Nov. 10, 1882.] 



knowledg: 



3S3 



r >^ MAGi^ZINE of SCIENCE ^ 



1,^ PlAINUlTfORDED-EXACTLyBESCRIBED^ 



LOXDOX; FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 



Contents op No. 53. 



Science «nd Art Gossip 3S3 1 The Griscom Electro-Motor. {lUm- 



The Midlind Accident. By K. A. i trated) 



Proctor 335 The Son's Fuel 



How to Get Strong. ilUiuiraUd.) 386 CoRMspoynsirci : — The Finlay 



The Tricycle as sn Aid to Photo- 

 graphy. By John Browning 3S7 



Was Rameses U. th't Phsmoh of 

 the Oppression? XIII. By Miss 



Comet — Cremation — Corset- 

 Wearing — Life History of a 



Plant 393 



Answers to Correspondents 394 



Onr Mathematical Column 395 



Our Whist Colunm 395 



Onr Chess Column 396 



^titxytt anil 9[rt (gossip. 



Early on the morning of Oct. 27 some burglars 

 entered the premises of Mr. John Browning, 63, Strand, 

 by climbing a water-pipe 3-3 ft high, taking a large 

 square of plate glass out of a skylight, and lowering 

 themselves 20 ft. by means of a rope. They then carried 

 off binoculars, opera-glasses, gold spectacles and folders to 

 the value of about £500. As nearly the whole of the 

 articles bore ilr. Browning's name and address, and he 

 has ofl'ered £-50 reward, we hope he may recover his 

 property. 



On Xov. 13-14 the earth crosses the orbit of the famous 

 November meteor system known as the Leonides, but it is 

 not likely that any shooting stars of the system will be 

 seen, the gemmed part of the meteor ring being somewhere 

 near the orbit of distant Uranus. 



Dr. Hixd has calculated the elements of the comet 

 observed by Dr. Schmidt, of Athens, on Oct. 9, 10, and 1 1, 

 and finds an orbit presenting a remarkable general resem- 

 blance to that of the great comet. But the likeness is of 

 such a nature as to suggest rather a past connection 

 between the two bodies, than that they are now travellin"- 

 in the same path. 



M.4J0R HERSciiF.r. states that on Monday morning, 

 Oct. 30, he looked in vain for the great comet, though he 

 watched for it for a full hour. " At last," he says, " when 

 all the small stars of Hydra gradually settled themselves 

 in my recollection in their right places, and I knew i.mcthj 

 where the whole length of the comet urn at be, I fancied at 

 times that I could make out a faint illumination in the 

 proper place ; but not even then with the binocular could 

 I tind the head ; nor could I, without previous knowledge, 

 have been able to testify to the presence of the tail." This 

 was only by reason of moonlight and a vaporous sky ; for, 

 on the morning of the 31st, the comet was well seen, and 

 on Sunday morning, Nov. ."), the nucleus was conspicuous, 

 and the long tail well seen without the aid of any glass. 



Dr. Hixd announces the place given \>y M. Cruls for 

 the comet he saw at Rio Janeiro on Sept. 12, differed by 

 .5" 43' in right ascension, and 1° 2.5' in declination from 

 that occupied by the great comet at the time. Observe 

 our query mark in the diagram at p. 327. 



The letter of Darwin's which recently appeared La the 

 Academ;/, and has now been quoted and requoted in many 

 professedly religious papers, was, it appears, a retranslation 

 from the German. The words of the original English 

 letter are thus given by Professor Hreckel : — 

 To Nicholas Baron Mengden. 

 June 5, 1870. 



Down, Beekenham, Kent. 

 Dear Sir, — I am much engaged, an old man, and out of health, 

 and I cannot spare time to answer yoar question fully — provided it 

 can be answered. Science has nothing to do with Christ ; except 

 in so far as the habit of scientific research makes a man cautious 

 in admitting evidence. For myself, I do not believe that there ever 

 has been any Revelation. As for a future life, every man most 

 judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities. 

 Wishing you happiness, 



I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 



Charles Dabwix. 

 One scarcely knows which most to wonder at, the imper- 

 tinent curiosity which elicited the letter or the bad taste 

 which led to its publication. If we were not assured that 

 every reader of Kxowledge has already seen the letter as 

 first less correctly given, we should not now publish the 

 correct form ; for, a man's views on such matters are no 

 concern of others, unless he himself chooses to publish 

 them. 



We are assured that the Temperate House Gate of the 

 Kew Botanic Gardens was to be restored, " with the full 

 concurrence of Sir Joseph Hooker." Otherwise, we might 

 almost infer from the look of the place, that the Lord of 

 the Manor was suffering under a fit of baronial sulks. 

 The bricking-up has been stopped, but as yet that is all. 



Yet he should be cheerful. We were doubtful about the 

 morning sport within his demesnes. But we learn that 

 the sport is good. With gardeners to beat the bushes, 

 many rabbits are shot. Query, are the men thus employed 

 entered in the books as gardeners or as gamekeepers ? 



The Holborn Restaurant, which will be one of the finest 

 in the kingdom when the alterations now in course have 

 been completed, is to be lit throughout by the Edison 

 Electric Light Company. About 1,000 lamps in all will 

 be used, partly of eight and partly of si.xteen candles. 



To produce " crackle " surface glass, a French inventor, 

 M. Bay, covers the surface of a sheet of glass with a paste 

 made of some coarse-grained flux, or easily fused glass, 

 and placed on a table in a muffle, and subjected to a high 

 temperature. When the coating is fused the sheet is 

 withdrawn and rapidly cooled, and the superficial coating 

 separates itself and leaves the irregular surface. By pro- 

 tecting some parts of the glass from contact with the flux, 

 designs and lettering may be left in smooth glass. 



We have received, says the Sotit/iamptoii Times, a copy 

 of Messrs. Adams i: Stilliard'a photographic group of the 

 members of the British Association who sat singly at their 

 studio during the brief and busy visit of the British Asso- 

 ciation at Southampton. The general aspect of the fifty 

 members comprising the group is one of dignified 

 characteristic of the men individually. They do 



