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diff --git a/old/51100-0.txt b/old/51100-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4ac8552..0000000 --- a/old/51100-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2222 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, -Science, and Art, No. 726, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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/license - - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 726 - November 24, 1877 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: February 1, 2016 [EBook #51100] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. - -Fourth Series - -CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS. - -NO. 726. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1877. PRICE 1½_d._] - - - - -WAR AND TELEGRAPHY. - - -It is vexing, even saddening, to think how large an amount of -discovery, invention, and skill is applied to the murderous purposes of -war. As we advance in civilisation, armies become larger and larger, -and more abundantly supplied with agencies we would willingly see -devoted to more peaceful purposes. Whether wars of race, wars of creed, -wars of ambition, or wars of national vanity, the result is much about -the same in this respect. Some consolers tell us that wars by-and-by -will become so terrible as to check the desire to wage them: let us -hope so, despite present symptoms. - -Science has unquestionably rendered a vast amount of aid to attack -and defence in war within the last few years. Gunpowder, gun-cotton, -dynamite, and other explosive substances for fire-arms, torpedoes, -and military mining have had their properties and relative powers -investigated with remarkable completeness. Gun-carriages have -been so vastly improved, that by Captain Scott's contrivances a -six-hundred-pounder can be managed as easily and quickly as a -thirty-two-pounder could in the days of our fathers or grandfathers; -while by Major Moncrieff's automatic apparatus a gun lowers itself -behind the screen of a parapet or earthen battery for loading, and then -raises itself twelve or fifteen feet to fire over it. - -Photography, again, is applied in a great variety of ways to aid -warlike operations. At the office of the Ordnance Survey, or under the -supervision of the Director, an amazing number of such photographs are -taken, enlarged or reduced from the original dimensions according to -circumstances, and multiplied or prepared for printing by a very rapid -process of zincography or some other kind of electro-engraving. One of -the Reports issued by the Director tells us that he supplies the War -Office with photographs of plans of battles, important fortified posts -and their surrounding districts, barracks and forts in all parts of -the British dominions, &c. All the equipments of troops for the field -are similarly photographed or zincographed, as unerring patterns for -reference. For such wars as we have been engaged in during the past -five-and-twenty years (happily few in number), such as the Crimean, -Abyssinian, and Ashanti campaigns, photographs and zincographs have -been supplied in large number to the officers, illustrating all details -which the home authorities have been able to ascertain, and which are -likely to be useful in the intended operations. - -What are we to say of the _torpedo_, and its management by electricity? -This is really a wonderful subject, the influence of which on future -naval warfare even the most skilled and experienced officers can only -dimly surmise. We know that during the civil war in America, the -Federal torpedoes wrought more destruction on the Confederate ships -than all the guns in the Federal fleet; that, on the other hand, the -Confederate torpedoes so effectually guarded the approach to Richmond -up James River, that a hostile flotilla was compelled to retire baffled -and disappointed. One unlucky Federal ship unwittingly passed over a -submerged torpedo at the moment of explosion. And with what result? -'The hull of the ship was visibly lifted out of the water, the boiler -exploded, the smoke-funnels were carried away, and the crew projected -into the air with extreme velocity. Out of the crew of one hundred and -twenty-seven men, only three remained alive--the vessel itself being -blown to atoms.' The arrangements have been so much improved since that -time, that messages can be sent across a river or estuary from shore to -shore through the very wire which is to discharge the torpedo! In every -naval war during the last few years, torpedoes have been more or less -employed. In what way the weaker Russian fleet has been able to baffle -the stronger fleet of the Turks in the struggle of 1877, the newspapers -have told us in full detail. There is no necessity for pursuing this -part of the subject further, seeing that it was lately treated with -some degree of fullness in our pages. - -But the greatest marvel of all, in regard to the application of -electricity to warlike purposes, is the _electric telegraph_. -We know what service the lightning-messenger renders to society -generally in the peaceful daily maintenance of commercial and social -intercommunication; and military men now know what a potent instrument -it is in the conduct of field-operations and siege-works. An officer -well qualified to judge affirms that the memorable Franco-German War, -so disastrous to France, could not have been carried on without the aid -of the electric telegraph by the German forces. The warlike struggles -engaged in by various European powers in the Crimea, in India during -the Mutiny, in China, in New Zealand, in the Austro-Italian provinces, -in Morocco by the Spaniards, in America by the Federals and the -Confederates, in Holstein during the brief Dano-German War, in Bohemia -during the still briefer Austro-Prussian War, in Abyssinia, in France -during the struggle against the Germans, in Ashanti--all these were -marked by the adoption of the electric telegraph to a greater or less -extent. - -Many of us remember, from the vivid descriptions written by the -special correspondents of the daily newspapers, how terrible were -the sufferings of the British troops in the Crimea during the winter -of 1854-5, engaged in trench-work and other siege-operations under -almost every kind of privation. But we also know how impossible it -would have been to learn the news quickly in England and to send -instructions, without the aid of telegraphy. An electric cable was for -this very purpose submerged in the Black Sea from the Turkish mainland -to the Crimea; while on land, wires were set up from Balaklava to the -headquarters outside Sebastopol. Thus it was that daily messages could -be exchanged between Lord Raglan's headquarters and the War Office in -London--also between the special correspondents of the daily papers -and their employers in Fleet Street or Printing House Square. So in -like manner, during the struggle arising out of the Indian Mutiny, the -advancing British columns contrived, wherever possible, to maintain -unbroken telegraphic communication with Calcutta, whereby the viceroy -was kept informed of what was going on. Of course the mutineers or -rebels destroyed or disrupted the wires wherever and whenever they -could; and to repair the damage thus inflicted formed no small part of -the arduous duties of the British officers. - -Our little but expensive war in Abyssinia in 1868, marked by a less -shedding of blood than almost any other war in modern times, was -an engineers' war from first to last. A wild and unknown country -was surveyed and accurately mapped out, four hundred miles of -road constructed, tube-wells sunk, photographs of various useful -kinds taken, and a telegraphic system established. The telegraphic -arrangements first made had to be abandoned, owing to the scantiness -of the facilities for transporting the necessary materials. The more -restricted plan actually adopted was difficult enough, so limited -were the means of obtaining wood for telegraph poles. On approaching -Magdala, however, Captain St John (who had the management of this part -of the engineering) succeeded in laying down from five to ten miles -a day. Short as was the war, this telegraph conveyed more than seven -thousand eight hundred messages during the five months of its working, -and aided most materially in giving effect to General (now Lord) -Napier's well-planned and successful scheme of operations. - -Our strange Ashanti War gave further evidence of the formation of a -telegraph line through a wild country inhabited by a barbarous people. -Lieutenant Jekyll, who had the management of this work, has given a -lively account of the difficulties that beset him, and his mode of -overcoming them. It was at first intended to fight the war with native -levies and to lay down a railway; but Sir Garnet Wolseley, on landing -to take the command, soon found that the natives were not sufficiently -reliable, that the country was almost impracticable for a railway, that -he must have English troops, and that an electric telegraph would be a -highly useful aid. Lieutenant Jekyll, with a small staff, went inland -and bought bamboo canes of the blacks, set them up as posts, and laid -his wires from Cape Coast Castle to Coomassie at the rate of about two -miles a day. A gang of fifty natives helped him. Of these worthies -he says: 'They were not promising in appearance, and I was compelled -to dispense with the services of those who were _less than four feet -high_! (We italicise these words to shew what pigmies many of the West -Africans are.) But they had with them an intelligent headman; and by -dint of supervision, supplemented by a little flogging once now and -then, turned out a tolerably useful body for light work, as niggers -go.' The line was extended by degrees as far as Accrofumu, about a -hundred miles from the coast. An amusing proof was afforded of the -tendency of the natives to regard the telegraph as a kind of fetich, -charm, or spell. The English one day saw bits of white cotton-thread -suspended from tree to tree for several miles, as if to obtain thereby -some of the mysterious benefits which the white man evidently expected -from the wire. When the native helpers received small electric shocks -occasionally, consequent on the testing or using of the line, they -made sure that a charm was at work; and the lieutenant was half afraid -his men would run away in terror. The climate was very trying to the -English, who, lying ill with fever, got the natives to rouse them when -any movements of the receiving apparatus were observed. Nevertheless, -this telegraphic line rendered services much more than compensatory for -the expense, difficulty, and anxiety of laying, maintaining, and using -it. - -The truly wonderful and eventful Franco-German War of 1870-1 exhibited -the value of electro-telegraphy with a completeness never equalled -before or since. A foretaste had been given in the Austro-Prussian or -'Seven Weeks' War' of 1866; when four complete and distinct telegraphic -organisations were adopted--one with Prince Frederick-William's fine -army; one with that of Prince Charles; one at the king's headquarters; -and one in reserve. Each could lay down wires as fast as the -headquarters could advance. The speedy termination of the war averted -the necessity of constructing field-telegraphs, such as those about to -be described. - -When the German forces advanced to Paris in the closing months -of 1870, the plan pursued with the telegraph was as follows: The -ordinary commercial and railway telegraphs were gradually extended -over the frontier into France, as the German armies advanced. The -field or _étappen_ telegraphs maintained communication between the -base of operations, the ammunition dépôts, and the advanced columns -of the various army corps. When the sappers and miners had pushed on -to the vicinity of Paris, the ubiquitous wire travelled with them. -The materials used were light and simple; the operators employed -to transmit and receive messages had been trained in the state -establishments; and headquarters were kept instantly informed of -any observed movements on the part of the French. The telegraph was -indeed in constant use by the Germans--for arranging the transport -of ammunition; for hourly communication with the commissariat; for -directing the conveyance to Germany of sick and wounded, as well as -prisoners; for regulating the traffic on the field railways; for -maintaining unbroken connection between the troops, which formed -a belt of ninety miles' circumference around Paris; for summoning -reinforcements to any point where suddenly needed; and to send news of -any gap in the continuity of the immense ring of soldiers encircling -the beleaguered city. - -If any evidence were needed of the invaluable services rendered by the -electric telegraph in the war just noticed, it was furnished by M. Von -Chauvin, who attended before a Committee of the House of Commons on -Postal Telegraphs in 1876. He stated in distinct terms that the war -could not have been carried on without this potent aid. - -Our own English system of war telegraphy, organised at Chatham, has -been improved from time to time. Light iron telegraph poles are -provided, to support insulated wires. There is a travelling office on -wheels for the operators; while the materials are carried in specially -constructed wagons. So strong is the wire that wheels may go over -it; and therefore the line is laid above ground or _on_ the ground -according to circumstances. Spikes of peculiar form enable the wires -to be hung on trees or walls to meet the contingencies of towns and -villages. The nucleus of the staff of operators is a small body of -Royal Engineers, under their own officers, comprising about fifty -military men, with occasional assistance from others--well organised -into superintendents, inspectors, clerks, linesmen, storemen, artisans, -and labourers. The wagons for materials contain drums on which the wire -is coiled; this is unrolled as the wagon moves on, which is as fast as -the operators can lay the line. At the present time, ten thousand miles -of prepared wire are said to be kept in store, ready for any exigences. - -We might go on to notice the aid furnished to warlike operations by the -electric light; as for instance, at Paris in the closing weeks of 1870, -when such a light on Montmartre enabled the Parisians to gather some -knowledge of what the besiegers were about at night. But enough: the -brief summary above given will suffice to shew how electricity is used -in war. - - - - -NEARLY WRECKED. - - -CHAPTER III.