spectres were so great that it is no wonder that now and then the person should have died at or near the moment, we ought to expect a much larger proportion of cases in which the spectre should come at the moment of the death of one or another of all the cluster who are closely connected with the original of the spectre." (This is not very distinct: any wrong spectre, with or without close connection with any particular moribund, would seem to serve De Morgan's purpose in this argument equally well. He seems to insist, however, on the factundoubtedly such- that if spectres were commonly appearing, without reference to the deaths of individuals, cases should happen pretty frequently where a spectre appears which is not that of a person then dying, but of some near relative. I feel by no means sure, however, that I have rightly caught De Morgan's meaning.) "But this," he proceeds, "is, we know, almost without example. It remains then, for all, who speculate at all, to look upon the asserted phenomenon, think what they may of it, the thing which is to be explained, as a connection in time of the death, and the simultaneous appearance of the dead. Any person the least used to the theory of probabilities will see that purely casual coincidence, the wrong spectre being comparatively so rare that it may be said never to occur, is not within the rational field of possibility."

mind is not so preoccupied. If we admit this and I conceive that there can be very little doubt on the point- -we can dispose very readily of the argument from coincidence, advanced by those who believe that the spirits of the dead sometimes come visibly into the presence of the living. I present this argument as urged in an analogous case (that of visions at the moment of death) by a late eminent mathematician, whose belief in the possibility at least of many things which are commonly regarded as superstitions was so well known that no apology need here be made for touching on the subject. After speaking on the general subject of coincidences, De Morgan thus, in language less simple than he commonly employs, presents the argument for spectral apparitions (at the moment of the death of the person so appearing): "The great ghost-paradox and its theory of coincidence will rise to the surface in the mind of everyone. But the use of the word coincidence is here at variance with its common meaning. When A is constantly happening, and also B, the occurrence of A and B at the same moment is the mere coincidence which may be casualty." (That is, this is a coincidence of the common kind.) "But the case before us is that A is constantly happening" (here by A, De Morgan means a death, as he explains further on, but the explanation should come in at this point) "while B" (the spectral ap- I have quoted this argument because pearance of the person who dies), "when it applies equally well to the case of it does happen, almost always happens spectral appearances after death. The with A, and very rarely without it. That right spectre is always seen, so far as is is to say, such is the phenomenon assert- known, and it appears always on a suited; and all who rationally refer it to cas-able occasion (at least, an occasion as ualty affirm that B is happening very often nearly suitable as the case permits). as well as A, but that it is not thought It must be admitted, however, that the worthy of being recorded except when A explanation does not cover the facts of is simultaneous." I must venture to ex- all ghost-stories. There are some narrapress my dissent from this statement: it tives which, if accepted in all their deseems to me incredible that any person tails, appear to admit of no explanation would, as De Morgan asserts, rationally other than that which refers the events affirm that spectral appearances are" very described to supernatural causes. But often" seen. "In talking of this sub-it must not be forgotten that these narject," he proceeds, "it is necessary to ratives have come in every instance from put out of the question all who play fast believers in ghosts and spirits; and withand loose with their secret convictions: out questioning the veracity of particular these had better give us a reason, when narrators, we may yet not unfairly point they feel internal pressure for explana- out that it is not absolutely impossible tion, that there is no weathercock_at that at some stage or other, either in the Kilve this would do for all cases. But events related or in the handing down of persons of real inquiry will see that, first, the story, some degree of deception may experience does not bear out the asserted have come in. Tricks have been played frequency of the spectre, without the al- in these matters, beyond all possibility leged coincidence of death; and second- of question. Untruths have been told ly, that if the crowd of purely casual also. The person who doubts a

narra

be found on the parchment, was also given, and was followed by the signature Baldazzarini. Father and son then set to work to search for this hidden scroll, and after some two hours' close examination found, in a narrow slit, a piece of old parchment about eleven inches by three, containing, in very old writing, nearly the same words which M. Bach had written, and signed - Henry. This parchment was taken to the Bibliothèque Impériale, and submitted to experienced antiquarians, and was pronounced to be an undoubtedly genuine autograph of Henry III.

tive of the marvellous is not bound to say where he suspects that some mistake has been made, some deception practised, some statement made which is not strictly veracious. He may not wish to say, or he may even be very far from believing, that the narrator is a trifle foolish or not quite honest. He may put faith in the persons cited as authorities for the narrative; and he may even carry his faith, as well in the sense as in the honesty of the persons concerned, a step or two farther. Yet he may still find room for doubt. Or again, he may have very little faith, and very ample room for doubt, and yet may have valid reasons for not wishing "This is the story," says Prof. Walto state as much. Persons who tell mar-lace, and proceeds to dwell on the care vellous stories ought not to press too earnestly for their auditor's opinion. It is neither fair nor wise.

