ACG. 25, 1S82. 



KNOWL.EDGE • 



219 



FAIRY RINGS. 



[521] — It may be objected to the new phase of Mr. 'Williams's 

 " hypothesis " that the Fairy Rings I referred to often occur on 

 preeipitonsly steep hill sides, where tethered animals are never 

 found. Similar rings are often an intolerable nuisance on the well- 

 kept lawns of mansions, opposite the drawing-room windows, in 

 positions where hay-cocks and tethered animals are (not to put too 

 fine a point upon it) extremely rare. 



A Fairy Ring starts from a single fungus, or a small group of 

 fungi ; this little group exhausts the ground, and renders it unfit 

 for the further gro-n-th of fungi. From this starting-point the 

 underground spawn radiates, and in the second year the Fairy Ring 

 appears ; it is then about 6 in. or 9 in. in diameter. The fungi 

 decay, and tliis decayed material suits the growth of grass ; this 

 luxurious grass (manured by the previous year's fungi) is usually 

 termed the Fairy Ring. The third year the ring will be a foot or 

 more in diameter, and so on to a hundred feet or more, the spawn 

 always increasing from the centre outwards. Haycocks are never 

 six inches or a hundred feet in diameter. If a small hole is 

 dug just outside a Fairy Ring, the spawn of the fungi is in- 

 Tariably met with. When there is too much or too little rain, 

 the fungi cannot come up, and this accounts for the curious 

 absence of the Fairy Ring fungi in some seasons ; the circle of 

 spawn is, however, alive in the ground, and if the next year is 

 suitable, the ring of fungi again appears, always just outside the 

 lu.xnriant grass. In some places where Fairy Rings are common, 

 two or more circles of underground spawn come in contact ; at the 

 point of contact the rings cannot go on, so semicircles or ogee- 

 curves are the result. Tethered animals do not walk about in 

 circles a foot in diameter, in semicircles, or ogee-curves. 



Mr. Williams has confused several things together — the rank grass 

 found about haycocks, manure-born fungi, and Fairy Rings. They 

 are all quite distinct from each other. W. G. S.mith. 



MECHANICAL PARADOX. 



[522] — Thanking you for replying to my last query, may I 

 trouble you «-ith the following ? 



In a book entitled " Remarkable Men " (published by The Society 

 for Promoting Christian Knowledge) I find the following called 

 " Ferguson's Mechanical Paradox," in which he (Ferguson) says : 

 " Suppose you make one wheel as thick as other three, and cut 

 teeth in them all, and then put the three thin wheels all loose upon 

 one axis, and set the thick wheel to them so that its teeth lock into 

 those of tlie three thin ones; now turn the thick wheel round, how 

 must it turn the others ? 



' Turn the thick wheel which way you will, it shall turn one of 

 the thin wheels the .^ame icay, the other the contrary way, and the 

 third 710 XL-ay at all." 



In the book above-mentioned, this mechanical paradox is fully 

 illustrate.'1, but not explained, and I have failed as yet to get an 

 explanation of it. Cupidus Cognosceee. 



ARE TOADS POISONOUS : 



[523] — I have domesticated toads, frogs, lizards, slow-worms, 

 snakes, and other reptiles, and have studied their habits. Some of 

 my observations do not accord with the statements in the biological 

 toxt-books, but on the question raised by Mr. Herbert Brown (No. 

 •I'JO) they arc quite in harmony ^vith the usual descriptions of tho 

 acrid secretions emitted from the pustules or warts on the skin of 

 toads. I have seen several cases of dogs attacking toads, and in all 

 the dog has suffered considerably in the manner described by Mr. 

 Brown. On one occasion I dropped a, toad much in the same 

 manner as dogs do. His skin came in contact with an excoriation 

 on my hand, and the result was like picking up something very hot 

 indeed. Tliey are quite innocent of any " sting " or poison-tcotli. 

 W. Mattiel- Williams. 



SINGULAR COINCIDENCE. 



[524,] — A curious circumstance which happened to mo in 

 Switzerland in the year 1877 may perhaps bo deserving of record. 

 On August -i I left my quarters at tho Hotel Rigi Schcideck, where 

 T had occupied No. 123, for tho Hotel National, at Lucerne. Hero 

 1 was struck by the fact that my room had the same number ; but 

 my surprise was greatly increased when on proceeding on August 6 

 to the hotel at Giessbach, I found myself again confronted by 123 

 on my door. The sequence, too, of the numbers was curious, and 

 it so happened that the party consisted of three, though one of 

 tliese occupied a separate room. T. W. Webb. 



