ON EMPLOYMENTS WHICH INJURE THE EYE-SIGHT. No. IV. LINEN-INSPECTORS-BANK-NOTE INSPECTORS BURNISHERS PAINTERS MINERS AND COLLIERS EFFECT OF HEAT UPON THE EYE-SIGHT -CASTING OF STEEL-BURNING OF PAINTED GLASS. We now proceed to notice a few employments wherein too much or too little light proves injurious to the eye. It is of course known that the value of cloth depends upon the fineness of its material, and the degree of closeness with which it is put together. In the process of weaving, the threads, whether of silk, cotton, or wool, &c., cross each other at right angles, and constitute what is technically termed the warp and the woof. The value of the cloth therefore is tested by the number of threads contained within a given space-the larger the number, the more valuable becomes the article. There is a class of persons called linen-inspectors, whose business it is to test the value of cloths in this way, and such persons suffer loss of visual power, in consequence of the constant application of the eye to this kind of work. Those engaged in examining white linen cloths suffer more than when dark colours are the subject of investigation; and among the coloured cloths the scarlet, with which our army is clothed, produces the worst effects. The reader is probably aware that white cloth reflects most light; and that of all the colours of the spectrum red is the least refrangible, and although yellow and orange colours afford most light, yet red affords most heat, and is, from causes not well understood, productive of irritability to the eyes of most animals. Scarlet is a compound colour, containing a large proportion of red, combined with yellow*. Manufacturers of bright colours also suffer injury to the eyes. It is said also that at the Bank of England a new issue of bank-notes is productive of ocular disease among the clerks, whose employment it is to examine, sign, and counter-sign an immense number of these documents per day. The money counters also, in the same establishment, are said to be peculiarly liable to amaurotic affections, especially at every new, issue of coinage, when the pieces are highly polished, and consequently reflect much light. Burnishers form another class of persons peculiarly liable to this disease, particularly such as are engaged in producing upon metallic surfaces a high degree of polish. One of the results of the simple, and otherwise admirable, principle of the division of labour, is certainly attended in some cases with its evils, by splitting up one branch of business into a large number of collateral shoots, it reduces man to a machine, and often deprives him of the power of exercising his invention; and, as in this case, proves positively hurtful. Hence we have an additional proof of the value of automatic machinery in effecting those processes by which man is injured, and his powers impaired. In the instances we have given, the hand and the eye are chiefly employed, while the mind rests; but Nature is not partial in her rewards or her punishments. A high degree of mental cultivation does not • The bull, the turkey, and other animals, manifest great impatience and anger at the sight of a red colour. This is probably due to an irritation of the optic nerve, induced by this particular colour: this is, however, only a surmise of the writer. A young man was recently killed by holding out his tongue to an adder which he had caught, and doubting whether it was a snake or an adder, put out his tongue to test the fact. The animal, irritated by the red appearance of the tongue, bit it; and the bite was fatal, for the young man died some hours afterwards. exempt a man from the penalties due to transgression : the disciple of Claude, or of Galileo-of Hunter, or of Watt,-is exposed (as we shall see) in the exercise of his high calling to the inconveniences of the humblest artisan. Nothing, in fact, proves so well to us the dependent and even coequal condition of raan in the scheme of creation as the universality and individuality of the application of the natural laws to which we are all alike subject. We have heard the case of an eminent landscape-painter, who in the ardent pursuit of his profession became troubled with confusion and dimness of vision. He abandoned his practice for a time, and gave rest to his eyes, the inflammation of which yielded to proper medical treatment. Upon attempting to resume his occupations he was much alarmed to find that he no longer possessed the power of discriminating shades of colour from each other: he had, in fact, apparently lost the faculty necessary to his profession. He had again recourse to medical treatment, and after a time was restored to perfect sight. The above instances occur, as it will be seen, in employments where too much light is admitted to the eye, whereby it becomes irritated and fatigued. On the other hand its occupation in a dim uncertain light is productive of results equally disastrous. In this case it is strained as it were beyond its powers, in endeavouring to exercise its function in the absence of the only necessary means, namely, a moderate and steady supply of light. Such persons are