Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 700

Professor Boyd Dawkins in giving an account to the Manchester Geological Society of his visit to the crater of Vesuvius said: 'A coating of yellow sulphur about three inches thick covered the lip, and beneath this the loose gray ashes gave out aqueous vapour at every pore, which deposited on them in some places white powdery sulphate of lime, in others common salt, sal ammoniac, green chloride of copper, and specular iron ore, which looked like little pieces of shattered mirrors scattered through their substance. It was obvious that here we had a striking proof of the mode in which water, in passing through heated rock, can carry minerals in solution and ultimately deposit them. In these deposits we could easily recognise the mode in which the various metals were brought up from deep down in the earth's crust, and deposited in holes and crannies in the rocks which are accessible to man as mineral veins.' In this description we seem to have an approach towards an answer to the oft-repeated question – Where do metals come from?

Further particulars, which will be regarded as surprising, have been published concerning the Pennsylvania oil-wells. The Delameter well, sixteen hundred feet deep, sends forth gas at such a vehement pressure that a plummet-line weighing sixteen hundred pounds can be pulled out of the bore-hole by hand. The ascending speed of the gas is seventeen hundred feet per second; the quantity amounts to one million cubic feet per hour, or more than fourteen hundred tons a day; and the heating power is twenty-five per cent. greater than that of good bituminous coal. After this explanation it is easy to understand that the well, situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, furnishes heat and light to the whole neighbourhood. From one of its pipes, three inches in diameter, a flame rushes, 'the noise of which shakes the hills, and is heard at a distance of fifteen miles. For a distance of fifty feet around the earth is burnt; but farther off, the vegetation is tropical, and enjoys a perpetual summer.'

It is known to chemists that turpentine when oxidised in a current of air in presence of water, yields peroxide of hydrogen, camphoric acid, acetic acid, camphor, and certain other less defined substances. The progress of the oxidation is an interesting study, and the solution produced is found to have great power as an antiseptic and disinfectant. White of egg, milk, and beer treated therewith are kept fresh for some time. 'From a series of experiments undertaken with the view of ascertaining to which constituents of the solution the antiseptic and disinfecting property is to be ascribed, the power was found to be distributed between the peroxide of hydrogen and camphoric acid; but the former of these is able to evolve large quantities of oxygen, which in this state is nascent, and of a powerful oxidising nature.'

A curious case of glass-making is published in the Proceedings of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Chemical Society. A large mass of esparto grass was burnt by accident. Lumps which might be called grass clinkers were found among the ashes; and these on being properly treated in a kiln produced glass which is described as 'a very good sample of bottle-glass.' From this it is easy to understand that in past ages some great bonfire of vegetable matter may have led to the discovery of glass. Farmers who are unfortunate enough to have their stack-yards burned, might possibly find straw clinkers among the débris. This would be worth noting, for silica enters largely into the composition of all grasses and cereals.

In South Russia, Hungary, parts of Italy, in Egypt, India, and other parts of the world where no coal is to be had, different kinds of vegetable refuse are used as fuel for steam-engines. In a paper read at a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers a table is given of the heating value of the refuse as compared with coal. It has been found in Russia that a little more than four acres can be cultivated with the waste straw of one acre, which when compared with the results of steam-plough trials at Wolverhampton shews that one pound of coal is equivalent to four and one-sixth pounds of straw. An engine to burn vegetable waste requires a greater heating surface than an ordinary engine; and those of the most improved construction are self-feeding. In Egypt the stalks of the cotton-plant and megass, or waste sugar-cane, are the principal fuel; and the equivalent quantity of these to one pound of coal is less than of straw. But there are engines in England which burn vegetable waste; and the author of the paper above mentioned is of opinion that 'as the demand for mechanical appliances increases, so will the difficulties increase of obtaining the best qualities of fuel for steam-boilers in rural districts.' And he suggests that the only method of rendering the use of steam-power universal, particularly for agriculture, would be to construct the boiler of the engine so as to utilise the local supplies of combustible material of every kind.'