with which Mr. Owen, who narrates it (in The Debatable Land between this World and the Next), had examined all the deAs an instance of a story which has tails. "Not content with ascertaining been unwisely insisted upon by believers these facts at first hand, and obtaining in the supernatural, I take the marvel- photographs of the spinet and parchlous narrative of M. Bach and the old ment"()" of both of which he gives spinet. As given in outline by Profes- good representations, M. Owen sets himsor Wallace, it runs thus:-"M. Leon self to hunt up historical confirmation of Bach purchased at an old curiosity shop the story, and after much research and in Paris a very ancient but beautiful many failures, he finds that Baltasarini spinet as a present to his father (a great- was an Italian musician, who came to grandson of Bach, the great composer), a France in 1577, and was in great favour musical amateur. The next night the with Henry III.; that the King was paselder Bach dreamt that he saw a hand- sionately attached to Marie de Cleves, some young man, dressed in old court who became wife of the Prince de Condé, costume, who told him that the spinet had and that several of the allusions to been given to him by his master King her in the verses corresponded to what Henry. He then said he would play on was known of her history. Other miit an air, with words composed by the nuter details were found to be historically King, in memory of a lady he had greatly accurate." (In other words "the bricks loved; he did so, and M. Bach woke in are alive this day to testify it; therefore, tears, touched by the pathos of the song. deny it not.") "Mr. Owen also carefully He went to sleep again, and on waking discusses the nature of the evidence, the in the morning was amazed to find on his character of the person concerned, and bed a sheet of paper, on which were writ- the possibility of deception. M. Bach is ten in very old characters, both words an old man of high character; and to and music of the song he had heard in suppose that he suddenly and without his dreams. It was said to be by Henry conceivable motives planned and carried III., and the date inscribed on the spinet out a most elaborate and complicated imwas a few years earlier. M. Bach, com- posture, is to suppose what is wholly inpletely puzzled, showed the music to his credible." (That is, we must not suppose friends, and among them were some so because we cannot suppose so.) "Mr. spiritualists, from whom he heard, for Owen shows further that the circumstanthe first time, their interpretation of the ces are such that M. Bach could not have phenomena. Now comes the most won- been an impostor even had he been so inderful part of the history. M. Bach be-clined, and concludes by remarking, 'I do came himself a writing medium; and through his hand was written involuntarily a statement that inside the spinet, in a secret niche near the key-board was a parchment, nailed in the case, containing the lines written by King Henry when he gave the instrument to his musician. The four-line stanza, which it was said would

not think dispassionate readers will accept such violent improbabilities. But if not, what interesting suggestions touching spirit-intercourse and spirit-identity connect themselves with this simple narrative of M. Bach's spinet!?"?

Here is a story which to most readers, I venture to say, appears absurd on the

to the contour of the country itself. The influence of forests on rain is however much greater among mountains than in the plains; it is also greater in hot climates than in cold, and in summer than in winter.

The actual amount of rain which is collected on the ground in a forest is about three quarters of that which falls on the cleared land outside. The quantity in

Evaporation from a free water surface is about sixty-four per cent. less in the forest than in the open, and morever it is far more ruled by the motion of the air than by the temperature. Hence we see the importance to young plantations which are likely to suffer from drought of leaving belts of trees to shelter them. Anything which breaks the force of the wind retains moisture in the soil. The evaporation from the soil is, how-defect does not all remain in the tree ever, a very different thing from that from a free water surface, and in considering it we arrive at the valuable result that the brushwood, leaves, &c., which cover the ground exert quite as great an influence in retarding it as the forest itself.

tops, as much runs down the stem; but it is found that the proportion retained by the foliage differs with the different character of the wood; thus it is greater with conifers (Nadelholz) than with leaf trees (Laubholz), and of all trees Scotch fir retains the most.

It is found that for every hundred cubic inches of water evaporated from The usual proportion between evaporathe soil, in the open, the ground in a for- tion from a free water surface and rainest, cleared of brushwood, &c., gives off fall on the same surface during the only thirty-eight, and the uncleared year is that the former rather exceeds ground, in its natural condition, give off the latter. The evaporation from the only fifteen cubic inches. Hence we see ground is very different from that from how immediately the water supply de-a water surface, and so, as regards the pends on the wood, and the fact confirms the old observation that in new and thriving settlements the springs dry up in proportion as the land is cleared.

stored up in the ground against periods of drought falls below that in open land, owing to the fact that so much of the rain is intercepted before it reaches the ground.

soil of a wood, the proportion above mentioned is reversed, for the diminution of evaporation is less than that of rainfall. If however the wood be cleared of brushIt is a self-evident proposition that wood, leaves, &c., the rate of evaporation plants require rain, but Hellriegel has from the soil is seriously increased, and shown how much they require : accord-in fact in such a case the amount of water ing to him every pound of barley requires the supply of seven hundred lbs. of water during the period it is in the ground. Trees require a different quantity from corn, and in addition they have a very great effect in draining the land, for it is The work concludes with some refound that land from off which the tim- marks on ozone, and on the hygienic efber has been entirely felled often becomes fects of forests, and with some practical swampy, and only dries again when the applications of the results obtained to the new plantations spring up. This fact explanation of the causes of certain disshows us that trees exert a constant de- eases which are very destructive to young mand on the moisture of the soil, so that fir plantations. Copious tables are apover-drainage of the ground must seri-pended, with an atlas of graphical repreously affect their growth. sentations of the results.

It is then a most important matter to Our hearty thanks are due to Prof. determine the effect of forest on moisture. | Ebermayer for the work, which contains, Prof. Ebermayer's experiments lead him as will be seen, a mass of carefully colto the view that the idea of the effect usually attributed to wood in increasing rainfall is not fully justified, and that much which has been held to be due to the timber in a country is really much more due

lected and important data of the highest value to the scientific meteorologist and botanist, as well as to the practical forester and the landscape gardener.