106 Proceedings of the British Association. 



Mr. Porter stated that the amount of the other minerals raised in 

 France was not of any great national importance. Coal and iron 

 were the two great staples on which the prosperity of manufactures 

 depends, and he presented this paper as a contribution to a compara- 

 tive view of the mineral resources of the two countries, and the in- 

 dustrial arts connected with mineral produce. The protecting duties 

 on iron were shown to have injured all the manufactures of France, 

 and to have conferred no benefit on the iron-masters themselves. 



In reply to some questions, Mr. Porter stated that the system of 

 inspection in France was purely statistical, and had no right to au- 

 thoritative interference. The absence of strikes in France he attri- 

 buted to the habits of the people, and not to any vigilance on the part 

 of the government inspectors. 



Mr. Felkin gave an account of his visit to the coal fields around 

 St. Etienne, and stated that the great obstacle to their increase of 

 productiveness was a want of means of transit, and he believed that 

 the railroads now being made would lead to more coal being raised, 

 but that this coal would be found more applicable to steam-engines 

 than to the processes of smelting iron. 



A paper was read, sent by Mrs. Davis Gilbert, on the subject of 

 agricultural schools. The chief purpose of the paper was to recom- 

 mend the combination of spade -husbandry and the allotment system 

 with the agricultural schools established under the national system. 

 It was stated that at the Willingden schools, the labour of the 

 scholars in the afternoon paid for their tuition in the forenoon. 



Col. Sykes read a paper on the rate of mortality in Calcutta. He 

 stated that the population of that city consisted of 144,893 males 

 and 84,812 females, making a total of 222,705 souls. It appeared 

 from the monthly returns of deaths that the rate of mortality for the 

 seasons follows the same laws of season as in temperate climates. 

 The cold season being the most fatal, and April being a month 

 of high mortality. In the months for the decennial period between 

 1831 and 1841, the following were the number of deaths : — 



January 7,877, February 6,870 March 8,850, April 10,232, May 

 8,381, June 5,822, July 6,671, August 7,631, September 8,008, 

 October 8,895, November 11,039, December 10,351. 



As an illustration of the importance of taking a wide survey of 

 facts for statistical purposes, it was noticed that the rates of mortality 





