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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



he spent a half-year of his life as a regular 

 professional beggar — adopting apparently 

 all the habits and feelings of a beggar. 

 " None the less he was a man of remarkable 

 acquirements, being a learned Talmudist, 

 for those times at least a considerable 

 mathematician, and having in middle life 

 mastered Latin, German, French, and Eng- 

 lish, besides the various Eastern dialects 

 of which his Hebrew knowledge was the 

 foundation. He had evidently a very great 

 turn for physics as well as for mathematics, 

 and a wonderful capacity for the acquisition 

 of languages without the slightest communi- 

 cation with those who could speak them, so 

 that he knew a language fairly well of which 

 he could not properly pronounce a single 

 sentence." He so criticised Kant's greatest 

 work as to excite the admiration of the au- 

 thor. In character "he was candid, grate- 

 ful, generous, and full of kindly feelings. 

 But he was conceited, irreverent, passionate, 

 intolerant of the influence of others, and 

 never really at ease among the class for 

 which his knowledge fitted him. His study 

 of the Talmud . . . thoroughly unfitted him 

 for feeling the least respect for the element 

 of authority in religion." The questions are 

 suggested whether Maimon's vagabond tastes 

 stimulated his intellectual restlessness, or 

 his intellectual restlessness stimulated his 

 vagabond tastes; whether he would have 

 been as keen if he had been a home-stayer 

 and steady worker, or whether it was his 

 taste for wandering and his unsettled habits 

 that really made his intelligence so bright. 

 Much might be said on both sides of these 

 questions ; but the probability is, that Mai- 

 mon would have been stronger and more 

 useful, though, perhaps, less diversified and 

 brilliant, if he had led a regular life. 



An Anti-Lightning Cage. — Besides the 



orthodox or " gather-up-and- carry-away " sys- 

 tem of protection against lightning there 

 is another system suggested by Clerk Max- 

 well — the " bird-cage " or "meat-safe" prin- 

 ciple. " In a banker's strong room," says 

 Prof. Lodge, " you are absolutely safe. Even 

 if it were struck, nothing could get at you. 

 In a bird-cage, or in armor, you are moder- 

 ately safe. ... A sufficiently strong and 

 closely meshed cage or netting all over a 

 house will undoubtedly make all inside per- 



fectly safe — only, if that is all the defense, 

 you must not step outside, or touch the net- 

 ting while outside, for fear of a shock. . . . 

 An earth-connection is necessary as well." 

 A wire netting all over the house, a good 

 earth-connection at several points, and a 

 plentiful supply of barbed wire stuck all 

 over the roof, constitute an admirable system 

 of defense. Points to the sky are recog- 

 nized as correct ; but there should be " more 

 of them, any number of them, rows of them, 

 like barbed wire — not necessarily at all 

 prominent — along ridges and eaves. For a 

 single point has not a very great discharg- 

 ing capacity ; and, if you want to neutralize 

 a thunder-cloud, three points are not so ef- 

 fective as three thousand. No need, how- 

 ever, for great spikes and ugly tridents, so 

 painful to the architect. Let the lightning 

 come to you, do not go to meet it. Protect 

 all your ridges and pinnacles — not only the 

 highest — and you will be far safer than if 

 you built yourself a factory-chimney to sup- 

 port your conductor upon." 



A Giant Earthworm. — An earthworm 

 which, in some examples, reaches the length 

 of six feet, is described by Prof. Baldwin 

 Spencer, in the " Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of Victoria," as existing in Gipps- 

 land, Australia. It is the Megascolides aits- 

 tralis, one of a group peculiar to Australia, 

 of which five species are known. When 

 found at all it is somewhat abundant, and 

 lives principally on the sloping sides of 

 creeks. At times it is found beneath fallen 

 logs, and may be turned out of the ground by 

 the plow. The worm itself does not appear 

 to leave a "casting" at the mouth of its 

 burrow, but often lives in ground riddled 

 by the holes of the land-crab, which forms 

 a "casting." Hence, contradictory state- 

 ments have been made about the worm's 

 having a "casting." The presence of the 

 worm underground may be recognized by a 

 very distinct gurgling sound which is made 

 by the animal retreating in its burrow when 

 the ground is stamped upon by the foot. 

 When once heard, this gurgling sound is un- 

 mistakable. By its rapid motion and its 

 power of distending any part of its body at 

 will, so as to make it fit very tightly in its 

 hole, the worm contrives to make itself very 

 hard to catch. It has a characteristic odor, 



