Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Beview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , B . C . — : o : — The Aerial World : A Popular account of the Phenomena and Life- of tho Atmosphere . Bv G . Harfcwi " -, M . and P . D ., author of
" The Sea and its Living Wonders / ' " -Tho Tropical World , " " The Polar World , " and "The Subterranean World . " With 8 Chromoxylographie plates , a Map and numerous Woodcnts . London : Longmans , Green and Co ., 1874 .
Dr . HAKTWIG will shortly be , if indeed he bo not already , in the position of Alexander the Great , when the latter wept that no more worlds remained for him to conquer . In the course of his scientific investigations , the learned Doctor has overrun more worlds than the famous Macedonian Conqueror . He has explored , in a literary , if not a literal sense , the Sea and its Wonders . Though we aro only on the
eve of sending forth a new Arctic expedition for the purpose of ascertaining , if possible , the whereabouts of tho North Pole , Dr . Hartwig has travelled thither before us , and has published an account of its wonders . Ho has taken us to tho region of tho Tropics . Nor has he omitted to acquaint us with all tho wonderful secrets of the subterranean World . And now in tho volume before us ho writes most
fnlly of the phenomena of the Aerial World , of tho various kinds of air currents , of dews , of fogs and mists , of clouds , rain , hail , of aerial life , and last , but not least , of aerial navigation , as ballooning is popnlaily called . What other worlds there are for him still to write about , we should find it somewhat difficult to state . Bat tho man of science will doubtless prove superior to the Macedonian madman , and find yet
other spheres to enlighten us about . This , however , is a question that needs no present discussion . The Aerial World is before us ; demaudin < r our attention for the moment , and wo may at once inform our readers that a more agreeable task has never before devolved upon us . We have read the work—we will not say throughout , but the greater part of it—with very great pleasure , and we feel convinced
that our renders will be as dolijrhtcd as we have been with this highly popular account of tho atmosphere . The work is , as indeed are all the works by this author , a very voluminous one . It is , in fact , no light matter to read through tho five hundred and odd pages of which it . consists . But the stylo is admirable . As for information , it far surpasses previous books that have appeared on this subject . It
comprises indeed quite a cyclopaedia of knowledge , derived from all tho most authentic sources . The published experiences of the greatest and most observant travellers have been ransacked in order that as much as possible of estab'ished fact should be placed before tho reader . Nor have these researches been in vain , tho result being , as wo have just remarked , a singularly agreeable volume , which wo commend
unreservedly to the notice of our readers . That so many voluminous works should have emanated from a single writer , scorns almost incredible . Any one who has tried his hand at scientific investigation , even to a very limited extent , must be awaro of the amount of patience and labour that aro required , in order to produce any thing at all respectable in the way of results .
All the more creditable is it that Dr . Hartwig has achieved such success in every ono of his works . Tho purpose of tho present volume is briefly stated by its author , in his very modest preface , to have been " to point out the manifold relations between tho aerial ocean and man : and to describe tho life of which it is the ever busy
scene . A few extracts will serve to illustrate the manner in which Dr . Hartwig has carried out his self-imposed task . Thus , in the chapter cm the Winds , we find the following deser ption of the Bora , a sharp , dry , cold , north-east wind , which is common on the coastsof the Adriatic and Black Sens .
