THE SPECdLaM. arr ovr ver eo VoLumeE [X.—No., 3. — Professor Eugene Davenport. There is no department of the college, whose genuine success is more heartily de- sired by faculty, alumni and students, than is that of Practical Agriculture. This with the Horticultural Department, and their necessary adjunct in this college, the labor a AGRICULTURAL CoLLEGE, MIcu., Oct. 10, 1889. — = a eee Sa WHOLE No, 41. ——_————— system, have always had the loyal support of faculty, graduates, and, with few excep- tions, of the students. .A few years since, at the request of the Professor of Agricul- ture, the whole course of study was changed to arrange his studies or classes as this pro- fessor wished them. Never in the history of the college, as examination of the faculty 44 records shows, has the Agricultural or Horti- cultural Departments preferred a request that the faculty has not hastened to grant. This is as it should be. Every member of the college faculty recognizes that these departments, with the labor system, are, and should be, the very back-bone of our institu. | and tion. Alack the day when it shall be other- wise! Prof. Davenport graduated in 1878, and so is known intimately but to a compar- ative few of the old students and alumni of the college. hll the very important position of Professor of Agriculture, a brief sketch of his life will interest all friends of our institution. Thus as he is the one called to Prof. Davenport was born on the farm now owned by himself and father, June 20 1556. How true it is that nearly all of our THE SPECULUM. — rere busy on the farm, and thus received invalu- | neat, methodical and industrious life of his father. able aid from the Although Mr, Davenport already longed for a higher education, he had no thought of coming to this college till the winter of 1874 1 ior réle of a book agent,—book agents do have Then one of our students, in the their use—-stopped with the Davenports over the desire and | determination to come to the college, which, Mr. Daven- port entered the college in 1875, and gradu- ated with °78. appreciated for his enthusiastic support of every good project, for his thorough habits as a student, and for his genial, kindly spirit. night. Thus was aroused with such people, means go, While in college he was | This latter always reminds us of two early | marked men are children of parents of ster- | ling worth, and the hue majority farmers’ | sons, Prof. Davenport is no exception. His | father carned and cleared He is a man. of marked energy, hard, eood The mother was her child’s teacher till he was Hite yeurs oll, sense, aml exceptional enterprise. That she made no mistake his own farm. | benefactors of this college who had much to do in influencing Mr. Davenport, and whom he, with all others at the collece, dearly loved. [refer to Dr. T.C. Abbot and Hon. C. W. Garfield. While at the collese Mr. Davenport was sent by his society to repre- sent it at the General Association, which met at Akron, Ohio. in this course is not only evinced in the | character of the sun, but in an opinion which child on the road to an education, How cenlal, kindly spirit, and thorough scholar- ship is due to this early, loving teacher no one can say. The young Davenport only attended district school for two or terms, when he entered the Woodland select school, where he prepared for college. Of the pupils at this school about one-half were teachers, and the remaining fifty were either preparing for teaching or college. Thus the environment of Mr. Davenport at this time was only second to that at the commencement of his student life in its val- uable influence. Nothing whets the intel- lectual appetite like contact with bright, earnest, enthusiastic fellow pupils. Except while in school Mr. Davenport was always He was also chosen as poet of the class for class day. Four vears _ago he presented the history of the Alumni he holds that this is the wise way to start a! at the August triennial. Immediately after _ graduation Mr. Davenport went back to the much of Prof. Daveuport’s frank honesty, | farm, where he remained steadily for nine | years, if we except a brief period when he taught the same Woodland select school in _ which he himself received so much good in three | eee his early boyhood. His work in this school was very successful, as was his farm life, That farming does sometimes pay is shown in the fact that during this nine years the Messrs. Davenport paid a $2,000 debt, im- proved the farm at a cash outlay equal to the debt, and bought forty acres of valuable land. As readers of the Rural New Yorker and other of our agricultural papers know, Mr. Davenport was a valuable-correspon- | dent to the agricultural press of the country during the period of his practical farm life. He was also agricultural editor of the lead- THE SPECULUM. ing paper of his county. His articles were always clear, incisive, strongly put and prac- tical, The Messrs. Davenport at this time engaged in the dairy business and maple sugar industry, in both of which they reached well toward the top, Their butter sold the year around for twenty-five cents, and their maple product gained a wide reputation for its superior excellence. _ Inthe year 1881 Mr. Davenport was mar- ried to Miss Emma Coats, who had been his pupil inthe Woodland school. It is enough to say that in intelligence, spirit and temper- ament, Professor and Mrs. Davenport are truly one. Mrs. Davenport is loved and admired by all who know her. Prof. Daven- port is quite right in using the pronoun we in referring to his past plans and work. How fortunate that it is so. A good wife is a tower of strength to any man. Three or four years ago we visited Mr. Davenport at his home. Everything was neat, thrifty, and showed that thought was everywhere mixed with manual labor. At that time Mr. Davenport said that just as soon as he could arrange to do so, he was coming back to the college for a full year’s post-graduate work. Not, said he, with a view of teaching, but that I may be able to secure more of pleasure and profit in my farm work. Last vear this long-anticipated opportunity came. During the year Mr. Davenport studied under Dr, Beal, who says that he never had a student do more accurate, painstaking work; has read carefully the