170 



• KNOWLEDGE • 



[Ace. 4, 1882. 



:^ii5Uifi5j to CortTSpontifnt* 



2 l.tlm mi I 



'"E^}. 



tkt hailorjor corrrtfomlfHfi 

 iff corrffpoHdeiiU be qicen in 



rfftremct ikomlj b* made I 



4. Each teilrr iXotlJ tii 



umber, the pnge oh r*ic 



H. J. UAinK. Von cannot pet over the diffioultj- tlint way. 

 The photograph bIiows the comet just as it would have bei'n scrii. 

 Now wherever the comet was, a Btrai'Kht lino from tlio s<in to the 

 comet's head, proiluced so as to give tlio nsual direetion of Iho tail, 

 would be 80t>n as a straif^ht line. In other words, if the direction of 

 the comet's tail had been exactly from the sun, the tail would linvo 

 te«med to extend directly from the snn. Set n ^'lobc soniowhero to 

 r«>pres«>nt the sun ; at any distance from it fix a strnipht rod aimed 

 <80 to siieak) dirci'tly at the glolx-'s centre. Now see if you can 

 find any spot from which when you look at the rod it will not seem 

 directotl apivirently etraijrht towards the Rlolie's centre. Or pet a 

 (ihotopraph phowinn it otherwise (if you can). — E. SI. Kixo. Very 

 k'liid to be of use — S. Baubkk. Will, if jmssible, insert the article iii 

 whole or in part : but if not, pray consider that our poverty (of apace) , 

 not our will, forbids.— IUllvakps. (1.) .\m not acipminted with 

 the rules of I.00. If anything was gained by the fre(|uent turning 

 of nine of diamonds, should think the person who turned it open 

 to suspicion. (2.) The laws of probability cannot bo applied to 

 the case of selection of names for novel. Odd coincidents must 

 ari^e where there are a great number of events ; and wo note such 

 coincidences when they occur, as you noted the publication of a 

 novel named " lialf Skirlimgh " when yon had yourself written 

 one to be called " Ralph .'Jkirlaw." Captain Marryatt camo 

 near having to fight a duel on account of his novel' " Master- 

 man Beady," because a Mr. Mastcrman Ready, quite erroneously, 

 ■opposed the book was named after him. (3.)' I was much pained 

 to learn that any answer of mine had hurt you so much that it 

 seemed as if life were no longer worth living, "and turned over the 

 back numbers to finil the answer you referred to, with the painful 

 consciousness that— if so — " my ' banter ' must," indeed, have been 

 "tickling with a red-hot poker." I was rather relieved to find — 

 p. 482, col. 2 — that my fearful sledge-hammering, vitriol-throwing, 

 •oul-crushing rejoinder, had been simply worded thus : " AVill you 

 excuse me if I hint that you have evidently much more leisure 

 than I have ; if enc corresijondent in twenty wrote at such length, 

 what could a poor editor do ? " Surely that ought not to 

 have produced so painful an effect. I do not sec where 

 the red-hot poker comrn in. I'roperly to reply to and 

 c->mment upon a letter which ran to four quarto pages, 

 closely written, required more time than I could spare, and I said 

 so, |>oliUl7 enough as I thought. Do you not see that the more 

 clearly I indicated my inability to answer you as I could have 

 wished, the more fully I showed what my wish was? 1 hope others 

 who think me vitriolic, sledge-hammer}-, and red-hot-pokei-j-, have 

 no juster reason for complaint.— .V FiKTV-yivK Vk.4R.s' Old "XAxtVK 

 or New Zoi.a.vd. " In what direction is the resultant force 

 generated by the varioiu motions of the earth expended I- " The 

 various motions of the earth, resulting from the various forces to 

 which the earth has been subjected, cannot be said to generate 

 force. You might with reason ask how the various motions of the 

 • art h have U>tn gi.nerateil, for though astronomy c.in show how 

 hcvcral of them are produce J, it has not yet accounted in measure 

 and quantity for all; and its cx|Ianation of the various motions 

 of revolution, reeling, the iwrturlmtions of each form of motion, 

 and to forth, arc a very difficult subject of study. Hut there 

 is no reality in the problem you submit. You write from so great 

 a distance, and have to wait so long for an answer, that I should bo 

 really glad to try to answer your question satisfactorily; but I 

 cannot understand it. You say, " No book on astronomy which I 

 have ever read has touche<I U|(on this point;" and this rather 

 relieves my mind, as showing that vou have got hold of a rather 

 ont-of-tho way difficulty (or that su'ch a difficulty has got hold of 

 yon ?). Then, immediaudy after, you say, "This theory is not my 

 own, and if I am afnid U, mention its author, it is liecauso I 

 rimemtjcr the .fTocU of the thought of him on pof.r De Morgan 

 alrtut nineteen years ago; it unnerved him so that ho actually 

 forgot in dincnssing his subject to furnish a little of that plain 

 liiid scn.iibic argument which on other matters he displayed so well." 

