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♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Feb. 3, 1«82, 



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ianstorrs to €oiir<ji)ont)cnt£(. 



trnmunti^lioiu for IMf Editor requiring fartjf attention wMouId rtach lk« 

 b^forr ik* Saturday prrcrdtntj the cnrrent u«h<* qf KfltrWLEbOl, tk* 

 imeretistnff {■irrutulion ^/ rktrh eompfU ui tu ^u to firtii tarly in tin irerk. 



Hints to CoBiiii(tro!fril;>TTi. -1. .Vo ijufttiona aikinij ^or irientijle ii\formation 

 ran br tiniic^ed tkrongX tkr poll, 2, Lrtlrr* $ent to the Editor for eorrrepondents 

 cannot be fortctirded ; nor can the namei or addrrneM <if cormpondeniM be gicen in 

 aneieer to prtrate inqniriea. 3. So queriee or rrplira aacotiriuij nf the nature ij/* 

 advrriiermrnit run be ineerlei, -l. Lettertt queriet, and revliet are inMerted, unleie 

 roulriinf to liiite H, JVee t\f chartje. 6. Correapondente ehoul*i write on one tide 

 ohIv oftMe paper, and put draicinije on a aeparate lenf. (i. Each tetter, qtier^, or 

 repiv 'hiwld hace a ttlle, and in replying to lettere or (^ueriea, rffcrrnce ihuuld be 

 Tilde lu the Mumbrr qf Utter or qnery, the page on which it appeart, and ite title. 



I'. M. TlloMi'soN. V<ry niui-h grutilied by your favoumblo 

 opinion ; our .sub-uditor (S. D. 1'.), in particular, thanks yon. Wo 

 nolo and wutch tho uamcroDS leaks you mention. — J. 1'. Sandlandh. 

 About luck, in article; Uuxlcy meant by extra-Christian, outside 

 of. unconnected with, Christianity ; you say "this is hardly the 

 usual acceptation of e.ittra" — pardon nic, but I think it is (in extra- 

 judicial, extra-ordinary, extra-logical, oxtni-niundanc-- in every word 

 cuniixiundcd with extra this is tho sense). "Is it true," you ask, 

 " that science is extra-Christian in this sense ? " Surely ; if not, it 

 ought to be. What haa science to do with Christian doctrines, or 

 Christian doctrine with science ? Next, a.? to Dr. Wilson's " Found 

 Links," you ask how descent of air-breathing from water-breathing 

 animals is proved by the linking of frogs and fishes through the 

 mud-fish. For tho life of yon, you say, you cannot see how that, 

 because one thing is something like another, it must have been its 

 parent. Well, then, it was not for you Dr. Wilson wrote. Others 

 showed that along a certain line of descent (according to the theory 

 of I'volntion) links were missing ; Dr. Wilson showed that this was 

 natural under the circumstances, and he is now showing that along 

 other Hues the links still exist. You raise an entirely different 

 ipiestion ; for, if similarity of structure is no indication of relation- 

 ship, there is no way of determining missing links at all, and it is 

 idle to look for them. Geologists might turn up to-morrow the 

 fossil of a creature presenting Simian and human features combined 

 as we might expect to find tlicm in a being midway between man 

 and the supposed common ancestor of men and apes : but of what 

 use the discovery, either way, if siiuilarity is no proof of kin- 

 ship ? — Artiicr Stradling. Our space does not suit an article 

 on that satlc ; Ariel, Puck, gnomes, djinns, and pixies, are for 

 regions where there is more dancing room. — G. A. II. Your query 

 otherwise answered ; wo cannot undertake to forward letters from 

 one correspondent to another. — C. Lloyd E.ngstrom. See, pre- 

 sently, article on "Fallacies." — Alex. Blake. Where there is no 

 struggle for life, there is none. You show this clearly. Then you 

 ask, Why should there be ? Why indeed ? — J. IIorne. Yoiu- solu- 

 tion neiit ; see later reply, with general remarks on the problem. — 

 r. A. E. — I can assure you I have not the slightest intention of 

 allowing astronomy to drive out other subjects of interest. Like 

 yourself, I was not pleased with the change which came over 

 the journal you mention; it was one of the reasons why 

 1 ceased to contribute (as I frankly explained to tho sub-editor). 

 You need not fear that there will be any change in that respect in 

 Knowledge, so long as it remains in my charge. — Phacopo. I 

 cannot explain why your friend, forty years old and six feet in 

 diameter (I beg paidon, that is the clock), can tell the time by a 

 church clock at a distance of a mile. It seems clear he has excel- 

 lent eyesight. — Edina. By stitial colures, I presume Mr. Bulley 

 meant the Solstitial colure. — Inve.stigatok. Having some sympathy 

 for our contemporaries, wo feel obliged, in common honesty, to say 

 tluat the dialogue you quote ought not to be sent to any of them. 

 Those who are likely to be misled by tho arguments dealt with are 

 simply those who have no reasoning power. Why reason with them 

 then i* I have seen a good deal of tho gentry -the teachers 

 are knaves, their followers otherwise. — Sibils. Yon are right; 

 it was the sun and not the earth whoso mass Professor 

 ^'onng gave as 2,000 trillions of tons. — OcE.\N. The lec- 

 ture as given has not been republished — the theory dealt with 

 i.H given in ono of tho essays of my treatise, " The Poetry 

 of jVstronomy." You say that tho " top-gallant forecastle," about 

 which I asked in my " JMeasant Ways in Science," is <iuite correct. 

