502 



KNOWLEDGE 



[April 7, 1882. 



nl'KN I'lKK-rLACKS. 

 [870J.- Whnt iiro wp to ilo y Knrtiinntrly llio wriilliiT lini not 

 boon vpry c«l<l. On pntrf :t7l of KNfmi.KixiK of Snl iii»l.oiir frirnd 

 W. M. WillJniiiii foiii'liiilcH Inn iiltiVli- nil oiirn lln'-|ilnr<'», with 

 trlliiiK on " to lirick up. r.'ini'iit up, or cillicrwitio I'oiiiplclflv Btop 

 up, nil ntirrti.otiiiK tirr-lii>li'i>. null iilmlisli all our dialing nrcii," iitid 

 llii-n lio prominpK to toll uh wlint to ilo next. Has lir roimiilcrcii 

 how nwkwnnlly wi< arc pliii-oil witliout ii H]mrk of fire nil thia time? 

 .Mimt WP unHtop till' flrvliolo I' Of rour.w wis niniit wnit niiiitlior 

 wi'i'k. Must wp apnd our doctor's bill tu him, or to you, Mr. Kdilor ? 



C. .1. UuoWN. 



n.\K( II IX I'OTATOKS. 



■ ill - hi aii.Hwir to "Knnui'r's" Inst qucKtion (.')-'.'), it may be 

 ntulpd that it has boon found that the ratios bi-tweon the starch and 

 nitrogenous mnttor in potatxxs are not nlwoys the same, and that 

 in those potnt'M'S whioli are the least floury tho ratio of nitrogen to 

 Bliirch is tho highest, by reason of clecreaso iu starch. Tho cause 

 seems to rest with the manuiv, for the same variety, under like 

 eoiiditiuns of position, Boil, and climate, is j,'rcatly intluenccd in 

 composition by the manure ujiplied. E. W. P. 



HAIR Tl K.NIXG WHITE. 

 [37kJ— I'orhups the followinir facts may bo of sufticient interest 

 to warrant their insertion in K.vowledge. James Tratford, a coach- 

 smith in the cmployuicnt of Francis Mnlliner, coachbuildcr, of 

 Liverpool and London, about two-and-a-half years ago burned him- 

 self accidently at tho root of the middle linger of his right liand. 

 Tho injury was caused by a bit of red-hot iron flying into his hand. 

 lie was obligi'd to cease work .it once, and continued to bo 

 inca|>ablo for about three months, during which time I 

 Wdtehcd the consetiueuces of his accident as they made their 

 appearance. Uc poulticed his hand, and in about a week 

 the swelling broke, upon which matter began to e.xude. In 

 a week after the breaking of tho wonn<l, and wliile the 

 matter was exuding. Iiis hair began to turn white upon the right 

 side of his head, and a fortnight subsequently he presented the 

 picture of n man with the hair, moustache, aud board, on the right 

 side of his head, snow white, and on the left side jet black. The 

 process continued, the matter was still exuding. Five weeks after 

 his accident, every hair on his head aud face was perfectly white. 

 At this time, lie was only about forty-two years old. Ten weeks 

 after his accident he was so bald that not a single hair was to bo 

 found on his head. A week later his hand liealcd, and tho matter 

 ceased to run. Another week and his hair re-appeared, and grow- 

 so fast that in about a month his head aud face were again covered 

 with hair. Six mouths after his accident, his head and face 

 prcsenteil their usual apijearance— jet black hair, moustache, and 

 beard. 1 obtained his consent to send this account to another 

 journal, bat omitted doing so. It has, therefore, never before been 

 published. H. Smith. 



TUE LAXK YAXK. 

 [37!>] — lieading on page 157 tho remarks of " Canadensis " in 

 this connection. 1 would add that, having visited Xew York City in 

 the days of oM, besides being collided with many Yanks upon the 

 .\astmliuu gold-diggings, it struck me that tho leanness of the 

 .American is duo to the abominable practice of chewing lioncydow, 

 accompanied by the constant ejection of the saliva so necessary for 

 the duo assimilation, secretion, and digestion of the dietetical 

 delicacies incident to their Ll<?jei'iner« d In Fourchette, &c. Thus was 

 I led to speculate upon tho question, " How many of the leaner 

 aort of .Ann ricos would sufiice to cool the condenser of a 10 H.P. 

 esgine ;-" J. J. A., Liverpool. 



TUE PERFECT WAY IX DIET. 



[3H01 — May 1 correct two niisjirints among the names of advo- 

 cntea of reform in diet cited by mo ? For Ualley read Ualler, the 

 well-known Ccrmnn physiologist of last centnry ; and for Dnumen 

 rend Dauniir, the learned Professor of .Munich, jiopulnrly known 

 nstho (for sometime) guanlian of Caspar llauscr, the wild boy of 

 the woods. A\m<, for linyle read Biiyle, the eulogiser of Gassendi. 



It is not pnteniled that all the authorities quoted by me in your 

 Inat number, or the very many other admirable writers omitted in 

 my necessarily brief notice, were, in practice, nnti-krcophagist. 

