November 8, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



313 



THE USE OF OIL. 



As the season of winter storms on the North Atlantic is ap- 

 proaching, navigators should note the many instances where serious 

 danger and damage have been avoided by using oil to prevent 

 heavy seas from breaking on board. It will be remembered that 

 on the " Pilot Chart " for last March a full explanation was pub- 

 lished, with diagrams, as to the best methods of using oil. Re- 

 prints of this explanation and accompanying diagrams can be 

 obtained at any branch hydrographic office. 



There are many other cases where oil may be used to advantage, 

 such as lowering and hoisting boats, riding to a sea-anchor, cross- 

 ing rollers or surf on a bar and from life-boats and stranded 

 vessels. Thick and heavy oils are the best. Mineral oils are not 

 so effective as animal or vegetable oils. Raw petroleum has given 

 favorable results, but not so good when it is refined. Certain oils, 

 like cocoanut-oil and some kinds of fish-oil, congeal in cold weather, 

 and are therefore useless, but may be mixed with mineral oils to 

 advantage. The simplest and best method of distributing oil is by 

 means of canvas bags about one foot long, filled with oakum and 

 oil, pierced with holes by means of a coarse sail- needle, and held 

 by a lanyard. The waste-pipes forward are also very useful for this 

 purpose. 



In addition to the reports published last month from vessels that 

 used oil during the St. Thomas-Hatteras hurricane of Sept. 3-12, 

 the following have been received by the United States Hydro- 

 graphic Office from vessels that encountered the same storm : — 



The British steamship " Elgiva " (Capt. Bermpohl), Sept. 4, when 

 in latitude 24° north, longitude 65" west, kept oil-bags at bows and 

 channels to prevent seas from coming on board. The oil had a 

 remarkable effect in smoothing the seas, and the vessel sustained 

 no damage whatever. The British brigantine " Victoria " (Capt. 

 Simmons), in a terrific hurricane, Sept. 5, latitude 26° north, longi- 

 tude 68° 38' west, lost spars, sails, etc. A quantity of cod-oil was 

 used, and it is thought that it saved the ship's hull from damage, 

 and possibly total loss. The American brig " Mary Bartlett " 

 (Capt. Holmes), Sept. 8, latitude 36° 42' north, longitude 74" 22' 

 west, commenced using oil (paint and kerosene mixed). On Sept. 

 ■9, the wind north-east and blowing in terrific squalls, oil was used 

 with great success. The British brig " J. A. Horsey " (Capt. Dow- 

 ling), in a hurricane off capes of the Chesapeake, Sept. 9-12, used 

 kerosene-oil, but without as great success as if it had been a 

 heavier oil, of which there was none on board. The American 

 schooner " Ralph M. Haywood " (Capt. Baxter), in a hurricane off 

 capes of the Chesapeake, Sept. 9-n, used axle-oil in bags hung 

 over the weather bow. The bags were replenished every two 

 hours ; in all, about five gallons being used, and with great success. 

 The Italian bark " Biagino " (Capt. Brignati) encountered the 

 hurricane, Sept. 9-12, after leaving the Delaware Breakwater for 

 Cagliari. The cargo was petroleum, and, as the vessel leaked 

 badly, a large amount of the oil was pumped out. As stated 

 above, a thin oil like refined petroleum has but little effect, and such 

 was the case in this instance. The British steamship " Claribel '' 

 (Capt. Macknight) encountered the hurricane, Sept. 9-1 1, between 

 latitude 37" north, longitude 73° west, and latitude 34° north, 

 longitude 71° west. Oil was used with success, and prevented 

 many a heavy sea from breaking over the vessel. 



MENTAL SCIENCE. 



Experiments in Crystal-Vision. 



There is a general tendency, whenever a notion is relegated to 

 the rank of superstitions, to regard all interest in the matter as end- 

 ing there. Such an attitude neglects to distinguish between error 

 founded upon a false observation of facts and error founded upon 

 a false interpretation of facts : it neglects to consider as well that 

 the origin of this superstition also needs explanation. A supersti- 

 tion is rarely a purely fanciful notion spun from the inner con- 

 sciousness, but usually contains, though often in a scarcely recog- 

 nizable form, an element of interesting and perhaps important 

 knowledge. It is with a full appreciation of this latter point of 

 view that an anonymous lady writes in the recently issued number 

 of " The Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research " upon 



the phenomena of crystal-vision, and reviews these in the light of 

 cognate experiments of her own. The phenomenon, though simple, 

 has a very ancient and varied history. It consists in gazing into a 

 a crystal, a drop of water, polished metal, a gem, or even the finger- 

 nail, and seeing there reflected certain appearances usually to be 

 interpreted as of prophetic significance. The custom is very wide- 

 spread in the Orient both in the most ancient and in modern times. 

