companions that Richard thus disgraced himself.
As time went on-the time in which he called
himself 'his own master,' but which was making
him more and more a slave-indulgence in this
respect had grown so much a habit with him, that
he could not shake it off even when he would have
done so.
And on one occasion, when, for once, a
joint invitation from the two brothers had brought
Mr Linch and his sister, with Mr Thorne and
Maggie, to dine at Rosebank, Richard's behaviour
at his own table was what even simple Miss Linch
could not forbear to hint at to Maggie in the
drawing-room as 'very peculiar.' What Maggie
thought of it, was not stated; but what the gentle-
men guests thought of it may be gathered from
the fact, that they took the two ladies home with-
out giving them the opportunity of making a cup
of tea-which might have done him good--for the
master of the house. The person who suffered
most upon that painful occasion was John Milbank,
because he most clearly understood what Maggie
was suffering, and was absolutely unable, from the
nature of the case, to conceal that he did so. If he
had had time to consider the affair, perhaps he
might have found cause for selfish congratulation;
but in the meantime, he was too much pained to
enter into such reflections, and besides, was fully
occupied by his attempts to smooth matters.

When Herbert Thorne and his daughter got home that night, the former made one more effort the first since Richard had come into his property, nine months ago-to remonstrate with Maggie upon her engagement.

You see, what I told you would happen, has come to pass, Maggie,' observed he bluntly:

'Richard Milbank has become a sot.'

'Father, this is your house,' answered the girl, at the same time rising from her chair, and you have, of course, the right to say in it what you please; but I will not stay here if you speak such words of Richard.'

She spoke in desperate earnest, and even moved towards the shawl and bonnet, which she had just laid aside upon the table. It was evidently no use to drive her from the path that she had chosen. That would only hurry her over the precipice round which it ran.

'I do not wish to use hard words, Maggie, and certainly not words to pain you; but what is to be thought of Richard Milbank's behaviour to you, to me, to all of us, at his own table to-day? Is it possible that you could not see he was intoxicated?'

'I did see that!' She had seen it long before the old man had done so; the sense of it had reached her heart, and chilled it, alas! without numbing it to pain, before the suspicion of it had dawned in her father's brain. It was shocking, and most sad; but then he knows that you look unfavourably upon him, and that Mr Linch is not his friend; and that puts him ill at ease. I think he took the wine in order to give him vivacity. I don't defend him, but I think there was some excuse. I am sure his brother thought that, by the way he took it.'

John is his good angel, of course, if only Richard would let him be so; but he will not. His example and advice are utterly thrown away upon him. He strove to enrich him at his own expense, and the return which he has got for it is, that this fellow has already half-ruined him.'

'Half-ruined John? How can that be?'

First, by borrowing money of him, which he has not repaid, and never can repay; then, by drawing out every shilling he can lay his hands upon from the business, so that it is almost crippled. Of course, you did not know this, nor should I have done so, if I had waited for John to tell me. He is one of those who never complain. But it is none the less true, for all that. I doubt, Maggie, whether Richard Milbank is any the better off at this moment, if everything was to be made square, than before his uncle's death.'

'He is no worse off, at all events, father, than when I promised to marry him,' was the quiet reply.

Worse off! As to money, perhaps not. But is he no worse? Maggie, darling, look into your heart, and tell me truthfully, have you any genuine confidence in this man? Do you think that though the patience and long-suffering of his brother have been utterly thrown away upon him, that you may yet win him from ruin, as his wife? Is there any reasonable expectation of it? Nay, is there even hope?'

Maggie answered not a word, nor even looked up at her father, but sat with her fingers plucking at a little bouquet of roses, which Richard had gathered her from the garden, before they had sat down to table.

'You know, my girl, that I am but speaking the bare truth when I say that the gulf of ruin gapes for you, and that the branch by which you trust to save yourself from it, though green and pleasant to the eye, is rotten and worthless. Are you bewitched by this handsome scoundrel? Has he fascinated you, as the snake fascinates the poor innocent bird, merely with his bright eyes? If you were not my daughter, I should say that the father of such a girl must needs be ashamed of her.'

