightish edges. That is the opening of the
wind-pipe. A little more light, or a slight movement so as
to reflect the light directly down into this hole and the vocal
cords are instantly seen—especially if he should be making
some vocal sound—their vibration at such a time being
very distinct. The whole art of laryngoscopy is now
acquired.. It is easy enough to give utterance to a series
of musical notes while holding the mirror in the throat, and
intensely interesting to watch the rapid vibrations of the
cords vary with the position, in the musical scale, of the
notes uttered. This having been done, the study is not
likely to be abandoned. Friends may now be fairly in-
vited to join in the prosecution of the work, and it is very
easy, by proper arrangements of looking-glasses to enable
a whole party to witness the production of voice sounds in
the living man. As to instruments, and many patterns are
to be purchased at moderate prices, we advise the beginner
to content himself with the most simple. Complexity
seldom adds to efficiency, and the most elaborate apparatus
will never serve the purpose of a little tact and patience.
There is plenty of opportunity for new observers to dis-
tinguish themselves. Beyond the domain of medicine but
slight progress has yet been made, though we predict for it
a rapid growth. The works already cited will supply
valuable hints, but no amount of instruction will be of
service without a strict attention to the few simple points
we have mentioned. It is the same with the microscope
and other instruments, attention to preliminaries ensures
success. But the laryngoscope is altogether simpler than
the microscope, and, once the steps we have indicated

taken, becomes altogether easy to use.

24 The Laryngoscope.

25

ON THE NATURE OF ELECTRICITY.
By R. LAMING, M.R.C.S.

HAT is that marvellous agency which conveys our
messages along a thousand miles of wire in fewer
seconds than by the fleetest mail they could be carried in
days; which, if dispatched westward on a Journey to the
Antipodes to day would arrive there yesterday, beating in
its speed the velocity of time? That laughs to scorn the
clumsiness of the best artisans in overlaying with the noble
metals those of baser sort, furnishing our side-boards, at
the cost of a few pounds with useful garniture, perfect in
appearancé as the silver it economises and more secure
from misappropriation? That performs at our bidding
numerous other feats of importance which, but an age or
two ago, would have been thought possible only to:
professors of the black art? And of which—greatest
mystery of all!_the public at large, professors and utilita-
rians together, pretend to know not even the nature?
What is electricity? Cannot something be done by way
of answering the question; for it is impossible to believe
the universal ignorance is willingly submitted to, or that
the world would long treat it with indifference if men could
only be made aware of the possibility of dispelling it.

If any one who has just made himself acquainted with
chemistry, as it is taught now in the year of grace, 1866,
will take the trouble to compare what he knows with the
chemistry as propounded by Professor Thomas Thomson
in the “ Encylopedia Brittanica” of 1803, he will probably
be astounded at the transition of the science in so short a
time from a state of unpromising obscurity into one per-
fectly satisfactory in its perspicuity ; so vastly does it differ
from what it was some half century ago—not only in its
extent, but in the character of its information—in the
minute detail with which its new facts are continually
being added to its now abounding stores, and in the
rigorous scrutiny of the facts on which their reciprocal
relations are worked out by inductive reasoning. Now,
what it is instructive for us to remark is, that all this
change has been consequent on a single mental conception,
sudden, of course, in its occurrence as all new ideas must be,
given unexpectedly to the world by an amateur chemist,
then a poor teacher of mathematics, though afterwards
aggrandized by an university and made independent by

Ye aa oe S
aa OF eat

26 On the Nature of Electricity.

the Civil List ; who, by one act of sagacity, as by a fairy’s
wand, turned a scientific wilderness into a garden, and the
disorder of its material things into a numerical system.
When Dalton conceived the happy idea, imputing to all
the particles of elementary matter definite combining pro-
portions, denoted by weight, in which, or their multiples
only, they could combine to form compounds; he, in effect,
did more for chemistry than any one had done before him;
for, by that simple expedient study has been deprived of
half its labour and students introduced to a view of corpus-
cular action eminently suggestive of further inroads into
the apparently complicated mazes of physical science.
What the state of chemistry was before the days of
Dalton, such is the state of electricity at the present time,
in one respect, while in every other its condition is worse.
It has an unbounded attraction with which electricians can
do nothing ; with other forces in abundance all necessary
for correcting it in one way or other, and in the real exist-
ence of which no one believes. It is the universal convic-
tion that something is fundamentally wrong in our
electrical theories which must be set right before electricity
as a science will advance a single step; and the amend-
ment, whatever it may be, must come in the shape of an
accidental conception which we are tired of waiting to have
suggested, and yet have no means of hastening. Mathe-
maticians have ascertained that an unlimited force of
electrical attraction needs to be accompanied by a force of
electrical repulsion ; and we have been taught accordingly
to say that while electricity and matter attract one
another, the particles of electricity separate by repelling
each other. Facts had previously suggested the two
antagonizing forces, for they were originally associated in °
the theory of the celebrated Benjamin Franklin, who had
not used them long before they were perceived, by our
neighbours on the Continent, to be incompetent to meet
the requirements of observation, which demanded two
forces of electrical attraction and as many of electrical
repulsion. This addition, objectionable enough as a repre-
sentation of nature, obviated one of the chief defects
of the more simple theory; and, therefore, philosophers,
professing to be led by their reason, had no alternative but
to acknowledge the four forces, and thus accepted the
French theory of Dufay. But, in course of time, as the
observation of electrical facts extended, even that compli-
cated system of attractions and repulsions became impotent

On the Nature of Electricity. 27

to do what was required of it; and electricians of repute
now lay it aside in disgust as extremely deficient, though
they have nothing to turn to that is any better. While
they have been deploring the barrenness of electrical theory
and, for its improvement, conceiving additions of new
forces or of new properties of force, adding evil to evil; an
amateur has suspected that perhaps the electrical attrac-
tion was too large, and required—like chemical affinity—
to be made definite ; and who, working out the idea, has
found it to dispense with the necessity of electrical repul-
sion, and also with the duplicated system of Dufay, which,
by departing further from truth, had made a.notable im-
provement on the one electricity of Franklin; in short, it
has enabled him to conceive a competent theory of electri-
city in which there is no force but attraction acting between
electricity and matter in definite proportions, and between
the particles of electricity themselves universally and at all
distances ; thus, while making electrical doctrine infinitely
more comprehensive than it was before, approaching it
very closely to the simplicity which we always expect to
find at the basis of all nature’s operations. This extreme
amount of simplification may have been unexpected, but
it should not create surprise as our whole experience
abounds with minor examples of the necessity of adjuncts
for patching up means originally deficient ; it is only when
means are from the first adequate that they need neither
addition nor curtailment ; and it is in efficiency, combined
with such perfection, that we have the only indication of a
‘correspondence with nature. Science may depict her in
too broad an outline as well as in too narrow a one, and
when such is the case the remedy for the defect is to paint
the portrait out and begin anew.

It ought to be much more extensively known than it is,
that electricity—the imponderable element of obsolete
chemistry, and, it may still be said, of our present schools
—has been weighed in the balance and found heavy. It
is easy to understand that if its particles attract one another
at all distances as alleged, they, being, as we know, univer-
sally distributed in matter, must be a cause of universal
gravitation; sufficing to be its only cause, provided their
allotment to the varieties of matter, correspond in quan-
tity with the respective weights, and which is quite within
the bounds of probability. In the year 1838 an experi-
ment was made in Paris to show the ponderability of
electricity by suspending it, with proper precautions, from

28 Ox the Nature of E lectricity.

the arm of a balance; under the scrutiny of those well-
known philosophers, Becquerel, Savary, and Pouillet,
all members of the French Academy of Sciences;
of which learned body the first-named was at the time
president, and the two latter deputies, appointed to act
on its behalf. The deputies, who alone were present
at the first exhibition of that experiment, after causing it
to be repeated some half dozen times, acknowledged its
unquestionable success; and evinced their surprise at the
result by immediately reporting it to their president, who,
within a few minutes, while the apparatus was still undis-
turbed, arrived with M. Edmond Becquerel to request
permission to observe it also. M. Becquerel testified to the
correctness of the report he had received, and sponta-
neously added, “It is a magnificent experiment.” But,
notwithstanding this official and equally important extra-
official evidence, the result has been only privately circu-
lated, and from that moment to the present, refused a
public recognition, by those through whom the experimien-
ter had calculated on its being made known to all the
world; he had not foreseen that an experiment which
demonstrate the non-existence of a second electricity, or
that puts it, if existing, in the same category as the phlogzs-
ton of the old French chemistry by making it a negation
of weight, could never be agreeable to the national taste,
however much it savoured of truth ; a motive for reticence
which he might at the time have thought it uncharitable

to impute, but which he was soon taught to regard as the’

true one by a Parisian professor, himself a member of the
Academy, who had the courage to charge his colleagues
with it in full assembly. By turning to the“ Comptes
Rendus ” for 1839, vol. 1, page 830, we may find the text of
the impeachment; of which the following is a correct
though abbreviated translation, the names being suppressed
for very allowable reasons :— .

“This manuscript from the other side of the channel was
returned to the Academy by a committee consisting of
MM. Savart, Savary and Pouillet, with a note that no
report would be made. The apparatus was constructed
and put in action by the inventor, in the presence of MM.
Savary and Pouillet, and also of M. Becquerel who came
to witness the experiment in his private capacity. Its
object was to weigh electricity which the experimenter re-
garded not as composed of two different fluids, but as a
simple material, ponderable by attracting its own particles.

On the Nature of Electrecety. 29

The Academicians, witnesses of the experiment, appear to
consider the proofs as unanswerable; M. Becquerel declares
the fact to be established in a manner not to be contested;
so writes the English electrician ; and I, desirous of having
the statement confirmed, have consulted M. Becquerel
whose declaration is positive. Notwithstanding that they
adhered to the consequences of the experiment on the
weight of electricity it was necessary for such high
authorities as the Academicians named to arm themselves
with doubt ; they could fall back upon their opinions, or
upon antecedent inductions, or upon the character of the
fact experimented upon; they might rest upon such reflec-
tions, and inthe mean time continue to scrutinize particular
branches of electricity. How could they be sure that the
induction of electrical ponderability was true? &c.,”

“Tt is true that the experiment which has been witnessed
puts an end to the doctrine of Dufay, who first constructed
the theory of two electricities; but that savant will still be
glorious in the estimation of futurity for having preceded
and installed Buffon. A true experiment made with care
ought to be allowed the credit of arresting science running
on in a false way ; one cannot deny the legitimacy of its
despotic power to reopen all questions and to reform them ;
but this experiment has passed through the two academies *
the most celebrated in Europe entirely unacknowledged.
And though I may not call upon the too great academic
corporations to reconsider a decision, I may at least invoke
persons who have taken no part in it to remain philo-
sophically circumspect touching the experiment in question;
particularly now that it is beginning to be held in estimation,
and above all has the high recommendation of M. Becquerel.”

This one step in the right direction directly indicates
another of far greater importance to doctrinal electricity,
namely, the limited nature of the electrical attraction. The
argument by which it may be arrived at is a short one, and
simply this: as the elements of matter have specific weights,
and electricity is the cause of those weights, it follows that
the elements of matter have specific quantities of electricity.
Now, if we admit the electrical attraction to be definite, and
trace the definite action in accordance with the simple re-
quirements of mechanical philosophy, we shall immediately
make intelligible the causes and natures of a diversity of

* The experiment had been proposed for submission to the
Royal Society and declined.

30 The Lumber Trade of Toledo.

electrical phenomena that have waited until now for their
explanation; and also be able to reason out a very clear
way through the difficulties of electrical science generally,
which under the old theories were unapproachable; but
the subject is too extensive for us to go into it on the
present occasion.

There is another consideration respecting the nature of
electricity that should now be noticed ; for it points to the
conclusion that electricity is not merely a physical force, as
some seem inclined to think, but a material thing having
force as its attribute. Electricity possesses two different
forces, one attraction for matter and another drawing
together its own particles; and the two attractions need to
have a bond of union, for though they are antagonistic in
_action they are never found separated, and it would be
absurd to make one force the property of another. Now,
it is impossible to imagine any cause for their association,
other than a material substance of which they are both
properties. Another reason confirming the existence of such
a material is to be derived from the fact, that while both the
electrical forces can be transmitted through all bodies with-
out exception, some of those bodies arrest electricity on
their surface and will not allow it to penetrate their sub-
stance j |

Enough has been said to enable us to commence an
opinion as to what electricity is, and of the powers it is
qualified to put into operation.

THE ‘LUMBER TRADE OF TOLED®@:

OLEDO is now one of the largest lumber markets in

the world. Being at the head of water navigation

from the pineries of Michigan, and having direct communi-
cation with Cincinnati and the Ohio river by railroad and
canal, it is an attractive point to dealers and builders at
many of the river towns. So great has been the southern
traffic in lumber during the past year, that enterprising
capitalists at Cincinnati have purchased sites for yards, and
the ensuing season we shall have three or four additional
yards, employing a capital, probably, of 300,000 dols. to
400,000 dols. Included among these, is that of a firm who

The Lumber Trade of Toledo. 31

are known as the largest manufacturers of lumber in the
Saginaw region, and who will establish and conduct a yard
in connection with their mills; another firm, having an
agent now here, is said to be one of the most extenstve
dealer in pine lumber, lath and shingles, at Cincinnati.

This latter received at this port last year, about 20,000,000
feet of lumber, in rafts, from whence it was taken south ;
the freight on which amounted to over 22,000 dols.

The receipts of pine lumber during the year 1865 show
an excess over the previous year of quite 20,000,000 feet.
The monthly receipts of lumber are shown in another part
of this report and a repetition is unnecessary. The receipts
for a series of year are shown below:

_. 1: 33S PMAOTOCS. | TOOT: ... 0"... 0.0.0: 25,426,877
_. eee Bas MOUS 20O: F POOO. A Re 37,368,536
le TS eee SESS FS° 4B PSG Ole cep ahd. cveiw vs 22,816,963
ne phe Bars SoA OS; LLANES Gaia ov de'csa ve cnt 19,614,780

There are manufactured in this city into sash, blinds and
mouldings, about 5,000,000 feet annually, and the total
value of the manufactured articles is probably 275,000 dols.
to 300,000. There is atso a large amount of pine lumber
used in the manufacture of boxes.

The shipments by canal were 30,963,985 feet, and those
by the Dayton and Michigan railroad were about 15,000,000
feet.

The receipts of lumber, of which much the greater part
is black walnut, by railroad and canal during the year
were :

1865. 1864. 1863.

By Michigan Southern Railroad. .

DE ie Ce eee ROE 10,030,000 1,3639,125 7,085,000
By Toledo, Wabash and West- :

ern Railway—feet......... 449,940 2,356,901 989,970
By Dayton and Michigan Rail-

road—feet...........0ceeeeee 2,090,980 2,526,200 3,068,000
EE ae ee 2,864,925 63,063,60 2,648,101

gs) SS. 15,425,045 24,828,586 137,910,76

These figures show a falling off of over 9,000,000 feet.
All the-lumber received here byrailroad is shipped directly
east, the greater portion purchased in the interior by agents
of eastern dealers. The demand in this city is mainly sup-
plied by teams. The quantity on hand in. this market at
the close of navigation was less than for several years
previous.

32 The Wine Crop of New South Wales.

The receipts of staves by railroad and canal were:

1865. 1864.
By Michigan Southern Railroad............. 1,773,000 2,567,246
Toledo, Wabash, and Western Railway 150,000 191,772
Dayton and Michigan Railroad......... 20,080 37,800
AAR a ree Nau sa Sicily » haraaaieg tea ten tet 206,348 963,821

2,149,428 3,756,639
The receipts of lath, for a series of years, are shown as
follows :—

1s) OL a BA Re ee 16,128;0007| 1861 420) eee 7,150,700
BOGAN Taare 1552'3'5j;000: |:1 860... 22 eee 953935750
POOR ciate coin eld ck 10,765,000: | 185 Q.:.n:s cece eee 86,59,700
P02 sci bebe e desea. 9,564,450. |) 1858 once cee 1,558,359

The shipments by canal were 6,716,653. The receipt of
shingles, each year, since 1858, are exhibited in the follow-
ing table:

BOGS hGe ain fondest a. 31,745,000.| S61 0.) eee eee 13,891,925
POO acines'e «/ yk ee 18,149,000 1860, aa sakes Sage 15,861,788
2 Ro Oe EA 23,17 35000 | POS Gn.cseane col eaa cee 12,998,000
BOR lo cole a aoeutar i 1B:658,000 | TOGOE.. ccc aeteanee 99,50,127

The shipments of shingles, by canal, during the season
amounted to 8,417,900

THE WINE CROP OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

“7 T is an ill wind that blows nobody any good,” and

the drought that was so disastrous to the farmers
and squatters has been of benefit to the vignerons. The
consolation is small, because the wine-producing interest of
the colony is so slight when compared with the squatting
and the farming interests. It would have been different
if the colony produced as much wine as it ought to do—
that is, enough to replace the imported beer and wine, and
enough to ship to all the markets within reach.

The statistics show that the vine cultivation has advanced,
but not so much as was to have been anticipated, con-
sidering the length of time the industry has been established,
and the success it has achieved. In the adjacent colonies

The Wine Crop of New South Wales. aa

of Victoria and South Australia, the rate of progress has
been much greater.

In this colony the principal increase has been to the
westward of the main range, and it is in that quarter that,
in the opinion of some competent judges, we are to look
in future for our chief supplies of the best wine. Our coast
country is said to labour under two disadvantages ; first,
there is too little lime in the soil—a defect, however, which
can be remedied by the application of bone-dust or phospho-
guano ; and, secondly, there is too frequently rainy weather
at the vintage. This latter is an objection that cannot be
conquered, and it places the vignerons completely at the
mercy of the seasons. For making good wine it is desirable
that the grapes should not be gathered till they are dead
ripe, but if the vigneron is in daily dread of heavy rain, he
is temptedto pluck the fruit before it has attained a thorough
maturity. his year there was no such temptation. So
far from there being any apprehension of rain at vintage
time, the country was only too earnestly longing for it, and
looking vainly for the faintest indication of its approach.
The fruit, therefore, has ripened well. The quantity of
wine is a little short, from the want of sufficient rain to
swell the grapes, but the quality is excellent. So good a
vintage season has not been known for several years, and as
“we may trust the vignerons now to do justice to their special
commodity, it is fair to anticipate that the produce of 1866,
when it is fit to come to market, will have a special ex-
cellence.

But, in spite of all drawbacks, the wine of New South
Wales has already attained a great reputation, quite enough
to establish it as a wine-producing country, and calculated
to encourage the greatest hopes for the future, when the
best situations for vineyards have been more thoroughly
explored, and when the proper treatment, both of the vine
and the wine, is more thoroughly understood, and when
the theories of other countries have been reinforced or
corrected by local experience.

There has been a great extension of vine-growing in the
Albury district, very largely brought about by the enter-
prise of some immigrants from Victoria, who, not finding
the climate of the Geelong district altogether satisfactory
for their purpose, crossed the Border, and found what they
wanted in the environs of Albury. The soil, the situation
and the climate in that locality seem all highly favourable
to the production of wine, and though the industry there is

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. D

34 The Wine Crop of New South Wales.

comparatively new, an excellent and highly promising wine
has already been produced. The prospects of the trade
have been somewhat overclouded of late by the unhappy
dissensions between this colony and Victoria, with reference
to the Border customs. The two countries treat each other
now as foreign countries, and tax each other’s produce.
The great market for Albury wine used to be found south
of the Murray, on the Ovens diggings and in the townships
thereabouts. The duty imposed has practically arrested
the transmission of the wine to that market, and, as there
is no adequate market north of the river, the cellars are
filled with unsaleable stock. The Government has been
frequently memorialised on the subject, but the general in-
terest of the colony in the collection of its Border duties
has overborne the local interest of the Albury winegrower.
The colonial secretary is at present on a cruise in the district,
and as a personal visit is often more potent than a petition
or a deputation, he has been moved to promise that all
that can be done shall be done to afford relief. But the
matter does not rest altogether in his hands. The consent
of the Victorian Executive must be obtained, and hitherto
that has been hard to get to any arrangement proposed
from this side. There isa limit, however to all obstinacy,
and Mr Parkes may be fortunate in finding Mr. M‘Culloch
and Mr. Verdon in an accessible and yielding frame of
mind. If so, he may negotiate more favourably than some
of his predecessors have been able to do.

It is highly desirable that the wines of the colony should
be adequately represented at the forthcoming Exhibition
at Paris. As Mr. Keene said, at the recent meeting of the
Hunter River Vineyard Association, there is no better
tribunal to which light wines could be submitted than the
judges that will be assembled at Paris.” To get a good
verdict from such a tribunal will help to fix the reputation
of our wines not only abroad, but at home. There is a
little disposition sometimes to depreciate colonial produc-
tions until they have received the imprimatur of European
‘approval. But we can believe our own commodities to be
good when outside judges have declared them to be so.

In the mother country there has been a great disposition
of late years to revert to the use of lighter wines. The
enormous demand for port and sherry—so much greater
than it is possible for Portugal or Spain to comply with—
has led to a manufacture of wine in lieu of its growth.
The imitation is not always very palatable or very healthy.

“

Present State of the Genus Crichena. 35

It is difficult to obtain the wines pure except at prices
which place them beyond the reach of ordinary consumers ;
and seeing that perhaps five times the quantity of port
and sherry is drunk that is grown, it is pretty clear that
the process of adulteration is extensively carried on. ‘The
Hamburg merchants are the most clever concocters of
artificial wine, and they have found it a growing and pro-
fitable trade to provide the middle classes of England with
these imaginary substitutes for the vintages of Xeres and
Alto Douro. But ‘it is rather absurd for Austratians to
import such articles at a great expense, and to pay a high
duty on them, when wine more palatable, more wholesome,
and more suited to the climate, can be produced from its
own soil ata cheaper rate. It will be time enough to
manufacture wines when the world cannot grow any more;
but at present, with unlimited capacity for growing, at
least in Australia, we need not condemn ourselves to drink
artificial compounds.

‘As our local wines become more plentiful they will
become cheaper, and as they get cheaper they will come
more into use, and supersede the imported malt liquors.
This is already the case in South Australia, where more
wine is produced in proportion to the population than in
any of the other colonies, and where the import of beer has
been sensibly affected.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE
OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENUS CIN-
CHONA.*

BY JOHN ELIOT HOWARD, F.LS.

HE writer approaches the consideration of the Cin-
_ chonaceous plants rather more from a practical than
from a technically botanical point of view, and thinks that
much remains yet to be done by careful study of the plants
themselves, to reduce Botanical terms to harmony with

* Abstract of a paper read at a meeting of the International
Botanical Congress, and prepared by the author for the ‘‘ Pharma-

ceutical Journal.”
Dp 2

36 Present State of the Genus Cinchona.

Pharmaceutic requisitions, and thus to discriminate between
forms which, in a therapeutic point of view, produce wholly

different products, and which have been thrown together

by systematic arrangement founded on insufficient data.
The C. micrantha of Huanuco, for instance, produces a
“grey bark,” characterised by its abundant yield of pure
cinchonine ; whilst the C. micrantha of Bolivia differs
_widely in its chemical contents, and presents apparently
a somewhat differing form. Again, the C. ovata of Pavon
and of Peru, gives an entirely worthless bark producing
aricine (or paracin), whilst the C. ovata, var. rujfinervts,
Wedd., of Bolivia, is a plant allied to the Calisaya in its
products, and the C. ovata, var. erythroderma, approaches
to, and is not*improbably found amongst the red-bark-pro-
ducing plants. .

Mr. Howard does not propose to found a diagnosis of
species, either on the chemical constituents of the barks, or
on their microscopical constitution, but to follow out more
fully, and to a greater extent, the consideration of the barks
as assisting in the discrimination of species and varieties,
according to the precedent so ably established by Dr.
Weddell in his admirable “ Histoire des Quinquinas.”

Mr. Howard is nearly in accordance with Dr. Weddell
and with M. Gustave Planchon (whose recently published
work* he regards as the most valuable manua/ that has yet
appeared on the subject), in regarding “ cinchona as form-
ing a very natural genus, the different forms of which often
pass from one into another by insensible transitions,’ but
leaving it open for further investigation whether there may
not, as stated by Dr. Karsten, be a subgenus, forming a
point of transition between Czuchona and Ladenbergia.
However this point may be decided by botanists, the
writer thinks that a considerable section of the Czuchone
are allied in their chemical and also in their microscopical
characteristics to the Ladenbergig, whilst, on the other
hand, some of the latter seem to reciprocate this alliance.

The writer does not, however, regard the “transitions”
as insensible, but rather as by well-marked and permanent
intermediate forms: he looks upon the Ciuchone not as he
would upon the Salices, for instance, in which latter family
it seems immaterial how many or how few are the number
of species or varieties recognised, since a willow is still the

* “Des Quinquinas,” par Gustave Planchon; Savy, Paris,

1864.

Present State of the Genus Cinchona. 27

same plant under whatever form, and it was supposed that
this was the case with the cinchonze when the genus was
first established. The Quzna primitiva was supposed to
have a kind of recognised ¢yfzcal character, and a superi-
ority which was claimed as distinguishing the bark of Peru,
or of New Granada, as viewed by the advocates of the
products of these different regions. It was thought suf-
ficient to distinguish a few varying kinds of cinchonaceous
plants that were at first recognised -by the prevalent form
of the leaf as cordifolia, lanctfolia, oblongifolia, ovalt-
folia, &c., thus confounding together even different genera
through a premature classification.

This systematising tendency has since, in the opinion of
the writer, led to the grouping together of cinchone
essentially different, since the reality much more resembles
what might be the case, if there existed amongst the
varieties of salix some which closely approximated, in the
time and the bark, to the oak and others which in these
respects counterfeited the hazel, or as if a variety were to
surprise us by producing quinine instead of salicine.

Thus the ovate or cordate or lanceolate form of leaf
may appear to link together species of cinchona, which, on
more profound study, may be seen to be entirely diverse
in their character.

The writer may be permitted to illustrate his meaning
as to premature attempts at systematic nomenclature by
reference to another department of scicnce, taking as an
instance the names of the alkaloids produced by these
same plants, which, according to the first impressions,
ranged thus :-—

Quinine. Cinchonine.
Quinidine. Cinchonidine.
Quinicine. Cinchonicine.

Further and more careful examinations shows a different
arrangement, as indicated by their properties in reference
to the ray of plane polarized light :—
Quinine. Cinchonine. Cinchonicine.
Cinchonidine. Quinidine. Quinicine.
Powerfully levogyrate. Pre-eminently dextrogyrate. Feebly dextrogyrate.
This latter being the true relation, as shown by Dr.
Herepath in his communications to the Royal Society, on
chemical grounds, and by Mr. Howard in Reports to the
Under-Secretary of State for India, on specimens of bark
grown in that country, from which it appears that it is the

38 Present State of the Genus Crnchona.

order in which in the plants themselves these alkaloids are
produced, normally in concert, and under circumstances of
changed locality are supplemented, or even superseded by
each other. Thus the quinine-producing calisaya forms
always some, and abnormally much cinchonidine, and cin-
chonine-producing C. micrantha of Peru forms in India a
large product of quinidine.

Mr. Howard thinks the species of calisaya can be best
studied in connection with the different geographical
centres, the products of which he proposes briefly to review,
so far at least as concerns their most prominent species,
beginning with Bolivia.

The Barks of Bolivia.

Cinchona calisaya, Weddell.—This species certainly merits
the first mention. It is beyond all question the first in im-
portance in commerce, as furnishing the bark most largely
used in the production of the precious medicine quinine.
It contains this product in remarkable purity, with very
little admixture of any other alkaloid—a fractional quantity
of cinchonidine and cinchonine being (in the best speci-
mens) the only exception.

It is not to be supposed that the products of wild forests
should be kept carefully select in commerce, and conse-
quently the rate of produce in alkaloid, from such mixed
parcels of bark, falls below that of the genuine tree; but
Mr. Howard has satisfied himself, by the examination of
carefully-chosen specimens of calisaya, of the existence of
alkaloid equal to 5 per cent., and in one or two specimens
even seven or eight parts in a hundred of sulphate of
quinine. This is more than double the product assigned
by the late M. Delondre, whose “ Quinologie” he regards
asa very valuable repository of knowledge, although (as
is always the case) subject to some little correction.

The average produce of calisaya bark in quinine,* though
falling very far short of the exceptionally fine specimens
before mentioned, is still considerably above that obtained
by M. Delondre, and the product in cinchonine less by two-
thirds than he states, only it may be that he includes the
cinchonidine in the same category. These observations
seem of importance in reference to the cultivation of the
species in India. It must not be supposed that the large

* Not contained in the bark as szdphate, as Delondre and Bou-
chardat’s work might lead the reader to suppose.

Present State of the Genus Cinchona. 39

products obtained by Dr. De Vrij and Mr. Howard from
the cznchona succirubra grown by M‘Ivor, are the measure
of the superiority of this species over the calisaya. In the
writer's opinion, the reverse is the truth,.and though, from
some cause, equal success has not been attained with the
latter in the East Indies, he does not at all despair of seeing
the calisaya reassume there its rightful supremacy as the
queen of all quinine-growing species.

He is the more confirmed in this hope, because the
calisaya, though found so delicate in India, is growing
luxuriantly under double glass in Mr. Howard’s stoves—
one raised from seed sent by Sir R. Murchison to Kew in
May, 1864,* two or three inches in height when first planted
out in October, 1864,—having, in lttle more than two
years, attained an elevation of more than seven feet, and
spreading in every direction.

Mr. Markham sayst “The C. calzsaya, the most famous
of all the South American bark trees, and which, in its
native forests, is alike the most beautiful and the richest in
quinine, has not been a success in India. I was grieved
to see the plants of this species only five feet ten inches
high, and six and a half inches in girth, at an age of three
years, wnile their stunted and shrubby appearance, with
dim coloured leaves, is as different as possible from the
glorious calisaya of the Caravayan forests.”

Mr. Howard is endeavouring, in COLDSE RC USS with
Mr. M‘Ivor, to ascertain the occasiofi of this contrast. It
is not impossible that something may be due to the differ-
ent effect of light passing twice through glass, by which
means, a large portion of the actinic power (about half, as
ascertained by photographic effects) isarrested. Mr. Mark-
ham says,{ that in a position which he examined “ exposed
to the full glare of the sun, there was a_ profusion of
Melastomacee and no Cinchone,’ for “the latter evidently
dislike very exposed situations ;” and again he says, “the

* Dr. Hooker obligingly traced out the history of this plant by
application to Sir R. Murchison, who says, ‘“‘’The cinchona seeds
I sent you in 1864 were brought home by Mr. David Forbes, a
great explorer of the Peruvian and Chilian Andes. I know that
he attached some value to these seeds, which he told me
were from trees of the very first quality in their bark and fructifi-
cation.”

+ In letter to the Under-Secretary, &c., 16th January, 1866.

t Letter to the Under-Secretary of India, June gth, 1860.

40 Present State of the Genus Cinchona.

Calisaya avoids the banks of a river, never being found
within several hundred feet of it; it prefers the steepest
declivities of the mountain sides, and a great deal, though
not too much shade.” Mr. Markham speaks of “a locality well
adapted for the growth of the calisaya,” where young plants
receive Shade from taller trees, while they also enjoy plenty
of sunshine through the spreading branches.” Perhaps
this has not been sufficiently attended to in India.

It is further evident that there are very distinct varieties
of the Calisaya, and that it is by no means certain that the
kind hitherto cultivated by Mr. M‘Ivor is the best, although
“descended from those procured by Dr. Weddell himself,
in the forests of Caravaya and Bolivia.”

Dr. Weddell gave to one of these varieties (the Calzsaya

morada) the name of C. Boliviaza, and described it as a
' separate species, but in an article communicated to the
Botanical Society of France, in March, 1855, after having
seen in his second journey in Bolivia, new forms inter-
mediate between the D: Calisaya, and the C. Boliviana,
this able botanist is disposed to regard the morada as a
simple variety of the Calisaya. This agrees with what we
know of the different barks, which are cll, including the
Boliviana, equally collected and imported as Calisaya.
The bark of the Calitsaya morada is never classed separately
in commerce, and, indeed it appears in Delondre and Bou-
chardat’s well-executed plate i. as typical Calisaya ; while,
on the other hand, we find another well marked variety, the
Calisaya blanca, equally well figured by Goebal in his
“Pharm. Waarenkunde,” plate vil, as also China Calisaya.
Best executed and most characteristic of all, are Weddell’s
own figures of the bark, both of his a. vera and B. Foseph-
zana. As far as the writer can judge, it is yet another
variety whfch is now growing with him, the Cal/saya verde,
of which, as well as of the xaranjada fida, zambita, empeder-
nida, and one or two others, Dr. Weddell gave him speci-
mens resulting from his secovd excursion to Bolivia.

For further information respecting this variety, the Ca/z-
saya verde, we must (for the present) turn to the Report by
Mr. Markham of his visit to collect plants of the Czuchone
in 1860. He says,* “ The bark collectors and other natives
assurred me that there are three kinds of Calisayas, namely
the Calisaya amarilla or fina (a vera of Weddell) the

* Letter to the Under-Secretary for State, June gth, 1860..
Sec. 44:

Present State of the Genus Cinchona. va

Calisaya morada (C. Bolivani of Weddell) and the
Calsaya verde or alta,—not mentioned, as far as I am
aware, by any author. They say that the latter is a very
large tree, generally growing very far down the valleys, and
tn much lower situations than the other varieties. The
veins of the leaves are never purple, but always a pale green,
hence the name. The guide Martinez had cut a tree of
this variety, yielding six or seven cwt. of bark, including
canuto or bark from the branches; and Gironda had seen
a tree in the province of Munecas, in Bolivia, which yielded
ten cwt. of tabla, ortrunk barkalone. The true Calisaya
of Weddell oniy yields three or four cwt.”

Such_a tree as Gironda describes might probably be five
feet in diameter, for Karsten, speaking of the C: lancifolta
and C. corymbosa, says,* “trees are met with sixty feet in
heighth, whose stems measures five feet in diameter. A
single gigantic tree, which truly is not often seen, yzelds ten
cwi., dried, or thirty cwt. fresh bark.”

It is highly probable that this is the sort which ought to
be introduced into India, where its larger size, and probably
more rapid growth, might render it a more valuable acqui-
sition than the a. vera itself. Mr. Howard is the more dis-
posed to think this, since from the size and appearance of
the bark recently brought into this market from Bolivia, he
is led to suppose that the collectors may have opened up

fresh districts in which this kind abounds.
_ Itis an important feature that the verde variety grows
lower down the valley, and consequently in warmer regions
than the other sorts. This may, at times, cause it to be
less productive in quinine, but nevertheless, the richest
specimens examined by Mr. Howard presented the charac-
teristics of this variety.

The Calisayas of Bolivia thus seem to be most satisfac-
torily determined, and it remains only that Dr. Weddell
should add to those labours, for which we are so much in-
debted to him, by publishing the materials which he has in
hand to illustrate the remaining varieties of this species.

The Barks of Loja, or “ Crown Barks.”

Cinchona officinalis, Linnzus, a. Uritusinga—The term
officinalis has been (Mr. Howard thinks most correctly)
restored by Dr. Hooker to the species which grew under
his care from seeds sent by Don T. Riofrio, from the

* Med. Chinarinden, p. 28

+ 7

42 Present State of the Genus Cinchona.

mountains of Uritusinga, near Loja. This is the Czuchona
Uritusinga of Pavon, also the Quina-quina described by
M. La Condamine, in 1738, and consequently the C. acade-
mica of Guibourt’s “ Hist. des Drogues,’ and the C. officz-
nalis of Woodville’s “ Botany,” vol. iii. p. 546. The plant
flowered in the writer’s possession in 1862, and a charac-
teristic drawing, by Fitch, of the flowering branch, may be
found in tab. 5,364 of Curtis’s “Bot. Mag.,” which may
be compared with that of the same species in the “ Neuva
Quinologia.”

A plant of the above, about six feet in height, was
presented by Mr. Howard to the Indian Government, and
although it suffered from a sunstroke in the transit from
Madras to Ootacamund, and lost all its leaves, it was
restored, and, by the skill of Mr. M‘Ivor, increased by
cuttings to the extent of now between 6,000 and 7,000
plants. It has since flowered, and a characteristic specimen
has been brought home by Mr. Markham, together with a
portion of the bark.

A sister plant of the above, together with another, its
direct descendant, suffered from an irruption of smoke into
the stoves in the past winter, and Mr. Howard was com-
pelled to cut them down. This gave the opportunity for
examining the bark, which yielded on percentage of the
dried bark :—

Quinine (crystallizing both as sulphate and oxalate) 1°36
Cinchonine (part crystallized from sp. w., the rest
cinchonicine) be Me: aM 2 iad) ORS

—_——_——

Total ap aes wig Beg

A produce very much the same that bark of the same kind
and age might have yielded in its native climate, and pro-
bably the first extracted from bark grown in Europe.

Although this kind has nearly become extinct in its
native region, it may regain its place in pharmacy, as it
seems well adapted to India, and flourishes on the
Neilgherries at an elevation of about 6,000 feet.

Several other forms range themselves around this which
we now constitute the central plant of the group, by
restoring its original name. Mr. Howard ventures to pro-
pose the following arrangement of these, as one rendered
necessary for the distinction of the barks in commerce, as
these will soon come from India, and as the only way that
he ‘can see to extricate the subject from the confusion

Present State of the Genus Cinchona, 43

into which it has been thrown by, premature attempts at
generalization.

Cinchona officinalis, PB. era —Mr. Howard would
drop the’ barbarous name, chahuarguera, given by Pavon
to this plant, which is really ne Ouina primitiva, as
having been traditionally the one which cured the Countess
of Chinchon. It is, therefore, worthy to bear the name
condaminea, bestowed upon it, and also on the other forms
of the plant by Humboldt and Bonpland, in whose “Plantes
Equinoctiales”” it is well shown in the uwushaded branch,
which is recognised by De Condolle as a very distinct form
from the shaded flowering branch produced a different sort
of bark, to be afterwards described.

The bark of 8. condaminea is the rusty crown bark of
Pereira,* and of English commerce. M. Planchon agrees
with Mr. Howard that the larger portions of the bark
represent the Quzuquina noueux of Joseph de Jussieu.

Cinchona officinalis y. bonplandiana-colorata.—This form
of Loja bark was called, in the time of the Spanish
dominion, Colorada del Rey.f It is well represented not
only in the widely-dispersed herbarium of Pavon, but also
by specimens sent home by Cross, both of a flowering
branch and of the bark, from the ravines of Cajamuna,
near Loja, in 1861. The seeds sent home by this collector
have vegetated well in India, and so successful has been
the cultivation, that M‘Ivor has already sent home bark fit
for the English market, according to the estimation of the
most competent judges. The plant is figufed and described
in Howard’s “ Illustrations of the Nueva Quinologia” as a
variety of chahuargucra, which name might very well be
exchanged for the above.

y. Bonplandiana-lutea—These two sorts are probably
merely the acho and hembra varieties (those in which the
male or female element preponderates in the flower, &c.)
of the same plant, but the barks produced are markedly
different, and these differences have remained unchanged
from Pavon’s day to this. They both deserve well their
old reputation, and, though scarce, are still found in

* Confounded by Pereira with the Humatlies mince et rougeitre
of M. Guibourt, which seems to belong to C. purpurea.

t “The Spanish creoles still have the custom of giving the
name veal or del Rey to the best, most beautiful, and most valued
articles ; thus every pee has its Palma real, Quina del Rey &c.”
(Karsten).

ee ae ae
Fe
>»
~~
«

44 Present State of the Genus Cinchona.

commerce; growing together, Pavon says, and often
coming together (sometimes intermingled) to the English
market; but, though so nearly allied, not confused by
insensible transition.*

Cinchona officinalis, 8. crispa—This form of Loja bark
was described and named by Tafalla as Czxchona crispa,
and is described by Mr. Howard under that head in his
“Quinologia.” Nevertheless it is his opinion that it is so
manifestly one of the forms of the Loja bark as to be
best looked upon as above. It is the Quzna crespilla, or
carrasquena of the older botanists, and the Quzna fina de
Loa of modern trade.

The plant was found growing by Cross ina deposit of
peat on the summit of the highest mountains (the Sierra
Grande) around Loja. These Loja barks are adapted to
grow on the roughest and most elevated portions of the
Neilgherries, and also to flourish in Ceylon, and, beyond
other sorts, to bear well the climate of the sub-Himalayan
ranges, and there can be little doubt of their successful and
profitable cultivation.

Dr. Seemann found the plant at a lower elevation, and
excellent specimens were brought back by both these
travellers, including the bark, concerning the source of
which, therefore, no doubt can remain.

It is to be regretted that from the present confusion of
nomenclature in India, it is difficult to ascertain what is
meant by the descriptive terms there applied to the barks.
If the above arrangement could be admitted, it would
greatly simplify the matter, and be practically useful in its
results.

Mr. Howard proceeds to a review of the grey barks of
Huanuco, the red barks of Ecuador, the Pitayo barks of
Popayan, and the lancifolia barks of New Granada, which
will be published in the Proceedings of the Congress, and
directs attention to the spelling of the name CINCHONA, or
CHINCHONA, and to the allied genus CASCARILLA, or, as
called by the Germans, LADENBERGIA. Nothing would
tend so well to settle these questions as the expression of
opinion at a botanical congress.

In conclusion, the writer expresses his. opinion, that every

* Darwin has shown, in an able paper communicated to the
Linnean Society on another family of plants, that the form of the
flower is either entirely macho, or entirely hembra, not passing
from one into the other.

Reviews. . 45

well-defined region of the Andes has it own prevalent and
characteristic Czuchone, which are incapable of being
reduced to any one typical form; he believes that no
species has been clearly proved to prevail unchanged from
end to end of the cinchonaceous region, and thinks that
forms which resemble each other in distant parts will be
found analogous rather than identical.

REVIEW 5S.

Toledo Bladés Eighth Annual Statement of the Trade and
Commerce of Toledo for the Year ending December, 315t,
1865. London: Stevens, Brothers, Henrietta street,
Covent Garden,

The growth and development of the second grain. re-
ceiving and shipping port on the chain of lakes which
divides the Canadas from the States, has occupied less than
fifteen years,and the report now before us gives, in as con-
cise a manner as possible, the trade statistics of this rising
Western town. All in this little book proves the energetic
character of the founders of the same, who may aptly be
called “ pioneers of. civilization.”

The prosperity of this place is mainly owing to the ad-
vances made, more especially during the year 1865, by the
railway. But, while experiencing some of the effects of
the late war as regards its trade, Toledo has suffered very
little, as we find that the receipts of flour and grain at this
lake port have steadily, though gradually, increased since
1861, in which year the receipts of wheat were 2,450,320
bushels, and which have risen to 2,680,188 in 1865, not a
very rapid increase, true, but one which says much for the
future stability of the town of Toledo. In conclusion, we
advise all who are interested in statistical information to at
once procure a copy of this Report, wherein they will find
a rich fund of statistics drawn up in a manner which reflects
credit upon the compiler. Toledo bids fair to become, and
shortly too, one of those emporiums which are only to be
found in the Eastern portion of the United States. At
page 30 we have given an extract from this report upon
the lumber trade of the town.

46

COLONTAE' NOTES:

Asout Woo..—The farmers of Canada are now busy clipping
their sheep, and the wool season will be at its height by the
middle of next week. In some localities new wool has already
been brought into market, and the shearing is pretty generally
over. But the farmers in these districts seem in no hurry to rush
their wool into market. The prices offered by dealers up to the
present period have not been very high; and there is a very
general belief among farmers that present rates will be improved
upon as the season advances. Whether these hopes will be rea-
lized or not, depends very much upon circumstances. At present,
the season is not sufficiently forward: to speak with much cer-
tainty, and mere predictions are unsafe. Previous experience,
however, has been such as would indicate some advance on the
Opening prices, and we dare say the present year will not prove
an exception, although we think no great rise may be looked for.
The prospect is that the wool crop this year will be unusually
large. In consequence of the good prices obtained of late years,
farmers have been increasing the number of their sheep, and the
clip of 1866, therefore, promises to be the largest we have ever
sheared, Had it not been for the American duties, it is quite
likely we would have got higher prices from the Americans this
season than ever before for our long wools. As matters are, we
have no reason to alter the opinion we expressed in an article
some time ago, that the United States demand for our long wools
is such that good prices will still be realized by our wool-growers.
—“ Trade Review.”

THE Fur Trapr.—The prices of fur have this spring ranged
higher than ever we knew them before, on account of the biisk
competition which arose from the presence of large St. Paul
buyers. ‘There has been a very fair yield of all kinds of fur, with
an excessive catch of one kind—the lynx. Of prairie fur
especially there have been good returns, owing to the fact the
Sioux traded principally with us, and not with the forts on the
‘Missouri as formerly.—‘“‘ Nor-Wester.”

VoyaGING COMMENCED.—AIl is now bustle and excitement in
the neighbourhood of the town of Winnipeg, training horses,
choosing oxen, mending carts, repairing canoes, everything and
everybody getting ready for a trip somewhere—some for the
Saskatchewan mines—some for the Rainy Lake mines, other for
St. Paul. Boats, too, are being launched for their far-off trips to
York, to the Long Portage, and to various places on Lake
Winnipeg. Horses, oxen, and boats are:in good demand,
showing that transportation will be as great, if not greater, this
year than. ever.—‘ Nor-Wester.”

Colonial Notes. | 47

ScARCITY OF SEED GRAIN.—We regret to learn that in several
parts of the Island oats are not to be had, and that unless
Government comes to the aid of the poorer people much land
will be left unsown. This is a very important matter, and we
would suggest to the Executive, which will meet in a few days,
the proprigty of at once instituting inquiries, and, if necessary,
procuring a few thousand bushels of oats and supplying them to
poor persons destitute of seed. If this be not done, we fear
that the applications to the Executive for means to prevent
destitute persons from starvation will be very many.—‘ Islander,”
et.

KerosENE Ort IN New SourH Wates.—A Sydney paper
says that energetic steps are being taken to develop this branch
of commercial enterprise in this colony, and every step in advance
only tends to confirm the great value of its oil-bearing minerals.
It could scarcely be expected that ina colony like this, where
few could have been acquainted with what is comparatively a new
manufacture—the process of kerosene oil production not being
many years .old—the necessary works could be completed without
the delay which prudent inquiry would necessitate. Whatever
inducements there, might be for prompt action in putting these
mineral treasures into a marketable shape, no very large amount
of the shales of Hartley, Wollongong, and Stoney Creek have
yet been submitted for distillation, but the Australasian Mineral
Oil Company has operated upon a considerable quantity of
cannel from the Hunter district. The shales*are well known to
yield an oil of an excellent quality, though small in quantity, but
this inferiority is to some extent qualified by the valuable coke
that is left from the cannel, the shale leaving only a pale coloured
ash. This company has constructed near Sydney extensive works
replete with the appliances for an immense production. ‘They
have had the services of an engineer, who, added to his qualifica-
tions for superintendence in construction where so much
machinery is required, has the not less important acquaintance
with the modus operandi adopted in the largest and most successful
oil-producing establishments in the United States.—“ Journal of
the Society of Arts.”

THE SuGAR ReFINERY.—The community will be gratified to
learn that Mr. Dustan has commenced operations for the erection
of the sugar refinery at Woodside. Workmen are now engaged
in preparing the granite, large quantities of which are being
brought over daily. Next week, the work of levelling the hill
where the buildings are to be situated will be proceeded with.
The establishment is to be on a very grand scale, and when
completed will not be surpassed by any other refinery on this
continent, and certainly not equalled in British North America.
The work will be carried on under the superintendence of a
Scotch engineer of large experience ; all the machinery will be

48 Colonial Notes.

brought from Glasgow, and will be of the most improved cha-

racter. ‘The manufactory, when finished, will be able to operate

with half the number of men employed by Mr. Redpath, at
Montreai, and yet be capable of turning out a far greater quantity

of sugar, on account of the superior character of the machinery.

The manufactory will be able to turn out from thirty-five to forty

hogsheads a day of sugar. The buildings, when erected, will

present an exceedingly fine appearance from the harbour, in con-

sequence of their large, and actually elegant proportions. The

total cost of the establishment is expected to be upwards of a

quarter of a million of dollars at least. It will take some months

yet before it can be definitely stated when the establishment will

be in actual working order, but we have no doubt now that ope-

rations have commenced, the enterprizing men at the head of
the undertakinz will not allow the grass to grow under their feet.

The benefits that Halifax must derive from the establishment of
such manufactories cannot be exaggerated. The expenditure

connected with their construction alone brings a large amount of.
money into the country, whilst they create trade and stimulate

industry. Andwe may add that this sugar refinery is an evidence

of the advantages that a union with the Provinces will bring with

it. No one can fail to see that men of capital would hesitate to

invest their money in such an enterprise unless.they expected to
have a market of four millions of people. It is with a view of
supplying not simply Nova Scotia, but all British North America,

that the manufactory in question is projected on so large a scale.

—‘* Halifax Reporter.”

THE SPONGE FISHERY OF RHODES.—The total number of
boats employed in this fishery last year was 618, of which 35
fished at Bengazi, 156 at Mandruha, three at Syria, 157 at Cara-
mania, 25 at Cyprus, 71 at Crete, the same number in the Otto-
man Archipelago, and 100 off Greece. The total value of the
take was 13,890,000 piastres. The boats were visited with
unusual casualties, eleven were wrecked on the coast of Barbary
during a gale of wind on the 28th August. About one-third more
boats than usual went to Mandruha, where the fishing was
plentiful. With the exception of three Symi boats, no other
sponge fishing craft belonging to those islands remained on the
coast of Syria, in consequence of a new tax of 18 per cent.
custom dues and tithe, lately established on sponges fished in that
locality. ‘The boats which had sailed there proceeded to Cara-
mania, which circumstance increased about one-third the number
of those which originally intended to fish on that coast. Common
and coarse sponges being principally imported to France, several
sponge merchants of that country send annually agents to make
their purchases direct from the divers, while not a single British

merchant has as yet followed the same course for the purchase of _

fine sponges, which are chiefly forwarded to Great Bntain. The

Colonial Notes. AQ

higher prices paid by French merchants, in consequence of com-
petition, are not only amply compensated by the difference
between these prices and those of second-hand purchases, but,
being themselves on the spot, they can make a choice of the
qualities best suited for their markets, thus deriving more profits
thereby. The average prices per oke (2? lb.) ranged for fine
sponges from 28s. 4d. to £2 15s., for common from ros. to
26s. 8d., and for coarse from 4s. 2d. to 11s. 8d.

LucIFER MatTcHEs.—It appears that M. Gaillard has lately
presented to the Academy of Sciences what he calls a new pro-
cess of manufacturing common phosphorus matches. The
method consists in reversing the ordinary mode of preparation.
Instead of steeping the wooden slips first into sulphur, and then
into phosphorus, he plunges the matches into the phosphorus in
the first place, and afterwards into the sulphur. This process is
attended with several advantages. One of these is that sulphur
is insoluble in water, and that, not being fusible under a tempera-
ture of about 128 Fahrenheit, there is no risk of accidental or
intentional poisonings of food by these matches, since the sulphur
forms an insoluble covering for the phosphorus. Another advan-
tage depends on the hardness of the sulphur coating, which
requires more friction than is ordinarily applied for its removal,
and the laying bare of a portion of the phosphorus. ‘This is cal-
culated to decrease the risk of fires occurring accidentally from
the too-ready inflammability of phosphorus as an outer covering
for the lucifer match. How far this process is really new will be
seen from the following extract from the ‘‘ Transactions” of the
Society of Arts, referring to a meeting held on May 21, 1846 :—
“The thanks of the Society were voted to Mr. C. M. Barker, for
his improved congreve-match. Mr. Barker’s improvement con-
sists in putting a layer of sulphur over the combustible composi-
tion, instead of (as formerly) putting the composition on over the
sulphur ; so that it requires a temperature of nearly 300° to ignite
the match by heat, and a greater quantity of friction than with
those formerlyused. Moreover, the match is not affected by damp.”

Insect Wax.—The trade in this article in China is large. In
1864, from the single port of Hankow alone, 5,100 cwt. were
exported. It is taken by the Chinese as medicine, but is prin-
cipally used as stearine in the manufacture of candles. It is one
of the most valuable of the many products of Sze-Chuen, being
worth 60 and 70 taels per picul (133 lbs.). The wax is deposited,
for the protection of its eggs, by an insect which inhabits the
trees on which the wax is secreted. The formation of the wax
was a subject which occupied the especial attention of M. Simon,
a French savant, who, a year or two ago, passed a considerable
time in the interior, during which he is said to have traversed the
greater portion of Sze-Chuen, and to have reached the eastern
confines of Thibet. It is hoped the result »f his researches into

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. | E

50 Obituary.

the products of the former fertile province will, ere long, be made
public.—‘“ Journal S. Arts.”

REFUSE TEAa.—According to the last consular reports, it would
seem that the tea dust and stalks, which formed the principal in-
gredient in brick tea, which was formerly shipped largely to Russia,
are now being directed to this country. This tea dust is the refuse
remaining after the packing of the tea, and is worth from five to
seven taelsper picul. A portion is disposed of forlocal consumption
in Shanghae, but it is principally shipped to England, where it is
said to meet with a ready sale. In 1864, 5,288 piculs of 133 lbs.,
were shipped from the port of Hankow alone.—“Journal S.
Arts.”

OB. 1T Wh Atk ¥s
PROFESSOR HARVEY.

From boyhood, the late William Henry Harvey had
cultivated a love of natural history, and more especially of
botany. When about twenty-one years of age, he accom-
panied his brother, who had received an appointment in
that colony, to the Cape of Good Hope, and published, in
the “Journal of Botany” for 1837-8, descriptions of the
new genera and species which he collected. These ripened
into an octavo volume, “Contributions towards a Flora
Capensis.” Returning to England in 1839, he was offered
the appointment his brother had held, and went back to the
Cape the following year. In 1844, he returned to take the
post of Keeper of the Herbarium of the University of
Dublin. He added his own collection to that of the
College, in consideration of which the salary was increased
by 450 per annum, but with that was so inadequate, that
only a love of science could have been’ his motive in
holding the position. The University conferred upon him
the honorary Doctorship, and his life henceforth was one
of pure devotion to science. In 1846 he commenced his
“Phycologia Britanica,” the 360 plates of which were drawn

upon stone by the author's own hands. Then came his

“ British Seaweeds,” a great success in every sense. In
1848 he was elected Professor of Botany to the Royal

_ Society, Dublin. In 1849. the “ Seaside Book,’ now in its —

third edition, made its appearance. At the invitation of

Obituary. 51

the Lowell Institute of Boston, U.S., he crossed the
Atlantic to lecture on the Algz, returning the following
year, after having availed himself of the opportunity of
this visit to make collections on the North American coast,
as well as a trip to the Pacific. A beautiful quarto volume
of the Smithsonian Institution contains the results of his
explorations. Then followed the “ Nereis Australis,” and
after that again travelling. In August, 1853, he set out
for Ceylon, Australia, and New Zealand. He collected
more than 20,000 specimens and 600 species, and on his
return commenced his “ Phycologia Australica,” which
came out in five volumes, each having sixty plates, of
which the majority were drawn on stone by the professor.
In 1856 he succeeded to another professorship in the Uni-
versity of Dublin, and became a Government lecturer at
the Museum of Irish Industry. In 1861 his health gave
way under his vast amount of work, and at one time his
life was despaired of. He recovered from this illness, but
his health was never completely restored. At last he was
obliged to seek a more genial winter climate. He passed
the winter of 1864-5 in Southern France, and derived great
benefit; but a renewal of his hard work brought back
illness, and at length death. He was again obliged to
leave his Herbarium, where he had toiled last summer and
winter, and in the spring sought rest in Torquay. But his
strength was too far gone, and at that Devonshire resort
for invalids, the learned and amiable professor finished his
course. ;

Unfortunately, his great “Flora Capensis” is not yet
completed. Three large volumes are already published.
The same remark applies to the “ Thesaurus Capensis,” a
series of illustrations to the “ Flora.” Of this, two volumes,
containing 200 plates, are already published. It will be
a difficult task for anyone to take up the work which
Professor Harvey laboured, in spite of failing health, to
complete.

JOSEPH TOYNBEE, F.R.S.

This distinguished man has fallen a victim to his love of
experimental science. At the early age of fifty years he
passes from amongst us, leaving as the record of his too
brief life upwards of one hundred contributions of a scien-
tific nature.

He had been educated for the medical profession and
has for some years occupied the first position in London

52 Obituary.

in the special department to which he devoted himself—
that of aural surgery. Indeed, it is but bare justice to say
that Joseph Toynbee rescued this branch of the healing
art from the domain of quackery, and out of the chaos in
which its facts were involved laid a broad foundation of
scientific knowledge.

Very shortly after he began his labours he was enrolled
an F.R.S., a distinction to which few have attained at so
early an age. But apart from the one branch of know-
ledge to which he devoted his life, he was a diligent student
in many others, and he has erected a lasting claim on our
gratitude by an exhibition of a life which endeared him
to those with whom he came in contact in his scientific
pursuits. Quite recently he started the idea of local
museums, and succeeded completely in establishing one at
Wimbledon. To aid in extending them in every parish,
he issued a small periodical—“ Local Museum Notes ”—
and it is to be hoped, that in a short time, few places will
be without these desirable institutions. Wherever they
are started the sad story of Toynbee’s death wiil be re-
peated. It is well known that he had been for some time
engaged in experiments to determine the effects that would
be produced by the introduction of powerful vapours into
the internal ear, no doubt in the hope of combating disease.
Some papers found on his table contained the results of
his trials with chloroform and other agents, and one paper
with a blank left to be filled up with the result. He was
found, lying on his sofa, by his own servant not many
minutes after he had seen a patient. At first, the servant
thought his master asleep, but on looking more closely he
was alarmed and sought assistance. Alas! Toynbee was
quite dead, his last experiment had been fatal to this
diligent explorer. It is probable the vapour had found
access to the lungs and so proved fatal. We join our
tribute of regret to that of the general public, and venture
to ask whether so untoward an accident should not be
regarded asa warning by others engaged in similar pursuits.
If such risks are willingly run, at least each might adopt the
precaution of having some skilled friend present while the
experiment is being made.

THE

THCHNOLOG IST:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

re

SEPTEMBER, 1866.

—o0-—_

RUTHVEN’S HYDRAULIC PROPELLER.

N carrying out the intention expressed by us in our last
| number, of making the TECHNOLOGIST a Record of
Science in its practical aspect, we beg to draw the atten-
tion of our readers to the above invention, which must
effect quite a revolution in the propelling power of vessels.

The idea of propelling vessels by water is not by any
means a new one, many attempts having been made, but
all unsuccessfully, until, in 1839, Mr. Ruthven, an engineer
of Edinburgh, invented the apparatus now under notice.

Under the patent which was then obtained, two small
vessels were constructed, one of nine feet long, with steam
power, and, in 1844, another of forty feet. These vessels
were exhibited, and attracted a great deal of attention at
the time, and were very highly spoken of. Being brought
under the notice of the Admiralty, by officers of the N avy,
the Admiralty requested permission to inspect and experi-
ment on the last-named vessel, and a report, which was
highly favourable, was made on her performances by Mr.
Murray, the present chief engineer of Portsmouth Dock-
yard. But, notwithstanding this, the exertions made by
the inventor to get his invention taken up were entirely
unsuccessful. The facts of the case being that few ap-.
peared to know anything of the principles upon which the
vessel was propelled, scientific and practical people being
alike opposed to it.

But, nothing daunted, our inventor, after effecting some
improvements upon certain parts of the apparatus, had

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. F

54 Ruthven's Hydraulic Propeller.

another small vessel, thirty feet long, built, to illustrate his
invention. This was placed on the Thames, and a smaller
one, of twelve feet, sent to the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The one on the Thames attracted a great deal of notice, and
was spoken most favourably of, one steamboat company
proposing.to take up the invention, but ultimately aban-
doning the idea, stating as a reason that it would, if suc-
cessful, throw out of use the many boats they had already
on the river.

The Exhibition model fared worse (though it was in
reality one of the most valuable inventions to commerce in
the World’s Fair) it not being so much as even noticed in
the Juror’s Report. |

As in the case of the needle-gun, so with this, the Prus-
sian Government undertook part of the expense of building
a boat, which was done by a Mr. Sydel, the engines and
other machinery being furnished by Mr. Ruthven. The
building of this vessel, which was in 1853, proved the
acumen of the Prussian Government, it having been run-
ning regularly ever since on the Oder, and has proved the
complete success of this invention.

Having thus entered into the history of the up-hill work
which the inventor has had in urging this mode of propul-
sion upon practical men, we now come to the descriptive
portion of our task, and in order to render these remarks
as plain as possible, we shall here introduce two engravings,
one a transverse section, and the other a plan of engine and
propeller -—

Fic. 1.—Transverse Section—showing arrangements on deck for
turning valves.

~

Ruthven's Hydraulic Propeller. 55

\ t t
XY A, Ht dat Wold

FIG. 2.—Plan of engine and propeller.
a. Steam cylinders.
Air pump.
Water-tight case containing fan-wheel.
Nozzles.
Holes in bottom for supplying the wheel in c with water.
Wheel for turning valves.

HS SUP ie

The principle of this invention is as follows :—

The hydraulic propeller has a water-wheel zzside the
vessel. This wheel is enclosed in a metal case, placed
under the water-line of the vessel. The wheel is supplied
with water from a series of small holes in the bottom of
the vessel. The wheel-case has two bent tubes, or nozzles,
one at each side of the vessel. The wheel revolves by the
power of the steam-engines (which are of the ordinary
description of marine-engines), and the water is expelled
at each side through these nozzles. The nozzles are bent
in such a manner that the issuing water is parallel with the
sides of the vessel. There is a contrivance whereby the
water from the nozzles may be directed either towards the
stern or towards the stem. When flowing towards the
stern the vessel will go a-head, and when directed to the
stem the vessel will go a-stern. With the water from one
nozzle. directed towards the stem, and from the other
towards the stern, the vessel will go round on its own
centre, within its own length. The nozzles, it should be
borne in mind, are not placed uuder, but above, or rather
om the water-line. Most people suppose that the pro-
- aa force is obtained by fhe water being forced out of

EF 2

56 Ruthven’s Hydraulic Propellor.

the nozzles against the outside water. But this is not the
case; the propelling force is similar to the recoil produced
by firing a gun.

The advantages which are claimed for this propeller will
be seen on reading the following :—

1. No loss of power from slip, as in the paddle-wheel or
screw, hence greater power is obtained from the same
quantity of fuel.

2. The power of the engines is uniform and continuous,
producing smooth motion; the vessel is, therefore, free
from vibration, and the great wear and tear caused by it.

3. No reaction on the engines from pitching or rolling in
a heavy sea, the propelling power remains efficient as in a
calm ; thus obviating the risk of breaking shafts, paddles,
or other parts of the machinery, of so frequent occurrence
in other steam ships; and, on a long voyage, this absence
of reaction would practically give an increase of speed, or
economy of fuel.

4. The vessel is independent of her rudder, and can be
turned on her own centre by the propeller alone, without
the helm and without steerage way.

5. Can be backed astern or turned instantaneously under
the complete control of the commander, officer of the watch,
or look-out man on deck, no communication being neces-
sary with the engines, as for this purpose these never
require to be slowed, reversed or stopped.

6. The propelling power being situated within the vessel,
the risks to paddles or screws from shot, fouling, or other
accidents are avoided.

7. This propeller will work effectually whateverthedraught .
of water may be. If the vessel float, she must be pro-
pelled and would ascend rivers against. any current of less
than the usual speed of the vessel, and under circumstances
when either paddle or screw would be useless. There not
being any wash or swell created, all injury to the banks is
avoided ; a great consideration on canals and streams with
artificially formed banks.

8. In the construction of the hull the lines of a perfect
sailing ship can be maintained, these propellers in no way
interfering with the efficiency of the vessel as such; and
from the facility with which the propelling power can be
at once shut off and resumed in any weather without heav-
ing-to, shortening sail, or lessening the speed of the ship,
every advantage can be taken of favourable wind of how-

Ruthven's Hydraulic Propeller. 57

ever short continuance; this alone creating a great saving
of fuel on long sea voyages.

g. Should the vessel be pierced with shot, or spring a
leak, the regular supply of water from the canals may be
shut off, and the water from the leak taken up instead to
supply the centrifugal pump—thus discharging the leak
and propelling the vessel at the same time. With a 500
horse-power engine, 1,000 tons of water per minute might
be discharged through the nozzles.

10. In construction this propeller differs from the paddle.
or screw in the following respects:—On the one hand, the
paddle-wheels and boxes, sponson beams, and paddle-shaft
are dipensed with; on the other, the screw shaft, screw-
tunnel, and add to these the solid wrought iron double
stern-post, so costly in large screw vessels. In lieu of
these, the hydraulic propeller requires the turbine-wheel,
water-chamber, and nozzles, the cost of constructing which
need not exceed that of those parts dispensed with in the
paddle or screw.

I1. From the foregoing it will be readily perceived that
the important element of safety is almost completely
attained by this invention. It is not too much to say that.
had the unfortunate Loudon been fitted with this propeller,
she could have discharged with a few strokes of her engine
all the water which flooded her engine-room.

In order to bring this invention before the public, a vessel
called the Wautilus has been built, at Blackwall, by the
patentee, at the expense of private gentlemen, for the pur-
pose of practically proving the advantages of this mode of
propulsion. A trial-trip was made on Saturday, March 24,
1866, when the superiority of this invention was fully
proved. This vessel, fitted with engines of 20-horse power,
was able, with a less expenditure of steam, to distance a
paddle-boat of 24-horse power. This vessel has made
many trips on the river, and very many persons, scientific,
practical builders, and others, have witnessed her perform-
ance. Oneand all, however, expressed their approbation, and
many their astonishment at the results. On the 8th of
April a trial trip of a more formal character was made, on
which occasion one of the best of the up-river paddle-
boats was hired for the purpose of racing with, and fairly
testing the merits of, the hydraulic, as compared with the
paddle-wheei propeller. The Volunteer, the vessel referred
to, was a smaller vessel, of much finer lines for sailing, and
of greater horse-power. The Nautilus had, moreover, over

58 Salmon Culture in Australia.

a hundred people on board, while the Volunteer had merely
her own officer and one or two gentlemen, to see that she
did her very best in the race. Yet the Wawtzlus, though
using less steam, had no difficulty in beating her, of which
fact every person on board was satisfied, and the proof
seemed complete that the hydraulic, with same power, will
beat the paddle, leaving the many other advantages pecu-
liar to the former to the good.
_ With this practical proof of the utility of this invention,
we may fairly prognosticate a great and glorious future for
the hydraulic propeller, and a few scientific gentlemen can
obtain permission to inspect the vessel by applying to the
inventor. Additional trials will be sufficient to place this
project among the great successes of the age we live in.
The Waterwitch, launched in June, will not be completed
and ready for trial until the beginning of October.

F. J. D.

SALMON CULTURE IN AUSTRALIA.

CCOUNTS recently received from Hobart town and
other places in the colonies of Australia, where the
propagation of salmon is being carried on, assure us of the
very great success which has attended the efforts of Messrs.
Youl, Wilson, Ramsbottom and other Australian gentlemen,
now in England to naturalize salmon into Australia. The
following letter from Mr. W. Ramsbottom, superintendent

- of the salmon breeding establishment at New Norfolk,

says :—

“On my opening some of the first ova boxes at Melbourne, —

I had very grave thoughts about our chances of success, as
I was sure upwards of 70 per cent. were dead, and I had
then before me our voyage to Hobart town, with the dangers
connected with reshipping—a work to be repeated three
times—and then the boxes had to be carried for four miles
on men’s shoulders to the ponds. However, when I opened
one or two boxes of ova which were taken from the bottom
of the ice-house, I assure you words cannot express my
feeling on seeing certainly upwards of 70 per cent of healthy
ova. The difference was really astonishing between the
two lots of ova, those ce on top of the ice and those
at the bottom. |

Salmon Culture in Australha. 59:

“ After we arrived at the ponds and the deposition of the
ova completed, I could with great confidence say we had
at least from 40 to 50 per cent of healthy ova; we then
cleared away the moss, &c., after which we began our most
tiresome work of picking out all the dead ova, which took
us something over six days; since then I have been able to
count out all that have died during each 24 hours. The
deaths have been numerous, but not so many as might have
been expected when we take into consideration the age of
the ova, or how long ago it is since the ova were taken from
the parent fish—now 122 days. But with all I have every
confidence that we shall hatch out a great number of young
salmon this time.

“ The hatching, of course, has commenced and this morn-
ing I can count 98 infants and looking well, and before the
English mail leaves Australia, I have no doubt but that
there will be upwards of 1,000.”

This fully proves that the measures which were taken
as regards the packing of the salmon ova were dictated
only after many experiments and great anxiety, and the
successful issue of them can only bea source of congratula-
tion to all initiators of a fresh inhabitant into a new country,
more especially to those who are engaged as Messrs. F.
Buckland, Youl, Wilson in England and Australia, and in
America by Mr. Stephen H. Ainsworth, whose remarks as
to feeding we herewith append from a back number of this
journal :—

“The most difficult period in growing trout artificially is
about the time they commence feeding. This period is from
forty to sixty days after hatching, according to the tem-
perature of the water, At this time a large proportion of
them are very weak, and are entirely unable to stand the
least current, and consequently are carried with the current
through the whole length of the hatching-box against the
screen (if one) at the lower end of the box, and are soon
suffocated and die. To obviate this put a tank 12 ft. square
at the lower endof the hatching-box, sothat the waterwill run
into it, with a gentle current, carrying the weak trout with
it into the tank, where they can rest in still water from 2
to 3 inches deep. In this way they will soon recover and
come into the very slight current to look for food, and, as
they grow stronger, run up the hatching-box again. By
this arrangement I have decreased the mortality so that I
lose but a very small per centage compared to what I did
before.”

60 Notes of Animal Life in California.

It is interesting to mention that enclosed in the ice-house
witH the salmon ova were two bundles of heather and
a few shrubs, as an experiment, to try this plan of sending
trees. They have been reported upon as follows:— “The
six apple trees and the two species of heath (vulgaris and
ciliaris), three plants of each, are in a most perfect condi-
tion. There is not even a decayed leaf on the heaths, and
all the plants are in as perfect health as if they had only
been lifted out of the nursery on the day they were un-
shipped.” We heartily congratulate all parties concerned on
the great success which will eventually crown their efforts to
stock the streams and ponds of Australia with this, the
most delicious and costly of the finny tribe.

Efi D.

NOTES OF ANIMAL LIFE IN CALIFORNIA.

S the capricious and extraordinary season advances,
the zoological life of the ‘valleys and mountains,
pestilent to the cultivator but diverting to him who wanders
by flood and field, increases and multiplies. The ground
squirrels, the kangaroo or jumping rat, and gopher mole,
furnished with pouches and baskets to store spare morsels
—all three of which burrowing animals are represented in
California by distinct species of each family—abound and
multiply as they never seemed to abound heretofore, and
almost defy efforts of extermination. They all breed below
the earth in colonies, and not only devour the crops of
vegetables and grass onthe surface, but attack with greedi-
ness the roots’ of all fruit trees under ground and com-
mit an immense amount of injury. The squirrel is said to
bring forth six at a birth, four or five times a year, and the
other two congeners four every three months, which is
about as bad as rats and rabbits.

The kangaroo rat, however, is confined to a few localities
on the coast and in the mountain valleys, but is specially
abundant in many parts of the Tulare country. There are
‘not less than twenty kinds of these small rodentia not bigger
than a squirrel, which are met with inside the confines of

alifornia, several of which live above ground, and seldom
trouble the farmer ; but all the underground ones are his

Notes of Animal Life in California. 61

unrelenting and pertinacious enemies. One of the sylvan
rats, twice the size of a mouse, constructs a nest of sticks
in the unmolested oak groves, as big as an Indian hut and
as high as a two-cord pile of wood.

The fore-mentioned rvodentia increase in a tremendous
ratio in the settled parts of the State where the cultivators
and herdsmen have thinned off their natural destroyers—
the bears, lions, coyotes, cats, skunks, ferrets, hawks, owls
and snakes. Every green crop is attacked by the squirrel,
and they are terrible on all eggs and young chickens, and
very wasteful where grain and hay are stored.

A traveller wandering in the country a few days ago,
came across a mustard field in blossom, where he sat down
for hours admiring the hundreds—the swarms of humming _
birds, hunting up musquitoes and aphids, flashing in and
out and filling their crops to depletion among the fragrant
flowers of the beef-eater’s condiment, which by the way,
makes the best of honey pasture for the busy bee in Cali-
fornia.

Bears and lions have made great havoc among the cattle
and horses, as their food of oats and wild fruits is every-
where scarce this season. As the former are thick in the
mountain pastures where the stock animals have been re-
cently taken, which have to be accustomed and acclimated
to their new ranges, great numbers have been lost; and it
is feared that the sheep in thousands will soon fall a prey
to these enemies, if not to regular nostalagia, before they
can be thinned off by December.

Ants, flies, musquitoes and tarantulas, with all sorts of
weasels and bugs, infest the air and the water in vicinities
where they were very seldom known before, and are be-
coming excessively troublesome.

Geese and ducks have been multitudinously abundant
and familiar, and have effected much damage in localities
where the young grass is first seen and longest preserved,
doing great injury to young grain. Crows, ravens, and
rooks, are as thick as musquitoes near willow swamps, and
a bigger set of thieving rascals never waylaid the good
things of the farmer or orchardist, and the black villains
now turn up their noses at worms and caterpillars.

Hundreds of hives of bees in lazy, neglectful or ignorant
hands, have deserted to the forests or been starved out, as
their flowery pastures dry up early in February ; and even
among experienced apiarists they will do very bad, and
occasion unusual expense and labour.

62 Notes of Animal Life in California.

The orioles, finches, linnets and canaries, of rainbow
colours, and indigenous to the country, of which there are
over twenty-five species, the most of which carol delightful
notes, and well worthy the arts of the bird fancier, are ex-
tremely familiar and plentiful near houses, and in the
neighbourhood of springs and water pools. The social
blackbird, or chenate of California, in clattering, surging,
fife-noising flocks, is seen in sections of cultivated lands, or
the neighbourhood of swamps, often in such clouds and
swarms as to seem myriads. The house martin was cur-
tailed of the usual rations of mud for his adobe nests, and
is very scarce generally ; but the blue-coated swallow has
made up for his absence, and fills the air near sunset,
cramming his crops with musquitoes and such vermin as
most infest the heavy atmosphere of the declining day.

We forgot to mention the velvet, mouse-coloured mole,
without eyes and with very small teeth; he is “death” on
“garden sarce,” Hoot owls or ¢akalotees make awful music
and bar-room too-loo-koos in the groves near by, looking
after toads, frogs and birds and the little ground owl, a
fellow-citizen in the burrows with squirrels and snakes.
The ground owl is very spiteful. He is seen skimming
and scouring near to earth, over the plains and hills, hunt-
ing up his little bugs, beetles, mice and small frogs. He is
a quick, choleric, nervous, excitable little fellow this Cali-
fornia ground owl, the dimensions of a pigeon and gray as
a badger. And badgers and possums are unwontedly
familiar in places where they had not been seen before in
years, and with skunks unusually plentiful, smelling not
sweet but loud, they make havoc on eggs and chickens, and
thank heaven, squirrels and gophers they scatter some.
And we are reminded here that Don Coyette, a mighty sly
and greedy fellow, has made his teeth tell on many a fat
young wether and calveling not out of the months, and
which the herdsmen had taken his best care of, as most
likely to live and make up some of his losses. As to tame
animals, it is now undoubtedly well known throughout
California, that no calving, foaling or lambing is worth a
pound of salt. The mothers have no milk, and the young
must die.

It is a pity the natural history of California is not better
known. It merely exists in long, dry, scientific lists and
catalogues scattered in hundreds of volumes in every
language and country of Europe and America, and no
Goldsmith or Audubon has worked their gambols and tricks

The End of Odd Fishes. 63

and sly ways, or habits and uses of vantage and dis-
advantage into model lessons yet. The arcana of the
mountains, valleys and uplands is even yet very imper-
fectly listed, particularly the insect life ; but it is high time
they were, for all this kind of thing has gone on since the
year One, during the howlings of war and the pipings of
peace, and science never stands still no more than human
passions, by the beneficent law of Providence.

THE END OF ODD FISHES.*
BY I. K. LORD, F.Z.S.

EVERAL observers have noticed certain remarkable
appendages, as of frequent occurrence on individuals
of most of the species belonging to the genus Aspredo, In
the “ Regne Animal,” we find Cuvier alludes to them “as
globules which appear to be their eggs, adhering to the .
thorax by pedicles.” Bloch also observed them, and not
clearly understanding what such an unusual accumulation
of strange-looking pores meant, described a species of the
six-barbled Aspredo (A. sex-czrrhts) as being new to science,
naming it Platystachus cotylephorus. In the “ Histoire.
Naturelle des Poissons,” we read, “ I have never seen them
in the males, and the females do not possess them at all
seasons.” Here the author clearly imagines these appen-
dages mark some peculiar condition of the female, an
assumption more recent investigations prove to be quite
correct.

The Aspredo batrachus, or toad-like aspredo, is not by
any means attractive as an object of beauty; the upper
jaw, broad and flat, projects far beyond the lower, the eyes
are small, and the ugly, unkissable-looking mouth is further
—TI cannot say adorned, supplied will do—with eight long
fleshy pendants, barbles or beards in other words, which
dangle, like living fishing-lines, from different parts of this
odd and ugly fish’s face. Two barbels spring from the
maxillary; these are dilated at their bases into broad
ribbon-like membranes, from each of which sproutsa single

* From ‘Science Gossip” for August:-

a The End of Odd Fishes.

baby-barbel ; a third pair grow from each corner of the
mouth ; and the fourth pair originate a short distance be-
hind the third.

The ladies aspredo are alone concerned in nursing their
progeny, and on females only are the curious “ fish-cradles ”
found, so specially contrived for the conveyance of the
eggs. Dr. Gunther (to whom belongs the honour of first
clearly pointing out the use of this obscure structure)
says,* “The ovaria of the fish examined are two nearly
empty sacs, with thick walls, as if the ova had just been
excluded ; some of them which had not been developed
still remained between the folds of the interior. The
whole lower surface of the belly, thorax, throat, and even
a portion of the pectoral fins, showed numerous shallow
round impressions, to which a part of the ova still adhered.”
Perhaps the reader has borne in mind what I said in a
previous number in reference to the strange similitude
there is betwixt the cellular-like cavities found on the back
of the Surinam toad when compared with those on the
under surface of the female aspredo. Towards the time
of spawning, the skin covering the lower parts of the female
aspredo becomes thickened, and assumes a spongy cha-
racter. The spawn or ova are in all probability deposited,
in the manner usual with most fishes, on a mud bank or in
some other suitable locality. Then the mamma presses
herself on the extended mass of roe, and in that way
squeezes the eggs into the soft sponge-like skin of the
abdomen ; the throat and fins are also made available for
the conveyance of the eggs. The spongy substance be-
tween the eggs is subsequently gradually absorbed by the
pressure of the latter, excepting in the interspaces, where
it remains in the form of the appendages previously de-
scribed. What becomes of the infant fishes when they
escape from this novel hatching-machine is not known.
The only described species—as far as I am aware—of this
genus have all been brought from the river Gambia.

Many other species of Siluroid fishes take care of their
progeny in different ways. The male (Arius fissus), it
seems, carries a small cargo of eggs in its mouth. Dr.
Gunther describes his finding two males whose stomachs
were empty (hence it is fair to assume they were not in the
act of devouring a breakfast of new-laid eggs). In the
mouth of each fish, however, were about twenty eggs,

* “Brit. Mus. Cat.”—Fishes, vol. v., p. 173.

Pant)

The End of Odd Fishes. 65

larger than a pea, perfectly uninjured, and in a forward
state of development.”

Europe possesses but one species of the Siluridz, the
Silurus glanis— glanis, a crafty fish, which bites away the
bait without meddling with the hook,” writes Pliny. Sly
soever as it may be, nevertheless it shows some remarkable
traits of parental instincts ; papa and mamma sly Szlurus
both taking an active part in protecting their numerous
children after they emerge from the eggs. The Sudus
gigus,a Siluroid found in the large rivers Amazon and
Negro, and that, according to Schomburgk, attains to a
weight of two hundred pounds, regularly bolts its entire
family if apprehensive of danger. The roe is never de-
posited, but the young escape from the eggs whilst con-
tained in the ovarium, and make their way into the cavity
of the abdomen, where the hatching is completed. When
sufficiently matured to risk an independent life, the
numerous offspring issue forth, and, like a pack of aquatic
hounds, swim in close companionship immediately above
the mother’s head. Should an enemy suddenly attack the
little assembly, or other danger menace their safety, then,
like an immense gateway, the mother’s mouth spreads open,
and presto, pass, in go the infant fishes, slam goes the gate,
and safe as in a castle with drawbridge up and portcullis
down, the fry lie ensconed in the chest of their mother.

The Gil/éakra, a marine Siluroid, and the Zam/au, from
the rivers of Guiana, in a like manner swallow their
families and vomit them up again on the disappearance of
danger. The latter fish is esteemed a great delicacy by
the natives inhabiting the districts wherein it is found;
but, nevertheless, catching it isa service of extreme danger.
When hooked, the monster quietly swims off with the
canoe and its freight of fishermen quite as easily as a
Thames-tug-boat paddles away with a long fleet of coal-
barges; and as these rivers appear to be broken into
numerous waterfalls, over which the “Zamlau” does not
in the least mind taking a header—rather likes it than
otherwise—the sport, to my fancy, must be far too exciting
to be pleasant.

The “ Hard-back,” a fish belonging to the genus Cal-
lichthys, which is found along the coast of Guiana, builds a
regular nest of leaves and grass-stalks, in holes in mud-
banks not very far below the surface of the water; into
these fish-nests the roe is placed. The eggs once safely
deposited in the nest, let all fishes or egg-loving enemies

66 The End of Odd Fishes.

stand clear of the watchful mother; she never goes far
from the nest, and is ready at any moment to do battle
with friend or foe, if either dares approach her sacred
charge.

_ Sir R. Schomburgk tells us that these fish ascend the
trenches intersecting the sugar estates in spawning season,
where they are easily taken in baskets placed near the .
nests. The male fish also aids in protecting the young.
The nests are easily discoverable, as above each, a little
patch of froth invariable accumulates on the water. The
parent fishes, however, often fall victims to darkey cunning,
from the fearless fury they display if their nests are inter-
fered with. The negro places both his hands under water,
and gradually brings them towards the nests ; the enraged
fish dashes at the hands, but only to find itself deftly
clutched in a living trap, from which it seldom escapes.

Another singular instance of a nest-building fish is found

in one of the Zalyrinthici, known as the Gourami (Osphro-
menus olfax) of ichthyologists. In the “ Zoological Journal ”
(iv. p. 309), we find a very interesting account of this fish
from the pen of General Hardwicke, who paid particular
attention to their habits during his residence in the Isle de
France. Where water-grass grows thickly and spreads its
green flag-like leaves over the still water of either pool or
tank, there the Gourami, at its breeding season, is sure to
be met with. These grass culms the fish manage to en-
tangle and twist together, to form a kind of verandah,
under which their all-important domestic duties may be
carried on safe from prying eyes. The roe deposited, both
male and female hover round their treasure, and fight
furiously with any prowler that from design or chance
ventures near. After some time, usually about a month,
the young fish emerge from the eggs, and as a hen guards
her chickens, in like manner the Gourami keeps untiring
watch and ward over her baby-brood until they are old
enough, and able to shift for themselves.

I could adduce numerous instances of other nest-building
fishes. The little sticklebacks, known to every schoolboy,
are familiar examples; but as the habits and systems of
stickleback nest-building were able recorded and illustrated
in a previous number of “Science Gossip,” anything I
could say would be but useless repetition.

To the angler, who is only an angler as a sportsman, and
all honour to him too, but who does not care to be a
naturalist as well, a fish is only a fish, against the cunning

Ca

The End of Odd Fishes. 67

of «which he pits his skill in arts of decegtion, whether with
artificial fly, worm, spoon-bait, or what not, and regards the
object of his pursuit only in reference to its value in the
matter of size, or as to the sport it may afford. Should the
successful angler, or anyone else, have the results of his
day’s fishing set before him in quite another phase—one
which appeals to his mind, vzé@ his palate, he probably then
thinks little more of a fish than as something to be eaten,
very delicious, and beyond all praise. To the ichthy-
ologist, a fish, whether it leaps at the gandy fly, or swallows
the tempting bait offered to lure it, as a sporting fish ought,
or whether it be as toothsome and appetizing as the
“venison of the sea,” or glorious red mullet, which made
Quain desire a throat as long as Lombard street, and every
inch a palate: in a word, be the fish’s qualities what they
may, good, bad, or indifferent, to him, ichthyologically, it
is only a cold-blooded animal, possessing a vertebra, gills
instead of lungs; fins and scales in lieu of feet, fur, or
feathers ; spending its life in the water, and developing its
young from eggs.

Under all three aspects, by all and every means, think
of a fish, if your tastes and inclinations lead you, my
young friends, so to do; but what I have sought to do in
writing about “ odd fishes,” is to bring before you certain
members of the scaly tribes, in which there are other
qualities entitling them to every consideration, beyond
those embodied in a strictly ichthyological, gastronomical,
or piscatorial point of view; hoping thereby that you may
be induced to dive deeper into the countless mysteries to
be found in all God’s creatures, from the Diatom to the
Elephant, if you will but look for them; to discover for
yourselves the uses, as well as the structure of, unfamiliar
appendages and anatomical peculiarities. Everything,
depend upon it, has a use, and we may sit in the studio and
think over it for an indefinite time,and after all be none
the wiser; but ramble into the haunts and home of the
beast, or whatsoever form of life it may be that so puzzles
you, play the spy upon its action, learn its habits, and it
will aid you more, even though only a few days be devoted
to such observations, than will whole years of indoor study.
Who, I ask, would ever have given a fish credit for being
the embodiment of a home-loving, nest-building, egg-
Carrying creature, discharging every parental duty in a
highly exemplary and praiseworthy manner, unless our
finny friends had been visited when at home, or, better,

68 On Scientific Physical Training

transferred to places wherein their habits could be watched,
and what they did recorded from day to day ?

There are hosts besides quite as “odd fishes” as those
I have referred to, and if I have succeeded in inducing
any of my younger readers, by thus administering a
wholesomie stimulus to curiosity, to trace out the oddities
of odd fishes for themselves, my aim is attained.

ON SCIENTIFIC, PHYSICAL TRAINING Ame
RATIONAL GYMNASTICS.

BY M. ROTH, ESQ., M.D.

FTER many years extensive practice in treating de-
A formities, curvatures of the spine and limbs, I have
come to the conclusion that it is only a sense of duty that.
has induced me to draw the attention of the authorities of
all public schools to the necessity of teaching physical
training as well as the ordinary rudiments of learning.

I say a sense of duty induced me because I wish to act
according to a quotation froma French writer—a quotation
which I have made use of frequently, namely :—

It is the duty, the bounden duty, of whoever has an idea
which he believes useful, to publish it for the common good.

Whatever you know to be useful, and good to be known
by every one, ¢#a¢ you cannot conscientiously keep to your-
self.

My Motto is—Prevention is better, easier, and cheaper
than cure, and as scientific physical training includes the
means for preserving health, I believe such training to be
useful, and good to be known by every one; I will, there-
fore, not further apologize for bringing before your notice
a subject which is of some interest to everybody ; because
I.am sure you will agree with me that there are many more
agreeable ways of spending your money than for medical
fees and for poor-rates, which last are always higher in pro-
portion to the greater neglect of scientific physical training
of the masses. !

_ The highest aim of medical science is prevention of disease,
and my attention has been especially directed to this branch
in consequence of the ailments of long standing, and of

and Rational Gymnastics. 69

bodily deformities of every kind, which for more than
twenty years I have had an opportunity of observing; the
majority of these cases have been traced to the neglect of
the science of physical training, and of the elementary laws
of health, or in other words, to ignorance, indifference and
neglect.

Without stating the results of my personal experience, I
will read a few facts extracted from official reports, you will
then be able to judge whether it is worth while to think of
physical training, whether our public and private school-
masters and schoolmistresses are to continue to restrict
their instructions to reading, writing, and arithmetic, with-
out paying the slightest attention to bodily training; or
whether it is time to introduce some reforms in our train-
ing-schools, and thus prepare a staff of intelligent teachers
whose task will be to educate mind and body simultaneously
and who will not train the one without the other, but
will guide and lead them like a pair of horses harnessed to
one pole, as Montaigne proposed.

The following are the few facts to which I beg to call
your attention :—

“In 1860, 27,853 recruits were examined at the head-
quarters of the recruiting districts forthe army, and 7,128
of them, or 256 per 1,000 were found unfit for military
service. This number does not include all rejections, for
11,054 were secondary inspections ; that is, inspections after
the men had been examined and accepted at out-stations,
where, of course there must have been rejections.

“Of the 16,799 primary inspections, 318 per 1,000 were
rejected; while in France, in 1859, the rejections were only
317 per 1,000. I say only, because in France every man is
liable to be drawn for service; and the proportion would
be probably smaller if the enlistment would be voluntary
as in England.

“In the various recruiting districts the rejections per
1,000 amounted in Glasgow to 43 per cent., Belfast to 42
per cent., London to 33 per cent., Bristol to 20 per cent.
The rejections amongst the Scotch are 31 per cent.; Irish,
25 per cent.; English, 24 per cent.; Welsh, 23 per cent.

“Two-fifths of all rejections were for causes indicating
general bad health, an item = 0126 per 1,000. One-fifth
for causes which would affect the soldier’s powers of march-
ing = 63 per 1,000.”

On comparing the causes of rejection, I find that England
has the highest proportion of small and malformed chests,

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. G

70 On Scientific Physical Training

and curvatures of the spine. Scotland excels in loss and
decay of many teeth, which is deemed a symptom of bad
health, defects of both upper and lower extremities, and
varicose veins. Ireland has the largest number of diseases
of the eyes. Having mentioned varicose veins, I wish
to point out that while the French have 10 per cent., the
English count 28 per cent.

Half our recruits examined in 1860 were described as
labourers, husbandmen, or servants. One-fourth came
from mechanical occupations, which are in general favour-
aan to physical development, as carpenters, smiths, masons,

of

The proportion of rejections with regard to occupations
is also instructive ; amongst mechanics the amount of rejec-
tions was 27 per cent. ; manufacturing artizans, 26 per
cent.; labourers, husbandmen, and servants, 25 per cent. ;
shopmen and clerks, 23 per cent.; professional occupation
and students, 16 per cent.

Of 530 candidates for railway employment, 201 were re-
jected. The chief causes of rejection were small and mal-
formed chest in 92 cases. This is from the report of the
medical officers of the Great Western and its Associated
Railways Provident Society for 1862.

It is a blessing that our female. population is not enticed
by the recruiting sergeant to accept the shilling, and if I
were obliged to state the amount of rejections amongst
females, the number of those who are unfit for hard work
would exceed fifty per cent.; because we must add to the
complaints of the rejected recruits all the bad effects
of tight dresses, of corsets, stays, bodices, waistbands, busks, ©
and of other injurious influence, by which our female popu-
lation only is affected. How numerous the complaints
arising from these causes are, every medical man who has
paid some attention to this subject is able to state. .

People unfortunately believe that illness under every
form is a dispensation of a higher power, and that they can
but submit to it, and thus they try, only when ill, to re-
cover health.

Many are not aware that a kind Providence has given
us the means of preventing a large amount of diseases, the
majority of which are but a certain and necessary effect of
causes, which could be removed if we would not neglect
the elementary laws of health revealed tous for our own
_ well-being, as well as for that of our less educated fellow-

creatures.

and Rational Gymnastics. — "1

These laws form a most important,—I may even say the
most important part of all scientific physical education, the
object of which is the simultaneous and harmonious de-
velopment of the bodily and mental faculties; such develop-
ment is the basis of a sound constitution, and enables the
will to control the body, and the body to obey the demands
of the will ; sound physical education enables us in any
condition of life to move and to act with caution and firm-
ness. The beneficial action of mind and body when sound
being mutual, a certain amount of energy is produced,
_ which has the most beneficial effect on our moral, intellectual,
physical, and bodily faculties.

If the will has, within reasonable limits, perfect control
over the well-developed body, we can not only resist with
more ease many injurious influences, but also preserve our
individuality while in contact with the external world;
being exposed not only to external influences, but also to
the attacks of others, it is important that we should be
able to defend ourselves against these attacks, and therefore
rational physical education serves as a step to prepare us
for the defence of our homes and our country.

These few remarks show the connection which exists
between physical education and military gymnastics ; that
all those who are entrusted with the mental education of
the young and adolescent should also be able to conduct
their bodily education; at present, with very few excep-
tions, only uneducated persons have the care of the bodily
development of the growing generation,~“and they are
expected, by a merely mechanical drill, or by falsely called
calisthenic exercises, to produce that harmony of the
various bodily and mental faculties which it is impossible
to do without previous training, and without the knowledge
of the structure and functions of the organs of the human
body, and without the knowledge of the laws which govern
the right development of the human frame.

The drili-sergeant and the dancing-mistress are the
persons who in the majority of educational institutions
are resorted to for the physical education of the young.

The drill-sergeant is engaged to drill the boys and girls
once or twice per week. He does this most conscientiously,
and exactly as he is accustomed to drill the adult recruits,
according to the directions of the manual of drill as pub-
lished under the sanction of the authorities.

The dancing-mistress tries her best to give the young
gentlemen and ladies by calisthenic, or at present by what

G 2

72 On Scientific Physical Training

she calls the fashionable Spanish exercises, or by exercises’
with the chest expander or any other exercises, the appear-
ance of what is usually called a good figure.

The few persons who think about physical education at
all, believe that climbing on poles, ropes, and ladders,
leaping, and athletic exertions of any kind, as used in the
majority of gymmnasia, are all that is necessary for the
development of the body; the consequence is that gym-
nastic apparatus are provided on which the pupils may
hang, swing, or make any four de force at their own option ;
the principal aim is to produce brute muscular strength:
all rational instruction is necessarily neglected, because the
teachers themselves have not even an elementary know-
ledge of the manner in which the body is formed, and for
what purpose its various parts are wanted, they do not
know the injurious influences to be avoided in order not to
interfere with the free action of the lungs and other organs,
as well as with the natural growth, development, and
movements of the body and limbs.

The non-interference with the natural development of
the body is one indispensable part of a scientific physical
training, which can be completed only by rational gym-
nastics, that is, gymnastics based on anatomical and
physiological principles.

There are many systems of gymnastics, but there is and
can be only one rational system of gymnastics; we owe
the development of this science to the genius of a country-
man of Linnzus, the Swedish patriot and poet, Ling.

The fact that people are much more impressed by what
they see than what they hear, and that they learn easier
by what strikes the eye, induced me to form a collection of
models for the instruction of those who have the care of
the young—mothers, nurses, governesses, schoolmasters,
and especially schoolmistresses. I say especially school-
mistresses, because these most important persons ought to
be well informed in all matters concerning the health and
the physical training of the young, of whom at present 40
per cent. die before the completion of the fifth year, while
of the remaining sixty, if boys at the age of twenty, at
least twenty-two are unfit for military service, or railway
employment ; and if girls, at least thirty are unfit for hard

* The collection of models, diagrams, books, &c., to which
reference is made in this paper, belongs to the South Kensington ~

Museum.

and Rational Gymnastics. ne

work. If every schoolmistress were well instructed in
these subjects, she being a centre acting on an average
number of fifty to sixty girls, who in their turn will be
wives and mothers, there would be some hope that in the
next, or third generation, the fruits of scientific physical
training would be visible, and that every English woman
would be the officer of health in her own house, and that
the rejections of our recruits would be under Io per cent.
There is no intention on my part to exclude other persons |
from being trained in the subjects I have named; my
object is only to point out one of the many practical
modes by which, according to my humble opinion, the
physical state of the masses would be improved.

There are ladies’ and other colleges, training schools,
where instruction can be obtained in all branches of
science, except in that of physical training ;° certificates
are given to the future governesses and tutors, to the
masters and mistresses, that they are capable of instructing
and taking care of the pupils, although they have not the
slightest idea how to preserve their own health or that of
their pupils. The consequence is that many of these, in
other respects, excellent persons believe it to be beneath
their dignity to attend to the physical development and
training of those placed under their care.

The society for the employment of women has a large
field of female occupation open to those who wish and
se2k for employment which is healthy, useful, and will be
remunerative, because educated teachers of physical train-
ing are wanted; many families who do not wish to send
their children to the dancing academy, would be glad to
avail themselves of the services of such female teachers.

If we wish to have strong soldiers, sailors, and working
men, we must first think of their mothers, who have the
difficult and responsible task of rearing them in infancy
and childhood. This opinion is shared by many of my
professional brethren. Other eminent men begin also to
pay some attention to the subject, as for instance the Very
Rev. the Dean of St. Paul’s, Dr. Millman, from whose
address as chairman of the educational section at the
International Social Science Congress, the following lines
are extracted :—

“ There was. however, an education anterior to that of
school—the education at the mother’s breast; and as to
that they might depend upon it that the best educated
female would in general be the best mother, and do her

AE oa "

duty best to her infant children. But this, above all, should
be recollected, that the first duty of national education
was the health of the children. A sickly child might be
very intelligent, but in general, quickness of intelligence
would be much affected by animal spirits, and animal
spirits rested on healthfulness.”

Although the physical, moral, and economical advan-
tages arising from a system of physical training have been
clearly shown in evidence before the Royal Educational
Commission, there is still at present but very little hope
for the general introduction of scientific physical training,
because its bearing upon diminution of infant mortality,
upon prevention of diseases, and consequently upon dimi-
nution of poor-rates, as weil as upon the general increase
of the population, and their working efficiency, their greater
power of defending the country, and of colonising the
various parts of the globe belonging to this empire, are
not yet sufficiently understood; the greatest impediment
is, that we are accustomed to pay for the diminution and
-removal of an evil when developed, but we do not like the
cheaper course of prevention; there is a want of encourage-
ment on the part of the legislature, and no inducement is
held out to the teachers of schools under Government in-
spection to give up a part of their time to the introduction
of a branch of education, which is not yet considered
necessary, and for which, as it is not obligatory, no remu-
neration is awarded. Iam sorry to be obliged to repeat
a passage written twelve years ago, in a letter addressed to
Lord Granville, at that time President of the Council on
Education. I was then advocating physical training, and
the introduction of rational gymnastics as a very important
branch of national education. The passage is—

“We have cattle-shows, exhibitions of poultry, distri-
bution of prizes, and medals to the trainers of beasts for
improving them. There are humane societies, philanthropic
enough to reward a man who has saved another from
drowning or fire; but what is there to reward those whose
life is devoted to the mental and bodily improvement of
our fellow-men? Would it not be desirable to encourage
the zeal of educators by offering prizes to the man, who,
by his moral and physical training, has brought up the
greatest number of healthy and well-educated pupils?
How is it that blind, deaf, and dumb children, idiots, and
_ other unfortunates, are taken care of, while we allow so
many, originally healthy and able-bodied children, to —

74 On Scientific Physical Training

and Rational Gymnastics. 75

become crippled in body and mind by the ignorance of
their parents respecting the most necessary and simple
means of preserving health? How many more lives might
be saved, and human beings preserved from disease,
poverty, and crime?”

These introductory observations will be sufficient to give:
you some idea of the general views I entertain on the
subject of physical training. I beg you to understand
that one main feature of the system is the non-interfering
with the development of the human. body.

At present people think of training soldiers when they
are twenty years old. That is very hard work. They can
be drilled to do certain things; but if you wish to train
them to be more than mechanical instruments, it is de-
sirable they should be able to place the body under the
control of the will, and in order to produce this general in-
fluence of the will upon the body, it is necessary that the
education of the body should go hand in hand with that
of the mind from the earliest school period—I mean from
the time they begin to go to school; and this training must
be continued through the different stages of their growth,
and then we shall be able to have soldiers in a much
shorter time ; because if I give a man a general power and
influence through his will to act upon his body, what he
has to do becomes very easy to him; but if you take a
man whose mind has never been accustomed to act upon
the body, the task is very difficult. Therefore, physical
training is, at the same time, a mental training, and the
means which we use to develope the body are, at the same
time, means to develope certain of the faculties of the
mind, because a certain amount of order, exactitude, energy,
_ quickness, and a certain degree of mutual assistance, will
be produced if we train body and mind mutually.

Before I begin to speak of the second or active part of
physical training, by which I mean rational gymnastics, I
wish to point out that there are certain agents, without
which we are not able to live, agents of which people in
general do not think so much as they ought—viz., air, food,
drink ; to each of these special attention is to be paid.

Another indispensable agent is to have acertain amount
of warmth. We produce, through our own natural func-
tions, warmth in ourselves, besides which we have artificial
means of retaining this warmth by the aid of clothing.
Inasmuch as military men suffer very much, when on the
march, from being improperly shod, I have thought it

76 On Scientific Physical Training

desirable to show how a foot is to be developed, and what
are the general bad influences acting upon its development.
In the skeleton of the foot we find the big toe is very
straight, quite in a straight line with the other toes.
Adults and children whose parents have taken care of
this point since they were born, have the big toe as
straight as it should be. In models I have by me, there is
one where the big toe has begun to move on one side and
to approach the next toe, instead of remaining in a straight
line. Another example will show how one of the toes is
already pushed out. The result will be that as the foot
continues to grow, a badly-formed foot will be produced.
Here is again a specimen of what is wrongly called a
beautiful foot. We see ladies dress in tiny boots, and this
model shows the deformity of the foot when taken out of
that tiny boot. Here are two boots made for the same
foot. One has the high heel, the narrow sole, the pointed
toe, and high instep; the other, which is made to accom-
modate the natural form of the foot, has a very large basis
and no heel. I am sure, if we were destined to havea
high heel, nature would have given it to us. The shoe
which I propose for a man, as it should be worn, is made
with a bend in the sole, which is not required to be elastic.
All that is necessary is to have the bend thinner, wide
-soles, and the inner side of the boot in a straight line.
This is the most comfortable boot, and it will enable a
man to march much better and much longer than any
other kind of boot. We find that a great obstacle to the
-adoption of the proper form of boot lies partly with the
public, whose ideas of a beautiful foot are wrong, and partly
with the shoemakers, because, everything now being made
for the trade, and on a large scale, they do not like to
make an article which is not yet generally used, and which
wants any particular care in making. So that, should any
shoemakers wish to do the right thing, they would meet
with some impediments. I point this out because one
great object towards the adoption of a proper physical
training is to change our ideas about certain matters. I
am told that amongst soldiers, boots are not worn with
comfort until they have been torn and mended again in the
barracks. How far that is true I do not know, but it was
mentioned to me as a fact when I made inquiries on this
subject. Many of the rejections of recruits, in consequence
of complaints of the foot, which affect the powers of march-
ing, are partly the result: of this cause—the improper form

© and Rational Gymnastics. me

of the boot. I have been told by another gentleman, that
in some parts of the country they wear boots of the weight
of 14]lbs. It will explain how difficult it is for them to
march if that is the case; and if, in addition to this, they
have not the right form of boot, you can easily understand
how the development of the foot is prevented, and that the
men are unable to perform their duties. Short and thick
stockings aid in producing deformed toes; these models
show divisions for each single toe, and may be called foot-
gloves. In the other model is only one division for the
big toe; such stockings have proved very useful in some
cases of deformed and compressed toes, and I may say
‘that they prevent the pushing out or down of single toes,
‘which is frequently caused by narrow shoes and boots. °

I trust this will fall into the hands of ladies, because
what I have mentioned in regard to the foot applies equally
to the chest. If you look at the figure, which shows the
natural development of the chest, you will see that the
external lines of the space in which the lungs are enclosed,
are almost round or oval. But the form into which the
chest is usually compressed is different—the external lines
are angular. I sent to a shop for a stay such as would be
worn by people of the working class, as I wished to say
something on this subject. I did not like to send to a
fashionable staymaker’s, where the compression is carried
to a still greater extent. Now, stays such as these inter-
fere very much with the action of the lungs. But so long
as gentlemen admire this form of waist, there is no hope
that ladies will give it up. In short, the object of my
bringing this subject forward, is not to blame the ladies,
but to tell the gentlemen that so long as they admire this
deformed figure of a lady, and say, “Oh, I can span her
waist! oh, how beautiful!” so long will it be perfectly
useless to induce the ladies to relinquish the bad habit of
wearing tight stays. It does much mischief, for though it
may not matter with fashionable ladies, who have their
doctors and can remain at home, it is imitated by the
middle class and the working class, and it produces a very
bad effect. Therefore, gentlemen, do not blame the ladies,
but blame yourselves. So long as you do not change your
ideas of beauty, so long as you think a curved line is ugly,
and an angular line is pretty, we have no reason to expect
that any change will take place.

Then, again, there is another injurious influence which
acts against our natural physical development, and that is,

78 Introduction of Imphee and Sorghum.

the injurious positions in which our bodies are kept. To
give an insight into this I have prepared a table of some
injurious positions. The first are some of the injurious
positions as they are going on in the working classes, and
some others as they are going on in the better classes —
during the time of education. So the table is called “ Inju-
rious positions to be avoided during growth and education.”
It will give some notion of these bad positions.. For in-
stance, how little girls having to nurse children, begin to get
crooked before they are grown up ; besides this, they have
to encounter the injurious action of a hard wooden busk
in their stays. You can fancy what a bad effect would be
produced by such an instrument upon the body in con-
junction with the stooping posture necessary in nursing.
Then, again, needlewomen have to work in low rooms, in
a bent position, where there is no ventilation, and plenty
of gas and people.

(To be continued.)

THE WAY IMPHEE AND SORGHUM WERE
INTRODUCED.

HE following interesting account of the introduction
of Sorghum and Imphee into Europe is from the
pen of J. H. Smith, Esq., of Quincy, Illinois :—

Of the cane plants hitherto cultivated in the north there
are two distinct kinds, though similar in their habits, cha-
racteristics, and wants,—viz., the Chinese cane and the
Imphee or African varieties. ‘The former is from the north
of China, the latter from the south eastern coast of Africa.
Only one kind of the Chinese cane is known to us. Its
first introduction was made in France, and was briefly as
follows :—Count d’Montigny, in the year 1851, and while
he was the French consul at Shanghai, in China, in com-
pliance with an official request, sent to the Geographical
Society of Paris, a collection of plants and seeds which he
found in China, and which he thought would succeed in ~
his own country, and among these this celebrated plant
which we have in America. It strikes us at once as a
curious instance of the manner in which momentous results
often depend upon the slightest thread, when we consider
that of the package sent sai the Count to Paris only one

Introduction of Imphee and Sorghum. 79

single seed germinated in a garden at Toulon, and that if
by any attack of insects, by injudicious planting, cultivating
or manuring, or any one of a thousand possible mischances,
the plant springing from this one seed had been destroyed,
France and America might for years have been without
knowledge of the Chinese sugar-cane. The capitalist might
never have hesitated whether to invest his means in build-
ings and machinery for purifying its juice, and the farmer
never counted the cost of its cultivation. Fortunately the
plant grew and escaped all dangers, and in due time
furnished the seeds sufficiently matured for subsequent pro-
pagation.

The Chinese cane has a very lofty and well-propor-
tioned stalk, with a graceful, bushy, bowingtop. Its seeds
are of a very dark purple colour and almost black. Among
the principle difficulties which it has to encounter during its
growth are our heavy prairie winds. These winds break
and bend the plants to the earth, and when broken or bent
they seldom make good syrup. The Chinese are more
slender and more liable to be thrown down than the Imphee
canes. We have never succeeded in making much sugar
from the Chinese plant, but it makes a more pleasant syrup
than the Imphee tribe and is far more freé from acid, When-
ever the cane is injured in any way it changes the colour
of the syrup and gives it an acid taste. aes

The Imphee canes are from the south-eastern coast of
' Africa, as already stated. Mr. Wray, tells us that there
are sixteen different kinds of these African canes. The
Imphee tribe, which have been introduced by this gentle-
man, are certainly far superior to all others for sugar-making.
Their crystallization is much coarser than that of the Chi-
ese, which is of a quite floury texture ; and there is evidently
a marked distinction found in our experiments between
the Imphee cane and that which is called the Chinese
- Sorghum in respect to their real value for producing sugar,
the former giving about seven-tenths, while the latter gives
only about two-tenths sugar. The juice of the Imphee is
far more limpid, and contains much less of that mucila-
ginous substance, -known among farmers as white glue
scum, than that of the sorghum ; subsequently it crystallizes
much more easily, and we believe that there is as much
real sugar in the Imphee canes as there is in any of the
canes raised in the tropics. We have taken from one
gallon of mush syrup, weighing thirteen pounds, eight
pounds of sugar, as course-grained as any of southern pro-

80 On Recent Progress in the History of

duction, showing that it has sufficient body and capacity
for being refined into the best kind of sugar that the market
could afford. We are convinced that this work of refine-
ment is merely a matter of time.”

ON RECENT PROGRESS IN THE HISTORY OF
PROPOSED SUBSTITUTES FOR GUNPOWDER.

BY PROFESSOR F. A. ABEL, F.R.S., V.C.P.S., CHEMIST TO THE
; WAR DEPARTMENT.

(Delivered at the Royal Institution, May 4th, 1866.)

HE changes which have been affected in the compo-
sition of gunpowder since its first application as a pro-
pelling agent have been limited to small variations in the
proportions of its constituents. But the modifications
wihch have from time to time been introduced into the
details of its manufacture, eg., the preparation of the in-
gredients, their incorporation, and the conversion of the
mixture into compact masses (grains, &c.), of different size
and density, have been sufficiently important and success-
ful to secure the fulfilment of gunpowder, in a more or less
efficient manner, of the various requirements of military
science, and of different branches of industry.
The characteristics of gunpowder, as an_ explosive
_material of permanent character, the action of which is sus-
ceptible of great modification, are mainly subscribable to
the peculiar properties of the oxidising agent, saltpetre.
Frequent attempts have been made to replace this con-
stituent of gunpowder by other nitrates (such as those of
sodium, lead, and barium) ; but, although materials suitable
for blasting operations have been thus prepared (such as
soda-gunpowder, and barytic gunpowder, or poudre saxi-
Sragine), all mixtures of this class, hitherto produced, have

exhibited important defects, when compared with gun-

powder manufactured for propelling purposes.

The well-known oxidizing agent, chlorate of potash,
which differs from saltpetre only in containing chlorine in
the place of nitrogen, is far more energetic in its action

_upon oxidizable bodies than any of the nitrates. Thus, a

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 81

mixture of chlorate of potash with charcoal alone, defla-
grates as violently as gunpowder, and is far more readily
inflamed by percussion than the latter; while a mixture
analogous to gunpowder, containing chlorate of potash in
place of saltpetre, detonates violently when struck with
moderate force, and acts far too destructively, on account
of the rapidity of its explosion, to admit of its safe employ-
ment in firearms.

Many years ago a mixture known as German or white
gunpowder, and consisting of chlorate of potash, ferro-
cyanide of potassium, and sugar, was proposed and tried
without success as a substitute for gunpowder; and since
then many preparations of similar character have been sug-
_ gested for employment either as blasting and mining agents
or for use in shells, or even for all the purposes to which
gunpowder is applied. The most promising of these,
claimed as discoveries by Mr. Horsley and Dr. Ehrhardt,
are mixtures of chlorate of potash with substances of per-
manent character and readily obtained, containing both
carbon and hydrogen ; such as tannic and gallic acids, and
some kinds of resins. These mixtures are much less
violently detonating than most of the explosive mixtures
containing chlorate of potash, while, if well prepared, they
are decidedly more powerful, as explosives, than gunpowder.
For blasting purposes, some of these mixtures probably
possess decided advantages over ordinary blasting powder,
and possibly they may also be susceptible of employment
for sporting purposes; but they are not applicable to fire-
arms used for war purposes, because, in order to ensure the
requisite uniformity of action, the ingredients must be sub-
mitted to proper processes of incorporation, &c., such as
are applied to the manufacture of gunpowder} and this
treatment would render the mixtures far more violent, and
consequently destructive in their action upon firearms, than
if used in the form of crude mixtures.

A comparatively very safe application of chlorate of
potash to the production of a substitute for gunpowder was
made about six years ago by a German chemical manufac-
turer, M. Hochstadter. Unsized (blotting) paper was
thoroughly soaked in, and coated with, a thin paste con-
sisting of chlorate of potash, finely divided charcoal, a small
quantity of sulphide of antimony, and a little starch, gum,
or some similar binding material, water being used as the
solvent and mixing agent. The paper was rolled up very
compactly and dried in that form. In this manner, very

82 On Recent Progress in the History of

firm: rolls of an explosive material are obtained, which
burns with considerable violence in open air, and the pro-
pelling effect of which, in small arms, has occasionally been
found greater than that of a corresponding charge of rifle
powder. Moreover, the material, if submitted in small por-
tions to violent percussion, exhibits but little tendency to
detonation. Butas no reliance can be placed ona sufficient
uniformity of action in a firearm, of these explosive rolls,
this alone sufficed to prevent their competing with powder.
The same description of explosive preparation, differing from
that of M. Hochstadter ina trifling modification of its com-
position, which is certainly not likely to lead to its greater
success, has recently been brought forward in this country
by M. Reichen and Mr. Melland.

One or two other much cruder explosive preparations,
containing chlorate of potash, alone or in conjunction with
saltpetre, have met with some application to blasting pur-
poses. One of these consisted of spent tan, in small frag-
ments, which was saturated with the oxidizing agent, and
afterwards dusted over with sulphur. When flame or a
red-hot iron is applied to this preparation, it deflagrates
very slowly and imperfectly ; but when employed in blast
holes, where it is confined within a small space, it develops
sufficient explosive force to do good work. In addition to
comparative cheapness, the great advantage of safety was
claimed for this material by its inventor, a claim which was
substantiated by the partial destruction by fire, on two
occasions, of a manufactory of thesubstance near Plymouth,
without the occurrence of an explosion.

The accidental explosions of gunpowder which are occa-
sionally heard of, occur, in most instances, at the manufac-
tories, and in the course of some operations (especially that
of incorporation) to which the explosive mixture is com-
_ mitted. The only means of guarding against, or reducing

as much as possible, the liability to the occurrence of these
accidents, consist in the strictest attention to the precau-
tionary measures and regulations which experience has
proved to be essential to safety, and which, in spite of the
strictest supervision, are unquestionably sometimes over-
looked or imperfectly carried out by workmen. Explosions
of gunpowder, generally of a serious character, do occur,
however, though very rarely, during the transport of the
material, or in the magazines where it isstored. The great
explosion of a gunpowder magazine at Erith, in September,
1864, specially directed the attention of Government and

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 83

the public generally to the necessity of adopting measures
for reducing as much as possible, the risk of occurrence of
such disastrous accidents. Hence, much interest has recently
been excited by a well-known method of rendering gun-
powder less dangerous in its character, which has been
brought prominently before the public by Mr. Gale, and
which consists of diluting powder, or separating its grains
from each other, by means of a finely powdered non-explo-
sive substance. Attempts have several times been made in
‘ past years to apply to practical purposes the obvious fact,
of which nobody acquainted with the nature of gunpowder,
could be ignorant, that, by interposing between the grains
ot powder, a sufficient quantity of a finely divided material,
which offers great resistance to the transmission of heat, the
ignition of several grains of the entire mass may be accom-
plished without risk of inflaming contiguous grains. In
1835, Piobert made a series of experiments with the view
to apply this fact practically, to reduce the explosiveness
of gunpowder, and similar experiments of an extensive
character were carried on by a Russian chemist, Fadéiff,
between 1841 and 1844. These experimenters found that
the object in view might be attained by diluting gunpowder
with any one of its components; they also employed very .
fine sand (a substance closely allied in its physical charac-
ters to the powdered glass, which Mr. Gale now proposes
to use); but the preference appears to have been given to
a particular form of carbon. It was not attempted alto-
gether to prevent the burning of a mass of gunpowder,
when a spark or flame reached any portion, but to reduce
the rapidity of combustion so greatly as to prevent the oc-
currence of a violent explosion. No more than this is
accomplished by the employment of powdered glass in the
proportions directed by Mr. Gale. Indeed, as the quantity
of diluent required to give to different kinds of gunpowder
the character of equally slow burning materials increases
with the explosiveness of the particular powder and with
the size of its grain, the proportion of powdered glass with
which the gunpowder employed in rifled cannon would
have to be mixed to render it only slow burning, would be
about double the quantity required for almost altogether
preventing the ignition of fine grain powder, or of the com-
paratively weak blasting powder with which Mr. Gale’s public
experiments appear generally to have been instituted.
Although a sufficient dilution of gunpowder may secure
such comparative safety in the neighbourhoods of large

84 On Recent Progress in the Firstory of

magazines, or to the crews of merchant vessels in which
gunpowder (for blasting purposes, &c.), is transported, as
to compensate fully for the inconvenience attending the
great increase of volume of the powder, there is no doubt
that such a treatment of gunpowder actually issued for
military and naval service would be attended by more than
one serious obstacle; such as, the tendency of the powder,
unless very largely diluted, to separate from the glass,
during transport by land or sea, to so considerable an ex-
tent as very greatly to diminish the degree of security
originally aimed at; the very great addition which would
have to be made to the arrangements for carrying the
necessary ammunition, in active service; the necessity for
introducing, in the field, or on board ship, the operations of
separating the powder from the glass, and transferring it to
cartridges and shells (which, whatever siftings and other
arrangements were adopted, would be time-taking andvery
dangerous), instead of preserving the ammunition ready for
immediate use; and, above all, the incalculable mischeif
which would inevitably result from the establishment, in
the minds of the soldier and sailor, of an erroneous feeling
of security in dealing with gunpowder, which, however
harmless it may for a time be rendered, must finally be
handled by the men in its explosive form. The extremely
rare occurrence of accidents with gunpowder, on board ship
or in active land service, is mainly due to the strictest en-
forcement of precautionary regulations, some of which may
appear at first sight exaggerated, or almost absurd, but
which combine to maintain a consciousness of danger and
a consequent vigilance indispensable to safety.

One of the mostremarkable materials recently employed
to replace gunpowder as a destructive agent, is nitro-gly-
cerine. This substance was discovered by Sobrero, in
1847, and is produced by adding glycerine in successive
small quantities to a mixture of one volume of nitric acid
of sp. gr. 1°43, and two volumes of sulphuric acid of sp. gr.
1°83. The acid is cooled artificially during the addition of
glycerine, and the mixture is afterwards poured into water,
when an amber colour oily fluid separates, which is insolu-
ble in water, and possesses no odour, but has a sweet
pungent flavour, and is very poisonous, a minute quantity
placed upon the tongue producing violent headache, whieh
lasts for several hours.

The liquid has a specific gravity of 1°6, and solidifies at
about 4°-C. (50° F.); if flame is applied, nitro-glycerine

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 85

simply burns; and if placed upon paper or metal, and held
over a source of heat, it explodes feebly after a short time,
burning with a smoky flame. If paper moistened with it
be simply struck, a somewhat violent detonation is pro-
duced. Alfred Nobel, a Swedish engineer, was the first to
attempt the application of nitro-glycerine as an explosive
agent, in 1864.

Some experiments were, in the first instance, made with
gunpowder, the grains of whichhad been saturated with nitro-
glycerine. This powder burnt much as usual, but with a
brighter flame in open air. When confined in shells or
blast holes, greater effects were, however, produced with it
than with ordinary gunpowder; its destructive action is
described as having been from three to six times ¢reater
than that of powder. The liquid could not be employed as

_a blasting agent, in the ordinary manner, as the application
of flame to it from a common fuze would not cause it to
explode. But Mr. Nobel has succeeded, by employing a
special description of fuze, in applying the liquid alone as
a very powerful destructive agent. The charge of nitro-
glycerine having been introduced, in a suitable case, into
the blast hole, a fuze, to the extremity of which is attached
a small charge of gunpowder, is affixed immediately over
the liquid. The concussion produced by the exploding
powder, upon ignition of the fuze, effects the explosion of
the nitro-glycerine.

The destructive action of this material is estimated, by
those who have made experiments in Sweden and
Germany, as about that of an equal weight of gunpowder.
Therefore, although its cost is about seven times that of
blasting powder, its use is stated to be attended with great
economy, more especially in hard rocks, a considerable
saving being effected by its means in the labour of the
miners, and in the time occupied in performing a given
amount of work, as much fewer and smaller blast holes are
required than when gunpowder is employed. The material
appears to have recently received considerable application
in some parts of Germany, and in Sweden; but, in Eng-
land, its employment has been confined to one set of ex-
periments instituted in Cornwall last summer, upon which
occasion a wrought iron block, weighing about three
hundred weight, was rent into fragments, by the explosion
of a charge of less than one ounce of nitro-glycerine placed
in a central cavity.

Nitro-glycerine appears, therefore, to possess very im-

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. H

86 On Recent Progress in the History of —

portant advantages over gunpowder as a blasting and
destructive agent, but the attempts to introduce it as a
substitute for gunpowder have already been attended by
most disastrous results, ascribable in part to some of its
properties and the evident instability of the commercial
product, but principally to the thoughtlessness of those in-
terested in its application, who appear to have been induced
either by undue confidence in its permanence and com-
parative safety, or from less excusable motives, to leave
the masters of ships, or others who had to deal with the
transport of the material, in ignorance of its dangerous
character.

The precise causes of the fearful explosions of nitro-gly-
ceriné, which occurred at Aspinwall and San Francisco
will, in all probability, never be ascertained ; but they are
likely to have been due, at any rate indirectly, to the spon-
taneous decomposition of the substance, induced or acce-
lerated by the elevated temperature of the atmosphere in
those parts of the ships where it was stored. Instances are
on record in which the violent rupture of closed vessels con-
taining commercial nitro-glycerine has been occasioned by
the accumulation of gases generated by its gradual de-
composition; and it is at anyrate not improbable that a
similar result, favoured by the warmth of the atmosphere,
and eventually determined by some accidental agitation of
the contents of the package of nitro-glycerine, was the
cause of those lamentable accidents. The great difficulties
attending the purification of nitro-glycerine, upon a prac-
tical scale, and the uncertainty, as regards stability, of the
material, even when purified (leaving out of consideration
its very poisonous character and its extreme sensitiveness
to explosion by percussion when in the solid form), appear
to present insurmountable obsatcles to its safe application
as a substitute tor gunpowder.

The conversion of purified lignin or wood fibre into an
explosive substance of the same nature as gun-cotton, was
accomplished by chemists soon after Schénbein’s discovery
of gun-cotton was made known. Finely-divided wood, or
sawdust, may, by treatment with suitable agents, be, to a
very considerable extent, purified of substances foreign to
cellulose; and, if then submitted to careful digestion in a
mixture of the strongest nitric and sulphuric acids, and
properly purified, it furnishes a highly explosive material,

similar to the most explosive gun-cotton, and possessed

apparently of considerable stability. Captain Schultze, a

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 87

Prussian artillery officer, who was entrusted by his govern-
ment a few years ago with the investigation of gun-cotton,
appears to have come to the conclusion that finely-divided
wood offered greater prospect of conversion into a con-
trollable explosive agent than cotton wood. The ultimate
result of his investigations has been the production of a
“gun-sawdust,’ the explosive properties of which depend
in great measure on its impregnation with a considerable
proportion of an oxidizing agent, either saltpetre or a mix-
ture of that salt and nitrate of barium. The wood, having
been reduced to a tolerably uniform state of division, is
submitted by Captain Schultze to purifying processes for
the separation of resinous and other substances from the
lignin, and the product is converted by digestion in a
mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids into a very feebly ex-
plosive material, which leaves a considerable carbonaceous
residue when burnt. The product after purification is im-
pregnated with a sufficient proportion of nitrates to give it
rapidly explosive power, the oxidation of the carbon being
now almost complete. The objects which appear to be
aimed at by Captain Schultze in following this method of
manufacturing a wood-gunpowder, are, the production of a
more gradually explosive material than is obtained by the
most perfect action of nitric acid upon wood-fibre, and the
possibility of preserving the material in a slightly explosive
and therefore comparatively harmless form, until it is re-
quired for use, when it may be soon rendered powerfully
explosive by impregnation with the nitrates. It is asserted
that this powder is considerably more powerful than gun-
powder asa mining agent; and that, by its employment
in mines, the operators are enabled to return. to work
sooner than when gunpowder is used, because there is little
or no smoke produced by its explosion. The latter is an
undoubted advantage which Schultze’s powder shares with
gun-cotton. Advantages arealso claimed for this material
when employed in firearms, and it is possible that when
applied to sporting purposes, it may compete successfully
with gunpowder in this direction also; but its behaviour as
an explosive, and the peculiarities of its structure, afford
little promise of its advantageous employment in arms for
military and naval purposes.

Important progress has been made in the history and
the application of gun-cotton since its study was resumea
in this country about three years ago. Very considerable
quantities of the material have been manufactured at the

H 2

88 On Recent Progress in the History of

works of Messrs. Prentice, at Stowmarket, and at the
Government Gunpowder Works at Waltham Abbey; its
application to mining and artillery purposes, and to small
arms, has been, and is still the subject of systematic ex-
periment, conducted by the Government Committee on
Gun-cotton; its employment as a blasting agent is
steadily increasing in several important English mining
districts; and considerable, though not uniform, success
has already attended the employment of gun-cotton car-
tridges for sporting purposes. |

The system of manufacture of gun-cotton, as perfected
by Baron Von Lenk, has undergone but trifling modifica-
tions in its employment in this country. It has been
made the subject of careful investigations by Mr. Abel, and
the results furnished by many experimental manufacturing
operations, and an examination of the products, have
shown that the process of converting cotton into the most
explosive form of pyroxylin or gun-cotton, and of purify-
ing the material, have been so greatly perfected by Von
Lenk as to render a strict adherence to his simple and
precise instructions alone necessary to ensure the prepara-
tion of very uniform products, which exhibit in their com-
position a very much closer approximation to purity than
those obtained in the earlier days of the history of gun-
cotton. ©

Although the conclusions arrived at by the many
chemists who investigated the composition of gun-cotton,
soon after Schénbein’s discovery, varied very considerably, |
the constitution has been very generally regarded as
definitely established by the researches of Hadow, pub-
lished in 1854. According to that chemist, the most
explosive gun-cotton has the composition expressed by the
formula C,H,N*O,, (which was first assigned to the sub-
stance by W. Crum, in 1847), and may be regarded as
cellulose, in which three atoms of hydrogen are replaced
by three molecules of peroxide of nitrogen. The name
trinitro-cellulose has therefore been assigned to gun-
cotton, its constitution being expressed by the formula
Co45 292 }O.- Hadow’s conclusions have been confirmed by

other chemists, more especially by MRedtenbacher,
Schrotter, and Schneider, who have analysed specimens of
gun-cotton prepared under Von Lenk’s directions, Buta
Report upon the Austrian Gun-cotton was published in |
1864 by Pelouze and Maury, in which the formula —
C,.H,.0,,,5 N,O is assigned to the product of Von —

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 89

Lenk’s process; the conclusions of those chemists being
founded partly upon some analytical results, and partly
upon the increase of weight which they found cotton to
sustain when submitted to treatment with the mixed acids.
They found the greatest increase in weight to be 78 per
cent.,a number slightly in excess of that which would
correspond to the requirements of the formula which they
adopt. ;

An experimental inquiry into the composition of gun-
cotton, as obtained by Von Lenk’s process, has been insti-
tuted by Mr. Abel; and the very numerous analytical and
synthetical results which he has obtained confirm the
correctness of the formula assigned by Crum and Hadow
to the most explosive gun-cotton, and demonstrate satis-
factorily that the products obtained by following strictly
the instructions given by Von Lenk are invariably trinitro-
cellulose, in a condition as nearly approaching purity as a
manufacturing operation can be expected to furnish.

The most explosive gun-cotton is perfectly insoluble in
mixtures of ether and alcohol; but by varying the pro-
portions and strength of the acids employed for the con-
version of cotton, products of less explosive character are
obtained, which are more or less freely soluble in ether and
alcohol (furnishing the well-known material collodion). If,
therefore, in manufacturing gun-cotton, the, conditions
essential to the production of insoluble pyroxylin are not
strictly fulfilled, the uniformity of the product will suffer.

The ordinary products of manufacture are never alto-
gether free from soluble gun-eotton; but the proportion
present is small and very uniform, amounting to about 1°5
per cent. They contain, besides, a small quantity (about
O'5 per cent.) of matter soluble in alcohol alone, and
possessed of acid characters, which is evidently produced
by the action of nitric acid upon such small quantities of
resinous or other matters foreign to pure cellulose, as are
not completely removed from the cotton fibre by the puri-
fication which it receives.

There appears good reason to believe that this impurity
in gun-cotton is of comparatively unstable character, and
that the great proneness to spontaneous decomposition
which has been observed by Pelouze and Maury, De Luca,
and others, in some specimens of gun-cotton, is to be as-
_cribed in great measure to the existence in those specimens

of comparatively large proportions of those unstable bye
products.

me ’
. é

90 On Recent Progress in the History of

One hundred parts of carefully-purified cotton wool have
been found by Mr. Abel to furnish from 181°8 to 182°5
parts of gun-cotton. The increase which perfectly pure
cellulose should sustain by absolutely complete conversion
into a substance of the formula C,H,N,O,, (trinitro-
cellulose) is 83°3; the above results are therefore strong
confirmations of the correctness of this generally accepted
view of the composition of gun-cotton. In carrying out
the actual manufacturing process, as prescribed by Von
Lenk, somewhat lower results are obtained, because of
impurities existing in the cotton employed, and of loss of
product during its purification.

Very extensive experiments are in progress at Woolwich, .
with the view of examining fully into the extent of liability
to change of gun-cotton when preserved in store, or ex-
posed for prolonged periods to light and to degrees of heat
ranging between the ordinary atmospheric temperatures
and that of boiling water. The results hitherto arrived at,
though they have shown that, under severe conditions,
gun-cotton is liable to decompose, have not confirmed the
conclusions arrived at by the French chemists, with regard
to the great instability of the material. Thus, De Luca
states that all specimens exposed by him to sunlight
decomposed either on the first day or within a few days.

But, at Woolwich, no single instance of such rapid decom-
position of gun-cotton, made by the present process, has
been noticed. A very gradual and slight development of

gas occurs after a time when the substance is exposed to
sunlight ; but the quantity which has been collected from
specimens exposed at Woolwich, to direct day and sunlight

for two years and a half, is very small, and the gun-cotton

has, in all instances, preserved its original appearance. |
Pelouze and Maury state that gun-cotton always decom- |
poses perfectly within a few days, by exposure to tempera-
tures of 55°—60° C. (130°—140° F.), and they lay great
stress upon the explosion of a specimen directly it was in-
troduced into a vessel heated to 47° C. (116°6 F.). But,
at Woolwich, a specimen of ordinary product which has
been exposed now for twelve months to 65° C. (150° F.),
has evolved only a small quantity of gas, and retains its
original appearance perfectly. Several specimens, after
having been exposed for some hours to a temperature of
96° C. (194° F.), during which period some nitrous vapours
were, in all instances, evolved, have since been exposed to |
light in closed vessels for about twenty months, and still

Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder. 91

retain their original appearance and explosive characters.
Several large ammunition-cases, closely packed with gun-
cotton, have been preserved for six months in a chamber,
the temperature of which was maintained for three months
at 492 C. (1202 F.), and afterwards at 542—55° C. (1308 F.),
arrangements having been made for periodically
registering the temperature within the boxes, which were
kept closed. In no instance has the latter temperature
risen to an extent to indicate serious chemical change, z. ¢.,
it has always been below the temperature of the air in the
chamber. These few examples of results already obtained
are given to show that the behaviour of gun-cotton manu-
factured in England by Von Lenk’s process, does not, as
yet, at all justify the condemnation which the material has
recently received in France.

One most important point in connection with the preser-
vation of gun-cotton, appears to have been lost sight of by
the French experimenters. The material may be most
perfectly preserved, apparently for any period, either by
immersion in water, or, still more simply, by being impreg-
nated with just sufficient moisture to render it perfectly
uninflammable. In this condition, gun-cotton is much
safer than gunpowder can be rendered, even by mixture
with very large proportions of incombustible materials. It
may be transported with quite as much safety as the un-
converted cotton; indeed, it appears to be very much less
prone to gradual decay, if preserved for very long periods
ina damp condition, than cotton or other vegetable sub-
stances. Many specimens of gun-cotton, preserved for
several months in a very damp chamber, together with
paper, cotton fabrics, and wood, retained their strength of
fibre and all their original properties, and no signs even of
mildew upon them, while the paper fabrics in immediate
contact with them had completely rotted away, and the
wood was covered with fungi.

Considerable progress has been made in the manipula-
tion of gun-cotton, with the object of modifying its
explosive action. The rapidity with which gun-cotton
burns 77 open air admits of ready and very considerable
variation by applying the simple expedients of winding,
twisting, or plaiting, gun-cotton yarn of different sizes,
But, although a mass of gun-cotton may be made to burn
in a comparatively gradual manner by being very tightly
wound, a charge of the material in that form acts quite as
destructively when exploded in the bore of a gunas an

92 Proposed Substitutes for Gunpowder.

equal charge consisting of the yarn wound very loosely,
because the pressure of gas established by the first ignition
of the charge renders the compact packing of the gun-
cotton powerless to resist the instantaneous penetration of
flame between the separate layers of the material. The
assertion that a power had been acquired of controlling the
explosive action of gun-cotton in a firearm by simply
varying the compactness with which the material was
twisted or wound, has, therefore, proved quite erroneous.
There are, however, two methods of reducing the rapidity
of explosion of gun-cotton, which are much more likely to
furnish successful results. The one consists in diluting the
material by its admixture either with a less explosive
variety of gun-cotton or with some inexplosive substance,
such, for instance, as the cotton in its original form. The
latter mode of dilution has recently been applied by
Messrs. Prentice to the construction of cartridges for sport-
ing purposes, and they describe the results already arrived
at as very promising. The second method of controlling
the explosion of gun-cotton consists in consolidating the
material by pressure into compact homogeneous masses,
and in confining the first fenition of such compressed gun-
cotton in the bore of the gun, to certain surfaces. The
gun-cotton fibre in the form of yarn or plait may be com-
pressed into very compact masses by being rammed into
strong cylinders of pasteboard or other suitable material ;
but much more perfectly homogeneous and solid masses
are produced, independently of cylinders or other cases, by
a method which Mr. Abel has recently elaborated, and
which consists in reducing the gun-cotton fibre to a fine
state of division or pulp, as in the process of paper-making,
and in converting this pulp by pressure into solid masses
of any suitable form or density.

This method of operating affords also special eieiities
for combining both methods, dilution and compression, of
reducing the explosive violence of gun-cotton. The
material is, in fact, operated upon by this system, in a
manner exactly corresponding to the processes by which
the explosive action of gunpowder is regulated to so re-
markable an extent. Some results, which are admitted by
the most sceptical as encouraging, have already been
arrived at, in the systematic course of experiments which
are in progress, with the object of applying the methods
of regulation, pointed out, to the reduction of gun-cotton
to a'safe form for artillery purposes. Its arrangementina

Vegetable Fibres. 93

form suitable for small arms is a much less difficult pro-
blem, which may be considered as approaching a perfect
solution. Foremploymentin shells and for military mines,
both land and sub-marine, the compressed or solid form of
gun-cotton presents special advantages, on account of the
great compactness which may be imparted to it; a given
weight arranged so as to ignite instantaneously under
pressure (2. ¢. in strong vessels), may be made to occupy
the same space as an equal weight of gunpowder, whereas
the forms of gun-cotton hitherto applied to those purposes
occupy about three times the space of gunpowder.

Beautiful; pyrotechnic effects may be readily produced
by means of gun-cotton, though the absence of smoke,
which, in some of its applications (especially in mines),
would constitute an important advantage, detracts from
some of the effects which may be obtained with pyrotech-
nic compositions. On the other hand, gun-cotton fireworks
may be displayed in-doors without inconvenience.

There appears at present no reason to doubt that the
application of gun-cotton with great advantage to at least
some of the more important purposes for which gunpow-
der is used, will, ere long, be fully established, and that
this interesting explosive agent is destined to occupy a
permanent and prominent position among the most impor-
Acie products of chemical industry.—“ Pharmaceutical Jour-
nal.” |

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AVAILABLE FOR TEXTILE FABRICS.
By H. SHERWOOD.

i resuming the subject crudely opened out in the July

number of the TECHNOLOGIST, it must be recognised
at the outset of an inquiry into the properties and adapta-
bilities of known fibres, that, whilst the fibres of flax and
hemp have been used for ages in certain forms (and
recently jute has been added), yet, out of that beaten
track we cannot appeal to experience on such a sufficient
scale as the mercantile world thinks necessary to form a
definite judgment on matters so practical. We do not
even possess sufficiently definite analyses of the best

94 Vegetable Fibres Available for

known fibres to guide to practise in their treatment. A
glance at the various improvements patented relating to
fibres, will suffice to show that the proposed processes are
structures built upon an unknown foundation—mere sur-
face treatment of an unknown disease. Much precedent
cannot, therefore, be appealed to in corroboration of any
conclusions arrived at, which will be liable to be viewed as
mere private experience, or opinions.

The down, or seeds, as cotton, bombax, &c., need no
consideration, as they are obtained prepared by Nature
herself, for the manufacturer. It may, nevertheless, be
asked of our colonial botanists whether it be not possible
by culture, as has been done in the case of cotton, to
increase the length of the down on the seeds of bombax,
mudar, &c., which would then become valuable materials
for several uses.

It is on fibres forming the bark, and the spiral vessels of
plants, that manufacturing skill is specially required.
These, as found in commerce, consist of the filament,
accompanied with much loose vegetable matter, inner
bark, &c. These matters are varyingly easy to remove,
when there remains the filament itself, of which state of
fibre “ flax-cotton” has been about the only type. Yet, in
this state, a large bulk of fibres must be used, if used at
all, for textile fabrics, either because of their great rough-
ness when uncleansed, or because of their non-adaptability,
or want of strength, for spinning, if separated into indivi-
dual cells. The cells of the filainent are agglutined
together by mixed vegetable and mineral compounds, and
most probably by inner skinny envelopes encircling each
filament, composed of two or more cells. The downs, men-
tioned as cotton, &c., are pure cellulin, except a minute
portion of foreign substances, as a surface coating. Nearly
such also is linen cloth after long wear, when the agglu-
tining substances have become gradually removed, and the
fibre has become easily separable into its cells. It is in this
state of complete separation that many fibres exhibit their
chief value. In this state only can ages develop on them
their full tints, and from them in this state will the cloths
of greatest beauty in the future be produced. Improve-
ments must of necessity be chiefly in the direction of
bringing the fibres into one or other of these states, and of
adapting the processes of manufacture to the peculiarities

they present. It is especially desirable that the characters _

and properties of all the known and easily obtainable fibres

Textile Fabrics. 95

should be so ascertained and defined as to mark clearly
their special suitability for various uses. Such a definition
would much aid the progress of improvement. The writer
trusts, that attention being drawn to the subject, and the
lack being perceived, more extended research will be made
public than the petty quota he now endeavours to con-
tribute.

Let us examine first, China grass and its varieties.
These vary considerably in strength and fineness, growing
generally to eight feet or more in length, according
to climate and soil. They are capable of being easily
cleansed from loose vegetable matter, so as to produce
long filaments of great strength, which for fabrics
requiring excessive strength, would be much superior
to flax or hemp, though in comparison with these fibres
in the same state of preparation, the filaments are rough
and coarse, consequently, less adapted for light uses.
Its highest value is attained in a state of separated cells,
which vary from three to eighteen inches in length; of
surprising wiry toughness and brilliancy when properly
cleansed and uninjured by preparation; of good colour
needing little orno bleaching. In this state it has now come
into acknowledged use, although on the market much
impaired and imperfect. Being in appearance, fineness,
and length, similar to mohair and lustre wools, it appears
well adapted for mixing with them, or for forming warps
for lustre wefts. For mixing with silk fibres its utility
seems more doubtful; being so much coarser and stiffer.
Yet as a weft yarn for silk warps it appears adapted to form
cloths of great beauty. Nor need want of colour be here
a drawback, as it appears capable of being dyed in colours,
apparently permanent of a full rich red, violet and blue.
There is little doubt that from the fibre so separated,
European manufacturers could produce cloths exceeding
in fineness and evenness, and consequently in beauty and
brilliancy, the famed grass cloths of China./ These cloths
might not be so fine, and could not be more brilliant than
a flax cambric can be produced; but they would possess a
glassy stiffness, (so opposite to the tendency of flax to
become linty), which would command for them a high
appreciation and value. The use of China grass in this
state for fancy trimming manufacturing is apparent, as also
for many fabrics for ladies’ dress and for some upholstery
cloths. Probably also for superior fancy drills, it would
produce goods highly appreciated on the continent and in
warmer climates.

96 Vegetable Fibres Available for

It is remarkable that in separating this fibre, the lustrous
coat of each cell is so thick that when the outer portion of
it (which is organic) is left intact with all its natural
brilliancy, the cell is perceptibly thicker even to the naked
eye, than it is, as usually treated, with this outer coat
destroyed. It is attached with unusual facility, as is also
the strength of the cell. Samples of combed grass at
present found in commere, do not possess more than from
one-third to two-thirds of their natural strength. But
although the difficulty in preserving all these is considerable
(which we will afterwards examine), yet the total difficulties
to be surmounted in bringing the fibre into this state are
not so great as in most of other fibres, and by the employ-
ment of reasonable means, the cells may be obtained with
close upon their natural length, strength, and brilliancy,
accompanied with perfect separation.

The relative actual value of China grass is high. Its
present quoted price of 485 per ton may be calleda
“fancy one.” The trade cannot give it, and will not do so
long, when it is producible, with equal profit, at as lowa
price as Bombay hemp itself. - It is a forcible example of
the heavy ves zuertie which hangs over everything, not
hackeneyed, in commerce, that so valuable a fibre, producble
at so low a rate, and in illimitable qualities. should be so
difficult to obtain, and at prices so fabulous :—For, the
fibre even if simply cleansed (by means within the reach of
everyone), for a strong rope or coarse cloth filament, would
be a valuable adjunct to our fibrous materials, and in increas-
ing demand at remunerative rates to the producer.

2nd. Flax is the earliest mentioned of all vegetable

fibres. From even the coarser varieties of it, the Egyptians
appear to have produced some fine fabrics. It has always
remained until a comparatively recent date, the great staple
vegetable fibre. But when machinery began to develope
and prove the possibility of advantageously concentrating
the labour hitherto spread over every home, the fact of
cotton being found ready without any tedious preparation,
for the machinery, caused it to be used for purposes to
which flax and other fibres in certain states of preparation
ate better adapted: whilst advances have not been made
in working flax necessary to enable it to sustain its
legitimate position. It cannot be supposed that any
alteration of state of fibre would cause its present state in
use to be superseded; yet it may be a matter of question,
(yet unanswered by the many proposals which, during the

Teatile Fabrics. 97

last half century, have been brought forward,) whether some
mode of cleansing flax without inducing the formation of
the drab colouring matter by retting might not produce
filaments further separated, equally lustrous, and of a
colour requiring little or no bleaching for ordinary cloths.
Such a method would also diminish the codilla or remove
the necessity for its production. The opinion is still firmly
entertained by some whose lives have been chiefly spent in
studying the flax plant and its products, that the present
mode of obtaining the fibre is of comparatively modern
date, and that ancient civilization had modes of imme-
diately obtaining the fibre in a better and more treatable
state. There seems reasonable ground for supposing it to
be perfectly practicable if operated upon direct from the
lant.
® But the notable improvement which has been proposed
during the past few years is the complete separation of the
fibre into its individual cells. These vary very much in
different qualities of flax. From coarse flaxes they are of
a fineness about equal to Middling New Orleans Cotton,
varying in length from I to 1# inches. The cell of the
finer flaxes being proportionately elongated. They are of
great brilliancy, are comparatively smooth-surfaced, straight
and nearly cylindrical: may be spun on cotton machinery,
especially if previously combed (an expense only admis-
sible for first-class uses). UUncombed, it is to be feared that
the linty parts so difficult to avoid during its preparation
would, for fine yarns, cause considerable unevenness; and
that this alone would prove a serious drawback to its being
employed as a general substitute for cotton; because,
the shorts produced by the breakage of the cells (which,
though capable of more tensions than cotton are also more
brittle), can be fully carded out, yet the length of the
whole is rendered objectionably uneven. Nevertheless, as
a set off against the expense of combing, the noil would be
a stronger material for heavy fabrics than an ordinary
Indian cotton. Ifcombed, it would produce cloths probably
superior, to the finest cambric in evenness of make.
Whether superior in glassyness of surface, experience alone
could decide—as its position in this respect towards
cambric flax may be considered somewhat analogous to
the position of spun silk towards thrown silk. Unques-
tionably, a fabric of great beauty would be produced under
suitable means of finish. It would also, doubtless, be a
valuable mixing fibre for short draft silks; adding to them

98 Vegetable Fibres Available, ete.

a firmness and evenness of surface which, for some uses,
suggests itself as an advantage; and causing them to
acquire an extended adaptability for many fabrics. For
this use its fineness and high lustre strongly recommends
it. For warps or wefts where glassyness is the property
sought, except a very fine yarn be required, it would bea
less desirable material than China grass. Looking at it as
a general substitute for cotton, besides its inherent defect
mentioned above, the comparatively high value of flax,
loss of weight in producing (even if produced direct from
flax without codilla), and cost of production, would prove
probably insuperable hindrances in face of receding prices
of cotton; but no hindrance for the high class uses
to which, when combed, it is adaptible. The “top” from
the coarest flaxes being at least as valuable as the fine.
flaxes prepared specially for cambric yarns.

The brilliant coat and strength of the cell is much less
liable to injury during the preparation than those of China
grass, but the cell is brittle and has a special tendency to
bruise. It appears to dye equally well with cotton. Has
little felting property beyond a bruising and entangling of
the cells.

There still remains to be noticed the state of “flax
cotton,” or flax separated into its filaments when perfectly
cleansed. When it is found that an ordinary Bombay
hemp produces a filament or flax-cotton of equal strength,
of almost equal fineness, and for all practical uses equally
valuable, with greater ease of production into that state,
it will at once be seen that it is not to flax, nor even to
codilla flax, that we must look for that class of fibrous
material.

(To be continued.)

—

THE necessity for a general depét of scientific instrumnets
in London, where foreigners could always see and have ex-
plained in their own language the capabilities of such
instrument, has long been felt as a destderatum at the.
present day. For this purpose, arrangements have been
made by Mr. Pepper, at the Royal Polytechnic Institution,
for receiving every scientific apparatus towards this object.
As. we shall be in constant communication with him,
patentees generally cannot do better than put themselves
in direct communication with us.

ee.

THE ATMOSPHERIC CHURN.

S the age advances, so do the contrivances for render-
ing a less amount of manual labour necessary in
some of those procedures which have been going on in
almost the same style since their very first institution.
Amongst improvements of this description we may men-
tion an apparatus by which the making of butter is effected
upon an entirely new principle, it being produced by
atmospheric action, the air being forced in intermittent or
continuous currents into the midst of the milk or cream
contained in the cylinder. This is accomplished by work-
ing the tube or plunger up and down within the cylinder,
keeping its disc or flange always below the surface of the
milk or cream. The plunger being raised, a partial vacuum
is created beneath the surface of the fluid, which causes the
air to rush down through the hollow stem with great force.
When the plunger is forced downward, the valve at the
upper end of the tube will be closed, and the air below the
plunger will be rapidly expelled through the fluid, by
means of which, the globules containing the butter will be
expanded, opened, and the butter liberated.

By this invention, the long and tedious process of churn-
ing is entirely obviated, and butter is made from fresh milk
in ten minutes. Notwithstanding that this invention has
but recently been introduced into England, its novelty,
practical value, and economy have already commanded an
attention that promises for it the highest place among the
implements of domestic economy.

This unique apparatus was awarded the first prize at the
City of London Industrial Exhibition, and has received
extensive notice and patronage from the nobility and gentry.
We recommend this churn to the notice of our readers,
not only for its practical, but its economical worth.

DISINFECTANTS.

HE air we breathe, the water we drink, and also must

be added the water we breathe in the form of dew and

fog, are the vehicles by which the material causing epidemic
disease is carried into the system. Disinfection must be
directed to each of these carriers of poison, if it is to be

100 Disinfectants.

effectual ; and, it is really a matter of careful chemical mani-
pulation to disinfect, or what is practically the same thing
to prevent, contamination.

Volatile poisonous material obviously can be combated
only by a volatile disinfectant, mounted police would be of
little service in catching thieves on the house tops; to
sprinkle the floor of a sick room with a fixed or non-
volatile disinfectant such as chloride of Zinc is a sanitary
stupidity. Chlorine is the aérial disinfectant par excellence ;
there are abundant means contrived to generate chlorine
for this purpose. Iodine answers the same end but has dis-
advantages. Carbolic acid is also a volatile disinfectant and
is superior to iodine in being cheaper and requiring less
technical skill in its use. Above all things it is necessary
that the disinfectant should be simple in its mode of
application, otherwise the persons in whose hands the ap-
plication too often falls, will in a sanitary point of view,
make the same kind of blunder that the Irish footman made
when, on being ordered to ice the champagne, poured the
Wine into the ice tub. Dvry heat is a most powerful disin-
fectant, it rarifies the poison and promotes its destruction
by the oxygen of the atmospheric air, in other words, its
oxidation

If there were not practical difficulties in the application,
doubtless, the recently invented spray producer so familiar
to all, might be used to disperse throughout the atmosphere
of a room non-volatile fluids which would destroy mephitic
vapours existing therein.

Decomposing animal substances carry off the palm for
offensiveness. Animal stinks are derived chiefly from the |
decomposition of albuminous matters. Gelatin, which is a
characteristic constituent of bones and hides may be con-
sidered as an albuminous substance; fatty matters of
itself is much less prone to change, but ever. such a little
albuminous matter mixed with it will give rise to a striking
result. As an example—-Suet is really solid oil encased
in albuminous cells, it will quickly become horribly nasty
from the decay of the albumen ; but separate the albumen
from the oil or fat, and the fat will remain unchanged
for a much longer time.

Now, Chloride of Zinc has a remarkable property of com-
bining with albumen and of forming thus a double chloride
of Zinc and albumen, it has, by the way, an equally curious
property of combining with woody fibre. Chloride of Zinc —
disinfects by seizing on all albuminous stuff, preventing its _

Reviews. IOI

decomposition and thereby checking 7” imzne the thousand
and one other decompositional changes of other organic
matter with which albumen may be associated.

Permanganate of potash does the almost reverse of this,
it hurries on decomposition, it oxidises—oxidation over-
takes as it were the more orderly sub-arrangements of the
component elements which would give birth to a noisome
progeny. Permanganate of potash is, without question, the
great purifier for water, even if added in excess of the re-
quirements of the occasion nothing is simpler, than to get
the excess. It communicates no disagreeable flavour, rid of
and is not poisonous, on the contrary in the diluted form is
wholesome. One word with regard to the water we breathe.
Ffeat destroys its power—Respirators prevent its entrance
into the lungs. Elevation above the ground takes us out
of it: the lower strata of dews and fogs are the most poi-
sonous. One maxim to conclude with—In unhealthy
times xever slecp with the windows open.

Flardwicke's Science Gossip for August. No. XX.
London: Hardwicke.

THIS interesting and instructive scientific monthly still
keeps that position for which it was designed—namely, to
supply a void long felt by a numerous class of naturalists
who have not time to dive into the vast arcana which is
spread before them in the world of nature, and who find in
this journal a perfect olla podrida of natural history. A
most remarkable feature in this publication is the heading
“Notes and Queries,” under which a host of inquiries are

to be found, the majority of which contain a mine of in-
formation.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. I

IO2

MISCELLANEOUS.

PERMANENT PHOTOGRAPHS.—The use of the peroxide of hy-
drogen for eliminating from photographs the last trace of the de-
structive hyposulphites, has found opponents. Mr. F. W. Hart
points out, that as the peroxide of hydrogen decomposes when in
contact with gold or silver, and also contains hydrochloric acid
(used for its preservation), he cannot but regard its proposed use
as dangerous if not certainly destructive to the photograph. In
reply, Mr. Dawson, of King’s College, states that using the per-
oxide of hydrogen used by Mr. Robbin, he found the trace of
hydrochloric acid contained in it to be so trifling, that in a ten-
volume solution, which is the strength at which it is used, blue
litmus-paper remained unchanged. He also asserts, as the result
of careful experiment, that the preparation does not decompose
when in contact with a silver print. Dr. J. Emerson Reynolds is
also conducting analysis connected with this subject, the results
of which he promises to make public. At present he is inclined
to believe that the application of peroxide of hydrogen to a print
is only another mode of giving it a wash in a very weak solution
of sulphide of sodium, and thereby facilitating fading. Thus
*‘ doctors differ.” Tempus omnia revelat. The nature of that in-
visible image which light fixes on a surface photographically pre-
pared, is a mystery which has baffled the best efforts of our most
persevering and distinguished physicists and chemists. Mr. M.
Carey Lea (British Journal of Photography) described a series of
experiments bearing on the subject, in the course of which many
errors were demonstrated, and some new evidence of great value
made clear. ‘These tended to prove that pure iodide of silver is
iot chemically affected by hight ; that although, when exposed to
light, it yields an image capable of development, yet the chemical
composition of the iodide remains unaltered. ‘The true action has
therefore yet to be determined, and the controversy still continues
between those who uphold the molecular or physical theory, and
those who still retain their faith in the chemical theory. Some of
the more recent efforts in this direction are due to Dr. Reissig, —
and certain experiments, which seem to show that pure iodide of
silver exposed to light under a pure aqueous solution of the
nitrate releases oxygen and renders the solution acid, are im-
portant. In the course of some remarks on the precipitation of
silver, Mr. Carey Lea describes a curious fact in relation to the
colour of the deposited silver. He says, “A plate was covered
with a considerable thickness of ammonia nitrate solution, to
which was added a dilute solution of Rochelle salt. The plate
was then placed in sunlight and left for some time. Reduction
took place, and the evaporation, which went on simultaneously, —
had extended over about one-half the plate, when it was removed

Miscellaneous. 103

from the sunshine. It was then carefully washed. All that part
of the metallic silver on which the solution had been suffered to
dry in the sun was pure steel-grey, whilst that which was removed
still wet had a strong reddish bloom.” ‘The contrast remained
permanently, and evidently depended upon some difference of
molecular arrangement. ‘It-would be interesting to observe,”
says Mr. Lea, in connection with this, “whether negatives are
dried in the sun or not thereby somewhat different from the same
or corresponding negatives dried in the shade; and, also, whether
positive proofs on paper could not be affected for good or for evil
by drying in the sun.”—J. W. W. in “ Science Gossip.”

Varieties In Inx.—Gold ink is made by grinding upon a por-
phyry slab, with a muller, gold leaves with white honey, till they
become reduced to the finest possible division. ‘The paste is then
collected upon the edge of a knife or spatula, put into a large
glass, and diffused through water. The gold by gravity soon falls
to the boitom, while the honey dissolves in the water, which must
be decanted off. The sediment is to be repeatedly washed till
entirely freed from the honey. The powder, when dry, is very
brilliant, and when to be used as an ink, may be mixed up with a
little gum water. After the writing becomes dry, it should be
burnished with a wolf’s tooth.—Silver ink is prepared in the same’
manner.—Indelible Ink: A very good ink, capable of resisting
chlorine, oxalic acid, and oblution with a-hair pencil or sponge,
may be made by mixing some of the ink made by the preceding
prescription, with a little genuine China ink. It writes well.
Many other formulz have been given for indelible inks, but they
are all inferior in simplicity and usefulness to the one now pre-
scribed. Solution of nitrate of silver thickened with gum, and
written with upon linen or cotton cloth, previously imbued with
a solution of soda, and dried, is the ordinary permanent ink of
the shops. Before the clothes are washed, the writing should be
exposed to the sunbeam, or to bright daylight, which blackens
and fixes the oxide of silver. It is easily discharged by chlorine
and ammonia. A good permanent ink may be made by mixing a
strong solution of chloride of platinum with a little potash sugar,
and gum to thicken. The writing made therewith should be
passed over with a hot smoothing iron, to fix it. Nitrate of
silver, 1 to 2 dr.; water, # oz.; dissolve, add as much of the
strongest ammonia water as will dissolve the precipitate formed
on its first addition, then further add mucilage, 1 or 2 drachms,
and a little sap green to colour. Writing executed with this ink
turns black on being passed over a hot Italian iron. Asphaltum,
I part; oil of turpentine, 4 parts; dissolve,. and colour with
printers ink. Yery permanent.—“ Paper Trade Review.”

A Law oF ComBustTion.—Numerous and careful experiments
have developed the law that the heat generated by the burning of
any substance is pretty nearly in proportion to the weight of
oxygen with which the substance combines in burning. For

104 Miscellaneous.

instance, the combustion of one pound of hydrogen gas will raise
the temperature of 33,808 lbs. of water one degree of the centi-
grade scale, while the burning of a pound of tin will raise the
temperature of only 1,144 lbs. of water one degree. But the
pound of hydrogen in burning combines with 8 lbs. of oxygen,
while the pound of tin combines with only one-fourth (#$ths) of a
pound of oxygen. A simple calculation will show that the
quantity of heat generated by the combination of a pound of
oxygen 1s very nearly the same in both cases. A pound of oxygen
in burning hydrogen will raise the temperature of 4,226 Ibs.
of water one degree, while in burning tin it will raise the tempe-
rature of 4,230 lbs. of water one degree. This law does not
hold, however, in cases where the combustible in burning under-
goes a change of form, from the gaseous to the solid, or from the
solid to the gaseous state. For instance, carbon in burning to
carbonic oxide is changed from the solid to the gaseous form, and
in this case a pound of oxygen generates only 2,962 units of heat,
while in burning this carbonic oxide into carbonic acid, where no
change of form takes place, a pound of oxygen generates 4,258
units of heat. In burning zinc the oxygen.is changed from the
gaseous to the solid state, and in this case a pound of oxygen
generates 5,285 units of heat. When either the combustible or
the oxygen is changed from the solid to the gaseous form, a
portion of the heat is absorbed, and the amount of sensible heat
is diminished ; but when the change is the opposite way the
sensible heat is increased. Even where no change of form occurs
in either of the combining elements, the amount of sensible heat
developed may be modified by a change of volume; an increase
of volume dimishing the sensible heat, and a contraction of
volume adding to the heat set free.

