422 



• KNOWLEDGE 



[Nov. 24, 1882. 



IttUri U) tt)t CiJitor, 



/*»■» <-orrftpo»dtnt», 

 ilk.ir.r.t,:. Jll 

 full ofd eltur 'lull. 



■TXt SJi/<»i»*t .<■(».• .'J ».-.W/r,.;.o.nt.V f.'rilk, cfitic 

 B» rsm»^ mnjtrl-ikt ta rttum mammamftt or to evrr-efpond 

 g<»mmmm%^^*»Ms iktfmlj t* lU ikori lU piMttblt, c^ntuteHtlf i 



Jit EJ^,>ntl nmm,mml%m tkomid tt aUrnirJ to Hr T.dilor <^ KKOmpOI : 

 »'l Btnmras <««a»i«iA*u la lit Pullisieri, at Ikt Officr, 14, Ortal Qatn. 



.V.W. W C. 



AU Mrmtntnrm. Dfan, and Fctl-OJ^et Ordtrt lionlj ht m-dt fayahU la 



•.' AU Ml^, t'o't'i, EJilo' <tM t, K,mb^,d. For »»«..>.<■• ^ rifr„„r,. 

 torr^rfomjfutt, rkem r^rmm^ to umf Uttrr, rttl oblige bf mfmtiomimg ita numlrr 

 mjkA tJU f*fe «« mk%tk if afp«^rt. 



" Id kB0wl«d4^, thAt mAfl odIt if to be n>nlrroDrd aod drupi*^ who ir not in ft 



•tftio of trmavition >for U there anvthini: more ikd\erve to •ccuracy 



thftft flxity of opinioD."— J(tpa^«jr. 



" Show mo ft mftD wbo mftkee no mivlftke*. ftod I will kbow tou ft mfts who hft« 



SELFIXOCUI.ATluN (iF HYDliOr 



IlilA. 



'C3*] — In aikini; the quostinn, " ("nn n doK inoculate itself with 

 hTilnipbobia ? " " H. A." evidently ovorKMjks the fact that the affec- 

 tion in not a local, bat a general disease, and that the development 

 of a ipecitic virus in the roffion of the mouth, capable of propaRating 

 the disorder, is onlv a local symptom. Therefore, none but an 

 animal already hydrophobic, manifestly or latently, could commu- 

 nicate the malady to any creature ; though at how early a stage 

 this may be possible is B« yet uncertain. Tlie fever known as smull- 

 po» is commnnicable frtim one person to another by inoculation of 

 the matter contained in the pustules ; but a man would not give 

 himself Hmall-|><>x by taking the accretion from a pustule on hi; arm 

 and putting it into his leg, Ix^ctiuso ho has the fever already 

 throughout what is vaguely termed the "system," and the jjustules 

 anr only one indication of its presence. But he iright infect his left 

 hand witli itch from his right, a proceeding no more concerning the 

 constitution than tossing a ball from one hand to the other. 



" Can a venomous snake poison itself by its own bite ? " would be 

 a question of greater patholr>gical interest, since there ia much 

 confliff ing evidence on the jMiint. 



». Woo<Jford-rT>ad, Watford. ARTniR Stradiixo, C.M.Z.S., Ac. 



KXGLI.su SNAKE. 

 [6.3;; -In reply to the query of " C. K. S." (GIO), I beg to in- 

 form him that there is an Englinh snake, termed the Coronella Lir^in, 

 differing both fn>m the common ringed snake and the adder or 

 riper. K specimen was brought to my father as long ago as the 

 year liiM, and is still in possession of the family. I believe it 

 was not recognise<l or descril>ed by naturalists until three or four 

 Tears after thot date, when it was thought to be a new species. I 

 have myself caught several s[iecimens in the neighbourhood of 

 Waril.iim, Dfirsei. It ia smtller than the common snake, of a 

 brr.wiii«h oilour, has no particular markings, and can lie readily 

 di«' I,.- . M..-.1 fr'.ni the adder by the absence of the black lozenge- 

 • i ." I'.wn the back. 



r.'.t imbricated, and I beliovo (I have not the 

 ■■ . tlii'V are wanting in the keel or ridgo which ia 



' longitudinally along the middle of each acnle of 



th<- ..•:•.. r .(- ■ 1.-., In these reajK-cta it might lie mistaken for the 

 alow worm, but it ia a true snake, having extensile jawa and a row 

 of palatine tt-eth. It hris no |«.ison fangs, and is i>erfectly harm- 



th( 



Wll.l 



obj.ct 



will allow I 



In 



COM) BATH AT MfJUT. 