Among scientific novelties worthy of notice are the Harmonograph, an instrument constructed by Messrs Tisley and Spiller. It combines a series of pendulums, susceptible of motion in every direction, one of which carrying a pen, traces curves of remarkable forms on a sheet of paper. Some of these curves represent waves of sound as given off by a musical instrument, and certain waves of light. Thus the invisible is, so to speak, made visible, with manifest advantage to natural philosophy. – Next, the Otheoscope, a modification of the radiometer designed by Mr Crookes. In this little instrument the vanes do not rotate, but are fixed near a horizontal disc free to move. The influence acting on the vanes is thrown from them upon the disc, and the disc spins round with great rapidity. The useful applications of this novelty have yet to be discovered. – And Mr N. J. Holmes has invented a flaring projectile or shell which when fired from a ship at sea falls into the water at a distance of two miles if required; floats for an hour, and throws out a powerful light, which in dark nights would be useful in detecting the position and watching the movements of a hostile fleet.

The Registrar-general pursuing the even tenor of his way amid the world's excitements, has just published his Report on the public health of 1876. He tells us that the area of London (taking the registration division) is one hundred and twenty-two square miles, with fifteen hundred miles of streets, about two thousand miles of sewers, and 417,767 inhabited houses. The population numbered nearly three millions and a half; but taking in the outlying districts, 'greater London' as the Registrar calls it, contains 4,286,607 inhabitants, among whom the births were 153,192, and the deaths 91,171. Some of these inhabitants live in the Plumstead Marshes, eleven feet below, while the dwellers at Hampstead are 429 feet above high-water mark. These differences of level imply different conditions of health; but the death-rate was not more than 21.3 per thousand; which contrasts favourably with the death-rate in other towns and cities within the kingdom and in other parts of the world.

Economy is an important element in the maintenance of health, and Dr Farr points out what looks like a waste of resources. He says: 'The capital engaged in the gas and water companies of London is L.22,492,157, which realised in the year ending April 1876, a profit of not less than L.1,676,542, or seven and a half per cent. all round. Now, if this amount of capital were required to construct all the works necessary to supply London with the best gas and pure soft water at high-pressure, it could probably be raised at four, or certainly three and a half per cent. less than is now paid in dividends. If the capital were raised at four per cent. L.776,856 would be set free; out of which, after the companies were adequately compensated, there would be a large revenue for education and many municipal purposes.' The facts set forth in this paragraph should be taken into serious consideration by all concerned.

A paper on the Climate of Scarborough in the Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society is worth attention, as it sets forth the atmospheric movements to which that fashionable watering-place owes the amenity of its summer climate. The highest summer temperature, we are informed, is seventy degrees; and the temperature of the sea is commonly five degrees below the temperature of the air. 'Another noticeable fact is, that in hot weather, with a tolerably clear sky and a temperature between eight and nine A.M. of about sixty degrees, rising to a maximum during the day of nearly seventy, the wind, which in the morning is blowing from south-west or west-south-west, generally backs to the south-south-east by the middle of the day, bringing in a cool refreshing breeze from the sea. This backward movement of the wind is easily accounted for, when it is remembered that with such a high temperature and an almost cloudless sky, the ground becomes much heated, causing the lower stratum of warm and rarefied air to ascend, while the cooler and heavier air is then drawn in from the sea to supply its place;' and the moisture in this sea-breeze by tempering the sunshine renders outdoor life the more agreeable.

