The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-21 00:00:00

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.

ABERDEEN, SEPT. 19.

On the meeting of the sections this morning the
Following communication from his Royal Highness
;he Prince Consort and letter to him from Berlin

were read :

" Sept. 15.
"My dear Sir,—l am commanded by his Royal Highness
the Prince Consort to send you the enclosed copy of a let-
ter which his Royal Highness has received from Berlin,
and which he thinks it his duty to_lay, through you, before
the members of the British Association now in Aberdeen.
" Should the object stated in that letter appear to them
to be one which merits the support and assistance of the
members of the association his Royal Highness will have
much pleasure in heading a subscription list with the sum
of £lOO.

" Believe me, yours very faithfully,
«C. GREY.

Major-General Sabine, &e."

" Sir —We bog Most respectfully to submit to your
Royal Ffighness the enclosed prospectus of a foundation to
be called The Humboldt Foundation for Physical Science
and Travels,;' and in doing so we also beg to express a re-
quest to which we are encouraged by the high interest in
science shown by your Royal Highness on frequent occa-
sions

-- is a rare, but always gratifying, circumstance when
different nations join in the admiration of one great man,
as has been the case with Alexander von Humboldt for
many , years ink an ever-increasing degree. In Great
Britain, also, we believe that the idea will be welcomed of
a living monument in the spirit of his own world-wide ac-

trrity.
" Without a very general contribution, such a founda-
tion could not find a sphere of usefulness worthy of the
name which it is to bear,nor supply any permanent re-
sources to those sciences ich Humboldt specially culti-
vated. -
- " The British Association for the Advancement of
Science will meet at Aberdeen next month, under the pre-
sidency. of your Royal Highness; and we trust that there
also, with the feeling of deep regret for the loss of Hum-
boldt, a wish may be mingled that his contemporaries among
all nations should join in a grateful memorial.
" If it is not considered too presumptuous, we would
therefore ask your Royal Highness to bring the prospectus
of the 'Humboldt Foundation' to theknowledge of the Bri-
tish Association, and to excite the interest of its member s
in the subject. We shall send a sufficient number of
copies of the English prospectus to General Sabine, who
has shown especial interest in the subject, to be distributed
among the members of the association. It will at once do
honour to Humboldt's memory, and extend the benefits of
the foundation which bears his name, if numerous Bri •
tish signatures should testify a participation in the
feelings of grateful remembrance which have dictated the
scheme of this memorial.
" Signed on the part of the committee of the Humboldt
Testimonial,
"G. MAGNI7S, TRENDELENBURO,
H. W. DOVE, ENCKE."
SECTION E.—GEOGRA.PHY AND ETHNOLOGY.
President, Admiral Sir J. C. Ross.
Dr. N. SHAW read notes on the Lower Danube,
by Major Stokes, having reference to the
current, banks, and bars of that river.
Mr. CULL then read a memorandum, by the Bri-
tish ConSul, of an earthquake at Erzeroum, detail -
ing the nature and extent of the devastation caused
by it.
Professor GEDDES, of King's College, read a very
interesting paper by the British Consul Freeman,
descriptive of Ghadames, situated in the northerly
part of the Sahara. The oasis of Ghadames is of
an oblong form, and scarcely 10 miles in circumfer-
ence, being situated in a slight depression in the
surrounding desert, in about 9 deg. 20 min. E.
long., and 30 deg. 10 min. N. lat. Its history is
involved in great obscurity, but from its central
position there can be no doubt that ever since the
hot spring has supplied settlers with water, and
commercial intercourse has been kept up between
the coast and the interior of Africa, this town has
existed. It was a colony of the Romans, and on
the decline of their empire was probably inhabited
by a mixed race of the old colonists, Berbers and
negroes from the interior, until the spreading of
the powerful Saracenic tribes in the 3d and 4th
centuries of the Hejira, at which period the natives
probably embraced Nfahomedanism, and admitted a
new element, the Arab, into their already mixed
population. The town is situate in the midst, or
rather to the southern side of the oasis, and from
the character of its buildings may at once be infer-
red the intense heat that prevails in the summer
months, the houses being built of sun-dried mud.
In the centre of the town is the Ain, or spring of
hot water. This is a large quadrangular basin,
about 70 feet long and 50 broad, which is shallow
towards the sides, and deepens rapidly to the
centre, where from a sandy bottom a copious sup-
ply of water bubbles up at a temperature of 90 deg.
Fahrenheit. There are outlets at the four corners
communicating with the ducts which convey the
water to the gardens. The price of the water is
regulated by what is called a " laddoos," or nothing
more than a tin pot with a hole in the bottom, and
which takes about two minutes and a half to empty
itself, according to the size and requirements of
the gardens of the inhabitants. The inhabitants
are a mixed race, and in appearance even do not
resemble the Arabs and Moors, and their language
is entirely different from the Arabic, being a branch
of the original of the Berber tongue,•and bearing
the closest affinity to the language of the Towarck,
if it be not, indeed, with the exception of some en-
grafted Arabic terms, almost identical with it.
They have the reputation among the Moors of the
coast of great learning, which reputation is certainly
unmerited. The greater part can read and write a
little, but the only use to which they put this
knowledge is a limited commercial correspondence.
Though indolent at home, they are very enterpri-
sing in their commercial pursuits, and besides the
Soudan, where the major part of the foreign trade
is carried on by them, they are also to be met with
in all the principal towns on the coast of Barbary,
from Alexandria to Tangier.
SECTION F.—ECONOMIC SCIENCE AND STATICS.
This section was presided over by Colonel W. H.
Sykes, M.P.
Mr.-J. P. HENNESSEY, M.P., made some obser-
vations on the " Results of the Society of Arts Ex-
amination." He attempted to show that the edu-
cation afforded by institutions such as mechanics'
was superior to that given by public schools
generally.
Mr. FAWCETT denied his conclusions, as deduc-
tions from very imperfect statistics, and observed
that examinations had not touched large masses of
the population, especially the agricultural portion.
Mr. Wilkinson, Profess6r Sullivan, and the
Chairman of the Society of Arts also engaged in the
discussion.
Professor G. WILSON, of Edinburgh, then read
some " Statics on Colour Blindness." After describ-
ing its nature and results, he observed that his ob-
ject 111, bringing it before the section was to show
the dangers resulting in persons affected with it
being appointed to posts on railways and steamers,
from their inability to distinguish red and green
lights, &c. ; thus causing collisions on land and sea.
He impressed on the 'section the necessity there
was of obtaining more accurate statics on the
subject.
Colonel SYKES, 111 a very long speech, reviewed
the financial history of British India, and con-
tended, on the basis of statistical returns, that
although the debt of India had increased until
some timid minds had become alarmed at its bulk,
the burden of the pressure of interest was less now
than it was in 1810. He endeavoured to show that
the resources of India were more than sufficient for
all the drains that would fall upon them.
The speech gave much satisfaction to a very large
audience.