ON THE 1'lltXJllKSS OF SCIENCE. XIII 



only we may foretell with confidence, that the riddle of man's na- 

 ture will remain unsolved. There will be that in him yet which phys- 

 ical laws will fail to explain, that something, whatever it may be, 

 in himself and in the world, which science cannot fathom, and which 

 suggests the unknown possibilities of his origin and his destiny. 



Interesting Sanitary Memoranda. The following Sanitary facts 

 are worthy of note. When Mr. Edwin Chadwick, about twenty years 

 ago, raised in Great Britain the question of Sanitary reform, and 

 persisted in keeping it before the public until steps were taken to 

 carry out measures for drainage, sewerage, water supply and other 

 essential works, he asserted that by adoption of the proposed im- 

 provement, a diminution of one third in the number of deaths in a 

 town or a district might be confidently looked for. It seemed a bold 

 prediction, but it has been more than verified ; for in all the British 

 towns which have accepted and accomplished sanitary reforms, it is 

 found that the diminution in the number of deaths is one half. In 

 other words, instead of thirty deaths in every 1,000 of the population, 

 the number is now not more than fifteen, and in some instances even 

 less than fifteen. " Many," says the editor of Chambers^ Journal, 

 " will be able to identify for themselves towns in which such satisfac- 

 tory results have been obtained. There is no doubt about the 

 matter, for it is as clearly demonstrated by comparison of a drained 

 section of a town with the undrained part as by town with town. 

 Hence we see that if sanitary reform were carried out over the whole 

 kingdom, there would be a saving of one-half in the rate of mortality 

 to be added to the usual increase of population by births, which at 

 the next census in 1871 would tell with striking effect in the tables of 



o 



increase. With a gain so large as this, emigration need not be 

 dreaded, nor plague and pestilence apart, should fears be entertained 

 as to the sanitary amelioration of the country at large. Though un- 

 drained and ill-watered towns are still numerous, there is a growing 

 tendency towards improvement, which cannot fail to be recognized in 

 all future records of the population of the realm." 



Animal Mechanics. A curious and valuable contribution to science 

 has been recently made by Rev. S. Haughton of Dublin, in a paper de- 

 tailing certain experiments, on the mechanical force of the muscles, 

 their duration when in operation, and their value, the whole inves- 

 tigation, considering the vague nature of the subject, having evidently 

 been prosecuted with a most wonderful degree of skill and minute- 

 ness. Prof. Haughton lays down the two following principles or 

 rather postulates as he terms thus : 



1st. The amount of work done by a given muscle in a given time 



