diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-0.txt | 2176 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-0.zip | bin | 51260 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-h.zip | bin | 249657 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-h/62226-h.htm | 3025 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 165323 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/62226-h/images/header.png | bin | 30781 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 5201 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88f4257 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62226 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62226) diff --git a/old/62226-0.txt b/old/62226-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e2f875d..0000000 --- a/old/62226-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2176 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, -Science, and Art, No. 739, February 23, 1, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 739, February 23, 1878 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: May 25, 2020 [EBook #62226] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, FEB 23, 1878 *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. - -Fourth Series - -CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS. - -NO. 739. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878. PRICE 1½_d._] - - - - -A WORD ABOUT BIRD-KEEPING. - - -We have never looked with perfect complacency on the keeping of birds -in cages; for it looks very much like an unnatural imprisonment. They -have not space to fly about, and there is something painful in seeing -them flitting up and down on two or three spars within very narrow -bounds, or looking through the wires of their cage as if wishful to get -out. It would, however, be of no use to remonstrate against a practice -that is common not only over all England but over the whole civilised -world. Besides, the keepers of pet birds are not without arguments in -their favour. Most of the birds to be seen in cages, such as canaries, -goldfinches, or siskins, have been bred in confinement. They never knew -what it was to be at liberty, and in their helpless inexperience, if -let loose, they would inevitably perish. There is much truth in this -species of excuse for bird-keeping. Some weight is also to be attached -to the plea that the little creatures are, generally speaking, so happy -in their captivity that many of them live to an old age—say twelve -or thirteen years, and keep on piping their ‘wood-notes wild’ to the -last. There may be the further apology, that the maintenance of birds -in cages communicates happiness to invalids, or to persons who do not -go much from home. There is cheerfulness in their song, and a degree -of amusement in witnessing their movements, as well as in attending -to their simple wants. Altogether, therefore, there is a good deal to -say for bird-keeping. It is not quite so inhumane a practice as it at -first appears. In short, birds, like dogs, may be viewed in the light -of domestic solacements kindly sent by Providence. Their society and -grateful attachment help to fill up many a melancholy gap. - -These ideas have been suggested to us by an accidental interview with -a Dealer in Birds, who in his own way was apt in the philosophy of the -subject. If people would have birds, it was his business to supply -them with what they wanted, and he did so with as great tenderness -of feeling as the fragile nature of the article dealt in demanded. He -had much to explain respecting the importation of song-birds, and the -breeding of them in cages. But on neither of these points shall we say -anything. What especially interested us were this intelligent dealer’s -observations on the proper method of keeping birds. Some folks, he -said, have a notion that all you have to do is to buy a bird, put it -into a cage, and give it food and water as directed. That is far from -being enough. The habits of the animal must be studied. The climate of -the room in which it lives, the amount of daylight it should enjoy, the -atmosphere it breathes, its freedom from sudden alarms—all have to be -thought of, if you wish the bird to be happy; and without that it has -little chance of being a pleasant companion. - -When the dealer began business many years ago, he was very unfortunate -as concerns his stock. He occupied as good a shop as any one in the -trade. The birds arranged all around in their respective cages, ready -for the inspection of customers, were as merry as birds could be. They -sung in full pipe, as if rivalling each other in their gaiety. Provided -with appropriate food, with pure water, and fresh air, they had not a -want unsupplied. Without any apparent reason, they began to droop and -to moult. This did not alone occur at the season when such might be -expected. Their moulting was often fatal. Vexed at cases of mortality -notwithstanding all his care, the dealer bethought himself that the use -of gas in his shop might be injurious, so for gas he substituted an -oil-lamp light. Still they drooped and died. He next in various ways -and at some expense improved the ventilation of his shop. Still they -drooped and died. - -What could be the matter? Puzzled to the last extent, the bird-dealer -at length conjectured what might be the cause of these numerous deaths. -Could it be that the birds wore themselves out singing? If so, the only -way to stop them was to shorten the time they were exposed to the -light, for if kept in the dark they are not inclined to sing. - -The supposition proved to be correct. He shut up his shop at an -early hour, and from that time the mortality of the birds ceased. -During the day they had just that amount of singing that suited their -constitutions, and in the evening they were left to their repose. This -bird-dealer’s ingenious discovery seems exceedingly rational. In a -state of nature, small birds flit about and sing only during daylight. -They retire to rest at sundown. This procedure requires to be imitated -in keeping birds artificially. If you let them sing all day and several -hours additional by lamp-light, you over-fatigue them. The labour is -too much. Of course the birds do not understand that they had better -be silent when the lamp or candles are lit. They instinctively keep -singing on, as if it were still daylight. The immediate effect of -this over-fatigue is that the poor birds are apt to moult, and become -attenuated; and suffering from premature exhaustion, they speedily -perish. - -The dealer mentions that few birds subject to the exhaustion of -singing beyond ordinary daylight survive more than two years. This -does not surprise us. How could any of our public vocalists, male or -female, and of even a robust constitution, endure the tear and wear of -singing under a mental strain for any great length of time, as much as -eighteen hours a day? If human beings would thus sink under the effort -of over-work, we need not wonder that the fragile creatures we are -speaking of should succumb and drop from their perch. - -As a means, therefore, of protecting the lives of pet birds, the -recommendation is, to remove the cages to a darkened apartment at -nightfall, or if they are not removed, to cover up every cage with a -dark cloth before lighting the gas or oil-lamps. In shifting birds from -one room to another, it is important to see that there be no change -in the temperature. If removed to a different temperature, there is a -chance of their moulting, which may be preliminary to something more -serious. Let it be always kept in mind that Nature supplies a coat to -suit the heat or cold in which the creatures are placed. By changing -a bird from a warm to a cold climate, birds change their coat and get -one that is heavier, and _vice versâ_, so, by repeated changes they are -kept continually moulting, instead of once a year, as they ought to do. - -We have referred principally to the treatment of small song-birds, the -delicacy of which calls for particular attention. But our observations -in the main apply to all birds whatsoever. If it be wrong to keep a -little bird singing beyond its constitutional capacity, so it would be -wrong to over-work a parrot by causing it to speak eighteen hours on a -stretch. It would seem that by this degree of loquacity, the parrot has -a tendency to take some kind of bronchial affection, analogous to the -ailment of preachers, usually known as ‘the minister’s sore throat,’ -and which, if not checked in time, may prove equally disastrous. - -We have thrown these interesting facts together not only in the -interest of bird-keepers, but for the sake of inculcating kindness to -animals. - - W. C. - - - - -MY KITMITGHAR ‘_SAM_.’ - - -For nearly three years my Kitmitghar, as that functionary is called, -was cook, butler, and factotum of my then small bachelor establishment -in India. A cunning concocter of mulligatawnies, curries, and -chutnies—as cunning a hand too in ‘cooking’ his daily bazaar accounts, -adding annas and pice, for his own particular benefit, to the prime -cost of as many articles as possible. Mildly remonstrated with, and -petty larceny hinted at, his honest indignation would be aroused. -‘Master tink I cheat,’ he would say; ‘master can inquire bazaar-mans;’ -well knowing, the rogue, the moral and almost physical impossibility of -‘master’—a swell in his way—going to the distant market in a broiling -sun, and finding out the ruling prices of flesh and fowl. - -This worthy, whose original cognomen of _Mootoosammy_ was shortened -into ‘_Sam_’ for convenience and euphony sakes, was a Tamil from -the Malabar Coast. _Au reste_, a dark, handsome, stoutly-built, -clean-looking native, on whose polished skin water and coarse country -soap were evidently no strangers. In his early youth, fated to earn his -own living, he had been ejected from the paternal hut and placed as a -_chokerah_ or dressing-boy to a fiery and impecunious lieutenant of -infantry; and under the fostering care of that impetuous and coinless -officer, his indoctrination into the art and mystery of a valet had -been advanced and improved by sundry ‘lickings,’ and by frequent -applications to his ebon person of boot-heels, backs of brushes, and -heavy lexicons of the English and Hindustani languages. This education -completed, and when he had learned to appreciate the difference between -uniform and mufti, mess-dress and parade-dress, and indeed to master -the intricacies of his employer’s scanty wardrobe—_non sine lacrymis_, -not without ‘howls’—then he emerged from dressing-boyhood, was promoted -_matie_ or under-butler, and got translated into more pretentious -bungalows than those of indigent subalterns. By-and-by further -preferment awaited him; he became _kitmitghar_ (major-domo) in the -households of unmarried civilian or military swells, and thenceforward -led a life free from kicks and cuffs, canes and whips, and impromptu -missiles snatched from toilet or study tables. I have said advisedly -‘unmarried,’ for except under financial difficulties, Sam would not -take service with the Benedicts of Indian society, and the actual -presence or possible advent of a wife was the signal for his departure. -‘Plenty too much bodder wid lady; too much want ebery day, ebery day -measure curry stuff, oil, ghee [butter]; too much make say always dis -ting too dear, dat ting too dear; too much trouble take count. Now, -Colonel Sahib he good man; he call, he say: “Sam! how much this week -you eespend? [spend].” He just look book; he give rupee; no one single -word _bobberee_ [fuss] make.’ And so, for a palpable reason, my worthy -cook-butler eschewed those households where a better-half took the -reckoning. - -English, after the rickety fashion of a Madrassee, Sam spoke fairly -enough; he also read and wrote the language, the latter accomplishment -phonetically, but yet sufficiently near to the rules of orthography to -make you fully understand and pay for ‘tirty seers wrice’ as thirty -seers (measures) of rice. What if he did elect to spell rice with a -_w_? Is it not recorded that an eminent member of a large mercantile -firm, in days long gone by, invariably included an _h_ in the word -sugar? And is it not also chronicled how he chastised almost to the -death his son and heir for omitting that letter when invoicing a cargo -of best Jamaica moist? If then Blank Blank, Esq. of the city of London -opined that sugar required an _h_, why not the same liberty as regards -the _w_ to Mootoosammy of the city of Madras? - -A sad waverer in religious opinions Master Sam, I fear. A very Pharisee -of a Hindu, a rigid stickler for the worship of Vishnu or Siva on the -high-days and holidays of those deities, when his forehead and arms -would be spotted and streaked with coloured ashes, his garments would -smell of saffron and sandal-wood, his English diminutive name would be -put aside for its more lengthy and sonorous native patronymic, and he -would be off to the temple to make _poojah_ (prayer) to his _swamis_ -(gods). But yet, somehow or other, all these symptoms and signs of -Hinduism would disappear at Christmas, Easter, or Whitsuntide. At those -seasons of the Christian year, Sam was no longer Mootoosammy, but Sam -pure and simple. No more the believer he in the Vedahs and Shastras, -but a pinner of faith on Aves and Credos; no _poojah_ for him now in -the temple, but crossings and genuflections in the little chapel of -the station. Not a trace in these days of idolatrous scents clinging -to cloths and turban, or of ‘caste’ marks disfiguring brow or limb. -Dole in hand—obtained either from pickings at master’s ’counts or from -bazaar-man’s _dustoor_ (custom)—he is off to join Father Chasuble’s -small flock, and to bow down and formalise with the best or worst of -that good priest’s congregation. I really think and believe, that to -secure a holiday and an ‘outing,’ Sam would have professed himself a -Mohammedan during the Ramadan, a Hebrew during the Passover, a Heathen -Chinee during the feast of Lanterns, and a Buddhist during the Perihara -or other high-jinks of the yellow-robed priests of Gautama Buddha. - -I never before or since met any man into whose household death was so -constantly making inroads, and strange to say, carrying away the same -individual. I suppose that, on a rough estimate, all Sam’s kith and kin -died at least twice during the thirty months or so that he was in my -service. - -‘Master please’—thus Sam howling and weeping after his kind—‘scuse -[excuse] me. Gib tree day leave go Madras; too much trouble my house. -My poor old mudder—booh! ooh!—plenty long time sick; master know well; -too much old got; die last night. Booh! ooh! o-o-g-h!’ - -‘Why, what tomfoolery is this?’ I reply. ‘Your mother dead! Dead -_again_! Why, man, how can that be? Four months ago you came and told -me your mother was dead; you got four rupees advance; you went off, -leaving the boy to do your work, and put me to no end of inconvenience. -How can the old woman be dead again?’ - -But the fellow is not the least put out, and is quite equal to the -‘fix.’ ‘Master Sahib,’ he says, ‘I beg you scuse me. Sahib quite wrong. -That time you speak I get leave, not _my_ mudder—my _wife’s_ mudder -die. Master can look book!’ - -This random shot anent the ‘book’ alludes to my diary, in which the -disbursement of the money has been entered, but not of course the -casualty in his family. But I don’t lose the hint nevertheless, and I -jot down a memorandum for future reference, should occasion require. - -Then Sam goes on: ‘I no tell lie, sar. Plenty true; too much bobberee -my house make. My fader gone Mysore’—— - -‘Why, bless my heart!’ I put in, ‘you told me ages ago your father died -of cholera in Masulipatam.’ - -‘No, sar,’ says Sam; ‘never, sar! My grand-fader, scuse me. My wife she -catch bad fever. No one single person my home got, make funeral-feast. -Please, my master, advance half-month’s pay; gib four days’ leave. I -too much hurry come back.’ Then he falls down, clasps my feet, calls me -his father, brother; gets my consent to be absent, handles the rupees, -and is off like a shot; not of course to his mother’s obsequies, for -the old harridan has either been buried or burned years ago, or even -now is all alive and kicking; but to some spun-out native theatricals, -nautch, or _tamasha_ (entertainment) in Black Town, where he feasts, -drinks, and sleeps, and for a week at least I see his face no more. - -History repeats itself; so does Sam. Months and months have passed; -I am away from the neighbourhood of the Presidency town, and on the -cool Neilgherry Hills. Enters one morning my man into my sitting-room, -a letter in his hand, written in Tamil, and which he asks me to -read, well knowing that I can’t, that except a very few of the -commonest words of the language, which I speak with an uncertain not -to say incorrect idea of their meaning, the tongue of his forebears, -scriptural and oral, is to me Chaldee or Arabic. - -‘Well! what’s up now?’ I say ‘_Ennah?_’ airing one of the expressions I -know. - -‘Master can see self. My uncle he send chit [note]; just now tappal-man -[postman] bring. He write, say: “Sam! you plenty quick come Madras.” -He put inside letter one five-rupee government note. Sahib can see. He -tell me no one minute lose; take fire-road [railway]; too soon come; -plenty, plenty trouble. _My mudder dead._’ - -‘You awful blackguard!’ I exclaim. ‘Your mother dead—dead again! Look -here—look here!’ And I turn up my diary and shew him, under date August -9, 186-, nearly two years past and gone: ‘Sam’s mother reported dead -for the second time by Sam, &c.’ - -Then he slinks away discomfited; and I hear him in his smoky kitchen -growling and grumbling, and no doubt anathematising me and mine past, -present, and future. - -My first introduction to Sam was after this wise. I had come down from -Bombay to Beypore with troops in a small steamer, and Mr Sam, who had -either deserted or been sent away from the Abyssinian Expedition, in -which he had been a camp-follower, was also a passenger in the same -ship. Of this craft a word _en passant_, for I have to this day a -lively and by no means pleasant olfactory recollection of her. She -was the dirtiest vessel in which I ever put foot; guiltless of paint -from keel to truck; all grime, coal-soot, and tar from stem to stern. -She had but recently taken a cargo of mules to Annesley Bay; and but -scant if any application of water and deodorants had followed the -disembarkation of the animals. The ‘muley’ flavour still therefore -clung closely to bulkhead and planking; it hung about cordage and -canvas; it penetrated saloon and sleeping-berth; it even overpowered -the smell of the rancid grease with which pistons and wheels were -lubricated. Worthy Captain B—— the skipper assured us that deck and -hold, sides and bulwarks, had been well scoured in Bombay; but as the -old salt’s views of scrubbing, judging from his personal appearance, -were infinitesimally limited, we opined that the ship’s ablution had -been as little as was that of its commander’s diurnal tub. - -But to return to Sam. The poor fellow was wandering about the streets -of Beypore coinless and curry-and-rice-less, when he stumbled upon -me. He was seeking, he told me, from some good Samaritan of an -officer, a free convoy to Madras as his servant; and as I happened -to be in a position entitled to passes for some three or four -followers at government expense, I was enabled to pour oil and wine -into Sam’s wounds, and without even the disbursement to mine host -the assistant-quartermaster-general, of the traditional ‘tuppence,’ -to get him across from terminus to terminus—some four hundred long -miles—and without once casting eyes on him. But at Lucifer’s hotel in -Madras where I stayed—— What a memory of mosquitoes, fleas, and other -nimble insects doth it bring! What a night-band of croaking frogs -and howling jackals it kept! What packs of prowling pariah dogs and -daringly thieving crows congregated about its yards and outhouses! -What repulsive nude mendicants and fakeers strolled almost into its -very verandahs! What a staff of lazy sweepers, slow-footed ‘boys,’ and -sleepy punkah-pullers crawled about it generally! And last, though not -least, what a wretched ‘coolie-cook’ superintended its flesh-pots, from -which not even the every-day stereotyped prawn curry, boiled seer-fish, -and grilled _morghee_ (fowl) could creditably and palatably issue. At -this Stygian caravanserai then, Sam, whom I thought I had bid adieu -to for ever and a day on the railway platform, turns up again clean -and smirk, salaams, asks for permanent employment, produces a thick -packet of highly laudatory characters (mostly, I had no doubt, either -fabricated by a native scribe in the Thieves’ Bazaar at Black Town, -or borrowed for the occasion from some other brother-butler), gets -engaged; and from that moment, both figuratively and literally, begins -to eat my salt. Nor did the saline feasting fail to give him a taste -for liquor—for alcoholic, decidedly alcoholic were Sam’s proclivities. -He drank at all times and in all places; but his favourite day and -locality was Tuesday, at the weekly market of the cantonment. Then and -there he imbibed right royally, and staggering home—the coolies with -the supplies following him as tipsy as himself—went straight to his -mat-spread _charpoy_ (bedstead). - -‘Hollo, Sam!’ I exclaim; ‘at it again; drunk as usual from _shandy_ -[market].’ - -‘No, shar! Dis time no shrunk! Shun too mush hot! Splenshy head pain -gib! Too mush make shake, sthagger, shar! No, mash-err, no! Sham not -shrunk! Plenty shick! Shmall glass brandy—all right, shar!’ - -But I decline to add ‘the sum of more to that which hath too much,’ and -I leave Sam to sober himself as he best can, and which, truth to say, -he quickly does. - -In the way of intoxicants nothing came amiss to my man’s unfastidious -palate. He had no particular ‘wanity,’ like Old Weller’s friend the -red-nosed Shepherd: Henneysey’s brandy, Kinahan’s whisky, Boord’s gin, -Bass’s ale, Guinness’s stout, champagne, sherry, claret—all and each -were equally acceptable; and failing these European liquors, then the -vile palm-toddy and killing mango-spirit of the neighbouring native -stills supplied their place. Bar the toddy and mango stuff, which -were cheap and easily obtained, Sam did not disburse much for his -wine-cellar; master’s sideboard and stores, guard them as he would, -came cheaper and handier. Every bottle, somehow or other, got ‘other -lips’ than mine and my friends’ applied to it, and its contents went -into and warmed other ‘hollow hearts’ than ours. Sam laid an embargo -on and helped himself from all. He it is, I fancy, to whom Aliph Cheem -alludes in his Lay of Ind entitled _The Faithful Abboo_, that trusty -servant who, habitually stealing his master’s liquor, and accusing his -brother-domestics, got caught and half-poisoned by mistaking in his -prowls Kerosine for Old Tom. A misadventure not unlike befell Sam; -but in that instance he did not ‘strike oil,’ but came upon a very -nauseating dose of tartar emetic, and was ‘plenty sick’ and ‘plenty -shame’ for some hours after. - -Another predilection of my factotum’s was tobacco, which he smoked -without ceasing, and without the least regard to quality or fabric. -‘Long-cut or short-cut’ to him ‘were all the same.’ But as I did not -happen to be addicted to the ‘nicotian weed’ Sam could not draw on any -resources of mine, but had to depend on his own means, supplemented by -the surreptitious abstraction of Trichys and Manillas, of Latakia and -Bird’s-eye, from the boxes and pouches of my chum and visitors. - -Every native gambles; so it could hardly be expected that Sam should -differ from his brethren in this respect. In the words of the old ditty -anent Ally Croker: - - He’d game till he lost the coat from his shoulder. - -I don’t think he cared much for cards or dice; but the game that he -delighted in was played with a red and white checkered square of cloth, -and with round pieces like draughtsmen. Whenever the advent of a friend -and opportunity served, down the two squatted with this board between -their legs, and a pile of copper pieces of money by their sides; and -so intent would they be on their play, that nothing short of a gentle -kick, or tap on the head, would arouse them to master’s wants and -needings. - -My readers will naturally inquire why, with all these delinquencies, -Sam so long remained my henchman. Well, first, had I discharged him, -another and probably greater robber would have stepped into his -shoes, and bazaar accounts and inroads on alcohol and tobacco would -have remained undiminished. ‘They all do it;’ so better the de’il I -knew, than the de’il whose acquaintance I would have to make. Again, -Sam had his redeeming points; he was, as I have said before, clean, -handy, and deft at the creature comforts, which, having appetisingly -compounded, he could serve up with taste and elegance. Then he was -a good nurse; and during a serious illness that befell me at one of -the vilest stations in Madras, he tended me closely and carefully, -keeping a watchful eye and a ready stick on punkah-pullers and wetters -of kus-kus tatties (scented grass mats), without the cooling aid of -which the heat of that grilling July would have been my death on that -fever-bed. Once more, on those military inspections which fell to -my lot, and which had to be undertaken partly over the Nizam’s very -sandy and rough highways, and in those close comfortless bone-breaking -vehicles called _byle-nibbs_ (bullock-carts), my man became invaluable. -Seated on the narrow perch alongside the almost garmentless and highly -odoriferous native driver, he urged him on by promises of ‘backsheesh’ -and cheroots; he helped to whip and tail-twist the slow-footed oxen; he -roused up lazy _byle-wallahs_ (bullock-men) sleeping in their hovels, -and assisted them in driving from the fields and in yoking to the cart -refractory and kicking cattle. He stirred up with the long pole the -_peons_ (keepers) in charge of the road-side travellers’ bungalows at -which we halted, aiding these officials in chasing, slaughtering, and -‘spatch-cocking’ the ever-waiting-to-be-killed-and-cooked gaunt and -fleshless _morghee_ (fowl); he saw that the chatties for the bath were -not filled with the very dirtiest of tank water; that the numerous -and hard-biting insects, out and taking the air from their thickly -populated homes in the crevices of cane-bottomed chair and bedstead, -met with sudden and violent death; and lastly, that no man’s hand but -his own should be put into master’s money-bag and stores. - -But as all things come to an end more or less, so did Sam’s career with -me actually terminate. My wife and family came ‘out’ from England. -The ‘Mem Saab,’ sometimes even the ‘Missee Saab,’ took bazaar ’count; -the current bachelor rates for chillies, cocoa-nuts, first and second -sorts _wrice_, gram, and such-like necessaries underwent a fall. Sam’s -occupation and gain were gone. He quitted my homestead under this new -and unprofitable régime. ‘I discharge you, sar!’ said he; and away he -went, I know not where. - - - - -HELENA, LADY HARROGATE. - - -CHAPTER XI.—AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. - -The _De Vere Arms_ at Pebworth, fourth-rate hotel though it necessarily -was in a place where any hotel of the first or even of the second -magnitude would have been as an oak in a flower-pot, was well and -neatly kept. There was the commercial connection, and there was the -county connection, both dear to the landlord, but on grounds wholly -dissimilar. Biggles had been butler to the present, under-butler and -knife-boy to the late Earl of Wolverhampton; and had he but had his own -way, the _De Vere Arms_ would have been strictly the family hotel which -its address-cards proclaimed it, and the obnoxious word ‘commercial’ -would have found no place there. - -Mr Biggles, however, was in the position of one of those unfortunate -managers of English country theatres who tell their friends, perhaps -truly, that they would play nothing, save the legitimate drama, if they -could help it. They cannot help it, and scared by the dismal spectre -of Insolvency, they shelve Shakspeare in favour of newer idols of the -public. So did Biggles and worthy Mrs B. to boot lay themselves out in -practice to secure the lucrative custom of the ready-money, constantly -moving, commercial gentlemen, while in theory devoting all their -loyalty to those of their patrons who came in their own carriages, -with armorial bearings on their panels and liveried servants on the -driving-seat. - -To this hostelry was borne, in Sir Gruntley Pigbury’s carriage, the -insensible form of Jasper Denzil, supported by the sturdy arm of -Captain Prodgers, while little Dr Aulfus, on the opposite seat, kept -the patient’s nerveless wrist between his own thin fingers all the way -from the race-course to the inn. Then Jasper, amidst spasmodic gaspings -from the landlady and sympathetic exclamations from the chambermaids, -was carried into the _De Vere Arms_ and established in one of the best -rooms, whence were summarily dislodged the effects of some well-to-do -customer who had had a horse in the race, but who was unlikely under -the circumstances to resent the invasion of his apartment. Jack -Prodgers and the doctor seemed to have taken joint possession of the -invalid; the former as _prochain ami_ (and it is to the credit of such -ne’er-do-wells as Captain Prodgers that the very wildest of them never -do leave a friend untended in a scrape), and the other professionally. - -Other friends came not. Lord Harrogate did indeed tap at the door, and -so did four or five officers of the Lancer regiment, but contented -themselves with an assurance that Jasper was in no immediate danger. -And when Blanche Denzil’s tearful entreaties induced the Earl to -solicit admittance to the sick-room for her at least, the surgeon went -out and politely deprecated her entrance. Anything which might excite -the patient should, he truly said, be as far as possible avoided. It -was not exactly possible just yet to ascertain the amount of damage -done; but he, the doctor, anticipated no serious consequences. And -with this assurance the poor sister was compelled to be content. They -say that every educated man of fifty is a fool or a physician. Jack -Prodgers had seen the light some half-century since, and his worst -enemies—the men whose cash he pouched at play—would not have taxed him -with folly. - -‘Now, doctor,’ he said quietly, ‘don’t you think the best we can do -for the poor fellow is to get his left shoulder into the socket again -before the muscles stiffen?’ - -The surgeon winced. He knew by the cursory examination he had made -that no bones—unless it might be the collar-bone, an injury to which -is not always promptly ascertained—were broken; but here, annoying -circumstance! was a dislocation which he had left to be discovered by -an outsider to the profession. - -‘Bless my soul!’ he exclaimed, adjusting his spectacles, ‘so it is. We -have no time to lose.’ - -As it was, time enough had been lost to bring about a contraction of -the muscles, that rendered it necessary to call in the aid of James the -waiter and Joe the boots, before the hurt shoulder could be reinstated -in its normal position. - -The pain of the operation roused Jasper from his stupor. He moaned -several times and stirred feebly to and fro, and when the wrench was -over, opened his eyes and gazed with a bewildered stare about him. Very -pale and ghastly he looked, lying thus, with the blood slowly oozing -from a cut on his right temple, and his hair stained and matted. They -sprinkled water on his face and put brandy to his lips; but he merely -groaned again, and his eyes closed. - -‘That’s a very ugly knock on the temple; I hope there’s no more -mischief,’ said the doctor in a whisper, but speaking more openly than -medicine-men, beside a patient’s bed, often speak to the laity. - -Jack Prodgers shook his head. He was a man of experience, and had in -his time seen some prompt and easy recoveries, and other cases in which -there was no recovery at all. It was with some remorse that he looked -down at the bruised and helpless form lying on the bed. His heart had -been case-hardened by the rubs of a worldly career, but there was a -soft spot in it after all, and it was with sincere joy that he saw at -length the sick man’s eyes open with a glance of evident recognition, -while a wan smile played about his lips. - -‘I say, Jack,’ said Jasper feebly, ‘we’re in a hole, old man, after -all’—— Then he fainted. - -‘Nothing the matter with his reason, thank goodness! It was the shock -to the brain I feared the most for him,’ said the doctor, as again -brandy was administered. - -The regular clock-work routine of social machinery must go on in -despite of accidents, and accordingly the down-train reached Pebworth -at 3.40 (or, to tell the truth, a few minutes behind time) with its -usual punctuality. There was no omnibus, whether from the _De Vere -Arms_ or from the opposition or _White Hart_ hotel, in waiting at the -station, wherefore the few arrivals had to consign their bales and bags -and boxes of samples to the wheelbarrows of porters, for conveyance -to whichever house of entertainment they designed to patronise. -Amongst these was a thickset middle-aged man, with trim whiskers, a -dust-coloured overcoat, a slim umbrella, and a plump black bag, which -he preferred to carry as he trudged from the station to the hotel. - -There was nothing very noteworthy about the new-comer, who was neatly -dressed in black, and wore a hat that was just old enough to have lost -its first tell-tale gloss, except that he had evidently striven to -look some years younger than the parish register would have proclaimed -him. Thus the purplish tint of his thick whiskers and thinned hair, -heedfully brushed and parted so as to make the most of it, savoured of -art rather than nature. His cravat too, instead of being black, was -what haberdashers call a scarf of blue silk, of a dark shade certainly, -but still blue, and was secured by a massive golden horse-shoe. -Glittering trinkets rattled at his watch-chain, and his boots were -tighter and brighter than the boots of men of business usually are. -There is or ought to be a sort of fitness between clothes and their -wearer, but in the case of this traveller, obviously bound for the -_De Vere Arms_, no such fitness existed. That cold gray eye, those -deeply marked crow’s-feet, the coarse mouth, and mottled complexion, -consorted ill with the pretensions to dandyism indicated by a portion -of their owner’s attire. Altogether, the man might have been set down -as a corn-doctor, a quack, a projector of bubble companies, or possibly -an auctioneer whose hammer seldom fell to a purely legitimate bid in a -fair market. - -As the stranger drew near to the hotel, having inquired his way once -or twice from such of the natives as the great attraction of the day -had not allured to the race-course, a carriage dashed past him at a -very fast pace indeed, and drew up with a jerk in front of the _De -Vere Arms_. The gentleman who alighted from it, tall, and of a goodly -presence, lingered for an instant in the doorway to give some order to -his servants. As he did so, his eyes encountered those of the traveller -freshly arrived by the train, and who by this time was beneath the -pillars of the porch. Sir Sykes Denzil, for it was he whose carriage -had just brought him in hot haste to the place where his son lay ill, -started perceptibly and hesitated, then turned abruptly on his heel -and disappeared within the hotel, greeted by the obsequious Mr and Mrs -Biggles. - -Recognition, as we can all avouch, is in the immense majority of cases -simultaneous, one memory seeming as it were to take fire at the spark -of recollection kindled in the other. In this instance such was not -exactly what occurred. Yet the traveller with the bag was perfectly -certain that he had seen before the tall gentleman who had started at -the sight of him, and that a diligent searching of the mental archives -would elicit the answer to the riddle. - -‘Have I written or telegraphed to order rooms here?’ repeated the new -arrival testily, after the flippant waiter who came, flourishing his -napkin, to see what the stranger wanted. ‘No, I have not. And to judge -by the size of your town, my friend, and the general look of affairs, I -should say that on any other day of the year but this such a precaution -would be wholly superfluous.’ - -The waiter, who had been slightly puffed up by the ephemeral vogue -of Pebworth and its chief hotel, took the rebuke meekly. ‘Would you -step into the coffee-room, sir?’ he said. ‘I’ll ask Mrs Biggles about -accommodation likely to be vacant. Any name I could mention, sir?’ - -‘Name—yes, Wilkins,’ returned the traveller, pushing open the door -of the coffee-room, in which, at various tables, some dozen of -sporting-men were making a scrambling meal. One or two of these -looking up from their plates, nodded a greeting, with a ‘How d’ ye do, -Wilkins?’ or ‘How goes it, old fellow?’ salutations which the recipient -of them returned in kind. Then the waiter bustled in to say, more -respectfully than before, that so soon as No. 28 should be vacated by -a gentleman leaving by the 6.25 train, it would be at the disposal -of Mr Wilkins. Further, here was a note for Mr Wilkins; into whose -hand he proceeded to thrust a half-sheet of letter-paper, roughly -folded in four, and containing but some two or three lines of blotted -handwriting. ‘If you will so far oblige me’—thus ran the words, shaky -and blurred as to their caligraphy, but tolerably legible—‘I shall be -glad of a few moments’ interview with you, at once if not inconvenient, -in No. 11. I will not detain you.’ - -There was no signature, but no reasonable doubt could exist in the mind -of Mr Wilkins as to the note having been penned by the owner of the -carriage that had so lately driven up to the door of the _De Vere Arms_. - -‘Why, this is taking the bull by the horns,’ said Mr Wilkins, as he -rose to obey the summons. - - -CHAPTER XII.—IN NO. XI. - -No. 11 was a sitting-room of a class peculiar to those old-fashioned -inns which are rapidly being improved off the length and breadth of -Britain, large, low-ceiled, with a sloping floor that attained its -highest elevation beside the broad bay-window. A dark room, it must be -confessed, and an airless, but snug and warm on winter-nights, when -the glow of the firelight combined with the lustre of many wax-candles -to defy the storm and blackness without. There had been jovial dinners -in that room, and drawing together of arm-chairs around the huge -fireplace, and tapping of dusty magnums of rare old port, and calling -for more punch as the night waned, in those hard-living days of which -so many of us innocent, pay the penalty in neuralgia and dyspepsia. - -In No. 11 stood Sir Sykes, pale but resolute. The traveller with the -black bag came in, and for the second time their eyes met. ‘You wished -to see me, sir,’ began Mr Wilkins, with a slight bow. ‘Ah! I remember -you now, sir, as it happens,’ he added in a different tone; ‘remember -you very distinctly indeed, Mr’—— - -‘Hush!’ interrupted Sir Sykes, with uplifted fore-finger. ‘A place -like this is the very last in which to mention anything best left -unspoken—the very walls, I believe, have ears to hear and tongues to -tattle. I am Sir Sykes Denzil, of Carbery Chase, within a very few -miles of this, at your service, Mr Wilkins.’ - -‘Sir Sykes Denzil! Well, this _is_ a surprise,’ exclaimed the owner -of the name of Wilkins wonderingly, and yet with a sort of dry humour -mingling with his evidently genuine astonishment. ‘Dear me, dear me! -They say the world is very little, and people constantly meeting and -jostling in it; but I never so thoroughly realised the truth of the -saying as I do now. So I’ve the honour of talking to Sir Sykes Denzil, -when I thought I was addressing’—— - -‘Be cautious, sir,’ interposed the baronet, with an energy that -impressed the other in spite of himself. ‘Let us have no reference, if -you please, to a past that is dead and buried. I sent for you, certain -as I was that sooner or later your memory must recall me to your -remembrance, and well aware too how easily you could learn who I was -here.’ - -‘No great trouble about that, Mr—I mean Sir Sykes,’ rejoined the -traveller smirkingly. ‘The people seem to know you well enough, and any -fellow in the stable-yard would have told me whose was the carriage -with the brown liveries.’ - -‘And having met and recognised one another,’ said Sir Sykes, ‘on what -footing is our future intercourse to be conducted? We are not as we -once were, lawyer and client, and’—— - -‘No, Sir Sykes, I grant you that; but we might be,’ returned Mr -Wilkins, rubbing his fleshy hands together, as though they had been -two millstones between which the bones of suitors might be ground to -make his bread. ‘You can’t, a man of your landed property—I’ve heard -something as to your acreage, and could give a shrewd guess as to your -rent-roll—be without law business. Devonshire isn’t Arcadia, I suppose. -Are there not leases to draw, inclosure bills to promote, poachers to -prosecute, paths to stop up, bills to file, actions to bring, defend, -compromise? Ten to one, some of your best farms are let on leases of -lives, and—— But no matter! You’ve your own legal advisers; hey, Sir -Sykes?’ - -The baronet bowed coldly by way of assent. - -‘Pounce and Pontifex, of Lincoln’s Inn—_I_ know,’ pursued the unabashed -lawyer. ‘A brace of respectable twaddling old stagers. There was a -saying, soon after I got my articles, as to that firm, to the effect -that Pounce and Pontifex were fit for a marriage settlement, a will, -and a Chancery suit, and that was about all. If you care about raising -your rents, crushing an enemy, or gratifying a whim—and most rich men -have a hankering after one or other of these fancies—why, you’ll need a -brisker counsellor at your elbow than the jog-trots of Lincoln’s Inn.’ - -Again the baronet bent his head, and his eyes moved towards the door. -Mr Wilkins noted their movement. - -‘You hardly derived a fair judgment of my capabilities,’ he said, ‘by -the little I had to do in that Sandston business’—— - -‘Again I ask you, sir, to make no mention of that subject. It—it is -naturally painful to me—and—and’—— Sir Sykes here fairly broke down. - -The lawyer’s eyes twinkled as he saw his advantage. ‘So long as _you_ -remember it, Sir Sykes,’ he made haste to say, ‘I shall be only too -happy to forget the whole concern. What was that story about the -organ-blower and Handel? “Shan’t it be ‘we,’ then?” said the fellow, -when the great organist couldn’t get a note out of his instrument -for want of the necessary but humble bellows. And the musician was -compelled to acknowledge that there was a sort of partnership between -the man who fingered the stops and the man who raised the wind. I’m -in no hurry. Think it over. I have a client to see here to-day; but -perhaps you will let me have a word with you before you drive back to -Carbery Chase.’ - -A long deep line, which might have been mistaken for the furrow of some -old sword-cut, running from the angle of the mouth obliquely upwards, -became visible in the baronet’s comely face as he listened. He was one -of those men who can better endure misfortune than disrespect, and to -whom the bitterest sting of ruin is the withdrawal of the deference and -lip-service which environ them. But it was in an amicable tone that he -made answer: ‘I shall be happy to pursue our conversation, Mr Wilkins, -to-day or at any time which you may deem suitable. At present, however, -you will excuse me if I leave you. My son, Captain Denzil, has been -hurt—badly hurt, I fear, in the steeplechase to-day, and I have been -called here to see him, where he lies, in this very hotel.’ And the -baronet moved towards the door. - -‘Hurt, is he?’ exclaimed Mr Wilkins, with inconsiderate roughness. ‘Ah, -then, I shall look to you, Sir Sykes, to indemnify me in case’—— - -Then came an awkward pause. The solicitor was a remarkably plain-spoken -man, but he did not quite like to say, ‘in case your son’s accident -prove fatal,’ and so stopped, and left his eloquent silence to complete -his words. Sir Sykes, with his hand on the door, turned, astonished, -upon the attorney. - -‘What, pray, have you to do with the illness or the recovery of Captain -Denzil?’ he asked in evident ill-humour. He had borne up to this with -Mr Wilkins, but the lawyer’s interference with regard to his son -appeared to him in the light of a gratuitous piece of insolence. - -‘Simply,’ returned Mr Wilkins, thrusting his hand into an inner pocket -of his coat, ‘because I am the holder of certain acceptances, renewed, -renewed afresh, and finally dishonoured; acceptances amounting, with -expenses, to a gross amount of—shall we say some eleven or twelve -thousand, Sir Sykes? Nearer the twelve than the eleven, I suspect. -A flea-bite of course to a gentleman of your fortune, but a very -important sum to a plain man like yours truly.’ - -‘I have been put to heavy expense, very heavy, for my son’s debts,’ -said Sir Sykes, almost piteously. ‘I have paid every’—— - -‘Now, my very good sir,’ interrupted the attorney, ‘don’t, I beg you, -don’t fall into the common error of fathers, and imagine that your -own particular son is either a miracle of ingenuous candour or a -prodigal worse than his neighbours. You think that you’ve paid all his -liabilities, Sir Sykes, and no doubt you have paid all you knew of. But -as a man of the world, if not as a parent, you ought to be aware that -nobody ever did tell all that he owed—excess of modesty, perhaps! They -always leave a margin, these interesting penitents; and in this case, -as you will see by these documents’ (and Mr Wilkins produced several -pieces of stamped paper), ‘the margin is tolerably ample.’ - -The baronet was now thoroughly roused to wrath. He strode to and fro -with frowning brow and hands that were fast clenched together, then -walked to the window and stood still, idly tapping the panes with one -white finger, on which there glistened a great diamond that had been an -heirloom at Carbery Chase before ever a Denzil crossed its threshold. - -‘I’ll not give him a shilling or leave him a shilling!’ he said in a -voice that quivered with anger. ‘Carbery Chase is my very own, and I -can deal with it as I please. My daughters at anyrate have deserved -better of me than that thankless graceless boy.’ - -Sir Sykes, under the influence of this new emotion, seemed to have -forgotten the lawyer’s presence, or merely to regard Mr Wilkins in the -light of the impartial Chorus in a Greek tragedy; but the attorney, -who was by no means pleased by the turn which the affair seemed to be -taking, intervened. - -‘Come, come, Sir Sykes. It’s natural that you should be annoyed at -having such a heavy bill presented, when you thought it settled. But -between ourselves, boys will be boys. The captain has turned over a -new leaf, and rely on it he will be a credit to you yet. I’ve a pretty -wide acquaintance amongst wild young gentlemen of his kind, and I give -you my word I don’t know one who is more wide-awake. He had paid his -’prentice fees, and that smartly; but I expect before I die to hear of -him as an ornament to the bench of magistrates and perhaps a county -member. As for these bills and notes of hand’—— - -‘I’m not liable for a sixpence!’ exclaimed Sir Sykes petulantly. ‘My -son may go through the Court if he chooses, and perhaps will learn a -wholesome lesson from the exposure, which’—— - -‘Fie, fie, Sir Sykes!’ broke in the lawyer. ‘A coat of whitewash, -believe me, sticks to a youngster’s back to that extent that no amount -of scrubbing can get rid of it. Fume and fret as you please, you -know, and I know, that you mean Captain Jasper to have Carbery after -you, and to keep the place in the Denzil line. Better so, than to -have so fine an estate sold or cut in two for division between your -daughters’ husbands. And the captain won’t bear the ‘bloody hand’ in -his escutcheon the better because he has been made an insolvent in his -youth. As for these claims, I don’t press for an immediate settlement; -not I; I don’t exact my pound of flesh down on the nail, Sir Sykes.’ - -There was a hard struggle in the baronet’s breast. Time had been -given him for reflection, and he had used it. To hear of his son’s -extravagance, of his son’s deceit, and from such lips, was bad enough. -To be compelled to endure the familiarity of the lawyer’s manner was -to have to swallow a still more bitter pill. He could remember Mr -Wilkins of old, blunt and jocose certainly, but by no means so jaunty -in his bearing as he now was, although Sir Sykes had not then been -the rich county magnate he had blossomed. He felt, and writhed as he -felt, that it was the attorney’s sense of his hold upon him by reason -of his knowledge of his past life, which had emboldened Mr Wilkins to -deal with him as he had done. But the most provoking feature of the -affair was that Sir Sykes felt that this man’s advice, coarsely and -offensively administered as it was, yet contained a solid kernel of -truth. Jasper was by no means a model son. He had committed fearful -follies, and incurred debts which even the Master of Carbery had -thought twice before discharging. His profligacy was redeemed by no -brilliant talents, softened by no affectionate qualities. There are -spendthrifts who remain lovable to the last, as there are others who -dazzle the world by the glitter of their wit or valour. To neither -category did the graceless offspring of Sir Sykes belong. And yet, in -spite of his occasional menaces on the subject of his will, the baronet -felt that national manners and family pride combined to constitute a -sort of moral entail, of which Jasper was to reap the benefit. - -‘I must see my son,’ said Sir Sykes smoothly, after a pause; ‘and when -I have time to think over the matter, Mr Wilkins, I will write to you -appointing as early an interview as possible. In the meantime I feel -assured that you will see the propriety of not urging personally your -claims on Captain Denzil in his present condition.’ - -Mr Wilkins was amenity itself. He would but eat a morsel in the -coffee-room, he said, and would then go back to London by the next -train, confident that he could not leave his interests in better hands -than those of Sir Sykes. - -‘The old address, sir! You used to know it well enough!’ said the -lawyer with a leer, as he took the hand which the baronet did not dare -to refuse in sign of friendship; and so they parted. - - - - -COAL AND ITS PRODUCTS. - - -In an article which appeared in this _Journal_ in August 1876, entitled -_The Age of the World_, we endeavoured to explain how coal was -produced, and how it might be regarded simply as stored-up heat and -light, derived from the sun ages ago. - -Apart from the varied uses of coal in its ordinary state, we owe an -immense deal to the products which by chemical means we obtain from it; -and it is our purpose in this paper to briefly review these products, -and to shew how we have adapted them to our several wants. - -The manufacture of gas is undoubtedly the most important feature in -the modern history of coal. Natural reservoirs of inflammable air -exist in many parts of the world, and have in many cases been turned -to profitable account. In China, for instance, the evaporation of -salt has for many years been carried on by the heat obtained by the -combustion of gas which issues from the ground. Streets and buildings -there have also been lighted by the same means. In our own country -too, such eruptions of natural gas—which have generally manifested -themselves during the operation of well-boring—have not been uncommon. -But the gas so obtained is not the same as that which we get from the -distillation of coal, although it forms one of its chief constituents. -It is commonly called marsh-gas, from its constant presence in bogs -and places where decaying vegetable matter abounds. The treacherous -Will o’ the Wisp owes its origin to this gas. It also issues in large -quantities from coal-beds, and diluted with air forms the dreadful -compound called ‘fire-damp.’ - -The first recorded experiment relating to the production of true -coal-gas was as early as the year 1660, when a country clergyman -distilled some coal, collected the gas in bladders, and burnt it from -a jet, for the amusement of his friends. Although this very suggestive -experiment was communicated to the Royal Society, no action seems to -have been taken upon it until the beginning of the present century, -when the matter seems to have attained a more practical form. At this -time one or two factories in Manchester and Birmingham were for the -first time lighted with gas. The idea of illuminating an entire town -by means of a chemical vapour seems to have met with much ridicule, -and it was found necessary to employ lecturers to go about the country -to shew people how such an apparent impossibility could be carried -out. However, in spite of much opposition, part of London was lighted -by gas in 1812; and three years later, Paris adopted the same system. -The delay in the acceptance of gas-making among the industrial arts -was no doubt largely due to the expressed opinion of several eminent -chemists and others, who considered that such a mode of lighting our -towns could never be realised, because of the supposed danger which it -involved. Modern experience teaches us that it is at once the cheapest -as well as the safest mode of illumination that we can as yet command. -In the manufacture of gas, the coal is placed in iron retorts, which -are subjected to a high temperature for about six hours, when the -operation is finished, and the retorts are ready for a fresh charge. -A residue of nearly pure carbon, in the form of coke, remains in the -retort, whilst the varied products of the distillation are carried off -by pipes into suitable receptacles. For the sake of convenience, we -will at present name only three of these products—ammoniacal liquor, -tar, and the gas itself. The first is the principal source of ammonia, -one of the most useful substances known. It may be almost said of -ammonia, as it has been remarked of sulphuric acid, that the prosperity -of a country may be known by the quantity which it consumes. It is used -by colour-makers, calico-printers, and in the manufacture of most of -the textile fabrics; in cleansing and extracting grease from various -kinds of cloth, in the preparation of leather, in galvanising iron, and -in pewtering. The chemist would be almost helpless without its aid; -whilst in medicine it is used in about twenty different forms as a -most valuable stimulant. It is almost needless to say that ammonia was -in general use long before the era of gas-manufacture, for life could -hardly go on without it. In fact its very name is derived from its -manufacture hundreds of years ago from animal refuse in a district of -Libya where the deity Jupiter Ammon was worshipped. The old alchemists -too obtained it from the distillation of deer’s horns; hence one -preparation of it is still called spirit of hartshorn. There are many -other sources of ammonia, for its presence in nature is universal; but -all have sunk into insignificance since the gas-works have yielded such -plentiful supplies. - -Coal-tar in its crude state is not of very great importance, its use -being confined to such rough work as the water-proofing of boats and -the painting of outhouses and the like. But in the hands of the chemist -its applications cannot be lightly regarded, in fact its distillation -is of sufficient importance to form a distinct branch of trade. In this -process coal-tar is separated into three different products—naphtha -(which in a rectified state is the benzol of commerce); heavy or -creosote oil, which is used almost exclusively for the preservation of -railway sleepers; and the residue pitch. The last is of great use to -shipbuilders, and has more recently found employment in the preparation -of asphalt roofing and paving. But naphtha is by far the most important -of the three substances, if it were only for its use as a solvent for -both india-rubber and gutta-percha. No doubt, failing this, other -solvents for caoutchouc would have been found; but naphtha is a -particularly cheap and effective menstruum for the purpose; and when we -consider the varied uses to which india-rubber and gutta-percha are now -applied—from elastic hosiery to submarine cables—we must acknowledge -that naphtha is a valuable addition to our manufacturing resources. -It is a significant circumstance that the date of the introduction -of manufactured india-rubber (by Mr Mackintosh) follows the general -adoption of gas-lighting by only a few years. Previous to this, -india-rubber was imported merely as a curiosity, its first use being to -obliterate pencil-marks, for which purpose it was once advertised in -London at the modest price of six shillings per square inch. - -Besides its use as a solvent, benzol is of particular importance in -yielding, when treated with nitric acid, a substance called aniline. -The discovery of aniline is one of the most remarkable triumphs of -chemistry, as applied to the advancement of a manufacturing industry. -(Before the date of coal-tar it was obtained from indigo, and the -name it bears is the Portuguese for that colour.) The production of -aniline caused quite a revolution in the various trades which are -dependent in any way upon the colour-manufacturer; for lithographers, -paper-stainers, calico-printers, and especially dyers, owe their most -brilliant tints to its aid. The various dyes which are now commonly -retailed for household use are also derived from the same source. -Aniline is an almost colourless liquid, of a peculiar vinous odour, -which after exposure to the air, changes to a dark resinous matter. -The treatment which it undergoes in producing the various colours (and -nearly every colour of the rainbow can now be obtained from it), is of -too complicated a nature to be of any interest to the general reader. -Magenta, the advent of which some years back many of our readers -will remember, was the first aniline dye which appeared. The other -colours have followed in quick succession, nearly all of them being -the subjects of one or more patents. It is questionable whether all -these colours are strictly permanent; but it is a pleasing thought that -the hues which in one form or another existed at a period long before -mankind had a place in nature, are now reproduced for man’s delight and -benefit. - -Another very important product of gas-tar is carbolic acid, which is -also largely employed for dyeing purposes. Its value as a disinfectant -is too well known to need recapitulation here; but we may mention -that its use as a preventive of disease was most abundantly proved -during the last epidemic among our cattle. It is in general use in -our hospitals, not only as a disinfectant, but also as an antiseptic -both in the dressing of wounds and in the treatment of various skin -diseases. Carbolic acid also yields a substance called picric acid, -which, on account of its explosive properties when combined with -potassium, has been proposed as a substitute for gunpowder. There are -many other substances derived from the distillation of coal-tar, but at -present they are only of interest to the experimental chemist. - -A ton of coals will produce a chaldron of coke, twelve gallons of tar, -ten gallons of ammoniacal liquor, and nearly ten thousand feet of gas. -A consideration of these figures, with a due regard to what we have -said as to the value of the various chemical products obtained by -distillation, will enable our readers to understand why gas companies -can shew such good balance-sheets. Much has been written as to the -possible exhaustion, after one or two centuries, of the British -coal-fields. This is a question upon which it is next to impossible -to form any reliable opinion. Should the coal-supply actually fail, -it is more than probable that as science is extended, a new source of -light and heat may be developed. A cheap and ready means of producing -electricity, as we have in a former article endeavoured to shew, would -at once solve the problem, and it is within the bounds of reason that -to this agency the future races of the earth will look for the two most -common necessaries of existence. - - - - -MALAPROPOS. - - -Charles Dickens once wrote to a friend: ‘I have distinguished myself in -two respects lately. I took a young lady unknown down to dinner, and -talked to her about the Bishop of Durham’s nepotism in the matter of -Mr Cheese. I found she was Mrs Cheese. And I expatiated to the member -for Marylebone, Lord Fermoy—generally conceiving him to be an Irish -member—on the contemptible character of the Marylebone constituency -and Marylebone representatives.’ Two such mishaps in one evening were -enough to reduce the most brilliant talker to the condition of the -three ‘insides’ of the London-bound coach, who beguiled the tedium of -the journey from Southampton by discussing the demerits of William -Cobbett, until one of the party went so far as to assert that the -object of their denunciations was a domestic tyrant, given to beating -his wife; when, much to his dismay, the solitary lady passenger, who -had hitherto sat a silent listener, remarked: ‘Pardon me, sir; a kinder -husband and father never breathed; and I ought to know, for I am -William Cobbett’s wife!’ - -Mr Giles of Virginia and Judge Duval of Maryland, members of Congress -during Washington’s administration, boarded at the house of a Mrs -Gibbon, whose daughters were well on in years, and remarkable for -talkativeness. When Jefferson became President, Duval was Comptroller -of the Treasury, and Giles a senator. Meeting one day in Washington, -they fell to chatting over old times, and the senator asked the -Comptroller if he knew what had become of ‘that cackling old maid, -Jenny Gibbon.’ ‘She is Mrs Duval, sir,’ was the unexpected reply. -Giles did not attempt to mend matters, as a certain Mr Tuberville -unwisely did. This unhappy blunderer resembled the Irish gentleman who -complained that he could not open his mouth without putting his foot -in it. Happening to observe to a fellow-guest at Dunraven Castle, that -the lady who had sat at his right hand at dinner was the ugliest woman -he had ever beheld; the person addressed expressed his regret that he -should think his wife so ill-looking. ‘I have made a mistake,’ said the -horrified Tuberville; ‘I meant the lady who sat on my left.’ ‘Well, -sir, she is my sister,’ was the response to the well-intentioned fib; -bringing from the desperate connoisseur of beauty the frank avowal: ‘It -can’t be helped, sir, then; for if what you say be true, I confess I -never saw such an ugly family in the course of my life!’ - -An honest expression of opinion perhaps not so easily forgiven by the -individual concerned, as that wrung from Mark Twain, who, standing -right before a young lady in a Parisian public garden, cried out to -his friend: ‘Dan, just look at this girl; how beautiful she is!’ to -be rebuked by ‘this girl’ saying in excellent English: ‘I thank you -more for the evident sincerity of the compliment, sir, than for the -extraordinary publicity you have given it!’ Mark took a walk, but did -not feel just comfortable for some time afterward. - -One of the humorist’s countrymen made a much more serious blunder. -He was a married man. Going into the kitchen one day, a pair of soft -hands were thrown over his eyes, a kiss was imprinted on his cheek. -He returned the salute with interest, and as he gently disengaged -the hands of his fair assailant, asked: ‘Mary, darling, where is the -mistress?’ and found his answer in an indignant wife’s face. ‘Mary -darling’ had gone out for the day, and the lady of the house intended -by her affectionate greeting to give her lord a pleasant surprise. -He got his surprise; whether he thought it a pleasant one he never -divulged, but that kitchen knew Mary no more. - -A stout hearty-looking gentleman one day made his way from the -dock-side at Plymouth to the deck of a man-of-war newly arrived from -abroad, and desired to be shewn over the ship. Most of the officers -were on shore, and the duty of playing cicerone devolved upon a young -midshipman. He made the most of his opportunity, and to have a lark -at the expense of the elderly gentleman as he shewed him round, he -told him how the capstan was used to grind the ship’s coffee, the -eighteen-ton guns for cooling the officers’ champagne, the main-yards -for drying the Admiral’s Sunday shirts, and many other things not -generally known. When the gentleman had seen all he wanted to see, he -handed a card to his kind instructor, saying: ‘Young gentleman, you -are a very smart youth indeed, and full of very curious information; -and I trust that you will see there is no mistake in this card of mine -finding its way to your captain.’ The middy glanced at the bit of -pasteboard and read thereon the name ‘Ward Hunt;’ but before he could -thoroughly realise the situation, the First Lord of the Admiralty, with -a parting nod and pleasant smile, had gone. - -Another story, illustrating the awkward results that come of letting -the tongue wag freely under a misapprehension regarding other folk’s -identity, is told of a London tailor. An aristocratic customer noted -for dressing in anything but aristocratic fashion, called to pay his -bill. The tailor’s new manager, after receipting the account, handed -it back with a sovereign, saying: ‘There’s a sovereign for yourself, -and it’s your own fault it isn’t two. You don’t wear out your master’s -clothes half quick enough. He ought to have had double the amount in -the time; it would be worth your while to use a harder brush.’ - -‘Well, I don’t know,’ said his lordship, smiling; ‘I think my brush is -a pretty hard one too; his lordship complains of it anyhow.’ - -‘Pooh! Hard! Not a bit of it! Now I’ll put you up to a dodge that’ll -put many a pound in your pocket. You see this piece of wood—now that’s -roughened on purpose. You take that, and give your master’s coat a good -scrubbing with it about the elbows and shoulders every day; and give -the trousers a touch about the knees, and it will be a good five pounds -a year in your pocket. We shan’t forget you.’ - -‘You are very kind,’ quoth the enlightened gentleman. ‘I will impart -your instructions to my valet, though I fear while he remains in my -service he will not be able to profit by them, as I shall not trouble -you with my custom. I wish you good-day.’ - -We read in Lord Eldon’s Journal: ‘The most awkward thing that ever -occurred to me was this. Immediately after I was married I was -appointed Deputy Professor of Law at Oxford, and the Law Professor sent -me the first lecture, which I had to read immediately to the students, -and which I began without knowing a single word that was in it. It was -upon the statute applying to young men running away with maidens. Fancy -me reading with about one hundred and fifty boys and young men all -giggling at the Professor! Such a tittering audience no one ever had.’ -The comical coincidence may have been an accidental one; but as the Law -Professor must, like the students, have known that his deputy ran away -with his Bessie, the chances are against it. The great lawyer was fated -to be reminded of the romantic episode of his life. A client whose -daughter had been stolen from him, insisted upon the jury being told -that a man who could run away with another man’s daughter was a rascal -and a villain, and deserved to be hanged. ‘I cannot say that,’ said -Scott. ‘And why not, Lawyer Scott—why not?’ inquired the irate father. -‘Because I did it myself!’ was the unanswerable reply. - -After doing his office for a young couple, a clergyman was inveigled -into proposing the health of bride and bridegroom at the wedding -breakfast. He wound up a neat little speech by expressing the hope -that the result of the union of the happy pair might prove strictly -analogous to that of the bride’s honoured parents. The groom looked -angry, the bride went into hysterics, the bridesmaids blushed and -became interested in the pattern of the carpet, the master of the -house blew his nose with extraordinary violence, and the speaker sat -down wondering at the effect he had created; till his better-informed -neighbour whispered that the lady was not the daughter of the host and -hostess, but a niece who came to live with them when her mother and -father were divorced. - -During Mr Gladstone’s Premiership, Sir George Pollock called one -morning in Downing Street to thank the Prime-minister for making him -governor of the Tower. A cabinet council had just assembled; but -rather than keep the veteran waiting, Mr Gladstone invited him into -the council-chamber and introduced him to his colleagues. Sir George -entertained his new acquaintances with a tedious story about a nobleman -who had been detected cheating at cards, ending his narration with: -‘They turned him out of all the clubs he belonged to; even the Reform -would have nothing more to say to him!’ A way of proving the enormity -of the card-player’s offence that must have pleased his hearers -amazingly, since all or nearly all of them were members of that famous -Liberal club. - -The old governor sincerely meant what his words implied. Such is not -always the case with utterers of malapropos things. When a note was -handed to Dr Fletcher in his pulpit intimating that the presence of a -medical gentleman, supposed to be in the church, was urgently required -elsewhere, the preacher read the letter out, and as the doctor was -making for the door, fervently ejaculated: ‘May the Lord have mercy -on his patient!’ A Scotch minister exchanging pulpits with a friend -one Sunday, was accosted after service by an old woman anxious to know -what had become of her ‘ain minister.’ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘he is with my -people to-day.’ ‘Indeed, indeed,’ said the dame; ‘they’ll be getting -a treat the day!’ As flattering a remark as that of the wife of a -popular lecturer, who on her lord telling her he was going to lecture -at Sheffield, exclaimed: ‘I’m so glad; I always hated those Sheffield -people.’ - -Epitaph writers sometimes display a talent for this kind of -_double-entendre_. A couple of specimens will suffice. The first -from Arbroath, running: ‘Here lie the bodies of John, William, -Robert, and David Matthews, who all died in the hope of a glorious -resurrection—excepting David.’ The other from an American -burying-ground: - - Here lies the mother of children five; - Two are dead and three are alive; - The two that are dead preferring rather - To die with their mother than live with their father. - -Although a high authority insists that the lunatic and the lover are of -imagination all compact, it would not enter an ordinary lover’s head -to tell his mistress that loving her was synonymous with madness, as -Steele did when he wrote to his dear lovely Prue: ‘It is the hardest -thing in the world to be in love and yet attend business. As for me, -all who speak to me found me out, and I must lock myself up, or other -people will do it for me;’ but fair Mistress Scurlock doubtless took -the dubious flattery in as good part as the great animal painter took -the king of Portugal’s odd greeting: ‘Ah, Sir Edwin, I am glad to see -you; I’m so fond of beasts.’ An unpleasant way of putting the thing was -innocently adopted by the New York car-driver, who, blissfully ignorant -that his interlocutor was Mr Beecher, replied to that gentleman’s query -whether he did not think it possible to dispense with running the cars -all day on Sunday: ‘Yes, sir, I do; but there’s no hope for it so long -as they keep that Beecher theatre open in Brooklyn; the cars have to -run to accommodate that.’ - -An American newspaper says: ‘The enthusiastic choir-master who adopted -_Hold the Fort_ as a processional hymn, has been dismissed by the -minister, who considered it personal when the choir burst forth: - - See the mighty host advancing, - Satan leading on! - -A similar objection might have been raised to the Maine county -commissioners quoting Watts’s lines: - - Ye sinners round, come view the ground - Where you will shortly lie, - -when inviting certain lawyers to inspect the new court-house; although -they had less reason to complain than Lord Kenyon and Justice Rooke, -who while on circuit, came one Sunday to a little village just as the -good folks were going to church; an example the two judges followed. -Anxious to shew his appreciation of the unexpected honour, the parish -clerk searched for a suitable psalm to sing before the service; and -at the proper time gave out the first two verses of the fifty-eighth -psalm, and the congregation sang: - - Speak, O ye judges of the earth, - If just your sentence be; - Or must not innocence appeal - To heaven from your decree. - Your wicked hearts and judgments are - Alike by malice swayed; - Your griping hands, by mighty bribes, - To violence betrayed. - -Here the congregation awoke to the meaning of what they were singing, -and left the clerk and the children to offend the ears of the legal -dignitaries with: - - To virtue, strangers from the womb, - Their infant steps went wrong; - They prattled slander, and in lies - Employed their lisping tongue. - No serpent of parched Afric’s breed - Does ranker poison bear; - The drowsy adder will as soon - Unlock his sullen ear. - -The performance unlocked the tongues of the astonished judges at any -rate; and the churchwardens had some difficulty in convincing them that -the apparent insult arose out of the stupidity of the well-meaning -clerk. - - - - -THEODOR MINTROP. - - -‘The poor world is almost six thousand years old, and in all this time -there was not any man died in his own person, namely, in a love-cause.’ - -I cannot help recalling Rosalind’s words as I look at the photograph -before me; the history of its original so completely disproves her -saucy speech. In my hand I hold the likeness of a man of forty or -thereabouts, with a noble square forehead arching above deep thoughtful -eyes, a large beardless face surrounded by a heavy growth of long hair, -and a thickset form denoting great personal strength. A superficial -observer might call the homely portrait commonplace, and turn to -gaze on the more aristocratic faces of his fellow-artists in the -photographic album; but a careful scrutiny of the coarse irregular -features and the broad brow impresses one with the feeling that this -was no ordinary man; that a spirit dwelt within these steady eyes -purer and mightier than usually falls to the lot of mortal man. But -the closest inspection would still leave much untold. The indomitable -energy, the heaven-sent genius, may be traced in his strong features -and deep eyes; but the exquisite sensibility, the single-heartedness, -the uncomplaining patience, would never be guessed. - -But a short time has elapsed since he was one of us, and his story is -still ringing in the hearts of his countrymen—a story so pathetic in -its poverty and its triumph, so touching in its untimely close. - -Theodor Mintrop, the original of the photograph, was born near -the village of Werden in Westphalia. From his childhood he had an -uncontrollable desire to draw, which brought nothing but censure from -his elders, substantial _bauers_ and petty farmers, who considered -drawing an unpardonable waste of time. But the talent was not to be -crushed out. In spite of opposition and discouragement, in spite -of his daily hard work on his father’s farm, he practised his art -whenever he had an opportunity; at first sketching rough outlines on -whitewashed walls, and when he could afford it, buying pencils and -paper. In time his fame as an artist spread among the simple peasantry, -and even beyond his own limited circle. ‘The country Raphael,’ he was -popularly called; and made a little money occasionally by painting -signs for country inns, and pictures of the Virgin and Child for the -Catholics. All this time he wrought in the fields at a labourer’s usual -avocations; and it was a hard horny hand that in his leisure moments -wielded the pencil with such surprising genius. He was waiting—waiting -patiently till the tide would turn—waiting till the time would come -when he could study his art and devote himself wholly to it. And thus -he might have spent his entire life, his genius, like an imprisoned -bird, hemmed in by sordid cares and toils, if one of these strange -coincidences that so often bring the unexpected, had not occurred. - -A celebrated artist, seeing some of Mintrop’s drawings, was so struck -by their merit, that he immediately set out for Werden, found Mintrop -at the plough, and carried him back to his house in Düsseldorf, -offering him every facility for studying thoroughly his beloved art. - -The opportunity had come; but how long the country Raphael had waited -for it! Thirty years had he repressed his ambition, and performed -the duties of farm-labourer for his father and brother. No wonder a -sad weariness can be traced on his features. In Düsseldorf, Mintrop -went through the regular course of instruction, beginning at the very -lowest class, where he, a man of thirty, sat on the same bench with -young lads; but his great genius and intense application soon carried -him through the class-rooms. His art had an amount of originality -and freshness that seemed to breathe of his free country life at -Werden. From his boyhood a great lover of fairy tales, there was a -strain of grotesqueness in his works. His father, a man of an original -turn of mind, had fostered his passion for the weird homely legends -of the German peasantry; and to Theodor, in his imaginative youth, -_kobolds_ had peeped out of the earth, _nixies_ had sung in the -rivers. The fame of the country Raphael soon spread in Düsseldorf; -art critics acknowledged his wonderful genius, and vied with one -another in pointing out the grand simplicity and admirable power of -his compositions. How did the untrained peasant, fresh from his rural -life, bear all this homage? Simply and meekly. With reverence he -regarded the wonderful new life around him, so much more polished, -so much pleasanter than his old one; but the dignity of his art and -his own self-respect saved him from being overborne by it. But no one -guessed that under his homely and somewhat uncouth exterior such an -appreciation for all that was fair and good in life existed, as the -sequel of his life proved. - -Behold him now at perhaps the zenith of his career; having attained the -object of his desires, an artistic education; having in a few short -years established a fame that many academical pupils of many years’ -standing had failed to win; surrounded by many friends, living in the -home-circle of his first patron and dearest friend in that pleasant -city on the Rhine. His future lay fair and unclouded before him, -leading him on from triumph to still greater triumph. But inscrutable -are the ways of Providence; God’s ways are not man’s ways; and the tree -that promised such glorious fruit was never to reach maturity. - -To the house of Geselschap (the name of the artist who had befriended -Mintrop, and in whose house he lived) came one fine summer a young -lady-friend. In the free unrestrained home society, Mintrop had much -opportunity of becoming intimately acquainted with this young girl. -He had been learning much of life as well as art since he came to -Düsseldorf; but women in a higher rank than the peasants he had for -thirty years been familiar with, were ever an object of peculiar -interest and intense admiration to him; and the grace and amiability -of this stranger soon made a powerful impression on him. For a whole -long happy summer this fair young creature lived under the same -roof with him, and treated the grave shy man with the playfulness -and friendliness of a sister, wholly unaware of the passion she had -unwittingly kindled. In short he, the hard-working country Raphael, -engrossed in his art, which he pursued for itself, not for money -(about which he was one of the most careless of mortals)—he, the rough -Westphalian peasant, with hard hands and uncouth figure, had learned -to love this gentle maiden, with all the strength of his noble patient -heart. - -That long happy summer passed, and the young lady returned to her -friends. Shortly after, the announcement of her engagement to be -married reached Düsseldorf, piercing the true heart that loved her so -well. To commemorate her marriage, Mintrop composed a wonderful series -of pictures, that will always link her name to his. - -The ‘Love of King Heinzelmann’ they were called; seventy scenes in all, -in which he, in the guise of King Heinzelmann, following his beloved -Johanna through every incident in daily life, protects and helps her -as he would fain have done in reality. True to the traditions of his -youth, numbers of quaint dwarfs with long beards, pointed caps, and -trunk-hose, attend on the commands of their king; who is himself a -strange weird vision with a wizened face, pointed cap, and magic wand, -tipped by a burning eye. In a burgher household, these droll figures -sweep and wash, bake and brew, throwing themselves into many strange -contortions, in the service of Anna; the king ever with them, looking -sadder and sadder; for as time goes on, a stranger from America falls -in love with Johanna and carries her away across the sea. The poor -gnome-king loves in vain; and when the day comes that Johanna and her -lover sail away, he and his dwarfs stand sadly on the shore (for they -may not cross the sea) watching the vessel till it fades from sight. - -The fantastic legend is imbued with a strange humanity; and the ugly -figure of the gnome-king touches our inmost sensibility with a thrill -of pathos. Such was the love of Mintrop—intense, undying, and hopeless! -Some things are almost too sad to bear speaking of, and the waste of -affection that goes on in this world is one of them. Doubtless there -were many girls in Düsseldorf equal to Johanna in every respect; but -for Mintrop she was the only one, and yet she was another’s. - -Three years had passed since Mintrop worked his love into his -art—throwing but a thin veil of grotesqueness over his real feelings; -and Johanna returned from afar with her husband. They settled in -Westphalia; and Johanna, moved by the memories of old days, proposed -that Mintrop should be godfather to their infant daughter. Three years -were gone, and Mintrop thought he had conquered his hopeless love; but -yet the request startles him, and he requires to struggle for composure -before he can determine whether he shall agree to it or not. He goes, -finds the comfortable home where his lost love resides, meets her and -her husband and the various guests present at the ceremony. The priest -comes, and the little soft baby is placed in his arms. He looks at his -sleeping god-daughter as he somewhat awkwardly receives her, and the -child slowly opens her large eyes, so like her mother’s. A thrill runs -through Mintrop’s veins; all the old feelings, the old hopes and fears, -rush through his mind with a force too cruel to be borne. He hastily -places the child in its mother’s arms, and hurries away from the scene. - -Not long after, and Mintrop is dying. Some physical cause, the doctor -assigns; but his friends know well what it is. His patient loving heart -has borne too much. The intensity of his feelings has snapped the cord -of life. As his breath leaves him, he thinks of his other love, his -Art, and he sighs: ‘Would I might live long enough to finish my work; -otherwise, I am ready to die!’ And thus the brave gentle spirit went -forth to meet its Maker, regretting only that the promise of its youth -was not fulfilled—the work not yet completed. Alas, alas, for human -love, for human hopes and wishes! My eyes are wet as I trace these -concluding lines; and the face in the photograph is hallowed by a -strange sad interest. - -Theodor Mintrop died at Düsseldorf in July 1870; and his sad story, -as given above, speedily found its way into the German newspapers. In -autumn 1871, a bronze bust erected to his memory was unveiled in the -presence of thousands of spectators; and the poet Emil Rittershaus -composed and recited a beautiful poem—a requiem to one who died of a -broken heart. - - - - -THE MONTH: - -SCIENCE AND ARTS. - - -The rumour mentioned in our last _Month_ has been verified, and we -now know that hydrogen and nitrogen have yielded to the power of the -physicist, and that there is no longer, in our part of the universe, -any such thing as a permanent gas. After Pictet in Geneva had led -the way by liquefying oxygen, Cailletet followed in Paris with the -other two; but Pictet has since gone farther, and has obtained liquid -hydrogen in considerable quantity, and has produced solid particles of -oxygen. In communicating these facts to a scientific body in Paris, -Mr Dumas, the eminent chemist, stated to his hearers they might take -it for granted that in swallowing a glass of water they were really -drinking a metallic oxide. - -Dr Angus Smith says in a paper ‘On the Examination of Air,’ read before -the Royal Society, that there ought to be observatories for Chemical -Climatology and Meteorology, in which the air should be systematically -examined, ‘so as to obtain decidedly those bodies which have from the -earliest times been supposed to exist in it, bringing with them, on -certain occasions, the worst results.’ But the process of examination, -as at present carried on, is slow and troublesome; when a sure and easy -way is found, then its adoption may become general. Dr Angus Smith is -perhaps the first who has taken the subject in hand from this point of -view. ‘It is the more interesting,’ he remarks, ‘as he has sufficiently -shewn that in the places examined, the organic ammonia has been in -intimate relation with the gross death-rate.... It may be true that -oxygen is the prime mover—producing in man animal life—a favourite -idea for a chemist; but it may also be true that minute organisms -cause a peculiar class of decomposition connected with mental or other -activity, diseased or otherwise.’ - -Before the telephone has ceased to be a scientific novelty, America -sends us news of another novelty called a phonograph. This instrument, -the invention of Mr T. A. Edison, makes sound visible, and records it -in a permanent form. You speak into a tube, and while doing so you -work a handle which causes a cylinder to revolve; the sound of the -voice causes a thin disk or diaphragm of metal to vibrate, as in the -telephone; the vibrations actuate a steel point which, as it advances -and recedes, makes impressions more or less deep in a band of tinfoil -wound round the cylinder, and this band of tinfoil becomes the record -of what has been spoken. Now comes the wonderful part of the process; -for we are told that if the tinfoil so indented be applied to another -instrument, called the ‘transmitter,’ consisting of a hollow tube with -a paper diaphragm, then the original sounds will be reproduced, though -with somewhat of a metallic tone. Turn the handle of the cylinder and -you may have repetitions of the discourse until, in fact, the tinfoil -is quite worn out. Casts of the indented tinfoil may, it is said, be -taken in plaster of Paris, so that copies of spoken words could be sent -to as many persons as may be desired. - -This invention seems too questionable to allow of any one, even the -inventor, forming an opinion as to its practical value. Fanciful -conjectures may of course be made. A fugitive swindler, for example, -may be arrested in a foreign city, and held fast until a foil of -evidence spoken by one of his confederates might be sent out to convict -him. Or a hardy young sheep-farmer in Australia might sing into his -tube, puncturing his song on the sheet of foil, fold it neatly up, and -send the graven song home to the girl he left behind him; and she, by -applying the sheet to her own phonograph might, by proper manipulation, -hear the tender ditty as often as she pleased. - -While waiting for further developments, we venture to suggest that what -is wanted by numbers of intellectual people who find the mechanical -action of writing slow and irksome, is, some kind of ‘graphy’ which -will enable them at once to print their thoughts on paper without aid -from pen or fingers. - -Some months ago we mentioned the little torpedo boat _Lightning_, and -her swift steaming, nineteen knots an hour. Her length is eighty-four -feet, her width ten feet ten inches: and now we hear that fifteen -similar vessels are to be built, and that the builders promise a speed -of twenty-five knots. Experiments have been made which prove that -swiftness is an element of safety, for on firing a rifle-bullet through -the bottom it was found that the water did not enter. In future it is -thought that torpedoes will play an important part in naval warfare; -and as has already been mentioned in recent papers in this _Journal_, a -School has been established at Portsmouth in which their use is taught -theoretically and practically. A further improvement is whispered in -certain quarters—a torpedo boat which shall carry on her evolutions -under water, and hook on torpedoes to the bottom of an enemy’s ship -without being discovered. Are we about to see in this a realisation -of what has long been a dream among speculative inventors? Is naval -warfare, from its hopelessly fatal nature to those engaged, to become -an impossibility? - -Communications addressed to the Société d’Encouragement pour -l’Industrie Nationale, Paris, describe a method for preventing the -deposit of soot in chimneys; but as yet no details are published: also -an apparatus for stopping runaway horses (in harness), by completely -closing the winkers; and a way to deaden the blows of a hammer moved -by machinery. In this case, the anvil is supported on a float in -a reservoir of water. Another subject is a tramway car in which -compressed air is the motive-power, as proved during some months on -the line between Courbevoie and Puteaux, and the Round Point in the -Champs-Elysées. This car has room for thirty passengers, is served by -a conductor, and a mechanician who has entire charge of the machinery, -which with a number of iron tubes is all placed between the wheels, -under the floor, where it occasions no inconvenience to any one. A -powerful air-pump at the starting station, forces air enough into the -iron tubes for the journey to and fro, and the car travels smoothly and -without noise or smoke, and can be stopped and started more readily -than a horse-car. Mr Mékarski, the inventor of this car, has been -thanked by the Société for having solved the problem of a locomotive -which can be used with safety in crowded streets. Of course there are -appliances for regulating the pressure of the air, and for preventing -the deposit of hoar-frost in the tubes, consequent on rapid expansion -of air; but for a description of these and other particulars we must -refer to the _Bulletin_ published by the Society. - -Mr Coret has invented what he calls a self-acting thermo-signal which -by ringing a bell makes known to all within hearing when an axle or any -other part of an engine is over-heated. It is a small brass cylinder, -containing a system of flexible metal disks, and a dilatable liquid, -which is to be fixed to the part liable to over-heating. While all -goes well the instrument makes no sign; but as the temperature rises -the liquid dilates, forces out a small metal pin at the end of the -cylinder, which, as the wheel revolves, strikes a bell, and thereby -warns the attendants. Thus the necessity for constantly watching an -indicator is avoided. - -Other subjects brought before the same Society are—A description of -a chimney which does not occasion loss of heat, by Mr Toulet, 38 -Avenue de l’Observatoire, Paris—Specimens of harmless colours which -may be used with varnish, oil, or water, and are described as durable -and remarkably brilliant. They are available for many purposes of -decoration, but are specially intended, as they contain no poisonous -element, for the colouring of children’s toys. These new colours -are derived from the substances known to chemists as eosin and -fluorescin—And certain manufacturers who have carefully studied the -material give an account of the capabilities of jute, from which we -gather that by proper preparation of the yarns, remarkable effects of -colour, of mottling, of light and shade, and also a velvety appearance -can be produced. The process is described as very simple and moderate -in cost; so that applications of jute to decorative purposes hitherto -not thought of may ere long become available. - -It has been found by experiment that aniline black can be made to yield -different colours: treated in one way it is a light violet, in another -way it is a bluish pink, and in a third way it becomes blue. - -Pure butter, as is stated in the _Journal_ of the Chemical Society, -contains from ninety to ninety-eight per cent. of pure butter fat and -a small quantity of water. Its colour should be from yellowish white -to reddish yellow, but this depends on the kind of fodder given to -the cows, and may be produced by means of beetroot or other plants -possessed of colouring properties. The colouring matter may be detected -by treating the butter with strong alcohol. The melting-point of pure -butter is from thirty to thirty-seven degrees, while artificial butter -melts at from twenty-seven to thirty-one degrees. Substances used to -increase the bulk and weight of butter are chalk, gypsum, oxide of -zinc, starch, and so forth. These neither improve its flavour nor -its wholesomeness. The agreeable smell of pure butter, with a slight -suggestion of milk, is not easy to imitate by artificial means. - -Now that chemists can avail themselves of the spectroscope in their -researches, falsifications have but little chance of escaping -detection. We learn from the same _Journal_ that the colouring -matters generally used in the adulteration of wine are—fuchsine, the -preparations termed caramels, ammoniacal cochineal, sulphindigotic -acid, logwood, the lichen reds, rosaniline, bilberries, cherries, -mallows, and the berries of the privet. Most if not all of these -matters can be precipitated by chemical treatment, or they may be -detected by dialysis. If a cube of gelatine less than an inch square -be placed in the wine under experiment, it will be found, after -twenty-four or forty-eight hours, stained all through, if artificial -colouring matters are present; but if the wine is quite pure, then -the natural colouring matter will not have penetrated deeper into -the gelatine than one-eighth of an inch. It is worth notice that the -natural colour soaks in slowly; the artificial colour quickly. - -The _Comptes Rendus_ of the Académie des Sciences, Paris, give an -account of a patient who, through entire closure of the esophagus or -gullet, could get neither food nor liquid into his stomach, and had -to undergo the operation of gastrotomy. Through the opening thus made -the operator passed different substances and took note of the time -they remained in the stomach. Starch, fat, and flesh disappear in -from three to four hours; milk is digested in an hour and a half or -two hours, and alcohol and water are absorbed in from thirty-five to -forty-five minutes. One day a small quantity of pure gastric juice was -taken from the stomach for experiment: it is described as colourless, -viscid, yet easily filterable, having little odour, and not putrefying -spontaneously. The acidity of the gastric juice varies but slightly -whether mixed with food or not, the mean being 1.7 gram of hydrochloric -acid to one thousand grams of liquid. ‘The quantity of liquid,’ we -are informed, ‘found in the stomach has no influence on its acidity; -the latter is almost invariable whether the stomach be nearly empty -or very full. Wine and alcohol increase the acidity, while cane-sugar -diminishes it. If acid or alkaline liquids are injected into the -stomach, the gastric juice reassumes its normal acidity in about one -hour. It is more acid during digestion than when digestion is not going -on, and the acidity increases towards the end of the process. Since the -stomach is generally empty at the end of four hours, and hunger does -not supervene till about six hours after a meal, it would seem that -hunger does not result solely from emptiness of the stomach.’ This last -remark is not in accordance with the opinions of other physiologists; -but we venture to suggest that in common with the limbs, the stomach -needs rest, and finds it in the two hours of quiet above mentioned. We -would further remark, that the theory that sugar does not create acid -in the stomach is contrary to all ordinary medical teaching, and even -of daily experience. - -A surgeon in a provincial town in Scotland has achieved a remarkable -operation. He cut out from the neck of a patient a diseased portion of -the larynx, and inserted an artificial larynx through which the man can -speak articulately. This is one of the triumphs of surgery. - -We mentioned some time ago that certain practitioners in the United -States had succeeded in removing tumours by the application of a -current of electricity. Recently the same method has been employed, -and with the same success, for the removal of those blemishes from the -skin popularly described as ‘port-wine stains,’ and other excrescences. -Care is required in regulating the strength and duration of the current -according to the nature of the case; if this be insured, the operation -can hardly fail of a successful result. Particulars of cases and their -treatment are published in the _New York Medical Journal_. - -Pursuing his contributions to meteorology, Professor Loomis of Yale -College, Newhaven, U.S., finds that the areas of rainfall in the -United States generally assume an oval form, and the oval is not -unfrequently a thousand miles long and five hundred broad. He finds -too that falls of rain often have great influence in checking the -progress of a storm; and that they appear to be subject to some law -of duration. For example, some rains last eight hours, some sixteen, -some twenty-four; but beyond twenty-four hours the instances are very -rare. ‘This fact,’ he remarks, ‘seems to indicate that the causes which -produce rain, instead of deriving increased force from the rainfall, -rapidly expend themselves and become exhausted. It cannot be explained -by supposing that the vapour of the air has all been precipitated, -because these cases chiefly occur near the Atlantic coast, where the -supply of vapour is inexhaustible. Is there not here an indication that -the forces which impart that movement to the air which is requisite -to a precipitation of its vapour, become exhausted after a few hours’ -exercise?’ By further research it is found that during the six months -from November to April, violent winds are more than five times as -frequent as during the other six months of the year; and that they come -from a northern quarter two-and-a-half times more frequently than from -a southern quarter. Though Professor Loomis’ observations apply to the -climate of America, they may be considered with advantage by our own -meteorologists. - -The President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in his inaugural -address took occasion to say, as evidence of the advantages which -accrue to a country through the labours of the civil engineer, that the -sum authorised to be expended on British railways up to the end of 1876 -amounted to seven hundred and forty-two millions; a sum pretty nearly -as large as our huge national debt. And from this Mr J. F. Bateman -argued, that as in engineering special qualifications, and some of a -high order, were required, it would be well if advantage were taken of -the numerous public schools in which instruction bearing on engineering -is given, whereby young men would have at least some qualification on -entering the profession. At the same time it would be a mistake to -regard that training as other than preparatory and incomplete. It is -by actual outdoor work only, that a man can become an engineer; and -engineering work is not to be found at school or college. - -Mr Bateman—who by the way will long be remembered for his water-supply -of Glasgow—instead of travelling over many topics, confined himself -to the great and important question of rainfall and water-supply for -the whole kingdom, with a view to proper economy. It is a question -which becomes more and more important with the increase of population -and consequent multiplication of machinery. When the Metropolitan -Board of Works are about to ask parliament for leave to undertake the -water-supply of London, the proportions of the question may be assumed -to be at their largest; and storage of rainfall and of flood-waters, -prevention of pollution, and the best way of obtaining absolutely pure -water, together with other topics, will have to be treated with serious -consideration. - - - - -SPRING. - - - Oft let me wander hand in hand with Thought - In woodland paths and lone sequestered shades, - What time the sunny banks and mossy glades - With dewy wreaths of early violets wrought, - Into the air their fragrant incense fling, - To greet the triumph of the youthful Spring. - Lo! where she comes! ’scaped from the icy lair - Of hoary Winter; wanton free and fair! - Now smile the heavens again upon the earth, - Bright hill and bosky dell resound with mirth, - And voices full of laughter and wild glee - Shout through the air, pregnant with harmony, - And wake poor sobbing Echo, who replies - With sleeping voice that softly, slowly dies. - - - - -ERRATUM. - - -[The verses which appeared in last month’s issue, entitled _The -Well-known Spot_, were signed by mistake ASTLEY H. BALDWIN instead of -F. G. ELLIOTT. We take this opportunity of rectifying the error.] - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON, -and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH. - - * * * * * - -_All Rights Reserved._ - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular -Literature, Science, and Art,, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, FEB 23, 1878 *** - -***** This file should be named 62226-0.txt or 62226-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/2/62226/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/62226-0.zip b/old/62226-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 793e935..0000000 --- a/old/62226-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62226-h.zip b/old/62226-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 62680df..0000000 --- a/old/62226-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62226-h/62226-h.htm b/old/62226-h/62226-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index a730b78..0000000 --- a/old/62226-h/62226-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3025 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers’s Journal, by Various. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} - -.header {text-align: center; margin-top: 0;} -.header p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} -.header .floatl {float: left;} -.header .floatr {float: right;} -.header .floatc {padding-top: .5em;} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -/* Poetry */ - -.poetry-container { - margin-left:10%; - margin-right:10%; - text-align: center; -} - -.poetry -{ - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; -} - -.poetry .stanza -{ - margin: 1em auto; -} - -.poetry .verse -{ - text-indent: -10em; - padding-left: 10em; -} - -/* Poetry indents */ -.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} -@media handheld -{ -.header {text-align: center; margin-top: 0;} -.header p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} -.header .floatl {float: left;} -.header .floatr {float: right;} -.header .floatc {padding-top: .5em;} - - .poetry - { - display: block; - margin-left: 1.5em; - } -} - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, -Science, and Art, No. 739, February 23, 1, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 739, February 23, 1878 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: May 25, 2020 [EBook #62226] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, FEB 23, 1878 *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>{113}</span></p> - -<h1>CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL<br /> -OF<br /> -POPULAR<br /> -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.</h1> - - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<p class='center'> -<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> - -<a href="#A_WORD_ABOUT_BIRD-KEEPING">A WORD ABOUT BIRD-KEEPING.</a><br /> -<a href="#MY_KITMITGHAR_SAM">MY KITMITGHAR ‘<i>SAM</i>.’</a><br /> -<a href="#HELENA_LADY_HARROGATE">HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.</a><br /> -<a href="#COAL_AND_ITS_PRODUCTS">COAL AND ITS PRODUCTS.</a><br /> -<a href="#MALAPROPOS">MALAPROPOS.</a><br /> -<a href="#THEODOR_MINTROP">THEODOR MINTROP.</a><br /> -<a href="#THE_MONTH">THE MONTH:</a><br /> -<a href="#SPRING">SPRING.</a><br /> -<a href="#ERRATUM">ERRATUM.</a><br /> - -<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> - -</p> - - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/header.png" width="600" height="294" alt="Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art. Fourth Series. Conducted by William and Robert Chambers." /> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> -<div class="center"> -<div class="header"> -<p class="floatl"><span class="smcap">No. 739.</span></p> -<p class="floatr"><span class="smcap">Price</span> 1½<em>d.</em></p> -<p class="floatc">SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1878.</p> -</div></div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_WORD_ABOUT_BIRD-KEEPING">A WORD ABOUT BIRD-KEEPING.