the nume rous class of miners and colliers, whose employment is underground, amid the fitful gleams of a few lamps or candles, which the very position of the workmen prevent from being other than weak and almost inadequate sources of illumination; while in the collieries the lamps are necessarily surrounded with wire-gauze to prevent the firing of the gas which often issues from the apertures (blowers) laid open by the workman's pick, and thus the already feeble illumination is enfeebled. The exposure then of the eye to this bad light for several hours, and the transition into the light of day above when the miners' daily toil is done, is in many cases productive of the disease we have described. In the stupendous mines of Southern America immense numbers of the natives were, while under Spanish dominion, kept entirely in the mines, together with their wives and children; and thus, as an ingenious Frenchman observes, those very persons whose ancestors worshipped the sun are born, live, and die, without ever having been blessed with a sight of his rays. Ah! what avail their fatal treasures, hid THOMSON. The united effect of the dim light in which colliers are constrained to perform their daily labour, and of the contaminated atmosphere which they breathe, is thus alluded to by Mr. Thackrah, in his work on the Effects of Trades, Professions, &c. on the Health. The eyes of colliers are small, affected with chronic inflammation, and intolerant of full light. Boys enter the pit at the age of six or seven, and are employed in opening the trap-doors, driving the horses, propelling the trucks, &c.; and finally, when of sufficient age, they become col liers. Sickness and vomiting sometimes affect persons at their commencing the employ, and many after a few years trial are obliged, by the injury which their health has sus tained, and especially by the weakness of the eyes, to leave the mine. (3.) As the exposure of the eye to too much light is injurious, it almost follows that too much heat is equally so. It is painful to reflect that many of our luxuries are purchased at the expense of much human suffering. True it is that by habit men may become inured to extraordinary and unnatural circumstances, which do not indeed exert their fatal influence at once upon them, but which would sink an unaccustomed hand. Undoubtedly, by early use and training, the body may successfully withstand high degrees of heat, as the experiments of Sir C. Blagden, Chantrey, and others, and the every-day experience of our gas-factories, glass-houses, &c., prove; and it is possible that in all the successful cases the individuals are fitted peculiarly by nature, or the habit of early training, for the exercise of these pursuits; still, however, it is to be lamented that there are many cases of workmen whose powers 7 fail them for their own peculiar callings. How far habits of intemperance influence their fate, it is not within our province to discuss, although we fear that much is to be attributed to this energetic and too L common cause. On a visit a few years ago to an immense foundry, about noon on a hot summer's day, we were much struck by the situation chosen by several of the men for the consumption of their dinner. They were seated on the copings of several enormous forge-fires, the heat of which was so great as to prevent our approach within several yards, and yet these men appeared to suffer no inconvenience whatever, for as it would seem they were in a temperature natural to them, which, however, was so great that the broad sunshine, into which we soon went, appeared cool in comparison. But the above instance of the power of the human frame to bear intense degrees of heat, sinks into insignificance when compared with many cases of constant occurrence in the arts and manufactures. We must be content at present with the selection of one only. The reader may be aware that steel is fusible, or capable of being melted, and when in the fluid state of being cast in moulds, by which process the natural qualities of the metal, its hardness and elasticity, and the permanence of the edge in cutting-tools, are very much improved. The steel which is to be cast is previously broken into small pieces, put into a clay crucible capable of holding between thirty and forty pounds of the metal, and so placed in a wind-furnace, where it is brought to a white heat, which is sustained for about four hours, in which time the liquefaction of the mass is complete the furnace-cover is then removed, and other preparations are made for pouring the metal into cast-iron moulds. "This is a process which places the melter in a situation little, if at all, enviable, as compared with the inside of M. Chabert's celebrated oven indeed the eyes and the hands that are daily conversant with molten steel would hardly shrink at the mention of a temperature sufficient to broil a beef-steak! Previously to drawing the crucible, the artist, whose body, arms, and legs, are defended by sacking-wrappers, goes to a water-trough, and with a besom thoroughly moistens his outer covering, that his clothes may not get a-flame, while he is bending