July 18, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



43 



MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE 



NLYWORDED-EXACTLYDESCRIBED 



LONDON: FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1884. 



Contents op Ko. 142. 



PAGB 

 Other Worlds than Ours. By M. 



de Fontenelle. Wiih Notes by 



Richard A. Proftor {Contituud)... 13 

 Chemistry of Cookery. XXXVIII. 



ByW. M. Williams 41 



Man and Nature 45 



Optical Recreations. (lUas,) By 



F.K.A.S 46 



Electro-plating. Till. By TV. 



Slineo 47 



The Entomology of a Pond. By 



E. A. Butler 49 



Superstition 50 



International Health Exhibition, 



VIII. {Illus.) 60 



British Seaside Resorts. I. By 



Percv Russell 52 



Zodiacal Maps. (Itlus.) By R. A. 



Proctor 5i 



The Antarctic Kegions By R. A. 



Proctor 51 



The Abeolute Capacity of a Con- 



denser 5S 



Reviews 66 



The Face of the Sky. By F.R.A.S. 58 



Design for Parlour Organ. {lUn-i.) i>8 



Miscellanea 6S 



Correspondence 60 



Our Mathematical Column 62 



Our Chess Column 64 



OTHER WORLDS THAN OUES. 



A WEEK'S COXYEHSATION OX THE PLUIiALIlY OF 

 WORLDS. 



By Moxs. de Fostexelle, 



WITH SOTES BY RICHARD A, PROCTOR. 



To MoxsiEVR L. 



TO give you, Sir, a particular account how I pass'd 

 my time in the country with the Marchioness of 

 G . . . . , would amount to a volume ; and what is worse, 

 a volume of philosophy. I know you expected entevtain- 

 ment.s of other kinds, such as dancing, gaming, hunting, 

 &c. Instead of which, you must take up with vortex's, 

 planets, and new worlds ; these were the subject of our 

 conversition. And by good luck, as you are a philosopher, 

 it will be no great disappointment to you, but on the con- 

 trary, I fancy, you will be pleas'd, that I have brought over 

 the Marchioness to our party ; we could not have gain'd a 

 more considerable person, for youth and beauty are ever 

 inestimable : If wisdom would appear with success to man- 

 kind, do you think she would do well to take upon her the 

 person of the Countess^ And yet was her company but 

 half so agreeable, all the world would run mad after 

 ■wisdom. But tho' I tell you all the discourse I had with 

 the lady, you must not expect miracles from me. It is 

 impossible, without her wit, to express what she said, in 

 the same manner she spake it : For my part, I think her 

 very learned, from the great disposition she has to learning. 

 It is not poring upon books alone that makes a man of 

 understanding. I know many that have done nothing 

 else, and yet I fancy are not one tittle the wiser. But per- 

 haps you expect, befure I enter upon my subject, I should 

 describe the lady's house, with its situation, <fec. Many 

 great palaces have been turn'd inside outward upon far less 

 occasion. But I intend to save you and myself that labour ; 

 let it suffice that I tell you, I found no company with the 

 Marchioness, and I was not at all displeas'd at it. The 

 two first days drain'd me of all the news I brought from 

 Paris ; what I now send you is the rest of our conversa- 

 tion, which I will divide into so many parts, as we were 

 evenings together. 



The First Evening. 



That the earth is a j Janet which turns on itself and round 

 the sun. 



We went one evening after supper to walk in the park : 

 the air was extremely refreshing, because that day had 

 been very hot ; the moon had been up about an hour, and 

 her lustre between the trees made a most agreeable mix- 

 ture of light and darkness ; the stars were in all their 

 glory, and not a cloud appear'd throughout the s-ky ; I was 

 musing on this awful prospect; but who can think long of 

 the moon and stars in the company of a pretty woman ! 

 I am much mistaken it that's a time for contemplation. 



" Well, madam," said I to the Marchioness, " is not tl e 

 night as pleasant as the day 1 " " The day," said she, " like 

 a fair beauty, is char and dazzling ; but the night, like a 

 brown beauty, more soft and moving." " You are generous. 

 Madam," I reply'd, " to prefer the brown, you that have 

 all the charms that belong to the fair; but is there any- 

 thing more beautiful in nature than the day ? The heroines 

 of romances are generally fair ; and that beauty must be 

 perfect, which has all the advantages of imagination. 

 " Tell not me," said she, " of perfect beauty, nothing can 

 be so that is not moving. But since you talk of romances, 

 why do lovers in their songs and elegies address themselves 

 to the night ?" " 'Tis the night, Madam," said I, " that 

 crowns tbeir joys, and therefore deserves their thanks." 

 " But 'tis the night," said she, " that hears their complaints, 

 and how comes it to pass the day is so little trusted with 

 their secrets ? " 



" I confess, Madam," said I, "the night has somewhat a 

 more melancholy air than the day ; we fancy the stars 

 march more silently than the sun, and our thoughts wander 

 with the more liberty, whilst we think all the world at rest 

 but ourselves : besides, the day is more uniform, we see 

 nothing but the sun, and light in the firmament ; whUst the 

 night gives us variety of objects, and shows us ten thousand 

 stars, which inspire us with as many pleasant ideas." 

 " What you say is true," said she ; " I love the stars, there 

 is somewhat charming in them, and I could almost be angry 

 with the sun for eflacing 'em." '' I can never pardon him," 

 I cried, " for keeping all those worlds from my sight." 

 " What worlds," said she, looking earnestly upon me ; 

 " What worlds do you mean ] " 



" I beg your pardon. Madam," said I ; " you have put me 

 upon my folly, and I begin to rave." " What folly ] " said 

 she. " I discover none." " Alas ! " said I, " I am ashamed, 

 I must own it, I have had a strong fancy every star is a 

 world. I will not swear it is true, but must think so 



