Aug. 4, 1882, 



KNOV\^LEDGE 



169 



irttfrd to tfje eiJitor. 



than fixity of opinion"."-ji,r;d<,7 »n;^tl»»g more adverse to accuracy 



done^norhSg."-i,4," """*'' "^ '^"'""' ""' ^ ""■ "'""' ^'^ " """ ''''<' ^ 



A VERT COMMOX MIND TROUBLE. 

 ■ f^^^^^Ti frequently >vh(n unuell have a species of this trouble 

 voz.. a ™dden thought to do or not to do an Tct. I rare " pav anv 

 attent.on to ,t, putting it down to biliousness. The Strang pLt"^ 

 1 repent not paring attention to it, as, had I done so some loss or 

 unpleasantness would have been averted. [Alwavs! or in certain 

 cases, which alone ai-e noticed ?— Ed.] i-niaiu 



John Alex. Ollaed, F.R.M.S. 



TEA AXD COFFEE, HOT AND COLD DRINK.S. 



[498]— A "cold water drinker" would be gla.l if any of the 



numerous readers of K.nowlfdge could inform him whedier the 



drinking of tea, coffee, cocoa, &c. 



preferable to that of water in 



enTl7t''^''''/°\"'V''^-^''°'°P'''^' ^"-^ Psychological develop, 

 weather " whetlier hot beverages are beneficial in cold 



By inserting the above you will greatly oblige, 



J. VVllLUMS, Ju.v. 



ARE TOADS POISOXOU.S .= . 



ooLtne-Jr^w''^^ " '=^S«.»'- Bernard dog which has just been 

 poisoned. He was out with my servant, and she states it picked 

 up a large toad and carried it for a few yards in its mouth, when it 

 ^^t" ^^"'!f ""^dropped the toad, 'it commenced to' foam a 



flrt;nn?» \! *7T"'.'""^ T"' ^"y •■'''''^«<^- O" y°° t'"°k this 

 actwn can bo attributed to the toad ? Thanking you in amicipa- 



' Hehbert Beowx. 



CALEDOXIA. 



[500]--Mr. Charles Stewart says in yonr issue of June IC, that 



Caledonia" and " GaidhUe dhonna" are almost identical ho 



that thfwnt?. P 7T ';°;r"* ^"'''■" ^ ''»^« always „nder;too.l 



L 'p,^r. f „^^''^°';"', ^ns derived from " Carill davin," that 



r should"^ „ , h" 7°°t'' ''"'.''" ' ■"" "''""?« "P^" '» correction, 



I si ould be glad to know the true derivation of the word 



Oaleuoma. nr tt r» 



W. H. PtAISMEK. 



THOUGHT READING AND WILLING. 

 . !^.501]-In your papers on "Thought Re.iding," Ac., I should be 

 !l tnte ^°"''l "'«'='; " ^^o'? «f '^'^"tio" »« inexperienced persons 

 as to the danger of such experiments as " Willing." I have scon 

 a good deal of such trials, and think that with some constitutions 

 they are actnally prejudicial. On two occasions I havo known the 

 persons m led to bo put actually asleep in a sort of mesmeric 

 trance, the sleep on one occasion lasting a considerable time, niui, 

 irom what I know of mesmerism bv my own experience, I havo no 

 doubt that, had any force been used to arouse them, disastrous 

 results would havo followed I have frequently known i.ersons of 

 nervous organization to be, to use an expressive term, "knocked 

 up for the rest of the day by being "willed," eapeci«lly after 

 havmg been (as IS quite possible) forced to do a certain act against 

 tncir own will. I consider that anyone meddling witli these snbitcts 

 without cvpericncc runs a considerable risk, and is decidedly pluying 

 with edged tools. T. Preston Battersbv, P.R^V.S. 



THE ARTISTIC PERCEPTION OF ANIMALS. 

