Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

for from ignorant employers. Prince Albert has

Journal of the Society of Arts. felt this difficulty; a difficulty not within the

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1857.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES. Persons who intend to offer themselves as Candidates at the Society's Examinations in June next, in London and at Huddersfield, are desired to take notice that no one will be admitted to the Examinations who shall not have sent in his "Return paper" to the Secretary of the Society of Arts, before Monday, the 20th of April next.

Forms of the "Return paper" may be had on application to the Secretary of the Society of Arts.

EXHIBITION OF INVENTIONS.

The Society's Ninth Annual Exhibition of Inventions was opened on Monday, the 23rd ult. The Exhibition will be open every day till the 23rd of May, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is free to the members and their friends. Members,

by tickets or by written order bearing their sig nature, may admit any number of friends.

NO TICE TO INSTITUTIONS.

James Patrick Muirhead, Esq., F.R.S.E., has presented to the Society of Arts, for distribution amongst the Institutions in Union, 27 copies of "Correspondence of the late James Watt, on his Discovery of the Theory of the Composition of Water," and 186 copies of "The Historical Eloge of James Watt," by M. Arago.

Those Institutions which desire to have copies of these works, are requested to make early application to the Secretary of the Society of Arts.

SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES OF H.R.H.
PRINCE ALBERT, PRESIDENT OF
THE SOCIETY OF ARTS.

compass of this Society to remove and he has brought up succour to us from other quarters. He assigned to science and high art its due place in the hierarchy of society; he has encouraged our scientific and artistic institutions, but above all he has adopted that course which among Englishmen is of most avail,-he has attended our public meetings, and has in his own person appealed to us to reform ourselves. These appeals at the time produced their effeet, and would continue to work upon the public mind, if this Society would in its own interest, and in the interest of the cause it espouses, print and circulate Prince Albert's addresses for our use."

At a meeting of the Council of the Society of Arts, held on the 23rd of July, 1856, the foregoing suggestion was taken into consideration, when the following minute was passed :

"That Lord Ashburton's suggestion, to collect and publish the addresses, speeches, and letters of H.R.H. the President of the Society, having been considered, it was resolved:-That a collection be published, not at the risk of the Society, but by subscription among the members, the Institutions in Union, and the public at large, as being the best means of showing the public sense of the efforts made by his Royal Highness to promote social progress and the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, the chartered objects of the Society.

"That two editions of the collection be published under the sanction of the Society, the one a cheap edition for wide distribution, and the other a library edition.

"That members and others wishing to become subscribers be requested to transmit to the Secretary a statement of the number of copies they subscribe for, with the amount of their subscriptions."

at half-a-guinea, and the cheap edition at threeIt is proposed to publish the Library Edition pence each, or one pound per hundred.

Subscriptions to promote the above object will be received by the Secretary.

ADVICE TO CANDIDATES.

The following letter, addressed to the editor of At the annual dinner of the Society for the the Journal, has been received from a member of Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Com-the Board of Examiners:

SIR,-As the time of holding the Society's Examinations is now drawing near, and as many, indeed I may say most, of the candidates know but little of the manner in which Examinations are conducted, whether at the Universities, by the Civil Service Examiners, or elsewhere, it may not be out of place if I use the columns of the Society's Journal, to give a few words of friendly advice to

merce, in the Crystal Palace, on the 24th of June, 1856, Lord Ashburton, Vice President of the Society, in his address from the chair, observed -"To induce the tired mechanic to study during his hours of rest, he must have some inducement beyond that of acquiring knowledge for its own sake; he must be paid for it in wages or in con-examination before the Society's examiners in the beginthose young men who propose to present themselves for sideration, and that inducement he cannot hope ning of June. My remarks will be very plain, intended

as they chiefly are for those who do not clearly know what an examination is, or how they should conduct themselves with respect to it.