over the mouth of the 'burning fiery furnace. Thus prepared, with a pair of strong tongs he withdraws the pot from the fire, takes the lid off, and pours the metal into the mould. The ingot thus formed is either a bar about two inches square for tilting, or a plate six inches broad, twelve to eighteen inches long, and an inch thick, for rolling, as the same may be wanted to be wrought into its ultimate form by the hammer or the shears. It may perhaps be thought that this fluxing and pouring of the metal requires no very great skill in the management. It the is, however, a fact, that so much depends upon most exact attention to a number of minute parti culars, only to be attained by a rare union of judg ment and experience, that a person who thoroughly understands the business is invaluable as a workman, and his earnings are accordingly great. Honourable instances are not wanting of these melters having become persons of property, not to say that they have set up their carriages! The importance of their avocation is indeed much greater than may generally be imagined, even when the best irons are used. Not only does the perfection of innumerable exquisite cutting instruments depend almost entirely upon the quality of the metal, but much of the glory of the fine arts. The steel plates, which by a wonderful triumph of skill the engraver has appropriated, the burine of Heath and the chisel of Chantrey, respectively owe their excellence to a judicious management of the crucible by the Sheffield cast-steel melter."-Manufactures in Metal. : A melancholy case has occured recently to a friend of the writer, an ingenious painter on glass and glassstainer. The stained glass which enters into the composition of church and cathedral windows, often containing pictures and figures of high excellence, is produced in the first instance, by applying a coloured composition to white glass, or painting on glass, as on canvass, with a coloured compost which will resist heat the glass being thus prepared by the artist, its durability through long ages is ensured by a process termed firing, which consists in placing the glass in a close iron box or oven, called a muffle, and which is provided with horizontal iron shelves, placed at regular distances, and covered with well-burnt powdered lime, to prevent the contact of the glass and the hot metal. On these shelves the glass plates are deposited, the coloured surfaces of course upwards. The muffles are placed in a furnace, and each muffle is furnished with a tube, which passes out through the furnace-wall, the use of which tube is to enable the operator to examine the state of the glass during the process of firing. A fire is now kindled and heat continued until, on inspection, the glass contained in the muffle is found to have acquired a heat just sufficient to fuse it by this means the colours are absorbed into and become part of the glass. The watchful eye of experience alone detects the exact moment when the white heat, to which the furnace has been brought, must be reduced the whole contents of the furnace are left to cool gradually for about twelve hours, at the end of which time the glass is said to be annealed, or to have lost that brittleness which it would have had if it had been removed from the furnace immediately. : The gentleman referred to had been engaged for several years in managing the above process, when a few months back, after looking for a longer time than usual through one of the tubes into the furnace, while the contents of the latter were at a white heat, he entirely, and as it appeared to him suddenly, lost the sight of the eye he was employing. The retina was in fact struck with palsy, from which we regret to add he has not since recovered. And yet how wonderful is the fact, that although the eye in this case is totally insensible to luminous impressions, and at present is of no assistance to its owner, yet the pupil still retains to a certain extent its contractile and expansive power when light is more or less admitted to the visionless orb. This fact tends to show how independent the function of the iris is of the will. In this class are included stokers in iron-furnaces and glass-houses, and the denizens of the smithy generally, together with tavern cooks, &c. THE OVAL, THE ELEMENTARY FORM THE indescribable beauty of outline which pervades 1 2 V 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 No. 1 and 2 are a series of straight parallel lines, arranged horizontally and vertically; these were shown to produce no principle of beauty. In No. 3, a series of straight lines are drawn so as to radiate from a centre producing the simplest beautiful arrangement of lines. In Nos. 4 and 5, he endeavoured to prove that a series of straight lines, radiating from centres, as fig. 4, were improved in beauty by the addition of curves, as in No. 5. Nos. 6 and 7 illustrate the improvement produced by substituting curves in the rays, as in No. 6, and a still further improvement by additional curves, as in No. 7. Pursuing the same idea, it was shown that if the rays proceeded from a curved instead of a straight line, as in Nos. 