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have never looked with perfect complacency -on the keeping of birds in cages; for it looks very -much like an unnatural imprisonment. They have -not space to fly about, and there is something painful -in seeing them flitting up and down on two or -three spars within very narrow bounds, or looking -through the wires of their cage as if wishful to get -out. It would, however, be of no use to remonstrate -against a practice that is common not only -over all England but over the whole civilised -world. Besides, the keepers of pet birds are not -without arguments in their favour. Most of the -birds to be seen in cages, such as canaries, goldfinches, -or siskins, have been bred in confinement. -They never knew what it was to be at liberty, and -in their helpless inexperience, if let loose, they -would inevitably perish. There is much truth in -this species of excuse for bird-keeping. Some -weight is also to be attached to the plea that the -little creatures are, generally speaking, so happy in -their captivity that many of them live to an old -age—say twelve or thirteen years, and keep on -piping their ‘wood-notes wild’ to the last. There -may be the further apology, that the maintenance -of birds in cages communicates happiness to -invalids, or to persons who do not go much from -home. There is cheerfulness in their song, and a -degree of amusement in witnessing their movements, -as well as in attending to their simple -wants. Altogether, therefore, there is a good deal -to say for bird-keeping. It is not quite so inhumane -a practice as it at first appears. In short, -birds, like dogs, may be viewed in the light of -domestic solacements kindly sent by Providence. -Their society and grateful attachment help to fill -up many a melancholy gap.</p> - -<p>These ideas have been suggested to us by an -accidental interview with a Dealer in Birds, who -in his own way was apt in the philosophy of the -subject. If people would have birds, it was his -business to supply them with what they wanted, -and he did so with as great tenderness of feeling -as the fragile nature of the article dealt in demanded. -He had much to explain respecting the -importation of song-birds, and the breeding of them -in cages. But on neither of these points shall we -say anything. What especially interested us were -this intelligent dealer’s observations on the proper -method of keeping birds. Some folks, he said, -have a notion that all you have to do is to buy a -bird, put it into a cage, and give it food and water -as directed. That is far from being enough. The -habits of the animal must be studied. The climate -of the room in which it lives, the amount of daylight -it should enjoy, the atmosphere it breathes, -its freedom from sudden alarms—all have to be -thought of, if you wish the bird to be happy; and -without that it has little chance of being a pleasant -companion.</p> - -<p>When the dealer began business many years -ago, he was very unfortunate as concerns his -stock. He occupied as good a shop as any one -in the trade. The birds arranged all around in -their respective cages, ready for the inspection -of customers, were as merry as birds could be. -They sung in full pipe, as if rivalling each other -in their gaiety. Provided with appropriate food, -with pure water, and fresh air, they had not a -want unsupplied. Without any apparent reason, -they began to droop and to moult. This did not -alone occur at the season when such might be -expected. Their moulting was often fatal. Vexed -at cases of mortality notwithstanding all his care, -the dealer bethought himself that the use of -gas in his shop might be injurious, so for gas -he substituted an oil-lamp light. Still they -drooped and died. He next in various ways -and at some expense improved the ventilation of -his shop. Still they drooped and died.</p> - -<p>What could be the matter? Puzzled to the -last extent, the bird-dealer at length conjectured -what might be the cause of these numerous -deaths. Could it be that the birds wore themselves -out singing? If so, the only way to stop<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>{114}</span> -them was to shorten the time they were exposed -to the light, for if kept in the dark they are not -inclined to sing.</p> - -<p>The supposition proved to be correct. He -shut up his shop at an early hour, and from that -time the mortality of the birds ceased. During -the day they had just that amount of singing -that suited their constitutions, and in the evening -they were left to their repose. This bird-dealer’s -ingenious discovery seems exceedingly rational. -In a state of nature, small birds flit about and sing -only during daylight. They retire to rest at sundown. -This procedure requires to be imitated in -keeping birds artificially. If you let them sing all -day and several hours additional by lamp-light, -you over-fatigue them. The labour is too much. -Of course the birds do not understand that they -had better be silent when the lamp or candles are -lit. They instinctively keep singing on, as if it -were still daylight. The immediate effect of this -over-fatigue is that the poor birds are apt to moult, -and become attenuated; and suffering from premature -exhaustion, they speedily perish.</p> - -<p>The dealer mentions that few birds subject to -the exhaustion of singing beyond ordinary daylight -survive more than two years. This does not surprise -us. How could any of our public vocalists, -male or female, and of even a robust constitution, -endure the tear and wear of singing under a -mental strain for any great length of time, as much -as eighteen hours a day? If human beings would -thus sink under the effort of over-work, we need -not wonder that the fragile creatures we are -speaking of should succumb and drop from their -perch.</p> - -<p>As a means, therefore, of protecting the lives of -pet birds, the recommendation is, to remove the -cages to a darkened apartment at nightfall, or if -they are not removed, to cover up every cage with -a dark cloth before lighting the gas or oil-lamps. -In shifting birds from one room to another, it is -important to see that there be no change in the -temperature. If removed to a different temperature, -there is a chance of their moulting, which -may be preliminary to something more serious. -Let it be always kept in mind that Nature supplies -a coat to suit the heat or cold in which the -creatures are placed. By changing a bird from a -warm to a cold climate, birds change their coat -and get one that is heavier, and <i>vice versâ</i>, so, by -repeated changes they are kept continually moulting, -instead of once a year, as they ought to do.</p> - -<p>We have referred principally to the treatment of -small song-birds, the delicacy of which calls for -particular attention. But our observations in the -main apply to all birds whatsoever. If it be wrong -to keep a little bird singing beyond its constitutional -capacity, so it would be wrong to over-work -a parrot by causing it to speak eighteen hours on -a stretch. It would seem that by this degree of -loquacity, the parrot has a tendency to take some -kind of bronchial affection, analogous to the -ailment of preachers, usually known as ‘the minister’s -sore throat,’ and which, if not checked in -time, may prove equally disastrous.</p> - -<p>We have thrown these interesting facts together -not only in the interest of bird-keepers, but for the -sake of inculcating kindness to animals.</p> - -<p class="right"> -W. C. -</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MY_KITMITGHAR_SAM">MY KITMITGHAR ‘<i>SAM</i>.’</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> nearly three years my Kitmitghar, as that -functionary is called, was cook, butler, and factotum -of my then small bachelor establishment -in India. A cunning concocter of mulligatawnies, -curries, and chutnies—as cunning a hand too in -‘cooking’ his daily bazaar accounts, adding annas -and pice, for his own particular benefit, to the -prime cost of as many articles as possible. Mildly -remonstrated with, and petty larceny hinted at, -his honest indignation would be aroused. ‘Master -tink I cheat,’ he would say; ‘master can inquire -bazaar-mans;’ well knowing, the rogue, the moral -and almost physical impossibility of ‘master’—a -swell in his way—going to the distant market in a -broiling sun, and finding out the ruling prices of -flesh and fowl.</p> - -<p>This worthy, whose original cognomen of <i>Mootoosammy</i> -was shortened into ‘<i>Sam</i>’ for convenience -and euphony sakes, was a Tamil from the -Malabar Coast. <i>Au reste</i>, a dark, handsome, -stoutly-built, clean-looking native, on whose -polished skin water and coarse country soap were -evidently no strangers. In his early youth, fated -to earn his own living, he had been ejected from -the paternal hut and placed as a <i>chokerah</i> or -dressing-boy to a fiery and impecunious lieutenant -of infantry; and under the fostering care of that -impetuous and coinless officer, his indoctrination -into the art and mystery of a valet had been -advanced and improved by sundry ‘lickings,’ and -by frequent applications to his ebon person of -boot-heels, backs of brushes, and heavy lexicons -of the English and Hindustani languages. This -education completed, and when he had learned to -appreciate the difference between uniform and -mufti, mess-dress and parade-dress, and indeed to -master the intricacies of his employer’s scanty -wardrobe—<i>non sine lacrymis</i>, not without ‘howls’—then -he emerged from dressing-boyhood, was -promoted <i>matie</i> or under-butler, and got translated -into more pretentious bungalows than those of -indigent subalterns. By-and-by further preferment -awaited him; he became <i>kitmitghar</i> (major-domo) -in the households of unmarried civilian or -military swells, and thenceforward led a life free -from kicks and cuffs, canes and whips, and impromptu -missiles snatched from toilet or study -tables. I have said advisedly ‘unmarried,’ for -except under financial difficulties, Sam would not -take service with the Benedicts of Indian society, -and the actual presence or possible advent of a -wife was the signal for his departure. ‘Plenty too -much bodder wid lady; too much want ebery day, -ebery day measure curry stuff, oil, ghee [butter]; -too much make say always dis ting too dear, dat -ting too dear; too much trouble take count. -Now, Colonel Sahib he good man; he call, he -say: “Sam! how much this week you eespend? -[spend].” He just look book; he give rupee; no -one single word <i>bobberee</i> [fuss] make.’ And so, for -a palpable reason, my worthy cook-butler eschewed -those households where a better-half took the -reckoning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>{115}</span></p> - -<p>English, after the rickety fashion of a Madrassee, -Sam spoke fairly enough; he also read and wrote -the language, the latter accomplishment phonetically, -but yet sufficiently near to the rules of -orthography to make you fully understand and -pay for ‘tirty seers wrice’ as thirty seers (measures) -of rice. What if he did elect to spell rice -with a <i>w</i>? Is it not recorded that an eminent member -of a large mercantile firm, in days long gone -by, invariably included an <i>h</i> in the word sugar? -And is it not also chronicled how he chastised -almost to the death his son and heir for omitting -that letter when invoicing a cargo of best Jamaica -moist? If then Blank Blank, Esq. of the city -of London opined that sugar required an <i>h</i>, why -not the same liberty as regards the <i>w</i> to Mootoosammy -of the city of Madras?</p> - -<p>A sad waverer in religious opinions Master Sam, -I fear. A very Pharisee of a Hindu, a rigid -stickler for the worship of Vishnu or Siva on the -high-days and holidays of those deities, when his -forehead and arms would be spotted and streaked -with coloured ashes, his garments would smell of -saffron and sandal-wood, his English diminutive -name would be put aside for its more lengthy and -sonorous native patronymic, and he would be off -to the temple to make <i>poojah</i> (prayer) to his -<i>swamis</i> (gods). But yet, somehow or other, all -these symptoms and signs of Hinduism would -disappear at Christmas, Easter, or Whitsuntide. -At those seasons of the Christian year, Sam was -no longer Mootoosammy, but Sam pure and simple. -No more the believer he in the Vedahs and -Shastras, but a pinner of faith on Aves and -Credos; no <i>poojah</i> for him now in the temple, -but crossings and genuflections in the little chapel -of the station. Not a trace in these days of -idolatrous scents clinging to cloths and turban, -or of ‘caste’ marks disfiguring brow or limb. -Dole in hand—obtained either from pickings at -master’s ’counts or from bazaar-man’s <i>dustoor</i> -(custom)—he is off to join Father Chasuble’s small -flock, and to bow down and formalise with the -best or worst of that good priest’s congregation. -I really think and believe, that to secure a holiday -and an ‘outing,’ Sam would have professed himself -a Mohammedan during the Ramadan, a Hebrew -during the Passover, a Heathen Chinee during -the feast of Lanterns, and a Buddhist during the -Perihara or other high-jinks of the yellow-robed -priests of Gautama Buddha.</p> - -<p>I never before or since met any man into whose -household death was so constantly making inroads, -and strange to say, carrying away the same individual. -I suppose that, on a rough estimate, all -Sam’s kith and kin died at least twice during the -thirty months or so that he was in my service.</p> - -<p>‘Master please’—thus Sam howling and weeping -after his kind—‘scuse [excuse] me. Gib tree day -leave go Madras; too much trouble my house. -My poor old mudder—booh! ooh!—plenty long -time sick; master know well; too much old got; -die last night. Booh! ooh! o-o-g-h!’</p> - -<p>‘Why, what tomfoolery is this?’ I reply. ‘Your -mother dead! Dead <i>again</i>! Why, man, how can -that be? Four months ago you came and told -me your mother was dead; you got four rupees -advance; you went off, leaving the boy to do -your work, and put me to no end of inconvenience. -How can the old woman be dead -again?’</p> - -<p>But the fellow is not the least put out, and -is quite equal to the ‘fix.’ ‘Master Sahib,’ he says, -‘I beg you scuse me. Sahib quite wrong. That -time you speak I get leave, not <i>my</i> mudder—my -<i>wife’s</i> mudder die. Master can look book!’</p> - -<p>This random shot anent the ‘book’ alludes to -my diary, in which the disbursement of the money -has been entered, but not of course the casualty -in his family. But I don’t lose the hint nevertheless, -and I jot down a memorandum for future -reference, should occasion require.</p> - -<p>Then Sam goes on: ‘I no tell lie, sar. Plenty -true; too much bobberee my house make. My -fader gone Mysore’——</p> - -<p>‘Why, bless my heart!’ I put in, ‘you told -me ages ago your father died of cholera in Masulipatam.’</p> - -<p>‘No, sar,’ says Sam; ‘never, sar! My grand-fader, -scuse me. My wife she catch bad fever. -No one single person my home got, make funeral-feast. -Please, my master, advance half-month’s -pay; gib four days’ leave. I too much hurry -come back.’ Then he falls down, clasps my feet, -calls me his father, brother; gets my consent to -be absent, handles the rupees, and is off like a -shot; not of course to his mother’s obsequies, for -the old harridan has either been buried or burned -years ago, or even now is all alive and kicking; -but to some spun-out native theatricals, nautch, -or <i>tamasha</i> (entertainment) in Black Town, where -he feasts, drinks, and sleeps, and for a week -at least I see his face no more.</p> - -<p>History repeats itself; so does Sam. Months -and months have passed; I am away from the -neighbourhood of the Presidency town, and on -the cool Neilgherry Hills. Enters one morning -my man into my sitting-room, a letter in his hand, -written in Tamil, and which he asks me to read, -well knowing that I can’t, that except a very few -of the commonest words of the language, which -I speak with an uncertain not to say incorrect -idea of their meaning, the tongue of his forebears, -scriptural and oral, is to me Chaldee or Arabic.</p> - -<p>‘Well! what’s up now?’ I say ‘<i>Ennah?</i>’ airing -one of the expressions I know.</p> - -<p>‘Master can see self. My uncle he send chit -[note]; just now tappal-man [postman] bring. He -write, say: “Sam! you plenty quick come Madras.” -He put inside letter one five-rupee government -note. Sahib can see. He tell me no one minute -lose; take fire-road [railway]; too soon come; -plenty, plenty trouble. <i>My mudder dead.</i>’</p> - -<p>‘You awful blackguard!’ I exclaim. ‘Your -mother dead—dead again! Look here—look here!’ -And I turn up my diary and shew him, under -date August 9, 186-, nearly two years past and -gone: ‘Sam’s mother reported dead for the -second time by Sam, &c.’</p> - -<p>Then he slinks away discomfited; and I hear -him in his smoky kitchen growling and grumbling, -and no doubt anathematising me and mine past, -present, and future.</p> - -<p>My first introduction to Sam was after this -wise. I had come down from Bombay to Beypore -with troops in a small steamer, and Mr Sam, who -had either deserted or been sent away from the -Abyssinian Expedition, in which he had been a -camp-follower, was also a passenger in the same -ship. Of this craft a word <i>en passant</i>, for I have to -this day a lively and by no means pleasant olfactory -recollection of her. She was the dirtiest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>{116}</span> -vessel in which I ever put foot; guiltless of paint -from keel to truck; all grime, coal-soot, and tar -from stem to stern. She had but recently taken a -cargo of mules to Annesley Bay; and but scant -if any application of water and deodorants had -followed the disembarkation of the animals. The -‘muley’ flavour still therefore clung closely to -bulkhead and planking; it hung about cordage -and canvas; it penetrated saloon and sleeping-berth; -it even overpowered the smell of the rancid -grease with which pistons and wheels were lubricated. -Worthy Captain B—— the skipper assured -us that deck and hold, sides and bulwarks, -had been well scoured in Bombay; but as the old -salt’s views of scrubbing, judging from his personal -appearance, were infinitesimally limited, we opined -that the ship’s ablution had been as little as was -that of its commander’s diurnal tub.</p> - -<p>But to return to Sam. The poor fellow was -wandering about the streets of Beypore coinless -and curry-and-rice-less, when he stumbled upon -me. He was seeking, he told me, from some good -Samaritan of an officer, a free convoy to Madras -as his servant; and as I happened to be in a position -entitled to passes for some three or four -followers at government expense, I was enabled -to pour oil and wine into Sam’s wounds, and -without even the disbursement to mine host the -assistant-quartermaster-general, of the traditional -‘tuppence,’ to get him across from terminus to -terminus—some four hundred long miles—and -without once casting eyes on him. But at Lucifer’s -hotel in Madras where I stayed—— What a -memory of mosquitoes, fleas, and other nimble insects -doth it bring! What a night-band of croaking -frogs and howling jackals it kept! What -packs of prowling pariah dogs and daringly thieving -crows congregated about its yards and outhouses! -What repulsive nude mendicants and fakeers -strolled almost into its very verandahs! What -a staff of lazy sweepers, slow-footed ‘boys,’ and -sleepy punkah-pullers crawled about it generally! -And last, though not least, what a wretched ‘coolie-cook’ -superintended its flesh-pots, from which -not even the every-day stereotyped prawn curry, -boiled seer-fish, and grilled <i>morghee</i> (fowl) could -creditably and palatably issue. At this Stygian -caravanserai then, Sam, whom I thought I had bid -adieu to for ever and a day on the railway platform, -turns up again clean and smirk, salaams, -asks for permanent employment, produces a thick -packet of highly laudatory characters (mostly, I -had no doubt, either fabricated by a native scribe -in the Thieves’ Bazaar at Black Town, or borrowed -for the occasion from some other brother-butler), -gets engaged; and from that moment, both figuratively -and literally, begins to eat my salt. Nor -did the saline feasting fail to give him a taste -for liquor—for alcoholic, decidedly alcoholic were -Sam’s proclivities. He drank at all times and in -all places; but his favourite day and locality was -Tuesday, at the weekly market of the cantonment. -Then and there he imbibed right royally, and -staggering home—the coolies with the supplies -following him as tipsy as himself—went straight -to his mat-spread <i>charpoy</i> (bedstead).</p> - -<p>‘Hollo, Sam!’ I exclaim; ‘at it again; drunk -as usual from <i>shandy</i> [market].’</p> - -<p>‘No, shar! Dis time no shrunk! Shun too -mush hot! Splenshy head pain gib! Too mush -make shake, sthagger, shar! No, mash-err, no! -Sham not shrunk! Plenty shick! Shmall glass -brandy—all right, shar!’</p> - -<p>But I decline to add ‘the sum of more to that -which hath too much,’ and I leave Sam to sober -himself as he best can, and which, truth to say, -he quickly does.</p> - -<p>In the way of intoxicants nothing came amiss to -my man’s unfastidious palate. He had no particular -‘wanity,’ like Old Weller’s friend the red-nosed -Shepherd: Henneysey’s brandy, Kinahan’s whisky, -Boord’s gin, Bass’s ale, Guinness’s stout, champagne, -sherry, claret—all and each were equally acceptable; -and failing these European liquors, then -the vile palm-toddy and killing mango-spirit of -the neighbouring native stills supplied their place. -Bar the toddy and mango stuff, which were cheap -and easily obtained, Sam did not disburse much -for his wine-cellar; master’s sideboard and stores, -guard them as he would, came cheaper and handier. -Every bottle, somehow or other, got ‘other lips’ -than mine and my friends’ applied to it, and its -contents went into and warmed other ‘hollow -hearts’ than ours. Sam laid an embargo on and -helped himself from all. He it is, I fancy, to -whom Aliph Cheem alludes in his Lay of Ind entitled -<i>The Faithful Abboo</i>, that trusty servant who, -habitually stealing his master’s liquor, and accusing -his brother-domestics, got caught and half-poisoned -by mistaking in his prowls Kerosine for -Old Tom. A misadventure not unlike befell Sam; -but in that instance he did not ‘strike oil,’ but -came upon a very nauseating dose of tartar emetic, -and was ‘plenty sick’ and ‘plenty shame’ for -some hours after.</p> - -<p>Another predilection of my factotum’s was -tobacco, which he smoked without ceasing, and -without the least regard to quality or fabric. -‘Long-cut or short-cut’ to him ‘were all the same.’ -But as I did not happen to be addicted to the -‘nicotian weed’ Sam could not draw on any -resources of mine, but had to depend on his own -means, supplemented by the surreptitious abstraction -of Trichys and Manillas, of Latakia and Bird’s-eye, -from the boxes and pouches of my chum -and visitors.</p> - -<p>Every native gambles; so it could hardly be -expected that Sam should differ from his brethren -in this respect. In the words of the old ditty -anent Ally Croker:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’d game till he lost the coat from his shoulder.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>I don’t think he cared much for cards or dice; but -the game that he delighted in was played with a -red and white checkered square of cloth, and with -round pieces like draughtsmen. Whenever the -advent of a friend and opportunity served, down -the two squatted with this board between their -legs, and a pile of copper pieces of money by their -sides; and so intent would they be on their play, -that nothing short of a gentle kick, or tap on the -head, would arouse them to master’s wants and -needings.</p> - -<p>My readers will naturally inquire why, with -all these delinquencies, Sam so long remained -my henchman. Well, first, had I discharged him, -another and probably greater robber would have -stepped into his shoes, and bazaar accounts and -inroads on alcohol and tobacco would have remained -undiminished. ‘They all do it;’ so better -the de’il I knew, than the de’il whose acquaintance -I would have to make. Again, Sam had his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>{117}</span> -redeeming points; he was, as I have said before, -clean, handy, and deft at the creature comforts, -which, having appetisingly compounded, he could -serve up with taste and elegance. Then he was -a good nurse; and during a serious illness that -befell me at one of the vilest stations in Madras, -he tended me closely and carefully, keeping a -watchful eye and a ready stick on punkah-pullers -and wetters of kus-kus tatties (scented grass mats), -without the cooling aid of which the heat of -that grilling July would have been my death -on that fever-bed. Once more, on those military -inspections which fell to my lot, and which had -to be undertaken partly over the Nizam’s very -sandy and rough highways, and in those close -comfortless bone-breaking vehicles called <i>byle-nibbs</i> -(bullock-carts), my man became invaluable. Seated -on the narrow perch alongside the almost garmentless -and highly odoriferous native driver, he urged -him on by promises of ‘backsheesh’ and cheroots; -he helped to whip and tail-twist the slow-footed -oxen; he roused up lazy <i>byle-wallahs</i> (bullock-men) -sleeping in their hovels, and assisted them -in driving from the fields and in yoking to the -cart refractory and kicking cattle. He stirred -up with the long pole the <i>peons</i> (keepers) in -charge of the road-side travellers’ bungalows at -which we halted, aiding these officials in chasing, -slaughtering, and ‘spatch-cocking’ the ever-waiting-to-be-killed-and-cooked -gaunt and fleshless -<i>morghee</i> (fowl); he saw that the chatties for the -bath were not filled with the very dirtiest of -tank water; that the numerous and hard-biting -insects, out and taking the air from their thickly -populated homes in the crevices of cane-bottomed -chair and bedstead, met with sudden and violent -death; and lastly, that no man’s hand but his -own should be put into master’s money-bag and -stores.</p> - -<p>But as all things come to an end more or less, -so did Sam’s career with me actually terminate. -My wife and family came ‘out’ from England. -The ‘Mem Saab,’ sometimes even the ‘Missee -Saab,’ took bazaar ’count; the current bachelor -rates for chillies, cocoa-nuts, first and second -sorts <i>wrice</i>, gram, and such-like necessaries underwent -a fall. Sam’s occupation and gain were -gone. He quitted my homestead under this new -and unprofitable régime. ‘I discharge you, sar!’ -said he; and away he went, I know not where.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="HELENA_LADY_HARROGATE">HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.</h2> -</div> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XI.—AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> <i>De Vere Arms</i> at Pebworth, fourth-rate hotel -though it necessarily was in a place where any -hotel of the first or even of the second magnitude -would have been as an oak in a flower-pot, was -well and neatly kept. There was the commercial -connection, and there was the county connection, -both dear to the landlord, but on grounds wholly -dissimilar. Biggles had been butler to the present, -under-butler and knife-boy to the late Earl of -Wolverhampton; and had he but had his own -way, the <i>De Vere Arms</i> would have been strictly -the family hotel which its address-cards proclaimed -it, and the obnoxious word ‘commercial’ would -have found no place there.