554 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



His biographer remarks : " Only once, as far as I can learn, did Knox 

 exhibit any emotion on account of the connection of his name with the 

 Burke and Hare atrocities, and his freely-alleged complicity in the 

 transaction. Walking in the meadows at Edinburgh with his old 

 friend Dr. Adams, their conversation turned upon ' outward form and 

 its relation to inward qualities.' Knox had a keen appreciation of the 

 beautiful in form ; and it chanced at the moment that a pretty little 

 girl, about six years of age, caught his notice while at play. She 

 afforded a text for Knox's comment on physical beauty, combined 

 with unusual intelligence, in so young a child, for by this time he 

 had drawn her into a playful conversation. At length he gave her a 

 penny, and said: ' Now, my dear, you and I will be friends. Would 

 you come and live with me if you got a whole penny every day?' 

 ' No,' said the child ; ' you would, maybe, sell me to Dr. Knox.' The 

 anatomist started back with a painfully stunned expression ; his feat- 

 ures began to twitch convulsively, and tears appeared in his eyes. 

 He walked hastily on, and did not exchange words with Dr. Adams 

 for some minutes ; at length came a forced laugh, with a questionable 

 emphasis on the words ' vox populi,^ which led to a new tojjic of 

 discourse." 



Dr. Knox gave up his lectures in Edinburgh in 1839, and aftei'- 

 ward went to London, where he died, December 20, 1862. 







TEMPEEED GLASS. 



By PEREY F. NUESEY, C. E. 



A CONSIDERABLE degree of well-merited attention has of late 

 been directed toward an invention which may be justly termed 

 remarkable, even in these days of startling discoveries, inasmuch as it 

 is one which promises to effect a complete change in the physical charac- 

 ter of glass. This invention is the toughening process of M. Fran9ois 

 Royer de la Bastie, by which the natural brittleness of ordinary glass 

 is exchanged for a condition of extreme toughness and durability. 

 And this invention is perhaps the more remarkable in that it does not 

 emanate from one engaged in, or practically conversant with, the manu- 

 facture of glass ; nor is the discovery due to one of the great lights 

 of science of our day; neither was it the result of a happy momentary 

 inspiration. On the contrary, M. de la Bastie is a French private gen- 

 tleman of fortune, residing in his native country who, however, is 

 given to the study of scientific matters. He was educated as an engi- 

 neer, but his position and means rendered it unnecessary for him to 

 follow the profession into which he had been initiated. He, however, 

 is fond of experimenting in matters relating to engineering, and among 



