_January 1852._
Notwithstanding our busy and acquisitive propensities, we of the
metropolis have found time to wish one another a happy new-year, and
to send friendly greetings to our country cousins also. We don't like
to take the step from one year into another without a _coup d'amitié_.
Besides all which, we are in the habit of considering ourselves at the
present season more than ever entitled to partake of the recreations
offered us, whether theatrical, musical, pictorial, saltatorial,
philosophical, or scientific. And so, while simple-minded people are
looking into the new almanacs to test the accuracy of the predictions,
I must try to fill a page or two with such matters of talk as will
bear reproduction in print.
First of all, among the discussions and communications at the
Astronomical Society, it is stated that the term 'meteoric astronomy'
is one which we shall shortly be able to use with almost absolute
certainty, as M. Petit of Toulouse has succeeded in determining the
orbits of meteors relatively to the sun as well as to the earth. His
conclusions are considered valuable, especially with respect to the
meteor of August 19, 1847, which, it appears, came 'from the regions
of space beyond our system;' having, as is estimated, occupied more
than 373,000 years in passing from its point of departure to its fall
in the North Sea, near the shores of Belgium! This is another addition
to our knowledge of meteoric phenomena which affords promise of
further results. Certain members of the same society are still at work
on what has been a tedious task--the restoration of the standard yard,
rendered necessary, as you will remember, by the destruction of the
original in the Parliament-House conflagration, more than ten years
ago. The work proceeds slowly but surely, as the extremest pains are
taken to insure accuracy, the measurements, bisections, and
graduations being read off with a microscope. When finished, it will
be centuplicated or more, if necessary, and, as is said, a copy
deposited in every corporate town in the kingdom. This restoration of
the standard is not so easy a task as would be commonly supposed, for
apart from the determination of the yard with mathematical accuracy,
alternations of heat and cold have to be taken into account; for, as
is well known, a strip of metal which measures thirty-six inches long
in a temperature of 70 degrees, will not measure the same in 50
degrees. Connected with this subject, it was stated at one of the
meetings of the society, that the ancient Saxon yard was nearly
identical with the modern French _mètre_; whence a suggestion of 'the
possibility of the Saxon yard being actually derived from a former
measure of the earth, made at a period beyond the range of history,
the results of which have been preserved during many centuries of
barbarism.' Be this as it may, we are now given to understand that the
Egyptian Pyramids, whether originally erected for purposes of
sepulture or not, are, at the same time, definite portions of a degree
of the earth's surface in the meridian of Egypt; and it has been
proposed, as these mighty structures are far more durable even now
than anything which we could build in England, that when our standard
shall be re-established, the length shall be cut on the side of one of
the pyramids, together with such explanatory particulars as may he
necessary, so as to preserve the record for all coming time. Modern
science thus availing itself of the labours of the past, would be a
remarkable incident in the history of philosophy.
The appearance of extraordinary spots on the sun has attracted a more
than ordinary degree of attention to that luminary, and to Mr J.
Nasmyth's 'views respecting the source of light,' which, though
published a few months since, are now again talked about. Mr Nasmyth,
after several years' observation, comes to the conclusion, 'that
whatever be the source of light, its production appears to result from
an action induced on the _exterior surface_ of the solar sphere;' and
he believes it reasonable to 'consider the true source of the latent
element of light to reside, _not in the solar orb_, but in space
itself; and that the grand function and duty of the sun is to act as
an agent for the bringing forth into vivid existence its due portion
of the illuminating or luciferous element; which element he supposes
to be diffused throughout the boundless regions of space, and which in
that case must be perfectly exhaustless. Further, assuming this
luciferous element to be not equally diffused through space, we find a
reason why in some ages of the earth's history the heat should have
been greater than at others, why stars have been seen to vary in
brightness, and why there was that puzzle to geologists--a glacial
period. During that period, according to Mr Nasmyth, with whose words
I finish this part of my communication, 'an arctic climate spread from
the poles towards the equator, and left the record of such a condition
in glacial handwriting on the mountain walls of our elder mountain
ravines, of which there is such abundant and unquestionable evidence.'
Our Microscopical Society have made a discovery in an all but
invisible subject: they now state the _Volvox globator_ to be a
vegetable, and not, as has long been supposed, an animal, as its
cells, presumed to be ova, are produced in the same way as in certain
kinds of _algæ_. In the discussion excited by this announcement, it
came out that several other minute forms, classed by Ehrenberg among
living animalcules, are in reality vegetable; which, if true, shews
that a good deal of microscopical work will have to be done over
again. The Syro-Egyptian Society, too, have heard something relating
to the same subject--a paper on Ehrenberg's examination by the
microscope of the anciently deposited alluvium of the Nile, from which
it appears that 'microscopic animals' in countless numbers were the
cause of the remarkable fertility of the soil, and not vegetable or
unctuous matters. Talking of deposits reminds me of a little fact
which I must not forget to mention--the finding of a fossil reptile in
the 'Old Red' of your county of Moray is, barring the alarm, as much a
cause of astonishment to our geologists, as was the mark of the foot
on the sand to Robinson Crusoe.
