200 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[A0G. 18, 1883. 



WEATHER CHARTS FOR WEEK ENDING SUNDAY, AUG. 13. 



ScxDAY, Arc. 6Tn. Moxdat, Ave. Ttii. Tuesday, Aug. Stii. Wednesday, Aug. 9th. 



Thcksday, Aug. IOtii. 



Friday, Aug. 11th. 



Saturday, Aug. 12th. 



Sunday, Aug. 13tu. 



In the above charts the dotted lines are " isobars," or lines of equal barometrical prcBSore, the valneB which they indicate being 

 given in fignres at the end, thus — 30-4. The shade temperature is given in figures for several places on the coast, and the weather is 



recorded in words. The arrows fly with the wind, the force of which is shown by the number of barbs and feathers, thus : — ^ , 



light ; ^, fresh or strong; y t , a gale ; » > , a violent gale ; signifies calm. The state of the sea ia noted in capital 



letters. The • denotes the various stations. The hour for which each chart is drawn is 6 p.m. 



wide, extending, crescent-shaped tail, the throat halyards are 

 brought into rojnisition, and he is hoisted aboard, although he may 

 yet make one or two desperate flaps before he dies. When several 

 li«h are sighted at once, a crew will not wait for the death of one 

 before attacking another, but buoy him by means of a water-tight 

 barrel, having a ring attached to two lines wound tightly around 

 it. This is Ix-nt into the line as it is run out by the fish, and then 

 the barrel is thrown overboard. The fish is always puzzled to make 

 out what this means, but all his straggles to escape from it prove 

 fruitless, and at last the barrel floats calmly upon the water, point- 

 ing oat to the fishermen where their victim lies. A good-sized 

 swordfish is 15 ft. in length, and weighs about 7001b. Fine, juicy 

 ■teaks arc secured from it, which command a good price in the 

 market, and a schofmer which has good fortune off the Nantucket 

 coast can carry to Boston a load which will well repay the crew. 



THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 



THE Registrar-General's weekly rctnm shows that the annual 

 rate of mortality last week in 28 of the largest English towns 

 avfragM 201 per 1,000 of their aggregate population, which is 

 CBtimate<] at 8,469,571 persons in the middle of this year. The six 

 healthiest places were Derby, Halifax, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, 

 and PlymoDtb. In London 2,540 births and 1,370 deaths wore 



registered. Allowing for increase of population, the births exceeded 

 by eight, whereas the deaths were no fewer than 353 below, the 

 average numbers in the corrcsi)onding week of the last ten years. 

 The annual death-rate from all causes, which had been equal 

 to 17 7 and 18'8 per 1,000 in the two preceding weeks de- 

 clined again last week to 184. During the first five weeks 

 of the current quarter the death-rate averaged only 181 per 

 1,000, against 213 and 247 in the corresponding periods of 1880 

 and 1881. The 1,370 deaths included 1 from small-pox, 33 from 

 measles, 38 from scarlet fever, 15 from diphtheria, 57 from whoop- 

 ing cough, 1 from typhus fever, 13 from enteric fever, 118 from 

 diarrhoea and dysentery, and C from simple cholera ; thus, 282 

 deaths were referred to these diseases, being no fewer than 235 

 below the corrected average number in the corrf«|)onding week of 

 the last ten years. Different forms of violence caused 47 deaths ; 

 30 were the result of negligence or .icridcnt, among which were 17 

 from fractures and contusions, 3 from burns and scalds, 13 from 

 drowning, and 4 of infants under one year of age from suffocation. 

 The 17 deaths from fractures and contusions were thus caused : — 

 Male, iiged 15 years, and female, 5, run over by van; males, 58 

 and 72, run over by cart ; male, 34, crushed by van ; male, 21, 

 cmshcd under horse; male, 61, run over on Great Eastern Kail- 

 way ; male, 20, run over on Midland Railway ; male, 48, run over on 

 railway at Gunnersbury ; female, 52, fell down stairs (intoxicated) ; 



