498 



- KNOWLEDGE • 



[AriiiL 7, 1882. 



8ILVERED-GLASS TELESCOPES. 



HAVIN(i lin'l till- liiTt Hilvcml-KliiM (i-lri<.n|ie niiiilo l>v Mr. 

 MrowniiiK Willi ii Willi iiiiiTur, my i.'i|H'rifiico ia Iuiikit limn 

 tliiit if iiiukI utlii'i-a ill tliin ciMiiilry. 'i'lif iii8lruiiiriit wna um-il fur 

 iiiuiir yoiini Oil ilio iiurtli aiiii' of l.uiiilun, nml fur tlio limt lliirti-cii, 

 tir no, ill llic cuunlry. I liiiil tin- nilrvriii); limlii well fur live ur nix 

 yearn, niul llivn nliout oiu'-tiftli uf llii' li^lit in lust by purliutm tiiut 

 liiit-c cuiiio uff in till' nm-, liiil orciiniutial, rulibiiiK" nilli a dry luft 

 IcallitT. The ailvpriiiK niiiat uii nu iiccuiiiil lie touclieil uiiIlsh it in 

 Itrrfrclly dry. An apivKruiirc of tiirniali will umiiilly vnnisli liy 

 ■■iixwurv to tho sun on ii wuriii dny. I iiuver fuuiid ival tiiriiisli, 

 osyilutiun, or «ul|>liuiimitiun orciir lu givu truiililu, even in I.uiiduli. 

 The mouth of the tt'Uwu|)i'-tubo is i-overod when tlie instru- 

 ment ia not in uac, but no cuver Iiuh been put over the mirror 

 itaclf. Aa com|>nred with a refroclur of the same size, tho 

 <lividin^ power in eipml in i;oo<l wciither; the light, uf course, is 

 loM. My first observatory wiis coni|>osoil of {,''"'•»''' saslies ; the 

 .Mccond of cnnvnoa, strvtched on n wooden frunic, strcnfithencd with 

 T iron. In both, the ititemiil temiieruture differs little from the 

 external when the ihiirs are open. 'I'liis ia of j;roat importance. 1 

 have known several vexatious failures of good instruments iu obser- 

 vatories with thick wails. Kctieeturs arc mure easily affected in this 

 way than refmolors. The Xe>vluuiun pattern, and moderate length 

 of tube, enables nearly all observations to be made in convenient 

 nttitudcs, which is fur from beinj; the case with refractors. The 

 observer should have a stool to stand upon, so as to bring the eye to 

 tho level of the eye-piece when the telescope points to tlio zenith; 

 and another to sit upon, about as hi^'h us a chair, for a Gin. or 6-in. 

 instrument, with tho top on a sliding; tube, that can be fixed at dif- 

 ferent heights by a cross-piece. The construction is : one square 

 tube intide another; a series of slots on two opposite sides of the 

 inner one, and one slot on each corresjioiiding side of the outer 

 one. f'.r till' crcws-pice t.i run throujjh. Ue.vky J. Slai K. 



UisToRY or Inebriety .\s a Disease. — Under this title, a com- 

 nmnication appears in the Oelroit Medical Revieiv, from the pen of 

 Dr. Crothers, of Hartford, Conn. Uc points out that inebriety was 

 recognised as a disease, lonfr before insanity was thought to be 

 other than sjiiritual tnadness — or a possession of the devil. This 

 disease was hinted at in au early age of the world, and is by no 

 means a modem idea. (.)n an old jiapyrus found in one of the 

 tombs of Egypt, dating back to a very ancient period, was a very 

 significant passage referring to an inebriate who had failed to keep 

 sober. Many of the sculptures of Thebes and Egypt exhibit ine- 

 briates in the act of receiving physical treatment from their slaves, 

 such as purgatives, rubbings, or applications to the head anil spine. 

 Herodotus, live centuries before tho Christian era, wrote " that 

 drunkenness showed that both tho body and soul were sick." 

 Diodiima and I'lutarch assert " that drink madness is an affection 

 of tho body which hath destnn'ed many kings and noble people." 

 Many of the Greek |iliiIusophers recognised the physical character 

 of inebriety, and the hereditai-y influence or tendencies which 

 were transmitted to the next generation. Laws were enacted 

 forbidding women to use wine, and young boys were re- 

 stricted. In the first century of the Christian era, St. John Chrv- 

 sostom urged that inebriety was a disease like dyspepsia, and 

 illustrated his meaning by many (|uaint reasonings. This was the 

 first cleor distinctive rccognisntion of the disease which had been 

 hinted at long Ijofore. In the next century .\|i]jian, the Konian 

 jurist, referred to the irresponsible character of inebriates, and the 

 necessity of treating them as sick men. Many of the early and 

 later writers of Koniaii civilisation contain references to drunkenness 

 iva a bodily disorder, not controllable beyond a certain point, which 

 resulted in veritable madness. Little reference was made tu this 

 theory until the thirteenth century, when one of th« Kings of Spain 

 4-nactod laws fully reci'gnising inebriety as a disease lessening tho 

 pnnishincnt of crime rummiited when under the influence of spirits. 

 In the siiteenth coiitury the penal codes of Fiance and many of 

 tlip (tcmian States contained enactments which recognised the 

 disease charnctor of inebriety. All punishment for crime com- 

 mitted dnrinir this state varied according to the condition of the 

 prisoner at the time. In 1747 Condilluc, a French philosopher, 

 wrote expressing clear views of the disease of inebriety, also that 

 tho Ktato ahonhl recognise and proviile means for its treatment. Uo 

 nnwrted that the impulse to drink was, like insanity, an affection of 

 the brnin which could net U- reached by law or religion. Dr. Ben- 

 jamin Uush, of I'hilndelphin, in 175HJ,' act forth the same theory, 

 aopported by a long train of reasoning. To him belongs the honour 

 of timt einbirating this subject and outlining what has been accopte-.l 

 half a ceiilur after. —Jfi-iliftt/ I'resn flnj Circular 



PREHISTORIC RESEARCH IN RUSSIA. 



