MM. Henry of Paris has accomplished a feat which no romance-writer
would have dared to imagine. Most persons know by sight that beautiful
group of stars called the Pleiades, and most people know, too, that
this group attracted the attention of star-gazers in very early times.
It is mentioned in the book of Job, and profane authors have also
weaved many a pretty legend concerning this group of distant suns. In
November last, the Messrs Henry photographed the Pleiades; and the
picture showed the presence of a nebula of spiral form which no human
eye had before seen. Another photograph taken in America showed the
same appearance, though the largest telescopes in the Paris Observatory
gave no evidence to corroborate the photographic appearances. But at
the observatory of Pultova, where a gigantic instrument, possessing an
object-glass thirty inches in diameter, has lately been erected, the
nebula has been detected by the eye of M. Struve.
Professor Gerlach has devised a means whereby the embryo growth in a
bird’s egg may be watched. The end of the egg has a round hole cut in
it; and by means of a kind of putty made of gum-arabic and wool, a pane
of glass is inserted in the opening. This pane consists of a small
watchglass, which is further secured in its place by cementing the
outside of the joint with a suitable varnish. The egg so treated is put
into an incubator in the horizontal position, and it can be removed and
turned up for examination when required.
A new kind of refrigerator has been devised, and is on sale in New
York. The principle on which it acts is old enough, but the application
of that principle is simple and interesting. An iron pipe two feet
long and three and a half inches in diameter is filled with liquefied
ammonia. To a stopcock at one end of this pipe is fitted a smaller
pipe, which ultimately forms a coil within a cylinder about ten inches
high and as many in diameter. This cylinder is made of wood and lined
with hair-felt. The action of the apparatus is as follows: When the
stopcock is turned on, the liquid ammonia rushes out in the form of
gas, and absorbs so much heat that the temperature of surrounding
bodies is immediately lowered. Any vessel placed within the coil inside
the box can actually be lowered in temperature to sixty degrees of
frost in a few minutes.
Mr Price Edwards’s paper on ‘The Experiments with Lighthouse
Illuminants at the South Foreland,’ recently read before the Society of
Arts, London, was full of interest. In these experiments, the relative
advantages of electricity, gas, and oil were put to careful test,
temporary lighthouses having been erected for comparative trials of
each. In the result, it was shown that in clear weather each illuminant
was actually more brilliant than necessary. In dull and foggy weather
the electric light penetrated further into the murky atmosphere than
either gas or oil. But this extra penetration—amounting to two hundred
or three hundred feet—is not of any practical importance to navigation.
The final conclusion of the Examining Committee was: ‘That for ordinary
necessities of lighthouse illumination, mineral oil is the most
suitable and economical illuminant; and that for salient headlands,
important landfalls, and places where a powerful light is required,
electricity offers the greatest advantages.’
It may be noted as a matter of interest in the above-mentioned trials
that the electric arc-lights employed were furnished with a novel kind
of carbon rods, called the Berlin core carbons, and furnished by Messrs
Siemens. These rods were fully an inch and a half in diameter, and were
provided with a core of plumbago, or graphite, running through the
centre. They were found to burn with exceptional steadiness, a result
due to the superior conducting power of the central core.
According to Mr J. C. Clifford, who lately delivered a lecture before
the Balloon Society of London, the art of dentistry in America is far
in advance of the practice of the Old World. The dentists there are
specialists. One will devote himself to extracting teeth, another
to filing them, another to making artificial teeth, and so on. The
lecturer also stated that these clever dentists had found out that
if necessary, they could take a tooth out, cut off the diseased end,
replace it, and it would grow firm again in a few days. Transplanting
was also successfully carried on.
An interesting discussion has lately arisen concerning the
deterioration of pictures by exposure to light and from other causes.
