174 



♦ KNOV\^LiiDGE ♦ 



[Sept. 14, 1883. 



THE COMMA. 

 [928] — I send you an exam]ile of a printer's comma whicli maj- 

 interest you : Matthew sxvii. 23, " Why, what evil hath he done?" 

 The original reads, ri yap kokcii' itroit)(!tv. The printer's comma 

 makes a double question and causes the " why " to refer to " Let 

 him be crucified." It is so read by ninety-nine out of a hundred. 

 I trouble you with this, because I believe it is not generally known, 

 and it appears interest insr to me. A. H. Tate White. 



A RABBIT'S SKULL. 

 [929] — I see you have an article in Knowledge of Aug. 17, on 

 " A Babbit's Skull." I may here mention that m}- father has in 

 lus possession a skull very similar to that spoken of, but still more 

 interesting, as in this case the top rifjJit incisor, which is quite three 

 inches in length, has grown right up through the roof of the mouth 

 on the left side, and passing down once more, ends just where it 

 began. The one in the lower jaw is an inch and a half long, and 

 has grown out almost straight from the mouth. There appear to be 

 two incisors in the top jaw, but only one in the lower, and, although 

 it was impossible for the front teeth to close, yet the rabbit seemed 

 in perfect health, and was in good condition when shot. 



Leila C. 



LIGHT FROM FLOWERS. 



[930] — The following extracts from a book entitled " Lessons in 

 Physical Science " (Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., 1872) may meet the 

 wishes of j-our correspondent (882) on the above subject. They 

 may be found in the chapter commencing at page 151 : — • 



" The spark elicited by stroking the back of a cat, or by the 

 action of an electrical machine, does not differ in its nature from 

 the lightning which flashes from the storm-cloud, nor from the 

 brilliant and variegated auroras which stream through the upper 

 regions of the atmosphere in Polar latitudes, and which, to some 

 extent, compensate, in those dismal abodes of winter, the long 

 absence of the solar beams. To the same source — electricity — we 

 probaby owe the light which, at certain seasons, and at certain 

 times of the day, issues from a number of yellow or orange-coloured 

 flowers, such as the marigold, the sunflower, and the orange-lily. 

 The daughter of Linnaeus, the great naturalist, is said to have first 

 observed these sparks and flashes playing about garden flowers 

 during the summer twilight of 1762, but similar phenomena have 

 been witnessed by several naturalists. Plashes, more or less 

 brilliant, have been seen to dart in rapid succession from the same 

 flower. At other times the tiny flame-jets have followed one another 

 at intervals of several minutes. . . . Sir H. Marsh gives an 

 account of a female about whose head strange luminous appear- 

 ances were observed. Shortly before her death several attendants 

 saw a pale bluish light, like that of the moon, proceed from her 

 head ; and Professor Donovan witnessed, in the case of a man in 

 the later stages of consumption, mysterious lights, once in the form 

 of a luminous fog, resembling the aurora borealis, and twice in the 

 form of scintillations like the sparkling phosphorescence exhibited 

 by sea infusoria." 



A similar instance is given in " Notes and Queries " of Aug. 25, 

 page 15S, nnder the heading of " The Nimbus." G. M. 



GINGER-BEER PLANT. 



[931] — In reply to Mr. F. H. Perry's query, the following infor- 

 mation from my own observation may prove useful. The fimgus 

 he mentions is precisely similar to yeast in its action on a solution 

 of sugar and water. 'The process of making " ginger-beer" may be 

 carried on very well without the " ginger," but if the sweet solution 

 is left too long it becomes vinegar. 



Mr. Perry has, I think, been slightly misinformed concerning the 

 nature of the so-called " ginger-beer plant." It can only live and 

 propagate in a saccharine fluid. F. W. Halfpexxy. 



COFFEE. 

 [932] — Would yon be kind enough to ask Mr. M. Williams to 

 give a receipt for mixing or flavouring coffee with burnt sugar, as 

 lately described by him in his papers on " Scientific Cookery" in 



KXOWI-EDGE ? 



The papers are very interesting, and having long wished to get a 

 hint as to obtaining coffee at home as we get it at Gatti's restau- 

 rant, I felt disappointed that the paper in question did not give a 

 fuller account of it, viz., of quantities and proportions required of 

 each for mixing. If Mr. Williams would oblige with these par- 

 ticulars, no doubt they would be very acceptable to many other 

 readers of Knowledge. " W. G. Mortimer. 



OPTICAL PHENOMENON. 



[933] — The following account of a phenomenon which came 

 under the notice of a friend and myself the other day on one of the 

 Cumberland mountains, may be of interest to the readers of Know- 

 ledge, as it is, I believe, of rather rare occtu-rence. 