</p> - -<p>Mr Biggles, however, was in the position of one -of those unfortunate managers of English country -theatres who tell their friends, perhaps truly, that -they would play nothing, save the legitimate -drama, if they could help it. They cannot help -it, and scared by the dismal spectre of Insolvency, -they shelve Shakspeare in favour of newer idols -of the public. So did Biggles and worthy Mrs -B. to boot lay themselves out in practice to secure -the lucrative custom of the ready-money, constantly -moving, commercial gentlemen, while in -theory devoting all their loyalty to those of their -patrons who came in their own carriages, with -armorial bearings on their panels and liveried -servants on the driving-seat.</p> - -<p>To this hostelry was borne, in Sir Gruntley -Pigbury’s carriage, the insensible form of Jasper -Denzil, supported by the sturdy arm of Captain -Prodgers, while little Dr Aulfus, on the opposite -seat, kept the patient’s nerveless wrist -between his own thin fingers all the way from -the race-course to the inn. Then Jasper, amidst -spasmodic gaspings from the landlady and sympathetic -exclamations from the chambermaids, was -carried into the <i>De Vere Arms</i> and established in -one of the best rooms, whence were summarily -dislodged the effects of some well-to-do customer -who had had a horse in the race, but who was -unlikely under the circumstances to resent the -invasion of his apartment. Jack Prodgers and -the doctor seemed to have taken joint possession -of the invalid; the former as <i>prochain ami</i> (and -it is to the credit of such ne’er-do-wells as Captain -Prodgers that the very wildest of them never -do leave a friend untended in a scrape), and the -other professionally.</p> - -<p>Other friends came not. Lord Harrogate did -indeed tap at the door, and so did four or five -officers of the Lancer regiment, but contented -themselves with an assurance that Jasper was in -no immediate danger. And when Blanche Denzil’s -tearful entreaties induced the Earl to solicit admittance -to the sick-room for her at least, the surgeon -went out and politely deprecated her entrance. -Anything which might excite the patient should, -he truly said, be as far as possible avoided. It -was not exactly possible just yet to ascertain the -amount of damage done; but he, the doctor, -anticipated no serious consequences. And with -this assurance the poor sister was compelled to -be content. They say that every educated man -of fifty is a fool or a physician. Jack Prodgers -had seen the light some half-century since, and his -worst enemies—the men whose cash he pouched -at play—would not have taxed him with folly.</p> - -<p>‘Now, doctor,’ he said quietly, ‘don’t you think -the best we can do for the poor fellow is to get -his left shoulder into the socket again before the -muscles stiffen?’</p> - -<p>The surgeon winced. He knew by the cursory -examination he had made that no bones—unless -it might be the collar-bone, an injury to which is -not always promptly ascertained—were broken; -but here, annoying circumstance! was a dislocation<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>{118}</span> -which he had left to be discovered by an -outsider to the profession.</p> - -<p>‘Bless my soul!’ he exclaimed, adjusting his -spectacles, ‘so it is. We have no time to lose.’</p> - -<p>As it was, time enough had been lost to bring -about a contraction of the muscles, that rendered -it necessary to call in the aid of James the waiter -and Joe the boots, before the hurt shoulder could -be reinstated in its normal position.</p> - -<p>The pain of the operation roused Jasper from -his stupor. He moaned several times and stirred -feebly to and fro, and when the wrench was over, -opened his eyes and gazed with a bewildered stare -about him. Very pale and ghastly he looked, -lying thus, with the blood slowly oozing from a -cut on his right temple, and his hair stained and -matted. They sprinkled water on his face and -put brandy to his lips; but he merely groaned -again, and his eyes closed.</p> - -<p>‘That’s a very ugly knock on the temple; I -hope there’s no more mischief,’ said the doctor -in a whisper, but speaking more openly than -medicine-men, beside a patient’s bed, often speak -to the laity.</p> - -<p>Jack Prodgers shook his head. He was a man -of experience, and had in his time seen some -prompt and easy recoveries, and other cases in -which there was no recovery at all. It was with -some remorse that he looked down at the bruised -and helpless form lying on the bed. His heart -had been case-hardened by the rubs of a worldly -career, but there was a soft spot in it after all, and -it was with sincere joy that he saw at length the -sick man’s eyes open with a glance of evident -recognition, while a wan smile played about his -lips.</p> - -<p>‘I say, Jack,’ said Jasper feebly, ‘we’re in a -hole, old man, after all’—— Then he fainted.</p> - -<p>‘Nothing the matter with his reason, thank -goodness! It was the shock to the brain I feared -the most for him,’ said the doctor, as again brandy -was administered.</p> - -<p>The regular clock-work routine of social machinery -must go on in despite of accidents, and accordingly -the down-train reached Pebworth at 3.40 -(or, to tell the truth, a few minutes behind time) -with its usual punctuality. There was no omnibus, -whether from the <i>De Vere Arms</i> or from the -opposition or <i>White Hart</i> hotel, in waiting at -the station, wherefore the few arrivals had to consign -their bales and bags and boxes of samples to -the wheelbarrows of porters, for conveyance to -whichever house of entertainment they designed -to patronise. Amongst these was a thickset -middle-aged man, with trim whiskers, a dust-coloured -overcoat, a slim umbrella, and a plump -black bag, which he preferred to carry as he -trudged from the station to the hotel.</p> - -<p>There was nothing very noteworthy about the -new-comer, who was neatly dressed in black, and -wore a hat that was just old enough to have lost -its first tell-tale gloss, except that he had evidently -striven to look some years younger than the parish -register would have proclaimed him. Thus the -purplish tint of his thick whiskers and thinned -hair, heedfully brushed and parted so as to make -the most of it, savoured of art rather than nature. -His cravat too, instead of being black, was what -haberdashers call a scarf of blue silk, of a dark -shade certainly, but still blue, and was secured by -a massive golden horse-shoe. Glittering trinkets -rattled at his watch-chain, and his boots were -tighter and brighter than the boots of men of -business usually are. There is or ought to be a -sort of fitness between clothes and their wearer, -but in the case of this traveller, obviously bound -for the <i>De Vere Arms</i>, no such fitness existed. -That cold gray eye, those deeply marked crow’s-feet, -the coarse mouth, and mottled complexion, -consorted ill with the pretensions to dandyism -indicated by a portion of their owner’s attire. -Altogether, the man might have been set down as -a corn-doctor, a quack, a projector of bubble companies, -or possibly an auctioneer whose hammer -seldom fell to a purely legitimate bid in a fair -market.</p> - -<p>As the stranger drew near to the hotel, -having inquired his way once or twice from such -of the natives as the great attraction of the day -had not allured to the race-course, a carriage -dashed past him at a very fast pace indeed, and -drew up with a jerk in front of the <i>De Vere Arms</i>. -The gentleman who alighted from it, tall, and -of a goodly presence, lingered for an instant in -the doorway to give some order to his servants. -As he did so, his eyes encountered those of the -traveller freshly arrived by the train, and who -by this time was beneath the pillars of the porch. -Sir Sykes Denzil, for it was he whose carriage had -just brought him in hot haste to the place where -his son lay ill, started perceptibly and hesitated, -then turned abruptly on his heel and disappeared -within the hotel, greeted by the obsequious Mr -and Mrs Biggles.</p> - -<p>Recognition, as we can all avouch, is in the -immense majority of cases simultaneous, one -memory seeming as it were to take fire at the -spark of recollection kindled in the other. In -this instance such was not exactly what occurred. -Yet the traveller with the bag was perfectly -certain that he had seen before the tall gentleman -who had started at the sight of him, and that a -diligent searching of the mental archives would -elicit the answer to the riddle.</p> - -<p>‘Have I written or telegraphed to order rooms -here?’ repeated the new arrival testily, after the -flippant waiter who came, flourishing his napkin, -to see what the stranger wanted. ‘No, I have not. -And to judge by the size of your town, my friend, -and the general look of affairs, I should say that -on any other day of the year but this such a -precaution would be wholly superfluous.’</p> - -<p>The waiter, who had been slightly puffed up by -the ephemeral vogue of Pebworth and its chief -hotel, took the rebuke meekly. ‘Would you step -into the coffee-room, sir?’ he said. ‘I’ll ask Mrs -Biggles about accommodation likely to be vacant. -Any name I could mention, sir?’</p> - -<p>‘Name—yes, Wilkins,’ returned the traveller, -pushing open the door of the coffee-room, in -which, at various tables, some dozen of sporting-men -were making a scrambling meal. One or -two of these looking up from their plates, nodded -a greeting, with a ‘How d’ ye do, Wilkins?’ or -‘How goes it, old fellow?’ salutations which the -recipient of them returned in kind. Then the -waiter bustled in to say, more respectfully than -before, that so soon as No. 28 should be vacated -by a gentleman leaving by the 6.25 train, it would -be at the disposal of Mr Wilkins. Further, here -was a note for Mr Wilkins; into whose hand he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>{119}</span> -proceeded to thrust a half-sheet of letter-paper, -roughly folded in four, and containing but some -two or three lines of blotted handwriting. ‘If -you will so far oblige me’—thus ran the words, -shaky and blurred as to their caligraphy, but -tolerably legible—‘I shall be glad of a few moments’ -interview with you, at once if not inconvenient, -in No. 11. I will not detain you.’</p> - -<p>There was no signature, but no reasonable doubt -could exist in the mind of Mr Wilkins as to the -note having been penned by the owner of the -carriage that had so lately driven up to the door -of the <i>De Vere Arms</i>.</p> - -<p>‘Why, this is taking the bull by the horns,’ -said Mr Wilkins, as he rose to obey the summons.</p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER XII.—IN NO. XI.</h3> - -<p>No. 11 was a sitting-room of a class peculiar to -those old-fashioned inns which are rapidly being -improved off the length and breadth of Britain, -large, low-ceiled, with a sloping floor that attained -its highest elevation beside the broad bay-window. -A dark room, it must be confessed, and an airless, -but snug and warm on winter-nights, when the -glow of the firelight combined with the lustre of -many wax-candles to defy the storm and blackness -without. There had been jovial dinners in -that room, and drawing together of arm-chairs -around the huge fireplace, and tapping of dusty -magnums of rare old port, and calling for more -punch as the night waned, in those hard-living -days of which so many of us innocent, pay the -penalty in neuralgia and dyspepsia.</p> - -<p>In No. 11 stood Sir Sykes, pale but resolute. -The traveller with the black bag came in, and -for the second time their eyes met. ‘You wished -to see me, sir,’ began Mr Wilkins, with a slight -bow. ‘Ah! I remember you now, sir, as it happens,’ -he added in a different tone; ‘remember you very -distinctly indeed, Mr’——</p> - -<p>‘Hush!’ interrupted Sir Sykes, with uplifted -fore-finger. ‘A place like this is the very last in -which to mention anything best left unspoken—the -very walls, I believe, have ears to hear and -tongues to tattle. I am Sir Sykes Denzil, of -Carbery Chase, within a very few miles of this, at -your service, Mr Wilkins.’</p> - -<p>‘Sir Sykes Denzil! Well, this <i>is</i> a surprise,’ -exclaimed the owner of the name of Wilkins -wonderingly, and yet with a sort of dry humour -mingling with his evidently genuine astonishment. -‘Dear me, dear me! They say the world is very -little, and people constantly meeting and jostling -in it; but I never so thoroughly realised the truth -of the saying as I do now. So I’ve the honour of -talking to Sir Sykes Denzil, when I thought I was -addressing’——</p> - -<p>‘Be cautious, sir,’ interposed the baronet, with -an energy that impressed the other in spite of -himself. ‘Let us have no reference, if you please, -to a past that is dead and buried. I sent for you, -certain as I was that sooner or later your memory -must recall me to your remembrance, and well -aware too how easily you could learn who I was -here.’</p> - -<p>‘No great trouble about that, Mr—I mean Sir -Sykes,’ rejoined the traveller smirkingly. ‘The -people seem to know you well enough, and any -fellow in the stable-yard would have told me -whose was the carriage with the brown liveries.’</p> - -<p>‘And having met and recognised one another,’ -said Sir Sykes, ‘on what footing is our future -intercourse to be conducted? We are not as we -once were, lawyer and client, and’——</p> - -<p>‘No, Sir Sykes, I grant you that; but we might -be,’ returned Mr Wilkins, rubbing his fleshy hands -together, as though they had been two millstones -between which the bones of suitors might be -ground to make his bread. ‘You can’t, a man of -your landed property—I’ve heard something as to -your acreage, and could give a shrewd guess as to -your rent-roll—be without law business. Devonshire -isn’t Arcadia, I suppose. Are there not -leases to draw, inclosure bills to promote, poachers -to prosecute, paths to stop up, bills to file, actions -to bring, defend, compromise? Ten to one, some -of your best farms are let on leases of lives, and—— -But no matter! You’ve your own legal advisers; -hey, Sir Sykes?’</p> - -<p>The baronet bowed coldly by way of assent.</p> - -<p>‘Pounce and Pontifex, of Lincoln’s Inn—<i>I</i> -know,’ pursued the unabashed lawyer. ‘A brace -of respectable twaddling old stagers. There was -a saying, soon after I got my articles, as to that -firm, to the effect that Pounce and Pontifex were -fit for a marriage settlement, a will, and a Chancery -suit, and that was about all. If you care about -raising your rents, crushing an enemy, or gratifying -a whim—and most rich men have a hankering -after one or other of these fancies—why, you’ll -need a brisker counsellor at your elbow than the -jog-trots of Lincoln’s Inn.’</p> - -<p>Again the baronet bent his head, and his eyes -moved towards the door. Mr Wilkins noted their -movement.</p> - -<p>‘You hardly derived a fair judgment of my -capabilities,’ he said, ‘by the little I had to do -in that Sandston business’——</p> - -<p>‘Again I ask you, sir, to make no mention of -that subject. It—it is naturally painful to me—and—and’—— Sir -Sykes here fairly broke down.</p> - -<p>The lawyer’s eyes twinkled as he saw his advantage. -‘So long as <i>you</i> remember it, Sir Sykes,’ -he made haste to say, ‘I shall be only too happy -to forget the whole concern. What was that story -about the organ-blower and Handel? “Shan’t it -be ‘we,’ then?” said the fellow, when the great -organist couldn’t get a note out of his instrument -for want of the necessary but humble bellows. -And the musician was compelled to acknowledge -that there was a sort of partnership between the -man who fingered the stops and the man who -raised the wind. I’m in no hurry. Think it -over. I have a client to see here to-day; but -perhaps you will let me have a word with you -before you drive back to Carbery Chase.’</p> - -<p>A long deep line, which might have been -mistaken for the furrow of some old sword-cut, -running from the angle of the mouth obliquely -upwards, became visible in the baronet’s comely -face as he listened. He was one of those men who -can better endure misfortune than disrespect, and -to whom the bitterest sting of ruin is the withdrawal -of the deference and lip-service which -environ them. But it was in an amicable tone -that he made answer: ‘I shall be happy to pursue -our conversation, Mr Wilkins, to-day or at any -time which you may deem suitable. At present, -however, you will excuse me if I leave you. My -son, Captain Denzil, has been hurt—badly hurt, I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>{120}</span> -fear, in the steeplechase to-day, and I have been -called here to see him, where he lies, in this very -hotel.’ And the baronet moved towards the door.</p> - -<p>‘Hurt, is he?’ exclaimed Mr Wilkins, with -inconsiderate roughness. ‘Ah, then, I shall look -to you, Sir Sykes, to indemnify me in case’——</p> - -<p>Then came an awkward pause. The solicitor -was a remarkably plain-spoken man, but he did -not quite like to say, ‘in case your son’s accident -prove fatal,’ and so stopped, and left his eloquent -silence to complete his words. Sir Sykes, with -his hand on the door, turned, astonished, upon the -attorney.</p> - -<p>‘What, pray, have you to do with the illness -or the recovery of Captain Denzil?’ he asked in -evident ill-humour. He had borne up to this -with Mr Wilkins, but the lawyer’s interference -with regard to his son appeared to him in the -light of a gratuitous piece of insolence.</p> - -<p>‘Simply,’ returned Mr Wilkins, thrusting his -hand into an inner pocket of his coat, ‘because I -am the holder of certain acceptances, renewed, -renewed afresh, and finally dishonoured; acceptances -amounting, with expenses, to a gross amount -of—shall we say some eleven or twelve thousand, -Sir Sykes? Nearer the twelve than the eleven, -I suspect. A flea-bite of course to a gentleman -of your fortune, but a very important sum to a -plain man like yours truly.’</p> - -<p>‘I have been put to heavy expense, very heavy, -for my son’s debts,’ said Sir Sykes, almost piteously. -‘I have paid every’——</p> - -<p>‘Now, my very good sir,’ interrupted the -attorney, ‘don’t, I beg you, don’t fall into the -common error of fathers, and imagine that your -own particular son is either a miracle of ingenuous -candour or a prodigal worse than his neighbours. -You think that you’ve paid all his liabilities, Sir -Sykes, and no doubt you have paid all you knew -of. But as a man of the world, if not as a parent, -you ought to be aware that nobody ever did -tell all that he owed—excess of modesty, perhaps! -They always leave a margin, these interesting -penitents; and in this case, as you will see by -these documents’ (and Mr Wilkins produced several -pieces of stamped paper), ‘the margin is tolerably -ample.’</p> - -<p>The baronet was now thoroughly roused to -wrath. He strode to and fro with frowning brow -and hands that were fast clenched together, then -walked to the window and stood still, idly tapping -the panes with one white finger, on which there -glistened a great diamond that had been an heirloom -at Carbery Chase before ever a Denzil -crossed its threshold.</p> - -<p>‘I’ll not give him a shilling or leave him a -shilling!’ he said in a voice that quivered with -anger. ‘Carbery Chase is my very own, and I -can deal with it as I please. My daughters at -anyrate have deserved better of me than that -thankless graceless boy.’</p> - -<p>Sir Sykes, under the influence of this new -emotion, seemed to have forgotten the lawyer’s -presence, or merely to regard Mr Wilkins in the -light of the impartial Chorus in a Greek tragedy; -but the attorney, who was by no means pleased -by the turn which the affair seemed to be taking, -intervened.</p> - -<p>‘Come, come, Sir Sykes. It’s natural that you -should be annoyed at having such a heavy bill -presented, when you thought it settled. But -between ourselves, boys will be boys. The captain -has turned over a new leaf, and rely on it he will -be a credit to you yet. I’ve a pretty wide acquaintance -amongst wild young gentlemen of his kind, -and I give you my word I don’t know one who -is more wide-awake. He had paid his ’prentice -fees, and that smartly; but I expect before I die -to hear of him as an ornament to the bench of -magistrates and perhaps a county member. As -for these bills and notes of hand’——</p> - -<p>‘I’m not liable for a sixpence!’ exclaimed Sir -Sykes petulantly. ‘My son may go through the -Court if he chooses, and perhaps will learn a -wholesome lesson from the exposure, which’——</p> - -<p>‘Fie, fie, Sir Sykes!’ broke in the lawyer. -‘A coat of whitewash, believe me, sticks to a -youngster’s back to that extent that no amount of -scrubbing can get rid of it. Fume and fret as you -please, you know, and I know, that you mean -Captain Jasper to have Carbery after you, and to -keep the place in the Denzil line. Better so, than -to have so fine an estate sold or cut in two for -division between your daughters’ husbands. And -the captain won’t bear the ‘bloody hand’ in his -escutcheon the better because he has been made -an insolvent in his youth. As for these claims, I -don’t press for an immediate settlement; not I; I -don’t exact my pound of flesh down on the nail, -Sir Sykes.’</p> - -<p>There was a hard struggle in the baronet’s breast. -Time had been given him for reflection, and he -had used it. To hear of his son’s extravagance, -of his son’s deceit, and from such lips, was bad -enough. To be compelled to endure the familiarity -of the lawyer’s manner was to have to swallow a -still more bitter pill. He could remember Mr -Wilkins of old, blunt and jocose certainly, but by -no means so jaunty in his bearing as he now was, -although Sir Sykes had not then been the rich -county magnate he had blossomed. He felt, and -writhed as he felt, that it was the attorney’s sense -of his hold upon him by reason of his knowledge -of his past life, which had emboldened Mr Wilkins -to deal with him as he had done. But the most -provoking feature of the affair was that Sir Sykes -felt that this man’s advice, coarsely and offensively -administered as it was, yet contained a solid kernel -of truth. Jasper was by no means a model son. -He had committed fearful follies, and incurred -debts which even the Master of Carbery had -thought twice before discharging. His profligacy -was redeemed by no brilliant talents, softened by -no affectionate qualities. There are spendthrifts -who remain lovable to the last, as there are others -who dazzle the world by the glitter of their wit or -valour. To neither category did the graceless offspring -of Sir Sykes belong. And yet, in spite of -his occasional menaces on the subject of his will, -the baronet felt that national manners and family -pride combined to constitute a sort of moral entail, -of which Jasper was to reap the benefit.</p> - -<p>‘I must see my son,’ said Sir Sykes smoothly, -after a pause; ‘and when I have time to think -over the matter, Mr Wilkins, I will write to you -appointing as early an interview as possible. In -the meantime I feel assured that you will see the -propriety of not urging personally your claims on -Captain Denzil in his present condition.’</p> - -<p>Mr Wilkins was amenity itself. He would but -eat a morsel in the coffee-room, he said, and would -then go back to London by the next train, confident<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>{121}</span> -that he could not leave his interests in better -hands than those of Sir Sykes.</p> - -<p>‘The old address, sir! You used to know it well -enough!’ said the lawyer with a leer, as he took -the hand which the baronet did not dare to refuse -in sign of friendship; and so they parted.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="COAL_AND_ITS_PRODUCTS">COAL AND ITS PRODUCTS.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> an article which appeared in this <i>Journal</i> in -August 1876, entitled <i>The Age of the World</i>, we -endeavoured to explain how coal was produced, -and how it might be regarded simply as stored-up -heat and light, derived from the sun ages ago.</p> - -<p>Apart from the varied uses of coal in its ordinary -state, we owe an immense deal to the products -which by chemical means we obtain from it; and -it is our purpose in this paper to briefly review -these products, and to shew how we have adapted -them to our several wants.</p> - -<p>The manufacture of gas is undoubtedly the most -important feature in the modern history of coal. -Natural reservoirs of inflammable air exist in -many parts of the world, and have in many cases -been turned to profitable account. In China, -for instance, the evaporation of salt has for many -years been carried on by the heat obtained by the -combustion of gas which issues from the ground. -Streets and buildings there have also been lighted -by the same means. In our own country too, such -eruptions of natural gas—which have generally -manifested themselves during the operation of well-boring—have -not been uncommon. But the gas -so obtained is not the same as that which we get -from the distillation of coal, although it forms one -of its chief constituents. It is commonly called -marsh-gas, from its constant presence in bogs and -places where decaying vegetable matter abounds. -The treacherous Will o’ the Wisp owes its origin to -this gas. It also issues in large quantities from -coal-beds, and diluted with air forms the dreadful -compound called ‘fire-damp.’