Washington sentinel., 1899-11-11

Thams to Harwich, and up the estuaries
Of the rivers. Altogether, about 2o,soo
acres were esubmerged-paTts only for
few hours, but other parts for several
days, and, where the damage to the walls
was serious, for weeks or even months.
Indeed, the difficulty in repairing the
defences proved occasionally to be so
great that tracts OF land we're actually
allowed to revert to salt marsh The
question naturally ARISES, Is the land
better or worse for a soaking with sea
water2 On this point various opinions
had been EXPRESSED. and therefore
Messrs Dymond and Hughes endeav-
ored to settle it. They narrate the
history Of the crops which were actually
on the fields when the sea broke in, and
what happened to the successors in the
following year; how much salt had been
added to the soil at different depths
about two months after immersion, and
what was left at the end of year. A
comparison OF these results with the
field observations shows how far, II at
all, salt IS injurious to ordinary crops.
Account has also TO be taken Of the
nature OF the land. Here the top sou
seems constant, tor it is always heavy;
but in one part it overlies sand, in
another peat, in third clay-which, OF
course, materially affects the drainage.
In the top soil of unAooded land the salt
IS about one part in ten thousand, but in
that which had been flooded the investl-
gators found IS times as much, and in the
sub soil over "a times, In the following
year the one was reduced 20 ABOUT
fifth of the original amount, and the
other to rather less ths n a quarter,
showing thatthe salt IS gradually washed
into the earth. The process is not
always rapid, tor, while the rain carries
the mineral downwards, in dry weather
the water ascends by capillary acton,
and brings it back. For this reason,
reclaiming land from the sea presents
more difficulty in warm climate. The
rain will not cleanse it from the salt
as it does in Holland, so that special
means must be adopted. AS the land
on the Essex coast was cultivated, the
roots of plants probably checked the
, downward passage of the salt The
effect on growing crOps varied according
to their nature. At first they seemed
practically unharmed; and several kinds
ol seeds sown experimsntally in pots
!, filled with the imprsgnated soil germi-
! mated we'll But this did not continue
e most Of the crops, as the year advanced
a began to dwindle, and commonly
: proved to be not worth harvesting
This was due, in the authors opinion
to the indirect rather than to the dIrec
effects of the salt. In other words
though it did not in all cases hu t tn,
IS plants, it always harmed the soil,
at FANATICIsM AS A SOUkC OF CRIME.
at The results OF analysis OF a series {
SIS legal actions involving prosecution 70
at crime supposedly committed under tn
II spell Of fanatical religious beliefs serv
ne to illustrate this point. Thus the Col
IS vulsionists, a sect existing in Paris abol
On 1860, we're wont to cruelty members
De their order, in emulation of the crucifi
Sc ion OF Jesus, in the beliei that the sou
re OF the surviving members would
an saved by the sacrifice Of their fellow
In 1877 the Paschelans, an Austria
mt sect, murdered a man, his wife and the
'n' girl Of eighteen years, who had otier'
Ter herself Tor the souls Of her fellow mer
SIS bers. In 1898 the leader of PIetisi
me circle in Switzerland, after haviI
al despatched her sister. who gave her II
oil as a means OF saving the souls OF h
ing relatives, was crucified by her followe
W.T. at her own command, in order that S
.eT- might die, rise again after three da'
and restore to life the sister whom S
had slain. In 1865, two mothers. adh
ND ents Of the Holy Men, slew their 81
children, believing them to be vicu
S. OF demoniacal possession In 1875
ury Hungarian miller, belonging to
st Of Nazarenes, killed his son as an offer
ter, for his own sirs, after the fashion
[ by Abraham In 1870, IN Irkutsch, Rus
e OF one Of the Schismatics convinced h
,een self by prayer and fasting and m
tion Scripture reading that to save his s
e US he must be crucihed. Accordingly
ion attempted self crucihxion, and
high successful so far as the circumstance
,ugh the case would permit. In 1880, IN
arge government OF Perm, Russia, pea
the killed his child as an offering tor