76 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



mixture of sand and clay, and dirt ; separate it and see what a 

 history its component parts have ; strain out the water, and its study 

 alone is a history. Ruskin well describes this when in speaking of a 

 street gutter he says, " At your own will you may see in it either 

 " the refuse of the street or the image of the sky." 



Take electricity. No branch of science rivals in interest that of 

 electric force, and at no time in the history of research has any 

 branch of science made so great or so rapid progress during the years 

 since 1881. With its now acknowledged usefulness for lighting 

 comes its introduction for the production of power, and many trades 

 requiring the application of a motor for driving light machinery will 

 have an ever ready source of it at their command in their own quar- 

 ters. Its power for lighting mines and at the same time affording 

 motive power in them is now being utilized in the mining districts of 

 the west. Late English papers describe its application for lighting 

 purposes at the new St. Catharines lighthouse at the southern extrem- 

 ity of the Isle of Wight, to the extent of 700,000 candle illuminating 

 power, replacing the former oil light at the same point of 730 candle 

 power, thus being 1000 times more brilliant. The Spectator calls it 

 the "legitimate descendant of the beacon on the hill-top, developed 

 " through the different stages of the tallow candle and the flat and 

 "concentric wick oil lamp." The same page says, "We wonder 

 " to-day at such achievement, but perhaps our descendants will 

 "illuminate the more frequented sea routes as we light our streets, 

 " with buoys bearing powerful electric lights upon them, the light 

 " gendered by the action of the tides, and will marvel that we could 

 " have been content to let our great ships blunder on the rocks or 

 " fall foul of one another for lack of so simple a precaution." For 

 driving street cars electricity is demonstrated already. For a motive 

 power in steamships, experiments are now going on to develope it, 

 and the result when attained will be of incalculable advantage, as the 

 space hitherto occupied by coal will become available for cargo. 

 Electricity again is applied to surgery and is used in the fine arts ; 

 there is no saying what it may not yet be made to do, and the old 

 remark holds good, that "Magnetism is in its infancy, and electricity 

 " is as yet unborn." 



Take again Astronomy. Within the last quarter of a century 

 a remarkable advance has marked the methods and aims of astronomy. 



