Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/86

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NOTES AND QUERIES. 112 s. i. JAN. 22, ww. columns and in the ' D.N.B.,' and where it has been found possible to make addition to the information given in the latter this has been indicated. Works and periodicals of all kinds, from notices in local papers to important biographies, have been brought under contribution, and we observe also numerous references to passages in histories or other books not solely devoted to the topic immediately in question.

An outline of the principal groups of characters with which this Supplement deals is supplied in a capable and interesting Introduction, and the plan followed as to exclusion or inclusion is set forth in a separate preface. The edition of which a copy lies before us is limited to 110 copies; there is also a large-paper edition, limited to 75 copies, which is illustrated.

It is hardly necessary to say that in its copiousness, the strict and minute care of its handling, its clear arrangement, and the evidence at every turn of the trouble that has been taken to collect the facts, this work bears the unmistakable marks of having been a labour of love, and we congratulate Mr. Hyett and Mr. Austin on its accomplishment. We really do not see how it could have been better done.

following interesting paragraphs appeared in L'intermédiaire of Dec. 10, 1915:—

Lr. bntit du canon (Ixxii., 2, 109, 226, 274, 324). L'article de M. Houlleyigue, le physicien distingue qui re"dige les Causeries scientifiques du Temps, vaut mieux, ce me semble, qu'une mention en passant. C'est la seule etude venue a ma connaissance, avec celles de M. de Varigny dans le Journal des Debats, qui e"mane d'un homme du metier et fournisse le r^sultat d'observations dues a des spe"cialistes.

M. Houllevigue rappelait d'abord qu'en 1870, sur le Sal eve, a cot6 de Geneve, on a entendu les grosses pieces allemandes qui, a 175 kilometres de la, bombardaient Belfort.

Quant a la guerre pr^sente, en Hollande, a ftrecht, le professeur Van Everdinghem et le personnel de 1'observatoire m4t6orplogique ont entendu distinctement, a 200 kilometres, le canon tir en Belgique ; le bombardement d' Anvers a e"te entendu a Groningue, c'est-a-dire a 270 kilometres, et memo un peu au-dela. II faut que les circonstancesatmosphe"riques soientfavorables, car des brumes en suspension dans 1'air re"fle"chissent les ondes sonores vers les regions superieures, comme 1'a etabli a Guernesey la direction des signaux acoustiques.

D'autre part, il y a une dizaine d'anne"es, 1'illustre physicien anglais Lord Rayleigh, en cherchant quelle est la plus petite amplitude des ondes sonores perceptibles, est arnv a tablir des donn^es qui permettent de calculer la ported -maxima d'un son dont la production consomme une 4nergie de"termine.

Ainsi la grande sirene de Trinity House, a Londres, qui absorbe une puissance de 60 chevaux, doit, th^oriquement, se faire entendre a 2.700 kilometres. Mais les ondes sonores s'usent en traversant 1'espace, et par suite les faits re"els, comme il arrive d 'habitude, different quelque peu des provisions the\3riques. Enfin le professeur Van Everdinghem a communique^ a une revue americaine des constatations qui permettent de

concilier des observations en apparence con- tradictoires. Le bruit cesse d'etre entendu a partir d'une certaine distance ; plus loin il re- commence a 1'e'tre.

Pendant le siege d'Anvers, la zone de silence, ou " Ombre acoustique," commencait a 85 kilo- metres de la place, et s'e"tendait sur une largeur de 60 kilometres environ ; au-dela, le bruit e"tait de nouveau percu. L'explication de ce fait echappe encore aux gens du metier.

Pour revenir aux observations individuelles, je noterai qu'un naturaliste Eminent m'a dit avoir, par vent du Nord, entendu, ainsi que plusieurs de ses voisins, sur les collines de la region de Sceaux, les canonnades de 1'Artois, de facon a connaitre les batailles avant qu'elles eussent etc" annonc^es dans les communiques. Des observations analogues se sont produites bien plus anciennement, et en un temps ou le fracas de 1'artillerie n'etait sans doute pas comparable a ce qu'il est maintenant. Car dans les " Souvenirs d'enfance " de Louis, due d' Orleans, fils du Regent, qu'a publics le l er no- vembre dernier la Revue des Deux-Mondes, j'ai releve cette phrase, relative aux operations de 1712 :

On entendoit, aux environs de Versailles, le canon du Quesnoy et de Landrecies.

WE have received the following from Mr. Frank J. Taylor, Acting Librarian of the Free Public Library, Barnsley : " The Barnsley Public Library Committee are going to issue at an early date a ' Bibliography of Barnsley Literature,' and they are desirous of the publications being as complete as possible. May I through your paper appeal for gifts or loans of any printed books, pamphlets, maps or MSS., or works bearing upon the history of the town ? Any gifts will be duly acknowledged, or loans preserved and returned as soon as possible. An Exhibition of Local Literature is arranged for Feb. 14-19, to celebrate twenty-five years of library service."

BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES this month have been conspicuous by their absence. We hope to have the requisite material for a notice in the course of February.

to (E0msp0ntonts.

ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

To secure insertion of communications corre. epondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and pago or pages tc which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- mumcation " Duplicate."

Miss FARLEY and PROF. MOORE SMITH. Forwarded.

CORRIGENDUM. Ante. p. 31, col. 2, 1. 5 from bottom, for " (Add. 2781 ff.) " read " (Add. 27,811-7)."