556 



NATURE 



[October 5, 1893 



burning patches of jungle, and moving on to new spots after a 

 few years. Much of the land is very fertile, and well suited for 

 both early and late rice crops. Channels, often of great length, 

 are dug by the Mechs from the numerous streams for the irri- 

 gation of the late rice crops though the tendency of the rivers 

 to deepen their beds in the friable soil is a difficulty to more 

 permanent settlers. The climate and the exposure to raids 

 from Bhutan have keep the country in a backward state. It 

 became British territory as a result of the war of 1864. Much 

 land has since then been settled and tea-gardens opened, 

 especially in the western part ; while within the last three 

 years a large tract of jungle has been provisionally set apart by 

 Government — at the instance of the Rev. A. J. Shields, 

 C.M.S. missionary to the Santals, warmly supported by Mr. 

 D. Sunder, settlement officer at Jalpiguri — for settlement by 

 Santals, who in their hill country south of the Ganges are often 

 unable to obtain sufficient land for cultivation. Forty families 

 were taken up in 1891, the author assisting in their settlement, 

 and still larger numbers have followed since. Although the 

 partial failure of the rains in the first season caused unforeseen 

 difficulties at first, these, it is hoped, are now in a fair way to 

 be overcome. It should be mentioned that a similar experiment 

 has been tried with success in Assam by a Norwegian mission." 



Captain Williams, R.A., gave a popular address on the 

 people of Uganda ; Mr. Herbert Ward sent a short paper on 

 the people of the Conjo Basin ; and Dr. R. W. Felkin sub- 

 mitted a new scheme for a map of the distribution of diseases 

 in Africa. The Rev. C. H. Robinson gave an interesting 

 account of the adventures of a Hausa pilgrim who passed 

 through Khartum on the way to Mecca immediately after the 

 capture of the town by the Mahdi, and gave a new version of 

 the story of General Gordon's death. Mr. E. G. Ravenstein 

 read a brief report of the Committee on African Climatology, 

 which is engaged in accumulating meteorological data from the 

 tropical parts of the colony. 



Many of the communications were illustrated by the lantern, 

 and the last paper read was on a system of geographical teach- 

 ing in which the lantern is adapted for general use in schools, 

 by Mr. B. Bentham Dickenson, of Rugby. A small association 

 has been formed in order to promote this object. 



The meetings of the Section were never attended by a larger 

 average number than this year, and on the whole the scientific 

 value of the papers has seldom been greater. 



MECHANICS A T THE BRITISH ASSOCIA TION. 



TN Section G, that devoted to mechanical science, at the recent 

 Nottingham British Association meeting, there were fewer 

 papers read than usual. This, however, was a distinct ad- 

 vantage, for this section has generally suffered from an over- 

 abundance of matter. It is far more satisfactory to have a few 

 good papers well discussed than a multitude of mediocre or 

 inferior contributions, which only weary the audience, and lead 

 to no good result. The section held its meetings in the 

 Engineering Lecture Theatre, at University College, and the 

 first sitting took place on Thursday, September 14, according 

 to precedent. The president this year was Mr. Jeremiah Head, 

 whose address we reprinted on September 21. The first paper 

 taken was a contribution by Mr. Beaumont, entitled the 

 "Automatic Balance of Reciprocating Mechanism," and referred 

 to a method of utilising the vibration caused by a revolving weight 

 for working sieves. In the discussion which followed, the 

 opinion was expressed that the device might find a useful place 

 in other applications than that for which it was originally in- 

 tended. The rest of Monday's sitting was taken up by a de- 

 scription of lace machinery and hosiery machinery. Although 

 the subject is one of considerable interest, it would be impossible 

 to give any adequate idea of the proceedings without the 

 numerous diagrams and lantern slides which were used by the 

 author of the paper. Several of the most interesting machines 

 described were shown at work in an adjoining room, and their 

 action was explained by Mr. W. Robinson, the Professor of 

 Engineering at University College, Nottingham. 



On Friday, the 15th inst., two reports were down for reading ; 

 the first that of the committee on the dryness of steam in boiler 

 trials, in regard to which Prof. Unwin stated that practically 

 nothing had been done during the past year, and therefore there 

 was no report to present. It was hoped, however, that by fol- 

 lowing certain lines of investigation which had been suggested 1 



NO. 1249, VOL. 48] 



by some American experimentalists, that good results might be 

 arrived at, and it was hoped that a satisfactory report would be 

 prepared for the next meeting. The report of the committ ee on 

 Graphic Methods was a contrast to Prof. Unwin's statement ; 

 it being of an exceedingly voluminous character. This is the 

 second long report that has been presented by the committee. 