AT the meeting of the Imperial Ocogrnjihical Society of 8t, 

 I'cteraburg, Nov. 10, Ih'll, an account was given of tl 

 expedition of i\. Malakhof, whose anthropological invest igatiom, 

 which were Krminatcd in October last, )iad for their principal 

 object the examination of the caves of pn-histuric man discovcrcJ b; 

 him in IKSO, and the search fortraces of primitive cultivation in t" 

 8uutliern Oural, a region previously unexplored from this [loint of, 

 view. Ill Ilia journey he examined the diatricts of Urjum and Velfl' 

 bugn, in the government of Viatka, a large [lortiou of that of Pei 

 and the Troitsk district in Orenburg. In the first-named district hi 

 discovered, near tlie village of Verobieva, prehistoric remains, in 

 eluding a number of objects in metal and bone, and fragments of 

 clay vases. The bones were those of the deer, bear, wild l>oar, Ijeaver, 

 horse, 4c. In the Ciovcrnments of Peru and Orenburg, M. Malakhol 

 explored a number of caverns without success, bat he was mi 

 fortunatu in his researches on the shores of the Aiataky, Shiguircl 

 and Vurinsky lakes, and the rivers Sliass and Isseta where ho made' 

 a large collection of arms of polished silex and objects in bone, clayv 

 bronze, and iron. These results lead to the conclusion that in thi 

 Oural region, the jiassage from the stone to tho metal age tool 

 place in a wholly independent manner owing to the abundance ol 

 the metals. In one tumulus he found a skeleton with heavy coppci 

 ornaments, and in other excavations he met with a considcrabli 

 number of bronze idols, amulets, and articles of gold. 31. Malakhol 

 has also copied the red hieroglyphic inscriptions found on roc' 

 along various rivers. Tliis find of pure copper articles iu Siberia,^ 

 in addition to those recently in Switzerland, renders it probable)' 

 that there may have been a pure "copper age" before that of' 

 bronze, as tlioiight by some anthropologists. ' 



A Mkmiikr of tue Society ok Bibliolocicai. ABCB.toLOGV. 



Speech amongst Fowis. — As Lieutenant-Colonel Souzel and soma' 

 correspondents still keep the subject of animals and their doings to' 

 the fore, I scud the following : — Some years ago I saw two yoong^ 

 cockerels lighting iu an out-of-theway comer of a large poultiy- 

 yard. A hen, ]irobabIy the anxions mother of one of the young 

 heroes, came U|), and, by voice and action, did her best to put an end 

 to the encounter, but without success. She then went away, and 

 presently returued, bringing with her a fine cock. The new-comer 

 made straight for the combatants, who were again hard at it,- 

 adniinistered a few vigorous pecks, and walked off with his loving 

 spouse, leaving the youngsters very crestfallen and as peaceable as 

 quakers. The cock's appearance on the scene was not accidental, 

 the hen having gone to the other side of the yard, about thirty Tarda 

 off, to find him, and having come back- beside him, almost arm-iib» 

 arm with him [!] This, coupled with the fact that, on his arrirsQ 

 he seemed to know exactly what to do, seems to point to some fair^ 

 well-developed means of communication between fowls, though 

 unfortunately. I either could not see or did not notice, whatactuallj 

 took place at the meeting. The incident itself is ludicrously human^ 

 and is, in fact, an .."Esop's fable in real life for little boys just out" 

 growing the nursery. — Kosemo.nt Geary. 



Intehigenx'E i.n Swaxs. — The following extract from Yarrell'd 

 History of Birds may interest your readers. Mr. Varrell writesi 

 — " I am indebted to the kindness of Lord Braybrooke for th 

 following account of a female swan on the river at Bishop's StoK 

 ford. This swan ( Cygn us olor) was eighteen or nineteen years oU 

 had brought uj) many broods, and was highly valued by the neighnl 

 hours. She exhibited, some eight or nine years past, one of th« [ 

 most remarkable instances of the jiowers of instinct that was over 

 recorded. She was sitting on four or five eggs, and was observed 

 to bo very busy iu collecting weeds, grasses, Ac., to raise her nest; I 

 a farming-man was ordered to take down half a load of haulm, with I 

 which she most industriously raised her nest and the eggs 2i ft. ; [ 

 that very night there came down a tremendous fall of rain, which | 

 flooded all the malt-shops and did great damage. Man made no pre- 

 paration, the liii< did. Instinct prevailed over reason. Uereggsl 

 were above, and only just alx>ve, tho water." — (Brit. Birds. 111., 

 p. 207, 208. Second Edition.) Two phenomena present themselves ' 

 liere. (I) The prescience in the bird of iini>ending rain ; (2) the 

 means adopted by the bird to juxivide for the security uf lier nest and 

 eggs. The first question may be, perhaps, mainly independent of any | 

 ilirect conscious mental emotion, and may be due. as suggested by 

 Yarrell, to the susceptibility of the feathery covering of the bird to 

 atnios'iherie electrical changes, and whot we call iii.<(inr( may have 

 foretold impending rain ; but I do not see how we can intei-jii-et the 

 swan's act in providing for the safety of her nest, otherwise than b) 

 attributing it to direct ivosonin; power. — W. Hotonrox. 