There seems to be no doubt that in the case of water-colour pictures
this deterioration is an undeniable fact. In oil-colours, the pigments
being used in greater masses, and each particle of colour being
inwrapped as it were in a protecting globule of oil, there is no
perceptible change except a gradual darkening, due most probably to the
oil and varnish. The number of organic substances upon which light will
exert a bleaching action is far greater than is commonly supposed, and
pigments of organic origin should always be regarded with suspicion.
Luckily for our artists, there are pigments at their disposal which are
permanent in character, and these alone should be used if they wish
their works to remain ‘a joy for ever’ as well as ‘things of beauty.’
It seems a great pity that the art of producing pictures in far more
permanent pigments, that of drawing in pastels or coloured chalks,
should have been almost lost sight of, or at least relegated to
the itinerant artist who decorates our pavements with impossible
landscapes. In the middle of the last century, this art flourished in
France; and works by its votaries, as fresh now as the day they were
executed, are much sought after. In France, a Society has been formed
for the revival of pastel-work, and its influence has been felt in
London, where an excellent Exhibition of Coloured Chalk Drawings has
lately been opened. We may hope that these efforts will lead to a
revival of a lost art, which has other advantages besides permanence to
recommend it.
In framing a picture covered with glass, be it a water-colour, a
photograph, or an engraving, there is one precaution which should
always be adopted, but is too often neglected—the glass should fit the
frame exactly, and should be cemented to the wood inside by a slip of
thick paper. This should be glued all round the frame; and if done
properly, will exclude all dust, dirt, and undesirable vapours. The
backboards, too, should be well papered, so that the picture may rest
in a dust-proof and air-tight receptacle.
Our recent annexation of Burmah has had the effect of calling attention
to the manners and customs of a very interesting people. Among the
latest things noted is the fact that the Burmese and their neighbours
the Shans are very expert blacksmiths, although the apparatus used
is of a very crude description. The bellows employed for the forge
curiously suggests in its construction a double cylinder steam-engine.
The cylinders are represented by two bamboo trunks four inches in
diameter, and about five feet long, standing upright on the ground. At
their lower ends, a tube runs from each to the charcoal fire in which
the iron to be wrought is heated. Piston rods also made of bamboo,
and packed with bunches of feathers, are fitted within the cylinders.
These, when forced downwards, cause the compressed air to be urged to
the fire through the smaller tubes. A boy perched on a high seat works
the bellows by depressing each piston rod alternately. The Burmese have
also a primitive method of turning out brass and bronze castings. The
article to be made is first of all modelled in clay; it is then covered
with a layer of beeswax of the same thickness that it is desired the
finished casting to be. An outer skin of clay two inches in thickness
is laid above the wax. Funnel-shaped holes at frequent intervals in
this outer crust afford a passage for the molten metal; and there are
also straw-holes to let out the imprisoned air. As the hot metal melts
out the wax, it occupies its place, solidifies, and forms a hollow
casting.
In the metropolitan police district, there occurred last year three
hundred and seventy-three cases of rabies in dogs, and twenty-six
deaths from hydrophobia in man. This alarming and sudden increase in a
most terrible disease led to stringent police regulations. All dogs,
unless led by a string, had to be muzzled, and all stray dogs were
destroyed. Although this order met with great opposition from lovers
of dogs, who possibly forgot that a modern wire muzzle cannot be half
so distressing to its wearer as a respirator is to a human being, its
wisdom is seen in a return lately issued, which shows how rabies has
decreased since it was put in force. In January last, the cases of
rabies had fallen to twenty-seven, and there was only one death. In
February, fourteen cases only were recorded, and there were no deaths.
It is reported that our government, being fully alive to the importance
of M. Pasteur’s discoveries with regard to the cause and prevention of
hydrophobia, has appointed a Commission of eminent pathologists and
physicians to inquire into the matter and to report thereon.