--WILFRED'S LETTER. - -Time went by, and nothing happened to justify Mabel's fears. Wilfred -seemed to be working hard and getting on well. His talent was -pronounced unmistakable by the master under whom he was placed, and -he himself was in good spirits about his future. But before very long -matters began to change. His letters to Mabel were less frequent and -shorter than they had been; he spoke with less openness and frankness -of his doings; and it was evident to her that there was a _something_ -which he was careful to keep from her. - -She longed to see Mr Merton, to hear from him what news he had of his -son, and whether his ideas about Wilfred corresponded with her own; but -she dared not speak to him about it. She knew how hard he had always -been to Wilfred, how intolerant of all his faults; and she knew well -there would be little mercy to be hoped for him at his father's hands -if, as she suspected, he had been taking more to pleasure and less to -work lately. She dared not even speak to her father of what she feared, -for could she expect even him to think as leniently of her dear one as -she did? So she had to go on from day to day keeping her trouble--which -was not less difficult to bear because it was only suspected--to -herself. - -At last, when Wilfred had been about nine months in Paris, but too -certain proof arrived of how true her suspicions had been. Mr Colherne -was staying away from home--a very unusual proceeding, and Mabel was -left alone. He had gone to pass a few days with a friend in Scotland, -whither it had been impracticable for his daughter to accompany him. - -The morning after his departure, Mabel came down to breakfast rather -later than usual, singing a snatch of one of her favourite ditties, and -burst open the dining-room door in a way that was indicative of her -lively feelings. Her eye lighted upon a letter that was lying in her -plate; the writing was that of Wilfred Merton. The missive was almost -illegible and very brief, and acted upon her gay spirits like a sudden -freezing. It ran as follows: - - MY DARLING MABEL--I must write a few words, the last you will - ever have from me, to tell you that whatever may appear, - however any one may try to persuade you, I still love you; - love you, as I have done all my life, with all the best part - of my nature. Believe that, Mabel, my own, always. I write to - say good-bye, for I shall never see you again; and yet I never - longed to see you as I do at this moment. I feel half mad now, - and hardly know what I am writing. How shall I say it; I have - nothing to live for, except disgrace, and I will not live for - that, I am resolved. Once more, good-bye, dearest and best. Try - to forgive me, and then forget me, as every one else in the - world will soon do. - - WILFRED MERTON. - -For an instant Mabel sat quite still, gazing straight before her with -one expression, that of blank despair, upon her face. This sudden -fearful shock had quite stunned her. But she was not a girl to remain -inactive, simply grieving over misfortune, when there was anything to -be done. Her resolution was promptly taken. She rang, and a servant -appeared. - -'Tell Hawkesley to bring the brougham round as soon as he possibly -can,' she said; 'tell him not to mind how it looks, but to be at the -door as soon as possible.' - -'Is anything the matter, miss?' said the man, astonished at this order. - -'Yes. I have no time to lose.' - -'Is it master, miss?' he asked, with that dreadful habit of his class -of questioning instead of doing what is wanted. - -'No; papa is quite well. But don't stop now; go yourself to the stable; -I haven't a minute to waste.' - -In a few minutes more she was seated in the brougham which was fast -making its way to Mr Merton's bank in the City. - - -CHAPTER IV.--THE JOURNEY. - -Mr Merton was sitting in the private office of his counting-house with -a large book open before him. Just as he was in the middle of some -calculation which, to judge from the expression of his face, was pretty -abstruse, the door opened and a clerk entered. The banker looked up -with no appearance of being pleased at the interruption. - -'What is it, Mr Chester?' he said, rather angrily. - -'There is a young lady, sir, who says she must see you as soon as -possible, and alone.' - -'O nonsense. I can't possibly attend to her. Don't you know who she is?' - -'No, sir; she wouldn't give me her name, nor tell me her business. -I said that I was sure you couldn't see her; but she said it was -absolutely necessary that you should do so, and that you would know her -directly.' - -'You must tell her that it is out of the question for me to see her, if -she will not send word who she is, or what she wants.' - -'There's no good, sir; I have told her so. But she is quite determined -to come; and I thought I had better speak to you, as it seemed so -strange to have her waiting about there.' - -'Well, in that case I suppose you must shew her in.' - -The clerk withdrew, and in an instant returned with a young lady who -had a thick veil over her face. Having ushered her into the room, he -withdrew and shut the door, leaving Mr Merton and his visitor alone. - -No sooner was the door closed than the lady put up her veil and -disclosed the features of Mabel Colherne. - -'Why, Mabel!' said Mr Merton, appearing considerably more surprised -than pleased at finding who his visitor was; 'what in the world brings -you here?' - -Mabel for her only answer put Wilfred's letter into his father's hands. -He read it through without shewing any signs of either surprise or -regret, and when he had finished it, handed it back to her without -speaking. - -'Well, Mr Merton?' she said, feeling impatient at his silence. - -'Well, Mabel?' he returned. - -'Have you read the letter?' - -'Most certainly.' - -'And have you nothing to say?' - -'What _am_ I to say?' - -'Mr Merton,' exclaimed Mabel, hardly able to control herself, 'can you -read such a letter from your son, and not care about it?' - -'I have given up thinking of Wilfred as my son at all, Mabel. I gave -him the chance of rising in his odious profession by sending him to -Paris, and what has been his conduct in return for my kindness? He has -done nothing but amuse himself, and get into all kinds of disreputable -mischief. I should have told you all this before, and tried to persuade -you to break off with him; but I did not do so; in the first place, -because I was sure you would not listen to me; and in the second, -because I did not want to be the means of cutting him off from your -affection, and thus rendering his amendment impossible.' - -'I have been afraid that something has been going wrong with Wilfred -lately. I wish you had told me before; I might have been able to -influence him for good.' - -'I don't believe that any influence in the world would be useful to -him; he is a thoroughly worthless fellow. I paid his debts once upon -condition that he would contract no more, but I might have saved myself -the trouble; within a month he wanted more money. I was not going to be -guilty a second time of the weakness of saving him from difficulties he -had brought upon himself, in spite too of all my warnings; so I wrote -back to say that I would have no more to do with him.' - -'Mr Merton, you will not keep to such a cruel resolution now, with such -a letter as this before you?' - -'Are you so weak, Mabel, as to be taken in by such nonsense as this? -Don't you see that being unable to get at me, he is simply trying what -he can do with you?' - -'No, Mr Merton; I don't believe that, and won't for a moment. I trust -my own instinct, which is a woman's natural guide, and generally a -very sure one, and I am certain that Wilfred intends doing something -desperate.' - -'I have told you before now that my son is a foolish weak fellow, and -not worth anybody's love.' - -'What is that to me, Mr Merton?' exclaimed Mabel, exasperated beyond -endurance. '_I_ love him, and I can hardly be expected to stand quietly -by and let him be ruined, because the affection you ought to bear your -son is wanting in your nature. Who knows but that the treatment he thus -received under his own father's roof may have'---- - -'What do you wish me to do? What is there that _can_ be done?' cried Mr -Merton, interrupting the girl's impassioned burst. - -'I want you to go with me to Paris to see Wilfred, that we may take him -away from harm, if it be not too late. If papa had been at home now, -he would, I am sure, have gone with me; but I could not wait till he -comes.' - -'You can hardly be serious in proposing for me to go on such a wild -expedition as that, I think?' - -'Mr Merton, I am quite sure that that letter means more than you think; -and I am determined that he shall not be left to be ruined without an -attempt to save him. If you will not come I must and will go alone.' - -'You are mad, Mabel! Go to Paris alone, and to see this worthless -fellow! What do you suppose the world would say of such conduct?' - -'I can't think of that when the person I love best on earth is in such -danger, as I am sure Wilfred is now, and there is a chance, however -faint it may be, of my saving him. I can answer to heaven and my own -conscience for what I am going to do, and I must brave the world. I -shall write and tell papa what I have done, and I am sure that he will -follow me as soon as possible. Good-bye, Mr Merton; there is no use in -my stopping here longer.' - -'Stay, Mabel!' he began, detaining her as she rose. 'I cannot possibly -allow you to go alone, and I have of course no power of interfering -with your actions. If you really are bent upon this scheme, which -I still think an utterly mad one, I must, for the sake of my own -reputation as much as for yours, accompany you.' - -'Believe me that my fears are not uncalled for. I am sure something -dreadful is going to happen to Wilfred, and I only dread being too late -even now. I am very thankful you are going with me; and am certain that -you will never repent it.' - -'No thanks: it is only necessity that makes me do it. When do you -start?' - -'To-night, if possible.' - -Mr Merton looked into a Bradshaw that was lying upon the table. 