April 1, 1890.] 



k iST O ^A/^ L E D G E 



107 



figure from 1 to 100 by 1*. This, of course, is precisely 

 the reverse of the last ; the ^ is ascertained and added, 

 instead of being deducted. Here again the multiples of 4 

 are whole numbers ; but the figures precedmg result this 

 time in a [xiunc, and those next following in a mn-d . This 

 table also costs l)ut little effort when thus taught. 



The next table teaches the boy to multiply from 1 to 

 100 by H, and, of course, means simply adding half the 

 multiplier to the figure itself. 



The next step, multiplying from 1 to 100 by If, is 

 achieved by simply adding three-ciuarters of the multiplier 

 to the multiplier itself. The " three-quarters" table has 

 been already acquired by the boy, and he has therefore 

 only to add any given multiplier to it. Thus, if asked, 

 "What is 27 times l|?"he knows that 27 pauiws ure 

 20J ; he has, therefore, only to add this to the 27 itself, to 

 get VI\ as the instant answer. 



The boy is next exercised in multiplying 1 to 100 by 2i, 

 and lie is taught to do this by adding half the multiplier 

 to the " twice-times " table. 



Then follow similar tables multiplying by 3^, 4|, and 

 5 J, and the results are arrived at instantaneously by 

 adding to the "three-times," "four-times," and " tive- 

 times " tables half the multiplier in every case. 



In all these tables the rapidity and simplicity is in great 

 part due to the terms employed. The boy is not asked to 

 " multiply seventeen by three-and-a-half," or "What is 

 three-and-a-half times seventeen?" or puzzled by any 

 other form of clumsy verbosity. The terms he uses allow 

 him to be asked " xattridi Jnlnthc ! " (seventeen three-and-a- 

 halfs). His elementary table has taught him that 17 x H 

 = 51, and he knows that he has only to add half 17 to 

 that, and the sum is done. 



The final task of the Indian boy is a money table, 

 which deals with a coinage which may Ik' thus sum- 

 marised ; — 



10 d.amri = 1 tak;i. 

 16 take' = 1 ;Vn:i. 

 16 ane = 1 rupi. 



Tlicre is a small coin called dilm, three of which make 

 1 iliiiiiri ; and, therefore, 48 make 1 takA, and 96 = and, 

 I- bciii^; still the unit. The table imparts a familiarity in 

 combining these coins together. 



This completes an Indian boy's most elementary course 

 of arithmetic, and a little reflection on the great facility 

 for computation which Indian children show, and the sim- 

 plicity of the means by which it is effected, ought to make 

 us rather ashamed than boastful of our own defective 

 methods. The insolence of ignorance has induced us to 

 despise the Indian method, and to endeavour to introduce 

 into India our own miserable muddle. The proportion of 

 our siu;cess in this attempt will be the measure of India's 

 misfortune. It would lie far wiser to endeavour to under- 

 stand a subject before we condenni it, and, in the present 

 instance, it would be well if suitable terms (-ould be 

 adoiited which would allow the admirable system of 

 Indian l\htillic^ to be introduced into I'^nKlish schools. 



WALKS IN THE SYDNEY BOTANIC GARDENS. 



liv ('. 1'ai:i<ins(.n, F.d.S. 



' ('nlllhlll.,1 I'rnlll llll<lf 7-{.) 



AMONd the numberless species of iig in tlie Syihiey 

 Hardens tliere is none more attractive than the 

 sacred fig (F. ivlii/itisd), a specimen of which 

 Tennent describes at Kandy as the most ancient 

 existing tree in all the world. It is instructive 

 to note how exotic plants — known to us in England under 



glass, and in dwarfed condition only — here fall naturally 

 into their respective orders. An example of this I saw in 

 the india-rubber plant (I-'inix daxtica), growing as a tree 

 in the sub-tropical gardens ; at home few recognise in the 

 broad leaves a species of fig. This occurs in a hundred 

 cases. 



Without actual experience it is hard to form any con- 

 ception of the intense brilliancy of the foliage plants, whole 

 beds of which enliven the terraces. The variegated croton 

 has mottled leaves of all tints. Mr. Moore, the Curator, 

 led me to one bed — his special pride — a very blaze of 

 delicate crimson , from seedlings of the amaranthus tricolor, 

 a miniature forest resplendent in the clear atmosphere and 

 bright l-ght of the South Pacific. The fresh tender shoots 

 looked on fire in the dazzlmg mid-day sun, and in the even- 

 ing all the leaves became comparatively dull. Close to these 

 beds there was a trellis-covered way— a bower of creeping 

 plants, roses, passion fruit, with red, yellow and blue 

 trumpet-flowers (Bhinonia) — leading to the ax-iary. Among 

 the caged birds I found the stupid-looking wood-hen from 

 Lord Howe's Island, evidently akin to the wingless apterix 

 of New Zealand. The Australian native companion was 

 there, with long legs, bluish feathers, and crane-shaped bill. 

 It has enormous power in the lower extremities, stamping 

 on rats and such vermin food with blind passion. Near to 

 the aviary two gorgeous trees covered with rich blossom 

 excite the admiration of allcomers. One is thejacaranda, 

 of Brazil, and the other a member of the loosetrife family, 

 from .Java, the I.inii'rstnniiid iiuUca, with heavy masses of 

 purple-rose flowers. 



At the point where the old and more recent gardens join, 

 a pair of Norfolk Island pines {Aniui-nriri cirfha) tower 

 upwards, straight as a dart, a hundred feet or more. 

 J between forty and fifty years old, they represent the 

 earliest trees planted in xitu, and are noble specimens of 

 the fine conifer. The peculiar beauty of tliis araucaria is, I 

 think, derived from the branching pinna> pointing upwards ; 

 but A. Coukii, if well developed, has a more perfect shape, 

 and the " monkey-puzzle" like Arawaria Hiilirillii, the 

 bmiya-bimya pine of Queensland, is a shapely tree. The 

 latter for some reason grows far better in Melbourne than 

 in Sydney, while the converse is the case with regard to the 

 Norfolk Island pine. 



I spent a pleasant morning with the director examining 

 the different spices, &c., gently browsing — so to speak — on 

 strongly flavoured leaves, with a view to detectmg their 

 identity. The cinnamon bark no one could mistake, but 

 other lands are not so readily distinguished. In my 

 ignorance I had thought allspice was a blended product 

 of the cook's spice-box. I was, therefore, surprised to find 

 the specific tree, and fairly puzzled with the mixture of 

 flavours which obviously gives the name to the plant. 

 Hard by the camphor laurel grew, strong with essential 

 oil. Tea plants from India and China stood side by side, 

 and coffee, in both flower and fruit, from Ceylon. 

 Although the berry is produced in Australia, the active 

 properties are lost,' and the plant is valueless except as a 

 botanical specimen. The crimson, yellow, and orange 

 ciuma, of the arrow-root tribe, remains in full flower for 

 many months of the year, and is consequently much used 

 tln-oiighout the garden, and the various coloured bouvardia 

 of .Japan, apiiears eciuiilly hardy and proHfic— a plant of 

 which stove-house specimens give a very humble idea. 



.-Vt a sudden turn I came upon a most charming nook. 

 Li the foreground there was a still pool, in which the 

 gi-aceful Egyptian papyrus flourished. A monument to 

 Allan Cunningham, explorer and botanist, stood half 

 hidden in a tropical forest glado boliind. wlure feathery 

 palms, tree ferns, and the like, grew in delightful coiifu- 



