767 
i88o.] Fog Lore - 
the long continued sweep which would be desirable. 1 he 
original plan of New York, when under Dutch rule, was, as 
Washington Irving tells us, laid out by the cows in return- 
ing from pasture. The plan of London has been committed 
to much worse animals,— building speculators,— who, on our 
modern principle of sacrificing the permanent welfare of the 
community to the momentary gain of the individual, have 
wrought a world of folly, hideousness, and abomination in 
g Having thus given a brief sketch of our present knowledge 
—or might it not better be said of our ignorance ?— concern- 
ing fogs in general and London fogs in particular, we come 
to the vital point, the remedy. In all such cases there is 
reason to fear lest the “ something to be done ” may fail in 
every respedt, save in adding to the very heavy burdens ot 
the ratepayers. . 
There are proposals to prevent the formation ot fog, to 
remove it, and, again, to alter its nature. 
To effect the first-mentioned objedl an appeal has been 
made to the “ unknown god ” of modern days— electricity. 
We generally find that if some difficulty has to be overcome, 
the very nature of which is still obscure, it is proposed. to 
apply electricity. But fogs are sometimes eledtro-positive 
and sometimes eledfro-negative. For the dispersion of the 
former class Dr. T. L. Phipson* considers that “ it would 
be necessary to supply them with an abundant source of 
eleCtro-negative electricity more quickly than the earth 
usually supplies it.” Some propose a multitude of lightning- 
conduCtors in order to convey the positive eledtricity of the 
air down into the ground. Others suggest that trees should 
be planted wherever possible. It is certain that trees where 
numerous bring down wet mists in the form of rain, but 
we have not been able to meet with any proof of their effi- 
cacy in case of dry fogs. The question has also been raised 
in this connection whether asphaltic pavements, being poor 
conductors of electricity, may not promote fog by preventing 
a free interchange between the earth and the atmosphere. 
But the filthiest Macadamised streets of north and south- 
western London seem to suffer no less than the clean 
asphalted distrias of the centre. . 
Another plan for dealing with fog is its mechanical re- 
moval. The originator of the scheme, who offers his process 
freely to the public, is Mr. W. A Gibbs, of Gilwell Park, 
Sewardstone, a gentleman honourably known for his agri- 
* Familiar Letters on the Mysteries of Nature. 
VOL. II. (third SERIES) 3 c 
