Scientific American Supplement, No. 401, September 8, 1883

V >> Various >> Scientific American Supplement, No. 401, September 8, 1883

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"I am God, thy God, which liberated thee from the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage. Ye shall have no other gods. Ye shall not make to
yourselves any graven image, nor any likeness that is in heaven above or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.
Ye shall not bow down to them nor serve them. I am God, your God.
Sanctify ... in six days I have made the heaven and the earth, and all
that is therein, and rested on the seventh day, therefore rest thou
also, thou and thy cattle and all that thou hast: I am God, thy God.
Honor thy father and thy mother ...: I am God, thy God. Thou shall not
kill the person of thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not commit
adultery with the wife of thy neighbor: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt
not steal the property of thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not
swear by my name falsely, for I visit the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who take
my name in vain: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy brother: I am God, thy God. Thou shalt not covet the wife
... or his manservant, or his maidservant, or anything that is his: I am
God, thy God. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: I am God,
thy God. These ten words (or commandments) God spake."

Several points may be noted in this version. The singular refrain "I
am God, thy God"--which does not appear at all in the received
version--occurs ten times, being, as it were, a solemn ratification of
the Divine sanction given at the end of each separate precept. If this
be so, the first two commandments, as they are commonly reckoned, are
here fused into one, and the tenth place is taken by a commandment which
does not appear in the received version of the Decalogue.

It will further be observed that the distinctive Jewish name for the
Almighty, "Jehovah," or "the Lord," does not appear at all, the familiar
phrase of the received version, "the Lord thy God," being replaced
throughout by "God, thy God."

On the many variations in arrangement and detail we need not dwell;
they speak for themselves. But we have quoted enough to show that these
fragments present problems of the utmost importance and interest both to
criticism and exegesis, unless, indeed, they are to be regarded as
the ingenious fabrications of some Oriental Ireland, who, knowing the
interest felt by scholars in variations of the Sacred Text, has set
himself, with infinite pains and skill, to forestall a growing demand.
Until this preliminary question is resolved to the satisfaction of all
competent scholars, no further questions need be raised. In any case
the _prima facie_ presumption must be held to be enormously against
the genuineness of the fragments. Such a presumption rests on the
improbability of finding manuscripts older by at least sixteen centuries
than any extant manuscripts of the same text, on the comparative ease
with which such fragments can be forged, and on the powerful motives
to such forgery attested by the price placed by Mr. Shapira on his
property.

All that we know of the _provenance_ of the fragments is that Mr.
Shapira obtained them from an Arab of doubtful character; and that
Arabs of doubtful character have driven a splendid trade in Moabite
antiquities ever since the discovery of the Moabite stone. On the other
hand, the forger, if forgery there be, is assuredly no clumsy and
ignorant bungler, as the makers of the Moabite pottery were confidently
alleged to be by those who disputed its genuineness. It is, of course,
part of his craft, and not, perhaps, much more than the 'prentice part,
to give to the sheepskins on which the text is inscribed an appearance
of immemorial antiquity. But a good deal more than the skill required to
make a new sheepskin look like an old one has gone to the production of
Mr. Shapira's fragments. If they are forged, the fabricator must have
known what scholars would be likely to expect in genuine fragments,
and have set himself to fulfill their expectations. In these days of
scientific palaeography and minute textual scholarship no forger of
ancient manuscripts could hope to take in scholars unless he were a
scholar himself. Variations of text would be looked for as a matter of
course; palaeographical accuracy would be exacted to the minutest turn
of a letter. Now, to vary a text so as to furnish a different recension
without betraying ignorance or solecism requires scholarship of no mean
order, while it is very far from an easy thing to write currently in an
archaic and unfamiliar character in such a manner as to deceive experts
in palaeography. But the fabricator of these fragments, if fabricated
they are, has attempted and accomplished a good deal more than this.
He has in some cases produced two identical texts written in different
hands, both preserving unimpaired the archaic character of the letters.
This implies either the employment of two scribes or else an almost
incredible skill in the single scribe employed, and in either case
it doubles the probability of detection. If, moreover, the supposed
fabricator is also himself the scribe, it is evident that he is not only
a very ingenious artist, but also a very accomplished scholar, and one
can only regret that he has engaged in an industry which has placed him
at the mercy of an Arab who would steal his mother-in-law for a few
piastres, and is likely, therefore, to enrich no one but Mr. Shapira. We
should expect to find, however, that his extraordinary ingenuity has at
some point or another overreached itself. Familiar as he must be with
the labors of modern Biblical critics--for otherwise he would hardly
have ventured to impose upon them--it would be strange if he were not
betrayed into some more or less suspicious coincidences with them. In
any case, the problem presented by the fragments is one of profound
interest, and the whole world of letters will resound with the
controversy they are certain to excite.--_London Times_.