Into her pale cheeks there stole a scarlet flush, as though one of the rose petals she was stripping from their stem, and strewing on the ground, had settled there; but her voice was very quiet as she replied: 'Speak of me, as you please, father, and whatever you speak of me, I will not even say that I have not deserved it. Perhaps I am bewitched. I have nothing to answer in Richard's defence nor in my own, except three words: I love him.'

'You are easily satisfied, Maggie. If your mother had given the same reason for choosing me for a husband, she would at least have added: "And he loves me."'

'Richard does love me, father,' answered Maggie vehemently. If you were to paint him ever so darkly, and then convince me that the portrait was a correct one, I should still be sure of that.'

Then love is not what love was in my time, lass,' sighed the old man, with the air of one who is weary of contention. Why, the man never comes to see you; or, at least, I could count on my fingers the times that he has been here since his uncle left him his co-heir. He must be sure of you indeed, Maggie, since he takes such little pains to keep what he has so lightly won.'

Nothing more that night was spoken between the father and daughter upon the matter; for, indeed, each had said all they had to say; but as sometimes happens in arguments, the arrow that had been shot with the least care had gone nighest home. The Parthian shaft which the engraver had let fly at a venture, when all seemed over, and

THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.

137

Physicists believe there is some relation between terrestrial electricity and appearances of the aurora, and if the operators at each end of a telegraph line would only observe an electrometer there fixed at every convenient opportunity, and wherever telegraphic lines extend, they would collect information of the highest value. We may hope,' said Sir W. Thomson in conclusion, 'that besides definite information regarding atmospheric electricity, in which we are at present so very deficient, we shall also get towards that great mystery of nature-the explanation of terrestrial magnetism and its associated phenomena of the grand secular variation of magnetism, magnetic storms, and the aurora borealis.'

he was indeed in full retreat, had almost turned the fortune of the battle. Maggie could have resisted anything in the way of depreciation of her lover, simply by intrenching herself behind the rampart of unbelief, but the suggestion that Richard was neglecting her was insupportable, since she had her own suspicions that it was true. The very next morning, however, as it happened, Richard made his appearance at the engraver's house, not to excuse his conduct of the previous evening, nor even to extenuate it, he said, but to throw himself-as he confessed he had often done before-on his darling's mercy; a course of conduct which not only reinstated him in her good graces, but probably placed him higher therein than he would have been had he never fallen. He spent the whole morning in her companynot without stealing a furtive look or two at his watch, however-and seemed to take a greater interest in her occupations and pursuits than he had ever done before. As to the state of his affairs, concerning which she put some straightforward questions-without, however, any tincture of re-wich Mean Time, which, for Europe, Africa, and proach-he told her very frankly that they were far from flourishing, and that, when the year was out, he might again propose to her to share his fortunes across the Atlantic.

'You once spoke to me of ", a fresh start," Maggie, in a new country,' said he, with a penitent sigh, and I have often wished that fortune though it seemed to be good fortune-had not interfered to prevent my trying it. I doubt we shall have to try it, after all.'

'So much the better, darling,' answered she resolutely. Removed from these terrible temptations, which in your wiser moments you regret so much, you will then be a happier man. You smile, Richard, but it is not with your old smile! O surely, surely, you will not regret them!'

I was not thinking of them at all, Maggie,' whispered the young fellow; 'I was only regretting the time lost which we might have spent together, since I might have called you mine six months ago.' Richard Milbank may have been dull at figures; but for skill in getting his somewhat crooked accounts passed by an auditress in the High Court of Love, he had few superiors.

THE MONTH:

SCIENCE AND ARTS.

