130 



MR. T. T. WILKINSON ON 



observers, that one of the Yorkshire geometers, (Mr. Hopps,) 

 not long ago amusingly proposed for solution the problem of 

 determining "geometrically, what property of the climate in 

 the North of England causes so many of the natives to be 

 good mathematicians." 



No doubt much of this predilection for geometrical pursuits 

 amongst the operatives of England, arises from the circum- 

 stance that the nature of the subject is peculiarly adapted 

 to their ordinary occupations. The weaver at the loom, — the 

 farmer in the field, — the mechanic in the shop, — or the miner 

 in the drift, is too much occupied by manual labour to be 

 able to write out long analytical investigations, but each 

 can contemplate and deduce at pleasure the properties of a 

 geometrical diagram, either actually constructed or mentally 

 conceived. The farmer and the miner soon acquire the power 

 of depicting vivid mental representations of the constructions 

 necessary for their geometrical inquiries, and are thus enabled 

 to carry on their processes of deduction even when buried 

 in the mine or following the plough. The weaver and the 

 mechanic can sketch their diagrams on a slate, and thus 

 pursue their favourite studies whilst their hands and feet are 

 almost instinctively engaged in their monotonous operations. 

 In this manner many of the speculations of the Geometers 

 of the Lancashire School are known to have been conducted. 

 Nor is the practice at present by any means extinct ; most of 

 the profound investigations of Wolfenden and Butterworth, 

 which appear in the Mathematical Compaiiion and elsewhere, 

 were composed almost word by word whilst contemplating 

 the requisite diagrams suspended from the framework of 

 their looms. 



It is much to be regretted that so large a proportion of the 

 subjects upon which the Lancashire Geometers exerted their 

 powers relate to the Construction of Triangles with given 

 data. By selecting a leading datum, and connecting it with 

 others remotely dependent upon it, we may extend such 



