294 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Nov. 9, 1883. 



MUD-GUAEDS FOR TRICYCLES. 

 [997]— May a Tricyclist in difficulties turn to Knowledge and 

 Mr. Broivning? I believe in small wheels geared up, but they 

 splash more than big ones at the same pace. I need to ride with a 

 clean coat. Riding in a jacket with a light coat for calls or meetings 

 will not always do, e.g. for dining out. My old "Excelsior" 

 (wheels 20 in., 30 in., and 50 in. geared level) kept me fairly clean 

 except in gales of wind, so long as I kept to five and a half or six 

 miles an hour over the worst mud. A " Meteor Sociable " (40 in. 

 level) plastered my arm a quarter-inch thick with mud the other 

 day. Even the " Humber " pattern, which I like best, splashes me 

 a little (44 in. level). I do not want to give up tricycling for the 

 purposes of my daily work. Is there any help P D. M. 



CHESTNUTS AND BEECHMAST. 



[998] — lu the case of strong trees, with plenty of light and air, 

 both the chestnut and the beech are fertile in West Worcestershire 

 and its neighbourhood, while the sterile husks are common where 

 trees are crowded. 



My father planted several chestnuts, as young trees, in 1845. 

 Twenty years or so later the nufs on the " spotting " trees among 

 these were as fine as the imported chestnuts of the shops, and were 

 in great abundance. There was usually one nut squeezed up and 

 empty in the husk, which contains three. I believe that these trees 

 continue fertile. Older and sturdy beeches on the same land were 

 also fertile. F. S. L. 



BEECH MAST. 

 [999]— Mr. Grant Allen says in his latest chapter of the 

 I' Naturalist's Tear" that in Britain the nut or mast of the beech 

 is almost always sterile, and he emphasizes this by pointing out the 

 correlative fact that the beech is in a decadent condition in this 

 country. With all possible deference to this delightful writer, I 

 beg to assert that, as a boy, I have eaten hundreds, perhaps 

 thousands, of these nuts (their kernels I mean), and I can state 

 positively that in Hampshire, and also in Oxfordshire, an enormous 

 number of them come to perfection, I should think one half — 

 though this estimate, I admit, is little more than a guess. At any 

 rate it is not the fact, as least so far as the counties I have men- 

 tioned are concerned, that the "beechnuts or mast rarely contain 

 a kernel." F. m. Duplock. 



TOTAL ABSTINENCE. 

 [1000]— In your issue of Sept. 14th, p. ICG, Mr. W. Mattien 

 Williams gives a tkrust at the practice of totally abstaining from 

 alcoholic drinks, or, perhaps, better at those who try to induce 

 others to bo abstain. He tells us that, after some days' privation 

 from food of an agreeable kind, he came to a station at which he 

 was able to obtain food to please him, and also claret. It is to the 

 latter that we owe his experience. He tells us that the "first glass 

 of claret produced an effect that alarmed me — a craving for more 

 and for stronger drink that was almost irresistible." He then goes 

 on to urge that food reformers might do more good than temper- 

 ance reformers. Temperance reformers fully recognise the help 

 that better food may yield them ; but does it not occur to Mr. 

 Williams that since the intense craving folloioed the consumption of 

 the first glass that, if the first glass had not been taken, the craving 

 would not have arisen ? I fancy the main point with most total 

 abstainers is, if you don't want the craving, don't excite it. I 

 think our thanks are due to Mr. WilUams for thus unknowingly 

 affording us proof of the soundnes of our doctrine. 



W. T. PoSTLETHW.ilTE. 



INTERNAL PARASITES. 

 [1001] — Will you kindly allow me to inquii-e through the medium 

 of your columns, for an explanation of certain discoveries I made 

 one morning in a piece of cod's liver. On taking it up I observed 

 several hard excrescences, and upon cutting them away was 

 astonished to find a fine thi-ead-like worm, curled up like the main- 

 spring of a watch. Upon my separating them with great difficulty 

 from the liver which they had almost become a part of, and putting 

 them into a phial of water, they swam about with ease, and have 

 lived for several hom-s, and, indeed, are alive at this present moment, 

 although taken from a dead fish, which must have been so for twenty- 

 four hours at least. I have also observed the same phenomenon in 

 the livers of other animals, such as fowls, rabbits, &e., but did not 

 experiment until now. I would gladly know if such parasitical 

 livers are injurious if eaten by man. I would also like to know 

 what those small star-like bones found only on the back of turbot 

 ^^'6. ^MY Bkiggs. 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 



Atom. If the sun is represented by a globe 2 ft. in diameter at 

 your house in Sloane-street, and Neptune bv a plum on Clapham, 

 common, a globe i\it. in diameter, at a distance of sixteen or 

 seventeen thousand miles would be about right for the nearest star- 

 and if the surface, of this globe had the same intrinsic lustre as the 

 sun's surface it would look like a star, of about the same bright- 

 ness as Alpha Centauri. Where the globe should be fixed I 

 cannot itell you. I said " more than 200,000 times the sun's 

 distance "—about 210,000 time would be nearer the trnth. — 

 A C0NST.4XT Reader, E. M. De.^rm.^x. Thanks ; printer's error, I 

 expect. — John II. Ti'sox. Do not the words " Unknown, yea ever- 

 more Unknowable" remove all the untruth of which you speak? 

