30 



♦ KNOV\^LEDGE ♦ 



[July 13, 1883. 



the bowels as possible, and kept there by means of loops. This is 

 essential to comfort. 



An old sinner I once knew, who had kept his figure well, wore a 

 wide linen belt inside his trousers, fastened at the hips. For heavy 

 trousers t wear a wide belt (material unknown) fastened at the hips 

 and buckled behind. I think " A Woman " will find that trousers 

 are cooler than knickerbockers, as socks can be worn ; they also 

 protect the ankles, and prevent dirt getting into the shoes. After 

 much trial I do all manual labour in knickerbockers, but far prefer 

 trousers for walkinjf in. Still, I think knickerbockers would be 

 far more comfortable for ladies ; there is a sense of freedom in 

 them. JoHX Alex. Ollaed, Enfield. 



DRESS REFORM. 



[869] — Having read most of the letters and articles on " Dress 

 Reform" appearing in Knowledge, might I inquire, if sufiiciently 

 relevant to the subject, of some of our readers who know what thi; 

 reason or advantage is in wearing the " scarf " round the waist, as 

 worn b>- Frenchmen, Spaniards, Italians, &c., some of which scarves 

 are very large (1 ft. broad by 12 ft. long) ? If this is necessary as 

 part of their dress, it certainly seems ungainly (as 3 or 4 inches of 

 trousers), though it may be rational. F.^JA. 



[870] — I am sorry I did not describe the divided skirt : there has 

 been so much said about it, that I imagined this was unnecessary. 

 It takes from i to 41- yards of ordinary skirting, and is in two 

 legs, like a large pair of woman's drawers. For any one of medium 

 height, the dimensions of the skirt proper would be as follow : — 

 Entii-e length (front) 31 in., (back) 1 yd. ; length of leg on inside 

 seam 24 in. ; circumference of leg at ankle 22 in., at widest part, 

 35 in. Each leg is trimmed with two kiltings ; the little one round 

 the bottom is 2 in. in depth, the other 11 in. 



The top of the skirt is gathered into an inch band, one yard long ; 

 this band has button-holes in it, corresponding to buttons on the 

 -belt. The belt is the most difficult thing to describe, and I doubt 

 if I can do it intelligibly. It fits the hip closely ; the depth in 

 front is 7 in., at the back (where it fastens) it is 4^. The foundation 

 is of some stiil material, and has four gores in front. These are 

 3 in. wide at the top and 4^ at the bottom, but I am very small 

 over the hips. A dressmaker would fit the belt best. The buttons 

 I have mentioned can be anywhere on the belt, mine are round the 

 middle. 



I would recommend ladies living in the country not to have the 

 skirt too long, as it catches the mud. 



These measurements are carefully taken from a pattern sent me 

 by the original society. I shall be glad to give anyone more parti- 

 culars if these are not sufficient. Pedesteiexxe. 



ALTERATION IN COAST-LINE, &c. 



[871] — Professor Geikie was my authority for saying the sea was 

 gaining on the land on some pai-ts of the east coast of England at 

 the rate of about three feet a centiiry ; but I did not say in my 

 letter (768) that the Sheppey cliffs were going at rhis rate. 



Prom personal observations, I knew the action on the island was 

 very rapid ; in fact, I should say it was much greater than your 

 correspondent (820) states. 



As regards the submerged forest, my information was obtained 

 some considerable time since from a scientific magazine, the name 

 of which I forget ; but I am quite willing to believe Mr. Shrubsole 

 — who is an authority — that after all it was drift timber which had 

 been discovered, and which led to the notion that a " submerged 

 forest " had been found. H'sett. 



THE BELUGA IN THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM. 



[872] — A noble quadruped galloping through the water. Perhaps 

 I ought to have written to Mr. Lockyer about galloping, but should 

 much prefer your judgment, if obtainable. 



The first sentence appears to me a correct description of the 

 swimming movement of the dolphin, and at the same time a new 

 view of the motion, or one that has not previously been remarked 

 upon. 



Professor Flower has shown (which I learned through Know- 

 ledge) that whales are derived from land quadrupeds, and this 

 being admitted, it foDows that their (the whales') progressive 

 movements through the water are derived in the same way. 



Thomas Kimbek. 



[It is singular that when I was watching the bottle-nosed dolphin 

 at the Brighton Aquarium, from above (Mr. Lawler kindly accom- 

 panied me, and gave me much interesting information), the same 



idea occurred to me, as I (dlserved the singular contrast between 

 his way of using his tail aiip that in which a fish uses his. That 

 movement of the tail and fiBe resulting change in the position of the 

 body — which one sees also in the movement of porpoises — is strongly 

 sugtcestive of galloping, though, of course, the absence of hind legs 

 somewhat impairs the idea. — R. P.] 



