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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



to take part in the Philadelphia meeting. 

 Receptions will be given at the Academy 

 of Music and the Academy of Fine Arts ; a 

 garden-party at Ilaverford College; and a 

 microscopical exhibition at the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences. Botanical excursions will 

 be organized, and a special meeting for bot- 

 anists held by the botanical section of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences ; and other 

 interesting visits and excursions will be 

 made. The address of Professor Young, 

 as retiring President of the Association, 

 will be delivered on the evening of the 4th, 

 at the Academy of Music, and will be fol- 

 lowed by a reception to members of the 

 Association and their invited guests. The 

 headquarters of the Association will be at 

 the Academy of Music, Broad Street. 



Sir John Lnbboek on Classical and Sei- 

 entifie Education.— Sir John Lubbock spoke, 

 at a recent dinner of the British University 

 College Club, in reference to the great ad- 

 vance that had been made in this age in edu- 

 cation. A commission of inquiry, appointed 

 in 1861, mentioned as a great practical evil 

 of the English schools that too little time 

 was devoted to modern languages, and 

 science was practically excluded altogether. 

 A similar commission in 1864 gave substan- 

 tially the same verdict. A third royal com- 

 mission, in 1875, declared that the practical 

 omission of these subjects from the train- 

 ing of the middle and upper classes was lit- 

 tle less than a national misfortune. Still, 

 though no doubt some progress had been 

 gained, too little attention was given to 

 these subjects. The time in the schools 

 was at present allotted somewhat on the 

 average as follows: To science, not more 

 than two hours a week were given ; to mod- 

 ern languages, three hours ; and to geog- 

 raphy, arithmetic, and mathematids, four 

 hours, leaving thirty hours for Latin and 

 Greek. Now, suppose that six hours were 

 devoted to arithmetic and mathematics, six 

 to science, six to modem languages and 

 history, and six to geography, there would 

 still be more than twenty hours for Latin 

 and Greek, and if a boy could not learn 

 Latin and Greek in twenty hours a week, 

 spread over ten years, ho would certainly 

 never learn them at all. Sir John Lub- 

 bock was far from undervaluing Latin, 



and indeed it seemed to him well worth 

 considering whether the present system of 

 learning it was really wise, and whether our 

 sons ought not to be taught to speak it 

 as well as to read it. He then spoke 

 of the particular importance of the knowl- 

 edge of modern languages and science in 

 England. Englishmen have the most varied 

 enterprises all over the globe, more than 

 half the shipping on the high seas, and for- 

 eign investments returning them $350,000,- 

 000 a year. The management of these gi- 

 gantic undertakings ought to be intrusted 

 to those who could speak the language of 

 the country in which they were carried on. 

 Many a promising concern had been brought 

 to ruin because it had been impossible to 

 find properly qualified Englishmen to take 

 care of it, and because it had consequently 

 been intrusted to foreigners. He did not 

 undervalue and would not neglect the clas- 

 sics. All he asked was that science and 

 modern languages should have their fair 

 share of attention, for, as Dr. Carpenter had 

 well observed, there was one side of our na- 

 ture which science was the only means of 

 cultivating. 



The Weather, Health, and Crime.— 



Mr. S. A. Hill has recently published, in 

 " Nature," an analysis of the effects of the 

 weather upon the death-rate and crime in 

 India, particularly in the Northwest Prov- 

 inces and Oude. The whole number of 

 deaths varies enormously from year to year. 

 Thus it was 1,914,499 in 18*79, and 987,190 

 in 1880, showing a difference of nearly a 

 million in two successive years. The aver- 

 age yearly rate is about a million and a half. 

 Taking the two years of extremes cited, in 

 1879 the monsoon rains were unusually 

 heavy, while in 1880 they were extremely 

 scanty, and apprehensions of famine were 

 entertained. The year 1877 was also dry 

 and healthy. The first rough generalization 

 suggested by Mr, Hill's tables is, that dry 

 years are healthy and wet ones unhealthy. 

 It would, nevertheless, be wrong to infer 

 that in India mortality is due to rain, for 

 the figures for the several months show that, 

 as a rule, the month in which fewest deaths 

 occur is July, which happens to be just 

 the rainiest month of the twelve. Rain is, 

 no doubt, one of the indirect causes of death ; 



