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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. irrata to pelure, n d n 32X 1 2 3 t 2 3 4 i" 5 6 TH DES Si / THE WORK MD WORKERS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE A HISTORICAL SKETCH DESONED CHIEFLY FOR THE INFORMATION OP THE AFFILIATED ASSOCIATES IN BRITISH AMERICA 1831 TO 1884 BY CORNELIUS NICHOLSON, F.G.S., F.S.A. A Life Member for nearly Fifty Yean Motto — ' Science is the interpreter of Nature, and Man is the Interpreter ' LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEA RLE, Sc RIVINGTON 188 FLEET STREET MONTREAL : DAWSON BROTHERS 1884 LONDON : PRrVTRD BT iroTTis«ooi)i; axu (o., nkw-strrrt sqcabe AXI) l*AKI.IAi y are also :jjist8 into e condi- is way, as 1 investi- 3 in the sics. In branches ipidlj in tronoiny, to say hich the of the Coper- nented 2:i*avita- s long ation ; by the li'ogress first e have state of the heavens, and making it sul)servient to a knowledge of the future state, we have con- tributed nothing.' These shortcomings have, however, since then been amply redressed, and Sir George Airy, when Astronomer Royal, helped materially to reverse the cause of his lament. He penetrated the star depths l)eyond former researches, and increased the catalogue of stars to an almost incalculable extent. Lord Rosse's telescope * was an era in star development. But the most brilliant discovery of the age, perhaps, was by Adams, of Cambridge, who ascertained the existence and the exact position of an unseen planet, Neptune, ])j^ the perturbations and peculiar motions of Uranus. The aid of photography was now called in by astronomers ; the Sun's ' It is known that the principle of the telescope was accidentally discovered by a spectacle-maker in Holland, who, handling various glasses, incidentally looked through two at once, the one concave and the other convex, placed at different distances. Clalileo, who perfected it, gives this origin of the instrument. Sir John Lubbock told tlu; following story at the London University meeting, a short time ago. A lady Academician said of the stars, she was not surprised that astronomers could determine their size and distance and chemical composition, tJiat she could understand ; but what she could not make out was how they found out their n:imes ! m 10 THE HRITISn ASSOCIATION. Corona was photographed without an eclipse, and the star depths were brought on to the collodion plates in the 0))servatory in the relative distances and positions of the stars. This was proclaimed to be ' unsurpassed by any step of the kind ever yet taken.' The spectroscope was next introduced, which, says Dr. Carpenter, * has almost given us a new sense, by enabling us to recognise distinctive propertic^s in the chemical elements previously unknown.' The Sun's Corona, with its ' appendage ' of rainbow bank of colours, and all the ,L,;iseous and metallic constituents of the sun's atmosphere, are transferred to card- board in perfect facsimile. * We had solar and stellar chemistry,' says Sir William Thomson ; ' we now have solar and stellar physiology.' The Moon, again, has been mapped, and the map brought into the laboratory, showing craters and surface fea- tures, with changes that are taking place there. A Lunar Committee was appointed by the Association, which devoted much time to this subject with good effect. Attention has recently been given to the laws which may govern the motions of luminous meteors I eclipse, n to the J in the he stars. issed by fl.' The ich, says s a new stinctive •eviously svith its •urs, and uents of to card- d solar AVilliam stellar been ito the ace fea- place ^pointed ch time ttention which meteors is CHEMISTRY. II and comets in their periodical visits, and prof^ress has been made in ascertaining; the orbits of these ' wandering stars,' which may perhaps ere lonj^ rob them of their erratic character. With respect to /////< ^ there seems to be a consensus of opinion now in favour of which is known as the Undulatory Theory. Chemistry. — The distinguishing; work of the age, in chemistry, was the discovery, by Dalton, of the Atomic Theory, otherwise called the ' doctrine of multiples ' and * definite pro- portions.' Dr. Peacock said, at the Congress in York, that this theory * has totally changed the whole face of the science of chemistry.' It is the law of unity, which displaces the exploded notion of a fortuitous concourse of atoms ; the law of the proportionate weights of the elements, which is, for chemistry, what the law of gravitation is for celestial me- chanics.^ And Dr. Daubeny adds his testi- mony in these words: — 'It is a law which not only accommodates itself to all new facts, but is itself the consecpience of a still more general principle which philosophers are still • Professor John Phillips. I> I 12 THE BRITISH ASSOC I A TIOI^, ongaged in unfolding.' In other words, chemists are still working in Dalton's lines, with some slight deviations. Dalton's own example and illustration of his theory is pre- sented in his analysis of water, which he shows to he a hinary compound of a single atom of hydrogen and a single atom of oxygen, their relative weights heing as 1 to 8. The most striking development of practical chemistry has heen shown in connection with arts and manufactures, notably in the recla- mation and utilisation of waste products. Coal-tar was so useless and valueless as to be an incumbrance on gas-works. It was forbidden the refuge of the rivers, and was not worth the labour of the carman, till the chemist discovered its hydrocarbons, which 'are now converted into benzene and alizarine, and thence into all the brightest colours of the finest dyes. It is calculated that these colouring matters represent a value approach- ing 5,000,000L sterling per annum. ^ The practice of medicine, again, has bene- fited largely at the hands of chemistry. The physician has been greatly aided in the pre- ' Sir W. Siemens. CIIEMISTR Y. »3 scrvation and prolongation of life by analyses of alimentary substances under the microscope, and especially by the discovery of minute ve}:];etable orf:;anisms. It is Ijclieved that almost all zymotic diseases have their origin in germs of tubercular growth. A minute germ, called haciWiy is found to produce tubercle in the lungs, creating the decay on which it feeds ; so true is the saying that the seeds of life are the seeds of death, and vice versa. Again poisonous substances, hereto- fore inscrutable, have had their hidden pro- perties several times lately revealed in open court, to the detection and punishment of crime. Again, the niicroscopc, with chemical analysis, has revealed marvellous adaptations in the circulation and constituent properties of the blood which is the life of man. No less than eighty millions of corpuscles, red and white — chiefly red— are found in a cubic inch of blood, and each corpuscle has its appointed function. Chemistry tells not only what elements these corpuscles contain, but opens new views as to the relations between human blood and the atmospheric air by which vitality is sustained. 