The Welshman

DR. MORGAN ON « COMBUSTION." I On Thursday evening, the 11th inst., Dr. Morgan, public analyst, Swansea, delivered the first of the series of lectures in connection with the Carmarthen Literary and Scientific Institute. There was a large attend- ance, and the Rev. L. M. Jones, vicar, occupied the chair. Dr. Morgan chose for his subject Combustion," and after some preliminary remarks he said The term combustion properly speaking denotes the development of light and heat accompanying chemical action. It is sometimes used as synonymous with inflammation, but this latter term is better restricted to those cases of combustion in which the products are gaseous, in other words, in which flame is produced. At the be- ginning of the last century Stahl of Prussia, observing the changes which fire produced in all bodies, whether metallic or organic, concluded that it was but one and the same phenomenon in each case, and he believed that in all, there was present one and the same constituent, which he called phlogiston. The more constant and energetic the phenomenon of combustion, the richer it was in phlogiston coal was a body pre-eminently rich in this constituent. According to Stahl, phlogiston was a constituent of sulphur and phosphorus, expulsion of it was combustion, and it gave the means of deter- mining the other constituent. Sulphur was sulphuric acid combined with phlogiston, phosphorous was phos- phoric acid combined with phlogiston, metallic oxides contained it, and when such an oxide was heated with a body rich in phlogiston, such as carbon or charcoal, the metal recovered its original state and became rich in phlogiston. The existence of this body was deter- mined by him (Stahl) in an indirect manner. He sup- posed its existence, and it was not thought necessary to isolate it in order to prove his theory. After further explaining this theory, Dr. Morgan said Wrong as these views were, when looked at from our present stand-point, yet this theory was the means of establish- ing the science of chemistry upon a basis which it never bad before. It awakened a spirit of enquiry among the chemists of that period, leading them to search into the nature of bodies and their constituents, and indeed it may be said that chemistry had a new life put into it by this theory of combustion, even the definition which Stahl, as the founder of this theory, gave to chemistry, viz., that it is the art of decompos- ing compound bodies into their constituents, and the bringing together of the constituents to form the com- pounds, is still accepted as the true one even to the present day. A great defect in the phlogistic theory was, that it took no account of the essential part which the air plays, in all ordinary cases of combustion, a fact suggested by common experience, and fully de- monstrated by the discoveries of Scheele Cavendish,Jand Priestley. Dr. Morgan proceeded to comment on the discoveries of Lavoisier, and added, from this date a new life as it were, had been put into chemistry, by the discovery of oxygen and the explanation of com- bustion. In considering the circumstances which favour or retard combustion, and also the nature of flame, Dr Morgan said, there are but few substances which are capable of combining with oxygen at ordinary tem- perature, and those, which possess this capacity loose it at a lower temperature. Again, the temperature required to bring about the combination of a body with oxygen, the burning point as it may be called, is dif- ferent not only for different substances, but even for one and the same substance, according as the combus- tion is to take place, slowly or rapidly. Phosphorus combines slowly with oxygen at the ordinary tem- perature (about 77 deg. Fahen), but if I bring near the phosphorus a heated body, so as to raise its temperature to about 140 deg. Fah., the combustion takes place rapidly. Some bodies on the other hand will burn by mere contact with the air; others must be heated to redness. The condition or state of division of bodies has an influence upon their combustion. If I present a lump of copper to a lump of sulphur they will not combine, but if I take the copper in a state of minute division and likewise the sulphur, combination imme- diately takes place, on rubbing them together. Iron will not, in the lump, burn by mere exposure to the air, but. finely divided iron takes fire by its mere ex- posure. The spontaneous combustion of porous sub- stances, such as charcoal: powder, or small coal, or masses of tow, cotton, or rags, saturated with oil, takes place in a somewhat similar manner, the substance absorbs and condenses the air, within its pores, oxida- tion then commences immediately and raises the tem- perature which in its turn accelerates the oxidation. The process of combustion is thus increased until flame is produced, the low conducting power of such a porous mass greatly facilitates the combustion,by preventing the dissipation of the heat generated. Again, the presence of certain metals, such as platinum, greatly facilitates the combination of oxygen with inflammable gases and vapours, the effect depending upon the power possessed by the metal of condensing the gases on its surface, or within its pores if the metal be in a finely divided state. A very important condition in order that the process of combustion may be con- tinued is the renewal of the materials and removal of the products, air must be continually brought to the body and the gases which are produced must be continually removed. This may be shown by the combustion of a candle under a receiver, the products preventing the combustion being continued in the open air it will burn, because the gases produced are continually removed By a suitable arrangement it may be made to burn even in the receiver, i.e., if a current of air is drawn through the apparatus. Dr