Sept. 28, 1883.] 



* KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



207 



day, and I will venture to Bay that it ivould be a task of no little 

 difficnlty to get a 36-in. or 38-in. wheeled geared-np machine up 

 this gradient. 



Exceptionally small wlieels may do very well on the smooth 

 cinder racinr;-track, but they will certainly not answer bo well as 

 reasonably high wheels for ordinary road riding. 



I should like to see two men of equal powers who have never been 

 on a tricycle mounted — the one on Ifr. Browning's pet machine, 

 and the other on my pet machine — and I would " bet my bottom 

 dollar" on the result, but for the fact that I never bet at all. 



Fancy the appearance of a tall man on a very small Shetland 

 pony ! Verb. sat. sap. ! Sigma. 



[930] — As one deriving much enjoyment in the use of the 

 tricycle, permit me to say that I think the advocates for high, as 

 also for low wheels, are endeavouring to prove too much. As with 

 horses, so with tricycles, there is no particular height suited to 

 every weight and build of rider. There is much room for the exer- 

 cise of judgment in the matter of height of wheel and kind of 

 machine suited to each individual rider. 



There are, however, a few simple rules which may, and certainly 

 should, be applied to the selection and use of tricycles, whether of 

 high or low wheels. 



(1) To economise power it is essential that the saddle-seats, being 

 only suited to invalids, should be well over, or even somewhat in 

 advance of the pedals. 



(2) The centre of gravity should be as low as possible. This is 

 obtained by fixing the pedals as near the ground as may be suffi- 

 cient to clear inequalities and loose stones on the surface of the 

 road. I find 4 in. sufficient clearance. 



(3) The weight should be pretty evenly distributed on all the 

 wheels. 



I could add to the list, but I spare yon, and with the foregoing 

 secured the novice would be started on the right "track," and 

 would soon learn to ride with ease and elegance — both at present 

 conspicuously absent from the great majority of tricycle riders. 



W. H. Feance. 



[940] — It has been with interest that I have read these articles, 

 especially as they seem to have been written for people like myself, 

 who are far from strong. To those who object to small wheels and 

 have not the power to propel the large ones up hill, I would recom- 

 mend the omnieycle. Its wheels are 50 in. It has three gears. 

 Speed for ordinary work, medium for rough or heavy roads, and 

 power for up-hill work ; balance gear and free running wheel.?, 

 both of which are an immense blessing. It runs smoothly and 

 evenly, and, being a lever action, it has no dead points and can be 

 started with ease, even half way up a hill. I run mine in hilly 

 country, and find it everything that can be desired. 



John Alex. Olt..\ed. 



[941] — "Sigma's" article on tricycles, in No. 98 of Know- 

 ledge, is valuable, as recording the opinion of a rider — and one 

 of our best riders too — of a 50 in. wheeled tricycle geared up to 

 60in. But has "Sigma" ever thorouijhiy h-ied a small wheel (say 

 40 in.) geared up to the same figure ? I fancy not. 



One paragraph of the article under question would almost lead 

 any one who did not know the writer to imagine that he was not a 

 rider at all. I refer to where he says : " Nothing wearies so much 

 as rapid pedalling, and nothing looks so ungraceful j and it is obvious 

 that with small wheels the pedalling must be very rapid indeed to 

 get any pace at all." Now, even the greatest novice at tricycling 

 knows that a small wheel can bo geared up to any size, and that, 

 consequently, the feet revolve slower proportionately as the size 

 increases. 



For myself, I very much prefer a small wheel, and this after 

 experience with eleven or twelve machines, varying in size from 

 54 inches to 40 inches, geared in different ways. My present 

 mount — a 40-inch " Shadow," geared to 52 inches, and weighing 

 only 4G lb. — I ride with ease with 4J-Uic/i cranks, the usual length 

 of a tricycle crank being 5^ inches. 



The advocates of large wheels talk about the loss of power and 

 bumping on bad macadam roads which the riders of small wheels 

 have to put up with, but it is my experience that for evex-y mile of 

 bad — really had — road mot with in the course of a year, I get 

 hundreds of miles of good road, so we don't lose much there. 



I believe I am right in saying that Mr. Browning does not 

 attempt to advise on machines for racing men, but for those who 

 rido for p?en,si«i'e, and wish to do their forty or fifty miles a day 

 with comfort and ease ; hence his advice to gear low. 



Thanking you for opening your valuable coIumn,s for the discus- 

 sion of the construction of the " Coming Tricycle," I am, &c., 

 S. U. R. Sai,.mon-, 

 Hon. Sec. London Tricycle Club, T.U. 



