[1] Up to the present date (1882) nobody, as far as I know, has
questioned my figures or defended those of Wollaston. Sir William Grove
has written to me, pointing out his own anticipations of my conclusions
respecting the universality of atmospheric matter. Sir Charles Lyell,
before his death, expressed very strong approval of my conclusions, and
many other men of scientific eminence have done the same. To expect
any immediate, unreserved adoption of such bold speculations would be
unreasonable.
[2] Since the above was written these analogies have been generally
accepted.
[3] Since the publication of “The Fuel of the Sun,” Mr. Norman Lockyer
has adopted this view of solar dissociation, and has gone so far as
to suppose that it splits metals and other substances regarded by
modern chemists as simple elements into more elementary and simple
constituents. He assumes that the temperature of the solar atmosphere,
growing higher at increasing depths, becomes somewhere capable of doing
far greater dissociation work than that which separates the hydrogen
of the prominences revealed by the spectroscope. In putting forth this
“working hypothesis” he seems to have lost sight of the fact clearly
proved by Deville’s experiments, that the temperature of dissociation
rises with the pressure to which the compound is subjected, and
thus that within the bowels of the sun the metals will be far less
dissociable than they are on the surface of our earth.
[4] Still more recently (1882) the magnificent photographs of Jannsen
have displayed further evidence of the flame-tongue character of the
mottling.
[5] Subsequent observations (1882) by Secchi, Young, and others have
demonstrated velocities far exceeding this; quite sufficient to project
the solid matter clearly beyond the sphere of solar attraction.
[6] My first memorandum on this subject is dated April 23, 1840, in a
_Register of Ideas_, then commenced in very early student days.
[7] Any reader of “The Fuel of the Sun” will perceive that the vaporous
envelope which I have described as “an effectual jacket for limiting
the amount of radiation,” is a complete theoretical anticipation and
explanation of the “solar crust” of Respighi and the “Trennungschicht”
of Zöllner. We agree perfectly in our conclusions, though arriving at
them by such very different paths, and so independently of each other.
[8] What did he smell? Was it an emanation from the soles of my feet?
If so, how did this aura get through the soles of my boots, which
were thick? It could scarcely have been the odor of the boot soles
themselves that he followed, as he recognized me afterwards at some
distance. This suggests an interesting experiment, that anybody owning
one of these dogs may easily try. Make a similar track to mine, but
when on the way, take off the boots you wore on starting and change
them for some one else’s boots, or a new pair, and watch the result
from the window.
[9] “The Fuel of the Sun,” Chapters iv. to x.
[10] Since this was written some such modifications have been made with
equivocal results.
[11] _Nature_, vol. xiv. p. 429.
[12] See Chapter on “The Origin of Lunar Volcanoes.”
[13] The burnt card, burnt bamboo, and other flimsy incandescent
threads now (1882) in vogue, merely represent Starr’s preliminary
failures prior to his adoption of the hard adamantine stick of
retort-carbon, which I suppose will be duly re-invented, patented
again, and form the basis of new Limited Companies, when the present
have collapsed.
[14] Hull, “On the Coal-fields of Great Britain.”
[15] “The Great Ice Age, and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man.” By
James Geikie, F.R.S., etc. Second edition, revised, 1877. Daldy and
Isbister.
[16] The terminal moraine at the Oxfjord station, which I have already
mentioned as the only ancient example of an ordinary moraine that
I have seen in Arctic Norway, was, of course, a special object of
interest to me. Further observation showed that it does not merely
consist of the heap of stones I noticed in 1856, which appears like
a disturbed talus cut through and heaped up at its lower part, but
that there is another moraine adjoining it, or in continuation with
it, which is covered with vegetation, and stretches quite across the
mouth of the valley. The Duke of Roxburgh, who is well acquainted with
this neighborhood, having spent sixteen summers in Arctic Norway, was
one of our fellow-passengers, and told me that this moraine forms a
barrier that dams up the waters of a considerable lake, abounding with
remarkably fine char. I learned this just as the packet was starting,
too late to go on shore even for a few minutes, and obtain a view
of this lake and the valley beyond. This I regret, as it might have
revealed some explanation of the exceptional nature of this moraine.
It would be interesting to learn whether it belongs to the greater
ice age, or to that period of minor glaciation that fashioned the
farm patches already described. The formation of the lake is easily
understood in the latter case. It is only required that such a minor
reglaciated valley as one of these should be of larger magnitude and
of very gentle inclination at its lower part, so that the secondary
glacier should die out before reaching the present seashore. It would
then deposit its moraine across the mouth of the valley, and this
moraine would dam up the waters which such a valley must necessarily
receive from the drainage of its hilly sides. Llyn Idwal, in North
Wales, is a lake thus formed.
