THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
91 
like nature. Any questions of this l^ind, 
when requiring answers that will be gen- 
erally interesting or instructive will be 
cheerfully replied to, either by ourselves 
or correspondents. 
The parents who have wisdom enough 
to appreciate and cultivate the mechanical 
interests common to most children, go a 
long way towards insuring their success 
in after life, for fingers trained to works 
of skill are not likely to be afterwards 
found idle. The development of mechan- 
ical desires and tendencies in children 
should be encouraged by every one who 
wishes them well now and hereafter. 
From a worldly point of view, the cutting 
and whittling instinct in a boy or girl 
represents a money value of considerable 
magnitude, and the parent or guardian 
who neglects to aid the growth and de- 
velopment of this valuable trait, is, to say 
the least of it, grossly indifferent to the 
w^elfare of his charge— he owns a diamond 
in the rough, that would be doubled in 
value by polishing and setting. All our 
great constructors, inventors, successful 
civil and mechanical engineers, mechan- 
ical superintendents of our shops, fac- 
tories, shipyards, and railways, are. men 
wdio early evinced a disposition to cut, 
whittle, saw and tinker; and the hun- 
dreds of intelligent women in this country 
who direct the work of the thousands of 
their less gifted sisters in the various mil- 
linery, dress-making, and other estab- 
lishments where female labor is em- 
ployed, were ladies whose early tenden- 
cies to "scissor," cut, hem, patch, and 
whittle often caused their parents to wish 
the "mechanical instinct" had never 
shown itself. These men, these women, 
one and all, owe their positions, in a great 
measure, to their " mechanical instincts," 
and here is where the money value lies. 
The man who, by his superior knowledge 
and intelligence, commands from fifty to 
one hundred per cent, more for his ser- 
vices than his neighbor, owns a property 
of great value, and one that is not subject 
to many of those mutabilities which often, 
without warning, sweep away the gather- 
ings of a lifetime. Give the ch ildren tools 
—boys and girls— mechanical toys, books. 
and simple scientific instruments, and. 
where possible, a workroom. Let them, 
cut a.nd whittle to their hearts' content. 
Give them the benefit of your knowledge 
of mechanical matters as you would of 
any other thing that you think would be 
of use or interest to them. Lead their 
efforts on to pleasing and useful results, 
and you will lay the foundation of future 
usefulness and competency. 1 he Youn& 
Scientist has special claims on parents 
and guardians, and if introduced to their 
charges in a proper spirit, will assist in 
developing a taste for mechanical and 
scientific research that will not only pos- 
sess a money value of great extent, but 
will tend to divert the minds of the little 
ones into grooves that will ever after 
prove their moral safeguards. 
The Planets. 
MARCH, 1883. 
(All Computations are for the Latitude and 
Meridian of New York City.) 
Mercury will be visible for the second time 
this year March 3-6, beint? at greatest elonga- 
tion on the 3d, and brig-htc^st for three days 
thereafter. The elongation being western, Mer- 
cury will be a morning star, rising before the 
Sun, and at a point somewhat south of the sun- 
rise point. This will not be as favorable a time 
to see him as at his next elongation. May 14. 
He rises on the 5th at 5Ji. 29m., just one hour be- 
ft)re the Sun, and will therefore be visible for a 
few minutes. 
Venus will be stationary on the 26th, and she 
will vary but very little in her time of rising 
throughout the month, being at 4.17 a.m. on the 
10th, and 4.12 a.m. on the 25tli. She will be 3° 
south of tli(^ Moon on the 5th, being near the 
cluster of stars marking the head of the Goat. 
She now presents a slightly gibbous phase, 
which will gradually approach a complete cir- 
cle as the summer months pass. 
Mars will continue to be a morning star until 
next November. He is still a very late I'iser, re- 
cedinf? from the Sun A^ery slowly, and rising 
about 6 o'clock in the morning. 
Jupiter reaeh(\s his eastern qundratui-e on the 
13th, still shining with great lustre. Tlie great 
Crab Nebula Is just to the riglit or west of him, 
and about 1° above the third magnitude stai'^ 
Zeta Tauri, which, with the third magm'tude 
star Beta Aurigce, marks the tips of the Bull's 
