Nov.  I,  1895  ] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
3^3 
willing  to  go  in  fov  a fi’uit-garden  experiment  in 
the  Kalutara  distriet.  Tliey  have  fixed  on  a meee 
of  land,  of  no  service  for  tea,  near  a village 
and  if  they  get  100  acies  at  HlO  per  acre  froin 
Government,  they  would  undertake  to  plant  10 
yearly  with  different  fruit.s,  and  so  show  tlie 
acres 
Sinhalese  how  to  grow  fruit  properly,  as  well 
as  go  on  with  what  might  become  an  important 
industry.  We  trust  this  application  will  bO 
favourably  considered  by  Government  when  it 
conies  before  it. 
PURCHASE  OF  EST.CTES  FOR  A 
COMPANV. 
An  upcouiitry  resident  writes 
“ Have  you  not  heard  of  the  new  Company  ? 
RoBel  and  Mottingharri  purchased  by  Thomson  for 
some  i36,700,  I mean  td  lakb  it  few  shares. 
The  purchase  is,  wb  presume,  for  a London  Com- 
pany of  wliifch  Messrs.  Whittall  iSc  Co.j  are  the  local 
Agents.  The  two  properties  named — one  in  Lower 
.Dikoyti,  and  one  in  Maskeliya — are  returned  as 
follows  : — 
Total. 
Mottingham  2.‘>8  . 
Binova  or  Rozelle  . . 929  . 
1,187 
Tea. 
220 
441 
661 
Timber  and 
Grass. 
16 
118 
134 
The  bargain  slionld  therefore  be  a good  one  for 
the  buyers. 
THE  BRITISH  ASSOCIATION  : 
THE  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 
l'.Y 
luswicb— Cardinal  Wolsey’s  town  and  coupled 
f liiin  with  Christ  Cburcli  as  “ twins  of  learning 
— is  favoreil  this  year  as  the  place  of  meeting 
of  the  Rritish  Association,  an  Association  which 
has  played,  and  continues  to  play,  perhaps, 
a greater  part  in  the  growth  and  influence  of 
science  (natural  knowledge),  than  almost  any 
other  in  the  world.  1 he  names  of  all  our  niost 
eminent  men  are  connected  with  its  proceedings, 
and  almost  every  important  branch  of  industry 
ha.s  heneflted  by  its  labours  aiul  endowments. 
This  year’s  President  is  “ Sir  Douglas  Galton, 
K.C.B.,  D.C.L.,  r.K.S.,  &c.”  And  no  one,  wishing 
to  keep  abreast  of  the  science  of  the  day,  and  of 
its  history  and  conquests  during  the  last  sixty- 
years,  should  fail  to  read  his  inaugural  addre.ss. 
This  address  is  not,  as  is  so  often  the  case, 
conlined  to  an  abstruse  and  technical  dissertation 
on  some  particular  branch  of  science,  too  learnecl 
for  the  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  the  general 
reader  ; hut  is  a general  survey  of  the  gams  that 
science  h.as  made  during  late  years  m every  de- 
partment, and  can  be  read  and  understood  by 
every  intelligent  person.  It  is,  as  usual,  very 
lon^--  and  the  mere  enumeration  of  its  lieadings 
or  sections  would  take  up  some  space.  But  it  is 
not  too  long,  and  does  not  contain  a word  too 
many,  for  those  who  love  science  for  truths 
sake,  as  well  as  for  the  many  who  live  by  one  or 
other  of  its  ramifications  and  depiirtments.  1 he 
immense  strides  we  have  made  in  our  geneial 
knowledge  and  industries  are  herein  set  forth  ; 
and  only  a very  inadeipiate  idea  of  the  scope 
of  the  afldress  can  be  gathered  from  our  reiei- 
eiice  to  some  of  its  subjects.  Ihus  it  oitens 
with  a glance  at  the  history  of  the  Association 
since  its  foundation  in  1831,  comparing,  generally, 
the  ignorance  of  that  time  with  the  knowledge 
of  today.  It  was  at  tlib  ihstanfce  bf  the  Rritish 
Association  that  Government  undertook  tidal  ob- 
servations at  500  stations  on  the  coasts  of  Britain. 
