zo POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



light is furnished by the municipality, but about two thirds of the 

 current has to be purchased. It is only right to state that all these 

 defects are being remedied at a large outlay of money, and the rates 

 are going up at a speed which may give cause for jealousy in certain 

 cities of the northern hemisphere. It is to be remembered that 

 Johannesburg is only eighteen years old and that for four of these years 

 it had to lie fallow, although it practically escaped damage. I must 

 pass over the many interesting features of the social conditions which 

 the society of the place has evolved. 



The scientific meetings of the association, begun at Cape Town, 

 ended with the stay in Johannesburg. Many of the papers naturally 

 dealt with problems and matters relating to South Africa; especially 

 was this the case in the chemical and engineering sections during the 

 latter half of the meeting. I shall not attempt to give any resume of 

 the work done; accounts will be found elsewhere. Professor Darwin's 

 presidential address on the evolution of matter was delivered in two 

 halves, one at Cape Town and the other at Johannesburg. It excited 

 great interest for its own sake and also as continuing the connection 

 between the name he bears and the subject which first gave it world- 

 wide fame. The many illustrated evening lectures on a great variety 

 of subjects were a special feature throughout the tour; some of them 

 had been prepared at the cost of much time and money, and, judging 

 by the attendance, were very fully appreciated by those who heard them. 

 The list included the following : ' W. J. Burchell's Discoveries/ by 

 Professor Poulton, and ' Surface Actions of Fluids/ by Professor 

 Vernon Boys, in Cape Town ; ' Mountains of the Old World/ by Mr. 

 Douglas Freshfield, and ' Marine Biology/ by Professor W. A. Herd- 

 man, at Durban ; ' Sleeping Sickness/ by Colonel D. Bruce, and ' The 

 Antarctic Begions/ by Mr. H. D. Ferrar, at Maritzburg ; ' Distribution 

 of Power/ by Professor Ayrton, and ' Steel as an Igneous Bock/ by 

 Professor J. 0. Arnold, at Johannesburg; 'Fly-borne Diseases, etc./ 

 by Mr. A. E. Shipley, at Pretoria ; ' The Milky Way and the Clouds of 

 Magellan/ by Mr. A. B. Hinks, at Bloemf ontein ; ' Diamonds/ by Sir 

 W. Crookes, and ' The Bearing of Engineering on Mining/ by Professor 

 J. B. Porter, at Kimberley ; ' Experimental Farming/ by Mr. A. D. 

 Hall, at Maf eking ; ' Khodesian Buins/ by Mr. Bandall Maclver, at 



Bulawayo. 



(To be continued.) 



