14 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[January 1, 1897. 



Iron ore is plentiful in Sussex, -whicli, until the year 

 1720, was the principal centre of iron manufacture in 

 England, the iron rails round St. Paul's Cathedral having 

 been cast there. The fuel used was wood, but the country 

 became denuded of timber, and Parliament prohibited 

 smelting operations, the last furnace being extinguished 

 in 1828. Now it appears, in view of the development of 

 a coalfield at Dover, the re-establishment of ironworks on 

 a large scale is contemplated. 



— t » I 



A Victorian Era exhibition, under the auspices of the 

 Associated Chambers of Commerce, is to be held during 

 the present year. Its object is to bring together exhibits 

 illustrative of the progress effected in different branches 

 of British trade during Her JIajesty's reign, as well as 

 the present condition of the manufactures of the United 

 Kingdom. 



An exhibition is to be held early this year at the 

 Imperial Institute illustrating the great progress which 

 has been made in carrying on the sea fisheries of the 

 United Kingdom, the advance made in yachting, and the 

 perfection to which life-saving apparatus has been brought 

 during the sixty years of Her Majesty's reign. 



Agriculture in the West Riding of Yorkshire is said to 

 be seriously retarded through the havoc wrought by 

 sparrows, which at present fairly consume the produce of 

 the field, and are preparing for the farmers a highway to 

 bankruptcy. As remedial means, it has been suggested 

 that the old sparrow clubs shoiild be revived, a halfpenny 

 per head to be offered for every sparrow killed. 



Wm. Crookes, F.R.S., of thallium and radiometer fame, 

 in lecturing on " Diamonds" at the Imperial Institute on 

 the 7th December, disclosed some interesting facts. He 

 mentioned that the four principal mines (Kimberley) em- 

 ployed about eight thousand persons. From two to three 

 million carats of diamonds were turned out in a year, and 

 up to the end of 1802 ten tons of diamonds, valued at 

 £60,000,000, had come from those mines. In 18i»5 there 

 were found 2,135,541 carats of diamonds, realizing 

 £'3,105,058, at an expenditure of £1,701,813, and leaving 

 a profit of £1,401,145. The largest known diamond, 

 weighing 970 carats, was found at .Jagersfontein Mine, and 

 was now being cut at Amsterdam. But even diamond 

 mining has limitations, for Mr. Crookes said the mines 

 were capable of yielding more, but they were limited to a 

 certain output in order to maintain the price. 



The eleventh German Geographical Congress will be 

 held at Jena on April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The principal 

 subjects to be discussed are Polar investigations, physical 

 questions, biological geography, the topography and 

 natural history of Thuringia, and the teaching of geo- 

 graphy in schools. 



Referring to the beet sugar industry of France, the 

 United States Consul at Havre says, in a recent report, 

 the crop pays the farmer better than wheat or any other 

 agricultural product, and hence a large acreage is under 

 beets. In 1894 the area was one million seven hundred 

 thousand acres, and the production nearly eighteen and a 

 half mOlion tons, or nearly eleven tons to the acre ; fifty 

 to sixty per cent, of all this is used for the production of 

 sugar. It is said that the leaves of the plant are used for 

 adulterating tobacco. The pulp, after the juice has been 

 expressed for sugar, is eaten by cattle. 



At the London Institution, on December 4th, Mr. Fred. 

 Enock, F.L.S., delivered a most interesting lecture on 

 " The Wonders and Romance of Insect Life" as pourtrayed 

 in the life histories of some of the insects common in every 

 London back garden. The fifty illustrations shown upon 

 the screen were the handiwork of Mr. Enock, each one a 

 study from nature, showing the metamorphoses of the 

 various insects. Many of the marvellous insect egg 

 parasites have been discovered by the lecturer, who is 

 engaged upon a monograph of this most interesting but 

 neglected family. 



•-•-• 



Rumour has it that a scheme is on foot for the furnishing 

 of electric power to the city of Mexico from peat beds nine 

 miles distant. 



Some idea of the great activity of the inventive faculty 

 at the present time may be formed from the fact that in 

 the week ending November 28th the number of applications 

 for patents filed at the Patent Office amounted to seven 

 hundred and seven. An analysis of this great muster of 

 things new and, alas ! old, shows that, eliminating the 

 vast number which relate to cycles, thirty-nine aim at 

 improvements in the applications of electricity, including 

 the electric lighting of cycles and motor cars. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Zoolofjical Socieftf of London, List of flip Vertehraied Aninwls 

 now or latehi Living in the Gardens. Ninth Edition. (Longmans.) 

 Illustrated. 



Journal of the Might Hon. Sir Joseph Sanhs during Captain 

 Coot's First Voyage in S.3I.S. " Endeavour." Edited by Sir 

 Joseph D. Hooker. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 17s. 



Autohiographical Sketch of James Croll, LL.D., F.S..S., with 

 Memoir of his Life and Work. By James Campbell Irons, M.A. 

 (Stanford.) 12s. 



Botanical Microtechnique. By Dr. A. Zimmermann. Translated 

 from the German by James Ellis Humphrey. (Constable.) Illustrated. 

 12s. net. 



Practical PhgsioJogy and Hisfologg. By M. Foster, M.D., F.R.S., 

 and J. N". Lang'ley, M.A., E.R.S. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 



The Aurora Borealis. By Alfred Angot. (Kegan Paul.) Illus- 

 trated. 5s. 



Roentgen Sags and Phenomena of the Athode and Cathode. By 

 Edw. P. Tliompson. (D. Yan Nostrand Company ) Illustrated. 

 7s. 6d. 



European Architecture. By Riissell Sturgis, A.M., Ph.D., F.A.I.A. 

 (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 18s. 



Memoirs of the late Prof. Charles Pritchard. Compiled by his 

 Daughter, Ada Pritchard ; with an Account of his Theological Work 

 by tlie Bishop of Worcester, and of his Astronomical Work by Prof. 

 H. H. Tu]-ner. (.'ecley & Co.) 10s. 6d. 



The True Grasses. By Edward Hackcl. Translated from " Die 

 Naturlichen Peflanzenfamilien " liy F. Lamson-Seribner and Efiie A. 

 Soutbworth. (Constable.) Illustrated. 10s. 6d. net. 



Practical Electricitg. By W. E. Ayrton, F.E.S. (Cassell i Co.) 

 Illustrated. 9s. 



Electro-Physiology. By W. Bicdermann. Translated from the 

 Grerman by Frances A. Welby. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 17s. 



Marletahle Marine Fishes of the British Islands. By J. T. 

 Cunningham, M.A. ; with a Preface by E. Eav Laukester, M.A., 

 LL.D., F.R.S. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. net. 



Elements of General Philosophy. By Groorge Croom Robinson. 

 Edited from notes of Lectui-es delivered at the University College, 

 London, 1S70-1892, by C. A. Foley Rhys Davids, M.A. (Murray.) 

 3s. 6d. 



The Earth and its Story. By Angelo Heilprin. (SUver, Burdett, 

 & Co., New York.) Illustrated. 5s. 



The Story of the Chemical Elements. By M. M. Pattison Muir, 

 M.A. (Ncwncs.) Illustrated. Is. 



ll'ood Carving. By Joseph Phillips. (Chapman & Hall.) Illus- 

 trated. 



E.rperiments vpon the Contraction of the Liquid Vein. By II. 

 Bazin. (Chapman & Hall.) Ss. 6d. net. 



A Te.rt-Boo/c on Shades and Shadows, and Perspective. By John 

 E. Hill. (Chapman & Hall.) Illustrated. 83. 6d. net. 



