greatly does this wool resemble the sheep's wool, as to deceive some of the best judges in England. The fibre is long in staple, and by the two sticks now shown, and which were hackled by the Messrs. Marshalls and Messrs. Hives and Atkinson, proof is afforded how well it is adapted for flax-spinning machinery; and when flax spinners shall provide warps of this material, cotton warps might be dispensed with, and a warp of great strength be introduced, which so corresponds with all the essentials of real wool, that when mixed with wool, they will both take the same dyes, mill and dress together, and will certainly manufacture a good cloth. The flax of India, according to Dr. Roxburgh, is mostly cultivated on account of its seed, and the part which in most other countries is most valued, is there thrown away. The Belfast Chamber of Commerce observes, that as India annually exports nearly 100,000 quarters of seed to Great Britain and Ireland, it has been calculated that the plants producing this quantity of seed would yield annually at least 12,000 tons of fibre, value say £500,000, all of which now goes to waste. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the question is one of immense importance not only to this country, which requires such immense quantities of flax fibre, but to India, which produces such enormous supplies of seeds, and is supposed to waste so much of valuable exportable material. There can be no doubt that the very best flax may be produced in India, and always at a remunerating price; for labour there is so plentiful and cheap, that whatever may be the extent of cultivation entered into, there need be no fear of being undersold by any nation upon earth. It has been said, that if any party in India could supply this kingdom with 100,000 tons of Indian flax at this time, he might go on shipping as fast as he could, and never feel the least fear of overstocking the market. Instructions have been given for a considerable supply of four of the different India fibres. The silk of the wild silk-worm ought to be noticed, as the fibre or thread is fifteen times stronger than that of the common silk. No doubt it will be of importance to manufacturers of what is called spun silk, as by proper looking after, an immense quantity, now completely neglected, might be collected and brought to be of great advantage to them. India produces some 200 varieties of fibres for examination, and it is to be hoped for future use in Europe. The India House Museum contains specimens, not only of these, but of every article of raw and cultivated produce of India,-minerals, gums, dyes, woods, and cereals, and specimens of all the textile fabrics and works of art and taste: the whole are open to the inspection of the public, and manufacturers can obtain any desired information upon application. Mr. Dickson of Leeds has a case of prepared Indian fibres in the Exhibition of Local Industry. For elaborate, complete, and instructive papers upon India fibres, reference may be made to vol. ii. of the Transactions of the Society of Arts, p. 366, and to vol. v. p. 17, where the lamented Dr. Royle will be found to have nearly exhausted the subject. An Essay on Distinctions between Money and Capital, Interest and Discount, Currency and Circulating Medium, essential to be observed in the Reform of our Monetary Laws. By HAMER STANSFELD. The author sets out by stating that his ideas are not offered as the speculations of a profound political economist, but as the attempt of a merchant (retired from business on the ground of health) to account for monetary convulsions, and to find, if possible, some means of mitigating their frequency and severity. The conclusions at which he arrives as to the distinctions between money and capital, and between interest and discount, are thus summed up:-That money is a certificate of value, and may be the product of either capital or credit. That capital is the product of labour alone. That money is a security for obtaining and transferring at all times its equivalent specified value in capital or in any kind of wealth. That capital is that portion of wealth which is used in reproduction, and is the object of transfer through the medium of money. That debts are contracted in money, and not in capital. That interest is, in a great degree, a charge made for the risk of lending money on credit. That discount is the allowance made for paying off that charge for credit with ready money. That interest may be given either as a remuneration for the use of the capital transferred by the money, or for the use of money itself. That discount is given only for the use of money itself. That the rate of interest depends on the demand and supply of capital, and on the degree of risk incurred. That the rate of discount depends on the supply and demand of ready money, and and on the degree of risk incurred; and as in this country provincial bank notes are convertible on demand into legal tender money, the rate of discount here fundamentally depends at present on the demand and supply of legal tender money. To the question, What is currency? the writer replies, "Coin and bank notes;" but he points out that these form only a small portion of the great wheel of circulating medium, which embraces credit and every thing that is a medium for circulating value. "The amount of currency in circulation in the wholesale trade is, in relation to the aggregate of circulating medium, but as a drop in the ocean of credit on which it is carried." Hence the writer asks, "Must not the attempt by law to adjust the circulating medium and prices, by regulating the amount of bank notes, be as futile as the endeavour to regulate the ocean and its tide by damming up the streams?" The final conclusion at which Mr. Stansfeld arrives is, "That were the laws of nature not counteracted by the laws of man, but left as free in their action on money as on capital; and were the duty of the legislature confined to the taking care of the quality of the curreney, by ensuring the convertibility of the bank note, leaving the quantity to take care of itself, the enormous disproportion between the amount of credit liabilities and ready money would be diminished, and the frequency and severity of monetary panics would be mitigated, if not entirely averted." On the Sewing Machine in Glasgow, and its Effects on Production, Prices, and Wages. By JOHN STRANG, LL.D. Dr. Strang mentioned the different kinds of sewing machines, with the various improvements that had been effected in those implements. The cost of the best machines now in use varied from £25 to £30 each, and some were produced of an inferior kind