'The -train to meet the night-boat leaves London at half-past eight; to catch -that you must start from your house at half-past seven.' - -'I will do that. Will you meet me at the station?' - -'Yes; I will be there at a quarter past eight.' - -'Good-bye till then; and thank you again a thousand times.' - -Mr Merton attended her to the outer door of the office, and she drove -home well satisfied with her mission. Writing to her father, to tell -him everything, and what she was going to do, she packed a small box -to take with her, and then did little else but wish the day, which -seemed interminable, gone. Long before it was necessary, she was at the -station; and punctual to the appointed minute, Mr Merton appeared. - -After a journey that to Mabel seemed endless, they at length reached -Paris, and drove straight to the hotel in which Wilfred lived. - -As they stopped, Mr Merton said: 'You may depend upon it we shall -find our trouble wasted, and that the object of your anxiety is out -somewhere amusing himself.' - -Mabel did not answer. She could hear her heart beat as she sprang -out of the cab; and without waiting for her companion, entered the -court-yard of the hotel, and went to the den appropriated to the -_concierge_. That gentleman was reading a newspaper, in which he seemed -much interested, and did not look up as she came near him. - -'Monsieur Merton, est-il chez-lui?' she asked breathlessly. - -The concierge put his finger against the word he was reading, in mute -protest against being interrupted, and looking slowly up, said rather -dreamily: 'Plaît-il, Madame?' - -'Monsieur Merton, est-il chez-lui?' she repeated more eagerly than -before. - -The man turned round, and walking with the most provoking deliberation -to the other end of the room, where numerous keys were hanging, looked -at the place appropriated to the one belonging to Wilfred's room, and -seeing that it was unoccupied, came back to Mabel and answered: 'Oui, -Madame.' - -'Quel est le numéro de sa chambre?' - -'Soixante-deux, au cinquième,' said the concierge, returning to his -paper as he finished speaking. - -Mr Merton had paid the driver and joined Mabel as this conversation -came to an end, and they started to mount the stairs to the fifth floor -as directed. - -Even Mabel's youth and energy could not prevent her from getting out -of breath in that long climb; and by the time she and Mr Merton had -arrived at the fourth floor, they were obliged to stop and rest. - -Before they had stood an instant, they were startled by a loud report -of a pistol coming from the floor above them. With a loud scream, -Mabel sped up the remaining stairs and entered the room named by the -concierge. - -Mr Merton came almost instantly after her, and found Wilfred lying -insensible on the floor, and Mabel kneeling by his side, trying to -restore consciousness. - - -CHAPTER V.--SAVED. - -Within an hour, two of the most skilful physicians that Paris could -boast were with Wilfred Merton. And when they left him, their verdict -was not one to give much hope. He had shot himself in the chest, -and it was very doubtful whether he would recover from that fearful -self-inflicted wound. - -Mr Merton's anguish during those long days and nights while Wilfred -lay at death's door was terrible to behold. Alienated as had been his -affection for his son while absent, the feelings of parental love -returned tenfold, now that he might be on the point of losing that -son for ever; and as he nursed his boy with that womanly gentleness -which is so touching in a man, it was evident that his whole hope of -happiness was bound up in his recovery. - -Mr Colherne had, as Mabel predicted, lost no time in following her to -Paris, and though he could hardly feel the intense and painful interest -in the invalid that his father felt, still for Mabel's sake he became a -willing sharer in the nursing. - -As for Mabel, hope was very strong in her, and made that time of -watching much easier to bear. She could not help believing that that -strong determination to cross the Channel had been put into her mind to -enable her to save the one who was so dear to her; and in that belief -she put her trust. - -At last, after long, weary, sometimes almost despairing watching, the -patient took a favourable turn. The burning fever ceased; and one day -the doctor told the anxious watchers that there was great hope; that -indeed, unless any unforeseen complications arose, there was nothing -further to fear. - -Then the pent-up feelings of Mr Merton--that grief which he had tried -so unsuccessfully to conceal from his companions, could be kept in no -longer; he threw his arms round Mabel's neck, buried his face on her -shoulder, and burst into tears, those tears which, when shed by a man, -are so inexpressibly painful to see. - -'Mabel,' he said, 'I owe all this to you; if it had not been for you, I -should have been my son's murderer.' - -Mabel pressed her lips upon his forehead in silence; her heart was too -full of thankfulness for speech. - -Wilfred was very patient, and manfully bore all the trials of the time. -As soon as he was well enough to be able to think of what he had done, -a feeling of intense remorse had come over him, and had taken such -powerful hold that at first it threatened to throw him back. But the -gentle hand of Mabel was a wonderful restorer; a word or two of loving -assurance changed this bitter remorse into a quiet sorrow. It happened -one day, about a week after this, that while Mabel was reading at the -window of the invalid's room, she heard Wilfred's voice gently calling -to her. It was as if the voice of her lover had been suddenly restored -to him. - -'Can you forgive me, my darling?' he asked. - -'Am I not a woman, Wilfred? And is it not a woman's privilege to -forgive?' - -'I don't think you are a woman, Mabel; I think you are an angel.' Few -words, but conveying volumes. - -From that moment her lover began to mend steadily, though still slowly; -every day there was more and more to hope, until at length Wilfred was -pronounced wholly out of danger. And then one evening in the dusk, -when the lamps were being lighted in the street below them, and the -increased hum and buzz of the later day were coming on, Wilfred and -Mabel found themselves again alone. - -'Mabel,' he said in a low voice, when they had been quite silent for -a long time, 'I have been wanting an opportunity to tell you all the -wrong that I have done. Shall I tell you now?' - -'Yes, Wilfred, now--in this twilight light.' She slid her hand into his -as she spoke, and they remained in that position while he told her his -story. - -There was nothing new about it; it was the old story. Led by bad -companions into temptations, his naturally lively and weak nature was -not able to resist; ashamed of himself for his own conduct when he -found himself outrunning his allowance, and obliged to apply to his -father for help. Thrown into despair by his father's harsh conduct -to him, he had plunged still more wildly into the excesses and -dissipations of his leaders, till at last, horrified at what he was -doing, and seeing no means of escape from the snares in which he had -allowed himself to be caught, he had written that letter to Mabel; -had waited, vaguely hoping for he knew not what, for some days, and -had ultimately sought to put an end to himself in a fit of intense -depression. Weakness, that shoal which is even more fatal, because -more hidden than wickedness, had wrecked him, as it has wrecked so -many. In the deep remorse that he now felt, he greatly exaggerated the -wickedness of his conduct, for though he had been guilty of grievous -folly, he had done no positive or irremediable wrong either to himself -or others. The only actual definite sin he had committed was the -suicidal one, from the consequences of which Mabel's resolution had -happily saved him. - -When he had finished this history, he paused an instant, and then -added, without looking at her: 'And now, Mabel, that you have heard -all this, do you still say that you forgive me? Can you still love me?' - -'A love would be very useless, Wilfred, that deserted its object just -when it was most wanted; I hope my love is a truer one than that.' - -'Mabel, my beloved,' said he, drawing her closer to him as he spoke, -'if it had not been for you, I should have been beyond the power of -repentance now. Your affection has saved me once, and it shall keep me -from harm now, for ever!' - -Before very many years had gone by, Wilfred Merton's name was known as -that of a successful young painter. He and his wife were settled in -London, and were able to live in very comfortable style. They had no -children, which was their only serious drawback to happiness; but if -ever Wilfred, seeing his wife look longingly at some merry group of -little ones, and guessing her thoughts, tried to console her, she would -put her hand into his and say, her truthful eyes looking full at him as -she spoke: 'I have you, Wilfred, beside me, and I am content.' - - * * * * * - -The foregoing narrative, which is founded upon events which actually -took place, may be turned to advantage by those parents who are prone -to thwart the natural inclinations of their children, or cut them -adrift without a proper guide. The career of many a man has been -blighted by the mistaken, though perhaps well-meant policy of a father -who, desirous to see his son follow up his own profession, has tried to -compel that son to work contrary to his inclination, with results more -or less disastrous. - - - - -GEMS AT RANDOM STRUNG. - - -The history of precious stones, those beautiful objects which have -strongly appealed to the imagination of men in all ages, has been -written many times; and yet their latest chronicler is doubtless -justified in assuming that the knowledge of them in its practical sense -is not widespread; that even in the jeweller's trade there are many who -are not skilled in detecting the real measure of difference between -one stone and another, either by the specific gravity, which supplies -the essential test, or by the minor tests of rarity and quality. In -treating of the history and distinguishing characteristics of _Precious -Stones and Gems_, Mr Streeter has certainly conferred a benefit on -'the trade;' to the general reader the book can hardly fail to be of -interest, for it puts a captivating subject before him under a variety -of aspects, and appeals successfully to imagination as well as to taste -for exact knowledge. - -From the magnificent specimens which the rescued Sindbad carried away -with him when he tied himself with his turban to the roc's leg, on -through a long succession of fable and of history, diamonds will never -cease to enchant mankind, having always taken the lead in interest, as -they have been supreme in value among those treasures of the mineral -kingdom which are called gems or precious stones. Ages before men -discovered that their beauty could be enhanced by handiwork, their -rarity and their price had endowed them with a surpassing charm; and -now, when handiwork has been brought almost to perfection, and science -has dispelled the mystery with which the diamond was invested, they -maintain their immemorial supremacy. In company with Mr Streeter we may -trace the beautiful things from their habitat in India, the Brazils, -South Africa, the Ural Mountains, and Australia, through their history -in the ancient times and in medieval days, when they formed the theme -of many fables and the object of much superstition. - -The diamond dwells in the same lands and in the same strata with many -other gems, but it is the most precious as it is the most difficult to -find; and though its nature resembles theirs in many respects, in one -it is unique--it is the hardest of all known substances, and belongs to -those bodies which refract light most strongly. Its magnifying power -is greater than that of glass; but it is seldom used for microscopic -lenses, owing to the great difficulty of making them perfectly -accurate. It was believed to possess double refraction, but that has -been disproved; and the deviation which gave rise to the error is -traced to the existence of internal air-bubbles, as in amber, by which -the course of the light is altered. It is the triumph of cutting to -exhibit these qualities to the highest degree, and thus did Babinet, a -great authority on diamonds, test them. 