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g^ T^HIE LEADIIUl. pio. '286, £atoiipay,
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Plfc^AKErpTT O3ST WARMEffG AND VENTILATI...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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- R^Leneraii K2lapka The War. Th« Wa*- I...
fortifications -would stU ^ ataad . imc < H ^ ueire 4 , and from their commanding , heights look < figAfinnin npnn the departing squadron i in the latter cage , the first thing naturally s « 2 » eat 6 < f to us is , whether it Would not be more reasonable for the Allies to desist from expensing the flower of their armies in the Crimea , and to select another sphere of a ' ctloi ^ where gain ana loss might be balanced more proportionately , and the object < jfthe war , as-Well as -fts ultimate issue , be really brought within their grasp ? From this point , after an enumeration of disasters and difficulties , General JG & tfka \ proceeds upon theory . Three lines of attack upon ^ Russia are suggested 4 o hlm ^ from the south , through the Crimea , through Asia , and across t & e : Danube ; from the north-west , through the Baltic provinces ; and £ com the west ,-through Poland . His programme of the Polish campaign is interesting : —
Having effected-a landing , the first move of the Allies should be in the direction of Bevel , * h « , Gapture of-which would open :. a safe harbowr for the purpose of commandingithe Gulf , of Finland , and of making the Russians tremble for their metropolis . The next objeets <« ugftfcbeBigaand the mouth of the Dttna . The occupation of the former would put the Allies into ithe possession 1 of the road to Poland . From thence ifcey eouM immediately advance into Lithuania , take Wilna , and call the Poles to ^ arms . Should t & e Russians commit the imprudence of awaiting the attack of their : adversaries near the coast in isolated detachments , instead of taking up a shorter line < tftdefence farther back , the iAllies would then ; be enabled to commence the campaign with- several successful engagements , which would beyond doubt have a favourable anfloence onjtheir subsequent operations .
In the event of the Russians being driven from the Baltic provinces , their line of retreat would diverge in two directions , one upon St . Petersburg , and the other upon J ? oland . Their old ruse of falling , back towards the interior would now rather do them harm than good , inasmuch as the Allies would certainly not be caught , like 3 Tapdleotr in . 183 ! 2 j but content themselves with their acquisition , and only follow the enemy'canitiotislyi tulthey reaxshed the boundaries of ancient Poland . ' General "Klapka contributes an amount of solid reasoning to the discussion of the Polish question . The vulgar objection to the restoration of Poland is , that it was a- distracted state when the infamous act of partition ¦ wa s effected . It may be replied that the Polish feuds were not more bitter than those which have raged in other countries , —certainly not more intense than those of Italy , nor of longer duration than those of Germany . Had" a despotic empire like Russia possessed the means of enslaving France , the Eve of St . Bartholomew or the Revolution would have supplied no justification . The Thirty Years' War , the decline of Spain under the ilapsburgs and Bourbons , the long conflict of England , did not deprive the Germans , the Spaniards , or the English , of their national rights . wed
Rousseau gave his advice to the Poles : " You cannot help being swallo < up ; btit take care you are not digested . " If they are not digested , it is aeitherjust nor rational to rake in historical dust for their political sins , vnth . which to confirm the usurpations of Russia . Eighty years have not « umced to blend them with the conquering race . They are still suspected ; 3 tiU watched by immense armies ; in short , they still give every sign of a separate , energetic , and ambitious nationality . Of course the statesmen * nrho preside over the war naturally sought the aid of governments in possession and of organised armies , in preference to that of expectant patriots And unorganised nations . This was their policy , inherent in the system by virtue of which they enjoy the privileges of their class . But if the plans field out by Liberals would be experimental , and therefore undertaken at much risk , the hopes of diplomacy are altogether fallacious . Neither of the great German powers wilt join the Allies . Austria enjoys her Danubian influence , Prussia is enriched by the transit of the Russian trade . Why , then , should they seek to spread the influence of a storm in which they have so mueli to lose , and fifom -which , in a dynastic sense , they have
nothing to gam ? FiftaUy , Genenal Klapka , sharpens his argument to a point by a statement of the only possible ' results of a statesman ' s war , and by an appeal to the temperate judgment of the English people : — "We , therefore , say ; Either a real and decisive war against Russia or no war at all . JTbr of what use are < those wanton devastations along the shores of the Baltic , the Euxine , and the Sea of Azoff ; or the undermining of the prosperity of millions for . years to come , and the obstructing of the progress of culture , industry , and commerce , if the whole result to Be hoped for is an unsafe peace ? General Klapka ' s view of the war may be summed up , thus : he advises the ¦ r ecal o £ the . Crimean expedition , an attack across the Danube , an invasion of the Baltic provinces , a crusade for Poland , the repudiation of Austrian neutrality ,, the . liberation of Hungary and Italy , the concentration of the entire Tjurtish army in Asia . Hero is a vast programme , framed with reference to tfcb general state of the civilised world , but the war which General Klapka recommends is not the war which the Allied Governments undertook to wage .