THE THAMES SaLMoN.—The capture of a salmon in Long
Reach must be a source of great gratification to all lovers and
promoters of pisiculture. The following letter goes a long way
to prove that it was hatched in the Thames Angling Preservation
Society’s apparatus at Hampton :—To the Editor of the “Times.”
Sir,—I have received several communications relative to the
salmon taken at Long Reach. All are agreed in believing that —
it is one of those hatched in the Thames Angling Preservation
Society’s apparatus at Hampton. If the small fry were facetiously
described as Mr. Ponder’s babies from the interest and care he
took in them, both he and Mr. Buckland need justly be proud of
this full-grown fish, and the angling public ought to fill the treasury
of the society to enable the committee more largely to develope
this portion of their work after so successful a result. I need
scarcely add that any amount of labour which is given to me in
the acknowledgment of contributions will be cheerfully rendered,
and I shall be glad to have my services taxed to the utmost in

discharging so pleasant a duty—W. H. BroucHam, Hon. Sec. _

11 Adam street, Adelphi, W.C., Aug. 15. ;

THE

TECHNOLOGIST:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

piacere
OCTOBER, 1866.

—_0o-=—-

DEEP SEA TELEGRAPH CABLES COMPARED.

BY N. DUDOT, ESQ., C.E.

HE cable of Allan, for example, is constructed on
quite a different principle to other submarine cables,
inasmuch as the whole of its effective strength and resist- |
ance is within the conducting power, or core, which is .
rationally combined, rendered efficiently strong, resistant,
and comparatively inextensible, whilst that is not the case
with the ordinary construction of wire-covered cables,
where strength is sought on the outside of the conductor,
but adds insufficiently to it. Hence it becomes inefficient,
and does not answer the intended purpose.

It does away with the necessity for outside spiral wires,
and therefore is smaller, lighter, more flexible, and yet con-
siderably stronger and more effective than all other kinds
of submarine cables. [Ht is, in fact, so far superior in every
way, that, for the Atlantic or other deep seas, it certainly
ought to be adopted in preference to any of them, whilst
it is more cheaply constructed, more durable, more easily,
safely, readily, and economically handled, carried, shipped,
paid out, submerged, laid, and raised if required.

Its inextensible core, wherein the necessary conducti-
bility for the distance is combined with the greatest
amount of relative strength possible to be attained,
counteracts tension, and consequent injury to the insu-
lating medium, retaining, therefore, all its original strength

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. K

106 Deeh Sea Telegraph Cables.

after submergence, and always insuring a continuous action
of electric conductibility.

Allan’s cable, that he proposed to apply in pee of the
new Atlantic, which is 1 1I-10th of an inch diameter,
with a specific gravity of 19, weighing 31 cwts. per
nautical mile in ship, and 14} in sea, now submerged
between Ireland and Newfoundland by the Telegraph
Construction and Maintenance Company, being only 3 of
an inch diameter, with a specific gravity of 1°5, weighing
but 84 cwts. per nautical mile in ship, and 24 in sea, con-
tains the same amount of conductibility. The weight of
the 2,000 nautical miles laid, being then reduced to
850 tons instead of 3,100 tons, shows a clear saving of
2,250 tons, and no less than £200,000 in the construction
alone.

Its combined conducting power consists of a_ solid
copper wire, weighing 250 lbs. per nautical mile, closely
surrounded and shielded with the full strength bearing of
20 No. 24 best steel wires spirally enclosing it. The
3-16ths of an inch (No. 9 gauge) metallic rope, or zuerten-
sible core, thus formed, constitutes the integral strength of
the cable. When wrapped in insulating substance (four
coats of gutta percha, alternated with four thin layers of
compound, weighing 400 lbs. per nautical mile) firmly
bound, and covered externally with protective coating of
hemp canvass, thus completing Allan’s 2 cable without
exceeding 84 cwts. per nautical mile, it is so strong, and
yet so flexible, that it will resist, without elongating even
I per cent., upwards of 54 times more strain than the new
Atlantic cable.

As has been above partly stated, the reasons are :—

That, as in all the submarine cables which have failed,
the conductor, or core, which in the new Atlantic cable
consists of a strand of seven No. 18 copper wires set
together, weighing 300 lbs. per nautical mile, equivalent to
No. 9 gauge, is not strengthened previous to its insulation,
which is exactly of same materials and weight as in Allan’s.

And that, to the outside of the insulator only, is applied
material weight, which certainly affords some resting
support, but very little direct strength to the part of the
cable which ought to be made sufficiently strong.

In the new Atlantic cable, the insulated conductor is —
wrapped in a layer of jute yarn, and enclosed in a padding

made of ten No. 13 galvanized iron wires, surrounded with _

untatred Manilla yarn, spirally wound, intended to afford —

Notes on the Properties of Wood. 107

strength and external protection. There being between
those wires and the non-strengthened conductor, a
thickness of 5-16ths of an inch of insulating medium and
jute yarn, which adds little to its strength, it is evident
that the material strength of the envelope, thus applied
concentrically away from the conductor, is insufficiently
and wrongly applied.

As a consequence, the new Atlantic cable, although
nearly four times more bulky and heavy than Allan’s
cable for the same distance and depth, is upwards of 54
times weaker, 50 per cent. dearer to construct, considerably
more difficult to handle and carry, and will probably cost
three times more to ship, pay out, and submerge.

It must, therefore, be acknowledged, that the fact of
uniting the above-named advantages, in a small cable, is
the achievement of a great desideratum, which constitutes
Allan’s valuable, and not sufficiently appreciated invention,
deserving of better encouragement by all interested in
deep sea telegraphy, which means the civilized world.

NOTES ON THE PROPERTIES OF WOOD.

Y wood we understand the substance of trees—viz.,
timber, which is that portion of a tree between the

rind and the marrow, as also to distinguish the heart from
the sapwood. The inner structure of trees is the founda-
tion of all the peculiarities of grain of the wood. It is
alike in all European and foreign trees. If, with the assist-
ance of a powerful magnifying glass, we examine a cross
section, we see on the outer surface of the section, first, the
back and cambium, next the sapwood, then the heartwood,
and in the centre the marrow. From the centre radiate,
the rind thin lines, which being crossed by rings, take the
appearance of the cob-web of a spider. By these rings we
are enabled to arrive at the age of a tree, one being added,
neatly every year. This rule cannot always be followed
out in its integrity, owing to, in some instances, the August
sap forming a second ring in the same year, by this reason,
the age of a large tree becomes very doubtful if it be esti-
mated by its yearly rings. These rings have a close con-
nection with the development of the leaves, for when found

K 2

108 Notes on the Properties of Wood.

imperfect, it is owing to either the loss or the freezing of
the branches. Then again, it may have been caused by
insects and larger animals who live upon and in trees, or
by dryness.

The unequal width of the rings is the main feature by
which we judge of the physical condition of the wood, and
therefore we will examine this point closely.

The healthy life of a tree requires, as a necessity, a
certain modicum of light and a constant supply of fresh
air, besides the nourishment which it absorbs from the
soil, through the media of its roots. A tree transferred to
a more suitable climate or richer soil, will be found to im-
prove its condition; but should any element be found
wanting, that tree will not improve, or perhaps it may in-
crease in size, losing, on the other hand, its specific weight.

The Fir, which grows on very dry marl, forms narrow
yearly rings; if on rich and damp marl, they are wide; but
when on wet soil they are again smaller. The common
Fir, on moor soil, has smaller yearly rings than if on dry
sand or marl. It is evident from this, that too dry or too
wet a soil is not suitable for the development of this tree.
A white fir-tree, twenty-five years old, situated in a tolera-
bly suitable ground, may have a diameter of three inches
or so, whilst another on dry ground will be but one inch
thick. If we submit a cross-section of each under the
microscope, the former will appear like a net with large
pores, whilst the second looks almost like one solid mass.

The greatest amount of attention should be given to
this fact in the selection of masts and spars for ship-build-
ing. The usual width of the rings in the Fir when young is
2°4 mil. with a slight decrease towards the bark. In the
Swedish and Russian firs the smallest rings are found,
which is ascribable to the shortness of the summer in those
climates, but still the same result obtains in more southerly
latitudes.

The Leafwoods, with large pores, analogous, but opposite
to those of the Pines, with them, although the rings become
smaller, the quantity or bulk of the porous springwood
does not decrease in the same ratio. A cubic inch, there-
fore, contains more mass, the less we find pores in the same,
or in other words, the broader the yearly rings so much the
greater will be the mass of the wood. The reason for this
is, that the pores are considerably smaller on trees with —
broader yearly rings, and are, at the same time, less —
numerous. The outer rings of trees are often found as

Notes on the Properties of Wood. 109

porous as the rootwood. This is frequently the case with
the branches of the trees. Therefore, if we have to select
between two oaks, we shall choose the one with the broader
yearly rings, because, in a cubic foot of the same, we shall
have a larger quantity of wood than in the other. Should
it happen that a whole forest produces trees with wide
yearly rings, and another, trees with smaller rings, then
arises the question whether the former is caused by the
damp condition of the soil, in which case the wood in the
first will be more porous and loose than in the latter. It is
necessary therefore, that we take into consideration the
specific weight as well as the broadness of the rings, and
if found to correspond, then we may conclude that the
timber is sound. Wood which has rings of more than six
mil. wide for a section of some inches should not be used:
in building. Trees which have grown in clammy or marsh
soil furnish bad timber.

More regularity in the width of the rings from the centre
towards the bark is found in the Pine. The process
depends much upon the position of the tree and the sur-
rounding influences. In the Leafwoods, a greater variety
in the rings is to be found ; but these, as well as the Pines,
have that same feature in common, that the rings increase
towards the bark, and that close to the latter they decrease
again. The number of branches influence the width of
the rings in their position. It is hardly necessary to remark
that the assertion that the rings are wider on the south
side of a tree than those on the north side is devoid of
truth.

The bark is of very great importance toatree. It acts
as a protective band for the distribution of the sap, and Is,
therefore, necessary for the formation of the yearly rings,
If it gets damaged or split at a certain place, it will be
observed that the next following ring increases considerably
at this wound. There is no rule without an exception, and
we have it exemplified in the case of the almond-tree,
(Amygdalus), which bends hollow in the place where the

bark has been damaged.

In some trees destruction commences with the ripening
of the wood, as with the Canadian Poplar (Populus), and
the Willows (Salix), which begin to darken in the centre,
and by their smell indicate their decay. The sapwood of
hardwood trees is not of much use, never lasting for any
period, and when used, only serving to introduce destruc-
tive organs into the better wood,

110 Notes on the Properties of Wood.

When trees arrive at a certain age, they should be cut
down, that is, if itis intended their wood should be of a
good and durable quality. If left growing, the quantity
will certainly increase, but the quality will suffer in an
inverse ratio.

The colonr of wood is a prominent feature, with the
various species, as also of the quality of the wood. If a
tree is felled in a rainy or damp atmosphere, say during a
mild winter season, the heart of the wood will then retain
its natural wet colour for a longer period. Ina dry spring
atmosphere the heartwood dries sooner, although the sap-
wood retains its moisture longer than the ripewood of the
stem. By this latter process the moisture evaporates and
draws towards the bark, by which the sapwood sometimes
takes the darker colour ‘of the ripewood. ‘The atmosphere
fully develops the proper colours of the various woods after
they have been exposed to its influence for some time.
The period when timber may be said to be highest in
colour, is during the time when the tree is in full bloom.
If the colour of an oak is of one cast, it is the sign of its
good condition, but it must be of the same shade in tke
ripewood as well as inthe yearly rings. A proper judg-
ment upon the condition of the wood can only be given
when the tree is forested.

The scent of some woods enable us to pass a judgment

upon their condition. In the early Spring, old white.

Poplar trees (Populus alba), give forth an obnoxious smell,
which proceeds from the sap flowing from the decayed
interior to the outside. Pinewood retains its natural smell
for years. Leafwood trees have a sour smell, and the
stronger it is the healthier the wood. Should the smell be
faint the tree is dying off.

We now come tothe sap or blood of the tree, which
circulates in it, promotes its life, and is composed mainly
of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur. The
sap forms a considerable body in the green or fresh wood,

changing, more or less, the quality of the wood, the inti- —

mate study of its influences being of great technical impor-
tance. It has been said that the sap flows out of a tree
after it is cut down. Tffis is only the case with very few
woods, as, with most of them, the moisture evaporates.

The amount of sap considerably changes during the >
seasons of the year. A fine example of this is furnished
usin awork called “ Exploitation des Bois,” by M. Duhamel _

de Monceau, and which we extract from a pamphlet by M.

Ie

Notes on the Properties of Wood. Itt

Justen, recently published. M. D. de Monceau, had felled
during the year 1732-33 eight oaks each month, of equal
age, from which he obtained the following results :—

Pounds Month.
340°718 aa oe wes December.
340°906 ne ae ie January.
328031 eh We bey February.
331°087 ne sas safe March.
NebLS75 we a ae April.
319°500 ee ahs re May.
297°312 Ae bg? Pe June.
297.250 “at oF set July.
314'469 a * my August.
306°875 se ga we September.
328°906 7 - awe October.
331000 a se ae November.

From these figures, which are Parisian weight, we find
that during December and January the trees had more sap
than during the other months. The sap diminishes in
October, November, February, and March, in April it is
less than the four months above enumerated, and is least
in the months of June and July. Another experiment was
made with six young oaks, in which the December wood
again had most sap, thus proving that there is more sap
in the December wood. The least amount of sap being
contained in the July and August wood.

Heavy hardwoods lose, by drying, about one-third of
their original weight; lighter woods lose from about one-
third to one-half, being to, in some degree, dependent on
the soil where they grow. The bark prevents the sap from
running out of the stem. Experiments have proved that the
weight of wood with its bark on, greatly fluctuate, where-
as, the weight of wood without its bark, steadily diminishes.
Wood never loses all its sap. When air-dry it generally
has 20 per cent. of its weight,

The preceding portion of the article has been culled
from a work by M. Joseph Justen, of Liverpool, the follow-
ing we extract 72 ertenso :— :

It is of importance to know how long various timbers of
different dimensions and strength will take to become air-
dry, that is to say, how soon will they arrive at the medium
weight which they maintain for always, and to which they
return whenever the influence of the atmosphere alters it.

112 Notes on the Properties of Wood.

Many mechanics require dry wood for their works, but it is
not seldom that they also use it before it is properly sea-
soned.

In former remarks I have alluded already to several influ-
ences which affect the due seasoning of timber, and from
these it is impossible to adopt a general rule, because in each
place surrounding circumstances must be taken into consi-
deration. Let me, however, refer to the cause of the warp-
ing of floor-planks, which has its reason, that the air does
not reach the lower side of the deal. It shows itself stronger
where the plank is placed at the top, and the lower side has
been left in its rough state, by which a larger quantity of
moisture is discharged by the outer side, which causes the
warping. In exposing various woods to the action of water
it will be found that the younger stems are more subjected
to its influence, because they absorb more water than old
wood. For hydraulic constructions none but well seasoned,
old hardwoods should be used, and the sapwood should
also be avoided, because it promotes the decay of the sound

arts.

_ The specific weight must next be taken into considera-
tion. Most of the woods swim in the water. The specific
weight of wood is found by taking first the dry weight;
then it is thrown into water until quite saturated, after which
it is weighed again. -We must then weigh it under water.
If we then divide with the difference of the second and third
weights, which represents the weights of the water displaced
by the wood, into the natural dry weight we obtain the
specific weight. This answers in general well enough, but
it is not so correct as the process recommended by Mr.
Marcus Bull. He justly observes that the wood is liable to
swell in the water, and after having taken the dry weight
he covered the piece of wood with a varnish, having the
exact density of the water. This varnish is composed of
rosin, having a density of 1079, and wax, having a density
of 0967. By this varnish the water cannot penetrate into
the wood. The solid matter of the wood divested of all
cavities is heavier than water, and its density or weight,
compared with that of water, varies, according to Rumford,
from 1°46 to 1°53.

It is very difficult to give a general figure for the specific
weight of any kind of wood. Pieces from the same tree
produce different results, but the following figures give an
average weight :—

Notes on the Properties of Wood. 113

BYOMWOOd) 6..4000.5.4. ‘201 Mew Munem 0807
Greenheart.......-. 323 L200 Blin* eh di adeeb 0'800
Sabicue wood ...... I‘100 plete oh LOGE. 0'733
Praziowood. .v...0... I'100 | yg an Pepeeueae curser eae 0°657
PEAY Oils iii enews I‘080 ime y RAL a ae 0604.
i es Lat ret eae I'050 Cy piiess GURe A 0°598
SC) CY eee ee 0'950 CaO Sa ieid rede o'561
Lilac or pipe tree... 0°903 Poplar (silver) ...... 0529
0 ne 0885 ASSafras wet 0'482
eee A. we’ 0852 Poplar (common ... 0°383
PMC acini seeded ss 0845 Cork: oN6. peas 0'240

The weight of water for the above is taken at 1°000.

Experience has shown that the time when trees are
felled has much influence upon the condition of the wood.
A trial was made in Germany with four pieces of oak cut
down in December, January, February, and March. A tin
ring was fixed at one end of each of the four pieces. These
rings were filled each with two quarts of water, and it
proved that the piece of wood cut in December did not
permit any water to pass through its pores. The January
wood, after forty-eight hours, passed.a few drops. During
the same time the entire quantity had run through the
February wood, and the water had passed through the
March wood within two hours and a half. This accounts
for the reason that barrels of which the wood was felled in
February or March will lose within a year as much as eight
quarts of water, whilst others lose hardly any at all. One
should suppose that wood would absorb salt water more
easily than fresh water, because the pressure of the former
being so much higher. Still this is not the case, and Mr.
Duhamel has proved this by an experiment. He took two
pieces of oak from the same plank, weighing each 5lbs.
During eleven months the one was exposed to salt water,
and increased only by 2°141]bs. in weight, whilst the other,
put into fresh water, increased by 4'141Ibs.

Wood which lies in the atmosphere will constantly vary
in weight, which depends upon the wet or dry season, and
as the action is accordingly, we find the wood in its section
in a regular hygrometrical action.

If we attempt to abstract all moisture by heat from the
wood, we must not forget that at the same time we destroy
its nature, that is the physical condition of the wood, by
which it becomes very liable to break. Almost the same
influence has too much hot oil upon wood. Through this

114 Notes on the Properties of Wood.

it loses considerably of its weight, and soon after the oil
has been put on, the wood becomes brittle and warps more
easily than in its natural state.

The remainder of the sap which is left in the pores of
seasoned timber serves as a binding substance in the whole;
it also prevents any extensive hygroscopical action,
provided the tree was cut at the proper time.

The hygroscopicity is in constant action in the wood, and
affects its body, shape, and weight, which, in time, leads to
its dissolution. This change is as much a chemical asa
physical process, and is noticed in all woods.

The weight of wood is of great importance to us,
because its hardness, its resisting, and its heating power, as
well as other valuable properties, are all, more or less, de-
pending upon it. Let us, therefere, enter closer into this
subject. In the first instance we must consider that even
wood which has been forested very light, will become heavy
when put for some time into water; but, in such timbers
the sap is already given to dissolution. If the fibre were
the only substance in the wood, then the specific weight
would depend upon the number of pores contained in its
body. The pores are, however, filled with a substance,
such as resin, dye, &c. It comes to this, that young trees
contain a great quantity of sap, whilst old trees have less,
but a volume of air instead.

Suppose we leave the troublesome factor, the water, for
a moment, out of question, and inquire into the reasons
which cause the heavier or lighter specific weight in dry
wood. The hardest and heaviest woods come from the
hotter climates. The only exception is the pine, which
thrives considerably better and furnishes heavier timber
when it has grown in colder regions, or upon high moun-
tains. Trees grown on northern slopes furnish lighter
timber than if south or west. In these remarks we have
already noticed the fact, that the soil has great influence
upon the width of the yearly rings, and I also remarked
that from this we are able to form a conclusion with regard
to the specific weight.

We have since heard of a number of facts by which the
connection between the yearly rings and the specific weight
is greatly modified, but, as an instance, I mention the Fir
and Larch trees, which both are heaviest when their rings
are small. Another influence upon the specific weight is
exercised by the resin and the dye which are contained in
the interior of the wood. On level dry ground or deep

|
:

Notes on the Properties of Wood. 115

sandy soil, we find the Fir (Pzzus silvestris), beautifully
red inside; in the same condition we find the Fir (Pzxus
mughus), on turf soil, where there is an abundance of
water ; but when we look at it on lias soil it shows broad
yearly rings and hardly any colour at all. The Larch tree
again in such soil develops itself well with a rich colour.
The cause for these appearances must, therefore, rest with
the chemical condition of the soil and its effect upon the
individuality of the Fir. Oaks generally furnish good
timber when grown slowly in dry ground, whilst those from
wet soil appear considerably spongy. Similar results are
obtained with other trees.

Trees cut in summer give lighter wood than when felled
in winter time. The cause for this may probably be
ascribed to the fact that in winter a large amount of
nourishment is stored in the stem, which, during the spring
and summer, is spent for the formation of blooms and
leaves.

We call hardness of the wood the resistance which it
opposes when another body enters it. If wood were an
equal body, like minerals, we should be able to determine
its resisting power or hardness; but it being differently
built, and whilst trying its hardness other properties inter-
fere, we cannot arrive at a decisive result. Sometimes a
wood has very hard fibres but little body, that is, it is
lighter built than another wood with soft fibres and a full
body. It is, therefore, unadvisable to judge the hardness
of a wood according to its fibres. Experiments to ascer-
tain the hardness should be made across the stem, and not
upon a longitudinal section, and, although there is no in-
strument which leads us at once to a definite result, we can
generally arrive with a saw at a fair conclusion. Many
persons constantly employed on wood are of the opinion
that it becomes harder if it is worked or barked off whilst
green.

Wood, as a porous body, contains, in its natural state,
whether dead or alive, a certain amount of moisture. By
the loss of that moisture, or with the increase of the same,
the bulk of the wood either contracts or extends. If we
have a piece of wood where this action takes place only
upon one side it is obvious that the piece will alter its form
or shape. The consequence of the loss of moisture is also
the warping and the splitting of the wood. The inner
structure of a stem is irregular; for instance, we find the
inner moisture of a yearly ring to be more than on its

116 Pwa-Neyet.

outer side. This causes the splits on the exterior after the
wood is dry, and it also accounts for the impossibility to
form out of greenwood a regular body which could not.
lose its weight or shape. The time during which the eva-
poration of the moisture takes place depends upon the
state of the atmosphere

Several authors are of the opinion that the contraction |
is regulated by the specific weight. This, as a rule, cannot |
be adopted; for instance, Lilac and Oak, both being heavy |
and hard, contract quickly, whilst the South American :
Maple, which is equally hard, contracts slowly. It is evi-
dent, however, that the fuller of sap a tree is, the greater will
be the contraction. This will account for the fact that we find
oncut timberthe cracks extendfrom the exterior towardsthe
centre, because the sapwood will contract more than the
heart of the wood. Planks turn with their sides upwards,
that is, the edges rise from the level of the centre line.
This explains why we turn the inside of a plank towards
the joists whilst we lay a floor, which prevents the twisting.

The contraction and action of the wood cannot be
checked altogether. Among the means to prevent it, stands
foremost the one of putting the tree into water; but when
taken out it must not be stored in a place where it dries too
soon, as it still would burst if done. . Nor must it be left
too long in the water as this will injure the quality of the
wood.

All the wood which is used is never quite dry; besides
this, it works a little in itself, under the changes of the .
atmosphere, and therefore attention must be paid to the |
‘selection of timber for the same purpose, for the heartwood
is less subjected to such actions than sap or splintwood.
This is an important point with furniture makers. The
extension or contraction is less apparent in the length of
the fibre than in the cross section of the wood.

PWAI-NGYET.

HAVE noticed your remarks on the substance called

Pwat-ngyet in your interesting little periodical
“Science Gossip.” As it was I who furnished the bees
which were forwarded by the Agri-Horticultural Society of

Pwa-Ne yet. riz

Calcutta to Mr. F. Smith of the British Museum, for identi-
fication, and which he pronounced to be 77vigona leviceps
(as Dr. Mason, to whom you refer, states in his book on the
natural productions of the Tenasserim provinces) ; and as,
therefore, I know both the substance and the insect well,
I have great pleasure in giving you such information as I
can on the subject.

A few years ago the secretary of the Calcutta Agri-Horti-
cultural Society wrote to me for information regarding
Pwai-ngyet. Until then, I knew very little about it, but my
attention having been called in this way to it, I made it
my business to find out what it was.

If I read your remarks rightly, you appear to be of
opinion that Pwaz-ngyet is the pure unaltered gum or resin
of Canarium strictum, only bored and channelled by the
bee. If this were so, then the substance should only be
found on that tree. It is, however, found on different trees ;
sometimes too in the ground, or in a hollow among rocks ;
and, occasionally, even in the hollow post of an old house.

I have seen the bees making their nests in all these
several situations.

Pwat-ngyet, | believe myself, is a combination of various
gums or resins, and probably also of oils, gathered from
various sources, while in a soft state, by the bee, and built
up and moulded, very much as wax is moulded ; with this
difference, that whereas wax is formed by the honey-bee
into cells of perfect and uniform symmetry, the cells in
Pwai-ngyet assume no regular form at all.

What trees contribute their juices to form Pwat-ngyet I
cannot say for certain, though I incline to think that
Thengan-tsee, or the resin of the Thengan (Hopea odorata),
is the chief ingredient, and that the oil of the various Dzp-
terocarps, or wood-oil trees, particularly of Dzpterocarpus
levis,the wood-oil tree par excellence, also enters into the com-
position of the material. My reasons for thinking so are,
that the texture, the colour, and the smell of Pwaz-ngyet are
all such as would apparently result from a combination of
the two substances mentioned; and that Hofea odorata
and Dzipterocarpus levis are among the principal giants of
our forests, and common trees. On the other hand, I do
not think (though I will not besure) that Canarium strictum
is found in our provinces, although I believe a species of
Canarium, a large timber tree, is found in Pegu.

The Trigona leviceps builds its nest generally in the
hollow of a tree, entering by a small aperture. These

118 Pwa-Neyet.

apertures are lined with Pzwai-ugyet, and sometimes only
show a small rim of that substance raised above the bark
of the tree. Sometimes however, (perhaps always if undis-
turbed), the bees go on building outside, and adding on to
the rim, until they have found a wide-mouthed entrance
which projects as much as a foot from the tree. These
structures commonly assume the shape of the mouth of a
large trumpet flattened horizontally, and have a perpendi-
cular diameter of a foot or so, and a horizontal diameter
ot three or four inches. They are built with great regula-
rity in their exterior half, but not so regularly towards the
base, from the necessity of adapting the structure to the
shape of the tree where the hole may chance to be. They
are very curious and pretty objects, but being very promi-
nent, attract the notice of the passer-by, and so, often lead
to the spoiling of the habitation.

«Sic non vobis nidificatis apes,”

Fi ray \}
— UA
Lg !

“\e
Ze

NES HIT,
Front view
of mouth.

Nest of 7rigoua leviceps, one-sixth antural size.

I send you a rude sketch of one of the trumpet-openings.
I despatch also, by post, together with this notice, a small
piece of Pwai-ngyet, broken off the upper base of such a
work. By holding this up to the light, you will see three

Pwa-Neyet. 11g

or four large cells of about an inch in diameter, without any
opening. I can only suppose that the object of these cell-
walls is to strengthen the narrow base in its support of the
larger projecting mass. If so, here is another instance of a
mysterious intelligence possessed by one of the smallest of
living creatures.

This piece, marked No. 1, will show the ordinary texture
colour, and general appearance of Pwaz-ngyet, as it is found
in the jungles. No. 2, is nearly white, a very unusual,
colour. I send it because of the greater resemblance to
Thengan-tsee, or the resin of the Hopea odorata ; of which
I also send a small piece (No. 3), in order that you may be
able to ascertain how far the two substances are chemically
identical. |

What the internal economy of the nest of Zrzgona levti-
ceps is | cannot say, as the tree has commonly to be felled
in order to obtain the contents, and this I have never seen
done. I am informed by the Burmese that from five to ten
viss are usually obtained from one nest. A wzss is about
_ 3? Ib., and costs about 4 annas (6d.) inthe bazaar. I should
imagine that, considering the source whence it is procured,
the supply must be very limited ; and, if exported, it would
soon equal beeswax in price.

Its principal, if not only use, at present, is for caulking ;
and, for this purpose, it is mixed with earth-oil or petro-
leum.

The method is to boil the Pwaz-ngyet in water, which
makes it quite soft, and then to knead it with a certain
quantity of the petroleum, until it attains the consistency
of a lump of putty, which it much resembles. In that state
it is fit for use, and is extremely viscid and tenacious. On
putting a piece of Pwaz-ngyet into boiling water, in order to
perform the operation myself, I noticed that the surface of
the water was covered with a thin film of oil. This confirms
me in the idea that oil is united with resin in the composi-
tion of Pwat-ngyet. It is soluble in oz/s and in turpentine,
but not in spirits of wine. I may conclude by mentioning
that the mistakes made by several persons in Burmah with
regard to the origin of this substance must have arisen from
the fact that the name of Pzwaz-ngyet is often used here, in
the bazaars, to denote any kind of resin or Dammer, but the
true Pwai-ngyet of the Burmese is that made by the small
bee called Yrigona leviceps, and is made by them in the
manner I have tried to describe.

Moulmein. | CoSs Py PARISH

120 On Scientific Physual Training

The drawing, one-sixth the natural size, is an imaginary
restoration, as but the lower half is before me. The
portion marked A, forms specimen No. I, sent to you.
£4, within ths dotted line, marks the space over which the
blind cells, for strength, as I suppose, extend. From the
shape of the base, as brought to me, the mass must have
rested partly on some such excrescence of the trunk as I
have tried to represent. The actual entrance into the tree
in this instance was by a narrow perpendicular slit, two and
a half inches long and three-tenths of an inch wide, the
upper part of which may be seen in the specimen. The
width, laterally, in the middle of the stem of the structure,
is exactly one anda half inch. The weight of the whole,
judging by the portion I have, may have been half a pound.

Car:

ON SCIENTIFIC PHYSICAL TRAINING AND
RATIONAL GYMNASTICS.

BY M. ROTH, ESQ., M.D.
(Continued from page 78.)

E come now to the point of rational gymnastics. I

repeat there is only one good system of gymnastics,
that which takes care of the human body. It should not be
the object in a gymnasium to see who can climb the most,
who can vault the best; but the object should be to pro-
duce harmony of the different parts of the human body.
consequently, every part should be simultaneously de-
veloped. The figures have been modelled in order to show
the elementary actions of the human body on which all
other movements are based. The figures will show the
various positions in which the elementary movements can
be executed. The positions must be compared to the
various keys in music, because the same movement in a
different position produces a different effect. Figures 1, 2,
3 show different positions of the hands and feet; 4,
5, 6, 7, different movements of the head, as thrown for-
wards, backwards, sideways, and turning. These flexion
and turning movements can be combined in various ways.
Figures 8, 9, 10, II, 12, 13, show the elementary move-
ments of the arms. We use the arms in all directions, but

and Rational Gymnastics. 121

here we have only the principal directions of the space—
viz., to the body, arms bent, fingers touching, upwards,
outwards, forwards, and backwards. You will observe that

\

Uy
iS ly
ae sais

the difference between these and the so-called extension
movements in the army is, that in these movements the
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. L

122 On Scientific Physical Training

hand is always stretched, and the fist is not clenched.
When we have the hands clenched, a certain set of muscles
at the back of the forearm are not brought into action.

Ni

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=

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Wiltnmn —

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= Pn Al wn mi
aH Site eee an : =
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Other figures Saari elementary movements of the trunk :
similar to the movements of the head. We have actions” ,

and Rational Gymuastics. 124

to the right, to the left, forwards, and backwards, and two
instances of combined movements: see figures 14, 1 5, 16,

pl i Hui AT 4
zl I io HRT ]
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| Ee ti =, y)
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ac ms
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Sy) 7

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heed

Sn tT RHTIRE A

a‘ —— wi ie
< li
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TSS

_ 17, 18, and 19. Figures 20, 21, 22, 23, show the movements
of the feet.

By forming a combination of these elementary move-
L 2

ANNA Nn
PES eS

:
iff bil | — |

CAT

124 On Screntific Physical Training

ments of the different parts of the body, we have a basis °
upon which you are to act. Just as with the twenty-four
elementary letters of the alphabet we can form endless
combinations and also talk much nonsense, so it is with
these elementary movements of the human body. Our
object is not to make the greatest exertions in any one
direction, and to do as many exercises as possible, even
injurious ones, but to combine these movements for pur-
poses that are useful in life. Our object is not to form
tumblers, rope-dancers, &c., but to develop the powers of
the body harmoniously; therefore, we seek the combi-
nation of these simple ideas. The same movements which
are necesssry for the first educational development of the
body can be also made use of for the purpose of mental
instruction, and an intelligent teacher can teach the ele-
mentary geometrical forms by the aid of the various
positions and movements of the limbs and body; thus
children can be taught what a horizontal and vertical line
is, the various angles formed by two-lines, circles, and
ellipses can be formed, &c., as you can convince yourselves
by looking at these models, which form the basis. of some
other very important branches of physical training. I~
have also tried to introduce these elementary movements
under the form of gymnastic games, which afford amuse-
ment while the body is exercised.

They form the basis of military gymnastics, because
men are prepared forthe drillthrough these. The greatest
and best results have been obtained in the Swedish and
Prussian armies by preparing the recruit before he enters
upon his military duties, by these apparently simple
exercises. Although they appear simple, they are not so
simple, for the man has to do them with the greatest
exactitude, and he is obliged to think for himself. They
are called “free exercises,” because there is no external
help, no apparatus, no machinery is wanted. By placing
together two, three, four, five, or more men, you can make
them all work at the same time, and supply to one another
the place of apparatus, This is the importance of this
scientific basis in comparison with other systems, that you
have a certain number of men working together at the
same time under a certain word of command, either as
individuals, or as one compound body, without being
obliged to raise heavy dumb-bells, under the weight of
which the men are panting for breath, The men on the
right and left can supply the weight of the dumb-bell by

and Rational Gymnastics. — 125

their power of resistance, which can be increased to any
desirable extent, and if there is a living resistance it is
constantly necessary that the two or three men should work
together, as if they would form but one body, governed by
one mind. So that in fact we have not only a machine,
but we have here a living body, whose mental faculties are
brought into power by the exercise at the same time as
the body. .

e Figs) 24, 25, 26, 27 will explain to the reader the
mode of combining these movements, in which two or
three men can take part at the same time, and bring into
exercise the various muscles of the body without the aid
of apparatus of any kind.

To show the importance of this system for military
‘training, I will read the following extract from a letter just
received (12th February, 1863), from Major Rothstein, who
is at the head of the Royal Central Institution for Gym-
nastics at Berlin.*

“T am happy to say that rational gymnastics are pro-
gressing favourably in our military institutions (Kadetten
und Kreigs-Schulen), as well as in all the regiments of the
army; even the old commanders who did not like this
mode of physical training, acknowledge its merits.

“The free exercises of Ling have proved exceedingly
useful for the development of the recruits. Here, at
Berlin, the regiments of the Guard show much zeal for the
practice of the gymnastic exercises.

“In the regiments in garrison in the provinces, the pro-
gress of this branch of military education varies according
to the views of the commanding officers, and depends also
very much upon social and other circumstances, but on the
whole, progress is visible everywhere.

“The full extent of this system on the physical develop-
ment of our soldiers, and of our nation in general, will be
shown only then when our youth shall = in the benefit
of a rational physical education.

“The greatest impediment to this attainment is the

* In this Institution, commissioned and non-commissioned
officers are instructed in the elements of anatomy, physiology,
hygiene, educational, and military. gymnastics. After having
passed a theoretical and practical examination, they return to
their regiments, and train there a number of non-commissioned
officers, who assist in the physical education of the privates.

126 On Scientific Physical Training

fanatic advocacy of such systems of gymnastics, which aim
only at brute muscular development.’*

If space permits I will try to show some of these move-
ments with resistance with these three guardsmen, that you
may see how unnecessary it is to introduce what is now
supposed to be requisite, the use of dumb-bells and clubs
into the army. Government, as a rule, prefer things that
are not expensive ; and if it is proved that the introduction
of these exercises will save expense in the way of apparatus
and dress, then I have some hope that the system will be
adopted.

Advantages of free exerceises are—

a. That the movements, being very simple, are easily
understood and easily executed.

b. Much time is saved, because they can be executed
simultaneously by many persons.

c. The expense for apparatus and machines is saved, and
the dresses less spoiled.

@d. The free movements can be executed in any place,
in the open air, as well as in-doors; for instance, in schools,
barracks, in the open field, in the camp, and in the
bivouack. | |

e. As every motion of a free exercise is to be executed
exactly, and as many persons are simultaneously at work,
they must accustom themselves to a certain attention and
precision, by which means the sense of order is developed,
and the attention sharpened.

J. The free exercises produce an agreeable feeling in all
the movements of the body, and develope better than the
exercises on gymnastic apparatus, a good posture, and an
appropriate appearance and deportment of ordinary life.

There is an erroneous opinion prevalent that free exer-
cises are suitable only for youths, and not for adults. As
long as gymnastics are not made a part of education
generally, the free exercises are useful also to adults,

“ For further information regarding these exercises, I must
refer you to the following works on this subject :—

1. ‘* The Gymnastic Free Exercises of Ling, according to the
system of Ling,” arranged by Major Rothstein, translated, with
some additions, by Dr. Roth.

2. ‘Elementary Exercises or Movements according to the Sys-
tem of Ling.”

Sheet Tables of a few Gymnastic Exercises.—M. R.

and Rational Gymnastics. ae

although they may be considered only as preparatory
exercises.

Without wishing to disparage exercises with apparatus,
as long as they are practised with caution and within
certain limits, I will mention in favour of the free exercises,
that if the exercises with the aid of apparatus are exclu-
sively or too frequently practised, the body loses its natural
instinctive sense for equilibrium, instead of having it
developed. The sense for form and graccful positions and
movements of the body is lessened, while the sense for
equilibrium in such artificial positions as rarely or never
occur in life is developed.

Exercises in Gymnasia.—Notwithstanding that soldiers
are inspected before they are sent to the gymnasium, in
order to find out whether they are fit for the great exertions,
there is too great a demand made upon their strength.
This gymnastic forcing cannot be avoided, if men are, in
the course of a month, to go through their desired gym-
nastic training. This is impossible, and the man returns,
or the whole company returns to the regiment, where they
have no apparatus, and, consequently, lose the little they
have gained, and are as stiff as they were before. But if
a system of exercises is introduced in which the mind is
at work, it can be done very well, and if a man is too weak
to do any of them, a second ora third person can assist
him, and as no apparatus is wanted, it will be possible to
give the men gymnastic education without sending them
away from their regiment for a month.

Great stress is laid on the development of the chest,
which is produced by what is called the Oxford system.
I feel it my duty to protest against these violent exercises.
I have to deal frequently with delicate and invalided ladies,
whose chests are flattened and compressed ; if they are not
consumptive, the circumference of their chest is considerably
increased in a very short time, without the use of violent
exercise. The development of the chest is accomplished
by breathing, and by other movements by which the
muscles of the shoulders and back are developed. In all
these cases we bring the influence of the will and the mind
to act upon the part which is weakened, and that is the
reason why we get rid of all apparatus.

The educational branch forms a part of the military
gymnastics, that branch of rational gymnastics which
teaches the exercises with the different kinds of weapons

128 = On Scientific Physical Training, ete.

viz., the foil, the single-stick, the sword, the lance, the
bayonet, and also wrestling.

There is a third part of gymnastics also based on the
educational branch, called “ esthetic gymnastics.” It means
the application of movements of the human body for the
expression of our feelings and ideas. I hope on some
future occasion to present your numerous readers with
drawings which show the attitudes of the body under the
influence of different states of mind. Feelings of sympathy
or kindness, affection and attention, have all oval lines;
antipathy, anger, pride, and all bad passions, are shown by
angular lines. Other drawings represent the attitudes in
prayer, the arms being extended, and the hands raised in
proportion te the fervency of the prayer. Some show the
position of a person who ts thinking; the natural position
is, the head leaning slightly forward while the arms are
crossed; in this drawing the head is more inclined, and
appears to rest on the finger placed near the chin. Where
there is deep meditation, the head is leaning still more
forward and rests on the hand. I point these out just
to show in what way rational gymnastics may be made
useful. |

There is another purpose to which these figures may be
applied, and that is, the training of blind people. Blind
people are very much neglected. In the institutions I
have visited, I find their chests very weak, and suffering
from many complaints. As we have no other means for
their instruction, I have made use of models, and I find
they answer very well. In the city is pubhshing a series of
these figures in papier-maché for the object of teaching
blind people. In order to give another impulse to the
introduction of these simple exercises, the same firm are
publishing engravings of these figures in the form of a
game for children, so that they can be applied in schools
where they have no apparatus to entice the children to do
these exercises.

a 129

PREPARATION OF BROWN AND VIOLET
COLOURS.

AKE one part by weight of rosaniline and mix it with

one part also in weight of formic acid and half a part

of acetate of soda, heat the whole at a temperature of 180°

to 200° C. The mixture commences to dissolve at the mo-

ment it attains the temperature of 140°, and in a short time

as the measure of the temperature rises, it becomes a dark

brown. If, however, it is dissolved in spirits of wood or
alcohol, it produces a red scarlet colour.

If instead in the operation when the mixture becomes
brown, the heat is applied until it attains the temperature
of about 260°, and it is dissolved in spirits of wood or alco-
hol, a colour of orange red appears.

In following up the operation until the mixture arrives
nearly to the temperature of 275°, and is dissolved in alco-
hol, the colour becomes orange yellow. After having pro-
duced one of the other colours, if it is allowed to cool, the
matter becomes hard, and may then be employed as a dye
for impressions.

For preparing the finest colouring matter,—brown—mix
the matter or production after it has become scarlet red,
with oil of aniline in the proportion of three parts of oil for
one part of red-scarlet matter, and heat the whole at the
temperature indicated, and separate the excess of oil of
aniline by the known process.

To obtain a violetcolour, mix the rosaline with valewane
acid in the proportion of one part by weight of the first,
and one part also by weight of acid, and heat it until the
mixture commences to thicken and attains the temperature
which varies accordingly to what is required, the mixture
becoming more blue according to the heat applied, until it
arrives at a violet blue.

It is left to cool and then boiled in water, and again
allowing it to get cool the colour is ready for use.

With this colouring matter you may dye print on silk or
on linen a fine violet-red or violet-blue.

To prepare this colouring matter, violet, valerianic acid
may be substituted to those of the same group, such as
those of steuric, butyric, acetic, and cénanthylic, &c., but
the preference should be given to valerianic acid.

130 -

GRAPHOTYPE.

HE graphotype invented by M. De Witt Clintsa

Hitchcock, one of the most able engravers of New
York, has produced impressions from drawings by means
of the typographic press.

This is the process:—Commence by preparing an arti-
ficial block of chalk, prepared of the finest chalk, by re-
_ ducing it to a fine powder, and mixing with water to the
consistence of cream, separating the parts that precipitate,
repeating that operation several times, in fact, prepare it as
washed chalk, passing it through a sieve and afterwards
through a metallic cloth of 1,600 to 1,700-th part of a
square centimetre; press it very regularly upon a surface
of a zinc plate, perfectly smooth and dressed. Upon this
zinc plate charged with chalk is another plate placed,
finely polished, and then the whole is submitted to the
action of an hydraulic press. The press is then withdrawn
and the plate removed. The chalk is then found firmly
attached to the zinc, presenting a dense and superior sur-
face, that requires nothing further than to be undone and
made ready for the ink which is used for drawing on it
by the artist, as on wood, that is to say, it is commenced
by a red pencil the principal outlines, and then by the aid
of a fine pencil of different sizes, line by line is traced.

The ink which is used is a mixture of gelatine and lamp-
black, which dry instantly, in such a manner that the series
of lines, whatever they may be, may be crossed immedi-
ately by others. The drawing being finished, the portions
of chalk interspersed between the lines of the drawing
are withdrawn or taken up, to the depth of about 3 milli-
metres, or as near as possible, by means of a brush or
pencil of hair, and others of velvet or silk, and the chalk
plank is then softened by plunging it in a solution of a
silicate alcaline.

A print is then taken from that block for typoaae
type in the ordinary manner. ‘This process is so delicate,
that the artist is able to make the finest lines, and an im-
pression may be easily taken in three hours after the -
drawing is made on the. chalk; in a manner this new
process has an immense advantage over that of wood, not
only as regards price, but as regards time which runs
between the termination of the drawing and the repro-
duction by the press. Besides, this new rapid process and
economical method give the same advantages to the artist.

————

na

THE FOOD FISHERIES OF FRANCE.

HE very latest novelty in French oyster culture is the
introductiom by Madlle. Sarah Felix, the sister of

the late Madame Rachel, of the American horse-shoe
oyster. This lady is an enthusiastic ostreoculturist, and
she has a suite of packs near Havre, which are said to be
very profitable. Many of Madlle. Felix’s countrymen have
of late years taken to oyster farming, and in a short time
the foreshores of France will be crowded with oyster beds,
when one of the greatest industries of that country will
assuredly be the breeding and fattening of that popular
shell fish. The expense of rearing oysters is so trifling,
and the returns so large, that thousands of the seafaring
people have gone into the business, and many of the inland
vine growers and general farmers have removed to the coast
in order to try there luck at this new industry. There is
a great demand for the oyster in all parts of France, and
as the mollusk may be kept out of the water for a few days
without any harm, or can be kept in tanks and be artifi-
cially fed till such time as it is wanted for table purposes, a
number of fishermen who could not find an outlet for either
their round or flat fish in consequence of the rapid transit
required to insure their fish being fresh on arrival at the
market, have within a year or two taken to the rearing and
fattening of oysters. There are few places now on the
shores of France where oyster culture is not carried on in
some one of its varied phases; there are either viviers for
keeping them alive till called for, parcs for breeding them
n, claires for fattening them, or pits for greening them.
And the French Government, with a view to promote so
laudable an industry, has established model beds on various
parts of the coast, in order to teach practically the art of
oyster farming. As well as being practically useful in a
commercial sense, these model beds have been of great use
to M. Coste and other French naturalists, by allowing them
to determine the exact age at which the oyster becomes re-
productive, without which knowledge no animal, sea or land,
can be profitably bred. The French parc system also ad-
mits of the proper study of the spat mystery, which is now
attracting the gravest attention of all interested in the
natural and economic history of the oyster. Asan example
of the spat difficulty, it may be mentioned, that while in
the basin of Arcachon, the spat has never been known to

132 The Food Fisheries of France.

fail, yet around the Ile de Re the fall for these some years
back has been very intermittent, as it has also been on the ~
English beds. In the sheltered basin of Arcachon the |
plentiful spatting may be accounted for on the principle
that the spat has nowhere else to go—it must fall within
the basin. In an open expanse of sea it is different; the —
spat may be carried away to great distances by tidal in-
fluence, or a sharp breeze upon the water may waft the
oyster seed away for many a long mile. Every bed has its
own time for spatting ; thus, one division of the Re beds
may be spatting on a fine warm day, when the sea is like
glass, so that the spat cannot fail to fall ; while, on another
portion of the island, the spat may fall on a windy day, be
thus left to the tender mercy of a fiercely receding tide,
and so be lost, or fall, mayhap, on inaccessible rocks, a long
way from the shore. On the Isle of Oleron, which supplies
the green oyster breeders of Marennes with such large
quantities, it is quite certain that in the course of the
summer a friendly wave will waft large quantities of spat
into the artificial parcs, when it is known that the oysters
in these parcs have not spawned. Where does this foreign
spat come from? The men say it comes off some of the
natural beds of the adjoining sea—is driven in by the tide,
and finds a welcome resting place on the artificial receivers
of their parcs. It is altogether an erroneous idea to suppose
that there are some seasons when the oyster does not spat,
because of the cold weather, &c. Some of the parcs had
spatted at Arcachon this year in very ungenial weather.
The spatting of the oyster does not depend on the weather
at all, but the destination of the spat doeg because if the
tiny seedling oyster does not fall on propitious ground it is
lost for ever. New oyster beds are often discovered in places
where it is certain oysters did not exist in previous years—
how came they then to be formed ? The spat must have
been blown upon that ground by the ill wind that carried
it away from the spot where it was expected to fall. Ifthe
spat exuded by the large quantity of oysters known to be
stocked in the arcs at Whitstable, in Kent, the home of
the “native,” were always to fall on the cultch of Whit-
stable, instead of on the adjoining flats and elsewhere, the
company would soon become enormously wealthy. At
present, one of the largest items of their annual expenditure
is for brood to be fattened for the market. This brood
they buy everywhere, in order to keep the London ovens
taverns constantly stocked with natzves.

The Fvod Fisherves of France. 133

The difference between French and English oyster farm-
ing is not much, but the little that there is is of great im-
portance in the economy of a large oyster farm. The
endeavour of the French is to obtain spat or brood without
purchase ; hitherto this has not been the case in England ;
the dredgermen are but too willing to pay for brood when
it can be obtained, but of late years, in consequence of a
paucity of spat, it has become scarce and ill to get. The
new oyster farms which have been laid down in England of
late years are all upon the French plan, and already we are
hearing of their success, spat having fallen upon some of
them in great plenty. Inthe Firth of Forth oyster beds
no pains are taken to protect the oyster, the grounds are
never overhauled or “worked,” the brood is sold by the
hogshead to all and sundry who will come and buy it; the
result, as may be expected, is that in Edinburgh oysters
are scarce, are also small in size, and dear. While the men
of Whitstable have become rich by their thrift the men of
Newhaven have become poor from consenting to the spolia- _
tion of their oyster beds, which are naturally the finest in
the world. They have at length killed the goose for the
sake of the golden egg.

Any attempt to find out the figures pertaining to the
annual oyster commerce of France is generally abortive.
No one knows exactly what these figures are, but of course
every man forms his own opinion. An oyster merchant of
Rochelle doing business with the growers of the adjacent
islands of Oleron and Re, will say 250,000/, per annum,
while a Bordeaux shipper, with large ideas, will give figures
representing four times that sum. It is unquestionable
that there is an immense oyster business done in France.
Paris alone requires at present a daily supply that in the
course of the season is said to amount to 100,000,000, and
the large provincial towns all consume in proportion. Count-
less numbers are besides exported, cured, prepared, and
pickled. Official figuers state that in 1862 the three factors
appointed by the Government for the sale of oysters in the
grand market disposed of 67,836,900, being an increase of
124 millions on the preceding year. We are constantly
coming across paragraphs in the provincial newspapers of
France, about the oyster trade. Lately the Phare de la
Manche told us that Paris now required ten times as many
oysters as in 1856,and that they were now double the price ;
further, that 6,000 women get a living during the oyster sea-
son in Opening oysters alone. The same paper also gave

134 The Food Fisheries of France.

us the astonishing intelligence that huttres de la Manche
were the most esteemed in Paris, that the green oysters of
Marennes were not now in demand, except for exportation,
and that the Ostend pitted oysters had taken their place.
It is certain that Ostend furnishes to Paris about three
million oysters per annum, there are official figures to that
effect. There has been also published a cluster of reliable
figures about the oyster grounds of Arcachon, in which it
is stated that the oyster grounds of the basin, including the
royal parks on either side of the bank of La Hillion, eccupy
space to the extent of 1,200 acres. A stock of over two
millions of breeding oysters was gradually laid down in the
royal grounds, and there yielded an enormous amount
of spat. A portion of the two millions—viz., 500,000, laid
down in 1863, is said to have yielded young to the extent
of seven millions! If thisstatement be correct as to a fortieth
part of the mother stock, what would the total yield be?
It would in fact, be too enormous for figures to express it.

Everybody has heard about the immmense fecundity of
the oyster, and to yield such supplies as are indicated by
the above figures the animal would require to be very pro-
lific. ‘The writer has seen a little branch taken from an
artificial bed, which contained a few thousands, and he has
seen many common tiles with hundreds of oysters on each.
The Whitstable of France is on the Ile de Ré, where may
be seen a few thousand oyster arcs and also a few hundred
claires, or fattening ponds, and hundreds of thousands of
oysters in all stages of growth, from the size of a pin’s head
to a crown piece. One of the many difficulties which the
French oyster growers have had to solve is the construction
of a proper medium for the reception of the spat. Every
kind of material has been tried, branches of trees, logs of
wood, fragments of rock, and now tiles made of clay, are
being extensively used, ard with the greatest possible
success. At Arcachon a hive of an ingenious kind, that is,
a suite of small boxes filled with gravel, and contained ina
larger box, was tried, and was found to suit very well; the
best of all bottoms could be constructed in the farcs by
the filling into them of the numerous shell middens that
are to be found in some of the fishing places. The forma-
tion of new parcs and claires still goes on the French sea-
board, new concessions of ground for that purpose being
frequently made, and a tour to most of the fishing places
of interest gives the idea of the future wealth to be obtained
from this source, more especially when the natural and

.
|

Introducers of Exotic Flowers, ete, 135

economic history of the oyster comes to be more thoroughly
known than it is at present. The French people also grow
mussels, on what is now known as the artificial plan. About
four miles from Rochelle there may be seen a wonderful
mussel farm that has been profitably cultivated for hundreds
of years. The mussels are sold largely for food, and afford
a good living to the people who cultivate them. The
British fishermen might obtain a hint from the mussel farm
of Aiguillon and grow their.own bait, which is. scarce and
dear. The mussels are grown on frames of basket-work,
called douchots, and are lafger and of finer flavour than the
natural mussel. There is nothing that is very new to say
about the fresh-water fisheries of France. Huningue, still
continues to fulfill its mission, by sending out to the barren
rivers of France sufficient fish eggs for the re-stocking of
many of them ; and, it is satisfactory to know, with good
results, many of the French rivers, which, a year or two ago,
were totally destitute of fish, being now wonderfully stocked.
A large number of district piscicultural reports have been
contributed to the manuscript department of the Arcachon
Exposition, and all of them were of the most favourable
character, giving full details of the work done, and the
different kinds of fish that had been manipulated for pisci-
cultural purposes, some of which were common enough, as
carp, perch, &c. Ina Catholic country like France, where
there is an urgent demand for fish as fast-day food, it nfay
be necessary tg cultivate the very commonest fishes; but
in England, where the people are more fastidious about
their fish diet, it would not be profitable to cultivate any
other fish than that venison of the waters—the salmon.

INTRODUCERS OF EXOTIC FLOWERS,
Proce tis, tC

HERE has been a class of men whose patriotic affec-
, tion, or whose general benevolence, have been usually
defrauded of the gratitude their country owes them: these
have been the introducers of new flowers, new plants, and
new roots into Europe; the greater part which we now
enjoy was drawn from the luxuriant climates of Asia, and
the profusion which now covers our land originated in the

136 L[ntroducers of Exotic Flowers, ete.

most anxious nursing, and were the gifts of individuals.
Monuments are reared, and medals struck, to commemorate
events and names, which are less deserving our regard than
those who have transplanted into the colder gardens of the
North the rich fruits, the beautiful flowers, and the succu-
lent pulse and roots of more favoured spots; and carrying
into their own country, as it were, another Nature, they
have, as old Gerald well expresses it, “laboured with the
soil to make it fit for the plants, and with the plants to
make them delight in the soil.”

There is no part of the characters of Peiresc and Evelyn,
accomplished as‘they are in so many, which seems more
delightful to me, than their enthusiasm for the garden, the
orchard, and the forest.

Pieresc, whose literary occupations admitted of no inter-
ruption, and whose universal correspondence throughout
the habitable globe was more than sufficient to absorb his

studious life, yet was the first man, as Gassendus relates in’

his interesting manner, whose incessant inquiries procured
the great variety of jessamines ; those from China, whose
leaves, always green, bear a clay-coloured flower, and a
delicate perfume ; the American with a crimson-coloured,
and the Persian with a violet-coloured flower; and the
Arabian, whose tendrils he delighted to train over “the
banqueting-house in his garden ;’” and of fruits, the orange-
trees with a red and parti-coloured flower; the medlar;
the rough cherry without stone; the rare and luxurious
vines of Smyrna and Damascus; and the fig-tree called
Adam/’s, whose fruit, by its size, was supposed to be that
with which the spies returned from the land of Canaan.
Gassendus describes his transports when Peiresc beheld the
Indian ginger growing green in his garden, and his delight
in grafting the myrtle on the musk vine, that the experi-
ment might show us the myrtle wine of the ancients. But
transplanters, like other inventors, are sometimes baffled in
their delightful enterprises; and we are told of Pieresc’s

deep regret when he found that the Indian cocoa-nut would

only bud, and then perish in the cold air of France, while

the leaves of the Egyptian papyrus refused to yield him

their vegetable paper. But it was his garden which pro-
pagated the exotic fruits and flowers, which he transplanted
into the French king’s, and into Cardinal Barberini’s, and
the curious in Europe; and these occasioned a work on
the manuring of flowers by Ferrarius, a botanical Jesuit,
who there described these novelties to Europe.

Introducers of Exotic Flowers, ete. 137

Had Evelyn only composed the great work of his
“Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees,’ &c., his name
would have excited the gratitude of posterity. The voice
of the patriot exults in the dedication to Charles II. pre-
fixed to one of the later editions. “I need not acquaint
your majesty, how many millions of timber-trees, besides
infinite others, have been progagated and planted through-
out your vast dominions, at the instigation and by the sole
direction of this work, because your majesty has been
pleased to own it publickly for my encouragement.” And
surely while Britain retains her awful situation among the
nations of Europe, the “Sylva” of Evelyn will endure with
her triumphant oaks. It was a retired philosopher who
aroused the genius of the nation, and who casting a pro-
phetic eye towards the age in which we live, has contributed
to secure our sovereignty of the seas. The present navy
of Great Britain has been constructed with the oaks which
the genius of Evelyn planted!

Animated by a zeal truly patriotic, De Serres in France,
in 1599, composed a work on the art of raising silk-worms,
and dedicated it to the municipal body of Paris, to excite
the inhabitants to cultivate mulberry-trees. The work at
first produced a strong sensation, and many planted mul-
berry-trees in the vicinity of Paris; but as they were not
yet used to raise and manage the silk-worm, they reaped
nothing but their trouble for their pains. They tore up
the mulberry-trees they had planted, and, in spite of De
Serres, asserted that the northern climate was not adapted
for the rearing of that tender insect. The great Sully,
from his hatred of all objects of luxury, countenanced the
popular clamour, and crushed the rising enterprise of De
Serres. The monarch was wiser than the minister. The
book had made sufficient noise to reach the ear of Henry
IV., who desired the author to draw up a memoir on the
subject, from which the king was induced to plant mul-
berry-trees in all the royal-gardens; and having imported
the eggs of silk-worms from Spain, this patriotic monarch
gave up his orangeries, which were but his private gratifi-
cation, for that leaf which, converted into silk, became a
part of the national wealth. It is to De Serres, who intro-
duced the plantations of mulberry-trees, that the commerce
of France owes one of her staple commodities; and
although the patriot encountered the hostility of the prime
minister, and the hasty prejudices of the populace in his
own day, yet his name at this moment is fresh in the hearts

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. M

eo “ee

138 I[ntroducers of Exotic Flowers, ete,

of his fellow-citizens ; for I have just received a medal, the
eift of a literary friend from Paris, which bears his portrait,
with the reverse, “ Societé d’Agriculture du Département
de la Seine.” It was struck in 1807. The same honour is
the right of Evelyn from the British nation.

There was a period when the spirit of plantation was
prevalent in this kingdom ; it probably originated from the
ravages of the soldiery during the civil wars. A man,
whose retired modesty has perhaps obscured his claims on
our regard, the intimate friend of the great spirits of that
age, by birth a Pole, but whose mother had probably been
an English woman, Samuel Hartlib, to whom Milton
addressed his tract on education, published every manu-
script he collected on the subjects of horticulture and agri-
culture. The public good he effected attracted the notice
of Cromwell, who rewarded him with a pension, which,
after the restoration of Charles II., was suffered to lapse,
and Hartlib died in utter neglect and poverty. One of his
tracts is “A design for plenty by an universal planting of
fruit-trees.” The project consisted in enclosing the waste
lands and commons, and appointing officers, whom he calls
fruiterers, or wood-wards, to see the plantations were duly
attended to. The writer of this project observes on fruits,
that it is a sort of provisions so natural to the taste, that
the poor man, and even the child, will prefer it before
better food, “as the story goeth,’ which he has preserved
in these ancient and simple lines:

“‘'The poor man’s child invited was to dine,
With flesh of oxen, sheep, and fatted swine,
(Far better cheer than he at home could find,)
And yet this child to stay had little minde.
You have, quoth he, no apple, froise, nor pie,
Stew’d pears, with bread and milk, and walnuts by.”

The enthusiasm of these transplanters inspired their
labours. They have watched the tender infant of their
planting, till the leaf and the flowers and the fruit ex-
panded under their hand; often, indeed, they have amelio-
rated the quality, increased the size, and even created a
new species. The apricot, drawn from America, was first
known in Europe in the sixteenth century: an old French
writer has remarked, that it was originally not larger than
a damson ; our gardeners, he says, have improved it to the
perfection of its present size and richness. One of these
enthusiasts is noticed by Evelyn, who for forty years had

Introducers of Exotic Flowers, etc. 139

in vain tried by a graft to bequeath his name to a new
fruit; but persisting on wrong principles, this votary of
Pomona has died without a name. We sympathise with
Sir William Temple when he exultingly acquaints us with
the size of his orange-trees, and with the flavour of his
peaches and grapes, confessed by Frenchmen to have
equalled those of Fontainebleau and Gascony, while the
Italians agreed that his white figs were as good as any of
that sort in Italy; and of his “ having had the honour” to
naturalise in this country four kinds of grapes, with his
liberal distributions of cuttings from them, because “he
ever thought all things of this kind the commoner they are
the better.

The greater number of our exotic flowers and fruits
were carefully transported into this country by many of
our travelled nobility and gentry; some names have been
casually preserved. The learned Linacre first brought, on
his return from Italy, the damask-rose ; and Thomas Lord
Cromwell, in the reign of Henry VIII., enriched our fruit-
gardens with three different plums. In the reign of
Elizabeth, Edward Grindal, afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury, returning from exile, transported here the
medicinal plant of the tamarisk ; the first oranges appear
to have been brought into England by one of the Carew
family; for a century after, they still flourished at the
family seat at Beddington, in Surrey. The cherry orchards
of Kent were first planted about Sittingbourne, by a
gardener of Henry VIII.; and the currant-bush was trans-
planted when our commerce with the island of Zante was
first opened inthe same reign. ‘The elder Tradescant in
1620, entered himself on board of a privateer, armed
against Morocco, solely with a view of finding an. oppor-
tunity of stealing apricots into Britain: and it appears
that he succeeded in his design. To Sir Walter Rawleigh
we have not been indebted solely for the luxury of the
tobacco-plant, but for that infinitely useful root, which
forms a part of our daily meal, and often the entire meal
of the poor man—the potato, which deserved to have been
called a Rawlegh. Sir Anthony Ashley first planted
cabbages in this country, and a cabbage at his feet appears
on his monument. Sir Richard Weston first brought
clover-grass into England from Flanders, in 1645; and the
figs planted by Cardinal Pole, at Lambeth, so far back as
the reign of Henry VIII., are said to be still remaining
there: nor is this surprising, for Spilman, who set up the

140 Introducers of Exotic Flowers, etc.

first paper-mill in England, at Dartford, in 1590, is said to
have brought over in his portmanteau the two first lime-
trees, which he planted here, and which are still growing,
The Lombardy poplar was introduced into England by
the Earl of Rochford, in 1758. The first mulberry-trees in
this country are now standing at Sion House. By an.
Harleian MS., it is mentioned that the first general plant-
ing of mulberries and making of silk in England was by
William Stallange, comptroller of the custom house, and
Monsieur Verton, in 1608. It is probable that Monsieur
Verton transplanted this novelty from his own country,
where we have.seen De Serres’s great attempt. Here the
mulberries have succeeded better than the silkworms.

The very names of many of our vegetable kingdom
indicate their locality ; from the majestic cedar of Lebanon,
to the small Cos-lettuce, which came from the isle of Cos;
the cherries from Cerasuntis, a city of Pontus; the peach,
or persicum, or mala Persica, Persican apples, from Persia ;
the pistachio, or pszttacza, is the Syrian word for that nut.
The chestnut, or chataigne, in French, and castagnua in
Italian, from Castagna, a town of Magnesia. Our plums
coming chiefly from Syria and Damascus ; the damson, or
damascene plum, gives us a- recollection of its distant
origin.

It is somewhat curious to observe on this subject, that
there exists an unsuspected intercourse between nations, in
the propagation of exotic plants, &c. Lucullus, after the ~
war with Mithridates, introduced cherries from Pontus into
Italy ; and the newly-imported fruit_was found so pleasing
that it was rapidly propagated, and six-and-twenty years
afterwards, as Pliny testifies, the cherry-tree passed over into
Britain. Thus, a victory obtained by a Roman consul over
a king of Pontus, with which it would seem that Britain
could have no concern, was the real occasion of our
countrymen possessing cherry-orchards. Yet, to our
shame, must it be told, that these cherries from the king
of Pontus’s-city of Cerasuntis, are not the cherries we are
now eating; for the whole race of cherry-trees was lost in
the Saxon period, and was only restored by the gardener
of Henry VIII., who brought them from Flanders—with-
out a word to enhance his own merits, concerning the
bellum Mithridaticum !

A calculating, political economist will little sympathise
with the peaceful triumphs of those active and generous
spirits, who have thus propagated the truest wealth, and

=

Introducers of Exotic Flowers, etc. I4I

the most innocent luxuries of the people. The project of
a new tax, or an additional consumption of ardent spirits,
or an Act of Parliament to put a convenient stop to popu-
lation by forbidding the banns of some happy couple,
would be more congenial to their researches; and they
would leave, without regret, the names of those whom we
have held out to the grateful recollections of their country.
The Romans, who, with all their errors, were at least
patriots, entertained very different notions of these intro-
ducers into their country of exotic fruits and flowers. Sir
William Temple has elegantly noticed the fact. “The
great captains, and even consular men, who first brought
then over, took pride in giving them their own names, by
which they ran a great while in Rome, as in memory of
some great service or pleasure they had done their country ;
so that not only laws and battles, but several sorts of
apples and pears were called Manlian and Claudian, Pom-
peyan and Tiberian, and by several other such noble
names.” Pliny has paid his tribute of applause to
Lucullus, for bringing cherry and nut-trees from Pontus
into Italy. And we have several modern instances, where
the name of the transplanter, or rearer, has been preserved
in this sort of creation. Peter Collinson, the botanist, to
“whom the English gardens are indebted for many new
and curious species which he acquired by means of an
extensive correspondence in America,’ was highly gratified
when Linnzus baptized a plant with his name; and with
great spirit asserts his honourable claim: “Something, I
think, was due to me for the great number of plants and
seeds I have annually procured from abroad, and you have
been so good as to pay it, by giving me a species of
eternity, botanically speaking; that is, a name, as long as
men and books endure.” Such is the true, animating
language of these patriotic enthusiasts !

Some lines, at the close of Peacham’s “Emblems,” give
an idea of an English fruit-garden in 1612. He mentions
that cherries were not long known, and gives an origin to
the name of filbert.

“The Persian Peach, and fruitful Quince ;
And there the forward Almond grew,
With Cherries knowne no long time since ;
The Winter Warden, orchard’s pride ;
The Philibert that loves the vale,
And red Queen apple, so envide
Of school-boies, passing by the pale.” __
“Curiosities of Literature.”

142

ON THE GROWTH AND PREPARATION
OF FLAX,

LAX is grown for the fibre for manufacturing pur-

poses, or for the seed for crushing for oil and cake. The
varieties are few. Some of the provinces of Holland and of
northern France produce the best descriptions sent to the
English markets.

Those soils most suitable for flax are deep loams and
sandy earths, having a considerable quantity of vegetable
remains as a component part; although, both in England
and Ireland, exceedingly fine crops have been produced on
well-worked clays. In Zealand, where the finest flax is
grown, the cultivators prefer land having a wet bottom, but
this is not generally thought desirable. In the north of
Ireland, too, moist lands have frequently been preferred to
those that are dryer.

When new land is intended for flax, it is best to break it
up the season before sowing, and re-plough it in the follow-
ing spring, so that the seed may be placed in the ground,in
this colony, about the middle of October onwards. Both
these ploughings should be deeply and well done ; and, after
the last, the land should be rendered fine with the harrows.
If the object be to grow for seed only, the drill method is
the best ; but, otherwise, the ordinary broad-cast plan will
be sufficient, covering the seed afterwards to a sufficient
depth, by giving a cross, double, close harrowing. In
most countries, flax is sown after a corncrop; and in Ire-
land and France it has been put in directly after the wheat
harvest, and left to stand the winter; or, in the former
country, after a crop of potatoes has been lifted. When
the linseed is allowed to ripen, the crop is considered an ex-
hausting one; but this is not the case where the plants are
pulled in their green state for fibre only. Inthe first choice
of linseed, that of a bright brownish colour, oily to the
touch, with due regard to weight, should be selected; and
if afterwards the crop be productive, large in quantity, and
fine in quality, the seed should then be continued to be
changed from one description of soil to another. In Eng-
land and Ireland, the farmers usually prefer sowing Dutch
seed, imported annually for the purpose. The weight of
seed per acre to be sown depends upon the object of the
crop, and manner of sowing. Ifa crop of linseed is to be
saved, the drill method is preferable, to give plants air, and

On the Growth and Preparation of Flax. 143

width to throw out laterial shoots and become bushy; but
where flax is intended to be taken in its green state, the
broad-cast plan is sufficient ; and from eight to ten pecks
of seed to the acre, or six pecks, if sown in drill fashion.
Thickly sown flax grows high, and produces a fine staple,
soft and supple.

The culture of the young crops consists principally in
weeding ; which, if they have been sown in drills, can be
readily done with the hoe, but, if sown broad-cast, the weed-
ing must be managed by hand. Sometimes sheep may be
turned upon the crops; they will eat the weeds, and not
touch the flax plants. This, however, can only be done
when the ground is ina dry state, and would be a cheap
and expeditious mode of exterminating the weeds. There
is sometimes a danger of crops becoming laid in wet and
stormy seasons, particularly if they are thick and heavy;
Cultivators in Ireland guard against this by running stakes
and cords across the fields diagonally, yet this can scarcely
be attempted here. Small crops should be put in from
mid-October till the end of November, and much must be
left to chance afterwards.

The produce of flax fibre to the acre is not easily stated
varying as it does from three or four hundredweights to
halfaton. The produce of flax in seed is ordinarily from
eight to twelve bushels an acre; but, in the former case, it
must be borne in mind that the weightis given in the gross,
before being prepared for sale. The average price of lin-
seed in the English markets is generally from three shil-
lings to four shillings a bushel. The seed is separated into
three qualities; the first being retained for sowing, the
- second for crushing for oil and cake, and the third or in-
ferior description, for boiling for cattle food. The price of
the fibre in England fluctuates so much, that it is not ad-
visable to endeavour to arrive at an average. The London
price currents of the day are the best guides. The annual
importation of flax and hemp into Great Britain now
amounts to about 100,000 tons. More than 180,000 lbs. of
rough flax and hemp are used in the cordage of a first-rate
man-of-war, including rigging and sails.

To take in a crop of flax, it must be pulled by hand just
as it comes into full flower, at least when fibre is the ob-
ject; or before the seeds in the capsules become of a
brownish colour, when fibre and seed are both required, or
when seed only is the object ; and the operation of pulling
differs according to the intention of the crop. When it is

144 On the Growth and Preparation of Flax.

grown for the fibre only, it should be pulled and tied-up in
sheaves like oat-forage, and carried off immediately to be
watered ; but when the seed is to be taken from the plant,
it is pulled and laid in handfuls and left to dry. If fibre
and seed are both required, this drying should not be longer
than necessary. On the continent, the practice is to let the
flax lie upon the ground for two or three days; although
one day would be sufficient if the sun is very powerful, and
the air dry.

In the process of rippling, which is the next operation, a
large cloth should be spread on a convenient spot ofground
with the ripple placedin the middle of it. The pods contain
ing the seeds are forced from the stalks by means of the iron
comb called the ripple, fixed on ‘a beam of wood, on the
ends of which two persons sit, who, by pulling the seed
end of the flax repeatedly through this comb, execute the
operation in a very complete manner. Many people in Scot-
land who bestow much attention on the cultivation of flax,
ripple off the seed where there is no intention of saving it;
as it is found when flax is put into water without taking off
the pods, the water soon becomes putrid, and the fibre is
greatly injured thereby. The capsules obtained by rippling
should be spread in the sun to dry; they are then broken,
either by threshing or treading ; and the whole, capsules,
seed, and refuse, must be carefully sifted, winnowed, and
cleaned. When the seed is laid up, it must be frequently
turned over and ventilated to prevent its taking any heat.

In separating the fibre from the bark, it is necessary to
accelerate the process of putrefaction, and this may be ac-
complished in various ways; but the chief are steeping
alone, and steeping and bleaching. In performing this
operation the flax—whether it has been dried and rippled
or pulled green without rippling—is loosely tied into small
bundles (because then it is most equally watered) ; and
these sheaves should be built in a pool in a reclining up-
right position, so that the weight placed above may keep
the whole firmly down. The weights made use of are
commonly stones placed on planks, or directly on the flax
itself. The most certain rule by which to judge when flax
is sufficiently watered is, when the boon becomes brittle
and the harl separates easily from it. In warm weather,
ten days of the watering process are sufficient, twelve days
will answer in any moderate weather; but care must be
taken not tosteep too it long at any time. The pools wherein
flax is being steeped should always be looked to after a —

On the Growth and Preparation of Flax. 145

week. Grassing, or bleaching flax, may take place after
the last operation of steeping if it be requisite; and in
doing this, the fibre is spread very thinly on the ground,
and in regular rows,—the one being made to overlap the
other a few inches, with the object of preventing, as much
as possible, its being scattered by the wind. Grassland,
where the herbage does not grow to any great heighth, is
the best for the purpose. The time for grassing is regulated
by the state of the flax ; a few days only are ordimarily re-
quisite; yet during this operation the flax should be re-
peatedly examined, and when it is found that the boon has
become very brittle, so that on being broken and rubbed
between the hands, it freely parts from the harl, it is taken
up, a dry day being chosen for the purpose; and being
again bound in sheaves, is either sent directly to the mill,
or broken and scutched at home by a machine for that
purpose.

The main dressing of flax consists of various operations,
such as scutching, tracking, or breaking—by which the
woody part is crushed, and heckling or combing—by which
the fibre is separated from the woody portion, and sorted
into lengths. This is all done by simple machines; one ton
of fine flax being produced from four tons of stem. Any
glutinous matter may be removed from the article after it
has passed the machines by soap and water, if a very clean
and white staple be required. Indeed, the value of flax de-
pends much upon the care and skill with which the pro-
cesses are conducted; and according to its quality, its
value varies from about 404 to 180/ per ton.

Probably the best system for cultivators to adopt is,
merely to grow and tie up the flax, if fibre be the intention,
leaving the rippling, scutching, tracking, and heckling to
professed hecklers.

Flax-cotton, very much used at the present time, is a
eae prepared from flax, hemp, and other vegetable

bres.

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. N

146

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AVAILABLE FOR TEXTILE FABRICS.
BY H. SHERWOOD.

(Continued from page 98.)

N previous numbers we have noticed China grass, and
flax. Hemp claims our next attention. It appears to
have been always considered only available for lowest uses.
Beyond rope, twine, or sackcloth, it must not rise. Yet, in
its cleanest aspects, it seems to say “I know, and you
know my value.” This sole use for heaviest purposes,
arises out of the close manner in which nature has
agelutined its cells into filaments, which again, by looser
vegetable matter, are formed into a broad sheet. Witohut
lessening its use for its present heavy purposes, art might
have rendered it the most useful fibre we possess (consider-
ing its price), for a medium class of fabrics ina partly
separated state, as flax-cotton; and, to a limited extent,
valuable in a state of separated cells.

The individual cell in hemp is coarser than in flax, in
about the ratio of three to two. Itis of similar length, nearly
as brilliant, less equal in thickness, tapering towards the
end; and is at least equally valuable and desirable as the
cotton substitute obtained from China grass, and, in an un-
combed state, similar toit, but possesses better spinning pro-
perties. Though not adapted to the fine uses for which a
similar state of flax is adapted ; yet, for yarns, for many pur-
poses requiring brilliance, as warps for fancy mixed fabrics, it
will be valuable, probably equally so, as the shortest “Top”
taken out of China grass.

In the partly separated state as a flax-cotton, produced
by ridding entirely the filament from loose vegetable matter,
Bombay and Sunn hemp of good qualities, considering
their price, are more desirable for many uses than any
other of our fibrous materials, and will, doubtless, at some
day assert their claims to these uses. |

And here, perhaps, an apology may be permitted to be
put in for this state of fibre. When introduced by
Claussen, fifteen years ago, it attracted considerable atten-
tion, yet it did not appear to have suggested a definite use.
Seeing that it was specially suited for working on fine tow
machinery, complaints were made of its price (36s. to 60s.)
exceeding that of ordinary tows, and had its price been —

V egetable Fibres. 147

that of the tow from which it was produced with great
loss of weight, (borne by the fibre instead of the cloth), it
would have commanded a large use (!) There is indispu-
tably in flax-cotton, from whatever fibre produced, much to
recommend for extensive use. It will produce close upon its
own weight of cloth. It requires simply carding on tow or
_ other cards to produce a clean, even yarn, as fine as is prac-
ticable for an ordinary combed flax. It will produce a
character of cloth greatly needed, widely different from
any tow-cloth; equidistant from cotton and linen cloth;
firmer and more durable than cotton ; softer, warmer, and
more even than linen, whilst equally fine; its firmness and
strength being desirable qualities in fabrics, such as sheet-
ings, towellings, shirtings, jeans, &c., all of which would be
better fabrics produced from it than if produced from
cotton; yet their price would not reach so high as
if produced from the lowest Indian cotton, with its
40 per cent. waste, and high cost of spinning. The ob-
jection that fibre, minus trash, costs more, whilst producing
a valuable cloth, than fibre, plush trash, producing a poor
_ cloth, is not worthy of attention. Surely, Britain possesses
men of more honourable discrimination! No fear need
exist that good materials of this class will ever become
high in price:—The various fibres are so abundant and so
wide-spread which are useful chiefly in this state, (and
which now are largely rotting as they grow,) that a great.
abundance must always exist of fibres available for flax-
cotton at low rates, to sustain a large class of manufactures
of great excellence in all heavy fabrics extending from
body-linen down to the lowest uses. It does not appear
probable that cotton will ever again compete so much in
price with other fibres, as to completely drive them out of
the market, as heretofore. There seems, therefore, every
reason for supposing that a manufacture of fabrics from
this class of fibrous materials, would be highly successful,
and would meet with a ready market; an eager one after
their excellencies become tested, with a rapidly increasing
production of a safe lucrative character.

Jute and its kindred fibres scarcely need attention here,
having already found their legitimate uses, which seem
little likely to be extended with advantage. Itis compara-
tively little improvable by art, from the state in which it
comes onthe market. It consists of fairly regular fila-
ments difficultly separated into their cells, which do not
possess the character necessary for spinning into fine yarns.

148 Vegetable Fibres Available for

It seems, therefore, to find its natural use in coarse fabrics,
where cheapness and weight of cloth are the first conside-
rations. All the tests through which it has passed have
not brought out any properties which would suggest for it
a desirable use for the higher classes of fabrics.
New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax). This fibre has a
great name (In prospective?) It forms one of the splendid
colourings used to impart a roseate hue to the colony. It
grows toa great length, being the veins of a liliaceous
leaf, lying behind a tough epidermis, which is difficult to
separate completely except treated in a green state. When
simply separated from the epidermis, its toughness exceeds
that of every other fibre. As a rope material, when un-
cleansed, it is very strong, but does not possess much
binding property. Like all the other endogens, the fibres
are built up of very short cells, which do not exceed three-
eighths of an inch in length, of great brilliance, of moderate
fineness, brittle, stiff, and possessing none of the properties
necessary for spinning so short a material. After the fibre
has been cleansed from loose matter, the cells bristle out
to an unusual degree, which has doubtless given rise to the
mistaken idea that a good fibre would be obtained for tex-—
tile fabrics. No delusion can be greater than the supposi-
tion that the fibre can be thus useful in a completely
separated state. It is, however, able to be cleansed and
divided into a flax-cotton of unequal finenessof filament, and
of length and other properties adapted for producing heavy
useful fabrics. More brittle and more glossy than a similar
material from any of the exogens (consequently less use-
ful), yet, for these fabrics, it may realize some of the too
glowing hopes entertained for it; though itsgreatest utility
will be for cordage, for which purpose, considering its low
procurable price, it ought to be largely used. As a
cleansed fibre, it dyes no better than any other, is difficult
to bleach, and though the cells are so short and _ brilliant
they possess none of the soft, pulpy, felting property found
in Pine-apple or Yercum fibre. The ordinary methods em-
ployed to cleanse and prepare other fibres, only render
Phormium tenax harder and more brittle. Amongst the
extraneous matter lying on the fibre, is found an oil, a true
resin and tannin; yet, probably water and beating are the
only agents employed by the Maories in its preparation
for their uses. It is scarcely to be supposed that these
matters can be utilised with advantage, as has been pro-
posed. The fibre appears to be obtainable in large quanti-

Leatile Fabrics. — 149

ties from other of our colonies, where greater heat will
supply a more abundant crop, and probably more desirable
varieties than exist in New Zealand itself.

Broussonetia papyrifera and others :—This fibre in many
varieties is diffused through a very extensive portion of the
warmer parts of the Temperate Zones, and contributes
largely to the manufacture of dress in the islands of the
Pacific, and Indian Oceans. It does not appear to have
claimed much attention from Europe, although it might
occupy a more important position than has hitherto been
allotted to it. From the facts of being of vigorous growth,
and its cultivation everywhere known, it could doubtless be
made a large produce, and might be imported at a very low
price.

It posesses properties which approximate ‘much more
to cotton, than any other fibre. its characteristics there-
fore specially deserve attention. When cleansed from
loose vegetable matter, it separates into filaments equally
fine with good flax. These filaments are of greater length
than flax, but are so Jagged and branching, as possibly to
cause them to be thought unsuitable for working on flax
machinery. The separated cells are of great fineness,
about equal toa good stapled cotton ; from one to one and
a half inches in length ; even less brilliant than cotton itself ;
soft; more cylindrical thancotton,though inclined to twist in
a similar manner. From these properties it may be gathered
that we have here one of the nearest approaches to cotton
presented by the fibrous cell of any of the exogens; and
if any fibres can replace cotton as a full substitute, this at
least is one of them. The cells are difficult of separation,
as nature appears to have made up fora lack of loose vege-
table matter, by an additional tenaceous gum-resin, to
eradicate which, the public modes of treating fibres subject
this fibre to too rough treatment, and thereby induce the
formation of lint. When partially separated into a state of
flax-cotton, this isa fibre fitted for medium fabrics, possessing
much, if not all, the softness and warmth of cotton without
the brilliance of other fibres; but also with no greater
strength than cotton. Perhaps it is questionable whether,
.from the somewhat uneven length of the fibres composing
it, a yarn could be produced of even so great strength as
cotton itself. It appears to possess more felting property
than most of fibres, and to dye equally well with cotton.
It might be grown with facility as a profitable crop in many
parts of the south of Europe, especiallyin Italy and Greece.

150 Vegetable Fibres Available, etc. *

In the pressent state of manufactures, the fibre would pro-
bably be most valued, in its simply washed and opened
state to work asa flax ; and would then at a low price pro-
duce a warm, even, strong cloth of considerable beauty.

Pine Apple Fibve—On examining this fibre, we cannot
but indulge the idle regret that the aggregation of endo-
genous fibres unqualify them for sustaining the part for
which some of the properties of this fibre in particular
would have rendered it so valuable, had they been linked
with others unfortunately wanting. It is of considerable
strength and possesses the property of splitting up into long
filaments of the fineness of jute, but possessing double its
strength. These single filaments are employed in semi-
civilised countries, as if yarns, for weaving into a glassy
cloth or muslin. The filament is capable of considerable
sub-division, but from the interlinking of the cells, becomes
jagged and tender. The cells are of fineness, almost ex-
ceeding any silk: very soft and bright, but are not more
than a quarter of an inch in length ; the fibre cannot there-
fore be used in that state, and can be extensively useful
for fabrics only as a flax-cotton, much inferior than from
the cheapest hemps; or, for ropes; or, as a magnificent
paper-material, for which it is. probably one of the best
fibres known. It appears to be obtainable in large quan-
tities at very moderate prices; and it may naturally be
asked (though a subject foreign to this inquiry), how it
happens that English capital does not bring forward im- —
mense quantities of such fibres, prepared into half-stuff on
the spot, by adapted machinery, in which form it would be
conveyable at as moderate freights as coal. It cannot be
the fear of too little profit, or of limited demand. It should
be enough to know that thousands of tons of this fibre rot
annually on the ground, which could be procured at mere
cost of labour and transit. It scarcely needs bleaching,as it |
cleanses into one of thewhitest fibrous materials which exist.
The papers shown as produced from it, form no criterion of
its value, having been evidently produced from it in an
uncleansed state, and not thoroughly disaggregated.
Where toughness combined with fineness is the object
sought, its value must be very high.

(To be continued.)

151

INDIAN CORN GROWING IN NATAL.

HERE are numerous varieties of Indian corn, sup-

posed to arise principally from the difference of climate
where the plant is cultivated, but there is no doubt but
that America is its native country, for there, and also in
the West India Islands, it is seen growing wild, and pro-
duced in the greatest perfection from the wild seed. The
height of American mealies is various, being from ten to
twelve feet in ordinary situations, and in some places at-
taining a growth of fourteen feet without losing any of its
productiveness. The value of the grain to America is
nearly as great as that of rice to India, for it forms a prin-
cipal food for the inhabitants—white and coloured—and is
almost the sole support of the Mexicans. Indian corn is
also grown largely in the southern portion of the European
continent, in continental Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The plant is less subject to disease than wheat, since blight
mildew, and rust scarcely ever affect it. The chief
enemies in this colony to mealie growers are insects, where
mealies have been sown very early in the season.

The return of this crop, as compared with wheat, is ex-
ceedingly large. In Mexico and Peru, where it grows most
luxuriantly, its productiveness appears largest, for we are
assured that in many favourable spots in these countries it
frequently yields 140 to 150 bushels per acre, without ap-
plication of manure; only this is where artificial irriga-
tion is practised. To gather there from 100 to 120 bushels
per acre, on loosely cultivated land, and where no artificial
means ofwateringareused,isverycommon. Theproducefrom
its mealies inthe Northern and Southern American States
is less heavy than in Mexico and Peru, at least on the average
run of lands, but is vastly superior to that of other cereals.
Wherethe average yield of wheat per acre, on the generality
of but fairly cultivated North American soils,does notexceed
from sixteen to eighteen bushels, that of mealies comes up
to forty or fifty. In some of the moist and warm regions
of Mexico,two harvests of Indian corn are frequently
gathered ; so, likewise, is this sometimes done in the West
Indian Islands. In Australia, and in New Zealand, in
favoured localities, the return is from forty to fifty bushels
per acre. The culture of mealies has been always success-
fully carried on in Georgia; the ordinary increase in good
years being from fifty to sixty bushels per acre; and by

152 Indian Corn Growing in Natal.

the finest ears being selected for seed, and careful cultiva-
tion of. the land, and attention to crops, the corn has in-
creased in size and productiveness, and even a larger yield
than that is often obtained. This last result was some
many years ago produced bya cultivator named Baden;
hence the choice corn known ever since as Badencorn. In
Italy and Spain the return is about from thirty to forty
bushels of corn to the acre, but the farmers of those coun-
tries are not the most enlightened and industrious men in
the world.

The method of planting Indian corn in the American
States is by drawing shallow drills, three or four feet apart,
and by dropping the seeds by hand at six inches apart, and
by lightly harrowing the ground afterwards. In Canada
and Australia, the seed is sown in the broad-cast method,
after the ground has been ploughed to a fair depth; and
the seed-harrows are subsequently run lightly over the
field. By sowing mealies in.rows after the plough some
quantity of the seeds may besaved, and the means
afforded for, horse-hoeing the crop; yet we consider the
broad-cast manner of sowing nearly as good, and if the
crop is thicker than is wished, any surplus can be easily
pulled out and carried off for stock food. Where land has
been thoroughly well ploughed, say for oats one season ;
been manured and deeply ploughed the next spring, and
sown with mealies broad-cast, and the after culture of the
crop properly attended to by deep hoeing, a return may
almost invariably be calculated upon, in this colony, of
from fifty to sixty bushels per acre of saleable produce in
average seasons. We have ourselves grown upon a small
patch of ground, containing just about eleven acres—the
land having been previously well manured, and the crop
kept clean—sixty marketable bushels per acre (or twenty
muids), besides others that served for poultry use, with an
almost countless store of pumpkins, that paid a great deal
more than the harvesting expenses of the mealie crop.

The mealie harvest is very differently conducted to the
wheat harvest. When the corn is ripe, the ears are picked
off the stem by hand, thrown into heaps upon the ground,
and afterwards is carted from the field; the stalks being
left to stand some time longer, until opportunity serves for
their being cut down with an English hedging-knife, and
gathered up for carriage home. In America, the mealies
are topped just betore the ear is getting ripe, and these
tops, together with the stalks, after harvest are stacked up

Indian Corn Growing in Natal. 153

and thatched, to be used for winter food for cattle. In
this colony, we think that sufficient attention is not paid in
this particular, and that more general use should be made
of tops and stalks; the former for winter keep for stocks of
all kinds, and the latter for fuel for domestic purposes. If
mealie stalks, after being carted home from the field, were
cut into short lengths—say from eighteen to twenty inches
long,—were stacked, and covered down with grass to keep
them dry until they are required for the purpose to which
the grower designs them for, much profit would accrue to
him. We constantly see the natives, who live at any con-
siderable distance from wood, carrying to their kraals all
their mealie stalks for cooking purposes.

Shelling the corn is easily performed by the common
American mealie-sheller; and four or five natives, properly
directed and kept at work, can readily shell from twenty to
five and twenty muids—sixty to sixty-five bushels—in a
day, from dry ears. The cobs, stripped of the corn, afford
excellent fuel, particularly where stoves are used, or for
heating ovens. :

The application of the Indian corn crop is, in this coun-
try, almost as various and important as it is in North and
South America ; for, firstly, a country family can begin to
use it before the time of full harvest, since the tender ears,
stripped of their jackets while green, roasted by a quick
fire until the grain is browned, and eaten with a little fresh
butter, or with salt, are nutritious; secondly, when the
grain is riper and harder, the ears boiled in their leaves form
a good and wholesome dish for dinner; or the grains, at
that period of their growth, kept for a considerable time,
and mixed with green kidney-beans, also dried, afford a
fair accompaniment to meat, they having been first soaked
for afew hours in water previous to their being cooked.
The dry grain, ground into flour and meal of various
degrees of quality, has many uses, and for horse-feeding,
sheep-feeding, pig-feeding, and poultry-feeding, may con-
stantly be made infinite service of. In England, the
Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk cottagers make
vast use of Indian corn for fattening the geese that reach
such notedly heavy weights at Christmas time in the Lon-
don market, and the people of Germany fatten poultry with
it to a very considerable extent.

Like other grain, mealies may be fermented, so as to
produce beer; or may be distilled, and a very wholesome
spirit obtained thereby.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. O

154 Miscellaneous.

Upon referrence to town-market prices of the last three
years, we find that the average value of mealies has been
gradually rising; and indeed, during 1864, some importa-
tions by sea took place, showing that the yield of the last
year had not been sufficient for the demand. The supply
to begin 1865 with, is very limited; so we are inclined to
think that a still higher average value may be calculated
upon for some seasons to come, than has ruled during the
few past; anticipating that the consumption, for a variety
of purposes, will be greater, and that the crop will be found
a useful one in a rotation necessary for keeping arable land
in the best state of cultivation. In calculating the return
of profit of mealie crop,—first, the marketable grain ;
second, the weight of edible straw, with the manure made
therefrom ; and, lastly, the quantity of fuel must be taken
into account; and it is as well to call to notice, that a very
large winter supply of pumpkins and gourds may be ob-
tained from the same ground, or if those are not approved,
a store of vegetable marrows may be procured for family
use. Ripe vegetable marrows are often served up in France
during the winter, with all kinds of meat. The concourzcell
a la moelleis esteemed a first-rate dish in Paris. Vegetable
marrows, however, if required to be kept long, must be
stored in a dry place, after being gathered guz¢e ripe, and
left in the sun a day or two.

MISCELLANEOUS,

Wiutuis’s ANILINE Printina Process.—Mr. Vincent Brooks,
the well-known lithographer, has taken this patent process in
hand; and, as a means of superseding manual or mechanical
methods of reproducing architectural drawings, plans, &c., it pro-
mises to take high ground in public favour. The main advantage
of the process is, or rather should be, in its extreme economy
where but a few copies are required. In common with other pho-
tographic processes, it secures perfect accuracy and rapidity of
production. A tracing may be used with perfect safety for this
purpose, but the paper on which it is made should be thin, clear,
and colourless, and the drawing made with British, or very black,
Indian ink, and the washes given with somewhat more strength
than usual. Colours are objectionable, owing to their varied
actinic powers. Ordinary sketches on common drawing paper

Miscellaneous. 155

may be used as negatives ; but, when placed over the prepared
surface, the light requires more time to do its work, owing to the
increased thickness of the medium it has to pass through.
Where scientific diagrams and drawings are required in small
numbers, this process will be specially advantageous. Messrs.
Southwell Brothers have introduced a lithographic process for
tinting the backgrounds of photographs so as to give the effect of
a portrait on a neutral ground with white high lights. The pro-
cess is thus described in the specification. A good portrait nega-
tive has its background carefully blocked out or rendered opaque.
In the finished print it is therefore perfectly white, and this is
then laid upon a flat board, and covered with a piece of tracing-
paper. On this the portrait is carefully outlined with a lead
pencil, and the image thus formed is then cut out. Over that
portion of the photograph on which the proposed tint is not re-
quired, the tracing.paper is fastened with a little gum; and then
the tint is printed over the whole, and the removal of the tracing-
paper with a damp sponge completes the first part of the process
so far as regards the background; if a general tone is required .
over the whole, a second printing is used. The photograph is
next damped between sheets of wet blotting-paper, and a properly
prepared embossing block is used in a lever or other press, to give
a texture to the whole resembling in effect and appearance that
of drawing-paper.—J. W. W. in ‘Science-Gossip.’

Winet.—The quantity of wine imported in the first six months
of this year was 8,493,240 gallons, as compared with 7,025,828
gallons in the corresponding period of 1865, and 8,264,211
gallons in the corresponding period of 1864. Of the total im-
ports this year 3,995,451 gallons were red wine, as compared with
3,263,987 gallons and 3,070,108 gallons in the corresponding
periods of 1865 and 1864. The imports of French wine appear
to be steadily increasing, having amounted to 1,286,256 gallons
of red wine and 528,987 gallons of white wine to June 3oth this
year, as compared with 943,811 gallons of red and 487,397 gal-
lons of white wine to the corresponding date of 1865, and
907,320 gallons of red and 464,957 gallons of white wine to the
corresponding date of 1864. The imports of wine have con-
siderably increased this year from Portugal and Spain. The
arrivals from British Colonies, which were never very large, have,
however, been further curtailed. Spain sent us to June 3oth this
year 669,244 gallons of red wine, and 3,190,710 gallons of white
wine, the totals in the first half of 1865 being 492,888 gallons,
and 2,475,773 gallons, and in the first half of 1864, 446,099
gallons and 4,073,545 gallons.

ConsuMPTION OF TEA.—The Board of Trade Returns (says
Messrs. Travers) show a remarkable increase in the quantity of
tea entered for home consumption, during the five months ending
May 31st, as contrasted with the corresponding period of the year

156 | Miscellaneous,

1865 ; the amount for the present year being 41,608,254 lbs.,
against 29,643,122 lbs.in1865,an increase of nearly 12,000,000 lbs. ;
this does not, however, represent a corresponding increase in
actual consumption, as the clearances during the month of May,
1865, were almost nominal, in consequence of the reduction of
the duty to 6d. per lb., which was announced in April, having
been postponed till the 1st of June of that year. As compared
with the corresponding five months in 1864, it is not so con-
siderable, being little more than four millions in excess, and this
probably represents fairly enough the increase that has resulted
from the reduction. Since 1864 there has been a slight but
gradual decrease: in our exports, which are, in round numbers,
represented by 13,000,000, £1,000,000, 10,000,000 lbs., during
the five months of the years 1864, 1865, 1866 respectively. <A
somewhat similar decrease is apparent in our imports, which may
be taken as 58,000,000, 57,000,000, and 56,000 000 lbs., during
the first five months of the years 1864, 1865, 1866. With regard
to sugar, It appears by the same returns that the increase in the
imports for the five months ended 31st of May last, as compared
with the corresponding period of 1865, consists chiefly of the
finer qualities. This is so far satisfactory as indicating that the
alteration in the duties, made two years ago, was a step in the
right direction, besides being a proof of the injurious influence
the scale exercised on the quality of our imports; but the differ-
ence between the past and present state of things is purely one
of detail, and the principle stands condemned, notwithstanding
that its evil effects have, to a certain extent, been mitigated.
The decrease in exports of raw sugar is extremely large, the
figures being, for the present year, 7,566 tons, against 14,479 tons
for the corresponding period of 1865 ; and the decrease in the
deliveries for home consumption is even larger, the figures being
199,116 tons against 208,850 tons. As regards the stock of raw
sugar in the United Kingdom, on the 31st of May last, a large
increase is shown for every quality, with the exception of No. 1,
or that equalled to white clayed, which shows a small decrease as
compared with 1865. ‘The total increase for the present year in
the stock amounts to 36,043 tons.—“ Journal of the Society of
Arts.”

BOOKS RECEIVED.

‘Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip’ for September. No. XXI. Hard-
wicke, Piccadilly.
‘The Artizan’ for August and September. Offices: 19 Salisbury

treet.
‘The Canadian Naturalist ’ for December, 1865. London: Baillie.er

>
.
ba

THE

meer NOLMOGIST:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

NOVEMBER, 1866.

— )———

ON OZONE AND ITS RELATIONS TO
ANIMAL CHARCOAL.

BY T. W. TOBIN.

HERE are three forces necessarily called into action
in a simple chemical combination of two elementary
bodies, and the formation of the resulting compound—.
first, a force by which each of the primary substances
undergoes a decomposition or destruction of its constitu-
tion ; secondly, an attractive force, a mutual affinity between
the respective elements; and thirdly, a new force is created,
effecting the structure of the resulting compound. The
absence of, or interference with, either of the two former
conditions prevents or modifies the reaction, and the chief
governing principle in most instances of combinations is
the inertia offered by one or both of the primary bodies to
the decomposition of form. The presence of a third neutral
body sometimes greatly modifies the behaviour of the two
active elements, although not in itself suffering any change
of constitution—a property remarkable in itself as proving
exceptionable to the doctrine of chemical affinity. The
action, moreover, is inexhaustible and continuous, it is in
proportion with the quantity of the substance.

This peculiar action has been named “ catalysts,” but to
accurately define the extent of the term would be proceed-
ing on doubtful ground. Numerous instances abound in.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. FE

158 On Ozone and its Relations to

which the direct cause may be traced to this principle, in
others it offers the best explanation as to the reactions of
substances on each other. The behaviour of finely di-
vided platinum, known as “spongy platinum” on a mix-
ture of hydrogen gas and atmospheric air or oxygen gas
is an instance in question. In the voltaic action of an acid
on an oxidizable metal influenced by the presence and
contact of another less oxidizable metallic body. Fermenta-
tion, the germ of decay and organic decomposition, mias-
mata and aromas, may even be comprehended by the same
hypothesis. It is only necessary to disseminate the inactive
principle, the neutral body, in the presence of certain other
substances capable of being affected by it, and the resulting
action takes place, leaving the inactive principle intact for
future generation. But this property is more remarkable,
and, perhaps, most practically useful, in the action of animal
charcoal or soluble organic matter.

An alcoholic solution of gum guiacum should be effected
in the following manner :—4} oz. of pure solid gum in ten
ozs. of alcohol, sp. gr. °830, four ozs. of distilled water to be
added, which ought not to precipitate the gum. If such
should take place, or should the mixture assume a turbid
appearance, more alcohol must be added to render the
solution clear, and the clear liquid decanted in stoppered
bottles, and wnxerposed to light. The test thus prepared is
for the detection of ozone or zascent oxygen, the substance
containing which under experiment for it should show a
neutral reaction to test paper.

One hundred grains of fresh burnt animal charcoal may
be now plaeed ina test tube; on to it a quantity of the
test liquid is poured so as to about quarter fill the vessel,
by stopping the aperture and slowly turning the tube over
to expose the charcoal alternately to the air, and then
covering it with the liquid contents of the tube, and repeat-
ing the operation about a dozen or more times, a slight
but decided change of colour of the test liquid will become
perceptible; in some instances a longer time is necessary
to indicate the same effect. Gum guiacum in a powdered
state is of a nearly white tint when first pulverized, but on
exposure to the air soon assumes a green hue. It possesses
a strong affinity for uncombined or nascent oxygen in par-
ticular, becoming discoloured from its normal condition to
a purple or deep blue when in combination with it. The
alkaline permanganates and chlorates yield an equivalent
of oxygen in contact with the gum, both being a solution,

Animal Charcoal. 159

and give the characteristic purple tint. It is, however,
destroyed in the presence of a free acid. Owing to its
affinity for oxygen, the pulverized gum, as just mentioned,
becomes green in contact with the air by combining with
the oxygen therein. If the clear solution of the gum ex-
posed to the air be observed horizontally under the surface,
with the light coming ina perpendicular direction from above,
a purple halo appears for a depth of about one-sixteenth
of an inch, it cannot be detected when looked at from
above. Freshly precipitated gum, from its solution by
means of water or otherwise, if free from oxyyen when pre-
cipitated, soon absorbs sufficient from the atmosphere to
turn it green: the effects described hereafter should,
for this reason, be observed shortly after the experi-
ment.

Dr. Stenhouse and others have shown that animal, in
common with other charcoal, possesses a peculiar property
of condensing on its surface gaseous oxygen and convert-
ing itinto ozone, and yet the ozone, which is known asa
transmissable substance, is difficult and if not impossible to
separate in its normal state from the locality of its genera-
tion. The presence and actual contact of charcoal as a
disinfectant is well known, and an instance scarcely exists
in which the virtue of its properties has been known to
affect their influence beyond the immediate proximity of
the substance. The following experimental illustration
may, however, show the fact more forcibly :—A long tube
is filled with fine grained dry charcoal, anda current of
atmospheric air passed slowly through it, on leaving the
tube the air will be found to contain no greater quantity of
ozone than previous to its entrance. If the charcoal be
then moistened with spirit or water, still no additional trace
of ozone will be found. The air, however, is neither
deprived of any sensible amount of ozone, and yet the
charcoal, during the process, possessed the full virtue of
the ozoning properties. Under varying temperatures also
no important alteration of weight is perceptible, for the
substances are but mechanically mixed, and a slight dis-
turbance would be sufficient to alter their composition on
this assumption, and vary the proportion of gaseous ozone
and charcoal. Independently of these instances it is im-
possible for a substance to exist in the pores or surface of
the charcoal when employed asa filtering material and
saturated with the liquid under operation, or if possible to
exist, it could hardly be replenished when exhausted by

P 2

160 On Ozone and tts Relations to

constant usage. I have known instances where animal
charcoal has oxidysed 262 grains of organic matter requir-
ing forty-five grains of oxygen inan average of 150 gallons
of : water per day, for nine, and twelve months consecutively,
supplying it with three-tenths of a grain per gallon of
gaseous oxygen without in any way having been exposed
to atmospheric air. In more than one example, moreover,
the charcoal was immersed in three feet of water, and the
surface of such water was exposed to the open air and
sunlight each day, circumstances favourable for speedily
depriving it of any air it might naturally contain.

As, to the source of ozone to furnish such oxidizable
matter present in solution. It is uncertain whether it is
obtained from the actual organic matter, or whether the
mineral salts coexistent with it, take an active part in fur-
nishing this element. If distilled water, after considerable
exposure to the open air, be treated with the ozone test,
no indication of ozone will be found to be present. If, on the
other hand, water, containing salts of lime, &c., be treated
in the same manner,a very different result will ensue.
The water seemingly increasing in its capacity for ozone in
proportion to the quantity of salts present. As might ‘be
reasonably anticipated, the least stable salt thus containing
the oxygen necessary for furnishing the ozone, would be
found to be affected after the process. Such actually takes
place in practice by filtration. The carbonate of lime held
as bicarbonate in solution is lessened often to the extent of
two grains per gallon. Still more conclusive is the fact
that a second filtration immediately afterwards does not
reduce the salts. As a negative instance also of the direct
virtue of these auxillary salts, “ rain-water” containing as
it invariably does, organic matter, is found to be far more
difficult to purify than water containing with it the av
quantity of inorganic salts.

Such is the action of animal charcoal or soluble organic
matter that, if the organism is perfect and the affinities
balanced, no reaction is perceptible. If, on the other hand,
the forces of attraction are in a partial state of resolution,
the animal charcoal taking to itself the oxygen of the com-
pound, redistributes it into more simple and stable com-
pounds. A subsequent analysis is found to yield a less
oxidizable organic residue, slightly lessened by the amount
of water and volatile gas, the product of the recombination.

To the chemical analyst it is a familiar circumstance to
meet with certain substances combining with each other

Animal Charcoal. 161

not by mechanical mixture not sometimes even in solution,
but which in other cases unite with avidity forming com-
pounds impossible otherwise to effect. The simplest type
illustrative of this principle is in the gases oxygen and
hydrogen in mixture. So long asthey remain undisturbed
and maintained below a fixed temperature no change is
known to take place. Chlorine and hydrogen when un-
exposed to light, sulphur again and oxygen, nitrogen and
oxygen, carbon and oxygen, each may exist mixed or in
contact, without any change taking place, but should one
or both elements of any of these combinations be freed by
any cause from a chemical combination in the presence of
each other, a secondary compound is at once created.
Such is water, such is muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, nitric
acid, and carbonic acid, such in fine are all the numerous
organic compounds, with which chemistry abounds, and
the ultimate cause effecting the majority of inorganic
combinations.

Ozone is a substance admitted by all authorities as par-
taking of the general properties, but differing in certain res-
pects from oxygen. Ozone is oxygen, but oxygen is not
necessarily ozone. Ozone is the oxygen of combination,
whether fixed in substance or free. When in combination
iw is Satisfied, and loses all its. characteristics of ozone.
When freed it is oxygen possessing all the energy of com-
bination without the power of reconstitution. But oxygen
is not the only substance capable of being rendered nascent.
The compounds of chlorides of platinum and gold are
instances in which chlorine is rendered nascent by the caty-
lictic presence of a third body. It is to this property the
combinations alluded to already are due, and every element
possesses the same property when newly freed, from) an te=
cent combination.

Now, those Shh ade ine the capacity for oxygen
and combining with it, are called oxides or acids; other
substances, although possessing the affinity are not capable
of uniting chemically with oxygen, but converting it into
ozone. Three bodies, A BC, are present ; between A and
B the affinity may be represented by 4, and are in com-
bination ; between Band C there exists an affinity repre-
sented by 3; between A C by o. A Band C may there-
fore be in mixture together, and the compound substance
A’B will be reduced when in presence of C to I, in its
absence 4. If nowanother substance D, bearing an affinity
_to B equal to 2, and to A and C too be added. When C

162 On Ozone and its Relations to

is present D will decompose the compound A B by the
superior attraction it has for A; in its absence the whole
series will remain unaltered. Ozone, present in an uncom-
bined state is characteristic of the body B.

Those substances are ozonizable which have a capacity
for free ozone, as just described, like animal and other
charcoal, platinum and other bodies. The alkaline per-
manganates and chlorates and like oxygen yielding bodies
are ozonized. All oxygen possessing, including organic
and decaying bodies, are ozonized, for, under some circum-
stance, they may yield oxygen in a nascent state, that is,
ozone.

It is possible as referred to already to furnish ozone
simply—first, by the decomposition of any substance con-
taining oxygen in combination; second, to ozonize the
oxygen of the atmosphere by animal charcoal or some other
substance of which this may stand as a type; and thirdly,
there is another and more important means of obtaining
ozone employed by Nature in providing the atmosphere, the
grand reservoir with that consential element. Water seems
to bear the most intimate affinity for ozone. The atmosphere
is known to contain it through the vehicle of moisture. It
is found more plentifully on the face of the ocean, rarely in
a covered and sheltered situation, never in an inhabited
dwelling. Being an active principle, its energy is quickly
concentrated and expended in the numerous ways Nature
has ordained for its mission. How, then, is the supply
maintained to compensate for the loss thussustained? As
it is found in the presence of moisture, so it is generated by
the moisture, by the vaporization perpetually going on at
the surface of the ocean by the constant evaporation on the
whole extent of the globe is maintained at a uniform quan-
tity. But to verify this by experiment : the evaporation_of
ether by a heated glass rod, furnishes a copious supply, and
will even sustain contusion with platinum wire; the ozone
test, solution of guiacum, if quickly dried on the surface of
paper affords the characteristic indication of ozone in be-
coming green. But the following perhaps is a more con-
clusive experiment as to the generation of ozone by evapo-
ration.

Two test tubes, similar to those before alluded to, should
be nearly filled with distilled water. In one case use water
which has been exposed in the open air for a considerable
time, say two or three hours, in the other case water which
has been recently boiled. The ozone test should be applied

Animal Charcoal. 163

to both at the same temperature. The result will show a
prevalence of ozone in the water that has been subjected to
quick evaporation by boiling, while in the other the unboiled
sample precipitation of the gum will take place uncoloured,
indicating a total absence of ozone.*

The accepted theory of ozone among chemists is as of
an active state of oxygen, and like the elementary prin-
ciples of electricity, it is never generated otherwise than
accompanied by a corresponding or induced quantity of
another opposing element, axztozone,; although opposite
and unlike in their nature, evincing properties positive and
negative, yet having astrong mutual affinity fpr each other,
they combine and become neutral when opportunity offers;
and, in fine, bearing out their semblance to electric pheno-
mena still more intimately, they may be again isolated, as
just shown, by—1Ist, chemical decomposition ; 2nd, struc-
tural arrangement, as in magneto-electricity ; and 3rd, by
re-combination and disturbance of form, as in frictional
electricity. The Franklinean theory as to the actual pre-
sence or absence of a single principle, or the more recently
accepted notion of the compound constitution of a subtle
fluid here also equally applies; and the question arises, do
there exist two distinctive elements—ozone, and antozone ?
Or are these effects attributable to the intensity and relaxa-
tion of asimple primary principle? By evaporation certain
liquids may be ozonized, and the law applies equally to
many others beside water, and ether. In the last experi-
ment we generated an amount of the active element—ozone,
and may reasonably anticipate a corresponding absence of
this, or, an induced proportion of its coeval principle; let,
therefore, the same experiment be repeated in the follow-
ing manner :—Place ina boiling flask one ounce of distilled
water, as before; some test paper must then be prepared
as follows, a sheet of ordinary writing paper is to be satu-
rated with the alcoholic test-liquid of gum guiacum and
quickly dried over the flame of a spirit lamp, the colour of
the paper should assume a light green tint. A strip of this
paper is to be inserted into the neck of the flask, and the
whole placed on a sand bath and moderately heated up to

* The simplest manner of performing this experiment is to pour
about one drachm of the water into a narrow test-tube and add
about ten drops of test liquid, the gum in which will be precipita-
ted of a characteristic white, its normal colour, or green, in inten-
sity according to the amount of ozone present.

164 On Ozone and its Relations to

the boiling point, ebullition may be continued, care being
taken not to wet the test paper. The contents of the vessel
will be in the following condition, as the test paper will
show; the vapour is absent of ozone, or, in other words,
the presence of antozone is indicated by becoming dis-
coloured or deprived of the amount of oxygen it previously
held in combination; the water on cooling as before would
indicate the presence of ozone, but they have been but
mechanically separated, by quickly shaking the contents
the opposing principles will combine, and testing the
same when cool a very dissimilar «effect will be apparent.
from that previously described, little or no ozone being
present. In condensing, the vapour gives up the antozone
and neutralises the excess of. ozone in the liquid from
which it was derived ; in the presence of the atmosphere it
however, behaves otherwise, ozonizing the oxygen thereof
in condensing, it yields a large amount of nascent oxygen
evident to the test-paper described. With iodide of starch,
another test for ozone, similar indications ensue.

The fact may be still further verified. Four ounces Pr
- distilled water, unboiled as before, is to be prepared by
adding one drachm of the test fluid, the gum of which
will be precipitated and render the solution of an opa-
lescent tinge; two similar quantities of this compound
solution are to be placed in two similar test tubes, to about
a quarter fill the same, one is to be corked, allowing a
small vent aperture for expansion, the other, as previous,
should have a strip of green test paper inserted at its mouth
and otherwise left free for evaporation; both are now to
be placed in a sand bath and gently heated; they will
gradually, but decidedly, be observed to change from white
to blue, of deeper intensity as they reach a certain tempe- -
rature, about the boiling point, they may then be stopped.
The colour is indicative of an excess of ozone in both.
The test paper shows an absence of ozone in the vapour of
one, but in the other instance both vapour and liquid are
confined ; and if each bear opposite properties, by com-
mingling them, a neutral result must inevitably ensue.
Such we find to be the case; but in order that the experi-_
ment may be satisfactory, the stoppered tube should be
allowed to cool, or be artificially coole1 by a stream of.
water, and in that state shaken to condense the vapour in
the liquid. Comparing this with the other, although not
devoid of colour, it is little indicative of free oxygen, —
the quantity lost by evaporation through the vent aperture

Animal Charcoal. 165

or otherwise. And, further to prove that the gum is not
structurally altered, it may be deprived of all the oxygen
it contains by a deoxidizing agent, sulphuretted hydrogen.
As an incidental observation, it may be noted how large a
quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen is required to deprive
the gum of its oxygen when oxydized by ozone.

Water, then, in itself, may give rise to ozone, and induc-
tively to antozone; why it is that certain liquids evapo-
rating should become ozonized—why they should suffer
partial decomposition, for it is only those substances which
contain oxygen—in combination with another opposite
element, that are capable of so doing, cannot be said with
any amount of certainty. Oxygen is materially heavier,
denser, than hydrogen, in the ratio of eight to one. When
in combination the action of heat in a lesser form, such as
to raise it to 212°, is as of a partial disturbance of its con-
stitution ; the effect of this is, that the hydrogen probably
absorbs and becomes satisfied with heat in one-eighth the
time necessary for accomplishing the same effect on the
oxygen, it becomes, during the full accomplishment of this
process on the oxygen, partially volatilized. Hence, in
the vapour is found the hydrogen or antozone principle, in
the water the ozone. Under microscopic examination the
decomposition of water by voltaic electricity presents an
appearance confirmatory of this theory, the gases being
freed much in the same manner as here described.

In this wonderful generative agent—viz., evaporation is
the vast supply of ozone maintained in nature. In the
evaporation consequent upon rainfall, that constantly sa-
turates the face of the earth, and from the condensation of
the vapour generated therefrom, is animal and vegetable
organism nourished and sustained. Organised substances
in generation and decay, in health and disease, require ozone
for their development—-in the one case, for the cellular
secretions and constructing the animal tissue; in the other,
for the full and speedy oxidizement of the germ of decom-
position. The combinations, moreover, ozone effects with
healthy organism in the part of food is striking, and worthy
of observation. The gluten of wheat, milk, potato, and
many other essential articles of nutrition are abundantly
impregnated with free ozone, as may be detected by tinc-
ture of gum guiacum (Brande). Truly, we may observe,
that this is another instance of an all-wise Providence for
the sustenance of our being. What is more bountifully
supplied us than water? What a more faithful minister to

166 On Ozone and its Relations to

our wants? But in it we also possess a tender guardian,
gently abstracting from its bosom the very essence of life ; ”
and still more gently, day by day, feeding the tender plant,
and satisfying the thirsty forest with their daily wants—
breathing to us the very spirit of life—and even then its ~
mission is not expended ; it is finally ordained to enshrine,
as in a pall, the deadly putrefaction, fatal and yet co-
existent with such grandeur.

The active energy of ozone in the atmosphere may be
directly observed in many ways in its prejudicial behaviour
to artificial and manufactured products. Metallic sub-
stances, iron more especially, quickly becomes oxidized if
alternately exposed to water and the atmosphere, owing to
the generation of ozone. Water boiled in iron vessels is
known speedily to destroy such by continued rusting; the
decay of stonework and timber may be equally attributable
to the same cause. In the natural purification of water,
evaporation and the generation of ozone thereby is promi-
nently manifest ; the soil through which the water perco-
lates consisting of an absorbent material and possessing no
actual ozonizing properties, simply brings the liquid into
more intimate contact with the air and promotes evapora-
tion. On this principle the old systems of artificial filtra-
tion through gravel and sand, and other finely divided
substances owe their virtue. From the foregoing remarks
it is evident, also, that by boiling water containing organic
impurity much becomes oxidized by ozone; but neither
instance will bear comparison with the effects produced by
animal charcoal.

Animal charcoal, or bone black, consists of carbon and
phosphate of lime principally, but also in conjunction with
many minor substances, of which carbonate of lime is the
most prominent. To be of good quality it should present
a dullish cast, and not suffer any loss from organic matter by
exposure to a dull red heat in a closed retort. On ignitiona
purely white residue should remain; if clayey matter or
metallic oxides be present they will be conspicuous on the
surface after ignition, and the charcoal has, in all proba-
bility, been previously employed for filtering purposes.
The proportion of actual carbon present in the average
quality of animal charcoal is about 20 per cent. (Sten-
house), the remaining per centage consisting chiefly of
phosphates of lime and magnesia. Newly burned charcoal
is remarkable for its great absorbent power, both for gases
and liquids. Ifatest glass be filled with water, a large

Animal Charcoal. 167

quantity of fresh burned charcoal may be cautiously added
to its contents without overflowing it.

In a freshly prepared condition animal charcoal is but a
feeble ozonizer, not even bearing comparison with many
other less important substances ; but the curious and re-
markable property of its ozonizing power is its increase of
capacity by constant use. This may be achieved by being in
contact fora long time with water containing large quantities
of soluble organic matter. The material after such treat-
ment presents a different appearance to new charcoal,
being of a dead grey cast, much lighter in colour than
when new, and it is entirely free from any surface powder
that always attends new charcoal, and renders the liquid
black on washing.

When investigating this property, it occurred to me that
the same power existed equallyin botholdand new charcoal,
but from the circumstance of new charcoal being invariably
covered with a very fine powder, the pores on its surface
were impaired; or that from this or other cause, it was pre-
vented from absorbing the test liquid into its cells, and
consequently calling a less area of surface into operation
as an ozonizing agent. To ascertain the correctness of
this view, I submitted equal quantities of new and old
charcoal (by old, I mean such as had been used for several
years as a filtering medium) to distilled water and spirits
of wine alternately, for over a fortnight, taking precaution
finally, to thoroughly wash both samples in water. They
were then dried at ordinary temperature, and tested for
their ozonizing capacity. The new I found to bear but
very poor comparison with the old for ozonizing power.

The next point of interest to ascertain was, as to which
of the constituent elements composing the charcoal, the
property owed its origin first. Neither phosphate of lime,
carbonate of lime, nor carbon, whether in the form of wood,
charcoal, graphite, or other state, is capable of ozonizing to
any extent whatever, wood charcoal, however, taking slight
exception to the rule. In substance, therefore, the consti-
tuents are inert. Samples of good ozonizing animal char-
coal, such as just described as old, wete treated as follows:
—Ist, To incineration to expel the carbonaceous and vola-
tile matter, leaving the phosphate of lime and earthy salts;
2nd, By digestion with hydrochloric acid to abstract the
calcigeneous phosphates and carbonates; and finally,
another sample was pulverised as finely as possible in a
pestle and mortar. On testing each residue, the results

168 On Ozone and tts Relations to

showed their capacity, when compared with the original
intact substance, was considerably impaired for ozone.
Any material alteration, moreover, in form or substance,
causes a proportionate lessening of its power, and even the
accumulation of suspended organic matter arrested in the
process of filtration, or of gum and resin. on the surface,
eventually determines a cessation of this property.

But the affinity to which this is attributable: it consists
of that of the second order necessary for chemical combi-
nations, as first set forth, and the condition governing its
action is, that the substance possesses a surface mechani-
cally fitted for the reception and retention of oxygen. The
oxygen thus situated seems to evince all the energy of
combination, but lacking that force necessary for the con-
stitution of a new form. The action of this induced
oxygen lies only in proximity to the surface of the char-
coal, or other ozonizable substance to which it owes its
origin. For the purpose of calling its energy into play,
actual contact is indispensable. This is illustrated very
strikingly in the ensuing curious experiment.* If coarsely
powdered animal charcoal be intimately mixed with small
portions of phosphorus, the great oxidizing power of the
charcoal quickly determines the combustion of the phos-
phorus ; again, should an accidental scrap of iron find its
way into charcoal used as a filtering medium, an occur-
rence not uncommon, the metal becomes soon covered
with a thick coating of oxide, which eventually cements
charcoal and iron into a conglomerate mass.

Oxide of iron in itself is an ozonizing substance; thus
it is, that iron being a less oxidizable metal than zinc, be-
comes converted into rust on exposure to the atmosphere,
in a considerably shorter period of time than the latter
metal, simply from the fact that the oxide regenerates
ozone, and hence, continuously supplies the combining
oxygen to the compound. Most acids are ozonizing
bodies—that is, possess the power of generating ozone:
by this means they determine the oxidation of the base
with which they combine. Zinc and iron are slowly oxi-
dizable in water, if devoid of acid; but in the presence of
sulphuric or nitric acid, owing to the ozonizing effect of
such on the oxygen of the water, speedily determines the
oxidation of the metal, and forms a secondary compound
salt.

* Transactions of the Royal Institution, vol. 1

Animal Charcoal. 169

Substances capable of ozonizing, as a rule, may be arti-
ficially produced by certain substances containing oxygen
as an element, and capable of having such expelled by
heat or other agency, without otherwise altering or destroy-
ing their structural arrangement. In organic and other
natural products, this property is also often met with to a
considerable degree.

Animal charcoal is of the class of substance in question
—by depriving the organic substance in the process of
burning of its combined oxygen, it becomes thus perma-
nently ozonizable. This process of burning in practice is
rarely, if ever, achieved in the first instance. Sugar-re-
finers, and others using this charcoal, find that after the
second or third burning the substance is considerably im-
proved in its filtering power. Inthe use of animal char-
coal, for filtering impure water, great caution is requisite in
its proper selection and adaptation. If badly-burned char-
coal be chosen, it will probably give rise to a numerous
series of failures. A species of putrefaction of the un-
charred organic remains is almost certain to set up in the
locality of the defective parts, and soon, by spreading, con-
taminate the whole of the charcoal, together with any sub-
stance in contact with it. We find instances occur, that
water, after having been in contact with this substance, be-
comes actually less pure from the introduction of this
extraneous matter. Such qualities of charcoal are actually
useless for all practical application, and on the evidence of
the tests before mentioned, should be scrupulously rejected.

The treatment of animal charcoal by reburning, solely
for this reason, is beneficial; for all others it is depreciatory
to its virtue. The ozonizing capacity has been shown
previously to exist in the combined substance, that each ele-
mentary constituent was incapable of exercising this pro-
perty, and hence we may reason, in proportion, that the
balanced constituents are varied from their natural combi-
nation, so would the ozonizing power be impoverished.
Washing with dilute muriatic acid and reburning have been
much used in the revivification of expended charcoal. The
preference is now given almost exclusively in favour of the
latter, but in practice they are both, after a certain time,
incapable of effecting their purpose, and the charcoal be-
comes useless. In theory, the failure is attributable to
similar though opposite causes. By the treatment with the
muriatic acid, the mechanically acquired matter that may
be’ present on the surface of the charcoal, is loosened, and

aD Cocoa.

the phosphate of lime and earthy salts by being superficially.
destroyed, leaves a partially renewed surface of the char-
coal for ozonic action. The carbon, however, is left in ex-

cess. In reburning, the foreign matter is charred, and part

of the carbon of it, together with that of the charcoal, is
volatilized. A new surface is here again exposed, but the
phosphates and earthy salts are in excess, and the residual
charcoal from the organic matter is introduced as a foreign
element on the surface of the renewed charcoal; in
course of time the excesses of these extraneously intro-
duced substances determine the cessation of the normal
virtue of the charcoal. Much waste and a great amount
of labour is expended in these fruitless restorations of old
charcoal and freeing it from impurities.

By certain of the experiments herein enumerated, animal
charcoal has been shown by constant use to become im-
proved. After a continued action on soluble organic matter
for years the ozonizing power has been stated to have been
increased. How great, then, the fallacy of submitting such
to renewal, if, by that process, the standard of its ozonizing
capacity be reduced to its original condition, or still worse,
lessened, as above shown.

The defect of used charcoal has been sought for in the
wrong direction. If the impurity consists of calcinable
matter, such as suspended clayey substance, chalk, &c.,
burning is ineffective; if, on the other hand, from organic
substance, other chemical means for its extraction
should have been resorted to, and thus the acquired impu-
rity abstracted, leaving the charcoal improved by the pro-
cess of its action, and literally imperishable.

COCOA (THROBRONIA CACAC Fe

BY JOHN R. JACKSON,
Curator of the Museum, Royal Gardens, Kew.

MONG “household words” none are more familiar
than tea and coffee. The infusions obtained from

these two plants are not looked upon as a luxury, but asa
necessary article to the households of all classes alike. As
a refreshing beverage tea always has held a high position,

Cocoa. 171

nor does it seem likely to depreciate in public favour, not-
withstanding the introduction of other substances, and the
strong recommendation which the Faham of Réunion has
lately received at the hands of an enterprising Paris house.
If China should fail to supply the European demand for tea,
and Réunion with its Angrecum fragrans should step in as
an only rival, then time and necessity might work a change
in the public taste, and gossip and scandal might be talked
over a cup of faham in place of that of bohea.

Of the two beverages which are so intimately associated
—tea and coffee—the former is the most popular, as the
Government reports of the home consumption of the two
articles show; but, in answer, likewise, to this difference of
~ figures it must be borne in mind that coffee has, to a cer-
tain degree, a rival article in the market. We mean cocoa
to which the public taste is becoming more and more
adapted. The improvements which have been made in
the preparation of this commodity have been the means of
gaining for it a larger share of patronage, and we see no
reason why cocoa should not become with us as favourite
a beverage as it is with some other European nations. As
an article of food it is extremely valuable, containing as it
does a large quantity of nutritive matter, but without the
stimulating effects of tea or coffee.

If cocoa had no other recommendation, its botanical
name alone should suffice to make it popular; Linnzeus, °
by whom the name Theobroma was given, must himself
have highly approved of the qualities of the seed by signi-
fying it “as food for a god,” which is the meaning of the two
Greek words of which Zzeobroma is composed, namely,
theos,a god, and bvoma, food. It was in use in very early
times in Mexico, and was introduced from thence into
Europe by the Spaniards about the year 1520. Benzoni,
who travelled in that century, speaks of chocolate as a
drink “fitter for a pig than for a man.” Humboldt says it
was extensively cultivated in the time of Montezuma, and
in the time of the Aztecs the seeds were commonly used .
as money.

The words cocoa and chocolate are both derived from
the Mexican language, Cacava quahiutl being applied to
the plant, and chocolate to the preparation.

The cocoa tree at the present time is extensively cul-
tivated in the West Indies and over the greater part of
tropical America. Our supplies come chiefly from
Trinidad and Grenada. It is a tree seldom rising more

172 Cocoa.

than sixteen or eighteen feet. The leaves are large, ob-
long, and pointed. The flowers are small, arranged in
clusters, the petals yellowish, and the calyx of a rose
colour. The fruits which are oblong in form, vary in size
from six to ten inches long, and usually about three or
four inches broad.

The cocoa plants are raised from seed, and the
nurseries for this purpose should be pitched on a good soil,
and in a position well sheltered from the sun. The seeds
are planted in the month of November, and are covered
with the leaves of the Banana and other plants. “The
cacao trees should have sufficient shade to prevent them
being burned by the sun. If they are too much exposed
to its rays, their branches are scattered, crack, and the tree
dies. They are also infested with worms, which gnaw the
bark all round, then attack the interior and destroy them.
The only remedy which has hitherto been found, is to em-
ploy people to kill these worms, which are deposited by a
small scaly winged insect, which gnaws the tree ; as soon
as it hears the approach of its destroyers, it lets itself fall,
and trusts to its wings for safety.”

As this tree requires to be sheltered from the direct rays
of the sun “the mode of combining this protection with the
principles of fertility, forms a very essential part ofthe skill
which its cultivation demands. The cacao tree is mingled
with other trees which shelter it, without depriving it of any
of the sun’s heat. The Erythrina and the Banana fare em-
ployed for this purpose. The latter by the rapidity of its
growth, and the magnitude of its leaves, protect it for the
first year. The Lrythrina endures at least as long as the
Cacao ; it is not every soil, however, that agrees with it. It
perishes after a while in sandy and clayey ground, but it
flourishes in such as combine these two ingredients,

In forming a new plantation a preference is usually given
to land which has the advantage of irrigation from an ad-
jacent river, without the chance of an overflow, and the —
cocoa plants should not exceed thirty-six inches in size —
when transplanted. “In one range of Cacao trees a Banana
is placed between two Cacaos, and an Erythrina between the
two following. In the other range a banana is placed be-
tween each Cacao tree, and no Arythrinas, so that the latter
are at the distance of two alleys. The Banana and the ©
Erythrina are first planted, and when a shelter fromthe sun, |
is thus provided, the hole for the cacao is made, around —

which are planted four stalks of the yucca plant, at the dis .

Cocoa. |

tance of two feet from each other. At the end of two
months the Cacao is planted. The smaller the plant is, the
better. There are, nevertheless, soils subject to worms,
where the small plants do not thrive ; but, excepting this
particular, the small plants are preferable, because the large
require more labour for their-transportation.”

The 7heobroma knows no positive season for ripening its
fruits, for they may be gathered during the whole year, but
the planters havea certain period at which they gather them
when they are proved by experience to be more solid and
less liable to spoil. Each cocoa pod or fruit is fitted with
seeds, some fruits containing as many as one hundred, and
others not more than fifty. The fruits upon ripening
change from a greento a deep yellow, and they are then ready
for gathering ; for this purpose, the sharpest of thenegroes, or
those accustomed tosuch work are employed,sothat onlythe
ripe fruit may be gathered. When dry, the pods shrivel up
slightly, and change to a deep brown. After gathering,
they are carried to a place where the seeds are taken out,
which operation is performed on a well swept floor, covered
with green leaves; the pods are opened, and the seeds
struck out by a piece of wood ; they are then cleaned of the
pulpy matter surrounding them, and are subject toa process
of fermentation, for the purpose of giving them a good
colour previous to drying, which is done by spreading them
out in the open air, or exposing them to the sun for about
three weeks, when they are in a fit state for packing and.
shipping.

Cocoa as we all know appears in commerce in various
forms, the purest is that from which the skins have been
removed by fanning, after being roasted and the cotyledons
simply crushed ; in this form the article is called “cocoa
nibs.” Cocoa paste is the seed pulverised between heated
rollers, and mixed with sugar, and chocolate in its various
forms, is a similar preparation more or less flavoured with
spices and vanilla; some of these preparations are of an
exceedingly delicate flavour, as for instance the celebrated
“Chocolat Menier,’ “Fry’s Victoria chocolate, &c.” That
which is sold as soluble cocoa, flake, rock, and othervarieties,
is the ground seeds mixed with sugar, starch, gum, &c. The
method employed by the Indians of old for roasting and
breaking the seeds was very similar to that adopted by us

at the present time, except, that we add heat to our rollers,
and move them by machinery, they were roasted in earthern
pots, then cleaned of the husk, and bruised between two

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Q

174 Socal Science Congress.

stones, after which they were made up by hand into cakes,
The difference in the flavour of the chocolate we get on
the continent to that produced at home is.due, of course,
to the great variety of the flavouring ingredients that are
added ; cloves, cinnamon, and all manner of spices are
used, and it is even said that musk and ambergris have
been added.

The value of cocoa as an article of food is very great,
being very rich in nutritive matter. It contains in 100
parts 51 of butter, 22 of starch and gum, 20 of gluten, and
two parts of Theobromine, which is the peculiar principle of
cocoa, and which contains more nitrogen than does the
active principle of tea and coffee. As a refreshing beve-
rage, however, cocoa is much inferior to either of these two
well-known drinks, which are taken in infusion only, while
cocoa is taken more as a substance. Amongst the poorer
classes cocoa is decidedly the most important as a nutri-
tive article. It recommends itself not alone on this score,
but on the score of cheapness, for while cocoa may be ob-
tained from 8d. to Is. 4d. per lb. tea costs 3s. or 4s.
Where the use of cocoa has been adopted in public insti-
tutions, it has been found far superior to either tea or
coffee as a wholesome and nutritious beverage. The duty
levied upon cocoa is a penny per lb. The home con-

sumption of the article being about four millions of pounds

annually.

SOCIAL: SCIENCE CONGRESS]

HE tenth annual meeting of the National Association
for the Promotion of Social Science was celebrated
during the month of October. The Inaugural Address was
delivered at the Free Trade Hall by Lord Shaftesbury.
Among the papers read may be mentioned one by Mr.
Anthony Trollope, on “ International Law of Copyright,”
which created great interest, in Section A of the Juris-
prudence Department. In Section C of the same depart-
ment, an interesting paper was read by Mr. D. Hill, O.C,,
on the question, “Is it desirable to carry out life sentences
to the utmost, and, if so, in what cases, and under what
form of discipline?” The proceedings, in these sections,

Soctal Science Congress. 175

were preceded by an address from Lord Brougham, in the
' Civil Court.

An enumeration of all the papers read would alone form
a lengthy report. We are, therefore, compelled, by want
of space, to confine ourselves to a few abstracts of papers
selected with a view to interest the majority of our
readers.

Lord Shaftesbury being the President of the year, de-
voted the major part of his Inaugural Address to the con-
dition of the working classes. In occupying a position so
often filled by Lord Brougham, he seems to have satisfied
his critics of all classes, and scarcely any testimony could
be more conclusive as to the value of his address, from
which we cull the concluding passage :

“It is now time to conclude. But there are some, I
fear, who will reply that I have entered on a high flight of
speculation, and have left terrestrial difficulties too far
below. Nevertheless, ‘it is good for us to be here.’ It ts
good for murmuring men to see how much of the misery
that he suffers, or inflicts, is due to himself, and how little
to the decrees of a merciful Creator. It is good for him
to see how the principle of self-control is the grand principle
of all social and individual freedom; that the sense of
responsibility to GOD and to his fellow-man, whether it be
in the Sovereign on the Throne, or the labourer at the
plough, is the source of all that is virtuous, and dignified,
and considerate, and true. Neither is there any hope of
obtaining excellence, unless our aims be directed by the
highest standard. ‘Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is perfect.’ Surely this was
said by our blessed Lord rather to elevate the efforts and
the prayers, than to declare the actual powers of fallen
man. And have we no guide? When at night we lift up
our eyes, and contemplate the peace and splendour of the
Host of Heaven, how each one is conforming to the law of
its nature, and, as it were, rejoicing to subserve the uni-
versal order, we recognise an Omnipotent, yet gentle,
principle that demands and receives a willing and exact
obedience. When we turn our thoughts to the globe on
which we dwell, we see, in all the works of the Great -First
Cause, the same invariable principle. It ruled at the
Creation, has prevailed throughout all time, and will bless
the countless ages of eternity. It is the law of kindness
and of love, the law that—

G2

176 Soceal Science Congress.

“¢Tives thro’ all life, extends thro’ all extent
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.’ .

Here, then, is the law for our ardent but humble imitation.
It is rich in promise, joyous in operation, and certain as
truth itself. Of such a law how can we speak but in the
noblest language that ever fell from the pen of uninspired
man, ‘Of this law there can be no less acknowledged than
that her seat is the bosom of GOD, her voice the harmony
of the world: all things in heaven and earth do her homage,
the very least, as feeling her care, and the greatest, as not
exempted from her power; both angels and men, and crea-
tures of what condition soever, though each indifferent sort
and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as
the mother of their peace and joy.’ ”

Lord BROUGHAM, after suitable eulogies on deceased
members, and other introductory observations, reminded
the meeting that the report of the commission for inquiry
into the great subject of capital punishment had been
printed, that it is most important from the great body of
information it contains, both on this and other countries,
that it offered an almost solitary exception to the blank of
the late session, for the material recommendation of the :
report against public executions has been adopted by Par-
liament after a somewhat warm opposition in the upper
house. He referred to defects in the law of evidence which
still remain not only without remedy, but without any real
defence: the exclusion of parties in cases before the
Divorce Court and other courts, who know most of the |
facts. This no longer exists in civil suits, but in criminal
cases we still shut out one party while we hear the other. 4
The consequence, he said, of excluding the accused party
had often been shown, and petitions to Parliament strongly .
expressed them. A person is charged with an offence, :
when he could at once explain all the circumstances, and
show his entire innocence, and that the whole prosecution
is a malicious proceeding, but his mouth is shut while his
accuser is heard. ‘The French course of proceeding in this
respect is to be carefully avoided; indeed, it was always
proposed that with us the examination of the person
accused, should only be taken upon his voluntarily tender-
ing himself, and being willing to undergo the sifting of a
cross-examination. Another deficiency of the late session
was, the not passing an act to amend the optional clause
in the County Courts Act. The importance of the juris-

Soczal Science Congress. iy 7

diction of these courts has long been admitted. The
number of suits they determine is prodigious. The optional
clause requires the previous consent of both parties, and,
as the one would refuse what the other proposed, merely
because he proposed it, the clause has had very little effect,
if any,in extending the jurisdiction toothercases inkind and
in amount; whereas, if the suitor could begin for'a larger
amount, and for other objects, it is certain, that the great
facilities afforded by the local courts would induce the
defendant to acquiesce, and a very material increase is
thus withheld from that most valuable jurisdiction by the
delay to make this obvious improvement. But, though
the last session has been lamentably unfruitful of measures,
he observed, the Commons have issued important com-
missions for inquiry into the scandalous scenes of corrup-
tion which too many of the late elections have displayed.
He said that no question could be raised, although we see
it attempted, as to the gross criminality of the parties, both
the candidates and their agents, and the voters; nor is
there the least common sense in the allegation, that the
voters cannot be made to regard selling a trust, which a
vote is, for many, as criminal. They must be made to.
regard it as such by the infliction of severe punishment ;.
the candidates and their agents must also be punished. It.
is certain that bribery can only be stopped by sending —
those who give and those who receive bribes to the tread-

mill like other offenders. He then referred to the late im-
provement in our county and borough gaols, and attributed
the greater part, if not the whole, of the diminution of
crime during the last half-year. He thought the result of
this act should encourage the Legislature to pass other
useful laws; and spoke of a plan suggested by the great
Duke and himself for facilitating the private bill business
in Parliament, which, in its exhausting and harrassing effect
upon the members, now interferes so much with public
measures. His Lordship proceeded to remark that the
friends of social science have reason to congratulate the
public on the great achievement of the conductors of the
Atlantic cable. They have finally succeeded, after the
failure of last year, in this extraordinary and most import-
ant undertaking, and the Atlantic no longer offers an
obstacle to direct and instantaneous: communication with
the Western world, and in a few hours accounts can come
from New York to London and Paris. Then he spoke of
the evils of intemperance, and remarked that one sees with

178 Sacral Scoence Congress.

astonishment and indignation, in cases before magistrates,
intoxication urged in extenuation of offences, whereas it is
a gross aggravation. No magistrate is entitled to suffer
one such word to be uttered before him on the part of the
accused. Any magistrate is bound to stop the party or
his advocate the instant he begins this, and to tell him
that if intoxicated he must suffer a punishment more
severe. It is undeniable that a most wholesome effect
would be produced by the general impression being made
that drunkenness, though by law it may not be liable to
punishment, except by small pecuniary penalty, yet makes
offences to which it has given rise more severely punishable.
He concluded his address by a reference to the progress of
co-operation, which is shown by the great increase of
business. The traders have joined in giving those under
them the incalculable benefits of reduced hours of work;
and in the great towns, as well as in London, the half-time
rule seems established on Saturdays, to the great benefit of
the men, both physically and morally. Co-operation, he
says, is due to the people—not to the Government or the
Legislature. So are the institutions founded and conducted
by private individuals, though licensed by Government.
He referred to the Refuge of Female Convicts, the Carlisle
Refuge in Ireland, the proceedings under Lady G. Fullarton
for the Roman Catholics, and for the Protestants under
Miss Twining, both which are highly approved by that
philanthropist, our much respected colleague, Commissioner
Hill. If, he says, in bringing his remarks to a close, so
great have been the disappointments at home, have we
anything to console us when we turn our eyes abroad ?
We cannot, he says, pronounce anything with certainty on
the state of the Continent as to what may be the distri-
bution of dominion or the continuance of peace. He
glances at the principal European powers, and thinks there
is no doubt that the cause of progress is in a hopeful con-
dition—that there is a general tendency towards free insti-
tutions—that the ‘Protestant interest has gained con-
siderably. In France, he says, there is so strong an
opposition to the Imperial Government, and so general a
desire of material prosperity, that there seems good ground
for a belief in greater freedom of discussion being given to
public bodies, and even in some relaxation of the laws re-
specting the press also. Great sacrifices have been made
for the termination of hostilities. The Emperor’s conduct
to prevent their continuance has been highly meritorious,

.
:

Social Science Congress. 179

and at length a general peace is concluded. Yes, peace is
restored on the Continent, and all friends of social science
must heartily rejoice.

Such is a brief abstract of this powerful address which.
concluded in the following words :—

“ Although the glory of war lends its horrible atrocities a
false glare which deceives us as to its blood guiltiness, in
what does the crime of Napoleon, when he sacrificed thou-
sands of lives to his lust of foreign conquest, differ from that
of Robespierre, when he sought domestic power by slaying
hundreds of his fellow-citizens ? In one particular there is
more atrocity in the crimes of the latter; they were perpe-
trated under the name and form of justice; whose sanctity
they cruelly profaned; but, on the other hand, far more
blood was spilled, far more wide-spreading and lengthened
misery occasioned to unoffending provinces by the inva-
sions of Spain, and Switzerland, and Germany, and Russia,
than by all the acts of the Committee, the Convention, and.
the Revolutionary Tribunal. Nor will mankind ever be
free from the scourge of war until they learn to call things.
by their proper names, to give crimes, the same epithets,
whatever outward form they may assume, and to regard.
with equal abhorrence the conqueror who slakes. his thirst
ef dominion with the blood of his fellow creatures, and the
more vulgar criminal, who is executed for taking the life of
a wayfaring man that he may seize upon his. purse. We
hesitate not to shed the blood of a common felon, and even
those most averse to capital punishment make an excep-
tion against the murderer. Thus there is no difficulty in
prosecuting murders, and the juries convict, who in cases of
theft or embezzlement, or even forgery, would hesitate.
Such is the universal horror of murder, or even of attempts
to commit it, and of partial committal. Then, why do the
same parties regard the slaughter of tens or thousands,
some with tolerance, and some even with approval ?

“** One to destroy to murder by the law,
And gibbets keep the lifted hand in awe ;
To murder thousands takes a specious name,
War’s glorious art, and gives immortal.’
Young, Universal Passion, Sect. vil.

Such is the result of war, and while men will fight and slay
their tens of thousands, the crime of murder on the largest
scale must go on unpunished and unrepented. Yes, un-
punished in this world. But our Heavenly Father bestowing

180 Soczal Science Congress.

free-will on His creatures hath declared them accountable
for its abuse ; and, administering justice in mercy towards
the numbers deceived or compelled into blood-guiltiness,
He condemns those that have betrayed or forced them as
their accomplices or their instruments to the unspeakable
enduring torments of hell.”

Shortly after the conclusion of this address, the Sections
commenced their meetings.

Mr. M. D. HILL read a special paper on Capital Punish-
ment, of which the following is the substance :—

“Capital punishment, though retained in our criminal
code, will probably be reserved for culprits. convicted of
deliberate murder. If so, the convicts to whom imprison-
ment for life will be applicable may be ranged in two
classes—I. Such, as, by ferocity of disposition, or in gusts
of ungoverned passion, have inflicted death, or serious, per-
manent, and irremediable injury on the objects of their
attack ; and in this class will be included convicts guilty of
murder in the highest degree, if reprieved by the Crown.
2. Convicts whom repeated convictions after punishment
for felony—or grave misdemeanours, like perjury, the ob-
taining money or goods on false pretences. or the wilful
uttering of base coin—show to be incorrigible. The pro-
tection of the public demands that convicts condemned to
imprisonment for life should be sent to a gaol specially
erected to receive them, from which escape should be made
absolutely impossible, and from which discharge should be
made so difficult that it could rarely occur. Thus, I con-
template that the vast majority of convicts sentenced to
perpetual imprisonment will change their gaol only for
their grave. Such an inexorable fate, when it became
known, would have, I believe, all the deterrent effect which
punishment is competent to produce; unless, indeed, the
treatment of the prisoner were made such as to excite the
envy of poor labourers at large. For myself, I do not
think this a very probable event, even if we were to recur,
as we never shall do, to the false indulgences now happily
eradicated from our prison discipline. Confinement to one
spot, with more or less of isolation, with severe restrictions
upon correspondence, and exclusion from knowledge of
what is passing in the world beyond the-walls, would be,
in all ranks of life, save to persons very exceptionally con-
stituted, felt to be a hardship all but intolerable. But when
to these privations you add abstinence from alcoholic be-
verages of every kind, and from tobacco, you present a

:
,
;

Social Scrence Congress. 181

state of things to the minds of those likely to yield to the
temptations which consign men to prison nearly as _ repul-
sive ascan well be imagined. Indeed, such a regimen,
where combined with long hours of labour, plank beds, and
no more time for sleep than Nature requires, would form a
system of treatment so depressing to the mind of the
criminal that, if he were rendered hopeless of mitigating
its severity by good conduct, appalling consequences might
_be expected. His life might be shortened by despair, even
if he were not driven to suicide. We are thus forced upon
a problem not easy to solve—viz., how to inspire the crimi-
nal with hope, without, by the relaxation of this object of
harsh discipline, leading those who might be tempted to
follow his example in crime to underrate the misery of his
lot. When the prisoner knows that his confinement must
come to an end, either because his term of imprisonment
will expire or because he is in course of working himself
out of prison by industry and good conduct, the danger of
reducing him to despair is obviously lessened; and, with
prisoners of ordinary temperament, unless the expected
return to liberty is placed at too great a distance, such
danger calls for no special attention. But in cases of im-
prisonment for life, in which the number of discharges is
insignificant, the hope of return to society cannot have a
practical operation. Our expedients for exciting hope are
limited, therefore, to affording the criminal opportunities of
bettering his condition in the gaol itself. And, for the
reasons to which I have adverted, even that amelioration
must be slow in progress, and must lead to nothing which
persons at large would not consider a miserable state of
life. As he is not to ascend to any great height, and yet,
as it is important that his rise, though slow, should be,
unless, from his own fault, continuous (or, at least, station-
ary only for short intervals), it is evident that at the com-
mencement of his incarceration, he must be placed in a
very low condition indeed. The class of prisoners who
have deprived a fellow-creature of life, or diminished its
comfort and enjoyment by the infliction of a grave per-
sonal injury, should, I think, for a period more or less con-
siderable, be placed in irons, heavy at first, as heavy,
indeed, as nature can support; yet to be promptly
lightened by good conduct until, at last, they are reduced
to one ring, and even that one may eventually be with-
drawn. This infliction of irons to be superadded to all
the visitations undergone by convicts in penal servitude,

182 Soczal Science Congress.

which visitations may be also multiplied and increased in
severity in the earlier stages. To these earlier stages the
prisoner is to be sent back in cases ef misconduct, and then
left to work himself up again. Although, as I have shown,
when the prisoner is shut out from all but the mere possi-
bility of regaining his liberty, the means of inspiring him
with hope are reduced to narrow limits, yet it must not be
forgotten that some facilities for appropriate treatment of
prisoners for life, arise out of the very absence of all neces-
sity for so training the convict in prison as to endow him
(when that is possible), with sucha capacity for self-govern-
ment as shall enable him to maintain a self-supporiing
position on his return to society. When such a return is
to be provided for, it is found essential to success that it
should be kept in view from a very early stage of the
punishment. No fair opportunity must be lost of giving
the convict some power over his own actions, beginning
with very slight relaxations of control, but approaching by
the time of his discharge to a state differing comparatively
little from that which he will enjoy when he finds himself
on the outside of the prison gates, with his ticket-of-leave
in his hand. As regards prisoners for life, however, relaxa-
tions from strict and minute control need not begin until a
later period, and should never extend so far as to place the
criminal in a position similar to that which Sir Walter
Crofton calls his “intermediate stage” in penal servitude.
On the other hand, as it is not essential that he should form
such habits of industry as will enable him to hold his place
in the struggle undergone by a free labourer, indulgence
may, after a term of years, be afforded by a diminution of
his hours of toil. I scarcely need say that care must be
taken to make all prisoners for life not only acquainted
with the rules by which, if they persevere in industry and
good conduct, they will gradually mitigate for themselves
the hardships of their lot, but they must also be enabled
to see that such of their fellow-convicts as have earned the
indulgences to which I have referred are in the full enjoy-
ment of them. As to the second class of prisoners for life
—viz., incorrigible offenders against the rights of property,
they ought not, I think, to be subjected to the hardship
and degradation of irons, but in all other respects I would
recommend that the differences of treatment between them
and the prisoners of the first class should be but slight. |

———————— SO

‘
.
1
a

Soctal Science Congress. 183

What ts the Duty of the Mother Country as Regards the
Protection of Inferior Races in her Colonies and Depen-
dencies ?

THE papers read were by Mr. R. N. Fowler, Mr. C. S.
Roundell, and Mr. John Gorrie, the two latter having been
Prepated .by fequest. Sir V. Surtees presided, in’ the
absence of Mr. Dudley Field. Mr. FOWLER’S paper was on
“The Treatment of Inferior Races by Great Britain” (re-
ferring to the gradual extinction taking place in the Hud-
son's Bay Territory of the Indian aborigines, the British
possessions in South Africa, and the Maories in New
Zealand). He concluded by saying that England had not
shone in her treatment of subject races, and that the Em-
peror of the French, in his wise and just protection of the
Arabs of Algeria, had set us an honourable example which
it was to our disgrace we had not imitated. It was well
worthy this Association’s inquiry if something could not be
done to secure the rights and privileges of the natives of
our different colonies. Their lands should be respected,
and, when required for colonization, acquired by purchase
or on fair terms, proper officers should be appointed to look
after their interests and to protect them in the enjoyment
of their rights.. Above all, every facility should be given
to those devoted men who strove to bring them to the paths
of Christianity and civilisation. In reference to the Hud-
son’s Bay Company’s territories, it was suggested that the
charter should be withdrawn, and the aborigines placed
under the protection of Canada.

Mr. ROUNDELL read a very able paper. The portion of
it directed to the condemnation of recent events in Jamaica,
called forth applause ; and his inquiry into the question
how far the negro is capable of civilisation was listened to
with much interest.

The Prevention of Infanticide.

THE discussion was opened by Dr. LANKESTER, Coroner
for the Central District of Middlesex, who stated that he
would confine his remarks to the murder of children newly-
born, though the murder of children who had lived for a
few weeks or months, or even fora year, was not uncommon.
In 1863 he had held eighty-four inquests on newly-born
children ; in 1864, 100; and in 1865, 114. That included
all cases of death, whether caused by natural causes or
otherwise. In 1863, however, fifty-three verdicts of wilful

184 | Social Science Congress.

murder were returned in such cases; in 1864, fifty-six ver-
dicts; and in 1865, sixty-one verdicts. Thus, in three
years, in his district alone, 170 verdicts of wilful murder
had been returned.

A paper on the same subject by Mr. SAFFORD was next
read. It contained a very elaborate statement of the law
both in past ages and in the present time upon the subject,
and proposed that charitable institutions to receive illegiti-
mate children should be founded, and empowered to compel
both parents to contribute to their support.

Mr. Aspland, Mr. Bracebridge, Sir Eardley Wilmot, Mr.
Solly, Dr. M. Walker, and Mr. Chambers addressed the
section upon the subject.

The Pollution of Rivers.

A special question for discussion in the Health Depart-
ment was, “ How can the pollution of rivers by the refuse
and sewage of towns be best prevented ?”

Dr. STEVENSON MACADAM, of Edinburgh, read a paper
which he had prepared on the subject by request of the
Council. He stated, that although the observations he
would make would be of a general nature, the opinions he
expressed were derived mainly from observation made on
three Scotch rivers—the Leven, contaminated by public
works; the Water of Leith, contaminated by public works
at the upper parts, and by town sewage at the lower parts;
and the North Esk, influenced by discharges from public
works and by sewage alternately. The pollution was
principally derived from mining pursuits, manufacturing
operations, and house sewage; and the great question to
be considered was how the pollution could be prevented.
Irrespective of the question of the health of the neighbour-
hood, there was the appearance of the stream itself. A
good deal was said on the previous day as to the influence
of smoke on the atmosphere and on the animal spirits of
people, and he believed the appearance of a stream had
similar results. He did not see how mining operations
could be withdrawn, but they were not of so much import-
ance. With regard to manufacturing discharges, he would
say generally, that all practical means for the arrestment of
the pollution should be employed. It was a question how
far some rivers should be given up for manufacturing inte-
rests, it always being a condition that the operations and
discharges should not be prejudicial to the health of the -

4 er,
n= i *
tek

' Soctal Scrence Congress. 185

neighbourhood. In regard to the utilization of sewage,
Dr. Macadam contended that the most successful system
was that of irrigation, and detailed the manner in which
this had been employed at the Craigentinny meadows, near
Edinburgh, where even in a monetary point of view, it had
prospered. Whether, however, the system paid or not,
irrigation ought to be compulsory in all inland towns. As
to seaboard towns, the’ discharges ought at once to be
drained into the sea. With respect to the disposal of the
sewage, he believed that local authorities generally were
anxious to promote the welfare of the people, but they re-
quired direction. They were frequently hindered in their
good work by the constituency they represented, and they
required to be nerved to action by the pressure of a supe-
rior authority. The sewage question would be best worked
by a local authority controlled by a Royal Commission or
Government Inspector. His decided opinion was that
sanitary measures should be compulsory and not optional.
In discussing this question he had refrained from any re-
marks respecting the state of the Medlock, the Irk, and the
Irwell, but these streams did not appear to him to be pure
water. He would leave the application of the question to
Manchester to be dealt with by those who were more con-
versant with the district.

The discussion was commenced by LORD ROBERT MON-
TAGUE, who contended that the question under considera-
tion lay at the root of the whole matter of sanitary-reform.
There was no Act of Parliament, no legislation which de-
served the name of sanitary legislation unless it provided
for the purification of rivers. Wehad as much a common
right to pure water as we had to pure air, and he believed
that impure water did much more injury to the constitu-
tion than impure air. In most mines not only was it easy,
but it was a source of gain, to separate the polluting source
of the water before it was turned into the river. In manu-
factures, it was equally easy to prevent a pollution of
rivers. If this were not the case, the difficulty would have
been rather a staggering one, as anything that would in-
terfere with the vast productions of such a place as Man-
chestershould be deeply considered before it was undetaken ;
but even in that case the lives of men were of more value
than all the wealth of Manchester. But even in the most
difficult manufactures, such as gas works, bleach works,
and paper works, it would bea source of gain and not of
injury to the manufacturer to be compelled any longer to

io Social Science Congress.

pollute rivers. Dr. Macadam had proposed that some
rivers should be given over to the manufacturer, but he
could not conceive that such partial legislation would for a
moment be listened to. As to the question of sewage, he
believed that there was only one means of freeing rivers
from that pollution. Various schemes had been tried.
The sewage had been sent into the air, but that did not do;
water had been tried, but it did not succeed ; land must
now be tried, and that he felt certain would do. Inregard
to Mr. Hawsley’s plan for earth-closets, he wanted to know
where the earth would come from? Mr. Bateman, the
eminent engineer, had calculated that it would require to
supply London with the necessary earth for these earth-
closets every year 400 acres of ground six feet deep.
Where was that amount of soil to be got? He thought
that was'a “stumper” to the whole plan. His lordship
concluded by moving that it be an instruction to the coun-
cil, “ That, while it is necessary to remove as speedily as
possible excreta and refuse from houses, it is advisable to

procure compulsory legislation against the pollution of

rivers by refuse or the sewage of towns.”

Mr. RAWLINSON remarked that, although it was well
known that rivers were now polluted to a fearful extent,
there were some things attributed to that pollution which it
was just as well to clear away. All the ills that flesh is
heir to were said to spring from this pollution, but, although
a foul river was an intolerable nuisance, yet it must be re-
membered that it was an advance in civilisation, and that
we must start from the point that had been reached and
advance further. The discharge of effete matter into run-
ning water was a very great improvement on the ash-midden
and the cesspool crowded in upon the cottage. Manchester
had been searched by men competent to arrive at a correct
conclusion with the view of ascertaining whether the most
severe types of disease affecting the health of the popula-
tion could be attributed to foul rivers, and they were bound
to a contrary conclusion. Although rivers were very foul
they did not work all those evils that were laid to their
charge. In 1859, when the Thames was so foul that Par-
liament sat with closed windows, the Registrar-General
knew that the rate of mortality was small. He was happy
to find that some of the manufacturers of Yorkshire were,
without compulsion, doingm any things to perfect their sani-
tary arrangements. The washings of wool, which used to
pollute rivers in the most obnoxious form, could be so

Social Scrence Congress. 187

treated as to take out the soap soils and to make the water
by no means injurious.

Dwellings for the Working Classes.

In Section A of the Department of Economy and Trade,
a special question was raised as to what measures, legisla-
- tive and other, should be adopted in order to supply better
dwellings for the working classes. On this subject various
papers were read, including one by Mr. Barron Emmannel,
and one by Mr. T. Worthington. The former gentleman,
in addressing himselfto the practical part of the question, pro-
posed to convert the existing railway arches into workmen’s
dwellings, whenever the process could be conveniently carried
out, and he further suggested that in future railway Acts
such a construction of viaducts should be necessitated as
would admit of their being used for the like purpose. He
was quite sure that such a provision as this would pay a
large percentage to the railway companies who might think
proper to embark in the investment. Mr. Worthington, in
his paper, passed in review the various efforts which have
been made, from time to time, by individuals and societies
for the erection of model dwellings or the renovation of ex-
isting property. In treating of those efforts, he alluded
especially to what had been done in the metropolis, in York-
shire, and in France; and the conclusion he arrived at was
that the proper course to be adopted was to incite the
working men to combined efforts, aided by loans from the
Public Loan Commissioners, to erect dwellings for them-
selves.

