Aug. 1, 1884.] 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



99 



ara informed that the pamphlet in question ha'5 now been distributed 

 from house to house in most of the districts in the Metropolis 

 where small-pox is epidemic, and that the demand for it still 

 continues. Something like 150,000 copies have already been issued 

 since the present epidemic began. 



The Standard says: — "The Midland Railway Company having 

 decided to offer premiums for the best-kept station gardens 

 throughout their system, a kind of Renaissance may be looked for 

 in this branch of horticulture. Other companies are not unlikely 

 to follow suit, and if flowers and fruit are to be ejects of compe- 

 tition among station-masters and porters, paint and paper, draught- 

 less waiting-rooms, and a constant regard for the comfort of their 

 passengers may, ere long, be among the objects in which chairmen 

 and directors will struggle to excel. In encouraging their servants 

 to beautify their wayside premises, the Midland authorities are 

 taking an excellent means to increase their business, by encouraging 

 passengers to travel by a line where the carriages are good, the 

 stations pretty, and everybody ready to oblige." 



Six Mo.nths' F.^ilures (in the States). — The failures for the six 

 months ending July 1 are reported by R. G. Dun <Sr Co. to number 

 5,510, as compared with 4,637 in the first six months of 1S83. The 

 liabilities amount to $124,000,000, as compared with $66,000,000 in 

 1883. That the failures which have occuiTCd are largely confined 

 to speculative quarters is shown by the fact that the average in- 

 debtedness of the parties failing in the last six months is $38,000 

 for each failure, as compared with $18,000 in the similar period of 

 1883. A higher average amount of liabilities has been reached in 

 the last six months than ever before. The agency claims that the 

 legitimate business of the country suffered no serious result from 

 these failures ; that a condition of preparation for the panic had 

 been reached, and (that the balance of the year may witness a 

 fairly profitable demand for merchandise, with results more 

 satisfactory than the first six months have shown. — Eaihcaij Serieio 

 (Chicago). 



To those persons who are continually stating that there is no 

 speed to be obtained — by orduiary riders — on the tricycle, we com- 

 mend the following facts. A X.L.T.C. rider — who does not claim 

 to be a " scorcher " (in any sense of the word), but merely a hon&- 

 fide ordinary rider, who has a vocation to follow — and who follows 

 it — but yet has the enthusiasm and good sense (like thousands of 

 others) to devote what .spare time he has to the wheel — rode, tliis 

 week, from Theydon Bois to the East of London in 1 hour 30min., 

 i7icZi(rf(H(7 10 min. stoppage at the Wilfrid Lawson Coffee Tavern. 

 Distance, 15 miles by Thompson's cyclometer, clocked by one of 

 Bennett's chronometers. All hills en route — including Buckhurst 

 Hill, which is very loose and rough — were ridden both up and down, 

 and the brake not once used. Machine used was a l>on'<-nde level- 

 geared 48 in. " Coventry Rotary" roadster. The journey down, in 

 the heat of the day, occupied 1 h. 50 m., including stoppages. He 

 had been suffering two days previously, and his M.D. ordered him 

 to take out-door exercise, and this was how he took it ; it is need- 

 less to say he is now quite well. — The Tricijclist. 



The Hudson's Bay RorxE. — A report on the opening and closing 

 of navigation at York Factory on the west coast of Hudson's Bay, 

 with observations extending from 1828 to 1880, has been communi- 

 cated by Mr. W. Woods to the Hudson's Bay Company. The latest 

 recorded date of open water in spring is June 1, the earliest closing 

 of navigation November 3. The earliest recorded date of opening 

 was May 4, the latest day of closing, December 9. There is, there- 

 fore, some six months of open water on the average in the bay 

 itself, but the communication with the bay and the Atlantic can 

 only take place through Hudson's Straits, and this passage is only 

 clear in July, August, and September, with probably a part of 

 October. Further information on this head is much needed, and it 

 is satisfactory to learn that Hudson's Bay is shortly to be 

 properly stirveved, for the question of its navigability is a most 

 important one to the settlers of Manitoba and the Saskatchewan, 

 since they can ship their exports for Europe by this shorter 

 route, instead of by the Red River and the St. Lawrence. — 

 Engineering. 



M. Pasteuk's Expekimexts ox Dogs. — The series of tests which, 

 at M. Pasteur's own suggestion, were to be made with a view to 

 confirming his theory of protective vaccination by attenuated 

 hydrophobic virus, have now been partially completed ; and the 

 result is a complete justification of the faith of those who had con- 

 fidence in M. Pasteur's statements. So far, fifty-seven dogs have 

 been made subjects of experiment under the supervision of a com- 

 mission appointed by the French Government, and under conditions 

 arranged between the latter and the illustrious discoverer himself. 

