310 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Nov. 16, 1883. 



the neck. Sudden failure of tlie heart's action could then be met 

 by a pull at the stimulant, which is also an antidote to cramp. 



Hallyards. 

 [A mouthful of salt water, catching in the throat — i.e., not 

 swallowed hut taken in in breathing — may cause even the best 

 swimmer some trouble. Last summer bathing from a boat, and 

 happening to speak at the wrong moment to the boatman, I was 

 caught that way — and if he had not happened to look my way, I 

 might have been drowned close by him. For I could not call out, 

 nor breathe except by gasps — which would not have done in the 

 water. Fortunately he saw my signals of distress, and shoving an 

 oar under me, gave me a chance of gasping my breath back. — 

 R. P.] 



STOKM-GLASS. 



[1013] — If of an}' use to your correspondents, the following recipe 

 for a " storm-glass" is extremely simple and reliable. 



Take a wide-mouthed glass bottle (say about tive inches high), 

 fill it with water till within an inch of the neck, or three parts full; 

 then take a small empty oil-Hask, turn it upside down, and insert it 

 in the mouth of the glass bottle, filling the interstice with a piece 

 of cork so as to be air-tight ; the neck of the flask will then be 

 under the water, which will rise or sink in it with the pressure of 

 atmosphere, as in an ordinary barometer. E. Brown. 



SETTING UP CHESSMEN. 



[1014] — Recently in conversation th» question arose whether it 

 was probable that, at the commencement of a game of chess, all 

 the pieces were ever before on exactly the same squares ? One or 

 two thought it not unlikely. Now, without reversing the board, 

 the "White Pawns may be arranged in |S, that is, 40,320 different 

 ways. For each one of these positions, the Black Pawns can also 

 be arranged in 40,320 ways. Thus there are -10,320- or 1,625,702,400 

 ways of arranging the Pawns. Again the superior pieces may be 

 arranged in 64 different ways. Finally, the board can be reversed. 

 Thus there are in all (|_8)- x 64 x 2 = 208,089,907,200 different ways 

 in which these mimic forces may be put on the board in order of 

 battle. 



Suppose we play 100 games each day, it would thus take any 

 cne more than five million years to exhaust all these possible 

 positions. 



Judge, then, how little an affirmative answer to the original 

 question is likely to be true. D. M. 



SOFTENING WATER. 



[1015] — Letter 954, signed " Lewis James," asks for information 

 as to the process by the Atkins Apparatus mentioned in the 

 Guide and Catalogue of the great International Fisheries Exhibi- 

 tion. Application at 62, Fleet-street, London, E.G., the offices of 

 the Company, will procure him full particulars on the softening and 

 purifying of water for all pttrposes and in any quantity for constant 

 supply. 



Allow me to add that the discovei-y of lime treatment to soften 

 water was made by the late Dr. Clark about forty years ago, but 

 then too costly to apply to waterworks. The Atkins mechanical 

 process overcomes this and many other difficulties, thus rendering 

 Dr. Clark's discovery of great value in the supply of softened water 

 to every community at a very small cost, with an immense saving 

 in every household. Dr. Clark's discovery is now pubUc property, 

 and the application of it depends entirely on the inventor of econo- 

 mical machinery for its universal adoption. For years I have been 

 interested in the treatment of water, and 1 do not hesitate to state 

 that the Atkins Apparatus is the most simple I have seen, and in 

 this opinion I am not alone. C. E. Parker-Rhodes. 



Oct. 18, 1883. 



LETTERS RECEIA'ED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 



John Simpkin. You will see that I am very much with you about 

 imaginary mathematics. — A.v Aumirixg Reader. Is it ungramma- 

 tical to say, " I have done with you" ? And if not, is it wrong to 

 say, "This is done with ? " I do not say it is not; but the expression 

 is familiar. — Jules Magnv. 1. No. I have not yet published an 

 article showing how the year may have fii'st been measured by the 

 seasons. 2. The gnomon was used in the way you indicate, that is 

 by observing shadow lengths. This was done probably much earlier 

 than 1100 B.C. 3. Do not know enough about cells and their action to 

 answer this question, though the fact is as you say. 4. Articles on 

 the different systems of drawing geographical maps would be very 

 much in ray line, and (if readers interested) may probably soon be 

 given. — F. Battersbv. Thanks ; it seems clear beech nuts have often 



kernels. — C. T. Budenberg. Would indeed that everything printed 

 weretrue! Have as you see used that startling Tit-bit. — W.B.S. That 

 theory about sun spots is not strictly new. It was first suggested by 

 Scheiner in 1011, and the bodies supposed to travel round the sun 

 were called Bourbonian Stars. — J. W. Dawso.n. Have not the book 

 and cannot therefore tell you the publisher's name. It is I am told 

 a capital work. — 180' Lo.xgitcde. But, leaseninri west longitude 

 means running east. Of coarse with the new way of reckoning 

 longitude adopted by the Geodetic folk your difficulty would not 

 exist. — B. Walker. If any feel animosity or rancour about such 

 matters it is a pity, but really need not much interest " us." Why 

 should the truthful tone of the articles yon mention need counter- 

 balancing ? — Plymouth Hospital. Can yon conceive of no other 

 mode of genesis than that first sketched in the nebular hypothesis? 