" Its name is beyond all doubt derived from tho Greek Boreas . The hurricane of the tropics is hardly more terrible than the Bora on the eastern coast of the Black Sen , where it raves with particularly destructive fnry at No wo Ilossiisk , a newly-founded Russian establishment at the head of a bay of the same name . This town , the site of which seems to have been very unluckily chosen , is situated with
its two forts on the snuth-western coast of the bay . When the Bora blows with all its fnry , the sentinels conceal themselves behind the breastworks ; no signal can possibly be heard in the fort ; no tiro will burn , and whoever is surpiscd by tho Bora on any open place is obliged to yield to its resistless force , and thrown down upon tho ground . When the Bora rages iu winter , the clothes wetted by the
spray , which reaches tho most distant houses , aro in a few minutes frozen stiff upon the body , and sharp icicles are flung into the face and make it bleed . When the cold is very severe , the water drifted by the wind forms an ice-crust on the sides and decks of the ships , which , from the constant increase of weight , eventually sink to the bottom , as it is utterly impossible to take any measures for their safetv . "
A case is mentioned of a division of the Austrian army being overtaken by the Bora near Prewald when on its retreat from Italy in 1805 , and suffering heavy losses in men from the soldiers being unable to march ; and a little later on we are told that Professor M . Sclion found that in January 1871 "loaded military waggons of a total weight of ten tons wore alone able to maintain their balance against the assaults of this tremendous wind , " while the lighter
passenger cars were so fearfully shaken from one sido to the other that the alarmed travellers quitted them at the first opportunity . A similar wind is the Mistral which prevails in the South of France , and is popularly regarded as ono of the three plagues of Provence—not without reason , for we are told it "blows on an average during seventy-eight days in the year at Tonlon , eighty-four at Marseilles , eighty-five at Aries , eighty-eight at Ai . v , and ninety in the valley of the Durance . " S ' tdi more terrible is the Simoon of the desert , on whose approach " the crystal transparency of the sky is veiled with a hazy dimness ,
Reviews.
occasioned by the sand of the desert whirling at a distance in the agitated atmosphere , but as yet no wind is felt . The camels , however , are conscious of its approach . They become restless and anxious , and appear overcome by fatigue . And a light hot wind arises , blowing in intermittent gusts , like ' tho laborious breathing of a feverish patient .
Gradually the pantings of the storm grow more violent and frequent ; and , although the sun is unable to pierce the thick dust clouds , and the shadow of the traveller is scarcely visible upon the ground , yet so suffocating is the heat refracted by the glowing sand , that it seems as if the fiercest rays of tho sun were scorching his brain .
" The fiery purple of tho atmosphere gradually changes to a leaden blackness ; the wind becomes constant ; the camels , snorting and groaning , stretch out their necks flat upon tho ground , and turn their backs to the raging sandstorm . The travellers of tho caravan pile up their water-bags , so as to screen them as much as possible from the thirsty breath of tho Simoon , and wrapping themselves up in their cloaks , seek a shelter behind chests or bales of merchandise . "
The sufferings of the traveller are described as intolerable . "His lips spring open and begin to bleed ; his tongue vainly longs for a refreshing draught ; and together with a raging thirst , an insupportable itching and heaving invades the whole body , for tho skin bursts in a hundred places , and tho fine irritating dust penetrates
into every wound . Following this is a description of M . Arminins Vambery ' s experience of such a sandstorm , which overtook him in the desert between Khiva and Bokhara . It is too long , however , for quotation , nor can wo do more than refer to the Harmattan , which prevails on the coast of Guinea , tho Sirocco , and the Ftiu , an Alpine wind .
On the subject of waterspouts and landsponts , of thunder and lightning , of hailstones , of the mirage , and all other phenomena connected with tho atmosphere , the reader will find abundant matter to interest him . But , perhaps , tho closing portion of tho work in which aro treated the balloon , and its use in war and for scientific purposes will prove quite as entertaining . There is , in fact , so much in the
compass of this single volume that is worth studying that it were a matter of tho greatest difficulty to select any section of it which would not amply repay the reader for tho time he may devote to its study . We have given evidence , in the case of a single chapter , of tho kind of matter to bo found in these pages . More than this we cannot do . There
is little fear of Dr . Hartwig being dissappointed in his hope that " after a perusal of its contents tho reader should find his interest in the great pages of nature more keenly awakened than it will have previously been , " or that he may have reason to regret the time and labour ho has bestowed on tho composition of his book .
Masonic Annual for tho Province of Durham , Compiled and published by Bro . James II . Coates P . M . 919 , & c , 24 Holmeside , Sunderland . THIS seems to be a useful guide , and may serve as a pattern to bo adopted by Masonic compilers and publishers in other provinces . With its assistance little time need be spent in searching for any particular Lodge , or for any information relating thereto .
