414 Proceeditigs of the British Association. 



Stanley made some observations on the facts stated by Dr Cle- 

 land, and the meeting of the section was adjourned to 11 o'clock 

 to-morrow. 



Wednesday, \9.th August. — 3. Colonel Sykes, at the request of 

 the meeting, read his paper on wages in the Deccan, accompa- 

 nied by a table, shewing the gradual improvement in the con- 

 dition of the labourers in those parts of India which were under 

 the British government, as proved by the decreasing price of 

 necessaries, and the increasing rate of wages. The thanks of 

 the meeting were returned to Colonel Sykes. Professor Babbage 

 made some observations to shew that the high wages of English 

 workmen were caused by their superior skill and industry, and 

 that work was done cheaper in England than in any part of the 

 world. — Mr Babbage read a paper on co-operative shops, for the 

 purpose of supplying workmen with necessaries. He gave the 

 details of an instance in which such shops were in operation 

 from 1818 to 183!^. He produced tables, shewing the numbers 

 of purchasers, the quantities of goods sold, and the rates of profit 

 in every year during that period, and explained to the meeting 

 the causes which led to the failure and abandonment of the sys- 

 tem in 1832. A conversation ensued, in which the question was 

 discussed, whether the failure was produced by causes essentially 

 inherent in the institution of co-operation systems, or whether 

 they were produced by improper regulations, and could be re- 

 moved by suitable checks. — Dr Mansel read an abstract, drawn 

 up by Dr Vignolles, of the return made by the coroners on the 

 number of infanticides in the province of Leinster. The re- 

 turns were confessedly defective, but appeared to shew a slight 

 increase of the prevalence of infanticide since the closing of the 

 Foundling Hospital of Dublin. The meeting was then adjourn- 

 ed until to-morrow. 



Thursday, 13^/t August. — 4. Colonel Sykes read a paper on 

 the state of education in the Deccan. — The Rev. E. Stanley read 

 a paper on the religious attendances and state of education in 

 the ])arisli of Alderley, in Chesshire. 



5. Dr Reid delivci ed his views upon a plan tried in Edinburgh 

 for the extension of the study of Physics. In the communica- 

 tion he made to the Section, he confined his attention principally 

 to chemistry. He proposed to have large classes formed for 



