70 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



[Dec. 1, 1885. 



bcability -srliicli so often tinges books of this class does 

 not bere obtrude itself, at any rate to those familiar with 

 the annals of mental pathology. The madness of Lord 

 Pontefract, who, after a severe shock following upon great 

 mental exhaustion, is led to believe that he is a certain 

 John Robson, by whose troubles he has been greatly 

 impressed, is a skilful psychological study, and his 

 sudden recovery of his personality is equallj' well drawn. 

 Although the general reader will probably hardly apjare- 

 ciate the genuine merit of the book, the interest of 

 the plot is so great that it cannot fail to become very 

 popular. 



There also lie b:-fore us, each addressing its own public. 

 Technical Gas Analijds. By Winkler & Lunok (London: 

 Van Voorst. ISSo)— Scientific Meliorism. By Jaxe 

 Hume Clapperton (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, &. Co. 

 1885) — Jacob Bochhic. By H. L. Maetensex (London : 

 Hodder t Stoughton. 1885) — Eujihorion. By Verxon 

 Lee (London : T. Fisher Unwin. 1865)— The Imperial 

 Parliament Series (London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co.), 

 and numerous seriils. 



A Metropolis of the Xorth.— Newcastle-upon-Tyne is well- 

 known the wide world over as the great emporium of the coal-trade, 

 which lias been carried on here since the days of Henry III, and is 

 popularly supposed in the south of England" to be a city peopled by 

 coal-miners, and having coal-mines, in full tide of work, plentifully 

 scattered amongst her streets. Vet you will rarely see a pitman there, 

 except on market-days, when they Hock in from the countrv round, 

 easy to recognise by their gait and their peculiar complexion, which 

 is pale, yet robust and healthy-looking: while, as for coal-pits, there 

 is only one within the city bounds, and that only started work 

 about two years ago, after lying idle some quarter of a century. 

 In the neighbouring country side they are plentiful enough ; 

 in some directions as you approach or leave the city, you 

 will see their engine-houses, and the tall, skeleton framework of 

 their coal-drawing gear, looming black against the sky on every 

 side. On Newcastle Quay, the headquarters of the Great Northern 

 coal-field, you will scarcely see a single piece of coal, though as for 

 the offices of the coal-fitters— the successors of the ancient hoast- 

 men of the town, who regulated the vend of coal far back in 

 media?val times— their name is legion. All down the Tyne and in 

 the docks you will see huge spouts projecting over the water at the 

 ends of the long railways or waggon-ways, which run from the 

 collieries, sometimes miles away ; and under these spouts you will 

 see vessels lying, taking in the coal for transport to the "furthest 

 ends of the earth. — JCnrjJUh Illustrated Mcigminc. 



Ants.— Sir John Lubbock gave a lecture on ants at the Royal 

 Victoria Hall, Waterloo-road, on the 3rd Nov., Mr. S. Morley being 

 in the chair. After describing how ho kept his ants, and stating 

 that he had two queens which he had had since 1874, the lecturer 

 showed on the screen pictures of queens, males, and workers of 

 various ages. Ants of the same nests never quarrel, but those of 

 difl:erent nests are always at war. In order to see whether ants of 

 the same nest recognise each other by means of a password. Sir 

 John Lubbock had made a number of ants belonging to two nests 

 helplessly drunk, and laid them near one of the nests. The sober 

 ants carried most of their friends into the nest, but threw all the 

 strangers into the water which surrounded it. After discussing the 

 powers of smell, hearing, and sight in ants (the last apparently not 

 helping them much to find their way), experiments were detailed 

 on their power of communication, the conclusion being that they 

 can tell their friends of treasure and guide them to it, but do not 

 describe the way to it. After remarkson the industry of most ants 

 and the helplessness of certain slaveholding kinds,"which cannot 

 even feed themselves without help, living specimens were projected 

 on the screen of the red slaveholders and black slaves, which had 

 been stolen from their homes in the chry.salis state. Also English 

 queens and workers, and the small blind white insects, found only 

 in ants' nests, and supposed to play the part of domestic animals to 

 the ants. The lecturer concluded by expressing an opinion that the 

 mental powers of ants differed from ours rather in degree than in 

 nature. In thanking the lecturer, Mr. Morley spoke of the science 

 classes lately started at the hall, and enlarged on the advantage to 

 working men, even from a money point of view, of such classes. He 

 announced that Mr. W. L. Carpenter would give a lecture on the 

 10th, entitled " Fire ! Fire ! or the Electrical Fire-alarm System in 

 America." 