G^ T^Hie Leadiiul. Pio. '286, £Atoiipay,
g ^ T ^ HIE LEADIIUl . pio . ' 286 , £ atoiipay ,
Plfc^Akerptt O3st Warmeffg And Ventilati...
Plfc ^ AKErpTT O 3 ST WARMEffG AND VENTILATION . iOn '/ ihe Smohiiksa Fireplace , Chimney-valves , and other means , Old and New , of Obtaining Hzaiiyul Warmtft-and' Ventilation . By Neil Arnott , M . D ., F . R . S . Longman and Go . 3 ftithere \ is one point , of . British conservatism , more difficult of attack than another , among minor matters , it < is the Fireplace . Not only have our fore-£ htther » andifbreuiother » 'wajFnu 2 d : themselves ? by 4 ha 4 extremely clumsy contrivan i ce ,-roa 3 t 4 ng ' the fece , and allowing back and feet to freeze ; not only nits -the open-grate" become an Institution , it has endeared itself to the 1
British mindiiff a centre of " cheerful associations ; ' and things ' cheerful not being superabundant in " British life , there can be little hope of a reform : which threatens to depriv © ua of the few pleasures we enjoy . Hence , however cogent the arguments , however palpable . the demonstration , that by a stove ; great saving , is effected and great increase of warmth secured , Dr . Arnott ' a gtovofwould not make its rway in our houBes . England has the . greatest respect for the name of Neil Arnott , and with cause , England is grateful ta him ,, and will always listen to what he has to say ; but , having £ | et : ened « having assented , England pokes her fires in dogged determination , Andftwill accept no atovo . She accepts the Water-tied , she accepts tho ^ hioMiejTyalvfii ( with an occasional murmur from cesthetical ladies arid gon-4 wwM » Jwha , thiait too ittuch of " appearances ' ) ,, but tho ^ tovo she will noC
But Dr . Arnott is not the man to be beaten . Conservatism may oppose its immovable bulk of obstruction , and thwart his first efforts , but if he cannot move the obstacle , he will get round it . Finding the " cheerful blaze " the centre of resistance , he tries if he cannot preserve the blaze without its concomitant evils . He invents an open grate which shall give England her bright fire , but shall not at the same time give the smoke and cold draughts which make the bright fire objectionable . That invention he-has described in the volume now lying before us ; and any one who has seen the new fireplaee in aetion will at onee recognise the simplicity and effectiveness of the invention .
Imagine what , a boon it is to have a fire which will burn the whole day without fresh coals being thrown on it , and in burning not nil the room with smoke ! . Think only of what our London atmosphere is , and mainly owing to the tons of floating coal which darken it in the form of smoke . Why the mere cost of washing our clothes is greater than that for an equal number of families living in the country hy two millions and a half sterling a year ! To parody Tennyson ' s outburst , one might exclaim—Why prate of the blessings of Coal ? We have made it a curse ! A curse indeed , when we consider not the washing bills merely , but the mortality bills . Moreover , this coal , so precious , is fearfully wasted in smoke : more than five-sixths of the whole heat produced in an ordinary English fire goes up the chimney instead of warming the room . So that the lean landlady who charges you sixpence a day for your parlour fire , over which you shiver , might charge you one penny and keep you warm , if her fireplace were constructed according to Arnott ' s principles . It is very easy to burn the coal instead of wastinsr it : —
Common coal is known to consist of carbon and bitumen or pitch , of which pitch again the chief element is still carbon , joined then with hydrogen , a substance which , when separate , exists as an air or gas . When the coal is heated to a temperature of about 600 degrees Fahrenheit , the bitumen or pitch evaporates as a thick , visible smoke , which , as it afterwards cools , assumes the form of a black dust or flakes , called blacks , or smut , or soot . If pitchy vapour , however , be heated still more than to 600 degrees , as it is in the red-hot iron retorts of a gas-work , or while rising through a certain thickness of ignited coal in an ordinary fire , its elements combine in a new way and are resolved in great part into invisible carburetted hydrogen gas , such as we burn in street lamps .
