Part 4

Some very interesting Roman relics have recently been unearthed in the bed of the river Rhone at Geneva, where some engineering works are in progress. The most interesting of these is a Roman altar furnished with an inscription to the effect that the writer, a certain soldier of the twenty-second legion, who had been shipwrecked in the waters hard by, had raised this altar to the god of the waves, Neptune, as a thank-offering for his escape from death. We have also to record a far more valuable find near Rome itself—at Subiaco, where several priceless statues supposed to have been sent by the Emperor Nero to that place for the decoration of his villa there, have been dug up. In Britain too, a Roman villa has just been laid bare at Woolstone, Berkshire, where, in addition to many tesselated pavements, several graves of the Anglo-Saxon period have been found. In London, our knowledge of the Roman city which lies beneath the busy metropolitan streets has been much enriched by numerous discoveries made during the recent excavations for the completion of the Underground Railway. There is little doubt that interest in things antiquarian is rapidly increasing on all sides. This is not only apparent from the attention which every fresh discovery receives, but is indicated in a most satisfactory manner by the circumstance that the University of Cambridge has given archæology a recognised position among the subjects for the classical tripos examination, and has just opened a Museum which will give an impetus to studies of the kind.

Although interest in matters archæological shows a healthy increase, we have to regret a decrease of interest in another important branch of knowledge. The Royal Geographical Society, which has just held its anniversary meeting, has had to deplore, by the mouth of its President, Lord Aberdare, that the Council have failed in their attempt to introduce the efficient study of geography into the curriculum of our great public schools, such as Eton and Harrow. Prizes have been offered; but there were few who cared to compete for them. This seems a very extraordinary state of things in a country which is always proudly pointing to its possessions as being so large that the sun must always shine upon some part or other of them. But the fault probably lies with the teachers more than with the pupils. The members of the Geographical Society evidently understand this, for they are now about to institute an inquiry into the systems adopted for geographical instruction in continental schools, from which, if all reports speak truly, we may well take a lesson.

Professor Monier Williams’s recent lecture on India, delivered before the University of Oxford, was full of interesting particulars relating to the great progress in every way which that vast country had experienced under British rule. But perhaps the most interesting portion of his remarks was that relating to the new route to India which will probably be opened, and which it is expected will lead to great development of intercourse between our Eastern and Western possessions. This route will consist of a journey from London to Odessa; thence by steamer across the Black Sea to Batoum; then by Russian railway—a thirty-six hours’ journey—to Baku on the Caspian; and a day’s voyage across the Caspian to Michaelovsk. At this latter place is the terminus of the Central Asian Railway, which some months ago was complete for one hundred and forty-four miles, and which will eventually land the traveller at the gate of India—Herat. The journey from Calais to our Indian frontier will be possible in nine days, so long at least as we remain friends with Russia. Professor Williams considers that we shall be bound to extend our railway from its present limit at Quetta, through Candahar, so as to meet the Russians at Herat. He thinks that we can meet them there as friends rather than enemies; and all will agree in trusting that his words may come true.

During the past year, the progress made by the British Ordnance Survey has been greater than in any previous period, an area of more than two and a half million acres having been mapped. It is expected that the survey of the entire kingdom will be complete by the year 1888, and that the publication of the maps will be finished two years later. A largely increased staff of surveyors and draughtsmen has been engaged to insure this acceleration in the work, and considerable time has been spent in instructing their assistants in their duties. The maps are reduced to the six-inch scale, and are reproduced by the zincographic process. All particulars of the work are contained in a recently published Blue-book.

The long-continued dispute as to the right of the telegraph department to erect posts and wires over our crowded city streets has at last been set at rest, and the Postmaster-general can, with certain restrictions, do much as he likes about the matter. The Telephone Companies, who are new-comers and have no statutory powers, have yet to fight the question. We must for many reasons deplore the circumstance that additions will still be made to the metallic spider-webs which cover so many of our fine metropolitan streets. It has been suggested that the lines could be made to follow the contour of the roads, and could be hidden under eaves and behind coping-stones so as no longer to offend the eye, or to present the risk of danger to life, which they now undoubtedly do. This innovation would doubtless mean a great deal of difficulty to telegraphic engineers, and would be naturally opposed by them, for there is a sweet simplicity about a suspended wire; but the gain to others would be great.