Morgan then went on to consider the nature of flame. He said, that the brightness or illuminating power of flame depends, not only on the degree of heat, but likewise on the presence or absence of solid particles which may act as radiant points. A flame containing no such particles emits but a feeble light, even if its temperature is the highest possible (the flame of Hydrogen gas for example), but in flames which do contain solid particles the brightness increases with the temperature to which these particles are raised. These solid particles in the flame are some- times due to the combination of the combustible body with oxygen e.g., phosphoric acid or zinc oxide from the combustion of phosphorous or zinc. But when the burning body is an organic hydrocarbon in the gaseous state the solid matter consists of particles of carbon in the form of soot separated in the interior of the flame by the heat of the burning envelope. A dull flame becomes brighter by the introduction of a solid body in a finely divided state. Bright flames are produced by compounds containing carbon, and from which a portion of the carbon is separated in the form of soot, the separated carbon being first brought to a state of vivid incandescence and subsequently burnt, when it comes in contact with the oxygen of the surrounding air. Even a non-luminous flame, such as hydrogen, may be rendered luminous by mixing it with a rich carbonaceous substance, the light being produced by the separated carbon. OK the contrary, by mixing a jet of carbon- aceous or vapour with oxygen as in a Bunsen s gas burner, in which air is admitted just above the point where the stream of gas enters the burner, so that the gas and air become well mixed before they reach the orifice, a complete combustion of the carbon is obtained and only gaseous products are formed, the result being a very hot smokeless flame of feeble luminosity. The more slowly a carbonaceous substance is burned the greater is the quantity of carbon separated from it. The brightness of the flame is. however, diminished in the same proportion, because the particles of carbon are less strongly heated On the contrary, the quicker the combustion, the smaller the quantity of carbon separated but the temperature to which it is raised is so much the higher and consequently it emits a brighter light. A smoky flame is the result of too little draught or presence of oxygen in order to consume the whole of the carbon, the result being that a part of the latter is separated out in a free state. After some detailed explanation Dr Morgan said, the colour of a flame depends partly upon the temperature and partly on the nature of the substances contained in it. In ordinary flames the combustible gas occupies the interior and is surrounded by atmospheric air or oxygen gas, but we can reverse the process and direct a stream of oxygen gas, into a vessel, filled with the combustible gas. The interior of the flame in this case is oxygen gas, the combustible gas surrounding it. The blow-pipe flame depends on this principle, air being forced into the middle of the ascending combustible gases. Dealing with the causes which modify and stop combustion Dr Morgan said, when a slow or rapid combination of a body with oxygen has been once set up elevation of temperature, the continuance of this combination, after the supply of beat has been withdrawn depends on the following conditions. Whether the quantity of heat which the body evolves in a given time is equal to that which in the same time is carried away by the surrounding bodies, and consequently whether the body remains at the temperature necessary for combustion. Iron requires a white heat to mitke it burn rapidly, hence when it is heated in the air till it begins to turn, the combustion ceases as soon as the access of heat from without is discontinued, whereas sulphur continues to burn in air. Again, the support orsurrounding medium affects combustion, according to whether it is a good or bad conductor. Glowing coals are ex- tinguished if laid on considerable masses of metal, owing to the good conducting power of metals for heat. A mixture of oxygen and a com- bustible gas will not take fire in very narrow tubes, because their sides cool down too quickly. This is the principle of the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe. From the same cause the flame of a mixture of combustible gases and common air is often unable to pass through ^e meshes of wire gauze, the passage of the flame takes place, however, with great facility, the lower the tem- perature at which the gas takes fire The greater the heat evolved by its combustion, the more quickly it is forced through the apertures by pressure the wider the meshes, the smaller the mass and specific heat of the metal of which the gauze is made, and the higher its temperature above a certain temperature, all gases pass through it. The flame of a cotton thread may be extinguished by holding over it, even at some distance, a ring of fine iron wire, or a thicker ring of glass. On this principle is based the construction of the safety lamp of Sir H. Davy, which essentially consists of a common oil lamp, having its flame surrounded by a cylinder of wire gauze. When this lamp is taken to a part of a mine containing an explosive mixture of gas and air, the interior of the cylinder becomes filled with a blue flame but this flame is not communicated to the explosive mixture outside because in its passage through the gauze its temperature has been reduced below the burning point. Dr Morgan, in dealing with fire-extinguishing substances, pointed out that they act by cooling as water does, or by covering the burning mass and thereby preventing the access of air. He stated that, owing to the number of terrible accidents, occurring from time to time, especially to the light muslin