 Vega seems, like Darwin, to express — after some fluctuations — a 

 feeling akin to that which underlies the higher Agnosticism. There 

 is no more any actual assertion of doctrine than there is any deli- 

 berate statement on his part that the conversation described really 

 took place. The whole thing is intended, I should imagine, by way 

 rather of symbolisation than of description. It would, of conrse, 

 be " caviare to the general." — Va.\ess.\. The idea is excellent. 

 Will submit it to F.R.A.S.— F. Ricaedo. Thanks for the note, which 

 shall appear as soon as possible. What an absurd thing is the common 

 estimate of singers : A, with a pure and beautiful tenor voice (but 

 ranging not higher perhaps than A natui-al), a true ear, and the 

 power of throwing the right expression and as it were the- 

 true emotions into his vocalisation ; B, with a voice strident 

 if not absolutely harsh, an untrustworthy ear, and no power 

 of expression whatever, capable of throwing neither softness- 

 nor fire into his singing, but able to strain out the Ut 

 de Poitrine ; yet B shall be regarded as a great tenor and 

 A as but a second-rate singer. — P.S. There is no truth what- 

 ever in the notion that the sun puts out a fire, though there are 

 many who " know " that the sun does so, and that a poker across 

 the top bar makes a fire burn up. — H. A. Bullet. Letter marked 

 for insertion. — F. W. Woolee. Know as yet nothing personally; 

 may shortly do so. — Igxoeamus. A comet is alv:ays more or less 

 under the sun's influence. When nearer to him the comet has 

 greater velocity, and therefore greater centrifugal tendency. Afc 

 its nearest this tendency suffices to balance the tendency to ap- 

 proach, and thenceforward the comet recedes. See, however, for 

 fuller explanation of elliptical motion my treatise on the Sun where 

 this point is considered at some length. — A Lady Mathematician. 

 You should rather saj' that Helmholtz conceived the possibility of 

 some one conceiving straight lines which after diverging might begin 

 to diverge. The papers you consider " rubbish " I find charming — 

 so greatly do tastes differ. (This refers to one only of the writers 

 you name. The other is too nearly related to myself for me to 

 express an opinion.) Your letter does refer to some rubbish with 

 which I will not fill my paper. " Even Hampden," as you say, 

 " would be better than that." — T. B. Walker. Marked for in- 

 sertion ; though when there may be room, I cannot say. — Hallyards. 

 Y'our talk about poetry not veiy instructive : most prosaic. But 

 a Philistine is'not expected to understand Gujerati. — C. E. Raxken. 

 Membership of the British Association is secured by attending 

 meetings and paying either the annual subscription of two guineas, 

 or a life-subscription the amount of which is unknown to me. — 

 S. S. McIlwraith. No answer which could be given here would be 

 of service to you. The subject is too difficult to be dealt with in 

 these pages. — Harry .St. Excuse my omitting your exasperating 

 and extra-aspirated joke. The papers on the spectroscope soon. 

 — Berks, J. E. Lush. Regret that long experience forbids my 

 giving such advice here. — S. Orr (?). I think the saying on Fitz- 

 roy's Barometer, " .Sudden rise after low foretells strong blow," 

 very unsatisfactory ; but have not noticed that " sudden rise after 

 low " is usually followed by rain ; though it may be. — C. L. 

 Sweedale. See note on subject. — Uncertain. You leave me more 

 uncertain than ever. Who on earth knows ■■ is really all I can say. 

 — C. D. Term "range," as you suggest, quite unscientific. — H. 

 Smith. Perhaps some correspondent may know how you should 

 keep and feed chameleons through the -winter. — Thos. Radmore. 

 No space for your note. Probably your clock time was inexact. — 

 C.ARLTOX. The idea of the " lost Pleiad " might be suggested to a 

 child in these days as readily as to a race of men at any past time. 

 For there is no reason to believe that the fainter seventh star 

 ever -n-as as bright as the others. Seven stars can be seen by eyes 

 of certain degree of power, one of the stars being fainter than the 

 others ; what more natural to the fanciful mind of child-races, than 

 the idea that that star had once been like the others bat had lost 

 its original lustre, especially if the stars had come early to be 

 known as " the seven," which they would be very apt to be. — 

 V. Cotter. Letter marked for insertion. — J. J. T. 'That result 

 means simply that F for 150 lb. falling ft., would be the same as 

 for 38 tons with a velocity of 1 ft. per sec, which would be attained 