8, 9, the beauty of the arrangement was increased, No. 9 being the most elegant. If an oval disk, fig. 2, is prepared, the beauty of the Fig. 3. The following method of further elucidating the properties of the oval, will form an amusing problem for the young draughtsman. To make these drawings, two ovals of different sizes, cut in card-board, are necessary. Fig. 6 is a Greek vase, with handles, Fig. 6. formed in the following proportions of seven parts; the body has four parts, the foot one, and the neck two. The greatest width of the body is equal to the longest diameter of the larger oval. Fig. 7 is another illustration of the use of the oval in forming a flattened vessel called a patera. Fig. 7. VIEW ON THE UPPER LAKE, FROM RONAYN'S ISLAND. THE Upper Lake at Killarney, lying to the westward | The channel of communication itself is about three miles in length; it winds considerably, and varies very much in its breadth. The narrowest part is at the very top, where it is contracted into a little passage, scarcely more than thirty feet broad. This pass bears the appellation of Coleman's Leap; and it is said to be so called after a legendary hero of that VOL. XII. name, who, in the eagerness of the chase, or in the pursuit of an enemy, leaped across the chasm here, and left the impression of his foot or feet (for the accounts differ,) in the solid rock. There is a mark still shown as his veritable foot-print, and the wonderful phenomenon is "minutely described, and studiously exaggerated, by the credulous guides." To a traveller ascending this connecting river in his passage from the Lower Lakes to the Upper Lake, this extraordinary contraction of the channel at Coleman's Leap has a very remarkable appearance. The devious course of the river above the Eagles' Nest*, and the numerous impediments which commonly arise from rocks, shoals, and the rapidity of the current, are productive of repeated disappointment, and excite no small degree romantic confines of the Upper Lake. The long-wished for of impatience in those who anticipate the view of the scene is expected to open at every turn; but one short reach of the river succeeds to another, terminated by huge rocks, beyond which nothing is visible but distant mountains. At length the boat arrives in a little basin, bounded for the most part by steep rocks, to which several different outlets the proper channel which is the widest, and whose direction appear. The stranger naturally concludes that one to be accords best with the course of the river; it is not without Of this remarkable rock we have already given a description. See Killarney, No. 1., Vol. XI., p. 57. 376 surprise therefore that he beholds the oars, after a few strong and rapid stokes, drawn in, and the boat suddenly put about and directed through a narrow pass between the rocks, barely sufficient for its admission. This is the entrance to the Upper Lake, and soon after passing it, the most distant shores are revealed to view, with the immense mountains which rise beyond them. On passing Coleman's Leap the traveller enters at once upon the Upper Lake. He finds it to be entirely encompassed by mountains; and if, after proceeding a short distance, he cast his eyes back, he is unable to distinguish the narrow opening by which he entered, so completely is it lost in the confusion of hill, bay, and promontory. "In this retreat from the busy scenes of life, the beautiful and the sublime are exquisitely united." On the south of the lake stands Cromiglaun or the Drooping Mountain, which rises from the very water. Adjoining this, on the west, is Derricunnihy, after which comes Derry-Dinma, separated from it by the little river Kavoge. The Coombui Mountains are seen in the distance towards the south-west; and further to the west is Barnasna. In the west are also seen Baum, with its conical summit, and the Macgillicuddy's Reeks, with their lofty, shattered, and shelving tops. The nearest of the Reeks to the lake is that called Ghirmeen, at the foot of which is the entrance to the sequestered defile of Comme Duff, or the Black Valley. On the north and east are Ghirmeen and the Purple Mountain at a distance, and the Long Range (as the mountains on the north of the channel between the Upper and Lower Lakes are called,) backed by Tomies and Glena. From its situation in the midst of a stupendous amphitheatre of mountains, the Upper Lake displays the most wild and romantic scenery. Its length is nearly the same as that of Turk, its breadth somewhat inferior. The mountains which bound it on every side, are a continuation of those forming the defile through which it is approached, and their characteristic features are similar, but they are loftier, and all their parts are on a grander scale; the glens are deeper, the woods more extensive and of older growth, the rivers larger, and the falls more lofty and precipitous. The highest mountains are those at the upper end of the lake, which are likewise the most varied in their outline; among them rise Macgillicuddy's Reeks, "pre-eminent in grandeur." Of these Reeks, which are the highest mountains in Ireland, we have already given