Now for a few gatherings from the continent. M. Chalambel has laid
before the Académie at Paris a 'Note on a Modification to be
introduced in the Preparation of Butter, which improves its Quality
and prolongs its Preservation.' 'If butter,' he observes, 'contained
only the fat parts of milk, it would undergo only very slow
alterations when in contact with the air; but it retains a certain
quantity of _caseum_, found in the cream, which caseum, by its
fermentation, produces butyric-acid, and to which is owing the
disagreeable flavour of rancid butter. The usual washing of butter
rids it but very imperfectly of this cause of alteration, for the
water does not wet the butter, and cannot dissolve the caseum, which
has become insoluble under the influence of the acids that develop
themselves in the cream. A more complete separation would be obtained
if these acids were saturated; the caseum would again be soluble, and
consequently the quantity retained in the butter would be almost
entirely carried away by the washing-water.'
The remedy proposed is: 'When the cream is in the churn, pour in--a
little at a time, and keep stirring--enough of lime-wash to destroy
the acidity entirely. The cream is then to be churned until the butter
separates; but before it forms into lumps, the buttermilk is to be
poured off, and replaced by cold water, in which the churning is to be
continued until the butter is complete, when it is to be taken from
the churn and treated as usual. I have,' says M. Chalambel, 'by
following this method, obtained butter always better, and which kept
longer, than when made in the ordinary way. The buttermilk, deprived
of its sharp taste, was drunk with pleasure by men and animals, and
had lost its laxative properties.' By means of lime-wash or
lime-water, he has restored butter so 'far gone' that it could only
have been recovered by melting; but any alkaline lixivium will answer
the same purpose.
I have more than once kept you informed of the inquiry concerning the
effects of iodine on the human system, which has so long engaged the
attention of several eminent chemists on the continent; and now have
to report something further by M. Fourcault, whose communication
thereupon to the Académie is entitled, 'On the Absence of Iodine in
Water and Alimentary Substances, considered as Cause of Goître and
Crétinism, and on the Means of Preventing the Development of these
Affections.' He has investigated the subject profoundly and
analytically, and concludes that 'the absence or insufficiency of
iodine in water and in alimentary substances, is to be considered as
the primitive cause, special or _sui generis_, of goître and
Crétinism;' that the existence of the diseases does not depend on the
presence more or less of sulphate of lime or magnesia in the animal
economy; that 'iodine acts in goître as iron in chlorosis--by
restoring to the system one of its essential principles;' and that
'the most powerful secondary or auxiliary causes are: a coarse and
uniform vegetable regimen; living at the bottom of deep, enclosed
valleys; in low and damp houses, into which air and light penetrate
with difficulty; the alliance of infected families among themselves;
and the want of such employment as would yield a comfortable
subsistence and proper development of the physical forces.' In
commenting on these statements, Baron Thénard observed that M.
Chatain, in the course of his able researches on iodine, had analysed
the waters of those Alpine valleys most subject to goître, and found
that mineral almost entirely wanting. And it has been proved that
sea-salt, containing a minute quantity of ioduret of potassium, acted
as a preservative from goître on all the inhabitants of a district who
made use of it. The air, too, has been examined as well as the water,
and, so far as yet ascertained, the proportion of iodine in the
atmosphere is variable, and much greater in amount in some regions
than in others. The activity prevailing in this particular branch of
inquiry is the more encouraging, as the maladies which it aims at
removing are of so peculiarly distressing a nature; and the
investigation is one likely to lead also to valuable incidental
results.
Next, M. Abeille, chief physician to the hospital at Ajaccio, has an
interesting communication--On the employment of electricity to
counteract the accidents arising from too long inhalation of ether or
chloroform. He found that patients submitted to galvano-puncture could
not be rendered insensible by the effects of ether--the galvanism
invariably restored sensation--and taking this accidentally-discovered
fact as the basis of further research, he set to work and made a
series of experiments on living animals, and arrived at results which
in a brief summary are: that electricity, made to operate by means of
needles implanted in several parts of the body, especially in the
direction of the cerebro-spinal axis, reawakes sensibility, and
immediately puts the relaxed muscles into play. 'It constitutes,' he
adds, 'according to my experiments, the most prompt and efficacious
means--I may say the only efficacious--to restore to life any person
whose inhalation of chloroform has been prolonged beyond the time
prescribed by prudence. It is the first means to which recourse ought
to be had; and trials made in other ways appeared to me to lead to
nothing but loss of time, which in many cases would be fatal.'
