300 



♦ KNOWLEDGE 



[Sept. 20, 1882. 



■ -oriptions given liy various nutliors with the living nnimal, wo si>o 



. .»rl_v that the (ictinition of the wonl /ie-Iii</<riii, ns given in Kxow- 



lEiHiK. is the correct one — vit. from >}.\oc, a nail, a wart, or stml, 



and cip/ta, the skin. In some other loologicnl teruiii, helo is sinii- 



larlv ascd to describe a warty or tuberculous tegument ; as, for 



exainplo. ill i-ii'.omolopy, helophorus, wart-bearing. One of this 



.liios is At'ri*** — " avec les ecailles tubercules" — 



of colour, exactly describes the little jironii- 



r knobs, with which its skin is covered. Tlio 



:■ ^ ; -i.se warty plates is hexagonal ou the back, but a 



Vii-.lv ksi n^-uUir on the sides and limbs. 



And by rx-ason of this rough, warty derm, would not the adjec- 

 tive AemJuin apply to the skin, and not to the animal, and there- 

 fore be correct in the neuter gender, to agree with derma f At 

 tir*t Bight we naturally associate the "horrid" with the reptile; 

 but it may bo doubted whether Wiegmann did so in giving it the 

 name; which is probably from horHdus — rough, shaggy, nigged, 

 Ac. By the way, may not the horridtis, as applied to the crolalus, 

 Ih> s.imilarly eicplained, because this species has a jmrticularly rough 

 integument of dull, sharply carinated and deeply imbricated scales ? 

 This is merely conjecture, until I can consult the authorities. 



C.4TUEBI.NE C. UOPLEY. 



ALCOUOL. 



[■")78] — Adverting generally to your correspondence concerning 

 thi- action of alcohol as food for the body after its ]ihysieal jKiwers 

 nr.' strained by mental labour, I should like to offer a'fow remarks 

 with regard to " Mephisto's" letter (p. 250, No. 537) in particular. 



•• Mephisto " apiiears to mean that the action upon the human 

 system, of fresh air, pure water, and moderate exorcise is almost, 

 if not quite, identical with that of alcohol. Can this be correct ? 

 I should think not. In the former case those elements arc supplied, 

 the use and consequent loss of which have caused tlie exhaustion. 

 In the latter case the already wearied muscles and nerves are 

 excited to further actirity. Although a similar result is obtained 

 in both instances, there is a most essential difforenco in the real 

 state of the system. Tlie physical feelings of a man who has 

 roconpcd his exhausted energies with open-air exercise, and mental 

 rest are widely removed from those of one who has stimulated his 

 hanl-worked faculties by the use of alcohol. 



I am no " Blue Bibbonist," but I do think that there is no state 

 of man where alcohol is really essential, except, perhajis, when one 

 is habituated to its regiilar use. Chemical analysis shows little or 

 nothing in the composition of alcohol that can bo termed "food" 

 either for brain or bodj-. 



I am a more humble, if not less enthusiastic, follower of the same 

 pursuit that " Mephisto " makes his daily avocation. I also am 

 engaged in purely " mental and literary " labour. In the study of 

 science and scientific appliances I do an appreciable amount of 

 brain-work. I read K.nowledge not cursorily but with a view of 

 extmcting all the information from that valuable source I can, yet 

 I never feel the need of alcohol, and, as I dislike tho taste of it, I 

 rnrily ti.uch it. I find I can retain sufBcicnt energy for at least one 

 davK consumption, and so can every man who is in really good 

 health. I rise every morning with enough vital power to carry mo 

 well through tho day, unless I nm affected by abnormal causes, 

 which I can always truce. 



Hut of course, nothing er.n>-Iusit'e can Ije deduced from individual 

 experiences ; and in conclusion, I would merely add, that if my 

 friend " Mephisto " were to take a teetotal countrj-man from his 

 pare air and healthy exercise, place him in one of our hard-working 

 merchants' oBices, and supplement his ordinary fare with the 

 "alcoholic food" he pro|>OBC8, I believe ho would find in that 

 c>untr\ man anything but a confirmation of his theory that alcohol 

 npplics, even in any degree, tho jilacc of fresh air and 

 Leonabd V. Uees. 



exercise. 



Lrrrriifi ix Trpr.— Size of Rising Mcon, by G. E. ; Local 

 Weather Lore, by Michael Rearrlcn ; Singular Mental Illusion, by 

 W. II. Perkins; Physiological Kxperiment, by Z. ; Tho Use of 

 Drunkenness, by J. Ilalph ; Talking Canary, Ac, by Charles L. Cane j 

 New 5f.th«l of Preserving Orgimic Bodies, by \V. Matticu 

 Willinn,!, ; Defects of Bicycles, by John Bron-ning and II. T. 

 n>:i,A: Jonlan-GIyeerine Barometer, by C. J. W. ; Dr. Hunter's 

 Kii.rr,.,nn, by Mathilde Von Eys ; Monkey and Mirror, l.y Deo 

 I'i'l" : < oinr-idences, by A. H. W. ; Lapidaries and Deception, hy 

 H. M. W.; Figure Training by Corsets, by Alfred Chadwick, M.D. 



Eebata.- No. 4fi, p. 25ft, second col., I. 44, for "ninety" road 

 " forty-five." Xo. 47, p. 273, second col., I. 24, for " dctcriorotion " 

 r»-»d " determination." 



9n£rturis( to Coiir<jponlinU£{. 