'In a sheet of white paper he -bored a hole somewhat larger than the diamond to be tested: he let a -ray of sunlight pass through the hole, and holding the diamond a little -distance from it, yet at such an angle as to allow the ray to alight -on a point of the flat facet, he found this facet to be forthwith -represented on the paper as a white figure, whilst all around little -rainbow circles were delineated. If the observer found the primary -colours red, yellow, and blue definitely separated one from the other -in these little circles, and if their number were considerable, and -they stood at equal distances from each other, then he pronounced the -brilliant to be well cut.' - -From Mr Streeter we learn that in commercial estimation, coloured -gems stand far behind the diamond; insomuch, he tells us, that this -stone represents ninety per cent., and the others altogether only ten -per cent. of the quantity on sale. A hundred years ago, Brazil became -the rival of India in the production of diamonds, and the finders -were the poor mulattos and negroes, who explored for them the sterile -wilds of Minas-Novas, and sold them to the merchants. The story of -the discovery of these gems at Bahia is as follows: A slave who came -from Minas-Geräes was tending his master's flocks in Bahia, and he -noticed that the soil resembled that of his native place. He groped -in the sand and found seven hundred carats of diamonds. He ran away, -and offered the gems for sale in a distant city. Of course such wealth -in the hands of a slave aroused suspicion, and the negro was arrested -and sent back to his master, who tried in vain to come at a knowledge -of his secret. At last he bethought him of sending the slave again to -tend his flocks at Bahia, and he watched him. Again the slave-shepherd -groped in the gem-hiding sand, and the truth was discovered. Then came -numbers of wealth-seekers from Minas-Geräes and other parts of Brazil, -so that the next year twenty-five thousand men were diamond-hunting in -Bahia, and the amount daily obtained for some time rose to one thousand -four hundred and fifty carats. The trade was a prerogative of the -Portuguese crown, and Lisbon was the chief emporium of the gems. The -precious things are of fluctuating value. In 1836 they were very dear; -but in 1848 the price fell; and a few years ago there was 'a glut in -the market,' in consequence of Dom Pedro's having paid the Brazilian -state debt to England in diamonds instead of money, when the price fell -fifty per cent. in the Leipsic market. - -Mr Streeter, who has great faith in the future of Queensland as a -diamond-field, gives a most interesting account of the discoveries in -New South Wales, that wonderful colony, whose long-delayed luck has -come at last, and from all sides at once; but dwells at length and with -exultation upon the Cape diamond-fields. 'South Africa,' he says, 'is -richer, and its produce is far more to the purpose of modern history, -and to the supply of the precious stones, which form our wealth of -gems, than the old diamond-fields of the East or West.' The history of -the discovery of gems in the colonies partakes of the romance which -attended the discovery of gold; and is not free from the tradition -of crime and misfortune, which rests upon similar revelations in the -Old World. Idle as are the superstitions which impute specific evil -influences to certain gems, it is not to be denied that there have been -many instances of 'fatal jewels;' and that cruelty, injustice, and -terrible human suffering have attended the rifling of the earth's bosom -for those mysterious treasures formed by her wonderful chemistry from -an invisible component of the atmosphere. Many of the strange stories -of medieval alchemists deal with the attempt to make diamonds, and Mr -Streeter tells us of the experiments which have determined their nature -and combustibility. There is a fascination to the imagination in the -following description of the burning of diamonds: - -'In 1750 the Emperor Francis I., at Vienna, subjected, in the presence -of the chemist Darzet, diamonds and rubies worth six thousand florins -to the heat of a smelting-furnace for twenty-four hours. The diamonds -were found to have totally disappeared; but the rubies remained, and -appeared much more beautiful than before. In 1771 a magnificent diamond -was burned at Paris in the laboratory of the chemist Macquer. Hence -arose a great discussion. The diamond had disappeared; but whither? -Had it volatilised? Had it burned? Had it exploded? No one could -say. Then stepped forward a celebrated jeweller, by name Le Blanc, -who asserted the indestructibility of the diamond in the furnace, -stating that he had often placed diamonds in an intense fire to purify -them from certain blemishes, and that they had never suffered the -smallest injury.' (This has been done also by Mr Streeter with similar -results.) 'The chemists D'Arcet and Bonelle then demanded of him that -he should make the experiment on the spot in their presence. He took -some diamonds, inclosed them in a mass of coal and lime in a crucible, -and submitted them to the action of the fire. He had no doubt that he -should find them safe. At the end of three hours, on looking into the -crucible, they had utterly disappeared.' - -Then appeared upon the scene the famous Lavoisier, he to whom the -Convention refused a fortnight's reprieve from the guillotine, just as -he was on the threshold of a probably sublime discovery in the science -of light; Fouquier-Tinville returning him for answer that the Republic -had no need of chemists and _savants_. In the presence of Lavoisier, -Maillard, another jeweller, took three diamonds and closely packed them -in powdered charcoal in an earthen pipe-bowl in a strong fire; and when -the pot was taken out, there lay the diamonds in the powdered charcoal -untouched. It was, however, gradually discovered that it was only by -entirely shutting out the air, and therefore the oxygen with which the -carbon combines, that the diamonds were preserved from burning; whereas -by the simple admission of air, of which oxygen is a constituent -part, diamonds burn just the same as common coal. This was proved -by Lavoisier in 1776; and Davy subsequently shewed that the diamond -contains no hydrogen. So, when the most precious object which the earth -produces is burned, the gas formed from its combustion is just that -which our fires and our gas-burners yield, and our own bodies too, -by the combustion which attends their living; and, says Mr Streeter, -'the old fable of the maiden from whose lips fell diamonds, may have -a really scientific basis after all.' It takes immense heat to burn a -diamond, and if it were possible to collect the black material which -covers the surface during the process, it would be found to be simply -soot. - -The origin of the diamond is still a matter of scientific investigation -and dispute; and the various opinions concerning it may be collected -under two heads: (1) The diamond is formed immediately from carbon or -carbonic acid by the action of heat. (2) It is formed from the gradual -decomposition of vegetable matter. The various methods by which the -supporters of the respective theories suppose the transformation to -have been wrought, are full of interest and suggestion. In Brazil it -was discovered that the matrix of the diamond is itacolumite, and it -is said that the gems obtained from itacolumite sandstone have rounded -angles and corners, whilst those from the sandy schist are perfect -crystals. 'If,' says Mr Streeter, 'this be a fact, we must believe that -the agency which changed the sandstone into itacolumite acted also on -the diamond.' - -Whether in the mines or by the rivers, whose 'golden sands' are flecked -with gems, in rich Brazil, the labour of procuring these beautiful -gems is great, and large specimens are rarely found; so rarely, that -big diamonds have their histories--terrible histories too often--like -heroes and race-horses. They are weighed by the carat, a word which -Mr Streeter considers to have been derived from the name of a bean, a -species of _Erythrina_, which grows in Africa. 'The tree which yields -this fruit is called by the natives "kuara" (sun), and both blossom -and fruit are of a golden colour. The bean when dried is nearly always -of the same weight, and thus in very remote times it was used in -Schangallas, the chief market of Africa, as a standard of weight for -gold. The beans were afterwards imported into India, and were then -used for weighing the diamond.' It is estimated that in ten thousand -diamonds rarely more than _one_ weighing twenty carats is met with, -while possibly eight thousand of one carat or less may be encountered. -An elaborate system of rewards and punishments is adopted in the -Brazilian mining and river-searching works; but it is believed that in -spite of this, one-third of the produce is surreptitiously disposed of -by the labourers. - -The histories of those world-famous diamonds the Sancy, the Regent, -the Koh-i-noor, the Blue (or Hope) diamond, and others, have been -related before, and history and romance have dealt with the misery -and crime, the evil passions and the mystic fancies, involved in the -stories of some of these. In a few lines Mr Streeter gives a sketch -of the Brazilian contribution to this many-chaptered story, which is -not generally known. 'The discovery of these precious stones in 1746,' -he says, 'proved a great curse to the poor inhabitants of the banks -of the diamond rivers. Scarcely had the news of the discovery reached -the government, ere they tried to secure the riches of these rivers -for the crown. To effect this, the inhabitants were driven away from -their houses to wild far-away places, and deprived of their little -possessions. Nature itself seemed to take part against them: a dreadful -drought, succeeded by a violent earthquake, increased their distress. -Many of them perished; but those who lived to return on the 18th May -1805, were benevolently reinstated in their rightful possessions. -Strange to say, on their return the earth seemed strewn with diamonds. -Often the little ones would bring in between three and four carats of -diamonds.' - -Next to the diamond comes the oriental ruby, and in former days it was -more prized than the gem, which has a genus all to itself. The ancients -gave immense sums for fine specimens of the ruby variety of 'corundum,' -or aluminous stone. In Benvenuto Cellini's time a perfect ruby of -a carat weight cost eight hundred crowns, whilst a diamond of like -weight cost only one hundred. The two most important rubies ever known -in Europe were brought to England in 1875. One was a dark-coloured -stone, cushion-shape, weighing thirty-seven carats; the other a blunt -drop-shape of 47-1/16 carats. Mr Streeter thinks that the London market -would never have seen these truly royal gems but for the poverty of the -Burmese government; and adds an interesting account of the estimation -in which rubies are held in the distant Land of the White Elephant. -The sale of the two rubies caused such excitement that a military -guard had to escort the persons who conveyed the precious packet to -the vessel. No regalia in Europe contains two such rubies. The smaller -was sold abroad for ten thousand pounds; the larger has also found a -purchaser, but Mr Streeter does not tell us at what price. The great -ruby of the kings of Burmah is said to be as large as a pigeon's egg, -and of wondrous quality; but is a treasure which no European eye -has ever seen. Very few rubies pass out of the country; the king is -excessively fond of these gems, and prohibits the export of them. The -Burmese have strange notions about rubies; 'they believe that they -ripen in the earth; that they are at first colourless and crude, and -gradually become yellow, green, blue, and last of all _red_--this being -considered the highest point of beauty and ripeness.' - -The sapphire, the emerald, and the opal (the last erroneously supposed -to exist in India, whereas it is found almost entirely in Hungary), -the turquoise, and the cat's-eye (a rare variety of the chrysoberyl, -and inferior in hardness to the diamond and sapphire only), are, -each in its turn, the subjects of Mr Streeter's lucid and learned -exposition; after which he passes to the less valuable classes, -pearls, onyx, and the gems used for engraving and other purposes. The -increasing estimation in which the true Ceylonese cat's-eye is held -(it is one of the most fashionable gems at present, and there are -specimens in the market worth upwards of one thousand pounds), renders -the following particularly interesting: 'In India the cat's-eye has -always been much prized, and is held in peculiar veneration as a charm -against witchcraft. It is the last jewel a Cingalese will part with. -The specimens most esteemed by the Indians are those of a dark olive -colour, having the ray so bright on each edge as to appear double. -It is indeed wonderfully beautiful with its soft deep colour and -mysterious gleaming streak, ever shifting, like a restless spirit, -from side to side as the stone is moved; now glowing at one spot, now -at another. No wonder that an imaginative and superstitious people -regard it with awe and wonder, and believing it to be the abode of some -"genius" or djinn, dedicate it to their gods as a sacred stone.' - - - - -THE INN AT BOLTON. - - -When I was a little boy--I am now an old man of sixty--'Aunt Oliver,' -as we used to call my father's widowed sister, was in the habit of -paying long visits at my father's house. She had not long been a widow; -and though past the meridian of life, was still a beautiful woman. But -what made her so exceedingly popular with all my father's children was -her repeated kindnesses, displayed to us in the shape of various useful -and ornamental gifts, carefully chosen to suit our several