08 
dustry by Mr. Weldon, it does not seem 
that we are much nearer to cheap aluminium 
than we have been fora long time. A short 
time since, it was announced that a new 
method of production had been invented and 
was in use; but Mr. Weldon says this inven- 
tion only relates to the production of anhy- 
drous alumina from potash alum; and, if the 
method of obtaining this were fifty per cent 
cheaper than that of M. Pechiney of Salindres, 
it would only cheapen aluminium by five per 
cent. 
Apropos of the present discussion of the 
excessive requirements of Greek and Latin in 
our colleges, let us not forget the neglect of 
English. One of the reasons most commonly 
given for the study of the ancient languages 
is that they aid the understanding of our own. 
‘This is undoubtedly true, but they are not the 
best aids ; and if a good understanding of Eng- 
lish be the desired end, as it certainly should 
be, there can be no question that it will be 
sooner and better attained by the study of 
English itself. The derivation of our words 
can be very satisfactorily taught along with ad- 
vanced spelling, and the meaning of a large 
number of roots, prefixes, and suffixes, can 
then be acquired, so as to give most practi- 
cal assistance to the comprehension of English ; 
much better, we venture to say, than if etymo- 
logical study be limited to the languages from 
which the roots, prefixes, and suffixes come, 
and direct statement of their use in building 
up our own language be omitted. It is cer- 
tainly very common to find students who have 
‘passed’ in Greek and Latin still unable to 
explain the meaning of not unusual scientific 
terms. Indeed, so large a share of the time 
allowed to linguistic study is now given to 
Greck and Latin considered simply as dead 
languages, without reference to their living 
descendants, that no time is left in which the 
general student can learn what he certainly 
should know about his mother-tongue. 
There is pressing need of collegiate study of 
English as a language: and few subjects would 
be more attractive than this might be made by 
a lecturer who would tell his class where and 
SCIENCE. 
2 
ve 
‘ 
[Vou. Ill, No. 
Fs : 
when the language attained enough of its pres- 
ent characteristics to be entitled to its present 
name, what were its ancestors, and how they 
mingled and changed their form in producing 
their descendant ; who would describe how the 
language itself has varied in recent centuries, 
and how its unsystematic spelling, so unlike 
the phonetic simplicity of Italian and Spanish, 
depends on its complex origin; who would 
point out the historic reasons for its depend- 
ence on earlier languages for words expressing 
abstract ideas, in contrast with the relative 
unabhingigkeit of German. All this would no 
more require a knowledge of ancient or foreign 
languages than an appreciation of elementary 
lectures on chemistry needs an understanding 
of organic analysis; but it would give a very 
different knowledge of English from that de- 
rived from the study of Latin declensions and 
Greek accents. We cannot doubt that it would 
be of great service to all who have to write out 
what they think, and that it would attract to 
philological studies many students who are 
now repelled from them. 
We understand that the scientific work of 
the Army signal-office is likely to form a 
feature of increasing importance in the future 
development of that department, and that Gen. 
Hazen desires to secure the services of the 
best talent in the country. It would seem that 
the study of mathematics, mechanics, and 
_ physics, as bearing on meteorology, has been 
sadly neglected in our universities; and it is 
by no means easy to find any who have 
been studying the sciences with a view to the 
pursuit of investigations in meteorology. As 
a general rule, those who have studied and 
practised astronomy for a few years are the 
best prepared to advance meteorology. The 
fine library of the signal-office, its unequalled 
mass of observations and maps, its courses 
of lectures, its annual classes of men under 
instruction at Fort Myer, its collection of appa- 
ratus, all offer to young meteorologists oppor-_ 
tunity and stimulus to farther advancement ; 
while the publications of the office offer every 
facility for making known the results of origi- 
