Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-10-26
A GEOGRAPHICAL EXPERIMENT.

/ The Geographical Society of England lately
made the following instructive experiment ::
A trough with plate glass sides, about six
feet long, q foot deep,but not more than an
inch wide, was filed with water. At one
end piece Of ice was wedged in between
the sides Of the glass to represent the polar
cold, while the tropic heat was represented
at the other end by bar of metal laid
across the surface Of the water, the project
ing end Of which was heated By spirit
lamp. Red coloring matter was then put
into thu water at the warm and blue at the
cold end, so that the currents could be
traced. The blue matter chilled by contact
with the ice, Immediately fell to the bottom,
aud crept slowly along toward the warm
equatorial end where it rose to the surface,
sfter which it returned to the starting
point. The red water went first to
the ice or pole, sank and returned.
The above experiment'was witnessed by q
large audience and is interesting as show
ing to the popular understanding how great
rivers il the ocean, like the Gulf Stream,
are formed. 1t may not be smiss to mem
ton in this connection the schem of Prof.
A. w. Williamson, of the University Col
lege, London, recently elected President of
the British Association for the Promotion
of Science by enlarging the scientific edu-
cation of the public. He says:
"Let the most intelligent and studious
children from every primary school be sent,
free Of expense, to the most accessible sec
oudary school for one year; let the best of
these be selected and allowed to continue
for second year, and so Oh, until the elite
of them have learnt all that there is to be
learnt to advantage. Let the best pupils
from the secondary schools be sent to col
!ege of their own selection, and there subject
ed to similar process of annual wedding;
and, finally, let those who get satisfactorily
to the end Of a college curriculum be sup
Piled with an allowance sufficient for
their maintenance for year, on
condition of .heir deVoting their
undivided energies to research, under the
inspection of competent college authorities,
while SLOWED such aids and facilities as the
college can supply, with the addition of
money grants for special purposes. Let all
who do well during the first year be allow
ed similar advantages for second, and even
a third year. Each young investigator thus
trained must exert himself to obtain some
appointment, which may enable him to do
the Emost useful and credtable work of |
which he is capable, while combining the |
conditions most favorable to his own i'm |
provement. Let there be in every college |
as many professorships and assitantships ia |
each branch of science as are needed for the |
efficient conduct of the work there going on |
aud let every Professor and assistant have |
such salary and such funds for apparatus, |
etc., as may enable him to devote all his |
powers to the duties of bis post, under con-
ditions favorable to the success of those |
duties; bnt let each Professor receive also q |
proportion of the fees paid by his pupils, so |
that it may be his direct interest 20 do bis |
work with the utmost attainsble efficiency, |
and attract more pupils"
Like Carpenter, Tyndall and Huxley,
Williamson is an earnest laborer in the
field of science, and commands large |
share of popular sympathy, and especially
among the best educated classes. His in
sugursl address lasted two hours in the de-
livery, and was listened to with marked at
tention by an audience of two thousand
persons, showing that the people are in
earnest In behalf of scientific education.
American colleges appear to give too much
time and study to the very limited, and
often erroneous ideas of the dead past, and
too little effort TO increase as well as diff
fuse useful knowledge. We need more ex-
in agricultural and mechani-
cal science TO develop new truths in both.