ages and -characters; but above all, her wonderful condescension in giving up -her own pursuits on many a winter's night, that she might recount to -us, as we sat grouped around the nursery fire, some of the incidents -of her varied and eventful life. She had been a great traveller in her -day, having been to Rome, and even visited the Holy Land; and what is -more, she had written a book of travels! a circumstance which caused -us to regard her with a strange curiosity almost amounting to awe; a -feeling on our part which, but for her uniform kindness, might have -detracted from that universal love we one and all bore towards her. One -of my aunt's adventures made a strong impression on my youthful mind, -and is even now, after a lapse of half a century, still fresh in my -recollection. Thinking it might serve to divert those who have a fancy -for the humorous, I have gathered up the threads of the story from the -storehouse of my memory, and now present it in narrative form, under -the foregoing title. - - * * * * * - -My uncle, Mr Oliver Brown, was in the iron trade; and in connection -with his business, which was a very large one, was in the habit of -paying periodical visits to the manufacturing town of Bolton, near to -which his principal iron-works were situated. He usually paid these -visits alone; but on the occasion of which I am about to speak he was -accompanied by my aunt, who deemed it her duty to be with her husband, -as it was winter-time and he had only just recovered from a severe -illness. It was late in the evening of a bleak November day that the -coach which conveyed Mr and Mrs Oliver Brown from their comfortable -country-seat, distant some fifty miles from Bolton, entered the noisy -ill-paved streets of that bustling town, and proceeded to what at that -period was the principal inn of the place. Both travellers were tired -by their journey, and after a hasty dinner, were glad to retire to rest. - -'Did you say number twenty-seven, second floor?' inquired Mrs Oliver, -addressing the lady at the bar, as she took a chamber candlestick from -her hand and proceeded to mount the stairs. - -'Twenty-seven, second floor,' responded the landlady with an -affirmative nod and a gracious smile. - -'Twenty-seven, second floor,' repeated my uncle as he followed in the -wake of his more active and enterprising helpmate, who, threading her -way up the spiral staircase and along a labyrinth of corridors and -passages, had already arrived at the dormitory in question. Mr and Mrs -Oliver were soon in bed; and there we will leave them, whilst we look -in at number twenty-nine on the same floor, and make the acquaintance -of Mr and Mrs Wormwood Scrubbs, the occupants of that apartment. They, -like their neighbours at number twenty-seven, were in comfortable -circumstances, and like the latter, not much given to travelling -for pleasure's sake on a cold raw day in November; but an affair of -business which demanded their presence at Bolton had compelled them to -sacrifice their ease and comfort, and come to that town on this bleak -November day. Mr Scrubbs had long been subject to attacks of gout -in the foot; and as he had heard of this disease having a tendency -sometimes to shift its seat to the brain or the stomach, when it was -apt to assume a more serious type, he had made it a rule to carry about -his person in the daytime, and to place under his pillow at night, -a certain medicine which an eminent physician had assured him would -speedily arrest any such erratic tendency on the part of the malady -from which he suffered. - -Now, on this particular night, whether from over-exertion, exposure -to cold, or some other cause I know not, Mr Scrubbs happened to be -visited with certain premonitory symptoms of an approaching attack of -gout, whereupon he instinctively felt under his pillow for the valuable -specific I have referred to. He then remembered he had inadvertently -left it in the pocket of his greatcoat, which he had thrown upon the -sofa in the private sitting-room into which Mrs Scrubbs and himself had -been ushered on their arrival at the inn; whereupon, being unwilling to -disturb his better-half, who was in a profound sleep, he let himself -quietly out of bed, and throwing his dressing-gown over his shoulders, -proceeded to light his candle. Having done this, he gently opened the -door and sallied forth, leaving the door slightly ajar, in order that -he might the more easily find the room on his return. - -It so chanced just about the time Mr Wormwood Scrubbs was proceeding -on the above mission, that Mrs Oliver Brown, who was too fatigued -to sleep, suddenly recollected that she had left her reticule with -her purse inside it on the table in the room where she and Mr Brown -had had their dinner; and wisely considering that it would not be -prudent to leave it there till morning, she resolved to descend to the -sitting-room and recover the bag at once; accordingly slipping out of -bed, she struck a light, and opening the bedroom door, stepped into the -corridor into which it led. She then proceeded to assure herself by a -reference to certain figures that were painted over the door-frames -of the several dormitories that the room she had just quitted was -number twenty-seven and no other; and having satisfied her mind on this -point, she left the door ajar, and gliding swiftly along the different -passages and down the cork-screw-shaped staircase, soon reached the -sitting-room, whence, having found the bag she was in search of, she -retraced her steps in the same rapid way, exercising her memory as -she went along by repeating the number of the room to which she was -returning. - -Now Mrs Oliver Brown, who, by the way, had an undoubted bump for -localities, had formed an idea--and a very correct idea it was--that -number twenty-seven was the second room on the left-hand side of the -corridor; but on her return, finding the door of this chamber closed, -whilst that of the one adjoining it was open, she not unnaturally -supposed she might have made a mistake in regard to the position of -number twenty-seven; but in order to set all doubt at rest upon this -point, she was about to refer to the number on the door-frame, when -a sudden gust of wind sweeping along the whole length of the passage -extinguished the candle, leaving her in utter darkness. Thus situated, -Mrs Oliver Brown did what most ladies (and gentlemen also, I think) -would have done under the circumstances: she groped her way along the -passage till she came to the open door of number twenty-nine, went -softly in, shut the door in the same quiet way, and got into bed, -where, being greatly fatigued with all she had undergone, she soon fell -fast asleep. - -In the meantime, Mr Wormwood Scrubbs having repossessed himself of -his gout mixture, had also returned to the corridor, where seeing -a door ajar precisely as he had left his own, he at once went in, -closed the door, blew out his candle, and popped into bed, where my -excellent uncle was still sleeping as peacefully as a baby, and utterly -unconscious of the recent migratory movements of Mrs Brown, which were -destined to produce such an unlooked-for disturbance in the domestic -arrangements of the two families occupying respectively numbers -twenty-seven and twenty-nine. - -Mr Wormwood Scrubbs, however, though now quite easy both in body -and mind, was unable to sleep, and lay awake, first thinking of one -thing and then of another, till he was suddenly recalled to the stern -realities of life by hearing his wife's voice proceeding apparently -from the adjoining room. In a state of immense perplexity, he struck -out with his sound leg in the direction of the sleeping figure at his -side, when having come in contact with a plump warm body corresponding -to that of his amiable helpmate, he paused, and suspending all further -investigation for the present, calmly awaited the issue of events. Nor -had he very long to wait. - -Mrs Wormwood Scrubbs was a lady of a highly nervous and excitable -temperament, with whom, when once roused, it would be about as useless -and dangerous an experiment to attempt to argue as with a tigress -surrounded by a litter of famished cubs. She had just waked up from -her first sleep, when happening to put her hand upon that part of the -connubial couch where her Wormwood's head was wont to rest, she found -it brought in contact with a lace nightcap, and a profusion of long -curls that had escaped from beneath it. - -'Why, what's this, Scrubbs? What tomfoolery's this you're after? What's -this, I say?' tagging, as she spoke, at the head-dress of her supposed -husband. 'Why, goodness gracious, it isn't Scrubbs after all!'--as -starting up in bed, my aunt in gentle but startled accents implored her -to be quiet. - -'But who are you? and what are you doing in number twenty-nine?' - -'Number twenty-nine! Surely this is not twenty-nine, but twenty-seven,' -doubtingly returned my aunt, as the idea suddenly flashed upon her that -she _might_ have mistaken the one room for the other. 'I think I can -explain it all.' - -'Explain it all! Of course you'll explain it all, and something more -than that, before I've done with you, you good-for-nothing impudent -hussy that you are!' - -'For heaven's sake, be calm, my good woman, or you'll rouse the whole -house,' expostulated my aunt in the gentlest manner possible. - -'Don't "good-woman" me!' shouted Mrs Scrubbs at the top of her voice, -as springing from the bed, she seized the bell-rope and pulled at it -with a violence that threatened to carry everything with it. Amid -this terrific uproar, Mr Scrubbs and his bedfellow Mr Brown, who had -been vainly trying to make themselves heard from the adjoining room, -suddenly appeared candle in hand upon the scene. - -As oil cast upon the troubled sea will instantly reduce that element -to a state of the profoundest calm, so did the sudden appearance of -Mr Scrubbs act as if by a charm to allay in one moment all the angry -feelings of Bella Scrubbs, and where only a few moments before all was -violence and discord, there now reigned perfect peace and good-will. - -The mutual explanations that ensued, it is needless to say, were -perfectly satisfactory to all the parties concerned; and after a -readjustment of partners, the two families once more took possession of -their respective chambers, where I need hardly say they were not again -molested during the remaining part of that memorable November night. - - - - -ROCKBOUND. - - -Of the thousands of tourists who flock every year from all parts of -the civilised world to gaze upon the picturesque beauties of the -Highlands, to muse among the ruined aisles of Iona, or to listen to the -diapason of the sea, as it sinks and swells through the pillared caves -of Staffa, few, comparatively speaking, care to go so far north as the -Shetlands; yet these islands, though generally bare, have a beauty of -their own--the breezy, ever-changeful beauty of the sea. - -The scientific tourist will not fail to find something to interest -him in Shetland. There are bold headlands, wide reefs of black crags, -and a flora which, although neither rich nor varied, has charms -for the botanist. There are broad stretches of sandy beach, not so -sterile as they look, but affording, in hidden nooks and crannies, -no bad hunting-ground for a naturalist out for a summer holiday. If -you are a member of the Alpine Club, there are here no mountains for -you to climb, but there are cliffs such as might well appal the most -practised mountaineer; and in summer there is the sun, shining in a -cloudless sky nearly all through the four-and-twenty hours. There in -summer, midnight is not like the midnights of more southern climes, but -is permeated by the rays of a sun, set indeed, but so soon about to -rise, that there is scarcely any absence of light. - -If you are a painter, you may have sea-views in abundance. You may -choose your own time and place and grouping; early morning if you -will, with the white mists rolling in over the shimmering sea, and the -clamorous gulls hovering above skerries that are crusted all over with -dense clinging masses of sea-weed. Or you may wait till the ascending -sun rolls back the curtain of mist, and the sea gleams out before you -a wide sheet of burnished gold, spangled with the rocky islets of a -storm-swept archipelago. The waves roll in at your feet--long majestic -ridges of water, dappled with lines of foam; the wide swell of the -Atlantic sweeping in from the far shores of Labrador; while from far -inland some tiny streamlet tumbles down to the sea through a natural -copsewood of dwarf ash and birch and hazel. - -Bold points and headlands stand like brave sentinels far out to sea, -sheltering little natural harbours where the fisherman's