JuLr 20, 1883.] 



• KNOWLEDGE * 



43 



upon him and upon me certain feeble-minded folk, who 

 think they do good service by oflering God the unclean 

 sacrifice of falsehood, who tell us there is no mystery, there 

 need be no evil, there should lie no sorrow. They quote 

 words from the Bible, words which really mean precisely 

 what was said here, only they mistake " resignation to an 

 inexplicable Will " for recognition of what that Will may 

 be. Their appeal is to Caesar, to Ctesar let them go. Is 

 there no evil, and need there be no sorrow 1 Where, then, 

 is it written that " man is born to sorrow as the sparks fly 

 upward ?" Cax we, in truth, by study recognise God's 

 will, can we see its perfection ? Where, then, is it written : 

 " Canst thou by searching find out God 1 Canst thou find 

 out the Almighty unto perfection 1 Higher than heaven 

 what canst thou know ? Deeper than hell what canst thou 

 do I As touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him 

 ouf?" We can but believe, we cannot know, for " know- 

 ledge is of things we see," and God — we know — is " more 

 than they." 



Someone forwards me, apparently for notice, the follow- 

 ing extract from the Northern Whig (Belfast) : — - 



" For some time past scientific men have pointed out that the 

 fixed stars are not fixed at all, but move in a manner peculiar to 

 themselves. Mr. Proctor ascertained with a great degree of 

 accnraey that Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta, the well- 

 known group in the Great Bear, were all drifting at the same rate 

 in the same direction, and now the recession of Sirius has been 

 proved to be a fact. The cause of these movements is a mystery, 

 but Mr. Procter does not hesitate to apply in an extreme manner 

 the experiences of Mr. Adams and Le Verrier (A.n. 1846) in regard 

 to the discovery of Neptune. He inclines to the belief that there 

 is in every instance a disturbing body, and in the case of 

 Sirius this must be as large as that great star itself (much larger 

 than the sun). It follows that if this companion body be a star we 

 should see it. Mr. Proctor and some others, however, declare that 

 such a body must exist, and that, as it cannot be seen, it is, there- 

 fore, a dark orb. This being the ease, all that it is necessary to do 

 to find its whereabouts is to conduct calculations similar to those 

 of Adams and Le Verrier, and by such means ascertain the exact 

 position of the dark companion orb. This has been done in other 

 cases under similar conditions, but as yet without success. Mr. 

 Proctor, however, thinks the principle is a sound one. If so, we 

 have a peculiar state of affairs, viz., that not only are there stars 

 scattered in myriads like diamond dust on the face of the heavens, 

 but that, in addition, there are also thousands of dark stars that 

 move with their glittering companions, but do not shine, and are 

 not seen. 



Considering (1) that Sirius'a thwart motion long since 

 indicated the presence of a companion, and that the 

 position of the theoretical companion agreed fairly with a 

 visible companion discovered by Alvan Clark ; (2) that the 

 calculations had not the least resemblance to those made 

 l)y Le Verrier and Adams ; (3) that the recession of Sirius 

 was demonstrated a dozen years ago ; (4) that notn it 

 is not the recession, Init the surcease of recession, which 

 is in question ; and (to make a long story short) that I 

 hold, and have expressed, not one of the opinions ascribed 

 to me in the latter half of the above passage (hut only 

 that where there is a disturliing body the spectroscopic 

 method may serve to indicate its presence), the par.agraph 

 may be described as first-rate for news. Unfortunately, 

 there is more news than truth in it. 



The new series of the Cornhill ifagazine aflbrds a 

 melanclioly example of the effect of putting new wine into 

 an old bottle. The old bottle is burst, — the Cornhill of 

 Thackeray and Leslie Stephen is "gone, positively gone." 

 Very little has been left of the Gentleman's J/di/azine, 

 under the new story-telling regime, but of the Cornhill, 

 nothing at all remains except the cover. The illustrations 

 of the ]\Iodel Story would discredit the pages of Bow Bells. 



THE FACE OF THE SKY. 



Feom July 20 to August 3. 



By F.R.A.S. 



^pHE usual watch should be kept on the sun on every clear day. 