14 THE nRITlSII ASSOCIATION. Agriculture has benefited by tbe applica- tion of cliemistry to Vegcstable Physiolo;,'y. It was to the Association Congress at Glasgow that Lirhiff first communicated his experiments in this lu'anch of science, which have led to the more philosophical application of stimu- lants to the soil, the greater fertility of tlie earth, and the more abundant production of human food. The dynamical theory of heat has found ample demonstration, and is now recognised l)y the axiom that heat and force are con- vertible terms — that matter and energy are co-existent, and indestructible. Kleciricittj is known by its effects, and not by its constituent elements. Its vera anisn still waits an intelligible definition and description. But, if the source of its inherent power be still a mystery, the measure of its power is re- vealed, for Sir W. Siemens has declared that, by remarking the lines which separate con- ductors from non-conductors, physicists can measure electrical quantities with almost mathematical precision. Its measuring in- struments, galvanometers, electrometers, and maiJinetometers are the products of t pr( Et.ECTKIClTV. 15 ' applica- )1()^7. It GlllHROW perimtnts ,ve \^'^ to of fitimu- ty of the luctiou of 1ms found recognised are con- nergy are s, and not aaui^a still scription. cr be still ver is re- ared that, rate con- icists can 11 almost uring in- iters, and lie present era. A committee of this Association, denomi- nated * the Unit Committee,' appointed in 18G2, promoted this investigation. The electric telegraph is the practical application of electrical energy. It has a nniversal andience, coming home, literally, tf) every man's business and bosom, * Panting time ' lags after it in vain. Its achievements by a single message in one direction were looked on as m< tllous, but lately it has out-telegraphed the telegraph by duplex action, signals being passed simultaneously through the same cable in opposite direc- tions, producing, at either end, independent records. The electric light, as a competitor with gas-lighting, is being gradually developed, and may prove to be a successful competitor, if means of storage can be found, and indefinite distribution in domestic houses be made practicable. The future of electricity cannot be foretold, but this can be said of it already, that no material agent can equal it in the transmission of power to great distances. It furnishes motive power to locomotive engines, sewing machines, and other mechanical agen- I6 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOX. li i il: i I t cii'S ; and this conservation of energy is au acquisition of the present generation. Electricity, again, is the agent actively concerned in the use of the telephone — the latest discovery. The action of the telephone has heen well descrihed as ' sound converted into electricity, and electricity re-converted into sound.' It was hrought into puhlic use hy Professor Bell of Boston, and improved by Edison of New York. A circumstance occurred in one of the courts of London, in November last, which shows what reliance is placed upon it. A conversation which had been carried on with the wit^^^^ss through the telephone was admitted as legal evidence. The use of the instrument in England is now a monopoly in the power of the General Post Ofiice, and displaces the telegraph in messages of short distances. A great achievement has lately been effected by the simultaneous trans- mission of a telegraphic despatch in Morse's signals, ami a telephonic message, by one and the same wire ! Perha;>s Faraday advanced the knowledge of electricity and electro-magnetism more than any other scientist in this era. He was ELECTRICITY. 17 led to infer that as an electric current pro- duced magnetism, so magnetism might pro- duce electric currents ; and so, by a series of experiments, he proved his inference, and made the discovery. * 6^ (J I'll iS rilE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. liii GEOLOGY. The Geological Society of London preceded this Association, but it had not attained to much vigour of life; and one of the first records of the British Association was a lament over the death of * the father of Geology,' as he was called, William Stnith. He had done little more than publish some maps, geologi- cally coloured, still his merit was great as a pioneer. Lyell had just then published his first edition of * The Principles of Geology,' and there sprang into activity a host of zealous workers, who simultaneously grappled with the science, and soon brought the * Archaeology of the Globe ' under review. The lithological and stratigraphical features of the rocks were first delineated, then classified and denominated, with reference to their organic contents. The construction of railways in England (as told in another place) coincided with the initial efforts of the early geologists, and railway cuttings exposed to view natural sections of i GEOLOGY, 19 strata heretofore concealed. So the leaves ol' the book were opened, and Geology took its place among the inductive sciences. What was then styled the Cataclysmal theory was first in vogue — namely, the action of violent disturbances by great forces of Nature since gone to repose. It was seen that a lapse of time, even on those convulsive hypotheses, must be given for the natural history of the earth not reconcileable with the generally received account of creation in the Book of Genesis. This disclosure gave a momentary shock to those who adhered to the verbal inspiration of the Bible ; but among the lead- ing geologists were Scripture teachers and preachers (Sedgwick, Buckland, and others), who calmed the fears of the sectaries, and carried a conviction that there need be no antagonism between Geology and Revelation. Geologists consulted the testimony of the rocks as to the genera and species of their organic contents — * worlds of life created and worlds of life destroyed' — and a gradual suc- cession of types of life was found, in the ascending order, from lower to higher Ibrnis. The Cataclysmal theory of rock formations is c 2 20 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOiV. iliij now almost universally displaced by what is antithetically styled the ' Uniformitarian theory,' suggested by Sir Charles LyelL