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152 SCIENCE FOR WOMEN.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
One Of The Chief Points Of Good Husbandr...
childhood to notice accurately the phenomena of nature , and who had acquired that moderate amount of technical knowledge which
would enable them to understand what was required of them , and to describe what they had witnessed . Means might soon be found
to enlist them under able generalship , as an army of observation In the field of Science ; and how immensely would such co-operation
multiply the power of those on whom it would still devolve to combine the parts into a whole , to explain what had been described ,
from effects to trace causes , and from facts to deduce * principles ! Such investigationsfor instanceas those instituted some years ago
by Professor Quetelet , of Brussels , , for the purpose of determining the influence of temperature upon vegetation , the relation of the
periods at which plants came into leaf or flower , with the latitude of their habitatsand the modifying effect of aspect and meteorological
variations , could , only be carried into effect by an extensive and combined system of observation ; yet an accumulation of minute ,
easily ascertainable particulars , gathered by a host of contributors , could be wrought by a master-hand into one work of greatest value
and utility . Or , again , in such researches as those recently made by Dr . Angus Smith into the state of the air in various localities , and
under different influences , the application throughout the country of a few simple atmospheric testswith faithful registration of their
, results , would soon produce a most valuable body of information , from which _princijDles of the greatest importance might be deduced ;
since the requirement of a vast amount of observation for the establishment of a single theorem is compensated by the fact , that
thousands are capable of making the former where there is one ¦ who can work out the latterthough even to observe rightly requires
, a certain degree of training , not yet so generally and easily obtainable as it ought to be .
In course of time perhaps a female institute would arise to form a common centre for all who were interested in such subjects ,
where names could be enrolled , and whither men of science would repair when in need of any assistance which women could render ,
and be certain to find able and willing helpers . In many cases personal intercourse might be dispensed with , for Kirby and
Spence have shown what may be done by epistolary correspondence ; and with yet less trouble a professor might only send out a
printed circular , like the decennial Government census paper , detailing' the kind of information he desired , and become at once both a
Briareus and an Argus ; a hundred pairs of hands and eyes would immediately engage in fulfilling his requirements , observing- the
effects he wished to investigate , and noting down their observations , till , when his papers were returned filled up , he would find himself ,
_23 erhaps at the end of a month , in possession of such a body of facts as it would have taken him years _^ ° collect single-handed .
Such an establishment might also provide more advanced
instruction for such as desired it , and likewise furnish facilities for the
152 Science For Women.
152 SCIENCE FOR WOMEN .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1862, page 152, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051862/page/8/
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