THE "SUN AND PLANET" BICYCLE. 



[942] — In reply to Mi\ Browning, my machine weighs 45 lb. 

 exactly. It is heavier than it should be, the forks and backbone 

 being very wide. But I suppose, as the difference in weight of 

 bicycles can only amount to a few pounds, it does not affect the 

 speed much, as it must with tricycles when it comes to 30 lb. or so. 

 I find the machine goes much easier than the Cheylesmore and 

 other tricycles I have been in the habit of riding. I get a beau- 

 tiful pace out of it, and it is curious that the slow motion of the 

 seat made me feel at first that I must be on a " 50-inch " — this was 

 rather unpleasant until I overcame the illusion. 



When dangers thicken around you, on a small machine nothing is 

 easier than to drop back at once to the ground, in a position of per- 

 fect safety, and ready to run the machine anywhere. This could 

 not be done with a tricycle. 



The machines are very neat and well made — like engine work — 

 and I can recommend them as the farthest advance I know of in 

 the direction of speed and safety. 



Eeally the fallacies in " Sigma's" remarks seem too plsiin to need 

 pointing out, but one is that he seems to have an idea Mr. Browning 

 is speaking of geared-up wheels. S. J. 



NAKED-ETE SUN-SPOT. 



[943] — Once more I take np my pen to record the appearance of 

 another spot on the snn, so large as to be easily visible to the naked 

 eye. 



The first time I saw it in that way was on Wednesday evening 

 last, September 12, when the sun was setting like a great ball of 

 copper through the mist of the horizon, the spot being very distinct, 

 situated a little below the centre of the disc ; and each day since 

 then I have seen it several times through smoked glass. 



It is a spot that I first saw with my telescope on Saturday last, 

 September 8, when it was just coming on at the eastern edge of the 

 sun's disc, and consequently appeared very much elongated and 

 foreshortened, and, as far as I could then judge, it was only one 

 spot, but on examining it again with the telescope yesterday, I found 

 it was really composed of two almost entirely distinct spots, of 

 about equal size, placed so close together that the extreme edges of 

 their penumbras at one point appeared to just touch each other. 

 Each spot individually is very large, and so taken together they 

 constitute a tremendous disturbance ; and then there are several 

 other smaller spots scattered about the sun's disc, so that I think 

 we may safely say that there is some very great agitation going on 

 there again now, as there has been so many times during the last 

 twelve months. Excelsior. 



A CURIOUS PHENOMENON. 



[944] — The remarkable phenomenon which Mr. Noble described 

 in No. 98 of Knowledge was also witnessed by me in Liverpool on 

 Aug. 29, at 12 h. 40 m. a.m. I had just been looking at Saturn, 

 when, for the first time, I saw a bright divergent cone of light 

 about 7° above the horizon ; the entire length of the cone was about 

 5°. The apex or nucleus displayed such a degree of concentration 

 that I thought it was the planet Jupiter. I turned my telescope, a 

 2-inch, armed with a power of 30, on the point where the apex 

 should be (it was now obscured bj- a cloud), with the expectation 

 of being able to unravel the mystery, but was disappointed, as the 

 cloud was too dense. I then ran my telescope along the major axis 

 of the cone, and the field of view was so faintly illuminated that 

 the brightest part could hardly be said to equal the Uimicre cendriSe 

 seen under similar conditions. It gradually faded from view, after 

 having been visible for thirteen minutes. I continued watching 

 the part of the heavens where it had disappeared, with the con- 

 fident hope that it would return, but was at last obliged to give it 

 up, as a great bank of clouds precluded all further observation. 



It could hardly have been an auroral streamer, as the point 

 where it appeared is 67° east of North. W. K. Bradgate. 



Sept. 15. 



[945]— The phenomenon seen by Captain Noble may have been 

 the inverted cone of light proceeding from an ironfounders' cupola, 

 visible in slight haze. A line drawn from the observatory in an 

 E.N.E. direction passes nearly through Ashford, in Kent. I do not 

 know that place, but my map" of Kent shows it to be an important 

 railway junction, with an " engine depot." It is probable that at 

 such a' place there is a cupola, and that melting might be going on 

 as lato as 10.35 p.m. The light is intensely brilliant during the 

 latter part of the operation of' melting, when the white-hot metal 

 or slag is left at the bottom of the furnace, and might, I think, bo 

 seen, under favourable circumstances, as far off as Ashford (tweiity- 

 six miles). That it was a distant object is evident from the sketch. 

 Various causes might account for the sudden extinction. 



J. II. Coaxes. 