 \_ The night sky will be found delineated in Map 7 of " The 



Stars in their Seasons." After the 22nd twilight will cease for 

 an interval, gradually increasing every night. For all practical 

 purposes there is not a single planet at present visible ; nor will 

 the moon occult any stars during the 1-i days to which these notes 

 refer. The moon's age at noon to-day is 159 days, and so on 

 until August 2, when it will pretty evidently be 28'9 days at the 

 same hour. At mid-day on August 3 it will be 0-4 day. Hence, 

 after about July 26, she will be inconveniently placed for the ordi- 

 nary observer. About midnight to-night (28th) she will cross from 

 Capricornus into Aquarius. She will remain in this last-named con- 

 stellation until noon on the 23rd, when she will travel into Pisces. 

 She will occupy the next three days in traversing this constellation, 

 which she will not leave until 3 p.ni; on the 26th, passing then 

 into Aries. About 7 a.m. on the 28th she will enter Taurus. About 

 7 p.m. on the 30th her path will carry her into the northern part of 

 Orion. She will occupy some twelve hours in crossing this, and 

 then emerge into Gemini. There she remains until midnight on 

 August 1, when she travels into Cancer. She crosses this constel- 

 lation during the 2nd and part of the 3rd, entering Leo about 4 

 p.m. on that day. We there leave her. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE BEET. 



(^Continued from page 29.) 



THE richness of the juice in the sugar is the greater as the juice 

 is thicker ; and the smaller-sized roots genei'ally give the 

 thickest, and therefore the richest juice. Still, this is not an 

 absolute rule as yet, though we may some day show that it is. 



The most satisfactory results are obtained with beets weighing 

 200 to 300 gi-ms. ; those weighing 300 to 400 grms. are a Uttle 

 inferior, and in all above this the percentage rapidly declines. 



For every 100 kUos. of sugar there are from 13 to 14 kilos, of ash, 

 consisting of alkaline and earthy phosphates taken up from the 

 soil. 



A substance which resembles diastase may be obtained from beet, 

 but the examination of it at present is very incomplete. 



The Mammoth variety appears to yield the largest crop, and the 

 Irapcrial to yield the greatest percentage of sugar. 



The specific grarity of seed taken, immediately after gathering 

 is a direct measure for ascertaining the amount of sugar present in 

 the root, but as this is attended with a good many difficulties when 

 employed for the purpose of choosing the roots for seed, the fol- 

 lowing is a better plan : — Cut pieces out of the roots about a third 

 from the top, aud place them in a bath of salt about 105°, and 

 only those roots the cuttings from which sink should be used for 

 seed. 



Good seeds should have a germinating power of not less than 

 85 per cent. ; this will depend in a great measure on the ripeness 

 of the seed when gathered. 



Germination begins between 6° and 7° C, and it takes about 

 twenty days at this temperature to make them appear above 

 ground. At less than 6" the growth is arrested to recommence 

 again when the temperature rises. For this reason beets should be 

 sown in April. In the beginning of the month the mid-day heat is 

 alone useful, and, as it docs not penetrate deep into the soil, the 

 seeds should be sown shallow. They also require much moisture, 

 and, if sown deep or too early, the tender shoots are unable to 

 pierce the thick layer of earth which covers them. 



Good results arc obtained by steeping them in liquid stable 

 manure for 48 hom's, and afterwards gathering the seeds up in 

 largo heaps, and allowing them to heat sufficiently to start germi- 

 nation, in live or six days the radicules will appear, and the 

 sowing shoiild then be immediately proceeded with, and in less 

 than a fortnight, if sown in tho middle of April, there will be a 

 well-grown crop of seedlings. 



It is, (m the whole, far better to plant sprouted seeds. They 

 appear above ground sooner, and, besides the start which they get 

 by doing so, it saves them from the insects which injui-e them 

 when tender, a bottom layer of chemical manure, about i to 

 li cms. deep, lielps their progress (a metre =3937 English inches, 

 .and contains 100 cms., i.e., centimetres.) 



Tho choice of soil, manures, aud other conditions for tho growth 

 of the beet are similar to those required for tho potato, and as both 

 require the avoidatice of a late vegetation, no better iustructious 

 can be given for the boot than those followed for tho potato. 



