Page XIII#

                                 THE    SCIENCE -OF      THE    EXHIBITION.
                       PART IV.                          have great capabilities,
but they have made no rogress.
 INour rapid glances at the developments of science, as they  Their vases
are of the same kind as adorned .the hagl. of. the
   are manifested in the efforts of thought and industry now  wealthy in
the Si-Hang dynasty. ,Their ivory carings are
gathered within our "p alatce all of glass," we have confined 
similar to those of Tai-tsong in 626, and their pitings are
our attention principally to the productions of British skill, such as in
the very infancy of art are to be dicverdi
Much has been done towards the extension of abstract science other lands.-
Yet in one little corner of the area, ocpe
to the useful purposes of life, but still more remains to be by China, is
a little picture ;of a female bather, doubtless a
done; and we should learn to look upon the Great Exhibition  copy, in which
there is a degree of perfection in drawing, in
as one of the resting places, from which in our ascent we can knowledge of
colour, and in artistic effect, which proves how
contemplate the triumphs of the past, and meditate upon the easily they could
excel if they'were stimulated to the trial.
labours which et remain to try the human mind. The ocean  There is much of
considerable scientific. interest in the contri-
of know-ledge Kati be-en ventured upon in frail, but skilfully  butions from
 China. We learn something 'of the mineral
managed barques, and some of the isles of truth, which stud  produce of that
country in the cleto  of thevaiu
its surface like stars of light in their beauty, have been dis- materials
from the great porcelain works of Kiang-tihit' Chin
covered; but "1a wilderness of heaving waters " is beyond the near
the Poyang lake, employed in the manufacture of
horizon; and from the crest of the wave upon which we rest, porcelain. We
have a beautifuil exemplification of their process
we see mirages of glorious promise for those who will essay  of making pottery.
We find  that all the 'materials they
the untracked space from which yet higher treasures may be employ are such
as we possess, and judging from the appear-
gathered to improve the condition of toiling humanity.   ance they are, most
of them, inferior in quality to those which
  It now becomes an equally pleasing task to contemplate our potters employ.
 The naturalist might glean much
the Eastern side of the industrial palace, within which space information
from the study of the series, but "the products of
those, whom  we, from long habit, call foreigners, have so the vegetable
and animal kingdom are beyond ou poice.
liberally displayed the evidences of their industry. If no However, in the
metal tea-pots, lined with earhnwrwe
other good were to result from the Exhibition, than that of see 'that our,
process, recently introduced, of enameligro
bringing the nations closer together, of making man better utensils is familiar
to the 'Chinese.. Their paprhnig
acquainted with his fellow man, and thus destroying those should be inspected,
and we should remember ta we owe
national prejudices which are so many barriers against human  this branch
of manufacture entirely to the Chinese, and that
progress, it would have done much towards the advancement the first attempts
made in Europe were with a view merely to
of civilisation.                                         imitate those papers
which were then imported and sold at
  In~ passing carefully through the labyrinthine ways, between  an enormous
price.  The Chinese metal castings are most
Tunis and Turkey on the one side, and the United States on ingenious ; they
make their model of wax, place it in a
the other, we have diligently sought to discover some novel box and cover
it with sand, tightly packed on eve~ side;
application of science-something peculiar in its way-illus- the whole is
then exposed to heat sufficient to melt th wax,
trative of some branch of study to which England might yet and bronze is
runm in. to supply its place. The Chinese
be a stranger. But we have found it not ;-we confess to some compasses are
curious, seeing that with this nation the use
disappointment, and we acknowledge some amount of plea- of the magnet as
a guide over the ocean or the 'desert., had
sure. It proves, that notwithstanding the barriers of language probably its
origin; and the models of pumps shown are
-that in spite of still existing prejudices-the truth diffuses interesting
as illustrating the knowledge of- hydrostatics
itself like an atmosphere over the old and the new continents, possessed
by the inhabitants of the flowery land.
