July 7, 1882.] 



• KNOWLEDGE • 



97 



Ifttfrsf to tfte editor. 



K6;« for t 





of \it correnpo^dtntt. 



Atl EdtU 



[Tlu SdHer doft notko^ 

 Mt cannot undertaitt to Ti 



communiealtonx attonld bt as ihort lu fottitle, contutenttif Kttk full and clear states 

 mtnit of the writer', •■»o»iit<;.] 



■ t liould be addrtttedio He Editor (jf^jlowiMBet; 

 o Ike I'kblieicrt, at Ike OJice, "*, Oriat l^tn- 



nd Fott-OJIct Orden ekonld he made fayabU to 



Ike Editor Kill be Knmbtred. 

 « r^erring to amg Utter, viU oblige bg 

 i tke page on eckick it appear*. 



than flxit^ of opin 



"8ho» mc • n 



ha< done aothing. 



Ip^ge, tbftt mao onl 



" — Taraday 

 »bo m • 



makes no mutakes, and I will show joa 



THOUGHT-KEADISG. 



[454] — Ti.e account in last iveek's Knowiedgk cf the feats per- 

 formtd by a conjnror before the late Charles Dickens has reminded 

 me of similar feats of -nbich I was a witness at Athens in ISTo. 

 A French conjuror, whose name, I think, was Casenenve, pave me 

 a piece of paper, folded up, and asked me to hold it. He then 

 gave to one of the audience a has of lotto cuniLers, tn another a 

 Jack of cards, to a third a bag cf irory letters, to a fourth a ball 

 of string and a pair of scissors, and to a filth, a friend of mine 

 sitting next to me, a box of dominoes. At the conjuror's request 

 the first selected a number, the second a card, the third a letter, 

 the fourth cut ac random a piece from the ball of string, and my 

 friend chose a domino. When the first had chosen his number, he, 

 at the conjorcr's request, passed the bag to his neighbour, and so 

 with the others. The conjnror then asked me to open the paper 

 and to stand up and read aloud the contents, which were in French. 

 This I did. They consisted of sentences such as the following : — 

 The card chcsen will be the Knare of Clubs ; the length of the 

 string cut will be 1 metre 15 centimetres, and so on. In each case 

 the prophecy was correct. 



As before stated, the domino was chosen by my friend. 1 care- 

 fully eiarained the box and found it to contain a complete set of 

 dominoes. Uenry M. 



[There is a well-written note by Professor Donkin in this month's 

 l^\n*t€evth t'*n^uri/, endeavouring to show that the evidence given 

 by Profess" r Barrett and two colleagues proves very little. With- 

 out at all accei tirg the Brain Wave Theory, I must confess that I 

 have been led by stveral remarkable experiences, to the conclusion 

 that mind can rule mind in some way. — physically interpretable, no 

 doubt, but not as yet explained. — Ei>.] 



THE "Cur.D SXAP" IX JUNE. 



[455] — I have read a good deal in K.nowifdge about the cold 

 week in May, and have seen M. de Fonvillc's asteroidal theory 

 exploded mo^t thomnghly, and, as I think that the nlmormnl tem- 

 perature of lUth — 12th June was as much (r more marked than 

 the three days of May, 1 beg to suggest that the cause I'f the same 

 may bo fonnd in the enormous diameter of the cyclone, and the 

 slow movement of its centre, which encompassed ns, and the posi- 

 tion in it, in which we were placed at that period. It must have 

 been at least 2,< 00 miles in diameter. 



If upon your weather chart we trace back the isobar curve, which 

 is nearly alwnys coincident with the direction of the wind, to tho 

 distance of the quadrant of a circle, we shall find that the air which 

 wo received must have been, only two or three days before, driving 

 over immense tracts of ice-bonnd mountainous cnnntry, even beyond 

 the arctic circle in Norway and liussia, and no doubt driving herds 

 of icebergs into the Atlantic. 



We know that air is not warmed directly by tho sun, but by 

 contact with, and radiation from, a warm surface — generally land ; 

 that air cannot be warmed appreciably above 32° whero fnow 

 exists, and that only a email rise of temperature can take pinco in 

 passage over water; therefore, in this position, we receive tho 

 cold blasts at a temperature very little above what they left these 

 wintry regions at. 



