‘A white-elephant’ has long been the common name of a gift which is not only useless, but is likely to entail trouble and expense upon its owner. The animal which has lately found a temporary home at the Zoological Gardens, London, will not be considered so unwelcome a guest, for it has drawn thousands of sightseers to the place. It is reported to have been bought from the king of Burmah on behalf of Mr Barnum, the American showman. But there seems to be a conflict of opinion on the point. Those who ought to know say that the exhibited animal has nothing very remarkable about it, and is certainly unlike the sacred animals of Burmah. Moreover, it is said that the king of Burmah would as soon part with his kingdom as with a real white elephant, which is the emblem of universal sovereignty, the parting with one of which would forebode the fall of the dynasty.
One of the attractions of the forthcoming International Health Exhibition will be an Indian village and tea-garden with the plant actually growing—that is to say, if it can be deluded into growing in the smoky atmosphere of London. In a tea-house, the beverage will be served by natives of tea districts, who are to be brought over from India for the purpose. There will also be exhibited a native pickle establishment. We venture to assert that if the entire Exhibition is carried on in this spirit, it is sure to be a success. In past times, the tea industry would have been represented by a few dozen bottles of the dried leaf with labels attached, which none would have read. Our authorities are now learning that if they wish to interest the multitude in an Exhibition, it must consist of something more than the dry-bones of the various subjects which it includes.
At a meeting of the Linnæan Society, Mr J. G. Baker lately gave a very interesting account of a potato new to this country, but common in Chili, which he believes would thrive well on this side of the Atlantic. There are known to botanists seven hundred species of solanum. Only six of these produce tubers, and of these six only one has been as yet cultivated by us, and this is the common potato.[1] Its true home, according to Mr Baker, is found in those parts of Chili which are high and dry; but there is another species which flourishes in moister situations, which he believes might be made to rival its familiar fellow. When cultivated, it grows most luxuriantly, so much so, that six hundred tubers have in one year been gathered from two plants. Some specimens of this same potato were brought to England so long ago as the year 1826, but they met with little attention, having been confounded with the more common species. Two other species of solanum, natives of the eastern portion of South America, and found at Buenos Ayres, &c., are also being cultivated experimentally in France and in the United States.
A case lately occurred which is deserving of notice, if only as a caution to those good people who are always ready to assist any unfortunate who may be seized with a fit. A man acting in this way the part of good Samaritan to a woman who had fallen in an epileptic fit, was bitten by her in the hand. In three days the wrist had swollen to such an extent as to need medical advice, and a few hours afterwards the poor man died. There may, of course, have been something exceptional in his state of health, which rendered this human bite more rapidly fatal than that of a rabid dog; but the lesson to be learned from the sad story is, that the greatest care should be taken in dealing with epileptic patients.
OCCASIONAL NOTES.
TELEGRAPH EXTENSION.
The scheme for the extension of the telegraph system, in anticipation of the meditated introduction of the sixpence rate, is a most comprehensive one, and indicates that the Post-office authorities anticipate a very considerable increase of work. The arrangements cover the entire kingdom, and the sum to be expended is half a million, part of the sum having been voted in the official year 1883-84, and the remainder to be voted in the new estimates. From London, upwards of eighty new wires are to be erected to the principal towns of the kingdom, including four additional wires to Liverpool; two each to Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, and Newmarket; three to Glasgow; two to Edinburgh; and one each to a large number of towns, including, in Scotland, Aberdeen and Dundee. Within London itself, five new pneumatic tubes are to be provided; about seventy new wires will be erected; forty existing wires will be provided with instruments to work ‘duplex’—that is, with the power of transmitting two different messages by one wire from each end simultaneously; and a very large number of offices will have simple apparatus substituted by other and improved instruments. In the city of Liverpool, in addition to the London wires named, three new wires to Manchester are to be put up; and one new wire to Belfast, Birmingham, Blackburn, Bristol, Carlisle, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, and Newcastle. All those wires and all the new London wires are to be ‘duplexed,’ and thus each new line practically counts as two. A number of wires out of Liverpool and the other large towns will be converted to duplex; and Liverpool is to have eight new pneumatic tubes for its busier local offices. At Manchester, besides the London and Liverpool communications already named, there will be new wires to Birmingham, Chester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle, Bolton, Burnley, Derby, Huddersfield, Hull, Isle of Man, and Nottingham, all duplexed. At Newcastle, an evidence of the curious ramifications of trade is seen in the fact that a new wire is to be put up between that town and Cardiff. Bristol obtains new wires to London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Swansea, and Cardiff; and a share of a new wire for news purposes with Exeter, Plymouth, &c. Sheffield in the same way has a new wire to London, and a share in a news circuit with Nottingham, Leeds, and Bradford. At Birmingham, a number of new local wires, and the duplexing of others, are provided in addition to the various new trunk wires already named. In Scotland, a considerable number of new wires fall to be erected. Edinburgh obtains two of the new London wires, and wires to Manchester, Kelso, and Musselburgh, with the duplexing of some important wires, such as those to Kirkcaldy and Perth. Glasgow, with three London wires added, gets new wires to Dundee, Leeds, Liverpool, Oban, Kilmarnock, Falkirk, &c.; while a large number of the existing wires will be duplexed, and in some cases re-arranged to give more suitable service. A considerable number of new local wires are to be erected in both cities. In Aberdeen, besides the new London wire, the principal change will be new wires to Wick and Lerwick—the last a most important improvement, as Shetland messages will reach London with two steps, instead of being, as now, repeated at Wick, Inverness, and Edinburgh or Glasgow.
We observe that the French are about to increase enormously their telegraphic system, and that the new wires are to be laid underground. It would be well if, remembering the ever-recurring havoc wrought upon our overhead wires by gales and snow, we followed the example of our Gallic neighbours.
AN OIL BREAKWATER AT FOLKESTONE.
A series of experiments has been made at Folkestone, with the result of very satisfactorily demonstrating the value of the method of spreading oil over troubled waters which has been devised by Mr John Shields, of Perth, and which has been already described in this Journal. Many years ago, Mr Shields, observing the effect of a few drops of oil accidentally spilt on a pond in connection with his works, began experiments with a view to determine if this property of oil could not be turned to account on a large scale for the saving of life and property at sea and on our coasts. He soon arrived at the conclusion that the problem to be solved was ‘how to get the oil on troubled waters when it was wanted and where it was wanted.’ By trying various methods of solving this question, first at Peterhead and then at Aberdeen, he has worked out the system which, with the co-operation of the South-eastern Railway Company, has at his expense been placed in readiness for use during stormy weather off the entrance to the harbour at Folkestone.