in America so low as 10s. each. The better class of machines now in use were calculated to make almost everything formerly executed by the needle or even awl, and it was affirmed that the finer or more difficult the work, the more benefit from the machine. One of the latest improved machines would complete a thousand stitches in a minute, and the use of the instrument was becoming more and more general throughout the great manufacturing marts of the world. The important question then arose, had the introduction of sewing machines interfered with hand labour, and if so, to what extent? Limiting the inquiry to Glasgow, where the introduction of sewing machines has been recent and their adoption rapid, there being at present about 900 at work in that city, Dr. Strang stated that while these machines had greatly increased the power and facility of production, and consequently lowered the price of the manufactured article, they had only displaced the most unprofitable portion of hand needle-work, and had indeed tended rather to increase than to diminish the wages of those engaged in this sphere of labour. Among other instances of this he stated that the wages of a handy female attending each machine were from 78. to 10s. per week, whereas a mere sempstress could scarcely earn half that sum, and that, too, through long protracted labour. Water Supply to Great Towns-its Extent, Cost, Uses, and Abuses. Dr. Strang showed by an elaborate array of statistical facts, the present and projected water supply of some of the leading towns of the Western world, with the extent and cost of such supply. He glanced at some of the social disadvantages, and even evils, which have arisen, or may still further arise, from rendering water the too easy agent for the removal of impurities which should be transported otherwise, and thus converting many once pellucid streams, upon which cities are founded, into deleterious and noxious common sewers, detrimental to comfort and hostile to healthe The amount of the water supply, and its cost, for the several cities and towns h enumerated, were given in the following tabulated form : In conclusion, Dr. Strang stated, that from the statistical figures he had brought forward the following results might be drawn : 1st. The fact of a present prevailing anxiety for an abundant and pure supply of water, irrespective of every difficulty, and at any cost. 2nd. The fact of a growing consumption of water on the part of those who have had it at command, and the necessity of limiting as far as possible the quantity allowed to run to waste. 3rd. That while the increasing abundance of water has necessarily added to the comfort and health of the people, by enabling them to have baths and other conveniences easily and cheaply, it has at the same time tended to encourage city and house impurities being improperly carried away, and that too in a manner calculated rather to transfer than to abolish nuisances. 4th. That an abundance of water brought within every house, without due attention being paid to the carrying off to a distance, or otherwise separating, the solid sewage from the water before it falls into any stream, is a serious and growing evil which ought to be forthwith remedied, particularly on the part of those towns and villages which line rivers from which other towns are deriving their supply of water. 5th. That an abundant supply of water is, in short, a limited benefit, unless provision be at the same time made for a perfect and profitable riddance of the increased sewage which it invariably creates, On Subjects connected with Crime and Punishment. After noticing how much there was still to be done towards carrying into effect the improvements connected with our criminal legislation, Mr. Tartt briefly adverted to the anomalies in prison discipline, and went on to suggest that there are discrepancies as much opposed to any established principle in some of our preliminary proceedings. He took as one of his examples the administration of the Criminal Justice Act of 1855. As a measure of economy, it was allowed that it had been eminently successful. A table which he had compiled from the accounts of a single county, for the last five years, gave the average cost of trials at Quarter Sessions, at £9 2s. 3d. each, while the summary convictions under the Criminal Justice Act had only cost £1 38.4d. each (for the whole kingdom they were £1 13s.); and the saving during two years, in one county alone, had been £2806. But he dwelt at some length upon the uncertainty and total absence of classification, with which the different periods of imprisonment are inflicted, and the frequency with which previous convictions are overlooked; and though high authorities have seen insuperable difficulties in the way of establishing any fixed rule, he insisted upon the possibility of some better system being devised. At present it is a lottery of punishments, which ought not to exist. He then took up the Juvenile Offenders' Acts. For the administration of these, he showed that we have the guidance of principles carefully and rationally defined by Mr. Barwick Baker of Hardwicke, whose experience and unwearied attention to the subject give him the weight of authority. The course Mr. Baker proposes is, with rare exceptions, to inflict for a first offence 7 days' imprisonment; for a second offence 14 days, with (invariably) the Reformatory. Should it fail in its effect, he recommends that, on a relapse into crime, the offender should be sent to the quarter sessions, where he may be sentenced to penal servitude; and for this mode of treatment satisfactory reasons are adduced. Yet what is the practice? The terms of imprisonment, coupled with a sentence to reformatory discipline (which is often reserved for a third or even a fourth offence), vary from a week up to the maximum of three months, frequently without any perceptible reason; juvenile offenders are dealt with, both at petty sessions and at the police courts, as though the Acts had no existence; and when reformatory discipline has failed, and fresh crimes have been committed, instead of sending the offender to be treated as Mr. Baker recommends, the mischievous system of repeated short imprisonments is, too often, again resorted to. In proof of it, several examples were cited. Returns were also referred to in evidence of the partial manner in which the law had hitherto been carried into effect as respects the contributions to be levied upon parents towards the support of their children while under detention. It was inferred from official papers, that the number of parents actually contributing was not a third of those