I think in this also may bo fonnd the difagreeablenesi of thn 

 N.E. wind— tho cold air travelling over our warmer lands has ki« 

 point of saturation so suddenly raised, that it wrings the moistoni 

 out of everything, fairly burns up vegetation, and produces that 

 unpleasant feeling in the skin (really a dryness) su well known 

 during these winds. It may lo advanced aga'iijst this that it very 

 often rains from the N.E. 1 should say that on such cccasions it 

 must have started from the far north raining much heavier, aad 

 is decreasing all the way south. At such times, owing to the 

 moisture present, the objuctiouablo feeling of the skin is not 

 apparent. 



if this theory be correct, wo should always experience Encl» 

 weather upon the back of a large, well-develo[»ed cyclone, or upciii 

 the front of an anticyclone, when the centre, travelling slowly from 

 W. 10 E., passes to the north of us. J. Moksin. 



CONSUMPTION. 



[456] — Allow me to cffer a few hints which do not agree with 

 Koch's germ origin of phthisis. There are a few wril-kiiown kindx 

 of consumption, known asthe knife-orscisfor-griiders', the mineis' 

 or marble-masons', and the cotton-sorters'. In all these cases the 

 disease is duo to bieathii g troall particles of iron, coal, stone, or 

 cotton. These particles are carried into minute tubules of the 

 lungs, and there set up irritation and int!ammation by tl eir 

 presence. The sputa of these patients contain iron, coal, or stoni- 

 particles. There is also another kind cf consumption which docB 

 not come under Koch's theory, and that is fibroid consumption, duv 

 to excessive drinking of alcoholic liquids. Consumption is caused 

 by anything whiih tends to wcakin the body, amongst which im- 

 pure air may be set down as a great cause. 



Many of the present generation are carrying tie germ theory t<» 

 excess. Many medical men are afraid t f geinis as if they wen- 

 poison, and will not allow a simple wound to hial without applyii'it 

 some germicide. The healthy body is the best known antidote to 

 germs ; a germ cannot flourish there ; it is like throwing seed on :» 

 rock — it soon |erishes. [But if the body ia unfortunately n'jt 

 healthy ? — Ed.] — Voors truly, 



June 24. 18t>2. T. K. Allinsox, L.R.C.P., Ac. 



BREAK FOR TWO-WHEELED VEHICLE. 



[457] — Malvern town abounds in steep hills. The two-whecKJ 

 vehicles, from the doctor's gig to the butchers' and bakers' carls, 

 have double breaks, i.e., one to each wheel, actuated by a lever 

 similar in construction to that used on four-wheeled vehicles, applivd 

 to the back of the wheels, in a line level with the axle. U. U. 



Hay 2f>, 1SS2. 



FIELD EMETICS. 

 [458] — " As a practical thing to know (in the field), a rbargo <>i 

 gunpowder is a capital emetic — tiu it (in eirjort t-Wi)." — (lid- 

 Knowlei:cf, vol. ii., p. 8). Query— Would cot dolrmite, «1 aken 

 up with water (it wou.d not dissolve), often be of value, on acccuut 

 of the carbonate ol magnesia ? M. 



TRICYCLINO. 



[459] — Probably, many of your readers may be seriously thinkirf; 

 of procuring a tricycle, and securing exercise and change of eceni» 

 by that most excellent and delightful means. 



lo such as may be that way inclined, n few words of advice as t<» 

 adjustments, accessories, Ac, from a prac'ised cyclist may, perhaps, 

 be useful. 



I mentioned in my last letter the machine and siio of wheels I 

 have found to give me the most satisfaction, and will merely now 

 say that, whatever may be the machine selectiil, it thovid drtre hoth 

 uhet'U dirrct, without any complications, 1 lit* with simple chain* 

 with revolving ferules < n the links. 'Ihf»«' «ill le fonnd to hf much 

 more reliable than anything else, in spite t f objections in theory 

 that may be urged to the onlrary. 1 haw ridden luy mBchini» 

 some 4,lK)U measured miles since last Jnm-, and never yet had 

 any trouble whatever «ith tho chains. My atlvice is, s|x^i»lly avoid 

 all complicated mechanism, as it is snre lo ;;o wrong before long 

 when put to tho inc^^s:lnt jurnng of the roads, cr to make an 

 irritating, rattling noise. 



With a large wheel, a weak rider can snurc great ease of work 

 ing by " gearing down," i.e., by having his top rog-«hrels with 

 m<ro co):8 than the bottom ones, which gl>c8 incrca>cd power b)> 

 hills, though, if carried to excess, it much decreases the spted. 



All who wear tnaisers should ride u| on saddles — not seats. .\ 

 saddle allows the legs to hang ficcly don nwardf, and to work witlioal 



