JuxE 8, 1883.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



341 



diameters of the planets have been assumed to be as 

 follows : — 



Dinmftor. 

 Miles. 



Mars -l.JOO 



Jupiter 85,000 



Saturn 70,000 



Uranus 30,000 



Neptnue 37,000 



The mean distances and eccentricities as in the usual table 

 of elements. 



Then we get the following table : — 



BeLATIVE THEOEETIIAL TOTAL BBULIANCY OF THE SCPERIOU 



PiASETS IX Opposition. 



Mars at mean distance from sun 1,000 



„ in iwrihelion 2,302 



„ in aphelion 519 



Jupiter at mean distance 487 



,, in perihelion 024 



„ in aphelion 405 



Saturn (without rin^s) at mean distance 2I'5 



Uranns at mean distance li'30 



Xeptuno at mean distance Oo8 



It will be seen at once that the theoretical relative 

 brilliance of Mars and Jupiter differ markedly from the 

 observed brilliancy of these planets. Mars in opposition at 

 his mean distance is not so bright as Jupiter in opposition, 

 yet theoretically he should be more than twice as Iiright as 

 Jupiter in opposition at his mean distance. Mars in oppo- 

 sition in perihelion ought to be more than three times as 

 bright as Jupiter in opposition in perihelion, and more 

 than five times as bright as Jupiter in opposition in aphe- 

 lion. 



It will also be recognised that Mars when in opposition 

 at his mean distance is not forty times brighter than 

 Saturn when in opposition, with his ring edgewise, or 

 nearly so, as during the years 1860-62. 



We see, then, at once, even from these elementary con- 

 siderations applied to the brightness of the planets as seen 

 by the naked eye, that there is a marked distinction 

 between the planets Jupiter and Saturn on the one hand, 

 and Mars on the other. This instance serves to illustrate 

 the interest attaching to the photometrical study of the 

 planets. 



(r> be contitined.) 



CREMATION. 



I FANCY '• A Brother Cinder " is rather " chaffing " in 

 his letter on cremation, which, if it be so, is a pity. 

 The subject is a very serious one, and, with the present 

 state of our population and cemetery rites, an important 

 one in a sanitary point of view. Of course, in advocating 

 the disposal of the dead by cremation, one has to contend 

 against perhaps the strongest antagonist it is possible to 

 encounter — public prejudice. Added to this is the circum- 

 stance that the proper method is but imperfectly under- 

 stood in this country. Still, as our intercourse with 

 ■countries in which cremation obtains increases, and our 

 knowledge of the proper method becomes more perfect, it 

 is to be hoped that the practice will be more common. 



If your space will allow of it, I should like to make a 

 few remarks upon this subject It is one I wrote upon in 

 the public papers more than fifteen years ago ; indeed, I 

 think as almost one of the first advocates of the process. 

 Its advantages over sepulture appear to me to be : — 1st. 

 Cleanliness and purity. 2nd. In a sanitary point of view. 

 3rd. In expense. 4th. In solemnity. 



On the two first points nothing need be said, they are so 



perfectly self-evident. With regard to expense, if properly 

 carried out, the first expense would not exceed that of an 

 ordinary burial, and the after-expense of mausoleums, 

 tombstones, and railing would be saved, although, of 

 course, tablets, Ac, would remain the same. As touching 

 solemnity, of course, as few in England have seen the 

 process, it is difficult to convey an adequate idea of the 

 feelings it would engender. I can only say, that ha^-ing 

 myself attended a cremation, as well as many a burial at 

 sea and on shore, the former carries away the palm far and 

 away for solemnity. 



The first cremation I saw was at Bangkok, in Siam. It 

 took place in a grove as tiie evening fell. A large kind of 

 brick-bath, with a ledge round it of about two feet in 

 width, filled level to the full with some incandescent fuel, 

 apparently charcoal. From each corner of the fire sprang 

 an arch, meeting over the centre in a dome. It appeared 

 as if this was always kept burning at the level of the full. 

 Tlie situation was in a quiet, retired grove outside the city. 

 The corpse was brought by bearers, with priests in advance 

 and the relations in rear : much, indeed, as our own funeral 

 order is used in England. The coffin — of wood, and pro- 

 bably filled with aromatic chips of wood — was placed on 

 the wide ledge, and the funeral rites performed, after which 

 it was gently pushed upon the incandescent fire. I watched 

 it carefully. It appeared to gradually sink quietly down 

 into the fuel below, and to become itself part of that fue 

 There was scarcely any smoke, and no nm^ll whatever. 



I have very imperfectly described that cremation. But 

 it left upon my mind, as in that silent grove the mourners 

 stood around, and the boughs of the trees drooped over- 

 head, and the summer's evening breeze swept through them 

 — it left, I say, upon my mind a feeling of peace and 

 solemnity that I have failed to realise at the launching of 

 any corpse into the blue sea, or the burial of any body in 

 the damp earth. 



I will not trench upon your space farther than to say 

 that I hope at some time prejudice may be overcome, 

 and solemn and healthy cremation have its place amongst 

 us. Two things I have omitted to mention ; one, that I 

 think the majority of old Indian officers will be found on 

 the side of cremation. The other, that for the preserva- 

 tion of the bones, it is only necessary to envelope the corpse 

 in an asbestos sheet, which is subsequently withdrawn. 

 Percival a. FoTHEEf.iLL, B.A., F.R.A.S. 



THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 



XI. 



Br W. Mattieu Williams. 



VLWAYS keeping in view that the primary problem in 

 roasting is to raise the temperature throughout to the 

 cooking heat with the smallest possible degree of desiccation 

 of the natural juices of the meat, and applying to this 

 problem the laws of vapour diffusion expounded in my last, 

 it is easy enough to understand the theoretical advantages 

 of roasting in a closed oven, the space within which 

 speedily becomes saturated with those particular vapours 

 that resist further vaporization of these juices. 



I say " theoretical," because 1 despair of practically con- 

 vincing any thoroughbred Englishman that baked meat is 

 better than roasted meat by any reasoning whatever. If, 

 however, he is sufficiently "un-English" to test the question 

 experimentally, he may possibly convince himself. To do 

 this fairly, a large joint of meat should be equally divided, 

 one half roasted in front of the fire, the other in a non- 

 ventilated oven over a little water 1 ly a cook who knows 