dresses worn by ladies, much attention had been devoted towards rendering such light fabrics uninflammable. He said that this object had been attained by steeping the material in a saline solution, and then drying it in an ordinary way. The lecturer abundantly explained and defined the use of this saline solution, and in referring to the term fire-proof as we find it commonly applied to buildings and other structures used for keeping valuable goods, &c., said that it was often misused. Fire-proof bodies, he pro- ceeded, are those which remain unaltered by exposure to fire. Building stones are various in their compo- sition some of them are silicates, and are capable of withstanding the greatest heat produceable in our f nrnaces. It is true that sand pebbles, &c., are fusible, but their constitution is unaltered. The carbonates, such as limestone, marble, &c,, when subjected to great heat, crumble to pieces All the materials which are used for producing light and heat, such as wood, coal, oil, wax. tallow, &c., consist essentially of carbon, com- bined in most instances wich hydrogen and oxygen, and in the combustion of any of these bodies, the pre- sence of air or oxygen is indispensable. What be- comes of the carbonaceous matter, is it destroyed ? It has disappeared, and is no more recognisable by the eye. To the ordinary senses it appears to be con- sumed or annihilated. It is at first sight difficult to picture it otherwise, but the mind is capable of following all the mysterious changes which have taken place, and in fact proof may be brought forward, which will satisfy the most sceptical eye. We have analogous things, taking place constantly around us, the ship which leaves our dock and sails out to sea, we know still exists, although we 4° not see it, or to take a more homely illustration, the sugar we put into our tea, we know still exists for we have the proof fn the sweetening of the tea. It is the same with the candle, we must look for the materials of which it was composed, in another way. I plunge a burning taper into a jar of air it continues to burn for a few minutes, but the flame becomes less and less, and ultimately goes out. We ask ourselves, why is it extinguished ? In order to answer that question, let us examine the air in the bottle before, and after, burning the candle in it. I pour some lime water into the bottle in which no candle has burned, it remains un- altered. I pour it into the other. You see the differ- ence at once, and the eye is satisfied that the burning of the candle has produced some change in the air. The milkiness is nothing else than chalk, and chalk is a compound of lime and carbonic acid. Carbonic acid and air are colourless and invisible gases, but they are readily distinguishable by these simple tests. We may call carbonic acid a fire proof body, as it will neither burn itself, nor support the combustion of other bodies. In concluding Dr, Morgan said: Innumerable are the instances of com- bustion with which we are constantly surrounded, we ourselves are constantly maintaining it, our life is maintained by it, and we are in this respect no more than the machines we see at work around us. The food we eat is composed of precisely the same elements as the fuel of the furnace. The difference in combustion is one of degree only, but I would just state that man produces far more work in proportion to the fuel used than the most perfect machine. The more work pro- duced by a man or a machine the more rapid the oxida- tion or combustion of the fuel. The lecture was frequently applauded, and was accompanied by numerous and interesting experiments. The Chairman in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, alluded to that gentleman in complimentary terms. He also remarked that he did not think that he had received a greater honour in his life than his election to the office of president of the Institute. The vote of thanks was passed by acclamation.

DISTRICT NEWS. At Cheltenham, on Saturday, a football match was played between the College and Glamorgan Club teams and resulted in a victory to the former, who scared a goal and three rogues. Captain Nicholl, second son of the Right Hon. John Nicholl, of Merthyr Mawr, has been appointed deputy- master at the Bute-Docks. Cardiff. Captain Nicholl served in the navy from 1842 to 1870, when he retired under Mr Childers's scheme. The premises of Messrs Johnson and Burgess, ship chandlers, at Swansea, were completely gutted by a fire which broke out on Saturday morning, and the stock in an adjoining building was much damaged by water. The loss, which is only partially insured against, is very great. Vice-Chancellor Bacon made an order on Saturday for the continuation of the winding up of the Welsh Freehold Coal and Iron Company, under the super- vision of the court. An order for the compulsory winding-up of the United Bituminous Coal Company was also granted on the petition of a holder of 1,200 shares, the ground of the application being the alleged insolvency of the concern. In the course of a sermon on St. Cadog, of Llancarvan, delivered at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Cardiff, on Sunday evening, the Rev Father Nedelec stated that the code of Welsh laws compiled by Howel Dda was taken to Rome and submitted to the then reigning Pope for the approbation of his holiness. The rev gentleman also stated that one of the enactments of the code in question required that the confessors of the Welsh kings shou!d be bishops. It was stated at the meeting of the Swansea Harbour Trust on Monday that, financially speaking, the last month bad been very good, and showed an actual working surplus on the whole harbour, after the unusual expenditure,.of £ 429. A discussion took place with regard to the proposed new dock on the Fabian's Bay side of the harbour. Mr Ford feared that if the