 Now I can. That mode of genesis seems to me contradicted by 

 numerous facts chiefly learned since Laplace's time. — Ax ExquiRER. 

 Many known cases of seeming identity of thoughts in persons at a 

 distance ; but it seems most probable they are cases of coincidence. 

 Mr. Labouchere would say, Certainly they are so, because he knows 

 all about thought. But there are more things in heaven and 

 earth than are known or even guessed in his jihilosophy. — 

 Tnos. Cowldesth (or Cowherty, or Conloerthz, or Cowtoesths i- ? ?) 

 No ; have discovered no such correction ; but would willingly hand 

 you a cheque for a considerable amount (any you please) if you 

 could in less than five minutes or in over five million, solve the 

 fifteen puzzle as propotmded, — viz., having the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 in 

 that order on first line, 5, 6, 7, 8 on next line, 9, 10, 11, 12, on third 

 line, 13, 15, 14 on the fourth line, bring them by fair shifting 

 without lifting, so that the same numbers are in the same places in 

 the first three lines, but the numbers 13, 14, 15 in that order 

 on the fourth line. It is the easiest thing in the world to get 

 the numbers in regular rotation, from any order they may be 

 set in, but to get them arranged in their proper places according 

 to the actual conditions of the problem is impossible outside of the 

 imaginary universe we have recently heard so much about. The 

 Thir.ty-fonr Puzzle is simplicity itself : the difficulty is to miss the 

 solution. — Jas. McKean. Do not know anything about the matter 

 myself, or would tell you. — J. F. Moult. Thanks ; but fear our 

 readers would not be grateful for your new proof that a man may 

 be his own grandfather. Of course if father and son marry respec- 

 tively daughter and mother, the son, being step-father of his father's 

 wife, is his father's step-father-in-law, or his own step-grand- 

 father-in-law. If you enjoy puzzles of this sort, wander into the 

 following maze, and see what comes of it : — John Smith a foolish 

 young fellow of seventeen falls in love with, and marries, Jlrs. Brown 

 a fair widow of fifty, who having married at sixteen has a daugh- 

 ter of thirty-three, who also marrying young (it ran in the family 

 you see) has a daughter of sixteen. Miss Robinson. Thomas Smith, 

 John's grandfather, a lively }'outh of fifty-five summers, smitten by 

 Miss Robinson's charms, marries her, while James Smith, Thomas's 

 son and John's father, marries thecharming Mrs. Robinson. Consider 

 the various relationships among these folk. And if you remain outside 

 Coluey Hatch, Jet a few brothers and sisters of Thomas, James, and 

 John, intermarry ad lib. with sisters and brothers of Mesdames 

 Brown, Robinson, and J. Smith, nee Robinson. Then consider their 

 relatiouships and those of children born to these various couples. 

 Make your will first, as it might be disputed if made later. — G areth. 

 I know little about the modus operandi of mesmerists; and think I 

 would rather not have the subject dealt with in these pages. Though 

 I know many of the phenomena to be real enough, they have been 

 associated with so much humbug that they do not form an inviting 

 subject. The most satisfactory experiments in beginning are those 

 made on animals, especially pigeons, which are very susceptible to 

 hypnotic treatment. — M. H. Close. 'Thanks. I was, however, aware 

 of the pronunciation of the word mni.<e, which, as I said, to an 

 uncritical ear is something like that of the word " masher." As 

 you say the fact that the word viaisc means also " an ornament," 

 and " food," is another very strong argument against the absurd 

 derivation of " masher " from "maise." — Alexander Cross. Thanks; 

 the duke's lecture amusing truly. Fancy the general flood leaving its 

 neat but unique mark in Wales! — Cheese Consu.mer. The origin of 

 cheese mites ! Do we know the origin of anything ? The Natural 

 History of cheese mites might be managed. — G. B. R. BousFIELD. 

 Smyth's Cycle gives a number of those names. So do some old 

 globes. I may shortly give a weekly list of them in these columns. 

 W. HoLMES.^Is the word Agnostic so unfamiliar ? It is given in 

 the supplement to Webster's Dictionary. The word Gnoslic means 

 one who claims to know, while the word Agnostic means one who 

 admits that he does not know. Usually the matter referred to as 

 known or not known is the nature of Deity. You will find that 

 there were Gnostics and Agnostics in very ancient times. I am 

 inclined to think that Zophar who said " Can'st thou by searching 

 find out God," and Elihu who said " The Almighty, we cannot find 

 him out," were Agnostics. 



