190 



♦ KNO^WLEDGE ♦ 



[April 1, 1886. 



can appear as a vertical semicircle in Cape Colony, the same 

 stars appearing due east and due west respectively at both 

 places. But the thing occurs, as I happen to have seen. 



The Constellations are numbered as in my " Sfcir Primer " 

 up to 46 (Centauriis). The remaining numbers indicate the 

 Constellations nearer the South Pole, viz.: — 



47. iMjms, the \Tolf. 



48. Ara, the Altar. 



49. Indvs, tlie Indian. 



50. Grus, the Crane. 



51. Toucan, the Toucan. 



52. Phfenix, the Phcenis. 



53. Dorado, the Sword-Fisli. 



54. Reticulum, the Net. 



55. Ci~ux, the (Southern) Cross. 



57. Circinus, the Compass. 



58. Triangtdum, the (Southern) Triangle. 



59. Pavo, the Peacock. 



60. Hydrus, the Water- Serpent. 



The student may find it intei-esting to compare the 

 alternate maps of my "Star Primer" (whei-e twenty four 

 maps are given, instead of twelve only, as in the southern 

 series and my " Half-hours with the Stars ") with those now 

 appearing here, which are on the same plan and scale. 



WHIST AS A RECREATION. 



By "Five of Clubs." 



ATTACH great importance to the development 

 of good games, whether outdoor or sedentary. 

 By good games I mean games which serve 

 well the purpose of all games — to wit, recrea- 

 tion. Men engaged in arduous work, whether 

 in study or in business, recjuire rest and 

 refreshment. Experience shows that to do 

 nothing is not rest. The mind refuses to be idle, and the 

 effort to make the mind do nothing is more arduous than 

 many forms of hard mental labour. One might as well 

 expect to repair the toil-worn body by mere idleness, with- 

 out food and nourishment, as to rest the toil-worn mind by 

 setting it simply at rest. 



It has been .shown by Dr. Paget that the element of 

 " skill " is desirable in all forms of recreation, whether for the 

 mind or for the body. It is essential, he points out, that there 

 should Ije " opportunities for the exercise of skill in some- 

 thing which Ls different from our regular woi-k." Again, a 

 desirable element in recreation is '" uncertainty." In our 

 daily work we have so much sameness and routine, so little 

 to interest us through surprise, and we know so well what the 

 general progi-e.ss of each day's work is to be, that the mind 

 requires uncertainty, much as the body, when dried by long 

 hours of hard toil, requires liquid nourishment. 



For these I'easons we see that among out-of-door sports 

 those are most popular which combine both the elements of 

 skill and of chance. Rowing and riding are tetter exercises 

 than lawn-tennis, cricket, and base-ball; but as recreations 

 they are not so good, because they depend chiefly on skill 

 and practice, and possess no element of chance and uncer- 

 tainty. In like manner, games which depend wholly on 

 chance are inferior to those which also depend on skill — as 

 roulette is inferior to bagatelle, and still more to billiards. 



What is true of outdoor sports is true of sedentary liome 

 games. Apart from the gambling spirit, which has no real 

 relation to recreation, and is i-ather a relic of savagery than 

 a normal development in civilised communities, games of 

 pure chance have little interest for grown persons. Children, 



to whom games are rather as business than as recreation, 

 can find amusement in " Beggar my neighbour " and other 

 card games in which skill plays no part. On the other 

 hand, home games of pure skill afford no real refreshment to 

 the tired mind. Many undoubtedlj- take interest in chess, 

 which comes as near to being a game of pure skill as any 

 that has yet been invented ; * but those who love the game 

 most find least recreation in it, unless, indeed, they play 

 chess specially for lecreation. And in passing I may note 

 that I have found a way of getting much more " rest and 

 refreshment " from chess than by any other plan I have 

 ever tried. I had, indeed, given up the game as too taxing 

 till the new plan occurred to me. It is this. I offer to 

 mate my adversary (supposed of inferior strength, or made 

 somewhat inferior by suitable odds) in so man}' moves — 

 twenty, or twenty-five, or thirty, as the case may be — the 

 game to count as a draw if won in more moves. This 

 method affords a capital way of teaching the openings ; for 

 one may add the condition that such and such an opening 

 shall be followed up to a given point. Thus I play, we will 

 say, a couple of g.imes with one of my boys, giving the 

 Queen's Rook, and offering to mate within twenty-five 

 moves, the opening to be played being the Evans's Gambit 

 to the eighth move on a particular line. Doing this daily 

 for a week, he learns that opening, and I get short and 

 interesting games, the limited number of moves compelling 

 brilliant play. 



However, chess, even at the best, is open to serious 

 objections as a form of home recreation. It is limited to 

 two players. There are, indeed, certain dreary games 

 known as " Chess for Three " and " Chess for Four," but 

 they are not chess at all ; and though consultation games 

 may allow more than two players to take part in real 

 chess, yet these are the profoundest and least restful of 

 all forms of chess. Chess in any large gathering, or even in 

 any home circle of moderate size, is undoubtedly a selfish 

 game. 



Card games, on the other hand, are not only better as 

 recreation, they interest a greater number. The number 

 of chess-players who play well enough to enjoy the game is 

 small, in any company, compared with those who can enjoy 

 good card games. By having several tables a large com- 

 pany can join even in such card games as euchre and whist, 

 where, at the outside, four players onl}- can take part in 

 each game. All that is necessaiy to make card-play perfect 

 as a recreation for those members of the company who really 

 want recreation (not the young folks) is that the game 

 played should combine in suitable degiee the elements of 

 chance and skill. In this respect whist stands unrivalled. 

 Euchre is a livelier game, but it is shallow by comparison. 

 " Progi'cssive euchre " is simply, to my mind, an abomina- 

 tion of desolation. Piquet is nearly as scientific, but 

 piquet is a more selfish game than even chess. " Poker " 



* No one who has played much at chess will regard it as a game 

 in which chance plays no part at all. For every chess-player must 

 remember cases where his main attack has been foiled, yet, through 

 some happy chance in the position of pieces advanced originally for 

 an entirely different purpose, a new and brilliant attack may be 

 opened, and the game won ; or cases where an unforeseen attack 

 may be foiled by the lucky position of a piece or pawn not set 

 where it is with any idea that it might be so emploj'ed. How often, 

 again, a pawn of one's own chances to be the only obstacle in the 

 way of some otherwise sure assault on the enemy ! Apart from this 

 the surroundings have to be taken into account as affecting the 

 progress of the game. I have won games entirely through the 

 accidental disturbance of my opponent's mind by something which 

 1 chanced {chanced so far as the chess was concerned) not to care 

 for ; and I have lost and won games through causes similarly out- 

 side the game itself. I have won or saved games, again, through 

 sheer chess accidents, and have lost games in a similar way. Yet, 

 of course, in the main, skill is all in all at this royal game. 