The mountain in question was Great Gable, one of the highest in 

 the Lake district. We ascended it on Aug. 23 last, being on the 

 summit between 6 and 7 p.m. The day had been very hot and fine, 

 and the light evening clouds were floating on the tops and sides of 

 Great Gable and the surrotmding heights. One of these clouds was 

 just passing oil wlien we suddenly saw our shadows (or reflections) 

 on the receding mist, with a double rainbow round both. They 

 gave us the impression of being perhaps 100 to 200 yards away, and 

 10 or 15 feet in height. The rainbow was of small radius and very 

 bright. 



This appearance lasted about two minutes, as far as I can judge, 

 coming on for a short time a minute or two afterwards. The 

 clouds were moving in a direction from the sun, and we were, of 

 course, in a line with the sun and our spectres. The outline of the 

 figures was very sharp and distinct, and answered to our move- 

 ments. G. G. 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 Mr. H. Phillips. — The paragraph was taken from a highly- 

 respected contemporary. The fact of the praise bestowed on the 

 lamp being inserted demonstrates the absence of an inimical spirit. 

 In fact, you can rest assured that the reverse is actually the case. 

 We insert a correction. — C . T. Parsons. You do not mention yotir 

 telescope's size : a good deal depends on that. — D. E. Samuel. 

 There are many ways of showing, or seeming to show, by algebra, 

 that 1=2. They mostly depend on the property that once nothing 

 is equal to twice nothing. 'Thus, let a = b ; then «- = !)•, and a-— b- = 



= a — f). Dividing by a — i we have a-»-b = l. NowpHta = b = l. 

 Then our result is that 2 = 1 : which is absm-d. Hence something 

 in our process must be absurd. The place is soon found. We had 

 a- — h-=a—l; that is, (a + h) (a — li) = l (a — b). When a = b, a—b 

 = 0; so that this equation means that 2 x 0=1 x 0, which is true 

 enough. But dividing each side by and making 2 = 1, is mani- 

 festly an absurd process, leading to an absurd restdt. One 

 might as well proceed thus : — A million times nothing equals twenty 

 times nothing ; therefore a million is equal to twenty. — T. J. 

 Beardwell. Have you not made a slight mistake in your first 

 problem ? If the death rate is 21 per 1,000, and the births 

 25-0645 per 1,000, the increase per cent, is •40645, not 2-50645 as 

 you make it. Getting the population to double in 28 years would 

 be a rather serious matter. Tour formula is approximately true. — 

 Thos. H. D. Evening time. The moon map referred to illustrated 

 the first of F.R.A.S.'s papers on the Moon, in the beginning of 

 Yol. 3. Have not the volume by me to refer to. — L. C. C. I could 

 not let the author of articles " How to Get Strong " give advice under 

 the circumstances. The case is one for most careful medical advice. — 

 R. Donald. (1) Such lightning indicates usually the progress of a 

 distant thunderstorm. Not seen in day because daylight hides it. 

 (2) Minnows grow but (3) not into trout. — Ch.as. Wood. Perhaps 

 some correspondent knows of a " black sympathetic ink, to act as the 

 green one produced by dilute muriate of cobalt, — viz. to be invisible 

 when applied on paper and by heat to be produced, and as it cools 

 to vanish again." — H. T. B. See fortnightly " Face of Sky " in our 

 columns. — D. King. Railway accident put my work back so that the 

 subject has not been resumed, but it will be next week. — Seveual 

 Correspondents point out that the quotation at the head of the 

 last instalment of Mr. Kimber's accoimt of anemones is incorrect. 

 The alteration of the order of the lines was probably intentional ; 

 as suiting the application of the lines best ; " fragrance " for 

 " sweetness," is a frequent mistake. The lines escaped my atten- 

 tion. — J. F. Rounthwaite. I should certainly much like to visit 

 Manitoba, when I return to America (18S4, not 1885, I think) ; and 

 you may be assm-ed it would add greatly to my pleasure to meet 

 an old Lady Somerset captain. — W. W. T. A good lunar chart (Mr. 

 Webb's) appears in '• Webb's Celestial Objects for Common Tele- 

 scopes" and in my book on the Moon. — Uncertain. So am I. At 

 least about the use of tlie words Natural and Snpernattiral. But 



1 am certain you ought not to swear when you hear them. To 

 answer your questions wo ought to know much more than we do, 

 or than we are ever likelv to do. 



The Pilsen Joel axd General Electric Light Com- 

 pany (Limited). — A petition presented last month for 

 winding up this Company -ivas dismissed -with costs. The 

 petition was erroneously said to be presented by the Com- 

 pany, -who, however, opposed it, and, as we see above, suc- 

 cessfullv. 



