16 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. 4, 1881. 



fl.'nw nearer to n. fire in my room, I got more of its hcnt — I find 

 myself warmer. But we know perfectly well that by drawing nearer 

 to the (ran we get colder instead of warmer. The tops of lofty 

 moantaing are nearer to liim than the valleys and the plains which 

 lie around their base. Yet, while it is warm in the valleys and the 

 plains, it is intensely cold at the tops of the mountains — so cold 

 that if the mountains are high enough {and are so much nearer the 

 sun) the snows never melt there. How can this be if the sun warms 

 the earth as a fire worms a room ? Again, if wc go up in a balloon, 

 we find that the greater the height to which we ascend the colder 

 is the air. 



Indeed, if meteorologists arc right in saying, as they do, that the 

 highest clouds, the feathei-y ciiTus clouds, are composed of par- 

 ticles of ice, it becomes simply absurd to maintain that the sun 

 is himself an intensely hot body, for those clouds can be seen on 

 summer days in the full blaze of a solar heat (if that view of his 

 nature were correct). I do not myself understand how meteorolo- 

 gists can have sufficient reason for niaintaiiiing that cirrus clouds 

 are composed of ice crystals, unless they believe with me, that the 

 sun is not himself hot (though, of course, he is the source of heat 

 to the earth, acting, I believe, upon the atmosphere in such a way as 

 to generate much heat where the air is dense, and very little where 

 the air is rare) ; in fact, when I hear the statement made that the 

 cirrus clouds are composed of particles of ice, I recognise another 

 illustration of what I regard as the undue confidence of scientists. 

 They tell us in the same page that cirrus clouds are formed of snow 

 crystals, and (see the accounts of Glaisher's balloon ascents) that 

 even when a balloon is at its highest, the cirrus clouds are still far 

 above, looking no nearer than they appear as seen from the earth's 

 surface. How, then, can the idea that the cirrus clouds are com- 

 posed of ice crystals be other than a theorj-, and a veri.- wild theory 

 in my judgment, to be entertained by the very same men of science 

 who believe that the sun is a fire wanning the earth ? 



Although I do not profess to be an astronomer or a meteorologist, 

 I have for many years given great attention to the subject on which 

 I now write; and I have collected together a number of considera- 

 tions which all tend to show that the solar rays only generate heat 

 when they act in combination with the atmosphere. I would 

 iBvite readers of Knowledge to study this question apart from any 

 preconceived ideas they may have, and uninfluenced by the names 

 of so-called authorities in science. 



In one respect the theory which I have given above, besides 

 being obviously in better accordance with observed facts than the 

 accepted one (which is, indeed, entirely opposed to them), is much 

 more acceptable to those who recognise the mind of a Supreme 

 Being of infinite wisdom in all the workings of creation. For, 

 observe, if the accepted theory is true, by far the greater part of 

 the sun's rays are wasted. I think Tjrndall has stated that more 

 than two thousand mUlions of rays pass away from the earth for 

 each ray which falls upon it, and that even taking all the planets 

 together, only one ray falls on some planet for two hundred and 

 thirty millions which pass into space and are utterly wasted. Now, 

 what low, and, therefore, what utterly incorrect ideas are given of 

 the great Creator's plans, by a theory which thus tells us that only 

 an exceedingly minute fraction of the work done by the vast orb 

 which He has set to rule and illuminate our solar system is of anv 

 use to that system? What should we think of a man who wasted 

 £999 out of an income of .€1,000 y Yet that would be but a small 

 waste compared with that which scientists assui-e us is going on in 

 the case of our own sun ; and, by parity of reasoning, this waste is 

 repeated millions of times among the millions of solar systems of 

 which astronomers tell us. For my own part, I cannot believe 

 that the picture thus given of the Creator's ways, in the case of 

 these the noblest of the orbs Ho has made, canbe a true one. — 

 I am, sir, yours faithfully, AXTl-GfEBKE. 



[" Anti-Guebre's " tone is rather dogmatic for one who desires to 

 oppose what he regards as scientific dogmatism. His questions 

 shall not remain unanswered; but wc prefer to wait until either he 

 or others who consider the theory of the sun's heat untenable shall 

 liave given more of their reasons for want of faith. — Eo.J 



CAN ICE-YACHTS SAIL FASTER THAN THE WIXD ? 