 Hut you define it just as I should define forecastle, and you tell mo 

 what the cross-trees are, saying they are topmast cross-trees, not 

 top-gallant cross-trees. I have never heard either expression used, 

 but always simply " cross-trees," and I have known what eross- 

 treoB wore since I was ten years old. I still think tho 

 c.-cpression, " top-gallant forecastle," unusual, to say tho least. 

 I snpposod tho writer meant the cross-trees. It seemed to 

 IOC as absurd -as "cutting the water with her taffrail,' in the 

 " Red Kover." — W. A. C. I have not elected to vivisect Rover, 

 but I have known of the better fruits of the practice. 



which, unloBS directed to such* ends, 1 regard with as moch ab- 

 horrence as you can. I admit that the argument about breathing u 

 absurd ; I did nut urge it us ntbcnvitte ; I only said it might as 

 reasonably be urged as your own. I do not snpf>ose my enteemod 

 correspondent, F.R.A.S., meant one who had been limited to 

 |)ntntorR and turnip-tops; he used u familiar mude of speech. If 

 I found anything in your letter whii'h was more than simply a 

 denial of his view, 1 would insert it. You cannot say 1 have 

 not given due hearing Uy the rithcr side. — Neluuho. It is abso- 

 lutely impossible, with our present circulation, to cut the pages. 

 Which would you rather have, four pages more of original 

 matter, or bo saved the slight trouble of catting the paper ? 

 .Stiiik.nt. It may be (|uite safely assumod that the total 

 heut r<.ceived from the stars is quite insignificant. I'ray send 

 account of the dog who inherited kleptomania.— M. Wvatt. The 

 formula) are practically identical, x being insignificant compared 

 with r. Tost the matter, if you doubt this. Thanks for the pro- 

 blem from Newton's "Universal Arithmetic," to which work, how- 

 over, wo have already referred readers.^.V. W. D. Will try to 

 find space for your suggestions about shop and study. Only know of 

 Bain's book against Phrenolog}'. — R. B. Rowlisson. You are right, 

 we should have said 2,700 u.c. not 2,700 years ago. l"he stars yon 

 name will be near the southern polo at different times. My 

 Gnomonic Star Atlas is, I think, convenient for reference in such 

 matters. At least, I always use it myself, and added the 

 longitude lines and circles to make it useful in that way.- 

 D. F. Barrett. Sorry it was not attended to, but the corre- 

 spondence both with publishers and editor has been literally 

 overwhelming. — iiiici/. Y'ou are right ; the question is whether 

 vivisection is right or wrong, first, al all ; and secondly, if under any 

 conditions, then what those conditions are. Opponents are called 

 sentimental ; advocates are called brutal. Those who occupy a 

 middle position are called names by both the extreme parties. Of 

 what use is vituperation, anyway ? — R. R. We do not know th» 

 work. " lie combats the views of six of our leading scientists con- 

 ceming evolution," does not sound promising. Good writers do 

 not go about combating views. — Celt. Your theory that as 

 the pyramid rose, the builders heaped up earth all around 

 to enable them to put on the next layer, and afterwards 

 cleared this matter away, seems only a little less ingenious 

 than the theory that it was built from tho tO]) downwards. 

 Ilave you formed an estimate of the tremendous extra labour 

 t he plan would have involved ? Builders' measnremcnts would 

 be absolutely ineffective to preserve the accuracy of the orienta- 

 tion. An astronomer would not be content to discontinue the obser- 

 vations, but would mako the orientation moro and more accurate 

 as the building rose higher. — Ellipse. You seem to overlook the 

 fact that Mr. Tlioii)'.s first instrument is meant for ellipses too; it 

 is only set for parjibola. — H. Moulton. Inquire how many papers 

 of large circulation cut their edges. The ISaturday iievieic, the 

 Spectator, the Illustiatcd London News, the Graphic, sixpenny 

 papers, do not. yunch, All the Year Hound, and a host of other 

 papers less cheap than ours, might be cited as not cutting their 

 edges. Wo never expected to continue the plan, any more than we 

 expected to continue the i.ssuc of specimen copies by thousands. If 

 your copy happened to he badly folded, the fault is unusual, so far 

 as we can judge from the examination of a great number of copies 

 taken at random. In the bound volume all irregularities will dis- 

 appear ; and wo beg you to notice that the edges of the cut copies 

 must again be cut when they are bound up. If yuu would but 

 consider what wo are trying to do in the way of cheapening 

 science, you would be a little more generous than to ask for what 

 is really only a luxury possible with comparatively dear papers, or 

 with papers having only a limited circulation. We increase the 

 quantity of original matter and the average size of the paper, and 

 with reference rather to our promised than to our (very promising) 

 actual circulation ; you, and in all five correspondents, wish us to 

 go back to tho arrangements made when wo were beginning. We 

 beg to assure you, that except for the question of time, which abso- 

 lutely prevents our acce<ling to your rei|uest, it would s;ive us 

 considerable expense to accede to it, if wo at the same time 

 diminished tho original matter to the proportions which it had in 

 Part I. You will see this clearly before tho end of the next month. 

 — James Moir. The phenomena are manifestly subjective. — 

 AMjVteur Botanist. Surely botany has had a very fair share t>f 

 our space. We could not publish " at extra cost" a supplement of 

 star names and letters. Are not the letters and names given with 

 the name of each constellation in the maps themselves ?^i. N. 

 Leioh. No evidence that earth's axis has changed. — R. C. Al'M. 

 You have, wo trust, now ivceivcd Part 1. (that is, it reached yon, 

 we trust, before it was — as it now is — out of print). What 

 happened was this: Your letter, enclosing stumps, was ad- 

 dressed to " editor " ; it was sent to us, ond its turn 

 came a week or so after. I: was then forw.-irded to the 



