Feb. 9, 1871] 
NATURE 
289 

there our party divided. Between Naples and Rome the com- 
munication was open, but, on arriving at Rome, we found very 
evident traces of the recent inundations, which are said to ex- 
press the indignation of Providence or the delight of lather 
Tiber at the downfall of the Pope’s temporal power. ‘The 
regular route from Rome to Florence v@ Foligno and Perugia, 
was no longer available, as the flood had carried away most of 
the bridges on the railway, so we were compelled to take the | 
other and very circuitous route 77é Civita Vecchia, Pisa, and 
Empoli, From Florence, after a delay of two days, during 
which large quantities of snow fell, we made an attempt to 
reach Bologna on January 9th, but our ill-luck still followed us, 
and we had to return whence we had come. 
By the advice of some Italian friends, we decided to wait afew 
‘ days at Florence before making a second attempt to cross the 
Apennines. Luckily we succeeded the next time in crossing the 
mountains and leaving Lombardy without any great incon- 
venience, for by this time the four feet of snow which had 
covered the country everywhere had been cleared from the rails. 
We experienced no further difficulty until we arrived at Brenner, 
where, after remonstrances on our part, we were turned out in a 
heavy snowstorm to find our way as best we could to the nearest 
hotel. The next morning we found that the cause of the delay 
was an avalanche, which, descending a very short time before 
our train came up, and carrying with it in its downward course 
trees and rocks, had effectually blocked up the line of rails. 
Vague rumours reached the hotel that no trains would pass for a 
week, that two battalions of Austrian soldiers were cutting a way 
length, 80 feet in height, and extending across the gorge from 
side to side. We had no means of verifying these statements, as 
the telegraph wires were broken, and the officials were evidently 
as much in the dark as ourselves. Twenty-four hours after us the 
train bearing the Indian mails from Brindisi came up to the same 
spot, the passengers were treated as we had been, and ordered to turn 
out at midnight in happy ignorance of the cause of the delay. 
The mails were, however, sent up as near as possible to the 
obstruction, and thence carried over the tops of the mountains for 
a distance of eight miles, to a train which was waiting on the fur- 
ther side. Thecold was intense at Brenner, and the depth of the 
snow confined us to the hotel. The weather, however, was only 
such as might be expected on the Alps, but we had good reason 
to fear from famine, as each successive train brought up regularly 
from Verona its freight of passengers, and discharged them all at 
Brenner, until the two hotels were full and ove flowing. On the 
evening of the thiid day, as we sat at dinner, tidings came that 
the line was once more ciear, and that a train would probably 
start that evening for Munich; so, thankful to quit the dull 
monotony of Brenner, we left by the night train, and after a delay 
of two days in passing through the disturbed parts of Germany, 
we arrived safely in England, having spent eight days e route 
from Florence. W. A. Harris 
St. Michael’s Mount 
IN the last number of NATURE there appears a letter from Mr. 
R. A. Peacock, of Jersey, in which he attempts to prove that 
St. Michael’s Mount, in Cornwall, was insulated in the eleventh 
ceniury. To do this, he quotes the passage from Domesday 
relating to the lands held by the church of St. Michael, which 
he translates—* Keiwal holds the church of St. Michael,” &c. 
Now this land, Mr. Peacock says, was 240 acres, but the area of 
the Mount is now only 30 acres, so that there are 210 acres 
missing, therefore it could not at that time have been an island, 
because, in the eleventh century, it contained at least eight times 
as much land as it does at present. 
Unfortunately for this theory, the passage which Mr. Peaceck 
translates ‘‘ Keiwal holds the church of St. Michael” is reaily 
“The church of St. Michael holds Treiwal, or Treuthal,” as it is | 
called on p. 11, which is a manor in the parish of St. Hillary, 
Cornwall. H. MICHELL WHITLEY 
Penarth, Truro, Feb. 6 
The Zodiacal Light 
In Nature for January 26, in the course of an interesting 
account of the Augusta Eclipse Expedition, by Prof. W. G. 
Adams, of King’s College, there is a short allusion to the Zodiacal 
Light, which can harcly {ail to be looked on by many as being, 
both on account of the author and the occasion, authoritative 
| 
~- | of ‘*The Reign of Law?” 
through the snow, and that the avalanche was 200 yards in | ra N ed , 



as well as important and instructive :—‘* At about 6 30™ on 
Monday evening (runs the article in question) we saw a brilliant 
display of the zodiacal light, consisting of brilliant pink streamers, 
stretching perpendicularly to the horizon, the planet Jupiter being 
Just on the most brilliant streamers. Towards the north and 
round the horizon there were also streamers,” &c. 
Until assured by the author that the word ‘‘ zodiacal” is not 
a misprint from something else, it is hardly worth while for me 
to point out in detail that the above description mentions almost 
everything which does of belong to the true zodiacal light, and 
nothing which does belong to or characterise it as hitherto known 
amongst astronomers. C, Prazzt SMYTH 
15, R. Terrace, Edinburgh, Feb. 1 
The Reign of Law 
THE following is an extract from a letter I lately received from 
a friend of mine who is on the Geological Survey of India :— 
“The Duke of Argyll and his Council have determined that 
the leave-rules, which are good enough for the natives, are good 
enough for us, although they are not sufficiently good for edu- 
cated Europeans, such as the Staff Corps and Civil Service, and 
this they have resolved on, in spite of the Indian Government. 
If we could only get fair leave and pension rules, the same as 
men of the same rank and education receive in the other ser- 
vices, I do not think [ should be tempted to give up field-work.”’ 
May I be allowed to inquire whether this is a new illustration 
TANTALUS 

Misadventures in Conchology 
My experience seems to me curious ; is it unique? 
complain, I simply inquire. 
1. As channel of communication for a foreign friend, I sent 
copies of his valuable conchological work to three public libraries 
in Great Britain. I know they were received. They have never 
been acknowledged. 
2. I sent a complete set of shells, of a specially interesting 
field, toa foreign collection ; they were delivered by a friend, 
They have never been acknowledged. 
3. Isent (at his request) to a man of science a number of the 
rarer shells of a district. He acknowledged them through his 
clerk, 
4. Toa dealer at his urgent request and offer of exchanges, I 
sent a quantity (some hundreds) of shells. He sent me in return 
less than half what he had promised, selected from my list at his 
fancy. 
5. To ascientific man in America, at his earnest request and 
offer of exchange, I sent a set of the shells of a district. No 
answer whatever. : 
6. I sent a unique specimen of a shell to a foreign conchologist 
forexamination. 1 have never heard more of it. 
7. Atthe earnest request of a dealer offering exchange, my 
brother sent a great number of Scotch glacial shells. His letter 
of request for desiderata was returned unopened. 
8. A friend near me has more than once sent shells to Ger- 
man collectors, but has the same sad tale of packets sent, and no 
promised returns made, 
Are these experiences exceptional, or is conchology fatal to 
conscience, or are a.7 inen liars? VALLE 
T don’t 


ON THE NATURAL LAWS OF MUSCULAR 
EXERTION 
Il. 
AVING shown* that Mr, Jevons’ first and third sets 
of experiments illustrate laws 1 and 2 of muscular 
action, it remains for me to apply the same laws to his 
second set of experiments, and to show that they also 
illustrate these laws. 
Before doing so, a few words may be said on the 
subject of the maximum of useful effect. I have shown, 
from theory, that a maximum of useful effect is obtained 
in holding out weights horizontally in the hand, by using 
a weight which is 73 percent. of the weight of the arm 
" See NatuRr, vol, fi. p. 324 