[3] — I have seen it stated that the American ice-yachts often 

 travel faster than the wind, and I have been told that in the New- 

 eaallc Weekly Chronicle yon have explained that, though before the 

 wind one of these yachts cannot go faster than the wind, which is, 

 indeed, obvious, yet with a beam wind they will go faster than the 

 wind — sometimes twice as fast. Surely there must be some mis- 

 take here. Everj'onc who has considered the usual explanation of 

 the way in which a ship sails with a side wind knows that the 

 driving force exerted by such a wind is but a part — often but a 

 small part — of the driving force which the same wind would exert 



on a ship sailing directly before it. In determining the effective 

 force of such a wind we first resolve the full force into two— one 

 perpendicular to the sail, the other parallel to the sail ; each of 

 these is less than the full force, being represented by the two 

 sides of a right-angled triangle, while the full force is represented 

 by the hypothenuse. The latter of these, the force parallel to the 

 sails, produces no effect. The force pcrfiendicular to the sail is then 

 resolved into two, one perjiendicular to the ship's course, which 

 produces only leeway, the other parallel to that course, which is 

 the only part of the wind's force effective in propelling the ship. 

 Each of the two last-named parts is less than the force perpendi- 

 cular to the sails, which is itself less than the force of the wind. 

 A fortiori, the effective propulsive force of a side wind is less than 

 the full force, and must, therefore, produce a smaller velocity ; in 

 other words, the ship sails faster before any given wind than on any 

 other course. What is true of a ship sailing at sea must be equally 

 true of a ship sailing on ice. It seems to me, therefore, sheer 

 absurdity to assert that an ice-boat can go faster than the wind, 

 wlien we know that, sailing before the wind, she can never have a 

 velocity quite equal to that of the wind. 



If there is any flaw in this reasoning I should be glad to have it 

 pointed out. UPsitON. 



[" Ui)silon's " diffictilty is a very natural one, and his reasoning 

 seems at a first view just. It is, however, incorrect. It is quite 

 true that regarding a ship as at rest, a wind of given velocity 

 cannot exert a more effective influence than that which it produces 

 as a stern vrind. But the same is not true when the ship is in 

 motion. If "Upsilon" compares the two cases — an ice-yacht 

 running before the wind at the same rate as the wind, and one 

 running at the same rate with the same wind abeam — he will see 

 that whereas in the former case the wind exerts no driving action 

 at all on the ice-yacht, there still remains in the latter case a 

 driving force ; so that unless the f rictional resistance balances this 

 force, the velocity of the yacht will increase. I leave this as an 

 exercise for " Ujjsilon," but if he shoald find any difficulty with the 

 problem I will give a fuller explanation, with an illustration or two 

 later.— Ed.] 



THE BIRMINGHAM AND MIDLAND 

 INSTITUTE. 



Some EcoTisTiciL Remixiscexces, by W. Mattiei: Williams. 



AN intellectual festival was held in Birmingham on the 20th of 

 last month, when a breakfast party, including the Mayor, his 

 brother, the President of the Board of Trade, Dr. Siemens, and 

 other notables, filled the Town Hall, the guests afterwards making 

 procession to inspect and inaugurate the new extension of the Mid- 

 land Institute ; and in the evening another meeting was held in the 

 Town Hall to distribute prizes to the students, and listen to the 

 thoughtful address of Sir. Siemens on the scientific training of 

 artisans. 



This Institute having been established for the purpose of doing 

 for the Midland metropolis nearly the same work as Knowledge 

 promises to do for all English-speaking peoples, a short sketch of 

 the working progress of the institution by its first teacher cannot 

 be out of place in the first number of this magazine. 



In 1S51 Birmingham was in a condition of intellectual destitution 

 that to a young native of the present day must be difficult to 

 conceive. A Mechanics' Institution had been tried, and had failed. 

 Various other minor efforts of the same kind had met with the 

 same fate, and the old Philosophical Society that at one time hnd 

 done honourable work, and was, if I remember rightly, associatt d 

 in its beginnings with the great Priestley and his friends, was dyincr 

 of inanition, little remaining but its physical home, at No. 7. 

 Cannon-street. It seemed as though the infamous outrages up n 

 Priestley by the "Church and King" mob had left a blighting cur«i' 

 upon the intellect of the town. 



But in spite of this there were a few men of strong faith ; there 

 was Arthur Byland, the now justly recognised father of the Insti- 

 tute ; there were Captain Tindal, Sir F. E. Scott, FoUct Osier. John 

 Jaffray, William Matthews, and others, who refused to despair, .ii d 

 they united to do something worthy of so important a centre :is 

 Birmingham. They held meetings, subscribed money, and iniiuml 

 others to do the like. Charles Dickens gave readings in the Town 

 Hall, which left n clear profit of £339. 16s. A comprehensive 

 scheme was drawn out, including a "General Department." ■■" 

 supply the usual elements of a Literary and Scientific Institu;^ ' 

 for the well-to-do classes, and a "School of Industrial Scicr.c 

 since named "The Industrial Department," in which should 1" 

 supplied systematic instruction, including " Chemistry," as applied 

 to the various Manufactures and Agriculture, Mechanics, Metallurg^ . 