an account*. They are visible from the Lower Lake, but their appearance, from the Upper Lake, is so different, that they would scarcely be recognised for the same. On entering the Upper Lake (says Mr. Weld,) the attention is at first wholly engaged by the vastness of the mountains, and next by the extreme wildness and ruggedness of the scene. The numerous islands, as well as the shores, present on every side immense rocks; some bleak and terrific, others of a less savage aspect, teeming with vegetable life. The islands in the Upper Lake are very numerous; the rocks along their shores generally consist of a green stone, which, close to the edge, assumes a dark hue, agreeing so nearly with the reflections of overshadowing trees in calm weather, that the line of separation cannot be traced without difficulty. And here (says Mr. Wright), as in all her works, Nature has proved herself the most accomplished artist, in adapting the light and airy tints of the limestone-rock to the gay and luxuriant shores of Glena and Mucruss, and the more dingy shadows to the bold, terrific, and savage features of the Upper Lake. This exposure of the rocky bases of the islands and stony strands, which occur in the lakes of Kerry, forms a distinguishing character between See Saturday Magazine, Vol. XII., p. 137. them and the English lakes, where the green sod always confines the apparently overflowing waters, producing the idea of eternal plenitude. The most striking of the islands upon entering the lake is, Oak Isle, or Rossburkree, which in the Winter season, is separated into several parts, so as to form a cluster of islets. It rises from a rocky base, and is crowned with wood; from its shores is obtained a splendid and majestic view of the lofty mountains, which form so characteristic a feature of Killarney, grouped in the most varied manner. The shores of the Upper Lake are extremely intri cate, being indented by numerous wooded and rocky promontories, by bays, inlets, and long creeks, which wind towards the base of the mountains, as if purposely to receive the streams which rush through the glens, and conduct their waters in silence and tranquillity to the lake. The largest of these inlets is that bearing the name of Newfoundland, which lies at the eastern extremity of the lake, and is nearly The entrance into three quarters of a mile long. this inlet lies through a narrow pass, defended by two vast perpendicular rocks, in passing which an extensive basin suddenly opens to view, bearing the On the right of appearance of a fourth lake. this inlet rises a steep overshadowing cliff, clothed with straggling trees: on the opposite side it is bounded by masses of bleak rocks, while the distant view in the middle of the picture is occupied by a wood of oaks, from out of which issues the river Esknamucky, which may be ascended for some way in a boat. Mr. Wright says that a walk along the banks of this stream will surprise and delight the tourist. An irregular path winds along the banks between trees whose thick foliage confines the view until at the end of about half a mile, a space suddenly opens, discovering some cottages, surrounded by a few small enclosures. The sound of falling wa ter here strikes the ear; and on turning the eye towards the Turk mountain, which the visiter has thus insensibly approached, a beautiful cascade is seen over the trees at the head of a deep glen. It is scarcely in the power of imagination to conceive a more romantic retreat. No vestige of human industry appears beyond the precincts of this little hamlet: woods and mountains surround it; and the inhabitants seem totally cut off from the society of their fellow creatures. Nor is the retreat less remote in reality from the busy scenes of life than it appears to be: the plough has never left the traces of its furrows on the vale; the soil is turned with the spade; and the produce, if more than sufficient for the maintenance of the humble cultivators, is conveyed away on horses, by a craggy path which winds along the borders of the stream. the visiter passes Arbutus Island, which lies on the Advancing up the lake towards its western end northern shore, about half a mile to the west of the entrance into the lake at Coleman's Eye. It is so called on account of the profusion of the arbutus plant which it displays, and which indeed covers the rocky sides of its pyramidal form. Of these strawberry trees, which are to be found in abundance on every part of the shores of Killarney, but in especial luxuriance in the islands of the Upper Lake, which are celebrated for possessing the finest specimens of the plant in the British Islands,-an anonymous writer thus speaks : In the latter end of October, when I first visited Killarney, they were in high beauty, many of their bells and blossoms still remaining, the fruit on some just forming, and on others nearly ripe. The same bough often exhibited all these varieties. The ordinary height of the tree is ten or twelve feet; but I have seen some, of a happier growth, which rose to eighteen or twenty. The blossom is shaped like a goblet, and the fruit nearly spherical; it is at first |