trustees waited for the Great Western Railway they would have to wait a long time but Mr Vivian expressed his con- viction that the company had no intention of shelving the matter. Committees for the ensuing year were appointed. Mr Henry Richard, M.P., addressed the Merthyr section of his constituents in that town on Tuesday night. After expressing his pleasure that the efforts which had been made to establish a Conciliation Board in South Wales had succeeded, Mr Richard passed on to review the work of Parliament during last session, expressing an approval of the two Government Bills with relation to the Labour Laws, and, to a certain extent, of the Friendly Societies' Bill. He had no fault to find with the foreign policy that had been adopted by Lord Derby. Referring incidentally to the recent Chinese difficulty, he condemned the action of the British Government in forcing the opium trade upon China as they had done. In answer to questions which were put to him at the close of his address, Mr Richard said he considered that the disfranchisement of the Merthyr lock-outs was cruel, but that the law was to blame and not its administrators. He would be very happy to ask a question in the House of Commons as to the legality of the measure. An application was made to the Railway Commis- sioners on Tuesday, under the 13th clause of the Rail- way and Canal Act, which transfers to the commissionerf, the powers of the Board of Trade, under the Railways Clauses Act of 1863, with respect to the approval of working agreements between railway companies. The object was to obtain the confirmation of the commis- sioners to a warking agreement between the Sirhowy Railway Company and the London and North-Western. In the South Wales district the London and North- Western Company and the Great Western Company were competitors for the traffic to Lancashire and the northern district. At present the North-Western Company had no direct access to the Alexandra Docks at Nowport, but by the Pontypool Railway, and with run- ning powers over the Monmouthshire line, they were able to reach Newport. The possession of the Monmouth- shire and Sirhowy lines would give to the Great Western Company the entire control of the traffic of the district, and early in the present year negotiations were commenced by the Great Western for the acquisition of the Sirhowy line. In March the North-Western Company having heard of the negotiations, met the Sirhowy Company and the Tredegar Iron Works Company, with a view of ascertaining what arrange- ment they could make for the protection of their own interests, which resulted in the present agreement—a simple working ordinary agreement, without any objectionable clauses of any kind. Some evidence was taken and the inquiry then adjourned. MARRIAGE OF Miss EDITH WYNNE.—On Tuesday morning Miss Sarah Edith Wynne was married at. the Chapel Royal, Savoy, London, to Mr Aviet Agabeg, of the Inner Temple. The chapel was crowded some time before the commencement of the service, and there was a great number of spectators outside. Mr Henry Frederick Frost (the organist) commenced the service, which was choral throughout, with Handel's occasional overture, after which was played Wely's March in E flat. The bride wore a white satin dress trimmed with Brussels lace and orange blossoms, and had on a veil of Brussels lace. The bridesmaids (five in number) were two sisters of the bride, the Misses Ida and Josephine Wynne, Miss Patey, Miss Clinton Fynes, and Miss Bessie Wagb. They wore dresses of pale lavender and cerise, with white plush hats. Mr Richard Wynne (a brother of the bride) gave her away, and the best man was Mr J. B. I'Anson. As the bridal party proceeded from the porch to the chancel, the choir sang the hymn "The voice that breathed oe'r Eden." The service was conducted by the Rev Henry White, M.A. (chaplain of the Chapel Royal, Savoy, and chaplain-in-ordinary to the Queen), assisted by an old friend of the bride's, the Rev Robert Jones, vicar of All Saints', Rotherithe, who preached a special sermon of about five minutes' duration. He dwelt upon the honours of the marriage tie, which (he said) was the beautiful symbol of the union between Christ and His Church-between the Saviour and the saved. He said to the bride indi- vidually, that the experience they had had of the lofty principle that had animated as a daughter-ministering, as she had done, with her own hands to the comforts of her parents in their declining years-he hesitated not to say even in that sacred place, was a sure warranty that she would not forget the higher duties of a wife. To the bridegroom the preacher said that a rich treasure had fallen to his lot-the cherished daughter of a nation which prided itself on the rich talents cf her whom they had that day committed to his care. As the bride and bridegroom returned from the vestry down the centre aisle they were congratulated warmly by their | numerous friends in the church.

New papers, new papers! The cry is still they come. Two London dailies are in slow process of incubation the one advanced Liberal and the other-which is to be called the Daily Express, and to be edited by Mr Gilbert Venables—confirmed Church and State. The proprietor of a mourning warhouse in Regent-street meditates starting a threepenny illustrated paper, same size as th^Illustrated London News, at the commencement of the new year. The Government are already preparing for eventuali- ties in the East. Lord Napier of Magdala has been appointed Governor and Commander-in-chief of Gib- raltar, with a view to proceed to Egypt immediately upon any emergency arising. Bad health compelled General Sir Fenwick Williams to come to England he is not likely to return to Gibraltar, at all events until affairs in the East are sufficiently settled to permit Lord Napier's return to this country.— World.

