Sept. 8, 1882.] 



♦ KNOAA/LEDGE 



251 



comfits me very much, and it becomes a struggle for mastery 

 (between myself and the unholy spirit). Yet I most emphatically 

 dcclai-e that I consider alcohol a necessary " food " for me, " under 

 the conditions in which I hare to work and live." 



These conditions are, " more or less," shared by many thousands 

 of my fellow-creatures, from the artisan, trade professional, and 

 literary classes, and differ very widely from the primajval condition 

 of man described by Mr. W. Mattieu Williams in his letter (Xo. 514, 

 p. 201). In such a condition, " all stimulants are unnecessary, and 

 what is unnecossai'y must be injurious." 



But even when man does not entirely spend his time in exhilar- 

 ating pedestrian exercise, nor always breathe fresh mountain air 

 and drink from the refreshing stream, he can (if he likes) dispense 

 with stimulants, provided, first, he has the means, and secondly, the 

 leisure, to secure for himself bodily comfort, fresh air, and exercise. 

 These will supply the waste of energy by man's daily avocations in 

 a far better manner than stimulants will do. But when man lives 

 in what I may call the third condition (and which is my lot), then 

 I say alcohol cannot be dispensed with. 



My work is purely mental and literary. Of this I have about 

 twelve hours daily. My meals occupy me about two hours, 

 travelling to and fro about two hours, and I have eight hour's sleep, 

 making in all the twenty-four liours of the day. 1 have two holidays 

 in the year (Good Friday and Christmas Day). I am acquainted 

 with the seaside from picture galleries ; and with country rambles 

 on bicycle or tricycle only from Mr. Browning's interesting articles 

 in Knowledge. 



To come to the point, I believe from my own experience stimu- 

 lants have an injurious effect upon mental work. I dare not take 

 the smallest c|u,iiitit-. ..f ij. in the middleof the day, -vvithout feeling 

 hazy and gi^lily. .-.i I I -> ;,l,l,. to see things clea'rly. But now 1 

 come to my lin.l :i--;> i tmn : "I take alcohol to" overcome the 

 fatigue of the Ij.jdy, Lausul by the labour of the mind, after the 

 brain has done its daily work." 



I draw particular attention that I used the term food for alcohol, 

 and I maintain, in spite of a whole faculty, that there is a line 

 below which alcohol (especially in its most' natural combination, 

 such as pure wine) is an ordinary food, above that line it is a stim- 

 ulant, and above that "a poison." 



I can neither afford to pay for, nor do I believe in the existence 

 of, pure wines in this country. I therefore prefer good brandy, as 

 being most agreeable and wholesome, and I will describe my method 

 of taking it. 



At night time, when tired and weary, a little brandy is some- 

 times necessary to enable me to fall into a good sleep, for after 

 heavy mental work the mind will not easily rest of its own accord. 

 I might therefore take for supper a cup of chocolate or coffee, with 

 " one " (no more is necessary) small teaspoonful of brandy in it. 

 If I take some light nourishment (I do not take heavy suppers), 

 such as stewed fruit, rice, or some other farinaceous preparation, 

 with milk, or milk and one raw egg mixed, then even half a tea- 

 spoonful of brandy will not only make these (mostly sweet) pre- 

 parations agreeable to the palate, but also supplv me with the 

 necessary stimulative energj- "to bridge over time intervening 

 between cessation of work and the regaining of strength by natural 

 means, such as rest or sleep." If by want of exercise I feel very 

 low (and often bilious), then I do not take any food at all at night, 

 but increase the quantity of brandy to two teaspoonfuls, taken in 

 half a tumbler of soda. 



I may also describe the consequences of not taking any brandy 

 when feeling very low and fatigued. These begin about half-an- 

 hour after repairing to bed, and consist in ceaseless energy of the 

 bram, want of sleep, ami L-ra.luiil weakening of the action of the 

 heart, which sometimes i, -i,li. ,,, ■, ,!, stressing struggle for breath. 

 Of course, a medical 111 I , i lake more exercise! work less! 



go to the seaside ! an. I . i ; : : But not being able to fill 

 his behests, I must ]i\L (..r tin ) u,\ uwn way. 



Let me finally add that, little as 'the quantity of alcohol is that I 

 take, I wish it by no means to be inferred that I make a practice of 

 it. I rather try to avoid taking it. When feeling strong enough, 

 and well able to bear my daily task of labour, then sometimes 

 weeks will pass without my taking a single drop of alcohol in any 

 form whatever. Mephisto. 



FAIUY RIXGS. 

 " Where witches on kail runts did prance, 

 And whirling, led the merry dance." 

 [538] — I offer you a little contribution on the "Fairy Ring" 

 puzzle, and trust that it may bo suitable for the pages of Know- 



LEHGE. 