In the course of these discussions which afterwards took
place on these papers and those of Miss Octavia Hill and
Mr. Thomas Beggs,

Mr. TORRENS, M.P., made some observations in explana-
tion and support of his bill. He stated that it was not ne-
cessary for him to plead the cause of that bill as if it were
a new bill; but he was there to defend the measure in its
essential principles. In reference to the measure which
had been brought forward by this association, he took the
opportunity of stating that the promoters of his bill were
not wedded to any particular forms or modes of carrying
out the desired object. All they desired was that the Le-
gislature should do the best they could under all the cir-
cumstances. If any manor any society had a better or
more comprehensive scheme than his own, let it by all

188 Social Science Congress.

means be produced, and he would support it to the utmost”
of his power. His bill would compel all local anthorities
to hold themselves responsible for the existence of fever
nests, and for the omission to pull down decayed tenements
and rebuild them, with the aid of such powers as the Legis-
lature would be enabled to bestow.

Mr. E. CHADWICK and Sir CHRISTOPHER RAWLINSON
addressed themselves more particularly to the commercial
part of the question, the former contending that a great
deal of the cost of modern dwellings owed itself to the
fixed building regulations, and to the settled habits of
architects in the formation of their designs. He was fully
assured that by an improved mode of construction, such
buildings as those erected by Alderman Waterlow would
yield a profit amounting to 7 instead of 5 per cent.

Mr. R. ARTHUR ARNOLD, Government Inspector of
Public Works, read a paper “On the Economy of Public
Works.” In the division of labour which might be said to
be both the cause and the effect of civilisation, there are
certain functions which universally appertain to the Go-
vernment, whether it be what is termed local and subor-
dinate, or central and imperial. First amongst such func-
tions he would be disposed to rank the maintenance of
the authority of law; but as second, the execution of pub-
lic works or such control of them as the condition of the
community may render desirable. First; in importance
among such works are the means of intercommunication.
In this country it has happened that the original system in
respect to communication between town and town has been
superseded by railways, which have been constructed by
private enterprise, and are not in any sense, the property
of the nation. Noman would affirm as a fundamental pro-
position that the highways of a country should be private
property. The present system was a wasteful one. The
average cost of construction in France has been 425,000
per mile against £39,000 in England; £6,000 at least of
this difference is chargeable to the difference of our system.
This would represent a total loss of £78,000,000. But even
this does not represent the measure of this defective economy.
In all probability the forthcoming report of the railway com-
mission will show that the public interest in the cheap and
economic conveyance of their persons and property, is of
transcendant importance. It is not very difficult to per-
ceive that thorough unanimity of direction would more
nearly assimilate the railway to the ancient highway system.

Social Science Congress. 189

That our railway system admits of, and will be subject to
great reforms, therecan be no doubt. But there is another
class of public works which have been also, to a great ex-
tent, subject to private enterprise,—viz., works in connec-
tion with the public supplies of water and gas. Mr. Arnold ~
has very strong objections to the possession of such works
by private companies or individuals. In Lancashire, and
particularly in Manchester, the possession and administra-
tion of these supplies are,asa rule, in the hands of the local
authorities. The resultsare very superior to those obtained
elsewhere, both economically and as affecting public health
and convenience. The gas and water supplies in Manchester
are in very superior condition to those of any other city
in England. But, for the system of permitting the provi-
sion of elementary necessaries of life to fall into the hands
of private companies, the water supply of London could
never have been in its present unsatisfactory condition.
The fluid supplied daily to the metropolis is estimated to
contain not less than 100 tons of carbonate of lime. This
constitutes the hardness of London water. The water
supplied to Manchester, or that which it is said might be
obtained for London from Wales, compared with that
drawn from the chalk formation in the neighbourhood of
the metropolis, is estimated to require one-half less soap,
and one-third less tea, to effect the same results in the
washing-tub or the teapot. Thus a saving might be ren-
dered possible in the use of these two articles within the
metropolitan area equal to £525,000 a year, or, capitalised
at four per cent., to 413,125,000; andthe saving would ex-
tend to other operations, both manufacturing and domestic,
in which water is a constituent. The summary and unpre-
cedented authority which public opinion has recently
granted to the Home Office in respect to drainage, is the
best evidence of the public sense of the importance and
efficacy of sewers and drains in regard to public health.
There isa great deal yet to be accomplished in the economy
of refuse of towns. Mr. Arnold referred particularly to his
own share of official labour in connexion with the cotton
famine. In such a state of things, the working class gene-
rally evidence a feeling that they have a right to employ-
ment. The mere make-work system was a certain failure.
The Public Works Act, which was one of many useful
statutes that signalled the administration of Mr. Villiers,
had a two-fold economic value. It afforded employment
and promoted the execution of necessary sanitary works. So
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. R

190 Oyster Culture in England.

little wasthisan eleemosynary measure,that he (Mr. Arnold),
who had been most closely connected with its operation,
would not recommend that its powers and provisions should
-be made generally at all times applicable to the entire
kingdom. He would do this on sanitary and economic
grounds. He had observed that the advantage of borrow-
ing directly from the Government is highly valued by the
local authorities ; the officers of the Government are able
to check expenditure upon works not properly within the
scope of such a measure, and to spread, by advice and sug-
gestion, information as to the best and most approved modes
of construction—and especially of details of construction ;
the low and unvarying rate of interest at which the State
can, without national loss, make loans, does vastly promote
the execution of sanitary works, as it obviously affects their
economy. The advantage has been very apparent in some
rural parishes. The Sanitary Act of last Session has
already rendered permanent many of the temporary powers
conferred by the Public Works Act; and Mr Arnold had
no hesitation in repeating his humble opinion that the
whole of its provisions, so far as they relate to the execu-
tion of necessary sanitary works, with an increased credit
with the Exchequer, might be generally enacted with ad-
vantage to the economy of public works.

OYSTER CULTURE IN ENGLAND.

if N the times when the Romans held their fortus magnus

in the upper waters of Portsmouth harbour and an-
chored their galleys under the walls of the fortress whose
remains may now be traced in the ruins of the Norman
Castle of Porchester, the great estuary of waters which ex-
tended east to nearly the walls of Regnum, or Chichester,
as the ancient city was afterwards named, was famous for
its oysters and the almost endless varieties of fish found in
its many creeks and inlets. This reputation holds to the
present day, but the improvidence of man has in many in-
stances extirpated the oyster from grounds it had held
since first covered by tidal waters, and on others has so re-
duced its numbers that, dear as all sizesof the bivalvenoware, —
from the three months’ oysterling to the full grown native,

Oyster Culture in England. IQ!

the dredge will scarcely pay for the labour of working it.
The banks surrounding Spithead, and extending for miles
east and west of the anchorage, were equally prolific with
the inland water of Langston, Emsworth, and Chichester,
but they are now becoming equally barren. For very many
years past all the grounds available to the dredger have
been ruthlessly worked, and everything of the oyster kind,
from the spat clinging to the stones, brought up in the
dredge, to the patriarch of unknown age, has been carried
off, the eatable portion sent to the market, and all small
stuff carried off to Whitstable and other places, to stock
private ponds. But this has not been the worst evil the
oyster has had to contend with in fighting for existence
on the great shoals of the Horse, the Dean, and others on
the Isle of Wight shore and off Chichester harbour. About
ten years back certain portions of Portsmouth harbour and
the harbour channel were deepened by steam dredging
machines, and an immense quantity of black mud was con-
veyed out of the harbour in the contractors’ barges and
discharged on these shoals, the result being, that the greater
part of the oysters, as well as the spawn of other fish, was
poisoned, and invaluable fishing grounds converted into a
barren waste. Thus, what with over-fishing by the fisher-
men and the poisoning of the banks at the hands of the
Government, the extensive range of banks outside Lang-
ston, Emsworth, and Chichester harbours were nearly de-
nuded of their fish, and the inner waters of the harbours
with their preserved grounds suffered accordingly. There
is still, however, abundance of oysters on the outer banks
to stock them thoroughly, ifthe waters could only be placed
under a strict conservancy, and we will take two extreme
points of the grounds in proof of this assertion. On the
line of shore which extends about 4,000 yards from the
west side of Langston harbour’s mouth to Southsea Castle,
it is still possible now for one man to collect on the first
flow of the tide after a south-east gale, a bushel basketful
of fine clean oysters. These have been rolled over the
Horse and Dean Shoals by the scour of the water in the
gale. The other illustration is, that about seven miles out
seaward from Southsea beach, there are three small shoals
lying ina triangular form in 4} fathoms at low water.
These three shoals have been fished from time inumemorial,
and until the recent scarcity of oysters in the market, the
dredge would always bring up at least, one half full of
oysters, the remainder being clean round boulders about
Rea

192 Oyster Culture in England.

the size ofa man’s fist. A fisherman hauling up his dredge
could tell by the size of the oysters in which part of the
shoals he was working without looking at his marks. A
few years since these oysters fetched 3s. per tub, but they
are now sold at 18s, and the yield per dredge-full has
therefore lessened naturally from the overworking of the
shoals, but still the banks fill up again with the fish from
an inexhaustible source. The collection of spat and oyster-
lings on public fishing grounds for laying down in private
ponds for growth and fattening has been carried on at Ems-
worth and Langston, as in a number of other placeson ours >
coasts, for many years, but no attempt was made at oyster
culture proper, until France set us the example. In 1845,
M. Carbonel read a paper at a meeting of the French
Academy, in which he urged the necessity of taking steps
to restock the oyster beds then becoming exhausted. In
1849, Professor De Quatrefages urged the same thing, and
the Government ordered M. Coste to report on the subject.
In 1855, M. Coste’s report was received and published, and
in 1861 a second edition appeared recounting the state in
which the natural beds had been found and the means taken
torestock them. In 1863, 4, and 5, M. Coste’s method was
introduced, not altogether successfully at Herne Bay and
Southend, by means of companies formed for the purpose,
Mr. Buckland in 1865 expressing an opinion that the system
of M. Coste, so successful in France, was not practicable in
English waters owing to the difference in temperature and
the lesser amount of the Gulf str2am in the English than
in the French waters. In June, 1865, Mr. G. W. Hart, the
present manager of the South of England Oyster Company
visited the west coast of France, and inspected the oyster
beds at St. Brieux and Ile de Ré, and other places, and
came toa conclusion contrary to that of Mr. Buckland.
The South of England Oyster Company was immediately
afterwards formed, and it is to the proceedings of the
company to this date that we wish to draw attention, as
very few persons will deny that all facts connected with
oyster culture in this country are of interest, and that our
knowledge of the subject, which at present is very limited,
will be best extended by open discussion.

_ The company have secured a large space of ground as
oyster beds for the future, close to the village of Havant
on the north-west shore of Hayling Island, which will give
three beds of about forty-six acres in all. The defunct
Hayling Island railway has cut off this land from the sea,

Oyster Culture in England. 193

but sluices have been provided in the railway embankment
for necessary admission and discharge of water. These
beds are, however, incomplete. At the opposite extremity of
Hayling Island, at the entrance of Chichester harbour, the
company have made their first great experiment in oyster
culture and their success so far has been most startling, the
supply of spat in their breeding lake having proved almost
unlimited, and this too at a time when there is a universal
failure of spat at Whitstable, Herne Bay, Poole, and other
places onthe English coast. The entire area of the ponds,
or parcs, with which the company have made their first ex-
periment does not exceed three and a half acres in extent,
but on this the systems pursued at Lake Fusaro, in Italy,
and Ile de Ré, in France, have been tried with the great
success we have stated, and have also been attended by
some very curious particulars. The plan of operations
followed by the company’s manager was the formation of
two parcs, one on the Italian, and the other on the French
plan, connecting both by a gutway for the overflow of water
from one to the other, the water finding admittances at
spring tides from the entrance to Chichester harbour
through a sluice in an artificial wall into the Lake Fusaro
bed, thence overflowing through the gutway to the Ile de
Ré beds or parcs, and overflowing thence to the harbour by
another properly constructed outlet in the outer walls.
Near the end of the intermediate gutway, and close to the Ile
de Re beds, a pump worked by wind sails throws a portion
of the water running from the Fusaro bed into a large slate
tank, which may be utilized as a lobster feeding tank if re-
quisite, the water flowing thence through slate hatching
beds in a fish house, and finally escaping, in common with
the rest, from the gutway into the Ile de Ré beds. Now
the distinction between the two systems of Lake Fusaro
and Ile de Ré, as carried out by the South of England
Oyster Company at Hayling, is simply this :—1. The lake
Fusaro bed is one sheet of water, which is,as a general rule
still water ; the outer waters of the Channel only finding
admittance during spring tides. 2. The old oysters in-
tended for spatting are laid down on shingle, with closely-
wattled hurdles suspended over them, attached to stakes,
and lying parallel with the bed of the lake. The hurdles
are the “ collectors” of the spat.

The Isle de Re beds are one sheet of water like that of
Fusaro farce, and are laid entirely with shingle, but the
water is constantly running through them, gently, yet

®

194 Oyster Culture in England.

never still, like the water in the Fusaro parc. The “ collec-
tors” of the spat are tiles laid on the oysters and the beds,
the water in the Ile de Ré being also divided into a num-
ber of beds, all most carefully formed, and separated each
from the other by pathways. The depth of water both in
the Fusaro and Ile de Re farcs is from two to three feet.

The beds were prepared somewhat later than had been
intended, so that it was the latter end of April before 50,000
oysters were laid down on shingle on what we will continue
to term the Lake Fusaro, and when the right time came
the hurdles were placed in position over them. The sides
of all these hurdles nearest the oysters are now covered
with young oysterlings, the largest of which are fully as
large as an old sixpence, the smallest the size of a pin-
head, and the average of the greater number exceeding a
silver fourpenny piece. These hurdles have since been re-
moved from the Fusaro to the Ile de Ré beds, the former
at present thus becoming the breeding and the latter the
rearing and fattening pares. Since the removal of the
hurdles the young oysterlings have increased wonderfully
in size. The removed hurdleshave been replaced by “bavins”
or sticks and brushwood, and the sarc is now full of new
spat. There are two or three remarkable circumstances con-
nected with the spatting of the oysters in this arc that are
deserving of notice. It was an unvarying feature of all
the hurdles that, crowded as they were with spat, where-
ever a light-coloured part of the wood was exposed—as
where the hazel twigs were split, or where the bark was
peeled off in places—there was no spat, while, on the con-
trary, the darker the exterior of the wattling of the hurdle,
the thicker lay the spat there. The same with the stones
and bricks among the shingle on the opposite end of the
parc to where the old oysters were laiddown. All the spat
found here was found, as a rule, on dark stones, or the dark
parts only of the bricks. It was also remarkable that the
spot in the arc where this last deposit of spat should only
exist was away from that portion of the water where the
oysters were deposited, and where the hurdles were placed
for the reception of spat. This is explained, however, by
the fact that, in nine instances out of ten, the wind blows
from the seaward and over the pond—from the old oyster
deposit end to the place where the spat was found on the
stones and the bricks—the spat, in fact, having escaped the
hurdles, risen to the surface, and then been blown over to
the opposite shore.

Oyster Culture in England. 195

Having thus far examined the parc of the company laid
down and stocked with old oysters on the Lake Fusaro
principle, let us turn to the farce laid down and stocked on
the French principle of the Ile de Re.

Here the results are not so decisive, nor can it be said
so satisfactery, as regards the production of spat alone.
The area of water is greater than in the Fusaro Lake, is
carefully divided into ponds, each carefully coated at the
bottom with shingle, and the water, as we have before ob-
served, is constantly, but not violently, moving. The beds
were stocked with 200,000 oysters, and the tiles laid down
as “collectors” of the spat. At the present time there is,
as yet, no spat in any part of these beds worth notice,
although the number of oysters laid down is exactly four-
fold that of the other farc, where the spat has been, and
still continues, so plentiful. There is this important fact,
however, which must be taken into consideration—the
oysters in this parc were not laid down until nearly a
month after those in the Fusaro parc, and this may pos-
sibly account for the remarkable difference in the two.
But there is also one other remarkable condition, which
must be given its due weight in any consideration of the
difference in the exhibition of spat in the two parcs. The
pump to which reference has been made, as pumping a
portion of the water, on its way through the gutway from
the first farvc to the second, lifts this water into a large
slate tank, whose overflow joins the other water from the
gutway, and supplies the Ile de Ré parc. Now, with re-
gard to the deposit of spat, the main facts for considera-
tion in the present case are these :—1. The Fusaro pare,
with its 50,000 oysters, and its generally still water, has
given, and is still giving, an enormous quantity of spat.
2. In the running water of the gutway, which connects the
two parcs, the hurdles which have been placed there show
but very insignificant signs of spat. 3. The same water
pumped into the large slate tank, and lying there in perfect
stillness, has deposited millions of oysterlings on the sides
of the tank, which are flourishing wonderfully. 4. In the
Ile de Ré beds, or parc, through which all the water passes,
and where the water is constantly, though gently moving,
no spat of consequence has been deposited either from the
water running into it from the Fusaro parc, by the gutway,
by the pumped overflow of the tank, or from the 200,000
oysters with which the Ile de Ré is stocked.

The company are also engaged in preparing a portion of

196 Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen.

their grounds for breeding lobsters and other molluscs, but
it is with their endeavours to introduce successfully, oyster
culture on the Continental plan into this country that this
notice more particularly deals. As Mr. Frank Buckland
says in Land and Water, “ All must be rejoiced to hear the
good news ; the success of this experiment in oyster breed-
ing does the highest credit to the ingenuity of the gentle-
man who had the planning and superintendence of the
works.”

The gentleman referred to by Mr. Buckland is Mr.
George W. Hart, the manager of the company, and we
can bear witness to his courtesy, and also to the great
interest which attends a visit at the present time to the
oyster-farm of the South of England Oyster Company at
Hayling.—‘ The Times,’

KRUPP’S STEEL WORKS AT ESSEN.

N 1849, Herr Krupp offered to the principal German
powers some fine steel guns, of his manufacture. They
were, however, not purchased. The Viceroy of Egypt
bought some, and afterwards, many other governments
either ordered them from Krupp’s factory, or commenced
manufacturing for themselves. At the great Essen factory,
some 2,500 rifled breech-loaders have been turned out. Of
these, about 400 are of 8-inch calibre, or more. The others
vary from 3-inch to 44-inch. With works covering some
400 acres of land, and employing 8,000 men and _ boys, at
a cost of some £400,000 a year in men’s wages, it is sur-
prising that up to the present time very little has been
known about this manufactory in England. Not that there
has been any concealment in the case, since full permission
to publish in England a description of the whole, has re-
cently been given to a visitor, from whose able account we
take the following interesting passages -—

The ore employed is obtained partly from Krupp’s own
mines at Nassau and near Coblentz, and partly bought.
The former is spathic, furnishing the well-known spiege-
leisen; the latter is red oxide. Coke is employed for
smelting, being considered as good a fuel as can be used if

Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen. 197

carefully selected. The iron is converted into steel by
puddling; a small quantity of cemented steel being occa-
sionally used. A little malleable iron is made by a modi-
fication of Bessemer’s process, but no steel. Mr. Bessemer
offered his patent to Krupp as I understand, but it was
then in its infancy, and was not considered so promising as
to divert the attention of the latter from his own speciality
—viz., the puddling process. He has not, therefore, carried
it to such a forward condition as has been attained by some
of our ironmasters at home.

Though the spiegeleisen contains so large a proportion
of manganese, a mere trace is left after puddling, as shown
by Mr. Abel’s analysis given below:

Carbon combined ... ae ace Hee 1°18
Silicon Las Bei be Be Lay G32
sulphur ~~... ee tl ee Oo none
Phosphorus e me ee ve, 0°02
Manganese re oe Mi trace
Cobalt and Nickel. Ae Se eae O'l2
€opper* =... ie ee a 0°30
Iron (by difference) Pee ue Je OOrO5

100°00

The puddling I did not see, but was assured that there
is no material difference from the process well known in
Sheffield, though some of the details vary somewhat. The
metal which is to be worked into guns and other products
required to stand sudden shock must, of course, be softer
than for such as have only to resist steady rubbing work,
and this softness is attained by mixing a certain proportion
of wrought iron with the steel to be melted for casting.
Both iron and steel are rolled out into small bars, cut into
lengths of about six inches, and placed in plumbago
crucibles, of a shape similar to the “ French crucible,” con-
taining from 30 lb. to 60 lb. of metal ineach. The smaller
quantity of the metal is to be soft, as this is more difficult
to melt and to manage than the hard.

Though the manufacture of Krupp’s crucibles was once
a valuable secret, and the form of secrecy is still kept up,
I believe that Mr. Krupp would not now deny the truth of
Dr. Percy’s assertion, that “ Those now made by Mr. Ruel,

* Mr. Pieper, manager of Krupp’s works, informed me that
analysis made at Essen gives copper trace to 0°15.

198 Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen.

of High Holborn, and by the Patent Plumbago Crucible
Company at Battersea, are equal to anything yet produced
abroad.” The foundry is a very large building, with
furnaces capable of heating upwards of 1,200 crucibles at
once, that number being actually used for some of the
largest casts. The crucibles are arranged by batches of
eight to ten in furnaces running the whole length of the
building, their roofs being on a level with the floor of the
foundry. The flame travels the whole length to a chimney
at the end. The arrangement is similar to the one given
in the second volume of Dr. Percy’s “ Metallurgy,” pp. 830
to 836, but carried out on a much larger scale. A distinct
feature at Essen, however, is that the crucibles rest on loose
iron bars, which also support the fuel, and can be drawn
out when required; the use of these will be mentioned
presently. The heat attained in the furnace is so intense
as to bring the best Scotch fire-bricks, with which they are
lined, and the crucibles themselves to a state of incipient
fusion, the pots, indeed, being only used once. The reser-
voir and mould are cylinders of cast iron, and into the
former lead two troughs to conduct the molten metal. The
mould rests on the bottom of the pit, and is unsupported
at the sides. The use of the reservoir, which is placed over
the mould, is only to secure a steady vertical flow of metal
into the latter. Both have been sometimes lined with clay,
but usually present a clean surface of cast iron to the
molten steel. Mr. Piesser assured me that they attach no
importance to the question of lining.

The organisation of the workmen is most excellent.
When a cast is to be made (the one that I saw was of
sixteen tons, and required about 400 men), those told off
for the purpose rapidly assemble and fall into their places
with military precision. They are divided into numerous
gangs, some in the foundry and some in the cellar below.
At the right moment, all the crucibles being ready, the
“engineer” in charge of the cast (who stands near the
reservoir) gives a word of command, which is repeated
loudly by the gangs of men above the furthest sets of
crucibles (z.¢., those nearest the corners of the building, the
cast being in the centre) to the gangs below them. The
latter draw out all the bars from their portion of the fur-
nace, except the two upon which each crucible rests, and
some of the men above rapidly clear away, with iron rods,
the fuel adhering to’ the pots. The “puller-out” now:
thrusts down his tongs, seizes his crucible, and heaves it up

Ki upp’s Steel Works at Essen. 199

to the floor of the foundry, assisted by a companion, whose
tongs, placed under his own, give him the fulcrum needed
to hoist the weight quite out of the furnace. No teeming
hole is used, as the pots have already been thoroughly
cleansed from fuel, and by this means less heat is lost before
pouring out the metal. Two other men then seize the
crucible with a double bearer, and carry it to the nearest
trough, into which they empty it, and immediately throw
it down a spout into a chamber below the foundry. Were
the empty pots to be left on the floor, they would soon
accumulate and interrupt the free circulation which is abso-
lutely necessary for the management of such quantities of
molten metal. They are, at any rate, too much weakened
by the intense heat to be of any further use, and I saw
some of them even give way as they were being lifted from
the furnace. No covers are taken off, but the metal is
poured out through a hole in the upper edge o1 the pot.
The “commanding engineer” watches his time and gives
the word to the next set of gangs at such a moment as
will enable them to be ready with their crucibles just as
the previous ones are nearly all emptied, without losing any
heat by over-hurry in poking out the fuel. The molten
metal must not be permitted to cease flowing in a con-
tinuous stream through the troughs into the reservoir, and
thence into the mould, or the cast will be spoilt. The ope-
ration is carried on in the same manner till all the crucibles,
from the most remote to the nearest, have discharged their
contents. The cast is then allowed to cool until it has
shrunk sufficiently to be turned out of the mould, when it
is surrounded with hot cinders, and thus kept at a cherry
heat till wanted for forging. As cool weather is selected
for the largest castings, while it may not be convenient to
forge them at the time, it sometimes happens that these
huge masses lie in their warm beds for as much as three
months, hot ashes being constantly supplied from furnaces
at work. I believe this precaution has not been generally
adopted in England. It would certainly appear easier to
let down a large mass of metal to a uniform temperature
than to attain the same uniformity by raising the heat in
any manner with which I am acquainted that is suitable to
castings of many tons weight. Nothing can be more
animated and picturesque than the scene at a great casting,
but the endurance of the men seems to be severely tested.
It has happened that some of them have shaken their
heads about undergoing so terrible an “ordeal by fire”

200 Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen.

during hot weather; but the energy of Mr. Krupp has
carried all before him, and by extra pay for heavy work,
and exciting their undoubted esprit de corps, they have been
brought to face anything, though many of them have
fainted under the trial, when large castings have necessarily
been made in hot weather.

HAMMERING.

However elaborate an article is intended to be produced,
the ingot is cast in a cylindrical or square form, hammered
out to the rough shape required, and then turned, &c., to
exact dimensions. Large castings made of irregular con-
tour would not be homogeneous, and might contain air
bubbles. When required for manufacture the ingot (if
such masses as Krupp casts can be called ingots) is placed
under a steam hammer, of size proportionate to the weight
of metal required to be drawn out; and the gun, shaft, or
whatever it may be, grows to its form by long-continued
work, being retained at nearly the same temperature (cherry
red) by frequent heats. This solidity of casting gives
soundness, and the heavy hammering received by the metal
increases its density, strength, and elasticity. The con-
densing effect of the hammering causes an increase of 02
to 0'3 in the specific gravity of the ingot, though it may
have no holes when first cast. Small castings, such as
rails, &c., are rolled in mills, exactly similar to ours, except
that the rollers are cast steel When the metal has been
fully worked its breaking strain varies from thirty-six to
sixty-six tons on the square inch, according as it is soft or
hard. That best for guns is rather soft and has a strength
of about forty-four tons, or even less.

GUNS.

The smaller natures of guns are fashioned from one solid
piece, those above 8-inch calibre are compound, being
weighted and strengthened by jacket or rings. The II-
inch, for instance, the largest steel gun yet manufactured,
is cast as a cylinder, weighing thirty-five tons, and of seven
feet diameter, hammered out toa shape of sufficient strength
to bear proof charges, being turned down to a thickness
over the charge of one calibre. The trunnion-ring, which
is also a cast steel cylinder forged into the form required,
is then shrunk on, and the breech strengthened by the ad-
dition of several hoops, also of cast steel, forged as usual,
to a breadth of 10-inches and a thickness of 6-inches. Two

Krupp’s Steel Works at Essen. 201

of these huge guns, which are to be about sixteen calibres
in length and to weigh twenty-eight tons, are being manu-
factured for the Russian Government, and will cost 7,000/.
each. They are to be breech-loaders on Krupp’s principle,
throwing a projectile of 540lb. with a charge of 5olb. of
prismatic powder, and are intended for the defences of
Cronstadt. They were when I saw them, in last Septem-
ber, nearly completed, the rings only remaining to be
shrunk on and the breech-loading arrangements finished.
The original design has been considerably modified. A
15-inch breech-loading gun has since been commenced,
which will eventually belong to the Russian Government.
It is to be exhibited in the Paris International Exhibition.
The projectile will weigh about goolb.

HAMMER.

From the above description it must be manifest that
hammers of many shapes and sizes are required. They
actually run from Icwt.to 50 tons. One of the most in-
teresting, of six tons, is in the form of a “schwautz
hammer,” or “Belly Helve,’ as we euphoniously call it,
thus saving vertical space ; but instead of a cam being used
to lift it, a steam cylinder with piston is placed vertically
under the middle of the lever, so that the helve head rises
higher than the piston has to go. The largest steam
hammer weighs 50 tons, and is single-acting with a ten feet _
drop. Itcost about 100,000/, of which two-thirds was for
the bed. Very little depression of the floor was visible when
I saw it at work, though this enormous weight has been
thundering down day and night for about four years anda
half. It would seem as if nothing could resist the force of
such ponderous blows, but a large mass of steel, heated to
the moderate temperature required for forging, is hardly
affected by each stroke, and Krupp has obtained the
necessary concession from the Prussian Government to
permit him to build a 120-ton hammer, which is to have a
13 feet drop, but whether single or double acting is not yet,
I believe, determined. It is estimated to cost 200,000/,
and as such a sum is not always at the command of a single
person, there may yet be some delay before we hear that
this monster is at work. Krupp has not yet undertaken
the supply of ammunition, carriages, &c., as the Elswick
Ordnance Company have succeeded in doing ; he will pro-
bably be largely at work in this department before very
long, and in the meantime has already supplied the Russian

202 Importance of Rags.

Government with many thousand g-inch and 8-inch elon-
gated shells, some of them of the finest cutler’s steel. The
8-inch shells contain a bursting charge of 8lb. of powder,
and have pe etrated 44-inch iron plates without being in-
jured, but they cost about 164 each. The Italians have
had some 6-inch shells. All are hammered, as is everything
turned out of these works.

The conclusion to which we are led, examining Krupp’s
works, is, I think, this.

Whether his steel is the best for all purposes is matter
for dispute ; whether his steel guns will ever stand the
large charges which we in England demand is doubtful ;
but for grandeur of conception and magnificence of manu-
facture his establishment and its products place him in the
first rank of engineers. C, BB

IMPORTANCE OF RAGS.

HE wealth that is brought into existence by manu-
factures, or reproduced from apparently valueless
substances by the marvellous transforming power of human
ingenuity, impelled by human wants, is a subject of surprise,
even to the thoughtful observer. Enormous quantities of
refuse matter are transformed into healthful fruits, grains,
vegetables, and flowers, by the liberation of their gases and
the dissolution of their salts. Bones discarded by the
housewife as useless, are wrought into forms of use and
beauty, but in no instance is the value of articles which
have outlived one condition of usefulness, and been sub-
mitted to the recreative power of manufacture, more ap-
parent than in the change which rags undergo.
From time immemorial rags have been the symbol of
poverty, worthlessness, and vileness, and, as such, are re-
ferred to in the Bible, and in the earliest profane works.
Their usefulness as a material for paper seems, however, to
have been discovered several centuries ago. The oldest
specimen of paper made from linen rags contains a treaty
of peace between the kings of Aragon and Spain, bearing
the date of 1178. Raw cotton was, however, used for
_ paper making before this time. It is tolerably certain that
mills for making paper from rags were operated in Spain
as early as 1085 (vide “Chronology of Paper and Paper
Making,” by J. Munsell.)
Rags, particularly cotton and linen rags, have been for

Importance of Rags. 203

many years one of the housewife’s perquisites, and many
a shining treasure in the kitchen, and many an elegant tea-
pot on the table, has borne witness to the thrift of the good
woman in her practice of economical saving. All these
rag-savings find their way to the paper mill. The price
has more than quadrupled since the diminution in the
supply of cotton caused by the war. But the supply of
this country is wholly inadequate to the demands of the
manufactures and the public. Once writing paper was not
very generally used—at least, the people generally required
but a small portion compared to the quantity they now de-
mand. It might have been supposed that the increasing
facilities of travel would have diminished the necessities for
writing ; but the contrary seems to be the case. Personal
contact and mutual acquaintance beget new commercial
alliances, and correspondence is necessary. The rags made
in this country constitute but a small portion of those used
by American manufacturers, We imported for the quarter
of the present year ending June 30th, rags to the value of
426,766 dols.. In the ten years ending with 1865, the
amount of rags imported was 200,883,718 pounds. Italy
furnishes a large proportion of the rags brought into the
United States. Everybody has heard of the Italian lazza-
roni, who wear the scantiest dress of the filthiest rags; yet
from this unpromising source nearly three-fourths of our
supply comes.

Italy is the country of the open palm, and begging and
rags go together. Begging there, and in other parts of
southern Europe, is as much a profession as any industrial
pursuit in this country, and the uniform of rags is more im-
portant to its successful prosecution than is the Govern-
ment livery to the soldier. Still, valuable as rags to the
professional beggar, and important as they may be to
abject poverty, they are far more important to the world at
large; for up to the present time, no other material has
been found to usurp their place as the basis for paper.
Their scarcity and constantly enhancing value have stimu-
lated ingenuity to provide a substitute, but it has not been
so successful as could have been wished. Straw, wood,
and other substances have been, and are now, extensively
used in the manufacture of the coarser papers, but nothing
equals linen and cotton for the production of the firmer
and finer qualities. Some of the European Governments,
for this reason, have prohibited their exportation.

It is a little singular that advances in knowledge and re-

104 Reviews.

finement—the triumphs of intellect and the spread of in-
telligence—are so closely dependent upon the contributions
of ignorance and poverty. Possibly the sheet upon which
we are now writing, and the page that will bear to our
thousands of readers these printed lines, were once the filthy
rags that but half concealed the nakedness of a Neapolitan
beggar or an Egyptian fellah. It is tobe hoped that the
transformation they have undergone is typical of the im-
provement which education and the arts are yet to work
upon the meanest of the race-—The ‘ Scientific American,’

REVIEWS.

The Carboniser. London: John Haddon and Co.. 1866.

THIS invention, of which an account is given in the pam-
phlet before us, is not a new method, but simply makes
practical the earliest known means of preserving wood from
decay, as also of preventing the spread of malaria. Great
praise is due to the inventor, M. Hugon, inasmuch, as he
can, by the action of a jet of flame, produce dessiccation in
a log of wood, by which all the minute living beings which ~
are attracted by the air, and therefore penetrate through
the surfaces of the wood are utterly destroyed. The action
of the flame also tends to shrink and harden the faces of
the wood, thus rendering it much less sensible to exterior
agents.

There cannot be any doubt that this method of preserv-
ing will, will, when thoroughly known effect quite a revolu-
tion in the lasting powers of all wood submitted to its
processes.

We give the effects which are produced by the action of
a jet of flame whose temperature reaches 1,000 to 1,200°
centigrade, and recommend them to the notice of our
goverument, railway companies and all those who in any
way use large quantities of timber.

‘“‘ rst. To aconsiderable depth the timber is perfectly dessi-
cated.

“ond. All the minute but perfect and living beings, monad‘s
bacteriums, vibrions, &c., which cause fermentation, and which,
attracted by the air, penetrate and accumulate, and by a system
of filtration, work through the surfaces of the wood, are utterly
destroyed.

“ ard. The flame bath deposes on the surfaces of the wood a

Reviews. 205

slight layer entirely carbonised, which immediately overlies a
second surface which is merely scorched, that is, which has been
subjected to enough heat to distil the wood, whose crust is in
consequence impregnated with the products of this distillation,
composed principally of creositic and empyreumatic elements.
These matters are antiseptic, and in every case the superficial
layer of carbon prevents the progress of the fermenting process.

“Lastly. The flame shrinks and hardens considerably the faces
of the wood, and thus renders it infinitely less sensible to exterior
agents.”

Fultus Cesar: did He cross the Chaunel? By the Rev.
ScoTT F. SURTEES, Rector of Sprotburgh, Yorkshire.
London: John Russell Smith. 1866. -

Tuis is an exceedingly interesting pamphlet, upon a sub-
ject which has always been of a doubtful nature, but the
doubt hitherto attaching to it is, as Mr. Surtees imagines,
most satisfactorily cleared away by the publication of his
ideas. No doubt, our author firmly believes all that
he has written, but we beg leave to differ with his line of
argument, and still to think that Julius Czesar did cross the
Channel, from some point between Boulogne and Calais,
to some point between Hythe and Deal.

Mr. Surtees tells us that he “long held the conviction”
that Julius Czsar did not cross the Channel, and then pro-
ceeds to prove his views, and winds up with what he sup-
poses to be a regular clincher, which we give in full :—“ We
have found our views stand the test of the strictest local
criticism, and evidence upon evidence, fact upon fact, accu-
mulate upon us at every turn and point. In the minutest
details, land and sea, hill and coast, marsh and river,
Roman camps and Celtic habitations, British scoria, and
Roman pottery, traditions of living people, and barrows of
past ages, all bring to bear a mass of corroborative testi-
mony that is almost overwhelming in its minutiz and
exactness. We willtry and condense it as much as we are
able. We had fixed upon Cromer as the point where Czsar
made the land, Sheringham the promontory which Dio
Cassius says that he rounded ; Weybourne as the shingle
beach, seven or eight miles distant, where the cliff ended
and Czsar disembarked. Now the cliffs, up to the very
edge, are smooth and level ground, and there would be no
difficulty in the British chariots and horsemen keeping up
with the ships as they dropped down with the ebb-tide.
Then the nature of the shore is such that their chariots
could easily manceuvre even down to the very water's edge.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I.

206 , Reviews,

The water is so deep at high tide and the shingle beach
here so abrupt and shelving, that Czesar’s larger ships could
come close in shore, and it is literally true to the letter
that his soldiers would have to jump into deep water,
whilst the smaller galleys could row up to the very bank,

and come to blows hand to hand with the enemy. The

spring tide at full moon rises from eighteen to twenty feet,
which would dash together and cripple his ships; here in
the marsh, at the very border of the sea, rises a fit place
for his camp, a mound of large extent elevated above the
marshes, and affording under its shelter an anchorage for
his fleet. This mound, ‘Green Barrow Hill’ or ‘ Grena-
burh,’ lies between Weybourne and Salthouse ; opposite is
an old Roman causeway running down to it from Kelling,
with a track direct through the marshes to the hill, and
with a streamlet of clear fresh water alongside.”

Our Author tells us that some thirty miles of seaboard
have disappeared, owing to the encroachments of the sea
since Cesar’s time. This is all well and good, but then,
how does he account for the eighty miles which he says
Cesar must have sailed, in contradiction to Czsar’s “ Com-
mentaries,” which mention thirty miles as the length of his
passage. Why, our Author extricates himself by the fol-
lowing very ingenious method :—

“The ‘Commentaries’ mention the distance as being
thirty miles. This we know to be wrong, as thirty miles
is not the shortest (drevisstmum) passage across the
Channel. Every student of history well knows how names
and numbers are altered both in history, sacred and se-
cular, as the transcriber’s will or fancy leads him. Cesar,
no doubt, wrote LXXxX., but when the Channel theory was
broached, the transcribers, knowing that could not be,
struck out the L. and left the xxx. .The Emperopagea
tions an instance of this kind (p. 94, Vol. II.) as regards
‘the Doubs, at Besancon, where he says, ‘the copyists
must have omitted an M. before DC.’”

In concluding our short notice, we must confess that Mr.
Surtees’ theory has a right to be thoroughly ventilated, as
it is a very important antiquarian doubt, which ought to
be cleared away, and we do not, as a contemporary has
said, facetiously, as he supposes, say to Mr. Surtees,
“ don't,’ but “do” dive deeper into the subject, and ere
long we shall have it satisfactorily settled, as to whether
‘Czesar did or did not cross the Channel. Wewould advise

all who are interested in this question, to at once get this —

pamphlet.

Rerwews. | 207

Boutin Manure: being the Official Report of the Boutin
Manure Company, Limited. Offices: 117 and 118
Beadenhall street... Pp. 20.

IN this report we have the whole process of Boutin
Manuring laid before us, showing the great amount of
success which has attended its use. This manure is com-
posed of due proportions of several soluble salts, which by
their action on the mineral constituents of the soil, develop
about the seed certain fertilising principles, which otherwise
would remain dormant were it not for this stimulating
action, thereby rendering more assimilative the mineral
portion of the soil. The action which is thus raised is able
to renew its fertilising power during a succession of similar
crops of equal extent from the same land. In proof of
this latter assertion, M. Boutin has obtained from the same
soil, during ten years, an uninterrupted series of fine crops
of grain.

In France an Official Commission has made experiments
with this manure, and reported it without reserve, a com-
plete success.

Our object in noticing this manure is to bring it to the
knowledge of our agriculturists, whom we strongly recom-
mend to make a trial of its wonderful fertilising power in
their next sowings, and there is not the slightest doubt
whatever but that they will meet with the same reward as
M. Boutin, viz., seeing their fields covered with crops such
as they never before witnessed, this result being obtained
by simply steeping the grain in this strong chemical manure
thereby doing away with the present costly system.

THE Peny,—its Construction anD Ussr.—The. split pen, now
universally used by enlightened nations, is of great antiquity. It
was used by the Egyptians in writing on the sheets produced from
the papyrus, from the name of which our word paper is derived.
It was made from a species of reed, which was prepared by a
sweating process, induced by burial under fermenting manures,
causing the reed to acquire hardness and elasticity, and drying
the pith. These pens ars still in use in the East. Later, the
quills of the swan, eagle, goose, and crow came into use as pens,
and those of the goose, especially, are still largely used, notwith-
standing the introduction of pens of steel, gold, and other metals.
Goose-quills, when first plucked, are soft and tough, covered within
and without with a membrane. They are dried in hot sand,

208 Miscellaneous.

which shrivels the outer skin and the inner pith. They are then
dipped in a hot solution of alum, or in diluted nitric acid, which
hardens them. ‘The processes of manufacture are very simple.
The blanks are punched from a thin sheet, then the hole which
marks the termination of tke slit is punched; the device or letter-
ing is then made by a stamp. Dies give the semi-cylindrical
curve to the blanks. Grinding perfects the nibs, and gives. the
requisite elasticity. The slitting is done by two cutters, one
working against the other. Hardening and tempering, with the
careful assortment of the products of the manufacture, complete
the work. But there is a certain unyielding rigidity in steel pens
which prevents them from being universally preferred to the
goose quill. They manifest also a tendency to adhere to the sur-
face of the paper, requiring some degree of force to propel them,
and sometimes piercing the sheet. For these reasons many are
disinclined to use them. The gold pen, when properly made,
approaches more nearly to the qualities which have for so long a
time made the goose quill the favourite as a medium for writing.
But even the best of the gold pens are by many deemed inferior
to the quill, and this prejudice, or partiality, induced the manu-
facture of pens from quills by machinery, which were used in the
same way the steel or gold pen is used, by being fastened in a
holder. Gold pens are tipped with iridium, making what are com-
monly known as “ diamond points,” The iridium for this pur-
pose is found in small grains in platinum, slightly alloyed with
this latter metal. In this form it is exceedingly hard, and well
adapted to the purpose of the gold pen maker. ‘The gold for pens
is alloyed with silver to about sixteen carats fineness, rolled into
thin strips, from which the blanks are struck. The under side of
the point is notched by a small circular saw, to receive the indium
point, which is selected with the aid of a microscope. A flux of
borax and a blowpipe secure it to its place. The point is
then ground ona copper wheel with emery. The pen blank is
next rolled to the requisite thinness by means of rollers especially
adapted to the purpose, and tempered by blows from a hammer.
It is then trimmed around the edges, stamped, and formed in a
powerful press. The slit is next cut through the solid iridium
point by means of a thin copper wheel, fed with fine emery, and
a saw extends the aperture along the pen itself. The inside edges
of the slit are smoothed and polished by the same means of rapidly-
running wheels and emery, and burnishing and hammering, to pro-
duce the proper degree of elasticity, finish the work.

BOOKS*< RECEIVED:
¢Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip’ for October. No. XXII. MHard-
wicke, Piccadilly.
‘The Artizan’ for October. Offices: 19 Salisbury street.
‘Paper Trade Review.’ No, 1X—New Series. 97 Newgate st., E.C.

THE

fo EN OLOGLS TE:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

——()-—_—.
DECEMBER, 1866.

—-)0-—=

ABROLITES.
BY TOWNSHEND M. HALL, F.G.S.

ETEORIC stones, or aérolites, as they are gene-
rally called (from two Greek words, aer and “thos,
signifying “air-stones”), may be defined as solid masses
consisting principally of pure iron, nickel, and several
other metals, sometimes containing also an admixture of
augite, olivine, and hornblende, which, from time to time,
at irregular intervals, have fallen upon the surface of the
earth from above.

Other designations, such as “fire-balls and thunder-
bolts,” have been popularly applied to these celestial
masses, the former denoting their usual fiery appearance,
whilst the latter has reference to the extreme suddenness
of their descent.

Shooting stars also, although they are not accompanied
by the fall of any solid matter upon the earth, are gene-
rally placed in this same category, since they are supposed
to be aérolites which pass (comparatively speaking) very
near our earth, and are visible from it by night; at the
same time their distance from us, varying as it does from 4
to 240 miles and upwards, is in most instances too great to
allow of their being drawn down by the attractive power
possessed by the earth. Like comets and eclipses, these
celestial phenomena in former times were universally re-
garded with feelings of the greatest awe and superstition ;
and in Eastern countries especially where the fall of a
meteoric stone was supposed to be the immediate precursor

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. x

210 Aerolites.

_of some important public event, or national calamity, the
precise date of each descent was carefully recorded. In
China, for example, such reports reach back to the year
644 before our era; and M. Biot has fownd in the astrono-
mical section of some of the most ancient annals of that
empire sixteen falls of aérolites, recorded as having taken
place between the years 644 B.C. and 333 after Christ, whilst
the Greek and Roman authors mention only four such
occurrences during the same period. Even now, in this age
of science and universal knowledge, aérolites can scarcely
be regarded without a certain degree of dread. Indeed,
four or five cases have occurred in which persons have been
killed by them; in another instance, several villages in
India were set on fire by the fall of a meteoric stone; and
it is by no means a pleasant subject for reflection, that such
a catastrophe might happen anywhere, and at any moment,
especially when we remember that these stones, although
not quite incandescent, are always, more or less, in a heated
state; and sometimes so hot that even after the lapse of
six hours they could not be touched with impunity.

The first fall of meteoric stones on record appears to
have taken place about the year 654 B.C., when, according
to a passage in Livy, a shower of stones fell on the Alban
Hill, not far distant from Rome. The next in chronologi-
cal order is mentioned by several writers, such as Diogenes
of Apollonia, Plutarch, and Pliny, and described by them
as a great stone, the size of two millstones, and equal in
weight to a full waggon-load. It fell about the year 467
B.C., at A?gos Potamos, on the Hellespont; and even up to
the days of Pliny, four centuries after its fall, it continued
to bean object of curiosity and speculation. After the
close of the first century we fail to obtain any account or
notice of this stone; but although it has been lost sight of
for upwards of eighteen hundred years, the eminent Hum-
boldt says, in one of his works, that notwithstanding all
previous failures to re-discover it, he does not wholly relin-
quish the hope that even after such a considerable lapse of
time, this Thracian meteoric mass, which it would be so
difficult to destroy, may be found again, especially since
the region in which it fell has now become so easy of access
to European travellers.

The next descent of any particular importance took
place at Ensisheim in Alsace, where an aérolite fell on
November 7th, 1492, just at the time when the Emperor
Maximilian, then King of the Romans, happened to be on

,

Aecrolites, 211

the point of engaging with the French army. It was pre-
served asa relic in the Cathedral at Ensisheim, until the
beginning of the French revolution, when it was conveyed
to the Public Library of Colmar, and it is still preserved
there among the treasures.

In later years the shower of aérolites which fell in April,
1803, at L’Aigle, in Normandy, may well rank as the most
extraordinary descent upon record. A large fire-ball had
been observed afew moments previously, in the neighbour-
hood of Caen and Alengon, where the sky was perfectly
clear and cloudless, At L’Aigle no appearance of light
was visible, and the fire-ball assumed instead the form of a
small black cloud, consisting of vapour, which suddenly
broke up with a violent explosion, followed several times
by a peculiar rattling noise. The stones at the time of
their descent were hot, but not red, and smoked visibly.
The number which were afterwards collected within an
elliptical area measuring from six to seven miles in length,
by three in breadth, has been variously estimated at from
two to three thousand. They ranged in weight from 2
drachms up to 174 lb. The French Government imme-
diately deputed M. Biot, the celebrated naturalist and phi-
losopher, to proceed to the spot, for the express purpose of
collecting the authentic facts concerning a phenomenon
which, until that time, had almost universally been treated
as an instance of popular superstition and credulity. His
conclusive report was the means of putting an end to all
scepticism on the subject, and since that date the reality—
not merely the possibility—-of such occurrences has no
longer been contested.

Leaving out, for the present, innumerable foreign in-
stances which might be quoted, we must now glance rapidly
ata few of the most noticeable examples of the fall of
meteoric stones which have taken place in England. The
earliest which appears on record descended in Devonshire,
near Sir George Chudleigh’s house at Stretchleigh, in the
parish of Ermington, about twelve miles from Plymouth.
The circumstance is thus related by Westcote, one of the
quaint old Devonshire historians :-—

“In some part of this manor (Stretchleigh), there fell
from above—I cannot say from heaven—a stone of twenty-
three pounds weight, with a great and fearful noise in fall-
ing; first it was heard like unto thunder, or rather to be
thought the report of some great ordnance, cannon, or
culverin; and as it descended, so did the noise lessen, at

Gee

212 | Aerolites.

last when it came to the earth to the height of the report
of a peternel, or pistol. It was for matter like unto a stone
singed, or half-burned for lime, but being larger described
by a richer wit, I will forbear to enlarge on it.”

The “richer wit” here alluded to, was, in all probability,
the author of a pamphlet published at the time, which
further describes this aérolite as having fallen on January
1oth, 1623, in an orchard, near some men who were plant-
ing trees. It was buried in the ground three feet deep, and
its dimensions were 34 feet long, 24 wide, and 14 thick.
The pamphlet also states that pieces broken from off it
were in the possession of many of the neighbouring gentry.
We may here remark that no specimen of this stone is at
present known to be in existence, and that although living
in the county where it fell, we have hitherto failed in
tracing any of the fragments here referred to. A few years
later, in August, 1628, several meteoric stones, weighing
from one to twenty-four pounds, fell at Hatford, in Berk-
shire; and in the month of May. 1680, several are said to

have fallen in the neighbourhood of London.

_ The total number of aérolitic descents, which up to this
present time have been observed to take place in Great
Britain and Ireland, is twenty, of which four occurred in
Scotland, and four in Ireland. The largest am@@eniese
noticeable of all these fell on December 13, 1795, near
Wold Cottage, in the parish of Thwing, East Riding of
Yorkshire. Its descent was witnessed by two persons;
and when the stone was dug up, it was found to have pene-
trated through no less than eighteen inches of soil and hard
chalk. It originally weighed about 56 lb., but that portion
of it preserved in the British Museum is stated in the
official catalogue to weigh 47 lb. 9 oz. 53 grains—just
double the weight of the Devonshire aérolite.

When we come to inquire into the various opinions which
have been held in different ages respecting the origin of
aérolites, and the power which causes their descent, we
must go back to the times of the ancient Greeks, and we
find that those of their philosophers who had directed their
attention to the subject had four theories to account for
this singular phenomenon. Some thought that meteoric
stones had telluric origin, and resulted from exhalations as-
cending from the earth becoming condensed to such a de-
gree as to render them solid. This theory was in after-
years revived by Kepler, the astronomer, who excluded
fire-balls and shooting stars from the domain of astronomy ;

bel 2 ie ea

Aerolites. Zio

because, according to his views, they were simply “ meteors
arising from the exhalations of the earth, and blending
with the higher ether.” Others, like Aristotle, considered
that they were masses of metal raised either by hurricanes,
or projected by some volcano beyond the limits of the
earth’s attraction, so becoming inflamed and converted, for
a time, into star-like bodies. Thirdly, a solar origin; . this,
however, was freely derided by Pliny, and several others,
amongst whom we may mention Diogenes of Apollonia,
already alluded to as one of the chroniclers of the aérolite
of AXgos Potamos. He thus argues: “Stars that are in- .
visible, and consequently have no name, move in space to-
gether with those that are visible..... These invisible

stars frequently fall to the earth and are extinguished, as

the stony star which fell burning at A©gos Potamos.” This
last opinion, it will be seen, coincides, as far as it goes,
almost exactly with the most modern views on the subject.

As some of the Greeks derived the origin of meteorites
from the sun (probably from the fact of their sometimes
falling during bright sunshine), so we find, at the end of the
seventeenth century, it was believed by a great many that
they fell from the moon. This conjecture appears to have
been first hazarded by an Italian philosopher, named
Paolo Maria Terzago, whose attention was specially directed
to this subject on the occasion of a meteoric stone fall-
ing at Milan in 1660,and killing a Franciscan monk.
Olbers, however, was the first to treat this theory in a
scientific manner, and soon after the fall of an aérolite at
Sienna, in the year 1794, he began to examine the question
by aid of the most abstruse mathematics, and after several
years’ labour he succeeded in showing that, in order to
reach our earth, a stone would require to start from the
moon at an initial velocity of 8,292 feet per second; then
proceeding downwards with increasing speed, it would
arrive on the earth with a velocity of 35,000 feet per
second. But as frequent measurements have shown that
the actual rate of aérolites averages 114,000 feet, or about
21% miles per second, they were proved by these curious
and most elaborate calculations to have come from a far
greater distance than that of our satellite. It is but fair to
add that the question of initial velocity, on which the whole
value of this, so-called, “Ballistic problem” depends, was
investigated ‘by three other eminent geometricians, Biot,
Laplace, and Poisson, who during ten or twelve years were
independently engaged upon this calculation. Biot’s esti-

214 A crolites.

mate was 8,282 feet in the second; Laplace, 7,862; and
Poisson, 7,585,—results all approximating very closely with
those stated by Olbers.

We have already observed, at the beginning of this
paper, that meteoric stones may fall at any moment, but
observations, extending over many years, have sometimes
been brought forward to show that, as far as locality is con-
cerned, all countries are not equally liable to these visita-
tions. In other words, the large number of aérolites which
have been known to fall within a certain limited area, has
been contrasted with the apparent rarity of such
occurrences beyond these limits. If it could be proved that
the earth possessed more attractive power in some places
than in others, this circumstance might be satisfactorily ex-
plained, but in default of any such evidence, the advocates
of this theory must rely solely upon statistics, which from
their very nature require to be taken with a certain amount
of reserve. Professor Shepard, in Sz/iimans American
Fournal, has remarked that “ the fall of aérolites is confined
principally to two zones; the one belonging to America is
bounded by 33° and 44° north latitude, and is about 25° in
length. Its direction is more or less from north-east to
south-west, following the line of the Atlantic coast. Of all
known occurrences of this phenomenon during the last fifty
years, 92°8 per cent. have taken place within these limits,
and mostly in the neighbourhood of the sea. The zone of
the eastern continent—with the exception that it extends
ten degrees more to the north—lies between the same de-

grees of latitude, and follows a similar north-east direction, ~

but is more than twice the length of the American zone.
Of all the observed falls of aérolites, 90°9 per cent., have
taken place within this area, and were also concentrated in
that half of the zone which extends along the Atlantic.”
On reference to a map, it will be seen that in the western
continent, the so-called zone is simply confined to the
United States—the most densely inhabited portion of
America. In like manner the eastern zone leaves out the
whole of desert Africa, Lapland, Finland, the chief part of
Russia, with an average of thirty-two inhabitants to each
square mile; Sweden and Norway, with only seventeen per
mile, whilst it embraces all the well peopled districts of
central Europe, most of which, like England, are able to
count between three and four persons to every mile of their
territory. In fact, Professor Shepard’s statement may
almost be resolved into a plain question of population, for

A erolites. 215

were an aérolite to fall in the midst of a desert, or in a
thinly-peopled district, it is needless to point out how few
the chances are of its descent being ever noticed or re-
corded. That innumerable aérolites do fall without attract-
ing any attention, is clearly proved by the number of dis-
coveries, continually taking place, of metallic masses, which
from their locality and peculiar chemical composition, could
only be derived from some extra-terrestrial source. The
great size also of many of these masses entirely precludes
the possibility of their having been placed by human

agency in the positions they have been found to occupy—

sometimes on the surface of the earth, but just as frequently
buried a few feet in the ground.

Thus the traveller Pallas found, in 1749, at Abakansk, in
Siberia, the mass of meteoric iron, weighing 1,680 lbs., now
in the Imperial Museum, at St. Petersburg. Another,
lying onthe plain of Tucuman, near Otumpa, in South
America, has been estimated, by measurement, to weigh no
less than 33,600 lb., or about 15 tons; and one added last
year to the splendid collection of meteorites in the British
Museum, weighs rather more than 34 tons. It was found at
Cranbourne, near Melbourne, and was purchased by a Mr.
Bruce, with a view to his presenting it to the British
Museum, when, through some misunderstanding, it was
discovered that one-half of it had been already promised to
the Museum at Melbourne. In order, therefore, to save it
from any such mutilation, the trustees of our National
Museum acquired and transferred to the authorities of the
Melbourne collection a smaller mass which had been sent
in 1862 to the International Exhibition. It weighed about
3,000 lb., and had been found near Melbourne in the imme-
diate vicinity of the great meteorite. The latter was then

_ forwarded entire to London. In the British Museum may

also be seen a small fragment of an aérolite, originally
weighing 191 lb, which from time immemorial had been
lying at Elbogen, near Carlsbad, in Bohemia, and had
always borne the legendary appellation of “ Der verwiinschte
Burggraf, or the enchanted Burgrave. The remainder of
this mass is preserved in the Imperial collection at Vienna.
In Great Britain only two meteoric masses (not seen to fall)
have hitherto been discovered ; one was found about forty
years ago, near Leadhills, in Scotland; the other in 1861,
at Newstead, in Roxburghshire. :
Several instances have at different times occurred, in
which stones like aérolites have been found, and prized ac-

216 Aerolites.

cordingly, until their real nature was demonstrated by the
aid of chemical analysis. One valuable specimen, found a
few years ago, was shown to have derived its origin amongst
the scoriw of an iron foundry ; another, picked up in the
Isle of Wight, turned out to be a nodule of iron pyrites,
similar in every respect to those which abound in the
neighbouring chalk cliffs; and lastly, some aérolites of a
peculiarly glassy appearance were found shortly after, of
which it may, perhaps, suffice to say that the scene of this
discovery was—Birmingham.

When we come to examine the composition of meteoric
stones, we find, in various specimens, a great diversity in
their chemical structure. Iron is the metal most invariably
present, usually accompanied bya considerable per-centage
of nickel and cobalt; also five other metals, chromium,
copper, molybdenum, manganese, and tin; but of all these
iron is that which largely preponderates, forming sometimes
as much as 96 parts inthe 100. Rare instances have, how-
ever, been recorded where the proportion of iron has sunk
so low as to form only 2 per cent., and the deficiency thus
caused has been made up by a larger admixture of some
earthy mineral, such as augite, hornblende, or olivine.
Other ingredients, like carbon, sulphur, alumina, &c., are
also found to enter, in different proportions, into the com-
position of aérolites; the total number of chemical elements
observed in them, up to this present date, being nineteen or
twenty. It has been well remarked by an able writer, that
no mew substance has hitherto come to us from without;
and thus we find that all these nineteen or twenty elements
are precisely similar to those which are distributed through-
out the rocks and minerals of our earth; the essential
difference between the two classes of compounds—celestial
and terrestrial—being seen most clearly in the respective
methods in which the component parts are admixed.

In the outward appearance of aérolites there is one
characteristic so constant that, out of the many hundred
examples that have been recorded, one only (as far as we
can ascertain) has been wanting in it. We refer to the
black fused crust or rind with which the surface of meteoric
stones is covered. It usually extends not more than a few
tenths of an inch into the substance of the stone, and is
supposed to result from the extreme rapidity with which
they descend into the oxygen of our atmosphere, causing
them to undergo a slight and partial combustion, which,
however, from the short time necessarily occupied in their

A erolites. 2g

descent, has not sufficient time to penetrate beyond the
surface. On cutting and polishing the stones, if the smooth
face is treated with nitric acid, it will in many cases be
found to exhibit lines and angular markings, commonly
known by the name of “widmannsted figures.” These are
tracings of imperfect crystals, whilst the broad intermediate
spaces, preserving their polish, point out those portions of
the stone which contain a larger proportion of nickel than
the rest of the mass. We may here add that the noise,
said at times to accompany the fall of aérolites, does not
appear to be a constant characteristic, nor does the cause
or exact nature of it seem able to be definitely specified.

In conclusion, we cannot do better than advise those of
our readers, who desire further information on this subject,
to take the earliest opportunity—if they have not done so
already—of paying a visit to the magnificent collection of
meteoric stones, contained in several glass cases at the end
of the Mineral Gallery at the British Museum. The cata-
logue for the year 1856 gave a list of between seventy and
eighty specimens ; in 1863 this number had increased to
216, mainly through the energy of the Curator, Mr. Mas-
kelyne; and since that date there have been several further
additions. Chief amongst the continental museums may
be mentioned the Imperial collection at Vienna, as possess-
ing a series of specimens, remarkable alike for their size and
importance.

Summary of Aérolitic Descents which have taken place in
Great Britain and Lreland.

ENGLAND.

1623. January 10. Ernington, near Plymouth, Devon-
shire. |

1628. August 9. Hatford, in Berkshire.

1642. August 4. Woodbridge, in Suffolk.

1680. May 18. In the neighbourhood of London.
2725). july.3. Northamptonshire.

1780. April 1. Beeston.

1701. Menabilly, in Cornwall.

1795. December 13. Wold Cottage, Thwing, Yorkshire.
1803. July 4. East Norton, in Leicestershire.

1806. May 17. Basingstoke, in Hamgshire.

1830: February 15. Launton, near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
1835. August 4. Aldsworth, near Cirencester, Glouces-

tershire.

218 Beet Sugar and Cane Sugar.

SCOTLAND.
1676. In the Orkneys.
1802. October. In Scotland.
1804. April 4. High Possil, near Glasgow.
1830. May 17. Perth.
IRELAND.
1779. Pettiswood, Co. Westmeath.
18io. August. Mooresfoot, Co. Tipperary
£o13., september 10.1 Adare, Co, Limerick.
1844. April 29. Killeter, near Casthe Denes
Tyrone.

In addition to these, two meteoric stones have been found
inv scotland, viz.:
Found, 1820—30. Leadhills; Lanarkshire.
a 1861 Newstead, Roxburghshire.
Popular Science Review.

BEET SUGAR AND CANE SUGAR

HE astonishing progress made in late years by beet-
root sugar is beginning to excite the greatest appre-
hension in the sugar-growing colonies. Itis of the greatest
interest to consider the different points that are likely to
cause the preponderance of the cane or of the beet. In
the first place, the sugar-cane is a denizen of the tropics,
where the condition of the weather at any given time can
be counted upon with certainty. The beet, on the other
hand, grows in the temperate zone, where, although the
inhabitants neither suffer from excessive heat nor excessive
cold, the weather is “almost always unsettled and more or
less uncertain. The beet, which is affected by too much
rain or by too little, by unseasonable heat, by unexpected
cold, or by too little or too much sunlight, is particularly
uncertain in its growth, and the remarkable fluctuations in
the crops during the last’ few years sufficiently establish
this point. In 1859-60 the beet crop amounted to 438,000
tons; in 1860-61 it amounted to only 366,826 tons; in
1861-62 it again rose to 404,411 tons; and in 1862-63 to
450,000 tons. The season 1863-64 was a bad one, and the
return sank to 385,741 tons, from which it again rose in
1864-65 to 475,000 tons. This season it will probably

Beet Sugar and Cane Sugar. 219

amount to close on 600,000 tons. It must be, rernembered

in considering these very great fluctuations in returns, that,

notwithstanding the extraordinary variation in yield, the
breadth of land sown has steadily increased year by year,
and that even the present season (the largest known) has
been a favourable one only in France, while in Germany
the weather was decidedly unfavourable, and in Russia so
much so as to cause a failure of the crop. Although the
beet crops will probably continue to increase, and although
in a generally favourable season much heavier returns may
be looked for, there is certainly some comfort for cane
planters in the fact of the great uncertainty of the Euro-
pean plant. The beet owes its rapid spread over the Con-
tinent, in great measure, to its indirect use in agriculture.
It gives a basis for the rotation of crops; its leaves and
refuse are useful for cattle-feeding and for manure. But,
on the other hand, the indirect uses of the cane have never
been tried, and its refuse, although full of saccharine mat-
ter, far from being made useful, is burnt. There is another
advantage possessed by the beet in its being produced in
the very countries where the sugar is wanted—thus saving
the costly freight from the tropics. This certainly applies
to countries in the interior of Europe; but countries having
a seaboard, and which have to draw their supplies from the
interior or from other European kingdoms, can frequently
import sugar at nearly as cheap a rate as they can trans-
port it. For instance, the latest quotations of freight from
Mauritius to England is 30s. per ton, while to get sugar
even from the north of France to London costs 25s. per
ton; or, in other words, the carriage of sugar from Mauri-
tius to England is only 3d. per cwt. dearer than from France
to England. Thus, as far as freight is concerned, there is
little fear, while the English market remains open, of cane
sugar being shut out from consumption. It must, however,
be expected, if the present state of things continues, that
ina very few years the Continent will draw its supplies
entirely from the beet, and also, that although England has
as yet made no sugar from it, that the beetroot grows and
thrives from John o’ Groat’s tothe Land’s End, and that
a little more success on the Continent will cause the manu-
facture of native sugar to be introduced here. It remains
to be seen whether cane sugar can recover the ground lost;
but there can be little doubt, had proper use been made of
their advantages, that the colonial planters would not have
been so far behind in the race as they are at present. The

e

220 The Scrence of Mnemonics.

scale of duties meant to protect certain colonies against
the effect of their ignorance and wastefulness, had the
effect of lowering the standard of sugar making all through
the tropics. Instead of trying to make the finest possible
sugar, the planter tried to make the worst, and the waste-
ful process that had existed in only a portion of the colonies
became general. In the meantime the ablest chemists,
engineers, and agriculturists, were silently studying the
constitution of the beetroot. Every invention that could
increase the saccharine yield of the root, facilitate its work-
ing, and improve the quality of the sugar, was eagerly
applied ; the yield of sugar from a given quantity of beet-
root has been doubled in ten years, and white sugar can
now be made in France at the first operation as cheaply as
brown. Should such progress induce cane planters to
despair? On the contrary, it should stimulate them to —
exertion. Surely if the cane contain twice as much
saccharine matter as the beet; if it be far more easily
worked ; if its growth can be more confidently relied on;
if its molasses be a saleable article, which is not the case
with the beet surely we say that, far from despair, the feel-
ing that should animate the planters should be that of hope
that the proper appliances may yet rescue their industry
from ruin. Every year that passes shows more indisputably
the necessity for improving cultivation, for improving
machinery, and for making the best instead of the worst
sugar; and if cane planters will take advantage of their
opportunity, they may yet retrieve their position.— 7vavers's
Circular.

THE SCIENCE OF MNEMONICS.

BY WILLIAM STOKES,
Teacher of Memory, Royal Polytechnic Institution.

HE resurrection of arts and sciences would be an
interesting subject for a scientific essay. Without
allusion to Mnemonics, such a paper would be incomplete.
The fact that “whatever man has done man can do” seems
to have been forgotten in respect to the Art of Memory,
and century after century reference has been made to the

The Science of Mnemonics. 221

mnemonical achievements of the ancients. As though they
either possessed ability which was peculiarly their own, or as
though they had means of aid at their command of which
Modern Mnemonists were destitute. We have no just
reason, however, to presume either the one or the other.
One thing must be evident, that it is wiser by far to avail
ourselves of the known aids within our reach, than to
vainly speculate upon, and to lament the loss of, appliances
which probably never existed.

It may be asked are there any “ known aids” to memory?
is there any “Science of Mnemonics?” If things are to be
regarded as “known,” only when they are in ordinary use
with “the million,” and if a science is only to be regarded
as “a science” when it is popularly recognised ? we may
reply that there are no “known aids,” and that there is no
“Science of Mnemonics.” But a fact, though little known,
is nevertheless a fact, and a “science,” which is a combina-
tion of facts, although it may not be recognised, is none
the less a science! As far as evidence is concerned, Mne-
monics is a fully established science, but in the matter of
popularity it is a science which has to be established. The
recognition, or non-recognition of truth, will neither
enhance nor lessen its value in the estimation of those who
love truth simply for its own sake; but it would not be
difficult to find some who think truth must be error unless
it is popular. To such, the large share of attention at pre-
sent being bestowed upon Mnemonics, may render the
subject somewhat attractive, or at least endurable. It is
much to be regretted, that the popularity of Mnemonics
has not been equal to its simplicity and utility.

Who can justly estimate the value of a good memory?
Who can trace the ultimate results of one instance of for-
getfulness? As surely as the muscles of the human body
can be strengthened by gymnastics, so surely can the
memory be strengthened by Mnemonics. As surely as we
may obtain a cork leg or an artificial arm, so surely may
we, in case of impairment or loss, obtain an artificial
memory, and, with a much closer resemblance to Nature’s
_endowment, than in the case of the artificial limb.

As a good system of gymnastics develops a// the mem-
bers of the body, so a good system of Mnemonics develops
all the powers of the mind.

Mnemonics is based upon association, and (if a little
_self-quotation may be pardoned), to speak in proper phraseo-
logy, there are four kinds of memory—tongue, ear, eye, and

a
ia
- ad)

-

222 The Scrence of Mnemonics.

brain memory. The method of learning generally employed
is repeating, depending almost entirely upon the tongue and
the ear for accuracy; the eye (or the mind’s eye) and the
reasoning faculties having little or nothing to do with it.
The result in many cases must be forgetfulness, which may
be avoided by Mnemonic wsual or reflective memory.

Perfection of association is that which secures the united
and harmonious action of the greatest number of powers
which can be brought into use for the object desired. We
may fail to remember, from want of articulating, or from
inattention to our articulation, but more frequently forget-
fulness arises from zo¢ PICTURING—IMPERFECTLY PICTUR-
ING, or zzcorrectly PICTURING. Intellectual association
is mainly dependent upon the mind’s eye. Impressions
‘may be made variously, but sometimes thus :—The tongue
gives an wtterance which is conveyed to the ear ,; the ear-
received utterance produces a mental picture, which is re-
ceived by the eye, and the impression on the eye awakens
reflection—a mental comment, or remark, or action of the
intellect. It often strangely happens that the mental re-
mark which we make upon a thing is better remembered
than the thing itself. Hence, the importance of reflection,
or intellectual action,asanaidto Memory. (See diagram.)

Symbolization is a branch of the Mnemonical Art, and
though its application may seem formidable, or .often im-
practicable, to those who are not acquainted with it, it is far
too valuable to be passed by here without notice. Many
people seem singularly devoid of symbolizing power, yet
their uncouth or imperfect mental representations may be
comprehended by ¢hemselves, and may be useful to them-
selves, although not communicable to others.

Experience will soon show that it is often easier to think
of a part instead of a whole, and to think of the concrete
instead of the abstract; thus, if St. Paul’s Cathedral were
mentioned, it would be easier to think simply of the upper
part of it, as a symbol, than to try to bring to mind its
whole exterior and interior, and the upper part alone would
suggest St. Paul’s guzte as well as the thought of the entire
building ; and suppose we wanted to teach a child that the
name of the architect of St. Paul’s was WREN, the symbol
of the name, a wrez, would be more easily remembered
than the mere ztierance of the name. The straw in the
wren’s beak, the symbol of its being in the act of budding,
would be more easily remembered by the child than the
word architect, yet would be in effect the same. Test this,

The Science of Mnemonics. 223

if you doubt its power. Tell a number of small children
the simple fact that St. Paul’s Cathedral was erected by

AS

ol 4 NN Sy \

A
;
4 i
\ a a \

simultaneous operation of lingual, aural, visual, and

intellectual association.

Thing lo he remembered.

Diagram illustrative of the

the architect Wren, and the majority of them probably will
soon forget that which you have said. Then convey the
fact symbolically, as given, and if the symbol is not more
powerful than the ordinary verbal statement, it will be
strange.

Now should this picture seem to make
Associations slender, |

Just use the last word of this rhyme,
Which strong the link may (w) render!

Impressions made thus to minds that are awake to this
mode of action, are very quick and enduring. Availing

224 Medicinal Properties of Thistle Oul.

myself of the knowledge of this fact, I am certain that
thousands who read this will, through this illustration,
have my name inseparably connected with the objects
used. Thus, while apparently I have been merely illustra-
ting the application of a principle in fixing a fact, I have
simultaneously, to thousands of minds, rendered St. Paul’s
Cathedral—that fane of Fame, to be associated with which
so many celebrities have aspired in vain—a stupendous
monument to the “Stokes, of Memory, and, in time to
come, to the Memory of Stokes !”

————
4
Ff#
GSE
ae
Vif jsanyitek .
ify VW it HAAS AGRE
UW GIGS ELD.
——/// CTT
— ith i Pr rece ett
rH, PEE EER
SH HET Hi ue Hi
tes i} Het ny a H
ML 1S ty) on ry
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cig
4

(To be continued.)

NOTES ON THE MEDICINAL. PROPERTIES SOF
THISTLE-OIL, OR OIL EXTRACTED Tia
THE SEED OF THE ARGEMONE MEXTOZe

BY E. BONAVIA, M.D.
Civil Assistant-Surgeon, Lucknow.

ABOO Kanny Loll Dey, in his paper about indigenous
drugs, published in the ‘Indian Medical Gazette’ —
(No. 7, of Ist July last, page 197), has given a faint idea of
the medicinal properties of the oil of Arxgemone Mexicana,
Linn. (called in Bengal She-al Kanta, and in Upper India
Karwah). Wewas not aware that a number of experi-
ments have been made in Oudh, which prove it to be a

Medicinal Properties of Thistle-Ovl. 225

much more useful oil than for the mere purposes of burn-
ing.

ae time ago I read in Simmonds’s ‘Commercial Pro-
ducts of the Vegetable Kingdom, page 626, that in “ Nevis
(one of the Caribbean Islands), the oil of Arxgemone Mext-
cana, called ‘ thistle-oil; is sold in one-ounce phials at a
quarter of a dollar each (that is, about 8 annas an ounce).
The usual dose for dry belly-ache-is 30 drops upon a lump
of sugar, and its effect is perfectly magical, relieving pain
instantaneously, throwing the patient into a profound and
refreshing sleep, and, in a few hours relieving the bowels
gently of their contents. This oil seems fitted to compete
in utility with the far more costly and less agreeable oil of
croton.” Mr. Simmonds further states that “Dr. Hamilton,
of Plymouth, recently brought under the notice of the pro-
fession the medical properties of the prickly poppy, or
Mexican thistle (Argemone Mexicana).”

Knowing that this plant grows plentifully all about
Lucknow, and in fact, in most parts of India, I determined
to make some experiments with the oil of its seed, in order
to ascertain whether the oil from the East Indian plant
had the same effects as that of the West Indies. I got a
quantity of seed collected, and had the oil extracted. I
tried it in various cases of colic accompanied with constipa-
tion. It often gave relief and moved the bowels, but these
effects are not always produced. Sometimes, too, a second
dose is required. [understood thatin Upper India natives
were in the habit of using it for an affection of the skin
which they call déd. I tried the oil externally in all the
dids which came under my notice, and I cannot remember
one in which the itchiness was not removed, and the affec-
tion cured. The ddd is askin affection which appears about
the waist, where the “dhotee”* is tightly bound, and
occurs mostly among Hindoos. The oil is rubbed twice or
thrice a day on the affected part. A short time ago a
patient came into my hospital with a pustular eruption all
around his waist, and patches of it on his right thigh. It
was very painful and troublesome. I got the seed of this
plant pounded and mixed with a little flour and water, and
made into a soft paste. This was plastered all over the
pustular eruption ; it had a very good effect. In about a

* Cotton cloth with which natives cover the middle part of their
bodies. -

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. U

226 Medicinal Properties of Thistle Ort.

week the man was quite well, and all the pustules had
healed and left a clean skin.

In May, 1865, I addressed the Chief Commissioner of
Oudh, suggesting that this oil should be tried in the various
dispensaries of Oudh. I furnished them with the oil, and
the following is the result of some of the experiments :—

Dr. Whishaw, of Fyzabad, and Dr. Jamieson, of Hurdui,
reported that it acted as a mild purgative. The former
stated that it would be a useful addition to the Pharma-
copoeia; the latter stated that he used it instead of castor-
oil, and it had the advantage of not being half so nasty to
swallow.

From Pertabgurh it was reported that the thistle-oil had
been tried in the dispensary of that district, on 90 patients,
said to have been suffering from colic. In 73 of the number
it was successful, in 17 cases it was not.

From Roy Bareilly, Dr. Baines Reid reported that “ it
had been given in cases of colic, in doses varying from 30
drops to 2 drachms, repeated if necessary. The smaller
dose was generally successful, quickly relieving the pain
and acting mildly on the bowels; but it sometimes causes
purging and vomiting.” “In my own practice,” he says,
“among Europeans, I have not been successful in its use.
On three occasions. when given as a purgative in doses of
20 drops, it caused violent vomiting with long-continued
nausea. The native doctor has used it successfully in cases
of itch, but unfortunately not by itself. The oil made in
the jail at Roy Bareilly appears similar in its properties, —
and has been given with the like results.

“From my experience of the oil, it seems sometimes to
have great power in relieving colic; but it is very uncertain
in its effects.”

Dr. Selons reporeed from Sultanpore—‘I have had
several opportunities of trying the thistle-oil, and in my
opinion it is an excellent remedy in colic.

“Tn one case, which occurred in my own compound, one
dose of half a drachm allayed the pain and caused action
of the bowels; in others, two doses have been required ;
but in all, the medicine appeared to exercise some influence
beyond that of a mere purgative, as the pain was in all cases
alleviated by its administration before the bowels acted.

“T am inclined to consider it a valuable addition to the
indigenous Pharmacopceia.’

Dr. Condon reported from Baraitch that “it was tried
in only three or four cases, and in some it did no good at

.¢

Medicinal Properties of Thistle Oil. 227

all; in others it did afford some relief. It was more ex-
tensively used as an application to some skin diseases, as
‘scabies’ or ‘itch, and in some forms of ‘psoriasis ;’ and
its beneficial effect was very marked in all.

“T am of opinion,” he says, “that its utility in colic is
doubtful ; but as an application in skin diseases, there can
be no doubt whatever of its being a valuable remedial
agent.”

The same Redieal officer reported from Gondah that “ it
was used internally in four cases of colic, in each of which
Heave telief;’ “but,” he states “the number i is too small
for me to form an opinion of its merits.” He tried it in
skin diseases very extensively, and found that it was an
- excellent remedy, rarely failing to afford relief; he further
states that there can be no question as to its utility in some
skin diseases, more especially that kind of “ psoriasis ”
which is so common among natives, and also in “scabies.”
I sent a large tin of the oil to Dr. Wilkie, then Deputy-In-
spector-General of Hospitals, Meerut Circle, for trial in his
dispensaries. He soon after left Meerut for the lower
provinces, and I have not heard what the result has been.

Dr. O’Shaughnessy, in his ‘ Bengal Dispensatory,’ under
article Argemone Mexicana, states that “he subjected the
seeds to numerous experiments, and has never found them
to show any emetic or narcotic influence; they contain a
bland oil, resembling that of poppy oil, and which can be
used in ounce doses without producing any purgative
effect.”

The accounts given by the different individuals who
tried it are conflicting, but, upon the whole, they are
favourable. Its great usefulness in skin diseases I don’t
think can be doubted. There is discrepancy in results of
trials made with the oil used internally for colic. I think
this can be easily accounted for. All oils are changed
more or less by keeping, and it is quite possible that the
differences in the result originated in one case in being
kept more exposed to the air than in another. The newly-
pressed oil may give results different from those when a
long time has elapsed after the seeds have been pressed.
Differences of climate and soil may undoubtedly produce
a change in the properties of a plant. No one doubts
that all the varieties of Wzcotiana Tabacum descended
from the same stock, but no two kinds agree exactly in
their properties; some have more, some have less of the
narcotic principle. So it may be with the plant under

U2

consideration. We all call it Avxgemone Mexicana, but the
one that grows in Mexico may have different properties
from the one that grows in the West Indies, in Bengal, or
the North of India.

I think it is well deserving of more extensive trials. If
we find it of use, its value will be enhanced by the extent
of country over which it spontaneously grows. I think if
separate trials be made with fresh seed and old seed, with
fresh oil and old oil, we may arrive at some conclusive
results regarding the properties of each. I am now making
trials with the fresh pounded seed mixed up with a little
flour and water. I use it asa poultice for indolent ulcers
and skin diseases. At some future period I shall give the
result of my experiments. ;

Baboo Kanny Loll Dey states that the oil is of a pale
yellow colour. Certainly, the oil which I had extracted in
Lucknow was of a very different colour, it had a marked
reddish-brown tinge, resembling somewhat that of the dark
coloured cod-liver oil. It became much paler by keeping.
The cost of producing the. oil in Lucknow is as follows :—

Collecting seed, from 2 to 4 pice per seer.

Pressing a maund of seed (40 seers) by the native pro-
cess, I rupee and 4 annas.

A. maund of seed gives 8 seers of oil.

So that the oil costs about 3 rupees and 2 annas for 8
seers, or less than 8 annas a seer. The Nevis thistle-oil
must be valuable indeed, to fetch about 8 annas an ounce.

Dist Fiuly, Too.

P.S.—With reference to the change of properties of oils
by keeping, I have often heard natives say that when
castor-oil is zewly extracted, they sometimes make use of
it for cooking purposes. It is bland and very different
from the same oil kept for some days.—I/ndian Medical
Gazette, August, 1866.

228 On the North Atlantic Telegraph.

ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC TELEGRAPE
| BY H. HOLMES.
: ‘HE magnitude and serious nature of the transmitting
difficulties existing in all long unbroken sea lines, has
led to the construction cf what is known as the Russian- _
American line—a land line of telegraph intended to reach

On the North Atlantic Telegraph. 229

New York from St. Petersburgh by wires through Siberia
and on to San Francisco, with a short sea section across
Behren’s Straits, a total distance of about 12,000 miles.
This Russian-American line is already far advanced towards
completion ; but by far the most important line of tele-
graphic communication between England and America is
that to be immediately carried into effect vz@ Scotland, the
Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and the coast of Labra-
dor, and known as the North Atlantic Telegraph. A glance
at the map in the direction pointed out will at once show
that convenient natural landing stations exist, breaking up
the cable into four short lengths or sections, instead of the
necessitous employment of one continuous length, as be-
tween Ireland and Newfoundland. It will also be found
that the aggregate lengths of these sections is within a very
few miles the same as that of the Anglo-American cable.
Not only will this subdivision of the cable reduce mechani-
cal risks in submerging, but, what is of far more importance,
the retardation offered to the passage of the current through
the several short sections is almost as nothing when com-
pared with that of the unbroken length of 2,000 miles.
Speed of transmission is obtained, and by that means a
reduced tariff for public transmissions over the wire; in-
deed, such will be the advantages gained in this respect
that the present rate by the Anglo-American line of 20s.
per word, will be charged on the new route at 2s. 6d., or
even alesssum. In examining more closely the nature of
this intended Northern line, it will be found that the lengths
of the several sections of cable between England and
America are as follows :—Scotland to the Faroe Isles, 250
miles ; Faroe to Iceland, 240 miles; Iceland to Greenland,
750 miles; Greenland to Labrador, 540 miles; or in round
numbers about 1,780 miles. The several lengths of cable
will be connected together by special land lines through
the Faroes (twenty-seven miles), and in Iceland (280 miles),
and a length of about 600 miles of land wire to be erected
in Labrador, will complete the circuit with the existing
American system on to New York. The average depth of
the ocean between Scotland and the Faroe Isles is only
150 fathoms, the greatest depth 683 fathoms. Between
the Faroes and Iceland 250 fathoms, with about the same
maximum depth. Between Iceland and Julianshaad, the
intended landing place of the cable in Greenland, the
greatest depth is 1,550 fathoms, and between Greenland
and Labrador rather over 2,000 fathoms. These lengths of

ie

cable and depths of ocean are both not only navigable, but
practicable, and no difficulties in the working exists that
are not already known by reference to the practical work-
ing of existing cables under the conditions of similar lengths
and depths. As regards the presence of ice, it must be re- —
membered that it is only at certain seasons of the year that
the south-west coast of Greenland is closed by the ice, at
other times this ice breaks up, and the coast is accessible
to the Danish and other trading vessels frequenting the
port and harbour of Julianshaad, the proposed station and
landing place of the cables, and at such times the cables,
will be laid. Reference to the depth of the soundings up
the Julianshaad fjiord will at once indicate the security of
the shore ends of the cables from interference from ice,
when submerged. The landing places of the cable in Iceland
are likewise in no way liable to be disturbed by ice of such
a nature as to cause damage to the cable; and on the
Labrador coast, the risk of injury to the cable cannot be
considered greater than that to which the Anglo-American
shore ends are exposed in the vicinity of Newfoundland
Bank. In stating these facts, it must be remembered that
the officers of Her Majesty’s Government in the ‘ Bulldog,’
- in 1860, accompanied by the ‘ Fox,’ screw steamer, made
sutveys of the intervening seas and landing places, charts of

which were published by the Admiralty.

230 Trade of the Island of Crete.

TRADE OF THE ISLAND OF CRE ie

T the present time, when attention is being attracted

to Crete, owing to the Revolution there, the follow-

ing, concerning its Trade and Commerce, may not prove
unacceptable to our readers :-—

As no other custom-houses, except those at Canea,
Candia, and Retimo, are established on the Island, and all
ships having goods to load or discharge, are consequently
required to call at either of these three ports, in order to
obtain permits and enter their manifests, the following
general observations, compiled by Mr. Consul Dickson, at
Canea, Mr. L. A. Colocherino, Consular Agent at Candia,
and Mr. Colocherino, Consular Agent at Retimo, will fur-
nish some idea of the navigation and commerce of the
whole Island of Crete during the past year :—

Trade of the [sland of Crete. 231

DISTRICT OF CANEA,

Shipping and Navigation.—The total number of British
ships that entered amount to seven; all from England, with
cargoes consisting principally of coals and soda ash, valued
altogether at 49,093, and having a total burthen of 1,824
tons. The total number of their crews was 74. All these
vessels cleared in ballast—namely, four for Constantinople,
two for Zante, and one for Smyrna. The following is a
statement of foreign ships entered and cleared, not in-
cluding those engaged in the coasting trade:—Entered,
429 vessels ; total value of cargoes, £190,907 ; cleared, 470
vessels; total value of cargoes, £160,400.

The Austrian Lloyds steamers, plying as they do weekly
between Syria, Canea, Retimo, and Candia, and vice versd,
also carry on a coasting trade. The goods thus conveyed
between the intermediate ports of this Island are chiefly
native produce, and the amount thereof is trifling.

The town of Canea is chiefly dependent upon 4 Italian,
and a few Maltese boats, for its daily supply of fresh fish.

All these shipping returns have been obtained from official

~ gources.

The value of the following articles of importation and
exportation have been calculated, according to current
market prices, and their quantities estimated approxi-
mately by local merchants.

Imports.—The imports amounted to £188,370, and con-
sisted of wheat, flour, barley, beans, sugar, coffee, rice,
butter, codfish, and herrings, tobacco, calicoes, and T cloths,
cotton twist, bullock hides, soda, ash, natron, jute-sacks
(from Dundee), timber, hardware, rope of all kinds, &c.
wate following goods were received from England and

alta :—

Articles. Quantity. Value.
Piastres 4
Soda Ash a aC VE: 6,840 461,400 = 4,083
Jute Sacks ots de EE: 5,000 |. 40,000 354.
BN i a > si sce BASS 150 27,000 239
Miscellaneous ... fa. sia 30,000 =. 205

a eedh, 2 ae ine 558,400 =4,941

232 Trade of the Island of Crete.

Under the head miscellaneous are comprised T cotton
cloths, cotton twist, herrings and codfish, dry salteries, and
a few other manufactures.

Eixports—The exports are soap, wrought silk, cocoons
and silkworm eggs, oranges, and lemons, chesnuts, bees-
wax, cheese, linseed, lambskins, &c., valued at a total of
#£150,315. Nearly the whole of these articles were ex-
ported to Greece, and different parts of Turkey and Egypt.

It will be remarked that olive-oil—the staple production
of the Island—does not appear in the return, except under
the name of soap, into which most of the oil has been con-
verted. ‘This circumstance is due mainly to the prevailing
high prices of soap in Egypt and at Constantinople.

Rate of Exchange-—The rate of exchange has not’ fluc-
tuated, remaining fixed at 113 piastres per 4 sterling.
Bills on England have been in steady demand, and nego-
tiable always at par.

Banks.—There are no banks in the Island. If a branch
establishment were fixed at Canea in connection with some
large banking firm at Constantinople, such an enterprise
would materially benefit local trade, and at the same time
alleviate the pressure caused by the present high rates of
interest. Ten, and twelve per cent. is the interest usually
levied on mortgage.

A griculture-—Vhe average agricultural produce of the
Island of Crete during 1865, may be estimated as follows :—

Olive Oil... ie <2 tuns 7,500
Wheat ae ues ... bushels 200,000
Barley Lf 3 300,000
Oats oe ays val A 250,000
Beans and Vetches oH fi 100,000

On the whole, the corn harvest cannot be reckoned a
plentiful one. Large quantities of olives, after having well
ripened, have been washed away and otherwise damaged
by the heavy and continued rains during the beginning of
winter.

Cocoons and Silkworm E.ggs.—In regard to cocoons and
silkworm eggs, an unusually great number of persons came
here from Syria early in the year to purchase cocoons, and
convey the eggs to their own country. This caused the
price of silk to advance to an unprecedentedly high price ;
for whereas, in ordinary years the price never exceeded
140 piastres per oke, as much as 400 to 450 piastres were
paid during the year.

Trade of the [sland of Crete. — 238

- Seventeen okes of cocoons produce one oke (about
24 Ibs.) of eggs.

The quality of the silk of this Island is considered equal
to that of Adrianople. Thesmall manufactory established
here in 1850 for reeling silk in the Italian way has for
many years ceased to work. A good crop does not ex-
ceed 30,000 lbs.

Public Works.—It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to state
that railways and telegraphs did not exist on the Island,
and that even the bare hope of such modern appliances
being introduced under the present administrative system
is very distant. The state of the roads and bridges in
general (if the few now practicable be even deserving the
appellation) is deplorable, and ought to rouse the serious
attention of the Government to remedying so crying an evil.

While the Governor-General, Ismail Pasha, is deserving
of great credit for the encouragement his Excellency is
giving to agriculture, distributing, as he has done, thousands
of young olive and mulberry plants among the peasantry
gratis, in addition to other benefits conferred on local hor-
ticulture, the obstructions to the transport of yearly in-
creasing produce, and to an extended means of internal
communication, have been sadly overlooked.

DISTRICT OF CANDIA.

The chief articles of British manufacture imported to
the port of Candia were cotton cloths, iron, soda ash, jute
sacks, Indian rice, pepper, indigo, tin in boxes, alum,
crockery, &c. These have been mostly conveyed by the
Austrian Lloyds steamers from Syria, where they lay in
transit. A quantity of such goods has also been imported
through Smyrna and Constantinople.

In addition to the Lloyds boats, a Greek company had
started a line of steamers in April last, plying between
Syra and Candia. These having proved tvo large, and
unable safely to enter the small harbour of Candia, and,
on the other hand, too costly, were soon afterwards aban-
doned.

The total number of all ships which have arrived and
departed from this port during 1865, exclusive of boats
carrying on the coast trade, is as follows :—

Entered —548 vessels, the total value of the cargoes
being 4121,700. Cleared—s587 vessels, the total value of
the cargoes being £86,800.

234 Trade of the Island of Crete.

The total value of the imports was 4121,700, against
4113,261. in 1863, and 155,300 in 1860.

The exports amounted altogether to £86,800, against
#125,504 in 1860.

The trade of this province has been much’ depressed by
the partial failure last year of the grain and olive crops.
The latter only yielded 3,000,000 okes of oil, being about
one-fourth of a good harvest in the whole Candia district.

The crop of carobs was altogether a plentiful one, about
40,000 cwt. were exported from this port last year.

The prices averaged 3s. 6d. and 4s. per cwt., free of all
charges on board.

The grape has been nearly all blighted by a heavy storm
occurring in the early part of Septernber.

A large quantity of silk cocoons, and equal to two-thirds
the entire crop, was converted into eggs, pursuant to con-
stant orders from Syria.

Fresh cocoons fetched from 3s. 6d. to 4s. per lb.; spun
silk from 18s. to £1 per lb.

Olive oil costs, free on board, 447 up to 451 per tun;
native soap, 38s. per cwt.

DISTRICT OF RETIMO.

The port of Retimo is yearly getting filled up with sand,
and only very small vessels can now load or discharge. If
properly cleaned there would be a depth of from ten to
twelve feet. ,

Last year the crop of oil almost entirely failed, having
only produced 30,000 mistata (333 tuns). All this quantity
has been made up into soap.

A good crop of oil in the whole district of Retimo | is
estimated at some 500,000 mistata (5,208 tuns).

Next to olive oil, carobs and valonea rank as staple pro-
ducts of the sheiea® .

The yield of the first was 30,000 kintals (33,000 cwt.),
that of the latter, 40,000 kintals (44,000 cwt.) The price
of carobs averaged 18 piastres per kintal (3s. 2d. per cwt.) ;
valonea was sold at 50 and 60 piastres per kintal (8s. 11d.
and gs. 10d. per cwt.)

The total number of ships entered at this port in 1865,
was IOI vessels, total value of cargoes being 443,778. 113
vessels cleared out with total cargoes, valued at £94,649. —

235

ON THE TREATMENT OF MELTED.CAST IRON,
AND ITS CONVERSION INTO IRON AND
Selo BY 1HE PNEUMATIC ,.PROCESS:

BY R. MUSHET.

N the year 1815, the late Mr. David Mushet, took out

a patent for the manufacture of refined iron, direct
from the blast furnace. For this purpose, he erected a
small blast furnace thirty feet high, blown by means of
three tuyeres, with a pressure of blast about 34 pounds
per square inch. These tuyeres wefe arranged so as to dip
down upon the surface of the melted iron in the hearth of
the furnace, and when the hearth was full, or nearly full,
the tuyeres were partially below the surface level of the
melted iron. There was no difficulty experienced in keep-
ing the melted iron in a liquid state in the middle of the
hearth, but round the sides the refined iron chilled and
formed what is technically termed “scull,’ and this
rendered it very difficult, and sometimes impossible to tap
the furnace, and run off the portion of the metal which re-
tained its fluidity when the tapping took place, the metal
issued from the furnace intensely heated, and throwing off
the most brilliant semtillations. The temperature of the
metal, like that of ordinary refined iron, was far lighter
than that of pig iron under the regular working of a blast
furnace. The pigs of metal obtained were perfectly solid,
showing, when broken, a dense white steely grain. They
were so strong as to bend before they broke, and occasion-
ally they could not be broken at all, though struck by the
heaviest sledges, wielded by the most powerful men. The
metal was, in fact, crude cast steel, and when annealed, was
susceptible of being forged at a low heat to some extent.
The defect 1n this process was that, as in the refinery, the
waste of metal was excessive, owing to the surface action
of the blast upon the melted iron for a prolonged period.
The difficulty of keeping the hearth open, and of tapping,
arose merely from the small eye of the furnace and earth,
and weakness of the blast. The iron was, however, decar-
bonized so as to bein the condition of crude cast steel, but
too highly oxygenated to be forged into bars of commercial
value. The experiment I have described, was, I believe,
the first practical step taken in the development of the
Pneumatic process, though it was certainly not undertaken

236 Treatmenc of Melted Cast Iron

with any idea of producing either malleable iron or steel
by that process, but simply a highly decarbonized refined
metal. About the year 1850, I made experiments with some
very highly blown refined iron from the Parkend Iron-
works, in the Forest of Dean,and found that when alloyed
with manganese, this refined metal could be forged into
sound bars of very hard steel, too hard for any practical
purpose, but, nevertheless, solid and free from seams or
flaws, indicating if the iron could be sufficiently decar-
bonized whilst in the melted state, steel of marketable
quality might be obtained by simply adding some metal-
lic manganese to the decarbonized metal. In the Autumn
of 1856, Mr. Henry Bessemer read a paper at a meeting of
the British Association at Cheltenham, which, whilst it
filled the scientific as well as the practical world with
astonishment, did not in the least surprise me, except, in
the one circumstance of its being possible to maintain a
tuyere beneath a heavy column of melted cast iron. That,
indeed, appeared to me most surprising, as I was well
aware of the highly destructive action of the iron slag
which is generated by the action of atmospheric air upon
melted cast iron. However, what I considered impossible
had actually been accomplished by Mr. Bessemer, and the
first great advance towards rendering steel as cheap as iron
had been inaugurated by that gentleman. Mr. Bessemer’s
process consisted in forcing airthrough melted cast iron by
means of tuyeres situated beneath the surface of the
melted iron. When melted cast iron is subjected to this
process, the silicon contained in the iron is first combined
with the oxygen of the blast and thrown to the surface as
a light frothy slag. Next, the carbon of the melted iron
enters into combustion, and lastly, the iron itself is at-
tacked and consumed with the development of an intense
temperature, sufficient to keep the iron, though freed from
carbon, in a perfectly liquid state. When the silicon and
the carbon have been nearly or wholly eliminated from the
cast iron operated upon, the product obtained is either
crude cast steel or iron, according to the decarbonization
arrived at. Ingots cast from this metal are more or less
unsound, and when forged they frequently crack or break
off, owing to their red shortness, and are wholly unfit for
the requirements of commerce. Moreover, whenever the
melted cast iron operated upon contains sulphur and phos-
phorous to any notable extent, the decarbonized iron is
found to be so crude and brittle that it cannot be forged at

by the Pneumatic Process. 227

all, and is, in fact, less valuable than pig iron from which it
has been made. Hence, only the purest cake pig tron of
Great Britain is at present suited for Mr. Bessemer’s pro-
cess, and this is comprised in the Hematite pig iron, the
Weardale Spathose iron, on the Forest of Dean pig iron,
and the Blanavon and Pontypool Welsh brands, the two
latter, however, being far inferior to the other brands for
the Pneumatic process. Mr. Bessemer naturally inferred
that he should be able to produce both cast steel and iron
by his process alone, and it by no means detracts from his
merits that he happened to overlook the fact that iron ex-
posed in the melted state, to the action of oxygen becomes
as it were, debased. Some persons term it “burnt iron,”
but I call it “oxygenated iron,’ and oxygenated iron can
never of itself constitute a commercially valuable article.
This oxygenation can be prevented when a metal is pre-
sent whose affinity for oxygen is greater than the affinity
of iron for oxygen, and it can be remedied when such a
metal is subsequently added to the oxygenated iron. When
Mr. Bessemer read his paper, I foresaw all the difficulties
he would have to encounter from the oxygenation of the
iron, and I knew that the remedy was simple and attain-
able, provided a suitable metal could be found at such a
cost and in such quantities as would render its use
practicable on the large scale. Out of several metals
possessed of the requisite properties, I selected the
metal Manganese, as found abundantly in the Spregel-
Lilisen or Spathose pig tron of Rheinish Prussia, and com-
bined therein with carbon and iron, the iron forming a con-
venient vehicle, by means of which I could introduce the
metallic manganese into melted decarbonized cast-iron
treated by Mr. Bessemer’s process. My first experiment
was with some Bessemer metal prepared at the Victoria
Ironworks from hematite pig iron. The experiment was
made in small crucibles containing only a few ounces, the
Bessemer metal being melted in one crucible and the
Spiegel-Eisen in another, the melted contents of the cruci-
bles were then mixed, and asmall ingot cast. This ingot
was forged into a bar of excellent cast steel, which was
doubled, and welded, and made into a chisel, and was found
for all practical purposes to be cast steel of average quality.
I then extended the scale of my experiments, and operated
with steal melting pots, each containing from forty to fifty
pounds of Bessemer metal, and melting the Spiegel-Eisen
in smaller crucibles. The most complete success resulted

238 Treatment of Melted Cast Iron

from these experiments, and Mr. S. H. Blackwell having
subsequently supplied me with a small blowing engine,
capable of maintaining a blast of ten pounds pressure per
square inch, I operated upon quantities of melted cast iron
of from 500 lbs. to 800 lbs.,.and with a similar success, the
Bessemer metal being wholly freed from unsoundness, red-
shortness, and other defects which had precluded its being
forged or rolled into a marketable product. The British
pig iron that I found best suited for the joint processes of
Mr. Bessemer and myself, were the Lancashire and Cum-
berland hematite iron, the Weardale Spathose iron, and the
Forest of Dean pig iron; of foreign brands, the Indian
charcoal pig, and some manganesic pig iron from Sweden
gave the best results, though not so satisfactory as those
obtained when hematite coke pig iron was employed.
Much remains to be done to extend the use of the pneu-
matic or Bessemer process to the ordinary brands of pig
iron at present considered to be unfit for this purpose. I
am, I believe, in possession of the requisite knowledge to
accomplish all this, and I am only waiting the opportunity
to do so, whenever the Titanic Steel Company, with whom
I am associated, shall consider that the proper time has
arrived for them to erect a suitable Bessemer apparatus at
their works. The means are, I believe, as simple and effica-
cious as is the addition of Spiegel-Eisen, now universally
employed by all Mr. Bessemer’s licences in England, and
the resulting advantages will be proportionally great. In
Sweden the Bessemer process has been carried out by
operating on certain brands of Swedish pig iron, containing
a considerable alloy of metallic manganese. The result is
that, with the subsequent addition of a little of the same
manganesic pig iron in lieu of Spiegal-Eisen, a workable
steel is produced of moderate quality, but too seamy and
unsound to be of much value for tools, and not nearly so
tough and strong as the Bessemer steel made in this coun-

try by our own coke pig irons. I have recently experi-—

mented carefully upon this Swedish steel, and find it quite
unsuited for the market, and most irregular in quality. It
can never enter into competition with our English Bessemer
steel. In treating melted cast iron by the pneumatic or
Bessemer process, the simplest plan is to deprive the iron
of the whole of its silicon and carbon. In this case the ad-
dition of a grain weight of Spiegel-Eisen, or of any similar
metallic compound of iron and manganese containing car-
bon to a grain weight of decarbonized iron, will insure re-

‘*

by the Pneumatic Process. 239

sults of tolerable uniformity as to the hardness or temper
of the steel produced. The effect of adding Spiegel-Eisen
to Bessemer metal is as follows:—The metallic manganese
by its superior affinity to oxygen, deoxygenates the decar-
bonized metal, and renders it sound and free from red-
shortness. The carbon of the Spiegel-Eisen steelifies the
mixture, and improves it when stiff or hard metal is re-
quired. The iron of the Spiegel-Eisen adds to the weight
of the charge, and may therefore be considered as a gain to
nearly the amount of its weight. The silicon which is found
in Spiegel-Eisen has the effect of reducing the boiling or
agitation of the pneumatized metal, when poured into
moulds, and is therefore beneficial, and is not present to any
injurious extent in Spiegel-Eisen. The hardness or temper
of the Bessemer steel may be increased at pleasure by in-
creasing the dose of Spiegel-Eisen. When Spiegel-Eisen is
added to Bessemer metal containing sulphur and the pneu-
matic blast is turned on so as to eliminate the carbon and
manganese of the Spiegel-Eisen, a portion of the sulphur of
the pneumatised iron is carried off by the manganese, and
thus by repeated additions of Spiegel-Eisen, and subsequent
elimination of its manganese, pneumatised cast iron may
be wholly desulphurised. In a similar manner Bessemer
metal containing phosphorus may be de-phosphorised by
employing Titanic pig iron in repeated doses, to eliminate
the phosphorus, and when both sulphur and phosphorus
are present, both may be eliminated by repeated additions
of Spiegel-Eisen and Titanic pig iron, the pneumatic blast
being turned on after each such addition made to the cast
iron. The pneumatic process of Mr. Bessemer, in conjunc-
tion with my Spiegel-Eisen, is producing a revolution in the
engineering world, and in all the departments of art depen-
dent upon engineering, to an extent almost incredible, and
the magnitude of its ultimate effects, it is impossible fully to
forsee or calculate upon. Mr. Bessemer’s name will be re-
membered in connection with this, the greatest metallurgical
invention, the world has ever seen, and I venture to hope
that I may not be wholly forgotten as having supplied the
link which was wanting to render Mr. Bessemer’s process
what it now is. As I had had much experience in matters
relating to the steel manufactury, it was not surprising that
I should at once have been able to devise the remedy for
the single defect which marred the success of the pneuma-
tic process at the outset.

240

BOUSSINGAULT’S RESEARCHES ON THE
ACTION, OF FOLIAGE

full abstract of the first part of these investigations
communicated to the French Academy of Sciences,

is given in the Comptes Rendus, vol |x., No. 18 (May,
1865). Theodore Saussure had long ago ascertained that,
while plants prosper and decompose carbonic acid gas in
an atmosphere containing as much as one-twelfth or even
one-eighth part of that gas, they promptly perish in un-
mixed carbonic acid, apparently without decomposing any
of it. Boussingault made his experiments in a better form
upon leaves only, avoiding all complication of the action
of the roots or other parts of the plant. His results are:—

1. That leaves exposed to sunshine in pure carbonic
acid do not decompose this gas at all, or only with extreme
slowness.

2. But in a mixture with atmospheric air, they decom-
pose carbonic acid rapidly. The oxygen of the atmo-
spheric air, however, appears to play no part.

2. Leaves decompose carbonic acid in sunshine as
readily when this gas is mixed with nitrogen or with
hydrogen.

Although this decomposition of carbonic acid by green
foliage must be a case of dis-sociation,—a separation of
carbon from oxygen,—yet Boussingault recognises an
analogy here with an opposite phenomenon—viz., with
the slow combustion of phosphorus at the ordinary tempe-
rature. Phosphorus in pure oxygen emits no light, does
not sensibly undergo combustion, but does so in a mixture
of oxygen with atmospheric air, or with nitrogen, hydrogen,
or carbonic acid. The analogy may even be carried
further ; for, while a stick of phosphorus is not phospho- —
rescent in pure oxygen at ordinary or increased pressure,
it becomes so in rarified oxygen. And Boussingault
equally ascertained that leaves which exerted no sensible
action upon pure carbonic acid at ordinary pressure,
decomposed it, with the liberation of oxygen gas, under
diminished pressure: that is, rarefaction and mixture with
an inert gas act alike in mechanically separating the
atoms, whether of carbonic acid as in the one case, or of
oxygen as in the other, so as to determine the action
either of combination or of dissociation.

Researches on the Action of Fohage. 241

In a continuation of these investigations (Comptes
Rendus, vol. \xi., Sept. 25, 1865), Boussingault shows that
carbonic oxide, whether pure or diluted, is not decom-
posable by foliage, and that this inertness of green foliage
upon carbonic oxide goes: to confirm the opinion main-
tained in his Economie Rurale, that leaves simultaneously
decompose carbonic acid and water, CO,, HO=CO, H,0O ;
the O, being liberated, CO,H expresses the relation under
which carbon is united with the elements of water in
cellulose, starch, sugar, etc.—ze, in the important prin-
ciples elaborated by the leaves, the composition of which
is represented by carbon and water. He goes on to prove
that a leaf which has been decomposing carbonic acid and
water all day long is capable of doing the same work
the next day, if not allowed to dry, but the losing of a
certain amount of water annihilates this faculty, and
irremediably destroys the life of the cells of a leaf,
vegetable life in this state being far less tenacious than
that of some of the lower animals (7ardigrades, Notipes,
&c.), which bear wonderful desiccation.

The third instalment of the investigation is given in
Nos. 16 and 17 of the same volume (Oct. 16 and 23, 1865).
It appears that detached leaves, kept in shade for many
days, with the cut end of the petiole in water to prevent
dessication, preserve the power of decomposing carbonic
acid whenever brought into sunshine. But for this they
must be kept in an atmosphere containing a supply of
oxygen; without this they soon die, as Boussingault thinks
from asphyxia. The oxygen in darkness is slowly trans-
formed into carbonic acid, through an operation which is
presumed to go on continually, whether in light or dark-
ness, and to answer to respiration. Of course a healthy
and active leaf decomposes far more carbonic acid in the
light than it forms in darkness. In eighteen experiments,
with Oleander-leaves exposed to the sun from eight A.M.
to five P.M., in an atmosphere rich in carbonic acid, a
Square metre of foliage decomposed on the average over a
litre of carbonic acid per hour, while in darkness only x30 of
a litre of carbonic acid was produced per hour. In air which
contains oxygen and carbonic acid, leaves will go on indefi-
nitely producing oxygen in the presence of carbonic acid
and carbonic acid in the presence of oxygen. But the
latter, though relatively small in amount, seems to be
necessary to the preservation of their vitality. In hydro-
gen, carburetted hydrogen or nitrogen, as well as in pure

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Xx

242 Researches on the Action of Foliage.

carbonic acid, they soon lose their decomposing power,
and die from the impossibility of respiration—zze, are
asphyxiated.

Leaves confined in a limited portion of atmospheric or
other air over mercury, lose the power of decomposing
carbonic acid; and the experiments pretty clearly show
that they lose it through the deleterious action of the
vapour of mercury. It is thought remarkable that the
leaf does not under these circumstances at all lose the
power of transforming oxygen into carbonic acid; but
that 1s what we should expect, for the carbonic acid so
evolved (whether its evolution be called respiration or not)
must be a product of decomposition of the leafs contents
or substance.

We owe to Boussingault and his assistant, Lewy, the
idea of determining the composition of the air contained
in a fertile soil, and the fact that this air in a strongly-
manured soil contains a very large percentage of carbonic
acid. Boussingault has now devised an experiment by
which the air contained in the branch of an Oleander in
full vegetation was extracted. It proved to be nitrogen
88°01 per cent., oxygen 6°64, carbonic acid 5°35 per cent.,
—being about the composition of the air from a well-
manured soil. This carbonic acid carried into the leaves
with the sap, and also that which they may absorb directly
from the atmosphere, decomposed along with water under
sunlight, must be the source of the glucose (C,,H,,O,,)
which it is the principal function of foliage to produce.
This glucose, in fixing or abandoning the elements of
water, becomes sugar, starch, cellulose, or other hydrates
of carbon, which in whatever part of the plant accumu-
lated or deposited, and however transformed or re-trans-
formed, must always have originated from carbonic acid
and water in the green part of plants. In closing his
present paper with some illustrations of this now familiar
view, Boussingault announces that his more recent experi-
ments will enable him to demonstrate the direct formation
of saccharine matter by the green parts of vegetables
exposed to the light—A mer. Fourn. Sct. and Arts.

243

NEWCHWANG MOUNTAIN SILK.
BY MR. CONSUL THOMAS TAYLOR MEADOWS.

‘HERE are two crops of the mountain cocoon, a “chun”
or spring crop, anda “tsew” orautumncrop. The
latter is collected in the last half of September and October,
and the cocoons are brought to market during this latter
month. At this period the silk growers pick out the best
_ of the cocoons for the production in spring of the butterfly
and worm for the spring crop. They are preserved in baskets,
which are hung up in the Chinese dwelling rooms. These
almost always face the south, thus opposing a blank back
wall to the cold northerly winds prevalent in winter, and
getting from their southerly windows the full advantage of
the sun in that season, when, during nine days out of ten,
there is a clear blue sky. Besides this, the dwelling rooms are
partially heated by the warmthemanating from the surface of
the kang, a brick bench which occupies about one-third of the
room, which serves as a sleeping place at night, as seat, &c.,
during the day, and inside which isa winding flue, with an
aperture at one end, in which a fire of millet stalks is occa-
sionally lighted. In spite of all this, however, the tem-
perature of a Chinese dwelling in the mountain silk district
is, during the greater part of the winter, considerably below
the freezing point. The worm, being indigenous, could
doubtless stand the cold of the winter's nights, in its cocoon
on the bushes on which it forms these latter; but, apart
from theft, destruction by wild animals, insects, &c., it is
probable that in nights of unusual severity only the strongest
and best inclosed might escape perishing from cold.

The natural heat of spring suffices to bring the chrysalis
out of the cocoon in the butterfly shape. The butterflies
then couple, and in about four or five days after impregna-
tion the female lays eggs. They are laid on native paper
spread on mats, tables, &c. In about five or six days from
each of these eggs is produced, a small worm of about the
size of a black ant, and which is black in colour. This is
about the time when the buds on the oak bushes have
begun to make their appearance. This must be in the last
half of April. The young leaves are forced by twigs, being
cut off from the bushes and placed in water, in pools of the
mountain streams, or in tubs in houses. From these the
young tender leaves are taken, and are scattered over the
paper, as the worms appear from the eggs. The worms

X 2

244 Newchwang Mountain Silk.

are thus nourished for some days, when they are transferred
to the youngest, most tender-leaved, oak bushes on the hill
slopes. They are then about an inch in length, but are
still black in colour. The transfer of the whole does not
take place in one or two days. There is during the whole
existence of the animal in its worm stage, a difference of
eight or ten days in the backwardness or forwardness of
individuals. After some days the worm has its first sleep
or torpor, at the-close of which it changes its skin, and re-
appears green in colour and larger in size. It has in all
four of these sleeps or torpors, each of which lasts about
two days. It changes its skin and becomes larger after each
torpor, but retains after the first the same bright green
colour. For its next, or fifth sleep, it prepares by spinning
itself into a cocoon, in which it assumes the chrysalis shape,
then bursts out as a butterfly and lays eggs, from which
the small black worms are produced, when the processes
just described are gone through again. These processes
are, in the spring season, more rapidly performed than the
similar processes in the autumn. The silk growers told
me that those of spring required about sixty days, those of
autumn about a hundred. In each season, as fast as the
worms consume the leaves on one bush, they are removed
by the attendant silk cultivators to another, the youngest
bushes being used first.

I was in some of the silk villeys from the 29th August
to the 12th September, and had an opportunity of obser-
ving the autumnal worms in their last stages. The most
advanced began weaving their cocoons around them
on the 2nd September, but at this time a large proportion
of the worms were still in the stage between the third and
fourth sleeps, while others, which had cast their skins for
the last time, were feeding hard, in preparation of the work
of cocoon spinning. On the 12th September fully one-
half were inclosed in, or busy with their cocoons, while the
most backward had all changed their skins for the fourth
time.

Just before spinning its cocoon, it is a bright green-
bodied grub or caterpillar of 34 to 4 inches in length, with
a light brown head. On its pale brown face, there are six
or eight small black specks. Its body has twelve joints.
On eight of these, it has on each a pair of claws, five pairs
of what I shall call back claws on the hinder part of the
body, and three pairs of front claws on the forward part.
The hindermost, or tail joint, has a pair of the back claws ;

Newchwang Mountain Silk. 245

then there are two joints without claws; then come four
joints, each with a pair of the back claws (one on each side) ;
then come two joints without claws, and then the three
foremost joints, each with a pair of the front claws. ‘The
five pairs of back claws are less developed as claws than
the front ones, being, to outward appearance, of the same
soft green matter that the body is composed of, and merely
tipped with a small piece of hard substance of the same
light brown colour as the head. The three pairs of front
claws are, on the other hand, curved, and are entirely com-
posed of the hard light brown substance. The five pairs of
back claws serve as feet, by means of which the animal
holds on to the twig or stem part of the leaf, while the front
claws serve as hands, by means of which it twists round the
edge of the leaf to its mouth. When the grub is in one of
its torpid periods, it holds on to the twig solely by means
of the five pairs of back claws, the foremost five joints
(three with claws and two without) being altogether de-
tached from the twig, in the air. A little above the claws
on each side there is, on each joint or segment, a bright
blue speck, out of which two or three hairs grow. A little
above those blue specks there is on each side, down the last
or tailmost nine joints, a brownish streak, which two streaks
widen and join together as a brown band on the tail joint.
On the eighth and ninth of the joints, counting from the
tail end, there are on this brown streak two silvery or white-
metallic coloured spots oneach side. The brown band does
not extend to the foremost three joints ; on the other hand,
each of these joints has two blue specks on each side, one
above or higher up than the other. The animal is thickest
about the second and third joints, counting from the head,
and tapers off somewhat toward the tail,

When the worm begins to make its cocoon, it selects
two or more oak leaves more or less facing each other, and
lower than the twig from which they proceed. These
leaves it joins together by a network of silk thread, which
thread keeps issuing from its mouth as it moves its head
from the one leaf to the other. It holds on, in the mean-
time, by its back claws to the twig. When the leaves are
sufficiently joined to form a sort of cup or basket under
the twig to which it is holding, it loosens its hold and
drops into the receptacle it has thus formed. The hinder-
most seven joints of the body are then, with the tail joints
slightly curled in, drawn together, and, remaining in a state
of total inaction, serve, I presume, merely as a store from

246 Newchwang Mountain Silk.

which the silk thread matter is drawn. The work of
further self-inclosure the animal does with its head and the
foremost five joints of the body. It first quite surrounds
itself with the loose flossy-like silk which forms the outer
portion of the cocoons as they come to market, and through
_ which its green body remains fora time visible. It then —
gradually forms the dense, hardish, skin-like substance,
which constitutes the inner portion of the cocoon. On
opening acocoon which had been receutly formed, and was
to outward appearance quite finished, I found inside a
complete green worm curled up in the way I have de-
scribed as to its hind part, and with the fore part in the
condition in which it is when the animal is in one of its
sleeps on the bush. After a while the fore part began to
move, and the animal to spin silk, which it attached at
each turn of its head to the surface of a table on which I
had placed it. It seemed to be labouring to increase the
thickness of its cocoon, being doubtless roused to the
necessity of so doing by the feel of the open air to which
it was again exposed. I judged that if the cocoon had not
‘been opened, the animal would, after a sleep in it, have
proceeded to thicken the inner surface by further thread
spinning, and have gone on so doing till its bulk was
sufficiently decreased for its turning into the chrysalis
shape.

The worm is fed on three kinds of oak bushes, called
small “tsing-kang-lew,” large “ tsing-kang-lew,” and “hoo-
po-lo.” The only difference between the small and the
large tsing-kang-lew seemed to me to lie in the acorn cup,
that of the former being smaller and also smoother outside
than that of the latter. As forthe hoo-po-lo oak, its leaves
are much larger and darker than those of the large and
small tsing-kang-lew. Its acorns are also much larger,
and, what at once marks the difference, the cup, instead of
a hard exterior rendered more or less rough by small, hard
protuberances, is covered with longish feathery filaments,
which give the cup the appearance of a small fur cap.

Another bush, on the leaves of which the worm is fed,
is called “tseen-tso-tsze.” It is not an oak; its leaves
have, when newly plucked, a faint but distinct and agreeable
perfume. They are long and narrow, blunt-oval shaped at
the stem, and tapering to a point at the outer end.
_ The best silk is produced by using the leaves of the tseen-
tso-tsze, which exists, however, only in small quantities;
the next quality is produced by using the leaves of the

Coal wn Spazn. 247

large and small tsing-kang-lew; the lowest quality by
using the hoo-po-lo.

The yield of the spring crop is said to be much less than
that of the autumn crop, 1,000 cocoons of the former
giving no more than 500 of the latter. But the quality is
said to be greatly superior, finer, whiter in itself, and more
capable of taking dyes; but black, with various shades of
reddish-brown or purple, seem to be the only dyes that
either kind will take.

The chrysalids which are not kept for breeding, are used
by the Chinese as an article of food.

The mountain silk remains as yet the one article which
this district is likely to furnish to England.

COAL. IN ,5SPRAIN.

LTHOUGH considerable amounts of English capital
has been (sometimes profitably) invested in other
mining throughout Spain, very little attention has been
given to her coal fields. Coal formations are formed in
Andalusia, at Belmez, and Espiel, at San Francisco del
Monte, and Adannaz in the province of Cordova; and
between Guadalcanal and San Nicola del Puerto, near the
River Briar, and also at Villaneuva del Rio, in the province
of Seville.

The Belmez and Espiel district is the principal coal-field
in Andalusia, and second only in Spain to the extensive
coal measures of Asturias. It extends from the villages
of Penavoya to Villahesta, a distance of about forty miles,
and has an average breadth of about six. The coal is
generally of good quality, and the seams, though very
irregular, are of unusual thickness. The strata are
frequently dislocated and contorted, owing to posterior
upheavals, and in some places protrude in an almost
vertical position, allowing, where this takes place of their
being worked with but little trouble or cost. Some years
ago all the coal that was here produced was obtained from
the surface, and the quality was very serviceable. The
mine most in repute is the “ Terrible,’ owned by a French
company; it is extensively and judiciously worked, and

248 Coal in Spain.

several miles of galleries have already been cut. It is
ready to supply a large demand, when the railways which
are being constructed, and which are hereafter to be con-
structed, will connect this isolated place with the principal
trunk lines in Spain. There are other mines at Belmez
and Espiel, owned by the “ Fusion-Carbonifera,” and other
Spanish companies, and by private persons, but all of
them are either for the moment abandoned, or are very
indifferently managed ; and for their ultimate possession
numerous and complicated lawsuits are pending. But
thus the less coal is taken away from them in the mean-
time ; and the only outlets for the little they put out are
an iron foundry, several copper and lead-smelting works,
and a few neighbouring mills worked by steam-power
established in the vicinity. The coal cannot be conveyed
conveniently to any great distance, as the country is
rough and hilly, and no regular roads, which could carry
winter traffic, have as yet been made. The price at these
mines for coal fit for furnaces and engines is from 13s. to
17s. per ton, but the cost of carriage to the Pechoro iron-
works for instance (distant from Penarvoya about sixty
miles), is upwards of 40s. per ton, its cost thus amounting
at these works to 53s. to 57s. per ton. This high price
naturally prevents any great consumption, and it is
employed, owing to its good quality, only for special
purposes.

The strips of carboniferous formations at San Francisco
del Monte, and at Adamaz, quite near Cordova, have
never been properly examined or explored, as far as I
know. The coal formation of Guadalcanal begins near
Bafia, in Estremadura, and extends to the village of San
Nicholas del Puerto, a distance of about sixty miles; its
greatest breadth being about fifteen miles. This large
coal district is scarcely known even in Spain, and has
never been thoroughly examined by competent geological :
surveyors. A pit here and there has been sunk, near |
where the coal-seams protrude ; and bituminous shale and
coal of inferior quality have been met with a few feet from
the surface. At Fuente del Arco a small quantity of coal
is extracted for the supply of a steam-engine established
at a short distance. These unimportant and impotent.
attempts at real mining do harm to the coal-fields, and ~
bring discredit on those of them that are worth careful
working. ,

There are indications of coal near the River Biar, a

Coal in Spain. 249

tributary of the Guadalquivir, but neither has this district
ever been well explored, nor has any scientific boring been
attempted. According to several French engineers who
have visited this spot, the formation where traces of coal
deposits have been met with, belong to the triassic epoch.
The coal-field of Villanuero, which is of limited extent,
covering a surface of scarcely a square mile, lies in silurian
rocks, and is overlayed by the tertiary formation, under
which it dips in a southerly direction, and extends perhaps
beneath the Guadalquivir (see map of Spain). This field
has been worked for a long time by the “Compania del
Guadalquivir,’ and by other companies, but without much
judgment. Numerous pits have been sunk of about nine
feet in diameter, to a depth of from fifteen to twenty-five
fathoms. The coal at the bottom has been raised by
manual labour alone, the pitmen working the seam only
as far as they thought it safe—without propping the
galleries; and then abandoning the shaft to dig another
one whenever they considered there was an immediate risk
of the ground above giving way.

The consequences of this absurd manner of working
these mines is that a great portion of the first seam of
coal is much deteriorated, and is of more difficult exten-
sion than if nothing had been done. The place is curious
to look at, being completely riddled with these shafts and
pits, and it is positively dangerous to go across the ground,
even during daylight.

At present a !arge portion of this property is being held
mies tor, No Pereire,), of the French Credit Mobilier,
Proper machinery is being established, and the works are
beginning to be carried on upon scientific principles.

These mines are about twenty miles from Seville, and
the Merida Railway will connect them with the Cordova
line at Treina. The seams are of no great thickness, but
five (seams) are known to exist, only one of which has
been worked in the imperfect manner described, the second
has scarcely been touched at all. The annual yields of the
Villanuero mines has been from 5,000 to 15,000 tons Eng-
lish, but M. Pereire’s mines (“Minas de la Reunion”) will
soon be in a position to supply much larger quantities.

The other coal deposits of Spain are, Pola de Lena and
Mieres, in Asturias; Val de Sabero, in Leon; Guardo and
Muneca, in Palencia; San Juan de las Abaderos, in Cata-
lonia; and Hinaressos, in Cuenca. The rest, as far as
known, are of minor importance.

é

250 3

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AVAILABLE FOR TEXTILE FABRICS.

BY H. SHERWOOD.
Continued from page 150

G addition to fibres which have been noticed, there are

also others which have been supposed to be suitable
for textile fabrics: we allude expressly to Mudar fibre, and
Sisal hemp. Mudar especially has been highly spoken of.
It is of Indian growth, and, in its uncleansed state possesses
enormous strength, which fits it well for cordage. But it
appears to possess very few of the properties which are
necessary ina fibre to be used for textile fabrics. It is
built up of tender (though not brittle) and excessively fine
cells into which it is with difficulty separated. These are
not more than a quarter of an inch in length, and are less
brilliant than those of pine-apple fibre. When the rough
fibre is cleansed from loose vegetable matter, it looses much
of its strength, and breaks short and dead. It separates
sufficiently to admit of its being spun into heavy yarns,
suitable for such purposes as sailcloths, ducks, &c., but
would never be a favourite fibre for even these uses. Its
utility, whichhas been so muchlauded, appears exaggerated.
This arises probably from the fibre having been examined
and proved only in the raw state. It possesses in a marked
degree, the peculiarity of colouring to a bright primrose,
under the action of soaps and alkalis, even when much
cleansed. It seems admirably adapted for all felting pur-
poses, and would produce, under proper modes of reducing
to pulp, papers ofthe finest and highest descriptions. Tothese
modes we may afterwards revert. The fibre can doubtless
be obtained at a suitable price for this use. Regarding the
plant ina three-fold light, as a producer of a fine silky
down of a useful length, of a true gutta-percha, and of an
excellent paper fibre, there is probably abundant scope
for its special cultivation with profit.

Agave Americana, or Sisal hemp—This fibre possesses
great strength, is well adapted for rope making, being similar
to Manilla. It can be divided in a similar manner to pine-
apple fibre, though not to so great a degree. It has beenused
in a similar manner for making a kind of muslin; but to be
used for any description of goods spun into yarns is impos-
sible, through not possessing properties which fit it for
spinning. It appears most adapted as a substitute for

|
|
.

Vegetable Fibres Available, ete. 251

bristles in brush making, for which purpose it is now em-
ployed in a limited degree. If not obtained white from the
unfermented leaf, the brown colour acquired is very dark,
, and difficult to bleach off. Most of the Aloe tribe possess
similar properties; the Yuccas approximate nearer in
their structure to pine-apple fibre.

Neilgherry Nettle—TVhis being an Urtica should have
been noticed after China grass, to which it is, in some re-
spects, similar. The fibre is brilliant and strong, easily sepa-
rated, regular in fineness; from six to twenty-eight inches
in length; of good natural whiteness, similar in fineness to
the coarsest mohair, much twisted, generally flattened at
the root end. The last peculiarity is a detect, otherwise
it is a fibre perfectly adapted for spinning with coarse
combing wools. It seems to be especially applicable for
fabrics where bright stiffness is the quality desired. It
dyes in a similar manner to China grass, but does not pos-
sess equal brilliance, or strength, or whiteness. If it were
found onthe market it would immediately take a position
as a combing fibre, probably second only to China grass.
It is reported to be obtainable in abundance, but the plant
isa formidable one to manipulate.

Other fibres exist suitable for combing, of which it is
difficult to obtain fair samples in Europe, to report fully
upon. One especially has passed under the writer’s notice,
of remarkable fineness, six to ten inches in length, admira-
bly adapted for a silk substitute ; and, at this juncture of
dear silk, if found in commerce, would bear.a high value.
Many varieties exist of the fibres mentioned in this Inquiry
which would be of great value for special uses if brought
systematically on the market. Others not commercially
known to the manufacturers of Great Britain, but very de-
sirable for some uses, are obtainable in large quantities at
the price of the expense of getting.

But, with the apathy which presses so heavily on all new
commercial matters, how are our manufacturers to be sup-
plied with all these fibres at moderate prices? The private
merchant willonly twice ina century furnish the market
with material for which he has never been asked, and of
which perhaps the very existence is unknown to the private
manufacturer. But, supposing the first to have been fur-
nished, and an unflattering reception received, (the only re-
ception an unknown or untested material could possibly
obtain), is it likely that he will have spirit enough to havea
second cargo coming forward to fully establish its value?

Fae

252 Vegetable Fibres Available for

Again, the price asked for this new gold-mine of a fibre
(probably the only feature which could raise spirit enough to
importitat all) will bea fabulous one; one,two, or three hun-
dred per cent above value, which raises another insuperable
barrier against it becoming a regular import; whereas,
the simple cost, plus a moderate profit, would enable
the material to be consumed for some rough uses,
whilst skill is perfecting its processes by which to prepare it
for its finer uses. If in the future Britain sustains her posi-
tion as the great manufacturer of the world, and increases
her wealth thereby, as heretofore, it must be by marching
in advance and by seizing the opportunities which the
varied produce of her empire of all climes brings her so
lavishly. But one is led to ask whether the true British
spirit and pride of originality which called into exist-
ence our most important manufacturers and the re-
sulting wealth have not died out, when prominently
are seen only effeminated home investments ;—hotel
keeping, money broking, buying up established businesses,
at ten years purchase of profits, to be left to officials to pay
dividends from capital; whilst the elements of wealth—
wealth moderate at first, but steadily and surely growing
to the enormous and gigantic—lie rotting within gunshot
of our ports, in other climes. The present day may be one
when men cannot wait to see whether the crop be cockle
or barley, or, if faintly discerned, cannot afford to wait until
it grows; but such is not the spirit which has elevated
Britain’s commerce or her people’s wealth. Ifa portion of
the surplus capital of England, instead of being expended
on undertakings of the “ Gottup Hotel Company ” class for
the benefit of office holders, were directed towards pro-
ducing useful fibres in our colonies and dependencies, it
would produce a high remuneration to its owners of a stable
character yearly increasing. Against this it is urged
that these products are best brought into the market
by colonists or natives upon the demand becoming known.
But it is found in practice that demand is zz/ until the pro-
duce is offered on the market at such a price as will permit
its use. Further, a willingness on the part of colonial
merchants to supply produce ordered in advance does not
meet the case: nor will the growers or collectors make
arrangements for crops for which they cannot ensure a
regular demand; and besides, the manufacturer cannot
give out his orders for raw materials to be supplied to him
at perhaps two yearshence. If new or little used materials

Textile Fabrics. 253

come on the market in reliable quantities, it must be by
other means than by ordinary merchants or growers.
Again, it is generally found that when supplied solely from
these sources, the quality and condition of the fibres cannot
be relied upon. To expect otherwise would be as unrea-
soning as to rely upon small producers for our cotton, our
teas and sugars, or our copper and iron. The particular
varieties of plants and the preparation of the fibres into the
state best adapted for our uses, are matters which cannot
be expected to be satisfactorily attended to by small pro-
ducers, especially as the preparation of the fibres is gene-
rally greatly assisted by suitable machinery. Further, the
adapting of fibres to new, though most natural uses, cannot
be developed fully by private individuals. These diffi-
culties all point to the necessity for organization, with con-
siderable capital, both for growing the fibres, bringing them
into a good marketable state, and for showing the way at
home by manufacturing some of them. The progress at
first would be slow, as is naturally the case where growth of
crops is in question, but the difficulties are by no means
great. - It is yearly more and more proved that crops pro-
duced in one country are producible with equal success in
many others spread over the world which enjoy a similar
climate. For those fibres which require to be specially culti-
vated we have in Africa, in Australia, and in the West Indies,
close to the seaboard, all the requirements for their easy
and profitable cultivation.

It has been further objected that the state of manufacture
is not sufficiently advanced to warrant this employment of
capital, This in no sense is the case:—The consumption
of some would quickly become large if they could be ob-
tained in a reliable state at fair prices. Their manufacture
cannot satisfactorily be perfected, when every sample ob-
tained varies from the preceding one. There is besides no
inducement to bring forward improved processes, which
contain the substance of acompletely successful treatment,
when it is known that the prices of raw material forbid any
treatment at all. The material to treat is the first con-
sideration—given that, satisfactory treatment (using the
term in an absolute sense), willrapidly follow. Many facts,
localities, &c., could be pointed out, which would warrant
the production of some of those fibres on the largest scale:
and certainly, a fibre plantation is as warrantable an under-
taking as a mine in South America, or a tea garden in
India.

7
7 *
(lie

In a succeeding number we propose to examine the
modes and processes employed at present for treating these
fibres and how far they are adapted for bringing them into
their best obtainable state.

Foots Cray Paper Mills, S.E.
Nov. 26, 1866.

254 Supply of Fish in Great Britain.

WHETHER -THE SUPPLY OF FISH FROME
SEA FISHERIES OF GREAT BRITAIN@G= ee
CREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING?

HOUGH there has been much conflicting evidence
on this point, we have no difficulty in coming to the
conclusion that, on the coasts of Great Britain, the supply
of fish is increasing, and that it admits of progressive
increase. It fluctuates according to the locality and the
season of the year. In the autumn of 1863 the north-east
coast of England yielded a meagre in-shore fishing ; while
in the following year we found on the east coast of
Scotland the haddock fishing had been one of the best
ever known ; and at the time that the in-shore fishing was
unproductive in 1863, that carried on by the decked
vessels further to sea was yielding an abundant supply.
The evidence, where strongest in favour of a gradual
decline in the yield of fish, was nearly always accompanied
by statements showing a progressive increase in the
number of men and boats engaged in the fishing; and
not only have these numbers uniformly increased, but
there has also been an increase in the length of each
fishing line and the number of hooks upon it, in the
length and depth of the nets, and in the size and sea-going
qualities of the boats. The machinery for fishing has
been increased in efficiency, while in proportion to that
efficiency the cost of working it is actually diminished.
With the exception of the statistics of the Northern
Herring Fishery, collected by the Scotch Fishery Board,
there are no means of ascertaining, even approximately,
the annual yields of fish on the coasts of the United
Kingdom. The only facts we have been able to obtain
are returns of the fish traffic on several of the great lines
of railway which the fish is transported from the fishing
ports to the markets. This return shows, in 1863, an

Supply of Fish in Great Britain. 255

increase of II per cent. over that of 1862, and in 13864 of
I2 per cent. over that of 1863. It is particularly interest-
ing as bearing upon;the alleged falling off of the take
of fish on the Easte n Coast of England, where, instead
of a decline, there is shown to be an annual increase
exceeding 10,000 tons.

The progressive state of the sea fisheries on the coasts
of Great Britain, as shown by the increase in the number
and size of boats at each fishing station, and the more
improved fishing gear of every description is clearly
brought out in every part of the evidence. The apparent
decline on the coast of Ireland seems to be due to other
causes than any decrease of fish.

There is, likewise, abundant proof of the continued pro-
ductiveness of the nearest and most frequented fishing-
grounds. The principal London salesmen concurred in
their testimony, to that effect. Not only are the fishing
vessels constantly being increased in number, but the take
of each vessel is increasing, and from the speedier means
of transport, the quality of the fish is improving. On the
western part of the Dogger Bank, it is not uncommon for
a single trawl-vessel to take, in a three hours’ trawl, from
two to three tons’ weight of fish, and a smack-owner men-
tioned a recent case, in which five of his vessels caught
seventeen tons of fish in one night. Similar testimony is
borne to the prolific character of the fishing-banks off
Scarborough, Flamborough Head, Grimsby, and the Coast
of Norfolk. In the English Channel, the famous fishing-
ground of Rye Bay, which has for a long period of years
been constantly trawled over by both English and French
fishermen, was stated to have yielded more fish during
1863 than in any previous year. In some of the bays on
the South Coast, signs of over-fishing have been alleged
to exist, but in the deep sea, the well-known trawling-
grounds are constantly fished over with daily returning
success.

One of the principal sources of the supply of food from
the sea, is the herring-fishery. The statistics of the Scotch
herring-trade show the quantities of the cured fish only.
During the last twenty-five years, there has been no great
fluctuation in the annual cure; but as the cure of 1862 was
the greatest in the whole of that period, there can clearly
be no permanent falling off in the take of herrings.

There is no record of the vast quantities of herrings
taken along the shores of the East Coast of England,

256 The Metropolitan Railway.

where the shoals are encountered, and followed by fleets of
fishing vessels, pushing out from every port on the first
sign of the welcome harvest. The evidence we have taken
shows that the same fluctuations which are exhibited by
the Scotch returns are felt on the English Coast, but there
is no indication of decline. At Scarborough, during the
past three years, there seems to have been a marked and
progressive increase. So plentiful are the herrings there,
sometimes, that 700 to 800 tons are said to be sent thence,
into the interior of the country, by railway, in a single
day. From Lowestoft, vast quantities are distributed, in a
fresh state, among the manufacturings town during the
period of the fishery, Birmingham and Manchester taking
the largest share. At Yarmouth, where from 3,000 to
4,000 men are engaged in the Autumn fishery, the take of
1862 and 1863 was better than had been known for twenty
years. Nor is the benefit confined to our country. The
French boats follow the herring on the British Coasts in
large and increasing numbers, and the Dutch herrings, .
which are so much prized in the continental markets, are
most caught within sight of the English shores.

(To be continued in our next.)

THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY.
To the Editor of the TECHNOLOGIST.

S1r,—A short time since I was coming from Hammer-
smith to London by the Underground Railway. I entered
a third-class, having seen a man enter also with a large
sheet of bricks and mortar under his arm. This sheet
was about three or four’ feet in length, and perhaps two and
a-half in width, and about half an inch to an “iene
thickness ; one side was smooth, and the other altogether
as rough. It was exceeding hard, as that of stone, both
the bricks and mortar equally the same. The rough side
had the appearance of being snapped off by some instru-
ment.

The man informed me that this layer or sheet had sepa-
rated itself from the wall inside one of the tunnels.

I write this, hoping some of your numerous readers who
have been accustomed to engineering, may be able to
explain the cause. |

| I am, &c., ' M.D.

25/7

REVIEW.

The Surrey Hills; A Guide to the Caterham Railway and
tts Vicinity. With Map. Second, and Revised Edition.
London: John Russell Smith. 1366.

Tus little work contains a full account of Caterham and
its neighbourhood, showing how advantageous it is as a
place of residence, owing to its great salubrity, and the rapid
connection which it has with London by means of the
Caterham Railway. This book also gives interesting his-
torical notes on the several villages which surround the
town of Caterham. Those who wish for quietude, in addi-
tion to healthiness of locality, would do well to locate at
Caterham, or one of the many adjacent picturesque villages.
For a full account of the Surrey Hills, we must refer our
readers to the book itself.

\

MISCELLANEOUS.

THE POISONOUS BLACK SPIDER.—We have received
the following account of a poisonous black spider, which
has of late years made its appearance in Russia. We are
indebted for the information to a traveller, who passed the
greater part of last year in the province of Berdiansk.
The appearance of this insect amongst the wheat at
‘harvest time, created for a few days a panic among the
labouring classes, and, indeed, one of so threatening a
character, that wages rose to double their ordinary rate,
and it was with difficulty that the labourers could be
induced to work. More than 300 persons were bitten by
this venomous insect, but only three cases are reported to
have proved fatal, and these deaths, it is supposed, are not
to be attributed solely to the bite of the spider. Fortu-
nately, this visitation was restricted to one part of the
town lands, otherwise the consequences might have been
very serious. The bite of this insect was indicated by a
hard, white spot. The first symptoms experienced were
alternate violent heat and cold, shortness of breath, bor-
dering on suffocation, and increased pulsation of the heart,

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. ¥

258 Miscellaneous.

and pains in the chest and back, then weakness in the legs,
and dizziness in the head. After a few hours these sym-
ptoms diminished, and in two days the patient was able to
resume his work. The general remedy employed was to
cup the poisoned part, and liberally wash it with cold
water. Some cauterised the place, but this remedy was
not so efficacious, and it created besides a fresh wound.
The first time this spider was seen at Berdiansk, was in
1864, but a very few persons were bitten by it. Last year,
however, it increased to a most alarming extent. It was
remarked that the spider was very active in killing locusts,
on which it seemed principally to feed, and it was only
when disturbed that it stung persons. The majority of
the persons bitten did not know the cause of their illness,
and it was only the same symptoms in each case that
proved it to be the sting of the spider. This poisonous
insect has again visited Russia this year, but we understand
it has done but z¢¢le mischief.

Port Natat.—The rise of Port Natal shows a very rapid pro-
gress as regards all that Europeans look forward to, when leaving
their native land. In Natal, will be found every convenience and
necessary comfort which the exigencies of civilised life call for.
In this thriving colony we see public control and authority,
churches and colleges, railways and electric telegraphs, books
and newspapers, music and theatres, and indeed, all that a civi-
lized community expect to have, down even to steeple-chases and
horse races ; when we find all these adjuncts to the enjoyment of
life, which enable the immigrant from Europe to hardly distinguish
the difference between his native country and the land of his adop-
tion, we must confess that the severity of competition in all classes
of professions and trades in Great Britain will induce a vast num-
ber of enterprising men to make Natal the goal of their ambition
in the colonial world. As the Editor of the ‘Natal Almanack and
Register’ has said, in the 1865 edition, ‘‘ Now that Natal is be-
coming vastly more satisfactory as a place to reside and enjoy
life in, and that its pecuniary inducements are growing strong
enough, there will be no lack of fresh faces in the colony.” And
so say we, in fact, if the resources of Natal were more fully
brought to the notice of the British emigrant classes, there cannot
be any doubt but that it would be chosen by them in preference
to the many other parts of the globe to which Englishmen now
direct their steps.

Srraw Papers.—The first attempts to make paper from straw
go back to the beginning of this century, as is provd by the patent
taken out by Sequin. The process consisted in subjecting the
materiau to the action of a lye made of a mixture of lime and
soda or potassa until the substance was softened enough to be

‘ Mrscellaneous. | 259

crushed between the fingers. After washing, followed by tutura-
tion, the stuff was converted into paper. The numerous patents
taken out with the same object, are based upon analogous prin-
ciples. Schinz managed to make packing paper of considerable
strength, by mixing 50 per cent. of coarse rags with straw pulp,
prepared in the following manner :—220 lbs. ‘avoir.’ of wheat
straw, finely chopped, and 176 lbs. of quicklime were placed in a
caldron with a sufficient amount of water to form a pulp. The
mixture was stirred, and poured into a second boiler every day for
a fortnight. This material was then reduced to pulp, and mixed
with the rag pulp in the beating. engine. The product obtained
was half-sized, of a yellowish tinge, and great strength. Straw
contains a yellow colouring matter, which is, more or less, com-
municated to the paper, unless subjected to a succession of boil-
ings and bleachings, with gaseous or liquid chlorine. In this case
the waste of material is very much increased. The majority of
manufacturers who employ straw, are satisfied with subjecting it
to maceration with lime, and succeed in making common wrap-
ping paper, for which there is a considerable demand at present.
If, however, we wish to make common printing paper, such as
newspaper, &c., of straw pulp, it is indispensable to bleach with
repeated chlorine, and acid baths. The mixture is then made in
the proportion of :—

25 to 4o per cent. of straw pulp.

75 to60 4, 4, rag pulp.
The manufacture is thus only profitable in localities where
chemicals are at a low price. We have seen very handsome
papers made in England, 80 to go per cent. of straw, but it
remains to be seen whether the profits will render the process
practicable. The nature of the straw and the composition of the
soil in which it is grown, are not unimportant matters to the paper
maker. ‘The hardness of straws proceeds from the quantity of
silica interspersed throughout their substance, and forming an
obstacle to their conversion into paper, by binding together the
fibrous parts of the stalk. The straw to be chosen is that of
wheat, as being the most tender. ‘This fact is in accordance with
chemical analysis, which gives the following proportions of silica
contained in the three principal cereals of our soil :—

1st. Wheat straw, 4°3 per cent. of silica.
2nd. Rye 29 6° 3% ry) ”
3rd. Barley _,, 6°9 al) roe

The knots of graminious plants in general are injected with a
much greater quantity of silica than the intermediate parts, and
should therefore be carefully removed when the straw is to be
converted into white paper pulp. Among other straws which
have been tried we will mention maize, which gives a naturally-
sized paper of great strength, and which at one time very much
excited public attention. Maize stalks unbleached, only boiled

260 Miscellaneous.

with lye and added to rag pulp, are suitable for making packing
paper. ‘The product possesses a certain tenacity not offered by
that of other straws. ‘This substance may then answer very well
in countries where it grows in sufficient quantities to allow of its
employment in the arts. In some paper-mills, and especially
that of Cusset, attempts have been made to convert into paper
the inferior qualities of hay produced in marshy soils. The pro-
duct obtained was of a dingy green tinge, and had little consis-
tency. It may, however, answer common printing paper. The
composition adopted for the pulp was :—

500 parts of hay.

12°5 ;, ) tarred rope.

12-5 », linen and woollen.

25°0 “ cottons.

I00°O
Boiling hay in lye is an easy operation, and the unbleached
pulp may be used for wrapping papers. The paper made of this
material is more supple than that obtained from straw. A Swedish
newspaper has been printed for several years past upon paper
made with horse dung. By washing, all the soluble parts are
carried off and used for manure, and the parts of the hay which
have not been assimilated by the organism of the animal, having
undergone a previous bleaching by means of the gastric and other
juices, require a smaller proportion of chemical agents to effect
their transformation into pulp.—‘ Paper Trade Revtew.’
TRAMWAYS AT SYDNEY.—A select committee, appointed by the

colonial parliament to inquire into the tramway in Pitt street,
Sydney, completed their inquiry shortly before the end of last
session, and it appears to be proved that the tramway is of no
practical use as a means of increasing the traffic of the Govern-
ment railways. At no time since its construction hasit been used
for the removal of country produce of any kind, or merchandize,
for the interior, nor does it appear to be regarded as a great con-
venience to the general body of railway passengers, though it is
held in value on this account by the suburban residents of the
line, who daily come into the city to attend to business. The
rails, as at present laid down, are objected to as dangerous to
ordinary carriages crossing over them. It is admitted, on the
other hand, that the tramway has been of much service to the
Government in removing railway stock from the wharf and the
railway station. ‘The committee have stated that the rails will be
finally taken up at the end of the present year.—“‘ Journal of the
Society of Arts.” :

BOOKS RECEIVED.
‘Hardwicke’s Science Gossip” for November. No. XXIII,
‘The Artizan’ for November, .

THE
RICH NOLOGI ST:

A RECORD OF SCIENCE.

o—=

JANUARY, 1867.

—?0--—-

PRACTICAL PAPER MAKING.

No. 1.——SIZING IN THE. PULP,

HE improvements to be introduced into the French
method of sizing, in order at least to equal that
which is practised in Holland, had from 1806 excited the
solicitude of the “Société d‘Encouragement,” which as early
as that year offered a prize of three thousand francs. The
essays received in this competition, not having satisfied the
conditions required, although the government had doubled
the prize, and the reunion of Holland to France, having
given hopes that we might obtain an easy knowledge of
the processes in use among our neighbours, induced the
society, upon the advice of its committee on chemical arts,
to withdraw the offer of this prize, and charge a necessary
commission with the work of making the special researches
for the attainment of this object.

MM. D’Arcet and Merimée were the commissioners ap-
pointed, and were for five years successively engaged in this
important labour. They obtained precious results not
merely in regard to sizing after the paper is made, but also
with reference to sizing in the pulp. that is to say, at the
time of making the paper. It was in 1815 that M. Meri-
meée made a report in the name of the commission, in which
after having set forth the advantages they had obtained,
the commission proposed to keep its processes secret, and
communicate them only to those manufacturers who might
wish to try these processes, and who should engage them-
selves to communicate to the society. This proposition was

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Z

262 Practual Paper-Making.

accepted, and it was decided that these instructions should
not be published in the transactions, until after our own
manufacturers should have an opportunity of reaping the
advantages of the new process, and the inventorsshould judge
that it had been carried to perfection by practice.

The hopes of this society were disappointed, and the in-
terest it had taken in the advancement of our manufactures
was not appreciated. Notwithstanding the engagements,
taken by all, only three manufacturers fulfilled their pro-
mise. M. Eli Montgolfier acknowledged the receipt of the
communication, and announced that he had tried the ex-
periment and found the result satisfactory; but that the
process seemed to him more expensive than the one he was
accustomed to employ, and, therefore, would be difficult to
adopt.

At the Exhibition of 1819 there appeared paper from the
mills of MM. Odent and Grevenich, who had each sepa-
rately taken the same engagement as M. Eli Montgolfier,
in receiving the instructions. The first was the only one who
acknowledged the receipt, or rendered an account of his ex-
periments. For some time, the paper furnished by him to
the Administration of Letteries was sized in the new way ;
but, as he only worked with fermented pulp, his paper was
too soft, and the Administration obliged him to size with
gelatine.

M. Canson, to whom the same process was communi-
cated, endeavoured to modify it, and took out a patent
to insure himself a monopoly of the method he employs, at
his beautiful paper mills at Vidalon les Annonay. This pro-
cess is, at the present day, well known to all, and we will
speak of it further on.

We should probably have been longer in being able to
fix upon the substances suited to sizing in the pulp, had
not chance thrown into the hands of M. Braconnot, in Sep-

tember 1826, a leaf of paper made in the department of
Tosgos and sized in the pulp. This learned chemist ana-
lyzed this leaf, and from his analysis deduced the following
process for forming a size to be mixed in the vat, in order
to size the pulp as soon as manufactured. This analysis i iS
described in the 33rd volume of the Azuales de Chimie et
de Phisique, page 39.

“To a hundred parts of dry pulp, properly diluent with
water, add a boiling and perfectly homogeneous solution of
eight parts of flour, first mixed with a small amount of
caustic potassa, to render the solution more perfect. aie

Practual Paper-Making. 263

this now add one part of white soap, previously dis-
solved in hot water. At the same time heat half a part
of gallipot* with a sufficient quantity of a solution of potassa,
rendered caustic by lime to dissolve this resin entirely, and
after having mixed the whole, it only remains to pour in a
solution of one part of alum.”

The compound resulting from the intimate union of the
above named materials was applied by M. Braconnot to
brown paper, in only thin coatings, and the paper was per-
fectly sized. “It seems,” adds this learned man, “that in
introducing fat and resinous matters into the pulp, the prin-
cipal object is, as it were, to fix and agglutinate the size, in
order to prevent it from being expelled by pressure.”

This is, then, the discovery of the materials employed in
sizing paper in the pulp, due to the power of science put
in practice by so learned a man as M. Braconnot, to whom
it will insure an undying reputation.

Several manufacturers tried this process without success ;
but doubtless they operated upon fermented pulp, and the
failure is only to be attributed to the persons themselves
who made the attempt.

The same is true of the receipt of M.Canson. It answers
very well in his mills, but was without success in those ofa
manufacturer I was visiting in the month of September,
1828, and with whom I should have made it succeed if I had
been able to stay longer with him, or if the mill had been
working during my sojourn in the city where it was situated.

It is important to understand in brief the work of the
commission of the “ Société d‘Encouragement,” a report of
which is contained in their transactions.

The “Société d' Encouragement” had received, about
twenty-four years ago, specimens of paper made in Ger-
many, and sized, the one with resinous soap, the other with
starch. They were but feebly sized, which was due to the
fact that in German mills, asin ours, the rags are fermented.
This long maceration, carried as far as putrid fermen-
tation, deprives the rags of their gluten, and the pulp then
requires a great quantity of starch; but in that case the
leaves, on being withdrawn from the press, cannot be
separated without peeling. The commissioners knew of
these processes, and it occurred to them to unite the two.
They believed that the addition of resinous soap would

* Gallipot is a very clear, yellowish-white pine resin of French
origin.—Tr.
Z2

264 Practical Paper-Making.

permit them to employ a larger proportion of starch, with-
out thereby increasing the adhesiveness of the leaves.
Taking the practice of the Chinese as a starting point, they
were in the hopes of success. Experience confirmed their
conjectures; but, as they were operating with fermented
pulp, the paper, although impermeable, had not enough
stiffness to make the sizing appear satisfactory. The com-
missioners thought that the process would not succeed
completely with any but unfermented pulp. The follow-
ing was their method of operating :—

When the trituration was complete, and the pulp had
atrived at that point when it only remained to add the
blueing, they poured into the rag-engine two buckets of a
size, made of starch and alum. When the mixture was
complete, they gradually added a solution of resinous soap,
made with subcarbonate of soda instead of the caustic
potassa, used by Braconnot. This soap was added in
sufficient quantities to dissolve the alum. The action of
the cylinder produced a great deal of foam, which disap-
peared on the addition of a tumblerful of oil.

With a view to giving greater stiffness to the paper, they
added clarified animal size. The paper peeled somewhat,
after being pressed without the felts; but this evil was
remedied by pouring into the rag-engine a small amount
of a solution of white soap, and the leaves could then be
stripped off without peeling at all. Animal size did not
seem to them to be necessary, nor is it employed by M.
Canson, as will be seen hereafter.

It appears to usimportant to describe the manner in
which the commissioners prepared their resinous soap. To
a solution of subcarbonate of soda they added resin, until
it refused to combine any farther. They at once dissolved
this soap in hot water and poured it into a barrel; the un-
combined resin precipitated, and the solution gelatinized
on cooling. By this precaution they made themselves sure
of using an exact mixture of alumina, resin, and starch,
which they then precipitated around the molecules of the
pulp, as equably as possible.

The commissioners think that it would be better to treat
the pulp first with alum, and then to mix a little caustic
soda with the water in which the starch is dissolved, on ac-
count of the property, recognized as belonging to caustic —
alkalies, of converting the starchy particles at once into
size. The succeeding boiling renders the size still more
fluid. The soap is now added, and when the materials are

Practical Paper-Making. 205

very intimately united, they are gradually poured upon the
previously aluminated pulp, until complete saturation is ob-
tained, which is indicated by test paper. Lastly, a solution
of white soap is poured into the vat, and if this should
occasion bubbles during the motions of the vatman in
forming the paper, they may be made to disappear by the
addition of a little oil, or still better, of an oleaginous
emulsion. Nut or poppy oil should be preferred, on account
of their drying qualities.

Although they succeeded in making size with wheat
flour, yet the commissioners advise the use of rice flour,
in imitation of the Chinese. The proportions should vary
and be regulated by the quality of the pulp which may
contain more or less gluten. Experiments ona small scale,
which any intelligent manufacturer may make without
difficulty, will establish the proportions to be employed.

In employing this process, we are not able to azure the
paper with Prussian blue, as that substance is decomposed
by the alkali of the soap. Cobalt blue should be used, and
dissolved with the starch when the size is prepared, as in
this manner, being closely blended with the dressing, it is
lighter, and does not fall to the lower surface of the leaf,
as occurs in the case of English paper.

Moreover, cobalt blue, which is employed in Holland
and in England, is a more brilliant and a faster colour than
Prussian blue.

M. D’Arcet, being at Cusset in the paper-mill of M.
Bujon, at the time of the publication of M. Braconnot’s dis-
covery, successfully repeated the experiment at that place ;
but not finding the paper sufficiently sized, concluded after
a comparative examination of the shade produced with
iodine, that the proportion of starch required to be in-
creased and advised the adoption of the following :—

100'00 parts of dried pulp,

12°00 ¥ starch,
1‘0O a resin, dissolved in
O'50 ; subcarbunate of soda,
315°00 < water.

The water was first boiled, and the soap, the resin, and
the soda added. The boiling was continued until the com-
bination of these materials was complete, and the starch,
previously mixed with cold water, poured in. The whole
was then boiled, until it became as transparent, as very
fluid, freshly-made soap.

This composition was poured, warm, into the rag-engine,

266 On the Wines of Spain.

and the action of the cylinder, in a very short time, pro-
duced an intimate union of the whole.

The pulp, which was made from fermented rags, was
already alkaline before the addition was made, and after
being thus mixed became very much more so. A solution
of alum was added, until the presence of an alkali was no
longer indicated by test-paper. After being carried to the
vat, however, the pulp still indicated some trace of alkali,
and it was therefore saturated by the addition of a little
alum. This was repeated after the manufacture of each
post of paper, so as to render the product slightly acid.

With a hundred kilogrammes (220°47 lbs. avoir.) of pulp
thus prepared, five posts of paper were made, of which
the sizing was at first slight, but became successively
stronger, so that the last post was very well sized. An
examination of the water in the vat explained this progress
in the strength of the size; for while the water which ran
off from the paper was clear, that in the vat was milky, and
iodine coloured it a handsome blue, proving that it con-
tained starch. Thus, each time that the fresh supply of
pulp was placed in the vat, the proportion of starch was
augmented by that remaining in the water. This milky
water was filtered, and very soon choked up the filtering
paper, which was found to have become sized.

The illuminators are obliged to size their papers upon
applying colours.—Paper Trade Review.

(To be continued.)

ON THE WINES OF SPAIN:

[SHE character of the Southern Spaniard is very im-
A pressionable. When the wine which grows is dear,
there are no bounds to his pretensions ; when the price is
low, there are no bounds to his depression. Recently, the
latter order of things prevailed; but as we have no fear of a
rival to genuine sherry ever being discovered, so we have no
doubt that the market will, in time, recover itself. The
only thing that could permanently injure the sherry trade
would be a change in the taste of the consumers. If the

“English acquire a taste for French, Hungarian, or Greek
wines, the consumption of sherry may be sensibly dimi-

On the Wines of Spain. 267

nished. But the leading shippers here, ure alive to this
danger, and it may be asserted that, on the whole, larger
parcels of superior wine are now sent to London than was
the case eight or ten years ago.”

Amontillado is always produced by causes which are
at present unknown. If Amontillado could be manufactured
by selecting and mixing, we should all make it just now
instead of sherry, seeing that the former commands so
much higher a price in the market. Around Jeéres the
grape is zot gathered earlier to make Amontillado, as Mr.
Redding states, nor would such a course have the desired
effect. Noris Amontillado an unbranded wine. It is im-
possible to judge, with any degree of certainty, what will
be the character of the wine until sometime after it is
taken fiom the lees. At the time of taking it from the
lees, every butt is invariably fortified by the addition of a
small quantity of spirit, and in this respect the Amontillado
is treated like the sherry.

