Oct. 20. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



309 



mode of propulsion, adopted by our forefathers 

 in their " ball-play," who in " hand-tennis," al- 

 ways played with the naked hand. By degrees 

 the glove came into use, occasionally lined. The 

 .glove was afterwards exchanged for a sort o^ reti- 

 culata manus, the natural hand being bound with 

 thongs, or cords, of what is popularly, but some- 

 what inappropriately termed " catgut," as calcu- 

 lated to increase the resilient power and velocity 

 of the ball. Hence the later adoption of the 

 artificial palms, or " rackets " whicli, as a game, 

 though it has not superseded, is vastly superior to 

 the " hand fives." Why our forefathers did not 

 earlier adopt the intestinal reticulum (or " racket ") 

 is not so easily explained, unless indeed it was 

 that they had " no bowels " for their hands, or 

 their " five " fingers. F. Phiixott. 



POSSIBLE TEST OF AUTHORSHIP. 



(Vol. xil, pp. 181. 269.) 



Mr. Hackwood's laborious experiment gives 

 the first corroboration of my notions upon the 

 subject, and the agreements existing between 

 consecutive parcels is closer than I should have 

 expected, for so small a number of words as 500. 

 But there is one point in which the results pre- 

 sent a remarkable incongruity. 



In the three last sets of 500 words each, all the 

 authors keep their relative positions ; they may 

 approach to, or recede from, one another, but no 

 two change places. Throughout these three sets 

 the order of verbosity is Scott, Hitchcock, Dickens, 

 Goldsmith, Irving, Addison, Gough, Haliburton. 

 But in the first set of 500, no one except Hali- 

 burton, has the place which he afterwards main- 

 tains. The order is Hitchcock, Irving, Scott, 

 Dickens, Goldsmith and Gough, Addison, Hali- 

 burton. The difference is in one case so great, 

 that it actually alters a place in the result of the 

 whole 1500 words which follow ; it makes Gold- 

 smith and Irving change places. The suspicion 

 arises, that in the first 500, the experimenter had 

 not got into the way of it. They say the car- 

 penter spoils before he makes, and this may apply 

 to Mr. Hackwood [pun not seen until written]. 

 It would be worth while to repeat the first 500, 

 since nothing else will rebut the unavoidable 

 suspicion, though I should not be the least sur- 

 prised if there were no foundation for it. 



It is not absolutely necessary that the parcels 

 should be consecutive ; it is enough that no bias 

 is applied to the selection. The distinction be- 

 tween dialogue and narrative is remarkably great. 

 It might perhaps be equally marked between the 

 conversation of the same person in two different 

 moods. Johnson once said of a work, " It has 

 not wit enough to keep it sweet," which he im- 



No. 312.] 



mediately, recollecting himself, translated into " It 

 has not vitality enough to preserve it from putre- 

 faction." These sentences go at the rate of 3J- 

 and 5 letters per word, one with another ; so that 

 it appears that Johnson could translate plain 

 English, at any notice, into words half as long 

 again. 



From the curiosity which I happen to know ray 

 suggestion has excited, I expect to have to return 

 to the subject, and to compare Mr. Hackwood's 

 results with others. A. De Morgan. 



marine aquarium. 

 (Vol. xii., p. 285.) 



The presence in an aquarium of that noxious 

 pest, sulphuretted hydrogen gas, is usually due to 

 the decay of sea-weeds in a hidden spot, from 

 which the light is excluded. The remedy, or 

 rather the prevention, of the annoyance, is there- 

 fore obvious, namely, by the avoidance of all 

 overlaying surfaces, and by the admission of as 

 much light — sunlight if possible — as experience 

 points out to be sufficient for the maintenance of 

 the whole arrangement in a healthy state. If 

 large masses of rock-work be introduced in a tank 

 by way of ornament, they should be so arranged, 

 that their points of contact with the other con- 

 tents should be as small as possible, not lying 

 on broad surfaces. Yet it often unavoidably 

 happens that the layer of shingle forming the bed 

 of the aquarium is blackened by sulphuretted 

 hydrogen ; but this is not always inconsistent with 

 the prosperity of the collection, so long as the 

 poison is not diffused through the water by the 

 stirring up of the shingle. This state of things 

 occurs naturally in the ocean : witness, for example, 

 Mr. Cocks's anecdote, as given in Johnston's 

 British Zoophytes, p. 231., of finding at Green 

 Bank " herds of the Actinia Bellis in prime con- 

 dition — jackets as red as a Kentish cherry," 

 while the beach at the spot was " composed of 

 mud, sand, and decomposed algae ; many of the 

 stones, when lifted, presented a face as black as 

 the skin of an African, and sent forth a rich aroma 

 of sulphuretted hydrogen." 



The best way of removing refuse matters with- 

 out disturbance, is by the pneumatic action of a 

 glass tube. When the water (either actual sea- 

 water or artificial) has been poisoned in the 

 manner referred to by A. Y. M., it need not be 

 thrown away, but may be drawn off with a siphon 

 into a shallow pan, and be there agitated and 

 aerated with a syringe until it is sweet again, 

 which will be in a few days. Then it may be 

 bottled off for future use, the aquarium having 

 been in the meantime well cleaned out, the stones 

 and rock-work washed, the decaying weeds cleared 

 away, and other water substituted. 