AN AUGUST METEOR. 



[525] — On the evening o 

 the act of viewing with adu 

 in Perseus, my attention w: 

 burst into view in Perseus, 

 gaged upon. It shot slowly ; 



I inst., about 1.45, whilst in 



II I dc -light the great cluster 

 ' :i magnificent meteor which 



.suuth of the point I was en- 

 thc direction of Ursa Major, 



leaving a beautiful stream of light in its wake, and burst about 

 half-way to that constellation. I fixed my glass (a 3 in., with a, 

 power of 80) on it, and perceived a long waving light of a greenish 

 hue, slowly fading away. Against the dark background it seemed 

 like an immense crack in the sky, and had a most remarkable 

 appearance. It was clearly visible for 45 seconds. 

 Yours trulv, 

 Dukinfield, Auii. 11, 1S82. William H. Siublet. 



TARNISHED DAGUERREOTYPES. 

 [52G] — I have a tinted daguerreotype which is much tarnished, so 

 that the figure can onl}- be seen in a particular light, and then imper- 

 fectly, while the surroundings are bluish-green. I should feel 

 much obliged if I could be informed how or where it can be re- 

 stored. I am a subscriber to Knowledge, and read in an early 

 number that it can be restored. I was referred to my chemist, 

 who, brought up with photographers, never heard of restoring a 

 tarnished daguerreotype. F. 



DRAMA FOR AMATEURS. 



[527] — Wanted, the names of two or three dramas subject to the 

 following conditions : — (1.) Sufficiently elevated and improving in 

 tone for representation by a Mutual Improvement Society at one of 

 their meetings. (2.) One that we could curtail, if necessary. (3.) 

 Containing a cast — say three ladies and three or more gentlemen. 

 We should have three months for preparation, and possess a fair 

 amount of amateur talent. Hox. Sec. 



THOUGHT READING. 



[528] — You may be interested to know that I have been suc- 

 cessful in a feat of thought reading somewhat similar to, though 

 less wonderful than, that performed by Cassneuve, described by 

 your correspondent " Henry Milton." It was this : — 



I wrote on a slip of paper the name of, say, a flower and an 

 animal, folded it up, and gave it to a friend, requesting him to look 

 me steadily in the face and mention the name of the first flower that 

 came into his head. Having done tliis, I asked him to mention the 

 name of the first animal that occurred to him. In both cases the 

 answer was correct. I have tried the experiment several times 

 since, and have been, generally speaking, successful ; on the second 

 guess, almost invariably so. The modus operandi was simply that 

 my friend should look me straight in the face and mention the first 

 which occurred to him of tho kind I had told him to think of. I, on 

 my part, simply concentrated my thoughts on the object to be 

 guessed. " James Deas. 



BALL-BEARINGS TO BICYCLES. 



[529]— In reply to your correspondent, Thos. B. Walker, I think 

 he has fairly made out his case, but it will probably interest him to 

 know that in many of the best makes of tricycles the manufacturers 

 have reversed the method adopted in the construction of bicycles, 

 and have put ball-bearings to the small stoering-wheel, while using 

 plain bearings to the large wheels. This is the case with the 

 Burdess Sterling Tricyle, which I am at present testing, and of 

 which I think favourably. 'I'luro is gnat originality in the con- 

 struction of this machine ; til III '. :in < I liven backwards to drive 

 the machine forwards; il liler great power, and 



steadies the Machine in qui. I. ,1 : -..ing down hill. 



Your correspondent's \m1! r ; m .1 Mmuks will, I have little 

 doubt, be useful in directing the atti-iition of manufacturers to the 

 desirability of putting ball-bearings to the small or trailing wheels 

 of bicycles. For my own part, if I wore compelled to have a 

 bicycle with only one set of ball-bearings I should prefer those 

 bearings being applied to the hind wheel, because I have found that 

 they generally run well where they have to run with a great 

 velocity and under small weight, but more frequently get out of 

 order when they have to bear any amount of weight while running, 

 and when they do get out of order they are very difficult to set 

 right without tools and appliances, which amateurs seldom possess. 

 Jonx Bbowmng. 



