STov. 23, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



323 



Protestants of this valley were generally styled Palatines by the 

 Catholics, but I can't say whether they were aware that this title 

 was derived from the English settlers of the Pale. The farmers of 

 Templederry were specially favoured both by circumstances and 

 surroundings. Their land was very fertile, there was abundance of 

 good food, and the air from the neighbouring hills was at once 

 balmy and invigorating, and imparted to those who breathed it a 

 buoj'ant elasticity. 



In the nearest town, I know at present three young men 

 (brothers), who range from 6 ft. 2i in. to 6 ft. 4 in. in height, and 

 as the youngest (who is noJ the shortest) is only seventeen, I take 

 it for granted that they may still grow taller. 



Now these yonng men, who are very patriotic, would be incre- 

 dulous, ag well as indignant, if told that their name was an old 

 Yorkshire one, and that their father had a decidedly English face. 



My experience of the peasantry on the west coast of Ireland does 

 not lead me to conclude with " Hallyards " that men living on the 

 sea-board are larger and taller than those inland. On the coast of 

 Clare, in the neighbourhood of Skilkee, or thei'cabouts, the 

 peasantry struck me as of a totally different type from the same 

 class of men in Tipperary. They were much smaller and slighter, 

 had generally dark hair and eyes, and were mostly sallow or pale 

 cemplexioned, and lacked altogether the bright fresh colouring of 

 the Tipperary farmer. It is true that here and there one might 

 come across a fine young fellow, with dark flashing eyes and wild 

 romantic mien, but this was the exception and not the rule. On 

 the other hand, the women of this district had the advantage over 

 the men in both face and figure. 



I have seen some very handsome peasant women in Clare. I 

 have no recollection of hearing any English surnames in this part, 

 nor did I notice anyone possessing the English type of features. 

 Along the coast from Clare to Ballyvaughan and farther on, many 

 of the fishermen seemed to me particularly undersized, rather of the 

 squat broad Dutch make. 



It cannot be altogether race which makes this difference, for, 

 setting aside the question of peasantry, some of the old Irish 

 families on the west coast have been noted for generations for 

 their handsome faces and splendid figures, and among them to 

 this day there are to be found men every whit as fine-looking as in 

 Tipperary. 



Sea air is a tonic which requires the addition of good food to 

 draw out its properties, but sea air alone is of small avail to give 

 height and strength to badly nourished, badly clad, aud overworked 

 bodies. 



Mr. Grant Allen would find in " The Making of England," by the 

 late Mr. Green, many interesting items about the English settlers 

 in Ireland, — I am, Sir, yours sincerely. E. O'She.i Dillon. 



Nov. 3, 1883. 



[1021] — I never meant to dis]nito such an obvious fact as that 

 one rase is short, another tall. I only cherish a doubt as to whether 

 it is a question of race or of habitat. Our American cousins are 

 certainly often like Red Indians ; j-et there has been no inter- 

 marriage. The descendants of the English in Ireland are ipsis 

 Hibernis Hiberniores. I have remarked that Australians born are 

 less intelligent than members of the same race born at home. The 

 character of the modern French — a very mixed race — is the same as 

 that Ca?sar gives of the pure Celts of Gaul in his day, " novis 

 rebus studentes." Modern Greeks have most of the characteristics 

 ascribed by Roman authors to the ancient Greeks, and yet it is 

 asserted they are of Slavonic race. 



Admitting that the Scottish Lowl.ands are of diver-so origin, I 

 still question whether the seaside men are of a race which does not 

 also exist largely inland. In Normandy, England, Ireland, &c., we 

 do not find conquering races sticking always at the coast. If 

 Tipperary men are, as is said, Cromwellians, surely that is in favour 

 of my contention ; for there is no English militia regiment of 

 Grenadiers over 6 ft. Uallvakds. 



GREEN SUN AND SOUND WAVES FROM KRAKATOA. 



[1022] — In the early part of September there was great excite- 

 ment hero in consequence of the dimmed light, blue and green 

 tinted, of the rising and setting sun, which was, indeed, very re- 

 markable. Miss I'ogson attributed it to the presence in onr atmo- 

 sphere of suljihurous vapours from the recent Krakatoa eruption, 

 the distance of which from Ceylon is 2,000 miles. Hy a good many 

 other people the great sun-spot then visililo was blamed as the 

 cause of the phenomenon. I send you a cutting from our local 

 thunderer, which is not an illustrated paper, except in limes of 

 great excitement. I think it is a curiosity in its way ! But my 

 chief object in writing to you is to ask a question. Not only was 

 our sea greatly agitated, but the volcanic explosions of Ki-akatoa 

 wore distinctly heard in all parts of our mountain zone, if not also 



in the surrounding low country. I heard them myself, exactly as 

 though there was heavy gun-practice a few miles off, or dynamite 

 rock-blasting a mile or so away, sharp and loud. What I wish to 

 ask is : did [these sound-waves travel through the air, or through 

 the earth's surface-crust, causing the sounds to be heard here as 

 through an ordinary telephone-receiver ? I may mention that the 

 green tint of the sunshine on white walls was still markedly visible, 

 though faint, a few mornings ago at sunrise. 



