Jax. 9, 1865.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



33 



etiitorial »go6£Jip. 



Since the second paragrnph in this Gossip, on ]\ li* was 

 ■written 1 grieve to hear thut the subject of tlic l>rilliant 

 operation there referred to has died. Inasmuch, liowevcr, 

 as his death was uot referable to its performance, tlie moral 

 to be derived from the whole history is in no way 

 invalidated. 



Os' the first day of the present year the Astronomer 

 Eoyal commenced the experiment of beginningthe astronomi- 

 cal day at the same instant as the civil day, i.e. at the stroke 

 of midnight of Dec. 31, 18S4, instead of, as heretofore, 

 at noon on Jan. 1. This was, of course, done in compli- 

 ance with the decision come to by the International Prime 

 Meridian Conference, on Nov. 1, ult. The second recom- 

 mendation of the Conference, that the hours should bo 

 reckoned uninterruptedly from Oh. to 2 Ih. had (as is pretty 

 well-known) long previously been adopted at the Royal Obser- 

 vatory, the public dial at which has for some years indicated 

 time in this fashion. It is much to be desired that 

 this method of counting the hours should come into 

 general use : which it certainly might do at com- 

 paratively little cost and trouble. The sole alteration 

 absolutely necessary in our exi^ting clock and watch faces 

 ■would be the painting of the hours 13, 14, 15, 10, &c., 

 under (or over) the 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. I cannot help 

 thinking that any enterprising watchmaker who would 

 undertake either to supply fresh dials or alter existing ones, 

 as suggested, at a cheap rate, might benefit himself, as 

 well as the general public, very materially in this way. As 

 for the cotwenience of the 24-hour reckoning, and the 

 comparative immunity it affords from all chance of mistake, 

 only those who employ it can appreciate it. Notably 

 would it simplify " Bradshaw " (and other work.s in which 

 time-tables form an element) very mateiially indeed, the 

 attempted distinction between a.m. and p.m. in main-line 

 trains being most confusirg. It is .surprising how soon the 

 seeming oddness of the numeration wears off. I have no 

 doubt that in a sinsle week's time it would t-ecm as natural 

 to people to talk of dining at 19h. 30m. as it now does of 

 breakfasting at nine or lunching at half-past one. 



It may be only a coincidence, but it struck me as odd 

 to read of four consecutive accidents in different parts of 

 England from the fall of rocks in quarries, hajipening con- 

 currently with the terrible earthquake disturbances in Spain. 

 May it not possiVjly be that the vibrations or undulations 

 set up from the original centre of disturbance travelled 

 across this country in so attenuated a form as to be imper- 

 ceptible to the senses of those not specially on the watch 

 for them, and yet with sutficient force to loosen fissured or 

 overhanging strata 1 



I SEE that a Committee has been appointed to consider 

 the question of the design and printing of the whole 

 series of British postage stamps. As they must, almost as 

 a matter of course, recommend a very consideraljle altera- 

 tion of the present unmeaning serie.^, hard enough to dis- 

 tinguish in daylight, and indefinitely more so by lamplight, 

 it is greatly to be hoped that they will urge upon the 

 authorities the wisdom of engraving a portrait of the 

 Queen upon the fresh issue. Why should we go on falsi- 

 fying history, by sending forth to the world the picture of 

 a girl of nineteen, as the likeness of a lady who is a great- 

 grandmother ! ? When we hear of a semi - barbarian 

 Emperor having it announced that he has tat down to 



meat, and that now all other earthly rulers may go to 

 dinner, we laugh at the savage and worse than childish 

 conceit which prompts the jtroclamation. Do the oll'icials 

 who are responsililo for the present tjueen's head upon our 

 stani]>'<, appeal — or try to appeal — to a similar barmaid 

 typo of v.inity in their Sovereign, by representing her of 

 the same age as her own grandchildren 1 



I HAVE received a jiapcr by Messrs. Balfour Stewart and 

 W. Lant Carpenter, which was read before; the Royal 

 Society on May 1, ISSl, entitled, "A Comparison between 

 apparent In( (lualities of Short Period in Sun-spot Areas 

 and in Diurnal Temperature Ranges at Toronto and Kew," 

 in which the authors exj)rei-s their conviction that some evi- 

 dence exists that " Sun-spot ineipialities around 21 and 2C 

 days (whether apparent or real), seem to correspond closely 

 in period with terrestrial inequalities as exhibited by the 

 daily temperature range at Toronto and at Kew." That the 

 results differ strangely for the two stations is scarcely 

 worth mentioning ! ; and I can only say that were I a 

 magistrate, I should be very sorry indeed to send a tramp 

 to gaol for a week's hard labour upon such " evidence " as 

 Messrs. Stewart and Carpenter adduce. Their report, 

 however, was originally made to that most paltry scientific 

 sham, the " Solar Phy.sics Committee " ; which must con- 

 tinue to give some raison d'etre, or the money grant to it, 

 of which the wretched tax-payer's pocket is annually picked, 

 would, perforce, be withdrawn. 



iKtbieUiS* 



SOME BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 



Slate Measures for the Prevention of Poverty, War, and 

 Pestilence. By a DocTori op Medicine. (London : E. 

 Truelove. 1885. ) — Our author's ideas as to the best method 

 of stemming the tide of poverty which is fiouding tlie land 

 are, in effect, those of that unjustly maligned and much 

 misunderstoo<l author, Malthus ; and are certainly practi- 

 cable, which is more than we can say of his suggestions 

 for the abolition of war — at all events, until an absolutely 

 radical change occurs in human nature. His essay on the 

 extinctinn of infectious diseases demands, and will repay, a 

 careful perusal. 



The Art of Leather Manvfaeture. By Alexander 

 Watt. (London : Crosby, Lockwood, k. Co. 1885.) — 

 Here is another of Mr. Watt's technical handbooks, dis- 

 dinguished by that thoroughness and completeness of treat- 

 ment which characterised his "Art of Soap-making," ihat 

 we reviewed on p. 312 of our last volume. After a short 

 preliminary historical sketch of the art of tanning and 

 leather-making, our author enters into the chemical theory 

 of the former ]iroccss ; describes the anatomical structure 

 of the skin ; gives a detailed account of the various kinds 

 of hidts and skins which are tanned; and discusses the 

 materials employed, as a preliminary to a very full descrip- 

 tion of every known method of tanning. He then proceeds 

 to leather-making, currying, embossing, and fell-mongeriiig ; 

 the making of parchment, vellum, and shagreen ; describes 

 gut-dressing and glue-boiling; treats of the utilisation of 

 tanner's waste ; and concludes the volume with a number 

 of useful tables and a capital index. The work is at present 

 unique in the technological literature of the subject on 

 which it treats. 



Aids to Long Life. By N. E. Davies, L.R.C.P., Ac. 

 (London : Chatto k Windus. 1885.) — How much length of 

 life is a matter of Hygiene, the returns of the Registrar- 



