Dec. 28, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



395 



to retard old ago and thereVjy prolong existence. The most 

 rational treatment with a view to retard old age is in the 

 first place to endeavour as far as possible to counteract 

 the excessive action of atmospheric oxygen ; secondly, to 

 retard the deposit of ossific matter and as far as possible 

 to dissolve partially-formed calcareous concretions. Distilled 

 water and diluted phosphoric acid are believed by Mr. de 

 Lacy Evans to have the desired effect. When considering 

 their special action we cannot but fully coincide with him 

 as to their efficacy in retarding old age by their combined 

 chemical action. Now distilled water alone has a powerful 

 action owing to its solvent properties, thereby dissolving and 

 excreting the excess of earthy salts which otherwise would 

 become blocked up in the system, graduall} s'oring up those 

 blockages which in time cause old age. The solvent pro- 

 [jerties of distilled water are so great jier sc that on distilla- 

 tion in vessels it actually dissolves small particles of them. 

 Now the generality of waters contain more or less car- 

 bonate of lime, and are to be avoided, especially those from 

 chalky soils, tending as they do to produce calcareous 

 deposits. The action of distilled water as a beverage is 

 briefly as follows : — First, its absorption into the blood is 

 rapid ; second, it keeps solu>)le those salts already exist- 

 ing in the blood, thereby precluding their undue deposit ; 

 third, it facilitates in a marked degree their elimination by 

 means of excretion. After middle life a daili/ use of dis- 

 tilled water is liigldy heneficvil to those desirous of retarding 

 old age, and it is also a useful adjunct for adverting stone 

 in the bladder and kidneys. 



Lastly we have to deal with the special beneficial action 

 of diluted phosphoric acid when mixed with distilled water 

 and consumed dudij. If well diluted with distilled water 

 it is perhaps the most powerful means known to science for 

 suspending old age. Diluted phosphoric acid possesses the 

 following great merits : — It prevents the accumulation of 

 earthy salts and also facilitates their elimination. Secondly, 

 by its great affinity for oxygen those fibrinous and gela- 

 tinous deposits previously alluded to are held in abeyance 

 by its use. Thus by its donhle agency, combined with 

 distilled water, we have a most valuable preventive 

 against the i>nmary causes of old age, which its daily use 

 holds in check. Hypophosphites are believed to exercise a 

 like action, as on becoming phosphates through fixing the 

 oxygen from the blood, undue oxidation (waste of the 

 tissues) is to a great extent prevented. 



To sum up shortly what has already been advanced, 

 according to the teachings of modern science the most 

 rational and certain means of retarding old age are by 

 avoiding all foods rich in the earth salts, and by taking 

 daUtj two or three tumblcrfulls of distilled water with 

 about 10 to 1.'") drops of diluted phosphoric acid in each 

 glassful. Thus are the inimical salts held in solution and 

 their excretion daily effected. The means herein advocated 

 have also another great advantage, viz., that they cannot 

 possibly do any harm. 



^ub-€0itoiial (gossip. 



Nkxt week the sunrise and sunset column for January, 

 in Whit»ker's Almanac, will be discussed and expUiined. 

 During the next month two zodiac;il maps will appear, one 

 showing the sun's course from day to day in January, the 

 other the sign of the zodiac which souths in the middle of 

 the night in January. Pictures will also be given .showing 

 the positions of the planets throughout the year IS84. 

 The zodiacal maps will be continued monthly — two in each 



monthly part, and also the discussion of the details pre- 

 sented in Whitaker's Almanac. It is hoped further that 

 space may be found for a series of monthly star-maps 

 showing the constellation figures, accompanied by Admiral 

 Smyth's curious descriptions of the consfiellations. 



" Let Knowledge grow from more to more." — Alfred Tennyson. 



Only a small proportion of Letters received can possibly ie in- 

 serted. Correspondents must not he offended, therejore^ should their 

 letters not appear. 



All Editorial communications should he addressed to the Editor o? 

 Knowledge ; all Business communications to the Publishers, at the 

 Office, 74, Qreat Queen-street, W.C. If this is not attended to 

 delays arise for which the Editor is not responsible. 



All Remittances, Cheques, and Post Office Orders should he made 

 payable to Messes. Wyman & Sons. 



The Editor is not responsible for the opinions of correspondents. 



No COMMDNICATIONS ARE ANSWERED BY POST, EVEN THOUGH STAMPED 

 AND DIRECTED ENVELOPE BE ENCLOSED. 



STRANGE LAKE WAVE. 



[10G5] — On reading in Knowledge, No. Ill, the' letter (1043) 

 from Port Louis, it occurred to me that the following extracts from 

 a letter written in December, 1792, by the well-known William 

 Crnch, of Edinburgh, and published in the " Edinburgh Fugitive 

 Pieces " (ps. 110 and 121), might interest your readers : — 



" In 1782, at the time of the dreadful earthquakes in Calabria, 

 the mercury in the barometer in Scotland sunk within the tenth of 

 an inch of the bottom of the scale ; the waters in many of the lochs 

 or lakes in the Highlands were much agitated." 



" Upon the 12th of September, 1784, a very extraordinary phe- 

 nomenon was observed at Loch Tay. The air was perfectly calm, 

 not a breath of wind stirring. About six o'clock in the morning, 

 the water at the east end of the loch ebbed about 300 feet and left 

 the channel dry. It gradually accumulated and rolled on about 

 300 feet further to the westward, when it met a similar wave rolling 

 in a contrary direction. When the waves met, they rose to a per- 

 pendicular height of five or six feet, producing a white foam upon 

 the top. The water then took a lateral direction southward, rushing 

 to the shore, and rising upon it four feet beyond the highest water- 

 mark. It then returned, and continued to ebb and flow every seven 

 minutes for two hours, the waves gradually diminishing every time 

 thev reached the shore, until the whole was quiescent. During the 

 whole of that week, at a later hour in the morning, there was the 

 same appearance, but not with such violence." 



I need scarcely add that Loch Tay is about fourteen miles long 

 and one mile broad at the widest part, having the village of Killin 

 at the west end and that of Kenmore at the east. I could give 

 traditions of other interesting phenomena, showing some connection 

 with earthquakes, but must not occupy your valuable space. 



Ch.\bles Stewart. 



STRANGE SUNSETS. 



[106G]— Referring to letters in last two numbers of Knowledge 

 respecting the above, will you kindly allow mo to add that here in 

 tlie West of England wo have witnessed it at sunset and also at 

 sunrise ? Of several displays I note iiarticularly : — 



Date. 



1SS3. Sunriso. Sunset. 



Xov. 8 Glare, reddish fog. 



„ 24 Lurid sky The whole sky lurid. 



„ 29 Deep red glare. 



,, 30 The whole sky blood-red Singular red glare east and west 

 Dec. 2 Deep red, especially N.W. 



The first few observed gave me the idea of an auroral display 

 with (sometimes) rays wide and feebly developed, concentrating 

 towards sun's place as a centre. 



I further note that the weird glare attains its maximum bright- 

 ness about li hours before sunrise and after sunset, that it dissi- 

 pates quicker than it gathers, that a diffused (and shifting) but 



