Oct. 24, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE . 



347 



matic) with just a faint tinge of green. As it approached totality 

 it grew a little brighter, but the green tinge disappeared and gave 

 way to the usual coppery colour. During the total phase the moon 

 was faintly visible, and both to the naked eye and through the 

 telescope appeared of a coppery colour, which colour she retained 

 np to the time I discontinued observations, the only time she ap- 

 peared green being for a short time after the commencement of the 

 eclipse." 



From Wellington College, Mr. P. H. Kempthorne writes : — 

 *' Having observed, in more than one account of the eclipse of 

 Saturday week, that the moon was said to be'invisible, or nearly so, 

 during totality, I think it may be worth while to state that here 

 the outline was visible to the naked eye at all times. The disk was 

 of a dull coppery hue. My 8^-in. mirror showed a fair amount of 

 detail. The surface, in colour, was that of a bright copper-kettle 

 somewhat irregularly tarnished by common use. The darker por- 

 tions did not altogether correspond with the darker portions of the 

 lunar orb." 



And E. C. li., from County Meath : — "The eclipse was well seen 

 here as in most places, and several observers who saw the com- 

 mencement tell me that they were unable to see the moon at all 

 when they looked for it between 9.30 and 10 that night. This 

 seems strong evidence to show that none of the light usually seen 

 on the eclipsed surface of the moon is due to phosphorescence 

 caused by its long exposure to sunlight." 



[Here, again, we have the most curious discrepancies as to the 

 visibility of the moon during totality, and the colour of the earth's 

 shadow. That some of them had their origin in local atmospheric 

 causes is pretty obvious ; but this explanation is far from recon- 

 ciling them all. — Ed.] 



iiflisircllnnra. 



Camels are, it is said, to be employed as the motive power on 

 the last section of the railway built by Russia through the Trans- 

 Caspian desert, toward India. 



It may be mentioned that on the 10th inst. a twelve-coach 

 Midland Scotch express ran clean through Bedford station before 

 it was stopped, in consequence of the failure of the leak-off vacuum 

 brake. 



It is stated that Mr. W. F. Brearey has succeeded in inducing 

 the authorities of the International Exhibitions at South Kensington 

 to include aeronautics in the programme for next year, and it is 

 probable that some experiments in balloon steering will be made. 



The Earl of Kosebery is to be the first president of the projected 

 Scottish Geographical Society, and the inaugural address will be 

 given in Edinburgh towards the end of December by Mr. H. M. 

 Stanley. The promoters of the society will aim at establishing a 

 magazine which shall be a popular record of the leading geogra- 

 phical events of each month. 



Royal A'ictoria Hall and Coffee Tavekn, Waterloo Bridge- 

 KOAD, S.E. — The committee of the above hall have been enabled to 

 arrange another series of penny science lectures. On Tuesday, 

 Oct. 28, J. W. Groves, Esq., will lecture on " Plant and Animal 

 Mimics," and on Tuesday, Nov. 4, the Rev. W. Tuckwell will lecture 

 on "A Bank Holiday on the Hills." 



The London and Xorth-Western Railway now includes four 

 separate lines laid upon 11-1 miles, and three lines upon 28 miles of 

 its railway. The Midland Company has 6G miles of four lines, and 

 21 of three lines. The Great Northern is laid with four lines for 

 24 miles, and with three lines for 30 miles. There are now over 

 400 miles of railway in England laid with three or more sets of 

 rails, and the estimated cost of the widening has been twelve 

 millions. 



At a meeting of the Birmingham Tame and Rea District 

 Drainage Board held last week, the Works Committee announced 

 that thirteen contracts had been entered into for various operations, 

 ten of which were already completed and the others far advanced. 

 Alderman Deykin stated that the Board had now practically 

 arrived at the close of their operations, and that at that moment 

 the whole of the sewage of Birmingham was flowing into the river 

 Tame in a perfectly innocuous condition. 



Lecture.s ox Saxitarv Matters. — Miss Barnett, of the National 

 Health Society, -14, Berncrs-street, W., has again started on a lecturing 

 tour in the provinces. Manchester, Carlisle, Keswick, Workington, 

 Cockerniouth, and many other towns are to be visited. Her subjects 

 are likely to prove attractive at a time when sanitary precautions 

 are more than ordinarily needed ; — " How to oppose the Cholera," 

 " Prevention of the Spread of Infectious Diseases," " Air and Ven- 

 tilation," " Good Food," " Sensible Dress," " Management of In- 

 fants," and kindred subjects, are all treated in a simple, practical 

 manner, and we cannot help wishing that such teaching could be 



constantly and thoroughly carried out in every town and village of 

 the United Kingdom. That " Prevention is better than care," is a 

 motto we should all do well to remember. 