to " A. E. Oram," No, f/i.',, p. 3fil, perhaps yon 



to sui" the conclrmions I have arrived at after many 

 of lakinir >*th« both in summer and winter. To 

 i»ko .,..1.1 i,,.M, ,,t ,.,,.,.1 " I ■•• 1 Ik- litj<|y is more or leas exhausted 

 " I" no K<xjd whatever, and would 



' i-iustirm at the time of plunging 

 li.,., .. , -., . r .in-i I,,.-..- I ..tp iiiiotii. are moat generally combinerl 

 at th* lini>> tA iinvmg tbo bed in the morning, but seldom at night, 

 aod even if they were, a cold bath on going to bed would not have 



the effect that " I. S.," No. 583, p. 314, thinks it would, viz., to 

 induce sleep. I, too, suffer at times from BliH-plcssness, and on two 

 or three occasions have jumped out of bod and taken a cold bath in 

 sheer deajieration ; but the effect has been to drive away all chance 

 of sleep for the renniinder of ihe night. On the other hand, a hot 

 bath at night is both healthful and soothing. It sh(mld bo taken 

 immediately before going to bed, at a temperature of from 95 to 

 '.'S degrees, and it will gi'nenilly induce sleep wliolher after a day's 

 physical labour or not. .•V hot bath frequently at night and cold 

 bath every morning summer and winter, would be highly benolicinl, 

 but I have found it best in winter to make the cold bath a mere dip, 

 as a prolonged immersion takes too much heat from the body. 



G. Hann. 



SINGULAR ItAlNBOW. 



[037]— Heferring to primary bow only, ami taking deviation 

 through a ruin-droii =40", the above figure will represent the case 

 of sun's altitude =5° Sun's rays reflected at 11 hehind observer, 

 deviated 40° by drop at 1) to observer O. I cannot see how when 

 sun is low (lower than 40°), a bow can be seen by rays reflected in 

 front of observer. On the other hand when the sun is between 40° 

 and 50°, Fay 45°, an observer on a bridge may see two sots of re- 

 flected bows, one by rellexiim in front, Ihe other by reflexion behind, 

 thus :-— 



Bays reflected at R bulii.id observer form a high bow at D. Eaya 

 reflected at U' in front of observer form a low bow at D'. In thiB 

 case the nsual direct Irnw is not formed. If I am correct, it in 

 curious that the phenomenon is not more often noticed. 



\. Lk Sukuk. 



IRON PYRITES. 

 [038]- Can any of your readers inform mo if it is possible to 

 melt up and make any use of the nodules of iron pyrites (popularly 

 called thunderbolta) which so thickly strew the bench at Eastbourne, 

 St. Margaret's, and other places on our southern coast ? If thej 

 are good soluble metal, many tons of valuable material seem to bo 

 wasted. I shall be glad to know if there ia anything in their 

 chemical composition which prevents their being treated as useful 

 metal, either melted and cast alone, or mixed with other metal. 



D. A M. 



BREWING AND MALTING, 

 leen consulted by the head of a family in Cal 

 thod of l>rewing and 



[039]— I have b 

 fornia, U.S., aa to 



the most suitable practical works on th( 

 simply to supply homo wants; not sale, 

 give me any information on these jioints I 

 It 1 



alting, and 

 The object is 

 uld or would 

 „uch obliged. 



4/ler Drfdtn. 

 ' Three Pent for three etaentiftl Tirtiien fitmrd. 

 The Piekvick, Owl, ftnd Wavrrley were named. 

 The flral in Oeiibility aurpaMod, 

 In eaao the neit, in eleganc-e the la«t. 

 Theae point) united with ftltracliorn new, 

 Hftiro jielded other boona, the J'htirlvn and Hindoo.' 



nple Iloi, with all the kindi 

 into now who never wrote > 



, Id. \,J Poit. 

 » more."— Otu 



ralftttirt of rem and Tenholdere. 



MACMVF.y A CAMKHON, .1.1, Iti,ii».aT»K»T, KDiasraon. 



PsvifaxftM TO HiB MusBTi'a GuvKKSMxaT Orricia. (Kat. 17'0.) 



