NOVKMBEB 1, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



255 



prepare the ribbons to feed the appai-atus. Tho sanio 

 uiimber of men would be required to transcribe tho work 

 at the receiving cud. Thus we have 120 men fully 

 occupied with the work of one wire. Suppose a speech 

 of 6000 words were handed in to a telegraph office. It 

 would under our poskd system be cut up into pages of 

 100 words each. One page would be given to each of 

 the 60 men who would prepare it in -1 minutes. The 

 wire would be occupied not quite 4 minutes in sending 

 it, and the 60 men at the receiving end would transcribe 

 it in 4 minutes. Thus the whole would bo received 

 and in writing in less than 12 minutes, or allowing for 

 delays, say in a quai-t3r of an hour. This would be 

 done witli only one wire, a rosidt imjwssiblo of achieve- 

 ment by any othei" systom. 



There is no possibility of getting the whole of the 

 work done automatically, although the latest develop- 

 ments of the system (which have taken place since I 

 wrote my ai-ticle) promise a step even in that direction. 

 The chief gain is tho increased carrying capacity given 

 to the expensive trunk lines, and the great usefulness 

 when a breakdown or other circumstances limit the 

 number of such lines. — C. H. Garland.] 



ASTROLOGY. 



TO THE EDITORS OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Sirs, — It is not my intention to enter into an argu- 

 ment concerning the truth, or falsity, of astrology with 

 anyone who i-efuses to examine the subject for himself, 

 but I wish to point out that I did not suggest that the 

 five sense evidence should bo left behind. Astrology 

 is not a physical science, it is essentially meta-physical, 

 and as such, it cannot appeal to the ordinary man of 

 science who has not the intuition, the sixth sense, which 

 is yet to be evolved by the majority. 



If Mr. Maunder will change the word paganism into 

 pantheism, he will be right in stating that ;ustrology is a 

 survival of the latter. Alan Leo, 



Editor of Modern Astrulogy. 



9, Lyncroft Gardens, 



West Hampstead, London, N.W. 



[Mr. Chatley writes again at some length, but in view 

 of Mr. Leo's letter, it seems unnecessai-y to do more than 

 quote from his opening sentence: — "I am desirous of 

 approaching astrology, not as a metarpliysical abstraction, 

 but as a material and mathematical science." If astro- 

 logy were a physical science, there would be good cause 

 for our enquiring into it, though Mr. Chatley is 

 evidently a stranger to the methods and principles of 

 physical research. But when after a history of some 

 thousands of years wo find its adherents differing on 

 this fundamental point; the one declaring it is not a 

 physical science but essentially metarphysical, tho other, 

 that it is not a meta-physical abstraction but a material 

 and mathematical science, what conclusion can we come 

 to but that it has no real basis at all ? At any rate the 

 astrologers must settle its standpoint amongst them- 

 selves first. If it be a physical science then we can 

 apply physical and numerical tests to it. If not, it 

 lies outside the scope of Knowledge, and we must de- 

 cline further discussion upon it. 



Whilst regretting the necessity of thus declining 

 several lengthy communications that have reached us 

 upon the subject, we would desire to acknowledge the 

 courteoiis tone in which all our correspondents have 

 written. — E. Walter Maunder] 



ANCIENT HINDU ASTROLOGY OR ASTRONOMY 

 AND THE NINE PLANETS. 



TO THE EDnoKS OF KNOVVl,K.I)Gi;. 



Sirs, — The discovery of the planetary nature of 

 Uranus and Neptune has, indeed, not been fortunate 

 for the pretensions of astrology, nor yet for cheiromancy 

 and nu'toposcopy, it is, however, fair to mention passages 

 from Edward b'pham's " History and Doctrine of Uud- 

 hism . . . with Notices of tho Bali or Planetary Incan- 

 tations," 1829, pp. 87 and 94-5 :— " The Birnians mention 

 eight planets, namely tho Sun, the Moon, Mercury, 

 Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and another named Rahu, 

 which is invisibh'." (italics mine). "The nine planets" 

 in four astronomical works from the country of Dand);i/- 

 dewa; expressly calculated for the Bali. Rahu and 

 Kohettu are of the male sex, and had phnicls. It is true 

 that Upham thinks Rahu was an astrologictd sign rather 

 than an anticipation of Hcrschel's discovery. 



Charles G. Stuakt-Menteath. 



23, Upper Bedford Place, W.C. 



[Rahu was not, strictly speaking, a planet, but was the 

 mysterious body, tho " dragon," or " dog," which 

 occasioned an eclipse. — E. Walter Maunder.] 



I — -.- — 



CLAY-STONES. 



to the editors of knowledge. 



Sirs, — In digging a drain for my house, the workmen 

 found three stones in the stiff clay; the largest about 

 a foot in length, about as hard and heavy as iron. They 

 are occasionally found, and are called " clay-stones " by 

 the workmen. They appear to be of the nature of trap 

 rock, and were with difficulty broken, in order to get 

 them out. They were seven feet below the surface. 

 How did they come into the clay? S. H. Wright. 



3, Cator Road, Sydenham, S.E. 



[I may refer Mr. Wright to Mr. H. Woodward's ac- 

 count of the London Clay, in his " Geology of England 

 and Wales," 2nd edition, p. 436. 



These concretions are common in the London clay and 

 often include fossils. They result from the gradual 

 accumulation of calcium carbonate or iron carbonate, 

 or both, about some centre. Similar masses form the 

 famous " black band " ironstones, worked for iron in our 

 shaly coal-measures. The contrast of such nodules with 

 the soft clay from which they have slowly concreted 

 underground is commonly of a striking character. — 

 G. A. J. Cole.] 



LUNAR RAINBOW. 



TO THE EDITORS OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Sirs, — A remarkably well-defined lunar rainhniu was 

 seen here on Wednesday evening, the 3rd of October. It 

 was first ob.served by the writer about half-past eight, 

 and continued brightly visible till about ten o'clock, 

 when it melted away in tho surrounding darkness. The 

 arc seemed from rough calculation to have a diameter 

 about fifteen times that of the moon, and on its upper 

 rim a bright star rested, forming an interesting feature 

 of tho phenomenon. From a point near this star a 

 very brilliant blue coloured meteor darted away to the 

 right of the observer in a south-westerly direction. The 

 rainbow was cut off on the lower quadrant by a layer of 

 black clouds. John Macintosh. 



Strath Cottage, Galston. 



