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Smoking 11 minutes, 76, 78, 77, 76, 79, 79, 80, 80, 79, 78, and 79.

There was no increase in the rate of pulsations from the effort of smoking or from its interference with the respiration.

minute.

Experiment 4.-To ascertain if after smoking 6 minutes, during which the effect is very small, and then ceasing smoking, any increase in the effect would follow. Pulsation before smoking 75 pulsations per Smoking 6 minutes, 76, 75, 79, 79, 76, 78. Smoking 1 minute, 82.-Cease smoking.

Smoking 10 minutes, 81, 88, 83, 82, 84, 83, 83, 80, 82.

The rate of pulsations was maintained, but was not materially increased. Experiment 5.-To prove if the rapidity of smoking causes a variation in increase of pulsation. a. Greater volume of smoke.

Pulsation before smoking 701 per minute.

Smoking 6 minutes, 68, 70, 71, 70, 72, 74-70-8 average.
Smoking 6 minutes, 76, 77, 86, 89, 91, 94=85·5 average.
Smoking 4 minutes, 98, 95, 96, 95=960 average.

The maximum effect was thus 27 pulsations per minute.

b. Smoking faster.

Pulsation of the last minute in the previous part of this experiment, viz. 95 per minute. Smoking 3 minutes, 94, 94, 96.

c. The pipe recharged.

Smoking 5 minutes, 87, 93, 96, 96, 96.

There was therefore a large effect upon the pulsation, but probably not more than would have occurred with ordinary smoking.

Numerous other experiments were made with tobaccos of different reputed strengths and upon different persons, and the author gave minute directions as to the proper method of making such inquiries.

GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOLOGY.

On the Civilization of Japan. By Sir R. ALCOCK.

THE author began by observing that "mankind," it had been said, was going through a great fusion. It was being made one, not by conquest, not by the spread of a creed, but by the interchange of commodities, a proposition which it was to be feared could only be accepted as true in a very qualified sense. Commerce and the natural wants of mankind were no doubt efficient agents in bringing different races into communication with each other-opening up new countries, and predisposing populations to spread by intercourse, by the interchange both of products and of ideas. But it was not the less true that commerce only opened the way, and quite as often excited jealous fears and gave way to hostile feelings, ending in conquest or civil convulsion and bloodshed. The tendency of the present day was rather to attribute too much to commerce as an efficient agency whether for civilization or peace. It often brought two totally dissimilar races into sudden contact in the aggressive march of western civilization and commerce eastward, and very seldom without collision and conflict. Between the moral and the physical there was in this, as in other directions, a great analogy. In the material world new forms and combinations were seldom effected without much effervescence and disintegration. Many dangerous elements were set free, and others which gave solidity and permanence disappeared. So it often proved when new elements of thought and civilization were brought into contact with the elder Asiatic forms of social life and government. So it had been in China as in Japan; the feudal nobles of the latter empire, with a true instinct, saw that commerce never came alone, but brought in its track germs of social and political change which, sooner

