February 1, 1899. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



doubled. After the first decade, in 1880, twenty-nine 

 mOlion messages were transmitted, with a surplus revenue 

 of three hundred and fifty-four thousand and sixty pounds. 

 In 1890, although the charge had previously been reduced 

 from one shilling to sixpence, the annual business equalled 

 ninety-four million messages, the operations still resulting 

 in a surplus of two hundred and fifty-one thousand eight 

 hundred and sis pounds. With reference to the messages 

 between London and Australia, in 1890, when the charge 

 was nine shillings and fourpence per word, the gross 

 business consisted of eight hundred and twenty-seven 

 thousand two hundred and seventy-eight words, with a 

 revenue of three hundred and thirty- one thousand four 

 hundred and sixty-eight pounds ; while in 1897, when the 

 charge was reduced to four shillings and uinepence per 

 word, the business increased to two million three hundred 

 and forty-nine thousand nine hundred and one words, with 

 a revenue of five hundred and sixty-seven thousand eight 

 hundred and fifty-two pounds, or two hundred and thirty- 

 six thousand three hundred and eighty-four pounds in 

 excess of 1890, when the highest rates were exacted. 

 Now, " were the cables owned by the State, large profits 

 would not be the main object, and, precisely as in the case 

 of the land lines of the United Kingdom, it would be 

 possible to reduce charges so as to remove restrictions on 

 trade and bring the service within reach of many now 

 debarred from using it." 



Further development of the already vast nervous system 

 of our planet will be attended with beneficent results to 

 science. Could anyone have dreamt that the discoveries of 

 Galvani, who. having hung on an iron railing the legs of a 

 frog fastened to copper hooks, observed that each gust of 

 wind caused convulsions in the legs of the dead animal — 

 who, one may ask, could have prophesied that this 

 apparently insignificant observation would entirely alter 

 the character of a future century ? and yet it is but an 

 application of this discovery, extended, it is true, by many 

 intermediate researches, that annihilates space and time ; 

 that empowers our thought to travel with the speed and 

 with the power of lightning to the most distant land, and 

 enables mind to be reciprocated without being arrested by 

 distance in space. Continents are thus joined, in spite of 

 intervening seas, and, by rendering sudden invasion all but 

 impossible, more security is given to nations than cordons 

 of soldiers or fleets at sea could bestow. To the astronomer 

 these cables are invaluable as a means of recording the 

 transits of stars at places widely separated, and thus 

 determining accurately the distance apart in longitude. 

 In a mercantile aspect, the telegraph produces consequences 

 no less individually important than its general results, 

 such as when it sends information to distant provinces of 

 the approach of a tornado, time being thus given to provide 

 against the fury of the storm. In the last annual report 

 of the Meteorological Council, it is shown, in this con- 

 nection, that during the last twelve months fifty-five per 

 cent, of their forecasts were correct, twenty-six were nearly 

 so, six were failures, and thirteen partially so. This 

 branch of scientific work is becoming more and more 

 accurate as observing stations increase, and the scheme 

 proposed by Sir Sandford Fleming would probably augment 

 its utility to an extent which at present it is impossible to 

 forecast. The more cables there are, and the more they 

 are under our own control and protection, the greater 

 will be the freedom of action among the many members 

 of our otherwise unwieldly empire ; a leg, an arm, or 

 other appendage, will acquire a quickening impulse which 

 wQl enable each and all to respond more promptly to the 

 guiding genius at home entrusted with the direction of 

 the affairs of Stat^. 



THE ICKNIELD WAY IN NORFOLK AND 

 SUFFOLK. 



By W. G. Clarke. 



THE landmarks of even a century ago are now many 

 of them unknown. We cannot, therefore, wonder 

 that the British trackways in use prior to the 

 Roman occupation have, in many cases, become 

 merely names — their courses unknown to the 

 antiquary. One of the longest and most interesting of 

 these trackways is the Icknield Way, which, originally 

 British, was adopted and improved by the Eomans. For 

 the greater part of its course it is still used as a highway. 

 In Anglo-Saxon charters it is termed the IcenhiUe n'rt/ — 

 i.e., the war path of the Iceni. In the time of Edward the 

 Confessor, this road was one of the ijuatuor Chimini, 

 differing from the other three in apparently never having 

 been re-made by the Romans. In the neighbourhood of 

 Ashdown it is described as " a broad, grassy road, marked 

 off from the surrounding fields by low banks, and called, 

 in that part of the country, the ' Green Road.' " 



The course of the Icknield Way from Dorchester to 

 Royston, on the borders of Cambridgeshire, is generally 

 well-known. It seldom leaves the dry and open chalk, 

 and is guarded by a remarkable series of hill forts, peculiar, 

 both in form and position. The villages of Ickhton and 

 Ickleloii are not far distant from the accepted route. At 

 Royston, it crosses the Ermine Street almost in the centre 

 of the town ; and near the four crossways is a remarkable 

 cave in the chalk, originally a British habitation, formed by 

 means of shafts. 



Mr. Arthur Taylor, f.s.a., added another link to the 

 chain of evidence in a paper read before the Archfeological 

 Institute at their Norwich meeting in 1847, fixing New- 

 market as the next important point. In a deed, tcmpu^ 

 Henry III., in Mr. Taylor's possession, conveyance was 

 made of a soUar with houses and chambers upon Vkenitde- 

 »•(•(■«'. This property was situate in High Street, Newmarket. 

 Between Royston and Newmarket, the road crosses the 

 Via Pet-ana, the Brand Ditch, the Fleam Dyke, and the 

 Devil's Dyke, and is flanked by the Pampisford Ditch. 



After leaving Newmarket, Mr. Taylor favoured a route 

 leading through Icklingham and Thetford to Norwich 

 Castle Hill, but insufficient local knowledge precluded a 

 detailed description. The greater part of the present 

 main road between Newmarket and Attleborough, passing 

 through Thetford, is of comparatively recent construction, 

 probably having been made subsequent to 1695. The 

 unmade road in use prior to that time was in all probability 

 originally the Icknield Way. That this ran through 

 Icklingham seems indisputable. 



After leaving Newmarket, the road appears for a time as 

 the county boundary between Suffolk and Cambridge, 

 crossing the Kennet, a tributary of the Lark, at Kentlord, 

 and over that river itself at Lackford. The portion 

 between Kentford and Cavenham is marked as " The 

 Icknield Way " on the Geological Survey map. From 

 Icklingham All Saints to Thetford, the Icknield Way 

 follows the boundary line of the hundreds of Blackbourn 

 and Lackford — the ford of the Lark — evidently considered 

 one of the most striking features in the hundred. It is 

 also probable that Blackbourn hundred was so named from 

 Blackwater, the great ford near Rushford, where Peddar's 

 Way crossed the Little Ouse. In those days it was of 

 primary importance to make for the best river fords. 



From Icklingham the road is well marked, although 

 practically never used. This place-name, as with others 

 on the Way, is derived from Ick, a British tribal name 

 Latinized into Iceniling— i.e., home of Icklings, children of 