All the changes in the earth's crust can be reconciled to physical causes which are still in slow but ceaseless operation. This doctrine, as a matter of course, puts the age of our planet still farther back, without affecting the Mosaic record. Professor Huxley has calculated (what may be hypothciically correct) that, assuming Sir Wm. Thomson's and Dr. Croll's data of the life of the earth at 100,000,000 years, the stratified rocks have been deposited at the rate of y^roth part of an inch per annum. A striking feature in geology is recognised in the agency of Glaciers. Distinct periods of glacial action are revealed in drift formations and striated rocks. Medial moraines, and the transport of erratic blocks, twenty to fifty miles from the parent rock — attributed by the early geologists to diluvial action — are now referred with confidence to glaciers and floating icebergs, complete confirmation being given to land ice and floating ice still in action in Switzerland, Greenland, and the Himalayas. The oscillations of temperature, GEOLOGY. 21 r annum. producing ice masses in our latitude, are to be accounted for by the excentricity of the earth's orbit. These intermitting glacial periods were so many episodes in the great epochs of the earth's history. Evidence seems to be still wanting as to whether man had any place on the earth at the occurrence of the last glacial epoch. The Geological (Ordnance) Survey of Eng land and Wales (now completed) originated with the British Association. It has lately suggested a still bolder project. A Committee has been appointed, with a grant of money, to prepare an International Geological Map of Europe, Happy suggestion, to have a Map of the whole of Europe, geologically coloured ! 22 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. BIOLOGY. iilll The sciences now comprehended under the general title Biology consist of Zoology, Botany, Physiology, and Anthropology. If Biology embraces all that is included in the ' science of life and living benefits,' it has regard both to the structure, physiology, and geographical distribution of plants, animals, and man himself. What has excited most interest in recent years in this branch of enquiry is the theory promulgated by Charles DarwiUf called ' Evolution,' which has become a household word. The main doctrines of Evolution, built up by Darwin on facts and wonderfully minute researches, are accepted ])y every philosophical naturalist, with scarcely an exception. The inorganic world is inter- preted, by this theory, to be a sequence of '; vents proceeding in a direct line from ."cUterior to posterior causation — in plain mnguage, * one event is the son of another.' BIOLOGY, n The types of life in the organic world are also proclaimed to be — not special creations — but the descendants of pre-existing forms, pro- ceeding by * homogenesis.' Palseontolog}' is cited as confirming these views, and the ter- restrial flora contributes like evidence — the lower forms of plant life being recognised as the progenitors of higher types ; the cryptogams and flowerless plants preceding, if not also producing, the dicotyledons flowei'- ing plants. Anthropology, * the Science of Man,' l)e- longs to this century, if not to the present gene- ration, if Blumenbacliy as has been affirmed, iirst started the investigation. Prehistoric man has engaged much attention, and the enquiry has been rewarded with many dis- closures of the highest interest. Cave-dwell- ings and lake-dwellings have been brought to light, with relics of man and animals so inter- mingled as to tell the plainest story of an early race of mankind coeval with several extinct nnirnals. Among other relics dis- covered in the caves were implements and weapons which testify to the first steps in civilisation, and the first rude efforts in cul- It 1 1 :. T//F. BRITISH ASSOCIATION. ture.' The steps of progress are shown in stone, bronze, and iron, in past Hfe, as decisive as so many pages of chronological history. At and after the dawn of history, the anthro- pologist grapples with distinct * phenomena of culture,' beginning with barbarous and semi- barbarous tribes. Civilisation is seen to be developed l)y gradual steps of progress. Savagery (* slow in the beginning,' says (Hl>bon) gives place, at length, to tenderness. Disjunctive tribes cohere into communities. Disorder shapes itself into order. Single efforts advance to division of lal)0ur. Crass ignorance to useful knowledge. Peoples be- come Nations. Nations institute Govern- ments, and so cap the climax of the body politic. This sequence of steps in social pro- gression has ])een worked out, and exhibited in all its pliases, by the archaeologist, the geo- logist, the ethnologist, the historian, &c., and the result of their conjoint labours constitutes tlie history of human life on the globe. ' Among the relics at Zurich of prehistoric man, from the lake-dwellings in Switzerland, is a sample of wheat (c illel dummy wheat), the same as that cultivated by the ancient Egyptians. This looks like a point of contact between the prehistoric and primteval history. ANTHROPOLOGY, 35 A series of interesting, not to say fascinat- ing Returns, in this department, was con- tained, at last year's meeting, in a Report of the Anthropometric Committee — namely, the physical characteristics of the population of Great Britain. The general conclusion of the enquiry is that the descendants of those Northern nations of great stature who invaded the British Isles retain for the most part the bulk of the invaders. On the other hand, the Aborigines of Britain, who were of smaller stature, bequeathed their personal peculiarity to their descendants. Further than these racial elements, a comparison is furnished of the average stature, weight, and strength of adult males and females in England ; and the stature, weight, and strength of adult males in the several divisions in the United Kingdom. I place the figures in a foot-note.^ The tallest and strongest examples are found ' Adult males average stature 67'30 in., females G2-(j5 in. ; difference 4-71 in. Weight of males 155 lbs., of females 122-8 lbs. ; difference 32-2 lbs. Difference in strength is still greater, 35 lbs. relatively, females being only about half as strong as males. With regard to the maturity of growth in height, the conclusion arrived at is that males attain to the maturity of growth at 23 years of age, and females attain their utmost growth at 20. 