84 



KNOWLEDGE • 



[Nov. 



1881. 



[1] — Whist Qocnv. — 1 have read your introUnctory artii-le «n 

 WliLit ill tills Kci'k'fi KNuaLEnuE, ami was much intcTo«ti'<l \i\- its 

 Uoud fOiiHc, l)iit allow nic to ])oint out to you what Rcpm to lie two 

 orrora in tlio only illustnition you give. You say, " I lead Act', niid 

 follow with tjueon of my host suit. My partner knows that I have 

 the Knavo and a small card left." This is by no means a nccssary 

 inference. It i< a neressarj" inference, according to the best Jilay, 

 that the leader has not Ace, Queen, Knave, to five; and the play 

 would b-- I ro.ier if he had Ac, Queen, Knave, to four; but he may 

 oquiilly have Aee, Queen, Knave alone, in which event he would also 

 iday Ace, followed by Queen. 



Yon say also (and for this purpose I must assume the leader to 

 have Ace, Queen, Knave, and a small one, and the partner to have 

 King and two small once, as in your illustration), " PU]ipofe that 

 instead of following the recosniised line of play for such cards, I 

 lead the second round with my small card. Jly partner jilnys his 

 Kinfr. and, let us suppose, wins tlio trick. So far as he can under- 

 stand mo at all he thinks I have three small cards of the suit left, 

 and that the Queen lies with one of the adversaries." It is true that 

 the lead would have simulated a lead from five, but why is it a 

 necessary inference that the Queen is not with the leader. It is the 

 commonest thing at Whist to le.id from Ace, Queen, to five, Ace and 

 then a small one. The only iuferonce a partner from such play 

 could draw (as the leader ought not to have both Queen and Knave, 

 is that one or the other of these two cards was with occ of the 

 adversaries. Excuse my pointing out to you what seems to me to 

 be wrrth your re-considering, if you ever collect your article for 

 re-publication. — I am, yours, &c. 



Fkep. H. Lewis. 



[Our correspondent is, of course, quite right in his criticisms. 

 What the partner of leader in the case supposed would inoic, if lead 

 were made correctly, is only that Knave remains with his partner. 

 If, subsequently, he iinds that his partner has not been forced to 

 lead from a short suit, he knows that a small card of the suit 

 remains ; but otherwise he cannot be certain of this. In the case 

 where the play is incorrect, a small card being playe<l after Ace, the 

 inference would be that three cards remain, and that Queen and 

 Knave are certainly not !<o/7i among the three. It is two to one 

 (nearly) that Queen I.'es with an adversary, but it is not certain. 



"Five of Clues." 



!3[n5lurrij to ConrfiponUrnts'. 



*»* Commiinieation» tehich arc to receice early alteniion sJiontd be aJdreased tc the 

 Editor qf KxoWLBDGB, 7* and 75, Great Qncrn.$treet, London, JV.C, 



Hints to Cobrksponde.vts.— 1. Ko qnertiom a«king for ncientifie information 

 can be atiMKered through the pott. 2. Letters tent to the Editor for corretpondents 

 cannot be for tcarded ; nor can the na men or addresses of corre*pondentii be given in 

 itnstrer to private inquiries. 3. 2fo queries or replies savouring of the nature of 

 advertisements can he interied. 4. Letters, queries, and replies are inserted, unless 

 eontrarv to Rule 3, free of charge. 5. Correspondents should icrite on one aide 

 only of the paper, and put drawingx on a separate leaf. 6. Ea^h letter, query, or 

 reply should have a title, and in replying to letters or queries, reference shouU be 

 made to the number of Utter or query, the page on which it appears, and its tlth. 



Dixos K. Thanks ; your letter beinff mnrlccd private, we assume you do not wish 

 TOur remarks in Field to be touched on here. — Martix Hinton. See replv 

 below to "Old Christian," in so far a« they relate to the general subject on which 

 you have written.— M. B. Aldkr. Later.'-J. C. H. W. You ask whether the 

 remark of Huxley's, quoted at p. 4, is not incompatible Tvith his riews as a 

 materialist. Of one thing you may be well assured— it represents his real views. 

 Prof. Huxley's %-iews a.s a materialist are indicated in his admirable lecture on 

 Descartes' "Discourse." He savs there: "When the materialists stray bevond 

 the borders of their path, and begin to talk about there being nothing else in the 

 universe but Matter, and Force, and Necessary Laws, and all the rest of their 

 grenadiers, I decline to follow them." Perhaps if tou carefullv .ascertain what arf 

 Prof. Huxley's views as a materialist, you may find them to he less inconsistent 

 than you suppose with his opinion on " True Science and True Rehgion."— John 

 Uaupdbn'. We are quite "aware that you takea position antagonistic to all 

 the professional astronomers and geographers of the present dav," We are not, 

 however, "disposed to earn the everlasting gratitude of the upholders of the 

 Jie^vtonian theory by showing the impropriety of" your " charges against it." 

