April 24, 18S5.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



357 



LETTER? RECEIVED AND SHORT ANSWERS. 

 \V. J. W. The diacram is one which can be made with such 

 ease by the student himself that it is really not worth while to po 

 to the <wst of engraving it. — M. Verbec'k. I was unfortunately 

 absei:t on that day. — Sf.nex. If you are dissatisfied with the 

 hjpothetical form of assertion tis to the origin of organic life from 

 inorganic matter, I will put it more strongly, and say that life 

 must in the beginning have originated from inorgtiuic matter. 

 There is no tertium quid between this and miraculous separate 

 individual creation, which, to employ your own words, assuredly 

 " is not science, but childish guessing." I cannot follow you in 

 yonr confusion between the relative and absolute ages of members 

 of the solar system. A Nubian girl is a woman at twelve, and an 

 old woman at thirty ; an Eskimo is seventeen or eighteen before 

 she arrives at womanhood. — W. W. STKiCKL.t.\i). Cervantes was 

 alluding to the myth, given by Pliny, that the beaver when pursued 

 for its "castorenm" (anciently so much valued in medicine), bit 

 off the parts containing it, as its hunters then ceased to follow it. 

 The absnrdity of this is evidenced by the fact that the female 

 beaver also secretes castoreuin. — Colonel Herscuel. You are 

 cariously mistaken, as you would yourself admit could you read 

 the letters of other correspondents. Assuredly 1 have never 

 gone out of my way to assail "' the Department." Any remarks 

 which have appeared in these columns have been made in connec- 

 tion with publications sent to me (presumably for honest criticism) 

 having more or less direct reference to it. "The Truth," says 

 the vulgar old proverb, " may be blamed, but it can never be 

 shamed." The way in which the National Exchequer is plundered 

 in the locality referred to is at once pitiable and shameful. How 

 long is it since the Committee of Public Accounts in the House 

 of Commons denounced the "grave irregularities" in the ex- 

 penditure there ? — Coumextatoe further points out the extraordi- 

 nary diversity of conditions under which life exists, even on and 

 beneath the earth's surface. As to the moon's age, her relative 

 age is, of course, meant. See conclusion of reply to " Senex " 

 above; also the previous one on page 314. — Dk. Lewins. I must 

 ask you kindly to accept my reply on page 33-t, as my reason 

 for the non-insertion of the fresh summary of arguments for 

 Hylo-Noeais, with which yon have favoured me. — W. Cave 

 Thomas. Many thanks. I gravely doubt, though, if I shall 

 be personally able to utilise it. — Owen Marchant. A little 

 too much like an advertisement. — John H. Raffety. Received 

 with thanks. — Pal'l Desias. The hypothesis propouuded 

 in the cutting you send scarcely comes under the head of 

 a paradox ; inasmuch as, theoretically, the tides must act as a 

 species of brake upon the earth rotating within them. Whether, 

 though, as asserted, the speed of the earth's rotation is actually 

 sensibly lessening is open to the very gravest doubt. — Society of 

 Akts. Received with thanks. — A. Kaeoly. As your MS. was 

 unaccompanied by the stamped and directed envelope needed 

 (according to our inexorable rule) to ensure its return, it was, I 

 grieve to say, consigned, with fifty others, to the waste-paper 

 basket. — J. R. Taylor. Delayed through being addressed to the 

 Conductor, instead of to the Publishers. — Planet. I regret that I 

 am ignorant how many American editions Newcomb's " Astro- 

 nomy " has run through. Messrs. Macmillan are now publishing 

 the second English one. With reference to your second query, the 

 earth must be more rigid than a globe of glass of the same dimen- 

 sions ; in fact, save for certain limited areas of fusion, must be 

 solid to her centre. These fluid or viscous patches must be rela- 

 tively near the surface. Probably, at any given depth, the rock or 

 other material is at the melting point equivalent to the pressure 

 there ; so that, if that pressure were removed, liquefaction would 

 take place. — Alex. Mackie. What is the quotient of infinity by 4, 

 by 32, or by 100,000 ?— Mrs. Nicholson asks if Mr. Mattieu Williams 

 can suggest any means of rectifying the acidity of home-made 

 ginger wine ? The delay in the despatch of the number had its 

 origin in your addressing the editor instead of the publishers. — 

 Edmcxu Mitchell. I have to thank you for your offer, but there 

 are no vacancies on the staff of this journal ; and we are inundated 

 with voluntary matter as it is. On receipt of a stamped and di- 

 rected envelope, your testimonials shall be returned. — William 

 Wtstee. The author is in the United States. — N. Delighted to 

 find that I have been able to help yoa. — Puzzled. See reply to 

 Alex. Mackie above. — F. W. H. Ton fall far short of real and 

 legitimate idealism. Destroy your iiiii:d, says the Berkeleyan, and 

 the Universe ceases to exist for you. Destroy A's mind, B's mind, 

 C's mind, and it ceases to exist for them — and so on. Destroy all 

 mind, and an objective universe ceases to exist altogether ! — 

 William Wallace. Will be sent to America. — A Suesceibee. I 

 have not the slightest idea where Morrell's Ash-closet is procurable. 

