upon all the necessity for so disciplining their nerves, that on
hearing a call of fire in a church, theatre, or other place of
assemblage, they may act with calmness and common sense; those nearest
the door going out, and the others quietly following. It is in the
highest degree improbable--not to say impossible--that in such places
fire, before its discovery, can gain such a height as to cut off,
unaided by panic, the escape of a single man, woman, or child in the
house. We should remember, that not merely on the first discovery of
fire, but when the building is actually in flames, the firemen are at
work within the walls; and that these men are protected by no immunity
but that arising from their own courage and self-possession.




THINGS TALKED OF IN LONDON.


_February 1852._

Professor Faraday's lecture, with which, according to use and custom,
the Friday evening course at the Royal Institution was opened, has
been the most noteworthy topic of scientific gossip since my last. The
subject, 'Lines of Magnetic Force,' is one not easily popularised,
otherwise, I should like to give you an abstract of it. One requires
to know so much beforehand, to comprehend the value and significance
of such a lecture. The learned professor's experiments, by which he
demonstrated his reasonings were, however, eminently interesting to
the crowded auditory who had the good-fortune to listen to him. He
promises to give us, before the close of the season, another, wherein