♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 





poHeges. 



libration in loDgitnde will bring more of the wes 

 of the eurface into view. — Augustus J. Harvey nrgea me 

 npcessitv for national electrical engineering and phonetic training 

 [e is also anxious for the establishment of hospitals for 

 •ism or self-healing, though why a man cannot cure 

 himself at home he fails to explain.— Dr. Kx'ir.nT sends comments 

 on a dec sion (n^a nst h m) of a local Connty Cmrt Judge Th s 

 is not, however tho place to re ew legal j id ments in ■ — ^\ 

 RoBixso\ points out m conne t on w th the art cle on p olo that 

 the cm ss on cf any reference to i movat le p Uev mikes it read 

 asthon£,h the roj e be ge npU passed over one fixed pulley over 

 headpo\er wis i « gamed tie fact hen" that under 



snch circnm-itance tw 11 1 le over lull pnll upon 



one end of the rope to I 1 1 r— J nN P^r -i 



About as much Conne 1 ctr e f cl inces 



as it has with tbe K 1 tl oncnc r f it 



described m the otl 1 — \ 1 lEO 1 tp 



final paragraph on p 50o cf last volume Let me implore 

 you to keep your ten per — J4 ie L i \ Th bright d ac 



of the sun which we see ai d wf cl istronon ers caU the 

 " Photosphere is a species of self lum nons cloud surrounding the 

 sun ; just like our clouds, only made up of metallic vapours instead 

 of water. It is needless to say that the temperature must be 

 stupendous to maintain metals in a gaseous form. Well, such spots 

 as you saw are depressions in this photosphere. If you have ever 

 watched the water in a mill-pond, near the penstock or sluice, you 

 will have noticed how the surface exhibits little funnel-shaped 

 depressions. Now, in some way iil-understood, it is supposed that 

 sun-spots have their origin in a somewhat similar sucking down of 

 the matter of the photosphere, and the cooler gases, of course, 

 brought down from above would look darker than the surrounding 

 highly-heated ones. The nucleus of the spot, which seemed to yon 

 black bv contrast, would be unbearably brilliant if it could be 

 isolated.' Ton should read " The Sun," by the Conductor of this 

 journal, or the volume with the same title by Professor Young, in 

 the " International Scientific Series."— J. V. Hall suggests to 

 "Hallyards" that he should comment on "commence" for 

 " begin," " penetrate " for " pierce," and, in fact, on the 

 employment of words of Latin origin generally, when Saxon 

 ones exist and are more expressive. V>'e have largely to 

 thank Dr. Johnson for this depravation of the English lan- 

 gnage. "Hallyards" resides permanently on the Continent. — 

 H. E. B. I recognise the justice of much which you advance ; but 

 yon must bear in mind that the dicta in question were put forth as 

 those of a dead woman of the highest literary ability, and of almost 

 world-wide fame (or notcriety), and neither as arguments, norwilh 

 any expression of approval. I suppose that if I reproduced 



filthiest and : " ^ in hot c 

 Indian doctor n-, ■ man with the average clean- 

 liness of our ra ■, -ry slightest need for it in the 

 tropics; while you iiave fniy to consult the first qualified medical 



ta,,e m tl s country. Forgive me for saying that your whole 

 reason ng is fallacious. It is Art and not Nature that perpetuates 

 1 ere 1 tary disease by keeping people alive who would infallibly 

 succirab but for its aid. How long do you think the breed of 

 loehor cs would remain pure — or fancy pigeons continue without 



I vert 1 to their ancestral form of the bine rock, but for the most 



II ert and watchful care on the part of breeders? All this 

 c tb at tl e very root of ycnr argument. — Jasies Ellis, in ascending 

 a Irv 'sen cr shaft in Leeds about a year ago, discovered a half-grown 

 fro w th Its mouth (seemingly) entirely sealed up. This he gave 

 to a lo al medical practitioner, who kept it in a Ward's case ; 

 nltie for some time, no alteration in its mouth took place. 

 i 1 on tie 1 reduction of the frog, however, for the inspection of 

 son e naturalists, it was found to have adapted itself to its changed 

 c rcumstances and, under the influence of light aud the presence 

 of injects to have opened a mouth useless to it in the blackness 

 of darkness of the sewer. Our correspondent's idea is that the 

 frog was developed from some spawn thrown away in the water in 

 which some watercresses had been rinsed. Having kept batra- 

 chians for many years, I can myself say that when they hybemate, 

 either inspissated saliva, or something, does form a kind of skin, 

 which makes it very diflicult for them to op«n their months on their 

 return to their usual life.— Dr. Cubrax. Keceived with thanks. 