 You say " if the professors are too cowardly to'defend'thoir own system, they are 

 not competent to write upon any subject."' AVhen the Newtonian system needs 

 defence, it will be time cnoogh to undertake the work. How could reasoning 

 -1 with the followers of Parallax? They believe that the earth is shaped Ukei 



I travels in a path 

 cle, vertically abo 



flat wheel about 25,000 miles in diameter, and that the 



alwnyi parallel to this flat disc, and some 4,000 miles abo 



autumn day the tun's path, they tell us, is appreciably a 



the equatorial circle, from w'hich circle no part of the flat earth 



than 6.250 miles away ! R^'asoning would be thrown away on any one who eould 



even for a moment imagine this to be the case. Repeatedly they have been 



shown what should be perfectly obvious— that, were this the case, (i) t'he sun could 

 r set ;^ (ii) that he would vary greatly in apparent size as seen from different 

 at different hours, or on dilferent days ; (iii) that 

 Ds would be entirely different from those wo see ; 

 le pole of the heavens, and that many other con- 

 are utterly unlike any actually observed. Their 

 limply vituperation and abuse of those wlio hapjien 

 r. It would be utterly contrary to the dictaies of 

 : argument'* against the absurdities of Parallai 



places, or from the 



all the phenomena of the tieavi 



(iv) that there could l>e but oi 



sequences would follow whicl 



answer to thin has always been 



to possens some rea^-ouing pow< 



common sense to find room for 



and his followers, in any journal intended fur sensible beings. We mil not insult 



readers so grossly . To yt.urself personally, a-^ undoubtedly believing what you profess 



to believe (incredible though such credulity may seem)', wc would remark (though 



the rudeness of many of your letters would justify absolute silence on ojr pan) 



that the phonomennn whirh you paid w« nboukl nerer tec— tiz., the sun to th« 

 pouth of thr cn-t and wcot |H)rntM in AuittrnLi«iB, we f>a«r repeatedly, and that on 

 everyday the Run moved lu the ttouth/rn f^kies pre^niM'ly a^ he <»H"ijId more on 

 Iheaeeeptrd lhe<iry, and m be never eould move were' the tbeort of Parallax 

 true. But we must ask our readem' forgiveness for making so unneci-sptary a 

 statement, even in this conier of the paper, and in the smallest type ourprinten 

 use.~Ix»uuiKDUN. We know of no Woman's Righu A^ooriati'on. There is a 

 ScKHety for the Protection of Women and Children, Secretary. Hev. J. G. 

 Roberit, a>, Strand.— J. J. O. Portions of your letter appear m the "Corw- 

 spondenco " columns.— B. H. T. (F. C. S.) thankflfor your encouraging note.— 

 W. C. T. Have not yet neen the work you mention. l)oubtle»s the communi- 

 cations you promise will !«■ of intereit to our readem.— G. O. I can weD 

 believe it.-ll. AuuaosE Smith. The article on the Fifl«-«n Pujtzle to which 

 your refer appeared in the Cfentlemain Magazine, but tte date and number 

 of the ma;;azine ne do not know. It roui^t have been >ome time last spring, 

 We were in Australia when the article was written. It U-rm^ one of a series 

 of " Familiar Science Essays," which Mcfisrs. Chatt.. & Windus are about 

 to publish.— M. Y. W. One tail omiiletl in engraving. The editorial note 

 at foot of left hand column of page 30 related to a letter which was at the 

 last moment removed to make room for another relating to the November 

 meteors. The note should have been removed too.— G. G. D. and L. T. F. Your 

 replies to "Tyro's" query in letter 9, involve the same dillMulty which has per- 

 plexed him in the text books and primers. These all speak of the axis remaining 

 m the same direction (tbey all use the knitting-needle illu-tralion also) ; but 

 "Tyro" finds a difficulty, it seems, in understanding what isnu-ant by "the same 

 direction." The expression, "moving always parallel to jtM-if," i'* I'quallv per- 

 plexing to many begmners. Your answers a're, of course, quite right.— A. Haet. 

 " To settle a dispute," we inform you that though the planets are often called 

 stars, a star is not a planet. We do " gel bght from a planet ; " but it is not the 

 planet's own light; it comes from the sun, and is reflected by the planet.— 

 A. H. SwiNTOX. The general idea that, after all, the sun's bciit may l»e some 

 form of electricity, without confirmation by facta or rea*oning. would hardly 

 justify us in publishing so long a letter as yours.- A:? Old Chkistu:!. 