In the first place it will be found that candidates, especially those who have had but little judicious guidance, are only too ready to take up several subjects at once. They think it creditable to them to be able to compete in so many things at the same time. This is a great error. A candidate who confines his attention to one or even two subjects, is almost sure to obtain a higher certificate, than he who spreads his attention over many; but, what is of far more importance, his thoughts being concentrated on one point at a time, he acquires clearer notions of the primary principles of the subject he is striving to acquire than if he were to direct his attention to several at once. It is as true of mental as of mechanical effort; to produce an effect at all, a certain time is necessary. The mind must be saturated with a subject, before it can be said to make it its own. Again, in an examination, a candidate must not only know the subject, he must have it well in hand besides; it will be of no avail to him to know where he could find the information he is in want of, if he had a library to refer to. He must not only have the knowledge, but be able to make it available, and recover it if he should have lost it.

As several of the subjects of examination are valuable not only in themselves, but also as mental exercises-mathematics, for example, it is obvious that if they are not followed to some considerable extent, they will fail to come up to the latter requirement, however they may satisfy the former. For instance, to store up in the memory the results which may be found in a book on Mensuration, will supply intormation useful so long as it remains distinct and clear-but no longer; while as an exercise of the understanding it will be of little or no value. Loose and inaccurate information on any subject is never worth much, and it is sometimes positively injurious. The true principle is to take up one subject, to work it, to leaven the whole understanding with it, and then to go on to another.

There is another great error into which candidates not unfrequently fall, and which savours somewhat of dishonesty. I mean the practice of giving evasive answers, of dodging the question, if I may be allowed to use a vulgar but expressive word, of fencing with the examiner, and striving to mask special ignorance or loose information under vague generalities. The honest, and indeed the safe course for a candidate to follow, when he cannot answer a question, is to pass it by; a guess may reveal a depth of ignorance of which otherwise the examiner would have had no conception.

Again, many persons, through nervousness and timid apprehension, imagine that it must be a very difficult matter to answer an examiner's questions. Now, to one acquainted with the subject under examination, the difficulty is not so great, after all. Questions, which at the first glance appear to be very difficult, gradually open out to a little patient thought. Besides, I know that it is the determination of the examiners generally not to set riddles or conundrums in any of the subjects, but to give those fair and direct questions which test knowledge rather than ingenuity-which prove whether an examinee has mastered the principles of the subject, or whether his acquaintance with it is loose, superficial, and popular, such as a man might acquire by attentively listening to another talking about it. Those candidates who propose to come to the Society's Examinations next June, well read and carefully prepared in the subjects they mean to bring up, will not only receive the reward due to their industry and talents, but they will be the means of inducing and urging many others to go and do likewise.

I am, &c.,

A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS.

[blocks in formation]

After becoming connected with the Society of Arts, I dedecided to send in two youths as competitors, one for Mathematics and History, and the other for French and German, being, of course, guided by your printed regulations as sent to me. attended the Examinations at The two youths consequently and enclosed letter of the Rev. one of them was plucked for the reason assigned in the

Now, the printed paper sent me did not mention arithmetic for the preliminary Examination; therefore, as the youth referred to intended to go in finally for modern languages, his attention had been exclusively directed to those subjects, with English composition and commercial correspondence.

youth was placed in a false position, especially as we were In consequence of the altered plan, I considered the guided by the printed regulations sent me. It was, therefore, no fault of ours, and as the youth would be sure to distinguish himself, I hope he will be allowed to present himself for Examination at Huddersfield. As to his arithmetic, I will guarantee his being efficient in that department before June. You will, therefore, oblige me by bringing this case before the Board of Examiners in London.-I am, Sir, yours most respectfully.

(REPLY.)

SIR,-Your letter of the 3rd inst. has been carefully considered, and I am directed to state in reply to you that the Council cannot interfere with the discretion of the Local Board, which they must assume to have been judiciously and properly exercised.

Independently of this, I would observe that one of the principal objects the Society of Arts had in view in establishing a general system of periodical examination for those who attend classes at Mechanics' Institutions, and for such of the middle classes as desire to avail themselves of the advantages they offer, was to secure, if possible, that a greater amount of attention should be given, as well by teachers as by pupils, to the common and indispensable elements of a sound education, however restricted in extent it might happen to be. Surely every lad on leaving school ought to be able to write a fair hand, to spell correctly, to revise simple mistakes in English composition, and to work easy sums in the common rules of arithmetic. That a great many youths at the present day are grossly deficient in these, the very first rudiments of education, they have the large and varied experience of the Civil Service Examiners to confirm their own observation. They do not believe that any proficiency, however great, in modern languages, could compensate a lad for his ignorance of these elementary principles, on which all sound education must be based.