M.H. Deschamps says, that there is a 'certain sign of death,' which,
if attended to, will entirely prevent risk of that much-dreaded
accident--premature interment. It is a certain green tinge which
always makes its appearance on the abdomen, even before the cadaverous
smell, and is a positive evidence that decomposition has begun. There
are some people to whom the knowledge of this fact will be a
satisfaction; but if, as is popularly supposed, bodies are not
unfrequently buried alive, how is it that we never hear of a revival
in a dissecting-room? Then, on another point of physiology, M. Payerne
states, with regard to the distress experienced by many persons in the
ascent of a high mountain, 'that the lassitude and breathlessness felt
in elevated places appear to proceed, not from an insufficiency of
oxygen, but rather from the rupture of the equilibrium between the
tension of the fluids contained in our organs and that of the ambient
air, whatever be the way in which the rupture is produced.' And, to
close these physiological matters, M. Chuart begs the Académie to
include among their premiums for rendering arts or trades less
insalubrious, one for 'different inventions designed to diminish the
frequency of accidents which take place in coal-mines from explosions
of gas.' How much such inventions are needed, recent events in our own
coal districts but too painfully demonstrate.
Our Meteorological Society may perhaps take a hint from M. Liais's
suggestion as to the 'possibility of applying photography to determine
the height of clouds, and to the observation of shooting-stars;' and
M.F. Cailliaud, director of the museum at Nantes, says something not
uninteresting to naturalists--namely, that the statements commonly
made, that all molluscous animals perforate stone by means of an acid,
is not the fact with regard to _Pholades_ and _Tarets_. He observes,
that although a workman would be amazed on hearing a proposition to
pierce calcareous stone with the shell of a _Pholas_, yet he himself
has done it, and holds the success to be a proof that the animal can
do the same. The idea of the acid might be accepted, while it was
proved that the creatures were to be found only in limestone; but now
that he has sent to the Académie specimens of gneiss and mica schist,
containing pholades, on which the acid has no effect, he conceives
that they must have entered by boring. They have also been found in
porphyry--a fact of which Brongniart said, many years ago, that nature
had concealed the explanation, and we must wait for a solution.
Whether M. Cailliaud's solution be the true one or not, is a point
that will soon be verified or disproved by geologists and naturalists,
who are never better pleased than when an inquiry, which may lead to
new views of nature, opens before them.
That the age of great books is not past, is proved by an arrival from
America--the United States' government having presented to several
public and private institutions in this country, a large, handsome
quarto, which contains, to quote the whole title, _Historical and
Statistical Information respecting the History, Condition, and
Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, collected and
prepared under the Direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, per Act
of Congress_. The preparation and arrangement of this work having been
intrusted to Mr Schoolcraft is a sufficient guarantee for its value.
It throws much light on the Indian tribes of North America, and
rectifies many erroneous ideas and impressions concerning them and
their origin. Perhaps you will allow me to give you, in a few words,
the author's views on this part of the subject. He considers the
ancient monuments, found in parts of the United States and in Mexico,
to have originated within five hundred years of the dispersion from
Babel; that the Indians are the Almogic branch of the Eber-ites; and
that the ancient monuments do not denote so high a degree of
civilisation as is generally supposed. It is only since the discovery
of America by Europeans that anything like certainty attaches to the
history of the natives. The Mohicans 'preserve the memory of the
appearance and voyage of Hudson, up the river bearing his name, in
1609;' and among other tribes similar traditions are retained. In the
wrong-headedness and persistence of idea, the Indians entirely
resemble the Oriental branches of the great Semitic family; and the
evidence shews that originally they crossed over from Asia at
Behring's Strait, a voyage still performed in canoes to the present
day. One of the titles of Montezuma was Lord of the Seven Caves; and
the caves in which tradition says the traverse took place, are taken
to be the caves or subterranean abodes still used by the Aleutian
islanders. This was current among the Aztecs in 1519, and the voyage
of the United States' Exploring Expedition has furnished a
philological proof of connection, in the peculiar termination of nouns
in _tl_, which is common to the inhabitants of Nootka Sound, as it was
to the Aztecs. The more the Indians are studied, the more does
everything about them appear to be Eastern--their language, religion,
calendar, architecture, &c. Their worship of fire in the open air,
avoiding the use of temples, is precisely that of Zoroaster, as is
also their leading doctrine of two spirits--good and evil--ruling the
world; and the allegory of the _egg of Ormuzd_ has been found in an
earthwork on the top of a hill in Adams's County, Ohio. 'It represents
the coil of a serpent, 700 feet long, but it is thought would reach,
if deprived of its curves, 1000 feet. The jaws of the serpent are
represented as widely distended, as if in the act of swallowing. In
the interstice is an oval or egg-shaped mound.' This repetition of a
symbol is considered as further proof of Eastern derivation.
