88 



♦ KNOWLEDGIi: ♦ 



[Feb. 9, 1883. 



(carbo-hydrates) be takfn with the albumen, the former 

 protect the latter from burning up, and thus favour the 

 formation of fat, altiiougii we liiiv(^ no proof that they can 

 themselves be converted into fat. To make a familiar 

 comparison, a person wlio receives a very small salary and 

 board will be able to put more money in the savings-bank 

 than one who receives a larger conipen.sation for his services, 

 but has to pay liis own board. The food which the former 

 receives from liis employer cannot be deposited in the bank, 

 but it enables him to preserve intact whatever cash he may 

 get This protecting influence of the carbo-hydrates led 

 early chenii-sts to mistake them for fat producers. 



Both the ()uality and (juantity of food taken are of im- 

 portance in the treatment of corpulence. Starvation will 

 reduce the (lesh, but it should nrvpr be resorted to, as it 

 produces weakness in every organ, and leads to the "worst 

 results. On the other hand, the quantity of food eaten 

 should be as small as is consistent with health and with satis- 

 faction of the natural appetite. As regards the kind of 

 food, the following should only be taken in small quantities: 

 — Bread, milk, eggs, potatoes, carrots, rice, buckwheat, 

 sweet soups, sugar, mutton in any form, beef-steak, salads 

 with oil, dessert dishes, and wine jelly. The following 

 should be almost entirely avoided : — Butter, cream, fats, 

 sauces, pork, sweet pastry, confitures, creams, ices, chest- 

 nuts and other nuts. For beverages tea and coffee may be 

 taken with little or no milk and sugar, but chocolate and 

 cocoa are to be avoided. Beer and strong alcoholic liquors 

 must be given up, but sour wines diluted with water are 

 permissible. 



The first person who ever followed out for a year the 

 strict dietary laid down by his physician was William 

 Banting, who reduced his weight 46 pounds (from 202 

 pounds to 156 pounds) and his circumference by 12^ inches 

 in that time. This treatment, which was invented by 

 Harvey, has since been known as " Bantingism." The 

 details of his winu may be found in most medical books. 

 Although frequently attempted, it has rarely been found 

 so successful in other cases. There is no doubt, however, 

 that any intelligent person who is willing to impose some 

 restraint on his appetite, and avoid the forbidden foods and 

 drinks mentioned above, and take regular exercise, may 

 materially reduce his own weight and bulk. 



(To he continued.) 



3Rebi>lus!. 



THE VAST AND THE MINUTE.* 



AMONG the most attractive of the treatises on science 

 which we owe to the French school of popular 

 science teaching — the works of Guillemin, Flammarion, 

 Figuier, Pouohet, and others — there is not one more sug- 

 gestive and impressive than Pouchet's " Universe of the 

 Infinitely Gieat and the Infinitely Little." There is a 

 charm in such a work as this peculiar to itself. A well- 

 written popular^treatise on Astronomy, Geology, or Biology, 

 on Electricity, Ciiemistry, or Physics generally, teaches 

 striking les.sons about the wonders of nature in specific 

 fields. But such a work as Pouchet's " Universe " brings so 

 forcibly before the thoughtful reader the infinite variety of 

 the universe, that he must be dull indeed who is not awed 

 by the impressive lesson. The poet who tells us that " the 

 undevout astronomer is mad" (without precisely noting 



• " The Universe ; or, the Infinitely Oreat and the Infinitely 

 Little," by F. A. Ponchet, M.D. (Seventli Edition. London : 

 Blackie & Srin.) 



what sort of devotion he means) adds the singular state- 

 ment that, — 



In tlio small, men seek out God, 



In great, Ho seizes man. 



But the saying might be more truthfully reversed. In the 

 great, man seems lost : he trembles as he stands before 



The preat world's altar-stairs 

 That slope thro' darkness np to God. 



In the small, he seems to trace God's hand. A poet, who 

 died more than a quarter of a century ago, said of a tiny 

 flower — 



For mo such spell, fair gem, thoa hast, 



Thy masric power conveys, 

 My soal through countless ages past, 

 Back to Creation's days. 



Modem science cannot look back so far ; but the story 

 which Mr. Grant Allen tells us in these pages is not less 

 impressive that it speaks of no beginning which science can 

 recognise. The story with which M. Pouchet deals is even 

 grander ; because he appeals at once both to the great and to 

 the small — nay, to what is practically to us the infinitely 

 great and the infinitely small. His lesson is the " old old 

 lesson," which the illimitable heavens and the tiny flowret 

 have alike taught to all who have ears to hear, and eyes to 

 see, and hearts to understand, — ■ 



Spirit of Kature, here — 

 In this interminable wilderness 

 Of worlds, at whose immensity 



E*en soaring fancy staggers — 



Here is thy fitting temple. 



Tet not the lightest leaf 

 That quivers to the passing breeze 

 Is less instinct with thee. 



How M. Pouchet tells the wondrous story we must refer 

 our readers to his book to learn. With happy aptitude he 

 selects all that is most striking in the great and small, all 

 that appeals most to the imagination. From the mountain 

 to the sand-grain, from the mammoth to the microscopic 

 animalcule, from the sun to the atom, throughout the 

 world of vegetables, the insect world, the present and 

 past time, he ransacks the whole storehouse of knowledge 

 to supply his " modern instances " of the infinitely great 

 and the infinitely small, and to enforce the lesson which all 

 nature has to tell. It were easy to note errors in matters 

 of detail, easy to indicate omissions and deficiencies ; but 

 such a work could hardly be free from error, and could 

 not possibly be free from omissions. Regarded as a 

 wliole, it is admirably done. The volume is illustrated by 

 270 excellent engravings, is handsomely bound, and well 

 got up altogether. In this, the seventh edition, the matter 

 relating to comets and meteors is considerably out of date, 

 and the researches of Pasteur should have found a place 

 here. But most of the matter is " not for an age, but for 

 all time, " and independent of editions. — R. A. Proctor. 



Mk. Justice Fry made an order on Friday last for the winding-up 

 of the Phoenix Electric Light and Power Company, under the 

 supervision of the Court. 



Tiiu.VDERSTORM. — During a thunderstorm in the neighbonrhood of 

 Pontypridd on Tuesday week, a house, occupied by a farmer, was 

 struck throe times by the lightning. One flash passed down tbe 

 cliitnney-stack and knocked down a mantelpio-.'c, another knocked 

 away a portion of the bnilding, and, passing into an out-house, 

 killed five cows, and a third smashed the bedroom '.rindow. 



PRr/,E Electric.il Essay. — A prize of £100 for the best essay on 

 the utilisation of electricity for motive-power is offered by the 

 Society of Arts. Preference is to be given to that essay which, 

 besides setting forth the theory of the subject, contains records 

 with detailed resiflts of actual working or experiment. The society 

 reserves the right of publishing the essay. 