SIR WILLIAM THOMSON, who is well known among the most eminent of the natural philosophers of Europe, has been elected President of the Society of Telegraph Engineers under promising circumstances, for in two years the number of members of that Society has increased from one hundred and ten to five hundred. Sir William delivered an address, in which, after pointing out the great benefits that would accrue to dwellers in houses if architecture were regarded as a branch of engineering, he gave an account of the 'reflected benefits which electrical science gains from its practical application in the electric telegraph.' Magnetic force, electric resistance, electro-motive force, and other numerical quantities, are no longer mere terms, but can be accurately defined and measured. Such achievements as this indicate great capabilities, and imply a grand future. Already practical telegraphy may promote cosmical science.

The publication of daily weather charts for the world was commenced on the first day of the present year; and thus the proposition made by the United States' representative at the MeteoroÏogical Congress held last autumn in Vienna, has become a fact. The time fixed on for the simultaneous observation is a quarter to 1 P.M. Green

greater part of Asia, secures the advantage of daylight, while in America the work will have to be done in the night or early morning. The telegraphic area of the States now includes Pike's Peak, one of the summits of the Rocky Mountains, within the state of Colorado. A wire connects it with the general meteorological system of telegraphs, and the height being eleven thousand feet, interesting observations may be looked for. We hope it is true that a 'comfortable house' has been built for the observer. Any one wishing to help in this great undertaking, should apply for information to the Director of the Meteorological Office, 116 Victoria Street, London.

Another comprehensive scheme-a monthly climatological summary for the British empire, is to be published by a contemporary journalThe Colonies. Particulars of temperature, of moisture, of sunshine and shade, of rain and cloud, are to be given from a score of places, ranging from London to Calcutta, from Singapore to Sydney, from Wellington N. Z. to the West Indies, and from the Cape of Good Hope to Canada. Such endeavours as these, so wide in their scope, can hardly fail to widen the basis of meteorology, and furnish data for scientific conclusions.

The Meteorological Office has published a bluebook On the Form of Cyclones in the Southern Indian Ocean,' by Mr Meldrum of the Observatory, Mauritius, which ought to be studied with attention by mariners, for Mr Meldrum by long observation has come to the conclusion, that the storms commonly described as cyclones are not invariably circular in form. He shews, on the contrary, that their general form is a spiral, produced by the conflict of two opposing winds. This is an important fact; the more so, because the rules given for steering away from the destructive centre of a circular storm are of no use to a ship caught in a spiral storm. The right course in the one case, would be the wrong in the other. The people who go down to the sea in ships will, therefore, do well to get the work above mentioned, which costs but sixpence, and read it for themselves.

In this we have an example that knowledge of the weather in any part of the world may be useful all over it. The more observations

are multiplied-provided they be trustworthy

Professor Piazzi Smyth writing on the subject states that he has tried to explode water by pushing a drop into melted lead; but the drop could by no means be persuaded to go below the surface. But when he took a small iron ladle, put a drop of water on the bottom of it, and gave therewith a little pat to the surface of the melted lead, instantly the whole contents of the great ladle were scattered to the winds, and only a few grains were recovered. Explosion of water had apparently taken place with excellent effect.'

the better for all concerned. The Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society informs us, in Notes on West India Cyclones, that these destructive whirlstorms are formed in the Atlantic a little to the north of the equator, and move first to the westward, constrained, as may be believed, by the general westerly atmospheric current. But on nearing the land, they are diverted by other currents, or by inequalities of the surface. As regards their rotation, the most probable explanation is this: If a long glass cylinder is immersed a little way into a body of water, and the air is Here is a problem for some enterprising mesuddenly exhausted or rarefied by drawing it out chanic. A machine to explode water drop by drop at the top of the cylinder, the water rises, and in would economise all the heat of the coal, and have rising, rotates. This has been distinctly seen to be great power. It is on record that certain large the case in waterspouts, dust-storms, and whirl- copper-works were blown up by one of the workwinds. There are currents of air in these columns, men spitting into a ladle of molten copper. In which are seen to be rising up and rotating at the that case the fluid exploded, instead of passing off same time.' From this we learn how it came to in steam. pass that sea-water was found after the passage of a cyclone at a height of two thousand five hundred feet on the small island of Saba, one of the West India group.