 [n02]— With refer, nee to the subject of letter 472, p. 118, 

 iiiu a cat which I c-.uld throw into a paro.xysm of fear by 



gliding a gaudily painted model of a Bnmicso boat, ; 

 of a dragon, towards her. She did not 



I once 



slowly 



the form 



, - — awHy from it, but 



seemed to be fascinated— always retiring in sidelong fashion, 

 with arched back, and much " fulling" and " spitting." Notwith- 

 standing repeated introductions, she never grew reconciled to the 

 monster, and to the end of her days regarded it with horror. 1 

 think this rather strange, as the figure was ntteriy unlike anything 

 in nature, and so could not. one would think, have suggested any- 

 thing at all to tabby's mind. I should have expected her merely to 

 smell it. ■' 



I have heard it stated that a cat only looks at itself in a mirror 

 once in its bfe— that once being the first time it is given the 

 opportunity. Is this so ? J. A. Westwood Oliveb. 



CHANGE OF COLOUR IX BLOWPIPE BEADS. 

 [503]— The remarks ef Aug. W. Orr on p. 118, letter 473, headed 

 as above, may possibly mislead some of the readers of K.vowledgk. 

 A bead before the blowpipe flame is certainly a source of light. 

 ]ust as a red-hot poker in the fire is ; but after the bead ia taken 

 Ircm the flame and has cooled to an extent that it is no longer a 

 source of light, this same bead has colour, and it mau chanie its 

 colour. Plainly, then, the light rays from such a coloured or colour- 

 changing bead which reach our eyes are borrowed ; in other words, 

 we arc only enabled to see th& bead by means of its reflected light. 

 Wm. Ackbovd. 



A QUERY. 



[504]— Will " Pangul " (page 145, Dec. IG) aUow me to write to 

 him for information about 2nd B.Sc. London ? I am obliged to 

 depend on my own reading for the exam., and should be rerr 

 grateful for any information. J. H. Ward. 



Oakley-house, Caversham-hill, near Reading. 



VARICOSE VEINS AND CYCLING. 



[505]--To " A Tricyclist." Without being a medical man, I may 

 perhaps be allowed to express the opinion that varicose yeins are 

 not induced by cycling. 



The action is smooth and easy (without any jars or concussions, 

 as m walking, running, or jumping), and thus favourable to sound- 

 ness even in those who have a fendtncy to enlarged veins. 



In my own case, I feriuusly injured my knee at football, and long 

 before I could walk, even a few miles, without swelling and pain, 

 I could ride any distance at any pace without subsequent incon- 

 venience. 



Of course, a novice may over-strain himself and cause injury in 

 tricycling, but varicose reins, and even hernia, have, I beUeve, "been 

 caused by running down stairs. I know several cvclsts. sort^Iy 

 troubled m this way (not brought on by riding) who ride in clastic 



stockings «itli comfort and pleasure, some < 

 the racing path. 



1 being prominent on 

 Lacy Hillieb. 



FAIRY RINGS 



[506]— The circles of rank glass referred to by llr. W. Mattieu 

 Williams were not Fairy Rings. No one who had ever seen trna 

 Fairy Rings could have mistaken such circles of rank grass for 

 them. Fairy Rings are very frequent on steep grassy hiU sides, 

 they are common on the South Downs, and on steep places like the 

 Devil's Dyke, ne.ir Brighton, and on the sides of the Chillem HilU 

 in Beds and Herts. Who ever saw grass-cocks on such places? 

 Fairy Rings are often only a yard in diameter, but sometimes fifty 

 yards or nioi-c across. Has anyone ever seen such siiiall or such 

 large grass-cocks ? Fairy Rings ai-e often semicircular, at other 

 times ogee-curved ; I have never seen graiw-cooks of these jwittenis. 

 The rank grass round where grass-cocks havo stood is known to 

 everyone. 



Fairy rings are caused by the growth of the fungus commonly 

 known as the "Fairy King Champignon" {Mat-asmiiis Orca'lesj. 

 The rank circle of grass is caused by the decay of the prtvions 

 year's ngaric«, and every oiio who has' paid any attention to the 

 subject Well knows that the same circles incre»se in size year by 

 year. Another fungus, named Ariaricug geotropu^. causes Fairy 

 Rings of irignntic dimensions in gra.«sy places, and many other fungi, 

 largo and small, cause abnormal circtilar growths as the circle of 

 wharts common on decaying apples and pears, and the circles on 

 the head caused by the ring-worm fungus. W. 0. Smith. 



[Letters to same effect received from E. A. H., J. Pennington, 

 and othoj;*.] ° 



