Oct. 31, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



369 



I 



readable little book to all — and they are but too many — 

 who ref:;ard insects merely as things to be knocked down, 

 trodden on, crushed, or otherwise killed as soon as may be. 

 For the interested reader of his pages (and we venture to 

 (iredict that every reader of them will be interested) will 

 learn what real and enduring service is remicrtd to man- 

 kind by many despised and insignificant creatures, which he 

 has probably heretofore only regarded as pests and nuisances, 

 and objects for immediate destruction. In successive chapters 

 Mr. Wood treats of burying-beetles and their kin ; the 

 blowfly, and the flesh-fly ; dor beetles and their work ; 

 scavengers of the water; "blight" and its enemies ; pre- 

 daceous insect.s ; wood-boring beetles and their allies ; and 

 in a " Miscellaneous Chapter," of various other insects. 

 This little volume is suited to readers of all ages, and will 

 be perused with pleasure and profit by every one who 

 opens it. 



The, Eton Frnirh Tramlatoi: Selected by H. Tauver. 

 (London : Edward Stanford. 1884). — M. Tarver has, in 

 the work before us, made a capital selection of very hetero- 

 geneous e.\tracts from various French writers, for trans- 

 lation into English. They are of ail degrees of difliculty — 

 from the simplest narrative prose to the most technical and 

 idiomatic descriptive writing. The advantage of this to the 

 student will be appieciated by all who are familiar with the 

 present mode of conducting examinations in French for 

 military and civil appointments. 



Fareirp./l Discourses delivered at South Place Chapel, 

 Finsbury, London. By Moncure D. Conway, M.A. 

 (London: E. Waller. 1884.) — The seven sermons or dis- 

 courses which make up Mr. Conway's volume were 

 seemingly those with which he concluded his ministerial 

 career at South Place Chapel. That they are absolutely 

 heterodox goes without saying. That they are eloquent, 

 interesting, and very readable is equally undeniable ; and 

 that they contain many a pregnant passage calculated to 

 stimulate thought and inquiry, the reader will speedily dis- 

 <_:over for himself. He may, though, be warned that Mr. 

 Conway never hesitates about treading upon the theological 

 or social corns of anybody whatever. 



The Orif/in of JJan. By Edward B. Aveling, D.Sc. 

 (London : Progressive Publisliing Company. 1884.) — 

 When Dr. Aveling confines himself to the purely scientific 

 aspect of the evolution c f man, we have nothing whatever 

 to say against his little pamphlet. On the contrary, as a 

 precis of the cumidative proofs of human evolution it leaves 

 little to be desired. But he is not content with leaving 

 his indi9])utable facts to speak for themselves ; he must 

 needs interlard his exposition with small sneers at what au 

 immense majority of mankind hold as sacred. No better 

 illustration of the pettiness of these could be given than 

 that afforded by the fact that the name of the Deity is 

 spelt with a small " g " ! Were the blot to which we 

 refer removed, his little book might be confidently recom- 

 mended. 



Landlords Rights and Englishmen's Wrongs. By Alfred 

 McDonnell. (London: W. Reeves.) — Here is another of 

 the " Whole-hog " type of disputants, who, in common with 

 the Vegetarians, An ti- Vaccinators, Teetotallers, et id genus 

 omne — imagines that carrying out hi.s own " fad " is all 

 that is needful to secure the lasting happiness and pro- 

 sperity of society in this country. His assertion that land 

 (and we would here confine ourselves to agricultural land) 

 does not bear its due share of taxation, will be estimated 

 in its true light by all those who know how the charges for 

 roads, police, education, the relief of the poor, itc, &c., fall 

 one and all on the land. Should Mr. McDonnell live until 

 land in England ceases to be private property, Methuselah 

 will be a bibv tn him ! 



iBifirrllanrn. 



The Metropalitan Asylums Board is advertising for tenders for 

 lighting by electricity the three hospital ships now moored in the 

 River Thames at Long Reach, nour Dartford, and the Administra- 

 tive buildings on shore. The specitication has been prepared by 

 Dr. J. Hopkinson, F.R.S. 



M. Ml'eseler's and M. Marsaut's safety lamps have been pro- 

 nounced bj' the Committee of the Jlidlantl Institute to be, when 

 fitted with " bonnets " or protectors, the only safety lamps which 

 are perfectly safe under all condilions. The results published have 

 been determined with currents of tire-damp moving with a velocity 

 of thirty-five feet per second. 



