referring to your judgment to decide whether such facts
are truly representative and general, and not merely individual and
local.

At an agricultural college in Hampshire, with which I was connected
for some time, and which is now converted into a school for the
general education of youth, a Society was formed among the boys, who
met weekly for the purpose of reading reports and papers upon various
subjects. The Society had its president and treasurer; and abstracts
of its proceedings were published in a little monthly periodical
issuing from the school press. One of the most remarkable features of
these weekly meetings was, that after the general business had been
concluded, each member enjoyed the right of asking questions on any
subject on which he desired information. The questions were either
written out previously in a book, or, if a question happened to
suggest itself during the meeting, it was written upon a slip of paper
and handed in to the Secretary, who afterwards read all the questions
aloud. A number of teachers were usually present, and they and the
boys made a common stock of their wisdom in furnishing replies. As
might be expected from an assemblage of eighty or ninety boys, varying
from eighteen to eight years old, many odd questions were proposed. To
the mind which loves to detect in the tendencies of the young the
instincts of humanity generally, such questions are not without a
certain philosophic interest, and I have therefore thought it not
derogatory to the present course of Lectures to copy a few of them,
and to introduce them here. They run as follows:

What are the duties of the Astronomer Royal?

What is frost?

Why are thunder and lightning more frequent in summer than in winter?

What occasions falling stars?

What is the cause of the sensation called 'pins and needles '?

What is the cause of waterspouts?

What is the cause of hiccup?

If a towel be wetted with water, why does the wet portion become
darker than before?

What is meant by Lancashire witches?

Does the dew rise or fall?

What is the principle of the hydraulic press?

Is there more oxygen in the air in summer than in winter?

What are those rings which we see round the gas and sun?

What is thunder?

How is it that a black hat can be moved by forming round it a magnetic
circle, while a white hat remains stationary?

What is the cause of perspiration?

Is it true that men were once monkeys?

Wh