32 



• KNOWLEDGE 



[Jan. 10, 1883. 



further excavations, and has sucieedod in recovering some 

 of the lead pipes which eonveye.l the water. iMany frag- 

 ments of tcrra-cotta have also been found, probably indi- 

 cating a factory. ^^ 



During the excavation of the tramway tunnel through 

 Posilippo an antique water conduit of singular interest 

 was discovered, and examined by competent archaologists. 

 The walls, of thick cement, contain inscriptions indicating 

 the vill.as supplied with water. The dimensions of the 

 conduit are such that people can walk erect inside. One 

 of the inscriptions was made apparently after a partial 

 restoration. It bears the name of Consul Nerva. 



The Globe remarks, with reference to Mr. Julian Haw- 

 thorne's illness, and the consequent interruption of the 

 story which he is contributing to a monthly magazine, 

 that it would be well if no editor would allow a story to 

 be commenced in the pages of a magazine until the MS. 

 of the whole story was in his hands. Our contemporary 

 refers to the fact that Dickens, Thackeray, and Mrs. Gas- 

 kell all left unfinished stories. The public would pro- 

 bably prefer that even part of a story should appear than 

 none of it, on the principle that " half a loaf is better 

 than no bread." If such an arrangement as is 

 suggested by the Globe would have resulted in the 

 completion of the novels referred to, it would have 

 been well ; but it would ^not have had that eflect. 

 It would only have delayed the appearance of the 

 fragments. Fortunately, both Thackeray and Dickens left 

 clear indications of the endings to which the unfinished 

 stories were to have tended ; .so that one can take all the 

 pleasure the fragments can give without the annoyance 

 which would have arisen had the end been left in doubt. 

 Thackeray actually tells lis the denouement of his novel ; 

 and though Dickens did not — indeed, rather tried to shroud 

 the fortunes of the leading characters in mystery — the end 

 is clearly foreshadowed for aU who understand Dickens's 

 style, and see how, in all his novels, the fate of each person 

 is indicated by the tone of all relating to each from be- 

 ginning to end. We believe that no one who reads the 

 " Mystery of Edwin Drood " attentively can doubt that the 

 end was to have been as suggested by Mr. Foster in the 

 closing essay of "Leisure Readings" (Knowledge Library, 

 Vol. v.). 



The Hammond Electric Light Company informs the 

 Electrical Bcvieir that " a Ferranti machine to run 5,000 

 lights, and weighing about two tons, is on the point of 

 being finished ; and if this works with the efficiency 

 claimed for it, it will revolutionise the whole question of 

 incandescent lighting from a central station. Applications 

 under the Electric Lighting Act were made for every 

 borough in England ; but having got into friendly rela- 

 tions with a large number of corporations, the company 

 have contented themselves with withdrawing their applica- 

 tions in order to become the contractors for the work of 

 corporations." 



Protective Ixocul.\tion of Animals. — There has now 

 been time to form some idea as to the practical efficacy of 

 M. Pasteur's|^method of vaccinating animals as a protec- 

 tion against the disease known in France as cliarhon ; and 

 some instructive statistics on the subject from the depart- 

 ment Eureet-Loire, where the disease has been very 

 prevalent, have just appeared. About 80,000 sheep were 

 there vaccinated a year ago, and since vaccination only 

 518 have died of cliarbon, or 0'65 per cent., whereas the 



mean annual loss from the disease during the last ten years 

 has been 9 '01 per cent. About 4,500 animals of bovine 

 species have been vaccinated, and the mortality has fallen 

 from 7 -03 to 2 1 per cent. Vaccination has not been 

 largely practised on horses, as it is apt to be followed in 

 them by serious congestion, and their moiiality from 

 cliarbon is low. Last year, being a wet one, was less 

 favourable to the development of charhon, and this might 

 be thought to aflect the statistics considerably. In order, 

 therefore, better to judge of the effects of vaccination, 

 some intelligent proprietors took occasion to vaccinate only 

 a portion of their live stock. Thus 2,308 sheep were vac- 

 cinated and 1,G59 not vaccinated, all being under the same 

 conditions of life, and mixing freely with one another. Of 

 the vaccinated animals only eight died ; of the unvacei- 

 nated GO ; and the latter number would be raised to 83 if 

 there had been 2,308 unvaccinated. Thus we have 83 un- 

 vaccinated dead against eight vaccinated ; the mortality in 

 the former is more than ten times that in the latter. 



In the United States, 9,171 miles of railway were made 

 in 1882, as compared with 6,649 mUes in 1881 and 534 

 mUes in 1880. 



During the recent fearful continental floods, a kilometre 

 of the Simplon line, near Sierre, was destroyed by an 

 earth-slip, and traffic has not yet been resumed. A steamer 

 has been wrecked, with the loss of one life, on Lake Con- 

 stance. The Thur has overflowed its banks, and all the 

 country between Kappel and Lichtensteig is under water. 

 The Val de Travers has been converted into a vast lake. 



"Taranaki" writes that" Earle ('English Plant Names') 

 gives Saxon 'inistil, sprawler,' and 'tan, twig or rod.' 

 ' vSprawling-twig ' seems to fit the plant capitally." The 

 words, "mist," "mizzle," indicate the same meaning for 

 root " mist," scattered, dispersed — thus a mizzling rain is 

 finely divided or dispersed rain. " Mizzle," to run away, 

 is, then, really old Saxon slang, like the American 

 " scatter." 



Lectures on Electricity. — A course of ten lectures on 

 electricity will be given, at the instance of the London 

 Society for the Extension of L^niversity Teaching, by T. W. 

 Waghorn, Esq., E.N., in St. Jude's Schoolroom, Com- 

 mercial-street, AVliitechapel, E., on Tuesday, Jan. 16, and 

 the nine following Tuesdays, at 8.15 p.m. The lectures 

 will be illustrated by experiments, and will be intelligible 

 to beginners. Each lecture will be followed by a class, in 

 whicli the lecturer will be prepared to answer questions in 

 elucidation of his lecture. The first lecture, on Tuesday, 

 IGth inst., is free. Further information may be obtained 

 from the Hon. Sees., F. Rogers, 62, Nicholas-street, Mile- 

 end, E., and A. Milner, 54, Claverton-street, S.W. 



The Telephone for Railway Purposes. — The London 

 and North-Western Railway Company are fitting several 

 of the new signal cabins at Eccles Junction and Patricroft 

 with telephones. This will be a much readier mode of 

 communication than that of the single-needle instrument, 

 which, with its many advantages, is still inconvenient ' 

 when the signalman has to attend to his electric and 

 semaphore signals. For nearly twelve months telephones 

 have been on trial Ijetween various points on this company's 

 .system, and notwithstanding the severe tests they have 

 been put to, have universally demonstrated their superiority 

 over the instruments previously used. 