</p> - -<p>The first recorded experiment relating to the -production of true coal-gas was as early as the -year 1660, when a country clergyman distilled -some coal, collected the gas in bladders, and burnt -it from a jet, for the amusement of his friends. -Although this very suggestive experiment was -communicated to the Royal Society, no action -seems to have been taken upon it until the beginning -of the present century, when the matter -seems to have attained a more practical form. At -this time one or two factories in Manchester and -Birmingham were for the first time lighted with -gas. The idea of illuminating an entire town by -means of a chemical vapour seems to have met -with much ridicule, and it was found necessary -to employ lecturers to go about the country to -shew people how such an apparent impossibility -could be carried out. However, in spite of much -opposition, part of London was lighted by gas in -1812; and three years later, Paris adopted the -same system. The delay in the acceptance of gas-making -among the industrial arts was no doubt -largely due to the expressed opinion of several -eminent chemists and others, who considered that -such a mode of lighting our towns could never be -realised, because of the supposed danger which it -involved. Modern experience teaches us that it -is at once the cheapest as well as the safest mode -of illumination that we can as yet command. In -the manufacture of gas, the coal is placed in iron -retorts, which are subjected to a high temperature -for about six hours, when the operation is finished, -and the retorts are ready for a fresh charge. A -residue of nearly pure carbon, in the form of coke, -remains in the retort, whilst the varied products -of the distillation are carried off by pipes into -suitable receptacles. For the sake of convenience, -we will at present name only three of these products—ammoniacal -liquor, tar, and the gas itself. -The first is the principal source of ammonia, one -of the most useful substances known. It may be -almost said of ammonia, as it has been remarked -of sulphuric acid, that the prosperity of a country -may be known by the quantity which it consumes. -It is used by colour-makers, calico-printers, and -in the manufacture of most of the textile fabrics; -in cleansing and extracting grease from various -kinds of cloth, in the preparation of leather, in -galvanising iron, and in pewtering. The chemist -would be almost helpless without its aid; whilst -in medicine it is used in about twenty different -forms as a most valuable stimulant. It is almost -needless to say that ammonia was in general use -long before the era of gas-manufacture, for life -could hardly go on without it. In fact its very -name is derived from its manufacture hundreds -of years ago from animal refuse in a district of -Libya where the deity Jupiter Ammon was -worshipped. The old alchemists too obtained it -from the distillation of deer’s horns; hence one -preparation of it is still called spirit of hartshorn. -There are many other sources of ammonia, for its -presence in nature is universal; but all have sunk -into insignificance since the gas-works have yielded -such plentiful supplies.</p> - -<p>Coal-tar in its crude state is not of very great -importance, its use being confined to such rough -work as the water-proofing of boats and the painting -of outhouses and the like. But in the hands -of the chemist its applications cannot be lightly -regarded, in fact its distillation is of sufficient -importance to form a distinct branch of trade. In -this process coal-tar is separated into three different -products—naphtha (which in a rectified state is the -benzol of commerce); heavy or creosote oil, which -is used almost exclusively for the preservation -of railway sleepers; and the residue pitch. The -last is of great use to shipbuilders, and has more -recently found employment in the preparation of -asphalt roofing and paving. But naphtha is by far -the most important of the three substances, if it -were only for its use as a solvent for both india-rubber -and gutta-percha. No doubt, failing this, -other solvents for caoutchouc would have been -found; but naphtha is a particularly cheap and -effective menstruum for the purpose; and when we -consider the varied uses to which india-rubber and -gutta-percha are now applied—from elastic hosiery -to submarine cables—we must acknowledge that -naphtha is a valuable addition to our manufacturing -resources. It is a significant circumstance -that the date of the introduction of manufactured -india-rubber (by Mr Mackintosh) follows the -general adoption of gas-lighting by only a few -years. Previous to this, india-rubber was imported -merely as a curiosity, its first use being to obliterate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>{122}</span> -pencil-marks, for which purpose it was once -advertised in London at the modest price of six -shillings per square inch.</p> - -<p>Besides its use as a solvent, benzol is of particular -importance in yielding, when treated with -nitric acid, a substance called aniline. The discovery -of aniline is one of the most remarkable -triumphs of chemistry, as applied to the advancement -of a manufacturing industry. (Before the -date of coal-tar it was obtained from indigo, and -the name it bears is the Portuguese for that -colour.) The production of aniline caused quite -a revolution in the various trades which are dependent -in any way upon the colour-manufacturer; -for lithographers, paper-stainers, calico-printers, -and especially dyers, owe their most brilliant tints -to its aid. The various dyes which are now -commonly retailed for household use are also -derived from the same source. Aniline is an -almost colourless liquid, of a peculiar vinous -odour, which after exposure to the air, changes -to a dark resinous matter. The treatment which -it undergoes in producing the various colours -(and nearly every colour of the rainbow can now -be obtained from it), is of too complicated a -nature to be of any interest to the general reader. -Magenta, the advent of which some years back -many of our readers will remember, was the first -aniline dye which appeared. The other colours -have followed in quick succession, nearly all of -them being the subjects of one or more patents. -It is questionable whether all these colours are -strictly permanent; but it is a pleasing thought -that the hues which in one form or another -existed at a period long before mankind had a -place in nature, are now reproduced for man’s -delight and benefit.</p> - -<p>Another very important product of gas-tar is -carbolic acid, which is also largely employed for -dyeing purposes. Its value as a disinfectant is too -well known to need recapitulation here; but we -may mention that its use as a preventive of -disease was most abundantly proved during the -last epidemic among our cattle. It is in general -use in our hospitals, not only as a disinfectant, -but also as an antiseptic both in the dressing of -wounds and in the treatment of various skin -diseases. Carbolic acid also yields a substance -called picric acid, which, on account of its explosive -properties when combined with potassium, -has been proposed as a substitute for gunpowder. -There are many other substances derived from -the distillation of coal-tar, but at present they are -only of interest to the experimental chemist.</p> - -<p>A ton of coals will produce a chaldron of coke, -twelve gallons of tar, ten gallons of ammoniacal -liquor, and nearly ten thousand feet of gas. A -consideration of these figures, with a due regard -to what we have said as to the value of the various -chemical products obtained by distillation, will -enable our readers to understand why gas companies -can shew such good balance-sheets. Much -has been written as to the possible exhaustion, -after one or two centuries, of the British coal-fields. -This is a question upon which it is next -to impossible to form any reliable opinion. Should -the coal-supply actually fail, it is more than -probable that as science is extended, a new source -of light and heat may be developed. A cheap -and ready means of producing electricity, as we -have in a former article endeavoured to shew, -would at once solve the problem, and it is within -the bounds of reason that to this agency the -future races of the earth will look for the two -most common necessaries of existence.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="MALAPROPOS">MALAPROPOS.</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Charles Dickens</span> once wrote to a friend: ‘I have -distinguished myself in two respects lately. I took -a young lady unknown down to dinner, and talked -to her about the Bishop of Durham’s nepotism -in the matter of Mr Cheese. I found she was Mrs -Cheese. And I expatiated to the member for -Marylebone, Lord Fermoy—generally conceiving -him to be an Irish member—on the contemptible -character of the Marylebone constituency and -Marylebone representatives.’ Two such mishaps -in one evening were enough to reduce the most -brilliant talker to the condition of the three -‘insides’ of the London-bound coach, who beguiled -the tedium of the journey from Southampton by -discussing the demerits of William Cobbett, until -one of the party went so far as to assert that -the object of their denunciations was a domestic -tyrant, given to beating his wife; when, much -to his dismay, the solitary lady passenger, who -had hitherto sat a silent listener, remarked: -‘Pardon me, sir; a kinder husband and father -never breathed; and I ought to know, for I am -William Cobbett’s wife!’</p> - -<p>Mr Giles of Virginia and Judge Duval of Maryland, -members of Congress during Washington’s -administration, boarded at the house of a Mrs -Gibbon, whose daughters were well on in years, -and remarkable for talkativeness. When Jefferson -became President, Duval was Comptroller of -the Treasury, and Giles a senator. Meeting one -day in Washington, they fell to chatting over old -times, and the senator asked the Comptroller if he -knew what had become of ‘that cackling old maid, -Jenny Gibbon.’ ‘She is Mrs Duval, sir,’ was the -unexpected reply. Giles did not attempt to mend -matters, as a certain Mr Tuberville unwisely -did. This unhappy blunderer resembled the Irish -gentleman who complained that he could not open -his mouth without putting his foot in it. Happening -to observe to a fellow-guest at Dunraven Castle, -that the lady who had sat at his right hand at -dinner was the ugliest woman he had ever beheld; -the person addressed expressed his regret that he -should think his wife so ill-looking. ‘I have -made a mistake,’ said the horrified Tuberville; ‘I -meant the lady who sat on my left.’ ‘Well, sir, -she is my sister,’ was the response to the well-intentioned -fib; bringing from the desperate connoisseur -of beauty the frank avowal: ‘It can’t be -helped, sir, then; for if what you say be true, -I confess I never saw such an ugly family in the -course of my life!’</p> - -<p>An honest expression of opinion perhaps not -so easily forgiven by the individual concerned, -as that wrung from Mark Twain, who, standing -right before a young lady in a Parisian public -garden, cried out to his friend: ‘Dan, just look<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>{123}</span> -at this girl; how beautiful she is!’ to be rebuked -by ‘this girl’ saying in excellent English: ‘I -thank you more for the evident sincerity of the -compliment, sir, than for the extraordinary publicity -you have given it!’ Mark took a walk, -but did not feel just comfortable for some time -afterward.</p> - -<p>One of the humorist’s countrymen made a much -more serious blunder. He was a married man. -Going into the kitchen one day, a pair of soft -hands were thrown over his eyes, a kiss was -imprinted on his cheek. He returned the salute -with interest, and as he gently disengaged the -hands of his fair assailant, asked: ‘Mary, darling, -where is the mistress?’ and found his answer in -an indignant wife’s face. ‘Mary darling’ had -gone out for the day, and the lady of the house -intended by her affectionate greeting to give her -lord a pleasant surprise. He got his surprise; -whether he thought it a pleasant one he never -divulged, but that kitchen knew Mary no more.</p> - -<p>A stout hearty-looking gentleman one day made -his way from the dock-side at Plymouth to the -deck of a man-of-war newly arrived from abroad, -and desired to be shewn over the ship. Most of -the officers were on shore, and the duty of playing -cicerone devolved upon a young midshipman. -He made the most of his opportunity, and to have -a lark at the expense of the elderly gentleman as he -shewed him round, he told him how the capstan -was used to grind the ship’s coffee, the eighteen-ton -guns for cooling the officers’ champagne, the main-yards -for drying the Admiral’s Sunday shirts, and -many other things not generally known. When -the gentleman had seen all he wanted to see, he -handed a card to his kind instructor, saying: -‘Young gentleman, you are a very smart youth -indeed, and full of very curious information; and -I trust that you will see there is no mistake in this -card of mine finding its way to your captain.’ The -middy glanced at the bit of pasteboard and read -thereon the name ‘Ward Hunt;’ but before he -could thoroughly realise the situation, the First -Lord of the Admiralty, with a parting nod and -pleasant smile, had gone.</p> - -<p>Another story, illustrating the awkward results -that come of letting the tongue wag freely under a -misapprehension regarding other folk’s identity, is -told of a London tailor. An aristocratic customer -noted for dressing in anything but aristocratic -fashion, called to pay his bill. The tailor’s new -manager, after receipting the account, handed it -back with a sovereign, saying: ‘There’s a sovereign -for yourself, and it’s your own fault it isn’t two. -You don’t wear out your master’s clothes half -quick enough. He ought to have had double the -amount in the time; it would be worth your -while to use a harder brush.’</p> - -<p>‘Well, I don’t know,’ said his lordship, smiling; -‘I think my brush is a pretty hard one too; his -lordship complains of it anyhow.’</p> - -<p>‘Pooh! Hard! Not a bit of it! Now I’ll put -you up to a dodge that’ll put many a pound in -your pocket. You see this piece of wood—now -that’s roughened on purpose. You take that, and -give your master’s coat a good scrubbing with it -about the elbows and shoulders every day; and -give the trousers a touch about the knees, and it -will be a good five pounds a year in your pocket. -We shan’t forget you.’</p> - -<p>‘You are very kind,’ quoth the enlightened -gentleman. ‘I will impart your instructions to my -valet, though I fear while he remains in my service -he will not be able to profit by them, as I shall not -trouble you with my custom. I wish you good-day.’</p> - -<p>We read in Lord Eldon’s Journal: ‘The most -awkward thing that ever occurred to me was this. -Immediately after I was married I was appointed -Deputy Professor of Law at Oxford, and the Law -Professor sent me the first lecture, which I had to -read immediately to the students, and which I -began without knowing a single word that was in -it. It was upon the statute applying to young -men running away with maidens. Fancy me -reading with about one hundred and fifty boys -and young men all giggling at the Professor! -Such a tittering audience no one ever had.’ The -comical coincidence may have been an accidental -one; but as the Law Professor must, like the -students, have known that his deputy ran away -with his Bessie, the chances are against it. The -great lawyer was fated to be reminded of the -romantic episode of his life. A client whose -daughter had been stolen from him, insisted upon -the jury being told that a man who could run -away with another man’s daughter was a rascal -and a villain, and deserved to be hanged. ‘I -cannot say that,’ said Scott. ‘And why not, -Lawyer Scott—why not?’ inquired the irate -father. ‘Because I did it myself!’ was the unanswerable -reply.</p> - -<p>After doing his office for a young couple, a -clergyman was inveigled into proposing the health -of bride and bridegroom at the wedding breakfast. -He wound up a neat little speech by expressing -the hope that the result of the union of the happy -pair might prove strictly analogous to that of -the bride’s honoured parents. The groom looked -angry, the bride went into hysterics, the bridesmaids -blushed and became interested in the -pattern of the carpet, the master of the house blew -his nose with extraordinary violence, and the -speaker sat down wondering at the effect he had -created; till his better-informed neighbour whispered -that the lady was not the daughter of the -host and hostess, but a niece who came to live -with them when her mother and father were -divorced.</p> - -<p>During Mr Gladstone’s Premiership, Sir George -Pollock called one morning in Downing Street -to thank the Prime-minister for making him -governor of the Tower. A cabinet council had just -assembled; but rather than keep the veteran waiting, -Mr Gladstone invited him into the council-chamber -and introduced him to his colleagues. -Sir George entertained his new acquaintances with -a tedious story about a nobleman who had been -detected cheating at cards, ending his narration -with: ‘They turned him out of all the clubs he -belonged to; even the Reform would have nothing -more to say to him!’ A way of proving the -enormity of the card-player’s offence that must -have pleased his hearers amazingly, since all or -nearly all of them were members of that famous -Liberal club.</p> - -<p>The old governor sincerely meant what his words -implied. Such is not always the case with utterers -of malapropos things. When a note was handed -to Dr Fletcher in his pulpit intimating that the -presence of a medical gentleman, supposed to be -in the church, was urgently required elsewhere,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>{124}</span> -the preacher read the letter out, and as the doctor -was making for the door, fervently ejaculated: -‘May the Lord have mercy on his patient!’ A -Scotch minister exchanging pulpits with a friend -one Sunday, was accosted after service by an old -woman anxious to know what had become of her -‘ain minister.’ ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘he is with my -people to-day.’ ‘Indeed, indeed,’ said the dame; -‘they’ll be getting a treat the day!’ As flattering -a remark as that of the wife of a popular lecturer, -who on her lord telling her he was going to lecture -at Sheffield, exclaimed: ‘I’m so glad; I always -hated those Sheffield people.’</p> - -<p>Epitaph writers sometimes display a talent for -this kind of <i>double-entendre</i>. A couple of specimens -will suffice. The first from Arbroath, running: -‘Here lie the bodies of John, William, -Robert, and David Matthews, who all died in the -hope of a glorious resurrection—excepting David.’ -The other from an American burying-ground:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Here lies the mother of children five;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Two are dead and three are alive;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The two that are dead preferring rather</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To die with their mother than live with their father.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Although a high authority insists that the -lunatic and the lover are of imagination all compact, -it would not enter an ordinary lover’s head -to tell his mistress that loving her was synonymous -with madness, as Steele did when he wrote to -his dear lovely Prue: ‘It is the hardest thing -in the world to be in love and yet attend business. -As for me, all who speak to me found me out, and -I must lock myself up, or other people will do it -for me;’ but fair Mistress Scurlock doubtless took -the dubious flattery in as good part as the great -animal painter took the king of Portugal’s odd -greeting: ‘Ah, Sir Edwin, I am glad to see you; -I’m so fond of beasts.’ An unpleasant way of -putting the thing was innocently adopted by the -New York car-driver, who, blissfully ignorant that -his interlocutor was Mr Beecher, replied to that -gentleman’s query whether he did not think it -possible to dispense with running the cars all -day on Sunday: ‘Yes, sir, I do; but there’s no -hope for it so long as they keep that Beecher -theatre open in Brooklyn; the cars have to run -to accommodate that.’</p> - -<p>An American newspaper says: ‘The enthusiastic -choir-master who adopted <i>Hold the Fort</i> as a -processional hymn, has been dismissed by the -minister, who considered it personal when the -choir burst forth:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">See the mighty host advancing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Satan leading on!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A similar objection might have been raised to -the Maine county commissioners quoting Watts’s -lines:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye sinners round, come view the ground</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where you will shortly lie,</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>when inviting certain lawyers to inspect the new -court-house; although they had less reason to -complain than Lord Kenyon and Justice Rooke, -who while on circuit, came one Sunday to a little -village just as the good folks were going to church; -an example the two judges followed. Anxious -to shew his appreciation of the unexpected honour, -the parish clerk searched for a suitable psalm -to sing before the service; and at the proper time -gave out the first two verses of the fifty-eighth -psalm, and the congregation sang:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Speak, O ye judges of the earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If just your sentence be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or must not innocence appeal</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To heaven from your decree.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your wicked hearts and judgments are</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Alike by malice swayed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your griping hands, by mighty bribes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To violence betrayed.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Here the congregation awoke to the meaning of -what they were singing, and left the clerk and -the children to offend the ears of the legal dignitaries -with:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To virtue, strangers from the womb,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their infant steps went wrong;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They prattled slander, and in lies</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Employed their lisping tongue.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No serpent of parched Afric’s breed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Does ranker poison bear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The drowsy adder will as soon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unlock his sullen ear.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The performance unlocked the tongues of the -astonished judges at any rate; and the churchwardens -had some difficulty in convincing them -that the apparent insult arose out of the stupidity -of the well-meaning clerk.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THEODOR_MINTROP">THEODOR MINTROP.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>‘<span class="smcap">The</span> poor world is almost six thousand years old, -and in all this time there was not any man died in -his own person, namely, in a love-cause.’</p> - -<p>I cannot help recalling Rosalind’s words as I -look at the photograph before me; the history of -its original so completely disproves her saucy -speech. In my hand I hold the likeness of a man -of forty or thereabouts, with a noble square forehead -arching above deep thoughtful eyes, a large -beardless face surrounded by a heavy growth of -long hair, and a thickset form denoting great personal -strength. A superficial observer might call -the homely portrait commonplace, and turn to gaze -on the more aristocratic faces of his fellow-artists -in the photographic album; but a careful scrutiny -of the coarse irregular features and the broad brow -impresses one with the feeling that this was no -ordinary man; that a spirit dwelt within these -steady eyes purer and mightier than usually falls -to the lot of mortal man. But the closest inspection -would still leave much untold. The indomitable -energy, the heaven-sent genius, may be traced -in his strong features and deep eyes; but the -exquisite sensibility, the single-heartedness, the -uncomplaining patience, would never be guessed.</p> - -<p>But a short time has elapsed since he was one -of us, and his story is still ringing in the hearts -of his countrymen—a story so pathetic in its -poverty and its triumph, so touching in its untimely -close.</p> - -<p>Theodor Mintrop, the original of the photograph, -was born near the village of Werden in Westphalia. -From his childhood he had an uncontrollable desire -to draw, which brought nothing but censure from -his elders, substantial <i>bauers</i> and petty farmers, -who considered drawing an unpardonable waste of -time. But the talent was not to be crushed out. -In spite of opposition and discouragement, in spite -of his daily hard work on his father’s farm, he -practised his art whenever he had an opportunity;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>{125}</span> -at first sketching rough outlines on whitewashed -walls, and when he could afford it, buying pencils -and paper. In time his fame as an artist spread -among the simple peasantry, and even beyond his -own limited circle. ‘The country Raphael,’ he was -popularly called; and made a little money occasionally -by painting signs for country inns, and -pictures of the Virgin and Child for the Catholics. -All this time he wrought in the fields at a -labourer’s usual avocations; and it was a hard -horny hand that in his leisure moments wielded -the pencil with such surprising genius. He was -waiting—waiting patiently till the tide would -turn—waiting till the time would come when -he could study his art and devote himself wholly -to it. And thus he might have spent his entire -life, his genius, like an imprisoned bird, hemmed -in by sordid cares and toils, if one of these strange -coincidences that so often bring the unexpected, -had not occurred.</p> - -<p>A celebrated artist, seeing some of Mintrop’s -drawings, was so struck by their merit, that he -immediately set out for Werden, found Mintrop -at the plough, and carried him back to his house -in Düsseldorf, offering him every facility for -studying thoroughly his beloved art.</p> - -<p>The opportunity had come; but how long the -country Raphael had waited for it! Thirty years -had he repressed his ambition, and performed the -duties of farm-labourer for his father and brother. -No wonder a sad weariness can be traced on his -features. In Düsseldorf, Mintrop went through the -regular course of instruction, beginning at the very -lowest class, where he, a man of thirty, sat on the -same bench with young lads; but his great genius -and intense application soon carried him through -the class-rooms. His art had an amount of originality -and freshness that seemed to breathe of -his free country life at Werden. From his boyhood -a great lover of fairy tales, there was a -strain of grotesqueness in his works. His father, -a man of an original turn of mind, had fostered -his passion for the weird homely legends of the -German peasantry; and to Theodor, in his imaginative -youth, <i>kobolds</i> had peeped out of the earth, -<i>nixies</i> had sung in the rivers. The fame of the -country Raphael soon spread in Düsseldorf; art -critics acknowledged his wonderful genius, and -vied with one another in pointing out the grand -simplicity and admirable power of his compositions. -How did the untrained peasant, fresh -from his rural life, bear all this homage? Simply -and meekly. With reverence he regarded the -wonderful new life around him, so much more -polished, so much pleasanter than his old one; -but the dignity of his art and his own self-respect -saved him from being overborne by it. But no -one guessed that under his homely and somewhat -uncouth exterior such an appreciation for all that -was fair and good in life existed, as the sequel of -his life proved.