1870.] Instruction in Science for Women. 45 



seem the best adapted to favour, materially and mentally, the pro- 

 gress of females as working women. 



The series of lectures at South Kensington, which, it should be 

 premised, is by no means the initiation of the movement, consists 

 of three courses — one by Professor Huxley, on what he calls Phy- 

 siography; a second by Professor Guthrie, of Jermyn Street, on 

 Elementary Physics and Chemistry; and a third by Professor 

 Oliver, of Kew, on Biology. The last named is, however, chiefly, 

 if not entirely, confined to Botany and Vegetable Physiology. Of 

 Professor Huxley's lectures we will speak first, and to illustrate 

 his method of imparting tuition, we will endeavour to describe his 

 introductory lecture. 



" Physiography " is explained to mean " a description and rudi- 

 mentary analysis of those obvious natural facts and events which 

 are commonly treated of under the head of elementary physical 

 geography;" and in his introductory lecture Professor Huxley 

 described the changes which are taking place in a river basin, as 

 illustrated by the ebb and flow of the tide in the Thames, the sup- 

 ply which it receives from its tributaries, from the condensation of 

 watery vapour in the atmosphere, and from other sources. 



The information which he desires to convey seems of the most 

 commonplace character, consisting of ah account of the form of the 

 Thames Basin ; the appearance of the river as seen from a balloon ; 

 the relative extent of the fresh and salt water currents ; the bulk of 

 fresh water which flows down to the sea, and never returns ; and 

 so forth. But it is more than probable that not six of the ladies 

 present (for they were all ladies in the conventional sense of the 

 term who constituted his audience) possessed even a superficial 

 acquaintance with the phenomena in question, and perhaps not 

 one would have been able to answer correctly the questions which 

 might have been put from his programme. Nor is this anything 

 to their discredit. How many of our readers are there who could 

 tell us what number of cubic feet "more water runs down than 

 runs up beneath London Bridge every day?" or where "Thames 

 Head is ? " or " How far it is from London Bridge, and how high 

 it is above the Thames at that bridge ? " 



The lecturer managed, however, not only to instil this informa- 

 tion into his hearers' minds, with the aid of a chart and black-board ; 

 but with his bottle of cold water, which served at the same time to 

 refresh his body and illustrate his subject, he explained with great 

 clearness the laws and phenomena of radiation, heat, congelation, 

 &c, and some of the leading principles of meteorology. His address 

 may be said to have been an ideal picture of the cycle of changes 

 which are constantly going on between earth, sea, and air, in so 

 far as the transfer of water is concerned. In his subsequent lec- 

 tures he described (or intended to describe — for this article was 



