1878.] 
The British Association . 
525 
The Committee’s “ Report on Babbage’s Analytical 
Engine ” was read in the department of Mathematics. 
After referring to the general principles of calculating en- 
gines, and the special characteristics and capabilities of 
Mr. Babbage’s, the Report dealt with the advisability of 
constructing an analytical machine. On the question of 
cost the Committee said— “ It has not been possible for us 
to form any exaCt conclusion as to the cost. Nevertheless 
there are some data in existence which appear to fix a lower 
limit to the cost. Mr. Babbage, in his published papers, 
talks of having 1000 columns of wheels, each containing 
fifty distinCt wheels : this apparently refers to his store. 
Besides the many thousand moulded pewter wheels for these, 
and the axes on which they are mounted, there is the mill, 
also consisting of a series of columns of wheels and of a 
vast machinery of cams, clutches, and cranks, for their con- 
trol and connection, so as to bring them within the directing 
power of the Jacquard systems of variable cards and opera- 
tion cards. Without attempting any exaCt estimate, we 
may say that it would surprise us very much if it were found 
possible to obtain tenders for less than £10,000, while it 
would pretty certainly cost a considerable sum to put the 
design in a fit state for obtaining tenders. On the other 
hand, it would not surprise us if the cost were to reach three 
or four times the amount above suggested. It is understood 
that towards the close of his life Mr. Babbage had contem- 
plated carrying out the manufacture of the engine on a 
smaller scale, confining himself to twenty-five figures instead 
of fifty, and to two hundred columns instead of a thousand 
or more. This would, of course, reduce the expense 
of the metal work proportionately, but we do not think 
that it would materially reduce the charge which we 
anticipate for bringing the design into working order.” 
The conclusion at which the Committee arrived was that 
they could not advise the British Association to take any 
steps to procure the construction of Mr. Babbage’s analytical 
engine. 
In the department of Physical Science Mr. J. T. Bottom- 
ley read the “ Report of the Committee for commencing 
Secular Experiments on the Elasticity of Wires.” The ar- 
rangements for suspending the wires are complete, and two 
wires, one of palladium and the other of platinum, have 
been suspended in their places. 
Prof. Adams exhibited and described a new form of po- 
lariscope which enabled measurements to be made of crystals 