The International Health Exhibition, London, which follows so closely upon the Fisheries Exhibition, and occupies the same spacious site, bids fair to be a success, although it can hardly be expected to be quite so popular with the multitude as its predecessor. Still, there is much to attract the far larger part of the community who long for amusement rather than instruction, and as the financial success of the undertaking must be dependent upon such visitors, the caterers cannot be blamed if they have admitted within their walls many exhibits which, by the widest stretch of the imagination, can hardly be associated with the subject of health. For more thoughtful visitors, there are Conferences upon all manner of questions connected with Domestic Sanitation, questions of which the majority of people are at present profoundly ignorant. There will also be papers read upon the subjects of Meat-supply; Food-adulteration and Analysis; School-diet; School-life in Relation to Eyesight; Posture in Schools; Epidemics in Schools; and numberless other matters of social interest. As these Conferences are under the care of different Societies and Associations, which exist only to increase our knowledge regarding the different subjects indicated, and which have in most cases been at work for many years, we may be sure that much good will accrue from these discussions. Following the procedure of the Fisheries Exhibition, a number of pamphlets will also be issued, dealing with the multifarious sections of the Exhibition.

Although, as we have more than once pointed out, the general adoption of the electric light for domestic purposes cannot be looked for in the near future, it can easily be installed for special occasions. An account has recently been published of a ball at a private house in London where the rooms were illuminated during the evening by one hundred and twenty incandescent lamps. These lamps were fed by secondary batteries, which arrived in two vans, and which were subsequently accommodated in an adjoining coach-house. The batteries had been previously charged at a place ten miles distant. This use for the light may possibly become common in cases where cost is not a matter of first consideration.

Another phenomenal diamond has fallen to the lot of a fortunate digger at the Kimberley mine, South Africa. Its weight is three hundred and two carats; but, unfortunately, it does not possess that purity of colour, or rather absence of colour, which is the first desideratum in a diamond. Its value is said to be about three thousand pounds; whereas the far smaller Porter-Rhodes gem, found in the same mine about three years ago, was valued by its owner at one hundred thousand pounds. But the popular notion is that the value of a thing is what it will fetch, and there are certainly very few persons in the world who would lock up such an enormous sum for the doubtful advantage of possessing such a thing.

A document, which should be widely known, was recently issued by the Board of Trade, in the form of a Report of the first year’s experience of the Boiler Explosions’ Act of 1882. This Act, we may remind our readers, provides that an inquiry should be held into the cause of every boiler explosion, with a view to their prevention if possible. The causes of the forty-five casualties of this description which were inquired into, and which resulted in the loss of thirty-five lives and injuries to as many more, were entirely preventable. One of the assistant-secretaries to the Board goes so far as to say that ‘the terms “inevitable accident” and “accident” are entirely inapplicable to these explosions, and that the only accidental thing about many of them is that the explosions should have been so long deferred.’ The prevailing cause of the disasters is the unsafe condition of the boilers through age, corrosion, wasting, &c.; and a noticeable feature in many cases is the absence of any effort on the part of the steam-user to ascertain the condition of the boiler, and consequently of any attempt to repair, renew, or replace defective plates or fittings.

The authorities of Kew Observatory have undertaken a duty which will be hailed with satisfaction by all watchmakers and watchowners in the kingdom. They will undertake for a small fee to test the virtues of any watch left in their care, and with every watch so tested, will issue a statement of its going powers, under varied conditions of position, temperature, &c. They will also award to watches of superior excellence certificates of merit, which certificates will possess an equal value with documents of the same nature which have for years been granted by the Geneva and by the Yale College Observatories. The Swiss and Americans have long enjoyed these facilities for obtaining independent testimony as to the qualities of their watches, and it is only surprising that a movement has not been made before in this direction here at home; for English-made watches, in spite of foreign competition, are still much sought after.

A new method of dealing with road-sweepings and the contents of domestic dust-bins is now on its trial in New York, and seems to be very successful. The rubbish is carted, to the extent of forty loads a day, to a wonderful machine, which separates the paper, rag, iron, glass, coal, and cinder into different heaps. These are afterwards sold, with the exception of about four hundred pounds of coal and cinder, which are used for firing the engine attached to the machine. The remaining refuse—of no use to anybody, and too often, under existing systems, a possible source of disease—is reduced by fire to impalpable ash. It has been the custom in New York for many years to carry their rubbish out to sea and to discharge it outside the harbour. Pilots and others have long protested against this procedure, and affirm that the approaches to the harbour’s mouth are gradually being silted up by the accumulation of dirt thrown in. The experiment will be watched with interest by all those who acknowledge the importance of improved sanitation in our large towns and cities.

