208 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Mat 18, 1883. 



(efiitonal (gossip. 



So many readers express (despite our protest) the request 

 that Gossip should lie resumed, that in a modified form we 

 resume it. Tlie few grumblers may take it or pass it by as 

 seems best to them. We are not willing to go counter to 

 the wishes of a great number of kindly readers for the sake 

 of a few unkindly ones. It has been the same with the 

 Answers to Correspondents. Having in each case tested 

 the real wishes of the groat majority of our readers, we 

 shall not in future notice objections. 



The O.rford Chronicle and Bucks and Berks Gazette is 

 upon me yet again. It will not accept my explanation that 

 we misspelt Dr. Collins Symon's name quite accidentally. 

 "He had the name," it says of me, "at full length in every 

 article of ours he has commented upon." I had, it is true, 

 but how long does the 0. C. <£• B. <£• B. G. imagine I had 

 the articles by me 1 When I wrote the paragraph com- 

 plained of I was on a lecturing tour, and, as I quite cor- 

 rectly explained, "I had not book, pamphlet, letter, or even 

 card to remind me how the name is spelled." But there are 

 men who (judging, perhaps, from internal evidence) are ever 

 prone to suspect falsehood. I can only say to the writer of 

 these rude remarks. You may, perhaps, know yourself — you 

 do not know me. He remarks further that Dr. Symon offered 

 a prize of fifty guineas, not to one who would convince Dr. 

 Symon of the absurdity of his paradox, but to one who would 

 convince any three professors chosen by [me of all people, 

 but he means] the acceptor of the challenge. I am aware of 

 it. The offer proves that Dr. Symon feels assured of the 

 truth of his views, but it also proves that he is quite un- 

 familiar with the ways of men of science. They do not 

 accept proffers of this kind any more than gentlemen and 

 men of probity accept such proffers as " I'll lay you a 

 guinea a crab is a fish," or " I'll bet you a pony the sun 

 goes round the earth." Dr. Symon's proffer was not in 

 very good taste, and the silence of men of science has been 

 its appropriate rebuke. If I have broken this silence it 

 has been only because he has so loudly expressed his belief 

 — which, doubtless, he honestly entertains — that silence 

 means assent. 



The Oxford Chronicle now promises to supply its 

 readers with "a concise statement of the whole principle, 

 from the pen of its discoTerer." I wish these readers joy 

 of the scientific treat promised them. 



Ik our last, a rather curious misprint occurred at p. 2 79 

 under heading, " Erewhon News." For " hiatus valde 

 dfflendus," there appeared the new reading, " hiatus valde 

 di'/e7idus " (save us, also !). Circumstances prevented us 

 from seeing proof. 



O.v Sunday evening, twenty minutes after sunset, a 

 rainbow was visible in the east. It was remarkable for 

 the excess of red in its colouring, the spectrum not reaching 

 beyond the yellow-green. The source of light seems to 

 have been a singularly luminous patch of red cloud in the 

 west, close to the horizon. 



SiiOKTLV after nine o'clock on Sunday evening M. 

 Borelly, of the Marseilles Observatory, discovered a new 

 minor planet It is of the eleventh magnitude, and can 

 therefore only be observed with large telescopes. 



" Let Knowledge grow from more to more." — Alfsed Texxysos. 



afttris to tl)t editor. 



Only a small proportion of Letters received can possibly be «n- 

 serted. Correspondents must not be offended, therefore, should their 

 letters not appear. 



All Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor o» 

 Knowledge ; all Business communications to the Pcelishers, at the 

 Office, 74. Great Queen-street, W.C. If this is xot attended to, 



DELAYS ARISE FOR WHICH THE EDITOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE. 



Alt Remittances, Cheques, and Post Office Orders should be made 

 payable to Messrs. Wvmax & Sons. 



The Editor is not responsible for the opinions of correspondents. 



No communications are answered bt post, even THorcH stahped 

 and directed envelope be enclosed. 



SATURN'S RINGS. 



[815] — In reference to Mr. Eix's letter (797) on this subject, 

 I must say that having also carefully examined Ball's original paper 

 cutting in the archives of the Eoyal Society, I am quite unable to 

 agree with the conclusion that the paper was only once folded. On 

 folding longitudinally a careful tracing which I made of it, I find 

 the correspondence in the form above and below to be perfect — not 

 only as regards the outside form of the ring, bnt also the spaces 

 between the planet and the ring. It is inconceivable that this per- 

 fect symmetry can have been the result of either skill or chance (as 

 any one will find who tries to make such a cutting for himself), and 

 I can only conclude that the paper was twice folded when the 

 cutting was made, as suggested by Professor Adams. 



There is undoubtedly now no trace of a longitudinal fold, while 

 the vertical sold is very distinct, bnt it is qnite possible that the 

 paper was not strongly folded longitudinally, while the cutting may 

 have long been kept folded in the other direction. In the tough, 

 old-fashioned paper, too, the fibre would be less readily broken, and 

 the fold consequently less marked than would be the case with 

 most modern paper. W. H. Weslet. 



Burlington House, April 28. 



RATIONAL DRESS. 



[816] — Having taken much interest in the correspondence upon 

 Rational Dress which has appeared in Knowledge, perhaps you will 

 allow me to make a suggestion, which I hope may be useful to 

 many. One of the most important points to keep in mind is, that 

 when a woman discontinues to wear corsets she must be careful 

 also to discard all heavy skirts suspended from the waist. It is a 

 very good plan (and I write from considerable experience) to have 

 a nleeveless bodice attached to all heavy skirts. If this fits to the 

 figure, it supplies the support referred to by C. Carus- Wilson, in 

 your issue of April 20 ; and the weight of the skirt is borne by thf 

 shoulders, which is, I think, rational. 



Ladies, by adopting this bodice, can wear any dress with comfort; 

 and few even of the gentle sex would be able to say whether they 

 woro corsets or not, unless by observing their freedom in all move- 

 ments. E. T. 



SHAM THOUGHT-READING. 



[817] — Now that the parlour pastime, the Willing game, has 

 develoiicd into thought-transference — or, as it is popularly termed, 

 thought-reading — and in this form is the subject of special investi- 

 gation by the Society for Psychical Research, I may be allowed to 

 call attention to Professor Thorpe's very clever exposure of sham 

 thought-reading. 



In illustrating his lecture the other night, he introduced a couple 

 of telegraph experts, one blindfolded in the orthodox fashion, and 

 by merely grasping hands, they wore able to keep up a secret tele- 

 graphy, an<l perform all the audience required. By difference 

 of pressure on tho hand, dots and dashes of the Morse code were 

 represented, and a communication kept up between thinker and 

 reader. 