 Will communicate with you by-and-by as to your idea of 

 reproducing them. — W. H. Greene. Thanks, but crowded 

 out for want of space.— Dr. Lewins. I am entirely with 

 yon as to the nttcr unsoundness and nntenability of much 

 which Tou assail ; but when you proceed categorically to assert, 

 in effect, that matter is eterna'l, and that what the overwhelming 

 majority of mankind agree in calling mind, soul, or spirit is 

 immanent in it, and neither has, nor can have, any separate exist- 

 ence, I can only regard such assertion, in the existing condition 

 of our knowledge, as (in Scottish legal phraseology) " not proven." 

 All I can say is\\yrosu,.—Cnyn\i'^TATon. The Condnctor returns to 

 England in a week or two (see p. 527 of last volume), and it shall be 

 submitted to him. Once more, thanks for artistic pictnre. — J. C. 

 Claxchy. Ttterly out of place in a scientific journal, however 



■■ * ' ' ' '' " '^allvart'S. " Est modus in rebns j Bunt 





lefine 



interloc 





:ould 



accuse me of admitting evidence for Pantheis 

 yourself, didnnquestionably trench on theological ground, inasmuch 

 as yours was a categorical contention for positive miraculous inter- 

 ference in explanation of a phenomenon of nature. It did not strike 

 m.e that " Ultra-gas " was advanced to explain the action of gravity. 

 The whole question you raise is a delicate and difficult one. See 

 first reply to Dr. Lewins, for example, at the beginning of p. oSi, 

 in illustration of what I have to contend with.— General Babbage. 

 Can any possible advantage accrue from protracting the discussion ? 

 As for "calumnies," had tlie late Jlr. Sheepshanks and the present 

 ' ) name on'y two people) nothing to complain of 



alw! 



1 that r 



3 think 



self V. 



Should have been sent to the 

 ?ntlv gratify you to have the 

 n only deplore, for the sake of 

 ^' circulation could hardly 





The 



1 place. The r 

 ;rs.— .1. H. Wai 



ignifyi, 



: pcv 



Lt the shops. Mind a) 

 varnish loo bare. D 

 : of your telescope i: 



table of the a 



you ask for exists, c 



which hav 



t the 



icles c 



30 



pearcd here. I question if such a 

 of the various parts of the body as 

 lid be compiled. Your idea that people in 

 a line passing through the middle of the 

 inner fore-arm passes when produced inside the shoulder-joint are 

 more remarkable for mental than physical perfection, can only be 

 established or disproved by observation. — I. J. Colluns. Tou are, 

 I imagine, tinder a delusion as to the general benefit of the opera- 



afford to hint at one of your illustrations, /can't — 

 I can't indeed. The entire subject savours de la sahfe ^ and I was 

 sorry afterwards that I did not merely acknowledge the receipt of 

 that correspondent's letter, instead of replying to it in a form to 

 provoke a rejoinder. Would you like your MS. returned ?— Howard 

 (;. TiizER.— The Conductor will receive your letter on his return 

 to England later on in the month.-F. W. Kind. (1) There is no 

 better work than Schmidt's " Doctrine of Descent and Darwinism," 

 published in the " International Scientific Series," by Kegan Paul, 

 Trench A- Co. (2) There is no such a thing as a cheap scien- 

 tific dictionary, (3) nor does such a pamphlet on engineering 

 as you ask for'exist. (4) The volumes of the " Chandos Classics," 

 published by F. Warne & Co., contain editions of the poets suitable 

 to your wants. (.5) This questionis simply an impertinence. What 

 business have von. or any one else, to inquire into the editorial 

 arrangements of this journal ?—F. W. H. Dovlf. (T) The orbits 

 of the planets are bv no means accurately in the same plane. 

 That of Mercury is inclined 7' to the ecliptic or plane of the earth's 

 orbit; Yenus's 3'; Saturn's, 2^°, &c.: wh;le among the planetoids 

 the inclination of Pallas's orbit is nearly 35°. If, though, as is 

 supposed, the whole solar system had a common nebulous origin, 

 its components would naturally be spread out approximately in the 

 plane of the equator of the original rotating vaporous mass. (2) 

 The path of any body describing an orbit — or even passing only 

 i.iice round the sun — depends upon the direction in space from 

 which it approaches him. (3) From the elementary principle that 

 '■ action and reaction are equal and opposite." The air rushing out 

 drives back the vessel containing it precisely with the force with 

 which it does so issue, and as that vessel is, necessarily, attached 

 to your hypothetical ship, it is not hard to see why the latter 

 remains unaffected. Did you ever try to lift yourself by the 

 waistband of your own tronsers ?— E. C. H. If you were standing 

 at either flank of a company of soldiers firing, of course not a 

 bullet would go near you. If you, however, stood straight in front 

 of the file which happened to be shooting, the passage of one or 

 two --155 bullets through your person would indicate with sufficient 

 clearness what was going on. To be consistent, though, yon ought 

 to maintain that under the former circumstances there was no filing 

 at all ! 