Moon’s Patent Quicksilver-wave Gold Amalgamator is the imposing title of a clever machine which has been introduced to obviate the serious loss of gold which is inseparable from previously existing methods of treating the ore. From the discovery of gold in California in 1848 to the end of 1882, the value of the gold found there was nearly two hundred and thirty-seven million pounds sterling. It is said on competent authority that this vast amount is less than fifty per cent. of the gold known to be in the ore treated, more than half the precious metal escaping in particles so fine that the machines employed could not intercept them. In this new machine, the crushed ore, mingled with water, is thrown in small quantities into a moving wave of quicksilver, and not merely across a quicksilvered plate, as under the old system. The tiniest spangles of gold are by this means speedily absorbed by or amalgamated with the liquid metal, the two being afterwards separated by heat in the usual manner. In one mine where Mr Moon’s machine is in use the increase of yield is estimated at forty pounds sterling per week, so it would seem that the cost of the appliance is soon repaid to its purchaser.

A very convenient combined seat and easel for the use of sketchers has lately been brought under our notice. It packs into a very small compass; it will hold a large picture; it fully justifies its name, ‘The Rigid,’ and actually weighs only four pounds. Its price is moderate, and it is to be had of Messrs Reeves, London.

Referring to a recent article in this _Journal_ on ‘Some Queer Dishes,’ in which it was stated that the cuttle-fish is used for food in Japan and elsewhere in the Pacific, a Portuguese correspondent writes to us that in Portugal the cuttle-fish is used as an article of food. It is opened, and then dried; and may be seen hanging up for sale in the shops. The people, he remarks, consider it a delicacy; and it is, when properly cooked, very rich and nourishing.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

NEW POSTAL ORDERS.

The system of Postal Orders, instituted in 1881, has proved so successful, that it has been found desirable to make certain alterations and extensions therein, with a view to affording further facilities to the public for the ready transmission of small sums of money through the post. On the 2d of June, a new series of Postal Orders were issued, the former series being entirely withdrawn. The new Postal Orders are of fourteen different denominations, instead of ten, as formerly; and the amounts of the various denominations, together with the rates of poundage chargeable thereon, are as follows:

_s._ _d._ _d._ 1 0 0½ 1 6 0½ 2 0 1 2 6 1 3 0 1 3 6 1 4 0 1 4 6 1 5 0 1 7 6 1 10 0 1 10 6 1 15 0 1½ 20 0 1½

There can be no doubt that these classes will prove extremely useful to the public generally, more especially as any amount of shillings and sixpences up to twenty shillings can be transmitted by means of only two of the above-named classes of orders. A novel feature, too, is introduced, whereby postage-stamps not exceeding fivepence in value are to be allowed to be affixed to the back of any one Postal Order to make up broken sums—a feature which, it needs not much of the spirit of prophecy to anticipate, will extensively be taken advantage of. By this useful concession, any sum up to a pound can now be sent through the post by means of Postal Orders, and in no case are more than two orders required to make up the exact desired amount. It will be noticed that the former twelve shillings and sixpence and seventeen shillings and sixpence orders are not included amongst the new denominations of Postal Orders; but their abolition will cause no inconvenience, as these two denominations were of all the orders of the old series probably the least used; and where such amounts are desired to be sent under the new series, they can be made up by using two orders, the poundage on which will be no more than is now charged for each of the denominations referred to—namely, twopence. In several cases, the poundage has been reduced, a benefit that will probably be the best appreciated of all. A ten shillings and ten shillings and sixpence order now only costs one penny; and the orders for fifteen and twenty shillings have been reduced to three-halfpence, instead of twopence, as heretofore. Compared with the former money-order rates, the Postal Order system is remarkably cheap, and on this score, will undoubtedly commend itself more than ever to popular favour; and it is extremely probable that for small sums the money-order system will in future be very little if at all used. Indeed, the Postal Order system, with its ready convenience and cheapness, seems likely to supersede all other methods of transmitting sums of a pound and under.

