346 



Note G. — Plutarch records that on the temple of Isis at Sais was 

 inscribed the sentence, " I am that which is, and which was, and is to come, 

 and my veil no man has ever lifted." 



Note H. — Whilst writing, the telegraphic wire conveys a message to the 

 other side of the world and brings back a reply, over 25,000 miles, in so 

 short a time, that, as the Times records, Nov. 16, 1872, "The chairman 

 opened yesterday's proceedings by sending a telegram to the Mayor of 

 Adelaide, and an answer was received before he had got far in the speech- 

 making after dinner." 



The Adelaide Observer, of July 20, 1872, gives the following details of the 

 telegraphic route from Falmouth to Port Augusta : — 





iviiiefe. 



Falmouth to Gibraltar, via Lisbon cable 



... 1,250 



Gibraltar to Malta (cable) 



981 



Malta to Alexandria (cable) 



... 819 



Alexandria to Suez (overland line) 



... 224 



Suez to Aden (cable) 



.... 1,308 



Aden to Bombay 



... 1,664 



Bombay to Madras (overland) ... 



600 



Madras to Penang (cable) 



... 1,213 



Penang to Singapore (cable) 



... 301 



Singapore to Batavia (cable) ... 



... 560 



Batavia to Bangoewangi (wire) ... 



... 480 



Bangoewangi to Port Darwin (cable) 



... 970 



Port Darwin to Port Augusta (wire) 



... 1,800 



Port Augusta to Adelaide 



... 212 



Total 



...12,382 



Lisbon to Falmouth , 



... 268 



Total 



... 12,650 



But this gives but a feeble conception of the swiftness with which the 

 thriU of magnetic influence is communicated, and the following is more 

 directly to the point. On the 1st September, 1859, Messrs. Carrington and 

 Hodgson were observing the sun in different localities. Their scrutiny 

 was directed to certain large spots which at that time marked the sun's face. 

 Suddenly a bright light was seen by each observer to break out on the 

 sun's surface and travel slowly in appearance, but in reality at the rate of 

 about 7,000 miles in a minute across a part of the solar disk. Now. it was 

 found afterwards that the self-registering magnetic instruments at Kew had 