(Bwx cri)f5s! Column. 



Bt Mephisto. 

 an hour with a chess-master. 



y friend having won the great Tournament, I 

 hastened to offer him my congratulations. I 

 assured him that although I often said (in fun, of 

 course) that he would never eclipse Morphy, yet 

 I always considered him a great player. Having 

 offered sufficient homage to the victor, I asked 

 him, for friendship's sake, to show me his best 

 game. " I am afraid," said he, " that there is a 

 dilliculty in the matter ; you might wish to see a 

 brilliant game. I could show you several good ones, but my best 

 game is a comparatively dull one." " Pray, " said I, " explain the 

 contradictory character of your remark." My friend assumed a dog- 

 matic tone in replying as follows : — 



"The finest game is one in which the finest and most brilliant com- 

 binations and positions occur. The best game, however, is that in 

 which the attack meets with a strong and stubborn defence, and in 

 which a result either way is obtained by sheer hard play and 

 correct judgment. A well-fought game gives me far more satisfac- 

 tion than a game in which the opponent's weak play induces 

 brilliant combinations.'' 



" Well," I said, " I do not wish to dispute the point with you, but 

 pray show me a real hard-fought game. Not that I wish to admit 

 your reasoning ; but, as I have had the pleasure of playing over most 

 of your brilliant games as they appeared in print, your game will 

 show me your style of play different to what I have seen before." 



My friend consented, and showed me one of his games, which I 

 here reproduce, together with his remarks thereto : — 



White M. W. 

 1. P to K4. 



Black X. 

 P to K3. 



I played the French Defence because my opponent was a \ery 

 good player, and knew more of the Ruy Lopez than I did. In that 

 case it is much safer to adopt the French Defence, it being easier 

 to handle than the Spanish. 



2. P to Q-t. P to Q4. 



3. Kt to QP>3. Kt to K B3. 



4. BtoKKto. BtoK2. 



5. P to K.5. 



I am not at all satisfied that P — Ko cannot be played with advan- 

 tage against the French Defence, either on the second-third move 

 or as in this game. 



5. KKt-Q2. 



6 B X B. Q X B. 



7. Q Q2. 

 Preparing himself for a long struggle. White wants to support his 

 centre by playing his Kt to Q sq and K3 — undoubtedly a good 

 position. 



7. P to QR3 



I intend advancing on the Q side, beginning with P to yB4. I 

 must, however, play P to QR3 first ; for if 7. P to QB4, 8. Kt to Kt5, 

 followed by posting his Kt on Q6. 



8. Kt to Q sq P to QB4 

 y. P to QB3 P to B5 



It is often injudicious to advance this P too early, as sometimes 

 P to Q Kt3 threatens a break-up on the Q side, especially before the 

 QBP has been moved. Another danger is ou the K side from the 

 KBP, which, if sufficiently supported, might attack the centre Pawns 

 rid KB.1. An isolated KP or QP would then become a source of 

 weakness. 



10. P to B4 P to Q Kt4 



11. Kt to B3 B to Kt2 



A vague move. To meet a possible advance of tlie White KBP 

 later on, the B must remain on B sq. 



12. Kt to K3 Kt to QB3 



13. B to K2 Castles KR 



AVhite already threatens P to B.'i, but in that case I should now 

 play P to B3, which is the only way to meet this move, although, as 

 before said, the Black QP would become isolated after BP x KP. 



14. Castles KR P to B4 



I wanted to get rid of the danger arising from P to B.5. 



15. P X P (en pass) Kt x BP 



This weakens m}' game, but on the whole I thought it better than 

 PxP. 



16. Kt to Ko Kt to Ko 



17. Q to B2 P to Kto 



I must utilise my advance on the Q side to weaken his Pawns there, 

 as against niv weak KP. 



18. rtoQRS PxBP 