The Mosto, or Wust, of this year is of varied charac-
ter: we have seen it of first-rate, and also of very indifferent
mark; on the whole it is probably fair as regards quality.
In quantity the vintage of 1865, though slightly larger
than that of 1864, is still far from being an average one.
Some shippers have made abatements in the prices of their
lowest marks, but there is still prospect of alteration in
their quotations for high class sherries, which are as scarce
in Jeres as is usual. The demand for gezuzne old wine is
subject to few fluctuations, and is always fully equal to the
supply. It is thought that the sort of crisis through which
the sherry wine trade passed during 1865 will be of advan-
tage rather than otherwise. The growers of wine have
been rendered more reasonable, and their claims have been
checked, and a more healthy atmosphere introduced into
the regular business.

The lowest class of sherry (as of everything else) finds
its way to America; a large amount of it also goes to
Hamburgh, and, of late, to France, where the worthy
Parisian drinks it under the name of “Vin de Madere.”
Some very inferior wine is sent from London to Australia,
and a vast amount of bad sherry is distributed among the
provincial towns in England. It is surprising how con-
tentedly a country inn-keeper buys the wretched stuff from
his “wine merchant,” and pays for it.

There were some disagreeable and rather serious mani-
festations of ill-will exhibited last autumn towards the

268 On the Wines of Spain.

foreign wine merchants in the Jéres district. For some
time previous to the year 1863, the general wine market in
Spain had been often inan excited state. The oidium, had
reduced the vintage by one-half, and while the demand for
good sherry steadily increased, the supply in England as
steadily diminished, and so pricés went up continually.
This state of things reached its climax in 1863-4. The
importers in England, fearing further advances, were buying
far beyond their immediate wants, and the district of Jéres
was incapable by itself of producing half the quantity of
wine called for. The genuine produce of Jéres was sold at
fabulous prices, and the holders became every day more
exacting in their terms. In order to execute the orders
which poured in upon them, the shippers were compelled
to seek for white wines in the Sevilla, Cordova, Montilla,
and Mogner districts. Though far from rivalling in body
and aroma the produce of the Jéres soils, these wines met
with a market in England and elsewhere on account of
their comparative cheapness. The growers of these (said)
districts finding the demand for their wines largely increas-
ing, soon began to imitate the exactions of the Jeres vine-
yard proprietors, and prices went up with extraordinary
rapidity. Certain speculators calculating upon the conti-
nuance of the then state of the sherry market, entered into
contracts for the purchase of the future produce of the
vineyards in the Seville and other districts, and advanced
money to the proprietors. New-cellars were built, and new
vineyards were planted in all directions, and Jeres was
threatened with an inundation of low white wines.

The natural consequences of the high price of wines was
an augmentation in the value of all kinds of property, and
a great increase in the wages of the working classes.
Instead of 3s. sterling a-day, cellarmen were now demand-
ing and getting 4s. and 4s. 4d. The wages of the coopers
and of the labourers of the vineyards were advanced in the
same proportion. Jéres was to all appearances prosperous
beyond all precedent, and became intoxicated with its
prosperity—“ waxed fat, and kicked.” Few persons saved
any money (especially among the labouring classes). The
newly-acquired wealth was squandered in newly-acquired
wants; and of the small number who did lay by, the
majority invested their money in vineyards and other pro-
perty whose value depended in a great measure upon the
continuance of the then state of the wine market.

That this state of things could not last was patent to all

Fassabushte. 269

sensible people, and especially to those persons who had
immediate relations with England. The leading shippers
saw with uneasiness that the annual importations into
England far exceeded the annual consumption, and fearing
lest the fall in prices, which they saw to be inevitable,
should deprive them of half their capital, they purchased
only for their immediate and unavoidable wants. Those
of them also who had a really good connection in England
were desirous of bringing down prices for another reason.
They foresaw that the excessive demands of the growers
and “holders” in Jeres would certainly check the ordinary
demand for sherry wine in England, and thus permanently
injure the business, and they determined to set their faces
against all further claims. One leading house actually
limited the orders it would receive for high-priced wines to
a certain number of butts per month.

The fall in prices came at last, and with startling
rapidity. The monthly shipments of wine diminished to
an unprecedented extent. The cellars of the merchants in
England were full, and therefore, few orders came to Jeres.
Against 38,720 butts (shipped from Jéres alone) in 1863,
and 30,941 butts in 1864, only 30,431 butts were cleared
for export in 1865. Estimating the average value of the
butt only at £35, this would show a diminution of value of
exports from Jéresin 1865 of between £250,000 and 4 300,000
sterling ; in other words, a reduction of the wine merchants
income for that year to that large extent. This diminution
in the shipments immediately and inordinately depressed
the Jéres market ; in 1864 “ musto,” sold for 230 pésos; in
1865 it found few purchasers at 100 pésos. Old wines, in-
deed, remained firm because there were, comparatively
speaking, scarcely any old wines in Jéres.

bACSS ASB UL SHE ET :

BY M. C. COOKE.

F ROM time to time strange products make their appear-
ance in small quantities in our markets, are looked at,
marvelled over, and, remaining unsold, because unknown,
are consigned to oblivion. In most instances these little
consignments are sent to try the market, and producing
no good results are never heard of again. This is much

270 SF assabushit.

to be regretted, because some good things are occasionally
lost to our commerce through ignorance of their value.
Some years since, the “ Mishmee teeta,” a tonic much
esteemed in India, came under a barbarous name, and
probably rotted at the docks, for we never heard of its
meeting a purchaser. Ina similar manner the capsules of
a kind of Gardenia, in good repute for dyeing silks in
China was, over and over again, offered for sale, and then
appeared no more. Then, again, the “Cassareep,” which
forms the basis of so many sauces in the northern portion
of South America, could find no purchaser, but was at last
committed to the bosom of old Father Thames. Those
who have watched our commercial sales for a few years
will be able to augment this list considerably; in fact,
many other like instances are still within our own recol-
lection, but it is not our present purpose to enumerate the
cases of past failures whilst recording a new one.

At the present moment a parcel of “unknown” produce,
called “Jassabushit,” from Japan, is offered for sale as a
dye-stuff, but what it is, or what is its value, all seem alike
ignorant, who look at it, and shake their heads. It is
doubtful whether chemical dyes have not almost elbowed
all, except the very best and nearly indispensable dye-
stuffs, out of the market, and opposed a barrier to the
introduction of new ones.

The “ Jassabushit ” has very little to recommend it, not
even in appearance ; and, although we cannot prophesy of
its introduction as a permanent trade product, a little more
definite information respecting it may not be unacceptable.
The parcel consists of the female catkins, resembling small
cones, and are almost the counterpart, on an enlarged
scale, of our own “alder-berries.” They are, indeed, the
catkins of an alder, but four times the size of those pro-
duced by the common alder, having a diameter of at least
an inch, and being from an inch to an inch and a-half in
length. They are probably the fruit of Alnus japonica
(Thunb.), which, together with Alnus glutinisa (Willd.),
and Alnus firma (Zoll,), are common Japanese plants. In
his “ Flora Japonica,’ Thunberg gives ¥asza as the native
name of the common alder, but of Yasza-bushit there is no
mention. His remarks, though brief, inform us of the use
of alder catkins for dyeing black in Japan. “Coni hujus
ad nigrum tingendum adhibentur, eumque in finem vul-
gares exhibentur venales siccati” (Fl. Jap. p. 76). It has
long been known that alder-berries may be used in dyeing

Supply of fish in Great Britain. 271

a black, and are employed in rural districts for that pur-
pose ; but while we possess so many and better substances
alike applicable, and plenty of alder-berries for the trouble
of gathering them, it is not likely that we shall receive
many samples of Yasza-bushit from Japan, unless it can
be shown that the larger cones have an increased tinctorial
value.

ear tneR THE SUPPLY OF FISH FROM THE
Saye PISHERIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. TS IN-
CREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING >
Continued from page 256.
HE returns from Howth give the particulars of the
herring fishery there, which, within the last six or
eight years, has grown from a smalland uncertain business
toa gross produce which last year realized upwards of
94,0007. Further up St. George’s Channel, the Manx boats
continue to be successful, and in Loch Fyne, in the Firth of
Clyde, vast hauls are occasionally taken. At certain times,
indeed the sea is really teeming with this fish, and the
state of the weather, or the restrictions enforced by capri-
cious legislation, are often the only causes of a temporary
failure in the catch.

The pilchard fishery, though limited to the coasts of
Cornwall and Devon, is a source of great profit there,
and continues a yield equal, on the average, to that of
any former cycle of years. The price to the consumer
does not appear to have increased.

The shrimp fishery is becoming of some magnitude, and
is very profitable to the fishermen. It is annually increas-
ing in productiveness, not only on the same fishing grounds,
but by the fishermen removing to new and untrted grounds,
for the produce of which railways have rendered markets
accessible.

There can be no better test of the supply of any commo- >
dity than the price it fetches through a series of years. In
examining this part of the question, it is necessary to con-
sider the vast increase of the range of consumers of fresh
fish which has taken place, within recent years, by the ex-
tension of railway communication from the fishing ports to
all the important towns inthe kingdom. There is not now

279 Supply of fish in Great Britain.

a considerable town in any part of this country which has
not a regular supply of fresh fish. Year by year the more
remote fishing stations are being reached by the railway.
The immediate effect of this is to increase the price in the
fishing towns and neighbourhoods which had previously the
command of the supply,—while any general rise of price is,
on the other hand, checked by new fishing stations being
brought within the range of supply. It has thus been found.
that the new demand, arising from railway access to the
central parts of the country, is to a great extent met by
supplies from fishing ports which were formerly compara-
tively isolated. The result is a greater equality of price,
and no material advance in the cost of the coarser kinds of
fish which are most abundant, and are most consumed by
the less wealthy class of the people.

Plaice has not, at any time from 1856, up to the present
time, been lower than during the last three years, and, on
the whole, there seems to have been no marked alteration
of price. The case has been very different at Newcastle-
on-Tyne. Every kind of fish there, with the exception of
lobsters and crabs, has doubled its price in the course of the
last ten years. The reason is obvious. The dwellers on the
sea coast have now no longer a monopoly of the supply of
the fish caught on their shores. They must share it with
the great towns of the interior, to which railway facilities
are every year affording readier and cheaper access, and
with which the telegraph places the fish-dealers in constant
communication. The inhabitants of Newcastle, while de-
ploring the yearly increasing cost of their fish, have this
consolation, that the highest price they have ever yet been
called on to pay is considerably lower than the lowest price
in Manchester, during any part of the period under review.

A very important element of the question concerning the
supply of a nutritious article of food is the price of the
finest kinds of fish, when compared with that of the more
common descriptions which, from their abundance and
moderate price, are naturally extensively consumed among
the less wealthy classes of the people. The largest pro-
portion of this description of fish consists of herrings and
sprats. The-statistics of the Scotch herring fishery, prove
satisfactorily that, taking periods of five years, there is a
steadily progressive increase of supply. The sprat fishery
is of greatly less importance, and fluctuates considerably,
but shows no sign of over-fishing, or permanent decrease.

On the east coast of England, and in the London fish

Supply of Fish mn Great Britain. 27

market, the trade divide the fish into two classes, “prime”
and “offal.” The “prime” comprise, sole, turbot, brill, and
cod. The “offal” are chiefly haddock, plaice, and whiting.
The term “ offal” seems to have been introduced at a time
when the demand for fish, and the means of carrying it to
market were much more limited than at present ; and when
it was, therefore, often found necessary to throw overboard
much of the less valuable description, which could not bear
the cost of transport. The use of the word “ offal” is con-
tinued to the present day, but it may now be held to signify
the more plentiful and lower priced class of fish which finds
its way in great abundance to the largetowns. There has
been little increase in the price of plaice, but haddocks,
which, in former times, were often thrown overboard when
the take was great, are now used in two ways, either fresh,
or smoked, and for the latter purpose have been in great
demand atan increased price. The proportionof “prime” and
“offal” fish caught by the trawl varies considerably, but may
be taken, on the average, at one-fourth of the “prime” to
three-fourths of the “offal.” Of “prime” fish, sole seems
to be the general favourite. It is held in highest estimation
by the greatest number of persons, and is more eaten in
London than any other kind of “prime” fish; and during:
the summer, a considerable supply is sent daily from the
London market to Paris.

On the whole, there has certainly been a gradual increase
in the price of fish; but during ten years it has not greatly
nor suddenly increased. If we compare it with the yearly
increasing scarcity of butcher’s meat, it would seem that
the supply of fish keeps better up to the demand. Nor
wlll this be a matter of surprise when some consideration
is bestowed on the subject. The endeavour. to increase
the supply of meat is attended at every step with increasing
cost. More labour must be bestowed, higher rents, rates,
and wages, must all be paid, before a limited surface of
land can be made to add to its productiveness. But the
fisherman has neither rent nor rates to pay for the rich field
which he cultivates, and he can man and work a larger
fishing vessel, and a greater sweep of fishing gear at a
smaller cost in relation to the produce.

(To be continued.)

274

MODE OF REARING CATTLE IN SPAIN.
BY DON JOSE DE PRADO Y GUILLEN.

(Translated by Mr. Consul Graham-Dunlop.)

UR system of cattle-rearing may be reduced to two

. fundamental principles :—first, the open air system at

all hours and seasons, and secondly, the double system,
viz., half the year housed, the other half in the open pas-
tures. Constant stabling of cattle is never practised, not
even in Gallicia, where they stall much more than here in
Andalusia. The large herds of cows destined for breeding
are kept (in the south of Spain) on the first system, open
air pasturing at all times. These animals never enter sta-
-bles or places of shelter, they live continually in the pas-
ture grounds, which are uncultivated meadows and hill
sides, covering a vast extent of country. They feed onthe
herbage and plants which are the natural produce of the
earth, and their food thus depends on the seasons, on the
scarcity or abundance of the pasture, and on the fertility or
barrenness of the soil they are on. Nothing is provided
for them by man, either in winter or summer. If there be
enough for them to graze on, they live, if not, they die.
These cattle have no dwellings or artificial places of shelter,
they endure the rigour and the variations of the seasons
entirely in the open air. They are exposed to cold, frost,
and snow, and (in summer) to a burning sun, with no other
protection than what a bush, tree, or rock can afford them.
During the autumn, winter. and spring months, they are
generally keptin the pasture grounds of the Sierras, on brows
and spurs of the mountains, because these pasture grounds
are more sheltered than those on the coast or table land.
In the summer they go to the wide unfenced stubble lands
of the plains and Végus, near the coast, and wherever there |
is table land, if good watering places, especially running |
streams and rivers, are also found near. During the heats .
of summer they are most liable to common cattle ailments,
and the cowherds require to be doubly careful in this season
of the year. They make the cattle feed during the night,
and early in the morning turn them into a species of fold or
rough pen, where the animals lie down and chew the cud,
and rest till about nine or ten A.M., at which hour they are
allowed again to pasture. During the greatest heat of the
day (twelve to four) they are never driven or allowed to go
for food, to a great distance ; in July, August,and Septem-

Mode of Rearing Cattle in Spain. 275

ber, this would be attended with risk of spleen-congestion,
sometimes very fatal in summer. During the other season
there is no danger of this kind, and the only care taken is
that they go from one district of pasturage to another, as
plenty or scarcity dictate. This is a rude system, and al-
though, at first sight it appears economical, is not so, but is
expensive, and sometimes prejudicial, to the cattle. Its
only advantage is, that no outlay of money is involved, ex-
cept the cowherd’s wages, and the rent (or value) of the
pasture grounds. Its difficulties and disadvantages are :—
first, this system can only answer in the least inhabited
parts of Andalusia, where, from want of labourers. there is
of necessity a wide extent ofuncultivated land, and secondly,
by it the cattle are often obliged to endure great priva-
tions and want of food during drought and scanty seasons ;
they fall away in health, become weak and consumptive,
2... easily overpowered with any trifling malady (or acci-
dent), and sometimes die in great numbers, the owner thus
suffering loss from want of precaution in procuring other
food besides natural pasture. During the winter, also, the
storms of wind and snow kill many valuable cattle; besides
this, by this system the cows are not prolific, and they
breed irregularly. The increase therefore is small (in com-
parison with that obtained by other systems), and it is
calculated that only one-third part of the cows in a herd
calve during the year. Thus, the total number of heads of
cattle produced under this (open air) system, is far from
what could be expected. These cows are not employed in
any other way, and never work. nor are they milked for
yield of milk or butter, &c.; but it is also to be acknow-
ledged, that, unless in the height of summer, and very
depth of winter, these herds seem to suffer little from occa-
sional disease, or ordinary sickness. The system gives them
a sort of hardihood and power of resisting privations. (I
may almost call it abstemiousness, or ‘Spanish sobriedad),
which frequently stands them in good stead. It is a neces-
sary consequence of the want or the sparseness of popula-
tion in Spain, a fact too little considered by all Spaniards.
To a certain extent this open air system is followed in
the Castiles, La Mancha, Aragon, Navarre, &c., whilst in
the Asturias, Gallicia, and part of Catalonia, where land
and landed property is much divided and sub-divided, and
where the climate is sometimes very cold, this system would
not do at all, and is not practised. Were it modified and
improved in the south of Spain it might retain some of its

276 Mode of Rearing Cattle in Spain.

crude and natural advantages, but, alas, we Andalusians
are devoted to our primitive and accustomed routine, and
thus we are punished, and cannot boast half the fine herds
of cattle, and of pastoral wealth, which we might do if we
were wiser.

We now come to the second system of rearing and treat-
ing cattle throughout Spain—viz., part of the year housed,
and part in open pastures.

During winter, and indeed from the first days of autumn,
the cattle intended for exportation or for work, are always
housed at night in their sheds or semi-open stalls. In
Gallicia they are regularly stabled whenever it is cold. In
Andalusia the peasants obstinately adhere to making these
cow houses or sheds far too open. The animals derive cer-
tainly some shelter from the rigour of the atmosphere; but
their food gets wet with rain, and often they refuse to eat it
in consequence, and thus become ill and weak, and liable
to disease. The peasants are stupid and obstinate about
this, and give as their reason, that if there is a shelter im-
mediately above the cattle (afforded by a roof) the sides
cannot admit too much air. It is singular how they per- .
sist in this view.

In the middle of Spain, and in the northern provinces,
the houses for cattle are, on the whole, well and carefully
built, with windows and openings for air; but the animals
never suffer from the rain or snow beating upon them or
their food. These cattle are often worked, and they are
much more attended to than the semi-wild herds in our
beautiful province. It is supposed to improve the northern
cattle (intended for exportation) to make them labour regu-
larly and moderately at the plough and with the cart.

In the spring the cattle in most districts of Spain leave off
going into the houses or sheds, and live and feed on the
uncultivated portions of the large farms; a third portion of
which is sold every year, the other two-thirds remain un-
cultivated or “ fallow,’ and there the oxen intended for
labour (and the market, &c., &c.) graze. This rotation sys-
tem, as regards “fallowing,’ is pursued with considerable
regularity throughout Spain. After the harvests are reaped,
the stubble lands, on which grow also some herbage and.
green weeds, afford abundant pasture, and the cattle graze
these districts very advantageously. They produce largely
the wheat grass, ¢riticum repens, which is considered nutri-
tritious and wholesome. This second system (mixed) of
treating our cattle keeps them more directly under the

Mode of Rearing Cattle in Spain. a7

management of the man underwhosecaretheyare. Andthus
it is only when there is abundance of food in the fields that
they are not supplied with it in their stalls. The cattle
thus brought up are, of course, many fewer in number than
under the first detailed system ; they suffer fewer privations
and are much finer looking; but most ofthe cattle in Spain
ave born under the wilder system of perpetual open air pas-
ture. I think that the second system is brought to most
perfection in the provinces in Gallicia and the Asturias.
There they are also housed carefully during the heats of
summer so as to avoid distress from flies and insects. The
cattle are cleaned carefully, and groomed; and are also
clothed during the rigourous nights of cold winter. They
are more prolific than in Andalusia; their milk is more
abundant and nourishing, and their flesh is esteemed even
in England, and at Madrid.*

Experiments made occasionally to cross the Spanish
breed of cattle with the Durham, have not hitherto been
successful. But, in my opinion, improvements in obtaining
a variety of breeds of cattle are greatly to be desired.

Rinderpest in Spain—The dreadful cattle plague which
is ravaging England and Germany has not attacked the
large herds of these animals in Spain. It never has done
so in its present rinderpest form, for on consulting the nu-
merous essays of our old Spanish veterinary surgeons, we
find that though intimately acquainted with all the Spanish
cattle diseases, they do not either directly or indirectly tell
of it, showing that they did not know it; but our modern
veterinary authors have given good translations from Ger-
man and Russian medical works on the subject, therefore,
we quite understand what it is, and can safely assert that
the rinderpest has never yet been seen in any part of the
Iberian peninsula. The cattle epidemics, which have raged
sometime from 1709 till now, have all assumed quite a dif-
ferent character, and the absence of the present cattle
plague from Spain is thus a most interesting subject and
question,—why has it never visited us?

I fully believe that the chief reason is, that we rarely,
and in very small numbers, import any foreign cattle into
Spain. There is comparatively little beef eaten through-
out the country; moreis produced than isconsumed. Our
exportation, especially from the north and Gallicia, is con-
siderable, and in truth, our cattle importation is zz/. The

No “artificial” food, such as pelea roots or oil-cakes, is ever
given to cattle in Spain.
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. A A

278 Mode of Rearing Cattle in Spain.

Gallicia and Asturias cattle find their way to France and
to Ergland, but none come thence to us. I fully believe
that, from the power of contagion which is so strong in the
real rinderpest, if one ox, with any trace of that disease on
him, had been imported into Spain, and had come into
contact with cattle of this country, the epidemic would
have spread, just as happened at Padua, in Italy, in 1711,
from a diseased ox (coming from Dalmatia), being intro-
duced into the stalls of Count Borromeo, and thus causing
the fearful murrain which at that time almost ruined the
pastoral wealth of the north of Italy. We are in hopes
that the peculiar topographic character and configuration
of our country may stand in the way of the production of
the disease in Spain. Up to this time this, in addition to
non-importation of cattle, has been in our favour, and if we
compare the local condition of the places where, according
to the opinion of most veterinary writers, the rinderpest is
spontaneously produced (2.2, in the morasses and lagoons
of Tartary and some parts of Central Europe), with the
position and circumstances of our country, we shall find
them to be: in direct opposition to each other. Many
medical writers have traced cholera-morbus to the fetid
and poisonous effluvia from the swamps and sunderbunds
of the Ganges, and thus we veterinary students are con-
strained to accuse the wide marshes of Russia, Poland, and
Hungary, of being the birthplace of rinderpest. All the
contagious cattle diseases known since 1709, have either
spread from that focus of infection, or been similar to the
maladies often prevailing there. The Governments and
people of the rest of Europe should carefully direct their
attention to this fact, and so much the more because
hitherto it has seemed that the present disease is far more
easy to prevent and keep off than to cure.. Were the
disease to break out in Spain, isolation of suspected cattle,
and careful separation of healthy, suspected, and diseased
cattle would be the first means that we should adopt; but
the cattle of the three different categories ought to be kept
at a distance from each other, not only separated. JI am
at present doubtful of the success of any means of cure, if
the rinderpest takes strong hold of an animal, that is, dur-
ing the first period of its breaking out. In fact, we should
try to treat it here as endemic, epidemic, and highly con-
tagious, all at once, and at first we should certainly, in any
locality, deal with it as incurable, and try to stamp it out.
If it continued and spread, we should be guided by circum-
stances, and by its greater or weaker virulence.

279

ELECTRIC ‘FISHES:

-*HERE are some remarkable instances of the genera-
tion of electricity in living animals, to whom the
power seems principally to be given as a means of defence.
Of these animals, the Zorfedo Raia appears to have been
noticed at avery early period, since we find a description
of its properties in the writings.of Pliny, Appian, and
others. It inhabits the Mediterranean and North seas; its
weight when fully grown, is about eighteen or twenty
pounds.

Each electrical organ is about 5 inches long and about 3
inches broad at the anterior end, and 4 an inch at the pos-
terior extremity. Each organ consists wholly of perpendi-
cular columns reaching from the upper to the undersurface
of the body, and varying in their lengths according to the
thickness of the parts of the body where they are placed.
The longest column is about 14 inch, the shortest about }
of an inch, and their diameter about 2-10ths of aninch. The
figures of the columns are irregular hexagons or pentagons,
and sometimes have the appearance of being quadrangular
or cylindrical. The number of columns in the fish exa-
mined. by John Hunter, was 470 in each organ; but in a
very large fish, 44 feet long and weighing 73 pounds, the
number was 1,182 in each organ. The number of parti-
tions in a column 1 inch long was 150.

The Torpedo must be irritated to cause it to give a
shock, in the delivery of which it moves its pectoral fins
convulsively ; the shock is felt on touching the fish with a
single finger,and it can give a long series of shocks with
great rapidity. When the Torpedo is placed on a metallic
plate, so that the plate touches the inferior surface of the
organs, the hand that supports the plate never feels any
shock ; though another insulated person may excite the
animal, and the convulsive movement of the pectoral fins
may denote the strongest and most reiterated discharges.
Direct contact with the electrical organs of the fish is in-
dispensably necessary for the reception of the shock, but
the Torpedo has not the power of directing its electrical
discharge through any particular object.

By passing the discharge from a Torpedo through a
spiral of copper wire enclosing a steel needle, the needle
becomes magnetised in such a manner as to show the
direction of the current to be from the back to the under

A A 2

280 Electric Fishes.

part of the belly. Heating and chemical effects have like-

wise been obtained. According to the experiments of
Matteucci :—1. All the dorsal parts of the electrical organ
are positive to all the ventral parts. 2. Those points of the
organ on the dorsal face which are about the nerve which
penetrate this organ are fosztive relatively to other points
of the same dorsal face. 3. Those points of the organ on
the ventral face are negative relatively to other points of
the same ventral face.

The Gymnotus. —This electrical fish is a native of the
warmer regions of America and Africa. There are several
species of the Gymnotus, but only one is electrical. In
general aspect it very much resembles an eel—the body is
smooth, and without scales (a peculiarity of all electrical
fishes). The electric organs consist of alternations of dif-
ferent substances, and are most abundantly supplied by
nerves ; their too frequent use is succeeded by debility and
death. The electric organs may be removed without injury
to the fish.

These organs form more than one-third of the whole fish.
The two electrical organs are separated at the upper part
by the muscles of the back, at the lower part by the middle
partition, and by the air bag at the middle part.

The electrical organs consist of two parts—viz., flat par-
titions or septa, and thin plates or membranes intersecting
them transversely. The septa are thin parallel membranes
stretching in the direction of the fish’s length, and as broad
as the semi-diameter of the animal’s body. They vary in
length, some of them being as long as the whole body.
The very thin plates which intersect the septa have their
breadth equal to the distance between any two septa.
There is a regular series of these plates, from one end of
any two septa to the other end, 240 of them occupying a
single inch.

The electric organ of the Gymnotus depends entirely on
its will. It does not keep its organs always charged, and
it can direct its action towards the point where it feels it-
self most strongly irritated. When two persons hold hands,
and one touches the fish with his free hand, the shock is
commonly felt by both at once. Occasionally, however, in
the most severe shocks, the person who comes into imme-
diate contact with the fish alone receives it.

A fine specimen of this remarkable fish was for some
time, in possession of the proprietors of the late Gallery of
Practical Science in Adelaide street, and was made the

Electric Fishes. 281

subject of some interesting experiments by Faraday (Ex.
Researches, 15th series, 1838). This fish was 40 inches long.
It remained in a healthy and vigorous condition till March,
1842, when it died from the effects of a rupture of a blood-
vessel.

1. The Shock.—This was very powerful when one hand
was placed on the body near the head, and the other near
Matta tt was like that of a larce Leyden ‘battery
charged to a low degree; and great as was the force of a
single discharge, the fish was able to give a double and
even a triple shock with scarcely a sensible interval of time.
From some comparative experiments, Faraday thought it
may be concluded that a single medium discharge of the
fish was at least equal to that of a Leyden battery of
fifteen jars, containing 3,500 square inches of glass coated
on both sides, and charged to the highest degree.

2. The Spark.—Through the upper cap of a glass globe
a copper wire was passed, a slip of gold leaf being attached
to its extremity ; a similar wire terminating in a brass ball
within the globe was passed through the lower cap. The
gold leaf and brass ball were brought into all but actual
contact, the fish being provoked to discharge through the
wires, the gold leaf was attracted to the ball, and a spark
passed.

3. Chemical Decomposition. — Polar decomposition of
iodine of potassium was obtained by moistening three or
four foldsof paper in the solution, and placing them between
a platinum plate and the end of a platinum wire, connected
respectively with two saddle conductors grasping the body
of the fish. The middle of the fish was found to be negative
to the azzerzor parts, and fosztive to parts towards the tail.

4. Magnetic L:ffects,—By causing the fish to send powerful
discharges through an instrument of no great delicacy, a
deflection of the needle amounting to 30° was produced ;
the deflection was constantly in a given direction, the
electric current being always from the anterior parts of the
animal, through the galvanometer wire to the posterior
patts. When a little helix, containing 22 feet of silked
wire wound on a quill, was put into the circuit, and an an-
nealed steel needle placed in the helix, the needle became
a magnet. and the direction of its polarity in every case
indicated a current from the anterior to the posterior parts
of the Gymnotus through the conductors used.

When a number of persons all dip their hands at the
same time into the water in the vessel in which the Gym-

282 Copper Mines.

notus is confined, they @// receive a shock of greater or less
tensity when the fish discharges, proving that all the con-
ducting matter round the fish is filled at the moment with
eirculating electric power, resembling generally in disposi-
tion the magnetic curves of a magnet. The Gymnotus
feeds on other fish, which it kills by giving them a shock;
this it does by forming a coil round the fish, so that itshould
represent a diameter across it. Living, as the Gymnotus
does, in the midst of such a good conductor as water, it
seems at first surprising that it can sensibly electrify any-
thing; but, in fact, it is the very conducting power of the
water which favours and increases the shock by moistening
the skin of the animal through which the Gymnotus dis-
charges its battery.

The Silurus electricus—This fish is found in the Senegal,
the Niger, and the Nile. It is about 20 inches long. The
shock is distinctly felt when it is laid on one hand, and
touched by a metallic rod held in the other. Its electrical
organs are much less complicated than those of other
electrical fishes. Other known electrical fishes are the
Tetraodon electricus, found in the Canary Islands, and the
Trichiarus eleetricus, which inhabits the Indian Seas;
several others have been met with, but not hitherto accu-
rately described.—Student's Texrt-book of Llectricity.

COPPER MINES.—No. I.

EW books of a popular character have been‘written
upon mining; so that persons have rarely the means
of acquiring any information as to the nature of mines, the
modes by which ores are extracted from the earth, or the
preparations which they undergo prior to their being
brought to a state of use. The most superficial knowledge
of these things would have deterred many from specula-
tions, which experience has proved they ought to have
avoided ; and to which they were lured by a phantom en-
gendered by their cupidity and magnified by their igno-
rance.

Every one knows that the metallic substances chiefly
in use are gold, silver, copper, iron, lead andtin. Of these,
the two former have never been found in any parts of
Great Britain in sufficient quantities to warrant a con-

Copper Mines. - 283

ea

_ tinuance of operation ; although in the county of Wicklow,
enough pure gold was discovered about a century ago, to
induce Government to expend no small sum in ascertain-
ing the probability of its being extracted to advantage ;
and the writer of this statement has seen a piece of native
gold from Wicklow, as large as half a walnut, but the mine
was closed after being worked a few years, during which it
is said that the profit was not equal to the expense of opera-
tion.

Of silver perhaps, no mine has been yet discovered in
this country where that mineral exists in a pure state; it
is frequently found mixed with other metals, in no incon-
siderable proportion, though not in snfficient quantity to
justify its being separated by the furnace.

Copper is found in Ireland, North Wales, Staffordshire
and Cornwall, and is associated with rocks of different
kinds, as also with clay state.

As the grain or layer of all rocks run east and west, so
the veins of copper are always found to run in the same
direction; except where the uniformity of the earth has
been destroyed by volcanic convulsion, or other disruption,
occasioning transverse fissures, or turning the direction of
the stratum. These interruptions are of a very partial
nature, when compared to the great extent to which the
veins of mineral are believed to run, supposing their course
could be pursued; but it generally happens that either a
mountain, a bog, a river, or an arm of the sea, is found to
intervene, and preclude the continuance of research.

The veins of copper differ so much, that it would be im-
possible to mention any dimension which could be adopted
as anaverage of their width or thickness. A vein at its
commencement, is often no thicker than the blade of an
ordinary knife; but upon being pursued it is found to in-
crease, sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly in size,
until it swells to a width of several feet, and not unfre-
quently as much as forty or fifty feet. A vein of magni-
tude is called a /ode, or leading vein, from which minor ones
diverge at different intervals and angles, but having more
or less the same direction; and it is observable that the
course of mineral veins is seldom uniform for any con-
tinuance. They vary as they proceed as well in quality
and richness as in bulk, exhibiting ore occasionally in beds
(or, asthey are termed, bunches), without which the excava-
tion would be frequently not worth pursuing ; for the chief
expense of mining, consists in the removal of the stone,

284 Copper Mines.

or other hard substance, in which the minerals are em-
bedded, and which varies in proportion to the density of
such surrounding matter, Sometimes, a miner considers
himself remunerated by working at Ios. per fathom, or six
feet, or even less, whilst the almost incredible sum of £400
has been known to be paid for working through an exceed-
ingly hard stone the same distance; and it is obvious, that,
unless the substance surrounding the ore be occasionally re-
moved, the operations in the mine could not be prolonged,
because the ore would not continue within reach. And it
not unfrequently happens, that, prior to the abandonment
of a mine, or where the labourers are paid not in proportion
to their labour, but in proportion to the quantity of ore
they extract, this is actually the case. Succeeding adven-
turers have then the unprofitable work of extracting stone,
at a great outlay before such mine can be again rendered
in a proper working condition.

In mining districts, the existence of copper is often pre-
sumed from some accidental circumstance; such, as when
in the digging of a trench, or the removing of stone, some
fragment is observed to exhibit verdigris or other coppery
indication, generally very slightly, but enough to stimulate
an adventurous person to pursue it. In some places, the
same mineral is denoted by a green appearance on the
surface of rock or stone, sufficient to tempt a partial exca-
vation by way of experiment. But indications, though oc-
casionally very extensive, are not unfrequently very delu-
sive ; for a small portion of bland oxide of copper is capable
of tinging a large surface of ground.

Symptoms of copper often occur in situations ill-adapted
for experiment, such as the middle of a perpendicular cliff,
or on the sea-shore, near low water mark. In such event,
it is usual to examine the ground attentively, eastward or
westward, with a view of finding some other indication in
the direction in which the vein may be supposed to run.
If such indication should be met with, it will be, probably, in
a situation where the same objection would not be offered
against excavating, in which case, a shaft is sunk accord-
ingly and, if no such indication should occur, it is then the
usual practice to fix upon some spot which appears most
eligible in point of locality, and (as far as supposition can
go), upon the same stratum for the sinking of a shaft by
way of experiment. All these points are left to the discre-
tion of the person to whom the mining operations are con-
fided, and who is called a captain ; of which species of

Petroleum and other Owls as a Fuel. 285

agent there are, in large mines generally three or four at
least ; of whom, those. whose attention is confined to the
workings in the mine, are called “ underground captains,”
and those to whom devolve the highest duties of experi-
mental research upon the surface, are termed “grass cap-
tains.”

The sinking of a shaft is effected by making an aperture
in the ground about six feet across, and as near square as
may be, which the miner continues to sink, in the daily and
hourly expectation of arriving at the vein whose supposed
existence had tempted the excavation. If he should be
fortunate enough to find it a reasonable and proper depth,
it then remains to be considered in what manner it ought
to be treated ; in other words, whether its appearances are
sufficiently promising to justify further toil and expense,
and if they do, whether it ought to be worked to the east
or to the west, &c.

If, on the other hand, he should not succeed in striking
upon the point he had been in quest of (after arriving at a
depth at which it is reasonable to suppose the ore ought to
be met with), it then remains to be considered, whether the
shaft has not been sunk too much to the north or too much
to the south, so as to have missed the vein; and in ‘such
case, a cross-cut is generally ordered in each of those direc-
_ tions, to a distance beyond which the vein could not be
supposed to lie; and, if inso doing, no indication of copper
should be found, the earth is pronounced to have been
proved, and it is concluded that the lode does not run in
that direction.

(To be continued.)

Ste VALUE OF PETROLEUM AND OTHER
OIES io ce POE,

a a recent number, we adverted to the experiments on

burning petroleum, carried on in America, the follow-
ing, on the official report of experiments at Woolwich, ap-
peared in the Standard :—

The engineers of the Woolwich Dockyard have returned
to the Admiralty, we hear, a statement, without comment,
of what Mr. Richardson has done, and have accompanied
their statement with a drawing of the apparatus by which

286 Petroleum and other O1tls as Fuel.

the results have been obtained. Good wine needs no bush,
and such results as the patentee, aided by the dockyard
authorities, has obtained, need no comment. When it is
known to every practical engineer that 74 lb. of water per
I lb. of the best steam coal is the maximum quantity in
ordinary practice; that not more than 34 lb. to 4 lb. of
water are done by common coals, and 64 lb. is the usual
rate for railway locomotives, what need could there be to
add one word of remark to a table of practical experiments
showing 13 lb. for American rock oils, 15 lb. to 17 lb. for
Burslem, and above 18 lb. for the Torbane hill oil ?
Taking the average evaporation effected by coal as 6 lb.
we may fairly urge that the best mineral -oil, being three
times as strong as coal in the quantity of heat it generates,
and evaporating three times the quantity of water in the
same space of time, is just as cheap as coal if it cost three
three times as much to distil it from the shale as it does
to get the coal out of the earth, and convey to our furnaces.
It is quite a mistake to say that, however valuable shale
may be for the production of paraffine, it can never be a
satisfactory substitute for coal. No one ever dreams of
carting shale about with its great percentage of earthy base,
any more than bones and coprolites are expected by far-
mers to be carted over their lands, while chemists can
supply them with superphosphate of lime. What men have
been trying to do is to burn shale-oil; to get the oil away
from the mineral base, and to have as little useless matter
to carry about as possible. What has been done at Wool-
wich has been to burn such oil in a boiler-furnace practi-
cally, and to beat coal with it. It is no use any longer to
question results. The mineral oil has been burnt for days
together, just as it might be burnt for months together, and
it has raised steam effectively, efficiently, quickly, steadily,
and continuously. It is now only a question of time how
s_on the world will accept the fact, and engineers begin to
employ it. Already oil-works are dotting with numerous
manufactories considerable regions in England, Wales, and
Scotland, and our shales and bituminous rocks are being
fast brought into commercial use. Evident it is, that great
will be the future supply when oil is admitted as the best
steam fuel—a fuel that our factories will burn day and
night with only a flickering glimmer of hot air from their
chimney tops. Ships will carry the oil in tanks, and stow
it in the bilge-ways under the lower decks, and in other-
wise useless spaces, pumping it as wanted; all the labour

The Red Flouse-Ant. 287

of moving coal, all the dust and dirt from coal will be
avoided, and every drop of oil will be consumed, and there
will be smokeless fires ashore and afloat. As with coals, so
with oils, there is a difference of quality, and it is not a
little remarkable that England, possessing the superior
qualities of the first, should possess also the best of the
latter. While the American oils will touch 13 lb., nearly
all the English ones exceed them, and the Torbane hill
oil will go nearly, if not quite up to 20 lb.; and here we
would hint to oil distillers that their present crude oils and
the veriest tarry refuse will have as fuel a value in the
market, for most of them will do as much as ordinary coal.
For the best work engineers will have the best oil, as they
have now the best coals ; but if the thickest refuse of the
distilleries will evaporate probably its 6 lb. of water, the
mineral oil makers will have a profitable market for that
which they incur an expense now to be rid of, disposing of
it for manure or any casual purpose. For our fast pas-
senger steamers, the oil will be a boon of the greatest value,
and our sharp-witted companies will doubtles try its mettle.
For our men-of-war it will, in unpeaceful times, be an im-
perative necessity, and we may be sure that our new
Government will neglect no important means of providing
for the supremacy of the British navy.

Whatever further experiments may be probably under-
taken before oil is adopted by the Admiralty, sufficient at
least has been done, and under such superintendence that
the results can neither be doubted nor disputed, to prove
that there is a fuel capable of superseding coal for steam
and mechdnical purposes, that it has been practically tried
and applied, and which only awaits the demand to come
into the market at economic prices.

THE RED HOUSE-ANT. (DIPLORHOPTRUM
MOLESTA))

BY W. E. SHUCKARD.

NFORTUNATELY I can give no new information
respecting the little ant which has been sent me,

and which, I am told, has recently made its appearance in
vast numbers at Hastings, Brighton, &c., and also in the

288 The Red House- Ant.

metropolis. I suspect it has never been absent from
London since the period when it was first noticed here, or
perhaps, rather, when its appearance was first recorded,
which was in 1828. Some stir was made about it in 1836,
when the late Dr. Bostock brought the subject before the
Entomological Society, his house, in Upper Bedford place,
Russell-square being annoyingly infested by it. So great
was the inconvenience he suffered from the incursion of
these little pests, that he was induced to go to considerable
expense in his endeavour to extirpate them by removing
the ranges and wainscotings in his kitchens, &c., but, I
believe without avail. In the discussion that ensued at
the time in the Society, I was applied to by the President
for an opinion as to the locality of its probable origin, if
not indigenous. Being then much engaged upon the Hy-
menoptera, and not having noticed it, at large, in my ento-
mological excursions, although I had for some time fre-
quently observed and admired the pretty little creature
indulging, in ones and twos, amongst my coffee sugar of a
morning, I hazarded the opinion that it was an exotic, and
very likely a native of the West Indies, led to this surmise
by my own experience. That it is American is confirmed
by the fact of its abounding in the Brazils, where it is a
greater pest than with us, existing there in enormous pro-
fusion everywhere, both in-doors and out of doors. It
appears to have streamed thence—assuming that that
country is its metropolis—upwards through the isthmus to
the United States, reaching as high as Boston, in Massa-
chusetts, where Thomas Say, the celebrated American en-
tomologist, was as much annoyed by it as we are; but he
has suggested a remedy which may help to curb, if not
completely to check its diffusion. I described it, with other
small exotic ants, in Charlesworth’s “Magazine of Natural
History,’ in the year 1838, by the name of Myrmzca
domestica, and where its description will be found at page
626. I was not then aware that Say had before described
itas MWyrmica molesta, in the “ Boston Journal of Natural
History for 1834,” page 293,—a specific name suggested
by the inconvenience he had suffered from its intrusion.
He there tells us that “it is called ‘the little yellow ant,
and that it is frequently found in houses in great numbers.
They sometimes eat vegetable food, and some of my
garden-seeds have severely suffered from their attacks.
They also devour grease, olive-oil, &c. Their sting is like
the puncture of a very fine needle. I placed a piece of

ee aaa. == =

The Red House-Ant. 289

meat on a window board frequented by these little depre-
dators ; it was soon absolutely covered by them, and thus
enabled me to destroy thousands every few hours that I
returned to examine the bait, for several days, during which
time their apparent numbers scarcely diminished.”

Similar means might be resorted to with us in houses
where they abound; and if the bait were placed near the
spots whence they are observed to issue, very great
numbers might be annihilated by pouring a little boiling
water over them. I am, however, afraid that no radical
cure can be effected without the destruction of the nests
which contain the embryonic progeny. Their nests being
constructed within or behind walls or wainscoting, or
under hearthstones and behind ranges, they are difficult to
get at. They swarm, I have no doubt, externally in the
air; and although the time when this takes place has not
been observed, I expect atmospheric influences operate as
powerfully upon them as upon the rest of the tribe, and
that it therefore occurs during sultry, still days in the, sum-
mer andearly autumn, whenthe air is charged withelectricity.
This should be esqecially noted by those who wish to era-
dicate them; for the greater the number of winged females
that can be then destroyed, the greater will be the decrease
of their propagation, as every winged female that survives
becomes the founder of a fresh colony, which readily ex-
plains their abundant and wide distribution. The females
are more than twice the size of these small neuters, being
two lines long, and are larger than the males, and like them
have four transparent wings. No trouble need be taken
about the latter, as they speedily die—indeed, immediately
upon the exercise of their exclusive function,

The majority of exotic ants are extremely eccentric in
structure and remarkably diverse in form; but these little
aliens are conformable to a type common to these islands.
They are congeneric with our own species of rhe section
Diplorhoptrum, of the genus Myrmica, that section being
without spines to the metathorax, a spined metathorax being
the character of the more typical forms. The females and
neuters are armed with stings; the club of the antennez
has three joints, and the abdomen two nodes. The habits
of our own species of this sub-divided genus differ very con-
siderably from each other, therefore it would be perilous to
jump at conclusions from one to the other. A prominent
characteristic embracing all is that the pupz are naked ;
namely, that they are not enclosed in cocoons. In illustra-

ago" > Lhe Scrence of Mnemonics.

tion of this dissimilarity of habits, I may add that some of
the species live habitually in society with ants of a very
different genus and division of the tribe; others in close
contiguity to such as are equally distinct; whilst others,
again, live totally apart, and away, and by themselves.
— Science Gossip.

THE SCIENCE OF MNEMONICS.
BY WILLIAM STOKES.
Teacher of Memory, Royal Polytechnic Institution.
(Concluded from page 224.)

T is not always necessary to study the Science of Mne-
monics in order to become practically acquainted with
Mnemonical principles. The practice of Mnemonics in one
form or another, is as indispensable to man as the beating
of the heart, and it may take place as unconsciously. When
Kohl had committed his atrocious murder in Plaistow
Marshes, why did tens of thousands of “roughs” flock to
the spot ? And why did everybody take away a rush?
Was it because each rollicking or morbid-minded pedestrian
had studied the theory of local and objective suggestion,
and theassociationofideas ? No—themultitudes were drawn
to the spot by an unrestrained instinct, and they broke off
the rushes and took them away without attempting to assign
a reason, yet knowing the reason practically as well as the
profoundest philosopher. The gratification of this instinct
is not always confined to such a simple act as the gathering
of rushes. I happen to be writing this article in Glasgow,
and my temporary abode isimmediately opposite the house
which was the residence of Dr. Pritchard. As I write, I
can look upon the ¢trausmogrified habitation. Why was it
altered in its appearance? Simply, because the powerful
operation of the great law of association was so generally
and so unpleasantly manifested, that an ob/zteration as far
as possible of that which was suggestive to the masses be-
came absolutely necessary. In casual conversation, I have
been informed repeatedly by many eye-witnesses that the
flight of stone steps belonging to the house was, to a great.
extent, chipped and chiselled away by the mob, so strong

The Science of Mnemonics. 291

was the morbid desire to obtain something as a reminder of
the tragedy.

Happily, association is more frequently in an agreeable
manner. The child who cries because the sixpence pre-
sented to him by his fireside banker “is not his father’s
sixpence!” or the very coin his father gave him, is uncon-
sciously illustrating the poetry of association. And this
principle of association may be cultivated and used as a
pleasant and powerful aid in the development of intelli-
gence. Some few years ago, when I was lecturing at the
Royal Colosseum, London, I gave my illustrating boys a
treat of a day’s excursion to Brighton, and one of the little
fellows, on his return to London, told a gentleman he had
been to Brighton and had seen the sea, and the boats, and
chain pier, and other wonders; “and here” said he, “is a
pebble I picked up from the beach.” “ Ah!” said the gen-
tleman, with a smile, “you may as well throw that away.
fein worth anything.’ “No Sir,’ replied the. boy, “I
know it is not worth anything as a@ stone, but I am going to
keep it for Association's sake!” It would be wellif the boy’s
innocent answer wereknown and appreciated throughout the
world. Assocation, and not wearisome repetition, is the
great aid to Memory.

The Science of Mnemonics embraces the art of forcing
association, or of making the mind increasingly susceptible
of suggestions.

How can associations be forced? Why, when ideas are
in the mind in a state of isolation, bring them together.
This may be symbolically represented thus :—

C

A B D
Let the points A, B, be two given isolated ideas, let the
line A, C, and the line C, B, be the legs of a pair of com-
passes holding ideas A, B. Close the compasses at the line
C, D, and the association will be found at the point D., thus :

A D : B
Boy A boy on a gate, or gate

a boy opening a gate, or

a boy with a queer gait

or, ad infinitum.

292 The Science of Mnemonics. -

To work upon the principle association successfully, ideas
which are suggestive must be substituted for ideas which
are unsuggestive. Thus, for the unsuggestive numbers from
I to 10 take the following suggestive representatives :

For One Wonder
5s vO Tutor
5 Ihree - Threefold

» Four Foreknown
5, Eve Fifer
3 Sixpence

» seven} .Seyerm
» Hight Hatred
$) Nie A nigh
ee Wen A tender (of an engine.)

Call the above words A, opposite them write down
ten wards at random, calling the latter words B; make each
couple A, B, meet at the imaginary point D, and you will
know the numerical order of the words B, by thinking of
the words A.

Although the preceding hints are given clearly, it is
highly probable that if they were offered to the general
public, instead of to the readers of the TECHNOLOGIST,
who are especially scientific, ninety-nine readers out of
every hundred would not take the pains to try the experi-
ment suggested, which does not occupy more than ten or
fifteen minutes, and which illustrates one of the most in-
teresting laws of our intellectual being. It is an experi-
ment too, which might induce further investigation into this
inportant subject. The characteristic tendency of many
minds to leave experiments untried and to decline, investi-
gation.

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF ENGLISH
POETRY.

BY HUNTINGTON BOYLE, M.A,

HE rise and progress of British poetry is one of ,
those subjects which claim paramount attention
amid the fields of the intellectual culture of our land. In
endeavouring, as briefly as possible, to sketch its history in
the present article, every allowance must be made for the —
length of ground over which we travel. In doing so, how

‘Rise and Progress of English Poetry. 203

ever, it may not be inadvertent, by way of preface, to
remark that it is utterly impossible to dwell either at that
length, or with that minuteness, on this very important
branch of our literature within the space of a simple
-atticle, which it most indisputably deserves.

To survey, for instance, the rise and progress of any art
or science, during the lapse of nearly eight hundred years,
requires much time and deliberation, but when we are
called upon to survey the history of one so minutely inter-
woven with the progress of literature and refinement, upon
our sea-girt isle, to that brilliancy which has characterised,
and is characterising, its effulgence during the last and
present centuries, is by no means a facile task.

Poetry is indisputably the most ancient, as it is the most
excellent, of the fine arts. It was the first fixed form of
language—the earliest perpetuation of thought. It was
the medium of praise to the Almighty—the medium
through which lessons of wisdom were inculcated, and
through which deeds of valour were extolled. It was an-
_terior to music in melody, and antecedent to painting in
description, excelling the one in harmony and sublimity,
and the other by its power of pathos in description. Re-
gard we the ice-clad region of Scandinavia, or the sunny
clime of Greece—behold we the Indian in his prairie—or
the Arab in his desert—we shall find that whenever man-
kind have made any progress towards civilisation, they be-
come irresistibly impelled by a love of song amongst them.

No further proof of this is wanting than the ancient
-Greeks were incited to deeds of warlike enthusiasm
while singing their praises to Apollo, and that whilst that
enthusiastic tone of liberty which characterised Athens in
her high and palmy state, was not less attributable to the
love of poetry amongst them, and again, while the Eagles
‘of Rome flew to the utmost bounds of the then known
world, were not, may it be asked, the triumphs of oratory
and poetry equally conspicuous at home? Campbell has
well remarked, that—

“Song is but the eloquence of truth.”
and again—
“Where Truth deigns to come, her
Sister, Liberty, will not be far.”
Shakespere, too, while delineating the power of pees
fancy, jm
“ The Poet’s eye in fine frenay rolling,
Doth glance from earth to heaven,
NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. BB

204 Rese and Progress of Enghsh Poetry.

From heaven to earth, and as imagination _
Bodies forth, the forms of things unknown,
The poet’s eye turns them to shape,

And gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.”

In the limited space allotted to us, we cannot bring to the
minds of our readers what was the marvellous effects of
poetic fancy amongst ancient nations. We will, therefore,
content ourselves by tracing its home influence, amongst
ourselves, and briefly to describe it by turning to the subject
under review. It isa matter of no small regret, that we
are met with, at the very onset, by the difficulty of appre-.
ciating that which so deeply animated our Saxon ancestors
—namely, the metrical nature of their poetry. It might
‘be irksome, and certainly wearisome, to our readers, to
wade with us through mists of uncertain—nay, almost
mythical—romance. Therefore, we will pass over that
period in our subject, which elapsed from the date of
the Saxon Alfred, in 827, to that of the third Edward,
in 1327,

At this period, we shall discover that literature and re-
finement were making gigantic strides in Europe, and that
the literature of England was not long in following the
exemplar of Italy; and that while Dante, Petrarch, and
Boccaccio gilded the horizon of Italian literature, and re-
vived the Greek style of poetical composition in Italy,
they were soon’ followed in their onward course by our
parent Bard, Chaucer. It is not difficult to imagine, that
in a Court possessed of so much heroism and gallantry, as
this most indisputably was, that the Muse would not le
unneglected. Nor did she, for this reign gave birth to
Chaucer, the parent bard of our land, and the brightest
ornament of Edward’s Court.

With Chaucer, we must necessarily, from the circum- —
stances we have stated, date the commencement of
modern poetry in Britain. It must, however, not be
neglected, that Chaucer had much to struggle with on
the score of language. The extirpation almost of Anglo-
Saxon, by William of Normandy, and the adoption, at all
events, in high places, of the Norman in its place, obliged
Chaucer to form, if not to create,a new language of his
own—a fact which must ever be borne in mind, when we,
at this lapse of centuries, study the writings of ition our
earliest poet.

That Chaucer was not only a deep thinker, but a ‘deep .

Rise and Progress of Englsh Poetry. 295

student too, and one who enriched much that is beautiful
in itself, is evident to every reflecting mind.

In endeavouring to trace the first source from which our
modern poetry sprang, and to show that it was in some
degree influenced by the reflective grandeur of the Italian
school, which awakened such beauty in our own bard, that
much of the current of Chaucer’s mind was fed by the poets
- of Italy. We need only take, by way of comparison, the
lines, inhis ‘Knight’s Tale, descriptive of the deathof Arcite,
with the style displayed by Petrarch in that very beautiful
passage on the death of Laura. Again, he is undoubtedly
indebted to the Decameron of Boccaccio, for the concep-
tion of his picture in the Canterbury Pilgrims, in which
much of the coarseness of the one is equally conspicuous
in the other. The personages here delineated—such as
the Lawyer, the Doctor, the Gap-Toothed Wife of Bath,
even at this lapse of time, all identify themselves.

Time forbids us to enter fully into any appreciation of
Chaucer's merits. We will, therefore, press forward on our
onward course, by remarking that, although Lydgate,
Surrey, Sackville, Wyatt, and a host of others, succeeded,
and were contemporaneous with Chaucer, none approached
his merits till about a century afterwards, and thus we
merge, by no imperceptible means, into the Elizabethan
period. Here we are called upon to mention Edmond
Spencer, who, at the time, was Secretary to Lord Gray, the
then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and during his avoca-
tions there—like many men in position in modern times—
devoted his leisure time to literature, and prompted him to
give to the world his Faery Queen—one of the most mag-
nificently allegorical poems genius ever produced. How
beautiful soever this poem may be, it cannot help being
a matter of profound regret, that Spencer had not the
policy, forethought, and determination, to sink allegory in
personification. Unlike Virgil, the sublimest poet, and in-
disputably the greatest flatterer of antiquity, whose popu-
larity may, and most probably did, spring from the fact of
his using real instead of allegorical personages, as the
burthen of his muse,—Spencer, on the contrary, preferred
the latter, a fact which more than any other, has tended to
consign to neglect, one of the sublimest efforts genius ever
achieved. The Elizabethan period of English literature
had this advantage overantecedent ones: Our Anglo-Saxon
language was becoming more fixed: Elizabeth herself, a
great patroness of literature in general, but of poetry in

Bb 2

206 Affinity and Heat.

particular, was surrounded in her Court by those whose
ideas assimilated with her own, or by those exampled by
them. Spencer, indisputably a courtier in himself, had
abundant opportunity of heaping that flattery of which,
perhaps, his Royal Mistress was probably too susceptible.
He, like many men, lost his chance of success, and unlike
Virgil, preferred allegory to personification. Still, how-
ever, the Faery Queen, long after its popularity, from inci-
dental circumstances, ceased to excite, has long remained
to be the admiration of subsequent ages. It is unfortunate
for his posterity, that the fire which took place in his resi-
dence, and deprived him of the love of his only child, de-
prived the literary world, too, of six of the original twelve
books he wrote. As an instance of the progress and
refinement of style, we refer our readers to the poem in
question, especially to the stanzas commencing with the
lines :-—
“‘ And is there power in Heaven,

That doth compassion on our evils move.”
concluding with the well-known quotation of—

“‘ All for love, and nothing for reward.”

(To be continued.)

AFFINITY AND HEAT.

BY H. ST. CLAIRE DEVILLE.

Translated from the First Chapter of a Series of Lectures on
“ Dissociation,’ published in the Lecons de Chimie.

LL the labours, all the tendencies of modern science,
lead to the identification of the forces which come into
play in the physical and chemical phenomena of nature ;
all the numerical determinations which have been obtained,
tend to establish their equivalence in the most rigorous’
manner. Affinity and cohesion cannot escape their identi-
fication, and already the mechanical theory encloses them
within the circle of reasonings which must soon dispel,
whatever vague and mysterious notions may still be
connected with them. as
It cannot be concealed that the study of primary causes,
in the phenomena which we observe and measure, prevents
in itself a serious danger. Inthe absence of any precise

Affinity and Heat. 297

and independent definition of special facts, the considera-
tion of primary causes leads us, oftener than we suppose,
into really begging the question, and contenting ourselves
with specious explanations which cannot stand a severe
criticism. Affinity especially, defined as the force which
determines chemical combinations, has been for some time,
and still is, an occult cause, a sort of archée to which are
referred all facts which are not understood, and which
thenceforth are considered to be explained, whereas they
are only classed, and often badly classed. Thus to the
catalytic force are attributed a host of phenomena which
are very obscure, and will remain so, I imagine, if they are
teferred in the lump to an entirely unknown cause. It
was certainly supposed that they belonged to the same
category when the name was given to them. But the legi-
timacy of this classification even, has not been demonstrated.
What can be more arbitrary than to class together the
catalytic phenomena which depend on the action or on the
presence of spongy platinum, or of concentrated sulphuric
acid, when the platinum and the acid, so to say, take a part
in the action? These phenomena may, perhaps, be here-
after explained in an essentially different manner, accord-
ing as they have been produced under the influence of an
eminently porous substance like spongy platinum, or under
the influence of a very energetic chemical agent like sul-
phuric acid. |

Hence, in our investigations we must omit all those un-
known forces to which recourse has been had only because
their effects have not been measured. On the other hand,
all our attention ought to be fixed on the observation and
numerical determination of these effects, which alone are
within our reach. By this work their differences and ana-
logies are established, and new light results from these
comparisons and these measurements.

Thus, heat and affinity are constantly concerned in our
chemical theories. Affinity eludes us entirely; yet we
attribute to it the combination which is the effect of the
unknown cause. Let us then investigate merely the
physical circumstances which accompany combination, and
we shall see how many curious approximations, how many
measurable phenomena, present themselves to us at every
moment. Heat, they say, destroys affinity; let us, then,
persistently investigate the decomposition of bodies under
the influence of heat, estimated in quantity or work, in
temperature or vzs viva, we shall at once see how fruitful

298 Affinity and Fleat.

is this study, and how independent of hypothesis, of any
unknown force, unknown even, from the point of view, of
the kind of unit to which its exact or approximate mea-
sure is to be referred. Itis in this case especially that
affinity, regarded as a force, is an unknown cause, at least
when it is not merely the expression of a quality of matter ;
in this case, it should merely serve to designate the fact
that such and such substances can or cannot combine under
certain well-defined conditions.

One point is very urgent—that is, to define combination
itself. Seeking attentively the state of our knowledge in
this respect, I find, in the first place, that the definition of
combination must comprehend solution, and can only ex-
clude mixture. In fact, the phenomena of solution and of
combination are joined by a continuous chain, which it is
impossible to break at any one point. Everyone knows
that interminable discussions have been raised on this sub-
ject—-for instance ; in respect to metallic alloys and their
liquation ; in reference to salts, acids, energetic bases, and
their action upon water, alcohol, &c. The most certain
conclusion which can be drawn is, that there are all possible
intermediate stages between the phenomena of combination
and the best-characterised phenomena of solution.

In endeavouring to formulate in the clearest manner
the ideas now current on combination, I find it cannot be
better defined than by the fact of change of state. When
two substances put in presence change condition, they com-
bine. This change of condition, defined in the ordinary
manner, shows itself by some new property, whether
physical or chemical, which discloses new qualities of the
combined substances—qualities, whether physical or che-
mical, which distinguish the combination from simple
mixture. I will give an example.

The question has been asked, Is air a mixture or a com-
bination? How has this question been solved? The
physical and chemical properties of the elements of air
(oxygen and nitrogen), and of air itself, have been suc-
cessively studied. They have been found to be identically
the same, always equal in the case of air to the mean of.
these properties, determined upon each element simply.
Hence, it has been concluded that nitrogen and oxygen,
coming into contact under ordinary atmospheric conditions,
exert no appreciable action on one another ; that, therefore,
the condition of the gas has undergone no change; that, in ©
short, air is a mixture, and not a combination, of nitrogen
and oxygen. ~

Affinity and Heat. 299

“It must be observed, that recourse has always been had
successively to the physical properties of air to solve so
important a question. _ Biot went so far even as to adduce
the equality between the refractive indices of air, and of
the mean of the indices of oxygen and of nitrogen, as a
proof in favour of the opinion now generally admitted.
If, in fact, there had been found in a constant manner a
measurable physical property, different in air and in a
mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, the conclusion would
have been immediately drawn, that air was a combination.
There would have been a change of condition, owing to
the mixture of the two gases, and the beautiful verification
of Lavoisier would have been invalidated in an irrefutable
manner. Theargument drawn from the proportions of the
two gases, oxygen and nitrogen, which are not in atonic
proportion in the air, is without value. One of the two
elements might simply have been in excess over a combi-
nation of the twoothers. There would have been mixture
and combination, and, therefore, change of state for one
portion of the air alone, which is not the case.

Combination being thus characterised by change of state,
and, therefore, well defined, what is the particular form of
combination which merits more especially the name of
solution? I say especially; for it’ would be impossible to
say now whether water and sulphuric acid, acetic acid,
chloride of calcium, and many other bodies, are combined
with, or merely dissolved in one another. But there is a
fundamental difference between the effects produced when
potash is thrown into sulphuric acid, and the effect ob-
served when common salt is placed in water.

In both cases the change of state is manifest; but when
sulphate of potash has been obtained after the combination
of sulphuric acid and of potash, new chemical properties
have become strikingly evident. It is, in fact, by these
chemical properties that change of state is most clearly
manifested at the time of energetic combination. In the
second place, when the so/ution of common salt in water is
affected, the chemical properties of the elements in presence
remain virtually unchanged. First,a true fusion of the salt
is noticed, which assumes the liquid state—a change of

_ physical condition, accompanied most frequently by an
absorption and disappearance of heat—then variation in
the density, or phenomena of contraction, alteration in the
volume of the elements, which, again, is a change of
physical properties, which essentially characterises true
solution.

300. Affinity and Fleat,

Yet an exclusive value must not be given to these
differences, in the chemical properties to designate a com-.
bination in the physical properties to designate a solution.
We all know from the beautiful experiments of Henry Rose,
that very weak solutions of the alkaline carbonates of borax
have reactions differing essentially from those which their
concentrated solution present. This remark is sufficient
once more to show that the phenomena due to changes
of state, cannot be ranged in two distinct categories, com-
bination and solution. I shall recur to this once more, in
reference to diffusion, or the indefinite extension of matter
in menstrua.

What I have said, enables me to use the two words
—combination and solution—in a perfectly definite sense,
without the risk of considering them to express an un-
known cause, and characterizing them simply by the
effects which are manifested in our daily chemical opera- —
tions. I hope, therefore, to be logical, in the following
-reasonings :—

When two gases are mixed, which spread uniformly into -
one another, can the phenomena of what is called their -
diffusion be compared to the solution of two liquids in one -
another? I donot think so. _ )

Suppose we place together bisulphide of carbon and
white phosphorus, at a temperature convenient for the
melting of the phosphorus, oil and sulphuric ether,
chloride of calcium dissolved, acetic acid and water. We |
might obtain very decided changes of physical condition, »
characterized principally by an elevation or depression of
temperature, and by a change of density: in a word, the
physical properties of these solutions might vary without
the chemical propeities being sensibly modified.

Is this the same with gases? Experiment shows us,
first of all, that gases frequently combine without apparent
absorption, or disengagement of heat (oxide of carbon and .
chlorine, chlorine and hydrogen in diffused light). But
whenever this disengagement of heat can be confirmed,
the chemical properties have been profoundly changed.
Moreover, Gay Lussac’s law proves that gases which con-
tract in combining, do not change in volume in the same -
way as liquids which dissolve. The volume of the com-
bination is always a simple fraction, and. often a very small ~
one, of the volume of the elements of this combination,
Thus, contraction, when it exists, not merely characterizes .
the combination of the eases, but always the composition
to be deduced therefrom. ¢

A fiinity and Freat. 301-

Nothing of the same kind can be remarked in the-solu-
tion of liquid, where the contractions follow no simple law,
and do not enable us to foresee any change in the chemical
properties of the elements which interpenetrate by solu-
tion. Further, the thermal phenomena, which may be
' manifested at the moment in which the liquids interpene-
trate, do not necessarily imply change of their chemical
properties.

Observing that the physical and chemical properties of |
bodies cannot be separated in a more absolute manner
than can the phenomena of combination and of solution,
we conclude, first, that the diffusion of gases is essentially
different from the solution of liquids, and therefore, that
whenever, from the mixture of two gases, there results a
calorific phenomenon, there is a change of condition, and,
therefore combination.

The phenomena observed on the contact of liquids and
solids which mutually dissolve each other is far more com- -
plex, and deserve a special analysis.

In attacking this question experimentally, a large num-
ber of the physical properties of bodies must be known, and
therefore, be determined whenever they are unknown.
Hence, all the complications which would be a source of —
trouble in calculating the effect observed (for instance, the |
latent heat of the fusion of solids) must be removed at the
outset in this investigation. Hence, my researches have
hitherto been limited to the determination of the calorific
phenomena manifested on the contact of liquids which
combine or dissolve and produce a liquid. |

In general, two bodies which dissolve, contract, I shall
begin by defining what I call heat of contraction, either in
the particular case of liquids, or in the general case. OTR

Suppose we take a body whose weight is.unity, knowing °
the law of its expansion as a function of the temperature,
we can calculate the temperature at which this body would
lose a given fraction of its volume; and knowing the specific
heat of this body within the limits of experiment, we can —
calculate the heat of contraction corresponding to the dimi-
nution of volume. Hence we can obtain the quantity of
heat necessary for a given variation of the density. That
will be the heat of contraction.

Suppose we take water and sulphuric acid at O? super-
posed in a spherical flask provided with a perfectly cylin-
drical narrow neck; suppose that the two surfaces of
contact are separated by an obstacle easy to break—such,

302 Affinity and Heat.

for instance, as a spider's web; and suppose, further, that
the vessel is athermanous, and can neither be heated nor
cooled—in other words, that its specific heat is zero.

The level of the upper of the two liquids being at A,
they are mixed in an infinitely short time, and in a
complete manner. Heat at once manifests itself, and
assumes a maximum value, which is indicated by a ther-
mometer (whose weight can be neglected) placed in the
interior of the liquid; this temperature will be the degrees.

At the same moment, the temperature being supposed
to be equal and invariable, the liquid will sink in the narrow
neck to the level B. Finally, cooling the acid to its
original temperature of OY, its volume will again diminish
until the surface is level with the point C. The volume of
the cylindrical space AC, divided by the original volume
of the elements (water and acid), which I shall call V,
will represent the contraction. Calling v the volume of
the acid after mixture we shall have for this contraction
the value—

I~.

What I call heat of contraction is the quantity of heat
necessary to restore the volume of the mixture wv to the
volume V. Knowing the co-efficient of expansion & of
the liquid from O2 to a temperature a little higher than @,
the specific heat ¢ of the liquid being supposed constant
between the same temperatures and 7 its weight, we shall
have for the heat of contraction lig the value—

The temperature 6, at which the mixture resumes its
volume, being —

y Dime

I have determined, by methods which I cannot describe
here, the heats of contraction of a great number of liquids
resulting from the combination or the solution of two
elements, also liquid, such as sulphuric acid and water in
very variable atomic proportions, sulphuric acid and soda
of various degrees of dilution, water and alcohol, water and
acetic-acid, water and formic ‘acid, varying the proportions,
which are always atomic, in a greatinumber of modes.
The following is the result of my experiments :—

1. When two. liquids combine or dissolve, and give. aris

Printing of Woven Fabrics. 303

product which is also liquid, the highest temperature
resulting from the mixture is generally smaller than the
temperature @ which contraction could give if the liquid
disengaged all the heat corresponding to this contraction.

2. Hence the quantity of heat disengaged in these kinds
of combinations or solutions is always less than the heat of
contraction.

It follows that, in all the cases which I adduce, the mere
phenomenon of contraction is sufficient to explain the
development of heat in chemical combinations. Hence
part of the heat which contraction disengages becomes
latent in the new compound, and then plays an important
part, which I shall afterwards point out.

This quantity of heat, which is latent, or lost to the
thermometer, may be expressed by a very simple fraction
of the heat of contraction, if one assume that the specific
heat is invariable between the temperature O and @, which
is never the case unless @ is NERY small. Onthis hypothesis
it becomes

ti
1 ge

Considering one and the same liquid, we may, in conse-
quence of the errors introduced by delicate and numerous
determinations, suppose the temperatures to be proportional
to the vres vive, or to the square of the velocities in the
molecules, the movement of which produces heat. The
number 7 represents, then, the fraction of this ws wva
which has not been expended at the moment of. the
combination or of the solution. It is, if we like, the
fraction of the heat of contraction which has remained
latent in the product of reaction, and 7 is positive.

(To be continued.)

PRINTING OF WOVEN FABRICS.

OPULAR apprehension usually confines the applica-
tion of the “art preservative” to the multiplication of
books, newspapers, or other periodicals, and the permanence
of ideas which, spoken only, would be evanescent and die
with their originator or his contemporaries. But, although
the preservation of ideas belongs mainly to that adaptation

304 Printing of Woven Fabrics,

of printing which gives to writing its lease of life, by inde-
finite multiplication of copies, an idea may be as surely pro-
tected, if it appeals to the fancy and innate love of beauty,
as though it confined its appeal to the intellect exclusively.

Printing is truly the “art of arts.” It reproduces indefi-

nitely the theories, ideas, and practical facts of thinkers
and workers, and it as well subserves the purposes of him
whose object is to appeal to the fancies and tastes of all
classes. The production of figures on cloths is as really
printing as the preservation of ideas by means of the letter
type. The decoration of plain cloths with figures is one of
the oldest of arts. It was practised by the ancients, and
the Chinese and Aztecs were in possession of the art when
they became first known to Europeans. To this day the
Chinese use the same method in printing cloths that they
do in printing books. In the latter case we have improved
upon their process in using movable types, instead of en-
graving on and printing from the blocks—we using in our
stereotype process the movable types to produce the block,
whereas they engrave the block itself. In the former case it
is but a few years since machine printing took the place of
hand block printing in figuring calicoes.
- This method of producing coloured figures on cloth by
means of printing should not be confounded with dyeing,
although by a previous protection of those portions of the
fabric not intended to be coloured, dyeing has been em-
ployed to make figured cloths. — Printing deposits the
colours directly upon the cloth, which are secured there by
mordants. This art, brought from the East, founds its way
into England about the year 1676. We will briefly describe
the process formerly used.

“Block printing” of calicoes was comparatively < a simple
process. The web of white cloth was sent to the printing
shop, either in a bleached state, or dyed some colour which
formed the ground. Previous to being submitted to the
manipulations of the printer it was “calendered,” or pressed
between heavy rollers, which gave it a perfect surface. It
was then ready for the printer. He worked at a table,
wide enough to accommodate the fabric, and six or seven
feet long. The roll of plain cloth lay at one end of the
table on a platform, and was drawn up over the table,
which was of stone, and covered with a thick felt blanket.
Behind him was a tub, some thirty or thirty-six inches
diameter ; partially filled with a mixture of common pitch,
and a vehicle which held it in solution. - Floating on a sur-

Printing of Woven Fabrics . 305

face of this yielding mass was a piece of woollen cloth
stretched tightly over a hoop. A pot of the requisite colour
stood at the side, and the attendant, or “tearer,’ as he
was called, with a flat brush smeared the hooped woollen
sieve with the colour. The printer was furnished with a
“block,” corresponding in length and width with the
pattern to be printed, the face of which was cut in relief, as
are the blocks used now in printing wood-cuts. By dipping
lightly the block in the sieve, floating on the yielding
surface, it took up enough of the colour to make an impres-
sion on the cloth. The cloth being drawn tightly over the
table, presented a smooth surface, upon which, by repeated
applications of the block, its pattern was produced and re-
produced indefinitely, the “ tearer”” smearing the sieve with
fresh colour in each interval. The printer was guided in
placing his block by a minute pin insertedat a corner of his
block. The cloth on the surface of the table being printed,
it was wound up over rollers traversing the room on racks,
so that when it came back by the series of rollers to the
end of the table, it was wound perfectly dry upon a shaft,
from which it was taken to be “ lived” or “raised.” |

This is, in brief, the modus operandi of block printing in
its simplest form. It will be seen that several applications
of the block were required to cover one single transverse
section of the fabric, and many repeated applications to
print a full web of thirty or forty yards in length. Some-
times the ground itself was applied by blocks. In such a.
case, the figure was first printed with the block cut in re-
lief, and then the fabric was reprinted with a block cut in
intaglio, the figure being sunk into its surface, and the sur-
face itself being faced with woollen or felt, to convey a large
portion of the colouring matter. Another style was that of
printing several colours or shades at once by means of an
apparatus which fed different colours at the same time.
Technically this was termed a “ hokey- pokey” tub. The
deposition of the colours, held in reservoirs, was effected by
the pressure of the block, in dipping, acting upon com-.
pressed air.

This block printing is still employed in the printing of
silk handkerchiefs, each one of which is a single pattern,
and largely in the printing of floor and table oilcloths. In
the latter case the colouring matter is not a dye but a paint,
and i is deposited mainly on the surface of the fabric. _

~ Machine printing by means of engraved copper rollers,
has now taken the place of block printing.. When machine

306 Correspondence.

printing was first practised in England and France, the ©
colours used were not deemed “fast,” and much prejudice was
excited against the product of the new process. Hand-
printed calicoes were eagerly sought after, and as the pro-
cess of hand-printing could not be so accurate as that done
by machinery, those who studied economy rather than show,
sought eagerly, in their selection of calicoes, for evidences
of faults, to make sure that they were getting the genuine
article. The shrewd suppliers of our markets abroad soon
ascertained the fact, and sent to this country imperfectly-
printed goods, printed by machinery, to suit the queerly
fastidious tastes of the purchasers in the American market.
Labour-saving machinery, however, ultimately triumphed
over old and slow processes, and the days of block-printing
were numbered.—Paper-Trade Review.

CORRESPONDENCE.

E are indebted to a subscriber to our journal for the

following remarks on the article (which appeared

in our last month’s impression), “Beet sugar and Cane

sugar,” reproduced from “ Travers’s Circular.” (Ed. TECH-
NOLOGIST.) |

To the Editor of the TECHNOLOGIST.

Sir,—I am surprised to see you have printed in the pages
of the TECHNOLOGISTanarticle on “Beet and Cane sugar,”
from, as is stated “ Travers’s Circular,” the same being full
of mistatements.

1. The condition of the weather in the tropics canzof be
counted upon with certainty.—Rain to wit. |

2. The crop of Beet Root sugar was much larger last
year in France than it is this.

3. The refuse of the cane is zo¢ full of sacchaaie matter.

4. The refuse of the cane zs #zade useful; it boils and
- evaporates, the juice and the ash is applied as manure.

5. The Beet root will xot grow and thrive from John
o’Groat’s house to the Land’s End.

6. The scale of duties was zo¢ meant to protect certain
Colonies.

7. The scale of duties had ot the effect of lowering the

Correspondence, 307

standard of sugar making all through the tropics. The
West India Islands, Barbadoes, Cuba, Port Rico, St. Croix
and the Colony of Demarara have produced better sugar
than usual this year.

8. The yield from a given quantity of Beet-root is much
less this year than it was last, that was quite an exceptional

ear.
e g. White sugar, fit to eat, cannot be made from Beet-root
in one operation, in France as cheaply-as brown. Beet-root
sugar is only consumed in France as loaf sugar, which is
more expensive to make than brown.

As an original subscriber, I send you these observations,
for I am sorry to see anything in your pages likely to mis
lead the public.
ze I am Sir, Your Obedient Servant,

THOMAS D. HILL. ©
Union Club, 121 Piccadilly.

ON THE DYNAMICAL THEORY OF
EBLEGERICITY.
To the Editor of the TECHNOLOGIST.

S1rR,—I have lately been led, in relation to a new edition
of my “Elements of Natural Philosophy,” now in the
_ Press, to reconsider the whole question of electricity, and
I have become strongly impressed with the reality of the
dynamic theory, I have hence naturally been induced to
look about for confirmatory facts; and a strong and (to
the best of my knowledge and belief) a new fact has
presented itself to me. It has long been known that if a
bar of antimony and one of bismuth be connected, and a
current be transmitted from antimony to bismuth, heat
will be developed at the point of junction; and, on the
contrary, if the current pass from bismuth to antimony,
cold will be produced. Now. it struck me that if in the
former, as in all cases in which heat is developed in the
passage of a current, a portion of electric potential is (as I
believe) converted into ¢hermic potential, or heat, there
ought in the latter case to be an inductive conversion of
thermic into electric potential ; and if so, there should be
a /oss of current in the first instance, and a gazz in the
second, and such appears to be the fact.

On duly balancing thermo-element above-mentioned in

308 Miscellanvous.

a Wheatstone’s bridge, the deflection of the needle followed
the direction of the current, and the anticipated loss or
gain of current was fully realised. If you can find room
for this. in the TECHNOLOGIST, you will greatly oblige,
Yours, &c,
CHARLES BROOKE. .
16 Fitzroy Square, W. ‘

REVIEW.

Notice sur les Collections Scientifiques, et sur le Musée
‘Commercial-Ludustriel, Gand-Belgique. Impremerie et
lithographie, C. Annost Braeckman. 1866.

WE have before us, a well-printed and handsomely-illus-
trated pamphlet, compiled by Professor Bernardin, of the
well-known J/atson de Melle, of Gand. We can confi-
dently recommend this little work to all visitors of that
town, as a carefully-written, and intelligible guide to the
Museum. Among the many interesting and curious anti-
quities to be found at the “ Musée Commercial-Industriel,”
we must call attention to the following, which will be found
under the third section of Professor Bernardin’s Cata-
logue :—“ Fragment de pouter en cédre, découvert lors des
excavations faites par M. Layard a Ninéve. Phylactére
Juif: Fragment de Mosaique de Pompei.”

MISCELLANEOUS.

PHOTOGRAPHIC POSITIVE PAPER.—Among the various
contrivances which are daily contributed towards the im-
provement of this art there is a kind of positive paper,
invented by Mr. A. Taylor. Instead of albumenising or
salting it by means of the usual preparations, says the Szar,
he coats his new paper witha solution of white lac in
water, impregnated with borax. Thus prepared, the sheet
is sensitised and printed in exactly the same way as com-

Miscellaneous. 309

mon albumenised paper. The photograph obtained is
reddish, and would assume a disagreeable chocolate colour
if it were merely fixed with hyposulphite of soda ; but this
drawback may be avoided by toning ina gold bath. If
the print be first dipped into a bath of sulphocyanide of
ammonium, and then definitively fixed ina bath of hypo-
sulphite of soda, it will first become yellow in the former
substance, and then change to bistre in the latter. The lac
may also be dissolved in a watery solution of phosphate of
soda. The paper thus prepared and sensitised in the usual
Way prints exceedingly well; its colour is black or sepia, and
does not change materially when fixed with hyposulphite. If
the white lac be dissolved in a mixture of phosphate and
borate of soda, the paper coated with it will assume very
agreeable tints varying between red and black; and these
tints may be graduated at pleasure by varying the pro-
portions of the two salts, . The paper prepared with
phosphate of soda is best adapted for hard and powerful
prints; that with borate, on the contrary, should be pre-
ferred for delicate and light photographs. If the sheets
prepared as stated be sensitised with nitrate, then dried,
and afterwards once more dipped into the white lac solu-
tion, their sensitiveness will not only not be diminished,
but materially increased.

DALMATIAN WiNES.—The best wine of Dalmatia is the renowned
Malmsey. It is said to be from the same grape as Madeira, and
resembles that wine, but is not equal to fine old Madeira. It has
suffered more than any other grape from the disease, and is the
only species of vine that has not recovered as the other have
done during the last three years, after the previous ten years
malady. New Malmsey has not been in the market since 1853.
The Plarka is from a Burgundian grape, and produces an alcoho-
lic wine resembling port. An English traveller, a good judge, last
year told me that he considered this wine equal to a higher quality
of port. The other wines noted in this province are the Tartaro
of Lebenico, a strong red wine. There are also sweet wines, such
as the Vugara of Bruzza, but with the saccharine quality much too
prominent for English tastes ; and without the pulpy fruit-conserve
flavour of Malaga, Menee, and Cyprus. The preliminary culture
of the vine in Dalmatia evidences both labour and skill, but, with
regard to the ordinary vines, not included in the above specifica-
tion, the subsequent manipulation of the juice of the grape in all ©
the stages of wine making, is very rude and unscientific, and out
- of all proportion to the labour, and even skill bestowed on the
cuiture of the vine. ‘The red wines are generally made too soon,
rom fear of the peasants stealing the grapes ; hence the necessity

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. eq

310 Miscellaneous.

of a wine police; as in the Rhine districts. There ought to be a
selection at the precise moment for wine making on chemical
principles ; that few Dalmatian wines keep well, or stand a sea
voyage is owing to a slight amount of acidity in the first stage of
wine-making. From an improper exposure to the air there is
occasionally the flat disagreeable flavour, known by the sardonic
expression of ‘mouse closet bouquet.” There is also a want of
proper cellarage in Dalmatia, the soil being subject to earthquakes ;
subterranean vaults are acted on by the internal heat, and do
little to produce coolness, except at the bottom of steep hills
facing the north, so as to be at least protected from the external
heat of the sun. Venice used formerly to be the chief market for
Dalmatian wines, but the railway by Conegliano Pordenore, the
Tagliamento, and the Friuli having opened the market of Venice
to wines superior to the majority of those of Dalmatia, the latter
have lost much of the Venice market. The Dalmatian vintage of
1865 was copious and excellent, but the wine of Venetia appears
to have been equally abundant, for, during the winter, several
cargoes were returned from Venice to Spulato by the consignees,
in consequence of purchasers not having been found at the lo west
prices fixed on.

NOTES ON ORANGE-TREE PLAGUES rN. THE AZORES.—The
Coccus Hesperidum, of which mention has been made
as one of the afflicttons from which the orange trees have
suffered seriously, is an insect well known to English exotic
gardeners as attacking the orange trees in greenhouses, &c. It
is one of the forty-three species of the genus coccus (order hemif-
tera), and is commonly known as the greenhouse bug. It is oval,
oblong, brownish in colour, and covered with a sort of exuding
varnish. ‘The male coccus of this species is a minute fly. The
female having no wings when young, runs over the trees, and,
finally, settles upon some leaf, where she deposits and hatches an
infinity of eggs and then perishes. The more distinguished species
of this genus is that which feeds chiefly upon the cactus opuntia,
which is therefore denominated the coccus cacti, and the origin of
which has been traced to South America. This species is the
valuable (though no less destructive) cochineal insect of commerce.
Frequent manipulation and treatment with any pungent insoluble
powders (not injurious to vegetation), such as peppers, raw sul-
phur, &-c., are amongst the best of corrective appliances as against
the orange-tree coccus. The lagrimais one of those maladies
which commonly result in all organic bodies as the effect of ex-
haustion, and is probably due in these islands to the unchecked
depredations of the coccus. It is a degenerated form of orange
dew, otherwise known as orange manna.

BOOKS RECEIVED.
Hardwicke’s Science Gossip, for December.
The Artizan for December.

THE

SewCOHNOLOGIS

——_0——_-

FEBRUARY, 1867.

——_0--—

ZEEE NET Y «AND 2H BoA,

BY H. ST. CLAIRE DEVILLE.

Translated from the First Chapter of a Sertes of Lectures on
“ Dissociation,’ published in the “ Lecons de Chimte.”

(Concluded from our last.)

N the experiments I have terminated, I have only found
one single exception; and that is in the case of the
formation of sulphate of soda by means of two dilute
solutions, one of sulphuric acid, and the other of caustic
soda. Sulphate of soda expands at the moment of its
formation, and ¢ is greater than 0, so that 7 becomes nega-
tive, which is a nice point to explain. But the study of
the phenoniena of saturation in these solutions will, I hope,
enable me to explain this abnormal phenomenon, like the
contraction of water by heat, or the expansion of bismuth
at the moment of its solidification, &c.*

The contraction observed on mixing with water mono-
hydrated acetic acid or saline solutions is considerable,
and the cooling of the combination or solution very note-
worthy, as had already been observed by Rudberg, if I am
not mistaken. In that case, ¢ becomes negative; and 7 is
greater than unity. Thus at the moment of the reaction,

* Since writing these lines, M. J. Regnauld has made observa-
tions on the subject which lead to a system of explanation far
superior to my own.—‘“‘ Journal de Pharmacie,” 4 sér., vol. 1,
p- 401. 7

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. DD

312 Affinity and Fleat.

the product at first renders latent all the heat of contrac-
tion, which is very great, and then some sensible heat,
taken from itself and from the adjacent bodies. MM.
Bussy and Buignet have recently observed the same fact
and others of the same kind, especially in the mixture of
hydrocyanic acid and water.

It is very probable that the preceding considerations
would apply to solid bodies, if we knew their latent heat of
fusion, to calculate formule which give the heat of con-
traction.

When a solid dissolves in water, it first absorbs the
quantity of heat necessary to melt it, then a certain
quantity of heat which increases with the proportion of
the solvent, and which corresponds to the extension of the
body dissolved in its menstruum. These facts, which are
of great importance, were determined in the most vigorous
manner by M. Person, and deduced from observations made
more especially on nitrate of potash. To these thermal
units, expended in the work of solution, must be added the
heat of contraction absorbed and determined by the
methods I have described.

Thus, the more a soluble substance is diffused in its
solvent, the more heat it has absorbed, which it has
borrowed either at the contraction (which appeared indefi-
nite) in the act of solution, or from the adjacent bodies when
there is cooling during solution and extension. Thus,
though I use an expression paradoxical in form, it may be
affirmed that every body which cools while it undergoes
molecular modification, is really heated by borrowing heat
from the adjacent bodies, and from itself first of all. The
latent heat which it possesses is increased to the extent of
all the heat which has disappeared either by the fact of
spontaneous cooling or by diminution of the heat of con-
traction. It is, in fact,so much heat lost, and therefore
changed into motion of the molecules, or, if we like, into
affinity, if we thus designate the force which produces this
motion.

All this heat, lost apparently, will reappear completely -
when the solution is made to undergo the phenomenon,
the inverse of extension—that is to say, concentration.
Hence, in the cycle comprehending the solution of a salt
at the ordinary temperature and its crystallisation by
spontaneous evaporation (supposing the salt to be an-
hydrous like nitrate of potash), all the quantities of heat
borrowed from without, and from the contraction during

Affinity and Fleat. 313

the period of solution and extension, will reappear and be
given out during concentration and crystallisation. Hence,
it might be said that these solutions contain (and that will
only be true potentially) all the heat which water and the
salt have absorbed during the development of the pheno-
menon.

Thus, a body which cools spontaneously does really be-
come heated by all the latent heat which its molecules fix ;
and it may be conceived that in an almost indefinite state
of extension it might even be decomposed by the heat
which it has absorbed at each addition of the solvent. In
this manner is to be explained the decomposition by diffu-
sion produced by Mr. Graham, and which serves as the
basis of his admirable method of dialysis.

If you put bisulphate of potash in the internal diffusion-
vessel (two cylindrical concentric vessels, Graham’s first
apparatus), you know that the illustrious physicist shows you
sulphuric acid separating from neutral sulphate of potash
and passing into the external vessel.

Then we have a true decomposition which is necessarily
accompanied by the absorption of a certain quantity of
heat. Let us inquire to what itis due. If we add sul-
phuric acid to sulphate of potash, both in dilute solution,
the liquid will become heated; but the quantity of heat
thus produced will always be less than the heat of contrac-
tion, calculated in the manner I have shown. In fact, there
will be a transformation of the heat which should have
become sensible during the contraction, into latent heat;
and when this has become considerable enough, decompo-
sition by diffusion will take place.

In order that the inverse of the original effect may take
place, the combination which is destroyed must take up
the quantity of heat which became sensible at the time it
was effected. It is the latent heat, stored up during solu-
tion which furnishes it; but it is inadequate for completely
producing this effect, and thus the phenomenon is only
partial, as Mr. Graham has well observed.

The phenomena of decomposition by diffusion take
place therefore in a continuous manner, like the decompo-
sition of gases by heat, and all that I am about to say re-
specting dissociation and its tension (which might here be
replaced by the ratios of weights) is absolutely applicable
to them. Whether diffusion takes place in two concentric
vessels as I have supposed, or in Graham’s new membrane
apparatus, the process is the same.

Dy be2

314 Affinity and Fleat.

Suppose that a body with little stability—such as hydro-
chlorate of alumina—a body which is reduced to its ele-
ments by the least heat, be introduced into the dialyzer,
above the membrane or parchment-paper which serves as
a filter with very close meshes. Below this filter is water,
which I assume to be constantly pure.

The hydrochlorate of alumina absorbs the more heat
the greater the quantity of water in which it is dissolved,
so that at a given moment it may be supposed to contain
so much heat that if this heat became sensible and were
applied to its elements, they would at once separate. At
this moment hydrochloric acid becomes free, and hydrated
alumina separates in particles extremely divided, which
occupy all the liquid in which the separation is effected.
Hence it ought to have all the properties of a dissolved
substance. It will soon be seen that these properties are
only apparent. |

That is what takes place in the dialyzer ; moreover the
hydrochloric acid passes through the filter, and alumina
remains on the surface in the state of apparent solution, or
in the colloidal state, to use the expression which Mr. Gra-
ham has adopted. Yet .in practice this reaction does not
take place exactly in this manner. |

We may suppose the permeable membrane divided into
two horizontal layers,—one the higher layer, where the
hydrochlorate of alumina penetrates (this has little thick-
ness), the other the lower layer, where water alone pene-
trates. It is clear that in an apparatus of this kind the
solution of hydrochlorate of alumina will very soon find a
layer near the surface where the water, which is renewed —
with rapidity, will be in considerable proportion as com-
pared with hydrochlorate. In this layer the decomposition
of the salt will then take place by indefinite diffusion (con-
sequently by the effect of heat), the hydrated alumina will
remain in the state of colloidal particles on the upper sur-
face, and the hydrochloric acid will be carried away by the
water. The colloidal layer thus produced will itself become
a true filter, and the phenomena of decomposition may go
on in its interior.

Yet decomposition by diffusion cannot be complete; for
it varies with the ratio of the quantity of water put in con-
tact with hydrochlorate of alumina, and with the quantity
of hydrochloric acid which this water contains. In other
words, the quantity of water separated by diffusion will be
the smaller the more this water is charged with hydro-

Affinity and Fleat. 245

chloric acid (this acid arising from a portion of hydro-
chlorate already decomposed). Everything takes place as
if the heat necessary for entirely decomposing hydrochlo-
rate of alumina could never be entirely equal to that which
extension furnishes to its molecules, within the limits of our
experiments.

Thus the phenomenon of dialysis is never complete; a
little hydrochlorate of alumina always passes through the
membrane, and the colloids cannot be separated in an abso-
lute manner by means of diffusion.

This principle has numerous applications. If we admit
generally that all solutions are cooled on being diluted—as
is shown by a great number of experiments—if, moreover,
we assume, as my experiments seem to show, that in every
change of state, accompanying solution there is a loss of
vis viva, and. hence a concentration of latent heat in the
substances dissolved, and in their menstrua, we can under-
stand a great number of phenomena, the explanation of
which escapes us, and bring them within the class of known
phenomena.

Thus, the sap of trees is, so to say, pure water at the
moment it begins to move, and contributes to the increase
of the plant. It is a solution so diluted with carbonic acid
and organic or mineral substances drawn from the seed or
from the soil, that its molecules may be considered abso-
lutely free, or separated by the latent heat which is there
accumulated. When this solution reaches the parenchyma
of the leaves, where both its concentration and its altera-
_ tion on contact with the elements of the air take place, it
may be said that all molecular equilibria are successively
possible; and if circulation raises them to concentration or
to combination at a given moment, all the elements of car-
bonic acid, of water, and of the mineral principles which
the sap contains, may group themselves according to a
formula determined previously by the rapidity of the circu-
lation, the nature of the leaves, and the physical circum-
stances necessary for the life of the plant. In this manner
we can probably account for the diversity which the act of
vegetation imprints on the nature of the products it forms
with the elements of water, of carbonie acid, of ammonia,
and of some minerals. |

It is also in the heat stored up by solution that we must
seek the principal element of the decomposition by vege-
tables of carbonic acid into carbon and oxygen—a pheno-
menon regarding which we must confess our total ignorance,

316 Affinity and Feat.

A most remarkable experiment which M. Berthelot has
made, by placing together carbonic oxide, water, and
potash, belongs to actions of this kind.

Carbonic oxide dissolves in potash, and absorbs during
its extension in the liquid, a certain number of thermal
units beyond that which the loss of wis viva by contrac-
tion doubtless allows it to retain at the moment of its
liquefaction. This solution, which takes place in very small
quantity at a time, owing to the slight solubility of the gas,
is really a considerable extension, which, thanks to disso-
ciation by diffusion, gives to the molecules of carbonic
oxide the heat necessary for entering into direct combina-
tion with the elements of potash. In this reaction (it is,
moreover effected with the slowness which characterises
all operations where solution is necessary when the solu-
bility is small) the heat is fixed which formic acid needs for
its existence. It is the origin of this heat taken from the
solution by a combination effected between bodies in the
nascent state, and which will be disengaged in the form of
sensible heat when formic acid is decomposed by spongy
platinum, as has been done by Berthelot, or when formic
acid is burned, as was done by Favre and Silbermann some
time ago.

Combination is almost always produced by the destruc-
tion of motion, sometimes by the transformation of heat
into motion. In the first case there is a disengagement of
heat, in the second a cooling or absorption of heat. In
the second category are to be included all those bodies
which I have proposed to call explosive—that is, which
render into insensible heat the motion they have acquired
in absorbing latent heat. Formic acid, a great number of
organic compounds, as well as the explosive compounds of
nitrogen, are in the latter category; and these are rarely
produced by the direct union of the elements but are ob-
tained by the interchange of their elements in the body of
more or less dilute solutions. It is assumed that then the
molecules are in contact in the nascent state. Here we
must be on our guard; this term still includes the idea of
an occult cause. It must be employed with extreme re-
serve and by it must be understood a system of circum-
stances in which the molecules may change their state of
equilibrium by finding about them latent heat or in
general, the causes of motion necessary for producing and
exciting this change of state. The origin of the expres-
sion which renders this idea, implies an hypothesis which

Affinity and Fleat. aa

may give rise to a vicious circle in the minds of young
chemists or of persons who have not maturely reflected on
these definitions.

It is seen from the explanations I have given, that a
more or less dilute solution really contains a certain
quantity of heat, arising either from gain by contraction
or by cooling by expansion. Hence most of the combina-
tions which are due to the nascent state ought to take
place in solutions, especially those which take place under
cooling, those which give explosive substances.

From what has been adduced in this chapter, it will be
seen how great in their origin are the differences between
the calorific effects produced when gases combine with each
other and the calorific effects developed by the combina-
tion or solution of liquids with each other. In the latter
case, the heat of contraction has almost always been suffi-
cient and more than sufficient to account for all. As to
gases, this heat of contraction which may be calculated by
formule given above, is always very small as compared
with the heat disengaged during combination ; it may in-
deed be zero, as in the case of hydrogen and chlorine and
indeed, whenever gases combine in equal volumes, and
hence without condensation. Therefore we must admit
that gases contain of themselves and in the latent state,
the principle of motion or of heat which is manifested at
the moment of combination.

Lavoisier considered oxygen to be composed ofa cer-
tain unknown radical and of this principle which he
materialized under the name caloric. This point of view
I shall develope in a following chapter. |

In direct combinations, the motion is destroyed and con-
verted into heat. Just asa finite velocity can only be im-
parted to a body in a finite time, or combination will always
require for its production a greater or less time, but always
a definite one.

On the phenomena of indirect combination (or that pro-
duced by the nascent state) require (1), a volution; (2), an
absorption of heat, or a cooling. The time necessary for
their development will be greater, (1) as the solubility of the
substances acting in the menstrua is smaller, (2) as the ©
absorption of heat is greater. .

The action of time need not be mysterious; we must
always either explain it simply or wait for facts to account
for it.

318

ON THE CAUSE OF EXPLOSIONS IN LAMPS*
BY JOHN ATTFIELD, PH.D., F.C.S.

Director of the Laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society of
Great Britain.

URING the last two months I have been investigating
the inflammable properties of mineral oils; at first,
for the scientific interest the subject presented, then by de-
sire of the Committee of the Petroleum Association of the
City of London, and recently in elucidating the cause ofan
explosion of a lamp, at a house of a gentleman in the coun-
try, Thomas Smith, Esq., the Croft, Sudbury. Iam now,
consequently, in a position to state the immediate cause of
explosions in lamps, to show how it is, that oils having dan-
gerous properties occur in trade, and to point to more than
one means whereby the use of mineral oils for illuminating
purposes may become as safe as that of the old, less valu-
able, vegetable oils.

The oil in a lamp passes up a wick by capillary attrac-
tion, comes in contact with the brasswork of the lamp in
the long slit or channel which holds the wick, and finally
burns at the top of the wick by help of a strong current of
air. The flame heats the brasswork in its vicinity, the heat
is conducted downward through the metal to the body of
the lamp, and thence to the oil, which after two or three
hours becomes considerably warmer than when the lamp
was first lit. Now mineral oils, when sufficiently heated,
emit vapour which form, with air, a dangerously explosive
mixture. The point to which any specimen of mineral oil
must be heated before it yields this mixture can be ascer-
tained readily and with perfect safety by the method pro-
posed inmy last paper “Onthe Igniting-point of Petroleum,”
namely, by half filling an ordinary chemist’s test-tube. 6 in.
long, and 14 in. broad, warming, and well stirring with a
naked thermometer until a small flame, frequently intro-
duced into the upper part of the tube, occasions an explo-
sive flash; the temperature indicated by the thermometer
at this moment is the point of danger. Tested in this way
the oil from Sudbury afforded inflammable vapour at 83
degrees. But, curiously enough, the temperature of the
bulk of the oil in the lamp that exploded never reached

* From the Pharmaceutical Journal, January, 1867.

On the Cause of Explosions in Lamps. 319

this point ; for besides the greater part of the two gallons
of oil, a portion of which was in the lamp at the time of ex-
plosion, the brasswork and fragments of the lamp had been
forwarded to me, and I was thus enabled, after fitting on
another glass body to experiment on what might be con-
sidered as the original lamp and original oil, and found by
actual observations with thermometers, introduced through
holes bored in the sides of the lamp, that the oil in the
interior rose no higher than 78 degrees, even after five hours
burning in an unusually warm room. On applying a light,
however, at this temperature, toan opening in the lamp, an
explosion ensued. In short, it was found that even when
the oil in the lower part of the body of the lamp was not
warmer than 65 degrees, a mixture of vapour and air had
formed in the upper part of the body, and exploded on a
flame being introduced. Here, then, was a sample of oil, a
portion of which had been the source of an explosion under
ordinary domestic circumstances, which emitted no in-
flammable vapour under 83 degrees, when tried outside the
lamp, and yet which inside the lamp gave, at 60 to 70 de-
grees, such a mixture of vapour and air that, should it catch
fire, would inevitably explode. The explanation of this state
of things was obvious. The oil, though at 75, 65, or even
colder, had, in its passage up the wick to pass through the
heated brasswork, the temperature of the gateway of which,
the temperature of that part presented to the interior of the
lamp, must have been high enough to cause the evolution
of vapour into the air in the upper part of the interior. This
temperature was taken by appropriate means and found to
be 108 degrees ; ina smaller lamp it was 105, and in other
experiments varied from 100 to IIo degrees during an
evening. The cause of the explosion was thus perfectly
clear. An oil giving inflammable vapour at 83 degrees, and
not apparently heated beyond 60 to 70 degrees, had actually
been exposed, in a most complete manner, to a temperature
of 108 degrees, resulting in the formation of an explosive
mixture, which accidently ignited on turning downthe wick.
Every person who had used this oil in a paraffin lamp of
the usual form had, so to speak, been burning his candle
over acharge of gunpowder, and were it not that the chances
of the explosive mixture becoming ignited were exceedingly
small, as will be presently shown, many explosions, before
that now recorded, must have attended the use of the oil.
So, then, an oil giving inflammable vapour below 110 de-
grees, and burnt in a lamp of ordinary construction, yields,

320 On the Cause of Explosions in Lamps.

sooner or later, a gaseous mixture which, should it catch
fire, will burst the lamp and scatter the oil, to the possible
injury of property and danger to life. Practically, I have
only obtained lamp-explosions with oils which give off
vapour below 100 degrees, when examined in the test-tube
in the manner above described. Unfortunately, fourteen
out of every fifteen specimens of “crystal oil,” “ photogen,”
“ American paraffin oil,’ and other varieties of petroleum
now sold for illuminating purposes, generate the explosive
mixture at temperatures much below 100 degrees, and
hence are dangerous. The same remark does not apply to
Young’s paraffin oil, but there is reason to fear that this
mineral oil is often diluted with dangerous American oils.
Other home-made mineral oils also vary in explosibility.

The explanation of the occurrence of dangerous mineral
oil in trade was fully traced out in my last paper; three
sentences, therefore, will be sufficient on this head. Crude
petroleum having been found to be inflammable at common
temperatures, an Act was passed in 1862, forbidding, except
by licence, the storing of petroleum and its products near a
dwelling-house or warehouse in larger quantities than forty
gallons, unless proof was forthcoming that it gave off no
“inflammable vapour at a temperature of less than one hun-
degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer.” Unfortunately, this
was taken to mean, and probably did mean, the petroleum
itself should not ignite under 100 degrees when heated by
a flame or a warer-bath in an open saucer or a small bowl,
—a most fallacious test, first, because the time employed
in the operation, the amount of stirring practised, the form
of the vessel, its arrangement over the source of heat, the
quantity of liquid used, and the distance of the test-flame
from the surface of the petroleum, all influenced the result
to the extent of causing two observations to vary from 4 to
40 degrees from each other; and, secondly, because the
experiment thus performed invariably gave the igniting-
point many degrees higher than the temperature at which
_inflammable vapour was evolved,—than the temperature,
therefore, at which the oil was dangerous. Shippers, mer-
chants, brokers, adopted this fallacious mode of testing;
oil changed ownership under a warrant that it would not
ignite under 100 degrees, not, however, without occasional
litigation caused by the uncertainty of the test, and hence
the market was and is supplied with oil which emits in-
flammable vapour in most cases below go and often below
80 degrees, }

On the Cause of Explosions in Lamps. 3,21

The remedy is plain. Let those who sell and those who
buy discountenance the sale and use of those qualities of
mineral oil which generate inflammable vapour at tempera-
tures below 100 (better 110) degrees, when examined in a
test-tube ina manner already indicated. Such tubes may
be purchased for a few pence of any chemical apparatus
maker, naked thermometers can be obtained at the same
places, or these articles, together with an instrument for
ascertaining the power of the oil to ascend a wick, a spirit
lamp test-flame, jet, directions for use, &c., all enclosed in
a neat pocket case under the name of the Petroleometer,
are now kept in stock by Mr. Cassella, Hatton garden,
London. Oils which stand the test may be considered safe,
and such oils can be supplied by refiners as easily as
unsafe ones,—it is only a matter of carrying the refining
operation a little further. Indeed, safe oils are even now
occasionally met with. At a shop in Drury lane I pur-
chased petroleum at 4d. and at 44d. per pint; the former
yielded inflammable vapour at 86 degrees, and gave me an
explosion the first hour it was burnt in a lamp; the latter
only emitted vapour at 114 degrees, and gave no explosive
mixtureinalamp, even aftersevenhours’ burning. The use of
safe oils will be the chief means of avoiding explosions. But
the lamps themselves are not altogether faultless. The
air-hole which allows the air entering the lamp and taking
the place of escaping oil is usually within about half an inch
of the flame, it might very well be placed at some other part
of the lamp; for it is this aperture which forms the
touch hole by which fire is conveyed from the flame to the
explosive mixture within. Fortunately there is always a
strong draught of air in the opposite direction, so that the
chances are perhaps five hundred against, to one in favour
of the accident, even though an explosive mixture be con-
stantly in the reservoir. Were this not so, explosions with
the petroleum now in commerce would be the rule rather
than exception. Blowing down the chimney of a lamp
neutralizes this current, and doubtless increasesthe chances
of the flame reaching what I have already termed the touch-
hole. Then this channel of communication might be packed
with wires after the principle of the oxy-hydrogen safety jet.
Again, the portion of the brasswork facing the interior of
the lamp should be covered with bone, glass, or some other
material, having bad conducting powers for heat, so that
the gateway, as I have before called it, through which all
the oil has to pass in ascending from the reservoir to the

322 On the Cause of Explosions in Lamps.

flame shall be cool instead of hot. By these means, and
especially by demanding that all mineral oils shall comply
with the letter instead of what is said to be the spirit of the
Petroleum Act of 1862, explosions in lamps will seldom or
never be heard of.

A few words in conclusion. I have pointed out the cause
and the remedy. With whom will begin the adoption of the
- means of prevention of these explosions? It is useless to
say the refiner ought to do this; the refiner at New York
and Philadelphia satisfies the requirements of the shipper ;
the shipper sends whatever is wanted by the British mer-
chant; the merchant imports according to the demands of
the dealer; the dealer supplies the wants of the retailer;
and the retailer finds ready sale for any mineral oil that
will give a good light without smoke, and is cheap. Then
the adoption of preventive measures scarcely lies with the
public; for the consumer seldom knows anything about
thermometers, petroleometers, igniting-points and explod-
ing-points, and the only test I can suggest to him, by which
to assure himself that a given specimen of oil is, or is not
dangerous, is to unscrew the brasswork after the lamp has
been burning for an hour or two, and to introduce the flame
of a lucifer or thin splint of wood into the reservoir of the
lamp. A light blue flash of flame, visible within the aper-
ture, and scarcely audible explosion will result if the mix-
ture of air and vapour in the upper part of the reservoir is
inflammable. Such an experiment is as harmless as that
of lighting raisins soaked in brandy inthe game of Christ-
mas snap dragons. If the explosive mixture is met with,
the oil is dangerous, as the ignition of the mixture may
occur when the aperture is closed by the brasswork; in that
case the resulting flame and expanded products of combus-
tion, having no other vent, will escape by bursting the
reservoir, and scattering the oil, to the risk of a conflagra-
tion, if the oil catches light. If there is no explosive mix-
ture in the reservoir the oil is safe, and will even extinguish
the test-flame if the latter is plunged beneath the surface.
Experiments of this sort would, of course result in a demand
which, passing on from mouth to mouth, would at last pro-
duce the supply of safe oil from the refiner. But we must not
expect such tests to be performed to a commensurate extent
by the public. We must turn to the trade in this matter, and
look to them to adopt this experiment, in its, to them,
easier form of the test-tube and thermometer, already de-
scribed, and to regard no refined oil as marketable if it

Rise and Progress of Englsh Poetry. 322

gives off inflammable vapour, or, in other words, if it affords
an explosive mixture below 100 degrees Fahrenheit. But
with which of the above-named classes of the trade will
this reform begin? Who will find it to his interest to dis-
card his old standard of 100 degrees as the temperature
below which the oil itself should not ignite, and adopt in-
stead the higher standard just given? Perhaps the Com-
mittee of the Petroleum Association will bring about this
reform, and thus ensure safety to the public? If the trade
will not help the consumer, possibly the excise, the press,
or Parliament will take the matter up? If neither comes
to the rescue, we must put up with an occasional explosion
and its attendant fright, fire, or loss of life, or else leave off
burning these valuble oils altogether.

17 Bloomsbury Square, London.

THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF BRITISH
POETRY.

BY HUNTINGDON BOYLE, M.A.
(Continued from page 296.)

E now come to notice the productions of one of

whom it may with the utmost verity be remarked

that no event, perhaps, conspired to render the reign of
Elizabeth at once conspicuous, if not glorious in history, his
birth would alone have done so. The birth of Shakespere,
the immortal Swan of Avon, gavea literary lustre to this
period of our subject. He was truly Nature’s poet in no
small degree. No one we are convinced, probed deeper
into the hidden throes of human impulse than Shakespere
did. The versatility of whose genius, the depth of whose
observation are unparalleled; and whether we survey his dra-
matic productions by our quiet homes, our family hearths, or
see them surrounded byall the pomp and pageantry of scenic
effect upon the stage, they carry us back to the times of
which they treat, enabling us, as it were, to lift the veil o’er
antecedent ages, and leaving, not merely the imagination,
but the reality of the past before us. The influence of regal
patronage did much, the innate genius of the poet did
more to produce one, of all others, who looked while hold-

324 Kzse and Progress of Englsh Poetry.

ing the mirror up to Nature, looked through Nature, up to
Nature’s God. It is impossible to overrate his merits; of
all that has been said, of all that numberless panygerists
have written in praise of Shakespere, none have done ample
justice to the shrine of one who has left little room for
literary comment, or critical remark.

He,the starof the Elizabethan period shone amid the other
luminaries that surrounded him in the highest planesphere
of invention. The glorious works of one so extended as our
author’s, must necessarity entail both long and elaborate
disquisition to do them justice. This, however, cannot be
accomplished in the present article, the object of which
being rather to roam through the fields of poesy quickly,
to cull the beauty of several flowers, than dwell lenghthily
upon the fragrance of one. As an instance of the progress
of style, one or two quotations will sufficiently serve to
mark it. Nothing in metaphorical beauty can equal the
apostrophe to mercy, which Shakespere puts into the mouth
Portia, inthe “Merchant of Venice.”

“The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as ye gentle dew from Heaven
Upon the earth beneath. It is twice blessed ;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes ;
’Tis mightiest ’mid the mighty, and becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown ;
His sceptre shows the force of Temporal power,
The attribute of awe and majesty, wherein doth sit
The fear and dread of kings. But mercy
Is above that sceptered sway, it is enthroned
In the heart of kings. It is an attribute of God himself,
And earthly power dost then show likest gods,
When mercy seasons justice.”

The following quotation, however, will serve to illustrate
Shakespere’s insight into humannature, combining as it does
some of his finest simile, with that which cannot be failed to
be recognised by all Benedicts, as a piece of very safe ad-
vice, without being exactly sechnological, it is, at all events,
decided logical. At the risk, therefore, of offending the
fairer portion of our readers, we will impartially mention
that, in the 5th act of the “ Taming of the Shrew,” Katherine
thus teaches the duty of wives towards their husbands, in
the following words; graphic and full of force are they,
commencing thus :— : ;
“Fie fie; unknit that unkind threatening brow,

And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,

Rise and Progress of Englsh Poetry. 20%

To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor ;

One who for thy maintenance commits his body

To painful labour both by sea and land,

Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe.

He seeks no other tribute at thy hand, but love, fair looks,
And true obedience. Too little payment for so great a debt.
A woman moved is as a fountain troubled,

Muddy, ill seeming thick, bereft of beauty,

And when she is so, none so dry, or thirsty, will deign

To drink one drop of it.”

The quotation is so lengthy, and perhaps in feminine
ears too treasonable to give it zz ertenso. It concluded,
however, with a very fair argument.

‘Why are your bodies smooth, unapt to toil and trouble in the
world,
But that your fair condition, and your hearts,
Should well agree with your external parts.”

Bidding a hasty adieu to the Elizabethan period, with
barely space enough to glance at its brightest luminaries,
Spenser and Shakespere. It may, however, at this junc-
ture be worthy to note the cause which influenced, without
doubt, the poetry of the time. Religious and political ex-
citement will be seen in this, and as we proceed, in future
times, to influence poetic effect.

Happily for England, the bigotry and intolerance 6g Papal
sway which had, during the reign of Mary, cast its gloom
over the length and breadth of our land, was removed in
the present one. The arm of Omnipotence had struck the
rock which had so long o’ershadowed us, and the gleam of
truth burst forth with redoubled splendour in this auspicuous
era. It appeared as ifthe whole resources of our national
genius which had been so long hidden in obscurity, in the
antecedent, burst forth with redoubled splendour in the pre-
sent reign. Then was it too, that the Muse ever foremost in
the train of literary championship, blazoned forth Spenser as
a worthy successor of Chaucer, and pressing onward with re-
newed joy at the enlightenment of the period, boasted of
one unrivalled by any country in the known world. The
Elizabethan period then was undeniably owing for its ad-
vancement, to the freedom of religious and political opinion,
which marked this reign, which gave birth to new feelings
and conceptions, and new actions, not less in the political
and social hemisphere, than in the literary one.

(To be continued.)

326

PRACTICAL PAPER MAKING.
(Concluded from page 224.)

M CANSON’S METHOD OF SIZING IN THE PULP.—
« This process is no longer a secret, but is in the
hands of a great number of persons; nevertheless, as the
inventor has taken out a patent which insures hima mono-
poly, we think it right to notify to the reader that the follow-
ing description of the process does not give him the least
right to avail himself of it in practice, until the patent has
expired, without the formal and written consent of M.
Canson. ;

The inventor operates in this wise :—_A wax soap is pre-

pared, of which the following are the proportions: To one
litre (1°76 pts.) of a solution of caustic soda, marking five
degrees on Beaumé’s hydrometer, is added o'5 kilog. (1°10
lbs. avoird.) of white wax. and the mixture boiled till the
wax is completely dissolved. The liquid soap is then
poured into 30 or 40 litres (6°60 to 8°80 galls.) of boiling
water, and 3 kilog. (6°60 lbs.) of potato starch well mixed
- with water are at once added. The mixture is stirred till it
thickens and forms a paste, which, if kept in a cool place,
even in summer may be preserved for a fortnight without
spoiling.
_ In using this size it is poured into the rag-engine, con-
taining 30 kilog. (66°14 lbs.) of dry rag pulp mixed with the
quantity of water required by the quality of paper to be
made, and the composition is allowed to become well incor-
porated in the pulp. There are then added 300, 400, or 500,
grammes (0.66, 0.88, or 1.10 lbs.) of powdered alum dis-
solved in boiling water. After the cylinder has been
worked long enough to penetrate the pulp thoroughly with _
these ingredients, the ordinary operation of manufacture is
continued.

The inventor only makes use of this process for fine
papers, and especially those destined for writing purposes,
for common papers he suppresses the wax soap, and only
uses white soap and starch, though he still impregnates the
pulp with these substances in the rag-engine. .

In the beginning of the year 1827, M. Canson submitted
paper of his manufacture to the “ Societé d Encouragement,”
which referred the examination to its commission. M.
Merimée made his report on this subject at the meeting of
the rith of April, in which it was set forth that sizing in

Practical Paper Making. a7

the pulp had answered very well for writing papers; that the
cobalt blueing was very handsome, giving the same shade
upon both sides of the leaf, and that in this particular it
had surpassed the English; that the paper intended for
colouring presented irregularities in the sizing, so that
several sheets upon which M. Merimée had spread colours
were found to be very spotted. In the manufacture of this
kind of paper alone, MM. Canson are behind the Dutch or
_ the English.

COMPARISON OF THE Two METHODs.—We have given
with all necessary detail, the two methods of sizing in the
pulp, which are at the present time in competition. We
have reported, word for word, the opinion of a distinguished
manufacturer on the process recommended by the commis-
sion of the “ Société d’ Encouragement,” and the opinion of
this commission upon the specimens sent by MM. Canson.
The result of the comparison of these two methods is, that
they have both been entirely successful, with the exception
of a few defects in that of M. Canson, which will un-
doubtedly disappear with increased care in manipulating.

It, therefore, remains for the intelligent manufacturer to
choose the method, which experienee may prove to be the
most advantageous, under the double aspect of cost and
facility of operation

Ist. Under the head of cost, we refer to the purchase of
material. It cannot be denied that the wax employed by M.
Canson is very much more expensive than resin, and the
same holds good of potato starch as compared with glue,
obtained from the parings of saddlers, leather dressers, and
tanners. Potato starch is undoubtedly lower in price than
gelatinous size, and sizing with wax costs double what it
does to employ gelatine.
2nd. In regard to facility of operation, those necessi-
tated by the commission’s process are limited to mixing the
size with the pulp in the vat itself, and making the mixture
into paper at once ; whereas, to carry out M. Canson’s plan
the mixture is made in the rag-engine, and has then to be
transported to the vat before beginning the operation of
manufacturing the paper.

3rd. «And lastly, as to the right of putting one or the
other of these two methods into practice our choice cannot
be very doubtful. M. Canson required the payment of one
thousand francs (about 200 dols.) to allow a participation in
his patent rights ; whereas the “Société d’ Encouragement ”
has opened the important discovery of its commission to

WEW SERIES.——VOL. I. BR. E

328 Practical Paper Making.

the public, and every manufacturer is free to use it without
any compensation whatever.

DUSTERS.—The most simple apparatus consists of a _
truncated cone revolving upon the axis of the great circle
and upon two rollers running in a groove round the crown
of the small circle. This is covered with a-network of iron.
The inner sides are armed with iron teeth arranged in a
spiral, which force the rags out by the end opposite that of
entrance. This kind of duster will only answer for fine
clean and half clean rags.

To render the action of this instrument more energetic,
a tree is placed within, bearing iron spokes arranged in a
spiral. These spokes force the rags against the wire-netting,
which revolve in an opposite direction from that of the rota-
tion of the tree. This contrivance for dusting, of a conical
or cylindrical form, is preferable for foul and soiled rags,
hems, seams, &c. It naturally requires more power than
the first mentioned machine. When the duster is cylin-
drical, it is given an inclination of from 25° to 40°; anda
diameter of 0790 to 1:40 metres (2°95 to 3'60 ft.) by 4°50 to
5.0 metres (14°76 to 16°50 ft.) in length.

The wolf (loup briseur) serves to divide and clean the
wastings of flax, hemp, oakum, coarse rags containing straw,
or hemp and ropes. It is constructed upon the same prin-
ciple as the preceding apparatus, and offers a resistance
proportioned to the work it has to do. The iron axis
armed with spokes is alone movable, and the impurities fall
through an iron grating.

The loss of material caused by this engine is at times so
considerable that it has been discontinued in some paper
mills. It nevertheless facilitates the operation of boiling,
and various other manipulations by disintegrating the rag
filaments, and rendering them more susceptible to the ac-
tion of the lyes. These rags are softer and more easily re-
duced to pulp. The machine requires great power, which
many mills are not able to bestow.

Whatever may be the style of duster employed, it is in-
dispensible that it should be covered over with a close
wooden cage in order to retain the dust and other impuri-
ties which, mixed with the rag fibres, are called wastings of
the duster. It should be understood that as the quality of
these wastings varies with the nature of the rags, it is im-
portant not to dust on the same day rags that differ much
in quality, so that the refuse may be collected only once a

day.

s

Pine Apple. , 329

WASHING APPARATUS.—-To wash the rags before boil-
ing, we may use with advantage a large wooden vat analo-
gous to the bleaching cisterns, furnished with a washing
drum and a large sand trap. The light parts, such as
feathers, &c., are carried along witha current of water which
is poured out through a strainer covered with-wire gauze,
and placed at the upper part of the vat. The water, running
in at the lower part, produces by its pressure a constant
agitation of the rags in the liquid.

With asingle vat of this kind we can easily cleanse from
2,000 to 2,400 kilog. (1,968 to 2,362 tons) of rags in twenty-
four hours. 3

For the same purpose a sort of duster or washing drum
is used, revolving in a trough filled with water. In all cases
it is well to conduct all the water after washing, into cis-
terns where the filamentous parts which have been carried
off may be recovered.

In the United States thare are 750 paper mills in active
operation. They produce 270,000,000 pounds of paper
which, at an average of ten cents. per pound, would be
worth 27,000,000 dols. As it requires about a pound anda
half of rags to make one pound of paper, there are con-
sumed by these mills above 400,000,000 lbs. of rags in a
single year. If we estimate the rags to cost four cents. per
pound, there would be a profit of 11,000,000 dols. in this
branch of manufacturing.

Pine APPLE (ANANASSA SATIVA)

fc INE-APPLE, a penny a-slice!” is a sound familiar

to Cockney ears, whilst the variationindulged in by
the more learned itinerant vendor, of “Here’s yer fine
West Injun pines!” localises the product, and contributes
a trifle to street science. It must not be taken for granted,
however, that the West Indies is the only great centre of
pine-apple growth, or that “ Pine-apple Rum” is the dis-
tilled spirit from the juice of this fruit. That “ partickler
wanity” of Mr. Stiggins, as immortalized by “Boz,” does
not absorb our Christmas thoughts, and we have ever been
innocent of any hankerings after the “Genuine Pine-apple

EK. E 2

“Tee
7. =
« “

330 Pine Apple.
Rum.” If any sceptic should inquire at our office, he may
procure “Social Bees,” “Lissom Fingers,’ and such like
“Curiosities of Civilization,’ but as for the other article,
the only reply will be, “Werry sorry to say, sir, that they
don’t allow that partickler wanity to be sold in this here
establishment.”

That we may begin early in our history of this plant, we
quote from Father Kircher, as translated in 1669. “ They
have in China a tree called Kagzn, yielding fruit twice a
year, which, by inversion, thrusts forth the seeds or kernels,
the werts, or such excrescences, on the outside of the fruit,
and is in common to the East and West Indies, who call it
Ananas;, but the Chinese call it Fan-polo-mie; it groweth
in the provinces Quantung Kiangsi and Fokien, and is sup-
posed to have been brought from Peru; the tree on which it
eroweth is not a shrub, but an herb like unto Carduus ;
they call it Cartriofol1, on whose leaf a fruit groweth stick-
ing unto its stalk, of so pleasant and exquisite a taste, that
it may easily obtain the pre-eminency amongst the most
noble fruits of India and China; the spermatick faculty is
innate in all the parts thereof, for not only the seeds shed
on the ground, but its sprouts and leaves being planted,
produce the like fruits.”

Our opinion of pine-apple, whilst derived-only from an
experience of imported West Indian specimens, was by no
means so flattering as that of the learned Father. In fact,
it remains doubtful, though some may regard it as heresy,
whether, since we have deliberately tasted of fine varieties
ripened at home by experienced growers, that our opinion
is much altered for the better and in favour of the pine.
Our depraved tastes would lead us to pronounce in favour
of a rich mellow pear, or a dish of strawberrys and cream,
against a dozen pine-apples. But we are wandering again,
and who can blame us ?—even editors and authors are but
“men” at Christmas time, and cannot help thinking about
the good things which comfort the inner man, and forsak-
ing the “midnight oil” for—some other “partickler wanity.”

Before us lies a list of names by which the pine-apple is
known in about forty languages or dialects, and the root
of the majority of them is the original Scuth American
Nanas; from which the Tamul Azasa, and the Arabic
Anannas, as well as the generic Latin name, by which the
plant is known to botanists, is derived. There is but little
doubt that America was the original home of the pine-
apple, whence it became introduced into eastern and

Pine Apple. Beis:

southern Asia. How it got into Africa we do not pretend
to explain, nor would we like to assert that it is zo¢ known
anywhere on the habitable globe, wherever the temperature
is sufficient for its production.

When Oliver Cromwell ruled in these realms, a present
of pine-apples was one of the things which fell to his lot,
and this was probably the first introduction of the fruit into
England, although it was known on the Continent four
years previously. Four years afterwards and Evelyn
writes of its appearance on the royal table.

But the fruit, however much it may have been extolled,
is not the only good product of this plant. From the leaves
thereof is procured a fibrous material known and appre-
ciated by the barbarous hordes of Africa, and the semi-
civilized Malays. The celebrated pine-apple cloth of the
Philippines, resembling the finest muslin, is woven with the
delicate fibres of the uncultivated pine-apple plant. This
- muslin is embroidered by the nuns of the convents of
Manilla with excellent skill and taste, so that the “ Pina”
muslin of the Philippines has become a celebrated article
of manufacture. Mr. Bennett has observed in his “Wan-
derings,” that one of the coarser fibres may be subdivided
into filaments of such fineness us to be barely perceptible,
and yet sufficiently strong for textile purposes.

The Malays use the fibre of the pine-apple to manu-
facture their fishing nets, and so plentiful is the plant in
many parts of India and the East, that it forms immense
thickets; and Dr. Helfer says that the fruit is so abundant
in the Tenasserim provinces that it is soldin Amherst Town ~
during June and July at the rate of two shillings for a boat
load. What an inducement for the rapturous devourers of
pine-apples! Should a Tenasserim Pine-apple Emigration
Company (Limited), become one of the projects for 1867,
we shall not permit the fact to be forgotten, that its sugges- |
tion originated with ourselves and the New Year.— Sczence
Gossip.

DIATOMS.
BY ANDREW WAINE.

ANY persons have heard of these beautiful objects

and those who possess a microscope have no doubt

often wished to have specimens to examine ; and the object

of this paper is to tell them when, where, and how to collect
and mount them in the most advantageous manner.

The Diatomacee (for that is the name-of the group I in-
tend to describe) may be collected always, as some one of
the many varieties may be found in almost any pond or
brook; but the most beautiful are found in the mouths of
tidal rivers, or in fossil deposits.

A diatom is characterized by having a flinty case or shell,
beautifully marked with lines, or rows of dots; but these
are often so fine and close together that they cannot be
distinguished, except with a well-constructed instrument
and high powers (a 4-inch objective will do for most), and
this has led to the employment of some of these as test-
objects—that is to say, that if one glass will define the
markings better than another it is considered more fit for
scientific purposes ; and so great is the difference between
the size and distance apart of the markings, that some may
be used as tests for the low powers, while others can only
be used for the highest.

Many of these beautiful forms can be found living in the
Thames, and other rivers on our own coasts. In the months
of April, May, September, October, and November, they
will be found in the greatest abundance and variety; the
salt marshes on the banks of most of the rivers will also
well repay the trouble of searching for them. |

Supposing the reader to be in London, and wishes to
collect these interesting objects for himself, I should advise
him to goto Southend (which may be reached by the
Tilbury and Southend line, starting from Fenchurch street
station), which is as good a place as any other for the pur-
pose of collecting the objects under discussion; the mode
of doing which is to gather the seaweeds at low tide, taking
care to take as little sand with them as possible, and at
once put them into a bottle of sea-water, if it is desired to
examine the living forms in their natural position on the
weed. But, if their flinty cases are wanted to exhibit the
markings, the weeds may be put, dry, into a bag; and, on
reaching home, they are to be plunged into a jar of fresh

LDiatoms. 333

water for half an hour, which will kill the animalcule at-
tached; and when the weeds are rubbed and stirred about
in the water, they come off and form a cloud of muddiness,
which is to be allowed to settle, and the water then poured
off and the sediment transferred to an oil flask (which has
been well cleaned), and boiled with nitric acid over a candle
or gas jet. After the first portion of the acid ceases to act,
the flask, with its contents, must be set aside till the liquid
is perfectly clear, when it is to be poured off, and fresh acid
added. This is to be continued as long as the acid exerts
any action, and the sediment is perfectly white, when it is
to be washed with water until the liquid is no longer acid.
In this sediment, when examined by the microscope,
may be found the 77zceratium favus, which is one of the
largest of the Diatomacez, and is about the 1-16oth of
an inch.in diameter, It is in the form of an equilateral
triangle, with slightly curved sides. At each corner is a
projecting spine or hook, and round the base of each there
isa tow of round dots; and the rest of the surface is
covered with large and regular hexagonal markings, resem-
bling, in the closest manner, the formation of honey-comb.
If you wish to mount it, when found, you must pick it out
from among the grains of sand and other impurities by the
help of a stout hair from a shaving brush, or a cat’s
whisker stuck in a split at the end of a slender wooden
handle, such as a paint-brush handle, and place it in the
centre of a glass slide. A drop of Canada balsam is then
to be added, and the slide warmed till the balsam becomes
rather hard. On cooling, all the air-bubbles should be
broken by the point of a needle, and then the thin glass
cover is to be put on, taking care to have the object as
nearly in the centre as possible, and not to press so hard
as to break it. Objects mounted in this way, under small
round pieces of thin glass, on plain ground edged slides,
look very neat; and all the rest of the things described in
this paper may be mounted in the same way, though more
than one specimen may be mounted at once. Suwurzrella
constricta, which resembles a lady’s needle-case, may also
be found. It has strongly-marked ribs running from the
outside edge towards the centre, where a clear space may
be observed. Surirella plicata has no resemblance to the
last; but strongly resembles a lemon in outline, as does
also another object (of which I never found but one), but
which is covered with minute dots instead of being marked
with faint lines. A small, but beautiful variety of the

334 Diatoms.

Coscinodiscus, which is a round shell resembling a thick
shilling, closely covered with dots on both sides, is worth
mounting, when found ; but, being extremely brittle, great
care must be used. The Gramataphora serpentina is found
in great numbers, and is like a card case, with four curved
lines running from opposite ends towards the centre. Dif-
ferent kinds of avicu/e, or little ships, are to be found by
careful examination; and they are very amusing when
alive, for they run about and bump up against one another,
then draw back after a time and swim away in the opposite
direction. A few specimens of Pleurosigma hippocampus
(Sea-horse), and some other varieties of these most beau-
tiful objects, which are at once recognized by their form,
which is that of Hogarth’s lines of beauty of different cur-
vature joining at their ends, and having another which runs
between them and expands in the centre, and at each end
into round dots or spaces (which some say are openings;
others, only a thickening of the central rib; but I am in-
clined to believe the latter, from the manner in which the
valve is broken on being pressed ; for the crack does not
run across the dots, as it would do if they were openings,
but round them, proving them to be stronger there than
elsewhere). And all the rest of the surface is covered with
rows of minute dots, arranged in regular rows, but so hne
that, except with the very highest powers, nothing can be
seen but longitudinal and transverse lines; and a 4-inch
that will show even these may be considered very good.

Pinnularia dactylus is like Surirella constricta, only much
smaller and expanded instead of contracted in the centre.
The Gallonela sulcata is a beautiful object, and resembles
highly-carved ivory bones stuck end to end, so as some-
times to form a filament appearing as much as three inches
in length, when viewed under a good } inch power. Sym-
phonema geminatum, which may be compared to a number
of joined fans attached to a branched stalk by the end held
in the hand; and Acnanthes longipes, which is a bundle of
oblong boxes joined together and connected by a long ge-
latinous stalk to the weed, complete the list of those from
Southend which I have found; but I have no doubt that a
much greater variety would be obtained if the weeds were
collected at the proper time,

A great number of the most beautiful forms are contained
in fossil earth, which may be obtained from dealers in
minerals. Those of Bermuda, Oran in Algeria, and Rich-
mond, U.S., are the most important, and contain the

Diatoms. 335

ereatest variety. Bermuda earth contains one most beau-
tiful object, the Heliopelta (sun-shield), of which a tolerable
notion may be got by cutting an orange in half transversely.
Then every alternate triangle you must suppose to be
marked with a different pattern—one being covered with
large and regular round markings; and the next, which ap-
pears to be on a different level, to be marked with smaller
and less distinct, but nevertheless, very beautiful markings.
The ribs which divide the triangles from one another, dilate
at their extremities, forming in the centre a clear space
corresponding to the central pith in the orange, and at the
ends next the margin expand and gradually melt into the
rim or border, which is thickly set round with transparent
spikes of different lengths. The earth from Richmond
affords many beautiful specimens, especially of the genus
Navicula.

Guano, the dry excrement of sea-fowls, is very rich in
objects. One, the Avachnotdiscus, is like a small and _ per-
fect spider's web (whence its name), with all the colours of
the rainbow condensed init. A large variety, or indeed
two or three varieties, of the Coscinodiscus are present in
considerable numbers; and the Zygoceros rhombus is a
miniature shepherd’s purse, such as is found on the sea-
shore, only covered with dots. The Actenocyclus is the
same kind of thing as the He/zopelta, only without the mar-
ginal spines. The earth of Oran contains the same Dia-
toms as guano. The guano* and the earths mentioned
are to be prepared in the same way as the sediment from
the weeds from Southend, only they should be well washed
in water first (the guano more especially). The modus
operandi is to shake up the earth or guano with water inan
oil flask, and then allow it to settle: this is to be repeated
until the water is no longer coloured. It is then to be
treated as before directed. Most writers recommend the
use of hydrochloric acid first, and secondly, nitric acid,
when the former ceases to act. With large quantities this
_ would be more economical ; but it necessitates the purchase
of a second stoppered bottle.

The reader exclaims, “Well! Now I have found these
things, what are they?” The writer answers, ¢hatz is a sub-
ject of dispute, some claiming them for the animal world
and others for the vegetable. The chief argument for their
belonging to the animal kingdom, is their voluntary motion ;

* The guano can be had for 4d. the lb. at Butler’s, in Covent Garden.

336 On the Lgniting Point of Petroleum.

but that is possessed by undoubted plants, so chat is not
conclusive. On the other hand, it is asserted that they
resemble plants in decomposing carbonic acid and libera-
ting oxygen, whilst animals do the contrary. This to me
seems to settle the question, but everyone had better judge
for himself. Again, the reader may say, “ You tell me of
things that are covered with round dots, what are those
dots ? raised knobs, little pits, or only surface markings?”
This, too, like most things connected with them, is a bone
of contention. Some will have it that they are prominences,
others depressions ; but my impression is, that it is some-
times one, and sometimes the other; for some break in such
a manner as to lead to the idea of their being indentations,
whilst others break in the contrary direction. And if you
happen to get some of them on their edges and look along
their surfaces, some exhibit spikes, others not; and the
mode in which shadows fall when they are viewed by
oblique light leads now to one and then to the other con-
clusion.

Finally, I may state that the reason I have made so
many comparisons is, that the reader may recognize the
forms when found.—Jézd.

ON THE IGNITING-POINT OF PETROLEUM.

BY JOHN ATTFIELD, PH.D., F.C.S.

Director of the Laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society of
Great Britain.

t is now well known that Petroleum, as it issues from
the earth, and as met with in commerce in the crude
state, emits a vapour of powerful odour, which is inflam- .
mable, and which, consequently, when mingled with air
in certain proportions, forms an explosive mixture. The
combustible properties of this vapour closely resemble
those of common coal gas. As with coal-gas, so with petro-
leum vapour,—a small quantity in a large quantity of air
gives odour tothe air but does not form an explosive mix- .
ture. Again, coal-gas, as supplied to the consumer, always
contains a small percentage of air, and yet the mixture is
not explosive, so petroleum vapour, even though containing

On the Igniting Point of Petroleum. KY,

a small quantity of air, burns very well at a jet (so long as
the petroleum which supplies the vapour is kept boiling),
but the vapour itself is not explosive. In short, petroleum
itself, or petroleum-vapour itself, is no more inflammable
than common air; it is the #zxrture of petroleum-vapour
and air that is dangerous. It is almost as easy to show
that a jet of air will burn in an atmosphere of petroleum-
vapour as it is to show that a jet of petroleum-vapour will
burn in an atmosphere of air.

Now crude petroleum generally gives off, at common
temperatures, quite enough vapour to form an explosive
mixture with air, if the air be in a confined space, as in a
partially empty lamp, bottle, or cask. For this, among
other reasons, crude petroleum is always refined before it is
sold to the general public; it is distilled, and the portion
which first rises into vapour is collected apart, and, under
the name of petroleum-spirit, used as a substitute for tur-
pentine, The next, and larger portion which distils is the
refined petroleum, so extensively sold under various names
as a cheap illuminating oil. The residue is heavy oil used
for lubricating purposes.

Refined petroleum still has the characteristic odour of
petroleum. Even at the coldest temperature it emits suf-
ficient vapour to be most obviously perceptible to the nose,
but not sufficient to form with the air in the vicinity of the
oil an explosive mixture. But as we rise to the warmth of
summer, or of a hot room, or the still higher temperature in
the neighbourhood of a lighted lamp, a point may bereached
at which the oil emits vapour at such a rate that before it
can diffuse away into the air of the apartment, explosive
proportions are arrived at, and on a flame being brought
into contact with the mixture, explosion results. Now this
point, the point to which the petroleum must be raised in
temperature before this vapour isemitted sufficiently rapidly
to form an explosive mixture with the air in the vicinity,
will of course vary according to the quality of the petro-
leum, will vary with the proportion of “ spirit” removed by
the refiner. If enough has been boiled off, the oil is per-
fectly safe; but, unfortunately, it is not to the interest of
all parties to remove the spirit, hence much of the petro-
leum sold in retail shops is dangerous to use. Should a
- lamp fed with it become a little warmer than usual, an ex-
plosive mixture forms in the chamber of the lamp, and any
flame brought accidentally or thoughtlessly into contact
_ with the mixture gives rise to explosion. Hence the Legis-

338 On the Leniting Point of Petroleum.

lature of this country has wisely ordered) 25 & 26 Vict. cap.
66) that large quantities of crude petroleum shall not be
stored within fifty yards of a dwelling house or warehouse
except under license ; and the Act states that “ Petroleum
shall include any product thereof that gives off an inflam-
mable vapour at a temperature of less than one hundred
degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer.” That is to say, re-
fined petroleum, such as is commonly vended in retail shops
as “ Crystal Oil,” “ Photogen,” “ American Paraffin Oil,” &c.,
&c., for illuminating purposes, must not be kept in or near
a house in larger quantities than forty gallons, unless proof
is forthcoming that it does not give off inflammable
vapour below 100° F. If it will stand this test, then the
liquid is not petroleum within the meaning of the Act, and
the owner of it runs no risk. I have purposely characterized
this Act as wisely framed, because some have questioned
the wisdom of placing restrictions on the sale of petroleum
and its products, (refined petroleum and petroleum spirit),
while naphtha, spirituous liquors, knives, razors, and still
more dangerous things, are freely bought and sold without
any such restriction. It must be remembered, however,
_ that the danger attending the use of these things is well
known, and therefore always guarded against, whereas not
only was petroleum a new article to the public, the dangers
attending the use had to be learned, but, worse still, it was
introduced as a lamp-oz/,—an article of unknown and dan-
gerous properties was called by the name of an article of
known and safe properties. Petroleum, infinitely less dan-
gerous in itself, became, by the false colours under which it
sailed, far more dangerous than gunpowder; that is to say,
there was far greater chance of accidents occurring by it
than by gunpowder. I say that, under these circumstances,
restrictions on its sale were wisely made, and will be wisely
retained until the character of petroleum is thoroughly well
recognised.

The Act having been passed, and having come into opera-
tion (Oct. 1, 1862), merchants, brokers, and other dealers in
large quantities of petroleum, became commendably anxious
to buy and sell only that quality of refined article which
should give off no inflammable vapour at temperature below
100° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. But, unfortunately, an
egregiously wrong method of determining this point crept
into the trade. To ascertain the quality, it was, and still is,
usual to pour a little of the liquid into a saucer, small bowl,
or other similar vessel, to apply heat by a lamp, by partially

On the Leniting Point of Petroleum. 339

immersing the saucer in hot water, or otherwise, stiring the
liquid with a thermometer, and applying a lighted match
fromtime to time during the gradual rising of temperature
until the oil caught light. The degree at which this oc-
curred was said to be the igniting-point of the petreloum.
But disputes as to the igniting-point soon occurred. Care-
ful observers frequently noticed that several degrees before
the petroleum finally ignited, a thinblue flame would seem
to shoot from the lighted match to the surface of the liquid,
or, as one experimentalist described it, “ the petroleum
would appear to ignite and go out again,” and some would
give this as the igniting point. Other observers not noticing
this flame, or not operating under the circumstances causing
it, found the igniting-point to be much higher. But ig-
niting points were observed and stated which could not be
accounted for by this cause of difference. Hence disputes,
and hence arbitrations, which sometimes made the matter
worse instead of better. Hence, too, which is the most
serious part of the matter, much, if not most of the petro-
leum sent up to the present time into retail commerce in
the refinal state for use by the public gives off inflammable
vapour many degrees below 100° F., and is unquestionably
very dangerous. Slowly, and apparently carefully warmed
in the manner alrcady stated, the petroleum does not fully
ignite perhaps till 100° F. is reached, and the merchant or
broker is satisfied, yet, as I shall presently show, inflamma-
ble vapour is evolved at perhaps 80° or 85°, and should the
inflammation of this vapour cause the fracture ofa lamp, or
otherwise scatter the petroleum, danger to life and property
ensues.

The above is only a fair picture of the state of the petro-
leum trade at the present time. My object in writing this
paper isto show why the igniting-point of petroleum is
liable to variation, and also to suggest a modification of the
usual method by which that igniting-point shall be deter-
mined with accuracy and constancy of results. And in
speaking of igniting-point, I shall henceforward always
mean temperature to which the petroleum must be raised
before its vapour becomes inflammable. This is the point
referred to in the Petroleum Act, and this is the point at
which petroleum becomes dangerous. As already indicated
the igniting-point of petroleum itself may be several and
often many (sometimes thirty orforty) degrees higherthanthe
igniting-point of the inflammable mixture of vapour and air
on its surface, and the petroleum does not catch fire for the

340 On the Leniting Point of Petroleum.

same reason, doubtless, that gun-cotton may be ignited on
a heap of gunpowder without setting fire to the latter; the
heat evolved is intense enough, but the explosion occurs too
quickly for the subjacent material to be ignited. Neither
the petroleum nor the gunpowder, however, is any the less
dangerous on that account; for, should the ignition of the
mixture of petroleum-vapour and air cause an explosion so
slight as only to force up a little of the petroleum into a fine
splash of spray, ignition of the petroleum will inevitably
ensue, as in Z#at condition petroleum is inflammable even
at very cold temperatures.

But to proceed to show why a given specimen of petro-
leum may be observed to ignite at various temperatures.

The zzme employed in the operation of taking the ig-
niting point of petroleum as usually performed, is the first
cause of variation to whichI shall allude. About two ounces
of a specimen of petroleum marked “Ladoga;’ was placed in
a small dish or capsule about five inches wide and one inch
deep, and veryslowly warmed by a gas-lamp, a small flame
being passed near the surface of the liquid every quarter or
half minute. The liquid was stirred with the bulbed end
of a thermometer, the temperature rising at the rate of
about a degree per minute. In this way the experiment
was carried on until at 124°, as marked on the stem of the
thermometer, the petroleum-vapour ignited, and the liquid
also ignited at the same instant. A similar experiment
was performed on a fresh specimen of the same oil, except
that the temperature was quickly raised; ignition of the
vapour took place at 95°, and the oil itself took fire at 111°.
It would seem that the highly volatile portion of the petro-
leum, the portion which forms inflammable vapour, soon
escapes when the oil is heated in an open vessel, leaving a
liquid less inflammable than before. We know from the
researches of Ronalds, Schorlemmer, Pelouze, Cahours and
others, that petroleum, utterly unlike sperm, colza, olive,
and the other old burning oils, is a mixture of a large num-
ber of liquids of different degrees of volatility, and, indeed,
containing bodies which when isolated are permanent
gases, hence the above result might have been expected

The rate of escape of vapour from the oil and from the
operating vessel is another cause of variation in the igniting-
point. Some of the same “Ladoga” oil was treated as
already described, except that it was heated somewhat
quickly, and was only stirred just before taking a reading
of temperature. This time ignition occurred at 98°.

Ox the Igniting Point of Petroleum, 341

‘Stirring, as is well known, promotes the escape of vapour
from a liquid, and in this case also by causing eddies and
currents of air, promotes its escape from the surface of the
liquid.

"The form of the vessel in which the petroleum is heated,
by accelerating or retarding the escape of vapour, also
causes variation in the igniting-point. Some “ Ladoga”
oil was heated gradually but quickly in a wide mouthed
bottle; the mixture of petroleum-vapour and air thus
formed in the upper part of the bottle gave indications: of
ignition at 92°, and fairly burnt at 94°, several degrees be-
low the igniting-point in an open vessel.

The arrangement of the vessel over the source of heat of
course influences the result. Ifa dish, &c., be so placed
that its upper walls, not covered by the liquid, be-
come much hotter than the lower portions, then the
petroleum stirred up on to the hot part is quickly con-
verted into vapour and ignites, while perhaps the liquid
itself is comparatively cool. This is simply bad manipula-
tion, and any one making an error of this kind should not
be trusted with the performance of such experiments.
Making the experiment in a deep glass beaker, or wide-
mouthed glass bottle, and frequently introducing a large test
flame, that the upper part of the vessel becomes full of the
products of combustion to the exclusion of much ofthe air,
would, of course, be equally bad manipulation. It is, per-
haps, unnecessary to allude to these causes of variation,
but that many of those to whom these remarks are addressed
deal much in petroleum, but have no knowledge of practi-
cal chemistry. The usefulness, therefore, of the observa-
tions must be the excuse if they are trite and common-
place.

Shaking with aiy causes great variation in the igniting-
point of a specimen of petroleum. A fresh specimen of
the same refined “ Ladoga” oil was gradually warmed ina
bottle, the specimen being violently shaken before the test-
flame was introduced. In this way explosion actually took
place at 78° F. This was an extreme experiment, but it
serves to show the influence which more or less shaking or
so to speak, washing out of the vapour from the oil by air,
exerts on the point of ignition. It is true that when once
in a lamp petroleum is not likely to be much shaken about,
yet there are other circumstances under which violent agita-
tion may take place ; it is only fair, therefore, that in taking
the point at which a specimen of petroleum evolves in-

ach2 On the Igniting Point of Petroleum.

flammable vapour, some amount of stirring or agitation
should be practised.

The distance of the test-fame from the petroleum may
cause variation in observing the igniting-point. The
amount of vapour evolved in a given time may be sufficient
to form a small quantity of explosive mixture near the sur-
face of the petroleum, but not at an inch or two from the
surface; hence an operator dipping the test-flame down to
the surtace of the liquid, or even below the surface, to see
if the oil will extinguish instead of being ignited by his
flame, will give a lower igniting-point of the vapour than
an operator who only brings his test-flame within an inch
of the surface of the oil in a basin, or only just within the
mouth of a bottle or gallipot. In an experiment with the
“Ladoga” oil, this cause of error made a difference of 4°
in the observed igniting-point.

The amount of petroleum operated on in comparison with
the size of the vessel in which the operation is performed
will, of course, influence the observations, for the reason just
stated. An operator making his experiments in a bottle
or deep beaker or gallipot, and always introducing the
test-flame only just within the mouth, will sooner meet with
the explosive mixture if the vessel is three-fourths full, than
if that mixture has first to fill the upper part of a vessel
only one-fourth occupied by the liquid.

These, then, are causes, amply sufficient in number and
nature, of the variation in the igniting-point of petroleum,
as observed by different experimenters, or by the same ex-
perimenter at different times. They fully explain the fact
that I have found a specimen of petroleum to ignite at
almost any degree between 78° F. and 124° F. Before pro-
ceeding to suggest a modified method of observation which
shall give constant results, it may be instructive to give a
table of the igniting-points of several specimens of refined
petroleum recently circulating in wholesale and retail com-
merce’™* the experiment on each specimen being taken un-
der three conditions :—first, heating in an open earthenware
bowl, of the form, &c.. already described; second, heating
in a two—ounce, wide-mouthed, white glass phial, without
shaking the petroleum; and third, as the second, except
that before introducing the test-flame, the stopper was in-
serted in the bottle, and the whole well shaken for three or

* For the former I have to thank Messrs. Rose, Graham, and
Wilson, of Threadneedle street.

On the Igniting Point of Petroleum. 343

four seconds. It will be noticed that differences of igniting-
point in any one specimen are obtained varying trom ten to
thirty degrees. The other causes of variation already
alluded to were excluded by the experiments being all per-
formed by one operator of experience, each set of experi-
ments being made under equal conditions, and each
experiment occupying the same amount of time,—about
three minutes. The table will also serve to show that the
Lancet showed (March 29, 1862) in regard to mineral oils
sold in London, and what the observations of O’Neill
showed at Manchester in June, 1862 (Chemical News vol. v.,
p- 312), and of Tate at Liverpool, in September 13862,
(Pharmaceutical Fournal, vol. iv., New Series, p. 150),namely,
that much of the petroleum supplied to the public is dan-
gerous. In addition it shows that, as much of it (in the
words of the Act) “gives off an inflammable vapour at a tem-
perature of less than one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit’s
thermometer,’ the law has not yet had the effect anticipated
namely, the exclusion from retail trade of that quality of
petroleum which is so badly refined asto have dangerous,
because unsuspected, properties.

And now, with regard to a method of taking the ignit-
ing-point of petroleum-vapour, which shall be reliable and
constant in the results of its application.

As petroleum is not a definite chemical compound, ‘but
a varying mixture of several hydrocarbons ; as, in short, it
has no constant chemical or physical property of which
adyantage might be taken in devising a ready method of
taking igniting-points, it follows that the method selected
must be more or less arbitrary, empirical, conventional. It
is true, that their volatility is a constant physical property,
and MM. Salleron and Urbain in France, have, it is said,
contrived an apparatus for taking the tension of the vapour
of mineral oils, which is obviously proportional to their
volatility ; adopting 64 millimetres of water at, apparently,
35° C. as the limit of safety; but only an abstract of their
paper was published, in the Comptes Rendus of January
2, 1866; their full paper does not seem to have been
printed, so that I am unable to judge of the merits of the
method. It has not the recommendation of being a direct
process. The only feasible plan would seem to be, select a
direct method, simple in principle, easy of execution, occu-
pying little time in performance, and inexpensive; and
when this is found, to take steps for accomplishing a far
more difficult task, namely, securing its universal adoption.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. FF

=
Ne)
‘55,

344 On the Igniting Point of Petroleum.

TABLE OF GRAVITIES AND IGNITING PoINTS oF
COMMMERCIAL PETROLEUM.

Igniting point of vapour in degrees

Fahrenheit.
Specific

Name, Brand, a Dis- Gravity ! inn

tinctive Mark. ater Staion

1,000.) Beer Without | ee
agitation. | sitation.

“Woodville? 00533 796 80 76 70

A 797 98 83 78
wotandards? <7. 1. 798 96 95 85
MC AVANTE Pet 798 81 80 70

B 799 104 87 71
Seeman: 7 (0-0 660. 799 94 86 85
SeELutchinson 77... 800 go 86 84
SMG MCILeD Sc hs 801 QI 81 78
“ American Paraffin

Oe ee ua: 8o1 92 80 68
-z@omimercial.” .°.7' |, 803 104 81 79
** Amercn. Petroleum,”

On er 804 134 134 rigs

.9 » No. 2. | 805 93 90 74

35 5 No.3: 806 83 76 66
“Common Paraffin

OM ah bead! coc a 806 105 go 83
ccmsrilliamt 4s) ds, ve 806 83 74 72
“Young’s Paraffin

Oil” (not a Pe- :

troleum)'* <. . 819 116 97 gI

* This is an interesting specimen. Its light colour, both when
purchased and after being exposed to the light for some time, and
its specific gravity, indicate that 1t is really a petroleum, and not
a paraffin oil. It was purchased at a retail shop in Drury lane,
London, as “‘ our best, 44d. per pint.’””’ Another quality, sold at
the same shop at 4d. per pint, had a higher specific gravity, 806,
but much lower igniting-point. Tried in the manner recom-
mended at the end of the paper, the “best” gave off inflammable
vapour at 114 deg., the other at 86 deg. The properties of this
sample prove, or at least indicate (for I could not get at the
bulk) that it is easy to supply the public with a perfectly safe
petroleum at a reasonable price, a petroleum so low in specific.

On the Igniting Pot of Petroleum. 2456

Now the ignition method is sufficiently simple in principle ;
but from the foregoing, and many other experiments, I
would advise the rejection of its application in an open
dish, saucer, basin, or bowl. Even if this experiment could
be always similarly performed under constant conditions,
which is impossible, the rapidity with which vapour escapes
from the surface of the liquid renders a thermometer read-
ing, taken under the experiment, an unfair indication of the
temperature at which inflammable vapour would be
given off from the petroleum in a lamp or other closed or
partially closed vessel. Of course experiments, made with-
out a thermometer, are not sufficiently delicate for the
purposes of the analyst. Again, the petroleum must not
be heated in a common bottle, on account of the great
liability of the latter to fracture; nor is it necessary to use
a vessel contrived for violently agitating the oil and air to-
gether. But if the bottle be substituted by a short, wide
tube of glass, thin, so that it can be heated with safety,—
by, in short, a rather wide variety of the common test-tube
of our analytical laboratories; then, if equal quantities of
petroleum be operated on, the liquid be fairly well stirred
and shaken, and the test-flame be always introduced to the
same distance from the surface of the liquid, constant re-
sults may be expected. The same tube may be used in
which to insert a hydrometer to take the specific gravity of
the oil, and thus, with a naked thermometer somewhat
longer than the test-tube to act also as a stirring rod, we
have a compact and inexpensive apparatus. These articles
have been made for me by Mr. Casella, the well-known
physical instrument maker of Hatton garden; he has in-
cluded them all in a neat pocket case, introducing a small
spirit-lamp also; but I need not say that the petroleum
test-tube may be heated over a gas-flame, by partial
immersion in a vessel of hot water, or by any other con-
venient plan. Half way up the test-tube is a mark indicat-
ing the amount of petroleum to be operated on. ‘The test-
flame should be introduced to within half an inch of the
surface of the oil.

I will conclude by giving detailed directions by which to
take both the igniting-point and specific gravity of a speci-
men of petroleum or paraffin oil. Into a test-tube of thin
glass 6 or 64 inches long, and 14 in diameter, pour the

gravity as to readily ascend a wick, and so high in igniting-point
as not to be dangerous under ordinary circumstances.

FoF P2

346 On the Igniting Point of Petroleum.

liquid until the tube is half full. Stir the liquid well with a
naked thermometer, having the usual degrees marked on
the stem, shaking also so as to keep the upper part of the
tube well wetted with the liquid, and note the temperature.
Now introduce a flame (of a thin splint of wood, or, far
better, a small gas flame, a quarter of an eighth of an
inch long) into the mouth of the tube to within half an inch
of the surface of the liquid, quickly withdrawing it, and
noticing whether a thin blue flame runs between the test-
flame and the surface of the oil. If not, warm the tube by
passing the bottom of it gently through a spirit lamp, or
other flame, or by dipping the lower portion of the tube
into hot water, constantly stirring the liquid with the ther-
mometer, frequently noting the temperature, and intro-
ducing the test-flame every minute or so. The temperature
at which the thin blue flame appears will be the igniting-
point of the petroleum, the point at which it gives off in-
flammable vapour. To correct this result, let the tube
gradually cool, introducing the test-flame as before. The
lowest temperature at which the vapour takes fire is the
true igniting-point. To ascertain the specific gravity, pour
the petroleum or paraffin oil in the test-tube until the latter
is about three-fourths full; insert a thermometer, and warm
or cool until the temperature is about 60 degrees;* now
immerse the hydrometer, and take care that it fairly floats
in the liquid ; the point on the stem of the hydrometer, cut
by the under surface of the liquid, will be the specific
gravity. A copy of these directions will be found in the
case, as sold by Mr. Casella.

This particular hydrometer might be termed a Petro-
leometer ; that name would, however, perhaps best desig-
nate the whole box or set of articles. The most accurate
method of taking gravities is of course the specific-gravity
bottle; but a hydrometer, if well made, gives, I find, num-
bers varying not more than one degree from those of the
bottle, whilst its use involves far less trouble and expense.

As an indication of the extent to which confidence can
be placed in an igniting-point of petroleum, taken in the
manner recommended, I may state that two different ob-
servers, experimenting at different times on three different

* Five degrees of temperature make about one degree differ-
ence of specific gravity. At 70° Fahr. an oil will be about two
degrees lighter in specific gravity than at 60° Fahr., and at 50
Fahr. two degrees heavier.

-
a 4

Supply of Fish in Great Britain. 347

specimens of petroleum placed before them without distin-
guishinging marks, gave igniting-points in which the greatest
limit of variation was one degree. It would doubtless be
easy for an analyst, by processes of fractional distillation, to
obtain even from safe petroleum, vapour that would be in-
flammable at 60° Fahr., or even at freezing temperatures ;
but it would be absurd to regard such petroleum as dan-
gerous, or to use such a fact as evidence of the weakness of
any method of determining the igniting-point of petroleum.
What I claim for the method above described is, that it
accurately shows the temperature at which petroleum, as
used by the public, is dangerous, It surely is not too much
to expect that the method will be adopted by the trade,
and that no mineral oil will be supplied to the public unless
guaranteed to give off no inflammable vapour below 100
degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. Only by some such
means will explosions in lamps, &c., be avoided, explosions
which are alwas alarming, frequently the cause of loss of
property by fire, and occasionally resulting even in loss of
life.

Mie tHe R THE SUPPLY OF FISH FROM THE
pe PISHERIES OF GREAT BRITAIN IS VJINe
CREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING?

(Concluded from page 273.)

as 1833, the House of Commons appointed a Com-

mittee to inquire into the state of the sea fisheries.
The Committe reported that the fisheries in the British
Channel had been in a declining state since the peace of
1815, that capital employed in them yielded no profit, that
the numbers of boats and men were decreasing, and that
the fishermen and their families were, in a greater or less
degree, dependent on the poor rates for support. The
fisheries are now in a very different condition. The capital
employed yields a satisfactory return. The boats are every
year increasing, both in numbers and size, and, instead of
being dependent on the poor rates for their support, we do
not think that any class of our labouring population are
now in more comfortable circumstances than the British
fishermen. Their numbers have nearly doubled within the

348 Supply of Fish in Great Britain.

last twenty years, a progressive ratio of increase indicating
a degree of prosperity probably not exceeded by any class
of our population.

