Jan. 16, 1SS5.] 



♦ KNOW^LEDGE ♦ 



55 



editorial *& 02! Si I p. 



I LEAUK from the current nuiubor of the American 

 yalttralist that ignorance, bigotry, and superstition may 

 flourish as rankly under a Kepublic as under the oldest 

 Kuropean luonirchy ; and that the howl which was raised 

 by the stupidest and worst-informed of our English 

 " Ministers of Religion " against the theory of Evolution, 

 is being re-echoed from the other side of the Atlantic. The 

 Presbyterian body in the United States would seem to have 

 dismissed Dr. Woodrow from his chair at the Theological 

 School at Charleston ; to have subjected Dr. Kellogg, of 

 Pittsburgh, to " disciplinary proceedings " for daring to 

 proclaim this theory ; ami, in fact, to be driving what little 

 intellect there is in their communion out of it. 



Apropos of the way in which some men contrive to make 

 dignities " pay," I heard the other day of a scientiSc 

 luminary, who, while he was (say) Mr. Smith, was asked 

 for an estimate for certain work, which he gave. From a 

 cause needless to be entered into here, the work temporarily 

 fell through. Meanwhile, however, Mr. S. had blossomed into 

 Sir John Smith, and on being again approached on the sub- 

 ject, presented a very considerably-increased estimate. 

 '• Ah," said the man who had applied for it, " I see how 

 it is ; you charge extra for (K)night work." 



So the gentleman who really did certain photographic 

 work, so much be-pufled as some one else's (in the true 

 " Pears's Soap " style) in the Times, is to proceed to the 

 Cape to photograph the stirs .for an Atlas of the Southern 

 ( 'elestial hemisphere. W'tU, I hope that the Briti.sh tax- 

 payer will get his money's worth for his money. Mr. Espin 

 has been doing similar work admirably in Liverpool with- 

 out costing the country a single farthing — but that is a 

 "letaiL I note, too, that Mr. Woods is to continue at the 

 Cape his photographic records commenced last year in 

 Switzerland of the solar corona by Dr. Huggios's method. 

 Is the nation to pay for that, too 1 



I SPOKE last week (p. 3.3) of the possibility that the 

 earthquake waves which have been desolating i)arts of the 

 Spanish peninsula may have been transmitted in an ex- 

 ceedingly attenuated form to this country. As an illustra- 

 tion of the manner in which terrestrial concussion or 

 vibration may be transmitted, a friend resident at Black- 

 heath tells me that the explosion by which some cowardly 

 vermin attempted to destroy London Bridge so shook the 

 floor of his kitchen that his servants imagined that the 

 floor was about to sink into the earth. His house is 

 situated 4| miles from the scene of the explosion " as the 

 crow flies." 



The spurious fiddle trade, to which I referred on p. 283 of 

 the last volume of Ksowledge, would seem to be languish- 

 ing, and pseudo Cremonas to be what I believe is com- 

 mercially termed, " very flat " in the market. Here is the 

 latest advertisement which has caught my eye : 



Violin, labelled inside " Joseph Guanierius, fecit in Cremona 

 17^9." Very handsome, splendid tone, thorough condition. Com- 

 plete, with silver-mounted bow and almost new case. Take lOs. Gd. 

 for lot. Eare bargain, but no use to me. — Address I. Tay-Cummin, 

 I'ookingham, Diddlese.t. 



" Oh, what a falling off is here ! " Why, six months ago, one 

 of these Staduarius-Guarnerius-Amati violins was scarcely 

 j)urchasal)le under £1. .js., and now is offered, " with silver- 

 mounted bow and almost new case," for lOs. Gd. the lot ! 

 Why, the happy purchaser m'ght, V)y disposing of the silver- 



mounting of his bow and the " almost new case," actually 

 get this glorious old Italian instrument for nothing. 1 do 

 hope, though, that he w.iuUl not have to repeat the con- 

 cluding words of the advertisement. 



TiiK prestMit season seems calculated to inllict yet an'>ther 

 blow upon the pretty old superstition that a superabundant 

 appearance of berries pres;»ges a severe winter. U;irely has 

 there been .seen such a profusion of holly-berries as loaded, 

 and load the trees just now ; but as to the " hardness" of 

 the winter, a glance at the utterly filthy state of the 

 London streets will show how dismally the i)rcdiction of 

 that has failed. 



Ixfbifhjs!* 



SOME BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 



The Wave of Translation in the Oceans of Water, Air, and 

 Ether. By John Scott Russell, M.A., F.R.S. (London : 

 Triibner & Co. 188,5.) — This is a new edition of the 

 classical work on the " wave of the first order " by the great 

 and lamented jihysicist who has passed from us ; and 

 embodies the results of his investigations and researches up 

 to the time of his death. As is well known, it is to Mr. 

 Scott Russell that we owe the classification of waves, and 

 their distinction according to their genesis and laws of pro- 

 pagation. In the work before us, while the laws educed by 

 its author, from observation and experiment, are first shown 

 to explain the motion of the Aqueous Ocean, our author 

 proceeds to apply them to the Ocean of Air, and even to the 

 Ocean of Ether. It is probably in the latter part of the 

 work that the student of jihysics will find most that is 

 novel and startling. To attemjjt a precis of a book of this 

 kind would be futile, but its title and the name of its 

 author will prepare all interested in its contents for their 

 nature and extent. Of their interest and importance the 

 reader will speedily judge for himself. 



A Catechism of the Stcam-Emjine. By Jonx Bouuxe, 

 C.E. (London: Longmans, Green, k Co. 1885.)— This fresh 

 edition of Mr. Bourne's admirable and widely-known 

 " Catechism " is practically a new work, a large portion of 

 it having been re-written, fresh woodcuts engraved, and 

 two chapters (one on Air- and Gas-Engines, and the other 

 consisting of Useful Rules, Tables, and Memoranda) having 

 been added. Moreover, the modern theory of thermo- 

 dynamics has been fully expounded; and, directly or 

 indirectly, a large amount of information on general 

 physics imparted. Hence it will be seen that the possession 

 of former editions of Mr. Bourne's book by no meaiis 

 absolves the student from the necessity of procuring the 

 present one as soon as he ])ossibly can. It is a book with 

 which no mechanical engineer can afford to dispense, and 

 which should be upon the shelves of everyone who wishes 

 to understand the theory and practical constructirn of the 

 steam-engine. 



A Treatise on Dynamics. By W. H. Besant, D.Sc, F.R.S. 

 (London : George Bell & Sons. 188.5.) — Dr. Besant'a 

 reputation as a tutor and mathematical author would 

 naturally prepare us to expect that his treatment of the 

 not-too-familiar suV)jects of Kinematics and Kinetics would 

 be at once full, accurate, and intelligible. Nor were we 

 disappointed in the perusal of the volume now on our table. 

 His discussion of his suVject (largely by the analytical 

 method) is conducted in a manner calculated to appeal to 

 the intellectual type of the average student, the lawa 

 expounded being illustrated liy simple cases and examples, 

 which, however, gradually increase in coni[)lexity and 