boat rides in -safety. Tiny fiords run inland into deep glens, with here and there a -fisherman's hut or a crofter's cottage. Perhaps, however, you may have -a fancy for foul weather, when the sky darkens like a pall over the -sea, and the storm-fiend rouses himself from his ocean lair, and the -tempest-tossed waves scud along in wreaths of foam to break in hoarse -thunder upon the shore, or hurl themselves in impotent rage against the -face of the steep headland. In Shetland you have grand alternations of -calm and storm. - -It is perhaps, however, for the student of human nature that Shetland -has the greatest attractions. Here he will find a simple, kindly, -primitive set of people, of Norwegian descent, but now anglicised -in language and usages. They are, however, fond of old legends and -stories. Mrs Saxby, the authoress of _Rockbound, a Story of the -Shetland Isles_, in a pleasantly told narrative introduces us to this -primitive people. We have for the scene of the story an island called -Vaalafiel, five miles long, and a little over two in width, with a -tiny harbour, and gray old mansion-house set in a strip of scraggy -pine-wood. Vaalafiel, Mrs Saxby tells us, 'is coiled upon the sea -much in the way a kitten rolls itself together on the hearth-rug--the -creature's paws being represented by the narrow belts of land -overlapping each other and forming the arms of our voe (fiord), whose -crags are very suggestive of claws. Rising abruptly from the shores -of this harbour, the island becomes a hill, whose eastern side is a -precipice dipping into the German Ocean. The north point terminates -in a bold headland, from whence the hill slopes gradually southwards, -until it ends in a beautiful stretch of sand, kissed white by the broad -waves of the Atlantic. The neighbouring islands cluster north and -south, leaving deep narrow channels, where the two great seas keep up -a perpetual warfare; and he is a daring sailor who ventures to cross -those tideways when their "dark hour" approaches.' - -Under the old house of Vaalafiel and the cliffs adjacent to it were -wide underground caverns, such as in the 'good old smuggling times' -were no uncommon adjuncts to country houses, and even manses, if they -happened to be conveniently near the shore. This smugglers' cave was -the scene of a tragedy, such as was of no unfrequent occurrence among -desperate men in these lawless days. A hasty blow struck in sudden -passion hurried one rash soul to its last account, and darkened as with -the brand of Cain the lives of many others. There is an old nurse, -full of well-nigh forgotten Norse superstitions, and a little lonely -child, the heiress of the rockbound islet, whose dearest pleasure was -to watch the sea on the serene summer evenings when the sky became -like a poet's dream, and earth and sea put on the glory of the clouds. -Mrs Saxby describes 'the Shetland summer night as not dark at all; -it is merely a twilight, which is prolonged sufficiently to assume -a character of its own. Not dark, not light, not a brief uncertain -mingling of both, but a quiet earnest period of rest, when Nature -dreams but does not sleep, and yet is not awake. We call it "the dim," -and you can discern objects quite clearly while it broods over the -earth.' The wild winter nights have a grand storm-driven beauty of -their own, when the Aurora Borealis shoots forth a fitful light, and -the nursling of the gray North 'catches glimpses of the beauty dwelling -in colour.' The solitary child Inga, bearing in her brave little heart -the burden of her father's dimly realised crime, yet cleaving to him, -because he loves her, with an affection far stronger than that which -binds her to her cold unloving mother, develops into a healthy spirited -girl. Lonely and prosaic as her life was, it was not, however, without -a salutary admixture of holidays and holiday amusements. The lady of -Vaalafiel, although a somewhat stern disciplinarian, was wise enough -to recognise the truth of the axiom, that 'all work and no play make -Jack a dull boy,' and so upon birthdays and such kindred anniversaries -she somewhat relaxed the rigidity of her rule. A fat bullock was killed -in honour of the young heiress, and Miss Inga's favourite Newfoundland -dog (evidently desirous of contributing his share to the feast) went -off one night to the hills and ran down half-a-dozen sheep. It was -found that he had performed the service of a butcher in a perfectly -scientific manner; so the animals were carried home and added to the -larder.' - -With such a superabundance of _pièces de resistance_, even the -crustiest old bachelor in the world might have found a picnic tolerably -enjoyable; and Miss Inga and her young friends had a most delightful -day of it in their sweet northern Arcadia, clad as it then was in all -its witching garb of summer. 'The sun,' she says, 'rose in cloudless -glory, and everything was dipped in sunshine of another kind as -well; for Aytoun' (a divinity student quite as fascinating as _The -Modern Minister_) 'had returned for the midsummer vacation, and that -would have been gladness enough for me. There were with him some of -his college companions, who made sparkling speeches, sang hearty -songs, assisted in distributing prizes to the winning boats, and then -challenged the islanders to a football match. Which played best is -an undecided question to this day, for each side had a method of its -own, and did not comprehend that of its opponent. Then the people were -gathered on a smooth meadow near our house, and the plaintive Foula -Reel called upon old and young alike to join in the graceful and truly -poetic dance of Shetland. The natural good breeding of the islanders -allowed us to remove every restriction on their pleasure, which was -characterised by a hearty enjoyment without the slightest approach to -excess.' - -As unlike as possible to a heroine of romance, the child reared in -this homely fashion is yet sweet enough to carry blessing and love -wherever she goes; to heal old wounds with her simple beauty and -goodness; to carry peace into the unforgiving relentlessness of her -mother's heart; and to efface the blackness of her father's crime -(justifiable homicide, a soft-hearted jury would resolve it into) -with tender penitential tears. Miss Inga is in truth a very lovable -character, innocent, simple, and yet intelligent; gentle and winning -in her ways, although she can be spirited and resolute upon occasion; -full of affectionate respect for her stern mother, and of deep romantic -devotion for her father, for whose sake she marries without love, -which no properly constituted heroine of romance ever does or can do, -but which many a good woman has done, to find, as she did, peace and -household joy and contentment at a good man's hearth. - -Many of the descriptive passages in _Rockbound_ are written with -considerable vividness and effect, as for instance the storm, through -whose agency a crisis in the plot of the tale is worked out. 'A -tempestuous morning was breaking, and sea and wind were uttering -wrathful warnings of what might befall the unwary fishers who were out -on the deep, and I looked out with eyes which scarcely saw--with a mind -on which impressions seemed lost. As if still in a dream, I beheld the -furious waves come rolling majestically from the far deep and break -with thundering sound upon the rocky arms of our voe. As I gazed, there -suddenly appeared round a point of the high land a little vessel with -closely reefed sails struggling in the sea between Vaalafiel and its -neighbouring island. Her hull was partially concealed from my view -by the arms of our voe, but very soon I seemed to know that it must -be the _Seamew_, and that she was attempting to enter the harbour; -and a thought occurred to me which was suggestive of peril at once: -Why do they try to pass through so narrow and dangerous a strait when -the storm is at its worst? As if in answer to my thought, the vessel -hoisted a flag of distress, probably with a forlorn hope that some -wakeful eye might see it, and then she lay to, as trying to advance in -the very teeth of the gale. My father, everything, was forgotten in -that breathless moment, as I watched my tiny ship thus turn, pause, and -enter the rocky path beset by death. She was evidently being driven by -cruel necessity to dare so hazardous a piece of navigation, and I soon -discerned that she was no longer manageable. Just then a gust of wind -still more furious than before caught her at a critical moment, and in -less time than I say the words in, she was tossing among some detached -rocks at the entrance to the harbour, a total wreck, and likely to go -down every instant. - -'I had stood terror-bound till then; but the sight of figures clinging -to the spars stirred me to action, and I flew to arouse our servants. -They were soon hurrying to the neighbouring cottages, in hope of -assistance from any men who chanced to be at home; and I ran along the -shore until I reached the crags opposite where the disabled yacht lay. -I was soon joined there by numerous women and a few old feeble men, -who shook their heads and groaned when I frantically implored them to -launch a boat and go to the rescue. "There's no an able-bodied man in -the island wha kens hoo to handle an oar," they cried; "oor men are a' -at the haaf" (deep-sea fishing). "The Lord preserve them this awfu' -hoor."' - -Then for a touch of simple pathos, take the neglected child's scanty -recollections of her unloved childhood: 'One of the few things I -remember is that I always wore a black frock. This circumstance is -impressed on my mind, because I had, and still have, a perfect passion -for rich gorgeous colours. Nature in the gray North seldom gave my eyes -a feast of radiant hues; no brilliant butterflies and flowers clothing -the earth in the garments of heaven; no winter clusters of red berries -and wreaths of evergreen. There were some old pictures in the house in -which scarlet shawls and purple curtains played a prominent part, and I -spent a large portion of the time usually devoted to sleep by sensible -children in admiring these, and conjuring up fantastic histories of -each portrait.' - -Altogether, the book is sweet, fresh, tender-hearted, like a whiff of -the foaming ocean spray, quite out of the hackneyed round, and yet -sufficiently realistic to impress the reader with a conviction that -it is the record of a life which has been lived, which, if not the -highest aim of the novelist's art, is yet an indispensable adjunct to -it. We have only to add that Shetland is now easily reached by regular -steamers plying between Granton (Edinburgh) and Lerwick, the capital of -the islands; while we believe a small steamer plies from Lerwick for -local accommodation. A summer cruise in a yacht would, however, be the -perfection of voyaging for the purpose not only of seeing Shetland, but -Orkney and various intermediate islands, such as Fair Isle and Foula, -which are out of the way of general traffic. To visit these distant -fragments of land in the north, forming the scene of Scott's vivid -romance of _The Pirate_, would furnish a new sensation never to be -forgotten. - - - - -THE MONTH: - -SCIENCE AND ARTS. - - -The Report of the meeting of the British Association held last year -at Glasgow has just been published in a goodly volume of more than -three hundred pages. Among its contents are Reports of Committees, of -which it may be said that the more widely they are known the better; -and bearing in mind recent disasters at sea, the Investigation of the -Steering Qualities of Ships by Professor Osborne Reynolds of Owens -College, Manchester, appears the more interesting. 