NOTES BY THE EDITOR. VTl 



worthy of note in speaking of siicli beneficence that, in England, 

 as in our own country, the more earnest efforts to extend the 

 facilities for popular education and mental advancement have 

 been made by those who, as a general rule, have owed the least 

 to such agencies in their ovi^n elevation, and the most to their own 

 energy and perseverance. The munificence of Mr. Whitworth 

 is a case in point parallel with that of Mr. Peter Cooper, who 

 founded the Cooper Institute, in New York city ; and both stand 

 out in strong contrast to the old-time usage of endowing educa- 

 tional institutions by will, and leaving all the good capable of 

 being secured thereby to be accomplished by the management of 

 others after the death of the donors. 



The object in making this endowment is to advance the cause 

 of technical education, and the promotion of engineering and 

 mechanical industry in his own country. In competing for these 

 scholarships, proficiency must be shown in the use of one or more 

 of the following classes of tools : the axe, file, saw, and plane, 

 hammer, and chisel, and the forge ; also a satisfactory knowledge 

 of elementary mathematics and mechanics, j^ractical and descrip- 

 tive geometry, and free hand drawing. By making these requi- 

 sites, the student, combining some practice with theory, and the 

 artisan, who combines some theoretical knowledge with perfection 

 of workmanship, start on fairly equal terms. 



In carrving out the ideas of Mr. Whitworth, the successful com- 

 petitors for these prizes may attend universities or colleges 

 affording scientific or technical instruction, or they may travel and 

 study abroad. 



The Suez canal is steadily approaching completion, and will 

 probably be ojDen to the commerce of the w^orld before 1870 ; 

 changing the direction of the greater part of the shipments 

 between the East Indies and Europe as well as America. The 

 next great inter-oceanic canal will be between the Gulf of Mexico 

 and the Pacific across the Isthmus of Darien, to which the attention 

 of engineers and capitalists is now seriously turned. Another 

 much-needed canal is one across the upper part of Florida, from 

 the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, which would save annually 

 scores of lives and millions of treasure, and bring the gulf ports 

 many days nearer to the northern cities. 



In telegraphic communication two important improvements 

 have been made in this countr3^ The compound telegraph wire 

 of Mr. M. G. Farmer, with a core of steel wire for strength, and 

 a covering of copper wire, instead of galvanized iron, for conduc- 



