Jl'i.Y (i. 1883.1 



SCIENCE. 



:i 



arrange Cor some common system of observa- 

 tion in this hraneli. So witli each of the 

 sciences : conjoint action would solve many 

 problems that are of the highest interest. 



Then, again, tliere would be a great influ- 

 ence on the extension of science-teaching in the 

 public schools, that would certainly come from 

 the existence of such local societies. The 

 greatest danger that now menaces natural 

 science is, that the parrot system of teaching. 

 so long applied to other branches of learning, 

 will be taken in science-teaching. The jn-es- 

 enee of a little band of actual imjuirers in 

 any town will be the best possible assurance 

 against this. Let the children have some share 

 in the open-air actual study, and the evil of 

 the book-system will surely be mended in 

 part ; for its imperfections will be seen. 



It will often be possible to organize such a 

 club in immediate connection with the schools 

 of the town where it started. Experience iu 

 Europe shows that children readily and zeal- 

 ously engage in such inquiries, and need onlj' 

 a little direction in their work. 



However we look at it, we see much to hope 

 from the extension of the field-club system of 

 science study. 



TflE NATIONAL RAILWAY EXPOSI- 

 TION. 



TiiK exhibition of railway appliances now 

 being held at Chicago is probably the most 

 complete collection of all the varied apparatus 

 used in every department of railroad working 

 and construction that the world has ever seen ; 

 and the management are to be congratulated, 

 that, while little has been omitted to make the 

 show complete, still less has been included 

 which is foreign to the subject of railroads. 

 The exhibits range over a wide field, from 

 uniform-coats to steel rails, railroad officers' 

 desks to revolving snow-ploughs, and from 

 an electric railroad in full working, and earn- 

 ing quite handsome traffic receipts, to George 

 Stephenson's first locomotive, which is shown 

 by an English railway company. 



The main q<iestions which are now awaiting 

 solution in the railwaj- world are well rci)re- 

 sented in the exposition. The cheap traiis- 

 port of heavy freight-trains over steep grades. 



the conveyance of perishable articles, such as 

 meat and fruit, and the control of the via viva 

 or momentum of trains, are all questions which 

 have to a certain extent been solved ; and 

 further developments of these solutions are 

 shown. A locomotive of unprecedented size 

 and power, fitted with a valve-gear of novel 

 construction, which yields excellent results, is 

 shown by the Southern Pacific railroad, and a 

 large number of fine engines are shown by the 

 Brooks and other locomotive works. The ex- 

 hibition of rcfriger.ator ears is ver^' complete, 

 and most of them appear to be of simple and 

 cfflcicnt design. Continuous brakes. ai)plicable 

 to freight-trains, are exhibited ; and as some 

 of them appear worthy of careful examination, 

 we shall refer to them later on. 



While there can be no doubt, that as regards 

 cheapness and rapidity of construction, general 

 excellence of bridges, locomotives, and cars, 

 the railways of this country arc ahead of the 

 rest of the world, the signalling arrangements 

 here, with few exceptions, are rudimentary and 

 inetliciont, and render fast travelling a matter 

 of considerable difliculty, if not danger. It is 

 impossible to run a really fast express-train 

 if the signals are ambiguous, and if every level 

 crossing is made a compulsory stopping-place. 

 The saving iu time liy fiist trains can only be 

 fully felt in a great country, where very long 

 journeys are not only possible, but are fre- 

 (piently undertaken ; but hitherto this fact has 

 been little appreciated, and people have been 

 content to travel at a slow speed, and put up 

 with frequent stoppages, because the railways 

 were new, the rails roughly laid, and many 

 bridges unsafe at a high speed. But of late 

 years these conditions have lieen materially 

 changed. The wide-spread use of steel rails, 

 the greater care bestowed on the road-bed. 

 and the introduction of iron bridges of first- 

 class workmanship, have rendered high speed 

 perfectly safe and easy on most parts of good 

 roads in the eastern and middle states ; but 

 it is rendered unsafe where switches are so 

 arranged that they may be left open to an 

 approaching train without any signal warning 

 the engineer, or the signals are so formed that 

 the difference to the eye between a clear or all- 

 right signal and a danger or stop signal is 

 slight in snowy weather or uixler certain at- 

 mospheric conditions which render the differ- 

 ence between colors in)|>erceptible, though a 

 difference in form may be perceived. 



The exposition is, however, especially strong 

 in signal apparatus ; and there can be little 

 doubt that the most important result of the 

 exhibition will be the wide-spread adoption 