or later, would destroy the feudal power and institutions. These had existed from time immemorial, and under them the nation had increased in numbers and in wealth, preserved its independence, and been self-sufficing. They saw in the new treaties, therefore, and the commerce they were intended to promote, an element of revolution, and were prepared to resist to the death, and strike while it was yet time. Commerce in this instance, as in a thousand others, so far from promoting peace, was pregnant with danger, and to all appearance would sooner or later lead to war, and this however little the merchant might desire such a result, or governments might seek to avert it. Commerce, in truth, originated a movement which not all the merchants in the world could arrest until its destined course was run. Western Powers, and we especially, entered into treaties with Eastern Potentates in perfect good faith, desiring only commerce, and hoping peace and civilization with the blessings of true religion might follow in the train. Such was not the lesson that the history of the world gave. Theory and experience were wofully at issue, and for once it would be well that experience should triumph over hope; for the first gave useful warning, while the latter only deluded by vain expectations. It was under this aspect that it became a question of deep interest what affinities or analogies might be found between the European and Japanese civilization now so suddenly brought into contact, or what elements of repulsion might be existing and active; for on this, to all appearance, would depend the issue, whether peaceful or the reverse. To speak of Japanese civilization was to speak of the whole life and development of a nation; and there was as much difference between nations as individuals. Sir Rutherford then showed that there were great vagueness and diversity of opinion as to what constituted civilization. The necessity of a clear definition was obvious; and by reference to the chief agencies employed, we should be able to discriminate between different kinds of civilization and degrees, and thus arrive at a rough basis of classification. Man's first triumph was that of physical force and intelligence combined over inanimate nature; his next, and by the same means, was over the higher animals of his own species! All the earlier forms of civilization were of this kind in various degrees. When it was proposed to govern man by argument rather than by force, by considerations and by motives addressed to his reason and conscience rather than to his fears, leaving him the full development of his faculties and the free use of all his energies, then civilization took its best and highest form. But of this civilization there was very little, even in the western world, as yet. We should be prepared, therefore, to estimate modestly any benefit in our power to confer on a race like the Japanese by introducing our civilization and institutions into Japan, and we should be patient if we saw that the Japanese adhered with tenacity to their feudalism and autocratic forms of government, and not only wished none of our novelties or innovations, but, on the contrary, were ready to do battle rather than permit the fine edge of the commercial wedge to be inserted. They (the Japanese) might tell us with truth that for centuries they had possessed, under their own laws, customs, and institutions, a degree of peace, prosperity, and freedom from foreign wars which no country in Europe had enjoyed any single century of its existence, with all our boasted civilization. How the civilization of a people might most readily be estimated was a question of some interest. Mr. Meadows, in his work upon China, suggested that the style and character of a nation's architecture (exclusive of edifices for warlike purposes), the roads, means of communication, and adaptation for travelling were the best criteria. This seemed doubtful. In Japan the soil was afflicted with a sort of quotidian ague by reason of earthquakes, and in architecture, as also in roads, the Japanese might vie with the Romans, so admirably were they engineered and maintained. But when we come to their ordinary means of travelling and communication, they sink far below the lowest of European States. A naked footrunner made their post; a buffalo car, or an equally clumsy machine, carried on men's shoulders, was their usual conveyance; and this despite their knowledge by working models and books of our system of railroads and telegraphs. It was evident all these criteria could only furnish very fallacious data for judgment; for in other directions-in their conquest over matter and their progress in all the industrial arts-they might vie with the most advanced nation in Europe. In all the mechanical arts the Japanese had unquestionably achieved great excellence. In

their porcelain, their bronzes, their silk fabrics, their lacquer, and their metallurgy generally, including works of art, in design and execution they not only rivalled the best artistic works of Europe, but could produce in each of these departments some of those of Europe. It was quite true that Europe might also make a similar boast with justice, for there was much, especially in the province of art properly so called, to which the Japanese could not make the slightest pretensions. They could not produce such works of art as might be seen in the International Exhibition in repousse from the chisel of a Vechte and a Monti. Neither could they rival a Landseer or a Rosa Bonheur. Indeed, they were wholly ignorant of oil painting, and no great adepts in water colour. In the outlines of animals, however, they had a most facile pencil. In enamels, in the manufacture of steel, and in silk fabrics, they could compete with the rest of the world, as also in their finer and egg-shell porcelain. The tendency of their government unfortunately, under a feudal rule and a feudal aristocracy, was utterly repressive of all free action or development of the faculties. Any evidence of individuality and originality would be fatal to a Japanese under the worse than Venetian rule of feudal chiefs. This was the one great obstacle to the development of commerce and the maintenance of peaceable relations; for the privileged classes, composed of some 600 daimios, and their feudal retainers, comprising an army of some 200,000 men, sworn and ready to obey all the behests of their chiefs, held the whole population in the most absolute subjection. And the hostility of these armed classes was neither to be softened nor conciliated. They foresaw, or thought they did, in the train of foreign_trade, elements threatening destruction to all the institutions of the country, and foremost of these the feudalism which constituted them lords of all the soil and absolute rulers. This was the more to be regretted because the Japanese as a people had no hostility to foreigners, and were possessed of so many excellent qualities and such an aptitude for a higher civilization than they had yet attained, that within a very few years not only might we see them make a great and exampled advance, but a trade developed to which it was really difficult to fix any limit.

On the Climate of the Channel Islands*. By Professor ANSTED, F.R.S. GUERNSEY.

The climates of the Channel Islands are so essentially different both from those of the adjacent lands of France and England and also from each other, and they offer so many points of interest connected with the influence of the Atlantic currents on climate, that they deserve special attention. Its relative position marks out Guernsey as the typical island, and observations justify this conclusion. It is, therefore, fortunate that the elements of the climate of Guernsey have been better established than those of the other islands. Dr. Hoskins, F.R.S., is the observer to whose labours these valuable materials are due. The annexed Table gives these results to the end of 1858. Since then the weather has been exceptional.

Compared with Greenwich, the results are very interesting.