LLANGWM CHURCH. THE ROOD SCREEN. I The parish church of Llangwm-ucha, whose rood screen, it will be remembered, was referred to by Mr Gladstone in his recent address at Greenwich on science and art, is situate in a secluded dell about a mile to the left of the road leading from Usk towards Chepstow, at a distance of three miles from the former town. The church dates back so far as the 13th century, and is well worthy the attention of the antiquary. The church, some years ago, had got into a very dilapidated condition, but through the exertions of the vicar of the parish, and the adjoining one of Llangwm-issa, it has recently been restored, and was re-opened in 1871, after having for some years been in such a state of decay that it was impossible to hold divine service within its walls. The principal feature of interest in the church is the beautiful rood screen, which is of ancient date, and has been much admired as a work of art. The Vicar, after having completed the restoration of the church, is now engaged in the restoration of the screen, and has already collected the sum of X200, about L150 more being required to complete the work. Mr Seddon, the architect who was engaged in the restoration of the church, has recently published an illustration and description of this screen, and from the latter the following is an extractRood screens are often wrought with an amount of elaboration that is truly astonishing, and seem to have been made quite a labour of love. Of such, that in the church of Llan- gwm, in Monmouthshire, may be considered a typical sample. The church consists of simple nave, porch, and a chancel, with a well-proportioned tower project- ing midway from it on the north side-an unusual position, but one which has conduced to an excellent grouping and the entire structure is a picturesque and charming example of a village church. The screen stretches across the nave, which is 19ft. in width in front of the chancel arch, and consists of eighteen narrow traceried divisions in two heights. Of these the folding doors occupy the four central ones, there being two panels to each door next, four divisions on each side have the upper panels open, through which the chancel may be seen and the three remaining ones on each side, being against the responds of the chancel, are close boarded, and have been decorated with panels. All the lower are filled with rich linen-moulded pat-I terns, under delicate traceried beads. A cornice beam is continued through above as a finish to this part of the screen. This is about a foot deep, and has three en- richments between two heads worked in che solid. The coved portion which connected this beam with the upper part of the screen has been destroyed, but there are the sinkings to receive the moulded vertical ribs on the back of the lower beam of the upper portion. The restoration of this coving is, therefore, necessarily conjectural, as far I as she horizontal intersecting ribs are concerned; and also the bosses which cover the intersections and the s quare panels. The next part in order is the noble lower beam of the roof loft. It is scarcely two feet deep, by nine inches at the top, tapering to about four inches at the bottom, and has five beads at various distances, and a moulding at the bottom, worked in the solid and all the carved enrichments have been separately wrought and let in between the several beads and mouldings, as well as a strawberry leaf cresting inserted below the moulding and continued round the curve of the side traceried brackets, which are supported by corbels, suggesting in their treatment fan vaulting. I For the upper beam the same authority in the shape of actual remains exists This is about one foot four inches at the bottom, and has four beads and lower moulding worked in the solid. and has three carved enrichments and carved crestings at top and bottom. For the treatment of the intermediate space there is less certain authority, as all the panels have vanished, as well as the buttresses or other ornamentation to the front of the standards. The small strips of tracery, however, which run up the sides of each standard, and are continued round the soffit of the panels under the beam. between two beads worked in the solid, are to a considerable extent in a good state of preservation. For the manner in which this part of the front of the rood loft is restored reference has been mnde to the somewhat similar, and more perfect, though less rich, screen at the Patricio. near Llanthony Abbey. The flooring of the rood loft still remains, and also the whole arrangement of the filling in of the chancel arch at the back of the rood-loft is either perfect or evident. This consisted of a beam 2 ft. wide and 1 ft. deep, placed level with the floor and top of the lower rood beam. worked with a bold cavetto moulding, and two edge beads on the under sid^s, next the chancel. Upright boarding was carried up from the top of the lower screen to this, while above from its outer edge other boarding was continued to the curve of the second chamfered order of the arch to a wood moulding fitting to the curve, ani this boarding had four narrow slips with cusped arched heads, to enable the occupants of the loft to look into the chancel. No remains of any superstructure or sockets for any rood, cross, or figures, can be discerned on the top of the upper beam but it will be noticed that the central and side standards of the gallery are wider than the others, and it is an open question whether they may have had I figures with canopies on them, but there is nothing to prove this. The central one has therefore been filled, as it seemed most probable, with perforated tracery Those at the side are worked triangularly on plan, and set with the back flush with the rest, and front facing the nave anglewise, the lower edge projecting over the enrich- ments below without any finish, so that it would seem that they may have been concealed by some projecting figure or a corbelled pedestal. As no doubt the rood loft would be continually surmounted by the rood cross and attendant figures, it is supposed these must have been independent and placed simply upon the beam, or supported from behind the gallery The whole is executed in oak, which has attained a lovely silvery hue from old age, and is tolerably sound. Originally, with- out doubt, the whole was richly illuminated, traces ot colour and gilding have been found throughout. It would seem that behind all the ornaments are traceries, red and green alternately used, and the ornaments themselves more or less gilt. It is impossible in a draw- ing even approximately to represent the exquisite beauty of the carving. It must suffice, therefore, to say that they are unsurpassed in point of refinement and delicacy."