* * * * *

[Illustration: SPECIMENS OF OLD KNOCKING DEVICES FOR DOORS.--_From the
Building News_.]

* * * * *

SHIPPING OSTRICHES FROM CAPE TOWN TO AUSTRALIA.

Since the failure last August of the Cape Commercial Bank there has been
much depression in South Africa. Ostrich farming, in common with
other enterprises, has suffered. Before the crisis a pair of breeding
ostriches have been sold for 350 l., now they would not realize 50 l.

The resolution of the Government of South Australia to encourage ostrich
breeding came in very opportunely for the Cape dealers, and one or two
cargoes of birds have been shipped for Adelaide. The climate of the two
colonies is very similar, and the locality selected for the imported
birds (the Musgrave Ranges) resembles in dryness and temperature their
native _habitat_.

The first sketch opposite represents the ostriches bidding farewell
to their South African home. "The dear old farm where we were reared,
good-by!"

One of the boxes, while being slung from the cart to the hold, got into
a slanting position. This frightened one of the two inmates, a fine
cock. He kicked so hard that he burst open the door of his cage, which
was, of course, instantly lowered on deck. Fortunately there was there
a gentleman who understood how to handle ostriches. He instantly seized
him before he could do himself or the bystanders any injury, and after
a brief struggle prevailed on him to re-enter his box. When released in
the hold he became quite quiet, and ate his first meal on board ship
with a relish.

After being taken out of their boxes the birds are allowed to take a
little exercise just to make themselves at home, and are then arranged
in wooden kraals, of which there are two hundred on board the vessel.
The ostriches are induced to move from one place to another by catching
hold of their bodies, and using a little gentle force.

The last sketch represents their first meal on board after a fast of
thirty hours. Apple melons were chopped up for them by their "steward,"
who was to accompany them to Australia. It was curious to see a bird
swallow a great lump and then to watch the lump working slowly down
the animal's long neck. On the voyage they would be fed with maize or
mealies, onions, apple melons, and barley. They require very little
water; however, there were five large iron tanks on board in case they
would feel thirsty. Our engravings are from sketches by Mr. Dennis
Edwards, of Hoff Street, Capetown,

[Illustration: SHIPPING OSTRICHES FROM CAPE TOWN TO AUSTRALIA.

1. Ostriches on the South African Farm Where They Were Reared.--2.
Attempted Escape and Recapture of an Ostrich on Board Ship.--3. Lowering
the Birds Into the Hold.--4.A Queer Dinner Party--Ostriches Eating Apple
Melons.]

* * * * *

A NEW WEATHERCOCK.

