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purposes as diver.easthe organizations are numerous.
But we believe that, without at all slighting the clubs
of our scientific or classical brethren, we may say
that our three literary societies absorb all of that en
ergy which, with other student bodies, is devoted to
athletic sports or to the class. Now, with all loyalty
to these societies, we must say that their benefits to
their individual members is far from what might
reasonably be expected. Of course the fault can lie
with none others than the members themselves, for
they fail in not seizing and appropriating every op
portunity,and especially in working in the least profit
able channels when once they have made a deter
mined start. We refer particularly to the subject
matter of the usual essay or oration delivered
from the society platforms, and supposed to represent
the thought of the individual delivering it. Already
this year in one society there has been read an essay
which, to most of its hearers, seemed to be a com
plete failure. Its most conspicuous feature was its
entire lack of what is usually denominated "thought."
Yet it was the reader's own personal production; and
this is the point we wish to make. It is our belief
that no more substantial good resulted to that man
than to the writer of the profound essay or oration
on "Socrates" or some equally musty subject. Such
articles often undeservedly make a reputation for
their writers. But in truth they represent not one
iota of originality or imagination. They are merely
brilliant compilations of the ideas of biographers or
historians. We, therefore, urge upon those who
try to be tatisfied with what is apparently less schol
arly, but what is in reality the product of their own
mind and thought. It will pay in the end.
"LIT'lLE NELL."
'Little Nell" in "Old Curiosity Shop," is rather an ideal
conception than a delineation of character. If we notice
throughout the novel, we are surprised to find how little she
speaks or how unimportant are the words she utters. Her
character seems more suggested than described. She seems
a weird spirit rather than an ordinary child; and perhaps it is
partly due to this, that of all the characters which enliven
the productions of Dickens, there is not one that has
impressed itself so vividly upon the imagination or won more
sympathy than she.
Dickens first introduces ' her as a pietty child lost on the
streets of London. This picture at once arouses our Imagi
nation when a kind old gentleman, upon whom she casts her
self with childlike trust, shows his anxiety for her safety.
This effect is deepened when, following her home, he finds
that she leads a lonely life in a gloomy old building decked
with grim figures in armor, rusty weapons and grotesque
paintings. And when it appears that the girl lavishes all her
love upon Quilp, a gambler, and almost a monomaniac, our
sympathy is intensified. Her cheerfuless in the performance
oi her humble duties, with nothing to sustain her but her
love for her imbecile grandfather is painted. Every move
ment in the story adus to the interest Nell's flight, their
wanderings; fatigue; the artlcssncss by which she wins the
favor of rich people, especially of Mrs. Jarley; and especially
her affectionate clinging to her old grandfather.
The climax of Nell's exposures is reached when she dis
covers that her grandfather has robbed her of her last penny,
and that he is pledged to certain low gamblers to attempt
the robbery of the confiding Mrs. Jarley. The mental agony
and physical sufferings of the child during her flight with the
old man through the mining country carry the strain of the
reader's anxiety to the highest pitch, from which he is skill
fully relieved by the accidental meeting with the benevolent
schoolmaster. Now, little Nell is out of reach of her
enemies, and a few weeks of peaceful repose succeed, and
then she sleeps the long last sleep of death.
In all this story we are reminded of Shakespeare's Cordelia,
Nell is portrayed less by what she says or does than by the
graphic description of her remarkable dangers and enemies.
Quilp, Dick Swivcller and Sampson Brass are delineated in
their hideous proportions. And from the background of
such human depravity Nell stands out the purer and whiter
by contrast. Of her personal appearance we have only a
partial sketch. We know that she was small, delicate and
pretty; tha' she had clear, penetrating blue eyes; and that is
all: the rest is left to the reader's imagination. And of her
inner life we know as little. She was absolutely controlled
by her love for her grandfather. She discovers little thought,
and no purposes except the idea of her life to cling to her
grandfather. She never reasons, has no moral struggles,
seldom talks, and even when she does her language is
strange, being sometimes childish, and sometimes too mature
for her age and culture, but it is rarely characteristic enough
to show her individuality.
SCIENTIFIC SPECS.
The growing interest and rapid progress in the science of
chemistry arc but suggestive of the great value of this pro
fession to modern application. Since a knowledge of chem
istry must necessarily precede the proper investigation of
many lines in the various departments of science, and. since
we find it of so vast importauce in the various arts, there
opens to well trained chemists a field sscond to none in the
line of science and art. A look into some of the leading
departments will show us that the demand for analytic chem
ists is steadily and rapidly growing. To-day every steel
manufactory is provided with its technical laboratory and one
or more chemists. Ores, fluxes and fuels must be analyzed.
The important development in all the arts within the last few
years is very largely due to the steady increase in the number
and variety of the practical applications of science. In this
respect chemists have certainly not been behindhand. In
bleaching, dyeing and printing cloths, in the manufacture of
soaps, candles, paints, and the like, in the extraction and
refining of all useful metals, in the matter of pharmaceutical
preparations, and a long list of articles known technically as
chemicals, in the making of soda ash, acids and fertilizers,
and of various articles used in household economy, as well
as in numerous other branches, chemical industry finds a
wide application. The quality of water used for domestic
purposes, the availability of wsier for use in steam boilers,
the characteristics and contents of mineral waters, the adult
eration of foods and medicines, the detection of poisons, the
analysis of ores, with the best process of mixing and improv
ing them, are but a few of the important questions that are
submitted to the anylitic chemist.
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