Mr Shirley Hibberd’s paper on the Protection of British Wild-flowers,
recently read before the Horticultural Club, London, calls attention to
the possible extinction of many of our wild plants. Many of these are
in great demand for political as well as horticultural purposes, and
the lecturer made special mention of the modest primrose. He petitioned
all those who truly love the country to abstain from purchasing
wild plants from travelling hucksters, whose baskets represent the
half-way house for a plant on the road to extinction. He also strongly
deprecated the practice of offering prizes for wild-flowers at
flower-shows, as being another cause which must help extinction.
Sir Joseph Fayrer, in a recent lecture delivered in London on Cholera,
said that contagion by personal intercourse was a theory of the disease
which was no longer tenable. The British and Indian governments,
who were in possession of well-ascertained facts concerning this
subject, had discontinued all quarantine measures, and relied solely
upon sanitary laws. In perfect sanitation resided the sole means of
preventing the disease; and every individual should be scrupulously
careful in his living and clothing as the best means of prevention.
Care in diet, avoidance of all depressing influences, precautions
against chills, violent alternations of temperature, impure water,
unripe fruit, were the main considerations for those who wished to be
safe from cholera. In addition to these precautions, the dwellers in
every town and village in the country should do their best to secure
good ventilation, perfect drainage, and should avoid overcrowding. Many
of these safeguards are unfortunately beyond the scope of individual
effort, especially in our crowded cities; but much good could be done
if public bodies would only do their duty.
One of the London vestry clerks has proposed a comprehensive scheme
for getting rid of and utilising the contents of the London dustbins.
On the banks of the Thames between Tilbury and Southend there is
an expanse of useless, marshy land which only waits the process of
reclamation. The proposal is to convey the refuse of London to this
land and to turn it into profitable terra-firma. It is calculated
that the metropolis pays at present one hundred and twenty thousand
pounds annually for the removal of dust and road-sweepings, which go
to the farmers and brickmakers. If the new scheme could be carried
out at the same or less cost, Londoners would be glad to adopt it. At
present, householders are entirely at the mercy of the contractor, who
undertakes to remove the dust regularly, but does not do so.
In a recent article in the _Century_ magazine, there are some
interesting particulars concerning the cultivation of wheat and rye.
The former is one of the oldest of cultivated plants, and figured in
prehistoric times, for remains of wheat-seeds have been found in the
ruined habitations of the lake-dwellers. Compared with wheat, rye is of
modern origin, and although for many centuries the two plants have been
cultivated side by side, the first plants appearing to be true hybrids
between them bore seeds this year in the United States. Although it may
be possible that wheat and rye have been crossed in former times, there
seems to be no record of such a circumstance.
Archæological interest just now centres at Assouan on the Nile, which
our readers will remember is the site of the first cataract, and may be
regarded as the place where Lower Egypt ends and Upper Egypt begins.
General Grenfell has discovered in the Libyan Desert, opposite Assouan,
an ancient necropolis. Several of the tombs already opened date
apparently from the twelfth dynasty, which would be about 3000 B.C.
But many tombs are of far later date. Our soldiers are busily engaged
in the work of discovery under General Grenfell, and their labours
are likely to lead to important results, for the necropolis is a very
extensive one.
Professor Newton, late keeper of the Greek and Roman Antiquities in
the British Museum, has just concluded a course of lectures at the
Royal Institution, on the unexhibited Greek and Roman sculptures in the
national collection. Let us quote some of his concluding words: ‘Here
are a number of sculptures which have been buried in a cellar since
the year 1852, which are defaced and begrimed with dirt, and utterly
useless to anybody, for in their present position they cannot be seen
unless by the light of a lantern.’ Might we suggest to the trustees
of the Museum that if they cannot find better accommodation for these
treasures—which have been purchased with grants of public money—they
might be handed over to our provincial museums, where they would
once more see the light of day and be appreciated by art students?
Enterprising curators might try the experiment of asking for them.