[blocks in formation]

LOCAL BOARDS OF EXAMINERS.

A Local Board of Examiners, to conduct the
preliminary examinations required by the So-
ciety of Arts previous to the general examina-
tions in June, has been appointed by the
ford Mechanics' Institution for that district.
The members of the Board are-
Rev. S. G. Green, B.A.
Rev. D. Frazer, M.A.
Rev. H. B. Creak, M.A.

Mr. William Clough.
Mr. C. Lund.
Rev. W. R. Smith, M.A.
Mr. Alfred Harris, Jun.

Home Eorrespondence.

No beam of intelligence in his face, no speculation in his eye, no working of the facial muscles betokening emotion of the slightest kind, A long face, a lofty but rather crooked narrow forehead, high cheek bones, a thin delicate nose, compressed at the nostrils, a small mouth, a Brad-retreating chin, and a complexion dun-coloured and cadaverous. In short he had all the physical indications of an idiot. But he was not an idiot, and he had not mind enough to be mad. He was simply a human being without the slightest mental cultivation. A laborious attempt was made during the time he was in gaol, to instil into his mind some knowledge of Christianity, and to impress him with the sense of his awful situation. Father Avaro, a member of the order of Jesus, a zealous, pious, and benevolent man, attended him day and night, and thought that he had made him understand and feel, what was needful for his salvation. On the morning before his execution, a few minutes before he was led THE ECONOMY OF FOOD. out, he told the priest, in as solemn a manner as he could, SIR,-I have read with great pleasure the interesting that he had one last request to make to him. This occaand instructive paper delivered by Dr. Letheby to the sioned no little surprise; the good man's eye moistened, Society of Arts on the economy of food. That paper and his countenance was irradiated with hope; could it be contains information which may be turned to good ac-possible-had the light of Heaven come upon this wretched count in every domestic establishment, which may be creature's benighted mind now at the last moment; had made beneficially available by those whose duty it is to intelligence beamed upon his intellect, now when the provision our fleets and armies, and which deserves the soul was beating, as it were, against the bars of its cage, serious consideration of the superintendents and inspec- and was about to be released; and would he, could he, tors of hospitals, gaols, and poor-houses. Dr. Letheby embrace the cross and be saved? Such things had hap mentions the different articles of diet which form the pened; his church's annals were full of miracles as great staple food in different countries, and he says, "every- and greater. What was his request,-assuredly, said where the pulses and leguminous seeds are cultivated for the kind, Jesuit, it should be complied with, if not their rich nitrogenous qualities." In Yucatan, and inconsistent with his duty. What was this last solemn throughout the whole of Central America, black beans request? "Please to get me a toasted tortilla?" A form a large portion of the daily food of the inhabitants, toasted tortilla was got for him; he was led to the particularly the Indians. These beans, which are called scaffold eating it; and he was hanged with an unmasfrijoles, are, when uncooked, about the size and colour of ticated piece sticking out of his mouth. parched coffee berries. They are boiled and eaten with pepper and salt, and are served up at breakfast, dinner, and supper. Some of the natives almost live upon them, and they are to them as necessary an article of food as maccaroni is to the lazzaroni of Naples. I had the pleasure of being first introduced to this dish about ten years ago, whilst spending a fortnight at Omoa. When it was placed upon the table it did not present a very attractive appearance, and my first impression was that it was some villanous preparation of blood, extracted from a foul street-feeding porker, or not impossibly from the veins of an Indian. Having been assured that it was vegetable, and not animal diet, and, moreover, that it was wholesome and good for food, I ventured to taste it, and found it far from being unpalatable. Like many things, and persons too, at first exciting our antipathy, it improved upon acquaintance, and I ceased in a short time to wonder that the natives should not only be passionately attached to it, but that they should get fat upon it. It is extremely unctuous, and is, I have no doubt, very rich nitrogenous food. There is another favourite article of food amongst the Indians of Yucatan. It is a small thin cake, about the size of a saucer, made of the meal of the maize, or Indian corn, and called a tortilla. This, when roasted, somewhat resembles the oatcake of Scotland. For a glass of anniseed and a toasted tortilla, an Indian would go through fire and water. He certainly would not hesitate to commit a crime. Not a very long time ago an Indian, on the very lowest grade of humanity, was convicted of murder. The victim was his wife. They were seen standing together at the door of their hut, apparently engaged in quiet converse. Suddenly the man was observed to seize a knife, and, as quick as lightning, to plunge it into her heart. She fell upon a log, quivered for an instant, like a reed when shaken by the wind, and expired. The wretched criminal looked at the corpse with perfect unconcern, and when arrested, which he was immediately, walked cheerfully away as if he was going to his breakfast. Never did I behold such a picture of degraded humanity as this poor creature presented.