TO SEE THE SXJEFACE OF THE EYES. 



[873] — Having read the papers and letters on the eyes with 

 much interest, I herewith give a method of seeing the surface of 

 the eye which may be new and interesting. 



Make a very small pin-hole through a piece of paper, and, holding 

 the paper about an inch from the eye, look through at a light. If 

 the hole is small enough the sun will do, but gas or candle-light 

 gives the best results. A small spherical or other body which gives 

 a very small but strong reflection will give the same results. I 

 h.ave had several "fires" on my eyeballs, and have found by this 

 method that the marks have remained for a year or two, although 

 they disappeared in two or three days to all outward appearance. 



W. Melville. 



LETTERS RECEITED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 G. M. Many thanks. Mr. Clodd's earher books (sold by tens of 

 thousands) published .by Macmillan. But I think the book you 

 refer to, "Jesus of Nazareth," is published by Chatto & Windus. 

 Being away from home (see lecture advertisements) cannot refer 

 to my copy to see. Signalling at whist is playing an unnecessarily 

 high card to a trick, as " five " when you hold " two ;" the fall of 

 the lower card in the next round completes the signal. — C. W. 

 Harding. Do not keep account of such matters. Writers send 

 me their names and addresses in guarantee of good faith, but my 

 memory does not retain them all. — E. H. Stutter. The word 

 Timex, No. 87, p. 381, was written without any apostrophe at all, 

 the apostrophe being added by the printers of the Neiccastle 

 Weekly Chroiiicle. I meant it as written, just as one might 

 speak of a Punch article, or an Echo remark. One would 

 certainly not speak of the Times' views, but of the Times' s 

 views; but as you say, where the "es" at the end of a 

 word is sounded, then — and then only — the apostrophe 

 alone should be used, as Moses' laws, Archimedes' theory, and so 

 forth. — P. A. Fothergill. Have not time to look up Mr. Hamp- 

 den's remarks on evolution ; but I agree with you that his being 

 astray on one subject is no reason why he should be astray on all. — 

 E. Luxmoke. Thanks. — J. B. If I missed the first of your ques- 

 tions, it must be in not noticing that what you want me really to 

 determine is the proper meaning of the word " level." I sub- 

 stituted the word " horizontal." in that sense in which it is equiva- 

 lent to the word " level." If you want to know whether water 

 poured on a perfectly plane table, a mile square and with its plane 

 at the centre at right angles to the direction of gravity, would be 

 deeper in the centre than at the sides, my answer tells you. If 

 you ask whether such a table could properbj be called " level," I 

 answer "no." If you ask what would be meant by a level table a 

 mile square, I answer that I don't know. Neither the scientific 

 sense of the word " level," nor the ordinary sense, can properly be 

 applied to a surface so large, whether plane or curved. In level- 

 ling, distances so short are dealt with that the curvature of the 

 earth may be neglected ; if distances much larger are dealt with, 

 other words must be used. — J. S., S. S. L. If you want an exact 

 answer, mine is correct. If yon think " the curvature is practically 

 7iil," then you can leave it out of account. I m sure I don't want 

 to consider it. As a. matter of fact, when a cannon ball is fired with 

 a horizontal velocity of 2,000 feet per second, from a parapet 

 16 feet high, over smooth water, it travels (ajiart from atmospheric 

 resistance) 2,000 feet before it has been drawn 16 feet earthwards; 

 and since a point on its original course, but 2,000 feet from its 

 starting-place, is 16 feet IJ inch above the water, the cannon-ball is 

 still li inches above the water at the end of a second, when the 

 one let fall from the same height has just reached the water. So 

 much if you ask for information ; but if your object in asking the 

 question was eventually to remind me of the law that " change of 

 motion is in the direction of the impressed force, and proportional 

 to it," I can only say I am very much obliged to you : as I should 

 be if you reminded me of one of the details of the multiplication 

 table. — E. G. McG. Thauks; but quite unable to spare space for 

 such notices. — L. McGaul. I thank you warmly for the pains yon 

 have taken ; but the subject is not one to be dealt with so fully in 

 these columns. There are many who are offended at the very use of the 

 word "faith" in that connection, just as they are offended by a common 

 use of the word " loyalty " in a sense which seems to them at once 

 degraded and degrading. I would not needlessly offend these, even 

 if I did not agree with them. The question amounts for most to 

 little more than this : a certain people (not too warmly beloved by 



