SiiPT. 1, 1882.] 



♦ knowledgh; * 



235 



in ultitndc of minor vicious inheritances that aro sustained and en- 

 forced by conventional pressure ; they would all yield to vigorous 

 self-Bcrutiny and frank admission of actual motives. 



W. Mattieu Williams. 



[I tliODght it would be clear enough to Mr. Williams that what- 

 ever in my remarks may have read like sermonising, was not 

 applied to him. But he mistakes in supposing he had proved the 

 folly or vice (whether in his own or the usual sense) of taking an 

 occasional glass of wine or smoking an occasional cigar. Ho has 

 proved by his own experience (and really only in his own case, but 

 let ns take it as proved generally) that to anyone taking Tnuch 

 e.xorcise in the open air, alcoholic stimulants taken daily are useless, 

 and worse. He has not proved, or gone anywhere near proving, 

 that an occasional glass of wine or beer does any injury whatever 

 to any, far less to all ; until this is proved, nothing has been done 

 to show that there is either folly or vice in taking a glass of wine. 

 If it is pleasant to take a glass of good wine, and Mr. Williams 

 admits it is, and if it does no harm whatever, and he has not shown 

 that it does, the balance of advantages is in favour of taking it, in 

 just such degree as is found to be innocuous. That some persons 

 who lead a sedentary and studious life absolutely require an 

 occasional glass (not necessarily even one a day, but one at times) 

 is believed by many who know much more about human physiology 

 than either Mr. Williams or myself. A learned friend of mine to 

 whom I mentioned a few years ago that for more than a year I 

 had taken no stimulants whatever, warned me from his own 

 • xperience against a conrse which he considered (but I do not) to 

 be full of danger. But this, after all, is not the point. The question 

 is, is it or not innocuous to take an occasional glass of wine, or 

 spirits, or beer. Until it is proved that it is not, and cannot be 

 innocuous, 1 hold that there can be no folly — for those who can 

 readily afford the indulgence — in taking the glass, whenever it suits 

 our convenience and gives us pleasure, to do so. The definition of 

 vice quoted by Mr. Williams is a special one — no more the usual one 

 t han the other definition, according to which a vice is a character in 

 (lid mystery-plays. Mr. Williams would find, I think, that if he 

 said a man had a "vice" the general meaning put on the word 

 would not be precisely that which it bears when, for instance, I 

 speak of the "vice" of Mr. William's mode of reasoning in this 

 alcoholic question. — Richard A. Pboctoe.] 



BICYCLES AXD THEIR DEFECTS. 



[531]- Having been a bicycle rider for nearly fifteen years, and 

 riding during that time all kinds of bicycles, from the 34-iu. bone- 

 shaker — upon which I rode forty and fifty miles a day many times 

 with the greatest pleasure — to a 55-in. modern Stanley-tread spider 

 machine, and having read everything upon bicycling thatlcouldget, 

 I think I am in a position to state some of the defects of the modern 

 bicycle. The principal defects in the old-fashioned machine were 

 the weight and appearance. In the modern bicycle these defects 

 have been removed, but, in carrying out the remedy, bicycle maker.s 

 have gone to the extreme. To reduce the weight the spring of the 

 bicycle has been almo.st done away with, and the back wheel 

 reduced almost to a castor. 



The modem bicycle has many advantages over the old-fashioned 

 one, the increased number of spokes, and the ball bearings, and 

 the lighter weight behind ; but these I need only mention as I wish 

 to speak of the defects. I consider the greatest defect in the 

 modern bicycle to be the very short spring, wliieli causes the 

 rider to experience, whcu riding over rough ground, a continous 

 jar or vibration, almost as bad as when riding in a cart without 

 springs. When I rode a bicyle with a long elastic spring the 

 uinchinc ran over the rough' ground easier than with the short spring 

 bicycle of to-day, and there was no vibration, and I could see objects 

 around distinctly. With a short spring the objects have a tremulous 

 .ippearance except when riding on very smooth roads. Another 

 detect in the modern bicycle is tho very small back wheel. A small 

 liack wheel will not run over inequalities so easily as a largo one. 

 The experience of modern bicycle-riders is, as a rule, that their 

 bicycles shako them a good deal. I believe tho cause to bo tho 

 very small back wheel. Bowl two iron lioojjs, a 10 in. ono and a 

 50 in. ono ov.-r rough ground, and watch the motions of both, and 

 sec which runs tho steadier. Another defect ia a very small saddle. 

 If a man wants to "sit at case" ho chooses an easy chair, and not 

 tho top of a post to sit upon ; tho same holds good with a bicyclo- 

 Baddle. If, therefore, bicycle-riding ia to be a pleasure, I conclnde'thnt 

 iho spring must be as long again as now made, and tho back wheel 

 must be ^0 in. to 21 in. in diameter. Bicycle-makers have pcrfectcil 

 tho macliino for racing purposes on the track or path, but they 

 have forgotten that all bicycle ridora aro nut sportsmen and racers. 

