Dec. 28, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



397 



TRICYCLES. 



[1072] — A correspondent asks for Mr. Browning'.s opinion on the 

 Omnicycle — may I be allowed to add mine ? This year I wished to 

 pnrcliase a tricycle to onablu me to recruit health and strength and 

 to be out in the air as much as possible. I had passed through a 

 year of hard work and anxiety ; my walking powers were very 

 poor ; after a careful examination of the Omnicycle, the " Chal- 

 lenge," the " Imperial Club," and the " Cheylesmore," I decided 

 on the former, and I was delighted with my choice, and I would 

 strongly recommend it to any one who, like myself, wished for a 

 machine in the sense of a tonic. I cannot say much for speed, as I 

 contented myself with sis miles an hour ; but it was easy to work, 

 the simple up-and-down motion being a little less fatiguing than 

 the rotatory pedal movement. Then, for climbing hills, in mj' 

 opinion it has no equal. Of course, my experience is limited, but I 

 feel bound to speak highly in its favour. A Medical Man. 



THE OMNICYCLE. 



[1073] — In answer to your correspondent, Mr. J. A. OUard, I can 

 give some information, and should be glad to receive some concern- 

 ing this tricycle. 1. A rev. gentleman, on whose statement I can 

 depend, informed me that in September last, in the Scotch High- 

 lands, he did 80 miles a day with ease, and that in the week before 

 he wrote me he did 224 miles in four days on the machine in ques- 

 tion. Further, he adds : " It is a capital bill-climber ; I can go 

 down a gentle slope at twelve miles an hour, and on a good level 

 road ten miles." 2. I should be glad to receive information as to 

 the durability of the working-gear, chains, &c., of the machine 

 from any one who has had some experience of it. 



The boxes or cylinders on wliich the chains work should mani- 

 festly be covered up in some way, in order to keep the latter in 

 good order, and to keep them from wet, dust, and mud. The machine 

 has the special advantages that it can be wrought with any length 

 of stroke, has no " dead point," and that it can be started with 

 the treadles in any position. I suggested the obvious, and I think 

 necessarj', improvement of covering the cylinders and chains to 

 the makers, as I wished to see that improvement made before 

 buying ; but I received no definite answer. W. Hay. 



FIND AT BLACKFRIARS. 



[1074] — Just a word for your readers, amongst whom I number 

 one. A son of mine in his dinner-hour has wandered on the hanks 

 of the Thames at Blackfriars, and has there found many bowls of 

 the very old-fashioned clay pipes, and also specimens of what 

 appears to me to be a kind of coral. It has, as I am now looking 

 at it, a surface as follows, and the apertures descend at least 

 IJin. 



Is not this rather novel ? The coral resembles quartz more than 

 anything else. E. B. Williams. 



GROWTH OF NAIL. 



[1075] — Six weeks ago' I hurt the nail of the first finger of the 

 right hand, and having before noticed from other marks the nail 

 growing, I took means to find out the rate at which it grows. 

 It may be interesting to some of your readers to know the 

 result. I measured the distances each week from the spot to tlio 

 "quick," taking this latter as a constant position. On July 13, it 

 measured 8 millimetres; on the 20th, 6 mm.; the 27th, 4J mm. ; 

 August 3, 3 mm. ; 10th, 2 mm. ; 17th, 1 m. ; and 24th, entered on 

 a line with the "quick." 



From these data, wo find that the nail grew yb'^, of an inch in 

 six weeks, and would take, if it continued to grow at the same 

 rate, just over nineteen weeks to grow an inch, that is, during a 

 year, 2'7 inches. Robert F. Martin. 



WEATHER WISDOM. 