proceedings of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, making quite fuli abstracts of such papers as appeared to him of most value; has pursued a course of read- ing under the direction of Dr. M. Miles, and has. given attention to physiology, and especially to the experimental work of Laws and Gilbert. As formerly, he has been interested in the Y. M. C. A., and_ has served as superintendent of the college Sab- -bath-school. Prof, Davenport was no candidate for the ae position which he has received. Indeed it was not wholly without regret that he re- linquished his plan of returning to the farm. But he was the candidate of every member of the faculty, of every student here, of all the alumni who knew of his character and work; and he was the unanimous choice of the State Board of Agriculture, after weeks of most thorough inquiry and investigation, although many persons were strongly urged for the position, As a thoroughly practical man Prof. Da- venport will demonstrate in the field what he teaches in the class room. As a hard student he will give the pupils under his charge solid meat, As a courteous, genial gentleman he will attract all students to As one “apt to teach” he will prove that the subject of agriculture can be made AAt least this is What his friends expect, and confidently predict. It is. a happy omen, that he comes with the hearty support of all who know him and love the institution, him. interesting in the class room. Pay the Bonds in Silver. W. & HOWLAND, ECLECTIC SOCIETY. During the recent discussion in Congress on the silver coinage, the old question. has arisen anew: Can the United States pay its bonds in silver with honor to itself and fair- ness to the bondholders? These bonds were issued during the rebel- lion in order to obtain money to prosecute the war. The bankers and capitalists who bought them paid for them in depreciated currency, worth at that time about fifty cents on the dollar. How could it be unfair for the government to pay these bonds in the same money which it had received for them? Certainly the bondholders ought not to deny the justice of paying them in the same money which they had used. They not only deny it, but in "71 procured the passage of an act which made the bonds payable in gold and silver com. By this ac 45 ca 46 they were to receive in payment for their bonds twice the price paid. Still they are not satisfied, but claim they should be paid in gold. On what grounds do they base these claims? Is there any justice in their demand? Canthe government be obliged to pay in gold for the bonds which cost the holders but fifty cents. By the act of ‘4r the government did pledge itself, in these words, to redeem its bonds in coin: “This bond is redeemable in coin of standard value of the United States on the rqth of July, 1871.” At that time silver and gold were of standard value, and were the stand- ard coins of the United States. claim that silver was not a standard coin at that time will be confronted by the fact that Congress demonetized silver in 73. Their claim would that Congress demonetized which was already demonetized, and that is absurd. In 1871 silver was at a premium of three per cent., and if the bonds had fallen due, no one can doubt that the bondholders raised a great cry for silver. To-day we see gold at a premium, and now the bondholder says, “pay us in the most precious metal. We deserve liberal treatment at the hands of the government. We saved the country in time of peril.” On the other hand, how about the soldiers and sailors who endured the toil, fought the battles, and won the They were paid in depreciated paper money, and no com- plaint was ever heard from the bondholders urging the claims of soldiers and sailors. Those who simply be silver would have victories of the war? The law in regard to the payment of the bonds is laid down plainly, and the wonder is that it has not been obeyed. How can we account for this action of the government in paying the bonds in gold and allowing the silver to accumulate in the treasury. The reasons which are set forth are: It will be dishonorable to the government, and it will destroy its credit, to pay them in silver. This is the argument which the bondholders urge, and naturally we would expect them THE SPECULUM. se todo so. It is for their interest that the bonds bear large premiums, The toiling millions of this land are not interested in keeping the bonds at 24 per cent. above par when they must soon redeem them with surplus revenues. The United States is the only nation that has never made a default in its promises. It has never failed to meet, punctually and fully, all its obligations since the government was formed under the existing constitution, and if it has not acquired a perfect credit by the scrupulous fulfillment of all contracts, it is useless to try longer. The only compensations which it has received for the added burdens thrown upon its citizens by an over-performance of its contracts is the interested praise of those benefited, which praise is as unsincere as it is interested, What can be done with the charge that it is dishonorable and dishonest to pay the bonds in silver worth eighty cents on the dollar? By comparing the purchasing power of silver to-day with its purchasing power in 1871, it is found that it will now buy thirty per cent. more of the necessaries of life than it would in *y1. Surely the bondholder is not defrauded in this manner. In all parts of the United States a silver dollar is received at its face value. It will buy as much produce as a gold dollar, greenback or bank-note, in any town, county, or state in this Union, Most of the bonds are owned and held by citizens of the United States, where, as has been said, the silver dollar is worth its face value, and thus for every dol- lar’s worth of bonds the holder would receive one dollar. Why should the govern- ment show partiality in this matter? If there is any preference to be shown, grant it to the over-worked soldiery fighting on the Western borders; grant it to the rough old sailors on whose devoted shoulders rests the burden of maintaining the dignity of our people among the nations of the world, No, ’tis not dishonest to pay the bondholders in money worth to-day thirty per cent, more THE SPECULUM. 