Jax. 5, 1883.J 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



tRATED 



MAGAZINE ofMENCE 



PULNLT)) ORDED -£XACTL^DESGRIBED 



LOXDON: FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1883 



Contests of No. 62. 



PAGE 



ScirDi-e and Art Gossip 1 



■XW Boll Csse. Bt Rii-h. A. Proctor 3 



rliotographinff the Solar Corona 4 



liumanilr and Natural Uistorj . Bt 



Kiihard JefferiM '.. 5 



A Lou'ical Puiile, Br Kichard A. 



Procter '. 7 



PI<>a^nt Hours with the Microscope : 



Disease (iernn. Br HenrT J. Slack, 



F.fiS.,F.KM.S 7 



Our Bodies -III. Mu'cles. Bj Dr. 



Andrew WiUen, F.R.S.E 8 



PAen 



Has the Moou an Atmosphere ? 10 



Retikws : Light — Nat, the If atu- 



raUst W 



The Face of the Skj 11 



Our Paradox Comer 12 



, CoRRESPOirDEXCE : Fellowship of 

 Learned Societies — Bright Star near 

 the Sun-Dial of Ahaz. .Vc, ic. ... 12 



Answ.'rs to Correspondents l-l 



Our Jfathr-matical Column 15 



Our Whist Column 15 



Our Chess Column 16 



^rtence anli Srt (So^sitp. 



A CORRESPOSDEXT, writing from Scarborough, makes 

 .iome fun out of our Gossip note about a star-like body 

 seen on December 21, in close proximity to the sun, enter- 

 taining, apparently, the belief that the object was the planet 

 Venus. The idea is one which is naturally suggested by 

 the description we quoted from a letter addressed to the 

 Dundee Adverliaer, "the milky-white appearance," and the 

 " crescent shape," when seen with telescope, — but a little 

 consideration would have shown our humorous corre- 

 spondent that as Venus was in transit on December G, she 

 could not have been in close pro.ximity to the sun at noon 

 on December 21. As a matter of fact she was then 

 1 h. 33 m. in R. A west of the sun (corresponding to an arc 

 distance of 23" 15' in R. A.), in declination .5" 2' north, 

 making an actual arc distance of about 21 degrees. I 

 would submit that such a distance as this, about fortj--four 

 sun breadths, would scarcely be described as " close prox- 

 imity." See an interesting letter from !Mr. J. E. Gore, in 

 our Correspondence Column. 



Ix the Bristol Times for Dec. 20, the following stupen- 

 dous letter appeared over the name John Large. We 

 commend it to the special attention of the sun-spot 

 craftsmen : — 



Please kindly allow me to observe, through the medium of your 

 widely-circulated paper, that the late severe weather was attribut- 

 able to the transit of Venus through the sun, which I am prepared 

 to prove without any delusive theory, but with practical illustra- 

 tions if required. Many dark spots have been observed on the sun 

 more |or less for the last five or si.v yours, and they have been the 

 cause of the many wet summers which wn have unfortunately 

 <'xperienced, although, doubtless, for some wise purpose. But now 

 that Venus has passed triumphantly through the sun, and having 

 taken with her all the dark spots and specks which have existed 

 more or less for many years. I venture to predict that we shall be 

 blessed with a series of beautifully fine and productive summers. 



The intense cold of yesterday (Dec. 1.5), remarks a corre- 

 spondentof the Da ihj Express, followed by so rapid a thaw, has 

 produced an effect seldom before witnessed in this country. 

 The public buildings, especially those composed of Portland 

 or other absorbent materials, are today thickly covered with 



hoar frost At Trinity College the old buildings in Botany 

 Hay present a curious appearance, each stone being marked 

 out as if whitewashed , while the joints remain black, the 

 rude arches over the windows showing to great advantage ; 

 and the banks and other large edifices look as if they had 

 been lately finished. I would suppose that the frost had 

 penetrated the stone, and the warm mist now falling on it 

 is converted into ice." [The effect is really due to difl'er- 

 ence of absorptive action. — Ed. | 



Dr. Russell, of the Chemical Laboratory at St. Bartho- 

 lomew's Hospital, a member of the committee which has 

 been for some time carrying on extensive experiments on 

 the composition of London fogs, at the request of the 

 Meteorological Council of the Royal Society, states that he 

 has already obtained results showing that the increase in 

 the amount of carbonic acid in the air of the City during 

 fogs in some cases amounted to upwards of two and a half 

 times the quantity ordinarily present. 



Mh. W. H. Preece, in his paper on " Electrical Ex- 

 hibitions," read before the Society of Arts, thus summarises 

 his criticisms : — " At South Kensington we had a magni- 

 ficent collection of the scientific condition of electrical 

 apparatus at that date — 1876. At Paris we had an 

 equally magnificent show of their practical condition in 

 1881. At the Crystal I'alace the commercial element 

 stepped in, converting a picture of progress into a means 

 of advertisement ; while at Munich science again comes in 

 to fulfil its chief duty — to measure and compare. At 

 Paris and the Crystal Palace medals and honours were 

 distributed, but at Munich the far more sensible plan has 

 been adopted of giving simple certificates of efficiency, 

 showing plainly what each apparatus can do in its own 

 particular sphere. We are about to have not only a second 

 e.xhibition at the Crystal Palace, but also one at the 

 Westminster Aquarium. These are purel}' commercial 

 speculations. Vienna is also to have an exhibition in the 

 autumn, and doubtless they will be repeated in all chief 

 cities.' 



A CLUious dispute has arisen in Germany as to an 

 invention connected with the sugar industry. According 

 to an account published in the Hamhurger Xacliriditeit, 

 the German ^National Bank some time ago purchased from 

 Professor Scheibler, of Berlin, for 1,000,000 marks- - 

 £.50,000 — a process for obtaining sugar from molasses by 

 means of strontianite, at the same time securing the 

 right of the first offer of such further discoveries as the 

 professor might make. He has now, it is said, taken out 

 a patent for a new process which renders the previous 

 one almost worthless. The bank has commenced legal 

 proceedings for the invalidation of the new patent, instead 

 of acquiring it by a further expenditure of capital. It has 

 been rumoured that Professor Scheibler will work the 

 patent himself, instead of selling it, thus trying to avoid 

 any serious difficulty. 



There are now 828J miles of water-mains for the supply 

 of London which are constantly charged. Of these the 

 New River Company has 214 miles; Lambeth, 136|; 

 Southwark and Vauxhall, 117; West Middlesex, 86 J ; 

 Kent, 8-5; East London, 85; Chelsea, 67; and Grand 

 Junction, 37 i miles. 



DcRisr. a recent tornado in Brewer, Me., a plank was 

 blown with such force against a cistern with wooden walls 



