Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/24

 20 light is furnished by the municipality, but about two thirds of the current has to be purchased. It is only right to state that all these defects are being remedied at a large outlay of money, and the rates are going up at a speed which may give cause for jealousy in certain cities of the northern hemisphere. It is to be remembered that Johannesburg is only eighteen years old and that for four of these years it had to lie fallow, although it practically escaped damage. I must pass over the many interesting features of the social conditions which the society of the place has evolved.

The scientific meetings of the association, begun at Cape Town, ended with the stay in Johannesburg. Many of the papers naturally dealt with problems and matters relating to South Africa; especially was this the case in the chemical and engineering sections during the latter half of the meeting. I shall not attempt to give any resume of the work done; accounts will be found elsewhere. Professor Darwin's presidential address on the evolution of matter was delivered in two halves, one at Cape Town and the other at Johannesburg. It excited great interest for its own sake and also as continuing the connection between the name he bears and the subject which first gave it worldwide fame. The many illustrated evening lectures on a great variety of subjects were a special feature throughout the tour; some of them had been prepared at the cost of much time and money, and, judging by the attendance, were very fully appreciated by those who heard them. The list included the following: 'W. J. Burchell's Discoveries' by Professor Poulton, and 'Surface Actions of Fluids' by Professor Vernon Boys, in Cape Town; 'Mountains of the Old World' by Mr. Douglas Freshfield, and 'Marine Biology' by Professor W. A. Herdman, at Durban; 'Sleeping Sickness' by Colonel D. Bruce, and 'The Antarctic Regions' by Mr. H. D. Ferrar, at Maritzburg; 'Distribution of Power' by Professor Ayrton, and 'Steel as an Igneous Rock' by Professor J. O. Arnold, at Johannesburg; 'Fly-borne Diseases, etc.' by Mr. A. E. Shipley, at Pretoria; 'The Milky Way and the Clouds of Magellan' by Mr. A. B. Hinks, at Bloemfontein; 'Diamonds' by Sir W. Crookes, and 'The Bearing of Engineering on Mining' by Professor J. B. Porter, at Kimberley; 'Experimental Farming' by Mr. A. D. Hall, at Mafeking; 'Rhodesian Ruins' by Mr. Randall MacIver, at Bulawayo.