j OBSERVATIONS ON BEES. WASPS, AND ANTS. The following paper was read by Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M P., D.C.L., F.R.S., at the Linnean Society, November 4th. This is a continuation of my previous papers on the same subject. In them I recordAd various experiments tending to show that in many cases Ants and Bees which have found a store of food or of larvae certainly do not communicate the information to their friends. This unexpected observation was received with so much surprise, and indeed was so unexpected to myself, that I determined to repeat the experiments which I have now done, with, however, the same result. To take one as an illustration I placed an F. Flava (the small red ant) to a heap of larvae, which, as is well known, are fleshy legless grubs incapable of motion. I placed them about two feet from the entrance to her nest. I then watched her from eleven in the morning till after seven in the evening, during which time she made eighty-six journeys from the nest to the heap of larvae, carrying one off each time but although she had so much work to do, and though the precious larvae were lying for so long exposed to so many dangers and to the weather, she brought no other ant to assist her in carrying them off. One of the ants I observed in this way carried off one by one no less than 187 larvae in a day. In "ther instances, on the contrary, the opposite result occurred. I was for some time uncer- tain, in the latter cases, whether the ants purposely brought friends to their assistance, or whether, as the ants are sociable insects, it merely happened that the one accompanied the other, as it were, by accident. To test this question, I took two ants, and placed them under similar circumstances, the one to a heap of larvae, the other to a group of two or three, always, however putting one in place of any that was carried off; and it was quite clear that the ants which were placed to the large group of larvae brought far more friends to their assistance than those which had apparently only two or three larvae to move. Of thirty ants which were observed, those placed to a large number of larvae brought 250 friends, while those placed to two or three larvae under similar circumstances only brought eighty. One account, much relied on as showing the in- telligence of ants, has been the following observation made by M. Lund in Brazil. Passing one day under a tree which stood almost by itself, he was surprised to hear the leaves falling like rain. On examining the cause of this, he found that a number of ants had climbed the tree, and were cutting off the leaves, which were then carried away by companions waiting for them below. Of course it might be said that the leaves which dropped fell by accident; in which case they would naturally be carried off by the ants below. It occurred to me, however, that this was an observation which might easily be repeated. I placed therefore a number of larvee on a slip of glass, which I suspended by a tape, so that it hung one-third of an inch from the surface of one of my artificial nests isolating it, however, in such a manner that for an ant to wal-k to the nest she would be obliged to go thirteen feet round. I then placed some black ants (F. nigra) on the glass with the larvae. Each of them took a larva in the usual way, and then endeavoured to go by the quickest road home. They leaned over the glass and made every effort to reach down, but of course in vain, though the distance was so small that they could all but touch the nest with their antennae, and even, in one or two cases, succeeding in getting down by stepping on the back of an ant below. Those, however, which did not meet w'th any such assistance, gradually, though at first requiring some help from me, found their way round to the nest, and after a short time there was quite a string of ants passing to and fro from the nest to the larvae, although it would have been so easy for them to throw the larvae over the edge of the glass, or to go straight home, if they would have faced a drop of, say, one-tenth of an inch. Moreover, I placed some fine mould within half an inch of the glass, so that it would have been easy for the ants, by literally one minute's labour, to have con- structed for themsel ves a stepping stone up to the glass yet they did not adopt any of these expedients, but for hours together, and by hundreds, continued to make the long journey round. I confess this experi- ment, which I repeated on several occasions, surprised me very much. As my previous experiments, which showed that bees did not by any means in all cases bring their friends to share stores of food which they had discovered, have been much questioned by bee-keepers, I have repeated them again. No doubt, if honey is put in an exposed place, so that it is found by one bee, it is most natural that others should also find their way to it; but this does not, according to my experience, happen if the honey is concealed. For instance, I put a bee to some honey in a flowerpot placed on its side, and so arranged that the bee had only a small orifice through which to enter. Under these circumstances, from a quarter to seven in the morning, till a quarter past seven in the evening. she made fifty-nine journeys, and during the whole of this time only one other bee found her way to the honey. I found that bees soon accustomed themselves to look for honey on papers of particular colours. For instance, on September 13 1 placed a bee to some honey on a slip of glass on green paper, and after she had made twelve journeys to and from the hive I put red paper where the green had been, and placed another drop of honey on a green paper, at a distance of about a foot. The bee returned, however, to the honey on the green paper. I then gently moved the green paper, with the bee on it, back to the old place. When the bee had gone, I replaced the green paper by a yellow one, and put the green again a foot off. After the usual interval she returned again to the green. I repeated the same proceeding, but with orange paper instead of green. She returned again to the green. I now did the same with white paper: she returned again to the green. Again I tried her with blue; she again came to the green. I then reversed the position of the blue and green papers, but still she returned to the green. I repeated this experiment with other bees, and with the same result, though it seemed to me that in some cases they did not distinguish so clearly between green and blue as between green and other colours. In other respects they seemed to adhere equally closely to any colour to which they were made accustomed. As regards wasps, my experiments fully confirm those previously made, and justify everything I have said with reference to their great industry. Indeed, they begin to work earlier in the morning and cease later in the evening than bees, continuing all day with the utmost assiduity. Thus, a wasp which I watched on the 10th of September, worked from seven in the morning until seven in the evening without a moment's intermission, during which time she made no less than ninety-four visits to the honey. As is the case with bees, if a wasp is put to exposed honey, others soon come. To determine this, if possible, I trained a wasp to come to some honey which I placed in a box com- municating with the outside by an india-rubber tube six inches in length and one-third of an inch in diameter. She came to this honey continuously for three days, during which time no other wasp found the honey. As regards colour, I satisfied myself, by ex- periments like those made with bees, that they are cap- able of seeing colour, though they appear to be less influenced by it than are bees.

