552 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



NOTES. 



In the death of George Henry Lewes, 

 which occurred in London, December 1st, 

 the more seiious literature of England lost 

 one of its best representatives. Mr. Lewes 

 possessed a very remarkable degree of na- 

 tive intellectual power, and this gift of na- 

 ture he appears to have turned to the best 

 account by stern self-discipline and assidu- 

 ous and well-regulated study. He was a 

 worker in many different fields of literary 

 activity, in some of which he proved him- 

 self a master, while in none did he sink to 

 mediocrity. His learning was profound and 

 accurate, and his control of his intellectual 

 resources was complete. In our ninth vol- 

 ume we publislied a brief biography of Mr. 

 Lewes, with portrait. He has since that 

 period been engaged on the " Problems of 

 Life and Mind," but, as far as we know, has 

 not published any volume since the second. 



An Englishman traveling in the Rocky 

 Mountains, in company with an American 

 astronomer, severely criticised the hideous 

 defacement of picturesque places by big- 

 lettered advertisements on every conspicu- 

 ous rock. His fellow traveler readily ad- 

 mitted that the custom admits of no justifi- 

 cation, but added, " I guess we are not as 

 bad as some of your people who have tried 

 to advertise themselves on the planet Mars" 

 (by naming Martial objects after themselves 

 or their friends). 



A NEW illuminating gas is now, accord- 

 ing to the Liverpool " Post," under exam- 

 ination by the British Lighthouse Board 

 (Trinity House). It is declared to be not 

 only cheaper than ordinary gas, but far more 

 effective. It is capable of so much concen- 

 tration that the quantity contained in a small 

 buoy has supplied a light burning for twenty- 

 eight days with sufficient brilliancy to show 

 the position of the buoy to passing ships. 



Dr. Lyon Playfair complains that, 

 whereas the 30,000 medical men of England 

 are protected by law against the competi- 

 tion of unqualified practitioners, the 150,000 

 teachers have no such protection, and have 

 no recognition in the face of the law as con- 

 stituting a distinct profession. Any one who 

 has failed in any other calling may, if he 

 please, open a school or seminary, and no 

 one can question his right. Dr. Playfair 

 intends to move in Parhament for a bill to 

 determine the qualifications of teachers, and 

 to exclude from that profession all but duly 

 registered aspirants. 



The gas-wells of East Liverpool, Ohio, 

 are worthy of being ranked among the 

 " wonders of the world." They are situated, 

 writes a correspondent of the Cleveland 

 " Herald," in and around the town, and give 



it a continual supply of light, the gas being 

 almost as free as air. It costs practically 

 nothing, and both heats and lights the town. 

 The street lamps are ablaze day as well as 

 night, for it costs nothing to supply the gas, 

 and it takes trouble to shut it off. Then 

 the gas is almost the only fuel employed in 

 the town, being conducted into the grates 

 and stoves by pipes. It is also used for 

 generating steam-power for sundry great 

 pottery manufactories, employing upward 

 of 2,000 workmen. The first of the wells 

 was opened twenty years ago, and there are 

 no signs of exhaustion. 



In the discussion of the profits of wheat- 

 growing to-day as compared with the prof- 

 its forty or fifty years ago — a discussion 

 suggested by a strike of agricultural labor- 

 ers in an English county — the very curious 

 fact was brought out that the wheat itself 

 represents only one half of the produce, the 

 other half being represented by the straw. 

 The price of wheat has been declining for 

 years, but the price of straw has been rising, 

 till now it is actually the more important, in 

 England, that is to say. The demand for 

 straw as litter, for fodder to mix with other 

 foods, and for different branches of manu- 

 facturing industry, has so increased that the 

 article is scarce even in rural districts. 



A WRITER in»" Land and Water," under 

 the signature of "Bangkok," gives this 

 amusing account of a little scene which he 

 witnessed at the court of the " Second 

 King" of Siam: "After sitting down and 

 lighting our cigarettes he (the Second King) 

 rang a little hand-bell, and in the dimly- 

 lighted veranda I saw three figures wrig- 

 gling along on theii' stomachs to his majes- 

 ty's chair, on reaching which they sat upon 

 their haunches and showed themselves, three 

 handsome white-haired old men who were 

 introduced to me as the royal astronomers." 

 They had been summoned for the purpose 

 of exhibiting to the foreigner their calcula- 

 tions of an approaching solar eclipse, Avhich 

 proved to be very nearly exact. After a 

 little present from their master, the old gen- 

 tlemen retired as they had come. 



The " Holy Synod " of Athens having 

 ordered public prayer for rain to be made 

 in all the churches of its jurisdiction, one 

 priest, according to the " Independent," 

 made the following common-sense remarks 

 to his congregation : " Blessed Christians," 

 said he, " our most holy synod has ordered 

 public prayer to be made for rain. But I 

 have been considering that, although we in 

 Attica do indeed need rain, in Peloponnesus 

 it would be fatal to the olives and currants. 

 Therefore, blessed Christians, I leave the 

 matter to each one of you. As for me, I am 

 quite wiHing to leave it to God to do as he 

 chooses." 