26 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. % where they might be sought, in the hilly regions, answering partly to climatic influ- ences, and partly to ancestral inheritance. In an ethnological point of view, complexions in different localities tell the same tale ; the varied features being due, as in weight and bulk, to racial origin. In this way ethnological researches tend to illustrate and confirm topo- graphical history. It will greatly increase the interest of this subject in future if the newly elected members of the Association, resident on the North American continent, would investigate the physical calibre of the population of Canada and the United States, and compare the re- sults with those of the Old World. We should then see what influence, if any, transmigration has had on the physique of the Anglo-Saxon race. GEOGRAPHY. 27 GEOGRAPHY. Practical Geography has been greatly ad- vanced by the activity and enterprise of the age. Both the Arctic and Antarctic Poles have been nearly reached by adventurous explorers, * where winter barricades the realms of frost.' It was at the instance of this Association that Government sent out the expedition to the Antarctic Continent under Sir James Eoss, with Dr. Hooker as scientific observer. All the great mountain ranges in the four quarters of the globe, and all the great rivers, from their deltas up to their springs, have been described and delineated, till it would seem that there is scarcely any- thing more to discover, and the geographer is in the position of Alexander, sighing for more worlds to conquer. The several expeditions into Equatorial Africa have excited continued interest. The source of the Nile has been won, and its stream traced for 2,000 miles. The two great ^ THE HRITrSH ASSOCI.l T^/CW. Nyanza reservoirs that feed it, named after the Prince Consort and our British Queen (Alhert and Victoria), will for all future time identify the discovery with this age and this rei^n. The Congo and its waterways have also lately heen hrought on the canvas, and made familiar almost as the Thames is to a Londoner and the St. Lawrence to a Canadian. These triumphs of discovery, hy Livingstone, Speke, Baker, Gordon, and Stanley, bid fair to he crowned ere long by commercial relations, when the lands of Central Africa shall interchange products with all the marts of Europe and America. Palestine, ' the framework of the canonical Scriptures,' has engaged the labours of several exploring parties, elucidating two branches of knowledge — Archaeology and Topography. Captain Conder asserts that they have identi- fied eight-tenths of the ancient Bii.h'cal sites of -Eastern Palestine, wdiilst in Yv^ef-tern Pales- line exploitation has been even more successful. The sites and scenes of Jewish history, as recorded in the Old Testament, the footprints of Christ and His disciples, as related in th(3 New Testament, have been traced and dt- GEOGRAPHY, 29 liiicatod, witli these results — namely, a verifi- cation of the sacred Scriptures, and an added stimulus to the perusal of the Gospel story. The Colonial possessions of Great Britain, now coni})rt'lu'nded in ' Greater ] Britain,' have received prominent illustration in their growth within this era. Take one example, perhaps the most striking in civil history. Australia was a * dark continent ' at the in- auguration of this Association and was deemed lit only as a place of punishment for con- victed felons. It is now, hy immigration and a line climate, a wealthy and formidable nation of Anglo-Saxons. It has a population of nearly 4,000,000. The value of the trade between the mother- country and Australasia amounts to 45,000,000/. sterling, and the total imports and exports to 115,000,000/.* The several Colonies are now passing into a Con- federate State on the lines of the Dominion of Canada. Homer's place in topographical history has been sought and identified by the inde- fatigable labours of Dr. Schliemann. Lastly, a great step in geography was ' Sir H. Parkes, ex-President of New South Wales. i 30 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOI\r. i;. i i projected by an International Commission which assembled last October in Rome — namely, that there shall be an initial meridian for both longitudes and times of day, and Greenwich is fixed upon for the standard. Henceforth, therefore, there will be one ruling minute of time, in every civilized State on the globe — an incalculable advantage to science, to navigation, and to commerce. K 1 I I METEOROLOGY. 31 METEOi^OLOGY. One of the earliest recommendations of tlie Association at its first Congress was * that systematic direction he given to the study of meteorology.' At that time it was said hy Professor Forhes that meteorological instru- ments were treated like toys. Dr. Dalton had, a few years previously, in a puhlication entitled * Meteorological Observations,' pro- mulgated his theory of the fall of rain— that rain occurs by aqueous vapour in fields of air being acted upon by pressure and changes of temperature. Dalton had registered the rain- fall in Kendal, in Manchester, and on Hel- vellyn ; but he had few, if any, disciples until they arose from the ranks of the British Asso- ciation. If meteorology be rightly described as ' a science of detail,' it is because the agents which produce its phenomena are so numerous, and the observations to understand tlie phenomena require to be so many and so widely placed. 32 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. The Association united terrestrial magnet- ism with meteorology in 1838. It afterwards called the attention of the British Government and that of several foreign Governments to the necessity of mutually established stations of observations. These suggestions were favourably received and responded to by Eussia, Austria, Prussia, Belgium, and our own Government ; co-operation was thus secured in these States, and so many Observatories put into intercommunication. Mr. Glaisher essentially promoted investi- gations in this science by his balloon ascents into the upper regions of the atmosphere of the earth, and his original observations on rain-clouds and fields of sno\y. The discovery of the rotatory or revolving course of storms belongs to this era ; so also does the invention of the anemometer, which tells the force and speed of the winds. This instrument measures and registers the force, the velocity, and the direction of the winds ; all-important, therefore, is its instrumentality. The establishment of a network of stations of observations at New York, Montreal, Nova Scotia, the West Indies, along the coasts of the METEOROLOGY. 