  Whether any law regulates the progress of human know-    Tunis has many
remarkable features; rough manufacture
ledge is a question of interest, which, however, we are not in united with
beautiful form and an harmonious arrangement
a position to answer. There are nevertheless many curious phe- of colours,
being curiously displayed. The Tunisian dyes have
nomena connected with the advance of truth which appear to long been celebrated,
particularly their red dye,- as shown in
indicate psychological effects to be determinable in obedience the celebrated
caps called Beretti. The mordant they employ
to some general cause.    When we -find the electrotype is alum: much merit
is attributed to the waters of a river,
developed at the same time by Jacobi in St. Petersburgh and but it appears
that the whole secret of their process consists
by Spencer in Liverpool; the mystery of sun-drawing being in fixing their
vegetable dyes by means of the, sulphate of
discovered by Daguerre in Paris and by Talbot in this country; alumina, exposing
the, dyed gooda, to the -chemical agency of
           and  any  the exaple of he pbliatio  ofnew trutsa  their southern
sun, and then streaming out, by immersion in
nearly the same time in countries widely separated from each the river, everything
which is not chemically combined with
other, and where previous concert was impossible, we are the wool,' cotton,
or silk. It is interesting to examine the
compelled to admit, at least, the general operation of almost earth, rich
in iron, and the lead ore from the mountains of
    occut pwer, iducing to the development of facts new to Slata, and the
copper ore from the mountain of Gerisa; we
human knowledge. Be this as it may, it is certain that no gain thus knowledge
of the distribution of minerals, which
one country amongst those exhibiting their works, canl claim  cnrrl  eotie;adi
nta           fbigdsesdi
priority on account of any new application of science. For areas, representing
kingdoms, the articles exhibited had been
     varitiesof ndusryand for perfection in those varieties, the gathered
into natural groups, the kingdomsbeg subdvso,
       interatioal jrieswereappointed ; they have completed the educational
charatrothgetExitonwudav
    thei laburstheir reporters are now at work on their been increased a
hundred fold. wniently whuld'efe t d aln
 respective reports, and it will not be long before the world with the minerl
 f  saan  ficw   sol Orf cper t
 'wdl know how they have performed their responsible duties.  recent addition
in Class I., on the Englishsieofcpr
   Commencing our review of the continental section of the ores, and iron,
ofrmakbe   hratr fAromi soeta barren
 Exhibition, we are met first by the productions of the most mountains in
the depths of the deserts of rbaPtia  hc
 singIular people on the face of the earth-the Chinese. The have only onebepasdyanEgihtvlerTe
 in~habitants of the celestial empire had a science-probably an  gypsmthlmeonsadtesltfTuiaraldsrvg
          empiicalsciece-i a hgh dgreeof prfection, while yet thle attention
of those who would really profit by this great
 Europe was enveloped in the night. of. ignorance. Theimainu-regathering.ce
           factur  of pocelain whichis onl  now i its perfection  Persia
contributes little of scienii  neet  u  ree
 familir tof pourselves, waihsaongst thew eries  othiinadintoa -valuable
collection 'of vegetable' products,
 aindstial Ats. Mealurgeve, y, particularly mixed metal casting, including
a jar of honey from Mount Hymettus, sends a series
 hads been pratis. ed ytheawtlgetlucesomn                 of lithological
specimens, which. have much importance and
 thousands of years.  Ihey have taxed and tortured nature to classic associatin
Tepiro  f the moatriles fofHmettuse
         miniter o thir  ants andyiel frsh food for their luxuries and Pentelicon
contribute specimens oftemrlsfo  hs
 for ages, and yet now they figure amidst the gatherng ofth uarison whichth
groesatsupos   oAtheneP is  exertedad their
 earth, the exemplars of a people who have stood still while all genius.
Upnsc tn  s as   thesePhdaswrkhedon, anderomi
          the wrld as ben mving  In  anufcture and in art they these quarries
came the wonderso  h  ateo.Teei
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