300 



* KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. IG, 1883. 



have perished, preserved and made safe for ever."* In 

 like manner, we may speak of myths as fossil ethics and 

 fossil theology, but, with more appositeness, as embryonic 

 ethics and theology, since tliey contain potentially all the 

 philosophies and theologies "that man did ever tind." 



And to the student of the history of humanity who re- 

 joices in the sure foundation on which, tested in manifold 

 ways, the convictions of the highest and noblest of the 

 race rest, the value of myth is increased in its being a 

 natural outgrowth of the mind when, having advanced to 

 the point at which curiosity concerning the causes of sur- 

 rounding things arises, it frames its crude explanations. 

 For not that which man claims to have received as a 

 message from the gods, as a revelation from heaven, but 

 that which he has learned by experience often painful and 

 bitter, and which succeeding generations have either verified 

 or improved upon, or disproved altogether, is, in the long 

 run, of any worth. Through it alone, as we follow the 

 changes wrought in the process from guess to certainty, 

 can we determine what was the intellectual stage of man 

 in his mental infancy, and how far it finds correspondences 

 in the intellectual stage of existing barbaric races. 



Thus, the study of myth is nothing less than the study 

 of the mental and spiritual history of mankind. It is a 

 branch of that larger, vaster science of evolution which so 

 occupies our thoughts to-day, and with which the philo- 

 sopher and the theologian must reckon. The evidence 

 which it brings from the living and dead mythologies of 

 every race is in accord with that furnished by their more 

 tangible relics, that the historj- of mankind is a history of 

 slow but sure advance from a lower to a higher ; of ascent, 

 although with backslidings oft. It confirms a momentous 

 canon of modern science, that the laws of evolution in the 

 spiritual world are as determinable as they are in the physi- 

 cal. To this we, for the enrichment of our life and helpful 

 service of our kind, do well to give heed. Wherever we 

 now turn eye or ear the unity of things is manifest, and 

 their unbroken harmony heard. With the theory of 

 evolution in our hands as the master-key, the immense 

 array of facts that seemed to lie unrelated and discrete, 

 are seen to be interrelated and in necessary dependence — 

 " a mighty sum of things for ever speaking." That 

 undisturbed relation of cause and eflect which science has 

 revealed and confirmed, extends backwards as well as 

 reaches forwards ; its continuity involves the inclusion of 

 man as a part of nature, and tlie study of his development 

 as one in which both the biologist and the mythologist 

 engage towards a common end. 



A New Selenium Cell. — At the recent meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 Professor Mendenhall announced the formation of selenium 

 cells of very low resistance by Mr. C. E. Fritts, of New 

 York. Low resistance selenium cells are a desideratum, 

 and Mr. Fritts' cells, the full construction of which was 

 not explained by Professor Mendenhall, attain their end by 

 means of large surfaces of selenium, instead of narrow 

 surfaces as in the older cells. Another peculiarity, which 

 involves a new observation, is that the light in the Fritts 

 cell is allowed to fall on the selenium in the same direction 

 as the electric current passes, and not at right angles to the 

 direction of the current. This is a very important point, 

 demanding' further investivation, and now that selenium 

 can be manufactured more cheaply it will probably be 

 largely experimented with. The cells of Mr. Fritts can be 

 made of 9 to 10 Ohms resistance. They can, moreover, be 

 easily repaired on breaking down. — E^igineering. 



* "Study of Words," p. 5. 



TRICYCLES IN 1883. 



By John Browning, 



Chairman of the London Tricycle Club. 

 MUDGUARDS, WRINKLES, LUBRICANTS, AND BRAKES. 



A RECENT number of Knowledge contains a request 

 from a correspondent for advice respecting the use 

 of mudguards. During the same week I received letters 

 from other correspondents asking my opinion respecting 

 lubricants, brakes, and the construction of the Humber 

 tricyle. As these matters are all of general interest I 

 propose to answer them in this article. 



With reference to mud-guards, I may say at once that 

 the experience of my friends, as well as my own, is that we 

 do not get so muddy when riding small-wheeled tricycles as 

 when riding machines with larger wheels, because the tyres 

 are so low that they do not touch us. Hind-wheel-steering 

 tricycles, though inferior, on the whole, to front steerers, 

 are decidedly superior to them in respect of cleanliness in 

 riding. But if a front steerer has a mudguard of stout 

 leather, in the shape of a triangle, the base of which is 

 downward and comes within two inches of the ground, 

 attached to the thin iron guard which is always fixed to it 

 by the manufacturers, there is little diflerence to choose 

 between them. 



Light leather guards could easily be fixed above the 

 side wheels to any small-wheeled tricycle, so as to catch all 

 mud thrown oil' by them in such a direction as to reach the 

 rider. 



Respecting lubricants, the best known for general use is 

 made by adding two or three teaspoonsful of paratfin to a 

 pint of sperm oil. This mixture also burns well in tricycle 

 lamps. Mr. Grace has used with success as a lubricant 

 vaseline thinned with sutticient paraffin to enable it to be 

 poured into a pocket oil-can. 



For the chains of my tricycles, I have for some time used 

 vaseline and finely powdered plumbago or black-lead. 

 This has the disadvantage that dust adheres to it. 



Mr. Grace has sliown me that paraffin and black-lead 

 applied to chains quickly dries, and leaves a surface to 

 which dust will not adhere. After two or three applica- 

 tions the chain becomes coated with black-lead, and runs 

 silently. 



I do not propose to say anything about tyre-brakes, as 

 they are almost extinct, and will soon, I trust, be quite so. 

 With hand-brakes the great difficulty is to prevent any oil 

 from getting on to the drum. When this happens, it gene- 

 rally arises from the chain ha\'ing been too profusely oiled. 

 By adopting the paraffin and black-lead as a dressing for 

 the chain the risk of this mishap, which may lead to a very 

 serious accident, will be avoided. Should it have happened 

 that oil has got upon the drum, first wipe it as dry as pos- 

 sible, and then crush some common resin upon the drum, 

 and work it into the leather band by holding the brake 

 very lightly on, and moving the machine about. Repeat 

 this several times if necessary. 



Powdered resin, mixed with a very little oil, is an 

 excellent dressing for the strap of a hand brake, but I 

 have found vaselin with a small amount of whiting still 

 better. 



Here I must add a word of caution not to apply either 

 of these compounds to the band-brake of a Humber 

 tricycle, as the action of the brake of this machine, with- 

 out anything to increase the friction, is sufiiciently 

 powerful, and one of the great difficulties experienced in 

 riding it consists in the ease with which the hind wheel is 

 lifted off the ground by putting on the brake. I have 

 accustomed myself to ride my small Humber with only the 