Two exceptions, however, to the general prosperity of
fishermen thus indicated must be noticed :—

Ist. The oyster fisheries in the bays and shallow waters
along the coast have been everywhere represented as ina
state of great depression, owing to the scarcity of oysters.
In many places, the oysters have, within the last three
years, almost entirely disappeared. The valuable oyster
fisheries off Jersey, which, between the years 1855 and
1860, gave an annual return of from 30,000/. to 40,000/,
_ have, during the last three years, produced from 3,000/. to
4,000/,a year only. In the estuary of the Thames the
greatest scarcity prevails, and the price of the native oyster
has more than trebled during the last four years. It has,
however, been conclusively proved that this scarcity is due
to a succession of bad breeding seasons for the oyster, for
which no well-ascertained cause can be assigned. In the
estuary of the Thames, there has been no general good
breed of oysters, either in public or private beds, since the
year 1858.

2ndly. The other exception which must be made, is of a
more serious and permanent nature. The evidence and
statistics of the Irish Sea fisheries represent a very great
falling off in the number of boats and men employed along
the coast. The following return, provided by the Irish
Fishery Commission, and corrected by their last report,
gives a comparative statement of the numbers of men and
boats :—

Number of
Number of Men ane
-_— -| Vessels of
all Classes Boys
*| employed.

1830—Fisheries under stimulus of

bounties or loan funds - 13,119 64,771
1836—Fisheries under depression,

caused by withdrawal of

bounties = - - 10,761 54,119
1845—Fisheries mete berere

the famine - - - ~ 19,383 93,073
1848—Fisheries after the famine - 15,032 70,011
1865—_ - = - - - - 9,300 40,946

Supply of Fish in Great Britain. 349

The return shows a diminution, within the last twenty
years, of 10,583 boats and 52,127 men.

The numbers given for the last year, however, reduced
as they are, appear to be very large as compared with the
produce of the fisheries indicated by the railway returns,
and the supplies in the principal markets. But it has been
explained to us that a very small portion of the 40,000 men
and boys included in the return, are fishermen in the true
sense of the term. A further return classifies the boats
and men as follows :—

ee | Vessels. Men. Boys.

First-class vessels, which include
the tonnage of fifteen tons
and upwards - - - 978 4,559 475

Second-class, under fifteen tons S322) - 32,875 2,055

Making a total of - - - 9,300 | 37,416 | 35530

The great decline in number of the fishermen in Ireland
we believe to be wholly due to the effects of the famine of
1848, and the subsequent emigration. It might have been
anticipated, that during the famine, the fishermen at least
would be secure from its ill effects, and would not only
have plenty of food for themselves, but would be the
means of averting starvation from others. But such was
not the case. It was found that the people would not live
wholly on fish, nor would they, out of the small means
remaining to them, buy fish in preference to meal or
potatoes. The fishermen, therefore, suffered not only from
the loss of their own crops of potatoes, but from want of
market for their fish. They shared, to the full extent, in
the sufferings of the famine, and as most of them became
physically incapable of going to sea, it was frequently
found that men were starving while fish were in abundance
on the coast. In many parts of Ireland, the fishing popu-
lation has not yet recovered from the depression and ruin
caused by the famine ; and the subsequent emigration, by
taking off the youngest and the ablest of the fishermen,
and leaving behind the old, the feeble, and the incompetent,
has still further operated, not only in reducing the numbers,

350 Supply of Fish in Great Britain.

but in lowering the average condition of those who remain
behind.

Though in many parts of Ireland the appearance of the
fishermen, and of their boats and gear, indicated great de-
pression and want of prosperity of the trade; in others
there are not wanting signs of improvement and of greater
enterprise and activity. The herring fishery of Howth, as
already mentioned, has within the last six or seven years
grown into a very important fishery, and a considerable
number of Irish boats have been fitted out for it, and have
done as well as the Cornish and Scotch boats that join in
the fishery. The trawlers from Dublin have now for some
years been doing well, and have brought in a large supply
of the better class of fish to the markets. At Dingle, also,
trawling has been introduced with success, and the fisher-
men are doing well. At Arklow the oyster banks have
been extensively worked within the last few years.

The general supply of fish from the Irish coast must
necessarily have considerably fallen off, owing to the great
reduction of men and boats engaged in fishing. But if
double the number of men made a living by fishing wholly
or in part twenty years ago, it is not to be supposed that
over-fishing within the last few years can have contributed
to this result. We cannot doubt that with greater enter-
prise, skill, and the application of capital, a greatly in-
creased supply of fish might be produced from the seas
round Ireland. Whether, however, the “mine of wealth”
which has so often been referred to by witnesses before us,
as existing in an undeveloped state off the west and south
coasts is a reality or a myth, can be decided only by expe-
rience. Looking to the nature of the coast, the frequent
severity of the weather, the great depth of water, and the
total want of shelter outside a few bays and inlets and the
opposition of the local fishermen to the introduction of im-
proved methods of fishing, we are inclined to think that
such anticipations are not likely soon to be realised.

The great importance of fish as an article of food may
be clearly shown by a comparison to the total supply of
fish and beef to London in the course of a single year.
Neither in the case of fish nor of beef is it possible to give
accurate statistics. But it has been roughly estimated
that London consumes 300,000 fat cattle annually, which
at an average weight of six cwt. each, would amount to
90,000 tons of beef. At this moment there are betweeu

800 and 900 trawl vessels engaged in supplying the Lon-_

Supply of Fish in Great Britain. 351

don market with fish,and assuming the average annual
take for each to be 96 tons, this would give a total of some
80,000 tons of trawled fish. This is irrespective of the vast
quantities of herrings, sprats, shellfish, and of other de-
scriptions of fish which are supplied by other modes of
fishing. The weight of beef and of fish annually consumed
in London is thus of no great disproportion. But the price
is very different. The fisherman receives on an average
over 7/,a ton for his fish, prime and offal together; the
farmer is readily paid for his beef not less than 60/. a ton.

But this disparity of price becomes the more remarkable
when tested by the practical experience, not of the pro-
ducer, but of the consumer. The buyer of both in the
west end of London finds that on the average his fish costs
him more per pound weight than his beef or mutton. And
when inquiry is made, the salesmen at Billingsgate readily
admit that the retail dealer gets an enormous profit on the
small quantity of fish he disposes of. It might be thought
that the competition of trade would rectify any demand for
excessive profit, but in this case it does not seem to have
any effect. While the fishermen receive 3d. and 4d,a
pound at Billingsgate for prime fish, the buyer is charged
Is., Is. 3d,, and Is, 6d. a pound by the retailer.

Some check might probably be put upon this extra-
vagant rate of profit by a daily return inserted in the
newspapers, and signed by the clerk of the market, of the
wholesale prices of the various kinds of fish sold in Bil-
lingsgate.

- The facts we have laid before our readers, coupled with
the increasing scarcity and high price of butcher's meat,
leaves no doubt in our minds that a great field for profit-
able enterprise is open for the application of increased
capital and skill to the old fisheries. of the United King-
dom. Within the last-two years a single London company
have increased their fishing fleet by ten sailing and two
steam vessels, and are now building two more steamers.
The same course is being followed by others ; and though
by such means the supply of fish to Billingsgate is con-
stantly increasing, it fails to keep pace with the demand.
The well-known fishing grounds in the North Sea are even
yet only partially fished. The Dogger Bank, which has
an area of several hundred square miles, and is most pro-
lific of fish, is to a great extent unworked by the trawler,
and new grounds are still being discovered where fish are
found in great abundance. Between England and the

352 Supply of Fish in Great Britain.

Continent the average depth of the German ocean is ninety
feet. One-fifth of it is occupied by banks which are always
being added to by the muddy deposits of the rivers of both
countries. In extent they are equal to the superficial
area of Ireland. To these banks the animals of ‘the ocean
chiefly resort, and this great and prolific field is free to the
industry of all.

The produce of the sea around our coasts bears a far
higher proportion to that of the land than is generally
imagined. The most frequented fishing grounds are much
more prolific of food than the same extent of the richest
land. Once in the year an acre of good land carefully
tilled produces a ton of corn, or two or three cwts. of meat
or cheese. The same area at the bottom of the sea on the
best fishing grounds yield a greater weight of food to the
persevering fisherman every week in the year. Five ves-
sels belonging to the same owner, in a single night’s fish-
ing, brought in seventeen tons weight of fish, an amount
of wholesome food equal in weight to that of 50 cattle or
300 sheep. The ground which these vessels covered dur-
ing the night’s fishing could not have exceeded an area of
fifty acres.

When we consider the amount of care that has been
bestowed on the improvement of agriculture, the national
societies which are established for promoting it, and the
scientific knowledge and engineering skill which have been
enlisted in its aid, it seems strange that the sea fisheries
have hitherto attracted so little of the public attention.
There are few means of enterprise that present better
chances of profit than our sea fisheries, and no object of
greater utility could be named than the development of
enterprise, skill, and mechanical ingenuity which might be
elicited by the periodical exhibitions and publications of
an influential society specially devoted to the British
fisheries.

353

REVIEWS.

Divine Origin of Mnemonics. By WILLIAM STOKES.
Houlston and Wright, London.

RECENT parliamentary enactment, combined with
a verdict more recent still, in our courts of judica-
ture, has afforded a certain check to medical quackery, but
literary quackery still runs its course, unrestrained, and as
far as our experience extends, its seems to have attained
its culminating point in the volume now before us. We
confess that we commenced the perusal of this book with
anything but favourable impressions of the author, and the
chief cause of our bias lay in the heading, which caught
our eye, at page 60, set out in large capitals—“ DAMNATION
THE RESULT OF FORGETFULNESS. A few lines further
down the page, occurs another heading — “SALVATION
DEPENDENT UPON MEMoRY.” In each case a scriptural
quotation is given, but never was the sacred volume more
abused by a profane endeavour to excruciate the word of
life into an agreement with some preconceived plan of
turning a penny. To preserve the mere letter of Scripture,
and to make it do service for the sale of Mr. Stokes’s book,
the whole spirit of it has been shamelessly abused. That
the small volume of Mr. Stokes is not wholly denuded of
. merit, we readily admit, but we say of that what the great
Mendelssohn is reported to have said of a manuscript sub-
mitted for his critical opinion:—‘“ There is much in this
paper that is good, and much that is new, but what is
good is not new, and what is new is not good.”

We advise Mr. Stokes either to read more deeply or to
give up the idea of pronouncing authoritatively on matters
relating to Jewish antiquities. Where, in the name of
wonder, did he pick up the information contained in the
second proposition of the following paragraph ?—“ Phylac-
teries are worn by the Jews in the East, to this day, but
they are generally concealed under their garments.”

The phylacteries worn by the Jews cannot possibly be
traced to any biblical authority. That they were used by
the Pharisees, in the time of Christ, is an admitted fact:
but many other ritual observances were also in that time
in vogue, although they had no solid basis in primitive
Judaism. All commentators, as well as rational Jews, of
every age, have regarded the passage—“ And thou shalt

354 | Reviews.

bind them for signs upon thine hands, and they shall be as
frontlets between thine eyes,” as figurative, standing pre-
cisely on a level’ with the meaning of the 6th verse—‘ And
these words, I command thee, this day shall be on thy
heart ;” and again, Deut. xi., 18—“ And you shall lay up,
these, my words upon your heart and upon your souls, and
bind them for a sign upon your hands,” &c.

The whole book is impregnated with cant, nor is the cant
skilfully concealed, since the veil beneath which it lies is
too thin to hide it. If the author has anything to tell that
may improve memory, he may do a useful thing, but failing
solid material, it is but a pitiful attempt, after all, to make
up for the absence of sterling matter by a pious fraud,
which would persuade the credulous, that the author, in
putting forth his book, is discharging a divine mission.

The prayer, with which Mr. Stokes concludes, is in
perfect keeping with the rest of his sanctimonious per-
formances.

—

Elements of Italian Grammar. By RAPHAEL VAGNOLINI.
Allan and Co.

FoR simplicity of arrangement and facility of comprehen-
sion, we have rarely met with a grammar so suited to our
tastes. Of its practical utility there can be little doubt, it
is most admirably adapted for the purposes for which it was
compiled, and will soon rank, as it well merits, a standard *
position in its sphere.

eee

Cosmopolitan Sketches. Holloway, 291 Strand.

ALTHOUGH scarcely within the ken of the TECHNOLOGIST,
we cannot refrain noticing the little work before us. The
sketches appear as reprints from the Cosmopolitan, and
those of our readers who have not read its columns will do
well to look out for the racy sketches of inner life, which
frequently appear in its pages. Without being exactly
sensational, they are true to nature, and uplift the veil from
much that does not meet the general observer. The sketches
of Constable’s Hotel, in other words, Whitecross Street
Debtors Prison. The description of midnight meetings are
graphic in the extreme. In fact, it were vain to particu-
larise, as one and all are so life-like, that none of our
readers could possibly be disappointed in them.

Reviews. 95m

Hardwicke’s Sctence-Gossip.

THIS most interestingly valuable little serial is a great
boon to lovers of science, our appreciation of its contents
may be judged by our reprinting for the benefit of our
readers, an article on Diatoms, and one on the culture and
growth of the Pine-Apple. Altogether it is a very successful
feature in the scientific literature of the day.

The Artizan. Salisbury street, Strand.

SINCE 1843 this journal so exclusively devoted to the con-
sideration of scientific and artistic matters has lost nothing
of i's early excellence. Its contents are varied and afford
much useful information for those readers for whom it is
intended. The January No. is the first of a fourth series
and is a decided improvement both in matter and get up
to antecedent issues. A work eminently useful in its
sphere.

The Distinctive Characters of the Principal British Natural
Orders of Plants. By WILLIAM A. TILDEN, F.C.S.
London.

THE above is a very carefully arranged table of British
plants. It will be found to be of great service by students
of botany.

Oh! Meet Me at the Stile. A Ballad. By RICHARD
FLETCHER. London: W. Williams and Co, 221
Tottenham Court road. Price 2s. 6d.

THIS ballad is from one of whom we have not heard of
before ; but, from its beautifully soft ani plaintive strain,
shall no doubt have the pleasure of receiving others in
due time. The melody is sweet and very pretty. It
ranges with such songs as “ Would I Were a Bird,” “ Annie
Laurie,” &c. ; indeed, is quite in the style of the Christy
Minstrels’ songs, to whom it would be a great acquisition.
We strongly recommend it to the lovers of this class of
ballad.

356

CORRESPONDENCE.

—___—_

THE DYNAMICAL THEORY OF ELECTRICITY.
To the Editor of the TECHNOLOGIST.

S1r,—Since I sent you a short notice ofa fact in thermo-

electricity, I have had under revision my chapter on
organic electricity, and I have been forcibly impressed by
the harmony existing between obvious deductions from the
dynamical theory, and some recently observed physiological
results.

The physiological effects by acting causes incidental to
transmission of a continuous voltaic current through a mus-
culomotor nerve, are of a complex character; they are
universally acknowledged to be manifested only at the
moments of closing and opening the circuit, but are modi-
fied by the influence of the current, during its prolonged
continuous passage in the portion of nerve-tissue included
in the circuit.

In order to interpret correctly all its observed physiolo-
gical effects, it becomes necessary to consider carefully the
dynamical consequences of the passage of a continuous suc-
cession of electric waves, here assumed to constitute a
voltaic current, they must comprise three distinct phases:
First, the momentary passage of the molecules of the con-
ductor from a state of rest to a state of motion; secondly,
the indefinite continuance of a molecular motion; and
thirdly, the return of the moving molecules to a state of
rest.

The first phase will be accompanied by a rush, or a sud-
den impulse of increased potential in the direction of the
current, because there must be a condensation or accumu-
lation of motion, in consequence of the inertia of the mole-
cules at rest, opposing the transmission of the wave; this
may be termed the initial current. During the second
phase there will be (supposing the potential of the current
to remain constant for the time) continuous and uniform
wave motion. During the third phase, the excitation of
motion ceasing, the ws viva of the moving particles will
accumulate motion towards the termination of the conduc-
tor, whence a reflex motion may be expected to be propa-
gated, (as in the case of a wave travelling from the hand
along a stretched cord, which reaching the fixed end, is re-
flected back again), giving rise toa momentary ‘terminal

Correspondence. 357

current, inferior in intensity, and opposite indirection to the
qnitial currents.

These initial and terminal currents (or impulses, as they
might more appropriately be termed) have long since been
recognized as the extra currents of Faraday; but their rela-
tive direction and intensity have been assumed to coincide
with those of the induced secondary currents; and, there-
fore, to be the reverse of what dynamical considerations
have suggested ; it has, however, bcen demonstrated by an
experiment of M. Chauveau, that the dynamical view is the
correct one. It has been proved by numerous experiments
that physiological effects are produced. I produced only,
by a sudden efflux of electricity /vom a nerve or muscle
into a negative electrode, whether the active agent be a dis-
charge of Franklinic electricity, or either the induced or the
extra currents already mentioned. Starting from this as
an admitted fact, the experiment of M. Chauveau appeal to
the most sensitive of all tests of the direction of an electric
impulse (using that term as synonymous with “shock,” or
“momentary current,’) a living nerve, He places the elec-
trodes of an electromoter over the opposite facial nerves of
a horse, and, having duly adjusted the strength of the cur-
rent, he finds that, on closing the current, that side of the
face only is convulsed, (by the zuztzal extra current,) the
nerve of which lies under the xegative electrode, and on
opening the circuit the contrary side is less strongly con-
vulsed (by the terminal extra current,) the nerve of which
lies under the fosztive electrode. M.Chauveau also found
that witha still further reduced current, convulsion occurred
in relation with the negative electrode only, the contrary or
terminal extra current being then too feeble to affect the
nerve. And if several horses were similarly included in one
circuit, the same results were observed in each of them.

The same fact has been observed by M. Claude Bernard*
in a prepared frog’s limb, in which the vitality of the nerve
is unimpared: witha sucffiently reduced current, con-
vulsion occurs on closing the circuit, and only then, whether
the current be direct or inverse, because the terminal extra-
current is then inoperative.

It may here be remarked that the well known relative
direction and intensity of the initial and terminal secondary
or induced currents in a secondary coil, are the necessary

* “TVecons sur la Physiologie et la Pathologie du Systeme Ner-
veaux,’ Paris, 1858, vol., p. 163.

358 Correspondence.

dynamical consequences of the above assumed condition of
the extra currents. The initial extra-current will excite a
similar impulsive motion in secondary coil, just as one
stretched chord will excite another capable of vibrating in
unison with it ( for electro-dynamic induction is probably
quite analogous to the reciprocation of sound), and the re-
coil of this impulse (the zzztzal induced current) will be
weakened in opposing the continuous motion induced by the
continuous primary current. Again, the recoil of the im-
pulse induced in the secondary coil by the terminal extra
current in its primary (the terminal induced current), will
likewise be in a direction contrary to that of the inducing
impulse, but its potential will remain undiminished, as it is
un-opposed by any continuous induction; and it will,
therefore, possess greater force than the initial induced
current.

But it may be asked by those who find a difficulty in
dispossessing their minds of long-established and time-
honoured notions. Is not all this about “ inertia,’ and
“vis-viva,’ and “impulses,’ sheer hypothesis ? Not so:
The writer has long since observed and recorded a precisely
similar phenomenon (apparently an exact analogue of the
initial extra current) in an unquestioned case of wave
motion, an experiment on the interference of sound waves,
due in common with so many others to the genius of Pro-
fessor Wheatstone. Let the handle of a vibrating tuning-
fork, held obliquely, rest on the surface of a table. As
long as it remains at rest, a loud resonance of the table is
audible: but if the tuning-fork be moved parallel to itself
along the surface of the table in any direction, the reso-
nance of the table immediately ceases, from the perpetual
interference of the vibrations in successive parallel planes
with each other. The instant the tuning-fork stops, the
resonances burst out again in a very striking manner If
the tuning-fork be held vertically, the planes of vibration
coincide, and the resonance is not interrupted by moving it.
It can scarcely be doubted that the impulsive recommence-
ment of the resonance after its interruption by interference,
is entirely due to the dynamical cause here assigned to the
initial extra current.

M. Chauveau (no doubt correctly) ascribes the phyatiatia!
gical effect of an electric impulse to the dynamical moleculor
disturbance which it produces.

It will naturally be asked if electricity be only wave
motion, what is the nature of that motion, and in what re-

ae —

Miscellaneous. 359

~spects does it differ from the wave motion of light and
heat? It is evident that the existence of two opposite
electrical states must involve some kind of polarity or direc-
tionality in the motion, not required to explain the pheno
mena of light and heat. The probable dependence of
-magnatism on the circulation of the magnet would seem to
suggest the idea of circular waves; if these be supposed
analogous to the waves of eircularly polarized light, the
phenomena of electric polarity may be readily explained.
Moreover, the state of mutual inductive constraint of the
electricity of two opposed, @nd oppositely electrified sur-
faces may be roughly symbolized by the condition of
spiral springs, mutually compressing each other againihe an
intervening obstacle.

In the hope that these remarks may induce some of
your readers to direct their thoughts to the elucidation of
an important point of physics,

I remain, &c.,
CHARLES BROOKE.
Fitzroy Square, W.

MISCELLANEOUS.

POWER OF COAL.—The best anthracite coal has been
found to contain 98 per cent. of carbon. Favre and Sil-
berman found that if all the heat is utilised, one pound of
carbon in burning will generate sufficient heat to raise the
temperature of 8,080 pounds of water one degree of the
centigrade scale; and, according to Andrews, it will heat
7,900 pounds one degree. Taking the smaller of these re-
sults, 7,900 pounds, and reducing it, we find that one pound
of carbon will raise the temperature of 14,220 pounds of
water one degree of Fahrenheit’s scale. Multiplying this
by Joule’s equivalent, 772, and we have 10,977,840 foot-
pounds as the quantity of work which one pound of carbon
will perform. If wesuppose it burned at the rate of one
pound per hour, by dividing the foot-pounds of work by
33,000 and by 60, wdshall have the horse-power 54. If all
its heat could be utilized, therefore, we should have a horse-
power from two-elevenths of a pound of coal per hour.

mew SERIES:—VOL, «1. Gre

360 Miscellancous.

This point is worth remembering—that theoretically we
should have a horse-power from two-elevenths of a pound
of coal perhour. ‘The very best engines give a horse-power
from about two pounds of coal per hour, and it is a good
engine that produces a horse-power from four pounds of
coal per hour. An engine that gives a horse-power with
two pounds of coal per hour utilizes in work about nine per
cént. of the whole power of the coal; and one that yields a
horse-power for four pounds of coal per hour, utilizes about
four and a half per cent. of the power of the coal.

PHOTOGRAPHING UNDER THE SEA.—M. Bazin, favour-
ably known for his photographic researches, has contrived
a very ingenious submarine photographic studio, by which
he is enabled to take photographs of sunken ships, rocks, &c.
The chamber is provided with lens-shaped water-tight win-
dows, and by means of the electric light the objects to be
photographed are highly illuminated. M. Bazin is able to
remain about ten minutes in his submarine chamber, and
has produced several clear and well-defined photographic
pictures of objects at the great depth of three hundred feet.

Books CuT OR UNCUT.—A correspondent of the A the-
neum writes, “Ihave no less than seven paper-knives in
use in my house; but, in common, I dare say, with many
of your readers, it very often happens that I am unable to
lay my hands upon one when wanted. I know that to many
it is a luxury to have the first read of a book, and with
paper-knife in hand cut away as they read; but I think the
balance of convenience is on the other side, and I wish to
take the opinion of the literary world as to whether a period
of civilization has not arrived when the readers of books
and periodicals might reasonably ask that they should be
delivered from the publishers ready cut.”

A NEW SUBSTITUTE FOR COLLODION.—-M. Persoz, fils,
has recently discovered a method for obtaining a material »
possessing the same characteristic qualities as collodion.
La Lumucre says :—This new substance is produced by dis-
solving silk in a suitable solvent, and then separating the
latter by means of dialysis. Ifthe film be of a certain de-
gree of thickness, it assumes on drying a golden tint, but
this would no doubt be scarcely perceptible in a thin film,
such as would be used in photography. The solvent chosen
by M. Persoz is chloride of zinc, which, when kept at a
warm temperature, readily dissolves the silk, but if the sol-
vent be not warmed, the silk takes a much longer time to
dissolve. Before employing the chloride of zinc, it 1s

Miscellaneous. 361

heated with a small quantity of oxide of zinc in order
to neutralize any excess of acid in the chloride, and then
filtered through a piece of fine cambric to remove the super-
abundant oxide. To separate the chloride of zinc, from
the solution of silk, M. Persoz has recourse to Professor
Graham’s method of dialysis. The apparatus for dialysis,
which is a kind of sieve, is made by meaus of a broad strip
of gutta-percha, bent round and cemented in the form of a
cylinder, at one end of which is fixed a disc of parchment
to form the bottom. The apparatus is floated upon a ves-
sel of water, and the silk solution, previously diluted with
water to the consistency of collodion, is poured into it. The
chloride of zinc percolates through the moistened disc of
parchment, and mixes with the water in which the appa-
ratus is floating. Ina few days the whole of the chloride
of zinc will be found to have become separated from the
silk solution, but the presence of a slight quantity of the
chloride in the material is of no great consequence, as it
merely gives rise to the formation, in the sensitive film, of
a minute quantity of chloride of silver. Although M.
Persoz does not mention the fact, there is no doubt that a
dry film of this substance would be quite insoluble in
water. Its employment is very simple. It is first iodized
by mixing with it an aqueous solution of iodide, and then
dried and sensitized ; the exposure and development are
conducted in the ordinary manner.— Fournal of the Society
of Arts.

THE fifth of the Christmas juvenile lectures at the Royal
Institution, on “ Gases,” was delivered by Professor Frank-
land, F.R.S. He explained that the words “combustibles
and “incombustible,” as commonly applied to different cir-
stances, convey erroneous ideas. For instance, in the com-
bustion of common gas, intense chemical action, giving out
heat and light, takes place at the line of contact between
the gas and common air. It is therefore commonly said
that the gas is combustible, and the air a supporter of com-
bustion. But if a room be filled with coal gas, and pipes
conveying common air be laid on, the air would burn in
such an atmospheae, just-like what is called inflammable
gas. The lecturer took a large glass tube about three
inches in diameter, and fourteen inches long, and plugged
the lower end of it with a bung, through which passed a
small glass tube, to admit common gas into the larger one.
-A second tube, open at both ends, passing through the bung
admitted a very small quantity of common air, which was

362- — Miscellaneous.

ignited, and made to burn in the atmosphere of coal gas.
The upper part of the large tube he covered with a
sheet of perforated mica, and as the superfluity of the gas
escaped through the mica, it was also made to burn. By
this simple arrangement, a jet of common air was shown
burning inside the tube, and jet of coal gas outside. He
showed that sulphur is a combustible substance, by burning
some in oxygen ; also, that it is sometimes a supporter of
combustion, because copper foil catches fire.-when plunged
into the vapour of boiling sulphur, and burns with
a blood-red flame. Professor Frankland next sifted some
powdered metallic antimony into a jar of chlorine gas, which
has such a powerful affinity for the metal that it ignited it ;
and the particles of chloride of antimony formed, fell to the
bottom of the vessel in a shower of red-hot sparks. He also
plunged some wool, soaked in oil of turpentine, into a jar
of chlorine. Turpentine is composed of carbon and hydro-
gen, and as chlorine burns, or unites with the hydrogen
without touching the carbon, the latter filled the jar with a
dense smoke, as black as ink. Some laughing gas was then
distilled from nitrate of ammonia, but not administered, as
the lecturer thought there was a possibility of its being dan-
gerous, although he had never seen it produce any ill effects.
Lastly, he made some phosphoretted hydrogen, which bub-
bled up from the bottom of a jar of water, and caught fire
spontaneously when it reached the air. Each bubble, as its
flame burst, formed a light ring of white smoke, which
- sailed slowly upwards. This closed the experiments.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

J. K. L.,, Brisrot.—1. Dichloride of sulphur is a reddish-brown
liquid; specific gravity, 1°686; it boils at 282°. It much re-
sembles chloride of sulphur, whose specific gravity is 1°60, and
boils at 146°. 2. Dichloride of Sona is likewise known as
bisulphuret of chlorine.

T. B.—* Fluxes ” are necessary in some cases of metallic reductions ;
they dissolve impurities, protect the metal from the air, and some-
times exert a reducing agency.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

The Pharmaceutical Journal, August to January.

Hardwicke’s Science Gossip.

The Artizan.

Divine Origin of Mnemonics (Stokes).

- Report of the Statistical Society of Lloyds, 1866.
The Distinctive Characters of the Principal British Natural Orders of
Plants. re >

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ENGRAVED BY GRAPHOTYPE.

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THE

TECHNOLOGIST.

—_90——

MARCH, 1867.

——0——

THE SAMARITANS AND THE SAMARITAN
PENTA TPEUCH.

BY THE REV. PROFESSOR MARKS.

*AMARIA, the capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes,
which renounced allegiance to the Davidical dynasty
soon after the accession of Rehoboam, originally formed
part of the territory of Ephraim. Not far from it stood
Sichem—now called Wablous, a corruption of Neapolis—
where the bones of Joseph, brought by Moses out of Egypt,
were interred, and where Joshua convoked a national
assembly of the tribes to receive his dying admonition.

After Samaria had enjoyed an existence, as the capital
of the rival kingdom, for about two centuries, it was taken
and partially destroyed by Shalmanessar, King of Assyria ;
and with the fall of the capital, the kingdom of the ten
tribes passed away, never to survive.

The Biblical historians mention Samaria in terms so
vague and indefinite as to perplex ordinary readers. It is
applied alike to the capital, the surrounding district, and
the entire territory of the ten tribes. Scarcely less loose
and indeterminate is the use of the proper name Sama-
ritan. It may either mean the inhabitants of the city of
Samaria, or of the whole kingdom, the hybrid people,
whom Ezra calls “the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin,’
or the “ Samaritans,” as described by the writers of the New
Testament.

It has long been a moot point whether the “ Samaritans,”
as they appear on the canvas of history, in the age of Ezra,
are to be regarded as a people wholly of foreign extraction,
or as a mixed race, containing an appreciable element of

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I.

364 The Samaritans and the

the descendants of ten tribes. Some contend that the —
language of Scripture (2 Kings xvii. 24), hardly admits of
a doubt that the whole Jewish population was rooted out
of Samaria, and replaced by settlers, who were Assyrians
by birth or subjugation. The scripture chronicle tells of
the country having been infested with lions, which, it should
seem, the superstition of the times attributed to the ignor-
ance of the new settlers respecting “the manner of the God
of the land.” “Had any of the old inhabitants been left,”
says Dr. Hessey, “it would have been impossible for the
new settlers to have been so entirely unable to acquaint
themselves with the manner of the God of the land.”
Now it does not seem to us that this objection goes for
much in the face of what is recorded of the settled purpose
of the Kings of Israel to supersede the national religion of
Mosaism by the idolatrous worship of Baal and other
Phenician Deities. Jeroboam, the first King, set up calves
for worship in Bethel and Dan; Abijah, Jehu, and Ahab,
went from bad to worse; and abundant evidence is afforded
in the Bible that both priest and layman had wandered
far away from the worship of Jehovah, long before the
conquest of Samaria was accomplished by Shalmanessar.
Besides which, it is no easy matter to root out the popu-
lation of a whole kingdom within the space of a few
months. Extermination is a work of slow progress; and
we are not deficient of proofs, in our own times, where the
appliances of destruction and of deportation are greater
than they could have been 720 B.c., that it requires many
years, if indeed, the object can ever be effectually brought
about, to exterminate a large aboriginal population. But
what we rely upon most in support of the view we venture
to uphold is, an occurrence which the Bible sets down at a
date more than a hundred years after the conquest of
Samaria. Jeremiah, who prophesied about 620 B.C., speaks
of Israelites who had come from Shechem, Shiloh, and
Samaria, to bring offerings to the Temple at Jerusalem—a
sufficient proof that as late as his time there were Hebrews
in Samaria. Again, a record is preserved in 2 Chron.
xxxiv., 9, to the effect, that in the reign of Josiah, contri-
butions to the Temple were collected “by the hand of
Manassah, Ephraim, and a// the remnant of Israel.
Assuming, then, that the population of that part of
Palestine which once described the kingdom of Samaria,
contained within it, after its conquest, an element of its
original Hebrew settlers, we pass over an interval of 180

Samaritan Pentateuch. 305

years, and arrive at the stirring period in Jewish story,
when Cyrus, the Mede, having conquered Babylon, set free
the captives of Judah, and permitted them to return to
Judea to rebuild the Temple of Solomon, and to reconsti-
tute their ancient state.

The Samaritans appear again on the scene as soon as
the first colony of emancipated Judah arrives at Jerusalem.
They profess themselves disciples of Moses; they offer to
assist in the rebuilding of the temple and the city; and
they ask to share in the rites of national worship, as well
as in the political privileges accorded by the firman of
Cyrus to the remnant of Judahand Benjamin. It is more
than doubtful whether these professions were sincere, since
it was the practice of the Samaritans to avow themselves
Jews, and to renounce their connection with the Jewish
community, just as it served their purpose, for securing
some temporal advantage. At the same time, there is no
reason to doubt that they had embraced the doctrine of a
pure Monotheism, although some of their ritual practices
might have been tainted with old heathen superstitions ;
and it does seem somewhat harsh and ungenerous on the
part of the Jews, to have repulsed them in so determined
a manner. Perhaps the old rivalry between the adherents
of the house of David, and those of the house of Joseph
had not yet died out; or, what is more probable still, the
returned exiles of Judah, who had been taught by the
Prophets to ascribe all their national misfortunes to the
idolatrous practices of their fathers, might have recoiled at
the suggestion of making common cause in matters of
religion with a body, whose ritual still retained much that
was inherited from heathen times. Zerubabel, Ezra, and
Nehemiah, who were quite agreed with respect to the
exclusion of the Samaritans, must have had solid reasons
for arriving at this determination; but whatever these
reasons may have been, the resolution that was taken
generated a hatred of so bitter and intense a character
between the two peoples, that there is nothing in the
history of feuds, national or sectarian, that offers to it a
perfect parallel.

Excluded from taking part in the national work the
Samaritans resolved to oppose the advancement of it, by
every device which malignant hostility could suggest.

Scarcely had the foundations of the temple been laid,
when the Samaritans appeared in imposing force and
obliged the Jews to relinquish their labour. In vain the

ag ee

366 Lhe Samaritans and the

Jews appealed to the Persian Court, for the ministers,
bribed by the Samaritans, prevented the petitions from
reaching the king. No change took place until the death
of Cyrus, 529 B.c. Cambyses succeeded his father. He
is called in Scripture, Ahasuerus, but he is not the same
sovereign mentioned in the Book of Esther, who could
have been none other than the silly Xerxes, the invader of
early Greece. It was well known that Cambyses had been
opposed to the policy pursued by his father towards the
Jews ; and the Samaritans were not slow to take advantage
of the opportunity afforded by a change of rulers. They
memorialised the Persian Court, asserting that the Jews
had been fortifying Jerusalem, as a preliminary step to
throwing off their allegiance and declaring their indepen-
dence. The ruse was completely successful. A firman
was issued, suspending all further operations in Judea
until a full and searching inquiry should be made, and the
Samaritans, emboldened by this edict, compelled the Jews
to desist from their purpose.

No progress is made by the Hebrews until the death of
the usurper, Smerdis, 521 B.C. when Darius ascends the
throne. In the following year, the prophets Haggai and
Zachariah urge the Jews to action and promise them help
from above. They now apply themselves with great zeal;
but the Samaritans, always on the alert, appeal to the™
Governor Tatnai, who calls upon the Jews to produce an
authorization for the works they are constructing. They
bring forward a copy of the edict of Cyrus and Tatnai
applies for instructions to the Home Government. The
original firman is discovered amongst the archives at
Ecbatana and the Jews are permitted to rebuild the temple
which is inaugurated about March, 516 B.c., in time for the
solemnisation within its walls of the important festival of
Passover. :

Of the condition of the Jewish colony from this date
until the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus (458 B.C.)
we know nothing. Ezra sets out from Babylon at the
head of a second Hebrew colony, and finds affairs in a
deplorable condition on his arrival in Palestine. He is a
man of the highest moral worth but no statesman; and
little or nothing is effected for the new colony during the
thirteen years of his administration. A very important
personage now appears upon the scene. Nehemiah, a man
of considerable influence in the councils of Artaxerxes,
solicits and obtains the appointment of Pacha of Judea;

Samaritan Pentateuch. 7 36a

and he arrives in Jerusalem about 444 B.c. Under his
vigorous rule, the walls of the city are commenced, and
although the Samaritans, under their able leader San-
ballat, ally themselves with the Arabs, the Ammonites, and
the Philistines, and dispute the right of the Jews to rebuild
and fortify their city, by an appeal to arms, Nehemiah
perseveres and succeeds in the end.

The Samaritans, who had by degrees winnowed their
ritual from the old heathen leaven, and brought themselves
to adopt pure Mosaism, felt it a great grievance to be ex-
cluded from the temple of Jerusalem, whilst they had no
sanctuary of their own. After a while an event occurred
which enabled them to set up a rival temple. Manasseh,
brother of the High Priest Jaddua, had married Nicaso,
daughter of Sanaballat the Cuthean, in consequence of
which he was degraded from the priestly house and exiled
from Jerusalem. Manasseh had powerful friends at the
Court of Darius Nothus, who granted him a firman to
build a rival or Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim, near
Sichem. The invasion of Persia by Alexander, and the
overthrow of Darius, deferred for a time the execution of
the edict, but Alexander was induced to give it effect, and
the Samaritans built their temple, and constituted them-
selves a Mosaic sect. To prevent the possibility of a sub-
sequent reunion with the Jews, Manasseh made it a chief
point to differ widely from the Jews on some important
matters. All the books of the Bible were rejected, except
the Pentateuch, and a version of Joshua,* and even the

* This book of Joshua has nothing in common with the book
of the same name found in the canon of the Old Testament. The
only manuscript of the Samaritan “Joshua” known to be in
Europe, is in the national library at Leyden. In 1584 the learned
Scaliger obtained it from Cairo, and it was published in 1848. It
has eight chapters of introduction, followed by a pretendedly his-
torical account of the conquest of Palestine by Joshua, which
runs on to the fortieth chapter. The next ten chapters give a
general account of the vicissitudes of the Samaritans under Nebu-
chadnezzar, Alexander the Great, and the Roman Emperors. It
contains not even as much as a reference to David, Solomon, or
the Hebrew prophets. It is supposed that the contents of the
book have been drawn from four original sources—one Hebrew,
and three Arabic. One part of the book is considered to have
been written in the fourteenth century, and the others at the close
of the fifteenth century. Its language is Arabic, and the origin of
the book is not Palestinian, but evidently Egyptian.

369 fancy and Imagination.

Pentateuch, as will be presently shown, was falsified by the
Samaritans, in order to make it appear that the Mount
Gerizim and not Jerusalem was the spot indicated by
Moses where the national temple was to be built. After
the temple at Gerizim had stood for 200 years, it was com-
pletely destroyed 129 B.c. by John Hyrcanus, one of the
Maccabean princes, and the Samaritans were brought
under subjection. But neither force nor persuasion could
influence them to adopt orthodox Judaism. They con-
tinued to perform their worship, as before, near the ruins of
their temple, and the opening of the Christian era found
them distinct in their worship, and as bitter as ever in their
hatred to the Jews. The Samaritans seem to have been
unfavourably regarded by the founder of Christianity.
Jesus does not recognise them as Jews, and what is more,
he forbids the twelve whom he sends forth, to enter any of
their cities. A bitter, and enduring animosity, grows up
between the Christians and the Samaritans, and they per-
secute each other with all the barbarity of which the early
centuries offer many painful examples. Rome also found
the Samaritans difficult to govern, coercion and conciliation
having alike failed. In spite of the havoc committed in
their ranks by the Roman legions, the Samaritans increased
rapidly during the early centuries of the present era, and
several sects arose amongst them. From the middle of the
tenth century they began to fall off, and at the present
time their whole community does not exceed fifty families.
They still worship on the Mount Gerizim and their Pass-
over festival is inaugurated with the sacrifice of a lamb.
In 1861, Mr. George Grove was present during the
solemnization by them of the Day of Atonement, and the
account which he has published of their ritual is highly in-
teresting and instructive.

(To be continued.)

FANCY AND IMAGINATION.

OST of our best writers on the subject of the “ Plea-

sures of Imagination” and Addison among them,

have given their attention solely to the regions of taste, and
appear to think that fancy is exercised on no other topics

Fancy and Imagination. 369

but those which administer to our perceptions of the grand,
the beautiful and the sublime. We nevertheless think, that
we shall be enabled to show that poets are not the only
portion of mankind who feast on the pleasures of fancy ;
but that in all our idle amusements as well as in all our
business occupations, imagination occupies by no means,
an unimportant position, but on the contrary, that in the
greater part of those pursuits to which our attention is de-
voted, whilst we would be thought by the world to be
anxiously engaged in our several spheres of business, we
are really pursuing something which is ideal to all but our-
selves.

It will be readily admitted that the members of that.
body among us who have most leisure and inclination for
gaiety and pleasure, are the greatest slaves of imagination.
It matters not whether their taste for pleasure soars to the
region of the playhouse, the concert room, and the ball
room, or to the ratting match and prize fight, the pleasure
which they actually realize compared to that which they
anticipate, shows them to be under the influence of a lively
imagination. Whatsoever be the anticipated gratification,
it may be taken as a rule, that the disappointment that
follows may be justly estimated by the guantum of such
anticipated gratification. But the effects of Fancy are not
confined to those whose lives are exclusively devoted to
pleasure. On considering the different departments of
human pursuit,—business, ambition, avarice, and vanity,
which, although they may appear contradictory are not un-
frequently trades carried on by the same person, we shall
discover a fancy continually at work to improve shadows
into substances, to enlarge small things to matters of
moment, and to represent some great good as accessible,
although never attained. As regards avarice—can poet or
any other man be pronounced more acreature of imagina-
tion, or be supposed to soar higher in flight of fancy than
the miser, who hoards up money with no other view than
to say it is in his possession ; who desires no higher reward
than to look at it, or greater talents than to be able to
count it; whose sole object of life is to know that after his
death it will be reported that he died rich ?

Is the ambition of those whom nature and education
have resolved to keep down less fanciful? Who can be
said to possess a larger amount of imagination than the
tradesman or artizan who having acquired wealth by some
means, considers himself on a level with those of superior

370 fancy and Imagination.

rank, and pushes himself into the circles of those who
possess that elegance of manners and liberality of mind to
which he can never attain; who, when he has reached this
pinnacle of his ambition, although words of contempt and
disdain reach his ear from every side, still persists in the
belief that he is honoured and respected ?

What a great felicity it must be for some of our financiers
of the present day to pursue the crooked paths to riches and
reputation as honest men, that they can positively fancy
themselves going on the straight and honourable road!
When they see their names heading charity subscription lists
in the daily papers, or quoted as chairman of this railway, or
director of that company, they really believe themselves
respectable members of society. What a boon it must be
to them that when they are exposed and their spurious
accounts made public, to believe themselves to be men of
the utmost purity of intention and integrity of action. Such
a flight however, cannot be taken at once; there must be
something preparatory to it, and therefore, their fancy first
persuades them, that notwithstanding their many virtues
and unimpeachable honesty, they have had the misfortune
to be persecuted by a host of fastidious shareholders and
uncharitable accountants, and so have lost their chance of
convincing their fellowmen of their disinterested and
honourable motives of proceeding.

There is another body of men formed out of all ranks of
life, whose imaginations continually suggest to them that
they shall live for ever, that disease and death are things
that belong to their neighbours, and that such casualties
happen merely to produce paragraphs and funerals, wills
and obituaries. The fancy of some of these immortals does
not grow duller as they advance in years, which is said to
be the case with even the most ingenious of our poets, but
on the contrary, becomes more lively than ever. They blow
a spark or two out from the dying embers and the fire of
their imagination really makes them believe that they are
perpetuating the original blaze. The imagination of this
class is so prolific, that they consider the debilitating in-
firmitiesof age form an admirable junction with the vigorous
frolics of youth; that feebleness is irresistible, and that the
language of the eyes is never so expressive as when they
ogle in a palsied head. Certainly, there is nothing so ex-
travagant in the most ludicrous conceit of our poets as the
amorous pursuit of a dropsical Lothario.

In conclusion, we should like to show the extent of

Copper Mines. 371

imagination in matters of Love and Marriage, but refrain
from discussing on such delicate ground. That there is a
wide scope for fancy in this case is apparent from the
writings of poets from the earliest ages down to the present
time.

COPPER MINES.—No. IT.

(Continued from page 285.)

SHAFT is, in appearance, very like an ordinary well

from which excavations are described as having been
made to the north and south, at a certain depth, called
cross-cuts; these being of sufficient width to enable two
‘men to work abreast, and about five and a half or six feet
in height. Ifthe eround be not hard, and the expense of
excavating be consequently not great, such experimental
excavations or cross-cuts are frequently continued to the
distance of two or three hundred feet, so as to prove the
ground, during which the most minute variations in the
strata are noticed and scrutinized ; and if any promising
symptoms present themselves, transverse sections are im-
mediately commenced in pursuit of them, to the E. and
W., following the course of the strata to which the excava-
tion described had heen in an opposite direction. A work-
ing which had proceeded to the extent before mentioned,
(and which may be called, quite incipient,) would require
about eighteen workmen, fourteen of whom would be let
up and down by a windlass, at the opening or mouth of
the shaft, by buckets, which would be also used in the
transmitting of the excavated matter or earth. Of these
men, two would be employed in each, driving from the
cross-cut ; two, in wheeling the excavated matter from
them to the bottom of the shaft; one, in filling the buckets
from the barrow, and two at the windlass; making alto-
gether, (as there must be a day set and a night set) eighteen
hands. The instance before us, (if the details of it be
summed up,) suppose a shaft or well, six feet square, to
have been sunk perpendicularly about thirty or forty feet ;
at which depth the writer has supposed passages to have
been made from it, branching N. and S., with a view of
dividing the strata, so as to cut or intercept any vein of ore

Lye’
~~
’

which may have been running with it E. and W. These
passages or drivings, the writer supposes to have been con-
tinued for about forty feet each way ; that at such distance
one of them has been discontinued, and that the other has
arrived at what is termed a lode. He supposes this lode,
or vein, to have been immediately pursued by fresh drivings
E. and W., branching off from the original driving which
was N. and S.; and thus he has endeavoured to give to the
reader some idea of the commencement of a mine. Hitherto
the operators have been working without any other air than
what has been admitted through the perpendicular shaft ;
but it is to be observed that, as the excavation proceeds,
such air becomes more and more rarified, until, upon com-
mencing transverse drivings to pursue the lode, the men are
no longer able to work ; and, in addition to their own per-
sonal and physical disabilities, they find that the candles
will not continue to burn; so that there becomes an ab-
solute necessity for fresh air. In this dilemma, air is gene-
rally introduced by the sinking of another shaft over the
spot where the transverse excavations commence; for air
(though it may continue sufficiently strong in a direct line
for a long distance,) becomes very much attenuated by the
turning of a corner, which seems to show that air is by no
means so perfect a fluid as is generally thought.

Where a rise for this purpose is impracticable by reason
of water, or too great a mass of superincumbent ground, or
any other cause presenting difficulty, air is introduced by
means of pipes, which, at the mouth of the shaft, are fur-
nished with a sort of windsail; and in mines where air has
to be introduced by pipes for a considerable distance, it
becomes necessary to have it propelled by pumps or bellows.

In the progress of operation, the parts containing ore are
disengaged from the surrounding substance with great care,
in order to preserve the former as entire as possible; but
some ores are of so friable a nature that it is impossible to
prevent a portion of them from falling among the fragments
of rock. Whilst miners are employed in extracting the
vein in the mine, others (in order that no time be lost), are
engaged in sinking fresh shafts on the outside, with a view
of striking the same lode at the same depth further to the
E. and W., and working so that the whole should at last
unite and form one line of excavation. In the course of
this line, frequent ramifications occur, as well as occasional
variations in point of quantity, and very often obstacles
present themselves by the intervention of hard rocky sub-

372 Copper Mines,

Copper Mines. Be

stances, which divide the lode, and throw it right and left
for a considerable distance.

Veins of copper, it has been observed, run with regard to
thetr longitudinal course, in a direction E. and W. With
regard to their vertical course they are found to descend,.
at times, in a direct perpendicular; but more usually on an
inclination varying from a perpendicular to an angle of 45°.
Their inclinations are also seldom uniform for many fathoms
together, but are apt to vary, so as, at times, to form a
waving line or to be even angular like steps. If a lode of
ore, uniform in thickness and without intermission (as is often
the case), could be laid open on one side, so as to be seen
at one view, it would presenttotheeyea metalliclayer which
had been until then condensed between layers of another
substance; the same as if one supposes a plate of metal to
be introduced between different plates or layers of slate,
stone, or any other matter; and if the reader, by a stretch
of imagination, can suppose layers of such description on a
large scale to be occasionally bent horizontally, in rather
zigzag lines, from E. to W., and to be at times, a little
blended and confused, so that their homogeneous character
be in certain parts destroyed, but otherwise to descend on
inclinations as before mentioned, he will be able to form an
idea of a mineral vein. When such vein has an inclination
downwards towards the N., it is said to dip to the N.; and
when in the opposite direction, it is said to dip to the S.

The term “vein” gives the idea of a substance having
its breadth equal to its thickness, and its thickness to its
breadth—something running in a line or string—such as
the veins of animals. But the term is improper when ap-
plied to a vein of copper or other mineral, which is, in
reality, a layer; and the only reason that the writer can
assign for the term having been applied to minerals, is be-
cause in excavations there is never any more of the layer
exposed at any one time to view than that which, to a cer- .
tain extent, may be said to resemble a vein; although to
the eye of the mind it is presented in a very different form.
The expression is, for the same reason, equally improper
when applied to the veins in marble, but streaks or varie-
gations. In the present treatise, however, the word has been
and will be used in its commonly accepted sense.

When a lode, vein (or layer), has been worked sufficiently
both E. and W., upon one level or floor, it becomes _ neces-
sary to descend; for which purpose it is usual to sink shafts

374 Copper Mines.

from above at convenient distances to the N. or S., which.

ever may be the inclination of the lode or layer; after which
the same course of operation takes place as has been des-
cribed before, and thus two floors or levels are formed;
during which the miners from the upper floor make ap-
proaches towards those on the second floor by excavations
at regular distances ; after this, the intermediate parts (or
the portions of the layer between such excavations are cut
away, and thus the whole portion of the layer between the
first and second floor is removed. It is obvious that in so
large an excavation, a great extent of surface would be
left unsupported and likely to fall in were not something
done to prevent sucha calamity. For this purpose recourse
is had to timber, a man being constantly at hand whose
exclusive duty it is, to shore up those parts in the progress
of the work, where any danger is apprehended. The tim-
ber is usually deal, imported from the Baltic, free of duty,
and it would be difficult for anyone wholly unacquainted
with mining operations, to form an idea of the vast quan-
tity which is used on such occasions. As the mine becomes
deeper, fresh excavations are made on new levels or floors ;
the intermediate parts of which are cast away and timbered
in a manner similar to what has been described, In fact,
as the work descends, it exhibits nothing but a repetition
of operations at stated depths varying but little from one
another until either the mine is worked out, or the expenses
incidental to its progress are found more than equal to the
profits. Mines are occasionally sunk to a very great depth.
One mine in Cornwall is said to be 1,800 feet deep, with
levels and other ramifications of proportionate extent. In
mines newly formed the operators usually ascend and de-
scend by buckets as before described, ‘but this would after
a short time, be found inconvenient ; on which account a

shaft is in generally cut on purpose for ascent and descent, -

called a foot way to the sides of which are attached iron
ladders. At the distance of about every 60 feet are landings
or resting places, formed of timber, having apertures for the

ladders made alternately in opposite directions, so that a

person could not in case of accident easily fall beyond 60
feet at any onetime, In the subterranean excavations, the
workmen are plentifully supplied with candles, notwith-
standing which there is often difficulty in procuring suf-
ficient light, for miners can work where there is scarcely
oxygen enough to sustain a small.flame. By the same

Sympathetic Inks. 375

force of habit they are also enabled to endure the excessive
heat incidental to places where little air can be introduced,
and, where the warmth of their own bodies occasions a
constant steam.

(To be continued.)

SVMEATHE TIC INKS.

HERE are four kinds of sympathetic inks. 1. When

the writing becomes visible by simply applying heat
or atmospheric moisture or dryness. 2. When peculiar
gases or vapours make it visible. 3. When solutions of
chemical or other compounds accomplish the same thing.
4. When the simple action of light will make the writing or
drawing visible (Photographic preparations). Of these we
give the first one, not on account of any merit or new dis-
covery, but simply of their interest in popular science.

FIRST CLASS—No. 1. Red Sympathetic Ink.—Nitrate of
the deutoxide of copper. A weak solution gives an in-
visible writing, which becomes red by heating.

No. 2. Yellow Sympathetic Ink—Chloride of copper.
A very dilute solution is used, invisible till heated. To
make it, dissolve equal parts of blue vitriol and sal ammo-
niac in water.

No. 3. Yellow and Green Ink.—Nitrate of nickel and
chloride of nickel. A weak solution forms an invisible ink
which becomes green by heating when the salt contains
traces of cobalt, which usually is the case; when pure, it
becomes yellow.

No. 4. Green and Red Ink.—Chloride of cobalt. A
properly diluted solution will produce a pink writing, which
will disappear when thoroughly dry, become green when
heated, disappear when cold, and pink again when damp.
When often or strongly heated it will at last become brown
red.

No. 5. Blue Ink.—Acetate of the protoxide of cobalt.
When the solution of this salt contains nickel or iron, the
writing made by it will become green when heated; when
it is pure and free of these metals it becomes blue.

No. 6. Light Brown Ink.—Bromide of copper. Perfectly
invisible writing, which appears very promptly by a slight

376 Graphotype. |

heating, and disappears perfectly by cooling. To prepare
it, take one part bromide of potassium, one part blue vitriol,
eight parts of water. It is better also to discolour the blue
vitriol with one part of alcohol.

Amusing Application—A winter scene may be so exe-
cuted that the green leaves of the trees and the grass on
the foreground are painted with ink made from cobalt and
nickel solution, No. 5; the red berries and flowers with
No. 1; yellow flowers and fruits with No. 2; and the blue
flowers with pure cobalt, No. 5. When such a picture is
slowly and carefully heated, the invisible parts of the plants
become visible, and it is as if the heat changed the winter
into asummer scene. There are several other substances
which may be used for invisible writing, which becomes so
by heating—lemon and onion juice, milk, diluted sulphuric
acid, Gzc:, Sc.

GRAPHOTYPE.

OME months ago, we noticed this process for doing

away with the labour of the engraver in our pages,

since which time it appears to have made great strides, not

only with publishers, in spite of the interested opposition

it naturally meets with, but in the estimation of the public,
who view the process as a great gain to art.

It is now being used for preparing blocks for colour
printing ; and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, who visited
the company’s premises the other day, accompanied by the
Duke of Edinburgh, Lord Newry, &c., has entrusted them
with a valuable drawing, representing the Prince and Suite
shooting wolves, &c., made by order of the Emperor of
Russia, and presented to the Prince as a memento of his
visit to that country, to be executed in fac simile by the
process.

The invention is also being turned to account in the
working of patterns in inlaid metals, to which the name of
Intagliography has been given, and very great results may
be anticipated in that direction. In fact, the applications
likely to be made of the art are so varied and numerous,
that it is impossible to foresee the extent of its future;
but we may call the attention of our readers to the

| CGraphotyfpe. Bey:

great advantages it possesses in the illustration of scientific
works.

Despite the great artistic value of this process, its ex-
treme rapidity, certainty, and economy, efforts are con-
tinually made either to suppress or ignore it, and numerous
objections are commonly urged against its more general
adoption, which will neither bear thinking about, nor in any
way seriously retard its ultimate success. Amongst these
objections is that of its never reproducing the artist’s fine
lines. When we consider that the artist’s lines could not
by any possibility be thickened at any stage of the pro-
cess, this objection seems a very weak one; but when
specimen prints are placed before us in which the very
finest lines appear, each clearly and sharply defined, it
fades out of sight. Strangely contradictory in this direc-
tion is another objection not less frequently repeated—viz.,
that the lines given by the process are invariably too fine,
or “scratchy,” as such a defect is technically termed. When
we add that the process has reproduced the bold, rich
effects of Gustave Doré’s drawings, it will be seen that this
objection also falls to the ground. But without entering
upon all the various statements brought forward, either in
a spirit of partizanship, or from interested motives, we may
simply state that we have seen—as any of our readers
interested in the matter may also see by visiting the
company’s premises in Garrick Street, Covent Garden—
drawings of the most varied kind and character, repro-
duced and printed with effects conclusively demonstrative
of the practical value and extreme usefulness of the
process.

That the art will be as serviceable towards cheap good
illustration, is as evident as that cheap printing has pro-
duced good and equally cheap literature. We are glad to
give encouragement to so young, yet so promising, an art,
feeling assured that as it grows in years it will increase in
usefulness.

378

FRESH WATER STICKLEBACKS IN SEA-
WATER AQUARIUM*

T is perhaps undoubted that sticklebacks (Gasterosteus
aculeatus), born and bred in fresh water, are able to
live, apparently without inconvenience, in sea water. It
may, however, not be uninteresting to some of our readers
to hear a short account of an endeavour to establish fresh-
water sticklebacks in a marine aquarium. Without fish of
some sort, an aquarium lacks one of its greatest attractions ;
but to keep them, it needs not only a_ well-constituted
balance of animal and vegetable life, but also a careful
selection of the sorts of animals. As the aquarium of which
the following account is written is not near the sea, diffi-
culty is found in obtaining salt water fish; and the innu-
merable fresh-water sticklebacks in the mill-streams near
Newport, suggested the plan of introducing some of them
to the society of their foreign brethren. My aquarium has
now been in existence for some fourteen months, and until
the 29th September last without any change of water. In
this respect, it has been more successful than any that I
have previously had. I believe that very much depends
on obtaining thoroughly pure water to begin with.

During the last year, I have, on several occasions, placed
fresh-water sticklebacks in the aquarium. Once I put in, I
think, five, and the next morning only one was to be seen—
and that one dead in the arms of an anemone, The same
day I put in another seven, and afterwards five or six more,
and similar numbers at other times, but always with the
same result,—none survived the second day, and most of
them disappeared after the first night. After the new sea-
water had been placed in the aquarium, I obtained five
sticklebacks of different sizes, one a tiny fish not more than
half an inch long, and the other four varying from one inch
to an inch and a half; two of these I placed at once into a
basin of sea-water, and the other three into a basin of fresh
water, to which I gradually added sea water. As they
seemed to be perfectly at ease in their new element, I
transterred them on the second day to the aquarium, and I
then sat myself down to watch, to see if I could discover
the enemy that destroyed these brilliant little fish.

. Within a very few minutes one of two prawns (Palemon

* Science Gossip.

Fresh Water Sticklebacks. 379

serratus), which were in the aquarium, came from its hiding
place and with great eagerness began searching for the
new comers, whose advent was, I suppose, announced to it
by a strange and delightfully new “fish-like smell.” It
soon found one of my little ones, and, seizing it by its
nippers, was carrying it off to kill and eat, or rather, I ex-
pect, eat and kill, when I came to the rescue of my pets
and sent the crystal dragon jerking away. It was, however,
of little use to stand on guard with my knitting-needle, I
could hardly shield the whole five from harm ; and to divert
the attention of the enemy I dropped large pieces of meat
into its claws, and so for a time succeeded in quieting him.
Being then called away I could only leave my pooi fish
with too sure a dread that havoc would be made amongst
ther soon.

Returning a few hours after, I found that one fish was
missing, and although I could not see any remains of it
either in the jaws of the prawn or in the aquarium, I had
little doubt now as to the secret of the disappearance of it
and its predecessors, and soon I had conclusive proof. I
came suddenly upon Master Prawn greedily eating another
of the fish, quite a third of it being already nibbled up.
Each day has seen another fish victimised, and this evening
I could not find the last solitary survivor, and so must con-
clude that all have vanished in the same way. I do not
believe that a single fish of this last lot was caught by an
anemone, although my anemones of each kind have been
widely expanded—luxuriating in the new water. Even
the fish whose body I found in the grasp of an anemone
was, I think, either driven to its fate by the pursuing
prawn, or was dropped dead into its clutches. I account
for the more rapid destruction of my previous lots of fish,
by the fact, that there were then nine or ten prawns in the
aquarium.

I have given thus full an account of my trials and failures,
because to my mind two things are pretty well proved—
first, that sticklebacks will live and thrive in sea water ; but
second, that if you wish to keep them, you must either not
have prawns with them, or else select very young prawns,
and sticklebacks of a superior size and strength to them.
I should be very sorry to banish prawns from my aquarium,
as they are both handsome and useful,—handsome in their
varied movements, and in their amber crystal bodies
heightened with gold and brown at the joints, and exceed-
ingly useful as scavengers.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. bel

380 Ser Edwin Landseer’s Lions.

Before concluding, I should like to ask if any philoso-
phical or other reason, has been found out wherefore some
few fresh-water fish will do well in sea water, whilst the
greater number, I believe, perish almost instantaneously,

SIR EDWIN LANDSEER’S LIONS.

IR Edwin Landseer’s animals, so long anticipated, so

tediously but so unavoidably detained for years, the

joke and jeer of every one who doubted their coming at

all, have at last silenced jokes of the dullest, puns of the

stalest description, and, as our Transatlantic brethren

would say, rendered sceptical anticipation “tarnation
small.”

Sir Edwin Landseer, like men holding that position in
art he inevitably does, has evoked and still continues to
call forth that criticism upon so stupendous a work from
so skilful a master.

England can boast more public statues than any city in
the world; what, however, we possess in quantity, we are
deficient in taste. Our monumental adornments are recog-
nizable as merely transcrips from Nature in bronze or
marble; and we naturally wonder where the secret of that
beauty and grandeur which delights the educated eye of
taste rests in the glorious triumphs in the noble imagery of
the middle ages, in the triumphal arts to be found in the
Parthenon, in Nineveh, and in Egypt.

In reference, however, to the statues before us, it is im-
possible to deny that Sir Edwin Landseer, as a painter,
possessed a knowledge of the brute form unequalled by
any painter, either ancient or modern. This is an unre-
served statement, and is naturally a bold assertion. Land-
seer has been pre-eminently successful in the subjects
before us, and has more than satisfied the anticipations of
the public by his truly naturalistic design. There is no
conventionality in the beasts, but a perfect freedom from.
adaptation. Whatever of artistic beauty is to be found in
such monumental remains as the granite lion of the time
of King Amenophis III. in the British Museum, in the
R®man traditional wolf, in the magnificent animals which
support the Siena Pulpit, or in the Florentine boar, or the
beauty of the horses of the sun both at Naples and Turin,

Szr Edward Landseer’s Lions. 381

with each and all of which every artist is acquainted, do
not outrival on the score of sculptural beauty, the lions of
Trafalgar Square. Critics have spoken of them in most
eulogistic terms, and we must follow in their train. They
are majestic and life-like ; the strength displayed in repose
is truly wonderful to contemplate. The eye, which to re-
present upon a dead surface is one of the greatest trials a
sculptor has to undertake, is by no means easy of accom-

_plishment, is, in fact, the difficulty of all others the sculptor

has to encounter; and most successfully has Sir Edwin
accomplished this. _

It may be a matter of regret that painters are not always
sculptors, and that their treatment are oftimes different,
and the chisel and the crayon are wielded with a different
aim. We have rare examples in Da Vinci and Michel
Angelo who were not merely painters, but the most perfect
and finished artists. In the lions before us we cannot help
recognising in their strength, dignity, and grace, much that
Wwe are accustomed to see on Landseer’s canvas. The
mallet and the chisel are missed in the contemplation of
the artistic beauty and life-like majesty of the animals be-
fore us. More than sixty years have now elapsed since
Horatio Nelson fell at the fatal Trafalgar. Every resource
of which our national genius was capable, was ransacked to
complete a fitting memorial of one for whom every British
heart must beat with pride, long as the period from its
commencement to its completion may appear; the raid is
well repaid by the ransack. No nobler monument, naught
in “sculptured urn or animated bust” could more ade-
quately convey through the medium of art the testimony
of a nation’s feeling to a nation’s pride. It is neither in
our province or our inclination to ventilate critical remarks
upon a work of which we all may be proud. Many are
the faults which some or other of our contemporaries dis-
cover and direct public attention to, are but as specks
which may well pass unnoticed in a work so pregnant with
the decided triumph of art.

Well, indeed, may the boasted crest of the Percies which
has been so long the admiration of our country cousins on
Northumberland house, hide his diminished head, tail, mane,
or anything else before his august brethren’s appearance.
Well, indeed, may that most rampant specimen of bad
taste, the sombre indistinct monument of the Iron Duke
look, in comparison with this more sombre and more dis-
tinct still. We cordially congratulate Sir Edwin Landseer

ee

382 Deodorizing India- Rubber.

on the insignant success he has achieved. We congratulate

the British nation upon the possession of a monument in- —

comparable with none ; and we individually congratulate
ourselves in having to share with thousands the satisfaction
of being possessed of what our countrymen must all admire.

DEODORIZING INDIA-RUBBER.*

HE extremely disagreeable odour attaching to india-
rubber manufactures, and the power possessed by

them of imparting a nauseous taste to liquids or other sub-
stances, has long been a difficulty in the way of its use for
many purposes for which india-rubber is peculiarly adapted.
To obviate this evil, many expedients have been resorted
to, but none hitherto with perfect success, and this on

account of the strong tendency which india-rubber has to ~

acquire and retain odours. ‘The new process, invented by
Mr. S. Bourne, depends upon the still greater affinity pos-
sessed by charcoal, especially animal charcoal, for all kinds
of odours, and its great capacity for the absorption of
gases. The practical difficulty lies in so using the charcoal
as not to injuriously affect the articles with which it may
be brought in contact, and this has now been overcome by
very simple means.

The mode of application necessarily varies, according to
the description of articles which are thus treated. Gene-
rally speaking, they are laid in shelves or trays in a hot
chamber, with a thin stratum of charcoal, beneath and on
top, and exposed to a temperature of from 120 to 180
degrees, for from three to six hours, after which they are
removed from the charcoal, having sustained no other
alteration than the all-important one of being rendered
devoid of smell, and incapable of imparting any taste to
liquids or other substances they may touch. Under proper
management, the most delicate textures can be thus dealt
with without being impaired either in substance or appear-
ance. The most convenient mode of applying heat is by
hot water or steam surrounding the vessel or chamber in
which they are placed. One very considerable advantage
of this process is, that fora large number of vulcanized

* Journal of the Society of Arts.

¥

.

a
d
un
~

Deodorizing India-Rubéoer. 383

articles it can be carried on in co-operation with the heat-
_ing or curing by which the vulcanization is effected, and
they leave the chamber at once free from odour. It is
equally applicable to india-rubber in sheet, spread fabrics,
or the garments or other articles made therefrom when
fully made up, such as the ordinary “macintosh” clothing,
air and water cushions, &c. The use of this process en-
ables the inventor to produce his “ flexible diaphragms”
(which were first brought before the public at the Dublin
Exhibition, where they obtained a prize medal) in so pure
a state, that they may be at once used with the most deli-
cate wines and other liquids. The diaphragm itself is a
contrivance for the division of casks, or other vessels, into
two separate chambers, by means of a flexible partition,
which fits to the upper or lower part of the vessel alter-
nately, or into any intermediate position, so that whatever
the quantity of liquor contained within it, the air (though
still exercising its pressure through the medium of the
diaphragm) is separated from it by an impervious shield,
and thus the injurious effects of exposure to atmospheric
influence are altogether avoided, and any portion of the
liquor may be withdrawn at pleasure, and as often as may
be, without any admission of air to the remaining portion.
In this way, vessels of wine and beer are stated to have
been actually kept in constant use for six and twelve
months without any fermentation or formation of acid
resulting. It is equally applicable to other liquids for
domestic use, or for medicinal or scientific purposes, the
fluid remaining as completely secured as if the vessel were
actually full.

An adjunct to this invention, and which admits also of
independent use, is in the elastic valves, in two varieties—
the one for giving vent to the products of fermentation,
when desired—such as the carbonic acid gas generated by
malt liquors, &c., the other for giving admission to air, SO
as to enable the liquid to flow through the tap, or other
orifice. In the one case a circular disk of vulcanized india-
rubber is made to cover a small opening through which
the gas is free to escape, but meets in its passage with the
—india-rubber, which being forcibly held down round its
edge, is at liberty to become distended, and in so distend-
ing, opens a number of very minute holes, which have been
previously pierced through its surface. When the pressure
is removed, the disk again becomes flat, and its orifices
shut. The degree of pressure to be sustained before these

384 On the Commerce af Mexico.

perforations open is perfectly under control, and may be
adjusted to any requred degree. .

In the other form, a small cylinder of india-rubber,
closed at its lower end, is drawn over a corresponding
cylinder of wood with a hole through its centre, and then
tightly bound at its upper edge. The india-rubber has a
number of slits made in its substance, which (when any
orifice through which the liquor may flow is opened) re-
ceives the pressure of the air, and yielding to this, open,
so as to let the air enter the vessel in exactly the same
extent as liquor is withdrawn. When the flow of liquor is
stopped, the edges of the slits become drawn together, so
as to prevent any escape of liquor or gas in a wrong direc-
tion. Should there be any pressure from within upon the
surface of the india-rubber, this will only tend to the more
perfect closing of the slits, and thus, while affording suffi-
cient ingress, altogether restrain egress.

ON THE COMMERCE OF MEXICO.

MIDST the vegetable productions which most ex-
cited the attention of the Europeans who first set
foot upon the Mexican continent was the plant Slerandria
Monogynia, according to Linnzus, denominated by the
Aztecs “ Metl,” and by the Spaniards “ Maguey,” probably
from the latter having been the generic name amongst the
natives of Hispaniola or Santo Domingo for the common
aloe, which plant, although somewhat like it, is, however,
by no means to be confounded with the maguey, which
belongs to the family of the agave, a name derived from
the Greek word “agavus” (ayavo&n), admirable.

The maguey is “the tree of wonders” (“el arbol de las
marabulas”), says the monk, José Acosta, who visited
Mexico in the year 1586, in his “ Natural History of the
Indies,’ published at Madrid in 1608; and up to the pre-
sent day it may be considered, in its numerous varieties, as
one of the most important productions of the Mexican soil.

The beverage produced from it denominated pulgue, to
which I cursorily alluded in a former report, was, as it
would appear, well known to the ancient inhabitants of the
Mexican continent from the fabulous traditions connected

On the Commerce of Mexico. 385

with it, and which were collected by the missionaries who
came to the country in the early days of the Spanish occu-
pation; one of these is the destruction of a race of giants
indigenous to the valleys of Atogqac and Matlacuege (llax-
cala), and of cruel propensities, by more civilized races who
had come to settle there; the former having fallen asleep
from the somniferous effects of the juice of the maguey,
whilst the discovery of the juice itself, whether under its
ancient denomination of “metl,” “agua-miel” (honey-
water), or pulque, was attributed by a portion of the an-
cient inhabitants of Mexico to the god Izquitecatl, as
would appear from various symbolical inscriptions found in
the country. More modern tradition has fixed the epoch
of its discovery as having been about the year 1045 to
1050, under the reign of the eighth king of the Tal‘ec tribe,
named Tepancaltzin, at whose court a relation of his
named Pepantzin presented himself, and informed him
that his daughter had discovered that a sweet and aromatic
liquid sprung forth from the met! plants in her garden.
The king ordered her into his presence, and she brought
him a “tecomatl,” or vase, of the liquid she had discovercd,
which he tasted, and then ordered her to bring him more ;
and subsequently becoming enamoured of the maiden,
whose beauty was great, and whose name was Xochil, or
“flower,” he married her, of which union a child was born,
to whom was given the name of Mcconetzin, or “son of
the metl,” or maguey, in allusion to the circumstance
which was the origin of his parent’s first interview.

Whether the discovery of the use of the juice of the
maguey is really to be attributed to the god Izquiticatl,
or to the queen Xochil, there is no doubt that the divers
properties of the plant itself were known many years before
the discovery of Mexico by the Spaniards; for not only is
it mentioned as furnishing thorny scourges, as well as
whips made of the fibres of the plant’s leaves, for the mul-
titudes who annually met to celebrate a festival in honour
of the god Texcat lipuca in the great temple of Tenoch-
titlau (the modern Mexico), but the use of the juice became
so general, that many severe laws against the drunkenness
resulting from it were issued by the ancient Mexican kings,
mention being made of a widow who sold it promiscuously
having been put to death by order of the King Netzahual-
cogatl; only women suckling infants, old people, and sol-
diers upon the march being allowed to drink it.

As we have before said, notwithstanding that the prim-

Ny a ein hn’ |
4, es

386 On the Commerce of Mextco.

ary object of those Spaniards who came to Mexico in the
earlier periods of its subjection was to search for the pre-
cious metals, the maguey plant also occupied their atten-
tion very considerably, especially when increased inter-
course with the natives revealed the variety of uses to
which the plant was put by them, and it was lengthily
treated upon by the authors of the time, although from
similarity of form it was not unfrequently confounded with
the common aloe, and even sometimes considered to be a
gigantic species of the thistle or cardon.

The following description of the plant is taken from the
narrative of a gentleman in the suite of Ferdinand Cortes
(“ Relacion de un Gentilhombre de la comitiva de Hernan
Cortes”), published at Venice in 1606 :—

. “A plant exists in this country (Mexico) which is at once a
tree and a thistle; the leaves are as wide as the knee, and longer
than the arm ; a stem springs from the centre of it, which attains
to two or three times the height of a man, and its bulk is that of
a child six or seven years old. When it is ripe the Indians cut
the stem at the bottom, which produces a juice which they drink
to excess, losing their senses and falling to the ground. This
plant is of extreme utility, for it produces wine, vinegar, honey,
and a beverage resembling cooked grape juice (pulque under
some of its varieties). It also serves for the manufacture of gar-
ments for both sexes, of shoes and ropes, and is also used as
rooffing for houses. The natives also preserve the leaves of this
tree or thistle, which is as much esteemed by them as the vine is
by Europeans ; from which leaves, after toasting them in ovens
dug in the ground, and drawing out the fibres, they manufacture
a drink (mezcal, to which allusion is made further on), with which
they intoxicate themselves. The natives call the plant the
maguey.”

Ferdinand Cortes says, in the second of his letters to
the Emperor Charles V., in describing the market of
Tenochtitlau (Mexico), “they (the natives) sell honey made
by bees and honey made from maize stalks, which are as
sweet as the sugar-cane, and also honey made from the
plant, the maguey, and from this same plant they also make
sugar and wine.’

To the various uses to which the maguey plant was
turned by the ancient Mexicans, and which were so much
commented upon by the writers of the period, may be
added that of the making of paper from the skin of the
leaves, many curious old documents still existing of that
material, as well as the manufacture of a kind of soap from

On the Commerce of Mexico. 387

the root. As tothe extent of the lands appropriated to
the culture of the plant, the writers in question give scanty
information, but still sufficient to show that it was culti-
vated on an extensive scale in the States of Tollan, of
Texcoco, and Mexico, as well as in the independent Re-
publics of Tlaxcala, Tluexcingo, and Cholula, and other
districts of the Valleys of Puebla and Mexico, where the
vassals paid a great part of their tribute-money in clothes
and sandals made of “ixtli” or maguey fibre, and it is
worthy of observation that the above-mentioned districts
were the most thickly populated of the ancient Mexican
territory, which is stated, perhaps somewhat vaguely, by
the old Spanish writers, to have contained more than
30,000,000 inhabitants.

_ Dr. Hernandez,a botanist, whowas sent to make researches.
in Mexico by Philip I]. in the year 1570, makes mention
of ten different species of the maguey plant as existing
within the Mexican territory, assigning to each, under their
Indian names of Metl Coztl, Mexcalmetl, Mexocatl, Ne-
quametl, Tepemexcalli, Tlacametl, Teometl, Pati, Quet-
zalichtle, and Kalometl, some peculiar medicinal pro-
perties or domestic uses; whilst ancient tradition, as well
as the assertions of such of the rural population as are
employed in this branch of agriculture, testifies to the
existence of thirty different varieties of the plant in the
chief maguey-producing district of the Plains of Apam
(Llanos de Apam) alone, which district is situated in the
States of Mexico, Puebla, and Tlaxcala.

The maguey plant may be cultivated to a height of
10,000 feet above the level of the sea, but is cultivated
with greater success at a somewhat lower elevation, about
9,000 feet, but ceases altogether to grow at 5,800 feet. It
requires an average temperature of 15° (Reaumur), and
flourishes from that to 26°, the most favourable quantity of
humidity in the air being about 35° to 50° of De Saussure’s
hygrometer in dry weather. For the complete develop-
ment of its flowers it requires about 62 degrees of heat
(centigrade) as a diurnal maximum. The juice of the
plant is the least mucilaginous in a somewhat clayey soil,
but, if the soil be too dry, so many mucilaginous particles
are secreted in the juice that an inferior kind of pulque,
called “ ilachique,” can alone be manufactured from it.

Whilst the maguey plant is grown in the Valley of
Mexico itself, in that of Toluca, in that of Puebla, in that
of Texcoco, in Pachuca, in many districts of the States of

388 On the Commerce of Mexico.

Oaxaca and Tehuantepec, Queretaro, Guanaxuato, and
Michoacan, at St. Juan de los Llanos, Cuatla de Amilpas,
Huichapan, Tulancingo, and in many other places in the
Mexican Empire, which it would be tedious to specify, and
also, to a more limited extent, in the States of San Luis
and Tamaulipas, and that particular species producing
“henequen,” to which we shall presently refer, in Yucatan,
the great maguey district is that of the plains of Apam
(Llanos de Apam), embracing a range of territory of more
than 600 square leagues, almost covered with the plant,
either in its wild or cultivated state, and abounding in rich
estates.

This vast maguey district is now entirely destitute of
trees, although vestiges remain of cedar forests having for-
merly existed there, the soil being light, stony, and appa-
rently arid in many places; indeed, nothing can be less
agreeable to the eye, or promising in its general aspect,
than these, or any other maguey plantations, although so
surprisingly productive.

The two year old plant of the best species is commonly
valued at about a quarter of a dollar, the four year old
plant at 2 dollars, the eight year old plant at 4 dollars, and
those of from twelve to fifteen years old at from 6to 8
dollars ; and thus there are maguey growers in the district
in question, whose estates are not worth less than some
millions of dollars, taking into account the amount of
pulque produced. There are few branches of agriculture,
indeed, so productive in any country, as is proved by the
following calculation based upon a careful study of the
subject, taking, as a basis, ground well adapted for the
cultivation of the maguey, and an imaginary number of
1,000 plants :—

Dolls. c

Cost of plants, transport, transplanting, &c. a) 2geeae
Cultivation during 15 years i sie .«) , BGs 8
_ Contributions during the same period Pe
Total a 363.2

At the expiration of eight, ten, twelve, fifteen, and six-
teen years, each of these plants will have produced ; and if
the return made by each be calculated at only 5 dollars,
we find that a capital, which may be estimated at about
400 dollars, will have produced (it is true after a long in-
terval of time) the immense return of 5,000 dollars.

(To be continued.)

389

UNIVERSITY REFORM.
BY THE REV. GEORGE WALKER, M.A.

A CANDID but rational inquiry into the progress and
establishment of our Universities, may be con-
sidered a theme not unworthy the pen of even the foremost
essayists of the present day. While the open violence and
utter ignorance of the dark ages left the great body of
Europe languid and apathetic of vigour,a ray of intel-
lectual light gently insinuated itself into the minds of the
more thoughtful, gradually increased in silence, derived
fresh strength from various regions, and finally burst forth
into a blaze, which has dispensed life, not only to those at
home, but to the natives of the most distant shores that
stretch from the burning east to the distant west. But this
inquiry, however useful and entertaining, is attended with
so many peculiar difficulties, that for the present it will,
perhaps, be deemed sufficient merely to give a glance at the
position of our great Universities as they now stand, and
endeavour hereafter to dispel any dark cloud that may
appear to hang over them. The great law of impartiality
obliges the imperfections to be revealed; but it will be
found upon close observation, that what at first sight
appeared to cast a shade upon the splendour of the ancient
and glorious seats of learning, will greatly disappear when
subjected to a careful and critical analysis. This analysis,
it is allowed, must discover the inevitable mixture of error
and corruption; but, on the other hand, it will disclose the
University arrayed in remarkable and ruling purity. The
Universities of England are peculiar in their establishments,
in their customs and laws. They are peculiar inasmuch as
they cannot be used as instruments to execute a part in
the history of the country ; and yet they effectually assist
in no small degree by sending out streams of living waters,
which enliven, invigorate, and-improve, wheresoever the
current may run, and it sometimes does run with the
strength and fury of atorrent. The inflexible, increasing
perseverance which has ever characterised those abodes of
science and literature, and still more so the condition of
the present age, seem to force the question of a more
extended sphere of action upon the mind of the public,
but more especially to arrest the attention of those whose
high and responsible privilege it is to guard over and con-

390 Reviews.

duct those busy spheres of intellectual life, so that harmony
shall be the grand resultant of social progress.

But as theory, though constructed on principles the most
philosophical, is often apt to lead to failure, it would be
futile and puerile to endeavour, in so short a compass, to
enter even into the very elements that are required to
be the harbingers of a University Reform. It is a well
known fact that most boys attending our public schools
and belonging to the senior forms without additional study
could easily obtain their B.A. degree. Latin, Greek,
Mathematics, Philosophy, and Science, might be acquired
in London or any of the large provincial towns, quite
adequate for anyone possessed of common. intellectual
abilities to enable him to participate in academical honours,
and at a far less cost than that acquired at our leading
Universities. Why, then, should such a price be paid for
an Oxford or Cambridge tuition? The answer is probably
to be found in the maintenance of that system of disci-
pline and association which stamps such a tone of everlast-
ing inseparability between student and student that leads
to the grand fact that the literate peasant isas good as the
landed peer. |
' (To be continued.)

REV PE ws.

Letters from Flell, London: Bentley. | ‘

AN ominous title, forsooth, and one which will perhaps
militate against its appearance in the libraries of the
fastidious. After all, what is in a name, redolent though
the book before us is of aught but a pleasant one, we can-
not ignore it on its name alone. The title is sensational
enough: the matter equally so. We have. carefully
perused its contents, and all we can say is, that its Title is
its worst feature. It may be depressing, but it is true to
nature; no jaundiced vision obscures its pages; it is indis-
putably a work which in its sphere must do good. Nothing
immoral, little of obscurity and less of imagination are to
be found in it. We congratulate Mr. Bentley in having
courage to produce a work which at first sight appears too
bad, but which, on maturer deliberation, stands in a posi-
tion, whether religiously or morally, of much importance.

*' 4, 3
‘A
hd

Reviews. 391

The Contemporary Review. London: Strahan.

THE February number of this serial is on our table, con-
taining, for those who are admirers of Robert Browning,
a second paper on his poems. Perhaps its most salient
feature, however, is its article by the Rev. Thomas Markby
on “ Public Schools,” gleaned as it is from the report of
Her Majesty's Commissioners of 1864, and the “ Public
School Calendar” of 1866. We know what public schools
are ; we know that there are all but double the scholars at
Eton as there are at Westminster, and an equal number of
the former as at Winchester; but we are desirous of
knowing what the ulterior results of Foundation Schools
are with respect to future academical training. We learn
from page 151 of this Review that “It is amusing to com-
pare the two first-class men and one wrangler, which it
cost Winchester tex years to produce, with fourteen first-
class men and seven wranglers, which it cost Shrewsbury
in the same time to furnish.” We will now dive into the
pecuniary expenses which the able writer has set before us
of the comparative expenses of public schools—say, for the
sons of laymen, including every expense, half-yearly :-—

Lo serd.
Shrewsbury 47-18 ©
Marlboro’ College e (the cheapest) 43 16 6
Rugby ; OF OF Os O
Winchester : Hes 56 12606

Of Eton, quoting from fie pages before us the following
will serve as a guide :—

“The cost of the board and tuition of a little boy in the
lower school is £100 a year. The highest bill sent in at
Christmas, 1861, on account of a lower schoolboy, was
£67 14s. 8d. (It should be observed that at Eton the year
is divided into three, not two, portions.) This very young
gentleman had managed in the course of rather less than
three months to spend nearly 410 on his tailor, and
£4 6s. 6d. on hats and gloves. The lowest at the same
time was £44 4s. Id. In this case the tailor got but 7s. 6d.,
the hatter and glover 2s., the hair-cutter nothing at all. A
thrifty boy that! <A boy living in the house of an upper
school assistant-master cost his father at Easter, 18509,
£72 9s. 8d. This was a high bill. But this youth spent

much less on the adornment of his body than the little

Absalom of the lower school. An ordinary bill of the
same date comes to 455 19s. 7d. In the upper school,

392 ? Reviews.

board in a tutor’s house costs 4120 a year. Ina dame's
house it is about 420 or £30 less. Other charges, we sup-
pose, are much the same. But Mr. Evans, who has one of
these houses, thinks the payment not remunerative. Cer-
tainly it gives one a startling notion of the expensive way
in which things are done at Eton to find that the addition
of “evening things,” that is to say, tea, sugar, bread, butter,
and milk, in a house of thirty or forty boys cost the
“dame” £470 a year. However, we fancy a good many
able schoolmasters would be very glad to change places
with Mr. Evans.”

Press of matter prevents our going further into the merits
of this number. We will, however, with pleasure resume
it in our next. All we can say of the contributors of Zhe
Contemporary—ex uno disce omnes.

The Victoria Magazine. London: Emily Faithful.

Has in its last number more than completed its eighth
volume, contains much and most interesting matter. We
are no advocates for blue stockings, but we must confess
under so safe a pilot as Miss Faithful, whose prestige in
the literary world and whose endeavours for the good of
her countrywomen have been most insignant, we can not
wonder at the success of the present number. The Victoria
is feminine in the extreme, well indeed worth reading is the
Authorised Translation of Madame Dora D’Isbia’s
(authoress of “ The Women of the East”) “ Women of the
Latin and Germanic Races.” “A Lady’s Ascent of the
Dent du Midi” is a very noticeable article in the present
number, and pourtrays to the heroes of the Alpenstock
what a woman cando. The Victoria abounds with much
pleasing matter, especially to our fairer readers.

We are given to understand that an eminent art critic
is now on its staff, and that its strictures on science and
art will form no unimportant feature in its pages.

The People’s Magazine. (Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel.)

One of those journals which are circulated to dissemi-
nate true principles and true religious feeling amongst
an important class of readers. It contains much very in- |
teresting matter. .

Reviews 393

Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects. London: Strahan,
Ludgate hill.

WE know no book more calculated to do good in its sphere
than this. We have heard of a charming little book called
“Philosophy in Sport made Science in Earnest.” It had
for its aim the simplification of everything abstruse. Sir
J. F. W. Herschel has done more in the pages before us to
simplify science, and place it within the reach of popular
readers, and before minds who can grasp an idea if put
before them in a plain and simple manner. We know no
work which will make its way in the schoolroom or in pri-
vate tuition preferable to this.

ee ee

Goethe's Minor Poems. Translated by Edward Chawner,
late Captain 77th Regiment. London: F. Pitman, Pater-
noster Row.

THE translator has undertaken a very arduous task, and
although the poems of Goethe lose greatly in being clothed
in an English dress, of the contents of the volume before
us we can say with confidence that they are but clothed in
an English dress, and are not, as is too often the case, in
translations, disguised. The work is admirably got up, in
Mr. Pitman’s best style.

The Argosy. London: Strahan.

THIS gay little bark continues to ride manfully the billows
of public opinion, and is freighted with a cargo of really
sterling matter, both grave and gay. “Larry Geoghegan,
or a Drive with a Dublin Carman,” is perhaps one of the
raciest sketches we ever read. An Irish carman is always
a mirth-provoking rascal, but the one in question intensely
so. It appears he had been formerly intended for the
priesthood, but somehow or other, as Flaccus reports of
Cato—
““ Narratus et prisci Catonis
Sepe mero caluisse virtus.”

which our Jehu considers admirably translated by—

“Of Cato, the straightlaced ‘tis commonly said,
His Cinsorship rarely went sober to bed.”

The long and short of it was, that Bacchus was too
potent a friend for Larry, and he leaves college, a sfozlt

394 Reviews.

priest. The whole story is irresistible, from beginning to
end. What follows may serve as an instance :—

“All min, Larry,” says he to me, “all min has their wake-
nesses ; and by the same rule,” says he, “you, Larry, and me has
our wakenesses—and mine is cruiskeen lawn. And grate min,”
says he, “has grate wakenesses;” so, says he, ‘‘as our wake-
nesses is grate, a sharp logician would know what inference to
draw from that primmiss about our noble selves; but on that
point,” says he, “I’m silent, for modesty forbids me to press the
conclusion. But now, as to loving one’s wife, sure Adam loved
Eve, ‘the mother of all the living,’ and there can be no harrum
in the loving Norah. I’m for the glass,” says he, “not for the
lass. But sure that first-rate saint, St. Peter, himself, had a wife ;
and St. Paul, may be, had one afterwards, for all I know, and
small blame to him if he had. And the priests in the Old Testa-
ment, from Aaron downwards, had wives ; and in the New Testa-
ment they had wives ; and I can’t for the life of me see, Larry,
why you couldn’t be a very good priest, although the holy fathers
turned you off o-head of Norah. Sure your own father and
mother were holy persons in wedlock, and it would be crule and
scandalous to deny it? And why should’nt they be satisfied if
you was as holy as thim? I say this, Larry. for your sake, my
boy, for you see that the colleen dhasses has no shupayrior charm
for me. Paullo majora canamus, as the divine Virgil says—there’s
something I vally twenty times more than that, as the cock said,
you remimbir, when he turned up the jewel on the dunghill,
according to Aisopus. And would you be after hearing what
that same liking is? ’Tis whisky, my lad o’ wax—whisky, the
dew of the mountain, the bnghtness of the sunbame, the water of
life. Och, did you ivver see whisky a-makin’, you jewel,” says
he, in a burst of rapture—‘“ because, if you didn’t, you never
seen the poetry of manufacture, and the joy of the world. First,
you see,” says he, “there’s the steepin’ of the grain in a nice
sweet boghole; and thin there’s the drying of it to make it into
malt ; and thin there’s the mashin’ of it in hot water, a symbol of
its futur’ fate in the scramin’ hot punch; and thin there’s the
mixin’ of the wort; and thin there’s the pouring the wash into
the pot—potikin—poteen ; and thin there’s the screwin’ on the
lid with the beautiful crooked neck to it, like the swans in the
Phoenix Park, only that they’re not a farthing candle to it; and
thin there’s the worrum with ever so many miles of twists and
turns in it, coils and raytikkle-ations and circumbendibuses,
all cooped up in a nate tub; and thin there’s the lightin’ of
the fire under it; I don’t think Polyphaymus or Promaytheus
ivver lit or stole a fire with half the excitement it causes. Och,
and thin, Larry, after the poteen boils, and the stame rises, to see
it come dribblin’ out, drop, drop, liquid goold, out of the dirty _

Reviews. 395

matayrial barley, sure ’tis a transmagnification that bates all the
metamurphosys of Ovid, as far as Blarney bangs Banagher. Och,
Larry,” says he—and he hugged me to his heart as he said it—
“Och, Larry, to taste the first glass of that aqua vite, that well-
be-named water of life, nayther could nor hot, but with the
breath of the fire on it still, it’s like a whiff of heaven, or a fore-
taste of the nectar of Paradise !”

Dr. Pick on Memory. Uondon: Tribner and Co.

THIS work which appears to have been very successful, has
reached its fourth edition, appears dissimilar to the works
antecedent on the subject, inasmuch as the learned author
does not base his system on mere Mnemonical or artificial,
but on a mental concatenation of events, an abstract, but
coherent adaptation of things both analogous and conversely
so, whereby the minds may be strengthened and the
memory brought to bear upon antecedent and contempo-
raneous events, with a fidelity hardly creditable. The
system is applicable to the permanent retention of numbers
concrete or otherwise, and in fact, to history, chronology,
chemistry, and foreign languages, equally with abstract
science—other Mnemoists have done much, but the virtue
of Dr. Pick’s system is, that he abjures all Mnemonican aid,
and bases his system upon that due exercise of the mental |
faculties which must ever command success.

Pure Dentistry, and What it Does for Us. By A. Eskell.
Grosvenor street, Grosvenor square, London. John
Clemerts.

WE have received the second edition of this little work,
and must congratulate the author on the lucid, genuine,
and coherent manner in which he treats his subject. Apart
from the merits which this book possesses as a medical
manual, which are indisputably great, it forms a pleasing
and complete compendium of Pure Dental Surgery. The
great advantage Mr. Eskell’s book strikes us as possessing
is that of total absence of medical puff. |

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. eK

396

CORRES? CONVEY ea

——_——_—.

THE PRESENT STATE OF METEOROLOGY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TECHNOLOGIST.

Sir,—No progress whatever has been made in the most
important department of meteorology—viz, foretelling
weather, notwithstanding the industry displayed by meteo-
rologists in making and recording “ observations,” and this
want of progress is in consequence of, as the late Admiral
Fitzroy said, “too little attention having been i to
practical results.”

That the state of meteorology is discreditable to
the present age, is a fact admitted and lamented by all.
Other sciences have made rapid and vast improvement,
but meteorology is still in its infancy. The laws regulating
atmospheric changes and disturbance are as far from being
discovered as they were when the earliest observations
were made. Whyis this? I believe that it is because due
consideration has not been given to the coczcidences of atmo-
spheric with astronomic phenomena.

To give your readers an insight into the present state of
meteorology, it will be necessary to quote several passages
of the report in question. But I desire it to be understood
that in so doing, I do not wish to detract from the just
esteem in which the memory of the late Admiral Fitzroy
is held. With the means at his command—which were
very inadequate to the objects he sought to attain—the
late Admiral did all that it was possible fora scientific man
to do in his position, and moreover, he sacrificed his life in
the cause he espoused. He sought no selfish ends, but
ever the advancement of science.

It appears from the report of the committee that in con-
sequence of a resolution passed by the British Association
and communicated to the Board of Trade in December,
1859, and also of an invitation from M. Le Verrier,
Director of the Imperial Observatory at Paris, to the
British Government to join in his system of telegraphing
the state of the weather daily from port to port in France,
and from other ports of Europe, “arrangements were made
during the summer of 1860 for the regular daily communi-
cation by telegraph to London of the state of the weather
at fifteen stations in the United Kingdom, for receiving
telegrams of weather from various places in Europe through

Correspondence. 3907

Paris; and for the daily communication by telegram to
Paris of the state of the weather at certain points in the
United Kingdom. The facts thus communicated to the
Meteorological Department were thenceforth published in
the daily papers.

“Tn August, 1861, a great extension of the weather pre-
dictions took place, first in extending the storms signals to
many places not previously warned—viz., to 130, as it
would seem, instead of to 50 places as at first; and in
making daily forecasts of the weather in the newspapers.”

The late Admiral Fitzroy stated in his report of 1862
that, “ By continued and consecutive series of charts, several
hundred in number, constructed on the synchronous prin-
ciple, an insight into the laws of our atmosphere, into
meteorological dynamics (distinct from statistical results,
previously obtained at observatories and elsewhere), has
been gained, which has enabled us to know what weather
will prevail during the next two or three days, and as a
corollary, when a storm may occur.”

The Committee, in their report, state, however, that
“The maxims on which the Department acts in foretelling
weather, whatever they may be, and whatever may be their
intrinsic value, are not shown to have been obtained and
established in the Department itself by means of accurate
induction from observed facts. Neither is there any evi-
dence that in framing such maxims, the various attempts
of other meteorologists to give precision to the science
Mame been whilized.: © =: >. Nor-do we--find*'that the
experience of the Department in issuing these predictions,
which is now of five years’ standing, has been turned to
account in reducing the practice to a system. The fore-
cast issued on two succeeding days for the third day differ
from one another in every possible way.”

Again: “ Under these circumstances, we cannot say that
there is evidence that the daily forecasts have been correct
in point of fact, or that ‘we are enabled, to use the words
quoted above, ‘to know what weather will prevail during
the next two or three days, and as a corollary, when a storm
wil occur. ”

And at page 35, the Committee say that “it seems to us
obvious that the pra>tice of issuing storm warnings can
neither be discontinued, nor allowed to continue in their
present unscientific, and therefore unsatisfactory, condition.
It can never be satisfactory till we have arrived at a more
complete knowledge of the laws which govern the changes

K 2

398 Correspondence.

of. weather in the British Isles than we now possess. . . .
Considering that there is as yet no scientific basis for the
daily forecasts, that they are not shown to be generally
correct in point of fact, and that there is no evidence of
their utility, we see no good reasons why a Government
Department should continue to undertake the responsi-
bility of issuing them. In this conclusion we believe we
are borne out by the best practical meteorologists. M. Le
Verrier, who for some time attempted a practice of the.
same kind, has given it up. Maury is opposed to it. M.
Dove, of Berlin, is confining himself to a system of storm
warnings, and appears to find some difficulty even in this.
M. Matteucci, of Turin, was obviously in difficulty, even as
regards the storm warnings. And we may add, that we
can find no evidence that any competent meteorologist
believes the science to be at present in such a state as to
enable an observer to indicate day by day the weather to
be experienced for the next forty-eight hours throughout
a wide region of the earth’s surface.”

The Committee have made some excellent suggestions
as to the method of conducting and recording future
meteorological observations; but although they say they
found “no evidence that the various attempts of other
meteorologists to give precision to the science have been
utilized” at the Meteorological Department, the Committee
do not recommend any system of weather-prediction for
investigation and trial. .

La Place, in his “Essai sur les Probabilities,’ says:
“We are so far from knowing all the agents of nature,
and their different modes of action, that it would be un-
philosophical to deny the existence of phenomena because
they are zwextlicable in the present state of human know-
ledge.’

The facts being established, their raison d’étre becomes
a subordinate question. What Napoleon III. calls /a
logique des faits, is the very best logic applicable to this
question.

I do not yet understand the modus operandi. The late
Admiral believed that “the Moon is a great disturber by
gravitation ; while the Sun isso chiefly by heat.” I believe
that the apparent influence of the planets on the atmo-
sphere arises from the “ght reflected by them into the
atmosphere, which light acts chemically or electrically
according to its nature. The statement that, out of an
equal quantity of light incident upon the two bodies, —

Correspondence. 399

Jupiter* reflects fourteen times more of the chemical rays
than the Moon does” (Astronomical Society, May toth,
1861), strengthens me in this belief.

Unfortunately, misrepresentation too often takes the
place of fair criticism of Astro-Meteorology. A writer in
the A thenceum, in reviewing the “ Weather Guide Book”
said, “this is a book on weather-astrology.” This state-
ment is very unjust, and calculated to prejudice the minds
of the readers of the Athenwum against the system. It
cannot be too often repeated, that Astronomic-Meteorology
is altogether distinct from Astrology. The leading principle
of the former science is that the planets influence the
atmosphere at certain periods; while the leading principle
of astrology is that the planets influence men and women
individually. To a certain extent the planets influence
the public health, indirectly at least, through the changes
they produce in the stmosphere. A belief in this is very
different and totally distinct from a belief that the confi-
curation of the heavens at the moment of birth of a child
influences him or her for good or for evil, according to the
nature of the horoscope, all through his or her life in this
world.

Astronomy was formerly connected with astrology,
but astronomy is not neglected and called astrology on
that account. In like manner was chemistry formerly
associated with alchemy, but chemistry is not neglected
and misrepresented on that account. There exists an
indisposition on the part of the gentlemen of the press—
with a few honourable exceptions—to ventilate Astro-
Meteorology. I know full well how frequently a great
pressure on the space of a daily journal prevents the
editor from inserting communications he would otherwise
publish. But this is not the case with a magazine. In
the Cornhill Magazine (March, 1865), the following para-
graph appeared in an article on “The Winds ”—* Until
the ‘astro-meteorologists’ tell us the principles on which
their calculations are based, we must decline to receive
their predictions as worthy of any credence whatever.” I
accordingly wrote to the editor of the Cornhill Magazine,
offering to contribute, free of expense, a paper on Astro-

* Jupiter was on the Southern tropic (¢#. e., at extreme S. decli-
nation) on November zoth, 1865. On that day the thermometers
at Adelaide Observatory (Australia) marked 113°°5 in the shade,
and 155°°5 in the sun’s rays !

400 Correspondence.

nomic-Meteorology, but the editor, in reply, “ begged to
decline” my “ obliging offer.”

I have shown how the Government system of foretelling
weather has failed, and also how Astronomic-Meteorology
is neglected. I appeal to your readers to exert their
influence—and much may be done by individual exertion
—to use their utmost endeavours to obtain for Astro-
Meteorology a fair and speedy trial.

I shall be glad to receive, through your columns, any
“ observations” with which your readers may favour me.

Apologising for having so far trespassed on your valuable
space,
: I remain, Sir, yours faithfully,

ALFRED J. PEARCE.
12 Gloucester street, Belgravia.

REMARKS ON THE NATURE OF A‘THER.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TECHNOLOGIST.

S1rR,—I beg leave to forward to you for insertion in your
valuable Journal a few paragraphs on the physical pro-
perties of ether, about to be inserted in the beginning of
my first chapter on Light, thinking they may interest many
of your readers, who would never dream of dipping into
the pages of a professedly elementary work, for the remote
chance of finding some idea with which they were not
already familiar; and I do so the more willingly because
I desire to court investigation of an important point in
physics from those who are more competent than most of
my ordinary readers to entertain the question at issue.

That some material medium pervades infinite space, as
the means of transmission of the light- and heat-waves (as
the case may be) of the heavenly bodies, is indispensable
to the dynamical theory ; but is it equally, or indeed at all,
necessary to imagine that the portion of space within the
confines of air atmosphere, which is occupied by ordinary
matter, amenable to our senses, as well as to the universal
law of gravitation, must be occupied by a strange and
anomalous form of matter amenable to neither? Proba-
bilities appear to negative this question. But it will be
immediately asked, how can zther be imagined to avoid
pervading our atmosphere and all other kinds and forms
of matter? Simply by ascribing it to a property of oz-

ui :
é oe oe
m a
opis
m.

Correspoudence. 401

miscibility with our atmosphere, like oil with water—a
quality not entirely adverse to experience nor repugnant
to reason. The question, then, naturally arises, what be-
comes of the waves of heat and light when they reach our
atmosphere ?—and is ordinary matter sufficient and effectual
for this transmission? ‘This question can be answered only
by analogy, which appears to infer an affirmative.

That sound waves are transmitted by air, and not by
interstitial ather, is unquestionable; and if air be capable
of transmitting 25,000 vibrations in one second, it would
probably be difficult to assign any valid reason why the
same medium is incapable of transmitting the far more
rapid waves of heat and light; and if incapable, then
where lies the necessity for assuming the presence of
another medium : ?

Again, the refraction of sound, as demonstrated by fie
experiments ef), Hajech and Sondhans (565, 564), is in
exact accordance with the laws hitherto assigned to the
refraction of light and heat. But the phenomena of the
refraction of light require a very forced addendum to the
interstitial-zether-hypothesis—namely, that the elasticity of
the zther zs dependent upon that of the medium which tt
pervades—an unprecedented influence of one kind of matter
on other merely contiguous matter. And it appears that
the velocity of sound in solid and liquid is much greater
than in air (545); in water it is nearly 5,000 feet, and in
iron nearly 17,000 feet in one second: is there, then, any
known fact whatever that tends to assign a limit to the
possible velocity of transmission of wave-motion through
those and other material media? If not, then the presence
of ether, as generally assumed, cannot be deemed
essential to the transmission of light; and if not essential,
why should the old hypothesis be entertained ?

“Nec Deris intersit nisi digures vindrie nodus
Inciderit.”

Moreover, Professor Tyndall, to whom the progress of
dynamical physics is indebted for many laborious and im-
portant researches, has observed that in various kinds of
wood there is a remarkable harmony between their re-
spective conductivities for sound and heat in three mutually
perpendicular directions—namely, longitudinal, transverse-
radial, and transverse-tangential (546).. Now, although
there is certainly no direct analogy between the conduction
of heat and the radiation of light, beyond that of their

402 Correspondence.

common dynamical origin, a much closer analogy may
nevertheless be traced through the phenomena of phospho-
rescence, fluorescence, and calorescence. Is it, in fact,
generally believed that the transmission of heat-motion is
effected by interstitial ather, and not by the molecules of
the medium itself? If not, why should a hypothetical
medium be assumed for light motion which is not required
for that of heat, since the rapidity of the undulations and
their velocity of transmission is so much the same in both?
While at the same time the converse permeabilities to light
and heat of crystals of alum, and those of dark, smoky
quartz, present striking examples of the existing, yet un-
known, differences of physical constitution which are met
with in the various kinds of matter.

It may further be remarked that the dynamical theory
of electricity, if tenable, presents additional reasons for
denying the necessity of the presence of zther in ordinary
matter. For if the molecules of a rod of copper can
transmit an electric wave at the rate of at least 250,000
miles in a second, why cannot those of a rod of glass
transmit a course of light at about three-fourths of that
velocity ?

If, then, these premises be established, it must be granted
that the presence of zther is not essential to the trans-
mission of any known kind of wave-motion; and if so, is
it not more in accordance with the true spirit of philosophy,
in default of posittve knowledge, to abandon unhesitatingly
the more violent hypothesis, and to adopt provisionally
the more reasonable one above suggested ?

The phenomena of phosphorescence present further
evidence of the intimate relations existing between elec-
tricity, heat, and light. It has been observed that fluor-
spar may be rendered phosphorescent by a very moderate
application of heat, but that it will not again phosphoresce
under similar circumstances until an electric spark has been
repeatedly passed over its surface. Is it not probable that
the phosphorescence by heat of the minerals fluor and
apatite and ordinary incandescence are similar phenomena,
differing only in the temperature (amount of vis viva) at
which heat-motion impressed on the molecules of different
bodies is imparted as light-motion to the surrounding
medium,
~ Our ideas of vzs viva and its relation to “accumulated
work” are inseparably associated with that of gravitation ;
is it not, therefore, something like a contradiction in terms —

Correspondence. 403

to speak of the ws viva of an zmponderable body? But if
zther be not supposed to be intermingled with palpable
matter, then there is no object in attributing to it an ex-
emption from the otherwise universal law of gravitation ;
and it will then be imperceptible only because it exists
beyond our reach. Moreover, as there are no means of
limiting the possible amount of molecular displacement in
a medium so attenuated, an amount of vzs viva is con-
ceivable sufficient to impart effective motion to indefinitely
denser matter; and thus this denizen of infinity may be
assumed capable of executing its divine mission of impart-
ing to material worlds those essentials to corporeal exist-
ence, the very main-springs of organic life—light and
heat.

If these things are so, then (in American common par-
lance) “the bottom falls out” of an experiment lately
shown at the Royal Institution to demonstrate the pre-
sence of zther by the heat developed in a metallic disk
rotating in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump.* That
the periodic retardation of Encke’s comet is due to the re-
sistance of the universal medium is highly probable; but
this experiment, if it proves anything in the same direction,
froves a great deal too much; for if such be the viscisity
of the medium hypothetically present in the receiver, that
the addition of a notable quantity of air (5 or 10 per cent.
as was stated), makes no sensible difference in the heat
generated by friction, it is difficult to conceive how any of
us have hitherto escaped resolution into our gaseous ele-
ments. On the contrary, when our earth and its envelope
enters a probable atmosphere of orbitating fragments (of
which we have recently had such a magnificint experience),
some of these crumbs of the universe which have for an
indefinite period harmlessly traversed the ethereal medium
of infinite space, at the enormous velocity of perhaps 30
or 40 miles in a second, become immediately ignited,
and probably consumed by friction in the confines of our
atmosphere, which must there be attenuated to a degree
never yet attained, except, perhaps, in the vacuum-tubes
of Mr. Gassiot.

Permit me, in conclusion, to repudiate (needlessly
perhaps) any claim to originality in the general idea that

* Proceedings of the Royal Institution, vol. iv., p. 563. The
writer has since learnt that the ether-friction theory has been
judiciously withdrawn by its author for further consideration.

404 Correspondence.

the molecules of palpable matter are permeable to the
undulations of light, which has long since been ably advo-
cated by Euler and by Mr. Grove.t
I remain, yours faithfully,
CHARLES BROOKE.

ON THE WEARING OF PHYLACTERIES.
TO THE EDITOR OE THE TECHNOLOGIST.

Si1R,—I trust that you will grant me a little space in
your valuable periodical for one or two remarks in refer-
ence to your observations on the wearing of phylacteries,
as contained in the TECHNOLOGIST of this month.

You observe—“ The phylacteries worn by the Jews can-
not possibly be traced to any Biblical authority. That
they were used by the Pharisees in the time of Christ is an
admitted fact; but many other ritual observances were also
at that time in vogue, although they had no solid basis in
primitive Judaism.” Permit me to call your attention to
the following passage in Josephus’s “ Antiquities of the
Jews,” Book iv., chap. viii., section 13 :—“ They (the Israel-
ites) are also to inscribe the principal blessings they have
received from God upon their doors, and show the same
remembrance of them upon their arms; as also they are to
bear on their forehead and their arm those wonders which
declare the power of God and his good will towards them,
that God’s readiness to bless them may appear everywhere
conspicuous about them.” Thus far Josephus, the Jewish
historian, who must have known something of the “ritual
observances” enjoined on the Jews by their Divine Legis-
lator.

You, Mr. Editor, continue, “all commentators, as well as
rational Jews, of every age (?) have regarded the passage
‘And thou shalt bind them for sins upon they hands, and
they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes,” as figurative,
standing precisely on a level with the meaning of the 6th
verse. “And these words I command thee, this day shall be
on thy heart.” And, again, Deut., xi, 18. “And you shall
lay up, these, my words upon your heart and upon your souls,
and bind them for a sign upon your hands,’ &c. The editor
of the Fewzsh Chronicle, in a notice of the TECHNOLOGIST, |
makes here the following remark—“ Without wishing to —

_ + Correlation of Physical Forces, p. 163, &c.

_ Correspondence. 405

controvert this statement, we wish simply to remark that
this is the Caraitic view of the passage commented upon by
the review. The general view, however, not unsupported
by historical evideace, favours the rabbinical strictly literal
interpretation of the Scriptural passage.”—Fewish Chro-
nicle, February 8th.

Let us see what. Maimonides, the mouth-piece of the
Rabbies, says on the subject of Phylacteries. In his pre-
face to the Thalmudic treatise Zeraim ‘oy, he observes :
“ The yw (shin) of the Phylacteries, their knot, black leather
tongues, traverse and square receptacles, are halachah of
Moses from Sinai ‘309 nynb nsdn a decision of Moses from
Sinai.

Some persons will demur to this statement, because
Maimonides was a Rabbinical Jew! Is the author of the
“ Morch Rebuchin,” and the “ Yad Hachazacah,” entitled
to be classed among “rational Jews?” The late Rev. Dr.
Alexander McCaul, Professor of Hebrew at King’s College
(who, as is well known, bore no great love to the Jewish
Rabbies), speaking of Maimonides in his “Old Paths,”
considers him as “one of the mightiest intellects that ever
inhabited a tenement of clay.” The learned Dr. Milman,
Dean of St. Paul’s, in his “ History of the Jews,” calls him
“the wise Maimonides ;’ and lastly, though not least,
Julius Scaliger gives this testimony of Maimonides (which,
because it is not flattering to the Jews in general, becomes
in consequence more striking), “ Primus inter Hebraeus
nugari desivit.”

By giving insertion to these remarks in your next im-
pression, you will oblige

Yours respectfully, . J. STRANDERS.
February 12th, 5627.

[We cheerfully open our columns to the above letter,
and we take leave to express our willingness to admit all
communications couched in the temperate spirit that dis-
tinguishes the criticisms of Mr. Stranders. At the same
time our amiable correspondent must bear with us when
we venture to state that he has advanced nothing which
should induce us to change the opinions which he challenges,
Josephus is too late a writer to be quoted as an authority
in the practices of primitive Judaism. He was himself a
Pharisee, and a zealous advocate of the Rabbinical system
of interpretation. Touching Maimonides, no eulogy which
is pronounced on him can exceed the measure of his

406 Learned Societies.

deserts ; but he also was a Rabbinist. We stand upon the
plain and unvarnished sense of the letter of Scripture, and
we see no reason why the latter part of the passage, “ and
ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hands, &c.,” should
be construed literally, whilst the former part of the same
passage “and you shall lay up these my words in your
hearts and in your souls” must, of necessity, have a figu-
rative meaning. |—Ep. TECH.

LEARNED SOCI E(LES:

ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION.—Several of
the forthcoming evening meetings at the Royal United
Service Institution, Whitehall, will be of particular interest
in relation to naval affairs. On Monday evening last, Cap-
tain. RK. A. E.. Scott, R.N., read a paper on * Vite ware
ing of Iron Ships in a Seaway, and its Effects on Naval
Gunnery ;’ on March 18th, Major W. Palliser lectures on
“The Conversion and Rifling of Cast Iron Ordnance ;”
and on April 15th, Captain Cowper R. Coles will discourse
on “ The Turret versus the Broadside System.”

ROYAL INSTITUTION.—On the 14th ult., in the course
of a lecture upon sound, at the Royal Institution, Professor
Tyndall exhibited for the first time a clever experiment
devised by Biot, the French philosopher. By means of a
polariscope made of rhombs of Iceland spar, placed in
front of the electric lamp, the light was so polarised that
none of it fell upon the screen. He -then fixed a strip of
thick plate-glass, about three inches wide and six feet long,
in a vice, and by rubbing it with a wet cloth made it give
off a musical sound, because of the longitudinal vibrations
set up. The vice bit the strip exactly in the centre, and
there the strain and pressure of the musical vibrations were
consequently greatest. But glass under strain or pressure,
when introduced into the polarised ray, will let light pass
through the polariscope. Consequently, when the ray was
allowed to traverse this slip of glass near its centre, a broad
disc of light appeared on the screen every time the glass
set up.a musical sound ; but when the strip was at rest the
calcareous crystals would allow no light to pass. en oes

Learned Societies. 407

Royal SociETy.—The papers read on the 14th ult.
were, “On the Relation of Insolation to Atmospheric
Humidity,” by J. Park Harrison, M.A., communicated by
the President; “On the Conversion of Dynamical into
Electrical Force without the aid of Permanent Magnetism,”
by C. W. Siemens. Mr. Siemens’ apparatus was exhi-
bited. A paper on the same subject by Professor Wheat-
stone was read to the society, and an apparatus exhibited.
Next week the paper will be by Dr. J. J. Bigsby, “A brief
Account of the Thesaurus Siluricus, with a few Facts and
Inferences.”

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.—At the meeting of
this Society on the 11th ult., Sir R. I. Murchison, President,
in the chair,a letter was read, supposed to be the last
written by M. Jules Gérard, the lion killer and African
traveller, who met his death while on his way from West
Africa to Algiers, vee Timbuctoo. The letter was dated
Mano, lat. 8 deg. 10 sec. N., in the interior from Sherbro,
on the west coast, south of Sierra Leone. It was addressed
to a French trader at Sherbro, by whom it was given to
Lieutenant Alwin S. Bell, who had now communicated it
to the Society. Gérard had met with the usual difficulties
in passing the territories of the chiefs near the coast, and
was, at the time of writing, staying with Bagon, King of
the Kasso tribe. The letter gave some interesting details
concerning the rivers in the Kasso country, and described
ivory and cotton as very abundant and low in price, the
country never having been visited by traders. The death
of the traveller occurred, according to Lieutenant Bell,
within a month of the date of the letter, by the upsetting
of a canoe in crossing the Jong river; but whether by acci-
dent or the design of the natives was not known with cer-
tainty at Sherbro. The papers of the evening were, “An
Ascent of Mount Hood, in Oregon,” by the Rev. H. K.
Hines, and “ A Journey of Exploration in Eastern Oregon
and Idaho,’ by Colonel C. S. Drew, U.S.A., and Mr.
Robert Brown, F.R.G.S. Mount Hood was described as
an active volcano, and the ascent picturesquely described
by the author, the altitude being given as 17,640 ft., thus
proving it to be the highest mountain in North America.
The accuracy of this observation of the altitude was, how-
ever, disputed by Admiral Sir Edward Belcher in the dis-
cussion which followed. Mr. R. Brown, Mr. Casella, Mr.
A. G. Dallas, (late Governor of Prince Rupert’s Land), and.
Mr. W. Lane Booker (Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul at.

408 Learned Societies.

San Francisco), also addressed the meeting. The follow-—
ing gentlemen were elected Fellows of the Society :—
Colonel Shafto Adair, Mr. G. H. Wilson Brown, Mr. E.
Butler, Rev. P,-Butler, Dr. S: Crane, Mr. C. J. Eley
Langlands, and Don E. G. de Marthin. Monsignor Fran-
cesco Nardi, of Rome, was elected honorary corresponding
member.

SOCIETY OF ARTS.—On the 6th ultimo, a meeting con-
vened by the Council of the Society of Arts was held for
the purpose of discussing London cabs and cab fares. Mr.
Cole said that our London cabs were the meanest vehicles
of the kind in the world. He did not concur in the opinion
expressed by Sir Richard Mayne in one of his reports, that
there should be no 6d. fare and that the lowest charge
should be a shilling, his view being that the fare ought to
be fixed by the mutual consent of the cab proprietor and
the public; in fact, there should be free trade amongst
cabs; and as a remedy for the prevention of extortion he
considered that check-tables, which would indicate the
distance travelled, and which were successfully adopted at
Sheffield, might be brought into requisition. The reason
why open vehicles for the use of ladies were not provided
in London was, that the Government stepped in and arbi-
trarily imposed a charge which prevented capitalists from
supplying that kind of carriage, which they would do if
there were no restriction. In conclusion, he considered the
best way to deal with the subject was to move for a select
parliamentary committee of inquiry. Mr. Alderman Law-
rence, M.P., said the remedy for the inconvenience and
dissatisfaction which existed in reference to the cabs and
hackney carriages of the metropolis could be effected by
the Government removing the existing oppressive taxation
imposed upon cabs. He believed the fares charged at
present were somewhat low, but if the tax were removed
we could have a cab at 6d.,and a better one at Is. Sir
Richard Mayne was sure that the bill which would be in-
troduced in Parliament respecting the regulation of traffic
would deal with cabs.

THE No NAME LITERARY CLUB.—During the past
month this club has held its usnal weekly meetings, when
the following Original Papers and Readings were given :—
Original Papers —“ On the English Language. Part II.
Mr. C. Worte—*“On Boys. ” Mr. J. Mapple—Readings :
“The Reve; his Tayle” (Chaucer), Mr. A. R. Smith—
: Edinburgh after Flodden” (Aytoun), Mr. Charles Percy.

Miscellaneous. 409

= Childhood” (H. Kirke White), Mr. W.'H. Smith—
“An Ode to Winter’, (Campbell), Mr. J. B. Rossiter.—
“The Hon. Mr. Sucklethumbkin’s Story ” (Ingoldsby), Mr.
Charles Rollason.—This day (March 1) a paper on the
“Negro” will be read by Mr. F. J. Danks.

MISCELLANEOUS.

PRESERVATION OF FOSSILS.—Owing to the loose mineral
character of the Tertiary deposits, in which most of the
Mammalian and other vertebrate remains are found, con-
sisting as these deposits do of sands, gravels, clay, or peat,
their fossils are necessarily in a more or less friable condi-
tion, difficult to preserve entire, or to handle for scientific
examination with safety. The substances generally used
are glue or gelatine. For the bones of the larger Mam-
malia there is nothing better than the best glue; whilst for
the more delicate bones of the smaller Mammals, Birds and
Fishes, gelatine is the best, being purer, dissolving more
easily, and imparting but little, if any, colour to the fossil.
The consistency of these substances when used will have
to be varied according to the structure of the bone; andas
they also differ greatly in quality, it is impossible to lay
down any definite rule as to the exact proportions to be
used with a given quantity of water; this must be left to
the judgment of the operator. Asa general rule, however,
all bones which have a coarse cellular structure, as the ends
of large limb-bones, deer-antlers, &c., and also specimens
from some deposits—for example, the peat-bed near Col-
chester, the fossils from which have their internal cellular
structure either totally or partially destroyed—require the
glue-solution to be of a consistency which will form a stiff
jelly when cold; whilst for bones of a compact structure a
much thinner solution, about the consistency of ordinary
size, will suffice ; if the solution is too thick, it clogs the av-
sorbing power at the surface, and prevents its penetrating
to all parts of the bone. The fossils should be thoroughly
dried and cleaned from as much of the matrix as can be
removed with safety; and if it can be managed, warmed
before being placed in the solution. When the glue is all

410 Miscellaneous.

dissolved, and the liquid nearly at boiling heat (ebullition
should be avoided, if possible), it is ready for the immer-
sion of the fossils, and they should remain in it as long as
air-bubbles rise to the surface ; when these cease they will
be sufficiently soaked. When taken out, they should not be
drained, but laid in a position to retain as much as possible
of the imbibed solution, until they are cold, when the clue
will have set. Their position must then be shifted, to pre-
vent their adhering to the board on which they may be
laid. Any glue that may have drained from them may be
then removed with a wet sponge. The vessels required are
of the simplest kind. The common domestic utensils will
answer for most purposes. The ordinary house copper,
sancepan, or, better still, a large sized fish-kettle with its
strainer. But whatever the vessel used, a strainer of some
kind, on which to place the bones for immersion and with-
drawal is indispensable ; for the copper nothing is better than
a wire-sieve. For bones too large for the vessel used, the
treatment will have to be varied. For long limb-bones,
strong enough to bear their own weight when saturated, it
is only necessary to place one end in the vessel, and ladle
the solution over the other end for a short time, and then
reverse their position. But for bones which will not bear
such treatment, the only plan is to securely fix them to a
board, and place them ina slanting position in the solution,
and well saturate them with it by ladling. For these, and
for long portions of tusks of the Mammoth, and horn-cores
of the large species of Bos, a special vessel, about three feet
long, one foot wide at the top, nine or ten inches wide at
the bottom, and nine inches deep, made of stout tin or gal-
vanized iron, with a handle at each end, will be found most
useful. Occasionally fossils are found which are either too
large or too friable (as skulls and tusks from their natural
construction frequently are) to be placed in the solution;
for these a different method must be adopted to preserve
them entire. Cover the fossil with thin paper, over which—
on the sides and underneath if possible—put a coating of
plaster of Paris,justthickand strong enough tokeeptogether ;
when firmly set, gently pour the solution boiling-hot over
the fossil as long as it continues to absorb, to assist which
it may be necessary to remove in a few places some of the
surface-bone, which can be carefully replaced; in two or
three days the plaster may be partly removed by sawing,
and in small pieces, taking care not to injure the fossil by
jarring it; the paper will prevent the plaster adhering to it.

‘ia ae

Miscellaneous. ALI

But this process is never so effective as submersion in the
solution, and may require to be repeated. Some bones are
better for being dipped a second time, but not allowed to
remain long enough in the solution to melt the glue they
had previously imbibed. Delicate shells from the same
kind of deposits may be treated, with care, in a similar
manner with advantage.—Geological Magazine.

PROGRESS OF JOURNALISM.—We are accustomed, as
each revolving year rolls on, to turn our speculum from the
outside world to ourselves, and trace upwards the progress
we are making, and point out the extension of newspaper
reading in every part of the empire. We are enabled to do
this through the medium of the yearly statistics presented to
each House of Parliament, and from the various charts and
directories of newspapers which are annually published.
Perhaps we shall in future be able to do this at more fre-
quent intervals, if we feel so disposed, as newspapers have
now a collective organ of their own, under the guidance of
their only living historian, Mr. Alexander Andrews, who
will make the Newspaper Press interesting and useful to
his confreres. On the other hand, “Mitchell’s Directory,’
and the immense chart published by Vickers and Harring-
ton, give us the titles, dates, politics, and other particulars,
of all the papers at a glance, and a very formidable list it
is. We see by this list that the Caledonian Mercury claims
to be the oldest Scotch paper still existing, being published
first in 1660. In England, after the London Gazette, which
dates its birth from 1665, comes the Leicester, Rutland, aud
Stamford Mercury, which has gone on uninterruptedly and
flourishingly since 1695. Of the metropolitan press, the
oldest daily is the Public Ledger, of 1759, which is still in
existence, though but seldom heard of outside of com-
mercial circles. The year 1781 saw the birth of the Morn-
ing Post and Morning Herald—the Times not coming into
existence until several years afterwards. Opinions and
tastes have changed since the days in which we find the
Examiner born, in 1808, for we know that Leigh Hunt suf-
fered imprisonment for a very mild libel which appeared in
its columns shortly afterwards, yet it is now the oldest re-
presentative of the London Weekly Press. Strange to say,
Bell’s Life, of sporting celebrity, comes next, with Theo-
dore Hook’s Fohkn Bull, in 1820. The Sunday Times follows
in 1822, and six years afterwards the Leamington Spa -
Courier started into existence. Punch and the [llustrated
News are dated from 1841 only. There are now published,

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. LL

412 Miscellaneous.

go daily newspapers, as follows :—In London, 25; pro-
vinces, 36; Wales, 1; Scotland, 12; Ireland, 15; Channel.
Islands, I ;—total, 90. Fifteen years ago there were not
15, and not one in the English provinces. The gross list
of registered newspapers, which, however, includes some
not now published, and omits others which have neglected
reg'stration, shows that there are 1,732 registered news-
papers in the United Kingdom. Of these England has
1,372, Wales 55, Scotland 144, and Ireland 161.—Royal,
Leamington Spa Courcer.

RELATIONS AT SEA.—A very interesting paper was re-.
cently read by Dr. Gunther, at the Zoological Society, on
the fishes of Central America, in which he brought zoolo-
gical research to bear upon the history of earth-changes.
It had been supposed that the existing fauna of the
Atlantic was quite distinct from that of the Pacific; but Dr.
Gunther finds (Gn a collection recently made by Mr. Salvin),
of the total number of species taken on both sides of the
Isthmus of Panama, 30 per cent. to be specifically identical.
Nay, they do not even appear to vary enough for Dr
Gunther to be able to tell whether any given individual
came from the Atlantic or Pacific side. There was, there--
fore, no doubt, a communication between the two oceans,
since the existing species of fish came into being ; and the
land across the isthmus near Panama is nowhere more than
400 feet high; while to the north, through Lake Nicaragua,
there is another tract, nowhere more than 150 feet above
the sea-level. That these low tracts of land mark the site
of former sea-channels, is rendered still more probable from.
the fact, that in the Lake of Nicaragua a sea fish still exists,
the ancestors of which were probably imprisoned by the
land’s upheaval. Dr. Gunther believes that there has been,
no such interoceanic communication since the latter part of.
the Pliocene period ; in which case, the persistence of these
piscine specific forms would be very remarkable. It is well-
known that, in ancient Miocene times, one fauna extended:
on both sides of what is now the separating land; but the
specific identity of so many existing forms is quite a new:
fact.—Brittsh Medical Fournal.

_ THE Government botanist, Dr. Mueller, has placed in
the Australian Intercolonial Exhibition several specimens,
in frames, of paper made from the fibre of the bark and:
foliage of trees common to these colonies. The specimens, —
were prepared at his laboratory, from material selected by. -

Miscellaneous. 413

himself, which he conceived, after examination, likely to.
be of utility. He exhibits rough-made paper from green.
scum or water weeds, obtained in the St. Kilda swamp.
The specimen exhibited has not undergone bleaching,
nor has any preparation been applied to this or any speci-.
men made to give it strength or glossiness ; but in the
hands of the paper manufacturer it could be converted into
an excellent printing paper. The use of many Australian:
common grasses, of the New Zealand flax, and of the stringy
bark trees which grow in such enormous quantities through-
out the continent are shown in rough specimens of their,
fibres made into paper. The Eucalyptus Obliquo, the
most common of all trees in Victoria, South Australia,
Tasmania, and part of New South Wales, will also yield a
rough description of material that may be made serviceable.
The tea-tree, which fills all the swamps, makes an excel-
lent blotting and filtering paper. There is an abundance
of this species; indeed, the supply may be considered
almost inexhaustible. The bloodwood, woollybut, blue-
gum, white gum, messmate gumtree, and several kinds of
salle yield some variety or other of paper.

~ M. Guizot has just finished the concluding pages of the
eighth and last volume of his memoirs, which terminate
with the recital of the three days of the July revolution.
This volume will be published in April. M. Saint Marc
Girardin has received a magnificent album from the Greek.
population of Trieste, offered to him in testimony of their
gratitude for his exertions in the Hellenic cause.

A vessel from Siam, containing 100 packages of objects
for the Paris Exhibition, had taken the Suez Canal route
to the Mediterranean.

We cull the following from the Examiner :— ;

LEECHES.—The collection and export of leeches from
Victoria has now become an extensive branch of trade.
The business is principally carried on in connection with
the operations of the Murray River Fishing Company. At
seasons unfavourable to fishery, the men employed by the
company turn their attention to the collection of leeches.
At such times, the steamer of the company takes a trip.
down the Murray, and the leeches are then gathered from
the swamps, lagoons, overflows, and shallow creeks of the
river. From 150,000 to 250,000 leeches are sometimes.

414 Miscellaneous.

collected in one of these trips. Large numbers of them
are sent to London and Paris, where it is said they are
preferred to leeches brought from any other place. The
greater proportion, however, are forwarded to America,
where the demand is always great.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

T. B.—Cyamelide, the hydrate of cyanuric acid, when kept for some
time, becomes hard and white, like porcelain ; insoluble in water,
alcohol and dilute acids subjected to heat, it forms hydrated cyanic
acid.

ZETA, Cambridge-—The linen called China-grass-cloth is fabricated
of the fleshy part of the leaf of the aloe, which abundantly grows
wild in China. The flax, which constitutes the fishing-lines known
under the name of Indian twist, is also manufactured from aloe
fibre.

PHILOSOPHER.—In the imperfect cubes of boracise, it is conjectured
that the molecular particles are not in the form of cubes but tetrae-
hedons, and that very possibly one of these tetraehedons, by pre-
senting its base at the angle of the general cube of the crystal,
makes that angle imperfect, while another tetraehedon may at
another angle present one of its vertices. Similar reasoning is ap-
applied to the crystals of beryl, quartz, and tourmaline.

C. H. J., Hdenburgh—lIt has been calculated that, supposing each
man were to consume a kilogramme of oxygen per day, and that
the oxygen disengaged by plants did no more than compensate for
the other causes of its absorption, the whole human race, and three
times their number, would not consume in a century the eight
thousandth part of the oxygen which Nature has placed in the
respirable air.

K. A——The information you require concerning “ A£rolites,” will be
found in the number of the TECHNOLOGIST for December, 1866.

H. SHERWOOD.—Too late for insertion in present number.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

Letters from Hell. Bentley.
Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects, by Sir J. Herschel. Strahan.
Contemporary Review. Strahan.
The Argosy. Strahan.
The People’s Magazine.
Annuaire Philosophique.
The Artizan.
Hardwicke’s Science Gossip.
Victoria Magazine. :
Goethe’s Minor Poems. By E. Chawner. London: Pitman.
Systematic Memory. Second Edition. By T. Maclaren. London :

Pitman.
Pearce’s Weather Almanac, 1865. Simpkins,
Pearce’s Weather Guide. Simpkins.
Pure Dentistry, and What it Does for Us, by A. Eskell. Clements.
Pharmaceutical Journal.
Science Gossip.

THE

BECAHNOLOGI ST.

APRIL, 1867.

a?

THE SAMARITANS AND THE SAMARITAN
PENTATEUCH.

BY D. W. M.
(Concluded from page 369.)

F the Samaritan Pentateuch, of which we are now
about to speak, it would be presumptuous to fix with
any show of authority the date of its authorship. Critics
who have accomplished so much within the province of
Biblical literature during the last three quarters of a cen-
tury, have taken little pains to reconcile the divergent opi-
nions respecting the age of the Samaritan Pentateuch.
Nablous is said to possess a scroll, still used in public wor-
ship, and bearing an inscription to the effect that it was
written in honour of Aaron the High Priest by his great
grandson Abisha, in the thirteenth year of the settlement
of the Israelites in Canaan. This statement may be very
summarily dismissed, whilst a protest may be entered
against evidense being received from a source where such
a fiction passes for fact. Kennicott, Eichhorn, Michaelis,
and other distinguished scholars, regard the Samaritan
Pentateuch as an inheritance from the ten tribes., The two
principal grounds on which this theory is based are—first,
that the Samaritan canon, which does not contain the
prophets nor the Hagiographa, must have been formed
before the last-mentioned books were written; secondly,
that the Samaritan Pentateuch is written in the ancient
[BRI letter, and not in the comparatively modern square
character which is not older than the age of Ezra.
More acute critics, however, contend that the absence of
NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. MM

416 The Samaritans and the

these books from the Samaritan canon in no way proves
that they were not in existence when that correction was
made. What it does prove is that there must have been
some especial object for excluding them, and this object is
plainly revealed through the fact that the excluded books
abound in references to Jerusalem as the seat of the
national temple, whilst the chief aim of the Samaritans was
to make it appear that the appointed favoured spot had
been the Mount Gerizim. As far as the assertion goes
that the Jé7z, or Samaritan Hebrew character is older than
the n ws or square Hebrew letter in which the Bibles of
later times have been written, there is no denying the fact.
But it is an error to suppose that the /évz or Samaritan
character ceased to be employed after the Babylonian cap-
tivity. Even Luzzatto, whose theory is that the Jewish
people saw fit to change the alphabet when the Samaritans
set up a rival temple in Gerizim, is obliged to admit that
for a considerable time after Ezra and Nehemiah, and even
down to a late period of the Maccabees, the Samaritan
character was in use. All the coins that have come down
to us from the Maccabean era bear testimony to this fact.

Prideaux, De Wette, Gesenius, Hengstenburg, and others
attribute the composition of the work to the schismatic
Manasseh, which would give it a date about 407 B.C.;
whilst Frankel, a very high authority, who holds the work
to be made up out of the Masoretic text and the glosses of
the Septuagint, would assign to it an age as recent as the
fifth or sixth century of the present era. Amidst such
widely opposite opinions every conclusion must be simply
conjectural. Yet, as the oldest Samaritan manuscript of
which there is any trustworthy mention does not ascend
any higher than 4000 A.M., we do not think it unsafe to
assume that the date of the Samaritan Pentateuch ranges
between 96 B.c. and 240 A.C.

It would be superfluous to mention all the changes and
additions found in the Samaritan Pentateuch. Its writer,
or more probably its writers, have designedly falsified the
original text to make it square with the preconceived notion
that Gerizim is exalted above Moriah, and the Temple of
Manasseh above that of Jerusalem, To effect this object
it was needful to find in the Mosaic Pentateuch some espe-
cial mention of Gerizim as the site of the national temple. —
This has been done, like the Romish tampering with _—
Josephus, in a very clumsy manner. Still the forgeries are
remarkably few. The principal changes are intended—

Samaritan Pentateuch. 417

first, to supply seeming deficiencies where the original is
concise ; second, to interpret obscurities with respect to the
meaning of which the Samaritan and the Seventy mostly
agree; third, to remove grammatical irregularities; and,
fourth, to alter the chronology of events about the time of
the deluge. In the last respect the Septuagint differs like-
wise from the Hebrew, whilst the want of agreement be-
tween the Samaritan and the Septuagint is no less mani-
fest. Amongst the readings in the Samaritan which differ.
from the original Hebrew text, there is one that seems to
us amply justified. We refer to Gen. ii. v. 2. We read in
the original : “God completed the work of creation on the
seventh day. and rested on the seventh day.’ But the
Samaritan has it: “God completed the work of creation
on the szxth day and rested on the seventh day.”

At the time when Luther made his famous German trans-
lation of the Bible, and even when the authorized English
version was executed, nothing was known in Europe of the
existence of a Samaritan Pentateuch, differing in various
respects from the volume received by the Jews, and,
through them, by the Christian world. References had
been made to it in the early ages, by the writers of the
Talmud and by the Fathers of the Christian church, and
both the Synagogue and the church pronounced it—what
later mature criticism has proved it to be—a forgery. It
was first brought to Europe by Harlaeus Sancius, and it
was printed by Morinus in Paris in the year 1631. An
English clergyman named Huntingdon, obtained another
copy from Nablous in 1670. Several others followed, and
the last which has made its appearance here, is a splendid
copy with Targum in parallel columns. Mr. Grove brought
it from the east for the Count of Paris, in whose possession
it remdins.

As every thing that is new creates an excitement and
becomes the fashion for a time, the introduction of the
Samaritan Pentateuch into Europe in the beginning of the
seventeenth century, turned the heads of many, and, for a
while, some fair scholars, more sanguine than critical con-
vinced that they were now in the possession of the genuine
work of Moses, preached it up as infinitely superior in
literal correctness to the Masoretic text. At this time, a
fierce and bitter strife was raging between the Romish and
the reformed churches, and it is painful to be obliged
to state—for the truth must be told—that not a few eminent
Romish biblical scholars, who must have seen from the very

M M 2

418 The Samaritan Pentateuch.

machinery employed in the Samaritan Pentateuch, to es-
tablish Gerizim as ¢he favoured temple spot, what its real —
value was, nevertheless thought the opportunity a good one
to turn the manuscript into a polemical auxiliary. “See,”
said they,” the folly of these reformers who rely upon the
bible, and the bible only, and note what a broken staff after
all this bible is to lean upon, apart from the traditions of
the holy Apostolical church.”

For more than a century the controversy raged, but with
little profit, since the disputants argued like Polemics, and
patient criticism was discarded. As late as the first quarter
in the present century, notwithstanding the eclectic labours
of Le-clerc and Walton, the opinion perversely maintained
by Houbigant in favour of the superiority of the Samaritan
pentateuch, was applauded from several theological chairs
in Europe. But time, which in the end, arbitrates all dis-
_ putes, capable of being settled by means of archaic and
philological research, has dealt with this as with the spurious
book of Jasher, a bold and impudent forgery of the ninth
century. An award has at length been pronounced on the
claims of the Samaritan Pentateuch, against which no can-
did scholar, of what church soever he be, is likely to appeal.
Mr. Deutsch, of the British Museum, has recently contri-
buted to “the dictionary of the bible”* a splendid article
on the “ Samaritan Pentateuch,” and which we have un-
hesitatingly placed under contribution to the present article.
In this article Gesenius, one of the greatest Hebrew scholars
of modern times, is assigned the first prize for the settle-
ment of the Samaritan Controversy. “So masterly” says
Mr. Deutsch “so lucid and clear are his arguments and _ his
proofs, that there has been and will be no further question
as to the absence of all value in this (Samaritan) recension
and its pretended emendations. In fact, a glance at the
systematic variants, of which Gesenius first bethought him-
self, is quite sufficient to convince the reader at once that
they are for the most part, mere blunders, arising from an
imperfect knowledge of the first elements of grammar and
exegesis.”

The criticisms of two renowned modern Jewish scholars,
Luzzatto of Padua, and Korchheim, the author of “The
Vineyards of Samaria,’ have tended to the same result.
They have solved a problem long held incapable of
solution, whether the Samaritan Pentateuch is copied

'* “The Dictionary of the Bible.” Edited by Dr. Smith.

On the Commerce of Mexico. . 419.

from a Hebrew or Samaritan codex. After having care-
fully studied the Samaritan and collated it with the Maso-
retic text, they have discovered the great majority of the
erroneous readings in the Samaritan to have originated in
the ignorance of the writer who knew not how to distin-
guish correctly between the Hebrew letters in the original
that nearly resemble each other in shape, but which, when
strung together in words, mean anything but what the
clumsy transcribers supposed. Most of the blunders occur
through the confounding of with 1; n with 7; ° with 4;
and 2 with 5. That errors of this kind could have oc-
curred, and have been multiplied unless the Samaritan had
been copied from the Masoretic text is manifestly impos-
sible, because no such resemblance, or anything that ap-
proaches to it, obtains in the Samaritan alphabet between
one letter and the other.

The result, then, arrived at by the labours of Gesenits
Luzzatto and Kirchheim are decisive. Biblical criticism
will go on, as it is to be wished it may go on, and keep pace
with the progress of archzological research, and with the
scientific daring which happily distinguish the present era ;
and writers may start up with as much honesty of purpose
as Bishop Colenso, though it is to be hoped, with more
knowledge of the original text of the bible than he has dis-
played, to propound system, which, like the Gourd of Jonah,

“spring up in a night only to perish : in a night;” but no
one who is familiar with the learned labours to which we
have so imperfectly alluded in this sketch or skeleton of an
article, is likely to expose himself to such ridicule as to
challenge the genuineness of the Mosaic Pentateuch, on the
mere ground that so many variants offer themselves to it
in the Samaritan text.

THE COMMERCE OF MEXICO.
(Continued from page 388.)

HE mode of propagation of the maguey is extremely
simple. Before it dies, the plant leaves a family
around it of six, eight, or more suckers, which are left to
grow for two or three years, are then dug up with great
care so as not to injure the “mezontete,” or stem, and after

420 On the Commerce of Mexico.

all the leaves but three have been cut off, the plants are
spread out on the ground for two or three months, in order
that they may partially dry, for if the maguey be planted
too moist it rots, and a destructive worm, called a “ chilo-
cuile,” is often generated in it. The young plants are
afterwards planted out at little distances apart, and in rows;
barley, which is believed rather to favour their growth,
being very commonly sown between them. The forma-
tion of the leaves of the plant is admirably well adapted
for supporting all meteorological variation; a hailstorm,
which would suffice for the destruction of the maize or corn
crop, scarcely leaves a trace of its passage upon their hard
tissue ; rain falls off from them, sun does not parch them,
neither does frost dry them up, or cause them to wither ;
and the plant would appear, as it were, to secure just so
much of the various elements of the atmosphere around it
as is necessary for its nurture and development, and to
cast off the rest. It is only towards the close of its life
that it begins to exhibit symptoms of being affected by
the influence of the different seasons, yielding less juice in
cold, rainy, or tempestuous weather. In a good soil, the
maguey plant requires a period of from ten to twelve years
for attaining maturity, but at least fifteen years in soils of
inferior quality; and thus the capital which it represents,
although eventually yielding so high a return, remains un-
productive for a lengthened period. The plant upon at-
taining its full growth, which is easily discernible by its
height, and the prodigious extension of its leaves, brings
forth a tall stem crowned with yellow flowers, and then a
certain amount of pruning becomes necessary so as to form
a kind of reservoir in the centre; and what is technically
termed a “cara” or “face” around it, so as to caliseyiae
juice to flow towards the same spot, and to facilitate the
extraction of it by removing some of the interior leaves
and thorns. |

The belief in the efficacy of the medicinal properties of
the plant is universal among the Mexican peasantry, to
whom it has been handed down from times of remote an-
tiquity ; thus, the juice of the leaf, is said to be a specific
for bruises and contusions; the gum which is engendered
in the lower part of the stem to cure the toothache, whilst
various experiments upon the curative properties of the
plant, under different forms, have been made by members
of the medical profession in Mexico, with satisfactory re-
sults.

On the Commerce of Mexico. 421

From the year 1777 to the commencement of the present
century the tax levied upon pulque, averaging about 20
cents per arroba (25 lbs.), produced about 800,000 dollars
annually ; and supposing the value of the beverage to have
been about 50 to 55 cents per arroba, the value of the quan-
tity consumed may be estimated, taking the amount of the
tax as a basis, at about 1,800,000 dollars per annum, re-
presenting a capital of from 28,000,000 to 30,000,000
dollars. As far as can be ascertained from the meagre
statistical records of the time, not more than from 20 to 60
pulque estates existed during the last two centuries ; whilst,
now, in the several districts of the Mexican table land of
Teotihuacan, Pachuca, Apam, and Texcoco, there are 178,
and from 80 to 100 in that of Ilaxcala.

The following is the mode adopted for the extraction of
the juice of the maguey plant, and for the manufacturing
from it of pulque, which denomination dates from the time
of the Spanish occupation of Mexico, the derivation of the
word appearing to be totally unknown, the beverage being
known under the denomination of “neutli” in the time of
the Aztecs.

So soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, a small con-
cave aperture is scooped out by means of a keen-edged
knife, called an “iztetl,’ in the core of the plant, which is
usuaily from about 18 to 20 centimétres in diameter, and
this aperture is gently scraped round, care being taken that
no incision be made in the leaves or fibres around it, for
fear of imparting a bad taste to the juice; this operation
producing a sediment, denominated “ raspa,” through
which the juice generally known under the teehnical name
of “agua-miel,” or honeywater, exudes from the groves of
the plant, which juice is extracted by the “ilachiquero,” or
maguey labourer, by means of an elongated gourd formed
into a tube, called an “acocotl,’ the air in which is ex-
hausted by suction, and which he thrusts into the incision
in the core of the plant, stopping the aperture at one end
with his finger, and emptying its contents into his “ zurron,”
a sort of impervious sheepskin bag inserted in a net and
strapped to his back. Each labourer has, usually, the care
of from about 50 to 60 plants, from which he extracts, or
as it is technically expressed, “sucks” from about I10 to
120 arrobas of honeywater perweek. Assoonas his “‘zurron”
is full, he carries it to the “tinical” or pulque manufactory,
very commonly returning to each plant and performing the
same operation of scooping round the incision and exhaust-

422 On the Commerce of Mexico.

ing the juice it contains, twice in the day, taking particular
care to cover up the aperture with leaves and stones, lest
the cattle, dogs, or “cagates,” a small species of jackal,
which infests the country in large numbers, should get at
the juice.

As we have before seen, the honeywater varies in quan-
tity, colour, and quality, according to the species of the
plant, the producing time of which may be said to extend
on an average to about three months, although some sorts
only yield juice during a period of twenty days, and other
sorts are so exuberant that they yield it during six months,
and that in large quantities. The least productive species
of the plant is calculated to yield about 60 arrobas, whilst
the finest sort of all, the “ Manso legitimo” of the plains
of Apam, before alluded to, yields, when it has attained
complete maturity, from 140 to 160 arrobas. The average
quantity yielded by each plant, one with another, may be
roughly estimated at about 100 arrobas.

The “tinicales”” or pulque manufactories of the different
maguey plantations, consist of a long covered-in gallery,
well ventilated, and containing rows of vats made of
bullock’s hide stretehed over a modern framework, and
smeared over with lime on the outside, into which the
honey water is emptied so soon as it is brought in from the
plantations, and which, in about thirty-six hours begins to
ferment, casting up large bubbles of froth, losing its pristine
transparent colour, and assuming a milky whitish tint,
which it permanently retains. It was formerly the habit
to throw lime ora plant called “Ocgractli” into the honey-
water, in order to produce a greater degree of fermentation ;
but, now, only a small quantity of “ madue del pulque,” or
pulque already manufactured, is poured into the empty
vats, which quickly deposits a thick and whitish coloured
sediment, upon which the new juice or honeywater is thrown
in; the mixture after fermentation being ready for use, is
then sent off to the city of Mexico, Puebla, or the nearest
market, within a radius of 20 or 30 leagues ; the pulque
very commonly undergoing a considerable dilution of water
at the hands of the “arrieros,” or carriers, who convey it
in sheepskin bags upon mules or donkeys. The quantity
of it which, thus annually enters the city of Mexico alone,
may be estimated on the average, to be about 2,000,000
arrobas, and that which enters Puebla, to be about 500,000
arrobas, and the cost of transport alone has been calculated,
taking the approximate average of I real as that of each

On the Commerce of Mexico. 423

arroba, to represent the sum of 312,000 dollars; not less
than 20,000 mules and donkeys laden with the beverage
entering the city every month by the gate leading to the
maguey districts. To the quantity paying duty must also
be added a considerable quantity which is smuggled in and
including this, it may be calculated that about 50,000,000
bottles are now annually introduced into the city of Mexico,
De Humboldt having fixed the number at 44,000,000 ; and
the amount of money annually expended in the drink at
the average rate of about a quarter of a real per bottle to
be about 1,600,000 dollars annually; the number of “ pul-
querias” or pulque stores within the capital (which in the
year 1771, when the increasing popularity of the beverage
compelled the Spanish Viceroy, Revillagigedo, to issue
special regulations respecting licences to sell it, &c.,
amounted to thirty-four, afterwards increasing to eighty),
now amounts to 513. These stores are usually painted in
gay colours outside; the wall behind the counter almost
invariably exhibiting to view a rudely executed allegorical
fresco setting forth the “ Power of Love” the stimulating
effects of the maguey plant; Venus, Bacchus, and the
nymphs occupying prominent positions in the back ground,
whilst a little image of the Virgin with a lamp burning be-
fore it sometimes occupies a retired corner of the establish-
ment.

The line of railway from the city of Mexico to Vera, will
pass through the great maguey plantations of the “ Plains
of Apam,” and by the conveyance of pulque from thence
at moderate rates the company reckon upon an annual re-
ceipt of about 250,000 dollars.

The best quality of the beverage is known under the
different denominations of “ pulque fino,” “pulque dulce,”
or “pulque fuerte,” whilst the inferior sort, the produce of
the maguey when planted in an unfavourable soil, and
which is commonly only consumed by the poorer class of
Indians, by whom it is often manufactured in earthenware
pots, is called “ilachique ;” and there is another sort sold
in the “pulquerias,’ composed of an admixture of this with
some other sorts of a somewhat better description, deno-
minated “ pulquecriollo,’ or “creole pulque.” On account
of the manufacture of “ilachique” being erroneously sup-
posed to be carried on by the poor Indian population
alone, it is subject to the payment of a very slight duty,
and little is known of the real amount of its consumption.

From a chemical analysis of pulque it is found to con-

424 On the Commerce of Mexico.

tain, in different proportions according to its quality, —
alcohol, mucilaginous fecula, sugar, water, and potash. It
has been observed that the drunkenness produced by it,
under its different varieties, is of a less violent description
than that produced by another common beverage of the
country, “chinguiritis” (brandy made from the sugar cane),
and that delirium tremens is rarely produced by the immo-
derate use of the former, though often by that of the latter.
It is also affirmed, that the pulque drinker is commonly
long-lived, whilst the reverse is the case with regard to
those addicted to “chinguirito,” and that the former
beverage, notwithstanding its somewhat acid taste, is, pro-
bably on account of the fecula contained in it, peculiarly
beneficial to women suckling their infants, and to those
people whose constitution requires a wholesome stimulant.

The earliest date at which a settled tax was levied on
pulque, was in the year 1668, under the Duke of Albu-
querque, Viceroy at the time, who allowed the munici-
pality of the city of Mexico to receive 1 real per arroba as
gate dues upon its entrance. This impost was afterwards
farmed out to various individuals, the first time at only
660 dollars per annum, but the rate rapidly increasing at
different consecutive periods, in the year 1745 it was con-
tracted for at the annual rate of 128,000 dollars, and that
for nine years, the sale of it being subsequently administered
by the crown itself, and producing large amounts to the
Treasury.

The excesses committed by the lower orders during a
riot occasioned by the high price of maize in the city of
Mexico, in the year 1692 being attributed to pulque drink-
ing, the Count de Galvez, Viceroy at the time, consulted
the royal University, as well as the College of Jesuits, as
to the expediency of prohibiting the use of it altogether,
especially among the Indian population, and the report
upon the subject, which was issued by each of these learned
bodies, isa most curious specimen of scholastic pedantry
and monkish logic, the prohibition being finally determined
upon. It was removed, however, within a short time after-
wards, and the crown of Spain allowed the sale of the
popular beverage again under certain restrictions, incorpo-
rating the tax upon it with the other colonial imposts, in
which, in course of time, it became a highly important
item, producing in some years a sum of more than 1,000,000
dollars to the Treasury. During the few years which pre-
ceded the war of independence, the annual amount of the

Textile Fabrics. 425

pulque tax was from about 600,000 to 700,000 dollars;
but in the year 1810, it fell to about 500,000 dollars; in
the year 1811 to about 400,000 dollars; and from that time
to the present, it has continued falling, until it has reached
the present comparatively low average of about 200,000
dollars annually ; the cause of so sensible a diminution
being alone attributable to the extensive system of smug-
gling carried on, and to the increasing neglect and indif-
ference prevailing amongst public functionaries, during a
long lapse of years of anarchy and confusion. It is true,
that it would be at once inexpedient, as well as encouraging
to the smuggler to levy so onerous a tax upon so important
an article of consumption as to produce so high an amount
to the Treasury as that of former times; but it is affirmed
by competent judges, that were it honestly and properly
carried out under the present system of imposts, the pulque
tax might easily be made to produce an annual amount of
600,000 dollars.

(To be continued.)

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AVAILABLE FOR TEXTILE FABRICS.

BY H. SHERWOOD.

(Continued from page 98.)

©)" resuming our inquiry into fibres, we must examine

how far their attempted treatment has been rea-
sonable, or in accordance with the existing knowledge of
their composition. Considering that so little is known of
the exact composition of individual fibres, or even of fibres
in general, we are certainly justified in expecting that many
absurdities will be found in their treatment. We have
scarcely any reliable analyses of fibres, except of flax in
various stages of preparation:—-even in these, the minute sub-
stances present, and especially the form of their compounds
(the exact knowledge of which is probably the true key to
the correct treatment of fibres), are undefined. If, therefore,
science has not led the way by supplying fundamental
knowledge, it is a matter calculaterd to excite little surprise
that, in their treatment, quackery and puerile guesses are
blazoned abroad as wonderful discoveries. To the dis-

426 Vegetable Fibres Available jor

credit of our manufacturers, their processes in this art have
been largely drawn from guesses, rather than from prin-
ciples reasoned out to results, certain and infallible as the
principles from which they emanate. When the means are
nostrums, we may expect “cure-alls”:—They have “vitriol”
and “ soda-ash,” and “spirits of salt.’"—-These did every-
thing from time immemorial, what more can be needed!
But if not effective, mix them all together! This idea of
“strong things” appears to pervade the whole system of
fibre treatment, and is patented to nausea, each actor ring-
ing an insignificant change, untenable as the previous one.

Whilst confessing the extreme difficulty of the subject,
let us examine the general character of the substances to
be treated, and the action on them of the chief means em-
ployed. Fibres vary much in minor details of composition.
All possess a foundation of ligneous fibre, composed. of
short cells, agglutined together by various vegetable matters
which are chiefly in chemical union with mineral substances.
Much of the vegetable matter is soluble in water or easily
removed by it. This needs not to be inquired into. A
large proportion is insoluble in water, and needs to have
the various combinations broken up to form soluble com-
pounds. The latter class is probably to a large extent, or-
ganic substances acting the rvd/e of acids in union with
alkalis, alkaline earths, and alkalofds. Some of these,
largely present in one fibre, will be found replaced in
another by a more or less dissimilar body acting the same
part. We find generally present, albumen, casein, pectin,
resins, gums; all either forming salts with alkaline bases,
or being chemically combined with some other salt present.
These other salts may be sulphates, muriates, or phosphates.
We have also generally present, starch or glucose, and pos-
sibly some substances analogous to caoutchouc. The cel-
lulin is the only portion of the fibre desired to be retained,
which should have all its strength, whiteness, and brilliance
preserved intact. It is commonly supposed, that a sub-
stance termed lignin does exist as the flesh, whilst cellulin
is the skeleton of the fibre. Allowing it to be so, it must
naturally be of the greatest importance and account in the
treatment of fibres. Its presence may account to a large
extent for the difference of hardness observed in fibres. It
must vary in a very minute degree in composition from the
cellulin which accompanies it, and from being so nearly
akin, must naturally be difficult to remove without con-
siderably injuring the cellulin.

Textile Fabrics. 427 |

But even the presence of all these components scarcely
accounts for some phenomena observed in treating fibres.
It appears certain, that cellulin exists in all stages of con-
solidation from the easily soluble form found in Iceland
Moss, or the brittle top-shoot of plants, to the insoluble
and tenacious flax and cotton fibres. It appears consonant
with reason to suppose that cellulin in a difficultly soluble
state, should be used by Nature to agglutine short consoli-
dated cells into firm substances. Observation bears out
the supposition :—Near the tops of the shoots of plants
where the cells are forming and maturing by the deposition
of insoluble cellulin, and consequently, where cellulin must
exist in the juices, the cells are invariably found to be more
tenaciously agglutined together, than in other positions,
where the deposition, and probably the secretion, of cellulin
is terminated; for in proportion as the cells are nearerthe
root where full development of the whole plant is earliest
obtained, they are found coarser, stronger, and adhering to
each other in a very slight degree. Wemay conclude from
these significant facts, that cellulin is found around
the not fully developed cells, in all stages of solubility.
Again, insoluble deposited cellulin is not gelatinous. But
it is well known, that when partially dissolved or its par-
ticles swollen with water, it becomes so. Witness the stiff-
ness induced on even old linen by washing ; the starchy sub-
stance produced by boiling cellulin, after exposure to high
heat; by heating with superheated steam ; by the action of
strong caustic alkalis, &c. May not this view more clearly
define a large proportion of the “large quantity of gum” so
much spoken of as existing in some fibres, and perhaps some
portion of the undefined “extractive matter” of analysts,
and the “inter-cellulose” of students on fibres. Assuming
this to be fact, it opens to our view a field of difficulty not
easily overcome, for the undeposited but insoluble cellulin
is probably isomeric with the deposited cells; or at most, the
former being mechanically mixed with water, and the latter
having chemically appropriated it.