The success of some experiments in the neighbourhood of Moscow having
for their object the artificial reproduction and culture of trout,
has negatived the formerly accepted theory that the propagation of
that fish in Central Russia was an impossibility. It was thought that
the trout could only live in streams which were both cold and rapid.
But this view is incorrect, for trout have now been reared in ponds,
the water of which have a summer heat as high as fifty-five degrees
Fahrenheit. There are many pieces of water in Central Russia which
fulfil this condition, and pisciculture will no doubt now assume the
position of an important industry, as it has in many other countries.
All visitors to the New Forest are familiar with the very ugly monument
which marks the place where the Red King met his death. The inscription
on that monument tells how Sir Walter Tyrrell’s arrow glanced from
a tree and slew Rufus, whose body was conveyed by one Purkess, a
charcoal-burner, to Winchester Cathedral, where it was buried. Until
fifteen years ago the body of the king rested in a tomb in front
of the altar; but it was removed on the score of convenience. It is
satisfactory to note that the marble sarcophagus is now to be replaced
in its old position of honour, hard by the memorials which cover the
dust of Saxon and Danish monarchs.
The Silvertown Submarine Cable Company are at present engaged in
surveying a route for the prolongation of one of their cables in the
South Atlantic, and their sounding ship the _Buccaneer_ is employed
in the work. With an enlightened regard for science which cannot be
too highly extolled, Mr Buchanan of the _Challenger_ expedition, who
has charge of the soundings, has permission from the Company to make
soundings and observations for scientific purposes. He is to make use
of the ship on its return voyage in any way that may seem good to him
for purely scientific work. If other Cable Companies will imitate this
public-spirited conduct, we shall gain a knowledge of the depths of the
sea which would be perhaps unattainable in any other way.
OCCASIONAL NOTES.
SHOT-FIRING IN COAL-MINES.
With regard to the invention attributed to Mr Miles Settle, in our
article last month on ‘Shot-firing in Coal-mines,’ we are informed
that Mr James Macnab, 39 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, London,
claims to have had the priority with a patent for the same or a similar
object. We cannot enter into the technicalities of the question, but
think it right at the same time to make this announcement.
THE HUDSON BAY ROUTE FROM CANADA TO ENGLAND.
The commencement of a railway which will run northwards, from the heart
of the Canadian Dominion to Hudson Bay, again raises the question of
a shipping route by way of Hudson Bay and Strait to England. Dr Bell
of the Canadian Geological Survey, when the matter was being discussed
some years ago, said that the proposed route by rail from Winnipeg to
Fort Churchill, on Hudson Bay, thence by steamer to England, would be
twelve hundred and ninety-one miles shorter than the Montreal route,
and about seventeen hundred miles as compared with the New York route.
Port Nelson, at the mouth of the Nelson River, has been finally chosen
as the terminus of the proposed railway from Winnipeg. The mouth of
the Nelson is reported to be open all winter for twenty or twenty-five
miles up, owing to the tide. Its average width for that distance up is
about three miles. At Seal Island, twenty-five miles up, there is a
capital harbour, and water enough for any ocean steamer.
Hudson Bay forms the central basin for the drainage of the northern
portion of North America; and of the many rivers which flow into it
from all sides, about thirty are of considerable size. The Albany and
the Churchill are the longest on the western side; but the Nelson, with
a course of only about four hundred miles, carries the largest body
of water down to the sea, and may be ascended by small steamers for
about seventy or eighty miles. Before the navigation of the bay was
understood, it was usual to take two seasons for a voyage from England;
and the captain who was fortunate enough to return the same year was
awarded a prize of fifty pounds. Since 1884, the Canadian government
has received Reports from observers stationed along the coasts of the
strait and on the islands as to the navigable nature of the bay and
strait. Lieutenant Gordon, in 1884 and 1885, seemed to be of opinion
that the bay and strait would in ordinary seasons, so far as ice and
weather considerations are concerned, be practicable for North-west
trade by tolerably well-built vessels for four months. The bay is
reported as navigable at all times, as it never completely freezes
over; nor does the strait, the ice met with there being floe-ice from
Fox’s Channel.
