.May 28, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



475 



pearance by polarized light, were peculiar to but- 

 ter, and could serve as a means of distinguishing 

 it from imitations ; and the commissioner of agri- 

 culture, in his last report (p. 36), states, that, at 

 the time of writing, two convictions for viola- 

 tions of the butter-laws had been secured in the 

 District of Columbia by the aid of Dr. Taylor's 

 method. 



Professor "Weber, of the Ohio state university, 

 however, has recently shown that lard and oleo-oil 

 do not differ essentially from butter in this respect. 

 By ' boiling ' the butter as Dr. Taylor directs, 

 some of its water is removed, and a formation of 

 minute salt-crystals takes place. As the butter 

 cools, these minute crystals of salt serve as neu- 

 clei for the formation of the butter-globules. Pro- 

 fessor Weber shows that if melted lard or tallow 

 be allowed to cool under the same conditions, they 

 too form globules which exhibit the St. Andrew's 

 cross. 



In an open letter to Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, 

 director of the New York agricultural experiment- 

 station, Dr. Taylor attempts to break the force of 

 Professor Weber's experiments, and also shifts his 

 ground, claiming that the distinguishing difference 

 between butter and other fats under the micro- 

 scope is that the former, when viewed by polarized 

 light through a selenite, shows a uniform tint, 

 while the latter exhibits prismatic colors. 



Whether this claim rests on any better founda- 

 tion than the former, the writer will not under- 

 take to say ; but it is plain that further investiga- 

 tion would not be out of place. 



H. P. Armsby. 



ENGLAND'S COLONIES. 



The opening of the Colonial and Indian exhibi- 

 tion at South Kensington gave rise to an article 

 in the London Times, on the growth of England's 

 colonial possessions. The Portuguese and Span- 

 iards, and even the French, were in the field long 

 before England. Spain had a settlement in Do- 

 minica as early as 1493, and Vasco da Gama 

 reached India in 1498. Within very few years 

 India and South America had their Portuguese 

 and Spanish viceroys. In 1534 Jacques Cartier 

 made his famous voyage up the St. Lawrence, 

 taking possession of the country in the name of 

 the French sovereign. True, Cabot discovered 

 Newfoundland and the mainland of North Ameri- 

 ca in 1497 ; but he, like other early western navi- 

 gators, simply regarded the new world as a barrier 

 on the way to India. It was this latter land 

 of fabulous riches that was the goal of the infant 

 naval enterprise of England for many years after 

 Cabot's discovery. The Portuguese monopolized 



the routes by the southern seas, and England had 

 not yet a navy to cope with its rival. 



So effort after effort was made, in craft not 

 much more formidable than cock-boats, to find a 

 passage to India either by the north-west or 

 north-east. Not till our own days have these 

 passages been sailed over ; but long before had 

 they been given up as hopeless routes to China 

 and India. Many a life did these early attempts 

 cost England ; but to them, no doubt, is greatly 

 due the rapid progress she made as a naval power. 



Up to the end of the sixteenth century, while 

 Portugal and Spain were rapidly extending their 

 sway in Asia and America, England had only a 

 doubtful possession of Newfoundland along with 

 powerful French rivals. Even Sir Humphry Gil- 

 bert's attempt to effect a settlement on the island 

 in 1583 can hardly be regarded as other than 

 abortive, though it gives Newfoundland a claim 

 to be regarded as the earliest British colony. The 

 first effective English settlement on the island 

 cannot be dated earlier than 1623, long before 

 which Virginia had been planted and Jamestown 

 founded. True, in 1580 the British flag was 

 planted in the West India island of Tobago, but 

 that island was not effectively occupied by Eng- 

 land till 1763. 



Meanwhile, some roving Englishmen had in 

 1605 planted a cross in Barbadoes, inscribed 

 ' James, king of England and of this island,' 

 though there was no actual settlement till 1625. 

 Barbadoes is one of the two or three British West 

 India islands that never changed hands. After 

 all, however, Bermuda may fairly claim to be 

 considered the earliest of existing English colonies, 

 as it was colonized both from Virginia and Eng- 

 land shortly after 1609. But later, during the 

 seventeenth century, the growth of England's 

 colonial possessions was slow^, if we except the 

 New England states and the settlements on the 

 east American coast to the south. Leaving these 

 last out of view, her colonies at the close of the 

 century were few and scattered, compared with 

 the enormous territories which Portugal and 

 Spain, France and Holland, were endeavoring to 

 drain of their wealth. Even in India, during the 

 seventeenth century, she can hardly be said to 

 have got beyond the factory stage. The East 

 India company were simply lease-holders of the 

 native princes. Newfoundland, as already in- 

 dicated, was only permanently settled in 1623, 

 fourteen years after the planting of Bermuda. 

 In the same year an English colony was planted 

 in Nova Scotia, which then included New Bruns- 

 wick, though it was only at the peace of Utrecht 

 (1713) that England can be said to have obtained 

 undisputed possession. 



