1Up to the present date (1882) nobody, as far as I know, has questioned my figures or defended those of Wollaston. Sir William Grove has written to me, pointing out his own anticipations of my conclusions respecting the universality of atmospheric matter. Sir Charles Lyell, before his death, expressed very strong approval of my conclusions, and many other men of scientific eminence have done the same. To expect any immediate, unreserved adoption of such bold speculations would be unreasonable.

2Since the above was written these analogies have been generally accepted.

3Since the publication of “The Fuel of the Sun,” Mr. Norman Lockyer has adopted this view of solar dissociation, and has gone so far as to suppose that it splits metals and other substances regarded by modern chemists as simple elements into more elementary and simple constituents. He assumes that the temperature of the solar atmosphere, growing higher at increasing depths, becomes somewhere capable of doing far greater dissociation work than that which separates the hydrogen of the prominences revealed by the spectroscope. In putting forth this “working hypothesis” he seems to have lost sight of the fact clearly proved by Deville’s experiments, that the temperature of dissociation rises with the pressure to which the compound is subjected, and thus that within the bowels of the sun the metals will be far less dissociable than they are on the surface of our earth.

4Still more recently (1882) the magnificent photographs of Jannsen have displayed further evidence of the flame-tongue character of the mottling.

5Subsequent observations (1882) by Secchi, Young, and others have demonstrated velocities far exceeding this; quite sufficient to project the solid matter clearly beyond the sphere of solar attraction.

6My first memorandum on this subject is dated April 23, 1840, in a Register of Ideas, then commenced in very early student days.

7Any reader of “The Fuel of the Sun” will perceive that the vaporous envelope which I have described as “an effectual jacket for limiting the amount of radiation,” is a complete theoretical anticipation and explanation of the “solar crust” of Respighi and the “Trennungschicht” of ZÖllner. We agree perfectly in our conclusions, though arriving at them by such very different paths, and so independently of each other.

8What did he smell? Was it an emanation from the soles of my feet? If so, how did this aura get through the soles of my boots, which were thick? It could scarcely have been the odor of the boot soles themselves that he followed, as he recognized me afterwards at some distance. This suggests an interesting experiment, that anybody owning one of these dogs may easily try. Make a similar track to mine, but when on the way, take off the boots you wore on starting and change them for some one else’s boots, or a new pair, and watch the result from the window.

9“The Fuel of the Sun,” Chapters iv. to x.

10Since this was written some such modifications have been made with equivocal results.

11Nature, vol. xiv. p. 429.

12See Chapter on “The Origin of Lunar Volcanoes.”

13The burnt card, burnt bamboo, and other flimsy incandescent threads now (1882) in vogue, merely represent Starr’s preliminary failures prior to his adoption of the hard adamantine stick of retort-carbon, which I suppose will be duly re-invented, patented again, and form the basis of new Limited Companies, when the present have collapsed.

14Hull, “On the Coal-fields of Great Britain.”

15“The Great Ice Age, and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man.” By James Geikie, F.R.S., etc. Second edition, revised, 1877. Daldy and Isbister.

16The terminal moraine at the Oxfjord station, which I have already mentioned as the only ancient example of an ordinary moraine that I have seen in Arctic Norway, was, of course, a special object of interest to me. Further observation showed that it does not merely consist of the heap of stones I noticed in 1856, which appears like a disturbed talus cut through and heaped up at its lower part, but that there is another moraine adjoining it, or in continuation with it, which is covered with vegetation, and stretches quite across the mouth of the valley. The Duke of Roxburgh, who is well acquainted with this neighborhood, having spent sixteen summers in Arctic Norway, was one of our fellow-passengers, and told me that this moraine forms a barrier that dams up the waters of a considerable lake, abounding with remarkably fine char. I learned this just as the packet was starting, too late to go on shore even for a few minutes, and obtain a view of this lake and the valley beyond. This I regret, as it might have revealed some explanation of the exceptional nature of this moraine. It would be interesting to learn whether it belongs to the greater ice age, or to that period of minor glaciation that fashioned the farm patches already described. The formation of the lake is easily understood in the latter case. It is only required that such a minor reglaciated valley as one of these should be of larger magnitude and of very gentle inclination at its lower part, so that the secondary glacier should die out before reaching the present seashore. It would then deposit its moraine across the mouth of the valley, and this moraine would dam up the waters which such a valley must necessarily receive from the drainage of its hilly sides. Llyn Idwal, in North Wales, is a lake thus formed.

