38 



♦ KNO\A^LEDGE ♦ 



[July 11, 1884. 



blown up 'tvvo)iIdn't shake ivo like tin's. It's something wuss ! " 

 And for the panic that ensned, all who, like the writer, liave made 

 a pilgrimage through only part of the alilicted district, must own 

 there is ample reason." — " CusscU's Family iTct<ja'^ine " for July. 



We are glad to notice conspicuous examples of boldness among 

 our lay contemporaries in their discussion of and dealing with the 

 burning question of vivisection ; notably, the Illust7-uted London 

 Neirs recently devoted a whole pcge of matter and illustra- 

 tion to the humane and deeply interesting experiments of I'asteur, 

 ■whose efforts to prevent human suffering and save human life are 

 so well known as beyond all praise. At any rate they are far 

 beyond the hysterical bowlings of the class of the Cade and Jesse 

 school, and of whom the Dispatch writes : — " We should remember 

 that the sufferings of men and women are quite as acute, and 

 accompanied with more mental anguish, than those of the inferior 

 animals, and, no longer confining our sympathy to dogs and cats, we 

 should take care that nothing in our Statute-book lessened the 

 chance of alleviating human pain and lengthening the duration of 

 healthy lives. The subject of wanton cruelty either to dumb 

 animals, or children, or helpless women, should he legislated for on 

 totally different grounds from those on which we proceed in the 

 case of useful scientific experiment. It is an insult to include 

 amongst the possible occurrences of such a crime the work of a 

 great physiologist seeking the discovery of new truths. The Act 

 of 1876 has resulted in almost extinguishing original physiological 

 research in this country. This must be recognised by the thoughtful 

 politicia'i as a very great cruelty to present and future human 

 beings suffering from diseases as yet but little understood." — 

 Mectical Press a7id Circular. 



Running away from a Rux.\way Engine.— A curious and very 

 nearly a disastrous collision occurred on the Rock Island and Peoria 

 Road recently. The engine of a gravel train got off the track near 

 Coal Valley, a station about fourteen miles from Rock Island. A 

 wrecking train wa.s sent out from (ialva to get the engine on the 

 track again. Passenger train No. 2, going to Peoria from Rock 

 Island, met the disabled engine first, and after considerable work 

 the track was cleared. The train then started on, but had not 

 got far, when the wrecking train was met on a sharp curve, the 

 engine to which was backing up. Both engines were reversed as 

 quickly as possible, but the trains came together with quite a 

 shock. The passengers were badly shaken up, but no one was 

 seriously hurt. The engineer and fireman of the engine attached 

 to the wrecking train had jumped to the ground, and when the 

 collision occurred the tank became detached, while the rest of the 

 engine started forward at a terrific rate, the engineer having pulled 

 the throttle wide open before he jumped. Passenger train No. 1 

 from Peoria was about due as the wild engine started down the 

 track directly towards it. Both engines, however, approached on a 

 straight track, and the engineer on the passenger train reversed his 

 engine and started on the back track, closely followed by the wild 

 engine. The chase was kept up for several miles, until the steam 

 finally gave out on the runaway engine, and it was captured. Thus 

 two narrow escapes from a fearful collision occm'red in a short 

 space of time. — Railway Review (Chicago). 



Weights and Measures Conference. — One of the latest organi- 

 sations fornied for the purpose of furthering the knowledge of the 

 public on .scientific and technical subjects is that known as the 

 British Association of Inspectors of Weights and Measures, whose 

 annual conference opened in Glasgow on Tuesday of the present 

 week. Bailie Fullarton, of Greenock, presiding at the first sitting. 