Now when fresh coal is thrown upon the top of a common fire , part of it is soon heated to 600 degrees , and the bitumen of that part evaporates as the visible smoke immediately rising . Of such matter the great cloud over London consists . Whatever portion of the pitchy vapour , however , is heated to the temperature of ignition by the contact of flame or ignited coal , suddenly becomes gas , and itself burns as a flame . This is the phenomenon seen in the flickering or irregular burning of gas , which takes place on the top of a common fire . But if fresh coal , instead of being placed on the top of a fire , where it must emit a visible pitchy vapour or smoke , be introduced beneath the burning , red-hot coal , so that its pitch , in rising as vapour , must pass through the burning mass , this vapour will be partly resolved into the inflammable coal-gas , and will itself burn and inflame whatever else it touches . Persons may amuse themselves by pushing a piece of fresh coal into the centre of the fire in this way , and then observing the blaze of the newlyformed gas .
We must refer the enterprising reader to Dr . Arnott ' s volume for a full description of the new fireplace , confident that ( if his wife will permit it ) he will at once erect one in his own house . The volume is important , however , to others . Even the indolent conservative who will not , or who may not , adopt the new grate , will learn much valuable instruction regarding warmth and ventilation , and . other matters affecting health ; instruction set forth in that clear , easy style which characterises Dr . Arnott ' s writings , and which makes us wrath with him for still delaying the completion of his invaluable work the Elements of Physics . Before dismissing this volume we must call upon it for an extract , and we choose one which contains the ingenious comparison between a steamengine and the human body : —
James Watt , when devising his first engine , knew well that the rapid combination $ of the oxygen of atmospheric air with the combustible fuel in the furnace produced % the heat and the force of the engine ; but he did not know that in the living body ; th « re is going on , only more slowly , a similar combination of the oxygen of the air | with the like combustible matter in the food , as this circulates after digestion in the J form of blood through the lungs , which combination produces the warmth and force ¦ of the living animal . The chief resemblances of the two objects are exhibited | strikingly in the following table of comparison , where in two adjoining columns are 1 set forth nearly the same things' and actions , with difference in the names . | TABLE OF COMPARISON . j Tub steam-engine in action The animal body in life ' ¦¦ ¦; Takes : Takes : i 1 . Fubl , viz . —Coal and wood , both being 1 . Food , viz . —Recent or fresh vegetable ;!; old or dry vegetable matter ,, and both matter and flesh , both being of kindred v combustible . composition , and both combustible . ' ¦; 2 . Waxek . 2 . Drink ( essentially water ) . - | 3 . Am . 8 . Breath ( common air ) . '<';) And Produces : And Produces : ; v 4 . Steady boilino heat of 212 degrees 4 . Steady animal , heat of 5 ) 8 degroosby jj by quick combustion . slow combustion . - || 5 ., Smoke from the chimney , or air loaded 5 . Foul breath from the windpipe or air a with carbonic acid and vapour . loaded with carbonic acid and vapour . jt | 6 . Ashes , part of the fuel which does not 0 . Animal kkpuse , part of the food which ; ' | burn . does not burn . > X 7 . Motive : force , of simple alternate 7 . Motive force , of simple alternate con- j push and pull in the piston , which , traction and relaxation in the muscles , f acting through levers , joints , ; bands , which , acting" through the lovers , j & q ., does work of endless variety . joints , tendons , & c , of tho limbs , J > does work of endless variety . s 8 . A DICFiOXEBTOY OF FUEL , WATER , OH 8 . A DEFICIENCY OF FOOD , DRINK , OK , aib , flnst : disturbs , and then stops tho breath , first disturbs , and then stops motion . tho motion and tho life . 9 . Local damage from violence in a ma- 9 . Local hurt on disease in a living . chine is repaired by tho maker . body Is repaired or cured by tho action of internal vital powers . Suoh are the surprising resemblances between an inanimate machine , tho dovlco of human ingenuity executed b y human hands , and the Hying bodyJtafelf , yea , tho bodies
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 15, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15091855/page/18/
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