The Quee.n has been pleased to accept a copy of the new 

 edition of the work entitled " Pottery and Porcelain: a Guide to 

 Collectors," by Mr. Frederick Litchfield, the well-known expert 

 in London pottery. That the book has come as a boon to collectors 

 of old china is proved by the fact that since its first publication by 

 Messrs. Bickers & Son, in 1880, two editions have been called for. 



To remove ink-stains from carpets, Boettger recommends the use 

 of a concentrated solution of sodium hypophosphite. Recent 

 stains should be thus easily removed, old ones must be rubbed with 

 the solution for some time. For old ink-spots, the carpet may be 

 moistened with hot water (and, if convenient, kept over boiling 

 water, and finely-powdered oxalic acid rubbed upon the spot). 

 Ammonia water should be in readiness, and the acid neutralised, if 

 the original colour of tlie carpet is affected. In the case of 

 marking-ink stains, the fabric may be soaked in a solution of 

 calcium chloride and rinsed in ammonia water. 



Snow-Watee iMPiRrriEs. — Under the heading of "' The Beau- 

 tiful Snow," the Microscope points out the kind of organic impu- 

 rities found in snow, which, added to what we recently quoted on 

 the same subject, very conclusively shows the fallacy of the idea 

 that melted snow forms a good substitute for distilled water. The 

 impurities are as follows : Living infusoria and algoe, bacilli and 

 micrococci, mites, diatoms, and great numbers of fungi spores ; 

 also fibres of wood, mouse hairs, pieces of butterfly wings, skin of 

 larvaj of insects, cotton fibres, pieces of grass, epidermis, pollen 

 grains, rye and potato flour, grains of quartz, minute pieces of 

 roofing tile, and bits of iron and coal ! 



The Royal Courts of Justice were to be reopened on Friday, 

 the 2-lth inst., but the eleccric light was not ready for use on that 

 day. It had been expected that the new machinery for generating 

 the current, in the course of erection under the Central Hall, 

 would be completed in time, and consequently the entire plant 

 previously in use was disposed of and removed by the OfBce of 

 Works ; but it was afterwards discovered that it would be impos- 

 sible to set the new machinery in motion until some weeks had 

 elapsed after the reopening of the Courts, so that the Central 

 Hall, the various courts, and the corridors had to be lighted by 

 candles and temporary lamps. 



A PAPEK was read at Montreal "On the Liquefaction of Oxygen 

 and the Density of Liquid Hydrogen," by Professor Dewar, F.R.S. 

 The problem of liquefying oxygen and hydrogen, and consequently 

 others of the so-called permanent gases, having been solved by 

 Cailletet and Pictet, the author has since been employed studying 

 the physical characters of these gases in the condensed state. The 

 critical pressures and temperatures at condensation have been 

 determined, and the relation of one to the other is shown to be 

 constant. The merits of various cold-producers th,at could be em- 

 ployed in the process were discussed. Condensed ethylene he con- 

 sidered the best, then condensed nitrous oxide and carbonic acid. 

 The lowest temperature that could be obtained bv' carbonic acid is 

 about 115° C, and by nitrous oxide 125° C. 



The Moox Eclipse. — The discrepant reports of the appearances 

 of the moon during the late eclipse, indicate a great difference in 

 the local atmosphere of various places, besides suggesting puzzling 

 questions of other kinds. At 420 feet above sea-level, in Ashdown 

 Forest, when viewed with the naked eye, Gi withdrawing tele- 

 scope, or good opera-glass, the shadow was smoky black; no 

 copper tint anywhere, and the brightest parts completely blotted 

 out of recognition. Not an outline of Aristarchns could be seen in 

 the telescope as soon as the shadow crept over it. At this height, 

 after the eclipse, the moon looked to the naked eye like a rather 

 dull comet that had lost its tail. 



The So.ng of Sixpence. — Perhaps many who often repeat " Sing 

 a song of sixpence," have never heard this explanation of its mean- 

 ing :—" The fonr-and-twenty blackbirds represent the twenty-four 

 hours. The bottom of the pie is the world, while the top crust is 

 the sky that overarches it. The opening of the pie is the day dawn, 

 when the birds begin to sing, and surely such a sight is fit for a 

 king. The king, who is represented as sitting in his parlour 