THE LODOE AND ITS LESSONS . —The great increase of Masonic Lodges proves two things , we think , incontestably . The one is , that Freemasonry is , in itself , a want for the age in which wo live . It is a remarkable fact that , in this prying and bustling age , in which everything seems to be sacrificed to the dust and dirt and turmoil of public life , an institution so peculiar and unobstructive , so much
adverse to open recognition , and so difficult of access , should be popular with all classes of society . And yet the secret of such a want , such appreciation , is , we think , not hard to find . Freemasonry may have its frailties and defects , like everything else that is earthly or human , but Freemasonry has this recommendation—it is a neutral ground for us all—an open platform , on which tho most differing and
the most distant may happily meet together in peace and goodwill , a little green oasis iu this arid wilderness of toil and strife , in which the genial and the friendly , and the tolerant and tho true , and the scholar and the statesman , may find alike rest for their bodies and refreshment for their minds . Many of us who day by day are toiling at " the form " or in the counting house , in the senate or iu
the camp , or aro labouring as bread winners , by the energy of our bodies or brains , to cheer and sustain those nearest and dearest to us , can find in Freemasonry many an hour of intellectual improvement , many a season of faithful work , many a pleasant moment of social relaxation . Each new Lodge , then , that we found to-day is meant to be a centre of light , friendship , toleration aud charity to its members . . From it , we trust , some rays of brightness may fall
on our fellow men . And if , alas . ' it be true that all things hero are at the best but ephemeral and transitory , that they fade like the dying flower , and pass like some pageant of the day , j'et let us hope that , from the crumbling fragment of many an earthl y Lodge , there may emanate a spirit of truth aud love and loyalty and benevolence , which shall outlive both the material fabric and the earthly members , and be perpetuated in a happier scene of perfect knowledge , of uudimmed light and of eternal love . —Pomeroy ' s Democrat .
aothmg is more unpleasant , both to the individual who suffers from it , and also to others , than foul breath ; some people are tormented by this condition . As it most frequently depends on a peculiar state of the stomach , it is best removed by restoring- the organ to its natural condition , aud this is most readily done by corrective doses of Holloway ' s Pills . They are most grateful and easy in their operation , anil impart tonicity to the mucous membrane , so that the most delicate female , or sickly child , may use them without any fear of tiio ill effects produced !> y rnercnrical and other powerful drugs ; they aro prepared with the greatest care from vegetable products of rare balsamic properties .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews.
REVIEWS .
All Books intended for Beview should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , 67 Barbican , B . C . — : o : — The Aerial World : A Popular account of the Phenomena and Life- of tho Atmosphere . Bv G . Harfcwi " -, M . and P . D ., author of
" The Sea and its Living Wonders / ' " -Tho Tropical World , " " The Polar World , " and "The Subterranean World . " With 8 Chromoxylographie plates , a Map and numerous Woodcnts . London : Longmans , Green and Co ., 1874 .
Dr . HAKTWIG will shortly be , if indeed he bo not already , in the position of Alexander the Great , when the latter wept that no more worlds remained for him to conquer . In the course of his scientific investigations , the learned Doctor has overrun more worlds than the famous Macedonian Conqueror . He has explored , in a literary , if not a literal sense , the Sea and its Wonders . Though we aro only on the
eve of sending forth a new Arctic expedition for the purpose of ascertaining , if possible , the whereabouts of tho North Pole , Dr . Hartwig has travelled thither before us , and has published an account of its wonders . Ho has taken us to tho region of tho Tropics . Nor has he omitted to acquaint us with all tho wonderful secrets of the subterranean World . And now in tho volume before us ho writes most
fnlly of the phenomena of the Aerial World , of tho various kinds of air currents , of dews , of fogs and mists , of clouds , rain , hail , of aerial life , and last , but not least , of aerial navigation , as ballooning is popnlaily called . What other worlds there are for him still to write about , we should find it somewhat difficult to state . Bat tho man of science will doubtless prove superior to the Macedonian madman , and find yet
other spheres to enlighten us about . This , however , is a question that needs no present discussion . The Aerial World is before us ; demaudin < r our attention for the moment , and wo may at once inform our readers that a more agreeable task has never before devolved upon us . We have read the work—we will not say throughout , but the greater part of it—with very great pleasure , and we feel convinced
that our renders will be as dolijrhtcd as we have been with this highly popular account of tho atmosphere . The work is , as indeed are all the works by this author , a very voluminous one . It is , in fact , no light matter to read through tho five hundred and odd pages of which it . consists . But the stylo is admirable . As for information , it far surpasses previous books that have appeared on this subject . It
comprises indeed quite a cyclopaedia of knowledge , derived from all tho most authentic sources . The published experiences of the greatest and most observant travellers have been ransacked in order that as much as possible of estab'ished fact should be placed before tho reader . Nor have these researches been in vain , tho result being , as wo have just remarked , a singularly agreeable volume , which wo commend
unreservedly to the notice of our readers . That so many voluminous works should have emanated from a single writer , scorns almost incredible . Any one who has tried his hand at scientific investigation , even to a very limited extent , must be awaro of the amount of patience and labour that aro required , in order to produce any thing at all respectable in the way of results .
