416 AFRICAN RESEARCHES. 



this union of the cultivators of science in each of its numerous depart- 

 ments, to co-operate in promoting- one common object, — the diffusion and 

 advancement of knowledge. It is in the highest degree gratifying to 

 contemplate the powers which, in so brief a space, this institution has ac- 

 quired. In the comparatively short period of eight years, it has appro- 

 priated many thousand pounds to the immediate purposes in which it 

 had its origin : whilst the locomotive principle involved in its constitu- 

 tion, by which each of our provincial towns becomes in its turn a centre 

 for diffusing the results consequent upon the researches of the previous 

 year, cannot fail to stir up in different parts of the kingdom, a spirit of 

 observation, and give an impulse to inquiry that must be attended with 

 the happiest consequences. 



There is one subject on which it may readily be supposed we feel a 

 more than ordinary interest, and which, on the ground of its being an 

 impediment to the progress of science, might, unless previous circum- 

 stances should render such a step unnecessary, fairly come under the con- 

 sideration of the meeting at Birmingham : we allude to the present rates 

 of postage. The proposed bill, if not rejected by the House of Peers, will 

 indeed be a boon to the editors of scientific journals, who, with perhaps 

 treble the amount of correspondence, have not one tenth the circulation 

 enjoyed by periodicals of a more popular description. In its relations, 

 however, at large, to the advancement of science, we are satisfied that the 

 establishment of a uniform low rate of postage, especially if the example 

 were followed by foreign governments, would exercise an influence to an 

 extent it is' perhaps hardly possible to conceive, until the measure shall 

 have come into actual operation. Should the question not be disposed of 

 prior to the forthcoming meeting, a petition in its favour from so numer- 

 ous and influential a body as the British Association, might probably 

 have weight with some members of the Upper House, and thus contribute 

 to the furtherance of an object, which every one, having the interests of 

 science at heart, must earnestly wish to be attained 



It may perhaps be thought that our critique upon the recently-pub- 

 lished narratives of Captain W. C. Harris and Sir James Alexander, oc- 

 cupies a larger portion of our columns than the merits of their respective 

 authors entitle them to have received, when other works, of real scientific 

 importance, and therefore presenting a stronger claim on our attention, 

 are as yet unnoticed in our pages. In giving, however, so prominent a 

 place to the works in question, we have been guided by the circumstan- 

 ces under which they are introduced to the British public, — circumstan- 

 ces which, we fear, are calculated to invest the contents of these volumes 

 with a degree of consequence that is spuriously acquired, and which, for 

 many reasons it would be desirable to counteract. 