W. R. G." I Toe institution of Lord Rector in those miscellaneous and ill-disciplined schools, which are known on tha other side of the Tweed as universities, is one happily without a parallel in England. The election of a can- didate for this meaningless office is attended by acces- sories which seriously intarfere with the studies of the place, and which give the raw students themselves a very ridiculous idea of their own importance. Hobble- dehoys imagine that they are transformed into heroes, and conceive a laughably disproportionate notion of the position which their provincial seminary occupies in the great scheme of national culture from the pane- gyric which the Lord Rector on his inauguration thinks it incumbent on him to deliver. Lord Derby, following the example set by his chief two years ago at Glasgow, will take the trouble to go down next month to Edinburgh to address the students on the honour which they have done him and at the present moment the youths who believe that the University of St. Andrew's is the centre of the intellectual universe are exercised in their minds by the question of whom they shall immortalise as the future ornamental figure-head of their alma mater. There are some reasons why it is much to be hoped that their choice may fall upon the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, who, it appears, is among the nominees for the vacant dignity. Scotch undergraduates are too much in the habit of hearing nothing but fulsome and unqualified eulogy. They are perpetually reminded of the nobility of the institution of which they are members, of their own incomparably studious habits, of their eminent intellectual qualifications, and of their ineffable superiority to the young men in statu pupillari on the banks of Isis and Cam. No moral discipline could be more wholesome for these monstrously be-praised students than a good do-e of uncomplimentary and truthful plain-speaking. This is exactly the medicine which Mr William Rathbone Greg might be conndently trusted to administer to his academic constituents and the alumni of St. Andrew's will have placed on record a conspicuous act of self-sacrifice if they vote that gentle- man to their empty chair. Mr Greg is not the kind of man to excite the enthu- siasm of the young, and his writings are not of the sort calculated to kindle a noble flame in the juvenile bosom. But Mr Greg has one eminent merit. He has the courage of his convictions, and the estimate which be expresses is invariably the estimate that he enter- tains. As it is part of the nature of this clever pub- licist to disparage, to cavil, to carp, to see blots, and to ignore excellences, to convert fruit of the most tempt- ing appearance into the realities of Dead-Sea apples, one may be tolerably certain that he will discover little to admire at St. Andrew's. He will merely behold an unpicturesque assemblage of awkward and loutish young men. Instinctively contemptuous in his manner, bit- ter and ungenerous in his views, as accrimonious in his speech as he is arrogant in his writing, accustomed to measure all the objects and all the individuals he en- counters by the snpremeaod unapproachable standard of self, Mr Greg is not likely to go out of his way to con- ciliate his Scotch clientele. The predominating traits in Mr Greg's character are not, it must be confessed, attractive but it is impossible to say that they have not something in them which is admirable. Mr Greg is not only an extremely clever man, a very telling writer, notwithstanding the numerous mistakes he has made, with a quick perception and a logical intellect; he is also a man of the world, who has seen human nature in all its phases, official and unofficial, and whose lot has been cast in the thick of all the civilising agencies in existence. It would be an exaggeration to say that Mr Greg has not profited by these opportu- nities but it may be safely said that there lives not the man who would have thought it desirable to profit by them so little. Experience of men and of affairs has developed no element even of superficial geniality in his nature attrition with his fellows has rubbed off none of the uncompromising Jangularities ot his temper age has not brought him charity; the chastisement of failure has not caused him to abate a jot of his affected infallibility, or to moderate the pretensions of his intel- lectual pride. Mr Greg was born at Manchester; his family belongs to Lancashire; and his disdain for all the sympathies which sway the hearts of humanity may be partly derived from the associations which belong to the county of his birth. These are not qualities which endaar their possessor to general society and to the world at large but they are qualities which are likely to render any remarks he may condescend to utter peculiarly suitable to an audience of Scotch students. As a writer Mr Greg may he said to belong to that body of men whose names are an enduring honour to journalism, and who have almost succeeded in raising the leading article to the level of literature. The son of a merchant in Cottonopolis, he had abundant oppor- tunities of studying closely the condition of the manu- facturing classes, and he was naturally led to interest himself in economical and financial questions. In the articles which he contributed to the Westminster Review, notably in those which are criticisms on the novels of Mr Disraeli, will be found incorporated mcch of the experience that the circumstances of his earlier life enabled him to acquire. When Fonblanque was editor of the Examiner, the initials W.R.G. were frequently appended to many of the best articles that appeared in its columns. Yet the terms on which Mr Greg was, both with Fonblanque and Stuart Mill, were never entirely cordial. He was, it is true, a Radical, and be was an intellectual or an instructed Radical. But some of his opinions were as repellent to his associates and his manners. He believed in the Carlylean idea of the strong man, and he had extremely little faith in the rule of mere numbers. Moreover, his tastes were far more in the direction of abstract speculation than were those of Fonblanque. He had less humour, and less capacity of really witty satire; but he more than equalled his rival in a mastery of pare and precise English diction. Suspected at one time of perilously revolutionary instincts, and allied with men whose opinions were notorioualy extreme, Mr Greg became in a little while a Liberal of a highly respect- able type. He