 It has been found among savages, it has been counted as an in- 

 strument of the devil, it has received noble treatment at the hands 

 of the learned before the courts of princes. Like most such cus- 

 toms, it has been surrounded with mystic and religious proceedings, 

 and its exercise controlled by elaborate and fanciful directions. 

 The Assyrians, the Hebrews, the Greeks, the Romans, were ac- 

 quainted with the process, and give evidences of its use. In early 

 Christian times those who read the future by gazing into a mirror 

 received the title of " specularii." They appear in a church council 

 convened by St. Patrick in 450, while we have a list of procedures 

 against them as heretics in the twelfth century. Although Thomas 

 Aquinas attributes this power possessed by some children to the 

 work of the devil, and though a special condemnation of it was 

 made by the theological faculty of Paris in 1398, the art continued, 

 and in the sixteenth century reached its zenith under the auspices 

 of a couft physician or a university professor. Catherine de Medic 

 consulted a magician, who showed her in a mirror how long her 

 sons would occupy the throne. The topic was brought into promi- 

 nence by the work of Dr. Dee, a very entertaining personage, under 

 whom the process was systematized, and produced wonderful re- 

 sults. Dr. Dee and his associate, one Kelly, of dubious repute, see 

 spirit visitors in their crystal or shew-stone who are described in 

 all detail. Moreover, they hold long conversations with them, 

 though what they learn from the " angelicall beings " is often mere 

 " sermon-like stuffe." The stone is " of that value that no earthly 

 kingdom is of that worthinesse as to be compared to the vertue or 

 dignity thereof : " it is brought to him by angels ; it is miraculously 

 restored to him ; it is placed in a sanctuary, and shown with great 

 ceremony. We read of many other uses of the crystal :' we have 

 instructions whereby to have a spirit enclosed in a crystal stone or 

 beryl glass ; and from these mediseval notions we have almost a 

 continuous use of the process down to inodern times. 



Considering the function of the crystal simply as a means of con- 

 centrating the gaze, our author attempts to follow the course of 

 these visions by analogy with other hallucinations, and regards 

 them as consisting mainly of (l) " after-images or recrudescent 

 memories, often rising thus, and thus only, from the subconscious 

 strata to which they had sunk ; " and (2) " as objectivations of 

 ideas or images consciously or unconsciously in the mind of the 

 percipient." " The tendency of the conscious memory is so 

 strongly in favor of picture-making, that we may naturally assume 

 this habit on the part of that which is latent or subconscious." 

 This, at any rate, is true for the lady in question ; for she is gifted 

 with a remarkable power of visualization, that goes far to explain 

 her success at crystal-vision. When desirous of describing a room 

 in a friend's house, she tells us, " I return in recollection to the 

 occasion of my last visit. I once more occupy the same chair. 

 The carpet at my feet becomes visible, the furniture nearest to my 

 seat, gradually the whole contents of the room, till walls and ceil- 

 ing complete the picture, and I am able to give an inventory which 

 would not disgrace an auctioneer's clerk." The exercise of this 

 faculty, and especially with regard to phenomena of the uncon- 

 scious, seems to be much aided by fixation of the attention upon 

 the crystal. To quote from the record of experiments, " Here, for 

 example, I find in the crystal a bit of dark wall covered with white 

 jessamine, and I ask myself, ' Where have I walked to-day ? ' I 

 have no recollection of such a sight, not a common one in the 

 London streets ; but to-morrow I will repeat my walk of this morn- 

 ing with a careful regard for creeper- covered walls. To-morrow 

 solves the mystery. I find the very spot, and the sight brings with 

 it the further recollection that at the moment we passed this spot 

 I was engaged in absorbing conversation with my companion, and 

 my voluntary attention was pre-occupied." Or, again, " I had care- 

 lessly destroyed a letter without preserving the address of my corre- 

 spondent. I knew the county, and, searching in a map, recognized 

 the name of the town, one unfamiliar to me, but which I was sure 