All the more creditable is it that Dr . Hartwig has achieved such success in every ono of his works . Tho purpose of tho present volume is briefly stated by its author , in his very modest preface , to have been " to point out the manifold relations between tho aerial ocean and man : and to describe tho life of which it is the ever busy
scene . A few extracts will serve to illustrate the manner in which Dr . Hartwig has carried out his self-imposed task . Thus , in the chapter cm the Winds , we find the following deser ption of the Bora , a sharp , dry , cold , north-east wind , which is common on the coastsof the Adriatic and Black Sens .
" Its name is beyond all doubt derived from tho Greek Boreas . The hurricane of the tropics is hardly more terrible than the Bora on the eastern coast of the Black Sen , where it raves with particularly destructive fnry at No wo Ilossiisk , a newly-founded Russian establishment at the head of a bay of the same name . This town , the site of which seems to have been very unluckily chosen , is situated with
its two forts on the snuth-western coast of the bay . When the Bora blows with all its fnry , the sentinels conceal themselves behind the breastworks ; no signal can possibly be heard in the fort ; no tiro will burn , and whoever is surpiscd by tho Bora on any open place is obliged to yield to its resistless force , and thrown down upon tho ground . When the Bora rages iu winter , the clothes wetted by the
spray , which reaches tho most distant houses , aro in a few minutes frozen stiff upon the body , and sharp icicles are flung into the face and make it bleed . When the cold is very severe , the water drifted by the wind forms an ice-crust on the sides and decks of the ships , which , from the constant increase of weight , eventually sink to the bottom , as it is utterly impossible to take any measures for their safetv . "
A case is mentioned of a division of the Austrian army being overtaken by the Bora near Prewald when on its retreat from Italy in 1805 , and suffering heavy losses in men from the soldiers being unable to march ; and a little later on we are told that Professor M . Sclion found that in January 1871 "loaded military waggons of a total weight of ten tons wore alone able to maintain their balance against the assaults of this tremendous wind , " while the lighter
passenger cars were so fearfully shaken from one sido to the other that the alarmed travellers quitted them at the first opportunity . A similar wind is the Mistral which prevails in the South of France , and is popularly regarded as ono of the three plagues of Provence—not without reason , for we are told it "blows on an average during seventy-eight days in the year at Tonlon , eighty-four at Marseilles , eighty-five at Aries , eighty-eight at Ai . v , and ninety in the valley of the Durance . " S ' tdi more terrible is the Simoon of the desert , on whose approach " the crystal transparency of the sky is veiled with a hazy dimness ,
Reviews.
occasioned by the sand of the desert whirling at a distance in the agitated atmosphere , but as yet no wind is felt . The camels , however , are conscious of its approach . They become restless and anxious , and appear overcome by fatigue . And a light hot wind arises , blowing in intermittent gusts , like ' tho laborious breathing of a feverish patient .
Gradually the pantings of the storm grow more violent and frequent ; and , although the sun is unable to pierce the thick dust clouds , and the shadow of the traveller is scarcely visible upon the ground , yet so suffocating is the heat refracted by the glowing sand , that it seems as if the fiercest rays of tho sun were scorching his brain .