'The experiments of -the Committee on large ships,' he remarks, 'have completely established -the fact, that the reversing of the screw of a vessel with full way -on, very much diminishes her steering power, and reverses what little -it leaves; so that where a collision is imminent, to reverse the screw -and use the rudder as if the ship would answer to it in the usual -manner, is a certain way of bringing about the collision.' This is -an important fact, for it is well known that collisions have been -occasioned by the very means made use of to avoid them. And Professor -Reynolds says further: 'It appears that a ship will turn faster, and -for an angle of thirty degrees, in less room when driving full speed -ahead, than with her engines reversed, even if the rudder is rightly -used. Thus when an obstacle is too near to admit of stopping the ship, -then the only chance is to keep the engines on full speed ahead, and so -give the rudder an opportunity of doing its work. These general laws -are of the greatest importance, but they apply in different degrees to -different ships; and each commander should determine for himself how -his ship will behave.... It is also highly important that the effect of -the reversal of the screw should be generally recognised, particularly -in the law courts; for in the present state of opinion on the subject, -there can be no doubt that judgment would go against any commander who -had steamed on ahead, knowing that by so doing he had the best chance -of avoiding a collision.' - -The statements thus set forth are illustrated by diagrams which shew -the position of the vessel after reversal of the screw, and the -position after steaming ahead. The latter shews that collision would be -entirely avoided. - -We frequently read that in future sea-fights the ram will be relied -on for running down enemy's ships and sending them to the bottom. But -where is the captain at the present day who has had experience of -ramming, and of other evolutions which will be required in a fleet -of steam ironclads under quite new conditions? Soldiers can go into -temporary camps and get experience in 'autumn manœuvres;' but sailors -cannot have mock-actions and run down ships which cost half a million -sterling, nor venture to try the eighty-ton-gun on their consorts. -Hence there will be very much to learn in the first great naval battle. - -Under these circumstances, Professor Reynolds recommends that small -steam-launches should be built of wood, each representing the exact -form of one of our large ships, and that with these all possible -manœuvres should be carried out, and officers make themselves -familiar with all the effects of the screw on the rudder, with all -the conditions of steering, with all the evolutions requisite to -bring about or to avoid a collision, and with the effects of ramming. -If strongly built of wood, these little vessels would withstand an -experimental blow from the ram. - -The value of such experiments would be real, for it is now known that -the behaviour of a small copy of a ship is exactly the same as that -of the great ship, in proportion to the size. The waves set up by the -launch bear the same relation to her size as the waves of the ship do -to the ship. The recognition of this law marks an epoch in the progress -of naval architecture. Given a model, Mr Froude 'can now predict with -certainty the comparative and actual resistance of ships before they -are constructed.' - -The Report of the Committee for investigating the circulation of the -underground waters in the New Red Sandstone and Permian formations -of England, and the quantity and character of the water supplied to -various towns and districts from these formations, conveys information -interesting to everybody--for everybody drinks. At Liverpool there -are wells sunk in the New Red Sandstone which yield more than seven -million gallons daily; at Birkenhead the same; at Coventry, Birmingham, -and Leamington four millions and a half; at Nottingham nearly four -millions; and at Warrington and Stockport more than a million and -a half gallons every day. The total makes up a large quantity; but -it is nothing in comparison with the supply which the whole area of -the New Red may be expected to furnish. This area, says the Report, -is certainly not less than ten thousand square miles in extent in -England and Wales, with an average rainfall of thirty inches, of which -certainly never less than ten inches per annum percolates the ground, -which would give an absorption of water amounting to no less than one -hundred and forty-three millions three hundred and thirty-six thousand -gallons per square mile per annum; which, on an available area of ten -thousand square miles, gives an annual absorption of nearly a billion -and a half of gallons in England and Wales. As if to heighten the -effect of this good news, we are told the 'New Red Sandstone Rock -constitutes one of the most effective filtering media known.... It -exerts a powerful oxidising influence on the dissolved organic matter, -which percolates it to such an extent, that in the waters of certain -deep wells, every trace of organic matters is converted into innocuous -mineral compounds.' And again: 'Waters drawn from deep wells in the New -Red Sandstone are almost invariably clear, sparkling, and palatable, -and are among the best and most wholesome waters for domestic supply -in Great Britain.' After reading this, may we not say that Undermere, -about which no one will quarrel, is the lake whence great towns in the -north should draw their water supply? - -During the meeting of the British Association at Plymouth last August, -the Mineralogical Society held their second annual gathering under the -presidency of Mr Sorby, F.R.S., who in his address gave an account -of a new method for determining the index of refraction of minerals, -which can be readily employed in their identification. This seems a -dry subject; but it is one likely to be valuable and interesting to -mineralogists and chemists, and to lead to an entirely new branch of -mineralogical study, and to the discovery of a new class of optical -properties of crystals. For a proper understanding of the method, a -knowledge of optics, of mathematics, and other branches of science -would be necessary; but we may state generally that it is based on -the fact, that if an object, when placed in focus for examination on -the stage of a microscope, is covered with a plate of some highly -refracting substance, the focal length is increased; in other words, -the microscope must be raised a little farther from the object in order -to restore the focus. The distance to which the microscope has been -moved thus becomes a measure, which can be accurately determined on -a scale to thousandths of an inch. By this measure, therefore, very -minute differences of refraction can be determined, and the several -minerals identified; and Mr Sorby, in conjunction with Professor -Stokes, Sec. R.S., has arrived at certain definite conclusions, -which, embodied in numerical tables, may ere long be consulted by all -interested in the subject. - -On this point Mr Sorby explained in his address: 'On applying this -method to the study of various minerals, the difference is found to -be very great. We can mostly at once see whether they give a single -unifocal image or one or two bifocal images, and form a very good -opinion respecting the intensity of the double refraction, and easily -determine whether it is positive or negative.... These facts combined -furnish data so characteristic of the individual minerals, that it -would usually be difficult to find two approximately similar.... It has -been said that in studying the microscopical structure of rocks it is -often difficult to distinguish nepheline from apatite. But the index -of nepheline is about 1.53, whereas that of apatite is 1.64, and such -a considerable difference could easily be recognised in a section not -less than one-fiftieth of an inch in thickness.' - -The observations hitherto made prove that minerals may be ranged -in classes according to their refracting power and their chemical -composition. The fluorides are lowest in the scale, while quartz, -corundum, the sulphides and arsenides, are among the highest. From -these particulars it will be understood that researches into mineralogy -have a prospect of becoming more and more interesting. - -As we have a British Association for the Advancement of Science, so -our neighbours across the Channel have a French Association. It met -last August at Havre, and in a few of its fifteen sections manifested -signs of activity. Among the meteorologists, diagrams were exhibited -shewing clearly that the 'changes of pressure in the upper regions of -the atmosphere are by no means similar to those at the surface of the -earth; for when the pressure at the lower station decreases, it rises -at the upper station, and the reverse; or when it is steady at the one, -it rises or falls at the other.' A line of telegraph for meteorological -purposes is now erected from Bagnères to the Pic du Midi, seventeen -miles. The Pic is nine thousand feet high, and will be an interesting -observing station, in constant communication with the lower regions. -A proposition was made that the Transatlantic steam-ship companies -should be requested to institute regular meteorological observations on -board their vessels; and that the captive balloon of next year's Great -Exhibition at Paris should be an observing station. Paris is chosen as -the meeting-place of the Association for next year, and at the same -time a free international meteorological congress will be held. - -During recent years it has been said that the marshes and saltish -depressions in the territory of Algiers and other parts of North Africa -were once covered by the sea, and schemes have been announced for -readmitting the sea by cutting channels from the Mediterranean. Mr Le -Chatelier, a French chemist, says--the existence of the salts is not -due to the drying up of a former sea, but to the masses of rock-salt -which exist in the mountains. From these the salt is dissolved out by -rain or by subterranean waters, and the saline solution percolates the -soil to feed the artesian reservoirs which underlie the desert. These -observations will require attention from geographers. - -If any apology were required for a somewhat late notice of Dr Sayre's -method of rectifying curvature of the spine, it would be found in the -fact that among the arts the healing art holds an eminent place, and -has special claims on every one's attention. Dr Sayre, an American, has -this year visited England to make known his method of curing those -malformations of the backbone under which many persons remain cripples -for the whole of their life; and now that it is known, the wonder is -that it was not thought of before. In carrying out the operation, the -patient is lifted from the ground, and suspended by a support under -the chin and back of the head: sometimes a support is placed under the -armpits, and sometimes the arms are raised. In this position the weight -of the pelvis acts on the crook in the spine, and pulls it straight; a -bandage dipped in plaster of Paris is then bound round the body; a few -iron splints are inserted in the bandage, and as the plaster dries, -a mould is formed, which keeps the straightened bones in place. The -suspension is now at an end; the patient is found to be an inch or two -inches taller than before the operation, and can walk without limping. -After a few days, the plaster-mould is cut up each side, to allow of -removal for washing the body; but the two halves are quickly replaced -and held in position by a bandage. In some instances six months' -wearing of the plaster-mould effects a cure, and the patient enjoys an -ease and activity never before experienced. - -This method of cure contrasts favourably with the treatment which keeps -the patient supine many weary months. As may be imagined, it succeeds -better with children than with adults; but even adults have been cured. -A case occurred at Cork, the patient being a woman aged twenty-two, and -requiring a little mechanical pulling to assist in the straightening; -but it was accomplished, and she walked out of the room two inches -taller than she entered it. - -Mr Hoppe-Seyler, a learned German, has published a paper on Differences -of Chemical Structure and of Digestion among Animals, supported by -numerous examples, which shew that according to the organism so is the -power to form differences of tissue; and he sums up thus: 'Looking at -the question broadly, we find that the chemical composition of the -tissues and the chemical functions of the organs present undoubted -relations to the stages of development, which shew themselves in the -zoological system, as well as in the early stages of development of -each individual higher organism. These relations deserve further notice -and investigation, and are qualified in many respects to prevent and -correct errors in the classification of animals. It is generally -supposed that the study of development is a purely morphological -science, but it also presents a large field for chemical research.' -This concluding sentence is significant, and should have serious -consideration. - -Waste pyrites from the manufacture of sulphuric acid is, as regards -hardness, a good material for roads when mixed with gravel; but -chemically it is not good. In the neighbourhood of Nienburg, Hanover, -where roads and paths were covered with waste pyrites, it was found -that grass and corn ceased to grow; and a farmer on mixing well-water -with warm milk, observed that the milk curdled. The explanation is, -that the waste pyrites 'contained not only sulphide of iron and earthy -constituents, but also sulphide of zinc, and that by the influence of -the oxygen