NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18458, 23 July 1923, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

PSYCHIC MEDIUM'S THEORY. Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton has aroused widespread i;interest; by consenting ; to : the disclosure of the fact that she ,■ is the "Mrs. King" whose work as a ''medium" has been very .f highly \':. valued by the Society for Psychical ; Research. In an article in the London Weekly Dispatch she says :-~Officially the ,; Society;. for Psychical j Research has not ; proclaimed its faith in spirits or in communication with the dead. It us still investigating, collating; and in time , will no doubt able to propound a theory to account.for the phenomena which have been brought to its notice in such large quantities. Spiritualists, as their very name implies, have burned their boats, and believe under some form or other in a spirit .world which occasionally impinges on :WW ,We know nothing yet of the laws which govern these interactions from two planes of being: we know nothing of the conditions of any other life but our own, and even these very imperfectly.,; And the reason why it is so difficult to learn anything about another form of life, if it exists, is that explanations and descriptions have at present to reach us filtered through the material mechanism of psychics, and it is impossible to feel sure that the descriptions and messages have not been contaminated by the psychic 8 mind. It is far more likely that they have, than that they have not, bean tampered with, however unconsciously. ~. .1 used to think that if I only could write automatically without being conscious, or if only I could go into a tranc*?, I should be able to believe that what I wrote came from an intelligence outside myseh. But I have learned to understand that ...no amount of inhibition or suppression of the conscious mind is any guarantee that a message is unaffected by that mind. i ' : ; ■ '■'''■ REVISION OF THE PRAYER BOOK. The Book of Common Prayer is second only to the Bible in the place which it holds in the affections of the Englishspeaking people, and. the proposals for its revision are of deep interest to very many besides Anglicans themselves, writes Dr. George Jackson, in the Manchester Guardian. Many of the suggested changes are real improvements and will be welcomed by all reasonable people. One thing, however. I do greatly regretthat apparently nothing is to be done in the way of modifying or explaining the present rubric which says that '" there shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion until such time as he be confirmed or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.' On a matter like this it is better to speak quite frankly. In ; our own communion services we invite and welcome all who love and serve Christ, to whatever branch of His Church they may belong. Is it impossible for our Anglican brethren to do the same? Every year thousands of us worship in their churches and should delight to join with them at the Holy Table. But as things are wo never know whether we shall be welcomed or not. In the modified form of the Prayer-book which is in -use in many ,Wesley«n Methodist ■ churches, instead of the words "all bishopj. and curates" in morning prayer, and in' 3 stead of "all bishops, priests and deacons" in the litany, we read "all ministers of the Gospel." Ever since I ITeard of the proposed revision I have been dreaming of the possibility of some such phrasesome phrase, that is, which would recognise the existence of other ministers not of the episcopal order, and of "the' congregations committed to Iheir charge"rinding its way into the Book of Common Prayer. But there is, unfortunately, no hint of any such change in the present proposals. Is it even yet too lafte to hope for it? It would add another touch to the noble catholicity of a book which is our corncommon pride." : .

THE EUCALYPTS. Commenting on the apathy of Australians in regard, to, v the Eucalyptus— "probably the most remarkable, from an economic point of view, of all known genera Mr. Henry G. Smith 'has directed attention, by a letter in the Sydney Morning Herald, to the fact that eucalypts are rapidly gaining recognition as most valuable trees in New Zealand. Referring to the plantations at Rotorua, which he visited in the company of Mr. H. A. Goudie, conservator of forests, Mr. Smith, says:—lt was an education to see the forests of upstanding trees of numerous species, growing quite luxuriantly, while the methods adopted in collecting the seed, true to name, and its propagation, were most instructive. Mr. Goudie is a student, and has a good knowledge of the various Eucalyptus species, and , also recognises the value of Keeping the species distinct. He states that the best tree for general and farming purposes is f Eucalyptus macarthuri, the big foliaceous tree, ; the leaves of which yield' a valuable perfumery oil. Ho "says that it is easily transplanted, grows quickly, the heart wood forms sarly, and fencing posts last well; it is a first-class fuel, and not difficult to split. A very large quantity of the seed of this species is collected, which has a germination o:* about 45,000 to the pound of seed. Large quantities Of seedlings are sold to the farmers ready to be planted out. Australians might well profit by this New Zealand experience. That the eucalypts grow well in New Zealand was quits '.' evident, but knowledge respecting soils to species is still wanting, and much might be learnt from the study of species growing in their natural habitat. A few miles from Rotorua I saw some fine trees grown from seed over 30 years previously. When in Auckland I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman who grew these trees. He obtained the seed from a Sydney nurseryman, and sowed it broadcast. We measured one of the trees ■ of Eucalyptus orgades, a verv fine specimen of a forest tree; it was 120 ft. high, 3ft. in diameter at breast high, and would cut a log 60ft in. length • Not a bad result for 30 years! This smooth-barked tree is, however, but one of about 300 distinct soecies of Eucalyptus found growing in different parts of Australia, each of which has its own peculiarities, both botanical and chemical, and consequently its own economics..."■ It is, indeed, a genus, of plants of which Australia should be proud. ■■-•'•; ;?,-■ ■...-'. .-

HUGE IRRIGATION DAM. V An engineering project approaching, the magnitude of the dam for the Arapuni hydro-electric scheme is approaching completion in the Transvaal. It is the construction of the Hartebeestpoort dam on the Crocodile River, at a point about an hour's motor journey from Pretoria, for irrigation purposes. A correspondent of the Overseas Highway Magazine states that the dam is of the constant-angle arch type and is 198 ft. above tho lowest foundation point, at .which point is 72ft. thick. The depth from bedrock tc river bed level varies from 25 to 35ft. Tho width of the Poort at river level is 150 ft., but the crest length of the dam will be 450 ft. with a width of 15ft., over which the main road to Rustenburg will pass. At the crest- the radius of the arch is 225 ft. tor,the downstream face. The extreme length of the Arapuni 'dam' will be 460 ft., rising from a width at tha base of 177ift. to ' 20ft.' at the crest, the height being 193 ft. On. the left flank stmction of the Hartebeestpcort dam on spillway, 125 ft. wide on the line of the dam and 415 ft. long, has been excavated to take care of the maximum probable flood. The spillway will be bridged '■ to carry the mam road from the dam. ; Before this dam wall lies the Crocodile River, having a storage capacity of more than 6,000,000,000 cubic feet of ' water. In front of it there are many square miles of deep, rich soil, through which will run about 80 miles of main-irriga-tion canals and several hundred miles of subsidiary.: and distvjbutory canals and ditches. Twenty years from now, the correspondent, predicts, this valley of Hartebeestpoort will be the garden spot of Africa, filled with a contented people working prosperous holdings and looking with confidence to: the future as Mia result of the genius, patience, and hard work of : the engineers of the Irrigation Department of the Union of South Africa ■who made i& all joasiblg.