For the removal of substances so near akin to those de-
sired to be retained, let us consider what means have been
employed. First and chiefly, alkalis. It is well known
that these powerfully aid the solution of all vegetable sub-
stances, and seeing that they enter with facility into com-
bination with all vegetable acids, and substances acting the
role of acids, whiist cellulin is not visibly affected in form
by them, they have been made the foundation of the treat-

428 Vegetable Fibres Available for

ment of fibres. But, from the very facility of their action
on matter closely allied to cellulin, it will at once be per-
ceived that their effect on cellulin, must be powerful :—ex-
perience shows that it sustains a considerable loss of
strength. A large number of experiments have clearly
proved that the exposure of cellulin to the smallest quan-
tity of alkali capable of solving other vegetable substances
in any perceptible degree, will cause a loss of strength
which is of very considerable importance in the bleaching
of yarns and of fabrics; and in preparing pulp for paper
from rags, fibres, and wood. Nor is the action so minute
as to be merely an infinitesimal fact magnified into a bug-
bear. The cell loses its sustaining power, even when con-
sidered fairly good, from its normal strength of 1:0, until in
some cases, it reaches 0:4; or, that four cells with their pris-
tine strength, will sustain the weight of ten of many samples
impaired by such treatment. Probably, few samples will
reach 06, which would be considered extraordinary. Again,
examine this action on the lustrous coat of the cell. To a
certain extent, the brilliance is due to the state of aggrega-
tion of the surface, in like manner as the hair-side of leather
is more compact and smooth, than the flesh-side. This
surface would not be much altered in appearance by the
action of any agent upon it. But nature rarely leaves any
of her surfaces without protection. Above this, is de-
posited a coat, doubtless as a protection from hurtful in-
fluences, and to increase elasticity. This coat is suited to
its position and use. On downs as cotton, we find a secre-
tion of an oily fluid, designed to shoot off wet, as from a
duck’s wing. On all fibres, even if embedded in other
matter, the coat is distinct alike from the cell as from the
surrounding matter. Its predominating component in some,
is insoluble albumen; in others, silica; or these substances
united with bases. If we suppose it simple insoluble albu-
men, the action of alkalis and alkaline earths, must be
gradually to remove it. Some fibres prove this supposition
in a remarkable degree. China grass for example, will
diminish in thickness of cell to a degree perceptible to the
naked eye. It has been suggested, that this altered ap-
pearance is due tothe admitted power of contraction which
alkalis exercise upon vegetable cells. But Mr. Mercer did
not, by any means, prove that hot alkaline solutions of long
‘continuous action, have any such effect, but rather the con-
trary. It seems also probable, that the effect, where pro-
duced, is a contraction in length of cell, which, being exer-

Textile Fabrics. 429

cised on a woven fabric, where the fibres lie in opposite
directions, would tend in every direction to draw the cloth
closer. This argument is therefore, only available for the
opposite conclusion than that which is sought to be estab-
lished. If the coat be regarded as insoluble silica, it can-
not resist long action of alkalis aided by heat, spread over
so considerable a surface. If the action of the free alkali be
masked by carbonic acid, the salt is soon broken up by the
vegetable acids present. It therefore follows, that the coat
must be entirely removed by the action of alkalis. At
best, the use of these agents is the acceptance of known
injury to the substance sought to be produced with its full
natural qualities, because with it is given the power of re-
moving extraneous matter, which otherwise, the operator
imagines he would not have.

We must, however, view the action of alkalis in conjunc-
tion with subsequent parts of the processes generally em-
ployed. Here, fats, or acid soaps are brought to bear upon
the fibres. The fatty acids may be supposed to take up
the bases precipitated from their compounds by the
substitution of the alkalis, and to form with these bases
soaps, soluble only, and with difficulty, in excess of soap.
They are known to possess a considerable solvent power
over resins, and as solvents of resinous particles present in
the fibres, exercise a less hurtful influence than most of
others which could be employed. But it seems very doubt-
ful, whether the supposed amount of resin or gum to solve
which fats might be employed, does really exist in fibres
generally, except in a very minute quantity. New Zealand
flax is,perhaps, the only textile fibre where it is otherwise.
It is true, that many characteristics are observable in
fibres, especially under the action of soaps with heat, which
seem to point to resins: but, as resins are chiefly found in
connection with colouring matter, and are probably removed
in exact proportion to the removal of colouring matter :—
and as fibres may become as white as they can become,
without the aid of artificial bleaching, whilst the quantity
of this so called resinous, or gummy matter, is not dimi-
nished, there is at least, occasion to doubt whether the
observed characteristics be not those of bodies little known,
exhibiting similar appearances under similar circumstances :
—viz., insoluble colloid bodies in union with some base,
or with cellulin in a gelatinous state. Fatty acids may also
break up some insoluble salts by substitution for other acids
present, and may be thus used with advantage. Soap may be

4 30 The Royal Soctety Sotvree.

considered as the most harmless of the patented improve-
ments, except to the washerwomen, who, it is presumed,
have been largely called upon to pay royalties to the
sapient patentees. But even the use of soap or of ‘fatty
acids with heat, are not altogether harmless. We may re-
mark (contrary to the experiences of Frémy in his valuable
researches), that many organic acids do exercise, per sé, a
very appreciable action in destroying the strength and other
properties of cellulin:—And markedly, fatty acids in union.
even with so little alkali as merely to throw them into the
globular form are, when employed with heat, considerably
destructive to the strength of fibrous cells. Even the ac-
tion of neutral soap employed with heat for a sufficient
length of time produces a perceptible diminution of
strength. Continued heat has doubtless much to do in induc-.
ing this loss of strength, but without heat, the effect sought —
is not accomplished.

Viewing these results, we cannot look to an alkaline
process for the perfection of treatment which we require
for these fibres.

(To be continued).

THE ROYAL SOCIETY SOIREE.

N the 2nd. ult. were collected at Burlington House
perhaps, the greatest number of scientific and literary
celebrities that have attended the Soirées of the Royal.
Society for some time. The greatest object of interest of
the evening was, the marvellous electro-magnetic machine,
invented by Mr. Wilde. Rarely have we seen men natu-
rally so stately and reserved, so excited, and no wonder for.
never before has artificial light of such power and brilliancy
been seen. Physicists, electricians, geologists, naturalists
alike looked on at the brilliant experiment with admiration.
We had written a description of Mr. Wilde’s wonderful
machine, but have since seen in the “Standard” an ac-
count we like so much better than our own, that we do not.
think we can do bist than suka it at full enti in.
our paper: é

The Royal Society Socree, 431

- An ordinary steam-engine of 15-horse power, was placed.
outside the building, and a driving strap brought through
the window of the room. Here, on the floor, guarded all
round by plates of metal, stood a huge induction magnet
surmounted by a battery of smaller natural magnets; wheels
and driving bands connected its various parts with the
steam-motive power. The main parts of the machine are
two. First, a magneto-electric portion; and, second, an
electro-magnetic one—the former being only considered an
accessory. Taking this part first, it consists of 20 perma-
nent horse-shoe magnets fixed to a magnet cylinder; each
of the permanent magnets being about 17 inches high and
14 inches broad, and capable of sustaining a weight of
about 30lbs. The magnet cylinder is formed of two seg-
mental pieces of cast-iron, separated by two pieces of brass,
the whole being bolted together in such a way as to consti-_
tute a compound hollow cylinder of brass and iron, the
brass not being a conductor of magnetism, isolating each
half from the other. The bore of the cylinder is 34 inches
in diameter. Intothis is inserted an armature, of the form
used by Mr. Siemens, and made of cast iron wound longi-
tudinarily with about 80 feet of covered copper wire, the
inner end of which is placed in good metallic contact with
the armature, and its outer extremity connected with the.
insulated half of the commutator. This armature is made
to revolve inside the magnetic cylinder at about 2,000 re-
volutions per minute, and consequently, as in each revolu-
tion it is magnetised in two directions, 4,000 waves of elec-
tricity are transmitted from it in that time. The mag-
netism so generated, is carried to the polar terminals of.
the great electro-magnet, consisting of two plates of rolled
iron 48 inches in length, 39 inches wide, and 14 inches in
thickness. Bolted to the upper and lower extremities of
the plates are iron bars 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick.
The extremities of the plates are united by a hollow bridge,
made of rolled iron, 43 inches long, and 16 inches wide.
Each side or limb of this electro-magnet is coiled with an
insulated conductor consisting of 13 strands of copper wire,
125 inches in diameter, bound together with a double
covering of linen tape. In length this rope is 4,800 feet,
and the total weight of the two coils is over 1} tons. The
magnet cylinder for this machine consists of two masses of
cast iron 50 inches in length, separated from each other by
blocks of brass. An armature, similar in plan to that used
in the magneto-electric machine, but enormously larger in

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. NN

432 The Royal Society Sorree.

dimensions, being 10 inches in diameter, is driven round ©
within the bore, there being a free space of about I-20th of
an inch allowed between them. Two armatures have been
furnished, which are interchangeable with each other, ac-
cording to the purpose required; one being for the produc-
tion of heat, the other for light. The intensity armature is
coiled with an insulated conductor, consisting of a bundle
of 13 copper wires, the same as those coiled round the sides
of the electro-magnet, the rope being 376 feet in length,
and weighing 232lbs. The quantity armature is enveloped
within the folds of an insulated conductor, consisting of four
plates of copper, each 67 feet in length, 6 inches in width,
and 1-16th of an inch in thickness. The plates are super-
posed in metallic contact, so as to form a single copper:
plate, one quarter of an inch in thickness, 67 feet in length,
and nearly wide enough to occupy the entire space between
the segmented sides of the armature. This division of the
conductor into four plates is made for the greater conve-
nience of binding round the armature. The inner extre-
mity of it is held in intimate contact with the body of the
armature by flat-headed screws, and the convolutions are
insulated from one another by placing between them a
band of thick cotton, the edges being also insulated from
the sides of the armature by thin pieces of wood. The
outer extremity of the conductor is terminated by a thick
copper stud which connects it with the insulated half of
the commutator. The convolutions in all the armatures
are prevented from spreading out by the high centrifugal
force of the rapid revolutions by being retained in place
by broad brass bands. The whole of the large armatures
are cased in wood to save them from accidental injury.
The weight of the laminated conductor of the quantity-ar-
mature is 344 lbs., and the total weight 1s more than a quar-
ter ofaton. Each of the large armatures is accurately
balanced, so as to avoid whilst working in the,bore of the
magnet cylinder, those excessive vibrations which would
otherwise be produced if any inequality in the weights of
the ends existed, when the armature was being driven at
the rate of 1,500 revolutions per minute. As the same
double action takes place here as in the former case, 3,000
waves of electricity are thus propagated, and are conducted
by large copper springs to the poles proper of the machine
and thence connected with two insulated plates of copper
at the under side of a separate experimental table. Upon
the upper side of this table are two movable brass studs

The Royal Socrety Sotree. 433

sliding in good metallic contact with the copper plates, and
forming the polar terminals of the entire machine. By a
most simple contrivance, the enormous stream of electricity
is turned on or off at will. A handle, very like that of a tap
handle, protrudes from the top of the experimental table ;
at the base of its shaft below, is attached a bar of copper.
When the bar is turned across the conductors, short con-
tact is made, and no electric current passes on to the ter-
minals ; but when this bar is turned parallel with the con-
ductors, it rests inert between them, and the electricity
passes on in its longer course. The weight of the large
electro-magnet alone, is nearly three tons, and the total
weight of the whole machine, is four and a half tons. The
effects produced are astounding. With the quantity-arma-
ture running the evolution of dynamic electricity is so
enormous, that pieces of cylindrical iron rod 15 inches in
fength, and fully a quarter of an inch in diameter, were
melted down in a few minutes, and copper wire of *125 inch
diameter as quickly shared the same fate. A beautiful
sight it was, to see the thick iron bar between the poles
reek, glow vermilion red, become tawny, orange, yellow,
then white, and then perfectly incandescent, and finally to
trickle with tears of molten metal that ran along and
dropped. In the same way long loops of stout iron wire
such as is used for fencing, more than a couple of yards in
length, were held by a hook, and the current of electricity
passed through ; the whole loop soon became incandescent,
and tears of melted white hot metal trickled fast and quickly
and ran along its length, spattering on the iron experi-
mental table, and sometimes falling in countless sparks
upon the floor. With the intensity armature 21 feet of 0°65
inch iron wire may be made red hot. When the 10-inch
electro-magnetic machine is charged with a direct current
from the small magneto-electric battery, the development
of magnetic force is unprecedented, and is equal to the
lifting of 50tons. During the evening a large bar of pla-
tinum was laid across the poles. The glow was magnifi-
cent ; but it suddenly disrupted under the powerful current
into numerous fragments. Outside the building the effect
of the light was very great; the lamps were paled almost
into the hue of very pale-brown paper; the smallest print,
such as that of the popular sixpenny editions of Cooper's
novels, and even smaller, was perfectly legible at the en-
trance gateway ; and the flame of a piece of lighted paper
had, at that distance, its image distinctly shadowed on a
N N 2

434 The Royal Society Soiree.

card behind it. No opportunity, on account of the direc-.
tion of the street and the wall of the court, was afforded of
testing the light at any greater distance. The light pro-
duced by Mr. Wilde’s machine may be compared with that:
derivable from a thousand Grove cells with platina of |
6 inches by 3 inches; and it absorbs from 8 to 10 horse-
power out of the engine. |

Electricity held sway in other rooms. Mr. Siemens oc-
cupied the Linnzan Room, and Professor Wheatstone the
Library.

Amongst the many valuable philosophical instruments
exhibited, the most remarkable was the new spectroscope
invented by Mr. Browning for Lord Rosse’s telescope at
Parsonstown. Space does not permit us to enter into
descriptions of this instrument, and the many other remark-
able objects of interest shown at this memorable Soirée..
We must therefore content ourselves with simply enume-
rating the following, as most worthy of notice :—Specimens
of the Atlantic telegraph cable, with the grapnel shown in
action, as at the bow of the Great Eastern, by Sir Samuel
Canning. Silvered glass reflector of 124 inches diameter,
and two drawings of Mars taken during the recent opposi-
tion, by Mr. J. Browning. Telegraph thermometer and
cryptographs, and automatic telegraph, by Professor Wheat-
stone, F.R.S. Collection of recent and fossil otolites, or
ear-bones of fishes, by Mr. E. T. Higgins. Lithographs by
Mr. De Wilde of new British madreporia, by Dr. P. M. Dun-
can. Some excellent instruments by Messrs. Cooke and
Sons, and by Mr. Troughton and Simms, for the great tri-
gonometrical survey of India, by Lieut.-Colonel Strange,
F.R.S. Professor Smith’s binocular eye-piece for micro-
scopes, by Mr. Ladd, Combined electrometer and electro-
dynamometer, for determining the ratio of the electrostatic
and electromagnetic units by means of equilibrium between
an electrostatic attraction and electromagnetic repulsion,
and a real image stereoscope, with illustrations of geometry
of three dimensions, by J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S. Ther-
mograph of the new Kent pattern, by B. Stewart, F.R.S.
Robinson’s anemometer, on a new pattern, and one of the
‘mural standards constructed for the British Association,
by Mr. Casella Further most illustrative specimens of
Eozoon Canadense, with photograph, including a spe-
cimen from the limestone, by Sir W. E. Logan, F.RS.
-Specimens of salts of the metal Thallium, by Messrs.
Hopkin and Williams. Fossil bones of Dinornis, by Pro-

Is Medicine a Science ? 435

-fessor Tennant. Illustrated books and paintings from N.E.
China and Japan, and ancient skulls from Mantchouria,
collected by Dr. Lamprey, 67th Regiment. Ancient British
skulls, and bones of Bos longifrons dug from long barrows,
in Wiltshire, by Dr. Thurnam, Mixed anesthetic vapour
apparatus and two forms of a compound inhaler, and a self-

_acting chloroform inhaler, by Mr. Robert Ellis. Sample

iron plate protected by Gisborne’s mercurial anti-fouling
composition, Lee’s patent steam fuel, composed of peat and
petroleum, and Palmer's section shell ‘for naval and military
purposes, by Mr. F. N. Gisborne. Section of the side of an

iron ship, showing Daft’s new method of double lap-joint,

_and zinc sheathing for prevention of fouling, by Mr. Mackie.
New patent process for printing with elastic types on un-
even or brittle surfaces, with specimens on porcelain, glass,

_and wood (Leighton’s patent), by Messrs. Leighton. A
portable easily extemporised battery, for military and sub-
marine purposes. &c., &c.

IS MEDICINE A SCIENCE ?

T cannot be doubted that whilst Surgery has advanced
in our day with rapid strides until it has attained
perhaps perfection; that which is called the sister art
Medicine, has not only made no progress, but, in fact, has
retrograded, and lost the advantage of all the experiences
of former ages, casting away the facts ascertained by past
‘practice without examination or regard—and groping in
the dark after some new agent, or body which the progress
of chemistry might bring forth.
_ Surgery is an exact science, it depends on a knowledge
of anatomy and the perfection of instruments to be em-
ployed. The surgeon knows exactly the parts of the body
he has to cut, and how he is to proceed with his work, and
he performs his operation with absolute certainty.

The physician on the contrary, in general, has no certain
or even reliable knowledge of the disease or the constitu-
tion of the patient, or the way to cure him, or of the effect
of the remedy he is going to administer, and certainly no
knowledge of the modus operandi of his drug (that is to say,

436 Is Medicine a Science?

the way in which it acts). Consequently, medicine as now
practised, has lost all respect in a scientific point of view.
In fact, it is by the universal consent of the learned driven
from the pale of the sciences. It is considered no science
at all—and never yet in the history of the world has it been
a science. This is nowconfessed in the writings of its most
advanced thinkers who make their boast that they scarcely
give medicine at all, and only watch the case they attend.
It may well be asked, what is the use of paying them for
attending the patient whom they cannot relieve, and if they
have no medicine to give him they cannot relieve him.
But this is not true, they do give medicine as do the others,
nauseating and torturing those whom they cannot relieve.
Their motive in making such an assertion is, to escape in this
manner, the dangerous rivalry of the homceopathists who
have come into vogue by their centesimal doses of medicine,
and watch also the protracted sufferings of their patients, at
all events, with more truth and less injury and torture than
their opponents.

But some lately of the most eminent of the profession,
have come out entirely, and openly declared that drugs are
positively injurious, and kill more than they cure, and that
if a certain number were treated by the medical men, and
the same number of others left to themselves, a greater
proportion of the latter would recover than of the former.

In the meantime, the ignorant public who will not attend
to such a subject till they are sick, are put to torture, and
perhaps, not unfrequently physicked to death. We havea
lively account of this torture in a popular work, very widely
circulated, “My Wanderings,” by J. Gadesby. Mr. Gades-
by caught a severe cold and applied to a doctor. He gra-
dually got worse, and consulted the foremost men in the pro-
fession, such as Sir James Clarke, Dr. Watson, Sir Benjamin
Brodie, &c. They pronounced him in a deep consumption,
but differed entirely as to the lung affected, some saying it
was the right, others the left, nor did they agree any better
as to the treatment. One saying he ought to go toa cold
climate, another to a hot one. Amongst them, however, he
was leeched, blistered, cupped, flayed alive with croton oil,
purged, sweated and put through the whole round of
medical torture, without the least benefit or change in his
symptoms. He got gradually worse, and was on the point
of death, when the pain in his chest was relieved by the
simple means of hot water applied by a hydropathist, and
he was thus enabled to take a journey to Malta, thence to

Ls Medicine a Scrence ? A37

Egypt, where he formed the idea of going on through
Sinai tothe Holy Land. The air of the Sinaitic desert
cured him, and he has since been able to lecture in almost
every town in the Kingdom (see Introduction to “My Wan-
derings,” by J. Gadesby).

What is called or miscalled the science of medicine, is
stated in a few words—bleeding, blistering, purging, sweat-
ing, diuretics, to which must be added, two classes of agents,
the very names of which shew plainly the utter ignorance
with which they are administered, alteratives and anodynes.
Their very names imply that those who gave them were
totally in the dark as to their mode of acting. In all cases
of difficulty, these are blindly poured into the system with
the mere hope of producing a change without caring in
what manner. Yet these are the sheet anchors of profes-
sional skill.

It was not always thus—even in the middle ages (called
dark), cancer and consumption and other diseases, were con-
stantly and regularly cured by the herbs of the country—
and lately, an old blacksmith in Norwich, is said to have
cured every case of cancer which was brought to him.
This man died of apoplexy, and the secret was lost, but
the doctors are not ashamed to call the man a quack, for
doing what they cannot do.

In fact it has now become evident that by what they call
the general principles of the science,no cure can be effected,
though the constitution may be ruined. Who can calculate
_ the amount of evil inflicted on society by mercury alone,
and iodine is no better. As to the others, bieeding, blister-
ing, purging, sweating, and diuretics, they are mere drain-
age, and treat the human body as if it were a wet field to
be drained. Their notion is, that all disease is inflamma-
tion, and is to be cured by depletion of the system; but
the result of their use is a sad proof to the contrary. This
was evidenced sufficiently in cholera, the doctors having never
_ succeeded in curing a single case during the virulence of its
first advent. The same appeared with cattle disease, in
which when challenged they signally failed. Now, if there
were general principles of cure, they would be applicable
to all diseases, and cure would have something of certainty
about it to justify the name of science,

There is, however, now some hope for the community,
_as the Zzmes newspaper has taken the subject up. We
trust it will not cease until Government is compelled to
institute proper inquiry and examination into what is called

438 | Is Medicine a Scrence ?

- medical science, and that, by that inquiry shall be collected
all the medical facts which can be procured from whatever
source.

In a late number our great contemporary reviewed a"new
work by Mr. Skey, on what he calls “The Tonic Treat-
ment of Disease,’ and in its remarks observed that a man
- ought to be his own physician at forty. We heartilywish
that so desirable a result could be brought about ; but we
. fear that Mr. Skey’s book is not likely to help us to achieve
so desirable a result, he after declaiming justly against;the
evils of modern medicine holds up as the panacea for
disease what are called tonics, “the chief of which is wine.”
Thus he reduces the art of medicine to one word “jwine.”
We suspect Mr. Skey’s ideas, medical and scientific, are of

very limited range, and that he is not destined to be the
great Pioneer of Medical Reform.

We were thus well prepared by our great contemporary,
when a little pamphlet, entitled, “Observations on the
Treatment of Consumption, and other Diseases of the
Chest, by W. MacOubrey, M.D., 60 Burton Crescent, came

- into our hands, announcing the bold truth that there are in

Nature agents which have the power to cure disease by a

- specific action, and most obviously exemplified in con-
sumption, bronchitis, and other diseases of the chest. His
theory or statement is supported by such powerful facts
new to us, that we think we cannot do better than give
them in his own words :—

“The total failure of the ordinary treatment of pulmo-
nary complaints, and especially consumption, by the prac-
titioners of every school of medicine, is long patent to the
world; as well as the inability to devise any new and
effective remedy, by the numerous authors who have
written with such strange sameness, on this terrible scourge,
which carries off, perhaps, a third of those who die in our
country. ‘

“Tf we except,” says Dr. Copland, “the recent employ-
ment of cod-liver oil in Phthisis, in what, it may be asked,
has the treatment of this disease been advanced since the
appearance of the works of Bennet, by the voluminous
writings of specialists and stethoscopists in recent times ?
(“ Dict. of Pract. Med. III. 1,127.”)

“Yet there have been at all times facts obvious and un-
doubted sufficient to have pointed out, not only the cura-
bility of the disease, but to some extent the mode of pro-
cedure. It is well known that certain conditions of the

Ls Medicine a Science ? 439

body, induced by physical agencies and disease, are alto-
gether incompatible with consumption. Thus, paludal ex-
halations, or marsh miasmata, induce a species of fever
which eradicates consumption; and miasmata without
obvious fever prevent its development in those who are
threatened with its approach. This was abundantly
- evidenced in our army during the Walcheren expedition,
and more recently at Algiers, and in the pine swamps of
America. It would be easy to mention, if necessary, other
states of the body equally opposed to the malady. But
apart from this, nothing can be better established, than
that consumption has been occasionally cured with medi-
cal herbs, in the hands of rustic and unscientific practi-
tioners.

“Gout, Rheumatism, Neuralgia—Each of these has
specifics which immediately affect the disease, giving in-
stant relief and rapid cure.

_ Dysentery is one of the most painful and distressing
maladies, violent and rapid in its course and fatal in its
results. Yet all its symptoms are immediately relieved,
and a rapid and certain cure is effected ; the same medi-
cine having little or no effect on ordinary diarrhoea, which
requires a totally different agent, neither therapeutic, being
_ purgative, astringent, or what is termed anodyne.”

_ Under such circumstances we recommend the pamphlet

for general perusal. It is time for mankind on this im-
- portant subject to judge for themselves. If it be correct
that one third of those who die are cut off by consump-
_ tion, then there are few families into which the scourge has
- not found its way. We have seen that during this winter
as many as three hundred and odd have died of bronchitis
in one day; what then must be the value of a specific
which would cure or even relieve such maladies?

440

ON THE MECHANICAL PROCESSES OF
ENGRAVING.*

BY A. H. WALL.

CLEVER writer, speaking of work done by machinery,
after pointing out that machines are nothing but
superior tools, says, “Man were hardly man without this
machinery. The tool-maker, the tool-improver, these are
his characteristic titles. When was he not a tool-maker ?
The first and earliest glimpse we get of him, long before
written history begins, he is a tool-maker. The tools and
‘the head lie together. Deep under centuries of drift is
found the skull, but close by, in the same millenial grave,
is found the rude flint instrument; as if it were provi-
‘dentially to preserve to man his self-respect; to show him
that man has always been ingenious, ruling the rest of the
world to his own purposes, making tools and machines.
Show me the Gorilla that ever made a flint celt.”. The
same author adds, “ Direct manual labour, where manual
labour multiplied by machinery would answer the purpose,
is a waste.”
Some few years since, an immense quantity of work of
all kinds was done by hand which is now done by machi-
nery, and on each occasion, when any such alteration was
first introduced, there arose a fierce outcry against the use
-of machinery, and those who advocated it. But when it
was clearly demonstrated that machines did the work in
question cheaper and better, with greater rapidity, uni-
formity, regularity and certainty, it was also found that the
demand for such work rapidly and largely increased; that
new fields for labour were developed, and new sources of
profit introduced in connection with it; that violent oppo-
sition to the use of machines, was merely the old-fashioned
mistake made by those ancient foes to every kind of pro-
gress, ignorance and prejudice.

Men were never made merely to do the work of machines,
or they would not have been endowed with those mental
instincts and impulses, which are antagonistic to their being
so employed, Work in which the mind has no part, yields
no true delight, and men engaged therein must be conscious

* Communicated by the Author. Read before the Associated
Arts Institute, Saturday, March 23, 1866, the chair being occa
by Charles La Coste Cockburn, Esq.

Mechanical Processes of E EV AVINE. A4I

-of a restless continual craving for other more congenial and
fitting labour. It is well for them when they understand
this natural desire, and appease it by devoting their hours
of recreation to some more intellectual hobby; but it is ill
for them, and for the community at large, when conscious
only of the feverish restlessness of their intuitive discon-
tent, the meaning of which they do not conceive, they seek
relief in follies and vices from which spring more than half
the evils of social life. It is idle minds, rather than idle
hands, by which Satan contrives so much mischief shall be
done and so much misery endured.

It seems to me, on the other hand, that life has no truer
enjoyment than is derived from labour we delight in. Its
all-absorbing interest, its patience-begetting power, the
eagerness with which we seek it, and the reluctance with
which we quit it, all tell of that delight which has tenderly
smoothed the roughest paths of care and poverty for many
‘a poor earnest-hearted enthusiast, and enabled struggling
genius to bear up bravely through hard up-hill fights, and
win the grandest victory true ambition can desire. “The
labour we delight in physics pain.”

To which of these two classes of labourers are wood-
engravers most nearly allied? and is their work ‘such as
can be done best by machinery? These are the first ques-
tions I wish to place before you, as introductory to a briefly
descriptive notice of some attempts which have been made
of late years to substitute a mechanical process for wood
engraving.

It is generally held that the wood-engraver should also
be an artist, and our best engravers really are artists of
genuine ability, fully understanding the nature and value
of every line and tint in the best drawings entrusted to
them. From their hands a bad or indifferent drawing
emerges wonderfully improved, and a good one comes out
uninjured. But I am inclined to believe that, of these two
specimens, such an artist must find most delight in en-
graving the bad drawing, for in that there is scope for some
mental exercise, some opportunity for displaying artistic
skill and judgment, for which, however, he will get no credit,
whereas the other is, when done, merely an example of de-
licate manipulation, such as should be best accomplished
by machinery. There is, to my thinking, something humi-
liating for an artist in tediously and laboriously cutting
away, with the minute point of his graver, the hard surface
of boxwood between thousands of finely drawn lines and

a eel

442 Mechanical Processes of Engraving.

varied cross-hatchings, slavishly tracing out line after line,
and picking out dot after dot, while the sole business of his
mind is to watch his hand, lest a false touch, a wrong de-
gree of pressure, or some other apparently trivial error,
should ruin the character or decrease the value of a costly ©
drawing; at the same time he must check his thoughts,
lest his- attention should for an instant wander from the
point of his graver. Speaking as an artist for artists, I
think I may venture to assert, that this is not the labour
we delight in, and that it is labour more fitted fora machine
than for a man.

But, nevertheless, the wood-engraver commonly looks
upon the idea of engraving by machinery with scant favour,
and hence we may reasonably infer, that any new process
of this kind is likely to meet with much opposition from
those whose means of living it appears to threaten. But
as I have already said, if machinery has the effect of dimi-
nishing manual labour by doing work with so much greater
rapidity, efficiency, and cheapness, it also creates such an
enlarged demand for things thereby produced, that the
diminution of employment is more apparent than real.
-An example of my meaning will be found in the history of
the printing-press. When books were written by hand
‘they were costly and scarce, but the introduction of a
printing-machine converted the old writers into printers,
and not only increased the supply of books, but soon
created also a new and wonderful demand for them, which,
as the printing process improved in rapidity, economy, and
efficiency, grew, grew, and continued growing, until it has
attained its present marvellous dimensions. It was the
same with photography. Where one miniature was painted,
thousands of portrait photographs are taken. So also has
it been in other branches of industry ; in cotton manufac-
ture, in coining, in preparing timber for various trades, in
flattening iron, in calico-printing, in travelling by land and
sea, in agriculture, and wherever else machinery has been
introduced to save men from the drudgery and mental in-
-dolence of mechanical labour. I think it probable, that
should a mechanical process of engraving at last supersede
-wood-engraving, every professional worker in that art will
find far more pleasurable and more profitable employment
as draughtsmen, that there will then be a far more ready
and extensive market for the work of our young student
artists, and that artists of eminence and popularity will be
more highly esteemed than. ever, Thousands of works

Mechanical Processes of E ngraving. 443

now issue from the press without illustrations, merely be-
cause good engravings are such very costly things, while bad
ones are worse than none. Publishers regard the issuing
of a first-class illustrated work with considerable trepida-
tion, as a very serious speculation, and consequently send
out many books and periodicals without engravings, al-
though believing that such things are even necessary to se-
cure popularity. On the other hand, many illustrated peri-
odical works die out purely in consequence of the great
expense incurred in their production. A glance over the
yearly reviews of books published, will show that, consider-
ing the immense number issued by the various publishing
houses, the number illustrated is comparatively very small,
although no one can, in these days, dispute the fact of
illustrations being excessively popular.

So much, then, for the general desirability of a mecha-
nical substitute for wood-engraving. Let us, in the next
place, consider what special requirements we ought to look
for in such a process. ,

The first and chief of these, is that, in engraving an
artist’s drawing it should do so without making the slightest
alterations in it. Men cannot make machines of them-
selves so far as to Co any species of work without stamp-
ing it more or less prominently with their own individuality,
and we seldom see two engravers who render the drawings
of any one particular artist with equal accuracy, while we
often see the individuality of the artist swallowed up in
that of the engraver ; but a machine should give the special
peculiarities of each artist unmistakeably, with unerring
precision, and render nothing but what belonged to the
original drawing. To this it may be objected, that if a
machine cannot change or modify the character of a draw-
ing, on the other hand it cannot improve it. This is true;
and although artists commonly profess that their works
are invariably spoilt by wood-engravers’ alterations, let
justice induce us to whisper, just amongst ourselves, and
in strict confidence, that sometimes, now and then we'll
say, the wood-engraver really does improve the artist’s
drawings, rendering them sometimes more artistic, some-
times more accurate, and almost always more fit to go
into the hands of the printer, whose special requirements
it is his more particular duty to consider. In drawing for
mechanical engraving, therefore, it is the artist who must
understand the printer's wants, and consult them in his
style and manner of drawing. But this is only putting the

a

f

444 Mechanical Processes of Engraving.

saddle on the right horse, and the drawings should cer-
tainly be all the better for such a change.

Of the rapidity and certainty which should characterize
such a process I need hardly speak, as these would follow
almost as matters of course; but a few brief words may —
be said as to the value of such qualities. Illustrations
often fall flat and dead from the publishers, because the
events which have called them forth, being of passing
interest only, have been too long past the sunny time of
their hay-making, as illustrations, having been wasted in
the tedious process of engraving. Many events would be
pictorially iecorded, and so employ the artist and still
further popularize his art, if it were possible to publish these
events with sketches of scenes or circumstance associated
with them immediately after they had transpired. As to
the question of certainty, most of us know how common
it is for wood-cuts to be rejected in consequence of bad
engraving, or most reluctantly inserted in a work, because,
coming in at the last minute, there was not sufficient time
to get them re-drawn and engraved, and having been ad-
vertised, they could not be withdrawn.

Another all-important requisite should be cheapness,
than which nothing tends more greatly to popularize works
of any kind. Yo render good art cheap is not, as some
think, to degrade it, but is to increase the demand for it
continuously, to open up new sources of success and profit,
and carry art into new fields now undreamt of. Cheapness,
like rapidity and certainty, would come as a matter of
course with any truly good mechanical process of en-
graving, and this also may, therefore, be dismissed with the
mere mention.

Now, permit me to briefly review some of the attempts
which have been made in the direction in question. I need
not make this sketch a very comprehensive one, as one of
our members quite recently went over similar ground.

The first process introduced as a substitute for wood
engraving to which I gave attention, was a mechanical
engraving process, invented by Mr. E. Palmer, and called
Glyphography. This was introduced in 1844, if I am not
deceived, and some energy and capital were expended in
endeavouring to popularize it. It seemed a very promising
process, and obtained some small share of success, and is
still, I believe, used in out-of-the-way nooks and corners
by amateur artists and others. Great claims were set up
for it on the score of its superiority to wood engraving, and

Mechanual Processes of Engraving, 445

the fidelity with which it preserved the artists’ drawing, but
it never became popular, and is now, like some other
similar processes, almost forgotten. Economy and rapidity
of production it undoubtedly secured; it rendered fine
lines with great sharpness and delicacy, but there was
commonly a scratchiness and poorness about them which
ensured their non-appreciation. Glyphographic engravings
were simply etchings in relief, and were consequently unfit
for the mode of printing by which wood-cut impressions
are ordinarily obtained, demanding greater care and time
in their printing than could generally be afforded. I have
a little collection of specimens here which will illustrate
my meaning. The process, a very simple one, was as
follows :—

A piece of ordinary copper-plate, such as engravers on
copper used, was stained black on one side, and a thin,
smooth layer of an opaque, white substance, such as wax,
was spread over it. A variety of etching points were used
to make the drawing, and these cutting through the lines
to the black surface, caused the marks made to be dis-
tinctly visible. This done, the plate was returned to the
inventor, by whom the etching process was continued
chemically, and an electrotype produced in the usual way
from the intaglio. There were many reasons why this
process should prove unsatisfactory; but as time is short and
the process commercially extinct, I need not refer to them.

At the great International Exhibition of 1851, I noticed
another process of chemical mechanical engraving. The
name this was known by was the Chemitype, and we
owe its introduction to a native of Copenhagen, whose
name I do not at present remember. This process was
then described, not very clearly, as one in which a zinc
plate was covered with an etching ground, on which
the draughtsman made his drawing with an etching needle.
The surface was next coated with a negative metal, readily
fusible, and the plate was in some way scraped, so that the
metal which penetrated the lines in the etching remained.
By the action of an acid, the etching action was again set
up, and the hollow parts became raised in the untouched
metal, and so an engraving in relief was obtained. Some
very passible specimens of prints, obtained by this process,
were exhibited in the Austrian department. About the
same time, a process called Galvanography attracted con-
siderable attention. In this the artist sketched with a
brush on a prepared copper plate, and the galvanic process

446 Mechanical Processes of Engraving.

was employed to deposit metal on the parts not touched:
by the drawing. Thus, an intaglio plate was obtained
from which the same agency afterwards produced one in re-
lief ready for the printer. This process appeared a very
promising one, and great success was prophesied for it, but
I have heard nothing of its more or less extensive adoption
from that day to this.

Many other ingenious inventions have been introduced
to meet the undoubted want of a cheap mechanical en-
graving process. But most of them were based on the .
principle of eating into the metal with acids, which, how-.
ever, successful in line or intaglio engraving, with the pro-
longed action required for an engraving in relief, has
always proved fatal to practical efficiency. The cause of
this is the lateral action of the acid, which seems to have
defied all the efforts made to prevent it by electricity,
gilding, varnishing, or coating with other protecting sur-
faces. A process resembling that called the chemitype
has, I believe, been long used for certain class of work,
and is known as Panicography. And another similar pro-
cess of drawing on zinc, and etching with acid, was intro-
duced somewhat successfully by M.Gillot. The processes
of Kobel, Volkmar, Ahner, and Besley, possess excellent
features, but time will not permit me to dwell upon them.
M. Dulos introduced a promising process some few years
since. It was based upon the phenomena called capillary
attraction. If, after drawing a design with varnish upon a
plate of silver, er silvered copper, we level it and pour
mercury over its surface, an effect is produced similar to
that which would be produced if the lines*were greasy and.
the mercury were water. In this process, therefore, the
drawing is made direct on a plate of silvered copper in
lithographic ink, or it may be made on paper and trans-
ferred to the plate by pressure. By the aid of galvanism,
a deposit of iron is thrown upon the copper not covered
by the ink. The ink is next removed witha little benzine,
and the lines appear in silver. Mercury being poured over
the surface, is repulsed from the iron and attracted to the
silver, and when the surplus mercury is removed with
soft brushes, the lines will be found in relief above the iron.
From this a mould is obtained, and the process of electro-
typing completes the operations. There were objections
to this plan, excellent as it appears in theory, and these.
led to various modifications and improvements, but the
process never came into practical use. In February,

Mechanical Processes of Engraving. 447

feea, ME. Vial, of Paris, read a paper before the So-
ciety of Arts, “On a Method of Instantaneous (?) En-
graving on Metal.” This was based on the well known
fact that by plunging a piece of one kind of metal
into a saline solution of some metal opposite in character,
the solution becomes decomposed, and the metal in
solution is at once deposited upon the other piece of
metal. In this process the artist executes his drawing
with a metallic ink, which enables it to be transferred by
pressure to a metal of the required opposite character, on
which it appears in relief. This relief was then increased
by the action of acids, or by voltaic electricity, and the
engraving in relief was completed. None of these
processes, however, appear to have been successfully
adopted.

I now come to the most recently introduced and most
successful of processes intended to take the place of wood
engraving, the Graphotype. This was invented by a very
talented American artist, Mr. De Witt Clinton Hitchcock.
The hint from which this discovery sprung was, as is not
uncommon, given accidentally. Desiring to correct an
error in a wood drawing with white, and having none of
that pigment handy, Mr. Hitchcock used the white enamel
of a glazed visiting card. As he removed the compo-
sition forming the enamel, he found that the ink on the
surface protected the parts beneath them from the action
of his brush, so that the letters were soon in bold relief.
The possible application of such a simple discovery directly
flashed into the artist’s mind, and he at once commenced
experiments, from which sprang the graphotype. This
process was taken up in New York, and carried on so
successfully, that its inventor brought it over to England,
and about twelve months ago a company (limited of course)
was organised to work it. The process is a very simple
one, and as it has not been fully described to you before
I will hastily go through it. :

An artificial tablet of smooth chalk is obtained by re-
ducing the finest French chalk to powder, and mixing it
with water to the consistence of cream, separating the parts
that precipitate, and repeating the operation several times
to ensure an impalpable powder, capable of forming by
compression a smooth, uniform substance. This is spread
evenly upona smooth, flat plate of zinc, over which a flat
plate of steel, with a finely-polished surface, is laid above
the chalk, which rests between the two metal plates.

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. OO

.
Ly
i

448 Mechanical Processes of E ngraving.

The whole is next submitted to the action of an hydraulic
press, and put under a pressure of about 150 tons, which
consolidates the chalk into a hard cake, with a surface like
polished ivory. Over this a wash of strong size is placed
to guard against the possibility of the ink being used too
thin, and so thickening and blurring the lines by spreading
laterally. On this the artist makes his drawing, with the
same care and lightness of touch, and in just the same way
as line drawings are made on lithographic stones, with a
brush specially prepared, and with a paint-like ink, princi-
pally composed of glue and lamp-black, with probably a
little glycerine. This flows readily, and the brush may be
used with great freedom, especially if such a brush as
lithographers commonly use is adopted, as it retains more
ink than those which are more commonly used for grapho-
typing. When the drawing is made, it can be engraved in
a few minutes, by being subjected to the action of a
machine, which presses and twirls a brush with great
rapidity on the surface,and by working downward at right
angles to the plate, soon removes all the chalk not pro-
tected from its action by the artists’ lines. “The drawing is
then in relief, and after being acted upon by a solution of
silicate of potash, which gives it a stone-like hardness, is
placed in the hands of the electrotypist, who produces an
electrotype of it for the printer, just as he does from an
ordinary wood engraving, it being well known that wood-
cuts of value are seldom entrusted to printers, the risk
incurred being too considerable. :

In graphotype, all those qualities to which I referred as
the requirements of a good mechanical] engraving process
are secured, and it has many special features, giving it
extraordinary value for a variety of useful purposes, pic-
torial effects and novel applications, to which I have not
now time to refer. In using the process, I make my draw-
ing, trace it, transfer it to the plate by means of rouged
paper, go over the tracing to correct and define it more
slearly with a soft BBB pencil, touching the surface
lightly and carefully lest I should disturb it, Then I put
it in with the special ink, using it as thick as possible to
prevent its spreading in the chalk, using sable brushes with
points of different thicknesses, so as to avoid having to
patch or thicken a line, a process which militates against
its sharpness when engraved. Where I require flat tints
I leave bare spaces, to be afterwards filled in with a ruling
machine, by which lines of varying thicknesses are given

Miktary Breech-Loading Small Arns. 439

with the utmost precision and regularity, either in straight
lines, or in lines crossed at any selected angle, giving effects
precisely similar to those got in steel engraving. If I have
made any false lines, I indicate them with a dot, and they
are removed in the engraving process.

(Tg be continued.)

CAPTAIN MAJENDIE ON MILITARY BREECH-
LOADING SMALL ARMS,

eee a meeting of the Royal Institution on the Ist ult,,

Captain V. D. Majendie, R.A., delivered a lecture “On
Military Breech-loading Small Arms.’ He remarked that
every military power with one exception, has been content
until lately, to rely upon a muzzle loading musket for the
general equipment of its troops, a condition of things which
has been due in part to the fact that only recently has the
subject been fairly faced and considered, and, in a great
degree, to the disfavour with which cartridges containing
their own ignition, were, until about ten years ago, regarded
for military use. All real progress in breech-loading and
in the consideration of the question dates from the removal
of these objections.

Breech-loading carbines were supplied to two regiments
of cavalry in the British army ten years ago, of Sharpe’s
pattern. The retention however, of the percussion cap;
the considerable escape of gas; the flash from the spilt
powder from the cartridges, together with the difficulties of
loading constitute grave objections to these arms, which
however, are not yet altogether absolute. Captain Majen-
die informed his deeply attentive audience, that breech-
loaders were determined upon for the Infantry nearly three
years ago, and that the actual pattern of the arm. was de-
cided on quite a month before the battle of Ko6nigsgratz,
The lecturer then exhibited various kinds of breech-loaders,
and among them a pair with the same breech action as the
“Snider” which he brought fourth in the shape of two
clumsy fire-arms, of as early a date as that of Henry VIII.
H e howed the various systems of breech-loading cartridge,
the needle gun, the rim fire, the pin, and the central fire,”

Captain Majendie further stated, that the new Snider,

C.sOu 2

450 Miltary Breech-Loading Small Arms.

although some few and important difficulties have been ex-
perienced in its introduction, has been proved on the whole,
admirably successful, according to the reports of the troops
of Canada, Hythe and Aldershot, to whom this arm has
been supplied ; the computation being that out of 50,000
rounds which have been fired in the course of his immediate
knowledge, the percentage of failures has not been greater
than in 300 rounds. The lecturer in conclusion, stated
that, having provided an army with an effective weapon in
the Snider for immediate use, we are in a position to discuss
calmly although not to leisurely, its future equipment ; and
the best breech-loading rifle which England, or any other
country may be able to produce. The competition which
is to determine this point, will commence next month.

We subjoin an account of the sums voted and the sums
expended upon Small Arms in each financial year from
1851-2 to 1865-6; also the number of such Arms manufac-
tured or converted respectively in those years, The “sums
voted” and “sums expended” in this table include the
cost of repairs to small arms, and of buildings and ma-
chinery. The term “Small Arms” comprises, in addition
to fire-arms, swords, bayonets, lances, boarding-axes, nipples,
snap-caps, nipple-wrenches, re-browning arms, &c., &c., and
Spare parts of arms.

L a : ee Game ee or ee or
° . arbin
er aa ones Expended Manafienell Convenes
| BS
1851-3. 81,475 39,833 21,597 2,183
1852-3 . 82,994 69,540 17,192 LI,TIG
1853-4 . 142,992 49,972 22,996 4,464
1854-5 303,516 285,049 20,581 17,201
1855-6 . 866,796 740,370 148,116 15,489
1856-7 . 1,108,581 783,890 150,509 7,967
1857-8 . 363,416 | 348,741 105,064 2,803
1858-9 412,616 490,048 122,861 —
1859-60 484,633 478,399 152,812 Gia
1860-1 . 808,564 793,185 256,003 --
1861-2 . 721,475 554,016 195,430 as
1862-3 . 559,009 | 352,199 | 155,915 ==
1863-4 . 317,013 | 292,265 59,147 6
1864-5 . 190,581 119,608 40,259 —
1865-6 . 200,274 120,147 10,070 84 |

Learned Societies. 451

It has been ascertained that no small arms have been
converted in Prussia, it being considered impracticable to
convert the percussion-musket into the needle-gun in use
in the Prussian army; and objections are entertained by
the Prussian Government to the publication of a similar
table to the above.

Pee NED SOCKET TE.S.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.—A lecture on “Military Breech-
loading Small Arms,” delivered by Captain Majendie, was
the principal feature of last month’s meeting. A full ac-
count of it is given in a previous page of the present num-
ber.

SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS.—At the meeting of the So-
ciety of Engineers, held on 4th ult., W. H. Le Feuvre Esq.,
president, in the chair, the following gentlemen were bal-
loted for and duly elected members: G. Thoneloe, D.
Sutherland, W. Waring, C. Cornes, R. Rummens, F. S.
Gilbert, J. Walker, A. Couch, H. M’Colley. Associates:
J. S. Nightingale, J. Holmes, F. Brickwell, A. Maclure, jun.,
eeelave. jun. G. W.. Hartris, J. Waddell, E.. Parry, RK:
Jacques, L. D. Burn. T. K. Holmes, W. Featherstonhaugh,
ane. Rees,

ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.—A meeting of this
society was held on the 5th ult. in the Council room, South
Kensington; Sir Philip De Malpas Grey, Bart., M.P., in
the chair, Amongst other objects of interest, two magni-
ficent specimens of Cymbidium eburneum and Ccelogyne
cristata were sent by Mr. Veitch, of the Royal Exotic Gar-
dens, Chelsea. Mr. Bull communicated several specimens
of a singular euphorbiaceous plant, with rose coloured
bracts, from Vera Cruz, Dalechampia Roczliana. A mag-
nificent bunch of Brownea grandiceps (a plant which very
rarely flowers inour stoves), was sent by Sir Hugh Williams,
from Bodelwyddan. Thirteen new fellows were elected.
The Sorbie Parish Cottage Gardening Society, and Wotton-
under-Edge Horticultural Society were admitted into union.
The Rev. M. J. Berkeley, Mr. James Bateman, Major Trevor
Clarke, and Mr. Andrew Murray addressed the meeting.

452 Learned Societies.

RovAL BOTANIC SOCIETY, REGENT’S PARK. — At
a meeting of this society, held on the 6th ult. Professor
Robert Bentley in the chair; the following were proposed
and elected fellows of the society :—Charles Fowler, Esq.,
David John Davis, Esq., Mrs. Chas. A. Hibton, George
Sims, Esq., Mrs. A. Kekewich, James Reynolds, Esq., Miss
Mary Alice Lewin, Stephen George Holland, Esq., George
Robarts, Esq., Samuel Heath, Esq., George Gilbert Tre-
herne, Esq. Fine plants of the aucuba, commonly called
variegated laurel, are now in fruit in the garden. Although
this plant has been one of the commonest evergreens for
more than fifty years, and is perfectly hardy, it has never
fruited in the Society’s gardens before, and probably it is
the first time it has been seen in fruit out of doors near
London. The fruit is about ‘he size and shape of a small
olive, growing in bunches of a vivid red colour.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—At the fortnightly meeting
on the 12th ult. J. Crawford Esq., F:R.S., president, in the
chair, two papers of interest were read—one: “ On the Eth-
nology of the Chinese,” by Dr. Lamprey, 69th Regiment ;
and “An Account of some of the Tribes of Hindustan,’
by the Hon. George Campbell. Dr. Lamprey observed
that the Chinese are generally supposed to be an homo-
geneous race of marked Mongolian type. So far, this is,
to some extent, correct, though the characters of the type
are not so uniform in any one locality, any more than
throughout the whole area of China, as is generally sup-
posed. It did not take long, on visiting any part of China,
to be convinced that all our preconceived notions of the
Chinese type of countenance are very erroneous. It is only
occasionally, and that after a stretch of imagination, that
one can perhaps, detect a face having some resemblance to
the ideal associated with the paintings on old China ware.
The characteristics of the inhabitants of the main provinces
were given in detail, and comments made upon their eth-
nological origins. The second paper, by Mr. Justice Camp-
bell, gave short characteristic accounts of the various races
ia Hindustan, being a first contribution to this society of
the labours he has begun on the great subject of Indian
ethnology. The papers were ably and lucidly discussed
by Dr. Lockhart, for many years medical missionary in
China, Mr. D’Alveira, of Singapore, General Balfour, Dr.
Campbell, Mr. Lamprey, the president, and others.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.—At the monthly
ballot the following candidates were balloted for and duly ~

Literary and Scientific Gleanings. 453

elected as members :—Mr. Amias Charles Andros, Resi-
dent Engineer of the New Dock Works, Leith ; Mr. Henry
David Furness, Locomotive Superintendent of the Riga-
Dunaburgh and Dunaberg-Witepsk Railwaws; Mr. Robert
Edward Johnston, Engineer of the Shrewsbury and Here-
ford, Shrewsbury and Wellington, and Shrewsbury and
Welshpool Railways; Mr. William Jarvis McAlpine, New
York; and Mr. Allan Wilson, Westminster: as associates,
Mr. Horace Bell, Executive Engineer, Public Works Le-
partment, Bengal; Mr. Francis Bramah Gilbertson, Sou-h
Eastern Railway of Portugal; Mr. Spencer Herepa-.,
Kensington ; Mr. George Houghton, Resident Fngineer on
the Berlin Gorlitzer Railway ; Mr. Charles Harlowe Lowe,
Assistant Surveyor of St. Marylebone; Major William e
Palliser, Army and Navy Club; and Mr. Edward Pritchard,
Surveyor to the Local Board, Bedford, Lancashire.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS.

WE call our reader’s attention to the “ Walking-stick
blow-tube,” invented (by Mr. E. Lang, the well-known gun
maker, of Cockspur street) on the principle of the air-gun.
It is certainly the cheapest thing of the kind we have seen.
It consists of a brass tube, 36 inches in length, the calibre,
being 38 (gun guage). This tube is perfectly straight and
very smooth inside, and is encased in a bamboo cane, with
mouthpiece and ferule, to form a walking-stick. We have
tried its powers, and find that, at from 20 to 30 yards, the
dart will penetrate the thickest tin canister. [t is readily
used, and its simplicity is perhaps its greatest recom-
mendation. |

NEWSPAPER STATISTICS.—From the Mewspaper Press
Dictionary for 1867 we extract the following on the present
position of the Newspaper Press :—

There are now published in the United Kingdom 1,204 News-
papers, distributed as follows :—

England—
London ... iis 48 es 241
Provincial sy cae Ph 724—965
Wales 48 ay 28 ree ae, 49
meotand: * -22) ne ha oe ae 138
Ireland ae Any on Hh Ae 128

British Isles ad teh ced re 14

a

Of these are—

454 Literary and Scientific Gleanings.

55 Daily papers published in England

ditto Wales
I - ditto Scotland
13 ditto Ireland
I ditto British Isles

On reference to the edition of this useful Directory for

1857, we find the following interesting facts—viz., that in

that year there were published in the United Kingdom 819
journals; of these 37 papers were issued daily—viz., 26 in

England, 6 in Scotland, and 5 in Ireland; but in 1867 thera

are now established and circulated 1,294 papers, of which no
less than 84 are issued daily, showing that the press of the ©
country has very greatly extended during the last ten years,
and more especially so in daily papers, the daily issues
standing 84 against 37 in 1857.

PRUSSIA.—Railway construction appears to be exciting

a good deal of interest just now in Prussia. A project has

been brought forward for the construction of a great bridge
over the Rhine, near Dusseldorf, by the Berg and Marche
Company.

The Guardian states that Dr. Cumming, whose name
was put up at the Atheneum Club on Monday evening,
was blackballed by a large majority.

M. Thiers has undertaken the direction of a new journal,
to be called ? Européen.

A bird, very rare as far south as the Danube—-the Bom-
bycilla garrula—Scidenschwawz—Waxwing—has visited
Vienna in large flights during the winter, probably driven
from more northerly regions by the unusually heavy falls
of snow. This beautiful creature is considered a bird of
ill-omen by the country people, who call it “pest,” or “tod-
tentvogel”—plague or death bird, and believe its appearance
to forebode pestilence and famine and war.

__ There are in the kingdom of Belgium about 1,300,000
head of horned cattle.

This year a celestial phenomenon will occur, which has
been only twice recorded in history. On the 21st of August
next, the planet Jupiter will be seen completely unaccom-
panied by satellites for nearly two hours. Three of them
will be invisible on account of their passing simultaneously
over Jupiter’s disc, and the fourth will be immersed in the
shadow of the planet.

REVENUE AND POPULATION OF IRELAND.—Last month
a return was issued of the gross revenue of Ireland, ex-

Literary and Scientific Gleanings. 455

cluding casual and miscellaneous receipts, for the years
1841, 1851, and 1861 respectively ; and of the population
of Ireland in those years. In 1841 the gross revenue was
—-4,158,6772; in 1851 it was 4,325,864/ ; and in 1861 it was
6,792,606. The population was 8,196,597 in 1841, 6,474,278
in 1851, and 5,798,967 in 1861. In 1841 the amount of
gross revenue per head was 10s. 6d., in 1851 it was 13s. 2d,
and in 1861 it was 14. 3s. 5d. This return was moved for
by Mr. M‘Kenna.

Experiments have been made in a Yorkshire coal mine
to test the value of gun-cotton as a blasting agent instead
of gunpowder. Besides the superiority in power of gun-
cotton over the latter substance, it possesses the valuable
property of emitting no flame, thus rendering it available
where gunpowder could not be used with safety.

The Guardian says, the catalogue of Hebrew books in
the British Museum, printed by order of the trustees, has
just been issued. The collection, it appears, has grown
from a single book which it possessed in 1759, to a total of
10,000 volumes; and we are told in the preface, by Mr. J.
Winter Jones, the principal librarian of the Museum, that
our national collection of Hebrew books is now the largest
inthe world. The compiler of the present catalogue is a
Mr. Zedner, and its preparation has occupied him several
years of labour. We should add, that the catalogue in-
cludes not only works written in Hebrew, but also works
in the Arabic, Spanish, German, and other languages
printed in Hebrew characters, and also biographical works
on Hebrew literature.

On Saturday last a telegram was forwarded from London
to New York and an answer received within four and a half
hours.

The Emperor of Austria has just re-established the Po-
lish language for the study of law at Lemberg. All the
examinations will be made in the same language. The
telegram announcing this new Imperial concession was re-
ceived with great rejoicing.

_ M. Thomas communicated to the Academy of Sciences,
on the discovery of the lower jaw of a species of rhinoceros
in the Upper Eocene of the valley of the Tarn, near Gaillac.
After summing up the facts, he expressed the opinion that
rhinoceri of the species Acerothertum dwelt in France during
the later Eocene period in conjunction with the Paloplothe-
rium, the Palgotherium, and the Lophiodon, and that con-
sequently the first appearance of this genus on the globe

456 Literary and Scientific Gleanings.

must be relegated to the Upper Eocene, instead of the
Miocene epoch as is usually done.

We learn from the 7zmes that the exports of coal from
the United Kingdom amounted last year to 9,616,244 tons,
as compared with 9,170,477 tons in 1865, and 8,800,420
tons in 1864. The exports to France presented a very
large increase last year, having footed up to 1,904,091 tons,
as compared with 1,589,707 tons in 1865, and 1,447,494
tons in 1864. The exports of coal declined last year to
Prussia and the United States; but they increased to
Russia, Sweden, Holland, Spain, British India, and other
parts of the world. The exports of coal have immensely
increased during the last twenty years, having amounted to
9,616,244 tons in 1866, as compared with 7,855,115 tons in
1861, 5,789,779 tons in 1856, 3,468,545 tons in 1851, and
2,483,161 tons in 1847. The exports of coal to France
have kept pace with the general increase, having amounted
to 611,300 tons in 1846, 1,057,500 tons in 1856 and 1,904,090
tons in 1866. Thevalue of the coal exported has, of course,
presented a great increase, having been 5,084,000/. in 1866,
-3,604,790/. in 1861, 2,826,5822. in 1856, 1,302,4734 in 1851,
and 968,502/. in 1847.

It is well known that some insects are skilful spinners,
but it is not known that some of them, says the Mechanics
Magazine, fabricate iron. A Swedish naturalist, Sjogreen,
has published a curious memoir on this subject. The in-
sects in question are almost microscopic ; they live beneath
certain trees, especially in the province of Smaland, and
they spin (like silkworms) a kind of ferruginous cocoons,
which constitute the mineral known under the name of
“lake ore,” and which is composed of from twenty to sixty
per cent. of oxide of iron, mixed with manganese, ten per
cent. of chloric, and some centimetres of phosphoric acid.
The deposits of this mineral may be two hundred and fif-
teen yards long and from eighteen to thirty inches thick.

Sir Roderick Murchison, in a letter to Sir C. H. Rawlin-
son read at the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society
on Monday evening, expresses some doubts as to the truth
of the story told by the Johanna men with respect to the
murder of Dr. Livingstone, and thinks it may have been
fabricated as an excuse for their desertion of the traveller.
Sir C. H Rawlinson however, augurs ill from the fact that,
although eight or nine months have elapsed since the date
of the supposed crime, no contradiction has yet reached us.
A circumstance however, tending to show that the whole

—

Reviews. A57

story fespecting the murder may be unfounded is the fact
that Dr: R. B. Gilland, of the Essex County Asylum, Brent-
ford, received a letter from Zanzibar, dated Jan. 7, 1867, in
which allusion is casually made to Dr. Livingstone, but
there is no mention of his death. .

In the year 1866, 48,441 cwts. of books—more than
5,000,000lb.—were exported from the United Kingdom.
Their value, as registered at the Custom House, was
4602,177,a little over 26d, per pound.

REVIEWS.

Lyra Elegantiarum. A Collection of some of the best
Specimens of Vers de Soctété and Vers ad’ Occasion in the
English Language, by deceased Authors. Edited by
FREDERICK LoCKER. London: Edward Moxon and Co,

THE domain of English poetry is very extensive, and none
but an enthusiast would impose on himself the severe
labour of traversing every nook and corner in the search
of every specimen of a certain class worthy of reproduc-
tion and of preservation. Even an enthusiast might pause
before undertaking such an eclectic task, after the warning-
note sounded by no less able a critic than Burke :—“ If the
grain were separated from the chaff which fills the works
of our national poets, what is truly valuable would be to
what is useless as the proportion of a mole-hill to a moun:
tain.”

Whoever takes up the admirably executed volume of
Mr. Locker, will be of opinion that the verdict pronounced
by Burke is not final, and that an appeal from it to the
tribunal of the public may not be without avail. The
author has in no way shirked the drudgery consequent on
the work he proposed to undertake. Judging by what he
has reproduced out of long forgotten verse, and by what
he has suffered to remain undisturbed in the tomb to which
hoary time has consigned it, his object has been to sift the
wheat from the chaff, and to awaken the mind of this utili-
tarian and unpoetic age to a species of composition which,
although it for the most part seldom lives, or is intended to
live, beyond the event that called it forth, does neverthe=

458 Reviews.

less occasionally bring forth such rare specimens of excel-
lence as deserve to be treasured up in the archives of lite-
rature and refined taste.

Amongst the collection of the Lyra Elegantiarum, are
many anonymous poems of high merit. We had marked
out a few to which we desired to give prominence, but our
limits prevent us from giving effect to our wish. We can-
not, however, refrain from citing the happy lines of Dr.
Bernard, Bishop of Limerick, not so much for their poetic
excellence, as for the courage they show on the part of the
author, who dared to bravethe “learned Bear” so slavishly
worshipped by Boswell, or as Goldsmith called that Bos-
well idol, “the man with a bear's skin.” The story is well
known to the readers of “ Boswell’s Life of Johnson.” The
good Bishop had asserted, in the presence of Johnson,
that after the age of forty-five men did not improve.”
“ That’s not true,’ said Johnson, in his usual gruff manner.
“ You are perhaps forty-eight, and you may still improve if
you try. Pray set about it, for I am afraid there is great
room for it.” Johnson, it is said, regretted his unmanly
behaviour to the Bishop, who took the rebuff in good part.
But the Church did not forget to wipe off the score. Next
day, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the intimate friend of Johnson,
received from the Bishop the following verses, which the
receiver would not fail to show, as the writer well knew,
to the “ Bear-skin sage” :—

I lately thought no man alive

Could e’er improve past forty-five,
And ventured to assert it.

The observation was not new,

But seemed to me so just and true
That none could controvert it.

‘No, Sir,” said Johnson, ‘’tis not so;
"Tis your mistake, and I can show
An instance, if you doubt it.
You, who perhaps, are forty-eight,
May still improve, ’tis not too late ;
I wish you'd set about it.”

Encouraged thus to mend my faults,

I turn’d his counsel in my thoughts
Which way I could apply it ;

Genius, I knew, was past my reach,

For who can learn what none can teach?
And wit—I could not buy it.

Reviews A59

Then come, my friend, and try your skill ;
You may improve me, if you will,

(My books are at a distance) :
With you I’ll live and learn, and then
Instead of books I shall read men,

So lend me your assistance.

Dear Knight of Plympton, teach me how
To suffer with unclouded brow,
And smile serene as thine,
The jest uncouth, and truth severe,
Like thee to turn my deafest ear,
And calmly drink my wine.

Thou say’st not only skill is gained,

But genius, too, may be attain’d,
By studious imitation ;

Thy temper mild, thy genius fine,

ll study till I make them mine
By constant meditation.

The art of pleasing teach me, Garrick,
Thou who reversest odes Pindarick
A second time read o’er ;
O could we read thee backwards too,
Last thirty years thou should’st review,
And charm us thirty more.

If I have thoughts I can’t express ’em,

Gibbon shall teach me how to dress ’em
In terms select and terse ;

Jones, teach me modesty and Greek ;

Smith, how to think ; Burke, how to speak,
And Beauclerk, to converse.

Let Johnson teach me how to place

In fairest light each borrowed grace ;
From him I'll learn to write ;

Copy his free and easy style,

And from the roughness of his pile ©
Grow, like himself, polite.

In no species of versification are there so many pre-
tenders as the Vers de Société. Every one that can rhyme
fancies he can execute the work indifferently well, and that
it can be performed with ease, and without effort. But
this is a mistake. Wit and humour are not sufficient for
the writing of Vers de Société; the accomplishment can be
only acquired by the combination of those gifts with that
of irony. The best of our poets have made a very small
figure in this branch of versification. The writer of Vers

460 Reviews.

de Société must be to acertain extent a poet, but to excel .
in such composition, he must also be a thorough man of
the world, and a careful observer of character. Such a

man was Thackeray, the last of our poets of Vers de Société.

We were somewhat surprised at not finding any of his

verses in the book before us, but we understand that the

publishers of his works keep a jealous watch over the copy-

right, and have declined to furnish any extracts for the

Lyra Elegantiarum. This volume has afforded us so much

pleasure, and recalled to us so many pleasing lines with

respect to which our memory had become somewhat heavy,

that we cannot part from it without indulging the hope of
being enabled to return to it at no distant day.

Hand-Book to the Popular, Poetical, and Dramatic Litera-
ture of Great Britain, from the Invention of Printing to
the Restoration, By W. CAREW HAZLITT, Barrister-at-
Law. Part 1... Pp..$2.. vo, . London+.john Russel
Smith. 1867.

WE do not know of any book which is so calculated to
supply a want long felt by students in the literary lore of
this country as the one before us. Up to the present time
we have had several Bibliographies given to us, but in all
of them there are inaccuracies, which at times are quite
glaring ; to remedy this we should think is Mr. Hazlitt’s
endeavour; and we find that in this first part, so far as it
goes, we have not only a first-class compendium of all
older works, but titles of hitherto unknown works copied
from the books themselves, showing an amount of research,
energy, and labour, that only a lover of literature would
undertake. Inthe preface to the work the author says :—

“In the preparaiuon of this work, I have had two classes of
difficulty to contend with, and, so far as I cculd, conquer. One
was the necessity of hunting out editions of books and tracts
which former bibliographers had neglected to notice. and which I
believed or expected to exist; and the second difficulty was the
weeding out of imaginary editions mentioned by Warton and his
successors. |

“My success in beth these departments has been even beyond
my expectations. I have been enabled to expunge impressions of
volumes which certainly never had being, and to incorporate, on
the contrary, a large number of impressions of which our elder
antiquaries-had no knowledge. ‘The gain has been double.”

Upon going still further into its pages, we feel convinced

Reviews. 461

that the author does not allot himself a sufficiency of praise,
to which undoubtedly he is entitled.

Possessors of this book will, when completed, have a
hand-book containing all that can be considered trust-
worthy on the subject, the name of Mr, Hazlitt being a
sufficient criterion of the literary worth of this compendious
Handbook. .

The general get-up of this part reflects credit on printer
and publisher.

The Weather Guide for 1867... By ALFRED J. PEARCE.
London. Simpkin Marshall and Co.

IT has been for some time our desire to notice this
pamphlet, but we have deferred so doing, in the hope of
being able to say something favourable about it. For this
reason, we have patiently waited three months, in order to
see whether Mr. Pearce’s prognostications were worth any-
thing at all; but we find ourselves as unable to compliment
that gentleman now, as we were on first taking up the
“ Weather Guide.”

It is always a bad thing fora young man to rush into
print, but itis a real case for pity when he attempts to
write on subjects, and above all, on “ scientific subjects,” of
which he has about as much knowledge as has a cow of
conic sections. Ignorance isa bad fault for a writer, but
coupled with assurance and conceit, it is bad indeed. In
the Preface, Mr. Price “calls on all who are interested in
the cause (of Meteorology), to support his endeavours to
popularize it, by purchasing and distributing copies of his
annual.” AQ little further on he says, “The system is not
yet perfect, but when predictions fail of fulfilment, the
failure is not so much due to the imperfection of the system
as to the difficulty of fairly estimating the effect of occa-
szonally synchronous astronomic phenomena of conflicting:
injiuences, and also to errors of judgment on the part of
the writer ;’ and concludes his preface with the old French
proverb, “C’est par ses erreurs que homme sinstruit,”
which we consider a very suitable motto for the “ Weather
Guide.” Indeed, we hope Mr. Pearce may see the errors
of his ways, and be so far instructed that he shall give up
writing on subjects he does not understand. We are,
however, much afraid that our meteorologist will not act.
up to his text, for it seems, by his own words, that he has
had many reproofs from the press, but instead of taking

A462 Reviews.

them to heart, he actually quotes them in the pamphlet
before us ; thereby reminding us of the anecdote that is
told of an honest citizen, who once pressed so near King
George III. on a “ drawing- room day,” that His Majesty
turned round and told him in inpolite terms, to get out of
his way. The good citizen, however, was so pleased at
being accosted by so august a personage as the King of
Great Britain, that he did not fail to relate the very" words
that were addressed to him to everyone he met. Mr.
Pearce quotes the letter he received from the late Admiral
Fitzroy, in which he declined accepting the proferred
dedication of the “ Weather Guide,” upon which our author
snarls at the Admiral for snubbing him.

We should have been pleased to have been able to
encourage Mr. Pearce in his studies on Meteorology, but
candour prevents us flattering a young man when he
deserves to be censured. We bear Mr. Pearce no ill-will,
and although we fear that science is not his path, we never-
theless shall always be glad to be undeceived.

Little Wille, and other Poems for Children. By MATTHIAS
BAAR. London: Longmans, Green and Co.

IT is with great pleasure that we notice these poems, which
deserve the highest praise for their sweetness, simplicity,
and homeliness. It is not difficult to recognize in Mr. Baar
the qualities of a poet. .

Individual Liberty—Legal, Moral, and Licentious; in
which the Polttical Fallacies of F. S. Mills Essay “ On
Liberty,” ave pointed out by Index. London: Published
by George Vasey, 27 Tavistock street, Covent Garden.
1867.

ALTHOUGH John Stuart Mill presented to the world (some
quarter of a century ago) a voluminous “Treatise on
Logic,” which has shorn a moiety of the laurels from the
brow of the Archbishop of Dublin, and although, since
that time he has produced a number of works of a poli-
tical nature, he has, nevertheless, failed to establish his
character (in the estimation of the literati and philosophers
of Europe) either as a first-class logician, or as a leading
political economist. His questionable points have been
assailed at various times bya host of criticisms, but in
none have his vulnerable theories and vague assertions —

Reviews. 463

been so successfully undermined, or so completely “blown
up” as by the treatise now before us, which will, doubtless,
be hailed by all Liberal Conservatives, as a well-timed and
powerful defence against the strenuous efforts of demo-
cracy, which are now not only fermenting the minds of
the working classes, but are disturbing the equanimity
even of the Senate—unsettling and retarding our moral
and intellectual progress.

“Individual Liberty,” to which we have given a careful
perusal, is a really logical and dispassionate exposition of
certain passages in Mr. Mill's essay “ On Liberty,” which
our author pronounces to be “ erroneous in theory, and in-
jurious in practice.” We have no hesitation in acknow-
ledging, that in five chapters out of the six, of which his
book is composed, he has clearly proved the truth of his
assertion.

The first, and most important fallacy, which is made the
subject of dissection, is—‘ That there is a preponderance,
among mankind, of rational opinions and rational conduct.”
After a variety of illustrations, all tending to prove the
extremely irrational state, both of opinion and conduct,
the author discusses the following question, which at this
present crisis is highly appropriate—namely, “Are demo-
cratic, or republican institutions (which are, par excellence,
styled free governments) calculated to develope rational
conduct ?”

Our author's picture of the effects of democratic insti-
tutions among our Transatlantic brethren, is graphically
sketched, but so fearfully dark and gloomy, that (although
we are no admirers of democracy) we cannot help suspect-
ing that the picture is greatly overdrawn.

Here follows an extract (which our space will not allow
us to quote) from the Mew York Tribune (by Horace
Greely) giving a glimpse of the moral state of that city,
so horrible and revolting as to excite the most intense
disgust.

The following are a few of the other propositions in Mr.
Mill’s essay, which the author of the present treatise re-
gards as fallacious, and which he has undertaken to ex-
pose :—

1. “If a man, through intemperance or extravagance,
becomes unable to pay his debts, or, having undertaken
the moral responsibilities of a family, becomes, from the
same cause, incapable of supporting, or educating them,
he is deservedly reprobated, and ought to be punished:

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Lot

464 Obituary.

but it is for the breach of duty to his family, or creditors,
not for the extravagance. If the resources which ought
to have been devoted to them, had been diverted from them
by the most prudent investment, the moral culpability
would have been the same.”

2. “No person ought to be punished simply for being
drunk.”

3. “The class of dealers in strong drinks, though in-
terested in their abuse, are indispensably required for the
sake of their legitimate use.”

Our restricted limits will only allow us to make one
single remark on No. 3. The author in his very severe
strictures on this proposition develops his character as a
most extreme tee-totaler. He is not only a deadly denun-
ciator of intemperance (which is all very well), but he is
actually a virulent stigmatiser of temperance and modera-
tion. Now,although we abominate dissipation and drunken-
ness, we candidly confess that we indulge (both from
constitutional proclivities and by intellectual conviction) in
the moderate absorption of exhilarating fluids, and, there-
fore, we cannot by any means sympathise in our author's
reveries on the evils of moderate drinking.

With this single exception, we cordially commend the
book as a valuable contribution to political science.

OBITUARY.

Professor ALEXANDER D, BACHE, Superintendent of the
United States Coast Survey from 1843 to the time of his
death, died at Newport, Rhode Island, U.S., on the 17th
ult. He was a great-grandson of Dr. Benjamin Franklin,
and was an able military engineer. His organisation of
the United States Coast Survey was the great work of his
life, and has made his name known throughout Europe.
The American Army and Navy Fournal says of him: “ His
efforts were never properly supported by Congress, but
they were always so untiring, so true in their scientific pur-
pose, so unselfish, and so able, that they could not fail to
be successful in giving dignity and usefulness to the Coast
Survey, and in extending and perpetuating his name as a
man of science.” | :

Obttuary. | 465

The Rev. RICHARD BuRGH ByAM, M.A., for nearly
thirty-nine years vicar of Kew and Petersham, Surrey,
died on the ist ult. He was one of the oldest members of
the University of Cambridge, having graduated B.A 1803,
was tutor of King’s from 1823 to 1828, and examiner of
the Classical Tripos in 1827, when Professor Kennedy was
Senior Classic, and again in 1828, when Professor Selwyn
was Senior Classic.

The death of M. BRASCASSAT, of the Academy of the
Beaux-Arts, is announced. He excelled as a painter of
landscapes and animals.

It is with great regret that we learn that the very Rev.
RICHARD DaweEs, M.A., Dean of Hereford, is no more.
He expired on the roch ult. at the deanery. His mortal
ailment was cancer in the stomach, from which he has been
suffering for some time. Mr. Dawes was fourth wrangler
of his year, B.A. 1817, M.A. 1820, and afterwards fellow
and tutor of Downing College, Cambridge; in 1850 he was
promoted to the deanery of Hereford.

JOHN GOODSIR, the distinguished occupant of the chair
of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, died on the
13th ult. at Wardie, Since the death of Cuvier, anatomi-
cal science has sustained no loss so severe or so difficult to
be replaced as that of John Goodsir.

M. FELIX JEAN BAPTISTE REIBELL, who had for the
past nine years been charged with the general inspection
of the hydraulic works and civil buildings of the French
imperial marine, has just died at Paris, after a short illness.
M. Reibell, who was born at Strasburg in November, 1795,
commenced his professional career with various works at
Lorient. In 1838, after the death of M. Fouques Duparc,
who directed the great works at Cherbourg, M. Reibell
was selected to succeed him. At Cherbourg M. Reibell
laboured energetically for fifteen years, and it was under
his direction that the immense d@zgue, commenced in 1783,
was completed in 1853. The Napoleon III. basin, and a
great number of other works, were also executed at Cher-
bourg under M. Reibell’s auspices. He quitted Cherbourg
in 1854, and during the last thirteen years he held the high
official position already indicated.

The Marseilles journals announce the death of M. VALZ,
honorary director of the Observatory of that city, in his
8oth year.

The death is announced of Mr. JOHN PHILLIP, R.A.
About five weeks ago he suffered from low fever, from

466- Answers to Correspondents.

which, notwithstanding his fears, he gradually recovered,
and there seemed every probability of his enjoying a long
career of health and prosperity, but on Tuesday, the 19th
ult., he was suddenly seized with paralysis, and was re-
moved home half senseless and speechless. He was born
in 1817. It is stated that his commissions alone amount
to £20,000.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

HOwWARD.—Sir D. Brewster awards the honour of the discovery of
the rotary character of storms to the late Captain James Capper,
of the East India Company’s Service; but, at the same time, to
Mr. Redfield is due the greater honour of having fully investigated
the subject, and apparently, established the theory upon an im-
pregnable basis.

T. B.—Declined with thanks.

D. D., Dublin.—The general opinion appears to be against Dr. Buck-
land’s theery with regard to the perforation being produced by the
snail.

C. H. J., Edinburgh—tThe air which surrounds us weighs as much as
581,000 cubic kilometres of copper ; its oxygen weighs as much as
134,000 of these same cubes. Supposing the earth peopled with a
thousand millions of men, and estimating the animal population at
a quantity equivalent to three thousand millions of men, we should
find that these quantities united consume in a century only a weight
of oxygen equal to 15 or 16 cubic kilometres of copper, whilst the
air contains 134,000 of it.

BOOKS RECEIVED.
Dermatology. Hunter.
Lyra Elegantiarum. Edward Moxon and Co,
Little Willie, and other Poems. Longmans.
Individual Liberty. George Vasey.
Hand-Book to Architecture.
The Contemporary Review. Strahan.
The People’s Magazine.
The A. B. C, of Billiards. Warne.
The A. B. C. of Swimming. Warne.
The Artizan.
Science Gossip. Hardwicke.
The Victoria Magazine. Emily Faithful.
The Argosy. Strahan.
Pharmaceutical Journal.
Observations on the Treatment of Consumption, &c. MacOubrey.
*,* After the present number the TECHNOLOGIST will appear under
a new management and editorship.

THE

fae eH NOLOGI SE.

May, 1867.

—-)-—-——

COMMON OBJECTS FOR THE MICROSCOPE.
No. I.
BV W. F. HUNTER.

HERE is no direction in which scientific research has

made more wonderful advances within the last fifty
years than in the investigation of those minute bodies and
structures which are revealed to us only by the aid of the
microscope. Upon the construction of the instrument
itself a vast amount of skill and labour has been expended
by those who have devoted themselves to the study of
optics, and in the hands of the most talented mechanicians
it has been brought to a marvellous pitch of perfection.

Wide, indeed, is the domain of microscopic inquiry; a
great deal of light has already been thrown upon those
mysterious processes of organic life, with reference to
which our forefathers could make but the crudest and
vaguest guesses.

As regards the growth and development of the animal
tissues, the influence of disease in altering their structure
and impairing their functions, and as regards the great
problem of reproduction, much has been discovered, but
much more remains to be discovered.

In the mineral kingdom microscopic research has led to
many startling discoveries, and has shown the way in which
many of the strata forming the crust of our globe have
been formed. It has been proved that the chalk, which
seems for the most part so uniform in structure, is mainly
composed of shells and other organic remains, so exces-
sively minute as only to be visible under a considerable
magnifying power; the remains of animals that lived their

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Q Q

468 Common Objects for the Microscope.

little day in the primeval seas, then died, and sank to the
bottom, there to accumulate for unnumbered centuries, till
at last, ages before the advent of man upon our earth, the
ocean bed was gradually upheaved, and the mountains of
chalk that had been formed below the sea became dry
land, preserving imbedded in them those relics of ancient
life which the microscope has revealed to us.

The microscope has also taught us, that a process pre-
cisely similar is taking place in the existing seas, year after
year, century after century, the hard shells of the oramznt-
jera, and other minute animals that inhabit the water, to-
gether with the silicious skeletons of Dzatomacee, are fall-
ing to the bottom of the ocean, and forming there a soft
deposit, destined, perhaps to be one day lifted up, either
suddenly, by some terrific subterranean convulsion, or
more probably slowly by a gradual pressure from beneath,
till at last, in its turn it becomes dry land, to be inhabited,
ages hence, by some new race of terrestrial beings. It is
doubtless well known to our readers that the Atlantic
Cable of 1865, when recovered last year from the depths
of the Atlantic, was found to be covered with microscopic
shells of beautiful form, and probably ere long both cables
will be completely buried in the soft Atlantic ooze, safe
from any injury save that which may be brought about
by gradual and natural decay.

But even for the amateur who knows little of pure
science, and has not time or inclination to investigate the
recondite problems of physiology, pathology, or geology,
the microscope cannot but afford an inexhaustible fund
both of rational amusement and instruction. Should he
care only to look at that which is beautiful, and to admire
the delicate patterns with which the most minute bodies
are often marked, and the exquisite arrangement of the
smallest parts of organisms, themselves so small as scarcely
to be discernible by the naked eye, if he will but pursue
his observations in a proper spirit, he must derive from
them both profit and pleasure. In the vast domains of
organic nature there is no class. of objects, however ap-
parently insignificant, that does not furnish to the attentive
observer abundant proofs of beautiful design, and a mar-
vellous adaptation of means to ends. Some there have
been, and probably some there are, men of profound
learning and subtle intellect, who deny that such proofs of
design demonstrate the existence of a Supreme Archi-
tect and Creator of the Universe; they will tell us, per-

Common Objects for the Microscope. 469

haps, that everything is the result of an eternal and immu-
table law, or rather of a combination of such laws, acting
blindly, and evolving by mere chance results which simu-
late the workings of an intelligent mind ; such a theory as
this seems to be opposed to all analogy, and to destroy the
basis of all reasoning, since if, in this case, where the ana-
logy can be supported by such innumerable instances, the
argument from it does not hold good, there can be no
means of proving anything which we do not know of our
own certain knowledge, we can believe in the existence of
nothing which we do not see with our own eyes. Enough
of this; the writer only wishes to address those who are
prepared to see, in the wonderful works of Nature, sure
proof of the infinite wisdom and goodness of God.

In the present paper, it is proposed to point out a few
objects of beauty, that can be easily procured, and which,
when procured, can be prepared without difficulty for obser-
vation.

The great class of Echinodermata, which includes the sea-
urchins, the star-fishes, and the sea-cucumbers, which are
found upon our coasts, affords to the microscopist a vast
number of objects of extreme beauty and interest. The
animals of this class possess an external skeleton, com-
posed of a multitude of plates of carbonate of lime,
arranged often in a very beautiful manner, and furnished
with spines and other curious appendages, varying in the
different families.

Let us take a specimen of Ophiocoma Rosula, a species
of brittle star, very common on our coasts ; by placing it in
a moderately strong solution of potash we shall be able to
dissolve away all its soft parts, so that nothing will remain
but the skeleton, composed of an immense number of
separate pieces; this skeleton itself, if nicely freed by the
potash from all organic nature, forms a very beautiful
ornament. The five long tapering arms are densely covered
with spines of considerable size; if some of these are
separated and placed under a low power of the microscope,
they will be found to present an extremely lovely appear-
ance. They ave slightly curved, and taper from base to
point; they are serrated along their curved borders, the
serrations being rather long and pointing upwards. The
smaller and more delicate spines that are situated towards
the end of the arm are most beautiful; they are more
transparent than the larger ones, are not curved so
much, and the serrations are larger in proportion to the

QQ2

470 Common Objects for the Microscope.

size of the spine; these spines have been termed the
cathedral spines, from their resemblance to the spire of a
cathedral; the comparison is not an inapt one. Each of
the segments or vertebree of which the arm is composed
supports about six of these spines; on each side, the
largest are situated most laterally. There is a space free
from spines along the centre both of the upper and under
surface of the arm. Each spine presents a swollen base,
and is attached by a regular articulation.

Just within the lowest spine on the under surface of the
arm is situate a very curious and beautiful body. It con-
sists of a kind of claw, resting on an enlarged base, which
is attached to the limb in a manner somewhat similar to
the ordinary spines. The claw itself has two points, which
are sharp and curved ; it is difficult to describe it in words,
but it may be better compared to the head of a bird, with
the beak widely open, than to anything else with which the
writer is acquainted. These claws, when detached, appear
to the naked eye no larger than specks of dust, but they
may be well seen under an inch and a-half power; they
look very transparent-and glassy ; they can readily be seen
in their natural position by detaching a portion of the limb
and holding it under the microscope by means of the stage
forceps.

The structure of the mouth, or as we should perhaps say
more correctly the stomach, in this species is very remark-
able. The aperture of the mouth is situated as in other
star fishes in the centre of the body or disc, and leads
directly into a cavity formed by five bones of very curious
shape, which touch each other at their edges. Each bone
presents a very perfect resemblance to the sole of a shoe,
coming to a blunt point at the toe. The sole of each shoe
is turned inwards, and the toe is directed towards the mouth
of the animal. Each of these curious bones is perforated
with a series of holes along each side, those at the heel
part are largest, and occasionally the corresponding holes
run into each other in the centre; passing on to the
constriction of the bone, which corresponds to that of a
shoe beneath the instep, the lateral holes become much
smaller and diverge from each other till, towards the toe
they are completely lost, but along this part of the inner
surface of the bone there is a groove or depression. The
holes as well as the central groove are for the attachment of
a number of teeth; these teeth which are attached to the
part we have called the heel of the shoe are of considerable

Common Objects for the Microscope. 471

size, they are of conical shape, flattened above and below,
and extend right across the bone; the edge which is attached
presents two distinct pegs which fit into the holes already
described ; there are three are four of these teeth; the re-
maining teeth are much smaller and of a more rounded
shape, resembling little pegs; they are disposed in four
rows, the lateral rows, articulating with the holes, and the
central ones with the central groove ; they are very closely
set. These shoe-bones may be easily separated by placing
the disc of the animal in a very strong solution of potash ;
when nicely washed they make an interesting object to
be viewed by reflected light under a low power of the
microscope.

There is a small species of brittle star, called Ophzocoma
neglecta, a moderate sized specimen will easily lie on a
shilling, it is very common in rocks between tide marks.
The skeleton may be easily prepared by immersing the
creature in a weak solution of potash, and afterwards
washing it in spirit of wine; it may thus be made beauti-
fully white. The whole skeleton may be mounted as an
opaque object ; each of the five plates which surround the
mouth bears a very close resemblance to a trefoil leaf; the
structure of the disc is exceedingly beautiful and compli-
cated ; when nicely prepared it looks under the microscope
very much as if it were composed of frosted silver, and is
particularly well adapted to be viewed with the binocular
arrangement.

The objects that have been described above, may easily
be mounted as permanent specimens. After being freed
by the potash solution from animal matter, they should be
washed with distilled water in a watch glass, or small por-
celain basin, they should then be washed again with strong
spirit, and allowed to dry thoroughly; they may now be
transferred to a glass slide, upon which a ring of cardboard
of sufficient depth has been fastened; the cardboard should
be previously washed in asphalte. The black background
necessary for throwing up the objects when they are viewed
by reflected light, may be given by painting a dish of
photographic black upon the reverse side of the slide. The
thin glass cover being attached with gum, the whole may
be finished with a coating of asphalte or other varnish.

(To be continued. )

‘ i

472

THE FALL OF THE CONFEDERAGYs@
A POLITICAL POST MORTEM.
By JOHN BAKER HOPKINS,

CHAPTER I.—THE CALL FOR INQUIRY.

T the outset of this inquiry it is imperative to define
its objects and limits with the utmost precision. We
are not about to intrude on the domain of history. We do
not profess to tell the story of the American war. We
propose to hold an inquest on the late Confederacy, and if
possible, to discover the immediate causes of death. We
shall offer no opinion upon the merits of the quarrel that
convulsed a continent, and for four years absorbed the at-
tention of the civilised world. We shall signally fail in
our object if any one can tell from these pages whether we
sympathised with the North or with the South. Yet this
inquiry will not be found dull, or if so, it will be owing to
our treatment of an event grand enough to distinguish the
century, and which has had an enormous influence in di-
recting and revolutionising the affairs of America and of
Europe. We hope in a few prefatory remarks to demon-
strate the right and pressing expediency of investigating
the immediate causes of the fall of the Confederacy. To
ascertain the truth in this case is essential to the welfare of
the living, and to declare it is a solemn duty we owe to the
memory of the dead, to the living, and to posterity.

In its long secretion, in its discovery, and in its history,
America isaland of marvels. It is now in hourly com-
munication with Europe, yet until the fourteenth century
of the Christian era the existence of what is fitly called the
New World was unknown and unsuspected.

America first appeared as a dreamland. The adventurers
who had approached its shores and seen the isles that sur-
round it like satellites invented strange stories about this
their fabled India. It was a land of silver mountains and
of rivers whose crystal waters rippled over sands of gold.
The ivory palaces of its kings were studded with countless
gems, each one outvaluing a prince’s ransom, and flashing
forth lightnings as they reflected the rays of a torrid sun.
The trees of prodigious size and exuberant foliage were
inhabited by birds of gorgeous plumage, whose songs were
as the songs of seraphs. The climate was so finely tem-

The Fall of the Confederacy. 473

pered that there was neither pain nor sickness. There
grew the plant from which might be distilled the long-
sought elixir vite, the potion that would impart perpetual
youth and baffle grim death. The women were of exceed-
ing beauty. The men were warriors. There were dwarfs
of unheard of smallness. There were giants tall as the
trees of Europe. There were one-eyed tribes, the single
eye flaming in the midst of the forehead. There were two-
headed tribes. There were sorcerers whose fell deeds were
told with bated breath. There were spell-bound princesses
whose deliverers would wed a royal maiden and receive an
empire for dowry. The most heated imagination could not
conceive a story about the fabled Indian that would have
seemed incredible to the Columbian age.

Yet let us beware how we sneer at the credulity of those
times. Are not the realities of the New World more mar-
vellous than the wild fairy-like fictions of the adventurers ?
Is not the story of modern commerce more wonderful than
the story of silver mountains, of rivers flowing over beds of
gold, of palaces of ivory, and of priceless gems glittering
like orient suns? ‘The dreary waste of waters on which
Columbus sailed has become a frequented highway. Re-
posing in the depths of the Atlantic are cables by which
Europe and America are able to speak to one another. It
is modern commerce that has given.to science the power
to achieve this and a hundred triumphs by which hereto-
fore distant countries have been united and become near
neighbours. Thanks to modern commerce the working
man of this generation has physical comforts that two cen-
turies ago wealth could not buy. But grander still are the
intellectual and moral trophies of modern commerce. .To
it we owe modern civilisation. It has carried Christianity
to the uttermost parts of the earth. The political freedom
of which we boast, the spread of knowledge in which we
glory, are the offspring of modern commerce. Surely thus
to raise and exalt mankind are incomparably nobler
achievements than could have resulted from the discovery
of a land of gold, silver, and precious stones.

And what are the chief bases of modern commerce ?
The trade in cotton, tea, tobacco, and sugar. Now it is
from America that we get the main supplies of cotton,
sugar, and tobacco, and it is the cotton of America that has
opened the tea market of China. Take away the cotton,
sugar, and tobacco of America and the whole fabric of
modern commerce would as surely totter as without them

A74 The Fall of the Confederacy.

it surely would not have arisen. It is then to the discovery
of the New World that we are indebted for modern com-
merce, and the countless and priceless benefits that proceed
from it. But the age that believed the fairy-like tales of
the adventurers would not have believed a prophetic reve-
lation of the story of modern commerce. Would the incre- ©
dulity have been unreasonable? Shall we then sneer at
the credulity which believed in stories that were false, but _
which were not so marvellous as the truth ?

But not less certain or less reasonable would have been
the incredulity if a prophet had foretold the political and
social career of the vast republic which dominates in the
New World. A few old men are yet in the flesh who were
in the cradle when the United States, ceasing to be colonies,
had just been born into the family of nations. Suppose at
the outset of the war of independence some one had told
the King of England that in less than threescore years and
ten, the allotted span of human life, but a day in the life of
a nation, the handful of colonists would have become one of
the Great Powers and predominant in the New World. Not
only the Third George, but also the most sagacious of his
subjects would have treated the prediction with contempt.
The King wept, as well he might, to lose thirteen colonies.
How would his grief have been intensified if he could have
had a vision of the future of those colonies! There would
have been no consolation forhim. If someone could have
told him that his granddaughter would wield a far mightier .
sceptre, would be Queen of the Canadas, Queen of the
newest world that is washed by the Pacific, Empress of
India, and the mistress of two hundred millions of people,
the prediction would have been regarded as a cruel and
bitter mockery.

But we need not Pesuceiace events that are even one
generation old to prove that the history of America has
been so strange as to refute predictions founded on expe-
rience, and that the apparently probable has not come to
pass, and the apparently impossible has been realised.
Imagine some writer of eminence stating in January, 1860,
that he believed that the impending party conflict would
be followed by a disruption of the Union, by a four years’
civil war, a war that would cost more treasure than the
Continental war cost England, and which would involve an
unsurpassed sacrifice of human life. Why, the writer, de-
spite his eminence, would have been laughed at, and no
one would have deemed it worth while to reply to his spe-

The Fall of the Confederacy. A75

culations. Yet all this happened, and further, almost every
incident of the contest disappointed anticipation.

In four years we beheld the birth, the eventful life and
the sudden death of the Confederacy. In the summer of
1860 it was not even in embryo. It was born in 1861. In
the summer of 1862 it was a power with a quarter of a
million of men under arms. In the summer of 1865 the
Confederacy had become historical. The world looked on
with eager unfaltering interest. The stage was a continent,
the actors were peoples and races. Upon the result of
the conflict depended the fate of the United States, of
Mexico, and indeed all the continent was to be directly or
indirectly, immediately or hereafter, affected by the issue
of a contest than which none more fierce, gigantic, and
momentous was ever waged.

By means of telegraphy, steam, and a press that may be
described as ubiquitous, men were able to watch from day
to day the short life of the Confederacy. Yet no one was
quite prepared for the catastrophe when it came. The
Confederacy was sick with a mortal sickness. She was in
the death agony. So far there was no misconception.
But no one thought that the agony was so shortly to ter-
minate in sudden decease.

For nearly four years the Confederacy was a considerable
power. She equipped armies. She carried ona mighty
warfare. Her flag was borne on the high seas. Her
securities were quoted on the Exchanges of Europe. In the
early spring of 1865 she was still in being. The second
session of her second congress was being held in her capital.
The illustrous Lee, though hard pressed was unconquered.
True there were signs of weakness. The South, that is
the generals, the statesmen, and the people of the country,
were not deceived by the defiant tone of the Government,
for they knew that the Confederacy was in the throes of
dissolution. The soldiers were conscious that their lives
were being offered up in vain. But surely no one imagined
that the death agony would be so soon over, and that the
instant of annihilation was so near at hand. No one ima-
sined that in a few days the Confederacy would not only
have fallen, but would be dead, buried, and altogether a
thing of history. But it was so. Long ere that same early
spring had ripened into summer, the Federal flag waved
over Charleston, the Federal forces were in Richmond, Lee
surrendered, the Confederate administration was fugitive,
and the Confederacy was clean gone.

476 The Fall of the Confederacy.

What was the immediate cause of death? Was it
heart disease ? Was it brain disease? Was it disease of
the blood? Was it sheer inanition? It concerns both
North and South, it concerns the re-united republic, it
- concerns all of us to ascertain this. The Confederacy is so
thoroughly historical that we can enter into the investiga-
tion without any feeling of partizanship. Yet the Confe-
deracy was so lately living that we have an unprecedented
opportunity for making the jost-mortem of a deceased
power.

We have in this inquiry nought to do with the morality
or immorality of the Confederacy. If the cause was good
that is a reason for regretting, but does not account for the
failure. If the cause was evil that is a reason for rejoicing
in the success of the North, but does not necessarily ex-
plain the overthrow of the Confederacy.

Probably the general response will be that the superior
numbers and resources of the North rendered her triumph
inevitable. This may or may not be true in part, but to
accept it in its entirety would be most unfair to both
belligerents, and would be a dangerous and demoralising
conclusion. Is numerical superiority per se always omnipo-
tent? Shall we declare that a minority cannot, under any
circumstances, assert its real or imagined rights with a hope
or chance of triumph? It is, indeed, a sound doctrine that
other forces being equal, superior numbers must prevail.
Were the other forces so equal that the failure of the Con-
federacy was a foregone conclusion? The respective num-
bers and resources were known at the beginning of the
conflict, and if the superior numbers of the North made
the failure of the Confederacy inevitable, the Confederate
administration was guilty of a huge and detestable crime
in commencing and carrying on a contest that could only
desolate the country and cause a fearful waste of life. But
to rebut so foul a charge the Confederate administration
might appeal to many chapters of history which record the
triumphs of minorities. In the providential government of
the world forces are frequently brought into play that
overcome numbers, and therefore the victory is not always
gained by the side which is numerically the stronger.
Christianity, civilisation, political development, and liberty
are the victories of minorities. As a rule, might is allied to
right, and when right fails it is, we may be sure, because
right has neglected to enlist or has misused its forces.
Since the fall’of the Confederacy there has been a constant

The Fall of the Confederacy. 477

tendency to worship the power of mere numbers, which
may have some disastrous consequences. It will, therefore,
be of vast service if it can be shown that however probable
the ultimate triumph of the North, the immediate cause of
the fall of the Confederacy was not the numerical supe-
riority of her antagonist.

Besides, it is a gross libel to assume that the North has
gotten the victory solely on account of her superior num-
bers. Who will be so unjust to the genius, the perseverance,
and the high spirit of the North? Not the Confederate
administration, for then they would be self-branded with
infamy for beginning and continuing a hopeless conflict.
The North did not gain an easy victory. Her defeat was
always possible, and would have been certain but for her
determination, her valour, and her immense sacrifices of
life and property. For nearly four years there was a
harassing strain upon the resources of the country. Any
faltering would have been fatal. A people prone to violent
partizanship, forgot all party differences, or at least made
them secondary to the prosecution of the war. A trading
community became so lavish of its gold that it ceased to
count the cost of the costliest conflict of the century. A
nation accustomed to the most unrestrained liberty gave
virtually despotic power to its chief magistrate. A nation
peculiarly sensitive with regard to its foreign relations kept
the peace with Europe in spite of some actual or apparent
provocations. Had the North failed in one of these things,
had she been niggardly, or divided, or hesitating, or in-
capable of controlling her feelings of anger and resentment,
then the Confederacy would not have died in 1865. With-
out superior numbers the North might have been unsuc-
cessful ; but with her superior numbers she would not have
succeeded as she did had it not been for the exercise of
those virtues and talents which in all ages and countries
are the source and support of national greatness, and to
‘which are due the might, the majesty, and the glory of the
English speaking race.

It may be said that the Confederate administration
ought to have known in advance that the people of the
North would act as they did act, and that, therefore, the
superior numbers of the North would be triumphant.
Perhaps so. The Confederate administration was perhaps
unwarranted in supposing that the North would not fight
for the Union, that the West would not join with the East,
that the Northern people would not incura heavy war debt,

478 The Fall of the Confederacy.

and that foreign powers would intervene. We must, how-
ever, allow that the Confederate administration had some
expectation of contingencies that would redress the dis-
parity of numbers and resources. They were sensible
that superior numbers would, if not met with counteracting
forces, succeed. We have to inquire how the expectation
of success was so frustrated, that in less than four years the
Confederaey died. One conclusion we are confident will
be arrived at by all impartial inquirers. It is that the
immediate cause of the fall of the Confederacy was not the
superior numbers of the North.

And here let us hasten to do justice to the Southern
people. Who will be so grievously unfair as to blame
them for the fall of the Confederacy? Were they half-
hearted? Did they fail the Confederate administration ?
Did they shrink from the sacrifice of life and property ?
Those who are now their fellow-citizens, and who then
stood against them as enemies, will not utter so foul an
aspersion. No people ever endured greater toils and priva-
tions than the people of the South. Pinched by famine,
oppressed with defeat, they fought on bravely. Nay, when
they saw that the cause was lost, they still obeyed the
voice of the Confederate administration, and went forth
without murmuring, to fight like heroes, and to die like
martyrs. They maintained a bold defiant attitude when
death, want, and disease had so thinned their ranks that
between the Confederacy and destruction was but one faint
line of veterans. No, it was not the people of the South
that failed the Confederacy. It was the policy of the Con-
federate administration that ensured and hastened its
doom. As we shall presently notice, the Confederacy was
born before the revolution, and it survived the revolution.
It was a generous sentiment of loyalty that prevented the
South from ending the struggle in 1864. No sooner did
Lee sheathe his sword, than the whole people bowed to the
decision, and gave up all resistance. This would not have
happened if the Confederacy had continued to represent a
revolution. But the Confederate administration, which in
1861 had invoked a revolution to support the Confederacy,
had by its policy killed the revolution at least a year before
the Confederacy fell.

Likely enough there will be a sneer at this bill of in-
dictment against the Confederate administration, on the
ground that it is easy to be wise after the event. Doubt-
less the story of the Confederacy should teach us a lesson

The Fall of the Confederacy. 479

of humility. The predictions of the keenest intellects have

een signally refuted. Even those who from the beginning
prophesied the success of the North were wrong in most
of their surmises. When the first mutterings of the storm
were heard it was said that the South might bluster,
but would not really secede, yet a few weeks after the elec-
tion of Mr. Lincoln the Confederacy was formed. After
secession the idea of war was ridiculed, Europe smiled at
the bloodless fall of Sumter, yet such a war ensued that
Europe was startled at its horrible proportions. It was
assumed that the Confederacy would do nothing on the sea,
yet she crippled the mercantile marine of the North, and
gained a victory in Hampton Koads that demonstrated the
superiority of iron over wood, and changed the system of
naval warfare throughout the world. It was said that the
negroes would rise against their masters, but they set an
example of fidelity and patient endurance to all peoples and
races. It was said that the Union party in the South would
declare itself, but until the war was over there was no mani-
festation of unionism. The seaports and the border cities of
the South were to fall in the first campaign, and the war was
to be carried on in the interior of the country, but the out-
posts were held until the last, and when they fell, the Confe-
deracy ceased to exist. We were assured that if the armies
of the Confederacy were defeated the fires of revolution
would smoulder for years, and that it would require as great
an army to hold the South as it did to conquer the Confe-
deracy, but when Lee surrendered, all resistance ceased, and
the North was able forthwith to disband her armies. When
the armies were disbanded, there were to be hosts of men
unfitted for civil employment roving over the country, but
the disbanded soldiers of all ranks returned immediately
to the pursuits of peace. The North was to stagger
under a load of debt, and to grow fainthearted by
the loss of life, but she piled up a stupendous debt with
cheerfulness, and raised army after army with unrivalled
alacrity. It was suggested that the Southerners were too
enervated to make good soldiers, but they fought with a
splendid and antique heroism. It was hinted that the
Northerners were traders, who would shrink from the toils
of war, but they showed themselves compeers of the
soldiers of the South in bravery and endurance. It was
said that there was a complete dearth of military talent in the
North, but Grant and Sherman proved themselves worthy
antagonists of such illustrious captains asStonewall Jackson

480 The Fall of the Confederacy.

and Robert Lee. The Southern climate was to decimate
the Northern armies, but the yellow fever did not appear,
and probably never did invading armies suffer so little
from pestilence. It was supposed that England would be
so crippled by the loss of her cotton trade that she would
be goaded into intervention, but though there was dis-
tress in Lancashire, the total trade of the country in-
creased, and the war that was to have impoverished, added
to the wealth of England.

We have by no means exhausted the list of mistakes. It
is not to be denied that in respect to the Confederacy the
opinions of statesmen, public writers, and military critics
were erroneous. We are wise after the event, but what is
the use of history if we are not to be instructed by it?
Yes; but it may be asked of what use is history if it does
not offer more certain instruction than it did in respect to
the Confederate war? If others were mistaken why do
we especially blame the Confederate administration ?
This is our reply. We complain that the Confederate ad-
ministration paid no heed to the lessons of history ; and we
assert that if the condition of affairs had been as well
known to Europe as it was to the Confederate adminis-
tration there would have been few believers in the success
of the Confederacy, even in the heyday of her prosperity.
It is then no excuse for the Confederate administration
that the conclusions of foreigners were wrong. The con-
clusions of Europe were false because the suggested pre-
mises were false. Nor is this all. It is possible that in 1862
Europe might have thought that the Confederacy had a
chance of success, even if the true state of affairs had
been known; but no one would have. done so if the
policy of the Confederate administration had been
foreshadowed. Whether the Confederacy could possibly
have succeeded may be an open question, but we think it
can be shown that with the policy adopted by the Con-
federate administration failure was inevitable. We repeat
that it concerns the honour of the South and of the North,
the welfare of the United States, and must interest all
peoples to investigate the cause of the fall of the Con-
federacy, for nothing can be more injurious and more
unfounded than the assumption that the catastrophe was
immediately and solely due to the superior numbers of
the North. We assume that despite the numerical
‘superiority of the North the Confederacy had a chance of
life, at least of a longer life than four years.. How was

Convalescence. 481

that chance lost? Why was the Confederacy utterly
destroyed in four years? What were the immediate
causes of the early and sudden decease ?

(To be continued.)

CONVALESCENCE.
BY THE EDITOR.

UBLIC attention has recently been called by a chari-

table lady, to a work eminently worthy of support—

the permanent establishment of Convalescent Hospitals.

From a touching appeal addressed to the 7z7mes, we ex-

tract the following as containing ina small compass the
gist of the matter—

“The work ought not to be delayed. We must not wait
for another epidemic, but take advantage of the experience
of last year. Frequent visits to the London Hospital, to
temporary hospitals, and to the dwellings of the poor, have
strongly convinced me that the sick at the east of London,
debarred, as they necessarily are, from the fresh air and
good food so requisite in cases of weakness, have but a
poor chance of restoration to health and. strength. The
speedy recovery of the sick, after they are out of the hand
of the physician, isa true economy. ‘A stitch in time’
in this case, as in all others, ‘saves nine. The man is
enabled the sooner to return to his work, his family are no
longer deprived of his wages, nor the employer of his
services, and the community at large ceases to be burdened
with a useless member.”

Every word in the above extract is pregnant with philan-
thropic common sense, and we are happy to observe that
the powerful interest of the Z7zmes is engaged in behalf of
Mrs. Gladstone’s project.

There is a good deal of misconception with regard to
the force of the word convalescent; it really signifies “re-
covering,’ whereas persons ordinarily employ it in the
sense of “recovered.” The idiom “Iam perfectly conva-
lescent,” intended to convey in a kind of slang the idea “I
am quite well,” tends to demonstrate that the precise mean-
ing of the expression is lost sight of in common use.
Convalescence is strictly the renewing of health, the gra-

482 Convalescence.

dual, and, in some instances, scarcely perceptible, recovery
‘from sickness.

Whilst the study of sanitary and hygienic laws gene-
rally has made such satisfactory progress in the present
age, it is noteworthy that little stress has been laid upon
Convalescence, which is really a branch of the subjects
alluded to. Inattention on this head is the more to be
deprecated, inasmuch as the period of convalescence is one
deserving special consideration, since care or neglect in
this stage will frequently decide the future state of the
invalid. In fact, whether he will be for the remainder of
his life more or less a valetudinarian, or whether he will
resume his former condition of health are points which will
be determined, as a rule, by the course of treatment pursued
during convalescence.

Unquestionably prevention is better than cure, and it is
a source of pleasure to all rightly constituted minds, that
the truth of this old adage is so well understood, and its
spirit acted upon by the younger generation of practitioners,
who devote much valuable time and attention to perfect, as
far as possible, their knowledge of sanitation and hygiene,
and to illustrate and practically apply the results of their
labour. Still, as disease does and will, in spite of all scien-
tific study occur, it becomes necessary, in order that the
greatest amount of good may result to the patient, that
the physician should address himself not only to the
successful conduct of a case through the worst phases of
disease, but that he should equally endeavour to effect the
patient's complete recovery from the impaired condition
disease entails, his duty is to advise measures to rebuild
the broken down frame, and his aim should be to obliterate
all the traces left by disease. Disease implies debility, it
matters littlewhetherit ismarked byinflammatorysymptoms
or not, disease is usually set up because a given person gets
below par. Such terms as sthenic and asthenic are cal-
culated to mislead. What is expressed by-sthenic is correct
only when employed in a comparative sense, and should
be regarded as applying solely to the strength of the dis-
ease, and not to the vigour of the patient. If the term is
employed at all, it should be with this reservation. Cer-
tainly a strong man may contract a disease attended with
symptoms which run high, and which would have been
met by blood-letting in the old days, yet however strong
the person may be, he is at the time of the assault of the
disease below his natural standard of health, and in con-

Convalescence. | 483

sequence succumbs to an attack he would otherwise suc-
cessfully resist. It may be assumed then that disease is
first established by more or less debility, which increases
in the ratio of the duration of illness; the longer it lasts
the greater the debility.

Grant that the strength of the disease is broken, is it not
clear that the frame upon which its force has been expended
must be in a state urgently calling for the application of
means to repair lost tone? Notwithstanding this, little
thought is directed to the best method of bringing about
complete recovery; the doctor’s mission is usually con-
sidered at an end when the worst symptoms of a disease
have subsided, the nursing too falls off in quality, and is
sometimes given up altogether, and just at the critical time
when safety and pristine vigour may be almost assured if
sound medical advice be given and followed, and if judicious
nursing be bestowed, at the time when the condition of the
invalid demands redoubled care in order that the breaches
made by disease may be repaired, and the system exhausted
by its battle may again grow strong, all necessary duty is
considered done, the medical man puts on his hat, the nurse
makes her curtsey, and both depart, leaving the sufferer to
crawl back as best he may to something like health, or.to
glide imperceptibly into fatal disease.

The principal points to bear in mind in the treatment of
convalescents are change of air, implying as it does change
of scene, good nursing, and scrupulous attention to diet and
all matters of hygiene.

In the case of dwellers in cities, where various manufac-
tories and the congregation of a dense population contami-
nate the air with countless impurities, it is most essential
that change should be a prime element in bringing the
convalescent round ; the mere change of the surroundings
is beneficial to the invalid, who, after a long and tedious
illness, yearns to get out of the sphere of past weariness
and pain: tosuch a degree is this felt, that change of scene
forms a most important item in counting up the aggregate
good wrought by change, so that if from a physical point
of view it is of service, from a moral point it is equally
worthy of commendation. This means of effecting a cure
can be adopted of course by the well-to-do, and with res-
pect to those of smaller income it is right that they should
know that money so spent is an economical investment, for
say that two months will pass ere the convalescent living i in
a crowded town is restored to comparative health, it would

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. RR

484 — Convalescence.

probably be within the mark to allow one month to produce
an equal or even greater improvement under the circum-
stances of a change.

Unfortunately this remedy is beyond the reach of the
poor, and on this account it is encouraging to see that a
benevolent lady is earnestly endeavouring to lead the public
to regard the sad condition of their poorer brethren, and is
urging the propriety of making hospitals for convalescents
an object of charity.

We feel pleasure in humbly assisting this lady in her
noble efforts to alleviate the sufferings of poor convales-
cents. A gentle womanly nature has enabled her to find
out a great want which has escaped the notice of recog-
nised sanitarians, and a quick perception has pointed out
to her the best way of giving practical effect to the dis-
covery she has made.

We unhesitatingly affirm that there is no more deserving
channel into which the offerings of the charitable could
flow than the one this lady has opened; and we hope to
witness increased activity in developing this particular
branch of hygiene, so that new channels may be opened
and ample contributions pour into them.

So many hospitals, dispensaries, and charitable institu-
tions of various kinds attest the philanthropy and Christian
feeling of the English public, that we feel confident it is
quite sufficient to suggest the want to ensure that necessary
funds to meet it are forthcoming; it is simply because
general attention has not been directed to it that the evil
exists at all.

As a matter of daily occurrence, poor men return to
their work before their strength is thoroughly regained ;
the struggle for bread must be entered upon; every idle day
after discharge from hospital involves an empty stomach,
and so the attempt is made to resume toil too soon, and a
complete breakdown is often the lamentable consequence.
What desiderata then to such persons are places where
health could be completely re-established, and what true
charity would result from institutions of the kind. Provi-
dence placed us in this beautiful world to be happy and en-
joy all His wondrous works in Nature ; rich and poor alike
may derive inexhaustible treasures of innocent pleasure
from the contemplation of the charms of the country or the
sea-side. Surely when scanty means oppose an obstacle
to the attainment of such happiness, more especially when
the re-bracing of the unstrung system of the poor conva- —

Textile Fabris. 485

lescent is concerned, it is noble work to strive to remove
the difficulty, and a great step in this direction will have
been made when homes for convalescents shall come to be
regarded as fully deserving of support as the numerous
other charities which are the glory of our land. ©

It is strongly urged upon all readers of the few remarks
we have ventured to offer upon the subject of convalescence
to do their utmost to advance the cause both by practice
and by precept, to lose no opportunity of pressing
upon the notice of the rich and charitable its peculiar
claims, and we, on our side, pledge ourselves to visit
institutions of the kind when established to keep our sub-
scribers az courant with their working and their usefulness,
and we promise further to take note of healthy localities
where convalescent hospitals might with advantage be
established, and endeavour to influence the inhabitants of
such places to raise buildings which will redound to their
own honour, prove mighty engines for restoring health to
body and mind, and at the same time, as all true Samaritan
work must do, promote the cause of Christianity.

[Our pages will always be open to suggestions from any
quarter on this most important subject.]

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AN ALLABLE-FOR TEXTILE FABRICS.

BY H. SHERWOOD.
(Continued from page 430.)

AVING noticed the use of alkalis in treating vege-
table fibres, we come now to consider the action of
various inorganic acids when employed for the same use.
Doubtless, this class of agents was suggested by the sup-
posed need for something strong; for the stereotyped
“strong things” in the hands of unreasoning manufacturers
ate “vitriol” and “spirits of salt,’ except occasionally,
his ideas may soar to the telling climax of “aquafortis.”
These acids, apart from their catalytic action, or their power
of appropriating the elements of water, exercise a powerful
influence on substances easily formed into new combina-
tions with agents of high combining power. The greater
RR

486 Vegetable Fibres Available for

number of the organic acids present in fibres possess a
much slighter affinity for bases generally than do the in-
organic acids. The combinations are, therefore, easily dis-
turbed by the latter, and made to form new arrangements
of a character, at least, more soluble, through their fresh
formation. And so general is the power exercised by them
of solving the substances deposited on ligneous fibres, that
the whole extraneous matter, aided by the detergency of
soap, becomes tolerably soluble; whilst the lustrous coat of
the cell, not being much affected by them, retains its bril-
liance. Their action is well exemplified in the preparation
of paper pulp from wood, which is thus now effected with
a considerable degree of success in Switzerland, France, and
Belgium. But a satisfactory degree of success in producing
paper pulp may be attained by a method producing results
far from satisfactory in fibres for textile purposes. The
papers for which wood pulp has hitherto been employed, are
of a class in which strength is less important than fair ap-
pearance with lowness of price. When sufficient attention
has been awakened on the subject, it will be found that even
for pulps it is desirable to retain all the native excellencies
of the fibres. Let us look at the effect produced on cel-
lulin by these agents. This substance contains the elements
of water in exact proportions to form water; consequently,
as it also contains no nitrogen, it is exceedingly liable to
change, and the action of these acids is inevitably to cause
it in a greater or less degree (varying with time of exposure,
heat, and strength of acid solution) to approximate towards
glucose. We find the strength of the cells, whilst their ap-
pearance is retained, to be affected even by an hour’s ex-
posure to water at boiling heat, only perceptibly acidulated.
If containing two percent. of acid, by longer exposure,
the strength will be diminished fifty per cent. Further,
the experience of past years is fully against the possibility
of this mode of treatment proving satisfactory. These
acids have been extensively employed to destroy the cotton
and linen in rags of mixed animal and vegetable fibres, by
converting the latter into an imperfect dextrin, and re-
taining the nitrogenous animal matter in a_ state less af-
fected by them. From-this it may be logically reasoned
that, in preparing fibres, the use of a less powerful acid
solution only induces a less complete conversion of the
cellulin; and that if the matter we wish to remove,
which contains more or less of nitrogenous substances, be

altered so considerably as to become soluble, the cellulin

4

>

Textile Fabrics. 487

must of necessity undergo a very marked alteration in its
properties.

Much has been expected from the use of adjuncts restrain-
ing the acids from operating on the cellulin :—Carbonic
acid, hydrogen, some base combined with the acid, are
amongst the ideas in this direction. It is improbable that
free hydrogen can exert any influence, except in retarding
all action on every substance by its presence. Free car-
bonic acid, on the contrary, whilst its action would be in no
wise injurious to the cellulin, would exert some influence,
under certain conditions not easily attained, as a solvent of
not easily soluble compounds:—Under ordinary conditions,
its action would be zz/, for it is dislodged from all combina-
tions by probably every organic acid present. As bases
combined with these acids, the salts of alkalis, and alkaline
earths have, in every instance, been proved almost without
action on the substances desired to be solved. One bizarre
use of occult incantations in the mix-’em-up style is the
compound of “ Aqua-regia, oyster-shells, and cast iron,”
recently very gravely given to the world by Royal Letters
Patent. The originators of these ideas are evidently gro-
ping in the dark, and reflection should teach them that, so
long as sulphuric, chlorohydric, and nitric acids have so
great a tendency to become largely hydrated, and then to
substitute bases for the hydrogen thus taken into combina-
tion, so long will all attempts to use these acids under any
mask prove unavailing to remove any substances from ad-
mixture with cellulin without also considerably damaging

‘the cellulin itself.

The agent of next importance is chlorine, or the chlorites.
Their use has formed a considerable portion of the treat-
ment of vegetable fibres; for the effect they produce in
loosening the cells from each other, caused them to be
recognised at an early period as powerful agents in bring-
ing the matters accompanying cellulin into a soluble state:
a modified process of chlorine bleaching is, by many
operators, relied upon as sufficient to attain the desired end.
To fully appreciate the value of these agents it is necessary
to recall to mind in what way chlorine can be supposed to
act in bleaching. The operation in question, and that of
bleaching, are evidently parts of the same action. Chlorine
first liberates oxygen from its union asa chlorite or from
water, by combining partly with other elements of the sub-
stance, and partly with the hydrogen contained in it or in
the water. If the oxygen be liberated, its effect must be

488 Vegetable Fibres Available, &e.

to oxidise the carbon present. Where the chlorine com-
bines with the substance, its ultimate action is still to
liberate oxygen, when oxidation takes place. Oxidation is
combustion, which, in its exact degree, must alter the aggre-
gation of the substance.. The chlorohydric acid generated
by the union of the chlorine and the hydrogen within
the pores of the substance will hydrate itself at the ex-
pense of the elements of water in the substance, and will
thus aid still further to alter its aggregation. Conse-
quently, to say that bleaching can take place by the ac-
tion of chlorine under proper management without causing
loss of strength to the substance bleached is speaking com-
paratively. Nothing is better known in every household
than that loss of strength is always sustained by articles
thus bleached ; and it cannot be that every instance arises
from mismanagement. The lustrous coat of the cell of
fibres is likewise considerably altered by chlorine. The
operation of chlorine in every possible combination has not
been examined so minutely as that of other agents; yet
there seems to be little probability that by any modifica-
tion in its use, if employed more largely than is usually re-
quired for careful bleaching, a satisfactory process will ever
be perfected. All samples yet produced by its use show a
diminution of from 40 to 80 per cent. of the native strength
of the cell. It will beseen that the use of chlorine, even as
a bleaching agent for these fibres, is attended with many
disadvantages: some improved mode of bleaching is de-
sirable which would be unaccompanied with the loss of
strength inevitably resulting from the existing methods of
chlorine bleaching.

Having considered briefly the action of alkalis, of acids,
and of chlorine in the operation, we have nearly exhausted
the routine of treatment. There are, however, some means
which have been recommended and which merit investiga-
tion. Amongst these are putrefactive fermentation, and
superheated steam. We propose next month to conclude
this inquiry by an examination of the action of these agents.

Foots Cray Mills, S.E., April 22, 1867.

489

THE HARMONY OF CREATION.

BY S. C. GRIFFITH, M.D.

HEN the casual observer looks above on a starlight
night and scans those shining orbs which stud the
heavens, and sees resplendent globes rolling in silent
majesty and in accustomed courses through the measure-
less abyss of space, he cannot fail to be deeply struck by
the magnificence of the scene. When the thoughtful stu-
dent of nature studies the laws by which these celestial
bodies are balanced, and finds that by certain immutable
decrees a neverfailing revolution is maintained, everlasting
so far as man himself is concerned, and that no interference
or collision occur in their orbits, the conviction is forced
upon his mind that such laws must emanate from an all
wise and Omnipotent Lawgiver. When the philosopher
withdraws his attention from such grand objects, and dives
into the recesses of the earth, and there discovers plan,
purpose, and design stamped on all around him, and ob-
serves that minute bodies are ruled by laws as wonderful
as those which govern the motions of stupendous globes,
he feels sentiments akin to awe and emotion which can
be calmed only by the knowledge that other laws are sup-
plied by the same great Creator; and that as obedience to
the laws of instinct provided for the whole animal creation
is rewarded as a natural consequence by an animal hap-
piness, in like manner a fulfilment by man of the moral
law and law of revelation, which is supplied for him alone,
brings also its happiness as a natural result.

There are laws which rule inorganic matter, the motion
and balance of the heavenly bodies, geological phenomena,
winds and tides, &c. There are also those which govern
organic matter and bring about changes and combinations
which produce vegetable and animal life, and regulate
growth and decay. There are laws which govern instinct
and intelligence—faculties perfectly distinct in their nature.
The former guiding all animals, from the lowest to the
highest, and the latter being confined to the higher animals,
including man himself. Lastly, there are certain laws which
govern the moral world, and of which man can be the sole
example. The natural subservience of man to these moral
laws is sufficient of itself to distinguish him from all other
creatures. Here is a distinct line of demarcation between
him and the brute.

490 The Harmony of Creation.

Doubtless we should find these laws as simple as they
are divinely grand, could we by some process of discovery
comprehend them; we perceive the detailed working of
these laws, and we see the complex operations of minor
laws, which are probably the effects of simple laws acting
under different conditions.

For example, the study of Meteorology, which appears
in its present infant state little more than a multitude of
statistical records of the most complex character, is being
made reducible to fixed laws, and time, doubtless, will
provide for this new born science sufficient data upon which
to form definite rules from which conclusions can be de-
duced.

Medicine, in its scientific aspect, is a study bearing a
close resemblance to Meteorology. The data from which
conclusions can be logically derived are of so uncertain
and shifting a character, that the greatest difficulties have
been experienced in the attempt to- render the study of
medicine a science. Until recently it has been practised
almost wholly as an art, and when rules of practice have
been given, they have been little else than empiricisms.
Each individual practitioner had to depend upon his own
experience and observation. The discovery of the cir-
culation of the blood by Harvey raised the veil from
many obscurities, and explained many actions formerly
regarded as of a most complex character. Modern inves-
tigation, by means of the microscope, is explaining at the
present time difficulties formerly considered unfathomable.
One great feature in such discoveries appears to be the
simplicity of the first law. The law of gravitation dis-
covered by Sir Isaac Newton is the most striking example
of the simplicity of a great law—yet the effects of this law
in the universe are as multifarious as wonderful.

The laws which govern inorganic matter appear to follow
an unvarying plan. The apparently erratic movements of
comets, the convulsive upheavings of the crust of the
earth, and other changes, are probably the effects of cer-
tain unascertained fixed laws. It is absolutely necessary
for the existence of organised matter that these laws should
remain unchanged. Unless the earth rotated on her axis
at a certain inclination, and with perfect regularity, the
present vegetable and animal kingdoms could not exist.
Many examples might be given of a correspondence be-
tween the time of rotation of the earth upon its axis and
periodical functions of the organised world. Linnzus gave

The Harmony of Creation. 4g1

a list of plants which he termed a floral clock, which opened
and shut at particular hours of the day. The day-lily
opens at five in the morning, the common dandelion at six,
the hawkweed at seven, the marigold at nine. Many close
at corresponding hours in the afternoon. During the de-
tention of navigators at the North Pole, when they have
been blocked in by ice and in darkness for many weeks, it
has been found necessary, in order to retain the health of
the men, that at six a.m. all should rise from bed, and retire
to rest at nine p.m., taking their meals at regular intervals.

If we may be allowed to continue our digression, it would
be interesting to remark here the strong resemblance which
exists between the inclination of the earth’s axis and her
rotation, and those of Mars, Mercury, and Venus. Mars
rotates on her axis in 24h. 37m., Venus turns on her axis in
23h. 2im.,and Mercury in 24h.5m. These planets have
therefore nearly the same day and night as the earth.
Their inclination is similar to that of our earth, and they
probably have similar seasons and climates. Clouds are
visible upon these three planets; they must therefore pos-
sess both an atmosphere and water, or something analo-
gous to these elements.

If the axis of the earth were at right angles to its annual
orbit we should have equal night and day all over the
world ; if the axis were in the plane of its orbit the sun
would be above the horizon for several weeks in summer,
and below for a similar period in winter. Such alteration
of axis would be incompatible with the maintenance of the
organised world.

In the annual revolution of our earth, therefore, it is ab-
solutely necessary that the inclination of her axis should
remain unchanged, for the well-being, or indeed existence
of animated nature. Without the regular action of light
and heat the vegetable kingdom would be unable to oxy-
genate our atmosphere, which would lose its power of sus-
taining animal life. A suspension of the law of gravitation
for one hour would destroy not only this earth, but pro-
bably multitudes of other worlds. No caprice of will, nor
even any act of intelligence such as is common to animals,
are allowed to cause the deviation of a hairs breadth in
the course of the operation of the laws which rule the inor-
ganic world. The organic world is entirely dependent
upon the regular and right action of these first laws. A
prolonged discussion of this subject would occupy too
much space for this paper. Enough has been advanced to

492 The Harmony of Creation.

draw attention to the immutability of such laws. In the
organic world the laws operate with equal precision and
certainty, but are, at the same time, dependent upon con-
ditions and circumstances. All organic matter, whether
endowed with intelligence, instinct, or simple vitality, is
finite, and therefore does not require such immutability of
law as is necessary for inorganic bodies. The heart acts so
long as vital blood is supplied, and the stomach continues
to digest if the nervous system remains intact, and food
is introduced. Vegetation flourishes under the influence of
light, warmth, and moisture.

We have mentioned instinct and intelligence as subject
to distinct laws. Instinct must be regarded as a simple
power, emanating directly from the Creator. A purely in-
stinctive act is performed with as much skill and facility at
the first as at the last. Neither experience nor repetition
improve this faculty. The new born ‘animal seizes the
mother’s breast, and draws the milk and swallows it as
perfectly as when a year old. The young bee, just emerged
from the cell, sets about the highly geometrical process of
constructing its complicated hexagonal cells, and does its
work as well and as perfectly as the oldest inhabitant. In-
stinctive acts are thus done without any perception or con-
sciousness on the part of the agent. Intelligent acts, on
the contrary, are performed not only with a consciousness
of their consequences, but because of that consciousness.
They are performed with a view to produce effects which
are known by previous experience to have resulted from
them. Cultivation improves intelligence to a limited de-
gree in animals below man. This susceptibility of improve-
ment distinctly separates intelligence from instinct. We
are all aware that an old rat, fox, or dog, is more know-
ing than the young of the same species.

In studying this subject, it must not be overlooked that
acts prompted by instinct are perfect in their performance
—perfect so far as the necessities of animals require,
whereas acts the result of intelligence are more or less im-
perfect. We will narrate a very high act of intelligence in
the dog, which was given as a fact in the Lezsuve Hour
several years ago. A Scotch shepherd accidentally caught
his arm in a rock, a stone having rolled over by some
accident ; he was thus pinned, as Milo was in attempting
to tear asunder an old oak. A colly, or Scotch shepherd’s
dog accompanied, as usual, this Scotchman. He endea-
voured to make the dog understand that he was to go

The Harmony of Creation. 493

home and get help. He described the dog as being very
much excited for a long time, until a beam of intelligence
appeared to dart from his eyes, and the dog ran home,
and actually fetched the man’s sister or wife.

We do not attempt to fully discuss or in any way to ex-
haust these subjects; a brief sketch only is intended, just
sufficient to draw distinctions, and point out important
differences.

Moral law is applicable to man alone, because man is
the only being who is a responsible agent, responsible both
to his fellow-creatures and to his Maker. All the argu-
ments of those who would attempt to prove mana mere
physical being cannot show that he is born without a con-
science, or without a sense of responsibility, even amongst
the most savage tribes. Locke observes the mind of man
“turns its view inward upon itself.” That which contem-
plates itself, that intelligence which sees itself and studies
itself, that knowledge which knows itself, constitutes a dis-
tinct order of mental phenomena, to which no inferior
animal can attain. |

Animals feel, know, and think, but man alone knows
that he knows, and thinks that he thinks. As we remarked
before, man is the only animal who is progressive in his
knowledge and powers, he alone speaks and writes—which
are results of progression. He alone can communicate
to future generations. In these faculties he is perfectly
distinct from the lower animals, in addition to his moral
position. General laws, however, do apply to a certain
extent to the acts of man himself. Careful analysis of the
acts of men proves that, taken collectively, they recur with
precision and regularity. M. Quetelet showed that in Bel-
gium marriages took place during a series of years in an
exact ratio to the population. The number per annum of
men not over 30 who married women over 60 was 5 to 7;
the number over 30 up to 45 married to women of 60 was
annually 18. The number of letters posted without an ad-
dress kept always the same ratio. Statistics of crime have
been shown to follow certain laws. Although the collec-
tive acts of man, in certain countries and in certain epochs,
are shown to produce regular results, it must be remem-
bered that man is individually a free agent. No one would
pretend to show that the collective acts of a band of
thieves would present the same result as those of a body
of gentlemen. And just the same argument will show
that the collective acts of one nation will be superior to

those of another, in proportion as individuals are rightly in-
structed, and under the influence of the moral law and that
of revelation. If we compare the collective acts of any
body of Englishmen of the present day—say, for example,
of mechanics with those of men in the same position a
hundred years ago, we shall not fail to observe a great im-
provement. The standard of conduct is higher, and the
fact that they are responsible to moral laws is recognised.

494 - On Memory.

ON MEMOKY.

E propose to discuss the subject of memory, which
stands prominently forward amongst the most im-
portant endowments and distinguishing attributes of reason-
ing man, and wanting which faculty he would be little better
than the brutes that perish, who although in some instances
possessing memory do not use it, so faras we know, for
inductive or reasoning purposes; and because the whole
question is surrounded with difficulty, and opens up a wide
field to the studious and philosophic mind, as well as to
the lover of psychological investigations, it affords an addi-
tional reason for research and inquiry, and will well repay
the trouble bestowed upon it.

Memory may be described as the repository or recep-
tacle of ideas. It is a faculty of great importance, and
capable of almost boundless improvement; it is this faculty
alone which connects us with the past, and without which
the past would be useless. It can recall not only the by-
gone scenes and transactions of our own lives, but the events
of history, ancient and modern, sacred and profane. It
enables us to retain and call up the truths of science and of
religion, and were it not for this power it would be fruit-
less to listen to the voice of instruction, even could there
be a teacher to instruct.

If memory has its pains, it has also its pleasures; and it de-
pends on ourselves whether it shall become our friend or our
foe, our tormentor or our comforter through this earthly pil-
erimage and the countless ages of eternity, according as we
store it with dross or enrich it with pure gold. |

Memory may be defined as that faculty or power of the
mind which receives, retains, and reproduces, as occasion
requires, all sorts of ideas presented to the understanding.

On Memory. A495

“Memory,” says Locke, “is the store-house of our
ideas. The narrow mind of man not being capable of
having many ideas under view and consideration at once,
it was necessary to have a repository in which to lay up
those ideas which it may afterwards have use for; but our
ideas being nothing but actual perceptions in the mind,
which cease to be when there is no perception of them,
this laying up of ideas in the memory signifies that the
mind has a power in many cases to revive perceptions it,
has once had, with this additional perception annexed to
them, that it has had them before; and it is by the assist-
ance of this faculty that we are said to have all those ideas
in our understanding, which we can make the objects of
our thoughts without the help of those sensible qualities
which first imprinted them there.”

Attention and repetition help much to fix ideas in the
memory; but those which make the deepest and most
lasting impression are those accompanied by pleasure or
pain. Ideas but once taken in and never repeated are soon
buried, but not lost.

It is a well-known axiom that there can be no annihila-
tion of any particle of matter; and as matter is indestruc-
tible, are we not bound to presume that psychical impres-
sions, however they may fade, can never perish. If the lower
defies annihilation, surely the higher must be beyond and
above its reach. Man may break up and re-combine by
scientific agencies, but the Creator of the universe has set
a limit to man’s power and as “ He can alone create,so He
can alone destroy.”

The memory of some men is tenacious to a miracle ; ; but
yet there seems to bea constant decay of all the ideas, even
of those which are struck deepest, and in minds the most
retentive, so that if they are not sometimes renewed the
print appears to wear out, and at last to vanish altogether.

Those ideas which are often refreshed by a frequent re-
turn of the objects or actions that produced them fix them-
selves best in the memory and remain longest there; such
are the original qualities of bodies, viz., solidity, extension,
figure, motion, &c., and those that most often affect us, as
heat and cold. It is obvious, also, that events would be
more readily retained than chronological dates or mere
nomenclature.

In memory the mind is often more than barely passive,
for it sets itself to work to search out some hidden ideas,
Sometimes they start of their own accord, and sometimes

496 On Memory.

violent passions will tumble them out of their secret cells.
This faculty other animals seem to have to a great degree,
as well as man, as appears by birds learning tunes, and
their attempts to hit the right notes; for it seems impossible
that they should endeavour to conform their voices, as it is
plain they do, to notes of which they have no idea,

One of the most remarkable instances of this power of
remembering tunes in birds, is related of Colonel Kelly’s
parrot. The Colonel was at Brighton; the bird was asked
to sing; he answered, “I can’t ;’ another time he left off in
the middle of atune and said “I have forgot.” Colonel
Kelly continued the tune for a few notes, and the bird took
it up where the Colonel left off.

There have been, and still are, many other theories of
memory. Descartes, Rene, the philosopher of La Haye
Tourain, and his followers, maintain that “the animal spirits,
exciting a motion in the most delicate fibres of the brain,
leave traces or footsteps which occasion remembrance;
hence it happens that by passing several times over the
same things the spirits become accustomed to the same
passages, leave them open, and so make their way without
any effort or labour, and in this consists the ease with
which we recollect such ideas. Thus wine is found to
sharpen the memory, because wine puts the animal spirits
in motion, and agitates the fibres of the brain more
briskly.”

Father Nicholas Malbranche, a French philosopher, ob-
serves :—“It being granted that all our different percep-
tions are owing to changes happening in the fibres of the
principal parts of the brain, wherein the soul more imme-
diately resides, the nature of the memory is obvious, for as
the leaves of a tree that have been folded for some time in
a certain manner preserve a facility or disposition to be
folded again in the same manner, so the fibres of the brain
having once received certain impressions by the courses of
the animal spirits, and by the action of objects, preserve for
some time a facility to receive the same disposition. Now
it is in this facility that memory consists, for we think the
same things when the brain receives the same impressions.
Further, as the animal spirits act sometimes more briskly
and sometimes more slowly on the substance of the brain,
and as sensible objects make much deeper and more last-
ing impressions than the imagination alone, it is easy on
this scheme to conceive why we do not remember all things,
why a thing, for instance, seen twice, is represented more

On Memory. 497

vividly to the mind than another seen but once, and why
things that have been seen are usually remembered more
distinctly than those that have been only imagined.

“ Old men are defective in memory, and cannot learn any-
thing without much difficulty, because they want animal
spirits to make new traces, and because the fibres of the
brain have become too hard to receive, or too moist to
retain, such impressions. For the same reason they who
learn with the greatest ease forget the soonest ; in regard
when the fibres are soft and flexible objects make a slight
impression, which the continual course of animal spirits
easily wears off. On the contrary, the fibres of those who
learn slowly, being less flexible and less subject to be
shaken, the traces are more deeply engraven, and last the
longer, from all which observations it follows that the
memory is absolutely dependent on the body being im-
paired or strengthened, according to the changes which
befall that body,—a fall, a fever, &c., being frequently
found to erase or blot out all traces, to bear away all the
ideas, and to cause an universal forgetfulness.”

The chief difficulty that embarrasses this doctrine of
memory is to conceive how such a great number of things
and events as the brain is stored or filled with should be
arranged in such order in the memory as that the one
should not efface the other, and how in such a multitudi-
nous assemblage of traces impressed on the brain, the
animal spirits should call up or awaken those that the
mind has occasion for.

Again, it may be concluded that impressions once made
on the brain or memory are never entirely lost, for although
after inflammation of the brain and fever attended with
cerebral symptoms, the memory is sometimes temporarily
obscured, and the understanding lost, yet everyone’s expe-
rience has taught him how often things and circumstances,
apparently forgotten, have been recalled to the memory and
mind by accidental associations which seem to have no
other connection with them, and doubtless many have lis-
tened with sorrow to the ravings of delirious persons, from
whose lips have fallen expressions and relations which were
evidently revelations of the real incidents of past and mis-
spent time; and others may have heard with delight and
surprise words of purest love given utterance to by the
voice of maiden innocence, which were surely the tran-
script of thoughts and ideas which had been in time of

498 On Memory.

health recorded and treasured up within the secret tablet
of the memory.
She never told her love, »

But let concealment, like a worm in the bud,

Feed on her damask cheek ; she pined in thought,

And with a green and yellow melancholy

She sat like Patience on a monument,

Smiling at grief.

Dr. David Hartley, in his observations on man, his duty,
his frame, and his expectations, agreeable to his mechanical
theory of the human mind, defines memory to be that faculty
by which traces of sensations and ideas recur, or are recalled
in the same order as accurately, or nearly so, as they were re-
presented. The rudiments of memory, he says, are laid in
the perpetual recurrency of the same impressions, and thus
he endeavours to account for the peculiar imperfections of
the memory in children and aged persons, as well as for
other facts pertaining to the exercise of this faculty. Those
who adopt this theory enumerate among other phenomena
of memory, the following :—Ideas of recollection are dis-
tinguished from sensations chiefly by a difference in the
vividness of impressions, so that when from disease, or any
other cause, ideas become as vivid as sensations, they are
mistaken for sensations, as in phrensy. Ideas of memory
are distinguished from reveries, chiefly by the readiness and
strength of the associations by which they are cemented
together, and recollected ideas are also distinguished from
reveries by their connection with known facts, and by
various methods of reasoning. Memory, it is also said,
depends entirely or chiefly on the state of the brain, hence
diseases—concussion of the brain,—certain spirituous
liquors, &c., impair it, but it generally returns with the
renewal of health.

Memory also differs at different ages, so that children
soon learn and soon forget. Old people learn with difficulty,
and remember best what they learned when young, and
this, it is alleged, is agreeable to the theory of vibrations.

Sensations attended with great pleasure or pain make a
deep impression on the memory, which is probably owing
to the strong vibrations which they excite. Sensible ideas
gradually decay in the memory if not refreshed by new
sensations. Voluntary recollection is performed by calling
up associated ideas, which, by degrees introduce the idea
in question. Some persons of weak judgment possess re-

On Memory. 499

tentive memories. The excellence of memory consists
partly in its strength of retention, and partly in the quick-
ness of recollection. All the faculties of the mind are
dependent on the memory, and though some persons may
have strong memories with weak judgment, no person can
have a strong judgment whose memory is remarkably
defective.

Memory is a source of refined and Bermanene plea-
sure; painful recollections gradually subside, and, if suffi-
cient time be allowed, by the power of association, all pain
will be ultimately absorbed and the pleasure of memory
will be pure and unmixed.

Memory, observes Dr. Bird, is given us by the Author of
our being, and we can give no satisfactory account of it,
but that we areso made. “I believe most firmly,’ says
that writer, “what I distinctly remember, but I can
give no reason for this belief; it is the inspiration of
the Almighty that gives me this understanding. Memory
is always accompanied with the belief in that which we re-
member, and this belief we account real knowledge, no less
certain than if if was. grounded on demonstration. The
testimony of witnesses in cases of life and death depends
upon it, and all the knowledge of mankind with regard to
past events is built on this foundation.”

Professor Dugald Stewart thinks that the word memory
is not uniformly employed in the same sense; it is some-
times used to express the capacity of retaining knowledge,
and sometimes the power of recalling it to our thoughts
when we have occasion to apply it to use. When we speak
of a retentive memory, we use it in the former sense, when
of a ready memory, in the latter.

The connection between memory and the association of
ideas is so striking as to have led some to suppose that the
whole of its phenomena might be resolved into this prin-
ciple. This Dr. Stewart does not allow ; the association of
ideas connects our thoughts with each other, so as to present
them to the mind in a certain order, but this hypothesis
pre-supposes a faculty of retaining the knowledge which
we acquire. Itinvolves also a power of recognising former
objects of attention, the thoughts that from time to time
occur to us,a power which is not implied in that law of our
nature which is called the association of ideas. On the
other hand, it is evident that without the associating prin-
ciple, the power of retaining our thoughts, and of recog-
nising them when they once occur would have been. of

NEW SERIES.—VOL. IL SS 3

500 On Memory.

little use, for the most important articles of our knowledge
might have remained latent in our minds even when those
occasions presented themselves to which they are imme-
diately applicable.

Dr. George Moore, in his treatise on the power of the
soul over the body, a book well worthy of perusal, takes a
spiritual view of the memory; he says the operation of the
soul upon the body and the incorporeal origin and end of
mind willbe further rendered manifest by meditating upon
another endowment, namely, memory. This indeed is
presupposed in the idea of abstraction, since we cannot
contemplate or reflect unless the mind be previously fur-
nished with objects or the remembered images of past
impressions.

We may dwell the rather on this faculty as it is essential
to the exercise of thought and must precede reasoning.
Hesiod said the nine Muses arethe daughters of Mnemosyne,
and rightly did he thus determine, since without memory
they never could have existed, for every production of
human intellect has its origin in this faculty, hence the
mind of the rational being is first exercised in examining
objects and enjoying sensations, since the remembrance
of these constitutes the ground work of reflection and
orethought.

The infant’s reason requires for’ development only
familiarity with facts and the opportunity of comparing
them with each other. Thus it happens that savage
tribes and persons wholly without education exhibit so
many of the characteristics of childhood, because their
minds remain without sufficient acquaintance with facts
fully to call forth their reason; “the order of learning
is from the senses to the imagination, and from this to the
intellect.”

It is not our purpose to investigate this faculty of
Memory in philosophical order, but to relate certain- facts
in connection with its exercise which may assist us in
deducing certain inferences concerning the independence
and management of the thinking principle. Attention
and association are generally deemed essential to the
memory, but experience certainly proves that its extent
or capacity do not entirely depend on what is com-
monly understood by attention and association; at least
we find in many instances that we cannot detect the
association, nor does it often appear that facility of re-

collection is in proportion to the effort to attend or to ~

£
a

On Memory. 501

retain, but rather to the suitability of the subject to the
mental character and habit of the individual. A gentleman
engaged in a banking establishment made an error in his
accounts, and after an interval of several months spent
days and nights in vain endeavours to discover where the
mistake lay; at length worn out by fatigue he went to bed,
and in a dream recollected all the circumstances that gave
rise to the error. He remembered that on a certain day
several persons were waiting in the bank, when one indi-
vidual who was a most annoying stammerer, became so ex-
cessively noisy and impatient, that to get rid of him his
money was paid before his turn, and the entry of this sum
was neglected, and thus arose the deficiency in the account.
In this case memory produced the dream without any
suggestive association, for the circumstances which re-
appeared were not consciously connected with the error in
the mind of the dreamer. The soul undisturbed by the
senses reviewed the past, and recognised what it desired to
learn, the fact it was in search of.

Upon the whole we may safely conclude that although
the faculty of memory is the power which individualises
man, and seems to be the concentration of ali he has ever
seen, heard, read, spoken, or thought of, the principles upon
which that faculty depends are still involved in difficulty
and considerable obscurity, and present a wide and perhaps
a fertile field for laborious and scientific inquiry. And it
is much to be desired that medical men should carefully
note and publish the effects produced upon the memory by
disease and age, with which their observations from time
to time makes them acquainted.

We will now proceed to notice a few remarkable instan-
ces of strong capacious and retentive memory preserved by
ancient and modern writers. Pliny in his natural history,
book seventh, chap. twenty-fourth, states that King Cyrus
could call every soldier in his army by name, and L. Scipio
could recollect the names of all the citizens of Rome.
Cyneas, ambassador to Rome from King Pyrrhus, the day
after he came to Rome, knew and saluted by name the
senate and all the gentlemen and knights in the city.
Mithridates, reigned over twenty-four nations of divers
languages, and gave laws and ministered justice to them,
and when he made a speech on public affairs spoke fluently
in the language of the different countries without the aid of
an interpreter.

Carneades, a philosopher of Cyrene in Africa, who was

SS ou

502 On Memory.

sent on an embassy to Rome, A.C. 155, with Diogenes, the
stoic, and Critolaus, the peripatetic, could repeat from
memory when required, any volume in the libraries, as
readily as if he were reading.

Dr. John Wallis, who held the Savilian professorship of
Geometry at Oxford, tells us that without the assistance
of pen and ink, or any equivalent, he was able in the dark,
by mere force of memory, to perform arithmetical opera-
tions, such as multiplication, division, extraction of roots,
&c. to 40 places. In one particular instance, at the request
of a foreigner, he proposed to himself when he had retired
to rest, a number of 53 places, and found its square root to
27, places, and without even writing down the number, dic-
tated it from memory twenty days after; an exercise of
memory which seems fully equal to anything which was
accomplished in the way of calculation by the American
boy Bidder, who surprised every one by his arithmetical
powers. |

Of the celebrated Porson, of Cambridge, it may be
said that recollection was the habit of his mind, his life
was a mixed commentary on profane and sacred learning,
and his genius was like a phosphorescence on the graves
of the dead; it is said that nothing came amiss to his
memory, he could set a child right in his twopenny
fable book, repeat all the moral tales of the Dean
of Badajos, render a page of Athenzeus on cups, or
of Eustathius on Homer, bring to bear at once on
any question every passage from the whole range of
Greek literature, to elucidate it, and approximate on the
instant the slightest coincidence even in thought or
expression. A late learned friend, Hugh Stewart Boyd,
whose elegant translations from the Greek Fathers are
well known, and who did good service to the sacred
cause of Christian truth by his essay on the Greek Article,
written expressly for Dr. Adam Clark’s annotations on the
Bible, told us that he could repeat 2,000 lines from various
Greek authors, an effort of memory to which we believe few
living scholars are equal. The memory of Newton was
wonderfully retentive. Blaise Pascal, the French divine
and mathematician, is said never to have forgotten, until his
health failed, anything he had ever done, read, or thought
of; and Woodfall, the celebrated parliamentry reporter, was
an instance of great quickness of memory and of apprehen-
sion, but the speeches he listened to were only retained,
until he had written them. Space forbids us to enter largely

On Memory. 503

upon the questionof defective or diseased memory, but as the
assertion has been made that nothing oncelearnt isever really
lost, it may be well to mention one or two cases which bear
out this view. Sir Astley Cooper relates a case of a sailor
who was received into St. Thomas’s Hospital, in a state of
stupor which had continued some months from an injury
to the head; after an operation he recovered speech, but no
one in the hospital could understand his language; how-
ever a Welch milkwoman who happened to come into the
ward answered him, for he spoke Welch, which was his native
language; he had been absent from Wales more than thirty
years, and prior to the accident had apparently forgotten
Welch, although he nowspokeit fluently, and could not recol-
lect aword of any other tongue; on his perfect recovery he re-
gained his English, and lost his Welch, or rather it was again
buried. Dr. Abercrombie relates the case of a child four
years old, who was trepanned while in a state of profound
stupor from fracture of the skull; after recovery the child
retained no recollection of the accident or the operation, yet
at the age of fifteen, during the delirium of fever, he gave
his mother an accurate description of the operation, and the
persons present, their dress, and other minute particulars.
These cases might be multiplied, but they are sufficient for
the purpose, and we now pass on to offer a few remarks on
the temporary failure of memory which occurs in many
Ways. Sometimes it is general and extends to every subject,
but usually it is manifest on some subjects more than others.
Salmuth mentions a case in which a person forgot to pro-
nounce words but could nevertheless write them. The
celebrated surgeon, John Hunter, was suddenly attacked
with a singular failure of memory ; while visiting ata friend’s
house he forgot what part of the house he was in, and did
not know the name of the street when told it, nor where his
own house was ; he had no conception of anything existing
beyond the room he was in, though perfectly conscious of
the loss of his memory ; he was also quite alive to im-
pression upon the senses, and looked out of the window,
though it was rather dark at the time, to see if he could
become sensible of the situation of the house. The loss of
memory gradually went off, and in less than half an hour he
perfectly recovered ; it is probable that this might have been
connected with a gouty habit, although he was not then
labouring under a paroxysm; bearing in mind the above
case, we can credit the story told in the Physiological
Magazine, of a German who called upon a friend, and being

504 Commercial Aspect of Ferusalem.

asked to send up his name, forgot it, and not having a
card, said, “Pray tell me who I am, for I cannot recollect,”
a situation which was decidedly serio comic.

In conclusion let us take care that things committed to
memory are worthy of being remembered, never forgetting
that although a strong absorbing passion or sentiment may
for a time appear to blot out everything else, we cannot
forget what we have once learnt ; we are unable to perform
the achievement which the immortal Shakespere undertook
to perform in the person of Hamlet, whom he thus makes
speak, when acquainted with the murder of his father,

Yea from the table of my memory,
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,

_All saws of books, all forms, all pleasures past,
That youth, and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmixed with baser matter.

But as this cannot be, as no human being while the mind
is sane has the power to prevent the reproduction of ideas
which it has once entertained, let us learn to live that
memory may be a sweet solace to us, and that when we
near the end the representation of the past may have no
terrors for us.

COMMERCIAL ASPECT OF JERUSALEM.

HE following interesting particulars, are extracted
from Mr. Consul Moore’s report, on the Trade and
Commerce of Jerusalem, for the year 1866.

“Trade and Commerce.—The trade of the Sandjak (or
minor province) of Jerusalem is very inconsiderable. Jeru-
salem, the chief town, is one of the least commercial or in-
dustrial of cities. The principal imports from England are
cotton goods and some colonials. Of the former it is
calculated that between 300 and 400 bales, of the value of
16,0007. to 20,0007, annually find their way here. There
are no British merchants or tradesmen. The imports from
foreign countries—consisting chiefly of woollen manufactures,
hardware, glass, and fancy goods—are on an equally limited —

Commercial A spect of Ferusalem. 505

scale. The exports are olive oil and grain, the staple pro-
ducts of the district, of which the quantities and destination
will be shown on the returns from Jaffa, the port of Jeru-
salem.

“A griculture—As above stated, the staple produce of
this district is olive oil and grain, of which the principal
kinds are wheat, barley, sesame, and maize, raised in rather
considerable quantities. Cotton is grown in the Nablous
district. Previously to the ravages of the locusts, to be
presently referred to, the estimated yield for 1866, was
600,000 to 700,000 okes (the oke equals 2#lb.). It is raised
from native seed, is of an inferior quality, and is chiefly ex-
ported to Marseilles. No well-directed and sustained effort
on the part of the Government has been made to promote
the cultivation of cotton. It is believed that in many parts
of the country, cotton might be successfully and extensively
grown, with good seed and proper instructions and imple-
ments given to the peasantry. A model farm, conducted
by Englishmen, would, in my opinion, be the best means of
‘promoting cotton culture in this land.

“During the summer the country was overrun by locusts.
The olive crop suffered severely, in common with the cotton
plant, the vine, fruit trees, &c. The grain crops had already,
for the most part, been reaped. Vegetation soon recovered
however; and, unless the locusts come again, the evil will
have disappeared with the cause.

“The animals bred in the district are horses, camels,
mules, asses, sheep, goats, and not many oxen.

“Population and Industries—TVhe population of the Sand-
jak may be computed at 200,000 souls, divided into the
three sects of Christians, Mahomedans, and Jews, in about
the following proportions:—

Mahomedans : 160,000
Christians es of the Greek Church) 30,000
Jews he 10,000

“The population of the oe of Jerusalem is estimated at
18,000, of whom about 5,000 are Mahomedans, 8,000 to
9,000 Jews, and the rest Christians of various denominations.

“The chief native industry is the manufacture of soap,
and what is called ‘Jerusalem ware,’ consisting of chaplets,
crucifixes, beads, crosses, and the like, made principally of
mother-of-pearl and olive wood, and sold to the pilgrims,
who annually resort to the Holy City to the number of
6,000 to 8,000.

506 Commercial Aspect of Ferusalem.

“No mines are worked, although it is believed that sul-
phur, bitumen, and rock salt abound on the shores of the
Dead Sea; but security and capital are wanting, and so
long as these are absent, the probable wealth to be extracted
from those regions will remain unavailable. No factories are
to be met with. The employment of the people in the rural
districts is agriculture, which is carried on in the most primi-
tive mode.

“A colony of Americans from the State of Maine, num-
bering 156 persons, arrived and settled near Jaffa in Sep-
tember. Their leading idea appears to be a religious one,
connected with the fulfilment of prophey concerning the
Holy Land. They are, for the most part, farmers, handi-
craftsmen, &c., bringing with them their own wooden houses,
agricultural implements, and tools. If the colony contrives
to escape the disastrous failure which has attended previous
similar experiments, it will be interesting to watch the pro-
gress and results of the enterprise, which cannot fail to be
beneficial to the country, through the introduction of their
superior husbandry and workmanship.

Public Works.—It is matter of great regret it should have
again to be reported that neither railway, nor what, under
the circumstances, would be more advisable, carriage road,
has been, or is likely to be, made between Jaffa and Jeru-
salem, and of whicha harbour at Jaffa would much enhance
the value. The difficulty is understood to arise from the
unwillingness of the Porte to grant the concession to a
foreign company, while it abstains from undertaking this
most necessary and profitable work itself. The roads of the
district are of a most wretched description, and with the
want of security, are the main cause of the poverty and
general backwardness of the country. The formation of
roads would, in the nature of things, itself react upon the
country, and tend to promote its security. This arises prin-
cipally from the predatory Bedouin tribes inhabiting the
outskirts of the district, to keep whom in check, however,
military dispositions of a simple and inexpensive description
might be readily made. Owing to the above causes vast
and fertile plains are allowed to lie waste, or are but partially
and poorly cultivated. There can be no doubt that with
the agricultural capabilities of the country fully utilized, it
would support a population many times larger than its
present scanty and poverty-stricken inhabitants.

“Tzzet Pasha, the Governor of Jerusalem, has had the
pools of Solomon and the ancient aqeduct repaired, with a

Copper Mines. 507

view to supplying Jerusalem with water. This most de-
sirable work is now completed.

“Two lines of telegraph, wd Beyrout and Alexandria
respectively, connect Jerusalem with Europe.

“Jerusalem, Jan. 16, 1867.”

COPPER MINES, NO. III
(Continued from page 37 5.)

HE expense of mining increase in proportion to the
depth ; so that the same quantity of ore which, toa
certain depth could be raised at a profit, would, at a greater
depth, be not worth raising at all. These expenses consist
chiefly in the various machinery required, but more parti-
cularly steam-engines, of which, in a large mine, there are
frequently not fewer than seven, eight, or ten. These are
used partly for the raising of ore, and partly for clearing
the mine of water, which would otherwise soon fill it en-
tirely ; for in all mines there is a constant oozing of water
from the sides, which to a certain depth proceeds from the
rains and other aqeous collections on the surface, beyond
that depth from springs. However inconvenient such
waters may be considered, it is, nevertheless, attended with
two advantages—one, that the stone is rendered less hard
by its continual exudation, and the other, that the oxygen
‘from it supplies, in some degree, the want of air.

In many mines, the inconvenience of want of air is
removed by cutting the levels or passages in a direction so
as to admit the outer air. Thus, if the mine be upon an
eminence, where there is a sloping side, or where there
happens to be a ravine, cavern, hollow, or fissure, at no
great distance, the passage which is made to open into it,
is termed an Adit; but metal has too. frequently to be
worked where this is impossible, such as under the sea, or
quite in the bowels of the earth.

Since the application of steam to the purposes of
machinery, and since the improvements which have taken
place in mechanics within the last fifty years, mines have
been sunk much deeper than formerly; for prior to those
improvements, it was impossible to excavate them with
advantage, to any great depth, and many were consequently
abandoned. Numbers of such abandoned mines have been

508 Copper Mines.

since re-opened, and through the assistance of modern dis-
coveries, re-worked to very considerable profit; others are,
(particularly in Cornwall), being daily explored and made
the subject of consideration. Some of the mines which
have been thus abandoned, as well as others which have
been worked beyond the memory of man, are supposed to
have existed in very early times. A few miners pretend
to distinguish the mines worked by the Danes, by their
being particularly wide at the mouth, and gradually dimin-
ishing in their descent, like an inverted cone or funnel; but
it may be questioned whether this mode of operation was
not in early times adopted by the miners of all nations.
In 1835, the writer superintended the clearing of a small
mine, which was attributed to the Danes, in an island off
the S.W. coast of the county of Cork, and which was then
filled with rubbish. The principal shaft, which was at the
western extremity, was about fifteen feet square, and forty
feet in depth; nine smaller shafts had been sunk in a line
due E. of this principal shaft, about ten feet apart, all of
which communicated with each other below. In one of
these shafts was a considerable accumulation of soot, which
led some of the workmen to believe that the ore had been
smelted in the mine, but there was nothing found among
the rubbish to indicate the existence of a furnace; and the
writer, with great deference, thinks that the soot might,
in equal probability, have proceeded from some illicit still
for the making of whiskey. The only relic positively an-
cient, discovered in the rubbish, was a stone hammer, used
formerly for smashing the ores; and which instrument,
though usually called Danish, was probably common toall
countries. The tools commonly found in mines, do not
throw much light in forming conclusions as to their anti-
quity—consisting chiefly of pickaxes and crowbars, similar
to such as are used at the present day. Near Redruth, in
Cornwall, a mine is to this day called “The Druid’s Mine;”
and, when it is considered that thé Druids were, according
to tradition, extensive landowners, it is only probable that
they were proprietors of the most valuable mines, to which
foreigners resorted for tin and copper; and which have in
consequence been attributed to the Carthaginians, Phoeni-
cians and other strange people.

Copper ore, when first exposed, is often very beautiful.
It would be useless to specify all the names by which
mineralogists have thought proper to distinguish its several
varieties. The most remarkable, both for value and lustre,

Copper Mines. 509

are the native or malleable—the peacock, yellow, grey,
ruby and malachite—all of which, excepting the first-men-
tioned, and the last, assume their beautiful appearances
from admixture with other metallic or mineral substances ;
for it may be observed that ores are seldom found un-
mixed. Malleable, or pure native copper, is very rare; and
though of great intrinsic value, is prized in general as a
curiosity. Peacock copper, which commonly contains not
more than one-fifth of pure copper, exhibits every variety
of colour which can be found in the plumage of the bird
from which it receives its appellation; specimens are to be
had in the shops of all mineralogists at very moderate ex-
pense. Yellow copper owes its rich colour to a portion of
sulphur and grey copper, to an admixture with tin or
silver. Ruby copper ore is highly crystallised, and exhi-
bits a rich red tinge, derived, probably, from a small por-
tion of manganese. The most beautiful of all the copper
ores is malachite. It receives its name from the mallow,
to the leaves of which it is supposed to bear some resem-
blance, being of a bright and lively green. Though ranked
among the ores, malachite is, in reality, not an ore at all,
being only a petrifaction of water strongly impregnated
with verdigris. So highly prized is this substance, that a
piece of fine malachite, the size of a person’s head, would
be worth about £200. It is capable of being cut into
slices, and has been long used ina variety of forms for
female ornaments. There is a very fine specimen of mala-
chite in the British Museum, and a much finer one in the
collection at the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris; and at Ver-
sailles are two sideboards of the same precious substance,
which were contributed to that magnificent palace by the
Czar of Russia, in the reign of Louis XIV. There was no
mean specimen of malachite to be seen a few days ago on
the lid of a snuff-box, at a jewellers shop adjoining Bow
Church, Cheapside. Some of the Cornish miners have
gone to considerable expense in the formation of their col-
lections of minerals. The collection of Mr. Williams, of
Scorrier-house, is estimated at several thousand pounds;
and the cabinets of several other gentlemen in the county
are equally valuable.

