Aug. 29, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



185 



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SUNFLOWERS. 



[1371] — Mr. Grant Allen, in his article on " Sunflowers," men- 

 tions the scaly bracts which, he says, serre as a protection to the 

 unopened flower-bnds, but mates no reference to the secretion 

 which appears at the apex of each of these bodies. Having had 

 several sunflowers under my observation during the present season, 

 I should like further infortaatiou on the subject. What is the 

 nature and purpose of the substance secreted ? Is it gum ? 



Will the author of the article also answer the following questions 

 for the benefit of the readers of Knowledge .' — 



What causes the contraction of the fUamerts which draw the 

 united anthers within the tube of the corolla after the pollen has 

 been shed ? 



What is the action of the style after fertilisation ? 



Robert Paulson. 



YISIBILITV OF THE DIRECTION OF A FLASH OF 

 LIGHTNING. 



[1372] — Having just now read " The History of a Lightning 

 Flash," which appeared in your issue of the 15th, I am induced to 

 ask space in your columns for a narrative of facts which may 

 possibly interest some of your readers. One day, about mid- 

 summer (in the year 1S42), I was standing — along with four others 

 who have since passed over to the majority — on the deck of a 

 yacht, at no great distance from St. Anne's Head, Isle of Man, 

 watching the progress of a thunderstorm, which had just before 

 passed over our heads from the S.S.E., and from which our escape 

 had been a narrow one. For some time nothing remarkable 

 occurred ; but ere long I suddenly called out, " Did you see that ?" 

 to which, with one voice, the answer was " Yes." And if it had 

 not been " Yes," I should most certainly have disbelieved my own 

 eyes, knowing well, as I did even then, that the eye is " a deceitful 

 member — very." What then, think yon, did we see ? Simply the 

 establishment of an electrical equilibrium between two clouds ; 

 but that was effected by a flash of lightning striking the top of 

 South Barrule HiU (towards which the storm had passed from 

 where we were), and rising out of that of Snaefell, which lay 

 several miles towards the N.E., and so was not in the track of the 

 storm. It is almost needless to add that from that moment to the 

 present I have never doubted that the direction taken by a flash of 

 lightning is perceptible to the sight ; though, of course, others are 

 at perfect liberty to think otherwise if they please. — W. A. 



IS TEA INJURIOUS ? 



[1373]— Will Mr. Williams say whether he thinks tea may not be 

 drunk in moderation (say two cups in the evening) with immunity, 

 unless, indeed, the contrary only is to be inferred from his article 

 (" Chemistry of Cookery," page 128). What are the effects pro- 

 duced by the use of the noxious herb and the symptoms of the 

 mischief wrought ? I enjoy my cup immensely, and experience all 

 that Mr. Williams describes, especially the " fit for anything " 

 condition, without, however, being aware of any ill effects (and is 

 this without its value ?), but would relinquish the habit (not without 

 a pang) on the advice of so eminent an authority. With thanks in 

 advance, A. Gaubekt. 



THE PREVENTION OF SMALL-POX BY VACCINATION. 



[1374] — The cases of salvation through vaccination in the 

 extract from the Medical Press and Circular cited in Knowledge, 

 give neither names, dates, nor any means of authentication, and, 

 if correctly reported, may, I venture to say, prove nothing to the 

 point. No opponent of State-enforced medical prescriptions believes 

 that the omission of vaccination affords immunity against small- 

 pox. What they maintain, however, is that there is no scientific 

 evidence that vaccination affords such immunity. The recent 

 devastating small-pox epidemics amongst the well-vaccinated 

 populations in Sunderland, Liverpool, Birmingham, and London 

 ought to settle the question to every unprejudiced mind ; but the 

 bulk of the population are not unprejudiced, and fail, therefore, to 

 recogm'se the force of facts that run counter to popular theories. 

 It may, however, interest some of your readers to learn that this 

 important question has, during the past few years, been carefully 

 investigated by a distinguished scientific observer. Dr. Alfred 

 Russel Wallace, whose memoir on the subject is now in the press, 

 and who summarises his conclusions as follows : — 



1. That vaccination has not saved a single life ; this not being an 

 opinion, but a fact proclaimed by the Registrar-General's own facts 

 and figures. 



2. 'That vaccination does not diminish small-pox mortality — 

 demonstrated by the same official facts, and by the record of small- 

 pox deaths of our re-vaccinated and "thoroughly protected" 

 soldiers and sailors. 



3. That, while utterly powerless for good, vaccirLatiou is a certain 

 cause of disease, and death in many cases, and is the probable and 

 almost certain cause of about 10,000 deaths annually by five painful 

 and disgusting diseases, which have increased to this extent since 

 vaccination has been officially practised and enforced. 



In the presence of such weighty testimony, it is surely not too 

 much to ask the medical profession at whose instigation these com- 

 pulsory laws have been enacted, to do what in them lies to retrace 

 their steps, and to petition Parliament for their immediate abroga- 

 tion. The Imperial Parliament of Germany, unable to resist the 

 accumulation of testimony showing the futility of vaccination as a 

 prophylactic, and its pernicious effects on the public health, has 

 recently appointed an Imperial Medical Commission to investigate 

 the question de noro. It may not be generally known that nine of 

 the Swiss cantons have already abolished compulsory vaccination, 

 with the result of an important diminution in infantile mortality. 



William Tebb. 



[I insert Mr. Tebb's letter in what he himself calls " the interests 

 of public health and fair play"; albeit, his idea of "fair play" 

 would seem to be the attribution of disingennonsness and moral 

 perversity to all who differ from him. That the iledical Press and 

 Circular may have suppressed names for fear of giving pain to the 

 survivors of the unfortunate creatures whose lives were sacrificed 

 to the Anti-vaccination craze, appears never to have occurred to 

 him. No one who is not monomaniacal on the subject can shut his 

 eyes to the patent fact of the immunity of the well-vaccinated 

 officials of the small-pox hospitals from the fell disease with which 

 they are surrounded. As for Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace's opinion 

 on the subject, it must be taken quantum valeat. As a natural 

 historian and as the independent co-discoverer with Darwin of 

 evolution his name must command universal respect. As the author 

 of " Miracles and Modem Spiritualism" he . . . but I do not wish 

 to say anything hurtful or offensive of a man for whom I entertain 

 both admiration and esteem. I have no more doubt that vaccina- 

 tion has saved hundreds of thousands of lives than I have that I 

 am writing these lines. — En.] 



SHIPS' LIGHTS. 



[1375] — As a constant reader of Knowledge, your articles 

 " Sent to the Bottom" have been to me, as all others always are, 

 interesting as well as instructive. With regard to the lights you 

 propose ships should carry, the opinion and ideas of one actually 

 concerned in their importance may not be without value and sig- 

 nificance to your readers. 



In the first place, your plan appears to be open to one very 

 serious objection — the lights would be too numerous about a ship's 

 deck. I think all who follow the sea will agree with me that the 

 fewer lights carried, and the more simple their disposition is made, 

 the better. No method of placing lights on board ship is absolutely 

 safe, except in the iron lighthouses now in great use in steamers. 

 The exposure in other cases often causes their total extinction by a 

 heavy sea at a critical moment ; and your plan would require six 

 lights, three on each side, the lighthouses for which would be too 

 much in the way of working ship. Again, in narrow channels 

 crowded with shipping, the multiplicity of lights would be simply 

 bewildering. Vour remarks about fixing the fine, parallel threads 