The Report of the Select Committee of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly
in charge of this question, in 1885, was to the effect that ports on
the shores of the bay are open on an average from four and a half to
five months in each year to ordinary vessels, and that both bay and
strait seemed to be singularly free from obstruction to navigation in
the shape of shoals or reefs, and during the period of open water from
storms and fogs.
Should this shipping route by way of Hudson Bay and Strait to England,
prove a practicable one, even for a few months in summer, it will
enable the Canadians to send us grain and produce from the great
North-west at even a cheaper rate than they have been doing hitherto.
SOME NEW BOOKS.
A finely-printed volume comes to us from America. It is from the pen
of Mr James Grant-Wilson, known in this country as the author of
_Poets and Poetry of Scotland_. His new volume consists of clever and
agreeably written sketches of _Bryant and His Friends_, including among
the number such well-known names as those of Washington Irving, Richard
Henry Dana, Fenimore Cooper, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Edgar Allan Poe,
and others. The book is illustrated with portraits and fac-similes of
handwriting.
_Dickensiana_, a compilation by Mr Fred. G. Kitton (London: George
Redway), will have an interest for the lovers of Dickens and his works.
It consists of a bibliography of the literature relating to Dickens
and his writings, with extracts from the reviews of his works at the
time they appeared, some of which criticisms are curious from the very
opposite opinions occasionally expressed. The compilation of the book
appears to have been carefully gone about.
_Aberdour and Inchcolme_ (Edinburgh: David Douglas) is an interesting
local history by the Rev. William Ross, LL.D. It contains notices
of the parish and of the ancient monastery founded on Inchcolme by
Alexander I. Many of the details collected from the seventeenth century
records are of great interest to historical students; though the book
would, we think, have been improved had the more ancient history been
greatly condensed, as much of it has only the faintest connection with
the immediate subject. As a whole, however, the volume is a valuable
contribution to our local histories.
_Vice in the Horse_ (same publisher) is by Mr Edward L. Anderson,
and consists of various papers on vice in the horse, on the value
of books on riding, on the intelligence of the horse, on the test
of horsemanship, on how to buy a horse, and the like. The book will
interest the class to which it appeals.
THE LAST YEAR.
Tender lights on sky and sea;
Milkwhite blossoms on the tree;
Lull of storms and tempest bleak;
Faint bloom on a wan young cheek.
‘Spring, the blessèd Spring, is nigh!’
Said my darling hopefully.
Violets’ breath and primrose rays;
Sunshine threading leafy ways;
Gentle steps, that, weak and slow,
Through the woodland pathways go.
‘It were sad in Spring to die,’
Said my darling wistfully.
Glorious Summer, crowned with flowers;
Dreamy days of golden hours;
Sunset-crimsoned hills afar;
Dewy eve, and silver star.
‘Strength may come with by-and-by,’
Said my darling patiently.
Glowing fruits and ripening grain;
Languid days and nights of pain;
Fields so golden, earth so glad,
And a young life doomed! ‘’Tis sad
Through the bright days here to lie,’
Said my darling wearily.
Sighing winds and falling leaves;
Yearning love, that vainly grieves;
Patient eyes, with farewell gaze,
Greeting the wan autumn days.
‘Happy world, fair world, good-bye,’
Said my darling tenderly.
Wailing storms and weeping skies;
Soft wings spread for Paradise;
Solemn whispering accents thrilled
With the awe of Hope fulfilled.
‘Life! O blissful life on high!’
Breathed my darling rapturously.
Wreathing snow-drifts, far and wide,
Mantling o’er the lone hill-side.
Purer than that stainless veil—
Like a folded lily pale,
While the moaning blast goes by,
Sleeps my darling peacefully.
C. I. PRINGLE.
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