 — Uiss Ada Balli.n desires to thank Miss Rosalind Cloutte for her 

 inteiresting story (p. 335), and to invite other properly-authenticated 

 illustrations bearing on^'he subject-matter of her articles. 



i¥lis;rrllanra. 



Wk learn that our esteemed contributor. Miss Ada Ballin, in 

 preparing an English edition of M. James Darmortcher's new work, 

 "The Mahdi;" to be published shortly by Mr. I'Msher Unwin. 

 The interest of its subject in the present juncture scarcely needs 

 insisting on. 



During 1884 the inijiorts of frozen meat amounted to the enor- 

 mous quantity of GUl,324 sheep and 115,377 quarters of beef. 

 Most of these supplies arrived in " magnificent condition," but in 

 some instances great deterioration had taken place during the 

 voyage, involving heavy loss to the importers, and showing the 

 great value of trustworthy refrigerating machinery. 



On the 10th inst. the Wigan Tramw.iys Company sold the whole 

 of its remaining stock of horses. These lines have for the last 

 three years been worked jointly by steam and horse-power, and it 

 is through the undeniable economy shown by the past three years' 

 working by steam as against horses that the above resolution was 

 passed. The engines exclusively used on the system are the 

 Wilkinson type. 



Messes. Sa.mp.son Low & Co. announce that during the present 

 month they will publi.sh: — " Under the Rays of the Aurora 

 Borealis, in the Laud of the Lajips and Kva;ns," an original work 

 by Dr. Sophus Tromholt, edited by Mr. Carl Siowors. The work 

 will contain a map, chromo-lithograi)ks, and 150 views, portraits, 

 diagrams, &o., from photographs and drawings by the author, 

 including numerous illustrations of tho Aurora Borealis. 



The French authorities in Cochin China have erected overhead 

 wires across the river Mekong, posts 165ft. high having been put 

 up on each side of the river, at a spot where the width is 2,5U0ft., 

 and from these silicious bronze wires — one 'Olin., and the other 

 •055 in. in diameter — -are suspended across the stream. Over a 

 tributary of the river .another similar connection has been made 

 l,670fc. span, and more than 114ft. above flood water. The former 

 of these is a span of 040 of a mile. 



Another serious attempt has, we hear, been made to concentrate 

 and utilise existing knowledge of wind and weather-currents, and 

 the influence of the moon thereon, so as to found some scientific 

 rules for a definite weather guide. The work will be issued in a 

 few days by Messrs. Baillierc, Tindall, & Cox, under the title of 

 "The Moon and the Weather," tho author being Mr. W. L. Browne, 

 of St. Petersburg. It remains to be seen whether he will be more 

 successful than his predecessors in the same field. 



A LARGE map of Egypt and the Soudan, printed in colours, will, 

 we hear, be issued with Part I. of " Egypt : Descriptive, Historical, 

 and Picturesque," to be published by Messrs. Cassoll & Company 

 on the 27th inst. This map has been constructed by Mr. P. Weller, 

 F.R.G.S., from the latest authorities, including the Admiralty and 

 War Oflice charts and maps, and also from private information, 

 special attention being given to the districts which are at present 

 the scene of British military operations. 



The Western Union Telegraph Company dispose of 100 tons of 

 old telegraph wire every year. The average life of a wire is from 

 five to seven years, being less along the sea coast and borders of 

 the great lakes than it is inland. The wire now used for telegraph 

 purposes is generally galvanised iron Xo. 8, measuring about 16 ft. 

 to the pound. The first telephone wires were No. IG, or about 

 1-20 in. in diameter. They were soon depreciated by rust and 

 broken by ice and slight accidents, so that such fine wires were 

 abandoned after the failures of the first winter. — Engineerin'j. 



Gas AS AN EcoNOMisER of Coal. — The exhaustion of the coal sup- 

 plies of the country has been the subject of discussion in some of 

 the Manchester dailies between Mr. Ellis Lever, of Bowden, 

 Cheshire, and Mr. Thomas Newbigging, the president-elect of the 

 Gas Institute. Mr. Lever laments the waste in getting the coal and 

 in using it when got, whilst Mr. Newbigging is of opinion that the 

 coal supply is not so close upon the point of exhaustion as many 

 people suppose. Replying to this letter, Mr. Lever offers a 

 sum of £20 for the best paper or essay to be read at 

 the forthcoming meeting of the Gas Institute in Manches- 

 ter, on the subject of " Economising coal by the more ex- 

 tended or general use of gas for domestic and manufacturing 

 purposes, and for the generation of steam." Mr. Newbigging, in 

 his oflicial capacity, has accepted this offer. The subject is one of 

 vast importance, and must be carefully considered, and we question 

 whether a premium of £20 is a suSicient inducement to the pre- 

 paration of an exhaustive pa])er. We shall, therefore, gladly . 

 supplement that sum by £30 ; or, alternatively, we shall give a 

 premium of £50 for the best paper, and the £20 offered by Mr. 

 Lever might then be awarded as a second prize. — Oas and Water. 