 In making machines, let them study case in propulsion and comfort 

 in riding, and there will not bo so many give up riding after a few 



runs as there now are. My longest journeys, and those done with 

 the greatest ease and pleasure, were on a 18-in. " Challenge," with 

 a long spring and a 20-in. back wheel, which machine was made in 

 the year 1875. Calkb Adams. 



FAIEY RINGS. 



[532] — I would respectfully suggest to Mr. Mattieu Williams 

 that his theory of the cause of these interesting phenomena does 

 not account for the appearance of fairy rings in pastures. I have 

 in my mind several pastures (where in all probability the grass had 

 been grazed by sheep for many years) in which these rings were 

 common; and, if I am not mistaken, the common "puff ball" is 

 the fungus these rings produce. May not the rings be produced 

 from a central point ? Say a nuclens of fungus, takes root in the 

 turf. The peculiar adaptability required in the soil for their growth 

 becomes annually exliausted, and tho plant (if I may so call it) 

 extends its roots into the fresher soil in an evercxtending circle. 

 If some of our country observers and botanists would look for these 

 rings in pastures, and ascertain if they are found in circles of vary- 

 ing circumference, I should be inclined to think that fact would go 

 far to prove my theory. 



The green colour of the grass, " Whereof the ewe not bites," in 

 my opinion is the effect of the fungus itself, and not of any local 

 excess of manurial matter ; but I fancy some of our botanical 

 readers can tell us all about the matter, for I have a vague recol- 

 lection of seeing au account of the natm-e of fairy rings in some 

 botanical work. W. B. Wicken. 



[533] — Mr. Mattieu Williams, in attempting to disprove Mr. 

 W. G. Smith's explanation of the origin of fairy rings says that 

 " tho large fairy rings on the South Do^vns have been explained 

 over and over again as the result of special manuring in the 

 boundary track of tethered animals." Now this cannot apply to 

 the South Downs in this neighbourhood. On tho hills about Lewes 

 fairy rings of all dimeusions, up to more than 50 ft. in diameter, 

 abound, and it ia well known that cattle are never pastured on these 

 hills, whether tethered or otherwise ; the only animals fed are 

 sheep, which roam in any direction. I have for years watched these 

 rings, which, in the autumn, are always accompanied by fungi, the 

 fungi growing outside the crop of rank grass. When these fungi 

 decay they supply a highly nitrogenous manure to tho ground 

 where they grew, consequently their place is occupied the suc- 

 ceeding year by rank grass, and the fresh fungi are again upper- 

 most, that being the only place where their spores can germinate. 

 Tlius the increasing size of these rings is explained and as easily 

 witnessed, and we can see that a single fungus is capable of 

 starting a ring which may grow to very largo dimensions. 



J. H. A. Jenxer. 



HOT AND COLD DRINKS. 



[53-i]- In reply to J. Williams, jun. (-198), allow me to state that 

 cold drinks are natural to man, though most humans now-a-days 

 are so used to hot drinks, that they do not feel satisfaction — really 

 stimulation--unless they have them. Hot drinks are injurious to 

 the tongue, teeth, gullet, and stomach. 



They aro injurious to tho tongtie, for they deaden its sensation, 

 aud, after taking hot soup or drink, the longuo becomes quite 

 numb, and unable to taste the finer finvours of a dish. 



The teeth are greatly injured by them, aud many dentists say 

 caries (decay) is due to them alone. Thoy crack the enamel, and 

 thus allow caries to set in. When caries has once set in, hot drinks 

 aro a common cause of neuralgia. Who has a bad, unstopped 

 tooth, who has not often had face-ache from a hot drink ? 



Again, experiments were made on cows ; some were given food 

 cold and some hot. Those who got it hot soon showed signs of 

 caries of the teeth. 



Hot drinks cause a slight dilation of the bloodvessels of tho 

 gullet, and scalding hot drinks cause stricture of the gullet. They 

 are specially hiutful to the stonutch. They cause irritation of tho 

 nerves of the stomach, and consequent mild inflammation of that 

 organ, so that after a hot drink the stomach is red and congested ; 

 in time a debilitated condition is set up. 



A temperature of 100 Fahr. also destroys tho active ferment of 

 the gastric juice — pepsin, and so leads to indigestion. 



In China, where hot drinks aro tho rule and water the exception, 

 the people aro subject to henmtemcsis (vomiting of blood), said to 

 be caused entirely by their habit of taking hot drinks; 



If tho stomach is at all disordered, hot drinks give rise to much 

 griping pain, and in many cases to vomiting. In cases of 

 diarrhoea, too, hot drinks only increase it, whilst cold ones tend to 

 lessen it. 



In answer to tho second part, thirst is not common in winter, 

 unless sugary, salty, or hot spiced foods havo been taken. In cold 