1. Temperature.-The mean annual temperature is 51°, and the annual means in sixteen years have at no time exceeded this by 20, or fallen short of it by 10. At Greenwich the adopted mean temperature being 49, this shows an increment of 23°-nearly corresponding with the difference due to latitude. But the real difference is not this. It arises from the very much smaller range in the small island. Thus the mean autumn temperature is four degrees, and the winter six degrees, higher than at Greenwich, while the spring is only one degree warmer, and the summer half a degree cooler. The months show this more clearly; for December and January are each seven degrees warmer, and May and June one degree cooler. On the whole, the spring in Guernsey is a little warmer, and the summer rather cooler, than at Greenwich, while the temperature of July and August continues, with little change, into September and October. Winter is therefore absent as a season, but spring is cold and late.

The daily range of the thermometer is also very small. At Greenwich, on an

*The account from which this memoir was prepared has since been published. It will be found in The Channel Islands,' by Prof. Ansted and Dr. R. G. Latham, 1 vol. 8vo., London 1862.

average of ten years, it was 16.2°; and for the same years in Guernsey exactly half, or 8.1. The following tabular statement of the mean daily range of each month will, however, be the best illustration of this:

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LTTETT

April . 19.1°

Guernsey.

May
June

10.5

20.8

11.6

July

August

21.3 . 20.0

10.7

10.0

September. 19.8

8.5

10.0

November. 11-7
December
January.
February
March

12.3

. 15.2

7.1

7.8

The difference thus indicated is total, and is connected with another, also very important, namely the total absence of night frosts in Guernsey. The effects on vegetation are very remarkable.

The extremes of temperature in Guernsey also range within narrow limits. There has been no reading of an accurate thermometer recorded higher than 83°, or below 24.5°.

2. Barometric pressure.-The fluctuations of the barometer in Guernsey are frequent, but moderate. The maximum height of the column is in September and December, and the minimum in October and April; and, as in England, the pressure is generally greater in summer than in winter.

3. Winds.-The absolute force of the wind does not seem to be excessive, though squalls are frequent and violent. North-west winds blow, on an average, 109 days, north-east winds 107, south-west 100, and south-east 50. North-east winds prevail in September, May, and March, the average being 12, 12, and 11 days. North-west winds preponderate in August; and in April north-east and north-west winds are equal. În no month is there an average of more than 61 days of southeast wind. During June, July, August, October, and January, nearly two-thirds of the weather is from westerly quarters; and during March, May, and September, from easterly quarters.

4. Rain-fall. The mean annual rain-fall in Guernsey is nearly 35 inches, falling on 164 days. October is the wettest month, and January the month in which the number of rainy days is greatest. From May to August, inclusive, are the driest months, the total rain-fall being 8 inches; and from October to January the wettest, when 16 inches fall. More rain falls in the night than during the day. A continuance of twelve hours' rain is rare, and the finest days often succeed the worst mornings. Snow rarely falls, and when it does, is generally with a south-east wind late in the season. Hail occurs at all seasons, but not often very heavily.

5. Cloud and Moisture.-The air is very frequently clouded in Guernsey, but only partially. The mean cloudiness of the year is about 5, a completely clouded sky being 10. The air is seldom saturated with moisture, though the mean humidity is 854. The extreme of humidity is in February, when the temperature is lowest. The driest month is August, when the temperature is highest. Dense sea-fogs are common in May and June; but the total number of days of thick weather in the year is not large. The dews are very heavy.

6. Ozone. The ozone-observations range over too short a period to be of much value, but the means during that period were not high, especially during the summer months. September to January, inclusive, were the months of maximum ozone.

JERSEY.

The climate of Jersey differs from that of Guernsey much more than would be expected from its close vicinity and similarity of form, elevation, and soil. The mean temperature is nearly the same, Jersey being 0.3° higher; but the spring, summer, and autumn are warmer than the mean, and the winter colder. Thus from April to October, inclusive, the mean of Jersey is one degree higher than in Guernsey; and from November to January, inclusive, three-quarters of a degree lower. During the other months the means correspond. The daily range differs considerably. Thus in December it is 17.7° in Jersey, and in Guernsey only 7°; in January the figures are 7.1° and 6.7°, and in July 6.8° and 6°. August alone shows a small difference the other way, the range then being somewhat greater in Guernsey, and the mean temperature more than one degree lower.

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Elements of the Climate of Guernsey.-Mean Results of Observations extending over sixteen years, from January 1st, 1843, to December 31st, 1858.
By S. Elliott Hoskins, M.D., F.R.Š. [Latitude of Station, 49° 27' N. Longitude, 2° 32′ W. Height of Station above mean sea-level, 204 feet.]

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