of the atmosphere and the presence of water, these sulphides -were gradually converted into the corresponding sulphates;' and these, -continually extracted by the rain-water, soaked into the soil, -contaminated the wells, and produced other injurious effects. - -The want of really efficient names to distinguish various kinds -of manufactured iron has long been felt in the iron trade. The -Philadelphia Exhibition gave rise to a Commission which, after -discussion of the question, have recommended that all malleable -compounds of iron similar to the substance called wrought-iron shall -be called 'weld-iron;' that compounds similar to the product hitherto -known as puddled steel, shall be called 'weld-steel;' that compounds -which cannot be appreciably hardened when placed in water while red-hot -shall be called 'ingot-iron;' and that compounds of this latter -which from any cause are capable of being tempered, shall be called -'ingot-steel.' - -By further exercise of his inventive abilities, Major Moncrieff has -produced a hydro-pneumatic spring gun-carriage perfectly adapted for -use in the field. A gun mounted on this carriage could be made ready -for action within ten minutes after its arrival in the trenches. - -The Science and Art Department have commenced the publication of -a 'Universal Art Inventory, consisting of brief Notes of Fine and -Ornamental Art executed before the year 1800 chiefly to be found in -Europe.' This is a praiseworthy undertaking, for there are so many -rarities of art which can never be seen by the multitude, which can -never be moved from their place or purchased, that an inventory thereof -with descriptive notes cannot fail to be of great utility. Nearly all -the governments of Europe and many royal personages are co-operating -in this work, which includes reproductions in possible instances. -Some of these reproductions are well known to the frequenters of the -South Kensington Museum; for example, the great mantel-piece from the -Palais de Justice at Bruges; Trajan's Column from Rome; a Buddhist -gateway from India, of the first century; a monument from Nuremberg, -and other elaborate works. As a means of reference, this Inventory -will be welcome to many a student, and as it necessarily will take -many years to complete, there will be the pleasure of watching for -fresh instalments of information. But all students should remember -that 'the laws of design are as definite as those of language, with -much the same questions as to order, relationship, construction or -elegance; differing for dissimilar styles as for divers tongues. The -pupil in design has similar obstacles to encounter with those of the -schoolboy in his alphabet and grammar; the ability to use the pencil or -the brush will no more produce an artist than the acquirement of the -writing-master's art with Lindley Murray's rules will make a poet.' - -Professor Justin Winsor, one of the American delegates to the -conference of librarians held last month, points out with much -earnestness that by the extension of libraries a great impetus may be -given to national education, and an opening made at the same time for -the employment of women. In America, pains have been taken to engage -men and women in the work who are content to labour to attain the level -of a far higher standard than the public at large have been usually -willing to allow as the test of efficiency. 'We believe,' remarks the -Professor, 'that libraries are in the highest sense public charities; -that they are missionary enterprises; that it is to be supine if we -are simply willing to let them do their unassisted work; that it is -their business to see two books read instead of one, and good books -instead of bad. To this end it has been urged that one of our principal -universities shall have a course of bibliography and training in -library economy.' - -In reply to various correspondents, we beg to state that the -information regarding the manufacture of vegetable isinglass in Rouen, -which appeared under the head of _A Few French Notes_ in No. 717 of -this _Journal_, was taken from _L'Armée Scientifique_, a work compiled -by the well-known French savant, M. L. Figuier. As there seems to be -some difficulty in reconciling M. Figuier's statements with the present -state of the process as carried on in France, we are making further -inquiry, and hope to be able to give early and definite information. - - - - -A FEARFUL SWING. - - -The 'Shaftmen' at our collieries are selected for their physical -strength and pluck, in addition to the skill and practical knowledge -required for their particular work. The incident we are about to relate -will shew how severely the former of these qualifications may at times -be tested. - -The work of these men is confined to the shaft of the pit, and consists -mainly in repairing the 'tubbing' or lining of the shaft, stopping -leaks, or removing any obstructions interfering with the free passage -of the cages up and down the pit. The coal-pit at N---- has a double -shaft, divided by a 'bratticing' or wooden partition. These divisions -we will call A and B. Two cages (the vehicles of transport up and down -the pit) ascend and descend alternately in shaft A. At a certain point -the shaft is widened, to allow the cages to pass each other, and their -simultaneous arrival at this point is insured by the arrangement of the -wire-ropes on the winding-wheels over the pit-mouth. The oscillation of -the cages is guarded against by wooden guiders running down each side -of the shaft, which fit into grooves in the sides of the cage. - -On one occasion during a very severe frost these guiders had become -coated with ice, and thus their free passage in the grooves of the -cages was interfered with. Before this obstruction was discovered, the -engine having been set in motion, the downward cage, which fortunately -was empty at the time, stuck fast in the shaft before arriving at the -passing-point. The ascending cage, whose only occupant was a small boy -returning to 'bank,' proceeding on its upward course, crashed into the -downward cage in the narrow part of the shaft, where of course there -was only a single passage. Though the shock was something terrific, the -steel rope was not broken; as the engineman, whose responsible position -entails the greatest presence of mind and watchfulness, had stopped the -engine on the first indication of an unusual tremor in the rope. Yet -such was the violence of the meeting, that both cages, though strongly -constructed of iron, were bent and broken--in fact rendered useless--by -being thus jammed together in a narrow space. The greatest anxiety was -felt as to the fate of the boy, as it was seen that even if he had -escaped with his life after such a severe crash, his rescue would be a -work of great danger and difficulty. - -We may imagine the horror of the poor little fellow while suspended -in the shattered cage over a gulf some four hundred feet deep, both -cages firmly wedged in the shaft, and the ropes rendered useless for -any means of descent to the scene of the catastrophe. The readiest -way of approach seemed to be by shaft B, the position of which we -have indicated above. Down this then, a Shaftman, whom we will call -Johnson, descended in a cage until he arrived at an opening in the -brattice-work by which he could enter shaft A. He found himself (as he -supposed) at a point a little above where the accident had occurred; -and this conclusion he came to from seeing two ropes leading downwards, -which he naturally took to be those by which the cages were suspended. -Under this impression he formed the design of sliding down one of the -ropes, with a view to liberating, if possible, the entangled cages and -securing the safety of the unfortunate boy. The hardy fellow was soon -gliding through the darkness on his brave and dangerous errand. He had -descended about forty feet, when, to his horror and amazement, his -course was suddenly checked by a bend in the rope; and the terrible -discovery flashed upon him, that he was _suspended in the loop of the -slack rope_, which here took a return course to the top of the downward -cage! - -It will be understood that when the descending cage stuck upon the -runners, as the rope continued to unwind from the pulley it hung down -in a loop, descending lower and lower, until the engine was stopped by -the meeting of the cages. This loop or 'bight' was naturally mistaken -by Johnson for the _two ropes_, and he did not discover until he found -himself in the fearful situation described, that he had entered through -the brattice into shaft A _below_ instead of above where the cages -were fixed. There he hung then, over a yawning abyss many fathoms -deep--closed from above by the locked cages--all below looming dark and -horrible. - -None of course knew his danger; his hands were chilled by the freezing -rope; his arms, already fully exercised, began to ache and stiffen with -the strain and intense cold, added to the bewildering sense of hopeless -peril. Good need there was then that pluck and endurance be found in -the Shaftman! His square sturdy frame and unflinching spirit were now -on their trial. Had his presence of mind gone or his nerve failed, he -must have been paralysed with fear, lost his hold, and been dashed into -an unrecognisable mass. - -But self-preservation is a potent law, and working in such a spirit he -framed a desperate plan for a struggle for life. The guiders running -down the inside of the shaft are fastened on to cross-beams about six -feet apart. Johnson hoped that if he could reach one of these, he might -obtain a footing whereon to rest, and by their means clamber up to the -opening in the brattice-work. How to reach them was the next question -that flashed lightning-like through his brain. This he essayed to do -by causing the rope to oscillate from side to side, hoping thus to -bring himself within reach of one of the cross-beams. And now commenced -a _fearful swing_. Gaining a lodgment with one knee in the loop, he -set the rope swinging by the motion of his body, grasping out wildly -with one hand each time he approached the side of the shaft. Once, -twice, thrice! he felt the cold icy face of the 'tubbing,' but as yet -nothing except slimy boards met his grasp, affording no more hold than -the glassy side of an iceberg. At last he touched a cross-beam, to -which his iron muscles, now fully roused to their work, held on like -a vice. He soon found footing on the beam below, and then letting go -the treacherous rope, rested in comparative security before beginning -the perilous ascent. With incredible endurance of nerve and muscle he -clambered upward alongside the guider, by the aid of the cross-beams, -and by thrusting his hands through the crevices of the timber. In this -manner he reached the opening into shaft B, where the cage in which he -had descended was waiting. Chilled, cramped, and frozen, and barely -able to give the signal, he was drawn to the pit-mouth prostrate and -exhausted. The boy was rescued unhurt by a man being lowered to the -top of the cages in shaft A. Johnson suffered no ill consequences, and -though a hero above many known to fame, he still pursues his hardy task -as a Shaftman; while beneath the homely exterior still lives the pluck -and sinew of iron that did not fail him even in his Fearful Swing. - - - - -TO MY ROBIN REDBREAST. - - The following lines are taken from _The Captive Chief, a Tale of - Flodden Field_, by James Thomson (H. H. Blair, Alnwick, 1871). - - - Now keenly blows the northern blast; - Like winter hail the leaves fall fast, - And my pet Robin's come at last - To our old thorn; - With warbling throat and eye upcast - He greets the morn; - - Like some true friend you come to cheer, - When all around is dark and drear. - And oh! what friend to me more dear - Than your sweet sel'? - Your mellow voice falls on my ear - Like some sweet spell. - - Oft at the gloaming's pensive hour, - When clouds above me darkly lower, - I've sought a seat in some lone bower, - With heart opprest; - You soothed me with your magic power, - And calmed my breast. - - When Morning dons her sober gray - To usher in the coming day, - And Phœbus shines with sickly ray - On all around, - No warblers greet him from the spray - With joyous sound. - - But you, sweet bird, unlike the throng, - Salute him with a joyous song. - When heavy rains and sleet prolong - The dreary day, - You chant to him your evening song - Upon the spray. - - No blackbird whistles in the grove, - Where late in chorus sweet they strove; - No warbler's tongue is heard to move, - But all is sad; - No cushat woos his amorous love - In hazel glade. - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. 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