There is a dish which used to be generally used in the West Indies, but I believe, it is now almost confined to British Guiana. It is called Pepperpot. It is a sort of omnium gatherum, a kind of olla podrida. Pepperpot is compounded in this wise: a large earthenware vessel is procured, and into it is placed the relics of the breakfast, the luncheon, and the dinner, from day to day and from year to year, with the addition of a small quantity of cazarife, or cazareep, and a liberal allowance of fresh red peppers.' Whatever is left after a meal, legs and wings of chickens, drum-sticks of ducks, backbones of turkies, bits of fish, ham, beef, mutton,

"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog;
Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing;"

all, all, are cast, with reckless indifference, into this
witches' cauldron, and warmed up together. The con-
ditions of a true pepperpot are these principally:-
First. The vessel must be put upon the fire and
stirred up every day. Second. It must never be
emptied and washed out. That would break the charm.
Third. A small portion of cazarife, to give the
compound a homogeneous flavour, must be added every
day. Cazarife is a preparation of the juice of the
cassava root, and is slightly poisonous, but that is of no
consequence. There are families in British Guiana to
whom pepper pots have descended from time immemorial,
and which, from the period they commenced their savoury
career have never been polluted by being brought into
Were some of the jars
contact with napkin, or water.
examined, it is not impossible that some northern rhyme
in Runic characters, or pithy apopthegm, in Mexican
hieroglyphics might be discovered. I have had the
courage to taste this celebrated dish, and although I have
heard it spoken of in the highest terms, I should re-
spectfully decline to give it my vote and interest.

[ocr errors]

Dr. Bankroft, in his Essay on the Natural History of Guiana," published in 1769, speaking of the Indian

cookery, says: "Their usual method of cooking all animal food is by boiling it, either with water, or the juice of the poison Cassava, to which they add such a quantity of red pepper, as would instantly excoriate the mouth of a person unaccustomed to its use, but it is indispensably necessary in this climate to corroborate the solids and promote digestion, which would otherwise be imperfect; though it is a general but mistaken opinion, that the copious use of spices is detrimental to the inhabitants of hot climates, whereas nothing is more productive of health, and we find that nature has not only produced them more particularly in these climates, but taught the inhabitants their use; and not only the Indians of America between the tropics, but the inhabitants of Africa and the East, all season their food with a great quantity of spices, particularly pepper, a practice in which they are likewise imitated in a greater or less degree by all the Europeans who have resided in those countries long enough to acquire the knowledge of its use. By this practice the Indians wholly preserve themselves from those intermitting fevers which are endemial to the other inhabitants of Guiana, who do not imitate them therein. But though the Indians live in the excessive use of pepper, they are never afflicted with the gout, notwithstanding the humidity of the air renders it particularly troublesome to those of the white inhabitants who have transported it from Europe, and I think that spices ought to be no longer enumerated among the predisposing causes of that disorder."

is not quite so agreeable; the latter may easily be believed. An intoxicating drink, made in a similar manner from the seeds of certain plants, was met with by Captain Cook in one of the South Sea Islands.

