March 17, 1882.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



431 



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" In knowledge, that man only is to be contemned and de.ipised who is not in a 



state of transition Nor is there anything more adverse to accuracy 



than fixity of opinion." — Faraday. 



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" God's Orthodoxy is Truth."— Charles Kingsley. 



(Pur Corrrepontifnre Coliimne!. 



V KGETARIAXISM. — PLANTS IN BEDHOOMS. — " THE 

 BURIAL OP MOSES."— DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND 

 GOMORRAH. 



■i26] — I must thank Sir Henry Thompson for a personal reply, 



h i> as welcome as it was unexpected. In a discussion on 



-m that has been recently going on in the Echo evening 



! his name, and that of Dr. Richardson, have been definitely 



■iiong tliose of a number of obscurities) as advocates of a 



t ly vcu'L'table diet. Now it can matter little to the public, and 



iredly need not influence it, to learn that Mr. Smith, of Hoxton, 



- lirought up a large family on French beans and cabbages, or that 



Mr. Brown, of Soho, consumes (and believes in) "The Nutriment of 



Longevity," which he himself sells; but the case is very different 



w! Ml it i? definitely predicated by men of world-wise eminence, like 



( ompson and Dr. Richardson, that they are, in effect, 



I may say that before penning the letter (285, 



- i -h has elicited Sir Henry Thompson's valuable rejoinder, 



1 learned privately that both himself and Dr. Richardson did, 



I matter of fact, employ a nii.'ied diet themselves. This being 



I thoaght that a j)roclamation of the truth %vould enable all 



rested in the food question to estimate the hond (or mali) ndes 



e vegetarians who quote two distinguished physiologists as con- 



I s to, or advopates of, their system, and to appraise the e.\act 



!'h of the argument which they profess to derive from such 



'ority. 



win'telt " A Fellow of the Chemical Society " (letter 315, p. 40) 

 • way in which I believe the wretched potato diet does " influence 

 -li character." It may be gathered from the reports of the 

 us outrages which unhappily reach us daily from Ireland, the 

 ' Ills of which show, beyond cavil, tliat their perj^etrators are the 

 ■t arrant curs upon the face of the earth. Firing from safe 

 '■ foalment behind stone walls, and running like hares the moment 

 t heir barrels are emptied ; breaking, in overwhelming force, dis- 

 guised, and with blackened faces, into lonely houses, and shooting and 

 maiming solitary and defenceless men and women ; skulking away 

 at the mere sight and sound of resistance, and never daring to face 

 a human being who is in a position effectually to nppo.=p them, these 

 people present an example of an arrant cowardice whidi happily 

 disgraces but few (so-called) " civilised " races in the world. Now, 

 enlist these men, give them their daily ration of good, wholesome 



meat, and what do we find ? Simply, that there is no braver 

 soldier in existence than the Irishman. Where are there finer 

 regiments to bo found than those mainly recruited from 

 Ireland ? VVhy, I have myself known an Irish private, 

 totally unarmed, go in and seize a comrade half frantic with 

 drink and armed with a bayonet with which ho had previously 

 kept several men at bay. As an example of cool courage, uninflamed 

 by the excitement of action, this seemed very striking to me, and 

 certainly in odd contrast to the pusillaniuiity of his vegetable-fed 

 confrere. Finally, I would say that I am by no means convinced 

 that the chemical hypothesis of nutrition is invariably sustained by 

 experience. I can remember when Liebig's theory was regarded as 

 being as tmassailable in its entirety as the Apostles' Creed. Is this 

 the case now ? Growing plants, I may tell " J. C. L." (query 288, 

 p. 410), are unhealthy in bedrooms from the fact that at night they 

 give out carbonic acid. In sunlight, on the other hand, they exhale 

 oxygen and keep the air of a room pure. In reply to his next query 

 (28y, same page), I fancy that he will find the poem he inquires 

 for in " Maundcr's Class-book," also in the " National Reading 

 Book," Book v., published by the National Society, Westminster. 



" A. N." ((luery 303, p. 410), may rest assiu'ed that no scientific 

 proof whatever exists that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed 

 on July 31, 1898 B.C., either by aerolites or in any otlicr way. 



A Fellbw ok the Royal Astronomic.\l Society. 



TELESCOPES. 

 [327] — While fully endorsing the opinion given by U. Sadler in 

 Knowlepge, p. 389, as to the advantage of a silvered glass reflector, 

 I beg permission to add that by means of a tin cap, with a handle 

 like the lid of a saucepan, fitting closely on the cell of the speculum, 

 the film may be preserved, if not in its original beauty, yet in a 

 perfectly serviceable condition for so long a time, that the expense 

 of renewal will become a matter of comparatively little importance. 

 It nmst be remembered, however, that this involves either an 

 opening in the side of the tube large enough to admit the hand with 

 the lid (which might be jointed for the purpose) on the removal of 

 the mirror when not in constant use. Circumstances have obliged 

 me to follow the latter plan ; but I find no great inconvenience in 

 it, and am convinced that a little ingenuity would supply a mode of 

 effecting it readily, and at a trifling expense. With due precaution, 

 the adjustment need not suffer. T. W. Webb. 



NIGHTS WITH A THREE-INCH TELESCOPE. 

 [328] — Could you at the end of these articles give the constella- 

 tion and letters of the stars which will be described in the following 

 article P I m.ake this suggestion in order that amateurs, like myself, 

 may afterwards compare what they have observed with the article 

 in your succeeding number. F. C. B. 



THE POTATO. 



[329]— In No. 12, Jan. 20, " F. C. S." gives an article on " Some- 

 thing Abont the Potato," which contains several statements which 

 I had hoped to see flatly contradicted by other and abler hands than 

 mine. 



He says, "the influence of the blossoms makes a great difference," 

 and quotes a case showing an increase of about 13 per cent, where 

 these are removed. Let " F. C. S." try a small plot during the coming 

 season, and give us his results. With Victorias, which are about 

 the freest bloomers known, the writer has several times tried it on 

 plots of from one-tenth to half an acre, with no appreciable dif- 

 ference ; in fact, if anything, the result was against the mutilation 

 of the plants. 



Further on he says, " in frozen potatoes the sugar is doubled and 

 the starch diminished." This, I fancy, happens after or at the 

 time of the frost going out, as I find a frozen potato, if plunged 

 into hot wood-ashes and there cooked, is quite dry and floiuy, and 

 has none of the sweetness peculiar to a frosted potato. 



Again, he says " compost has no effect unless to increase the 

 proportion of starch." It must surely have been poor compost. 

 Please say what was its composition, and the amount of increase of 

 starch ? 



Again, he says " potatoes grown on moist soils, and soils contain- 

 ing mnch organic matter, are most liable to disease;" while fiu-ther 

 on, he says " the nnmanured plots are highest in di.sease." The one 

 statement is a contradiction of the other, and contrary to any result 

 I have ever heard of any one attaining, and certainly far from the 

 results attained by myself. 



Further on, he says " Good peat is found to give even better 

 results than good stable manure." This would certainly be good 

 peat, and a mine of wealth to its owner. Will " F. C. S." quote 

 his authority on this matter, as I consider it downright nonsense ? 



