POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



715 



the result of teaching by experience till it 

 covers most of the field of human intelli- 

 gence. But a break occurs at the moment 

 when the ghost idea intrudes. That can not 

 be derived from experience ; for no man has 

 ever lived again the present life, nor has a 

 ghost ever been observed except in fancy, 

 and if in fancy, how did the fancy originate? 

 It can not be explained, either, as the result 

 of dreams, for, while people may dream odd 

 things and whimsical combinations, they do 

 not dream absolutely new things that is, 

 things outside their experience and outside 

 the imagination developed from thinking 

 about the collected results of experience 

 either personal or inherited. Two supposi- 

 tions are mentioned by the London Spec- 

 tator in reviewing Lady Welby's paper as 

 admissible on the subject. The first is that 

 primitive man had evidence that he had seen 

 or heard, at some time or other, that which 

 inspired conviction in his mind, and became 

 Burc of another life because he had watched 

 its manifestations. The other is that, what- 

 ever be the truth about the evolution of 

 thought, some thoughts must be intuitional 

 that is, have been generated in man origi- 

 nally by some external power. 



Chinese and Indian Tea. The suprem- 

 acy of the tea trade is gradually shifting 

 from China to India and Ceylon to such an 

 extent that the Chinese Government is said 

 to have instituted an investigation into the 

 matter. The cultivation of tea as an indus- 

 try is hardly fifty years old in India, and not 

 more than ten years old in Ceylon ; yet the 

 British importations from those countries 

 almost equal in weight and exceed in money 

 value those from China ; and while the ex- 

 ports of China tea doubled between 1866 

 and 1886, those of Indian teas increased 

 fourfold. The causes of the change were 

 found by the Chinese investigation to rest 

 largely in differences in the preparation of 

 the commercial product. The Chinese 

 method is characterized as careless. The 

 crop is raised in small gardens by men who 

 own them and whose capital is small. The 

 picking is done by the family, with hired 

 help only when it can not be got along with- 

 out. To save expense it is pushed forward, 

 and the plucked leaves are allowed to stand, 

 deteriorating in quality, till it is finished. 



Consequently, the leaves are not evenly 

 withered. In India, tea is grown in large 

 gardens, under skilled superintendence, with 

 thoroughly organized methods. The pick- 

 ing is attended to with extreme care, so that 

 each leaf is plucked at the proper stage, 

 the plants being gone over again and again 

 as the leaves successively mature. The 

 plucked leaf is started at once on the course 

 of " making," so that no time is given for 

 deterioration to begin. Like differences in 

 care and system prevail through all the de- 

 tails and processes, down to the packing 

 and transporting to market ; and the In- 

 dian teas are prevailing by virtue of the 

 real superiority which they thereby obtain. 



Infant Serpents. As described by Dr. 

 Walter Sibley, in his paper in the British 

 Association on The Incubation of Serpents' 

 Eggs, the first sign of the process of hatch- 

 ing is a slit, usually Y-shaped, appearing at 

 the highest part of the egg-shell, whether 

 the egg is placed on its side or on one end. 

 The snout of the young reptile appears at 

 the crack. After a time the head is pro- 

 truded, and often remains out of the shell 

 for some hours before the body and the tail 

 are hatched. If disturbed, the head is again 

 withdrawn into the shell. The author had 

 seen fully-hatched young snakes return into 

 their shells when alarmed. The young 

 snakes, when first hatched, are smooth and 

 velvety to the touch, with the yellow ring 

 (of the common English snake) beautifully 

 marked from the first, and the eyes open ; 

 but often there is some opacity about the 

 cornea, which disappears in the course of a 

 few hours. They are about six inches long, 

 and weigh about eighty grains. They begin 

 to hiss in the first few days. 



Compressed Air as a Motor Power. The 



power of compressed air was described by 

 Prof. Alan Lupton, at the British Associa- 

 tion, as suitable for large or small motors, 

 and one that could be cheaply and safely in- 

 troduced into workshops, houses, and shops. 

 It will do the heavy work of a mill-course 

 or iron-works, and the light work of the 

 tailor, shoemaker, hair-dresser, and grocery, 

 and will drive a dynamo for electric lighting. 

 In Birmingham, by the agency of three 

 steam-engines of 1,000 horse-power, air com- 