Do not suppose, however, that this is a sample of the whole volume,
for ample details and information are given on all matters connected
with the Indians--their arts, habits, pursuits, pictorial literature
(so to speak), sports, and agriculture. Some idea of their
capabilities in husbandry may be gathered from the fact, that in
Michigan, ancient 'garden-beds' have been discovered, extending for
150 miles along the banks of rivers. Students will find a mine of
information in this book, which, though but the first of a series,
contains nearly 600 pages--a rare feast for ethnologists.
The Royal Irish Academy in Dublin have published a report of their
proceedings, which comprise reports on rain-falls, meteors, ancient
urns, and other Irish antiquities, besides Roman and Carthaginian; on
hygrometry, chiefly with regard to the pressure of the dew-point; and
on artificial islands. Of the latter, it appears that several exist in
different parts of Ireland; but the one to which attention is
particularly directed is near Strokestown, Roscommon. The lake
Clonfinlough having been drained by the Board of Works, the structure
of the islet, which had long occupied its centre, was laid bare. It
proved to be about 130 feet in diameter, constructed on oak piles,
forming a sort of 'triple stockade,' with stems laid flat towards the
centre for a floor, over which earth, clay, and marl were heaped, with
two flat irregular stone-floors covering the whole at different depths
below the surface. Two canoes were also found, each hollowed out of a
single tree, and a great collection of miscellaneous ornaments and
domestic utensils--all of which being illustrative of different
periods of Irish history, will receive due attention at the hands of
Irish antiquaries. Visitors to the Society's Museum will be gratified
to know that Mr Petrie is preparing a catalogue of that valuable and
interesting assemblage of rarities. He is to begin with the Stone
Period, and come down to the Bronze and Iron, according to their
respective dates, with dissertations prefixed. This is following the
good example set by your Scottish Society of Antiquaries.
It is a fact honourable to the society that they do not confine their
honours exclusively to contributors to their own 'Transactions.' At
their late anniversary, they gave their gold medal to the Rev. J.H.
Jellett, for his labours in treating the noblest mathematical subjects
in a way to make them intelligible to students. As the president said
in his address: 'Descending from the more desirable position of an
inventor to the humbler but more useful one of enabling others to
place themselves on a level with himself, by compiling for their use
an excellent elementary treatise, he has conferred on his species a
benefit of the highest order,' in a work which otherwise was 'as
little likely to be given to the world as it was desirable that it
should be so.'
It is time to close; but I must first clear off a few miscellaneous
items. The Admiralty Report concerning the Arctic expeditions is
canvassed pretty freely, and with significant hints that justice has
not been rendered in its conclusions. We can only hope that really
efficient commanders will be sent out with the expedition that is to
be despatched in April or May next; if not, it will be abortive, as
the others have been, and we shall never know what has become of
Franklin. It appears that the news of Collinson's ships being on their
return is unfounded. It was communicated from the United States, and
has been contradicted; and for all we know to the contrary, Collinson
and his coadjutor Maclure may come home next summer by way of Baffin's
Bay. There are now 226 telegraph stations connected with the central
establishment in Lothbury, behind the Bank of England. Of these, 70
are principal stations, at which the attendance is day and night; and
in the whole, a distance of 2500 miles is embraced, with 800 more over
which the wires are now being stretched. The charges for transmission
of messages have been lowered with a beneficial result, the business
of the telegraph having greatly increased. There must be a still
further reduction before the 'thought-flasher' becomes as generally
available here as it is in America. It is now in real earnest going to
Ireland. A ship has been despatched to fetch Cleopatra's so-called
'needle:' the Panopticon at length has found a local habitation, and
is assuming a tangible form in the shape of bricks and mortar: ocean
steamers are more than ever talked about; and every month a new one,
better than all before, is launched: gold, too, is a favourite topic;
and Australian and Californian mining-shares are plentiful in the
market; so also are those of Irish Waste-Land Improvement Companies,
who, in addition to the reclamation, propose to grow beet-root, flax,
and chicory. At last we have got one or two penny news-rooms--not so
good, however, as yours in Edinburgh; and a project is mooted to
establish reading and waiting rooms combined, in different parts of
the capital. There is talk, too, of central railway termini, of new
bridges, new streets, and of converting Kennington Common into a
park--how soon to be realised remains to be seen.