, [1076] — I remember seeing in Knowledge a note intimating that 

 the writer (Mr. J. A. Westwood Oliver, I think) was about to pub- 

 lish a book on " Weather Wisdom," and desiring to hear of any 

 " sayings " thereanent, of which he might not be aware. I have 

 had no means of knowing whether he has published his book yet, 

 but I wonder if he possessed " The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules to 

 Judge of the Changes of the Weather, Grounded on Forty Years' 

 Experience, to which is added a Rational Account of the Causes of 

 such Alterations ; the Nature of Wind, Rain, Snow, &c., on the 

 Principles of the Newtonian Philosophy; by John Claridge (1765)." 

 Observation Y., for instance, is " If small clouds increase— much 

 rain" ; and in the book, which contains twenty-six " Observations," 

 each witli an elaborate " Account " (often with classic references), 

 the following occurs incidentally : — • 



Janiver freeze the pot by the fire. 



If the grass grow in Janiveer, 



It grows the worse for't all the year. 



The Welshman had rather see his dam on the Beir, 



Than to see a fail- Februeer. 



March wind and May sun 



Makes clothes white and maids dun. 



When April blows liis horn, 



'Tis good both for hay and corn. 



And April flood 



Carries away the frog and her brood. 



A cold May and a windy 



Makes a full barn and a fendy. 



A May flood never did good. 



A swai-m of bees in May 



Is worth a load of hay ; 



But a swarm in July 



Is not worth a fly. 



If woolly fleeces spread the heav'nly way 

 Be sure no rain disturbs the summer day. 



In the decay of the moon 



A cloudy morning bodes a fair afternoon, &c., &c. 



Whiteinch, 1883. _ W. W. 



LETTERS RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 



B. B. — Lee Foee Brace — E. Brown. Pressure in barometers does 

 not act through the glass. — E. Cannon — H. J. Wtkes. Know of 

 none. — ^W. Gibson. The problem is this, Ha^-ing given the edge of 

 a cube, to determine by a geometrical construction with the aid only 

 of straight line and circle the edge of a cube which shall be of 

 twice the volume. Of course, any one can draiv such a line, the 

 length of which may be determined in hundreds of ways. But 

 the geometrical construction in accordance with the conditions 

 named is impossible. — E. A. F. Meteors (including falling stars) 

 are bodies reaching our air from interplanetary space, rendered 

 luminous. in theii- rush through the air. The recent sunsets due 

 probably to meteor dust in upper air. — S. A. BoYu. — S. B. V. 

 There is no reason for supposing the British nation akin to tlie lost 

 ten tribes. The paradox is an old one, and ought to be, but is not, 

 worn out. — Orrell. Know none. — J. E. Harris. Earth revolves 

 round sun, and earth rotates on its own axis. — H. Clark. See last 

 two or tliree numbers.— E. S. Maesh — Uncertain. I admit the 

 interest residing in the questions }'on raise : but it would kill 

 Knowledge if every correspondent with interesting ideas 

 about the natural and the supernatural were dealt with 

 either here or in the open part of the correspondence 

 column. It might probably kill the Editor of Knowledge if 

 he entered into such discussions, however interesting, with all who 

 invited him to do so. He must leave this to those w^ho take 

 interest in such matters, — F. C. Collin.-;. Fear no room. Do more 

 play at draughts than at chess ? — W. M. Harman — M. F. W. — Ernst 

 Grotu, M.D. Thanks ; the extracts you have kindly sent suffice to 

 show that tlie theory is bosh. — J. M. G. The moon is more drawn 

 to the sun than to the eai-th, yet the earth and moon do not part 

 company. Try the effect of considering not the actual pull of Mars 

 on a particle upon his nearest satellite, but the difference between 

 his pull on any particular particle and his pull on the satellite as a 

 whole. — J. H. Garfit. Rellocting matter high up. — Glenwarr. 

 Thanks ; but yom- observation could not be used for calculation of 

 real path. — Pax. Author could not venture advice. — S. E. I think 

 Dr. Carpenter has >vritten such a work. Image inverted. 



Letters Received.— E. A. C, S. Ingham, Squid, G. E. E. 



