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X34 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. [Fe...
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BRITANNIA'S SHAME.* WE hear so pftcu and...
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"m' 'I ' '"""• '" '""' *' ' * Ptooaiwa i...
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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.
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Progress Of Science, The Appearance Of M...
and social importance of the diffusion of enlightened scientific viewsV Among- living 1 philosophers , ; no one ^ as done more towards elucidating and popularising the uniform and continuous method of natural operation than Sir Ckables Ltell , who rescued one of the most comprehensive sciences—geology— -from the coiavulsioriary theories of less gifted men . The past year has added i & the proofs of the soundness of his views . The discussion concerning the flint implements found in France , at Abbeville and Amiens ^ in as sociation with fossils far older than chronology usually fixes the date of man ' s appeai'ance upon the earth , has confirmed , the belief in the antiquity of the human race , while investigations in American coal-fields have demonstrated the existence of abundance of air-breathing reptiles during the carboniferous period , and other discoveries have added to the conviction that the changes in the organic life of our globe have been brought about in a very gradual and orderly manner , by the operations of continuous causes through breaks in
prodigious periods of time , and without any or terruptions in the enormous and far-reaching plan . Tending towards precisely the same philosophy are the opinions of Fabaday on the " Conservation of Force . " By force , Faeadat means " the cause oi a physical action ; " and he maintains that whether the causes of electrical , chemical , and other actions be distinct and separate , or only modified manifestations of one and the same power , the total amount of force " existing in an'individual atom or in the universe is tinciiahgeable and indestructible , The practical difficulty consists in our imperfect means of tracing-the action of forces under all circumstances ; thus , if one body is removed from another , so . that the attraction of gravitation is lessened inversely as the square of the distance , what becomes of the " force '' thus ceasing to produce a gravitating effect ? That it produces some effect cannot b , e , doubted by any one who admits the principle of the " Conservation of Force ; " but it remains for future discovery to unfold the precise nature and consequence of its operation .
Bearing very much on this question of continuous £ is contrasted , with spasmodic action , are the theories propounded by Mr . DarWix to account for the appearance of different species of creatures . Mr . Dakwin ' s schema , which is , as yet , a long way from completeness or proof , appears to have for its object to show that the immense variety of organic forms exhibited during geological eras , or now extant upon earth , are the result of natural forces acting upon a few typical forms which they have gradually changed and modified , so as to produce what naturalists have taken for individual and persistent species . We shall probably be able shortly to return to this subject , bnt now mention it as exhibiting- one of the many tendencies to recognise the continuous operation of uniform causes , and the powerful effects produced by a constant succession of comparatively
small impulses . The growth of this idea is the culminating point of modern philosophy , and none was ever calculated to be more fertile in important practical results . In science , notwithstanding . the constant addition of fresn materials , we are manifestly tending towards simplicity . Thus , ^ arabay following Becquerel shows fluorescence and phosphorescence to be similar luminous conditions , differing only in " the time during which the . slate , excited by exposure to light , continues . " Schonbein recognises oxygen in three conditions : Ozone , antozone , and ii s ordinary state ; and under each condition he supposes oxygen to be able to combine , producing different chemical results . Following the same line , M . Ca . hotjh 3 , in recent researches into the nature of " organo-metallic radicals , " has added tp the evidence in
favour of considering the metals as compound bodies , perhaps all of them modifications or different states of one and the samp substance ; and M . Peligot , by detecting cellulose * the basis of vegetable tissues , as a component of cJiitine , or the substance Which gives firmness to the shells of lobsters and other crustaceans , and to the skins of insects , has rendered apparent additional points of connexion between the two great divisions of tho organic world . According to this philosopher , ' * the external envelope , more oriess insisting , of animals or plants , is composed of only two substances , cellulose , and , protein—cellulose , which exists ^ iji plants and inferior animals ; cellulose and protein , which are united in animals higher in the scalp ; and protein alone , which forms tho tissues of t"ho verfcebrata . " { Annalos $ e Chimie . ) Thus , gradually , does the great cloctrino of unity of design in Nature unfold
itself to our view ; and wo look forward ' with' confidence to , the future discovery of a few simple and comprehensive laws , competent to tho production of the most diversified effects . In electrical soionce , an important step towards , unity and simplicity has been made by some x'ecent discoveries of Mr . Gassiot , to which wo shall take n ' n early opportunity of returning , merely alluding- now , to one which attracted great attention in a rocont lectiu'e of Professor Tywdall , at tho Royal Institution , who illustrated it by exhibiting" the stratified discharge en vacuo by monns of a powerful Grove ' s battery , precisely the same as that which Imp hitherto been obtained only by means of Ruiimkorff ' s coil .