 L'ntil some forty years ago ihin- was no kind of Association, no 

 nillyirg centre for those deeper thinkers, or more humane minds, 

 who, neverthelesa, instinctively, as it were, shrank from the cruel 

 Imrbarism of the alaughtor-liousp. Xo writer (not actually an 

 abstinent fr«m (leah-meats) haa more often protested against tlic 



horrifying pnictico of butchering for food than Voltaire (i<v<; inter 

 nim, ■' Easai Sur lo» Ma'urs," Ac, hia romance of" Iji Princcaae do 

 Unbylone," Uict. Phil., art. " Viands"). It ia entirr;ly n-iiMmablo 

 to assume that, were he now living, he woulil be practically, nolcsa 

 than theoretically, n humane dieteat. And so of the other prophets 

 of reformed dietetics who lived before the present era of aaHocintotI 

 reformira. Howabd Willums. M..A. 



(0iicrif6. 



[349] — QuoTATlo.v.— In what literary work shall I find: — " Li' 

 things on little wings bear little souls to heaven " y — F. 



[350] — Jet. — What is the composition of jet, aud how m:r: 

 have been formed in the rocks? Has it ever been chemica ,. 

 analysed, and with what result ? — Wiiitbv. 



[351] — Glycol. — Can any reader give the following: — 1. Test for 

 glycerine. 2. A practical means of separating glycerine from the 

 residue from palm oil, after the latter has been heated to, say, 320", 

 and agitated with IL .SO, I' — \. T. Ross. 



[352] — Will one of your rea<lers be kind enough to tell me the 

 best method to procure deutoxideof nitrogen from nitric acid ? — U. 

 Xeikd.(?) 



lUpIifS to (0iiriif6. 



[276] — PnoTOGR.XPHV. — For " quality." read " quantity : " and for 

 " prosulphito," read •' hyposulphite " of soda. — A. Brothers. 



[330]— Climbing Pl.\xts.— If \V. P. B. will look at Darwin's 

 " Climbing Plants " he will see that the twining, chough influenced 

 (i.e., retarded or accelerated), is not caused by the sun. In a list 

 there given of twining jilants, fourteen follow tho sun (hop), 

 twenty-seven move against tho snn (convolvulus). A single revolu- 

 tion is often performed in from :ix to three hours, or less j not 2-t. — 

 S. C. Wood. 



[336] — In SIemori.\m. — We have received many replies to this 

 query. Nearly all agree that Longfellow is the poet referred to, 

 naming his poem, " The Ladder of St. Augustine." This reply is 

 given by S. Oliver, K., Clare, S. C. Wood, T. Sulraan, J. Stewart, 

 H. J. Frv, Chas. 11. Cotton, T. H. M., E. D. G., A. P. Thomas, J. S., 

 H. A. H'., T. B. E. C. R. suggests that cither Longfellow or St. 

 Augustine was intended (but how could St. Augustine bo described 

 as he " who sings to one clear harp in divers tones " ?) ; Gog llagog 

 names Longfellow, but speaks of his poem, "The Balm of Life" ; 

 W. C. says Shakespeare, but quotes no passage; Bernerd Batigan 

 also names Shakespeare, pis-iim, bat especially in the sonnet begin- 

 ning " Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth " (in which we can 

 trace very resemblance to the idea referred to by Tennyson) ; C. 

 Fen savs Kiitg David ; W. G. Finch thinks that reference is made to 

 the Son of David ; T. M. Blackie, F.S.A., thinks Arthur Uallam was 

 meant. To myself it seems altogether clear that Tennyson meant, 

 a poet living when he wrote, and that that poet was Longfellow. 



[369]— TELEnioXE.— From 4oz. to Joz. of Xo. 36 silk-covered 

 wire is required for bobbins. I will try to forwai-d description of 

 transmitter by next week. — G. E. V. 



[In answer to G. T. W. M., page 459 of Knowledge, March 2-t, 

 1882, there is n book by Dean Alford, " Queen's English," published 

 by Bell & Son, at 5s.— T. G. T. 



Replying to query on " Colliery Spoil Banks," p. 477, there is no 

 doubt that tho ignition is " spontaneous " — a term rather vaguely 

 applied. All nrdinartj combustion is simply a combination of the 

 combustible substance with the oxygen of the air. Such com- 

 bustion Ik going on wherever ordinary vegetable matter is exposed 

 to air and moisture. The leaves that fall from tho trees in autumn 

 burn during the winter; so do the dead weeds, grass, &c. In their 

 burning, thoy raise the temperature of the soil to an extent that 

 is quite measurable when they are abundant. In crossing forests 

 during winter-time, I have on several occasions been nearly ankle- 

 deep in vegetable mtid, while the ground outside the wood was 

 frozen hard. This was mainly due to the slow combustion of the 

 fallen leaves. Tho "spontaneous combustion" of haystacks, of 

 heaiis of cotton-waste, and the heat of hotbeds is of similar 

 origin. I have seen a railway siding on tire at Coed Talon, in 

 Flintshire. It was ballasted with cannel-coal slack, which combined 

 with ox}-gcn in this manner. The spoil banks of collieries are mndp 



