562 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the April number of the Monthly, we were not 

 able to find any authentic portrait of either 

 of them, or to learn that any existed. The 

 publication of the sketch called out from Dr. 

 W. H. Mills, of Syracuse, N. Y., the informa- 

 tion that an engraved portrait of William 

 Bartram was in existence, and formed the 

 frontispiece to the second volume of the Cabi- 

 net of Natural History and American Rural 

 Sports, published in Philadelphia in 1832 by 

 J. & T. Dougherty. Through the kindness 

 of Dr. Mills we have been able to procure 

 this volume, and to have a copy made of this 

 picture. Concerning the authenticity of the 

 portrait, the statement is made in the Bio- 

 graphical Sketch of William Bartram, which 

 is the first article in the volume, that " the 

 accompanying portrait is a correct likeness 

 of Mr. Bartram, and the only engraved one 

 ever given to the American public." It will 

 be observed that the date of the publication 

 of this portrait was only nine years after Mr. 

 Bartram's death. 



The Schools of New York State. Ac- 

 cording to the Report of State Superintendent 

 Draper, while the number of children of 

 school age in the State of New York appeared 

 to be 22,823 less than in 1890, the number 

 of children in attendance on the public schools 

 (1,054,044) was greater by 11,884. Besides 

 these, the private schools reported an attend- 

 ance of 157,603, and the normal schools, 

 academies, colleges, etc., 69,392 pupils of 

 school age in 1891. Comparative tables of 

 attendance show a steady increase in cities 

 (270,926 to 513,066) since 1861, while the 

 attendance in towns has fallen from 601,928 

 to 540,978. The superintendent calls atten- 

 tion to the insufficiency of the laws for com- 

 pulsory attendance, and in view of crude 

 features in the laws of some other States, he 

 recommends the formation of a State Educa- 

 tional Commission, with sufficient powers to 

 consider the whole subject of the school laws 

 of the State. In view of the weakness of 

 some of the school districts, the superintend- 

 ent favors the consolidation of small and 

 weak districts when it can be brought about 

 without serious inconvenience to the children 

 of school age. It is not to be overlooked, how- 

 ever, that the school must be at a convenient 

 distance. In Massachusetts provision is 

 made for the transportation of children to 



distant schools, and profitless schools hare 

 been abolished, while the children are now 

 instructed for a longer term under teachers 

 of more experience and skill. The superin- 

 tendent recommends the township system of 

 school organization for consideration. An 

 increasing interest in Arbor Day is noticed. 

 The celebrations are usually marked by ap- 

 propriate literary exercises, with many in- 

 genious and elaborate programmes. Interest 

 in this work has been stimulated by the offer, 

 by Mr. William A. Wadsworth, of prizes for 

 the best-kept school-grounds. The vote upon 

 the question of a State flower has resulted in 

 a majority for the rose over the golden-rod. 

 The attempt to provide textbooks to be pub- 

 lished by the State has resulted disastrously 

 wherever it has been made. The superin- 

 tendent thinks that the result of such a pol- 

 icy would be bad, even if it were seemingly 

 successful. It would discourage authorship, 

 discontinue competition among makers, and 

 stop the constant improvement in the matter, 

 style, and character of the books which has 

 been marked in the past. 



Barrel-making. Few people, says Cham- 

 bers's Journal, though all are familiar with 

 the barrel, have probably been at pains to 

 consider the skill and ingenuity which have 

 succeeded in bringing to perfection an inven- 

 tion as scientific as beneficial all the world 

 over ; and probably fewer still are conversant 

 with the brain-power and time which have 

 been expended in attempts to produce machin- 

 ery for manufacturing them. Barrels were in 

 use as far back as the time of Pliny, who 

 says they were invented in the Alpine val- 

 leys. A cask is a double conoid that is, it 

 has its greatest diameter or its bulge or belly 

 in the center. The stave is curved length- 

 wise to form the bulge and crosswise to form 

 part of the circumference of the cask ; while 

 the edges must receive the exact bevel to fit 

 those on either side along their entire length. 

 Then the staves have to be " chimed " or 

 beveled at the ends, and furnished with a 

 "croze" or groove, into which to fit the 

 heads ; and hooping completes the manu- 

 facture of the cask. A new invention, by a 

 Mr. Oncken, is in full operation at Merxem, in 

 Germany, for turning out casks from one 

 piece of wood. In the process the stem of 

 a tree is cut into lengths corresponding to 