In light we seem on tho verge of important discoveries , ns M . ITieipok has auccoodod , . so to speak , in bottling up its actinic power $ and Mr . Smith exhibited to tho British Association an apparatus for producing colours by inewis of alternato impressions of light' and darkness , obtained by ¦ whirling a wJiito ' enra over n black ground . ^—an experiment \ vhioh appears in harmony witU Goethe ' s views , If wo turn from the philosophy of science to its pi'aotioal achievements and applications , tho prospect is untie factory and encouraging . In works of construotipn wo can ppinb to the Groat Eastern ; and to thoVictoria Bridge , spanning tho river St , Xmwrcnco , and overcoming the sngineoring 1 ( HiKpulties oQoasioned by the . ppwor of the winter
ice . Some progress has been made in steam ploughing , which together with other scientific means of carrying on . agriculture , promises to elevate the condition of the agricultural labourer , as the discovery has happily been made thai an ignorant , baSly . housed , illtreated peasantry , are no longer likely to be profitable to their employers , or the owners of the soil . Machinery is also making its way into the baking trade , and will no doubt solve the question of what is to be done with the thousands of miserable beings Who now toil for unheard-of hours , in the noisome cellars in which the bread of
great towns is usually made . In military and naval art the past year will be famous , if not for fresh discovery , for \ the success in constructing Armstrong guns , which will give the range and precision of the rifle to the largest ordnance , and for the progress made in building steam rams and impenetrable iron-cased ships . There can be no doubt that our chances of peaee have been immensely increased by the practical proof that we could beat all the world combined in the rapid production of costly and efficient implements of war .
In the matter of lighting streets and houses great energy has been displayed by competitors with the Gas Companies , who seem foolishly dead to the necessity for improvement . We have a new effort to utilize the lime light . Major Fitzmatteice in England and M . Isoaed in France have new plans for making a cheap and highly illuminating gas , and the South Foreland Light-house has been illuminated by an electric light ; speaking of -which brings to mind another curious application of electric force— -the , Electric Loom of Chevalier Bonelli , which was : originally exhibited in Paris in 1855 , and is now working successfully under M . Feement . Its principle is the substitution of thin sheets of tin partly covered with varnish , . which Jnterrnpts the . electrical contact , for the Jacquard cards . .
In France , several new machines for making artificial ice by tho evaporation of ether have been introduced , and are well spoken of . They resemble one which was exhibited in ijondon a few years ago , and is now said to be at work in Australia . Efforts continue to be inade to substitute machinery for manual labour in type-corriposinor and an invention of Mr . Hattersley . has received considerable praise ; and machinery seems destined , to supersede the stitching , of the tailor and the drudgery of the needle in family life , Mr . Timbs tells us Mr : Peter . Tait , of Limerick , informed -the ArmyContracts Commission that the whole of his clothing is cut and sewn by machinery driven , by steam , and capable of making four thousand suits a week . It is pleasant to read , of these triumphs of inventive skill ; but our social system is sadly defective in equalising thoir benefits , which too often go chiefly to the capitalist , and leave the workman scarcely better off'than he was before—even after he has recovered the immediate injury which the change has produced .