The Act under which these changes have taken place also authorises the issue of Postal Orders on board Her Majesty’s ships, a boon that the seamen concerned will not be slow to appreciate. The system is also to be extended to many of the colonies as opportunity occurs. It is indeed now in operation in Malta and Gibraltar, where it has met with much popularity, owing to the fact, no doubt, that the same rates are charged on Postal Orders issued there as on Postal Orders issued in this country. If we compare these rates with those charged on foreign and colonial money orders, it can readily be imagined that the system will be hailed with unmixed satisfaction by the colonies where it is shortly to be instituted.

NEW METALLIC COMPOUND.

Delta-metal, a new metal said to be not unlikely to rival steel under certain conditions, has, according to the _Hamburg Correspondent_, been lately submitted to the Polytechnic Association in Berlin. Delta-metal contains iron in addition to the ordinary constituents of brass. It takes on an excellent polish, and is much less liable to rust than either steel or iron. When wrought or rolled, it is harder than steel, but not when cast only. It can be forged and soldered like iron, but not welded. It melts at about one thousand seven hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit; and at from one thousand three hundred to one thousand five hundred degrees it is remarkably malleable, and in this condition can admirably well be pressed or stamped. For founding, it is also well suited. The price is somewhat higher than that of the better kinds of brass. It should be found specially serviceable for objects exposed to rust and requiring great hardness. At present—not to mention other cases—the small steamers for the exploration of Central Africa are being made of delta-metal.

HARBOUR OF REFUGE FOR EAST COAST OF SCOTLAND.

We have before alluded to the operations of the Committee appointed by the Government to take evidence as to the most suitable place for a harbour of refuge on the east coast of Scotland. The Report of the investigators has now been published, with their final recommendations. The towns and harbours of Wick, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Aberdeen, Arbroath, and Montrose, are severally reported upon, and the advantages and disadvantages of each stated, with the result that the reporters unanimously recommend Peterhead as the site of the proposed harbour of refuge. That town is situated almost midway between the great natural harbours of the Firth of Forth and Cromarty Firth, and its bay is well adapted as a place of shelter. Its anchorage also is excellent, the bottom of the bay being of mud with a sandy surface, affording a good holding-ground. The harbour is to be constructed by Scottish convict labour.

SUBTERRANEAN FISH.

A fact of much interest to students of natural history is vouched for by Cavalier Moerath, a civil engineer, formerly of Rome, and now visiting this country. This gentleman has devoted much labour and attention to the improvement of water-supplies in Italy. In sinking for water with one of Norton’s Abyssinian Tube Wells, he tapped a spring from which was pumped a tiny living fish. This fish had passed into the tube well through the ordinary perforations of about one-eighth of an inch. Examination proved it to have no eyes, clearly indicating that it belonged to an order intended to inhabit subterranean waters. The occurrence was certified to by two other gentlemen who were present when the fish was pumped up.

The site of the well is Fontano del Prato, near the old city of Cori, between Rome and Naples, and the depth is about seventy feet. The soil from which the fish came was fine sand. The strata passed through above this sand were volcanic loose earth, clay and water, other volcanic earth, rocks and sand, and clay. The temperature of the water was low—about forty degrees Fahrenheit. The water was fresh. The fish, we are informed, has been preserved in spirit, and is to be brought to England, when it will probably be exhibited at the Health Exhibition in London.

THE FASTEST PASSAGE ON RECORD.

This great feat has just been achieved by the Guion line steamer _Oregon_, which left New York on the 26th of April last, and arrived at Queenstown at 5.16 on Saturday morning the 3d of May, making the trip in six days sixteen hours and fifty-seven minutes, which is the fastest homeward trip yet recorded. This is the more remarkable from the fact that she had to traverse over a hundred miles at least out of her course to avoid the icebergs, those pests of the North Atlantic. Passengers who embarked at New York on Saturday the 26th April were landed at Liverpool on the evening of that day week. The _Oregon_ is another of those naval masterpieces for which the industry and skill of Scotland are so justly celebrated, and is considered one of the finest steamers afloat. Her highest score of miles run in one day was four hundred and thirty-six.

A CANINE ‘COLLECTOR.’