of the sexcentenary of Peterhouse College, near the close of a long
dinner, Sir Frederick Bramwell was called on, some time after midnight, to
return thanks for Applied Science. He excused himself from making a long
speech on the ground that, though the subject was almost inexhaustible,
the only illustration which struck him as appropriate under the
circumstances was "the application of the domestic lucifer to the bedroom
candle." One cannot but feel how unfortunate was the saying of the poet
that

"The light-outspeeding telegraph
Bears nothing on its beam."

The report of the Royal Commission on Technical Instruction, which has
recently been issued, teems with illustrations of the advantages afforded
by technical instruction. At the same time, technical training ought not
to begin too soon, for, as Bain truly observes, "in a right view of
scientific education the first principles and leading examples, with
select details, of all the great sciences, are the proper basis of the
complete and exhaustive study of any single science." Indeed, in the words
of Sir John Herschel, "it can hardly be pressed forcibly enough on the
attention of the student of Nature, that there is scarcely any natural
phenomenon which can be fully and completely explained in all its
circumstances, without a union of several, perhaps of all, the sciences."
The most important secrets of Nature are often hidden away in unexpected
places. Many valuable substances have been discovered in the refuse of
manufactories; and it was a happy thought of Glauber to examine what
everybody else threw away. There is perhaps no nation the future happiness
and prosperity of which depend more on science than our own. Our
population is over 35,000,000, and is rapidly increasing. Even at present
it is far larger than our acreage can support. Few people whose business