Of new fabrics the most remarkable seems to be the : " vegetable leather " of Messrs . Spill and Go ... of Stepney , which can be made of aiiy size and thickness , and is applicable to bookbinding , upholstery , saddlery , and other purposes for which the ordinary leather is used , while it is only one-third , its price . India-rubber enters into its manufacture . The constant occurrence of fatal accidents by the ignition of ladies ' dresses has given rise to elaborate experiments to render fabrics fireproof , and a . considerable success has been achieved by Messrs . Versjiafn and OprENJTEiM , who employ sulphate of ammonia to dross the article in the process of manufacture , and tungstate of soda to renew its non-inflammability each time it is washed .
X34 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. [Fe...
X 34 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ Feb . 11 , ' I 860 .
Britannia's Shame.* We Hear So Pftcu And...
BRITANNIA'S SHAME . * WE hear so pftcu and so much of Britannia ' s glory and hpr greatness , that wo might suppose ourselves , in our corporate capacity , immaculate and immortal , did we never hoar of her littleness and her shame . It is needful sometimes to be told of her misdeeds . In Mr . Bujrke ' s time tho rotten boroughs wore the " shameful parts of tho constitution . " "We have got rid of the worst of them ; but they have bequeathed to us a scandal fur greater than themselves . Under their influence tho oorrupb government ol ' tho navy was begun , continued , and established 5 and when they were destroyed 110 Jiand purified it . Dover and its like still maintain in authority tho old scourge of tho seamen , and tho dishonour of the notion . ., , In 1858 , tho number of persons embarked in tho Royal Navy subject still to tho degrading system of corporeal punishment , in « titutnd . hv thfl horoiifrhmonirers . was 47 . 04 ( 5 . Tho warrant and vit n * ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦• ¦ ¦ —»
, £ 414 tj vj ^ v w **»» t v ¦ m ^ # r * f ^* ^* p ^ f ^ ^ p ** i gm % ^ wr ^ 7 i w »* * w j ^^ — * — „ ^ - - - ^ , commissioned ofllcors arc not liable to this punishment . Till a comparatively rocont period young gontlomon wore j but it was con- , siderod so dogiwling , that b y a special order they were to bepxompfc from it . The aristocratic chiefs relieved their youthful and gontool connections from tho barbarous infliction , but they pertinaciously continued it for tho actual working and vulgar sailors . Thus , of the total number of persons serving Hor Majesty aifloat—about 52 , 000— -only 47 , 64 . 0 are liable to bo flogged . Of these , nino hundred and ninoty-eovon , or ono in fortyrsovon nearly , were flogged in 1858 . Flogging ie , indeed , only one of tho tortures by which naval discipline , as thnb brntal eystorn j , s called , is presorvocii and bosidos nil tho grog-stopping , flnotrcarrying , oxtrii work , coiifiivomont , « Sso ., «& o ., infliotod on those 4 i 7 , 64 . ( 5 gallant dofpndors of the country , <¦¦¦¦¦¦ \* ¦ •¦«¦ ¦¦ f i J _ , i ,. ni |" i in 1 i 1 . . i i . . 1 i m ^ mwy ^ m I , - . i . J I iw «»^> i « -w
"M' 'I ' '"""• '" '""' *' ' * Ptooaiwa I...
"m' 'I ' ' """• '" '""' * ' ' * Ptooaiwa iff vnn Navy . — 'Iloburn to an Order of tho Honourable Hqubo of Commons , dafcocl Uth July , 1850 , for—A return of tho number ofn « rsons floggod In tho BritUh Navy in the yoftrl 858 , flpool 0 riiig tl ) o _ n « uaoqf tho ship , tho oiHc r , tUQ pontonqo , <\ nd tho number of Inahos inttlotoO , on eaoh poraon , end whobheip by a oourt-mftrtlal or not . Dftfcoa Admiralty , Jnnuftry Slat , 1800 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 11, 1860, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11021860/page/10/
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