33 lagnet- rwards •nment mts to tations were to by lur own secured ies put investi- ascents [here of ons on olving so also which This force, rinds ; ;alitv. i. ons of Nova of the Atlantic, Newfoundland, &c., in communica- tion by telepjraph with stations planted at different places and different altitudes in Europe, have enabled forecasts of storms, es- pecially those coming towards the British Isles with south-west winds, to be made with almost unerring accuracy. This combination, indeed, converts the forecasts of weather in England into a gratuitous insurance of life and pro- perty. We have been taught, in this enquiry, to what degree the temperature of our climate is ameliorated by the heated waters of the Gulf Stream. Dr. Lloyd found the mean temperature of the sea off the west coast of Ireland 4° higher than that of the land. Dr. Dalton constructed, with his own hands, one of the first rude rain-gauges. Now the perfected instrument for ascertaining the fall of rain is employed by voluntary observers in every district of Great Britain. The mean fall of rain in the United Kingdom is within a fraction, under or over, of 35 inches. There has recently been established on Ben Nevis, 4,400 feet above the level of the sea, a permanent magnetic and meteorological 34 THE nRITISH ASSOCIATION. station, in the very track of the Atlantic storms. This Association made a grant of money in 1882 to promote observations on ]5en Nevis. •■ [ r MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 35 MECHANICAL SCIENCE. It was not till 1837 that the Mechanical Section was established, since which it has attracted contributions from all the most dis- tinguished engineers and mechanicians of the age. The Czar, VcUr the Great (a voluntary artizan in England at the time), enquired, at the workshop of Watt, in Birmingham, what was made there ? The answer was Power ! That one word ' Power ' embodies and charac- terises the era under review. The consumma- tion so devoutly wislied by Archimedes has been virtually realised. The properties and powers of iron and steel have been more than quad- rupled. Piobert Stephenson threw a Tubular Bridge of iron, two hundred feet high, across the Menai Straits, in 1850, as if it had been w, hand ball. Nasmyth produced a steam hammer which can fall with a force of ninety tons t)r crack a nut at the pleasure of the manipulator. Hand labour has been superseded to an incal- culable extent by the application of mechanical X) ^ 36 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. processes, to the increase and economy of pro- duction. In 1838, the first steam vessel achieved the voyage of the Atlantic at nine knots an hour, with the utmost pressure of steam of 20 lb. to the inch. Since then, speed lias risen to twenty knots an hour, and the pressure of steam to 75 lb. an inch, with a saving of more than two-thirds the consump- tion of coal. Then, again, the progress of mechanical a])piiances may be exemplified by the history o' tl:= Submarine Telegraph. A steam vessel of ^,G00 horse-power, with special provisions for die work, carried a cable 2,300 miles long, depositing it on the floor of the Atlantic ; a breach of continuity occurred in the conducting wires — the fracture was detec- ted, the cable w^as fished up from a depth of 2,000 fathoms, and successfully relaid. Every civilised State in the four quarters of the globe is now in intercommunication ])y means of the telegraph. The establishment of railways synchronised with the birth of this Association, the first passenger line being opened in 1830. The first Bill seeking legislative powers was de- feated because the scheme was declared to be xMECIIANICAL SCIENCE. 11 I very ^lobe ^fthe lised first The de- |o be utoi)ian. George Stephenson was called a wild enthusiast when, in pleading for the pre- amble of the Bill, he declared his belief that railway trains would be made to travel at thf rate of twelve miles an hour ! To tell now of the universal adoption of the railway would be surplusage.' The capital now employed bene- ficially in the railways in the United Kingdom is 700,000,000/. sterling. With respect to the personal safety in railway travelling, a calcula- tion, based on experience, was made by Sir John Hawdvshaw, that a person may travel 100,000 miles every year for forty years, and the chances are in his favour without en- countering an accident. In Europe, railway travelling has reached this stage, that you can pass from London to Constantinople within ninety hours. On the continent of America there will be, in a short time, no fewer than ten trans- continental railways across the Dominion and the States, binding together the Atlantic ' The most rapid, perhaps too rapid, growth of railways has taken place in the United States. Between 1810 and 1813 the railway mileage grew from 1,000 miles to 150,000 miles, an evidence of progress that has no parallel in history. 3« THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. M >),. and Pacific Oceans, by forty iron rods, 3,000 miles long. IMechanisra connected with the Press has progressed equally with its application to other industrial arts. Formerly a hand printing press could barely produce 250 moderately sized sheets an hour. Now the machine called the Walter Printing Press, in the Times Office, throws off 12,500 copies of that large paper in an hour, folding them neatly as it throws them off. But the system of furnishing Parliamentary reports by the Times shows, ])erhaps, the most advanced practical adapta- tion of mechanical appliances in connection with the telephone. The reporter in the House of Commons, sitting within ear-shot of the speakers, has an intelligent lad by his side, to whom he pushes his short-hand slips ; that lad forwards the sentences through the tele- phone to the ears of another lad who is seated at a composing machine in Printing House Square, the latter of whom, without any manu- script copy, sets up the type at the rate of 230 lines of a column per hour. A hand compositor can do about forty lines per hour. Thus, and thus alone, debates up to between two and MECHANICAL SCIENCE, 39 three o'clock in the morning are daily de- Hjiatthed to all parts of the kingdom by the live- o'clock express trains. A feature of the age is the recognised union of the mechanical arts with the princi- ples of science. The working mechanic has now given to him, chiefly by recently intro- duced extra-university teaching, an elementary knowledge of the laws that govern the material on which he is operating. Professor Stuart, of Cambridge (for whom a special chair was created), is daily exemplifying this important feature in applied mechanics. Thus theory and practice, science and art are brought into mutual dependence and reciprocal action. 