 One of the subjects discussed was embodied in a resolution pro- 

 posed by Mr. Walker, of Glasgow. In that resolution the Asso- 

 ciation resjioctfully submitted, to the Board of Trade that they did 

 not consider it at all necessary, and certainly not desirable, that a 

 new standard weight of 1121b. should be legalised, and for the 

 reasons that it was so near in size to the central or 100 lb. weight, 

 and in consequence liable to be used fraudulently : that any on 

 requiring such a large weight could use the already legalised 

 central ; that if a concession was to be made to one business the 

 Board of Trade could not consistently refuse to grant a special 

 weight to any other business ; and that the concessions asked for 

 by the ironmasters, if granted, would destroy the main principle of 

 the V.'eights and Measures Act of 1878. Mr. Walker stated that there 

 were already ninety-four standard weights at present in use. The 

 secretary of the Association, Mr. Wimhurst, Manchester, dealt with 

 the inspection of the weights and scales used in post-offices, which 

 was considered to be not only desirable but absolutely necessary 

 for the protection of the public. Mr. Pickering, of Sunderland, 

 drew attention to the vagaries which distinguish the manufacture 

 and stamping of ordinary commercial weights, and at the afternoon 

 sitting of the Conference Mr. Shaw, of Edinburgh, read a paper 

 entitled " Observations on the Weights and Measures of Apothe- 

 caries and the Necessity existing for Exactness, and for Comparing 

 and Verifying the Same." — Engineering. 



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



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AND directed ENVELOPE BE ENCLOSED. 



SAVAGE NAMES. 



[1331] — The superstitions about names mentioned by Mr. Clodd 

 (Knowledge, June 27) were shared by the Aryans of India. I am 

 many miles from a copy of a Brahmana, but, either in the Aitareya 

 or the Satapatlia Brahmana, we find that Indra had a name which 

 (like Air. Clodd's savage friend) he would not divulge. When 

 Indra fiod after the slaying of Vrittsa (as ApoUo fled rfter slaying 

 the Python), he was in such an abject fright that he dropped hie 

 name from his lips involuntarily. In other respects, the results of 

 his terror were exactly like what Odin experienced when he flew 

 away with Suttung's mead. ' A. Lang. 



COLOURS OF CLOUDS. 



[1332] — I should feel obliged to any of your readers who wonld 

 give a satisfactory explanation of a singular appearance which 1 

 witnessed one afternoon last week, and which I can remember to 

 have noted on several occasions in past years, though not, I think, 

 recently. The day was one of especial clearness and beauty, with 

 a gentle breeze from W. or N.W., and scarcely a cloud, except a 

 few of light texture and very small dimensions, floating at a low 

 elevation near the N. horizon. There was nothing remarkable 

 about these except their peculiar colouring, which was of a brownish 

 grey, as though they had lain in shadow instead of being in tho 

 fullest solar illumination. One of rather greater dimensions and 

 apparent consistency showed a whiter and more luminous centre, 

 but its edges in every direction, above as well as below, were of the 

 same sombre tint as its neighbours. I must confess ray inability to 

 understand how the vapour of water, which under ordinary circum- 

 stances is only visible by its pure white reflection, should assume 

 so shadowy a hne, though perhaps the difficulty is no greater than 

 that ])resentod by the coppery tone frequently exhibited by portion.") 

 of a thunder-cloud. T. W. Webb. 



ACABINA AND ORIBATIDJB. 



[1333] — Mr. Slack's very pleasant and interesting little article on 

 the Ixodid(e, in yonr number of June 27, contains an eiTor which 1 

 may as well correct, although it is probably a mere slip of the pen, 

 because it might mislead others who are not so well acquainted 

 with the organisation of the .4W/iropodcB as the author of "Pond 

 Life " is. 



In the article in question I am credited with doubting the re- 

 spiratory functions of the so-called stigmata of the Acarina, and 

 with supposing them to be sense-organs. This would be correct if 

 the word Orihatidce were substituted for ,4carinn, but my observa- 

 tions are confined to the Oribatidw, and do not apply to any of the 

 other numerous families of Acat'inn. It must not be supposed that 

 I, for a moment, deny that the Oribatidre possess stigmata, like 

 other tracheate creatures; all I assert is that the conspicuous organs 

 on the dorsal part of the cephalo-thorax of these tiny beings are not 

 the stigmata, and are not connected with the tracheae, but that 

 these are sense-organs, and that the real stigmata, from which the 

 tracheir arise, ai-e situated in the acetabnla (basilar cavities) of 

 the legs. Albert D. Michael, 