47 than it was in ‘71, °Tis not dishonest for the government to fulfill its promises in both the spirit and the letter of the law; or, in other words, ‘tis not dishonest to be honest, and hence we say, pay the bonds in silver. . Farmers Should Have a Liberal Edu- cation. J. W. WHITE, OLYMPIC 50CIETY. There is a widely prevalent idea that even avely ignorant person can make a success of farming. This opinion is held not only by many town people, but by a large class of our farmers, especially those who have become wealthy without the aid of an edu- cation. By looking over the history of our coun- try we may better understand why this idea has gained so strong a foothold. There never was a nation better supplied with cheap and fertile lands than ours, In addi- tion to crops produced, these lands have increased in value to such an extent that large profits are realized from money in- vested in them. Many ignorant farmers have through these advantages reached their ideal success—wealth; hence their notion that an education is of no practical import- ance to the farmer seems fully demonstrated to those that hold wealth in like esteem. Some men make a business of swindling farmers out of their property; but a large per cent. of those so defrauded prove to be men that read but little, and are strongly opposed to book farming. Their ignorance of what is going on in the outside world renders them: very susceptible to the schemes of sharpers. It is shown by statistics that the present eeneration. may live to see all our arable government lands in the possession of set- tlers or speculators. When this is accom- plished no cheap lands can be obtained, and farmers will be compelled to reduce their estates to supply the demands of an increas- ing population. New methods in agricul- ture will then come into practice, for in place of cultivating a large area, the farmer must make his little place yield profits equal to those obtained from his former large possessions. To do this easily will require a trained mind and skilled hand, for much of the success of the individual will depend upon his ability to make use of knowledge gained from others. This is an age of monopolies and combi- nations, The manufacturer combines that he may secure cheaper material and increase his margin of profit. The laborer is obliged to combine for defense against the greed of the employer, Nearly all lines of business seem to realize that in combination there is power. Although the farmer is beginning — to see the advantages of combining to secure some desired end, he is at present nearly powerless to help himself. If any way is devised by which the farmer may maintain his rights in these contests, there will needs be trained men in their own ranks for leaders, besides better informed masses. -If the farmer intends to carry on the work single-handed he will assuredly be defeated, unless better prepared for the contest. It may be objected that for the farmer to become educated is a waste of time and money, because from his situation he cannot make good use of his learfiing. Just for that reason there is no class of laboring people that would receive as great benefit from an education, because the farmer is brought into such close relations to nature that he may learn something new each day. At certain seasons of the year the farmer has considerable leisure that could be profit- ably spent in study. If these opportunities were improved his influence in the commu- nity and in the nation would be greatly increased, . No man has the right to live for self alone, hence all should make as thorough preparation for life work as circumstances will permit. On account of this and the changes that are gradually taking place 48 THE SPECULUM. — om een a in agricultural methods, it behooves every young man intending to make farming his business to consider carefully how much more he will in the end be able to accomplish for self and the community by the aid of a liberal education. If the advantages to be obtained through an education were fully appreciated by our farmers, there would not be room jn the colleges of the country for the students that desired to enter, In place of the anxiety of the young men to go west and get rich there would be the desire to reach a higher and nobler success, by the elevation of their fellow laborers. The Cutting of a Spectacle Lens. CHAS. DEW.COLBY, DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERNITY. To those who are not familiar with the process of cutting lenses a short description May prove interesting. The average jew- ‘eler has an idea that lenses are stamped out by machinery very similar to the method employed for stamping out lozenges in a confectioner’s establishment. A perusal of this article will set him right on that point at least. The work of cutting is all performed with a tiny fragment of a diamond, known in trade asa “spark.” Itis not every “spark,” however, that will cut a lens, as you may take six sparks, all of which will cut plate glass, and none of them cut a lens. spark is mounted in the following manner: A piece of 3-16 brass wire is selected, a hole drilled in the end large enough to admit the spark, which is set into the hole with the point up. The outer edge or shell of the wire is beaten inward and holds the spark firmly in place. The wire is then placed in a lathe and cut off just back of the spark; then, using the point of the spark for a cen- ter, the back of its brass cup or setting is turned hemispherical. A piece of. steel wire is next selected, of the same diameter as the brass wire and the end turned, form- The. SE a . Sree inant meee oo — ing acup. The mounted spark is then soft- soldered into this cup and it is ready for the machine, which works automatically from a pattern, and can be set to cut larger or smaller than pattern, Before the mounted spark is put in the machine it is tested by holding the handle upright. If it does not cut in this position the handle is held at vari- ous angles and when the angle is found at which it cuts best the point is unsoldered by means of the blowpipe, and re-soldered, leaving the cutting point at the required angle while the handle is upright. When the spark is found to cut well with the han- dle upright it is placed in the