“ a subject  necessarily  of  imjiortance  to  Kriglatlu 
as  a dominant  iiower'at  sea.”  It  roused  (iOvern- 
ment  to  make  large-scale  experinients  in  Sliip- 
huilding  ahd  NaVal  Arcllitectilre.  It  caused 
GOverrinient  to  est.-ihlish  a general  Registration 
of  Births  aiid  Deaths  in  IS-oB.  It  instituted,  long 
ago,  an  eri.luiry  into  the  accuracy  of  Standard 
Weights  and  Measures  of  Length  and  Capacity  ; 
and  “in  the  last  session  of  last  Parliament a 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  endorsed 
a recommendation  of  the,  Association  to  provide 
for  a Uniformity  of  Weights  and  Measures  with 
reference  to  the  interests.  Of  Science.  In  tlih 
eighteenth  century  English  artisans  w-ere  pre- 
eminent in  tlie  niailiifactiit-e  of  instruments  of 
jjrecision,  so  much  so;  that  practical  Astronomy 
wds  kept  mdiiily  in  the  hands  ,of  British  observers; 
“ tlie  sectors,  quadrants  and  circles  were  then 
inimitable  by  cpiitihental  workmen  and  “ the 
foundation  of  the  llritish  Association  was  coin- 
cident with  a rapid  developement  of  mechanical 
apjdiances  in  the  engineer’s  w-orkshop.”  Thus,  “a 
young  workman  named  Joseph  Whitworth  ” rea- 
lized that  the  basis  of  accuracy  in  “ machinery 
was  the  making  of  a true  iilane,”  a problem  he  at 
once  proceeded  to  solve,  follow'ed  by  “an  exact 
system  of  measurement  generally  applicable  in 
the  workshop.”  Most  people  have  heard  of  the 
Royal  Uhservatory  at  Kew.  In  1842  the  Govern- 
ment gave  it  up,  and  as  the  Royal  Society  declined 
to  take  the  charge,  it  would  doubtless  have  lapsed 
had  not  the  British  Association  accepted  the  respon- 
sibility, and  after  having  maintained  it  for  nearly 
thirty-years,  at  a cost  of  about  £12,000,  handed 
it  over  to  the  Royal  Society  in  1871.  These 
facts  will  give  some  idea  of  the  services  the 
British  Association  has  rendered  to  the  country 
asw-ellasto  the  Sciences,  geographical,  geological, 
chemical,  astronomical,  mechanical,  and  physical. 
Meteorology,  Biology  (animal  and  botanical),  An- 
thropology, Bacteriology  are  all  passed  under  review- 
in  this  address;  while  sewage  purification,  smoke 
abatement,  mechanical  engineering  (a  boundless 
subject  in  itself)  are  all  told  of  in  the  most 
interesting  manner.  Then  a good  deal  is  said 
about  the  “Influence  of  Intercommnnication  af- 
forded by  the  British  Association  on  Science 
1‘rogress;”  about  Science  in  Germany  ; assistance 
to  Scientific  Research  in  Great  Britain,  and  a 
general  summing-up.  How  the  British  Associa- 
tion works  is  told  in  the  following  w-ords  : “Onr 
meetings  have  been  successful  because  they  have 
maintained  the  true  principles  of  scientific  in- 
vestigation. We  have  been  able  to  secure  the 
continued  presence  and  concurrence  of  the  master 
spirits  of  science.  They  have  been  w-illing  to 
sacrifice  their  leisure  and  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  the  Association,  because  the  meetings 
have  afforded  them  the  means  of  advancing  the 
sciences  to  which  they  are  attached.”  Again, 
“the  British  Association  has  distributed  £60,000 
to  aid  research  since  its  foundation.”  The  Pre- 
sident, in  his  opening  remarks,  rightly  pays  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Professor 
Huxley,  who  took  such  a prominent  part  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  last  meeting  at  Oxford,  and, 
“whose  energy  and  wealth  of  argument  helped 
to  win  the  battle  of  evolution,  and  to  secure 
for  ns  the  right  to  discuss  questions  of  religion 
and  science  without  fear  and  without  favour.” 
Sir  Douglas  Galton  concludes  his  address  in 
these  w-ords  : — 
The  various  agencies  for  scientific  education  have 
produced  numerous  students  admirably  qualified  to 
pursue  research ; and  at  the  same  time  almost  every 
