POPULAR MISCELLANY 



759 



of research and the material aid which are 

 necessitated by the rapid and ever-acceler- 

 ating advances of knowledge for which we 

 are indebted to them ; to secure the endow- 

 ment of new schools of science, the more 

 complete organization of older schools, and 

 liberal provision of apparatus and material 

 for every investigator. 



4. That we seek to improve our methods 

 of instruction in science, to introduce into 

 our educational systems a better scientific 

 curriculum and far more extended courses, 

 both of pure and of applied science, and to 

 make the position of a teacher of science, 

 viewed from the world's standpoint, a far 

 more desirable one than it has yet become. 



5. To make the organization and the 

 operation of our academies of science, and 

 of our societies for the advancement of sci- 

 ence, far more thoroughly effective. 



6. To endeavor to exhibit to both classes 

 the fact that there exists between the man 

 of science and the man of business a com- 

 munity of interests ; the fact that he who 

 accumulates wealth is largely indebted for 

 his success to him who is unselfishly reveal- 

 ing to him the laws by which wealth is in- 

 creased and business prosperity secured. 



Proposed Silk -School Farm. Certain 

 capitalists in Philadelphia have signified 

 their approval of plans of a silk-school, farm, 

 and village, proposed by Mr. Samuel Cham- 

 berlain, and a company is to be formed for 

 the purpose of putting the project into exe- 

 cution at an early day. In a communica- 

 tion to the Polytechnic Review, Mr. Cham- 

 berlain writes that the plans provide for 

 legal interest on the investment, indepen- 

 dently of the silk produced. They provide 

 for a return of the capital by means of im- 

 proved real estate, and for a profit beyond 

 legal interest by retaining intermediate sec- 

 tions of the land, which, it is expected, will 

 later be sold at a great advance, in conse- 

 quence of the improvements. They provide 

 growers of trees, silk-worm eggs, and silk, in 

 addition to those to be produced by the 

 school, namely, the renters of forty cottages, 

 each surrounded by an acre of mulberry- 

 trees. They provide cottage culturers, and 

 in a few years teachers of cottage culture, 

 who will show by precept and example how 

 silk may be raised in the midst of family 



duties. The danger of strikes is obviated 

 by the fact that the renter of a cottage may 

 in the end be an owner, and thus become 

 directly interested in the uninterrupted prog- 

 ress of the work. In the school young per- 

 sons will be trained to those habits of care, 

 patience, and watchful attention, which are 

 necessary for the successful raising and reel- 

 ing of silk. The work is light and easy, 

 and, when skill is acquired early, is highly 

 profitable. It is peculiarly suitable for the 

 deaf and dumb, whose misfortune cuts them 

 off from so many occupations. When one 

 such school shall have shown the way, like 

 establishments will arise in many places ; 

 and in this way it is hoped to help in turn- 

 ing back into the country the tide of popu- 

 lation now flowing into our cities. The fail- 

 ure to introduce silk-culture in 1840 was 

 chiefly due to want of perseverance. The 

 three years of actual trial were not enough 

 to carry it on to success. But a school, 

 farm, and village, whose continuance will be 

 maintained sixteen to twenty years, will se- 

 cure a permanent source of knowledge, ex- 

 ample, and instruction, from which the cult- 

 ure will extend year by year. 



Water for Domestic Uses. The question 

 of pure water-supply has been taken up 

 for discussion by the London Society of 

 Arts, and circulars have been sent out to 

 civil engineers, sanitary officers, and other 

 persons whose callings would appear to 

 make them familiar with the conditions of 

 the problem, inviting from them suggestions 

 and plans for insuring to the whole popula- 

 tion of England a sufficiency of pure water 

 for domestic uses. A " Congress," too, has 

 met in London, at which a number of pa- 

 pers, prepared by some of the most compe- 

 tent engineers and sanitarians, were read. 

 In one of these papers, written by Mr. 

 Samuel C. Homersham, the qualities of wa- 

 ter fit for domestic uses are stated as fol- 

 lows : 1. Such water should be wholesome, 

 free from animalcules or other organisms, 

 animal or vegetable, either living or dead, 

 and at no time or season of the year, or in 

 periods of epidemics, liable to propagate 

 disease or cause the death of those who 

 drink it. 2. It should be soft and pleasant 

 to use with soap both for washing the person 

 and clothes, for baths and other detergent 



