366 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Dec. 14, 1883. 



to one of its spokes, so as to leave a trace on a wall : such a trace 

 would consist of a series of curves with their concave sides down- 

 wards, and such is the moon's path with regard to the sun." — 

 " Elementary Lessons in Astronomy," Lockyer, p. 90. 



I had the pleasure of hearing your lecture on the Moon, at 

 Kensington, and noted your effective diagrams on the same subject; 

 and, of course, was puzzled, when I remembered what Mr. Lockyer 

 had said. Science Teacher. 



[The moon will appear brighter by about one-fifteenth in 

 December — not larger. Of course, the account in extract quoted 

 is quite incorrect. — R. P.] 



SATURN. 

 [1045] — I cannot help thinking " F.R.A.S." will be disappointed 

 with the illustration of Saturn in Knowledge of Nov. 23. Wood 

 engraving does not lend itself well to the delineation of planetary 

 details. Better, I should say, to have omitted the shading on the 

 ball entirely rather than represent such a bright object so black. 

 Then, again, the rings do not appear satisfactory to me. On look- 

 ing at the planet the same evening with a good 3i O.G., I was so 



Saturn, Nov. 23, 1883, 11.45 p.m. (3iin. Wray, power 250). 



struck with the difference that I took the trouble to make a careful 

 drawing (of which I enclose a tracing), showing exactly what I 

 saw. The "crape ring" was only at times glimpsed in the ans;e, 

 and it was better seen on the left than on the right. The square- 

 shouldered aspect of the shadow on the ring was remarkable, 

 though perhaps I have somewhat exaggerated it in the drawing. 



H. H. 



LARGE METEOR. 



[1046] — The sky being very clear last evening (Nov. 28), I was 

 out in the garden with my telescope, and about 10.35 I was looking 

 in a south-westerly direction searching for 51, Piscium, when sud- 

 denly I perceived that something unusual was taking place over- 

 head and somewhat behind me, for the sky had suddenly become 

 brilliantly illuminated from that direction, and on turning my head 

 up to ascertain the cause, there I beheld a great fire-ball or meteor, 

 with a long tail of sparks, gliding across tlie sky from south to 

 north. The whole apparition did not occupy more than five or six 

 seconds of time, and as it was rather of a startling nature, I had 

 scarcely time or presence of mind to note its jjath exactly ; but, as 

 far as I can say, it was about as follows: — When I first saw the 

 meteor it was near ir^ Orionis, from thence it passed about one 

 degree east of Z Tauri, and about two degrees west of Gemini, 

 across Lynx, and finally disappeared just before reaching v Ursa 

 Majoris. The ball itself was apparently almost as large as the full 

 moon, and the front or leading part of it was of an intense white 

 colour, while the back part, just where the tail commences, was 

 purplish-blue, and the tail or train itself was composed of red 

 sparks, which issued from it in its flight, and gradually died out at 

 a distance of about three or four degrees from the ball. It was a 

 magnificent sight while it lasted, the whole sky being illuminated 

 as if by a lingering flash of lightning, the meteor maintaining its 

 brilliance until it was crossing Lynx, when it there began to fade 

 gradually, and finally disappeared at the point named above, by 

 dying out, apparently without any explosion, and I did not notice 

 any noise accompanying it at all. As regards its distance from the 

 earth, it really appeared to be very near ; I might almost say that 

 it did not seem to be above two or three hundred j'ards from me, 

 and I hope it may have been observed by some one else, at some 

 distance from here, who would be able to give you its apparent 

 path from their point of view, so that you might be enabled to 

 ascertain its actual distance. It resembled in many respects the 

 large meteor I saw on the evening of May 4, 1882, and which I 

 described in a letter (435) in Knowledge of June 23, 1882. 



Huddersfield, .You. 29, 1883. Excelsior. 



TRICYCLING IN WINTER. 

 [1047] — I can endorse Mr. Browning remarks as to the pleasure 

 of going over frozen roads ; but be careful to see your lamps are 

 all right, as the oil soon freezes. Can Mr. Browning give us any 

 experience of the Omnicycle ? I have no fault to find with mine, 

 but should like to know his views. I also want to know what speed 

 can be attained and kept up on it. I am unable to test this, 

 being very weak. John Alex. Ollaed. 