 It would be quite impossible to deal with the subject in an 

 account of the proceedings such as we are able to give, which 

 must necessarily be brief, and as the report will be printed in 

 full, in common with all reports of committees, in the Proceed- 

 ings, we will refer our readers to the volume when it is issued, 

 for information on this really important subject. It is fair, how- 

 ever, to notice the immense amount of good and sound work 

 that Prof. H. S. Hele Shaw has done, as secretary, in preparing 

 the reports of this committee. 



Two papers on the disposal of refuse followed ; one by Mr. 

 C. C. Keep, and the second by Mr. William Warner. In these 

 various descriptions of destructors which had been placed upon 

 the engineering market were described. Both authors are, we 

 believe, members of firms which manufacture and sell apparatus 

 of this description, and trade interests were not altogether lost 

 to sight. The subject of refuse destruction is one of great 

 importance, but it requires, in the interests of sanitary science, 

 to be handled in a somewhat different manner to that pursued 

 by the section in the reading and discussion of the papers, 

 Mr. Frank Ashwell next read a paper on " Warminf; and 

 Ventilating," in the course of which he discussed the 

 merits of the plenum system, as against the method 

 of ventilation by partial vacuum. He had not much 

 difficulty in establishing the claims of the former ; the chief 

 advantage, of course, being that with a plenum inside the 

 building any leakage there may be at doors, windows, &c. does 

 not admit draught ; the air ior ventilation always coming itt 

 through the proper entrance, where it may be warmed, filtered, 

 and, if necessary, moistened. Watchmaking by machinery 

 next occupied the attention of the section, Mr. T. P. Hewitt, 

 of Prescot, reading an interesting paper on the subject. As 

 was stated by a speaker during the discussion which followed, 

 watchmaking in England has been lately at a very low ebb. 

 For many years it has had to meet the competition of cheap 

 labour in Switzerland, but the most fatal blow to the system, 

 was struck by the introduction of the factory system for the 

 manufacture of watches in America. By the use of machine 

 tools and labour-saving appliances the Americans have been 

 able to produce excellent timekeeping watches at a very moder- 

 ate cost ; for the industry is one specially suited to the genius 

 of the American mechanic, whose inventive faculties are pro- 

 verbial. So serious a blow has thus been inflicted on the English 

 watchmaking industry that its operatives were brought to the 

 greatest distress. Prescot, in Lancashire, is a very ancient 

 centre of watchmaking, that is, so far as the movement of the 

 watch is concerned, and many of the best English watches have 

 Prescot works. It is in this town that an endeavour is being 

 made to revive the English watchmaking industry, but on 

 entirely new lines. A large factory has been built, and the 

 most improved appliances introduced. These, of course, are 

 largely American in origin, but it is satisfactory to know that 

 the beautiful machine tools, such as used by the Waltham and 

 Elgin Watch Companies, can now be made in England, and^ 

 are equal to the productions of the United States. Several! 

 examples of these machines were exhibited daring the reading! 

 of the paper. 



Mr. Ross, of Glasgow, next described a pneumatic caulking 

 and chipping tool. This is a hand-tool, working, as its name 

 would imply, by compressed air, or steam may be used. It 

 will make over 10,000 strokes per minute, and consists essen- 

 tially of a small cylinder and loose piston, which works on to 

 the caulking or chipping chisel. The only thing the operator 

 has to do, therefore, is to guide the tool, and the enormous 

 rapidity of the strokes enables the finest work to be Qone» 

 either in caulking a metal seam or in chipping down a metallic 

 surface. Some very beautiful specimens of work were shown 

 at the meeting, and the instrument itself was exhibited. 



It is the custona of Section G to devote Monday of the Asso- 

 ciation meeting to electrical science, and the first paper takett 

 on the l6th was a contribution by Mr. Gisbert Kapp, entitled 

 "Relative Cost of Conductors with Different Systems of Elec- 

 trical Power Transmission." This was a most useful paper, and 

 a good example of the form contributions on electrical subjects 

 should take in Section G, where, it must be remembered 



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