74 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Jxs. 23, 1885. 



T' rfei 



" Let Knowledge grow from more to more." — Alfred Tennyson. 



Only a small proportion of Letters received can possibly he in- 

 serted. Correspondents mvst not le offended, therefore, should their 

 tetters not appear. 



All Editorial communications should he addressed to the Editor oi 

 Knowledge; all Business communications to the Publishers, at the 

 Office, 74, Oreat Queen-street, W.C. If this is not attended to 



DELAYS arise FOB WHICH THE EDITOR IS NOT RESPONSIBLE. 



All R-mittances, Cheqties, and Post Office Orders should le made 

 payable to Messrs. Wyman & Sons. 



The Kditor is not responsible for the opinions of correspondents. 



No communications are answered by post, even THOUGH STAMPED 

 AND directed ENVELOPE BE ENCLOSED. 



THE DUALITY OF THE BEAIX. 



[15G5] — The case of Sergeant F. is extremely interesting. But 

 (page 22, col. 2, lines 3 to 6) how, may I ask, "in the absence of 

 imjiressioiis deriTcd from the sense of sight," and, " guided 

 entirely by the sense of touch," did he g.iin " the consciousness of 

 the existence" of the screen interposed between his eyes and his 

 hands ? 



Perhaps, however, the circumstance of the screpn is not cjuite 

 fully described. The " sense of touch" theory seems shaken some- 

 what by the fact that, while it was suflicicntly delicate to detect a 

 difference between ink and water in the ]icn, it was unable to dis- 

 tinguish between a walking-stick and a fire-arm. 



Whetlier by touch, or by sight, or however he acts, the theory 

 seems a reasonable one, that, in his abnormal state, he is a mere 

 automaton, his actions being only repetitions of experiences he had 

 before his accident. 



I have myself experienced some of the peculiarities of "duality" 

 which you have so carefully described. 



There is one condition of mind which causes me inconvenience. 

 I have fairly good powers of concentration, and can grasp a subject 

 quickly and completely. But the next subject I take up seems to 

 expel the old one, which requires almost as much application and 

 study, as before, over aaain to recover. My sermons of three 

 months ago have entirely escajied me. Do j'on think that the 

 Loisettian system would help me to retain them, or recover them 

 with less effort ? 



Let me conclude by wishing you every success during the current 

 year. G. M. L. 



PREHISTORIC SEPULTURE. 



[156G] — Tour correspondent " Hallyards " (letter 1556) is very 

 likely right in his surmise that there are cromlechs which were 

 originally constructed for habitation, but the following is an 

 instance of " early men" going to " immense labour for the dead" 

 alone which uinj interest your readers. 



In a neighbouring large woodland, at the edge of a deep-timbered 

 valley, a few weeks ago I observed a slight rise in the ground, 

 passed many times before during my life unnoticed. Accidentally 

 walking on to its summit, a complete circular form struck me at 

 once as artificial, and as being probably the site of an ancient 

 interment. 



On the 2tth of December last the mound was opened. It 

 measured 34 ft. in diameter, and was found to consist entirely of 

 rough stones of various sizes from the oolitic rocks of the adjoining 

 valley. The layer of stones increased in thickness from a few 

 inches at the edge to over two feet at the centre of the mound, 

 ^vhere, and towards the bottom, were many large slabs, s;me two 

 feet in length by twelve or fifteen inches broad. Some of the 

 stones had been jammed in edgewise. 



At the centre of the mound, about a foot from the surface, and 

 iying ineridianally with the head to the south, were the remains 

 of one large male skeleton. Unfortunately, exactly over it a 

 stunted birch-tree had grown, whose roots had penetrated the 

 stony covering, thereby admitting the rain and frost ; otherwise the 

 skeleton would probably have been much more perfect than it was. 

 From the concentration of the bones, I think the body must have 

 originally been laid in a crouching position. The bones of the skull 



recovered are of great thickness, and the crowns of the teeth, in 

 whicli there is not a trace of decay, are worn down quite smooth. 

 I enclose an impression in sealing-wax of one of them. 



