KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Dec. 22. 1882. 



£rt)irU)d. 



POKEK. 



VMOST interesting look on a fascinating (we arc told), 

 but most objectionable game. Our author tells us 

 that what is want«tl for success at Poker is — tirst, good luck ; 

 secondly, goo*l canls ; thirtUy, good temper : and fourthly, 

 good chet-k. But gootl cheek, above and before all things 

 else, is ess«ntial to success. We should recommend for the 

 four things neetlful^A lying face, a false tongue, the im- 

 padence of a bank thief, and the ner\ e of a practised pick- 

 pocket We can understand the charm of the game ; we 

 can even imagine honest men enjoying it as a trial of 

 skill ; it makes a most enjoyable parlour game, with i\ory 

 for stakes : but how any man can play Poker as it is played 

 (as " One of its Victims " truly describes), and yet retain 

 a particle of respect for himself, we really are puzzled to 

 imagine. ^^^Jen a Poker-player assumes the aspect of an 

 honest man, he simply " bluffs " the world ; if he backed 

 his honesty, the world might " see him " safely, " sec many 

 better," see few worse ; and if the world were to " call," it 

 would be seen what a " foul hand " he has ; not a " Hush " 

 of shame for love or money : (the clergy would tell him that 

 as a " seijuence " he would have a "blaze," but that's 

 neither here— certainly not here — nor there). 



Yet the lK)ok is most amusing. It shows well, too, the 

 ultimate fate of everj- ardent Pokerite. The story of the 

 "iTstliete"' who won "too too" easily, and then remem- 

 bere<l him how " he used to indulge in tliis little recreation 

 at Oxford . . . come, therefore, and tJike a snifter with 

 mo," is as amusing as anything of Arteums Ward's or 

 Mark Twain's. The game is fully explained, as are all its 

 objectionable olFsboots. The chances an' given, for the 

 most part, correctly ; but the reasoning quoted on 

 pp. fi|-N3 from Mr. Blackbridge's " Complete Poker 

 Player " is quite incorrect ; and his inference that you 

 may safely bet greater odds than the theoretical .5 to 1 

 against a " si2e" l>eing cast after one or more already cast, 

 would lie very unsafe to follow in practice. If a die were 

 to V>e cast a great num>jer of times, and after every time 

 "size " had been thrown (say) six times in .succession, odds 

 of 10 to 1 were wagered against a seventh "size," there 

 would in good time )jh a wo<;ful balance against the layer 

 of the o<ld8L 



THE PARALLEL NEW TESTAMENT.t 

 Wii.vTEVEK opinion may be formed as to the literary 

 value of the lievised New Testament, there can 1>e no 

 flonbt whatever of its value to those who wish to know in 

 what respects the version of 1 C 1 1 was incorrect, according 

 to the opinion of the ablest biblical scholars. But every 

 one who has look<-d over the revised version for this 

 purpcue must have noticed the difliculty of making the 

 comparison, and must have felt the wish to liave the two 

 versions in parallel columns. Tlie Parallel New Tfystament 

 meets thin want It is likely soon to be in the hands of 

 all who have se^-n the Reviwd New Testament. It shows 

 at once where the two versions differ, and where both differ 

 from other readings of which some scholars approve. For 

 onr own part, we never fonnd patience to compare the two 



• "Poker; uiil How to PUy it." By One of its Victims, 

 (firiffith 4 y»mn, lAmiirm.) 



t " Tbo PwmJlcl Sow TnUmcnt (tjio authoriiiod and rovineil 

 rtrtima in j ar*\M colamn*)." Priotefl for the Univcmitica of 

 Oxford utd C»mh>riai;c. (pDbliiihc<l by Henry Krondo, Oxford, and 

 C. J. Clay, Ji.A., k Sont, fBmbridjfe.) 



versions closely till the Parallel New Testament made the 

 task at once easy and pleasant 



But what an opportunity the Revisers have lost ! Are 

 we never to have the New Testament in the English of 

 our dayl Are the priesthood afraid to translate tlio 

 Gosjvk into such English as the men of our time speak 1 

 Faith must surely be g<'tting feeble if such a fear is well 

 founded. It would bo a useful exercise for some of our 

 clergymen, after learning to preach as they would speak, 

 and not as if they were half-inclined to sing (moaningly, 

 like the di-stant wind), to try the etlect of Bible passages 

 in modern English. Is there anything irreligious, for 

 instance, in this ? " So Jesus said to tliem, I tell you truly 

 that it was not Moses who gave you l)read from heaven ; 

 the true bread from heaven is given you by my Father." 

 Is there anything especially suggestive of devotion in 

 the " Verily, verily," the "Unto you," the " Oiveth," and 

 so forth ! If so, such devotion must be a plant of very 

 shallow growth. 



Reports from Kirkwall, dated Dec. 11, speak of a 

 severe thunderstorm which passed over the Orkneys on the 

 previous night, severely wounding five people and killing 

 four cattle. The storm came on shortly before six o'clock, 

 and continued for some time. As Mr. AVilliam Hepburn, 

 wife, and family were sitting at the tire, a flash came down 

 the chimney, and struck the whole five. Mrs. Hepburn 

 was struck behind the car, her ear being laid open on her 

 cluiek ; her husband was severely struck from the abdomen 

 down. Miss Hepburn, her brother, who was married, and 

 liis little boy, were also struck. Some of them had their 

 clothes burnt lirave fears are entertained for the recovery 

 of the old people. 



CoNTisrou.s ELECTinc Lighting. — During the recent 

 extraordinary fog, the Edison Electric Light Company, 

 recognising the necessity for distributing the light to 

 their customers without intermission, maintained their 

 dynamos at Holl)orn-viaduct in action for a continuous 

 period of sixty-four hours without stopping. Starting at 

 three o'clock on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9, the dynamos 

 ran without ceasing during Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 

 and Monday night, stopping at eight o'clock on Tuesday 

 morning, Dec. 12. Wc; do not know of any previous con- 

 tinuous, nor, in fact, any similar running to this. The 

 current was supplied from two large dynamos, which are 

 used alternately, the change being made without any per- 

 ceptible interruption in the lighting. 



Italian A.siiEsTos. — The mining for asbestos in Italy is 

 at present limited to the provinces of Sondrio and Turin. 

 The asbestos in the former occurs in regular strata, varying 

 in thickness from three to four inches, although in some 

 cases it has been found twenty inches thick. The enclosing 

 rocks are chloritic and telcose schists of a greenish colour, 

 and the asbestos is found chiefly in fibrous masses of a 

 yellowish-white colour. In some cases the fibres are long 

 and firm, resembling a skein of thread of a yard or more in 

 l(;ngtli. It has also been found that asbestos abounds in 

 the fissures of serj)entine rocks, and it is oft<!n accompanied 

 by other minerals, among which garnit<'S of a green colour 

 have l^en found in minute crystals, to which miners have 

 given the name of " Semenizo dell' Arniento," meaning 

 seeds of asbestos. The excavations are carried on in forty 

 difFerent ploces, and as a rule the enclosing rock is quarried 

 by blasting, in some cases, where too much material 

 would have to be removed, the workings are driven forward 

 in the asbestos-yielding stratum, leaving pillars here and 

 there to support the roofs of the workings. 



