Aug. 29, 1884.] 



♦ KNOV\^LEDGE - 



169 



Pi^ 



MAGAZINE ofSCIENCE 



AINLYWORDED-EXACTLYDESCmBED 



LONDON: FRIDAY, AUG, 29, 1884. 



CoirrKNTs OP No. 148. 



PAOS 



Next Year's Eshibition. By In- 

 ventor 1 69 



The -Entomolo^ of a Pond. {Jilus. ) 

 By E. A. Butler 170 



The Physics of the Earth's Craat. 

 By R. A. Proctor 171 



The Chemistry of Cookery. XLI. 

 Authorities on Tea and Coffee. 

 By W. Mattieu Williams 172 



The Electro-Magnet. {Illu$.) By 

 W. SUngo 173 



The Earth's Shape and Motions. 

 III. The Annual Motion of the 

 Son and StarB. By R. A. Proctor 175 



PAGB 



Got Supply of Coal 176 



A Practical Method of Eatimating 



Distances. (lilus.) 177 



Pleasant Hours with the Micro- 

 scope, (niu^.) By H. J. Slack . 179 



Photograpby for Amatetirs ISO 



Editorial Gossip 182 



Face of the Sky. By F.R.A.S 182 



Reviews 183 



Miscellanea 18-t 



Correspondence : Sunflowers — I<» 

 Tea Injurious?— Small-Poi and 

 Vaccination — August Meteors, &c. 185 

 Cor Chesa Column 183 



NEXT YEAR'S EXHIBITION. 



By Inventor. 



THE operations of exhibitions are very manifold. 

 Primarily, I suppose, they are intended for educa- 

 tional purposes, to show people what advances have been 

 made in the development and product of the human 

 intellect. Were this, however, the only purpose they are 

 capable of serving, we should find these now oft-recurring 

 shows attain but very shadowy dimensions compared with 

 what is actually seen. In reality, an exhibition has a more 

 or less distinct business ring about it, and if this element 

 is once lost sight of, the fate of the show is almost in- 

 fallibly sealed. Much was said and done to give backbone 

 to the greatest educational effort ever put forth in this 

 direction, viz., the Loan Exhibition of 1876. It was a 

 grand display — such a one, perhaps, as will never again be 

 seen ; it was purely educational ; the business element was 

 conspicuously absent, and consequently, although not so 

 decided a failure as some, it cannot be said that the exhi- 

 bition was a success, particularly when compared with that 

 which has been achieved by more recent shows. 



A similar fate attended the Exhibition of Electrical 

 Apparatus at the Albert Hall. The Paris Exhibition 

 of 1880-1, and the Crystal Palace Exhibition of lSSl-2, 

 regarded electricity as a marketable something, and suc- 

 ceeded — that is to say, they paid their expenses and left a 

 balance, stimulated trade and spurred on scientists as well 

 as unseientiiic inventors to produce something even better 

 than the best then producible. And these I take to be 

 some of the main points to be regarded in estimating the 

 measure of success accomplished. 



It follows by implication that for an exhibition to 

 succeed, not only must the guarantors be relieved of all 

 anxiety so far as the claims upon their pockets are con- 

 cerned, but the exhibitors must see a prospect of recouping 

 themselves. To collect and adorn a case or stand of com- 

 modities more or less novel, to print circulars, to pay the 

 cost of packing, of carriage and fixing, i-c, involves no 

 small expense, which, if there is little or no prospect of 



business, the would-be exhiliitor is not likely to incur. 

 And why should he ] Are we to suppose him to be endowed 

 with a greater share of self-abnegating philanthropy than 

 the rest of maukind ? It is all very well for a 

 wealthy or independent man to exhibit his hobby, or for a 

 traveller to display his collection of curiosities ; but, if we 

 waited for a sufficient number of such enthusiasts, 'we 

 should be compelled to wait for many a year, and then, 

 doubtless, we should only succeed in getting together such 

 a motley collection as would please nobody, not excepting 

 even the exhibitors themselves. The man of the world, 

 the man of business, knows full well that a show which 

 is purely educational will have little attraction for the 

 great majority of people, and it is only by the drawing 

 together of great crowds, and entertaining and interesting 

 as well as instructing them, that he can hope to defray his 

 expenses and pay himself for his trouble. Would it were 

 otherwise ; but we must take people as we find them, and 

 this I take to be the main feature which, though perhaps 

 never formulated, aflfords excuse for the general plan 

 adopted by the executive councils of the present Ken- 

 sington exhibitions. 



There are, of course, some points we might feel disposed 

 to find fault with ; they are so far too superficial, and pos- 

 sibly offer too many facilities for airing the obtrusive 

 peculiarities of certain people ; but we should be unjust 

 were we to blame the working class for not being wiser or 

 more cultured than they are. Maybe the fault rests more 

 with the teachers. Indeed, it is to remove as much of the 

 existing ignorance as possible that Knowledge is issued 

 week by week, and we are fond of regarding the pages 

 of this journal as among the educational influences of the 

 day 



The mere show of articles of every-day consumption i?, 

 however, little calculated to educate, or even to interest, the 

 beholders, and can only find excuse from an advertising 

 standpoint. Such displays are, in fact, outside the business 

 region of my purview. 



The coming Exhibition of Inventions and Musical 

 Instruments promises to be of such a nature as to 

 satisfy the hungriest searcher after knowledge, while, at 

 the same time, business people will see in it an opportunity 

 for entering into competition with the keenest energy. 

 Those also who will visit it for fashion's sake stand a 

 chance of reaping some benefit from it. The field embraced 

 by " inventions " is so extensive that we may fairly and 

 confidently look for an excellent display, in which jam-pots 

 and such like impedimenta will scarcely find a place. The 

 scientific element will be more predominant, and there is, 

 in fact, a prospect of its satisfying all sections of the com- 

 munity. Music is doubtless introduced as a kind of leaven. 

 The idea upon which the exhibition is planned is not to 

 bring together a mere collection of models of inventions, 

 but rather to illustrate the progress which has been made 

 in the practical application of science during the past 

 twenty years. In order to carry out this intention, the 

 council will, as far as possible, confine the exhibits to pro- 

 cesses and appliances, products being admitted only where 

 they are themselves novel, or where their introduction is 

 required to make the purpose or advantages of that which 

 is new in any process more interesting and intelligible. It 

 is not proposed to allot space for manufactured goods unac- 

 companied by any illustrations of the process of manufac- 

 ture. Generally, it may be said that, as far as is prac- 

 ticable, inventions will be shown by models, with, in the 

 case of models of entire machines, actual specimens of the 

 portions improved under the exhibitor's patent, and when 

 the invention relates to parts only, the whole machine will 

 not be admitted, unless, indeed, the improvement effected 