</p> - -<p>Behold him now at perhaps the zenith of his -career; having attained the object of his desires, -an artistic education; having in a few short years -established a fame that many academical pupils -of many years’ standing had failed to win; surrounded -by many friends, living in the home-circle -of his first patron and dearest friend in that -pleasant city on the Rhine. His future lay fair -and unclouded before him, leading him on from -triumph to still greater triumph. But inscrutable -are the ways of Providence; God’s ways are not -man’s ways; and the tree that promised such -glorious fruit was never to reach maturity.</p> - -<p>To the house of Geselschap (the name of the -artist who had befriended Mintrop, and in whose -house he lived) came one fine summer a young -lady-friend. In the free unrestrained home society, -Mintrop had much opportunity of becoming intimately -acquainted with this young girl. He had -been learning much of life as well as art since -he came to Düsseldorf; but women in a higher -rank than the peasants he had for thirty years -been familiar with, were ever an object of peculiar -interest and intense admiration to him; and the -grace and amiability of this stranger soon made a -powerful impression on him. For a whole long -happy summer this fair young creature lived under -the same roof with him, and treated the grave -shy man with the playfulness and friendliness -of a sister, wholly unaware of the passion she had -unwittingly kindled. In short he, the hard-working -country Raphael, engrossed in his art, which -he pursued for itself, not for money (about which -he was one of the most careless of mortals)—he, -the rough Westphalian peasant, with hard -hands and uncouth figure, had learned to love this -gentle maiden, with all the strength of his noble -patient heart.</p> - -<p>That long happy summer passed, and the young -lady returned to her friends. Shortly after, the -announcement of her engagement to be married -reached Düsseldorf, piercing the true heart that -loved her so well. To commemorate her marriage, -Mintrop composed a wonderful series of pictures, -that will always link her name to his.</p> - -<p>The ‘Love of King Heinzelmann’ they were -called; seventy scenes in all, in which he, in the -guise of King Heinzelmann, following his beloved -Johanna through every incident in daily life, protects -and helps her as he would fain have done -in reality. True to the traditions of his youth, -numbers of quaint dwarfs with long beards, -pointed caps, and trunk-hose, attend on the commands -of their king; who is himself a strange -weird vision with a wizened face, pointed cap, and -magic wand, tipped by a burning eye. In a -burgher household, these droll figures sweep and -wash, bake and brew, throwing themselves into -many strange contortions, in the service of Anna; -the king ever with them, looking sadder and -sadder; for as time goes on, a stranger from -America falls in love with Johanna and carries -her away across the sea. The poor gnome-king -loves in vain; and when the day comes that -Johanna and her lover sail away, he and his -dwarfs stand sadly on the shore (for they may not -cross the sea) watching the vessel till it fades from -sight.</p> - -<p>The fantastic legend is imbued with a strange -humanity; and the ugly figure of the gnome-king -touches our inmost sensibility with a thrill of -pathos. Such was the love of Mintrop—intense, -undying, and hopeless! Some things are almost -too sad to bear speaking of, and the waste of -affection that goes on in this world is one of -them. Doubtless there were many girls in Düsseldorf -equal to Johanna in every respect; but for -Mintrop she was the only one, and yet she was -another’s.</p> - -<p>Three years had passed since Mintrop worked his -love into his art—throwing but a thin veil of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>{126}</span> -grotesqueness over his real feelings; and Johanna -returned from afar with her husband. They -settled in Westphalia; and Johanna, moved by -the memories of old days, proposed that Mintrop -should be godfather to their infant daughter. -Three years were gone, and Mintrop thought he -had conquered his hopeless love; but yet the -request startles him, and he requires to struggle -for composure before he can determine whether he -shall agree to it or not. He goes, finds the comfortable -home where his lost love resides, meets -her and her husband and the various guests present -at the ceremony. The priest comes, and the little -soft baby is placed in his arms. He looks at his -sleeping god-daughter as he somewhat awkwardly -receives her, and the child slowly opens her large -eyes, so like her mother’s. A thrill runs through -Mintrop’s veins; all the old feelings, the old hopes -and fears, rush through his mind with a force too -cruel to be borne. He hastily places the child -in its mother’s arms, and hurries away from the -scene.</p> - -<p>Not long after, and Mintrop is dying. Some -physical cause, the doctor assigns; but his friends -know well what it is. His patient loving heart -has borne too much. The intensity of his feelings -has snapped the cord of life. As his breath leaves -him, he thinks of his other love, his Art, and he -sighs: ‘Would I might live long enough to finish -my work; otherwise, I am ready to die!’ And -thus the brave gentle spirit went forth to meet its -Maker, regretting only that the promise of its youth -was not fulfilled—the work not yet completed. -Alas, alas, for human love, for human hopes and -wishes! My eyes are wet as I trace these concluding -lines; and the face in the photograph is -hallowed by a strange sad interest.</p> - -<p>Theodor Mintrop died at Düsseldorf in July -1870; and his sad story, as given above, speedily -found its way into the German newspapers. In -autumn 1871, a bronze bust erected to his memory -was unveiled in the presence of thousands of spectators; -and the poet Emil Rittershaus composed -and recited a beautiful poem—a requiem to one -who died of a broken heart.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_MONTH">THE MONTH: -<br /> -SCIENCE AND ARTS.</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> rumour mentioned in our last <i>Month</i> has -been verified, and we now know that hydrogen -and nitrogen have yielded to the power of the -physicist, and that there is no longer, in our part -of the universe, any such thing as a permanent -gas. After Pictet in Geneva had led the way -by liquefying oxygen, Cailletet followed in Paris -with the other two; but Pictet has since gone -farther, and has obtained liquid hydrogen in -considerable quantity, and has produced solid -particles of oxygen. In communicating these facts -to a scientific body in Paris, Mr Dumas, the eminent -chemist, stated to his hearers they might -take it for granted that in swallowing a glass of -water they were really drinking a metallic -oxide.</p> - -<p>Dr Angus Smith says in a paper ‘On the -Examination of Air,’ read before the Royal Society, -that there ought to be observatories for Chemical -Climatology and Meteorology, in which the air -should be systematically examined, ‘so as to -obtain decidedly those bodies which have from -the earliest times been supposed to exist in it, -bringing with them, on certain occasions, the -worst results.’ But the process of examination, -as at present carried on, is slow and troublesome; -when a sure and easy way is found, then its adoption -may become general. Dr Angus Smith is -perhaps the first who has taken the subject in -hand from this point of view. ‘It is the more -interesting,’ he remarks, ‘as he has sufficiently -shewn that in the places examined, the organic -ammonia has been in intimate relation with the -gross death-rate.... It may be true that oxygen -is the prime mover—producing in man animal -life—a favourite idea for a chemist; but it may -also be true that minute organisms cause a peculiar -class of decomposition connected with mental or -other activity, diseased or otherwise.’</p> - -<p>Before the telephone has ceased to be a scientific -novelty, America sends us news of another novelty -called a phonograph. This instrument, the invention -of Mr T. A. Edison, makes sound visible, -and records it in a permanent form. You speak -into a tube, and while doing so you work a -handle which causes a cylinder to revolve; the -sound of the voice causes a thin disk or diaphragm -of metal to vibrate, as in the telephone; the vibrations -actuate a steel point which, as it advances -and recedes, makes impressions more or less deep -in a band of tinfoil wound round the cylinder, -and this band of tinfoil becomes the record of what -has been spoken. Now comes the wonderful part -of the process; for we are told that if the tinfoil -so indented be applied to another instrument, -called the ‘transmitter,’ consisting of a hollow -tube with a paper diaphragm, then the original -sounds will be reproduced, though with somewhat -of a metallic tone. Turn the handle of -the cylinder and you may have repetitions of the -discourse until, in fact, the tinfoil is quite worn -out. Casts of the indented tinfoil may, it is said, -be taken in plaster of Paris, so that copies of -spoken words could be sent to as many persons -as may be desired.</p> - -<p>This invention seems too questionable to allow -of any one, even the inventor, forming an opinion -as to its practical value. Fanciful conjectures -may of course be made. A fugitive swindler, for -example, may be arrested in a foreign city, and -held fast until a foil of evidence spoken by one -of his confederates might be sent out to convict -him. Or a hardy young sheep-farmer in Australia -might sing into his tube, puncturing his song on the -sheet of foil, fold it neatly up, and send the graven -song home to the girl he left behind him; and she, -by applying the sheet to her own phonograph -might, by proper manipulation, hear the tender -ditty as often as she pleased.</p> - -<p>While waiting for further developments, we -venture to suggest that what is wanted by numbers -of intellectual people who find the mechanical -action of writing slow and irksome, is, some kind -of ‘graphy’ which will enable them at once to -print their thoughts on paper without aid from -pen or fingers.</p> - -<p>Some months ago we mentioned the little -torpedo boat <i>Lightning</i>, and her swift steaming, -nineteen knots an hour. Her length is eighty-four -feet, her width ten feet ten inches: and now we -hear that fifteen similar vessels are to be built, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>{127}</span> -that the builders promise a speed of twenty-five -knots. Experiments have been made which prove -that swiftness is an element of safety, for on firing -a rifle-bullet through the bottom it was found that -the water did not enter. In future it is thought -that torpedoes will play an important part in -naval warfare; and as has already been mentioned -in recent papers in this <i>Journal</i>, a School has been -established at Portsmouth in which their use is -taught theoretically and practically. A further -improvement is whispered in certain quarters—a -torpedo boat which shall carry on her evolutions -under water, and hook on torpedoes to the bottom -of an enemy’s ship without being discovered. Are -we about to see in this a realisation of what has -long been a dream among speculative inventors? -Is naval warfare, from its hopelessly fatal nature -to those engaged, to become an impossibility?</p> - -<p>Communications addressed to the Société d’Encouragement -pour l’Industrie Nationale, Paris, -describe a method for preventing the deposit of -soot in chimneys; but as yet no details are published: -also an apparatus for stopping runaway -horses (in harness), by completely closing the -winkers; and a way to deaden the blows of a -hammer moved by machinery. In this case, the -anvil is supported on a float in a reservoir of water. -Another subject is a tramway car in which compressed -air is the motive-power, as proved during -some months on the line between Courbevoie and -Puteaux, and the Round Point in the Champs-Elysées. -This car has room for thirty passengers, -is served by a conductor, and a mechanician who -has entire charge of the machinery, which with a -number of iron tubes is all placed between the -wheels, under the floor, where it occasions no -inconvenience to any one. A powerful air-pump -at the starting station, forces air enough into the -iron tubes for the journey to and fro, and the car -travels smoothly and without noise or smoke, and -can be stopped and started more readily than a -horse-car. Mr Mékarski, the inventor of this car, -has been thanked by the Société for having solved -the problem of a locomotive which can be used -with safety in crowded streets. Of course there -are appliances for regulating the pressure of the air, -and for preventing the deposit of hoar-frost in the -tubes, consequent on rapid expansion of air; but -for a description of these and other particulars we -must refer to the <i>Bulletin</i> published by the Society.</p> - -<p>Mr Coret has invented what he calls a self-acting -thermo-signal which by ringing a bell -makes known to all within hearing when an axle -or any other part of an engine is over-heated. It -is a small brass cylinder, containing a system of -flexible metal disks, and a dilatable liquid, which -is to be fixed to the part liable to over-heating. -While all goes well the instrument makes no -sign; but as the temperature rises the liquid -dilates, forces out a small metal pin at the end of -the cylinder, which, as the wheel revolves, strikes -a bell, and thereby warns the attendants. Thus -the necessity for constantly watching an indicator -is avoided.</p> - -<p>Other subjects brought before the same Society -are—A description of a chimney which does not -occasion loss of heat, by Mr Toulet, 38 Avenue -de l’Observatoire, Paris—Specimens of harmless -colours which may be used with varnish, oil, or -water, and are described as durable and remarkably -brilliant. They are available for many purposes -of decoration, but are specially intended, as -they contain no poisonous element, for the colouring -of children’s toys. These new colours are -derived from the substances known to chemists as -eosin and fluorescin—And certain manufacturers -who have carefully studied the material give an -account of the capabilities of jute, from which we -gather that by proper preparation of the yarns, -remarkable effects of colour, of mottling, of light -and shade, and also a velvety appearance can be -produced. The process is described as very simple -and moderate in cost; so that applications of jute -to decorative purposes hitherto not thought of -may ere long become available.</p> - -<p>It has been found by experiment that aniline -black can be made to yield different colours: -treated in one way it is a light violet, in another -way it is a bluish pink, and in a third way it -becomes blue.</p> - -<p>Pure butter, as is stated in the <i>Journal</i> of the -Chemical Society, contains from ninety to ninety-eight -per cent. of pure butter fat and a small -quantity of water. Its colour should be from -yellowish white to reddish yellow, but this depends -on the kind of fodder given to the cows, and may -be produced by means of beetroot or other plants -possessed of colouring properties. The colouring -matter may be detected by treating the butter -with strong alcohol. The melting-point of pure -butter is from thirty to thirty-seven degrees, while -artificial butter melts at from twenty-seven to -thirty-one degrees. Substances used to increase -the bulk and weight of butter are chalk, gypsum, -oxide of zinc, starch, and so forth. These neither -improve its flavour nor its wholesomeness. The -agreeable smell of pure butter, with a slight suggestion -of milk, is not easy to imitate by artificial -means.</p> - -<p>Now that chemists can avail themselves of the -spectroscope in their researches, falsifications have -but little chance of escaping detection. We learn -from the same <i>Journal</i> that the colouring matters -generally used in the adulteration of wine are—fuchsine, -the preparations termed caramels, ammoniacal -cochineal, sulphindigotic acid, logwood, -the lichen reds, rosaniline, bilberries, cherries, -mallows, and the berries of the privet. Most if -not all of these matters can be precipitated by -chemical treatment, or they may be detected by -dialysis. If a cube of gelatine less than an inch -square be placed in the wine under experiment, -it will be found, after twenty-four or forty-eight -hours, stained all through, if artificial colouring -matters are present; but if the wine is quite pure, -then the natural colouring matter will not have -penetrated deeper into the gelatine than one-eighth -of an inch. It is worth notice that the natural -colour soaks in slowly; the artificial colour quickly.</p> - -<p>The <i>Comptes Rendus</i> of the Académie des -Sciences, Paris, give an account of a patient who, -through entire closure of the esophagus or gullet, -could get neither food nor liquid into his stomach, -and had to undergo the operation of gastrotomy. -Through the opening thus made the operator -passed different substances and took note of the -time they remained in the stomach. Starch, fat, -and flesh disappear in from three to four hours; -milk is digested in an hour and a half or two -hours, and alcohol and water are absorbed in from -thirty-five to forty-five minutes. One day a small -quantity of pure gastric juice was taken from the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>{128}</span> -stomach for experiment: it is described as colourless, -viscid, yet easily filterable, having little -odour, and not putrefying spontaneously. The -acidity of the gastric juice varies but slightly -whether mixed with food or not, the mean being -1.7 gram of hydrochloric acid to one thousand -grams of liquid. ‘The quantity of liquid,’ we are -informed, ‘found in the stomach has no influence -on its acidity; the latter is almost invariable -whether the stomach be nearly empty or very -full. Wine and alcohol increase the acidity, while -cane-sugar diminishes it. If acid or alkaline -liquids are injected into the stomach, the gastric -juice reassumes its normal acidity in about one -hour. It is more acid during digestion than when -digestion is not going on, and the acidity increases -towards the end of the process. Since the stomach -is generally empty at the end of four hours, and -hunger does not supervene till about six hours -after a meal, it would seem that hunger does -not result solely from emptiness of the stomach.’ -This last remark is not in accordance with the -opinions of other physiologists; but we venture -to suggest that in common with the limbs, the -stomach needs rest, and finds it in the two hours -of quiet above mentioned. We would further remark, -that the theory that sugar does not create -acid in the stomach is contrary to all ordinary -medical teaching, and even of daily experience.</p> - -<p>A surgeon in a provincial town in Scotland has -achieved a remarkable operation. He cut out -from the neck of a patient a diseased portion -of the larynx, and inserted an artificial larynx -through which the man can speak articulately. -This is one of the triumphs of surgery.</p> - -<p>We mentioned some time ago that certain practitioners -in the United States had succeeded in -removing tumours by the application of a current -of electricity. Recently the same method has -been employed, and with the same success, for -the removal of those blemishes from the skin -popularly described as ‘port-wine stains,’ and -other excrescences. Care is required in regulating -the strength and duration of the current according -to the nature of the case; if this be insured, the -operation can hardly fail of a successful result. -Particulars of cases and their treatment are published -in the <i>New York Medical Journal</i>.</p> - -<p>Pursuing his contributions to meteorology, Professor -Loomis of Yale College, Newhaven, U.S., -finds that the areas of rainfall in the United -States generally assume an oval form, and the oval -is not unfrequently a thousand miles long and -five hundred broad. He finds too that falls of rain -often have great influence in checking the progress -of a storm; and that they appear to be subject -to some law of duration. For example, some -rains last eight hours, some sixteen, some twenty-four; -but beyond twenty-four hours the instances -are very rare. ‘This fact,’ he remarks, ‘seems to -indicate that the causes which produce rain, -instead of deriving increased force from the rainfall, -rapidly expend themselves and become exhausted. -It cannot be explained by supposing -that the vapour of the air has all been precipitated, -because these cases chiefly occur near the Atlantic -coast, where the supply of vapour is inexhaustible. -Is there not here an indication that the forces -which impart that movement to the air which -is requisite to a precipitation of its vapour, become -exhausted after a few hours’ exercise?’ By further -research it is found that during the six months -from November to April, violent winds are more -than five times as frequent as during the other -six months of the year; and that they come from -a northern quarter two-and-a-half times more frequently -than from a southern quarter. Though -Professor Loomis’ observations apply to the climate -of America, they may be considered with advantage -by our own meteorologists.</p> - -<p>The President of the Institution of Civil Engineers -in his inaugural address took occasion to say, -as evidence of the advantages which accrue to a -country through the labours of the civil engineer, -that the sum authorised to be expended on British -railways up to the end of 1876 amounted to seven -hundred and forty-two millions; a sum pretty -nearly as large as our huge national debt. And -from this Mr J. F. Bateman argued, that as in -engineering special qualifications, and some of a -high order, were required, it would be well if -advantage were taken of the numerous public -schools in which instruction bearing on engineering -is given, whereby young men would have at least -some qualification on entering the profession. At -the same time it would be a mistake to regard -that training as other than preparatory and incomplete. -It is by actual outdoor work only, that a -man can become an engineer; and engineering -work is not to be found at school or college.</p> - -<p>Mr Bateman—who by the way will long be -remembered for his water-supply of Glasgow—instead -of travelling over many topics, confined -himself to the great and important question of -rainfall and water-supply for the whole kingdom, -with a view to proper economy. It is a question -which becomes more and more important with the -increase of population and consequent multiplication -of machinery. When the Metropolitan -Board of Works are about to ask parliament for -leave to undertake the water-supply of London, -the proportions of the question may be assumed -to be at their largest; and storage of rainfall and -of flood-waters, prevention of pollution, and the -best way of obtaining absolutely pure water, -together with other topics, will have to be treated -with serious consideration.</p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SPRING">SPRING.</h2> -</div> - - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Oft</span> let me wander hand in hand with Thought</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In woodland paths and lone sequestered shades,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What time the sunny banks and mossy glades</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With dewy wreaths of early violets wrought,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Into the air their fragrant incense fling,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To greet the triumph of the youthful Spring.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lo! where she comes! ’scaped from the icy lair</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of hoary Winter; wanton free and fair!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now smile the heavens again upon the earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bright hill and bosky dell resound with mirth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And voices full of laughter and wild glee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shout through the air, pregnant with harmony,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wake poor sobbing Echo, who replies</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With sleeping voice that softly, slowly dies.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ERRATUM">ERRATUM.</h2> -</div> - - -<p>[The verses which appeared in last month’s issue, -entitled <i>The Well-known Spot</i>, were signed by mistake -<span class="smcap">Astley H. Baldwin</span> instead of <span class="smcap">F. G. Elliott</span>. We -take this opportunity of rectifying the error.]</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center">Printed and Published by <span class="smcap">W. & R. Chambers</span>, 47 Paternoster -Row, <span class="smcap">London</span>, and 339 High Street, <span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>.</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center"><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular -Literature, Science, and Art,, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, FEB 23, 1878 *** - -***** This file should be named 62226-h.htm or 62226-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/2/62226/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - - - -</pre> - -</body> -</html> diff --git a/old/62226-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/62226-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a5832cb..0000000 --- a/old/62226-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62226-h/images/header.png b/old/62226-h/images/header.png Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a93e37b..0000000 --- a/old/62226-h/images/header.png +++ /dev/null |