machine for trial, The glass is placed on a pad under the spark, the pad varying in form according to the kind of lens being cut; if the lens is flat the pad is flat also; if the lens is convex the pad is concave and must be a perfect fit, the better the fit the more accurate will be the work. The pattern and glass travel around while the diamond remains stationary. The glass is raised to the spark and turned to see if the spark will cut, if it does not the stem is turned one way or the other by loosening the set screw After adjusting it, until it will cut window glass, it is tried on a lens, Say we have a double convex lens; it is brought up to the spark and the crank turned; we find that the spark cuts going “up hill” but will not cut “ going down,” and we may try this spark in various positions all day and not sueceed in making it cut a convex lens. It might cut on a sixty-inch focus, perhaps down to a fifteen-inch focus; from a fifteen-inch focus down to a five-inch focus it would cut “up or down hill,” according to the position of the point. We want a spark that will cut from a five-inch focus to a sixty-inch focus. After we once get a size on a glass we want it to cut a lens through. They will run all the way from one dozen to two hundred dozen, and from a five-inch to a sixty inch-focus. ~If we can use the same point to cut a periscopic lens, that is a lens flatter on the concave than on THE SPECULUM. 49 —_ pie eee ey SS = a the convex side, and the concave side is the same curve on a five-inch focus as on a fifty- inch, so that if we get it to cut an eighteen- inch focus it will cut the rest of them froma five-inch to a sixty-inch focus. The only obstacle to overcome is the thickness of the glass. The bi-concave lens is very diffcult, and it requires a very good spark to cut all kinds from a five-inch to a sixty-inch focus, They are cut “partial” and “crumbed” down to size, The « Coquille” is the hard- est lens to cut; they are made by cutting pieces from a hollow blown sphere. In making this form of lens the cutting 1s done from the inside, and owing to the “up and down hill” form it requires the best spark obtainable. It sometimes takes two or three days to get a point ready that will cut a coquille. After the sparks become dull they are unsoldered and reset, presenting a new angle to the work, there being from four to twen- ty-four angles toa spark. The great diffi- - culty is to determine by looking at it whether an angle will cut or not. As you are unable to distinguish whether that particular angle has been used before or not, and there is no way in which to mark them, the only way to do it is to solder it in and try it, and if it does not work change it until it will. This, of course, takes time and patience. Then again, it is not every spark that will cut; sometimes in a gross you will not find more than half a dozen that will cut and sometimes not one. The life of a spark is short, some of them lasting but one day, and once in a while one is found that lasts a year. The workmen average fifty dozen pairs of lenses per day. A good diamond will cut, on an average, 1,500 dozen pairs. The average lens meas- ures four inches around, and a dozen pairs would measure eight fect. In cutting 1,500 dozen pairs the spark would travel over a surface equal to a piece of glass 12,000 feet long. There are exceptional sparks that cut for months; we know of one which has been at work for fifteen months, and has nearly cut 7,200 dozen pairs, traveling about 57,600 feet. There are two kinds of sparks in use, Brazilian and African, which cost from three to five dollars each. The one men- tioned above has exceptional wearing qualli- ties and is worth fifty dollars. SCIENTIFIC. Se Photographic Surveying. One of the recent applications of photog- raphy in the line of scientific research has been the production .of photographs from which accurate maps of the country shown in the photograph can be produced. The method of drawing maps in the field, by taking a drawing-board from point to. point in the field, has been long practiced under the head of plane-table surveying, This method, although giving maps at the first operation, is in reality much the same in principle as photographic surveying, and for that reason it may be necessary to examine the principles of such surveying. In plane- table surveying the paper on which the map is to be made is mounted on a drawing board, which, in turn, is supported on a tri- pod, and made so that it can be rotated, The distance between two of the points con- nected with the survey must be measured before the operations with the plane-table can be performed; and this is also true for photographic surveying. Knowing the distance between two points, which we will call respectively A and B, by adopting a scale, a line corresponding to the actual one can be drawn on the paper, with alength dependent upon the scale adopted. Drawing this line on the paper, which we will call A B, the operation then would be to bring the point A of the paper directly over the point A of the ground as deter- mined by a plumb-line, and at the same time have the line A B of the paper, parallel to the line A B of the ground. When these conditions are satisfied, and the table level, 50 THE SPECULUM. = the operation of mapping may be under- taken, by drawing indefinite lines toward every object in sight that we desire located onthe map. After this work has been done at station A, the instrument is moved to station B, and set so that the point B of the paper shall be directly over the point B of the earth, and the line A B of the paper parallel to the line A B of the ground. Then proceed as at the previous station, and draw lines to every point that is desired on the map. Lines that had been drawn to the same point when the instrument was at the preceding station, will be intersected at the proper location of the point. The intersection of the lines will in that way locate all the objects required. The instrument can be moved to any station that had been previously located on the paper, remembering that when the instru- ment has been set, the point on the paper must be over a corresponding point on the ground. By successive removals a wide extent of territory can be mapped simply by measuring