When the ores are collected after excavation, they are
separated with care from the stone or other substance from
which they have been detached; after which they are
smashed or broken into small pieces, either by broad flat
hammers, used by hand, or some crushing apparatus worked

lr fe
i.
. ~

by steam or water. A great deal of it is then washed, and,
by means of sieves, the lighter particles of the stone are
separated from the ore. After these processes (besides
others which the peculiar nature of some ores may render
necessary) the ore is considered to be in a fit state for
smelting ; which for many years has been usually effected
at Swansea, from its advantageous situation, and the cheap-
-ness of fuel—the mining captain, or superintendent, on
shipping it for the purpose, being careful to take from the
bulk, from time to time during the shipment, small quan-
tities by way of sample, which he afterwards mixes toge-
ther and puts in two small bags, one of which he sends
with the vessel to the consignee, and the other retains in
his own possession, as a guarantee against the cargo being
either damaged or undervalued. The ore on arriving at
Swansea is usually exposed in a yard with other ores; and
a ticket or label is attached to it, showing whence it comes.
Sales by auction of the various consignments take place
periodically, at one of which it shares its fate with others ;
and, on being put up, is declared the property of the
highest bidder, who is invariably a smelter.

510 Learned Socteties.

PE ARNE D SOCIETY =

THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

On Saturday, the 13th ult., General Sabine, the President
- of the Royal Society, held his second reception. The
gathering was a most brilliant one, and the scientific attrac-
tions were very numerous. The collection was of a more
general character than at the previous sozrée. Art was
largely represented. Spectral analysis was exemplified by
the apparatus of Dr. Gladstone and Mr. Sorby. Iron ship
building, by models of great beauty. Photography, by
works from the cameras of Mr. Marion and the Messrs.
Maull, while the magneto-electrical machine of Mr. Ladd
showed a marked advance in the practical application of
the principle which renders it possible to convert mechanical
force into electricity.

IMPORTANT FACTS CONCERNING GUN COTTON.—
We have been favoured with the following corrected abstract

Learned Socteties. 511

of Professor A bel’s second memoir on Gun-cotton, delivered
before the Royal Society :—The results of the many ob-
servations which have been instituted prior to 1860 upon
the behaviour of gun-cotton when exposed to diffused or
strong daylight, or to heat, although they agree generally
with those of the most recent investigations on the subject,
as far as it relates to the nature of the products vbtained
at different stages of its decomposition, cannot be regarded
as having a direct bearing upon the question of the stability
_of gun-cotton produced by strictly pursuing the system of
manufacture prescribed by von Lenk, inasmuch as it has
been shown that the products formerly experimented upon
by different chemists varied very considerably in com-
position. The investigations recently published by Pélouze
and Maury (Comptes Rendus) into the composition of gun-
cotton, and the influence exerted by light and heat upon its
stability, are described as having been conducted with gun-
cotton prepared according to von Lenk’s system; the
general conclusion arrived at by those chemists with
reference to the latter branch of the subject was to the
effect that the material is susceptible of spontaneous decom-
position, under conditions which may possibly be fulfilled
in its storage and application to technical and warlike pur-
poses, and the inference is drawn, partly from the results of
earlier investigators, and partly from the exceptional
behaviour of one or two specimens, that gun-cotton is liable
to explode spontaneously at very low temperatures when
stored in considerable quantities. It has been shown in my
memoir of the Manufacture and Composition of Gun-cotton,
published last year (Trans. Royal Society, 1866), that
modifications in the process of conversion and purification,
which appear at first sight of very trifling nature, exert
most important influences upon the composition and purity
of the product. Gun-cotton of quite exceptional character
has been discovered in several instances, among samples
received from Hirtenburg, and among the first supplies
obtained from Stowmarket; other exceptional products
have also been produced by purposely modifying, in several
ways, the system of manufacture as pursued at Waltham
Abbey. The very considerable difference exhibited between
some of these and the ordinary products in their behaviour
under equal conditions of exposure to heat and light, affords
good grounds for the belief that the attainment of certain
exceptional results, upon which the conclusions given in
Pélouze and Maury’s report, condemnatory of gun-cotton,

512 Learned Soctettes.

have been principally founded, are to be ascribed to such
variations in the nature of the material operated upon.
Very numerous and extensive experiments and observa-
tions have been carried on during the last four years at
Woolwich, both with small and large quantities of gun-
cotton, for the purpose of completely investigating the
conditions by which the stability of this substance, when
under the influence of light and heat, may be modified, and
with the view to ascertain whether results recently arrived
at in France apply to gun-cotton as manufactured in this
country. The principal points which have been established
by the results arrived at in these investigations may be
summed up as follows :—1. Gun-cotton produced from
properly purified cotton, according to the directions given
by von Lenk, may be exposed to diffused daylight either
in open air or in closed vessels for long periods without
undergoing any change. The preservation of the material
for three and a half years under those conditions has been
perfect. 2. Long-continued exposure of the substance in
a condition of ordinary dryness to strong daylight and sun-
light, produces a very gradual change in gun-cotton of the
description defined above ; and the statements which have
been published regarding the very rapid decomposition of
gun-cotton when exposed to sunlight do, therefore, not
apply to the nearly pure trinitro-cellulose obtained by
strictly following the system of manufacture now adopted.
3. If gun-cotton in closed vessels is left for protracted
periods exposed to strong daylight or sunlight in a moist
or damp condition, it is affected to a somewhat greater
extent; but even under these circumstances the change
produced in the gun-cotton by several months’ exposure is
of a very trifling nature. 4. Gun-cotton which is exposed
to sunlight until a faint acid reaction has become developed,
and is then immediately afterwards packed into boxes
which are tightly closed, does not undergo any change
during subsequent storage for long periods (the present
experience on this head extends over three and a half
years). 5. Gun-cotton prepared and purified according to
the prescribed system, and stored in the ordinary dry con-
dition, does not furnish any indication of alteration beyond
the development, shortly after it is first packed, of a slight
peculiar odour and the power of gradually imparting to
litmus, when packed with it, a pink tinge. 6. The influence
exercised upon the stability of gun-cotton of average
quality, as obtained by strict adherence of von Lenk’s

Learned Societies. 513

system of manufacture, by prolonged exposure to tem-
peratures, considerably exceeding those which are ex-
perienced in tropical climates, is very trifling in comparison
with the effects of heat upon gun-cotton, and it may be so
perfectly counteracted by very simple means, which in no
way interfere with the essential qualities of the material,
that the storage and transport of gun-cotton presents no
greater danger, and is, under some circumstances, attended
with much lessrisk of accidentthanisthecase with gunpowder.
7. Perfectly pure gun-cotton, or trinitro-cellulose, resists to
a remarkable extent the destructive effects of prolonged
exposure to temperatures even approaching 100 deg. C., and
the lower nitro-products of cellulose (soluble gun cotton),
are at any rate not more prone to alteration when pure.
The incomplete conversion of cotton into the most explo-
sive products does, therefore, not of necessity result in the
production of a less perfectly permanent compound than
that obtained by the most perfect action of the acid mix-
ture. 8. But all ordinary products of manufacture contain
small proportions of organic (nitrogenised) impurities of
comparatively unstable properties, which have been formed
by the action of nitric acid upon foreign matters retained
by the cotton fibre, and which are not completely separated
by the ordinary, or even a more searching process of puri-
fication. It is the presence of this class of impurity in
gun-cotton which first gives rise to the development of free
acid when the substance is exposed to the action of heat;
and it is the acid thus generated which eventually exerts
a destructive action upon the cellulose products, and thus
establishes decomposition, which heat materially accele-
rates. If this small quantity of acid developed from the
impurity in question be neutralised as it becomes nascent,
no injurious action upon the gun-cotton results, and a great
promoting cause of the decomposition of gun-cotton by
heat is removed. This result is readily obtained by uni-
formly distributing through gun-cotton a small proportion
of a carbonate ; carbonate of soda, applied in the form of
solution, being best adapted to this purpose. The depo-
sition of carbonates of lime and magnesia upon the fibre
of gun-cotton, either by its long-continued immersion in
flowing spring water, or by its subjection to the so-called
“silicating ” process adopted by von Lenk, exerts a similar
protective effect, which, however, is necessarily very variable
in its extent, as the amount of carbonate thus introduced
into a mass of gun-cotton is uncertain; moreover, as it is

514 Learned Soctettes.

only loosely deposited between the fibre, the proportion is
liable to be diminished by any manipulation to which the
gun-cotton may be subject. g. The introduction into the
finished gun-cotton of 1 per cent. of carbonate of soda,
affords to the material the power of resisting any serious
change, even when exposed to such elevated temperature
as would induce some decomposition in the perfectly pure
cellulose products. That proportion affords, therefore,
security to gun-cotton against any destructive effects of
the highest temperatures to which it is likely to be exposed
even under very exceptional climatic conditions. The only
influences which the addition of that amount of carbonate
to gun-cotton might exert upon its properties as an ex-
plosive would consist in a trifling addition to the small
amount of smoke attending its combustion, and in a slight
retardation of its explosion, neither of which could be re-
garded as results detrimental to the probable value of the
material. io. Water acts as a most perfect protective to
gun-cotton (except when it is exposed for long periods to
sun-light), even under extremely severe conditions of ex-
posure to heat. An atmosphere saturated with aqueous
vapour suffices to protect it from change at elevated tempe-
ratures, and wet or damp gun-cotton may be exposed for
long periods in confined spaces to 100 deg. C. without sus-
taining any change. Actual immersion in water is not
necessary for the most perfect preservation of gun-cotton :
the material, if only damp to the touch, sustains not the
smallest change, even if closely packed in large quantities.
The organic impurities, which doubtless give rise to the
very slight development of acid observed when gun-cutton
is closely packed in the dry condition, appear equally pro-
tected by the water; for damp or wet gun-cotton, which
has been preserved for three years, has not exhibited the
faintest acidity. If as much water as possible be expelled
from wet gun-cotton by the centrifugal extractor, it is ob-
tained in a condition in which, though only damp to the
touch, it is perfectly non-explosive; the water thus left in
the material is sufficient to act as a perfect protection, and
consequently also to guard against all risk of accident. It
is, therefore, in this condition that all reserve-stores of the
substance should be preserved, or that it should be trans-
ported in large quantities to very distant places. If the
proper proportion of carbonate of soda be dissolved in the
water with which the gun-cotton is originally saturated, for ~
the purpose of obtaining it in this non-explosive form, the

Learned Societies. 515

material, whenever it is dried for conversion into cartridges,
or employment in other ways, will contain the alkaline
matter required for its safe storage and use in the dry con-
dition in all climates. Although some experiments, bear-
ing upon the different branches of inquiry included in this
memoir, are still in progress, with a view to the attainment
of additional knowledge of the conditions which regulate
the stability of gun-cotton, it is confidently believed that
the results arrived at amply demonstrate that the objections
which have been of late revived, especially in France,
against the employment of gun-cotton, on the ground of
its instability, apply only in a comparatively slight degree
to the material produced by strictly pursuing the system
of manufacture perfected by von Lenk; that, as far as
they do exist, they have been definitely traced to certain
difficulties in the manufacture of pure gun-cotton which
further experimental research may, and most probably
will, overcome ; but that, in the meantime, these objections
are entirely set aside by the adoption of two very simple
measures, against the employment of which no practical
difficulties can be raised, and which, there is every reason
to believe, must secure for this material the perfect con-
fidence of those who desire to avail themselves of the
special advantages which it presents as an explosive agent.
The nature of the decomposition of gun-cotton when ex-
ploded under different conditions is now under investigation
by me, and the results arrived at will, I trust, be com-
municated before long to the Royal Society.

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—At the meeting held on
Wednesday, the 17th ult., Sir Charles Lyell in the chair, a
paper was read by Mr. Etheridge, which in substance was
a vindication of the Devonian system, as propounded some
thirty years ago by Sir Roderick Murchison and Professor
Sedgwick, and since then adopted by geologists throughout
the world. A paper attacking the system was read before
this Society by Professor Jukes some time since, and Mr.
Etheridge’s communication was a reply. The accuracy of
the received classification was maintained on physical and
palzontological grounds, Mr. Etheridge arguing with great_
ability, and adducing in proof of his argument data of very
great value, collected and arranged with consummate skill
vand perseverance.

OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.—A largely at-
tended meeting of this Society was held on the 3rd ult. at
the rooms of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, for the pur-

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. ona '

516 Learned Socteties.

pose of considering and voting upon the proposition of the
Council that Mr. Baker Brown should be removed from
the Society. The chair was taken by the President, Dr.
Hall Davis. Mr. Haden addressed the meeting at con-
siderable length, and in a very personal strain towards Mr.
Brown. He was followed by Dr. Barnes, who endeavoured
to show that Mr. Brown had in many instances operated
upon females for the cure of certain distressing maladies,
without first obtaining the consent of the patients or their
friends, and that he had been incorrect in statements he
had made. Mr. Brown replied; but no defence would have
availed, when there was a foregone conclusion that the ex-
treme step of expulsion was necessary; and, after much
discursive talk, a ballot was taken, and Mr. Brown was ex-
pelled the Society by a large majority.

ROYAL BoTANIC SOCIETY.—The Royal Botanic Society
held its second show of spring flowers and American plants
on the 13th ult. Notwithstanding the inclemency of the
weather there was a very good attendance, and the show
was unquestionably deserving of even a larger share of
patronage than it received. The main feature of the exhi-
bition was the display of roses; no good class was unre-
presented, and there were many new and beautiful speci-
mens appearing under both new and old names. To these
shows the bright-coloured azaleas always lend a great
charm, and their being mingled with the cinerarias and
various collections of orchids, ferns, and other beautiful
though not very gay plants, helped to render the general
aspect of the show as charming as could be desired. The
gardens were arranged as usual, and the greatest possible
facility was afforded to the company of examining minutely
the various exhibits. The following is a list of the prizes:
—Six Azaleas (amateurs). First prize to Mr. G. Wheeler,
gardener to Sir F. H. Goldsmid, Bart., Regent’s Park; se-
cond, Mr. A. Wilkie, gardener, Oak Lodge, Kensington.
Six Azaleas (nurserymen).—First prize, Messrs. H. Lane
and Son, gardeners, Berkhampstead, Herts; second, Mr. C.
Turner, Slough, Bucks. Three Azaleas (new).—First prize,
Messrs. H. Lane and Sons; second, Messrs. J. Ivery and
Sons, Dorking. Six Cinerarias (nurserymen).—Messrs.
J. Dobson and Sons, Isleworth. Six Cinerarias (amateurs).
—First prize, Mr. J. James, gardener to W. F. Watson, Esq.,
Isleworth; second, Mr. J. Fairbairn, gardener to the Duke
of Northumberland, Sion House, Isleworth. Six Amaryl- —
lis—First prize, Mr. J. Burley, nurseryman, Bayswater; —

Learned Societies. 517

second, Mr. J. Wilcock, gardener to Dr. Pattison, St. John’s
Wood. Twelve Lilies of the Valley.—First prize, Mr. W.
Bartlett, Shaftesbury Road, Hammersmith. Six Begonias.
First prize, Mr. R. Marchand, gardener to E. Oates, Esq.,
Bydrop House, Hanwell; second, Mr. G. Wheeler, gardener,
Twelve British Ferns.—First prize, Messrs. J. Ivery and
Sons,nurserymen, Dorking; second, Mr. J. James. gardener.
Miscellaneous. —Silver gilt medal to Mr. W. Paul, for collec-
tion of roses in pots; silver medal to Mr. W. Paul, for collec-
tion of roses in pots.— At arecent meeting, seeds of the “coca”
plant, of Peru, were presented by M. A. Dixon. Professor
Bentley was pleased to hear that the Society had obtained
seeds of this interesting plant, which is quite distinct from
the cocoa-tree, from the seeds of which chocolate is made.
Many extraordinary virtues, says the Lxamzner, are attri-
buted by the South American Indians to the coca leaf;
they say it supplies the want of ordinary food, and that an
Indian with a quid of coca in his mouth will keep up his
strength and vigour without any food for four or five days
together. It enables them to climb mountains with ease,and
without experiencing any difficulty in breathing. Various
maladies are also said to be cured by it. Although these
properties appear to be much exaggerated, there is no
doubt that those who use the coca are enabled to bear
fatigue and abstinence for a length of time without the
feeling of hunger or weakness. The plant is extensively
cultivated in South America; about thirty. millions of
pounds are annually consumed. The Assistant-Secretary
(Mr. Sowerby) had great hopes that the plant would suc-
ceed in the gardens; he intended to make experiments with
the leaves, and report the result to the Society.

THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY.—At a meeting of this So-
ciety, on Thursday,the 16thult, Dr. Guy, Professor of Foren-
sic Medicine, King’s College Hospital, &c.,read an important
paper “On the Mortality of London Hospitals,” and inci-
dentally on the Deaths in the Prisons and Public Institu-
tions of the Metropolis. The reading of the paper was
listened to with great interest, and was followed by an
animated discussion, in which Drs. Balfour, Hyde Salter,
Peacock, and others took part.

ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.—At the
general monthly meeting, on the 2nd ult., William Spottis-
woode, Esq., F.R.S. in the chair, Charles John Leaf, Esq.,
John Neal, Esq., and Evan Wynne Roberts, Esq., were
elected members of the Royal Institution.

518 Learned Socteties.

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SoclETy.—Dr. Macpherson’s
paper on the “ Early Seats of Cholera in India and in the
East, with reference to the past and the present,” recently
read before the Epidemiological Society, was of great in-
terest. He traced the disease in India back to 1563, two
centuries earlier than the date commonly accepted—to the
time, indeed, when Europeans first began to write of the
maladies of that country, recognising and describing its
symptoms by names not yet extinct. He showed that, as
far back as 1633, cholera was widely diffused in India, that
it then prevailed also in Java, in Arabia, and in Morocco,
and that the seats of cholera described in the oldest ac-
counts are seats of cholera at the present day. Dr. Mac-
pherson showed that the importance which has been at-
tached to the Gangetic Delta as a generator of cholera
was not warranted by the facts. The frequent preva-
lence of cholera in Persia or the Persian Gulf, and in
Arabia, and its occasional occurrence in the Red Sea,
Dr. Macpherson maintained, would render measures of
quarantine in the Red Sea, such as those suggested by the
International Congress, futile.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.—At the Comitia
Majora of the Royal College of Physicians, held on
the 15th ult. there was a large gathering of Fellows,
to hear the farewell address of Sir Thos. Watson, Bart.,
who for five years has so worthily presided over the
College. The address was an interesting retrospect of the
official year; their losses by death were eloquently mourned,
and the gains to science acknowledged. Dr. Alderson, who
graduated in Arts at Cambridge, in 1822, when he was
Sixth Wrangler of his year, was at the same meeting
elected the new President.

ODONTOLOGICAL SocIETY.—At the ordinary monthly
meeting of this Society, April Ist, 1867, the President, Mr.
G. A. Ibbetson, in the chair, Dr. Richardson exhibited and
described various modifications of the ether spray apparatus
introduced by him; and C. Spence Bate, Esq., F. R. S.,
read a paper upon the “Dentition of the Moles (Talpa
Europcea).”

LITERATURE,

Dermatology, and the Treatment of Skin Diseases. By
SAMUEL C. GRIFFITH, M.D. Churchill and Sons.

A VALUABLE contribution to medical literature, which will
tepay perusal. There is no doubt that much mischief has
resulted from the indiscriminate use of mineral prepara-
tions in the treatment of various diseases, and in no dis-
orders have they been more employed than in those which
affect the skin.

Dr. Griffith, who appears to have had great experience
in the specialty he has taken up, has been in the habit of
substituting herbs for minerals in his practice, and the in-
tention of the author in producing the treatise we are
noticing is to bring before the public the results of many
years research and careful study. The plan of the work
is good, the rules for diet and the mode of life generally to
be pursued are based on sound sense, and when we consider
_ how tedious and disfiguring many diseases of the skin are,
we cannot refrain from giving a hearty welcome to a clearly
written book on an important subject.

The public begin to understand the recklessness that
too often characterised the treatment of the old school of
medical men, and although they do not perhaps know that
the lancet and mercury have slain more men than the sword,
they are sufficiently wise to prefer the simple remedies of the
modern to the heroic ones of the past generation. We
heartily commend this work to all who wish to get really
useful information in a readable form devoid of dogmatism.

The Christian Observer, No. 352. (New Series). Hatchard
and Co.

THIS number of the Christian Observer is replete
with good sound reading. Some of the articles are written
from rather a one-sided point of view. The most interest-
ing article is the one on “India’s Past Wrongs.” The
writer rather boldly asserts that the Indian mutiny and the

520 Literature.

present outbreak in Ireland are both to be attributed to our
support of idolatry in the one country, and Roman Catho-
licism in the other. But we are told that brighter days
are in store for India. At the present time there are thirty-
six European and American Protestant parties, with about
6,000 Christian instructors at work ; but the greatest power
for good amongst a population of nearly two hundred mil-
lions is to be looked for among the native converts, who
are much better able to grapple with Hinduism than our
own missionaries.

The writer lays stress upon the difficulty encountered by
Europeans in their attempts at proselytism, owing to im-
perfect acquaintance with the language. We think in ad-
dition to this, the fact that many of the persons employed
by missions, are ill-fitted from their training and mental
calibre to cope with the subtle mind of the Brahmin, pre-
sents an almost insurmountable obstacle to success.

Ignorance of a language only temporarily disqualifies,
and most Europeans soon acquire sufficient knowledge of
the vernacular to enable them to converse fluently with the
natives.

A large number of the colporteurs are half educated men,
who, with the best intentions to discharge their duties con-
scientiously, are deficient in arguments, which will com-
mand the respect of men who reason logically ; they plunge
at once in medias res and make demands upon their hearers
to accept, without discussion, as truth, what is utterly op-
posed to their traditions, and their opponents naturally
refuse to grant the premises asked, revolting at what they
would weigh if brought before them with learning and
tact. What we want in India for purposes of evangelisa-
tion is knowledge, which is always modest and common
sense, which avoids giving too abrupt a shock to deeply
rooted creeds. It is quite ex regle to smile at the absurdi-
ties as we term them of the Hindu fables, to wonder at
the folly of a caste which believe the saltness of the ocean
to depend upon man’s sins impregnating its waters ; but to
the tolerant mind it will appear as great a demand upon
the faith of the Hindu to expect him to believe the fearful
curse entailed upon the human race, through the love of
our first mother for forbidden fruit, or to assent to the rea-
sonableness of the tremendous mystery of the Trinity, as
it would be upon ours to credit the marvellous legends
with which the Vedas abound.

Another paper on the same subject is promised in a

Literature. | 521

future Number. In the meantime we highly commend
“India’s Past Wrongs” to all who are interested in that
great country over which it is our lot to rule.

The Proportions of the Human Figure. By W. W. STORY.
Chapman and Hall.

Mr. SToryY has evidently made the proportions of. the
human body his especial study. He divides his volume
into four chapters. The first three are devoted to the con-
sideration of the ancient Cabala of numbers and symbols,
an examination of the well-known Canon of Polycletus,
and also of the principal ancient and modern systems of
proportion. In the fourth chapter the author treats of his
proposed new system, which he fully discusses. The au-
thor has been confirmed in his views by Dr. F. P. Liharzik,
who gives the following laws as to the increase of the
body :—

“The whole increase of all parts of the body comprises
24 epochs. These 24 epochs are subdivided into 3 sections:
the Ist embracing 6 epochs (from birth to the end of the
21st month) ; the 2nd, the following 12 epochs (from the
21st month to the 171st month) ; and the 3rd, the last 6
epochs from the 171st to the termination of the 300th
month.”

The volume is excellently printed, and is embellished
with plates illustrative of the author’s system.

The Treatment of Epilepsy. By JOHN CHAPMAN, M.D.
Triibner and Co.

THIS monograph is an abstract of a paper read to the
Medical Society of London, in which the writer advocates
the application of ice-bags along the spine to effect the
cure or improvement of epilepsy, and he cites some
cases which exemplify the efficacy of the method adopted. It
is well-known that cold exercisesa sedativeinfluenceon parts
to which it is applied, and in this way would tend to allay
the convulsive fits characteristic of epilepsy. The same
principle would, doubtless, apply to other nervous dis-
orders, in fact, Dr. Routh confirms this view, by quoting a
case of sickness associated with pregnancy, in which long

522 Literature.

continued loss of sleep, resulting in extreme exhaustion
was relieved by spinal ice-bags. Dr. Chapman’s mode of
treatment is worthy of trial, and he deserves credit as an
original and practical writer.

Moxon's Standard Penny Readings. Edited by TOM
Hoop. :

THE editor has made a capital selection of twenty readings
from some of the best of our modern authors. The volume
will supply a want that has long been felt by clergymen
and others, who take an interest in making their poorer
neighbours familiar with the works of some of the best
English authors.

Chambers’s E-tymological Dictionary of the English Language.
Edited by JAMES DONALD.

THIS excellent publication has reached its fourth number.
It is clearly and well printed, and reflects great credit on
both the editor and the publishers. We have space only for
two specimens taken from the current number :—

‘“‘ GAZETTE, a newspaper. French, from Italian gazetta, a Venetian
coin worth about #d., the sum charged for a reading of the
first Venetian newspaper, a written sheet which appeared about
the middle of the 16th century during the war with Soliman II.

“ HUSBAND, literally the master of a house. Old English husbonde,
Anglo-Saxon husbonda, from hus, a house, and Icelandic buandt,
the possessor of a farm, from bua, German bauen, to till, to
cultivate.”

When complete, this dictionary will most assuredly
obtain a prominent position at our large schools.

Hardwicke’s Science Gossip for April is full of interesting
matter. The principal article is by Professor Huxley,
entitled “ How to Study Natural History.”

523

Ore ie Cert le ys.

Dr. FRENCH, C.B.—Dr. James French, C.B., Inspector-
General of Hospitals, died recently at his residence in
Lanarkshire. During his professional services in the
army for nearly forty years he was in active employ. He
served with the 4th Regiment in the Peninsula from May,
1812, to the end of that war in 1814, including the battles
of Salamanca and Vittoria, siege of the Castle of San
Sebastian, passage of the Bidassoa and of the Nivelle,
and actions of the Nive in December, 1813. He also
served in the American war at the battle of Bladensburg,
and in all the operations before Baltimore and New Or-
leans ; and with the 49th throughout the war in China, in-
cluding the capture of Chusan, storming of the heights
and forts above Canton, taking of Amoy, sortie and re-
pulse of the night attack on Ningpo, and capture of Cha-
poo, Woosung, Shanghae, and Chin Kiang Foo, and invest-
ment of Nankin. |

WE have to record the death of two gentlemen since our
last issue, well known in literary and artistic circles. Mr.
ROBERT BELL, the author of a novel called “ The Ladder
of Gold,” and editor of an edition of the British poets, and
a contributor to periodical literature for more than thirty
years. Mr. Bell was beloved by all who knew him, and
his loss will be severely felt by a large circle of friends,
and more especially by those less fortunate than himself in
the paths of literature—Mr. C. H. BENNETT, the graceful
and humorous artist, has been taken away from us at the.
early age of thirty-seven. His recent contributions to the
pages of Punch will long be remembered. Mr. Bennett
has left a widow and young family.

MISCELLANEOUS.

—_—

DANGEROUS Toys.—Dr. Divers, Lecturer on Natural
Philosophy at Charing cross Hospital, has rendered a pub-
lic service in writing to the 77zmes, to point out the extreme
danger of placing chemical toys in the hands of children,
proved by the terrible accident which lately occurred at

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. Uw

™ a
. *

524 Miscellancous.

Mr. Laidlaw’s workshop, through the explosion of Chinese
fire-paper. Parents will do well to forbid the introduction
of such dangerous toys into the nursery. There are several
of these toys in use which are by no means, as termed by
the papers, fashionable trifles. The one popularly known
as Will-o'-the-Wisp, which caused the disaster alluded to,
is highly combustible and inflames at a low temperature ;
it is made of pyroxilin or “gun cotton,” which is formed of
bibulous paper, acted upon by concentrated nitric and sul-
phuric acids, and impregnated with a salt which colours
flame. Everyone will allow that it is desirable that children
should receive practical instruction in natural science, so
far as it can be done safely, but the knowledge gained by
lighting the toys in question must be exceedingly mild,
and certainly is not worth the risk incurred; in fact, they
are all dangerous playthings. “Pharaoh’s Serpents,”
which are formed of sulphocyanide of mercury, and
which, when ignited, emit poisonous vapours; sensation
cigarettes, charged with gun-cotton, which, when lighted
and put in the mouth, give off noxious vapours ; Larmes du
Diable, the name for balls of sodium, which, when heated or
moistened, burn diabolically, and sprinkle caustic alkali
around. Toys made of magnesium, which burn rapidly,
and frequently occasion severe injuries, together with a
host of other mischievous and strangely named inventions
of the same kind, are all equally deserving of emphatic
condemnation. ;
' STEAM-POWER FROM PETROLEUM.—Ever since steam-
ships took to crossing the ocean, the disadvantage of their
requiring so large a space for fuel has been more and more
strongly felt, and many are the attempts that have been
made to obviate it by different inventions of compact
artificial fuel. They all failed; but when the enormous
supplies of mineral oil in America became an article of
commerce, a more favourable opportunity seemed to pre-
sent itself than ever before for sending a steamship to sea
with the largest part of her interior available for cargo—in
fact, for making a line pay. Experiments were set on foot,
and at length there is promise of success. By trials made
last week at the great works-at Millwall, it has been de-
monstated that oil, or petroleum, can be used to generate
steam. The oil drops on a red-hot plate, is converted into
heat-producing gases, while the deposition of carbon is
prevented by the introduction of a jet of steam. The
action is so rapid that—to use technical language—5 lbs.

Miscellaneous. 525

of steam were generated in three minutes. By working
out this result to an application on a great scale, the desired
end will be accomplished, and fully two-thirds of the space
now required in a steamship for coal may be taken for
cargo. For the stowage of oil many nooks and corners in
a ship, now useless, might be advantageously employed.
In the ‘ Persia,’ a vessel of 3,500 tons, 1,400 tons have to be
set apart for coal. Hence it is easy to see how largely the
“margin” for profit will be increased. The saving to such
a Company as the Cunard, or the Peninsular and Oriental,
by the substitution of oil for coal, would be reckoned by
ten of thousands a year.—A theneum.

A. PROSPECTUS has been issued of the Bengal Science
Association to promote the development of social science
in that presidency. The Hon. W. Seton Karr is to be
president.

THE CATTLE PJ.AGUE.—The aggregate number of cattle
attacked by the disease since its commencement is 253,891,
and 52,657 healthy animals have been slaughtered to pre-
vent the spread of the disease.

Dr. CLEMENT KING has invented a little box respirator,
for breathing safely noxious vapours ai1.d smoke in mines,
tunnels, and at fires.

MILITARY.—The prevalence of htart disease in the
Army, induced the War Office authorities some time since
to appoint a Committee to report on the influence on health
of the accoutrements and knapsack, and to make suggestions
with the view to obviate faults in the equipment of the
policies. The committee im their report; recommenda
system of equipment, which shall offer no impediment to
the free play of the respiratory organs. They propose to
reduce the weight to be carried, and to distribute it more
equally, to substitute for the knapsack a bag, which is to
be supported by straps, attached to a yoke, in fact the bag
is to be carried in the same way as the milk pail is, the load,
at the same time is to be lessened. A complete trial will
shortly be made to test its efficacy, and should it prove of
service, a great want will be supplied.

STATISTICS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.—The rapid growth of
new and special industries, says the British Quarterly Re-
view, is a fact so characteristic of the present day, that the
statistics of photography can scarcely be regarded as won-
derful, viewed merely as a question of cconomies. Never-
theless, some of the facts cre sufficiently startling. Twenty
years ago one person claimed the sole right to practice

all

a
ae
a0 '

4 w

526 Miscellaneous.

photography professionally in England. According to the
census of 1861, the number of persons who entered their
names as photographers was 2534. There is reason, how-
ever, to believe that these figures fall short of the real
number; since then it is probable, that the number has
been doubled or trebled, and that including those collate-
rally associated with the art, it is even four or five times
that number. But these figures fall far short of the number
interested in photography as amateurs. We are informed
that eight years ago, in establishing a periodical which has
since become the leading photographic journal, a large pub-
lishing firm sent out twenty-five thousand circulars—not
sown broadcast, but specially addressed to persons known
to be interested in the new-art-science. The number of
professional photographers in the United States, is said to
be over fifteen thousand, and a proportionate number may
with propriety be estimated as spread over continental
Europe and other parts of the civilized globe. But amore
curious estimate of the ramifications of this industry may
be formed by a glance at the consumption of some of the
material employed. A single firm in London consumes
on an average, the whites of two thousand eggs daily in
the manufacture of albumenized paper for photographic
printing, amounting*to six hundred thousand annually. As
it may be fairly assumed that this is but a tenth of the
total amount consumed in this country, we obtain an
average of six millions of inchoate fowls sacrificed annually
in this new worship of the sun in the United Kingdom
alone. When to this is added the far larger consumption
of Europe and America, which we do not attempt to put in
figures, the imagination is startled by the enormous total
-inevitably presented for its realization. In the absence of
exact data we hesitate to estimate the consumption of the
precious metals, the mountains of silver and monuments of
gold which follow as matters of necessity. A calculation
based on facts enables us to state, however, that for every
twenty thousand eggs employed, nearly one hundred
weight of nitrate of silver is consumed. We arrive thus at
an estimate of three hundred cwt. of nitrate of silver an-
nually used in this country alone in the production of pho-
tographs. Todescend to individual facts moreeasily grasped,
we learn that the consumption of materials in the photo-
graphs of the International Exhibition of 1862, produced
by Mr. England for the London Stereoscopic Company,
amounted to twenty-four ounces of nitrate of silver, nearly

Miscellaneous. 527

fifty-four ounces of terchloride of gold, two hundred gallons
of albumen, amounting to the whites of thirty-two thousand
eggs, and seventy reams of paper; the issue of pictures ap-
proaching to nearly a million, the number of stereoscopic
prints amounting to nearly eight hundred thousand copies.

THE FLESH AND BLOOD RESOURCES OF FRANCE.—
Just now, when France appears by no means unlikely
to engage in a war that will test her strength in men,
as well as her resources in treasure, it is interesting to
notice a calculation recently made which will enable us to
form an idea of the capability of the country to stand a
great drain upon its male population. A paper read at
the Academy of Medicine on the ability of France to bear
the pressure of additional recruiting, points out that the
general increase of population since the beginning of the
century, amounting to about 10,000,000 in all, particularly
extends to the number of young men who attain the age
of twenty. Of these, the proportion fit for military service
in 1836 was 61 per cent.; at present it is 66 per cent.
France, therefore, with the present population can afford to
contribute an annual contingent of 100,000 men, but that a
larger contingent would exhaust the country and check the
increase of population. It will be evident from this esti-
mate, that the resources of France are enormous, which we
trust she will husband for purposes of peace. Although
should war unfortunately break out, the improvements
(what a word), in weapons of destruction used in modern
warfare, are against, the probability of the drain upon her
male strength being long continued.

THE FATE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE.—The Secretary of
the Admiralty has forwarded the following for publica-
tion :—“ Commodore Hillyar, in a letter dated at Bombay,
13th March last, reports that H.M.S. Wasp has returned
to Zanzibar, from Quiloa, with Mr. Seward, her Majesty’s
Acting Political Resident at Zanzibar, and states that the
information which that officer had been able to obtain
respecting the reported death of Dr. Livingstone, was
chiefly of a confirmatory nature. Admiralty, April 5,
1867.” The Zzmes_of India of the 13th March, states
that the intelligence received from Zanzibar now leaves no
doubt of the death of Dr. Livingstone. The statement of
an Arab, named Moosa, one of the heroic traveller's trusty
followers, who, with a few others of the expedition, re-
turned to the East African Coast in December, confirms
the news that their leader was murdered. It would appear

rir f i

528 Miscellaneous.

that Dr. Livingstone had crossed Lake Nyassa about the
middle of September last, and had advanced a few stages
beyond its western shores, when he encountered a horde of
savages of the Mafite tribe. He was marching, as usual,
ahead of his party, having nine or ten personal attendants,
principally boys from Nassick, immediately behind him.
The savages are said to have set upon them without any
provocation, and with very little warning. Dr. Living-
stone’s men fired, and before the smoke of their muskets
had cleared away, their leader had fallen beneath the stroke
of a battle-axe, and his men speedily shared the same fate.
Moosa, who witnessed the encounter and the death-blow
of his master from behind a neighbouring tree, imme-
diately retreated, and, meeting the rest of the party, they
fled into the deep forest, and eventually made their way
back to Lake Nyassa, whence they returned to the coast
with a caravan. When the news of Dr. Livingstone’s sad
death reached Zanzibar, the English and other European
consuls lowered their flags, an example which was followed
by all the ships in the harbour, as well as by the Sultan.
It may be worth while to remark that Dr. Livingstone
himself had a strong presentiment that he would never
return from the expedition which has terminated thus dis-
astrously ; and this presentiment he frequently expressed
to the officers of H.M.’s ship Penguzn, who were the last
Europeans he saw before starting for the interior. Sir R.
Murchison writes ;—“ By a letter from Dr. Kirk, dated Zanzi-
bar, February 8, (eleven days later than the previous dates),
I learn that a dispatch reached his highness the Sultan, on
the previous day from the governor of Quiloa, containing a
most important statement with regard to Dr. Livingstone.
The dispatch stated that traders had arrived at that port
(Quiloa) from the far interior, beyond Lake Nyassa, and
that at the end of November last (2.2, two months after the
time of the reported catastrophe), when they were at Mak-
sura (within ten miles of the supposed place of the massacre),
nothing was known of any mishap having befallen Living-
stone. They said, on the contrary, that the traveller had
continued onward towards the Avisa or Babisa country,
after having met with a hospitable reception on the western
shore of the north end of Lake Nyassa. Dr. Kirk adds,
however, that as Maksura is short of the place of attack
described by the Johanna men, he almost fears to communi-

cate this intelligence, lest it should buoy up hopes which ~

may too soon be broken. . . . In proof of the intense

Miscellaneous. 520

interest which is taken in the desire to ascertain the fate of
my valued friend, I may say that I have received more than
twenty applications from competent men to serve as volun-
teers in the the ‘Livingston Search Expedition.” It will
be a source of comfort to the numerous admirers of the
intrepid Livingstone, that Sir Roderick Murchison, believing
the fate of his friend is open to some doubt, announces that
an expedition will be sent out in search of him, or of what
traces may be left of him, supposing that the account of
his death is authentic. An iron boat will be carried in
pieces to a point above the cataracts of Shiré. From this
point the Lake Nyassa will be navigated to its northern
end, near which the disaster is said to have occurred.

THE UTILIZATION OF HEAT.—Mr. C. W. Siemens, the
eminent electrician, devised, some time since, a furnace,
which he called the “Regenerator Gas Furnace,” by the
use of which a great saving in fuel, nearly 50 per cent., is
attained, together with the advantage, that the nuisance
arising from smoke is obviated. To form an idea of the
enormous economy of this furnace, let us suppose that it
takes 3,000 degrees to heat steel to the welding point.
When the steel is put cold into a furnace, which gives
4,000 degrees of heat, the cold air supplying the furnace
takes up 3,000 degrees before the steel reaches the welding
point, the 1,000 degrees of excess of temperature are alone
used to furnish the steel with the necessary heat, the re-
maining 3,000 degrees escaping by the flue. In Mr.
Siemen’s invention, the heated air is returned through a
reservoir of open-spaced bricks, so that nearly the whole
heat power generated in the furnace is available in welding,
in place of about half obtained from the furnace in common
use. The fuel for this furnace is supplied in the form of
gas produced at a distance from the furnace, a considerable
advantage in glass factories, since, in the manufacture of
such delicate ware, it is desirable to avoid the dirt of the
ordinary furnace. The important points in favour of this
furnace, besides its economy, are the purity of its flame
and the intensity of its heat, great advantages in the opera-
tions spoken of, both in improving the quality of the goods
produced, and preventing unnecessary waste.

530

ANACREON.—ODE II.

ON WOMAN.

Nature wisely hath decreed,

To the bull sharp goring horns ;
For defence the noble steed,

She with horny hoofs adorns.

By her compensating laws,
Timid hares escape their foes :
Lions she arms with gaping jaws,
Which tremendous fangs disclose.

Fin-equipped by Nature’s care,

Fish through waters flashing swim ;
Circling in the ambient air,

Birds their wing-supplier hymn.

Man from her all bounteous hand,
Thought inherits as a guide ;
What is left at her command,
For sweet woman to provide.

Mightier than all other arms,
Gifts of beauty still remain ;
Warriors yield to beauty’s charms,

’Gainst them sword and shield are vain.

Beauty kindling soft desire,
Overcomes the foeman’s steel ;

Heat surpassing that of fire,
Hearts inflamed by beauty feel.

‘
;
{

THE

ee EIN Obs OG LSB |

Sl)

JUNE, 1867.

—_—_—_—0-——

THE FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY :
A POLITICAL POST MORTEM.
BY JOHN BAKER HOPKINS.
(Continued from page 481.)
CHAPTER IJ.—THE REVOLUTION WAS UNTIMELY.

HE revolution was a surprise. The fathers of the
republic dreaded the growth of sectionalism and the
disruption of the Union, but if they could have foreseen
the condition of affairs in 1860 no such fear would have
marred their joy in the prospective glory and greatness of
their beloved country. Many writers had prophesied the
break up of the Union, but if we investigate these predic-
tions we find they had no better foundation than the dogma
that mortal things must change, and that nations, like men,
must grow old and decay. On this assumption, over and
over again, the decline of England has been announced,
but though such prognostications irritate the timid, they do
not obtain credence, except with those who maliciously
wish the evil to come to pass. Secession had often been
threatened both by North and South, but everyone knew
that these threats were rhetorical exaggerations, for even
whilst they were being bandied about in the Halls of Con-
gress, on the platform, and in the press, all parties and
sections were zealously, jealously, and it often seemed un-
scrupulously, striving to aggrandise the Republic. The
people of the North and of the South, of the East and of
the West, equally regarded America as the heritage of the
Union, and looked forward to the day when the lord of the
White House would be the chief magistrate of a Continent.
But however uncertain might seem the future, however
apparently probable that ultimately North and South would
NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. oe -

532 The Fall of the Confederacy.

separate, there was no premonitory sign of immediate
divorce in 1860. Revolutions are usually the result of long-
continued oppression. The more we study the French re-
volution, or the English revolutions, or the Italian revolu-
tions, or the revolts of the Poles, the more we marvel at the
cruel and persistent folly of tyrants, and at the long suffering
of peoples. The Southerners were socially and politically
as free as they had ever been or ever could hope to be.
They were subject to equal laws impartially administered.
They had their full share of national honours. Besides, in
‘1860, they had taken part in a great act of union. They
_ had participated in the election of a President. Was it
likely that a people who to-day accepted an appeal to the
ballot-box would to-morrow, if defeated, appeal to revolu-
tion?

The secession was a surprise not only to Europe but to
the South. If it had been contemplated the people would
have scorned to assist in the Presidential election. They
would have acted honourably and more wisely. They
would have said to the North, “We shall not vote in
this Presidential election because it may be that we shall
be unable to abide by the result. We regard Abraham
Lincoln as the representative of a sectionalism antagonistic
to the South. If you elect him we shall secede.” To affirm
that the revolution was not a surprise to the South is to
brand a whole people with an infamous violation of a
most solemn contract. To suppose that the South took
part in the election of 1860 with a preconceived idea of
repudiating the result in the event of the Southern candi-
date being defeated, is to charge the people with being guilty
, of shameful and criminal treachery. We indignantly reject
. the suggestion. We declare that the countrymen of Lee,
and Jackson, and Stuart were incapable of such conduct.
Yes, the revolution was a surprise to the South. On the day
that Abraham Lincoln was elected there were not five hun-
dred men who dreamt of secession, and probably not fifty
men who designed it.

A conspiracy was the germ of the revolution. This is
not in itself a reproach, for all revolutions begin with con-
spiracy. But there was a peculiarity about the Southern
conspiracy. It did not consist of the leading men, but of
the politicians who are called wire pullers in America.
These men were without public repute, but as electioneering
agents their power was considerable, so that they were able
to coerce the leaders and to lead the people. For example,

The Fall of the Confederacy. 533

Mr. Stephens, who afterwards became Vice-President of
the Confederacy, vehemently opposed secession, and Gene-
rals Lee and Jackson reluctantly submitted to it. But it is
not our purpose to pursue this topic. Undoubtedly the
revolution was a surprise, but it does not therefore follow that
it was premature. That, however, isan important point.
Was the revolution well timed or untimely? Granting that
Mr. Lincoln was a Sectional President, and that his election
was a danger to the South so imminent as to necessitate a
dissolution of the Union, was immediate secession expe-
dient? We reply that it was inexpedient. We contend that
the revolution was untimely, and that its chances of suc-
cess were materially impaired by precipitate action.

The South was not prepared for revolution. We do not
refer to preparations for war, for in this respect it may be
argued that the North was also unprepared. It was of
greater consequence that the people were not morally ready
for revolution. They had suffered no practical wrong.
The consequence is that the revolution lacked the peculiar
power of endurance that is incident to revolutions. The
Southern people did their best for the Confederacy, but
more would have been done if the revolution had been in-
stigated by the sting of actual grievance. There is vast
' difference between fighting for a government and fighting
to vindicate rights and to defend assailed liberty. Hence
too, the revolution that was invoked to support the Con-
federacy, died before the Confederacy. If there had been
an actual wrong to resent the revolution would have sur-
vived the fall of Richmond, and the surrender of the Con-
federate army, and the last ditch would indeed have been
contested.

Great would have been the gain of waiting. Was the
election of Mr. Lincoln to prove harmless? Then there
was no need for secession. Was Mr. Lincoln to strike at
the rights of the South? Then the first blow would have
nerved every Southern arm to defend the threatened right.

This precipitancy had a disastrous effect on the conduct
of affairs. It led to the revolution being treated asa consti-
tutional movement. A revolution was formally declared,
and formally accomplished, but it pleased the Confederate
Administration not only to misrepresent the character of
the movement, but they shewed by all their acts that they
believed the fiction that they published. It was solemnly
averred, that the formation of a Southern Confederacy was
not an act of revolution. The Southern States had just en-

xX 2

gaged in the election of a chief magistrate for the United
States, and did not dispute the legal and constitutioual vali-
dity of the return of Mr. Lincoln. They set upa new and
distinct Government, and they raised armies to defend the
new Confederation, yet we were told that this Confedera-
tion, eighty days old, which had seceded from a Federation
more than eighty years old, was not a revolutionary Go-
vernment. The Confederate leaders shrunk from the word
revolution as from a hell-blast, at the time they were en-
gaged in the greatest revolution of the century. They
asserted that the Constitution of the United States did not
forbid secession. Perhaps not. They asserted that the
Federal Government could not oppose secession without
violating the constitution. Letthat be granted. Suppose,
for arguments’ sake, we admit that the Southern seces-
sion was constitutional, and that the opposition of the North
was unconstitutional, still it was a revolution for the South
to leave the North, and to set up a new and independent Go-
vernment. Admitting for a moment that secession did not
violate, but was sanctioned by the letter of the Constitution,
it does not render secession less revolutionary, though it ren-
ders the revolution constitutional. The great revolutions
that the English race have been engaged in, were consti-
tutional revolutions. We suppose the movement that
made Oliver Cromwell Protector of England, wzce Charles I.
beheaded, was a revolution; yet it must be confessed that,
during the first years of the struggle at all events, the
revolutionary Roundheads were defending, and the Royal
cavaliers were violating the tenets of the Constitution.
The movement that drove James II. into exile was a revo-
lution; yet the revolutionists were very particular in ad-
hering to the Constitution. So, when the Thirteen Colonies
revolted, the movement was at first in strict accordance
with the letter, and, we may add, with the spirit, of the Con-
stitution. Herein is the radical difference between a con-
stitutional and a despotic government. Under the latter,
a people have no political rights, and therefore resist-
‘ance to tyranny, no matter how needful, is unconstitu-
tional. Now, constitutional government is in theory based
on the consent of the governed, and, in theory, so much
power is vested in the people, that'a revolution, whether
justified or not, may be constitutional, or, at least, it may
not violate the letter of the constitution. For all practical
purposes, the Constitution of England as broadly sanctions
the right of revolution as does the Constitution of the United

534 The Fall of the Confederacy.

The Fall of the Confederacy. 535

States. Free government is a compact in England as in
America,and the right to dissolve the union or compact is
as valid in England as in America. Suppose the House of
Commons refused to pass the Mutiny Bill, to vote the mili-
tary and naval forces, and to grant the required supplies.
Suppose a new Parliament called, and that the new House of
Commons followed the example of its predecessor. Suppose
it refused to grant supplies until the Sovereign had abo-
lished ecclesiastical titles, or abolished the House of Lords.
The conduct of the House of Commons would be in ac-
cordance with the letter and the forms of the Constitution.
The letter of the Constitution does not in any way limit
the money power of the House of Commons. Yet such
conduct would be revolutionary. What could the Sove-
reign do? Oppose it? We could not blame the Sovereign
for doing so, yet the constitution does not confer any
power upon the Sovereign to oppose such an arbitrary pro-
ceeding on the part of the Commons. Every step in
defence of the rights of the Sovereign, would necessitate a
breach of the constitution. But this position is not peculiar
to England. It is in the very nature of a free government,
that revolution is not forbidden by the letter of the consti-
tution. In all governments, both free and despotic, power
is derived from the consent of the people, only, in the one
case, this power is admitted in theory, and in the other case,
the theory is, that the government governs by right divine.
Therefore the right of revolution is implied in all constitu-
tions; and it follows, that, in a free country, whether a revolu-
tion be justifiable or not, it cannot seldom be opposed with-=
out the infraction of the letter of the constitution. It was
then a palpable error to assert, that to break up the Union,
and to set up a rival government, was not a revolution.
The right of revolution is a constitutional right, to the
exercise of which the English race owes its liberty, prosperity,
and glory. There were, perhaps, many reasons why the
Confederate Administration put forward such an untenable
theory. It was done, perhaps, with the hope of conciliating ”
parties, both North and South, and above all, with the hope
of at once obtaining the recognition of Europe. It did not
occur to the Confederate Administration, that no one would
think of acting upon such a pretext. But, strange to say,
the Confederate Government did act upon the extraordinary
theory that a revolution was not a revolution, but a strictly
anti-revolutionary as well asa constitutional proceeding.
The consequences were disastrous to the Confederacy.

530 The Fall of the Confederacy.

The revolutionary energy, so indispensable to the success
of a revolution, was checked and fettered. A new-born
nation, struggling for continued existence, was girt about,
and tied up with red tape. Never in Europe has offici-
alism been so dominant as it was in the Confederacy
The public offices in Richmond would have charmed a
Civil Service martinet. We, in England, do not despise
red tape, which is useful enough in time of peace, but
we break through the official net in the hour of trial.
But the Confederate Government—a Government yet in
embryo—adopted and observed all the forms of a settled
Government in time of profound peace. When we think
of this folly, we are reminded of the Pretender playing at
being King in Edinburgh, while the armies of the actual
King were being marched to crush the rebellion. When
the Confederacy needed every man for the army, or for the
production of food, there was a mighty host of Civil Ser-
vice officials. In the midst of war, invasion, and revolu-
tion, if anyone was called upon to perform a pressing duty,
he had to visit bureau after bureau, and to go through
more formalities than are dreamt of even in bureaucratic
Vienna. The energy that was strong enough to throw
down a fortress, was in this manner filtered through miles
of official piping, until at length it issued forth in a tiny
streamlet, with scarcely force enough to disturb a house
of cards. All this was to prove to the world that a revolu-
tion was not a revolution, and that to break from an old
government, and to set up a new and rival government,
was, if anything, rather an anti-revolutionary proceeding.
In the midst of war and invasion, all the formalities of
the Constitution were to be observed. What difference did
it make to the people of the South whether they were con-
scripted and pauperised according to the forms or in viola-
tion of the forms of the Constitution? To what a con-
dition was the South reduced. The most despotic govern-
ment could not have inflicted more suffering ; but the will-
ing sacrifices of the people intended for the altar of Liberty
and Independence, were offered at the shrine of the lying
idol Ceremony. Cromwell and his adherents did not suffer
the cause of liberty to be lost forforms sake. They were slow
to enter upon revolution, they were slow to begin war, but
after the struggle commenced,they did not waste their ener-
gies in the observance of constitutional ceremonies. ‘There
was a time for protesting and then they would not fight, but
when the Rubicon was crossed and the fight began they

The Fall of the Confederacy. 537

would not stop to parley. They would not permit any con-
stitutional formality, however good in its way, to hinder the
momentous work. Didthe mace obstruct the march? Then
away with the bauble. Did the House of Commons, which
began the work, threaten to prevent its completion ? Away
then, with the House of Commons. How different it was with
the Confederacy. The vessel was in the midst of an awful
storm, but not a spar must be cast overboard to lighten
her. The vessel was fast drifting on the rocks but not a
sail must be furled. Breakers were ahead, but the sailors
must not move hand or foot to save the ship until they
had been piped on deck and until their jackets and sou’-
westers had been duly inspected according to the regula-
tions. It was necessary to be excessively particular. The
slightest infraction of official or constitutional etiquette
might have raised a suspicion that to separate from an old
Federation and to set up a new Confederaey was a some-
what revolutionary proceeding. |

Braver officers never drew sword than those who
led the Confederate armies; yet some Confederate
generals were of inferior capacity or, what is the same
thing, they were unfortunate. Yet these were permitted
to retain important commands. Ability had to give place
to seniority. There was an outcry, but official etiquette
was deaf to it. _The people were disgusted and the army
was decimated by desertion. But secession was not a revolu-
tion, and anything was better than a disregard of the latest
edition of the United States’ army and navy lists, and that
the ranking officer should be superseded by the best man.

In the South, as in every other country, there was much
human carrion, Never was corruption more rife or more
impudent. The army of contractors and persons of that
class plundered the people shamefully and openly. Bitter
remonstrances from every State and from every county
were unheeded. The Executive hated corruption, but how
could it interfere? The government could not proceed
except according to the forms of the constitution and in the
midst of revolution, war, and invasion, the consti-
tution was practically in abeyance. The Supreme
Court was not even constituted. Jnuter arma silent leges.
So the contractors robbed the people with impunity.
Now the Confederate Administration would not have thus
acted if the revolution had not been so hurried as to make
it necessary to treat a revolution as a constitutional move-
ment.

538 The Fall of the Confederacy.

Another ill result of this precipitancy was to discredit
the motive of the Southern people. It was alleged that the
revolution was necessary for the defence of the monetary
interests of the South. It was alleged that the manufac-
turers of the East would, by a protective tariff, impose upon
the agricultural South. But was not the West agricultural as
well as the South? Are not the manufacturers a minority,
even in the East? If, then, it was a question of free trade,
it was by agitation and not by revolution that the South
should have proceeded. In respect to fiscal policy, the in-
terests of the South and of the West were so identical that
it was expected the West would side with the South. But
every one knows that it was not a fiscal question that had
brought about the Secession conspiracy. It was the negro
slavery question. The original promoters of Secession did
not apprehend any attack upon the institution as it existed
in the then Slave States bit they feared that the area of
negro slavery would be limited to the then Slave States,
and they determined to resist a policy they deemed fatal
to an institution which they.regarded as essential to the
prosperity of the country. Now the mass of the people in
the South were personally indifferent to the institution.
The slaveholders constituted a small minority, and the ma-
jority had no more direct interest in the institution of negro
slavery than the bulk of the people of England have in the
law of primogeniture. Not that the people of the South
were prone to abolitionism. They had always lived in
the midst of negro slavery and had no thought of its
being an evil institution. Therefore, in one sense they
fought for the defence of negro slavery but they did so
because they were persuaded that any attack upon the
institution was an attack upon the rights of the South.
They fought for negro slavery because they were instructed
that the defence thereof meant the defence of their political
independence. Hence, when Mr. Lincoln offered to receive
back into the Union with the institution of negro slavery
intact any State that would lay down arms by the Ist of
January, 1863, not one of the States accepted the offer.
Why? Because they were bent on independence and not
on the defence of negro slavery ; just as the North, which
accomplished the work of emancipation was intent upon
the preservation of the Union and would at any time in 1863
have received back the South with the institution of negro
slavery as it was in 1861. But because.no other cause could.
be found for revolution it was naturally assumed that the

The Fall of the Confederacy. 539

sole object of the Confederacy was to set up a slave empire.
This united West and East against the South, and im-
paired the Confederacy in the eyes of Europe. If the
revolution had been delayed until the South had recéived
some practical injury from the North there would not
have been such a serious misconception of the motive of
the people. |

Yes, Secession was a surprise to the South and to all the
world. It was so premature that the revolutionary energy
of the people was undeveloped. It was so uncalled for by
any act of the North that in self-defence the Confederate —
Administration had to assert that a revolution was not a
revolution and to treat it as a constitutional movement.
It was so hurried that it appeared as aconspiracy to set up
a slave empire even after the conspiracy had become a re-
volution. The revolution was a surprise, and it was un-
timely, and this is one reason why it did not endure, and
why the Confederacy which it was invoked to support so
quickly deceased. :

CHAPTER IIJ.— THE WAR WAS PRECIPITATE.

ECESSION being formally effected, was immediate war
inevitable? We do not ask whether the South had a
fair excuse for war. We do not ask whether the attempt
to reinforce Fort Sumter was or was not a legitimate casus
belli, for even if the North was guilty of an act of hostility,
it does not follow that the South was bound to retaliate.
When a nation is inclined for war, there is never a difficulty
in finding a pretext ; nor when a nation wants to main-
tain peace is there any difficulty in satisfying the national
honour without an appeal to the sword. It was, we assume,
the special business of the Confederate Government to pro-
tect and foster the new-born Confederacy—or rather the
revolutionary foetus that had been so rudely and prema-
turely torn from the womb of time. We think it will not
be denied that the Confederate Government embraced the
first possible pretext for war. We do not discuss the
morality or the immorality of so doing. We have to con-
sider whether it was politic thus to plunge into hostilities.
Before the fall of Fort Sumter the North was by no
means united in opposition to secession. A large and daily

540 The Fall of the Confederacy.

- growing party was in favour of letting the South go. Not
that this party dreamt of an actual and final dissolution
of the Union. It was known that in every Southern State
perhaps, except one, there was a powerful Union party, and
it was supposed that a separation would be temporary,
and that in a few years, probably in less than a Pre-
sidential term, North and South would be again under one
general government. Nor was this supposition unreason-
able. Notwithstanding the excitement incident to revolu-
tion, the wirepullers and managers of the secession
movement had to resort to innumerable manceuvres to
secure majorities. Flying election cavalry was employed,
so that the same votes were recorded at half-a-dozen-
booths in succession. The most positive assurances were
given to the pro-unionists that secession was only a protest
to save the Union. Pro-secessionists were assured with
equal positiveness that England and France were pledged to
an offensive and defensive alliance. Still there were formid-
able minorities voting against secession; and in every
State there were numbers who would not vote. The
smallest concession on the part of the North would have
converted the neutrals into active ogponents of secession ;
and it is not doubtful that in most of the States their adhe-
sion would have changed the pro-union minority into a large
majority. Added to this the Secession Camp was crowded
with waverers. Many who voted for secession did it as a
kind of protest, and with no idea of setting up a rival
power to the cherished Union. It was, therefore, we say,
not unreasonable for the North to suppose that a separa-
tion would be temporary.

Even the temporary separation was not to be a virtual
dismemberment of the Union. There were to be two pre-
sidents and two congresses, but an identical commercial
and foreign policy. Fora few years in lieu of a union of
States there was to be a union of Federations. Likely
enough, if secession had been accomplished on any terms,
the disunion would have been lasting. But the Northern
party in favour of letting the South go did not believe
it, and hence that party was, before the fall of Fort Sumter,
strong and daily increasing in strength.

Mr. Lincoln appreciated the position. When he took
the oaths of office there was not a war party, or if so it was
too small to avow itself. Therefore the extreme caution
that marked his inaugural address. The Southern States
had seceded, but he did not intimate any intention of using’

The Fall of the Confederacy. 541

force to bring them back into the Union. If secession
was illegal it wastreasonable. Well the treason was undis-
guised, but Mr. Lincoln said not a word about punishing
traitors. He declared that he had no right and “no
inclination” to interfere with the institution of slavery in,
the States wherein it existed. Beyond holding the places
and property belonging to the Federal Government there
was to be no assertion of Federal rights in the South. If
the custom houses were not allowed on shore the dues were
to be collected by vessels stationed at the entrances of
the ports. If the hostility against the Union was so
violent as to prevent resident citizens holding Federal
offices there was to be no attempt to force obnoxious
strangers upon the people, and for a time the offices were
to be discontinued. If the South desired it, even the postal
service was to be suspended. Thiswas denounced asa feeble
and unwise policy. It seemed to be framed to give comfort
and assurance to secession. The Republicans, flushed
with victory, were annoyed at the deference paid to their de-
feated political opponents; the Abolitionists were na-
turally incensed at the emphatic recognition of the
pro-slavery rights of the South ; the staunch Unionists were
alarmed at the mild treatment of secession, and the demo-
crats were not pleased with a policy which proposed peace
on the basis of a republican platform. Yet what could
Mr. Lincoln do? When he took the oaths of office se-
cession was formally accomplished. Confederate Com-
missioners were in Washington. Still the public mind was
not excited, and there was no talk of punishing the
“traitors.” Nay, the epithet of “traitors” was not applied
to secessionists. This apparent apathy did not arise from
any indifference to the fate of the Union, but because the
majority thought that secession was a mere pretext, and
those who believed in it deemed it temporary, and by
no means involving the existence of a rival power. Mr.
Lincoln was obliged to be cautious. Any threat might
have been ruinous. He therefore adopted the only wise
policy, that of masterly inactivity. It was a dangerous
policy, but it was successful because of the impatience of
the Confederate Government.

If the South had maintained a pacific attitude, Mr.
Lincoln would have been compelled to adhere to his in-
augural programme. Any aggression on the South
would have stimulated the Southern people, and would
have strengthened the pro-secession party in the North.

~
a)
-

542 The Fall of the Confederacy.

If Mr. Lincoln had made a show of coercion, Tennessee
and Kentucky would have been wholly with the South.
A few months of delay would have made war nearly im-
possible. Commercial intercourse between the sections
would have continued, and there would have been more
and more disposition to let the South secede on certain
conditions—the principal one being an identical foreign
policy, and a common foreign representation for the two
federations. Every day the extreme Abolitionists were
getting louder in their advocacy of secessicn. It is easy
to censure the fanaticism of the Abolitionists, but it is im-
possible to deny their zeal and oneness of purpose. In
March, 1861, the dread was upon them that the crisis
would pass away, and that slavery would wax stronger
than ever in the Union. The Abolitionists yearned for
the emancipation of the negroes, and they expected that
emancipation would be the result of secession. The sepa-
ration of the South from the North would be the death-
blow of the Fugitive slave law, and rightly or wrongly,
that law was regarded as the bulwark of the Southern
institution. In March, 1861, emancipation was more a
desire than an expectation. On one point, however, the
Abolitionists were determined. Come what would, negro
slavery should no longer exist in the Union. The Aboli-
tionists were staunch Unionists, but they deemed it far
better to let the South go than that the Union should
continue to protect and uphold an institution which they
believed to be infamous and accursed. The Abolitionists
shrunk from an immediate re-union, for that would have
involved the continuance of slavery in the Union. There-
fore, especially after the delivery of Mr. Lincoln’s In-
augural, the Abolitionists were inclined to support
secession as a much less evil than the perpetuation of
slavery in the Union, which then appeared to be the
alternative. The Abolitionists ardently loved the Union,
yet often, in their long struggle against slavery, they had
threatened to break up the Federation. It is not encroach-
ing on the domain of speculation to assert that if the Con-
federate Government had maintained a pacific attitude for
a few weeks longer, the chance of the South coming back
with the institution of slavery intact would have made the
Abolitionists zealous supporters of secession ; and be it re-
membered the abolition element was the life and soul of
the Republican party. We do not deny that in March,
1861, the terms of separation that were thought of

The Fall of the Confederacy. 543

by the Abolitionists and the peace-men, were such
as would have been distasteful to the Confederate
leaders. The theory was that the separation was to
be exclusively domestic, and that before the world North
and South were still to be one. Two Presidents, two-
congresses, but one tariff, one army, one navy, one flag, and
one foreign department. During the war, a letter was
published, written by a distinguished Abolitionist, con-
demning the conduct of England in recognizing the
Confederacy as a belligerent power, and asserting that even
if the South prevailed and the North formally acknow-
ledged the independence of the Confederacy, England
ought not to do so. This seemed very absurd to those
who were ignorant of the peculiar views that had been,
and were, entertained about secession; but in the moment
of the deepest gloom, and when many were in favour of
letting the South depart, it was still thought that the
_ separation would be merely domestic. The Confederate
Administration were aware of this sentiment, but with blind
impetuosity they denounced it, and in words of pride and
bitterness, they scornfully rejected the suggestion of a
separation that did not involve the setting up of a rival
power to the United States. Who cannot see that a
separation on any terms could, if the South had desired it,
have been, after a few years, changed into an unconditional
separation? But we say that if, despite the impolitic
rejection of the idea of conditional separation, the Con-
federate Government had maintained a pacific attitude, the
Abolitionists would have been clamorous for an uncon-
ditional separation, rather than the South should re-enter
the Union with the institution of negro slavery intact.
There was another fear that was upon all parties in the
me in March, 1861. It was an article of popular faith
both |in the North and in the South that Europe—and
Europe meant England, and most likely France and
Spain,—would be delighted with the breaking up of the
Union, and that if the South seceded the European Powers
would joyfully accept an offensive and defensive alliance.
That was dreaded as a mortal blow to the supremacy
of the revered Union. Therefore, in March, 1861, there
was a tacit and universal agreement that nothing should be
done to incense the South and to induce her to listen to the
overtures of Europe. The cry of “no coercion” was heard
on every side. Now, if the Confederate Government had
waited for a few weeks the suspense would have rendered

544 The Fall of the Confederacy.

this apprehension about European intervention more and
more intense, and any and every show of aggression on the
part of Mr. Lincoln would have been denounced as a fatal
blunder by which the South might be thrown into the arms
of England and France, and the integrity of the Union put
in great jeopardy. Why, if the South had remained pacific
for a few weeks, and if, when Fort Sumter was reinforced or
some other aggression had been effected or attempted, the
Confederate Government had protested energetically, and
had besought the North not to force the South to look to
foreign alliances for the defence of her rights, the protest
would have been a terrible, almost a death blow, to the
Lincoln Government.

Very critical was the position of Mr. Lincoln, and ap-
parently very forlorn the hope of saving the Union in
March, 1861. Secession was formally accomplished. Con-
federate commissioners were in Washington and were being
received with cordiality by leading Northerners. An idea,
probably delusive, and certainly embarrassing, was pre-
valent that a separation would not be final, that it
would be merely domestic, and that there would be, pvo
tem, in lieu of a Union of States a Union of Federations.
If the Union was not to be broken up slavery must be
maintained and the abolitionists were in tones of thunder
declaring that there should be no more slavery within the
borders of the Union, and that it was far better for the South
to depart in peace. All parties were anxious about Europe,
and for fear of the intervention of England and France there
was a disposition to let the South secede in amity. If seces-
sion was treason Mr. Lincoln was forced to wink at it. The
Envoys of the Confederate government were in Washington
and yet Mr. Lincoln could not venture to arrest them. News-
papers were defending secession but they were not prose-
cuted. Mr. Lincoln did not intimate in his memorable
Inaugural that the leaders of secession, and the members
of the Confederate Government were to be punished for
their proceedings. Nay, Mr. Lincoln did not intimate
that secession was to be put down. All he intended to do
was to collect the customs at the ports of entry and to
hold the Federal property in the Southern States. He
would not enforce Federal officers on the South, he would
not even enforce the Federal postal system. It was certainly
a weak policy; but what could Mr. Lincoln do? The
effect of a strong policy would have caused such dis-
sension in the North that the Union would have been

The Fall of the Confederacy. 545

ruined. Could this drivelling policy save the Union? Cer-
tainly not, but it was the best policy for the moment.

The situation was unprecedented. A_ revolutionary
movement was formally accomplished. The agents of the
revolutionary government were in the Federal Capital.
They were not only tolerated, but received with honour.
Mr. Lincoln dared not threaten to punish secession, but on
the contrary, he treated it with the utmost gentleness. He
would only perform on the South the offices expressly
enjoined in the constitution, and would allow some of
these to be in abeyance, rather than provoke a conflict.
The Abolitionists were advocating secession rather than
the retention of the South with the constitution of negro
slavery intact. The mercantile community was averse to-
war. The anti-war party in the North was an over-
whelming majority. The Confederate Administration had
nothing to do but wait. Every day the pro-secession
party in the North grew stronger. A little more delay and
suspense and the fate of the Union would have been sealed.
But those who desired its dismemberment rescued it from
the imminent peril. At the critical moment the South drew
the sword, and the Union was saved—saved at least from
the danger of dissolution without a struggle. The booming
of the Confederate cannon against Fort Sumter, was the
knell of the Confederacy. We do not mean to assert that
the contest was hopeless. The revolution was untimely ;
yet as we have just seen, it had a chance of success, and
would have succeeded if the war had not been precipitate.
So, too, although the war was precipitate, there might have
been a prospect of ultimate triumph. But however this
may be, it is certain that by rashly beginning or accepting
war, the Confederate Administration gave up an impreg-
nable and winning position, and staked everything upon
the necessarily doubtful issue of an appeal to force.

The south fired the first gun in anger, and all was
changed. Norcan we be surprised at the effect of this
proceeding on the North. When Fort Sumter fell, Mr.
Lincoln ceased to be the representative of a party, and
became the chief of a nation. The voice of Faction was
hushed, and the spirit of Party was quelled: The Abo-
litionists, who had been disposed to lose the South, rather
than retain the South with negro slavery, saw an oppor-
tunity of preserving the Union they loved, whilst destroying
the institution they hated. Those who had been apathetic
in respect to secession, because they regarded it as a

, Bs
: Ss a
> 4

546 The Fall of the Confederacy.

temporary, and only a domestic separation, became,
on the instant, staunch and uncompromising oppo-
nents of secession, when they saw that secession meant
the setting-up of a rival power. Those who had been
opposed to coercion, lest the South should be forced
into an alliance with Europe, suddenly perceived that the
only sure way to prevent the intervention of Europe, was
to keep the South in the Union. The business-men were
aghast at the probability of a rival power that would insti-
tute rival tariffs, which might for many years deprive the
North of the rich commerce of the South. So longas the
Confederate Administration maintained a pacific attitude,
it was, or seemed to be, the interest of all parties at the
North, not to oppose secession by force. As soon as the
South fired a gun, it was, or seemed to be, the interest of
all parties at the North to fight for the union of North and
South. When the rash act of the Confederate Adminis-
tration opened the eyes of the Northern people, their
excitement was intensified by perceiving how nearly they
had escaped consenting to the establishment of a rival
power, and to the utter blighting of the fond hope of
Continental dominion. ,

How can we explain such a monstrous and fatal blunder
on the part of the Confederate Administration? An
enemy and detractor might suggest that they rushed into
war because it was the only way to hinder the Unionists
in the South returning to the Union, and that unless
separated bya river of human blood, North and South
could not be kept asunder. We reject such an explanation.
It would be scandalous to impute such an atrocious motive
to the Confederate Administration. We cannot solve the
problem. We cannot imagine a plausible excuse for such
manifest and disastrous folly.

We can hardly conceive that men who had passed their
lives in the political arena of the United States, were be-
_ guiled by the moderation of Mr. Lincolns’s Inaugural, and
by the pacific disposition of the North, and therefore con-
cluded that such a people as the people of the North were,
to be terrified and subdued by a display of force. And if the
Southern leaders had consulted historical precedents, they
would have learnt that only those revolutions have suc-
ceeded which resorted to war in the last extremity. When
on two occasions the people of England triumphed over
their Stuart kings, their patience was most conspicuous. It
was particularly so in the great rebellion which resulted in

y The Fall of the Confederacy. 547

the death of Charles I. Again and again was the word of
the faithless monarch accepted, Flagrant invasions of
popular rights were submitted to under firm but respectful
protest. Many wrongs were endured before the Commons
resorted to arms, and finally they did so for de-
fence and not for aggression. We may be sure that
the ardent patriots denounced the repeated protests as
cowardly, and clamoured for immediate action. We may
be sure that when Charles dismissed his parliament and
essayed to reign without one, it was thought that the hour
had come for revolt. But the fathers of the English revolution
were wise. They waited until the people felt the practical
ills resulting from the violation of the Constitution, They
foiled the king by this waiting. If Charles imagined that
their patience was due to pusillanimity he was soon unde-
ceived, He might have won if the Commons had been in
haste to wage war ;.but unfortunately for him the patriots
were men who had faith to wait for, as well as zeal to use,
opportunities, The American colonists followed the
example of their revolutionary forefathers, They began
with protests not with revolution. It was only after years
of remonstrance and petition, after years of agitation and
association, it was only after George III. had struck the
first blow, that they issued the famous Declaration of
Independence, and prepared for war. The patient waiting
for the opportune moment is a mighty power. To be long
suffering, to bear with affliction until the cup runs over, and
until Providence opens a door of refuge, is the sure presage
of ultimate triumph, If at the outset of the quarrel the
colonists had rushed into war, George III, might have
retained his empire intact. And Europe affords a later and
striking illustration of this principle. Charles Albert
precipitated a conflict in Italy and he was beaten. Cavour
knew how to wait and the kingdom of Italy is the fruit of
his patience,

It may perhaps be suggested that the war was inevitable,
and that the South merely struck the first blow. And
here we may remark, that during the contest, no point was
disputed with more warmth, than the question of which side
began the war. Why? When the conflict commenced,
could it hurt the North to confess that it began the war?
Both President Lincoln and President Buchanan —the
latter especially —were censured for want of decision.
It was said that the Southern rebellion might have been
nipped in the bud, and was allowed to attain to maturity.

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. oe Y

548 The Fall of the Confederacy.

Yet the Northern Administration as zealously affirmed, as
the Confederate Administration positively denied, that the
South began the war. It did so because even after the
war commenced the small peace minority of the North
would have been materially increased if it could have been
shown that the Federal Government began the war. On
the other hand, if the South began the war then in the
eyes of all union men the Confederate Administration was
guilty, not only of secession, but of the attempt to
set up a rival government. If the South began the
war, the Southern people could not but charge the Confede-
rate Administration with throwing away the opportunity
of a peaceful solution of the difficulty, and also with rushing
into a conflict without adequate preparation. And there can
be no dispute that the South began the war. We take it
that no one will pretend that the attempt to reinforce Fort
Sumter, was under the circumstances, an act of hostility
demanding reprisals at any cost.

The precipitate war was a military as well as a political
blunder. The North was unprepared, but so was the South,
and the peculiarity is this, that so long as the status quo con-
tinued the North could not prepare for war and the South
could do so. The North was watched by a host of Southern
friends and any preparation for war would have raised a
storm that would have been destructive of the Federal Ad-
ministration. Now, the South might in a few weeks have
made important preparations for war. Cotton might have
been shipped to Europe. Stores, not technically war-stores
though necessary for waging war, such as medicines, clothing,
and iron for the railroads, might have been imported. Every
hour’s delay would have found the South in a better posi-
tion for defence, while the North would have been unable
to venture on any preparations for a conflict. But we must
not be surprised that the Administration which threw away
a rare chance of victory without fighting, disregarded the
military advantages of delaying an appeal to arms.

Possibly some may be of opinion that the Revolution
was not untimely, but surely no candid inquirer can deny
that the wat was = peecipitate

(To be continued. )

549

TAXES ON CIVILIZATION.

BY GEORGE YEATES HUNTER.

HILST we do not fora moment agree with those who

croak about the good old times, and are not dis-

posed to allow that each to-day is better than its yester-

day, and that the world grows wiser as it grows older—

and whilst we fully recognise the hopeful spirit breathing

through the following lines extracted from the Laureate’s

exquisite poem, “Locksley Hall,’ and subscribe to its
truth,—

Yet, I doubt not, through the ages one increasing purpose
runs, er ete

And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the
suns. ,

Wee at.a time like. the-present,, when the. pace_of
life is so killing, and there appears no sign of re-
laxation in its speed, it may not be out of place to consider
briefly some of the taxes we pay for our highly-wrought
civilization, and the inquiry, imperfect as it must be, in
consequence of the vastness of the subject which it
embraces, will not be found devoid of interest, and will
certainly prove of service if our readers act upon sug-
gestions it may contain applicable to their own cases, and
which their reason assures them are based upon common
sense.

It is scarcely necessary to remark that nothing in this
transition stage of existence can be wholly good. There
is much to admire, much to stir emotions of deep grati-
tude to the great Author of all; nevertheless, beautiful and
marvellous as the works of God in Nature are, and suc-
cessful as the endeavours of man to raise himself intellec-
tually, in the scale of creation, until he treads hard upon
the heels of angels, may sometimes be, still “the trail of the
serpent is over all,” and life at its best is a marred and im-
perfect thing. It must be admitted by all thoughtful
minds that human advancement bears along with it a large
admixture of evil—that there is a guzd pro quo noticeable
in all matters of daily life, and for every worldly benefit
man gains he has to pay in some form or other, so that
while civilization brings in its train much that is desirable,
it becomes a serious question whether the elevation of the
mental, and the deterioration of the physical, so far as they

¥ Yue

550 Taxes on Civilization.

are influenced by it, do not proceed pari passu. It is our
aim to touch lightly upon a few points in which we regard
civilization to be a foe more than a friend, and a power
deserving censure rather than eulogy.

To begin, ab ovo: Is it not true that children pay for
civilization as it displays itself in that class of society in
which fashion reigns supreme? We feel that it is ex-
tremely delicate ground to trench upon, but, supported by
the conviction that we mean well, and that it is wrong to
suppress truth, we assert that now-a-days the supposed
exigencies of the deau monde take mothers too much away
from home, and engross too much time, and that their
little ones, instead of occupying the first place in the esti-
mation of modern matrons, are put behind a host of trifles,
and are left, far more than is right, to the care of strangers.
Meanwhile, the children pay for fashion, which is a product
of civilization, in lessened love, and weakened home ties ;
for absence most assuredly does not make the heart grow
fonder, and in addition, they pay in health, sincé the eye
of maternal solicitude will often detect approaching sick-
ness, which will escape the notice of one whose apprehen-
sion is not sharpened by affection.

Solomon said: “Much study is a weariness of the
flesh,’ and truly, what heavy taxation upon the physique
the over-cultivation of the intellect involves, a taxation
dating from early youth and never remitted, but on the
contrary, accumulating as years roll on. There is no point
in training more worthy of remembrance than this, that
extreme care ought to be bestowed in order that the
fresh mind of the child be not too heavily burdened,
and yet it is almost arule with parents to force the
tender buds of the young intellect prematurely into
flower, and so develope a sickly growth instead of a
hardy plant, and induce early maturity and early
decay. It would appear that all around us partakes
of railway speed, competition urges men on, and
this is not confined to business, but is equally dis-
cernible in the race after knowledge, and in its application
to the latter the truth of the adage “More haste, worse
speed” is abundantly verified. If parents would only re-
cognise the fact that bodily impairment, and, in consequence,
diminished mental power are the sure outcome of their over
anxiety and restlessness to bring forward quickly what is na-
turally of slow growth, a world of misery would be avoided.
Education of the mind should be pursued in connection

Taxes on Civilization. 551

with that of the body, for thestrengthening of the latter is all-
important that the full vigour of the former may be ensured.
Boys and girls alike require very careful management to
gradually educe the latent force of their minds, and when
the fire of genius burns brightly it is unwise to pile on fuel;
economy should rather be practised, and the fire will burn
longer and brighter for the control exercised.

The most casual observer must have noticed that children
are infinitely more precocious now than they used to be.
The difference in rapidity of locomotion in these days of
steam power, contrasted with those when the old coach
was deemed a fast mode of progression, not inaptly de-
scribes the intensified pace of mental growth of to day com-
pared with that of the last generation.

It would obviate a vast deal of nervous disorder of all
phases, up to the dread climax of insanity, if we were con-
tent to make a waiting race in education, and to feel our
way more gently. Not alone in early life is this pro- —
pensity to force out mental power observable, but in the
University career and in training for all professions it is
equally to be noticed and deprecated. Competitive exami-
nations for various callings are the order of the day, every
door is closed unless intense cramming is undergone. This
is now the “open sesame” to appointments, and a multitude
of shattered nervous systems and enfeebled frames attest
its malign influence. Girls in their curriculum of education
escape no better than boys; they are kept at the treadmill,
and a confused smattering of what can prove of little use
to them in after life is a poor set off for deteriorated health.
It is by no means a light tax upon bodily vigour that
people pay for over cultivation of the intellect, and an over-
done system of education, which is a product of civilization,
and to increase the evil the children daily born into life
naturally inherit the restlessness and excitability it entails,
and thus the evil is perpetuated.

Turn we now to business, and let us contemplate for
a little while the taxes we pay here for this marvellous
nineteenth century civilization. It is an understood axiom
that there is no limit to acquisitiveness, and if the desire to
acquire is realised, and money accumulates, in equal ratio
multiply ways of spending it. New channels of expenditure
are daily opened, and acquisition must continue in order
that supplies to furnish costly superfluities may be forth-
coming. |
_ Means of at all a moderate character prevent many

552 Taxes on Civilization.

from playing what they please to regard their allotted
volé in life, which would seem to consist in a morbid wish
to outshine their peers and vie in extravagant outlay with
their superiors in position. For people so disposed, old-
fashioned modes of conducting trade and commercial en-
terprise, are, of course, far too slow. Old landmarks of
business, held in the highest estimation by a more staid
generation, are ruthlessly removed, steady trade is re-
placed by a go-ahead system, feverishness begets morbid-
ness, and, under the influence of disease, acts are performed
which in health would be viewed with scorn; men rush
madly into speculation in their haste to grow rich, and offer,
as we saw last year,a complete proof of the certain Nemesis
that attends upon all wrong-doing.

If it were possible to practically carry out in this coun-
try what the author of Le Bozteux Diable in imagination
_ did in Madrid, and raise the roofs from thousands of our
houses, or if it were permitted to lift the curtains that veil
the sanctity of English homes, what sad pictures of mone-
tary difficulties, leading to misery of all shades, would
present themselves. No more heavy tax did human nature
ever pay for civilization than during the last twelve months,
and God only knows when the impost will be lightened.
We can well understand that wide spread distress of mind
must be a consequence, and very little consideration will
tell us that the body cannot fail to largely participate in
the suffering entailed. Intimately connected together as
they are, it is clear that their conjoined relationship in
suffering will form a mournful heir-loom for the coming
generation.

Civilization has given us a condition of society which
causes us daily to pay taxes in health and comfort. For ex-
ample, look at the late hours we keep and the utterly arti-
ficial way in which we live. We pay in broken homes, we pay
in forced attendance at dinners we do not want, too often
conducing to indigestion, a hydra-headed monster, the
- fellest disease of modern times. We pay in dancing atten-
dance upon persons whose tastes are utterly uncongenial
with our own, and in courting those who are a round higher
on the social ladder than ourselves. Because fashion ordains
a certain mode of dress thousands outrun their means in
this particular, and lay up future trouble by hampering
themselves with debt. And although no one, we imagine,
would wish to go back to the light and airy costume of the
ancient Britons, and a coating of woad would scarcely

Taxes on Civilization. | 553

suffice for present notions of propriety, still the fair sex
err now almost as much inthe opposite extreme, and are
net only extravagant to such a degree that they injure
their matrimonial market, but at the same time are thought-
less and inconsiderate with regard to their poorer sisters,
who frequently have to stitch against time in order that
those intricate habiliments may be provided which are to
cast a glamour upon weak-minded aspirants to connubial
bliss.

The taxes we have enumerated are bad enough, and de-
monstrate that we have to pay for our vaunted civilization,
both mentally and physically ; but it is to be feared that we
pay spiritually also and that a weakened reverence for holy
things is a marked characteristic of the age. Men now
rush in with unfaltering footsteps where their fathers
feared to tread, puffed up with overweening vanity
and fancied superiority of intellect they carp at and
question points of faith, and listen readily to the
bold teachings of those who misinterpret the Bible and
strive to implant doubts in the minds of the unstable, and to
shake belief, without however offering any substitute for
the faith they seek to undermine. There is, unquestionably,
too much freethinking in this direction, and it is well to
remember that although liberality in religion is commend-
able, we ought to guard against its merging into license,
just as in politics we should ensure that it does not glide
into anarchy.

Civilization has given us much to approve and at the
same time much to deprecate in some of the greatest
triumphs of invention. One of the chief products of civiliza-
tion, and now one of the chief feeders to it, is steam, and
no one can gainsay that we owe much to its gigantic force ;
but if it has given us improved means of locomotion in
steamboats and above-ground railway travelling, it has
also given us the underground, a hideous thing, which may
well hide itself and mole-like burrow through the earth, a
monstrous nuisance which has razed the structures of the
living and disturbed the dead, and which has worked much
physical harm, chiefly developing itself in bronchial affec-
tions, since it is manifest that such an atmosphere cannot
fail to prove extremely pernicious to the lungs of those who
are in the habit of availing themselves of this mode of con-
veyance. Apart from any consideration of the shock
that esthetic minds must have received from seeing
iron roads replace picturesque scenery, steam has much to

554 Taxes on Civilization.

answet for. Who can doubt that the enormously in-
creased amourit of nervous disorder is, in the case
of frequent travellers, in a great degree owing to rail-
road speed. If steam has improved our manufactures
by the machinery it works, must we not allow that
whilst it has saved muscular power it has thrown
out of employ numbers of skilled operatives, and although
these things in the march of time right themselves, has
nevertheless, pro tem, inflicted extreme hardship, and may
it not be that the rapid rate at which we are now transported
may have tended to encourage that general fastness in all
matters which is distinctive of the times? Civilization has
provided a cheap press which too often panders to the
worst appetites of the lower orders, and retails poison. We
have to credit the march of civilization with our ironclads,
with rifled guns, and various other scientific appliances
of modern warfare, yet the vastly increased means of
destruction at our disposal, together with the rapidity with
which a deadly blow can now be struck (witness the cam-
paign between Prussia and Austria) keeps Europe on the
gut vive, and causes nations to support immense military
establishments. If half the ingenuity which has been de-
voted to the study of the art of killing and to perfect
its practice had been given to the cultivation of mutual
good will between nations, we should hear nothing of Lux-
embourg difficulties, and disarmament would be gradually
effected ; as it is, civilization has gone the wrong road, and
in the most cultivated age of the human race Europe is
bristling with armed men.

To civilization we owe telegraphy, arid it is a blessing
that now when continents are connected and brought within
a few minutes of each other mutual explanations can be
made and misunderstandings prevented from smouldering,
and war thus be averted. Still the good is not unmixed,
as was evidenced during the monetary panic of last year,
when the wires of the telegraph were abused, and by means
of lying messages, sent by unscrupulous scoundrels, the
Agra Bank was pulled down and the peace of mind and
comfort of hundreds buried in its ruins. It is impossible
in a short article to touch upon a tithe of the drawbacks
traceable to civilization, which meet us at every turn, injure
our health, and mar our happiness. But in spite of their
number it is satisfactory to feel that Providence has placed
some barrier.to stem the torrent that would otherwise
sweep all before it, and we recognise the antidote provided

Ancient Games and Pastimes. 555

in improved sanitation and honest scientific work on the
side of medical men, who have done much to counteract
the evil influences which appear to be necessarily attendant
upon the progress of civilization, and to mitigate the ills
inseparable from all human endeavours at advancement.

What moral is to be gained from all this, cuz dono, this
diatribe against the times? We reply that although the
intellect of man improves with the march of civilization
the doubt arises that his morale does not advance in
an equal ratio. It is to be feared that the present
generation of men and women is not actuated by the
same high code of principles which influenced their
fathers; that there is more frivolity in the world but less
‘heart, less soul, and consequently less real happiness.
People now-a-days live for appearance and outward show,
and marry far too often for money, family connection, or
something analogous, which may account for much of the
misery of the time, and misery not to be adequately met
by such a product of civilization as the institution of a
Divorce Court.

Could the moral keep pace with the intellectual develop-
ment civilization would indeed be a blessing and a mighty
instrument for good, and the English race, moving as it
does in the vanguard of civilization, would not only be a
greater and a nobler nation, but from the example it would
present to other countries, in consequence of raising and
following a higher standard of right, would be practically,
what it is professedly, a Christian people.

ANCIENT GAMES AND PASTIMES.—I.

- BY W. F. HUNTER.

[* order that the history of any age or people may be

read aright something more than the knowledge of a
multiplicity of facts and dates is necessary. A man may
know the dates of all the important events from the time
of Adam, and yet have little real appreciation of history.
There is nothing more useless than to store the memory
with a series of battles, murders, revolutions and political
intrigues, unless some meaning is attached to them.

That historical events may be rightly understood, it is

556 Ancient Games and Pastimes.

essential to gain a notion of the characters of the principal
actors in them, we must endeavour to picture them as living
men and women, and, to find out the motives for their ac-
tions ; we must consider the circumstances by which they
were surrounded, the influences which were brought to bear
upon them, and the people with whom they had to deal.
If we study history in this way it will cease to be a mere
series of dry facts, and will possess an interest which was
wanting before, just as a mere sketch of the outlines of a
landscape, though perfectly correct as far as it goes, differs
from the finished picture with its beautiful contrasts of
light and shade, of sky and foliage, so will our mental
pictures of byegone events and byegone times differ from
the sketches and outlines composed of names and dates
that seemed so vague and meaningless.

The study of ancient games and pastimes, may
naturally be expected to throw considerable light upon
history. If we look at the games of children we shall
generally find that they present more or less lively
images of the serious pursuits of their elders, for example,
children delight to play at soldiers, and the more martial
the age in which they live the more martial their games are
likely to be. It is very important if we wish to gain an in-
sight into the character of individuals, to study their fa-
vourite amusements. In the business of life a person often
acts from circumstances in a way quite opposed to his
inclinations, the sanguinary tyrant performs actions appa-
rently of the most extreme benevolence, the innocent young
girl becomes an avenging fury, and strikes the death-blow
of a Marat, but in hours of relaxation the true character of
men is sure to show itself, and we find that the cruel delight
in sports that inflict suffering or death, that the active and
energetic love those that tax their muscles or their intellect,
and that the slothful give the preference to those that involve
theleast exertion. The degree of refinement and education
to which a people have attained will be shown by their
amusements; the cultivated will like games that exercise
their intellectual faculties, whereas the rude will care only
for those that require little or no skill and in which success
depends upon chance or brute force.
_ Asa nation is composed of individuals we may employ a
similar method to discover its character; when we see a
people thronging to the Amphitheatre to witness the
mortal combats of gladiators with each other and with wild
beasts, when we see beautiful and noble ladies destitute of

Ancient Games and Pastimes, 557

all the gentle instincts of their sex deliberately sentencing
to death the prostrate wretch, who has fought for their
pleasure, and who vainly appeals to them for mercy and
for life, we can but conclude that sentiments of humanity
must have reached a fearfully low ebb in the nation which
tolerates such spectacles ; indeed, nothing is more calculated
to give us an accurate idea of the character of the Roman
people in the days of the Empire than the gladiatorial ex-
_ hibitions. They were as a race proud, selfish, and cruel,
and as long as they were gratified with the due amount of
blood and slaughter, they were indifferent to the tyranny
of the emperors, the license of the soldiers, or the sufferings
of the provincials.

We have briefly pointed out the advantage of studying
popular amusements, and the light which it is calculated to
throw upon the darkness of history, and we now proceed to
offer a slight sketch of some of the principal pastimes of our
forefathers, without attempting elaborate details of their
origin and history, and not adhering to strict chronological
arrangement ; and although we do not pretend to write a
philosophical essay on the subject, we trust that the inquiry
will not be devoid of interest.

Before the reign of Alfred, the Anglo-Saxon race had
made next to no progress in intellectual cultivation, the
clergy alone possessed any learning, and anxious to main-
tain their influence over the people, probably did little to
diffuse among the masses the knowledge they possessed.
Alfred thus speaks of the ignorance which prevailed in his
time,—“‘ When I took the kingdom, very few on this side
of the Humber, very few beyond, not one that I recollect,
south of the Thames, could understand their prayers in
Latin, or could translate a letter from Latin into English.”

During this period the country was divided into several
independent and hostile kingdoms, and the people were in
constant dread of the Danes. Alfred and his immediate
successors did much to improve the condition of their sub-
jects, but after the death of Edgar, in the year 975, the
country which for a long time had been at peace, became
once more a prey to the Danes. The people lived in con-
stant fear of their invaders, who, destitute themselves of
learning, and delighting only in war, cherished a hatred for
all the arts and products of peace.

It is not to be wondered at that the Anglo-Saxons de-
voted themselves to such pastimes as should best prepare
them for combatting their enemies. They accordingly

558 Ancient Games and Pastimes.

cultivated the sports of the field, and other manly exer-—
cises by which the body is inured to fatigue and hardship.
Like all the northern nations the Saxons delighted in
huaoting. “ With the northern invaders,” says Mr. Hallam,
“hunting was rather a predominant appetite than an
amusement. It was their pride and their ornament, the
theme of their songs, the object of their laws, and the
business of their lives. Falconry, unknown as a diver-
sion to the ancients, became, from the fourth century,
-an equally delightful occupation. A knight seldom
stirred from his house without a falcon on his wrist
or a greyhound to follow him. Thus are Harold
and his attendants represented in the famous tapestry of
Bayeaux, and in the monuments of those who died any-
where but on the field of battle, it is usual to find the
greyhound lying at their feet, or the bird upon their wrist
nor are the tombs of ladies without their falcon, for
this diversion being of less danger and fatigue than
the chase was shared by the delicate sex. This exces-
sive passion for the sports of the field produced those
evils which are apt to result from it. A strenuous idle-
ness which disdained all useful occupations, and an
Oppressive spirit towards the peasantry. The devasta-
tion committed under the pretence of destroying wild
animals which had already been protected in their
depredations, is noticed in various authors, and has
also been the subject of popular ballads. What effect this
must have had upon agriculture, it is easy to conjecture.
The levelling of forests, the draining of morasses, and the ex-
tirpatior. of mischievous animals which inhabit them, are
the first objects of man’s labour in reclaiming the earth to
its use, and these were forbidden by a landed aristocracy,
whose control over the progress of agriculture was unlimited,
and who had not yet learned to sacrifice their pleasure to
their avarice.”

The Saxons, like other Teutonic races, were much ad-
dicted to drinking and gaming. Tacitus speaks thus of
the Germans: “While they banish hunger without prepa-
ration, and with nothing to entice the appetite, their mode-
ration as regards thirst is not the same. If you indulge
their drunken habits by supplying them with as much
drink as they require, they may be conquered not less
easily by means of their own vices than by arms.”

With regard to their love of gaming, he says: “When
they are sober they play at dice, regarding this as one of ©

Ancient Games and Pastimes. 559

their serious pursuits ; and with such recklessness do they
play as regards winning or losing, that when all other
things have failed they stake liberty and body on a last
and final throw. He who loses goes into voluntary servi-
tude; and although he be younger and more robust than
his adversary, suffers himself to be bound and sold. In
this matter they are possessed by wilful obstinacy: they
themselves call it honour.”

The sportive exercises and pastimes practised among
the Saxons appear to have been such as were common
among the ancient nations, and most of them consisted of
robust exercises. In an old chronicle of Norway we find
it recorded of Olaf Tryggesen, a king of that country, that
he was stronger and more nimble than any man in his
dominions. He could climb up the rock Smalserhern, and
fix his shield upon the top of it; he could walk round the
outside of a boat upon the oars while the men were row-
ing ; he could play with three darts, alternately throwing
them in the air, and always kept two of them up whilst he
held the third in one of his hands; he was ambi-dexter,
and could cast two darts at once; he excelled all the men
of his time in shooting with the bow, and he had no equal
in swimming. Another northern hero, whose name was
Kelsen, boasts of nine accomplishments in which he was
well skilled. “I know,” says he, “how to play at chess,
I can engrave Runic letters, I am expert with my book,
I know how to handle the tools of the smith, I can tra~
verse the snow on skates of wood, I excel in shooting
with the bow, I use the oar with facility, I can sing to the
harp, and I compose verses.” Kelsen, however, had been
on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and this may account
for his literary attainments, which must certainly have
been far superior to those of his countrymen ; and his skill
in chess may probably be thus accounted for—a game,
we should imagine, to be little adapted to the tastes of a
turbulent and ignorant people.

The habits and amusements of the people were pro-
bably not much changed by the Norman Conquest.

The period immediately succeeding the Conquest was
particularly marked by the complete establishment of
feudalism and the development of chivalry, which gradu-
ally produced great effect upon the national character;
at the same time the Crusades attracted vast masses of
persons to the East, where they came in contact with a
civilization far in advance of that of their own country.

a
ee

560 Ancient Games and Pastimes.

The principal features of chivalry were devotion to the pro-
tection of religion, and an exaggerated gallantry towards the
fair sex which almost amounted to worship. The knights
sought to win the smiles and the admiration of their ladies
by their exploits in war and in warlike pastimes. Even
in those martial ages real battles were not frequent
enough to satisfy the spirit of emulation thus aroused—
hence the love of jousts and tournaments, which were in
fact very lively representations of actual warfare.

Tournaments took their rise about the middle of the
eleventh century, but they do not appear to have been held
in England before the reign of Stephen. Henry II. did
not allow them during his reign, on account of the danger
and frequent loss of life with which they were attended.
Richard Cceur-de-Lion revived them, since he observed
that the French knights, by practising in tournaments,
acquired more dexterity in the use of their weapons than
the English.

Tournaments were combats between two parties of
knights, who engaged and fought promiscuously. The
weapons used were swords without points, and clubs. By
the laws of the tournament the combatants were bound to
strike each other only on those parts of the body which
were thoroughly defended by the armour, yet accidents
frequently happened: the knights were often thrown from
-their horses, and as the weight of their armour rendered it
difficult for them to rise, they were liable to be trodden to
death or very seriously injured. ‘Tournaments were gene-
rally held by two barons, one of whom challenged the
other; the knights who fought ranged themselves on the
side of one or other of the nobles. The heralds and
kings-at-arms gave notice in the following terms: “ Be it
known, lords, knights, and esquires, ladies and gentle-
men, you are hereby acquainted that a superb achieve-
ment at arms and a most grand and noble tournament
will be held,” and the date, place, and names of the
nobles were proclaimed. The two barons on whose
part the tournament was undertaken were required to
be at their lodges or pavilions two days before the com-
mencement of the sports, and to set up their banners in
front of the ground or parade assigned to them. Those
who wished to be admitted as combatants had also to set
up their arms and banners in front of the parade allotted
to the baron with whom they intended to side; they were
also obliged, two days before the tournament, to show

Ancient Games and Pastimes. 561

themselves at their stations and expose their helmets to
view at the windows of their pavilions; they might then
depart, “to make merry, dance, and live well.”

At ten o’clock on the day appointed, the speakers or
judges examined the arms of the combatants, which they
might allow or reject at their pleasure.

The baron, who was challenger, caused his banner
to be placed in front of his parade, and the blazon of his
-arms to be nailed tothe roof of his pavilion. The speakers
then went from pavilion to pavilion crying out, “To
achievements, knights and esquires, to achievements.” This
was the signal for arming. The heralds then went round
to the pavilions crying, “ Come forth, knights and esquires,
come forth.” The barons having taken their places in the
list, the knights and esquires arranged themselves behind
their respective leaders, each by the side of his own banner,
two cords were then stretched between the select bands,
which were not removed till the judges gave the signal to
engage, which they did by crying, “Lazzez les aler”—
Let them go on.

The combatants were each armed with a pointless sword,
and a baton or truncheon, which hung from their saddles.

They might use whichever weapon they pleased, and,
doubtless, they laid about them lustily. The combat con-
tinued till the judges considered that all present had been
sufficiently belaboured, when they called to the heralds,
“ Pleyez vos baniers”—-Fold your banners. This was the
signal for the cessation of hostilities.

Every knight in earlier times was allowed one page, but
afterwards three to wait upon him. These pages were not
allowed to have any offensive weapon. Any knight who was
fatigued might unhelm himself if he pleased, and no one
was allowed to touch him till he had resumed his helmet

In the evening, those who had taken part in the tourna-
ment, and the ladies and others who had been spectators
met together, and the time was passed in feasting, dancing,
and making merry.

After supper, lists of the names of those who had most
distinguished themselves were presented to the ladies, and
it rested with them to select one person from each side to
receive the prize of valour. The fortunate individuals thus
selected received their prizes from the fair hands of two
young maidens of high rank.

The jousts, according to Strutt, differed essentially from

*
7 e
Pia 19: °

562 Ancient Games and Pastimes.

the tournaments. They consisted of single combats. The
knights who engaged rode at each other armed with
wooden lances without heads; each tried to unhorse his
opponent. The excellency of the performance consisted in
striking the adversary upon the front of his helmet, so as
to bend him backward from his horse, or break the spear.

Jousts were inferior in dignity to tournaments but there
was more scope for the exhibition of individual skill. As
each knight had a lady to whom he especially devoted
himself he had more opportunity of distinguishing him-
self in her eyes than he could have in the confused combats
of the tournaments, The lists, on the occasion of tourna-
ments and jousts, were splendidly adorned; platforms were
erected for the ladies and other spectators, and the pavilions
decorated with the arms and banners of the barons, &c.,
must have presented a gorgeous spectacle. “Every scenic
performance of modern times,” says Mr. Hallam, “ must be
tame in comparison with these animating combats. At a
tournament the space enclosed within the list was sur-
rounded by sovereign princes and their noblest barons, by
knights of established renown, and by all that rank and
beauty had most distinguished among the fair, Covered
with steel and known only by their emblazoned shields or
by the favours of their mistresses, the combatants rushed
forward to a strife without enmity but not without danger.
Though their weapons were pointless and sometimes only
of wood, though they were bound by the laws of the tourna-
ment to strike only on the strong armour of the trunk, or,
as it was termed, between the four limbs, these impetuous
conflicts often terminated in wounds and death. The church
uttered her excommunications in vain against so wanton an
exposure to peril, but it was more easy for her to excite
than to restrain this martial enthusiasm, Victory in a
tournament was little less glorious and perhaps at the
moment more exquisitely felt than in the field, sinee no
battle could assemble such witnesses of valour.”

Of course the magnificent tournaments and courtly
jousts were sports that could only be indulged in by the
rich and noble, indeed, the common people were forbidden
to take part inthem ; the lower classes had, however, sport
of their own which bore more or less resemblance to those
of their superiors, of this kind were tilting at the quintain
and at the ring. Tilting at the quintain was probably a
more ancient pastime than the tournament. The quintain

Ancient Games and Pastimes. 563

was originally nothing more than a log of wood set upright
in the ground, at which those who were learning the use of
arms struck with their swords as at an imaginary enemy.

The quintain after a time developed into the resem-
blance of a human figure representing a Turk or Saracen
in full armour bearing a shield on the left arm, and a sword
or club in the right hand ; the figure was placed on a pivot
and was so arranged that if the person who was practising
did not strike it very dexterously it swung round and struck
him a blow on the back of his head with the weapon it car-
ried in its right hand. The competitors rode at the figure
with lances and he was adjudged the victor who struck it
oftenest. Stow in his “Survey of London,” speaks thus of
the quintain. “This exercise of the quintain was practised
in London as well in the summer as in the winter, but es-
pecially at the feast of Christmas. I have seen a quintain
set upon Cornhill by Leadenhall, when the attendants of
Lords of merry disports have run and made great pastime,
for he that hit not the board end of the quintain was
laughed to scorn, and he that hit it full if he road not the
faster had a sound blow upon his neck with a bag full of
sand on the other end.”

Boat tilting was a favourite pastime during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. That Sovereign was entertained at Sand-
wich, by a tilting on the water, “where certain wallounds
that could well swym had prepared two boats, and in the
middle of each boat was placed a bord upon which bord
there stood two men, and so they met together, with, cither
of them a staff and shield of wood, and one of them did
overthrow the other, at which the Queen had good sport.”
The very children seem to have delighted in sports which
mimicked the tilt and tournament. Strutt gives an en-
graving of a picture in an old manuscript which represents
two boys tilting at one another each of whom is sitting
astride a kind of switch which he doubtless fancies to re-
semble a horse, while the place of a lance is supplied by
another switch or stick.

(To be continued.)

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. ZZ

564

CHIGNONS.

BOUT twe hundred and ninety-three years before
the date of the Christian era, there flourished a
Greek comic poet, called Menander who describes a cer-
tainly non-uxorious husband proceeding to the length of ©
turming his wife out of doors, for the grave (in his opinion,
though venial in that of most of mankind) offence of making

her hair yellow :

“Nov & pm am’ olkwy TaVSe Thy yuvaika yap
Thy sodpov’ od 5& Tas Tpixas Cav0as more.”
Imitation :—

“ Begone, begone, no wife my home shall share,
Who dares with saffron dyes to stain her hair!”

We do not believe that all the fair maids or young
matrons of Old England, in these days—that is to say, quite
all of them—have taken to dye their hair, after the memor-
able example set by Tittlebat Titmouse. If, however, we
are to credit advertisements freely circulated in various
newspapers, there is a superfluity of Rachels of the ringlets,
as well as of Rachels of “enamel celebrity.”

However future antiquarians may settle this interesting
and national question, it is a fact, that the importation of
the “CHIGNON ” into the sumptuary hemisphere of Bel-
gravia and Mayfair, has already elevated the hairdressers
into the seventh Heaven of delight ; for the most gushingly
comely of our bridesmaids, and the younger moiety of our
quaintly nicknamed “ better halves,” have taken, con amore,
to wear this queer embellishment.

It may be observed, for what it is worth, in favour of
this mysterious device that it levels all hirsute distinc-
tions: for instance, whether Maud has had her head
shaved after the measles, or whether Blanche rejoices in
as long and as natural tresses as the fair-haired, ox-eyed
Juno, of Homeric inspiration, this Chignon enables its
votaries and wearers to start from the same platform.
None but the abigail and may-be the husband, when the
back-hair is down, knows how much is the genuine
appanage of Dame Nature, and how much is to be referred
to the modern coiffeur’s art.

Portentous “ cushions” are not only manufactured in the
present day for chairs, sofas, and—billiard-tables ; they are

Chignons. 565

also most artistically constructed for the puffing out of the
hair.

Surely, however, our lovely sisterhood can dispense with
these foreign falsities. Let Belinda bloom and charm
our eyes simplex munditiis. Beauty, when unadorned, is
still adorned the most—the lustrous light of her flashing
eye, the natural bloom of her peach-like and rosy cheek,
and the auburn or raven tresses, flowing unbound and
showered over her well-shaped shoulders, are far more
enchanting, to our view, than whole pyramids of other
folk’s hair !

We may remark that hair has been, from the most
ancient days, esteemed either as an ornament or as an
ensign of dignity or religion. By the Jews, hair was
worn long, just as it grew; but that of the priests
was cut every fortnight. Black hair was esteemed by the
Hebrews as most beautiful. The hair, indeed, of both
Jewish and Grecian women engaged a principal share of
their attention; and we are sure that our Anglo-Norman-
Saxon belles follow energetically the time-honoured
precedent. The Romans seem to have been no less
anxious with respect to theirs. They generally wore it long,
and dressed it in a variety of ways, ornamenting it with
gold, silver, pearls, &c.

It is further recorded, that the ancient Britons of either
sex were extremely proud of the length and beauty of their
hair, and were at much pains in dressing and adorning
it. We hardly ever meet in the poems of Ossian, with
a description of a fine woman, or a beautiful man, but the
hair is mentioned as one of his or her greatest beauties.
Neither sex relied on the attributes of Nature, but alike,
discontented with the dispensation of Providence, which
commonly allotted them fair or yellow hair, assiduously
bathed it in washes in order to render its colour more
bright. The recipe of one of these washes is said to
have been a composition of lime, the ashes of certain
vegetables, and tallow. May we ask, if modern products
are equally offensive ? They made use, too, of various arts in
order to make their hair grow thick and long, which was
not only esteemed a great beauty, but was also considered
to be a mark of dignity, and of noble birth We have
mentioned the mythic Juno; we may advert to the
historical Boadicea, who is described by Dio as rejoicing
in very long hair, flowing over her shoulders, and reaching
down over the middle of her back.

ZL 2

ee
® is
. ¥

aes

566 Chignons.

“Hair in commerce” (by way of contrast, we are
speaking of 1819), “ constitutes a very considerable article,
especially since the fashion of wearing wigs has prevailed
among all ranks, and has lately been extended to both
sexes. In 18109, the hair of this and other countries was
preferred to that of the southern climates of Italy,
France, &c.”

Descending the ladder of time, we find the author of the
“ Curiosities of Literature” observing, “that our ancestors
were not less vacillating, and perhaps more capriciously
grotesque, though with less taste than the present gene-
ration.”

The sobriquet of Chignon is new, but the idea is scarcely
a novel one. What after all zs new, as someone recently
observed, except “hair-brushing by machinery and
underground railroads?” We find, however, that this
elaborate padding is but an old fashion revived, for
it is recorded that in the reign of Charles II., “the hair-
dress of the ladies was very elaborate; it was not only
curled and frizzled with the nicest art, but it was also set
off with certain artificial curls, then too emphatically
known by the pathetic terms of ‘heart breakers and
lovelocks.’ ”

Last autumn we ourselves noted at a celebrated west-
end hair-dresser’s, a young lady of prepossessing appear-
ance. Some would write jolze a ravir. After all, however,
the special beauty of the “Model” in the eyes of the
customers of the hair-dresser consisted in a conspicuous
addendum in the shape of a turret of dyed tow
of the fashionable colour; this magnificent embellishment
was the young lady’s fortune, inasmuch as she received
no mean weekly salary for allowing tall apprentices to
wave long curls over her majestically-arranged head-piece.
We happened not long ago, to take up the -Quarterly
Review for the year 1852, containing an amusing
paper about Hair. Hair, observed the reviewer, is the
only part of the body of which human volition°can curtail
or elongate the proportions. He proceeded to remark that
a redundancy of locks, or a closely cropped poll, have, at
various epochs of the world’s history, symbolized the social
conditions of mankind. For instance, of old the freedman
and the slave were distinguished by the respective lengths,
of their hair. At a later date, we may observe, the Puri-
tans used to have a small wash-hand basin or wooden bowl
inverted over their polls, and the hair thence protruding

Chignons. 567

was clipped close, whereas the cavaliers indulged in flowing
ringlets that would have made the foundation of a fortune
for an adventurous Truefitt.

Regarding the colours of hair, which in different portions
of the globe’s surface vary from the tint of the Albino to
that of the African negro, it would appear from our reading
that the scions of the Norman race have been celebrated
for the dark shade of their chevelure, whereas Venice
and the regions near her, have ever been famous for their
heroines, adorned (as to their hair), with golden beauty.

It may be supposed that the more modern process of
dyeing the hair yellow, or buying yellow locks, may be
partially ascribed to a scene from the play of the “Two
Gentlemen of Verona,” in which one heroine observes to
another :—

Her hair is auburn,
Mine is perfect yellow.

No doubt the Shaksperian zzamorata thought that it
lent her irresistible charms, and—many a modern belle
thinks—that the yellow hump of hair filched for a mere
bagatelle from the head of a poor German peasant girl
or fraulein, will prove a perfect pass to the much-coveted
porch of Hymen.

Homer amongst ancient poets, Titiens among medieval
painters, Scott among modern bards, have seized on the
fascinations of golden ringlets. Hear the latter :—

But most the Northern maid I love,
With breast like Denmark’s snow,

And form as fair as Denmark’s pine,

Who loves with purple heath to twine
Her locks of sunny glow.

It may be observed, that under Louis XIV., perukes be-
came fashionable. Some aver that the King wore one to hide
an unsightly lump on his forehead. However this may be,
he adopted most grotesque-looking wigs. It is related of
him, by historians worthy of credit, that when compelled
on one occasion to uncover his head, in the presence of a
servant, he gave utterance to the profound remark, “ that
no man could be a hero to his valet de chambre.”

Again, the ladies about the court of thé unfortunate
Marie Antoinette followed her example in piling turrets
of hair on their heads, which they arranged in very
fanciful styles, and shapes of butterflies, &c. It is stated,
that the Queen being in the way, “that women wish to be

a
po hemn. *;

568 Chignons.

who love their lords,’ had the misfortune to shake off the
entire pyramid of hair! Accordingly, her fashionable and
illustrious ladies followed suit, and appeared at Court in the
simple locks that Nature had provided them with.

The popular opinion leads to a belief that most of the
hair which is supposed to add so much beauty to this sham
adornment of the modern dele, is imported from Germany.
After all, fashion shifts nearly as much as a duly shaken
kaleidoscope. About the date of the battle of Waterloo,
we read (in the Quarterly Review), the light German hair
was principally called for. “This fancy, or predilection,
went out about the epoch of the Napoleonic restoration,
and the darker shades of brown (chiefly from France),
became the rage.” At our present date of writing, the
saffron tint is once more in vogue. We remember to have
read somewhere that immense profits are realised by
dealers in hair, who purchase it wholesale from the
Bretonnese peasantry at “Fairs” fora nominal consideration.

It is curious, and not altogether without profit or
interest, to compare past with present times. There is this
difference between 1852 and 1866. The reviewer from
whose remarks we have previously quoted, winds up
his instructive article with these observations) me
is needless to add that anything like hirsute luxuriance
about the sacerdotal physiognomy is offensive to every
orthodox admirer of the va media, to all the Anglican
community, it is probable, excepting some inveterate
embroideresses of red and blue altar cloths and tall curate’s
slippers.”

Nous avons changé tout cela—a change has come o’er the
spirit of the dream. Our Divines and embryo Divines
cultivate moustachios, and indulge in a profusion of beard
and whisker!

Before we conclude our discursive article, which, begin-
ning with the name of a heathen, has descended to these
ritualistic times—glancing, ex passant, at the hirsute vagaries
of some of our clergy—a word or two on chignons, regarded
from a sanitary point of view, may not be thrown away
upon our fair readers. While we think it right to calm
their natural fears regarding gregarines—for there is little
doubt that in this case a mountain was made out of a very
nasty molehill; and that the savant who fancied he dis-
covered them mistook the fictions in his own head for facts -
in the heads of the ladies; and would have been better
employed in taking out the bee from his own, than in

The Harmony of Creation. 569

prying under feminine bonnets, still the habit of wearing
false chignons is to be deprecated on quite other ground
than a dread of these much talked-of parasites. The main
reason for condemning the practice of wearing bought hair
is, that it injures the real hair by weakening, and so thin-
ning it. The mere weight of the chignon is hurtful—it
drags upon the hair, and enfeebles, if it does not pull it out;
and besides this, the heat imparted by the chignon to the
part of the head it covers, tends to weaken the hair and
cause it to come out. In order that the natural growth
may be strong, it is necessary to keep the head cool, and
to rather reduce the weight of the same by occasionally
cutting it than to increase it by superadding this modern

and abominable sham.
OMEGA.

Ie TIARMONY OF CREATION.
BY S. C. GRIFFITH, M.D.
(Continued from page 494.)

EFORE we quit our review of the laws which rule
celestial bodies, we will glance at a few facts which
have been recently proved by astronomers.

When Herschel discovered Uranus 1,600,000,000 miles
distant from the sun, it was supposed that the farthest limits
of our solar system liad been reached. But Uranus showed
perturbations in his path which were not to be accounted
for by the attraction of Saturn. Le Verrier determined
the position and mass of a new celestial body by calcula-
tions, without having seen the planet, and Galle, of Berlin,
proved the accuracy of his theory by discovering Neptune
2,800,000,000 miles from the sun. Thus, by the intellectual
power of reasoning man, a discovery was predicted, and an
induction based upon exact calculations was verified.

Besides the planets and moons and comets, a vast
number of smaller planetary bodies revolve in elliptic or-

bits round the sun. When these small planetary bodies
come within the sphere of the earth’s attraction, they obey
its influence, and darting down give rise to the phenomena
of shooting stars and meteoric stones. The chemist finds
these meteoric stones composed of iron, nickel, cobalt,
silica, aluminium, and other terrestrial elements, nor do

570 | The [Harmony of Creation.

they contain any substance unknown to our earth. Thus
we see the laws which roll our planet in elliptic orbits, cir-
culate these stones in similar orbits, and the substances
which constitute these bodies, are identical with elements
which make up our earth.

Formerly, astronomers spoke of fixed stars, and the sun
was presumed to be one of them; but modern investiga-
tions have shown that while our planetary system is circling
the sun, he, with all his satellites, is careering through space
at the amazing rate of 800,000 miles a day, and the centre
of his prodigious orbit has not yet been ascertained. Every
minute the fixed stars, as they are called, travel several
hundred miles, yet they appear to us unchanged, as they
did to our forefathers. Such vastness overpowers the feeble
efforts of man’s intellect to grasp, and the wonders of crea-
tion exhibited on so colossal a scale asin the heavenly
bodies baffle his comprehension. Yet all the universe
obeys laws which result in constant harmony and beauty.
The comets, however far they may wander in their erratic
courses, are obliged by gravitation to return to their cen-
tral orb, and we find order, regularity, unity, and perma-
nence in the laws which govern the celestial bodies, just as
we discover marvellous adaptation of means to the allotted
end displayed in all terrestrial bodies, even in their minutest
details.

In reference to the immutability of the laws which govern
inorganic matter, let it be understood that these laws are
fixed in the sense that no external or internal special cir-
cumstances are permitted to render them irregular in their
motions, certain perturbations, to use an astronomical term,
occur, but these apparent irregularities are shown to be
more or less regular. Even the destruction of the earth’s
crust has been proved by geology to be marked by a periodi-
city, though science has been unable to determine the
-duration of these periods. Many thousands, perhaps hun-
dreds of thousands of years have elapsed between some of
the convulsions which have, at different epochs, destroyed
the earth’s surface and with it all living animals. It has
been demonstrated that no less than twenty-eight or
twenty-nine such catastrophes have taken place, and that
each destruction has been succeeded by a fresh creation,
which creation has been characterised by an advance in
the orders which have replenished the earth. As assem-
blage after assemblage of animated beings have peopled
the earth which has been reclothed with vegetation for their

The Flarmony of Creation. 571

well being, creatures more perfect in that part of the or-
ganisation which is necessary for improvement in intelli-
gence, have been added till man was formed as the head of
the last creation. As if to signalize the creation of man,
he alone was added to the orders of animals which were
reproduced at the last epoch. At the close of each period
it pleased the Creator, in his inscrutable wisdom, to doom
to sudden destruction all animated creation, attaining this
purpose by the secondary agency of geological convulsions,
and the flood was probably some similar action upon the
earth’s crust. The existing animated world will, according
to the laws of periodicity, as exhibited in geological re-
searches, be destroyed. There is nothing in the present
creation which warrants us to presume that we shall be
exempt from the category of the past, Volcanic eruption
has lost none of its gigantic power, and has, both in past
and present history, proclaimed, in certain localities, its
terrific energy. Shakespeare says with his accustomed
force and passion,

“The cloud capp’d towers, the gorgeous plains,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all that it contains shall dissolve,

And like an unsubstantial pageant, faded,
Leave not a rack behind.”

And it will not be after the analogy of former epochs, if
the earth itself be not destroyed. If the laws which ruled
past periods shall still remain in force, a fresh creation will
take place. New beings, superior to man in intelligence,
will people the globe, and a fresh vegetation, adapted to
the wants of animal life, will re-clothe the earth, when we
and all our history are entombed in the underlying strata.
In answer to the question, whether animals have under-
gone any change in their structure since the first animali-
sation of the globe, or whether geologica] research shows
that birds and reptiles existed at the remotest periods, the
reply is, that during the Triassic age, tortoises and birds
appear, which, of all animals, have the pulmonary system
the most developed. It must be inferred, therefore, that
at these remote epochs, the medium in which birds and
reptiles breathing the air by lungs lived, was little, if at all,
different from the medium in which similar classes now
live, which leads to the conclusion, that at this early period
in the history of the globe, the composition of the atmo-
sphere must have been nearly the same as at present. All

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is

572 The Harmony of Creation.

terrestrial animals, whether of land or water, which breathe
otherwise than by branchia, belong to the two classes
which breathe either by trachea or lungs. Less perfect
than pulmonary, tracheal respiration is peculiar to the class
of insects,and some Arachnida. We find this function
perfectly represented in the animals of the Paleozoic
epoch. As has already been stated, Coleoptera, Orthop-
tera, and Neuroptera, all possessing tracheal respiration,
have been discovered in the Palseozoic strata. As the in-
sects belong to the same, or analogous genera with those
which now exist, we must assume that they were endowed
with the same respiratory organs. We arrive therefore, at
the conclusion, as well for terrestrial animals which breathe
by trachea as for marine animals, that the respiratory
organs have not undergone any progressive improvement,
and that this class is now what it was in the cradle of Na-
ture—in fine, that the medium of its terrestrial existence
has always been the same since the first animalisation of
the globe to the present time. The primitive genera of
marine animals, or those most closely allied to them, which
still represent them on the earth, prove that they had from
the first the organic characters which they still preserve ;
that they have undergone no gradual improvement in
organisation ; that the medium in which they lived at the
earliest epoch of the creation was the same as at present ,
that, therefore, no great change has taken place as to the
conditions of vitality of these beings, and that the seas in
which they then existed were essentially similar to those
which they now inhabit. All considerations of the subject
lead to the following conclusions :—

First, if the supposition of a gradually increasing perfec-
tion of organisation were admitted, we ought to find all
the animals endowed with mere cutaneous respiration in
the first stages of the world; and the others, proceeding
successively from age to age, endowed with branchial,
tracheal, and pulmonary respiration, whereas, on the con-
trary, we find in the very first epoch of the animalisation of
the globe, all the modes of respiration manifested at once
—a conclusion entirely at variance with the supposition of
progressively improving organisation. Secondly, whether
we compare together the increasing or decreasing develop-
ment of zoological forms, or the dates of the appearance of
the orders of animals with the perfection of their organs;
or take for the basis of our comparative researches, the
physiological conclusion deduced from the modes of respi-

The Harmony of Creation. 573

ration by animals, we uniformly arrive at the same nega-
tive results relatively to the supposition of progressive
improvement of animal organisation. We must, therefore,
accept it as proved, that no such progressive improvement
has existed. Thirdly, no appreciable modification being
found in the organs of respiration of animals from the most
ancient epoch to the present,a great number of genera
having always existed with the same characters since the
first animalisation of the globe, it must be inferred that the
vital elements have not changed, and that the media in
which animals existed, whether air or water, have remained
the same. Fourthly, the media of existence having been
always the same, no change in these media can be adduced
as a cause for the successive extinctions and reproductions
of the fauna of the earth, which have been shown by geo-
logical phenomena to have taken place during the succes-
sive geological periods, a conclusion of immense importance
in the history of the globe. Fifthly, all the researches
which have been made in the fossil fauna, deposited in the °
strata of the earth, lead to a conclusion of high geological
importance, that, until the epoch which immediately pre-
ceded the appearance of the human race and the contem-
poraneous tribes upon the globe, all that part of the earth
which has undergone a close and accurate geological sur-
vey, including France, England, Germany, Italy, Switzer-
land, Spain, Portugal, part of Russia, and the adjacent seas,
were inhabited by a fauna altogether tropical, and such as
is at present found only under the torrid zone. We are
forced, therefore, to the conclusion that, until the present
period, the isothermal zones now observed had no existence.
Of 1,473 fossil general genera hitherto discovered, sixteen
only are found to exist in all the stages. The remaining
1,457 are distributed in different proportions throughout
the stages. In some cases it is seen that certain genera
are only found ina single stage, in others they prevail in
two stages, in others in three or more; but, save in rare
and exceptional cases, when they prevail in two or more
stages, these stages are in geological succession. This per-
sistence of the genera is a very important geological and
paleontological fact. The exceptions to it do not exceed
3 per cent. of the entire number of fossil genera, and may,
therefore, be regarded as arising from some accidental
cause. ‘This peculiar distribution of generic forms of the
fossils supplies to the geologist most useful stratigraphical
tests. Thus, if a genus known to exist only in one pecu-

574 Two Days ina Sugar Plantation.

liar geological stage, be found in any part of the crust of
the earth whose structure has not been previously well
ascertained, its presence may be taken as a certain indica-
tion of the character and position of the stage in which it
is deposited.

TWO DAYS IN A SUGAR PLANTATION.

BY JAMES SKIRVING.

a some of the many works that have been published

treating of the climate of the West Indies and South
_ America, and the political economy, manners, and modes
of life of the inhabitants, one might reasonably have ex-
pected a detailed account of the cultivation of the sugar-
cane and the manufacture of sugar, which is the principal
product of these parts; but since very little information
has been furnished on these important subjects, we propose
to give a brief outline of this branch of industry; and
having spent several years inthe West Indies where we had
the supervision of a large estate, we feel justified in under-
taking the task, in the exercise of which we trust practical
knowledge will atone for literary defects. We do not
intend to touch upon the vexed question of remuneration
of the free black or the work required of the slave, because
the present wretched state of the planters in our free
colonies, and the still more wretched condition of free blacks,
are subjects of far too great importance to be lightly
handled; but we may observe, ez passaut, that any
sensible, self-educated, and industrious negro, deplores
emancipation, and speaks of the times of slavery as the
good old times, when the island was prosperous, and estates,
‘now entirely abandoned, were in full working order, and
sorrowfully points out an old mill dam and a tall chimney
now mouldering, and covered with rank weeds, as the wrecks
of former greatness, and the fading evidences of a time of
prosperity, when all were well cared for, happy, and con-
tented, although hard worked, and, in exceptional cases,
harshly treated. There, as everywhere, honest work was
duly appreciated, good masters, as a rule, made good ser-
vants, and wice versd, and the idle fellow who scamped his
work paid the penalty, and retaliated by grumbling against
his employers.

Two Days nm a Sugar Plantation. 575

Those who read reports of Jamaica will gather that each
labourer is supplied with a cutlass, a bill-hook, and a hoe,
not as weapons of offence, but for agricultural purposes.
As the growth of vegetation is very rapid, it becomes neces-
sary, in the first instance, to thoroughly clear the land
it is intended to plant. So luxuriant indeed is the vege-
tation that land which has lain fallow for a few months
will be thickly covered with weeds not unlike the heather
and broom of our own country.

As the fields are generally very uneven a sickle or scythe
would be almost useless to get rid of the redundant
growth, but with a hooked stick to draw aside the bush and
expose the roots a sharp blow from the slightly-curved and
well-sharpened cutlass will soon clear a large space. When
stumps of trees, however, and the thicker guava bushes are
met with, the billhook has to be used. Upon the required
space being cleared, a single bright day is quite sufficient
to dry the brushwood, which, should fuel be scarce, is col-
lected and stacked for burning, but in the event of its
being plentiful the bush is burned on the field. The subject
of fuel is a highly important one, and will be presently
alluded to. The next process is to line out the ground,
which is done by means of a rope, divided into lengths of
four feet, at which distance pegs are inserted. When one
line of pegs, four feet apart, is arranged, another row is put
in at equi-distant intervals,andthe whole field is thus divided
into squares. The holing or trenching is now commenced,
and where practicable, the plough may be brought into
requisition, but the principle implement employed for this
‘purpose is the hoe. Many different ways of digging cane
holes are practised, but the general method is to make
trenches the whole length of the field about four feet wide,
and then to proceed to plant. The cane-plant is got by
cutting the top of the canes, there is an eye at each joint
from which a shoot may grow, the leaves therefore which
surround the cane at this point are left to protect the eye
on the plant being pushed into the ground. To prepare
the ground for planting the earth is either chopped fine or
. the plant is simply put into a hole made with a crowbar.
The plants are usually from six to ten inches long, and are
left about an inch out of the ground.

The canes soon begin to grow, as also do weeds, which
require careful weeding out, and whenever this is done
mould should be taken from the bank of the trench and
put round the root of the young plant, which, after the

: " ma

576 Two Days in a Sugar Plantation.

operation of weeding has been several times performed,
may be left to grow and ripen.

Some canes are cut before Christmas, for the purpose of
obtaining plants, but they are generally waterish, and do
not yield much sugar. Directly the canes are ripe, a
gang is put on to the field it is intended to reap, and
with the billhook all the trash about the root of the cane
is removed, and when it is quite cleared away, the cane is
cut. As some canes are very long, they require to be
severed into lengths of about eighteen inches, which are
tied up into bundles containing from ten to twenty pieces.

A difficulty often arises from the hilly nature of the
country, which renders it impossible to bring the carts
within half a mile of the cane-piece. When this is the
case, mules are employed to convey the bundles to the
carts.

The canes are now carted to the mill, where they are ©

pressed between rollers, and the juice which is ex-
pressed runs into a bed underneath, from which it flows
through several strainers into a large copper, or should all
the coppers be full, is kept in a tank until one is available.
When a sufficient number of coppers have been filled, the
liquor is gradually warmed, until a thin scum forms on the
top, a quantity of temper, or Bristol lime, is now added,
which not only separates the dirt, but also causes the proper
crystallization of the sugar; to effect this double pur-
pose, a great deal of care and experience are requisite. As
soon as the juice is well tempered, it is changed from one
copper to another, to be evaporated. The tache, or last
copper, being directly over the fire, the liquor it contains of
course boils first. A man is stationed at each copper, with
a skimmer to take off the scum which boils up. Gutters
are arranged for its reception, by means of which it runs
into vats, and is afterwards used for the manufacture of
rum. As the syrup in the tache decreases from evapora-
tion, the supply is kept up from the other coppers, until
the whole of the tempered juice has been reduced to a
proper consistency. The temperature should now be
tested, and when the thermometer indicates 310° Fahr., it is
time to charge the syrupinto coolers. The eye of an expe-
rienced boilerman will generally detect when the sugar is
formed, but to render assurance doubly sure, the thermo-
meter should be used.

We will now leave the sugar in the coolers, and return
for a while to the mill, where the crushing of canes is still

Two Days in a Sugar Plantazon. 577

proceeding. A man is stationed here to feed the rollers
with canes handed up to him by a gang told off for the
purpose, and as fast as the crushed canes come out of the
other side of the mill, they are laid on a board, which,
when it is loaded, is carried off by a girl on her head,
to be spread out in the sun to dry and then stacked
for fuel, another board being placed ready to receive
the megass, as the crushed canes are termed. A third
gang is employed to keep the fireman stationed at the cop-
pers supplied with dry megass, so that altogether a large
number of labourers are at work, comprising one stoker,
one engine-driver, one mill-feeder, one to clear megass, four
to hand canes, four to carry wet megass, four to carry dry
megass to the fireman who keeps the coppers boiling, and
five boilermen to skim the liquor, and to charge out the
sugar, so it will readily be imagined, that all these together,
with cutters in the fields, mule-boys loading the carts, and
these last transporting them to the mill, present a very
animated and noisy scene, and to add to this row the
blacks indulge in curiously worded impromptu songs, sung
to any tune that strikes them.

But the list is by no means exhausted, for we have black-
smiths and carpenters repairing carts, and making good
all incidental wear and tear of plant, coopers making hogs-
heads and tierces for the sugar and puncheons for the rum,
and, lastly, in addition to those specified, there is another
gang of old men and women hard at work cutting grass,
or picking out and chopping the green cane tops for the
cattle and mules. It is essential to use this precaution,
for, if the season be dry, little green fodder can be pro-
cured; the half-dry cane-tops are made palatable by mixing
them with oil-cake, salt, and molasses. The mules get
molasses and water to drink, which keeps them in very
good condition; and as planters do not muzzle the ox that
treads out the corn, the quadrupeds can keep up their
strength and spirit by sucking the cool sweet juicy cane,
which bipeds are also allowed to do, and are not at all in-
disposed to avail themselves of the privilege.

A protracted drought offers great disadvantages to the
planter, especially if he has to take off his crop with water-
power; but a wet season is worse, in fact, almost ruin, for
the megass cannot be dried sufficiently to be used for fuel
to boil the sugar. Under these circumstances, bamboo,
and other firewood, must be cut in the adjoining forests,
and mules employed to fetch in these substitutes, and all

578 Perverted Scripture

have to work twice as hard as would be necessary if fuel
were plentiful, or the planter would lose his crop.

The mill gangs generally work until 4 P.M., when the
cattle are turned loose for an hour or two in the pasture,
and both the field and mill gangs go home, but a relay
must be put on to carry fuel, for it often takes hours to boil
off the juice expressed by a good steam-engine going from
6 A.M. to 4 P.M.

The boiling is continued till all the sugar is in the
coolers, when the coppers are well cleansed, the gutters
washed out, and the white overseer locks up and goes to
his house, to snatch an hour’s sleep, before again waking
up the blacks, which he must do if he means work.

PERVERTED: SCRIPTURES

A HE Devil can quote Scripture” saith the proverb,

and surely man perverts Scripture. Parables, inci-
dents, and texts are twisted and distorted until they seem
to sanction principles and conduct utterly antagonistic to
the design and spirit of Christianity. Sometimes this is
done with fell intent, but not less often the crime is com-
mitted almost unconsciously.

There is no doubt as to the motive for perverting Scrip-
ture. There is an inexorable law that compels Falsehood
to render outward homage unto Truth, and tnat obliges
Vice to manifest an apparent respect for Virtue.

There cannot be moral responsibility without a living
conscience. The conscience may be seared, but it cannot
die. How can it be seared? How can the wrong-doer
still the ever living, ever restless conscience? There is no
narcotic more efficacious than a dose of perverted Scrip-
ture, and therefore it is in great and continued demand.
We propose to give a few instances in which certain Bible
texts are commonly and traditionally perverted.

It would be as easy to number the stars as to tell the ~
sum of human misery. Vice, and crime, and sufferings, phy-
sical, mental and moral, everywhere abound. Isthis abun-
dant misery inevitable? It is begotten by Poverty and by
Ignorance, which is indeed the offspring of Poverty. Is
this poverty the prolific source of human woe, the will of

Perverted Scripture. 579

the Creator, or the fault of the creature? Hasthe Father
neglected to make sufficient provision for His children ?
On the contrary, we know that the earth yields increase
enough to satisfy the whole human family. Sore poverty,
pregnant with afflictions, was born of, and is fostered by,
man’s imprudence. If each one did his best, if each one
did with all his might whatsoever his hand found to do, if
each one was careful and saving, instead of careless and pro-
digal, there would be an end to the curse of poverty. This
being so, it has been the common aim of philanthropists
to inculcate habits of providence. Often when the moment
of triumph seems nigh, when the arguments and the ex-
hortation appear to carry conviction, the improvident
rebukes his counsellor, and lulls his awaking conscience with
a dose of perverted Scripture. Is it not.written in the
Bible “Take no thought for the morrow,” and “Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof.”

A man who could earn more refuses to do a stroke of
work after he has earned his daily bread. Why should he
toil when not forced to do so by immediate necessity ? Heis
bidden to remember the eventualities of sickness and old
age. He is told that the prime of his manhood is the
_ season of harvest, and that it behoves him to lay up a store
for the winter of life. Surely there is no reply to sucha
reasonable admonition? Yesthere is. The idler is ready
with an excuse for his idleness. He is ready not to excuse
it only, but even to magnify it as avirtue. Is it not written
“in the Bible “Take no thought for the morrow,’ and “ Suffi-
cient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Or there is a man earning enough for future provision as
well as for present need ; but he spends all he earns, and
is as poor as the idler. Bid him remember that an accident
may suddenly stop his work, and that the weight of years
will certainly hinder his bread winning. Tell him of the
inevitable and of the probable ills of poverty. Debt comes
from poverty, and debt is a slavery that deteriorates the
whole man—body, mind, and morals. Let him reflect on the
degradation of asking alms, and on the torture of being
refused. Has hea family? Has hea daughter whom he
loves? Would he have her included in the host of fallen
women? The thought is madness. But poverty opens
the door to degradation. Then let him provide for his
child. Surely the pleading will not bein vain. Surely for
his own sake, and for the sake of his family, the prodigal
will cease from his prodigality. What does he say? Is

NEW SERIES.-—VOL I. oes

‘ ,
”
4
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580 Perverted Scripture.

he convinced of his fault? Not at all. Prodigality a
fault! Why it isa virtue. Is it not written in the Bible
“Take no thought for the morrow,’ and “ Sufficient unto
the day is the evil thereof.”

We turn to the Sermon on the Mount, from which the
words are taken, and we find that to quote them in defence
of improvidence is a gross perversion of Scripture. Chris-
tianity is for the life that is, as well as for that life which is
to be. It is for the body as well as the soul, and not in
the whole Bible is there a text that palliates, much less in-
culcates, the neglect of anything that is necessary to be
done for the happiness of man on earth. The Saviour was
rebuking his hearers for their want of faith in the love and
goodness of God. “Behold the fowls of the air, for they
sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, for
your heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not much
better than they. Which of you, by taking thought, can
add one cubit unto his stature?” Now, it will not be pre-
tended that Christ was bidding his hearers not to labour.
It will not be suggested that Christ meant that men, like
the fowls of the air, should neither sow nor reap, nor gather
into barns. ‘The lesson is too simple to permit any such
misapprehension. It was that men should not allow anxiety
about the future to darken the present. Labour in faith:
labour in the faith that God will give the increase. The
fowls of the air are fed, although they toil not; and shall not
man, who’sows and reaps and gathers into barns, be fed ?
But what is the use of anxiety? You cannot add to your
stature by taking thought. “ Take, therefore, no thought
for the morrow, for the morrow will take thought for the
things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Now this text, so far from excusing prodigality, is an in-
centive to providence. Nothing more depresses the springs
of industry than uncertainty. It is the sanguine man who
succeeds. The warrior triumphs who believes himself des-
tined to triumph. It is the anxioys, doubtful, despondent
man who fails. He works without hope, and, therefore, with-
out vigour. And the doubting increases from year to year
until despondency. about the result hinders a man from —
doing his duty. Why sow, when a blight may destroy the
harvest ? Why lay up a store that may rot or may be |
stolen ? It is, amongst other things, to rebuke this doubting |
and to encourage industry and providence, that the Saviour.
uttered the words we have quoted. Do your duty and leave,
as you must do, the issue to God. Sow, reap, and gather

Perverted Scripture. 581

into barns, and be sure that you will be fed even as the
fowls of the air are fed, which sow not, and be clothed even
as the lilies of the field are clothed, which toil not. Take
no thought for the morrow, but do your duty to-day.
That is hard enough to do, and cannot be done if.
mind and body are busied about the morrow. What
a sad perversion of Scripture is it, then, to cite the
words “ Take no thought for the morrow,” and “ Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof,” as an excuse for indolence
and improvidence. No, their intent is to encourage industry
and to foster providence by reminding us of the love of
God, and by giving us the assurance that if we do our duty
to-day, He will provide for us on the morrow.

A not less strange perversion of Scripture is rife in
respect to an incident.of the crucifixion. Two malefactors
were executed with the Saviour. One of them having re-
buked the other for railing on Christ, said unto Jesus,
“Lord,remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
And Jesus said unto him, “ Verily I say unto thee, to-day
shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” ‘This incident is a
favourite conscience narcotic with those who find it un-
pleasant to believe, that whatsoever a man sows, that shall
he reap. Such a one is unjust, an oppressor, or impure.
He does not think himself so much worse than other men,
but withal not quite what he ought to be. He is a sinner.
but by no means miserable. It will all come right at last.
Divine justice will be stayed by Divine mercy. If a
felon deserving death was in an instant forgiven all his sins,
why should a respectable sinner be in any doubt about
obtaining a like forgiveness at the last moment ?

We do not enter into the question of delayed repentance};
but assuredly the incident of the forgiveness of the male-
factor executed with the Saviour, does not support the
assumption that a life of iniquitv is to be atoned by a cry
for mercy at the hour of death. So far from the incident
sanctioning that doctrine, it seems to us directly opposed
to it.

We know not the offence for which the malefactors were
condemned to death. We do not know whether they were
justly condemned. We know, however, from the confession
of one of them that they were criminals, and that they had
led wicked lives. But it is manifest that both were
instructed in the elements of religion, and were acquainted
with the teachings of Jesus. The repentant malefactor
addressed a prayer to the Saviour that could not have pro-

582 Perverted Scripture.

ceeded from one who was not experimentally, as well as
mentally, a Christian. He said, “Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy Kingdom.” Was this the ex-
clamation of one who for the first time cried aloud for
mercy? Itrather sounds like the prayer of one who knew
that he should not ask in vain. St. Luke is the only evan-
gelist who gives an account of the words that passed
between the malefactor and the Saviour. St. Mathew says
both of them jeered Him, and St. Mark says that both
reviled Him. St. Luke does not intimate that the repent-
ant malefactor did in any way or at any time jeer at or
revile the Saviour, but, on the contrary, states that he at
once rebuked his fellow-malefactor for so doing. St. Luke
alone records the incident, and we may fairly take his
record as our guide. Now, it seems to us that from that
account it is impossible to suppose that the malefactor was
suddenly converted or became suddenly repentant. The
words of the malefactor to his fellow sinner, and his sup-
plication, point to previous conversion and repentance.
But there was the other malefactor, and he did not sup-
plicate for or receive an assurance of mercy. Why not?
Both malefactors were in the same condemnation. Both
were in the throes of a painful and torturing death. Yet
one repents and the other does not. Not that, at least it
so seems to us, the impenitent malefactor disbelieved in
the power of Christ. It appears to us that there was more
of passionate earnestness than of jeering in the cry, “If
thou be Christ save thyself and us.” At the supreme
moment one malefactor clamours for an escape from imme-
diate death, whilst the other prefers a last prayer before
the great change.

We do not find anything in the conduct of the repentant
malefactor to justify the theory that he was converted and
made repentant only in the hour of death. We can see no-
thing in the conduct of the un-repentant malefactor to jus-
tify the theory that he had been all his life a careless sinner,
but, on the contrary, it is manifest that he had thought on
religious topics, that he dreaded death, and it is all but cer-
tain that he at sundry times in the course of his guilty
career had soothed his troubled conscience with the promise
that when the hour of death came he would repent.

We hold then that it is a perversion of Scripture to assert
that the forgiveness of, to use the common phrase, “the thief
on the cross” is an encouragement for them who think that
a life of conscious wrong-doing will be expiated by a dying

Notes on Glycerine. 583

cry for salvation. It seems to us that the repentance
of the one malefactor was not a death-hour repentance.
But even if that were so the other, with the same oppor-
tunities, did not repent. If then a man is building upon the
hope that because the “thief on: the cross” was forgiven,
he may safely do wrong all the days of his life, and yet be
saved, let him remember that one malefactor did not repent,
and that he, like that impertinent malefactor, may, in the
death agony, find the cry for mercy stifled by the anxiety
for life, and may rail when he intended to pray. Perverted
Scripture can for a while lull the conscience, but it cannot
trammel up the consequences of sin.
J: Bie

(To be continued. )

NOTES ON GLYCERINE.
BY ABBOTTS SMITH, M.D., F.L.S., M.R.C.P., LOND.,
Physician to the North London Consumption Hospital, &c.

:. Cae nearly eighty years have elapsed since

the discovery of glycerine by the eminent Swedish
chemist Scheele, its value has not been recognised for one
fourth of that period. Indeed, until some twelve or fifteen
years ago, hundreds of tons of this important substance
were allowed to run off as waste from the soap works, and
to add to the heterogeneous mass of impurities which old
Father Thames carries away to the sea. Of course we do
not mean to imply that the waste product in question was
glycerine in such a state of purity as to fit it for immediate
use; but, at all events, there it was—Glycerine, which, if it
had been subjected to the various modes of purification
now employed, would have possessed a high commercial
value.

Its important properties and uses having attracted but
little attention, so that what was retained for experimenta-
tion was considered simply as so much waste material
saved, instead of being thrown away, it will be well un-
derstood that no great amount of care was attached to its
production. A sudden revolution was effected in this res-
pect by the introduction, some dozen years ago, of a new
method of separating glycerine from the other chemical
substances with which it is associated. This improved

584 Notes on Glycerine.

mode of manufacturing, devised by an American named
Tillman, consisted in the distillation, at a high temperature
with steam, the oily matter containing the glycerine.

To fully comprehend the advantages of this process, it is
requisite for the reader to revert, for a moment, to the old
method by which glycerine was procured. Saponification,
in fact, was the admixture of the oils or fats with various
bases, which, by their action during boiling, converted the
whole mass into a homogeneous, viscid, semi-transparent
compound—viz., soap. During saponification, the glycerine
is set free from the stearic, margaric, and oleic acids with
which it was previously combined, and remains in the
liquor, from which it may be subsequently separated.

Glycerine, thus obtained by the ordinary process of
saponification, must necessarily be more or less impure, ac-
cording to the different bases used in the preparation of the
soap. By obviating the necessity for their employment,
Tillman’s process led to the manufacture of a pure, valuable
article, which soon became known and appreciated. Till-
man’s patent was purchased by Price’s Candle Company,
who have since continued to be the largest manufacturers
of glycerine. The quantity made by them annually is
enormous, and every year increases the demand for this
important substance. Some idea of the amount produced
by this company may be derived from the fact that, ona
recent visit to their works, I was shown a sample of glyce-
rine taken from a still in which six tons had been made on
the previous day. By the introduction of various modifi-
cations and improvements, carried out under the supervision
of their able chemist, Mr. Payne, the manufacture of gly-
cerine at Price's Company’s works has reached a point of
perfection, which it would be impossible to surpass.

The oil used in this process is palm oil, a fatty substance
extracted from the fruit of the Alazs Guiniensis, a large
species of palm found principally in Africa. This fruit,
about the size of a nut, consists of a fleshy, oily portion
externally, which encloses a solid fatty kernel. Two
varieties of oil, which are separately extracted, are obtained
from this fruit; that of the outer portion is yellow, always
liquid at the ordinary temperature in Africa ; that which is
expressed from the kernel,is white and more solid, and

used as an article of food by the natives. The former is —

the variety chiefly exported to this country. It is nearly of

the consistence of butter, and of a deep orange colour, and -

has a sweet taste, and a pleasant aromatic odour.

Notes on Glycerine. 585

- The following plan is adopted in manufacturing glycerine
from palm oil. Steam, at a temperature of 550° to 600°
Fahrenheit, is introduced into a distillatory apparatus, con-
taining a quantity of palm oil. The fatty acids take up
their equivalents of water, as does also the glycerine, and
they are then distilled together into a receiver, where the
condensed glycerine, being of a greater specific gravity than
the fatty acids, sinks below them, and is gradually removed.
If not of the proper density, it is concentrated; if dis-
coloured, it is re-distilled. The best glycerine has a specific
eravity of 1:26, and contains 98 per cent. of anhydrous
glycerine. Its chemical formula is Cg Hg Og.

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the superiority of glyce-
rine prepared in this manner over that manufactured by
the common processes, in which the glycerine produced is
always more or less contaminated by the lime, oxide of
lead, chlorine, and other reagents employed for the pur-
pose of separating it from the fatty acids.

Amongst a very large number of specimens of glycerine
which I have examined, I have found none completely free
from impurities except Price’s, and all authors are unani-
mous upon this point.* In writing of the properties of this
substance, I wish it, therefore, to be understood that pure
glycerine is referred to, as I have known considerable dis-
appointment, annoyance, and occasional injury to result
from the employment of common impure glycerine.

When pure, it is a colourless inodorous liquid, of the
consistence of a thick syrup, and of a fresh, sweet taste. It
is soluble, in any proportions, in alcohol and in water. It
is not crystallisable, and possesses no influence upon pola-
rised light. It does not absorb oxygen from the air, and,
consequently, is not liable to rancidity, but, as it has a
ereat affinity for moisture, it should be kept in closely
stoppered bottles. It has no effect upon vegetable colours.
Its selvent power has a more extensive range than even
alcohol, as it is capable of dissolving some substances upon
which the latter has no action.

When acted upon by the weaker acids, no change of
composition is effected, but when it is mixed with strong

* In illustration of the care which is exercised in the distillation of
glycerine at Price’s Works, it may be mentioned that, in the last part
of the process, the glycerine is distilled through pipes lined with silver,
in order to avoid its contact with any metal which might contaminate
the glycerine. It is also frequently submitted to test in the laboratory,
so as to guard against the accidental presence of any impurity.

586 Notes on Glycerine.

acids, sulphuric or phosphoric acid, for example, increase of
temperature takes place, and a new compound, sulpho-
elyceric, or phospho-glyceric acid, &c., is formed. If equal
parts of glycerine and concentrated nitric acid are mixed
together at a low temperature, a yellowish, oleaginous fluid
is produced of a sweet, pungent taste, insoluble in water,
but soluble in alcohol and ether, and slightly volatile. This
substance, glonoine or nitro-glycerine, is powerfully explo-
sive on percussion. In a dilute form (one drop with 100
drops of rectified spirit), it has been employed medicinally,
and according to the published observations of practi-
tioners by whom it has been administered, it possesses no
small influence over neuralgic and convulsive affections.
Further investigation is requisite to establish its claim-to a
position among the Materia Medica.

Having already insisted upon the importance of the use
of pure glycerine, it may be expected that the principal
impurities found in glycerine should be pointed out in this
sketch, and we will, therefore, now enter upon this
point.

The impurities existing in improperly prepared glycerine
result from two sources:—I. Incomplete purification ; 2.
Adulteration.

If water has been added, and this I have sometimes
ascertained to constitute a drawback to the use of pure
glycerine, having been introduced by the retail seller for
the purpose of diminishing the commercial value, the specific.
gravity will at once show this adulteration. The best
glycerine, as has been mentioned in an earlier part of this
paper, has a specific gravity of 1°26, when it contains only
2 per cent. of water; at a rather lower specific gravity,
namely, 1°24, it contains 4 per cent. of water.

The impurities most frequently met with in badly pre-
pared glycerine are,—the volatile fatty acids, oxide of lead
(litharge), lime, different metallic bases, chlorine, and sul-
phuric acid.

If a small quantity of glycerine, containing the volatile
fatty acids, be poured into the palm and rubbed between
the hands, a peculiar fetid, mouse-like odour will be
evolved. ;

The presence of lime may be readily detected by the
addition of a solution of oxalate of ammonia. The lime is
thrown down in the form of an abundant white precipitate
of oxalate of lime.

The addition of a solution of nitrate of silver generally

~

Notes on Glycerine. 587

produces a precipitate with all specimens of glycerine,
except Price’s. This is owing to the circumstance that
chlorine has been employed in order to bleach the glyce-
rine, so as to make it look colourless and pale, or it may
arise from the existence of chlorides in the water, which is
combined with the glycerine.

If sulphuric acid or sulphates be present, the fact will be
ascertained in a similarly easy manner by adding to the
glycerine a solution of the chloride of barium, or of the
nitrate of baryta; the precipitation of a white substance,
sulphate of baryta, insoluble in nitric acid, results if any
of the impurities belonging to this group (the sulphates)
exist in the glycerine.

Glycerine. is frequently adulterated with grape-sugar
(glucose), or with syrup made with common sugar, honey,
or treacle, the object in view being to imitate the sweet
taste of pure glycerine, or to disguise other impurities. To
detect the adulteration of grape-sugar, a small piece of
caustic potash should be boiled in a test-tube with some of
the glycerine ; this, if impure, turns almost immediately to
a dark brown colour.

Common cane sugar is not soluble in glycerine, but the
latter can hold in suspension about Io per cent. of syrups
of sugar, treacle, or honey. The detection of adulteration
with saccharine matter, may be effected by the polarimeter,
as pure glycerine has no action upon polarised light, while
the ray is diverged to the right if cane sugar or giucose
exist in the fluid. Chemically, the presence of either cane
or grape sugar may be ascertained by mixing the glycerine
with a solution of sulphate of copper, and then adding a
solution of caustic potash, in excess. In the event of adul-
teration by either of these substances, a deep blue colour
is produced. The solution containing cane sugar retains
its blue colour for some time, only a small quantity of red-
dish powder (sub-oxide of copper) being thrown down. If.
heat is applied to the solution in which grape sugar is con-
‘tained, an abundant greenish precipitate, rapidly changing
to scarlet, and subsequently to red sub-oxide of copper, is
produced, and the solution resumes its original colourless
condition.

If I have dwelt upon the impurities found in glycerine,
and the mode of detecting them, at greater length than
might appear necessary, I must plead, as an excuse, the
fact that its properties are in great measure, or entirely,
negatived by their presence, so that it is most important to

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. 3.5

588 Literature.

know how to distinguish good from worthless, and some-.
times worse than worthless, glycerine.

Of the application of glycerine to various uses, I propose
to treat in the next number of the TECHNOLOGIST.

(To be continued.)

LITERATURE.

The People’s Magazine. An Illustrated Miscellany for all
Classes. No. 18. May 4th, 1867.

THE wonder arises how so much useful and entertaining
information can be supplied for so moderate a charge. We
offer no opinion regarding the merits of the illustrations,
but there can be little question that the reading matter of
the Miscellany is of general average quality, adapted to
suit a variety of tastes, and cheap at the price—in fact,
gives a good sixpenny-worth.

The title is very ambitious: it conveys the idea of an
enormous constituency, and if the idea suggested is verified
by the fact, it is highly important that all the articles should
be very good—and here we join issue. We say nothing
of the lighter part ; we confine our remarks to the more
scientific matter, and we affirm that it is not good enough
for the purpose it is intended to serve. We know by ex-
perience how difficult it is to handle science popularly, and
to furnish solid information in a readable form—there is
always the fear that in our endeavours to dress dry facts
in common every-day attire, we may fail to do justice to
them, and perhaps altogether distort their meaning, or cur-
tail the subject to such a degree that little real knowledge
can accrue to the reader. The article on the “ Science of
Common Things” brings prominently before us the obstacles
which oppose when an attempt is made to write on high
subjects from a low level; we think it is better to avoid
doing so; and if it is considered necessary to supply scien-
tific information at all, to go the whole way, and ensure
that it is thoroughly reliable. In the article alluded to,
bearing the rather catchpenny sub-title, “A Drop of Rain,”
we find an instance of loose writing on a scientific subject.
The author, in a chance allusion to attempts that have
been made to predict weather, states that the majority
of forecasts were incorrect ; he gives the force and direction —
of the wind only as a guide to assist in prediction, whereas

Literature, 589

the fact is that the consideration of the face of the sky as
the appearance of the clouds, and also barometric changes
are great aids in enabling us to determine the approach of
bad weather. He is right so far as he goes, but he does
not go far enough. Again, when treating of “the inequality
of the distribution of rain,’ (he here refers to the effects of
an ordinary shower, not to the varying amount of the rain-
fall in different countries, as one would gather from the
language), he is quite right when he tells the public that a
rain-gauge placed on the ground will catch more rain than
will one at a higher level, and he is accurate in his state-
ment that rain-drops augment as they nearthe earth. He
then makes this one circumstance the sole cause of that
effect, and suppresses other circumstances that go to swell
the aggregate result—passing by the theory of Mr. Sevons,
that currents of air which play around the gauge placed
on the ground may increase the quantity, or the likelihood
that rain falling from a height may rebound into a vessel
placed to receive it. This may appear to be trivial, but it
is better to glance at all possible concomitants that may
tend to bring about a certain result than to suppress them.
Moreover not a word is said respecting the course of the
rain becoming horizontal as it approaches the earth, which
alteration in direction would explain the increased size of
the rain-drops, and render them more likely to fall into the
gauge, and lessen the probability of their being carried
away by currents of air.

An allusion is made to a clumsy contrivance to gauge
the depth of rain after a shower, and a pail and a two-foot
rule are alluded to as a means for attaining the end, al
though we may well ask, what on earth do we want a two-
foot rule for, when, by the author’s own showing, the aver-
age rain-fall at Greenwich is about 25 inches per annum—
and in this he is under the mark.

In our opinion, a very poor article has been written on
an extremely interesting subject—one that would allowa
man who knew his text to give a great amount of sterling
information in a readable form, which certainly does not
hold good in the article we are noticing, for we defy the
ordinary types of the classes to which the magazine is ad-
dressed to understand the latter half of the article in ques-
tion. It is about the dryest and most tedious piece of com-
position it has been our ill-fortune to read for many a day.
Amongst other points calculated to interest, the difference
in the rain-fall in different parts of the globe might have
been touched upon. Persons who have not travelled or

590 Literature.

read much would have been surprised to read of an annual
rain-fall of 600 inches, for example ; and a consideration of
rainy days at high latitudes, tropical showers, and much
other vastly amusing and useful information, might have
been given.

History of Rationalism. By JOHN F. HURST ae
Revised and Enlarged from the Third American Edition.
London: Triibner and Co.

WE do not believe that ignorance is ever really blissful
and assuredly it is never safe. The general reluctance to
read sceptical books is natural, and on the whole, exceed-
ing wise. The time devoted to studying the attacks upon
Christianity would be better employed in studying Christi-
anity itself. But the sceptics are much indebted to this
reluctance for their reputation and position. They boast
of their reason, and the Christian world is prone to think
that infidelity is a dreadful power which it is discreet to
avoid because it would be dangerous to encounter. We
therefore deem Dr. Hurst’s History of Rationalism a
useful and much needed work. It is a work that no one
will be afraid to read, for the author does not profess
impartiality, but writes in the spirit, and with the zeal, of a
Christian. Yet he deals fairly with the sceptics. He re-
cites their opinions very fully, and as far as possible in their
own language. Those who read this work will learn as
much about the creed and arguments of infidelity as it is
necessary to know, and the knowledge will be extremely
reassuring.

