426 



SCIENTIFIC NEVS^S. 



[May 4, 1888. 



in a detrimental manner on the boiler, in consequence 

 of the cylinder lubricant being carried with it, and 

 precipitating on the plates. A specimen of Hancock's 

 inspirator was exhibited and described. Results of 

 working given showed delivery at various pressures and 

 lifts. In respect to the elasticity of materials, the author 

 of this paper considered that point of reference of 

 structural materials should be the elastic limit, in prefer- 

 ence to the ultimate breaking strain. The need of 

 reliable data as regards the strength and behaviour of 

 materials was urged. Hooke's law was dwelt upon at 

 some length, and on the conclusion of the reading of the 

 papers an interesting discussion ensued, in which 

 Mr. Tennant, Mr. W. Dunn, and Mr. P. Marshall took 

 part. 



ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

 At the monthly meeting held on the i8th ult.. Dr. W. 

 Marcet, F.R.S., President, in the chair, the following 

 papers were read : — 



1. "Jordan's new pattern Photographic Sunshine 

 Recorder," by Mr. J. B. Jordan. The improvement in 

 this instrument over the previous pattern of Sunshine 

 Recorder consists of two serai-cylindrical or D-shaped 

 boxes, one to contain the morning and the other the 

 afternoon chart. An aperture for admitting the beam 

 of sunhght is placed in the centre of the rectangular 

 side of each box, so that the length of the beam within 

 the chamber is the radius of the cylindrical surface on 

 which it is projected ; its path therefore follows a straight 

 line on the chart at all seasons of the year. The semi- 

 cylinders are placed with their faces at an angle of 60° 

 to each other. They are fixed on a flat triangular plate 

 which is hinged to a suitable stand, having levelling 

 screws attached, and fitted with a graduated arc as a 

 means of readily adjusting, and fixing the cyhnders to 

 the proper vertical angle agreeing with the latitude of 

 the station where used. 



2. "On the Meteorology of South-Eastern China in 

 1886," by Dr. W. Doberck, F.R. Met. Soc. This paper 

 gives the results of observations made at the custom- 

 houses and lighthouses by officers of the Imperial 

 Chinese Maritime Customs. In summer there is very 

 little change of temperature with latitude. The tem- 

 perature depends upon the distance from the nearest sea 

 coast, and is greatest at stations farthest inland. The 

 highest mean temperature occurred in July, and the 

 lowest in January. The North-east monsoon blows 

 from September to June, and the South monsoon during 

 July and August ; the latter does not blow with half the 

 force of the former. Rainfall is greatest in Northern 

 Formosa, and least in Northern China. Along the east 

 coast of Formosa and Luzon the winter is the wet 

 season, while in China July seems to be the wettest 

 month of the year. 



3. " Lightning in Snowstorms," by Professor A. S. 

 Herschel, F.R.S. 



4. " Insolation," by Mr. Rupert T. Smith, F.R. Met. S. 



ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY. 

 On April 23rd, Mr. Daphne read a paper on "Some 

 Conscience Theories." Following an analysis of the 

 notions involved in the contrasted terms, "Fact" and 

 " Right," he drew attention to the two independent 

 questions involved in any inquiry into the genesis of 

 " Conscience," viz. : that of the genesis of the various 



existing rules of conduct (which could often be traced), 

 and the genesis of the partly intellectual, partly emotional, 

 state called conscience, which was not so capable of 

 demonstration. He considered the view taken by 

 Professor Bain, in his book on " The Emotions and the 

 Will," that its germ is fear, induced by punishment, 

 unsatisfactory, since it involved the assumption that 

 disinterested and even self-sacrificing acts, from the 

 prompting of which both fear and hope of praise were 

 admittedly absent as motives, nevertheless arose from a 

 germ of which fear was the solitary characteristic. He 

 doubted whether any satisfactory scientific theory of the 

 genesis of conscience was to be expected, but inclined to 

 consider it more akin, so far as feeling was concerned, to 

 the discomfort felt at being out of correspondence with 

 surrounding relations. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND 

 DAIRY INSTRUCTION.— II. 



Abridgement of Paper read at the Society of Arts 



BY Mr. John Wrightson, M.R.A.C, F.C.S. 



{Concluded from page 405.) 



NOW, how are we to give the maximum benefit to a 

 man whose life is to be spent in successfully manag- 

 ing a farm without a bailiff, so as to make his business 

 pay,maintaina family, and keep up the high character for 

 skill and knowledge of his business now possessed by 

 the British farmer ? I hope my hearers know the man. 

 I have known him for upwards of thirty years. He is 

 healthy, hardy, skilful, judicious, combative, respectful, 

 acute, and thoroughly well up in his business. All 

 are not so, but I say advisedly, that our farmers 

 are a grand set of men, holding their own through 

 long years of depression, ever hoping, ever striving, ever 

 cheerful. He is the very man to beget a son in his own 

 image, and you cannot look at the rising generation ot 

 our farmers without seeing that they will follow on in 

 the same straight line. Gentlemen, let me tell you one 

 thing vi^ith reference to teaching these men their busi- 

 ness — if you want to teach them anything about land, or 

 stock, or crop, or market, you must begin with them 

 when they are very young ; otherwise you will find that 

 the tables are turned, and that they are, in many cases, 

 wiser than their teachers. Again, I ask how are we best 

 to equip these young men for their business ? I unhesita- 

 tingly reply — by giving them a sound, general education, 

 and leaving the rest to their fathers. Do you suppose 

 that any agricultural professor can instruct these youths 

 as well as a thoroughly experienced farmer ? If so, I 

 can tell you that the professors learn what they know of 

 practice from the farmers. The more a professor of 

 this art mixes with farmers, and hears their views, the 

 better teacher he will be. Scientific instruction, to be 

 worth anything, must be controlled, checked, modelled 

 upon practice, and no teaching is worth attending that 

 does not carry with it the impress and the sanction of 

 practice. The British farmer is an adept in his business, 

 and it is a difficult matter to improve him. A sound 

 education and a period of pupilage at home, or with 

 another good farmer — or both. Or, in addition to this, 

 a year or two in a commercial office or bank — as is the 

 excellent system pursued in Scotland. Or, in other 

 cases, a year or two at an agricultural college, when the 

 parents can afford the time and the money. 



Farmers are not much taken up with the idea of 