There is a vegetable called the Ocro, a species of Hibiscus, which is much prized by old West Indians. The fruit is something like a small cucumber in appearance, and contains a great number of small seeds. It is sometimes boiled and eaten as a vegetable, but more frequently it is used in soup. It is slimy and mucilaginous, and not, I believe, very nutritions. It is, however, a great favourite, and when boiled down with a shin of beef and a few cocos and onions, it makes a gruel thick and slab," such as the Creoles delight in. It was formerly much used by the female slaves, in consequence of certain properties which it was supposed to possess.

[ocr errors]

A celebrated dish amongst the early settlers in Honduras was fingerico, or finger and co. This was a large turtle cooked in the shell. When it was ready for eating, as, on account of its shape, it would not stand upon the table, unless it were propped up like a ship upon the stocks, it was placed upon a flour barrel, the head of which had been knocked in. The partakers of this savoury and delicious fare stood round the barrel, and helped themselves with their fingers from what quarter they listed, for there were various departments in this same fingerico. In one part the entrails were to be found chopped up small, and seasoned with different herbs and spices; in another a sausage meat made of the lean of the animal, also made tasty with numerous condiments; in another the blood; in another the glutinous portion of the fins; and in another the fat, green and transparent as the emerald, reposed in luscious morsels. The whole of this was covered over with browned bread crumbs, and ornamented with the yolks of boobies' eggs, red, green, and white capsicums, and in the middle was stuck the head, having in it two red bird peppers where the eyes had been,* and slices of lime in the mouth. The only beverage permitted to be drunk at this "feast of shells" was champagne, which was quaffed, not from golden goblets or sparkling crystal, but rude calabashes plucked from the branches of the adjacent trees. This barbaric epicurism, the offspring of wild bush life, has gradually died away. The last cook who was skilled in the manufacture of fingericos, was an old black woman called Auntie Peggy, who had formerly been a slave. She fell a victim to the cholera, three years ago, and now there is no one left who can make a fingerico. The secret of the extraordinary lustre of Titian's blue died with him, and the art of making fingericos rests in the grave with Auntie Peggy.

Dr. Bankroft gives an interesting account of the Cassava, and the mode in which it is prepared. He says, "The cassava shrub is about four feet in height, knotted, and covered with an ash-coloured bark. Within it is pithy. Near the top it divides into several short, small green branches; from these arise reddish foot-stalks, about six inches in length, supporting large digitated leaves. The root is white, soft, and farinaceous, of a cylindrical form, nearly a foot in length, and five or six inches in circumference. This root is grated, on large copper graters, into coarse meal, from which its juice is separated by expression. This meal is then put on large plates of iron, placed over a slow fire, and formed into circular cakes of different magnitude, and from one to four lines in thickness; on these plates it is baked, until the surface becomes brown, and it will then keep sweet and wholesome for many months. But, notwithstanding this is the usual bread everywhere on this coast, yet every part of the root from which it is made is a steady and fatal poison, of the cold kind, causing, when internally taken, violent spasms, a tumefaction of the abdomen, and a speedy cessation of all the vital functions. The aqueous A favourite breakfast diet with the creoles of British part is expressed, not because it is more poisonous than Honduras, and not by any means, I think, a disagreeable the farinaceous substance, but to facilitate the baking. one, is corn lob. The name is not euphonious, but the By the inattention of the slaves, this juice when ex- thing signified is nutritious and wholesome. Corn lob pressed, is frequently drank by the sheep, hogs, and is made of Indian corn meal and milk boiled together, poultry, on the plantations, and ever proves fatal to until the mixture arrives at the consistency of hasty them. Yet the animals thus poisoned are always eaten pudding, when it is eaten sometimes with salt, and someby the inhabitants. This poison, fatal as it is in its times with sugar, or the juice of the sugar cane. crude state, is rendered perfectly innocent and wholesome latter is considered, and I believe justly so, to be very by fire. Thus the bread by baking, is rendered innoxious fattening. The negroes are very fond of the sugar cane, and nutritious; and the poisonous juice of the root, and if one of those gentry has nothing else to do, which when expressed, is by the Indians and white inhabitants frequently happens, and slumber does not assert its powerboiled with venison, pepper, &c., and thus affords an agree-ful claims, he will usually take out of his long trousersable and salubrious soup.'