A New CAOUTcnorc. — It is reported, says Engineering, that the 

 attention of the Indian Government has been drawn to a tree in 

 Southern India, from which largo supplies of caoutchouc can be 

 drawn. This is the " Tuchmig " of the Chinese, or Prameria 

 glandulifera of botanists. Unlike the South American tree, from 

 which the caoutchouc is tapped by piercing the bark, the gum is 

 obtained from the new source by breaking the boughs and drawing 

 it out in filaments. If the new caoutchouc is at all equal to the 

 old in insulating properties, it will form a timely discovery, for the 

 introduction of electric lighting has created an increased demand 

 for india-rubber coated wires. Indeed, several inventors have 

 lately been engaged in trying to manufacture a substitute for 

 gutta-percha and india-rubber out of oxidised oils, that is to say, 

 oils treated with chloride of sulphur, mixed with asphalte, ozokerit, 

 and other insulating substances. 



A Singular Experiment. — The Fish Culture Journal states that 

 the truth of the assertion recently made by an American authority 

 to the effect that brandy acts as an immediate means of revivifying 

 fish on the point of expiration, has been completely vindicated by 

 Mr. W. Oldham Chambers, secretary of the National Fish Culture 

 Association, who conducted an experiment in the presence of 

 several gentlemen at South Kensington on the Ist inst. Taking 

 two Prussian carp from the tanks of the Aquarium, he deposited 

 them in separate dry cans, adorning one with blue ribbon to 

 distinguish it from the other, which was selected for the ad- 

 ministration of spirituous liquors. After a lapse of four honrs 

 the fish were placed in water, evident signs of expiration being 

 apparent in both cases. A small quantity of brandy and 

 water was then given to the carp selected for the imbibi- 

 tion of intoxicating liquors through the medium of a feather, 

 and no sooner was the fish replaced in water than it was quickly 

 restored to vigour and strength. The carp enlisted under the 

 banner of the " Blue Ribbon League" to all appearances died half 

 an hour after its more fortunate associate, and was taken out of 

 the water and thrown on the ground. About four hours later, 

 however, the fish was picked up by Mr. Chambers, who observed 

 it by appearance to be in rigor mortis. He at once operated on 

 the seemingly inanimate fish by opening its mouth and pouring a 

 dose of brandy and water down its throat and again putting it in 

 the water, when, to his astonishment, he noticed slight signs of 

 animation. For five minutes the unfortunate object of the ex- 

 periment floated helplessly on its side, when presently, to the still 

 greater amazement of Mr. Chambers and those who watched the 

 experiment, it gradually asserted itself in the water, and with con- 

 siderable effort made use of its fins — feebly at first, but afterwards 

 energetically. Both the resuscitated fishes, who show no signs of 

 their late prostration, are now in the tanks as usual. [These experi- 

 ments, however, although remarkable, are not altogether new, 

 similar ones having been performed by the authorities of the 

 Brighton Aquarium. — Ec] 



Railroads of the United States. — The seventeenth annual issue 

 of " Poor's Railroad Manual," which has just appeared, fully main- 

 tains the high reputation heretofore attained by this publication. 

 It is a complete compendium of information touching the railroads 

 of the United States, giving their length, equipment, share capital, 

 funded and floating debts, cost of roads and equipment, traffic 

 operations, earnings and payments, <S:c. All who have investments 

 in such property, or w^ho think of thus employing their means, 

 cannot fail to do so with a better understanding after looking over 

 the facts presented in this volume. There were 0,753 miles of rail- 

 road built in the United States in 18S3, making a total length of 

 121,592 miles of road built up to the 1st of January last. America 

 has nearly half the railroad mileage of the world, Germany, Great 

 Britain, France, Russia, and Austria following next in order, but the 

 length of American railroads considerably exceeds that of all the 

 European lines combined. The total amount of liabilities of American 

 railroads, on account of stock and debts, is now 7,495,471,311 dols. 

 — an enormous amount, certainly; but it appears that their net 

 earnings for 1883 were 4'49 per cent., which is an extremely good 

 average, when it is remembered how largely their stocks 

 and bonds have been watered. The "Manual" estimates the 

 actual cost of these railroads at only about one-half of the amount 

 of their funded and floating debts, and that they are thus really 

 paying an annual interest equal to 9 per cent, of their cost. The 

 railroad freight transported in 1883 amounted to 400,453,439 tons, 

 the value of which, at only 25 dols. to the ton, would have exceeded 

 10,000,000,000 dols. The total length of all tracks was 149,183 

 miles, of which 78,491 miles were laid with steel rails. The number 

 of locomotive engines emploj-ed was 23,823 ; of freight cars, 

 748,661 ; of passenger cars, 17,899 ; of baggage, mail, and express 

 cars, 5,948. 