A balloon of novel design is now constructing in Philadelphia, with a view to attempt a voyage through the air to Europe. If successful, regular series of observations might be made, which would throw light on the meteorological phenomena that prevail over the great oceans.

In a communication to the same Society, Mr Winstanley makes known results of observations which help to explain the phenomena seen in the western sky during sunset. Former observers had noticed that the last glimpse of the sun appears bluish-green in colour; and this is confirmed by Mr Winstanley, who states that to the naked eye its appearance has generally been that of a green spark of large size and great intensity, very similar to one of the effects seen when the sun shines We all know that the functionaries at the upon a well-cut diamond. But there are variations Weather Office in London can predict the ap- in the colour, and in duration of visibility: proach of storms with a fair amount of accuracy; the latter from half a second to two seconds and if they could, in like manner, foretell a fall of a half. The edge of a cloud, or an artificial horizon, temperature, their services to meteorological is as suitable for the observation as the natural science, and to horticultural and agricultural horizon, and the conclusion from the whole series practice, would be incalculable. This point was of observations is, that the colours are produced by treated of by Professor Thiselton Dyer, in an the prismatic action of the atmosphere. The same address delivered some time ago at Birmingham. effect is seen in observing the light of the moon; Careful observation has shewn that, in the course and as regards starlight, Mr Winstanley says: "The of forty-four years, there were eighty periods of cold, rapid changes in colour observable in the case of of about two weeks each. If these could be fore- almost any large fixed star at an elevation of twenty seen, how readily would gardeners seek for means or thirty degrees above the horizon, the changes of protection! Professor Dyer remarks: The pre-varying among red, green, and blue, may be fairly cise mode in which plants are affected by cold is attributable to the same cause as the colour in the hardly completely known. In many cases, no sun's final ray. Particles of dust floating in the doubt, the vital properties of the protoplasm con- air act for the moment as an horizon, and thus tained within the cells receive an injury from the enable the eye to perceive, even in the light of direct effect of low temperature from which there the stars, the prismatic action of our atmosphere.' is no recovery. In other instances, death is not the inevitable result even from freezing, if thawing be gradually effected. Some curious experiments appear to shew that cold below the freezing-point, like the temperature of boiling water or the electric discharge, produces an alteration in the cell-walls, which renders them more pervious to fluids, and, therefore, no longer capable of retaining

their cell-contents.'

Science apart, these remarks suggest the conclusion, that if any one will invent a cheap and expeditious way of protecting small trees and shrubs from frost, he may expect a handsome profit even before the meteorologists are ready with their cold-warnings.

A question brought before the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester by Professor Osborne Reynolds will perhaps rescue an important fact from the region of forgetfulness. It is the explosiveness of water. If water could only be got to explode, it would be far more powerful than gunpowder; but that is the difficulty, for the water, instead of exploding, flies away in steam.

In the work of this busy world, rollers play a very important part: they spread the dough for pastry, they level and harden roads, they make paper, and they turn out railway bars and armourplates of the most ponderous dimensions. And now we hear of a further achievement-rollers are employed to manufacture screws, as may be seen at the works of C. Fairbairn and Company, Gateshead. It would perhaps be a better definition to say that rolling is employed, for the screws are produced by grooved plates, between which they are rolled backwards and forwards. Screws of any size can thus be made from three-eight inch in thickness to three inches, or larger, and with a square, angular, or round thread, as may be desired. The fibre of the iron follows the twist of the thread, whereby the strength of the screw is increased. Screws one foot long and three inches thick can be made at the rate of sixty an hour, which is fifty-eight more than could be made in the ordinary way. Of the one-and-a-half inch and the three-eight inch sizes, from two hundred and fifty to six hundred can be turned out in an hour;

A RAMBLE ON THE ALMOND.