Close by the bones, and on the west side, were the fragments of 

 a rude, brown, eartlien vessel, much decayed, being of soft, im- 

 perfectly burned clay. It had been ornamented in bands, and 

 rongh tool-marks in panels— a " rubbing" of one of which I send 

 yon. Nearby was a small disc, also of soft earthenw.are, measuring 

 i; in. in diameter, by iin. thick. It is roughly rounded, and some- 

 what resembles an old-fashioned halfjicnny. Can a primitive race 

 have thus endeavoured to imitate a coin they had seen in the hands 

 of a mere civilised people with whom they liad come in contact ? 



No flint or metal implements of any kiud were unearthed, but as 

 many flint flakes, and I believe some arrow-heads, have been 

 picked up on the adjoining farm, where other barrows of a similar 

 kind were formerly opened, I conclude this interment belonged to a 

 neolithic race. 



I m.ay add that the nearest source of supply of flints is the 

 chalk wolds twenty miles away on the other side of the Vale of 

 Pickering. 



In this burial we have an example of a rude tribe laboriously 

 quarrying some hundred tons of stones from a steep hillside, and 

 carrying them to the top, simply to form the tomb of one of their 

 revered dead. — Yours obediently, Kirkdale Cave. 



ELECTRO-PLATING. 



[15C7] — In No. ICS of Knowledge, in his article on electro- 

 plating, Mr. Slingo states that the work after having been plated 

 should be dried out and tlien scratch-brushed to remove the dead 

 surface. This is a mistake. Tlie work should be scratch-brushed 

 before drying, as water must be fi'eely used with the scratch-brush, 

 otherwise the work wo'nld be " scratched " in reality, either by the 

 wires of the brush or the bath brick whichever may be used. For 

 work that is not to be burnished, silver sand is preferable to bath- 

 brick, as it leaves a brighter appearance. 



In the event of the work stripping, if only to a slight extent, the 

 replating of it may sometimes be avoided by what is known as 

 "doctoring" it. To do this, the part where it has stripped should 

 be made smooth and level with a piece of fine emery paper, and 

 then rubbed with a little wet sand and quicked. A small piece of 

 silver, wrapped in a rag, should be connected with the positive pole 

 of the battery, dipped for a moment in the silver solution to 

 saturate the rag, and then applied to the defective portion of the 

 article, which must be connected with the neg.ative pole. A few 

 minutes will sutfice to coat it sufficiently to be burnished. 



A. J. Wright. 



[I find it preferable to dry the article prior to applying the 

 scratch-brush, which, it must be remembered, I xise in conjunc- 

 tion with stale beer, whereby scratching is prevented. — W. S.] 



AN EARTHQUAKE IN ENGLAND. 



[loOS] — Seeing that in your " Gossip" of this week you hint at 

 the probability of vibrations from the late earthqu.ake in Spain 

 being felt in England, I think it may interest you to know that one 

 night last week at 11.30, and again on the Cth at 10.30 p.m., my sister 

 and myself both felt several light shocks (unaccompanied by a 

 rumbling sound), which, though unperceived by my servants, were 

 distinctly felt by us, who have several times experienced earth- 

 (piakes in Switzerland. The shocks on the Gth lasted some seconds. 

 We live in a retired part of Worthing. 



L. MlCH.U'D (dE LA SaREAz). 



BANKRUPTCIES IN 1884.. 



[15C0] — It is a very popular error to suppose that there are 

 more bankruptcies when trade is bad than in times of prosperity. 

 It is just the reverse. The more trade the greater the speculation, 

 and the more there are to speculate ; hence more bankruptcies, 

 which a^'c the result of speculation. If the new Act has been 

 designed to prevent debtors and creditors availing themselves of it, 

 it has succeeded admirably. No person with ordinary means can 

 have anything to do with it. It is, therefore, useless to debtors 

 and creditors alike. No one (volunteers included) will work under 

 it if they can get a chance to settle without it, so that it is no 

 statistic except to show how thoroughly it is a failure. Many 

 debtors are now still debtors because their creditors are too poor 

 to put a petition on the file. Had the writer of the note read any 

 of the articles in the daily or Law papers, he would never had 

 written in praise of such a futile net. John Alex. Ollakd. 