40 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. f'^ I The section devoted to the j)ursuit of the many branches of enquiry under the title of ' Economic Science ' had no place in the Association in its early days. ' Statistics ' opens out a broad Held, embracing all facts within the range of individual life and the life of the nation. No wonder, then, that it was no sooner introduced than it attracted numer- ous devotees, and grew to large dimensions. The supply of food, the consumption of food ; the accumulation of wealth, and the relations of wealth to other commodities ; Boards of Health, bills of mortality, Board schools, poor laws, industrial dwellings, pollution of rivers, sanitary provisions, domestic architecture, imports and exports, joint-stock companies, crime, judicial punishment, coinage, currency, savings banks, smoke prevention, water supply, sociology, and a multitude of other subjects, have occupied the attention of mem- bers in this section. It may suffice to notice Si' i ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS. 41 here only the figures which tell the growth of the United Kingdom in population and wealth, and the growth of. intelligence by the increase of postal communication. Pojjuldtioti and Wealth. — Since the early part of the century the population of Great Britain has increased from sixteen millions to more than thirty-five millions ; and the national income has in the same time increased from 250,000,000/. to more than 1,200,000,000/. sterling — four-fold and upwards.* In the last fifty years, the Imperial taxa- tion averaged 40s. 10^/. per head of the whole population. [In France it is 51s. Gd.] Se- parating these taxes into classes, of the 40s. 10(/. averar/c, the upper and middle classes pay 6Qs. per head, and the lower classes 26s. per head. The paupers who pay no taxes exceed 1,000,000 persons. Merchant Shiiiping . ~T\\q progressive in- crease in British merchant shipping is shown in few figures. In 1840 the tonnage of British ships was 0,490,485 tons. In 1883 the tonnage of British ships had risen to 47,039,079 ! ' Board of Trade Returns. 42 THE BRirrsn association. w % li--' Poafftl Commmn cation, — The most powerful stimiiliint ever applied, in civil society, to the si)rea(l of education, and the cultivation of family and social intercourse, was the estah- lishment of the Penny Postage in 18 10. Letters now passing through the Post OHice 1,:300,000,000 Post Cards „ „ . 144,000,000 Book Packets and Circulars „ . 300,000,000 Newspapers „ „ . 150,000.000 Altogether .... 1,804,000,000 Telegraph messages through the Post Office 40,000,000 The amount of deposits in the Post Office Savinpjs Bank is nearly 20,000,000/., and the return shows that there is one depositor for every ten of the population ; 4,069 letters pass through the Post Offices in England and "Wales to every 100 of the population. In other words, every person contributes forty letters in a year on the average. National Income. — The income of the United Kingdom in 1881 was 1,280,000,000/. The Revenue of the United Kingdom in 1883 was 89,004,456/. The Imports and Exports of the United Kingdom, added together, amount to 719,680,322/. ii^' ;!at ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATISTICS, 43 The practical tlovelopment of economic science is seen and felt by all nations in the universal interchange of commodities which .jntribnte to the comfort and convenience of man. The native products of every zone, and the manufactured products of every race and nation, are distributed lavishly, and enjoyed alike by all, producer and consumer, however distant from each other. In no other resj^ect can social progress be so accurately measured and illustrated. Tariffs cannot hinder the distribution or the use of supplies which civili- tion, ever on the increase, demands. And the facilities which have produced this uni- versal diffusion and universal interchange of the necessaries of life must rank among the highest gifts of science. in 44 THE BRITISH ASSOCIA TION. '■%■■ m. m * • ft m if,'' ■' ISi' V SUBJECTS NOT CLASSIFIED. Several objects of enquiry and of great general interest have from time to time engaged the attention of the Association, but which, although duly recorded in the Trans- actions, are obliged to be placed outside the technical designations of the sections ; such, for example, are observations on the migra- tions of birds. A Committee of Members versed in Natural History has been engaged, since 1882, in collecting facts and observations, mainly at lighthouses and light-ships, on the periodical migration of birds to and from the British Islands. The Committee has succeeded in accumulating a large number of facts which could never, perhaps, have been obtained by other ir vumentality, but they nevertheless hesitate at present, to make any general deductions on the uniformity of migrant habits, and ask for time to collect still more data. This much is already made clear, that the highways or lines of migration m SUBJECTS NOT CL^iSSIFIED. 45 adopted by birds are from W. and N.W. to E. and S.E. in the Spring; and from N.E. and E. to W. and N.W. in the Autumn. The number of migrants and their times of flitt- ing are governed, in degree, by the prevalence of high winds, and variations of temperatm'e, as might naturally be expected. It may be added that there are no less than 228 light- houses and light-ships around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland : — ' Northwards towards the cool spring weather, Flocks of migi'ants fled together, On to England o'er the sea Where all folks alike are free ; But, in autumn, south they go Past the Straits, and Atlas' snow, Over desert, over mountain. To the palms beside tlie fountain.' ^ Charles Kingsley 46 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. I. •■* '■".i\ . ■ ■i' ■ St* it NUMBER OF MEMBEES AND FINANCES. A VERY few figures will suffice to show the progress of the Association in its augmenta tion of numbers, and the steady increase of its finances. In the first year of its existence the number of members was 353. We are unable to show the growth of members year by year, because for four years no record was made. So, lacking these, and dividing the aggregate of forty-eight years to get an average, there is exhibited an increase of members from 353 in the first year to an average in the fol- lowing years of 1781. With regard to finances, the year 1848 was the first time that the amount received at a congress was recorded. In that year 707^. was received. In the thirty-five years fol- lowing— from 1848 to 1883 — the yearly receipts increased from 707/. to an average of 2,060/. These funds proceed from life sub- scriptions and annual subscriptions ; and the money has been disbursed in grants to special !!•;■'< NUMBERS AND FINANCES. 