386 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



carry for our neighbours the crude materials of other 

 soils and climes, and make our country the emporium 

 of trade. Let us illustrate this by a few examples. 

 Analogues of our Mining Industry. 

 The departments of France, with scarce an exception, 

 separately contribute to the mineral wealth of the empire, 

 and their mines produce the largest amount of iron 

 next to England ; yet these mines are most productive in 

 those provinces the geological structure of which ranges 

 across the Channel, takes in the Norman islands, and is 

 identical with the formations occupying the south-west 

 of England and "Wales. Again, the Ardennes are part 

 of the rugged borders of Belgium, where iron mines are 

 so numerous that, for its size, the country is richer than 

 England. The region between the Sambre and the 

 Meuse resembles the Staffordshire " Black Country : " 

 Dudley and Wolverhampton find their counterparts in 

 Liege and Namur. French coal is principally dispersed 

 along the flanks of the rocks stretching from Brittany 

 to Switzerland, which rocks, with the Alps, make the 

 division between northern and southern Europe. Modern 

 industry has caused the French coal-mines to be exten- 

 sively worked, though the produce is not of the best 

 quality. Belgium, within its narrow borders, possesses 

 twice as many coal-mines as France. A great field, 

 resting on mountain limestone, extends from Aix-la- 

 Chapelle to Douai, forming basins, of which those of 

 Charleroi and Liege are the most important. The coal- 

 mines of Liege have been worked for seven centuries 

 without making a serious impression upon the deposits. 

 Germany, and Prussia especially, possesses coal and 

 iron ores of all qualities in abundance ; but the distance 

 between the mineral beds and the limestone quarries, 

 with heavy transit charges, impede the development of 

 iron industry. 



Some of the rocky islands of Norway consist entirely 

 of iron ore, and the finest ore produced is from Sweden. 

 Again, however, carriage is so difficult as to render the 

 metallic treasures of many districts in Scandinavia of no 

 avail. Iron, copper, tin, and coal are dug in the Russian 

 parts of this wide territory, the largest works being 

 situated on Lake Onega. 



Analogues of Animal Produce. 



The sheep bred and reared in Saxony and Spain pro- 

 duce respectively a long silky fleece the finest quality 

 manufactured and merino wool, a variety also of very 

 .high value, both of which enter into our manufactures. 

 The alluvial plains of the Low Countries and Denmark 

 are the counterparts of Ireland. Enormous imports of 

 cattle, butter, cheese, poultry and eggs, from these 

 parts, supplement our home supplies. During the few 

 years that the foreign trade in cattle has been free, its 

 development has been very rapid; the rate being 400 

 per cent, in ten years, and it is still increasing. The 

 proximity of the Dutch to the sea has made them the 

 fishermen, and their country the fish-market for nearly 

 all Europe. Formerly they took most of the fish even 

 off the British coast ; and we still look to them for large 

 supplies in answer to an indefinite demand for food at 

 Lome. 



Now it is self-evident that these countries do not 

 require similar commodities from us in exchange, nor 

 should we want their produce if we already possessed a 

 surplus; but we send them manufactured goods, for 

 the production of which they have not equal facilities ; 

 and we tranship to them the raw produce of our colonies 

 and of foreign parts, which are wanted generally by the 

 nhabitants of the civilised world. 



Analogues of Vegetable produce have been already 

 referred to. Southern Europe is eminently the region 

 of oil and wine, with which the United Kingdom has but 

 little in common. But adjoining to the north is the 

 zone of cider and beer, of which our country forms a 



portion. The designation of the region implies the 

 common growth of orchard fruits, hops, and barley ; but 

 it is equally the region of green vegetables and wheat. 

 Indeed, in all parts of Europe, excepting polar Russia, 

 corn-grains furnish the chief supplies of food viz., 

 barley and oats in the north; rye in the next lower 

 latitudes ; then wheat, which penetrates into the districts 

 of rice and maize, the true tropical cereals. 



Our pre-eminence in wealth enables us to add to our 

 abundance by purchasing the surplus stores of food of 

 the whole zone. We receive great quantities of early 

 fruits, flowers, roots, and vegetables from France and 

 Portugal. Wheat also comes to us from France, where 

 it is the chief agricultural product, not excepting the 

 vine. 



The Sarmatian plain is the reserve granary of Europe: 

 enough is here produced, even without manure, to feed 

 the whole continent ; but the means of transit are so 

 bad, that much good corn is left to rot upon the ground, 

 and a considerable part is two years in reaching a port 

 for shipment. 



The low lands of Prussia wave with great growths of 

 wheat and other cereals, enabling its eminently agri- 

 cultural people to provide for various unproductive 

 provinces, and still to have an excess. Recent political 

 alterations of territory make the Prussian corn exports 

 at least as valuable as those of Russia. 



Enormous as is the produce of the United Kingdom, 

 it is far below the demand for food for man and beast. 

 Such a state of things may be safe during peace and 

 prosperity, but would be very dangerous in the event of 

 an invasion. Almost every part of the cultivable earth 

 sends grain to the British corn-market ; freights of 

 wheat arrive in England from the United States, from 

 the ports of the Baltic and the Black Sea, from Spain, 

 from the Danubian provinces, and from Turkey and 

 Egypt countries where an elastic growth expands or 

 contracts in conformity with the demand. In Egypt 

 wheat is a winter crop. Our imports are influenced 

 by the changes of temperature, causing oscillations of 

 value, and rendering the trade in corn very hazardous. 

 If our home harvest promises abundance, our demand 

 abroad is lessened, and farmers and merchants hasten to 

 market to ensure sales ; but if a fear of scarcity arise, 

 they withhold their stores, in the view of higher prices ; 

 and the harvests of other countries compete, till prices 

 again are equalised. 



The insight which farmers and merchants have gained 

 from experience ministers to human well-being ; for 

 high prices warn us of probable dearth, and enforce 

 economy; while low prices add to our enjoyment by 

 removing any dread of the future. If the harvest fails, 

 we are prepared with stores laid up by speculators, who 

 have acted as scouts, and have well earned the extra 

 profit gained by their forethought. If the harvest turns 

 out unexpectedly good, our caution has done us no 

 harm. The judgment exercised by the merchants must 

 be measured by their profits, by which, therefore, they 

 may, in the absence of any monopoly, be measured as 

 benefactors to society. Yet, in former years, to speculate 

 in corn was a crime, and forestallers and regraters were 

 punishable by law. 



THE UNIVERSITIES. X. 



LONDON. HI. 



IN order to take the degree of Bachelor of Arts, two examina- 

 tions must be undergone, in addition to that on matriculation- 

 The first of these, called the Intermediate Examination in Arts, 

 is held annually, commencing on the third Monday in July. All 

 candidates, except such as have obtained a place in the Honours 

 Division at the Matriculation Examination in the preceding 

 January, must have passed that examination at least one 