An ordinary weathercock provided with datum points may, in the majority
of cases, suffice for the observation of the wind during the day;
but recourse has to be had to different means to obtain an automatic
transmission of the indications of the vane to the inside of a building.
The different systems employed for such a purpose consist of gearings,
or are accompanied by a friction that notably diminishes the
sensitiveness of the apparatus, especially when the rod has to traverse
several stories. Mr. Emile Richard, inspector of the Versailles
waterworks, has just devised an ingenious system which, while
considerably reducing the weight of the movable part, allows the
weathercock to preserve all its sensitiveness. This apparatus consists
of two principal parts--one fixed and the other movable. The stationary
part is designated in the accompanying figure by the letters A and B and
by cross-hatchings. This forms the rod or support. An iron tube, T, with
clamps, P, at its lower extremity forms the base of the apparatus, and
is hidden, after the mounting of the apparatus, by the ornamental zinc
covering, Z. The upper part of the tube carries a shoulder-piece,
upon which rests a bronze platform, E, and which is slightly inclined
outwardly to prevent the accumulation of water on it. Over the platform
there move three crystal balls, which are held and guided by a
horizontal disk movable around the stationary tube.

The movable portion, designed to receive the action of the wind and to
indicate its direction, is designated by the letters C D and coarse
lines. It consists of (1) a zinc tube, K, provided at intervals with
copper rings, and entering the rod, A B, which serves as a guide for it;
(2) of a bronze disk covered by an external ornament, O, fixed to the
tube and resting on the balls; (3) of the vane, G, properly so called;
and (4) of the cap, C, provided with bayonet catch, crowning the tube
and covering the point of attachment of the wire of transmission.
This latter consists of a simple brass or galvanized iron wire, f f,
perfectly taut, and made fast in the top of the tube. After traversing
as many stories as necessary this wire terminates, in the interior of
the room where the observations are made, in a copper rod to which is
fastened a horizontal arrow, F. The wire traverses the floorings through
small zinc tubes; and, in the rooms through which it passes, it is
protected by iron tubes. To the ceiling of the observing room there is
affixed a wind-rose, R, on which the arrow reproduces all the motions of
the vane.

[Illustration: RICHARD'S WEATHERCOCK.]

This apparatus is now in operation in the different stations that the
Versailles waterworks has established near the reservoirs of the plateau
of Trappes, and it is also installed in several primary normal schools,
where it is giving very good results.--_La Nature_.

* * * * *

CHARRED CLOVER.

A correspondent of the _Ohio Farmer_ reports an experiment in curing
clover, showing how he just missed breeding fire in his barn, and
illustrating the importance of ventilating hay mows:

In 1861 I used a horse fork for the first time. The haying season was
not a bright one, and our clover was drawn a little greener than usual,
and went into the mow in large and compact forkfuls. The result was
intense heating, and consequently very rapid evaporation and sweating of
the mow. On a bay holding ordinarily twenty tons we put at least thirty
tons, as every load at the top seemed to make room for another. The barn
was rather open, which allowed quite free evaporation on all sides as
well as at the top. The result was that I had very bright and excellent
hay at the bottom, top, and sides of that mow, but severals tons in the
center were as completely charred as though burned in a coal pit. What
prevented combustion has always been a mystery to me. Since that escape
from a conflagration, I have not deemed it prudent to put clover in so
green as to cause intense heating, or to fill a mow too rapidly. If we
haul six loads per day to one mow, weighing thirty hundred each, which
will shrink during the sweating process to one ton each, we have three
tons of water to be thrown off by evaporation.

If we continue to put on six loads per day until the mow is full, the
principal part of that moisture must rise through the entire mass. To
relieve the hay of moisture, I deem it best to have several places of
storage, and change daily or semi-daily from one to the other, thus
giving time for a share of the moisture to pass off. To facilitate this
evaporation and prevent the hay from reabsorbing it and becoming musty,
the best of ventilation is necessary. Ventilation above a clover mow is
as necessary as it is above a sugar or fruit evaporator. If there is
not open space and draught sufficient to carry away the moisture, it is
returned to the mow, and mould is the inevitable result. No ordinary
amount of drying will prevent hay from becoming musty if ventilation is
shut off during the sweating process. If a hole is cut through the floor
at the bottom of the mow near the center and under a ventilator in the
roof and a barrel placed over it and drawn up as the hay is mowed in,
thus leaving a hole from bottom to top, evaporation will be facilitated
and the quality of the hay improved. Salt thrown on, as the clover is
put in, to the amount of two or three quarts to the ton, will make it a
relish with stock.