One important fact stands out in bold relief. It is
that the rationalism of this age is only a hash of the
infidelity of past ages. Strauss, Renan, Colenso, and
Leckey, only present us with modern editions of the
opinions of Paine, Voltaire, and other Deists of the eighteenth
century. Their ideas and their arguments are merely old
ideas and arguments ina nineteenth century dress. There
is, however, a difference in the method. The Deists were
avowed assailants of Christianity, but the Rationalists pro-
fess a certain respect for Christianity. The Deists de-
nounced Christianity as an imposture. The plan of the
Rationalists is more cunning. They do not ask us to
reject Christianity. By all means they would have it
retained as a system of philosophy, that was formerly of
great service to mankind, and which may still be of service —
if duly corrected and improved by them. They are in

Literature. | 591

favour of Christianity, provided all the divine element is
eliminated, and they, the Rationalists, are permitted to pro-
mulgate a new faith, in which they are willing to retain the
name of Christ as an honoured teacher of their own type
and calibre. We venture to say, that no one who reads
Dr. Hurst’s book will be beguiled by the flimsy pretexts
of the Rationalists. Therein rationalism appears stripped |
of its disguise, and as the uncompromising foe of
Christianity.

A Handy-book of Meteorology. By ALEXANDER BUCHAN,
M.A. Blackwood and Sons.

WE have real pleasure in recommending the above valuable
work on one of the most important departments of natural
philosophy, which although in a comparatively infant stage
of development has, of late, received a great impetus
in growth, and is engaging the attention of scientific men,
amongst whom our author holds a high place. We havea
large amount of extremely useful information ina con-
densed form. The historical sketch of the invention of
meteorological instruments and the more conspicuous dis-
coveries in this direction is full of interest.

A well merited tribute of praise is given to Commo-
dore Maury and the late Admiral Fitzroy, for the services
they have rendered to navigation, the former by his ocean
charts, and the latter by his system of storm warnings, with
which indeed the name of the late Admiral will always
be associated, warnings afforded by practical observance of
the barometer, the direction of the wind and the cirrus
cloud (horse tail), and although it is impossible, on our
coast, to predict, with unerring precision, the coming of a
storm, it isin our power, by careful observation, to warn
our seaports of its probable burst.

A very elaborate description of the various barometric
instruments, for measuring the pressure of the atmosphere,
at different altitudes, is given, and the improvements for
ensuring more exact readings areminutelytreated. The ther-
mometer and the distribution of terrestrial temperature are
discussed—hygrometry receives its share of attention—the
production of mists, fogs, clouds, rain, winds, &c., is ex-
plained, and under the respective heads we: have an ex-
haustive account of their various causes.

The question of storms as they occur in all climates is
philosophically handled, and excellent charts to illustrate
the subject are given, which are explanatory of the direc-
tion and force of the winds.

———
¥
q .
- i J
a

592 ; Learned Soctettes. | .

By no means the least interesting portion of this book,
is the miscellaneous information in which atmospheric elec-
tricity, thunderstorms, whirlwinds, optical phenomena, the
weather, &c., are ably considered, and under this last head
we cordially agree with the author in the censure he casts
upon almanac makers, and other would-be weather-wise
charlatans who pretend that they can foretell, months before,
what weather we shall have, whereas the truth is, that about
three days is the outside term for trustworthy prediction.

We are unable to do credit to this masterly performance
in the space at our disposal, we can only express a hope
that people will study for themselves a book from which
they cannot fail to gain much valuable instruction.

LEARNED: SO CIETTIES

ROYAL SOCIETY, May 2.—Amongst other interesting
papers, one on a Self-Acting Focus Equaliser, by Mr. A.
Claudet, was particularly worthy of notice. The object of
the instrument is to give an artistic and harmonious cha-
racter to the portraits, and to ensure that the definition of
the various phases of the figure is equalized. Portraits,
which had been produced by this process, were exhibited,
and much admired.

ETHNOLOGICAL, MAY 7.—A paper was read “On the
Indians of the Darien Peninsula,” by Dr. Cullen. The Red
Indians were described as a handsome race, with lithe
limbs, admirably adapted to gliding through the dense
vegetation of the country. Their stature is low, but the
physique generally good. They fish and hunt, are in-
dustrious and peaceable. The canoes they use are made
of calli calli,a wood like cedar.

ACCLIMATIZATION SOCIETY.—At the general meeting
of the Acclimatization Society, held May 4th, at the So-
ciety of Arts, Adelphi, Captain Malcolm, M.P., in the chair,
Mr. Frank Buckland, Her Majesty's Inspector of Salmon
Fisheries, reported that he had during the season 1866-7
distributed to various members of the society and others
eggs and fry of the salmonide as follows :—Great lake
trout, 37,000; salmon, 15,450; trout, 11,025—making a
total of 30,175. He had distributed in consignments vary-
ing from 50 to 10,000. Among the recipients were General
Seymour, Ranger of Windsor Great Park, for Her Majesty
the Queen; his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, the Earl
of Portsmouth, the Earl of Mountcharles, the Lord Bishop

Miscellaneous. 593

of Oxford, the Stour (Canterbury) Fishery Association (per
Mr. Montague Kingsford), and several other gentlemen
interested in practical fish-culture. He mentioned the
names of the gentlemen who had kindly helped him and
his assistant Nevill in obtaining the eggs, and requested
that a vote of thanks should be accorded them, especially
to the authorities of the French Société Imperiale de Pisci-
culture. He was happy to be able to state that all the
distributions had taken place without (except in one in-
stance) accident, and that he still had sufficient fry left in
the hatching troughs in the Museum of Economic Fish
Culture at the Royal Horticultural Gardens, South Ken-
sington, for exhibiting the process to the public. Mr.
Arden proposed, “ That the best thanks of the Society be
given to Mr. Buckland for his valuable services in the
science of fish culture,’ which was seconded by Mr. H. J.
B. Hancock, B.L. Mr. Buckland, in returning thanks, said
the new science of fish-culture was of great importance,
and he had no doubt, if the Society held together, good
results would inevitably follow.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

The Annual Athletic Sports of the Civil Service were
held at Beaufort House, on the 17th and 18th ult., and
passed off with great success.

There was a large attendance of ladies to witness the
various performances; and we are certain to find the fair
sex as ready to countenance by their presence feats calcu-
lated to improve the manhood of the present day, as they
were, in more chivalric times, to smile upon the combatants
in knightly sports of a far less tame character. The walk-
ing was fair, and the pace tolerably good for amateurs.
We were rather struck with the poorly developed muscle
of several of the competitors, which may be owing to the
fact, that most of them have only taken to athletic sports
as men not having been addicted to them from early youth,
and, again, the sedentary pursuits of the members of the
Club, probably leave them little time for practice. We
should be glad to see athletic sports much more cultivated
in England than they now are, especially in the case of
boys, to whom regular exercise of muscle is of great benefit,
in developing them into strong hardy men. For all who
enjoy good health, open air sports are of marked service

594 . Miscellaneous.

in preserving it, provided the fatigue undergone is not in-
ordinate. The fear with young men is, that an abrupt tran-
sition from a life of comparative inactivity, to one in which
violent exertion is taken, may induce disease of the heart
or lungs, it therefore behoves them to gradually train
themselves for competitive trials of strength, wind, and
fleetness, and to guard in this, as in all matters, against
excess. If the constitution is originally sound, the diet
during preparation, based upon rules of common sense,
and adapted to fully support the powers, and the work
gradually increased, no harm will ensue from preparing for,
or entering upon these contests, on the contrary, the
results will be beneficial to health, more especially if the
man has been from childhood accustomed to active sports,
which points to the advisability of paying attention to
gymnastics of all kinds in our schools; in fact, making
physical proceed, pavz passu, with mental education.
HALL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

Yet another Immortelle was, on the 20th ultimo, placed
upon the grave of the late Prince Consort. We do
not believe in heroes of any kind, so we do not go in for
worship. There are no demi-gods in these degenerate days.
However, the late Prince Consort was a good enlightened
gentleman, who did much in his generation to further
studies which tend to soften the manners of men, and well
deserves a monument, which we trust may prove @re peren-
mius, and. conclude the series of institutions, associated with
his memory, for useful as the services he rendered to the
cause of art and science were, enough has been done to
testify our appreciation of them, and we say of his name
vequiescat in pace.

The day on which the ceremonial took place was a
melancholy one, as befitted the solemnity of the occasion ;
rain threatened all the morning, and towards the close of
the proceedings carried its threat into execution, in the
shape of a disagreeable drizzle. The Prince of Wales read
a touching address which alluded to the manifold mournful
associations of the day. Her Majesty, dressed in the
deepest mourning, spoke of her presence as “a struggle to
which she had nerved herself,’ and was altogether deeply
affected, she, however recovered sufficiently to go through
the usual formula, with the new coins, gold trowel, and
ivory hammer. The Archbishop of Canterbury prayed.
A musical composition of the lamented Prince was oi
The Queen left, and the rain fell heavily. |

THE

THCHNOLOGIST.

—o-——_

FUEN,< 1367.

—-0-—-—=

er PALE OF THE CONFEDERACY:

A POLIMICAL POST MORTEM,
BY JOHN BAKER HOPKINS.
(Concluded from page 481.)

CHAPTER IV. THE CONFEDERATE POLICY.

UCCESS, whether an enterprise be good or bad, is the
fruit of merit, and failure is the fruit of demerit.
Whatever we reap, that we have sown. It is therefore a
righteous instinct that prompts us to pay homage to the
victor, and to disparage the genius, or the judgment, or the
conduct of the defeated. Not to believe that the reward
is according to the work is worse than political atheism,
for it implies the belief that there is a supreme but capri-
cious or unjust Government. But even as men know by
instinct that there is a God, so they are persuaded, not by
argument, but by an inner consciousness, that there is no
partiality in the decrees of Providence, and that in every
instance the recompense is according to the desert; and
for the vindication and support of this faith in the unerring
wisdom and justice of the Deity, as well as for the sake of
instruction, it behoves us, without fear or hesitation, to
consider the causes of failure as well as the causes of
SUCCESS.

It is exceptionally important to do so with respect to the
Confederacy. To shirk the inquiry on the false plea of
generosity to the unsuccessful is to cast a slur upon the
people of the South, or else to vindicate the judgment of
the Confederate administration at the expense of their
moral character.

It is possible that the Confederate administration might

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. 3 &

596 The Fall of the Confederacy.

tell us that they deplored, but could not prevent the un-
timely revolution, and they might assert that the war, whe-
ther precipitate or not, was forced upon them. But however
that may be, their subsequent responsibility is not to be
gainsayed. When the conflict began, when it went on,
homes being desolated and men slain, the Confederate
administration would have been guilty of a crime of un-
precedented atrocity if they had not felt convinced that
their ultimate triumph was, according to human judgment,
certain. Surely no one will be so cruelly unjust to the
Confederate administration as to suppose that they satu-
rated a continent with human blood on what they deemed
a doubtful issue. On the other hand, no one will dare to
assert that the Southern people failed the administration.
What then were the causes of failure? What were the
bases of the hope of success? Were those bases inherently
weak, or were they destroyed by a weak, and it may be, a
perverse policy ?

The contingencies on which the Confederate administra-
a relied for success were—

. The North giving up the struggle.

Disunion in the North.

3. Foreign intervention.

If the combatants were to be let alone, and were to go on
until the exhaustion of one of them, the triumph of the
North, of the power with greater numbers and resources, was
indubitable. Was it likely that the North would give in?
There is no example in history of a people relinquishing em-
pire until reduced to the last extremity. Spain and England
clung passionately to their American colonies. Had it not
been for the European complication England would have
persisted for a longer time in the almost ruinous struggle.
Spain was in a condition of enervation, yet she fought for
her American possessions with pertinacity. If England
and Spain contended so resolutely for colonies, for distant
dependencies, was it likely that the North would be less
resolute in fighting for the retention of territory separated
from her by rivers, not by an ocean, and that was geo-
graphically a part of her country, even as England and
Wales constitute one country ? The South does not geo-
graphically bear the same relation to the North that Ireland
does to Great Britain, but the nearer relation that Scotland
does to the rest of the Island. It was not merely impro-
bable, it was, according to experience, impossible that the
North would give in, and consent to the loss of the South

The Fall of the Confederacy. 597

until every effort had been made to preserve the integrity
of the Empire. Beyond this there were special reasons
for Northern determination. The Confederates declared
that they would fight to the bitter end, and that, if neces-
sary, the war should be continued for many years. The
North never credited these assertions. The lookers on in
Europe were amused with Secretary Seward’s frequent and
positive announcements that the war would be over in 60 or
go days. Yet Mr. Seward in this only expressed the gene-
ral opinion of the Northern people. At the beginning they
did not contemplate a long or costiy contention, and
throughout the war it was supposed that each enrolment
and each campaign was to be the last. The Revolution was
so hurried that the North never believed in it, but felt con-
fident they had to deal with a conspiracy only that kept
down the hereditary Unionism of the South.

Further, to give up the South was to resign the dearest
hope and to disappoint the strongest passion of the nation.
Every citizen of the United States called himself an Ame-
rican. Southern gentlemen were not less frequently than
Northern gentlemen chosen to represent the Union at
foreign courts. Did they evince any dislike to the dream
or prospect of continental ascendancy? On the contrary,
igporing the fact that there were other American govern-
ments represented at the foreign courts to which they
were accredited, they, the representatives of the Washing-
ton government, adopted the style of “The American
Minister.’ All sections, all parties, all conditions of men
accepted and fostered the grand and pleasing idea of con-
tinental dominion, the idea which found expression in the
so-called Monroe doctrine. Why, if there had been no
other motive—if, unlike all other peoples, the people of the
United States had been disposed to part with territory
without fighting for it until exhausted—this passion for and
hope of continental dominion would have prevented them
from so doing.

Nevertheless it is evident that the Confederate adminis-
tration thought it a possible eventuality that the North
would give in. There was no attempt to husband means
and to protract the war; the resources of the country
being lavished on a few campaigns. The supplies of mate-
riel and of men were straitly limited, yet neither were
spared. A Fabian policy was eschewed, and battles were
fought in which victory must be barren except so far as it
produced a moral effect. The motives of this policy were

2 ee

598 The Fall of the Confederacy.

to impress foreign nations with the idea that the Confede-
racy was a de facto Power, and to persuade the North to
relinquish a terrible and costly struggle. There was a
great deal said about the North being a trading commu-
nity, and also about the finances of the North breaking
down. Did the Confederate administration suppose that
commerce enervates a people? Are not the English a
trading people ? Yet they have borne their part in warfare,
and have not always been free from the greed of territory
and the love of dominion. So far from commerce ener-
vating a nation it fosters a spirit of enterprise, and a spirit
of enterprise begets that endurance which so often triumphs
over great difficulties and apparently crushing disaster.

The theory of Northern insolvency stopping the war was
wild, and at best a two-edged sword that mostly threatened
the Confederacy. Did the French cease to war when they
were a bankrupt nation? Did the colonists return to their
allegiance to the Crown of England when their currency
was so depreciated as to be practically all but valueless?
Sometimes, not often, an impoverished exchequer has pre-
vented a war; but when empire or nationality has been at
stake war has never been stopped by financial embarrass-
ment. But setting this aside, the Confederate suggestion
of Federal financial exhaustion ending the war was exceg¢d-
ingly curious and ill-advised. The financial resources of
the North were greater than those of the South, and the
Confederate treasury was sure to be depleted before the
Northern treasury. If financial difficulty was to decide the
issue there was no hope for the Confederacy. In propor-
tion as the Confederate administration relied on the North
giving in they underrated their opponents ; and to under-
rate the strength of an adversary is a dangerous and very
frequently a fatal blunder.

Still more unfounded was the hope of Federal disunion.
To depend on this was to discount the results of victory.
It was to count on a probable consequence of victory as an
aid in the fight. If the Confederacy had triumphed the
further disintegration of the Union was not impossible ;
and this, by the way, which was so constantly paraded by
the Confederate press, could only stimulate the North to
renewed exertions to prevent a disunion that would pro-
duce further disunion. It is not in the time of war that
federations fall to pieces, and this the Confederate admi-
nistration should have considered. Why was it that in the
Congress and in the press of the United States there was

The Fall of the Confederacy. 599

kept alive a constant jealousy of Europe ? Why in the hour
of civil dissension were there mutterings against England?
It is no secret that in bygone days the threat of a foreign
war was regarded as the remedy for symptoms of disunion
at home. If there was a chance of the West joining the
South, or of the Border States uniting with the Confede-
racy, secession should have been delayed, or at least war
should have been postponed. When war was begun there
was no chance of the West or of the Border States going
over to the Cofnederacy. Having enlisted under the flag
of the Union, a junction with the Confederacy involved the
scandal of desertion. War, no doubt, put a sudden end
to Unionism in the South, but it also intensified the
Unionism of the North. There was, we repeat, a proba-
bility that if the Confederacy triumphed the Union would
be split up into two or more federations; but the pro-
bable results of victory could not help the Confederacy,
and indeed were in this case more likely to help the North.
Instead of predicting further disunion, it would have been
prudent for the Confederate administration to have con-
cealed a danger that must needs have inspired the North
to fight on whilst there was a dollar in the treasury and a
man to be enlisted. It was an excess of candour to per-
petually assure the North that the establishment of the
Southern Confederacy would bring about the secession of
the Western States.

Curiously enough, whilst the Confederate administration
to some extent calculated upon a division in the North,
and whilst it was of course their policy to promote dis-
union, they did many things that were sure to embitter
North, East, and West, and all classes against the Con-
federacy. It was supposed that the merchants and traders
of the North were kindly disposed to the Confederacy.
What was the conduct of the Confederate administration ?
They sent forth cruisers to capture and destroy Northern
shipping. Now these exploits had not the slightest influ--
ence on the progress of the war. They did not add to the
military strength of the South, or detract from the military
strength of the North. The only effect they had was to
incense the commercial community, and to make the mer-
chants of the North the implacable foes of the Confede-
racy. Then how did the Confederate administration deal
with the West? The Western States were exhorted not
to injure their best customers. They were told that it
was their interest to ally themselves with the free-trade

ts ae ey
a fs hey
du

600 The Fall of the Confederacy.

Confederacy, and that they might grow rich by supplying
the South with bread-stuffs, whilst the South devoted her
labour and skill to the cultivation of exportable produce.
Simultaneously the Western States were selected for raid-
ing expeditions, which alarm and irritate but do not
weaken. The West was to desert the North and side with
the Confederacy, and yet it was the West that suffered
most from hostile incursions. It is not very extraordinary
that the West became peculiarly vindictive against the
Confederacy.

One more illustration of this perverse policy. The
Northern peace party, nearly destroyed by the fall of Fort
Sumter, gradually revived during the years 1862 and 1863.
It was perhaps never so formidable as some thought it
to be; yet it was powerful enough to make the war party
uneasy. It was spreading in the West as well as in the
Atlantic cities. The Knights of the Golden Circle were a
dangerous organization. The peace party did not pro-
pose, and we may add, did not contemplate, complete sepa-
ration of North and South. It stoutly opposed the
policy of the Federal administration, and clamoured fora
truce and negotiations. Nowa truce would have been of
immense value to the Confederacy. The pause would have
given the South an opportunity to recruit its strength, for
the Confederate armies were depleted more by want of
rest than by death and wounds. The moral and political
effect of a truce would have been favourable to the Con-
federacy both in America and in Europe. It would have
been indeed a qguasz recognition of the Confederacy asa
de facto Power, since a truce for negotiation is not usual in
rebellion or civil war. Besides, any negotiation must have
induced violent differences in the North. ‘The peace party
were for peace on any terms short of complete separation.
They were ready to uphold all the rights and privileges of
the South, and to offer fresh guarantees for the mainten-
ance of the institution of negro slavery. It was so notorious
that the New England States would not consent to any
such terms that there was talk of the secession of New
England—of leaving New England out in the cold. It
was certain that the peace party would have been too
feeble to carry out its programme, and the defeat of its
candidate for the Presidency, General McClellan, was a
foregone conclusion; yet it was of importance to the Con-
federacy to help the peace party, and so as far as possible
to divide the North. But what was the course of the

The Fall of the Confederacy. 601

Confederate administration? At the critical moment they
denounced the peace party—the Northern democracy—in
an abusive strain, rare in the bitterest controversies. The
war party laughed at the grotesque position of their poli-
tical opponents, and the Democratic party was shocked,
paralysed, and suffered an overwhelming defeat. The
Democratic party was spurned by the Confederate admi-
nistration, and henceforth there was not an anti-war party
in the West. Surely such rashness on the part of the Con-
federate administration is unexampled, yet the facts are
indisputable. We contend that there was no foundation
for the hope that the federation would disintegrate during
the war. It was, however, a hope entertained by the Con-
federate administration, and it was unquestionably their
policy to do what they could to foment division in the
North. Yet, as we have seen, they did what they could
to irritate North, West, and East, and to unite all classes,
and all parties against the Confederacy. ‘They extin-
guished the feeble hope of Northern disunion by a perverse
policy.

The main reliance of the Confederate administration
was on foreign intervention. It was not mere recognition
for which the South was anxious, and against which the
North so energetically protested. Formal recognition was
desired by the one, and opposed by the other, because
recognition pending a civil war is the immediate fore-
runner of intervention. The Confederate administration
did not, and perhaps could not, hide their dependence upon
Europe for ultimate triumph. It was for the sake of the
impression on Europe that the Confederate lines were not
contracted, by which means the war might have been pro-
longed. Nor did the expectation of foreign aid fade away
until the last. A few months before the Confederate col-
lapse there were overtures of peace. Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Seward went southward to manage the negotiations. The
terms offered were all that could be hoped for under the cir-
cumstances. The North only insisted upon two conditions.
The South was to return to the Union and negro slavery
was to be abolished. If these conditions were accepted
the Southern States were to resume their former position,
and there was to be a complete amnesty. Unless the South
was triumphant, and could dictate terms of peace, the
return to the Union was a necessary condition; and after
what had happened negro slavery could not survive the
Confederacy. When these overtures were, made the posi-

602 The Fall of the Confederacy.

tion of the Confederacy was desperate. Its armies could
not be recruited, and neither the genius of Lee nor the
valour of his troops could much longer resist the ceaseless
and increasing pressure of the Federal forces. Why then
were the Northern propositions rejection? Success was
beyond the pale of probability, and therefore better terms
could not be obtained. Must we charge the Confederate
administration with the prodigious crime of rejecting a fair
opportunity of ending a hopeless conflict? If so we must
hold the Confederate administration morally responsible
for every life lost in the war from the hour of the James
river conference to the surrender of the Confederate army.
Such a charge and such a conclusion would be a foul
aspersion. The error of the Confederate administration ~
was an error of judgment, not a moral crime. They
still indulged in the hope of foreign intervention. When
the news of the fall of Richmond reached Europe a
special agent of the Confederate Government was in
Paris making a final effort to obtain intervention. Of
the three contingencies on which the Confederate ad-
ministration based their hopes of success that of foreign
intervention was apparently the most plausible. England
might get cotton from India, and would not incur the risk
of a collision even for the sake of her staple industry ;
but was it likely that she would not embrace the oppor-
tunity of dividing a power that perpetually threatened her
dominion in America?

Was it not also sure that France, which had aided the
formation of the Empire in Mexico, would support the Con-
federacy? If the Confederacy fell the Mexican Empire
must fall too. Was it likely that the French Government
would set up an empire that it did not mean to sustain in
the only way it could be effectually sustained? It would
be tedious to recount the arguments for and against recog-
nition. We have evidence enough that the expectation of
intervention was not utterly unfounded. There was a Con-
federate party in France. There was a Confederate party
in England. It needed but a little, a very little addition to
the pro-Confederate sympathy to turn the scale. We will
not hazard an opinion as to whether it was in the power
of the Confederate administration to have turned the scale
of European sentiment actively in favour of the Confede-
racy; but beyond dispute they refused to adopt a policy
that would have converted a host of opponents into well-
wishers, and they adhered to a policy that gave the North
overwhelming moral force in Europe.

P af joy (_# ;
mr
ena

The Fall of the Confederacy. 603

The Revolution was untimely, yet, as we have seen, there
was a prospect of success before the commencement of war.
The war was precipitate, yet there might have been a chance
of success but for a perverse policy culminating in a third
and fatal blunder. The Confederate administration did not
emancipate the negroes. This, we say, was the crowning
blunder, and those who will be at the pains to examine the
solution will be persuaded that the Confederate administra-
tion lost the last chance of independence in a vain effort
to uphold the institution of negro slavery.

CHAPTER V.—NEGRO EMANCIPATION.

WE were told that the North fought for empire, and the
South for independence. It was so. We were told by others
that the North fought for emancipation and the South for
negro slavery. It was so. ‘The majority of the Northern
people were intent on the preservation of the Union, and
strange and unprecedented would it have been if they had
submitted to the loss of empire without a life and death
struggle. Mr. Lincoln very well expressed the then popular
determination, when he said that he would retain negro
slavery to save the Union, or abolish it to save the Union. It
must not therefore be supposed that either Mr. Lincoln or
the majority of the Northern people were pro-slavery.
Not at all. They were resolved that the area of slavery
should not be extended by its introduction into the ter-
ritories of the Union, and they were persuaded that being
thus hemmed in there would be negro emancipation at no
distant date. No doubt, at least at the outset, with the bulk
of the Northern people, the single object of the war was
empire, or rather the preservation of empire. Hence, when ~
Mr. Lincoln issued his celebrated proclamation, he did not

pronounce for abolition, but rather proclaimed a condition
on which negro slavery might be continued. If, in January
1863, the South had chosen to return to the Union the in-
stitution of negro slavery would have been maintained.
It is no reproach to the Northern people that their object
was empire, for their motive was not the hateful lust of
territory, but the defence of an existing empire. Would
it be a crime for England to fight for Ireland? Yet Ireland
is not, geographically or ethnologically, so nearly allied to
England as the Southern States are to the Northern
States, and Scotland is not more truly a part of the

604 The Fall of the Confederacy.

British dominions than the Southern States are a part of
the Federation. 3

The South fought for independence; for the noblest
cause for which woman can weep or man can die. The
offer of a return to the Union, with the institution of negro
slavery intact was rejected. Not that the Southern people
were emancipationists. They were not so far in advance
of the Confederate administration. But just as the Northern
people would have sacrified abolitionism to save the Union,
so would the Southern people have given up negro slavery
for the sake of independence. If the choice had been pre-
sented, “ Emancipation of the negro, or submission to the
North,” the answer would have been all but unanimous,
“ Away with the institution of negro slavery.” .

The position was peculiar. The North in intent was
fighting for the Union, but it derived great moral and
material strength because it it was also fighting for negro
emancipation. The South fought for independence, and
its weakness was, that whilst the people only thought of
asserting their political rights, which they were induced
to believe were endangered by continued Union with the
_ North, the cause of independence was, by the policy of the
Confederate administration, associated with the defence of
negro slavery.

The losses sustained by the Confederacy by the policy of
non-emancipation were many, vast, and inevitable. There
was the loss of military power. Slaves could not be
conscripted, and if negro conscripts were emancipated the
negro race could not be kept in slavery. It was suggested
there was no actual military loss because the negroes cul-
tivated the fields, and all the white men were consequently
available for the camp. It is not possible to conceive a
poorer excuse for a gigantic blunder. No system has ever
been devised by which the whole of the fighting population
of a state can be enrolled. Besides boys and old men and
the feeble and decrepit, there will always be a host of
exempts ample for the purposes of agriculture. So it was
in the South and in the North, and so it has always been
in all countries. To exempt an entire section of the com-
munity, on the ground that the exemption would set free
the rest of the community for military service, is an act of
folly for which there was no precedent until it was com-
mitted by the Confederate administration. In ancient
times slaves had to fight. In later ages the serfs had to
follow their liege lords to battle. What would have been

The Fall of the Confederacy. 605

said if the Federal government had decreed that no men of
a less stature than 5ft. 6in., or that no men with black hair,
or that no men with names of two syllables should be en-
listed ? Such a decree would have been greeted with shouts
of derision, and the Federal administration would have been
faumted as madmen. Yet the practical result of the
non-emancipation policy of the South was precisely what
would have happened in the North if such a mad decree had
emanated from the White House. There were 400,000
negroes in the South capable of bearing arms, and the
exemption of negroes from military service deprived the
Confederacy of not less than 300,000 soldiers. Now, when
we reflect how often Southern victories were barren because
there was no reserve force to reap the harvest, how troops
needed in the field were obliged to remain in garrison, and
how long the issue seemed doubtful, it is hardly presump-
tuous to assert that if the Confederacy had been supported
by 300,000 negro troops that, even if it had not been
ultimately successful, the conflict would have lasted for
twice four years, and every year of war multiplied the
chances of foreign intervention. If anything were needed
to make the military loss sustained by the South through
the policy of non-emancipation more striking we have it
in the fact that the North adopted a policy of eman-
cipation, and that the Northern armies were recruited
with Southern negroes. But it is superfluous to recite
any other than the one fact that because the Con-
federate administration did not emancipate the negroes
the Confederate armies were deprived of the aid of 300,000
soldiers.

But the physical loss entailed by the non-emancipation
policy was small compared with other losses. Was the
North to be divided? Was the West to be tempted to
forsake the Union? Was the Northern people to give up
the costly struggle? Then one obstacle must be removed.
The West had no quarrel with the South on fiscal ques-
tions, but the West was devoted to the cause of Aboli-
tionism and would not forsake the North so long as the
North included emancipation in its programme and the
South adhered to its non-emancipation policy. It might
have been that the North would grow weary of the war
and rather than incur the risk of European interven-
tion would recognize the Confederacy, hoping that in the
days to come there might be reunion. But if so, one
obstacle must be removed. So long as emancipation was

606 The Fall of the Confederacy.

included in the programme of the North, and so long as
the Confederacy adhered to a policy of non-emancipation,
the Abolitionists, who before the war preferred to let the
South go rather than have negro slavery in the Union,
would have prevented peace on the basis of the dissolution
of the Union, because the war for the Union had become
a war for negro emancipation. Yes, this question of
emancipation, which the Federal and Confederate ad-
ministrations and Europe deemed of secondary import-
ance, was all-important. Because the Confederate ad-
ministration would not give up negro slavery it lost the
aid of 300,000 soldiers; and because the Federal adminis-
tration adopted the policy of emancipation it kept the
West loyal to the East—loyal, we mean, not only as part
of the Union, but in the sense of being zealous and
unanimous in the prosecution of hostilities against the
Confederacy. | .
We have said that the Confederate administration relied
mainly for success on foreign intervention. We desire to
offer no opinion as to whether recognition—which is an-
other name for intervention—would have followed from
negro emancipation, or even whether foreign intervention
would have secured the triumph of the Confederacy. But
no one will deny that negro slavery stood in the way of re-
cognition ; and when we remember what an influential pro-
Southern party there was both in England and France,
and how the friends of the North met every argument put
forth on behalf of the South by reminding us that the
Confederacy upheld the institution of negro slavery, there
is some sense in supposing that if the South had adopted
the policy of emancipation the hope of foreign inter-
vention would not have proved fallacious. Yes, at every
turn this negro slavery question meets us. The more we
reflect the more thoroughly we are convinced that the war
of Empire and of Independence was really a war of eman-
cipation. The Confederacy adhered to negro slavery and
failed; it might have won if the negroes had been eman- -
cipated. The North adopted the policy of emancipation,
and won; and despite her numerical resources might have
been beaten but for the policy of emancipation. After
close investigation and mature reflection we are persuaded
that the North would not have been so soon if ever trium-
phant without conjoining the cause of emancipation to the
cause of the Union. Perhaps this may be debateable
ground, but it is, we submit, manifest that the Confederacy |

The Fall of the Confederacy. 607

lost much material, political and moral, force by a policy of
non-emancipation, and that whether the Confederacy might
or might not have triumphed if the negroes had been
emancipated, the non-emancipation policy of the Confede-
rate administration rendered triumph improbable.

Are we deceived as to the motive of Secession? Was
independence a pretence? Was the motive of the Revolu-
tion the defence of negro slavery? Was the desolating
war waged to keep the coloured race in fetters ? We know
it was not so. We know that there was no wavering in
respect to independence. We know that the offer of the
retention of negro slavery, on condition of a return to the
Union, was rejected. We know, too, that in the last ex-
tremity the Confederate administration was ready to give
up negro slavery if by that means the Confederacy could
be saved. But when we grant, as we must do, that the
South fought for independence, it seems monstrous that
the Confederate administration did not adopt the policy
of emancipation. To adhere to the institution of negro
slavery was to sacrifice at least a third of their military
strength, was to make the West an unswerving foe, was to
raise a formidable obstacle to foreign recognition, and was
to render immediate foreign intervention impossible. As
the war went on non-emancipation became more and more
manifestly impolitic. It was bad enough whilst the Federal
administration hesitated, but it was incalculably worse when
the cause of negro emancipation was allied to the cause of
the Union; for then the North gained many advantages over
their opponents, and strength was added to strength. It
might have been supposed that at length the eyes of the
Confederate administration would have been opened, and
that the emancipation moves of the North would have been
met by counter emancipation moves. When Northern armies
were recruited by Southern negroes, it is inexpressibly
strange that the recruiting for the North was not promptly
stopped by enlisting the negroes in the Confederate armies.
When it was seen that the sympathy of Europe was chilled
because the North proclaimed negro emancipation, and the
South upheld negro slavery, it is truly marvellous that the
Confederate administration did not declare that an eman-
cipation policy was indispensable to the success of Con-
federacy, and decree the freedom of the negroes.

In all this may we not—must we not—reverently perceive
the will of God controlling the purposes of man? The
North entered upon the struggle and continued it for the

608 Lhe Fall of the Confederacy.

defence of empire, but in time made the war for the Union
become also a war for negro emancipation. Yes, and so in
all human probability gained the victory ; for if Abraham
Lincoln had refused to decree emancipation the North
would likely enough have been divided, and certainly
there would have been great danger of foreign interven-
tion. The South fought for independence, but would not
emancipate the negroes, and therefore lost the chance of
success. Ifthe North had not loved the Union secession
would have been allowed, and negro slavery would still
have been existent in America. If the South had not loved
independence there would have been reunion in 1863, if
not before, and negro slavery would not have been yet
abolished. Because the North would on no terms consent
to the disruption of the Union, and because the South
would not give up the conflict for independence, the
negroes were emancipated. Man proposed, and God dis-
posed.

Was there no plausible excuse for the blindness of the
Confederate administration ? We unhesitatingly reply
there was not a shadow of excuse.

Anyone who had studied the subject must have concluded
that negro slavery could not long endure. Its abolition was
decreed nineteen centuries ago. When Christ proclaimed
the equal rights of all men before God, and the brother-
hood of all the families of the earth, the slavery of man by
man was doomed. Hard has been the fight—very hard
still is the fight. But there has been continuous, and in
these latter days, rapid progress. The peoples of France, of
Germany, of Italy, and of England, are free. Even in
Russia serfdom has been formally abolished, and our chil-
dren may live to see in that country a despotism replaced
by constitutional government. How much of this is due
to the example of America cannot be easily estimated.
Without the revolt of the Thirteen Colonies, and the
establishment of the United States, there might have been
a French revolution, but it would have been a revolution
of a different type. Well, it was the French revolution, the
result of the American revolution, that gave such an impe-
tus to the vindication of human rights, that the heretofore
neglected negro became an object of solicitude. To those
who fought the battle of emancipation it seemed long, but
historically we are struck with the fact that in a generation .
so great a work was completed. First came the abolition
of the slave trade ; then, after an interval, ensued the eman- —

The Fall of the Confederacy. 609

cipation of the West India negroes. Was America, where
men of the English race had set up the banner of; liberty
when they had gone forth from home and country rather
than live under the yoke of oppression, to be uninfluenced
by these events ? Was America, whose political constitution
was declared in the preamble to be founded on the equal
and inalienable rights of man to be unaffected by the pro-
gress of freedom and civilization, that had in other lands
freed the sons of Africa from pre-historic and unbroken
bondage? In America the task was so tremendous that at
the outset only a chosen few thought it accomplishable. Yet
the men who set up the banner of emancipation in America
have lived to behold their cause triumph. How could the
Confederate administration so ignore the signs of the times ?
Had they not heard of “ Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and how the
author of that book received an ovation in Europe that an
imperial victor might have envied? Did they not notice
the development of the abolition party in the North, and
how that party had become the right hand and the soul of
the dominant party ? No doubt the Confederate adminis-
tration knew these things, though they did not appreciate
their significance. They did not comprehend that to effec-
tually resist the abolition of negro slavery would be to
triumph over Christianity itself; for the religion that makes
all men equal before God is the uncompromising foe of the
enslavement of man by man. Yet the Confederate ad-
ministration did unconsciously pay homage to the spirit
of the age. The Confederate constitution prohibited the
slave trade. This wasa blow at negro slavery. It wasa
condemnation and a brand analogous in principle to that of
the Northern abolitionists, who insisted that the area of
negro slavery should be limited to the then existing boun-
daries, and should not be extended into the territories of
the Union. The Southern slaveholders felt the sting of
this prohibition. Verily it was a dire insult to and assault
on the institution. If it was wrong to hold negroes in
slavery in the territories, it must have been wrong to keep
negroes enslaved in the States. But it was not perceived
except by a few ultra advocates of negro slavery that to
forbid the slave trade was not less a dire insult to and an
assault on the institution. If it was wrong to enslave
negroes it could not be right to keep negroes enslaved.
There were a few persons in the South who believed in
the abstract right of negro slavery, and they were incensed
with the anti-slave-trade clauses of the Confederate Con-

a,
: \ ih &
° ‘
’

610 The Fall of the Confederacy.

stitution. It is remarkable that the Confederate adminis-
tration were not troubled and awakened by the damnatory
incongruity of prohibiting the negro slave trade whilst they
upheld negro slavery. They registered the doom of negro
slavery whilst they were ready to stake all that they held
dear and precious in its defence.

But was there a practical excuse for this incongruous
policy? Had the Confederate administration reason for
supposing that emancipation would ruin the country ? Was
there any ground for the assumption that if the negroes
were freed they would become an insupportable burden ?
No doubt such an idea was prevalent even amongst men
who were favourable to emancipation. Abraham Lincoln
himself, on one occasion, suggested to a negro deputation
that the best course for the coloured race was emigration.
Yet it can be shown that there was no real foundation for
this fear, and the Confederate administration had the best
opportunity for knowing that the idea was entirely fal-
lacious. |

The negro question was discussed in a most unsatisfac-
tory and illogical manner. One party exalted the negro
above the white race, whilst the opposite party pronounced
the negro very inferior to the white race and but little better
than the beasts of the field. The truth lies between the
two extremes. The negro is not more nor less than a man.
Whether or not the African is the physical and mental
equal of the European is not the point. Is hea man? Is he
a creature of like passions with white men? Is he in-
fluenced by the same motives, and is he amenable to the
same laws? If so, if the negro is a man, he must be treated
as a man.

The first article in the indictment againt the emancipation
of the negro was that he is incorrigibly idle. Is this true?
Look at the marble palaces of New York. Look at the fac-
tories of Lancashire. Look at the commerce in cotton. Be-
hold, these are the products of negro labour. It is the negro
of America who has done most to clothe the world. There-
fore he will work, it appears. Yes, but we are told only as
a slave. Why as a slave but not asa free man? Noone
will assert that the negro requires the stimulus of the lash,
for those who defended the institution of negro slavery
denied indignantly that the negro was ill-treated. Then,
if the negro will work for the profit of an owner, it must fol-
low that he will toil when he is to enjoy the fruits of his
toil. Ah the West Indies! Well, what of the West Indies ?

The Fall of the Confederacy. 611

It is by no means settled that the West Indies would have
been prosperous without emancipation, for their prosperity
was on the wane before emancipation. The negro in the
West Indies has acted precisely as any other race would
have acted. We will take the unfavourable report of an
enemy. The negro is represented as refusing to work
after his few wants are satisfied. Well, this is not peculiar
to the negro, but is common to all races. Labour, mere
brow-sweating, is not in itself a blessing, but rather a curse,
and no man labours without a motive, that is, without the
desire to satisfy a want or aspiration. The Irish are an in-
dustrious people. In America, for example, they are sin-
gularly prosperous. How are they at home? How many
of them are content with a hovel, a pig, and a patch of
potatoes? They emigrate, they engender new wants and
new aspirations, and become industrious. The negro in the
West Indies had to contend against an enervating climate,
and no pains were taken to stimulate his industry. He has
_ done as well as Irishmen or Scotchmen would have done
under the circumstances.

Is the negro race prone to idleness? What better evi-
dence can we have of his human brotherhood? In all
communities there are men who will not work except
under compulsion. What country is without vagrant laws?
It is lawful to compel a man to labour, though it is not
lawful to take from him the product of his toil. If, then,
there was a class in the United States exceptionally prone
to idleness—that is, the negro race—the remedy was easy.
It was only necessary to adopt stringent vagrant laws;
with this special provision, that they were applicable to
white as well as to coloured people. It was certain that
the power of the State would be as efficacious as the
power of an owner, and there would have been no difficulty
in compelling the negro to fulfil his labour contract. Be-
sides there was evidence in America that the free negro
would work on the usual conditions. Few employments
were open to free negroes, but in those they excelled. As
waiters, barbers, and cooks, they were unsurpassed. In the
Southern States they were employed as overseers, and no
plantations were more profitable than those managed by
coloured men. But it is a sufficient reply to the charge of
inherent idleness that the negro did work as a slave. The
authority of the slave-owner could not be greater than the
authority of the State, and a vagrant law and laws enforcing
the fulfilment of labour contracts will be found far more

NEW SERIES.—VOL, I. 3; B

i,

612 The Fall of the Confederacy.

potent than the fear of the lash. We admit that the negro is
disposed to idleness ; that is to say, he will not labour after
his wants and aspirations are satisfied, and sometimes he
will forsake the path of duty for the path of idleness.
Does that prove him to be other than man? No; for it is
evidence of his humanity.

The other charges against the negro were that he is
devoid of moral sense, and is a savage when not a slave.
The negro was said to be predisposed to theft. Well,
there are police and prisons in Europe, and there is a disease
called kleptomania. When we inquire into the facts we
find that thieving did not prevail amongst the coloured popu-
lation so muchas it did amongst the white population.
Nor was this due to the restraints of slavery, for the criminal
returns show that the free coloured population of the States
yielded less than the average number of criminals. As to
social morality, all observers agree that the negroes were
fond and faithful in their domestic relations. When we
reflect how crime and vice are fostered by ignorance, that
the negroes were kept in a state of ignorance, that the sense
of responsibility was deadened by the condition of slavery,
there can be no doubt that they are not devoid of moral
sense, and are, in this respect, the equals of their white
brethren.

But the war was a crucial test, and demonstrated the fit-
ness of the negro for social and political freedom. The white
men were in the camp; the negroes were left at home. The
property of their masters, the lives and honour of the women
and children, were in their power. It was a period of intense
excitement. Howdid thenegroes comport themselves? They
were neither negligent nor faithless. They were guiltless of
outrage, either on life or property. They were not incited
by the revolution to commit any offences. They were not
guilty of the excesses that have disgraced European revo-
lutions. When in the armies of the North they fought as
bravely as white men. Whilst in the South, and before
they were liberated, their conduct was prudent and
admirable. If they had been guilty of any excesses the
cause of negro emancipation would have been hindered.
But they were patient and dutiful until the last. Read the
story of the French revolution, and then read the story of
the negro emancipation revolution in America. Does the
negro suffer by the comparison ?

Is Christianity a cunningly-devised fable? To those
who are Christians we would address the question, How

The Fall of the Confederacy. 613

does God deal with the negro? Has He prepared a special
religion, a special means of grace, for the sons of Africa ?
No; He offers the same salvation, on the same terms, to the
black as to the white. Does His plan succeed? The
negroes in America are peculiarly religious, and no churches
are more prosperous than the negro churches. God
treats the negro as a man, and that is the treatment that he
should receive from his fellow-man. The negro is neither
more nor less than aman. If persecuted by enemies he
perishes. If treated with exceptional tenderness by friends
he dwindles and decays. ‘The only solution of the negro
problem is to follow the example of God, and to treat the
negro as a man.

But all that we have here written about the negro was
known five years ago, and was especially well known in the
Southern States. Therefore it is inexplicable that the
Confederate administration did not venture upon a policy
of emancipation until it was too late to save the Con-
federacy. Inexplicable that is if we will not confess that
there is a God who orders the affairs of man.

The Confederate administration would not make peace
and return to the Union, therefore the negroes were eman-
cipated. The Confederate administration would not
emancipate the negroes, and therefore the chance of esta-
blishing the Confederacy was lost. If the Confederate
administration had given up the struggle for independence
the emancipation of the negroes would not have been yet
effected; and if the Confederate administration had emanci-
pated the negroes the Union might not have been saved.

CHAPTER VI.—THE VERDICT.

THE immediate causes of the death of the Confederacy
were :— 3

1. An Untimely Revolution.

2. A Precipitate War.

3. The Non-Emancipation of the Negro.

We may well be amazed that the Confederacy existed
as long as it did. Without preparation of any kind, either
material or moral, and on the morrow of the participation
in a solemn act of Union, without the instigation of any
wrong, political, social, or legal, there was secession and re-
volution. That the North persisted in deeming the revolu-
tion a conspiracy, and had an unwavering faith in southern

3) 2

614 The Fall of the Confederacy.

Unionism, is not surprising. Were they to believe in an
effect without a cause? The only surprise is that a revolu-
tion so rudely torn from the womb of time survived the
hour of its birth. But, contrary to all reasoning, expecta-
tion, and experience, it did so.

There was a fair prospect of a pacific accomplishment of
secession. The Democrats, smarting under political defeat,
being devoted to the extreme doctrine of State Rights,
regarding secession as only temporary, and the temporary
disruption as domestic, substituting for a while a Union of
Federations in lieu of a Union of States, were in favour
of letting the South depart in peace. The Abolitionists
dreaded nothing so much as continued Union with negro
slavery, and not foreseeing that the defence of the Union
would bring about emancipation, were not vehemently op-
posed to secession. All parties deprecated any act of coer-
cion that might compel the South to seek European inter-
vention, and therefore all dealt tenderly with secession, and
those who a few weeks later were called rebels and traitors
were openly represented by agents in Washington. The
situation was so critical that the cause of the Union seemed
hopeless. Then the Confederate administration bombarded
Fort Sumter, and the Union was saved from dissolution at
least without a struggle.

The final and crowning blunder was the non-emancipation
of the negroes. By maintaining the institution of negro
slavery the Confederacy lost a third of its military strength,
it gave East and West a common and exciting cause of
enmity against the Confederacy, and it prevented the sym-
pathy of Europe ripening into intervention. The policy of
non-emancipation did more than that, for it gave strength
both at home and abroad to the North.

Such were the immediate causes of the fall of the Con-
federacy. What is the verdict? Not /élo de se, for however
unwise and perverse the policy of the Confederate ad-
ministration, their desire was to set up and not to destroy
the Confederacy. Perhaps the facts of the case suggest
inevitably this verdict :—“ The Confederacy was killed, or
its death was hastened, by the perverse policy of the Con-
federate administration.” We cannot gainsay the justice
of that conclusion, yet we prefer the open verdict of
“Died from natural causes.” We prefer it because, though
. the Confederacy died early, its death was not, in one sense,
premature, for the work that the. Confederacy had to do
_was done. ;

The Fall of the Confederacy. 615

Was the four years’ war in vain? Did so many thousands
die in vain? Was the heroism of the North and of the
South in vain? God forbid that we should think so. God
forbid that we should suppose that He does not make all
things to work together for good. It is, we trust, not pre-
sumptuous, and it cannot be irreverent, if we try to explain
the means by the end. Unless we do so we are confronted
by an inscrutable problem that shakes our reliance in all
human judgment, and pours contempt upon our faith ina
Divine Providence.

The North emancipated the negroes, and was victorious;
the Confederacy was unsuccessful, and might have been
successful if it had emancipated the negroes. However,
the war ended, the one predestined result was negro eman-
cipation. Mark how the means were adapted to this end.

In 1861 the’ North was not ripe for emancipation. Two
years later Abraham Lincoln had to proclaim it cautiously,
and under the guise of military expediency. If, in 1861,
the South had protested and agitated instead of seceding,
the Abolition party would have been confronted by a for-
midable opposition, and a compromise wou!d have been
effected which would have postponed negro emancipation
for an indefinite period. If the revolution had not been
untimely there could not have been a revolution. In
1861 there was a large majority in the North who would
have consented to almost any conditions respecting negro
slavery in the South rather than run therisk of breaking up
the Union. Consequently, if the ordinary preparations for
_ revolution by protest, by agitation, and by organization
had been made, secession would have been arrested by
concession, and the negroes would be yet in bondage.
Therefore, if negro emancipation was to ensue, a revolution
was indispensable, and a hurried untimely revolution was
alone possible.

Then came the precipitate and impolitic war. If the
Union had been preserved by negotiation the institution
of negro slavery would have been continued and strength-
ened by renewed guarantees. If the Confederacy had
been recognised on any conditions negro slavery would
have been let alone. We may be astonished at the im-
policy of the Confederate administration in beginning a war,
but war was manifestly a necessity, if the revolution was
to result in negro emancipation. The bombardment of Fort
Sumter not only saved the Union from destruction, without
a struggle to maintain it, but it also prevented the per-

616 The Fall of the Confederacy.

petuation of negro bondage, which must have followed
from any pacific settlement. The war commences and the
fate of the negro still appears uncertain. If, according to
expectation, the conflict had been over in one or two cam-
paigns, whether the North or the South had been victo-
rious, the negro would not have been emancipated; or,
if the North had been successful from the outset, it is
doubtful if the negro would have been emancipated, even
though the war had been protracted. But the South fought
magnificently and victoriously, and forced a policy of
emancipation on the North for the sake of the Union. If
the North had not been devoted to the Union there would
have been peace without emancipation. If the South had
not been devoted to the cause of independence, there
would have been peace without emancipation. The love of
the Union, the love of independence, were for a while the
conflicting passions that brought about negro emancipation.

The untimely revolution, the precipitate war, the eventful
and varied fortunes of the war, were all necessary to
emancipation. Then, when the work was done, when the
negro was emancipated, the Confederacy died.

It was indeed possible that the Confederacy might have
been established if the Confederate administration had
adopted a policy of emancipation. But it was not so, and
therefore the emancipation of the negro did not involve the
dissolution of the Union.

The cost was awful enough. What a loss of treasure,
what a river of blood, what burning hate, what grief, what
agonies did the four years’ conflict cost! Let us be thankful
that all the afflictions were not in vain, but that they pur-
chased the redemption of a race from immemorial bondage.

Without the revolution these would not have been eman-
cipated, and without emancipation the days of the Union
were numbered. Every hour the chasm grew broader and
deeper. A few years more of abolitionism in the North and
of negro slavery in the South, and the disintegration of the
Union would have been irremediable. North and South, now
one people, did not offer up their sons in vain. Without war
was there a prospect of emancipation? Without emanci-
pation could the Union have endured?

The battle is over, and it has not left a legacy of hate.
Heroically have the people of the South borne with their
defeat, for they have accepted it without chafing ; and from
the hour that Robert Lee surrendered they have been loyal
to the Union, as their fathers were, and as they were

Ancient Sports and Pastimes. 617

before 61. Heroically has the North used its victory. Not
one life has been taken in revenge for the carnage and the
cost of the four years’ war. Let us pay ungrudgingly hom-
age to a clemency that has no precedent in the history of
mankind. The warfare that rescued a race from bondage,
that saved the Union from dissolution, bequeaths not a
debt of vengeance, but inaugurates an era of closer and
dearer brotherhood.

The fall of the Confederacy teaches important lessons to
all peoples. It admonishes us not to resort to revolution
until all other means are exhausted, and of the wisdom and
duty of waiting for the opportune moment. It warns us not
to be in haste to draw the sword, and to put to the issue
of battle that which may possibly be achieved by nego-
tiation. It shows how vain it is to resist the progress
of civilisation and the development of the principles of
Christianity. These are some of the lessons to be learned
from the story of the fall of the Confederacy. ‘There are
many others, and one especially, that it would be a crime
for any Christian people to forget or hereafter neglect. The
fall of the Confederacy shows how a deadly conflict may
end in a real peace, and how the foes of to-day may be
brethren on the morrow. ‘These are the means by which
this blessed result has come to pass in America. The
people of the South nobly and righteously submitted to
defeat, and when they ceased to be the armed enemies of
the people of the North became on the instant their fellow-
citizens, and loyal to the Union. On the other hand, the
people of the North have not tarnished their glory by a
single deed of vengeance. . Other nations may follow, but
to the people of the United States will for ever belong the
honour of setting the example of this all-wise and glorious
clemency. It constitutes a bond of Union between North
and South that Faction cannot fray, and that Treason
cannot sunder.

ANCIENT SPORTS AND PASTIMES.
BY W. F. HUNTER.
(Continued from page 563.)

ROM very early times the people of England have
been entertained by the performances of itinerant
jugglers, minstrels, tumblers, and dancers.

618 Ancient Sports and Pastimes.

The bards exercised a very great influence upon the .
minds of the Britons by their spirit-stirring poems, which
they sung to the accompaniment of a kind of lyre or harp.
We know how this influence survived among the Welch,
so much so that Edward I. is said to have ordered a mas-
sacre of the bards, in order that his conquest of Wales
might be facilitated, and the people, missing the inspiriting
strains which had fired them to deeds of martial heroism,
might fall an easier prey to his arms. In this hard, prac-
tical age of business and money-getting, when everything
seems to proceed at railroad pace, and our heads are full of
what is going on in the remotest parts of the earth, it is
difficult to understand the extent to which our ancestors
were influenced by music and poetry. It is said that when
two hostile tribes of Britons were drawn up in battle array,
the bards often stepped in between the armies, and so
melted them with their soft and fascinating strains, that
they threw down their arms, and became friends instead
of enemies. |

The musicians of the Saxons were the same as the
Scalds of the ancient northern nations; they composed
poems, and sang them to the harp; but they diversified
their musical performances with dances and feats of
jugglery, from which circumstance they were called glee-
men. They went about the country in companies, they
were received at the courts of kings and in the houses of
nobles, and their persons were held sacred and free from
_molestation. In the wars between the Danes and Saxons
the glee-man had equal access to both camps; and this is
well illustrated by the popular story of King Alfred, who,
in the disguise of a minstrel, made his way into the Danish
camp, and took note of the numbers and habits of the
enemy. The feats of the Saxon glee-men were probably
much the same as those practised by itinerant jugglers in
the present day, such as throwing up and catching knives
and balls ; they were often accompanied by a bear, which
they taught to dance.

After the Norman Conquest the name of minstrels was
substituted for that of glee-men ; the minstrels were called
rhymers, singers, story-tellers, jugglers, relaters of heroic
actions, buffoons, and troubadours or poets, according to
the particular branch of the profession they practised. The
troubadours were a genuine importation from the south of
France ; they spoke the Romance language, which was
derived from the Latin, and was the parent of French;

Ancient Sports and Pastimes. 619

their poems were called, from the language in which they
were composed, Romaunts, or Romances. ‘Their favourite
themes were the beauty of the fair, and the achievements
of the brave, in conflicts not only with human adversaries,
but with enchanters, giants, dragons, and other creations of
the poet’s imagination. The troubadours were held in high
consideration by both sexes, because they celebrated the
deeds of the one and the beauty of the other. Richard I.
appears to have composed romantic_verses; in the popular
story of his deliverance from the castle in which he was
confined in Austria, the troubadour Blondel makes himself
known to the royal captive by singing a poem which they
had jointly composed.

One of the old metrical romances celebrates the doings
of Richard Cceur-de-Lion, and gives a description of his
encounter with a lion. The sobriquet probably suggested
the story. While Richard was in prison, Wardrewe, the
king’s son, having heard of his great strength, desired to
see him, and asked him if he dared stand a buffet from his
hand, and added the condition that on the morrow he
should return him another. Richard consented, and re-
ceived a blow that staggered him; but on his antagonist’s
arrival the following day Richard gave him a blow on the
cheek which broke his jaw, and killed him on the spot.

The joculators, or jugglers, and tumblers, or dancers,
were originally, as we have stated, included under the name
of minstrels; the jugglers were also called tregatones.
Chaucer says of them: “Sometimes they will bring in the
similitude of a grim lion, or make flowers spring up as ina
meadow; sometimes they cause a vine to flourish, bearing
white and red grapes; or show a castle built of stone, and
when they please cause the whole to disappear.” No doubt
these jugglers performed very wonderful feats, which were
attributed, by the ignorance of our ancestors, to the power
of magic.

An account of ancient pastimes would be incomplete
without some notice of the stage, since dramatic writings
will generally present tolerably lively pictures of contem-
porary manners. Nowadays, if an author writes a play,
the action of which is placed in a bygone age, he does his
best to find out what was the costume of the period; he
avoids making his characters tell of events which happened
after their time; in fact, he tries to make them talk and
act as they would in real life. Anachronisms are banished
to the region of burlesque. If a burlesque writer wishes to

620 Ancient Sports and Pastimes.

make his audience roar, he represents Julius Cesar calling
fora Hansom cab to drive him to the Capitol, or Alex-
ander the Great drawing a cheque on Coutts’ bank. But
in earlier times all this would not have seemed so ridicu-
lous ; in the old romances of chivalry the description of the
fabulous Court of Arthur would have far better suited the
Court of a Plantagenet king; and in the plays of Shak-
speare we find numerous anachronisms, which would not
be tolerated in modern compositions.

In the early days of Christianity stage plays were vigo-
rously denounced by the Church; and it is related that
any one connected with a theatre was refused baptism,
while Augustine declared that they who went to hear plays
were as bad as those that wrote and acted them; and. it is
probable that the old Fathers had reason enough for their
denunciation of the stage, for the plays represented in the
declining days of the Romans do not seem to have been
very moral or edifying. After a time, however, the happy
idea gained ground that the stage might be turned to the
purpose of religious instruction. During the dark ages
theatrical representations took place which were of a Scrip-
tural character, although we should be inclined to consider
them very profane burlesques of the sacred narratives.
The festival of fools and the festival of the ass were cele-
brated in France, and they were partly of a dramatic cha-
racter, the latter especially. The festival of the boy bishop,
which was of the same kind, was celebrated in England, as
well as on the Continent, in honour of St. Nicholas. St.
Nicholas was the patron of boys. It is said that when an
infant in arms he fasted regularly on Wednesdays and
Fridays, and partook of his natural food only once on
those days.

“ Anciently, on the 6th of December,” says Mr. Hone,
“the choir boys in cathedral churches chose one of their
number to maintain the state and authority of a bishop,
for which purpose he was habited in rich episcopal robes,
wore a mitre on his head, and bore a crozier in his hand ;
his fellows for the time being assuming the character and
dress of priests, yielding him canonical obedience, taking
possession of the church, and, with the exception of mass,
performing all the ceremonies and offices.”

The authority of the boy bishop continued till the 28th
of December; if he died during the time of his office, he
was buried in his episcopal garments, with great pomp, and
a monument was erected to his memory; such a tomb has ~

Ancient Sports and Pastimes. 621

been discovered in Salisbury Cathedral. The ceremonies
that were performed at the feast of fools and of the boy
bishop were probably the precursors of the mysteries or
regular religious dramas, which were mostly founded on
narratives from the authentic or from the apocryphal
gospels. The mysteries were generally performed in
churches, and the clergy were the actors. The most sacred
persons were, without hesitation, brought on the stage, and
the people do not seem to have considered that there was
any irreverence in this; the ideas of our forefathers on such
subjects differed essentially from ours, and their notions of
propriety were not quite so strict, for there can be little
doubt, that in the mystery of the fall, Adam and Eve ap-
peared on the stage in a costume more nearly resembling
that adopted in the Garden of Eden than modern taste
would allow. The first play of this kind was performed in
England about I110; it was written by Geoffrey, a
Norman, afterwards Abbot of St. Albans.

The Coventry mysteries acquired great celebrity. Dug-
dale relates, in his “ History of Warwickshire,” that “ before
the suppression of monastries, this city (Coventry) was
very famous for the pageants that were played therein upon
Corpus Christi day (one of their ancient faires), which,
occasioning great confluence of people thither far and near,
was of no small benefit thereto; which pageants being
acted with mighty state and reverence by the Grey Friars,
had theatres for the several scenes, very large and high,
placed upon wheels, and drawn to all the principal parts of
the city for the better advantage of the spectators, and con-
tained the story of the Old and New Testament, composed
in the Old English rithme.”

The celebrity of the performances, says Hone, may be
inferred from the rank of the audience, for at the festival
of Corpus Christi in 1483, Richard visited Coventry to
see the plays, and at the same season in 1492 they were
attended by Henry VII. and his Queen, by whom they
were highly commended.

The authors of the mysteries were obliged to enliven
their audience by the introduction of a few comic scenes
and characters. Noah’s wife is represented as a regular
vixen; her illtemiper and obstinacy doubtless created
amusement. She positively refuses to enter the ark unless
she is allowed to take with her her gossips every one. She
is ultimately dragged in by main force. The author of
evil, who is represented as a contemptible and ugly demon,

- ;
. 5 ‘ve

622 Ancient Sports and Pastimes.

is the principal comic character of the play, and amuses
the audience by his mischievous tricks and his low buf-
foonery. He is brought in when circumstances do not
admit of the introduction of a human buffoon. The
wicked human characters are, however, made to play the
part of buffoons when possible; thus, in the miracle play
of the Massacre of the Innocents by the satellites of Herod,
his knights, as they are called by a laughable anachronism,
and who are represented as swearing by Mahomet, are ex-
posed to the alternate laughter and detestation of the
audience.

When the miracle plays were represented in churches, a
tcmporary stage of wood was erected: it consisted of three
platforms one above the other; the highest platform was
reserved for the appearance of God and the angels, the
second was devoted to the human characters, whilst the
lowest was appropriated to the evil spirits. As before
said, the priests and monks were the principal actors; but
if there were not enough of these, the churchwardens
called in the assistance of the secular players.

The mysteries gradually gave way to the moralities,
which differed from them in this, that instead of the real
persons formerly introduced in the plays, the characters
were personifications of abstract qualities, such as justice,
mercy, temperance, folly, gluttony, and vice. Vice was
always the comic character of the piece, though Satan was
still retained to be tricked and baffled by vice, whom, how-
ever, he finally carries off, as in the original puppet show
of Punch; in fact, vice seems to be the ancestor of Punch,
and also of Harlequin. The moralities were generally acted
by the students at the universities, or by the members of
the corporations in the principal cities; in the latter case,
they were performed on a temporary stage erected in the
open air, oron a platform which could be dragged along on
wheels. These moveable platforms often formed part of
the splendid processions which took place on great occa-
sions. The pageants or shows which were exhibited on
Lord Mayor's Day, and on coronation and other high days,
were of this kind. Stages, richly decorated, were erected
in the principal streets, and on these the various allegorical
characters were placed in appropriate costume.

The secular players were persons of the same class as
the itinerant jugglers, and the minstrels already described.
They performed a species of rude farce called an interlude.
The monks generally discountenanced these players, and

Ancient Sports and Pastimes. 623

denounced them on account of their immorality and the
grossness of their performances. Yet they were sometimes
compelled to call in their assistance, and it seems that
plays resembling the interludes were occasionally intro-
duced to enliven the audience, in the intervals of the
somewhat tedious mysteries.

When mysteries were forbidden by Henry VIII, the
interludes became a fashionable entertaiment, and were
performed at court for the amusement of the king.

One of these interludes was called the Four P’s; it is
written in doggrel verse, and represents a kind of match
between a pedlar, a pilgrim, a poticary, and a pardoner, as
to who could tell the greatest lie. After some wonderful
stories have been told, the pardoner asserts, as if acci-
dentally, that he never saw a woman out of temper; the
prize of mendacity was, we need hardly assure our fair
readers, at once assigned to him.

The interludes were the immediate precursors of the
regular drama, which reached such a glorious developement
in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Probably in
the reign of Henry VIII., says Mr. Shaw, in the “ Outlines
of English Literature,” “but certainly not later than 1551,
Nicholas Udall produced his “ Ralph Royster Doyster,”
the first comedy in the language, in which the ingenuity
of the plot, the nature of the characters, and the ease of
the dialogue, are all carried to a high degree of perfection.
The dramatis persone are all taken from middle life, and
the play gives us a most admirable picture of the manners
of the citizens of London at that period. It is written ina
very loose and conversational species of rhymed couplet,
and was probably performed by the scholars of Westmin-
ster, of which school the author was master.

The theatres in which the earliest English dramas were
performed, were of the rudest description. They were
uncovered, excepting over the stage. The scenery con-
sisted only of a few curtains of tapestry or canvas; and
if a change of scene was necessary, a placard was fixed to
one of the curtains, with the name of the city or country
where the action was supposed to take place written upon
it. At the same time, the dresses of the actors were often
of a very splendid character, but no attempt was made to
delineate the dress of the time or country in which the
action of the play was laid; thus the Spartan senators ap-
peared with watches, and Roman soldiers armed with the
Spanish rapier of the sixteenth century.

A few remarks with reference to puppet-shows and plays
performed by wooden figures may be interesting. When
regular theatres were established, and regular companies of
actors were attached to them, the strolling players fell into
great disrepute; they were no longer received into the
houses of the rich, and they were discountenanced by the
law. Under these circumstances, they were not able to
keep together in companies, and some of them probably
were compelled to substitute wooden confederates for
living ones. Hence arose the puppet-shows which were
exhibited at the principal fairs. Scriptural subjects were
often represented in the puppet plays.

Punch, the most celebrated of all the puppets, who was
allied to the vice of the Old Moralities, and also to the
fool who enlivened the more regular plays which succeeded
them, with whom, indeed, he is almost identical in dress,
comes to us, as we have him at present, from Italy. He
was first invented at Acerra, near Naples, by Silvio Fierillo,
a comedian, about the early part of the seventeenth cen-
tury. His original name was Pulcinella) Mr. Hone has
written a book on this subject, characterized by a great
amount of research. He considers that Punch was intro-
duced into England before the beginning of the reign of
Queen Anne; at all events, his popularity was quite estab-
lished about the year 1711. The play of Punch and Fudy,
as given by Mr. Hone, occupies about forty pages, who
would doubtless be disgusted with his degenerate perform-
ance in the present day.

Having now considered the tournaments and other
courtly amusements which in former times delighted the
great and noble in the land, and the mysteries, moralities,
and stage plays which amused the dwellers in cities, we
propose to glance briefly at some of the rustic sports of
the peasantry, some of those old customs which still linger
among us, but which, alas! are rapidly becoming obsolete.

The celebration of May-Day is perhaps one of the oldest
and most famous. Before the introduction of Christianity,
the last four days of April and the first of May were ob-
served as a festival in honour of the goddess Flora. Nature,
at this time, seemed to our ancestors to burst into new life
and beauty; the earth was clothed with a fresh carpet of
verdure, and the season was naturally held sacred to the
beautiful goddess of flowers. The May-day games were
doubtless relics of this old heathen feast. In our time, _
the very season seems to have lost its beauty, and often

624 Ancient Sports and Pastimes.

Ancient Sports and Pastimes. 625

enough May is a bleak and dreary month, which may have
something to do with the decline of the May-day festivities.

It was customary to elect a Lord and Lady of the May,
and about the beginning of the sixteenth century, accord-
ing to Strutt, the Lord of the May assumed the dress and
sustained the character of Robin Hood, who had just then
become an extremely popular person. The Lady of the ©
May took the part of the celebrated Maid Marian, and the
parts of Friar Tuck, Little John, and the other foresters,
were taken by the rest of the villagers.

It is narrated by an old author, that one May-Day, King
Henry VIII. and Queen Catherine rode a-Maying from
Greenwich to Shooter's Hill, “ Where, as they passed by
the way, they espied a company of tall yeomen, clothed
allin greene, with greene hoods, and with bows and arrows,
to the number of 200, one being their chieftain, was called
Robin Hood, who required the King and all his company
to stay and see the men shoot ; whereunto the King grant-
ing, Robin Hood whistled, and all the 200 archers shot off,
loosing all at once, and when he whistled again, they like-
wise shot again. The arrows whistled by craft of the head,
so that the noise was strange and loud, which greatly de-
lighted the King, Queen, and their company. Moreover,
this Robin Hood desired the King, Queen, and their reti-
nue to enter the greenwood, wherein arbours made with
boughs, and decked with flowers, they were set and served
plentifully with venison and wine by Robin Hood and his
men.”

The sport which was called the morris-dance was prac-
tised at the May-games. The dancers had bells attached
to different parts of their clothes, which jingled as they
danced, and Robin Hood and Maid Marian joined in the
dance. The Morris, or Moorish, dance, is supposed to have
been brought from Spain in the reign of Edward III.
There is an old tract, printed in 1609, which gives an
amusing description of a morris-dance in Herefordshire.
The dancers were twelve in number; besides these, there
were four whifflers, or marshals of the field: these, with a
fiddler and a taborer, made eighteen persons, whose united
ages amounted to the extraordinary number of 1,836 years,
giving each person an average of 102 years. The tract
adds, that, for a good wager, it was easy to find in Here-
fordshire four hundred persons more, within three years
over or under a hundred years, yet the shire is no way
four-and-twenty miles over.

626 Ancient Sports and Pastimes.

In this most extraordinary morris-dance, “ The musicians
and the twelve dancers had long coats of the old fashion,
high sleeves, gathered at the elbows, and hanging sleeves
behind. The stuff was red buffin, striped with white, with
white girdles ; they had white stockings, and red roses to
their shoes. The one six had a white Jew’s cap, with a
jewel, and a long red feather; the other six a scarlet Jew’s
cap, with a jewel and a white feather : so the hobby-horse,
and so the Maid Marian was attired in colours, and the
whifflers had long staves, white and red.”

“The hobby-horse,” says Strutt, “ which seems latterly
to have been almost inseparable from the morrice-dance,
was a compound figure; the resemblance of the head and
tail of a horse, with a light wooden frame for the body, was
attached to the person who was to perform the double
character, covered with trappings reaching to the ground,
~so as to conceal the feet of the actor. Thus equipped, he
was to prance about, imitating the curvettings and motions
of a horse.”

On the feast of Christmas, it was customary, in the
houses of the nobles, and even at the Court, to appoint a
person called the Lord of Misrule, whose province it was
to superintend the festivities. This officer was elected by
the common people in some parishes. A certain Philip
Stubbs, who lived at the close of the sixteenth century,
describes this mock potentate:—“ First of all the wild
heades of the parish, flocking together, choose them a
grand captain of mischife, whom they innoble with the
title of Lord of Misrule. This being anoynted, chooseth
forth twentie, forty, threescore, or an hundred lustie gut-
ters like himself, to wait on his lordly majesty, and to
guarde his royal person. Then every one of these men
he investeth with his liveries of green, yellow, or some other
light winter colour; and as though they were not gaudy
enough, they bedeck themselves with scarfs, ribbons, and
laces, hanged all over with gold rings, precious stones, and
other jewels. This done, they tie about their legge twentie
or fortie bells, with rich handkerchiefs in their hands, bor-
rowed for the most part of pretty missies and loving Bes-
sies ; and the Lord of Misrule and his followers repaired
to the church, dancing and singing, and making a dreadful
disturbance.”

We have only time to allude to the sports which took
place in honour of Easter, Midsummer, and other festivals.
The feasts of the Sheep-shearing and Harvest-home still

The King of Commerce. — 627

survive in England. Both of them have been celebrated
from very early times with feasting, dancing, and rustic
pastimes. A harvest-home is described by Hertzner, a
foreign gentleman who was in England at that time.

“ As we were returning to our inn, we happened to meet
some country people celebrating their harvest-home.
Their last load of corn they crown with flowers, having
besides an image richly dressed, by which, perhaps, they
signify Ceres ; then they keep moving about, while the
men and women, and men and maid-servants, riding
through the streets in a cart, shout as loud as they can, till
they arrive at the barn.”

There were numerous other games and pastimes in vogue
amongst our ancestors, but those we have touched upon
will suffice to give our readers some insight into the amuse-
ments which occupied the leisure time of our forefathers,
and will afford sufficient data for comparison with present
modes of recreation.

THE KING OF COMMERCE.

“THE cotton question is far from being settled. The

collapse of the Southern Confederacy did not, as is
supposed, solve the problem of the supply that may hence-
forth be expected from the States that comprised that
Confederacy. What quantity India can continue to con-
tribute of her inferior sorts, and what quantity Egypt can
in future send of her superior sorts, is as uncertain as ever.
The past is no guide for us. All we know is this: That
the prices which were current at Liverpool during the
American war induced both India and Egypt to part with
their old stocks, and to make every effort to increase their
yield of cotton. But the relative quantity of old and of
new cotton exported from India may, in the language of
Mr. Beresford Hope, be said to be an Asian mystery.
Cotton, in a general sense, is not a perishable article, and
the old stocks of it, the accumulation of years, if in mer-
chantable order, command as good prices, and as ready a
sale as the staple of the new growth. India, more than
any other country, has hitherto held considerable stocks of
old cotton, because that portion of her surplus, grown in

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. ee

628 The King of Commerce.

her interior, could not, by reason of the great cost of trans-
port, until influenced by high prices, be sent to market;
and India, like most countries, when the difficulties in
America commenced, was so surfeited with cotton goods,
the production of European looms, that she was enabled to
part with more than her usual proportion of new crops of
cotton. Her supplies, too, of British cotton fabrics, were
well kept up, owing to the fact that the speculative transac-
tions in the raw material made it dearer than the manu-
factured article. It therefore became profitable to sell
cotton, and to buy goods. Egypt, in a lesser degree, was
in the same position as India, with respect to cotton and
cotton goods. But there was a healthy demand for the
long-stapled cotton of Egypt, to mix with the short-staple
of India, and cultivation was forced and encouraged in
every way in Egypt, even to an extent that caused that
country to become short of food. Her largest crop of
cotton, however, in comparison with the largest crop of the
Southern States, as accurately ascertained, was very small,
the yield of those States in 1859, without being stimulated
by high prices, having been nearly eight times greater than
the yield of Egypt in 1865, when incited by extreme quo-
tations. With the exception of Brazil, all the other cotton-
producing countries weigh but a feather in the scale.
Cotton has performed during the century a more im-
portant part in political as well as financial and commercial
history than is usually recognised. It fostered slavery in
the American States when that system of labour was on
the wane, and it indirectly caused emancipation when the
“institution” had developed its greatest strength. The
peace of 1783 found the Americans with a superabundance
of negro slaves, and the then average value of those slaves
did not entail upon their masters a cost for interest on the
capitalised labour of more than two pounds sterling per
head. Commercially, this was as near freedom as could
well be reached without the destruction of the political
system of slavery. But the treaty of 1783 was a treaty of
peace, and not a treaty of commerce, and Great Britain,
acting upon the same policy as all the European powers at
the time, would not permit “foreigners” to hold commercial
intercourse with the people of her distant possessions, except
by the circuitous method of traffic through her own home
ports. The Americans, as a consequence of their successful
revolution, had become “ foreigners,’ and they therefore
were debarred from trading, as in their colonial days, with

The King of Commerce. 629

the British West Indies. They thus lost their outlet for
their surplus provisions, and were also deprived of their
accustomed source of supply for cotton, for cotton up to
that period, except in Mexico, had only been grown on the
Continent of North America, as an ornamental garden
plant. Provisions in the new States, owing to the absence of
a foreign demand, became plentiful and cheap, and cotton,
owing to the absence of supply, became scarce and dear.
This induced the Americans to cultivate cotton as a crop
for their own use, when it was ascertained that the soil and
climate of the extreme Southern States were well adapted
for that purpose. The superabundance of African labour
in the Northern and middle States, seeking employment,
began to find its way to the newly-discovered cotton
region, and the foreign demand for American cotton
arising chiefly from the improvements in machinery, for
which it is so well fitted, stimulated production. In a short
time the States became exporters. Cotton was then worth,
at Liverpool, about Is. 7d. per pound, exclusive of duty.
Eventually, through the planter’s experience, skill, and
good management, the cost of production was so reduced
that cotton would pay its way if sold at Liverpool for 6d.
per pound, and this, too, at an augmentation in the interest
upon the capitalized labour of ten hundred per cent. Such
was the condition of affairs in 1860, when the largest crop
of cotton, that of 1859, ever grown in the American States,
was disposed of upon the Liverpool basis of 64d. per
pound. But the whole demand for that and the succeeding
crop was not real. It was partially fictitious. The too
rapid increase in the spinning force of the world has con-
verted the raw material into the manufactured article to a
greater extent than was necessary for the wants of man-
kind. Southern statesmen, however, not knowing the
weakness of quantity, over estimated the political power of
their leading staple, and anticipating support from without,
precipitated secession. This brought about the war, saved
Lancashire from ruin, and caused the emancipation of
4,000,000 negro slaves. We say, saved Lancashire from
ruin, because the world was suffocated with cotton goods,
and while the cotton mills had partial work during the
conflict between the American States, which work was
owing principally to a speculative demand for their
products, the large stocks of yarns and goods, the manu-
facture of previous seasons, that would otherwise be
unsaleable, returned large profits. The question of the
3 Ee

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630 The King of Commerce.

overstock of cotton manufactures had never before been
entertained. It was only the stock of the raw materials
that had hitherto formed the basis for mercantile calcu-
lation. It was proper enough during the early days of the
trade, to make use of the word “consumption” when bags
or bales of cotton were converted into yarns and goods,
for in those days the article passed directly from the «
“spinster” to the manufacturer, and then almost immedi-
ately to the consumer. But as the trade grew in strength,
scores of middle-men came into existence, and the word
“consumption,” when now applied to cotton, has become a
misnomer. Our Liverpool friends should invent some new
word to take its place. The actual consumption of cotton
by the inhabitants of the globe, who use machine-made
goods, is about 5,000,000 bales per annum. As the quantity
of cotton that has passed through the lcoms on both sides
of the Atlantic, since the surrender of General Lee two
years ago, has averaged very nearly that rate, it follows
that the stocks of cotton yarns and cotton goods now in
existence must be about equal to the stocks then on hand.
So, if the receipts of cotton at the consuming points from
all countries for the coming twelve months should be more
than 5,000,000 bales, prices will decline; if the yield of
cotton should be less than 5,000,000 bales, prices will ad-
vance. If manufacturers increase their production of
goods, they will exceed the real wants of the world, and
thereby increase the stocks of goods; whereas, if, on the
other hand, manufacturers diminish their production of
goods, the present stocks of cotton manufactures will be
reduced. In former times, when there were stocks of cotton
in the raw and manufactured state at the consuming points
equivalent to three years’ requirements, the question of a
fluctuation interest made an important difference in market
quotations. Now, however, when the stocks of the raw and
the manufactured article combined are brought down to
probably the smallest reserve consistent with safety, the
“rate of discount,’ when fluctuating, does not cause a
variation in values. It takes twice the amount of capital
“to carry” cotton it formerly did. Three per cent. interest,
therefore, affects the cost of a pound of cotton as much as
six per cent. did previous to the American war.

The expression “famine,” like the expression “consump-
tion,’ when applied to cotton is a misnomer, for there is no
“cotton famine.” It was a cotton plethora. There never has
been a raiment famine. Will there ever be one? The cotton

A Plea for the Stomach. 631

world is safe for this year,and probably forthe next. But
suppose, by the gradual diminution of labour, which is said
to be taking place in the Southern States, the yield of those
states should shrink year after year, there would then be a
cotton pinch such as was not experienced during any portion
of the so-called cotton famine. The question is one of grave
importance, though at present it produces little concern.
In our opinion, it is worthy of the deepest consideration,
and the most searching inquiry. It is not, as the case
stands, a question of climate or of soil, but it is a question
of labour. May we not suggest, then, that instead of
relying upon assertions and guesses, the Freedmen’s
Bureau, under, the control of the Federal Government,
should take the matter in hand, and ascertain the exact
condition of the cotton labour of the Southern States on
the 1st of June next, and compare it, by the official records,
with the condition of the same labour on the Ist of June,
1860, when the last census was taken? With that infor-
mation, which could be obtained promptly and with little
expense, the question might, to a certein degree, be de-
termined.

iy ick EPO R/S COMACH.

BY GEORGE YEATES HUNTER.

HE mismanagement of states has frequently in the

history of the world stirred up revolt men have

long submitted to and quietly borne, gross injustice and

wrong-doing of all shades, from oppressive taxation, to the

tyrannous trampling under foot of their rights as citizens,

until the limits of patience have been overstepped, and
human nature has broken out into open rebellion.

May not an analogy be traced between what is some-
times observed in consequence of the misgovernment of
kingdoms and what is so often noticed as the result of con-
tinued mismanagement of the stomach? ‘The signs of
disaffection preceding the storm which may wreck the
vessel of a state may perhaps occur once only in the history
of a nation, but the evidences of stomachic revolution may
be daily witnessed. Although a parallel exists and a com-
parison may be fairly drawn between the causes which lead
to, and the precursory symptoms of, an outbreak in the

632 A Plea for the Stomach.

cases instanced, all similarity ends when we come to con-
sider results. A people, when load upon load has been
added to their burden and the weight becomes insupport-
able, may arise in their wrath, and, hurling from his position
the governor who has abused his trust, and casting away the
cords which bound them, may start, de zovo, with a clean
bill of health and a hopeful future before them; whereas the
stomach may discover at the time of its revolt that the
mischief which has been worked is irremediable, and that no
line of conduct, based upon however good policy, may avail
to rectify its condition.

It is manifest that this organ must possess a marvel-
lous power of adapting itself to circumstances; it will
undergo for many years the greatest abuse, and respond
to calls of outrageous taxation upon its resources, it
may have strangers forced upon it who are altogether
unfitted to come into contact with it, and to get rid of
whom may involve considerable difficulty and heart-
burning ; yet it is expected that they will meet with the
treatment accorded to old and long-tried friends, with whom
meetings and partings have taken place with mutual good-
will and comfort. Even under these untoward circum-
stances it will often bear its grievances uncomplainingly,
and, although it does not welcome such visitors, will do its
utmost to behave gently and dispose of them without any
unseemly exhibition of disgust. Again, how capricious is
the government of the stomachic region! there are no fixed
laws for it to depend upon, no guarantee against unwar-
rantable intrusion, no security that its labour will be duly
apportioned to its strength, no certainty that after hard
work it will be allowed the repose it has so richly earned.
Sometimes, when it is full of a disposition to act, it is left
idle ; sometimes, when languid and unable to endure fatigue,
excessive demands are made upon its powers, and not un- |
frequently, when half asleep, a heavy task is set it which it
will strive to accomplish, but, breaking down in its en-
deavour, who can wonder if revolt ensue, and if friends and
foes alike who may be sojourning within it are indiscrimi-
nately expelled ? To whom can the overburdened groaning
stomach look to for protection, or turn to for redress? Its
natural governor should be the head, yet how seldom in
these days do we find that its rule is influenced by con-
siderations of wise and unselfish policy! Why, not only
does it neglect to legislate well, but in addition, will often
by its own unreasonable acts increase the difficulties and

A Plea for the Stomach. 633

swell the misery of its subject, distracting it by excitement,
drawing away from it the vital force intended to protect its
walls, paralysing it by shocks, and in a thousand mad ways
creating confusion. It is clear that the ruler cannot
run riot without the ruled paying a heavy penalty ; so inti-
mate is their relation, so manifold are their connecting
links, so infinitely ramified are their interests, that folly
and ignorance on the part of the one are sure to entail dis-
aster upon the other, which may be fatal in its consequences.
To ensure, as far as possible, a healthy state of stomach,
a good common-sense head is required to guard it from ex-
ternal assaults and internal dissensions, and in all matters
guide it aright; and what a return the well-treated stomach
can make for the exercise of legitimate care on its behalf!
The head may rule wisely and thus deserve some credit,
although in so doing it is serving its own aims, but look
at what the stomach does on its side: it keeps the head
going, it elaborates and works away to prepare and supply
needful force in the form of brain, and is ever ready to re-
spond to generous treatment, or even selfish kindness, on
the part of its lord. Its work is one of love, regard its
sympathy ; let but the head receive a serious hurt, and lo!
the stomach at once turns away from former objects of
interest and rejects them entirely ; let the head be weary,
and the stomach tires, let the head mope with grief or
ennui and the stomach pines, let the head be turned for
the sake of woman, and the stomach refuses to be com-
forted and to heed its accustomed food: surely such a
faithful servant merits good treatment, and sympathy of
such a character ought never to be contemptuously met.
We often feel surprised at the disposition there is
to speak lightly of the stomach; men talk of the head
with reverence, but scarcely deign to allude to the stomach,
excepting in a very cursory fashion. Now, whilst we
do not for a moment desire to place the servant upon
the same level with the master, we do think that honest
service is entitled to respect ; and although the head, from
its exalted position, cannot well avoid looking down upon
the stomach, we think it bad taste to insult it by any
allusion to its lower sphere, or to cast imputations upon
its comparatively menial functions. There is one office of a
king and another of a crossing-sweeper, and if both fulfil
them conscientiously they are equally praiseworthy. But
whilst we advocate the propriety of paying due deference
to the feelings of the stomach, and recognising the just

7's
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634. «9° ~=— A Plea for the Stomach.

claims it may have upon us in so far as it does its duty
well, on the other hand we emphatically condemn those
who would place the stomach above the head and consider
it as a temple in which to offer abundant and almost cease-
less sacrifice. However well adapted it may be to discharge
its allotted work, it certainly is not entitled to the idolatrous
attention paid to it by some votaries of eating and drinking,
and the stomach quite agrees with us in this view, and often
demonstrates its abhorrence of the practice by punishing
its worshippers.

In this, as in most matters, we recognise the sense con-
tained in the old adage, “722 medio tutissimus ibis.” We
propose very briefly to allude to a few of the habits inimical
to the well-being of the stomach. It is unnecessary to say
much on the subjects of gluttony and intemperance in drink,
because we do not suppose that any of the readers of this
magazine degrade themselves by yielding to either of these
vices, which are well known to be fertile sources of indiges-
tion, and which may lay the foundation of various diseases ;
the latter being more especially fatal from the formidable
nature of the diseases its repeated indulgence may set up,
since it may destroy mental as well as physical health. It
may be accepted as an axiom that the gross feeder will have
a gross mind, that he who drinks beer will think beer, and he
who drinks champagne will think champagne, and he who
drinks water will think water; the last, when quite unquali-
fied, being perhaps rather too mild a beverage in times
when the wear and tear of body and mind are so excessive.

It is beyond the scope of a short article to touch upon
dietetic rules, we would simply recommend an avoidance of
fixed codes of diet laid down for the mass, of eating too
much or too often, the cultivation of cheerfulness, and an
adoption of a mode of diet likely to suit the individual case.
Attention to these points, together with exercise adapted to
the strength, and regular habits, will probably conduce to
health of stomach, and, through it, to general good health.

We would, more particularly, invite attention to the im-
portance of not overworking the brain, and of giving it
sufficient repose at a reasonable hour, in order that the
stomach may be put in a favourable position for the per-
formance of its duties.

At the present time, speculative business and excessive
mental labour are the two great rocks upon which men
wreck their health. What is more likely to disturb the |
calm equanimity which is so desirable in order that diges-

A Plea for the Stomach. ° 635

tion may go on properly, than a business of which gam-
bling forms an element; and is it not the case, that most
callings are more or less tainted with a speculative mania ?
It stands to reason that the daily excitement which is the
accompaniment of business, rendered uncertain by the ex-
tent of the monetary ventures entered upon, must exert
a prejudicial effect on the mind, and through it largely
affect the body to its hurt, going on occasionally to the
production of insanity; and what can be worse for the
health than the daily-recurring strain upon the mental
power which over-study involves ?—a habit sure to be fol-
lowed by nervous irritability, and a general break-down of
health.

We would caution all against the danger of both the
excesses we have glanced at, and in a feverish age like the
present, the warning cannot be too often repeated. Indi-
gestion is greatly on the increase, and insanity each year
claims a larger number of victims; a fact attributed by
thoughtful observers to the causes of excitement so rife
amongst the present generation, and to none more than
those we have alluded to. :

The stomach, like the brain, and other organs of the
body, requires periodic rest, in order that it may recruit its
strength, and be fitted to enter upon the duties of the
ensuing day. How is it possible for those who keep_late
hours to obtain sufficient sleep to thoroughly restore ex-
hausted energies, unless they largely indent upon the best
hours of the morning, and so frustrate the general plan of
Nature, which in a thousand various ways points to morn-
ing as the proper season for labour? We are bold to say
that any one who tries the experiment of retiring to rest and
rising at an early hour, will find the work he gets through
more profitable to his pocket, and less injurious to his
health. Excess of all kinds should be scrupulously avoided,
and no excess calls for greater deprecation than that which
developes itself in the endeavour to obtain a maximum of
brain-work with a minimum of repose.

While on this subject, we would urge upon the fair sex
the advisability of shunning late hours, not only on the
ground that their good looks will be benefited by their
adoption of such a course, but on the principle of offering
a good example to the bread-winner of their households.
Man is an imitative animal, wonderfully influenced for
good or evil by his domestic surroundings; and if she in
whom his love is centred, and on whose behalf his labour

636. Notes on Glycerine.

is undertaken, determines to end the day at a sensible
hour, we may be pretty sure that she would not be long
alone, and that the goodman of the house, putting aside
his writing, or whatever work he was engaged on, would
quickly fallow, and find a sweet oblivion from the cares of
life; a practice which, if persisted in, would soon manifest
its efficacy in producing a better state of health and spirits,
and would make it a work of superfluity to address any
future plea for the stomach to him.

NOTES ON GLYCERINE.

BY ABBOTS SMITH, M.D., F.L.S., M.R.C.P., LOND.,
Physician to the North London Consumption Hospital, &c.

(Concluded from page 588.)

HE uses of glycerine are so numerous, that it would

be impossible to enter into full details concerning
them, without too great encroachment upon the pages of
this periodical. I shall, however, briefly touch upon the
principal purposes for which glycerine is employed, and
must refer the reader who is more deeply interested in
the subject to my work upon it.

In surgery, as might be expected from its bland, unirri-
tating, and emollient nature, glycerine is especially useful.
There is no remedial agent at all equal to glycerine in the
treatment of burns, scalds, chaps, chilblains, and other
local affections of the surface of the body. In these cases
it may be applied, either in the simple form, or in a state
of admixture with various other substances, capable of
exerting a salutary action upon the diseased tissues. To
the medical or chemical reader these substances will readily
suggest themselves. Glycerine readily dissolves nearly
every remedial agent of any value, and from the remark-
able power of penetration which it possesses, it increases
the efficacy of the substances with which it is combined.
In the majority of cases of the class referred to, it will be
found sufficient to apply only the pure glycerine, unless the
irritation or pain renders desirable the addition of a seda-
tive, or the slow process of healing necessitates the employ-
ment of a more stimulating application than glycerine itself.

Notes on Glycerine. 637

The glycerine thus applied, for example, to a burn, acts
beneficially in two ways, viz., Ist, by protecting the injured
surface of the skin from contact with the air; and, 2nd, by
softening and lubricating the new skin, so as to facilitate
its growth, and the restoration of the part to its natural
condition.

The local employment of glycerine has, of late years,
been adopted in a still more important class of cases than
those just mentioned; M. Demarquay, and some other
French surgeons, having substituted glycerine for water
and other dressings in the treatment of wounds, whether
from accident, or after the performance of surgical opera-
tions. This mode of treatment is as simple as could well
be devised. A piece of lint is first thoroughly soaked in
the glycerine, and then placed in apposition to the surface
of the wound; over this another piece of lint is placed,
next above this a compress, and the whole dressing is kept
im Situ by means of a bandage. The glycerinated dress-
ing possesses the advantage over the ordinary methods
employed, that it seldom adheres to the surface of the
wound, that it can be changed or renewed with the greatest
facility, and that thereby may be avoided the frequently
injurious traction which destroys the newly-forming cica-
trix, retards the reparatory process, and hurts and annoys
the patient. The glycerinated dressing can also be applied
more quickly than ordinary dressings with water or cerate,
and the wound being less exposed to the air, the risk of
erysipelas or gangrene is proportionally diminished.

Glycerine is also very extensively used in the treatment
of affections of the skin. In many of these, more particularly
in those which are characterised by dryness and harshness
of the cuticle, glycerine, of itself, effects a speedy improve-
ment; while in others again it serves a valuable purpose in
bringing other remedies into direct relation to the morbid
structures.

In affections of the eye, glycerine, alone, or in com-
bination, plays an important part in the local treat-
ment; while in certain forms of deafness, arising from a
deficiency of the waxy secretion in the outer meatus of
the ear, it works often like a charm, when dropped into
the meatus, so as to lubricate that passage and the external
surface of the membrana tympani, commonly known as
the drum of the ear.

Glycerine, when rubbed upon the surface of the skin,
effectually protects it from the effects of exposure to the

6338 | Notes on Glycerine.

air. A small quantity applied to the skin will prevent it
from becoming chapped or chilled in winter, or from being
burnt and inflamed in summer. The Russians, taking
advantage of the peculiar properties of glycerine, are in
the habit of employing it to protect themselves against the
severity of their climate. This they do by spreading
a layer of glycerine upon their faces and other exposed
parts before starting on their sledge-journeys ; the skin is
thus effectually guarded against the excessive cold, as the
glycerine neither evaporates nor congeals.

Glycerine is used internally in some diseases; notably
“in consumption, as a substitute for cod-liver oil. Notwith-
standing its undoubted nutrient property it is not equal to
the latter in the treatment of phthisis, owing to the absence
of certain chemical elements upon which the efficacy
of cod-liver oil in great measure depends. At the same
time, the value of glycerine, administered to consumptive
patients, should not be lost sight of ; occasionally, as it is
much more easily tolerated by the stomach, it may be
alternated with the oil, or the two may be given together.
I have known several cases in which the patients were
unable to take cod-liver oil when given alone, but readily
retained it when given in conjunction with glycerine.

As another instance of the value of glycerine given
internally, I may here mention the employment of glycerine
by diabetic patients, to render more palatable different
articles of diet, ordinarily flavoured with sugar, which they,
of course, are interdicted from taking. This may appear
a matter of little moment, but it really is not so; the
necessary omission of all saccharine substances from the
diet of persons suffering from diabetes makes it important
to endeavour to relieve them from the feeling of monotony
and dislike for food, engendered by the rigid exclusion of
all articles containing sugar.

In the preparation of medicaments, the 7é/e played by
glycerine is wide and very important. For many reasons
it is superior to water, alcohol, lard, and the other fluids
and solids commonly employed as excipients or vehicles
‘ for different remedial agents. It possesses the power of
dissolving a very large number of substances, and of thus
placing them in a condition favourable to absorption. It
does not decompose them, and from its penetrating quali-
ties, it readily enters the structures to which it is applied.
Besides possessing these advantages, it is free from various
disadvantages to which other excipients are subject. The

Notes on Glycerine. 639

volatility, fluidity, and irritant action of alcoholic and
ethereal preparations are opposed to their general use; and
fatty substances are open to the objections that they pos-
sess only a limited power of penetration, that they do not
dissolve many chemical compounds, that they stain and |
-discolour the patient’s skin and clothing, and that they
soon become rancid. None of these objections exist as
regards glycerine, and it is consequently largely employed
in making ointments, liniments, lotions, &c.

By mixing powdered gum-arabic with glycerine, in the
proportion of four of the latter to one of the former, Cap
and Garot have succeeded in making a compound which,
when spread upon linen, forms excellent plasters, firmly
adhesive, yet at the same time retaining their flexibility.
Any of the numerous substances soluble in glycerine can be
_ introduced into these plasters. Collodion may be much

improved by adding a small proportion of glycerine to the
common collodion, 2 to 100 parts; this addition is suf-
ficient to impart considerable suppleness and flexibility
to the collodion, and to prevent its cracking and drawing up
the skin. Another useful purpose to which glycerine may
be applied is to prevent the drying and hardening of poul-
tices, a small quantity of the glycerine added to the paste of
which they are composed having the effect of keeping them
moist for a longtime. A mustard poultice, superior in its
action to any prepared in the ordinary way, may be made
by mixing together three drachms of glycerine, two drachms
and a half of starch, and ten or more drops of essence of
mustard. This may be spread upon a fold of linen, and,
when applied, acts very quickly. Hundreds of other phar-
maceutical uses to which glycerine may be advantageously
put might be enumerated, but I have written enough to
show its applicability to the improved preparation of
numerous external medications.

Moreover, in the case of pharmaceutical preparations in-
tended for internal use, glycerine has been’ found superior
to water and other excipients, owing to its capability of
continuing undecomposed for almost any length of time.

This peculiar property of remaining unaltered in consti-
tution and of preventing the decomposition of substances
placed in it, has led toa trial of glycerine as a means of
preserving provisions. The chief drawbacks to its extensive
adoption are, firstly, the expense of the glycerine as com-
pared with some other processes, and, secondly, the very
sweet flavour which it communicates to the meat. In great
measure the latter fault may be obviated by carefully

640 Notes on Glycerine.

washing the meat with water, previous to cooking, and it is
probable that by the introduction of a system which will
allow of the re-employment of glycerine the expense may
be reduced to a nominal cost. I have tasted meat which
has been kept for several months in glycerine, and which
was perfectly fresh at the expiration of that period.

The anti-putrescent qualities of glycerine have been
taken advantage of in the preservation of anatomical and
botanical specimens. These retain their natural appear-
ance for a long time, and glycerine possesses the superiority
over alcohol of not evaporating nor of discolouring the pre-
parations placed in it. At the Museum of the Faculty of
Medicine, in Paris, glycerine has been recently adopted as
a preservative fluid for flowers and fresh plants, and has
been found to answer admirably the purpose for which it is
used. The external condition of vegetable specimens is
only slightly affected, as the green colouring matter (chloro-
phyll) is not dissolved, so that the green plants retain their
natural hue; while the corollas of the flowers also present
their usual appearance, with the exception of losing some
of their brilliancy.

To the microscopist glycerine holds out numerous ad-
vantages, as it is one of the most useful fluids for the pre-
paration of elementary tissues for microscopical examina-
tion. It possesses a great power of penetration, and the
absorption which occurs in each molecule often displays
minute details of structure, which might otherwise escape
observation. Its anti-putrescent property also enables the
specimens to be kept for a long period.

In the manufacture of perfumery and cosmetics the em-
ployment of glycerine has for some time been very con-
siderable, and continues to increase. The ready manner ,
and large extent in which nearly every chemical substance
is soluble in glycerine, its powers of preventing decomposi-
tion, and other properties to which I have already referred,
render glycerine a most important adjunct to many cos-
metic preparations.

Whilst writing upon the subject of cosmetics I should do
an injustice were I to omit reference to Price’s “ Solidified
Glycerine.” For some years past the knowledge of the
valuable properties of glycerine, when applied to the skin,
has led to a demand for this substance in combination with
soap, and this demand has led to a corresponding large
manufacture of so-called “glycerine soaps.” But of these
many have scarcely any glycerine at all in their composition,
end others contain such impure, rancid glycerine, as to —

Notes on Glycerine. 641

render them unfit for use. Mr. Payne, whose name has
already been mentioned in this article asa leading authority
on glycerine, has recently turned his attention to this point
and has succeeded in discovering a superior method of in-
corporating glycerine with soap. One-half of the prepara-
tion thus produced, and to which the name of “ Solidified
Glycerine” has been given, consists of pure glycerine; it is
perfectly free from excess of alkali,and from cocoa-nut oil,
and possesses to a marked extent all the properties of gly-
cerine itself, when applied to the skin. It is, consequently,
very valuable in the treatment of many cutaneous diseases,
chaps, chilblains, and the bites of different insects, such as
mosquitoes ; and if used regularly, instead of ordinary soap,
it keeps the skin smooth, supple, and healthy.

The use of glycerine is also rapidly on the increase in
connection with many other branches of industry. As an
example of this I may mention that the silk and some of
the woollen dyers employ glycerine instead of methylated
spirit as formerly, to dissolve out the solid aniline dyes and
to “slow” the bath. The exact mode in which this is done
is kept secret—a tolerably good proof of itself that the use
of glycerine is an improvement over other methods.

As the properties of glycerine come to be more generally
known and recognised, it will undoubtedly be very widely
adopted in many more manufacturing processes than at
present. There is no article with which I am acquainted
which has more rapidly made its way into use. Only
twelve years have elapsed since it was first prepared on a
large scale in a state of purity. On this point some memo-
randa, with which have I been favoured by a gentleman of
high chemical standing, are interesting. In January, 1855,
specimens of glycerine at the following specific gravities
and prices were obtained for examination :—

Mlorson’s’'“ pure” glycerine, sp. er.°1'18, price 2s. 6d.
per lb.; Morson’s “common,” sp. gr. 1°17, Is. 3d. per lb. ;
Bell & Co.’s “ pure,” sp. gr. 1°21, 11s. 3d. per half-pint bottle ;
Apothecaries’ Hall, sp. gr. 1:20, 5s. per lb.

Within three months from this date, viz., in April, 1855,
Price's Company, through their improved method of manu-
facture, were able to sell chemically pure glycerine of
sp. gr. 1°25 at 4s. the pound, with a reduction of 20 per cent.
to large buyers. Until the introduction of Price’s glycerine
it was an impossibility to obtain chemically pure glycerine
anywhere, and the various samples enumerated above were
very foetid and impure.

642

THE HARMONY OF CREATION.
BY DR. S. CLEWIN GRIFFITH, M.D.
(Continued from page 574.)

NDISCIPLINED minds are apt to refer all unusual
and occasional phenomena to local and accidental
causes, and mistaking trivial and unimportant differences
for essential distinctions, to ascribe to very different phy-
sical agencies what are only various effects proceeding from
the operations of a single principle. The tendency of
science is the reverse. It ignores accident in Nature. It
admits no contingencies. The great Architect of the uni-
verse has appointed regular and uniform laws, which govern
alike the celestial bodies, the earth which we inhabit, the
beings which people it, and the vegetation with which it is
clothed.

The apparent irregularity in the operations of natural
laws, simply proves our limited knowledge. The rising of
the sun, and its infallible setting, are not more certain in
the zature of things, than the atmospheric phenomena
which occur daily.

The laws which govern the air we breathe, and the water
on which we float our trade to every part of the world, are
not sufficiently understood to enable us to give a definite
explanation of all the phenomena connected with the abso-
lute necessity of the air retaining its freshness. We know
that a deterioration of the air has been taking place for
ages in every part of the world, that all animal life, while
living upon and freshening itself with the air, returns to
this fluid nothing but impurity, and that death with its
putrefactive vapours are poisoning the atmosphere conti-
nually. Yet we find the air to be pure, and without doubt
it has retained its purity since the creation of Adam,
wherever the atmospheric stream is allowed to roll its
aérial billows, and mingle fresh supplies of this mobile ele-
ment with that which has become vitiated. The air is
supposed to have a depth considerably more than fifty
miles; why is not this huge supply originally given for
animated nature exhausted of its life-giving power ages
ago, and by what means is the motion sustained which is
observed to be perpetually conveyed to the atmospheric
ocean ? + op

If any one will take an aquarium, and place in it molluscs,
annelids, star-fishes, and crustacea, and add water only,

The Harmony of Creation. 643

without giving a fresh supply from time .to time, these
marine animals die. But by the addition of a few plants,
ulve or conferve, the equilibrium maintains itself, and the
animals would live a long time without the addition. of
water, because the plants absorb the effete matters thrown
off by the animals, and having digested these matters, re-
turn to the water the life-sustaining elements which have
been extracted.

In like manner, an admirable paeceanicns is maintained
between the animal and vegetable kingdoms which flourish
in the atmosphere. The carbonic acid which is evolved in
the process of respiration of all animated nature, is ab-
sorbed by every leaf and every blade, and the oxygen is
returned to the air, while the carbon is consumed by the
tree, plant, or grass. A large amount of the carbonic acid
is absorbed by water, and carried in a state of solution, by
means of vapour, rain, river or sea, to the vegetable king-
dom. The water forms the vehicle, and the gas poisonous
to man and all animal life is extracted, the oxygen being
thrown back into the circumambient air, or the surround-
ing waters. A circulation of life is thus maintained by the
play of the animal and vegetable kingdom. ‘The immense
oceans which cover the greater part of our globe, absorb
from the air all deleterious vapours which the vegetable
kingdom is unable to appropriate, and the low order of
plants and marine insects which live in the ocean, without
doubt absorb the gaseous poisons and digest them, as the
higher order of plants on land have been proved to purify
the air of its carbonic acid gas. By a harmonious play of
wonderful laws, the vegetable kingdom is rendered sub-
servient to the production of food and purification of the
air. The food of the plant is formed from the effete mat-
ters thrown off by the animal kingdom. Yet, in spite of
this admirable antagonism between these two kingdoms of
Nature, the purity of the air would have been but imper-
fectly maintained, if the atmosphere had not been kept in
a state of constant motion by winds, which force the air to
wander in perpetual currents from the equator to the pole,
and from the pole to the equator.

The unequal influence of the heat of the sun upon the
atmosphere between the tropics and in the higher latitudes,
is the first grand cause of this immense aérial circulation.
Columns of cold air from the freezing poles, sweep into the
heated regions of the earth, the heated air ascends, and

- pours its floods in the upper strata towards the poles.

NEW SERIES.-—VOL I. B

644 The [Harmony of Creation.

Minor currents and eddies are produced by grass, stones,
the leaves of the forest, the surface of waters, owing to
their unequal power of absorbing and radiating heat. The
air continually moves in obedience to these laws, and thus
sweeps along, in constantly renewed currents, over the sur-
face of the bodies which cause these constant perturbations.

The carbonic acid which we exhale is carried away im-
mediately it is breathed out, by these motions of the ‘air;
not a single atom that has escaped our lungs will again
return to their cells.

The attraction of the sun and moon cause immense
tides in the aérial ocean, just as they draw the tides of sea
and river. The atmosphere thus equally distributes heat,
and has a power also of retaining this indispensible neces-
sity of life. It also distributes light, and enables us to see
terrestrial objects at a great distance, such as a ship rising
upon the horizon, and to penetrate through the crystal
depths of the heavens, which, without the medium of the
air, would wear a black funereal aspect. It is the bearer
of sounds, without which the view of a beautiful landscape
would seem dreary and desolate, if it lay before us in un-
interrupted silence. It enables us, above all, to commu-
nicate the sound of language, and all animated nature to
express its feelings.

The same power which maintains the celestial bodies in
their orbits, and compels the planets to wander in fixed
ellipses through endless space, also keeps with immutable
constancy the regular alternation of ebb and flood. The
influence of the tides upon the marine plants and animals
is of essential importance. Many of the commonest alge
best flourish when bathed alternately with floods of water
and air. Many plants and animals could not possibly live
without a continual oscillation of the tides. Thus the re-
pose of the seas is constantly disturbed by tropical heat
and polar frost, but the ocean has the same tendency to
restore the equilibrium of its temperature as the atmo-
sphere has, and thus numerous warm and cold currents are
produced, by which the waters of the different zones are
being continually exchanged.

The influence of the oceanic currents is immense. They
moderate the heat of the tropical zone, and warm the higher
latitudes. The influence of the Gulf stream may be traced as |
far as the west coasts of Spitzbergen and Novaja, Sewlja,
Scotland, and Norway, where forests clothe the mountain
sides up to a height of several thousand feet, which would ~

The Hlarmony of Creation. 645

be nothing but icy deserts without this stream ; and on the
other hand the tropical west coast of South America owes
its temperate climate to the cold Peruvian stream which
constantly conveys refreshing coolness from the Antarctic
seas. Such a vast system of currents, with all its minor
currents and eddies commingling in every conceivable
direction, all contribute to the dissemination of marine life
and the freshening of every river, sea, and ocean. Count-
less spores of algz, seeds of plants, innumerable eggs and
larve are transported by these oceanic streams from land
to land. Even land animals are borne on floating timber
across the waters.

Enormous masses of aqueous vapours absorbed by the
air from the wide-spread ocean, float thousands of miles
and irrigate those lands, distantly removed from the fer-
tilising influence of contiguous waters.

Thus a marvellous harmony exists in the agencies which
operate upon both azr and water. Every one is acquainted
with the importance of dew, and how in hot countries it
supplies the place of rain. That air, by being heated by a
tropical sun, becomes a powerful absorbent of watery
vapour, and that during the chilly nights the air is unable
to retain so great a mass of vapourised water, and deposits
it inthe form of dew drops upon plants, leaves, and all
vegetation.

In the case of ice an exception to the law, that solids are
heavier than fluids, takes place, and solid water floats upon
the liquid stream or ocean. But for this protection no
flowers would ever bloom in Spitzbergen or Novaja Zemlya,
no trace of verdure would enliven the desolate shore of
Melville Island, or fringe the estuaries of the Mackenzie.
Without this wise provision all fish would perish in those
ice-bound regions, the seas and rivers would become one
solid mass. The thawing of such prodigous mountains of
ice would convert our summer into a winter, by the
agencies of oceanic and atmospheric floods, derived from
the melting of such stupendous masses of ice. On the land
the snow acts a part similar to the ice on water, it covers
the ground with a non-conducting mantle, which preserves
the warmth of countless animals and plants beneath it. A
drop of rain is equally heavy as a drop of water, why is not a
flake of snow of an equal weight with a similar piece of ice?
because the covering would crush the tender plant beneath,
_and not allow the atmosphere to reach the hidden animal.
The distribution of sea and land over the surface of the

646 The Harmony of Creation.

globe, as it is now presented, is essential to the present
condition of organic life. Were the oceans considerably
smaller than they now are, or were Asia and America con-
centrated within the tropics, the tides, the oceanic currents,
and the meteorological phenomena on which the existence
of the vegetable and animal kingdom depend, would be so
greatly altered that it is a question whether man could
have lived, but he certainly could never have attained to
his present degree of civilisation. Progression would not
then have marked in the especial manner which it now does
man’s destiny on earth.

In the past ages of the earth’s history immense oceans
covered the greater part of the globe. If no convulsion
had taken place the earth would have continued in this
state. It would have been one universal ocean undivided
by land. It follows, therefore, that before terrestrial tribes
were created on the globe it must have been the subject
of volcanic action, of various catastrophes, in order that
the land should be raised above the surface of the waters.
Geological research proves that these changes were not
effected suddenly nor permanently at one particular time,
but that a long succession of upheavings and of oscillations
of the earth’s crust took place through a long succession of
ages, during the course of which the outlines of land and
water were frequently varied. The land of one age became
the bottom of an ocean in another age and the ocean bed
the dry land.

For a long period during which these catastrophes were
developed at intervals, the superficial temperature depended
incalculably more upon the internal heat transmitted to
the surface through the earth’s crust than upon the effects
of solar radiation. The temperature received from the
interior of the earth would be equally diffused to every
part of the earth. The immense oceans would also con-
tribute to distribute the heat equally to every region.
Therefore, during the early part of the earth’s history, the
superficial temperature was uniform at all latitudes.

The great uniformity of climate which then reigned over
the globe, caused at the same time a wonderful uniformity
of vegetation in its various zones. In the eastern as in
the western hemisphere, between the tropics and beyond
the Arctic circle, wherever coal has been deposited, the
naturalist meets with the same forms, often even with the
same species of plant.

The space of time requisite to form the vast coal fields”

The Flarmony of Creation. 647

is something incalculable. It is reckoned that one stratum
of coal must have required thousands of years for its
formation. It has been poetically suggested that the sun
heat has been for ages absorbed by the vegetable kingdom,
stored up in her woody warehouse, and fixed in the form
of coal. That thus the carboriferous system are now
giving out in detail, at every fireside and from every fur-
nace now in use by man, that warmth which shone upon
the earth many ages ago.

Air, water, and heat have, therefore, been the grand
agencies by means of which the world has been rendered
habitable for man and the inferior animals.

We find proofs of divine foresight not alone in the
inexhaustible supplies of mineral fuel, but in an immense
variety of earth and ores. It is for our use that iron,
copper, lead, silver, tin, marble, gypsum, sulphur, rock-salt,
and a great variety of other metals have been deposited in
the veins and crevices or in the mines and quarries of the
subterranean world. That mixture of earths and alkalies,
of inarl, lime, sand, or chalk, so favourable to agriculture,
results from the decomposition of the solid rocks. Springs
and streamlets rushing along their tiny beds, and through
minutes crevices, carry in solution materials rich for the
nourishment of mother-earth, and enables her to supply
food fitted for corn and every kind of plant. If we are
struck with the sublimity of the heavens and the wonders
of the deep, we have reason to be enchanted with the
beauties of floral creation. The immense variety of plants
which deck the great globe is one of the marvels of divine
power. Wherever we wander on the far stretching prairie,
in the tropical savannah, in the rich valleys of Europe, on
the margin of the ocean, or the mountain top, we behold
the garden of nature spread in rich profusion at our feet.
Every conceivable form, almost every hue, perfumes of
infinite degrees, attract our attention. The plants exhibit
an amazing variety, not only in their external forms, but
also in the duration of their existence, and in the aggrega-
tion of their fruits. While centuries have elapsed since the
giant Wellingtonians first germed in the mountain slopes
of California, a single summer's night bounds the fleeting
life of the mushroom, and while the slightest touch suffices
to bruise the delicate ulve of our fronds, ebony blunts the
sharpness of the woodman’s axe. One of the most won-
derful properties of the vegetable cell is its power of elabo-
rating such a vast variety of products. It feeds upon

648 The Harmony of Creation.

water, ammonia, carbonic acid, and some soluble salts, yet
by its assimilative power it can produce food and medicine
in immense variety. The beautiful tints of flowers owe
their rainbow colours to the exquisite juices of the plant.
The sweet odours which perfume the air, the gums, the
balsams, and the resins, sugar, and starch, india-rubber and
gutta-percha, medicines and foods are all distilled or fabri-
cated by the vegetable cell. Ithe humblest lichen and the
smallest moss, like the tiniest insect, are productions as
wonderful as the grandest tree of the forest or the most
gigantic animal.

As every animal is provided, in some measure, with a
means of defence or protection, so is the vegetable king-
dom endowed with organs which enable it to maintain an
existence in the midst of adverse influences, The sea-
weed, though unable to plunge its roots into the solid rock,
yet holds fast, so firm that the storm rarely severs it from
its resting place. The Macrocystic pyrifera rises from depths
of one hundred and fifty feet and then continues to float
many fathoms on the surface of the sea. Dr. Livingstone
mentions one plant, named Leroshua, by the native
Bechuanas. It has linear leaves and a stalk not thicker
than a crow quill; but on digging down a foot or eighteen
inches, the roots enlarges to a tuber often as big as the
head of a young child, which, on the rind being removed,
is found to be a mass of cellular tissue filled with fluid,
much like that of a young turnip. Botanists are aware of
the important agency of the Ammophilia in fixing sand
drifts and securing large tracts of fertile country, and the
peculiar growth of the mangroves has a vast influence in
promoting the increase of land at the expense of sea.
Their matted roots stem the flow of waters, and retaining
the earthy particles that sink to the bottom between them,
gradually raise the level of the soil. On this muddy
foundation, seeds germinate, thousands of tendrils descend
still further till a consolidation takes place. The immense
expansion of these littoral woods form the deltas of many
tropical rivers. Most plants expand under the heat of the
sun, and close in the evening or in rainy weather. The

principal object being to preserve the pollen. In herma-

phrodite plants, Nature provides two most efficacious
agents, the winds and insects, which disseminate most
perfectly the pollen, and carrying it to the stigma, fructify
it with unerring certainty.

Most of the plants that grow under water emerge when

The Harmony of Creation. 649

their flowers begin to blow and swim upon the surface till
they receive their impregnation and then sink down.

The long downy filaments which are appended to the
numerous seeds of the Gossypias, or cotton plants, are in-
tended to favour their transport by aérial currents to dis-
tant regions. These filaments, provided in such lavish
profusion, serve to clothe the greater part of the human
family. The seeds of the Ura crepitans are shot to a con-
siderable distance with an explosive sound. Marine cur-
rents carry seeds over the broad bosom of the ocean from
continent to continent. Among these the Guilandina
bondué, a leguminous plant, is particularly mentioned as
having been raised from a seed found on the west coast of
Ireland. On the shores of the Orcades a sort of fruit,
commonly known by the name of Molucca or Orkney
beans, are found in large quantities, particularly after
storms of westerly wind. These beans are the produce of
West Indian trees, and find their way from the woods of
Cuba and Jamaica by means of the Gulf Stream.

Space does not permit a continuance of a subject which
from its very nature is inexhaustible. We cannot but ob-
serve, however, the admirable and perfect harmony which
exists in all constituted Nature, whether we view the
laws which govern inorganic or organic matter, or which
rule the law of Nature in its comprehensive sense, or the
moral government of the world. The affections and attach-
ments of the brute creation are enlisted expressly for the
continuance of the species. Did space allow, many inte-
resting examples might illustrate these laws of Nature.

In animals the parental affection and filial attachment
last no longer than the necessity. As soon as the young
are independent, coldness, or even enmity, takes the place
of former tenderness. This limited extent of animal feel-
ing is in perfect harmony with the limited sphere of animal
existence.

The services which the quadrupeds render to man are
not accidental: they are of paramount importance ; -with-
out them man never could have become a civilised being.
The existence of animals in general depends upon the
vegetable kingdom; and as among the animals each higher
grade of organization rests upon the foundation of an in-
ferior type, so without his domestic cattle man must have
remained stationary. Most of the actions of mankind—
actions which are common to all nations and to man in all
ages—are traceable by the true philosopher to instincts

“so '
7 sh,
. ;

firmly planted in our natures. Animals by nature while
away their life in happy forgetfulness of the past, and enjoy
the fleeting hour thoughtless of the future. Man is en-
dowed with experience, reflection, and a knowledge of
duty ; and it is evidently intended that these faculties shall
lead and restrain both those instincts given him in common
with animals, and also those intellectual instincts—if one
may coin the word—which are added to animal impulses.

650 Vegetable Fibres Available for

AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES
AVAILABLE FOR TEXTILE ARR
BY H. SHERWOOD.

(Concluded from page 488.)

if N concluding this Inquiry, we have now to consider
the separating of vegetable fibres by means of fer-
mentation, and lastly, by means of super-heated steam.

The first is an attempt to regulate the operation of
retting, so as to produce the fine state of separation occa-
sionally observed in over-retted flax, without its attendant
diminution of strength. To effect this, the time of expo-
sure to the action of the fermenting agent is shortened,
and the agent is employed largely in excess of that con-
tained in ordinary vegetable substances. The results are,
in many respects, superior to those obtained from any of
the hackneyed modes of treatment. :

The objections reasonably raised to this mode are a great
uncertainty of operation, and an incompleteness of separa-
tion. Many of the substances desired to be removed are
liable to be only partially converted into a soluble state.
In this partially converted state they are even more in-
capable of solution than they were before operating upon.
They become gelatinous, and though perfectly softened by
heat and moisture, it is only to agglutine the cellular fibres
even more firmly together when again dried.

But probably a portion only of this feature is due to this
cause alone: Some of the substances desired to be re-
moved from cellulin are not affected by any fermentation ;

these present a similar appearance under the influence of _

heat and moisture. A familiar example of these substances

Textile Fabrics. 651

is found in the bark of trees left exposed to atmospheric
influences, until separated into several layers of bast. It
will be found, that though each layer is perfectly separate
from the next, yet the fibres composing the layer are not
in any way separated from each other, but form a con-
tinuous broad ribbon, marking out very plainly that the
substances ageglutinating the fibres together are entirely
different from those which fermentation had rendered
soluble. The same general substances doubtless exist in
all fibrous barks, but the substances insoluble by fermen-
tation will be found to be proportionally less in those which
do not separate into many layers, consequently, the separa-
tion by fermentation is more complete in the textile fibres.
There is a further objection to be raised against fibres pre-
pared by fermentation : the oxydized albumen which firmly
adheres as a colouring matter, is difficult to bleach off, and
thereby, loss of strength ensues. As a set-off against
these objections, when the operation is well conducted, we
have greatly superior strength and brilliance of cell—
which may not, perhaps, be considered of much value in a
half-accomplished separation—but enough to give a hope,
that by this mode, much that is of primary importance
may be effected after sufficient experiences are gained, in
which we must investigate rather the action of fermenta-
tion than the routine of operation on established bases. It
is remarkable, that by exposure to fermentation, some
fibres are rendered hard, and unable to be treated at all;
these contain much resinous matter, which probably, under
the treatment, becomes completely resinified. It will be
seen, therefore, that this process, even if perfected, is only
available for certain fibres.

Super-heated steam, at 150 degrees centigrade, performs
the réle of ferments, and of acids, as a converter into a
soluble state of the substances which are sought to be re-
moved from fibres. It likewise thoroughly softens and en-
ables to be ridded, matters accidentally present—such as
inner barks, &c., and will soften other substances not re-
movable by water. But unfortunately, at that heat, cellu-
lin is also, in proportion to its purity, gradually dissolved.
Indeed, it is a mode of testing which has been long used
to recognise vegetable from animal fibres. It does not
appear that any adjuncts have any restraining influence in
preventing the dissolution of cellulin; on the contrary,
alkalies, acids, and the commonly known neutral salts, only
increase its action. We therefore, again, obtain the de-

NEW SERIES.—VOL. I. auc

652 Two Days in a Sugar Plantation.

sired result at the expense of the strength of the cell. The
lustrous coat of the cell is also largely dissolved, for coa-
gulated albumen is converted into soluble at that heat
with moisture. We cannot, therefore, recognise in this
agent the desired means for treating these fibres.

It may be reasonably asked whether it is not impossible
to prepare these fibres without loss of some of their
qualities, which are desired to be retained, and especially
whether every fibre would not require individual treat-
ment. In this the answer is, that as Nature deposits all
the substances from a solution, and some are earlier soli-
dified than others, there can be little doubt, that by art the
process may be reversed, and some substances removed by
means perfectly innocuous to others, and that though it
would be absurd to expect any one agent to be effective
with all fibres, yet, from the uniform classes of matter pre-
sent in all, we may expect, that when these substances
become thoroughly defined, some process will be proved
reliably available for all the exogens, and possibly for some
individual fibres of the endogens, which, whilst removing
these matters, will leave the cellulin in a perfectly pure,
soft, and brilliant state. The writer trusts, at a future day,
to make public the results of investigations, which promise
fair to become a key to many of the difficulties hitherto
unsurmounted, hoping, that in the interim, other minds
will be awakened to thought on the subject, by suggestions
thrown out in this Inquiry.

Foots Cray Mills, S.E., June 24th, 1867.

TWO DAYS IN A SUGAR PLANTATION.

By JAMES SKIRVING.

(Concluded from page 578.)

HE negroes having been roused to their several duties

as described in our last article, the sugar which is in

the coolers requires to be potted. For this purpose hogs-
heads, already prepared by having their bottoms perfo-
rated in three or four places, through which holes plantain
stalks are inserted to enable the molasses to drain more
freely from the sugar, are placed in the curing house, which
is a place constructed with sides like a ship, at the foot of

Two Days in a Sugar Plantation. 653

which there is a gutter, the top being formed of logs or
skids running from side to side, at distances of from two to
three feet; the empty hogsheads with the plantain stalks
are adjusted on these skids, and the sugar dug from the
coolers is carried in pails and thrown into them ; and as it
retains its heat for a considerable time, it is still warm
when potted ; the hogsheads, when filled, are left to drain,
the molasses trickling down the sides, formed like a ship,
into the gutter below, from whence it runs into a tank
placed for its reception, where we will leave it for the pre-
sent. Meanwhile the pails and coolers are thoroughly
washed, and are placed ready for the next boiling.

The gutters for the reception of the skimmuings of the
coppers empty themselves into another tank, in which the
skimmings remain for several hours, during which the dirt
either sinks to the bottom, or if lighter floats to the top of
the liquor, which is afterwards drawn off quite clear, and is
placed in vats to ferment, to promote which process a little
molasses—experience only can teach the proper quantity
—must be added. The vinous fermentation having ceased,
the vats are emptied into the still and distilled, the pro-
duce being rum. The first and last of each distillation,
which are called low wines, are put on one side to be re-
distilled. The rum is now stored in puncheons, and when
a ship is ready to receive it, the strength is tried, the spirit
is coloured with burnt sugar, the cask is bunged, scribed’
or marked, and shipped.

The sugar having drained itself thoroughly, has to be
rammed. This process is accomplished by first loosening
all the sugar with a crowbar, after which a sledge hammer
is used with a wedge, which consolidates the contents con-
siderably ; the hogsheads are then gradually filled with
dry sugar, each pailful being rammed tight down, and as
soon as they are full the cooper puts on the heads, and it
only remains for the overseer to scribe and mark the casks,
which are then ready for shipment.

Shipping sugar in the West Indies is generally a very
disagreeable job, since as there are no means of transport-.
ing produce from the estates to any port by land, the ship
which is to take it to the European market must either
come to the bay nearest the estate from which she expects
a freight, or send a drougher for it ; and in consequence of
the prevalence of calms, or the trade-winds always blowing
in one direction, and the current of the gulf stream flowing
in the same direction, a vessel has often to beat for days

654 E-ducation.

to gain a few miles ; and frequently when it comes oppo-
site its destination, should the breeze slacken, the current
is so powerful as to drift it miles during a single night.
Vessels in the sugar trade all carry “moses boats,” for the
purpose of beaching. They are of very clumsy construc-
tion, but of great strength, and not easily swamped, thereby
being very suitable for the work to which they are put;
and as the beach generally is very steep, they can come
within a few yards of the shore. Each of these boats is
provided with a pair of skids, of sufficient length to reach
from the gunwale to the dry sand, along which the hogs-
heads and puncheons are rolled into the boat; and as the
surf is frequently high on account of the great swell of the
Atlantic, this becomes at times a difficult task : the waves
must be watched, and the cask rolled at the right moment.
Less difficulty is experienced in the shipment of rum, for
as the puncheons are water-tight, it is of no moment if they
get wet.

Having traced the manufacture of sugar from the plant
to the shipment, little more can be said. We may, how-
ever, glance at the imports of these islands, where sugar is
the chief cultivation. Some of the stores necessary in the
manufacture are coals for the furnaces, Temper or Bristol
lime for tempering the cane juice, oils of various kinds for
burning, lubricating machinery, and for dressing and phy-
sicking cattle, cart and mill grease, gasketting, white and
red lead for repairing steam joints, paints, turpentine, rope,
machinery, including stills, &c., bar and hoop iron, planks
and boards, medicines, articles of clothing, beer, wine, and
provisions, cattle, mules, and Coolies, or Africans, saddlery,
furniture, candles, soap, and various other articles, which
altogether comprise a very imposing list of imports called
for to produce the export we have been considering.

EDUCATION.

FEW hints on this head may be useful, since the
importance of paying attention to physical and men-

tal training cannot be too strongly inculcated.
If there is one thing connected with this subject more
worthy of remark than another, it is this, that under no

Education. 655

circumstances is it justifiable to force the tender intellect,
never for the sake of gratifying a love of display ought the
growing powers of little children to be hurried on to early
maturity—a practice which is fraught with great danger
to the nervous system, almost invariably causing disease
and inducing early decay.

In these days it would almost seem that there were no
children ; the old games of the last generation are utterly
discarded, and in work as well in play the juveniles of to-
day are far in advance of the juveniles of twenty years
back. What caused infinite amusement to the latter, and
ministered to their delight, calls up no feeling of pleasure
in the former; on the contrary, it is voted childish.

Without a doubt young England is much more preco-
cious and worldly-wise than his father was at the same age;
he is the senior, very often in all save years, and when this
precocity presents itself, which it does on all sides, it is a
thing by no means to be rejoiced at or encouraged.

Notwithstanding the tendency to go a-head and take a
pride in seeing youngsters wide-awake, it is well to know
that the mental and intellectual powers should scarcely be
recognised, let alone exercised, before six ; after that age
the way should be felt very gently, and the nascent mind
tenderly dealt with, as it is now that consistent discipline
of the feelings is especially important.

As time rolls on education becomes desirable, and to
adapt it to individual minds is a duty which calls for infi-
nite tact and unwearying and watchful patience. The
latent force is to be quietly drawn out on points which are
deemed advisable, and repressed on others. Moderate
daily use of the brain strengthens it, as moderate use of
the body exercises it in a healthy and proper manner ;
whereas excessive fatigue of either is certain to do mischief
and to militate against health and success in life. If this
holds good in the case of adults, @ fortiori ought it to be
borne in mind when children, those tender offshoots from
the great tree of humanity, are concerned. Suffer the little
ones to run about and inhale fresh air, and rest assured that
their minds will gain tone as their muscles harden.

When the boy is old enough—say ten or eleven—always
provided that he be strong and robust, and circumstances
permit, send him to a good public school, where he will be
compelled to hold his own against all sorts of aggressive
influences, and at which healthy sports are regarded quite
as important in the routine of a rational education as

656 L-ducation.

wading through the classics and puzzling over mathematics.
It is generally allowed that self-reliance is more likely to
be gained at a public school than from private tuition, and
for that reason only the former would recommend itself.
It is useless to indulge the hope that the boy can be kept
unspotted from the world, and unwise to attempt to effect,
by any restriction, what experience has pronounced to be
impossible. |

But quite a different course is recommended in dealing
with the education of girls. As you love innocence, let
them be guarded as long as possible in the home nest, and
learn to look upon young ladies’ seminaries and finishing
boarding-schools, at which all the “ologies” are taught,
and more is learnt than appears in the printed prospec-
tuses, with deep-rooted aversion. Let it be a solemn duty,
once determined on, never to be swerved from, to engage a
pure-minded woman (and such are to be found, and the
countenance of such may be read like an open book by the
careful observer, who really becomes a physiognomist), and
leave the training of a girl’s mind in her hands, not to re-
ceive a superficial gloss of useful knowledge, and a veneer
of what is right to know, but to be taught to entertain
broad views in regard to fitting matter brought before her,
which she will be able to form if there is a solid stratum of
common sense to build upon. The mind should not be
too heavily taxed, and it should not be forgotten that the
body, if its natural powers permit, ought to be trained to
various exercises.

As puberty, with its attendant changes, draws near, it is
time both to form the physique and to guard the morale, to
make step by step a strong, bold, true man out of the boy,
and an accomplished, modest, healthy woman of the girl ;
one who would, if destined in her turn to bear children,
probably bring forth healthy ones. The journey from
youth to adult age is beset with danger to body and mind};
in it the first seed of consumption is often laid, then the
many troubles of budding womanhood display themselves.
The imagination, as the body nears the period of its com-
plete evolution, becomes marvellously vivid, and much for
good or ill, more particularly in the case of girls, does this
stage of life owe to care or neglect. of those in charge.
Far more than the world conceives is due to our surround-

ings in youth; and depend upon it, far more evil is trace-

able to them when bad, than to original sin, and the innate
vice of poor human nature.

2 Se a

Education. 657

It is needful that all training of young girls should pro-
ceed under careful supervision, for maternal love will readily
suggest that no child ought to be entirely left to the ex-
clusive control of an hireling, however high her character
may be.

A word as to the mental training of the boy may be of
service. It is clear that the course of action must be largely
modified by circumstances: if he is to be sent to the desk
or counting-house, it will be well to impress upon him that
his leisure hours should be devoted partly to innocent re-
creation involving exercise, and partly to the study of
authors whose teaching is sound and sensible, and calcu-
lated to lead him to think for himself, and so fit him to
fight his way through the world. If a learned profession
is decided on, the best course to adopt, if ways and means
will allow, is to send him to one of the Universities, at
which, while he should be urged on to apply himself to his
studies, so as to be able to undergo with credit the ordeal
of examination, he should be warned not by over-anxiety
and neglect of the exercise and habits necessary to keep
the body in health, to jeopardise his chance of a good de-
gree by intense straining after honours. A good degree,
with health, will advance his future career better than high
honours with an enfeebled nervous system.

END, OFIVOlr>, Vil,

en

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On THE GROWTH AND PREPARATION OF FLAX Ne 142
An Inquiry INTO VEGETABLH FIBRES AVAILABLE FOR “TEXTILE

Faprics. By H. SHerwoop. (Continued) .., ie .» 146
Inpran Corn Growine IN NATAL ©... 151-
MiscELLANEOUS. —WILLISS ANILINE PRINTING Process — Con- ,

SUMPTION OF TEA AND SUGAR .... ot Be nies ag ee kOe

LONDON :

KENT & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.

———

iis All ‘Communications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,
/ core of M‘GOWAN aND Danks, 16 Great Windmill Street, W., Haymarket.

aie

500,000 SAMPLE P ae

WERE GIVEN AWAY AT THE

International Exhibition of 1862,

AND

Thousands are now using it, finding it enequlledy
also strongly recommended by the Faculty.

ONE CUP OR TWENTY MADE
IN ONE MINUTE. E

Is SWERAL yA

S PATENT

~ Sotp By GROocERS AND CHEMISTS.

Loose, at 1s. per lb..—or in 1-Ib. Square Ting,
at 1s, 4d. per Ib. © ;

By Her Majesty’s Rog Royal Letters Patent. a

COLLIER & SON,

ee ——— oo COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON. :
, TRADE “MARK. “ESTABLISHED 1822,

CHOCOLAT-MENIER.

(MANUFACTURED ONLY IN FRANCE.)

Annual Consumption exceeds 4,000,000 Ibs.

THE HEALTHIEST, BEST, AND MOST DELICIOUS ALIMENT FOR
_ BREAKFAST KNOWN SINCE 1825. y a

DEFIES ALL HONEST COMPETI. TI ON, UNADULTERATED, HIGHLY

| NUTRITIOUS, AND PURE. Rone Seed

‘SOLD IN HALF-POUND PACKETS. =” a
Also, especially manufactured for eating as Rah en ic) Swest- er
meats, or at Dessert = aaa Meaty

Tee tae

Chocolate Creams. | Chocdlate Nougat. Chocolate Pra aline, —
Chocolate Almonds. | Chocolate Pistaches. | Chocolate Pastilles,
Chocolate hile and Chocolate Liqueurs (very Reon

London, to the Chocolat-Menter for ** Excellence of Quality,” which acco fe
extensive Sale of 4,000,000 Ibs. of this article me si

AND OF ALL RESPECTABLE fein lys se AND

Fo vu 2 SE RR
> aw
Boy a eis

PRICE 1s,

eee ce ))6 NOVEMBER 1, 1866. © von” «

| NEW SERIES.—No. 4.

| | THE ° i
TECHNOLOGIST:
Accord of Science,
PROGRESS, LITERATURE, AND PRACTICAL
_ APPLIANCES.

CONTENT S..
Ox OzoNE AND 11S RELATIONS TO ANIMAL CHARCOAL, By T. W.

TOBIN .. 157
Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao, Ly “By Jonn RB. Jackson, Conator
oF THE Museum, Knw GaARDENS.. ; a Hes tae baw
Socian Science CONGRESS hi 174
WHAT IS THE DuTY OF THE Morier CountRY AS REGARDS
THE PROTECTION OF INFERIOR RACES IN HER COLONIES
AND DEPENDENCIES? . gk one ue et Oo
THe PREVENTION OF INPANTICIDE eee fhe hh ee
Tue PoLLuTION OF RIVERS Ap ne ae <.. 184
DWELLINGS FOR THE WorKING CLASSES ne suis EOE
OysTteR CULTURE IN EN@LAND .. a oa tts ise EGO
Krurpr’s Steen WORKS ‘AT Essen aah ah Br ty A piven 0)
IMPORTANCE OF Rags... Ai tg hs a he on Oe
REVIEWS : ee
Tur CARBONISER aie many 2O4
JuLius CamsaR: DID HE Cross THE CHANNEL? a 205
Boutin MANURE ; BEING THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE Boutin
Manure Company (LIMITED... ee dee ie .. 207
Tue PeN,—1Ts CONSTRUCTION AND Use su, a he eek
BOOKS RECEIVED... © ose tee ee eee wee seh 20S
LONDON:

KENT & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW.

All Communications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,
care of M‘GowaN anD Danks, 16 Great Windmill Street, W., Haymarket.

WERE GIVEN AWAY AT THE ie
International Exhibition of 1862,
AND
Thousands are now using it, finding it unequalled
also strongly roca by the Faculty.

a

ONE CUP OR TWENTY MADE $3:

IN ONE MINUTE. aS te

f o

(4 SoLD BY Gabeens AND CHEMISTS. 4% is
4 cxot Dulane eo Loose, at is. per 1b.—or in 1-Ib. Square Tins, ea
| BY THEIR PATENT PROCESS ia ab 1s Ade ee fc ae

eatin FINEST

By Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent: — = :

COLLIER & SON,

; COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON , ; sae rh
TRADE MARK. ESTABLISHED 1812, a7

CHOCOLAT- MENIER.

(MANUFACTURED ONLY IN FRANCE.)

Annual Consumption exceeds 4,000,000 Ibs. i :

THE HEALTHIEST, BEST, AND. MOST DELICIOUS ALIMENT FOR
BREAKFAST KNOWN SINCE 1825. .

| ome
DEPTES ALL HONEST COMPETITION, UNADULTERATED, HIGHLY ae
5

xa

NUTRITIOUS, AND PURE. fe
SOLD IN HALF-POUND: PACKETS. | ae a

meats, or at Dessert:—~ | hy

Chocolate Wage Chocolate mss Chena = e.. ;

Pr AS ete Ws SES ee a

“No. LXXVII—VoL. Bee
yew szmms—wo 5} DECEMBER 1, 1866. {von.

THE

TECHNOLOGIST
Record Fi Science,

ITS PROGRESS, LITERATURE, AND PRACTICAL
APPLIANCES.

—Sss ees

Epitrep BY ELDRIDGE SPRATT, Esq.’

CONTENTS. “ |
; ; PAGE
AzgrRouites. By TownsHenp M. Hatt, F.G.S, ,.. aa see 209
Beet SUGAR AND CaNE SUGAR... pe ae DES
THE SCIENCE OF MNEMONICS. (With z ilustrations.) .. 220
Notes ON THE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF THISTLE-OIL, OR OIL
EXTRACTED FROM THE SEED OF THE Argemone Mexicana, ... 224
On tHE Norte Ariantic TELEGRAPH. By H. Hommes. ... fet Bes
TRADE OF THE ISLAND OF CRETE Ey 230
On THE TREATMENT OF MELTED Cast Tron, AND ITS" CONVERSION
INTO [RON AND STEEL BY THE PNEUMATIC Process. By R.
MuUsHET : tor Zoo
BovUssINGAULT’S RESEARCHES on THE Action OF FouiaGn... 240
Newcuwane Mountain SILK. By Mr. ConsuLt THomas TAYLOR
MEADOWS ay es ee a rac sis Tet ey 4225)
CoAL IN SPAIN... pee
AN INQUIRY INTO VEGETABLE “FIBRES AVAILABLE FOR ‘TEXTILE
Fasrics. By H. SHERWwoop. = 250

WHETHER THE SUPPLY oF FISH FROM THE “Sma FisHEeRTES OF
Great Britain 1s INCREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING? 254

THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY ... ae oe a ee eee 2O6
' Review :—l'He Surrey Hitts; A GvIDE To THE CATERHAM
RAILWAY AND ITS VICINITY 257
‘Miscettanzovus :—Tus Poisonous Buack Sm, Port N ATAL, &c. 257
LONDON:

KENT & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.

All Commumications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,
care of M‘GowaN AND Danks, 16 Great Windmill Street, W., Haymarket.

gt SD

THE Ee Ee Hhaseast c F SCI

also strongly recommended ty tho Fac

ONE CUP OR 2 TWENTY MADE Pe Ny
* IN ONE MINUTE.

SoLtp BY GROCERS AND Cunwrvtas ee a
Loose, at 1s. per 1b.—or in 1-1b. Square ian oe
PREPARED at 1s. #0. per ib. - ;

Sh, ,

ps t

a % Le
Tom

| eer | os
| She ee Ta By Her Majesty's Loyal Letters Patent,

COLLIER & SON,

= COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON. a
TRADE MARK. ; ESTABLISHED 1812, pie .

bey
ae

Rds eth

nae bat
esate nike Dees ese fer

RIT Q

ar re er tyt

CHOCOLAT. MENIER,

(MANUFACTURED. ONLY IN FRANCE.)

Annual Png exceeds 4, oe 000 Ibs. ~ -

NUTRITIOUS, AND PURE.
SOLD ‘IN HALF-POUND PACKETS. ©

Also, especially manufactured for estine as ones :
meats, or at Dessert :

Chocolate Creams. | Chocolate Nougat. | Cho colate .
Chocolate Almonds. | Chocolate Pistaches, Chocola: eF
Chocolate Deeiaas and Chocolate Liqueurs (very.

_ MEDALS were sae at the International Exhibitions ot Panis, N ci
London, to the Choco ‘at-Menier for ‘‘ Excellence of Quality,” whieh ; acc
extensive Sale of 4, 000,000 Tbs. of this article aeeirek .

Wholesale, Menten, 23 Henictta ie). Covent ‘Cartan
AND OF ALL RESPECTABLE HOUSES IN. TOWN AND COUNTE

No. LXXVIII—VOL. VII. , PRICE Is.
NEW SERIES.—No. 6. JAN UARY 1, 1 86.7, VOL, I.

THE

TECHNOLOGIST:
Record Af Science,

ITS PROGRESS, LITERATURE, AND PRACTICAL
APPLIANCES.

Epirep sy ELDRIDGE SPRATT, Esa.

CONTENTS.

PAGIG

PrRAcTICAL Paper MAKING ..... oe oe ate eS; Vem. 3G
ON THE WINES OF SPAIN wie eet oe Bie se. 266
JASSABUSHIT. By M. C. CooxE ee, 269

WHETHER THE SuPPLY oF FisH FROM THE SHA ‘FISHERIES OF
GREAT BRITAIN IS INCREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING? 271
Mop& or Rearing Cattite in Spain. By Don Jose DE PRADO Y

GUILLEN ~~... as aay oe a Mee is ees oy
Evectric FIisHes ... Be Be Wee de rea ie ee ne Ph eke
Copper Mines—No. [. ... ; AE capt 9 7-
THE VALUE OF PETROLEUM AND “OTHER Ors “AS A Fur . : 285
Tue Rep Houss-Ant (Diplorhoptrum Molesta). By W.E. SHUCKARD 287
THE Science oF ‘Mnemonics. By WILLIAM STOKES ar 290
THe RIsE AND PROGRESS oF ENGLISH PorTRY. By Huntington

Boye, M.A. ... Be: gi A
AFFINITY AND HzatT. By AL. Sr. CLAIRE DEVILLE. ny DOG
PRINTING OF WovEN FaBRICs .., 303

CORRESPONDENCE :—ON THE DYNAMICAL THEORY OF ELECTRICITY 307
Review :—NOoTICE SUR LES COLLECTIONS SCIENTIFIQUES, ET SUR

LE Musret CoMMERCIAL-INDUSTRIEL ee ot ae Sue BOO
MISCELLANEOUS :—
. PHOTOGRAPHIC PosITIVE PAPER... aia es ae a7 BOS
DALMATIAN WINES i 800
NOTES ON ORANGE-TRER PLaGuus IN ‘THE AZORES... pees 10°)
LONDON:

KENT & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.

All Communications and Books for Review. to be addressed to the Editor,
care of M‘GOWAN AND DANKs, 16 Great Windmill Street, W., Haymarket.

- ey

500,000 SAMPLE PACKE KET |

ite SUFFICIENT TO MAKE A. CUP) OF THIS INI " TAB

CHOCOLATE POWDE

WERE GIVEN AWAY AT THE

| oy fae
International Babi bien of Fs a
Thousands are now nani - finding it unéquelled, 4
also strongly recoriinetie by the Rsoaliy: yf
ONE CUP OR TWENTY MADE iG
IN ONE MINUTE.

| an Lest
od Ne vate;
Pita 2 Pee a

-
_@

>
Lipaaraaghsa eae s

SA

SoLp BY Ganeses AND CHEMISTS.

Loose, at 1s. per 1b.,—or in 1-1b. Square Tins, —
at 1s. 4d. per Ib.

~*~

By Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patou eae t

COLLIER & SON,

a 3 COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON.
TRADE MARK. ESTABLISHED 1812.

CHOCOLAT-MENIER.
(MANUFACTURED ONLY IN FRANCE.)
Annual Consumption exceeds 4,000,000 Ibs.

THE HEALTHIEST, BEST, AND MOST DELICIOUS ALIMENT FOR hes
BREAKFAST KNOWN SINCE 1895. cae

DEFIES ALL HONEST COMPETITION, UNADULTERATED, AIGHLY
NUTRITIOUS, AND PURE.

SOLD IN HALF-POUND PACKETS-

Also, especially munufactured for eating as oF a Sweet Aya
meats, or at Dessert :— <

Chocolate Creams. | Chocolate Nougat. Chocolate Praline, a :
Chocolate Almonds. | Chocolate Pistaches. Chocolate Pastilles, a
Chocolate Croquettes and Chocolate Liqueurs (very ements i

MEDALS were awarded at the International Exhibitions of Paris, ‘New Yor ony ad
London, to the Choco at-Menier for «Excellence of Quality,” which account: f or
extensive Sale of 4,000,000 Ibs. of this article peoualy: |

Wholesale, Munrer, 23 5 Henrietta ne. en Garde
AND OF ALL RESPECTABLE HOUSES IN TOWN AND COU

No. LXXIX—VOL. VII. \ FEB RU ARY 1. 1867. iota 1s,

NEW SERIES.—No. 7,

THE

TECHNOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY

Record and Rebiety

OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART.

CONTENTS,

APFINITY AND Haat. “By H. St. CLArre Daviix ae : ;
“ON THE CAUSE oF EXPLOSIONS IN Lamps .
Tue Risk AND PRoGREsS OF ENGLIsH POETRY. By Hosa
=f <> -Boyur,: M.A. ee ‘ : ; ;
PRACTICAL PaPpER MAKING j ; :
Pine APPLE (Ananassa Sativa). 2 .
Dtatoms. By ANDREW WAINE ;
- On tHE Jenrring PoINT oF PETROLEUM. ‘By JouN: Anrpturp,
M.D; FCS.
WHETHER THE SUPPLY OF Fis FROM THE Sra. FIsHERies OF
Great Briratn ts INCREASING, STATIONARY, OR DIMINISHING ?
Reviews -—DIVINE ORIGIN OF MNEMONICS. By WILLIAM STOKES
c ELEMENTS oF ITALIAN GRAMMAR ; : ; :
COSMOPOLITAN SKETCHES . ; : :
HARDWICKE’S. SCIENCE GOSSIP: . : :
THE ARTIZAN
THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS ‘OF THis PRINCIPAL
British NaTuRAL ORDERS OF PLANTS . ‘ ;
Ou! Meer Me AT THE SiItE,. A Baap : :
CoRRESPONDENCE :—Tus DyNaMIcAL THEORY OF ‘ELECTRICITY
ibe eleonaaee —Powsr or CoaL. g ;
PHOTOGRAPHING UNDER THR SEA ee
Books Curt orn Uncut rar
A NEw SUBSTITUTE FOR Conbopion . : :
CHRISTMAS JUVENILE LECTURES.
“ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. = 2. ;

ts } LONDON:
Hee: & -COO,; PATERNOSTER ROW.

All Comsainieations and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,
30 Dorset Square, Regent's Park,

Petia tnt mele

500,000 SAMPLE PAGH TS

(EACH SUFFICIENT TO MAKE A CUP) OF THIS ae cae oy

‘ f Oe 4
International Exhibition of 1862, Pe 5

AND
Thousands are now using it, finding it unequalled,
also strongly regu eonmen by. the ae Re

ONE CUP OR TW! TWENTY MADE
IN ONE MINUTE. ~—

SOLD BY Gaines AND Cater

Loose, at 1s, per lb.,—or in 1-Ib, Square Tins, oe
at 1s. 4d. per Ib. ,

See

‘4
Ce Suara |
Tyo SnAg

By Her Majesty's Royal Letters Pate a lp AS

:

i COLLIER & SON,
ee COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON. ray
TRADE. MARK. ESTABLISHED 1812, ogee is 1)
ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. | eae

J. F. NASH, chet

ESIGNER &€ ENGRAVER OWN WO OD,
22 COVENTRY STREET, LONDON, W.

Specimen Book and Scale of Prices sent free by post.

HE COSMOPOLITAN, an International Newspaper of roel ahr

Politics, Commerce, Literature, Art, and Society, issued in LONDON and” me
PARIS every Saturday morning.

>. f

over Five Thousand Copies.

TERMS.
£1 A-YEAR Post-PAID. SINGLE Copy 5d.
eat hats lag sears tak
Per LIne é Is.

LONDON: Chief Office, 291 1 Strand, W.C.—H. Houtoway:

PARIS : 14 Rue Vivienne-_J. Kremnn. es

NEW YORK: 68 Wall Strcet—F.. A. ABsor.
THE NEW SONG,

“OH! MEET ME AT THE STILE.” zt

‘This Song is creating ane a . sensation among lovers of ballad 1
admired wherever it is sung. © The pianoforte arrangements are exceed
-yet all that is required. It is, without doubt, the best ea of th
Sent to any address on receipt of esas Hees ee

NEw szums—vo se} | MARCH 1, 1867. be ears

THE

TECHNOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY

Accord und Arebicly

OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART.

CONTENTS.

Tum SAMARITANS AND THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUGH,, By: te Rev.
Proresson Marks. . ; . j ey é

Fancy AND IMAGINATION . ‘ :

CopPEeR Mines.—No. II. . ‘ i ‘ ‘ é ‘

SyMPATHETIC INKS ., ; ‘ é

GRAPHOTYPE e

Freso WATER STICKLEBACKS IN Sra Water | Mande

SIR EDWIN LANDSEER’s Lions. . : 3 : es ; é
Deroporizing INDIA-RUBBER . ; i

On THE CoMMERGE OF MEXICO. . ; ;
Untversity Rerorm . ae ;
REVIEWS :—LETTERS FROM Hein. ; f ; re :
THE ConTEMPORARY REVIEW. : : 3 : :
THe VicToRIA MAGAZINE : : ; 2 : .
Tur Propte’s MAGAZINE . : ;
FAMILIAR LECTURES ON SclENTIFIC SuBJECTS. j
GorTtHE’s Minor Porms ( . : f
THe ARGOSY . j : ; Y é ‘ F
Dr. Pick on Memory |. 4 :
Pure DENTISTRY, AND WHat IT Dous. FOR. ‘US.
CORRESPONDENCE :—THE PRESENT State OF METEOROLOGY .
REMARKS ON THE NATURE OF AXTHER
On THE WEARING oF ° PHYLACTERIES

OD OTL OE wees Men Rhee eh 8 sre

LEARNED SOCIETIES... P : : : ; : ‘ :
MISCELLANEOUS:— . é os 5 ‘ F ; : ;
_ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS ; ‘ ; : :
Books REcEIVED : é j , ee. ;

LONDON :

KENT & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.

PAGE

363
369
371
375
376
378
380
382
384
389
390
391
392
392
393
393
393
399
395
396
400

. 404

406
409
414
414

All Communications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,

30 Dorset Square, Regent's Park.

WERE GIVEN AWAY AT THE ‘eon

International Exhibition of 1862, i

AND
Thousands are now ‘using it, finding a al
also strongly recommenda by the Faculty.

CHOCOLATE eh

ONE CUP OR TWENTY mane 4
IN ONE MINUTE.

SoLD ‘BY Chocans AND Comics Sees a

Loose, at 18. per Ib.—or in 1-Ib, Bauagg. bi : a3
at 1s. 4d. per Tb. : ie.

By ae Majesty's Royal Letters Patent, u ee:

COLLIER & SON,

a 3 erie cr STEAM MILLS, LoMBoN? cs
TRADE MARK. - | ESTABLISHED 1812, 0

ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
J. F. NASH,

DPstexEe & ENGRAVER ON WOOD,

an
arena
3 ae
a

27 COVENTRY STREET, LONDON, W.
Specitnen Book and Scale of Prices sent free by PORE:

‘THE NEW CITY SHOW ROOMS e
FOR oe

TABLE GLASS, CHINA AND (CHANDELIE
BS DEFRIES & SONS,

HAVE NOW OPENED THEIR ;

Contains an entirely new, extensive, eer beautifal dee of ihe
' their own manufacture. An inspection of their latest design
Lamps, Chandeliers, Breakfast, Dinner, and Desert hs es one
\_ is respectfully invited. cae See
MMi HOUNDSDITCH

Se arices-z. 6 APRIL 1, 1867. Roe Die

TECHNOLOGIST:

A MONTHLY

Aecory and Aedielv

OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART.
CONTENTS.

Tan SAMARITANS AND THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH. By D. W. M.
On tHE CoMMERCE oF Mexico
An Inquiry INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES AVAILABLE FOR TexTILE
Faprics. By H. SHERWOOD. . ‘ ‘ ; ‘ i :
Tar Roya Society Sorrre . Leo ‘ i : ‘ :
Is MEDICINE A SCIENCE ?
On THE MECHANICAL PROCESSES OF "ENGRAVING. By A. H. WALL
CAPTAIN MAJENDIE ON MILITARY BREECH-LoaDine SMALL ARMS .
LEARNED SOCIETIES . 5 : ‘ : ‘ ‘
LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC ‘QLEANINGS ‘ ‘ é 5
REViEWS :—LyrA ELEGANTIARUM
HAnpD-BooK TO THE PoETIcAL AND DRAMATIC Litera-
TURE OF GREAT BRITAIN . ; whe cee } ‘
THe WEATHER GUIDE FoR 1867 . = 4 é
LittLe. WILLIE, AND OTHER POEMS FOR CHILDREN
INDIVIDUAL LiBERTY,LEGAL, Mora, AND LICENTIOUS
OBITUARY . F 3 ; : ; ; ;
ANSWERS TO CoRRESPONDENTS ; , : p : j
Booxs RECEIVED. é ‘ ; : ; ? ‘ i

LONDON :
KENT & CO, PATERNOSTER ROW.

lk Communications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor
Z 30 Dorset Square, Regent's Park. ‘

nn ec ee UE UEIIE NINERS InA aE REESE ERR Da REEREEEREeneenee

THE TECHNOLOGIST ADVERTISING SHEET.

bea

‘IMPORTANT PE MOTIC

Ree aap ne are aa
“ . eee tl

500,000 SAMPLE PACKE a e

‘PF we t.,
Hes SUFFICIENT TO MAKE A CUP) OF THIS INIMIT! ABL E Xs ee

CHOCOLATE POWDI eR

Ss
| He

‘WERE GIVEN AWAY ar THE

International Exhibition of 1862,

itonuange are now using 3 if finding it unequalled, f
_also. strongly recommended by the Faculty.

ONE CUP OR TWENTY MADE
IN ONE MINUTE. riage

air
1s ¢
ee

AGO
| VERA sys
CHOCOLATE

Sonp sy GRrocERs AND CHEMISTS. ;

Loose, at 1s. per 1b.—or in 1-Ib. Square Tins ee

/ at 1s. 4d. per Ib. ‘-—
By ‘Her Majesty Pa Ldters Patni, ait
—_ COMMERCIAL STEAM MILES, LON ON. oan
TRADE MARK. ESTABLISHED 18125 af
; ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.

> J. 'F. NASH, aes
ESIGNER & ENGRAVER ON WOOD,

22 COVENTRY STREET, LONDON, W. | ; 2

Specimen Book and Scale of Prices sent free by post. 3 ae ee <¢ os y
THE NEW CITY sHOW ROOMS, enter

FOR

TABLE GLASS, CHINA AND CHANDELIERS:
| J. DEFRIES & SONS, ~~

HAVE NOW OPENED THEIR”

Containing an. aie new, extensive, and beautiful stock of. the Stove goods,
their own manufacture. “An neers of their a designs i in ae

AIRE: ae euiis invited iin ae
Mr MOUNDSDITCH

‘No. LXXXII—VOL. VIL ; : PRICE
‘NEW SERIES.—No. 10. MAY 1, 1867,

VOL. I.

1s,

THE

TECHNOLOGIST.

Popular Magwine
OF GENERAL INFORMATION,

EDITED BY

G YEATES HUNTER, MRCS. LS.A.

CONTENTS.

CoMMMON OBJECTS FoR THE Microscopr. No. J. By W.F. Hunter
Tue Fatt of THE CONFEDERACY : A PoriticaL Post Mortem. By
Joun Baker Hopxins ‘ Pe ee : ; : : j
ConvALESCENCcE. By tHe Eprror .
An Iwauirny INTO VEGETABLE FIBRES AVAILABLE FOR THXTILE

Fasrics. Br H. SHERWOOD , ; ‘
Tue Harmony or Creation. By Se C, Garering, M yy. : 5

On Memory i ; ‘ ; ,
ComMBRCIAL ASPECT OF J BRUSALEM pe es 4 s :
Copper MINES .. See f : : : ‘ : ; ‘

LEARNED SOCIETIES .
LITERATURE :;—DERMATOLOGY AND THE TREATMENT OF ‘SEIw Dis-
BASES.—THE CHRISTIAN OBSERVER.—THE PROPOR-
TIONS OF THE HuMAN Figure.—THE TREATMENT
oF EPritersy.— Moxon’s STANDARD Panny Reap-
Ina@s.—-CHamBERS’sS ErymMoLoGgican DICTIONARY OF

. THE Ena@uisH LANGUAGE.

OsituaRyY :—Dr. Frenco.—MRr. Ropert BELL. _—_-Mnr. C. H, BENNETT
MIscELLANEOUS :—DANGEROUS TOYS.—STEAM-POWER FROM PETRO-
LEuUM. — THe Catrie PLAgur. —Minitary.— STATISTICS ‘oF
PHOTOGRAPHY.—THE FLESH AND BLhoop RESOURCES OF FRANCE.

—TuE Fate or Dr. Livinestonzt.—lT BE ie sila oF Herat
pee ros Ove IT, eS SAS watt Pa Rg ela

ae LONDON:

KENT & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW.

30 Tavistock Street, W.C.

PAGK

467

472
481

485
489
494
504
507
510

519
523

523
530

All Commmications and Books for Review to be addressed to the Editor,

500.000 SAMPLE ae "

ace SUFFICIENT TO MAKE A CUP) OF THIS INIMITABLE —

CHOCOLATE POWDER

WERE GIVEN AWAY AT THE

International Exhibition of 1862,

AND
Thousands are now using it, finding it siieaintiote
‘also strongly pea by. the Faculty.

ONE CUP O2 TWENTY ‘MADE e
IN ONE MINUTE.

SoLD BY GROCERS AND CHEMISTS. - if
Loose, at 1s. per 1b..—or in 1-Ib. Square Tins te
at 1s. 4d. per Ib.. ;
!

By. Her Majesty's “Ros Royal Letters Patent.

COLLIER & SON,

SS red (IRD COMMERCIAL STEAM MILLS, LONDON.
TRADE MARK, ~— ESTABLISHED 1812.

}

Published every Saturday, price 4d., Stamped 5d.,

THE CHURCH REVIEW,
ENLARGED TO TWENTY- FOUR PAGES. eeu eee
THE CHURCH. REVIEW is a full record of the progress of the great Catholic Sire
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