As Fiji is now one of our colonial possessions, enterprising emigrants will perhaps resort thither. They may find information concerning the productions and weather of the group of islands in a paper by Mr R. L. Holmes, published in the last number of the Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society. The first quarter of the year comprehends the 'hurricane months;' from January 1 to March 28, 1875, ninety inches of rain fell; an inch a day. The driest month is July; the south-east trade-winds are then strong; so strong indeed as to blow away the cotton, which then 'breaks out with a rush,' unless it be quickly gathered. The climate generally is described as healthy; fevers, liver-complaints, and cholera, diseases almost always fatal in a tropical country, being almost unknown. But a painful disease of the eyes is common; and small wounds, even mosquito bites, have a tendency to become serious sores, very difficult to heal. The natives are a decidedly healthy race, notwithstanding that they prefer to build their villages on swampy ground. That no harmful consequences ensue may be due to the position of the islands in the region of the trade-winds, whereby breezes always prevail. Emigrants from Europe soon lose much of their fresh ruddy appearance, their blood gets thin, and they probably lose in weight; but if they will abstain from indulgence in ardent spirits they may become acclimatised with but little risk of health.

SICILIAN BRIGANDAGE

A writer on this subject in the Edinburgh Review for April more than confirms all that we stated on Italian Brigandage in an article last January. We have in particular from this writer a clear account of that system of organised iniquity known as the Mafia, with its kindred associations the Camorras. The Mafia, in fact, has an endless ramification of spontaneous and illegal societies, and it comes pretty much to this, that society in Sicily, high and low, official and non-official, is one great confederacy to rob and murder at will, and otherwise defy or circumvent the law in any way that seems best. The curious thing is how any show of orderly civilised usages can be maintained. Externally, in Palermo and other places, there is an aspect of peacefulness and honesty; but beneath the surface nearly all proceedings are regulated by force and deceit. The very attempt to seek protection from the law brings down vengeance so remorseless that well-disposed persons are fain to be silent under extortion. There are three hundred and sixty communes in Sicily, and every one of them, says this writer, 'has its own Mafia, of which the character varies according to local tendencies and interests. In one place its energies are devoted to the conduct of the elections and the manipulations of the ballot-box; in another, to directing, by means of a Camorra, the sale of church and crown lands; in a third, to the apportionment of contracts for public works… By a singular anomaly, the middle class – that very class of which the absence is deplored in the rest of Sicily as the absence of an element of order – forms in Palermo the chief strength of the Mafia. Its proverbial virtues of prudence, industry, and foresight are here exercised in the calling of crime. The so-called Capi-mafia are men of substance and education. To them is due the consummate ability with which the affairs of their association are managed – the unity of direction, precision of purpose, and fatality of stroke. They determine with unerring tact all the nice points of their profession; in what cases life may be taken, and in what others the end in view can be attained by mere destruction of property; when an important capture is to be effected; when a threatening letter sent, or a shot of persuasion fired; when it is advisable to suspend operations, and when to inspire terror by increased ferocity. By them, relations are maintained with government offices in Rome, whose intrigues are generally successful in obtaining the dismissal or removal of obnoxious officials; so that complicity with crime is an almost necessary condition of permanence in any responsible position.'

For this state of affairs, which violates all our conceptions of a civilised community, the reviewer offers no practical scheme for redress. Reform, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, seems impracticable. Society is leagued to maintain a universal terrorism. Judges, magistrates, police-officers are incorporated in the gang of evil-doers. The military sent to preserve order are inefficient. Whether from fear or favour, brigandage is triumphant. Evidently the Italian government is powerless to cure the disorderly condition of Sicily. The very members of the government labour under suspicion of complicity. More probably, they are afraid to give offence by acting with persistent vigour. Constitutionalism carried to excess in a region wholly unprepared for it, even in a moderate degree, might be described as the bane of the country. It is in vain to appoint new native magistrates and new police, for all are bad together. The feeble military force sent to support the law is out-manœuvred or laughed at. Without denying that things may mend in the course of ages, we should say, that what Italy wants is a Cromwell with his Ironsides to stamp out by military execution the ingrained villainy which now afflicts one of the finest and most productive islands in the world. As there is, however, no chance of a soldier of the Cromwell type casting up, Sicily, we presume, must continue to be a disgrace to Italy and as great a scandal to Europe as Turkey.

    W. C.