Ceylon, October 17th. E. Wabe Jenkins. 



[I should say that the sound-waves were conveyed through the 

 earth's crust. — R. P.] 



THE SEVERE WEATHER OF THE 13th-1oth. 

 [1023] — I do not know whether any of your readers encountered 

 such severe weather as we have had in this locality (S.W. of 

 England). I give you the readings of my thermometers corrected 

 at Kew to O'l deg., and exposed under the uniform conditions 

 required by the Meteorological Society : — 



Night of 12th ... Minimum temperature on grass ... 22-2 deg. 

 13th ... „ „ „ ... 22-3» „ 



,, ,, ... Minimum temperature in "Ste- 



venson " screen (4 ft. above 



ground) 20'8* „ 



Day of 14th ... Maximum temperature in screen ... 36/ „ 

 Night of ,, ... Minimum temperature in screen ... 22'8 ,, 



,, ,, ... ,, ,, on grass ... 21"1 „ 



And most noteworthy of all was the temperature of the air (dry 

 bulb in screen) at 9 a.m. on the 14th, viz., 23'1 degrees. 



I am only a novice in meteorology, but this latter low tempe- 

 rature seems almost unprecedented for the season and locality. On 

 referring to the Meteorological Society's Weather Report for the 

 14th at 8 a.m., I cannot find any shade temperature in the kingdom 

 lower than 28 deg., viz., at Parsonstown, and only one foreign 

 station (viz., Haparanda) where the temperature equalled that of 

 this place. 



I should add that the altitude of this station is 376 ft. above the 

 sea, also that a dense fog prevailed during most of the day (14th). 

 — I remain, sir, yours obediently, H. J. Poole, 



F.R. Met. Soc. 



JUPITER WITHOUT SATELLITES, OCT. 15, 1883. 



[1024] — A friend sends me extracts as follows from English 

 Mechanic, Oct. 26, 1883, p. 169 : — " Jupiter, it appears, was not 

 seen without satellites as predicted for Oct. 13. Several corre- 

 spondents send notes of observations of the 3rd Sat., which was 

 visible on the E. limb at 3.56, and about the same time the 

 ' fourth ' made its apjjearance on the W. limb ; so that the times 

 given in the ' Nautical Almanack ' must be wrong." And again, 

 same publication, dated Nov. 2, letter 21,986 : — " Oct. 15 I saw 

 Jupiter without his satellites, but two were really visible all the 

 time, hanging on, one to each limb, <tc. — M.A." 



May I ask whether you are aware of any others who can clear 

 the question as to the visibility or otherwise of satellites of Jupiter 

 on Oct. 15, 1883, 3.56 a.m. to 4.15 a.m. ? Thos. Radmore. 



[These discrepancies agree well mth the evidence already 

 obtained as to the variability of Jupiter's outline (his real surface 

 being probably thousands of miles within it). — 'R. P.] 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 J. A. L. RoBsoN. Increase of earth far too small to affect her 

 orbital motion. If her mass were doubled or trebled, her orbit would 

 remain unchanged. — J. Whesterhv. You were certainly right in 

 having an astronomical eye-piece added to your refracting telescope. 

 To use it, remove the terrestrial eye-piece, and having inserted the 

 astronomical one, direct the instrument carefully on any con- 

 venient object, as a house-roof, which will divide the field very 

 obviously into two different tints. Then push the tube in and out 

 till you see the outline of the object becoming sharp and clear. 

 After that you can use the focussing rack-work. It will now bo 

 right for that distance. If turned on the moon or a star it will be 

 found to be out of focus, but not so much but that a slight move- 

 ment will set it right.— J. L. Flewett. Thanks.— E. P. Westlake. 

 Regret that at present we have no available space for bee-culture. 

 — W. SciiWEizER. In my " Myths and Marvels of Astronomy " 

 Swedenborg's world dreams are spoken of. — M. St. Vincent. 

 None of your three sketches in the slightest degree resemble 

 the moon's path. — E. W. Ought I not rather to ask such ques- 

 tions of you with your longer and doubtless wider experience ? 

 Besides I should want a list of the books of that kind which 

 you have already read. — E. Groth, M.D. Regret that the 



• The difference marks the fog which existed at the time. 



