The colored American., 1899-12-09

nstanCe anu IS4 4uCSb 20
we publish synopsis OF the TWO o.ner
addrasses delivered on this.occasIon by
prof Robert B Warder, instructor IN
phvs,cs and Chemistry at Howard
rniverslty, and by DR.. Richard Foster'
rrota.sor of Natural History at the
same institution. They will be found
interesting and instructive.
Prof, " arder, discussing the subject
of Mathematics" and showing It's I'm
nortant relation to the higher tdn-
cation, spoke in part as follows:
Mankind has been divided into two
classes, the mathematical and The non
mathematical; the former including
Int a small proportion. A women
takes the whites of ten eggs, glass OF
-four, q glass Of sugar, a spoonful of
baking powder-and when the mixture
zones from the oven, it Is ''angefs
foodu When eggs are dear she uses
one: adding 1t with hslf cup of but
ter and cup of milk to cup and
half Of -four and cup Of sugar, with
two spoonfuls of baking powder, and
the result is lone egg cake" NO"
what are the mathematical relations?
Are the whites of ten eggs equal to the
white and yolk of one? In sense, they
seem less for they are used to enrich
less quantity of -four. But, what OF the
milk and butter in lone egg cake?
How many eggs do they represent, In
their Of enriching bresdstuft? The in
valuable cook book gives rough and
ready process TO reach certain ends by
various means. An accomplished COOK
willmodify the details, in accordance
resources or special needs.
give US the philosophy of 1t
will show us the smallest
-four that will keep the cake
ng, or give US the extreme
limit OF enrichment and delicacy COM
patible with the desired physical
texture, and the laws Of hygiene? II
there were as many mathematicians as
cooks, fundamental dietary equations,
based on nutritive ratios and coefficients
OF digestibility might be supplemented
by numerous equations of observation,
equations of condition etc, discussed
discussed by the theory of least squares.
No, the msjOrity Of mankind are
non mathematical in their habits Of
thought, and cannot readily estimate
how long a ton OF coal will last, even if
they use two buckets day; and yet,
mathematical relations must hold in
regard to the common operations OF all
our daily tolls and pleasures. How
much waste we see, because of taking
too much or too little to accomplish the
end desired. Common sense seeks tc
strike happy mean, uncommon sense
succeeds in dong so, mathematical
sense substitutes for suspicion the
eternal principles OF truth.
Mathematical studies are progre essive
succeeding one another in logical order
yet they are closely related, and mutual.
ly helpful We pass from the study OF
whole numbers to fractions, and from
arithmetic to algebra; yet the algebraic
equation, with its conciseness and pre-
elslon Of terms, affords the most con-
Vehlent Language for the solution q
many arlthmetical problems; while
geometric terms, with simple relations,
Snotu Illustrations Of many difficult
laws IN mathematical physics.
Let US illustrate with these cuhi,sl
Olocks, and few experiments in ele-
mentary physics. Here is a square
pfhm, with 8 blocks in each SIDE OF
The base, and blocks in height; sc
docks in all, lift off successive LAYERS,
Sn lay them side by side to make 9
he square prism, with blocks in
eScn sloe, aud one block high. Again.
We may divide this into squares Of 4
p!Ochs each, and make the pile 9 blocks
nigh In imagination, we can divide
'hls INTO parts by vertical planes, and
construct square prism SO blocks
Ign IN all these changes, we have
Wto Sso % blocks. five use the symbol
y 10 express the number on one side of
ras,, D'Se' and l. for the number in one
si.i'Al row, the whole number is Nx
NAh equal So and this product is an
'ns'Sing number. With our So solid
A' Of wood, just four square