CONVERTIBLE " SOCIABLES." 

 [1048] — In answer to E. B., who asks what is the swiftest, safest, 

 and cheapest Convertible Sociable, I do not know any machine 

 which possesses all these good qualities in itself. I should say that 

 the " Cheylesmore " Convertible Sociable, made by the Coventry 

 Machinist Co., is one of the swiftest, and that the " Europa" Con- 

 vertible Sociable, made by the St. George's Foundry Co., is the 

 safest and cheapest machine I have yet seen. In reply to the 

 second query, I have said very little respecting Convertible 

 Sociables in any of my articles. I think them very inferior to 

 machines that are not convertible generally, but I must except the 

 " Europa" from this criticism — it is as solid in the double form as 

 in the single, but it is more difficult to make the conversion. 



John Browning. 



SHAKESPEARIAN INSECTS. 



[1049] — " Letters on the Natural History of the Insects men- 

 tionedin Shakespeare's Plays," by Robert Patterson (London, 1838), 

 is in my possession — an interesting but discursive book. The subject 

 well deserves more recent treatment. J. Kieksian. 



S. Stephen's Vicarage, Hampstead, N.W., Dec. 8, 1883. 



COALFIELD MEN. 



[1050] — Apropos of Mr. Grant Allen's remarks on Anthropo- 

 metry, the following quotation is interesting. It is from Frank 

 Buckland's *' Curiosities of Natiu"al History " ; — " The geological 

 formation of a district, I found in examining recruits for the regi- 

 ment, has considerable effect upon the stature of its inhabitants; 

 coal-producing countries as a rule generally grow the tallest, and at 

 the same time, the largest-boned men." Dora Hope. 



ORIGIN OF THE WORD " MASHER." 

 [1051] — I can trace "Mash" and "Masher" back a good deal 

 further than 1878. The words were in common use in San Fran- 

 cisco as far back as 1875 ; and in 1S76, at Bush-street Theatre, 

 I remember a riddle given by the Minstrels then performing there, 

 " Why are San Francisco ladies like well-boiled potatoes ?" with 

 the reply, " Because they are so easily mashed." A reference to 

 the San Francisco Chronicle about these years will show that the 

 term " Mashers" was applied to the young men who waited outside 

 theatres to "mash" the ladies leaving there on matinees, which, as 

 you know, are held every Saturday afternoon, and are attended 

 largely by ladies. The " dude " in San Francisco was, and is, 

 called "a statue," or " Kearney-street Statue," from their habits of 

 posing themselves on street comers to " mash " the girls. 



San Francisco. 



WEATHER FORECASTS AND HOW. TO MAKE THEM. 



[1052] — Allow me to correct a slight inaccuracy which I notice 

 in Mr. Browning's otherwise excellent article on " Weather Fore- 

 casts," &c. I refer to the word " weeks," in the paragraph in which 

 my name appears ; this ought to read " months." 



Mr. Browning recommends Grace's Spectroscope to those who 

 experience difficulty in seeing the Rainband with the instrument 

 depicted in Fig. 1., but I think it would be as well to keep as much 

 as possible to one form of spectroscope for meteorological purposes. 

 The latter kind is now being used by hundreds of observers, and to 

 my mind, taking it altogether, is the better of the two for prognos- 

 ticating weather. 



The more I use the " Rainband Spectroscope," and compare its 

 indications with the weather experienced, the more it seems to me 

 that its name is a misnomer. The rainband is not the principal 

 feature in the sky spectrum ; there are others of equal importance 

 to take into consideration, e.g., the dry air bands at a and /3, the 

 moist-air bands at a and r, &c. 



The instrument is essentially a hygroscope and spectroscope com- 

 bined, and, with these reasons in view, I have ventured to coin a 

 new word for this particular modification of the spectroscope, and 

 would suggest calling it in future " The Hygrospectroscope." 



F. W. CoBY. 