17See “Through Norway with a Knapsack,” chapters xi. and xii., for further descriptions of these.

18Lyell, “Elements of Geology,” p. 159.

19The celebrated “MaelstrÖm” is one of the currents that flow down the submarine incline between these islands when the tide is falling. Although I have ridiculed some of the accounts of this now innocent stream, I am not prepared to assert that it was always as mild as at present. If the ancient glaciers were stopped suddenly, as they may well have been, by the rocky barrier of Mosken, between VaerÖ and MoskenesÖ, and they then suddenly concluded their deposition of till, a precipice must have been formed between this and the deep sea outside the islands, down which the sea would pitch when the tide was falling, and thus form some dangerous eddies. This cascade would gradually obliterate itself by wearing down the precipitous wall to an inclined plane such as at present exists, and down which the existing current flows.

20The largest of the Norwegian lakes, the Mjosen, is 1550 feet deep, and its surface 385 feet above the sea-level. Its bottom is about 1000 feet lower than the sea outside, or 500 to 800 feet below the bottom of the Christiana Fjord. The fjords, generally speaking, are very much shallower near their mouths than further inland, as though their depth had been determined by the thickness of the glaciers flowing down them, and the consequent limits of flotation and deposition.

21This has been recently overcome to a great extent by using glycerine instead of water.

22Since the above was written I have made some experiments with a solution of shellac in borax (obtained by long boiling), and hereby claim the invention of its application to this purpose, in order to prevent anybody from patenting it. I shall not do so myself.

23Written during the coal famine of 1872–73.

24From 1870 to 1880 the amount has risen from 110,431,192 to 146,818,622 tons per annum, an average increase of 3,638,743 tons per annum.

25At the present time (1882) we are receiving the excessive supplies consequent upon the opening of new pits that, under the stimulus of high prices, were in the course of sinking when the above was written. Hence the present low prices. Presently the annual increase of consumption will overtake this increased supply, and another “coal famine” like that then existing will follow. This is not far distant.

26“The Coal Fields of Great Britain,” pp. 447, 448.

27In a paper on the Comstock mines, read at the Pittsburg meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1879, by Mr. John A. Church, the hot mine waters are described as reaching 158° Fahr. (so hot that men have been scalded to death by falling into them). The highest recorded air temperature there is 128°. These are silver mines, and vigorously worked in spite of this temperature and great humidity. A much higher temperature is endurable in dry air.

28The scientific pedant of the Middle Ages displayed his profundity by continually quoting Aristotle and other “ancients.” His modern successor does the like by decorating his pages with displays of algebraical formulÆ. In order to secure the proper respect of my readers I here repeat the equation that I enunciated many years ago, “c = s/p” where c stands for civilization, s for the quantity of soap consumed per annum, and p the population of a given community.

29Geologists who may be interested in seeing the results of this experiment, will find on the Edgbaston Vestry Hall, in Enville Road, near the Five Ways, Birmingham, some columns, massive window pieces, doorways, and ornamental steps cast from the fused Rowley Rag and slowly cooled.

30In each of my three visits to America 1 lost about thirty pounds in weight, which I recovered within a few months of my return to the “home country” (of English-speaking nations).—Richard A. Proctor.

31Since the above was written, a correspondent in Paris tells me that a caricature exists, representing a Frenchman enjoying an open fire by standing on his head in the middle of the room.

32See foot-note, page 365.

33I tried the seeds given to me by Messrs. Carter, and find them to produce the same plant as my own, which I still cultivate very successfully. I now sow it in the spring as a kitchen garden border.

34Subsequent experiments induce me not to recommend this economy, on account of the bagging which results from excessive width between the frames; 3 feet should not be exceeded.

35I have followed up Mr. Trewby’s hint, and find that more than one quality of scrim is made. The best, made entirely of flax, costs rather more than the 2¼d. stated in the estimate, but it is the cheapest practically. The best I have seen is that used in the Houses of Parliament.

36Watt’s own figure for the latent heat of steam at 212° was 950°, but I adopt that which is now generally accepted.