228 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[August 1, 1888. 



from the disc's centre, or at the sun's distance more than 

 ten millions of miles. His drawing is reproduced in fig. II. 

 In comparing it with the others it must be remembered that 

 the black disc is not the moon, but the circular screen 

 having an apparent diameter of 12° and nearly twice the 

 moon's. 



Mr. Charles Denison's drawing of the corona (fig. III.) 

 is interesting as indicating the effect of perspective. 

 We see froaa it how the overlapping of the luminous 

 tongues of the corona produces such shapes as had seemed 

 perplexing in Liais's drawing. The two well-marked star- 

 pointed radiations seen on the left (with apices about two- 

 thirds of a diameter from the moon's edge) are seen not to 

 indicate any actual radiations having these definite shapes, 

 but to be jjroduced by the overlap]>ing in the visual field of 

 three much longer radiating beams. We may infer that in 

 all probability these longer beams are themselves in turn 

 produced b}' the overlapping of beams longer still, but too 

 faint to Ije separately discernible. It will be ob.served that 

 as thus interpreted the several outlines of these pointed 

 beams are in all cases real ; what is unreal is the association 

 of two outlines which really belong to different streamers 

 into the apparent outline of a .single-pointed beam. 



We see no indications of the inner set of pointed beams 

 in fig. IV., which represents the results of photography 

 as employed at various stations during the eclipse of 

 July 1878. From this we may infer that the eye was more 

 sensitive to slight differences of luminosity in the coronal 

 beams on this occasion. The absence in the photographic 

 picture of some of the beams shown in Mr. Denison's draw- 

 ing indicates their relatively small actinic intensity. On 

 the other hand, the delicate curved streaks seen over the 

 parts of the moon's limb between the long streamers are 

 much better shown in the photographs than in most of the 

 drawings. 



AN INTELLIGENT CAT.* 



HISS KITTY is a favourite member of our 

 family, and she is possessed of .so many 

 graces and virtues that I am glad to bear 

 ' 7 fe W/g B ; 'witness to her worth in a brief biography. 

 ■V S\ y lit. Si She is an humble creature, but she lives up 

 fo the highest capabilities of her natui'e, 

 and a careful study of her ways has con- 

 vinred me that the "godlike reason," of which we assume 

 a monopoly, does not go altogether upon two legs, but 

 is shared, in a greater or less degree, by our four-footed 

 companions. 



When she came to us at first Kitty was a little waif, 

 timid and shy, and scarcely four weeks old, and her terrified 

 look, as she ciept out from underneath the verandah of our 

 country house, told pliinly that she was conscious of hiving 

 come into a world where cats got fiir more kicks than 

 caresses. This was but natural, for only the day before she 

 had seen her mother slaughtered by a brute of a boy, and 

 had herself escaped merely because she was too young to 

 render her peltry of any value. We gave her food and 

 spoke kindly to her, but it was days before we could lure 

 her into the house, or induce her to accept our caresses. 

 She would start at the slightest sound, and slie wore a look 

 of constant fright, as if the tragedy of her mother's death 

 was continually before her. Gradually, however, the terrible 

 vision seemed to fade from her memory, and she became 

 very playful and affectionate. She would climb upon our 

 laps and our shoulders, and putting her soft cheek to ours, 



* From an article by Edmund Kirke in the NoHh American 

 Ilenew. 



would caress us most fondly. Her favourite station during 

 the day was on my writing table, where she was accustomed 

 to curl herself up and, when awake, to watch the movement 

 of my pen as it glided over the paper. She did not a])pear 

 to understand this at first, )iut she very deliberately pro- 

 ceeded to investigate the phenomenon. After watching it 

 one day for a time, she reached out her paw and touched 

 the penholder. I kept on writing, and this, I suppose, gave 

 her confidence, for when her paw had followed my hand 

 once or twice across the sheet, she clutched the pen herself 

 and attempted to go on with the writing. The result was 

 a huge blot upon the MS., at which Kitty gazed aghast for 

 a few moments ; then, giving me a sad look and uttering a 

 plaintive wail, she again seated her.self near by and looked 

 on in silence. Daily she came upon my table and watched 

 my proceedings, but never again did she volunteer to aid 

 me in the work of composition. 



Thinking to arouse Kitty's artistic sense, I one day placed 

 before her a book filled with engravings of animals. She 

 regarded the strange creatures for awhile with some interest ; 

 but when I turned the page to one of the cat kind, she gave 

 her head a peculiar toss, by which she expresses contempt or 

 disapprobation, and silently walked away, thus plainly 

 intimating that she could distinguish between the sham 

 and the real. Her strongest admiration was for her beauti- 

 ful self, and she was, and is, the perfection of feline beauty. 

 She has a full, .shapely head, a rounded, graceful form, large, 

 dark, speaking eyes, and a clear black and white coat, as 

 soft and glossy as silk. While still so very young, she 

 never tired of gazing at herself in a glass. One day I set a 

 small toilet mirror upon the floor, so that she could see her 

 reflected image. She gazed unconcernedly upon it for a few 

 moments, but as .soon as she observed that the kitten in the 

 glass responded to her every movement she opened her eyes 

 wide with astonishment. Then, looking up at me inquir- 

 ingly, she proceeded to investigate the toilet-glass, walking 

 round and round it, and now and then tapping its wooden 

 back with her paw. When she had apparently become con- 

 vinced that it did not conceal her own counterpart, she 

 again set herself down before it and began to smooth her 

 coat and stroke her whiskers, all the while keeping one eye 

 fixed upon the reflected kitten which was performing the 

 same ceremonies. At last she fell asleep, and I set the glass 

 away upon an upper shelf in my library ; but she no sooner 

 awoke than she came to me, looked up at the mirror, and 

 by a pleading mew asked me to place it again upon the floor. 

 This I did day after day to the great delight of Miss Kitty, 

 who would sit before it for an hour at a stretch, prinking 

 and pruning herself like .any hum.an coquette. One day, 

 having a visitor, I failed to respond as promptly as usual to 

 her request for the glass, and -she suddenly darted into an 

 adjoining room, where, half an hour later, I found her 

 perched upon the top of a bureau, and surveying herself in 

 the larger glass that hung above it. She had detected the 

 likeness between the two mirrors. After that she never 

 petitioned me for the toilet-glass, for one of her commend- 

 able traits is never to ask of another what she can do for 

 herself. But even now, in mature cathood, she exhibits this 

 feminine vanity. Often I come upon her posed before a 

 mirror, and I think no four-footed creatui-e ever assumed 

 quite so many airs as she did a little time ago, when she first 

 saw upon her neck the reflection of a gorgeous leather 

 collar. 



Until Kitty was about three months old we considered 

 her too young to profit much by instruction, but then my 

 wife set about giving her a little cat-education. She had no 

 difficulty in teaching her to ask for her dinner by a rub 

 against the table leg, and to respond by a wag of the tail to 

 almost any simple question. Very soon the questions, " Do 