 Of these fifty-seven dogs, nineteen were already atHicted with 

 hydrophobia ; and of the remaining thirty-eight, one-half had been 

 previously vaccinated with the attenuated virus. All the thirty- 

 eight were then bitten by the nineteen rabid animals, and the result 



watched. This completely confirmed the truth of M. Pasteur's 

 assumption of protective power on behalf of the cultivated vaccine 

 matter, for every unvaccinatcd dog was speedily attacked with 

 unmistakable symptoms of rabies, ending in death; whereas the 

 protected dogs were unaffected by the injuries they had received, 

 and are still in perfect health. In order, however, to make 

 certainty positive, these nineteen dogs will be kept under observa- 

 tion for a full year, when, if they still remain healthy, it is assumed 

 that sufficient proof of their being protected will be given. — The 

 Medical Press and Circular. 



The Utilisation- of the Niagara Falls. — At a recent meeting 

 of the American Association of Civil Engineers, Mr. Benjamin 

 Rhodes described what had been done, and what might be done, 

 towards the utilisation of Niagara for electrical purposes. He 

 said : — " The power of Niagara can be estimated very approxi- 

 mately. The average flow of the river according to many careful 

 measurements is 275,000 cubic feet per second. The fall in the 

 river through the rapidsimmediately above the fall is 65 feet. The 

 height of the falls is 165 feet, maki'ng a total of 230 feet ; thus we 

 have for the whole power 7,000,000 horse-power. To utilise this 

 amount of power by water-wheels, generate electrical currents, 

 and transmit to various cities mthin 500 miles, would necessitate 

 a plant representing at least 5,000,000,000 dols. Such figtires as 

 these give some idea of the enormous amount of power here in 

 reserve." He states that on the Canadian side the entire use of 

 the falls i^» represented by a small over-shot wheel, which pro- 

 pels a pump ftimishing a meagre supply of water to the 

 adjoining village. On the American side there are five separate 

 raceways, developing in all 800 to 1,000 horse-power. After de- 

 scribing the hydraulic canal, the greatest power now in use at 

 Niagara, he says : — " Further developments of power at Niagara 

 may be made at little expense. "The hydraulic canal can be 

 deepened and widened, and wheels may be set under greater heads, 

 the total amount thus made available here being equal to the neces- 

 sities of many years. It may safely be said that the use of Niagara 

 has just begun. Low water is unknown; troubles from ice are 

 slight ; hours of use are not limited to eight or ten, but 24 hours in 

 the day, and 365 days in the year, and unlimited power is ready, 

 making this the most reliable, as it is the grandest, water-power in 

 the world." 



At a recent meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 

 observations upon the temperatures of the earth as shown by deep 

 mines were presented by Messrs. Hamilton Smith, jun., and 

 Edward B. Dorsey. At the new Almaden qmcksilver mine at 

 California, at a depth of about 600 ft., the temperature was very 

 high — some 115 deg. — but in the deepest part of the same mine, 

 1,800 ft. below the surface and 500 ft. below sea-level, the tem- 

 perature is very pleasant, probably less than 80 deg. At the 

 Eureka mines in California, the air 1,200 ft. below the surface 

 appears nearly as cool as 100 ft. below the surface. Mr. E. B. 

 Dorsey said that the mines on the Comstock vein, Nevada, were 

 exceptionally hot. At depths of 1,500 ft. to 2,000 ft., the ther- 

 mometer'placed in a fresh-drilled hole will show 130 deg. Very 

 large bodies of water have run for years at 155 deg., and smaller 

 bodies at 170 deg. The temperature of the air is kept down to 

 110 deg. by forcing in fresh air cooled over ice. Captain Wheeler, 

 United States Engineers, estimated the heat extracted annually 

 from the Comstock, by means of the water pumped out and cold 

 air forced in, as equal to that generated by the combustion of 

 55,560 tons of anthracite coal or 97,700 cords of wood. Observa- 

 tions were then given upon temperature at every 100ft. in the 

 Forman shaft of the Overman mine, running from 53 deg. at a 

 depth of 100ft. to 121-2 deg. at a depth of 2,300ft. The tempera- 

 ture increased : — 100 ft. to 1,000 ft. deep, increase 1 deg. in 29 ft. ; 

 100 ft. to 1,800 ft. deep, increase 1 deg. in 30-5 ft. ;" 100 ft. to 

 2,300 ft. deep, increase 1 deg. in 32-3 ft. A table was presented 

 giving the temperatures of a large number of deep mines, tunnels, 

 and artesian wells. The two coolest mines or tunnels are in lime- 

 stone — namely, Chanarcillo mines and Mont Cenis ttmnel, and the 

 two hottest are in trachyte and the "coal measures" — viz., the 

 Comstock mines in trachyte and the South Balgray in the " coal 

 measures." Mr. Dorsey considered that experience showed that 

 limestone was the coolest formation. 



In repli/ to numerous letters and communications 

 addressed to the office of Knowledge, its Editor hegs to 

 annoimce that he has noiv concluded his Lecturing Tour, 

 and has, in fact, definitely ceased to lecture altogether. 

 Should he {which is very doubtjul) at any future time 

 resume his lectures on Astronomy, due and ample notice 

 will he given of such res^trnption in these columns. 