47 committees for experiments and reports on different branches of science, for the construe- tion of instruments, &c. &c. In a few in- stances only has the National Exchequer been appealed to for aid, and then only for national objects. Thus the voluntary and independent character of the Association has been strictly maintained, whilst all the labours of its members have been gratuitously bestowed. So, to quote an eulogium of the late Prince Consort, the Association has *made its way in the world by its own eiforts.' 48 77/^ BRITISH ASSOCIATION. L i ■t 1 't THE WORKERS. Subjoined is a list of those members who rank most conspicuously in the proceedings of the Association ; and it is not too much to assume that there never before was presented in one sheet such a conjunction of great intellects engaged in a common object. There have been many other contributors to sectional subjects besides these in the life of the Asso- ciation ; but the list contains the names of those in the front rank who most distinguished themselves, and are themselves most distin- guished. The names of foreigners are in italics. Presidents of Meetings. 1)1 chronological order. Earl Fitz William, Dr. Buckland, Professor Sedgwick, Sir T. Brisbane, Dr. Provost Lloyd, Marquess Lansdowne, Earl Burlington, Duke of Northumberland, Vernon Harcourt, Marquess Breadalbane, Dr. Whewell, Lord F. Egerton, Earl Rosse, Dr. Peacock, Sir J. Herschel, Sir R. Murcliison, Sir Harry Inglis, Marquess THE WORKERS. 49 Northampton, Dr. riobinson, Sir D. Brewster, G. B. Airy, Colonel Sabine, Professor Hopkins, Earl Harrowby, Duke of Argyll, Dr. Daubeny, Dr. Humplu'ey Lloyd, Professor Owen, H. E. IL Prince Consort, Lord Wrottesley, Sir W. Fair- bairn, Professor Willis, Sir W. Armstrong, Sir Charles Lyell, John Phillips, W. B. Grove, Dr. Hooker, Professor Stokes, Professor Huxley, Sir William Thomson, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Professor Williamson, Professor Tyndall, Sir J. Hawkshaw, Professor J. Andrewes, Professor A. Thomson, Dr. Spottiswoode, Professor Allman, Professor Bamsay, Sir John Lubbock, Dr. Sie- mens, Professor Cayley, Pkofessoh Lokd Bay- Lf^iGH (present President). Coadjutors. Dr. Dalton, Sir Philip Egerton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir C. Lemon, Bishop Wilber- force, Be la B^che, Charles Darwin, Professor Faraday, Professor J. D. Forbes, Professor Wheat- stone, Sir Benjamin Heywood, Professor J. C. Adams, Biglit Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Sir Joseph Whitworth, Joseph Prestwich, Professor Odling, Dr. Bobinson, Professor Powell, W. S. Harris, Professor M'CuUoch, W. De la Bue, Professor T. Graham, Dr. Lyon Playfair, Professor W. A. Miller, Dr. l^ence Jones, Dr. W. Herapath, Dr. Golding Bird, Dr. Gladstone, Professor Frank- land, Dr. Davy, Professor Liveing, Dr. A. Cwm ]>rown, W'. H. Perkin, Dr. Armstrong, Dr. Eaton, J:: 1 ijrl ' ."o THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. .-■f m \ li'l J I* '^ ill m Vrofessor Von Middendorff, Dr. Mantell, Agassiz, Le Verrier, Hodgkinson, Lord Brougliam, La- voisier, Dr. Scoresby, William Yarrell, Encke, Bessel, Bache, Richard E. Griffith, G. B. Green- ough, H. E. Strickland, E. W. Biimey, II. Hutton, H. War burton, M.P., Leonard Horner, W^illiam Hopkins, Edward Forbes, Lord Talbot de Malahide, J. Beete Jukes, Warrington W. 8myth, Professor Nicol, Professor Harkness, H. C. Sorby, Gilbert Saunders, T. Rupert Jones, Thomas Sopwith, Professor Hawkins, Godwin Austen, Professor Pengelly, Dr. John Evans, R. Etheridge, Henry Woodward, W. Topley, Professor Babington, E. Forbes, Dr. Lankester, Professor Henslow, Sir John Richardson, T. V. Wollaston, William Spence, Professor Balfour, Dr. Fleming, Thomas Bell, Sir W. Jardine, Dr. Russell, Dr. J. Abercrombie, Dr. T. Alcock, Pro- fessor Flower, C. Spence Bate, Professor Rollas- ton, Professor Wyville Thomson, Colonel Lane Fox, P. L. Slater, J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F. Gallon, E. B. Tylor, Dr. Pye Smith, Dr. J. S. Cobbold, Sebastian Evans, E. R. Alston, Hyde Clarke, Professor McNab, W. Bloxam, Professor Gamgee, Dr. Roget, Professor Ogle, Sir Benjamin Brodie, Sir James Paget, Dr. R. S. Sargent, Jamt^ Glaisher, Arago, Dr. Pritcliard, Colonel Chesney, Sir H. C. Rawhnson, Sir James Clerk Ross, Sir Samuel Baker, Dr. Norton Shaw, Pro- fessor Geddes, Thomas Wright, C. R. Markham, Llebig, Sir Bartle Frere, Sir Rutherford Alcock, THE WORKERS. 51 Professor Babbage, Colonel Sykes, W. R. Gre^', J. W. Barry, Dr. W. Cooke Taylor, G. K. Porter, Travers Twiss, Nassau W. Senior, Edwin Cbadwick, William Tite, Dr. W. Farr, W. Stanley Jevons, Professor H. Fawcett, G. Sliaw liefevre, Professor Cairns, Professor Leone Levi, (frant Duff, Sclater Booth, Professor Willis, Sir J. Macneill, Robert Stephenson, J. Scott Russell, Sir GeorfT^e Rennie, J. F. Bateman, G. Baden Powell, Rev. W. T. Kingsley, Sir W^ G. Arm- strong, Thomas Hawksley, G. P. Bidder, W. IL Barlow, H. M. Brunei, J. N. Shoolbred, Sir M. J. Brunei, Dr. Falconer, Hugh E. Strickland, Rev. Dr. Livingstone, Captain Sherard Osborne, Professor W. A. Miller, Archibald Geikie, E. Vk Tylor, Professor Tait, Professor Dewar, Professor Boyd Dawkins, W. E. Ayrton, G. H. Darwin, rrofessor Baumhauer, R. Etheridge, Professor J. Prestwich, Sir R. Temple, Captain Douglas Galton, F. Darwin, J. Norman Lockyer, Dr. IL C. Sorby, C. E. cle BancCy W. Topley, R. J. Ussher, Dr. Beddoe, J. Park Harrison, Professor Newton, Percy Shiden, Sir John Bowring, Mrs, Fawcett, Elie de Beaumont, Dr. Burdon Sander- son, Dr. Gunther, P. L. Sclater, A. T. Atchison, Sir Joseph Whitworth, H. Trueman Wood, J)r. A. Muirhead, Professor Sylvester, Pvofessoi Schuster, Professor F. C- Foster, Captain Abney, Dr. Marshall Watts, H. B. Dixon, Pro- fcssor Dewar, W. D. Chandler Roberts, W. J. Sollas, Rev. H. W. Crosskey, Dr. G, JIartlaiib, f' ft) s« THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOH. i llev. Ca,non Tristram, Miss Lydia E. Becker, Professor Iloscoe, H. Brabrook, W. H. Barlow, Professor W. A. Tilden, ProfeBSor V. Ball, General Pitt-Piivers, Professor H. N. Moseley, Pyqfessor J. W. Mallet, Professor H. Alley ne Nicholson, Professor Griffith, H. M. Stanley, Henry ^^'oodward, Bev. W. Greenwell, C. Boberts, Pi'ofessor Jevons, Professor Dewar, Professor H. G. Seeley, James Spencer, Alfred W. Bennett, Miss A. W. Buckland, Professor J. McK» Hughes, F. Galton, H. Woodward, W. B. Birt, ]). T. Ansted, James Abernethy, Dr. Guntlier, (1. J. Symons, Professor P. S> Tait, J. T. Bottomley, C. M. Stuart, Dr. W. Huggins, Professor Foxwell, Professor Uoemer, J. W. Salter, BiDiscn, General Sir T. Brisbane, Dr, Chalmers, Peter Clare, Bev. W. D. Conybeare, lilarl Ellesmere, Professor E. Forbes, G. B. Greenough, Sir William Hamilton, Professor Henslow, Leonard Horner, Professor Jameson, Sir Charles Lemon, Professor MacCullagh, Vis- count Palmerston, Sir Bobert Peel, Sir John Bennie, F'arl Bosse, H. Warburton, Captain Sir John Boss, Ehrcnherg, A. von Humholdt, Pro- fessor II. D. Bogcrs, Professor Johnston, Francis Bennoch, Professor Henrici, Erlchsan, Bessel, Luke Howard, Quetclct, Snow Harris, Yarrell, Faraday, Professor NUlson, Charles Buonaparte, 2Iaury, Dr. Lardner, Professor ScJionbciii, Francis P)ailey, Professor De IMorgan, Piazzl Smyth, Dr. Beust, Bobert Chambers, M^cnicr Siemens, J. P. THE WORKERS. 