♦ KNOV/LEDGE ♦ 



[At.;. 28, 1886. 



your alternative suggestions, the letter would certainly have been 

 " omitted entirely." It must be gratifying to bo so well assured of 

 the obligation under which you have placed us. I had an idea the 

 obligation lay the other way. I could show you a round dozen of 

 letters suggesting that this obligation had been carried too far. A 

 change which will take place in KNOWLErGE a few weeks hence was 

 suggested by this feeling in regard to yourself and one or two 

 others, almost as much as by any other cause. Yon will be atle to 

 judge from its nature how /, at any rate, view the matter. Letter 

 on " Light of Eclipsed Moon " omitted because corona is not red ; 

 moreover the corona's light is demonstrably small compared with 

 that coming directly from the sun. In those matters some things 

 are known, not matters in dispute. I never for instance regarded 

 my remarks on Mr. M. Williams's ideas as more than an attempt to 

 make some known matters clear.— H. S. HuxcniNGS. Mr. Proctor's 

 lectures have never been printed,— or written: they vary from 

 week to week, as knowledge grows. — L. E. You are quite right, of 

 course : see " Gossip " for explanation of my strange mistake.— 

 J. T. C. Darwin's "Descent of Man" is published by Messrs. 

 Murray. I am not sure ; but I think they have published a cheap 

 edition. I hope so, for many reasons. Imagine such a feeble- 

 minded person as you describe pretending to teach, — one might 

 as well set a Mark-of-the-Beast coat and a white tie to tell men 

 their duty,— only the coat and tie would have the advantage in 

 being silent. I do not think the Acting Editor anywhere expressed 

 the least objection to any one being a teetotaller. It was those who 

 try to howl down the moderate drinkers he objected to. (By the 

 way, why did you not finish the quotation from Sir Henry Thomp- 

 son ? Many agree with him in thinking that what is considered 

 moderate drinking is often in reality excessive, — that, in fact, there 

 may be mischievous excess without drunkenness being approached, 

 — especially in the habit of systematic drinking. But the passage 

 you partly quote bears a different meaning when complete than as 

 you give it.) What I object to is the impudence of persons 

 (not specially trained in medicine or physics) who pretend 

 to tell grown men (myself amongst others) what we ought 

 to do in such matters. Even when doctors talk about 

 feeding, drinking, and some other matters, I note that 

 they differ among themselves, and their practice differs often 

 enough from their precepts; but they (some of them) have special 

 knowledge. When Smith or Jones, with no more or perhaps much 

 less experience than their fellows, tell Brown or Robinson (or 

 R. P.) to drop their daily half-pint of claret, glass of beer, or 

 wineglassful of sound whiskey or the like, or to go without tea 

 or coffee, and so forth, said Smith or Jones must not be sur- 

 prised if they are told more or less emphatically to attend to 

 those details which appertain to their own affairs. We say to 



them, 



' Tell u 



ir opini 



t, still less to denounce us, if we don't agree with you. I 

 cannot drink beer, even a glass daily, or sherry, or port, or 

 champagne, or liqueurs, without soon having to pay a penalty 

 for taking what does not soit the constitution I have inherited. 

 Shall I therefore try to stop my friend, the acting Editor, from 

 taking what agrees with him ? That's the spirit in which most 

 of the teetotal teachers do their preaching. It is the same with 

 doctrines of other kinds. It will be a pleasanter world (a few 

 thousands of years hence, perhaps) when men mind their own 

 business, and cease to proffer unasked advice to their fellow-men. 



XoTicE.— In future weekly numbers of K.kowledge, the answers 

 to correspondents will occupy much reduced space. We can no 

 longer undertake to answer all questions addressed to us, or to 

 explain why letters intended to be published are not suitable for 



REGINA V. WILKINSON AND OTHERS. 

 (Household Journal and Golden Argosy.) 

 To the Editor of Knowledge. 

 Sir, — Referring to the notice you were good enough to accord us 

 in your impression of the 24th ult., we have received so many com- 

 munications from your readers that it has been impossible to reply, 

 individually, to them. We shall be glad, therefore, if they will 

 regard this letter as a formal acknowledgment. 



The defendants having absconded, we cannot continue the pro- 

 secution until one of the warrants now in the hands of the police 

 has been executed. Immediately we are in a position to proceed 

 with the matter many of your readers will hear from us more fully, 

 — Your obedient servants, Be.st & Pirrs. 



57 & 59, Ludgate-hill, London, E.C., Aug. 22, 1885. 



dBnv Jnbtntoisi* Column. 



CHIMNEY CLIMBERS. 

 [PatentsNo. 16,164, 1884; and 3,435, 1885.]— Messrs. Brown &: 

 Porter, of Leith-chambers, Moorfields, Liverpool, have invented a 

 contrivance for ascending and descending tall chimneys, shafts, 

 steeples, &c., which is remarkable both for its ingenuity and its 

 simplicity. It consists of a staging which is made to creep up the 

 chimney," upon which it also depends for support. Fig. 1 illus- 

 trates the design for circular chimneys, which forms the subject of 

 the first of the above-mentioned patents. The staging is of a tri- 

 angular shape, and consists of an upper and a lower stage con- 

 nected by vertical columns at each corner ; at the left side is seen 

 a screw worked by the handle A, which serves to give the staging a 

 tight grip against the chimney, the two corners of the_ stage 

 opposite, what we may call the scr 

 purpose. 



er, being hinged for the 



°Dt 11' I c r-' 



:■ 1- 



Fig. 2. , 



Three rollers, marked B, are provided and set at an angle, one 

 in each side of the triangular stage; these rollers bear against the 

 chimney, the one to the right can be turned round by means of a 

 handle, worm, and worm-wheel, C. The effec: of turning this 

 roller is to cause the stage, as a whole, to gradually climb up the 

 chimney with a spiral movement ; of course, as the stage ascends 

 and comes to a narrower part of the structure, it is necessary ti> 

 tighten the screw. A, so as to give the rollers the necessary giip. 



The form shown in Fig. 2 is simpler still, and is adopted to 

 square, hexagonal, or any other shaped shaft. The apparatus 

 consists of two stout timber grippers capable of being secured to 

 the chimney to be climbed by means of two long bolts, one on each 

 side the chimney ; to these upper grippers are suspended (by means 

 of four chains) two others precisely similar, capable also of being 

 bolted to the chimney, and to the latter is attached the stage. The 

 lower and upper grippers are also connected by means of two steel 

 screws two inches in diameter. The operation of climbing the 

 chimney is as follows : — Supposing the upper grippers to be screwed 

 fast, and the lower ones to be loose, then the weight of the stage 

 is being sustained by the chains ; the two screws are now operated, 

 and the stage is thereby gradually raised ; when the desired height 

 is reached, the lower grippers are secured by tightening up the 

 bolts, which takes off the weight from the upper ones, so that the 

 latter can now be raised to a greater height by simply working the 

 screws the reverse way ; when the chains are again tight, the 

 upper grippers are secured as before, the lower ones released, and 

 the operation of lifting is continued. The weight of the stagimr 

 is about 11 cwt. 



So simple and effective a device is sure to commend itself, fo 



