234 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 136. 



A verbal paper by Prof. G. H. Perkins, on certain 

 strange stone implements from Vermont, consisted 

 chiefly of general statements concerning Vermont 

 archeology; and the exhibition of a considerable col- 

 lection of peculiar implements, with remarks upon 

 their character and rarity. The speaker mentioned 

 the fact, that the evidences of a former occupation of 

 the region, more extensive than has been supposed, 

 were increasingly convincing; and also that two dis- 

 tinct layers, one much below the other, afforded relics. 



A very excellent account of the Cahokia mound 

 and its surroundings, with the results of his own ex- 

 tensive explorations, was given by Mr. W. McAdams; 

 and many very striking resemblances to the Mexican 

 pyramids were brought out. The writer showed by 

 drawings and diagrams the forms and position of 

 many mounds, which are found in the region of 

 Cahokia in immense numbers. Mr. F. W. Putnam 

 gave some very practical and detailed directions as to 

 the proper exploration of mounds, pleading earnestly 

 for thorough work in all explorations; and illustrated 

 its value by several examples drawn from his own 

 recent investigations. The last paper read was by 

 Rev. Mr. Dorsey, who presented a most interesting 

 collection of suggestive facts respecting primary clas- 

 sifiers in Dhegiha and cognate languages. 



THE APPLICATION OF SCIENCE TO 

 THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMP- 

 TION OF FOOD A 



Mr. Atkinson, in his opening remarks, said that 

 he presumed the business of the association was not 

 to popularize science by lowering its standard, but to 

 bring the progress of science and art in their applica- 

 tion to human welfare prominently before the public. 

 While giving full credit to those who engage in the 

 pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, yet Mr. Atkin- 

 son would believe that their work must finally rest 

 for its justification upon its influence on the mate- 

 rial welfare of the race. To this end the address 

 was devoted to the future applications of science to 

 the production and transportation of food. In pre- 

 paring the address, the speaker endeavored to bring 

 into clear view the vast changes, both social and sci- 

 entific, which have rendered the production and dis- 

 tribution of all commodities, especially of food, so 

 much easier and more equitable during the present 

 generation than ever before, and, to some extent, to 

 show what further progress might be immediately 

 before us. He endeavored to demonstrate, that, in 

 the generation which will have passed between the 

 end of our civil war to the beginning of the next 

 century, greater progress will have been made in 

 the way of material welfare than in any preceding 

 period of the same length. 



It is commonly assumed that the invention of the 

 steam-engine, spinning-frame, and power-loom made 



1 Abstract of an address delivered before the section of eco- 

 nomice science of the American association for the advancement 

 of science, at Ann Arbor, Aug. 26, by Edward Atkinson, 

 Esq., of Boston, vice-president of the section. 



greater changes in the production and distribution of 

 wealth in a single half-century than have ever oc- 

 curred before or since ; but it will be observed that 

 the forces of steam were limited during the first half 

 of the century to reducing the cost of labor in mak- 

 ing textile fabrics and in working mills. It is only 

 in recent years that it has exercised any great influ- 

 ence on the production or distribution of food. 

 However important clothing may be, it is relatively 

 unimportant as compared to food in the proportion 

 of labor required for its production. 



All the available statistics prove that to the work- 

 ing people of this country the cost of food measured 

 in money, including drink for whatever it is worth, is 

 not less than three times the cost of clothing; and 

 the proportion is even greater for the working people 

 of Europe. How much greater this disparity must 

 have been twenty-five years since, when the value of 

 grain was exhausted by transportation over a hun- 

 dred and fifty miles of common highway ! If, then, 

 one-half the struggle for life, measured in money, 

 and more than one-half when measured by the work 

 of the household of the prosperous mechanic, is the 

 price paid for food, it is evident that the inventions 

 and improvements of the last twenty years, which 

 have been mainly directed to the increased produc- 

 tion and cheajD distribution of grain and meat, have 

 affected human welfare in even greater measure than 

 the inventions of the last century. 



After referring to the advantages to the commerce 

 of the United States, owing to the vast area over 

 which free competition is possible, Mr. Atkinson 

 enumerated various changes which have been brought 

 about by the application of more scientific methods in 

 machinery, and by the discoveries in the last twenty- 

 five years : he referred to the displacement of the 

 paddle-wheel by the screw-propeller; to the perfec- 

 tion of the compound steam-engine; to the discovery 

 of oil-wells; and to the growing use made of elec- 

 tricity. 



To this picture of prosperity, there is another side: 

 vast progress has been made in individual wealth 

 and common welfare; the time necessary to be de- 

 voted to the struggle for life has been reduced. But, 

 great as our progress has been, and huge as our abun- 

 dance now appears to be, yet the fact remains that 

 the average product to each person in this most pros- 

 perous country, measured in money at the point of 

 final distribution for final consumption, does not ex- 

 ceed fifty to fifty-five cents per capita per day; and 

 our whole accumulated wealth, aside from land, does 

 not exceed two, or, at the utmost, three years' pro- 

 duction. After we have provided for the support of 

 the government, for taxation, each average person 

 must find shelter, and be supplied with food and 

 clothing out of what forty to forty-five cents will 

 buy. Moreover, whenever any great invention dis- 

 places common laborers whose development has not 

 been of such a kind as to fit them for other work, 

 they suffer for the time. The Yankee boy of former 

 days, who attended the common school for three or 

 six months in the year, and during the rest of the 

 year was a jack-at-all-trades, was thereby enabled to 



