Dec. 15, 1882.] 



• KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



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LONDON: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1882. 



Contents op No. 59. 





; Gossip 



ANahiralist'sTear. 11— Ants and T.W.Webb. 



Aphides. By Grant AUen 463 , The Toss Induction Machine. {II- 



Learning Languages. ByKichardA. Imtrated.) 470 



Proctor 4&J ! Coebbspoxdewcb : Saturn's Ring— 



The Corset as an Aid to Beauty. I Brain Troubles — Electricity in 



^By Richard A. Proctor . 46S I Dentistry— Sugar and the Teeth. 



By Dr. A. Wilson, F.B.; 

 Tenns in Transit 



^titmt anil art 6ti56ilp. 



The snowstorms of the last week impeded traffic much 

 more seriously than much heavier snowstorms do in 

 America. But this is not to be wondered at, for with 

 us snowstorms of the kind are infrequent ; in the Northern 

 States of America not a winter passes without several of 

 them, so that there they must be prepared for them at the 

 penalty of very serious misfortune if they fail. Still, we 

 might do better, especially in the large cities, and on im- 

 portant lines of railway traffic. A few more plough-engines, 

 for example, to clear away the snow on the main lines, would 

 be a desirable addition to the rolling stock of at least the 

 Xorthern companies. In cities, improved arrangements for 

 street-clearing are very much needed ; but under the pre- 

 sent system, which makes every pound saved at least ten 

 s h il lin gs gained by those who ought to see to such matters, 

 we are not likely to see soon a change for the better. 



As may be supposed, the storm had a terrible effect 

 on the telegraph serWce. North of the Trent the state of 

 affairs was alarming. The poles carrying the wires were in 

 many places blown down, whUe in other places the wires 

 were rendered useless by being connected to earth by means 

 of the vast accumulations of snow. It is easy to conceive 

 that it would take some days to eflect the necessary repairs. 

 It is to be lioped that the lesson thus rudely bestowed by 

 nature will not be forgotten. 



"What one notices most, however, when wc have a spell 

 of bitter weather, is the utter inefficiency of our methods 

 for warming even those who are willing to pay well for 

 warmth. Our railway carriage; are in this respect simply 

 a disgrace to a civilised community. Any one who has 

 to travel at night by a train witliout sleeping-cars lias 

 practically to travel at the risk of his life; for if the 

 weather should be exceptionally cold, he has no means of 

 protecting himself against it effectually, let his shawls 

 and wrappers be ever so numerous or so thick. Even if 

 he can keep his body warm he has to breathe cold raw air. 

 Many a fafcil attack of pneumonia has been brought on in 

 night travelling in this country, though the suli'erer has not 

 died in the railway carriage, and so has not given evidence 



against the absurd inference, humorously drawn by Mr. 

 Bright from statistics, that a man is safer in a railway 

 carriage than in his bed-room. 



The transit of Venus was not on the whole well seen in 

 Europe, though in some places favourable weather pre- 

 vailed. We shall not here repeat the records which have 

 appeared in the daily papers, stating where the transit was 

 seen, where not, how many photographs were taken in this 

 place or in that. The interest and value of all such 

 observations can only be determined hereafter. 



We note, however, that at some places the arc of light 

 seen in 1874 round the part of the disc of Venus which 

 was outside the sun just before lirst internal contact and 

 just after second internal contact, was seen on this occasion ; 

 but it was incomplete, forming two arcs or horns of unequal 

 length, extending from the cusps of the solar disc, and 

 only partially enclosing the body of the planet. This is 

 very easily explained. The edge of Venus at the time 

 of transit is, of course, that part of the planet's surface 

 at which the sun is in the horizon (either rising 

 or setting), for inhabitants of Venus, if such there 

 be. The atmosphere of Venus along that region 

 may be clear or clouded, — where clear, it would refract 

 the sunlight, and the arc of light would be formed ; 

 where clouded, the sunlight would only be refracted above 

 the cloud layer, and if this layer were three or four miles 

 above the sea-level, as it might very well be, about one 

 half of the atmosphere would be below, and ineffective in 

 producing refraction. Here, therefore, the arc of light 

 would be lost. [X.B. This explanation does not apply to 

 Mr. Brett's Vitreous- Venus- Atmosphere Theory.] 



A COREESPOXDEXT (" Hallyards ") writes as follows : — 

 "The zodiacal light was certainly, but not very clearly, 

 visible on several clear evenings of the last week. This is 

 my seventh winter here (Pornic, Loire Inftjrieure, France), 

 and I never before saw it till January. The fact may, 

 perhaps, be worth noting, as possibly connected with the 

 comet, great sun-spot, aurora, and electric storm." 



At LAST ! — The Electric Power Storage Company 

 (Limited) announce that from Jan. 1 they will be pre- 

 pared to receive applications for the supply of electrical 

 accumulators for lighting or motive-power, and for the 

 undertaking of complete installations of electric lighting 

 of districts, private houses, and establishments, railway 

 trains, or ships. 



A Bill has been prepared bearing the names of several 

 Home Rulers, and will be introduced next session, to pro- 

 vide for the purchase of the Irish railways on or after 

 Jan. 1st, 1884. 



The 3fetaUarheiter calls attention to a discovery affecting 

 the utilisation of the coal tar and ammonia developed in 

 blast furnaces, by processes more or less similar to tliose in 

 use in the manufacture of gas. Those who know tlie im- 

 portant position occupied in gas companies' budgets by the 

 proceeds arising from the sale of such products, will readily 

 appreciate the value which such a discovery would possess 

 for the iron trade if the descri|>tion of its merits is correct 



Telephone E.xchanges. — Some interesting statistics 

 have recently been published concerning telephone ex- 

 changes. It is stated that there are 12,32."> subscribers in 

 Boston, U.S., 4,060 in New York, 2,4i!'2 in Paris, 1,600 

 in London, 600 in Vienna, and 581 in Berlin. It is 



