lo2 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Aug. 21, 1885. 



relative value. He indicated on his fin,t,'(rs tliat sixi;cnce 

 was worth six pennies, not being able frnm siw-lil to ufter 

 its name." On May 10 he showed by liis -rst invs that 

 he understood a case in the police news «liich lie was 

 found reading, and could copy his oivn mime with his left 

 hand ; but did not attempt to write any less familiar 

 word from sound, even when he showed he quite under- 

 stood it.* 



TIh >'■■'- - il!;i>l.(l to in this and the preceding article 

 :ii-t' ill. I iMtive of the fact that those physical or 



iiH 11 ' • ' -tics which are the latest acquired in 



tlir lifr , f tin iHc or the individual, those which have 

 had the least time to become engrained in it, are the first 

 to be lost in the process of degeneration. Thus we find 

 that in cases where the use of language is only impaired, 

 it is always the most familiar words which are iTtaiued, 

 the others being lost. It is the same in IkjIiIin icnplo 

 as in my own case. When the brain is MillVim- from 

 exhaustion, recently-acquired facts ami wonls ar,' for- 

 gotten until the nervoiis system has been restored by 

 rest. Thi.s, too, seems to explain the fact which is 

 generally remarked on with surprise, that old people who 

 have lost all memory for recent events can distinctly 

 recall even trivial things which happened in their youth. 

 In case 1, the patient used the more familiar word 

 "potatoes" for the less familiar "pills." When urged 

 to write, it was found that he could write his address 

 fairly well, and wrote "My dear sir" correctly, but filled 

 the sheet with meaningless writing, only the word 

 "wife " being legible until his signature, which was as 

 clear as ever, so that he was thus able to write the words 

 which occurred most frequently in his correspondence 

 when in health. Similarly, case 8 could not copy any 

 word but his own name, although he apparently under- 

 stood others ; and as in this case, we find that in cases 6 

 and 7 the words retained were those most frequently 

 used. We find also that in cases where the use of 

 language is wholly lost, as in cases 2, 3, and 4, a perfect 

 command over gestures is retained. In case 4 we find 

 that the patient, although unable to speak himself, 

 understood speech, and replied in gestures, just as the 

 young child understands words long before it can use 

 them, and just as we find some of the lower animals 

 understanding certain wards, a subject to which I shall 

 revert hereafter. At the next stage we find case 2, who 

 could neither speak nor understand language ; but who 

 was readily made to understand gestures, and himself 

 used gestures which were strikingly clear. On a still 

 lower level stands case 5, who could only very slightly 

 understand words, but understood gestures at once, 

 although she could not always answer questions by 

 gesture, and her own pantomime was lacking ia clearness. 



It appears to me that cases of the nature of those to 

 which I have referred afEord the very strongest circum- 

 stantial evidence in favour of the theory that gesture or 

 imitative language was historically prior to verbal 

 language as we know it, and further evidence in support 

 of this will be forthcoming as we advance in our 

 inquiries. 



Speaking at Barnaley on Monday week, Mr. Thomas Burt, M.P., 

 advocated in the case of colliery explosions that they should be the 

 subject of special investigation by experienced men, such as was 

 lield when a great railway collision occurred. He impressed upon 

 liis hearers, who were mainly miners, the great danger of omitting 

 to support the roof with props and stays. Taking the last thirty 

 years, the number of deaths through insufficient timbering was 

 nearly doable the fatalities from explosions. Greater supervision 

 was required in regard to timbering. 



• " Brain as an Organ of Mind," pp. 642-3. 



FIRST STAR LESSONS. 



By Richard A. Proctor. 



1'^HE constellations included in the twenty-four maps 

 of this series are numbered throughout as follows 

 (the names being omitted on the maps, to clear these as 

 fai as possible from all that might render the star- 

 grouping less distinct) : — 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF CLOTHING. 



By W. Mattieu Williams. 

 XV. 



I SHOULD add, that only a small percentage of the 

 quilts and other clothing material sold as eider- 

 down are really stuffed with the down of the eider-duck. 

 There are many substitutes — some very inferior, others 

 slightly so. The nearest in quality is the down of the 

 King Duck, an Arctic sea-bird of similar habits to the 

 eider-duck. Goose-down is largely used, the best qualities 

 being obtained from Arctic and marine species. 



The necessity for an extra supply of air-holding — not 

 oiled — under down in the clothing of such birds is illus- 

 trated by a fact not generally known, which came under 

 my notice some years ago in the course of a cruise in a 

 small schooner from Constantinople to London. We took 

 on board an ample sujiply of live poultry — fowls and 

 ducks. In the neighbourhood of Malta we had very 

 dirty weather, and Jemmy Ducks failed to shelter the 

 animals in his charge from the wash of the sea ; the 

 ducks were miserably wetted to the skin in spite of the 

 supposed oiling of their feathers, they all had cramp, 

 and were killed and eaten " to save their lives." The 

 cocks and hens survived, though in the same quarters. 

 This surprised me, but the captain told me that such is 

 usually the case, and I now find that the faithful follower 

 (referred to in my last) is more easily wetted viian barn- 