was employed on the staff of the Chroniclc. he wrote frequently in the Edinburgh Review on literary and philosphical or metaphysical topics. His initials became famous. He was marked out as a writer whom his party would be sure to reward. Other influences besides these were at work for Mr Greg's ad- vancement. His family was opulent and its support in Lancashire was desirable for the Whig Government of the day. He was appointed a Commissioner of Customs in 1856,when Lord Palmerston was in power and under the reign of the same statesman became Controller of her Majesty's Stationery Office eight years later. What he has done in that capacity, how he has effected a reduction in the estimates for foolscap-paper and quill- pens, is as well known as the feats which he han achieved with pens and paper elsewhere. If Mr Greg had adhered to pure literature or pure politics if he had varied his labours in her Majesty's Stationery Department exclusively with the composition of essays on economical problems and with contribu- tions to the Pall Mall Gazette if he had restricted hia judgments"—the ostentatious title of one of his volumes-to matters literary or social; if he had been content with discussing the horoscope of the work- ing-classes in the Quarterly or of playing the role of Cassandra in the pages of then Contem- porary,-be would have said and written nothing which would not be perused with profit. But having attained a very remarkable degree of excellence in the treatment of topics with which he was thoroughly competent to cope; having left his mark upon the history of journalism in no doubtful characters; having, by his own acts and his own example, distinctly elevated the standard of journalistic execution,—it occurred to Mr Greg in an ill-advised moment to enter the theological lists as neological champion. The leading intellects," be writes in Rocks Ahead, partly out of unworthy deference to established prejudice, partly out of mistaken consideration for the weaker brethren, are apt to acquiesce in the tacit assumption of the outer world; and thus timidity is generated among the higher, and impertinence among the commonplace, orders of intelligence." There is not much doubt to which of these categories Mr Greg would refer himself but it may be questioned whether the publication of a treatise full of inaccuracies and hasty reasoning on a subject which, according to the writer's own confes- sion, he had but superficially studied, does not in reality amount to an impertinence even within the definition of that term which Mr Greg himself could contemplate and sanction. Such a book is the Creed of Christendom, written by Mr Greg for the purpose of demonstrating that all the received views of the Christian religion are wrong, and that anything like external evidence of what we are accustomed to con- sider its fundamental truths is altogether impossible. It was almost twenty-five years ago that Mr Greg gave to the world this literary anticipation of the doctrinal eccentricities of the Rev Charles Voysey. Quite recently Mr Greg has thought fit to publish a third edition of this work, in the preface to which he condescends to disavow any position or feeling antagonism to Chris- tianity," and in a rather maudlin strain, which is quite unworthy of his clear-sighted and cant-abhorring intellect, dilates upon the rashness of those infallible creed-connectors who stand confidently ready with their two-foot rule to measure the Immeasurable, to define the Infinite, to describe in precise scholastic phraseology the nature of the Incomprehen- sible and the substance of the great Spirit of the universe." This kind of thing is very smart, but it is not very new, and Mr Greg, before he rebuked the "perilous rashness" of the dogmatists and the sectarians to whom he objects, should have taken care that he was not falling into an identical error. Theo- logical controversy requires not merely a keen-edged intellect, but scientific knowledge and a definite com- prehension of the subject-matter. Mr Greg has not got that qcientific knowledge; be is even without the scholarship that is necessary and many of his argu- ments against the superstitions of the faithful rest upon an imperfect conception of the meaning of the Greek or Hebrew text. It was characteristic of Mr Greg that into a discussion for which men inferior I him neither in ability nor in universal learning hav thoughr the labour of a lifetime barely sufficient pre' paration, he should rush with an easy assurance between office-hours. But if the weak things which W.R.G. has done and written and said are forgotten, and the strong and good things alone remain, he will have still placed English periodical literature, and especially English newspaper literature-if that expression is not equivalent to a contradiction in terms—under a debt of profound gratitude. His style, indeed, is often inartistically domineering, just as his bearing as a man is frequently offensive his judgments are sometimes crude and inva- riably too positive. He is not the writer of whom one would predicate the epithet pleasant, any more than he is the companion to whom one would be tempted to apply the epithet agreeable. But in some respects he is the best writer of argumentative prose now living. Nothing can exceed the remorseless skill with which he applies to the cries of cant or to the objections of his antagonist the powerful solvents of his dialectic. He may be wanting in the grace, the wit, the finish of John Henry Newman yet there are passages in the Enigmas of Life which will be read with almost eg much delight as the choicest extracts from the Apologia. That he has devoted a great deal of admirable writing to the championship of absurd hobbies is due to his exagger- ated self-reliance, and to the vain conviction that what- ever enters his brains is embryonic greatness. Th: his last work, his utterances of Cassandra, his pr tions are absurd in many parts to puerility, is di his utter impotence to understand the genius o English people, or to grasp the conditions 01 national development; and this in its turn is attributed to Mr Greg's deficiency of imaginatior want of sympathy, a want of fancy, and an el which amounts almost to a disease, art t.be idi( cratic faults of Mr Greg's nature. It is th^\ these finer qualities which imparts to his writ^ thê" certain tamenes and a meagreness in the interplay o. light and shade; which makes him, in a word, what he is as an author aad what he is as a man. IForli.