53 Gassiot, Dr. Davy, Bu GJiaillu, Professor Diick- inaii, Lord Stanley, Hugh Miller, Captain Fitzroy, Sir E. Iklcher, C. Roach Smith, Thomas Wright, C. h. Hue, Charles Simeon, Dnfrenoij, James Nasmyth, Voclcker, J. Craufurd, Professor Foster, Sir William Logan, Professor Lawson, Sir Staf- ford Nortlicote, E. Whymper, J. E. H. Gordon, Vernon Harcourt, Professor Piedfern, Sir W. K. \\'ilde, P. Martin Duncan, Dr. Janssoi, Pro- fessor Jellett, Peofessok Bonney (present Secretary). it!" m I'm S4 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATIOX MORAL INFLUENCES. it It is not contended that the British Associa- tion has heen the originator of all those stops of mental, material, and social progress that have characterised the half-century. But it has originated many, and has fostered and encouraged still more. If it has not opened, it has at least enlarged the openings of, the fountains of knowledge. It has ' cleared the ways, and removed the obstacles from the paths of science.' * And beyond these material influences, it has had beneficial moral effects on its members that cannot be over-valued. Let us tell this in the eloquent language of Sir John Herschel, which will heighten the sentiment. He says, ' Let selfish interests divide the worldly ; let jealousies torment the envious ; we breathe a purer Empyrean. The common pursuit of truth is of itself a brotherhood. In these meetings we have a source of delight which draws us together, ' Professor John Phillips. MORAL INFLUEAXES. 55 and inspires us with a sense of unity. That astronomers should congregate to talk of stars and planets ; chemists, of atoms ; geologists, of strata, is natural enough : but what is there, equally pervading all, which causes their hearts to burn within them for mutual un- bosoming ? Surely the answer of each and all, the chemist, the astronomer, the physiolo- gist, the electrician, the biologist, the geolo- gist, all with one accord, and each in the language of his own science, would answer, not. only the wonderful works of God, and the delight their disclosure affords, but the privi- lege he feels to have aided in the disclosure. We are further led to look onward through the vista of time with chastened assurance that science has still other and nobler work to do than any she has yet attempted,' I,!* I APPENDIX. -•o*- It may naturally be supposed— what experience has shown — that the nieethigs of the British Association, itinerating yearly, exhibit various degrees of general interest according to time, place, and existing circumstances. In some in- stances, the Congress has been distinguished by the presence of philosophers of world-wide faniL*, as when Dalton^ the great English chemist, and Arayoy the renowned French savant, gave eclat to the Congress at Manchester in 1842 ; and again at Brighton, in 1872, when H. M. Stanley was an- nounced as a speaker, to give his startling account of his first meeting in Africa with the long- lost Livinijstone. The largest hall in Brighton was crammed to the doors with an array of ladies and gentlemen such as had not there been seen before or since. Stanley was placed on a platform in company with Dr. W. B. Carpenter, the President, an the rest of the Presidents and Secretaries of sections, and just as the proceedings were about to begin, an exciting hush and murmur stirred the air as he ex-Emperor of the French, the Empress Eugenie and the young Prince Imperial 58 THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. took seats immediately mider the platform. Stanley, with great ease and fluency, described his then perilous journey from Zanzibar across the African desert, through swamp and jungle and mountain ranges, until he reached an eminence which overlooked Ujiji, where, to his astonishment, there came up to him a white man, who accosted him in English, with ' Good morning.' Enquiring of Stanley what was his enterprise, the answer was, ' I am in search of Dr. Livingstone.' ' Oh ! if that is it, go with me down to yonder huts, and I will show you Dr. Livingstone.' ' So we two went down, and approaching a hamlet of huts, by a scattered flock of ebony-coloured women and children, 1 came upon an aged white man with lean and slippered pantaloon and long grey beard, when the following dialogue took place between us. Lifting my uncouth bonnet, I asked, " Is this Dr. Livingstone 9 " "I am indeed Livingstone ; and who may you be ? " "I am Stanley, the adventurous agent of the ' New York Herald,' and my errand lias been to find you." *' Well, come into my bungalow, and let us have a chat. Tell me first, before you refer to New York affairs, what is the latest news from Europe." " Europe has been con- vulsed. Dynasties have been overthrown, and the map, in the centre of it, has been considerably altered. A fierce but sharp and decisive war has been waged between France and Germany, in which all the armies of France were licked into a cocked hat in one campaign. The Germans, after win- APPENDIX. 59 m- ly ning several battles, imprisoned 30,000 French soldiers in Metz, and encircled it with a girdle of steel ; then the Emperor of the French surrendered his sword without conditions to the King, now the Emperor of Germany, and Napoleon III. is at this moment a refugee in England ! " ' At these words the ex-Emperor started, and a thrilling sensation, like an electric shock, ran through tlie vast audience. It was a coup de theatre, and Stanley's manner of delivery left little doubt that the recital was intended for effect, and effected what was intended. Many grave doubts had previously to this been entertained of the reality of Stanley's adventures and his discovery of Livingstone ; but these doubts were entirely dis- sipated by the naive way in which he told his story. It is not too much to say that he wlio (as he himself said) had never seen a map of Africa till he was on his first journey towards tlie Equator, has now proved himself one of the main instruments in solving the great problem which Livingstone set for solution in physical geography. LONDON : PUINTKI) IIV SPOTTISWOODB AND ( O., NKW STIIKET S^iCAKB AND PAULIAMENT «THKKT