When a lad of ten years, I had occasion frequently to wander 

 over a largo old-land pasture field belonging to my father. It con- 



tained about 180 acres, and was sixtv er seventy years' old grass, 

 but had never been cut for hay. 'For forty-seven years I have 

 kept up an intimate acquaintance with this large park, walking or 

 riding over it almost every week in the year. My attention was very 

 early called to the fairy rings, scattered all over the place. I had 

 neit'her heard nor read" of such rings, and many a time did I stand 

 and wonder what produced them. I watched them from year to 

 year, and saw them gradually widening the circle. Some of them I 

 saw break on one side. The circle opened more and more, until it 

 was shaped just like a D, tliusO, without the perpendicular stroke- 

 Others I noti.,..l ),,■..',..• in, ,-,i p,Mi .r iI.h" i-ints of the Circle,. 



thus Q, am; 

 more atteni n 

 years repr> -i 

 About for 

 warm, daiii|i, 

 grazing in i! 



prudu. 



gave 



them 

 few 

 ,1'. 1 I '!,;,-■,..., i !,:i' I ■ :: ■■''■-I d of them. 

 I . am not sure to a Year or two) we had a 

 iiirr. That year we had twenty horses 

 i' I ,:.. and in the' earlv autumn every horse- 

 a Jitia jilot of fungi. " Sow," 1 said to myself, 

 ' I'll watch you ; " for I had noticed that at a certain season of 

 the year the same fungus grew on all the rings. These are my 

 observations. The little plot of fungus of a foot in diameter of 

 the first year was in the second autumn changed into a ring 

 of three feet in diameter. When the fungus died off in 

 the autumn, the grass springing up on the path of the 

 fungus was dark blue, and what I believe to be a bad grass, 

 as I never saw the stock eat it. On the little plot of a foot 

 in diameter of the first year's fungi, there were no fungi in 

 the second year, and the grass had assumed its natural colour in 

 centre of the ring. The path of the fungus widened outwards, 

 leaving yearly a larger inner circle of grass restored to its usual 

 appearance. Some of these little plots which I knew forty years 

 ago are now 180 feet in circumference. The most of the rings of 

 forty years ago have become broken and scattered, and as good as 

 lost 'to the ordinary observer. Rings are broken up by coming m 

 contact with the path of contiguous rings, or old rings, or with 

 spots of the land containing no food for fungus, and the remnants 

 of them get into all shapes and sizes; but retain their blnish-green 

 colour so long as anv fungus grow. The spores of fnngi permeate 

 all soils, and onlv w'ant proper food to develope them. The ring 

 arises from the o'riginal manuring being applied in a circle, and the 

 bed of fungi would take any other shape you wished, by laying on 

 the dung in that shape. The fnngi, once vigorously produced, wnll 

 spread outwards on all sides for many years, but will not grow and 

 thrive on the identical soil, without special manuring a second year. 

 I don't think hay-tea will develope fungi, but I am not certain. The 

 extremity of the tether of donkev, horse, or cow being the parent 

 of a fairy ring is, 1 think, not a ha'ppv conjecture. I fear my letter 

 is too long for Knowledge. Many thauks to Mr. Mattieu Williams 

 for his fair and candid thoughts on this interesting subject. 



D.WID C.\RK. 



[539]— When I was a lad, my father took me to see some very 

 remarkable examples of these rings. They were of all sizes, from 

 a foot in diameter to about fourteen feet ; the colour light yellow, 

 owing to the grass composing them having been killed. They were 

 quite circular, and quite sharply-defined on the ground of green 

 grass. The rim or bodv of these rings measured from two inches 

 in the small ones to ne'arlv a foot in the larger ones. They were 

 all crowded together, pivl'-v,.-:.! ,.f them intersected; but even 

 then every part of . ■ i ' r,.ly defined, and every one kept 

 its own proper biv .try. These were the only ex- 



amples 1 have com. a .. - «i i. il.e grass composing them was. 

 killed. All the others 1 liave seen were composed of grass much 

 greener and of stronger growth than the rest of the lawn on which 

 they appeared ; for in every case which has come under my observa- 

 tion these rings appeared on old, uell-kept, frequentlymoxcn lairns, 

 and warm, very sheltered situations. 



To one like myself, who has lived all his days in the country-, the 

 idea of the rings, sometimes seen after haycocks have been removed, 

 being mistaken for the true fairy rings, is amusing. It reminds me 

 of a town cousin, who, the first time ho saw haycocks, came to the 

 conclusion that thev had been put up to frighten the crows. 



J.VMEs Patesson, Glasgow. 



LEARNING TO SWIM. 



[310] After reading your instructions on swimming. I thought, 

 you would not object to hear how I taught myself to swim. In the 

 first place, I avoided the handbooks and bath-tcaehcrs, with their 

 infernal bolts, more than 1 would poison ; in fact, the only thing I 

 did, after watching how fellows swum and dived, was to dive 

 myself. When in the water, I kept under as long as my oxygen 

 lasted, struggling energetically the while in my endeavours to make 