 This, again, relieves me ; for I am sure you are mistaken about Do 

 Morgan being unnerve)) ; whenever he did not furnish plain and 

 sensible argtimenf, it was Y^caav; he knew it would l« [xirfeclly 

 nsclcss. On the other points in your letter, you must have mis- 



understood me greatly, if you gather from what I say in ray article 

 on the Pyramiil, in No. 17, that practical astronomy has determined 

 the distance of .\l|iha Oraconis (.\lpha Ccntauri is referred to) an 

 accurately as that of the sun ; how any one can rea<l what I thorn 

 say by way of connecting tho Great Pyraniid and the great fifteen 

 puzzle with the distance of Alpha C'entauri, ami not seo thst I was 

 jesting, I fail to comprehend. Certainly tho capacity some persons 

 display in taking hunter for earnest surpasses comprehension. I 

 once wrote an article in which, in humble imitation of nature-myth 

 theories, I advunccdthohypothesis, that Tom Tom, the Piper's Son, 

 was Thammuz, son of Kineros, the Piping one (or tho Wind), 

 and that in the mistry of the unfortunate nursei-y Thomas, 

 tho same nature-changes were synilKilifcil as in tho old legends 

 of the death of Thammuz. 1 expluiiiid also that little Jack 

 Ilornor, eating a Christmas ])ie. was the weak winter sun, horned ns 

 with rays, at work on the clouds of the winter sky (Christmas 

 being near the time of tho winter solstice), and so forUi. Reviewers 

 gravely discussed this banter, foino finding "strong arguments," 

 others " insufficient evidence," in my article — only Bome one in ten 

 recognising the real object of the paper, wliich was to discredit tli« 

 exaggerated faith in nature-myths as interpreting almost everything 

 traditional, from nursery tales to tho Hebrew records. Since then 

 1 have felt that nothing not absolutely labelled " a goak " will ho 

 understood as such. (If I did not know fur certain that I nin 

 English bom— oven a Cockney, if Chelsea means Cocknoydom - 

 1 should imagine I must somehow bo an Amoricao, for among 

 Americans quiet jokes aro understood all round, and flavour 

 ordinary intercourse very pleasantly; no one lias occasion lo 

 explain " This is ' only pretend,' " as children say.) Still I did 

 think I might bo suspected of joking when 1 found tho Boss 

 Puzzle in tho Groat Pyramid. Or, must students of scionco ntver 

 smile ? If so, I would rather give up science ; but fortunately it is 

 not so. — ( J- ) . (Permit me to remark in passing that unless "pic " 



-(i)' 



bo of moderate dimensions, dividing it by two only before raising it 

 to the (th, is unwise). Tho question whether tho nineteenth 

 century began on January 1, 1880, or on January 1, lb01,is equiva- 

 lent to asking whether eighteen centuries amount to ITSJO years or 

 1800 years. On January 1, 1880, only 1790 years had elapsed 

 from the beginning of the Christian era; and, according to Cocker, 

 it requires 1800 years to complete eighteen times a hundred 

 years. — W. A. Bknnett. The " woman haloed " and thu 

 " goddess crescent-horned " aro one and tho same, and much more 

 ancient than tho lady you mention.— Dniiei.ievino Thomas. I 

 rather think myself that Mr. \V. M. Williams's theory of fairy 

 rings must go by the beard. It accounts for some rings (and 

 Shakespeare's may have been of that kind), but certainly not for 

 all. — Hkaus thinks there i» a science of phrenology. — A. S. No 

 medical man could ndviso without seeing you. Consult your family 

 doctor, if you have one; if not, one who has good practice as ;> 

 family doctor. As to general regimen— take much outdoor exercise, 

 shorten hours of sleep as much as possible, and sleep on a mattress. 

 " When you turn, turn out." Avoid all stimulants. Seek society 

 which will rouse emulation, whether in s;)orts or in studies. Uca<l 

 wholesome manly works of fiction, (not namby-pamby sontimen- 

 talisms), travels, history, and so forth.— Tlios. Adams, Jln. No 

 suitable [wrtrait of the editor exists. Either he is too modest, or 

 he thinks (as Emerson used to say — only pray remombor Emereoii 

 was an American, and would gravely say what he did not wish to be 

 taken quite in earnest) " that no portrait yit taken presents all tho 

 charms of tho original."—!!. S. McKKBnKi.r,. See review of books on 

 "Ureas," in this or early number, as to question of bolt rcrsiiK 

 braces.— F. J. Nanck. That cvplanation of a toj) spinning is 

 scarcely sufficient ; it describes what actually happens, but hardly 

 shows why it should happen.- Fkkd. IIaui'KK. "Draughts" is even 

 more scientific than chess; but so few take interest in it. — H. A. 

 Bi-LLEY. Many thanks ; but your arlicle goes over ground already 

 sufficiently treated or to bo treated.— W. U. KE.sraT..N. Dr. Car- 

 penter cites similar instances in his " Mental Physiology." Such 

 cases show how much certain powers of observation may Ijo 

 strengthened or extended by practice. — I). H. Tho word Khedivo 

 should properly bo [irononnccd Kaydeevny ; but it is generally 

 pronounced Khi<dive, and custom authorises this pronunciation. 

 Roth pronunciations of "pasha" aro given, but most authorities 

 place the accent on tho soconil syllable. .About Evora I do not 

 know. 



Ebrata.— The fuotivoto to our article on " Lower Lif(^ Forms" — 

 in review of Dr. W. K. Brooks' excellont work, " A Handbook of In- 

 vertebrato Zoolog>-"— unfortunately passed wholly uncorrected. 

 Tho verbal corrections aro obvious. The book, of course, is for 

 Laboratory and Seanide work, and is published by Messrs. 'Triibner 

 A Co., Ix>ndon. Wo t;.ke tho opporlunily (o add that the book con- 

 tains 2(X) ilbislrationN. Its price i.s las." 