who might be compelled to do so. But whatever may have been the errors committed in applying the law, it is willingly allowed that there can be no doubt as to the beneficial effects of the reformatory system in the diminution of crime. Mr. Tartt gave sufficient facts to prove that, out of 100 boys, 50 may be considered as reclaimed; 25 only as certainly bad; and the remainder are either middling, doubtful, or lost sight of. As regards its individual effects, all this (he observed) is very satisfactory; indeed it would be so if we reduced our estimate of the successes by one half; and, in other respects, the good effects were equally shown. When it was the practice to sentence juvenile offenders to two or three weeks' imprisonment, they were, on the expiration of their terms, usually met or welcomed by their former companions, and were reconducted to the haunts and habits from which they would, often, have been willingly freed. The consequence was a continued course of petty crime, followed by punishments repeated with more or less frequency, according to the degree of igilance in the police or of dexterity in the criminal. Since it has been permitted to send them to a reformatory, society is relieved from their depredations during the time of their detention; the schools and associations for crime are broken up; and even if the individual is not reclaimed, he is generally removed from the scene of his former pursuits; or is relieved by employment, either at home or abroad, from immediate temptation. That the aggregate of crime has thus been lessened there cannot be a doubt. The Judicial Statistics, prepared at the Home Office, and several other returns, were cited in evidence. In connexion with his subject, Mr. Tartt referred to the 'Report on Criminal Returns,' which he presented to the Section at last year's meeting. The introduction of changes (he observed) is slowly admitted, partly on account of the difficulty they present in comparing previous with succeeding years, and partly on account of the official arrangements not being sufficiently extensive for the superintendence of more extensive work; but he again urged the adoption of two of the suggestions contained in the Report; one of them, the careful distinction between resident and non-resident offenders; the other, the establishment of something similar to the Casiers Judiciaires in France, for acquiring better knowledge than we can obtain at present of a criminal's antecedents. Whatever tended to an improved knowledge and classification of the criminal, would assist in the suppression of crime. Brief Review of the Operations in the Bank of England in 1857. By R. VALPY. On the Results of Free Trade. By H. WALKER. MECHANICAL SCIENCE. On the Progress of Mechanical Science. Address by the President. IN opening the business of the Section, I have to congratulate you upon the encouraging prospects which our meeting in this great mart of industry is calculated to afford. This large and important district is only just recovering from a state of intense excitement and a burst of loyalty that has reverberated from one extremity of the Riding to the other. In these rejoicings I have naturally taken a deep interest, and, now that the royal visit is over, a meeting for the extension of science and useful art is probably the most appropriate conclusion of the festivities which have occupied the attention of this town for the last two weeks. On a former occasion, when I had the honour of occupying this chair, I endeavoured to combine in a condensed form a review of such improvements in mechanical science as had been effected during the successive intervals between the Annual Meetings of this Association, and, conceiving that a short account of what has taken place during the last few years may not be unacceptable, I have on this, as on previous occasions, ventured to direct your attention to a succinct retrospect of what I consider new and valuable in mechanical art. In Mechanical Science and General Engineering this country continues to maintain its high position in new developments and continued progress, and the almost innumerable patents weekly taken out under the new law are remarkable indications of the activity and inventive powers of this country. It is not yet thirty years since the introduction of malleable iron as a material for ship-building took place, and a much shorter time has elapsed since it was first applied to the construction of bridges. We have all of us heard of the Tubular system so successfully applied to the bridges across the Conway and Menai Straits; now it is extensively employed in every quarter of the globe, and there is no span within the limit of one thousand feet but what might be compassed by the hollow girder bridge with security and effect. These discoveries are of immense importance to mankind, and where they are carried out with skill and a strict adherence to sound principles of economy and science, they give to the engineer of the present day a power which in former times it was impossible to realize. Steam Navigation. In this department of practical science, although much has been done, yet much remains to be accomplished in giving to the iron ship uniformity of strength and security of construction. With respect to vessels of such complex form, bounded by such a variety of curved surfaces, we are yet much uninformed as to the precise points of application of the material, in order to attain the maximum of strength combined with lightness and economy in the distribution of the material. These are data yet to be ascertained, and it will require long and laborious experimental researches before the facts are clearly known and established; much has, however, been accomplished in the absence of these data, and I may safely refer to that noble structure the Leviathan, which, with all her misfortunes, is nevertheless a most magnificent specimen of naval architecture. The Cellular system, so judiciously introduced by Mr. Brunel, is her great source of strength, and I am persuaded that she will stand the test (which I have recommended in other cases) of being suspended upon the two extreme points of stern and stern with all her machinery on board; or, these conditions being reversed, I believe she may be poised upon a point in the middle like a scalebeam, without fracture or injury to the material of which she is composed; her cellular construction and double sheathing round the hull, and the same formation on the upper deck, give to the vessel enormous power of resistance, and her division and subdivision by bulkheads ensures a large margin of security in whatever circumstances |