the length and direction of a sin- gle line. The method of plane-table survey- ing has been used extensively in small sur- veys, and in filling in details between sta- It is as accurate a method as can be represented by the draughtsman at work, and no more so, If lines cross each other ata small anyle, even the thickness of the finest line that can be drawn may be so great as to make considerable error in its location. In practice the surveyors of the United States coast survey found it to be about equal to work done with the ordinary compass. The objections to the method of surveying with the plane-table are largely founded on the difficulty of draughting out of doors, the liability of having the paper wet or torn, and the absence of methods of checking the accuracy of the work. The plane-table is still employed to a considera- ble extent. Shortly after the inventiow of the plane- table the camera obscura was perfected, but so far as [am aware, it was used simply as tions. ee ee an aid in making sketches which were never reduced tomaps. The instrument, however, was used to give an idea to military com- manders of the nature of a country over which an army had to be maneuvered. The instrument was moved from station to station, as previously described, for the plane table. It consisted of a lens mounted in such a way as to throw an image of the country on to a flat table. An operator sit- ting in a darkened room drew out this’ image in pencil or ink, thus producing a sketch of the region in sight of the camera. This instrument never was made of suffi- cient accuracy to be of value as a surveying instrument. The photograph has long been recognized as a miniature representation of the subject photographed, and this would be distorted or perfectly true in all its proportions, de- pendant on the character of the lens and on the form of the camera. It must be under- stood, however, that the photograph itself is a very recent invention, and even to-day the art of photographing is constantly chang- ing and improving. The first applications of photography to surveying were made during the French and German war, in 1870 and ‘71, in order to produce military maps of the country. The art of photography was at that time so diffi- cult to perform in the field that very little come from these attempts. Indeed, until within the last two or three years the art had practically not been employed, so that even | to-day it is a new thing, and an application, about which there is much to be learned. The camera for this purpose may be the same as for any kind of photography, but it must be mounted so that it can be accurately leveled, and means should be provided for photographing on the picture a plumb-line and a horizontal line intersecting in the cen- ter of the picture. These lines show the elevation of the camera and the direction of sight, with reference to the picture or photo- graph; they represent the intersection of twa THE SPECULUM. Sy planes, one vertical the other horizontal, by means of which we may reduce the picture, which is a perspective view, to a map which is a projection, Now in order that this reduction from a perspective to 4 projection drawing may be made, we must know in the first place the actual relation in size of our picture to the subject shown. We must know the position of the instrument with reference to the picture, and this will corre- spond to what draughtsmen call a point of sight in a perspective drawing; and further- more, our picture must have every part in perfect proportion. Having these things given, the problem resolves itself into the production of a projection drawing from a perspective drawing. Without entering into the principles for such an operation, which, indeed, can be found in any work on perspective, the method is very simple and is as follows: From the intersection of the horizontal and vertical line, previously described, lay off on the picture a distance, on the vertical line produced, equal to the equivalent focal length of the lens. This will give us the point of sight, and shows the position of the instru- ment with reference to the picture. The actual angle between any two objects on the horizon can be found by drawing lines from this point to the two objects, and measuring such an angle with a protractor. In case the points are above or below the horizontal, the angle must be measured be- tween their projections on the horizontal line. We can also, by a similar method, find the angle of elevation or depression as seen from this point of view. The thus obtained is the same as that given by | the plane-table; we obtain it, however, not — from the actual object, but from the photo- raph of the object. It is evident then that in order to locate points we must have intersecting views from points previously located. The advantage over plane-table surveying would be, that the out-of-door operations are performed information | very quickly; that our photographs show the location of every object, no matter how minute, and consequently furnish us field notes complete and accurate beyond ques tion; and, finally, the mapping may be done indoors where the draughtsmen can have every facility for acccurate work. Aside from this the method of mapping would be by locating points by. intersecting lines, exactly as in plane-table surveying, and fur- ther principles of operation would be identi- cally the same. It has been incidentally mentioned that the picture must be an exact reproduction of the object. This condition depends princi- pally on the lens of the camera. The least imperfection of figure or shape of lens would give a distorted picture, from which an accurate map could not be made. We require then, for this operation, a lens of high order. The past summer I tested very carefully three lenses, the Morrison lens, the Bausch and Lomb lens and the Suter lens, and so far as this test was concerned they all seemed equally good. The angles, even at the extreme edge of the picture, were in every case perfect. This indicates excellent mechanical work by our opticians, and, judging from what I can learn of previous tests, much better work than was done even two years ago, : Some other considerations induced the adop- tion of the Sater lens. The camera lenses of best quality