Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1867-08-30
FOURTH pAT-EvESIyG.

The FIRST business transacted vSs TIE passing
!. too resolutions. the frs; iisclaiming all
for Mr.. Rooseyelt's announcement
J, a lecture at the City Hall on Sunday evening
and the second resembling the vote establishing
Sub section A, on Political Economy and HIS
tory. Several members of the Section expressed
themselves IN very decided tsrms IN regard TO
Mr.. Rs proceeding, SIS 1t made the Assoc'Auon
in the eyes ofthe public for Sunday
sessions. which they had never held
Mr.. E. d. Elliott presented the first paper, on
certain Laws Of Production and Trade, an IN
finished subject. on which he wss sui engaged |
and recurring large comparison Of statistics IN
regard to taxation, revenue, &C The questions
to be determined were, How the largest revenue
could be raised, Whether duties should be laid
IN articles Of necessity or Of luxury, Whether
few or many articles should be taxed, &c The
ftteet subjects for taxation were those Tor which
substitutes could not be found, for if Substitutes
were to be hsd the tax could be evsded-
Prof. Neycomb expressed his surprise that
mathematical methods had not hitherto been
employed in calculating the various complicated
o,e,tions of taxation, &c. Mathematical for
mule are only more exact language and
objections cannot properly be made to Their use
wherever they are applicable ct Gll
Prof Gould commended the remarks Of
Messrs. Elliott and NeWcomb, and alluded to
Prof Pe,rce's definition of Mathematics as the
rnost complete yet given, viz;-That Science
which draws necessary conclusions. The busl-
ness Of Life Insurance was subject to fixed AM
ascertsined laws, bringing more certain income
than any other acknowledgements with"
a fraction Of ore Per cent, and yet apparently
simply fortutous, the most hazardous OF all.
We could not afford to deprive ourselves Of the
use of Mathematics in the study of Economic
and Social Science. If we did, We should newt
ably lose ground relatively to other nations, IN
which these methods were already employed.
The governments Of Belgium, France and Ger
many had already made application Of ansly nc
methods 10 various problems Of Political
Economy.
Prof Lowering referred to the famous law
suit in Mass, concerning q forged signature
which had been discussed msthematicslly BY
Prof. PIERCE The Professor had shown that the
chances were millions to one against the coinei-
dences found, and his testimony as an expert was
admitted by the court Certainly there was
far more reason TO employ mathematics IN the
resolution Of such problems as Mr.. Elliott was
investigating with 50 much success
Mr.. James Hyatt, Of Bangor, ny, next
made some remarks on the conversion of iron
into steel by means Of carburetted Hydrogen
Gas. If No Sc. iron wire was burned in fame
OF tb;s gas, the stsr-shaped scintillations were
produced by which steel is indicated.
The third paper was also by Mr.. Hyatt, upon
the knowledge of Satellites Of Jupiter before the
time of Calico. He spoke of q representation
upon an ancient statue ola globe surrounded by
four others smaller, and thought this to be nc
other than Jupiter and his moons. Herschel
however, deniel that the moons could be seen
Remarks were made by several gentlemen pre-
sent in regard to the visibility Of these satellites
and some eight TO ten well authenticated in
stances we're cited-instances known to, and
vouched for, by the gentlemen who reported
them-in which these satellites had been observed
by the naked eye and their positions accurately
given. Stars OF the magnitude G.3 were said t.
be visible to the unassisted eye in a favorable
state OF the atmosphere, and Jupiter's moon
were Of the magnitude c. Mr.. Hyatt considered
sAe mystery of the ancient statue fully solved.
The Section adjourned.
Section B met at half past seyen IN the Chspe
of the College St church, Col. Chas. Whittlese
presiding. The first paper read was by L. II
Morgan, on the American Beaver, giving som
account of the animal and its habits, and Of tn
construction of its dams He had never four
stakes driyen in a dam but the billets Of WOO
were always laid horizontally and held in plsc
by piliug mud on them. The dams hold waite
well, till near the top, where it percolst'
through, and its flow in this way IS no dout
regulated by the beavers themselves. Man
interesting facts in reference to the teaver an
it's dams we're stated.
On this paper quite long Discussion aros'
carried on by Messrs. Chirenden, Newberry
Morgan. sad others, bringing out facts add
tional and confrmatory Of those stated in VI
Morgan's paper The beaver is found fro'
Maine to Oregon, and as far south as Nlrginis
one or two have teen got in the Adirondsc
woods in many pisces they are increasing, an
in some decreasing IN numbers. In some plac'
they make DO houses, but burrow IN the bsnl
Of their pond in some places they dig cana
to float wood into their ponds fiom where
grows. The yellow birch, willow. oottonwoc
and poplar are their favorite trees they tai
the spruce pine on the upper Missouri. The
have been known 10 cut down cottonwood ire
q to 81 feet through. There is but one speci
Of the beaver, and lie fossils are found coev
with the nrastodon. showing it to be one Of ii
Oldest Of American mammsis
The other psT-r read-the rest not beir
ready-wss by Prof. c H Hitchcock. on ii
Distortion and MetamOrPhOsis Of pebbles
conglomers,es He described the singular hei
and elongated appearance presented by pebbl
in beds of coDglomerste in Rhode Island, Man
and Vermont, combining biz discussion hoWev'
mostly to one bed near Newport, r. /. .nd q
hibited diagrams made on the spot The M
chAnicsl theory Of this phenomenon is that Il
pebbles must have been plastic, at the time
distortion, more so than others probably an
that the force which bent them Was 10 doul
the same as that which forced up the Gree
Mountain and Appalachian chains. The quar-
Of which the most twisted ones are compose
may have been at the time in combination an
therefore yielding. The chemical theory of Sa
vi is that mechanical pressure causes actul
chemical changes, whereby some part Of Il
pebble is removed, producing bent or hollow
ed appearance. Prof o c Marsh said that D
Ferdinand Ramer who had studied this phenom
enon in Switzerland held that it was caused b
-.,..;ox, mt comnrees;o, vatar cbarga Nit