December 18, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



893 



nearly filled with mercury tlie broken end of 

 the platinum wire was immersed in the liquid. 

 To make a connection with the battery cir- 

 cuit it was simply necessary to insert a con- 

 necting wire into the sack containing the mer- 

 cury. This makeshift has worked splendidly 

 many times and there seems no reason why it 

 should not work indefinitely. The sketch shows 

 the arrangement above noted. E,E, are elec- 

 trodes, M,M, mercury, P,P, the pockets. 



The thought occurs to the writer that it 

 would be possible to place on certain pieces of 

 glass apparatus designed with fused-in-plat- 

 inum wires some sort of glass pocket, the 

 function of which would be the same as the 

 leather pocket above mentioned. It is obvious 

 that this arrangement would do away entirely 

 with the risk of accident. 



In the case of much glass apparatus where 

 the electrodes are inserted through the glass 

 the outer terminals are metal rings somewhat 

 securely fixed in place — ^for example as in 

 vacuum tubes. Even in electrolytic apparatus 

 such a scheme may be used at times. Yet, 

 while that arrangement is certainly an im- 

 provement over the projecting-out piece of 

 platinum wire, it seems that the above scheme 

 would lend itself to even more careless and 

 safe handling. 



It is further suggested that the same idea 

 might be used on certain forms of vacuum 

 tubes. 



G. B. O. 



Colby College 



the tenterton steeple and the goodwin" sands 

 On reading the reference to the Tenterton 

 (Tenterden) Steeple and the Goodwin Sands 

 in the article on " Heredity and Environ- 

 ment " by Mr. Henry Leffman,'- I wondered 

 whether the reference in question would be 

 generally understood. I did not think so, and 

 in order to test the matter I stated the refer- 

 ence and its connection in a meeting of some 

 seventy high-school teachers, among whom 

 were many A.B.'s, several A.M.'s and a sprink- 

 ling of Ph.D.'s. I asked those who understood 

 the reference to raise a hand. The result was 

 1 Science, Oetoljer 23, 1914, pp. 593-594. 



even more meager than I had anticipated — 

 not a single hand went up. 



Although most readers of the article re- 

 ferred to may have reached the conclusion 

 which the author evidently took for granted 

 they should reach, yet because the Goodwin 

 Sands have recently been referred to in the 

 war news from Dover (England) — the Sands 

 are in that vicinity — and further because 

 there may be some readers of Science who are 

 still in the dark about the relation between the 

 " Sands " and the " Steeple," therefore I 

 thought that a brief account of the origin of 

 the incident might not be altogether unprof- 

 itable. 



In a " Compendium of English Literature " 

 by Charles D. Cleveland, published at Phila- 

 delphia by J. A. Bancroft & Co., in 1869, may 

 be found selections from the more prominent 

 authors from Sir John Mandeville to William 

 Cowper. On page 65 of this compendium a 

 biographical sketch of Hugh Latimer is found, 

 and following that are a few selections from 

 his writings. One of the selections (p. 67) is 

 entitled " Cause and Effect," and reads in part, 

 as follows: 



Here is now an argument against the prea&hers. 

 Here was preaching against eovetousness all the 

 last year, and the next summer followed rebellion. 

 Ergo, preaching against eovetousness was the 

 cause of the rebellion — a goodly argument. Here 

 now I remember an argument of master Mora's 

 which he bringeth in a book that he made against 

 Bilney; and here by the way I will tell you a 

 merry toy. 



Master More was once sent in commission into 

 Kent, to help to try out (if it might be) what 

 was the cause of the Goodwin Sands, and the shelf 

 that stopped up Sandwich haven. Thither cometh 

 Master More, and ealleth the country afore him, 

 such as were thought to be men of experience, and 

 men that could of likelihood best certify him of 

 that matter concerning the stopping of Sandwich 

 haven. Among others came in before him an old 

 man, with a white head, and one that was thought 

 to be little less than a hundred years old. . . . 

 So master More . . . said: "Father (said he), tell 

 me, if yon can, what is the cause of this great 

 arising of the sands and shelves about this haven, 

 . . . [so] that no ships can arrive here? ... ye of 

 likelihood can say most to it, or at leastwise, 