are invariably made of two glasses separated somewhat from each other, as in this way slight optical defects can be | more thoroughly eliminated and a better and sharper picture produced. They are also ground with different radii, depending on the purpose for which they are wanted. The true form of the “lass should: be of parabolic section, a form impossible to secure by grinding, so the lenses are made a portion of a sphere with a long radius; in general the longer the radius the more nearly the lens would approach a parabola in section. | By using two glasses, set as described, the 52 effect of the combination is the same as a very perfect single glass with a much smaller radius, and the imperfections are much less noticeable. The composition of the glass is also thought to affect the image, so that the purest and finest glass only is fitted for such lenses. For surveying purposes it is important were found to have come up the summer that the camera hold the dry-plate mgidly | after being planted, while those buried from perpendicular to the optical axis of the lenses. | If the plate is inclined even in the least degree, the picture will be correspondingly distorted. When the camera is level the picture must be truly vertical. To success- fully carry into practice this method of sur- veying, the surveyor must master the art of photography in all its details. This includes a complete knowledge of the exposure of dry plates, their development after they have been exposed, and the printing of pictures after the negative has been perfected. These arts are improving and becoming more simple and certain each year. Less and less apparatus is needed for the processes of photography, and there is no reason to doubt that the time will come when photo- graphic surveying will be the most common form practiced by surveyors when the work is of a character permitting its use. R. C, CarpENnTER, a ee . Natural History Society. The meeting of the Natural History Soci- ety, on September 13, was opened by Dr. Beal, who presented some interesting facts regarding the vitality of seeds, In the autumn of 1879 he had buried bot- tles of seeds of twenty-one kinds of plants. The seeds were mixed with sand taken from three feet below the surface, loosely placed in bottles and buried about twenty inches below the surface. This summer the seeds with the sand were removed to the botanical laboratory and kept moist for some time, When some of the seeds of pig- weed, black mustard, shepherd’s purse, pep- per-grass, mayweed, evening — primrose, THE SPECULUM. smartweed, purslane, pigeon-grass and chick- weed produced good seedlings. Nearly four years ago he had buried some black walnuts and acorns in well drained sand, at depths varying from a few inches to about three feet. At the end of two years some of the _ acorns and walnuts planted near the surface eight inches to two feet below the surface had all decayed. All the walnuts deeply planted had decayed, but some of the acorns buried from two to three feet were alive, They had probably started soon after plant- ing, as the cotyledons were exhausted, their nourishment having been used in de- veloping roots and pushing up an ascending axis. In August, 1859, nearly four years after planting,eight acorns were found alive, with the roots about like those dug two years before. Dr. Beal also found, with these acorns, two pup, that nine days after they were dug up developed into fully matured beetles. Thev proved te be of two different cwenera. Following Dr. Beal, Mr. G. C. Davis gave a short account of the Chinese yam (diescorea batatas). This plant has been growing in the wild garden three years. The stem is climbing or cumbent, and annual, It is from six to nine feet long, of a purplish color, and very tough, The leaves are opposite, of a deep, glossy green, and heart-shaped. The flowers, which are digcious, are small, white and inconspicu- ous. The long, tuberous roots, which are from one and one-half to two and one-half feet long, are the most curious part of the plant. They are starchy, very brittle and remarkably white. As they descend into the ground to a great depth they require a sandy soil. They have long been‘ raised in China and Japan as a substitute for potatoes, but the great depth to which they descend, and their brittleness, renders digging very THE SPECULUM. 33 difficult. Hence they are not considered of much value in this country, although very hardy. They may be propagated by little tubers which occur in the axils of the leaves, or by cuttings from the upper part of the roots. Mr. Weed read a paper on the two-toed sloth (cholopus didactylus) of Brazil, a specimen of which has recently been added to the museum. mammal, belonging to the sub-class moneded- péia and order edenfata. Mr. Weed thought that one of the chief characteristics of the animal, slowness of motion, is largely due to climatic influences, as it is a well known fact that all inhabitants of the torrid zone are far more sluggish than those of the temperate zone. The animal lives entirely among the branches of trees, rarely descend- ing to the ground. A Mexican farmer states that a family of sloths inhabited a clump of trees, near his house, eleven years without descending to the ground or even to the lowest branches. If caught and placed upon the ground, their long limbs and feet, so well adapted to their life among the trees, are used with exceeding difficulty, and they can make but little progress. The sloth is a true vegetarian. Young buds and shoots are its favorite food, and the older leaves are partaken of only in case of dire necessity. The three-toed ‘sloth eats only the leaves of the cecropia tree, while the two-toed sloth of southern Mexico feeds only upon the cazcho and Texas trees. His only drink is the milky sap of the leaves. The sloths are divided into two families, the one having three toes upon each of the four feet, while the other differs in having but two toes on each fore foot. Aside from the form of the foot the greatest structural pecu- liarity of the sloth is the number of cervical vertebra, the two-toed sloth having’ but six while the three-toed sloth has nine. Following Mr. Weed, Mr. C. F. Baker read a paper on “ The Bedbug.” This was This peculiar animal is a one of