, All commtinieiifilmi /or tht SJilor rrjuiriHg rarljl iillfnlimi »»o«M rixic* (*• 

 OJ/iei on or br/ort Ikt Stiluriliiy J'rtcfiling l)n current i««n> (jf KnowlBDOB, (*« 

 increiuimg eireutittioH qfrkirh eompeU ut to polo prf$* 0arlg in the week. 



UlHls TO COKKBSPONDBNTS.— I. Ko qHeitione iUkinq /or toient^flc in/ormation 

 — -- ■ nucered through the poet. 3 Ltii ■ ' ' 



I be/0. 



\tiid, norc 



Ihe nam 



' Jrawinge o 

 I replying to ii letter, r^erilic'e ehoulJ be i 

 :>peare, and itt title. 



7 the Editor/or correepondenle 



• o'Ji'^the 



a title, and 



r, the page on which it 



eh'oulJm 



lyy. There are no copies of Dr. Muir Howie's paper on tho Effects 

 of Tobacco in pamphlet form, but tho iiuiiibors oontaiiiiiig it moy 

 be obtained. — E. A. II. wishes to know if any competent reader of 

 K.NOWLEDGE can state if it is feasible, advantageous, or otherwise, 

 to apply compressed air as a means of locomotiou for private 

 carriages. — R. B. R. I can see no reason why a rainbow should not 

 bo seen by reflection at the surface of water.— C. Bkowne. Try Mr. 

 Grant Allen's " Evolutionist at Large." — D. Pmi.i.il's mentions 

 that Normandy's "Commercial Ilandbook of Chemical Analysis" 

 is a standard work on tlic subject (Crosby, Lockwood & Co.), 12s. or 

 123. I3d. — C. J. Bhown. Mr. Allinson certainly erred in saying tho air 

 contains more moisture in cold weather than in hot, tlio reverse being 

 the case (on tho average), lie doubtless meant that usually in 

 cold weather tho air is more nearly saturated with moisture. — R. 

 F. Wavgh. The weather predictions are simply " bosh"- nothing. 

 It would bo "impossible" to consider all that correspondents say. 

 Still, 1 have had useful hints ; and one can fairly judge, from a 

 preponderating majority, what is best for readers.— A. H. Swinton. 

 According to my present lights 1 can do nothing to encourage any 

 such publication.— A. II. \V. Many thanks for your kindly and 

 encouraging letter. — W. Pbobvn Nkvins. According to tho Dar- 

 winian theory there is no thinking in tho matter. At some 

 remote period, members of that family of lizards had a better 

 chanco of escaping their euoiuies tho quieter they wero when 

 enemies were near. Thus more and nioro of tho livelier 

 perished, and by this process of natural selection of tho quieter 

 ones for breeding tho race became more and more quiet in times of 

 danger, until at length the present jiocullarlty was fully evolved. — 

 J. H. A. Jenneb notes that in letter 533, about Fniry Rings, in 

 lines 15 and IG the word "uppermBst" should be "outermost." — 

 E. F. B. IIauston. Mr. Strudling evidently did not put very full 

 faith in the snake stoi-y. There arc, as you say, certain idiots who 

 find a joke in inventing stories of the kind, that they may laugh at 

 those who receive tho stories. If they know the utter contempt in 

 which men of sense hold them, they would probably turn thoir 

 ingenuity to something more profitable — as starting bogus com- 

 panies, selling adulterated food, or other swindling. The startling 

 theory that the equator is moving north is one of their stories. A 

 change which would rot bo detected in a hundred yeiirs by 

 tho rough method described would be as obvious as tho sun 

 in the sky to astronomical oliservation. — CnESiicus suggests 

 that fermentation may be akin to that Catalytic acticn of which a 

 theory was propounded by Berzeliiis. Tho " living germs" theory 

 seems, however, demonstroted by the evidence.- 1). Stewabt. 

 Yonr thinking of a " bear," and the lady snying a "bear" when 

 you asked her lo name an animal, was good evidence in favour of 

 thought-reading. But " fuchsia " for " geranium " was not so woU. 

 I have just tried the experiment. I thought hard about tho " gera- 

 nium," and tho flower unkindly selected by tho laly oxperimontcd 

 on (" wife of mine, in point of fact," as Mr. Dorrlt, jun., might havo 

 said) was a "buttercup." I thought of an animal, tho "hear," 

 and her mind was forcibly impressed with tho idea of a 

 " giraffe." 1 next tried tho " cow," and she could think of 

 nothing but a "Hon." After this, I oncluded that cither 

 thought-ruling was not Jiiy "fort," on .^rt(•lIlUS Ward puts 

 it, or thought-reading was not hera. Vit in ordiniiry life 

 wo repeatedly antiripato each other's tlioiiKhtp.— M. O'Connor. 

 "Hie writer of that review ought to receive Cl.Ot^O.OUO n.uitiplled 

 byO-K2.—D. T. Duller. Yes; that would now bo thought very 

 moderate dispersion for a C4i° prism. But in Newton's time glass 

 prisms could only have been made of very inferior glass. M. 11. 

 Close. After what has been already said on tho subjixt (which 

 you either entirely misapprehend or else you are attempting a 

 feeble joke), I find nothing to say about your letter but that your 

 definition of the word " moment " is entirely wrong. That is one 

 use of the word, but not its primary use. See an admlrablo article 

 (undoubtedly by De Morgan) on the subject under head " Mo- 

 mentum," or " Moment," In the I'enny Cyclopa.dia.— K. C. R. See 

 letter from Mr. M. Williams, shortly.— G. St. Clair. (1) Ditto j 

 (2) Nothing can bo inferred on these points from a singlo observa- 

 tion of a comet, and the photograph is equivalent to that.— C. If. 

 Romanes. Wc keep over your letter for a while. Could you not 



