360 



- KNOWLEDGE 



[Oct. 27, 1882. 



Miss Nobth, showing a most reprehensible anxiety to 

 encourage the public in studying the valuable collection 

 presented by her to the nation, wished to ha\e a number of 

 seats provided in her gallery. But tlie stern director 

 oV'jected that the place would thus be made a rendezvous 

 for nursery-maids. 



And now a painful report is abroad averring tlmt Sir 

 Joseph Hooker is surt'ering from " nursemaids on the brain." 

 Yet the few nnrse-i,'irls seen in Kew Gardens are a sub- 

 dued and serious race, apparently ever conscious of a red- 

 striped keeper round the corner. 



TiiK British Horologic.vl Ixstitcte, in union with 

 the City and Guilds Institute, announces, in its educa- 

 tional programme, that the practical classes are under the 

 dirtvtion of Mr. H. Bickley and Mr. C. Curzon, the class 

 for instruction in mechanical drawing in relation to horo- 

 logy-, under the direction of Mr. F. J. Britten, and the 

 class for theoretical horology and mechanics under Mr. 

 T. D. Wright Students of the practical classes are ad- 

 mitt<'d to the drawing class and to the theoretical class 

 without further charge, and they are required to attend 

 the thoon-tical class on Friday evenings, so as to fit them- 

 selves for the City and Guilds examination in watchmaking. 

 There is an evening class for the teaching of escapement 

 making, under the direction of Mr. Curzon. All necessary 

 tools and drawing instruments are provided by the 

 institute. 



Recent discoveries in Indiana give a much more recent 

 <late to the mastodon than has been generally assigned. 

 Jn one skeleton the marrow of the huge bones was still 

 capable of use, and the kidney fat was replaced by lumps 

 of adipocera In another, found in Illinois, there was 

 every evidence that it had lived upon the vegetation of the 

 present day — upon the grasses and herbs that now grow in 

 the vicinity. 



The Tiiii''^ has been coquetting with the divining-rod. 

 A number of letters, ascribing most marvellous results to 

 its use, ha\ e appeared in the pages of our contemporary. 

 And now a correspondent, Mr. T. K. Taplin, unkindly 

 writes that the men who " worked the twig " in these 

 cases, knew it was a practical joke. He also says he will 

 take great pleasure in showing any person who may bo 

 curious in the matter how to " work the twig." 



Tvpuoiii fever may be said to be epidemic in Paris, 13 1 

 deaths having occurred th>re the week before last from this 

 zymotic. The death-rate from other causes is normal. 



Iv Providence, Rhode Island, with a population of 

 104,000, not a single death has occurred from small-pox 

 since ls75. The reason is given as "general and careful 

 vai-cination." 



Some excitement is visible in some of our textile trade 

 journals, owing to the announcement by " an American 

 consul at China " tliat the Chinese are preparing to manu- 

 facture cotton and silk piece-goods. A cotton factory of 

 an improvird pattf;m will shortly be erected in Shanghai, 

 and a factory to produce silk piece-goods will be con- 

 structed in New Chiang. A blow at Lancashire and 

 Cheshire commercial centres is feared. 



M. R. Zkiller has made an examination of the fossil 

 c&rVx>niferoug flora of Tonquin. The species found resolve 

 themselves into two groups, the one consisting of forms 



which have l>een long ago met with in Europe, whilst the 

 other comprises specific types peculiar to India, Australia, 

 and South Africa. It appears tliat in the carboniforou.s 

 epoch there must have been two great and very distinct 

 botanical regions, and the south of Asia marks their region 

 of union. 



DiEUL.\K.\iT found in one cubic centimetre of Bead Sea 

 water enough lithia to show the spectrum of this substance 

 at least a thousand times. The same water contains also 

 so much boracic acid that it can be practically recognised in 

 tlie residue from a single cubic centimetre of the water. 

 Hence ho infers that the present waters of the Dead Sea 

 are the residues of the evaporation of an inland sea analo- 

 gous to the Caspian or the Kara lioglmz. 



For some months past observers have noticed a gradual 

 lowering of the surface of the sands at Kirkcaldy. The 

 incoming tides seem, from some unexplained cause, to 

 carry with them towards the shore a vast quantity of the 

 surface over which they How, and the dcbr'iJi thus taken 

 from the lower sands has accumulated all along the beach 

 until it is nearly on a level with the road, a state of things 

 which the " oldest inhabitant " never saw before. Simul- 

 taneously with this denuding process, and probably 

 part of tlic same physical movement, the currents have in 

 an equally erratic manner been scooping out, near ebb tide 

 point, long hollows and alternate banks, parallel with the 

 water. As a consequence of these changes, the btiach, 

 when the sea is out, instead of a long stretch of smooth, 

 level sand, now exhibits a surface very much divided into 

 hollows and banks ; while in.shore, nearer the strand, in 

 addition to the long lines of loose stones thus laid bare, 

 masses of rock hitherto invisible are now protruding in 

 several places about two feet above the present level. On 

 the otlier hand, the beach at high water mark has been 

 raised a good di^al more than the other has fallen. A 

 striking proof of the latter was given recently, when the 

 sea broke over the road, and instead of depositing stones, 

 as on other occasions, left masses of pure yellow sand. 

 These changes in the set of the currents may perhaps bo 

 only temporary, but the matter affords an interesting 

 study of the results of tidal action, and the operating 

 causes of the latter in this special form. 



It is suggested that bicycles should be used in military 

 operations. If a certain number of skilful bicyclists, 

 familiar with every road and byeway, were attached to 

 every district, they would be very useful in the event of 

 invasion. In reconnoitring, the silence and speed of a 

 " Phantom " or " Ariel " would be invaluable. As the 

 fUob': remarks, a dozen bicyclists, on a dark night, could 

 pass within a yard of the most vigilant sentry, without his 

 being certain whether an owl had flown past his head or 

 not" 



The growing scarcity of wattlo-bark in Australia is 

 causing anxiety among the tanners in that portion of the 

 globe, and an export duty of £3 per ton is asked of the 

 Colonial Government to prevent its going out of the 

 country. It is stated that 1,500 men are employed in the 

 Australian tanning industry, and that these must not be 

 allowed to go adrift for want of work, as it is claimed 

 will happen if thiv exports of hides and wattles be not 

 restricted. 



On Monday, this week, the Editor lectured on the 

 " Birth and Death of Worlds " at Swansea ; on Tuesday at 

 Bristol ; on Wednesday at Cardiff. 