* * * * *

THE QUEEN VICTORIA CENTURY PLANT.

(_Agave victoriae-reginae_.)

This beautiful Agave is now in blossom in the garden here, and I am
happy to be able to send you photographs of it. This is the first time
it has ever blossomed in cultivation, and it has never been seen in
flower in a wild state. It is a mature native-grown specimen, dense in
habit, and perfectly semi-spherical in form, and the leaves are arranged
in spiral fashion with as much regularity as those of a screw pine. The
circumference of the plant is 5 ft. 1 in., and it has 268 leaves. Its
flower-stem appeared about the middle of June, grew rather fast till it
was 7 ft. high, then rather slowly till it reached its full development.
The scape is now 10 ft. 4 in. high above the plant, 61/2 in. in
circumference at the base, or 51/4 in. at a foot above the base; from
there it tapers very gradually till near the apex. The flower-spike is
exceedingly dense, and 5 ft. 8 in. long; the lower or naked portion, 4
ft. 8 in. long, is prominently marked by abortive flower buds, with,
near the base, some bristle-like scales 31/2 in. to 4 in. long. The
flowers are regularly arranged in parcels of three, all the three being
equal in size and opening together; they are greenish white in color, 11/2
in. long, or, including the stamens, some 23/4 in. to 3 in. long.

[Illustration: AGAVE VICTORIAE-REGINAE.]

The first flowers opened on August 3, and they have continued to open
in succession, a belt about 3 in. wide opening each day. They remain in
good condition for two days; on the third day the stamens wilt and drop
down, but the pistil remains erect till the fourth day. On the first day
of opening the pistil is not so long as the stamens by 3/4 in.; on the
second it has grown to be as long as the stamens, but it is not in
condition to receive the pollen till after noon of the second day.
Although the flowers on some eighteen inches of the spike have already
blossomed, none of the ovaries have been fertilized; they are dropping
off, but I am rather sanguine regarding those about the middle of the
spike. So great is the superfluity of nectar contained in the flowers,
that on the afternoon of the second day it often drops from the cups,
and the least shake to the scape brings it down in a shower. The main
beauty of the inflorescence consists in the dense bottle-brush-like mass
of bright yellow anthers. This plant, together with several smaller
ones, was contributed to this garden by Dr. Edward Palmer, who collected
them in their native wilds--the mountains of Northern Mexico--some three
years ago. He found them growing in a limited and rather inaccessible
locality in gravelly and rocky soil some miles from Monterey. In
addition to those he sent here he also sent a quantity to the garden of
the Agricultural Department at Washington, and some to Dr. Engelmann,
the eminent botanist at St. Louis. To Dr. Engelmann he also sent a piece
of an old flower stem and some dried capsules which he found upon an
old plant, and it was from these specimens in 1880 that the doctor
was enabled to describe for the first time the inflorescence of this
Agave.--_The Garden_.

* * * * *

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE NATURAL FATS.

By J. ALFRED WANKLYN and WILLIAM FOX.

In the course of an investigation in which we are at present engaged we
have arrived at some results which appear to us to be very interesting.
We find that the generally received view that the fats are ethers of
glycerin is partially correct, and that instances of a different kind of
structure occur among the natural oils and fats.

Ethers of iso-glycerin, or of homologues of iso-glycerin, appear to
occur. Iso-glycerin has this structure:

C(OH)_{2}
CH
CH_{3}

It exists in its ethers, but cannot be isolated, and should be resolved
into:

COOH + H_{2}O
CH_{2}
CH_{3}

Ethers of iso-glycerin, or ethers of homologues of iso-glycerin, yield
no glycerin when saponified.--_Chemical News_.

* * * * *

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papers heretofore published in the SUPPLEMENT, may be had gratis at this
office.

* * * * *

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