 With gome regret, we find ourselves obliged to decline puMiKhing your letter 

 on Science and religion. So far as we are concerned, we should have been 

 glad to do so, because it chiefly relates to our own remarks on the same 

 subject . But you emphasise the differences which you lielieve to eiirt 

 between "the notions of modem scientists, and the plain statements of the 

 Bible," and we emphatically decline to discuss the question whether such dif- 

 ferences even exist. We are only concerned here with the question whether 

 scientific statements are correct ornot. Any scientific opinion expressed inthese 

 pages you are free to oppugn on scientific grounds. WTien you find a line here 

 su(jgesting the opposition of scientific opinions, sound or otlierwise, to any re- 

 ligious opinion whatsoever, then— and not till then— you, or any man, may 

 express or defend religious views in these columns. " In such a then, 

 I write a never." To use the words of Professor Huxley, "Science and 

 Philosophy, within the range of which he all the topics on which we can venture 

 to speak here, are neither Christian, nor un-Christian, but are extra-Christian." 

 I entirely agree with _vou that "no intelbgent Christian" (or Buddhist, or 

 Mahometan, you might have added) "can raise an objection to modem science on 

 the ground tfiat it enlarges unduly our ideas of the vastness of God's domain in 

 space, or of the immensity of the time periods during which He acts;" but the 

 objections raised by many well-meaning persons to modem scientific teachings 

 amount in effect to this. They do not see that to beheve in the evolution of a 

 solar system or of a system of such systems, no more amounts to setting the 

 Almighty on one side iii the name of universal evolution, than does belief in the 

 growth of a plant, or even of the tiniest bud or Ic-aflet. It may save correspon- 

 dents, and it will save ourselves some trouble, to define our position precisely, 

 which we may do as follows :— " With reh^ion, properly so called, all the truths 

 of science are in necessary accordance ; and so far, what is taught in these pages 

 will be essentially religious : but this journal is intended to spread scientific know- 

 ledge ; and DOGMATIC BELIGIOX SHALL HBBE BE XEITBER ITTlCEED XOB 



DEFENDED. "—Bird's Ete View. You may be very right, but this is hardly the 

 place for advocating your views. Remaining letters unavoidably croKded out. 



PAGE 



To OcR Readebs 3 



Science aad Rehgion. By the Editor. 3 



Conteyits of Knowledge Xo. 1. 



FAGS 



Darwin on Mould and Worms 14 



CoRRESPOXDENCE. — Introductory — 

 Hints to Correspondents — Is the 

 Sun Hot?— Can Ice-Yachts sail 



faster than the Wind.=* 15 



The Birmingham and Midland Insti- 

 tute. By W. Mattieu Williams ... 16 



Colour of Sunlight 18 



The rriiiine Riddle 18 



Our Mathematical Column 19 



Our Chess Column 19 



Relation of Food to Muscular 

 Work.— Part I. By Dr. W, B. 



Carpenter, F.R.S 5 



Are Women Inferior to Men? 6 



Comets— (i//H*^ra(frf) 8 



Illusions. Bv Thomas Foster— (Illus- 

 trated) ....' 10 



The Eastern Skies in November — 

 {Illustrated) 13 



Contents oj Knowledge Xo. 2. 



PAGE ?16l 



The Philosophy of Animal Colours. , The Fiji Islands 34 



By Dr. Andrew Wilson, F.R.S.E ... 21 Corrbspoxdesce. — The One-inch 

 The' South European Volcanic System 22 Map of the Ordnance Survey — Is 

 The Relation of Food to Muscular : the Sun Hot?— Influence of Sex oa 

 Work.- Part II. By Dr. W. B. ' Mind— November Meteors. Ac. ...35 



Can^enter. F.R.S 23 Queries 38 



Brain Troubles 25 Vnhealthy Houses 38 



Comets. Part U.— {Illustrated) 26 Phiin Words in Science 39 



Intelligence in Animals 2S Tmsling to Luck 30 



Birds with Teeth {Illustrated) 30 Our Chess Cohmin 41 



The Southern Skies in November— Our Whist Column. By "Fiye of 

 {Illuttrated) 31 Clubs" 43 



Contents of Knowledge Ko, 3. 



PAGB. I 

 Sohd-s Liquids, and Gases.— Part I. I 



By AV. Mattieu Williams 43 , 



The' Philosophy of Animal Colours.- 

 Part II. Bv Dr. Andrew Wilson, I 



F.R.S.E. ...;. 44 i 



Brain Troubles.- Impaired Memory 46 



Intelligence in Animals.— Part II 46 



Are Women Inferior to Men? 47 i 



Comets' Tails. Bv the Editor— (///i(». ' 



trated) '. 4d , 



Rkviews :— Great Pyramid Measures, i 

 and the Diameters and I)istances I 

 of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. By | 



PIGS. 



Joseph Baiendell, F.R.A.S 60 



New Modeof Growing Plants. ByE.C. 61 



A Planet Outside Neptune 62 



Cobbespondescb. — Error in com- 

 puting Periphery of Ellipse — 

 Comets- Figures of the Conic Sec- 

 tions-Waste of Solar Heat, Ac. ... 66 



Queries 60 



Rephes to Queries 60 



Our M.tthematical Column 61 



Our Whist Column 6J 



Our Chess Column 63 



.luswers to Correspondents 64 