[17] See “Through Norway with a Knapsack,” chapters xi. and xii., for
further descriptions of these.
[18] Lyell, “Elements of Geology,” p. 159.
[19] The celebrated “Maelström” is one of the currents that flow down
the submarine incline between these islands when the tide is falling.
Although I have ridiculed some of the accounts of this now innocent
stream, I am not prepared to assert that it was always as mild as at
present. If the ancient glaciers were stopped suddenly, as they may
well have been, by the rocky barrier of Mosken, between Vaerö and
Moskenesö, and they then suddenly concluded their deposition of till, a
precipice must have been formed between this and the deep sea outside
the islands, down which the sea would pitch when the tide was falling,
and thus form some dangerous eddies. This cascade would gradually
obliterate itself by wearing down the precipitous wall to an inclined
plane such as at present exists, and down which the existing current
flows.
[20] The largest of the Norwegian lakes, the Mjosen, is 1550 feet deep,
and its surface 385 feet above the sea-level. Its bottom is about 1000
feet lower than the sea outside, or 500 to 800 feet below the bottom
of the Christiana Fjord. The fjords, generally speaking, are very much
shallower near their mouths than further inland, as though their depth
had been determined by the thickness of the glaciers flowing down them,
and the consequent limits of flotation and deposition.
[21] This has been recently overcome to a great extent by using
glycerine instead of water.
[22] Since the above was written I have made some experiments with a
solution of shellac in borax (obtained by long boiling), and hereby
claim the invention of its application to this purpose, in order to
prevent anybody from patenting it. I shall not do so myself.
[23] Written during the coal famine of 1872–73.
[24] From 1870 to 1880 the amount has risen from 110,431,192 to
146,818,622 tons per annum, an average increase of 3,638,743 tons per
annum.
[25] At the present time (1882) we are receiving the excessive supplies
consequent upon the opening of new pits that, under the stimulus
of high prices, were in the course of sinking when the above was
written. Hence the present low prices. Presently the annual increase
of consumption will overtake this increased supply, and another “coal
famine” like that then existing will follow. This is not far distant.
[26] “The Coal Fields of Great Britain,” pp. 447, 448.
[27] In a paper on the Comstock mines, read at the Pittsburg meeting
of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1879, by Mr. John A.
Church, the hot mine waters are described as reaching 158° Fahr. (so
hot that men have been scalded to death by falling into them). The
highest recorded _air temperature_ there is 128°. These are silver
mines, and vigorously worked in spite of this temperature and great
humidity. A much higher temperature is endurable in _dry air_.
[28] The scientific pedant of the Middle Ages displayed his profundity
by continually quoting Aristotle and other “ancients.” His modern
successor does the like by decorating his pages with displays of
algebraical formulæ. In order to secure the proper respect of _my_
readers I here repeat the equation that I enunciated many years ago,
“_c_ = _s_/_p_” where _c_ stands for civilization, _s_ for the quantity
of soap consumed per annum, and _p_ the population of a given community.
[29] Geologists who may be interested in seeing the results of this
experiment, will find on the Edgbaston Vestry Hall, in Enville Road,
near the Five Ways, Birmingham, some columns, massive window pieces,
doorways, and ornamental steps cast from the fused Rowley Rag and
slowly cooled.
[30] In each of my three visits to America 1 lost about thirty pounds
in weight, which I recovered within a few months of my return to the
“home country” (of English-speaking nations).—RICHARD A. PROCTOR.
[31] Since the above was written, a correspondent in Paris tells me
that a caricature exists, representing a Frenchman enjoying an open
fire by standing on his head in the middle of the room.
[32] See foot-note, page 365.
[33] I tried the seeds given to me by Messrs. Carter, and find them
to produce the same plant as my own, which I still cultivate very
successfully. I now sow it in the spring as a kitchen garden border.
[34] Subsequent experiments induce me not to recommend this economy, on
account of the bagging which results from excessive width between the
frames; 3 feet should not be exceeded.
[35] I have followed up Mr. Trewby’s hint, and find that more than
one quality of scrim is made. The best, made entirely of flax, costs
rather more than the 2¼_d._ stated in the estimate, but it is the
cheapest practically. The best I have seen is that used in the Houses
of Parliament.
[36] Watt’s own figure for the latent heat of steam at 212° was 950°,
but I adopt that which is now generally accepted.