[ocr errors]

The best cassava cakes are made in Jamaica. They are about the size of a cheese plate, and very thin. When steeped in oil, sprinkled with cayenne, and lightly broiled on the gridiron, they are delicious. Dressed in this manner, they form an excellent accompaniment to wine. An inebriating drink is also made from the cassava, by the Indians. It is called piworree. The cassava bread is steeped in water until fermentation commences, to promote which the women chew a portion and mix it with the rest. When the fermentation is completed, the liquor is strained off, and is ready for drinking. The aste is said to bear some resemblance to that of ale, but

The

pocket a piece of that saccharine stalk, and press the juice out of it with his elephantine tusks. The sugar cane is often given to horses, which it not only fattens, but gives to them a smooth and glossy coat.

Speaking of salt, Dr. Letheby says, "the experiments of Boussingault upon cattle have also shown how important is the function of salt in nourishing the system. He found that when cows were deprived of it they got out of condition; the hair became rough, and was matted together, bald patches appeared on their bodies, and the temperament of the animals became cold and phlegmatic." The superiority of the Jamaica salt-pond mutton has been long known. In the neighbourhood of the salt

ADDENDA

TO THE

CATALOGUE OF THE NINTH EXHIBITION OF INVENTIONS.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

41. Locomotive Engine and Tender; T. R. Crampton, C.E., Buckingham-street, Adelphi.

Engines constructed upon this principle were the first to be employed for express trains in France, in 1849. Their peculiarities are the low centre of gravity, the absence of over-hanging weight, and the facility of repair, the whole of the working parts being outside. Upon the railways in the north of France, engines upon this principle have run on an average 26,000 miles per annum; whereas, the ordinary engines have only run 16,000 miles. Statistics taken over seven years, show that the wear and tear is less than in ordinary engines, and the excess of distance run is in a great measure attributed to the facility with which small repairs can be executed without removal to the workshop. Out of 22 locomotives exhibited at the Paris Exhibition, 14 were upon this principle. The only great medal awarded for locomotives in 1851, was given for this invention, and it is stated that a similar award would have been made at Paris in 1855, had not Mr. Crampton been one of the jurors.

117. Patent Wedge Fish-Joint Chair and Intermediate Chair with Iron Wedge and End Grain Wooden Cushion; P. M. Parsons, 6, Duke-street, Adelphi.

The chief features in the joint chair are, that it affords the rails vertical and lateral support, while at the same time it effectually fishes the

Cross Section.

joint, and this without the use of bolts and nuts, and the consequent necessity of making holes in the rails. This is accomplished by making the fish on one side a wedge of wrought iron, which is driven in between the rails and cushions of wood placed in the chair with their end grain against it. The fish wedge is provided with jags or barbs, which house themselves in the wood cushions, and as no shrinkage in the thickness of the cushions (from the wood being placed endways of the grain) can take place, the combination affords a secure and durable fastening, and at the same time a perfect fished joint. All the parts are simple and inexpensive, and with the exception of the wooden cushions, are indestructible, and these being creosoted, and protected against the admission of moisture by the chair on one side, and the fish wedge on the other (which cover the end grain and sap vessels), are considerably more durable than ordinary wooden keys. The overhanging ribs or flanges bring the whole of the bottom of the chair into tension, and thus give great power of resistance to the strain thrown on it in driving the iron fish wedge. The intermediate chair is constructed on the same principle as the joint chair. It holds the rail much tighter than with the ordinary chair key, and keeps it firmly down on its seat. It is stated that no instance has yet occurred of a wedge shaking out, although it is upwards of two years since the first were laid down. These chairs are in use on the Great Northern, Eastern Counties, East Kent, and South Western Railways. A prize medal was awarded at the Paris Exhibition of 1855.

[merged small][merged small][graphic]
[graphic]

B The Fish Wedge.

E End Grained Wooden Cushions.

R Strenghtening Ribs.

A The Rail.

C The Chair.

« ElőzőTovább »