the most interesting articles delivered before the society, but was too long to be inserted in our limited space. Many students and other readers of THE SPECULUM are doubtless receiving letters from the Inter-state Publishing House, of Chicago. All those thinking of entering the employment of that firm are urgently requested to call on or correspond with the undersigned; or before engaging themselves to at least look up carefully the standing of the Inter state Publishing House (not com- pany ). W. W. Kramer, Agricultural College, Mich. THE SPECULUM. PUBLISHED MONTHLY DURING THE COLLEGE YEAR, BY THE STUDENTS Or THE MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. TERMS, 73 CENTS A YEAR; SINGLE NUMBERS, 10 CENTS, ADVERTISING KATES MADE KNOWN ON APPLICATION, E®@ All subscriptions will be regarded as continued, unless we are notified to the contrary. Tf this item is marked, your subscription is in arrears, Sr er BOARD OF DIRECTORS. =. UNION LITERARY SOCIETY. W. Bancock, Jn. Editor-in-Chief, Literary Articles and Editorials, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. A. B. Corner, - - - Science, PHL DELTA THETA FRATERNITY. Jay BR. MeCont,. - - - College News. DELTA TAU DELTA FPREATERNITY. B. OK. Bentriey, “ . “ “ECLECTIC SOCIETY. Kk. B. McPiresson, Colleres and Exchanges, Athletics. OLYMPIC SOCIETY, W. A. Fox, - = - - Personals, ———— C.F. Titrixncer, , F. W. Asutox, - - Sec, IL. G&G, Revers, - Business Manner’ Asst, Business Manager. . Treasurer. ee aS AGRICULTURAL CoLLEGE, Oct. 10, 1589. ——— — We are pleased to present to our readers in this-issue a fine cut, and a most complete and faithful biography, of Prof. Davenport. As one reads the story of the professor’s life, he can scarcely fail to be impressed by the 54 THE SPECULUM. fact that the whole life and training of the man has been such as to eminently fit him for the position which he occupies. I Just subsequent to our last annual com- mencement there appeared in the Axx Ardor Register the following editorial: “The State Agricultural College has just had its annual commencement. There were 43 graduates. It would be interesting and at the same time furnish some valuable sta- tistics if a careful record could be made of the work each of the 43 young people do during the next ten years. I[t would, we think, show conclusively that the pur- pose for which the institution was founded is realized only toa very small extent.” For what purpose was the college found- ed? We quote from Sec. 13 of the act of passed March 15, 1861: “The design of the institution in fulfillment of the injunction of the constitution, is to afford a thorough instruction in agriculture and the natural sciences connected therewith ; to effect that object most completely, the institution shall combine physical with men- tal education, and shall be a high seminary of learning, in which the graduate of the common school can commence, pursue and finish a course of study terminating in thorough, theoretic and practical instruction in those sciences and arts which bear directly upon agriculture and kindred industrial pur- suits,” Of the 386 students now living 98 are farmers; eighteen, professors of agriculture and related sciences; twelve, horticulturists; five, stockmen ; four, seedsmen; six, mechan- ics; four, experiment station directors; | twelve, experiment station employes—a total of 151, or a per cent of thirty-nine. On page 39 of the college catalogue for 1588-9, are set forth some excellent reasons why even more graduates of the college are not farmers. After noting the fact that because of the comparative youth of the institution, the average time since graduation is but eight reorganization, years, the catalogue says: “ They have not | _ —— been able to lay up enough capital ahead to become independent farmers, and until they can do so they are able to turn their education to a better account as teachers.” Page forty gives a table in which is shown that while the average number. of years since gradua- tion is eight, the per cent of farmers, fruit growers and apiarists is thirty-six. Consid- ering those who graduated during the first nineteen years of the existence of the college, it is found that they have been in active life thirteen years, and that forty-two per cent are engaged in the occupations just men- tioned. Thus it is shown that the alumni become farmers more as they advance in life and secure the requisite capital. But Zhe Register was careful not to commit itself by a definite assertion; it says simply, “ only to a very small extent.” We are sorry that it failecdl to state what in its opinion is a very small number. However, this is only the old cry of the radical friends of the University against the institution that has steadily developed in spite of frantic efforts to cripple it. Not long ago the plastered walls of Williams Hall corridors were carefully patched in several places, but the masons had scarcely left when some wretch proceeded deliberately to deface the new work with huge scrawls, dates and monograms. The young men who are capable of such outrages have no business at college; and though they may never be discovered, they may rest assured that their actions are condemned by their fellows. We as students should take all pride in keeping the halls neat and orderly, but if we make no effort ourselves we can scarcely expect the faculty to do it for us. Another fact to be carefully considered is the matter of orderly conduct in the dormi- tories. ° There has been a growing tendency toward disorder in the halls, not from any wish to disobey the rules, perhaps, but because of carelessness or a desire for sport. Boxing has become a favorite pastime and THE SPECULUM. in the excitement of the contest the crowd is sure to disturb the whole building with yells and laughter. The matter of singing and whistling, also, has grown to deserving serious attention, Students seem to regard themselves under ‘no obligation to pass quietly from room to room or from floor to floor. So soon as the hall is reached boys who are never known to sing or whistle anywhere else at once begin a most disturb- ing racket. Ward officers are in a great | | Delta boys, arrived safely at Detroit after its trip measure at fault, for they have neglected | around the