The Domestication of Science. 473 



not forget the adage that " many a little makes a inickle';" 

 and although in any given street or town, the cultivators of 

 science are an undoubted minority, yet when all are put to- 

 gether they make a mighty host. We aimed at the homes of 

 the intellectual, and there we are. 



Daring the past six months we have had a swarm of corre- 

 spondents ; and although the extent of our constituency ren- 

 dered it impossible that we could reply to individual communi- 

 cations, we have not lost sight of any useful hint ; and although 

 we have not repeated our programme in so many words, we 

 have not forgotten to provide our readers with something to 

 do, while we have endeavoured to lay before them abundant 

 matter about which they might pleasantly and profitably think. 

 From our own observations during many years, and from 

 portions of our correspondence, we have discerned in many 

 individuals and families a want of self-help. In reference to 

 popular astronomy, people deficient in this quality are apt to 

 forget how easy it is to learn from an almanac — like Die- 

 trichsen and Hannay's — a host of necessary facts about the 

 rising, southing, and setting of the sun, moon, planets, and 

 stars. In chemistry they forget the number of cheap manuals 

 which they can easily use, but which we cannot undertake to 

 reprint. In microscopy they do not perceive that every atom 

 they come into contact with is an object that they may examine, 

 and that every description of minute anatomy, or organization, 

 supplies hints concerning what they are to observe. Persons 

 whose tastes are decided, and mental fibres firm, may do 

 wonders by themselves, but co-operation, invaluable to all, is 

 indispensable to most. The members of a good local society 

 can see what others do, and how they do it. They can refer to 

 one colleague for the name of a plant, to another for the de- 

 scription of a fossil, to a third how to get over a difficulty in 

 using an instrument of research. In many circles this kind of 

 mutual help takes place without formal arrangements for its 

 provision. Families fond of any branch of science naturally 

 associate together — and how far preferable is a gathering for any 

 rational purpose, to a conglomeration of tedious mortals bent 

 upon a millinery and tailorcraft display. 



The domestication of science and literature — which are the 

 closest allies — is a most important incident for civilization and 

 happiness ; and although the male part of creation may do their 

 share of the good work, it cannot be accomplished unless the 

 women choose to aid. The very general failure of mechanics' and 

 similar institutions to provide the means for scientific culture, has 

 naturally arisen from the average condition of the families from 

 whom their members were derived. Even in the metropolis — if 

 we except the feeble efforts of the London Institution, which al- 