" The fiery purple of tho atmosphere gradually changes to a leaden blackness ; the wind becomes constant ; the camels , snorting and groaning , stretch out their necks flat upon tho ground , and turn their backs to the raging sandstorm . The travellers of tho caravan pile up their water-bags , so as to screen them as much as possible from the thirsty breath of tho Simoon , and wrapping themselves up in their cloaks , seek a shelter behind chests or bales of merchandise . "
The sufferings of the traveller are described as intolerable . "His lips spring open and begin to bleed ; his tongue vainly longs for a refreshing draught ; and together with a raging thirst , an insupportable itching and heaving invades the whole body , for tho skin bursts in a hundred places , and tho fine irritating dust penetrates
into every wound . Following this is a description of M . Arminins Vambery ' s experience of such a sandstorm , which overtook him in the desert between Khiva and Bokhara . It is too long , however , for quotation , nor can wo do more than refer to the Harmattan , which prevails on the coast of Guinea , tho Sirocco , and the Ftiu , an Alpine wind .
On the subject of waterspouts and landsponts , of thunder and lightning , of hailstones , of the mirage , and all other phenomena connected with tho atmosphere , the reader will find abundant matter to interest him . But , perhaps , tho closing portion of tho work in which aro treated the balloon , and its use in war and for scientific purposes will prove quite as entertaining . There is , in fact , so much in the
compass of this single volume that is worth studying that it were a matter of tho greatest difficulty to select any section of it which would not amply repay the reader for tho time he may devote to its study . We have given evidence , in the case of a single chapter , of tho kind of matter to bo found in these pages . More than this we cannot do . There
is little fear of Dr . Hartwig being dissappointed in his hope that " after a perusal of its contents tho reader should find his interest in the great pages of nature more keenly awakened than it will have previously been , " or that he may have reason to regret the time and labour ho has bestowed on tho composition of his book .
Masonic Annual for tho Province of Durham , Compiled and published by Bro . James II . Coates P . M . 919 , & c , 24 Holmeside , Sunderland . THIS seems to be a useful guide , and may serve as a pattern to bo adopted by Masonic compilers and publishers in other provinces . With its assistance little time need be spent in searching for any particular Lodge , or for any information relating thereto .
THE LODOE AND ITS LESSONS . —The great increase of Masonic Lodges proves two things , we think , incontestably . The one is , that Freemasonry is , in itself , a want for the age in which wo live . It is a remarkable fact that , in this prying and bustling age , in which everything seems to be sacrificed to the dust and dirt and turmoil of public life , an institution so peculiar and unobstructive , so much
adverse to open recognition , and so difficult of access , should be popular with all classes of society . And yet the secret of such a want , such appreciation , is , we think , not hard to find . Freemasonry may have its frailties and defects , like everything else that is earthly or human , but Freemasonry has this recommendation—it is a neutral ground for us all—an open platform , on which tho most differing and
the most distant may happily meet together in peace and goodwill , a little green oasis iu this arid wilderness of toil and strife , in which the genial and the friendly , and the tolerant and tho true , and the scholar and the statesman , may find alike rest for their bodies and refreshment for their minds . Many of us who day by day are toiling at " the form " or in the counting house , in the senate or iu
the camp , or aro labouring as bread winners , by the energy of our bodies or brains , to cheer and sustain those nearest and dearest to us , can find in Freemasonry many an hour of intellectual improvement , many a season of faithful work , many a pleasant moment of social relaxation . Each new Lodge , then , that we found to-day is meant to be a centre of light , friendship , toleration aud charity to its members . . From it , we trust , some rays of brightness may fall
on our fellow men . And if , alas . ' it be true that all things hero are at the best but ephemeral and transitory , that they fade like the dying flower , and pass like some pageant of the day , j'et let us hope that , from the crumbling fragment of many an earthl y Lodge , there may emanate a spirit of truth aud love and loyalty and benevolence , which shall outlive both the material fabric and the earthly members , and be perpetuated in a happier scene of perfect knowledge , of uudimmed light and of eternal love . —Pomeroy ' s Democrat .
aothmg is more unpleasant , both to the individual who suffers from it , and also to others , than foul breath ; some people are tormented by this condition . As it most frequently depends on a peculiar state of the stomach , it is best removed by restoring- the organ to its natural condition , aud this is most readily done by corrective doses of Holloway ' s Pills . They are most grateful and easy in their operation , anil impart tonicity to the mucous membrane , so that the most delicate female , or sickly child , may use them without any fear of tiio ill effects produced !> y rnercnrical and other powerful drugs ; they aro prepared with the greatest care from vegetable products of rare balsamic properties .