lakes. a ee ee ‘ f ce 535 The Y. M. C. A. have had three bulletin-boards made, They are put up in Williams and College halls, and the library. G. C. Davis and H, E. Weed, of "89, and K. Shoshi- ma, a graduate of the Sapporo college, Japan, are taking special courses in entomology. Pres. Clute addressed a large crowd at Tibbits’ | park, Coldwater, on September 14. He also gave an | address at a fair at Bad Axe, October 2. their duty, and there seems, also, to be no | co-operation among them. Boys, we have been entrusted with the government of the halls, then let us properly govern them. Let each student strive to pre- serve the good order of the dormitories, and each will secure a direct benefit thereby. Let each student begin by keeping himself quiet, and good order is sure to be the result. COLLEGE NEWS. Mr. Peebles is very sick at Detroit. The filling of the silo has been completed. E. G. Lodeman, ’89, expects to be here Christmas. The senior orations commenced the 18th of Septem- ber. Thirty new specimens have been put into the botani- cal museum. Jack Frost has been raising havoc with the corn. The crop is very poor, anyway. Prof, Davenport has moved into the house left vacant by Prof. Johnson, September 24. Repairs have been made on the Botanical laboratory to prevent the leaking over the windows. College exercises were closed one day, Thursday, to allow the students to attend the state fair. A coyote, or Canis Jairans, for the Entomological | ‘term. Secretary Reynolds, September 4, on his trav- department has been procured from Kansas. The college records show the roll of students to be 268, three more than at at any one time heretofore, A considerable amount of repairing has been done Ce eS re Several of the students and assistants expect to stay here this winter, The problem that is yet unanswered is, where will they board? Can some one solve it? The “Ioto,” the steam yacht built by the Delta Tau Its crew report a very enjoyable time. The ¥. M.C. A. gave a reception to the new stt- dents on the sth of September. One new feature was the attendance of the Y. W. C. A. of Lansing in 4 body. Word comes from Hon. C. W. Garfield that in his opinion the college has done nothing to advertise it more favorably than this fall's exhibits, unless, per- haps, it be through institutes. The new forcing-houses are about completed, They will be heated by Furman boilers, made by the Heren- deen Company, Geneva, N.Y. One will be heated by | steam, the other by hot water. On September roth the State Board appointed P. G. _ Holden, '89, as assistant in the experiment station of the agricultural department, and FE. A, Burnett, "87, assistant on the farm department. A special class in advanced German has been organ- ized under Prof. Anderson. They are studying ‘Her- mann and Dorothea,” and meet from 7 to § o'clock P, mM. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dr. Kedzie attended the meeting of the American Association of Agricultural Chemists held at Washing- ton. Of the forty-five agricultural chemists of the United States. thirty were present at the meeting. The bear which has attracted so much attention from students and others has been killed for the mu- seum. It has broken loose several times and its fur- ther captivity would probably have been accompanied by considerable risk. Three interesting lectures have been given this ' els in Egypt; Prof. Durand, September 18, on *' The | Modern War-Ship;"" and Lieut. Simpson, October 2, ' on “Our Nation’s Wards.” in Williams and Wells halls—especially in clubs a a and “ B,’' Prof. Davenport’s father and mother were the guests of Professor and Mrs. Davenport over Sunday, Sep- tember 29. _ The museum has a small addition in the line of large sponges, sea-urchins and star-fish, and a large dredon, or blow-fish. The following promotions for first and second lieu- tenants have been made in the Military Department: For first lieutenants, T. R. McClure, B. K. Bentley, H. J. Hall and A, L, Waters; for second lieutenants. E. J. Rowley, O, A. Turner, J. H. F. Mullett, Geo, Kinsey and H. E, Bunce. The new Agricultural Laboratory is under construc- tion. It will probably be enclosed by cold weather, ee ee =e mee ——_ 56 : THE SPECULUM. and is to be finished by spring. It will be nearly square, and will contain a class-room, offices, rooms for the State Board, museum, and seed-room, The heating to be used is hot water. Several volumes have been added to the library. They may be enumerated as follows: Purchased, twenty-eight; donated, four; from the bindery as bound periodicals, forty-one. Aside from these five catalogues of educational institutes and numerous reports of experiment stations have been received. A project is on foot to procure a building for the college exhibit at future state fairs, to contain the whole exhibit. Four good benefits present themselves in its fayor,—a chance is given for the college to show how to make a building and how to put up acollection; it will be a better advertisement for the college and an advantage to the fair. Something under 150 certificates to the Bathing As- sociation have been sold, with prospects of a good many more, as the house is now in operation. It was used first September 28, and by the rules adopted by the Students’ Organization it isto be open on school days from 5 to6P. mM. during spring and fall terms, and from 4 to 5 P.M. during summer term; on Satur- days it will be open from fo to 12 A. M, and from 2 to 4 P. M., and on Sundays from 9 to 12 A. M. In the Morning Oreronian of September ast is given an account of the Oregon state fair, held at Salem, and one interesting part is the exhibit of the State Agricultural College. Prominently in it were 75 varieties of potatoes, 4o varieties of corn, and a large variety of tomatoes, grains, beans, peas, grasses, onions, buckwheat, and clover. The collection was under the personal supervision of Professors E. Grimm and E. R. Lake, It is the first exhibit of the college, and receives commendations from all quarters. The Mechanical Club met on September 6, when the following interesting programme was rendered: Curious methods of travel, L. W. Spaulding; Wood aleohol, Wm. Enders; The Eiffel tower, W. Paddock; Select reading, Dennis Miller; The bicycle, Frank G. Clark.